Donald Trump took aim at Sen. Ted Cruz Sunday, launching one of the first of what will likely be a series of attacks against the candidate now leading him in Iowa.
“I don’t think he’s qualified to be president,” Trump said, arguing the Texas Republican’s tenure in the Senate makes him too divisive for the job.
Cruz has been “frankly a little bit of a maniac,” Trump said in a taped interview on Fox News. “You’re never gonna be able to get things done that way.”
“You can’t walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to cajole and get along with people,” Trump said. “He’ll never be able to get anything done, and that’s the problem with Ted.”
Trump also appeared Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” touting his business success, his best-selling books and his TV show “The Apprentice.”
“You don’t make that kind of success without judgement,” he added.
Trump was responding to comments from Cruz earlier this week questioning the real estate mogul’s judgement. A Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register poll released Saturday showed Cruz opening a 10 point polling lead on Trump in Iowa.
“I would say I have far better judgement than Ted,” Trump said. “I’m more capable.”
Trump also stood by his controversial proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country on a temporary basis despite condemnation from the leaders of both parties.
“I’m about security. I’m about safety. I’m about borders,” he said. “We have to have the right people coming into our country.”
Trump defended his Muslim policy by arguing his Muslim friends supported the idea.
“They know they have a problem,” he said.
The GOP front-runner blasted President Obama and Hillary Clinton for their reluctance to criticize radical Islam in the wake of the San Bernardino shooting.
“If you don’t identify the problem, you’re never going to solve the problem,” he said.
