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Cuomo pointed to a panel of independent voters, saying, "Most of them don't like it. They see it as a distraction, they see it as hypocritical coming from you, and mostly they see it as potential proof that you may have no real ideas to offer as president. What is your thinking on this line of attack?"

"Well this is a nice way to start off the interview," Trump responded in the phone interview. "First of all, you should congratulate me for having won the race. I thought there at least would be a small congratulations. But I'm not surprised with CNN."

Cuomo pushed back, saying he had congratulated Trump, but the businessman responded, "We haven't spoken. Last week, toward the end, I was essentially the nominee of the party and you start off with this question, which is not surprising because I understand CNN perhaps better than you do."

Trump went on to deny that his opening attack in the general election campaign targeted Bill Clinton's infidelity, pointing to his remarks on trade, the military and illegal immigration.

Trump took a swipe at Clinton at a rally Friday night. He then ramped up the attacks by going after his impeachment Saturday night and knocking Hillary Clinton as an " enabler ."

Later in the CNN interview on Monday, Trump called the initial question "totally inappropriate."

"I spoke very little about that compared to other things. You took a small amount of the speech and you build it up like it's the biggest thing in the world," Trump said. "But it is a big thing. Look, he was the worst abuser of women," Trump continued. "You just said I'm making too much of it, now you say it's a big thing," Cuomo interjected. "Excuse me — as a politician, in the history of our country," Trump finished. "He was impeached, and then he lied about it," Trump continued. "The guy was impeached for lying." Trump argued that he doesn't think Hillary Clinton "will be good for women," noting her comments on putting coal workers out of business, which she later clarified as a misstatement.

Cuomo, who often spars with Trump when the businessman calls into the show, later tweeted about the interview, saying Trump "just likes to attack media."

Wrong. I reset to allow @realDonaldTrump to make productive use of the time and came back to my point. https://t.co/8itkT9W9fy — Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) May 9, 2016