Tammy Duckworth speaks during day one of the Democratic National Convention at Time Warner Cable Arena on Sept. 4, 2012, in Charlotte, North Carolina. | Getty NRSC deletes tweet attacking Tammy Duckworth for 'not standing up for our veterans'

The National Republican Senatorial Committee tweeted Tuesday that Illinois Senate Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth, who lost both her legs while serving in the Iraq War, "has a sad record of not standing up for our veterans."

Her campaign shot back immediately, calling the tweet "tasteless and dishonest, just like everything else to do with Mark Kirk’s flailing campaign."


"Tammy has made fighting for veterans her life’s work, and will continue to so in the Senate,” said Matt McGrath, the campaign's spokesman.

The NRSC deleted the tweet within minutes of posting it. The committee acknowledged that the tweet was a mistake, according to an NRSC aide, but renewed its attack on Duckworth.

"It would be great if reporters would pay as much attention to a deleted tweet as they should to Tammy Duckworth being sued by VA whistleblowers for ignoring claims of mistreatment and corruption," said Andrea Bozek, spokeswoman for the NRSC.

Sen. Mark Kirk, considered one of the most vulnerable Senate Republican incumbents, will likely face Duckworth in the general election.

Republicans have criticized Duckworth for an ongoing lawsuit about her time at the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and for allegations that she used her position to build her political career.

In November 2004, a rocket-propelled grenade hit the Blackhawk helicopter that Duckworth was piloting. She wrote in an essay for POLITICO Magazine in August 2015 that her "right leg was vaporized."

"[M]y left leg was crushed and shredded against the instrument panel," she wrote. "My pilot in command miraculously brought down the helicopter safely. I went from being the most senior member on board to the weakest."