This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's top elected officials have decided to sidestep the controversy over Donald Trump's repeated jabs at the Muslim-American parents of a dead war hero, even as veterans organizations and congressional leaders condemn the Republican nominee for it.
Gov. Gary Herbert declined to comment and Rep. Rob Bishop didn't respond to a request from The Salt Lake Tribune about the controversy that has dominated the debate after the Democratic National Convention last week. Rep. Chris Stewart, a veteran, said he didn't follow the news closely because he was at a policy retreat in Park City.
"Gold Star famillies deserve nothing but our love and respect," he said Wednesday. "And I think Mr. Trump recognizes that."
Rep. Jason Chaffetz offered the closest thing to a criticism, saying: "This is not the first time he's said something I disagree with and I suspect it won't be the last."
"We should honor the fallen and their families and focus our campaign fire on Hillary Clinton," said Chaffetz, who said he still plans to vote for Trump. "Anything else is off message."
Rep. Mia Love and Sen. Orrin Hatch also released statements, though neither used Trump's name nor outright disavowed his comments aimed at Khizr and Ghazala Khan.
"Our veterans and their families deserve respect and honor for the sacrifices they have made. The negativity that's occurring in the political arena illustrates that, regardless of who is at the 'top of the ticket,' it's imperative to have leaders in Congress who will listen to our veterans and champion their causes," Love said. "All those who have made the ultimate sacrifice are the reasons why we live in the greatest nation on earth."
Unlike Love, Hatch didn't even make a vague reference to the Republican presidential candidate, instead he focused on his own experience, saying he's seen "the same kind of grief in the Khan family that I saw in my parents' eyes," after his brother Jesse was killed in World War II.
"From personal experience, I know that the loss of a loved one in the line of duty forever changes a family," Hatch said. "Their son's selfless sacrifice for the country they love demonstrates the best that America has to offer, and deserves to be honored extraordinarily and unconditionally."
Republican officeholders have repeatedly found themselves in a tough spot, being asked to respond to their presidential candidate's latest controversy and they are getting increasingly frustrated with it.
Sen. Mike Lee's spokesman Conn Carroll said in reaction to the Tribune request: "Senator Lee has not endorsed Trump and therefore will not be commenting on every little thing he says."
This controversy doesn't seem to be going away, largely because neither Trump nor the Khans have been willing to drop it. On Monday morning Trump tweeted: "Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over TV doing the same — Nice!"
Khizr and Ghazala Khan have appeared on a series of television interviews, where they have ratcheted up their criticism of Trump, saying he has a "black soul."
Their son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, died in Iraq in 2004 when he approached a car speeding toward a checkpoint. The driver detonated a suicide bomb. Khan was credited with saving the lives of his subordinates and was posthumously honored.
Last week, Khizr and Ghazala Khan appeared at the Democratic National Convention where Khizr Khan denounced Trump's plan for a temporary travel ban on Muslims, saying had it been in place previously, his family would not have been allowed to immigrate from Pakistan. Khizr Kahn further said Trump sacrificed nothing and questioned whether he had read the Constitution.
Trump responded, first by questioning whether Ghazala Khan stood silently on stage because she wasn't allowed to talk and eventually saying that Khizr Khan had "no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution."
That led to a rush of condemnation from groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars and from the most prominent veteran in Congress, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"It is time for Donald Trump to set the example for our country and the future of the Republican Party. While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us," McCain wrote in a lengthy statement. "Lastly, I'd like to say to Mr. and Mrs. Khan: thank you for immigrating to America. We're a better country because of you. And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation —- and he will never be forgotten."
Following McCain, a group of Senate Republicans also distanced themselves from Trump, including New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte and Ohio's Rob Portman.
In Utah, Hatch, Chaffetz, Bishop and Stewart, who is a veteran, have said they will vote for Trump, while Lee and Love haven't said which presidential candidate will get their vote.
— Thomas Burr and Nate Carlisle contributed to this article.
Twitter: @mattcanham