Republican vice presidential nominee and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defended GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump against a veteran’s mother who asked yesterday how Pence could “tolerate his disrespect” against service members.

Trump has been under fire for challenging the parents of a Muslim Army captain who died defending his unit in 2004. The Gold Star parents personally targeted Trump in a speech last week at the Democratic National Convention, and Trump escalated the exchange over the weekend.

While Catherine Byrne’s question was booed by Trump backers, Pence — who has a son in the Marines — waved down her critics. “Folks, that’s what freedom looks like and that’s what freedom sounds like,” he said. NBC News reports that Byrne is on the Democrats’ state central committee in Carson City, Nevada.

Pence then told Byrne he honored “your son’s service to the country and your family’s service to the country. I truly do,” before noting, “as I said last night as Donald Trump said Saturday night, Captain Khan is an American hero and we honor him and honor his family as we do all gold star families in this country.” Details of Khan’s sacrifice for his unit were then shared with the Trump-supporting audience.

Pence closed his response to the woman by explaining why he backs the nominee. “The only other thing I would say to you is, having spent time with our nominee, I have never been around someone more devoted to the armed forces of this country, more devoted to the families of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard and no one more devoted to the veterans in this country,” Pence said. “Donald Trump supports our soldiers and supports our veterans like no other leader in my lifetime.”

Later, Pence noted that the media, which has condemned Trump’s comments about the Khans, had no problem criticizing Patricia Smith, whose son Sean was killed in the Benghazi attack.  Smith spoke at the GOP convention, saying she blamed Clinton for her son’s death, and repeated how the then-Secretary of State “looked me squarely in the eye and told me a video was responsible.”  MSNBC’s Chris Matthews said Smith “ruined the evening.” A writer for GQ said he wanted to “beat her to death.” Clinton herself has faced criticism from conservatives for denying Smith’s account of their meeting, essentially calling Smith a liar.

Pence called for respect to always be shown to military families.

Trump’s back-and-forth with the Khans isn’t the first time he has been criticized over his potential leadership of the military as Commander-in-Chief. He said last year that Senator John McCain (R-AZ), who was tortured for five years as a POW in Vietnam, wasn’t a war hero, though he partially walked back that statement. He has faced other criticisms since launching his campaign in 2015, such as when he compared his time in prep school to being in the military.

Still, Trump has donated at least one million dollars to veterans’ groups. In the ABC News interview that began this latest Trump ruckus, the GOP nominee cited the “millions of dollars” he’s raised on behalf of veterans and his efforts to build a Vietnam War memorial in Manhattan.