Did Mark Kirk Go Too Far Talking About Tammy Duckworth's Family Heritage?

The day after his 90-minute, televised debate with State Rep. Tammy Duckworth, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) probably wanted to spend Friday continuing to talk about campaign issues and draw distinctions between himself and his Democratic opponent in the race for state's U.S. Senate seat.

Instead, the incumbent senator spent the morning apologizing for a comment he made during Thursday night's forum at the University of Illinois at Springfield that seemed to mock Duckworth's family heritage and time in the U.S. Army.

Kirk's remark — which critics and political observers found awkward, insensitive and simply puzzling — drew fire online and in media reports, and the senator, who has been in a tight and heated race with Duckworth, released an apology on his Twitter account late Friday morning:

In Thursday's debate, Duckworth — who lost both legs in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting while serving in Iraq in 2004 — spoke about her family's history of U.S. military service, saying it extended back to the American Revolutionary War:

"My family has served this nation in uniform going back to the revolution. I'm a daugther of the American Revolution. I bled for this nation. … It's families like mine that bled first."

When the moderator offered Kirk — who served in the U.S. Navy — a chance for rebuttal, the senator responded: "I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington."

The remark was met first with awkward silence, then murmurs from the audience. Seeming to ignore the comment, the moderator eventually turned the debate floor over to the panel of journalists.

Hours after Kirk issued his apology on Twitter, Duckworth used the same social media platform to accept:

Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and her Thai mother, Lamai, is of Chinese descent. Her father, Franklin, served in World War II as a Marine and can trace his family's military roots to before the Revolutionary War. The representative used her Twitter account Thursday night to drive home her family's history of military service:

Watch video of Sen. Mark Kirk's response during his debate with Rep. Tammy Duckworth:

YOUR TURN: Did Sen. Mark Kirk's comment about the military service of Rep. Tammy Duckworth's family go too far? Was he right to apologize? Or was the remark just a part of running for office and critics are being too sensitive? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section.

photos via Patch archive

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