After Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) touted his victory in the Iowa caucuses during the Saturday night Republican presidential debate, Donald Trump quipped that Cruz only won the state by spreading rumors about Ben Carson.
“That’s because he got Ben Carson’s votes, by the way, but we won’t say that,” Trump said, referencing the Cruz’ campaign’s attempts to persuade Iowa caucusgoers to vote for Cruz by telling them that Carson was suspending his campaign.
Trump made the comment after Cruz said he won the state’s caucus even though he didn’t pay homage to Iowa ethanol.
“I campaigned in the state of Iowa four square against the ethanol mandate. Something else said was political suicide. My two leading competitors both attacked me for it. The governor of the state said, vote for anyone but Cruz, and lobbyists spent millions of dollars in attack ads,” Crus said. “But I said, we should have no mandates, a level playing field, and the people of Iowa put country and our children above the corporate welfare.”