Ted Cruz unloaded on his rival Donald Trump after the real estate mogul accused him of voter fraud over Twitter. “I wake up every day and laugh at the latest thing Donald has tweeted,” said Cruz, calling Wednesday’s outburst a “Trumpertantrum” brought on by Trump’s inability to “debate the substance.”
On Wednesday morning, Trump sent out a series of tweets demanding the caucus results in Iowa be nullified due to what he claimed was voter fraud perpetrated by the Cruz campaign. In particular, Trump singled out reports that the Cruz campaign told voters during the caucus Dr. Ben Carson had dropped out of the race, causing some of them to switch to Cruz.
At a press conference before a meeting with voters in Goffstown, New Hampshire, the new frontrunner in the Republican race pulled no punches. “It is no surprise that Donald is throwing yet another temper tantrum – or if you like, another Trumpertantrum,” Cruz said. “It seems his reaction to everything is to throw a fit, and I understand that Donald finds it very hard to lose. But at the end of the day, the people of Iowa spoke.”
“There’s a reason that Donald engages in insult after insult – because he can’t debate the substance,” Cruz continued. “He doesn’t actually want to talk about issues.”
The Texas senator wasn’t done. “Donald’s insults get more and more hysterical the more and more upset he gets,” Cruz said. “I think they’re very funny. I wake up every day and laugh at the latest thing Donald has tweeted.” He questioned Trump’s temperament for the job of commander-in-chief, saying “we’re liable to wake up one day and Donald, as president, will have nuked Denmark.”
“You know, my girls are five and seven,” Cruz said. “And I got tell you, Caroline and Catherine are better behaved than a presidential candidate who insults people every day.” The line drew cheers and huge applause from the assembled New Hampshirites waiting to meet him.
Asked whether Cruz planned to fire the staffers accused of misleading Iowa caucus-goers, the senator demurred. “This is not a campaign that scapegoats our staffers, that holds someone out and fires them for political purposes,” he told a reporter. “And I would note that the news story we passed on was true and accurate . . . is it a dirty trick to pass on your news stories?”