Khizr Khan, the father of Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq in 2004, is asking GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s advisers to get him in a room, close the door, and “set him right.”
“Every decent Republican has rebuked his behavior, yet nobody had stood up and said, ’Enough. Stop it. You will not be our candidate,’ ” Mr. Khan said of Mr. Trump.
Speaking on CNN’s “New Day” Monday, Mr. Khan pointed to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, both of whom issued statements praising Capt. Khan.
“But this candidate’s maligning of decent, patriotic Republican[s] has continued,” Mr. Khan said. “Look what he did and how he spoke about Mitt Romney. Look what he did, how he spoke with Senator McCain. This is proof of his ignorance and arrogance, and I again and again ask his advisers to get him in a room, close the door and set him right.”
Mr. Khan and his wife, Ghazala, appeared last week at the Democratic National Convention. Mr. Khan had asked Mr. Trump, who has proposed to ban Muslim immigration into the U.S., if he had ever read the U.S. Constitution.
Mr. Trump has pushed back on the Khans since then and said on ABC’s “This Week” that maybe Ghazala Khan, who did not speak at the convention, “wasn’t allowed to have anything to say.”
SEE ALSO: Fight with Khan family tests Donald Trump’s ‘say anything’ strategy
Mr. Khan said on Monday the First Amendment allows him to criticize Mr. Trump, and Mrs. Khan said her religion, family and culture has never stopped her from saying what she wanted to say.
Mrs. Khan said in various media reports that she was too overcome by grief to speak.
“He had been abusing, disrespecting women, judges, all decent Americans — he had been so abusive of them,” Mr. Khan said. “He wants to have one set of rights for himself, and he wants to have another set of rights for others.”
“No. Somebody should tell him that there is equal dignity, equal protection of law in this country,” he said.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, issued a statement through the Trump campaign Sunday evening saying he and Mr. Trump believe Capt. Khan “is an American hero, and his family, like all Gold Star families, should be cherished by every American.”
Mr. Khan said Monday they are “heartened” by Mr. Pence’s remarks about their family.
Mr. Trump provided a response almost in real time Monday, tweeting: “Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same — Nice!”
“This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!” Mr. Trump also tweeted.
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, issued a statement Monday saying he hopes Americans understand that Mr. Trump’s remarks do not represent the views of the Republican party, its officers or its candidates.
“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents,” Mr. McCain said. “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.”
“It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican party,” Mr. McCain said. “While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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