Real estate mogul Donald Trump accused Ted Cruz of fraud on Wednesday, claiming the Texas senator "stole" the Iowa caucuses and arguing that "either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified."
Trump, who placed second to Cruz in the Hawkeye State, unleashed a barrage of tweets attacking Cruz for playing dirty in Iowa because one of the senator's staffers falsely told Iowa caucus-goers that retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson planned to quit the race. Cruz later apologized for his staffer's actions.
The GOP businessman also slammed Cruz for sending out shady mailers claiming Iowans faced a "VOTING VIOLATION.”
Trump is a master at sucking the oxygen out of the race by drawing attention to himself with new controversies. The Twitter rant is just one more example of this media strategy, particularly at a time when Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are basking in the glow of their performances in Iowa.
Cruz responded Wednesday afternoon, mocking the businessman for throwing a "Trumpertantrum."
"His insults get more and more hysterical the more upset he gets," Cruz said in a press conference in New Hampshire. "I wake up every day and laugh at the latest thing he's tweeted because he's losing it."
"We need a commander in chief, not a tweeter in chief," the senator added. “I mean we’re liable to wake up one day and Donald, if he were president, would have nuked Denmark."
Cruz continued by noting that his two young daughters are "better behaved" than Trump.
This story has been updated with Cruz's response.
Editor's note: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.
Also on HuffPost:
