Story highlights
"I just want to talk about my accomplishments," Trump told CNN
He added that so far, he hasn't had to run TV spots because he's frequently on cable news shows
Donald Trump, who has surged to the top of GOP polls in part due to his eagerness to attack his fellow Republican candidates, claimed Saturday he’s not interested in running attack ads on television.
“I just want to talk about my accomplishments. I’m not looking to attack anybody,” Trump told CNN after an event in Nashville, Tennessee. “I would rather have positive TV ads. Absolutely.”
Trump said he hasn’t had to run ads yet since he’s been a frequent face on news programs.
“Saving a lot of money,” Trump said. “I can’t (run ads) when it is all news, all the time, all Trump, all the time, on CNN, right?”
Yet Trump, who holds a commanding lead over the rest of the 2016 GOP pack, has made insulting his fellow Republican candidates on Twitter and in speeches a trademark of his campaign.
In Nashville, where Trump spoke to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, a tea party-aligned group, he attacked Sen. Lindsey Graham by name over his lagging poll numbers in his home state of South Carolina. He also mentioned how he’s leading in Florida, a thinly veiled swipe at Jeb Bush.
And regardless of whether he airs negative TV ads or not, he has already run negative videos on Instagram in which he’s taken aim at Bush.
Trump also reiterated to CNN his proposal to make “the hedge fund guys” pay more taxes. Trump previously told CNN that he wants to tax the rich more and the middle class less.
“I know them. They all are supporting Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton,” he told CNN Saturday. “I want the hedge fund guys who pay very little – they make a lot of money – and a lot of it is luck. They pick a stock and all of a sudden they make a lot of money. I want the hedge fund guys to pay more taxes.”