Donald Trump promotes his new book, slams Rubio, Carson, Bush
"Don't shoot close -- shoot high," business mogul Donald Trump told photographers, as he posed holding up copies of his new book, "Crippled America," which Trump said was selling like "hot cakes."
It might as well have been guidance for his own presidential campaign, coming on the heels of another national poll, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal/NBC, which showed Trump falling to second place in the Republican field, behind retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson.
Trump still gave off the air of a frontrunner at a Trump Tower press conference before a book signing, where lines stretched around the block.
Confidence, of course, has never been a problem for Trump, which was full display as he swatted aside questions about falling poll numbers.
"We just had polls come out today from Iowa where I'm leading," Trump said. He went on to say that he was still leading in many states, such as Florida, Georgia and Texas. Trump even used Carson's numbers to bolster his anti-establishment argument.
"If you add Ben and myself, we're beating everybody by a lot, "Trump said. "That seems to be the big story. That we're beating - they call it the establishment. It's called really the failed establishment."
However, Trump took the time to direct more attacks on the new frontrunner, claiming that Carson would be "weak on immigration and he wants to get rid of Medicare."
Attacking Carson wasn't enough. Criticizing former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is practically second nature now. When a reporter asked Trump about how he was preparing to host "Saturday Night Live," Trump said he wouldn't impersonate Bush, because "I don't like showing a person sleeping at a podium."
However, Trump did have one backhanded compliment for Bush. It came at the expense of his more frequent target of late - Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. "I think that really Marco is overrated," Trump said. "Frankly, had Bush been a better messenger, he has the better message."
That message referred to last week's debate, in which Bush attacked his Senate attendance record. "Marco doesn't show up to the U.S. Senate. He's representing people of Florida...but Marco is a sitting senator and he doesn't show up for the people of Florida. And I don't think he should be doing that."
And then there are Rubio's personal finances. "He is a disaster with his credit cards....He has a very bad record with his finances," and then Trump added, "He certainly lives above his means. There's no question about that."
Tuesday's news conference was held outside the Trump Tower Grille, down one floor from the lobby in which they are usually held. There was, however, the usual contingent of cameras and reporters from all over the world, all hoping to get a question to Trump. When a French reporter tried to quiz him, Trump wondered aloud if he should care about the question, given that French citizens don't vote in the United States election.
Trump also addressed the furor surrounding NBC's decision to let him host "Saturday Night Live." The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which consists of 26 members from the House of Representatives, urged NBC to rethink its decision, in light of his comments about undocumented immigrants. A Moveon.org petition asking NBC to do the same has garnered more than 100,000 signatures. A Change.org petition is now up to 200,000 and growing. But none of that seemed to affect Trump, when he was asked about the possibility of more protests.
"Look, I think they should demonstrate," Trump said. "Ratings will go even higher than they are going to be."