Donald Trump is under fire for appearing to mock a New York Times reporter’s congenital condition at a campaign stop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this week.
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Finally, after reading a paragraph from the article at the SC rally, Donald Trump even mentioned Mr. Kovaleski, saying that he is “nice”, followed by “Now this poor guy, you ought to see this guy”. “If I did know, I would definitely not say anything about his appearance”, he said.
“I don’t know if he is J.J. Watt or Muhammad Ali in his prime-or somebody of less athletic or physical ability”, Trump said in a statement to The Washington Post. He said that if “Mr. Kovaleski is handicapped, I would not know because I do not know what he looks like”. Never mind the Associated Press, the New York Times, and ABC News say that there were no such accounts, Trump continues to spread the widely-debunked rumor.
The candidate said he had no memory of Kovaleski, though the journalist covered Trump extensively between 1987 and 1993 while working for the New York Daily News.
And for those who haven’t seen, ch-ch-check out the controversial clip (below)!
Trump’s assertions regarding Muslims celebrating back in 2001 had been checked for accuracy and discredited by government and law enforcement officials who were during those days in New Jersey following the attacks. He accused Kovaleski of backing off a story from a week after the 9/11 attacks that said authorities in New Jersey detained and questioned “a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks”.
In that speech, Trump waved his arms uncontrollably and slurred his speech, in an apparent attempt to mimic Kovaleski.
It didn’t help that Trump was flailing his arms around as he spoke, giving his critics an excuse to say he was imitating Kovaleski.
“The sad part about it is, it didn’t in the slightest bit jar or surprise me that Donald Trump would do something this low-rent, given his track record”, the Washington Post reported. “That was not the case, as best as I can remember”, Kovaleski told CNNMoney.
“We find it’s outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters”, a Times spokesperson told CNNMoney. “I think they should give me an apology before they go out of business”.
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This wrangle is one more on the long list of controversies that have marked Trump’s campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
