U.S. Army captain Humayun Khan was just 27 when he was killed by a car bomb in Iraq in 2004. He died heroically attempting to save his comrades in arms, and he received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals after his death. Twelve years later, Khan’s mother and father — a grieving Gold Star family — appeared at the Democratic National Convention. There, they denounced Donald Trump over what they said was his prejudicial outlook toward Muslim Americans.
Trump ill-advisedly took the bait, lashing out at the family and implying that Khizr Khan, Humayun’s father, fit an ugly stereotype insofar as he would not allow his wife to speak at the event. Democrats and the anti-Trump press got more than their expected mileage out of the Khans’ appearance at the DNC over the following weeks as they fumed over the cruelty that animated Trump to attack a bereaved family. Last night, the GOP turned the tables, perfecting the political trap their opponents pioneered.
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