Story highlights Texas Sen. Ted Cruz hit Donald Trump on several fronts after a week on the receiving end of attacks by the billionaire businessman

Cruz further charged that Trump "embodies New York values"

Washington (CNN) In an abrupt strategy shift Tuesday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz went after Donald Trump like never before, portraying him as a stereotypical New Yorker with ties to the Democratic Party and unfit for the Republican nomination.

After a week on the receiving end of attacks by the billionaire businessman, including charges that the senator isn't eligible to be president because he was born in Canada, Cruz launched a high-risk tactic that has befell every other Republican that tried it -- attacking The Donald.

The change from Cruz's seven-months-old, turn-the-other-cheek strategy, which was on display just 24 hours ago, involves aggressively highlighting Trump's ties to the Democratic Party. The Texas senator is also making an electability argument, saying he beats Hillary Clinton in national polls while Trump doesn't.

And in an interview with Massachusetts radio station WRKO, Cruz made his most personal charge yet, saying Trump "embodies New York values," and portraying Trump as out of step with an increasingly southern, religious GOP.

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