Donald Trump suggested Monday that he would sooner shred the Republican party than allow Ted Cruz to win the GOP nomination. Trump's comments at a South Carolina stop were accompanied by a release from his campaign that began:
Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual. He is the single biggest liar I’ve ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them.
In the release, Trump added that the best way for him to "fight back" against the "lies" he says Cruz is spreading is to legally challenge the Canadian-born senator’s eligibility to be president. He also called on the Republican National Committee (RNC) to "intervene" and said the organization was "in default" of an agreement he signed with them last year to support the GOP nominee, whoever it might be—the suggestion being that such a violation would free him up to run independently. While campaigning in South Carolina, Trump told reporters:
"I signed a pledge, but it’s a double-edged pledge. As far as I’m concerned, they’re in default on their pledge."
An RNC spokesperson denied that the organization has any obligations based on the agreement. Poor thing—he seems to think that matters in Trump world.
Trump took a battering at Saturday night's debate, where he suffered repeated rounds of booing. But even with his double-digit lead in South Carolina, the site of the next GOP vote, he has become increasingly fixated on his most immediate threat: Ted Cruz. Last week, Trump escalated again, restating a previous assertion that he had the "standing" to sue Cruz for not being a natural-born citizen.
But perhaps the most telling line in Trump's anti-Cruz screed of a press release came at the very end: "I am the only person who will Make America Great Again."
Got that? “The only person.” If the RNC, Ted Cruz, or any other candidates, for that matter, think Trump is going to go quietly if he doesn't prevail in nomination fight, they are fooling themselves. Right now, he's threatening to upend the race with everything from a third-party run to legal action. But hey, when you're a billionaire with the ego and resolve to match, the options are really endless.