Trump
said "tried to stay out" of politically dividing aspects of the mass
shooting which happened over the weekend, even though he went after
O'Rourke, Warren and Sanders on Twitter hours beforehand.
He also dredged up the Dayton shooter's social media history again.
"My
critics are political people. They're trying to make points. In many
cases, they're running for President and they're very low in the polls. A
couple of them in particular very low in the polls. If you look at
Dayton, that was a person who supported, I guess you would say, Bernie
Sanders, I understood, Antifa, I understood, Elizabeth Warren, I
understood -- had nothing to do with President Trump," Trump said.
Trump also said he doesn't believe his rhetoric causes violence.
"No, I don't think my rhetoric has at all. My rhetoric brings people together," he told reporters.
Asked
whether he regrets using the term "invasion" to describe immigrants
coming into the US illegally, Trump responded, "I think that illegal
immigration is a terrible thing for this country. I think you have to
come in legally. Ideally you have to come in through merit."
"We
need people coming in because we have many companies coming into our
county -- they're pouring in. And I think illegal immigration is a very
bad thing for our country. I think open borders are a very bad thing for
our country, and we're stopping. We're building a wall right now. ...
We need strong immigration laws. But we want to allow millions of people
to come in because we need them," he continued.
This story has been updated with additional developments Wednesday.