Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Tuesday offered an impassioned defense of Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine who’s been immersed in hot political waters over past offensive social media posts and having a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol.

Sanders was an early endorser of the military veteran and oyster farmer in what’s become a crowded Democratic field to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in one of the country’s most competitive Senate races.