The radio interview scene

Every biopic requires a certain degree of artistic license, because no two hours of literal events can tell the story of any person's life. I saw 'Music Within' last week as it aired on ThisTV, and one scene proved fascinating from an artistic standpoint on account of its rhetorical dissonance. The scene concerns the 1988 radio interview between Richard Pimentel and an unnamed talk show host.

First, Richard refers to an anonymous source who has predicted that the first presidential candidate (Bush or Dukakis) to endorse the Americans with Disabilities Act will receive the votes of all disabled Americans. This is a forward-looking statement, and clearly identified as such.

But then, he cites a rumor reporting that when an unnamed government official was notified that a new, always-fatal disease was infecting homosexuals and drug users, the official responded by saying, "So what's the problem?" Based on this rumor, Richard (probably paraphrased) says, "and that's the kind of Nazi Germany mentality that we have to get away from!" The interview ends immediately, but the scene raises an intriguing set of questions:

1) Was the scene true to an actual public comment made by (the real) Mr. Pimentel?

2) Why would a gifted speaker use an unattributed rumor -- an appeal to something less than logos, launching a generalization fallacy -- as the basis for accusing thousands of bureaucrats, or millions of voters, of Nazi-style attitudes?

3) If the rant was written for the movie, was it designed to show (the character) Richard's collapsing emotional state, as if he failed to recognize the ethical problems in his claim?

4) If the rant was fictional, were the writers and producer/star invoking Reagan-era insensitivity as a way of expressing their anger at the Bush administration, and ignoring the rules of persuasion that their protagonist knew and hopefully treasured?

It wasn't a throwaway line, because it was building to the emotional climax of the movie; what was its primary purpose?