Donald Trump Kicks Off "Thank You Tour," Slams "Dishonest Press"

At a rally in Ohio, the president-elect boasted of his "landslide" victory, even though he "didn't have the press. The press was brutal."

Donald Trump on Thursday began his "Thank You Tour" in the Midwest, showing appreciation to his supporters and clarifying his plans as president.

At a rally in Cincinnati, the president-elect vowed to repeal Obamacare and addressed the press coverage around his election.

"We won it [Ohio] big, but then the people back there, the extremely dishonest press ... how about when a major anchor who hosted a debate started crying when she realized that we won? How about that?" said Trump, referring to ABC News' Martha Raddatz, to cheers from the crowd. "And you know what she doesn't understand? Things are going to be much better now."

It's not the first time Trump has made this false claim about Raddatz. It was debunked by Raddatz herself on Twitter the day after the election. "It is FICTION that I was 'choked up,'" the ABC News anchor tweeted on Nov. 9. On Friday an ABC News spokesperson went further, releasing a statement: “This is ridiculous and untrue. Martha is tough and fair and not intimidated by anyone.”

Trump boasted of his "landslide" victory, even though he "didn't have the press. The press was brutal."

He also called out "a person" who covered his progress on Election Night, who said that he couldn't "break the blue wall" in the election, but "we didn't break it, we shattered that sucker!"

He added, “I’m here today for one main reason: to say thank you to Ohio,” a state that he won in the election against Hillary Clinton. Kicking off his speech, he thanked his followers for propelling “a grassroots movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.”

“Today we made history, and now the real work begins,” Trump said. “Although we did have a lot of fun fighting Hillary, didn’t we?” he added, to cheers from the crowd.

Vowing to help laborers and business, he said one of his goals as president is to keep jobs in the country and unite.

“If we set aside our differences, and we do have differences, we’ve a very divided nation — but we’re not going to be divided for long," said Trump. "I’ve always brought people together.

“America will start winning again — big league, we’re going to win again,” he said. “But to succeed, we must enlist the effort of all Americans.

“From now on, it’s going to be America first,” said Trump, crediting the “American worker” for building the country. “We seek peace and harmony with the nations of the world, but that means recognizing the right of every country, including our own, to look after its citizens.”

In that regard, he said, “people coming into our country have to be people who have the potential to love us, not to hate us.” Trump promised to "drain the swamp" of corruption in Washington, to help "women entrepreneurs" and to instill "stability, not chaos" in domestic policy.

The president-elect also announced his plan to nominate retired Gen. James Mattis as his defense secretary and reiterated his stance on punishing citizens who burn the American flag.