WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's heated war with the media reached new heights as he turned the brag-worthy feat of raising $5.6 million for veterans' charities into a sparring match with reporters pressing him on the issue.
"The press should be ashamed of themselves," a defensive Trump railed during a Tuesday news conference at Trump Tower, called to announce a list of 41 charities that received a cut of the money he raised during a highly publicized January fundraiser.
"The progress of evolution," noted historian Henry Adams, himself a direct descendant of two presidents, "from President Washington to President Grant was alone evidence to upset Darwin."
Today, witnessing the prospect of a presidential showdown between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, perhaps that aphorism should be updated, substituting Ronald Reagan for Washington and both Trump and Clinton for Grant. Indeed, today's prospects are even dimmer than those facing nineteenth century voters. On the bright side, despite Adams' dyspeptic evaluation, the United States pulled through and prospered under President Grant, and assuredly will at least survive a Trump or Clinton presidency.
