By: Renee Nal | New Zeal

thou doth protest too much CNN

CNN Correspondent Tom Foreman, who has bizarrely written 1,460 letters to President Obama, said that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz “flat out lied” during the GOP debate on Saturday night.

The online article strongly condemns:

“Sen. Ted Cruz knowingly misstated CNN’s reporting during Saturday’s Republican primary debate, despite the fact that CNN’s reporting was correct all along.”

In addition, TheHill reported that CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin “said Ted Cruz’s blaming of a CNN report for the rumor that primary rival Ben Carson was dropping out of the race was ‘BS.'”

Watch:

On Sunday, Chris Moody, who started this mess, vastly downplayed (some would say “flat out lied”) his role in the “rumor” that Dr. Ben Carson was suspending his campaign.

Thou doth protest too much, CNN.

  • This is CNN’s article making the case that they are innocent of misleading people about the status of Ben Carson’s campaign.
  • This is the article posted at TrevorLoudon.com that clearly illustrates that the reporting was at best, fuzzy and importantly, that many others had the same impression that Carson was suspending his campaign.

Anyone with a hint of intellectual honesty can, at the very least, concede:

  • CNN’s reporting gave a distinct impression that Ben Carson’s campaign was in trouble.
  • Others, including CNN’s own Michael Smerconish, Buzzfeed and Business Insider also had the impression that Carson was suspending his campaign.
  • Based on various sources, people affiliated with the campaigns of Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Donald Trump also sought to use the information to their advantage. None of those candidates apologized.

CNN’s reporting, at the very least, gave a distinct impression that Ben Carson’s campaign was in trouble

The following “BREAKING” tweet delivered on caucus night does not say: “Ben Carson is briefly going to Florida before going back on the campaign trail.”

Why is a simple stop home “BREAKING” news?

See more on CNN’s fuzzy reporting here.

See entire transcript of initial news report below.

Others, including (but not limited to) CNN’s own Michael Smerconish, Buzzfeed and Business Insider also had the clear impression that Carson was suspending his campaign.

  • During the Iowa caucus, Michael Smerconish of CNN tweeted:

  • In an article posted at Buzzfeed on Caucus night titled “Ben Carson Isn’t Quitting His Campaign — He’s Just Going To Florida To Do Laundry,” Carson Adviser Armstrong Williams claimed “that the rumors of Carson’s campaign demise are being fueled by Cruz and Paul supporters.” The article notes that there have been “conflicting reports over past hours about why Carson — whose stock has plummeted in recent months as a candidate, and whose campaign has burned through millions of dollars as top officials have quit — was leaving Iowa.”
  • Business Insider also picked up on the weirdness. The permalink reflects that the article originally stated that Carson’s campaign was suspended.
Ben Carson suspension 'rumor' started in the media

Ben Carson suspension ‘rumor’ started in the media

Based on various sources, people affiliated with the campaigns of Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Donald Trump also sought to use the information to their advantage.

None of those candidates apologized.

Conrad Close Tweet 1

“And NEWSFLASH, the Cruz campaigners weren’t the only ones using this information. Trump supporters were using it as well as Rubio supporters. The difference? Apparently the Cruz campaign is better organized and was able to also disseminate the information via app and email notification directly to volunteers on the ground.”

Media Bias Much?

In contrast, CNN correspondent Chris Cuomo, son of former New York governor Mario Cuomo and brother of incumbent New York governor Andrew Cuomo, actually kissed Hillary Clinton before a Democratic Town Hall in January.

In an article titled ‘CNN Stages Town Hall to Boost Clinton Candidacy,’ Roger Aronoff of Accuracy in Media referred to the “town hall” this way:

“So CNN arranged easy questions for Hillary Clinton? What type, exactly, of town hall was this? This was, in reality, a stage-managed and produced love-in for Mrs. Clinton.”

Hillary Clinton kissed by CNN coorespondant Chris Cuomo before January Town Hall

Could anyone imagine Ted Cruz getting the same treatment by CNN?

The Carson campaign suspension “rumor” came at the worst possible time – right before the Iowa caucus – when campaigns were at the peak of frenzied activity.

This author suspects that a news correspondent referring to a presidential candidate as a liar may be unprecedented.

An additional question nobody seems to be asking:

  1. Where were Carson’s people to immediately put a stop to this rumor during the caucus?

Here is the transcript of the original news report:

Tapper: Thanks, Wolf. Well, CNN has learned some news about the man who, at least according to polls, is in fourth place here in Iowa. Now, Dana, a week from tomorrow, we’re all going to be doing this again for the New Hampshire primary. So almost every single candidate is going to be going directly from here to New Hampshire to campaign–except for the man in fourth place, who a few months ago was in first place here, Dr. Ben Carson. What have we learned?

Bash: That’s right. We should say that our Chris Moody is breaking this news, that 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. And people who have been following Ben Carson’s career know that that’s really where he got himself on the political map, attending that prayer breakfast, and really giving it to President Obama at the time. And he became kind of a hero among conservatives, among evangelicals especially.

Tapper: But it’s very unusual–

Bash: Very unusual.

Tapper: –to be announcing that you’re going to go home to rest for a few days, not going on to the next site. Plus, he’s already announced that he’s going to be coming out and speaking at 9:15 local and 10:15 Eastern, no matter whether or not we know the results, because he wants to get home and get ahead of the storm.

Bash: Look, if you want to be President of the United States, you don’t go home to Florida. I mean, that’s bottom line. That’s the end of the story. If you want to signal to your supporters that you want it, that you’re hungry for it, that you want them to get out and and campaign, you’ve got to be out there doing it too. And he’s not doing it. it’s very unusual.

Tapper: Very unusual news that CNN has just learned. CNN’s Chris Moody breaking the story. Wolf, back to you in Washington.

Blitzer: Very significant news indeed, guys, thanks very much.