Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is facing backlash over deleted Reddit posts in which he disparaged Army soldiers and military officers. In posts from 2019, Platner described the Army as an awful organization 'full of fat, lazy trash' and said it attracts a lower standard of person. He also wrote that officers were 'gay' in a comment made before the Army Navy football game.

Platner, who previously served in the Marine Corps and later in the Maryland Army National Guard, also mocked a wounded Army soldier who received the Purple Heart after being shot during a firefight in Afghanistan. Referring to helmet camera footage of the incident, Platner wrote that the soldier did not deserve to live and insulted his actions under fire. The comments were later downvoted by other users.

The posts, made under a username he deleted before launching his Senate campaign, add to scrutiny over other remarks in which he called himself a communist, insulted rural white Americans, and criticized prominent veterans and political figures. Platner has made his military service central to his campaign while also saying he did not do anything good for America while in uniform. His campaign did not respond to requests for comment.