Donald Trump nephew says he told him to let his disabled son die

Donald Trump’s nephew made a revelation Tuesday on The View that was so stunning it elicited audible gasps from the live studio audience.

During an appearance on the talk show to promote his book, All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way, Fred C. Trump III dropped a major bombshell on the cohosts when he claimed that the former president once instructed him to let his own son die.

When the show’s multi-part interview with Fred returned from a commercial break, cohost Sara Haines asked him about his son, William, who was born in 1999 with “a rare genetic disorder causing severe developmental and intellectual disabilities,” as Haines summarized. She then noted that Fred “spent year advocating for his care, eventually lobbying Donald to establish a medical fund for William” — the consistent replenishment of which, Haines said, led to a particularly disturbing exchange between the two.

“It doesn’t get any easier to recall this moment, but, yes, the fund which was only necessary because my inheritance was taken away from me and Mary [Trump],” Fred recalled, also referencing his younger sister — and fellow staunch critic of Donald. “I called him to say, ‘Donald, the fund is running low,’ and without skipping a beat, he said, ‘Your son doesn’t recognize you. Let him die, and move down to Florida.’ I can’t explain how anybody could say that about another human being, least of all your grand-nephew.”

Fred also said that Donald hadn’t met William, and that he was incapable of understanding what an inspiration William was to people that he inspired through his life.

“That tells you a lot about the man, doesn’t it?” cohost Joy Behar asked. “And his policies will let people die also.”

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Earlier in the interview, Fred also claimed that he heard his uncle use the N-word earlier in life, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid to beat his uncle in the upcoming November presidential election.

The allegation came months after former Apprentice producer Bill Pruitt accused the host of sexism and racism in an essay for Slate, in which he said that Donald used the N-word about Black finalist Kwame Jackson on the series’ first season.

Representatives for Donald did not respond to Entertainment Weekly‘s request for comment, though The View’s legal expert, Sunny Hostin, read on air a statement from the former president’s campaign in response to Fred’s claims: “This is completely fabricated and total fake news of the highest order. It’s appalling, a lie, so blatantly disgusting can be printed in media. Anyone who knows President Trump knows he would never use such language and false stories like this have been thoroughly debunked.”

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/PT on ABC.