Despite Donald Trump’s attempt at an “urgent pivot” away from his clash with the Khan family, his clash with the parents of the slain Muslim U.S. soldier continue to take a toll on the GOP nominee. Even Newt Gingrich, who many thought was an eyelash away from becoming Trump’s VP choice, told The Washington Post that Trump’s behavior this week is “unacceptable.”
It began last week at the Democratic National Convention, with a speech by Khizr Khan, father of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq. Mr. Khan, a Pakistan-born Muslim, condemned Trump for his immigration stance, particularly his call to pause immigration from Muslim countries that are a hotbed for terrorism. At one moment in the speech, Khan asked Trump if he’d read the Constitution, offered Trump his copy, and insisted that the billionaire has “sacrificed nothing.”
Asked about the comments by George Stephanopoulos on ABC News’ This Week, Trump called their son a hero, but rather than leave it there, he suggested that Mr. Khan didn’t write the speech and perhaps Mrs. Khan couldn’t say anything because she was Muslim. That response — widely dubbed an “attack on a Gold Star family — has drawn a deluge of harsh criticism from military officials and media, pundits and politicians — even those from within the Republican Party. Sen. John McCain (AZ-R) said that Trump’s remarks “do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers or candidates.”
In separate statements, House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell disagreed with Trump’s stance on Muslim immigration and described the Khans’ son as “selfless” and “brave.”
And Rich Lowry of the conservative National Review wrote, “It’s not that grief validates a particular point of view, or someone who has suffered a terrible loss should be above criticism. But the grieving mother or father deserves an extra measure of respect. This isn’t just Politics 101, but Decency 101.”
With less restraint, left-leaning outlets such as The Atlantic are breathlessly declaring Trump’s campaign in complete collapse while Vanity Fair predicts mass defections amid allegations that Trump campaign staffers are “suicidal.” On Thursday a group of military veterans will team with the left-wing activist group Moveon.org for a Capitol Hill rally to call on GOP leaders to withdraw their endorsements for Trump over the Khan affair.
One of Trump’s sons, Eric Trump, defended his father on CBS’s This Morning, insisting the reaction to the Khan comments are “blown hugely out of proportion.” He said his father’s stance on Muslims is “not an anti-Muslim message, it’s anti-terror message,” and that the GOP nominee is concerned about ISIS “running rampant in the world.”
Khizr Khan, Immigration Attorney
Meanwhile, more information has emerged about Khizr Khan’s ties to the DNC and exactly what he does for a living. As Breitbart reported Tuesday, Mr. Khan has removed his law firm’s website from the Internet, a law firm specializing in immigration and the acquiring of immigration visas, among other services. So, while nothing should take away from the Khan’s status as a Gold Star family, it is fair to observe that it was an immigration lawyer standing at a political convention blasting a candidate’s contrary immigration policies.
Also, Mr. Khan’s previous law firm, Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells) is the same powerful D.C. law firm that has worked on the Clintons’ tax filings since 2004 and patented the computer software that handled Hillary Clinton’s private email server. From 2002 through 2010 it was also the professional home of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who did not prosecute Hillary Clinton over her failure to keep confidential emails and information secure.
Khan Coverage vs. Pat Smith Coverage
The wall-to-wall coverage of the Khans at the DNC Convention contrasts sharply with the lack of coverage given Pat Smith at the GOP Convention. Like the Khans she grieves. Smith’s son Sean was killed at Benghazi. Unlike the Khans, the candidate she opposes has a direct connection to the events that resulted in her son’s death, since Hillary was Secretary of State when the fatal embassy attack occurred.
Nonetheless, as Fox News reported, the Khans have received 40 times more coverage than Smith by mainstream media. And while Trump is roasted for his Sunday comments about the Khans, Clinton is receiving mostly a free pass for her comments the same day when she insisted once again that the grieving Smith misunderstood her when she spoke to families at the return ceremony after the Benghazi attack. According to Hillary, when she met with them at the ceremony she did not in fact blame the attacks on a YouTube video.
Unfortunately for Clinton, the Khan uproar brought Charles Woods, the father of Navy SEAL Ty Woods, back into the public eye. In appearances on CNN and Fox News, Mr. Woods read from his diary of that day at Joint Base Andrews, scribbled down shortly after meeting the Secretary of State.
“I gave Hillary a hug and shook her hand,” he read, “And she said we are going to have the filmmaker arrested who was responsible for the death of my son.’”
When asked if he thought Trump should apologize to Khan, Woods said, “I know who should apologize, and that would be Hillary Clinton, for lying to the American families who lost their loved ones, as well as to the American public.” (For more from the author of “More Trump Turmoil, and More on Khan” please click HERE)
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