Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday attacked rival Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, saying that he has acted like a “maniac” in the Senate and doesn’t have the “temperament” to be president.
“Look at the way he’s dealt with the Senate. He goes in there, frankly, like a little bit of a maniac. You’re never going to get things done that way,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“I don’t think he has the right judgment,” the billionaire developer said. “You can’t walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars, and not be able to cajole and get along with people. He’ll never get anything done, and that’s the problem with Ted Cruz.”
Mr. Trump was referring to Mr. Cruz calling Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, a liar on the Senate floor after he broke a promise not to allow a vote to restore the Import-Export Bank.
The public challenge to Mr. McConnell cemented Mr. Cruz’s standing as a hero of the party’s conservatives, who view the Import-Export Bank as corporate welfare and detest the majority leader as a big-government Republican.
Mr. Trump previously had spared Mr. Cruz from his blistering attacks, prompting speculation that the two might be destined to be running mates. But the former reality TV star opened fire in response to a report that Mr. Cruz questioned Mr. Trump’s judgment at a private fundraising event last week.
Mr. Cruz denied the report.
“He said it behind my back,” said Mr. Trump.
Recent polls also have shown Mr. Cruz surging past Mr. Trump into the lead in the early caucus state of Iowa.
Mr. Trump frequently has intensified his attacks on rivals as they have threatened him in the polls, which often has succeeded in beating back the competition.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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