Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has responded to the furor on the right over photographs published by The Associated Press in which it appears as if a pistol is aimed at Cruz’s forehead.
During an appearance Tuesday on
The Mark Levin Show, the Republican presidential hopeful pointed out the double-standard between how the mainstream media treats conservatives versus liberals.
"There’s no doubt — if they had run the same photo and it had been Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama that the entire world would’ve recoiled in horror, and the editor who made the decision to run it would very likely have been fired and there would’ve been a public apology," said Cruz. "Instead, this is business as usual."
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"As you know, the mainstream media, they are not objective reporters," he said. "They are hardcore leftists and partisans, they are Barack Obama’s most important Praetorian Guard and no one is more ready for Hillary than the mainstream media."
The Praetorian Guard protected Roman emperors.
Levin characterized as "outrageous" and "appalling" the AP’s decision to publish a handful of photographs taken over the weekend when Cruz addressed a crowd of supporters at the "Celebrate the 2nd Amendment" event at CrossRoads Shooting Sports in Johnston, Iowa.
The AP issued a statement saying that the images "were not intended to portray Sen. Cruz in a negative light," according to
Yahoo News.
In the backdrop of a close-up profile of Cruz were images of guns — on posters hanging on a wall — that made it appear that a pistol was pointed at his head.
Cruz, who appeared on Levin’s show to discuss his no vote on President Obama’s trade agenda, said he wasn’t surprised the AP would cast him in a negative light.
"You know, I’ve kind of enjoyed some of the contrast of all the AP photos of Barack Obama with a halo of lights behind his head versus me with a giant gun pointed between my eyes, because that sums up their views of you and me and conservatives, and, frankly, of Americans," said Cruz.
"They view hardworking men and women all across this country, people who believe in the values, the Judeo-Christian values, the free market, people who believe in the Constitution. They view us as ignorant rubes.
"And that’s their hostility coming out and it is the nature of who they are. They are partisans."
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