By Bill Cameron, WLS-AM 890 News

(CHICAGO) Illinois Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk is criticizing his party’s nominee for President, Donald Trump, for Trump’s decision to attack a Muslim family, whose son died fighting for the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Khizr Khan and his wife Ghazala Khan were the parents of Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in Baghdad in 2004.

Khizr Khan spoke last Thursday at the Democratic National Convention, blasting Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States,

Trump responded by criticizing wife Ghazala Khan’s silence as she stood with her husband at the convention, suggesting she wasn’t allowed to speak.

Then Trump followed up with three tweets, the first on Sunday which read:   “Captain Khan, killed 12 years ago, was a hero, but this is about RADICAL ISLAMIC TERROR and the weakness of our “leaders” to eradicate it!”

In his second Sunday tweet, Trump wrote:  “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!”

Then, after widespread criticism from Republicans on Sunday, Trump wrote another tweet Monday morning which read: “Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same – Nice!”

On Monday Senator Kirk, who has said he is not voting for Trump, told reporters,  “I didn’t like that.  In my world a veteran that gave up their life is someone who is almost sacred. ”

Kirk was a Naval Reservist before suffering a stroke in 2012.  He also said,  “We serve in the military so that you have first amendment rights to make sure that you can say and vote for whoever you want.   That young man who gave his life for the country gave his last full measure, as Abraham Lincoln would say.  We need to respect that family and make sure that family is honored and not criticized.   I would say to Trump ‘Lay off the Gold Star families.   They have given as much as can be given.'”

Kirk is locked in a tight re-election battle against Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, who issued a statement Monday saying, “We already knew that Donald Trump was intolerant and unfit to be Commander in Chief. With his despicable attacks on a Gold Star family, we now know he is a cruel and cowardly man, as well. My heart breaks for the Khan family. Their service and sacrifice are more than most Americans will know, and for that, they should receive nothing but our gratitude. They certainly have mine.”

@ 2016 WLS-AM News