New Ted Cruz ad savages Donald Trump as a 'sleaze'
The ad focuses on Trump's history of embracing eminent domain, which empowers the government to compel people to sell private property. The issue, which has long been criticized by conservatives, has become a frequent source of criticism for Trump on the campaign trail.
Cruz's spot centers on Trump's attempted use of eminent domain in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1990s. Then, Trump had been investing in the city's casino empire. It features a widow, Vera Coking, who refused to sell her home and successfully fought the state's attempt to seize her land in order to allow Trump to build a casino parking lot.
"Heart? He doesn't have no heart, that man," Coking says in a clip of a televised interview featured in the ad.
The ad went on to accuse Trump of a "pattern of sleaze stretching back decades." It then noted how Trump has remained supportive of eminent domain on the campaign trail.
Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, has defended eminent domain as necessary for public projects. Last week during a debate exchange with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), Trump called eminent domain a "necessity" and pointed to the Keystone XL pipeline, a popular project among Republican voters.