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Cruz responds to Trump’s Iowa recount demands, blames media for Carson kerfuffle
SALON ^ | 02/03/2016 | SOPHIA TESFAYE

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 ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Politics/Elections; US: Iowa; US: New York; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2cubans; bencarson; carson; cruz; cruzrubiotrick; cubancartel; iowa; newyork; salon; sophiatesfaye; tedcruz; texas; trump
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To: SeekAndFind

Cruz’ campaign put out an e-mail shortly after - and a flyer - that specifically stated Dr. Carson was leaving the race , and that the precinct captains should sway Carson supporters to vote for Ted Cruz, so as not to waste their vote ... Again, watch the video linked at post 50 - all the evidence is there.


141 posted on 02/03/2016 3:19:13 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: CA Conservative

“Political speech is the most protected speech under the Constitution.”

True - but voter fraud is not.


142 posted on 02/03/2016 3:23:00 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: WTFOVR
These are primarily volunteers in the field....along with the media milking everyone accessible for the latest story they can pay a price to run with.....

You can go ahead and place any value you'd like on a campaign staff member....who have also been known to defect to another candidate......so no I do not hold a candidate responsible in a campaign run. An no I do not hold Cruz responsible for his staff as if this was a Cabinet position.....not even close.....it's a campaign run and that's all it is. It's not as though he's been sworn in or accountable to us in any way...it's HIS campaign to do with as he wants and I give hi lots of room for good work bad work and anything in between.....for the win!

You see I do trust Cruz on the issues he's stood for and I chose him based on those positions.....not on who are how he manages....of which he wouldn't be where he is today were he not doing a lot of things right.

143 posted on 02/03/2016 3:23:13 PM PST by caww
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To: WTFOVR
True - but voter fraud is not.

And what exactly in this scenario could possibly be construed as voter fraud? Telling someone something you reasonably believe to be true?

144 posted on 02/03/2016 3:28:18 PM PST by CA Conservative (Texan by birth, Californian by circumstance)
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To: WTFOVR
They would be trying to sway the Carson votes anyway with or without a flyer of any kind......

I've worked those positions and all sorts of shenanigans happen ..you' be surprised. I actually had a news journalist take a photo of me persuading a voter and celebrating that he changed, but the shot was taken clear over from a parking lot ....I never saw him take the photo....til it hit the front page the next day.

It was used at a time you had to be so many feet away from the voting stations....a good thing I was "legal".

145 posted on 02/03/2016 3:28:55 PM PST by caww
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To: lifeline

I agree, more or less - this is Carson’s fight, and Trump should keep out of it ... OTOH, if Carson lost a sufficient number of support b/c of this action - and those votes went to Cruz, it is possible that either the percentages for Trump and Cruz would have been much tighter - or that Trump may actually have squeaked ahead of Cruz ... In that context, Trump does have an argument.

I’m not stating that Trump would have won if not for this dirty trick, but I am suggesting that Trump does have standing.


146 posted on 02/03/2016 3:29:21 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: WTFOVR
I'm not stating that Trump would have won if not for this dirty trick, but I am suggesting that Trump does have standing.

Standing for what? Unless you could prove that the Cruz campaign deliberately fed CNN a false story and then used that false story to deceive the voters, you have no case. The story originated with the Carson campaign. CNN broadcast the story. The Cruz campaign used the story to try to win over voters. Nothing unethical, illegal or immoral about it.

147 posted on 02/03/2016 3:32:12 PM PST by CA Conservative (Texan by birth, Californian by circumstance)
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To: SeekAndFind

I am sorry , but the “kurfllufil” belongs to Carson.

REally. Really, who the heck on the night of voting announces any freakin’ change in schedule. Let alone...”going home to Florida.”

Give me an eff*&%% break here. What Carson announced to CNN should have waited until after voting. REEEEEEALLY. Who the heck is his campaign manager....they are the ones who screwed up!


148 posted on 02/03/2016 3:33:09 PM PST by EBH (As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Come on! You gotta be kidding! They take a story about a candidate’s taking leave for some R&R - and sin that to “He’s Quitting the race! Don’t waste your vote! Vote for me instead!” ... And you think there was no malice involved? Man, if I ever get indicted for committing fraud, I want you sitting in the jury box!


149 posted on 02/03/2016 3:35:05 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: caww

It’s one thing to persuade another candidate’s supporter to vote for your candidate, based on positions, etc ... BUT it is quite a different matter to allege that the other candidate is quitting the race, when such “fact” is actually not confirmed, at best, and a willful fabrication at worst.


150 posted on 02/03/2016 3:41:06 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: CA Conservative

The narrative was neither reasonable nor true - because nothing in CNN’s report made any claim that Carson was “quitting” the race or “suspending” his campaign. There is no “there” there. Cruz’ staff made up their own narrative to accomplish their goal - the ends justifies the means. Cruz’ staff had 2 hours, from the initial CNN report (4 PM), to vet the story. They chose not to do so, and rather instructed their precinct captains to run a false narrative in every caucus location. This is really black and white. CNN did not report what Cruz’ staffers stated to Carson supporters.


151 posted on 02/03/2016 3:46:43 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: WTFOVR

Ted Cruz referred to the CNN reports at 0:50 of the video ( TRUE — CNN DID REPORT THAT)

This of course was not true but picked up by Ted Cruz supporters.

According to talking points memo...

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cruz-carson-dirty-tricks-iowa-caucuses-timeline

7:45 p.m.: CNN reports Carson is taking a break after Iowa

During CNN’s wall-to-wall coverage of the Iowa caucuses, Dana Bash shared breaking news from reporter Chris Moody that Carson would return home to Florida after the contest.

“Ben Carson is going to go back to Florida, to his home, regardless of how he does tonight here in Iowa. He’s going to go there for several days, and then afterwards, he’s not going to go to South Carolina, he’s not going to go to New Hampshire, he’s going to come to Washington D.C., and he’s going to do that because the National Prayer Breakfast is on Thursday,” she said.

After the #IAcaucus, @RealBenCarson plans to take a break from campaigning https://t.co/2sMsS7rlRk https://t.co/dVGpik7gNN

— CNN (@CNN) February 2, 2016

CNN’s Jake Tapper called the announcement from Carson “very unusual” and noted “almost every single candidate” would travel directly to New Hampshire after the caucuses.

“If you want to be President of the United States, you don’t go home to Florida,” Bash responded.

On Twitter, @TheLeadCNN told its 32,000 followers that Carson “will return to FL following #IAcaucus, will not go to either NH or SC.” The account for CNN’s politics section tweeted to 420,000 followers that the retired neurosurgeon “plans to take a break from campaigning.”

7:50 p.m.: Carson camp clarifies he just has to go home for “fresh clothes”

Shortly before 8 p.m., a Carson spokesman tweeted the candidate was “not standing down” and was simply returning to Florida to “get fresh clothes” and dodge a winter storm in Iowa. The spokesman told TPM Carson would be in D.C. Wednesday and Thursday for a “campaign event,” and then would continue on to New Hampshire.

The campaign also disputed rumors that Carson’s trip to Florida was a mid-campaign vacation, which many read as a sign he would drop out.

8 p.m.: Cruz camp notifies supporters that Carson is dropping out

Just as the Iowa caucuses were beginning, some users of the Cruz campaign’s official mobile app received a notification saying Carson was dropping out of the presidential race. The notification cited a report from CNN.

So, it all started from CNN and was picked up by Cruz who CITED CNN.

The Cruz message said : “CNN is reporting that Ben Carson will stop campaigning after Iowa”

Well, how do you take this original take from CNN:

“Ben Carson is going to go back to Florida, to his home, regardless of how he does tonight here in Iowa”?

Even the Video at 1:39 showing Ted Cruz’s official memo saying that Ben Cruz is taking time off from the campaign trail after Iowa is a repeat of the CNN news.

Is that an indicator that he will stop campaigning? We do not know.

The problem was this was repeated and repeated and it got out of hand.

Who for instance is this Dan Gabriel (VIDEO 1:57) and did Cruz tell him to tweet out that Carson was quitting? Is Cruz responsible for every single tweet by his supporters?

The video then proceeds to tell us that this Dan Gabriel is a former CIA operative ( 2:49) who has ties to George Soros.

Now THAT is interesting. I’d like to know more about this angle ...

Questions:

1) Is Cruz in close contact with Dan Gabriel?

2) Did Cruz agree to what Dan Gabriel did?

Let’s explore this angle further.

Since it is alleged that Dan Gabriel has ties to Soros, what is Soros’ interest in Ted Cruz’s campaign?

Let’s answer all the above questions first before we jump into conclusions.


152 posted on 02/03/2016 3:49:32 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: CA Conservative

Except what Cruz’ staff reported to Carson supporters was NOT what CNN reported.

The issue is not about what CNN reported, it is that Cruz’ people deliberately falsified, exaggerated, misled, deceived potential Carson supporters into changing their votes.


153 posted on 02/03/2016 3:51:43 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: WTFOVR

The video alleges that Dan Gabriel is Ted Cruz’s “adviser”.

I don’t see his name on this list of key staffers:

https://ballotpedia.org/Ted_Cruz_presidential_campaign_key_staff_and_advisors,_2016

Do youhave any more information on this mysterious fellow tied to George Soros?

How is he an “adviser” to Ted Cruz? Did Cruz hire him?


154 posted on 02/03/2016 3:52:10 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: WTFOVR

I posted the link to the YOUTUBE video on another thread:

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3392503/posts

I’d like to see what other FReepers say about this.


155 posted on 02/03/2016 4:03:19 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

have no idea what the deal is with this CIA guy, or George Soros - that stuff hits me as perhaps tinfoil hat territory - but I honestly do not know and have no way of “going there” ...

If you have the time and resources to investigate that angle, then by all means do so.

The fact still remains that what CNN reported and what Cruz’ campaign staffers and precinct captains did with the story are not identical. Whether it “got out of control” is a side issue. The central point is that CNN did not report that Carson was “quitting” the race or “suspending” his campaign. That is the bottom line.

CNN reported one thing, and Cruz’ people decided to create their own narrative, based on a false assumption, which they never verified - and the reason they never verified their assumption is because it was not to their advantage to verify their assumption. It cannot be stated any plainer than that.


156 posted on 02/03/2016 4:05:43 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: SeekAndFind

I stated nothing about this CIA angle. Reason being that I do not know if such is true - and, moreover, I consider that kind of speculation to rest in the tin foil hat domain.


157 posted on 02/03/2016 4:08:09 PM PST by WTFOVR (I find myself exclaiming that expression quite often these days!)
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To: Vic S

If this was an honest mistake, WHEN did they realize it and did they have a meeting and decide not to correct the lie?


158 posted on 02/03/2016 4:10:05 PM PST by VerySadAmerican (I doubt seriously that any vote is really counted.)
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To: WTFOVR

RE: I stated nothing about this CIA angle.

Let me put it this way — I support Cruz because of what he STOOD for as Senator and Attorney General and because of what he stands for AS STATED in his website and statements.

BUT, if it can be proven that he has WITH MALICIOUS INTENT instead of a excitable mistakes on the part of his supporters, become a party to:

1) The attempt to propagate information he knows to be a lie (instead of simply repeating a CNN report ).

2) This mysterious Dan Gabriel fellow who is allegedly an ex-CIA operative who propagated this lie and then deleted the tweet.

3) George Soros, who allegedly has ties to Dan Gabriel ( with Ted Cruz’s full knowledge ).

Them I will withdraw support from him but not until.


159 posted on 02/03/2016 4:16:56 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: WTFOVR

And where was Carson when all this was coming down?.....


160 posted on 02/03/2016 4:18:45 PM PST by caww
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