Duckworth gets funding boost after GOP tweet

Rep. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill.) Senate campaign has received more than 1,000 donations since the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) posted a tweet criticizing her of “not standing up” for veterans.

“In the last day, more than one thousand supporters have chipped in to send Republicans a message that their shameful attacks aren’t working,” the Duckworth campaign announced, according to The Washington Examiner.

{mosads}Duckworth, who is running to challenge vulnerable Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, lost both of her legs while serving as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot during the Iraq War.

The tweet by the NRSC was deleted minutes after it was posted. An NRSC spokeswoman said in a statement following the tweet that reporters should focus more on the issues, rather than on a deleted tweet.

“It would be great if reporters would pay as much attention to a deleted tweet as they should to Tammy Duckworth being sued by VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] whistleblowers for ignoring claims of mistreatment and corruption,” NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek said in a statement Tuesday.

Duckworth’s campaign sent out a fundraising email Tuesday afternoon and announced the surge in donations on Wednesday, according to The Washington Examiner.

“The problem isn’t just that Republicans used shameful language to attack a combat veteran who walks on prosthetic legs. It’s also that they’re continuing to disparage the commitment of someone who dedicated the past decade of her life to serving veterans in every way possible,” Duckworth’s campaign said.

Duckworth is the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination to challenge Kirk in what is considered to be one of the most competitive Senate races this year. 

Democrats need to net five Senate seats in 2016 to regain a majority in the upper chamber.