Purple Heart vet Graham Platner says he ‘deserves to die’ slams Dems who backed him: ‘Say that to my face’
WASHINGTON — Purple Heart-winning Army veteran Maine Senator Graham Platner mocked him as unfit to stay on his Reddit account, lashing out at Democrats for continuing to support the candidate.
Pfc. Ted Daniels, who posed for pictures of himself wearing a helmet walking through an open field to avoid Taliban fire from his party in 2012, said Democrats who support Platner should apologize to his children.
“I have a strong complexion, and he said it,” Daniels told The Post. “I don’t want to apologize, and apologize to him [Graham] this time it will never be honest.”
“What I would really like is for Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, Hakeem Jeffries, and everyone else on the left to tell my kids to their faces that they support and support a man who said their father should not have lived. I’m glad their father died.”
Daniels went viral in 2012 for his heart-pounding photos of himself in an open field in Afghanistan with bullets flying around him, trying to free his seven fellow soldiers.
At the time, he was a 37-year-old father of two.
In the end, he was hit four times, but all members of his team survived the devastating blast. Later, he was awarded a Purple Heart for his injuries.
About seven years ago, Platner, a Marine veteran, mocked Daniels on his “P-Hustle” Reddit account.
“This video never gets old. Dumb mom – she didn’t deserve to live. At least her stupidity and fat ass are available for all future infantrymen to witness and despise,” Platner, then 34 years old, criticized his Reddit account.
The post confirmed Platner’s words using Pull Push. Platner has since deleted the history of his Reddit account. The Post has reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment.
Daniels, who ran for Congress and later became Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor years ago as a Republican, blasted Platner for his attacks on the late “America’s shooter” Chris Kyle and Vice President JD Vance for their military service.
Platner shamed Vance for living in an “atmospheric office” and accused Kyle of killing civilians to increase his kill count.
“I don’t understand the abhorrent dissatisfaction of veterans who come out of there doing an honorable job. I’m happy about that,” said Daniels. “It’s very strange that you do things like this.”
The Maine Democrat, who had other Reddit posts defending soldiers urinating on Taliban corpses and exploding for war, recently faced disparagement of veterans.
“I’ve done four tours in the kids’ squad; any attempt to say that I’m disrespecting veterans is slanderous and offensive,” Platner told Fox News when pressed. “Do you know how many of my friends have Purple hearts?”
He refused to apologize.
Daniels, who remains humble about his sacrifice and stands at a towering 6′ 4″, suspected that Platner would not be able to talk about his work to his face.
“I’m a scary person if I stand in front of him, and it’s easy for them to shoot their mouth behind the keyboard, but face to face, crickets, and I wonder what Graham Platner’s response would be if he was facing me face to face,” he asked.
Daniels recalled that he underwent severe surgery due to injuries and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the time he fought for America.
Despite his frustration with Platner’s swipe at veterans, Daniels feels he still deserves credit for the sacrifices he made for America.
“I will not come after Graham Platner and his service,” said Daniels. “He’s still my brother. Okay, was his comment out of line? Yes. Am I losing sleep over it? No, I’m not.”
“There’s a lot of people out there who feel upset that some veterans don’t feel they’re being treated unfairly or unfairly because of their service, and they didn’t get it.”
