The heated campaign rhetoric between GOP presidential candidates likely will hurt the eventual nominee in the general election, front-runner Donald Trump admitted on Monday, but said it can be overcome.
Trump was interviewed on CNN's
"The Lead with Jake Tapper," where guest host Jim Sciutto asked, "As the rhetoric between you and Mr. [Ted] Cruz and others reaches this sort of vitriolic pitch, I wonder if you’re concerned at all that that will hurt you or whoever the Republican candidate is in the general election in the fall?
"It probably will to a certain extent, but I think we’ll get over it, whoever it is," Trump replied. "I think you get over it and you go and have to fight Hillary [Clinton], probably, or whoever it might be. Maybe it’s Bernie [Sanders].
"I don’t say it’s a good thing," Trump said of the intense intra-party fighting. "Don’t forget, I wasn’t going to do negative ads. When I saw a negative ad go up by Cruz, I put up the negative ads."
Cruz has released an ad Monday saying Trump might nominate pro-choice, pro-same-sex marriage, anti-gun rights Supreme Court justices.
Trump threatened a lawsuit and a third-party run if Cruz doesn't take down the ad, and both Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called Cruz a liar at Saturday's debate.
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