Trump Faces Backlash For Calling Harris ‘Mentally Disabled’

Date:


Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally inside the Mosack Group manufacturing warehouse in Mint Hill, N.C. last week. (Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez/The Charlotte Observer/TNS)

Disability advocates and members of both political parties are calling out former President Donald Trump after he described Vice President Kamala Harris as “mentally impaired” and “mentally disabled.”

Trump made the comments at a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday and reiterated the personal attacks while campaigning in Pennsylvania on Sunday.

“Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” the former president said. “Kamala was born that way.”

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

“If you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country,” Trump continued, in an effort to tie Harris to the current administration’s border policies.

Maria Town, president and CEO of the nonpartisan American Association of People with Disabilities, blasted Trump’s rhetoric for perpetuating stereotypes and being dismissive of the millions of voters with disabilities.

“Trump holds the ableist, false belief that if a person has a disability, they are less human and less worthy of dignity. These perceptions are incorrect, and are harmful to people with disabilities,” Town said, noting that many former presidents dating back to George Washington have had disabilities.

“To be clear, the insult of Donald Trump’s comment is not the suggestion that Vice President Harris is disabled, but rather, the insinuation that having a disability is synonymous with poor performance as a prospective president,” she said.

Fellow Republicans quickly sought to distance themselves from Trump’s remarks.

“I think that’s insulting not only to the vice president, but to people who actually do have mental disabilities,” Larry Hogan, a former Republican governor of Maryland who is running for Senate, told CBS.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during an appearance on CNN that Trump should take a different approach.

“I just think the better course to take is to prosecute the case that her policies are destroying the country,” Graham said.

Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said that Trump turns to name calling because he doesn’t have anything good to offer everyday people.

“I think whenever he says things like that he’s talking about himself but trying to project it onto others,” Pritzker said.

Read more stories like this one. Sign up for Disability Scoop’s free email newsletter to get the latest developmental disability news sent straight to your inbox.

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

Hospitality Campaign Love Food Give Food Returns For Another Year

Action Against Hunger’s flagship restaurant campaign Love Food...

Vigilando el Golfo de México por la formación de tormentas tropicales » Yale Climate Connections

Una amplia área de baja presión sobre Centroamérica,...

We Need New Indicators to Understand Whether Greener Neighborhoods Reduce Obesity – The Nature of Cities

Research on the association between neighborhood green and...