Ex-‘National Enquirer’ Publisher David Pecker Admits That Article Connecting Ted Cruz’s Father To Lee Harvey Oswald Was Fabricated

David Pecker, a former publisher for the National Enquirer, confessed that an article which claimed a connection between Sen. Ted Cruz‘s (R-Texas) father, Rafael Cruz, and Lee Harvey Oswald was completely fabricated.

The story, published in 2016, claimed that a previously unidentified man photographed with Oswald handing out leaflets to support the former Cuban president Fidel Castro in New Orleans was actually Rafael.

The report noted that “experts” who reviewed photos of the evangelical preacher from this period found that he appeared to look similar to the assassin’s companion.

Former President Donald Trump made comments about this article by saying that Sen. Cruz’s father was in the company of Oswald just months before when he shot John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Even though Rafael confessed that he once backed Castro, he says he had been “duped” and did not know he was a communist. 

One of Sen. Cruz’s representatives stated at the time that this was “another garbage story in a tabloid full of garbage” and “that is not Rafael in the picture.” 

“We mashed the photos and the different picture with Lee Harvey Oswald – and mashed the two together,” Pecker testified after a prosecutor asked him about the article’s origins during Trump’s hush money trial on April 23. “And that’s how that story was prepared—created I would say.” 

The prosecutor then asked the ex-National Enquirer publisher if the story was published after the younger Cruz’s presidential campaign experienced a boost in popularity, 

“I believe so,” Pecker responded. 

Pecker testified Tuesday that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, would call the National Enquirer and ask them to publish a negative story about one of the former president’s opponents, sometimes actually sending over a story which the tab “would embellish … from there.” He implied that his client had been involved in this arrangement.

Sen. Cruz seemed to be onto the publication back in 2016, stating at one point during a campaign event that its CEO “is an individual named David Pecker” and “is good friends with Donald Trump.”

“In fact, the National Enquirer has endorsed Donald Trump, has said he must be president,” the Texas senator added.

He accused Trump “and his henchmen … his buddies at the National Enquirer” of dispensing lies about him. 

In 2016, Trump asserted that he had no knowledge of the article ahead of time and did not have anything to do with it appearing in the tabloid. 

While exiting the Hotel Fort Des Moines before the 2024 caucus, Trump told reporters on January 14 that he won two Iowa caucuses even though he lost to Sen. Cruz in 2016. 

The senator won 27.6% of the vote, while Trump garnered 24.3%. The former president had congratulated his then-opponent before spreading accusations of fraud on social media.

Trump was the 2020 Iowa caucus winner against former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, garnering 97% of the vote.

On the same day that Pecker testified, Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, was slammed by Judge Juan Merchan in court while discussing a gag order on his client. 

When Blanche said that Trump had “done his best” to adhere to the order, Merchan interrupted him, saying that the attorney was “losing all credibility with the court.”