Tammy Duckworth Holds Her Own on Colbert Report's 'Better Know a District'

Photo Credit: The Colbert Report video

U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth made a guest appearance Tuesday on The Colbert Report’s ‘Better Know a District’ segment.

She was quick with her comebacks for host Steven Colbert who poked fun at everything from immigration reform to Obamacare to gay rights. His segment opened with some information on Duckworth’s district, the 8th congressional district, which he said was home to “not one but two Ikeas--the Schaumburg Ikea and the Bolingbrook Ikea.”

“They were only going to build one Ikea but after they finished the first one, they had enough parts left over to build a second one, he said.

He also detailed his plans for immigration reform, which he said would not only include a wall at the border of Mexico but also a “moat filled with flames” and “fireproof alligators.” Duckworth quickly disagreed with Colbert’s joking assertion that migrant children are bringing Ebola into the U.S.

“No they are not,” Duckworth replied.

“I think I may have caught it already. Because when I look at these kids on the border, I get a very weird clutching feeling in my throat. My heart sinks. And my eyes begin to leak,” Colbert said. “That’s got to be Ebola.”

“I think that’s humanity, Steven,” Duckworth said.

“Humanity?” Colbert said. ”Is that curable?”

“I don’t think so,” Duckworth said. “I think it means that you actually care.”

Colbert touched base on Duckworth’s time in Iraq. Duckworth lost both of her legs following a helicopter crash in Iraq, which also left her with injuries that allowed her only partial use of her arm.

“You said that when you were recovering from your injuries in Iraq, your spouse stayed by your side. And you said you want gays and lesbians to have that same right,’ Colbert said.

“Yes,” Duckworth said.

Colbert went on to ask Duckworth if she believed it was OK for gays and lesbians to serve in Iraq.

Duckworth’s response received a thunderous applause: “Let me put it in a very simple way. When I was shot down, and I was bleeding to death in my helicopter in that dusty field in Iraq. And an American G.I. came to carry me out to safety. I didn’t stop to ask if he was straight or gay. I was just glad he was an American G.I.”

Other topics touched on during the conversation included Obamacare and whether employers should cover contraception. Duckworth’s appeared momentarily shocked after Colbert said he provided contraception to his employees by grinding up birth control pills and placing them in their water bottles.

Colbert also brought up gun control and asked Duckworth: “But can’t you have a more sensible conversation if you have a gun? Because I’ve found if I’m waving a gun around people get really quiet and listen to what I have to say.”

“That’s not a conversation,” she said.

“It a monologue,” Colbert said.

“It’s a monologue. Yeah,” Duckworth said.

View the full video on The Colbert Report website.