The co-chair for a pro-Donald Trump super PAC tried to excuse the candidate’s rhetoric regarding deceased US Army Capt. Humayun Khan — and his father Khizr Khan — by using Trump’s proposal to ban Muslim immigration into the country.

“If that ban had been in place 30, 40 years ago, then the son of Mr. Khan would not have been allowed to serve. That is correct,” Carl Higbie told CNN International host Hala Gorani. “But also, that’s less than a dozen people who would not have been allowed to serve in the US military who have died.”

“So you’re OK with the 12 people not serving if it means putting a Muslim ban up,” Gorani responded. “You think it’s a good idea?”

“If it means protecting the United States, absolutely,” Higbie said. “I would sacrifice letting 12 people serve during a conflict that’s killed 4,000.”

The Republican presidential nominee has been embroiled in a conflict with the elder Khan after he appeared at the Democratic National Convention last week, prompting Trump to contact Republican elected officials asking for help amid internal criticism from the party.

But Higbie, a former Navy SEAL currently working as the co-chair the Great America PAC for Donald Trump, defended Trump and his tendency to “hit back” at any criticism.

“What Mr. Khan did not understand is, when you step on a stage and you stand on the death of your son and you use it as political rhetoric — just like the Republicans have been attacked for doing — he is going to get attacked,” he said. “What he said was being used as a pawn by the Democratic Party, which never really has cared much for the military.”

“Why was he used as a pawn?” Gorani asked. “He’s allowed to speak of the death of his son and say that he’s offended by what Mr. Trump has said. It’s his right.”

He then criticized Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaign for inviting Khizr and Ghazala Khan to speak at the party’s event because their son was one of just 12 Muslim soldiers killed while fighting in Iraq 12 years go.

“Why not use the Muslim parents of a fallen soldier?” Gorani asked. “What’s the problem with that?”

“They don’t represent the majority of the fallen,” he replied, before suggesting that Democrats would not have invited a Muslim couple if they “really cared about the troops.”

Watch the interview, as posted online, below.