AIKEN, S.C. - Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump sought to verbally obliterate one another Monday ahead of South Carolina's crucial primary, with the threat of a lawsuit, accusations of lying and assertions that a candidate has "lost it."
Trump said he is prepared to immediately sue Cruz over this Canadian birth, claiming it could disqualify him from the presidency. The businessman ordered Cruz to retract statements about his past inconsistencies on abortion rights and other social issues. Trump also demanded that the senator from Texas take down advertisements attacking him.
"We will bring a lawsuit if he doesn't straighten his act out," Trump told reporters in Hanahan, S.C., Monday afternoon. "This guy's just a plain out liar."
Trump said Cruz "just comes out, and boom, boom, boom, absolute lies.... He doesn't even have the right to serve as president or even run for president."
Trump's threat and biting comments come days before voters in this state cast ballots in the nation's third voting contest - Cruz and Trump each came here with a win, and Cruz has said he believes the nominating contest is a two-man race. But the presence of a third man loomed large - Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) who, along with Trump, accused Cruz of distorting the facts in the Republican debate Saturday. Cruz remains squarely in the crosshairs of both men as campaigning heats up here this week.
"I have never seen anybody that lied as much as Ted Cruz," Trump said Monday. Trump also called Cruz "the most dishonest guy I think I've ever met in politics."
In response, Cruz has ratcheted up his attacks on Trump and Rubio. Cruz, who has sought to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood, has highlighted Trump's assertion Saturday that the organisation is doing "wonderful things" for women's health. Pointing out past support for Democrats, Cruz argues that Trump has long been a liberal who will not appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court. Cruz says that Rubio supported a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrats, arguing Monday that illegal immigration is an issue that hurts blue-collar workers. Cruz is also sharpening his attacks on Rubio's foreign policy, seeking to tie him to President Obama, Secretary of State John F. Kerry and his predecessor, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"Two if the candidates in this race, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio both have the very same pattern," Cruz said in Aiken. "Whenever somebody points out their record, they simply start screaming liar, liar, liar. It's a very odd dynamic."
Cruz said Trump would appoint liberal justices to the court - such as his sister, a federal appeals court judge. Trump has said in the past that his sister would be a "phenomenal" justice, but walked it back, stating he was joking.
"Now it's good to stand with your sister, but Donald's sister was a Bill Clinton-appointed federal appellate judge who is a radical pro-abortion extremist," Cruz told reporters in Aiken.
In July 2000, Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, wrote the majority opinion on a panel that found New Jersey's ban on late-term abortions unconstitutional. It said the law banning the procedure was "constitutional vague" and "unduly burdened a woman's constitutional right to obtain an abortion."
"Donald Trump, if he were president, would appoint liberals to the court," Cruz said. "We know this for a fact. Why? Because Donald has been a liberal his entire adult life."
The senator blasted Trump's command of national security, stating that he does not have a grasp of the nation's nuclear capability, an understanding Cruz said "works in reality television," but not for someone vying to be commander-in-chief. Cruz also chided Trump for calling the impeachment of George W. Bush, a popular figure here who campaigned in North Charleston on Monday night for his brother Jeb.
"When Donald trump sided with MoveOn.org and Michael Moore and the extreme fever swamp left wing on calling for the impeachment of George W. Bush, that demonstrated where he was coming from," Cruz said.
Trump has questioned for weeks whether Cruz's birthplace disqualifies him from running for president, and Cruz bashes off threats of a lawsuit. The Constitution mandates that only "natural born citizens" can be Ppresident, though there are varying interpretations of the law. Cruz has long said that he is a natural-born citizen through his mother, who was born in the United States.
"You know, today Donald Trump held a press conference where he apparently lost it," Cruz said. "I mean, he was just going on and on about I'm the most horrible person in the world because you know, I keep repeating things he's said."
Cruz also sharpened his barbs for Rubio as he looks to draw a foreign policy contrast between the two - with Cruz attempting to thread the needle between Rubio's hawkishness and the more anti-interventionist, libertarian wing of the party. Cruz said Rubio's vote confirming Kerry to be secretary of state has "undermined Israel, has undermined our allies, has aided our enemies, has facilitated Iran toward acquiring nuclear weapons."
Rubio's campaign shot back Monday, accusing Cruz of engaging in a "a series outright lies and questionable tactics" that show he cannot be trusted. Rubio's campaign said Cruz has distorted the senator's stance on abortion and marriage and accused the Cruz campaign of engaging in push polls here in South Carolina.
All three candidates are looking to woo this state's heavy concentration of religious voters. Cruz has spent the entirety of his campaign attempting to win over evangelical Christian voters, a group that helped propel him to victory in the Iowa caucuses. Trump mocked Cruz for infusing his Christian faith into his campaign in an effort to win their support.
"The worst is holding up a Bible all the time," Trump said of Cruz. "You're willing to lie about anything, but then you're holding up a Bible? To me, it's no good."
Source: Washington Post
