Trump: Coverage of McCain comments controversy overblown

Donald Trump is accusing the media of over-blowing his controversial comments mocking Sen. John McCain’s time as a prisoner or war.

{mosads}The GOP presidential contender has been in hot water since he said that McCain (R-Ariz.) was not a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War. The Arizona senator had previously drawn Trump’s ire by bashing those who attended his illegal immigration rally as “crazies.”

Responding to the controversy in a live interview Monday morning on NBC’s “Today,” Trump blasted the show’s hosts and other members of the media for allegedly misrepresenting his comments.

“The media has done just a false number, as usual. … The next sentence was, ‘He’s a war hero.’ I said that, but they never want to play it, and you don’t want to play it,” Trump said.

“What I do have problems with is that he called 15,000 people that showed up to hear me speak in Phoenix, he called them crazies because they want to stop illegal immigration. They are great Americans.”

NBC played excerpts from Trump’s weekend interview, when he made the comments about McCain. “He was not a war hero because he was captured; I like people who weren’t captured,” he said.

The network also included Trump’s follow up, in which he said that McCain was a war hero.

The comments drew swift condemnation from the GOP presidential field, who bashed Trump and called on him to apologize. A number, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), called on Trump to step out of the presidential race over the comments.

But Trump rejected that criticism and noted that he’s in the top tier of candidates and even leading in a slew of polls.

“My opponents brought it up, these are guys that have zero in the polls,” he said.