***100***

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz – Episode 100 Summary

Release Date: December 23, 2021
Episode Title: Episode 100
Host: Ted Cruz with Michael Knowles

---

1. Celebrating a Milestone and the Holiday Season

In the milestone 100th episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz, hosts Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles celebrate both the show's longevity and the Christmas season. The hosts reflect on the journey of the podcast, reminiscing about its humble beginnings and its rapid rise to popularity.

Ted Cruz shares his excitement about reaching this significant number of episodes:

“When we sat down January almost two years ago... and within weeks, we're the number one podcast in the world.”
(05:04)

Michael Knowles admits his initial skepticism:

“I was a little skeptical that you were gonna beat Joe Rogan on the podcast charts... it's been going for two years, and that is now.”
(05:57)

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2. The Impact of Black Lives Matter on Christmas Traditions

A substantial portion of the episode delves into the controversial stance of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement regarding Christmas traditions. The hosts discuss allegations that BLM is encouraging a boycott of "White Christmas," reframing the classic song to promote purchasing exclusively from Black-owned businesses.

Liz Wheeler clarifies misconceptions:

“They are calling for a boycott of a white Christmas, meaning they don't want anybody to purchase any Christmas gifts from white-owned businesses...”
(08:17)

Ted Cruz critiques the movement:

“Black Lives Matter is a racist organization... Microsoft, Amazon... literally funding an organization calling on you to boycott their own business.”
(11:58)

The discussion underscores the tension between traditional holiday celebrations and contemporary socio-political movements, highlighting concerns about racial discrimination and economic implications.

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3. Sharing Family Christmas Traditions and Memories

The hosts transition to a more personal segment, sharing their favorite Christmas traditions and memories, emphasizing the importance of family and cultural heritage.

Ted Cruz recounts his Cuban family's vibrant Christmas gatherings:

“We play dominoes every Christmas. The dominoes games are vigorous. Our hoops games are taunting. It is a family with a lot of fun and a lot of good-natured grief all around.”
(25:00)

Michael Knowles shares a unique family memory involving a gift that bridged cultural gaps:

“My grandmother agreed to buy a sitar... she emerges wearing a full Indian sari... presents me with this sitar.”
(30:32)

Liz Wheeler reminisces about her childhood unicycling adventures:

“I taught myself how to ride it. We would ride in parades, ride our unicycles in parades, calling ourselves the three one wheelers.”
(31:28)

These anecdotes highlight diverse cultural practices and the joy of creating enduring family memories during the holiday season.

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4. Engaging the Audience: Giveaways and Interactive Goals

To commemorate the 100th episode, the hosts introduce several interactive segments aimed at engaging their audience through giveaways and participation incentives.

Liz Wheeler announces the first giveaway:

“15 random people who leave comments on this episode... will get a free box of signed merch.”
(22:00)

She also introduces a challenge to reach 50,000 Apple Podcasts reviews by January 21st, offering listeners the chance to influence future content:

“People can vote on whether Ted wears a Braves jersey, an arm wrestling match between Michael and Ted, a guest appearance by the cactus, or a mutual roast episode.”
(32:05)

Ted Cruz emphasizes the importance of listener support:

“We gotta get to 50,000 by January 21st... please, let’s do this.”
(38:05)

These initiatives are designed to foster community involvement, reward loyal listeners, and expand the podcast's reach.

---

5. Concluding Thoughts and Holiday Wishes

As the episode wraps up, the hosts express their gratitude to their listeners for reaching the 100-episode milestone. They extend warm holiday wishes and encourage continued support through ratings, reviews, and participation in giveaways.

Ted Cruz concludes with heartfelt thanks:

“We wish everyone a very merry Christmas. From me, from Liz, from Senator Cruz, most importantly, from the Cactus.”
(39:57)

Liz Wheeler promotes the merchandise sale:

“Use the promo code Santa, then you will get 20% off the entire shop between now and Christmas.”
(39:57)

The episode ends on a festive note, celebrating both the holiday spirit and the strong community built around the podcast.

---

Notable Quotes:

• Ted Cruz on Podcast Growth:
  “When we sat down January almost two years ago... and within weeks, we're the number one podcast in the world.”
  (05:04)

• Michael Knowles on Early Skepticism:
  “I was a little skeptical that you were gonna beat Joe Rogan on the podcast charts.”
  (05:57)

• Liz Wheeler on BLM's Boycott Efforts:
  “They are calling for a boycott of a white Christmas... they only want to buy from black-owned businesses.”
  (08:17)

• Ted Cruz on BLM's Racism:
  “Black Lives Matter is a racist organization... Amazon cutting a check to an organization saying, don't order from Amazon.”
  (11:58)

• Ted Cruz on Family Traditions:
  “We play dominoes every Christmas. The dominoes games are vigorous.”
  (25:00)

• Michael Knowles on His Sitar Story:
  “There was one year... my grandmother presents me with this sitar.”
  (30:32)

• Liz Wheeler on Christmas Traditions:
  “A lot of fun and a lot of good-natured grief all around.”
  (25:00)

• Ted Cruz on Listener Support:
  “Please, let's do this.”
  (38:05)

---

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, personal anecdotes, and interactive elements of Verdict with Ted Cruz's 100th episode, providing listeners with a clear overview of the episode's content and highlights.

Transcript

[Michael Knowles]

We have two really important things to celebrate today. We, of course, are celebrating Christmas. That's a pretty big holiday to celebrate. We're also celebrating the 100th episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz. And to celebrate, we're gonna be giving away a bunch of stuff. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

[Liz Wheeler]

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[Michael Knowles]

Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz where there are so many ads. When did that happen? When did we start getting. I guess it's good that we're getting these ads so that we can keep this show on the air free, available to so many people. But Liz, please tell me there is some way to avoid all of the ads.

[Liz Wheeler]

Well, there certainly is, Michael. If you just head right on over to verdict with TedCruz.com/ plus and become a Verdict subscriber, then you can watch this entire episode free. Free from the terrible ads. Free from these advertisements all the way through. Straight through verdict with TedCruz.com well that's wonderful.

[Michael Knowles]

Grateful to you, the listeners, grateful to Verdict plus and grateful to our advertisers as well who allow us to remain on the air. Senator, congratulations on 100 episodes.

[Ted Cruz]

That is crazy. You know, when we sat down January almost two years ago and in the basement. And did it at what, 1, 2 in the morning?

[Michael Knowles]

Every night.

[Ted Cruz]

Every night. And the first time we did it, we had this shag carpet. We had this chair. I mean, the chair and the carpet are veterans of 100 episodes. And listen, I've been upstaged by a cactus, but for a shag carpet to kick your ass, that is a little much. But, I mean, I remember that first night, there was a lot of skepticism. Skepticism from one young Michael Knowles, skepticism from our producers, skepticism from almost anyone sentient with a discernible sense of judgment, like, how is this gonna work? Is this gonna work? And then we rocketed up the charts, and within weeks, we're the number one podcast in the world.

[Michael Knowles]

So I admit I was skeptical. And at the very beginning, you know, I have great admiration for you, Senator. I have voted for you. But I was a little skeptical that you were gonna beat Joe Rogan on the podcast charts. And yet, after just a week, I guess, on the air, the show hit number one. Obviously, it's been going for two years, and that is now. It's a very popular thing to do. A lot of politicians have podcasts. It had never been done in a popular way before. And so I. I am thrilled and I am sorry. Forever doubting that you would become one of the biggest broadcasters in America.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, look, I will say this. One of the things I get great joy from is Verdict has more viewers than CNN's morning show. In some ways, that's such an incredibly low bar that. That's like saying, okay, you know, we exceed 3. But it is really an amazing sort of commentary on the shift of media and discussion. You know, it used to be that, you know, the big three, you had abc, cbs, NBC. Back when. All right, Michael, I bet you don't. Do you remember television sets that had knobs that turned? Or was that before your time?

[Michael Knowles]

I do, but only because I grew up kind of poor. That's the only reason I remember it. But they were basically extinct by the time I was a kid.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, when I was a kid, we had remote control and they called it kids. As in, you yell at the kid, go change the station. And I did. Look, I wasn't growing up in Ward Beaver 1950s, but, you know, walked uphill. School uphill both ways.

[Michael Knowles]

Snowing both ways. Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Michael Knowles]

I'm thrilled that we've hit number 100. And I love the coincidence that we are celebrating this as we were getting ready to celebrate Christmas. Although there was a story that Liz turned me on to that apparently, you Know, there are all these wars on Christmas and sometimes the wars are being waged by the liberals and sometimes they're being waged by the puritans and sometimes they're. People attack Christmas for a whole lot of reasons. Apparently BLM is attacking Christmas and specifically calling for a boycott of the song White Christmas because obviously that is a white supremacist anthem.

[Ted Cruz]

Liz.

[Michael Knowles]

Do I have that right?

[Liz Wheeler]

No, you do not have that right. But don't worry, I'm here to correct the record on it. They are calling for a boycott of a white Christmas, meaning they don't want anybody to purchase any Christmas gifts from white owned businesses or to bank with any banks that are owned by white people. They only want.

[Michael Knowles]

That's even worse. That's even worse than boycott.

[Liz Wheeler]

Although it's so much worse. Although the song is a beautiful song. No, they said that they are dreaming and this is a play on the song. They're dreaming of a black Christmas because they want black people country to only solely, exclusively buy from black owned businesses because they say that white supremacist capitalism is a thing, is a problem in our nation. I'm not exactly sure what the tie in there. I don't know how you can tie those three things together, but that's the beauty of Black Lives Matter is they can invent connections to try to take down the institutions of our country everywhere. So yes, they are attacking Christmas.

[Ted Cruz]

So it really is amazing that Bing Crosby is now controversial. You know, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.

[Michael Knowles]

Bing. Did you enter the room? Where did I? I thought he was long gone. I can't. Oh no. That was you, Senator.

[Ted Cruz]

Of course. The terror of it is it's a white Christmas because friggin snow is white. It's not a racial thing. It's when you freeze water and it condenses in the air, it turns into snowflakes. It's not blue, it's not pink, it's not purple. It just happens to be white. And now that is. You know, who knew that snow had racial overtones? By the way, I just want to say right now it's not fair that the Grinch is green. What about green people? What do they have against green people?

[Michael Knowles]

Fair enough.

[Ted Cruz]

And it really is.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, you are noticing this strange phenomenon now. And it's not just BLM calling for a boycott of white businesses, but you're seeing from other major retailers or aggregators, black and white owned businesses being treated differently. I remember during the BLM riots, I think it was Uber Eats was treating black owned Businesses, whatever that means. By the way, it's not as though businesses are only owned by a single individual a lot of the time, but they were treating them differently, giving, giving different incentives. Is that sort of thing even legal?

[Ted Cruz]

So it's not. And it is explicitly discriminating based on race. And the sad reality is leftists have always been racist. They've always embraced racial discrimination. Black Lives Matter is a racist organization. And one of the ironies. We did one of the earlier Verdicts, we did a whole pod on the history of the organization. Black Lives Matter, founded by explicit and avowed communists and supported by woke corporations. So Microsoft, I forget the stats. We went through the stats that Microsoft had given, I don't know, $100,000, $250,000. Amazon had given 150 or $250,000. I forget the amounts, of course. You know, Microsoft, Bill Gates ain't a black guy. Jeff Bezos ain't a black guy. They're literally funding an organization calling on you to boycott their own business. So Jeff Bezos is cutting a check to an organization saying, don't you order your Christmas presents on Amazon? Uh, do not do that. But like, the woke consciousness is really asinine.

[Liz Wheeler]

All right, guys, way to keep it light and cheery for Christmas. This is the Christmas episode. We're supposed to be spreading joy all over the world. In fact, that's kind of what this episode is about. Today we have some Christmas gifts, if you will, in honor of both, you know, Christmas and of the hundredth episode of Verdict. And I wanna talk about those a little right now because they're really fun. So if you join Verdict plus as a member. Now I wanna be very clear here. If you join Verdict as a member, that's completely free. You don't have to give your credit card information. That's a non paid way to join, to join this Insider community. It's verdictwithtedcruise.com plus, if you join, it's completely free. And if we reach 15,000 members on verdict by January 21st. January 21st is a very special day because that is the inaugural episode, the anniversary of the inaugural episode of Verdict. 15,000 members on Verdict by January 21st. Then we will randomly select one member to come to a live taping of Verdict. This is just one of many Christmas presents here on our 100th episode. And by the way, because today is the hundredth episode and January 21st, a little bit different date, is the anniversary of the inaugural episode, we will be announcing the winner of that on our January 21 episode. So go to verdict with TedCruise.com plus, let's get to 15,000 members so one of you can come to a live taping of Verdict. Michael, this is the Christmas spirit.

[Ted Cruz]

All right, well, Liz, let me ask you a couple of clarifications. Number one, 15,000. How close are we now? Liz, where are we right now?

[Liz Wheeler]

We're about to hit the 10,000 mark. Well, I mean, we can do it. We can definitely do this.

[Ted Cruz]

All right, so 15,000. We're in shooting range of 15,000. And the lucky winner who gets to come to a taping of Verdict Live. Are we going to tell them? All right, you got to buy your own plane ticket. You got to pony up the cash. You got to fly to where it is. Or is this an even even? It gets more. It gets better, as they say on the Romco ads.

[Liz Wheeler]

What kind of Christmas gift would it be if we said, you're the winner, but, oh, you got to pay us for your Christmas present. No, no, this is a Christmas present in all its glory. We will bring you to a live taping at no expense. I mean, this is the real deal. This is a really fun thing. People who are part of the Verdict community, I mean, they follow Verdict to a T. These are people who are really into what we're talking about and what the goal of this podcast is, and this is just a little way of giving back. These people are, you know, true blues. These people are fans of the show, and it's gonna be really exciting to meet one of y'all in person.

[Ted Cruz]

And, Michael, I gotta ask a question. So if the winner comes and happens, say to want to recite Dante and the original Italian, Are you able to join them in that?

[Michael Knowles]

Well, I hope so. You know, fortunately, the last Verdict listener who came up and just began reciting Dante in Italian, fortunately, he knew one fewer line than I did. But the next one who knows. We have an eclectic intellectual group that listens to the show, and I take Liz's correction in a proper spirit. It's true. This is Christmastime. I don't wanna focus on the rioters and the pagans and all the negative stuff. This is a great time to celebrate a great 100th episode. So shall we get to some mailbag questions from the viewers who may very well be flying out to see us live?

[Liz Wheeler]

Absolutely. We have some actually, some very interesting questions. Michael, I feel like there's a question that puts you and I on the spot in front of the senator here. So let's start with that. One, because that sounds fun. This is from Paul over on Verdict. Plus, of course, these questions are all from Verdict subscribers. He says, for Liz and Michael, have you decided how to approach Santa with your kids?

[Michael Knowles]

Yes, I am very pro Santa. I'm on Team Santa. I'm so pro Santa that I'm not only going to teach about the jolly old elf, St Nicholas, who comes down the chimney with toys, I'm going to teach about St Nicholas, the bishop, who, according to legend, at the Council of Nicaea, punched the heretic Arius in the face because he was so sick of hearing his heresy and wanted to shake the man back to his senses. Now, the story itself may not have actually occurred, but I love the legend of Santa Claus showing up to give presents to kids and punch heretics when he just ran out of presents.

[Liz Wheeler]

Yes, that won't be confusing at all to your child. The reality and the fantasy. My favorite legend, by the way. Before we even get into this, the real Saint Nick. Do you know the reason why we decorate our Christmas tree with, like, gold balls, gold ornaments? Because there was a man, an impoverished man in St. Nicholas's Town who had three daughters. He was unable to pay for their dowry, so they were gonna remain unmarried. But he was so impoverished that he couldn't pay for their food. He couldn't sustain them because they were going to be unmarried. He was going to have to sell them into sex slaves, slavery, into prostitution. St Nicholas threw three bags of gold through his window, landed on their shoes and stockings on the hearth. And that's where the tradition not only of shoes and stockings on the hearth, but also why we decorate our Christmas trees with gold balls. That's what I'm going to teach Lady Baby. That is the most badass story. The coolest. I mean, that is cooler than a fat elf coming down the chimney, right?

[Michael Knowles]

So we're talking about insurrectionists and rioters and pagans and now sex slavery. Senator, what was your approach with your daughters when it comes to Santa Claus?

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I gotta say, you guys are really going, keeping it light and cheery. You've got St. Nick the Brawler, like, punching some heretic or something. I didn't quite follow it. And then you've got the, like, rescued from sex slavery by flinging bags of gold. I'm feeling very historically illiterate. Cause I confess I know nothing about either one of those stories. But I will. I can go a little bit lighter. So we did Santa with our girls. They're now 11 and 13. I'm pretty sure they are beyond the Santa stage at this point. But I used to Heidi would have me. So every Christmas Eve after the girls went to bed, she'd send me outside and we have these bells and I'd like go outside their windows and ring the bells to be the bells on Santa's sleigh landing on the roof. And it was just enough that they could hear it and be excited. It never really worked. I did it every year, but it didn't quite have the effect that we envisioned. We also own a Santa suit. I've never dressed in the Santa suit. We put my dad in the Santa suit. So that's a grandfatherly task. And just to give you a sense of where it goes, we're now post Santa. There was not some big reveal. There was no year where it's like, aha. It just sort of faded as they got older. But now both girls put together a PowerPoint of what they want for Christmas that they present to us with rankings and why they want it. And they stand and do a presentation. Here's why it's a good idea, here's why this makes sense, and here's a link to the specific one I want. And so they send you the Amazon link for their presence. Both girls do the presentation now every year before Christmas.

[Liz Wheeler]

It sounds like they're a chip off the old block.

[Michael Knowles]

You and Heidi have taught them well.

[Ted Cruz]

That's impressive. I used to when I was eight years old, Liz. So I would type up my Christmas list on my parents IBM Selectric typewriter. Because I'd go over to their office where they had a small business and I would type up a Christmas list and rank things and I ranked them 1, 2, 3 and 4 stars just with asterisks because that's all you had. And I would have different things I wanted. I wanted a TV set, I wanted a stereo. I wanted a shotgun. I had all these different things that I specified. And one of the funnier things I specified, I guess this was after 8, this was probably like 11. Where I had been working for several years in my parents small business. And my parents had a rule that I had to save 50% of what I earned, that I could only spend half of it, that I had to save half of it. And so I had been working, they were paying me a dollar an hour. And the first thing I bought was a York's stereo. It was $137. And what I remembered is that it had all four media. It had a record player, it had a radio, it had a cassette and it had an eight track and I bought it. It was 137 hours, but it was times two because I could only spend half of it. And as my savings added up, because I started working, I mean they hired me when I was eight and as my savings added up, I had $800, $900 in savings and I bought gold with it. I bought a gold Krugerrand. You know, the South African money. Look, one of our sponsors sells gold. So there you go. I was on point with our sponsors when I was a 10 year old, 11 year old kid. But that next year on the Christmas list, like number nine on the list of what I wanted was some Krugerrands. And my mother to this day still finds hysterical the adjectives. Some just, you know, throw some gold coins my way. Like, like what kind of 11 year old asked for some Krugerrands? But I'm like, I bought one. Why I did not get some or any Krugerrands for Christmas. And even more funny, it was like two stars. It wasn't nearly as cool as like a TV or whatever else I was asking for that year.

[Michael Knowles]

You know, this is the, the left's caricature of what 11 year old Ted Cruz was doing. Little 11 year old Ted Cruz investing in gold. The conservatives conservative from a young age.

[Liz Wheeler]

I mean, it's hard to even know how to respond to this story. It's such a delightful mix of hilarious and nerdy. It is. It does sound like your daughters are a chip off the old block though. I mean they're ranking their Christmas presents arguing in front of you. What could basically set them up for better present success on Christmas morning. I honestly, I honestly don't know if there is anything. However, in the spirit of Christmas, we do have more gifts for our wonderful Verdict fans. This time head over to YouTube. Fifteen people picked at random who leave comments on this episode that is episode 100 will get a free box of signed merch from the verdict merch store. The only thing that I regret to inform you is that it won't contain gold coins. Other than that it will contain really cool merch. Signed by yours truly, by Michael, by Senator Cruz. 15 random people who leave comments on this episode, episode 100 will get a free box of signed merch from the verdict merch store shop. That is of course the URL. If you want to see what is in the merch shop, you can go to verdictwithtedcruise.com shop. That's pretty cool, Michael.

[Michael Knowles]

That is extremely cool.

[Ted Cruz]

So Liz, let me ask, let's go under The Hood so YouTube we have what, about 210,000 subscribers on YouTube, which means I also have in my office the really cool Silver album thing. I don't even know what you call it, but the thing they get you when you get 100,000 subscribers. So we've got 210,000.

[Michael Knowles]

The silver play button. That's a big deal for the YouTuber community.

[Ted Cruz]

The silver Play button. And there's. What's the million one? What is it? Gold?

[Michael Knowles]

Gold. You get the gold.

[Ted Cruz]

All right, so we gotta get to the gold. We're 210,000. So we'll get there, but we're not there yet.

[Liz Wheeler]

You can put that on your Christmas list this year.

[Ted Cruz]

There we go. Now that's number one on my Christmas list. But I guess the comments, like, feed the algorithm. So, you know, you've got a bunch of commie leftists in Silicon Valley that if they had their way, we would have zero viewers. But when you comment, somehow they're mildly obliged. Like, more people see it, it spreads it. And I don't understand. The pixie dust from Santa's elves cause more people to watch Verdict. So make your comments and say things that are interesting and fun, and 15 of you will get merch signed by us.

[Liz Wheeler]

Exactly. So you're both fighting back against big tech, making sure that we make the most of the algorithms that we face, and you get merch from Verdict. What could make for a better Christmas than that? Again, our YouTube channel is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Head on over there, be one of the 15 people. I mean, that's a pretty good odd there. All right, are you ready for the next question? The next question is about family traditions. So obviously, Senator, it's a tradition in your family to rank the Christmas presents to give them ratings. But real truth, Cactus wants to know, and she says, this is for everyone. What is your family's favorite Christmas tradition or memory? And so, Senator, let's start with you.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, to be honest, my favorite thing about Christmas is just being with family. It's like Thanksgiving. Christmas are my two favorite holidays because we get our whole extended family together. When I was a kid, we would always. We'd drive up to Dallas, and my grandparents, my abuelo and abuela, they lived up in Dallas, and they lived with my tia Sonia, my father's kid sister, and my cousin Bibi, who's Theasonio's daughter, she lived up there. Bebe's five years older than I am, and we were like brother and sister. And we would all get together and you got a big Cuban household And we'd have food and there'd be lots of yelling. I've joked, if a Cuban can't yell, can they speak? And I think the answer's no. There's no way. If you had like eight or 10 Cuban men in a room, they're all screaming in Spanish at the top of their lungs because apparently they can't modulate volume. We play dominoes every Christmas. The dominoes games are vigorous. They're in your face, they're competitive. My father will always get out the Bible at the Christmas table and read the story of Christ's birth. And you know, that's. I've done that on the couple of times my dad hasn't been at our house. But to be honest, again, look, even though I turn 51 in a week, you know, dad is still dad. And so that's his responsibility. We also go do a lot of movies. So ours is a movie going household. You know, verdict listeners know that I'm a movie buff, but I got it, honestly, I got it from my parents. My parents, both my parents love movies. My dad actually learned English when he came from Cuba in 1957 and he came to Austin. He was a freshman at UT and he couldn't speak English. He had gotten in, but he had this enormous incentive to learn English because his classes were in English. And if he didn't learn English quickly, he would flunk out of ut. And if he flunked out of ut, they would cancel his student visa. And if they canceled his student visa, they'd send him back to Cuba. And if he went back to Cuba, they'd kill him. So he had this intense incentive, learn English quick so you don't flunk out of school. And one of the things he used to do, so he'd do two things. Number one, he took Spanish 101 and he reverse engineered it. So when the professor said, milk is leche, he'd go, oh, leche is milk. And he'd just like try to do everything backwards and see if he could learn. But the other thing he would do is he'd go to the movies and he'd see the same movie three times in a row. And the human brain is amazing. So the first few times he did it, he didn't understand any of it. But it starts to. You start seeing how people interact and the context and the cues. And so he loves movies. So over Christmas break, I'll see several movies. I like the theater. I like being in the sound. And I get popcorn and candy and hot dogs and. And Take the kids. And so movies, dominoes and playing my nephew Diego, one on one hoops. And we play vigorous, aggressive, brutal, fouling, bloody, bruising, taunting hoops. Much like our dominoes games. Our dominoes games are taunting. Our hoops games are taunting. It is a family with a lot of fun and a lot of good natured grief all around.

[Liz Wheeler]

It sounds amazing. I mean, I can almost feel the atmosphere being there. And I think you said it correctly. I mean, not to sound cheesy, not to sound trite, it is about being with family and all of the little quirks and idiosyncrasies of being with the ones that you love. Michael, what does your family do? What is your favorite memory, either current or past?

[Michael Knowles]

I'll give you a great memory. I mean, we have a zillion traditions and memories around Christmas. Christmas, very important, not just for the Catholics, but specifically the Italian Catholics. They make a big deal, especially by Christmas Eve. So there was one year, give you a sense of how politically incorrect my family is. There was one year I really wanted for Christmas a sitar. You know, like the big Indian instrument. George Harrison. I don't know, I heard George Harrison played it or something. So I really wanted a sitar. We found it at some hippie shop in way down in southern New Jersey. My mother knew I really wanted it. We didn't have a ton of money, but. But my grandmother agreed to buy it if my mother would drive down four and a half hours, pick it up, drive back four and a half hours, bring it to her. I had no clue that this was happening at all. And it's in my grandmother's house. We go there, huge meal, lots of people all screaming Italians. As is often the case in an Italian household, younger people drink a little bit of wine at Christmas. So there's 13, 14 year old Michael. I'm having, you know, a glass or two of wine. I'm just feeling great. And my grandmother emerges, my little Sicilian grandmother emerges wearing a full Indian sari that she had picked up on a trip in the 70s. She's got a dot in the middle of her head. She would be canceled if there were photos of this incident and presents me with this sitar. We would all be canceled if there were any evidence of this. But it did really bring together so many aspects. The wild family, everyone being together, even the gifts that there was so much thought put into this gift. And of course, I got a real kick out of the abject political correctness. That's something about those conservative Italian families.

[Ted Cruz]

So do you still have the sitar. And can you play it on the podcast?

[Michael Knowles]

I absolutely have the sitar. I actually just ordered strings for it, Senator. And maybe that's gonna be the 200th episode spectacular is that we'll just start playing some Ravi Shankar tune. We can have belly dancing. Who knows? Who knows? People have to subscribe to get us that far.

[Liz Wheeler]

I was gonna ask the exact same question. It's hard to even know what to do with the two of you. These are so. They're so nerdy, so dorky. But maybe I found my people. Because one of my favorite Christmas memories is when I was about 11 or 12, I asked for a unicycle for Christmas. My parents got me a unicycle. I taught myself how to ride it. I then taught my sisters how to ride it. And we would ride in parades, ride our unicycles in parades, calling ourselves the three one wheelers. Because who can resist a bad pun such as that. Yes, yes, I see your face, Michael. I can see that. Listen, it was a great time. It was a great time, my childhood.

[Ted Cruz]

So, Liz, did you have the short, short unicycles or the tall ones or.

[Liz Wheeler]

Both the short ones. So it's probably about 4ft, 3 or 4ft. So you're pretty much off the ground. But it wasn't the giraffe unicycles. I did. To be fair, I did ask for one of those, but that was a bridge too far even for my mom to put me up 20ft on one wheel. So just the regular one. I could ride backwards, though. That was kind of my trick that I liked to do.

[Ted Cruz]

Nice.

[Liz Wheeler]

The last time I went to my parents, I did think about trying it again, but being that was a little bit postpartum, I thought maybe I shouldn't get up on the top of that and try a trick that I'd learned 20 years ago.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I'm feeling really lame. Before, I was feeling historically ignorant. Now I'm feeling untalented as well, because we're gonna have a subsequent episode where Michael's playing the sitar, you're riding a unicycle, and I'm sitting here threatening to sue people like I Senator, While you.

[Michael Knowles]

Were wasting all of that time at Harvard Law School learning constitutional law, you could have been doing something productive like learning an ancient Indian guitar or riding the unicycle. I mean, these are the regrets that people have in their lives.

[Ted Cruz]

Indeed, misspent youth.

[Liz Wheeler]

This question, by the way, was asked by Real Truth Cactus. And I want to give credit where credit Due our next giveaway. Our next Christmas gift was this was Real Truth Cactus idea. So we can thank her for this. And this is really funny. So if we get to 50,000 reviews on Apple podcasts by our anniversary date, that inaugural. The date of the inaugural episode, January 21, 50,000 reviews on Apple podcasts. We will let the fans pick what we do next year. Now, these are the options. Are you ready for these options? Real Truth Cactus. Just hit the nail on the head with this one. Senator. The senator wears a Braves jersey for an entire episode. That's option number one. Option number two is the senator and Michael arm wrestle. Option three is the cactus makes a guest appearance on the show right here on the pod. Or four, Michael roasts Princeton and Senator roasts Yale in a throwdown episode. If we get to 50,000 reviews on Apple Podcasts by January 21st, people, I beg of you. I mean, as you can see, this would be a very enjoyable episode for me and for you. If not for Michael and the senator. Let's do this. Please, let's do this.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, I will say on the fourth one of roasting Yale versus Princeton, I kind of feel like taking candy from a baby. That. That's not really fair. It is a horribly skewed playing field, Senator.

[Michael Knowles]

I would have to resist that. I would have to fight you on that question, except that a few years ago, there was a case of a Yale student screaming at the top of her lungs that Yale is not an intellectual place. It is a place of comfort and home, and the university sided with her. So I hope it's not number four. I'm going to be. It's going to be an uphill battle.

[Liz Wheeler]

So, Michael, when you say fight, did you mean arm wrestle?

[Michael Knowles]

Well, that might be an uphill battle, too.

[Ted Cruz]

I'm, you know, I don't know. We'll see how that shakes out. You've got youth. But, you know, I may have a few pounds on you, Michael. So we'll see how that shakes out. I will say, on the first suggestion of the Braves jersey, oddly enough, bizarrely enough, I have worn a Braves jersey precisely once in my life. So 50, almost 51 years of life, I've worn a Braves jersey once. And the day on which I wore the Braves jersey was today. So in the World Series, I had a wager with Jon Ossoff, newly elected senator from Georgia, on the World Series. I actually went and proposed it to John when the World Series started, said, look, let's have a wager. The loser has to buy food for the staff. Of the other and wear the jersey of the winning team. And I pointed out that I had done the same thing with Kamala Harris and she had to show up in an Astros jersey, which was awesome. And then I did the same thing with Tim Kaine when the Nationals beat the Astros and I had to painfully don a Nationals jersey. It's very funny. Ossoff was fine with the food, but he was really nervous. He's like, well, if I wear an Astros jersey, that could cost me several points at the polls, right? And I'm like, well, that's a plus too. But. But I was like, come on, man. Like, you know, Kamala did it, you know, So I will say I did it today, but I did it under protest.

[Michael Knowles]

That's. You know, you might have been following the letter of the law, senator, but that seems to violate the spirit of the law if you're wearing the Astros hat.

[Ted Cruz]

So I didn't actually wear the Astros hat. I just wore the jersey. But I brought in Kreuz's barbecue, I think flew in barbecue from Texas all the way up here and fed all of the Ossoff staffers and wore the jersey. So if that wins the thing, I might have to wear this hat too. But I did wear a jersey today to pay up on my wager.

[Michael Knowles]

A man of his word.

[Liz Wheeler]

And this kind of coincidence you can't design, because I did not even come into this episode knowing that fact. And nor did real truth cactus, to my knowledge, by the way. Just to remind everyone how the mechanics of this work, go over to Apple Podcasts, leave a five star review, write a comment telling us, of course, how glorious the show is, get us up to 50,000 views. And then once this happens, go over to verdict, that's verdictwithtedcruise.com and vote in the poll to see exactly what you would like to see happen. Would you like to see the senator in a Braves jersey? Would you like to see an arm wrestling match between Michael and the Senator? Would you like the cactus to make a guest appearance on the show? Or would you like a mutual roast? Michael roasting Princeton and the Senator roasting Yale. Those are the options. This seems like a pretty good Christmas episode, Michael.

[Ted Cruz]

So, Liz, let me jump in on two things. Number one, okay, so the goal is to get to 50,000 reviews on Apple Podcasts, and it's the same thing. Cause it's part of their magical algorithm or algae rhythm, as they said in the terrible remake of Space Jam. But so we gotta get to 50,000 by January 21st, where are we now? Are we close?

[Liz Wheeler]

We can do it. Let's say that it's doable. We can do it. If we commit, we're at about 35,000 over the course of the last almost two years. But listen, with this kind of incentive, we can get this done. I for one, really, really want to see an arm wrestling match. So I highly encourage everyone who's watching and listening to this episode, please go rate. Give us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts. Please write a comment. Please, then choose. And this is my bias. I know that I'm creating bias in this poll. Please choose the arm wrestling match.

[Ted Cruz]

Oh, and by the way, Liz, I will say on Verdict, if you're disagreeable and contrary and you don't like any of the four choices, provide a fifth. We're spontaneous, we're flexible. If you've got an idea that you think is a better one than that, throw it out there. And if a bunch of folks on Verdict plus like it, and if it does not entail Michael and the nude, then we'll consider it.

[Michael Knowles]

Thank you. I appreciate that. I was actually gonna suggest it. I don't, you know, listen, I'm a free spirit. I'm hip, I'm cool. But yes, please, everyone, submit your suggestions. It's funny, it occurs to me that we began the show today with me complaining about how we have too many ads. And now we've had a bunch of ads, but they're not ads for anything other really than offering a bunch of free stuff. As a note of gratitude to all of you. Seriously, we're so, so grateful to all of the listeners who have been with us for 100 episodes. We really, really appreciate it. We wish everyone a very merry Christmas. From me, from Liz, from Senator Cruz, most importantly, from the Cactus. So really, thank you all. We will see you next time. I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

[Liz Wheeler]

So I tried to get the great and powerful J. Hey. To draw Cactus on the Vesta board for this little, this little bit that we're doing, but he could not produce. So let me just tell you, we have a 20% off sale on the Verdict merch store right now. You can get one of those sweet, sweet cactus hats. I would put one on for you to model it, but I'm a little vain of my hair today. I think I'm having a pretty good hair day, so I didn't want to mess it up. But go over to verdict with TedCruise.com shop and if you use the promo code Santa, then you will get 20% off the entire shop between now and Christmas. 20% off. That's a really good deal. We have T shirts, we have cactus merch. We have hats. We have all kinds of cool stuff over there. Between now and Christmas, you get the great deal. 20% off if you use the promo code Santa. Then I don't know. In the meantime, maybe the great and powerful J hey will figure out how to put a T shirt or a cactus on the vestiboard. But while he's figuring that out, I invite you join us verdict with TedCruz.com shop to buy really cool merch. You get 20% off if you use the promo code Santa at checkout. That's actually pretty good.

[Ted Cruz]

This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought to you by Jobs, Freedom, and Security pac, a political action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations, and candidates across the country.

[Michael Knowles]

In 2022, jobs, freedom and Security PAC.

[Ted Cruz]

Plans to donate to conservative candidates running for Congress and help the Republican Party across the nation.

[Michael Knowles]

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