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:
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.
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:
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 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.”
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.’
Mike Cernovich posts: An expose accusing Ted Cruz of having multiple affairs has now been confirmed by at least two other sources. The original source of the story, the National Enquirer, caused some to question it. While skepticism of all media is appropriate, the National Enquirer has previously broken affairs involving high-profile politicians, including former presidential candidate John Edwards.
The National Enquirer accused Ted Cruz of having an affair with five women.
COMING CLEAN: From what I know, at least 2 of the women named as Cruz mistresses by the National Enquirer are accurate #TRUMP #CRUZ #TCOT
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) March 25, 2016
Before the story broke, Johnson hinted that a Ted Cruz sex scandal was coming.
Boom! From March 14th. #CruzSexScandal @Drews_Views pic.twitter.com/iN8ISrtynT
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 25, 2016
The story was ultimately killed by the editorial department.
Some people think #MicrosoftRubioFraud is the big scandal from last night. Wait until they hear the bombshell about Ted Cruz.
— Allum Bokhari (@LibertarianBlue) February 2, 2016
Been told it's a few more days before we can drop the new Cruz goss. Nothing I can do
— Allum Bokhari (@LibertarianBlue) February 4, 2016
I hate getting scooped.
— Allum Bokhari (@LibertarianBlue) March 25, 2016
@MAGAmerchant @realDonaldTrump @Campaign_Trump Lots heard rumors. An online media outlet new the whole story but they chose not to run w/it.
— Drew Johnson (@Drews_Views) March 25, 2016
The FEC investigated a $500,000 transfer made from Ted Cruz to Carly Fiorina, a competitor.
The unexplained manner in which Carly Fiorina got her hands on half a million dollars of another candidate’s money this summer has now graduated from being an internet curiosity to becoming a legal matter, as the Federal Election Commission has begun an inquiry into where the money really came from and why. It’s the latest scandal to surface in the Fiorina camp after her rise in the polls began this month, and this one may go beyond a mere problem of perception.
Why would Cruz donate money to another candidate? One of Cruz’s alleged mistresses is Sarah Isgur Flores. She was a manager of Fiorina’s campaign!
Hush money? Sounds like it.
Ted Cruz donated 500K to Carly Fiorina – his competitor. Who managed Fiorina? Sarah Isgur Flores, a suspected Cruz mistrss! #CruzSexScandal
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 25, 2016
Oh boy.That $500k transfer from KtP to CfA sure looks different now. See FEC Inquiry Here -> https://t.co/qNZokKoAOG pic.twitter.com/iHRTcfw10a
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) March 25, 2016
Note that many Rubio backers mentioned a huge Ted Cruz scandal that they were sitting on. These are also anti-Trump forces who have chosen to back Cruz.
Many Rubio supporters and anti-Trump consultants hinted at The Thing- which was a campaign-ending Ted Cruz scandal. They dropped it once Rubio left the race, as they did not want Trump to win.
Note how Rubio backer @TheRickWilson stopped hinting of #cruzsexscandal once Rubio lost. Didn't want Trump to win! pic.twitter.com/O8ExZ7EJaH
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 25, 2016
Rick Wilson referenced The Thing re: Ted Cruz.
Yet more evidence of the #cruzsexscandal. https://t.co/IFWRe1Agvn
— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 25, 2016
All talk of The Thing dropped once Rubio was out of the race, thus forcing GOP insiders to choose between tanking Cruz, guaranteeing Trump the primary nomination, or sitting on the information.
Cruz cannot ignore the sex scandal. Although the mainstream media tried dismissing it as unfounded rumor, we made #CruzSexScandal the #1 worldwide trending topic on Twitter.
We created a news cycle using the power of social media, with my own Twitter account receiving hundreds-of-thousands of views per hour.
Cruz and his campaign are going into full crisis mode.
Stay tuned for the latest developments.
P.S. If you like this article, check out my books.
* If these Cruz allegations are true … kinda impressive, dude was banging half of the Conservative Punditress field.
* I’ve met and spoken with @amandacarpenter. Like most Republican operatives, she’s a provincial dimwit.
* Lots of vids of Cruz’s wife & kids recoiling from him, making faces. IMO, this is evidence that mom knows abt cheating, kids taking her cue.
* In SMV hierarchy, Cruz would be a lesser alpha: not a natural leader/ladykiller, but has dark triad traits & smarts that elevate his Game.
* Look at it this way, #TedCruz’s street cred just went way up. #TedCruzSexScandal
* Scott Adams: I’m watching CNN and Fox News awkwardly avoid the biggest story in politics because of journalistic standards.
* If Cruz had five mistresses, given his stiffness and sliminess, it’d be a testament to his Game, I suppose. Or the effect of power on women.
* I ask the #CruzCrew pray with me that #HeidiCruz’s HIV test comes back negative.
* Did Cruz give $500,000 in hush money to cover up #CruzSexScandal? The FEC wants to know!
Mike Cernovich: Journalist Drew Johnson of the Washington Times confirmed on Twitter that two of the women were accurately identified as Cruz’s mistresses.
Drew: COMING CLEAN: From what I know, at least 2 of the women named as Cruz mistresses by the National Enquirer are accurate.
Drew posted March 14: SCANDAL: Within 24 hrs of #Rubio dropping out, #Trump (who had at least 2 affairs) will leak info about a #Cruz extramarital affair.
In early February Breitbart reporter Allum Bokhari hinted at a huge Ted Cruz story.
REPORT: After the Charleston massacre, President Obama made this comment: “the unique mayhem that gun violence afflicts upon this nation.” Yet, since 1970, 19 of the worst 20 public mass shootings occurred outside the US. Of those cases, five occurred in developed or “advanced” countries. Muslims also committed 19 of the worst 20 mass public shootings in the world. 29 of the 33 worst shootings are outside the US. It is possible that I am still missing even some of these large mass public shootings prior to 2000, but any of the ones being missed are outside of the US and Europe.
The FBI definition of mass public shootings excludes “shootings that resulted from gang or drug violence” or that were part of some other crime. The FBI also defines “public” places as “includ[ing] commercial areas (divided into malls, businesses open to pedestrian traffic, and businesses closed to pedestrian traffic), educational environments (divided into schools [pre-kindergarten through 12th grade] and IHEs), open spaces, government properties (divided into military and other government properties), houses of worship, and health care facilities.” A report by the New York Police Department has a very similar definition. The 33 worst mass public shootings all have at least 15 people who were shot to death.
The worst public mass shooting are as follows:
2) Gamboru and Ngala in Borno State, Nigeria, May 5 and 6, 2014: Boko Haram Islamic militants killed more than 300 residents.
3) Borno massacre, in Konduga, Borno State, on May 7, 2014: Boko Haram Islamic militants killed at least 200 Christian villagers. Several others were injured.
5) Paris, France, November 14, 2015: Three teams of extremists carried out the coordinated gun-and-suicide bombing attacks across Paris that left 130 people dead and 352 injured, a French prosecutor said Saturday.
6) Borno massacre, in Konduga, Borno State, on February 14, 2014: Boko Haram Islamic militants killed at least 121 Christian villagers.
7) Izghe, Borno State, February 15, 2014: Islamic group Boko Haram killed 105 men and 1 elderly woman
8) Utoya, Norway, July 22, 2011: Anders Behring Breivik used a gun to kill 67 people and wound 110 others. Still others were killed by bombs that Breivik detonated.
10) Yobe State, Nigeria, February 25, 2014: 59 boys were killed at the Federal Government College of Buni Yadi. The boys were separated from the girls and the young girls were told to get married at a very early age.
11) Gujba, Yobe State, Nigeria, September 29, 2013: gunmen from the Islamic group Boko Haram entered the male dormitory in the College of Agriculture and killed “as many as 50 dead.” Most of the dead were Muslim college students.
12) Mamudo, Yobe State, Nigeria, July 6, 2013: Islamic group Boko Haram killed 42 children and teachers at a boarding school.
13) Sousse, Tunisia, June 26, 2015: Seifeddine Rezgui, a college student, used a gun to kill 39 people at a crowded tourist beach resort at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
14) Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, April 28 and 29, 1996: Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded another 23 at a popular tourist site, the historic Port Arthur former prison colony.
16) Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, April 16, 2007: Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 17 by gun fire at Virginia Tech University.
17) Gujarat, India, September 24 and 25 2002: Two terrorists attacked the Akshardham temple complex and killed 31 people and wounded 80 others by using automatic weapons and hand grenades
18) Hebron, Israel, February 25, 1994: Baruch Goldstein killed 29 and wounded 125 Muslim worshippers in an attack on the Cave of the Patriarchs.
19) Jammu, India, July 22, 2002: Islamic militants killed 27 Hindus and injured at least 30 others, some critically
20) Lod Airport outside Tel Aviv, Israel, May 30, 1972: three members of the Japanese Red Army attacked Lod airport (now Ben Gurion International Airport) near Tel Aviv, killing 26 people and injuring 80 others
21) Newtown, Connecticut, USA, December 14, 2012: 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 26 people at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
22) Killeen, Texas, USA, October 16, 1991: George Hennard crashed his pickup truck into the plate glass windows of the Luby Cafeteria and then shot 23 people to death.
23) Bamako, Mali, November 20, 2015: Siege at the Radisson hotel, a luxury hotel, in the capital Bamako that left 20 people dead
24) San Ysidro, California, USA July 18, 1984: James Huberty shot and killed 21 people and wounded another 19 at a McDonald’s restaurant.
25) Otite, Kogi State, Nigeria, August 7, 2012: Three Islamic terrorists attacked the Deeper Life Bible Church killing 19 people and wounding an unknown number of others.
26) Erfurt, Germany, April 26, 2002: Robert Steinhäuser, a recent graduate of the Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany, killed 18 people.
27) Near Stirling, Scotland, UK, March 13, 1996: Thomas Hamilton killed 17 people at the Dunblane Primary School.
28) Popular Ivory Coast beach resort, March 13, 2016: 16 people shot to death in a terrorist attack at the Etoile du Sud, a hotel popular with Westerners. The attack was probably directed at Americans who were traveling in the area.
31) Hungerford, UK, August 19, 1987: Michael Robert Ryan killed 16 people, but they occurred at several locations.
32) São Gonçalo do Amarante, Natal, Brazil, May 21, 1997: Genildo Ferreira Do Francais killed 15 people in a small northern Brazilian town.
33) Winnenden, Germany, March 11, 2009: 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer 15 killed at the Winnenden School.
Other cases: Montreal, Quebec, Canada had 14 people killed and another 14 injured in a shooting at the École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989. The Zug Switzerland shooting left 14 people killed in September 27, 2001. The 1966 University of Texas shooting left 14 people dead (wife and mother were killed through other means). Edmond, Oklahoma shooting at a post office left 14 people killed on August 20, 1986. Honduras, November 25, 2015: “Two massacres that killed 15 people in less than 12 hours rocked Honduras and left the country’s top cop in tears on Wednesday. Police say seven were shot in the capital of Tegucigalpa early Wednesday, while eight bus drivers were killed in the northern city of San Pedro Sula late Tuesday.”
UPDATE: Woo Bum-kon killed 56 people a over two days in South Korea (April 26-27, 1982). It is hard to include him in the above list because there was no large number of people killed in any one single public place, but instead he would kill one or two people in a lot of different public places. He also used grenades to kill people.
Other cases: The Zug Switzerland shooting left 14 people killed in September 27, 2001. The 1966 University of Texas shooting left 14 people dead (wife and mother were killed through other means). Edmond, Oklahoma shooting at a post office left 14 people killed on August 20, 1986.
Nigeria. Given that these were attacks by Islamic militants purely against civilians, they are classified as terrorist attacks.
Israel. Given that most of these attacks were conducted by Palestinians, one could argue that these were attacks over sovereignty. Above we have only included one attack by the Red Japanese Army against Israel.
