Politics

Donald Trump Goes on a Twitter Rampage Against Ted Cruz

January 16th 2016

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Donald Trump took to Twitter to attack Ted Cruz, his main rival for the Republican nomination, in a series of particularly heated tweets. Trump tweeted about campaign loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank that Cruz failed to disclose, according to New York Times reports. The real estate mogul also went after Cruz's Canadian origins — which were a serious point of contention at Thursday night's GOP debate.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz at the GOP debate in South CarolinaFox News / YouTube - youtube.com

"Ted Cruz was born in Canada and was a Canadian citizen until 15 months ago. Lawsuits have just been filed with more to follow. I told you so," Trump tweeted early on Saturday morning.

Trump, famous for being rich enough to fund his campaign largely without any need for outside donations, went as far as writing that Goldman Sachs "owns" Cruz, and he even questioned how Cruz managed to borrow unreported loans as a "natural born Canadian."

The Twitter rampage follows particularly hostile exchanges between the pair at this week's GOP debate, as Trump questioned Cruz's presidential eligibility due to the Texas senator's birth in Canada.

Cruz, for his part held his own — with the exception of firing back with a controversial comment about "New York values." At the debate, Cruz cleverly pointed out that Trump had supported a policy requiring that both parents be born in the United States to be recognized as a natural-born citizen, and said, "Interestingly enough, Donald J. Trump would be disqualified...because Donald's mother was born in Scotland."

Ted Cruz answers Donald Trump on birther question.Fox Business

Cruz also pointed out that Trump had not gone on the offensive against the Texas senator and his Canadian origins until recently, as the latest poll numbers have set up Cruz as a serious threat to Trump.

The two exchanged occasional passive-aggressive words on Twitter back in December and at previous debates, but otherwise maintained a fairly respectful relationship — at least until Thursday's GOP debate and Trump's Saturday morning Twitter storm. The two even teamed up in August to host an anti-Iran Deal rally.

But now neck-and-neck in polling and with primary voting rapidly approaching, it's likely the feuding will only get more intense as the two candidates try to differentiate themselves.

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