THE ANTI-DONALD:

Cruz's feud with Trump has made her a household name outside Puerto Rico and bolstered her political standing on the island; she notes that people who stop her in the street now refer to her as the "mayor of Puerto Rico." There's chatter that Cruz will next aim for the governor's mansion, although she has batted away speculation. Her high-profile battle with Trump was hardly the first time she'd taken on a bully in the pulpit -- she's nicknamed "Pitirre," after a tiny bird that aggressively defends itself against intruders. [...]

Even though a pitirre is a Tyrannus dominicensis, Cruz is anything but -- in sharp stylistic contrast to her best-known sparring partner.

When people, apparently from her own party, slapped posters around San Juan in late 2015 calling her a "traitor" for slamming the administration of the then-governor, Cruz ordered city workers to leave them up.

"I've got to protect the right of people to say what they want, even if what they say is against me," she told El Nuevo Día, a Puerto Rican newspaper. "In fact, especially when what they're saying is against me."

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