Donald Trump rebuked the father of a Muslim-American war hero whose rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention asserted the Republican has “sacrificed nothing."
The GOP presidential nominee bizarrely claimed his Trump properties are his own sacrifices — and he blasted the fallen captain’s silent mother, who was too emotional to speak herself.
Both of the parents slammed him further in response Saturday night. Mother Ghazala Khan questioned whether Trump even knows the meaning of the word "sacrifice," and father Khizr Khan said, "Shame on him!" when he heard what Trump had said.
The New York businessman dismissed Khizr Khan’s powerful Thursday night address — even suggesting he didn’t write it himself — and instead boasted about himself.
“I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard,” he told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “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.”
The real estate mogul refused to explain how constructing buildings and creating jobs are sacrifices when Stephanopoulos asked. The mother of Capt. Humayun Khan, who was slain in 2004 by suicide bombers in Iraq, explained to ABC later in the day that she was silent during the speech because she "didn't feel anything except the pain."
"Sacrifice -- I don't think he knows the meaning of sacrifice, the meaning of the word," said Ghazala Khan. "Because when I was standing there, all America felt my pain. Without saying a single word. Everybody felt that pain."
Khizr Khan said that Trump's children ought "tell him to learn to behave, learn to be decent.".
"Running for president is not an entitlement to disrespect Gold Star families and [a] Gold Star mother not realizing her pain," Khizr Khan said, using the designation reserved for the loved ones of fallen American soldiers."Shame on him! Shame on his family! He is not worthy of our comments. He has no decency. He is void of decency, he has a dark heart."
The question of sacrifice came after Khizr Khan addressed the DNC Thursday night to speak about his late son.
“Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery?" Khan asked Trump during his speech. "Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing."
Trump brushed off the harsh words, saying the heartbroken dad was "very emotional" and likely didn't even write his own speech.
“Who wrote that? Did Hillary's script writers write it?” he asked the ABC News host.
During the Thursday night address, Khan's wife stood quietly by his side.
Trump harped on the woman’s silence, suggesting she may not have been allowed to speak for cultural reasons.
“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,” Trump said.
But she had told MSNBC on Friday night that she chose not to speak because she becomes emotional whenever she thinks about her son. She was reluctant to even go on stage with her husband, she said.
“I cannot see my son’s picture — I cannot even come in the rooms where his pictures are,” she said. “It is very hard.”
Khan insisted he wouldn't have been able to address such a large crowd without his wife's support.
“Her being there was the strength so I could hold my composure. I am much weaker than she is,” he said. “It was her strength that made me stand there and address a candidate for a major party for the highest office of this county.”
During the same Friday night interview, the Khans asked two of the nation’s top Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, to disavow the racist nominee.
“Isn’t this time to repudiate Trump?” Khan asked. “If your candidate wins and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country, this country, will have constitutional crises (like) never before in the history of this country.”
The teary-eyed father called the two Republicans "patriots" and "decent human beings” as he pleaded with them to stop supporting a candidate who wants to bar all Muslims from entering the county.
“There comes a time in the history of a nation where an ethical, moral stand has to be taken regardless of the political costs,” he said. “The only reason they’re not repudiating his behavior, his threat to our democracy, our decency, our foundation, is just because of political consequences.”
