Trump Despises People with Disabilities

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 lie that vaccines cause autism. He also has a bad record on disability issues more generally.  He told his nephew Fred that severely disabled people -- such as Fred's son -- should "just die."

He has also used the r-word, and Lordy, there are tapes.

Maegan Vazquez and Sabrina Rodriguez a WP:

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’s mental capacity Saturday, falsely claiming she was born “mentally impaired” and comparing her actions to that of “a mentally disabled person.” The remarks prompted criticism from advocates for people with disabilities.

Disparaging Harris’s actions on border security as vice president, Trump told the crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wis., “Kamala is mentally impaired. If a Republican did what she did, that Republican would be impeached and removed from office, and rightfully so, for high crimes and misdemeanors.”

He later suggested Harris “was born that way,” prompting cheers in the crowd.

“Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country,” he said, elaborating on a claim backed by no evidence. He called Harris “a very dumb person,” and repeatedly mispronounced her first name, an action some supporters see as demeaning and racist.

Biden’s faltering debate performance prompted criticism about his mental acuity and his eventual decision to drop out.

The comments, which were part of what Trump acknowledged was “a dark speech,” drew swift criticism. Maria Town, CEO and president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said in a statement to The Washington Post that Trump’s comments “say far more about him and his inaccurate, hateful biases against disabled people than it does about Vice President Harris, or any person with a disability.”

“Trump holds the ableist, false belief that if a person has a disability, they are less human and less worthy of dignity,” she added. “These perceptions are incorrect, and are harmful to people with disabilities.”