The National Enquirer’s March 25 issue features a bombshell accusation against 2016 Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz: he’s been having an affair with five different women. While the Enquirer didn’t name any names and ran only pixelated photos, the Twittersphere has been rife with speculation and Internet detective work under the hashtag #CruzSexScandal. Internet detectives claim to have identified three of the five women whose pixelated likenesses appear in the Enquirer story, two of whom worked on other candidates’ campaigns in 2016 and one of whom worked for his own.
The “story” has dominated Twitter, with #CruzSexScandal trending worldwide and allegations of hush money and questions about what the other candidates knew flying, especially in light of Cruz’s recent high-profile spat with Donald Trump over the use of Melania Trump’s photo in campaign ads. But there are plenty of reasons to be more than a little skeptical of the Enquirer’s report.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Twitter Users Identified Three Women from the Enquirer’s Photos
The Enquirer’s photos paired with those of Katrina Pierson, Sarah Isgur Flores and Amanda Carpenter. (Twitter)
While the Enquirer ran poorly pixelated photos of the women it claimed were having affairs, it didn’t take long for Twitter to figure out their identities. Internet radio host Bob Zicari posted the following to his Twitter account shortly after the story broke:
From left to right, the women identified in the photos are Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson, former Carly Fiorina staffer Sarah Isgur Flores, and former Cruz communications director Amanda Carpenter. Carpenter is married, while Flores and Pierson are not.
It’s important to note that the women identified in the photos are so far only confirmed to have their photos used in an Enquirer story.
2. Cruz Is Accused of Paying “Hush Money” to Fiorina Over His Alleged Affair with a Staffer
Sarah Isgur Flores with a fellow Fiorina aide in 2016. (Twitter)
Sarah Isgur Flores served as Carly Fiorina’s deputy campaign manager during her 2016 run for President. During the early stages of that campaign in July 2015, a Ted Cruz-affiliated Super PAC, Keep the Promise I, donated $500,000 to rival Carly Fiorina’s official campaign fund. The Washington Post noted that the donation was “unusual” at the time. Since the Enquirer’s accusations, however, Twitter users have alleged that the donation was “hush money” to keep silent about the affair:
It bears repeating that no one has proof of anything, and Fiorina has herself endorsed and campaigned with Cruz since ending her campaign. Moreover, a photo from Flores’s Twitter shows Fiorina and the Cruz family being quite friendly:
Did Ted Cruz Pay ‘Hush Money’ to Carly Fiorina Over #CruzSexScandal?
A Ted Cruz-affiliated Super PAC gave $500,000 to Carly Fiorina’s campaign, a staffer with whom, Sarah Isgur Flores, is accused of having an affair with Cruz. Was it hush money?
Sarah Isgur Flores: All the Photos You Need to See
Sarah Isgur Flores is a Republican strategist who used to work for the Carly Fiorina campaign. Flores is getting attention today because of the so-called “Ted Cruz sex scandal.”
3. Katrina Pierson Works for Trump as a Spokesperson
Ted Cruz and Katrina Pierson during her 2014 Congressional campaign. (Getty)
Katrina Pierson, a spokesperson for Donald Trump, is one of the women accused by the Enquirer of an affair with Cruz. Her current employer and the timing of the announcement have led to skepticism about the story, including this bit from left-leaning blog Crooks and Liars:
The pictures they weakly disguise are pretty easy to match up with people. The image above suggests that Katrina Pierson is one of his so-called mistresses, as well as others.
It feels to me like Trump dropped a whole lot of garbage over at the Enquirer to discredit Ted Cruz, and that sense is backed up even more by the fact that one of the lovely ladies is supposedly Donald Trump’s spokeswoman.
Pierson herself dismissed the idea of a scandal before she was named, in a manner that suggests no love lost between the two:
Cruz and Pierson do have a prior professional relationship through Texas politics. In 2014, Katrina Pierson challenged incumbent Republican Representative Pete Sessions’s seat, and was ultimately unsuccessful in garnering the nomination. During that run, however, the Cruz family had high praise for her. Rafael Cruz, a Texan preacher and the father of 2016 candidate Ted, endorsed her run, calling her a “strict constitutionalist.” The younger Cruz had called her “a fearless, principled conservative.”
Katrina Pierson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
Katrina Pierson, spokesperson for Republican 2016 frontrunner has been accused of carrying on an affair with Republican rival Ted Cruz. Here’s what you need to know.
4. Trump Threatened to “Spill the Beans” Shortly Before the Story Broke
A PAC supporting Ted Cruz ran Facebook ads featuring this nude photo from Donald Trump’s wife Melania. (Twitter)
Make America Awesome, a PAC supporting Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, ran the ad seen above on Facebook ads in Utah ahead of the state’s caucus. Trump called Cruz out on Twitter, including a cryptic threat:
Cruz responded indignantly, calling Trump a “coward:”
Trump later backed away with a meme featuring both wives:
It’s unclear what Trump meant by his comments, fueling speculation in light of the Enquirer’s accusations, and the woman on his payroll involved with them.
Melania Trump Naked Photo Ad Angers Donald
Donald Trump objected via Twitter to a Ted Cruz-affiliated PAC running Facebook ads featuring a nude photo of his wife Melania Trump in Utah. Read more about the ad and their exchange here.
5. Breitbart Supposedly Had Similar Evidence, but Did Not Publish
Breitbart writer Allum Bokhari reportedly had evidence on the scandal but did not publish. (Twitter)
Multiple Twitter users claimed that Breitbart reporter Allum Bokhari had evidence of the affairs but hesitated to publish it. Bokhari fueled such speculation with a tweet the night the story broke:
Multiple Twitter users reported a Breitbart outage in the time following the break, leading to speculation that information-hungry users crashed the site:
The outage appeared to be brief, however:
It’s worth noting that Breitbart has steadfastly (and controversially) supported Trump in this election cycle. Two employees resigned when the site refused to back them up over an alleged assault of reporter Michelle Fields by Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, and McKay Coppins of Buzzfeed reported that several anonymous Breitbart staffers claimed Trump was directly funding the site:
According to four sources with knowledge of the situation, editors and writers at the outlet have privately complained since at least last year that the company’s top management was allowing Trump to turn Breitbart into his own fan website—using it to hype his political prospects and attack his enemies. One current editor called the water-carrying ‘despicable’ and ’embarrassing,’ and said he was told by an executive last year that the company had a financial arrangement with Trump. A second Breitbart staffer said he had heard a similar description of the site’s relationship with the billionaire but didn’t know the details; and a third source at the company said he knew of several instances when managers had overruled editors at Trump’s behest. Additionally, a conservative communications operative who works closely with Breitbart described conversations in which “multiple writers and editors” said Trump was paying for the ability to shape coverage, and added that one staffer claimed to have seen documentation of the ‘pay for play.’
