Trump denies mocking NYT reporter with a disability

WASHINGTON— Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says he couldn’t have been making fun of a reporter’s disability because he doesn’t know him. Not so, says the reporter. Serge Kovaleski of the New York Times says he has met the real estate mogul repeatedly, interviewing him in his office and talking to him at news conferences, when he worked for the New York Daily News in the late 1980s.

“Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years,” he said in a Times story about Trump’s behaviour at a rally in South Carolina last week. Onstage Tuesday, a mocking Trump flailed his arms in an apparent attempt to imitate mannerisms of the “poor guy.” He accused Kovaleski of backing off a story from a week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that said New Jersey authorities detained and questioned “a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks.” Kovaleski then worked for the Washington Post.

Trumpcites the story as proof of his claim that “thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the devastation across the river. But the story did not suggest “thousands” were observed celebrating or that the reports of such a scene were true. Other accounts concluded the allegations were unfounded.

Kovaleski has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition that restricts joint movement. In his speech, Trump cited the 2001 story, “written by a nice reporter,” and went on: “Now the poor guy, you oughta see this guy — uh, I don’t know what I said, uh, I don’t remember. He’s going like, I don’t remember.” He made jerking gestures and his voice took on a mocking tone.

On Thursday, Trump tweeted, “If Mr. Kovaleski is handicapped, I would not know, because I do not know what he looks like. If I did know, I would definitely not say anything about his appearance.”