Republican rival attacks Donald Trump for not being homophobic enough

Cruz asked the crowd, hours after Cruz bashed Trump’s record as more liberal than conservative.

“If Trump’s the nominee I won’t vote for him because I think it’s risky for the country and I don’t want to put the country in that spot”, McCusker said. I think he came across badly.

Trump and Cruz are atop the field in Iowa, where voters caucus February 1. “It’s not a good thing for the country”, said Mr Trump, who has led Republican opinion polls for months.

“Those are you words, Jeff”, Cruz told his host, only adding that he “likes” and “respects” him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him…he’s got an edge that’s not good.

Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler said that the campaign will highlight contrasts between Cruz and Trump to illustrate that voters can be confident that Cruz has “guiding principles to make critical decisions as president and commander in chief”, he said.

“So this morning I understand they did three kidnappings in Iraq, now they’re going to say, ‘Oh, give us billions, give us billions”, Trump told an audience gathered in a gymnasium in New Hampshire’s Concord High School.

“I believe that the Trump campaign is one of the best staffed organizations in the state”, said Jamie Johnson, a GOP strategist who also worked for Santorum in 2012 and was senior director of Rick Perry’s campaign before the former Texas governor dropped out of the race. “It seems Donald has a lot of nervous energy”.

“And for whatever reason, Donald doesn’t react well when he’s going down in the polls”, he added.

The Texas senator took to social media before Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate to ask “which team” Trump would play for. He said Trump had attacked him because Cruz was a threat to him in Iowa.

Cruz insists he will not turn the battle with Trump into a personal war, sticking closely to policy contrasts. Marco Rubio is in second place.

“If he publicly supports their views and he finances their causes and if he’s done so for 60 years of his life, and then suddenly when he announces as candidate for president, every single one of his views changes”, Cruz told Kuhner, then his new position is suspect.

The New York Times reported this week that Cruz had not disclosed two loans from big banks, Goldman Sachs and Citibank, in a Federal Election Commission Senate filing.

Trump also hit Cruz for criticizing him for embodying “New York values”, citing New Yorkers’ resilience after the September 11, 2001, attacks and the firefighters who came from across the United States to help. “He explained that his views were very pro-choice, open to partial birth abortion and gay marriage”.

If Cruz predicts that the series will be tied as he and Trump clear the field, SC is being envisioned as the rubber match, the moment when Republicans are forced to decide between two self-stylized conservatives who have deep – but not dominant – appeal.

The attacks and counter-attacks raged on yesterday on national television.