The two most powerful Republicans in Congress say the memory of Army captain Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American soldier who died in Iraq in 2004, should be honored and valued—but both stopped short of criticizing the GOP nominee for president, Donald Trump. Khan’s parents spoke out against Trump’s candidacy last week at the Democratic National Convention, focusing his proposed travel ban on Muslims. Trump has responded since then by calling into question Khan’s mother’s agency and suggesting that he, too, has made “sacrifices” like those of the Khan family.
House speaker Paul Ryan issued a statement Sunday afternoon. “America’s greatness is built on the principles of liberty and preserved by the men and women who wear the uniform to defend it,” said Ryan. “As I have said on numerous occasions, a religious test for entering our country is not reflective of these fundamental values. I reject it. Many Muslim Americans have served valiantly in our military, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice—and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan—should always be honored. Period.”
Here’s Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, also on Sunday: “Captain Khan was an American hero, and like all Americans I’m grateful for the sacrifices that selfless young men like Capt. Khan and their families have made in the war on terror. All Americans should value the patriotic service of the patriots who volunteer to selflessly defend us in the armed services. And as I have long made clear, I agree with the Khans and families across the country that a travel ban on all members of a religion is simply contrary to American values.”
Khan’s parents, Khzir and Ghazala Khan, appeared last Thursday at the DNC to urge Americans to vote against Trump. In his addres, Khzir Khan suggested Trump was unfamiliar with the meaning of the U.S. Constitution and offered to let the New York real-estate magnate borrow Khan’s own pocket version. Khan, who spoke as Ghazala stood by his side, said Trump has “smeared” Muslims and “has sacrificed nothing and no one” for the country.
Trump has pushed back by stating he has “sacrificed” a lot by creating “thousands and thousands” of jobs. He also suggested Ghazala Khan did not say anything at the DNC because she was not allowed to—presumably because of her faith. “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, but plenty of people have written that,” Trump said in an interview Sunday morning on ABC, echoing comments he made a day earlier to the New York Times.
On Friday, the Khans went on MSNBC and made a direct plea to both House speaker Paul Ryan and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to “repudiate Trump” for “what he has threatened to do.”
“This is [a] moral imperative for both leaders to say to him…’Enough, you are about to sink the ship of the patriot Republicans,'” said a tearful Khan, who referred to Ryan and McConnell as “patriots” and “leaders.”
Watch: #KhizrKhan asks Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to repudiate Trump. Tune in to @TheLastWord for the interview https://t.co/rtp6TJOySL— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 30, 2016
A spokeswoman for Ryan declined to say whether the House speaker, who has long criticized Trump’s Muslim ban proposal, saw Khzir Khan’s speech on Thursday or the couple’s direct appeal to Ryan on Friday.
Update: A spokesman for Mitch McConnell writes of the Kentucky Republican: “I don’t know how much of the DNC he watched.”
