Donald Trump criticized the parents of a fallen Muslim United States Army soldier just two days after they appeared at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where the hero’s father delivered a heartfelt, powerful speech.
As Us Weekly previously reported, Khizr Khan and his wife, Ghazala, took the DNC stage on Thursday, July 28, to urge people to vote for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Khizr also slammed the Republican presidential nominee, 70, for his remarks about banning Muslim immigration to the United States.
“If it was up to Donald Trump, [our son] never would have been in America,” the bereaved father said on Thursday, adding, “Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
Trump hit back during an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Saturday, July 30. “Who wrote that? Did Hillary’s script writers write it? I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard,” the businessman said.
He continued, “I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs — tens of thousands of jobs — [and] built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.”
The hashtag #TrumpSacrifices later trended on Twitter, with people weighing in on both sides.
The GOP candidate also went to slam Khizr’s wife, who stood quietly next to her husband during his impassioned DNC speech about their son, Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad in 2004 at the age of 27. (Humayun was posthumously given the Purple Heart award and a Bronze Star for his heroic service.)
“If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say,” Trump told ABC News. “Maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me.”
Paul Rieckoff, CEO of the nonpartisan group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, later took aim at Trump for his comments, telling ABC News, “For anyone to compare their ‘sacrifice’ to a Gold Star family member is insulting, foolish and ignorant. Especially someone who has never served himself and has no children serving.”
