1674. Donald Trump has given his first response to Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim American soldier who died to protect his unit. Khan addressed the Democratic national convention this week, rebuking Trump as unpatriotic and selfish as he did so.
On Thursday, Khan stunned a national audience with a speech directly confronting Trump, who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the US. At the climax of the speech, Khan, a Harvard-educated lawyer, pulled a small constitution from his jacket pocket and held it above his head.
Capt Humayun Khan was killed by a car bomber in Iraq on 8 June 2004, four months after arriving there and after four years of service in the US army. His mother told MSNBC that, before her son left for war, she said: “’Don’t become [a] hero for me. Just be my son. Come back as a son.’ He came back as a hero.”
Trump represented a threat to that democracy, Khan said. “If your candidate wins, and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country, this country, will have constitutional crises that [have] never before [happened] in the history of the country.”
But neither McConnell and Ryan, despite criticism of Trump’s comments, have rescinded their endorsements of him, resulting in an awkward and often tense alliance. Ryan has called some of his remarks “ textbook racism ” and McConnell has said he disagrees with some of the candidate’s statements.
Khan praised the Republican party even as he warned of the consequences of shortsighted politics. “Republicans are as patriotic as Democrats are,” he said. “They are half of the goodness of this beautiful country. Half of this political process the rest of the world watches enviously, learns from it.”
None theless, Khan apologized for his emotions during the interview. “We are private, ordinary American citizens,” he said. “My conscience compels me under these very difficult circumstances. I am a very composed person . I don’ t become that emotional in public discourse. But there is so much at stake.”
1674. Donald Trump has given his first response to Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim American soldier who died to protect his unit. Khan addressed the Democratic national convention this week, rebuking Trump as unpatriotic and selfish as he did so.
On Thursday, Khan stunned a national audience with a speech directly confronting Trump, who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the US. At the climax of the speech, Khan, a Harvard-educated lawyer, pulled a small constitution from his jacket pocket and held it above his head.
Capt Humayun Khan was killed by a car bomber in Iraq on 8 June 2004, four months after arriving there and after four years of service in the US army. His mother told MSNBC that, before her son left for war, she said: “’Don’t become [a] hero for me. Just be my son. Come back as a son.’ He came back as a hero.”
Trump represented a threat to that democracy, Khan said. “If your candidate wins, and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country, this country, will have constitutional crises that [have] never before [happened] in the history of the country.”
But neither McConnell and Ryan, despite criticism of Trump’s comments, have rescinded their endorsements of him, resulting in an awkward and often tense alliance. Ryan has called some of his remarks “ textbook racism ” and McConnell has said he disagrees with some of the candidate’s statements.
Khan praised the Republican party even as he warned of the consequences of shortsighted politics. “Republicans are as patriotic as Democrats are,” he said. “They are half of the goodness of this beautiful country. Half of this political process the rest of the world watches enviously, learns from it.”
None theless, Khan apologized for his emotions during the interview. “We are private, ordinary American citizens,” he said. “My conscience compels me under these very difficult circumstances. I am a very composed person . I don’ t become that emotional in public discourse. But there is so much at stake.”