Donald Trump lampooned the independent candidates attempting to derail his and Hillary Clinton’s paths to the White House during a speech on Wednesday.
Trump viewed the Green Party’s Jill Stein as such a little threat, he told the Ohioans gathered in Toledo that a vote for Stein is a good thing.
“I think a vote for Stein would be good, you know that’s the Green Party,” Trump said. “‘Cause I figure anybody voting for Stein is going to be for Hillary so I think vote for Stein is fine.”
Trump then trained his sights on Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, although Trump did not mention Johnson by name.
“And the other guy, I don’t know what his story is,” Trump said. “I watched him the other day on television, I don’t quite get that. I don’t quite get that.”
Trump, however, measured his success by the attention his campaign had amassed thus far on the campaign trail and noted that he appeared on Time magazine more after launching his bid for the presidency.
“Which is more important: real estate or politics?” Trump said, polling the crowd after talking about his popularity. “I think it’s probably politics.”
Trump’s speech in Toledo served as counter-programming for the Democratic National Convention. As Trump railed against Clinton in Ohio, former CIA director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ripped into the GOP nominee.
Trump noted that the Democrats were really hitting him hard at the convention and said that his success intimidated them.
“They don’t know what to do. This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Trump said.
He continued with an optimistic message of his campaign’s durability, and said, “We do better when we have to fight.”
Trump will take the fight to Clinton in Iowa on Thursday before heading to Colorado on Friday.
