Sen. Ted Cruz’s new book has outsold 18 of the top 20 books on The New York Times bestseller list during its first week of release, but the Times has not included it on the list.

The Times’ decision prompted one person to note that the The Gray Lady has always rigged the game.

Nielsen Bookscan reported that “A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America,” sold 11,854 hardcover copies. Compare that to Aziz Ansari’s “Modern Romance,” which is No. 2 on the list and has sold fewer than 10,000, and Ann Coulter’s “Adios America,” at No. 11, which has sold just over half as many as Cruz’s work, according to Politico.

Given the phenomenal sales figures, the book’s publisher, HarperCollins, wanted to know why — as do a lot of people. So it asked the Times.

“We have uniform standards that we apply to our bestseller list, which includes an analysis of book sales that goes beyond simply the number of books sold,” Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said. “This book didn’t meet that standard this week.”

When asked for specifics on the Times’ standards, Murphy replied: “Our goal is that the list reflect authentic best sellers, so we look at and analyze not just numbers but patterns of sales for every book.”

Does that clear things up? Not according to conservative talk radio host Mark Levin, who let the Times have it with both barrels.

He attributed it all to politics, saying that had the book been written by Barack Obama this would not have happened.

Levin wasn’t alone in his assessment. Stephen Hayers, Fox News contributor and senior writer for The Weekly Standard tweeted:

This is just embarrassing for the Times. Or ought to be… https://t.co/vMkTfHKLa8 — Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) July 9, 2015

@stephenfhayes @DylanByers @tedcruz NYT. All the newd that is fit to print – unless we don’t want you to know about it. — Michael Quigley (@mquigley841) July 9, 2015

@stephenfhayes Analysis of type of sales bull s_____ this is totally wrong and should be investigated — bbnanny (@NanbumHall) July 9, 2015

It's always been a rigged game. https://t.co/Fp72vRvh9s — Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) July 9, 2015

And for my favorite: