Republican presidential candidate
Donald Trump on Saturday criticized GOP rival Ted Cruz for taking
money from donors “who espouse gay marriage.”
At Thursday's Republican debate in
Charleston, Trump cited New York's response to the 9/11 attacks to
counter Cruz saying that Trump “embodies New York values.”
“I saw something that no place on
Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New
York,” Trump said from the debate stage. “The people of New York
fought and fought and fought. We saw more death and even the smell
of death and it was with us for months.”
“And I have to tell you, that was a
very insulting statement that Ted made,” he added.
Cruz offered an apology of sorts on
Friday: “Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo and Bill de
Blasio have all demanded an apology, and I'm happy to apologize. I
apologize to the millions of New Yorkers who have been let down by
the liberal politicians in that state.”
“Ted is the ultimate hypocrite,”
Trump tweeted on Saturday. “Says one thing for money, does another
for votes.”
“If Ted Cruz is so opposed to gay
marriage, why did he accept money from people who espouse gay
marriage?” Trump added in a separate tweet, a reference to remarks
Cruz made on the issue while attending a fundraiser in Manhattan.
At the event, Cruz, an outspoken
opponent of marriage equality, told a Republican supporter that
“fighting gay marriage” would not be a “top-three priority”
in his administration.
(Related: At
Manhattan fundraiser, Ted Cruz says opposition to gay marriage not a
priority.)
Appearing Sunday on ABC's This Week,
Trump called Cruz “a very nasty guy” who “is not good for the
country.”
“Just so you know, he's taking money
from people who are very much into the whole gay marriage situation
and he's taking money from them and, you know, raising funds from
them. Then he got caught the other day in a tape when he was raising
funds at a law office talking about things that are priorities and
not priorities,” Trump said.
“So, you're saying he's a hypocrite?”
host
George Stephanopoulos asked.
“Oh, he's a total hypocrite,” Trump
answered.