If anyone thought Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio leaving the Republican presidential race would somehow calm the storm, well, that’s not the case. In fact, things are getting much uglier with the two frontrunners, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, seemingly aiming at each other’s wives. Trump was furious when a pro-Cruz group used a racy image of Melania Trump in a Utah advertisement. Trump went on to lose Utah big time, which had little to do with this ad. Trump didn’t campaign hard for the state (he preferred to concentrate upon his Wall to attract Arizona voters), and he declined to attend the planned Fox News debate in Salt Lake City.
Well, Trump didn’t stand for Melania’s involuntary appearance in an anti-Trump ad. He subsequently threatened to “spill the beans” on Heidi Cruz, and Ted responded by lifting an Aaron Sorkin line: “If Donald wants to get in a character fight, he is better off sticking with me, because Heidi is way out of his league.” As if to illustrate this claim, Heidi held the tiniest press conference where she declined to participate in Trump’s-mud slinging party.
Perhaps out of frustration (or immaturity), Trump kept the fight alive. He retweeted a very unflattering photo of Heidi in comparison to Melania:
"@Don_Vito_08: "A picture is worth a thousand words" @realDonaldTrump #LyingTed #NeverCruz @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/5bvVEwMVF8"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016
Ted was quick to respond by implying that Trump’s not a real man, and both women are lovely, thank you very much.
Donald, real men don't attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life. https://t.co/pprXhIMzUT
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 24, 2016
The internet also intercepted Trump’s fired shots with admonishments before descending into meme land as well.
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/712998677443284992
Men lived here once. One of AMERICA'S greatest sons shot a man for insulting his wife. RIP #AndrewJackson@realDonaldTrump @tedcruz
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) March 24, 2016
Folks did toss Melania’s old cheesecake photos into the mix along with not-so-nice photos of Ivana Trump, but these responses are pretty spot-on.
@realDonaldTrump @Don_Vito_08 @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/2Qt8WBXNmT
— Lauren Jackman (@laurenmelliott) March 24, 2016
https://twitter.com/awebbiz/status/712996060583452672