What are you smoking? Cruz cheated in Iowa and then tried to lie about it. Everyone knows that. he double crossed Ben Carson. However, since he is so holier-than-thou - I guess it’s okay with his bots? Despicable.
If I had a dollar for every thing "everyone knows" that just isn't true, I'd be richer than Soros.
I saw the CNN report, which was misleading. One of Cruz supporters sent that to others and misinformation travels fast, but the origin was at CNN.
I'm not buying the whole 'change of clothes' schtick. If you can afford to run for President, you can afford a change of skivvies.
The announcement included that Carson wasn't going to New Hampshire or South Carolina, but was going home.
Do I think that affected Carson in Iowa? Maybe, and that's a maybe. Do I think Cruz benefited? If at all, not much. Do I think Cruz knew of the message beforehand? As often when there is a lot going on, no. Keep in mind it was sent to Cruz supporters. Those people were already aboard.
Now if you want to talk about Iowa, let's discuss where Cruz said he'd do away with the ethanol fuel mandate that costs drivers everywhere about 10% of their gas mileage. The Governor of Iowa (whose son is an ethanol industry lobbyist) immediately jumped in and said Cruz had to be defeated 'whatever it takes'.
Right after that Trump jumped in and said he'd not only keep the ethanol mandate, but use the EPA to enforce it to the fullest extent of the law, which gained him the support of the Governor and the GOPe in Iowa.
Not only did Trump parley away 10% of everyone's gas mileage and ensure the destruction of thousands of small engines, he said he'd keep the single agency which has done more to destroy American Industry and drive it offshore.
(Kiss Making America Great Again goodbye.)
While I can understand (not like, mind you , but understand) how a zealous minion might send around what amounted to a distortion of fact by CNN (That would never happen, not CNN, right?) (/s), Cruz manned up, took responsibility for the actions of people in the campaign, and apologized to Carson. If you go back and chase down the early threads, there is even a screen shot of the CNN broadcast, and likely a link.
Nowhere can the argument be made that Trump wasn't aware of what he was doing, trading the continuation of the ethanol mandate and the EPA for Iowa.