Donald Trump Responds To Ted Cruz Sex Scandal Story In ‘National Enquirer’
Donald Trump has had the internet waiting on pins and needles all day to see how he might respond to the breaking Ted Cruz sex scandal that inspired a nationally trending hashtag on Twitter — #TedCruzSexScandal.
The GOP frontrunner has finally spoken, and it is a surprisingly shrewd yet high road-ish response. Before cracking this thing open and analyzing why it might help “The Donald” in the fight for the GOP nomination, here are his exact words via the candidate’s Facebook page.
“I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week’s issue of the National Enquirer is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it.
“Likewise, I have nothing to do with the National Enquirer and unlike Lyin’ Ted Cruz I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence. Ted Cruz’s problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz.”
“I look forward to spending the week in Wisconsin, winning the Republican nomination and ultimately the Presidency in order to Make America Great Again,” Trump said.
The first paragraph is where Trump really sets himself apart from Cruz and leverages for the upper hand over the Heidi Cruz mudslinging that has gone on the last couple of days.
As political news followers (and presumably reality television fans) will remember, Donald Trump threatened to “spill the beans” on Heidi Cruz, Ted’s wife. He followed that up the next day by retweeting a meme that featured an unflattering picture of Heidi next to a pic of his own sultry wife Melania’s modeling picture.
These “attacks” were in response to a Super PAC ad supporting Ted Cruz that called out Melania for some racy photos she had taken for GQ magazine.
Journalist who exposed John Edwards love child story now revealing Ted Cruz scandal? #CruzSexScandal pic.twitter.com/Wv2e1NQlH0
— Carlos Gustavsson (@HonestInquiries) March 25, 2016
When Donald Trump shot back, Cruz cautioned him that the ad was run by a Super PAC and that Cruz had nothing to do with it.
Trump contends that that changes nothing.
Cruz may not officially “endorse” ads that support him by name, such as the Melania attack ad, but he certainly knows who is out there spending money on his behalf. A better approach for Cruz to maintain the image of decency would have been to come out against the ad right away and make a stern statement that he had nothing to do with it and that he rejects Super PAC money that brings families into it.
With the Donald Trump Facebook response, the GOP front-runner sets that argument up in the first paragraph and twists the knife on it in the first sentence of paragraph two.
@PatrickSvitek @Trusting34 @tedcruz That is about as real as The National Enquirer pic.twitter.com/wreT0aQS3p
— BK (@BrendaKaye_USA) March 24, 2016
He then implicates Cruz’ alleged guilt without ever incriminating himself by making a false accusation. Bringing up the times the Enquirer “got it right” was a veiled admission on the part of Donald Trump that he thinks Cruz’ marital faithfulness is one more thing “Lyin’ Ted” is lying about.
But through it all, Trump keeps his hands clean.
For a man who knows nothing about politics, he certainly crafted a politically savvy message. As more starts to come out about the alleged #TedCruzSexScandal, watch for the Donald to have a bit more of a say at his campaign rallies.
That’s where things can really get interesting.
So there you have it, readers. Do you think the Donald Trump response was a good one? Sound off in the comments section.
[Image via Gage Skidmore|Flickr|Cropped and resized|CC BY-SA 2.0]
