Donald Trump Shrugs Off His 2002 Support For Invading Iraq

Donald Trump on Thursday brushed off the revelation that he had voiced support for invading Iraq in 2002, saying his comments from that period aren't worth scrutinizing because he was a private businessman.

"I could have said that," Trump told CNN's Anderson Cooper during a town hall evening, referring to a recording of an interview with "The Howard Stern Show" dug up Thursday by BuzzFeed.

"Yeah I guess so," Trump said in the interview when asked if he supported the U.S.-led invasion. “I wish the first time it was done correctly."

Trump has maintained on the campaign trail that he opposed the Iraq war from the beginning.

"I'm the only one on the stage that said, 'Do not go into Iraq. Do not attack Iraq,'" Trump claimed during a Republican debate last week. "Nobody else on this stage said that. And I said it loud and strong. And I was in the private sector. I wasn't a politician, fortunately. But I said it. And I said it loud and clear." 

During Thursday's town hall, Trump didn't seem to think BuzzFeed's scoop was at all damaging. 

"I wasn't a politician, that was probably the first time anybody asked me that question," he said. "But by the time the war started, I was against the war.."

Editor's Note: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

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