WASHINGTON — The heroic Purple Heart-winning Army veteran, whom Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner sneered as not deserving to live in a screed on his burner Reddit account, tore into the Democrats for continuing to back the candidate.
Pfc. Ted Daniels, who captured viral helmet footage of himself moving into open terrain to draw Taliban fire away from his squad in 2012, said Democrats backing Platner owe his children an apology.
“I’m very thick-skinned, and he said it,” Daniels told The Post. “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 Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, 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.”
Daniels had gone viral in 2012 over heart-pounding footage of himself out in the open on a ridge in Afghanistan with bullets flying all around him, trying to create an opening for his seven fellow soldiers.
At the time, he was a 37-year-old father of two children.
Ultimately, he was hit four times, but all members of his squad survived the chilling firefight. Later, he was awarded the Purple Heart for sustaining injuries.
About seven years ago, Platner, a Marine veteran, sneered at Daniels from his “P-Hustle” Reddit account.
“This video never gets old. Dumb mother—er didn’t deserve to live. At least his stupidity and fat ass wheezing are available for all future infantrymen to witness and hold in contempt,” Platner, then a 34-year-old, chided on his burner Reddit account.
The Post has verified Platner’s remarks using Pull Push. Platner has mass-deleted his Reddit account history. The Post reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment.
Daniels, who ran for Congress and later for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor as a Republican years ago, tore into Platner for his attacks against the late “American Sniper” Chris Kyle and Vice President JD Vance over their military service.
Platner had bashed Vance for sitting “in an air conditioned office” and accused Kyle of slaughtering civilians to boost his kill count.
“I don’t understand the abhorrent malcontent for veterans that went out there and served honorably. That gets me,” Daniels vented. “It’s extremely odd that he does stuff like that.”
The Maine Democrat, who had other Reddit posts defending soldiers who urinated on dead Taliban bodies and gushing over war, was recently confronted on his slights towards veterans.
“I did four tours in the infantry; any attempt to say that I disrespect veterans is slanderous and offensive,” Platner told Fox News when pressed. “Do you know how many of my friends have Purple Hearts?”
He declined to apologize.
Daniels, who remains modest about his sacrifice and stands at a towering 6′ 4″, chided that Platner would be unlikely to trash-talk his service to his face.
“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 mused.
Daniels recalled going through intense surgery from his injuries and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time fighting for America.
Despite his frustrations with Platner’s swipes against veterans, Daniels feels he still deserves credit for the sacrifices he made for America.
“I’m not going to come after Graham Platner and his service,” Daniels said. “He’s still a brother. Okay, were his comments way out of line? Sure. Do I lose sleep over it? No, absolutely not.”
“There’s a lot of folks out there who feel jaded that other veterans they feel got unfair or undue attention due to their service, and they didn’t get any.”
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