--- title: Ted Cruz: Donald Trump a 'Coward' for Threatening Wife description: Donald Trump threatened to go after the wife of rival Ted Cruz after an anti-Trump super PAC used the real estate mogul's wife in an ad canonical: https://time.com/4268984/ted-cruz-donald-trump-coward-wife-heidi/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-23T14:22:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:49:51.198Z article:section: Politics og:title: Cruz Calls Trump a 'Coward' for Threatening Wife og:description: Cruz called Trump a "classless" coward og:url: https://time.com/4268984/ted-cruz-donald-trump-coward-wife-heidi/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567274014aeaf4f2/69888c28e20a874e1ba9018c/cruz-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-VOTE-REPUBLICANS-DEBATE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cruz Calls Trump a 'Coward' for Threatening Wife twitter:description: Cruz called Trump a "classless" coward twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt567274014aeaf4f2/69888c28e20a874e1ba9018c/cruz-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz Calls Donald Trump a 'Coward' for Threatening Wife > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e224e8fe-9b40-4519-8b30-fc638e78f506&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Ted Cruz Lifts Line from The American President [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Ted Cruz Lifts Line from The American President](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CGg2SaJT.m3u8) (0:36)  _Published 2016-03-23_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 23, 2016 2:22 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 23, 2016 2:22 PM UTC Republican frontrunner Donald Trump threatened on Tuesday to go after the wife of rival Ted Cruz after a conservative anti-Trump super PAC used the real estate mogul’s wife in a negative ad, prompting Cruz to call Trump a “coward.” “Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad,” Trump [posted on Twitter](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/712457104515317764) on Tuesday night. “Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!” Cruz, whose campaign was not responsible for the ad, fired back at the threat. “Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought. #classless,” Cruz [wrote back on Twitter](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/712464268621385728?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw), before doubling down on that criticism Wednesday. “If Donald wants to get in a character fight, he’s better off sticking with me because Heidi is way out of his league,” Cruz said in an interview with [CNN on Wednesday morning](http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/22/politics/ted-cruz-melania-trump-twitter-donald-trump-heidi/). “It reveals a lot about character, reveals a lot about class that Donald’s instinct is to try to attack my wife and sully her.” The ad, paid for by Make America Awesome super PAC, ran on Facebook and was aimed at Mormon voters ahead of Utah’s caucuses on Tuesday, [BuzzFeed reported](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/anti-trump-group-runs-facebook-ads-seeking-to-rally-mormon-v#.vrE5LXa3K). “Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady,” the ad says atop a photo of the former supermodel. “Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.” Cruz [clinched a strong victory in Utah](http://time.com/4268739/arizona-primary-results-utah-caucus-donald-trump-ted-cruz/) on Tuesday. ## Transcript Last night Donald threatened my wife, he went directly after my wife. And I got to tell you that number one, Heidi, my wife she's the daughter of missionaries in Africa, she's my best friend in the world. And if Donald wants to get into a character fight, he's better off sticking with me because Heidi is way out of his league. But it reveals a lot about character. Reveals a lot about class that Donald's instinct is to try to attack my wife and sully her and you know what? 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