Tammy Duckworth rips Doug Collins' claim Democrats are 'in love with terrorists': 'I left parts of my body in Iraq fighting terrorists'

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq war veteran, just offered a striking rebuke of one Republican's claim that Democrats are "in love with terrorists."

Duckworth in a Thursday appearance on CNN was asked to comment on a recent statement by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) that Democrats "are in love with terrorists" and that they are supposedly mourning Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a drone strike authorized by President Trump last week, "more than they mourn our gold star families."

But Duckworth found this claim far too absurd to be worth a detailed takedown, telling CNN, "I'm not going to dignify that with a response. I left parts of my body in Iraq fighting terrorists. I don't need to justify myself to anyone."

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This came after President Trump similarly claimed Friday that Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are "trying to defend" Soleimani, even though Pelosi has only criticized the strike authorized by Trump as "provocative and disproportionate." Duckworth has similarly criticized Trump's actions toward Iran, on Thursday arguing his "rash decision" didn't make the United States safer.

Duckworth also told CNN she's "disgusted" by Collins' comments, suggesting he's using gold star families as a "pawn" in a "political game" while noting of Soleimani, "I am not sad that this man is dead. I'm glad that he's gone to meet his maker and that he will get his just deserts." Brendan Morrow