Donald Trump mocks reporter with disability while on campaign trail
Donald Trump has come under fire for mocking a New York Times reporter who suffers from a rare musculoskeletal disorder.
Trump was speaking at a rally in South Carolina on Tuesday about his claim that thousands of people in New Jersey celebrated the collapse of the twin towers at the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001.
In his speech, he defended his claim which has since been debunked by the New York Times, by citing an article written in 2001 for the Washington Post by reporter Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from arthrogryposis - a disorder that limits the movement of his arms
In his speech which can be seen in the clip below, Trump said it was "written by a nice reporter".
He said: "Now the poor guy — you ought to see the guy: ‘Uhh I don’t know what I said. I don’t remember.’ He’s going, ‘I don’t remember. Maybe that’s what I said.’”
However, you will see that as Trump spoke, he gyrates his arms and appears to imitate the unusual angle at which Kovaleski’s hand sometimes rests.
A spokeswoman for the Times said: "We think it's outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters."
Kovaleski's article for the Post at the time, which was cited by supporters of Trump, said that shortly after the 9/11 attacks, “Law enforcement authorities detained and questioned a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river.”
However, on Tuesday Kovaleski said: "We did a lot of shoe leather reporting in and around Jersey City and talked to a lot of residents and officials for the broader story.
"Much of that has, indeed, faded from memory. I do not recall anyone saying there were thousands, or even hundreds, of people celebrating. That was not the case, as best as I can remember."
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