[Hoot Gibson]

Everybody who knew anybody about presidential politics knew that the mainstream media, aside from the Fox News Channel, would not give fair coverage to the Republican presumptive nominee, whomever he or she was. However, banning major media outlets press credentials was a terrible idea, even for Donald Trump.

Every time Donald Trump makes a stupid comment, the Washington Post and every other media outlet with which Trump has decided to wage war will give Trump plenty of coverage. Doing so helps the media balance the bad news for Hillary's campaign with negative Trump coverage.

I really do not believe Trump intends to win in November. His attacks on Cruz and Rubio shows that he knows the importance of hammering a message home, even if it is a sleazy, dishonest message.

Trump supporters should be asking themselves and each other why Trump is not keeping the focus on Hillary and her problems instead of extending the life of the negative stories about himself.

One final point. Being 20 minutes late to a meeting with House Republicans, many of whom are already reluctant to support Trump, was a show of disrespect and no way to go about unifying Republicans behind him.

Trump blasts media in meeting with House Republicans

In his first meeting with House Republicans, Donald Trump on Thursday sought to do damage control, blasting the "disingenuous" media for reporting that he praised former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein at a rally this week, said sources in the room.

"I said, 'Hussein was a very, very bad man, but the one thing he did very well was kill terrorists,'" Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, told a standing room only crowd of House Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club.

"The next day I wake up to headlines that say 'Trump praises Hussein.' The media is totally disingenuous," Trump said at the closed-door meeting.

Trump, accompanied by his daughter and close adviser, Ivanka Trump, arrived to the meeting about 20 minutes late.

But he received two standing ovations — once when he arrived and later when CNBC's Larry Kudlow introduced him.

Trump will meet with Senate Republicans after the session with House Republicans.

The meetings come as some Republicans worry that having Trump at the top of the ticket could hurt their efforts to keep the Senate majority. Some Republicans were expected to skip the Trump meetings, though hundreds of House Republicans appeared to be in attendance.

Trump is seeking to unify a Republican Party less than two weeks before its nominating convention in Cleveland.