Former US president and Republican candidate for the White House, donald trumphas stated that his main rival, the vice president and Democratic candidate, Kamala Harriswas born “mentally disabled.”
President “Joe Biden is mentally disabled. Kamala was born like this,” Trump said during a campaign event in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. “He was born like this,” he insisted to the laughter of the audience, according to the American press.
“And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen in our country. “Anybody understands it,” he added, referring to the entry of immigrants for which Trump blames the Biden and Harris Administration.
This Sunday Trump repeated that Harris is “mentally disabled” during an event in Erie, Pennsylvania, despite criticism from Democrats and also Republican officials. Trump himself has acknowledged that they were “some dark words.”
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) President Maria Town has criticized Trump’s “ableist” language. “Trump’s ableist comments say more about him and his inaccurate biases and hate against disabled people than Vice President Harris or any person with a disability,” he stated, according to the American press.
“Trump espouses the false ableist belief that if a person has a disability, they are less human and less deserving of dignity. AAPD continues to call on state leaders to two parties for the 2024 elections to condemn the use of ableist language like the one Trump has used,” he appealed.
Town has recalled that several presidents and former presidents lived or live with disabilities, such as Franklin Delano Rooseveltwho overcame polio and had to use a wheelchair; John F. Kennedywith Addison’s disease, ulcerative colitis and chronic pain; Ronald Reagan and his hearing disability or the president himself Bidenwho stutters.
“The mere presence or absence of a disability is not sufficient in itself to determine a person’s suitability for hold an elected office“, he added.
