Sen. Ted Cruz accused CNN’s senior congressional correspondent of bias after the journalist pointed out Cruz’s refusal to answer a question about the Senate impeachment trial.
“Tried to ask Ted Cruz if he defends Trump conduct on Ukraine, and if Trump call with Zelensky was ‘perfect,'” Manu Raju reported Friday night. “He said: ‘You asked a question last night let me let someone else ask a question.’ Then @npfandos asked the same question, he ignored it. He took one other q, then split.”
Tried to ask Ted Cruz if he defends Trump conduct on Ukraine, and if Trump call with Zelensky was “perfect.” He said: “You asked a question last night let me let someone else ask a question.” Then @npfandos asked the same question, he ignored it. He took one other q, then split
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 24, 2020
Cruz did not acknowledge the report and instead attacked Raju hours later.
“Manu, in your pissing fight w/ @MarthaMcSally EVERY GOP Senator agreed you were the MOST partisan/unfair Cap Hill reporter,” Cruz responded. “Rather than address problem, CNN top brass ‘released the hounds’ on McSally. Your Qs aren’t hard, but when you’re obnoxious, we answer other reporters’ Qs.”
Manu, in your pissing fight w/ @MarthaMcSally EVERY GOP Senator agreed you were the MOST partisan/unfair Cap Hill reporter. Rather than address problem, CNN top brass “released the hounds” on McSally. Your Qs aren’t hard, but when you’re obnoxious, we answer other reporters’ Qs. https://t.co/5v6ID0NRJh
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 24, 2020
The “pissing match” Cruz referred to was a confrontation last week between Raju and Sen. Martha McSally. After Raju asked McSally whether she wished to see more witnesses be called in the Senate impeachment trial, McSally called Raju a “liberal hack.”
Video of the episode went viral on social media, and McSally’s reelection campaign fundraised off the moment.
Many came to the defense of Raju, who has covered Congress for print and television outlets for nearly two decades.
“Manu Raju is a consummate professional who is respected by his journalistic peers and the people he covers, politics notwithstanding,” the National Press Club said in a statement following the incident with McSally. “Stating the contrary is factually and ethically wrong.”
