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Trump: 'I don't need to be lectured by failed politicians'

Say what you will about Donald Trump, he certainly has a knack for keeping his name in the news.

Say what you will about Donald Trump, he certainly has a knack for keeping his name in the news.

Facing criticism from all sides, on Sunday evening the business mogul wrote an op-ed for USA Today where he touts his record on veterans' issues and claims Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain has "made America less safe."

The piece comes amid a firestorm of public shaming as Republicans and Democrats alike chide Trump for deriding McCain's service to his country during the Vietnam War.

RELATED: Trump offers no apologizes for McCain war record attack

"I don't like losers," Trump, an alleged Republican presidential contender, said at the Iowa Family Leadership Summit during a question-and-answer session.

"He's not a war hero," Trump said mockingly of McCain. "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."

While it's true that McCain was captured, during his five and a half years in prison camp he refused to be released early ahead of other soldiers who'd been held longer than him, was tortured, and even took a bayonet in the groin.

Trump avoided being drafted via a medical deferment in 1968 because of bone spurs in his heels, according to him.

In his op-ed, Trump takes a heavy handed swipe at nearly the entire sprawling GOP 2016 field, saying: "A number of my competitors for the Republican nomination have no business running for president. I do not need to be lectured by any of them. Many are failed politicians or people who would be unable to succeed in the private sector. Some, however, I have great respect for."

This article originally appeared on NBC News.com