The US Republican presidential race got even nastier on Wednesday when two main contenders exchanged cryptic tweets and Donald Trump threatened to ‘spill the beans’ on Senator Ted Cruz’s wife.
A naked photo of Melania Trump set off the latest Republican presidential dispute on Twitter. Senator Cruz sent a Tweet to the Donald warning him to lay off his Mrs and to google his facts before launching cowardly attacks. The Independent reports:
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
Mr Trump appears to be referencing an advertisement done by the Make America Awesome Politcal Action Committee — not Mr Cruz’s campaign — that showed Melania Trump posing naked with the words “Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
Mr Cruz responded shortly after, saying that his team had nothing to do with the ad. He warned Mr Trump that his wife is off-limits.
Think the ad he was referring to was one actually released by Make America Awesome PAC, not Cruz https://t.co/xIBHV20dEp
— Hunter Schwarz (@hunterschwarz) March 23, 2016
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
It is unclear exactly about what Mr Trump could “spill the beans” on Mr Cruz’s wife, Heidi, but the Republican front-runner has shown he will strike opponents with low-blows. He and Mr Cruz have engaged in increasingly aggressive rhetoric as the Republican field has been whittled down.
As seen in the above tweet, Mr Trump has taken to calling Mr Cruz “lyin’ Ted”, which Mr Cruz has encouraged all non-Trump voters to coalesce around him.