Donald Trump says Ted Cruz "stole"
the Iowa caucuses and is guilty of "
fraud"
for falsely telling voters going to the polls that Ben Carson had dropped out the presidential race and to support him instead.
And the Texas senator's "fraud" is so serious that Iowa state officials should void the caucus results and hold a new vote, the billionaire developer believes.
On Wednesday Trump slammed Cruz in a series of
angry missives on Twitter.
Cruz on Tuesday admitted his campaign wrongly stated the retired pediatric neurosurgeon had exited the race as the caucuses got underway and apologized for the gaff.
Carson accepted the apology, but added that someone on Cruz's staff should pay for the action.
Trump, who has been the Republican presidential front-runner for seven months, believes the bogus claim by the campaigners for Cruz, who had trailed Trump in the polls, unfairly helped him win.
He is also crying foul at the Cruz campaign's scary-looking "voting violation" notice sent to Iowans.
The mailer tells the recipient it's been sent due to "low expected voter turnout in your area." It grades the recipient's voting history and that of neighbors, citing public records. Iowa's secretary of state says the mailer misrepresents election law. But Cruz called it a “routine” campaign move.
Trump also tore into Cruz for allegedly misrepresenting him.
On Tuesday, Trump called "Ted Cruz's speech after his victory became official a "far too long, rambling, overly flamboyant speech," and called it his "Howard Dean moment."
That was a reference to the former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee head's
notorious scream during his an address to supporters after his third place showing in the 2004 Iowa presidential caucuses — a bizarre moment some believe was pivotal in dooming his run.
On Wednesday, Dean, a former governor of Vermont and head of the Democratic National Committee, appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, to respond to Trump's reference.
"Well, the popular meme is that the scream speech destroyed the campaign. That's not true," Dean said.
"What destroyed the campaign is I came in third when I was supposed to come in first. So Donald is not only a showman but he doesn't know about history."
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