Shortly after a top-ranking staffer for the Donald Trump presidential campaign in Iowa accused Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) campaign Tuesday of “stealing, lying, and bribing” to win delegates, the Cruz campaign’s delegate wrangler flatly denied the accusation.
“You know, I call foul and BS,” Cruz adviser Ken Cuccinelli said on CNN. He also took a page from his Trump counterpart Paul Manafort’s playbook to slam the rival campaign’s “Gestapo tactics.”
“They are doing these tactics while accusing others of doing them,” he said.
“You’re just asking people nicely to line up and support Ted Cruz? Come on,” CNN host John Berman followed up. “How are you twisting arms? I’m not saying there’s anything illegal, but there’s gotta be some art to getting these delegates to line up behind you.”
Cuccinelli clearly didn’t appreciate the question.
“No, no, look, when you ask a question that way, your bias is naked to everyone watching, so let’s get down to facts instead of your bias,” he responded.
Berman interrupted: “No, I’m just saying you’re playing the game well!”
“We ask people nicely,” Cuccinelli said. “You know what the goodies we’re promising people are?”
He paused to look to his left, then his right, before cupping his hand to whisper at the camera: “They can have their Constitution back.”
Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general, went on to say the Trump campaign’s rhetoric is “frankly ticking delegates off,” which only pushes them to support Cruz.
Watch the interview via CNN:
Cruz camp surrogate responds to bribery charge. Calls “BS”.https://t.co/NtbNMNaITP
— Kate Bolduan (@KateBolduan) April 19, 2016
