Revealed: Donald Trump called deaf ‘Apprentice’ Marlee Matlin ‘retarded’
"three longtime staffers who worked on the season in which Matlin appeared said that Trump regularly disrespected her and treated her as if she was mentally disabled. This would not be the last time Trump attacked someone with a disability. Early on in the campaign, Trump mocked New York Times reporter Serge F. Kovaleski, who suffers from arthrogryposis — which limits the functioning of his joints. At the time, Ann Coulter dismissed Trump’s behavior, saying that he was just being a “standard retard.” According to the Daily Beast’s report, the insults Trump hurled at Matlin occurred both behind her back and right in front of her. But because of a non-disclosure agreement, no one could speak of the comments without facing legal retaliation. “[Trump] would often equate that she was mentally retarded,” one source explained, noting that both Matlin and her interpreter Jack Jason were kind people. During taping, Trump would reportedly write notes sitting at the table in the set’s “boardroom.” Staff who cleaned up after taping noticed that one such scribble read, “Marlee, is she retarded??” Like with “Access Hollywood,” Trump continued wearing his microphone and would talk with others — including Donald Trump Jr. “[Trump] would make fun of her voice. It actually sounded a lot like what he did [to] the New York Times guy,” another person who worked on The Apprentice said, referencing the reporter Trump mocked. Another staffer noted that Trump’s characterization of Matlin’s deafness as a mental deficiency was a regularity."
