Ben Carson: Ted Cruz asked for one-on-one meeting to clear the air
Ben Carson said Saturday that Sen. Ted Cruz approached him during an off-camera break at the Republican debate to apologize for his campaign's decision to spread a false rumor at the Iowa caucuses about him dropping out.
"He said he's sorry that this happened and he wants to sit down and talk," Carson told The Washington Post after the debate. "He wants to discuss the whole thing and clear the air," although he added that a date for this one-on-one meeting had not yet been set.
Despite Cruz's apology, Carson still says Cruz's campaign is responsible for what happened last week in Iowa. The retired neurosurgeon told reporters Friday that he believed it hurt him at the caucuses.
"The evidence is there," he told the Post, referring to voicemail messages that his campaign released of Cruz aides telling caucus goers that Carson was likely to suspend his campaign. "Tapes, written communications, it's all out there. People have to decide whether this kind of behavior is acceptable to them."
During the debate, Carson said he was disappointed in Cruz's campaign.
"It gives us a very good example of certain types of Washington ethics. Washington ethics. Washington ethics basically says, if it's legal, you do what you need to do in order to win. That's not my ethics. My ethics is, you do what's right,' he said.
CNN has slammed Cruz for continuing to put blame on the cable news network for starting the rumor. CNN had only reported, however, that Carson was heading home to pick up clean clothes and never indicated that he would withdraw from the race.
"The Cruz campaign's actions the night of the Iowa caucuses had nothing to do with CNN's reporting. The fact that Senator Cruz continues to knowingly mislead the voters about this is astonishing," the network said.
