One of the standout speeches at the Democratic National Convention came not from the slew of politicians or celebrities but from the parents of a Muslim-American war hero who shared a stirring reprimand for GOP candidate Donald Trump. But that was only part of their message.
Khizr Khan appeared on MSNBC's "Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell" on Friday with his wife Ghazala Khan and said there were two other individuals he wanted to address: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Khan called both men "patriots" and "decent human beings" and appealed to them: "Isn't it time to repudiate Trump?"
The father of fallen U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan called it "moral imperative" that both leaders tell Trump "enough."
"You are about to sink the ship of the patriot Republicans," he warned.
"If your candidate wins and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country, this country, will have constitutional crises [like] never before," Khan said.
"There is so much at stake, and I appeal to both of these leaders: this is the time. There comes a time in the history of a nation where an ethical, moral stand has to be taken regardless of the political costs," he continued. "The only reason they’re not repudiating his behavior, his threat to our democracy, our decency, our foundation, is just because of political consequences."
He vowed to continue asking this question of Ryan and McConnell.
The Khans appeared via satellite and were both visibly emotional during the interview. Khizr Khan said speaking at the DNC was also difficult for him and he couldn't have done it without his wife by his side.
"You are about to sink the ship of the patriot Republicans."
"Her being there was the strength that I could hold my composure. I am much weaker than she is in such matters."
Khan expressed his frustration at watching Trump's "schoolyard bullying" and that nobody has been able to convince him "to not violate the Constitution of the United States."
"Nothing has made the difference," Khan lamented.
During the interview, O'Donnell brought up Trump's own children and their testaments during the RNC that he has sacrificed a lot to run for president. Jumping on a theme from Khan's rousing DNC speech, O'Donnell asked the couple what they would like to say to Americans like the Trumps about "what real sacrifice really is."
"You don't have to wear the uniform to sacrifice," the soldier's father said. "Sacrifice includes not threatening others, not making others feel less. Sacrifice includes considering the rest of your patriot citizens equal, same."
"He has done nothing. No sacrifice," Khan said of Trump. "He may be a wonderful father, but he is not suitable, not fit, even for the candidacy of the stewardship that he is seeking."
The last time Ghazala Khan spoke to her son was on Mother's Day 2004, just months before he was killed by an explosion while guarding the gates of his base in Iraq, saving his fellow American soldiers as well as Muslim civilians in the process.
She recalled her reaction when her son first told her he was shipping off to Iraq: "Don't become [a] hero for me. Just be my son. Come back as a son," she told him. "He came back as a hero."
The 27-year-old was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
Watch the Khans' powerful DNC speech:
