Trump and father of dead Muslim soldier continue dispute

Donald Trump has engaged in a back-and-forth war of words with the father of a US Army captain who was killed in Iraq, after the man criticised the Republican nominee during the Democrtaic National Convention in Philadelphia last week.

Khizr Khan, a Muslim immigrant to the US, appeared at the convention to criticise the policy of the billionaire to ban Muslims from entering the country. Khan brandished a copy of the US constitution and asked if Trump had ever read the document.

Trump responded to the man by defending himself, and also calling into question the actions of his wife, who was present on stage at the convention, but never spoke.

"While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr Khan, who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things," Trump said.

"If you look at his wife, she was standing there," he continued. "She had nothing to say... Maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything tosay. You tell me."

Both Khan and his wife have responded to Trump's interview with ABC at the weekend, with both claiming that they have no affiliation to either political party.

“If Republicans invite me [to speak at an event] I have no problem at all. I’ll go and speak.," Mr. Khan said after supportive comments from Republicans in the House and Senate.

“He says my wife is not allowed to talk because of our religion,” said Mr. Khan, 66 years old. “Now who is attacking whom?”

Khan's wife Ghazala also responded in a column written for the Washington Post on Sunday that she was too stricken by grief to speak at the convention.

"Walking on to the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children whom he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?" she wrote.

Trump has faced severe criticism for his comments, from his own Republican party as well as those on the other side of the aisle.

Presidential competitor Hillary Clinton also berated Trump for his insensitivity on the matter surrounding the Khans and their fallen son.

"He has throughout the course of his campaign consistently insulted and demeaned individuals, groups of Americans, people around the world. And one doesn’t know where the bottom is,” Mrs. Clinton said while campaigning in Ohio on Sunday. “The accumulation of it all is just beyond my comprehension.