Both Bill Maher and Donald Trump think Senator Ted Cruz cheated to win the Iowa Caucus. Bill Maher took to the stage of his late night HBO show Real Time with Bill Maher to express his opinions, while presidential candidate, Trump had a Twitter fit, as per his usual modus operandi.
According to the Daily Beast, the Cruz campaign machine issued an email stating that Ben Carson, would be, "taking time off from the campaign trail after Iowa and making a big announcement next week." This announcement caused many Carson supporters to vote for Cruz during the February 1st Iowa Caucus because it led them to believe Carson would be dropping out of the race. This information as it turns out was misleading, at best.
But that is not the only way in which Cruz and his team allegedly cheated their way to victory in the Iowa caucus. Much to the chagrin of Donald Trump, mailers were issued to the citizens of Iowa from the Cruz for President campaign in the guise of a state issued Voting Violation notice. It used public record information about the mailer's recipient and neighbors to essentially shame people into voting for Cruz.
"At the top of the mailers, in a bold red box, are the words "VOTING VIOLATION." Below that warning is an explanation: You are receiving this election notice because of low expected voter turnout in your area. Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors' are public record. Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well. A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday's caucuses," The New Yorker quotes.
While Trump did not initially have much to say about his loss and even seemed to accept defeat with uncharacteristic dignity, it did not take long for the real estate mogul to take to Twitter in classic Trump fashion:
Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Of course, Libertarian Bill Maher had to get in his two cents in on the subject. In his opening monologue for his February 5th episode, Maher managed to insult both candidates and still make Cruz look worse than Trump, "Very surprising in Iowa! Ted Cruz beat Donald Trump-what the pundits are calling 'the lesser of two a**holes,'"
In the end, Maher could not resist throwing in a jab at the religious community while he was at it, saying that "[Cruz] put out a press release and had his precinct captains call all over saying Ben Carson, the other evangelical in the race, was dropping out to trick his voters-as Jesus would do. And it worked! Because sixty-four percent of Republican voters in Iowa are born again, and a hundred percent are born yesterday."
