Donald Trump continued his public fight with Republican presidential rival Rick Perry on Wednesday, tweeting a photo of the former Texas governor “begging for my support and money.”
The Instagram post showed Mr. Trump and Mr. Perry meeting at the real estate mogul’s office during the 2012 presidential cycle.
“.@GovernorPerry in my office last cycle playing nice and begging for my support and money. Hypocrite!” Mr. Trump wrote, receiving nearly 5,000 likes.
Mr. Perry’s aides on Wednesday trolled the Trump campaign by retweeting several old tweets from Mr. Trump during that cycle.
“Rick Perry — a good man, a great family and a patriot,” he wrote in 2012. “Texas is lucky to have him — @GovernorPerry is a great guy!”
The Republican rivals have been sparring online for weeks since Mr. Perry became one of the first GOP presidential candidates to denounce Mr. Trump’s controversial remarks on illegal immigration.
“Defending conservatism against the cancer of Trump-ism — I hope you’ll join me Wednesday in DC,” the former governor tweeted to his 303,000 followers on Tuesday, linking to an Opportunity and Freedom PAC event where he is expected to speak this week.
Mr. Trump responded: “Rick Perry did an absolutely horrible job of securing the border. He should be ashamed of himself. Gov. Abbott has since been terrific.”
In a Monday op-ed for National Review, Mr. Perry wrote that “Trump-ism” involves “a toxic mix of demagoguery and nonsense.”
“Being president of the United States is serious business, not a reality TV show,” he wrote.
Mr. Trump responded to that attack by saying the former governor “doesn’t understand what the word demagoguery means” and that he “should be forced to take an IQ test” before the first GOP debate.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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