Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) blasted Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for criticizing the Muslim-American parents of a U.S. Army Captain who was killed in Iraq.
"In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service,” McCain said in a statement Monday, according to Politico. “I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.”
Trump criticized Khizr and Ghazala Khan after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention last week. Trump said Khizr "had no right" to accuse him of not understanding the Constitution, and said Ghazala might not have been "allowed" to speak because she was a Muslim woman.
The Khans' son, Humayun Khan, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2004.
"My sons serve today, and I'm proud of them," McCain said. "My youngest served in the war that claimed Captain Khan's life as well as in Afghanistan. I want them to be proud of me. I want to do the right thing by them and their comrades.
"Humayun Khan did exactly that — and he did it for all the right reasons. This accomplished young man was not driven to service as a United States Army officer because he was compelled to by any material need. He was inspired as a young man by his reading of Thomas Jefferson — and he wanted to give back to the country that had taken him and his parents in as immigrants when he was only two years old.
"Captain Khan's death in Iraq, on June 8th, 2004, was a shining example of the valor and bravery inculcated into our military. When a suicide bomber accelerated his vehicle toward a facility with hundreds of American soldiers, Captain Khan ordered his subordinates away from the danger. Then he ran toward it."
"It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party," McCain continued. "While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us."
McCain, a former Navy pilot, concluded his statement by thanking the Khan's for immigrating to the United States.
“We’re a better country because of you. And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation – and he will never be forgotten."
McCain announced in May that he would support Trump's presidential bid, even though the real estate mogul had mocked him for being captured during the Vietnam war and spending five years in a brutal North Vietnamese prison.
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