U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a retired Army National Guard Lieutenant Colonel and combat veteran of the Iraq War, called the President of the United States Donald Trump “a tin-pot dictator wannabe” over the weekend.
On MSNBC, Duckworth criticized Trump and the decision to spend a reported $45 million on a military parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, which coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday.
Duckworth said it was “a parade for a tin-pot dictator wannabe, which is what Donald Trump is.” She added, “I felt that it was obscene to have done that.”
Senator, this parade was NOT for any "tin-pot dictator wanna be."
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 16, 2025
It was to celebrate the U.S. Army 250th birthday. No need to continue to politicize this wonderful event. pic.twitter.com/u4DKjb3fUf
The official X account for the U.S. Department of Defense responded to Duckworth’s comments by writing: “Senator, this parade was NOT for any ‘tin-pot dictator wanna be.’ It was to celebrate the U.S. Army 250th birthday. No need to continue to politicize this wonderful event.”
Note: When the Pentagon shared a photo of the “hundreds of thousands” of people gathered at the National Monument in Washington D.C. that day, some commenters asked if it was AI-generated to exaggerate the size of the crowd.
The Defense Department took the opportunity to “politicize” its response to the question by responding: “Just a reminder: we are NOT the previous administration. We don’t use AI to enhance crowd size.”
Just a reminder: we are NOT the previous administration.
— DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) June 16, 2025
We don't use AI to enhance crowd size. https://t.co/x8mQh1jz3t pic.twitter.com/7vNTb79Rbh
Note: Sen. Duckworth has been at odds with the Defense Department since the second Trump administration began.
At his confirmation hearing in January, Duckworth slammed U.S. Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth for “his utter lack of experience and qualifications to lead the Department of Defense.” Hegseth was ultimately confirmed by the Senate when Vice President JD Vance broke the 50-50 tie.
