One of the world’s most beloved authors has issued an apology for accusing President Trump of purposefully disregarding 3-year-old Montgomery Weer, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, at a White House event last month, the New York Times reports.
“How stunning, and how horrible, that Trump cannot bring himself to shake the hand of a small boy who only wanted to touch the President,” J.K. Rowling, who authored the “Harry Potter” books, wrote in a series of since-deleted tweets. “My mother used a wheelchair. I witnessed people uncomfortable around her disability, but if they had a shred of decency they got over it.”
She continued: “So, yes, that clip of Trump looking deliberately over a disabled child’s head, ignoring his outstretched hand, has touched me on the raw.”
The Times reports that Montgomery’s mother Marjorie clarified in a Facebook post that Rowling misconstrued what she saw in the edited footage, which was not posted in its entirety.
“If someone can please get a message to JK Rowling: Trump didn’t snub my son & Monty wasn’t even trying to shake his hand,” Marjorie Weer reportedly wrote.
Rowling took to Twitter on Monday to apologize to the family.
“Multiple sources have informed me that that was not a full or accurate representation of their interaction,” Ms. Rowling wrote on Twitter on Monday. “I very clearly projected my own sensitivities around the issue of disabled people being overlooked or ignored onto the images I saw and if that caused any distress to that boy or his family, I apologise unreservedly.”
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