Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ripped far-left journalists and news publications on Sunday for continuing to push a misleading narrative that falsely claims that Ukraine did not attempt to meddle in the 2016 U.S. elections.
Cruz appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with far-left host Chuck Todd, who asked Cruz, “Do you believe Ukraine meddled in the American election in 2016?”
“I do,” Cruz responded. “And I think there’s considerable evidence of that.”
Todd, stunned by Cruz’s remarks, immediately shifted to bringing up dirt and prior conflict between Cruz and President Trump in what was an apparent attempt to get Cruz not to defend Trump’s comments about Ukraine.
“Look, this is – Senator, this sort of strikes me as odd. Because you went through a primary campaign with this president. He launched a birtherism campaign against you,” Todd said. “He went after your faith. He threatened to ‘spill the beans’ about your wife about something. He pushed a National Enquirer story, which we now know he had a real relationship with the editors of the National Enquirer –”
“And Chuck, I appreciate you dragging up all that garbage,” Cruz responded. “That’s very kind of you. Go ahead.”
Todd responded, “No, but Senator, is it – let me ask you this. Is it not possible that this president is capable of creating a false narrative about somebody in order to help him politically?”
“Except that’s not what happened,” Cruz responded. “The president released the transcript of the phone call. You can read what was said on the phone call. And let me point out –”
“Look, on the evidence, Russia clearly interfered in our election,” Cruz continued. “But here’s the game the media is playing: Because Russia interfered, the media pretends nobody else did. Ukraine blatantly interfered in our election. The sitting ambassador from Ukraine wrote an op-ed blasting Donald Trump during the election season.”
Cruz persisted in getting his point across despite numerous interruptions from Todd, saying, “Chuck, Chuck, I understand that you want to dismiss Ukrainian interference, because, A) they were trying to get Hillary Clinton elected, which is what the vast majority of the media wanted, anyway, and B) it’s inconvenient for the narrative. You know, it’s hysterical. Two years ago, there was article after article after article in the mainstream media about Ukrainian interference in the elections. But now, the Democrats have no evidence of a crime, no evidence of violating the law. And so suddenly, Ukrainian interference is treated as, the media clutches their pearls. ‘Oh, my goodness. You can’t say that.’ Last week, Chuck, you called Senator John Kennedy, basically, a stooge for Putin.”
“I have been in multiple briefings. I have been in multiple briefings, year after year after year, about foreign interference in our election,” Cruz continued. “Russia has tried to interfere in our elections. China’s tried to interfere in our elections. North Korea’s tried to interfere in our elections. Ukraine has tried to interfere in our elections. This is not new. 2016’s not the first year they did it. And they’re going to keep trying. And so we need to be strong in dealing with it.”
“But the media needs to actually report facts. This is a kangaroo court in the House,” Cruz concluded. “They’re going to impeach, not because they have the evidence, but because they hate the president, want to do the election. But it’s going to go to the Senate. It’s going to go nowhere. I think the American people know this is a waste of time. And this is Democrats putting on a circus.”
WATCH:
In case you missed my full interview on @MeetThePress with @chucktodd where I discussed the Democrats’ attempt to impeach @realDonaldTrump, regardless of facts or evidence, watch it here ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/8a7Jv9Mqvd
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) December 8, 2019
Many of the claims that Cruz made are substantiated by a 2017 report from Politico that is titled: “Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire: Kiev officials are scrambling to make amends with the president-elect after quietly working to boost Clinton.”
The report details Ukraine’s attempts to meddle in the election in a manner to harm Trump and boost Clinton, and no media organizations have disputed the accuracy of Politico’s report.
Daily Caller Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Ingersoll noted in a tweet at the start of the month the basic strategy of how the Democrats and media are deceiving the American public about the Ukraine-meddling story.
Ingersoll’s tweet was directed at former Obama official and current CNN reporter Jim Sciutto, who wrote a thread on Twitter trying to debunk the claims that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
“Zero mention of Chalupa, Nellie Ohr, Fusion GPS, or the trials in Ukraine … of course,” Ingersoll wrote. “Similar strategy all over the wider media/democratic party: focus on bogus server theory, omit the rest. Certainly not close to similar in scope, but at least address it.”
Zero mention of Chalupa, Nellie Ohr, Fusion GPS, or the trials in Ukraine … of course.
Similar strategy all over the wider media/democratic party: focus on bogus server theory, omit the rest.
Certainly not close to similar in scope, but at least address it. https://t.co/yVWfp4yL9o
— Geoffrey Ingersoll (@GPIngersoll) December 2, 2019
Cruz went on the slam other far-left journalists and media publications who tried to inaccurately portray his comments from the interview.
CNBC reporter John Harwood wrote: “Ted Cruz disseminating propaganda fabricated by the Kremlin to weaken the Unites States.”
Cruz responded, “Rabid partisan @johnjharwood was so biased for Dems in 2016 that he got NBC fired from moderating GOP debates. @kenvogel – a current NY Times & former Politico reporter – reported on Ukrainian “efforts to sabotage Trump.” Harwood claims saying that makes you a Russian asset. #Pravda”
Rabid partisan @johnjharwood was so biased for Dems in 2016 that he got NBC fired from moderating GOP debates. @kenvogel —a current NY Times & former Politico reporter—reported on Ukrainian “efforts to sabotage Trump.” Harwood claims saying that makes you a Russian asset. #Pravda https://t.co/O2ushyx6CC
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 9, 2019
Cruz added, “John, this is a flat-out lie & you know it. You’re not supposed to be a partisan hack; you claim to be a “journalist.” Report on these FACTS: [link to thread in response to Axios].”
John, this is a flat-out lie & you know it. You’re not supposed to be a partisan hack; you claim to be a “journalist.” Report on these FACTS: https://t.co/7Vp4eOLzdD https://t.co/mIn1gdrsO3
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019
Cruz also called out Axios, a news publication that smeared Nikki Haley on Friday, which wrote on Twitter: “NEW: Sen. Ted Cruz said on ‘Meet the Press’ that Ukraine ‘blatantly interfered’ in the 2016 election, repeating a conspiracy theory that experts warn has been promoted by Russian intelligence services.”
Cruz responded: “@axios your bias is showing. Stop behaving like Schiff’s press secretary. Stop ignoring facts to push Dem narrative. This is why nobody trusts the media. Here are several FACTS that media chooses to ignore: (1) Hunter Biden was paid $83k a month from Ukraine’s biggest gas co.”
“FACT 2: VP Biden bragged publicly about withholding $1 billion in aid until Ukraine fired the prosecutor investigating Burisma, the company paying his son $1mm/yr. Since MSM calls this a “conspiracy theory” & ignores facts, WATCH the actual video:”
2/x FACT 2: VP Biden bragged publicly about withholding $1 billion in aid until Ukraine fired the prosecutor investigating Burisma, the company paying his son $1mm/yr. Since MSM calls this a “conspiracy theory” & ignores facts, WATCH the actual video: https://t.co/3AKurt9Kvb
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019
“FACT 3: Here’s what Politico reported on 1/11/17: ‘Ukrainian govt officials TRIED TO HELP Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump by publicly questioning his fitness for office. They also disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption…. and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they HELPED Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.’ Axios, was Politico pushing a ‘conspiracy theory?'”
4/x “…and suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election. And they HELPED Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers, a Politico investigation found.” Axios, was Politico pushing a “conspiracy theory?”
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019
“FACT 4: On 8/28/16, the Financial Times reported: ‘Kiev’s wider political leadership [did] something they would never have attempted before: INTERVENE, however indirectly, in a U.S. election.’ Axios, was the Financial Times pushing a ‘conspiracy theory’? @axios & @chucktodd are deliberately LYING. They know there’s significant evidence of Ukrainian corruption, but they refuse to report it. When anyone points to actual facts, they scream ‘Russian conspiracy.’ This isn’t journalism; it’s partisan propaganda. Chuck knows better.”
6/x @axios & @chucktodd are deliberately LYING. They know there’s significant evidence of Ukrainian corruption, but they refuse to report it. When anyone points to actual facts, they scream “Russian conspiracy.” This isn’t journalism; it’s partisan propaganda. Chuck knows better.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019
Jennifer Rubin, a far-left blogger for The Washington Post who claims that she is conservative, wrote an op-ed immediately after Cruz’s appearance on “Meet The Press,” titled: “It has come to this: Ted Cruz is Putin’s stooge”
Cruz responded to a tweet by Nathan Brand from the NRSC that showed numerous headlines from The Washington Post that claimed Republicans were Russia assets, tweeting, “Definition: ‘Freud considered that, in projection, thoughts, motivations, desires, and feelings that cannot be accepted as one’s own are dealt with by being placed in the outside world and attributed to someone else.’ Hmm, does that mean @JeffBezos is a ‘Russian asset’?”
Definition: “Freud considered that, in projection, thoughts, motivations, desires, and feelings that cannot be accepted as one's own are dealt with by being placed in the outside world and attributed to someone else.” Hmm, does that mean @JeffBezos is a “Russian asset”? 🤔 https://t.co/gN29Qzo98J
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019