Eric Trump defended his father, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, in the face of calls to apologize to the family of a fallen Muslim U.S. soldier.
When asked if his father was wrong for his comments and repeated attacks on Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Pakistani-born parents of slain Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who died in 2004 in Iraq, Trump deflected.
“I think this is something that was honestly blown hugely out of proportion,” he explained on “CBS This Morning” Tuesday morning. “My father’s simple message is not an anti-Muslim message, it’s an anti-terror message. We have ISIS and they’re running rampant around the world, and we have to do something about it.”
Trump added that his father is not suggesting that Muslims be targeted for their faith.
“This isn’t a Muslim thing,” Trump said, “This is an ISIS thing. And this is also an anti-immigration, anti-Syrian refugee thing coming into the country. He doesn’t want to see more Americans dead. My father’s a great patriot. He sees what’s happening around the country and quite frankly, he’s shaking his head.”
Eric Trump also leaned on the idea that his father is a “fighter,” when asked earlier if is difficult for him to apologize.
The elder Trump has received criticism from both parties for jousting with the Khan family. In his Thursday night address to the Democratic National Convention, Khizr Khan took aim at Donald Trump, pulling out a pocket U.S. Constitution to ask if he’s read it, and telling the businessman, “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
