Ted Cruz fires spokesman over video falsely claiming Marco Rubio insulted the Bible
This is not the first time the Cruz campaign has been accused of deception
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has fired his national spokesman after he posted a video that falsely claimed to show rival candidate Marco Rubio dismissing the Bible.
Mr Cruz asked for the resignation of Rick Tyler after he posted the video on Twitter on Sunday. The clip shows Mr Rubio walking past Mr Cruz’s father, Rafael, and a staff member reading the Bible. Subtitles on the video claim Mr Rubio says to them: “Got a good book there, not many answers in it.”
In a corrected version of the video tweeted by Mr Rubio's communications director, Alex Conant, the subtitles quote Mr Rubio as saying: “Got a good book there, all the answers are in there.”
Mr Tyler had apologised in a Facebook post, blaming the unclear audio.
“I've deleted the post because I would not knowingly post a false story,” he wrote. “But the fact remains that I did post it when I should have checked its accuracy first.“
Mr Cruz, speaking to reporters on Monday, said he had spent spent the morning investigating the incident and plans to conduct his campaign with “the very highest standards and integrity.”
Mr Rubio has accepted the apology, but added that the video seems to be part of a pattern and that “we're now at a point where we start asking about accountability.”
This is not the first time the Cruz campaign has been accused of deception. Earlier, it used a doctored photo of Mr Rubio shaking President Barack Obama’s hand to accuse him of supporting the president’s policies.
Mr Rubio narrowly beat Mr Cruz in the South Carolina primary last weekend, taking second place behind frontrunner Donald Trump.
Mr Trump took no time to jump on the controversy, tweeting: “Wow, Ted Cruz falsely suggested Marco Rubio mocked the Bible and was just forced to fire his Communications Director. More dirty tricks!”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments