Ghazala Khan, Mother of Muslim War Hero, Responds to Trump
Khizr Khan, father of fallen US Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan and his wife, Ghazala, speak during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Thursday, July 28, 2016.
Last week, Ghazala Khan stood beside her husband, Khizr Khan, as he addressed the Democratic National Convention with an emotional, moving speech about their son, Humayun Khan, an American Muslim war hero who died in Iraq in 2004.
During his speech, Khizr Khan called out Donald Trump, who he said “consistently smears the character of Muslims.”
At one point, Khizr retrieved a copy of the constitution and asked Trump if he’s “even read” it. “Look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law,'” Khizr said, referring to Trump’s “vows to build walls, and ban us from this country.”
Trump fired back on Twitter, in typical Trumpy fashion.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2016
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2016
But then he took it a step even further when he called out Khizr’s wife, Ghazala, during an interview with the New York Times.
“I’d like to hear his wife say something,” Trump told the reporter. He elaborated in an interview with ABC News, during which he said “probably, maybe [Ghazala] wasn’t allowed to have anything to say.”
Ghazala responded yesterday, through an opinion article published in the Washington Post.
“Without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain,” Ghazala said. “I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart.”
More from Ghazala’s piece:
“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.
This morning, Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump joined the debate during an interview with Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, saying “there’s no question that [Humayan] was a hero,” but “this isn’t about this. This is about radical Islamic terrorism.”
Eric Trump then referenced several recent shootings, including those in Dallas and Orlando, and promised that “there will be no one tougher on ISIS in the world than my father.”
Follow @ClaireSasko on Twitter.
