US Presidential candidate Donald Trump has come under fire for appearing to mock a NY Times reporter with a disability at a campaign rally in SC on Tuesday.
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The GOP primary frontrunner was speaking to a rally in SC on Tuesday, where he was defending his recent claim about people in Arab neighborhoods of New Jersey cheering after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Trump described the 2001 Washington Post story to the audience like this: “It says in Jersey City, within hours of two jet liners plowing into the World Trade center, law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attack and holding tailgate style parties – you know what tailgates are?” I don’t remember.’ He’s going, ‘I don’t remember.
Following the incident, Mr Kovaleski said: “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”, reports the Washington Post.
Kovaleski worked for the Washington Post in 2001 and investigated those reports immediately after the terror attack.
He wrote: ‘The failing @nytimes should be focused on good reporting and the papers financial survival and not with constant hits on Donald Trump!’
The official added that Mr Trump “was merely emphasising the uncertainty of the verbal/written statement provided by the reporter in regards to his article”.
Kovaleski suffers from arthrogryposis, which according to the National Institutes of Health, can impact the function and range of motion of joints and can cause muscles to atrophy.
The Republican presidential candidate mocked esteemed journalist Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from a chronic condition that affects the movement in his arms, during a speech on Wednesday. As a reporter at the NY Daily News in the late 1980s and early ’90s, he covered Trump’s business exploits and met with the developer on several occasions. Now the poor guy – you gotta see this guy. Ah, I don’t remember what I said!
“We think it’s outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters”, said a spokeswoman for the Times.
“@sergenyt is one of the best reporters – and best people – I know”.
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A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
