Cruz blasts Trump’s judge sister for overturning NJ late-term abortion ban

GOP hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz used an opinion written by Donald Trump's sister in a New Jersey abortion case as another reason not to vote for the businessman and reality show star for president.

Speaking in South Carolina ahead of the next presidential primary, Cruz said Trump's past support for his own sister, U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals judge Maryanne Trump Barry, is proof that Trump would appoint a liberal to the Supreme Court if given the chance according to the Washington Post.

in 2000, Barry wrote the majority opinion on a panel that overturned New Jersey's ban on late-term abortions. Now-Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. sat on the panel as well.

During a segment on "ABC This Week" on Sunday, Trump joked about his sister Maryanne Trump Barry being named to the high court even though, he said, their political views are different.

"I said in that in a very joking matter, and it was all lots of fun and everything else. I would say total conflict of interest as far as my sister," said Trump.

Trump-Barry was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1999.

Cruz said that "it’s good to stand with your sister, but Donald’s sister was a Bill Clinton-appointed federal appellate judge who is a radical pro-abortion extremist," referring to a 2000 opinion in which she wrote the majority opinion that ended New Jersey's ban on late-term abortions.