Unless you've completely unplugged from the world "Into the Wild" style in the last two-to-three years, you might be hanging onto every word that comes out of President Trump's mouth or Twitter account. It's easy to get caught up in the media craze and the inanity over Trump's candid style of communication.

One of the few comments that, if not for the flood of stories coming out during this news cycle, deserved more attention and probably should be thrown into the Thunderdome of debate was Trump's comment about being "one of the greatest candidates" to ever run for president of the United States.

"The fact is, you people won't say this but I'll say it. I was a much better candidate than [Hillary Clinton]," Trump told a group of reporters on Wednesday. "You always say she was a bad candidate, you never say I was a good candidate. I was one of the greatest candidates. Nobody else would've beaten the Clinton machine, as crooked as it was. But I was a great candidate. One day you're going to say that."

If you completely exclude the narrative that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians, which up until this point the investigators are still out trying to find concrete evidence via special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, then Trump has a point. Even if you believe that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government, they didn't affect any voter machines and they certainly didn't run a campaign with a weak message that couldn't resonate with on-the-fence voters.

Despite everything that was thrown in Trump's direction, which mostly included Trump's own statements and the dozen or so women who came forward alleging sexual harassment and assault capped off with the Access Hollywood tape, he lived up to his reputation as "Teflon Don."

As critical as many of us have been of Trump over his statements and conduct, he simply was a better candidate when you factor in that there was overwhelming support from the mainstream media to get Clinton elected over Trump. Virtually every poll with the exception of one in the days prior to the 2016 election favored Clinton over Trump.

For all the times that Trump was called a racist, sexist, xenophobic demagogue, he honed in on turning out his base to the polls by adopting slogans like "Make America Great Again" and "America First." Despite being a multi-billionaire from New York, he found ways to connect with the working class by concentrating his policies on curbing both illegal and legal immigration, lowering taxes, and renegotiating unfavorable trade deals. These were issues that, regardless of their merit, drove people out to vote for him in the places that mattered, like the Rust Belt. Hillary's motto of "Stronger Together" is really a far cry from Obama's "Yes We Can."

So, while President Trump may not be the most nuanced on policy or even appear presidential throughout his first term, he makes a pretty strong case that with everything that he faced, he definitely deserves recognition as being "one of the greatest candidates" to run for president.

Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.