The personal attacks between Republican front runner Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reached a new low earlier this week. After Trump threatened to "spill the beans" to Cruz's wife Heidi, their supporters are now being thrown in the middle of the battle.
Trump vs. Cruz
It started last Tuesday night as both candidates awaited the primary election results in Arizona and Utah. Taking to his Twitter account, Trump responded to an ad released by an anti-Trump super PAC, using an image of his wife's nude photo-shoot with G.Q. Magazine. Trump accused the Cruz campaign of being a part of the ad in question, with the billionaire real estate mogul warning the Texas senator that he could release private information to Heidi.
The Cruz campaign denied any wrongdoing, leading to a war of words between the two. During a March 25 interview on CNN, Omarosa Manigault, a Trump supporter, got into an uncomfortable exchange with host Don Lemon.
Lemon asked Manigault to discus the recent personal attacks from Trump to Cruz and his wife, but she was unwilling to comply. "I don’t think we should start there," Manigault said, in an attempt to direct the conversation to the original nude photo-shoot ad. Quickly, Lemon cut Manigault off, saying, "No no no. I'm not gonna let you do that. Omarosa, stop!" Manigault attempted to push the issue, but Lemon put his foot down, calling for his producers to cut her mic.
'Stop!' Don Lemon Snaps at Omarosa, Abruptly Ends Segment on Trump https://t.co/cymk7wj0Qn (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/uDDQG8gZ5O
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 26, 2016
"Omarosa, stop!
Okay, let's stop. Cut the mic," Lemon shouted, before stating, "We’re not doing that. I want everyone on this panel to answer the question directly." When Manigault once again tried to chime in, Lemon went to a commercial break.
Trump on defense
After Trump made his initial comment, he had largely remained silent over the next 48 hours.
When the National Enquirer broke the story of the alleged sex scandal involving Cruz and at least five women on Friday, Trump came out of hiding to comment. Denying he had anything to do with leaking the story, the former host of "The Apprentice" did make it a point to note that the paper had been accurate when publishing previous scandals in the past, including stories about John Edwards and O.J.
Simpson.
Read Donald Trump's incredible response to the Ted Cruz affairs allegations https://t.co/NG7uBpx4GB pic.twitter.com/OEgE5a8rUg
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) March 26, 2016
The GOP convention is less than four months away, scheduled for July in Cleveland, Ohio. While Trump is currently in the lead, Cruz still has an outside shot at the nomination. With Ohio Gov. John Kasich not looking to drop out, a brokered convention could be possible if no candidate reaches the require 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination.