WASHINGTON – United States’ Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been under continuous fire since he questioned the Muslim parents of US Army Captain Humayun Khan, who were both at the center of last week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
In an interview with ABC News, Trump questioned why Ghazala Khan, the mother of Humayun, stood silently by her husband Khizr while he spoke at the Democratic event, suggesting that the mother could have been forbidden to speak.
Reacting to Trump’s statement, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said that he was insulting the parents of the Muslim soldier killed in Iraq while fighting for the United States.
“His sacrifice should be honoured and it’s just not how I was raised or taught in my church,” she said.
“I don’t begrudge anyone of any other faith or of no faith at all, but I do tremble before those who would scapegoat other Americans, who would insult people because of their religion, their ethnicity, their disability,” she added.
Republican lawmaker Paul Ryan also condemned Trump’s statement.
“Many Muslim Americans have served valiantly in our military and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Khan was one such brave example,” Ryan said in a statement issued to media.
“His sacrifice – and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan – should always be honored. Period,” he said.
On the other hand, Republican Vice Presidential hopeful, Mike Pence also contradicted Trump’s stance: “I believe that Captain Humayun Khan is an American hero and he should be cherished by every American.”
On Sunday, Ghazala Khan also penned an opinion piece in the Washington Post, saying that her husband had asked her in advance if she wanted to speak at the convention or not. “I would have been unable to speak because of my pain over the death of my son,” she went on to say.
