Duckworth: “Trump’s Birthday Parade Is Nothing More Than an Ego Boost for a Known Draft Dodger”

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today issued the following statement ahead of Donald Trump further politicizing our military by diverting $25 to $45 million of Army resources in order to throw himself a birthday parade:

“Donald Trump’s birthday parade has nothing to do with celebrating the Army’s 250th birthday—it’s to stroke his own ego and make taxpayers foot the bill.

“If he truly cared about celebrating the Army and our Soldiers, Trump could spend the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars he’s spending on this autocratic show of bravado toward long-term investments in our servicemembers that would actually help military families struggling to make ends meet—like covering the costs of child care, reimbursing tuition or expanding food assistance so they can put food on the table. If you asked any servicemember to list a thousand things they need, I bet an extravagant military parade to celebrate a known draft dodger’s birthday wouldn’t make the cut.

“Whether it’s this obscene misuse of our military, deploying our servicemembers against their fellow Americans in California or the violent attempt to silence Senator Alex Padilla, our nation is witnessing the very democracy our troops swore an oath to defend look more and more like an authoritarian regime with each passing day. Republicans must grow a spine and stand up for our servicemembers and our Constitution—before it’s too late.”

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