Article originally published 31/07/2016: due to a technical issue this article may have resurfaced for some readers, and the original publish date may not have been visible.
Donald Trump could have sunk to his lowest level to date after mocking the mother of a dead US Muslim soldier killed in Iraq.
The US presidential candidate is facing widespread condemnation and little support from his Republican colleagues after making questionable remarks about Ghazala Khan.
Her son, Humayun, was killed by a car bomb in 2004 in Iraq at the age of 27.
On Thursday, she stood silently as her husband, Khir Khan, attacked Trump and his anti-Muslim bigotry in an emotional speech to the Democratic National Convention.
“You have sacrificed no-one and nothing,” he said directly to Trump, whose flagship policy promise is to ban all Muslims from entering the US and build a wall on the Mexican border.
The Republican nominee responded this weekend, telling ABC News he has made “a lot of sacrifices” - and went on to suggest Ghazala Khan wasn’t allowed to speak at the convention. He said:
“If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me.”
See Trump make the remarks in video below.
Trump also failed to name any specific “sacrifices”, pointing instead to jobs he has created as a business man and builder. “I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things ...”
On MSNBC, Ghazala Khan explained she was “very nervous”, making clear her upset when she sees her son’s picture. “I couldn’t take it and I controlled myself at that time, so it’s very hard,” she said.
Today, Khir Khan said in an interview with CNN:
“(Trump) is a black soul, and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this country. The love and affection that we have received affirms that our grief ― that our experience in this country has been correct and positive. The world is receiving us like we have never seen. They have seen the blackness of his character, of his soul.”
Khir Khan last week delivered an impassioned speech at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, challenging the TV star to read the Constitution. See video below.
Trump, inevitably doubled down on Twitter, suggesting somehow he was the victim in all of this.
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