--- title: Ted Cruz Twists Truth in New Anti-Trump Video description: Ted Cruz says "Planned Parenthood named Donald Trump their favorite Republican last fall." But it didn't. canonical: https://time.com/4226670/ted-cruz-donald-trump-planned-parenthood-video/ author: Alex Altman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T23:14:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:07:58.674Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz Twists Truth in New Anti-Trump Video og:description: Ted Cruz says "Planned Parenthood named Donald Trump their favorite Republican last fall." But it didn't. og:url: https://time.com/4226670/ted-cruz-donald-trump-planned-parenthood-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0a4940ca2f22a6c/69887ddfab6d77a2a86a8750/ted-cruz7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz Campaigns In Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz Twists Truth in New Anti-Trump Video twitter:description: Ted Cruz says "Planned Parenthood named Donald Trump their favorite Republican last fall." But it didn't. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0a4940ca2f22a6c/69887ddfab6d77a2a86a8750/ted-cruz7.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz Twists the Truth in New Anti-Trump Video  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. Feb 16, 2016 11:14 PM UTC  Ted Cruz gives a speech on Feb. 16, 2016 in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Ted Cruz gives a speech on Feb. 16, 2016 in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.Spencer Platt—Getty Images  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. Feb 16, 2016 11:14 PM UTC Everywhere he goes on the campaign trail these days, Donald Trump is calling Ted Cruz a liar, generally without providing examples. But in a new video released Tuesday, Cruz does, in fact, twist the truth about Trump’s record. In the five-and-a-half-minute direct-to-camera video, Cruz offers a lengthy juxtaposition between his anti-abortion record and Trump’s history of support for the procedure. A little less than four minutes in, Cruz says, “Planned Parenthood named Donald Trump their favorite Republican last fall.” “If there was ever an award that a Republican politician should be ashamed to receive, that’s it,” Cruz says. It’s a great attack line in a conservative state like South Carolina. It’s just not true. “We have never said that, or even close,” says Erica Sackin, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson. Cruz appears to be seizing on a statement issued by Planned Parenthood last year, which was quoted in [a story by the _Daily Beast_’s Betsy Woodruff:](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/11/donald-trump-is-planned-parenthood-s-favorite-republican.html) --- > “” --- --- > “” --- The headline of Woodruff’s piece — “Donald Trump Is Planned Parenthood’s Favorite Republican” — was lifted from a tongue-in-cheek line written by the author. But ask Planned Parenthood, and they’re not such fans of Trump’s position on abortion. A statement put out by the group this week argues that Trump — who last year said it was worth shutting down the government to defund Planned Parenthood — has a set of policies on abortion that would be “devastating” for women. As for Cruz, Planned Parenthood criticized the Texas Senator “for relying on lies” to sow opposition to the organization. Cruz, of course, isn’t the only one twisting the truth to denigrate his rivals. Earlier on Tuesday, [an aide to Trump fabricated a quote about Cruz](http://time.com/4226362/donald-trump-ted-cruz-coburn-lying/), attributing a claim by a liberal blogger to former Republican Senator Tom Coburn. Asked for comment on the inaccuracy in Cruz’s new video, Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler wrote in an email to TIME: “I’ll get back to you after I read all your articles with my pedantic filter turned on.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4226670/ted-cruz-donald-trump-planned-parenthood-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4226670/ted-cruz-donald-trump-planned-parenthood-video/"},"headline":"Ted Cruz Twists the Truth in New Anti-Trump Video","datePublished":"2016-02-16T23:14:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:07:58.674Z","description":"A new video distorts Trump's relationship with Planned Parenthood","url":"https://time.com/4226670/ted-cruz-donald-trump-planned-parenthood-video/","keywords":["2016 Election","abortion","2016 Election topic","ted cruz","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0a4940ca2f22a6c/69887ddfab6d77a2a86a8750/ted-cruz7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Altman","jobTitle":"Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/alex-altman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0a4940ca2f22a6c/69887ddfab6d77a2a86a8750/ted-cruz7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz Campaigns In Mt. 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