Trump’s nephew Fred Trump III said in an interview this morning on CNN that last year, when he called this uncle asking for financial help for his disabled son William, the former president told him, “‘He doesn’t recognize you. Let him die and move down to Florida.'”
“Now I don’t know how anyone could say that about any other human being, but to say it about your grandnephew is pretty grotesque,” said Trump’s nephew, the son of Fred Trump Jr., the former president’s brother who battled alcoholism and died of a heart attack in 1981.
William has the genetic variant KCNQ2 and suffers from seizures.
Fred Trump, 61, explained that he believes the former president and other family members kicked him out of his grandfather’s will years ago, and later on, he said the former president and his aunt agreed to set up a fund to help with William’s care. He said the money “never really materialized” and last year, when he called the former president to ask for financial assistance for William’s therapeutic care, his uncle made the comment to him.
“I said, ‘No, he does recognize me,'” said Fred Trump, who recently published a book about his experience in the Trump family. His sister, Mary Trump, previously published a similar book and has been a longtime critic of their uncle.
When reached for comment, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said the former president’s nephew’s story was “completely fabricated and total fake news of the highest order.”
“It is appalling a lie so blatantly disgusting can be printed in media,” Cheung said. “Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language, and false stories like this have been thoroughly debunked. This is nothing more than a cheap shot to sell copies of a book that belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section.”
The former president’s nephew said he believes in Vice President Kamala Harris’ policies and would be willing to campaign for her, including in key battleground states where he has ties.
“If I’m asked, I will campaign on behalf of the Harris campaign and get the word out. My mom was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I’d love to go to Michigan,” he said. “I went to Lehigh University, as did my dad, as did my son, Cristopher. Andrew went to school in Philadelphia. I have family in Pennsylvania, very important state, and I say I’m a different kind of Trump. I think I can fit in with any group of people.”
NBC News has also reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.