In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Q: “Sincere apologies to an American hero, Tammy Duckworth, and gratitude for her family's service,” Kirk wrote. 
  
 Sincere apologies to an American hero, Tammy Duckworth, and gratitude for her family's service. #ilsen — Mark Kirk (@MarkKirk) October 28, 2016 
  
 ADVERTISEMENT During a debate between the Senate candidates on Thursday, Kirk drew criticism for his reply to Duckworth’s remarks about her family history. 
  
 Answering a question on Middle East policy, Duckworth — an Iraq War veteran — detailed her family's military service going back to the American Revolution. 
  
 "I forgot that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington," Kirk responded. 
  
 Duckworth's mother is an immigrant from Thailand, and her father is a World War II veteran. 
  
 The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called for Kirk to apologize immediately after the debate. 
  
 "Thankful for @TammyforIL's—and her family's—service to this country. It's really not that hard to grasp, @MarkKirk," Clinton wrote. 
  
 "The same Mark Kirk that unendorsed his party's presidential nominee and called him out in paid ads? Gotcha. Good luck," Conway wrote. 
  
 Kirk withdrew his endorsement of Trump for president in June after the billionaire's inflammatory comments about a federal judge’s Mexican heritage. Earlier this week, Kirk refused to say whom he will vote for on Nov. 8. 
  
 Kirk, considered one of the most vulnerable incumbent senators facing reelection, trails Duckworth by 7 points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average. 
  
 Updated at 12:49 p.m. ||||| Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, answers questions during the first televised debate with Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth, in what's considered a crucial race that could determine which party controls the Senate, Oct. 27, 2016, at the University of Illinois in Springfield, Ill. 
  
 Sen. Mark Kirk apologized to his opponent Rep. Tammy Duckworth Friday after making a racially charged comment about her parents during a debate. 
  
 Kirk tweeted the apology, writing "Sincere apologies to an American hero, Tammy Duckworth, and gratitude for her family's service. #ilsen." 
  
 His campaign also issued a statement about the comment that sparked backlash at Thursday's debate. 
  
 “Senator Kirk has consistently called Rep. Duckworth a war hero and honors her family’s service to this country,” Kirk spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis said in a statement. “But that’s not what this debate was about. Rep. Duckworth lied about her legal troubles, was unable to defend her failures at the VA and then falsely attacked Senator Kirk over his record on supporting gay rights.” 
  
 At Thursday’s debate, which was hosted at the University of Illinois Springfield’s Sangamon Auditorium, Kirk mocked Duckworth’s family history of military service after the congresswoman said her family has “served this nation in uniform going back to the Revolution.” 
  
 “I had forgotten your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington,” Kirk responded. 
  
 Duckworth, who lost both legs piloting a Black Hawk helicopter over Iraq in 2004, was born in Bangkok to a Thai mother of Chinese descent. Her father was a U.S. Army veteran. 
  
 Kirk’s comment was met with silence in the auditorium and thunderous condemnation on social media. 
  
 “That remark made by [Mark Kirk] about [Tammy Duckworth's] ancestry is about the lowest thing I’ve seen in a debate,” Capitol Fax’s Rich Miller said in a tweet. 
  
 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway also took the opportunity to slam Kirk, who has disavowed Trump and taken out ads distancing himself from the divisive billionaire. 
  
 "The same Mark Kirk that unendorsed his party's presidential candidate and called him out in paid ads," Conway tweeted Thursday. "Gotcha. Good luck." |||||
A: 
Sen. Mark Kirk has apologized for a comment he made Thursday during a debate with challenger Tammy Duckworth that was met with "thunderous condemnation" around the country, NBC Chicago reports. "I forgot that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington," the Hill quotes the Illinois Republican as saying during the debate. The congresswoman's mother immigrated from Thailand, but her father—an American WWII veteran—traces his family's military service back to the Revolutionary War. Duckworth herself lost both legs while serving in Iraq. "Sincere apologies to an American hero, Tammy Duckworth, and gratitude for her family's service," Kirk tweeted Friday. His campaign also issued a statement: "Sen. Kirk has consistently called Rep. Duckworth a war hero and honors her family’s service to this country."