The mother of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador killed in Libya four years ago, is objecting to the Donald Trump campaign's use of his name and fate as part of the Republican's run for the White House.
In a letter to the editor of The New York Times bearing Friday's date, Mary F. Commanday wrote, "I know for certain that Chris would not have wanted his name or memory used in that connection. I hope that there will be an immediate and permanent stop to this opportunistic and cynical use by the campaign."
There has been no response from Trump's campaign.
Stevens and three other Americans were killed in 2012 when Islamic militants attacked and burned the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
Trump and other Republicans have blamed the attack on then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumptive 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. They contend her office failed to improve security at the consulate and made no effort to rescue the diplomats.
Clinton and State Department officials have rebutted those charges, and a Republican-led congressional investigation of the Benghazi attack failed to place any direct blame for the four Americans' deaths on the former secretary of state.
Pat Smith, the mother of U.S. diplomat Chris Smith, another of the Benghazi victims, spoke at the Republican convention this past week. She said she blamed Clinton for her son's death and accused her of lying to the Smith family.
