22:20

In a satellite appearance on Hannity, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump decried what he perceived as unfair treatment by the national press, exemplified by a contentious press conference today in which he was accused of lying about seven-figure donations to veterans’ groups.

Donald Trump speaks to (shouts at) a member of the media. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

“They cover me so incorrectly... and it was a horrible experience with the press,” Trump told Sean Hannity, whose line of questioning tonight was decidedly more friendly than that of the national press corps. “I raised $5.6 million, and instead of like being treated at least reasonably, it’s a whole big deal going on whose getting the money.”

The New York real estate developer was under pressure to release details about the $6 million he said he raised for veterans during a January charity event in Iowa that his campaign, which he hosted after skipping a Fox News presidential debate because of an ongoing feud with the network.

“Instead of being thankful, or at least being treated nicely by the press, I get bad publicity,” Trump continued, criticizing questions raised about the fact that roughly half of the donations that his campaign manager had said were paid out in full were only made after a Washington Post story revealed that no veteran-oriented nonprofits had received money from Trump’s charity event.

The Associated Press today found that of the nearly two dozen charities that responded to its survey, nearly half received checks dated May 24, the same day the Post published its story.

“What it does, Sean is people in my position say why should we do this anymore? If we’re gonna raise money… and then we’re criticized, it’s easier not to do it,” Trump threatened. “I figured the best way to handle it would be to hold a news conference and to show everybody where the money went, and I did that.”

Hannity, after listing instances of alleged liberal bias in mainstream media, told Trump that “journalism’s dead - you’re confronting this institutional bias and they don’t seem to like it. You think this is the whole campaign?”



“The press is really dishonest - and I don’t mean everybody, but a big proportion of them,” Trump said. “They’re bad people.”