After the parents of a Muslim soldier who died fighting for the United States in Iraq spoke at the Democratic National Convention and slammed his policy on banning Muslims from entering country, Donald Trump came out swinging.
Khizr Khan, with his wife Ghazala by his side, spoke at the convention about how their son, Humayun Kham, sacrificed his life as a US solider in Iraq, killed by a car bomb in 2004.
He criticized Trump for seeking to ban Muslims from the country.
“Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America,” Khan said, addressing Trump. “You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
“If it was up to Donald Trump, [Humayun] never would have been in America,” Khan, a Harvard-educated lawyer, continued.
“Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, women, judges, even his own party leadership. He vows to build walls and ban us from this country.”
Watch the powerful speech below:
Following the speech, Trump fired back, claiming that he had in fact sacrificed plenty by employing “thousands and thousands of people”.
“I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard,” he told ABC. “I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.”
Trump then went on to suggest that Ghazala Khan, who stood in silence by her husband’s side as he delivered the speech, was unable to speak because her Muslim husband wouldn’t allow it.
“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.”
Ghazala Khan has since penned a powerful op-ed for The Washington Post in which she opened up further on why she chose not to speak, and how Donald Trump’s comments on Muslims only enhance his ignorance.
Donald Trump has asked why I did not speak at the Democratic convention. He said he would like to hear from me. Here is my answer to Donald Trump: Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart.
I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. For all these years, I haven’t been able to clean the closet where his things are –– I had to ask my daughter-in-law to do it. Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?
Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not. My religion teaches me that all human beings are equal in God’s eyes. Husband and wife are part of each other; you should love and respect each other so you can take care of the family.
When Donald Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant. If he studied the real Islam and Koran, all the ideas he gets from terrorists would change, because terrorism is a different religion.
Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn’t know what the word sacrifice means.
Red the full op-ed here.
