Did Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump go too far when he defamed the parents of a Muslim American hero who was killed in the line of duty in Baghdad in 2004? Most Americans, and a majority of Filipinos in America, believe so.
A poll released by Fox News revealed that 69 percent of respondents familiar with Trump’s recent criticism of the Khan family said that his remarks were “out of bounds.” This would include respondents affiliated with the Republican Party, 41 percent of whom said that it was “out of bounds.”
The same sentiment was revealed by the online viewer poll of The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America.” A majority of those who voted, 57 percent, said Trump should in fact apologize to the Khan family.
At the Democratic National Convention, Khizr Khan, the father, gave a speech against Trump’s plan to ban Muslims in America. The elder Khan said the plan denigrates the ultimate sacrifice their son and many other men in uniform made for the United States when they offered their own lives for this country they love.
Khan claimed Trump “sacrificed nothing and no one,” and this prompted the Republican presidential nominee to retaliate and even speculate why Khan’s wife Ghazala did not even speak up during the convention to deliver her own remarks.
In an opinion article published by the Washington Post, Ms. Khan wrote, “All the world, all America, felt my pain. I am a Gold Star mother. Whoever saw me felt me in their heart.”
“Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?” she added.
Ms. Khan further said Mr. Trump was “ignorant” of Islam and criticized him for offering his business career as evidence that he had sacrificed for his country. “Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices,” she said. “He doesn’t know what the word sacrifice means.”
Could this issue be the beginning of the end of Trump’s sprint to the White House? Most recent surveys may be ominous for Trump.
According to the McClatchy-Marist Poll, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton now has a 15-point lead over Donald Trump in a national poll out Thursday, August 4. This came out after Trump’s insults of the parents of a fallen soldier.
The former secretary of state gained ground in the poll, and the business mogul/reality show star lost support. Clinton won the support of 48 percent of those surveyed, while Trump had 33 percent. Last month, Clinton was ahead by only 3 percent, 42 percent vs Trump’s 39 percent.
Amid this backlash, Trump refuses to apologize to the Khan family, saying in an interview that he did not regret saying those statements against the Khans, as he did not regret any thing he had done before in his life.
These polls, of course, are just a snapshot of public opinions three months ahead of the November elections. Many surprises could affect how Americans would vote, one way or the other.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
