While Trump survived previous battles of this type, at least two things are different about the dispute with the Khans, analysts said: It is playing out in front of a larger general election audience and it involves very sympathetic opponents.
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In response to the family’s most searing criticism that Trump has not sacrificed for his country, he told the network, “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices”.
On Saturday, Trump buttressed this sentiment during an interviewing with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos: “If you look at his wife, she was standing there”, he said.
“She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say”, he said.
Welcome back to #TrumpWatch, where Tablet presents the daily low-lights of Donald Trump’s attempt to use the dark forces of bigotry to become President of the United States.
“There are certain sacrosanct subjects that no amount of wordsmithing can fix once crossed”, he said. “If it was up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America”. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart.
Trump, in turn, criticized the Khans in TV appearances and on Twitter. “And this is totally unfit for the leadership of this attractive country”.
The group hit Trump for questioning why Khan’s wife didn’t speak at the convention, writing: “When you question a mother’s pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us”.
“The Republican Party I know and love is the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan”.
But this time, Democrats aren’t the only ones offended by Trump’s comments.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) of SC and Sen.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump at the Gallogly Event Center on the campus of the University of Colorado on July 29, 2016 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union”, he said, “It is majority leader’s and speaker’s moral, ethical obligation to not worry about the votes, but repudiate him, withdraw the support”.
“I’d like to hear his wife say something”, Trump told the reporter.
Oliver, who played segments of Khan’s speech on his show, commented: “Wow”. I am a Gold Star mother.
Now, the families of 23 other slain United States soldiers have called on Trump to apologize for his “repugnant and personally offensive” remarks.
Unequivocal condemnation also rained down from Republican House Armed Services Committee chairman Mac Thornberry, who said he is “dismayed at the attacks” on the Khans. And this time, it’s Muslim American women. Capt. Khan was one such courageous example. He also suggested Ghazala Khan had been forced into silence. “I am appalled that Donald Trump would disparage (the Khans) and that he had the gall to compare his own sacrifices to those of a Gold Star family”, she said. This morning, Sen. John McCain released a harshly-worded statement condemning Trump’s remarks.
Last year Mr Trump sparked a backlash after he said Mr McCain was not a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam.
In a statement issued yesterday evening by the Trump campaign, Mr Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, said that he and the Republican nominee “believe that Captain Humayun Khan is an American hero” that his family, like other families of fallen soldiers, “should be cherished by every American”.
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The Pence statement said Trump’s plans to bar immigrants from countries “compromised by terrorism”, rebuilding the US military and defeating Islamic State will prevent other American families from going through the same thing as the Khans. We’re a better country because of you. “And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation – and he will never be forgotten”.
