Publisher HarperCollins and Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign pushed back at the New York Times for claiming that sales of the GOP candidate’s new biography were enhanced by "strategic bulk purchases."
In a statement to BuzzFeed News Friday, HarperCollins publicity director Tina Andreadis alleged that the publishing company conducted an investigation into sales of A Time For Truth and "found no evidence of bulk orders or sales through any retailer or organization."
Politico first reported Thursday that the Times had blocked Cruz’s book from its upcoming bestsellers list even as sales of hard cover copies of the biography reached 11,854 during its first week on shelves.
Cruz’s sales beat all titles save two on the forthcoming Times’ list.
When questioned about the decision, Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy explained, "We have uniform standards that we apply to our best seller list, which includes an analysis of book sales that goes beyond simply the number of books sold. This book didn’t meet that standard this week."
She later clarified that there was an "overwhelming preponderance of evidence" that sales of Cruz’s biography were "limited to strategic bulk purchases."
However, HarperCollins disputed the Times’ claim, emphasizing that Cruz’s book currently sits on bestsellers lists compiled by Nielsen Bookscan, Barnes and Noble and the Wall Street Journal, all of which exclude bulk sales when they conduct their rankings.
The Cruz campaign also fired back at the Times Friday in a press release, accusing the publication of spreading "false" information about the GOP presidential candidate’s book sales.
"The Times is presumably embarrassed by having their obvious partisan bias called out. But their response -- alleging ‘strategic bulk purchases’ -- is a blatant falsehood," Cruz campaign spokesperson Rick Tyler said in a statement. "The evidence is directly to the contrary. In leveling this false charge, the Times has tried to impugn the integrity of Senator Cruz and of his publisher Harper Collins."
"We call on the Times, release your so-called ‘evidence,’" Tyler continued. "Demonstrate that your charge isn’t simply a naked fabrication, designed to cover up your own partisan agenda. And, if you cannot do so, then issue a public apology to Senator Cruz and Harper Collins editor Adam Bellow for making false charges against them."
The Times spokesman told Politico Friday that the publication is sticking to its original statement.