Republican leaders on Sunday distanced themselves from comments Donald Trump made on the campaign trail over the weekend in which he said his opponent, Kamala Harris, was born “mentally disabled” and compared her actions to “mentally disabled” people. I put it.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham pushed back against Trump’s comments, which he himself acknowledged were “dark” speeches.
“I think it would be wise to prosecute her because her policies are destroying the country,” Graham told CNN. “I’m not saying she’s crazy, it’s her policies that are crazy.”
Graham’s comments came as immigration and border security remain at the top of the list of domestic issues on Sunday political talk shows. President Trump made the comments at a rally in Wisconsin on Saturday, criticizing Harris’ actions on these issues as vice president.
“Kamala is mentally ill. If a Republican did what she did, that Republican would be impeached and removed from office for high felonies and misdemeanors, and rightly so.”
President Trump went on to say, “Joe Biden was mentally ill. Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And when you think about it, we never wanted something like this to happen to this country. The only people I forgive are mentally ill people.”
Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer, a member of J.D. Vance’s debate preparation team, told ABC News: The thing is, Donald Trump fixed it once. they destroyed it. He’s going to fix it again. That–that’s the problem. ”
But Maryland Governor Larry Hogan fired back, telling CBS News that Trump’s comments were “an insult not just to the vice president, but to people who actually have mental illnesses.”
Hogan added: “I have said for years that President Trump’s divisive comments need to go away.”
Trump campaign communications director Stephen Chan did not directly address Trump’s comments, which have been widely criticized as offensive, but given Harris’ background on immigration and border security, she said, He is completely unfit to serve as president.”
Trump’s comments join a long list of personal attacks against his opponents that supporters of his campaign have been eager to make. Democrats have their own reductive language, calling Trump and Vance “weirdos.”
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However, the use of mental illness to explain Harris’ abilities is widely accepted. Democratic Illinois Governor JB Pritzker told CNN that President Trump’s comments were “defamatory.”
“Whenever he says something like that, he’s talking about himself, but he’s trying to project that onto other people,” Pritzker said. Former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder said Trump’s comments showed “cognitive decline.”
“Mr. Trump took great advantage of Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities,” he told MSNBC. “If this is who he is now, what will he be like in three or four years?”
Maria Town, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said many presidents have disabilities.
In a statement to the Washington Post, Town said Trump’s comments “say more about Vice President Harris and his inaccurate and hateful bias against people with disabilities than they do about Vice President Harris or people with disabilities.” “There is,” he said.
