Posted on 02/03/2016 1:06:31 PM PST by SeekAndFind
The bromance has long ended and the bitter battle is only beginning to rage between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as the Republican presidential primary devolves into a slugfest now that the crowded field is winnowing down to let the dominate contenders duke it out leading into the New Hampshire primary.
But first, the results of Monday's Iowa caucus continue to be a point of contention days after Cruz was declared the winner.
On Tuesday, Cruz was forced to apologize to Ben Carson's campaign for misleadingly suggesting to caucusing supporters that the retired neurosurgeon planned to drop out of the race in an apparent effort to corral additional voters to the Cruz camp. Carson actually only intended to return to Florida to change clothes before eventually returning to the campaign trail.
After initially shocking observers when he appeared to accept defeat with a modicum of graciousness Monday night, Trump decided to lash out at Cruz Wednesday, tweeting that a "either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified"
Trump amplifying Carson's allegations of "dirty politics" played by the Cruz campaign surely wasn't what was expected when Cruz admitted fault while still defending his campaign's action as "fair game." After all, the Cruz campaign initially denied the allegations.
"For months, my campaign has survived the lies and dirty tricks from opponents who profess to to detest the games of the political class, but in reality are masters at it," Carson complained on Monday before citing various "political tricks" by the Cruz campaign.
During an interview with right wing radio host Mike Gallagher today, Cruz walked back much of his admission of guilt and shifted blame to the liberal media for turning Carson against him.
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
Not at all....it’s an election and there’s not many who hold accountable staffers who either infilitrate or play on the sidelines.......REMEMBER....it is only an issue when MEDIA chooses to go after someone and you yourself have said this plenty of times regarding Trump as well.
Both Trump and Cruz are targets..however ultimately they want Cruz out. They’d settle for Trump.
I just searched for DanPGabriel’s tweet and it’s gone. He has all kinds of other nice sounding tweets in its place. He has covered his tracks. I am sure someone got a screen shot of it. Maybe Michelle Malkin over at Twitchy.
Found a copy of it!
Ted’s operative tweeting
“Source inside just CONFIRMED to me @REALBENCARSON is OUT”
OUT,,not taking a break, not will be back, not gone for now..”OUT”
No, you might have a legitimate case against CNN though. Unless you could prove that the Cruz people or the Rubio people KNEW that what they were saying was false, then you have no case. And since what they were saying was based on what CNN was reporting, even if you think they jumped to a wrong conclusion, you could not prove they knew it was false.
Actually, even if they knew it was false you might not have a case. Consider that it is very difficult to sue anyone over the content of a political ad, even if the content is false. Political speech is the most protected speech under the Constitution.
A link will work, too. No cut and paste needed. I just want to build the timeline.
So, 7:07?
The Dan Gabriel guy who you are complaining about does not appear to have any connection with Cruz or anyone. Just an idiot on the internet.
https://twitter.com/danpgabriel
Sounds like they re-posted an accurate tweet. Any candidate who is going home for R&R after Iowa and is skipping NH and (especially) SC is not in it for the long haul and is not a serious candidate. Bye, Ben. It was nice knowing you.
Also on youtube link in #118.
So now you guys are trashing Ben Carson perhaps the nicest most gentle guys on the campaign? You really need to reexamine your life. Guess leadership is being reflected pretty well.
Pray America wakes
Yes he is.
Trump needs to be careful that his regrouping after Iowa is focused on moving forward.
The fact is that CNN reported Carson was going home for R&R.
CNN DID NOT report that Carson was dropping out.
The Cruz campaign staff took the CNN story and ASSUMED it meant that Carson was dropping out. They they then sent out notification of such to all their precinct captains 33 SECONDS before the caucus was to begin.
Got that? THIRTY THREE SECONDS BEFORE THE PROCESS WAS TO BEGIN - when there would be NO TIME FOR CARSON’S STAFF TO REACT.
I don’t know what the Rubio tweet was, if you have it, please post it ... However, unless Rubio’s camp instructed it’s precinct captains to tell the caucus attendees that Carson was quitting his campaign and to vote for Marco, then it’s not an issue. ...
BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE CRUZ CREW DID IN FACT DO: They made a false assumption based on a factual press release, knowing that THEIR INTERPRETATION and NARRATIVE was not what the CNN report stated. They used THAT NARRATIVE to compel Carson voters to drop their support for Carson and instead vote for Cruz.
Can you back up that statement with an official release from the Cruz camp? Because, if you are able to that, then Senator Cruz has torpedoed his hopes for the presidency.
Again, mistakes were made, but the original source of this was still CNN.
Steve King’s mistake was to take the CNN story and take it as an indication that Carson was quitting.
Unless there is evidence to show malice on Cruz’s part, I give him the benefit of the doubt. Youa re entitled of course not to.
“Since when do we vote according to something a staff member of a candidate does or doesn’t do?”
A candidate is responsible for the actions of his / her staff.
Let’s phrase your post a different way:
Since when do we judge according to something a cabinet member of a president does or doesn’t do?
You cannot absolve Senator Cruz for this action without admitting that he is incompetent in his ability to choose campaign staff, and thus would suffer the same deficiency in choosing his cabinet or other officials in his administration. The fact that he reuses (thus far) to dismiss those responsible speaks volumes ... And then there is also the part that Rep. Peter King played in this fiasco.
Go to the link provided on post 50 - it has the tweets and the timeline ...
As far as whether Cruz himself, or his staff, were aware King’s participation - I have no way to verify that - yet. But, since King is in Cruz’ inner circle, I would guess the odds are better than 50/50 in the affirmative.
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