On Thursday, all three network morning shows were eager to hype former senator and Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole viciously attacking Texas Senator Ted Cruz in a New York Times op-ed.
On ABC’s Good Morning America, correspondent Tom Llamas proclaimed: “This morning, more and more prominent Republicans turning their backs on Senator Ted Cruz. First Iowa's governor, and now, former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole, telling the New York Times Cruz is a, quote, “extremist” and ‘nobody likes him.’”
Following the report from Llamas, co-host George Stephanopoulos wondered: “You've got the establishment seeming to choose Trump over Cruz right now. Is that a problem for Cruz or an opportunity?” White House correspondent Jon Karl argued Cruz was in trouble: “Well, look, the establishment attacks have not hurt at all throughout this campaign. But I think this may be different....if you have establishment figures like the governor of Iowa, like Bob Dole, saying that he [Trump] is more electable than Ted Cruz, I think that actually helps Trump and hurts Cruz.”
On CBS This Morning, correspondent Major Garrett touted: “Republican elder statesmen Bob Dole, the 1996 presidential nominee, also signaled a preference for Trump, especially if the only other alternative was Cruz. ‘I question his allegiance to the party,’ Dole said about Cruz. ‘Nobody likes him.’”
On NBC’s Today, correspondent Peter Alexander promoted: “Bob Dole told The New York Times the GOP would suffer ‘cataclysmic’ and ‘wholesale losses’ if Cruz becomes its nominee.”
In a discussion with Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd that followed, co-host Savannah Guthrie noted: “I saw recently in New Hampshire had Cruz coming in second. Usually New Hampshire is a place where moderates and mainstream candidates have their chance to do well. What do you make of Cruz making a run in New Hampshire?”
Todd fretted: “Nobody is fighting for the Cruz vote, the sort of the libertarian, evangelical vote....I think if Cruz wins Iowa, I think he will be second. And then we're looking at Trump-Cruz. I don't know how the establishment breaks through if they don't take Cruz down in Iowa.”
