--- title: Donald Trump Misattributes Quote on Ted Cruz description: Donald Trump's new favorite attack on the stump is to call Ted Cruz a liar. But on Tuesday, Trump said something untrue to bolster his claim canonical: https://time.com/4226362/donald-trump-ted-cruz-coburn-lying/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T20:31:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T18:14:24.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Misattributes Quote While Accusing Cruz of Dishonesty og:description: The quote did not come from a former Republican Senator. og:url: https://time.com/4226362/donald-trump-ted-cruz-coburn-lying/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt556d0104221a0d6a/69887dc0bc6cfc37d83dbbf8/donald-trump-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: GOP Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Campaigns In Greenville, South Carolina og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Misattributes Quote While Accusing Cruz of Dishonesty twitter:description: The quote did not come from a former Republican Senator. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt556d0104221a0d6a/69887dc0bc6cfc37d83dbbf8/donald-trump-poll.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Misattributes Quote While Accusing Cruz of Dishonesty > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:14 PM UTCPublished: Feb 16, 2016 8:31 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to voters during a campaign event Feb. 15, in Greenville, S.C. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to voters during a campaign event Feb. 15, in Greenville, S.C. Alex Wong/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 6:14 PM UTCPublished: Feb 16, 2016 8:31 PM UTC Donald Trump’s new favorite attack on the stump is to [call Ted Cruz a liar](http://time.com/4224871/donald-trump-south-carolina-ted-cruz-liar/). But on Tuesday, Trump himself said something untrue in an attempt to bolster his claim, misattributing a quote about Cruz to a former Senator. First, Trump retweeted his social-media director’s link to a blog post about former Republican Senator Tom Coburn on Texas Senator Cruz. “Unreal! Highly respected Senator Tom Coburn- said this about Cruz,” the business mogul tweeted, attributing the quote “He is, without a doubt, one of the most dishonest people in DC,” to Coburn. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/699676865418653697) Trump then repeated the quote during a rally in North Augusta, S.C. “Did you see the Senator from Oklahoma just came out with a statement? One of the most incredible statements … he came out with such an unbelievably strong statement that Ted Cruz is the most dishonest person.” In truth, that quote about Cruz came from a liberal blogger about four months ago, not from a former U.S. Senator in a recent statement. The link in Trump’s tweet goes to an October post by Allen Clifton on a site called Forward Progressives, which begins, “I’ve made no secret of my total disdain for Sen. Ted Cruz. He epitomizes everything that’s wrong with the Republican party. He is, without a doubt, one of the most dishonest people in Washington and, in my opinion, a complete sociopath.” Clifton’s post (he’s one of Forward Progressives’ co-founders) goes on to quote Coburn criticizing Cruz for contributing to congressional gridlock. [Coburn called](http://www.buzzfeed.com/ilanbenmeir/tom-coburn-slams-cruz-effect-less-faith-in-congress-disappoi#.cgP7v6LrK) over-promising in Congress the “Cruz effect,” where “you create greater disappointment in the hinterlands, because you gave them a false hope, knowing that you couldn’t accomplish it, but it was about yelling, and screaming, and waving the flag.” But the quote Trump repeated Tuesday was from the blogger, not Coburn. “It’s an absolute fabrication. I’ve never said that, period,” Coburn [told the Washington ](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/coburn-trump-circulated-quote-attacking-cruz-absolute-fabrication/article/2583379)[_Examiner_](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/coburn-trump-circulated-quote-attacking-cruz-absolute-fabrication/article/2583379)Tuesday afternoon. “It’s unfortunate he would use my name to say something dishonest.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4226362/donald-trump-ted-cruz-coburn-lying/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4226362/donald-trump-ted-cruz-coburn-lying/"},"headline":"Trump Misattributes Quote While Accusing Cruz of Dishonesty","datePublished":"2016-02-16T20:31:09.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T18:14:24.000Z","description":"Donald Trump's new favorite attack on the stump is to call Ted Cruz a liar. 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