Senate

Democratic senator: Cruz scrounging for Trump’s ‘leftovers’

by Jordain Carney - 07/20/15 12:07 PM ET

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) gave Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) a Twitter smack-down on Monday after he refused to disavow fellow presidential candidate Donald Trump’s criticism of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) time spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

“There’s something unseemly about Cruz following Trump around like a lost puppy, hoping to get his leftovers when he finally flames out,” the Missouri Democrat tweeted on Monday.

{mosads}She made her remarks after Trump sparked a firestorm among Republicans when he mocked McCain, saying that “he was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

But Cruz refused to weigh in on the rhetorical battle between Trump and the Arizona Republican, saying that “folks in the press love to see Republican-on-Republican violence.”

“You want me to say something about Donald Trump or bad about John McCain or bad about anyone else,” he added, according to The Washington Post. “I’m not going to do it.”

Trump has recently surged in the polls, including leading a national Fox News poll released late last week. Cruz, meanwhile, has struggled to gain momentum after launching his presidential bid weeks ahead of his competitors.

Monday’s tweet isn’t the first time McCaskill has commented on Trump’s remarks. The Missouri senator weighed in over the weekend, calling his comments on McCain, and prisoners of war more generally, “disgusting.”

In a separate tweet she pressured the Republican National Committee, which released a statement on Saturday afternoon, to disavow Trump’s remarks, adding “will Cruz agree with Trump on this one too?”

Tags Claire McCaskill Donald Trump John McCain Ted Cruz