You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Khans Respond to Trump Attacks as Republicans Distance Themselves

HeadlineAug 02, 2016

In news from the campaign trail, top Republicans and veterans groups are criticizing Donald Trump after he refused to back down from his comments attacking Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim U.S. soldier who died in Iraq. On Monday, Arizona Senator John McCain, who spent time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, wrote, “I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.” House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also publicly criticized Trump. None of the three, however, pulled their endorsement of Trump. Khan’s son, Humayun, was killed by a car bomb while serving in Baquba, Iraq, in 2004 and was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Trump’s battle with Khizr Khan began Thursday night, when Khan addressed the Democratic National Convention.

Khizr Khan: “Donald Trump, you’re asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.”

On Sunday, Trump responded to Khan while on ABC, implying Khan’s wife, Ghazala Khan, had not spoken at the convention because she was not allowed to as a Muslim woman.

Donald Trump: “I saw him. He was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably—maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me. But plenty of people have written that.”

On Monday, Khizr Khan spoke on CNN.

Khizr Khan: “We want to maintain our dignity. We want to maintain my family’s dignity, my son’s dignity and sacrifice. And he should listen to America, what America and the world is telling about the remarks, about the lack of empathy. And that’s all I wish to convey to him, that a good leader has one trait, earlier, I said: empathy.”

Later in the broadcast, we’ll bring you the comments of both Khizr and Ghazala Khan, a rare glimpse of them as they visit their son’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top