JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (CN) - Donald Trump met with six Gold Star families before a campaign rally in Jacksonville Wednesday night, and said from the stage that at least one continues to support him despite the continuing controversy over a feud he's having with the Muslin family of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq.
Khizr Khan, the father of a decorated Muslim Army captain killed in Iraq in 2004 lambasted the Republican presidential candidate during an address at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and Trump shot back by questioning why Khan's wife, who was standing next to him at the podium, didn't make any remarks of her own.
Trump implied in a series of Tweets that it was because she is Muslim and wasn't allowed to speak.
The remarks didn't just outrage the Khans, they created a firestorm within the ranks of GOP, that only got more intense this week after Trump said he was reluctant to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Arizona Sen. John McCain, both of whom face primaries Ryan's as early as next week and both of whom publicly denounced the real estate mogul over his spat with the soldier's family.
Army Capt. Humayun S.M. Khan was killed in Iraq by a vehicle filled with explosives. According to the Pentagon, Khan saved the lives of several other soldiers by urging them to stay back while he approached it.
After Trump criticized the Khans, nearly a dozen Gold Star families published a joint letter through the progressive nonprofit VoteVets.org website, demanding that Trump apologize for his comments.
Eleven of the families that signed the letter had sons that were killed in Iraq. One of the families that signed the letter was that of soldier who died in Vietnam.
"Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us," the letter says. "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. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice."
Trump has not apologized for his remarks. Trump's meeting with the families of fallen soldiers in Jacksonville was his latest attempt to press on in the face of the controversy by suggested he's still widely admired by military families.
On stage at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Trump said one of the men he met with handed him a contribution.
"He said, it's more money than we can afford, but I want you to have it for your campaign," Trump said.
The families were not identified, but the candidate then led the crowd in cheering for them.
He also showed off the Purple Heart he was given by a veteran in Virginia on Tuesday.
"He said, I want you to have it. You're the one to lead the country, I want you to have this," Trump said.
The crowd booed when Trump mentioned media coverage that the medal was a replica.
"It actually was his heart. It's what it is. His Purple Heart," Trump said, mentioning the man's son revealed the medal's authenticity.
