“Walk A Mile In My Legs”: Sen. Tammy Duckworth Claps Back At Tucker Carlson

Carlson suggested that Duckworth, a U.S. Army veteran who lost both of her legs while serving in Iraq, “hates America.”

Getty Images / Tammy Duckworth and Tucker Carlson
Getty Images / Tammy Duckworth and Tucker Carlson

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient who lost both her legs while serving in Iraq, hit back at right-wing Fox News host Tucker Carlson after he called her “unimpressive” and said that she hates America. 

 

“Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?” Duckworth (D-IL) asked in a tweet on Monday.

On his show Monday, Carlson attacked Duckworth, who said during a CNN interview Sunday that the country should have “a national dialogue” regarding whether monuments around the country of America’s Founding Fathers with controversial pasts, like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, should be removed.

"You're not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military. Most people just ignore her. But when Duckworth does speak in public, you're reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is," said Carlson, whose history of caustic and controversial takes has prompted advertisers to pull out from his show.

"It's long been considered out of bounds to question a person's patriotism. It's a very strong charge and we try not ever to make it,” Carlson continued. "But in the face of all this, the conclusion can't be avoided: These people actually hate America. There's no longer a question about that."

In 2004, the helicopter Duckworth was co-piloting was hit by an RPG, or rocket-propelled grenade, and she lost her legs and partial use of her right arm. After she recovered, she became Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and was later appointed Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the Obama administration. She was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, becoming the second Asian-American woman to win a Senate seat and the first woman with disabilities to do so. She also became the first senator to give birth while holding office when her daughter Maile was born.

Duckworth has also been an advocate for Democratic patriotism — something that is frequently questioned among Republicans. When Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R) in January claimed during a Fox news interview that Democrats were “in love with terrorists,” Duckworth countered during a CNN appearance, “I left parts of my body in Iraq fighting terrorists.”

Carlson’s attack on Duckworth also came as she is being considered as a possible running mate for presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden.