Donald Trump's bizarre lack of empathy came to light again Wednesday night, when, in an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, the Republican nominee again responded selfishly to a tragedy, claiming that U.S. Army captain Humayun Khan, the Muslim American soldier killed in the line of duty in Iraq, "would be alive today" if he had been president.
"I have great respect for the Khan family," Trump said, "but if I were president at that time, Captain Khan would be alive today, because I wouldn't have been in Iraq," Trump—who, despite his claims, initially supported the war in Iraq—told Stephanopoulos.
When Trump first made this tone-deaf, counterfactual claim earlier this month at a presidential debate, outrage poured in. A Clinton foreign policy spokesman tweeted "go fuck yourself" at Trump. (He later apologized.)
ABC also spoke with Khizr Khan, Captain Khan's father, who blasted Trump for his most recent remarks about his slain son.
"This is the most cruel thing you can say to grieving parents," Khan said. "There is no sincerity in those remarks."
Since his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Khan has been actively stumping for Hillary Clinton, and recently filmed a powerful campaign ad on her behalf. Given how sharply his poll numbers fell the last time he picked a fight with the Khan family, Trump's continued insensitivity to the parents of a slain soldier is just one more decision that is as politically inept as it is personally offensive.