Disabled boy kicked out of Trump rally, next day he met Obama

I came across this unbelievable story today and saw no-one else has shared it as far as I can tell. It's a heartbreaking and deplorable tale that thankfully has a silver lining at the end.

www.smh.com.au...

Disabled boy kicked out of Trump rally, next day he met Obama

Twelve-year-old JJ Holmes has been enamoured with the 2016 presidential election.

By Election Day, the boy would encounter two of the most polarising figures in this campaign season - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and President Barack Obama - and his experiences with them would be vastly different.

For months, JJ, who has a severe case of cerebral palsy, has been sitting on his knees at his home in Longwood, Florida, using his nose to type searches on his iPad for "Mary Poppins" plays and Trump events, his mother said. Throughout the election, she said, he had been itching to go to a rally - to express his disdain for Trump, who came under fire last year for mocking a reporter with a disability.

"I wanted to go because Donald J. Trump made fun of disabled people," JJ said in a video statement Monday to The Washington Post, using his computer vocalisation device.

On Saturday, JJ got his wish - his mother, Alison Holmes, agreed to take him to a Trump rally in Tampa.

She said JJ had preprogrammed chants, such as "Dump Trump" and "Trump mocks the disabled," into his computer vocalisation device. Once he was inside the arena, he pushed a button to say his piece, his mother said.

"It wasn't that loud," she said about his chants, adding, "Trump was laughing about how his supporters drown out JJ. So my daughters and I started chanting."

She said the crowd around them turned rowdy.

Trump supporters across the arena joined in - then Trump reportedly spoke out from the stage.

"Oh, we have a Hillary Clinton person. Are they paying that person $1500?" Trump said, according to Fox News. "Get him out, please. Get him out."

The crowd started chanting "USA! USA! USA!"

"I must tell you, the Bernie Sanders protesters had much more enthusiasm and spirit than this one," Trump added. "The problem with these Hillary protesters is my people make all the noise. ... You can't even hear the person."

At the same time, Alison Holmes said, Trump supporters near them started pushing her son's wheelchair, and calling her a "child abuser" and telling others to "grab her p--y." The boy and his family were escorted from the arena, she said.

"I thought we may get kicked out," she said. "I didn't think they'd start shoving his wheelchair."

Some people also criticised Holmes for taking her son to the rally, accusing her of using him to protest. "He's not some puppet I wheeled in there," Holmes said. "This was him - this was all him."

There you have it folks, rock bottom. Trump supporters are now kicking and abusing severely disabled people who simply want to uphold their Contitutionally protected right to free speech. No doubt some Trump supporters here will respond by claiming that the disabled boy is some kind of Hillary plant, as they did to him at the event - I fully expect this coming from a group of people who don't seem to have a bottom to the depths of depravity they will sink to.

Absolutely disgusting. Trump supporters have hit rock bottom.

Thankfully there is a bright side to this. When Obama's people found out about this they made sure he got a one on one with the Prez himself, to make up for the atrocities committed the day before at the Trump rally and to show disabled people like him that the deplorable human filth that abused and kicked him at the Trump rally is not representative of the majority of good and kind human beings.

Outside, a reporter who covered the rally heard that the boy hoped to one day meet Obama, Holmes said; the reporter called Valentina Pereda, Florida press secretary for the Hillary Clinton campaign, who used to be the White House deputy director for Hispanic media.

The idea? See how close they could get JJ to the rope line at a Democratic event Sunday in Kissimmee, Florida, where Obama was speaking in support of Clinton. Maybe he would shake JJ's hand on his way down the line.

Pereda wrote on Facebook about the moment the reporter told her JJ's story.

"I freeze: first in disbelief and, next, feeling utterly helpless," she wrote. "What the hell could I do to make this child even slightly forget that experience? I'm a nobody!

"I tell the reporter to share my number with JJ's mother and that the only thing I can do is escort them into President Obama's rally the following day. No chance for VIP treatment and much less to meet the President."

On Sunday, Pereda said she devised a plan, with help from a friend who she said travels with the president.

"I point him to where in the VIP area JJ is sitting with the hope that when POTUS would work the ropeline, he'd somehow remember JJ's story and spend two extra seconds with him," she wrote. "And with that, I was satisfied with [what] was to be accomplished. A handshake."

Then it happened.

"Shortly after, colleagues begin to frantically text and call me to tell me my friend from the WH was looking for me," Pereda wrote.

"I sprint about half a mile back into the stadium and push my way through angry Secret Service agents and thick crowds. I finally spot my friend who, once again, asks me to point out where the boy is sitting, which I do. Then - out of the blue - I tell him, 'well, how about I wheel him out of the VIP area and bring him around?' "

"Wow, this is really happening," Pereda wrote.

"At that moment, JJ's mom tells him he's going to meet the President. The rest is indescribable. . . JJ jumps out of his seat and erupts into cheer . . . his smile almost bursting out of his face. His body overcome by light, when just the day before it almost succumbed to hate."

JJ's mother said he told the president he loved him, thanked him for the handshake and asked him, "Can you vote?"

"He wanted to make sure he could vote for Hillary Clinton," she said.

JJ said Monday that meeting Obama was the highlight of his weekend, but when his mother asked him, "Are you happy that you went to the Trump rally?" he shouted: "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"

"Okay," she said, laughing. "OK."

"He was over the moon," his mother said. "He really feels that he made a stand."

Good god I see the DNC has some last minute spinning up it's sleeve. Couldn't blame Trump a bit if he thought it was a Hillary plant. They stoop low enough to hire the mentally ill and homeless to do their evil bidding, why not the disabled too?

If he had that Hillary sign on his wheelchair at the Trump rally, I'm sure that didn't go over too well either.

I'm not even going to entertain you with the reality of Trump "mocking" the disabled.

Yep you're right. Ugh. How many times does this need to be debunked?

Good is bad and bad is good it seems anymore. Mmmm....I think Jesus said something along those lines about the future.

a reply to: Kryties

I'm pretty sure these are more feebly attempted lies lies and more lies.

Come on... Trump kicks some kid out only to have Obama take him under his wing?

People aren't as stupid as to believe this BS story you've posted.

The only place this happened was in your head. Sorry.

a reply to: MOMof3

Yes I.. he did.

a reply to: Kryties

PLUS

This kid looks like Obama's Kid.

How convenient was this photo op?

Too damn easy lol.

a reply to: Kryties

I don't buy it. Not at all. If you go to the supposed reporter's facebook page, it's all Trump bashing articles and videos. And if you watch the video where he is allegedly kicking the kid out, there are no shots at all of the kid; I guarantee you he was not kicking out a kid in a wheelchair. The crowd would definitely not be behind kicking out a kid in a wheelchair. But it sure does seem like a DNC propaganda piece.

One more day and this crap is over. I can't wait.

You people are deplorable.



That's all I have to say. Now go right ahead and continue making excuses for this absolutely disgusting behaviour from Trump supporters. Like I said in the OP, there is no depth of depravity you seem unwilling to sink to.

I am disgusted that I have to breathe the same air as people like you lot.

i ask you people what kind of person would put their handicapped child in the path of danger to parrot their parents views. Disgusting.

originally posted by: Nucleardoom
Good god I see the DNC has some last minute spinning up it's sleeve. Couldn't blame Trump a bit if he thought it was a Hillary plant. They stoop low enough to hire the mentally ill and homeless to do their evil bidding, why not the disabled too?

If he had that Hillary sign on his wheelchair at the Trump rally, I'm sure that didn't go over to well either.

I'm not even going to entertain you with the reality of Trump "mocking" the disabled.

Yep you're right. Ugh. How many times does this need to be debunked?

That was a heartwarming story. Sadly, I am not surprised to see comments like this constantly though.

originally posted by: boredsilly
i ask you people what kind of person would put their handicapped child in the path of danger to parrot their parents views. Disgusting.

From the article:

www.smh.com.au...

Some people also criticised Holmes for taking her son to the rally, accusing her of using him to protest. "He's not some puppet I wheeled in there," Holmes said. "This was him - this was all him."

Continue to make excuses for Trump supporters deplorable behaviour though. It only serves to prove my point about you lot entirely.

What a disgrace.

a reply to: Kryties

Deplorable is a mother taking her disable child to a Trump rally knowing full well his intentions and the outcome.

This mothers mental health needs to be questioned.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: Kryties

Deplorable is a mother taking her disable child to a Trump rally knowing full well his intentions and the outcome.

This mothers mental health needs to be questioned.

Read the post above yours then feel free to continue making excuses for the Trump supporters deplorable behaviour and completely prove my point.

Really. I don't have to do much. Everything that has been posted so far only proves the deplorable depths to which you people will sink. So please continue.....

a reply to: Kryties

Yea, it was all him...sure. She was there no? She provides his care no?

I smell a sideshow , why the # would you take a disabled kid into a bees nest ?

The mom needs to grow up .

originally posted by: JesusXst
a reply to: Kryties

The only place this happened was in your head. Sorry.

Star for the comedy sir.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: Kryties

Yea, it was all him...sure. She was there no? She provides his care no?

Please continue to ignore the reality of what happened and keep making up false theories to explain Trump supporters deplorable behaviour. It's making my job so easy.

a reply to: Kryties

Ok ignore the obvious. Looks like your one of very few falling for this.

originally posted by: JesusXst
a reply to: Kryties

The only place this happened was in your head. Sorry.

Ahh yes. Denial of reality. Another depth unto which people like you will sink to in order to excuse your disgusting and deplorable views on disabled people.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: Kryties

Ok ignore the obvious. Looks like your one of very few falling for this.

I'm not the one ignoring reality here.