Since this claim was based on the transcript of the interview (full text transcript and introduction by Mr. Trump's campaign below), I quickly thought, "What a great chance to examine someone's claim about a non-fiction text! This is what I might consider an opportunity to practice close reading myself." (NOTE: I am no expert on close reading, so please correct me if I am wrong.)
I found the transcript of the interview on Mr. Trump's website (full text of introduction and interview below). After reading the web page, I noticed the text contained another claim about the interview that states, "As shown in the full transcript, Mr. Trump doesn’t compare his sacrifices to anybody else’s, and in fact praises Mr. Khan and wishes him well." Now there are two claims to investigate, so off I went to reading the interview...searching for evidence of each of these claims.
Focusing on the Ms. Hughes claim first, I skimmed through the interview questions to locate where the question, "What would you say to that father?", was located. It was the second question, so I closely read and re-read the first question and response searching for any evidence of Mr. Trump evening mentioning Mr. Kahn's son or honoring his service. Nothing. No mention of Captain Humayun Khan in the interview whatsoever. Therefore, Mr. Trump does not honor Captain Kahn's service in the interview. This lack of evidence is probably why the statement by Mr. Trump the preceded the interview transcript to fool someone who is not reading closely.
Additionally, Ms. Hughes claimed that Mr. Trump did say he was sorry for the Kahns' loss. Closely reading the first response again, I could only find, "He was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me." Then Mr. Trump ended his response with, "I wish him the best of luck." That's it....so, I cannot make the leap from "he was...very emotional" and "wish him the best of luck" to be equated to expressing sorrow. Ms. Hughes claims are unfounded.
Now, how about the Trump campaign's claim that Mr. Trump praises Mr. Khan and wishes him well? The easy part: Mr. Trump clearly does "wish him the best of luck" in his first response as noted above, but "praises him"? I had to dig and since this claim is general regarding the entire interview transcript, I diligently went through the entire interview to try to find evidence of Mr. Trump praises Mr. Kahn. Besides stating that Mr. Kahn "was very emotional, "probably looked like a nice guy," and "wishing him the best of luck," I could not find any other reference to Mr. Kahn in Mr. Trump's responses. To praise someone means "to express warm approval or admiration of." From the evidence in the text of the interview, Mr. Trump's words ("probably looked like a nice guy") seems a stretch to qualify as evidence that Mr. Trump praised Mr. Kahn, but please...read it yourself and make your own conclusions.
Copied from https://www.donaldjtrump.com/press-releases/setting-the-record-straight
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Trump Campaign Releases Full Transcript of Khizr Khan Answer Ahead of Mr. Trump’s ABC This Week Sunday Interview With George Stephanopoulos;
Trump Calls Captain Humayun Khan A “Hero,” Urges Vigilance In Defeating Radical Islamic Terrorism And Criticizes Hillary Clinton’s Central Role In Destabilizing The Middle East
(New York, NY) July 30th, 2016– The Trump for President campaign today released the full transcript of Donald J. Trump’s response to a pre-taped ABC This Week question from George Stephanopoulos referencing criticism from Khizr Khan.
As shown in the full transcript, Mr. Trump doesn’t compare his sacrifices to anybody else’s, and in fact praises Mr. Khan and wishes him well.
Mr. Trump also released a statement Saturday praising Mr. Khan’s son, Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed serving in Iraq:
“Captain Humayun Khan was a hero to our country and we should honor all who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe. The real problem here are the radical Islamic terrorists who killed him, and the efforts of these radicals to enter our country to do us further harm. Given the state of the world today, we have to know everything about those looking to enter our country, and given the state of chaos in some of these countries, that is impossible. While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things. If I become President, I will make America safe again.
"Further, Hillary Clinton should be held accountable for her central role in destabilizing the Middle East. She voted to send the United States to war against Iraq, helped lead the disastrous withdrawal of American troops years later that created the vacuum allowing the rise of ISIS, and has never met a regime change she didn’t like (which have all been disasters) – not to mention her invasion of Libya and her abandonment of American personnel in Benghazi. The loss of these lives in Libya is directly traceable to Clinton, but their families' testimonials were rejectedby the media.
Clinton’s actions have been reckless and have directly led to the loss of American lives. And her extreme immigration policies, as also laid out by American victims in Cleveland, will cause the preventable deaths of countless more -- while putting all residents, from all places, at greater risk of terrorism.
As Bernie Sanders said on numerous occasions, Hillary Clinton suffers from "bad judgement." She is not qualified to serve as Commander in Chief.”– Donald J. Trump
FULL ANSWER TRANSCRIPT:
STEPHANOPOULOS:
I don't know if you saw this speech, but there was a man named Khizr Khan speaking at the Democratic Convention last night. His son, Captain Humayun Khan, was killed serving in Iraq. And he had some very tough questions for you. He said you wouldn't have even let his son in America.
TRUMP:
He doesn't know. He doesn't know that. I saw him. He was, you know, very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me. But plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet. And it looked like she had nothing to say. A lot of people have said that. And personally, I watched him. I wish him the best of luck.
STEPHANOPOULOS:
What would you say to that father?
TRUMP:
Well, I'd say we've had a lot of problems with radical Islamic terrorism. That's what I'd say. We have a lot of problems, where you look at San Bernardino. You look at Orlando. You look at the World Trade Center. You look at so many different things.
You look at what happened to the priest over the weekend in Paris, where his throat was cut, 85-year-old, beloved Catholic priest. You look at what happened in Nice, France, a couple of weeks ago. I'd say you’ve got to take a look at that, because something is going on. And it's not good.
STEPHANOPOULOS:
He said you have sacrificed nothing and no one.
TRUMP:
Well, that sounds - who wrote that? Did Hillary's scriptwriters write it? Because everybody that went out there, we also had John Allen who failed with ISIS. I mean, he was a general, Allen, General Allen. He went out. And he was ranting and raving. And then I read a report. He was in there for a number of months. And he failed with ISIS.
STEPHANOPOULOS:
You saw Hillary say last night, you don't know more than the generals.
TRUMP:
Well, I'll tell you, the generals aren't doing so well right now. Now, I have a feeling it may be Obama's fault. But if you look at ISIS…General McArthur and General Patton, they're spinning in their graves. The generals certainly aren't doing very well right now. And General Allen, after I saw he was on ranting and raving about me, who he never met, I checked up. Guess what. They weren't so happy with him. He didn't beat ISIS. He didn't beat ISIS. He didn't do even well with ISIS.
STEPHANOPOULOS:
How would you answer that father? What sacrifice have you made for your country?
TRUMP:
I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've done, I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot.
STEPHANOPOULOS:
Those are sacrifices?
TRUMP:
Oh, sure. I think they're sacrifices. I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things, even in military. I mean, I was very responsible, along with a group of people, for getting the Vietnam Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which to this day people thank me for.
I raised, and I have raised, millions of dollars for the vets. I'm helping the vets a lot. I think my popularity with the vets is through the roof, far greater than hers. She's done nothing. All she's done is tell everybody that the vets are in good shape. They're fine. And they're not fine. People are waiting on line for seven days to see a doctor. She thinks it's fine.
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