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---
title: Protestors at Donald Trump Rally Hold Up Constitution
description: Protestors held up copies of the Constitution at a rally for Donald Trump in Maine on Thursday.
canonical: https://time.com/4439590/donald-trump-rally-pocket-constitutions/
author: Will Drabold
article:opinion: false
article:content_tier: free
article:published_time: 2016-08-04T20:12:49.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-10-06T09:45:28.740Z
article:section: Politics
og:title: Protestors at Donald Trump Rally Hold Up Constitution
og:description: Channeling a speaker at the Democratic convention.
og:url: https://time.com/4439590/donald-trump-rally-pocket-constitutions/
og:site_name: TIME
og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt408ac22b41efbcde/6988a139cf40a8d314c445a4/trump-protestors-pocket-constitution.jpeg?branch=production&width=680&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
og:image:width: 680
og:image:height: 383
og:image:alt: trump-protestors-pocket-constitution
og:type: article
twitter:card: summary_large_image
twitter:title: Protestors at Donald Trump Rally Hold Up Constitution
twitter:description: Channeling a speaker at the Democratic convention.
twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt408ac22b41efbcde/6988a139cf40a8d314c445a4/trump-protestors-pocket-constitution.jpeg?branch=production&width=680&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9
video:duration: 01:14
video:published: 2016-07-29
section: politics
topics: Donald Trump, Constitution, presidential election, immigration walls, military sacrifice, Hillary Clinton, voter turnout, Muslim American soldier
genre: speech, political commentary
tones: confrontational, emotional, urgent, critical
emotions: anger (medium), pride (medium), grief (medium), determination (high)
sentiment: negative
audience: American voters, political news audiences, Democratic voters, military families
people: Khizr Khan, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton
content_suitability: death [00:53-00:58]; war [00:53-01:02]; politics [00:00-01:14]
transcript_source: publisher captions
transcript_reviewed: not applicable
---

![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt408ac22b41efbcde/6988a139cf40a8d314c445a4/trump-protestors-pocket-constitution.jpeg?branch=production&width=680&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# Protestors at Donald Trump Rally Hold Up Pocket Constitutions

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/M3k81aWT.m3u8" -->
## Video: Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Asks Donald Trump If He Has Read Constitution

[Watch (HLS stream): Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Asks Donald Trump If He Has Read Constitution](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/M3k81aWT.m3u8) (1:14)

![Father of Fallen Muslim Soldier Asks Donald Trump If He Has Read Constitution](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/M3k81aWT/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2016-07-29. As Khizr Khan held up his pocket copy of the United States Constitution, he had a question for Donald Trump. “Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy,” Khan said._
Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed.

## Summary
A father of a fallen Muslim soldier, Khizr Khan, addresses Donald Trump directly, asking whether he has read the United States Constitution and offering to lend him his copy. He argues that problems cannot be solved by building walls and that Americans should not trust a divider with their future. He urges voters to honor his son's sacrifice by voting for Hillary Clinton in what he calls a historic election.

## Key points
- Khizr Khan asks Donald Trump whether he has even read the United States Constitution. (00:09)
- Khan says he will gladly lend Trump his copy of the Constitution. (00:17)
- Khan says Trump has sacrificed nothing and no one. (00:34)
- Khan states that problems cannot be solved by building walls. (00:42)
- Khan calls the election historic and asks people to honor the sacrifice of his son. (00:53)
- Khan urges viewers to get out and vote for the healer, the strongest and most qualified candidate. (00:58)
- Khan names Hillary Clinton as the candidate he urges voters to choose. (01:07)
- Khan describes Donald Trump as the divider rather than the healer. (01:11)

## Chapters
- [00:00 to 00:17] Challenge to Trump on the Constitution. Khan questions Trump's trustworthiness and asks whether he has read the Constitution.
- [00:17 to 00:42] Offer of a copy and criticism of sacrifice. Khan offers his copy of the Constitution and says Trump has sacrificed nothing and no one.
- [00:42 to 01:14] Appeal to vote for Clinton. Khan rejects walls as a solution and urges voters to honor his son by voting for Hillary Clinton.

## Key quotes
- [00:09] Khizr Khan: "Let me asked you. Have you even read the United States Constitution?"
- [00:17] Khizr Khan: "I will gladly lend you my copy."
- [00:34] Khizr Khan: "You have sacrificed nothing and no one."
- [00:42] Khizr Khan: "We can not solve our problems by building walls."
- [01:07] Khizr Khan: "vote for the healer, vote for the strongest, most qualified candidate, Hillary Clinton, not the divider"

## Questions this video answers
- Can the country's problems be solved by building walls? [00:42]
- Should Americans trust Donald Trump with their future? [00:00]
- Who should voters choose in this historic election? [01:02]
- How should voters honor the sacrifice of Khan's son? [00:58]

## Content suitability
- death [00:53-00:58]: Reference to the death of the speaker's son, a fallen soldier, in the context of honoring his sacrifice.
- war [00:53-01:02]: References to military sacrifice of a fallen soldier.
- politics [00:00-01:14]: Direct political attack on a presidential candidate and endorsement of an opponent.


by 

[Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/)


## Will Drabold


Aug 4, 2016 8:12 PM UTC

Protesters at a Donald Trump rally in Maine held up pocket copies of the Constitution, echoing a dramatic moment from the Democratic national convention. 

by 

[Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/)


## Will Drabold


Aug 4, 2016 8:12 PM UTC

Protesters at a Donald Trump rally in Maine held up pocket copies of the Constitution, echoing a dramatic moment from the Democratic national convention.

The Republican nominee briefly stopped his speech as protesters were escorted from the Merrill Auditorium in Portland.

“A Trump rally is the safest place in our country to be, believe me, believe me. The safest,” he said. “But if we keep going the way it is, our whole country is going to be different.” Then, Trump’s speech was interrupted again by a protestor blowing a whistle.

The symbol comes from [a brief speech](http://time.com/4433453/khizr-khan-pocket-constitution/) given by Khizr Khan, an American lawyer whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004, at the convention. After Khan asked if Trump had “even read the U.S. Constitution” and waved his pocket copy, [sales soared online](http://time.com/4433453/khizr-khan-pocket-constitution/).

> [](https://twitter.com/JDiamond1/status/761283506685239296)

> [](https://twitter.com/ditzkoff/status/761285454566154240)


Maine Gov. Paul LePage opened for Trump, saying the media takes the New York business mogul’s remarks out of context. Trump’s speech focused on his usual themes of immigration and ISIS, vowing to do more to make America safe than Hillary Clinton.


## Transcript

[00:00] Donald Trump you're asking Americans to
[00:05] trust you with their future. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]
[00:09] Let me asked you. Have you even
[00:13] read the United States Constitution? [ APPLAUSE ]
[00:17] [ APPLAUSE ] I will, I
[00:23] will gladly lend you
[00:34] my copy. [ APPLAUSE ] You have sacrificed nothing and
[00:42] no one. We can not solve, we can
[00:48] not solve our problems by building walls. This
[00:53] is a historic election. And I request
[00:58] to honor the sacrifice of my son. Take the time to
[01:02] get out and vote , and vote for the healer, vote
[01:07] for the strongest, most qualified candidate, Hillary
[01:11] Clinton, not the divider

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