Poor, poor Ted Cruz. He just can t catch a break.Having endured repeated attacks on his wife by Republican front-runner Donald Trump, Cruz practiced his best  tough guy  face in the mirror, found the nearest camera and told Trump:  Donald, you re a sniveling coward and leave Heidi the hell alone.  And it almost would have worked if it weren t for a meddling NBC reporter who pointed out the massive elephant in the room.Without missing a beat, NBC s Hallie Jackson stepped up to ask the one question Cruz didn t want to hear: Are you more loyal to the Republican Party  or your wife? His flailing response speaks volumes.A clearly unimpressed Jackson asks Cruz to explicitly say whether or not he would support Donald Trump as president if he got the nomination. Cruz was left temporarily speechless, before weakly saying the question was irrelevant because Trump was going to lose. Jackson didn t let up:Jackson: That s not answering the question, Senator.Cruz: I am answering the question. Donald Trump will not be the nominee.Jackson: He s leading right now and you just looked into that camera and said he was a coward. Will you support him as the nominee?Cruz: Donald Trump will not be the nomineeWhat makes Jackson s questions so brutal is that for Cruz, he s always struggled to distance himself from Trump while at the same time copying many of his ideas. And like many Republicans, Cruz has repeatedly said he would support the eventual nominee whoever it was, even as he publicly attacked Trump. Just earlier this month, Cruz was still adamant that party loyalty meant everything. My answer is the same. I committed at the outset. I will support the Republican nominee, whoever it is,  Cruz said.Making things even more awkward, Cruz and Trump spent the early part of the election praising each other. Cruz would live to regret tweets like this one.In the end, with Trump s sizable lead in the primaries, Cruz will need to decide what he will do if Trump wins. As he calls Trump a  sniveling coward  on camera, he may soon be faced with having to grovel at Trump s feet (just as his former fellow candidates Chris Christie and Ben Carson have already done). No doubt when that happens, Cruz is going to wish he never met Hallie Jackson.Featured image via Twitter