Roundup: War of words between Trump, Cruz heats up as nomination race intensifies

A war of words between U.S. Republican Party (GOP) front-runner Donald Trump and rival Ted Cruz is heating up, with each taking swipes below the belt in a fierce battle to grab the nomination.

Trump and Cruz have been at each other' s throats in recent weeks and days, trading jabs and hooks, and at times even insulting each other' s wives as they strive to clinch their party's nomination.

"Donald needs to understand that he's not Michael Corleone," Cruz said Tuesday on the Glenn Beck show, referring to a popular character from an American mafia movie, and suggesting the Trump has done business with organized crime figures.

Cruz, a conservative senator from Texas, assailed Trump for "hiring people with records of dirty tricks, lies and threats of violence."

"Donald's whole pitch is that he's a great businessman. ... Yet his campaign right now, it looks like he can't run a lemonade stand," Cruz added.

Whether Cruz's tactics will work remains unknown, but Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua the best way to attack wealthy candidates is through their business dealings.

"There always are suspicions that people become rich through nefarious means. Cruz's comments are an attempt to sow doubts about Trump and suggest he is not as ethical as he pretends," West said.

The criticism could hurt Trump by linking him to criminal enterprises, West said, adding that it will at least "encourage journalists to look deeper into Trump's business practices."

"This is not something that has gotten much attention yet and it will be interesting if there are any facts that back up these charges. Cruz hopes to put Trump on the defensive here," he said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, told Xinhua that Cruz's accusations might hurt Trump.

"Cruz and other Republicans have been working hard to undermine the image of Trump as a great businessman. They have questioned his accomplishment and raised concerns about his connections," Zelizer said.

"In this day and age any accusations make their way into the Internet universe and are hard to completely undue," he said.

Piling on the criticism, Cruz attempted on Tuesday to construct a narrative whereby Trump, who was born into wealth, is out of touch with ordinary Americans.

"I think Donald has been surrounded by sycophants his entire business career. He was born into great wealth and privilege. His father was a real estate baron," Cruz said.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to lead Cruz by around 7 points, according to the latest Real Clear Politics average of polls. And Trump also leads Cruz by around 200 delegates, with 743 of the 1,237 he needs to grab the nomination.

For his part, Trump has accused Cruz of stealing the vote in the state of Colorado, which Cruz won recently, in a bid to cast a cloud of illegitimacy over the Republican nomination process.

In so doing, he is trying to shift the focus after Cruz outmaneuvered him in delegate contests in states like Colorado, North Dakota and Iowa, losses that could end up denying Trump the nomination.

Trump on Tuesday took out his ire on the GOP -- and by extension Cruz -- which he blasted as trying to thwart his nomination and condemned the Republican Party.

"Our Republican system is absolutely rigged. It's a phony deal," he said, arguing that party leaders are trying to undercut him. "They wanted to keep people out. This is a dirty trick." Enditem