Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump condemned mailers sent by Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) presidential campaign over the weekend, which implied Iowa voters had violated election law.
The mailer, which uses social pressure to urge potential voters to the polls, “grades” Iowa voters on their voting history — a practice not done by the state.
“I think it’s one of the most disgraceful things I have seen in politics,” Trump told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Sunday’s “Hardball.” “When you say violation, and then they’re giving you F’s for your voting records and they’re saying immediately come and vote. I think it’s one of the most horrible things that I have seen in politics.”
Here’s one of the mailers posted to Twitter from a user in Des Moines, Iowa:
@TeaPartier_Al pic.twitter.com/7ttfUgiQ3K
— Braddock Massey (@Braddock_Massey) January 30, 2016
“I don’t think I have ever seen anything like that in politics so bad,” Trump said.
The Iowa Secretary of State, a Republican, called the mailer “not in keeping in the spirit” of the Hawkeye State’s caucuses. In a statement published by BuzzFeed News, Paul Pate, the Iowa Secretary of State said the mailer “misrepresents Iowa election law.”
“The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office never ‘grades’ voters,” he said. “Nor does the Secretary of State maintain records related to Iowa Caucus participation.”
Pate also said Iowa caucuses are organized by state political parties — not local officials. The voter records can be purchased “for political purposes only, under Iowa Code,’ according to Pate’s statement.