# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/41 "2017-12-08T21:29:54Z")
Try watching the video with sound off and pretending you don’t know the context. His flopping, violently shaking hands are very different from the stiff, palms-out, waving horizontally hands of someone mocking a distressed/frightened person. I suppose you could, very charitably, allow that he might not be _consciously_ mocking the reporter _for_ his disability, but I think it’s stretching things. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/42 "2017-12-08T22:41:24Z")
> [@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. If we mean the video posted by **Nylock** upthread, I think that’s actually pretty compelling evidence for the “he was mocking the reporter” side. I find it hard to believe any the supposed “other instances” shown there would be considered even close to the mocking incident except for someone who was desperately looking for this to not be mocking. They have only the vaguest of similarities. Heck, watch that video with the sound off, and for many of them you often won’t notice the supposed “identical” gesture at all. You certainly wouldn’t miss it in the mocking incident. ETA: Ninja’d several hours ago. I missed that before I posted. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/43 "2017-12-08T23:41:06Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > As I’ve said repeatedly: He’s not fit to shovel shit from one place to another. I’d love to see him have to try. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/44 "2017-12-08T23:58:34Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I’d love to see him have to try. No, he’d screw it up somehow and then there’d be literal shit everywhere rather than just metaphorical. That said, there’s no way to know 100% (his explanation after the fact isn’t reliable as he lies all the time about everything), but to me it looks as though he’s mocking a disability. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/45 "2017-12-09T01:35:07Z")
Ditto. I’m astonished that anyone doesn’t see it. So what if he used those mannerisms in the past? In this case, he was KNOWINGLY using it in imitation of a man with CP. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/46 "2017-12-09T01:40:15Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > As I’ve said repeatedly: He’s not fit to shovel shit from one place to another. ♬ _Friggin’ in the riggin’ Friggin’ in the riggin’ Friggin’ in the riggin’ There was fuck-all else to do!_ ♬ ---
**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 9, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/47 "2017-12-09T14:42:53Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ♬ _Friggin’ in the riggin’ > Friggin’ in the riggin’ > Friggin’ in the riggin’ > There was fuck-all else to do!_ ♬ En fin! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/48 "2017-12-09T18:40:45Z")
If he wasn’t mocking the poor man, what was he doing? ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/49 "2017-12-09T18:55:43Z")
He knew the guy. This wasn’t a coincidence. “In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Kovaleski said that he met with Mr. Trump repeatedly when he was a reporter for The Daily News covering the developer’s business career in the late 1980s, before joining The Post. “Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years,” Mr. Kovaleski said. “I’ve interviewed him in his office,” he added. “I’ve talked to him at press conferences. All in all, I would say around a dozen times, I’ve interacted with him as a reporter while I was at The Daily News.”” > **[Donald Trump Says His Mocking of New York Times Reporter Was Misread...](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/us/politics/donald-trump-says-his-mocking-of-new-york-times-reporter-was-misread.html)** > > The candidate denied that he had mocked the appearance of a New York Times reporter with a physical disability at a campaign rally. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6de8d8/32.png) [@Joe\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/50 "2017-12-09T19:34:49Z")
To think he mocked a physical disability of a reporter and his cult denies it. The video shows it all. This country is in BIG TROUBLE. Putin now has his man on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/51 "2017-12-09T22:37:19Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Judge for yourself. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsaB3ynIZH4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsaB3ynIZH4) > > I personally could not care less one way or another. Maybe I’m a bad person for that. My cat loves me; at least in whatever way cats love people. This is compelling evidence that he was indeed not mocking the reporter’s disability. Of course, many Trump haters are saying “It doesn’t matter because it is so juvenile, etc.” Fine, so start calling him juvenile, but stop with the fucking nonsense that he was mocking the reporter’s disability. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/52 "2017-12-09T22:51:43Z")
No, I don’t think he was mocking the reporter for his disability. I despise Trump by the way. I’ve seen him use the same mannerisms when imitating other people. He’s juvenile and a bully but was not mocking the reporter specifically for his disability. There’s no shortage of awful when it comes to Trump, so there’s really no need to be reaching for more. ---
**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 9, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/53 "2017-12-09T22:52:24Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This is compelling evidence that he was indeed not mocking the reporter’s disability. > > Of course, many Trump haters are saying “It doesn’t matter because it is so juvenile, etc.” Fine, so start calling him juvenile, but stop with the fucking nonsense that he was mocking the reporter’s disability. So he can be an ass to anybody. Your point? Was he not mocking all of these people? Was he not then also mocking the disabled reporter? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/54 "2017-12-09T23:07:38Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > Why are you assuming my cat’s gender? Why\* are you?\* ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/55 "2017-12-10T00:24:34Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Why\* are you?\* I had a witty response, but this is Great Debates so I don’t want to hijack the thread with my nonsense.☹ ---
**Author:** ![WhatEven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WhatEven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhatEven)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/56 "2017-12-10T03:19:37Z")
Seems to me like it was a Freudian slip ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/57 "2017-12-10T03:26:39Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > So he can be an ass to anybody. Your point? Was he not mocking all of these people? Was he not then also mocking the disabled reporter? Oh come on. So if I accuse someone of hating black people and you point out that they generally hate everyone, I can still be right since someone that hates everyone by definition hates black people? Just admit you got this one wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/58 "2017-12-10T04:12:51Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Oh come on. So if I accuse someone of hating black people and you point out that they generally hate everyone, I can still be right since someone that hates everyone by definition hates black people? > > Just admit you got this one wrong. Firstly the distinction here is important, as most sources I’ve seen just say “Trump mocked a disabled reporter”. You can argue that the implication is that they mean mocked his disability, but you can’t say their claim is incorrect. Secondly add me to the people who do think he was mocking the disability as part of his caricature. He may be flapping his hands but he’s also twisting them in an unusual way that seems to me different to the other videos shared. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/59 "2017-12-10T05:18:41Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > I had a witty response, but this is Great Debates so I don’t want to hijack the thread with my nonsense.☹ I love witty responses. PM me! ---
**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 10, 2017, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/60 "2017-12-10T06:42:57Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Oh come on. So if I accuse someone of hating black people and you point out that they generally hate everyone, I can still be right since someone that hates everyone by definition hates black people? > > Just admit you got this one wrong. Nope. Trump’s mockery was intentional, and he was lying about not knowing the guy. Why don’t you admit you’re wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851.md?page=4)