The Purple Heart recipient, whom Maine U.S. Senate hopeful Graham Platner said didn’t deserve to live, responded in a way that left Democrat backers of the candidate with no legitimate response.
In his since-deleted Reddit account, Platner wrote in 2019, “This video never gets old,” referring to viral footage taken by PFC Ted Daniels’s helmet cam during a clash with Taliban fighters in 2012.
“Dumb motherf***er didn’t deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat a** 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 mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible s*** decision possible when it comes to small unit combat,” Platner, a U.S. Marine Corps and Army veteran who served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, wrote on the platform.
Daniels — 37 and a father of two when the gunfight took place — earned the Purple Heart after being hit four times.
Daniels told The Washington Post in 2012 that he was hoping to draw fire away from his fellow squad members when he moved down a rocky hillside in the open before taking partial cover as bullets whizzed nearby. All his squadmates survived the engagement.
The video, which was uploaded on YouTube in September 2012, has over 47 million views.
WARNING: The following video contains explicit language and scenes from combat.
Should Democrat Graham Platner withdraw from the Maine Senate primary?
Daniels told the New York Post in an article published on Sunday regarding Graham’s 2019 comments, “I’m very thick-skinned, and he said it… I don’t want an apology, and any apology from him [Graham] at this point would definitely not be sincere.”
“What I’d really like is for [Sen.] Elizabeth Warren, [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer, [Sen.] Bernie Sanders, [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries, and everybody else on the far left to tell my children to their face that they are endorsing and supporting a man who said that their father should have not lived. Cheering on the death of their father,” the veteran said.
Daniels, who is 6′ 4″, also questioned whether Graham would have the courage to confront him in person, rather than on an online forum.
“I’m a pretty intimidating person to stand in front of, and it’s easy for them to shoot a mouth off behind a keyboard, but face to face, it’s crickets, and I kind of wonder what Graham Platner’s response would be if he were face to face with me,” he said.
Combat vet and Purple Heart recipient Ted Daniels ripping Democrat Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner over a resurfaced post in which Platner said Daniels should have died after nearly being killed by the Taliban.
“Graham, you’re a coward… I think you’re a scumbag… People… pic.twitter.com/IU4YYcfvbq
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 22, 2026
Platner also smeared now-deceased Navy SEAL Chris Kyle during a 2024 podcast, accusing the “American Sniper” of running up his kill count by shooting unarmed civilians.
Left-wing Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner smeared the late “American Sniper” Chris Kyle in a 2024 podcast interview, suggesting that Kyle shot innocent civilians in Iraq to inflate his kill numbers.
Platner also bristled at the fact that Kyle and members of his platoon… pic.twitter.com/UQDxEmnXjH
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) May 20, 2026
Kyle’s widow, Taya Kyle, responded, telling Fox News, “My family and I, my kids and I, we’d love to get on here and say, ‘It doesn’t matter when people say things like that’ … but the truth is, it does hurt.”
“Something like this, where it’s so obvious to us that [Platner] did not know him, that he’s making things up, that it’s the polar opposite of what Chris said and did, it cheapens it,” she added. “I can’t imagine anyone voting for somebody like that.”
Widow of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, @TayaKyle speaks candidly about the emotional toll political attacks can have on mourning families after Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner made comments about the life and legacy of her late husband. @JacquiHeinrich pic.twitter.com/DQL3nJeHdJ
— Sunday Briefing (@SundayBriefFNC) May 24, 2026
Sanders has not backed away from his endorsement of Platner at all, despite these and other controversial statements. Not even the candidate’s Nazi tattoo caused the Vermont lawmaker to change his mind.
Sanders proudly posted Sunday on X, “On our way to Bangor, Maine for a rally with [Platner],” adding, “We need candidates like Graham who will take on the greed of the oligarchs and deliver for working families.”
On our way to Bangor, Maine for a rally with @grahamformaine.
The crises facing our country are too serious for establishment politics and tinkering around the edges.
We need candidates like Graham who will take on the greed of the oligarchs and deliver for working families. pic.twitter.com/NArAk4EImM
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 24, 2026
Sanders posted a picture of himself holding up Platner’s hand at the rally.
A full house in Orono, ME last night for a Fighting Oligarchy rally. Thanks to Graham & Troy for joining me—tonight we’ll be in Portland.
Americans are tired of the status quo and want REAL change.
They want leaders to take on billionaires and fight for working families. pic.twitter.com/kEOI3YsHUH
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 25, 2026
Fox News reported that Massachusetts’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren has not pulled her endorsement either after appearing at a campaign rally with Platner last month, where she called him “my kind of man.”
Elizabeth Warren on the Nazi tattooed Graham Platner: “That’s my kind of man.” pic.twitter.com/SrihBYJdVw
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 18, 2026
Fox News reported that Warren declined to comment when confronted with past statements the Democrat candidate made about Daniels and Kyle.
Now, if Platner were a Republican, the drumbeat against him from the likes of Sanders and Warren would be nonstop. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.
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