The New York Times says it is "outrageous" for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump to mock one of its reporters who suffers from a physical handicap that restricts his arm movements.
According to
Politico, Trump was defending criticism of his statement that Arab residents in New Jersey were cheering the 9/11 attacks when he brought up a Washington Post report by Serge Kovaleski. Kovaleski had written about reports of investigations into such activities in September 2001, though officials in the area now say they didn't happen.
Kovaleski, who now works for the Times, told CNN, "We did a lot of shoe-leather reporting in and around Jersey City and talked to a lot of residents and officials for the broader story. Much of that has, indeed, faded from memory. … I do not recall anyone saying there were thousands, or even hundreds, of people celebrating. That was not the case, as best as I can remember."
In reading from Kovaleski's original story at a rally in South Carolina, Trump called Kovaleski a "nice reporter," then referenced his CNN appearance.
"Now the poor guy — you ought to see the guy: 'Uhh I don't know what I said. I don’t remember.' He’s going, 'I don't remember. Maybe that’s what I said,'" Trump said.
Politico said that as Trump was speaking, he "launched into an impression which involved gyrating his arms wildly and imitating the unusual angle at which Kovaleski’s hand sometimes rests."
Kovaleski suffers from arthrogryposis, which limits joint movement and weakens the nearby muscles.
Trump has met Kovaleski several times when he worked for the New York Daily News and covered his business exploits, Politico reported.
"We think it's outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters," a Times spokeswoman told Politico.
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