Cruz On Carson's 'Dirty Trick' Claim: I'm Not Gonna Scapegoat My Staff

TPM ^ | February 3, 2016 | CAITLIN MACNEAL

[GodGunsGuts]

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Wednesday said he would not discipline any campaign staffers for notifying Iowa caucusgoers that Ben Carson had plans to drop out of the race even though the retired neurosurgeon only had plans for a quick trip home to Florida.

Cruz said on "The Mike Gallagher Show" that members of his campaign were "passing on news reports."

"I don't make a practice of scapegoating staff members when it's politically convenient," Cruz added.

The Texas senator reiterated that he has apologized to Carson for his campaign's actions. In a Tuesday statement, Cruz said that while sharing news reports is "fair game," he was sorry his campaign did not send out an update clarifying that Carson would remain in the race. The Cruz campaign circulated a CNN story about Carson's plans to head to Florida following the Iowa caucus, and the campaign allegedly urged caucusgoers to vote for Cruz instead.

On Wednesday, Cruz told Gallagher that the media was reporting on Carson's claims and the Cruz campaign's actions in a "misleading way."

Shortly before Cruz's interview on "The Mike Gallagher Show," Donald Trump accused Cruz of "fraud" and called for "either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified."

In response to Trump's accusations, Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told CNN that Trump was merely trying to get attention.

"The reality hit the reality TV star in Iowa so nobody is talking about him now. So he's trying to regain some attention on Twitter," he said in a statement to CNN.

Tyler added that "there are Twitter addiction support groups, so he should seek out his local chapter."

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Then, he just decides BEFORE the caucuses begin that he is going to drop out And Cruz and Rubio run with the unsourced tweet that carson is getting out and his supporters should immediately switch to either Rubio or Cruz. Okay, got it.

Before you accuse Cruz or Rubio PERSONALLY of orchestrating these, please consider that Cruz and Rubio are travelling from one county to another shoring up their respective bases ( Cruz covered all 99 Iowa counties). I’ll chalk it up to campaign members who did the tweets or facebook posts.

And since you acknowledge that it did nothing to affect the votes that Carson received and Cruz apologized (unlike Trump, who does not apologize ) to Carson for this, this is for me, not a personal HIT against Cruz himself.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: So you have evidence Cruz was the source for the CNN story? If not, then STFU.

And where is your proof that Cruz was the source of this? Evidence please. A man is innocent until proven guilty, at least that’s how the American system is supposed to work.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Cruz outright lied and you are calming Carson supporters dumb?

No, please re-read my posts in this thread. I said that Carson lost NOT because of any internet tweet or post.

Carson lost because he did not have enough voters and his ground game was not good enough.

Carson’s supporters are NOT dumb and would NOT let any internet rumor affect their vote without checking whether or not it is true.

Therefore, to say that Carson came in fourth BECAUSE of the internet rumor is FALSE. One has nothing to do with the other.

I will admit that I said that anyone who allows a tweet to affect the way he votes is dumb, but I never said that these are Carson supporters.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: I thought people would find the fake voter violation notice very offensive.

It IS offensive. However please understand what I am trying to say:

1) The internet rumor DID NOT cause Carson’s fourth place result. His low result was a result of his LACK of enough support in Iowa,

2) I still want proof that shows that Cruz was orchestrating the internet mis-information.

[anymouse]

Reporter: Sen. Cruz, aren't you afraid of angering Dr. Carson, who has a mean temper and is an expert with a knife?

Ted Cruz: Nah, I'm covered. ;)

[Nifster]

Ex CIA boss, CFR activist, and other establishment folks. Makes me go hmmmm

[Lumper20]

Cruz comes up with plenty of his own lies. He does not need help. The man lies often without help.

[Lumper20]

Carson is an SDA and he would not qualify for CIC in my world nor most who have served in combat. The comparison you are trying to make is a joke as Trump did not say- “Carson is out of the race here Vote for Me.”

[Lumper20]

Agree. Cruz plays dirty and lies.

[CottonBall]

Yeah, I don’t know if Carson lost achingly vote - that’s not really my problem with it, but the tactics used.
it’s impossible to know the actual effect.

[CottonBall]

stupid tablet - a single vote!

It would just be speculation.

On to the next state-and hope everyone plays fair!

[little jeremiah]

Calls were made to all the caucuses that Carson was quitting. You don’t think that is a dirty trick and could easily have caused some to change their votes?