Donald Trump is crying about the Democrats rigging the 2024 election against him through lawfare. And he cried about the Democrats rigging the election in 2020. And he cried about both the general election and the Republican primaries being rigged against him in 2016. I discussed this in great detail in my column Donald Trump's History Of Crying "Rigged Election".
Now you may be saying to yourself, "Whoa--did you just say that Trump accused REPUBLICANS of rigging the 2016 primaries against him?" Yes, I did. And the Republican he accused most often of this was Ted Cruz. Funny thing. That's not the only thing Trump attacked about Ted Cruz. Trump also attacked Cruz's wife and father. Let's see what we can learn about Cruz by reviewing how he reacted to Trump's bullying.
February 3, 2016
Donald Trump tweeted the following on Feb. 3, 2016, after he lost the 2016 Iowa caucus to Ted Cruz:
Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
The State of Iowa should disqualify Ted Cruz from the most recent election on the basis that he cheated- a total fraud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Ted Cruz was pissed. He showed his fighting spirit when her responded:
My girls are five and seven. And I’ve got to tell you, Caroline and Catherine are better behaved than a presidential candidate who responds by insulting everyone every day.
March 10, 2016
Donald Trump's surrogate, Roger Stone, builds a website called StoptheSteal.org. Its first entry casts doubt on the legitimacy of votes for Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and announces the formation of a Trump Ballot Security Project to investigate voter fraud.
March 22 - 24, 2016
An anti-Trump conservative group targeted this ad at Mormons on Facebook on March 22, 2016 to discourage them from voting for Trump in the Utah primary.
Trump assumed that Ted Cruz was behind the ad, even though the fine print at the bottom says, "Paid for by Make America Awesome. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee."
Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016
Cruz responded by telling Trump that he was not behind the ad and by telling him not to attack his wife.:
Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016
Of course, this didn't prevent Trump from attacking Cruz's wife.
"@Don_Vito_08: "A picture is worth a thousand words" @realDonaldTrump #LyingTed #NeverCruz @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/5bvVEwMVF8"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016
Cruz was furious and showed Trump that he wouldn't be pushed around when Trump attacked his wife.
"It's not easy to tick me off. I don't get angry often," Cruz told reporters after touring a manufacturing plant in Dane, Wis. "But you mess with my wife, you mess with my kids, that'll do it every time. Donald, you are a sniveling coward, and leave Heidi the hell alone."
Our spouses and our children are off-bounds," the Texas senator continued, saying he wasn't looking forward to explaining the attacks against their mother to his two young daughters. "It is not acceptable for a big, loud New York bully to attack my wife."
Reporters peppered Cruz with questions about whether he would still back Trump if he's the nominee, but Cruz dismissed such a scenario.
"I'm going to beat him," he maintained. "Donald Trump will not be the nominee."
April 2, 2016
Trump's surrogate, Roger Stone, does an interview with Breitbart News in which he says that Ted Cruz should be put in handcuffs for voter fraud.
"Having worked very hard to collect evidence of voter fraud and irregularities in Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah, Hawaii and Texas, frankly, they ought to put the handcuffs on him," said Stone, referring to Ted Cruz, "because the Trump people can go to credentials and challenge the seating of hundreds, literally hundreds of Ted Cruz’s delegates who were fraudulently elected."
Asked to elaborate, Stone said, "Go to StopTheSteal.org. For over a month we have had an 800 number up, a toll free number. We have collected and documented with sworn affidavits thousands of claims of voter irregularities in the states where Ted Cruz has won. And we’re prepared to present them to the credentials committee."
"If they want to fight, let’s fight," Stone continued. "Ted Cruz’s delegates in Texas were fraudulently elected. There are thousands of examples of voter fraud. That means people voted for Donald Trump, but their vote was counted for Ted Cruz. Thou shalt not steal, Ted," said Stone. "You’re a big bible man, Ted, read that one carefully. Thou shalt not steal. That’s why I call him tricky Ted," concluded Stone.
April 5, 2016
When Cruz beat Trump in Wisconsin's primary, Trump's campaign released a statement that said, "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"
NEW: Trump campaign statement tonight pic.twitter.com/ycqP3IJYWn
— Robert Costa (@costareports) April 6, 2016
April 9 - 12, 2016
Steve House, the Colorado GOP chairman started receiving threats after Ted Cruz won the Colorado primary on April 9. Cruz called out Roger Stone, saying:
Roger Stone is threatening in Cleveland to put out the hotel room of any delegate that dare crosses Donald Trump. That is the tactic of union thugs. That is violence. It is oppressive. The idea that Donald is threatening delegates we're seeing this pattern over and over again.
Listen to Cruz saying, "Watching Donald Trump incite violence. That has no business in our democracy."
Ted Cruz on April 12, 2016: "Watching Donald Trump incite violence. That has no business in our democracy." https://t.co/gbK6WNVbTQ pic.twitter.com/WRxoVpuwYz
— Andy Kaczynski (@KFILE) February 13, 2021
May 3, 2016
“His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's being — you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous, What is this, right prior to his being shot, and nobody even brings it up. They don't even talk about that. That was reported, and nobody talks about it. I mean, what was he doing — what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting?” It’s horrible.”
Did Trump ever apologize to Cruz? It's hard to tell. Paul Manafort says Trump did apologize to Cruz before the Republican convention. However, Cruz did not endorse Trump at the convention, and when Cruz came around to supporting Trump in September 2016, he said, "Neither he [Trump] nor his campaign has ever taken back a word they said about my wife and my family." We may never know whether Trump apologized to Cruz. I have my doubts in light of the fact that Donald Trump almost NEVER apologizes for anything. I have never heard him make anything that sounded like a sincere apology. But whether Trump apologized or not, the one thing we know for certain is that Cruz eventually kissed the emperor's ring and became Donald Trump's good little boy.
WOMP! WOMP!
The question Texans must now answer as they go to the polls is this: Do you want to elect someone with honor and the balls to stand up for his wife against bullies? Do you want to elect someone who stands up to a bully who incites violence? Or do you want to elect tiny-testicled timid Ted?