Tammy Duckworth

Senator Duckworth in 2018 with daughters Maile and Abigail, via Vogue.

Tammy Duckworth (1968- ) is a US senator from Illinois. A Democrat, she has held Barack Obama’s old senate seat since 2017. In 2013 she became the first Asian American Congresswoman from Illinois. In 2004 she lost both legs fighting in the Iraq War and is the first senator to give birth while in office.

In 2020 she is reportedly on Joe Biden’s short list for vice president. It is possible she could one day become president.

And, as a woman of colour who speaks out against President Trump, she has become, like Ilhan Omar and AOC, a target of Tucker Carlson, a racist fearmonger on Fox News. He even pictured Duckworth alongside Omar as someone who wants to “tear it all down and dismantle” the US. Carlson says Duckworth hates America because she is open to the idea of a “national dialogue” about whether to take down statues of George Washington.

Carlson:

“Only someone who hates the country would suggest ripping down monuments to its founder.”

Duckworth:

“Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?”

Captain Duckworth in 2000 stands next to her UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

Duckworth was in the Army National Guard from 1992 to 2014, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. On November 12th 2004, while an army captain in the Iraq War, her Blackhawk helicopter was shot down over Baghdad. She tried to land the helicopter but part of the helicopter would not respond – because her leg was gone! She passed out as the helicopter fell out of the sky. She was almost left for dead but was saved by her army buddies – later to wake up in the hospital in agony. She lost two legs and almost an arm.

Duckworth:

“I didn’t shed blood to defend this nation, I did not give up literally parts of my body, to have the Constitution trampled on.”

Her father fought in both the Second World War and the Vietnam War. Two of her fifth great grandfathers fought under George Washington in the American Revolution. Her father’s side came from Britain in the 1600s.

Her mother is ethnically Chinese, was born in Thailand, and became a US citizen.

Duckworth herself was born in Thailand, but still counts as a natural-born US citizen (required to become president or vice president) because at least one of her birth parents was a US citizen. The same as with Ted Cruz – or even Barack Obama had the Birthers been right about him.

Political leanings: GovTrack says that 80% of senators are to the right of her, 20% to the left – not far from Cory Booker, squarely in the middle of the Democratic pack. The ACLU gives her only 62%, making her comparable to fellow Midwesterner Amy Klobuchar.

Donors: Her top donors are EMILY’s List, JStreetPAC, the League of Conservation Voters, Simmons Hanly Conroy and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. About 35% of her money comes from small donors (those who give less than $200) – the same as Kamala Harris. That puts her in the corporate wing of the Democratic Party.

– Abagond, 2020.

See also:

• corporate and progressive Democrats – the lay of the land
• racist statues
• AOC
• Ilhan Omar
• Tucker Carlson
  • Tucker Carlson on Ilhan Omar
• Barack Obama
• Donald Trump
  • bone spurs
  • Birthers
  • Humayun Khan
  • The Southern strategy
• Asian Americans
  • The perpetual foreigner stereotype

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