OGUNQUIT — U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner said Wednesday that he has covered the tattoo on his chest so that it no longer reflects an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.

During a public appearance Wednesday night, his first since the news of his tattoo came to light, he hosted his latest town hall event and told a packed Leavitt Theatre that the recent disclosures about the tattoo and now-deleted comments on social media are an indication that “the establishment is spooked” and trying to scare him off.

Before launching into his stump speech, Platner acknowledged that his tattoo “definitely had a lot in common” with the Nazi symbol, but insisted that he only learned about it last week.

“I then went and got it covered because I do not want something on my body that represents in any way, the antithesis of my politics,” Platner said. “I will say that hating and fighting Nazis has been a big part of how I see myself for my entire life.”

Platner’s mom, Leslie Harlow, introduced her son. She urged the crowd to continue supporting him “despite the bad week that he has been presented with.”

Harlow called for generational change, noting internet comments are a fact of life for younger Americans.

“This is Graham’s destiny,” Harlow said. “Just hang in there with him, and we’re all going to be really well — just well-protected.”

During a question-and-answer session after his speech, Platner said that the disclosures show “the establishment is spooked,” so they’re “trying to destroy my life.”

“They’re not trying to get out there and talk about issues — they’re trying to figure out if I said something stupid on the internet 13 years ago,” Platner said. “If they thought this was going to scare me off … they clearly have not spent a lot of time around Marines.”

The week of bad press didn’t seem to affect supporters, who turned out in force for the town hall at the Leavitt Theatre, where all of the 500 seats appeared to be filled with people sipping beer and wine and nibbling popcorn.

Several attendees were not dissuaded by the week of revelations, which prompted his political director to resign on Friday.

Justine Thain, 60, of York, said she is “tentatively” supporting Platner, because of his policy positions and the endorsement he received from progressive icon Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont. She hopes that all of the troublesome comments and disclosures come out early, so they can be addressed by the campaign.

“I do worry that it would be be a potential sinker, but I’m not ready to give up on him yet,” Thain said. “He doesn’t seem to be working to cover it up. It’s a positive that he’s addressing it head on.”

Paula Ryan, 66, said she can’t vote for Platner next fall, because she lives in Florida. But she owns a home on Kittery Point and plans to volunteer for the campaign. She’s not worried that the disclosures will hurt him in either the primary or the general election.

“He has grown and evolved on a very progressive level,” Ryan said. “Mainers are real people and they understand real people.”

Some attendees, such as Geof Haley, 77, of Kennebunk, had heard rumblings of Platner’s past comments and tattoo, but didn’t know the the full extent. He’s looking to support Platner, or Jordan Wood, who is also running in the primary, because he wants generational change.

“I’ve certainly said things in the past under a moment of fury or foolishness or under the influence of alcohol that I wouldn’t like to have used as an indictment against me as a human,” said Haley, who has supported Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the past. “From the way he talks, he’s obviously not a professional politician. I’m certainly willing to give him a shot.”

Platner burst onto the political scene this summer when he announced his candidacy for Collins’ Senate seat, but he has come under fire in the last week.

First came reports of now-deleted social media posts and comments that included dismissing military sexual assaults, questioning Black patrons’ gratuity habits, and criticizing police officers and rural Americans.

Then on Monday, Platner disclosed that he has a tattoo on his chest of a skull and crossbones that he got in 2007, when he was in his 20s and in the Marine Corps. It happened during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia, he said, adding he was unaware until recently that the image has been associated with Nazi police.

The initial tattoo resembled the Totenkopf, German for “death’s head,” a symbol used by Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for the systematic murders of millions of Jews and others in Europe before and during World War II.

Platner told The Associated Press that while his campaign initially said he would remove the tattoo, he chose to cover it up with another tattoo due to the limited options where he lives in rural Maine.

“Going to a tattoo removal place is going to take awhile,” he said. “I wanted this thing off my body.”

One of Platner’s Democratic opponents, Jordan Wood, called on him to drop out of the race.

“Graham Platner’s Reddit comments and Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo are disqualifying and not who we are as Mainers or as Democrats,” Wood, a former Congressional staff member from Bristol, said in a written statement Wednesday. “With Donald Trump and his sycophants demonizing Americans, spewing hate, and running roughshod over the Constitution, Democrats need to be able to condemn Trump’s actions with moral clarity. Graham Platner no longer can.”

The crowded Democratic primary field also includes two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who announced her candidacy last week and is backed by the national party. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who recruited her to run, effectively endorsed Mills in comments to reporters Tuesday.

“We think that Janet Mills is the best candidate to retire Susan Collins,” he said at a press conference. “She’s a tested two-term governor and the people of Maine have an enormous amount of affection and respect for her.”

Platner had experienced a meteoric rise, propelled in part by national progressives like Sanders, until the recent revelations that were likely found through opposition research.

Speaking about his tattoo, Platner said he had never been questioned about its connections to Nazi symbols in the 20 years he has had it. He said it was there when he enlisted in the Army, which requires an examination for tattoos of hate symbols.

“I also passed a full background check to receive a security clearance to join the ambassador to Afghanistan’s security detail,” Platner said.

Questions about the tattoo come after the recent discovery of Platner’s now-deleted online statements.

Platner has apologized for those comments, saying they were made after he left the Army in 2012, when he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

He further said he was not ashamed to confront his past comments and actions because it reflects the lessons he needed to take to get where he is today.

“I don’t look at this as a liability,” he told the AP. “I look at this as a life that I have lived, a journey that has been difficult, that has been full of struggle, that has also gotten me to where I am today. And I’m very proud of who I am.”

This story contains reporting from The Associated Press.