Cruz fires back at Trump’s threat to ‘spill the beans’ on his wife

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz fired back at Donald Trump on Tuesday night after the front-runner said he would “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife.

“If you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought,” Cruz wrote. 

{mosads}Earlier in the night, Trump went after the Texas senator for an ad that used a photo of his wife, Melania, posing nude. The ad, by super-PAC Make America Awesome, was meant to appeal to Mormon voters in Utah, which held its caucuses Tuesday. 

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

In his response, Cruz said, “Pic of your wife not from us.” 

Liz Mair, who runs the super-PAC, went on a Twitter blitz after the exchange, pointing out that Cruz wasn’t behind the ad and speculating what Trump could have been referencing. 

Donald Trump is so desperate to beat Cruz that his team has been pushing around rumors she’s a criminal w a mental illness for weeks now.

— Liz Mair (@LizMair) March 23, 2016

It’s possible that Trump is talking about a reported incident in 2005, when Heidi Cruz went through a period of depression and was picked up by police on the side of the road, according to BuzzFeed.

“About a decade ago, when Mrs. Cruz returned from D.C. to Texas and faced a significant professional transition, she experienced a brief bout of depression,” Jason Miller, an adviser to Cruz, told BuzzFeed. 

Trump and Cruz faced off Tuesday night in contests in Arizona and Utah.