# WAS Trump actually mocking that disabled reporter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 7, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851 "2017-12-07T23:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/21 "2017-12-08T16:26:06Z")
If I were to go around saying, with the degree of confidence that many of you guys seem to have, that Trump was definitely mocking someone’s disability, I feel like I would be lying. And it sounds like you’re saying, “It’s OK to spread that lie because Trump’s a bad person.” I can’t get behind that. At the end of the day I just don’t think he was mocking the guy for being disabled, and believe me, that’s not my pulling partisan mental gymnastics. I simply watched the video that Fox News put together with an open mind and found it convincing, and I’m not going to deny what I’ve seen with my own eyeballs just because it’s Trump. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/22 "2017-12-08T16:45:29Z")
I watched that video. Trump never grew up. He continues to act like a childish bully. His pantomime of someone mentally or physically handicapped, compared to previous examples, was more amplified and deliberate (IMO) in the case of the reporter. What’s more, if you go around saying anti-semitic things all your life, but never to a jew, and then one time you slip up and say it to or about a specific jewish person, are you excused because you’ve said similar things in the past in different contexts? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/23 "2017-12-08T16:58:32Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I watched that video. Trump never grew up. He continues to act like a childish bully. His pantomime of someone mentally or physically handicapped, compared to previous examples, was more amplified and deliberate (IMO) in the case of the reporter. What’s more, if you go around saying anti-semitic things all your life, but never to a jew, and then one time you slip up and say it to or about a specific jewish person, are you excused because you’ve said similar things in the past in different contexts? Making a “big nose” joke in reference to a specific Jew might very well be anti-Semitic, but if it can reasonably be pointed out that the offender just has a penchant for “big nose” jokes against people from all ethnic backgrounds, and the target in a specific case was incidentally Jewish, I don’t think we need to declare that the person is definitely an anti-Semite in spite of the facts at hand just because big nose jokes are childish. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/24 "2017-12-08T17:06:05Z")
Trump has a habit of pantomiming mannerisms typically associated with physically and/or mentally handicapped people. He got away with it, until he was recorded doing it to mock an individual with a physical handicap. Which made it that much worse. Explain how previous incidents exonerate him from this one. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/25 "2017-12-08T17:18:22Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Trump has a habit of pantomiming mannerisms typically associated with physically and/or mentally handicapped people. He got away with it, until he was recorded doing it to mock an individual with a physical handicap. Which made it that much worse. > > Explain how previous incidents exonerate him from this one. Personally I don’t think his pantomime is intended to be a physically and/or mentally handicapped person. I think it _kinda_ looks a little bit like what my classmates and I used to do before we knew better, but not really. I don’t think anyone would have assumed it was supposed to be a dig on handicapped until he happened to use it to depict a handicapped person, and then applying that depiction to all previous examples. I think he’s just doing a “flustered person” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/26 "2017-12-08T17:23:16Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > But more to the point, Trump’s gestures bear little resemblance to the features of the reporter in question. As far as I can tell, this man’s disability is that one of his hands is bent at an angle. That’s it. Well, here’s a [side by side comparison.](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9hEQKqFgfAg/maxresdefault.jpg) You’re certainly welcome to believe that someone you yourself describe as “a loathsome individual, petty and narcissistic” who is hell-bent on mocking someone would be careful to make a distinction between a person with arthrogryposis and “someone who was epileptic, or had cerebral palsy, or was prone to uncontrollable physical motions in some way.” I believe that a blowhard bully addressing a crowd would never be satisfied simply bending a wrist when he could play for a bigger laugh by playing a bigger disability. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/27 "2017-12-08T17:27:55Z")
There is no question that he was mocking the reporter with a childish, mean pantomime. How can there be a question about this?? ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/28 "2017-12-08T17:32:17Z")
No, he wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/29 "2017-12-08T17:54:16Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Personally I don’t think his pantomime is intended to be a physically and/or mentally handicapped person. I think it _kinda_ looks a little bit like what my classmates and I used to do before we knew better, but not really. I don’t think anyone would have assumed it was supposed to be a dig on handicapped until he happened to use it to depict a handicapped person, and then applying that depiction to all previous examples. > > I think he’s just doing a “flustered person” thing. I was going to cite this personal anecdote as an example in an earlier post but removed it. But it seems appropriate in light of your response above. When I was a younger teen, it was cool to call someone out as being a “fag” or a “retard”. Had nothing to do with their sexual identity or developmental handicap. It was just an automatic insult to throw out. It was common back then. But then I matured and discovered the world around me and became more sensitive and aware that these words and sentiments have meaning beyond just a casual insult. They are hurtful. To continue to use them is to be a willful asshole. Trump is 70+. When the fuck is he going to grow up and stop being a willful asshole? (Rhetorical question) Given his well recorded behavior, I remain unconvinced he deserves the benefit of the doubt. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/30 "2017-12-08T17:55:51Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > No, he wasn’t. Yes, he was. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/31 "2017-12-08T17:58:45Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Exactly! > > **If your 10 year old son did this same sort of pantomime when talking about a disabled student at his school, would you give him a pass?** > > If you won’t give your 10 year old son a pass, why would you give our 70 year old dipshit president a pass? It’s 100% clear he is mocking the disabled reporter. There is no doubt at all. “Big boys don’t act like the President.” ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/32 "2017-12-08T18:00:07Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > No, he wasn’t. If your 10 year old son did this same sort of pantomime when talking about a disabled student at his school, would you give him a pass? Hell, it doesn’t even have to be about a disabled student: Would you give him a pass for doing that for a non-disabled student? If you won’t give your 10 year old son a pass, why would you give our 70 year old dipshit president a pass? ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/33 "2017-12-08T18:07:14Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Because it’s the right thing to do in the interest of fighting ignorance. > > Because if you rattle off 10 offensive things that Trump has done and there’s 1 thing that his supporters/defenders/apologists can argue against in good faith, as I believe they can here, then it serves as a distraction from the other 9. > > Because I don’t want my political/debate opponents to be able to use the same tactic when attacking “my guy.” Why the specific awkward wristed hand movements if Trump WASN’T making fun of the disabled reporter? ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/34 "2017-12-08T18:11:56Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Personally I don’t think his pantomime is intended to be a physically and/or mentally handicapped person. I think it _kinda_ looks a little bit like what my classmates and I used to do before we knew better, but not really. I don’t think anyone would have assumed it was supposed to be a dig on handicapped until he happened to use it to depict a handicapped person, and then applying that depiction to all previous examples. > > I think he’s just doing a “flustered person” thing. Because all flustered people do that with their hands and lean their head back? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/35 "2017-12-08T18:13:35Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Why the specific awkward wristed hand movements if Trump WASN’T making fun of the disabled reporter? **steronz** makes the point that there is recorded evidence of him doing so in other contexts. Presumably he wasn’t mocking the reported in those instances. Which doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a habit of pantomiming disabled people. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/36 "2017-12-08T18:19:11Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > **steronz** makes the point that there is recorded evidence of him doing so in other contexts. Presumably he wasn’t mocking the reported in those instances. Which doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a habit of pantomiming disabled people. Or making fun of people period. Trump is the most childish, vindictive, least qualified and worst performing person in presidential history. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/37 "2017-12-08T18:25:23Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Or making fun of people period. Trump is the most childish, vindictive, least qualified and worst performing person in presidential history. You’ll get not argument from me. As I’ve said repeatedly: He’s not fit to shovel shit from one place to another. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/38 "2017-12-08T18:37:29Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Personally I don’t think his pantomime is intended to be a physically and/or mentally handicapped person. I think it _kinda_ looks a little bit like what my classmates and I used to do before we knew better, but not really. I don’t think anyone would have assumed it was supposed to be a dig on handicapped until he happened to use it to depict a handicapped person, and then applying that depiction to all previous examples. > > I think he’s just doing a “flustered person” thing. So, you’re saying that he chose that particular mockery routine completely at random and happened to hit on one that resembled the man’s disability. (Trump has several different mockery routines in his repertoire, it seems oddly coincidental that he didn’t call him by a nasty nickname, or any of his other common methods of mockery.) ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/39 "2017-12-08T19:13:18Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Why the specific awkward wristed hand movements if Trump WASN’T making fun of the disabled reporter? > [@Biffster](#): > > Because all flustered people do that with their hands and lean their head back? > [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](#): > > So, you’re saying that he chose that particular mockery routine completely at random and happened to hit on one that resembled the man’s disability. (Trump has several different mockery routines in his repertoire, it seems oddly coincidental that he didn’t call him by a nasty nickname, or any of his other common methods of mockery.) There’s two possibilities, the way I see it. One, Trump sees some sort of connection between people who get flustered after being caught in a lie, and people with cerebral palsy. Or two, yes, it’s just a coincidence. Occam’s razor makes me go with #2. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/40 "2017-12-08T21:26:06Z")
My opinion: yes Trump was actually mocking the reporter specifically for his disability, and it was obvious, and (I thought) not debatable. I’m surprised to see the debate here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851.md?page=3)