‘My name is Khan and I am an American patriot’: Khan patriot missile torpedoes Donald Trump
WASHINGTON: Republican hopes of recapturing the White House is in a disarray after a Muslim-American family that twitted Donald Trump + at the Democratic National Convention over his purported Islamophobia has turned to be a political torpedo that has struck the billionaire nominee’s campaign.Trump has been reeling over the past 48 hours ever since he dissed Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala Khan, whose son Humayun Khan, a captain in the US army, died in the Iraq War. The Khans have now virtually become Democratic Party mascots and campaigners, attacking Trump head on in numerous media interviews, sending the blustering billionaire running for cover.“My name is Khan and I am a patriot,” could well be new Democratic campaign slogan as the story of an immigrant family that maintains it has sacrificed more for America than Trump and his foreign family has ignited the election scenario.
“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,” Republican Senator John McCain said in a statement released by his office on Monday.
“I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers, or candidates.”McCain, a war hero who has also been disdained previously by Trump, added: “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.” Other GOP leaders, notably House Speaker Paul Ryan, also disassociated themselves from Trump’s remarks, amid indication that the maverick billionaire is starting to lose establishment support.
But his crude effort to caricature Ghazala Khan as an oppressed Muslim woman (only because she was silent) has backfired after she too began speaking out. It also turns out that the Khans are well-educated—far more educated and refined in fact than Trump’s core constituency of white voters without a college degree.
After a long period of trying to normalize an election campaign like none other, the US media has now latched on to Trump’s numerous faux pas, the latest one that indicated he has very little idea of the geo-political developments of the day.
In one interview, he claimed Russian leader Vladimir Putin+ will not invade Ukraine if he (Trump) becomes President. Reminded that Putin is already there, Trump reeled it back saying he meant they have already taken Crimea and they won’t push further if he is president.”Wow, it is unbelievable how distorted, one-sided and biased the media is against us. The failing @nytimes is a joke. @CNN is laughable!” he tweeted, even as he mocked the “dishonest media is fawning over the Democratic Convention.”
Pointing out that his convention speech had “millions of more viewers than Crooked H,” he cited Nielson Media Research numbers showing Trump’s speech had 32.2 million viewers compared to 27.8 million for Hillary Clinton.
But while Trump clearly won the viewership battle, a new CBS survey showed Hillary Clinton with 46-39 lead over the weekend, helped by a post-convention bounce, even as media exposes touched a new low.
On Sunday, the New York Post, a tabloid famed for “Headless Body in Topless Bar” kind of headlines, published a nude photo of Trump wife Melania from her modeling days before she married the billionaire.
Even Republican Party stalwarts, always leery of Trump hijacking the GOP and rousing anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiments to advance his prospects, have disavowed his remarks while embracing the Khans.