Had That Coming, Don

• Trump, in an ungracious riposte, attacking Ghazala Khan and listing ot his own ‘sacrifices’, enraging Americans

• Prominent Republicans have decried Trump and the furore has given Hillary Clinton a clear lead in popularity polls

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If her current surge in popular­ity continues and Hillary Clinton manages to win the November election to become US’s 45th pre­sident—the first woman in US history to do so—she may have to single out and express her gratitude to one American-Muslim family: the Khans of Charlottesville, Maryland. Origina­lly from Pakistan, a country freq­uently denigrated for being a ‘sponsor of terrorism’ and whose citizens are implicated in terror case around the world, the Khans are a ‘Gold Star’ family—one that has lost a member in combat while serving in the US armed for­ces. The status is considered sacrosanct by most Americans.

The story of 66-year-old law consultant, Khizr and his wife, Ghazala, parents of Captain Humayun Khan, who died saving his fellow soldiers during a suicide bomb attack in Iraq in 2004, has caught the imagination of a wide section of American voters and punched the biggest hole, so far, in Donald Trump’s Islamophobic campaign.

Chiding Trump for his outrageous plan to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the US, Khizr, with his wife standing beside him with a sombre expression on her face, told the Democratic National Convention in Pennsylvania last week, “If it was up to Donald Trump, he (Khizr’s son, Capt Humayun Khan) never would have even been in America.”

Brought in as ‘everyday American’ speakers at the DNC, the Khans stole the show, with Khizr’s emotionally charged, 10-minute speech overshadowing those of  Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and actress Meryl Streep. “Donald Trump, you’re asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy,” Khizr said, while flipping out a pocket-book edition of the document from his inner jacket pocket and brandishing it with defiant pride.

He went on to ask Trump if he had ever been to the Arlington cemetery. “Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing—and no one.” Khizr’s jibes cut deep.

But it was Trump’s sour, peevish reaction to Khizr that helped in catapulting the speech onto front-page news and social media. It dominated news hours for several days after the DNC. Many American political commentators feel this could well be the crucial turning point in the US presidential election.

Initially, Trump tried to portray the Khans as shills for Hillary and her team. Later, in his typically brazen style, he went for a frontal attack on Ghazala. “If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say,” Trump said, insinuating that strict followers of the Sharia did not allow their women to speak in public. But Ghazala Khan, in an opinion piece in The Washington Post, explained that it was her grief at the loss of her son and not her Muslim faith that prevented her from speaking at the DNC.

What made Trump come out looking even more ridiculous was his attempt to compare the sacrifices made by families like the Khans by listing out his own ‘sacrifices’—he highlighted the “thousands of jobs” he created; the “great structures” he constructed and the “millions” he had donated to the welfare fund of the American war veterans.

Indications are that the Khans mana­ged to discredit the upstart billionaire real estate-cum-Republican preside­ntial nominee so thoroughly that it has not only handed a much-nee­ded rejuvenation to the Democrat campaign, but also forced several prominent Republicans to either dissociate themselves from Trump’s comments or publicly declare their support for Hillary Clinton.

“Election year or not, the VFW (Veteran of Foreign Wars) will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for expressing his or her right of speech or expression,” said Brian Duffy, national commander-in-chief of the organisation. The change in mood is clear, as the VFW, one of the largest advocacy groups in the US, had just a week back given a rousing welcome to Trump at their convention.

Latest post-convention opinion polls showed Hillary’s stocks had been rising since the controversy broke out and she was leading Trump by at least seven points. A CNN poll gave her 52 per cent to her Republican rival’s 43 per cent, while CBS News polls gave Hillary a 46 per cent lead to Trump’s 39 per cent. Before the conventions of the two parties Hillary and Trump were locked at 42 per cent each.

There are 3.3 million Muslims in the United States, accounting for less than one per cent of the population. Politically, they may not be a significant group. But it is the basic sense of decency and the fundamental principles on which the US was founded—including the universality of rights—that is percei­ved to be under threat by many Americans. “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has und­ermined the fabric of our national character,” Meg Whitman, the Hewlett Packard chief, a committed Republican, wrote on Facebook.

Several other prominent Republicans, who had all along been wary about Trump, including former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Sally Bradshaw and Maria Comella, both of whom had stints as advisors to Republican governors, have since declared their support for Hillary.

But for many Republicans like John McCain, the furore represents a serious dilemma. They have criticised Trump for his attack on the Khans but not den­ounced his nomination. Nearly 22 senators are seeking re-election in November and another Democrat in the White House will be bad news for them. But, given the unending series of embarrassments borne on the wings of bombast, living under a Trump presidency could prove to be a nightmare coming true.

Meanwhile, the Khans, who arrived in the US in 1980 after a brief stay in the UAE, are now enjoying a hero’s status. People often stop Khizr Khan on the street to shake his hands and congratulate him. Another unlikely beneficiary, in terms of sales, has been pocket editions of the US Constitution. Surely, more Americans need them.