Trump bragged about donations he now says he wanted to be 'private'

Poor Donald Trump – he said he didn't want to have to brag about his generosity to veterans' charities, except the bullies in the media made him do it.

"I didn't want the credit for it," he said during a news conference Tuesday to detail how he disbursed the money he raised for veterans at a Jan. 28 event in Des Moines, Iowa. Trump staged the rally in lieu of attending a Fox News-sponsored debate that day.  He was feuding with the network at the time.

"I'm not looking for credit," Trump said.

Actually, my colleague Chris Brennan found eight times Trump did just that in the two weeks after the fundraiser. He boasted repeatedly he had raised $6 million, at one point inflating the figure to $7 million. (Actual amount: $5.6 million, including $1 million of his own money he donated to a group only after the Washington Post reported on his slow-pay ways.)

Fox News Sunday, Jan. 31

Well, I -- what I'm saying is you have to stick up for your rights. And in the meantime, I raised $6 million for the veterans, which is very important.

…

And frankly, I had a very successful evening. We had a tremendous overflow crowd and we raised, in one hour, Chris, which I think you're very happy about, for the vets, we raised $6 million. So, I was very happy about that.

CBS Face The Nation,  Jan. 31

I went out. You know what I did? I went out and I raised $6 million for vets. That is more important, frankly, than doing a debate.

Campaign Rally, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Feb. 1

And frankly, FOX is great. We're back. We're friends, all of that stuff. But I said I'm not going into that debate. And we held something in lieu of the debate. I said let's have a rally for the veterans, right? We love our veterans, right? And at that rally we raised in one hour $6 million. Is that good?

Campaign Rally, Waterloo, Feb. 1

So I had a competing event and we did it for veterans because the veterans in this country have been treated so horribly. They're been treated so badly and we raised, in one hour -- listen to this one -- $6 million. OK?

…

And the bottom line is one hour, $6 million and that evening was so beautiful.

FOX, Sean Hannity, Feb. 2

Some people thought the debate, you know, not doing the debate might have been a positive -- you know, a positive for perhaps my opponents. But actually, I raised, as you know, $6 million for the vets by not doing the debate. So I'm really happy about that. To me, it was very important.

Televised Press Conference, New Hampshire Feb. 2

Well, that could have been with the debate. I think it could have been the debate. I think some people were disappointed that I didn't go in the debate. If I had to do it again, I would have done the exact same thing. And the reason is, you know why? Because I raised $6 million for the vets in one hour. So if I took a second place instead of a first place and could give the vets $6 million, I'll do that all day long.

…

But the fact is, it could have been the debate. Maybe it is, maybe it isn`t. But I would have done it exactly the same way because I raised -- Scott, we raised -- in one hour, I raised $6 million for the vets, and I would never, ever give that up to go between first and second in Iowa. It wouldn`t be worth it. So thank you.

Republican presidential debate in Manchester, N.H, Feb. 7

And one thing on the vets -- during the last debate, I raised $6 million for the vets, and I will tell you something...

MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews, Feb. 10

I mean, the one debate I missed with Fox, I missed it because they did something which wasn`t very nice. But we`re totally patched up and that`s fine now. But they did something which wasn`t appropriate. I wouldn`t have missed what I did. I raised $6 million and now it`s up to $7 million for the vets that night. So you know, that`s sort of what I`m telling you about my relationship with the vets and the military.