CNN/screenshot
Donald Trump discusses Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
In a clip released earlier in the day, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Trump why he says the establishment is opposed to his candidacy.
"I think the establishment actually is against me, but really coming on line," Trump said. "Because they see me as opposed to Cruz, who is a nasty guy, who can't get along with anybody."
In the past week or so, part of the Republican establishment has signaled that it would prefer Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, to Cruz, his top primary rival.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced Trump at a Saturday campaign rally in his state. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kansas), the party's 1996 presidential nominee, said Trump would be a better pick for Republicans than Cruz. And other GOP leaders echoed Dole's argument.
This is a relatively remarkable development, as Trump has sent many Republican elites reeling with his shoot-from-the-hip approach to the campaign. But Cruz has made a number of enemies in Washington and wears that animosity as a badge of honor.
Trump suggested to Blitzer that Cruz's personality was not suited to the Oval Office.
"Look, at a certain point you got to make deals," the business mogul said. "We can't have a guy who stands in the middle of the Senate floor and every other senator thinks he's a whack job, right? You have to make deals. You have to get along. That's the purpose of what our founders created. And Ted cannot get along with anybody. He's a nasty person."
For his part, Cruz has previously attempted to flip Trump's deal-making argument against the front-runner. Cruz asked whether Republican voters really want a president who will make "deals" with Democrats.