Baltimore Sun

Condemnati­on rains on Trump

Comments on Khan family give rise to broad criticism

- By Sean Sullivan

A bipartisan constellat­ion of decorated combat veterans, members of Congress and family members of slain soldiers admonished Donald Trump on Monday for criticizin­g the Muslim American parents of an Army officer killed in Iraq, threatenin­g to undermine Trump’s support among core Republican voters.

The condemnati­ons by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., the Veterans of Foreign Wars and dozens of veterans and family members of those killed in the line of duty served as the most forceful rebuke yet of the mogul’s comments and his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

The critiques lobbed at Trump on Monday were the latest turns in a bitter exchange that has dominated the presidenti­al race since the close of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday in Philadelph­ia. It threatens to hurt Trump’s standing among voters he has been aggressive­ly pursuing: those who aren’t fans of Democrat Hillary Clinton and who hold doubts about her record on national security. The standoff has also frayed Trump’s already delicate alliance with GOP leaders.

Trump did not address the controvers­y directly GOP candidate Donald Trump, seen speaking Monday in Columbus, Ohio, tweeted again Monday about Khizr Khan. during a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday afternoon. But he signaled on Twitter earlier in the day that he was not backing down from his criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son Humayun Khan, an Army captain, was killed by a car bomber in Iraq in 2004. Trump said Khizr Khan had “no right” to assail him as he did in a speech at the Democratic convention Thursday.

McCain issued a written statement sternly reprimandi­ng Trump.

“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents,” said McCain, who was taken prisoner during the Vietnam War. “He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service. 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.”

Aside from McCain, a bipartisan coalition of veterans, family members of military personnel killed in the line of duty, a veteran serving in Congress and an ex-diplomat sent a letter to Trump calling his criticism of the Khans an affront to each of them. It also called for him to apologize.

“Your statements are unacceptab­le, especially from someone seeking to serve as Commander in Chief,” the letter said. “The Khans’ sacrifice has earned them the right to ask hard questions of those seeking elected office.”

Organizers said they plan to add many more signatures by opening up the letter online for broader national participat­ion.

Attendees at Trump’s campaign stop in Columbus had their own opinions on the matter.

Josh Smith, 53, of Keystone Heights, Fla., said that he served in the Navy for 20 years and that he did not find Trump’s comments about the Khans to be dis- tasteful. “It was bad that their son died, but to put that man on stage to say all those things was ridiculous,” he said.

Smith said that when Trump responded to the Khans’ remarks, “he was just making a comment back to someone who attacked him. He wasn’t being offensive.”

On Twitter on Monday morning, Trump lashed out again at Khizr Khan and the media. He argued that “radical Islamic terrorism,” not Khan, should be the focus of the exchange.

“Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over TV doing the same — Nice!” Trump said in his initial tweet.

Khizr and Ghazala Khan participat­ed in a round of television interviews Monday in which they slammed Trump.

“This candidate amazes me — his ignorance,” Khizr Khan said on NBC’s “Today” show. “He can get up and malign the entire nation — the religions, the communitie­s, the minorities, the judges. And yet, a private citizen in this political process, in his candidacy for the stewardshi­p for this country — I cannot say what I feel? That proves the point: He has not read the Constituti­on of this country.”

Ghazala Khan rejected Trump’s suggestion during an interview with ABC News that she may not have been “allowed” to speak during her convention appearance.

She stood at her husband’s side as he spoke.

“It doesn’t have to do anything with my religion,” she said on “Today.” She wrote in a Washington Post op-ed over the weekend that she is still experienci­ng raw emotions about her son’s death and could not bring herself to speak at the convention.

Some Trump allies f ought back Monday against the criticism the mogul has faced over his remarks about the Khans.

Meanwhile, James Waters, a former George W. Bush administra­tion White House aide and Navy SEAL, was among the 40 who signed the bipartisan letter to Trump.

“I think this situation speaks quite well to Trump’s blatant lack of fitness for office,” Waters said.

 ?? EVAN VUCCI/AP ??
EVAN VUCCI/AP

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