Ted Cruz declined to answer a question on Monday about whether he has ever been unfaithful to his wife Heidi.

'Senator Cruz,' DailyMail.com asked him, 'can you please swat down more definitively this National Enquirer piece by telling us on the record that you've never been unfaithful to your wife?'

The National Enquirer published a story last Wednesday that speculated about five women with whom the Republican presidential candidate was rumored to have had extramarital affairs.

Cruz has batted down the specifics of the story on numerous occasions since it appeared in supermarket checkout lanes.

But instead of making a blanket declaration that he has been faithful during the entirety of his 14-year marriage – a move that would effectively end the vicious news cycle – Cruz stood silently as campaign surrogate Carly Fiorina leapt in to intercept the question and change the subject.

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NOT GOING THERE: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (right) studiously avoided a question from DailyMail.com on Monday about whether he has ever strayed in his marriage, following a speculative story in the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid

SHE'S GOT HIS BACK: Carly Fiorina, who quit her presidential campaign in February, leaped in to rescue Cruz and try to change the subject during a brief press conference in Rothschild, Wisconsin

'This is an example of the media playing to Donald Trump's tune,' Fiorina, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, complained as she lobbed her own accusations of infidelity at the billionaire front-runner.

'Donald trump is a serial philanderer, by his own admission,' she said, with a flash in her eyes that betrayed disgust at the pointed question.

'And in a week when we have had a terrorist attack in Brussels, a shooting on Capitol Hill, the president of the United States in the baseball stands with Raul Castro, and insisting that he be photographed in front of a portrait of Che Guevara with the two Castro brothers, we are talking about a scurrilous, ridiculous piece in the National Enquirer?'

'Why do you all dance to Donald Trump's tune?' she demanded to know of about 15 reporters in the room. 'Let's talk about the issues, please!'

DailyMail.com directed the question a second time at Cruz when Fiorina had finished.

'Senator I'm sorry, this is a very serious question about your character,' the second question came.

'Will you just – if the answer is, "Yes, I've always been faithful to my wife," can you just say so please?'

His practised answer stuck to the more limited denial that the National Enquirer story was false, calling it 'complete garbage.'

'It is total lies, it was planted by Donald Trump's henchmen, and I don't think the people of Wisconsin or the people of America have any interest in tabloid trash.'

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: Rumors of Cruz affairs circulated quietly for months and launched a National Enquirer story, but instead of declaring himself ever-faithful, Cruz has only denied 'romps' with the five women mentioned in the tabloid story

NOT AMUSED: Fiorina argued bitterly for a return to discussing issues instead of morality, but then lobbed an accusation of infidelity at Donald Trump, calling him a 'serial philanderer'

Cruz, who spoke to a few hundred people in Rothschild, Wisconsin, has slapped down the National Enquirer story but avoided saying more broadly whether or not he has been unfaithful to wife Heidi during their 14-year marriage

Declaring himself a perpetually faithful husband would be the ultimate thumb in the eye of Donald Trump and his campaign staff, who have relentlessly peppered Twitter with sexual innuendo, seemingly legitimizing the tabloid story.

Spokespersons for both the Cruz and Trump campaigns declined to comment on the record.

Political operatives including some who worked alongside Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's now-suspended presidential campaign, have steadily pitched the story of Cruz's alleged infidelities to multiple media outlets, including DailyMail.com.

Cruz rallied on Monday for a half-hour before an audience estimated at 400, at the Central Wisconsin Convention and Expo Center in the town of Rothschild.

He hammered Trump repeatedly as a shallow politician with limited grasp of foreign policy issues and an even more limited palette of domestic policy prescriptions.

CRYSTAL VAGUE: Cruz has denied the content of the National Enquirer story but hasn't said he has been a faithful husband since his 2001 wedding

MAKE IT STOP: Cruz has spent much of the last week dispersing the smoke of murky character allegations

Cruz also challenged Trump to a debate on Tuesday night, proposing to substitute a one-on-one clash for a pair of hour-long town hall events CNN has scheduled back-to-back with the two Republican leaders.

'Each of us have an hour. It's at the exact same location. The TV cameras are there, the moderators are there, the audience is there,' he told reporters before the event.

'In all likelihood Donald is going to turn me down. Why? because he's scared of actually answering questions about substance.'

During his rally, he issued the challenge more bluntly.

'I have a very simple question: Donald, why don't you show up and debate like a man?' he blared as cheers rang out.

Wisconsin will host the next Republican primary contest on April 5, making the Badger State ground zero for political attacks and counter-attacks.