Donald Trump to speak out on disabled Americans at Florida rally
Days after a public outcry over his apparent ridiculing of a disabled journalist, Donald Trump is promising to discuss the issue of Americans with disabilities during a campaign stop on Saturday.
In a series of tweets this weekend, Donald Trump previewed his trip to Sarasota, Florida, and addressed the recent controversy that erupted around the mocking impression he made of Serge Kovaleski, a New York Times reporter with a condition that limits the mobility in his joints.
I will be going to Sarasota, Florida, today for a big rally with amazing people! I have one goal on mind: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2015The reporter who pulled-back from his 14 year old never retracted story is having fun. I don't know what he looks like and don't know him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2015Trump later promised to discuss his work with disabled Americans during his Sarasota campaign stop, claiming that "virtually no-one has spent more money in helping the American people with disabilities than me."
Virtually no-one has spent more money in helping the American people with disabilities than me. Will discuss today at my speech in Sarasota
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 28, 2015At a Tuesday rally in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Trump had criticized Kovaleski for walking back a story he wrote after Sept. 11, 2001, that said New Jersey police had detained people celebrating the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. During his speech, Trump waved his arms in an imitation of Kovaleski, saying "the poor guy. You ought to see this guy. 'Oh, I don't know what I said! Ah, I don't remember!'"
After later receiving flak for the mocking impression, Trump claimed that he had "no idea" who Kovaleski was and had no clue about "what he looks like or his level of intelligence."
"I don't know if he is J.J. Watt or Muhammad Ali in his prime --- or somebody of less athletic or physical ability. I know nothing about him other than I have great respect for the way he wrote the story, on September 18, 2001, and in particular the paragraph talking about Muslims and tailgate parties taking place in New Jersey," Trump said Thursday in a statement. He added, "despite having one of the all-time great memories, I certainly do not remember him."
In an earlier statement, the business mogul demanded an apology from the New York Times after a spokesperson for the newspaper called his mocking impersonation "outrageous."
But Kovaleski, in an interview with the Times, said he and Trump "were on a first-name basis for years," when the reporter worked for the New York Daily News from 1987 to 1993.
"I've interviewed him in his office," Kovaleski said. "I've talked to him at press conferences. All in all, I would say around a dozen times, I've interacted with him."
Speaking with the Daily News, Kovaleski also recalled an incident from 1989, when he covered the launch of Trump's airline and spent an entire day with the billionaire businessman. Later, after Kovaleski published a report that included details of the airline's first flight delay, Trump called the journalist and "started screaming over the speakerphone about what a piece of s--- the story was."
On Friday, Trump acknowledged that he "may have met him," but he didn't remember it.
"He made no impression on me," the GOP candidate said in a statement. "I have done many day in the life stories with reporters - the entire day in the life usually last for a very short period as far as actual reporting goes."