WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign appealed to Capitol Hill for support on Monday as his attacks on the Muslim parents of a decorated U.S. soldier killed in Iraq drew sharp rebukes from fellow party members.
Trump's criticism of Khizr Khan and Ghazala Khan, who took the stage at last week's Democratic convention, sparked a growing wave of concern and dismay from Republican lawmakers responding to the latest Trump outburst to blindside his party colleagues.
Republican Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war and the most prominent veteran in Congress, along with the commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, joined the chorus of condemnation, reflecting the highly regarded place the military and its veterans hold with many in the United States.
Trump's dispute with the Khans has dominated the White House campaign in recent days and underlined the uneasy alliance between many leading Republicans and the party's freewheeling, unorthodox nominee for the Nov. 8 election.
Rob Wasinger, a onetime congressional candidate who has been working for the Trump camp on congressional outreach, sent an email to senior Senate aides saying, "We want to get several member statements out today on this, and would really appreciate your help."
A similar appeal was made to Republicans in the House of Representatives, according to a senior aide.
Attached to the appeal were talking points lawmakers could use to try to tamp down the controversy growing since last week's appearance at the Democratic convention by the Khans, the parents of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed by a bomb in Iraq 12 years ago.