PoliFact's false attack on Ted Cruz

Analysts Fact Check PolitiFact’s Allegation That Ted Cruz Was ‘Mostly False’ on This Major Claim

TheBlaze TV’s Dan Andros and Jason Buttrill ripped into PolitiFact’s recent article claiming Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) is “mostly false” for saying the most violent criminals are Democrats.

Cruz’s initial comments came during an interview with conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, when he said, “Now listen, here’s the simple and undeniable fact. The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats. The media doesn’t report that.”

The PolitiFact piece cites these reasons as to why Cruz’s bold claim is inaccurate: the study didn’t differentiate between violent and non-violent criminals, the sample only polled criminals from three states and the paper only studied “ex-felons” and not “criminals” — all of which Andros and Buttrill contested.

TheBlaze radio host Stu Burguiere said, “First of all, [PolitiFact] admits that research cited by the Cruz campaign supports their claim, but then they rate it ‘mostly false.’”

“They say Cruz didn’t separate those two — as if somehow if, when you take the numbers that proved him out to be right, that you take out the violent ones, or put in the violent ones, then — all of the sudden — it’s going to make up the difference,” Andros said of PolitiFact’s claim that Cruz’s campaign didn’t account for violent vs. non-violent criminals.

Andros went on to reference PolitiFact’s numbers, claiming that by even considering both violent and non-violent criminals, the research still reveals a “similar pattern.” Of the three states sampled — New York, North Carolina and New Mexico — the numbers still favor Democrats.

According to PolitiFact, In New York, 62 percent registered Democrat, 9 percent Republican and 26 percent Independent; in North Carolina 52 percent registered Democrat, 19 percent Republican and 22 percent Independent; and in New Mexico 55 percent registered Democrat, 10 percent Republican and 18 percent Independent.

Buttrill followed up by referencing this Washington Post article, in which it says, “We do find that the majority of ex-felons in New Mexico, New York, and North Carolina register with the Democratic Party.”

Of the claim that the research paper’s sample size was too small, Andros had this to say: “If you have a trend in three states, it’s generally going to continue.”

Lastly, Burguiere asked Buttrill about what he described as the “dumbest point I’ve ever heard,” which is PolitiFact’s claim that the research is inaccurate because it only studied “ex-felons” and not “criminals.”

“How ridiculous is that?” Buttrill said. “So, basically, what they’re saying is, … ‘Criminals, when you go to do the stick-up at the bank, make sure you declare your political affiliation while you’re in the act of doing it.’”

“Of course you’re going to look at ex-felons,” Burguiere added. “You’re either going to get people who haven’t committed crimes yet or people in the middle of committing crimes — those are the other two options.”