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John McCain Denounces Donald Trump’s Comments on Family of Muslim Soldier John McCain Denounces Donald Trump’s Comments on Family of Muslim Soldier
(about 1 hour later)
WASHINGTON — In a remarkable and lengthy rebuke of his party’s nominee, Senator John McCain sharply criticized Donald J. Trump’s comments about the family of a fallen Muslim Army captain, saying, “While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.” WASHINGTON — In a remarkable and lengthy rebuke of his party’s nominee, Senator John McCain sharply criticized Donald J. Trump’s comments about the family of a fallen Muslim Army captain, providing an opening for other vulnerable Republican senators to do the same, even though they all stopped short of rescinding their endorsements of him.
Mr. McCain, a war hero whose service and capture in Vietnam was also once derided by Mr. Trump, had stayed largely silent over the weekend as Mr. Trump’s feud with the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan brewed, waiting until Monday morning to release a prepared statement. “While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us,” said Mr. McCain, a war hero whose service and capture in Vietnam were also once derided by Mr. Trump.
“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents,” he wrote of the parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan. “He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement. I hope Americans understand that the remarks do not represent the views of our Republican Party, its officers or candidates.” Within an hour, other embattled Republican senators, who like Mr. McCain are trying to stand between the windy forces of Mr. Trump and those he offends, offered their own condemnations.
Reverence for the military has been at the core of Mr. McCain’s career — he was his party’s nominee in 2008 and serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee — and he has a close allegiance to families of those killed in conflict. Mr. McCain is now in a tough re-election battle in his home state of Arizona. Senator Kelly Ayotte, Republican of New Hampshire, whose husband is an Iraq War veteran and who is fighting to win a second term, said Monday that she was “appalled” by Mr. Trump’s comments. A spokeswoman for Senator Rob Portman Republican of Ohio also weighed in, as did Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. They denounced Mr. Trump’s words but did not reverse their endorsements.
But Mr. Trump on Monday morning continued to criticize Mr. Khan personally, complaining that the he had become a ubiquitous presence in the news media since his Thursday address at the convention in Philadelphia in which he denounced the Republican presidential nominee. “I remember how much I worried about my son Matt during his years of active duty,” said Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri. “The Khans have made the greatest possible sacrifice for our country; they deserve to be heard and respected.”
But Mr. Trump on Monday morning continued to criticize Khizr Khan, whose son Capt. Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq in 2004. Mr. Trump complained that Mr. Khan had become a ubiquitous presence in the news media since his Thursday address at the convention in Philadelphia in which he excoriated the Republican presidential nominee.
“Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Nice!”“Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. “Nice!”
In a second post Mr. Trump shifted course and said the campaign should be focused on terrorism instead of the personal feud he has continued to feed. “This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S.,” he wrote. “Get smart!” In a second post Mr. Trump shifted course and said the campaign should be focused on terrorism. “This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S.,” he wrote. “Get smart!”
Mr. McCain, who has endorsed Mr. Trump, stopped short of rescinding his support even as his statement served as a detailed and personal condemnation. Even as pressure increased from establishment Republicans who have been calling for repudiation of Mr. Trump, neither Speaker Paul D. Ryan nor Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, have pulled their support for Mr. Trump’s candidacy. They offered statements on Sunday in support of the Khan family, but did not mention Mr. Trump by name.
For congressional Republicans, Mr. Trump’s inflammatory remarks are a vexing challenge: By denouncing Mr. Trump’s remarks, they distance themselves just enough to try to grab support from voters of both parties who do not intend to vote for Mr. Trump but may split their tickets.
“These candidates have refused to walk the tightrope the media creates and have instead forged their own path, with their own views and sentiments about an agenda for the future,” said Josh Holmes, Mr. McConnell’s former chief of staff, who now works as a Republican consultant. “By defining the race on their own terms, they have reminded voters they have a senator who is looking out for their interests regardless of how they may feel about the presidential nominees.”
For their part, Republican leaders believe they need to continue to support Mr. Trump, if only to provide cover for their respective candidates up for re-election. Republicans struggle to name policy positions of Mr. Trump that they prefer to Hillary Clinton’s, but they often settle on their fear of the type of justices a President Clinton would name to the Supreme Court.
“There is obviously a concern about having a Democratic president and Senate confirming justices both on the Supreme Court and across the federal bench,” said Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona. “I certainly am concerned about that too and I know it will cause some people to ignore or justify statements he has made that for many of us raises concerns.”
Katon Dawson a former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party and the Republican National Committee, agree, saying, “The Republican base is coming out for Donald Trump because of the possibility of Supreme Court nominations.”
Aides to Republicans up for re-election also say, for the most part, they see no evidence in the polls that Mr. Trump has been a drag on lower-level races. This is particularly interesting since ticket splitting — when voters pick on party’s candidate for the White House and another for the House or Senate — has declined precipitously in recent years.
Many experts agree. “According to polling thus far, voters don’t automatically couple Donald Trump with Republican candidates or hold other Republicans responsible for Donald Trump’s sins,” said Nathan L. Gonzales, the editor of The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter.
Mr. McCain is the embodiment of the internal conflict Republican candidates face. Reverence for the military has been at the core of Mr. McCain’s career — he was his party’s nominee for president in 2008 and serves as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee — and he has a close allegiance to families of those killed in conflict.
“I wear a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen hero, Matthew Stanley, which his mother, Lynn, gave me in 2007 at a town-hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire,” Mr. McCain wrote. “His memory and the memory of our great leaders deserve better from me.”“I wear a bracelet bearing the name of a fallen hero, Matthew Stanley, which his mother, Lynn, gave me in 2007 at a town-hall meeting in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire,” Mr. McCain wrote. “His memory and the memory of our great leaders deserve better from me.”
“Make no mistake: I do not valorize our military out of some unfamiliar instinct,” he wrote. “I grew up in a military family, and have my own record of service, and have stayed closely engaged with our armed forces throughout my public career. In the American system, the military has value only inasmuch as it protects and defends the liberties of the people.”“Make no mistake: I do not valorize our military out of some unfamiliar instinct,” he wrote. “I grew up in a military family, and have my own record of service, and have stayed closely engaged with our armed forces throughout my public career. In the American system, the military has value only inasmuch as it protects and defends the liberties of the people.”
He added: “In the end, I am morally bound to speak only to the things that command my allegiance, and to which I have dedicated my life’s work: the Republican Party, and more important, the United States of America. I will not refrain from doing my utmost by those lights simply because it may benefit others with whom I disagree. I claim no moral superiority over Donald Trump. I have a long and well-known public and private record for which I will have to answer at the Final Judgment, and I repose my hope in the promise of mercy and the moderation of age. I challenge the nominee to set the example for what our country can and should represent.” He added: “I claim no moral superiority over Donald Trump. I have a long and well-known public and private record for which I will have to answer at the Final Judgment, and I repose my hope in the promise of mercy and the moderation of age. I challenge the nominee to set the example for what our country can and should represent.”
Mr. McCain’s family has also been critical of Mr. Trump. His daughter Meghan McCain said on Twitter on Saturday: “I would ask what kind of barbarian would attack the parents of a fallen soldier, but oh yeah it’s the same person who attacks POW’s.”Mr. McCain’s family has also been critical of Mr. Trump. His daughter Meghan McCain said on Twitter on Saturday: “I would ask what kind of barbarian would attack the parents of a fallen soldier, but oh yeah it’s the same person who attacks POW’s.”
In a post on Medium under the headline, “For this Republican, Never Trump means ‘I’m With Her,’ ” his granddaughter Caroline went further, saying Mr. Trump “lacks the temperament and the wisdom to navigate our ever-increasingly dangerous world.” Mr. McCain has also been a vocal proponent of American military aid in Ukraine. Mr. Trump suggested over the weekend that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was not involved in military moves into the area in spite of the fact that he seized the Crimean Peninsula.
“Policy decisions aside, being president of the United States requires a steady hand — and never more so than now,” she wrote. “A competent commander-in-chief must respond to threats to the republic, but Trump only responds to threats to his ego.”
Mr. McCain has also been a vocal proponent of American military aid in Ukraine and was almost certainly rankled by Mr. Trump’s comment over the weekend suggesting that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was not involved in military moves into the area in spite of the fact that he seized the Crimean Peninsula.
Despite the intensifying criticism from Republican Party leaders, Mr. Trump on Monday showed no sign of relenting in his clash with the Khan family. He has not apologized for his suggestion that Ms. Khan might have been forbidden from speaking at the Democratic convention, and he has not yet acknowledged the mounting criticism from respected Republicans like Mr. McCain.Despite the intensifying criticism from Republican Party leaders, Mr. Trump on Monday showed no sign of relenting in his clash with the Khan family. He has not apologized for his suggestion that Ms. Khan might have been forbidden from speaking at the Democratic convention, and he has not yet acknowledged the mounting criticism from respected Republicans like Mr. McCain.
Instead, the Trump campaign has tried to shift attention away from their candidate’s comments about the Khans and toward broader issues of national security, including Mr. Trump’s proposals to clamp down on immigration. In an emailed statement from Mr. Trump on Saturday evening, and a follow-up statement from Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, his running mate, on Sunday, the campaign argued that the focus of the race should be on stopping terrorism.
Democrats have already used Mr. Trump’s treatment of the Khan family to reopen past controversies surrounding Mr. Trump, including his mockery last summer of Mr. McCain’s service in Vietnam and his time as a prisoner of war. At a campaign stop in Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday, Bill Clinton likened Mr. Trump’s harshness toward the Khan family to his ridicule of Mr. McCain.
But Mr. Clinton suggested Mr. Trump’s handling of the Khans was even worse, because their son did not survive the Iraq war.
“I was crazed by the attack on Senator McCain. But at least he survived,” Mr. Clinton said. “That man gave his life for his unit.”