To the editor:

Of all the troubling things about Donald Trump that have surfaced since Khizr Khan’s speech at the Democratic National Convention last week, one stands out. Questioning whether Mr. Khan was a puppet speaking words put into his mouth by the Clinton campaign, or suggesting that Mrs. Khan’s silence was imposed upon her by her husband, or by her culture, are bad enough, but not the bottom.

That was Mr. Trump’s response to Mr. Khan’s questioning whether Trump had ever sacrificed for his country. Mr. Trump has not been to war. Accepting his claim that he has worked hard in the cause of his own business, that’s no sacrifice for his country. When John McCain spent years as a POW, he and his family sacrificed. When Capt. Khan died, he and his family sacrificed. Words have meaning, and most of us need no dictionary to know what this word means.

But Mr. Trump could neither admit a fact nor confront a truth. So he went to his go-to, as deceivers do: He twisted the meaning of a word. He has sacrificed, he reasoned, because he created jobs. Find and read what he said. He converted the word “sacrifice” into another word, “winning.” He’s sacrificed because he’s been a winner. Remember when he said John McCain was a loser because he was captured? Does death make Capt. Khan another loser?

Does Trump mean what he says, and does he say what he means? We should listen very carefully.