Embattled GOP Sen. Mark Kirk Mark KirkObamaCare repeal bill would defund Planned Parenthood Leaked ObamaCare bill would defund Planned Parenthood GOP senator won't vote to defund Planned Parenthood MORE (Ill.) appeared to question his opponent's heritage during a debate Thursday night. 
 
 Asked about their long-term plan for American influence in the Middle East, Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D), who is Asian-American, said her family "has served this nation in uniform going back to the Revolution." 
 
 "I am a daughter of the American Revolution," she added. "I have bled for this nation." 
 
 Kirk — considered the most vulnerable GOP senator up for reelection — replied: "I forgot that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." 
 
 Duckworth was born in Bangkok. Her mother is an immigrant and her father is a World War II veteran. 
 
 The Democratic congresswoman didn't initially respond to Kirk's remark, but asked by the debate moderator if she wanted to comment, she touted both sides of her family. 
 
 "There's been members of my family serving in uniform on my father's side going back to the Revolution," she said. "I'm proud of both my father's side and my mother, who is an immigrant." 
 
 He also came under criticism earlier this year when he compared President Obama to a "drug dealer in chief" over a $400 million payment to Iran. 
 
 Kirk is facing an uphill battle to keep his Senate seat in the blue state next month. Duckworth is currently leading in the polls by an average of 7 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics. ||||| Illinois senator seems to suggest in debate that Democrat opponent’s Thai and Chinese heritage lessened her family’s centuries of US military service 
 
 A Republican senator struggling in his re-election race made a racially charged remark about his Democratic opponent in a debate on Thursday night. 
 
 Illinois senator Mark Kirk seemed to suggest the Asian American heritage of congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran, somehow diminished her family’s long service to the US. 
 
 “I had forgotten your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,” Kirk said of Duckworth. 
 
 The third-term congresswoman, who was born in Thailand, is the daughter of a Thai woman of Chinese descent and an American father who traced his roots to the Revolutionary War. Members of the Duckworth family have served in the American armed forces since the revolution. 
 
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 Duckworth herself served as a US army helicopter pilot in the Iraq war, losing both her legs and severely injuring her right arm when the helicopter she was piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in 2004. 
 
 Kirk’s comments came in response to a statement from Duckworth during the debate. 
 
 “My family has served this nation in uniform going back to the revolution. I am a Daughter of the American revolution,” Duckworth said, referring to the group whose members are the female descendants of those who served in the American revolution. 
 
 “I’ve bled for this nation,” Duckworth continued. “But I still want to be there in the Senate when the drums of war sound because people are quick to sound the drums of war and I want to be there to say, ‘This is what it costs and this is what you’re asking us to do.’ And if that’s the case, I’ll go. It’s families like mine that bleed first. 
 
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 “But let’s make sure that the American people understand what we are engaging in and let’s hold our allies accountable because we can’t do it all.” 
 
 Kirk simply said in response: “I had forgotten your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,” and added nothing else as he sat silently. 
 
 The Illinois senator is also a veteran. Kirk served 23 years in the Naval Reserve as an intelligence officer and retired in 2013 after suffering a major stroke. He also became the first Republican to unendorse Donald Trump in the aftermath of the New York real estate developer’s remarks about federal judge Gonzalo Curiel in June. Kirk has since labelled Trump “a malignant clown”. 
 
 Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway took the opportunity to gloat over Kirk’s gaffe. She tweeted about the comment: “The same Mark Kirk that unendorsed his party’s presidential nominee and called him out in paid ads? Gotcha. Good luck.” 
 
 The race is widely considered the most likely opportunity for Democrats to pick up seat in the US. Illinois is a Democratic-leaning state and Kirk pulled off only a narrow victory in the Republican wave of 2010 against a scandal-prone Democratic candidate. The most recent poll in the Land of Lincoln gives Duckworth a 14-point lead over the Republican incumbent. ||||| Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk aggressively went after Democratic challenger Rep. Tammy Duckworth during a Thursday night debate, accusing her of lying and even questioning her family's ancestry and military service. 
 
 Duckworth countered Kirk's periodic interruptions by suggesting that his series of controversial statements about President Barack Obama and the nation are "not at all the hallmarks of a senator who is looking out for the people of Illinois." 
 
 The exchanges came during a 90-minute broadcast forum at the University of Illinois at Springfield, the only Downstate debate of an increasingly contentious campaign for a Senate seat crucial to Republican hopes of holding the chamber and Democratic attempts to reclaim a majority. 
 
 I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington. — Sen. Mark Kirk comment to U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth 
 
 During the first joint appearance on Oct. 3 before the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Kirk gave short answers and did not engage with his opponent. On Thursday night, the Republican went after Duckworth on a variety of issues ranging from homeland security, military policy and college affordability — though sometimes he struggled to get his words out. 
 
 At one point, Duckworth talked about her family's long history of involvement in the U.S. military, describing herself as a "daughter of the American Revolution" who has "bled for this nation." 
 
 When it was Kirk's turn to offer a rebuttal, he offered a single sentence: "I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." 
 
 There was an awkward pause, and the comment left some in the audience with a look of puzzlement. 
 
 Duckworth, who was born in Bangkok, Thailand, to a mother of Chinese heritage and a father of British descent, replied: "There's been members of my family serving on my father's side since the American Revolution." She said she was "proud of both my father's side and my mother's side as an immigrant." 
 
 Kirk's comment drew quick national attention. The left-wing publication Mother Jones called it a "bizarre and offensive quip." 
 
 Kellyanne Conway, campaign manager for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, took to Twitter for some payback against Kirk, who un-endorsed Trump this year and has called the former reality show star unfit to be president. 
 
 "The same Mark Kirk that unendorsed his party's presidential nominee and called him out in paid ads? Gotcha. Good luck," Conway posted on Twitter over an online publication's tweeted headline "Senator Mark Kirk mocks disabled Iraq war vet Tammy Duckworth in debate for her mixed-race heritage." 
 
 Duckworth's campaign send out a campaign fundraising solicitation off Kirk's comment, calling it "outrageous" and "appalling." Her campaign put out a lengthy list of headlines highlighting the attack. 
 
 Kirk, who is recovering from a major stroke suffered in late January 2012, made a series of controversial statements last year. The one that garnered much attention was his live mic reference during a Senate committee hearing of bachelor colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina as a "bro with no ho." 
 
 Following the controversial statements, some top Illinois Republicans were privately fretting about Kirk's re-election bid in July 2015, but the GOP stuck by him. At the time, the Tribune reported, officials with the National Republican Senatorial Committee suggested that Kirk stay out of the media. 
 
 Seth Perlman / AP Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, right, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, left, face off in their first televised debate on Oct. 27, 2016, at the University of Illinois in Springfield. Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, right, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, left, face off in their first televised debate on Oct. 27, 2016, at the University of Illinois in Springfield. (Seth Perlman / AP) (Seth Perlman / AP) 
 
 "It's got to be a more controlled setting when he speaks publicly," said one Republican political operative familiar with Kirk and the NRSC's strategy back then. "I don't think it takes away from anything that he's trying to do. But he's got to be less in the media. Everything should be about making your point and that's that." 
 
 Kirk's campaign largely heeded that message, and even employed a low-risk strategy in the first debate. But on Thursday night, Kirk opened the throttle, and out came the remark about Duckworth's heritage. 
 
 Duckworth served in the Iraq War and lost her legs after the helicopter she co-piloted was felled by a rocket-propelled grenade. Kirk served as an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserve. 
 
 Kirk, who apologized for embellishing his military record during his successful run for the Senate in 2010, said his "past misstatements of my record have been small and selfish," but paled in comparison to Duckworth's record serving as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs and as an assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs prior to her election to Congress four years ago. 
 
 "I would say the record of my opponent in serving veterans is very questionable," said Kirk, who invited people who he called "whistleblowers" at state and federal facilities to attend the debate. 
 
 "These whistleblowers should be commended and applauded and not crushed," said Kirk, who at times haltingly recounted issues surrounding a workplace discrimination lawsuit filed by two women at the Anna Veterans Home against Duckworth. The Illinois attorney general's office, representing Duckworth, has said a settlement of the case has been reached though it is still before a judge and not yet completed. 
 
 As Duckworth sought to point out that elements of the lawsuit previously had been rejected by the courts, Kirk interjected, "It's important that Tammy not lie to the people of Illinois." When Duckworth asked for time to respond to Kirk's allegations, the Republican said, "Sorry, when you're lying, you don't get any time." 
 
 Duckworth dismissed Kirk's accusations as "stunts" and said she was "proud of my record" in working for veterans.
– Illinois Republican Mark Kirk's chances of keeping his US Senate seat took a hit Thursday night when he made an ugly—and inaccurate—remark about his opponent's heritage during a televised debate. After Democratic US Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who was born in Bangkok to a Thai mother and an American father, said her family "has served this nation in uniform going back to the Revolution" and described herself as "a daughter of the American Revolution," Kirk responded: "I forgot that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington," reports the Hill, which describes Kirk as the most vulnerable GOP senator up for re-election. His remark was followed by several seconds of awkward silence before the moderator moved on to the next question. Duckworth's father is a World War II vet with ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, and she is a US Army vet who lost both her legs when an RPG hit the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq in 2004, the Guardian notes. Kirk, who served as an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, has used a wheelchair since a stroke in 2012. One of the debate's lighter moments came when he quipped: "I think we both agree the next senator from Illinois should use a wheelchair," the Chicago Tribune reports. Kirk—who has described Donald Trump as a "malignant clown"—"unendorsed his party's presidential nominee and called him out in paid ads," Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said in a tweet gloating over the debate gaffe.