New York Times Slams Donald Trump's 'Outrageous' Mocking Of Reporter With Disability

The New York Times Wednesday slammed the Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for mocking one its reporter’s disability. During a rally in South Carolina late Tuesday, Trump flailed and jerked around his hands -- apparently imitating the Times reporter Serge Kovaleski -- while defending his recent claim of having witnessed thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey on Sept. 11, 2001, during the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.

"Now, the poor guy, you’ve got to see this guy, 'Ah, I don’t know what I said! I don’t remember!,'" Trump said as he twisted his arms in front of his body.

Kovaleski -- who, as a reporter for the Washington Post in 2001, had written an article that mentioned people in Jersey City “allegedly” celebrated the attacks -- suffers from a congenital condition known as arthrogryposis. The disease visibly affects joint movement and flexibility.

“We think it’s outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters,” a spokeswoman for the Times reportedly said.

Earlier this week, after Trump and his supporters started citing the Post article -- which now carries a disclaimer -- as proof of claims that “thousands and thousands of people were cheering” as the World Trade Center was destroyed, Kovaleski said that he did not recall “anyone saying there were thousands, or even hundreds, of people celebrating.”

“We did a lot of shoe leather reporting in and around Jersey City and talked to a lot of residents and officials for the broader story. Much of that has, indeed, faded from memory,” Kovaleski told CNN. “[But] that was not the case, as best as I can remember.”

Speaking to the Washington Post following Trump’s comments, Kovaleski said: “It didn’t in the slightest bit jar or surprise me that Donald Trump would do something this low-rent, given his track record.”

While Trump -- who, in the past, has come under fire for mocking a critic for being paralyzed -- did not directly comment on the latest controversy, he sent out a series of tweets Wednesday attacking the Times, saying that it had “made all bad decisions over the last decade.”