Donald Trump Dismisses National Review Attacks As A Publicity Stunt From A “Failing Magazine”

Trump: “They Did It Because They'll Get Some Nice Publicity”

From the January 24 edition of NBC's Meet the Press:

Video file

CHUCK TODD (HOST): Let me talk to -- ask you about National Review. I've seen your tweets. I know how you feel about the magazine, and I know how you feel about this issue. But let me get you to respond to one quote from Erick Erickson, he writes this, “like the angels in heaven who rejoice for every new believer, we should rejoice for Donald Trump's conversion to conservatism. But we should not put a new conservative in charge of conservatism or the country...” What do you tell conservatives that will make them believe you won't leave the ideology if it's convenient or unpopular?

DONALD TRUMP: Well, first of all, that's not an insulting quote. I mean, it really isn't. I was gonna hit him really hard and then I heard the quote--

TODD: I know you were about to, weren't you.

TRUMP: And it wasn't really an insulting quote. Second of all, National Review is a failing magazine, and you get that. They did it because they'll get some nice publicity. I am a conservative, and what I say to people is this: Ronald Reagan. He was a somewhat liberal Democrat, and over the years he evolved, and he became a fairly conservative, not overly, but a fairly conservative Republican. Now, he became a great president also.

Previously:

GOP Strategist Blames Right-Wing Media For Trump's Rise: “We Appeal To Only Cranky, Old White Guys”

National Review Launches Conservative War On Donald Trump

GOP Civil War: Conservatives Turn On National Review Over Anti-Trump Issue

The Extremism Of National Review's Trump Critics