Obama defends Gold Star families against Trump

President Barack Obama on Monday suggested he is fed up with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric bashing the nation’s military and Gold Star families.

While not explicitly mentioning the real estate mogul by name, Obama condemned Trump for his constant verbal attacks on the nation’s military and his recent spat against the Khans, a family who began speaking out against Trump last Thursday during a moving speech on the final day of the Democratic National Convention.


Trump has repeatedly dinged the U.S. military, calling its armed forces a “disaster” and once mocking Arizona Sen. John McCain by claiming the 2008 GOP presidential nominee isn’t a war hero because he was captured as a prisoner of war.

“As commander in chief, I’m pretty tired of some folks trash-talking America’s military and troops,” Obama said Monday in an address to the National Convention of Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta. “Our military is somewhat smaller after two major ground wars [have] come to a close. That’s natural. And we’re gonna keep doing everything we need to do improve readiness and modernize our forces.”

“But let’s get some facts straight,” Obama continued, going on to individually praise each branch of the armed forces. “We have the most capable fighting force in history, and we’re gonna keep it that way. And no ally or adversary should ever doubt our strength and our resolve.”

Obama also defended Gold Star families who have lost loved ones to war — hours after Trump had extended the back-and-forth between himself and Khizr and Ghazala Khan to a four-day affair, which began when Khizr Khan questioned whether Trump had ever read the Constitution and told the crowd at the Democratic National Convention that the billionaire businessman has “sacrificed nothing, and no one.”

“No one — no one has given more for our freedom and our security than our Gold Star families,” Obama said Monday. “Michelle and I have spent countless hours with them. We have grieved with them.”

Trump on Monday morning accused Khizr Khan, whose son Humayun Khan, a captain in the U.S. Army, was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart after he died Iraq in 2004 protecting his troops, of “viciously” attacking him “from the stage of the DNC” and morning television shows.

He later claimed that Khan, “who is all over the place doing interviews,” isn’t the story, “but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get Smart!”

Obama responded indirectly by extolling Gold Star families for their sacrifices and casting them as “a powerful reminder” of America’s “true strength.”

“Our Gold Star families have made a sacrifice that most of us cannot even begin to imagine. They represent the very best of our country,” Obama said, echoing remarks that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton made in a video introducing the Khans. “They continue to inspire us every day, every moment. They serve as a powerful reminder of the true strength of America. And we have to do everything we can for those families and honor them and be humbled by them.”

Obama also pushed back on Trump’s intimation that, as president, the U.S. wouldn’t assist its NATO allies unless they paid their fair share.

“In the face of Russian aggression, we’re not gonna turn our back to our allies in Europe,” Obama said. “We’re gonna stay united in NATO, which is the world’s strongest alliance.”