For Those With Stutters, Trump Mocking Biden's Stammer Is Frustratingly Familiar

When actor and disability advocate Marc Winski  heard former President Donald Trump  mock President Joe Bidens  stutter at a campaign rally earlier this month, he wasnt entirely surprised. 

Im gonna bring the country t-t-t-together , Trump said, mocking Bidens recent State of the Union address  at a rally in Rome, Georgia, last weekend.

It wasnt the first time Trump had poked fun at Bidens lifelong struggle with stuttering or even someones disability. During his 2016 presidential run, Trump infamously imitated Serge Kovaleski,  a New York Times reporter who has arthrogryposis , a condition that limits joint functioning. (Trump claimed that he was only pantomiming a groveling reporter with his jerking hand movements.) 

So while Winski wasnt surprised at Trumps latest gaffe, he was disappointed, especially when he heard the audiences reaction.

What bothered me the most were the cheers, laughter, and applause given from the audience, Winski told HuffPost. That was appalling and showed that further education is needed. Nobody should be mocking another persons disability. Period.

Between 6 and 8 million people in the United States have some kind of language impairment, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

For Winski and many like him that plays out in stuttering , a speech disorder characterized by repetition of sounds, syllables, or words and interruptions and involuntary lengthening of speech. Mentally, those with stutters generally experience tension and negative feelings about talking, avoiding raising their hands in class or signing up for activities that would involve lots of socializing. 

Because its so hard to mask, its not uncommon for those who stutter to deal with schoolyard bullies and discrimination long into adulthood. 

Winski has dealt with it all, from the jokes like tuh-tuh-tuh and did you forget your name? to being openly discriminated against for jobs: It took daily practice to unlearn this shame and work to be proud to share my unique voice. 

Biden, too, has spoken openly about having a stutter. While hes never received professional intervention, growing up, he practiced speaking in front of a mirror  to curb it, with strong encouragement from his late mother, Catherine. 

In Frontlines 2020 Trump vs. Biden documentary, Bidens sister, Valerie Biden Owens , described how Catherine came to her brothers aid when a nun at his school bullied him, calling him Mr. Buh-buh-buh Biden after hed stumbled while reading out loud in class. 

As the story goes, Catherine marched her young son back to school and confronted the teacher to her face : Sister, did you make fun of my son? if you ever, ever, ever do that again, Im going to come back and Im going to knock your bonnet right off your head. Do we understand each other?

Caroline Jones, a speech-language pathologist, thinks that unlike most disabilities, people feel entitled to correct stammering because they believe its something that can easily be controlled. (Others think that if the person would just relax and calm down, theyd have no problem working their way around their words.) 

Speech impairments are quite different from more overt physical disabilities in that it may appear that a stutter or other non-typical manner of speaking is something that the person could control, said Jones, whos worked for over 30 years in the field, largely in a K-12 school setting.

In the case of stuttering, its a life-long impairment and very hard to modify or overcome, she said.

Others misguidedly believe that a stutter or speech disorder says something about a persons intelligence. Thats not true, either, Jones said. Some of my most gifted students have been stutterers. 

Caitlyn Cohen , a social media influencer and disability advocate who has a stutter, said that stereotypes about cognitive ability are most maddening. 

Having a speech impairment does not make anyone less intelligent or capable. It simply means that it takes a bit longer to communicate our thoughts and ideas, she told HuffPost. 

Growing up, Cohen said she was in denial about her severe stutter. She knew she had one but because her insecurities ran so deep, shed get defensive and change the subject when people tried to talk to her about it or offer help.

Being bullied in middle school didnt help, she said. I always felt like my stutter was the reason why I didnt have many friends.

When the COVID pandemic hit, Cohen decided to throw caution to the wind and embrace her stuttering, through social media posts that delve into dating and job hunting with a stutter. 

Cohen quickly gained a following for her candidness; on Instagram she has over 104,000  followers. On TikTok, a cool million . 

Ive learned to accept that my stutter is a part of me, but it doesnt define me, she said. I dont care anymore what other people think or say about it. Im me, and thats all that matters.

While she tries to avoid unnecessary stress and negativity, she felt compelled to speak out about Trumps taunt. Stuttering is stigmatized enough without having it center stage in a presidential campaign and Cohen, like others, worries that comments like Trumps could make others with stutters fearful of public life. 

People who belittle others for their disabilities are not only ignorant but lack empathy and understanding, she said.   

Jones, the speech-language pathologist, wishes there were more acceptance of stuttering as a difference rather than a disability, much like what is happening in the neurodivergent community in the cases of autism and ADHD. 

Tammy Flores, an executive director at the nonprofit The National Stuttering Association , also hopes that stuttering becomes more normalized. For those outside the stuttering community, it starts with learning how to talk about it.

An easy one to know is that we dont view stuttering as an speech impediment, she said. Stuttering is a communication disorder involving disruptions, or disfluencies, in a persons speech.

Stuttering is just another way of speaking for some people, said Winski, the aforementioned actor and disability advocate. We all have disfluencies when we talk think of how many hmm, umm, uh huhs were in your last conversation those who stutter just experience it more intensely. 

Being patient and allowing stutterers the space to openly stutter and say what they want to say is so important, he said. (In that regard, its important not to jump in and try to finish someones sentences when theyre stammering.)

Its also worth noting that just because you dont hear stuttering, doesnt mean its not happening. Those with stutters quickly learn to self-silence in public, to avoid unnecessary embarrassment. 

Because of the negative stigma behind stuttering, so many people who stutter hide, change their words, or even not order the foods they really want at a restaurant, he said. They feel that their voices arent enough. 

Cohen, the influencer, hopes that teachable moments like the Biden example lead to a more empathetic society, with less laughter at others expense. 

Those who judge and ridicule others could never survive the challenges that individuals with disabilities face daily, she said. I think collectively, we have to try and rise above negativity and strive to make the world a more inclusive and compassionate place.