Trump and Cruz backtrack on attacks

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz declined to attack one another on the debate stage in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and backed away from previous critiques of one another.

Trump, who has described Cruz as a “maniac” in the Senate, said he’s not concerned about his fellow GOP presidential candidate’s temperament.

“Let’ me tell you something, I’ve gotten to know him over the last three or four days, and he has a wonderful temperament,” Trump said, patting a smiling Cruz on the back. “He’s just fine. Don’t worry about it.”

{mosads}Cruz was then asked to address why he questioned Trump’s judgment in a closed-door meeting with donors last week.

“What I said in private is exactly what I’ll say here, which is that the judgment every voter is making here is who has the experience, the vision and judgment to be commander in chief,” Cruz said. “That’s the most important decision for voters, and it’s a standard I’m held to and everyone else is held to.”

“That is a judgment for every voter to make,” Cruz continued. “What I can tell you is that all nine of the people here would make an infinitely better commander in chief than Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.”

Trump and Cruz are jockeying atop the GOP primary polls in Iowa. Cruz is trying to keep Trump’s supporters close and has declined to publicly attack the front-runner.