GOP frontrunner Donald Trump took swipes at fellow GOP candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) during a campaign rally in New Hampshire Friday morning following Fox News’s GOP primary debate in Iowa, where Trump said Cruz “got pummeled.”
“Cruz is in second place,” Trump stated, adding that he “got pummeled last night.”
“They didn’t even mention he was born in Canada,” Trump said of the Fox News debate moderators. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to his poll numbers,” Trump said, waging they’re probably not going up.
“Ted Cruz is an anchor baby in Canada,” Trump told the crowd, although noting that Canada doesn’t permit citizenship to children born in the country from illegal immigrants as the United States does. Trump also referenced how he previously brought up the issue of illegal immigration facing the country and “anchor babies” under the 14th amendment during his campaign.
“I think that’s one of the reasons he’s crashing,” Trump said, referencing Cruz’s poll numbers and the fact that he was born in Canada. “He’s a citizen of Canada and he was a senator from Texas…how the hell does that work?”
Cruz was born in Canada, but his mother was a U.S. citizen.
Trump also mocked Cruz’s memory saying, “He didn’t know about Citibank loaning him money,” adding that Cruz didn’t know about the Goldman Sachs loan and his Canadian citizenship.
“He wants to have you think he’s Robin Hood…but unfortunately, the banks have him,” Trump charged about Cruz.
Trump told the New Hampshire audience he came to see them and that he didn’t want to cancel the campaign rally on Friday morning even though the Iowa caucus is just three days away, adding, “I’m going right back.”
“I went from there to here and now I’m going back. Trump touted, “How loyal is that to New Hampshire? Do I get points?”
While Trump started his morning in New Hampshire, Cruz had at least five events in Iowa throughout the day.
Sen. Rick Santorum – the 2012 Iowa caucus winner – also scheduled five events throughout the state on Friday.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Gov. Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Jeb Bush are also spending the day campaigning all over the Hawkeye state.