Ted Cruz’s Campaign, Publisher Lash Out After NYT Bestsellers List Snub

Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) presidential campaign and his publisher, HarperCollins, lashed out Friday against The New York Times for leaving Cruz’s book off its bestsellers list.

Cruz’s “A Time For Truth” sold 11,854 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen Bookscan. But the Times left the book off its prestigious bestseller list because, as a spokesperson put it to Politico, “the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases.”

HarperCollins rebutted the Times’ explanation in a statement to BuzzFeed News.

“HarperCollins Publishers has investigated the sales pattern for Ted Cruz’s book A TIME FOR TRUTH and has found no evidence of bulk orders or sales through any retailer or organization,” publicity director Tina Andreadis told the outlet. She added that other bestseller lists that omit titles with bulk orders did recognize Cruz’s book in their rankings.

Cruz’s presidential campaign also told Politico that it believed the Times gave a false explanation for omitting Cruz’s book from its bestseller list.

“Their decision to blackball Cruz’s book suggests that the Times very much does not want people to read the book,” spokesman Rick Tyler said, as quoted by Politico. “There were no ‘strategic bulk purchases.’ Cruz spent last week on a nation-wide book tour, signing copies of his book at multiple locations. Booksellers at each event had long lines—sometimes over 400 people per event.”