Last week, Ghazala Khan joined her husband, Khizr, onstage as he gave a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
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She said Trump’s character is questionable because he repaid a family that made the “ultimate sacrifice” with “nothing but insults” and “degrading comments about Muslims”.
In a column in The Washington Post on Sunday, Ghazala Khan responded to Trump’s questioning why she didn’t speak. “Whoever saw me felt me in their heart”.
Ghazala Khan did not speak, but I assumed nobody needed to hear what she had to say because it was written all over her face, and her husband was saying it anyway: Donald Trump can not be trusted with America’s future, and his anti-Muslim and xenophobic statements dishonor the memory of the Khans’ son, Capt. Humayun Khan – not to mention the palpable raw pain both were experiencing, especially Ghazala.
“He is a black soul”.
He then delivered a blistering attack on Donald Trump, waving a copy of the United States constitution. “When Donald Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant”.
But despite his high negatives he has attracted a fervent following among working class white males, and he stands near even with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the polls.
Hillary Clinton told Fox News that Mr Trump had shown “absolute allegiance” to Russian aims, and criticised the businessman’s apparent request last week for Russia to hack into her private emails. I work very, very hard. “I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs”. I’ve had tremendous success. “That is not true”, Mrs. Khan wrote, adding that she decided not to speak at the convention because of her pain over the 2004 death of her son.
Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama, who is staunchly pro-Trump, was the lone voice piping up with some support for the candidate.
“For this candidate for presidency to not be aware of the respect of a Gold Star Mother standing there, and he had to take that shot at her, this is height of ignorance”.
“Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything”.
And, of course, Trump went on the offensive, first attacking Ghazala Khan, Khizr’s wife who stood by her husband on stage, silent.
He said that running for president does not entitle Trump “to disrespect” the relatives of soldiers killed in combat.
The father pleaded with Trump’s family to council him on empathy. “He is not worthy of our comments”.
“What he said originally – that defines him”.
Later, the Republican presidential nominee drew criticism after an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
His pointed convention speech captivated watchers after he pulled a pocket Constitution – a badge of honor among many Republicans – out of his jacket and challenged Trump to read it.
In an interview aired Sunday on ABC’s America’s This Week, Mr Trump cast doubt on why Mr Khan’s wife did not speak.
Kaine did the same, invoking Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s tweet bashing Trump’s remarks on the Khan family.
Donald Trump has stirred up more controversy on the campaign trail in the US.
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Khizr Khan’s moving remarks quickly reverberated beyond the arena, and their effects have since spilled out onto the campaign trail.
