New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday said it is “inappropriate” to criticize the family of Capt. Humayun Khan and other Gold Star families.
{mosads}”I’m a father, and I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child under any circumstance,” Christie, an ardent supporter of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, said during a Statehouse news conference, according to NJ.com.
The governor said the Khan family has experienced “unfathomable” pain after their son was killed in the Iraq War.
“I think it gives them the right to say whatever they want whether they’re right or wrong,” he said.
Khizr Khan, the father of Humayun Khan, spoke critically of Trump last week during a speech at the Democratic National Convention. He sharply asked whether Trump had read the Constitution and said the GOP nominee had sacrificed nothing.
In response, Trump criticized Khan and questioned why his wife, Ghazala Khan, did not speak at the convention, too, suggesting it had something to do with her Islamic faith.
He also noted the sacrifices he’s made in his business career and said Khizr Khan had no right to question his views on the Constitution. His response has drawn days of criticism from both sides of the aisle, with President Obama saying Tuesday that Trump is “unfit” to serve as president and calling on Republican leaders to abandon their support for their nominee.
Christie said Tuesday that people should focus on the sacrifice the Khan family has made for this country — avoiding, like many other Republicans, mentioning Trump by name.
“And 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,” he said, according to Politico.
“My view on this is that the Khans have a right to say whatever it is they want regarding the loss of their son and that for all the Gold Star families out there, they have put forward a sacrifice that I cannot fathom as a parent.”
The New Jersey governor didn’t offer any direct criticisms of Trump. He dodged a question about whether Trump went too far with his reaction to Khizr Khan’s speech, saying only that he talks to Trump often and shares his opinions with the candidate.
“I’ll give my advice to him as I always do, personally and privately,” Christie said.