My sentiments exactly, and for the very same reasons you stated.
Instead his comment was, it wasn't us it was the PAC. No remorse about it, no condemnation of it, until days later.
I still wish the news organizations would either come out with proof, or abandon the story. It only hurts either candidates chances in the general election. Because now everyone for their candidate is vowing to not vote for the other guy. We all end up losing when Hillary or Bernie gets elected.
As it stands now after this stuff is being aired out, the media have can't play games with when they run something they've been dabbling along on anyway.
NE got Ted's campaign focused wasting their time and obviously limited talents on nothing but attacking Trump just like the Indians were blamed for the Mountain Meadows Massacre until someone dug around and found out who was really behind it.
That's another reason I figure the GOPe is written all over this. Ted either sinks or swims and for the insider crowd either way he's damaged goods. If he swims, they'll back away from him because they will swear they can't be sure there isn't more out there. So, they make it look like they're cheering him on in Utah where he was going to win anyway, then they have a "good reason" for not backing him.
Look at it this way. In political terms they just acted out exactly what Linda Graham joked about they just didn't shoot Ted on the Senate floor. Now who's going to convict the GOPe for shooting Ted ? The gullible Ted fans who think the GOPe was coming round and "seeing the light" but nasty Trump did this, or the GOPe regulars who didn't want him in the race to begin with?
Regards