Khizr Khan delivered one of the more powerful speeches at the Democratic National Convention as he called out Donald Trump for his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States.
In his speech, Khan spoke of his son, Humayun S. M. Khan, who died serving in the United States military. Highlighting that the country's diversity was its strength, he criticised Trump, and noted that the idea of a ban ran contrary to the spirit of the U.S. Constitution.
Pulling the document from his pocket, he said: "Let me ask you [Trump], have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words liberty, and equal protection of law.
"Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery? Look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You'll see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing, and no one."
In an interview which will be aired on Sunday, the Republican Presidential nominee hit back, stating that he has made sacrifices, and that Khan was wrong to stand up at the convention and criticise him.
Speaking to ABC News, Trump said: "Who wrote that? Did Hillary's script writers write it? I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs."
When pressed on the matter, Trump stated that he did consider those things to be a sacrifice: "I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education [...] I've raised and I have raised millions of dollars for the veterans, my popularity with the vets is through the roof."
Referring to Khan's speech, he stated that "he was very emotional. If you look at his wife, she was standing there she had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say, you tell me, but plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet and it looked like she had nothing to say. A lot of people have said that."
Speaking to ABC News in response, Ghazala refuted Trump's claims, saying "I am very upset when I heard when he said that I didn't say anything. I was in pain. If you were in pain you fight or you don't say anything, I’m not a fighter, I can't fight."
In an op-ed with The Washington Post, Ghazala also hit back, stating that Trump's claims were "not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak, but I told him I could not."
She added that she still struggles even to look at pictures of her son to this day, adding that "walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?"
An official statement from the Trump camp, sent out to the media, refused to back down, instead stating that he had "no right" to state Trump had never read the Constitution.
In email statement, Trump keeps insisting he was wronged by Khizr Khan. No walkback of comments on Ghazala Khan > pic.twitter.com/hgcJWG1LOx
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) 31 July 2016
"While I feel deeply for the loss of his son," wrote Trump, "Mr Khan has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim that I haven't read the Constitution (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things. If I become President, I will make America safe again."
