Marine veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer said in a Tweet on Tuesday that Donald Trump needs to apologize to the parents of a U.S. Muslim-American soldier killed in combat if he wants to be the next commander in chief.
Meyer, who earned the nation's highest valor award after charging into a kill zone numerous times to save his comrades during a 2009 battle in Afghanistan, said whose mother-in-law Sarah Palin has endorsed Trump, told Marine Corps Times that there’s no justification for Trump's comments talking about a family that has sacrificed so much.
"[He Trump is] going after a Gold Star family," Meyer told Marine Corps Times on Wednesday he said. "What Trump doesn’t understand is that it’s a sacred family."
"If @realDonaldTrump wants to be the Commander in Chief, he needs to act like one. And that cant start until he apologizes to the Khans."
Khizr Khan, whose son Army Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American, was killed in Iraq in 2004. His father, Khizr Khan, spoke against presidential candidate Donald Trump during the Democratic National Convention. Khan, a Muslim-American who stood alongside his wife, Ghazala, criticized Trump’s proposal of freezing the entry of foreign Muslims during last month's Democratic National Convention, accusing the Republican presidential candidate ed him of sacrificing "nothing and no one."
Trump responded with criticism aimed at the Gold Star parents, disputing the attack on Trump’s knowledge of the Constitution and suggesting Khizr Khan's wife, who stood by her husband's side during his speech at the convention, the that Ghazala Khan wasn’t allowed to speak at the convention because of the family's Khans’ Muslim faith.
Meyer, whose mother-in-law Sarah Palin has endorsed Trump, told Marine Corps Times that there's no justification for talking about a family that has sacrificed so much.
"[Trump is] going after a Gold Star family," he said. "What Trump doesn't understand is that it's a sacred family."
Meyer said that Trump should expect to be critiqued as a public figure running for president. The it’s different because the Khan family, on the other hand, are private citizens, he said, and deserve better treatment. sacrificed their son on behalf of the nation and Trump is running for president.
"Yes, They can say stuff to him, and he [shouldn't] can’t say anything back," Meyer said told Marine Corps Times.
Meyer, whose mother-in-law Sarah Palin has endorsed Trump, tweeted on Tuesday that if Trump wants to be the next commander in chief, "he needs to act like one." Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Meyer's statement.
The Marine vet also took issue with Trump's comment about "always [wanting] to get the Purple Heart" after an Army vet gifted him the medal this week.
"Not one person who has served wants that," Meyer said. "It just shows his lack of understanding to this community who mostly supports him. He needs to get in touch with his supporters and back on his feet so he can be the great leader I know he can be."
Meyer said there’s "no doubt" in his mind that Trump would be supportive of the military if elected, but he needs to show troops that he can be a professional leader but that he needs to get back in touch with the community that supports him.
"Nobody wants to vote for Hillary Clinton," he said. "But what I want is a commander in chief who that definitely understands the people he’ll be leading to protect this country."
"I just think that his rationale on this and [the Purple Heart issue] is wrong," he said.
Meyer is referring to a veteran giving Trump his Purple Heart medal during a campaign stop on Tuesday. Afterward, Trump said he "always wanted to get the Purple Heart.
Charlsy is a Reporter and Engagement Manager for Military Times. Email her at cpanzino@militarytimes.com.
