Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) said this week that Khizr Khan, the father of a fallen American soldier, is a “con artist,” after Khan movingly spoke out against Donald Trump at the Democratic National Convention.
In his remarks at the convention, Khan questioned whether Trump had sacrificed anything for the country. Trump responded by attacking Khan and his wife, Ghazala, suggesting that she had not been allowed to speak at the convention because she was Muslim. Ghazala said the reason she stood silently by her husband was because she is still moved to tears by her son’s death.
LePage accused Khizr Khan of using his son’s death to his own advantage.
“Then there’s the almighty, powerful ones like Mr. Khan — which is a con artist himself ― and he uses the death of his son, who’s an American soldier, which we respect and honor, and he uses that to go after Trump, which I found very distasteful,” he said Wednesday in a radio interview with Boston-based host Howie Carr.
LePage has endorsed Trump, and his daughter works for the GOP nominee’s campaign.
Khizr Khan’s son, Army Capt. Humayun S.M. Khan, was Muslim American born in the UAE. He was killed in 2004 in Iraq by a vehicle filled with explosives, saving the lives of several of his fellow soldiers.
Khizr Khan also has urged House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to condemn Trump.
In remarks at the DNC, the father asked what Trump had given to the country.
“Let me ask you, have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy,” he said. “Look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.’ Have you ever been to Arlington National Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending this country.”
“You have sacrificed nothing,” he said.
LePage frequently makes controversial comments. In January, he claimed men with names like “D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty,” were dealing drugs in Maine and impregnating white women.
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