The battle between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is getting personal, with the Texas senator coming out swinging after the Republican front-runner threatened to “spill the beans” on his wife, Heidi, on Tuesday night.
While the candidates spent months playing nice early in the election cycle, their sparring has intensified as the race has whittled down — increasingly, both talk like it’s a two man race.
Cruz told reporters on Wednesday that Trump’s attack stemmed from his anxiety about the race.
“He recognizes that if Republicans unite, 65 to 70 percent of Republicans understand that Donald is a disaster, that Donald is a gift to Hillary Clinton,” he said, boasting of his big win in Utah. “He did this attack to try and change the subject.”
Wife Heidi Cruz downplayed Trump’s threat, too, Wednesday.
“Most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality, so we are not worried,” she said.
But the Republican front-runner shows no sign of relenting, doubling down in a tweet on Wednesday morning in which he continues to blame Cruz for the ad.
Lyin' Ted Cruz denied that he had anything to do with the G.Q. model photo post of Melania. That's why we call him Lyin' Ted!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016
The ad was created by the anti-Trump super PAC Make America Awesome Again: It features a handcuffed-and-naked photo shoot of Melania Trump from 2000, with the caption “meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
It was a small-dollar ad campaign online, targeting Mormon women in hopes of getting out the vote for Cruz in a state where winning more than 50 percent of the vote was key to the senator’s hopes of garnering all of the state’s 40 delegates. But the ad exploded online on Tuesday night as polls were closing, when Trump started blaming Cruz.
Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!








