Rob O'Neill, the retired Navy SEAL credited with killing Osama bin Laden, ripped Graham Platner after a deleted Reddit post resurfaced showing Maine's Democratic U.S. Senate candidate mocking Pfc. Ted Daniels, a Purple Heart recipient.
🚨 UPDATE: The NAVY SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden just EVISCERATED Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner for disgustingly saying an American troop should've been KILLED by the Taliban
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 22, 2026
DEFEAT THIS TRASH, MAINE!
"Every single time you fight is for the man next to… pic.twitter.com/ZerhkDnz9C
O'Neill called the comments “completely barbaric” and said that Platner doesn't belong in the Senate, especially when that Senate candidate mocked a soldier who nearly died protecting his squad.
Taliban fighters shot Daniels several times in Afghanistan in 2012 while shielding his unit. Years later, Platner's Reddit account mocked Daniel's survival, sneered at his breathing, blamed bad Taliban marksmanship, and said that Daniels didn't deserve to live, as Fox News reported.
Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s deleted Reddit account has continued to cause headaches for his campaign in recent months, and a recently resurfaced post appearing to mock a U.S. soldier almost killed in combat is stirring up more controversy.
"This video never gets old," the Reddit account "P-Hustle" — which Platner has acknowledged he owned — posted in June 2019, in reference to a viral video from the helmet cam of Pfc. Ted Daniels taken during a clash with Taliban fighters in 2012 that ended in Daniels being shot four times. He earned a Purple Heart for his injuries.
"Dumb motherf----- 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. Poor marksmanship on the Taliban's part is the only reason this mouthbreather made it home, he managed to make every possible s--- decision possible when it comes to small unit combat."
The post was deleted but can be found on the Maine Monitor’s database of Platner’s deleted Reddit history.
There isn't any magic in the world to polish a résumé that changes those words into “edgy commentary.”
Platner is an adult and a veteran who should've known better.
Platner apologized and pointed to PTSD, depression, and four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mental wounds deserve serious treatment, but voters don't have to surrender judgment. Plenty of veterans have suffered without mocking a wounded American soldier who bled while under enemy fire.
Platner's problems didn't end with that single deleted post; other Reddit comments tied to him included anti-police remarks, communist self-description, crude sexual commentary, and earlier controversy over a Nazi tattoo. The tattoo, he claims, was a result of being drunk, and he covered it.
One scandal bruises a campaign; a string of them looks like a character inventory nobody read before Democratic machinery treated him as Maine's next rural populist hope.
The silence from the Democrats is deafening.
DNC Chair Ken Martin, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) can usually find a microphone in a black hole when President Donald Trump orders lunch, boards a plane, or takes a deep breath.
Party leaders have produced little thunder over a Democratic Senate candidate mocking a Purple Heart recipient. Evidently, they believe silence feels safer than explaining how Platner reached such a serious political perch.
Holy cats, did the DNC shoot themselves in the foot? Because Maine Democrats wanted an anti-establishment fighter, Gov. Janet Mills dropped her U.S. Senate bid on April 30 after struggling to compete financially. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) remains vulnerable, and a recent poll shared by Spectrum News had Platner leading Collins 48% to 41%, with 11% undecided.
A new poll shows presumptive U.S. Senate Democratic nominee Graham Platner seven points ahead of Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a key race with national implications.
The Pan Atlantic Omnibus Poll shows Platner at 48%, Collins at 41%, with 11% undecided. The poll was conducted May 8-18 and is based on a sample of 827 likely voters with a margin of error of 3.7%.
When broken down by congressional district, Collins leads Platner in the 2nd District 45% to 41%, while in the 1st District, Platner leads Collins 56% to 36%, the poll shows.
The race narrowed to a likely matchup between Collins and Platner on April 30 when Gov. Janet Mills, a two-term Democrat, dropped out of the June 9 primary against Platner. Mills cited a lack of money as the primary reason, although polling showed her trailing Platner by a wide margin.
Those numbers explain why the Democrats are wandering around the stage, either looking at the sky or at their watches. A Senate seat is still a Senate seat, and standards often grow flexible when power sits nearby.
O'Neill's anger landed because he cut through the fog, expressing the feelings of many of us. Veterans can argue about wars, parties, policies, presidents, generals, lawmakers, and missions. Mocking a wounded soldier who took enemy fire for his squad entirely crosses another line. Platner can ask voters to forgive him, but he cannot ask decent people to pretend his words were harmless.
Unless Platner drops out, he puts the people of Maine in an awkward position. His candidacy creates a situation in which Mainers must choose between character and party.
It's a binary choice.
The silence around Graham Platner says plenty, even without a press release. PJ Media VIP keeps independent coverage alive, and use promo code FIGHT for 60% off.
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