Trump tweets seemingly threatening message about Ted Cruz’s wife

Just as polls out west were closing Tuesday night, GOP front-runner Donald Trump tweeted an odd message directed at Republican rival Senator Ted Cruz, and seemingly at his wife, Heidi Cruz. 

Trump originally wrote: “Wow @SenTedCruz, that is some low level ad you did using a picture Melania in a G.Q. shoot.Be careful or I will spill the beans on your wife.” He quickly deleted that message, but then reposted it a few minutes later, slightly changing the language but keeping the sentiment intact:

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

Cruz quickly fired back with his own response from his Twitter account: 

Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE

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— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016

The ad the billionaire mogul referred wasn’t run by the Cruz campaign, but was instead created by the anti-Trump group Make America Awesome, which was targeting the Mormon vote in Utah. The photos of Melania Trump referenced in the ad are from a shoot that Mrs. Trump, a model, did for GQ magazine more 15 years ago, before she was married to Donald.

Later in the evening, Liz Mair, a political strategist who founded the group behind the anti-Trump ads, chimed in on Twitter to clarify that they were made and distributed by her group, not Cruz, and then continued to prod the front-runner throughout the evening.

.@realDonaldTrump Hi Donald, I know you're really upset about that ad, but it was Make America Awesome's, not Ted Cruz's.

— Liz Mair (@LizMair) March 23, 2016