There ARE other charitable deductions people will take - Red Cross, Salvation Army, donations to the arts or sciences (medical research, etc.) I’m sure they got the 1% from his tax returns - but there is no way to say that is the total of his giving, nor that it includes his church giving. This is just an attempted smear by Huckabee because he was angry about evangelicals supporting Cruz, and now it has been picked up by the Trump supporters.
Just saying— if he used Standard Deductions, he wouldn’t show ANY itemized deductions. I do church books and I do taxes, and your scenario doesn’t fit. Folks itemize as many deductions as they legally can, or they don’t itemize any at all. 1% is an honest percent. If that’s what Cruz gave, that’s what he gave. Does his presidency stand or fall on that?