--- title: Khizr Khan Calls on GOP Leaders to 'Repudiate' Donald Trump description: Khizr Khan—the father of a Muslim Army captain who was killed in Iraq—said his Democratic convention speech was only half his message canonical: https://time.com/4431903/khizr-khan-donald-trump-republican-leaders/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-30T15:11:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:48.661Z article:section: Politics og:title: Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Calls on GOP to 'Repudiate' Trump og:description: He specifically called out Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell og:url: https://time.com/4431903/khizr-khan-donald-trump-republican-leaders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6b6ec1c6927067/6988a0792dce01a5219ea1f7/khizr-khan-gop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4155 og:image:height: 2337 og:image:alt: Democratic National Convention: Day Four og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Calls on GOP to 'Repudiate' Trump twitter:description: He specifically called out Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6b6ec1c6927067/6988a0792dce01a5219ea1f7/khizr-khan-gop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Calls on GOP Leaders to 'Repudiate' Donald Trump > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jul 30, 2016 3:11 PM UTC  Khizr Khan, father of deceased Muslim U.S. Soldier Humayun S. M. Khan, delivers remarks on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 28, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Khizr Khan, father of deceased Muslim U.S. Soldier Humayun S. M. Khan, delivers remarks on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 28, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Alex Wong/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jul 30, 2016 3:11 PM UTC Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim Army captain who was killed in Iraq, said his [emotional speech about his son](http://time.com/4429891/dnc-khizr-khan-donald-trump-constitution/) at the Democratic National Convention this week was only part of his message. Khan addressed Republican nominee Donald Trump directly in his speech, asking if he’d read the U.S. Constitution and telling him, forcefully, “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.” In an [interview with MSNBC](http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/slain-soldier-s-dad-gop-should-call-out-trump-735109699658) on Friday, Khan implored Republican leaders to “repudiate Trump,” specifically addressing [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell](http://time.com/4414142/republican-convention-mitch-mcconnell-speech-transcript-video/) and House Speaker Paul Ryan. “Isn’t this time to repudiate Trump—what he has said, what he has threatened to do?” Khan said. “This is a moral imperative for both leaders to say to him that, ‘Enough. You are about to sink the ship of the patriot Republicans. Republicans are as patriotic as Democrats are. They are half of the goodness of this beautiful country, half of this political process that the rest of the world watches enviously, learns from it.” Both McConnell and Ryan have endorsed Trump for president, but have also condemned some of his statements. Ryan called Trump’s [criticism of a judge](http://time.com/4356045/donald-trump-judge-gonzalo-curiel/) the “textbook definition of a racist comment.” McConnell said Trump should [stop attacking minority groups](http://time.com/4360328/mitch-mcconnell-donald-trump-minority-groups/). “They have disagreed with his practices, his threats to minorities, disrespect to the legal system, legal institutions,” Khan said. “I will continue to ask this question: ‘If your candidate wins and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country, this country will have constitutional crises like never before in the history of this country.’” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4431903/khizr-khan-donald-trump-republican-leaders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4431903/khizr-khan-donald-trump-republican-leaders/"},"headline":"Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Calls on GOP Leaders to 'Repudiate' Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-07-30T15:11:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:48.661Z","description":"He specifically called out Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell","url":"https://time.com/4431903/khizr-khan-donald-trump-republican-leaders/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Donald Trump","Democratic National Convention"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6b6ec1c6927067/6988a0792dce01a5219ea1f7/khizr-khan-gop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d6b6ec1c6927067/6988a0792dce01a5219ea1f7/khizr-khan-gop.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic National Convention: Day Four","caption":"Democratic National Convention: Day Four","creditText":"Alex Wong/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4431903/khizr-khan-donald-trump-republican-leaders/","name":"Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Calls on GOP Leaders to 'Repudiate' Donald Trump"}}]}] ```