Furious Donald Trump demands new Iowa election because Ted Cruz 'stole' it with 'fraud' including dirty tricks and fake warnings to voters - and Sarah Palin attacks winner's 'lying' campaign boss 

A furious Donald Trump today accused Ted Cruz of 'fraud' in Iowa and demanded a new election.

Trump highlighted the Cruz camp's admission that they had spread false rumors that Ben Carson was quitting the race and said: 'Many people voted for Cruz over Carson because of this Cruz fraud.'

And he also referred to a letter sent to voters to the Cruz campaign which appeared to be an official warning that they had to turn out and which was branded a 'violation'.

The extraordinary series of Tweets came after Cruz beat the billionaire into second place in the Iowa caucus - a result which defied some polls.  

But Cruz did apologize for his campaign's emails to supporters claiming that Carson was withdrawing from the race - which meant that Carson's caucus-goers would instead support Cruz.

Cruz called it 'a mistake.'

On Wednesday afternoon, 2008 GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin weighed in, slamming what she called 'dirty politics' and a 'lack of accountability.'

'Cruz's campaign chairman, U.S. Representative Steve King, is lying, and good for Dr. Ben Carson for calling this out,' Palin wrote.

'And, this U.S. Congressman actually lied to his own constituents on behalf of Cruz, regarding a good man, Dr. Carson. He told voters Carson was dropping out of the Presidential race immediately before the Iowa caucus, causing a relative uproar inside the process, so the word would spread and he could rack up more votes for his candidate, Cruz.'

'That's a dirty trick. Dr. Carson deserved better. The voters deserved better!'

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A campaign staffer for Ted Cruz sent out this note on Saturday

Donald Trump continued to complain today that his Iowa finish is being unfairly portrayed in the media but clarified that he's staying in the race and could increase the amount of money he's pouring into his campaign.

In his apology, Cruz blamed the error on his 'team.' 

'Last night when our political team saw the CNN post saying that Dr. Carson was not carrying on to New Hampshire and South Carolina, our campaign updated grassroots leaders just as we would with any breaking news story,' Cruz said in a statement.

'That's fair game. What the team then should have done was send around the follow-up statement from the Carson campaign clarifying that he was indeed staying in the race when that came out.' 

Carson called it 'really quite a dirty trick,' but later said he accepted the apology.

He also called for the firing of Cruz's campaign staffer who sent out the tweet.

'I think whoever is responsible for blatant lying should be dismissed, absolutely. Unless that kind of behavior is acceptable in your campaign culture,' Carson told CNN.

But Cruz's campaign also got into trouble for a different reason over the weekend.

The campaign sent out an email to his supporters that was intended to look official - but wasn't that warned would-be caucus-goers about 'low voter turnout in your area.'

The email even included the recipient's voting history as well as their neighbors.

'Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors' are public record,' the email said.

'Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. CAUACUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SOCRE and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well.'

'A follow up notice may be issued following Monday's caucuses.'

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate issued a statement disavowing the email and saying that it 'misrepresents Iowa election law.' 

Meanwhile, a 7News/UMass Lowell tracking poll of New Hampshire voters published on Wednesday morning showed Trump crushing Cruz in the Granite State.

The poll puts Trump at 38 percent, and Cruz at only 14 percent.

Trump was forced to congratulate Sen. Ted Cruz, who he's called 'nasty,' among other things in recent days, as the Texas senator bested him by 6,000 votes in Monday night's Iowa caucuses. On Twitter he lashed out at Cruz and the media, however

Trump said on Good Morning America that he wasn't 'thrilled' that he lost to Ted Cruz on Monday night

'I don't like second place. I'm not a fan of second place, but I did well,' Trump said this morning. 'But I was told don't even go to Iowa, because I'm not going to win Iowa. And I thought it was something I should do and I went there and I almost won it.'

At the same time, he said, 'I came in second and the person that came in third was praised as though he had a great victory but they didn't say that about me.'

Trump was referring to Marco Rubio, who exceeded expectations in the caucus and finished a little more than a point behind Trump.

In a Twitter meltdown on Tuesday Trump doled out blame for his Iowa loss and made fun of winner Cruz.  

'I don't believe I have been given any credit by the voters for self-funding my campaign, the only one. I will keep doing, but not worth it!' Trump tweeted.  

'The media has not covered my long-shot great finish in Iowa fairly. Brought in record voters and got second highest vote total in history!' Trump also wrote.  

Today Trump said on Morning Joe he was not suggesting his presidential bid had been a waste of time and he might eventually quit.

Rather, he was saying he'd spent his own savings on his campaign and would have been better off accepting the checks he rejected from his rich friends.

'I don't mind taking in two, three, hundred million dollars,' he said. 

Trump again said he doesn't gets 'any credit for self funding' and said, 'In other words the voters aren't going into the booth saying, 'Oh, Trump is self funding his campaign, that's a big factor and therefore I'm going to vote for him.' '

Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough asked if that meant Trump would change course and being taking money from outside actors.

'No,' Trump replied. 'I said I wasn't going to change.'

He added: 'I just don't think it's fair. I'm the only one not taking money from the lobbyists and the special interests.' 

Donald Trump spent his day tweeting jabs at Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who beat the billionaire in Iowa last night, along with the media, a familiar punching back, and even voters 

Donald Trump pointed fingers at voters, who didn't appreciate that he was self-funding his campaign, as well as the media, for not considering his second place finish a victory 

MSNBC proceeded to show a chart sourced to the Washington Post that determined Trump spent $300 per vote in Iowa, while Rubio spent a $600 and Cruz dished out $700 per person.

It also had Rand Paul at $1,500, Ben Carson at $3,100 and Jeb Bush at $5,200.

'If I am investing in Donald Trump's operation, I would invest with a guy that gets the most bang for his buck, that is you,' Scarborough told him.

'But then there's a question, should you have spent more money in Iowa?' he said. 'Will you spend more money to make sure you finish the deal in future states?' 

Trump said 'there's no limit on the spending' implying that he could direct more of his personal resources to his presidential campaign.

And he reiterated that his Iowa loss wasn't as important as the media is making of it. 'Everyone told me I couldn't win so I sort of just went through the motions a little bit,' he claimed. 

 

He's back! Donald Trump got back on Twitter this morning to thank the voters of Iowa for having a great experience in the Hawkeye state

On Twitter he continued to hammer Cruz over charges that his surrogates spread rumors that Carson was dropping out of the race to steal votes from the retired neurosurgeon.

'Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!' Trump wrote.

Yesterday he said of his opponent, 'Anybody who watched all of Ted Cruz's far too long, rambling, overly flamboyant speech last nite would say that was his Howard Dean moment!' 

He was mocking the Texas senator's 32-minute address, comparing it to the shriek the Democratic candidate bellowed out in 2004, which punctuated the end of his campaign. 

The usually Twitter-happy Donald Trump had kept quiet for 15-plus hours in the aftermath of the Iowa caucuses, where he was bested by Cruz. 

He finally popped back online yesterday to thank voters and spin his defeat.

'My experience in Iowa was a great one. I started out with all of the experts saying I couldn't do well there and ended up in 2nd place,' Trump tweeted. 'Nice.' 

'Because I was told I could not do well in Iowa, I spent very little there - a fraction of Cruz & Rubio. Came in a strong second,' Trump continued. 'Great honor.' 

Trump is looking forward to New Hampshire, a state where his polling edge is in double digits, where he'll campaign tonight in Milford in a bid to bury his Iowa defeat. 

'I will be talking about my wonderful experience in Iowa and the simultaneous unfair treatment by the media-later in New Hampshire. Big crowd,' he also tweeted.   

Cruz, who was polling below Trump in the days leading up to the caucuses, had a decisive victory in the Hawkeye state. 

He received 27.65 percent of the vote, compared to Trump's 24.31 percent. Rubio, in third place, received 23.1 percent. 

Cruz bested Trump by more than 6,000 votes. 

Sen. Ted Cruz walked out of Iowa a winner last night, besting longtime Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. 'This is a center-right country,' Cruz said this morning, suggesting he had broader appeal than Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, who won the Iowa caucuses in recent years

Cruz will get eight delegates, while Trump and Rubio will each get seven. 

In his concession speech on Monday evening Trump graciously thanked Iowans and contended that he was never expected to do well in the state. 

'On June 16th, when we started this journey, there were 17 candidates. I was told by everybody, 'Do not go to Iowa, you could never finish even in the top 10,'' Trump said. 

'And I said, 'But I have friends in Iowa, I know a lot of people in Iowa. I think they'll really like me. Let's give it a shot.'

'They said 'Don't do it.' I said 'I have to do it'.'

'And we finished second, and I want to tell you something: I'm just honored. I'm really honored.' 

'I want to congratulate Ted,' he said, name-dropping Cruz. 'And I want to congratulate all of the incredible candidates.' 

Trump boasted about his time in Iowa, even suggesting he might buy a farm. 

Across town, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Cruz was taking a bow. 

'To God be the glory. God bless the great state of Iowa,' he said. 'Tonight is a victory for the grass roots. Tonight is a victory for the greatest conservatives across Iowa. Tonight the state of Iowa has spoken.' 

Seemingly hitting Trump and all of his haters in Washington, Cruz proclaimed: 'Iowa has sent a note that the next President of the United States will not be chosen by the media. He will not be chosen by the Washington establishment [or] by the lobbyists…but will be chosen by the most incredible powerful force, where all sovereignty resides in this nation – by we the people.'

In downtown Des Moines, Rubio was also throwing a party.

'So this is the moment they said would never happen,' Rubio said, standing beside his wife and four children.

'For months they told us we had no chance. They told me I had no chance because my hair wasn't grey enough and my boots were too high. They didn't hear in Iowa, the people of this state sent a message: We are not waiting any longer to take our country back. This is not a time for waiting, everything that makes this country great hangs in the balance.' 

By sunrise in New Hampshire, Marco Rubio, who came in spitting distance of an even bigger Trump upset, was already up and working the room in New Hampshire, where voters will go to the polls one week from today.

Marco Rubio hit Ted Cruz this morning suggesting that the Texas senator's positions are very 'calculated' and said it was disingenuous to label other Republicans 'RINOs'  and 'sell-outs'