Duckworth, Illinois Democrats blast Vice President JD Vance for likening senator to 'Forrest Gump'

Sen. Tammy Duckworth and top Illinois Democrats are denouncing Vice President JD Vance over "ableist" comments he made on Wednesday likening the Illinois senator to "Forrest Gump."

The social media war was spurred by a tense exchange between Duckworth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday morning, which marked Rubio's first testimony before Congress since the Trump administration attacked Venezuela and seized President Nicolas Maduro.

Shortly after the exchange, Vance wrote on X, "Watching Tammy Duckworth obsessively interrupt Marco Rubio during this hearing is like watching Forest Gump argue with Isaac Newton." Vance, who spelled Forrest wrong, was referring to the 1994 critically acclaimed movie starring Tom Hanks, who played a character with both intellectual and physical disabilities. Duckworth lost both of her legs and shattered her right arm when the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down in Iraq in 2004 as she served in the Illinois National Guard.

Duckworth responded to the comment by calling it a "petty" insult "at the expense of people with disabilities."

"Forrest Gump ran toward danger in Vietnam. Your boss ran to his podiatrist crying bone spurs," Duckworth wrote on X. "Petty insults at the expense of people with disabilities won't change the fact that you're risking troops' lives to boost Chevron's stock price. It's my job to hold you accountable."

Gov. JB Pritzker also quickly came to Duckworth's defense, with the Illinois governor dubbing Vance "a random troll."

"That's a U.S. senator doing her job," Pritzker wrote. "This is a random troll tweeting at her."

The Democratic Party of Illinois also chimed in — urging the vice president to spend more time "fixing the economy that has Illinoisans living paycheck to paycheck, reeling in ICE that’s literally killing American citizens, or doing literally anything about the fact that Americans will go without food and health care because of his Big Ugly Bill."

The state party also called Vance's comment an "ableist insult."

"Instead of doing the job he was elected to do, the sitting Vice President of the United States chooses to have twitter fingers, and type out an ableist insult to attack a decorated veteran doing her job," the party said.

During the Senate hearing, Duckworth and Rubio frequently spoke over each after the senator asked him whether President Donald Trump will rescind his invocation of the Wartime Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used 18th century law Trump used to deport alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. She characterized the usage of that provision as proof America is at war with Venezuela, which Rubio denied.

"The people of America are worried that this is a president that engages in yet another forever war, Mr. Secretary," Duckworth said. "We don't need to be in another forever war, and that is the path that we are going towards."

"How are we in a forever war if we're dealing with every option?" Rubio asked.

"No, you're not. You're not going to ask him to rescind his invocation of the Alien Enemies Act," Duckworth said. "That puts Americans in jeopardy."

Duckworth has frequently slammed attempts to make fun of disabilities, including in 2023 when she recorded a video criticizing a Roll Call cartoon that featured a wheelchair user on a chairlift ramp going up the Capitol steps with people using walkers. The reference was to aging members of the Senate — but it did not take into account members who have disabilities.

“This cartoon uses my condition, my everyday life, as someone who can’t walk up stairs, as someone who uses a stair lift every single day as a way to insult United States senators," Duckworth said. “Just because you use a mobility device does not mean that you’re unfit to serve."