WASHINGTON — Republicans, the VFW and Gold Star families all joined a growing chorus Monday criticizing Donald Trump for his political tangle with the parents of a soldier killed in Iraq.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who had been mum on the presidential race for weeks, issued a scathing criticism of Trump, saying the GOP nominee’s statements about bereaved parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan do not represent the views of the Republican Party and urging the New York billionaire to set a better example.

“While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us,” McCain said in a news release issued by his campaign.

Meanwhile, the Veterans of Foreign Wars national commander called criticism of the Khans “out of bounds” and family members of 23 fallen troops called on the Trump campaign to apologize.

The Khan’s son, Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed by suicide bomber while deployed in 2004. The couple railed against Trump at the Democratic National Convention, saying he does not understand the sacrifice of their family and Muslim immigrants.

“You have sacrificed nothing and no one,” Khizr Khan told Trump during his convention speech.

Trump said Sunday that he was “viciously” attacked first. He had fired back over the weekend by inferring Ghazala Khan was not allowed to speak at the convention because of her religion and cited business successes as his own sacrifice for the country.

The political uproar caused Republican leaders to issue statements of support over the weekend for the Khans and triggered a lengthy statement Monday from McCain, a former prisoner of war and the powerful chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

McCain has backed Trump despite a strained relationship and deep differences on policy, especially on the importance of NATO and the containment of Russia. But McCain had stayed out of the presidential campaign – and avoided criticism of Trump -- in recent weeks as he faces a tight primary race with an insurgent Republican challenger who has more in common with the GOP nominee and the Tea Party.

“In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier’s parents. He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States — to say nothing of entering its service,” McCain said. “I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump’s statement.”

His counterpart on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said Monday that he was “dismayed at the attacks” on the Khans and military service should be above politics.

Other Republicans also rebuked the developer and former reality star, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and staunch critic Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

“The Khan family deserves nothing less than our deepest support, respect, and gratitude, and they have every right to express themselves in any way they choose,” said Ayotte, who is also in a tight re-election race. “I am appalled that Donald Trump would disparage them and that he had the gall to compare his own sacrifices to those of a Gold Star family.”

Graham, who has refused to endorse Trump, told the New York Times that the GOP nominee had crossed a line for the first time.

“This is going to a place where we’ve never gone before, to push back against the families of the fallen,” Graham told the newspaper. “The problem is, ‘unacceptable’ doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

Republican leadership in the House and Senate also issued statements backing the sacrifice of the Khan family, though they did not mentioned Trump by name.

Meanwhile, newly elected VFW national commander Brian Duffy said Monday that Trump’s comments were “out of bounds” and might have a lasting impact. He said the Khans and others who have lost family members downrange have a right to speak out.

“Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression,” Duffy said in the released statement. “There are certain sacrosanct subjects that no amount of wordsmithing can repair once crossed.”

In a letter to Trump, family members of fallen troops who are affiliated with the liberal political group VoteVets said his statements cheapen the sacrifices of the people killed and they demanded an apology.

“Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us. When you question a mother's pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us,” according to a copy of the letter published online. “When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice.”

Trump has made a string of unconventional and controversial statements in recent days, including suggestions he might not back the NATO pact as president and an invitation for Russia to hack Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails. He contends other NATO nations should spend more money on their militaries and said he was being sarcastic about the Russia hacking.

When questioned about the Khans by ABC News on Saturday, Trump wondered whether their speech was written by the Clinton campaign. He then focused on Ghazala Khan, who stood beside her husband at the convention but did not speak.

“If you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me,” Trump said.

In response to the family’s most searing criticism that Trump has not sacrificed for his country, he told the network, “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard.”

He spent the weekend fighting criticism over his statements about the Khans, as photos of their son’s Arlington Cemetery grave marker was circulating on social media.

“I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!” Trump tweeted late Sunday.

tritten.travis@stripes.com Twitter: @Travis_Tritten

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