"We need a leader prepared to do whatever is needed to keep this country safe. Typically that doesn't include spending time on Twitter," Ted Cruz said. | Getty Cruz mocks Trump for donations to Democrats

WASHINGTON, N.H. — Ted Cruz on Monday added fresh fuel to his rivalry with Donald Trump, aggressively highlighting donations Trump previously gave to Democrats and swiping at him for his frequent broadsides against Cruz on Twitter.

"We need a leader prepared to do whatever is needed to keep this country safe," Cruz said. "Typically, that doesn't include spending time on Twitter."


Cruz's appearance here comes in the midst of an intensifying Republican primary brawl with Trump.

The two had long refrained from tearing into each other, but that changed last week on the GOP debate stage when Cruz pushed back on Trump's questions about his eligibility to run for president. (Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother.) Since then, Cruz has been seeking to cast Trump as a newcomer to the conservative cause who, until recently, was a liberal with close ties to Democrats.

"I'm pretty sure Ronald Reagan didn't write checks and support Democratic politicians like [New York Gov.] Andrew Cuomo and [former congressman] Anthony Weiner and Hillary Clinton," Cruz said, when asked whether Trump, like Reagan, has merely evolved in a more conservative direction.

"I'm pretty sure Reagan didn't write a huge check to [then-Chicago mayoral candidate] Rahm Emanuel in December of 2010 after, by the way, the big tea party wave, after the 2010 election. I'm pretty sure Ronald Reagan didn't give Rahm Emanuel a big check. Every candidate tries to compare themselves to Reagan. At the end of the day, Americans are going to assess who's telling the truth."

His remarks came as part of a press gaggle here before a town hall, his third stop on a five-day swing across New Hampshire. The conservative Cruz, who is slightly ahead of Trump in polls in Iowa, is also seeking to notch a stronger-than-expected showing here in New Hampshire, despite the more moderate inclinations of many Republicans here. Meantime, Trump leads the New Hampshire GOP field by wide margins, polls show — but that didn’t stop Cruz from tweaking him over his numbers anyway.

“Donald seems to be a little bit rattled,” he said. “For whatever reason he seems to be very dismayed. I guess as conservatives continue to unite behind our campaign as his poll numbers continue to go down, that seems to be — he’s a little testy.”

