Donald Trump and Ted Cruz cast aside any veneer of kindness on Wednesday to trade insults and accusations in a show of hardball politics that demonstrated the stakes for both men in the New Hampshire primary six days away. That’s where Cruz’s unexpected victory exposed weaknesses in Trump’s unorthodox, personality-driven bid for the White House.
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Trump’s New Hampshire organization has, for months, appeared more robust than the operation he’d put together in Iowa.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are gearing up for a big debate Thursday night before the New Hampshire primary. The mailer showed recipients their history of voting or not in past caucuses, along with the turnout record of their neighbors, and drew complaints from Iowa’s secretary of state.
Cruz had apologized to Carson on Tuesday because of an email from his campaign before the caucuses, which are the crucial first vote in the USA presidential nominating process.
Trump also tweeted that Cruz “stole” Iowa. The setback in Iowa dealt a huge blow to Mr Trump, who seemed to be perpetually inside a sphere of invincibility – judging by his fiery optimism and matching rhetoric. “They are a bunch of dishonest cookies, I want to tell you”.
He also accused the Cruz campaign of sabotaging fellow candidate Ben Carson by telling the Iowa caucus that the former neurosurgeon was quitting the race so he could get Carson’s votes.
“And finally, Cruz strongly told thousands of caucusgoers (voters) that Trump was strongly in favor of ObamaCare and “choice” – a total lie!” he said.
Obama visited a mosque near Baltimore on Wednesday, declaring that attacks on Islam were an attack on all faiths, in a move to counter rhetoric from Trump and other Republican candidates that have alienated Muslims.
Cruz dug in his heels on Wednesday, saying that his team simply passed along a CNN story about the status of Carson’s campaign.
“There are support groups for Twitter addiction, perhaps he should find his local chapter”.
Cruz questioned Trump’s fitness to serve as president in the face of his lastest Twitter blasts, accusing the New Yorker of throwing a “tantrum”. “I couldn’t understand why the polls were wrong”.
“I’m going to trademark that before he does”.
But Santorum failed to take off in the 2016 race.
He described Rubio as a “born leader” and praised his “optimistic” message.
Since Rubio’s third place finish in New Hampshire Monday night and his aggressive effort heading into NH to position himself as the front runner for love from the GOP establishment, Christie has hammered him in public statements, calling him “the boy in the bubble”.
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“The Voter Violation certificate gave poor marks to the unsuspecting voter (grade of F) and told them to clear it up by voting for Cruz”, Trump tweeted. CNN didn’t report that Carson was withdrawing from the race.
