Sen. Tammy Duckworth: I swore an oath to the Constitution, not to clap when Trump demands

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who has emerged in recent weeks as one of President Trump’s most vocal critics, fired back after Trump called Democrats “treasonous” for not applauding him during his State of the Union address.

“We don’t live in a dictatorship or monarchy. I swore an oath — in the military and in the Senate — to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to mindlessly cater to the whims of Cadet Bone Spurs and clap when he demands I clap,” Duckworth (D-Ill.) wrote in a tweet. She used a nickname she has given Trump, who has said he was granted a medical deferment during the Vietnam War after he was diagnosed with bone spurs in his feet.

Duckworth, who lost her legs in 2004 while serving in Iraq as an Army helicopter pilot, then shared this quote from Theodore Roosevelt, lifted from an opinion piece the former president wrote during World War I: “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

Link to tweet

Duckworth has been highly critical of Trump, particularly on issues involving the military and national security.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/02/06/sen-tammy-duckworth-i-swore-an-oath-to-the-constitution-not-to-clap-when-trump-demands/