When President Trump campaigns for Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Monday night, he is unlikely to revisit his once-contentious relationship with the Texas Republican from the 2016 primaries.
Cruz wasn't always "Beautiful Ted" to Trump. Here are the insults you likely won’t hear as the “sniveling coward” and the “maniac” campaign together in Houston.
In dozens of tweets and at his campaign rallies throughout the 2016 campaign, Trump repeatedly mocked the senator as “Lyin’ Ted.” Cruz’s Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke, revived the insult against the senator in a debate last week. Before the “Lyin’ Ted” moniker caught on, Trump labeled Cruz “a little bit of a maniac.”
[More: Beto O'Rourke: 'I took a step too far' by calling Cruz 'Lyin' Ted']
Trump has also attacked Cruz’s loyalty to the U.S., pointing to his birth in Canada.
“Why would Texans vote for ‘liar’ Ted Cruz when he was born in Canada, lived there for 4 years-and remained a Canadian citizen until recently,” Trump asked in February 2016.
In May 2016, Trump repeated a National Enquirer story alleging Cruz’s father had a role in assassinating President John F. Kennedy.
“I mean, what was he doing — what was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting?” Trump said in a phone interview with Fox News.
Cruz’s campaign called it “another garbage story in a tabloid full of garbage.”
In perhaps the most shocking moment of their feud, Trump threatened to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife, Heidi, after an anti-Trump super PAC, which had no known connection to Cruz, used a nude photo of Melania Trump in an ad.
[Byron York: In Texas, Trump and Cruz complete the transaction]
“Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad,” Trump tweeted in March 2016. “Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!”
Cruz fired back: “Donald, you’re a sniveling coward. Leave Heidi the hell alone.”
In a separate tweet, Trump shared an unflattering photo of Heidi Cruz next to a glamorous photo of Melania Trump. “The images are worth a thousand words,” the caption said.
Cruz has also had a few choice words for his former opponent. As the two vied for the Republican nomination, the senator referred to Trump as “a small man who is intimidated by strong women,” “a big, loud New York bully,” “pathological liar,” and a “serial philanderer.”
The feud hit a climax at the 2016 Republican National Convention when Cruz declined to endorse Trump as the GOP nominee, and instead urged Republicans to “vote your conscious.” Cruz was booed and ended up issuing an endorsement before the election.