Cruz campaign asks stations to stop airing anti-Cruz ad

Sen Ted Cruz's (R-TX) campaign sent a letter to TV stations across South Carolina and Georgia on Feb 16, demanding that they stop airing what it calls "a false attack ad" from the conservative super PAC American Future Fund that goes after Sen Cruz on national security. "The ad falsely claims 'Cruz proposed mass legalization of illegal immigrants.' Ted Cruz has never introduced, outlined, or supported any policy that would give legal status to illegal immigrants," wrote Eric Brown, general counsel to the campaign, in the letter shared with the media. "Indeed, quite the opposite, Ted Cruz led the fight in Congress against legislation written by Senator Rubio, among others, that created legal permanent status for millions of people in the country unlawfully. At least two fact-checks have evaluated this claim and determined it to be false, and others found no evidence to support it.”

In its statement, the Sen Cruz campaign urged the stations to consider their respective statuses as Federal Communications Commission-licensed entities in deciding whether to can the advertisement. "Because this advertisement makes a flatly false factual claim for which your station is ultimately liable, we strongly urge you to exercise your discretion as a licensee to refuse to continue to broadcast this advertisement, and, because it is already airing, immediately pull the advertisement from your rotation," Brown wrote.