US Republican frontrunner Donald Trump denied on Tuesday that he has used a vulgar term to describe Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton’s loss to President Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential elections. He blamed it on the mainstream media for distorting the intended meaning of the word.

On Monday, while addressing a crowd in Michigan, Trump apparently resorted to a vulgar term to describe Clinton’s loss to Obama in the run for the Democratic candidature for the 2008 presidential elections.

“She was favored to win and she got schlonged. She lost, I mean she lost,” he said.

However, on Tuesday, Trump defended himself by saying that by “schlonged” he meant she was badly beaten and that it was not vulgar. He held the mainstream media responsible for publicising the false meaning of the term. Schlong, which refers to male genitalia, has been used as a verb in Trump’s statement.

He also mocked Clinton on Monday for returning late to a Democratic debate on Saturday following a commercial break.

“What happened to her? I’m watching the debate, and she disappeared. Where did she go?!” Trump asked the crowd at the DeltaPlex Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “I know where she went. It’s disgusting, I don’t want to talk about it,” he added. “No, it’s too disgusting. Don’t say it, it’s disgusting.”

Trump had tried to attack his Democrat rival on lines that could be considered by some as sexist on a number of occasions in the past. Clinton has been described as lacking the strength and stamina necessary for the role of US president by Trump, but the latest remark has sparked off new controversy around him.

Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s spokeswoman, said on Twitter that the humiliation inflicts on all women.

Trump maintained that it was not vulgar and even demanded apology from Clinton for another issue. The New York Times reported that on Sunday Clinton said the Islamic State is using him in videos to recruit new militants into their team. She held that the ISIS is going around showing videos of Trump insulting Islam and Muslims to recruit new radicals.

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