PEWAUKEE, Wis. — Republican front-runner Donald Trump is "very good at yelling about the problems in this country," but has no answers, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told Wisconsin supporters Wednesday night.
If your car is broken down, you don't want someone "yelling and screaming at it," he said. "You want someone to look under the hood and fix the engine."
Cruz was in Wisconsin for a RightWisconsin event, hosted by Milwaukee talk radio host Charlie Sykes. Cruz was easily the star attendee, joined by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.
It was a friendly crowd of more than 350 for Cruz. RightWisconsin endorsed the Texas senator this week, citing his chances at beating Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.
"We readily acknowledge that Cruz was not our first choice," the organization wrote. "We would have preferred Scott Walker or Marco Rubio.
"Wisconsin voters stand between Trump and the prize he is so anxious to debase. This is a time for choosing and we choose not to cower in the shadows or attempt to placate or appease the rough beast of Trumpism."
Cruz rallied the crowd for support.
"I'll tell ya, Wisconsin is a battleground right now," he said. "It is tied right now. We've got two weeks and the entire country is looking to Wisconsin. Wisconsin has a megaphone and a platform for this country if we continue coming together."
In a Wednesday poll from Emerson College, Trump and Cruz are neck-in-neck in the Badger State, each garnering 35% of support.
However, in the latest Marquette Law School poll from February, Cruz trailed Trump with 19% to Trump's 30%. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the other GOP candidate in the race, won 8% of support.
Cruz, who is of Cuban descent, also criticized President Obama for his visit to Cuba this week.
"You know, it was really sad to see the president travel to Cuba with Hollywood movie stars, with rock stars, and lend the legitimacy of America to an absolutely cruel and repressive regime that has murdered and tortured for decades," he told the crowd.
He also discussed the latest scuffle between himself and Trump in which Trump recently attacked Cruz and his wife, Heidi, because of an ad featuring a photo of Trump's wife, Melania, from her days as a model.
The ad came from a super PAC supporting Cruz, not from the Cruz campaign.
"For Donald to go after Heidi, I think is despicable and reveals a lot about his character," Cruz said. "Heidi Cruz is not scared one iota of a bellowing Donald Trump."
Heidi Cruz stopped three times in southeast Wisconsin to visit with voters and campaign supporters on Wednesday.
Johnson did not say whether he voted for Cruz in the GOP primary already, but confirmed he had voted in the primary. Johnson and Cruz have an embattled relationship after Cruz's attempts to block the Affordable Care Act that led to a government shutdown in 2013.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has not endorsed a Republican candidate, alluded on Sykes' show Tuesday that he could support Cruz over Kasich because Cruz has a better chance of beating Trump.
"If you're someone who is uneasy with the front-runner, right now there's really only one candidate," Walker said. "I think if you're just looking at the numbers objectively, Sen. Cruz is the only one who's got a chance, other than Donald Trump, to win the nomination. Statistically, my friend Gov. Kasich cannot."
Kasich was in town Wednesday too, holding a town hall in Wauwatosa.
Follow Madeleine Behr on Twitter: @madeleinebehr
