Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday said he had nothing to do with reported push polls to South Carolina residents denounced by both Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Donald Trump.
“I have no idea. We had nothing to do with them. I don’t know what they were. We had nothing to do with them. So I had read reports of what is being said but somebody else is doing them, not us,” Cruz told reporters on Thursday when asked about reports of the polls, according to Politico.
According to a Thursday report in the Washington Post, residents in South Carolina have received calls with a poll conducted by Remington Research, a firm founded by Jeff Roe, Cruz’s campaign manager.
South Carolinian Natalie Barrett told the Washington Post that after she answered a few questions and expressed her support for Rubio, the automated poll made “negative” and “unfair” statements about Rubio and Trump.
“That’s when he said, ‘Did you know that Marco Rubio and the Gang of Eight are for amnesty?'” Barrett told the Post. “And then the gentleman said he’s for letting 11 million illegal immigrants stay in the U.S. and that he was for letting Syrians cross the borders freely.”
Nicole Walukewicz, who says she also received the automated poll, told the Post that she found the call “especially offensive” given reports that Cruz’s campaign spread rumors that Ben Carson was dropping out of the race during the Iowa caucuses.
“It just felt like Cruz, or whoever was behind it, was willing to lie to get the presidency,” Walukewicz said.
Rubio’s campaign denounced the poll after a friend of Barrett told the campaign about the automated poll.
“These tactics are becoming all too common in this race and indicative of our opponents’ campaigns that are willing to say or do anything to win an election,” Rich Beeson, Rubio’s deputy campaign manager, told the Washington Post. “This is nothing more than a deliberate effort to peddle false information in the hopes of deceiving voters.”
And Trump bashed Cruz on Twitter over reports on the poll.
We are getting reports from many voters that the Cruz people are back to doing very sleazy and dishonest “pushpolls” on me. We are watching!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2016
Cruz caught cold in lie after denial of push polls like lies w/ @RealBenCarson. How can he preach Christian values? https://t.co/p3yGL02ABA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 12, 2016
Cruz’s research director, Chris Wilson, suggested to the Washington Post that someone may simply be posing as Remington Research.
“We’re not doing any robo-polls in South Carolina,” Wilson said. “It’s not us making those calls. Anyone can make those calls as Remington Research to screw with reporters and make Jeff look like he’s doing something.”
