AP Photo/David Goldman
Donald Trump.
"It was like a retweet," Trump said during an interview on "Fox & Friends."
"I would never say a word like that," he further insisted.
At a Monday-night rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, Trump told his supporters he was surprised Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was not more supportive of waterboarding.
An audience member apparently shouted out the vulgar insult, which Trump repeated from the stage while jokingly "reprimanding" his supporter for saying such a "terrible" thing.
Trump said Tuesday on "Fox & Friends" that he was simply having fun.
"By the way, can I tell you what? The audience went crazy," he said. "Standing ovation. Five-thousand people went nuts. They loved it. You know, we were having fun. And that's what I mean about being politically correct. Every once in a while you can have a little fun, don't you think?"
He also downplayed his use of the term during a Tuesday interview on "Morning Joe." Trump said he was doing everyone at the arena a favor by making sure they could all hear the crude insult:
We were all just having fun. It was a great moment. I got a standing ovation. The place went wild. Somebody said "mixed with tears." Let me tell you: The place went wild. Standing ovation. You're talking about close to 5,000 people. Standing ovation. Went totally wild. And all I was doing is repeating because people couldn't hear it. So I was doing everybody a favor.