Donald Trump, think twice before you accuse disabled people of "grandstanding about disability"

Donald Trump has hit the headlines yet again. The Republican presidential frontrunner imitated The New York Times’ culture and investigative reporter, Serge Kovaleski, during a rally for supporters in South Carolina on Tuesday. In response to fierce criticism, Trump has denied the allegations of disability discrimination, accusing Kovaleski of “grandstanding about his disability”. Believe it or not, Trump now demands an apology from The New York Times.

Lest we forget, this is the man who labeled all Mexican immigrants “rapists”, suggesting that the only way forward is to build “a great, great wall” between the US and Mexico. Similarly absurd are his draconian proposals to create a national registry for Muslims, to deport all 11 million illegal immigrants in the US, to ignore climate change because it’s just “weather”, and to use waterboarding against suspected terrorists because they “deserve it”.

Given his track record, some might be tempted to laugh off his latest antics as yet more sensationalist diatribe. “Classic Trump!” they might chuckle. Some might even say that he’s lost his chutzpah: from immigrants to women, he has been unapologetically discriminatory and offensive. By contrast, he has gone out of his way to deny mocking Kovaleski’s congenital disability.

But that would be too divorced from reality, almost as detached as Trump’s claim that his dad gave him a “small loan” of a million dollars. This is new territory for the tycoon’s spin-doctor: Donald Trump is playing victim for the first time.

According to Trump, the New York Times has made “a story out of nothing”, attacking a well-intentioned man who has spent “thousands” of dollars on the “physically challenged”.

This is hardly surprising: behind the veneer of shock tactics and Twitter rampages, Trump is a populist. In a world where disability discrimination is more common than the cold itself, accusing people of “grandstanding” about their disability is an effective way of getting off the hook.

Kovaleski is being forced into silence: if he continues to protest, he is destined for the same abuse that Heather Mills had to endure during her divorce with Beatles star Paul McCartney. Mills was unfairly painted as a bitter divorcee exploiting her disability for public sympathy.

Donald Trump might be a right-wing bigot, but his unconvincing attempt at playing victim to the ‘disabled card’ is common across the political spectrum and workforce.

As someone with a disability, I have been the subject of discrimination on many occasions. I remember my sixteen year-old self being horrified at the sight of a HMV employee throwing my CV in the bin: “You want a job?” he laughed dismissively.

I’m not alone either. According to government statistics, disabled people are significantly more likely to experience unfair treatment at work than non-disabled people. In 2008, 19 per cent of disabled people reported experiencing unfair treatment at work compared to 13 per cent of non-disabled people.

And even the statistics are generous: so many disabled people will not be as courageous as Kovalenski in calling out ableism because they fear being told that they suffer from a victim complex.

In the same way the so-called ‘Feminazis’ are receiving abuse for their valiant efforts to achieve gender equality, Kovalenski – and other brave people with a disability – are coming under fire because it’s easy. Yes, we’ve got the Equality Act, but it’s no use when you’re too frightened to use it. Law and society have given with one hand and taken away with another. If we continue to let this sort of behaviour slide, ‘Disablenazi’ will be the new vogue.