Trump spokeswoman blames Obama for Capt. Khan's death, Twitter fires back

Credit: Joe Raedle

Credit: Joe Raedle

A national spokeswoman for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Tuesday said President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton "probably" caused the death of U.S. Army Capt. Humayum Khan.

"Surely you can understand the confusion, considering how Donald Trump never voted for the Iraq War, Hillary Clinton did," Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said during an appearance on "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."

"Then she didn't support the troops to have what they need," she continued. "It was under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that changed the rules of engagements that probably cost his life. I don't understand why it's so hard to understand why Donald Trump was confused about why he was being held responsible for something he had nothing to do with while Hillary Clinton had everything to do with."

Khan was killed by a car bomb while serving in Iraq in 2004. He was 27.

At the time, George W. Bush was president, Obama was an Illinois state senator and Clinton was serving in the U.S. Senate for New York.

Twitter users were quick to point out her error and thousands of users tagged their posts with #KatrinaPiersonHistory to sarcastically blame any and everything on Obama:

In an appearance on CNN on Wednesday, Pierson stood by her comments, saying that her point was that "Donald Trump wasn't there," and added that Khan's father, Khizr Khan, is a "strong supporter of Sharia law."

However, Khizr Khan has previously disavowed the religious law.

Sharia law includes a "tremendous discrimination of genders," he told CNN, "which disqualifies them under the Constitution of the United States."

He emphasized his position by reminding viewers that he preaches reading and abiding by the Constitution.

"I do not stand for Sharia law because there is no such thing (under the Constitution)," he said.

Trump has attacked the Khan family numerous times since Khizr Khan and his wife, Ghazala, appeared at the Democratic National Convention last week and condemned the GOP nominee as failing to adhere to the Constitution, pointing to his proposal to ban Muslim immigrants.

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