Charlie Sykes pressed Republican front runner Donald Trump in an extensive 17 minute interview on WTMJ on the tone and substance of the campaign, in particular Trump’s willingness to attack the wife of Ted Cruz.

Sykes asked Trump if he would start out his Wisconsin campaign by apologizing and putting wives and spouses off limits. Last week, Trump threatened to “spill the beans” about Heidi Cruz and then retweeted an unflattering picture from one of his supporters.

“I did a retweet, and it was a retweet by somebody else because I have a lot of support, we have a tremendous amount of fervent supporters and they were angry about what they did in sending out this photograph – which was frankly fine,” said Trump as he blamed Cruz for pushing out a GQ model shoot of his wife Melania on Facebook ahead of the Utah caucuses.

It was an unaffiliated superPAC that pushed out the Melania Trump picture in Utah, not Cruz. But Trump continued to blame Cruz.

“He knew totally about that. If he didn’t know about that, it’d be a totally different thing. But he totally knew about that. It was done by people he knows very well,” said Trump. Sykes responded that Trump’s standard is one he expects from “a twelve year-old bully on the playground, not someone who wants the office held by Abraham Lincoln.”

Sykes offered Trump a lifeline saying, “Your wife is a beautiful, classy women. Why can’t you say the same thing about Ted Cruz’s wife?”

“I don’t know Ted Cruz’s wife. I’m sure she’s excellent. I just don’t know her. But you know, all this was a response to what he did,” said Trump.

Trump later said, “he started it,” in reference to fight over candidates’ wives.

When asked about his unpopularity with women, Trump said “women are just going to have to see what I’ve done. I’ve hired tremendous amounts of women. Women are in the highest executive positions. I pay women, in many cases, more than I pay men, which is more than most people can say.”

Recent polls show as many as 70% of women disapprove of Donald Trump.

Sykes also pressed Trump about his attacks on Scott Walker and the conservative reforms here in Wisconsin. Last August, Trump said “Wisconsin is doing terribly” and listed off a bunch of Democratic Party talking points against Scott Walker.

“I can only say what I took out of Time magazine,” said Trump about his Walker attacks. “If Time magazine is wrong then they should apologize.”

As for his record of support for Democrats and liberal positions on abortion, gun control, and socialized healthcare, Trump seemed to indicate that being a businessman was a worthy excuse.

“First of all, let me just explain that as a businessman, I’d never even thought of many of the things you’re talking about,” said Trump. He said he gave money to all politicians in order to curry favor and never thought he himself would ever be running for office.

In a revealing moment, Sykes asked Trump towards the tail end of the interview if he knew that he was an avowed #NeverTrump supporter. Trump said he was not aware of that.

I wonder if Trump told one of his media people “You’re fired!” after that.

Sykes’ interview can be heard here.

Then, Trump talked to Jerry Bader. That didn’t go so well for Trump either.

Then, Trump talked to Vicki McKenna. That interview ended with the sound of a hanging-up phone.

That was Monday. Tuesday morning, Gov. Scott Walker endorsed Ted Cruz.

What was Trump’s reaction? Kevin Binversie reports:

After a rough day with the biggest names in Wisconsin talk radio, real estate mogul Donald Trump tried again on Tuesday. This time, hitting radio stations in border cities that reach into Wisconsin.

Trump spoke with WROK 1440 AM in Rockford, Illinois Tuesday morning. Rockford – best known as the hideout of the “Fleeing 14” during the unrest on Act 10 – is located 35 miles south of Janesville, where Trump will kick off his Wisconsin primary campaign.

Appearing with host Michael Koolidge Trump lashed out at Gov. Scott Walker – who endorsed Trump’s primary opponent Ted Cruz Tuesday morning on 620 WTMJ. Trump comes off in this interview more like he was about to siege on the Wisconsin State Capitol, than woo Badger State conservatives before next Tuesday’s primary.

Frankly, it’s the sort of stuff you’d expect to hear from Mike Tate or Scot Ross, not a man claiming to be a ‘true conservative’ as Trump is.

This is as idiotic a thing as Trump has done on this campaign. Walker became a national hero among conservatives for taking on public employee unions in the public employee collective bargaining reforms. And Trump is attacking Walker, who is being criticized by Wisconsin conservatives not for Act 10, but for not making enough conservative reforms. It’s as if Trump is trying to get Democrats to cross over and vote for him in the GOP primary.

London’s Guardian summarizes:

Donald Trump attacked Wisconsin governor Scott Walker for failing to raise taxes in order to properly fund schools and roads on Tuesday, in a startling new break from rightwing orthodoxy from the Republican frontrunner. …

The comments came after Walker endorsed Trump’s rival, Texas senator, Ted Cruz, in the GOP race.

Walker became a conservative hero for his efforts to crush public sector unions and cut government spending in the Democratic-leaning state in Wisconsin, something that led to an attempted recall of the Wisconsin governor in 2012 and became a national cause célèbre. But, in a radio interview with talkshow host Michael Koolidge on Tuesday, Trump bashed Walker’s administration.

“There’s a $2.2bn deficit and the schools were going begging and everything was going begging because he didn’t want to raise taxes ’cause he was going to run for president,” said Trump. “So instead of raising taxes, he cut back on schools, he cut back on highways, he cut back on a lot of things.”

Trump also added of the Badger State in general: “Wisconsin has a lot of problems, plus there is tremendous hatred … I wouldn’t exactly say that things are running smoothly.”

Walker, who briefly was a presidential candidate and considered a top contender for the GOP nomination, dropped out of the presidential race in September with an unheeded call for Republican rivals to consolidate around an alternative to him. In the interview, Trump said of Walker’s campaign: “We sent him packing like a little boy.”

Binversie adds: