# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/81 "2017-12-12T15:26:55Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > NO, he was not mocking the reporters disability. Damn democrats and their buddies in the press LOVE to make crap up and use careful editing. Then what was he referring to when he said “now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy” right before he began mocking “the poor guy”? ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/82 "2017-12-12T15:29:47Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Damn democrats and their buddies in the press LOVE to make crap up and use careful editing. Those damn Democrats and their Project Veritas, Center for Medical Progress, and that Fox News video linked earlier. You just can’t trust those people! ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/83 "2017-12-12T15:40:25Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > 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? I would do the same thing I did in this case. I would view the footage and make a judgement call. In my opinion, there is little evidence to assume that he was mocking him when Trump has, on film, many such acts. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/84 "2017-12-12T16:01:29Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > I would do the same thing I did in this case. I would view the footage and make a judgement call. In my opinion, there is little evidence to assume that he was mocking him when Trump has, on film, many such acts. I’ll ask you the same question I asked Urbanredneck: What was he referring to when he said “now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy” right before he began mocking “the poor guy”? ---
**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 12, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/85 "2017-12-12T16:29:57Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I’ll ask you the same question I asked Urbanredneck: What was he referring to when he said “now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy” right before he began mocking “the poor guy”? “Now the poor guy [is backed into a corner and knows he’s in trouble], you ought to see this guy [floundering to find the words to get out of this situation that I’ve masterfully put him in]” You act like this is some big “gotcha” but the Fox News clip includes him saying this part and it still makes sense to me in context without meaning that he’s making fun of the guy’s disability. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/86 "2017-12-12T17:05:11Z")
Oh, OK. So, he knows about this guy, has met him, is aware of his condition. But he uses his clever “spaz impression” frequently about people who are _not_ so afflicted, and never even thought about how inappropriate it would be in this particular instance? Because he cannot be bothered to give a fuck? Yeah, that’s a _lot_ better! ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kearsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/87 "2017-12-12T17:10:45Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I’ll ask you the same question I asked Urbanredneck: What was he referring to when he said “now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy” right before he began mocking “the poor guy”? He has used phrases like that the entire time, I really think you guys are trying to hang your hats on something that registers as ‘meh’ I realize it’s meh only because the Donald has done this for his entire existence. Those are the terms he uses CONTINUOUSLY. This is far from a one off, where you can point to behavior or terminology as a signal. He has always used those terms and those gestures. Becoming of a president? No. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/88 "2017-12-12T17:16:58Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > “Now the poor guy [is backed into a corner and knows he’s in trouble], you ought to see this guy [floundering to find the words to get out of this situation that I’ve masterfully put him in]” That is a valid interpretation but not a compelling one. > [@](#): > > You act like this is some big “gotcha” but the Fox News clip includes him saying this part and it still makes sense to me in context without meaning that he’s making fun of the guy’s disability. In the grand scheme of Trump assholery it’s a pretty trivial “gotcha” but it makes sense to me in context that he was actually mocking the guy’s disability. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/89 "2017-12-12T17:41:15Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > He has used phrases like that the entire time… “I say, that joke was cruel, abusive, and in exceedingly bad taste!” “Yes, but I am a habitual, crude and enthusiastic asshole.” “Ah! Well, all right, then.” ---
**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 12, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/90 "2017-12-12T17:44:59Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “I say, that joke was cruel, abusive, and in exceedingly bad taste!” > “Yes, but I am a habitual, crude and enthusiastic asshole.” > “Ah! Well, all right, then.” Yep, it’s OK to mock the disabled as long as you do it often enough. Now, it you only do it once, you’re a fucking asshole! :smack: ---
**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 12, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/91 "2017-12-12T17:53:32Z")
Sure, but guys, read the thread title. If you want to just jerk each other off about how Trump is generally a giant asshole, there’s plenty of other threads to do it in. This is a thread to discuss whether or not he did a specific thing he’s accused of. Moving the goalposts here seems odd. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/92 "2017-12-12T17:57:21Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Sure, but guys, read the thread title. If you want to just jerk each other off about how Trump is generally a giant asshole, there’s plenty of other threads to do it in. This is a thread to discuss whether or not he did a specific thing he’s accused of. Moving the goalposts here seems odd. That’s not moving the goalposts; it’s characterizing one of the positions under discussion. Either Trump is an asshole for specifically mocking this reporter’s disability or this is a more generalized mocking gesture he makes all the time because he’s an asshole. Those are pretty much the only options. ---
**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 12, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/93 "2017-12-12T18:49:43Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > That’s not moving the goalposts; it’s characterizing one of the positions under discussion. Either Trump is an asshole for specifically mocking this reporter’s disability or this is a more generalized mocking gesture he makes all the time because he’s an asshole. Those are pretty much the only options. Yeah, I didn’t move the goalposts. I have said and I’ll say it again: Trump specifically mocked this disabled reporter with actions specific to his disability. He WAS mocking the disabled reporter. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/94 "2017-12-12T19:25:26Z")
Don’t forget how Ann Coulter tried to defend Donald by claiming that his actions were him, “doing a standard retard”. > **[Ann Coulter says she can prove Donald Trump never mocked a reporter’s...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/01/ann-coulter-says-she-can-prove-donald-trump-never-mocked-a-reporters-disability-she-cant/)** > > The conservative commentator is defending her candidate for the seemingly indefensible — his apparent mockery of a New York Times reporter's physical disability during a rally in South Carolina. > [@Ann Coulter](#): > > Coulter wrote in her book, released last week, that Trump was not making fun of Kovaleski’s specific symptoms — he has arthrogryposis, which visibly limits flexibility in his arms — but rather “was doing a standard retard, waving his arms and sounding stupid.” Later on, someone apparently explained to Coulter that she was offically not helping, so she tried to recast it as doing a flustered person. > [@Ann Coulter](#): > > Something I didn’t know when I wrote the book, and I’m writing about it in tonight’s column: It is absolutely an outrageous, despicable, deliberate lie that the media has told about Donald Trump mocking a disabled person," Coulter said. “He would not do that. He said he would not do that. And the proof positive of this is in the exact same speech, he did the exact same imitation of a general. And the media knew that, and they will not show us that clip. He has done the exact same imitation of Ted Cruz, flailing his arms. This is how Donald Trump does an imitation of a flustered, cowardly person or a frightened person.” Of course, Serge Kovaleski, was neither flustered nor frightened. Why would he be? He’s just a reporter asking a question of a man he’s spoken to many times. But this is the sort of bullshit that Republicans tell themselves when they’re trying to find excuses for their support of Donald Trump. In re the OP - I hope you’re at least a little embarrassed by repeating Ann Coulter’s defense of Donald Trump. ---
**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 12, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/95 "2017-12-12T19:53:41Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > I would do the same thing I did in this case. I would view the footage and make a judgement call. In my opinion, there is little evidence to assume that he was mocking him when Trump has, on film, many such acts. If his many such acts mock people, then follow through: he was also mocking the disabled reporter wittingly or unwittingly. Whether he MEANT to mock “this guy” seems fairly irrelevant. ---
**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 12, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/96 "2017-12-12T19:56:36Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Oh, OK. So, he knows about this guy, has met him, is aware of his condition. But he uses his clever “spaz impression” frequently about people who are _not_ so afflicted, and never even thought about how inappropriate it would be in this particular instance? Because he cannot be bothered to give a fuck? > > Yeah, that’s a _lot_ better! Billionaire trailer park trash (and even the billions are questionable considering the bankruptcies). ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/97 "2017-12-12T20:01:07Z")
Some of us are born trailer trash, others achieve it. For me, its a step up. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/98 "2017-12-12T20:57:18Z")
Hey! I live in a manufactured home in Florida. ---
**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 12, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/99 "2017-12-12T21:44:38Z")
We had to go and live in a lake. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851/100 "2017-12-12T22:34:12Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Hey! I live in a manufactured home in Florida. Its kinda half way between camping out and being Settled. We have some nice young men in a motorcycle club just down the way. Science enthusiasts, often see them unloading complex glass tubing and beakers. Finicky, too, never smoke indoors, always go outside, sometimes twenty, thirty yards away before they light up… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-trump-actually-mocking-that-disabled-reporter/803851.md?page=6)