Carol Costello was true to her liberal form on Wednesday's CNN Newsroom during a segment with Rick Tyler, Senator Ted Cruz's campaign spokesman. Costello asserted that "Ben Carson didn't exactly give riveting answers" during the latest GOP presidential debate, and asked, "Why did no one challenge him on that?" She also wondered, "Is it too politically dangerous to attack Ben Carson, or to even challenge him on things that he says that don't make sense?" The anchor later claimed that "Senator Cruz is even a pariah among Senate Republicans," and questioned whether he can "effectively be president." [video below]
Costello first sought Tyler's reaction to the Tuesday night debate on Fox Business Network. She followed up with her "riveting answers" contention about Dr. Carson and "why did no one challenge him on that" question. The Republican guest didn't directly answer question, so the CNN journalist followed up with her "politically dangerous" question about the former neurosurgeon:
CAROL COSTELLO: ...Ben Carson didn't exactly give riveting answers when asked about the economy or foreign policy. Why did no one challenge him on that?
RICK TYLER, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT: Well, you'd — you'd have to ask the moderators that. We were just — we were just pleased that every time Senator Cruz got an chance — an opportunity to speak, the people could see that he understood what he was talking about on immigration. He's in line with the Republican Party and what they want to do on immigration — and that's to secure the border and follow the law. He's in line with the Republican Party, who wants to grow jobs — grow the economy — and how you do that—
COSTELLO: Right, I understand—
TYLER: Yeah, go ahead—
COSTELLO: I'm just curious — I want to go back to Ben Carson for just a minute. He spoke the least amount of time — only nine minutes. He was pretty quiet. Again, is it — is it too politically dangerous to attack Ben Carson, or to even challenge him on things that he says that don't make sense?
TYLER: Well, Senator Cruz has attacked no one during this race. What he's tried to do is to put forth his policies, and what he believes should be done....
When Tyler continued by touting the Texas senator's apparent record of being the sole "original outsider," Costello made her "pariah" claim about Cruz and asked, "How can he effectively be president?" This led to an extended exchange between the CNN anchor and the Republican spokesman:
COSTELLO: ...Senator Cruz is even a pariah among Senate Republicans. They actually refuse to work with him. And that's great for his outsider cred, but if Ted Cruz can't work with Republicans or Democrats, how can he effectively be president?
TYLER: Actually, it's — it's not true. If you look at Senator Cruz — Senator Cruz gets along with everybody. Just show me — show me the clip. Show me the quote where he has attacked his colleagues. It doesn't exist. He one time said that—
COSTELLO: It's well known — it's well known, Rick, that Senate Republicans — traditional Republicans are not so much into Ted Cruz. They're — they're upset at him!
TYLER: Well, you know why — because they like things the way they are. They like the power structure in Washington. They like the lobbyists to fund their campaigns. They don't want go back to their districts and work hard, and actually win the vote. They actually just want to get a check from — from K Street. And so—
COSTELLO: Okay. So that all may be true, but again, going back to my original question, if he can't get along with his fellow Senate Republicans, and he doesn't like Democrats—
TYLER: But he does get along with them. It's — you know what it is?
COSTELLO: How can he effectively be president?
TYLER: A couple of things: one, it's actually the opposite. When there's invective towards Senator Cruz, it's because he's disrupting their system. So why wouldn't that be the story? Why is the story that Senator Cruz can't get along with the people who are destroying the country? It should be that the people who are destroying the country don't get along with the guy who wants to fix it. And by the way, presidents — right? Presidents have enormous power — or you can look at the leadership. You know, Newt Gingrich, actually — no one wanted welfare reform. None of the Democrats wanted welfare reform or a balanced budget or any of the things he passed—
COSTELLO: Yeah, but he worked with Bill Clinton. He worked with the Democrats—
TYLER: No. What he did was — no. What he did was he worked with the country, and the country decided that welfare was bad for people. And so, the Democrats had no choice. They didn't say, oh boy, let's — let's reform welfare. They had no reason do that.
Remember, President Clinton vetoed welfare reform; he voted the budget; and eventually, he caved in. Why? Because the American people said, if you don't do this, we're going to give the Republicans an overwhelming majority; and eventually, that's — they did that; and then, they did it again. So we got the first re-elected Republican majority. That's what we need in Washington — is leadership — to bring the country along.
Costello ended the interview with a bizarre question regarding a statement Tyler made earlier in the segment:
COSTELLO: I just want to ask you one last question — because you said something that piqued my interest. You said presidents have a lot of power. Does that mean Ted Cruz would be into issuing lots of executive orders?
TYLER: I think what the — well, I think what a President Cruz would do immediately is rescind all the unconstitutional, illegal executive orders that this president did that's crippling the economy; doesn't allow border enforcement; doesn't allow — you know, the economy to grow — and would work with the Congress.
But remember: when people elect a president, they're giving the President a mandate, and telling the Congress to work with this person that we elected. And so, when he goes out to the country, as he is now, all across the country, and getting people behind his campaign, they're telling — they're sending a direct message to Washington. Washington is broken; fix it. What we don't need is a president to go in there and marginally manage the decay. We need a president who'll go in and change the system. And Ted Cruz will do that.
