When your presidential campaign platform is filled with xenophobia and, more specifically, Islamaphobia, there is no doubt that you will draw heavy criticism. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has received a lot of backlash for his brash opinions, and the Democratic party wasted no time in highlighting just how the businessman’s policies are harmful to America at the DNC this week.
While politicians took on the man himself, the most notable case against Donald Trump this week was made by the father of a fallen Muslim soldier.
It is no secret that Trump wishes to ban Muslims from the United States in a strategy that he believes with hurt the growth of ISIS and terrorism as a whole. Because of this plan, Khizr Khan, the father of former Army Captain Humayun Khan, spoke directly to Trump in his son’s honor.
“Donald Trump, you’re asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution?” Khan said, holding up a pocket Constitution. “I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words, look for the words, liberty and equal protection (under) law.”
Khan’s son died fighting for the U.S. in the Iraq War, when a car approached him and his fellow troops. According to CNN, Khan warned the other soldiers nearby, stepped towards the car and signaled for it to stop. The car, which contained 200 pounds of explosives, exploded. Humayun Khan’s warning to the other surrounding soldiers prior to the explosion saved many lives. His parents deserve to make their son’s story heard, especially when the rhetoric against their religion is so incredibly negative.
Khan responded to Trump’s racism in the best way possible, by giving what was easily one of the most powerful speeches of the entire convention.
“Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America—you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities,” Khan said. “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”
Watch the full speech here.