Texas U.S. Sen. and Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz today slammed Donald Trump as a candidate who will compromise conservative values, accusing the real estate magnate — who has run on a vow of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico — of being soft on immigrants, eminent domain and bank bailouts during an interview today on Boston Herald Radio’s “Morning Meeting” show

“I don't want to see Donald Trump cut a deal with (New York Democratic Sen.) Chuck Schumer to allow amnesty. I don't want to see Donald Trump cut a deal to expand eminent domain, which he supports. I don't want to see Donald Trump cut a deal to pass another TARP big bank bailout,” Cruz said. “I like and respect him personally, but when his policy is to support TARP, to support Obama’s stimulus, to expand Obamacare…those are real policy differences and I think they are differences the people of New Hampshire care about. I get that in the presidential campaign, he suddenly discovered illegal immigration was a problem, but back then, when we were fighting to stop amnesty, Donald Trump was criticizing Mitt Romney for being too tough on illegal immigration."

The conservative firebrand sits second in the GOP race nationally, trailing Trump by double digits in most polls. The race is much tighter in Iowa — Cruz leads Trump by 3 points in last week’s Des Moines Register/Bloomberg survey.

“Donald used to shower love and affection on me, and then conservatives began uniting behind us and our poll numbers surged and his went down and suddenly Donald got very rattled and started launching attack after attack after attack,” Cruz said. “He’s gone to launching nastier personal insults at me. I do not intend to reciprocate. I like Donald Trump and I respect him and I don't think Americans want to hear politicians behaving like schoolyard children.”

Trump has questioned whether Cruz is eligible to run for president, noting the senator was born in Canada.

“There was the whole Canadian thing, which is silliness," Cruz said today. "Under federal law, the child of a U.S. citizen born abroad is a U.S. citizen. In recent days he has gone to launching nastier and nastier personal insults directed at me. The other day he said I was worse than Hillary, which was an interesting statement for him to say.”

The senator, who is 45, added a veiled swipe at the 69-year-old front-runner.

"I like Donald," he said. "I think he is an amazing marketer. I think he is bold and brash, I think the language he is saying on the campaign trail does not match the first 60 years of his life.”

Cruz faces an uphill climb in New Hampshire where a CNN/WMUR poll this week has him down by 20 points despite a surge into second place

“We are very encouraged. We are on the final leg of a 15-stop bus tour and I will tell you the excitement we are seeing on the ground is incredible,” Cruz said. “We are seeing the old Reagan coalition reassembling of conservatives and libertarians and evangelicals."

In a campaign stop last night in Hollis, N.H., Cruz ripped into both of his chief rivals in the race for the GOP nomination, Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Cruz again this morning tied Trump to the D.C. establishment and said the billionaire celebrity is not a real conservative.

“We’re seeing the Washington establishment abandoning Marco Rubio, because I guess they decided he can’t win, and unifying behind Donald Trump,” Cruz said. “The establishment is terrified of a president that won’t go along to get along. Donald Trump went on TV and attacked me and said the reason I won’t be a good president is I won’t go along to get along. I won’t cut deals with Democrats and he will. Donald is a dealmaker. He will cut deals with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.”

However, Cruz, who gained a zealous following — and notoriety — in 2013 for spearheading a government shutdown, said today he is not a polarizing figure.

"I am not polarizing," Cruz said. "The biggest divide is not between Republicans and Democrats, it's between career politicians and the American people."

Despite advocating the mass deportation of illegal immigrants, Cruz insisted that he will win the votes of Hispanics and blacks.

“The last seven years have been devastating for the minority community," he said. "It is those who are struggling, it is African Americans and Hispanics and single moms and young people who are getting hammered. When I was elected to the Senate from Texas, I got 40 percent of the Hispanic vote and the reason was simple, I am fighting for people who are fighting to achieve the American dream. We need to bring back economic growth by lowering the burdens on small business.”

He added: “President Obama could have been a healing president, he could have bought us together. As the first African-American president, he was uniquely situated to heal the wounds that have played out over the centuries. Instead, I'm very sorry to say, he has chosen to divide us…on racial lines, ethnic lines, gender lines, religious lines, socioeconomic lines. We need a president who pulls us together who appeals to our shared values.”

That platform is resonating on the left as he campaigns, he said.

“At one stop a man said, ‘I am a Democrat, I have been a Democrat my whole life, I’m with you now.’ At the next stop, an African-American came up to me, ‘I came to this event a Hillary Clinton supporter, I am with you now, what we are doing is not making any sense.’”

Cruz is shrugging off blows from his own party, where congressional leaders have long held a grudge over his role in the unpopular government shutdown.

Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham, who recently dropped out of the Republican primary, blasted Cruz over the filibuster earlier this week, saying it hurt the party.

“I think what he did was stood up for Ted and threw the Republican Party under the bus," Graham said.

"The Washington cartel, the Washington elites despise me — I will plead guilty to that," Cruz said today. "What our campaign is doing is trying to stand up and unify the American people against the Washington cartel."

He added: “Just yesterday (former Republican senator and presidential nominee) Bob Dole came out praising Donald Trump as ‘someone we can work with. He will cut a deal with the Democrats, he will cut a deal with the lobbyists. Cruz, he scares the heck out of me.’”

Former Alaska governor and unsuccessful 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin — a staunch ally of Cruz in his Senate race — endorsed Trump this week while the mogul was campaigning in Iowa. Cruz praised the Tea Party darling and said who she backs in 2016 is her choice.

“I like and respect Sarah Palin, I am huge fan of hers,” Cruz said. “I would not be in the Senate if not for Sarah Palin…regardless of what she does, I will remain a big fan of Sarah Palin.”