Donald Trump: Disability Mocking at its Worst

Today Donald Trump tweeted: "Virtually no-one has spent more money in helping the American people with disabilities than me. Will discuss today at my speech in Sarasota". This statement almost makes me want to watch Trump talk. The key word here is almost. I loathe Trump. He is the personification of the unethical power hungry narcissistic American business man. Add in a giant ego, a wealthy background, multiple business bankruptcy, the need to be in the spot light at all times, and we have the makings of an epic run for the presidency. He is exactly what the Republican party deserves. Trump is what the American people deserve--a demagogue.  The truth for Trump is not relevant nor is reason. Trump has tapped into something that has been brewing since Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace circa 1974. The American people are angry and do not trust the government. Nationally known politicians are a class apart. Our governing body does not represent we the people. The relationship between big business and the federal government is incestuous. The system, whatever that is, is rigged. Americans pay homage to the idea we are a democracy but the reality is our country is an oligarchy. The country is run by a small number of people; the one percenters who in 2011 prompted the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Trump is exploiting the very worst of humanity. He appeals to masses of people who are understandably angry. Solutions for economic woes seem impossible. People are ground down, some lack any hope. The political machinery is not for the people but for the wealthy. Wealth disparity today is extreme. Trump is appealing because he caters to popular desires, scapegoating, and taps into our collective prejudices. Build a wall between us and Mexico. Bring back water boarding! It does not matter if it works, they (unidentified terrorists) deserve it. Ban all immigrants. Let's create a national data base for all Muslims. Let's bomb the hell out any Middle Eastern nation. Trump is at heart a modern day Howard Beal. As some will recall, Beal was the main character in the classic 1976 film who is known for the line "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore".

Trump's latest attack that has gained national attention was on a reporter with a disability and more generally people with a disability.  I need not detail the story. It is in all the national newspapers as is Trump's reply. Suffice it to say Trump openly mocked a news reporter. When he was criticized Trump lied. I did not mock the man (a lie). Trump claimed he did not know the man (another lie). Worse, he repeatedly referred to the "poor, poor guy". Obviously the man in question is suffering because it is assumed all people with a disability suffer (not true). Trump has also accused the man of "exploiting his disability to get attention". As one would expect, national newspapers attacked Trump. The New York Times, for example, wrote the incident in question was outrageous! How dare Trump mock and ridicule the appearance of disabled reporter.  Condemnation flooded in. Like all criticism levied at Trump this was mere water under the bridge. He tweeted "I have tremendous respect for people who are physically challenged and have spent tens of millions of dollars throughout buildings all over the world making them handicapped accessible and ADA compliant". When I read this I burst out laughing. It is not everyday a person lauds themselves for meeting the letter of the law. I will give it to Trump--he can twist reality.

What I find most interesting is the outrage expressed by the mass media. How dare Trump mock a person with a disability. Spare me the false piety. Our constructed environment is designed for bipedal people. Providing physical access for people with a disability is perceived as an onerous burden. Wheelchair access is an unfunded Federal mandate! Why do we need a ramp at a hockey rink? Why are we forced to put a wheelchair lift on a bus when there is not a single student in the district that uses a wheelchair? The list of unacceptable violations is endless. The outrage is not limited to the prototypical wheelchair logo and people such as myself a deputized member of the chrome police. People who are deaf and hard of hearing continually encounter problems with businesses and institutions that refuse to provide interpreters. Blind people who are part of a guide dog team often encounter problems when they travel. I have been told by my professorial peers that the campus is inundated with students with a so called learning disability who are not seeking a reasonable accommodation but rather scamming the system to get an advantage. The point here is Trump is far from alone in mocking people with a disability. I have been mocked more times than I care to remember. I have been the brunt of many so called jokes and derisive discussions that were wildly inappropriate.

When social media found cause to object I was curious about how common is it to mock people with a disability. A quick google search led me to hundreds of stories. Below is a random sampling that touched me.

Saturday Night live went out of the way to mock David Paterson who was the governor of New York who also happened to be blind. The SNL skits were offensive.

A video by Nicole Arbor entitled "Dear Fat People" that has been viewed over 34 million times mocked the clinically obese. It was fat shaming in a deeply hurtful style.

Pick a host of films that mock people with a disability. Most recent I recall was the Wolf of Wall Street and Tropic Thunder. But the history of films that disparage disabled people dates back to the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Trump's book Crippled America. I cringed and immediately thought of FDR.

Niki Minaj mocked a wheelchair user in a hallway at one of her performances.

Shaquille O'Neal mocked a disabled fan's selfie.

The television program Glee. It hired a non disabled actor to play the part of a wheelchair user.  The message is not exactly subtle--there was no qualified actor in the nation to play the part.

Earlier this year an anesthesiologist was sued for mocking a man during a colonoscopy. He inadvertently recorded the procedure on his phone and was shocked by the running commentary. Once sedated, the anesthesiologist stated "after five minutes of talking in pre op I wanted to punch you in the face". The staff also discussed how to avoid seeing the patient post procedure and they placed a false diagnosis on the chart.

Finally, even the great John Lennon mocked people with a disability. Learning this bothered me more than you can imagine.

Spare me the outrage over Trump. He is merely emblematic of the rampant ableism that exists today. He is stating what others think--providing access for people with a disability is a costly waste of time. We people with a disability are an expensive drain on the economy. We are not worthy. We are not equal. We are not wanted. That is what I have learned reading disability history. To a degree I find this ironic. As a young graduate student at Columbia University I found ethnographic research among Native Americans too depressing to devote my life to studying. Oh, how I wept reading about one Native American group after another subject to genocidal policies and in some cases germ warfare (small pox infected blankets for example). This history broke my heart. Fast forward twenty years and I have a detailed knowledge of just how grim disability history is. This history tells me that we are on the cusp of significant progress in terms of disability rights. The outrage expressed by people regarding Trump is heartening. Maybe, just maybe, we people with a disability can make inroads with the masses of non disabled people that surround us. Of one thing I am sure--it is time to be confrontational via civil disobedience. Just imagine when we do disrupt ordinary life it is possible we will garner wide social support. Imagine that Mr. Trump. Perhaps it is time to mock Trump and others bigots who cater to the lowest common denominator.  It is a time of reason I hope.