Ruderman Foundation: Trump mocking disabled reporter ‘unacceptable’

Trump waved his arms in an awkward manner to mock Kovaleski at a rally in South Carolina on Tuesday night.

By DANIELLE ZIRI
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign stop in Worcester, Massachusetts (photo credit: REUTERS)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign stop in Worcester, Massachusetts
(photo credit: REUTERS)
NEW YORK – Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, denounced Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday for mocking New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski’s disability.
Trump waved his arms in an awkward manner to mock Kovaleski at a rally in South Carolina on Tuesday night.
The reporter suffers from arthrogryposis, a congenital condition that affects joint movement and limits the movement of his arms.
“It is unacceptable for a child to mock another child’s disability on the playground, never mind a presidential candidate mocking someone’s disability as part of a national political discourse,” Ruderman said. “Our presidential candidates should be moral examples for all Americans and not disparage people with disabilities who make up 20% of the American population.”
Ruderman added that the foundation would like to offer Trump sensitivity training sessions to help him better understand people with disabilities. He also called on the candidate to apologize to “both Serge Kovaleski and the American public as a whole.”
The Ruderman Family Foundation has been pushing for the inclusion of people with disabilities since 2002 across Jewish communities in the United States and in Israel.