Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump had a new target on Sunday, calling fellow White House contender Ted Cruz “a little bit of a maniac” as the US senator passed him in an Iowa opinion poll.
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Cruz even spoke about the tactic directly himself to NBC in October, saying: ‘I think Donald’s campaign has been immensely beneficial for our campaign and the reason is, he’s framed the central issue of the Republican primary as, “who will stand up to Washington?”.
According to a poll released by Bloomberg and the Des Moines Register, Senator Ted Cruz has the support of 31% of likely Republican caucus-goers ahead of Donald Trump’s 21% in Iowa. “Look at the way he’s dealt with the Senate, where he goes in there like a – you know, frankly like a little bit of a maniac. You’re never going to get things done that way”, Trump added, in an apparent reference to Cruz clashes with Democratic and Republican leaders.
Just seven weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Cruz soared to first place, beating out Trump by double digits.
“He’s been so nice to me”.
“I think it’s got a huge downside in terms of American foreign policy and I hear this from foreign ministers and others as I travel and engage with people in various countries”, he said on CBS.
“You look at Paris, you look at San Bernardino, it’s given a seriousness to this race”, Cruz said. Journalists have done multiple pieces exploring Cruz’s background, and with few exceptions they find former colleagues and acquaintances practically standing in line to say they can’t stand him.
“There is no way that I, or anybody else who is running, is an expert in every area”, he said, and pointed to the way chief executives run their companies. Cruz asked. “Now that’s a question of strength, but it’s also a question of judgment”.
But new national polling from NBC/WSJ shows that while Iowa may be shifting, nationally Trump still remains on top – leading the field with 30 percent.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and New Jersey governor Chris Christie are on 3% each, while OH governor John Kasich and Senator Rand Paul, of Kentucky, have 2% each.
“But how insane are we, allowing ourselves to be subject to this kind of terror?” the 69-year-old business tycoon, who continues to lead national polls, said in his appearance on a Sunday talk show. At the very least, Cruz will need to handle the additional attention that he’ll get (and has already been getting from Rubio).
Carson says he isn’t sweating his own sudden drop in the polls. The next time they’ll both be in the same room will be at the next Republican debate on Tuesday in Las Vegas. “I mean, why would they support the ban?” “You know, this is a very fluid contest”, he told ABC’s “This Week”. Soon after the latest Iowa Poll was released, Hagle said one concern for Cruz may be taking this large of a lead with plenty of time left in the game.
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New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and OH are the states most often mentioned when establishment types note their angst about the prospect of a ticket led by Trump or Cruz.
