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“Children should actually speak with respect," Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said at a rally Sunday night. "Imagine what a different world it would be if someone told Donald Trump that years ago.” | AP Photo Cruz to young heckler: You'd get spanked in my house

A youthful protester who interrupted his rally late Sunday evening should get a spanking, Ted Cruz suggested to his audience in La Porte, Indiana. Such a punishment, he added, would have gone a long way in changing the behavior of Donald Trump.

“All right, apparently there’s a young man who’s having some problems," Cruz said, as the young heckler shouted, "You suck!"

Cruz responded, "Thank you, son."

“Children should actually speak with respect," he continued. "Imagine what a different world it would be if someone told Donald Trump that years ago.”

Sunday night was not the first time Cruz has referred to the way he punishes his children for wrongdoing.

“You know, in my household, when a child behaves that way, they get a spanking," the Texas senator remarked, echoing similar comments he made in January in reference to Hillary Clinton, suggesting then to voters that they should "spank" the former secretary of state at the ballot box for her handling of the 2012 Benghazi attacks.