NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
Veterans are tearing into Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner after documents resurfaced showing him calling Soldiers “fat, lazy scum” and mocking a soldier who was shot multiple times in combat before receiving a Purple Heart.
“I’m a decorated veteran, and people need to understand what serving in the military has cost me: heart failure, bipolar disorder, 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 combat units to be deployed to Vietnam, where it endured the war’s heaviest combat.
“I understand ridicule better than most. I was not only ridiculed as a Vietnam veteran, but as a black man as well,” White continued. “I lost friends there, and it still hurts to talk about them. I often ask God, ‘Why did you save me and not my friends?’ I believe God wasn’t done with me when I got home, that’s why I keep trying to make a difference today.”
“That’s why comments like Graham’s are offensive,” White said.
PLATNER IN HOT SEAT AS MAINE VOTERS REJECT HIS ‘DEADLY’ WORDS AMID REDDIT SCANDAL
Graham Platner, who was nominated for the Senate by the incumbent Democrats in Maine, held a power event in Ellsworth, Maine on Monday May 11, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The backlash adds to the growing controversy surrounding Platner’s deleted Reddit account as the veteran-turned-oyster farmer seeks to challenge Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in one of the most watched 2026 state senate races. Platner is leaning heavily on his military background to appeal to Maine voters, but the resurgence of vacancies threatens to derail his campaign as his use of profanity, acceptance of welfare and criticism of the armed forces.
Perhaps Platner’s most controversial Reddit post came in 2019 when he criticized a soldier who was shot multiple times by the Taliban in 2012.
“The dumb mother —er didn’t deserve to live. At least her stupidity and oil a– wheezing is available for all future soldiers to witness and despise,” Platner wrote on Reddit, responding to a video posted by another user. “Disrespect on the part of the Taliban is the only reason this mouth came home.”
The video Platner was commenting on came from the helmet chamber of US 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 very offensive,” Steve, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran who is building a major social media following, told Fox News Digital. “To mock an American who has taken enemy fire, in defense of his party, shows a basic lack of understanding of brotherhood and selfless service.”
Steve asked that Fox News Digital withhold his last name for privacy reasons.
WARREN SAYS HIS ‘KIND OF MAN’ IS A LEFTIST FRIEND IS A NAZI-TATTOO, REDDIT COURTESY
Graham Platner, a US Marine and Army veteran and oyster farmer, launched a Democratic race for the US Senate in Maine in August. (Graham Platner campaign)
Platner expressed a general distaste for the Army in his removed positions on the field.
“I spent 4 more in the Army after the Corps, and while I was very fortunate to work in some hot sh–t units with good dudes, the whole organization is complete garbage,” wrote Platner in April 2019. “As an organization it’s terrible. Full of fat, lazy garbage that would rather not wear a uniform.”
“A member of the Senate 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 member of the Senate votes to send troops to war, confirms the generals who lead them, and funds the things that protect them. Platner’s own words from his ousted position prove that he cannot be trusted to do the right thing by those who protect us.”
DELETED PLATNER’S REDDIT HITS AGAIN AS SEEN LAUGHING AT WOUNDED SOLDIER: ‘HE DIDN’T DESERVE TO BE ALIVE’
Graham Platner, left, pictured next to Seni. Susan Collins, R-Maine, right. (Graeme Sloan/Getty Images; Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
“Being a veteran does not earn you respect. Respect is how you carry yourself, how you treat others, and how you talk about those who served alongside you. In this case, the uniform may have been earned, but respect was clearly not earned,” Kate Monroe, CEO of VETCOMM and a Marine Corps veteran, told Fox News Digital.
John Rourke, a retired Army sergeant who saw combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom, echoed Monroe’s sentiments, saying Platner’s taunting “doesn’t make him boring or tough” but “disgraceful to the uniform.”
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is facing renewed criticism over his deleted Reddit history. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
DEM LEFT TO SENATE CONFIDENTIAL WITH ANTIFA IN OPEN TIME: ‘KILL MAMA—ER’
Some of Platner’s potential Senate colleagues who served in the military also criticized his comments.
“As a combat veteran, I have seen the costs of war up close. I have watched brave Americans come home with wounds, visible and invisible, that they will carry for the rest of their lives,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital. “To make fun of service members for being injured or killed is really disgraceful. These are our brothers and sisters, people who are dedicated to putting everything on the line of the country.”
Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst speaking from the US Capitol. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Ernst served 23 years in the Army Reserve and the Iowa Army National Guard, including as a company commander in Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and retired as a lieutenant colonel.
MAINE SENATE LEADER BLENDS DIFFERENCE WHILE LINKED TO ‘DISTINCT’ DOCUMENTS ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT.
Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for the US Senate in Maine, points to a covered tattoo previously recognized as a Nazi symbol during an interview in Portland, Maine, on Oct. 22, 2025. (WGME via AP)
“Platner’s comments about American workers are disgraceful, but that’s what we should expect from communists with Nazi designs,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News Digital.
Cotton served as a Marine Corps officer with combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Let’s see some brave Democrat vets defend this … I can’t wait to hear it,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a retired Navy SEAL, quoted Platner as saying.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, at the US Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of some veteran Senate Democrats on Friday. No one responded to requests for comment.
The Platner campaign also did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
“The motto and motto of the Marine Corps is Semper Fidelis – always faithful. This means loyalty to the Marines and their service members,” Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan, told Fox News Digital.
“This boy failed that test.”
