At tonight’s GOP debate, Ted Cruz took a page from his playbook, and blamed the media.
ABC co-moderator David Muir asked Ben Carson how Sen. Cruz should make amends after members of his campaign told Iowa caucus-goers that Carson was planning to suspend his campaign. Caron said he was “very disappointed that members of his team thought so little of me.”
Cruz apologized to Carson, and then, again, blamed CNN:
CNN reported that Ben was not going from Iowa to New Hampshire or South Carolina, rather, he was, quote, ‘taking a break from campaigning.’ They reported that on television television. CNN’s political anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and Wolf Blitzer said it was highly unusual and highly significant. My political team saw cnn’s report breaking news and they forwarded that news to our volunteers, it was being covered on live television. Now, at the time, I was at the caucuses, I was getting ready to speak at the caucuses just like Ben was, just like everyone else was. I knew nothing about this. A couple hours later, I was told that Ben was unhappy. I called him that evening because I respect him very, very highly. I didn’t reach him that evening. I reached him the next day and apologized. He asked me then, he said, ‘Ted, would you make this apology in public.’ I said, ‘yes, I will.’ And I did so. I regret that. Subsequently, CNN reported on that, they didn’t correct that story until 9:15 that night.
After that explanation, CNN fired back:
What Senator Cruz said tonight in the debate is categorically false. CNN never corrected its reporting because CNN never had anything to correct. The Cruz campaign’s actions the night of the Iowa caucuses had nothing to do with CNN’s reporting. The fact that Senator Cruz continues to knowingly mislead the voters about this is astonishing.