‘American Sniper’ Widow Torches Graham Platner For Smearing Late Husband

The widow of the late American hero Chris Kyle ripped into Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner for disparaging her dead husband. 

Taya Kyle told Fox News on Sunday that Platner was “cowardly” for lying about her late husband, and accused the Democrat of using a “cheap political trick” to distract from Platner’s controversies. 

In a resurfaced podcast episode, Platner in 2024 suggested Kyle, the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history, intentionally killed civilians to inflate his sniper kill count. Kyle was murdered in 2013 by a veteran suffering from PTSD he was trying to help.

“To me, nothing says, ‘I want attention’ more than disparaging a national hero who’s also dead,” Taya said. “It’s transparent, it’s cowardly, it’s lowbrow to lie about somebody else, and it distracts from … I think some things that he has said.”

“It’s this cheap political trick to say, ‘Ya know, I haven’t done a whole lot, so let me attach my name to somebody who’s beloved, and if nothing else, I’ll get out in the news,'” the widow continued. “And that’s working for him to get that notoriety. But to me, it shows a total inability to lead with character. So for me, he would be out of the running immediately.”

Platner’s comments have hurt the Kyle family, Taya said. “My kids are 21 and 20 — they’re grown adults, and I wish I could tell you that it doesn’t hurt, but it does.”

Taya added that it’s “obvious” to her family that Platner did not know her late husband, yet still made his disparaging remarks. “I can’t imagine anyone voting for someone like that,” she said.

Robert O’Neill, the Navy SEAL credited with killing Osama bin Laden, recently sounded off on Platner’s comments, calling the candidate jealous.

“That would just stem from jealousy, maybe because Chris Kyle’s name became famous for a whole bunch of confirmed kills,” O’Neill said. “The jealousy is there. I’ve seen the jealousy too, but professional jealousy, stuff like this is really, really rare between veterans.”

Platner is also taking heat over resurfaced Reddit comments showing the candidate mocking Purple Heart recipient Ted Daniels and saying he “didn’t deserve to live” following a brutal firefight in Afghanistan.

Daniels recently told the New York Post he wants liberal lawmakers like Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to explain to his children why they are backing a candidate who mocked the possibility of their father being killed in combat.

Additionally, Platner has been criticized for resurfaced images allegedly showing the Democrat with a Nazi-linked tattoo.

Related: Purple Heart Hero Mocked By Graham Platner Has One Question For Dems