Iraq War vet Tammy Duckworth nails Trump: I will not be lectured by a draft dodger

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a U.S. Army veteran who lost both her legs while serving in the Iraq War, is no stranger to calling out Trump for his horrid treatment of our military and veterans.

And on Saturday, she delivered another fiery takedown of ostensible commander in chief.

“I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger,” she declared on the Senate floor.

Duckworth’s remarks came one day after Trump and his Republican allies in the Senate presided over a government shutdown that put political brinksmanship ahead of national security and the wellbeing of U.S. service members.

Trump, who led the charge, started the day Saturday by accusing Democrats of “holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration.”

Duckworth wasn’t having it.

Citing Trump’s tweet, she slammed Trump for his baseless accusations and delivered a scorching retort to his bluster.

“I spent my entire adult life looking out for the wellbeing, the training, the equipping of the troops for whom I was responsible,” Duckworth said. “Sadly, this is something the current occupant of the Oval Office does not seem to care to do.”

““I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger,” she said, referring to Trump’s five deferments from the draft during the Vietnam War.

“And I have a message for Cadet Bone Spurs: 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.”

As they so often do, Republicans have used the military as a political pawn this weekend, turning the shutdown into a blame game and accusing Democrats of not caring about our men and women in uniform — despite the fact that it was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who rejected a Democratic resolution to ensure that members of the military would continue to get paid, even during a government shutdown.

But Republicans are turning their backs on the military and national security in more ways than one. As Duckworth noted on Friday, the Pentagon actually warned this week that a short-term spending bill like the one offered by the GOP could have “wasteful and destructive” national security ramifications.

“Enough is enough,” Duckworth tweeted. “I didn’t spend 23 years in the military going through multiple deployments just to weaken our national security, hurt our troops, and kick the can down the road again.”

Now that is what leadership looks like. Trump should take note — he could learn a few things from Duckworth about what truly makes America great.