In the face of mounting criticism, Trump released a lengthy statement on Thanksgiving, claiming that he had had no idea that Kovaleski was handicapped. Journalists and disability advocates were none too amused by Trump’s performance. “‘Ah, I don’t know what I said! I don’t remember!’” “Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy,” Trump said, before jerking his arms in apparent imitation of Kovaleski’s arthrogryposis, a condition that impairs joint function. In light of this new evidence, Trump decided to do the responsible thing and mock Kovaleski’s congenitally disabled right arm.Īt a rally in South Carolina on Tuesday, Trump accused Kovaleski of disowning his own reporting for the sake of political correctness. Kovaleski, who now writes for the New York Times, told CNN that in all his shoe-leather reporting around northern New Jersey in the days after 9/11, he could not “recall anyone saying there were thousands, or even hundreds, of people celebrating.” So when Trump began touting the Post article as proof of his claim, Kovaleski felt compelled to clarify his story. In that story, reporter Serge Kovaleski wrote that New Jersey police had detained “a number of people” who “were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks.” Reporters rarely use the term “a number of people” to describe a crowd of thousands. The only corroborating evidence that Trump has managed to produce is a single Washington Post article from September 18, 2001. That claim has been disputed by the area’s politicians, police departments and religious leaders, and discredited by every major news outlet that’s looked into the matter. Over the past week, Trump has repeatedly said that he saw “thousands and thousands” of Muslims celebrating in northern New Jersey on 9/11. The British playwright Patrick Marber once wrote, “Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off.” But based on his recent behavior, that aphorism seems better applied to Republican front-runner Donald Trump. “Who you gonna believe, me or your lying fact-checkers?”
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