Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) called former President Donald Trump “despicable” after he said the nation’s highest civilian award was “much better” than the highest honor in the military because soldiers had to die or be severely wounded to receive it.
“Donald Trump is despicable. He doesn’t deserve to be commander in chief,” Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran who lost her legs when her Black Hawk helicopter was attacked in 2004, said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “And certainly those remarks are consistent with where he’s always been. He thinks that we’re suckers and losers and, frankly, he’s not fit to be commander in chief.”
Duckworth was awarded a Purple Heart for her service and has been a fierce defender of veterans while in Congress.
Trump spoke at a campaign event in New Jersey on Thursday where he was introduced by GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson. After he took the stage, the former president praised the billionaire for her work supporting Republican causes and noted that he had awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his tenure, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian, it’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version,” Trump said, referring to the nation’s highest military decoration.
“It’s actually much better because everyone gets the congressional Medal of Honor, that’s soldiers, they’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead,” he went on.
The remarks prompted swift condemnation.
Duckworth said Trump’s latest remarks were emblematic of the country’s choice between the former president and the Harris campaign. She went on to praise Harris’ choice of running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and rejected criticism about his military record, adding that she was excited to have someone with military experience running for the office.
“American voters have a chance to choose,” the senator said Sunday. “Do they want a five-time draft dodger who denigrates military men and women and our veterans and calls us suckers and losers, who doesn’t want to have his picture taken with amputee veterans of various conflicts, to be the next commander in chief?”
“Or are you going to have Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who care deeply about veterans,” she said. “Tim Walz has been out there leading on so many issues for veterans.”