White House chief of staff John Kelly bemoaned Thursday how Gold Star families are no longer considered sacred, a shift he said occurred during the "convention over the summer."

Though he didn't expand on this point, it was an apparent reference to the appearance of Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016.

Kelly addressed reporters at the White House press briefing on Thursday, where he discussed how families of fallen service members are notified of their loved one's death.

Related: Watch John Kelly's full remarks

During the briefing, Kelly said few things are considered sacred anymore, including Gold Star families.

"When I was a kid growing up, a lot of things were sacred in our country. Women were sacred, looked upon with great honor. That's obviously not the case anymore as we see from recent cases. Life, the dignity of life is sacred. That is gone. Religion, that seems to be gone as well," Kelly told reporters. "Gold Star families, I think that left in the convention over the summer."

In July 2016, Khizr Khan delivered a speech at the Democratic National Convention denouncing Trump. Ghazala Khan also appeared on stage alongside her husband. The Khans' son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was a Muslim American killed in Iraq in 2004.

The speech triggered an extended campaign controversy, which exploded when the president, then a candidate, suggested Ghazala Khan, who didn't speak during her husband's address at the convention "maybe wasn't allowed to."