Republican Presidential Field Shrinking While Trump Lashes Out at Cruz

And then there were nine. When the presidential season opened last summer, the Republican field was packed with 17 hopefuls. Suddenly, the formerly-crowded field is down to nine after Rand Paul (R-KY) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) dropped out of the race Wednesday after poor showings at the Iowa Caucus on Monday.

With the field whittling down to single digits, former-frontrunner (or current one, depending on who’s asking) Donald Trump can direct his caustic comments to those who are truly a threat, including Iowa Caucus winner, Ted Cruz (R-TX). After Cruz’s win on Monday night, Trump took the stage in West Des Moines congratulating him, saying, “I want to congratulate Ted, and I want to congratulate all of the incredible candidates.”

But this new nice Trump barely lasted 24 hours. This morning, the Twittersphere woke up to the bombastic and argumentative Trump we’ve all come to know, and for some, love.

In an aggressive move, Trump started lambasting Cruz for cheating during the Iowa Caucus.

Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

The State of Iowa should disqualify Ted Cruz from the most recent election on the basis that he cheated- a total fraud!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

According to Trump – so read with a grain of salt –  Cruz was behind a release that went out prior to the caucus, telling Iowa voters that Dr. Ben Carson, once an Iowa favorite, had dropped out of the race. The release then went on to urge voters to #ChooseCruz. Trump also accused Cruz of telling voters lies about him, including that Trump supported Obamacare.

This was sent out from Ted Cruz- as Iowans arrived at their caucus sites to vote. #CruzFraud pic.twitter.com/tRM7KUCrSU

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016

But Cruz isn’t taking this lying down. He’s fighting back on Twitter, letting voters know exactly what he thinks of Trump. #Trumpertantrum might be the best thing to come out of the 2016 Republican Presidential season yet.

Yet another #Trumpertantrum… @realDonaldTrump very angry w/the people of Iowa. They actually looked at his record. https://t.co/S85mxlhLK1

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 3, 2016

And we still have nine more months to go. Grab your popcorn.