Duckworth, a veteran who lost both of her legs in 2004 while serving in the Iraq War, has advocated for military and disability issues since she was elected to national public office in 2012. She blasted Trump as a “five-deferment draft dodger” and accused him of trying to bait North Korea into a war.
“Does he even know that there are service members who are in harm’s way right now, watching him, looking for their commander in chief to show leadership, rather than to try to deflect blame?” Duckworth said. “Or that his own Pentagon says that the short-term funding plans he seems intent on pushing is actually harmful to not just the military, but to our national security?”
The junior senator from Illinois said Trump’s attempts to pin the shutdown on Democrats, especially by using the military, were examples of the president failing to take responsibility.
“I spent my entire adult life looking out for the well-being, the training, the equipping of the troops for whom I was responsible,” Duckworth continued. “Sadly, this is something the current occupant of the Oval Office does not seem to care to do — and I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger.”
Duckworth saved her zinger for the end, a dig at the medical reason Trump has claimed was why he was able to avoid military service for the fifth time.
“And I have a message for ‘Cadet Bone Spurs,’ ” Duckworth said. “If you cared about our military, you’d stop baiting Kim Jong Un into a war that could put 85,000 American troops, and millions of innocent civilians, in danger.”
Over the past year, Trump and Kim have traded jabs, worrying some Americans about the possibility of a war with North Korea.
Trump has called the North Korean leader “Little Rocket Man” and a “madman." In return, Kim has called Trump a “deranged U.S. dotard” and, most recently, a “lunatic” and a “loser.”
In all, North Korea launched 18 missile tests last year, and its continued defiance prompted the U.N. Security Council to impose strict sanctions on the country in December. Undeterred, North Korea said it would simply bolster its nuclear force and declared the U.N. sanctions “an act of war.” Kim has even bragged that he could attack the United States at any time using a nuclear button on his desk, but promised not to do so unless North Korea was threatened.
In return, Trump tweeted:
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
Late last year, state emergency officials in Hawaii reinstated its Cold War-era nuclear warning sirens amid growing fears of an attack by North Korea. Those fears spilled over recently when a state employee accidentally sent an alert to scores of Hawaii residents and tourists on their cellphones warning of a “ballistic missile threat inbound.”
The false warning sparked a wave of panic as thousands of people in the state. The situation was exacerbated by a 38-minute gap between the initial alert and a subsequent wireless alert stating the missile warning was a mistake.
Two days after the false alarm — and fresh off a visit to South Korea and Japan — Duckworth also tweeted a warning against war, saying one in the Korean Peninsula would be “catastrophic.”
After visiting South Korea and Japan this past week and meeting with many diplomats, military leaders and servicemembers, it's clear that the costs of war in the Korean Peninsula would be catastrophic and claim countless military and civilian lives pic.twitter.com/rHxfF4uR44
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) January 17, 2018
