Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump lambasted the media Tuesday while taking questions at a press conference during which he tried to clarify uncertainty surrounding his past fundraising efforts for veterans, even calling ABC reporter Tom Llamas "a sleaze."
Speaking at Trump Tower in New York City with veterans standing behind him, Trump released details about where the money went that he raised at a veterans event in January, which he held instead of attending a Fox News debate in Iowa.
Trump told reporters that his campaign raised $5.6 million for various veterans organizations, naming each donation one by one. But the real estate mogul took issue with the media's coverage of the story, accusing the press of distorting his fundraising.
"I’m not looking for credit. But what I don’t want is when I raise millions of dollars, have people say, like this sleazy guy right over here from ABC. He’s a sleaze in my book," Trump said while pointing to Llamas.
"Why am I a sleaze?" Llamas can be heard asking off camera.
"You’re a sleaze because you know the facts and you know the facts well," Trump replied.
The presumptive GOP nominee accused the press of "dishonest reporting" of his January event for veterans, arguing they did not accurately report the crowd size and are trying to discredit that his fundraising went to veterans groups.
"Instead of being like, ‘Thank you very much, Mr. Trump,’ or ‘Trump did a good job,’ everyone said: ‘Who got it? Who got it? Who got it?’’ Trump said. "And you make me look very bad. I have never received such bad publicity for doing a good job."
Llamas responded to the insult on Twitter, writing, "Trump just called me a ‘sleaze.’ Should be an interesting week."
Trump just called me a "sleaze." Should be an interesting week.
— Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) May 31, 2016
Llamas also posted on Twitter the exchange that led to Trump attacking him.
The exchange that led Trump to call me a "sleaze." 👇pic.twitter.com/dDwsjR4IlF
— Tom Llamas (@TomLlamasABC) May 31, 2016
This is not the first time that Trump has gotten upset at Llamas over his reporting.
Trump attacked Llamas and ABC last year in August for his coverage of a spat between Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was seeking the Republican nomination at the time. Trump and Bush were arguing over immigration policy, and Llamas took issue with the real estate mogul’s use of the term "anchor babies."
Weeks later, Trump gave Llamas a "love tap" on the cheek when the two encountered each other on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.