Updated at 9:52 a.m.
Donald Trump on Wednesday morning published several tweets accusing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of “fraud” and said that the Iowa caucuses either need to be redone or “nullified,” citing reports that the Cruz campaign disseminated misinformation about Ben Carson and sent out mailers suggesting Iowans violated election law.
Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Trump began a Wednesday morning Twitter rant by accusing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of “illegally” winning the Iowa caucus before quickly deleting that tweet, according to numerous reporters.
Donald Trump deleted this tweet pic.twitter.com/eST4T3RYlE
— Colin Campbell (@BKcolin) February 3, 2016
In now-deleted tweet, Trump claims Cruz “illegally stole” Iowa victory pic.twitter.com/RsT2AlCIID
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) February 3, 2016
A few minutes later, Trump published a similar tweet that does not accuse Cruz of doing anything illegal.
Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
The real estate mogul then criticized Cruz over reports that his campaign told Carson supporters to caucus for Cruz because Carson was planning to drop out of the race. Trump also bashed Cruz for sending out mailers suggesting that Iowa voters had violated election law.
During primetime of the Iowa Caucus, Cruz put out a release that @RealBenCarson was quitting the race, and to caucus (or vote) for Cruz.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Many people voted for Cruz over Carson because of this Cruz fraud. Also, Cruz sent out a VOTER VIOLATION certificate to thousands of voters.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
The Voter Violation certificate gave poor marks to the unsuspecting voter(grade of F) and told them to clear it up by voting for Cruz. Fraud
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
And finally, Cruz strongly told thousands of caucusgoers (voters) that Trump was strongly in favor of ObamaCare and “choice” – a total lie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
At a Tuesday night campaign event, Trump also called the Cruz campaign’s decision to tell voters that Carson had dropped out “dirty” and “a disgrace,” according to The Hill.
Later Wednesday morning during an interview on Boston Herald radio, Trump was asked whether he would file a formal complaint against Cruz in Iowa.
“I probably will, yeah. What he did is unthinkable. He said the man has just left the race and he said it during the caucus,” Trump responded, referring to Cruz and Carson.
But when pressed about whether he’d actually file a lawsuit, the real estate mogul sidestepped the question and replied, “The problem with politics, it’s so dishonest.”
He later charged that Cruz was already “under investigation” for the voter violation mailers when asked if he’d spoken to Iowa election officials about his complaints.
Catherine Thompson contributed reporting.
