Khizr Khan's DNC Speech

Overview

Khizr Khan's DNC Speech refers to an address delivered by Khizir Khan, a Pakistani American and the father of deceased United States war veteran Captain Humayun Khan, to honor his son's sacrifice and condemn Donald Trump for his lack of respect towards minority groups, including the Muslim-American community, at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016.

Background

On July 28th, 2016, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Pakistani-born Americans and the parents of American war veteran Captain Humayun Khan, made a special appearance at the Democratic National Convention to deliver a speech in honor of their son, who was killed in action by a car bomb during Operation Iraqi Freedom in June 2004. During the speech, Khizr also criticized Donald Trump for his proposed ban on Muslim immigration and questioned the Republican presidential nominee's understanding of the United States Constitution (shown below).

Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words "liberty" and "equal protection of law."

Notable Developments

Trump's Responses

On July 30th, Trump discussed Khan's speech during an interview on ABC News,^[3] where he questioned if Ghazala Khan "was allowed to have anything to say" and claimed to have made "sacrifices" for the United States with his businesses and charity work (shown below).

Stephanopoulos: There’s a man named Khizr Khan speaking at the Democratic convention. His son Captain Humayun Khan was killed serving in Iraq and he had some very tough questions for you. He said you wouldn’t have even let his son in America…

Trump: He doesn’t know, he doesn’t know that. I saw him. He was very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife, 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 but plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet and it looked like she had nothing to say, a lot of people have said that and, personally, I watched him, I wish him the best of luck, George.

On July 31st, Trump tweeted that Captain Khan "was a hero" and criticized "leaders" for not eradicating "radical islamic terror" (shown below, left).^[7] That same morning, Trump tweeted that Khan had "viciously attacked" him at the Democratic Convention and that Clinton voted for the Iraq War that led to the death of his son (shown below, right).^[2] Within 24 hours, the tweets gathered upwards of 40,900 and 53,000 likes respectively.

Online Reaction

Trump's statements were widely condemned by political opponents online, who derided the Republican presidential nominee for disrespecting the Gold Star Khan family. On July 30th, critics of Trump began tweeting the hashtag "#TrumpSacrifices," along with various petty hardships presumably faced by presidential candidate (shown below).^[5]

The following day, Redditor cfmonkey45 posted a photograph of Humayun Khan to the /r/EnoughTrumpSpam^[1] subreddit, where it gathered upwards of 5,400 votes (83% upvoted) and 100 comments within 24 hours.

Khan Family's Responses

On July 27th, Khan was interview on ABC News, where he derided Trump for being "devoid of felling the pain of a mother who has sacrificed her son" (shown below).

On July 30th, Khan was interviewed on MSNBC, where he criticized Republicans for supporting Trump (shown below, left). The following day, Khan appeared on CNN, accusing Trump of having a "black soul" and being "incapable of empathy" (shown below, right). Also on July 31st, The Washington Post^[4] published an editorial written by Ghazala Khan, in which she criticized Trump for being ignorant about Islam and the Koran.

GOP Reactions

On July 29th, former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee defended Trump's statements in an interview with The Kelly File host Megyn Kelly (shown below).

On July 30th, Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich tweeted that Gold Star parents like the Khan's should only be talked about "with honor and respect," gaining over 39,400 likes and 16,700 retweets within 48 hours (shown below, left). The following day, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush tweeted that Trump's statements were "incredibly disrespectful" (shown below, right).^[6] In 24 hours, the tweet accumulated more than 13,400 likes and 7,900 retweets.

On August 1st, the senior United States Senator from Arizona John McCain released a statement condemning Trump's remarks about the Khan family, claiming that Trump's views did not represent those of the Republican Party:

"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.

Spike in Sales of The Constitution

In the light of the controversy that ensued in the days after Khan's DNC speech, the online sales of a pocket-sized edition of the Constitution^[8] published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies skyrocketed on Amazon, and by August 1st, it had become the second bestselling book on the site.

Search Interest

External References