Donald Trump responded to blistering criticism from a Muslim lawyer during the Democratic National Convention by saying, “I’d like to hear his wife say something.”
In a lightning-round interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd about DNC speeches, published Friday night, the Republican nominee responded obliquely to remarks by Khizr Khan, whose son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, died in Baghdad in 2004.
As his wife stood next to him on stage in Philadelphia Thursday just before Hillary Clinton accepted the Democratic nomination, Khan criticized Trump’s immigration proposals — specifically those aimed at barring Muslims — and said that the billionaire businessman has “sacrificed nothing and no one.”
“I’d like to hear his wife say something,” Trump said about Ghazala Khan.
In a Friday evening interview on MSNBC, Ghazala Khan spoke briefly about her final interaction with her son, on Mother’s Day 2004, wishing him safety while serving in Iraq.
Trump later expanded on his views of Khizr Khan’s convention assertion that he hadn’t made sacrifices, in an interview with with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos.
“Who wrote that? Did Hillary’s script writers write it?” Trump said. “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard.”
Asked to elaborate, Trump said, “I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.”
In the New York Times interview Trump also opined on former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent who threw his support behind Hillary Clinton and spoke to the Democratic convention. Trump called Bloomberg “a guy who didn’t have the guts to run for president.”
“He doesn’t know anything about me,” Trump said. “But he never had the guts to run. He probably wished he did but he didn’t. He spent millions of dollars on polling but he was missing one thing: guts.”
The two have been exchanging barbs this week after Bloomberg, who once considered entering the 2016 race as an independent, endorsed Clinton over Trump last weekend, then blasted Trump as a “dangerous demagogue” in Philadelphia.
As for President Barack Obama’s speech, which was laced with warnings about electing someone like Trump, the Republican nominee said it was “a good speech but not nearly as good as the press would have you believe.”
Still, in a rare moment of praise for the commander in chief — whom Trump has labeled “the most ignorant president” in history — Trump said that in “many ways,” he does “like” Obama.
“It’s hard to define. There’s something about him I do like. I’m embarrassed to admit it. I give him a lot of credit,” Trump said. “It’s very unique and very hard to do and I give him tremendous credit. He became a two-term president of the United States. He’s got some quality going.”
Trump also complimented the first lady’s convention remarks.
“She gave a very good speech,” Trump said.
