Trump defends remarks about McCain in op-ed

After a weekend full of backlash for his comments saying former POW Sen. John McCain is "not a war hero," Donald Trump put his defiance in writing.

In an op-ed for USA Today published Sunday, Trump writes that the Arizona Republican "the politician has failed the state of Arizona and the country."

Trump renewed his attacks on McCain and writes "The reality is that John McCain the politician has made America less safe, sent our brave soldiers into wrong-headed foreign adventures, covered up for President Obama with the VA scandal and has spent most of his time in the Senate pushing amnesty."

Trump also wants Republican presidential candidates who blasted him for his comments on McCain to know that he doesn‘t care.

"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," Trump writes. "Many are failed politicians or people who would be unable to succeed in the private sector. Some, however, I have great respect for."

Trump could be referring to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who recently met with Trump and has declined to denounce his comments on McCain.

Trump criticizes Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who is a former Chairman of the Senate Veteran‘s Affairs Committee. Sanders was the head of the committee during the Veteran‘s Affairs scandal last year which led to the resignation of Secretary Eric Shinseki.

"Thanks to McCain and his Senate colleague Bernie Sanders, their legislation to cover up the VA scandal, in which 1,000+ veterans died waiting for medical care, made sure no one has been punished, charged, jailed, fined or held responsible," Trump writes.