U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D – 4th Congressional District) has been accused by the left of eating one of his own and effectively endorsing Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins after saying Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner’s Nazi-linked “tattoo and his commentary about it are personally disqualifying.”
Auchincloss, 38, of Newton, made these remarks during an appearance on CNN’s “The Arena” on Monday, May 25, 2026, after Platner faced renewed scrutiny over a swastika tattoo he said he got while drunk and serving as a Marine in 2007, then later covered up after learning of the symbol’s association with Nazism.
Auchincloss has since denied endorsing Collins, saying on X that claims that he backed her “implicitly or otherwise” ignored his record of supporting Democrats.
This dispute has helped give rise to a contender for Auchincloss, 40-year-old Jason Poulos, an AI researcher from Sherborn, who is challenging him in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District.
Poulos — who has a growing Instagram following that began with him making videos of himself doing squats and bench presses, which have since been deleted — has framed his campaign as a challenge to establishment Democratic politics, warning that artificial intelligence is already displacing workers and calling for Medicare-for-All, universal basic income, stronger collective bargaining protections, and taxes on automation.
Poulos’ campaign has also attacked Auchincloss over money in politics. Public campaign-tracking records based on Federal Election Commission filings list $815,931 in contributions from AIPAC and affiliated PACs to Auchincloss, including $32,000 in direct contributions and $783,931 in earmarked contributions. The same records list $852,081 from pro-Israel PACs overall and $1.1 million-plus when contributions from pro-Israel megadonors are included. Poulos has also criticized Auchincloss over contributions from pharmaceutical interests and cryptocurrency executives or political committees, while saying his own campaign is not accepting money from corporate PACs, crypto PACs, AIPAC or DMFI.
Financially, Poulos remains far behind Auchincloss. Federal Election Commission filings through March 31 showed Poulos with $9,139.12 in total receipts, including $5,000.12 from the candidate himself, while Auchincloss had $6,984,162.97 cash on hand.
The primary is scheduled for Sept. 1.
