Donald Trump, Ted Cruz go head-to-head on Twitter over controversial ad

PHOENIX — The Republican presidential campaign caught fire on Tuesday after the two front-running candidates took to Twitter to battle it out over a controversial advertisement.

In the midst of primaries in both Arizona and Utah, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump tweeted about his opponent Ted Cruz, threatening to “spill the beans” on the Texas senator’s wife.

Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2016

In a response tweet, Cruz called Trump’s threats “classless” and cowardly.

Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless https://t.co/0QpKSnjgnE

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 23, 2016

The spat comes after the anti-Trump superPAC Make America Beautiful launched an ad urging Mormon voters in Arizona and Utah to go out and vote against the billionaire.

The ad depicts Trump’s wife Melania in the nude, using a photo from an old G.Q. advertisement. Along with the photo was a caption that said, “Meet Melania Trump, your next First Lady, or you could just vote Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”

The Trump tweet was not the first one sent out on Tuesday: the business mogul tweeted out a similar statement minutes earlier, before deleting it almost immediately.

Trump deleted this tweet in about 7 seconds pic.twitter.com/rvKqgPVEB6

— Stefan Becket (@becket) March 23, 2016

Liz Mair with the organization tweeted back at Trump, saying the ads depicting his wife in the nude from an old G.Q. advertisement were theirs, not Cruz’s.

.@realDonaldTrump Hi Donald, I know you're really upset about that ad, but it was Make America Awesome's, not Ted Cruz's.

— Liz Mair (@LizMair) March 23, 2016

Cruz and Trump continued their spat on Twitter on Wednesday, after Trump retweeted a post that compared his wife with the Texas senator’s.

"@Don_Vito_08: "A picture is worth a thousand words" @realDonaldTrump #LyingTed #NeverCruz @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/5bvVEwMVF8"

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016

Cruz kept his cool, declaring “real men don’t attack women” before ultimately praising his wife.

Donald, real men don't attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life. https://t.co/pprXhIMzUT

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 24, 2016

The two Republican candidates turned their Twitter feud into a real-life one on Tuesday, when Trump swept the Arizona primary over his opponent Cruz, along with Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

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