A decorated combat veteran is reportedly speaking out after a Democratic Senate candidate from Maine refused to apologize for inflammatory online comments targeting a fellow serviceman wounded in battle.
Ted Daniels, a Purple Heart recipient who survived being shot four times during a 2012 firefight with the Taliban, blasted Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner after resurfaced Reddit posts revealed the Democrat mocking Daniels’ actions during combat and suggesting he “didn’t deserve to live.”
The comments, which were later deleted but acknowledged by Platner as authentic, centered around footage showing Daniels under heavy enemy fire in Afghanistan. In the video, Daniels can be heard saying he had been hit after exposing himself to draw Taliban fire away from fellow soldiers trapped by machine gun rounds.
According to Daniels, his squad had been pinned down during the firefight, and he moved into the open so others could reach safety. The moment, which nearly cost him his life, later became the subject of Platner’s harsh online attack.
“Dumb mother f*cker didn’t deserve to live,” Platner wrote under the Reddit account tied to him. He went on to accuse Daniels of making “every possible shit decision possible when it comes to small unit combat,” adding that “poor marksmanship on the Taliban’s part” was the only reason the wounded veteran survived the encounter.
The remarks have sparked outrage, especially given Daniels’ military service and the severity of the injuries he sustained while deployed overseas during America’s long war in Afghanistan — a conflict that left many American families carrying scars long after the fighting faded from the headlines.
Speaking with Fox News Digital this week, Daniels made clear he had no interest in hearing an apology from Platner.
“I don’t want an apology. I don’t need an apology,” Daniels said during an interview highlighted Wednesday on America Reports by anchor John Roberts.
Daniels said any apology from Platner would mean little because he has no respect for the Democratic candidate.
“I’m the type of person that in order for me to worry about what you say, first I have to respect you,” Daniels explained. “And there’s zero-to-no respect for a self-proclaimed communist.”
The veteran also pushed back on any attempt to dismiss the comments as crude banter or edgy online behavior, arguing the statements crossed far beyond the boundaries of normal political discourse.
“The stuff that this guy put out there publicly is beyond locker room talk,” Daniels said. “It is just vile and disgusting.”
Platner’s refusal to apologize over the weekend only intensified scrutiny surrounding the controversy, particularly as voters weigh the conduct and judgment of candidates seeking public office.
The episode has also reopened painful reminders of the human cost of America’s overseas wars. While political fights often rage online from a safe distance, Daniels’ story serves as a reminder that the consequences of combat are real — measured not in internet arguments, but in blood, trauma, and lives forever changed on distant battlefields.
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