Donald Trump called Republican rival Ted Cruz a “pussy” Monday, during an address to a large crowd at a rally on the eve of the New Hampshire primary.
The nasty slur came as the billionaire businessman was discussing how he supported waterboarding, and insisted that Cruz didn’t. One woman in the crowd yelled out the insult and Trump repeated it.
“She just said a terrible thing,” Trump said sarcastically.
“OK, you’re not allowed to say — and I never expect to hear that from you again … She said, ‘He’s a pussy.’”
Trump then threw up his hands in mock exasperation at the woman’s derisive comment.
“That’s terrible, terrible,” Trump said facetiously.
The attack on Cruz comes after a GOP debate in New Hampshire on Saturday where Cruz vacillated on his position on waterboarding.
Although insisting that the interrogation method is legal, Cruz said he would not “bring it back in any sort of widespread use.”
Trump said during the debate that he would “bring back a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding.”
Meanwhile, Trump, who claims he’s worth more than $10 billion, told voters earlier Monday that he doesn’t like wealthy folks.
“My weakest support is with very rich people. Isn’t that funny?” Trump said during a campaign stop in Salem, NH.
“I don’t get along that well with the rich. I don’t even like the rich people very much. It’s like a weird deal,” he said.
Trump’s analysis of the polls is accurate.
Multiple surveys show Trump, who regularly touts his Ivy League credentials as a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, polls better among low- and middle-income, non-college-educated whites.
But Trump also has made a habit of repeatedly invoking some of his wealthy pals on the campaign trail.
Among those he brings up regularly are investor Carl Icahn, whom Trump wants to negotiate US trade deals; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady; and Phil Ruffin, a wealthy casino baron who Trump says offered to donate $1 million to his campaign.
One wealthy person Trump definitely doesn’t get along with is rival Jeb Bush, who tweeted about Trump Monday: “You aren’t just a loser, you are a liar and a whiner.”
Trump and Bush have become bitter antagonists on the campaign trail, with personal attacks becoming routine.
Trump shot back by calling in to CNN, saying of old-money Bush, “He’s a desperate person . . . He’s a sad person who’s gone absolutely crazy. This guy is a nervous wreck. Jeb is having some kind of a breakdown.”
Another opponent striking at Bush was Marco Rubio, whose affiliated super PAC shifted from hitting Cruz in TV ads and mailings.
The closeness of the contest here left a batch of candidates — Bush, Rubio, Cruz and John Kasich — battling for second place and ready to attack those standing in their way.
Trump leads New Hampshire polls by double digits.