In a bylined article for
USA Today, Donald Trump on Sunday said he doesn't need lectures from other GOP presidential candidates — calling many of them "failed politicians"— and insisted he has a proven record of support for veterans.
Trump has been
under fire from the large GOP field – with the notable exception of Ted Cruz – after saying on Saturday that Arizona Sen. John McCain is "not a war hero" and a "loser." McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than five years.
Trump's criticism was sparked by McCain's criticism of people who support Trump's position against illegal immigration. He called them "crazies."
The Republican National Committee criticized Trump for what he said about McCain, but, Trump noted in his USA Today piece that "no one in the news media or the establishment, including the Republican National Committee, criticized" McCain's original comments against the Trump supporters.
In his article, Trump again slams McCain's record of helping veterans as well calling the senator weak on immigration and overly zealous in using the military.
"The reality is that John McCain the politician has made America less safe, sent our brave soldiers into wrong-headed foreign adventures, covered up for President Obama with the VA scandal and has spent most of his time in the Senate pushing amnesty," he writes.
Some critics said Trump insulted all veterans – especially POWs – when he insinuated McCain was a war hero only because he was captured by the enemy.
In his op-ed, Trump touts his own record with veterans, including his time as co-chairman of the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission.
"Toward this end, I contributed over $1 million so our warriors can be honored in New York City with a proper memorial," he said. "I also helped finance and served as the grand marshal of the 1995 Nation’s Day Parade, which honored over 25,000 veterans."
USA Today's editorial board, meanwhile,
posted its own comments on Trump, calling his words a "low-class outburst."
"We had hoped to pay no attention to the Trump sideshow. But that became harder to do when he jumped to the top of the recent USA Today/Suffolk and Fox News polls of Republican voters," the editorial board said. "Then, over the weekend, Trump's big mouth became, not surprisingly, impossible to ignore."
Trump's insult to McCain may not spell the end of his presidential aspirations, USA Today said, but if not, something else will.
"The mouth will keep moving, and one day it will open wide and swallow his candidacy whole," the board said.
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