Cruz tells Trump he can't use bathroom in North Carolina 'dressed like Hillary'

As the race for the Republican presidential nomination intensifies, Ted Cruz took a shot at frontrunner Donald Trump over the controversial North Carolina bathroom bill that's sure to cause a stir. 

Last week, Trump came out in opposition to the bill, which erases discrimination protections for LGBT residents and forces transgender people to use bathrooms that align with the gender on their birth certificates. 

The bill has faced backlash with businesses choosing to back out of planned offices in the state and many artists, including Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam, choosing to forego concerts in the state out of protest. 

On Sunday, speaking to crowds in Indiana, a state that's had its own controversy over a religious freedom bill, Cruz attacked Trump's opposition to the bill while outlining his own ongoing support of it.

"So let me make things real, real simple," Cruz said. "If Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton, he still can't go to the girl's bathroom."

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RealClearPolitics published a more complete, four-minute video of Cruz's speech, giving his comments full context. 

In his comments, Cruz attacked Trump for not only agreeing with Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama in their opposition to the bill, but, using an oft-repeated line of thinking that denies transgender identity, said that Trump wants to "allow grown men to use a little girl's bathroom." 

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Cruz has been vocal in his support of the controversial bill, releasing an ad attacking those who oppose it and calling the bill "common sense" and using the same phrases he did during his Sunday speech.

On NBC's Today Show on Thursday, Trump said people should be allowed to "use the bathroom they feel is appropriate" and, when asked if he'd let Caitlyn Jenner use whichever bathroom she chooses at a Trump property, said "That is correct." 

Sunday's comments follow an incident from last week in which a transgender teen said he was removed from a Ted Cruz rally simply for publicly identifying himself, via a t-shirt, as transgender.

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