Donald Trump Tuesday tore into rival GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz, calling him a "liar" and a "nasty" person who nobody likes — and said he is a "lone wolf" like President Barack Obama, only "more strident."
"Ted Cruz lies," the front-runner for the party's nomination told
MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "He is a liar. That's why nobody likes him. That's why the Senate people won't endorse him. He stands in the middle of the Senate floor and can't make a deal with anybody. He's a jerk."
There is "something to be said about having the ability to get other people to do things," Trump continued, and one "can't be a lone wolf," because that's sort of what we have right now as a president.
"We have a president that can't get anything done so he just keeps signing executive orders all over the place," said Trump. "I think Ted is more strident than Obama. Nobody gets along with Ted. Some people get along with Obama.
"Nobody likes Ted . . . I don't think he'll get anything through Congress because everybody hates him. I mean, the senators — you think you are in gridlock now? If he gets elected, you'll have gridlock times ten."
Trump said he talks to senators who want to come out and endorse him, and promised a "powerful endorsement coming down today," without saying who that endorsement is.
"So many people want to endorse us because they say Ted Cruz is wacky," said Trump. "Something is missing there. I don't know. There is something wrong. It's wonderful to be a rebel, but you've got to get some people on your side a little bit.
"Here is a guy with all of the Republican senators sitting out there. He deals with them every day when he's there. He deals with them every day, and he doesn't have one senator supporting him, not one Republican senator supporting him. That's pretty sad."
Further, said Trump, "nobody knows" if Cruz can run because of his birthplace in Canada.
"He has to solve that problem, get a declaratory judgment from the courts," said Trump. "He could be running and end up thrown out of the race in the middle of it. You know the Democrats will sue. The first day, if he got the nomination lawsuit day one which will take years to resolve. It will be a big problem."
Cruz was able to get "a whacko like
Glenn Beck" to support him, but Trump also slammed the conservative radio show host "who is always, every time I see him, he is crying, like so emotional. What a mess! He gets a whack job like Glenn Beck to support him, which is a negative, not a positive. I think Ted has some problems. He doesn't tell the truth."
But at one point, Trump said he did consider Cruz a friend, but "I kept saying 'when is he going to come at me because I know people. I became rich understanding people. I said when is he going to come at me?'"
Trump, though, said he is ready for Cruz.
"He is a guy that nobody likes and nobody trusts, and he is a nasty guy," said Trump. "He says things that are very nasty. I have to be nastier than him. It's one of those things."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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