Several Fox News employees have linked Ted Cruz to an anti-Donald Trump ad featuring the billionaire businessman's third wife, Melania, but it was produced by a political action committee that is in no way affiliated with the Texas senator's campaign.
The Facebook ad, which was produced by a PAC called Make America Awesome, featured a picture of Melania Trump from a nude GQ photo shoot she posed for in 2000.
"Make America Awesome is a SuperPAC dedicated to making sure Donald Trump is not the Republican nominee in 2016. All consultants affiliated with Make America Awesome are working for no fee and have donated their time and money to perform what we view as a national service," a political consultant affiliated with Make America Awesome told the Washington Examiner's media desk.
"Make America Awesome is not authorized by nor does it support any single candidate. Our activities are solely intended to defeat Donald Trump and it doesn't take a Fox News Channel personality to understand this will necessarily benefit one candidate or another in a given state or Congressional district as the situation dictates," the consultant added.
The anti-Trump ad included a disclaimer at the bottom, reading, "Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee."
Nevertheless, Fox's Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Andrea Tantaros, Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Lou Dobbs each claimed this week that the Melania-themed Trump attack was the work of a pro-Cruz PAC.
"[N]ote to candidates: if u are going to take the benefits of what your supporting SuperPac does, u should take responsibility for what it does," Van Susteren said on social media Thursday.
"Candidates love their supporting SuperPacs but then when SuperPacs go off rails, say 'I didn't do it,'" she added.
Van Susteren changed her tune later that evening, and stated correctly during her show that the ad was, in fact, put out by a, "super PAC that's anti-Trump. It's not Ted Cruz."
Make America Awesome, which was founded by GOP strategist Liz Mair, targeted female Mormon voters in Utah this month with the Melania ad, which included text that read, "Meet Melania Trump. Your next first lady. Or you could support Cruz on Tuesday."
The Texas lawmaker went on to win Utah Tuesday evening.
Trump responded to the attack by threatening to " spill the beans" about the senator's wife, Heidi Cruz. The casino tycoon escalated the fight further Wednesday evening by circulating a tweet featuring an unflattering image of Heidi Cruz alongside a picture of Melania. Text superimposed over the side-by-side picture read, "no need to 'spill the beans' the images are worth a thousand words."
"@Don_Vito_08: "A picture is worth a thousand words" @realDonaldTrump #LyingTed #NeverCruz @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/5bvVEwMVF8"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
March 24, 2016
Cruz, who has denounced the Melania ad, responded to Trump Thursday by calling him a "sniveling coward."
Though the Make America Awesome ad encouraged Utah voters to support Cruz, and though the group has thrown its support behind the Texas senator repeatedly as he seeks to best Trump in the war for the most number of delegates, the PAC is not explicitly pro-Cruz. Rather, it was launched with the sole purpose of preventing Trump from becoming the party's nominee.
"We are, by default, now backing Cruz but that is because it's the best available mechanism for stopping Trump," Mair told the Examiner. "We would run ads encouraging people to vote for a dried dog turd if it had a viable shot at blocking Trump."
She added, "I personally was a supporter of Cruz during his Senate run, and I'd be very happy with him as a nominee."
.@JaredWyand @Flap For the record, guys, Cruz has never attended a conference of ours or asked for our support.
— Liz Mair (@LizMair)
March 23, 2016
Mair said she has not spoken with Cruz this election cycle, and the PAC has never coordinated with the senator's campaign, which would be illegal.
These easily verifiable details seemed to have escaped some of Fox's staff.
"I noticed this morning, Cruz is going after – Ted Cruz is saying things about Melania, and your father fired back," Earhardt said Wednesday morning in an interview with the real estate mogul's son, Eric.
Her "Fox and Friends" colleague, Doocy, nodded along and referred to Make America Awesome as a Cruz super PAC. Doocy issued an on-air correction later Friday morning.
The senator, for his part, has never remarked on Melania Trump, except to say that she is " lovely."
Donald, real men don't attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life. https://t.co/pprXhIMzUT
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz)
March 24, 2016
Hannity, an enthusiastic Trump supporter, also got the story wrong Wednesday, and stated on his radio show that Cruz was somehow connected to the Facebook ad.
"Things got pretty nasty, between Trump and Cruz, I guess it was a super PAC that supports Ted Cruz [that] went out there with a photo, a G.Q. photo shoot of Melania Trump, Donald Trump's wife," he said.
He later issued a correction on social media, tweeting, "Earlier I said a pro-Cruz PAC pushed the Melania ad. Incorrect, the group has no affiliation with Cruz & as I said, Cruz condemned it."
He did not, however, issue an on-air correction on either his radio or television program Thursday, as he took the day off.
On Thursday, Tantaros, another enthusiastic Trump booster, referred to Make America Awesome as a "pro-Cruz super PAC."
That same day, Fox Business Network anchor Lou Dobbs claimed incorrectly on his program that Trump targeted Heidi Cruz only after the senator, "began the exchange with a super PAC attack on The Donald's wife."
Fox News Insider also published a story Thursday that reported in its opening lines, "Donald Trump continued his war of words with Ted Cruz over their wives stemming from a Cruz Super PAC using an image of Melania Trump in an ad."
.@JaredWyand @Flap For the record, guys, Cruz has never attended a conference of ours or asked for our support.
— Liz Mair (@LizMair)
March 23, 2016
Mair said she has been inundated with hate mail from angry Trump fans since the Facebook ad's release.
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This post has been updated to include both Lou Dobbs' remarks on the ad as well as statements from Make America Awesome.