Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is refusing to apologize after resurfaced online posts appeared to show him mocking a Purple Heart recipient who was almost killed in a firefight with the Taliban.
Platner was confronted near his home in Sullivan, Maine, and asked whether he regretted a since-deleted Reddit post in which he said wounded Army veteran Ted Daniels “didn’t deserve to live,” according to Fox News. Platner initially refused to answer directly before attempting to defend his own military record, referring to the accusations as “slanderous and offensive.”
“I did four tours in the infantry, any attempt to say that I disrespect veterans is slanderous and offensive,” Platner responded.
The outlet asked Platner if he owed Daniels an apology. The Democratic candidate remained defiant, saying, “Do you know how many of my friends have Purple Hearts? Do you know how many of my friends got wounded? Yeah, a lot of them, thank you.”
The post, written in 2019, was a brutal takedown of a viral video from the helmet-cam of Pfc. Ted Daniels, during a 2012 firefight with the Taliban, The Daily Wire previously reported. Daniels received a Purple Heart after being shot four times during that firefight — but Platner argued in a post attributed to his old account, “P-hustle,” that Daniels did not “deserve to live” because he’d made “sh*t” decisions in combat.
“This video never gets old,” the commentary began. “Dumb motherf*cker didn’t deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat-*ss wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt. Poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part is the only reason this mouth breather made it home, he managed to make every possible sh*t decision possible when it comes to small unit combat.”
The Platner’s comments have received significant backlash. He is currently backed by progressive Democrats, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Veterans groups, Republican officials, and former military servicemembers have condemned his comments, Fox News reported.
