You Guys, Trump Claims He Was Just Mocking Reporter’s Journalism, Not His Disability
Donald Trump, the presidential hopeful who believes himself so high and mighty he can’t possibly be wrong, is now claiming that he has no idea who the reporter is whose physical disability he mocked just days ago.
After days of defending his false claim that New Jersey Muslims were celebrating the 9/11 terror attacks by the thousands, Trump cited an article written by Serge Kovaleski, a Washington Post reporter who has since joined the New York Times. While the article only addresses rumors at the time and does nothing to make the claim truthful, Trump has run with it despite Kovaleski’s elaboration as much, and did a crude imitation of him by flailing his arms during a campaign rally in South Carolina.
Kovaleski suffers from arthrogryposis, which affects motion in his joints and makes it more difficult for him to use his arms. CNN Money noted how Kovaleski has covered Trump numerous times over the years and was on a first-name basis with him at one point, but Trump has decided to respond with an attack on the Times, and by claiming Kovaleski is “using his disability to grandstand.”
“I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovaleski is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence,” Trump said. “I merely mimicked what I thought would be a flustered reporter trying to get out of a statement he made long ago. If Mr. Kovaleski is handicapped, I would not know because I do not know what he looks like. If I did know, I would definitely not say anything about his appearance.”
In additional statements on Twitter, Trump expressed doubt to have ever met Kovaleski, and has demanded apologies from the Times:
I do not know the reporter for the @nytimes, or what he looks like. I was showing a person groveling to take back a statement made long ago!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2015
The failing @nytimes should focus on fair and balanced reporting rather than constant hit jobs on me. Yesterday 3 boring articles, today2!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2015
Now, once again, Trump’s mocking came only days ago, and he claims he’s got the “world’s greatest memory,” but this could just all be a coincidence.
[Image via screengrab]
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