Donald J. Trump Jr.’s pathetic effort to elevate his family’s experience with those who have served — and often paid the price for their service — their country has drawn the expected response from the expected source.
Khizr Khan is a Gold Star father whose son, U.S. Army Lt. Humayun Khan, was killed in action in Iraq. He has lambasted Don Jr.’s statement of “sacrifice” with profound outrage.
He said Trump has no clue as to the sacrifice that many Americans and their families have made for the country. Khan’s comment came after Don Jr. told TV interviewers about how he and his family visited Arlington National Cemetery the day before Trump Sr. was to become president. He said in his book “Triggered” that the visit reminded him of the business “sacrifice” he and his family made to ensure Dad’s election as president.
Khizr Khan’s response is gripping. “They have no idea what service and sacrifice is when his turn, Donald Trump’s turn, came to serve, he ran away,” Khan said on MSNBC. “What does it say to you when somebody says that they’ve visited and seen those graves there at Arlington and then talks about their business sacrifice? Especially for you, who has a son buried there,” the interviewer, Kendis Gibson, asked of Khan.
“It’s disgusting. It’s shameful,” Khan replied. “But we don’t expect any better from Donald Trump or Donald Trump Jr. because they have sacrificed nothing. They have gained from all of this.”
Yes, and so it is that Donald Trump Jr. has managed to insert himself directly in a long-standing discussion about sacrifice and service and his family’s shameful — or shameless — attempt at lifting themselves to the level of those who have given everything on behalf of their beloved country.
Sacrifice? The Trumps know nothing about what it means.