"He's threatening; you go to these county conventions, and you see the tactics, Gestapo tactics, the scorched-earth tactics," Manafort said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

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Manafort accused the Texas senator's campaign of not playing by the rules.

"But frankly, that's the side game. Because the only game I'm focusing on right now is getting delegates," he said.

"And the games that have happened, even this past weekend, you know, are not important to the long-term game of how do we get to 1,237."

He added that Cruz's campaign doesn't care about the Republican Party, saying if "they don't get what they want, they blow it up."

Manafort also responded to a question about whether "threatening" is an acceptable way to win a delegate.

"It’s not my style, and it’s not Donald Trump’s style," he said. "But it is Ted Cruz's style. And that's going to wear thin very fast."