Trump Is Insensitive
The claim that Donald Trump is insensitive is supported by a documented record of public statements and conduct - the 'shithole countries' remark, mocking disabled reporter Serge Kovaleski, the Puerto Rico paper-towel incident, attacks on the Gold Star Khan and Johnson families, and his 'not a war hero' statement about Senator John McCain.
What we know
Contemporaneous reporting, video evidence, congressional testimony, and statements from directly affected parties establish a consistent pattern of insensitivity toward vulnerable people, grieving families, the disabled, and disaster-struck communities. On January 11, 2018, in an Oval Office meeting on DACA, Trump asked, 'Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?' referring to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations - an account confirmed by Senator Dick Durbin under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The UN Human Rights Office called it 'shocking and shameful.'
In November 2015, at a South Carolina rally, Trump waved his arms with his hands bent at an abnormal angle in an apparent physical impression of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis. The BBC reported it; the NYT called the act 'outrageous.' On October 3, 2017, two weeks after Hurricane Maria left 90% of Puerto Rico's 3.5 million residents without power, Trump tossed paper-towel rolls into a crowd of disaster survivors, then bragged 'I was having fun, they were having fun.' San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz called it 'terrible and abominable.' Maria would later be linked to roughly 2,975 excess deaths.
Gold Star families were a recurring target. In August 2016, after Khizr Khan addressed the DNC about his son Captain Humayun Khan - killed in Iraq in 2004 with a Bronze Star and Purple Heart - Trump questioned why Ghazala Khan 'had nothing to say,' implying Muslim prohibitions. In October 2017 Myeshia Johnson, widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, told ABC that Trump 'couldn't remember my husband's name' on a condolence call. Trump publicly disputed her account on Twitter, fighting with a Gold Star widow. On July 18, 2015, he said of Senator John McCain, a POW for 5.5 years: 'He's not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured.'
Common claims
- Trump called Haiti, El Salvador and African nations 'shithole countries.'Supported - confirmed by Senator Durbin, Trump conceded 'tough language'
- Trump mocked a reporter's disability on stage.Supported - 2015 South Carolina rally, video evidence
- Trump threw paper towels at Hurricane Maria survivors.Supported - October 3, 2017, video evidence
- Trump publicly fought with the widow of a fallen U.S. soldier.Supported - Myeshia Johnson, October 2017
- Trump only made these remarks once, out of context.False - pattern documented across a decade
Evidence hierarchy
All sources
- Trump Derides Protections for Immigrants from 'Shithole' CountriesThe Washington Post · 2018
- Durbin: Trump's 2018 Racist Reference to 'S-Hole Countries' Was an EmbarrassmentU.S. Senate Judiciary Committee · 2025
- Donald Trump Under Fire for Mocking Disabled ReporterBBC News · 2015
- Puerto Rico: Trump Paper Towel-Throwing 'Abominable'BBC News · 2017
- Trump Defends Throwing Paper Towels to Hurricane Survivors in Puerto RicoNBC News · 2017
- Khizr and Ghazala Khan - Reactions to Trump's AttacksWikipedia / multiple sourced press accounts · 2016
- Gold Star Widow Says President Trump Didn't Remember Her Husband's NameNPR · 2017
- 'I Was Very Angry' at Trump, Says Myeshia JohnsonABC News · 2017
- Trump Attacks McCain: 'I Like People Who Weren't Captured'Politico · 2015
- Open Letter from 28 Gold Star Families on the Four Year Anniversary of the Khans' 2016 DNC SpeechVoteVets · 2020