JAN 23, 2025 | OPINION | By Kole Petersen
Now that Donald Trump has officially been inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, it is no longer beneficial to discuss the ramifications of his administration in terms of ‘what-ifs.’ The American people have voted and nothing more can be done. Trying to convince Trump voters they made an irresponsible choice is a waste of breath; all we can do now is lay down the facts as to what will transpire over the next four years based on the past. While there are a near-infinite number of ways that the second Trump administration will affect the American people, I want to focus on how Trump’s previous policies, opinions, Cabinet picks and plans will hurt the livelihoods of the millions of disabled people in the United States.
Before I go any further, let me emphasize something: this series is not an attempt to fearmonger, defame or mischaracterize anyone in the Trump administration. I sincerely hope that Trump does not perpetuate his ableist viewpoints. I hope he helps make strides for the disabled community. However, based on his words, the philosophies of those who will accompany him in the White House, and how he handled the topic of disability during his first term, I’m not ready to be optimistic just yet.
For the first part of this series, I want to focus on the words that have come out of Trump’s own mouth. At a rally in Rome, Ga., on March 9, 2024, when criticizing Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Trump slurred his words and pretended to stutter to mock the former President.
While one of Trump’s spokespeople clarified that Trump was merely talking about “Crooked Joe Biden’s declining mental state,” having a stutter is no indication of intelligence or mental capacity, and mocking someone with a stutter since childhood seems to be a technique intended to offend rather than properly criticize. When Biden eventually dropped out of the race and Kamala Harris became the new Democratic Party candidate, Trump wasted no time using disabled language to demean her. At two rallies in Pennsylvania in September 2024, Trump called Harris “mentally disabled” and “mentally impaired.” Even more egregious, Trump said that while Biden became “mentally impaired” over time, “lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way.”
Trump’s ableist comments do not stop with his political opponents. At a rally in Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Nov. 24, 2015, when referring to journalist Serge Kovaleski, he made jerking motions and flew his arms across his body. Kovaleski has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition that causes joint deformation and stiffness, and Trump’s intentionally incoherent arm movements appeared to ridicule Kovaleski’s disability. Trump has since stated that he did not know Kovaleski was disabled and that he only imitated the physical effects because “He was groveling, grovel, grovel, grovel.” Importantly, Kovaleski refuted these claims, stating that he and Trump were on a first name basis for years. In any case, this behavior shows the level of respect that Trump has toward the physically disabled, just as his comments directed at Biden and Harris are emblematic of his view toward mentally disabled people.
However, I have left quite possibly the most despicable disability-related comment uttered by Trump for last. In July 2024, TIME published an excerpt from “All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got to Be This Way,” a memoir by Trump’s nephew, Fred C. Trump III. Fred and his wife, Lisa, worked hard to advocate for the intellectually and developmentally disabled in White House meetings, recognizing their unique opportunity to be in such close contact with the President. Fred’s son, William, has a KCNQ2 mutation, manifesting itself as a major seizure disorder leading to physical and cognitive delays. According to Fred, in May 2020, he brought a group of health and disability advocates to meet with the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, and Donald.
Although Fred initially noted that “Donald seemed engaged” with the stories shared by the advocates when Donald asked to meet Fred one-on-one, the tides completely shifted. Almost immediately after greeting Fred, after hearing heartbreaking stories about what the disabled community goes through daily, he said, “Those people… The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.” Donald even doubled down on this take outside of the Oval Office, saying to Fred when asked to contribute to William’s medical fund, “He doesn’t recognize you. Maybe you should just let him die and move down to Florida.” Even when discussing issues of human rights, dignity, and life, Donald was nearly entirely focused on expenses and economics. That’s all that disabled people appear to be for Donald Trump; near-useless members of society that he can either ignore completely or use as a punching bag to win some cheap laughs from his supporters. Because this attitude has dominated his mindset for so long, it has infiltrated his policies.
Tune in to the second part of this series, where I will discuss how Trump’s previous policies and upcoming plans regarding national recognition of disability, Medicare and Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and the Department of Education have affected and will continue to affect disabled people across the country.