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Veterans are ripping Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner after resurfaced posts showed him calling the Army “full of fat, lazy trash” and mocking a soldier who was shot multiple times in combat before receiving a Purple Heart.
“I am a decorated veteran, and people need to understand what serving in the Army cost me: congestive heart failure, bilateral hearing loss, COPD, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism and PTSD,” Holland “Ricky” White, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, told Fox News Digital.
The 173rd Airborne Brigade, also known as “The Herd,” was one of the first ground combat units to deploy to Vietnam, where it endured some of the war’s most intense fighting.
“I understand ridicule better than most. I was ridiculed not only as a Vietnam veteran, but as a black man as well,” White continued. “I lost friends over there, and it still hurts to talk about them. I often ask God, ‘Why did You spare me and not my friends?’ I believe God wasn’t done with me when I came home, and that’s why I continue trying to make a difference today.”
“That is why comments like Graham’s are so offensive,” White said.
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The backlash adds to a mounting controversy over Platner’s deleted Reddit account as the veteran-turned-oyster farmer seeks to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in one of the nation’s most closely watched 2026 Senate races. Platner has leaned heavily on his military background in pitching himself to Maine voters, but the resurfaced posts threaten to derail his campaign as his use of slurs, embrace of socialism and criticism of the armed forces come under scrutiny.
Perhaps Platner’s most controversial Reddit post came in 2019 when he sharply criticized a soldier who was shot multiple times by the Taliban 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,” Platner wrote on Reddit, reacting to combat footage another user had posted. “Poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home.”
The video that Platner was commenting on came from the helmet cam of U.S. Army veteran Ted Daniels, who was shot four times and awarded the Purple Heart.
“As a Purple Heart recipient myself – having been wounded for my country, I find his comments to be especially vile,” Steve, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who has built a large social media following, told Fox News Digital. “Mocking a fellow American that took enemy fire, to protect his squad shows a lack of basic understanding of brotherhood and selfless service.”
Steve requested that Fox News Digital withhold his last name for privacy reasons.
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Platner expressed a general distaste for the Army in his deleted forum posts.
“I spent another 4 in the Army after the Corps, and while I was very lucky to serve in some sh–t hot units with good dudes, as a whole the organization is absolute trash,” Platner wrote in April 2019. “As an organization it’s awful. Full of fat, lazy trash who would rather not be in uniform.”
“A Senator who calls soldiers ‘trash’ and mocks a man’s Purple Heart has shown who he really is,” Bill Brown, a retired Navy SEAL who served in Iraq, told Fox News Digital. “A Senator votes to send soldiers to war, confirms the generals who lead them, and funds the equipment that protects them. Platner’s own words in his deleted post prove he can’t be trusted to do right by those that protect us.”
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“Being a veteran does not make someone honorable. Honor is how you carry yourself, how you treat others, and how you speak about those who served beside you. In this case, the uniform may have been earned, but respect clearly was not,” Kate Monroe, the CEO of VETCOMM and a Marine Corps veteran, told Fox News Digital.
John Rourke, a retired Army staff sergeant who saw combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom, seconded Monroe’s sentiments, saying that Platner’s mockery doesn’t “make him edgy or tough” but “a disgrace to the uniform.”
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Some of Platner’s possible future colleagues in the Senate who served in the armed forces have also condemned his comments.
“As a combat veteran, I’ve seen the cost of war up close. I’ve watched brave Americans come home with wounds, visible and invisible, that they’ll carry for the rest of their lives,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital. “Mocking servicemembers for getting wounded or killed is absolutely despicable. These are our brothers and sisters, people who volunteered to put everything on the line for this country.”
Ernst served 23 years in the Army Reserve and Iowa Army National Guard, including as a company commander in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
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“Platner’s comments about American servicemembers are disgraceful, but it’s what we should expect from a communist with a Nazi tattoo,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital.
Cotton served as an Army infantry officer with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Let’s see the courageous Democrat vets defend this one … can’t wait to hear it,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a retired Navy SEAL, said of Platner’s remarks.
Fox News Digital reached the offices of some Democratic veterans serving in the Senate on Friday. None responded to requests for comment.
The Platner campaign also did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
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“The motto and ethos of the Marine Corps is Semper Fidelis – always faithful. This means fidelity to Marines and fellow service members,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan, told Fox News Digital.
“This guy has failed that test.”
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