Graham Platner Targets American Sniper in May 2024 Podcast Remarks

Graham Platner put american sniper back at the center of his Senate race with remarks that tied Chris Kyle’s kill stories to what he said he witnessed in Ramadi. The Maine candidate said in a May 2024 podcast interview that Kyle’s accounts tracked with his own experience in Iraq.

Platner said, “[Kyle's] stories about how many people he was shooting certainly tracked with the behavior I witnessed [in Ramadi],” and added, “It's relatively easy to get high numbers like that if you're a little less discriminating in your fire than, say, a more professional unit would be.” He also said he “didn't know who these guys were” until after reading Kyle’s autobiography.

Ramadi and Task Unit Bruiser

Platner made the comments on Green Beret Chronicle Show, where he claimed members of Task Unit Bruiser shot unarmed civilians from their position at the Government Center in Ramadi. He said he almost felt like a weird practical joke was being played on him by the war, and he called the SEALs heroes narrative the “exact opposite” of his experience.

The allegation lands in a race against Sen. Susan Collins, whom Platner criticized by saying, “Susan Collins voted to send me to Iraq.” Collins joined the bipartisan majority on the 2002 Iraq war authorization vote, which passed 77-23. Platner deployed to Ramadi in 2006 after joining the Marines in 2004.

Kyle, the book, the film

Kyle published American Sniper in 2012, and he was murdered at his Texas ranch in 2013 by a former Marine he had taken under his wing while the man suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Clint Eastwood’s 2014 film American Sniper starred Bradley Cooper and was nominated for six Academy Awards.

The bruising part for Platner is that the Bruiser allegations never went through an official investigation, leaving his comments to sit alongside an already volatile record rather than a settled one. Seth Hettena built on the allegations in 2024 after interviewing more ex-Marines, and Jocko Willink has strenuously denied any improper conduct and threatened to sue him.

Platner has now made American Sniper part of his campaign risk, not just his war story. The remarks are the kind of thing that can harden opposition fast in a Senate race, and they also keep attention on allegations that have stayed in the realm of accusation rather than adjudication.