<p>The heroic Army veteran at the center of a nasty controversy involving Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner is now speaking out, and he says the Democrats still backing Platner owe his children an explanation.</p>
<p>According to the New York Post, Purple Heart recipient Ted Daniels blasted top Democrats for continuing to support Platner after resurfaced Reddit comments showed the candidate mocking Daniels and saying he “didn’t deserve to live” following a brutal firefight in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The controversy around Platner has only intensified after online critics also resurfaced images allegedly showing the Democrat with a Nazi-linked tattoo, fueling even more backlash surrounding the campaign.</p>
<p>Daniels, whose helmet-cam footage from a 2012 Taliban ambush went massively viral years ago, told the Post he doesn’t even want an apology from Platner anymore because it wouldn’t feel genuine.</p>
<p>Instead, he said he wants liberal lawmakers like Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and Hakeem Jeffries to explain to his kids why they are backing a candidate who mocked the possibility of their father being killed in combat.</p>
<p>Daniels went viral years ago after helmet-cam footage showed him sprinting into open fire during a Taliban ambush while bullets ripped around him.</p>
<div id="attachment_1101357" style="width: 804px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101357" class="wp-image-1101357 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-794x576.webp" alt="" width="794" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-794x576.webp 794w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-300x218.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886-768x557.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/www-youtube-com-watch-v-128305259_04f886.webp 1434w" sizes=" (max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1101357" class="wp-caption-text">FUNKER530 / YouTube</p></div>
<p>He was reportedly hit four times while trying to pull enemy fire away from the rest of his squad.</p>
<p>Every member of his team survived, and Daniels later received a Purple Heart for his injuries.</p>
<p>Years later, Platner, now the presumptive Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, allegedly mocked Daniels on a burner Reddit account, calling him a “dumb motherf*cker” and saying he should not have survived.</p>
<div id="attachment_1101359" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1101359" class="wp-image-1101359 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2276754943-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /><p id="caption-attachment-1101359" class="wp-caption-text">(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)</p></div>
<p>The <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/24/us-news/purple-heart-vet-graham-platner-said-deserved-to-die-slams-dems-backing-him-say-that-to-my-face/">New York Post</a> reported that Platner has since deleted large portions of the account history.</p>
<p>Daniels also criticized Platner over past comments targeting Chris Kyle and Vice President JD Vance over their military service.</p>
<p>“I don’t understand the hatred toward veterans who served honorably,” Daniels told the New York Post. “That part gets me.”</p>
<p>Platner has defended himself by pointing to his own military service, saying accusations that he disrespects veterans are “offensive” and “slanderous.” He has not apologized for the comments.</p>
<p>Despite everything, Daniels said he is not attacking Platner’s military record and still considers him “a brother” because of his service.</p>
<p>But he also suggested it’s a lot easier to trash someone online than say those things face-to-face.</p>
<p>The controversy exploded even further after Dave Portnoy publicly torched Platner over the tattoo controversy while rejecting an apparent attempt by the campaign to get Barstool involved in an anti-private-equity Red Sox message push.</p>
<p>Portnoy blasted Platner in a private exchange. “Yeah I’d be happy to talk to him about that tattoo and him being a Nazi,” Portnoy wrote before later posting screenshots of the exchange online.</p>

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Purple Heart Hero Mocked By Graham Platner Has One Question For Dems