Tag Archives: Ted Cruz

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Trump has strong links to National Enquirer and David Pecker #TrumpLovesPecker

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Donald Trump with some of his supporters
Donald Trump with some of his supporters

I’m just going to go through a few links so that we get the complete picture of the connection between Donald Trump and his good friend David Pecker, and Pecker’s trashy tabloid publication.

This article from the New York Daily News is from August 2015.

It says:

Former Donald Trump allies like Fox News and NBC have been taking shots at the presidential hopeful since his bid began — but he has at least one staunch media ally.

Industry insiders tell us Trump is “very close” with David Pecker, head of The National Enquirer and CEO and chairman of American Media, which means the outlet is unlikely to dig too deeply into his personal life as he campaigns.

[…]“Trump is a big friend of Pecker,” says our insider.

[…]Our source says that with Trump “protected” by the tabloid, “Some of the staff are furious. Trump’s such fertile ground, and it drives them crazy to not only be staying away from it, but running puff pieces for him.”

Trump and Pecker have certainly been known to scratch each other’s backs.

This week’s Enquirer features a piece under the screaming red banner: “Charismatic billionaire Donald Trump writes exclusively for the Enquirer.” In the column, entitled “America is being laughed at … and things must change!” Trump outlines his qualifications for the White House, including the fact that in his view, wife Melania “would make a terrific first lady!”

In 2010, Trump tweeted, “David Pecker would be a brilliant choice as CEO of TIME Magazine — nobody could bring it back like David!”

New York Magazine also notes the connection between Trump and David Pecker of the National Enquirer, in an article from October 2015, when Carson and Trump were fighting for the lead i the GOP primary.

Excerpt:

[…][A]s Carson overtakes Trump as the GOP front-runner, it appears Trump is getting help from a media outlet known for ending presidential candidacies: the National Enquirer. Earlier this month, the Enquirer published a cover story on Carson headlined “Bungling Surgeon Ben Carson Left Sponge in Patient’s Brain!” The article called Carson a “White House wannabe” and claimed he “brandished a scalpel like a meat cleaver!” It went on to quote angry former patients saying he botched surgeries that left them disfigured and in pain; one patient who sued Carson said he forgot to remove a surgical sponge from her brain after a procedure. “His presidential campaign should be dead on arrival!” Enquirer reporter Sharon Churcher wrote.

[…][Their source] also said that Trump’s campaign was a source for the article: “His campaign provided information that was used,” he explained. A Trump friend said that in the days leading up to the article’s publication Trump was telling people that Carson “had a lot of medical malpractice suits” and “almost killed a guy.”

[…]Whether or not Trump has been a source for the Enquirer, his friendship with Pecker has paid dividends. At key moments during the GOP primary the Enquirer has helped boost Trump’s campaign by attacking his rivals and fawning over him. Two weeks after Trump launched his campaign in mid-June, the Enquirer reported that Jeb Bush was “involved in the drug trade in Florida” in the ’80s and that, as governor, he was plagued by “sleazy cheating scandals … [with a] Playboy Bunny turned lawyer.” In September, the Enquirer published an unflattering photograph of Bush’s adult daughter apparently taking cigarette breaks at her office. The article hit just days after Jeb told Americans they needed to work longer hours.

Carly Fiorina has also been slimed. After the former Hewlett-Packard CEO bested Trump at the second GOP debate last month, the Enquirer ran an article headlined “Homewrecker Carly Fiorina Lied About Druggie Daughter.” The article attacked one of Fiorina’s best moments at the debate: her emotional account of her daughter’s struggle with drug addiction. “The National Enquirer has exclusively learned that Lori Ann Fiorina, who died in October 2009, was in fact Carly’s stepdaughter,” the tabloid reported. “She was brought up not by Carly but by her biological mom, Patricia Fiorina, whose marriage allegedly was wrecked by the 61-year-old White House hopeful who is determined to knock Donald Trump from his superior front-runner status!”

[…]Meanwhile, Trump has been exclusively celebrated in the Enquirer’s pages. As talk of a Trump candidacy heated up last winter, the tabloid published an article headlined “Trump’s the One!” that reported him leading in the polls. In September, the Enquirer published a three-part series by Trump himself under the headline “The Man Behind the Legend!”

Trump’s scandal-filled personal life would be yuge! for the supermarket tabloid, but to the Enquirer, it seems, friendship is forever.

They certainly are very good friends.

National Enquirer: "Trump Must Be President", and Rubio has sex and drug secrets
National Enquirer: “Trump Must Be President!”, and Rubio has sex & drug secrets

 The Daily Beast notes that Trump has also been endorsed by the National Enquirer.

Excerpt:

The full endorsement… includes a list of “10 reasons The Donald is the ONLY choice for the White House.”

[…]Along with conservative website Breitbart, the Enquirer often reads like a political ally of Team Trump. And if it sounds like that endorsement was authored by Trump’s friends, that is because, well, it sort of was.

[…]Meanwhile, Trump’s other political enemies, such as Carly Fiorina, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz (called “Boozin’ Ted” by the tabloid), and Jeb Bush have been absolutely savaged in the pages of the Enquirer. The supermarket tabloid reported that Bush, as governor of Florida, was embroiled in “sleazy cheating scandals…[with a] Playboy Bunny turned lawyer,” a rumor Bush had publicly denied over a decade ago.

[…]The unvarnished look at, say, Rubio has consisted of the Florida senator’s alleged past attendance at “gay [foam] parties” (the “Rubio is gay!” conspiracy theory is emerging asthe next big meme within certain pro-Trump and far-right communities), and a story on “NERDY” Marco Rubio’s “SEX & DRUG SECRETS.” The latter ran directly to the right of the publication’s recent endorsement of The Donald (pictured above).

[…]Trump became a National Enquirer contributor in August, writing an op-ed on his greatness. (It would not be the last time the Enquirer would bear his byline.)

Trump writes articles for the National Enquirer? Hmmmn. I wonder if he writes anonymous articles for the National Enquirer that insinuate nasty things about Ted Cruz, but have no evidence or statements from witnesses.

And along came a smear

I ask that because there is a National Enquirer story out now that smears Ted Cruz.

Here is Ted Cruz’s response to the National Enquirer story:

Everyone has to decide who to believe on their own.

Ron Fournier and Chuck Todd

I was surprised to see this tweet from Ron Fournier, who is a person on the far left who gets respect from conservatives like me:

Ron Fournier of National Journal re-tweets Chuch Todd and says "Bravo"
Ron Fournier of National Journal re-tweets Chuch Todd and says “Bravo”

Here is the link to Chuck Todd’s comments: (link has the video)

Yesterday on Meet The Press Chuck Todd pointed out that Trump used an LBJ tactic of suggesting he hoped the National Enquirer story wasn’t true while trying to fan the flames of the smear.

But Todd says there’s simply more evidence that ties Trump to planting the story in the National Enquirer than there is to the story itself tying anything to Cruz…

Andrea Mitchell emphasized how close Trump’s relationship is with the National Enquirer, pointing out that they’ve even endorsed him.

When you have MSNBC saying that the story’s claims are less credible than the claim that Donald Trump deliberately planted the story in the National Enquierer, thanks to his good friend David Pecker, then you know the story is suspect. No one in the mainstream media has confirmed it, because there is no confirmation for it.

Michael Savage

The National Enquirer story so ridiculous that one of Trump’s biggest supporters – national radio show host Michael Savage – has threatened to yank his endorsement of Trump.

The Right Scoop has the transcript and audio.

Transcript:

Michael Savage said today on his radio show that the National Enquirer story smearing Ted Cruz is completely false, and he knows this based on a source he says he would trust with his life. Savage points out that Cruz is rightly offended over this utter garbage.

But even more so, Savage says that he abhors these attempts of assassination by innuendo, as it has been done to him, and while he doesn’t blame Trump for the story, he threatens to withdraw his support of Trump if he doesn’t completely disavow the story and the man who owns the National Enquirer, David Pecker.

Now that Ted Cruz is gaining in the polls, I have to wonder about any National Enquirer articles that attempt to smear Cruz the same way that previous articles smeared Rubio, Bush, Carson, Fiorina, etc. Seems to me that Trump might be able to recover his lead if he could convince his good friend David Pecker to let him write an article about Ted Cruz – one with no evidence and no named witnesses. It might work to convince Trump’s supporters to return to him so that he doesn’t lose the primary to a surging Ted Cruz.

News

Todd Starnes: Ted Cruz is the best candidate to defend religious liberty

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Ted Cruz explains policy to little girl who wants to be President
Ted Cruz explains policy to little girl who wants to be President

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, my second favorite think tank behind the Heritage Foundation, is advising the Ted Cruz campaign about religious liberty issues. They’ve actually made a list of things for him to do if he is elected President. Since this issue is the core of my being – it animates my whole life plan – I was curious to see what Cruz intends to do about religious liberty.

Here is Todd Starnes of Fox News writing about it:

America’s Christian bakers and florists and wedding planners will be safe under a Ted Cruz presidency.

“I am absolutely convinced in my discussions with the senator that religious liberty will be a lot better off in America with a Cruz administration,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and Chair of Cruz’s Religious Liberty Advisory Council.

The council released exclusively to me its initial recommendations for both legislative and executive actions that will restore the nation’s First Freedom – the freedom of religion.

[…]The council, made up of prominent religious leaders, recommended 15 action items that will protect Americans from discrimination by the federal government on the basis of their view of marriage and also protect employers threatened by the HHS contraception mandate.

[…]The council is also calling on Cruz to direct a review of the IRS’ treatment of religious organizations and to direct federal agencies to respect the free exercise of religion.

The list includes measures to promote religious liberty at the Department of Education, the IRS, the Department of Health and Human Services, the armed forces, and in the federal government as a whole.

Cruz has a record on defending religious liberty:

Cruz has been a passionate advocate of religious liberty for years. He’s been in the front line trenches defending our First Freedom – helping secure courtroom victories to preserve the Texas Ten Commandments monument and the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial.

“As president, I have pledged on my first day in office to rescind every single one of President Obama’s unconstitutional executive actions, and to direct every federal agency to respect and protect the religious liberty of every American,” Cruz said.

His vow is certainly welcome news to American Christians who have been subjected to eight years of vicious attacks by militant LGBT and atheist groups – not to mention the Obama administration.

“Our constitutional liberties should not be subject to the whims of the current administration, and – whether Hobby Lobby or the Little Sisters of the Poor – people of faith should not be made to bow down at the altar of political correctness,” Cruz said.

I took a look over the names of the people on his panel of policy advisors, and was surprised to see people I actually know on it. You probably know these names as well: Jay Wesley Richards, Everett Piper, Bishop Harry Jackson, Ken Blackwell, and Jason Benham. Jason Benham has had to face discrimination himself, when his show was pulled because of his Christian worldview. If I had to pick a scholar who has the same interests as me across the board, it would probably be Jay Richards. So, needless to say, I’m pretty pleased with this. Seems to me like we have been losing, losing, losing at religious liberty for the last 8 years under Obama and his Democrat allies in the House, Senate, federal government and Supreme Court. If Cruz wins, thins are going to change for us on this all-important issue. I just want to be free to be me, and not to be punished for disagreeing with other people on issues of morality and conscience.

I guess it goes without saying that Donald Trump is the polar opposite of Cruz on all of these issues. That’s why it’s important to me that someone with a record of standing up for religious liberty at the Supreme Court wins the nomination. I don’t want someone who only has talk – and Trump’s talk isn’t even that encouraging. He’s promised gay rights activists “forward motion” on gay rights. I think we’ve had enough of #NewYorkValues already under Obama, Mr. Trump.

By the way, if you’re not listening the Family Research Council Washington Watch Weekly podcast, please subscribe. They cover everything from social issues, to fiscal issues, to foreign policy. One of their frequent guests is retired Lt. General William G. Boykin, who is also on Cruz’s foreign policy advisory committee, which I blogged about before.

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News

Latest poll shows Ted Cruz leading Trump 36% to 35% in Wisconsin

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How to get kissed: Heidi Cruz helping her husband
How to get kissed: Heidi Cruz helping her husband

Grassroots conservative web site Red State reports on the latest Monmouth poll of Wisconsin voters from Wednesday night.

Excerpt:

We’re two weeks away from the Wisconsin primary, which is shaping up to be pretty close to a must-win for Ted Cruz.

[…]That’s why this new Monmouth poll is huge news for Cruz, if true:

BOSTON, MA – As establishment Republicans look for ways to slow Donald Trump’s relentless march toward the party’s presidential nomination, Wisconsin’s winner-take-all GOP primary contest on April 5 offers some intriguing possibilities. In a statewide Emerson College poll released today, Texas Senator Ted Cruz is not only leading Trump 36% to 35% in the upcoming primary, but Cruz is only trailing Hillary Clinton by one point in a hypothetical general election matchup, 46% to 45%. In contrast, Trump is trailing both Clinton and her Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, by the same 9-point margin of 47% to 38% in a potential general election match-up.

This is the first time this race has been polled since before Super Tuesday, so it is the only accurate picture of the race we have at all.

Unfortunately, Wisconsin has an open primary, so Cruz will have to beat not just leftist Republican voters, but also registered Democrats who cross over to vote for Trump.

Scott Walker to endorse Cruz?

My original first pick in the primary was Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker fought and defeated the big labor unions in Wisconsin, so that he could balance the budget for taxpayers without raising taxes on them.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports this from him:

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the only viable alternative to front-runner Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary, Gov Scott Walker said Wednesday hinting at a possible endorsement.

“If you’re someone who is uneasy with the front-runner right now, there’s really only one candidate,” Walker said in a taped interview that aired on WTMJ Wednesday morning. “Ted Cruz is the only one who’s got a chance other than Donald Trump to win the nomination statistically, and my friend Gov. (John) Kasich cannot.”

I really hope that Walker endorses Cruz, and that the people of Wisconsin vote for substance. Let’s take a look at some reasons why people should prefer Ted Cruz to Donald Trump in this election.

Ted Cruz’s record of conservative achievements

Young Conservatives explains his achievements:

  • Graduated valedictorian in 1988 from Second Baptist High School
  • Graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1992
  • Graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1995
  • 1992 U.S. National Debate Champion representing Princeton
  • 1995 World Debating Championship semi-finalist representing Harvard
  • Served a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, making him the first Hispanic ever to clerk for a Chief Justice of the United States
  • Served as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to 2008, making him the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in the entire country and the longest tenure in Texas history
  • Partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he led the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice
  • Authored over 80 SCOTUS briefs and presented over 40 oral arguments before The Court
  • Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation

Smart guy.

Here are the specifically conservative achievements:

  • In the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Cruz assembled a coalition of 31 states in defense of the principle that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms
  • Presented oral arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • Defended the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds,
  • Defended the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools
  • Defended the State of Texas against an attempt by the International Court of Justice to re-open the criminal convictions of 51 murderers on death row throughout the United States

He’s 5 for 9 arguing cases before the Supreme Court. Cruz knows how to convince liberal scholars to come over to his side. That’s what he enjoys – persuading people who disagree with him.

Here’s some of the legislation he introduced:

  • ObamaCare Repeal Act
  • Disarm Criminals and Protect Communities Act
  • Defund Obamacare Act of 2013
  • A bill to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to permit States to require proof of citizenship for registration to vote in elections for Federal office
  • State Marriage Defense Act of 2014
  • A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the intentional discrimination of a person or organization by an employee of the Internal Revenue Service
  • A bill to prohibit the Department of the Treasury from assigning tax statuses to organizations based on their political beliefs and activities
  • American Energy Renaissance Act of 2014
  • A bill to deny admission to the United States to any representative to the United Nations who has been found to have been engaged in espionage activities or a terrorist activity against the United States and poses a threat to United States national security interests
  • SuperPAC Elimination Act of 2014
  • Free All Speech Act of 2014
  • A bill to prevent the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawfully created by Executive memorandum on August 15, 2012
  • Sanction Iran, Safeguard America Act of 2014

And he has gotten more legislation passed than Marco Rubio in the Senate.

I have to be fair on this blog, so if we are going to look at the record of Ted Cruz, we should also look at the record of Donald Trump.

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