Holiday Matchup: Donald Trump vs. New York Times
Another day, another enemy for Donald Trump.
The Republican presidential candidate was widely criticized this week after he openly mocked Serge Kovaleski, a reporter who suffers from arthrogryposis, a rare musculoskeletal disorder. Kovaleski, who covered 9/11 for the Washington Post, had discredited Trump’s claim that New Jersey residents had celebrated while watching the Twin Towers fall.
Politico was first to catch Trump’s new low:
Trump went on, “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.’” As he spoke, Trump launched into an impression which involved gyrating his arms wildly and imitating the unusual angle at which Kovaleski’s hand sometimes rests.
“We think it’s outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters,” the Times, where Kovaleski now works as a culture crorespondent and investigative reporter, told Politico.
There’s now a petition calling for Trump to apologize to Kovaleski; the reporter has been tweeting links to stories criticizing Trump’s comments.
But instead of responding with an apology in the way that a sane and compassionate human would, Trump took to Twitter to bash the Times, arguably the most respected publication in the country, if not the world.
The failing @nytimes should be focused on good reporting and the papers financial survival and not with constant hits on Donald Trump!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2015
The dopes at the @nytimes bought the Boston Globe for $1.3 billion and sold it for $1.00. Their great old headquarters-gave it away! So dumb
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2015
So, since the people at the @nytimes have made all bad decisions over the last decade, why do people care what they write. Incompetent!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 26, 2015
Gawker has reached out to Kovaleski for comment; we will update this post if we hear back.