CHARLESTON, S.C. — Rep. [crscore]Trey Gowdy[/crscore], a supporter of Sen. [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore], released a video on Thursday bashing Sen. [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore] for running “factually deficient” ads ahead of the South Carolina primary Saturday.
In the ad posted to the Rubio campaign’s YouTube page, Gowdy refers to an apparently photoshopped picture of the Florida senator happily shaking the hand of President Obama that the Cruz campaign posted on TheRealRubioRecord.com. (RELATED: Cruz Uses Fake Photo Of Rubio And Obama; Rubio Camp Decries ‘Dishonest Tactics’)
“After more than seven years of the destructive policies of President Obama, we shouldn’t replace him with his Republican clone,” the text on the Cruz campaign-funded website read. But the Cruz campaign initially said they wouldn’t have used an inauthentic photo, according to a CNN reporter.
“My fellow South Carolinians do not mind tough politics but it has to be fair, it has to be accurate — the truth matters,” Gowdy said in the video filmed on Rubio’s campaign bus. “So when you run ads that have to be taken down because they’re factually deficient, they’re so factually deficient they have to be taken down, and when you run ads that are so fake that you photoshop somebody’s head on somebody else’s body… Come on.”
“The truth matters, run on your record,” the chairman of the House Benghazi Committee added. “Tell people what you’re going to do. But don’t mislead my fellow South Carolinians with fake Facebook posts, ads that can’t even withstand FCC scrutiny, and then photoshopping pictures… Come on, you’re better than that.”
“Your campaign ought to be better than that,” Gowdy said at the end of the video.
This isn’t the first time Gowdy has been upset about the Cruz campaign’s tactics. On Tuesday, Gowdy decried a fake Facebook post falsely claiming the South Carolina congressman was switching his support from Rubio to Cruz. (RELATED: Trey Gowdy Upset After Fake Facebook Page Claims He Switched Endorsement)
“It’s been reported that a fake Facebook page has been used to fool South Carolinians into thinking that I no longer support Marco Rubio and that I’m instead supporting Ted Cruz,” Gowdy said in a statement. “Nothing could be further from the truth and I’m demanding that Senator Cruz and his campaign repudiate these dishonest and underhanded tactics.”
Cruz responded by denying any involvement in the fake Facebook post. “Our campaign had absolutely nothing to do with this fraudulent Facebook post,” he said.
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