Republican Donald Trump has been criticised by the family of a dead Muslim soldier after saying as president he would have kept him alive.
“Had I been president, Captain Khan would be alive today. We wouldn’t have been in this horrible, horrible mistake, the war in Iraq,” he said.

The soldier’s father, Khizr Khan, said it was a “cruel” remark.

He is campaigning for Hillary Clinton, who makes her first joint appearance with First Lady Michelle Obama later.

Mr Khan’s son Humayun was killed by a car bomb in 2004 in Iraq at the age of 27.

Khizr Khan, father of deceased Muslim US soldier Humayun Khan, holds up a booklet of the US Constitution as he delivers an impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Mr Khan, appearing with his wife, delivers an impassioned speech condemning Mr Trump at the Democratic National Convention

Speaking to ABC News in an interview aired on Thursday, Mr Trump repeated his insistence that their son would be alive, but added he believed the soldier was a “great hero”.

In response, Mr Khan said: “This is the most cruel thing you can say to grieving parents, that if I was there this would not have happened.”

In other campaign development:


  • Mr Trump complained again about media bias, saying it was “the greatest pile-on in American history”

  • Mrs Clinton and Mrs Obama will share a stage in Winston Salem in North Carolina on Thursday

  • Texas Senator Ted Cruz has said Republicans may decline to fill the vacancy on the bench of the Supreme Court

  • A former Republican congressman has said he will take up arms if Mrs Clinton wins

Former Illinois Representative Joe Walsh tweeted: “On November 8th, I’m voting for Trump. On November 9th, if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket. You in?”

He later said he was speaking metaphorically about “acts of civil disobedience”.

Mrs Clinton’s campaign is dealing with more questions arising from hacked emails published by Wikileaks.

The Trump campaign has seized on the latest dump to suggest the line between Bill Clinton’s personal income and the donations for the Clinton Foundation has been blurred.

Doug Band, a top aide to Mr Clinton, said in an email that he had solicited donations to the foundation and also generated personal income for him through gifts and paid speeches.

What you need to know about US election


  • What’s at stake for Supreme Court?

  • Marijuana and condoms on the ballot

  • How does the US election work?

  • A-Z guide to political jargon

What happens next?


  • The two candidates will spend the remaining 12 days before the election criss-crossing the country in their bid to persuade undecided voters. Expect to see lots of appearances in battleground states such as Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania

  • Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday 8 November to decide who becomes the 45th president of the US

  • The new president will be inaugurated on 20 January 2017
–

Source: BBC