On Tuesday night, the following was posted from Donald Trump’s Twitter account, and then deleted it about seven seconds later, according to a fellow user.
Trump deleted this tweet in about 7 seconds pic.twitter.com/rvKqgPVEB6
— Stefan Becket (@becket) March 23, 2016
About ten minutes after the message was erased, the GOP frontrunner reposted a similar Tweet, the biggest difference being the addition of the word “lyin'” to describe fellow presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX):
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
Trump explained the reason for his accusation in yet another tweet, posted Wednesday morning:
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 is accusing Cruz for being responsible for an ad featuring a nude photo of wife Melanie Trump with the caption: “Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”
While the ad is pro-Cruz, it states that it was paid for by Make America Awesome and was “not authorized by any candidate or candidate committed.” Make America Awesome is an anti-Trump super PAC targeting the Mormon community, according to The Hill.
The Senator also claimed to not be responsible for the ad:
Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classlesshttps://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016
And what does Heidi Cruz, the woman in the center of the controversy, have to say about it? “You probably know by now that most of the things that Donald Trump says have no basis in reality,” she told reporters in Wisconsin, according to Politico. “So we are not worried in the least, we are focused on our campaign, and we are going to continue to do that.”