Donald Trump

Outraged Pennsylvania Veterans Demand Trump Apology

Outraged Pennsylvania veterans demanded that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump apologize for his recent comments on a Gold Star family over the weekend.

Trump has been attacked by both Democrats and Republicans for his repeated criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim U.S. Army captain who was killed in Iraq.

In an emotional appearance at last week's convention, Khizr Khan criticized Trump for proposing to temporarily freeze the entry of foreign Muslims into the U.S. and accused him of making no sacrifices for his country. The billionaire businessman challenged that assertion and also implied Ghazala Khan's religion prevented her from speaking. On Monday, he tweeted that "Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same."

The Khans appeared at the Democratic convention Thursday night. The Pakistan-born Khizr Khan told the story of his son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, and questioned whether Trump had ever read the Constitution. During the speech, Ghazala Khan stood quietly by his side.

Trump responded in an interview with ABC's "This Week," saying: "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."

Ghazala Khan wrote in Sunday's Washington Post that she did not speak because talking about her son's death remains difficult. "Every day, whenever I pray, I have to pray for him, and I cry," she wrote.

Pennsylvania Congressman and former US Navy Reserve Commander Chris Carney, former US Navy lieutenant commander Manan Trivedi and retired US Army Major General Gale S. Pollock denounced Trump for his comments during a conference call Monday afternoon and demanded that Trump apologize during his scheduled campaign event in Mechanicsburg.

“I find Donald Trump’s latest rhetoric disgusting, disgraceful and really reprehensible towards veterans,” Trivedi said during the conference call. “Unfortunately I've seen firsthand the ultimate sacrifices that Captain Khan and so many others who serve our nation have made. I think for him to attack a mother who's clearly still grieving her son, is shameful.”

Trump spoke at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg Monday night. He did not mention the controversy during his speech however.

NBC10's Vince Lattanzio and David Chang are on the road with the Clinton-Kaine campaign as they tour Pennsylvania and Ohio by bus. Follow their travels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and NBC10.com to get dispatches from the trail and behind the scenes views of what it's like to cover a presidential campaign.


Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us