WINTERSET, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Tuesday that his main GOP competitor, Sen. Ted Cruz, has a “rough temperament” that wouldn’t serve him well in the White House.
As evidence, Trump cited Cruz’s decision to call Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a liar on the Senate floor in July.
“I have a great temperament,” Trump said at a brief stop at the John Wayne birthplace museum. “When you talk about temperament — Ted’s got a rough temperament. You can’t call people liars on the Senate floor when they’re your leader. It’s not a good thing if you want to curry favor and get the positive votes later on. So Ted is worried about his temperament, and people are talking about his temperament. And I haven’t talked about his temperament, but he’s got to be careful because his temperament has been questioned a lot.”
Trump was responding to Cruz’s attack Monday, when he questioned whether voters want someone like Trump dealing with leaders on the international stage.
Trump was joined at the museum by Aissa Wayne, the famed actor’s daughter. While there, Trump warned attendees that Iowans are going to be picking “another loser” in the general election if they vote for another candidate.
“I hope we win. It’ll be a lot easier for me to say ‘I just want to do well.’ I’d really like to win,” Trump told reporters. “And remember Iowa hasn’t picked that winner in 16 years. If they pick somebody other than me, they’re going to pick another loser. So I want to see Iowa win, and I think that it’s very important that Iowa picks the right person this time. They’ve had a rough 16 years. We are going to win.”
The stop was the first of three for Trump in the Hawkeye State, including an event Tuesday evening in Ames. where his campaign will be rolling out a “big endorsement.”
Cruz and Trump are first and second on the Washington Examiner‘s latest power rankings, respectively.
