Posted on 02/04/2016 12:48:03 PM PST by Hojczyk
New audio obtained exclusively by Breitbart News indicates that as the Iowa caucuses began on Monday night, the campaign called precinct captains informing them that Dr. Ben Carson was suspending campaigning, and instructing them to tell voters they should “not waste a vote on Ben Carson and vote for Ted Cruz.â€
The calls were placed after the Carson campaign had already clarified that Carson was not suspending his campaign.
Nancy Bliesman, a precinct captain for Cruz in Crawford County, Iowa, told Breitbart News that she received two voice mails–one at 7:07 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST), and one at 7:29 p.m.–on the night of the Iowa caucuses, which began at 7:00 p.m.
The first call came from a woman with a phone number out of Galveston, Texas at 7:07 p.m. (transcript follows audio):
[inaudible]…from the Ted Cruz campaign, calling to get to a precinct captain, and it has just been announced that Ben Carson is taking a leave of absence from the campaign trail, so it is very important that you tell any Ben Carson voters that for tonight, uh, that they not waste a vote on Ben Carson, and vote for Ted Cruz. He is taking a leave of absence from his campaign. All right? Thank you. Bye.
The second voicemail was left at 7:29 p.m. from an Iowa phone number that Breitbart News traced back to a Cruz campaign volunteer hotline.
Hello, this is the Cruz campaign with breaking news: Dr. Ben Carson will be [garbled] suspending campaigning following tonights caucuses. Please inform any Carson caucus goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted instead. Thank you. Good night.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Cruz said the CNN report, that his people relied upon, was accurate. Then when it was show to be wrong (Carson said, “Uh. I’m still here.”) Cruz stood by his people.
Then Trump said, “Wait a second here ... “. Then Cruz blamed CNN.
What happened to conservatives not trusting the MSM?
It took Cruz a while to remember that, or he jumped on something he knew to be untrue hoping to use it to his advantage.
That’s called “political chicanery”.
So let’s get back to the article and leave the ad hominem, non sequiters, embellishment and other cheap rhetorical ploys—what say we give them a rest for a while.
You guys are getting a reputation for being as slippery as eels.
The precinct captains were apparently told by the campaign heads to spread this lie.
They've got a voice mail that apparently proves what your candidate says was false.
So what are you going to do about it? Continue to hide from the FACT that this was dirty politics at its worst and came from the top of the campaign?
Were you angry when the GOPe did in Mississippi? What makes this any different?
[So let’s get back to the article and leave the ad hominem, non sequiters, embellishment and other cheap rhetorical ploys—what say we give them a rest for a while.]
Yes, yes... pay no attention to the man behind the curtain....
And pulling political status quo crap like Team Ted on caucus night is ok??
“At present, the number of duped Carson supporters stands at ZERO. Not a SINGLE one has come forward to say, “I walked into that caucus gung-ho Carson, and the Cruz supporters tricked me.†Not a single one.”
Good point.
You can state with NO authority, that people were not duped, only that nobody spoke up... that YOU heard about.
The polls were wrong on Cruz, Trump, and Rubio, but they were pretty close on Carson.
Strange.
Denial is a dirty river running strong here on FR. Amazing.
Yes, it did evaporate in a big way, I agree.
I think Trump needs to be concerned about over polling versus under performing.
It seems like he is relying on the sheer power of his personality, if I may borrow that phrase from a wise FReeper, to win this for him, and I’m not sure that’s enough.
And he does have two distinct styles to his personality. One is magnetic, and the other repulses. One might even use a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde analogy here.
Wonder who those three delegates Carson won will end up going to ? Not Cruz, that's for sure, in spite of his BS about being a good Christian.
The next stage of this is Ted saying he didn't know a thing about it.
I guess it's like Roberts, who knew ?. Or, maybe it's a clever trick to fool the democrats.
No where and at no time did Ted Cruz call or twitter anybody. Unless Carson is campaigning in Washington D.C., he did take a leave from the campaign trail.
BTW, Carson’s campaign did not release a statement until 8:28 p.m. saying he was not dropping out of the race.
Your graph shows what many of us are saying. Trump was not expected to win Iowa. He finished better than expected.
If no “harm” was done, why the “apology”.
CNN was the root of the story. Several tweets hit spreading the CNN story. CNN didn't pull back or correct their story...did they? By the way, reported today, Carson is scaling back his staff in NH. Wonder why? Is it truly close to the end for him?
The time the tweets began to fly, the caucuses were well under way. If CNN, Rubio camp or Cruz camp were to have gotten a correction from CNN, it would have been all over anyhow. BIG FAT GOOSE EGG. Trump can spew all the rhetoric he'd like, but it's not going to change a thing.
The voting in that precinct was 33 for Trump, this was not a poll, it was how the precinct voted.
No, but its sleazy, and you know it is.
Cruz is a Lawyer - Nough said
Busted! Big Time!
Cruz plays dirty.
Did you read the article??
Team Ted lied on a caucus night. That is what Ted apologized for - he actually said “that was our mistake” and his team should have contacted Carson.
Don’t equivocate and obfuscate away the lie Team Ted made up and used.
If you want to call bringing attention to an obviously dirty campaign trick, as whining or being a sore loser — have at it.
The Holier than thou Cruz campaign has a truth and accountability problem.
Might want to check the commandment about bearing false witness.
I pray that the Truth will set you free.
God Bless!
Trump has pulled some pretty dirty crap. The mud slinging began with Trump. Now the whole damn primary run is flat down in the mud and will likely stay there.
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