What the Media FORGOT to Mention About The Latest Cruz Endorsement
In Indiana, we usually don’t get this attention. We’re usually left alone, and the ads are mostly about which pro-life, pro-family, strong defense, gun-loving Hoosier is best in any individual Republican contest to go to the state house, the county council, or the coroner’s office.
But this year the presidential nomination is in play on both sides. And it’s weird. I don’t know how you people in Iowa and New Hampshire do it. And you have to put up with it for years at a time.
Setting aside the barrage of lies that the Trump campaign is blaring across the radio (Ted Cruz wants open borders, will bring in thousands more Syrians, etc.), there are actual appearances by candidates. I think there might be a dozen or so this weekend.
While I was happy to see two of my hopes come true–Carly Fiorina was picked as Cruz’s running mate, and my wonderful governor endorsed Ted Cruz–let’s get a few things straight about last week.
First of all, the entire media owes Mike Pence an apology—and not just the usual suspects in the mainstream media, but every conservative pundit claiming that his endorsement of Ted Cruz was “tepid.” That is a bald-faced lie.
First, they complained that it took him too long to make a decision. Mike Pence is a gentleman. He waited until he had spoken to each of the three candidates left in the race, which did not happen until Tuesday. Then, they complained that he prefaced his endorsement with complimentary remarks about the contributions Trump has made to the campaign. Finally, they excoriated him for what they perceived as his failure to be “full-throated” enough in his enthusiasm for Cruz.
None of these people have any idea what they are talking about—and a fair number of them, including and especially Rush Limbaugh—are deceiving their audiences by leaving the impression that Pence’s backing of Cruz is really somehow a plus for Trump.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The media is feeding you the prefatory statements Pence made about the other candidates, with only a few sentences Pence said about Cruz. Some end their sound bites with “I’m voting for Ted Cruz.”
That, in fact, is the beginning of his remarks. Pence then answered questions and talked about Cruz for a full ten minutes. Evidently—although they have no problem covering a Trump rally from beginning to end, without comment and without interruption—the media cannot be bothered to even listen to the full ten-minute interview, much less provide it to you. Here you can hear the entire interview. Also, the campaign immediately produced a radio ad with many pieces of it.
This is not all the media deceived you about this week. Let’s look at the unconscionable whitewashing of two of Trump’s endorsers, Mike Tyson and Bobby Knight.
First, the media has unendingly fawned over boxing champ Mike Tyson, treating him as a legitimate voice in American politics. To begin with, the descriptive adjective they all seem to be missing is “CONVICTED RAPIST.” Mike Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel in 1991. He is not beloved in Indiana. Carly Fiorina rightly pointed that out, responding to Trump’s delight at being endorsed by such a “tough guy.” Speaking to reporters, Fiorina responded, “Sorry, I don’t consider a convicted rapist a tough guy. And I think it says a lot about Donald Trump’s campaign and his character that he is standing up and cheering for an endorsement by Mike Tyson.”
Exactly. Interestingly, Greg Garrison, the radio host that Mike Pence chose for his endorsement announcement, happens to have prosecuted Mike Tyson. That may or may not have been a happy coincidence, but when Tyson’s endorsement of Trump was made public, Garrison spent a bit of time on his WIBC show sharing some of the gory details of Tyson’s despicable crime.
Now, you Trump defenders may say, “Oh, Mister Trump (because I know you all call him that, in that weird obeisance all Trump-cultists constantly display) probably didn’t know about that. I’m sure he doesn’t support rapists.”
Guess again.
Trump not only knows about Tyson’s conviction—he tried to get leniency for him, after he was convicted. You see, “Mister” Trump thought the rape was probably Desiree’s fault and was hoping to keep Tyson out of jail, suggesting he could serve his debt to society by doing charity boxing events. Of course, at the time, he was trying to get one of his famous deals for one of his casinos to host a Tyson fight against Evander Holyfield, which could have brought him millions of dollars.
He’s such a great guy. No wonder you call him “Mister.”
Moreover, Trump is touring the state with disgraced former Indiana University coach Bobby Knight, who is hated by half the state of Indiana, not only because they are partisans of other teams—Purdue or Notre Dame, for examples—but because he was actually fired from Indiana University for choking a player. The firing came after years of warning about his anger management problems—he famously threw a chair during a game against Purdue, protesting what he thought was a bad call by the referees. The chair skittered into the section where disabled fans were seated. Knight was thrown out of the game. The IU fans backed Knight, others did not. He left the state. We don’t want him back. In addition, last I checked, Knight was still subject to arrest if he ever goes back to Puerto Rico, where he punched a cop during the Pan Am games.
No wonder Trump loves him, too.
Image: Ted Cruz via photopin (license)