Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was up to his old tricks on Wednesday, hurling insults and complimenting himself—par for the course for his stump speeches—less than 24 hours after giving an uncharacteristically buttoned-up victory address.
Trump withheld the usual jabs at his rivals during his victory speech after winning the New York primary on Tuesday, vowing to make America great again and arguing that it was “impossible” for the other candidates to catch him in delegates. But at a Wednesday afternoon rally in Indiana, Trump said that Republicans had the worst of “dishonest” presidential nominating processes in both parties.
“It’s a rigged, crooked system that’s designed so that the bosses can pick whoever they want and that people like me can’t run and can’t defend you against foreign nonsense,” Trump said, “and can’t defend you against China and Japan and Mexico and Vietnam and India and every single country you can name, because we lose with every—we lose, believe me, with every deal we do.”
Trump reminded the audience of his nicknames for rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), or “Lyin’ Ted,” and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, or “Crooked Hillary.”
“We’ll fire Hillary. Hillary, you’re fired! She’ll be fired,” Trump said. “If she ever gets a chance to run. I think she’s being protected.”
Trump went on to rail against Mexico for stealing jobs like “candy from a baby” and again promised to build a wall between the United States and its southern neighbor. He also said the country was “stupid” for not authorizing waterboarding and called himself a genius.
At one point Trump also took a quick poll of the crowd, asking them if they hated the media. The crowd shouted back “Yes!”
“OK,” Trump replied. “I don’t hate anybody. I love the media. They’re wonderful.”
