Cruz Supporters Boo Trump At Conservative Gathering

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) —
Donald Trump ran afoul of some conservative activists Saturday with an
attack on Republican presidential rival Ted Cruz for his failure to
disclose certain bank loans during his 2012 Senate bid.

“You give a campaign
contribution to Ted Cruz, you get whatever the hell you want,” Trump
told a tea party gathering in the early voting state of South Carolina.

By
the time Trump added that he thinks Cruz is “a nice guy,” loud boos had
commenced among the hundreds of attendees divided almost exclusively
between the two leading GOP contenders.

In front of the same
audience a few hours earlier, Cruz opted not to mention Trump at all,
apparently intent on de-escalating their feud as they pursue for the
same frustrated, anti-establishment voters who have defined the GOP
campaign thus far.

Cruz instead urged voters to examine
candidates’ records on a range of issues dear to conservatives, among
them repealing the Affordable Care Act, fighting abortion and same-sex
marriage, and opposing bank bailouts like the one Congress adopted in
2008.

“Don’t listen to the words on the campaign trail,” Cruz said. “Look to action.”

It
was a more subtle reminder of Trump’s shifts on a number of issues: He
previously backed abortion rights and same-sex marriage,

Trump
appeared ready to follow Cruz’s lead Saturday. He notably avoided any
mention of Cruz’s Canadian birth, despite suggesting in recent weeks
that the foreign-born son of an American mother and Cuban father is not
eligible to serve as president. And he saved his barbs until the end of a
meandering 45-minute speech.

Still, Trump’s official Twitter feed
blasted Cruz throughout Saturday, as he sought to capitalize on a pair
of New York Times reports detailing Cruz’s failure to explain fully two
loans from Citibank and Goldman Sachs that he now says he used to help
finance his 2012 Senate campaign.

Cruz calls it a “paperwork
error” that he included the loans only on Senate personal financial
disclosures, but not on the Federal Election Commission filings that
typically get more attention before voters cast ballots. The Senate
forms do not state explicitly that the money was used on his campaign.

At
the tea party event, Cruz railed against “crony capitalism” and
corporate titans in league with big government. In New Hampshire earlier
Saturday, Trump called Cruz a “great hypocrite” for campaigning as an
anti-establishment critic of big banks.

On Twitter, Trump said the banks “own him (Cruz).” He added, “No wonder the banks do so well in the U.S. Senate.”

Once
he raised the issue at the tea party event, Trump didn’t back down amid
booing. “Show us proof,” yelled one Cruz supporter. Trump retorted:
“Say whatever you want. He didn’t report his bank loans.”

For
Trump, the offensive continued his pattern of aggressiveness toward
whichever of his rivals he says have attacked him first, from Jeb Bush
and Rand Paul to former candidates like Rick Perry and Lindsey Graham.

In
this case, there’s risk for both candidates. Cruz aides believe the
bank loans story will not hurt him. He has admitted what he says is an
inadvertent error and will amend all the necessary forms, they argue.
Meanwhile, GOP primary voters have long accepted that Cruz has credibly
positioned himself as an anti-establishment crusader — while few, if any
of his rivals will want to raise a debate of who is more beholden to
Wall Street.

Yet Trump could prove the exception. He’s an
unapologetic and proud New Yorker. And now he is tying the bank loan
storyline to Cruz’s recent critique that Trump represents “New York
values,” an all-encompassing insult understood by residents in more
rural, conservative states like Iowa and South Carolina.

Trump disarmed Cruz in Thursday’s debate with a passionate defense of New York City’s reaction to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Among
Trump’s Twitter comments Saturday: “When will @TedCruz give all the New
York based campaign contributions back to the special interests that
control him.”

As for their mutual audience Saturday, opinions appeared hard-baked weeks before Iowa’s Feb. 1 caucuses.

Debbie
Dooley, a Georgia tea party activist who backs Trump, said, “I want
someone who can self-finance, who isn’t beholden to the big banks, big
business.” But, she added, “I like Ted. He’s a consistent conservative.”

Cruz supporter Carolyn Church of South Carolina said she wasn’t among those booing Trump.

“I like what he’s saying, and I’d love for him to have a role in the administration, but I want Ted to be president,” she said.

The
volleying over “New York values,” the details over Cruz’s loans and the
focus on Cruz’s birthplace, she said, is just “Trump being colorful.
… It’s just noise.”

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Associated Press writer Julie Pace in New Hampshire contributed to this report.

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