As Donald Trump insults and attacks Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier, his multiple deferments from military service are facing fresh scrutiny. His spat with the Khans, being the latest, which, apart from the outrage, has now brought back into light his deferments from military service, showing him up as an entitled elite. Between 1964 and 1968, Trump, son of a wealthy New York realtor, received four deferments for ongoing education, and one, after he had finished studies, for bone-spurs on his heels. Evading conscription has not derailed presidential campaigns before for Bill Clinton and George W Bush but Trump faces extra scrutiny because of his attacks on the Khans. Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose son Captain Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq in 2004, had criticised Trump at the Democratic convention for his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Source: Hindustan Times August 02, 2016 16:30 UTC