Amy Davidson – 2/4/16

This page was last updated on February 10, 2016.

Ted Cruz and the Art of the Dirty Trick; Amy Davidson; The New Yorker; February 4, 2016.

Miss Davidson (AD), a professional leftist pundit, is a daughter of Carl Davidson (KD). This lefty apple doesn’t fall from the tree so be diligent with your fact-checking. You’ll learn why below.

A previous review of an AD piece is here.

Below is a detailed critique of portions of this column.

AD wrote:

“CNN’s on-air report also made it clear that the Florida trip was just a detour.”

Not true, at least when it counted. Here’s Politifact.org’s description of CNN’s initial on-air coverage of the issue.

“Two minutes later, CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper report Carson’s travel plans during a live broadcast of the caucuses. Bash and Tapper both say that this is ‘very unusual’ and anchor Wolf Blitzer adds that it is ‘very significant news.’ But CNN does not say Carson is suspending his campaign. Here’s a transcript:

“Tapper: ‘CNN has learned some news about the man who, at least according to polls, is in fourth place here in Iowa. Now, Dana, a week from tomorrow, we’re all going to be doing this again for the New Hampshire primary. So almost every single candidate is going to be going directly from here to New Hampshire to campaign — except for the man in fourth place, who a few months ago was in first place here, Dr. Ben Carson. What have we learned?’

“Bash: ‘That’s right. We should say that our Chris Moody is breaking this news, that Ben Carson is going to go back to Florida to his home, regardless of how he does tonight here in Iowa. He’s going to go there for several days. And then afterwards, he’s not going to go to South Carolina. He’s not going to go to New Hampshire. He’s going to come to Washington, D.C., and he’s going to do that because the National Prayer Breakfast is on Thursday. And people who have been following Ben Carson’s career know that that’s really where he got himself on the political map, attending that prayer breakfast, and really giving it to President Obama at the time. And he became kind of a hero among conservatives, among evangelicals especially.’

“Tapper: ‘But it’s very unusual...’

“Bash: ‘Very unusual.’

“Tapper: ‘...to be announcing that you’re going to go home to rest for a few days, not going on to the next site. Plus, he’s already announced that he’s going to be coming out and speaking at 9:15 local and 10:15 Eastern, no matter whether or not we know the results, because he wants to get home and get ahead of the storm.’

“Bash: ‘Look, if you want to be president of the United States, you don’t go home to Florida. I mean, that’s bottom line. That’s the end of the story. If you want to signal to your supporters that you want it, that you’re hungry for it, that you want them to get out and and [sic] campaign, you’ve got to be out there doing it too. And he’s not doing it. It’s very unusual.’

“Tapper: ‘Very unusual news that CNN has just learned. CNN’s Chris Moody breaking the story. Wolf, back to you in Washington.’

“Blitzer: ‘Very significant news indeed, guys, thanks very much.’”

The on-air talent treated the story as a big deal, at least at the beginning. As mentioned above, “Bash and Tapper both say that this is ‘very unusual’ and anchor Wolf Blitzer adds that it is ‘very significant news.’” In total, Miss Bash and Mr. Tapper described the “very significant news” as “very unusual” four times. Twice, Miss Bash and Mr. Tapper referred to Mr. Moody as “breaking this news” and “breaking the story,” again conveying a sense of urgency and import.

Mr. Tapper said, “almost every single candidate is going to be going directly from here to New Hampshire to campaign — except for … Dr. Ben Carson.” Miss Bash said, “Look, if you want to be president of the United States, you don’t go home to Florida.” If these people thought the trip was “just a detour,” why did they treat it as a big deal? I don’t know when the talking heads pulled an Emily Litella “Never mind.”

It’s technically true the talking heads did not assert Mr. Carson was ending his campaign, but they got about as close as they could without crossing the line. Contrary to AD’s assertion, it’s obvious the CNN on-air talent early on appeared to think Mr. Carson’s trip was much more than “just a detour.”

As for “Cruz acknowledged that ‘CNN got it correct,’” here’s the full quote: “CNN got it correct. Miracles happen. But that is part of the democratic process to let Iowa caucusers know, here is the news that is breaking. And it is relevant.” It would have been more accurate had Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said, “CNN got it correct, eventually.”