Donald Trump echoed a supporter during a rally on the eve of the New Hampshire primary Monday night who called his Republican presidential rival Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) a “pussy.”
Trump was touting his hardline stance against terrorists from the Middle East when he mentioned Cruz’s response during the debate Saturday on the use of waterboarding.
{mosads}”Honestly I thought he’d say, ‘absolutely’ – and he didn’t,” Trump said, suggesting that Cruz was concerned about how some might take his answer on the subject.
“She just said a terrible thing,” Trump said, stopping his own remarks at the arena in Manchester and pointing out a woman in the audience, beckoning her to raise her voice.
“You know what she said? Shout it out, ’cause I don’t want to,” Trump continued. “OK, you’re not allowed to say – and I never expect to hear that from you again – she said … he’s a pussy.”
“That’s terrible, terrible,” Trump said as the audience erupted into a mix of laughs and cheers and he threw his hands into the air and moved away from the microphone.
Trump continued by providing a mock “reprimand” of the woman in an effort to belay comparisons to a rally in September when he failed to correct a supporter who said President Obama was a Muslim and not an American.
“For the press, this is a serious reprimand,” Trump said after asking the audience if the woman could stay.
Shortly after the Trump rally, Cruz communications director Rick Tyler tweeted that Trump is “turning the campaign into the latest episode of a reality show but let’s not forget who whipped who in Iowa.”
Trump caught flak earlier Monday from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was tortured while he was held in Vietnam as a prisoner of war, after saying he’d bring back waterboarding should he win the presidency.
McCain said “these forms of torture not only failed their purpose to secure actionable intelligence to prevent further attacks on the U.S. and our allies, but compromised our values, stained our national honor and did little practical good.”
Trump also went after Marco Rubio during the rally for “sweating like a dog” at the debate Saturday night, suggesting the Florida senator had a tough debate in the face of a series of attacks.
Trump is atop polls in New Hampshire heading into Tuesday’s primary after taking second place to Cruz in Iowa last week.
Updated at 9:24 p.m. and 10:15 p.m.