Donald Trump, Ted Cruz use Twitter to defend the honor of their wives

(Image credit: Twitter.com/Alivitale)

For a brief, shining moment, it appeared that Donald Trump (a) had a conscience and (b) decided to listen to it.

On Tuesday night, Trump almost immediately deleted a tweet he sent to Ted Cruz, in which he threatened to reveal unflattering details about his wife, Heidi.

It seemed as though Trump either realized that Cruz wasn't behind the racy ad in question (that honor goes to Liz Mair, a Republican strategist with the anti-Trump super PAC Make America Awesome) or he figured it was wrong to drag another spouse into the mix. But, as Americans grappled with coming to terms with this nicer, gentler Trump, he sent out another tweet, this one even meaner: He still warned Cruz he would "spill the beans" on his wife, but added a few "Lyin' Ted"s for good measure.

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Cruz was quick to respond, telling Trump he had nothing to do with the ad, and then defended his wife, tweeting: "Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #Classless." These are your top two Republican presidential candidates.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.