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Kamala Harris apologises for supporting man who called Trump ‘mentally retarded’
At a campaign event in New Hampshire, a man who was identified in media reports as hailing originally from Chennai, her mother’s hometown, had called Trump a “racist bigot” and asked the candidate what she would do in the next one year “to diminish the mentally retarded action of this guy”.
US Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris has apologized for not pushing back against a man who asked her about President Donald Trump at a political event on Friday calling him “mentally retarded”, a term federally outlawed in the US in 2010 as hurtful and replaced by “intellectual disability”.
“I didn’t hear the words the man used in that moment, but if I had I would’ve stopped and corrected him. I’m sorry. That word and others like it aren’t acceptable. Ever,” Harris wrote on Twitter on Saturday, as she came under mounting criticism.
At a campaign event in New Hampshire, a man who was identified in media reports as hailing originally from Chennai, her mother’s hometown, had called Trump a “racist bigot” and asked the candidate what she would do in the next one year “to diminish the mentally retarded action of this guy”.
“Well said,” Harris had responded then, and added, to applause from the audience, “I plan to win this election, I’ll tell you that.”
Soon after, a clip of the exchange went up on social media and criticism began pouring in from disability rights advocates.
Nyle DiMarco, an actor activist who is deaf, wrote on Twitter: “1) R-word is unacceptable. It is a slur, an insult. 2) Kamala should have handled this better. An apology is needed.”
Later, she did apologise.
