Donald Trump, Ted Cruz battle over delegates, debates -- and families
In the wake of personal accusations against each other, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz opened new lines of attack against each other Sunday on delegates and debates.
Trump accused Cruz of trying to steal Republican convention delegates from him, while the Texas senator said the New York businessman is afraid to debate because he knows so little about the issues.
Responding to reports that Cruz may wind up with more delegates in Louisiana even though Trump took more votes in the state, Trump told ABC's This Week that "it tells you what a crooked system we have and what a rotten political system we have."
Attacking both Cruz and the GOP in general, Trump said that "I have a guy going around trying to steal people's delegates," and "what's going on in the Republican Party is a disgrace."
For his part, Cruz told Fox News Sunday that Trump is engaged in personal attacks because he can't discuss substance, and referenced the fact that Trump withdrew from a scheduled debate last week in Salt Lake City. "That's why he's afraid to debate, why he refuses to debate because when he debates: His lack of understanding of the challenge facing America becomes evident for everyone to see," Cruz told Fox.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
Cruz is trying to catch Trump, who leads him in delegates 739 to 465, or at least keep the frontrunner from winning the necessary 1,237 delegates on the first ballot at the July convention. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has 143 delegates, is also looking to block Trump.
On their Sunday show appearances, Trump and Cruz renewed their personal feud.
Trump again blamed Cruz for a Super PAC ad showing a nearly nude photo of his wife, former model Melania Trump, and said that made Cruz's wife Heidi fair game in the campaign. "He's the one that started it," Trump told ABC.
Cruz told Fox he had nothing to do with the Super PAC ad on Trump's wife, and found it "deplorable." The Texas senator said Trump is using it an excuse to attack Heidi Cruz. "It is inappropriate. It is wrong -- it is, frankly, disgusting to see a candidate attacking the spouse of another," Cruz said.
Meanwhile, Cruz accused Trump's "henchmen" of engineering a National Enquirer story saying that the senator is being investigated for extramarital affairs. The story is "lies" and "garbage," Cruz told Fox, and are "indicative of just how low Donald Trump will go."
Trump denied Cruz's claims, telling ABC that "the National Enquirer did a story -- it was their story."
Kasich, meanwhile, told NBC's Meet The Press that families should be "off limits" in campaigns, and he expressed regret over the tone of the Republican race. "If this becomes the order of the day, what kind of people are we going to have in the future that are going to run for public office?" Kasich said. "There's got to be some rules, and there's got to be something that gets set there ... Some decency."