Following Donald Trump‘s attack on the family of fallen Iraq War veteran Humayun Khan, another mother of a deceased serviceman went on the offensive against the Republican presidential nominee.
In a press release from the veterans advocacy group VoteVets, Karen Meredith, who’s the son of First Lieutenant Ken Ballard, said that the Khan family possessed great courage for giving a speech at the DNC Convention.
“The parents of Humayun Khan showed great courage, standing up in front of the Democratic Convention,” Meredith wrote according to KTVU. “Mrs. Khan, who was too grief-stricken to speak to such a large audience, showed extraordinary courage and strength by standing on stage with her husband. For Donald Trump to insult their culture, by saying that is why she did not speak, is offensive.”
“Donald Trump has already disrespected our POWs, and our veterans, and now, he has insulted the fallen and the families of the fallen. This is an attack on all Gold Star Families. It is an attack on service, and the spirit of service, itself.”
In an interview with ABC News, Trump compared his personal losses to the Khan family’s loss of their son by claiming that he has made “sacrifices” as well. Meredith addressed this in her letter, stating that Trump’s financial losses do not come close to anything that military families experience on a daily basis.
“Our men and women in the military make sacrifices every day. Our military families make sacrifices every day. Donald Trump hasn’t sacrificed anything close to that. Building buildings is a job. He didn’t lose anything. Even when he went bankrupt he didn’t lose anything. All he did is lose other people’s money.”
Must-read.
Karen Meredith, Gold Star mom, hits Trump: "This is an attack on all Gold Star Families" — @votevets pic.twitter.com/tTabmwehKU
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 1, 2016
She also pointed out the lack of strong condemnation from Republican Party leaders like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.
Just taped interview w/ Gold Star mom Karen Meredith. She organized a letter demanding an apology from Trump @npratc pic.twitter.com/hKXolXBYGB
— Tom Dreisbach (@TomDreisbach) August 1, 2016
“If they are not willing to stand up to him right now, when he attacks our fallen and Gold Star Families, are they ever going to be willing to stand up to him? When will Paul Ryan stand up to him? When will Mitch McConnell stand up to him? When will Reince Priebus stand up to him? If not now – when?”
Featured image via KTVU
Leave a Reply