Tammy Duckworth Slams Trump’s Alleged Comments About Disabled Americans

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) slammed Donald Trump for alleged remarks in which he dismissed the lives of disabled Americans, emphasizing the dangers of another Trump presidency.

In a recent Time article , Fred C. Trump III, who has a disabled son, recounted a conversation he says he had in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with his uncle in which Donald Trump said disabled Americans “should just die.”

The conversation reportedly occurred after a meeting with advocates, doctors and White House staff to discuss how to mitigate and address challenges faced by disabled people, their families and caregivers in housing, medical spaces and other areas of daily life.

In a statement Friday, Duckworth said that anyone who suggests disabled Americans shouldn’t exist is “fundamentally unfit to serve.”

“It’s hard to describe the pain millions of Americans with disabilities are feeling in response to Donald Trump’s newly-reported comments against folks with disabilities. But we know this is nothing new for him,” she said.

HuffPost has reached out to Trump’s 2024 campaign spokesperson multiple times for comment but has not received a response.

Trump has made remarks disregarding disabled people in the past, such as when he mocked a disabled reporter on the campaign trail in 2015 or, more recently, criticized President Joe Biden’s age and cognitive ability throughout his campaign.

But Duckworth also laid out the ways his past policies have negatively impacted disabled Americans, and how the disability community “cannot afford another four years of Trump.”

The Trump administration scaled back the use of penalties against nursing homes that harm residents. Trump had also proposed budgets that would slash individual