For all their moralizing, conservatives sure do seem to love hitting below the belt.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham is the latest Republican to be raked over the coals for doing just that, after she mocked Democratic President Joe Biden's stutter during her commentary on his recent town hall speech.
Speaking with fellow Fox anchor Raymond Arroyo, Ingraham made fun of the President's speech patterns at length before joking she was going to get herself "in trouble" for doing so. See the unfortunate moment below.
Biden has been open about how he has stuttered since he was a child. Like many people who do so, Biden occasionally uses filler words and phrases to prevent his stutter when speaking publicly, a method that allows for a moment's hesitation so the speaker's mouth and brain can "catch up" with each other, if you will.
It was this feature of his speech that Ingraham and Arroyo zeroed in on with their mockery. As Ingraham put it:
"He did like to say a lot, 'seriously, I'm serious'."
Arroyo then added:
"These are little crutches when he can't quite recall, or he is having difficulties."
Ingraham then aped Biden's speech patterns, exaggerating them and adding in a stutter for effect. Both anchors implied that his speech was unintelligible, which it was not, while snickering like Disney villains.
Speaking of which, Arroyo then took the mockery a step further, making a Disney reference in order to traffic in the frequent implications on the Right that Biden is suffering from age-related cognitive decline.
"This town hall was almost like a coming attractions reel for Walt Disney Company. They are giving the public their first glimpse of their new animatronic Joe Biden."
Great joke, Arroyo. And we wonder why there aren't any famous Republican stand-up comedians.
Anyway, this episode of The Laura Ingraham Ableism and Cruelty Hour--er, sorry, The Ingraham Angle--went over like a lead balloon on social media. People on Twitter were disgusted by Ingraham and Arroyo's display.
Vile as this is, we probably shouldn't expect much from people who supported a President who openly mocked a physically disabled reporter on live national television.
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