Trump falsely attacks Harris as 'mentally impaired' and 'mentally disabled,' prompting criticism

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Updated September 28, 2024 at 9:09 p.m. EDT|Published September 28, 2024 at 7:55 p.m. EDT


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.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/28/trump-harris-attacks-mentally-impaired-criticism/

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No paywall (gift)

[Walleye]

1. It does no good to point out how wrong he is. The magas thrive on our outrage.

Next, he will lie that she’s taking foreign money or something. It’s all about getting a rise out of the press. Then his fans turned that into their policies.

[mpcamb]

25. I think the counter is "He's dementing; he can't speak coherently."

Basically, he's an old. crazy. get-off-my-lawn guy and there's no telling
how 100%-of- the- time crazy he'll be in 4 years. It's visible and it helps
to keep him talking because these incoherent gaffs get news coverage.

I think it changes votes in our favor.

[arlyellowdog]

2. Just as a learning moment

When a DUer posted that Donald Trump was like a mentally disabled cousin that wrecks Thanksgiving and I sent an alert, I was voted down and my objection was removed. On the other hand, wonderful DU members reached out to me today they understood my objection and agreed with me.

[4lbs]

3. From 2016. Mocking disabilities didn't stop him then, won't stop him now.

To paraphrase Smokey the Bear:

"Only YOU can prevent Orange Clowns in the White House."


Less than 40 days away.

[twodogsbarking]

4. Loser. That's why people leave your rallies.

[Random Boomer]

16. No, sadly, that is not why people leave

Anyone at a Trump rally is perfectly fine with his behavior. They know exactly what to expect and they have no qualms with his statements.

They leave because they're bored. They leave because they've heard all it before and don't need to hear it again. They leave because their paid hour is up.

[twodogsbarking]

17. We'll go with that. He is still a looser though.

[MyOwnPeace]

29. I agree - and..............

they'll STILL vote for him on November 5!

[Joinfortmill]

5. The projections would be comical...

If they weren't so disturbing

[LymphocyteLover]

10. deeply gross and disturbing projection... with a big serving of word salad

Link to tweet

[markbark]

6. Yeesh

[70sEraVet]

7. So, I guess that means that he would be willing to debate her, anywhere,

anytime?
Put your money (well, somebody else's money, naturally) where your mouth is!

[Tanuki]

8. He's trying to distract from his inability to hold his own

in a debate with her. She's obviously much more intelligent, informed, and focused, so he just spins an outrageous lie to negate all of that. It's not exactly news that he's a coward and a liar.

[SWBTATTReg]

9. Ha! It's ironic that those that accuse others falsely of this (mentally impaired) are the ones that are 'mentally

impaired themselves). tRUMP just proved this by his ignorant babbling. He needs to be institutionalized and put into a home for the mentally impaired, as many specialists have said already about tRUMP, and continue to say it.

He's losing it as his poll numbers continue to collapse and the election is getting closer and closer.

What's he going to do next? Hire someone to try and 'fake' assassinate him, or heaven forbid, harm Kamala? This nut won't stop at anything, and he needs to be stopped by his so-called advisors (idiots) who let him go off in such crazy tangents, being that he's got a lot of crazies who may listen to tRUMP's words and take him seriously. This is serious. He's threatening a candidate (Kamala), indirectly.

This is not going to do him any good nor boost his polling. I'd think that people are seeing what kind of nut he devolved into. And he's getting worse by the day.

[Novara]

11. Hm, how many mentally disabled people pass the bar, become attorney general and vice president?

Pure projection.

[Mopar151]

24. Trump is voluntarily deficent.

Thinks decency is beneath him, fact checking is for losers.

[tanyev]

12. She effortlessly walloped you in that debate, Donny.

So if she’s mentally impaired, what does that make you???

[mwb970]

13. Wow. The ultimate projection.

[jvill]

14. For Gawd's sake somebody get the net for Trump already...

…

[Midnight Writer]

15. I don't think Trump did enough to sell this one. He needs to spice it up with some physical mimicry.

MAGAs love simple, demeaning "humor".

[jeffreyi]

18. Damn.

This getting very dark and disturbing.

[republianmushroom]

19. And the convicted felon gets press time, which is why he says stupid things.

[Bayard]

20. "Kamala was born that way"

In other words, she was born black, making her mentally inferior. Even worse, a black WOMAN.

[cstanleytech]

21. We all know who's the one actually having mental health issue in this election and it's sure as hell not Harris.

[bdamomma]

22. Project much???

you felon. Keep on shoveling and spewing crap you will find yourself nowhere near DC. What a POS he is.

Just pure hatred and evil he projects.

[IzzaNuDay]

26. First think I thought too!

I’m just waiting to see if he’ll accuse her of his convicted felonies!

[SouthBayDem]

23. even some Republicans are objecting to this talk

When asked whether he approved of the remarks, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) sidestepped during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America,” said Emmer, who is helping Trump’s running mate JD Vance prepare for Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate. “I think Kamala Harris is actually as bad or worse as the administration that we’ve witnessed for the last four years.”

When pressed, Emmer said: “I think we should stick to the issues. The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once. They broke it. He’s going to fix it again. Those are the issues.”

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, running for the Senate as a moderate Republican, brought up Trump’s false claims that Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, had previously downplayed her Black heritage. Harris attended Howard University, a historically Black college, and has identified as both Black and South Asian consistently throughout her political career.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-kamala-harris-white-house-election-a38195f876767332c48d12226a6aea2f

[madaboutharry]

27. The Nazis also saw people with disabilities as less than human.

The Nazis murdered disabled people in the Holocaust, not only Jewish disabled people but all disabled people, regardless of their religion, race,

[liberal N proud]

28. Which just says he knows his mental state is deteriorating

He has to project this to divert from his condition

[JohnSJ]

30. Pretty amazing that someone in that state according to him wopped his ass in the debate.

[mucholderthandirt]

31. It's just this sort of white is black, up is down, wrong is right talk that attracts people.

My ex was like this, and according to my son had become a MAGA idiot. He can't vote now, he had a horrible TBI a couple of years ago. My guess is his third wife won't vote, since he's not there to tell her how. LOL He tried that with me once, got burned, baby.

Anyway, he was always the opposite of anything. We were once watching the weather segment on the evening news, to see if we could take the boys out for the day. The forecast was for a nice day. I said, I'm glad the weather is going to sunny and not too hot. He immediately said, no we can't go anywhere, it's going to rain. WTF? We were sitting side by side on the couch, watching the same segment, with the same pictures and words.

It was like that for anything. If I liked a restaurant, he hated it. If I hated it, he liked it. If the car was acting up, it was running fine, better than ever. Anything, he was the opposite of me. He was super passive-aggressive. He would spout the most outrageous nonsense, because his pastor said it was true. When I literally took a Bible and pointed out how it was wrong, he denied he's said that, I was making it up.

It's no wonder I tried to kill myself twice. He deliberately drove me crazy, because I wouldn't fall in line and be his good little Christian wife. Three steps behind him in public, never allowed to speak unless he spoke first, his word was law.

Anyway, the MAGA types love this kind of alternate world nonsense. They love him saying the stuff he says, because they want to say such things, and worse. They've complained for decades that the "libruls" won't let them call people ethnic slurs, can't beat up on women, can't abuse others at work, home or church. Now they have permission, of a sort, to be the hateful, ugly people they truly are.

If we don't get Trump out, if we don't get him in prison, this country might as well hang it up, because it will be generations before we claw our way back to sanity.

[samnsara]

32. even people who hate her and saw the debate wont agree with him...

..they may not say it...and they may still think he won the debate.... but they all wished he had her speaking skills.