VFW Slams Trump with a Blistering Statement after He Berates Parents of
Slain Army Hero
By Brad Reed [1]
Raw Story [2], August 1, 2016
http://www.alternet.org/print/election-2016/vfw-slams-trump-blistering-statement-after-he-berates-parents-slain-army-hero
It seems Donald Trump has really stepped in it with his attacks on the Khan
family.
One day after Trump suggested that Ghazala Khan didn’t speak about her late
son at last week’s Democratic National Convention because her husband Khizr
wouldn’t "allow" her to do so, the highly influential Veterans of Foreign
Wars organization is calling him out.
"Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star
family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression," said
VFW Commander-in-Chief Brian Duffy. "There are certain sacrosanct subjects
that no amount of wordsmithing can repair once crossed. Giving one’s life to
nation is the greatest sacrifice, followed closely by Gold Star families,
who have a right to make their voices heard."
In addition to the VFW, 17 other Gold Star families also denounced Trump’s
attack on the Khan family on Monday.
"When you question a mother’s pain, by implying that her religion, not her
grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us,"
the Gold Star families wrote in an open letter to Trump. "When you say your
job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our
sacrifice."
Trump’s spat with the Khan family began last Thursday when Khizr Khan
denounced Trump at the Democratic National Convention. Khan in particular
attacked Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States and
pointed out that his son Humayun would not have been allowed into the United
States under this proposal.
Ghazala Khan did not speak during the DNC because she said she was too
emotional at the time. She subsequently did grant interviews to MSNBC and
other outlets, although this didn’t stop Trump from suggesting that her
husband wouldn’t allow her to talk publicly.
Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq in 2004, when he told men in his unit to
take cover while he went to inspect what he believed was a car bomb. Khan
took ten steps toward the vehicle before it exploded and killed him.
Brad Reed is a writer living in Boston. His work has previously appeared in
the American Prospect Online, and he blogs frequently at Sadly, No! [3].
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Blistering Statement after He Berates Parents of Slain Army Hero [4]
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http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/vfw-slams-trump-blistering-statement-after-he-berates-parents-slain-army-hero
Links:
[1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/brad-reed
[2] http://rawstory.com/
[3] http://sadlyno.com/
[4] mailto:corrections@xxxxxxxxxxxx?Subject=Typo on VFW Slams Trump with a ;
Blistering Statement after He Berates Parents of Slain Army Hero
[5] http://www.alternet.org/
[6] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
