Purple Heart Vet Graham Platner Wished Death On Excoriates Him in Op-Ed: 'Tim Walz on Steroids'
The Purple Heart veteran whose combat video was trashed by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine has called the progressive darling “Tim Walz on Steroids.”
Platner has a long history of inflammatory Reddit posts, including one from June 2019 that poked fun at Pfc. Ted Daniels, who was shot four times in the clash with the Taliban, according to Fox News.
Although Daniels was awarded a Purple Heart, the since-deleted post from Platner said the American soldier did not even deserve to be alive.
“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.
“Poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible s**t decision possible when it comes to small unit combat,” he continued.
Daniels replied with an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in which he noted Platner is part of what is wrong with the Democratic Party.
“Democratic men are having an identity crisis. Maine’s Graham Platner, the party’s presumptive nominee for U.S. Senate, is a prime example. Mr. Platner presents himself as a savior for working-class Americans while his background screams the opposite and his offensive comments about fellow veterans — including me — speak poorly of his character,” he wrote.
Daniels said the veneer presented by Platner’s campaign hides reality.
“The tough-talking Marine veteran struts around in a Carhartt jacket and jeans, but recent reporting relates that he comes from a prestigious family where he had access to an elite private-school education and a lifestyle of privilege. He also plays up his job as an ‘oyster farmer,’ but the only client mentioned in his federal financial disclosure was the restaurant his mother owns,” he wrote.
“My father, who died of cancer several years ago, would have had a field day with Mr. Platner. He was always talking about the ‘spoiled,’ ‘rich kid’ politicians who came out to job sites to get votes and take pictures. Dad would comment on the work boots they wore, boots that never saw a day of work, and their Carhartt jackets, which still had creases from being on the shelf at the Tractor Supply Co. store,” he wrote.
“Flannel shirt and all, Graham Platner is Tim Walz on steroids. An entitled brat who campaigns with socialist Bernie Sanders.”
Platner, Daniels continued, is “a typical elitist who believes blue-collar, hardworking, salt-of-the-earth rural Americans are stupid and racist.”
“I couldn’t care less about the comments he made about me, but they are a reflection of his character. I never thought I’d see the day when Democrats would even consider backing a candidate like this,” he wrote.
Platner has refused to apologize for the comment, and Daniels told Fox News that’s just fine with him.
“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,” he said.
“There’s zero to no respect for a self-proclaimed communist,” Daniels said.
“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.”
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