“I forgot your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington," Mark Kirk said Thursday. | Getty Dems demand apology for Kirk comments on Duckworth's heritage

Republican Mark Kirk invoked Democrat Tammy Duckworth’s ethnicity as she explained her family’s military background during the Illinois Senate debate Thursday – prompting an outcry from national Democrats who called Kirk’s comments a “racist” attack.

Duckworth, a veteran who lost both her legs fighting in the Iraq War, was making a case for having a senator who has fought in a war when she detailed her family’s lengthy military background.


“My family has served this nation in uniform going back to the revolution. I am a daughter of the American Revolution. I’ve bled for this nation,” Duckworth said during the debate. “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 and this is what you’re asking us to do.”

When asked to respond, Kirk appeared to be dismissive of Duckworth’s heritage, saying: “I forgot your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington.” There was no response from Duckworth, and after a few moments of silence, the moderator moved onto the next question.

Duckworth was born in Bangkok to a Thai mother, Lamai, and an American father, Frank, a U.S. Marine who traced his family’s military roots to the Revolutionary War. Frank Duckworth died in 2005.

Kirk campaign spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis issued a statement late Thursday night that did not include an apology to Duckworth.

"Senator Kirk has consistently called Rep. Duckworth a war hero and honors her family's service to this country. But that's not what this debate was about,” Demertzis said. “Rep. Duckworth lied about her legal troubles, was unable to defend her failures at the VA and then falsely attacked Senator Kirk over his record on supporting gay rights."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had earlier called on Kirk to apologize to Duckworth, saying a “struggling political campaign is no excuse for baseless and despicable attacks.”

“Senator Mark Kirk’s attack on Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth’s family tonight was offensive, wrong, and racist,” said Lara Sisselman, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “Senator Kirk has been caught lying about his military record over 10 times, but he was quick to launch false attacks questioning Congresswoman Duckworth’s family’s long history of serving our country.”

The issue of race surfaced elsewhere during the debate, when Kirk wondered: “Can’t we just get away from race in America and then pick the best person, regardless?” after Duckworth discussed Supreme Court justices and the type of jurists she would like to have nominated.

“I would love to see someone who looks more like America,” Duckworth had said then, prompting Kirk’s response several minutes later when the debate had moved on to a different topic.

Kirk isn’t a stranger to controversial remarks. In August, Kirk called President Barack Obama the “drug dealer-in-chief” for the administration’s $400 million payment to Iran that was tied to the release of American prisoners there. And after Kirk said “we drive faster” through black neighborhoods, the senator told the Chicago Sun-Times that he would no longer discuss race and ethnicity, saying: “I would say that whenever a targeted member talks about race or ethnicity, it is impossible for him to get it right. So I’ll leave it at that.”

Kirk is widely considered the most vulnerable Senate Republican this cycle; Duckworth leads Kirk by seven points in the Real Clear Politics average of recent polling, although surveys have been relatively scarce in the race.