Trump: Cruz campaign going ‘up in flames’

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday chalked up recent attacks by rival Ted Cruz to the Texas senator’s “tanking” poll numbers.

{mosads}“He is a liar and these ads and statements made by Cruz are clearly desperate moves by a guy who is tanking in the polls — watching his campaign go up in flames finally explains Cruz’s logo,” Trump said in a statement obtained by The Hill.

The billionaire businessman dismissed Cruz’s accusations that Trump supports abortion rights and opposes gun rights.

“I am pro-life and I do not support tax payer funding for Planned Parenthood as long as they are performing abortions,” he said in the statement. “I am also a strong advocate of the [National Rifle Association], as are my sons.”

Trump also renewed his threat to file a defamation lawsuit against Cruz over the attacks and said such a suit would be “legitimate.”

“If I want to bring a lawsuit, it would be legitimate,” he said, adding that he is also considering bringing Canadian-born Cruz to court to challenge his eligibility to be president.

Cruz at a press conference on Wednesday accused Trump of “bullying others and threatening frivolous lawsuits.”

The Cruz event came after the Trump campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter over an ad in which the businessman calls himself “very pro-choice.”

New polls released on Wednesday show Cruz trailing Trump by double digits in South Carolina ahead of the state’s Feb. 20 primary.