SIOUX CENTER, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump is so confident about the loyalty of his supporters that he predicted Saturday they would stick with him even if he shot someone.
The Republican presidential front-runner bashed conservative commentator Glenn Beck's support of rival Ted Cruz and welcomed a figure from the GOP establishment, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in rallies nine days before the Iowa caucuses open voting in the 2016 campaign.
Leaders of the Republican party entered prevent defense mode this week with former Senator Bob Dole warning of "cataclysmic" failure and "wholesale losses" if voters select Sen. Ted Cruz as the party's nominee, and the conservative National Review magazine calling Donald Trump "a menace" to Republican principles.
The attacks on Trump, the populist New York billionaire, and Cruz, the conservative stalwart from Texas, come as polls show the two men pulling ahead of the pack both nationally and in key early primary states, leaving conservative leaders to ponder: which man would do the party more harm?
