Cruz angrily denies adultery allegations, blames Trump

Ted Cruz on Friday angrily slammed as "garbage" allegations from a US tabloid magazine that he had affairs with five mistresses and he accused Republican rival Donald Trump of concocting the explosive story.

The National Enquirer splashed the alleged scandal across the front page of its April 4 edition, screaming "It's Over For Pervy Ted." The magazine touted "an explosive 'dirt file' on the finger-wagging conservative senator" but did not identify or quote any of the alleged mistresses in its online version.

"Let me be clear, this National Enquirer story is garbage. It is complete and utter lies," Cruz told reporters from the campaign trail in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. "It is a tabloid smear, and it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen."

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz hugs his wife Heidi during a campaign rally in Charleston, South Carolina on February 19, 2016 ©Jim Watson (AFP/File)

He repeated the denial online.

"For Donald J. Trump to enlist his friends at the National Enquirer and his political henchmen to do his bidding shows you that there is no low Donald won't go," Cruz said on his official Facebook page.

"These smears are completely false, they're offensive to Heidi and me, they're offensive to our daughters, and they're offensive to everyone Donald continues to personally attack."

Cruz campaign adviser Jason Johnson tweeted links to a report that Trump and Enquirer CEO David Pecker had been friends for years.

Trump denied having anything to do with the story.

"Ted Cruz's problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz."

The magazine in 2007 broke the politically -- and personally -- damaging story of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Edwards's extramarital affair as his wife battled cancer.

Trump and Cruz this week escalated their bitter feud by clashing over their wives. An anti-Trump political group used a photograph of Trump's wife, Melania, a former model, lying nude in his private jet.