Trump Takes Swipe at Cruz’s Cuban Roots, Ties to Oil

He added: “If Ted Cruz is against ethanol, how does he win in Iowa?”

The Cruz campaign has called The New York Times report misleading and in an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Cruz insisted his comments were not specifically about Trump, despite clearly referencing the candidate in the audio.

Vander Plaats helms The Family Leader, an Iowa-based conservative group. “It’s no surprise a candidate like this – who never went without health care – wants to repeal it and throw these people back into emergency rooms and clinics”, she said.

“You have one of the most dishonest right here in your backyard”, Trump said at a rally in Des Moines on Friday. And you know it’s a big industry here, it’s a big industry.

A CNN/ORC poll released on Monday found that the real estate mogul had 33% support among likely GOP caucus-goers in Iowa, followed by Cruz at 20%. He spent the better part of the year leading up to the 2008 contest stumping for Mike Huckabee, who ultimately coasted to a almost 10-point victory over Mitt Romney.

Cruz’s tactic runs in deep contrast to a Republican field that has struggled to gain traction despite efforts to knock Trump from the top of the polls. Marco Rubio have significant backing. Ben Carson has a great personal story, but Cruz still won the pick. Because they always treat me badly also. “He has not been embraced by the Washington establishment community, on either side of the aisle”, Vander Plaats said.

Trump said he likes Cruz but wondered how he wins Iowa with positions that are “anti-Iowa” on ethanol, noting, “he’s got to be with oil” as a Texas senator.

Trump took a new approach at the event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, standing on a riser in the center of supporters, and speaking without a lectern.

Conversely Cruz’s favorability rating is at an all-time high of 73 percent, which tops the GOP candidates, the poll found. Cruz is second, at about 22 percent.

In the first national opinion poll conducted entirely after Mr Trump’s recent remarks calling for Muslims to be banned from entering the United States, the businessman still held a commanding lead in the race for the November 2016 White House election. Trump’s team is casting a wide net and trying to fish new voters into the caucus pool. Cruz has assiduously courted evangelical voters.

Monmouth poll data shows how these strategies break out.

Donald Trump on Friday launched his first attacks against Ted Cruz, questioning his appeal to evangelical voters and his commitment to ethanol subsidies in the first blasts by the GOP front-runner against his political ally. That’s important, given that regular churchgoers make up about half the Iowa caucus electorate. Now that’s a question of strength, but it’s also a question of judgment.