Posted on 02/04/2016 3:32:14 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is upping his rhetorical battle with rival Donald Trump, saying the businessman is "melting down" after he came in second during Monday's Iowa caucuses. "I have to say it is interesting seeing Donald Trump, you know, just apparently melting down. He seems to be taking losing really badly," Cruz said during an interview with "The Sean Hannity Show" on Wednesday.
Cruz's comments come after Trump accused the Texas Republican of committing voter fraud because Cruz's campaign erroneously suggested Ben Carson was dropping out of the race during the caucuses.
Cruz apologized, saying his campaign should have sent out a follow-up report clarifying that Carson wasn't dropping out.
While Cruz has gotten criticism from both Carson and Trump, he dismissed the fallout over the reports as "silliness."
"For Trump, he has to blame someone, something, anyone other than himself and his own record for his loss," he said. "It's all designed to be a distraction."
He added that he understands Trump is "angry" for losing Iowa but said he "told the people of Iowa he thought they were stupid."
"He skipped their debate," he said. "It makes me wonder if Donald's next step is he intends to tell the people of New Hampshire he thinks New Hampshire is stupid. If he intends to skip their debate."
Trump skipped a Fox News debate over a long-standing feud with the network. Instead, he held a fundraiser for veterans' groups in Iowa at the same time.
Cruz suggested Trump was afraid of moderators, and again offered to debate him one-on-one.
"[It] will be interesting to see if Donald is still afraid of having his record questioned," he said.
The latest skirmish between Cruz and Trump comes as the two are battling for the top spot in the New Hampshire primary, with Trump having a sizable lead.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said yesterday that rival Ben Carson has a 'pathological temper' that can't be cured any more than a child molester can be cured.
Trump first made the claim in an interview with CNN, then continued the strong criticism during a 95-minute rant at an Iowa rally.
'If you're a child molester - a sick puppy - you're a child molester, there's no cure for that,' Trump proclaimed, other than what he called the 'ultimate cure' - and death.
He said he didn't believe Carson's story about his religious awakening in his bathroom, either, and questioned the retired neurosurgeon's tale about nearly stabbing a friend.
Trump imitated the incident, moving his belt up and down to demonstrate how difficult it would be to strike the buckle instead of flesh, and bellowed moments later, 'How stupid are the people of Iowa?'
'How stupid are the people of this country to believe this crap?' Trump said during the campaign event at Iowa Central Community College.
I just saw Bill O’Reilly tearing Cruz apart on the Carson fiasco. I have a feeling it is Cruz who is feeling the heat and melting down at this point. Note also that all he’s doing is alienating Trump’s supporters. He won’t be getting them at this rate.
Poor Trump...! Can dish it out but can’t take it...!
Trump is now saying Cruz gave us Obamacare.
Say or do anything.
People are finally noticing and Trump is falling in polls like a rock.
Rubio may beat him NH and if that happens, the Donald will quit the campaign pronto.
Donny we hardly knew you.
He was best buddies with Hill and Bill until they got in the way...
And when others return fire in kind he throws a tantrum threatening them with lawsuits.
Iowa won't be remembered by next week!
This will not help the GOP at all.
Jeff Roe, Cruz’ campaign mgr, has pulled this suspending campaign trick before ... exact same thing. Cruz surely must have known that.
Excerpt:
An e-mail sent to news media outlets and a “tweet” issued by a fake Twitter account announced that Eckersley had suspended his campaign due to personal reasons.
Eckersley blames his opponent, Republican Billy Long, for sending out the hoax days before the election,
“You know this is dirty politics. This is Jeff Roe style management. That’s who Billy’s retained. That’s who he writes the big checks to,” Eckersley tells Missourinet affiliate KTTS.
Cruz has been feeling heat since everyone tried to destroy him before Iowa. He came out a winner, and and has apologized for the issues with Carson. Meanwhile Trump has been ranting on Twitter nonstop like a jilted 13 year old girl.
I’m not sure of your definition of the word “meltdown” but I don’t see how you can apply it to Cruz and excuse Trump here.
As for O’Reilly, this is the man who was on his knees practically begging The Donaldâ„¢ to show up to the debate. He’s been up Trump’s backside ever since he declared, which isn’t suprising since much like Trump, O’Reilly is a moderate populist rather than a conservative. Of course he’s going to side with Trump over Cruz.
>>> Note also that all he’s doing is alienating Trump’s supporters. He won’t be getting them at this rate. <<<
And, of course Trump supporters will neither vote for anyone else nor vote against the Democrats.
That sort of makes them a waste of human life doesn’t it? Too childish and petulant to care about anything but Trump the demigod?
There are a whole lot of folks that are going to need a reality check as this process shakes out.
Still, I think it killed his ego to have to beg trump on national tv.
dope. they got big ratings anyway.
i dont think trump will miss this one.
Speaking of Trump supporters, you're insulting more than half the forum, judging by the caucus results.
Sounds desperate. Better shuffle Beck back out there!
Just barely, only by 6000 votes, and he had to use psychological manipulation with those mailers and disinformation during the caucus to do it.
Let's see how well Cruz does in New Hampshire and the South, the latter of which is infested with illegals and perhaps not so wedded to bland Evangelical pandering. Let us energize the body of Christ! Hallelujah! Can I get an amen?
Trump claimed Dr. Carson was a psycho. Dr. Carson took the insult well. It seems Trump is very good at mocking, insulting, denigrating, and dishing it out. Strangely, he’s a very poor loser. And get him into Twitter therapy. The guy is an embarrassment to his fellow celebrities.
His orange is running!
And he told the people at a rally the other day to “Beat the [you know what] out of ‘em” - anyone thinking of throwing tomatoes at him. He said do it, I’ll pay any legal fees.
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