Donald Trump told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that the tweet of his wife and Heid Cruz was a "mistake." | AP Photo Trump: Tweeting picture of Heidi Cruz was a 'mistake'

Donald Trump is calling his decision to tweet that photo of Heidi Cruz a "mistake," an admission that follows several high-profile “misspeak” statements this week on women and abortion.

“Yeah, it was a mistake. If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have sent it,” Trump said on the picture that showed Republican opponent Ted Cruz's wife in an unflattering light next to his own wife, Melania Trump, in an interview with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd published online Saturday.


Trump appears to acknowledge in the interview that his support among women — Republican women in particular — has taken a nosedive in recent months.

His latest walkback comes at the end of the week in which he at one point said women should receive “some form of punishment” when abortion is made illegal, and then flipped the switch on Friday when he said abortion laws “are set” and “I think we have to leave it that way."

Dowd asked the presidential contender how he can win a general election “with 73 percent of women in this country turned off by him,” to which he responds: “It was 68 percent, actually."

Asked how he would attempt to undo the damage he’s done, Trump told Dowd, “I attack men far more than I attack women. And I attack them tougher.”

He also said he’d “probably” go on Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s show after she said this week Trump is welcome to make an appearance.