Maine Democrat Graham Platner Faces Veteran Backlash Over 2019 Army Slurs and Purple Heart Mockery
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 25
Maine Democrat Graham Platner Faces Veteran Backlash Over 2019 Army Slurs and Purple Heart Mockery
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 25
2019 Reddit posts resurfaced showing Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner calling the Army “full of fat, lazy trash” and saying a soldier shot four times by the Taliban “didn't deserve to live.”
The soldier in the video was Army veteran Ted Daniels, who survived the 2012 attack and later received a Purple Heart, making Platner’s comments especially explosive given his own campaign emphasis on military service.
Veterans including Vietnam veteran Ricky White, retired Navy SEAL Bill Brown and Marine veteran Kate Monroe said the posts showed contempt for wounded troops and disqualified Platner from representing servicemembers in the Senate.
Republican senators with military backgrounds, including Joni Ernst, Tom Cotton, Tim Sheehy and Dan Sullivan, also condemned the remarks, while Fox News said Platner’s campaign and Democratic veteran senators did not respond.
The controversy adds to scrutiny of Platner’s deleted online history as he seeks to challenge Susan Collins in one of 2026’s most closely watched Senate races.
How does a veteran's combat record weigh against his public mockery of another wounded soldier?
Can a populist message to voters overcome a candidate’s history of deeply divisive statements?