We Asked Trump Supporters About the Khan Controversy. Here’s What They Said.

They also weighed in on whether Hillary Clinton is the devil.

 

Donald Trump’s feud with the family of a fallen soldier may be generating near-universal condemnation from fellow Republicans in Washington—and throwing his campaign into chaos—but supporters of the GOP presidential candidate in a nearby suburb on Tuesday seemed to think Trump was justified in his attacks on the family. Some even repeated conspiracy theories that the late soldier’s father is part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Mother Jones surveyed Trump backers at a rally in Ashburn, Virginia, for their views on Trump’s ongoing fight with the Khan family, following Khizr Khan’s emotional Democratic National Convention address about his late son, Humayun, who was killed in Iraq in 2004. Did Calvin, an attendee who declined to give his last name, take issue with Trump’s handling of the controversy, which included suggesting that Ghazala Khan had stood silently next to her husband during his speech because “maybe she wasn’t allowed to speak”? He acknowledged that Trump’s response was “very poorly worded,” but he said it didn’t affect his opinion of the candidate. “Hillary is 10 times worse than Donald Trump,” he said.

How about Christopher Abel, who was handing out business cards at the rally for the Vocal Citizens super-PAC? “My view starts with, everyone has a right to defend themselves,” he said of Trump.

Along with the Khan controversy, Trump supporters also weighed in on the GOP nominee’s recent remarks that Hillary Clinton is “the devil.” Check out their responses in the video above.

 

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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