Trump Slams Cruz for Attacks on His New York Values: 'That Was a Very Insulting Statement Ted Made’

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump blasted 2016 rival Ted Cruz at Thursday night's debate over a statement he made that went after his New York values.

Cruz had been asked at the debate to clarify what he meant by saying Trump had "New York values."

"Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan," Cruz explained. "I am just saying."

Trump took him to task for the statement.

"Conservatives do actually come out of Manhattan, including William F. Buckley and others, just so you understand," Trump said. "And he insulted a lot of people."

"I've had more calls on that statement that Ted made. New York is a great place, it's got great people, it's got loving people, wonderful people. When the World Trade Center came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New York," Trump continued. "You had two 110-story buildings come crashing down. I saw them come down. Thousands of people killed. And the cleanup started the next day. And it was the most horrific cleanup probably in the history of doing this. I was down there. I have never seen anything like it."

"And the people in New York fought and fought and fought. And we saw more death. And even the smell of death. Nobody understood it," he continued. "And it was with us for months. The smell, the air. And we rebuilt downtown Manhattan. And everybody in the world watched and everybody in the world loved New York and loved New Yorkers. And I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that Ted made."

Earlier in the night, Trump and Cruz had dueled over whether the Texas senator is qualified to be president because of his Canadian birthplace.

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