Updated 9:03 p.m.:
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz responded to accusations by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump that the rules of the Republican nomination process are “stacked against” him and the national party is rooting for him to lose in a CNN town hall Wednesday night.
“Anyone who knows anything about Washington knows the establishment is not rooting for me,” Cruz told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “The rules are simple, the way you get elected is you win a majority of the delegates in the elections. I think the way you win is you make the case to the voters and you win their votes.”
Original post 8:24 p.m.:
Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is set to participate in a special CNN town hall with his wife, Heidi, in New York Wednesday night, ahead of Tuesday’s primary there.
The couple will take questions from New York voters during the prime-time event moderated by Anderson Cooper, potentially helping cast a softer light on the Texas senator just as the race has become ever more contentious.
Family has been a particularly sensitive topic for the Texas senator in his ongoing battle with GOP front-runner Donald Trump for the nomination.
Heidi Cruz became the center of the story after Trump retweeted a picture of her grimacing, side-by-side with a more glamorous photo of his wife, Melania. Cruz accused Trump of attacking his wife — a charge Trump denied.
“I never envisioned that my opponent would attack my wife, that he would go after my wife and my family,” Cruz told CNN’s Dana Bash last week. “And Heidi is a rock. She is strong, she’s come through this unwavering.”
Cruz has struggled to find a foothold in New York, and stood by his pre-Iowa caucus attack on Trump’s “New York values” last week. Trump had 54% of support among likely New York GOP primary voters, according to a recent Fox News poll, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich trailing with 22% and Cruz in third place with 15% support.
The Trump family sat down with CNN Tuesday night, and Kasich and his family joined CNN Monday night.