Fox News staffer made up story about Canadian protester getting trampled — and duped Ted Cruz: report

Fox News contributor Sara Carter has retracted an "entirely fictitious" story about a Canadian "freedom convoy" protester getting trampled by a police horse, the Daily Beast reported Saturday.

“Reports are the woman trampled by a Canadian horse patrol just died at the hospital ... #Trudeau#FreedomConvoyCanada,” Carter tweeted on Friday.

Carter has 1.3 million Twitter followers, and her post was amplified by conservatives including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Fox Nation guests Diamond and Silk. But on Saturday morning, Carter — who claims to be an "award-winning correspondent" and is frequently called upon by host Sean Hannity — admitted the story was false.

“The Reports I was given earlier yesterday from sources on the ground that someone may have died at a hospital during the trampling was wrong,” Carter tweeted, adding that “someone was taken to a hospital with a heart condition - not due to trampling. I want to clarify this again and apologize for any confusion.”

Carter subsequently deleted her original tweet — but only after being contacted by the Daily Beast on Saturday evening. And not until after Cruz deleted his retweet – in which he had written above Carter's original post, "This...is...horrific."

"I deleted my retweet about a Canadian protestor being trampled to death because the journalist who first reported it now says it was in error," Cruz wrote on Saturday afternoon. "I remain deeply concerned about the abuse—seizing money & employing violence against peaceful protesters—that we’re seeing in Canada."