Donald Trump Now Says Ted Cruz 'Stole' the Iowa Caucuses

After he lost the Iowa caucuses to Ted Cruz, Donald Trump was uncharacteristically gracious, spinning and staying positive like an ordinary political candidate. "I'm just honored, I'm really honored. And I want to congratulate Ted and I want to congratulate all the incredible candidates," the second-place finisher said.

About 36 hours later, he apparently wasn't feeling so honored anymore:

Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)February 3, 2016

During primetime of the Iowa Caucus, Cruz put out a release that — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)February 3, 2016

Many people voted for Cruz over Carson because of this Cruz fraud. Also, Cruz sent out a VOTER VIOLATION certificate to thousands of voters.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)February 3, 2016

The Voter Violation certificate gave poor marks to the unsuspecting voter(grade of F) and told them to clear it up by voting for Cruz. Fraud

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)February 3, 2016

And finally, Cruz strongly told thousands of caucusgoers (voters) that Trump was strongly in favor of ObamaCare and 'choice' - a total lie!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)February 3, 2016

Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)February 3, 2016

Now, it's true that Cruz engaged in more than his share of last-minute shenanigans in efforts to sway Iowa Republicans. He did send out a misleading mailer that had "Voter Violation" across the top, and was criticized for it by Trump, Marco Rubio, and Iowa officials; he also said that Ben Carson was quitting the race when the neurosurgeon-turned candidate announced he was flying back to Florida (Cruz apologized to Carson for that one), and accused Trump of supporting Obamacare, which led to the real estate mogul calling the Texas senator a liar.

But it's not illegal to lie in political campaigns—if it were, we'd probably have to put most of America's politicians in jail. Ohio and Minnesota, among other states, have attempted to ban knowingly false statements in campaigns, but those two state laws were struck down by courts for violating free speech rights.

Of course, free speech also gives Trump the right to go on a Twitter rant about Cruz after suffering a tough—and somewhat unexpected—loss. But even the short-fingered vulgarian apparently has limits on how far he'll go: Trump initially tweeted that Cruz "illegaly stole" the caucus, but that missive was promptly deleted.

Thumbnail photo via Flickr user Michael Vadon