A defensive Donald Trump lashed out reporters during a combative press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan as he faced sustained questioning over the money he pledged to donate to veterans’ organizations.
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Marine Alexander McCoy, who was also protesting, said Trump has been using veterans as props, WCBS 880’s Marla Diamond reported.
He singled out one journalist, Tom Llamas of ABC News, as “a sleaze”, and another, Jim Acosta of CNN, as “a real beauty” for his reporting on his campaign. Should be an interesting week.
By railing against the media, Trump also stokes the anti-media fervor of his base (which puts little stock in anything the media says) and deflects attention from his own shortcomings – in this instance, the fact that he did not raise the $6 million for veterans groups until forced to do so by pressure from the media.
Trump had claimed during the fundraiser that he’d raised $6 million through a combination of pledges from wealthy friends, the public and $1 million from himself. In remarks on a possible “bubble burst”, Trump said in the recording: “I sort of hope that happens because then people like me would go in and buy” to “make a lot of money”.
Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon told The Washington Post that her campaign can win news cycles on the local and state levels – even if Trump remains the star of national newscasts.
“I raised close to $6m”, Trump said.
While the Post reminds us both North and South Korean officials have been critical of Trump’s aggro policy prescriptions for the peninsula, it seems more than likely this friendly missive has the approval of Kim Jong-un’s regime.
Former students from California, Florida and NY accuse Trump and his now-defunct, for-profit school of making empty promises, including that they would be taught Trump’s investing secrets, to get them to pay as much as $35,000 for “elite” real-estate seminars. “I didn’t want to do this where the press is all involved”.
But on the other hand, one too many outbursts – regardless of the target – underscore Trump’s biggest weakness when it comes to traits voters are considering going into the general election.
John Douglass, a retired Air Force general and Clinton backer, raised Trump’s disparagement a year ago of U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona, a war veteran.
“I think the political press is among the most dishonest people I ever met”, he said.
In a section called “identifying buyers”, the playbooks instruct Trump team members to sort student profiles according to those who had the most liquid assets (over $35,000) to those who had the least (less than $2,000).
As he continued his broadside against the press, one reporter asked if this treatment was to be expected in the White House briefing room.
Appearing on CNN Tuesday, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said she was glad that Trump had given out the promised money.
Local New York Veteran affiliated with the group “the #VetsVsHate ” are planning a protest outside Trump tower to complain that Trump “has used veterans as political props”.
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“The problem here is the difference between what Donald Trump says and what Donald Trump does”, Clinton said. “He is demeaning to POWs, Muslims, Mexicans and women who, unlike, Trump, actually sacrificed for their country”.
