‘Super PAC’ Highlights Donald Trump’s Mockery of Disabled Journalist

[emperus]

Just wow. I can't believe anyone would vote for this man as president.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/07/u...ld-trumps-mockery-of-disabled-journalist.html

and from Politifact

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...ac-says-donald-trump-mocked-disabled-reporter

Trump's Statement:

During the rally backlash, Trump insisted in a statement he couldn’t have known the man was disabled because "I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovaleski is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence. … Despite having one of the all-time great memories I certainly do not remember him."

Politifact:
In fact, Kovelski recalled spending the day with Trump in 1989 when the reporter and other journalists flew with the billionaire on the "inaugural voyage" of the Trump Shuttle airline.

"Flying out of La Guardia, we spent a big chunk of the day flying up and down the east coast with Trump chatting with me and the others on the plane," Kovaleski told the Daily News. He added that a furious Trump called the next day and screamed at him" because Kovaleski had reported that the Trump Shuttle took off late on its debut flight after Trump had run many ads saying it would be the most on-time airline in the industry.

The Daily News story looking back at Kovaleski’s history with Trump included an archived image of his bylined Trump Shuttle story ("Wings of Don") with a photograph of Trump cutting a ceremonial ribbon.

In addition, Trump spoke familiarly about Kovelski at the rally, calling him a "nice reporter." He also described him as "the poor guy" and indicated he knew Kovaleski’s appearance ("you gotta see this guy") before launching into his imitation.

 

[thraashman]

Unfortunately the people who support Trump will never have a problem when he doesn't horrible things like mocking a disabled man. In fact, they like it, because in order to support Trump you have to be a horrible, disgusting, wretched, putrid pile of festering shit.

I feel like there a few posters in P&N I would like to tag when I say this.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I for one am slightly ashamed that more PAC money is with the Democrats this cycle. No good can come from this.

 

[zinfamous]

He actually said he has one of "the all time great memories"?

lol--dude is like Palin: The reality is better than any parody.

People actually respect this vile clown.

 

[Venix]

Trump did the same thing when mocking Ted Cruz.

Kovaleski doesn't twitch, flail his arms around, or talk in a weird voice like Trump did.

So either:

1) Trump talks with his hands and does stupid faces and voices all the time. This is his "flustered idiot" impersonation.
2) Evil genius Trump intentionally mocked a disabled man by doing something that bears no resemblance to his disability. To further cover his tracks, he then did the same thing when impersonating Ted Cruz a few months later.

And no, I'm not particularly interested in voting for Trump. I'm just tired of petty bullshit like this dominating the anti-Trump brigade's arguments. His policies--or lack thereof, in many cases--should be the focal point of discussion.

 

[Vic]

I for one am slightly ashamed that more PAC money is with the Democrats this cycle. No good can come from this.

That's because Trump's antics are causing a mass exodus of big money from the GOP, and it's gotta go somewhere..

 

[mxnerd]

Trump is a mentally disabled person, what do you expect from him?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Trump did the same thing when mocking Ted Cruz.

Kovaleski doesn't twitch, flail his arms around, or talk in a weird voice like Trump did.

So either:

1) Trump talks with his hands and does stupid faces and voices all the time. This is his "flustered idiot" impersonation.
2) Evil genius Trump intentionally mocked a disabled man by doing something that bears no resemblance to his disability. To further cover his tracks, he then did the same thing when impersonating Ted Cruz a few months later.

And no, I'm not particularly interested in voting for Trump. I'm just tired of petty bullshit like this dominating the anti-Trump brigade's arguments. His policies--or lack thereof, in many cases--should be the focal point of discussion.

At the risk of sanction for a simple picture response...

 

[Venix]

At the risk of sanction for a simple picture response...

That's a single frame from a video where Trump is wildly flailing his arms around nonstop. He never pauses with his arms or hands in that position. His hand is hanging that way because that's how a hand looks when it's relaxed and being flailed around.

Trump is definitely a dick for insulting Kovaleski. All Kovaleski did was correctly point out that Trump had misinterpreted Kovaleski's 2001 article about Muslims celebrating in New Jersey. That seems a more salient point than this nonsense about "mocking his disability."

 

[MomentsofSanity]

That's a single frame from a video where Trump is wildly flailing his arms around nonstop. He never pauses with his arms or hands in that position. His hand is hanging that way because that's how a hand looks when it's relaxed and being flailed around.

You know. As I see more and more of these types of posts I come to realize that Trump has to be the most misunderstood person in human history. Literally everything he does that seems dickish, petty or otherwise just horribly inappropriate is all just misunderstood. By millions.

I see no way that could translate into a negative on a geopolitical level.

 

[Venix]

You know. As I see more and more of these types of posts I come to realize that Trump has to be the most misunderstood person in human history. Literally everything he does that seems dickish, petty or otherwise just horribly inappropriate is all just misunderstood. By millions.

I see no way that could translate into a negative on a geopolitical level.

I added a paragraph to my previous post just before you posted. I agree that Trump acts like a petty dick.

I don't agree with the way his petty dickishness is constantly exaggerated to make him seem like the worst man in the world. "Trump mocked this reporter, but the reporter was actually right, and here's the clear and convincing evidence" is a much more compelling argument than "Trump is a racist homophobic sexist etc. etc. who idolizes Hitler, and here's an out-of-context frame from a video to prove it."

 

[MomentsofSanity]

I added a paragraph to my previous post just before you posted. I agree that Trump acts like a petty dick.

I don't agree with the way his petty dickishness is constantly exaggerated to make him seem like the worst man in the world. "Trump mocked this reporter, but the reporter was actually right, and here's the clear and convincing evidence" is a much more compelling argument than "Trump is a racist homophobic sexist etc. etc. who idolizes Hitler, and here's an out-of-context frame from a video to prove it."

And yet as it stands he seems to be someone who constantly says racist, bigoted sexist things and those who support him have to constantly tell everyone how they are incapable of understanding what Trump actually means.

The man who has the best words and the greatest brain can't seem to communicate constructively or in a way that doesn't make him seem like a raging asshole. Sorry, that we morons seem to think make him look like a raging asshole since we just don't understand what he really means.

 

[Subyman]

I added a paragraph to my previous post just before you posted. I agree that Trump acts like a petty dick.

I don't agree with the way his petty dickishness is constantly exaggerated to make him seem like the worst man in the world. "Trump mocked this reporter, but the reporter was actually right, and here's the clear and convincing evidence" is a much more compelling argument than "Trump is a racist homophobic sexist etc. etc. who idolizes Hitler, and here's an out-of-context frame from a video to prove it."

Seriously, he has never done that "pull your hands into yourself and flail" motion to describe anyone other than the man whose arm is permanently stuck inward in the same fashion. Anyone who has been through grade school knows Trump was mocking the man's disability. That is a very common way to mock disabled people.

Again, this is the man that says it like it is and uses plain language. Shouldn't be hard to tell what he means.

 

[Venix]

Seriously, he has never done that "pull your hands into yourself and flail" motion to describe anyone other than the man whose arm is permanently stuck inward in the same fashion. Anyone who has been through grade school knows Trump was mocking the man's disability. That is a very common way to mock disabled people.

Again, this is the man that says it like it is and uses plain language. Shouldn't be hard to tell what he means.

...

The fifth post in this thread links to a video showing him doing exactly the same thing when ridiculing Ted Cruz.

Trump made no movements that look anything like Kovaleski's condition. The "herp derp I'm retarded" thing that grade school children do also looks and sounds nothing like what Trump did. Did you only look at that misleading screenshot and not watch the source video?

 

[Subyman]

...

The fifth post in this thread links to a video showing him doing exactly the same thing when ridiculing Ted Cruz.

Trump made no movements that look anything like Kovaleski's condition. The "herp derp I'm retarded" thing that grade school children do also looks and sounds nothing like what Trump did. Did you only look at that misleading screenshot and not watch the source video?

Take into account that the Charleston Rally you show him mocking Ted was in Feb 2016, he mocked the reporter earlier in Nov 2015. Seems like he took his "disabled" mockery on the road with him.

 

[Ns1]

Trump made no movements that look anything like Kovaleski's condition. The "herp derp I'm retarded" thing that grade school children do also looks and sounds nothing like what Trump did.

actually, that's exactly what it looks like.

 

[Venix]

Take into account that the Charleston Rally you show him mocking Ted was in Feb 2016, he mocked the reporter earlier in Nov 2015. Seems like he took his "disabled" mockery on the road with him.

You're right. Trump hates Kovaleski so much that he decided to again "mock his disability"--by doing something that looks and sounds nothing at all like that disability--three months later while impersonating Ted Cruz. This is clearly the most logical explanation of his antics.

 

[Ns1]

You're right. Trump hates Kovaleski so much that he decided to again "mock his disability"--by doing something that looks and sounds nothing at all like that disability--three months later while impersonating Ted Cruz. This is clearly the most logical explanation of his antics.

the clear explanation is that he's using that expression to mock retarded people, thus calling Kovaleski and Cruz retarded, which is perfectly in line with Trump's character.

If that's not how he wants it to be perceived, he should hire someone to teach him how to communicate using non-verbal cues.

 

[DrPizza]

You're right. Trump hates Kovaleski so much that he decided to again "mock his disability"--by doing something that looks and sounds nothing at all like that disability--three months later while impersonating Ted Cruz. This is clearly the most logical explanation of his antics.

So, prior to mocking a disabled man, there's no trace of him ever having done this. But after mocking the disabled man in a manner that the majority of people consider it to be exactly that, he gets a lot of negative feedback. So, then he mocks Cruz the same way. "See! This is twice I've mocked someone in this manner in my lifetime. So, since Ted Cruz doesn't have a disability, you just misunderstood me again." And you fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

 

[brycejones]

Trump did the same thing when mocking Ted Cruz.

Kovaleski doesn't twitch, flail his arms around, or talk in a weird voice like Trump did.

So either:

1) Trump talks with his hands and does stupid faces and voices all the time. This is his "flustered idiot" impersonation.
2) Evil genius Trump intentionally mocked a disabled man by doing something that bears no resemblance to his disability. To further cover his tracks, he then did the same thing when impersonating Ted Cruz a few months later.

And no, I'm not particularly interested in voting for Trump. I'm just tired of petty bullshit like this dominating the anti-Trump brigade's arguments. His policies--or lack thereof, in many cases--should be the focal point of discussion.

From this post and others by you in this thread trump was mocking you as well.

 

[buckshot24]

Even if he deliberately made fun of a retarded person he's still more acceptable than Hillary.

That being said I don't think he was making fun of this guys arm.

 

[DrPizza]

Even if he deliberately made fun of a retarded person he's still more acceptable than Hillary.

That being said I don't think he was making fun of this guys arm.

It seems a majority of people disagree with you on both points. I just saw a Bloomberg poll that shows Hillary with a double-digit lead now.

 

[buckshot24]

It seems a majority of people disagree with you on both points. I just saw a Bloomberg poll that shows Hillary with a double-digit lead now.

I would take that poll with a grain of salt. Seems completely out of whack with other recent polls.

 

[Venix]

So, prior to mocking a disabled man, there's no trace of him ever having done this. But after mocking the disabled man in a manner that the majority of people consider it to be exactly that, he gets a lot of negative feedback. So, then he mocks Cruz the same way. "See! This is twice I've mocked someone in this manner in my lifetime. So, since Ted Cruz doesn't have a disability, you just misunderstood me again." And you fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

When has Trump ever bothered trying to create plausible deniability? He's repeatedly been confronted about his past bad behavior and outrageous statements. His response is always either to deny that it happened--often despite video evidence contradicting him--or to claim that the accuser is misrepresenting him. Why would he suddenly change his tactics here, and why wait three months to do so?

Consider that your interpretation requires Trump to be one extremely dumb but lucky bastard. He's so stupid that he doesn't realize that mocking a physical disability will piss off practically everybody. Luckily for him, he's also too incompetent to simply bend his elbow and wrist and hold them close to his body. He instead flails around wildly, makes faces, and changes his voice, none of which bear any resemblance to Kovaleski's arthrogryposis. After the public backlash, he takes advantage of his own gross incompetence and claims that he wasn't mocking arthrogryposis, but was simply doing a "flustered reporter" impression. He then waits months and does the same to Ted Cruz to build further credibility in his story. Seems unlikely, IMO.

 

[lopri]

You're right. Trump hates Kovaleski so much that he decided to again "mock his disability"--by doing something that looks and sounds nothing at all like that disability--three months later while impersonating Ted Cruz. This is clearly the most logical explanation of his antics.

I almost choked on a hot dog reading this. Do you really want to defend The Duck with "logical explanations?"