The White House is rebutting critics who accused President Trump of disparaging the Paralympics when he commented on the games heading into the weekend.
Trump on Friday congratulated U.S. Olympians during remarks at the White House by saying, “What happened with the Paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me. And I watched — it’s a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could. It was really fantastic, and I want to thank you.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump meant that his schedule didn’t allow him to watch much of the games, and was not saying it was tough for him to watch the Paralympics in particular.
“He was referencing that he wasn’t able to watch it because he was not available,” she said Monday in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Look at the sentence immediately following this comment.”
Some in the media, however, said it appeared Trump was deriding people with disabilities.
MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski on Monday called Trump a “complete buffoon” after the show re-played his comments.
An article in the Huffington Post called Trump’s remarks “insensitive.”
The International Paralympics Committee also responded. On Twitter, the committee said, “Record numbers around the world are not finding @Paralympics tough to watch. Billions of viewers now take in the Paralympics in hundreds of countries around the world. We hope the US President continues to watch and be inspired by the Paralympics.”
