In his scattershot response to the viral Democratic National Convention speech that questioned his knowledge of the Constitution, Republican Donald Trump suggested that Ghazala Khan, the mother of a Muslim U.S. soldier who was killed in Iraq, did not join her husband in speaking because her religion would not allow it.
Khan replied to Trump with a moving essay that recounted memories of her son, Captain Humayun Khan, at The Washington Post Sunday morning:
Donald Trump has asked why I did not speak at the Democratic convention. He said he would like to hear from me. Here is my answer to Donald Trump: Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart. [...]I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. For all these years, I haven't been able to clean the closet where his things are — I had to ask my daughter-in-law to do it. 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? [Washington Post]
Ghazala's husband, Khizr, previously responded to Trump late Saturday night, commenting that the candidate's insinuation about his wife was "typical of a person without a soul."
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