Poll finds Trump's worst offense: mocking a disabled reporter

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has been making headlines for his offensive remarks, has drawn the ire of most of the Americans by insulting a disabled reporter, shows a poll result.

Likely voters, when asked in a recent Bloomberg poll what bothered them most about Trump, chose one action above all: When the presidential runner mocked a reporter with a disability last November.

Trump, at a rally, had imitated New York Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski, who suffers from a congenital joint condition.

He had singled out Kovaleski for a story he wrote a few days after the 9/11 attacks, while he was then a Washington Post correspondent, to back up widely disputed claims that "thousands" of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the attacks.

That article stated authorities had detained "a number of people who were allegedly seen celebrating the attacks and holding tailgate-style parties on rooftops while they watched the devastation on the other side of the river". Those accounts have never been authenticated.

The New York Times had called Trump's actions "outrageous".

Democrats have made sure the public has seen and heard about Trump's extended riff over and over again as it has been played in ads created by the Clinton campaign and groups working on her behalf.

Former US president and Hillary's husband, Bill Clinton even said in his convention speech that his wife "never made fun of people with disabilities. She tried to empower them based on their ability."

Trump, although, denied that he meant to mock the reporter. Of late, he said, "I didn't know what he looked like. I didn't know he was disabled."

The poll was conducted before Donald Trump ignited firestorm with a comment about "Second Amendment people", which many interpreted as a veiled suggestion of violence against his Democratic rival Clinton.

It showed Clinton enjoying a 6-point lead over Donald Trump in a two-way contest among likely voters.

More than six in 10 say they are bothered a lot that Trump mocked a reporter’s physical disability, the highest level of displeasure among the issues challenging Trump that were tested.

More than half of likely voters, 56 percent, say they were bothered a lot by Trump’s criticisms of the soldier’s parents.

Many say they were bothered a lot that he said he alone can fix the nation's problems, while others denounce his suggestion that Russian hackers try to find Clinton’s deleted e-mails.