Disability advocate says now-deleted tweet from lawmaker criticized VP Harris for saying her pronouns

A disability advocate says he is upset about a now-deleted tweet from state Rep. Mike Lawler.

News 12 Staff

Jul 27, 2022, 2:48 AM

Updated 804 days ago

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A disability advocate says he is upset about a now-deleted tweet from state Rep. Mike Lawler.
Lawler wrote "It has to stop. This is just ridiculous."
Some disability advocates think he was criticizing the Vice President Kamala Harris for saying her pronouns.
"It's kind of like this flippant attitude towards the disabled and people who have these special needs accommodating them should never be a laughing matter," says Zach Disador, a disability advocate.
Lawler says it's just a misunderstanding, and that he and many others online thought the video showed the vice president making a gaffe.
She describes what she's wearing and where she's sitting. 
Harris was at a roundtable for disability advocates, but Lawler says he didn't know that.
"As soon as we realized the context of that meeting, we took down the tweet. Obviously, I've been a strong advocate for those with disabilities during my time in the state legislature supporting numerous organizations," he says. 
Lawler says it's suspect that when he's beating opponent Sean Patrick Maloney in polls, a Democrat committee member would want to talk to News 12 about this.
Zach Disador says he is a Putnam and Southeast Democratic committee member, but also has worked 17 years at an a-political agency advocating for the disabled.
 He says this isn't about politics. It's about that our leaders need to be held accountable for what they say.