Cruz camp voicemails said Carson was dropping out
Ben Carson's campaign has released audio of voicemails they say were left by members of the Ted Cruz campaign on caucus night pushing the idea that Carson was suspending his presidential bid.
Carson, a neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate, and his campaign have cried foul on actions from the Cruz campaign on Monday night.
During the night, Cruz staff sent messages to precinct captains saying Carson was suspending his presidential campaign. They told Cruz's precinct captains to urge Iowans to caucus for Cruz over Carson. The Cruz campaign cited a CNN story as the source of the news.
Cruz, a Texas Republican and winner of the Republican caucuses, has since apologized to Carson and said his staff should have followed up with clarification on caucus night.
Carson's campaign has published audio of two voicemails on the campaign's YouTube channel, citing Breitbart News as the source of the audio. Bretibart first reported the voicemails Thursday.
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The two voicemails include messages left for Cruz precinct captains from individuals identifying themselves as from the Cruz campaign.
“(inaudible) from the Ted Cruz campaign, calling because you’re a precinct captain, and it has just been announced that Ben Carson is taking a leave of absence from the campaign trail, so it is very important that you tell any Ben Carson voters that for tonight, uh, that they not waste a vote on Ben Carson, and vote for Ted Cruz. He is taking a leave of absence from his campaign. All right? Thank you. Bye," the transcript of one voicemail reads.
Carson's campaign issued a fundraising email Thursday about the audio, saying the calls were placed after his campaign clarified that he was not leaving the presidential race.
"This kind of deceitful behavior is why the American people don't trust politicians and don't trust Washington, D.C. If Senator Cruz does not act, then he clearly represents D.C. values," the email reads. "I call on Senator Cruz to take decisive action at a senior level within his campaign or I fear this culture of destructive behavior will only continue."
Catherine Frazier, a spokeswoman for Cruz, told both CNN and Breitbart the voicemails were in line with news reports made Monday night.
"The senator has already apologized for not more quickly making that clarification, and there is no evidence that our sharing of this news story impacted Carson's campaign -- he well outperformed expectations," Frazier said, according to CNN and Breitbart. "The voicemails are in line with the reports that were made at that time."