Many attentive viewers of this program know this particular Illinois Congressman as frequent guest star in the Rewrite and the first ever person to get banned from this show. Slow clap for Rep. Joe Walsh, ladies and gentlemen.
The Republican's now taking heat for criticizing Democratic opponent Lt. Col. Tammy Duckworth — who lost both of her legs while serving in Iraq — for talking too much about her military record.
In a speech now plastered over the web, on Sunday the tea partier suggested she was not a "true [hero]" and should aspire to be more like Sen. John McCain who rarely spoke about his lengthy stint as a POW in Vietnam on the campaign trail.
"That's what’s so noble about our heroes. Now I'm running against a woman who — I mean, my God, that's all she talks about," said Walsh. "Our true heroes, it's the last thing in the world they talk about."
Lt. Col. Duckworth responded to Walsh's outburst in an interview today with msnbc's Martin Bashir. She attributed his comments to being "irresponsible in his words and irresponsible his actions."
"He’s trying to distract the constituents from the fact that he has time again done nothing for the district." She added, "In fact, anyone who’s worn the uniform of this great nation for a single day has done more for their nation than Joe Walsh has ever done."Walsh released a statement Tuesday afternoon, doubling down on his comments.
"Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero. I have called her a hero 100’s of times in the past four months. Just like every man and woman who has worn the uniform, her service demands — demands — our utmost respect. That’s why I recognize our veterans at the beginning of every one of my public town halls. However, unlike most veterans I have had the honor to meet since my election to Congress, who rarely if ever talk about their service or the combat they’ve seen, that is darn near all of what Tammy Duckworth talks about. Her service demands our thanks and our respect but not our vote. She is running for Congress — and there are real problems in this country like our massive debt, high unemployment and the Obamacare tax. We are about four months from Election Day and the people of Illinois have no idea where Tammy Duckworth stands on these issues because she dodges debate requests, ignores our invitations to speak at town halls, refuses to talk about solutions and constantly reminds voters of her war service. Our thoughts and prayers will always be with her for her service and her loss but these are serious times and the people of Illinois deserve to know what she thinks about real issues and what she will do as a Congresswoman."
Walsh faces an uphill battle to keep his seat in the upcoming election.