Graham Platner, the Democrat’s presumptive nominee for in Maine, described the United States Army as “absolute trash” and “full of fat, lazy trash who would rather not be in uniform” in posts on his now-deleted Reddit account.
“I spent another 4 in the Army after the Corps, and while I was very lucky to serve in some sh–t hot units with good dudes, as a whole the organization is absolute trash,” Platner wrote in April 2019. “I am not one to totally bad mouth the Army. It does have some squared away fighting units and good guys, as well as some better doctrine here and there. But it is absolutely lacking in the warrior ethos and leadership obsession that the Corps has, and generally attracts a lower standard of person.”
The resurfaced posts include a separate 2019 comment about wounded Army veteran Teddy Daniels, who was shot by the Taliban and later awarded the Purple Heart. In that post, Platner criticized Daniels battlefield tactics and wrote that the “dumb motherf—er didnt deserve to live.”
Platners comments about Daniels and other now-deleted Reddit posts â including posts in which demeaned white rural Americans and identified as a Marxist â have become a major campaign issue in the Maine Senate race, where he seeks to unseat GOP incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.
Platner served in the Marine Corps and the Maryland Army National Guard, where he completed multiple combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is not uncommon for members of one branch of the armed forces to be harshly critical of other branches. Â
“The Army does things differently, and as a whole, they do things much worse,” Platner wrote in March 2019. “As an organization its awful. Full of fat, lazy trash who would rather not be in uniform.”
Platner wasnt exclusively negative, as he praised the Army for having “some solid light infantry, reconnaissance, and SOF units that are s— hot, as well as access to some great schools.”
He was also open about the necessity of internal criticism within the armed forces.
“Civilians can be as dumb f–k ret—ed as they want, but WE have a duty to be brutally honest,” Platner wrote in 2013. “I want civilians to think our ability to fight is unmatched, but I also want us to be brutal in our internal criticism.”
The Washington Free Beacon first reported on Platners disparaging comments directed towards the Army.
The posts were made under the Reddit account “P-Hustle,” which Platner has previously acknowledged as his.
“Im sorry for this. Just know that its not reflective at all of who I am,” Platner said of his resurfaced Reddit posts back in October. “I dont want you to judge me on the dumbest thing I ever wrote on the internet. I would prefer if people could judge me on the person I am today.”
In 2019, Platner reacted to a video of an American soldier being shot by the Taliban by stating that the “dumb motherf—er .” Platners post criticized the soldier, who was later awarded the Purple Heart, for utilizing poor tactics.
The Senate hopefuls commentary has attracted criticism from some other .
“We don’t make jokes about our brothers and sisters dying, that’s not something we do, that’s not normal,” Adam Schwarze, a veteran running for Senate as a Republican in Minnesota, said of Platner.
Platner trauma he developed from being deployed to the Middle East, as well as the “crude humor” he had gotten used to while in the Marines.
The Senate hopefuls controversial statements about the havent been confined to Reddit.
During a 2024 , Platner implied that deceased Navy SEAL Chris Kyle killed civilians to inflate his numbers.
“[Kyle’s] stories about how many people he was shooting certainly tracked with the behavi
