The newest Trump flap
I hadn’t read much about the latest Trump insult-and-denial, the supposed mocking of a disabled reporter. I figured it wouldn’t change my point of view either way: I have no problem believing that Trump would crudely mock the disability of a person he had reason to be annoyed with—after all, crude mockery is one of his favorite ploys. And I have no problem believing that the MSM would exaggerate and misrepresent some gesture of Trump’s in order to try to discredit him. As I’ve said countless times, I don’t support Trump and hope his star fades and someone else gets the nomination.
But today I decided to read what Powerline’s Scott Johnson had to say about the incident, and it seems to me that there’s a distant possibility that Trump’s denial is an unusually blatant lie by Trump. I don’t know, of course, but Johnson makes a strong case for it:
On Tuesday, Trump mocked Kovaleski’s retreat from his 2001 story. Kovaleski has a congenital condition called arthrogryposis that limits the movement of joints. At a campaign rally on Tuesday, flailed his arms in apparent mockery of Kovaleski’s movements. “Now the poor guy, you ought to see the guy,” he said as he gestured …
Called on his performance after the event, Trump denied mocking Kovaleski’s disability. In his trademark style, he colorfully asserted that he knew anything personal about Kovaleski: “I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovalski is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence,” Trump said in a statement Thursday, misspelling the maligned reporter’s last name. “I don’t know if he is J.J. Watt or Muhammad Ali in his prime ”” or somebody of less athletic or physical ability.”
Kovaleski, on the other hand, said he got to know Trump well in the course of his career. In an interview with the Times on Thursday, Kovaleski said that he met with Trump repeatedly when he was a reporter for the New York Daily News covering Trump’s business career in the late 1980s, before joining the Post. “Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years,” Kovaleski said. “I’ve interviewed him in his office,” he added. “I’ve talked to him at press conferences. All in all, I would say around a dozen times, I’ve interacted with him as a reporter while I was at The Daily News.” I’m sure it was more memorable for Kovaleski than for Trump, but that’s Kovaleski’s testimony.
My guess is that this incident will not matter, just as so many others involving Trump do not matter. Trump’s opponents (count me as one) already know enough about the man. Trump’s supporters will either ignore the incident, disbelieve Kovaleski and believe Trump, say they don’t care enough for it to matter, or admire him for it.
[NOTE: Yes, I should start a “Trump” category, but I’m resisting for now.]
Big deal. Trump is running as a Republican, so everything he does is deemed to be hateful and hurtful. If he cut his throat on TV the headlines would read “Trump meanly splashed blood on front row reporter.”
They’ve spent so much time being upset with a Repub while ignoring or cheering everything done by a Dem , that we’re all on to them.
fred:
Yes, but the question is—if Trump’s lying, do you still think it’s not a big deal? Do you care whether he’s a liar or not? Do you just automatically assume he’s telling the truth and the reporter is lying about knowing him? If it were proven that they knew each other, and were on a first-name basis, and that Trump lied about that, would it matter to you?
As long as Trump is able to end illegal immigration, then I have no problems with him being a bit rude.
boxty:
But I’m asking about lying, not rudeness.
heh, if I were to create a Trump category I doubt I could resist the temptation to make the label “Meno” rather than “Trump”. Sure, it’s an obscure joke, but I’d derive a sufficient satisfaction nevertheless just on grounds of truthfulness in intent.
By the way, just as it has been said that “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”, so also sometimes a mocking spastic pantomime is just a mocking spastic pantomime.
Note this Trump observation at Don Surber:
http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2015/11/where-donald-trump-got-his-super-powers.html#more
A teaser quote from the Don Surber link”
Yet another point of view as we attempt to dissect the Trump phenomenon.
The reporter’s last interaction with Trump was in the 80’s. That is nearly 30 years ago. Would you remember someone who interacted with you, maybe a dozen times, thirty years ago? I remember some people I worked with back then, but a lot of names and faces have faded away. I found a checkers playing program I wrote 30 years ago for a $1 bet. I can’t think of the name of the person I bet, even though we spent months playing our programs against each other.
OTOH, having seen a photo of the reporter, it does look like Trump is mimicking him. So, maybe Trump is lying or he subconsciously made the association. It is not like he is scripted or uses a teleprompter. Under those conditions, candidates like Barack Obama turn into a babbling fool.
Surber’s take is interesting.
Of course, Trump is lying when he says, “I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovalski is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence.”
Trump even says so. “Now the poor guy, you ought to see the guy,” before he goes into his impression of Kovaleski. It is the initial hand gesture that I saw right away – the right hand, palm up, bent at an awkward angle back toward the elbow. The spastic motions were for show. Had Trump truly not known the Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who had work in Trumps hometown of NYC, then he would not have known about the disability to attempt a mimic.
The skeletal and muscular constrictures of Arthrogryposis generally don’t allow for spastic movements. I believe Trump didn’t know specifics of Kovaleski’s ailment, but he knew enough. I also believe Trump is an equal opportunity serial boneheaded, hamfisted insulter. He’s rude, crude, crass, and a playground bully. As one who is also afflicted with Arthrogryposis, I have known Donald Trumps for all my 61 years. The Donald in just richer than most and thus is given the wealth pass just as most wealthy people receive.
This incident won’t hurt Trump one iota. It can only help among his adoring followers. And, that’s what bothers me. Trump is benefitting from the same fan psychology as Obama* did. No matter what he says or does, no matter what’s in his past just doesn’t matter. Obama* was the golden boy with the funny name. Trump is the golden boy with funny hair.
I have TFS, trump fatigue syndrome. I’ve said enough about my distrust of the donald. If he gets the nomination and wins, and keeps his promises, I will gladly admit how wrong I was about the trumpsters.
Indigo Red,
Totally agree… you should white to your pseudonym.
oops, should add
Trump is a liar. He was caught lying about the reason he didn’t serve in the military during the Vietnam War. Initially he used the excuse that he had a high draft lottery number. When caught in the lie, he admitted that he used a student deferment until it ran out in grad school, and was then 4F’d because of bone spurs on his heels.
http://reverbpress.com/politics/time-hypocrite-slimebag-donald-trump-lied-dodging-vietnam-draft-video/
Watched a YouTube of Trump’s speech at Saratoga, where 10,000 showed up. The children of the people who couldn’t get in got helicopter rides. It was the usual rambling Trump monologue but the crowd lapped it up.
What was interesting was Trump used the current controversy to launch into a sustained attack on the New York Times, with special reference to its disastrous investment in the Boston Globe, and its precarious financial position. He described the famous building they sold, which got flipped for 3 times what the NYT sold it for. Why would he do that? Do you think the NYT times wants Trump attacking them on their financial weakness and incompetence? There was a message there: hit me with BS stories and I’ll do everything I can to undermine your credibility, starting with your financials.
He did mention the massive heroin problem in New Hampshire, which is a subject of especial interest to our family. It’s massive here in Ohio, too. DC doesn’t care. Do you think the mob that armed the drug cartels cares? I don’t think so. But the folk do.
Trump hasn’t proven he cares any more than DC cares.
“Would you remember someone who interacted with you, maybe a dozen times, thirty years ago?”
Trained interrogators and people with certain skill sets, can remember a lot of things. Either Trump is sub or barely above average, insufficient to qualify, or he’s capable but lazy enough to have his supporters make excuses for him.
@Ymarsakar : You make little sense.
Can you name everyone in your class from 30 years ago? Assuming you were in class 30 years ago, of course.
@Ymarsakar : The fact that Trump is running proves he cares about more than himself. Why put yourself through this grinding process when you could be enjoying everything that 10 billion dollars buys you?
Ego? Maybe. That seems to be where some people come down. Maybe that is what it is. He has built a fortune and created a brand that is worth a lot of money. I think the ego comes from looking at the United States government from his perspective, and all he sees is corruption and incompetent deal making. He believes he can get better deals for us the people.
Another way is to look at Government as a political machine designed to extort wealth from the private sector. That is what Peter Schweizer does in his latest book “Extortion”. I’m halfway through it, and I’m horrified. It is not that the special interests own Washington; it is that Washington owns them and extracts exorbitant tribute. Schweizer doesn’t make claims he can’t substantiate. He cites chapter and verse right down to the dollar. Trump knows how that system works. He’s said as much.
I don’t know if a President can break down a corrupt system supported by both parties. Remember, politicians are really only interested in getting re-elected and getting wealthy.
PatD: Remember, politicians are really only interested in getting re-elected and getting wealthy.
Some are. But so many are like the loud mouths we’ve encountered at fraternal organizations, whether it’s the Knights of Columbus, Elks, Masons, or the lowly Grange. These are the people who must be the center of attention. They run for office, hog the floor with Robert’s Rules, spout off endlessly about minor points in the reading of the last minutes, and are generally a pain in the butt. Trump reminds me of this type, but on steroids.
King Kevin Versus Queen Cersei
Why put yourself through this grinding process when you could be enjoying everything that 10 billion dollars buys you?
10 billion dollars can buy the undying loyalty of the superpower called the United States of America?
Humans tend to go through a lot of things to end up at the top.
Can you name everyone in your class from 30 years ago?
I, like Trump, can name people I’ve gotten into fights with, even recall the look on their faces.
You’re not like Trump, psychologically speaking, thus you don’t understand how that part of the core works.
People who have a habit of using anger or strong emotion to get into fights, as Trump and I tend to share, aren’t forgetful of information relating to such. Any more than people forget extremely vivid experiences in war or life.
Scott Johnson makes the case for Trumps denial of an insulting … (whatever)!
In a word, no. Because in reality, same-old same-old media smears are going on
against Trump.
How do i know? First I saw the short clip on CNN that starts and ends with Trump gesticulating like a palsy.
Then, on C-Span’s Wash Journal (morning call in) I see a longer clip: it is clear that Trump was rebuking another LSM conformist for walking back his previously fact-checked and verified story on the Muslim celebrants on 911.
That’s it. And I’m not alone – consider a disabled Vet who witnessed Trump at this event, firsthand:
Does our MSM ever do nuance when covering the Democrats-with-bylines opposition?
Can’t remember when.
Orson:
And who do you think that “other” reporter might be? You know, the one who was walking back his own “previously fact-checked and verified story on the Muslim celebrants on 911”?
Link; name?
Because my understanding of the clip is that that reporter was Kovaleski. Now, of course I could be wrong, but I’ve never heard of another possibility for who Trump might have been talking about.
It was this story that Kovaleski wrote for the WaPo on September 18, 2001 that’s been the focus of the ruckus.
Here’s part of Kovaleski’s walk-back:
I have no idea what other reporter and what other story you think Trump was referring to. I’ve done a lot of reading on this, and there has never been any other reporter, story, and walkback mentioned that Trump could have been referring to. Unless you can come up with one, you may have to do a bit of walking back yourself.
boxty Says:
As long as Trump is able to end illegal immigration, then I have no problems with him being a bit rude.
neo-neocon Says:boxty: But I’m asking about lying, not rudeness.
Bluntly I say… if Trump can end illegal immigration, then I have no problems with him being a liar. That’s how far I’ve been pushed in the state of California. I support Cruz, and will vote Cruz….but for me in California all politics are local, and it begins and ends with illegal immigration. I’m done.
“Trump’s supporters will either ignore the incident, disbelieve Kovaleski and believe Trump, say they don’t care enough for it to matter, or admire him for it.”
While I’m on the fence with regards to Trump as a viable candidate, I grow weary of the MSM media and bloggers of being selectively outraged over Trump’s actions.
I’ll take an educated guess and assume this “handicapped” reporter is a typical stooge for the Left and has no problem with Hillary leaving 4 Americans to die in Benghazi for political expediency. And yet “We” are offended by Trump’s comments/actions and give Hillary a pass.
Sort of like Golden Boy’s desire never to use “waterboarding” but nonchalant approach to drones and hell-fire missiles. Notice the difference in terms and the actual outcome for the “victims”?
Like it or not, I will say that Trump has pulled all the milk-toast” candidates into areas where they would not likely have gone. So right or wrong, good or bad, I thank Trump for that action.
A clarification to the previous, it’s actually easier to remember what they look like and what they did, to mimic their physical movements, than it is to remember their names. But Trump’s been doing this for a lot longer than I have, he has secretaries and social functions that help his brain cope, because he is using people’s names all the time. But in the case of reporters, throwing them out would leave a pleasant emotion, one that isn’t easily forgotten, even if he didn’t care to know who they were. Reporters are just tools to media and real estate moguls. It’s not easy to forget a tool, though, when they use it all the time.
In a case where WMDs are being used by both sides, one should take a neutral stance, not fall for somebody’s con at the first strike.
but for me in California all politics are local, and it begins and ends with illegal immigration. I’m done.
It is rather easy for tool users at the top of society, like Trump, to take advantage of powerless weaklings that have been broken by the system.
After all, what other choice do they have in California? But the system was setup that way, precisely to obtain that effect.
Ymarsakar :”It is rather easy for tool users at the top of society, like Trump, to take advantage of powerless weaklings that have been broken by the system.”
Whether Trump is a “tool user” or not remains to be seen.
What we do know as a matter of Fact is that
Obummer, Pelosi , Reid, Soros , Jerry Brown, etc have contributed to CA’s decline. I blame these Aholes based on facts rather on my assumptions about Trump.
I knew a few actual tool users — plumbers, electricians, carpenters, builders of various sorts — in NJ and Philly who when screwed out of their payments by Trump’s bankruptcies in Atlantic City felt themselves tools used by Trump. He proudly claims he only uses the tools the law hands him to use, on the other hand. Doing justice to the screwed-over actual tool users? Not so much.