Donald Trump on Monday took credit for referring to an explosive device set off in Manhattan on Saturday night as a “bomb” before news outlets or law enforcement, saying “I called it.”
“I should be a newscaster because I called it before the news,” Trump said in a phone interview on “Fox and Friends. “What I said was exactly correct and everybody says while he was right, he called it too soon. Okay. Give me a break.”
The real estate mogul was criticized for calling the Manhattan explosion a “bomb” during a Saturday rally before key information was released to the public. While Hillary Clinton cautioned of the importance of knowing “the facts” about the incident, which injured 29, she too referred to it as a “bombing” on Saturday night, though her use of the word was edited out of CNN’s video of her remarks.
Trump called CNN “disgusting” and “shameful” for making the edit, accusing the network of working on Clinton’s behalf.
“It’s a rigged system, and I’ve been saying it for a long time, and the news is as dishonest as anybody there is,” Trump said.
Told that his word choice mattered because “authorities had not officially released that it was a bombing,” Trump said the real reason his detractors criticized him for his word choice was that he was doing well in the polls.
“That’s not really the reason,” he said. “The reason is because my poll numbers are so good that they are so worried. They will do anything they can to stop common sense.”
Trump’s language was strikingly similar to what he has said after previous terrorist attacks. He did a victory lap on Twitter after three coordinated suicide bombings killed 32 and wounded over 300 in Belgium in March, saying he has been right about terrorism “time & time again.”
I have proven to be far more correct about terrorism than anybody- and it’s not even close. Hopefully AZ and UT will be voting for me today!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2016
Hours after 49 people were shot at a nightclub in Orlando in June, he sent a tweet saying, “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism.”
He also said that the August murder of NBA player Dwyane Wade’s cousin on a Chicago street indicated that African Americans would vote for him.
Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2016
