The article wasn’t written out of whole cloth, the man said these things.
He was pushed into a hypothetical verdict for a specific person - Jenner which was transmogrified across the whole spectrum.
Regardless, it is his fault for not having a wonk beside him that can see tricks like this. My guess would be is that here is another example of a MSM bent to help Cruz deny him the first round win because they really fear he can beat Hillary - something of which I am comfortably sure Cruz can do despite these push polls saying otherwise.