Happy birthday, J.K. Rowling; how about a side of crow to go with the cake and ice cream?
The “Harry Potter” author, who turned 52 on Monday, took time out of her birthday to offer up apologies, after accusing President Trump of ignoring a disabled boy who sought a handshake from the Chief Executive.
In a series of tweets, Rowling didn’t apologize to Trump, but rather to the boy in the video she had misinterpreted.
“Re: my tweets about the small boy in a wheelchair whose proffered hand the president appeared to ignore in press footage, multiple sources have informed me that that was not a full or accurate representation of their interaction,” Rowling wrote.
“I very clearly projected my own sensitivities around the issue of disabled people being overlooked or ignored onto the images I saw and if that caused any distress to that boy or his family, I apologize unreservedly. These tweets will remain, but I will delete the previous ones on the subject,” Rowling wrote.
Rowling drew social-media wrath late last week after falsely accusing Trump of ignoring a wheelchair-bound boy’s effort to shake his hand.
Chief among Rowling’s critics was British media personality Piers Morgan, who called her tweets “abusive” and tweeted, “Very poor of @jk_rowling not to have admitted her error. Trump’s many flaws don’t justify untruthful attacks” over the weekend.
In a Daily Mail column published Monday, Morgan pointed out that the full video of Trump’s exchange with the disabled boy, which “emerged several hours” after Rowling’s tweets, showed Trump greeting the boy “before he greets anyone else.”
He also noted that the boy’s mother, Marjorie Kelly Weer, posted on Facebook, “if someone can please get a message to JK Rowling. Trump didn’t snub my son & Monty wasn’t even trying to shake his hand (1. He’s 3 and hand shaking is not his thing. 2. He was showing off his newly acquired secret service patch). Thanks.”
While others who leveled the same claim against Trump deleted their tweets, Rowling “would prefer to continue using a three-year-old disabled boy to falsely smear Donald Trump, such is her blind hatred for the man,” Morgan wrote.
Morgan was unswayed by the apology Rowling posted Monday, noting on Twitter, “she’s not apologizing to the person she actually smeared.”
Re: my tweets about the small boy in a wheelchair whose proferred hand the president appeared to ignore in press footage, multiple /1
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 31, 2017
sources have informed me that that was not a full or accurate representation of their interaction. I very clearly projected my own /2
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 31, 2017
sensitivities around the issue of disabled people being overlooked or ignored onto the images I saw and if that caused any distress /3
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 31, 2017
to that boy or his family, I apologise unreservedly. These tweets will remain, but I will delete the previous ones on the subject. /4x
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) July 31, 2017
Yes, she’s not apologising to the person she actually smeared. https://t.co/zOqWAvKuQb
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 31, 2017