Media Advisory: NPR News Interviews Gold Star Father Khizr Khan

Enlarge this image toggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Thursday, October 19th; In an interview airing on Monday's Morning Edition, NPR's Steve Inskeep interviewed Khizr Khan, the Gold Star father who spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. He's out with a new book, An American Family, which publishes next Tuesday.

Stations and broadcast times are available at NPR.org/stations.

Excerpts of the interview are available below and can be cited with attribution. The full transcript will be made available on Monday after the interview has aired.

When asked what was wrong with President Trump's remark to the widow of Army Sergeant La David T. Johnson, Khan said:

KHAN: "Everything. Every word is wrong. Every word is wrong. These men and women, my sons and daughters, signed up for something more than this president can comprehend. This is beyond his comprehension, patriotism, sacrifice. When John McCain sacrificed so much to serve this country, this president ran away. This president ran away from serving."

INSKEEP: "He did not serve in Vietnam."

KHAN: "He does not have the capacity to understand what it takes to serve this nation in harm's way. These men and women went, he, by default, he is their commander in chief, these are his sons and daughters, how dare he disrespect, how dare he utters a word of disrespect, indignity. There should be empathy, there should be support, there should be dignity of not only their sacrifice, but their family's sacrifice. Every word that should come out of his mouth should dignify those wonderful brave family members that now have to bear the burden of that sacrifice, but this nation dignifies them regardless of the behavior of the president, this nation honors them, honors their sacrifice, honors the sacrifice of those four brave men that went to defend our democracy, our liberty. This nation honors them, honors their families. They're the best of this nation."

Contact:

Ben Fishel, NPR Media Relations

Email: mediarelations (at) npr.org