Donald Trump said he was “just having fun” when he repeated a woman who called Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) a “pussy” during a New Hampshire campaign rally.
Trump had been criticizing Cruz’s answer about waterboarding at Saturday night’s ABC debate.
“Senator Cruz, you have said, quote, ‘torture is wrong, unambiguously, period. Civilized nations do not engage in torture.’ Some of the other candidates say they don’t think waterboarding is torture. Mr. Trump has said, I would bring it back. Senator Cruz, is waterboarding torture?” debate moderator David Muir asked.
“Well, under the definition of torture, no, it’s not. Under the law, torture is excruciating pain that is equivalent to losing organs and systems, so under the definition of torture, it is not. It is enhanced interrogation, it is vigorous interrogation, but it does not meet the generally recognized definition of torture,” Cruz replied. “I would not bring it back in any sort of widespread use. And indeed, I joined with Senator McCain in legislation that would prohibit line officers from employing it because I think bad things happen when enhanced interrogation is employed at lower levels.”
As Trump spoke about the exchange Monday evening, a woman in the crowd shouted the slur about Cruz.
Trump playfully reprimanded her before repeating what she said.
“We were all just having fun. It was a great moment, I got a standing ovation, the place went wild. Somebody said mixed cheers. Let me tell you, the place went wild,” Trump told MSNBC this morning.
“Standing ovation. You know, you’re talking about close to 5,000 people. standing ovation, went totally wild. And all I was doing is repeating, because people couldn’t hear it, so I was doing everybody a favor.”
Trump then quipped about “the world of politically correct.”
Asked to assign one word to each GOP candidate, Trump called Cruz “nasty.”
“I was going to say nasty. He’s not really nasty, I mean, he has been very nice, he only goes on and off. I’ll say nasty,” he said.
In the same word game, Trump called Bill Clinton “intelligent” and Jeb Bush a “loser.”
Cruz told Hannity last night that his relationship with Trump “can change on any given day.”
“So you wake up any day not sure what the case will be. You know, from my end, it’s a lot easier which is that if others engage in attacks, I don’t respond in kind. I mean, you and I have done a lot of interviews, and I have never sat here with you and insulted other candidates, personally attacked them. I’m not willing to go into the mud,” he said.
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