Donald Trump said he did not produce the Republican National Convention but just “showed up for the final speech,” distancing himself from how he previously characterized his relationship to the event.
“I didn’t produce our show — I just showed up for the final speech on Thursday,” he told The New York Times in an interview.
The former reality show star also spoke favorably of his rival’s convention, saying in the interview, published Wednesday, “I’ve liked both shows.”
Going into last week’s GOP convention, Trump promised fame and “something different.”
“I’m thinking about getting some of the great sports people I know, who like me a lot,” Trump said at a June rally in Richmond, Virginia.
“We’re thinking about doing something that’s different,” he said a week later at a Dallas rally.
Trump’s daughter also promised it would be “a convention unlike any we’ve ever seen.”
“It’s not gonna be a ho-hum lineup of the typical politicians,” she told conservative radio host John Fredericks. “It’s gonna be a great combination of our great politicians, but also great American businessmen and women and leaders across industry and leaders across really all the sectors, from athletes to coaches and everything in between.”
Trump ultimately saved his biggest praise for his own party’s convention, calling it “far more interesting.”
“I hate to say it, but the Republican Convention was far more interesting (with a much more beautiful set) than the Democratic Convention,” he tweeted this week.
Trump came out of his convention ahead of Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House, topping her 44% to 39% in a four-way matchup including Libertarian Gary Johnson (9%) and Green Party candidate Jill Stein (3%) and by three points in a two-way head-to-head poll, 48% to 45%, according to a CNN/ORC poll.
And when several polls had Trump in the lead following the convention the mogul called “the intended result.”
“I got the biggest bump,” he said.