Presidential races

Trump dismisses Iowa paper’s call that he drop out

by Jesse Byrnes 07/21/15 07:54 AM ET

Donald Trump is dismissing calls by The Des Moines Register editorial board that he should drop out of the 2016 Republican presidential race.

{mosads}The newspaper’s Tuesday editorial says that Trump seems “wholly unqualified” to be president, adding that he has disqualified himself with controversial remarks on immigrants and Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) war record.

The newspaper’s editors also described Trump as “a feckless blowhard” who only provokes “outrage.”

“In the five weeks since he announced his campaign to seek the GOP nomination for president, Trump has been more focused on promoting himself, and his brand, than in addressing the problems facing the nation,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote.

“If he were merely a self-absorbed, B-list celebrity, his unchecked ego could be tolerated as a source of mild amusement. But he now wants to become president, which means that he aspires to be the leader of the free world and the keeper of our nuclear launch codes,” they added.

Trump said in a statement Tuesday morning that he is “not at all surprised” by the “sophomoric editorial.”

As he has done with companies and brands that have recently distanced themselves from the businessman, Trump suggested the newspaper could not handle his celebrity, citing a poll from the previous day showing him atop the crowded GOP field.

“As one of the most liberal newspapers in the United States, the poll results were just too much for them to bear,” Trump said, suggesting the editorial is intended to gain the newspaper “desperately needed ink.”

He also claimed that the newspaper’s news coverage of his campaign in Iowa is “uneven and inconsistent, but far more importantly, very dishonest.” Specifically, he dinged the newspaper for failing to capture “the energy” of his events or his crowd numbers.

Trump said in Ames on Saturday that McCain, who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war during Vietnam, “was a war hero because he was captured … I like people who weren’t captured.”

That prompted swift and broad criticism from Republicans. Trump has since attempted to clarify his remarks, saying he is “not a fan” of McCain because of the lawmaker’s work on behalf of veterans.

The backlash continued Tuesday in Iowa, which hosts the first-in-the-nation caucuses early next year, with the Hawkeye State newspaper saying Trump’s comments “were not merely offensive, they were disgraceful.”

“If Trump, our would-be commander in chief, doesn’t like POWs, how does he feel about men and women killed in action?” the Register’s editorial board asked.