Ted Cruz's Camp Did Not Start Rumor Ben Carson Dropping Out- CNN Reported it First.

[ABX]

Today many stories have focused on Ben Carson being upset with Ted Cruz's camp for supposedly starting the rumor he was dropping out, thus possibly costing Carson turn out. Following the story back however, reveals the actual source of the rumor came from CNN's own senior political reporter Chris Moody.

The Lead CNN Verified account
‏@TheLeadCNN

BREAKING: @moody has learned @realbencarson will return to FL following #IAcaucus, will not go to either NH or SC

Chris Moody Verified account
‏@moody

Carson won't go to NH/SC, but instead will head home to Florida for some R&R. He'll be in DC Thursday for the National Prayer Breakfast.

This report preceded any mention by official Cruz supporter Steve King (who was accused of starting it) by a half hour. In other words, Steve King was simply repeating what CNN was reporting.  At that, Steve King's tweet was simply a retweet of Chris Moody's report.

Steve King ‏@SteveKingIA 15h15 hours ago

Steve King Retweeted Chris Moody

Carson looks like he is out. Iowans need to know before they vote. Most will go to Cruz, I hope. 

Steve King added,
Chris Moody @moody
Carson won't go to NH/SC, but instead will head home to Florida for some R&R. He'll be in DC Thursday for the National Prayer Breakfast.

[musiclady]

Figures......   

[HAPPY2BME]

 MANCHESTER, N.H. — Dr. Ben Carson and his campaign accused Sen. Ted Cruz's team of foul play on Monday night, alleging that his supporters had convinced caucus-goers he was out of the race.

"I was reasonably happy today, until I, you know, discovered the dirty tricks going on — spreading rumors I had dropped out," Carson said on Monday night. The campaign told MSNBC they'd had "confirmed reports" of Cruz supporters telling voters at caucus sites that Carson had dropped out of the race. MSNBC has not yet confirmed the authenticity of these reports.

 "That's the reason I got into this race, looking at the level of deceit and distrust going on in country," Carson told supporters.

The campaign is pointing to a tweet from Rep. Steve King, who endorsed Cruz, as evidence. The tweet was sent at 8:20pm EST, when Iowans were already at caucus sites.

Steve King
✔
@SteveKingIA

Carson looks like he is out. Iowans need to know before they vote. Most will go to Cruz, I hope.

https://twitter.com/moody/status/694320149432651776 …
8:20 PM - 1 Feb 2016

Carson's campaign rushed to downplay the importance of a trip home.

"Dr. Ben Carson is not suspending his presidential campaign, which is stronger than ever," a statement sent out to reporters read. "After spending 18 consecutive days on the campaign trail, Dr. Carson needs to go home and get a fresh set of clothes."

The campaign told NBC News Carson plans to speak at Wednesday's National Prayer Breakfast - the event that put him on the political map just three years ago - before heading to New Hampshire for Thursday's debate. His team could not say how many events, if any, the candidate will do while there.

The Granite State doesn't appear to be a high priority for Carson, a deeply religious social conservative who has focused on the early states with strong evangelical voting blocks, Iowa and South Carolina. He's spent just 13 days in New Hampshire so far, according to p2016.org. That is the same number of days Gov. Scott Walker spent in the state, when he ran for president for just three months this summer.

Despite the campaign's insistence that the campaign is strong, they did not have a particularly strong night; Sen. Ted Cruz is projected to win the caucus. Sen. Marco Rubio was surged into a strong third place, double digits ahead of Carson.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/carson-other-campaigns-sabotaged-us-dirty-tricks-n509396

[HAPPY2BME]

IIRC, this is the very same trick Hillary used on Bernie.

Who says Republicans can't shadow Democrats?

[ABX]

The screenshot from Cruz's news app that is being blamed was almost an hour after CNN's report. 

[ABX]

..and let's be real, Carson came into this polling at 10% and out of it winning 10%.  It was Carson’s responsibility to run an active, engaged campaign that leaves no doubt in his supporters minds about his commitment or intentions. Campaigns are tough and just like hiding from a debate because you don't think they'll be nice, one has to stay ahead of media reports like this.

[Jazzhead]

I was watching CNN and saw CNN's initial report about Carson.  I recall mentioning it to my wife.   Good to see it was just the usual sloppy reporting and not dirty tricks on Cruz's part.   

[ABX]

I was watching CNN and saw CNN's initial report about Carson.  I recall mentioning it to my wife.   Good to see it was just the usual sloppy reporting and not dirty tricks on Cruz's part.

It was also retweeted all over twitter and posted all over Facebook at least 30 minutes before Cruz's camp made that tweet. CNN created the false news story and Cruz is being blamed for repeating the story thousands of others also did.

[EC]

Cross link: http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,193715.0/topicseen.html

Wasn't the Cruz campaign. They were commenting on a CNN tweet.

[ABX]

Nope, it was CNN.
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,193715.0.html

Specifically Chris Moody at CNN who first reported it. By the time Cruz's camp retweeted it, it was all over twitter.

[ArneFufkin]

Dr. Carson doesn't seem to have the fire in his belly necessary to compete at this level.

You've got to really WANT it to go through this gauntlet successfully.

[ABX]

CNN was passing this along like mad hours before Cruz's team retweeted it.



They were trying to create the story.

[ABX]

Ben Carson initially blamed the media too. That makes his attacks on Cruz more unusual

Ben Carson campaign releases strange statement denying he's pulling the plug, saying he's going home to 'get a fresh set of clothes'

Monday night released a statement denying that the retired neurosurgeon was suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Carson's communication director, Larry Ross, said in the statement that Carson was leaving Iowa, where the nation's first caucuses were held on Monday night, early to go home and "get a fresh set of clothes."

The statement came after questions over whether Carson's early departure might signal the end of his campaign.

Ross said in the statement:

Contrary to false media reports, Dr. Ben Carson is not suspending his presidential campaign, which is stronger than ever. After spending 18 consecutive days on the campaign trail, Dr. Carson needs to go home and get a fresh set of clothes. He will be departing Des Moines later tonight to avoid the snow storm and will be back on the trail Wednesday. We look forward to tonight's caucus results and to meaningful debates in New Hampshire and South Carolina.



http://www.businessinsider.com/ben-carson-campaign-suspension-iowa-2016-2

[ABX]

Cruz Spox: 'False' For Carson To Say We Sabotaged His Campaign (VIDEO)



A spokesman for Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-TX) presidential campaign on Tuesday dismissed Dr. Ben Carson's charge that Cruz supporters played "dirty tricks" to win the Iowa caucuses.

"On the Ben Carson allegation, it's just false. We simply, as a campaign, repeated what Ben Carson had said," Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rick-tyler-ben-carson-dirty-tricks

[ArneFufkin]

Ben Carson initially blamed the media too. That makes his attacks on Cruz more unusual

This was definitely journalistic malfeasance by CNN - but when was the last time they comported themselves like professional journalists?

If the initial report was that Carson was going to Florida for R&R in lieu of campaigning in NH and SC - then Steve King and other Cruz operatives/supporters were right to think his campaign was being suspended and to pass that along to potential voters.   

Carson needed a rapid response team to set the record straight immediately following the initial Moody report.   In this Social Media era of immediate news you cannot let an inaccurate Tweet like CNN's go unchallenged for even a minute.

[NavyCanDo]

Carson, I luv ya man, but it was not Cruz or any other candidates fault that after the first two debates your poll numbers dropped like a rock. If you need to point a finger at someone, point it at yourself for your gentle approach to questions regarding the Paris ISIS attacks. A lot of us, myself included did some rethinking of who we thought best able to handle the ISIS problem, and it was not you. And it was not Cruz broke the story that you were dropping out, prematurely.

[flowers]

Carson, I luv ya man, but it was not Cruz or any other candidates fault that after the first two debates your poll numbers dropped like a rock. If you need to point a finger at someone, point it at yourself for your gentle approach to questions regarding the Paris ISIS attacks. A lot of us, myself included did some rethinking of who we thought best able to handle the ISIS problem, and it was not you. And it was not Cruz broke the story that you were dropping out, prematurely.

I agree.

[ABX]

Just to make the point this was becoming a common story at least an hour before Cruz tweeted it and first showed up by any of his campaign, here is a tweet from a liberal political activist, just as an example.

[Right_in_Virginia]

IIRC, this is the very same trick Hillary used on Bernie.

Who says Republicans can't shadow Democrats?

Hey.  Cruz apologized, so all's right in the conservative heavenly sphere.   

[Frank Cannon]

So Carson goes on a book tour in the middle of his campaign, sleepwalks through debates, loses badly in IA and then decides to take a vacation in FL with a week to go to NH.

Hard to believe that people didn't think he was in it to win it and picked a different horse.

[Bigun]

[HAPPY2BME]

So Carson goes on a book tour in the middle of his campaign, sleepwalks through debates, loses badly in IA and then decides to take a vacation in FL with a week to go to NH.

Hard to believe that people didn't think he was in it to win it and picked a different horse.

==================================

What is really hard to believe is why ANYONE would want go through the shit storm of exposing every single fart they ever expelled, and their grandfather's grandfather ever let forth just to 'win' the 'honor' of leading this disaster.

Not to mention selling their soul in repayment on DAY TWO of their presidency, regardless of HOW they got it or what their convictions were as an individual.

sold out, bought out, worn out, burned out country

[Jazzhead]

sold out, bought out, worn out, burned out country

Baloney.   We're still the greatest country in the world.   That's why I'm not supporting Trump. 

[aligncare]

I was watching CNN and saw CNN's initial report about Carson.  I recall mentioning it to my wife.   Good to see it was just the usual sloppy reporting and not dirty tricks on Cruz's part.

Cruz's campaign sent the initial CNN report out to it's caucus directors on site who then informed caucus voters of the (erroneous) report, but, somehow "failed" to send the subsequent CNN clarification.

To me that sounds like a crime--eh, dirty political trick--of opportunity.

[aligncare]

By the way, Ted Cruz apologized on FOXNews for his campaign's failure to send out the subsequent message, which had come in moments later, to it's on site operatives.

They could have straightened out the error immediately.