Mark Kirk under fire for comments about Tammy Duckworth's Thai heritage
Source: USA Today
Republican Sen. Mark Kirk is under fire after making a biting reference to his challengers ethnic heritage during Thursday nights Illinois Senate debate.
At one point in the debate, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who is leading in the incumbent in several polls, touted her familys history of military service. The two-term Democratic lawmaker was born in Bangkok. Her mother is an immigrant of Chinese descent and her father, who served as a U.S. Marine, is of British heritage. She also noted she is a Daughter of the American Revolution through her father's side of the family.
Kirk responded, I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington.
After an awkward pause, Duckworth responded that she was proud of both my fathers side and my mothers side as an immigrant.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/10/28/mark-kirk-under-fire-comments-tammy-duckworths-thai-heritage/92879442/
From wiki
Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004.[8] She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee[10] from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.[11] She was the first female double amputee from the Iraq war.[1] The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it".[12] The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm.[12] Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal.[11] She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.[13] She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015.
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)A sure democratic pickup as there is
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,001 posts)mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)Senator Duckworth is speaking!
hatrack
(59,585 posts)How about "deployed a bullshit bomb"?
How about "stepped on his already-flat dick"?
How about "went out of his way to try and insult a woman whose briefcase he isn't fit to carry"?
Blue Idaho
(5,049 posts)That's the headline they should be running...
MyOwnPeace
(16,926 posts)as "Headline Editor" for coverage of some of these ignorant racists!
Blue Idaho
(5,049 posts)lapfog_1
(29,199 posts)under fire? I doubt he would even get that reference or how ironic that this headline is applied to him.
George II
(67,782 posts).....that he screwed up "bigly". But he's republican, so it'll take an act of God for an apology.
sheshe2
(83,754 posts)they double down.
Bibliovore
(185 posts)Apparently he apologized at 9:20 this morning.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/303288-kirk-apologizes-for-questioning-duckworths-heritage
https://twitter.com/MarkKirk/status/792038214877839364
sheshe2
(83,754 posts)However nothing will stop the bleeding.
Thanks for the update, Bibliovore.
Cha
(297,196 posts)what a stupid thing to think much less say at a freaking debate.
malthaussen
(17,194 posts)... but no sons? As a male with two ancestors who served in the Pennsylvania Line, I protest this blatant sexism!
-- Mal
Bibliovore
(185 posts)https://www.sar.org/
and also Sons of the Revolution:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_the_Revolution
http://www.sr1776.org/
Not sure why one hears so much more about the Daughters. Maybe they do more visible things.