Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump responded Tuesday to his opponent Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) scathing and lengthy rant about him, countering that the senator didn’t “have the temperament” to be president.
“Today’s ridiculous outburst only proves what I have been saying for a long time, that Ted Cruz does not have the temperament to be President of the United States,” Trump said in a statement.
Trump called Cruz a “desperate” candidate and characterized his words as “over-the-top.”
During a press conference earlier in the day, Cruz painted Trump as a “pathological liar” in a last-minute bid to appeal to voters in the Indiana primary. The Hoosier State’s contest is widely considered to be Cruz’s last chance to prove he has a viable path to the GOP nomination.
Cruz also addressed a rumor that Trump had perpetuated that his father, Rafael Cruz, was linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who assassinated President John F. Kennedy. Cruz scoffed at the claim and said his dad “killed JFK, he is secretly Elvis and Jimmy Hoffa is buried in his backyard.”
Cruz further called Trump a narcissist and “serial philanderer” who would “betray” his voters and destroy the minds of teenagers.
“Do you want to spend the next five years with your kids bragging about infidelity?” Cruz asked.
Read Trump’s full statement below:
Ted Cruz is a desperate candidate trying to save his failing campaign. It is no surprise he has resorted to his usual tactics of over-the-top rhetoric that nobody believes. Over the last week, I have watched Lyin’ Ted become more and more unhinged as he is unable to react under the pressure and stress of losing, in all cases by landslides, the last six primary elections — in fact, coming in last place in all but one of them. Today’s ridiculous outburst only proves what I have been saying for a long time, that Ted Cruz does not have the temperament to be President of the United States.
This post has been updated.
