Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq who publicly feuded with President-elect Donald Trump during the campaign, said that he has no regrets and urged Trump to bring the country together.
Khan told NBC10 Philadelphia on Thursday “without hesitation” he was sure he did the right thing by speaking out against Trump.
“As a grateful citizen of this country, whenever you see that your values, the values of this country are being challenged, it’s an obligation of all citizens, all patriots regardless of party affiliation to stand up and be counted and remind each other that we have much better values: plurality, moving forward together, equal dignity, equal protection of law,” he said. “These are the basic fundamental values and we will continue to remind each other.”
With his wife, Ghazala, at his side, Khan gave one of the most memorable speeches at the Democratic National Convention in July when he held up a copy of the Constitution and asked if Trump had even read the document and what sacrifices the businessman had made for the country. Trump responded by attacking Ghazala Khan, suggesting she had not been allowed to speak because she was a Muslim woman. She later said she did not speak because she was still emotional over her son’s 2004 death.
Khizr Khan also starred in a moving ad for Hillary Clinton’s campaign in which he asked if people like his son would have a place in Trump’s America. Trump has pledged to ban Muslims from entering the United States.
On Thursday, Khan urged the president-elect, who ran a divisive campaign, to bring the country together.
“We are disappointed, that’s not what we are expecting, but this is the time to move forward and begin to give hope to those that are distraught, disappointed, and that is the role that I wish to continue to play so that we can continue to move forward,” he said. “This nation needs to move forward, and move forward together, not divided, and that is his responsibility now, to bring us all together and move us all forward without division.”
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