Trump surrogate Chris Christie calls attacks on the Khan family 'inappropriate'

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 2 August 2016

Since endorsing Donald Trump in February, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has had pretty much only good things to say about the Republican presidential nominee. On Tuesday, however, that came to a screeching halt. Christie announced during a press conference in New Jersey that he found Trump's recent attacks on the Khan family "inappropriate."

Khizr and Ghazala Khan spoke at last week's Democratic convention partly to honor their son, Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American soldier who died in combat in Iraq. In Christie's opinion, Trump should've considered the fact that the Muslim couple had lost their son in the line of duty before saying they had "no right" to question his proposed ban on Muslim immigrants. "We need to honor their sacrifice for our country and we need to honor their son's sacrifice for our country," Christie said. "To focus on anything other than that, to me, is missing the point. That's what we should be doing, and any comments that we're making publicly or privately should be with that in mind."

Christie said that because of the Khans' sacrifice, they deserved the chance to say their piece, whether their words were "right or wrong." "My view on this is that the Khans have a right to say whatever it is they want regarding the loss of their son," Christie said. "They have put forward a sacrifice that I cannot fathom as a parent."