© 2024
Virginia's Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

After Ceremony for Military Hero, Criticism for the Commander in Chief

RadioIQ

The U.S. Postal Service honored a Muslim-American Army Officer Monday, naming a post office in his hometown – Charlottesville – after him.  U.S. Senator Tim Kaine praised Captain Khan, but speaking to reporters afterward, he criticized the commander in chief for failing to support and protect the military.

Captain Humayun Khan was killed when he stopped a vehicle headed for a U.S. base in Iraq.  It exploded, killing him and its passengers.  His father, Khizr Khan, expressed pride in the decisions his son made during a short but noble life.

“The first decision he made was to come to the University of Virginia," he recalled. "The second decision – he joined  ROTC where he found friendship, mentorships, skills, how to serve.  Every American must know how to serve, and the third best decision he made – until the last moment of his life he was so proud – was to join the United States Army.”  

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine was on hand for the ceremony.  Afterward he attacked the commander in chief for failing to support and protect the military.  Kaine was baffled by President Trump’s tweeted decision to call off talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Credit RadioIQ
Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and Khizr Khan, father of the late Captain Humayun Khan for whom a post office in Charlottesville was named.

“I don’t get it," Kaine told reporters.  "I’m going back right now, we have votes this afternoon.  This will be our first day back after recess.  I am absolutely confident that the Republicans on my two national security committees -- armed services and foreign relations – are going to be equally as puzzled.  They weren’t in the loop.  They didn’t know what was going on, and I think there are going to be a lot of questions for the administration  about this.”  

And he wondered how long his Republican colleagues would remain silent over the White House decision to use military dollars for a wall on our southern border.

“I think the thing that has just struck me in the Senate over and over again is the president walking over the priorities of the Republican majority and them not squawking.  I’m kind of interested to get back today and see if a Senator Tillis of North Carolina – tens of millions of dollars of projects cancelled at Lejeune and Bragg and other places – will we hear a peer out of these folks?”  

Kaine appeared to have lost a good deal of weight after summer hikes on the Appalachian Trail.  A reporter teased that former South Carolina Congressman Mark Sanford had also claimed to be on the trail when he was actually spending time with his mistress.  Kaine shot back that he had actually been hiking and had pictures to prove it. 

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief