Donald Trump promises to cut use of profanity
Responding to criticisms about the profanity he sometimes uses in campaign speeches, Donald Trump pledged Saturday during the Republican debate that he would no longer use vulgar words while on the campaign trail.
But first, he explained that he has used expletives in the past to make a point.
"People have asked me, big companies have asked me to make speeches -- and friends of mine that run big companies -- on success," he explained. "And on occasion, in order to sort of really highlight something, I use a profanity."
But he complained that sometimes, the charges have been incorrect.
"One of the profanities that I got credited with using that I didn't use was a very bad word two weeks ago that I never used. I said 'you' and everybody said, 'oh he didn't say anything wrong,' but you bleeped it so everyone thinks I said the -- I didn't say anything. I never said the word."
"I will say this," he continued. "With all that being said, I have said I will not do that at all. Because if I say a word that's a little bit off color, a little bit, it becomes a headline. I will not do it again. Not using, by the way, not using profanity is very easy.
"I will not do it at all," Trump said on the debate stage in Greenville, South Carolina. "Because if I say a word that's a little bit off-color, it ends up being a headline. I will not do it again."
He added: "I was a very good student at a great school. Not using -- by the way -- not using profanity is very easy."
Trump has used expletives freely during his campaign rallies, promising that as president he would "bomb the sh-t" out of terror group ISIS, telling supporters that companies who shipped American jobs overseas could "go f--k themselves," and, most recently, repeating a rally-attendee's charge that rival Ted Cruz was a "p---y."