Spat over wives turns uglier: After being called 'coward' by Cruz, Trump fires off 'I-told-you-so' tweets

Dane, Wisconsin: Ted Cruz branded Donald Trump a “snivelling coward” Thursday as the feud between the Republican presidential contenders over their wives took a nastier turn. After an earlier and vague threat to “spill the beans” about Heidi Cruz, Trump stoked the spat on Twitter when he retweeted side-by-side images of Cruz’s wife, with an unflattering grimace, and his wife, Melania, in a glamorous pose.

"@Don_Vito_08: "A picture is worth a thousand words" @realDonaldTrump #LyingTed #NeverCruz @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/5bvVEwMVF8"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Ted Cruz, campaigning in Wisconsin, was livid. “Leave Heidi the hell alone,” Cruz said, speaking through reporters to Trump. “Donald does seem to have an issue with women,” he said. “Donald doesn’t like strong women. Strong women scare Donald.” Trump was set off this week when a group that opposes him released an ad before the Utah presidential contest raising questions about the propriety of Melania Trump becoming first lady. The ad showed a provocative, decade-old magazine photo of her when she was a model and before she married Trump. Trump wrongly attributed the ad to the Cruz campaign and warned on Twitter:

Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

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Lyin' Ted Cruz denied that he had anything to do with the G.Q. model photo post of Melania. That's why we call him Lyin' Ted!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

Trump has a substantial lead in the delegate chase for the Republican nomination. Cruz has a stiff challenge trying to catch him in remaining races and may only have a shot at the nomination if the contest spills into the summer convention. But the war of words about wives (WoWaW, anyone?) didn’t stop there. Here’s how Cruz and Trump continued this oh-so-grown-up debate:

Donald, real men don't attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life. https://t.co/pprXhIMzUT

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 24, 2016

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Ted Cruz has DENOUNCED the ad, and said spouses are OFF LIMITS! – Cruz spokeswoman Stewart https://t.co/g9xOxx3Urq pic.twitter.com/EYqRrZ5PCB

— The Right Scoop (@TheRightScoop) March 24, 2016

I didn't start the fight with Lyin'Ted Cruz over the GQ cover pic of Melania, he did. He knew the PAC was putting it out - hence, Lyin' Ted!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Wow, just released that $67 million in negative ads was spent on me. How am I still number one - by a lot?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

  But, both men have a presidential nomination to secure, so they soon returned to slightly more ’normal’ exchanges:

. @realDonaldTrump has spent decades supporting liberal Democratic politicians. I have not. #ChooseCruz https://t.co/3owwqEr4kZ

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 24, 2016

Ted Cruz says Donald Trump has "very little understanding of foreign policy" https://t.co/77h5QGB8Lw #WADR pic.twitter.com/5FuG1jBmXs

— Bloomberg Politics (@bpolitics) March 24, 2016

  And that’s when things took a turn for the slightly crazy and Trump sent out a series of tweets that we feel could have possibly been made in a state of slight inebriation:

These politicians like Cruz and Graham, who have watched ISIS and many other problems develop for years, do nothing to make things better!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Just announced that as many as 5000 ISIS fighters have infiltrated Europe. Also, many in U.S. I TOLD YOU SO! I alone can fix this problem!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Europe and the U.S. must immediately stop taking in people from Syria. This will be the destruction of civilization as we know it! So sad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Remember when I recently said that Brussels is a "hell hole" and a mess and the failing @nytimes wrote a critical article. I was so right!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

It is amazing how often I am right, only to be criticized by the media. Illegal immigration, take the oil, build the wall, Muslims, NATO!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

I will be the best by far in fighting terror. I’m the only one that was right from the beginning, & now Lyin’ Ted & others are copying me.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

Bottomline: Trump told you so! With inputs from AP