MADISON, Wis. — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz blasted rival Donald Trump in a radio interview Tuesday, using some of the harshest rhetoric of the campaign to date, accusing the Republican front-runner of being a bully, inciting violence and using dirty tricks to intimidate voters and delegates.
He also said that the billionaire is a bad businessman who has been surrounded by sycophants his entire career.
“Donald’s whole pitch is he’s a great businessman,” Cruz said in the wide-ranging interview on the Glenn Beck radio show, adding that given how he runs his campaign, “it appears he can’t run a lemonade stand.”
The interview came a day after Cruz hosted a pair of rallies in California before heading back east to Pennsylvania and New York. It also comes as both campaigns work tirelessly behind the scenes to secure delegates who will back them at the Republican Party convention this summer in Cleveland.
Cruz conceded that Trump will do well in upcoming primaries, including in Trump’s home state of New York, which votes next week.
“He ought to win his home state convincingly,” Cruz said, setting expectations high for Trump. “If Donald isn’t substantially above 50 percent in New York, it will be a big loss for him.”
Cruz said he will fare better when the race shifts back west to Indiana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana, before finishing in California on June 7.
“If and when the people of California vote against Donald Trump, he’s going to scream that they’re stealing the election,” Cruz said. “Apparently when anyone votes against him it’s an act of theft.”
Cruz predicted a “grassroots tsunami” will send him on to victory at the Republican convention.
Cruz unloaded on Trump over reports that his supporters were publishing the home addresses of delegates in Colorado and threatening to make public the hotel room numbers of delegates at the convention this summer.
“That is the tactic of union thugs,” Cruz said. “That is violence. It is oppressive. The idea that Donald is threatening delegates, we’re seeing that pattern over and over again.”
Cruz even compared Trump to the lead character from the famous Godfather films about organized crime.
“Donald needs to understand he’s not Michael Corleone,” Cruz said. “Donald needs to stop threatening the voters. He needs to stop threatening the delegates. He is not a mobster.”
Cruz also discounted the seriousness of the Trump candidacy, saying “there was a real chance this was a lark, this was ‘let’s get some publicity, let’s have some fun.’ And I think he was surprised as anybody.” But he’s doing so poorly in securing delegates to the convention, if Trump were on his own reality show ‘The Apprentice,’ he would have to fire himself, Cruz said.
Cruz even got in a jab at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has endorsed Trump after dropping out of the race.
“Chris Christie right now is trapped in his own private hell,” Cruz said. “When Chris was standing behind Donald holding his jacket, the look in his eyes. You could see the screaming.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
