In The Politics of Autism, I discuss the issue's role in presidential campaigns. In this campaign, a number of posts have discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. He also has a bad record on disability issues more generally.
Democrats commemorated the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act by coming out swinging against Donald Trump, after his nephew claimed in a new memoir that the former president once suggested people with disabilities “should just die.”
“It’s hard to describe the pain millions of Americans with disabilities are feeling in response to Donald Trump’s newly-reported comments against folks with disabilities,” Senator Tammy Duckworth, who lost both of her legs serving in the Iraq War, said in a statement shared by the Democratic National Committee on Friday.
“But we know this is nothing new for him — he mocked a reporter with a physical disability, dismissed traumatic brain injuries as ‘not very serious,’ attempted to slash support for disabled veterans and so much more. Any human being who suggests that people with disabilities ‘should just die’ is fundamentally unfit to serve.”
Friday marks 34 years since former President George H W Bush, a Republican, signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law, thanks to bipartisan collaboration in Congress.
In recent years, there has been less agreeement between parties on disability rights. The DNC’s release points out that Trump faced multiple lawsuits during his presidency claiming that his properties did not comply with the ADA and also notes his attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would have reduced funding for Medicaid, which many people with disabilities rely on to receive care in their homes.
The Republican National Committee’s “research” account on X has also taken heat for mocking Vice President Kamala Harris in 2022 for describing what she was wearing, a common practice to aid people who are blind or who have low-vision. The Republican National Committee did not release a statement commemorating the law.
Democrats also noted how Project 2025 proposes eliminating the Department of Education, which enforces accommodations for students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
She was addressing a table of the blind, you morons. https://t.co/gI7yRgVDPy
— A.J. Delgado (@AJDelgado13) July 21, 2024
