When naturalized American citizen Khizr Khan spoke at the Democratic Convention, few predicted the firestorm of controversy he would ignite. Mr. Khan, 66-years-old came to the U.S.A. in 1980 to attend Harvard Law School.
He was born in Pakistan. Took a career path similar to millions of other legal immigrants working for American companies, raising a family. In 2004, Captain Humayun Khan, the middle son of the Khans was killed fighting in Iraq. He was received the Bronze Star posthumously and he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. After Donald Trump said Muslim refugees from countries with terror chaos should be banned from coming to America at least temporarily Khizr Khan criticized Trump online while mentioning his Muslim son's heroism.
The Clinton campaign took it from there. Making sure Mr. Khan was given a platform at the Democratic Convention. The same thing the Republican Party did with Pat Smith who directly blames Hillary Clinton for the death of her son in Benghazi, Libya. By the way, Mr. Khan's point of view received 50 times more coverage from the establishment media than Ms. Smith's. But there is a reason for that. Donald Trump criticized Mr. Khan and his wife while Hillary Clinton did not directly confront Ms. Smith other than saying she might have misheard some stuff. Lesson number one for Donald Trump commenting on regular folks fraught with danger no matter what they say. To be fair, Khizr Khan did seem rather orchestrated at the convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHIZR KHAN, GOLD STAR PARENT: Donald Trump, you are 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.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: A contrived sound bite to be sure. But, as an American, the man has the absolute right to make it. Trump then fired back pointing out, Mrs. Khan said nothing, and that might have been because of how some Muslims see women. That comment was enough to start a media frenzy which has focused negative attention on Mr. Trump. Lesson number two. Any reference to a minority here Muslims also fraught with danger. And then, of course, the partisan piling on began topped off today by President Obama.
Donald Trump will be here momentarily and we will play you the President's sound bite so he can react. Simply the fair thing to do, right? Now, all powerful people have to know that calling folks out has to begin surgically. If a family has lost a son fighting for America, you simply cannot hit them with a broadside no matter what they say. You have to let it go. If you punch down as the saying goes, the media will label you a bully or worse, if you are a conservative, if you are a Republican. Not always fair but that's the reality. Final lesson.
Trump's only chance at winning the presidency is to stay on message. America is in decline and he can fix it. If he fights everyone who comes after him, he will lose. And believe me, the Democrats are lining up legions of people to come after him. And that's “The Memo”.
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