CNN brutally shames Ted Cruz after he smears their Afghanistan reporter as Taliban 'cheerleader'

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Monday drew quick criticism after he smeared CNN reporter Clarissa Ward as a Taliban "cheerleader" over her reporting from the streets of Kabul.

Although many of Cruz's Twitter followers slammed the Texas senator for attacking someone who is risking her life in a warzone, CNN's public relations department reserved particular scorn by making reference to his infamous decision to take a vacation to Cancun while Texas dealt with a deadly snowstorm this winter.

"Rather than running off to Cancun in tough times, Clarissa Ward is risking her life to tell the world what's happening," CNN wrote in reply. "That's called bravery. Instead of RTing a conspiracy theorist's misleading soundbite, perhaps your time would be better spent helping Americans in harm's way."

CNN's Andrew Kaczynski similarly stuck up for Ward in a response to Cruz.

"Low class tweet about a colleague who has put her life on the line throughout the conflict to bring people news," he wrote. "And takes her out of context to boot and maliciously accuses her of cheerleading for the Taliban."