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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Ted Cruz: National Enquirer story is 'garbage' from 'Donald Trump and his henchmen'.
In defense of Cruz, it should be noted that Trump is allegedly a good friend of National Enquirer's CEO David Pecker.[1]
In addition, the paper recently endorsed Trump for President. [2]
The pro-Cuz conservative media
is already framing this as a hatchet job.
edited 25th Mar '16 12:06:29 PM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.
If the story had legs, and Trump was briefed early due to his connections with the Enquirer (or even sent them digging for dirt in the first place), that would also make the timing no coincidence. We may live in a post-facts world, but the rag's going out further on its limb than anyone sane would without lawsuit-proof evidence, and Cruz is hella litigious.
edited 25th Mar '16 12:10:37 PM by Iaculus
What's precedent ever done for us?If Trump is starting to employ dirty tricks like that, it shows that he's seriously concerned about Cruz encroaching on his lead enough to deny him a simple majority going into the nominating convention. I'll withhold judgment. I am entirely willing to believe that Cruz had multiple affairs, but we need some actual evidence.
edited 25th Mar '16 12:17:05 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"![]()
They did bust Edwards.
NPR offers its reporters ‘Trump Training’ to handle safety threats at Trump rallies.
edited 25th Mar '16 12:29:01 PM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.Aside from that, apparently one of Breitbart's reporters came out and said he got scooped on the thing due to the editors there not wanting to run it (yet, at least) back in February - he even had some archived tweets to back that up, where he'd lamented on Twitter in February that he couldn't break a particular story.
That said, what intrigues me is the fact that Trump's initial shots were about Cruz's wife, not Cruz himself or even his marriage. So honestly, I'm almost inclined to believe that maybe the pair had an open-marriage but kept it discrete. Unlikely as hell, but it'd at least explain the disconnect between Trump's initial threat and the late-breaking scandal. And what's making me give the story credibility (aside from the Enquirer's track record regarding celebrity sex scandals) is that aforementioned $500,000 donation from Cruz's Super PAC to Carly Fiorina's Super PAC - and one of Fiorina's top women has been labeled (rightly or wrongly) as one of the five pictured in the Enquirer article.
As for Cruz's affair being with a Trump aide, that can be explained by the fact that she was initially on Cruz's payroll, and swapped to Trump's some time during the campaign season.
edited 25th Mar '16 12:47:38 PM by ironballs16
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"Ted Cruz Calls Tabloid Report on Alleged Affairs 'Garbage'
Basically, Cruz blames Trump and calls him a liar in cahoots with the National Enquirer. Trump denies that he had anything to do with the story and does not even know if the story is true or not.
Wizard Needs Food BadlyKatrina Pierson, one of Cruz's alleged mistresses, has denied the National Enquier's claim.
edited 25th Mar '16 2:13:36 PM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.![]()
![]()
Devil's/Conspirist's Advocate: If they had run with it in February, how would the magnitude of the fallout be different? It was still at that point a 5-way race, whereas at this point, Cruz is the last serious challenge to Trump standing.
Mind, it could simply be that waiting for Cruz to reach a relevant amount of media saturation before running an expose about him is a calculation to sell more copies of the National Enquirer than otherwise.
edited 25th Mar '16 1:17:28 PM by Elle
So here's the National Enquirer 's article on the story.
They published of a stub of the story on there website. [1]
Possible identities for 3 of the 5 women have been offered.
- Katrina Pierson. Is currently Trump's spokeswoman, and worked with Ted Cruz in the past. [2]
- Unknown. Allegedly a Texan school teacher.
- Unknown. Possibly a prostitute.
- Sarah Isgur Flores. Deputy Campaign Manager for Carly Fiorina, and used to work for Cruz.[3]
- Amanda Carpenter. Worked for Ted Cruz between 2013-2015. Was his Communications Director.
edited 25th Mar '16 1:43:11 PM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.Off-topic, but figured some humor might be appreciated :
President Obama, Who Has Run Out of F*cks, Just Burned Ted Cruz
"As far as the notion of having surveillance of neighborhoods where Muslims are present, I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance, which, by the way, the father of Sen. Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free," he said.
Tell me again that this guy is cold and aloof. The man can shoot the dozens with anyone. That's a stiletto of a line right there. He learned more in Chicago than just where to buy his pizza. Can't he run against these clowns, just for a while, just for the pure fun of it?
With the Trump campaign person being one of the possible Cruz ladies, I get that its alleged to have happened when she was with the Cruz campaign, but does anyone honestly think Trump wouldn't be willing to try and honey trap a political opponent?
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranIn lighter news, a sparrow landed on Bernie Sanders' podium during a speech in Portland
.
edited 25th Mar '16 3:00:22 PM by ironballs16
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"Mr. Obama, why didn't you operate like this starting the day you took office? This is the guy we were voting for, not a would-be Great Compromiser.
Obama wasn't rude at all with that burn, but he was making it clear in no uncertain terms that the Republican was being repugnant and that he wasn't cool with it. Before 2014, we saw a lot of that attitude run and hide behind "No Drama Obama" and "Chill out, I got this," which are both worthy aspirations, but not if it means putting up with the Tea Party's shit.
And the thing we need (and the reason that Sanders has gotten so much traction) is someone to affirmatively energize social progressives - the people who believe in an affirmatively diverse America that welcomes and accepts anyone willing to become an American. There ought to be as many people standing up in front of state houses and city halls, in coffee-houses and in churches, speaking for inclusion and welcome in no uncertain terms as there are people standing up to speak for building a wall and making Mexico pay for it.
In retrospect, and assuming he knew it was coming, Trump going after Cruz's wife was a very smart move (within the insane, ruthless context of the 2016 Republican primary). Basically, it forced Cruz to go 'my wife is fantastic, we have a great marriage, I love her more than anyone else in the world' - and then bam, multiple affairs and possible evidence of political corruption to cover one of them up. Even the weak little jibe of 'Lyin' Ted Cruz' suddenly acquires vastly more weight.
What's precedent ever done for us?
Makes the "Birds for Bernie" twitter page Hilarious in Hindsight, really.
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"Apodaca calls for Charlotte to cover cost of special session over LGBT rights
Lawmakers met Wednesday and passed a law invalidating a measure the Charlotte City Council passed last month to allow transgender people to use restrooms corresponding with their gender identity.
“Charlotte brought this all upon themselves,” knowing exactly what they were getting into, Apodaca said.
Eesh, doubling down on their run in the "Biggest Asshole in the US" race. This little flow-chart sums it up pretty well
, I think.

My default assumption would be a case of Questionable Consent - which no intelligent prosecutor will touch, because in such a case it's nearly impossible to prove rape beyond a reasonable doubt (especially not when going up against a legal team like Trump's).