Democratic convention star shares story in Las Vegas

By Megan Messerly

Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016 | 2 a.m.

On one July night Khizr Khan and his wife, Ghazala, went from essentially unknown to household names.

Khan made headlines after a brief but gripping speech with his wife at his side at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The Khans were invited to speak at the convention in honor of their son, Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in the line of duty in Iraq and posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

In the middle of his speech, Khan pulled out a pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution. “Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution?” Khan said, addressing Trump. “I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.’”

Trump set off a media firestorm after the speech by suggesting that Ghazala “probably, maybe” wasn’t allowed to speak. Khan “was very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me. His wife … if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say,” Trump said in an interview with ABC News.

Since the initial media blitz, Khan has been traveling around the country talking about the importance of the election, including a private speaking engagement Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Khan sat down with the Sun on Saturday afternoon to talk about the Constitution, coming to the United States from Pakistan and the importance of voting. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.

On the Constitution:

This love affair with the Constitution of the United States and U.S. values started when I was an undergrad in college in Pakistan. I took a course which was titled as "Comparative Constitution of the World" — a very exotic-sounding name. In that course, I read about the constitution of the Soviet Union, the constitution of Germany, the constitution of the United States, and the British Magna Carta.

The very first hook was, as soon as I finished reading the Declaration of Independence of the United States, I knew the similarities — what this nation had gone through to come together, to form a union — and the difficulties other colonized countries had gone through to gain its independence. That was the moment that I was very interested in learning more.

On why he and his wife decided to raise their kids in the U.S.:

Our first few hours coming to the United States, as we are bringing our boxes into the apartment, the neighbors notice somebody is moving in. We are opening our boxes, and we hear a knock at our door. We don't know anybody here. Later on we found out it was our neighbor. She had two grocery bags in her arms. We opened the door and she walks in, she places those two bags on the floor and says, "Welcome to our neighborhood. We saw that you have kids and we brought some things." That gesture of welcoming, friendliness and hospitality, of generosity, even now, it overwhelms me, and I lose my composure.

While we are still not recovered from the shock of that generosity and the friendliness, another knock. This is another neighbor, who brought an icebox full of water, soft drinks and other things for the family. She introduced herself exactly the same. We were so overwhelmed by that generosity, by that kindness. We looked at each other and said, "My God, we must've done something right in life that we are so blessed to have wound up here."

Nobody asked us what our faith was. Nobody asked us where we were from. Nobody asked, “Are you Muslim? What faith? What are your names?” Nothing at all. Human-to-human generosity, kindness. My wife said, "I want to raise my children here." The decision was made within those two gestures of generosity.

On choosing to speak at the Democratic convention:

Our son passed away in 2004, so we have grieved in privacy for many years. But there comes time when your personal interests take the backseat to caring for others. That is what I learned in my religion, in my faith, and in the United States. When time comes, you stand up.

Mostly parents teach their children, but in our case we were blessed that our son taught us that when time comes to care for others, stand up. It was that that brought us to that stage. It is that that brought us to say what we said. We had the option up until the last minute to say, “Thank you very much, thank you for paying tribute to our son. We are grateful,” and walk off. We would have not said what we said. We would not have endured what we endured in the initial few days. But, thereafter, this generous country, this generous nation embraced us.

On Trump’s rhetoric:

I speak the value of equal protection of law and equal dignity. On the other hand a candidate speaks about banning Muslims, banning Hispanics, throwing out Hispanics, judges are bad, women are lesser class.

I am witness to America's goodness. I am a testament to that. When I hear somebody speaking un-American I am quick to understand and quick to identify that this is not what America is all about. This is just political pandering, political bigotry, and it must end soon.

On the Republican Party:

The Republican Party has so much work to do to revive itself and to make it relevant. Believe me, this smear on the Republican Party will last generations. Many years henceforth the Republican Party will be recovering from this damage of having such a candidate among them.

If you asked me, what is my most favorite book? That's my hero, Senator McCain. I cherish his book "Why Courage Matters" and the lessons therein, and that is his party. Look where this candidate has brought it to be.

Never in the history of the United States have the patriot leaders of the Republican Party had to stand up and begin to defend their morals, their values. They are covering the eyes and ears of their children to the messages coming from their presidential candidate. What a shame. What a shame.

On what he would say to Gov. Mike Pence:

My message to Governor Pence is, you have a bright future in the Republican Party. It will be smeared forever — the Republican Party will never forgive you — if you don't disassociate yourself from this candidate. For Republicans, you are presidential material.

This is time to stand for something and your country will always be proud of you. Disassociate, and giving up this candidacy will put you on the moon in the eyes of the nation, in the eyes of this country, in the eyes of Republicans. They will follow your example for the rest of their lives. This is the time to take the moral stand.

On the importance of voting:

I'd urge all patriot Americans to get up and vote in this election. But before you vote, before you drop your ballot in the ballot box, take a pause. Hold it. Don't just vote and drop it. Pause. You are at that very moment serving this great country with the values that the world envies. Reject un-American values. Then drop it. Say to yourself, “It is my contribution.” Your nation will appreciate that.