Trump: GOP challengers ‘viciously’ attacked me
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said Republicans have not given him a warm welcome since he entered their 2016 nominating process.
{mosads}Trump argued he is on the defensive against GOP White House hopefuls during a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week.”
“I’m not looking to attack them,” Trump said of the rest of the Republican field.
“I didn’t start the attacks,” he said. “But I have been attacked and I counter punch.”
“I mean, they attacked me first and I hit them back and maybe even harder than they hit me,” Trump added.
“But the fact is that I’ve been attacked pretty viciously by some of these guys.”
Trump charged that his entrance into politics freed him from his previous life as a New York business mogul. The outspoken billionaire admitted on Sunday that he no longer needs diplomacy when dealing with other public figures.
“I was a businessman all my life,” Trump told host Jonathan Karl.
“I had to deal with politicians, and I would contribute to them and I would deal with them and certainly I’m not going to say bad things about people because I needed their support to get projects done,” he said.
“Now I’m no longer a businessman,” Trump added. “Now I’m somebody who wants to make our country great.”
Trump additionally said he is seeking the Oval Office so he can improve America’s fortunes following President Obama’s two terms there.
“I think he has done a very poor job as president,” Trump said of Obama.
“We don’t have victories anymore,” he said. “I think that he has set a very low standard.”
—This report was updated at 10:47 a.m.
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