--- ---  # Ted Cruz Calls Donald Trump a 'Sniveling Coward' by [Andrew Rafferty / NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Andrew Rafferty / NBC News Mar 24, 2016 8:41 PM UTC  Senator Ted Cruz speaks during a campaign rally at the Northland Performing Arts Center in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, March 13, 2016. Senator Ted Cruz speaks during a campaign rally at the Northland Performing Arts Center in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, March 13, 2016.Ty Wright—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Andrew Rafferty / NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Andrew Rafferty / NBC News Mar 24, 2016 8:41 PM UTC Ted Cruz called Donald Trump a “sniveling coward” and told him to leave his wife “the hell alone” on Thursday after Trump retweeted an unflattering photo of his spouse, Heidi Cruz. “It’s not easy to tick me off. I don’t get angry often,” Cruz told reporters while campaigning in Wisconsin. “But you mess with my wife, you mess with my kids, that’ll do it every time. Donald you are a sniveling coward and leave Heidi the hell alone.” “Our spouses and our children are off bounds,” Cruz warned. “It is not acceptable for a big loud New York bully to… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/ted-cruz-trump-sniveling-coward-n545026?cid=par-time-article%5F20141002) Ted Cruz Calls Donald Trump a 'Sniveling Coward' ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4271392/ted-cruz-donald-trump-sniveling-coward/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4271392/ted-cruz-donald-trump-sniveling-coward/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz Calls Donald Trump a 'Sniveling Coward'","datePublished":"2016-03-24T20:41:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:12:29.869Z","description":"In response to a photo Trump retweeted of Cruz's wife","url":"https://time.com/4271392/ted-cruz-donald-trump-sniveling-coward/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic","ted cruz"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8aaf07c7c1692799/69888c7ce20a876bb2a90210/ted-cruz-calls-donald-trump-coward.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Rafferty / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8aaf07c7c1692799/69888c7ce20a876bb2a90210/ted-cruz-calls-donald-trump-coward.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz Holds Ohio Campaign Rally","caption":"Senator Ted Cruz speaks during a campaign rally at the Northland Performing Arts Center in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, March 13, 2016.","creditText":"Ty Wright—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4271392/ted-cruz-donald-trump-sniveling-coward/","name":"Ted Cruz Calls Donald Trump a 'Sniveling Coward'"}}]}] ```