Sen. Kirk Sorry For Racially-Charged Comment About Rep. Duckworth

UNITED STATES - JULY 23: Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., appears at a news conference in Dirksen Building to urge the Senate to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, July 23, 2014. (Photo By Tom W... UNITED STATES - JULY 23: Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., appears at a news conference in Dirksen Building to urge the Senate to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, July 23, 2014. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) took to Twitter to apologize for making a racially-charged comment about challenger Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) during Thursday’s senate debate.

“Sincere apologies to an America hero, Tammy Duckworth, and gratitude for her family’s service,” Kirk wrote in a Friday post.

The Illinois Republican was roundly criticized for sarcastically joking that Duckworth’s family immigrated from Thailand after she spoke about their decades of service in the U.S. military.

“I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,” Kirk said of Duckworth, a veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq War and was born in Thailand to a U.S. Marine father and Thai-Chinese mother.

Duckworth’s campaign sent out a fundraising email on Friday drawing on Kirk’s “appalling” debate-night comment.

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