CNN Falsely Claims Ted Cruz “Afraid” To Discuss Guns Outside the Fox “Mothership”

CNN Falsely Claims Ted Cruz “Afraid” To Discuss Guns Outside the Fox “Mothership”

Just when you thought CNN might make it through a week without disgracing itself, anchor Chris Cuomo accuses Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) of being “afraid” to talk to CNN about the Florida shooting and GOP measures to prevent such shootings.  The problem?  Cruz had given CNN a 15-minute interview the day before, and CNN decided not to air all of it.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) admonished CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Twitter after the anchor accused him of being afraid to appear on CNN in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. school shooting.

The controversy arose when Cuomo on Thursday ripped Gov. Rick Scott (R., Fla.), Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), and Cruz on his CNN morning show, “New Day.” Cuomo accused the three Republicans of being “afraid” to appear on CNN in the wake of the shooting, alleging they were “unwilling” to answer questions about gun violence. Cuomo also intimated that all three elected officials chose to appear on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” because it provided them with a friendlier format.

Here’s Cuomo’s segment accusing Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Florida governor Rick Scott (R) of fearfully refusing to appear on CNN but willingly going on Fox News, the “mothership” according to Cuomo.

Cruz, however, was the wrong person for Cuomo to accuse of cowardice.

Here's a pic of the @CNN interview — a 15-min exclusive given yesterday — that y'all still haven't aired… (While falsely claiming I'm "afraid" to talk to CNN.) https://t.co/Bo8AzsuGFX pic.twitter.com/sEtt4bTeUT

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 16, 2018

The Washington Examiner reports:

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said CNN was holding back an interview he did regarding gun violence, after the network accused him of being “afraid” to come on the air.

Cruz tweeted Friday that he had addressed the issue of gun violence at schools in a 15-minute interview with CNN the day before.

“That’s funny, I spoke to CNN for 15 mins yesterday about proactive solutions to prevent gun violence (like passing the Grassley-Cruz bill—which Dems filibustered—that would add $300 million for school safety) yet CNN has aired NONE of it. Why not air the (entire) interview?” Cruz tweeted in response to CNN host Chris Cuomo on Friday.

The senator from Texas followed up that tweet with another, including a picture of him being interviewed at the Capitol.

“Here’s a pic of the @CNN interview — a 15-min exclusive given yesterday — that y’all still haven’t aired… (While falsely claiming I’m “afraid” to talk to CNN.),” Cruz tweeted.

Worse for Cuomo, CNN aired a portion of the Cruz interview on Friday afternoon, so his accusation is even more incomprehensible.

CNN was apparently thrilled with their misdirection as another anchor tweeted:

"What are they afraid of?" CNN calling out @FLGovScott, @TedCruz, @MarcoRubio for avoiding interviews pic.twitter.com/cizvTyU5XP

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 15, 2018

https://t.co/36B3SNxT43

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 15, 2018

For his part, Cuomo just keeps digging.  He’s now claiming that he wasn’t attacking Cruz; instead, he was simply whining about Cruz not appearing on his show.  I’m not sure how that works with the actual segment he aired about Cruz appearing only on the “mothership” of Fox News and being unwilling to be “held accountable,” but perhaps Cuomo thinks he is the only CNN anchor and his low-rated show the only CNN show that matters?

This is bs. Cruz was invited on @NewDay and declined. That was what I called out and doing an intv after that doesn’t make what I said any less true. The offer for him to come on @NewDay stands https://t.co/Vs8xPGVDeb

— Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) February 17, 2018

He was quickly called out on Twitter.

One person noted that Cuomo’s morning show earns low ratings.  It comes in third behind Fox and Friends and MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

https://twitter.com/kramnivel81/status/964934403808952320

Except it's a fact that @TedCruz DID do an interview for your network. Just not with you. Boo hoo.

— Rounds (@RoundsR) February 17, 2018

https://twitter.com/fuzislippers/status/964944600350756865

https://twitter.com/macsmarts/status/964919864958832640

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