Gold Star Father: Trump Exploited Sacred Ground for His Ego (2024)

From the father of an uncommonly brave Army captain who died protecting his troops from an Iraqi car bomb comes a question regarding the recent confrontation between staffers on Donald Trump’s campaign and an official in the same section of Arlington National Cemetery where his son is buried: “Why did he go there?”

Khizr Khan is the father of 27-year-old Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was awarded a Bronze star following his death in 2004 and now occupies grave 7986 in Section 60.

Khan’s only conclusion is that Trump visited the cemetery on Monday primarily for personal political gain—something prohibited by federal law. Khan figures Trump and his entourage could not have arrived at Section 60 to pay actual respect to the 13 soldiers killed by a suicide bomber outsaide Bagram Airport during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago on Monday.

Yes, Trump joined several family members of the fallen, along with two survivors who had been critically wounded. They appeared to accept his somber words and gestures as genuine.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox

But Khan remembers reports of a question Trump asked on Memorial Day of 2017 in Section 60, the burial place for those who died in Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump was standing next to retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, at the time his homeland security secretary and subsequently the White House Chief of Staff. The surrounding tombstones included the one for Kelly’s son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, who had stepped on a landmine in 2010.

“I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” Trump reportedly asked.

Kelly has since confirmed that account, along with remarks Trump reportedly made in France when explaining why he did not want to visit the resting place of 1,800 American Marines who died during World War I. He reportedly called them “losers” and “suckers.”

“He has proven his disrespect,” Khan noted on Wednesday. “Somebody needs to ask him, ‘You have shown that contempt multiple times and yet again, you go there.’”

The regulation headstone at grave 7986 bears a crescent moon and a star in keeping with Humayun Khan’s faith. A MAGA supporter would likely note that Khizr Khan incurred Trump’s wrath when he and his wife took to the podium at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in 2016 to decry Trump’s anti-Muslim bigotry.

“We are honored to stand here as the parents of Capt. Humayun Khan, and as patriotic American Muslims with undivided loyalty to our country,” the father said. “Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with our future. Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.’”

Khan went on, “Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America—you will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

Trump did not come to Arlington on the first anniversary of the Bagram attack, nor on the second. But he was there on Tuesday for a ceremonial wreath laying marking the third. One difference—he is now running for office and has sought to blame the Biden administration for the carnage.

Biden was only completing a withdrawal agreement that Trump entered into before being voted out of office. And the official Army review has found that little could have been done to prevent the attack in which a lone member of ISIS-K detonated a 25-pound suicide vest that killed some 200 Afghans along with the unlucky 13 American service members.

But, as the Trump campaign has pointed out, there was only one commander-in-chief at the time of the attack. Trump was seeking to further that narrative on Tuesday, when he arrived with a campaign entourage that included a photographer.

Kevin Carter/Getty Images

A cemetery official quickly moved to preserve law and order in a hallowed place—but was reportedly rebuffed by campaign staffers in Trump’s group.

"Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign," a cemetery statement reported. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”

As reported by NPR, one of Trump’s entourage shoved the cemetery officials. The Trump campaign’s communications director, Steven Cheung, insisted there was “no physical altercation as described.”

“We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” his statement read, “The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony.”

Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto via Getty Images

On Wednesday evening, Trump’s folks released a narrated ad-like video showing part of the cemetery visit—but nothing that showed any confrontation with a cemetery official.

A photo shows that at one point Trump posed with several family members and two wounded warriors by the headstone for Staff Sergeant Darien Hoover at the edge of Section 6. A number of those present joined Trump in smiling and giving a thumbs up.

As Khan sees it, “[Trump] disrespected the rules and regulations of the entire Arlington Cemetery … He went there to exploit the sentiments of the people for political gain.”

Khan had a ready answer when asked what’s in it for Trump.

“It is appetite and ego, wherever he goes, whatever he does, wherever he stands,” Khan said.

Khan reported that he visits the cemetery regularly—particularly on holidays.

“I visit not only my son,” he said. “I stand at the edge of Section 60 with my head bowed in recognition of the sacrifices of all the men and women. I am extremely respectful. I walk with my head down, showing my respect. They gave their all for my freedoms, and that thought overwhelms me.”

Most other visitors seem to feel the same.

“I have seen how respectful they are, how respectful they are, how mindful they are of the dignity and the sacredness of the place,” he said.

He then spoke of the man who arrived at the cemetery seeking re-election.

“Yet again, Donald Trump shows no such respect or dignity,” Khan said. “He’s there to exploit.”