Ted Cruz said Donald Trump’s decision to bring his wife into their increasingly hostile presidential campaigns “speaks volumes” about the character of the Republican front-runner.
“Donald is a bully,” Cruz told TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie in an interview Wednesday. "And I told him last night, 'Don't you try to attack my wife.'"
In a tweet he fired off the previous evening, Trump threatened Cruz to “be careful” or else he would “spill the beans” on his wife. The tweet also erroneously blamed Cruz for an anti-Trump ad that featured a picture of Trump’s own wife, Melania, from a GQ magazine photo shoot where she posed nude.
On Wednesday, Cruz said Trump’s attack stems from unhappiness that “he got clobbered in Utah,” where he lost by nearly 70 percent to Cruz. Cruz said that Trump deals with disappointment by trying to divert the public's attention elsewhere.
“The way he tries to change the subject is by lashing out and attacking my wife. Now I’m not going to stoop to that level, but Donald is in real trouble,” said Cruz, mentioning his endorsement from Jeb Bush.
Cruz confirmed that he had nothing to do with the ad Trump lashed out against him about.
“Donald’s trying to threaten my wife speaks volumes about character,” he said.
Cruz also was asked on TODAY about a Facebook that called for increased “patrols” of Muslim neighborhoods.
“We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized,” he said in the post.
Cruz defended the statement Wednesday, saying increased patrols also provides protection to those being confined.
"What I’m talking about is focusing law enforcement and national security resources on areas on locations where there is a higher incidence of radical Islamic terrorism."