Fox News attacked for ignoring speech by Muslim American whose son died in Iraq

Khizr Khan told the Democrats' convention that his Army captain son would not have been able to save his troops' lives if Donald Trump's ban on Muslims had been in place

Fox News has been criticised for failing to show a powerful speech attacking Donald Trump by a Muslim American whose son was an army officer killed in Iraq while saving his troops from a suicide bomber.

In a speech to the Democratic party convention that was widely covered by other TV stations, Khizr Khan, who moved to the US from Pakistan, told Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump: “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

But despite being hailed as one of the convention's most powerful speeches for its condemnation of Mr Trump's stance on Muslims and immigration, it was given almost no attention by the conservative channel, which has previously been accused of anti-Muslim sentiment.

Danny Schoen, a Minnesota state senator, was among those who noticed. "Fox News not playing the speech by the Muslim soldier's parents who died for America," he tweeted.

And Max Rosenthal, a journalist with the Mother Jones website, wrote: "Can't be said enough: last night the father of a fallen soldier gave a speech about patriotism and sacrifice, and @FoxNewswouldn't show it."

Mr Khan’s message to Mr Trump was delivered to rapturous applause from delegates.

“Let me ask you, have you [Trump] even read the US Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy," Mr Khan said.

“Look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law.’ Have you ever been to Arlington National Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending this country.”

Mr Khan’s son Captain Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq in 2004 attempting to prevent a suicide bomb attack, and was posthumously awarded two medals for saving the lives of his soldiers.

Mr Khan pointed out his son would not have been able to do this if Mr Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the country had been in place.

Despite being screened by most other US channels, Fox News gave the speech just two minutes of air time without the audio during its rolling news broadcasts as adverts played.

However, Jay Wallace, the channel’s executive vice president of news editorial, told the Huffington Post: “We reported on the speeches and cited them throughout the evening and into today, as well.”