Donald Trump slammed what he called the "disgusting and corrupt media," saying in a series of tweets Sunday morning that if he was covered honestly, he would be way ahead in general election polls.

The first two tweets Sunday morning were aimed at the New York Times, whose reporting he called "fiction."

"The failing @nytimes talks about anonymous sources and meetings that never happened. Their reporting is fiction. The media protects Hillary!" he said, adding in a new tweet, "The failing @nytimes, which never spoke to me, keeps saying that I am saying to advisers that I will change. False, I am who I am-never said."

The Republican presidential nominee then took aim at the news media at large, claiming they put "false meaning" into his comments. If they didn't, "I would be beating Hillary [Clinton] by 20%."

Finally, Trump said his rallies are not "covered properly" by the media. "They never discuss the real message and never show crowd size or enthusiasm," he wrote.


As the general election battle between him and Clinton carries on this summer, Trump has upped his criticism of the media.

Last week, for example, he charged that Clinton wanted to "abolish the Second Amendment" and made a comment some interpreted as saying gun rights activists would take up arms against his rival. After Clinton pounced on the comment, Trump and his campaign disputed the interpretation that he was calling for violence against her.

A statement blamed the "dishonest media" for his comments being turned into a controversy.