Mocking people with disabilities is not

It all started last fall when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump made fun of a The New York Times reporter who is disabled – Serge Kovaleski.

In a speech in South Carolina, Trump referenced an article written in 2001 when Kovaleski worked for The Washington Post. It was alleged by Trump that the article said that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey were cheering as the Twin Towers went down. Kovaleski debunked Trump’s account of his article.

So Trump flailed his arms about, dropping his wrist in a way that mimicked Kovaleski’s arthrogryposis disability, a chronic joint disease which limits the movement of his arms. Then in a silly voice, Trump said, “Ah, I don’t know what I said! I don’t remember!” But wait. That wasn’t the first time Trump has made fun of someone’s disability. Back in July, when asked about being called a “rodeo clown” by Charles Krauthammer, he responded, “I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune. Then I get called by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names?” Many at the time speculated Trump was making a crack at the fact that Krauthammer is paralyzed from the waist down. A few weeks earlier, Trump had referred to Krauthammer as a “loser” who “just sits there.”

It was a new low for a presidential candidate to openly berate persons with disabilities. An unapologetic Trump said he was just being “very expressive” when it came to his comments about Kovaleski. Ann Coulter, in her book “In Trump We Trust,” tried to justify Trump’s actions. She said he “was doing a standard retard, waving his arms and acting stupid.” And that was OK? He was still making fun of persons with a disability.

Trump has also mimicked Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton when she almost collapsed getting into her vehicle after a 9/11 ceremony because she was suffering from pneumonia. She rebounded well, however, and won the first debate between the two.

Then there was Republican Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert. He stood before the Values Voters Summit and made fun of people with disabilities. He said, “And I do want to warn since most people here are Christians. A true believer does what Jesus did. ... You don’t make fun of people who are impaired, have special needs. And whether you like her or not, Hillary Clinton has made clear she is mentally impaired.” The crowd displayed their Christian values, laughing and clapping loudly.

As if that was not enough, the Republicans then adopted the alt-right conspiracy theories that Clinton has a secret illness. They contend that her coughing is a sign of Parkinson’s, strokes, cancer and other diseases too numerous to mention. But in the debate, she did not cough a single time. So much for the conspiracy theory.

Where has decency gone? Trump has taken this campaign to a whole new level, and it is one that is distasteful and nasty. I take the comments very seriously because I have a nephew who is disabled and is confined to a wheelchair and is unable to talk. And he is just one of those with a disability who does not like what he sees and hears from Trump and his Republican supporters. They and their family members and friends will respond at the ballot box. Polling Update I felt it was necessary to mention that another poll on the U.S. Senate race emerged after the one I reported on in the last issue. And it was a shocker. Conducted by JMC Analytics and Polling, it showed that frontrunner Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy has dropped to fifth place with only 11 percent of the vote, down from 17 percent he had in the poll done by Southern Media and Opinion Research (SMOR).

And it showed that Democratic Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell has risen six points as did Republican U.S. Rep. John Fleming, who sources say paid for the poll. Here are the results of the JMC poll:

U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany (R) – 15%. PSC Foster Campbell (D) – 15%.

U.S. Rep. John Fleming (R) – 14%. Attorney Caroline Fayard (D) – 12%. State Treasurer John Kennedy (R) – 11%.

Retired Lt. Col. Rob Maness (R) – 4%. White Supremacist David Duke (R) – 3%.

Undecided – 25%. The JMC poll was conducted a week after the SMOR poll. Both polls showed that there is a sizeable number of voters who are still undecided – about 25 percent. When the undecideds were asked who they were leaning to, 17 percent said Boustany, 17 percent said Campbell, 15 percent Fleming, 13 percent Kennedy, and 12 percent Fayard.

But here’s the rub. Louisiana Public Broadcasting and the Council for a Better Louisiana decided that, based upon the SMOR poll, the first statewide televised debate would include only those five candidates, using a five percent and $1 million threshold. Therefore, Maness and Duke were excluded from the debate. Maness had four percent leaning to him, which would have boosted him to eight percent, and Duke had four percent leaning to him, which would have brought his result up to seven percent.

Those two would have spiced up things.

But it is what it is. Maness was furious to no avail. Another candidate, former state Sen. Troy Hebert, has filed a lawsuit. The five candidates will face off Oct. 18.

Lou Gehrig Burnett, an award-winning journalist, has been involved with politics for 44 years and was a congressional aide in Washington, D.C., for 27 years. He also served as executive assistant to former Shreveport Mayor “Bo” Williams. Burnett is the publisher of the weekly “FaxNet Update” and can be reached at 861-0552 or louburnett@comcast.net.