Fight with Khan family tests Trump's 'say anything' strategy
Trump broke a major American political and societal taboo over the weekend when he engaged in an emotionally-charged feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the bereaved parents of a decorated Muslim Army captain killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.
The outcry was swift and bipartisan, leaving Trump largely isolated among his fellow Republicans and potentially putting at risk whatever progress the New Yorker had made during his convention at winning over the independent voters who will likely decide the fall election.
Though neither explicitly mentioned Trump, the congressional leaders pointedly denounced his proposed ban on foreign Muslims entering the country, a policy he had altered in recent weeks but nevertheless one that returned to the center of the campaign debate via his attacks on the Khan family.
For the second time in a week, Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, issued a statement that appeared designed to put some space between the two men atop the GOP ticket.
Last week, Pence said Russia would face "serious consequences" for meddling in U.S. elections at roughly the same time Trump appeared to encourage it, telling reporters he would welcome Russia unearthing emails that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton deleted from the private servers she used while secretary of state.
Pence's late Sunday statement came after an afternoon of debate among his aides as to whether he should find a way to subtly distance himself from Trump's comments, according to a person familiar with the internal campaign conversations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!" His tweet followed a late Saturday night statement where Trump described Humayun Khan as "a hero," but said his father had "no right" to "say many other inaccurate things.
Trump was taken aback by the uproar, believing he was attacked first by Khan, according to a person familiar with the candidate's thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.