Democrat Party says Adios to the Middle, Texas BBQ vs. Vegan Politics & NIL Bill Takes Aim at College Sports Chaos Week In Review

Summary

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The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: "Democrat Party says Adios to the Middle, Texas BBQ vs. Vegan Politics & NIL Bill Takes Aim at College Sports Chaos – Week In Review"

Date: May 30, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks)
Featured Guest: Senator Ted Cruz

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Overview

In this week-in-review episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz go deep on three big stories at the intersection of politics, culture, and sports. They dissect how the Democratic Party is “leaving moderates behind,” scrutinize Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico’s leftward positions—specifically on veganism and identity politics—and break down new bipartisan efforts to reign in chaos in college sports with the proposed NIL Bill. The episode is filled with candid commentary, direct quotes, and sharp humor in the hosts’ signature style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Democrats "Say Adios to the Middle" (02:24–11:40)

Democrats Running “Radicals,” Not Moderates

• Ben Ferguson highlights a shift toward more extreme Democratic candidates, suggesting the party is fielding "radicals" in key midterm races rather than the moderate candidates that could win swing voters.
• Senator Ted Cruz agrees, labeling the Democratic roster as some of "the craziest loons I’ve ever seen" [04:19].

Case Study: Graham Platner (Maine Senate Race)

• Ted Cruz names Graham Platner as an example of the party’s “radicalism,” noting Platner is a self-described communist and has an SS Totenkopf (Nazi) tattoo [06:03].
• Cruz details Platner’s repeated offensive online commentary—attacks on veterans, women, and minorities—and recounts Democratic leaders' refusal to denounce or distance themselves from Platner.

“There’s no candidate in the country that better embodies just how bat crap crazy the Democrats have gotten than Graham Platner.” —Sen. Ted Cruz (05:26)

• Cruz notes that despite Platner’s disturbing history, Democrats and figures like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren support him [08:51, 10:04].

“Elizabeth Warren says, quote, ‘He’s my kind of man.’” —Ben Ferguson (10:08)

• Media complicity is criticized, with Time magazine called out for featuring Platner as a “Party Crasher” [11:18].

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2. Texas BBQ vs. Vegan Politics: The James Talarico Saga (13:43–28:02)

James Talarico’s Stance on Meat and Climate

• Ferguson recaps Talarico’s 2022 pledge to run a vegan campaign for environmental reasons, playing a clip of Talarico calling reduced meat consumption “existential,” which leads to a running joke about the word “existential” [13:43–14:22, 15:14].

“It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and … respect animals in all aspects of society.” —James Talarico [15:14]

• Cruz and Ferguson poke fun at how out-of-touch these vegan stances are in beef-loving Texas.

“In Texas, we like meat … We are not vegans. We don’t do this, like, mystery, fake meat stuff.” —Ben Ferguson (16:06)

• They recall PETA protesting at Cruz campaign stops and joke about what happens “if you elect Beto O’Rourke, he’s gonna ban barbecue.” [16:51]

Talarico’s Progressive Beliefs

• The hosts review Talarico’s other stances:
  • Declares God is non-binary and there are “six biological sexes.” [19:01–21:10]
  • Asserts “The Bible justifies abortion”; calls Jesus a “radical feminist” [19:42–20:20].
  • Labeled white men as the “greatest domestic terrorist threat” in America [20:20].
  • Admits to making students write Obama memoirs, advocates for open borders and evasion of ICE [20:34].
  • Clips of Talarico’s own words reinforce these claims [21:10, 22:29, 24:45, 26:24].

“God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.” —James Talarico (21:24)

Rhetoric on the American Flag and Race

• Talarico is quoted likening the American flag, Jesus, and the cross to “complicated symbols.” Cruz takes exception, tying these views to cultural Marxism [22:29–23:54].
• Ferguson and Cruz further mock Talarico’s self-reflection on “whiteness” and “masculinity,” painting his rhetoric as guilt-ridden and inconsistent [24:45, 26:24, 26:45].

“Prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness, my own masculinity, my own certainty, my own ego.” —James Talarico (24:45)

"If you listen to what he’s saying … what he’s saying there, everyone, white is an oppressor. … That’s the same garbage that says America is a racist history from day one.” —Sen. Ted Cruz (25:14)

Overall Point

• The hosts see Talarico as emblematic of the Democratic Party’s leftward tilt, emphasizing that while the candidate appears affable, his policy views are “radical.”

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3. NIL Bill & College Sports Chaos (30:35–38:41)

The Problem: Transfer Chaos and “Super Leagues”

• Ferguson and Cruz discuss the recent turmoil in college sports due to NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rules and transfer policies, leading to massive player movement and undermined team continuity [31:05–31:36].
• Cruz supports student-athletes being able to transfer if coaches leave but warns against unlimited transfers and the unintended effects [31:06–31:36].

Bipartisan Breakthrough: The NIL Bill

• Cruz explains a new bipartisan bill, negotiated with Sen. Maria Cantwell and others, to cap transfer chaos while expanding and protecting revenue for all schools—not just elite conferences [32:02–37:08].

"We literally have been negotiating for the last month. We've been spending six to eight hours a day in a room negotiating directly … It has been painstaking.” —Sen. Ted Cruz (32:02)

Sources of Opposition

• Far-left senators (notably Chris Murphy) and “big money”—meaning the SEC and Big Ten—resist the bill, with the far left wanting student-athletes to unionize and “constant lawsuits” [31:42–32:02].

Protecting Equity in College Sports

• Bill explicitly prohibits the SEC and Big Ten from merging into a “super league” to avoid crushing other schools.
• Allows schools to negotiate media rights collectively, with the stipulation that expanded TV revenue must support all sports and maintain scholarships [35:25–37:08].

“It is an awesome thing to cheer on your school. … I want to see college sports continue to be an amazing thing for athletes, for students, for universities, and a great thing for fans.” —Sen. Ted Cruz (38:21)

• “Lane Kiffin Rule”: Coaches can’t be hired away midseason or during playoffs; must wait until offseason [38:21].

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Democratic Extremism:
  “If you’re an extreme Democrat three, four years ago, you’re now moderate in the Democratic Party.” —Ben Ferguson (05:52)

• On Veganism in Texas:
  “In Texas, we like meat … We are not vegans.” —Ben Ferguson (16:06)

• On Identity Politics:
  “God is non binary.” —James Talarico (21:24)

• On College Sports Reform:
  “We literally have been negotiating for the last month. We've been spending six to eight hours a day in a room negotiating directly …” —Sen. Ted Cruz (32:02)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Democrats Shift Far-Left & Graham Platner Segment: 02:24–11:40
• Texas BBQ vs. Vegan Politics (James Talarico): 13:43–28:02
• NIL Bill & College Sports Chaos: 30:35–38:41

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, sharp, often satirical—a blend of earnest political critique and pointed cultural humor.
• Frequent use of direct audio clips to let controversial statements “speak for themselves.”
• Recurrent barbs directed at perceived media bias and political opponents.
• Mix of insider anecdotes (barbecue campaign stops, college sports negotiations) and national political commentary.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode delivers a punchy recap of the week’s most heated political and cultural debates: a Democratic Party described as “abandoning moderates for radicals,” a Texas Senate race pitting traditional barbecue values against vegan campaigns and gender politics, and the surprising bipartisanship behind efforts to save the spirit of college sports. Ben Ferguson and Ted Cruz break down these themes with humor, direct quotes, and a clear viewpoint—ideal for listeners seeking an unfiltered conservative take on the week’s news.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human

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[Parent/Podcast Guest]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

We'll pack up the RV and know

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome in his verdict with Ted Cruz Week in Review. Ben Ferguson with you. And here are the big stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, the policies of the left in the upcoming midterm elections. Well, they're totally radical. We'll explain it all. Exactly what they're running on. Also, one of those radicals is in Texas and he's running for the U.S. senate. His name, James Talarico. So what has he said in his past? We've got the receipts. And finally, if you love college sports, you're going to need to know about the nil college sports bill and how it could fundamentally change sports for the better. It's the Weekend Review and it starts right now. I want to move the midterms and talk about something that I actually think is very, one, interesting, but two, why every time when I'm, I'm having to debate this on tv, it's oh, the Republicans are in trouble, Donald Trump's in trouble. The midterms are going to be a bloodbath, they're going to be a disaster. And I keep saying the same thing over and over again. Look at who the Democrats are running. There are radicals in the Democratic Party that they are running instead of what I would argue would be the easiest way to win if you think you have an advantage, and that would be to run moderate Democrats that are, that are like not crazy and hate law enforcement and want to abolish ICE and want to get rid of, you know, law and order and basic things in America like waste, fraud and abuse, for example. And the funds that we've seen, they've been stolen through Medicare, Medicaid and hospice and the list goes on and on as keeps growing. But right now I'm not that sour on the midterms center because I see who they're running and I think that's their biggest liability. And, and some of these are in very big races where I'm sitting there going, if you're saying you wouldn't have taken this risk with this candidate. But I also think it tells you about the Democratic Party. They're not saying they want to run. These radical extremist candidates said insane things in their past.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, I gotta say you're right that this is potentially a bumpy political environment in November. Although I'm still optimistic. I'm optimistic we hold and grow our majorities in both the House and Senate. I don't think that is off the table at all. I think it's very much in flux right now. But, but I will say that the Democrats are helping us by, by nominating some of the craziest loons I've ever seen. Listen, and parties can do, do a lot to affect their outcome in the general. If you nominate strong candidates who are widely appeal attractive, who have real records of success, that can be formidable and if you nominate lunatics who scare the voters that can hand the election to your opponents. And I got to say, I think there's no candidate in the country that better embodies just how bat crap crazy the Democrats have gotten than Graham Platner. Graham Platner, their nominee for Senate in Maine. Now, let's start off. Look, Maine is one of the obvious pickup opportunities for the Democrats. Maine is a blue state. Susan Collins, the Republican senator, is the only Republican elected in all of New England. And so in a state that votes by a large margin against Donald Trump, if you're the Democrats, that's an obvious place to say, all right, let's target a pickup there. And in fact, Janet Mills, Democrat governor, relatively popular in the state, was running, and yet the party has gone so crazy that their own governor was deemed not crazy enough. And instead they went with, with, with Graham Platner. Look, the governor might have been.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, I wish you were joking, but you're really not. Like, like, I mean, if you're a extreme Democrat three, four years ago, you're now moderate in the Democratic Party.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So who is Graham Platner? He has described himself as a communist. It used to be the socialist were the extremes. I cannot think of another major Democrat nominee who is self described as a communist. But Graham Platner, that's how he described his own political and economic philosophy. Graham Platner had. And you, you've heard this because at this point, most people had, had a Nazi tattoo on his chest. Not just a Nazi tattoo, a Totenkampf. What is a Totenkamp? It is a Nazi skull and crossbones. That was the symbol of the SS that ran the concentration camps in, in Germany and throughout, throughout Europe in the World War II. That's what he put on his. So you've got an actual communist. Nazi is their nominee. And, and by the way, we've seen Democrats rushing up to Maine to support him. Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders this week is up there campaigning because the, you know, the Communists and the Nazis standing together. But I gotta say, it is amazing. You might think, okay, a Nazi Communist. That's pretty out there. That's, that's gonna be tough to defend this guy's oppo file. I don't know who's doing the oppo research on him, but he's having more fun than anybody has ever had the history of politics. Because every day something comes out and I'm gonna repeat some of it, but I'm gonna give a caution that most of what's in his oppo file. I can't repeat because this is a family friendly podcast and this guy is so profane, he's so obscene. So one of the most recent comments that he put on on Reddit that just came out was, quote, you don't have much experience with Latin American hookers, do you? That would be the Democrat nominee for Senate. Maine. What else did he say? He, he, he also, he attacked a veteran, an army combat veteran who received the Purple Heart. He did this online and he called him a dumb m effer, although he did not abbreviate mfer. And he said this army combat veteran didn't deserve to live. Yeah, this guy wants to be a United States Senator. And by the way, just today he was questioned by it about it and asked if he want to apologize. Give a listen to what he said about when he was given the opportunity to apologize for calling an army combat veteran and a Purple Heart recipient a dumb mfer who didn't deserve to live. Here was Platner's response. I was wondering if you regret the post about the Purple Heart veteran,

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

if

[Senator Ted Cruz]

you think you need to apologize to him, what you would say to voters who might be upset by it. I deport towards the infantry. Any attempt to say that I disrespect veterans is slanderous and offensive. You think you owe him an apology? Do you know how many of my friends have liberal arts. Do you know how many of my friends got wounded? I'm sure a lot. Yeah, a lot of people. Thank you. Thank you.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, that's what you call a double down there, sir.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So no apology. Doubling down. By the way, he also, he has some bizarre things. He talks about how women who are raped, it's their fault. He attacks African Americans. He says they're cheaper, they don't tip. Oddly enough. He also wrote about. Okay, this is bizarre fantasies about how every time he sees a porta Potty, he wants to go inside the port a potty and masturbate in the port a potty. Look, this is weird. This is not mainstream. This guy is extreme. And you know what Elizabeth Warren says about someone who says all that?

[Ben Ferguson]

She likes him, vote for him, send money even more.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

She says, quote, he's my kind of man.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah, that was, that was her quote from this. Yes, he's my kind of man. A guy with a Nazi tattoo is a communist who says he likes to do that in a porta Potty. There you go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And understand, look, the Democrats are so extreme, he can attack and mock and insult women. He can attack African Americans, he can attack Jews, he can attack veterans. And they don't care. They all circle the wagons. He's our guy because he's a Democrat. And they're unwilling. There is nothing too much, by the way, they love to call every Republican a Nazi. And yet when they have a guy that puts a Nazi tattoo on his own chest, they're good with that and they're not backing off. And not only that, but you look at the corrupt corporate media. Just this week, what did Time magazine do? They put them on the COVID They put them on the COVID and it's entitled Party Crasher. Now I gotta say, Time magazine, it's interesting because they have a long history of putting Nazis on their cover. They were fond of putting Adolf Hitler on their cover. Um, I did have some fun online when I said, hey, hey, Grok, what is a toten comp. And. And does Time have any history of putting Nazis on their cover? And you can read the whole response that came up to that, but the short answer is yes. And I gotta say, having seen this guy's like daily drip of oppo, between now and November is gonna be interesting. Cause. Cause I guarantee you there's a lot more coming.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

mom,

[Ben Ferguson]

can I have Lingokids? Dad? Lingokids, please.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

When did we become the Lingokids house?

[Parent/Podcast Guest]

No idea. Last week it was dinosaurs.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Why Lingokids?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Now on to story number two. Let's dive into who this guy is here. Because you go back to 2022, James Talarico said it is existential, all right? To reduce meat consumption.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

What was that word again?

[Ben Ferguson]

Existential. You're gonna mock me out. You're gonna mock me on the show tonight, aren't you? I've been talking a long time.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay, Try that word. There's a. There's a t in there.

[Ben Ferguson]

Go ahead. I'll take the master class from you. You go ahead and say the word that I'm having a problem with tonight. I'm just. Yeah, I'm. I'm more than happy at midnight for you to say that word on my behalf.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That would be exis. Existential.

[Ben Ferguson]

Existential. There we go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

There we go.

[Ben Ferguson]

I can, I can copy the word.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's not that he has extra sensory abilities. That's something different. If he had esp, that would be a different story.

[Ben Ferguson]

The lickings, I take it's unbelievable. So. So back to 2022 and James, this is a guy that in, in Texas, I said this on, on Harris Faulkner show on Fox today when they were talking about the prayer. I'm like, in Texas, we like meat in Texas, we are ranchers. We are farmers. We're not vegans. We don't do this, like mystery, fake meat stuff. Like, that's just not who we are. But this is what he doesn't want you to know about him. Back in 2022, as a principal, by the way, while saying this, he was wearing a mask, the COVID mask, for the press conference. Here he is in his own words. Take a listen. 1.

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

We have, I think, heard more and more issues of animal welfare. I think not just because it's the right thing to do and the moral thing to do, but also it's, as all of you know, necessary to fight climate change. It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society. And so I, I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non meat campaign. So we have we are, we are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses. Some of you may know big nonnas, they were little nonnas, and then they opened up brick and mortar, some of their big nonna's. But we just got our pizza from there today. And so the point is that I think all of us, not just policymakers, but everyone, has to take personal responsibility in this effort.

[Ben Ferguson]

I. I've never in my life heard a vegan campaign being like, propped up. Much less like, you want to do that in Seattle, that actually may work. You want to do it in San Francisco, that it may actually work. You want to do this up in New York City. I'm not even sure it would work there actually, because they actually like normal food there. But saying our campaign as a responsible kid is a vegan campaign like that in Texas. And this goes back to like everyone he's know who this guy is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, and I get that you're taking this very personally because. Because you owned a barbecue restaurant and.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So he's taken a direct assault on your livelihood. Just wait till he comes out for banning guns and banning radio. I mean, I mean, you know, Ben, Ben will lose his mind.

[Ben Ferguson]

I will. That is, that is the fact.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, it's. It's actually ironic that in 2018, when I was running against Beto, of our 50 stop bus tour, my guess is a third of those stops were barbecue restaurants. If you're traveling little towns around the state, a lot of times barbecue restaurants are where you'll do a rally. And we were at one barbecue restaurant. I think it was in Columbus, Texas, a little town kind of halfway between Houston and Austin. And we're there, and PETA was there protesting me. They had signs out and they were protesting people of the ethical treatment of animals. They were protesting against me. And I joked at the time, I said, look, thank you. I'm really glad PETA is here. And they've underscored the stakes of this campaign, which is if you elect Beto o', Rourke, he's gonna ban barbecue. Yeah, and look, it was a laugh line there. I didn't realize that. Fast forward to 2026. You're gonna have someone who literally believes barbecue is immoral. And listen, if someone chooses to be vegetarian or vegan or what have you. Look, to be clear, my wife Heidi is vegetarian. That's a choice you can make. I am an enthusiastic carnivore.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, but I had barbecue tonight. Literally, that's like we at a campaign event.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We had jalapeno Sausage. It was, it was good stuff. Jalapeno cheddar. And there was some sort of. I don't know what was the veg? Was that like celery or something? It was jalapeno cheddar. There was something else. It was in the, it was in the sausage. Did you not eat the sausage?

[Ben Ferguson]

Was it. Oh, I didn't have the sausage, but I also had the chicken. I had some of the brisket. You know, I was like carnivore, all, like everything. I thought you went, you went with salad part.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You went with it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did you look at the salad part? There were some nice greens there for you, sir.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay, so you went with the girly meats, like, like you said. I went to the barbecue restaurant and I had turkey.

[Ben Ferguson]

It was there and I ate it. I feel good about it too.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, I think you're prepared to volunteer for Talarico's campaign if you're boycotting the sausage. That, that sounds.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, I ate the sausage. It was good. I just didn't notice the green in there. I look over that stuff. I look for just pure. Is that meat? Is that cheese? I'm all in.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right, so look, it's the self righteous way in which he lectures that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And it's saying, you know, all of you are morally inferior to me. And I'm going to give you an example. We're going to play some of these, but I'm gonna give you an example of some of the things he said. He has said God is non binary. Yeah, now that's pretty out there. He is also saying.

[Ben Ferguson]

We've got the montage on that. You want to play that real quick?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We will in a second, but. We will in a second. But, but I want to just walk through, through some of it. He has also said they're not just, just two sexes. There are actually six biological sexes. Six.

[Ben Ferguson]

What day, what day in creation did God do the six sexes? I'm just curious, was that on like the eighth day in the Bible? You just add that in there? I just want to know when that happened.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And by the way, your former employer, cnn, when they were covering a story about. I couldn't resist that about, about Pax hitting him for saying there's six biological sexes. CNN put a chiron in the bottom of the screen. Paxton falsely claims Talarico said there's six biological sexes. He's on video. We're going to play it for you. Yeah, yeah. And are you going to believe CNN or your own lying ears? He has said that. That The Bible justifies abortion, that he is pro abortion because of the Bible.

[Ben Ferguson]

He's a pastor, so that, so he's got to be. Right. Right. Because he's a pastor. So therefore he would never lie about what the Bible says.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He has said Jesus was a radical feminist. He, he has said white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country.

[Ben Ferguson]

You're Hispanic, so you don't have to worry about being. Well, I'm the one that's a target there.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, he has said that illegal immigrants are his, quote, constituents. He has posted tips to evade ice. And he said we should approach the southern border like our front door and put a welcome mat on it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

When he was a schoolteacher, he made his 6th graders write Obama memoirs. And he has said fascism will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross. Listen to some of the greatest hits from James Talarico. This is the guy you voted for.

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front. There are many more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six. God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non binary.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh really?

[Ben Ferguson]

God is non binary. And by the way, the, the, the, the six sexes, just, just for seeing in clarity, as you mentioned, you're exactly right. We have the tape. So your headline, you might want to like, you know, fix it, alter it, change it, whatever it is. But these are just some of the highlights of what this guy believes in. And again, they are trying to make him. And I do think it's the most dangerous part. As you mentioned earlier, he's, he looks like, he's a really nice guy who's a pastor, soft spoken, he's very charismatic. That's what makes him so dangerous. Until you actually go to his own words and his own posts and his own speeches center. That's when you find out what a radical he actually is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, yes, but look, at least the guy loves America, loves the American flag and well, wait, wait, no, let's actually listen to his own words. I want you to listen to what he said about the American flag. This again is his own words. Give a listen.

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

I often think when reclaiming symbols, I think about the American flag. I think the Confederate flag is a symbol of treason and terrorism. But the American flag is such a complicated symbol for most of us. And in many ways, like Jesus, like the cross, it's been co opted and, and, and, and, and in some ways its true meaning has been betrayed by

[Ben Ferguson]

the way he said that center in a church that the American flag is a complicated symbol for most of us. The American flag has never been complicated for me. I don't know, maybe. Maybe you look at it differently.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and he says the American flag is a complicated symbol, like Jesus and like the cross. Those are the three examples he gives of complicated symbols. Yeah, I don't think any of the three are complicated. And the idea that you're running to be a US Senator and you look at the American flag and think it's a complicated symbol, you know, yes. If you are a leftist. Yes. If you are a Marxist. Yes. If you are someone who has bought into cultural Marxism and believes America is irredeemably racist, believes that we are a nation of oppressors oppressing victims, and that his goal is to overthrow the oppressors. And that is. Listen, Graham Platner in Maine is more expensive.

[Ben Ferguson]

The ss Sad too, right? Just to remind people who we're talking about right now, this is a guy that actually mocked and made fun of an American soldier being shot, saying he should have died and then refuse double down on it. And the same guy that has an SS tattoo.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes. And look, and who is also an open racist. I mean, he has mocked African Americans. He wears a Nazi tattoo and is demeaning to Jews, he's demeaning to women. He says women, rape victims are asking for it. Platner is at least out in the open about who he is. But Talarico, let's take the racism of the Democrat party and listen, here's something Talarico said in another church about his own race, about being white. Give a listen for me.

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

Prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness, my own masculinity, my own certainty, my own ego. It's a never ending process and it's a painful process.

[Ben Ferguson]

I gotta give him self awareness credit there, Senator. Like when he says it's helped him deal with his masculinity, I think he's nipped that problem in the bud. Going vegan and talking the way he does, like by the Lord, heard those prayers. I mean, if he was working on the masculinity issue, he has nailed it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

There's no doubt about that. If you listen to what he's saying and he's in a church, he behind him. If you're watching the video, he has a giant cross behind him. What he calls that, what is it? Complicated image of the cross, like the American flag and like Jesus. And he said the prophetic voices like Jesus helped him deal. Let's take the racist aspect his own whiteness, which is a hard thing to reckon with. You know, look, I'm sorry. In my book, being white is not something to be ashamed of, is not a symbol that you are a bad human being. But in the leftist world, white equals evil. This is the Marxist dichotomy. It's why I'm saying he's a wolf in sheep's clothing. What he's saying there, everyone, white is an oppressor. You're all evil. You're all illegitimate. That is the same thing. Everyone who is black, you're all oppressed, and you should overthrow your evil oppressors. That is the same garbage that says America is a racist history from day one. That is who we are as irredeemably racist. It is a lie. Now play the second clip of him talking about his masculinity.

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

No. No need to sit and cry over, you know, your whiteness or your masculinity.

[Ben Ferguson]

Right.

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

Use it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[James Talarico (voice clips)]

Use it to do something. Yeah, let's be productive.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wait, which one is it?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm. I'm a little confused. Are we masculine on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. But Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, where we just. We just, like, turn that completely off. Which one is it? I just want to know.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay. And this is where you really ought to be watching this in video, because, look, Talarico is a little dude. Yeah. Yes. You know, he. He may be the least likely person on planet Earth to be complaining about his overwhelming masculinity. Look, Ben, you're a big dude. I'm pretty sure you could hip check this guy into the next zip code. He also, in another clip that I don't have explained that he never played sports at all growing up. I believe that.

[Ben Ferguson]

I believe that. Yes. Yes, I believe that as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I will say, if you were listening to him speak and you were assembling 1,000 adjectives to describe him, masculine would not be one of them, would not

[Ben Ferguson]

be on that list.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I. I'm just saying I don't think anyone would. And yet he described that he was crying over his masculinity, that he was too, too masculine. It made him cry, by the way.

[Ben Ferguson]

This wasn't fair to everybody else.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If you're crying over your masculinity, it may not be your masculinity you're crying over. Like. Like. I'm just saying that there's almost something definitionally false. But this guy is extreme, which means the Democrats love him as before.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing

[America 250 Announcer]

this July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music, performances from major artists, patriotic tributes and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at america to250.org

[Parent/Podcast Guest]

with my mom and dad living in Orange county, when we bring my five and seven year old to visit, we are sometimes in for a two hour drive that could feel like 10.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, as an avid camper, I know all about this.

[Ben Ferguson]

We'll pack up the RV and know

[Senator Ted Cruz]

this is either going to be the trip of a lifetime or a complete disaster.

[Parent/Podcast Guest]

Which is why we load up the iPads with Lingokids before we even pull out of the driveway.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's what dreams are made of.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Parent/Podcast Guest]

You can pack whatever you think you'll need, but lingokids is the only entertainment you'll need for a stress free car ride.

[Ben Ferguson]

Or really any ride, plane, train, hovercraft, whatever.

[Parent/Podcast Guest]

Download lingokids for free today or unlock

[Senator Ted Cruz]

even more amazing content with LingoKids.

[Parent/Podcast Guest]

Plus choose the yearly plan and save up to 60%. Search LingoKids in the App Store or

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Google Play LingoKids everything kids love Professional wrestling fans the action continues every week. This is total non stop action. TNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AMC. For showtimes and more information visit tnarestling.com

[Martha Stewart]

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[Ben Ferguson]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week. You may have missed. You mentioned something I want to I want to clarify. You said that you get two transfers. This is the first time in my life I've ever wanted to be a witness in in Anything in government, in the Senate of the House, as a witness, I would ask this question to, to the body. So I'll ask it to you. If I go to a school, freshman year and the coach recruits me, he quits, disappears, leaves, whatever, I get to transfer. What if I go to another school and then that coach takes another job, Do I get another transfer?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Anytime your coach quits, it's not fair to you to punish you if you

[Ben Ferguson]

were recruited just a minimum of one. It's unlimited there.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right, right in that exception. Because that's a legitimate reason to leave. And that's not going to happen as a widespread matter. That's not going to lead to, you know, you know, every starting basketball player being recruited away at the end of every season from a team, which is what we're seeing sometimes now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Oh, no. I mean, I laugh. There's football teams now where there was like zero members from the prior year on the football team. And that's a football team, which is huge.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

So who is against this legislation and where's the pushback coming from?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, I have to say. So we introduced it this week and there's been surprisingly little pushback. It has been very well received. As I said, people were astonished that we could get there. Things are so broken down and partisan that they just believe there was no way Democrats and Republicans could come together.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I gotta say, pretty liberal guy like you and him don't. Y' all are not usually one on one like this.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, actually, Chris and I work on a number of things together. Maria Cantwell is my lead partner on this. She's the ranking member on commerce. And we literally have been negotiating for the last month. We've been spending six to eight hours a day in a room negotiating directly, provision by provision. It has been painstaking. But, but, and we had to reach middle grounds where there are provisions in there that don't go as far as I would like, but don't go as far as she would like. And that's how you have to get there. But, but our opposition is coming from two, two places. Number one, the extreme far left and number two, big money. And, and let me break that down. The extreme far left. To date, only one senator out of 100 has publicly criticized that. That's Chris Murphy. Chris Murphy, the very liberal senator from Connecticut who's blasted this, says this doesn't do enough for athletes and it just helps millionaires. And it's. Look, the far left is listening to union bosses and trial lawyers that want a system where number one, their constant lawsuits. Every university is being sued nonstop, every conference being sued nonstop, every league is being sued nonstop. And number two, every student athlete is an employee. They're unionized. They're union members. They're paying union dues. Those union dues are going to fund Democrat candidates. Both of those are terrible outcomes for college sports. And a whole lot of the programs, the historically black colleges and universities have said if that happens, they'll shut down their entire athletic department. I mean, that's the consequence that would end up taking away athletic opportunity for over time, millions of kids. So that's a terrible outcome. But that's one area of pushback is the very far left. The other area of pushback is big money. And you know, I mentioned that we're on a path to consolidation in 30 to 50 schools. In college football, there are two conferences that account for more than two thirds of the revenue, and that is the SEC and the Big Ten. That's where the eyeballs are. They generate massive revenue because look, that's where most of the best football in America is being played is the SEC and Big Ten. Not exclusively, but very heavily, those two conferences. There has been a lot of talk in those two conferences about merging and forming a super league. Now, I think that would be a terrible outcome. You'd end up with the rich getting richer, but all of the rest of college sports would be left behind. It would basically transform the other schools into, into essentially I would describe as Division 2.

[Ben Ferguson]

You wouldn't be able to compete at the same level. You wouldn't have the same quality players. Anybody that cared about football and wanted to play at the highest level and play for national championship would go to the super conference. Right. Like right now you want to go to the sec and if you're from the North Northeast, you may want to go in other schools, but in general, that's the holy grail. You do what you just described and have them to come together. Every other school in America is a loser now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And by the way, it's even worse than that because they lose essentially all of their TV revenue, which funds the rest of their athletic department. So the other schools cancel all the non revenue sports, they slash athletics altogether. They eliminate scholarships. So you end up with millions of kids over time not being able to go to school to play sports and that. And it's not just those kids, because an awful lot of eyeballs, people learn about a school by watching March Madness, by watching sports, and they end up applying to the school.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And you know, a Gonzaga you know, I mean, and they end up. It drives. When your school does well in athletics, your applications soar, your, your donations from alumni soar. And so you end up badly damaging a bunch of schools, not just in sports, but altogether and hurting universities. So what does this bill do? Number one, it explicitly prohibits a super league. It prohibits the Big Ten and the SEC from combining. It just says, no, that's bad for sports, it's bad for athletes, it's bad for football. That is prohibited. Now, you know what? The leadership of the SEC in particular is not happy about prohibiting a super league. But, but secondly, so, so the way I looked at this problem, there, there are two elements. There's a cost element and a revenue element. On the cost side, you want to slow down the out of control spiraling that is bankrupting most of the programs so that the programs can stay vibrant and kids can keep having these opportunities. But on the revenue side, we looked hard for how do we grow the revenue that is available to fund college sports. And what we do is we allow colleges to join together and negotiate for media rights jointly. That I believe will significantly increase the revenue. So for example, the number one source of eyeballs and revenue in TV is the NFL. It's massive. The number two is, is college football. And yet, amazingly, even though a lot more people watch college football than the NBA, the NBA makes billions more in its media contracts. And there's a reason the NBA negotiates as one unit. You don't have the Houston Rockets negotiating against the Knicks and fighting each other. And yet in college conferences, that's what you have. So this allows conferences to come together. It's voluntary. So no one's forced to come together.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, no one's forced to, but it

[Senator Ted Cruz]

lets them come together and negotiate jointly for media rights. I believe that would expand by billions of dollars, the money coming in, which means there's more money for the other sports. And we write in that if you do this, if you get joint media rights, you must maintain every single roster spot and every single scholarship spot for women's and men's sports, for Olympic sports, for track and field, for tennis, for all the non revenue sports, you got to maintain them if you're getting a lot more money through football. And so it's designed to be a win win for everyone. But look, the leadership of the SEC has said that they're not interested. And look, Greg Sanke, I know well Tony Petiti, who leads the, the Big Ten. I know him well. I've talked to both of them and I've said, listen, this is voluntary. It only works if you guys choose to participate. That means the other schools have to offer you a good enough deal that y' all are making a lot more money and so are they. That is a win win for everyone. That's the outcome I hope we see because I want to see college sports continue to be an amazing thing for athletes, for students continue to be an amazing thing for universities and a great thing for fans. Look, it is an awesome thing to cheer on your school. And you asked about the Lane Kiffin rule. It provides that coaches cannot be hired away during the season or during the playoffs. We adopt the same rule as the NFL, which is you gotta wait till the off season because it's not fair to do what happened to the fans of Ole Miss to take their coach right going into the playoffs. That's just wrong.

[Ben Ferguson]

As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

[America 250 Announcer]

This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party. Hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music, performances from major artists, patriotic tribute and the kickoff to giving 4th, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark [e-mail]

[Senator Ted Cruz]

mom, can I have Lingokids?

[Ben Ferguson]

Dad, Lingokids, please.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

When did we become the Lingokids house?

[Parent/Podcast Guest]

No idea. Last week it was Dinosaurs.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This week it's Lingokids.

[Ben Ferguson]

Why Lingokids?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Because it's the best thing ever. We can play games with astronauts, wild animals and superheroes.

[America 250 Announcer]

With more than 4,000 interactive games, songs and shows, LingoKids is the number one

[Senator Ted Cruz]

entertainment platform for young kids.

[Parent/Podcast Guest]

So no dinosaurs and dinosaurs.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Everything kids love, download it for free. Professional wrestling fans, the action continues every week. This is total non stop action. TNA Thursday night Impact Every week on AMC. For showtimes and more important information visit

[Martha Stewart]

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