CNN Pushes Back On Cruz Claims

Sen. Ted Cruz knowingly misstated CNN's reporting during Saturday's Republican primary debate, despite the fact that CNN's reporting was correct all along.

Cruz blamed CNN for a message his campaign sent to supporters the night of the Iowa caucuses suggesting Carson was going to suspend his campaign.

"My political team saw CNN's report breaking news and they forwarded that news to our volunteers, it was being covered on live television," Cruz said during the debate.

Cruz also claimed CNN had inaccurately reported that Carson was suspending his campaign "from 6:30 p.m. to 9:15," and "didn't correct that story until 9:15 that night."

That is false, says CNN. CNN never reported that Carson was suspending his campaign and never issued a correction, because there was no need to do so.

In a statement out Saturday night, CNN responded, "What Senator Cruz said tonight in the debate is categorically false. CNN never corrected its reporting because CNN never had anything to correct. The Cruz campaign's actions the night of the Iowa caucuses had nothing to do with CNN's reporting. The fact that Senator Cruz continues to knowingly mislead the voters about this is astonishing."

The controversy stems from a CNN scoop that was broadcast last Monday night, minutes before the Iowa caucuses began. Reporter Chris Moody received information from the Carson campaign that he would be taking a break from the campaign trail after Iowa.

.@tomforemancnn fact-checks @tedcruz on his false claim about @CNN https://t.co/082mLVxpTs

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 7, 2016

Moody, and the other CNN reporters who followed up on the report, said Carson would continue campaigning after taking a break at home in Florida. His next stop, they said, would be Washington, D.C., for the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.

During CNN's live coverage, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash called the move "very unusual," but said nothing about Carson dropping out of the race.

Nevertheless, the Cruz campaign sent a message to supporters in Iowa suggesting that Carson might be suspending his campaign.