Democrat State Rep. Mocks Abbott's Disability: He 'Just Kind of Rolls Around'

Democrat State Rep. Mocks Abbott's Disability: He 'Just Kind of Rolls Around'

AUSTIN, Texas — Just when the furor was starting to die down over Democrat Wendy Davis’ “empty wheelchair” ad attacking her Republican opponent Greg Abbott, a video from a Davis campaign event over the weekend is likely to spark that controversy once again. At a rally in Pflugerville on Saturday, State Representative Dawnna Dukes was among the fellow Democrats there to support Davis, and made remarks that are being viewed as mocking Abbott’s disability.

Speaking from the main stage at the event before Davis, Dukes said, “we have this guy who just kind of rolls around thinking that he can get tort reform for himself but take it away from everybody else in the state of Texas,” referring to Abbott, who has been in a wheelchair since 1984 when a tree fell on him while he was jogging. Video of Dukes making these remarks was uploaded to YouTube, and the crowd can be heard laughing in response to Dukes’ saying Abbott just “rolls around.”

The video does not show how Davis reacted to Dukes’ comments but she did post a tweet thanking Dukes for being at the event:

Dukes herself posted several tweets from the event as well, and the Travis County Democrats posted another photo identifying Dukes clearly wearing the same bright blue shirt as shown in the video above:

[Hat tip: Weasel Zippers]

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter at @rumpfshaker.

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