The 2001 article by Kovaleski, who worked for the Washington Post at the time, said “a number of people” were detained and questioned for allegedly celebrating the attacks. However, Kovaleski, in an interview with MSNBC, said he did not recall “anyone saying there were thousands, or even hundreds, of people celebrating” at the time.
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“Written by a nice reporter”, Trump said in the speech.
“Now, the poor guy”, Trump said of Kovaleski, “you’ve got to see this guy”. “I don’t remember!'” Trump said, jerking his arms as he spoke. “He’s going, ‘I don’t remember”.
“@sergenyt is one of the best reporters – and best people- I know”. At a campaign rally in Sarasota, Florida today, Donald Trump insisted that he would “never’ mock anyone for their disability, let alone a New York Times reporter”.
Trump took issue with the statement Kovaleski recently made when he said he did not remember anyone alleging the celebrations, the Associated Press reported.
As a reporter for the New York Daily news, Kovaleski covered Trump from 1987 to 1993 giving the two a history that stretch back. Also, Mr. Trump mentioned that the he had no idea about the reporter’s problem, but according to The New York Times, things are a bit different. Mimicking the involuntary gestures associated with arthrogryposis (a congenital condition affecting joint movement) Trump disgustingly demonstrated everything wrong with his campaign in a single eight-second media moment. He said he did not know if he is Muhammad Ali or J.J. Watt.
A spokesperson for The Times called Trump’s actions “outrageous”, while Kovelski said he wasn’t surprised to see the party’s front-runner stoop to a new low.
Previously Trump tweeted that he did not know Kovaleski or “what he looks like”. The story never referred to “thousands”, and it did not say that the allegations had been substantiated.
After reports that the authorities had found the accounts unfounded, Trump seized on the 2001 article by Kovaleski as proof of his claim.
In fact, Kovaleski knows Trump well enough not to be shocked by the billionaire’s insults.
Trump began touting that sentence in recent days as support for his false claim that thousands of Muslims celebrated 9/11 in New Jersey, which itself is meant to justify his call to shutter mosques and apparent support for keeping lists of Muslim Americans.
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“It is unacceptable for a child to mock another child’s disability on the playground, never mind a presidential candidate mocking someone’s disability as part of a national political discourse”, Ruderman said.
