Trump: Ted Cruz is ‘nasty,’ a ‘total hypocrite’

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday ramped up his war of words with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), saying Cruz is hypocritical in his attacks on the billionaire.

Trump said on ABC’s “This Week” that he doesn’t think Cruz “has a great chance, to be honest with you.”

“Look, the truth is, he’s a nasty guy. He was so nice to me. I mean, I knew it. I was watching. I kept saying, ‘Come on Ted. Let’s go, ok.’ But he’s a nasty guy,” Trump said.

“Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him. He’s a very – he’s got an edge that’s not good. You can’t make deals with people like that and it’s not a good thing. It’s not a good thing for the country. Very nasty guy.”

Cruz has doubled down on his comments that Trump represents “New York values,” a charge Trump called hypocritical.

“Oh, he’s a total hypocrite,” Trump said. “How about his fundraising and how about when he does his personal financial disclosure form, and he doesn’t put on that he’s borrowing money from Goldman Sachs and then today it comes out that he’s also borrowing money from Citi Bank and he doesn’t list it. You know why? He wants to look like Robin Hood. That he’s the one protecting the people from the banks while he’s actually borrowing money and personally guaranteeing it and not disclosing it, which is illegal.”

Trump on Sunday also rejected the notion that he would reject conservative values if elected.

“I don’t think too many people are afraid of that okay, because if you look at the polls I’m leading Ted Cruz by a lot. He even lied about that. You know he got up and said, ‘Well the polls.’ Well the polls are showing that I’m the one that’s on the upswing. He’s the one on the downswing. A big downswing.”

–This report was updated at 9:49 a.m.