News / Politics

Trump again accuses Cruz of cheating to win in Iowa

Sunday, 07 February 2016 9:44 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 08 February 2016 11:45 AM ]

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Plymouth State University, February 7, 2016, in Plymouth, New Hampshire. (AFP photo)

Leading US presidential candidate Donald Trump has once again accused his Republican rival, Ted Cruz, of cheating to win in Iowa.

Cruz won the Iowa caucuses last week, beating Trump and Florida Senator Marco Rubio in a tight contest. He received 27.7 percent of the vote compared to 24.3 percent for Trump, while Rubio finished in third place with 23.1 percent.

In an interview with CNN on Sunday, Trump said he would not characterize his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses a “loss.”

The billionaire businessman argued that he would have finished in first place if Cruz had not taken votes from Republican presidential contender Ben Carson.

The Cruz campaign spread false rumors on Monday shortly before the Iowa vote that Carson had dropped out of the race.

Cruz and Carson both were appealing to the same evangelical voters in the state. Cruz supporters told Iowans that they should endorse the Texas senator since the retired neurosurgeon had suspended his campaign.

“It wasn’t a loss, I came in second,” Trump told CNN. “And I only came in second because of the fact that Cruz took a lot of votes away from Carson that should not have been taken away.”

“But my second-place finish, which was substantially second place – I mean, [Sen. Marco] Rubio wasn’t that close – and my second-place finish – which, again, I say was first place – but my second-place finish had more votes than anybody in the history of that whole thing’s history – that includes everybody – other than Cruz,” he added.

Trump also indicated that the results could be reversed. “I came in second, I picked up a lot of delegates, and, you know, I picked up one less than Cruz, and maybe that gets turned over. Who knows what’s going to happen?”

On Wednesday, Trump said the election was stolen from him by Cruz’s campaign, adding he “probably will” file a legal complaint against the senator.

The real estate mogul, who is tipped to win New Hampshire, where primary voters will cast ballots on February 9, accused Cruz of “voter fraud” in Iowa.

Only two days before the New Hampshire primaries, Trump has widened his lead over the GOP field, according to a new poll.

The CNN/WMUR tracking poll which was released on Sunday showed that Trump’s two-digit lead over the Republican field in New Hampshire has got a boost with 33 percent support, giving him a healthy 17 point edge over his nearest competitor, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, with 16 percent support.

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