Donald Trump mocks disabled reporter, Chris Christie, John Kasich hit back

Donald Trump may have been trying to fire up a crowd of supporters, but mocking a New York Times reporter’s disability was out of line and is now being criticized by fellow GOP candidates. Check out the Trump clip and the Kasich ad below.

“He shouldn’t be making fun of people’s disabilities. It’s just not worthy of someone running for president of the United States,” Christie said today on CNN’s “New Day.”

Christie went on to say he wouldn’t he hesitate to tell Trump to sit down and shut up if the context merited it.

“If Donald starts yelling and screaming at me in the middle of a speech, you could be sure that I’ll say sit down and shut up,” Christie said.

Christie said the press should be ashamed for asking him about the GOP frontrunner with such regularity.

“You all quite frankly should be ashamed of yourselves, all you do is ask about Donald Trump every place I go,” Christie said.

“We’re here talking about really serious important issues and whatever Donald Trump has said for the day today is quite frankly nothing I have any interest in responding to, I’m running for president,” Christie said, prompting response from the audience.

photo/ screenshot of video coverage

The mocking of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has a muscular disability, has gone viral on the Internet as Trump denies he was mocking Kovaleski’s illness, insisting that he doesn’t know him and was unaware of his condition, and that he would never make fun of someone with a disability.

Kovaleski has rebutted Trump’s claim that he doesn’t know who he is, saying he was on a first-name basis with the real estate mogul when he covered him for the New York Daily News in the 1980s.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich took Mr. Trump to task  in a new advertisement that paints the billionaire businessman as too heartless for the presidency and highlights his recent mocking of a disabled reporter.

The ad, titled “Is he worthy?,” features Mr. Trump at a rally defending his claim that Muslims cheered in Jersey City after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Mr. Trump points to an article in The Washington Post that he says supports his claim and then mocks the reporter who wrote the article, Serge Kovaleski, who is now at The New York Times.

“Ah, I don’t know what I said,” the ad shows Mr. Trump saying, while contorting his face and hand. “I don’t remember.”

The ad concludes with an image of Trump convulsing on stage followed by pictures of several former presidents, including Washington, Lincoln, both Roosevelts, Eisenhower and Reagan. It then asks voters to ask themselves if Trump is in their league.

“Is someone like Donald Trump really worthy of following in their footsteps?” the narrator asks. “Is he?”

Check out the ad below.