Donald Trump threatened to sue the New York Times — and went on a Twitter tirade slamming columnist Maureen Dowd as "a neurotic dope" after she alleged Trump appeared to like enjoy inciting violence at his rallies.
"My lawyers want to sue the failing @nytimes so badly for irresponsible intent. I said no (for now), but they are watching. Really disgusting," Trump tweeted on Saturday.
He suggested the newspaper was slanting its coverage to boost rival Hillary Clinton, saying the Democratic nominee was "doing so badly" that the Times is "willing to say anything."
He also lacerated Dowd, deriding her as "crazy," "wacky," and "a neurotic dope," and tweeting that the columnist "hardly knows me," but "makes up things that I never said for her boring interviews and column."
The attack followed Dowd's interview earlier Saturday on CNN, where she was promoting her new book. "The Year of Voting Dangerously."
"I told him that it was wrong that there was violence being incited at his rallies and that reporters were getting roughed up," Dowd told CNN. "And he paused — you're right, he did listen — but then he disagreed and said he thought the violence added a frisson of excitement."