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Ted Cruz Explains the One Question the Media Uses to Try to ‘Trap’ Candidates
ijreview ^
| June 29, 2015
| MIKE MILLER
Posted on 06/30/2015 3:30:45 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
p>During a Fox News interview on Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz described a recent encounter with a local reporter in Texas who persisted in asking whether he had “an animosity toward gay Americans.”
“Media Buzz” host Howard Kurtz raised the subject:
KURTZ: “You had an exchange with a reporter in Beaumont, Texas, who asked you flat out [if] you have an animosity toward gay Americans. You pushed back on that pretty hard.”
CRUZ: “We were talking about bias in the media; it’s a good example. He asked me initially about gay marriage. I told him I don’t support gay marriage; under the Constitution, marriage is a question for the states.”
He said he moved on and was talking about the need to fight Islamic terrorism, when the reporter once again asked about his feelings toward gays.
Cruz explained to Kurtz why he refused to answer:
“There is a reason for answering as I did. Some people say, ‘why didn’t you just say no?’ – when the answer should be an obvious no.
The reason is, and you know this well, there’s a trap in politics. … I wasn’t going to give him that attack headline. That question was designed to get me to deny it, so then he could run the headline, ‘hahaha, he denies it.'”
Kurtz agreed, adding:
“That’s the headline: ‘Politician Denies Charge.’ Whether the charge is valid or not, kinda gets lost in the lede.”
“Gotcha politics” has been around as long as politics itself – employed by all sides. And it will undoubtedly be on full display throughout the 2016 campaign.
The question is, when reporters are preoccupied with gotcha questions and wedge issues – vs. the myriad of problems facing both the U.S. and the world today – are they doing a disservice to the candidates, let alone their viewers and/or readers?
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2016election; cruz; election2016; tedcruz; texas
"If we must have an enemy at the head of Government, let it be one whom we can oppose, and for whom we are not responsible, who will not involve our party in the disgrace of his foolish and bad measures." - Alexander Hamilton |
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"A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." - Thomas Paine 1792 |
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"It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." - Samuel Adams |
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To: SoConPubbie; Kale; Jarhead9297; COUNTrecount; notaliberal; DoughtyOne; MountainDad; aposiopetic; ...
Ted Cruz Ping!
If you want on/off this ping list, please let me know.
Please beware, this is a high-volume ping list!
CRUZ or LOSE!
2
posted on
06/30/2015 3:31:29 PM PDT
by
SoConPubbie
(Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
To: SoConPubbie
Pressure must be brought to bear on the people who give these “journarilts” their paychecks.
3
posted on
06/30/2015 3:34:33 PM PDT
by
wastoute
(Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
To: SoConPubbie
I think Ted Cruz is forcing other candidates to nut up a bit.
4
posted on
06/30/2015 3:44:46 PM PDT
by
cripplecreek
(Sad fact, most people just want a candidate to tell them what they want to hear)
To: SoConPubbie
The question is, when reporters are preoccupied with gotcha questions and wedge issues When "reporters" care more about their own political agendas then they care about finding and reporting the truth then they should do the right thing and turn in their press credentials.
I know, fat chance.
5
posted on
06/30/2015 3:47:47 PM PDT
by
Bullish
(Face it, insanity is not presidential.)
To: SoConPubbie
I can’t wait for the debates. Cruz is going to blow everyone else out of the water.
To: SoConPubbie
The question is, when reporters are preoccupied with gotcha questions and wedge issues vs. the myriad of problems facing both the U.S. and the world today are they doing a disservice to the candidates, let alone their viewers and/or readers?
I have more sympathy for stink bugs than I do for the occupation media. No one will weep when they are gone.
7
posted on
06/30/2015 4:19:43 PM PDT
by
PA Engineer
(Liberate America from the Occupation Media. #2ndAmendmentMatters)
To: SoConPubbie
This kind of colonoscopy is reserved for Republicans and other normal people.
Interviews are traps, and I’m glad he refused to fall into in it.
8
posted on
06/30/2015 4:21:25 PM PDT
by
I want the USA back
(Media: completely irresponsible. Complicit in the destruction of this country)
To: SoConPubbie
What about the reporter’s animosity towards Americans?
9
posted on
06/30/2015 4:45:47 PM PDT
by
TBP
(Obama lies, Granny dies.)
To: SoConPubbie
10
posted on
06/30/2015 4:53:09 PM PDT
by
Sergio
(An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
To: Bullish
“Gotcha questions” is like a sport for lame people (journalists especially).
But I’m not sure “Politician Denies Charge” is any worse of a headline than “Politician Refuses to Answer”.
11
posted on
06/30/2015 6:32:56 PM PDT
by
usa4usa
To: SoConPubbie
And some of the "we have to destroy the real conservatives so we don't lose our reasons to whine" crowd claims his answers are cowardice/non-answers/non stances/complicity, etc.
Can't really debate/argue with them because, like most unarmed people, they resort to flinging feces and claim it is 5 star cuisine - wish they would try an actual taste test once in a while....
12
posted on
07/01/2015 2:56:18 AM PDT
by
trebb
(Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
To: Bullish
When "reporters" care more about their own political agendas then they care about finding and reporting the truth then they should do the right thing and turn in their press credentials. The reality is that journalism is politics. The First Amendment does not require that journalists be, or even suggest that they are, objective. Our problem is not that we dont have a free press - our problem is that we have a single free press - the Associated Press - and all the newspapers &c. mouth the same party line. People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. - Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations
. . . and the AP newswire is nothing other than a continuous virtual meeting of all major journalists.
13
posted on
07/01/2015 10:11:05 AM PDT
by
conservatism_IS_compassion
('Liberalism' is a conspiracy against the public by wire-service journalism.)
To: wastoute
What did you have in mind?
14
posted on
07/01/2015 10:14:21 AM PDT
by
MaxMax
(Call the local GOP and ask how you can support CRUZ for POTUS,)
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