Iraq War Vets Chastise Republican Nominee for Callous and Crass Comments
The Trump campaign is five days into what’s shaping up to be one of if not the biggest disaster it has created for itself to date: the Republican nominee’s repeated attacks on a Gold Star Muslim American family who lost their U.S. soldier son to a suicide bomber. Humayun Khan died while protecting his fellow soldiers, and his parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, have publicly denounced Trump as a man who does not know the meaning of “sacrifice,” who has not read the constitution, and who “is a black soul.”
Trump opted to fight back, hard, and repeatedly, while urging congressional Republicans to rush to his aid. They have not. In fact, Tuesday morning, one GOP Congressman became the first to announce come November he will cross party lines and vote for Hillary Clinton.
At a Virginia rally late Tuesday morning, Trump told supporters that just that morning a vet had handed him his purple heart. In response, Trump told the audience, “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.”
Needless to say, many were instantly shocked.
The Purple Heart is awarded to U.S. service members who are wounded or killed while serving their country, or who die from wounds sustained while serving their country.
Iraq War veteran Sean Barney was one of those offended.
“As someone who fought for our country in Iraq, was injured, and was awarded a Purple Heart, I can tell you, no one should ever ‘want’ to get a Purple Heart,” Barney, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives who retired from the Marine Corps, said on Facebook.
“Again and again, Donald Trump has proven that he is unfit to be the Commander in Chief of our armed forces. As Khizr Khan poignantly argued, Donald Trump has not sacrificed for this country and he does not understand duty to any cause other than himself.”
Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, also an Iraq War veteran, and the first disabled woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, also shared her thoughts via social media:
Eric Alva, the first Marine seriously injured in the Iraq War, posted a strong rebuke to Trump via Facebook:
Alva, an LGBT rights activist who played a very large role in the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” also posted the photo below to Facebook, writing:
“My Purple Heart! You have no idea Donald Trump what this medal is about. It is sacred and for you to joke and say ‘this was much easier,’ there are no words except, god help you!!”
“Shame shame shame on you Sir,” Alva added.
CBS News reporter Steven Portnoy via Twitter notes John Bircher, spokesperson for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, also slammed Trump’s offensive comments:
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