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Donald Trump has denied any connection to the National Enquirer story released yesterday claiming Ted Cruz has had 5 mistresses: I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week’s issue of the National Enquirer is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it. Likewise, I have nothing to do with the National Enquirer and unlike Lyin’ Ted Cruz I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence. Ted Cruz’s problem...

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The truth behind the rumor-mongering, however, is a little more complex. A half-dozen GOP operatives and media figures tell The Daily Beast that Cruz’s opponents have been pushing charges of adultery for at least six months now—and that allies of former GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio were involved in spreading the smears. For months and months, anti-Cruz operatives have pitched a variety of #CruzSexScandal stories to a host of prominent national publications, according to Republican operatives and media figures. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, Politico, and ABC News—reporters at all those outlets heard some version of...

Republicans Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, who suspended their presidential campaigns, removed their names from New York's primary ballot by the deadline Tuesday, but Ben Carson didn't. So New York Republicans will be able to vote for four candidates on April 19: businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Carson, a neurosurgeon who suspended his campaign March 4 after failing to win in any states.

I grew up believing myself to have been born gay having always, and only, had the most powerful, all-consuming, erotic attraction towards my own sex.Teenage years were hell. I often thought of suicide, occasionally self-harmed and had a growing problem with alcohol. I lived in a rural mining community in the north of England believing I would never be accepted among my own as a gay man, particularly as I watched a male cousin some ten years older than me – now deceased from a drug overdose – struggle to find his place as a gay man in the late...

Talk about political whiplash. Exactly one week ago, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney -- in his effort to defeat Donald Trump -- campaigned in Ohio with John Kasich, telling the state's voters to cast ballots for their governor. "Unlike the other people running, he has a real track record," Romney said of Kasich. "He has the kind of record that you want in Washington, and that's why I'm convinced that you're going to do the right thing tomorrow." Today, however, Romney's voice appears on robocalls in Arizona and Utah, telling these voters to side with Ted Cruz -- and...

Ted Cruz’s campaign has been exploring the possibility of forming a unity ticket with ex-rival Marco Rubio — going so far as to conduct polling looking into how the two would perform in upcoming primary states. The motivation, hashed out in conversations among Cruz’s top aides and donors: to find a way to halt Donald Trump’s march to the Republican nomination. It’s unclear whether Cruz’s campaign brass views a partnership with Rubio as realistic or quixotic. In Rubio’s orbit, according to three sources, it’s seen as an outright nonstarter — with Rubio telling his team that he isn’t interested. Yet...

A top presenter on Russian state TV has come out firmly in favour of Donald Trump in his bid to become US president, hailing him as an "anti-establishment" candidate who is ready to co-operate with Moscow. Russian state TV has regularly shown sympathy towards Mr Trump, especially after his apparently complimentary remarks about President Vladimir Putin. But it is only in the last week or so that it has started to unequivocally praise him. Fronting his two-and-half hour news review on official channel Rossiya 1 on 13 March, Dmitri Kiselyov hit out strongly at what he saw as a conspiracy...

In an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation," establishment-type Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., admitted that he would prefer to lose the election to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton than to have Trump as president. "We can lose an election, but I don’t want us to lose our heart and soul," said Graham. "If we nominate Donald Trump, and he carries the banner of the Republican Party, given who he is and what he said about immigrants, about Muslims and young women, we will not just lose the election. We have lost the heart and soul of the conservative movement. That's what...

Top political aides to Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz connected Friday to discuss how delegates currently bound to Rubio might be allocated, a Cruz campaign aide confirmed to RealClearPolitics.Although the conversation between Rubio’s former campaign manager, Terry Sullivan, and Cruz Campaign Manager Jeff Roe was brief and no resolution was reached, the development suggests the two former rivals could be moving toward detente if not an active collaboration.-snip-If Rubio does decide to endorse Cruz, the aide said, that decision would likely be reached between the two of them, not among senior aides. “Marco and Ted are good friends, so...

The primary component of GOP presidential candidates’ health policy proposals is to repeal Obamacare. Once GOP frontrunner Trump released his plan, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget took notice and did an analysis of the likely fiscal effects from Trump’s plan. Presumably, these fiscal effects would also apply to the other Republican candidates who also support repealing Obamacare. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is a budget watchdog group that began 35 years ago. For the past few years it has been housed with the neo-Democratic think tank, New America. The two organizations parted ways over the...

*snip* Trump surged as the Republican Party’s frontrunner on his campaign platform of deporting illegal aliens, promoting trade deals that prioritize the interests of American workers, and rejecting the party elites’ desire for increased military adventurism. Ted Cruz, by contrast, wrote an op-ed urging Congress to fast track Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). No fast-tracked trade agreement has ever been defeated. Sen. Graham’s energetic endorsement of Cruz – and Cruz’s refusal to disavow the endorsement of a man who many believe betrayed the American people with his unyielding push for mass migration – will no doubt raise questions as to whether...

Pundit Erick Erickson's The Resurgent website got 10K from anti-Trump, Paul Singer-funded Our Principle PAC in their latest FEC reported, GotNews.com can report. The funding from the neoconservative billionaire wasn't disclosed to Erickson's readers at the new venture. Singer, who is a pro-gay marriage establishment billionaire, was one of the major financial donors for Marco Rubio. Singer is also a major supporter of National Review which was dispensing the #NeverTrump at CPAC.

Talk about your Hobson's Choice . . . on today's Morning Joe, Nicolle Wallace, citing GOP consultants, suggested that--other than social conservatives--Republicans concerned with foreign policy should consider supporting Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Hillary supporter Harold Ford, Jr. could be heard chiming in with a "well said." Wallace was echoing the argument laid out by Joe Scarborough: that on a range of issues from foreign intervention to Israel, taxing the rich to breaking up the banks, Clinton's positions are closer to those of the GOP establishment than Trump's. But Joe, Nicolle and those Republican consultants are forgetting one overriding...

What bothers me most is that Republicans don’t seem to be learning anything from Trumpism. Jeb Bush and Trump were the two polar opposites ‎of this election. Bush was obsessed with raising money and spent all his time pulling in dollars six figures at a time. His idea of a political rally was to go to a posh country-club home, chat with 30 to 50 donors and swoop up checks with lots of zeroes. Trump’s events attract actual voters in the tens of thousands. Bush wouldn’t have won if he’d had a billion dollars. Trump challenges Republican and conservative orthodoxy...

“I want to speak to you about something that may be controversial. And it’s not something that I have said when I have been out for Ted [Cruz] and now Mike [Lee]. But it’s something that this crowd needs to hear – that Utah needs to hear. The body of the priesthood is known to stand up when the Constitution hangs by a thread,” Beck said. ... “I joined many times. What held me through was the prophesy that the Constitution will hang by a thread, and this People would remember what our Founders did. It is our responsibility to...

A screenshot purportedly showing anti-Trump tweets from Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz is fake. On 17 March 2016, an image purportedly showing two tweets from Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, each stating that Americans should vote for the Democratic candidate if Donald Trump wins the 2016 GOP presidential nomination began circulating online: Neither of the above-displayed tweets appeared on the official Twitter accounts of Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio. Rather, this image was created with an application such as "Let Me Tweet That For You," which allows users to easily create fake tweets: One way to tell that...

Florida voters "fed up" with Trump and Clinton speak out CBS News March 18, 2016, 7:05 AM Voters in the key swing state of Florida are sharing their frustration about their options in the 2016 presidential race. A focus group comprised of Republican and Democratic voters who oppose both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump offered a revealing look at the anger toward the front-runners in both parties. Clinton and Trump share the distinction of being among the least-liked candidates. "I would rather not vote than vote for either one of these candidates," one woman told CBS News contributor and Republican...

RUSH: Susan in Thousand Oaks, California. I appreciate that you waited during that little interruption. Great to have you here, Susan. CALLER: Hi, Rush. RUSH: Hi. CALLER: Listen, in my opinion, the only difference between Trump and Hillary Clinton is that Hillary has bigger hands. RUSH: (laughing) How long have you been waiting to say that? CALLER: Well, listen, I'm a never-Trump voter. I just cannot tolerate the thought of voting for him. I think they're both opportunists, and I don't think it really matters. People like to scream and say, "Hey, if you vote for --" RUSH: Wait,...

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is brushing off news that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is apparently backing his main rival for the nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Trump suggested Friday that Cruz was on the receiving end of a "jinx" after Graham, who endorsed Jeb Bush after ending his own campaign, signaled support for Cruz. "Lyin' Ted Cruz lost all five races on Tuesday-and he was just given the jinx - a Lindsey Graham endorsement. Also backed Jeb. Lindsey got 0!" Trump tweeted. The businessman's remarks come a day after news emerged that Graham, a vocal opponent of Trump, would...