Donald Trump said Sunday that Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 during the Iraq war, would be alive today because he did not support the war before it started.
Trump was responding to ABC News’ Martha Raddatz, who asked Trump if he continues to stand behind his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States, which he announced in December.
“Capt. Khan is an American hero, and if I were president at that time, he would be alive today because unlike [Hillary Clinton], who voted for the [Iraq] war without knowing what she was doing, I would not have had our people in Iraq. Iraq was a disaster. So he would have been alive today.”
Trump’s comments on Khan became an issue during the Democratic National Convention, when Khan’s father Khizr challenged Trump’s Muslim ban during a speech.
When it comes to Trump’s stance on the Iraq war, detractors point to an interview he gave to radio host Howard Stern when he said “yeah, I guess so” when asked if the U.S. should go to war. Trump has countered that he had long private conversations with Fox News host Sean Hannity in which he argued against the war.
