Well at least in this situation, teddy is as principled as all his breathless worshippers claim him to be, or he is just stupidly, self-destructively stubborn.
Attacking an entire state is something you can't do if you want to be president because even if they didn't vote for you, you have to represent them in a fair manner. Doubling down on it when it's only going to hurt you is just self destructive pride.