Ted Cruz Sex Scandal: Ex Staffer Amanda Carpenter Responds To Allegations On Live TV [Video]
Former Ted Cruz communications director Amanda Carpenter strongly denied having an affair with her ex-boss during a CNN exchange on Friday.
An outspoken and some would say bitter Donald Trump foe who is making regular appearances on the cable network during the primary campaign season, Carpenter called the allegations published by the National Enquirer that GOP presidential candidate Cruz allegedly had romantic relations with her (and several other women) “tabloid trash” and “smut.”
Carpenter went on CNN to debate Trump supporter and Boston Herald columnist Adriana Cohen about the latest feud between Trump and Cruz. Cruz’s political action committee tweeted out a revealing cover story photo of Donald Trump spouse Melania Trump, a former model, and Trump responded with a retweet of a less-than-flattering image of Heidi Cruz, the Texas Senator’s wife. Both social media actions, most agree, were ill advised, if not juvenile.
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That’s when Cohen dropped a bombshell on Carpenter (see embedded video below).
“Oh, absolutely I think we should move on. Where we should move to is the National Enquirer story that has reported that has Ted Cruz has allegedly had affairs with five mistresses, including you’ve been named, Amanda… If we’re going call Donald Trump’s character into question, I would like Ted Cruz to issue a statement whether or not the National Enquirer story is true, that he has had affairs with many women, including–you were named, Amanda. Will you denounce this story or confirm it?”
One of the alleged mistresses of Ted Cruz. Amanda Carpenter. pic.twitter.com/bI8zs3yRNX
— Mut at Night (@MutAtNightWEEI) March 25, 2016
CNN anchor Kate Bolduan then intervened to insist that the National Enquirer story has no corroboration from any mainstream media outlet, before Carpenter responded.
“What’s out there is tabloid trash. If someone wants to talk about it, they can talk to my lawyer. It is categorically false. You should be ashamed for spreading this smut. Donald Trump supporters should be held to account for it…”
Cohen then denied spreading smut, before Bolduan shut down the National Enquirer sex scandal discussion.
Ted Cruz has condemned the allegations as untrue, blaming them on Donald Trump. Both Trump and the National Enquirer have rejected the claim that Trump had anything to do with planting the story.
.@tedcruz: "This National Enquirer story is garbage" https://t.co/Oj1A18MJ7T pic.twitter.com/u0PxNr2KfQ
— POLITICO (@politico) March 25, 2016
According to the Daily Beast, anti-Cruz operatives unaffiliated with Trump campaign may be responsible for the Ted Cruz sex scandal allegations.
“The truth behind the rumor-mongering, however, is a little more complex. A half-dozen GOP operatives and media figures tell The Daily Beast that Cruz’s opponents have been pushing charges of adultery for at least six months now—and that allies of former GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio were involved in spreading the smears… The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, Politico, and ABC News—reporters at all those outlets heard some version of the Cruz-is-cheating story. None of them decided to run with rumors… “
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzT_ff75Peg
In an appearance on ABC News this morning, Trump reaffirmed that he and/or his campaign had nothing to do with the Ted Cruz sex scandal allegations and that he has zero control over the National Enquirer. “For him to try and say that I had to do with it, to try to put the shoe on the other foot, is disgraceful,” Donald Trump claimed, in reference to the Melania cover shoot image.
Katrina Pierson, a former Cruz staffer who now works for Trump and appears on TV a lot, has also denied the National Enquirer account.
[Update: Amanda Carpenter subsequently sat down for a follow-up interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper in which she again denied having any kind of inappropriate relationship with Ted Cruz.]
The brash New York real estate mogul and ex-Celebrity Apprentice host thus far has won the most primaries and has received most delegates to the nominating convention (739 at this writing). Cruz is in second place with 465 delegates. Going into the April 5 Wisconsin primary, Trump has about a two point lead over Cruz, according to the Real Clear Politics average.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIxSfrBuWJk
As the Inquisitr previously reported, the National Enquirer is a known tabloid, but despite its reputation for the sensational, has broken a number of big stories related to political candidates and high-profile cases in the past. For example, the National Enquirer was the first to break stories about Gary Hart, Jesse Jackson, and former 2004 Democratic VP candidate John Edwards before they were confirmed by the mainstream media.
Most mainstream media outlets were aware of the Edwards infidelity, but spiked any reporting of it during the presidential campaign.
A person’s private life, by definition, is meant to be kept private. In general, and unrelated to the unproven allegations involving Ted Cruz, however, extramarital affairs are hardly out of the ordinary when — among other things — money, fame, status and/or power are in play.
Commenting on the Amanda Carpenter/Adriana Cohen CNN dustup, the Washington Post observed that “Though Bolduan helpfully caveatted the National Enquirer report, she might have noted that the publication barged its way into eligibility for a Pulitzer Prize in 2010 following its widely celebrated scoops on John Edwards’s mistress and child.”
[Photo by Andy Manis/AP]
Added: Attorney Mike Cernovich of the Danger & Play blog has reviewed Amanda Carpenter’s Ted Cruz tweets. Read his analysis and draw your own conclusions.
