Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday that Wisconsin voters “resoundingly rejected” Donald Trump’s campaign the night before, and said “the values of liberal Democratic politicians” have been harming New York, the site of a critical upcoming GOP presidential primary contest.
“(Wisconsin) was a turning point, I believe, in this entire election. It culminated in four states in a row in the last two weeks where we had beat Donald Trump over and over and over again,” Cruz told reporters after meeting with Hispanic and African-American pastors in the Bronx, New York.
“And yesterday in Wisconsin, a state where he bragged the day before, Donald Trump promised a ‘big victory’ … and not only did he not get a big victory, but the men and women of Wisconsin resoundingly rejected his campaign and the reason is simple: Donald has no solution to the problems we’re facing.”
Trump’s campaign was defiant in the wake of his defeat in Wisconsin, offering a stinging rebuke to Cruz in a statement Tuesday night.
“Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet — he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump,” the statement read.
Cruz, however, brushed off Trump’s statement Wednesday afternoon.
“He likes to yell and scream and insult and curse, and his statement last night was consistent with that,” Cruz said.
Cruz, who earned headlines earlier in the primary fight when he assailed “New York values,” also criticized on Wednesday “liberal Democratic politicians that have been hammering the people of New York for a long time,” specifically calling out teachers unions.
“They are the values of liberal democratic politicians like Andrew Cuomo and Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, like Charlie Rangel, all of whom Donald Trump has supported, giving them tens of thousands of dollars throughout the year,” Cruz said.
Cruz’s win in Wisconsin makes the possibility of a contested GOP convention in July more likely. A CNN delegate estimate shows Trump leading Cruz 746 to 510, with 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination outright before the convention.
New York holds its primary on April 19.
