Cruz bashes media for bringing up Palin’s son

by Lisa Hagen - 01/21/16 4:48 PM ET

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz wants the media to leave Sarah Palin’s son’s domestic violence charges out of the political discourse.

“You should leave our family members out of it,” he said Thursday in an interview with Boston Herald Radio. “It’s dirty, it’s unprincipled.”

{mosads}Cruz argued that politicians themselves are fair game but that attacking their children should be off-limits.

“I’m sorry that Sarah and her family are going through that,” the Texas senator said.

While stumping for GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday, the 2008 vice presidential nominee linked her son’s recent arrest to President Obama’s treatment of combat veterans.

“They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country,” Palin said.

“It starts from the top, the question though, that comes from our own president, where they have to look at him and wonder, ‘Do you know what we go through, do you know what we’re trying to do to secure America and to secure the freedoms that have been bequeathed us?’ ” she added.

Palin’s son Track, 26, was arrested late Tuesday on domestic violence and weapons charges. He is accused of hitting his girlfriend and possessing a weapon while intoxicated.

This wasn’t the first time Cruz has panned the media for attacking children of candidates or political figures.

Last month, The Washington Post published a cartoon that depicted the Texas senator’s children as “political props.”

Cruz fired back with his own cartoon, tweeting an image featuring Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton walking two dogs labeled as The Post and The New York Times.

During the Wednesday interview, Cruz said there are no hard feelings over Palin endorsing Trump for president. Cruz also credited the former Alaska governor for jump-starting his political career.

“I would not be in the Senate if it were not for Sarah Palin,” Cruz said. “She’s entitled to make her decisions in 2016 for whatever reason she chooses and regardless of what she does.”

Palin’s endorsement is seen as a boon for the real estate mogul, with Trump and Cruz neck and neck in Iowa polls less than two weeks ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Tags Donald Trump Sarah Palin Ted Cruz Track Palin