On Tuesday night, before the true frenzy of the primary events began, candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump found time to have a bizarre Twitter fight that managed to – once again – bring the 2016 race to a new low.

Earlier this week, a low-class advertisement began to circulate targeted at Mormon voters who may be considering supporting Trump in the primary on Tuesday. The ad featured a photo of Melania Trump naked on a fur coat, which was taken by GQ Magazine in 2000.

rs melania

The SuperPAC Make America Awesome created the ad, but Donald Trump blamed the tasteless attack on Ted Cruz. Trump posted a tweet in response which was quickly deleted. Pundits and reporters who noticed the deleted tweet assumed that Trump knew he had gone too far and pulled back. They should have known better, as it turns out that Trump just wanted to correct a typo.

A minute later, the tweet was reposted, grammatically correct and even more insulting than the previous:

 


It was unclear which “beans” Trump was referring to, or whether he had any “beans” to spill at all. Either way, he was blaming Cruz for an ad he wasn’t a part of, and as a result, was threatening to defame the character of a non-politician. 

Cruz struck back quickly, posting this message:

 


Trump was not deterred by Cruz’s denial, and on Wednesday morning he posted this:

 


Heidi Cruz herself then spoke in front of reporters on Wednesday morning, briefly refuting the threats by saying that the allegations are not “based in reality” before quickly pivoting towards a general campaign message for Ted. 

Sydney Robinson is a political writer for the Ring of Fire Network. She has also appeared in political news videos for Ring of Fire. Sydney has a degree in English Literature from the University of West Florida, and has an active interest in politics, social justice, and environmental issues. She would love to hear from you on Twitter @SydneyMkay or via email at srobinson@ringoffireradio.com