When Donald Trump said to Rand Paul, “I don’t think you heard me” during Thursday’s Republican presidential primary debate, was it a personal shot at Paul, who wears hearing aids?
A report by The New York Times’ Michael Barbaro suggests so.
“‘I don’t think you heard me,’ [Trump] scowled at Senator Rand Paul,” reads Barbaro’s report, “when the lawmaker — who uses hearing aids — sought to interrupt him, then added condescendingly, ‘You’re having a hard time tonight.'”
The clash between the two came as Trump was attempting to explain his position on healthcare, which has shifted from being in favor of universal health insurance to free market solutions. Paul interrupted, “Newsflash, the Republican Party’s been fighting against a single-payer system for over a decade.”
But was Trump’s response — “I don’t think you heard me” — a dig at Paul’s hearing impairment?
“He absolutely did not know that Paul uses hearing aids,” said a campaign source, “and in no way was that remark about anything other than him trying to interrupt.”
Barbaro did not return a request for comment from the Washington Examiner media desk.
