Saturday night during the ABC New Hampshire debate, Dr. Ben Carson continued to rail against Senator Ted Cruz, for using "dirty tricks" during the Iowa caucus for trying to steal his supporters by saying Caron left the campaign.
Carson questioned the Texas Senator's "Washington ethics." Ouch!
I mean, who would do something like that? Now, I don’t think anyone on this stage would do something like that. And to assume that someone would, what does that tell you? So, unfortunately, it did happen.
It gives us a very good example of certain types of Washington ethics. Washington ethics. Washington ethics basically says, if it’s legal, you do what you need to do in order to win. That’s not my ethics. My ethics is, you do what’s right.
Ted Cruz then responded to Carson by once again blaming CNN for the ruckus his campaign caused even though days ago, he admitted that CNN was right.
I reached him the next day and apologized. He asked me then, he said, Ted, would you make this apologize 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. So from 6:30 p.m. to 9:15, that's what CNN was reporting.
I tweeted this out last night as soon as I heard Ted Cruz lie during the ABC debate.
Anyone who thinks @tedcruz has morals as a Christian are misguided. He lied again about CNN and he knows it. https://t.co/UGl1Mujy3l
— JohnAmato (@JohnAmato) February 7, 2016
CNN then issued a statement, disavowing Cruz' claims about CNN's reporting:
"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 too with CNN's reporting. The fact that Senator Cruz continues to knowingly mislead the voters about this is astonishing."
Usually when a Conservative politician attacks the media, it's a win for them, but not this time for Cruz because it comes at the expense of Ben Carson, who is also a Christian Conservative, and who is backing up CNN's reporting.
Good for CNN to not take this frivolously attack by Cruz lying down. And this also exposes Ted, as a man who is not of high moral values and Christian principles - those pesky things he constantly espouses during his campaigning.
CNN's Brian Stelter, did a nice job of recapping this onReliable Sources earlier today.
STELTER: Very unusual, they said. And it certainly was. But they didn't say he was dropping out of the race.
Now, the story gets a little murky at this point. Cruz campaign aides spread word to their supporters in Iowa that Carson might be or actually was dropping out, maybe planning a big announcement -- even though CNN never said that.
Carson accused Cruz of dirty campaigning. Cruz then apologized to him but blamed CNN, which caused CNN anchors like Brooke Baldwin to call B.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: When Senator Cruz, with all due respect, tries to throw my network and CNN under the bus, let me stand up for my colleagues and my journalists here in terms of the CNN report that he keeps quoting. I'm going to call out B.S. if I hear B.S., and that is B.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I can tell you --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: Now, under pressure, Cruz admitted that, quote, "CNN got it correct." But last night at the debate, he reverted to his previous position. He said this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My political team saw CNN's report breaking news, and they forwarded that news to our volunteers. It was being covered on live television.
I regret that subsequently CNN reported on that -- they didn't correct that story until 9:15 that night. So, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:15, that's what CNN was reporting. Subsequent to that initial report, Ben's campaign put out a statement saying that he was not suspending his campaign.
I wish that our campaign staff had forwarded that statement. They were unaware of it. I wish that they had. That's why I apologized.
DEBATE MODERATOR: Senator Cruz, thank you.
DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In fact, the timeline indicates that that initial tweet from CNN was followed by another within one minute that clarified that I was not dropping out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STELTER: CNN tweets now the subject of a presidential debate.
Now, that comment from Cruz spurred this response from CNN, quote, "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 too with CNN's reporting. The fact that Senator Cruz continues to knowingly mislead the voters about this is astonishing."
Joining me in New Hampshire this morning is Chris Moody, along with Dylan Byers, CNN senior reporter for media and politics. In Washington, GOP strategist Doug Heye, a former RNC communications director. And in Charlottesville, Virginia, Larry Sabato, director of the UVA Center for Politics.
Larry, let me ask you. You're an independent voice, not a CNN person. What do you think happened here? Do you think Cruz is to blame, or is CNN to blame?
[11:05:01] LARRY SABATO, UVA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Oh, there's no question about it. This isn't a close call. Cruz is to blame -- Cruz and his staff.
