Platner called PTSD excuse 'bull----' in 2020 post, now cites his own struggle to explain online controversies
Democrat Graham Platner has leaned into his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to explain a bevy of incendiary social media posts prior to his Senate run in which he...
By Fox News · Fox News
Democrat Graham Platner has leaned into his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to explain a bevy of incendiary social media posts prior to his Senate run in which he justified political violence and insulted law enforcement. But the progressive darling suggested PTSD and the trauma from multiple combat deployments are not an excuse for offensive behavior in a since-deleted post obtained by Fox News Digital. Platner, 41, made the comment on the Reddit forum r/SocialistRA in 2020, five years before emerging as a potent challenger to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in November’s midterm elections. Using a handle that did not identify him, Platner criticized a report in the Portland Press Herald about two former police officers who admitted to killing porcupines with their batons while on duty. One officer, a Marine veteran who was deployed to Afghanistan, attributed his actions to PTSD from his overseas deployment. DELETED POSTS URGING VIOLENCE HAUNT DEMOCRATIC SENATE HOPEFUL IN MAINE RACE "Don’t buy into that bull----. I did 4 tours in the infantry to Iraq and Afghanistan, saw all kinds of awful things, have a PTSD diagnosis and STILL manage not to beat defenseless animals to death for fun," Platner, a Marine and Army veteran and oyster farmer, wrote in a social media post. "That’s just cops giving excuses for their garbage behavior," he added. Platner’s activity on the subreddit r/SocialistRA and other Reddit forums was first reported by CNN. All of the Reddit posts were deleted months prior to the left-wing populist launching his Senate run. Throughout the campaign, Platner has sought to tie his past offensive remarks to PTSD he developed after multiple overseas deployments, which he has called the darkest chapter of his life. He has argued the statements are not representative of who he is today, but reflect someone who was "having a very difficult time settling into a society that he felt betrayed by and left behind by after having a fight in Iraq a…