Ted Cruz appeared on “Meet the Press” yesterday, where he got into it with host Chuck Todd over alleged interference in our 2016 election:

CNBC’s John Harwood’s takeaway? He echoed Jennifer Rubin and accused Cruz of peddling Russian propaganda:

Ted Cruz disseminating propaganda fabricated by the Kremlin to weaken the Unites States https://t.co/Cd6kGTJSP9 — John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 8, 2019

Unsurprisingly, Cruz didn’t take kindly to Harwood’s characterization of the exchange:

John, this is a flat-out lie & you know it. You’re not supposed to be a partisan hack; you claim to be a “journalist.” Report on these FACTS: https://t.co/7Vp4eOLzdD https://t.co/mIn1gdrsO3 — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 8, 2019

Cruz laid out those “FACTS” in a thread yesterday explaining the basis of his assertion that Ukraine attempted to influence the 2016 election. You can read that thread here.

In any event, Harwood wasn’t interested in Cruz’s details:

you just did it again https://t.co/8FA9AqBNbI — John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 9, 2019

As Guy Benson pointed out yesterday, despite the fact that Russia’s apparent role was much more significant, Cruz’s assertion that Ukraine meddled in the election does have facts to back it up. And for Harwood to dismiss Cruz’s points as Kremlin propaganda shows that he’s every bit the “partisan hack” Cruz claims he is.

Since Cruz may have more important things to do than try to reason with John Harwood, Cruz’s comms director Lauren Blair Aronson has a message for Harwood that’s more up his alley:

Nailed it.