During a campaign stop in SC on Wednesday, Donald Trump publicly mocked disabled New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski. As we have said before, it is time for Republican Party leaders to make clear that they do not approve of Mr.Trump’s politics of denigration.
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is once again under fire after allegedly mocking a reporter with a physical disability, although the real estate tycoon has denied the accusations. Aiming at the newspaper outlet, he said, “The New York Times has become more and more irrelevant and rapidly becoming a total joke – sad!” “Despite having one of the all-time great memories I certainly do not remember him”, the candidate added.
Trump went on say that he doesn’t take his imitation back, since he says he was not imitating a disability but a groveling reporter.
On Thursday, Trump denied that he was making fun of Kovaleski’s disability, and said he didn’t know him. “So now this person is going around saying I did know him, that he reported on me in the 1980s. Uh, I don’t remember”, Trump said at a rally in SC.
Now, Trump appears to be expanding his horizons, this time insulting a disabled reporter from The New York Times.
And for all his troubles, Trump is demanding that The Times issue him an apology. So when Trump began touting the Post article as proof of his claim, Kovaleski felt compelled to clarify his story. Not surprisingly, Trump dismisses the accusation, claiming he does not even know the writer in question.
“Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy”, Mr Trump said, before jerking his arms around and holding his right hand at an angle.
During a campaign rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina earlier this week Trump tried to defend his story about seeing thousands of Muslims in New Jersey applauding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which has no basis in fact. Of course, if it wasn’t Kovaleski, who was Trump mocking?
Trump interrupted his Thanksgiving holiday to set the record straight that he did not know the Times reporter was handicapped. Kovaleski’s story referred to Federal Bureau of Investigation probes of the alleged celebrations, but quoted no witnesses and contained no specific evidence that celebrations occurred. “That was not the case, as best as I can remember”.
Ruderman said Trump would benefit from a “series of sensitivity training sessions” and offered to provide them.
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It socially unacceptable to mock someone’s disability as part of the national political discourse, said Jay Ruderman from Ruderman Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities to have education and employment.
