Ted Cruz

Maddow Producer: On Foreign Policy, GOP Has Gone From Dominant to ‘Cringe-Worthy...Pathetic’
By Tom Johnson | December 21, 2015 | 8:48 PM EST

Though Steve Benen, who's also the primary blogger for the MSNBC program's website, is a true-blue liberal, he thinks highly of the foreign-policy chops of some recent Republicans. In a Thursday post, Benen wrote that GOPers such as Richard Lugar and Brent Scowcroft were “learned” and “approached international affairs with [a] degree of maturity.”

That was then; this is now. Benen touched on, among other things, Ted Cruz’s pledge to “carpet bomb” ISIS and Marco Rubio’s remark that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was “not a mistake” to build a case that today’s Republican party “approaches foreign policy…with all the maturity of a Saturday-morning cartoon…The national GOP candidates are speaking to (and for) a party that has no patience for substantive details, historical lessons, nuance, or diplomacy.”

Satirical Ted Cruz Campaign Commercial to Air During SNL
By P.J. Gladnick | December 19, 2015 | 3:44 PM EST

How does a political candidate air a campaign commercial during Saturday Night Live? If it is too serious, it goes against the mood of the target audience. However, if the commercial tries to be funny but is lame, it would be subject to understandable mockery. Well, Senator Ted Cruz went all out with a humorous commercial to air during SNL tonight. It is a satirical takeoff on his reading of a Dr. Seuss story on the floor of the Senate while pulling an all nighter to speak against Obamacare. I think the commercial came off as good (or better) as most SNL skits but watch below and judge for yourself.

NYT: ‘Harsh...Hard-Right’ GOP Foreign Policy Dummies ‘Dwell Darkly’ on Terror, Ignore Gun Control
By Clay Waters | December 18, 2015 | 8:15 AM EST

Thursday’s New York Times was particularly dense with bias against the "hard-right" and "far-right" Republican Party, starting on the front page, where a story about Latino candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio turned into a criticism of GOP immigration policy, and reaching the back page, with an editorial hitting the Republican Party for its "Appalling Silence on Gun Control" (the candidates "dwelled darkly" about the actual threat of Islamic terorrism instead).

NBC's Mitchell Claims 'A Lot of Discrimination' Vs. Muslims, GOP Says 'Really Troubling' Things
By Brad Wilmouth | December 17, 2015 | 9:56 PM EST

Nearing the end of her MSNBC program Andrea Mitchell Reports on Thursday, NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell claimed that "there is a lot of discrimination" against Muslims as she was introducing President Barack Obama's 1:00 p.m. speech.

After suggesting that some of the "rhetoric" at Tuesday's GOP presidential debate was "really a recruitment tool for ISIS," she recounted that Bernie Sanders visited a mosque yesterday and then asserted that "there is a lot of discrimination here," adding that it is "fueling the ISIS rhetoric."

On MSNBC, Ron Fournier Slams 'Disgusting' GOP Debate, Sees 'Dog Whistling'
By Brad Wilmouth | December 17, 2015 | 1:43 AM EST

Appearing as a guest in the final segment of Wednesday's MTP Daily on MSNBC, Ron Fournier of the National Journal slammed the previous night's GOP presidential debate as "disgusting" as he claimed to see "dog whistling" and "fearmongering" from the candidates.

Left-Wing Pundits On GOP Presidential Debate: Winners Included Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and ISIS
By Tom Johnson | December 16, 2015 | 9:57 PM EST

Many of the lefty writers who analyzed Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate at the Venetian suggested that had the event been promoted as if it were a Vegas show, the marquee might have read “Fright Night,” or perhaps “Be Afraid…Be Very Afraid,” given how much the candidates hyped the threat of jihadist terrorism.

MSNBC Guest: GOPers Want to 'Mass Murder Civilians' to Fight ISIS
By Brad Wilmouth | December 16, 2015 | 7:42 PM EST

Appearing as a guest on Wednesday's MSNBC Live, Linda Sarsour of the Arab-American Association of New York received no pushback from host Jose Diaz-Balart over her inflammatory assertion that some of the Republican presidential candidates "think they can mass murder civilians across the world" to defeat the ISIS threat.

She also absurdly claimed that the U.S. killed 650,000 civilians in Iraq, even though most estimates place the total number of Iraqis killed by the U.S. military much lower.

ABC’s Nightline Blasts ‘Bloody’ GOP Debate; Touts Lib Comedians, Chides Christie for Bus Stop Remark
By Curtis Houck | December 16, 2015 | 3:16 AM EST

The early Wednesday morning edition of ABC’s Nightline provided the first look at the network reaction to Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate and featured correspondent David Wright ripping it as a “bloody” affair with help from liberal comedians and scolding Chris Christie for remarks about Los Angeles mothers placing their children on school buses only to have classes canceled due to a terror threat.

Begala Whines GOP’s ‘Dominant Emotion’ of ‘Fear’ Post-Terror Attacks Has Hurt Americans
By Curtis Houck | December 16, 2015 | 12:08 AM EST

Offering his initial thoughts on Tuesday’s GOP presidential debate on the 11:00 p.m. Eastern edition of CNN’s AC360, CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton super PAC head Paul Begala complained that Republicans possess “dominant emotion” of “fear” that they’ve somehow used to instill fear in Americans following recent terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino. 

Purged! Morning Joe Drops Ted Cruz from Vegas Debate Image
By Mark Finkelstein | December 15, 2015 | 7:18 AM EST

UPDATE: Scarborough just discussed blooper on air, mentioning NB and this NewsBusters. Video clip below!
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Ted Cruz: MSNBC's modern-day version of Nikolai Yezhov! Yezhov was the head of Stalin's secret police who fell into disfavor and was executed during a purge. A photo of him standing next to Stalin was famously airbrushed to remove his image.

And so we come to today's Morning Joe, which displayed an image of tonight's Vegas debate stage. Photos of all the candidates appear at their assigned slots. With one exception. Ted Cruz is nowhere to be found! Simple mistake . . . or diabolical left-wing media plot to purge the #2 Republican contender?  The truth is out there!

‘Nightly Show’ Smears ‘Creepy’ Cruz; Will ‘Do Everything the KKK Does,’ Has Mental Problems
By Curtis Houck | December 15, 2015 | 2:50 AM EST

In what may be the worst series of attacks by the liberal media on Ted Cruz, Monday’s Nightly Show on Comedy Central featured host Larry Wilmore declaring that the “creepy” Cruz may be mentally disturbed with guest Aida Rodriguez firmly asserting that, if elected, Cruz’s agenda would be to “do everything the KKK does.” 

Politicians Hate Ted Cruz, Will That Hurt or Help Him?
By Scott Rasmussen | December 14, 2015 | 4:41 PM EST

As Senator Ted Cruz has become a serious contender for the Republican presidential nominating contest, he's facing greater scrutiny and opposition. That's to be expected. Some of the opposition is fairly traditional. Iowa's governor just attacked Cruz for opposing ethanol subsidies. Cruz opposes the subsidies because he doesn't believe the federal government should be picking business winners and losers. Politically, that's a big deal in a state where corn is a major crop and those federal subsidies prop up the price of corn.