Trump Once Reportedly Said People With Disabilities ‘Should Just Die,’ Claims His Nephew in New Book

In a shocking revelation from his forthcoming book, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, Fred Trump III, nephew of former President Donald Trump, claims his uncle contemplated whether people with disabilities should be just left to die during the COVID-19 pandemic to save money. This shocking remark was reportedly made during a private meeting in May 2020, attended by top administration officials and disability rights advocates. Fred Trump III, the eldest son of Fred Trump Jr. and brother of psychologist Mary Trump, recalled attending the meeting with then-President Trump, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and Dr. Brett Giroir from the White House Covid Task Force. The discussion revolved around the needs of people with disabilities, a subject close to Fred III’s heart due to his son William’s diagnosis with a rare seizure disorder causing significant cognitive and physical impairments.

As per the reports of Raw Story, following the meeting, Fred III describes being ushered back into the Oval Office at Trump’s request. The former president, seemingly in a reflective mood, remarked, “Those people ... The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.” Fred III wrote, “I truly did not know what to say. He was talking about expenses. We were talking about human lives. For Donald, I think it really was about the expenses, even though we were there to talk about efficiencies, smarter investments, and human dignity.”

This disturbing comment adds to the list of controversial statements Trump has made regarding people with disabilities. During his 2016 presidential campaign, he infamously mocked reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, a condition affecting joint movement. However, he claimed that she was criticizing his journalism and not mimicking his disability.

In 2016, intriguingly, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote, "Trump’s explanation in Colorado is simply not credible. First of all, we already confirmed that Kovaleski did not grovel or say he made a mistake. Moreover, Trump actually appears to paraphrase Kovaleski’s brief statement about not remembering that thousands of people celebrated. Trump now suggests he was just imitating a grovel, but that’s not what he was actually doing. Instead, Trump is clearly imitating Kovaleski’s disability — the reporter has arthrogryposis, which visibly limits the functioning of his joints. Trump claims he did not know Kovaleski, but the reporter closely covered Trump’s troubled business dealings while he was a reporter for the N.Y. Daily News between 1987 and 1993," as reported by The Independent.

The book also reveals other controversial aspects of Trump's past comments. In another excerpt reported by The Guardian, Fred III recounts an incident in the 1970s when Trump used a racial slur after finding damage in his car the Cadillac convertible. He wrote, “‘Ni***rs,’ I recall him saying disgustedly. ‘Look at what the ni***rs did."