Trump again under fire for comments about Muslims

 Donald Trump is trying to clarify critical comments  about the Muslim parents of a slain soldier that  drew bipartisan criticism of the Republican  candidate.

 “Captain Humayun Khan was a hero to our  country and we should honor all who have made  the ultimate sacrifice to keep our country safe,"  Trump said in a statement. "The real problem  here are the radical Islamic terrorists who killed  him, and the efforts of these radicals to enter our  country to do us further harm."

The statement came in the wake of an ABC News broadcast Sunday in which Trump appeared to criticize Khizr Kahn, the late captain's father, after he went after Trump during the Democratic convention that nominated Hillary Clinton last week.

Blasting Trump over his call for a temporary ban on Muslim entry into the United States, Khan — whose son died during the Iraq war — urged Trump to read the U.S. Constitution and said of New York businessman: "You have sacrificed nothing and no one."

"Who wrote that?" Trump said when asked about the comment on ABC's This Week. "Did Hillary's script writers write it?"

He also told ABC that Khan was "very emotional and probably looked like a nice guy to me."

Trump noted that Khan's wife Ghazala stood at his side during the speech and said nothing, and suggested that she was not allowed to speak.

"She had nothing to say," Trump said. "She probably ... maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me."

Ghazala Khan, who helped write her husband's speech, said it has been difficult to speak about her son's death publicly.

Khan did not back down from his comments during an appearance on NBC's Meet The Press, saying that "we have a candidate without moral compass, without empathy for its citizens."

While he said he appreciated Trump's description of his son as a "hero," Khan told NBC that "it sounds so disingenuous because of his policies, because of his rhetoric of hatred, of derision, of dividing us. And that is why I implored him to read the constitution."

Trump's comments were attacked by many of his Republican critics, including Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

"There's only one way to talk about Gold Star parents: with honor and respect," Kasich tweeted. "Capt. Khan is a hero. Together, we should pray for his family."

Peter Wehner, a former aide to President George W. Bush, said on Twitter: "Memo to Trump supporters: He's a man of sadistic cruelty. With him there's no bottom. Now go ahead & defend him."

Clinton also criticized Trump over his Khan comments, saying he is "not a normal presidential candidate."

In a campaign stop in Ohio, Clinton said: “Someone who attacks everybody has something missing .. I don’t know what it is. I’m not going to get into that.”

In his follow-up statement, Trump said the real issue is "radical Islamic terrorists," and that is why he has called for restrictions on migration into the United States.

"We have to know everything about those looking to enter our country, and given the state of chaos in some of these countries, that is impossible," Trump said.

He also had choice words for the elder Khan: "While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things."