A top Iowa conservative brushed back attacks levied by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying it was simply, “Trump being Trump.”
“What bothers him is I’m not willing to give him my endorsement,” Bob Vander Plaats, who heads a group called The Family Leader, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “I want somebody who’s solidly pro-life, someone who’s going to stand up for marriage.”
Last month, Vander Plaats gave his formal endorsement to Trump rival Ted Cruz, who is running neck-and-neck with the mogul in the early voting state.
That’s likely what prompted Trump’s public sparring match with Vander Plaats Tuesday on Twitter.
“Idiot Bob Plaats on CNN is DELUDED! Cruz’s favorability ratings are 0%, NO ONE LIKES HIM. VOTE TRUMP INSTEAD!” Trump tweeted.
He followed that up with rapid-fire insults.
Trump accused Vander Plaats of being a “phony” who repeatedly asked Trump for free stays at his hotels.
Vander Plaats responded: “Still consider you a friend and you still can’t have my endorsement. My friendship isn’t phony.”
Trump shot back: Vander Plaats “begged me to do an event while asking organizers for $100,000 for himself—a bad guy!”
That ruffled feathers.
“You know that’s not true,” Vander Plaats said. “I gave you an introduction and opportunity and you charged the guy $100K. May work in NY not IA.”
Later on CNN, Vander Plaats said the accusations were all false.
“It’s showing how desperate Trump is right now, because he sees that he’s probably going to lose Iowa,” he said, before adding, “At the end of the day we’re all going to be on the same team.”