Senator and veteran Tammy Duckworth took to the Senate floor yesterday to criticize President Trump for accusing Democrats of holding the U.S. Military hostage over illegal immigration. “I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger,” Duckworth said.
Senator Duckworth Calls President Trump ‘Five-Deferment Draft Dodger’
Illinois Democrat and veteran Tammy Duckworth criticizes President Trump’s early morning tweet accusing Democrats of holding the military hostage in the government shutdown in a speech from the…
Duckworth is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. She served in the Iraq War as a helicopter pilot and suffered severe injuries when a Blackhawk helicopter she was flying was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in 2004. She lost both of her legs and suffered injuries to her right arm. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. She was elected to Congress from Illinois in 2013.
President Trump accused Democrats of holding the U.S. Military hostage by voting against a spending bill, and thereby shutting down the government, over a lack of a solution for the DACA immigration program. The spending bill would have increased funding for the Military. The President leveled the charge on Twitter.
Democrats are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal immigration. Can’t let that happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018
Donald Trump was granted five deferments from the military draft during the Vietnam War: Four for college and one medical exemption for bone spurs in his heels.
A group of Senators is currently working on a bipartisan solution for the government shutdown which has entered its second day.