Lyin' Ted

Pro-Kasich super PAC hits 'lyin' Ted'

By Nick Gass

The super PAC backing Ohio Gov. John Kasich is taking a page from Donald Trump in its latest ad, referring to Ted Cruz as "Lyin' Ted."

“Many just call him Lyin’ Ted," a narrator intones at the start of the ad from New Day for America, which features only an image of Cruz's face with a growing nose of lies.

Cruz's nose stretches throughout the 30-second video, eventually wrapping around the Texas senator's neck three times.

"Lied about Ben Carson to steal a win in Iowa," the narrator says, a reference to Cruz campaign staffers incorrectly citing a CNN report about Carson leaving the campaign trail as the Iowa caucuses kicked off the night of Feb. 1.

"Lies about being the best for the GOP when polls show he can’t even beat Hillary Clinton," the spot says, referring to Cruz's insistence that he would be the best candidate for the Republican Party to nominate.

The narrator continues, "His TV ad about John Kasich lied. Stations had to pull it off the air. If Ted Cruz’s mouth is moving, he’s lying.”

Kasich's campaign has maintained that a vote for Cruz in the primary represents a vote for Hillary Clinton, while Cruz's team has said that a vote for Kasich stands to only help Trump get closer to the nomination.

Trusted Leadership PAC, a super PAC supporting Ted Cruz, this week unveiled a $500,000 ad buy in Wisconsin hitting Kasich, which claimed that "[m]illionaires working side-by-side with George Soros are bankrolling his super PAC."

Kasich campaign manager John Weaver ripped the spot Tuesday on Twitter, writing, "Lyin' Ted, on every level. 0 Friends: tells story. 0 Record: tells history. 0 Vision: tells future. 0 chance: tells desperation. #cruzloser"

In sharing an Associated Press story on Twitter debunking the claim about Soros, communications director Mike Schrimpf tweeted, "Lyin' Ted."