Ted Cruz on Monday said Donald Trump is "divorced from reality and truth" for accusing him of lying about Mike Tyson's rape conviction.
"Donald Trump was talking recently, he was talking about Mike Tyson and Donald said something to the effect of, 'Cruz says Tyson is rapist. That's why we call him Lyin' Ted.' And Donald is so divorced from reality and truth. It is not an opinion that Mike Tyson is a rapist," Cruz said on the Mike Gallagher Show on Monday night.
Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana in the early '90s. Trump advocated for Tyson publicly during the trial. On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked Trump: "The Cruz campaign is making an issue of your support for Mike Tyson back during the time of the rape conviction in 1992. Your reaction to that?"
"It just shows what a liar he is," Trump responded. "So, Mike Tyson over the Internet endorsed me. He said, 'I endorse Mr. Trump.' He said that. That was it. No big deal, I didn't have a meeting or anything, I haven't seen Mike in years, but he said he endorsed me. So, Cruz is now saying, 'oh, he was a rapist.' This guy is a real liar. That's why we call him Lyin' Ted Cruz. I mean, the greatest liar that I've ever lived, except he gets caught every time."
Speaking on the radio on Monday, Cruz said Trump's statements show his deception.
"He was tried in front of a jury of his peers, he was convicted and served three years in prison for rape," said Cruz. "And yet, Donald is this bizarre reality show campaign of deception. When someone observes that someone convicted of rape and served in prison for rape is a rapist, Donald just says, 'it's a lie.' And sadly the media acolytes just let Donald get away with trying to deceive people. I believe truth matters, it matters a great deal."