Rubio campaign blasts Cruz over ‘dirty’ email tied to Hawaii volunteers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, answered a question as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., looked on during a Jan. 28 Republican presidential primary debate in Des Moines, Iowa.
An email issued by the Ted Cruz campaign that suggests Marco Rubio is considering dropping out of the presidential race was branded by the Rubio campaign as a “dirty trick” today.
The national Cruz campaign denied it was behind the email, issuing a statement that blamed unnamed “volunteers” in Hawaii.
The Cruz campaign email that circulated on the eve of the Hawaii’s GOP presidential caucus voting claimed the Rubio campaign privately “is having a debate about whether he should remain in the mix — even for his home state of Florida’s primary.”
The Cruz email cited reporting by CNN that some Rubio advisers were suggesting he quit the race. CNN, in turn, cited an unnamed source with ties to the Rubio campaign. Rubio hotly denied the CNN report, saying it was fabricated.
“Senator Cruz is up to his dirty tricks again spreading false rumors and lies,” said a statement issued by Rubio spokesman Joe Pounder. “We won’t allow him to do to Marco Rubio in Florida what he did to Ben Carson in Iowa. Floridians and voters across the country will reject Senator Cruz’s campaign of disgusting tactics because they know a vote for Cruz is a vote for Donald Trump.”
Rubio’s Hawaii Campaign Chairwoman Erin Kealoha Fale said it is “really unfortunate that we’re seeing this kind of thing, but it’s not really uncommon, from what I’ve heard, in other states.”
Fale said either the national or the local branches of the Cruz campaign “engage in these tactics right before the caucus to kind of scare voters or confuse voters,” she said. “It’s just really unfortunate because the process should be open, and we want to encourage Republicans to come out.”
A statement issued by Cruz spokeswoman Alice Stewart said that “the at-issue email and social media posting was not sanctioned by the Cruz for President campaign. The campaign became aware of the email this morning by press accounts and upon investigation learned that some volunteers in Hawaii were involved in the posting.”
“The individual(s) who sent this had no authority from the campaign to do so,” Stewart said in a statement to Politico. “The campaign’s counsel has contacted those responsible, who were in no way authorized by the campaign, and demanded that the material be removed and further use of official campaign logos for any purpose be terminated.”
The website tedcruzhawaii.org — the domain from which the email in question was sent — redirects to Google despite being previously active. However, the domain is registered to Marissa Kerns of Ewa Beach. Kerns, of Waianae, is vice president of the Hawaii Republican Assembly, according to an announcement on Cruz’ national campaign website.
The Ted Cruz Hawaii Facebook page appears to have been unpublished.
Earlier this year, the Cruz campaign was accused of spreading a similar false rumor in Iowa. Cruz supporters told Iowa voters that retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson was dropping out of the race, and urged them to shift their support to Cruz.
Cruz later apologized to Carson for the incident.
Hawaii Republicans will gather at 44 locations from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight to cast ballots in the party’s presidential caucus voting to decide which candidates will win the support of Hawaii’s 19 GOP delegates. The voting is open only to party members, but participants will be allowed to sign party cards at the door and join in the voting.
For a list of the Hawaii GOP caucus sites for tonight’s vote, go to http://808ne.ws/1Qz36Vy.
42 responses to “Rubio campaign blasts Cruz over ‘dirty’ email tied to Hawaii volunteers”
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We have seen over and over that Cruz is a master of fabrications!
Seems like a repeat of Iowa. Cruz is about as much a Christian as a stone. None of the Republicans, other than Kasich, are remotely qualified to be president.
It’s pretty bad when the only GOP candidate left who cares about peoples’ health in Trump. No other candidate seems to want to avoid “people dying in the streets.” When the most Christian candidate you have is a triple divorcee who has destroyed the lives of thousands with his poor business deals, tried to take peoples’ lives and businesses via eminent domain, openly fights with the Pope and is a xenophobic racist, you know your party has problems.
It’s time that Republicans vote for Gary Johnson and realize their party has left them behind.
Johnson was married for 28 years to Denise “Dee” Simms, before he divorced her in 2005. She died in 2006. He had two children with Simms, daughter Seah and son Erik. Raised Lutheran, Johnson speaks little about his faith.
You know what they say sarge22, the more you talk about Christ, the less you gotta act like him.
When the democrats’ leading candidate is likely to be indicted by a grand jury very shortly you also know your party has problems.
AhiPoke, so everyone should vote Johnson.
Problem solved.
I really don’t understand why Kasich is not doing better. I agree he is the best candidate.
You’re not paying attention to all the blank faces foaming at their mouths at the Repub rallies.
God created the stone, Cruz is Devil’s work.
Cruz is a politician. That’s what politicians do.
Interesting that CNN to this moment defends the story about Rubio being advised to drop out. So is it a “dirty trick” for a campaign to cite a news story which the news service vouches for?
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/07/politics/marco-rubio-campaign-weighs-getting-out/index.html
That’s exactly what I was thinking. They were just citing a news report, the same as they did with Carson. How is that dirty unless it was the Cruz campaign that was the unnamed source. If anything that would be bad on CNN for reporting the story. It’s funny people are jumping on this but say nothing about Clinton.
Amen!
What say you Marissa Kerns of Ewa Beach? Not that it really matters in Hawaii but nationally, another deceitful trick by the Cruz campaign or just one person’s idea of trickery? Your name has been splashed all over the country so defend yourself if possible.
Marissa Kerns et al must resign and leave the Cruz Hawaii campaign. No excuse for this type of campaigning, especially in Hawaii.
No excuse for this type of campaigning, especially in Hawaii. I guess it’s only okay if PRP (Pacific Resource Partnership) is involved.
Hmmm? A legitimate news story from CNN which shows the Rubio campaign is in disarray was cited here. So, sharing an actual news story to influence other people is inexcusable? Not sure how information sharing is unbecoming of Hawaii. Some weird reasoning in the comment above.
EricRyan, you believe CNN?
Yes sir, I do. What political advisor in his or her right mind would look at the delegate count, the poll numbers and the remaining states and NOT consider urging his candidate to suspend his campaign. The issue is more about belief in the obvious and belief in common sense than belief in CNN. The entire country is now talking about Rubio’s demise. Rubio’s spokesman can try to deny that frustrated advisors have spoken to CNN off the record. But come on, seriously?!?
Since Rubio is behind in his own HOME STATE of Florida, why ISN’T he “considering” dropping out? Same thing with Kasich and Ohio. And Cruz should “consider” dropping out as well. Face it, the republican primary was a race to the bottom, and Trump won. The GOP should just accept that they stirred an ‘umeke of kūkae, and now they have to lick the spoon.
Vote Trump!
How the heck are there enough Republicans in Hawaii to staff 44 caucus? Are they flying some in from the mainland?
Old gal Lingle brought them out of the woodwork when she was elected and had to staff her admin.
Old man Lingle is more accurate, I think.
giggle…
There you go again. Ethnically speaking isn’t Rubio an Italian and Cruz a Hispanic? Nowadays one never knows though. Although my last name appears to be Patrick, it really isn’t. I am not related to Danica Patrick and I am not related to Butch Patrick of The Munsters. It is a last name that sounded good to me, so I adopted it. My name is still Abraham Lincoln. Well not really, my first name is Jonathan because that’s the name of my favorite pet, an opaque Peach Face Love Bird, which turned out to be female, because she laid eggs. Opaque because she had a mutation that rarely happens in Peach Face Love Birds, in that their entire head is Orange. I couldn’t stop calling her Jonathan, so she remained Jonathan. If u look on my Twitter handle @SuperBowlLii, u will find a bird in my hand, which is Jonathan, my Love Bird. My real name is ……..
You know, the paper will just ban you again if you keep posting drivel, no matter your screen name.
Way to go jus. Is that what happened to the king of all drivel, “Mike the novice”? What a relief.
Golly, I just realized Mikey was MIA. Mahalo SA
Ethnically speaking, they’re both bananas (or some semblance of).
Way to go Hawaii Republicans. lol
Who will win the GOTP race to the bottom? Sure won’t be the voters!
Watching the Republican train wreck has been very entertaining! Rubio is a terrible candidate, and his campaign essentially burned to the ground. There are ashes left right now after tonight’s losses, and he’s finished. Cruz has been unable to get one endorsement from anyone in the Senate because he can’t compromise, and compromise is needed to get anything done in politics – that’s the practical effect of the separation of powers. The more people know Cruz, the less they like him, and that’s the death knell for a politician trying to run for national office.
Klastri, excellent point. It’s always the Republicans who must agree with the Democrats. This has gone on for years as the United States moved away for its founding document, the Constitution of the United States. Today, we are far left of Center. From today, the Democrats must agree with the Republicans and begin the movement of the Country back to the Center for the benefits all its citizens.
Klastri is finally seeing the light, you must be for Trump because he can compromise: A master of negotiating and convincing.
No amount of soap can remove the stench emanating from Cruz but the old, white Repubs (including Slom) likes the smell.
The Trump train is doing great. Big wins today. Read em and weep. Only soap needed is to wash out some folks mouths. “Make America Great Again”
You can start by washing Trump’s mouth first.
Never mind, forgot you like the stench too.
Rubio has lost and should disappear. His annoying repetitive TV ad avalanche which has no substance is useless and a waste of money. The man appears fake.
As Cruz knows, it is always easier for him to deny and apologize after the fact than take the high road. He is a self-absorbed politician who will say and do anything to win the Presidency. As for Marissa Kerns of Ewa Beach, shame on you.