Donald Trump said Wednesday one of the reasons he won the New Hampshire primary was that he repeated an audience member’s assertion that Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] is a “pussy.”

NBC “Today” co-host Matt Lauer told Trump, “It’s serious now, Mr. Trump. I mean, now people are going to take a good hard look at you and say, ‘Can he be the leader of the free world? Can he be our president?'” (VIDEO: Trump: Repeating Cruz Is A ‘Pussy’ Was ‘Like A Retweet’)

Trump interjected, “They’ve been looking at me, Matt, for six months. I mean this isn’t just starting today.” (RELATED: Cruz: Trump Called Me A ‘Pussy’ Because He ‘Does Not Handle Losing Very Well’)

Lauer continued, “Now this New Hampshire win though, says, ‘OK, this guy’s on track. When it comes to parents in this country, they want their kids to be able to look up to the president, they want to be able to admire the president. You were on with us last week, and we talked to you about being more subdued. You said I’m trying to become more statesman-like, more subdued. This week you continued using some words, repeating a word that a supporter said to you at an event that I’m not going to repeat here. Is that statesman-like?”

“Well, you know, we had a massive rally, 5,000 people in a snowstorm, in a blizzard, and everybody was having a good time, and a woman — not a man — a woman shouted out this word and then shouted it out again,” Trump said. (VIDEO: Trump: ‘Every Once In A While, I Like To Be Politically Incorrect’)

Co-host Savannah Guthrie interjected, “But you didn’t have to repeat it.”

“But we had a good time, and it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. You know the problem with the country —,” Trump suggested.

“Guthrie interrupted, “But to Matt’s point, though, if you’re a presidential candidate that we have to bleep, is that really what you want to show?”

“If I ever got close, I wouldn’t ever do it. But we were having a tremendous time,” Trump said. “We got a standing ovation for doing that. Everybody was up and down, standing, screaming. It was an amazing event. And it’s one of the reasons I won. You have to be yourself. Now as I get — look, I was a good student at the best school and all of that stuff. I know what to do and what not to do, but I will say this as you get closer you act a little bit differently. We were having a good time. Those people went out and voted for me, and that’s why we got you know the numbers we did. Look, this country — political correctness is killing us in so many different ways.”

“Is it political correctness, or is it just good manners, temperament, demeanor?” Guthrie questioned Trump.

[dcquiz] “Well I don’t think so. No, I don’t think [so],” Trump argued. “It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. We all had a good time. And remember this, it was a woman, and it was a repeat. It wasn’t me. In fact, I said, you should never say that word. You should never say that word.”

Lauer interjected, “And then sarcastically repeated the word.”

“Of course,” Trump said. “And then did I reprimand the woman? I said —”

Lauer shot back, “You can’t reprimand someone if you’re going to be willing to say the word yourself.”

Smiling, Trump replied, “I said, ‘You are hereby reprimanded.’ This way, I’d figure I’d save myself from the press.”

WATCH:

Follow Steve on Twitter and Facebook