The father of an American war hero killed in Iraq blasted Donald Trump for accepting a Purple Heart from one of his supporters.
Khizr Khan, father of Army Capt. Humayun S.M. Khan, called Trump’s acceptance of the medal “heartless” and urged him to return it.
The Republican presidential candidate showed the Purple Heart to a crowd of supporters at a campaign event in Virginia on Tuesday.
“I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” Trump said. “This was much easier.”
While speaking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night, Khan slammed Trump:
“You had your chance. You escaped. You dodged the draft ― and now you want an ‘easy’ Purple Heart in your pocket? You should have pinned it back. Even now, call that man. I want his surrogates to call that man, thank him and put that Purple Heart back on that person’s chest.”
Trump also boasted that it was the real medal, although some reports suggested it was actually a replica.
Unlike the wounded soldier who was originally given the Purple Heart, Trump received four draft deferments for college and one for “bone spurs in his heels” during the Vietnam War, The New York Times reported.
“He wants to be the leader, commander-in-chief of this United States of America? That is the thoughtfulness?” Khan said. “He should have put that Purple Heart back. If he would have been sensible he would have known what it takes to earn that Purple Heart.”
Khan gained national prominence last week when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. During the speech, he derided Trump’s call to ban Muslims and pulled a copy of the Constitution out of his pocket.
“Let me ask you, have you even read the U.S. Constitution?” Khan said. “I will gladly lend you my copy.”
Since then, however, Trump and his campaign surrogates have repeatedly attacked Khan and his wife.
H/T Mediaite
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar,rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims ― 1.6 billion members of an entire religion ― from entering the U.S.
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