Claims that Ben Carson was dropping out of the Iowa caucus seem to have hurt Carson’s numbers this past Monday. What is not so surprising is that the false claims came from the camp of Ted Cruz. While NBC News reported that Carson only received nine-percent, Cruz went on to win with a strong 28-percent.
Since then, Cruz has publicly apologized for the false claims by calling them a “mistake.” Appearing on “Hannity” last night, Feb.2, Cruz explained it this way:
“I really very much admire him. Last night when CNN posted a news report that Ben was not continuing on to New Hampshire, not continuing on to South Carolina, but instead was going to Florida, our political team forwarded it to the members of our team. But unfortunately they did not then forward the subsequent story. That was Ben’s campaign clarifying that, that, that, he was continuing the campaign and was not cancelling the campaign, and so I apologized to Ben for that. They should have forwarded that subsequent story, that was a mistake on our part, and as I said, my respect and admiration for Ben could not be higher.”
While the video is rather long, the statement comes between 12:05 – 12:56, and what a BS statement it is. While most are happy that Donald Trump did not win outright in Iowa, the likes of Cruz, Carson, and Marco Rubio are the other apparent options. That is not a very comforting scenario either.
As for the apology, Carson responded by saying on Fox Business:
“Well you know, as Christians, of course we accept people’s apologies. But we also have to ask ourselves, “Is this acceptable to us the American people, or should there be some accountability?”
Asked if he wanted to get to the bottom of the “mistake,” Carson said:
“Absolutely, and there should be some consequences for things. You don’t just say, “Oh, okay sorry, let’s move on.”
While his face didn’t show it – obviously – he did seem a little upset. Now even Donald Trump is getting in on the act. Claiming fraud from the Cruz camp, Trump very recently sent this tweet:
Look, whether it’s Trump, Cruz, Rubio, or Carson, all of these guys are greedy lying, misdirected, extremists that would love to see what’s left of the middle-class stay down. Rigging an election – sounds like a very familiar Republican tactic.
