Donald Trump and Ted Cruz exchanged barbs on Twitter Tuesday night after a pro-Cruz PAC ran an ad targeting Trump’s wife Melania.
The Facebook ad features a tasteful nude photo of Melania Trump that does but not revealing anything, with the caption, “Meet Melania Trump, your next First Lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
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
“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!”
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
“Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought. #classless”
The ad was released by the Make America Awesome PAC and first reported by Buzzfeed on Monday. The group, headed by Liz Mair, says it is targeting Mormon voters with the Facebook ads.
“Liz Mair, a Republican strategist whose anti-Trump super PAC Make America Awesome launched the Facebook campaign last week, said each ad is expected to reach around 10,000 Mormons of voting age a day. The goal is twofold: increase turnout among LDS voters, and urge them to strategically consolidate around Ted Cruz, who is close to the 50% winner-take-all threshold in Utah.
“The group is running three ads: one that features Mitt Romney, one that emphasizes Trump’s past support for pro-choice policies, and a third that shows Melania Trump posing nude. The Melania ad, which is by far the most provocative, invites viewers to meet “your next first lady.” Mair said that one is being promoted on Instagram as well, but only to LDS women.”
The leftist site Talking Points Memo noted Trump deleted the first version of his tweet tonight which read:
The photo of Melania Trump used in the ad was for an issue of GQ published in 2000.
