Trump Doubles Down on Trashing Cruz’s Wife, Heidi
Cruz responds: "Real men don't attack women."
In a move likely to confirm many in the belief that he shouldn’t be left alone with a smartphone, let alone a nuclear arsenal, Donald Trump again went after Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi on Twitter last night:
"@Don_Vito_08: "A picture is worth a thousand words" @realDonaldTrump #LyingTed #NeverCruz @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/5bvVEwMVF8"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016
Within minutes, Cruz responded:
Donald, real men don't attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life. https://t.co/pprXhIMzUT
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 24, 2016
Fox News host Megyn Kelly, another female targeted by Trump’s petty, sexist tweets, had a pithy response to Trump’s latest act.
Seriously? https://t.co/pPBJkKDUwG
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 24, 2016
Trump’s assault on Heidi Cruz began Tuesday night.
Trump was not happy that an anti-Trump SuperPAC called Make America Awesome used a nude photo from a GQ Magazine shoot of his wife Melania in a Facebook attack ad. The SuperPAC is not connected to the Cruz campaign, and candidates by law have no control even over the SuperPACs that are for them, but Trump ignored all this and responded by going after Cruz’s wife on Twitter:
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 responded:
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
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016
Cruz elaborated Wednesday morning on CNN’s New Day. “It reveals a lot about class, that Donald’s instinct is to try and attack my wife and sully her,” he said. “That should be beneath Donald.”
It is unknown what if anything Trump is referring to when he says he’d “spill the beans” on the Goldman Sachs executive and mother of two. However, Liz Mair, co-founder of the Make America Awesome SuperPAC, says she knows:
Donald Trump is so desperate to beat Cruz that his team has been pushing around rumors she's a criminal w a mental illness for weeks now.
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) March 23, 2016
Last March, BuzzFeed reported on the difficulties faced by Heidi Cruz after uprooting her career from Washington to Texas, including a 2005 incident where she was found sitting on the ground near a Texas highway outside of Austin. The Cruz campaign acknowledged that Mrs. Cruz in those days “experienced a brief bout of depression.” “Like millions of Americans,” said adviser Jason Miller, “she came through that struggle with prayer, Christian counseling and the love and support of her husband and family.”
Ted Cruz told CNN his wife Heidi is “the daughter of missionaries in Africa, she’s my best friend in the world, and if Donald wants to get in a character fight, he’s better off sticking with me ’cause Heidi is way out of his league.”
Cruz’s response echoed that of another President — albeit the fictional Andrew Shepperd in the 1995 Michael Douglas movie American President:
Perhaps the last word on the issue should come from Heidi Cruz herself. At a campaign stop in Wisconsin today, Cruz responded to Trump’s threat. “Most of the things Donald Trump says have no basis in reality,” she said, “We are not worried. We’re focusing on our campaign, and we’re going to continue to do that.”