Purple Heart Veteran Fires Back After Maine Candidate Refuses to Apologize for Mocking Him, Dismisses PTSD Defense
A Purple Heart veteran who was the target of online attacks from Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has pushed back forcefully after Platner refused to express regret or offer an apology when confronted over the weekend.
“I saw the video and honestly, I don’t want an apology. I don’t need an apology. I consider the source of where the comment came from, and I’m the type of person that — in order for me to worry about what you say — first I have to respect you,” said Teddy Daniels, a former Republican candidate for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and U.S. Army veteran. “There’s zero-to-no respect for a self-proclaimed communist. You know, the ironic thing is, some guys run towards gunfire and other guys run toward keyboards, and I think that’s a big difference.”
The controversy stems from a since-deleted Reddit post from June 2019 under the username “P-Hustle,” which Platner has acknowledged owning. In the post, he reacted to a viral helmet-cam video showing Daniels being shot four times during a 2012 firefight with Taliban insurgents. “This video never gets old,” Platner wrote, adding that Daniels “didn’t deserve to live” and blaming the Taliban’s “poor marksmanship” for his survival.
Platner, who has described himself as a “communist” and “socialist” in other resurfaced posts, has also faced backlash for using homophobic slurs and praising Hamas military tactics. In a separate unearthed interview, he suggested that “American Sniper” Chris Kyle killed civilians to inflate his kill count, a claim that Daniels dismissed as born of jealousy.
“This was an interview that he was doing where he said this, so this was premeditated,” Daniels said. “There was no trigger there for him except for the fact that Chris Kyle was a man 100 times greater than Grant Platner and shoes that he could never, ever fill.”
Daniels added that if anyone deserves an apology, it is Kyle’s widow and children — and his own children. “I believe he owes them an apology to their face,” he said.
Platner has previously cited his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder as an explanation for the inflammatory posts, a defense that Daniels, himself a combat veteran with PTSD and over 20 surgeries, rejected outright.
“I think Graham Platner is using his PTSD as a crutch, as a means to avoid accountability for his actions,” Daniels said. “I have PTSD, obviously, from my tour. I’ve had 20-plus surgeries to get fixed after my tour and enduring the pain and recovery after each one of those surgeries. So I could understand how there might be moments, small, minute moments in time to where your PTSD may cause you to say something or do something that is out of character. But this appears to be a continuing course of conduct with Graham Platner, and he is trying to blame [PTSD], which I think is insulting to every service member who actually suffers from PTSD. Or anybody for that case who suffers with PTSD. He’s trying to use PTSD as a crutch, as an excuse to avoid accountability. And that’s just wrong, the first step of being a man is taking responsibility and accountability for your actions and your words and we’re just not seeing that here.”
Some Platner supporters have defended the posts as “locker room talk” or examples of dark military humor. Daniels rejected that framing, saying the comments go far beyond acceptable banter.
“Graham Platner and his privileged background wouldn’t know the first thing about locker room talk,” Daniels said. “Listen, I get that guys can be crude, rude, inner-service rivalries, whatever the case is, but the stuff that this guy put out there publicly is beyond locker room talk. It is just vile and disgusting.”
The incident has become a flashpoint in Maine’s Senate race, with veterans’ groups and military advocates condemning Platner’s remarks and his refusal to apologize. Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Original reporting by Fox News Digital.