'Schlonged is not vulgar': Donald Trump stands by offensive claim about Hillary Clinton's 2008 bid for presidency

Mr Trump: 'It is a shame that the biased media is able to so incorrectly define a word for the public when they know that the definition is wrong'

The Republican presidential frontrunner has said he only meant that Hillary Clinton had been 'beaten badly' by Barack Obama in 2008 (AP)

Donald Trump has defended his assertion that Hillary Clinton was “schlonged” to the presidency by Barack Obama in 2008, saying he does not believe the term to be vulgar.

The controversial Republican presidential frontrunner was widely criticised after he used the word – Yiddish slang for male genitalia – to describe his perceived inadequacy of Mrs Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, at a rally in Michigan on Monday.

He told the 6,000-strong crowd in Grand Rapids: “Even her race to Obama. She was going to beat Obama. I don’t know who’d be worse. I don’t know. How does it get worse?

“She was favoured to win and she got schlonged, she lost.”

But displaying, once again, his thick skin to criticism, the 69-year-old has since stood by his use of the word.

He wrote: “Schlonged is not vulgar. When I said that Hillary Clinton got schlonged by Obama it meant beaten badly.

“The media knows this. Often used word in politics!

“It is a shame that the biased media is able to so incorrectly define a word for the public when they know that the definition is wrong. Sad!”

He added: “We need a president with strength, stamina, heart and incredible deal making skill if our country is ever going to be able to prosper again!”

At the same rally in Michigan, the billionaire businessman also mocked Mrs Clinton for taking a brief toilet break at a Democratic debate she had attended at the weekend.

He said: “I know where she went. It’s disgusting. I don’t want to talk about it.”

In an interview with The Des Moines Register earlier this week, Mrs Clinton said of Mr Trump: “Nothing really surprises me anymore.

“I don’t know that he has any boundaries at all.

“His bigotry, his bluster, his bullying have become his campaign. And he has to keep sort of upping the stakes and going even further.”

Although she has not commented on her rival’s claims about her 2008 presidential bid, she made a veiled reference to Mr Trump when a student asked her about combatting bullying in Iowa during the week.

Advocating more “love and kindness”, she said: “That’s why it’s important to stand up to bullies wherever we are and why we shouldn’t let anybody bully his way into the presidency. Because that is not who we are as Americans.”