During the great feud between Donald Trump and the Khan family — which was sparked by Khizr Khan’s fiery DNC speech — the general reaction has been one of respect for the parents of a fallen soldier. This has led many to wonder why Benghazi mother Pat Smith has not received the same reverence after calling for Hillary Clinton to be jailed and reinforcing this point in her own RNC speech. This is a fair question, but the two candidates’ responses are also worth considering. Clinton claimed that Smith may be forgetful, which wasn’t the most sensitive response. Whereas Trump went even further by wondering whether Khan allowed his wife, Ghazala, to speak while insisting the Trump life is full of “sacrifices.”
For years, Smith has remained quite vocal in her crusade against Clinton and feels she hasn’t been treated seriously. Whereas Khan has sparked pocket constitution sales in the days following his national debut. CNN invited Smith (who supports Trump) to discuss this discrepancy, and host Brooke Baldwin asked whether, as a grieving mother, she is bothered by Trump questioning why Mrs. Khan didn’t speak. Smith said she could obviously relate to Mrs. Khan’s sadness, but “I don’t agree with Hillary.” She continued:
“I was treated like dirt. I don’t think the Khan family was treated that way. But I was treated like dirt, I was called a liar. She went on TV many times and nodding her head, thinking that she’s so wonderful and she knows everything and I know nothing. I don’t like her decisions, she kills people!”
Smith also believes Trump’s response to the Khan’s was just fine because it’s his own “business” to say whatever he feels. Baldwin then reminded Smith how Trump decided not to watch her RNC speech, since he opted instead to phone Bill O’Reilly. Smith was still not bothered: “I like Donald Trump, and I do believe in what he says.”