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John McCain: You Know Nothing, Donald Trump

‘While our Party has bestowed upon [Trump] the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us’

by
Jonathan Zalman
August 01, 2016
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Spike TV
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in in Washington, D.C., April 26, 2016. Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Spike TV
Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Spike TV
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) speaks at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in in Washington, D.C., April 26, 2016. Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Spike TV

Welcome back to #TrumpWatch, where Tablet presents the daily low-lights of Donald Trump’s attempt to use the dark forces of bigotry to become President of the United States. Today, let’s turn our attention to this public confrontation between the parents of a fallen, Muslim American soldier, and the Republican nominee, who has taken issue with the couple’s appearance at last week’s Democratic National Convention. The conflict has catapulted Trump into the spotlight once again, where he wants to be, no matter how much bird shit has accumulated on top of it.

The story, in short, is this: Khizr and Ghazala Khan, bereaved parents of Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2004, spoke at the DNC as “patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country” who, “like many immigrants, came to this country empty-handed.” Of their son, a fallen soldier who posthumously received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, Mr. Khan, a lawyer, said: “If it were up to Donald Trump, he never would have been in America.” Trump, he said, had “sacrificed nothing.”

Trump, in response, “for no reason at all,” criticized Mrs. Khan, 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. You tell me.” In another interview he said, “I’d like to hear his wife say something.”

Mrs. Khan responded with an op-ed in The Washington Post, writing:

[E]very day I feel the pain of his loss. It has been 12 years, but you know hearts of pain can never heal as long as we live. Just talking about it is hard for me all the time. Every day, whenever I pray, I have to pray for him, and I cry. The place that emptied will always be empty…



…Donald Trump said that maybe I wasn’t allowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not.



When Donald Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant. If he studied the real Islam and Koran, all the ideas he gets from terrorists would change, because terrorism is a different religion.

On Monday, Senator John McCain, “a war hero whose service and capture in Vietnam was also once derided by Mr. Trump,” reported The New York Timesissued the following statement, published below in full, deriding Trump:

“The Republican Party I know and love is the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.



“I wear a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen hero, Matthew Stanley, which his mother, Lynn, gave me in 2007, at a town hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. His memory and the memory of our great leaders deserve better from me.



“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.



“Make no mistake: I do not valorize our military out of some unfamiliar instinct. I grew up in a military family, and have my own record of service, and have stayed closely engaged with our armed forces throughout my public career. In the American system, the military has value only inasmuch as it protects and defends the liberties of the people.



“My father was a career naval officer, as was his father. For hundreds of years, every generation of McCains has served the United States in uniform.



“My sons serve today, and I’m proud of them. My youngest served in the war that claimed Captain Khan’s life as well as in Afghanistan. I want them to be proud of me. I want to do the right thing by them and their comrades.



“Humayun Khan did exactly that—and he did it for all the right reasons. This accomplished young man was not driven to service as a United States Army officer because he was compelled to by any material need. He was inspired as a young man by his reading of Thomas Jefferson — and he wanted to give back to the country that had taken him and his parents in as immigrants when he was only two years old.



“Captain Khan’s death in Iraq, on June 8th, 2004, was a shining example of the valor and bravery inculcated into our military. When a suicide bomber accelerated his vehicle toward a facility with hundreds of American soldiers, Captain Khan ordered his subordinates away from the danger.



“Then he ran toward it.



“The suicide bomber, striking prematurely, claimed the life of Captain Khan—and Captain Khan, through his selfless action and sacrifice, saved the lives of hundreds of his brothers and sisters.



“Scripture tells us that ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’



“Captain Humayun Khan of the United States Army showed in his final moments that he was filled and motivated by this love. His name will live forever in American memory, as an example of true American greatness.



“In the end, I am morally bound to speak only to the things that command my allegiance, and to which I have dedicated my life’s work: the Republican Party, and more importantly, the United States of America. I will not refrain from doing my utmost by those lights simply because it may benefit others with whom I disagree.



“I claim no moral superiority over Donald Trump. I have a long and well-known public and private record for which I will have to answer at the Final Judgment, and I repose my hope in the promise of mercy and the moderation of age. I challenge the nominee to set the example for what our country can and should represent.



“Arizona is watching. It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party. While our Party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.



“Lastly, I’d like to say to Mr. and Mrs. Khan: thank you for immigrating to America. We’re a better country because of you. And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation—and he will never be forgotten.”

Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.

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