Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Monday that a New Hampshire newspaper publisher who called him an “insult to the intelligence” of GOP voters is a “lowlife.”
In an interview Monday with WMUR in the early primary state, Trump said he believed the publisher, Joseph McQuaid, used his paper to criticize him because Trump declined to participate in a GOP forum that the publication hosted in August.
McQuaid “wanted me to do his debate desperately,” Trump said. “He called me practically begging to do the debate. The debate turned out to be a total farce and a joke.”
Trump said that McQuaid had also courted him recently to purchase advertisement space in his newspaper, the conservative Union Leader, and also hosted him for a lunch at a country club.
“He’s a real lowlife, there’s no question about it,” Trump said. “And then on top of that, he does this. And I knew he’d do it because I didn’t do his debate.”
In an editorial posted online Sunday night, McQuaid called Trump “an entertaining character” but dismissed him as an unserious candidate.
“Trump has shown himself to be a crude blowhard with no clear political philosophy and no deeper understanding of the important and serious role of President of the United States than one of the goons he lets rough up protesters in his crowds,” McQuaid wrote, referring to Trump’s rallies, which frequently showcase clashes between his supporters and protesters.
The Union Leader has endorsed Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for president, though Trump currently leads the GOP field in state-level polls by double digits.
In the interview with WMUR, Trump said he believed Christie and McQuaid colluded on the editorial.
