Donald Trump appears to mock a reporter's disability

Donald Trump has been roundly criticised for appearing to mock a disabled reporter from the New York Times.

His comments have been criticised by UK disability charity Scope, who labelled his behaviour "bullying, discriminatory and extremely damaging".

Mr Trump, who is aiming to become the Republican presidential candidate performed an impression of Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from a congenital joint condition, at a rally in South Carolina.

He had been quoting from an article co-written by Mr Kovaleski in 2001 for the Washington Post, as he sought to back up his controversial and widely disputed claims that "thousands" of Muslims celebrated the 9/11 attacks in New Jersey.

The businessman said he had seen Mr Kovaleski interviewed on CNN, and then appeared to mimic him as he waved his arms and said: "The poor guy - you've got to see this guy, ‘Ah, I don't know what I said! I don't remember!'"

A spokesman for Mr Trump declined to commentCredit: Reuters

Mr Kovaleski told the Washington Post,"The sad part about it is, it didn’t in the slightest bit jar or surprise me that Donald Trump would do something this low-rent, given his track record."

A spokesman for Mr Trump declined to comment on the incident when approached by the newspaper.

Beth Grossman, head of policy at charity Scope, said she was "incredulous" that a high-profile political figure would mock somebody for being disabled.

Attitudes like this should be confined to the trash can.

It’s not just outdated and outrageous, it’s bullying, discriminatory and extremely damaging. It promotes prejudice.

No one should have to face abuse like this.

It shows we still have a long way to go to change attitudes towards disability and ensure people better understand the issues disabled people face. Scope’s research shows that there continues to be a real lack of public understanding about disability - 62 per cent of disabled people say they’re treated differently because they are disabled.

There’s no place for Donald’s ridiculous actions in modern society.

– BETH GROSSMAN, SCOPE