illinois senator draws fire for racially charged attack on opponent<u+2019>s family alexandra jaffe and traci g. lee, nbc news, october 28, 2016 




illinois sen. mark kirk is again under fire for making racially-charged comments, this time for questioning the military service of his democratic opponent<u+2019>s family. 




during thursday night<u+2019>s debate between kirk and challenger rep. tammy duckworth, duckworth spoke about her desire to be in the senate as a voice of reason and referenced her family<u+2019>s history of service, saying, <u+201c>my family has served this nation in uniform, going back to the revolution. i<u+2019>m a daughter of the american revolution. i<u+2019>ve bled for this nation. but i still want to be there in the senate when the drums of war sound. because people are quick to sound the drums of war, and i want to be there to say this is what it costs, this is what you<u+2019>re asking us to do. . . . families like mine are the ones that bleed first.<u+201d> 




kirk responded: <u+201c>i had forgotten that your parents came all the way from thailand to serve george washington.<u+201d> tammy duckworth is a vet who lost both legs in iraq. her family has served since the revolutionary war. and yet<u+2026> pic.twitter.com/dhd3kwrusn 




<u+2014> anthony breznican (@breznican) october 28, 2016 




though duckworth, who was born in thailand to a thai mother of chinese descent and an american father, did not respond on the stage, she tweeted a photo after the debate of herself with her parents<u+2013>her father displaying medals of service on his coat. <u+201c>my mom is an immigrant and my dad and his family have served this nation in uniform since the revolution,<u+201d> duckworth wrote. 




duckworth<u+2019>s late father, franklin, served in world war ii and has <u+201c>traced his lineage back to an ancestor who fought in the american revolution,<u+201d> according to a 2012 mother jones profile on duckworth<u+2019>s run for congress. 




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on friday, kirk tried to tamp down the backlash and tweeted <u+201c>sincere apologies to an american hero.<u+201d> 




it<u+2019>s not the first time the illinois senator has courted controversy with racially-charged comments<u+2013>he previously said president obama was <u+201c>acting like the drug dealer in chief<u+201d> for the administration<u+2019>s cash payment to iran in exchange for the release of american prisoners, and talked about fostering opportunities for african-american entrepreneurs so <u+201c>that the black community is not the one we drive faster through.<u+201d> 




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illinois senator draws fire for racially charged attack on opponent<u+2019>s family
henry wolff