ABC APOLOGIZES & Pays Trump $15MIL plus Dems Celebrate CEO Murder & Hypocrisy on the Border Cost them the Election

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson: Detailed Summary

Release Date: December 16, 2024
Episode Title: "ABC APOLOGIZES & Pays Trump $15MIL plus Dems Celebrate CEO Murder & Hypocrisy on the Border Cost them the Election"

Introduction

In this compelling episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson, host Ben Ferguson delves into three major political developments: ABC News' unprecedented $15 million settlement with former President Donald Trump, the disturbing trend of leftist figures celebrating the murder of a healthcare CEO, and the Democratic Party's alleged hypocrisy on immigration and border policies that may have influenced the 2024 election outcome. The discussion is enriched with insightful commentary, notable quotes, and in-depth analysis, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of these critical issues.

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1. ABC News Apologizes and Settles Defamation Lawsuit with Donald Trump

Background of the Incident

The episode begins with Senator Ted Cruz introducing the shocking news that ABC News and George Stephanopoulos have issued an apology to Donald Trump and are required to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit. This unprecedented move stems from false statements made by Stephanopoulos on March 10, 2024, where he inaccurately reported that Trump was "liable for rape" in a civil case in New York.

Details of the Lawsuit and Settlement

Ben Ferguson elaborates on the specifics of the settlement, revealing that ABC News is not only paying $15 million to Trump's presidential library but also an additional $1 million to cover Trump's legal fees, totaling $16 million. The settlement includes a formal apology from ABC News and Stephanopoulos, expressing regret over the defamatory statements made during a televised interview with Representative Nancy Mace.

Legal Implications and Defamation Standards

Ferguson discusses the legal framework surrounding defamation, particularly emphasizing the "actual malice" standard established by the Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964). This standard requires public figures like Trump to prove that defamatory statements were made with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard for the truth. Given that Stephanopoulos repeatedly stated the jury found Trump liable for rape—despite clear evidence to the contrary—ABC News likely recognized the futility of defending the lawsuit, leading to the substantial settlement.

Notable Quotes:

• Ted Cruz [00:01]: "the fat lady's singing, the pigs are flying, hell's freezing over."
• Ben Ferguson [08:34]: "It's truly astonishing. ABC News apologizing to Donald Trump and writing a $15 million check... We are in a brave and extraordinary new world."

Analysis of Media Accountability

Ferguson argues that this case underscores the media's accountability when it comes to defaming public figures. He contrasts this settlement with previous instances where media outlets reported unfounded allegations against Trump, such as the Russia collusion narrative and the Hunter Biden laptop controversy, highlighting the challenges in proving defamation in those contexts.

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2. Leftists Celebrating the Murder of a Healthcare CEO

Description of the Incident

The episode moves on to a distressing event: the cold-blooded murder of a healthcare CEO in New York City. Ferguson highlights the alarming trend of leftist figures publicly celebrating this act of violence, framing it as a justified response to perceived injustices within the healthcare industry.

Reactions from Democratic Figures and Media Personalities

Ferguson cites reactions from prominent Democrats and media personalities, including Jessica Tarlov, Katie Couric, and Elizabeth Warren. These figures expressed a nuanced stance that, while condemning the murder, also sought to contextualize the perpetrator's motives within systemic issues like healthcare denial and financial devastation.

Normalization of Violence and Ideological Justifications

Ferguson criticizes this rhetoric as dangerous and grotesque, arguing that it dehumanizes political opponents and normalizes violence as a legitimate means of addressing grievances. He draws parallels to how leftists have previously justified violent actions by Hamas, emphasizing a consistent pattern of endorsing violence when it aligns with their ideological battles.

Notable Quotes:

• Jessica Tarlov [18:44]: "People interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them..."
• Elizabeth Warren [19:33]: "Violence is never the answer... People can only push so far and then they start to take matters into their own hands."
• Ben Ferguson [20:52]: "Violence is never... whether I agree with your ideology or not, nobody should engage in violence against anyone else."

Analysis of Political Rhetoric and Public Safety

Ferguson emphasizes the peril of such rhetoric, suggesting that it not only incites potential violence but also fractures societal norms by making violent retribution seem acceptable within certain political contexts. He advocates for unequivocal condemnation of all acts of violence, regardless of the underlying motivations.

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3. Hypocrisy on the Border and Its Impact on the 2024 Election

Discussion on Immigration Policies and Media Coverage

Ferguson shifts focus to the Democratic Party's handling of immigration policies, asserting that their hypocrisy on the border was a decisive factor in the recent election. He references his own legislative efforts, particularly the Surge Act introduced in October 2021, which proposed creating new ports of entry to send illegal immigrants to liberal strongholds.

Implementation of Policies by Republican Governors

Ferguson highlights how Republican governors like Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas adopted similar strategies, sending thousands of illegal immigrants to states and communities that traditionally lean Democratic. This tactic, according to Ferguson, exposed the Democratic leadership's inability to effectively manage immigration, thereby undermining their credibility.

Reactions from Democratic Media and Politicians

He plays a clip featuring Elizabeth Warren, Jessica Tarlov, and Katie Couric acknowledging the effectiveness of these strategies, albeit in a delayed and reactive manner. Warren's comment, "that's a crazy number. 4.2 million. That is a crazy number," underscores the overwhelming nature of the immigration surge.

Notable Quotes:

• Elizabeth Warren [28:01]: "I just can't help but wonder if that may have had some effect on this policy going into effect."
• Jessica Tarlov [28:01]: "It was the smartest thing they ever did."
• Ben Ferguson [34:42]: "Katie Couric's right that that single action of demonstrating Democrat hypocrisy on this issue could well have decided the presidential election last month."

Impact on the 2024 Election

Ferguson argues that the visible hypocrisy of Democratic leaders—who previously criticized similar immigration tactics—played a significant role in swaying voter sentiment against them. By forcing Democrats to respond to overt immigration surges, Republican strategies effectively highlighted inconsistencies in Democratic policies, contributing to their electoral losses.

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Conclusion

In this episode, Ben Ferguson provides a critical examination of significant political events, emphasizing the media's accountability in defamation, the dangerous normalization of political violence, and the strategic exploitation of immigration policy hypocrisy. Through detailed analysis and poignant quotes, Ferguson offers listeners a thorough understanding of how these issues intertwine and influence the broader political landscape.

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Notable Takeaways:

• Media Accountability: The ABC News settlement with Trump sets a precedent for holding media outlets accountable for defamatory statements, especially when they fail to meet the "actual malice" standard required for defamation cases involving public figures.

• Normalization of Violence: The public celebration of politically motivated violence by leftist figures represents a troubling trend that undermines societal norms and promotes a climate of fear and retribution.

• Immigration Policy Hypocrisy: The Democratic Party's inconsistent and reactive approach to immigration management, exacerbated by Republican tactics, played a crucial role in their recent electoral setbacks by exposing their policy failures and hypocrisies.

This comprehensive analysis underscores the importance of media integrity, the rejection of political violence, and consistent policy implementation in shaping a stable and just society.

Transcript

[Ted Cruz]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And Senator, I can't believe that I'm actually getting to say this, cuz it's just so funny. Uh, but it's real. The President of the United States Elect, Donald Trump is going to get a, an apology from ABC News and George Stephanopoulos on top of the fact they're now forced to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit that the fat lady's singing, the pigs are flying, hell's freezing over.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is truly astonishing. ABC News apologizing to Donald Trump and ABC news writing a $15 million check to Trump's presidential library, all to settle a defamation case because George Stephanopoulos went on national TV and defamed Donald Trump and they're writing a check because of it. And if you never thought it would happen, well, it is. We are in a brave and extraordinary new world. We're going to break it down and what it means. We're also going to go back to the amazing and really sad spectacle of leftists celebrating the cold blooded murder of a healthcare CEO, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, aoc, all gleefully celebrating it and sadly encouraging more. We're going to break that down as well. And finally we're going to talk about what may have been the single most decisive factor in the 2024 election, the left's utter hypocrisy on the border and the serious suffering that open borders cause. We're going to break down that hypocrisy and what may have turned the entire election, all of that on today's Verdict.

[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Well, this stems back to March of 2024 and in particular March 10th on ABC News with George Stephanopoulos. And as part of this settlement, ABC News wrote a committed to write a $15 million check, a charitable contribution to Trump's presidential library and also to pay a million dollars in Trump's lawyer's fees. So all told, $16 million is what ABC is out of POC. And they also had to apologize. They had to issue a statement of, quote, regret. And so they appended to the story from the March 10 online article the following statement, quote, ABC News and George Stephanopoulos regret statements regarding President Donald J. Trump made during an interview by George Stephanopoulos with Representative Nancy Mace on ABC's this Week on March 10, 2024. And so what were the statements that caused this? Well, George Stephanopoulos repeatedly said Trump was, quote, liable for rape and was found liable for rape in the civil case in New York. And Nancy Mace was on with Stephanopoulos. And Stephanopoulos played a clip of Mace discussing being a victim of rape. And then Stephanopoulos asked her, quote, how do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw? Quote, you've endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape. And he was referencing the lawsuit by Gene Carroll. Stephanopoulos repeated that claim 10 times. 10 times he repeated that the jury has determined that Trump was liable for rape. What the jury in fact determined is that they found that. That, that he was not liable for rape, but rather a separate crime under New York law called sexual abuse. And Trump sued ABC News, and Trump sued Stephanopoulos for Stephanopoulos repeatedly saying a jury had found he was liable for rape when they explicitly found he was not liable for rape. And at the end of the day, this settlement is all about that. It has been black letter law for a long time that when you falsely accuse someone of a felony, that is defamation. And ABC News just repeatedly said he was liable for rape. Liable for rape. That's what the jury found. That's what the jury found. And there was one minor problem. It wasn't true. And so, you know, you mentioned they settled this because Trump won. It's true that Trump won, and it's true they settled this. But I guarantee you, their lawyers were telling them, listen, when you say over and over again, a jury has found someone guilty of a felony and the jury found the opposite, that's defamation. And you're going to end up writing a much bigger check if you don't settle this lawsuit. And it happened right after the magistrate judge ordered both Trump and Stephanopoulos on Friday to sit for depositions next week and answer questions under oath. And I think ABC realized they were going to have to sit George Stephanopoulos down and Trump's lawyers were going to get to ask him, okay, did the jury find him liable for rape? Yes or no. And Stephanopoulos would be forced to say no. Did you say that the jury found him liable for rape and Stephanopoulos would have to be forced to say yes. Did you say ten separate times on national TV the jury found him liable for rape and Stephanopoulos would grumble a lot of times and be forced to say yes. And here, here's the interesting question they were going to ask him. Did you know at the time that you said ten separate times the jury found him liable for rape, that the jury explicitly hadn't had found him not liable for rape. And I don't know how Stephanopoulos would answer that. My guess is he'd be forced to say yes, but he was either deliberately lying or he was utterly indifferent to what the truth or falsity of what he was saying is. Either way, it is a real problem. And I think they looked at that, and they probably had started prepping him for that deposition and realized there is no good answer for him to give, because, look, they just hate Trump, and so they were happy to say it. It sounds much more sensationalistic to say that. And truth be damned, I think that's why they ended up writing the check.

[Ted Cruz]

So can we just talk about the humor of this for a second? The fact that ABC News is gonna have to write a check for $15 million to the Trump Presidential Library. Like, do you name part of the library, the ABC Settlement Center? I mean, this is amazing.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is truly astonishing. And by the way, there's some, you know, lefty voices on Twitter saying, oh, free speech is dead. Look, you need to understand, defamation has always been part of free speech. You have a right to speak freely, but you don't have a right to defame someone. You don't have a right to say something that is deliberately false and deliberately defamatory. And it has always been the case that you can help be held liable for slander or libel. Slander is saying it, saying it orally. Libel is saying it in writing. They're both species of defamation. If you deliberately say something false that is harmful to the character of another, and particularly when you're a news organization, there's an expectation that you have some modicum of integrity, some standards. And I think in this case, ABC realized they couldn't defend what they'd done.

[Ted Cruz]

So let's talk about this administration coming in January 20th. And look, we know that there was a lot of reporting that was on the Trump administration back in 16 that was a lie. Russia collusion was a great example of that. And then we know that the media lied to us about, for example, Hunter Biden's laptop. That was a lie. And there was a lot of things said that were not true about people in and around Trump. Is this a reminder now that we've learned to fight it maybe a little bit differently, that we understand the court system can be used to hold the media accountable when they lie about people in the Trump administration. Is this something that actually could change.

[Ben Ferguson]

The game a little bit, perhaps? Look, this. This is a situation where it was clear and objective, that what the, what, what ABC said was wrong, that it was false, that, that, that ABC repeatedly said a jury had found him liable for rape, and that was explicitly the opposite of what they'd done. I will say most of the examples you've given where, where the media is saying horrible things about Trump over and over and over again, it's much harder to prove defamation. It's harder to prove that it's objectively false. Like on Russia, Russia, Russia, they will say, well, look, we were just reporting what the allegations were. We were reporting what Bob Mueller said. We were reporting what so and so said. You know, they can hide behind. He said, she said. In, in this instance, what, what gave them particular exposure is there was a jury verdict, and ABC simply reported it wrong. And, and did so. Somebody knew. Whether Stephanopoulos knew or not, somebody knew. And I will say it is harder to win a defamation case if you're Donald Trump or if you're any public figure, because the Supreme Court, the standard for defamation, they made it much harder for a public figure to win a defamation case. And there's a landmark decision from the Supreme Court called New York Times versus Sullivan. It was 1964. And what the, what, what the court concluded is that you have to demonstrate, quote, actual malice before you can find defamation if it's against a public figure. And here, here's the quote from the Supreme Court, quote, the constitutional guarantees require, we think, a federal rule that prohibits a public official from recovering damages for a defamatory falsehood related to his official conduct unless he proves that the statement was made with, quote, actual malice, that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. Now, that's a very high standard to prove. And so as a general matter, if someone's a public figure, by the way, if, if, if someone is not a public figure, if someone's an ordinary citizen, defamation is much easier to prove. You don't have to prove actual malice, but it, but if you are a public figure and the President of the United States is the quintessential public figure, then you've got to meet that higher threshold. Now, there are at least two arguments that Trump's legal team would make. One was, in this case, the defamation was not relating to his official conduct. He was not President of the United States at the time. The interaction with Gene Carroll did or did not occur. And so it was not a defamatory falsehood related to his official conduct, but rather his personal life before he was president of the United States. So that would certainly be what Trump's lawyers would argue is that the New York Times versus Sullivan standard doesn't, doesn't apply. But secondly, even if you had to demonstrate actual malice, notice a second ago when I was saying when they were prepping Stephanopoulos for his deposition, they would have to walk through, did he know it was false? Well, I wasn't, I didn't have in front of me the standard, but it turns out I was quoting the standard back at you. Let me read it again. Supreme Court defined actual malice as, quote, that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. So one of the two, you've got to demonstrate for actual malice. And the problem I think that ABC had is I think it was very clear that they did it with actual malice. I think there was certainly a producer or somebody knew for a fact it was false to say he'd been found liable for rape. It wouldn't surprise me if a producer had told Stephanopoulos, don't say liable for rape. And it wouldn't surprise me if Stephanopoulos decided, oh, I'm gonna say it anyway. It's close enough for government work and it's much more sensationalistic than to report accurately. And I think when they found themselves trying to defend the lawsuit, that it was gonna be clear that they either knew what they were saying were false or at a very minimum, they were engaged in reckless disregard of whether it was true or false. And so they were gonna get popped and they were gonna lose. And that's why they're apologizing, that's why they're writing a big, big check.

[Ted Cruz]

And it also made Stephanopoulos very vulnerable. Right. I think that was part of his preserving their anchor here because if they went into a deposition and they really got to rough him up, that would hurt his brand and that would hurt the brand of ABC, I think as well, because he, they still want you to believe that he is the most non biased hardcore news guy at ABC News.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, that's right. And look, George Stephanopoulos worked in the Clinton White House. He was a Democrat operative for years. He became an ABC journalist. And I have no doubt that there were going to be lots of questions from Trump lawyers about, okay, Mr. Stephanopoulos, what are your communications with Democrats? What are your communications with the White House? What are your communications with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris? To what extent are you acting as a Democrat attack dog? And it may well be, I don't know this to be the case. I'm sure they were gonna ask those questions. And I suspect that ABC was very nervous about what kind of answer Stephanopoulos would give under oath and potentially vulnerable. And for the world to know the frequency with which he is explicitly reading the talking points from the Democrat Party.

[Ted Cruz]

One thing's for sure, when the library opens up, it's gonna be really fun to see how they make sure that everyone going through the library knows that. This part of the library is brought to you by ABC News and George Stephanopoulos. I cannot wait to see the trolling there because I don't believe that Donald Trump is going to let that opportunity pass. I just, I don't believe it. It's going to be really fun to see what happens.

[Ben Ferguson]

I think that is a fair prediction. I would not wager on the other side of you on that one.

[Ted Cruz]

I want to move on to this other big shocking story and it is the normalization of kill your political enemy, kill anybody that you don't like, that you think is evil. Justify it publicly so we can normalize it. We've seen this with the assassination attempts on Donald Trump. We have now seen this turn really ugly when it comes to the murder of this CEO in New York City. The cold blooded murder of, of this CEO and people have turned him into some sort of hero. We now have elected officials, Senator, that some that you serve with getting in on this, allowing for this almost justification of, well, we understand why people would want to do this.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and we did an entire podcast on this last week, last Wednesday. I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it because I really think what is happening here, it is dangerous and it is grotesque. This healthcare CEO was gunned down in broad daylight in New York City and this deranged killer walked up and shot him multiple times in the back After a two day manhunt. He was caught and the left lost their mind. They have lionized him because, and we did a deep dive. This is because of the cultural Marxism. This is because their ideology says that anytime the, quote, oppressor engages in violence, or rather the quote, victim engages in violence against the, quote, oppressor, that violence is justified and to be celebrated. And we went through the number of leftists, including Taylor Lorenz, you know, a quote unquote journalist for both the Washington Post and the New York Times, who described how she felt joy, that was her term, joy at this guy being murdered. It's sick. And we talked about as well how the view Joy Behar unloaded on me because I pointed out that these were leftists just celebrating cold blooded murder. And she said, it's not leftists, it's not us at all. Well, Joy Behar, guess what? Your message didn't get to Bernie Sanders. Your message didn't get to aoc, Your message didn't get to Elizabeth Warren, because all of them in the last few days have been on tv justifying, rationalizing, giving excuses for the cold blooded murder. I want you to listen to this montage of comments from them and then we're going to talk about it more.

[Jessica Tarlov]

And this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them. People go homeless over the financial devastation of a diagnosis that doesn't get addressed or, you know, the amount that they're gonna have to cover with a surprise bill and things like that. And when we kind of talk about how systems are violent in this country in this passive way, our privatized health care system is like that for a huge amount of Americans.

[Katie Couric]

Yeah.

[Elizabeth Warren]

And look, we'll say it over and over. Violence is never the answer. This guy gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth. But you can only push people so far and then they start to take matters into their own hands. Yeah, Elizabeth Warren obviously understands killing and murder and shooting somebody in the back is totally unacceptable. But what I think has happened in the last few months is that what you have seen rising up is people's anger at a health insurance industry which denies people the health care that they desperately need while they make billions and billions of dollars in profit.

[Ted Cruz]

Anytime you say something's terrible, but it means you're saying, but we understand it, it's okay, we get it, we comprehend it. We see how you got from point A to point B. We have video of a cold blooded murderer who goes up and assassinates an individual. And they're justifying the understanding of why he should be, why he and others are angry at all these healthcare CEOs. This is, this is dehumanizing people who you don't like. The same way they've done it with Trump. It is so dangerous.

[Ben Ferguson]

Look, it's exactly the same as with Trump. It's exactly the same as these leftists have done with Hamas on October 7th, where they'll all say in obligatory violence is wrong. But then they immediately start justifying the violence and they immediately say, well, yes, the rape and murder of 1200 Israelis. That's wrong. But the Palestinians are oppressed, and we should celebrate the Palestinians, and it is wonderful. And that's what the leftists do, you know? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Murdering the guy was wrong, I suppose. But. But you know what? Every healthcare CEO needs to be murdered. Every CEO needs to be murdered. And they immediately. Their ideology goes to celebrating violence. And let me just once, I would like to see someone on the left be clear and unequivocal that violence is wrong. Period. The end. This murder was grotesque. It was evil, it was wrong. There is no justification for it whatsoever. Even if your political ideology is. You've decided you hate this healthcare CEO that you've never met. You don't know what he's done. You don't know anything about him other than that he was the CEO of a healthcare company. And because your ideology is so railing against capitalism, you think murder is a great thing. As I said, it's the same. These are the same people who buy coffee cups that say, I wish the guy in Butler, Pennsylvania hadn't missed, because violence is okay to them. These are the same people that celebrated the black lives matter at antifa riots. This is Kamala Harris raising money to bail people out of jail who are violent rioters. Because for today's radical left, the ends justify the means, and violence is okay. And I want to be absolutely clear, violence is never. Whether I agree with your ideology or not, nobody should engage in violence against anyone else. And if you do, if you engage in violence, you should face serious consequences.

[Ted Cruz]

How much do you worry about this becoming normalized? I mean, we got over the Donald Trump first assassination incredibly quick. It was like, okay, it happened, but he's still alive. Let's immediately move on. Then we have another attempted assassination on him down at his golf course. And be like, well, I mean, it's Donald Trump. You kind of got to expect this. Now. That was the. That was the. The demeanor of many on the left. And then there was part of the left that is exactly as you described it. They were like, well, the guy should have not missed. And it was almost anger at the. At the shooters. I think that's the most shocking part to me is we are dehumanizing people in a way that is now putting other people's lives at risk.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and for too many on the left, politics is everything. It is life and death. It is identity. I mean, look, I gotta say, politics is very different than 12 years ago when I first got elected. It's so nasty and personal. You know, we Used to be able to disagree without hating each other, without demonizing each other, without cheering at violence and the murder of those you may disagree with. And unfortunately, I don't see a whole lot of public Democrats speaking out against this. I wish we had more that had the courage to speak out and say this is unequivocally wrong. Look, this strange killer, his lawyers are being paid for by leftists who are celebrating what he did.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And that's the part I think that when I look at this, I'm like, if you said this 10 years ago, 15 years ago, you'd probably have people calling for you to resign. Of all the people we just played, that's not happening. There would have been, like, reporters saying, hey, like, you need to answer for this. These, you know, these statements that you made, do you want to clarify them or clean them up? There's none of that this time. It's like, oh, yeah, yeah, of course it makes sense.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, it is. It is the reality of where we are today.

[Ted Cruz]

It's sad. I pray for this country and I hope that at some point people will start to reject this type of rhetoric and not normalize it like we are like it, like it's happened so far.

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[Ted Cruz]

Finally, Senator, this is another story. And the media is trying to figure this out. The Democratic Party is trying to figure it out. How do we lose this last election? What caused it? Was it really our policy on migrants and illegal immigrants? And there was a very interesting conversation that took place and people even on the left like, is this a aha moment? And I laugh because it's something that you actually said on this show A couple years ago, Jessica Tarlov and Katie Couric were talking about GOP governors sending illegal immigrants to other parts of country from border states. And I want to play this clip for people. It's and they specifically, we're Talking about Ron DeSantis in Florida, Greg Abbott in Texas. And this is what they said in reaction.

[Jessica Tarlov]

On the immigration front, there was a tendency amongst Democrats and especially Democrats were discussing the issue. So people who do interviews or are part of the media to minimize it over the first two and a half years when there were a lot of people coming in here and I thought that it was a stunt, you know, when they started busing migrants, they go to Martha's Vineyards.

[Katie Couric]

Yeah.

[Jessica Tarlov]

It was the smartest thing they ever did.

[Katie Couric]

Well, it's interesting because I have a friend who lives in Florida and I said, what did you think of Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott taking some of these immigrants and moving them to northern states? And she said, I thought it was great because nobody really was paying attention before that. And I do think that this untold story was the strain on social services and communities, particularly along the border, this influx, huge influx of immigrants was having. And I think the mainstream media, however you define that these days, kind of ignored that story to its peril.

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, wow, right? Like, at least they're figuring it out. I don't want to say that all the media is figuring out, but it is pretty funny they figured out. The only problem is they were just a couple of years too late.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Look, it's striking to hear Katie Couric admitting that. Now, as you know, this was an idea that I suggested three years ago. In October of 2021, I introduced a bill called the Surge Act. And the Surge act was designed to create 13 new ports of entry to send illegal immigrants. And here's what my press release said at the time. If Washington Democrats had to endure even a fraction of the suffering South Texas families, farmers, ranchers, and small businesses have had to face, our nation's immigration laws would be in force. The wall would be built and remain in Mexico, policy would be implemented. And so I introduced legislation to change the points of entry and add 13 new places. Block Island, Rhode Island, Greenwich, Connecticut, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Governors Island, New York, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Nantucket, Massachusetts, Newport, Rhode Island, Scarsdale, New York, Palo Alto, California, Yountville, California, St. Helena, California, and North Hero, Vermont, which is where Bernie Sanders vacations. And the idea was all the places where rich liberals sit and sip Chardonnay and look down on people concerned about the open borders. And it was really striking. At the time I introduced this legislation, the leftist media went crazy. And in fact, the county executive at Martha's Vineyard attacked me. Attacked me by name. And he said, cruz doesn't understand immigration. And he said, we in Martha's Vineyard would welcome illegal immigrants. Well, several Months later, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott took me up on what I had suggested, and they did exactly that. They sent 50 illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard. And of course, that same county executive, within 24 hours, declared an emergency and ended up deporting the 50 who had been sent. And I'll tell you, we actually covered this on Verdict several years ago. So I want you to play an old segment from Verdict. This is actually pretty pre. The great Ben Ferguson. This is back when Michael Knowles and I were doing it.

[Ted Cruz]

Our good friend. Yeah. Yes, the voice is about to change a little bit. Right.

[Ben Ferguson]

But this is us talking about it three years ago, and it had a bit of foreshadowing. So give a Listen, they've just sent.

[Elizabeth Warren]

Airplanes full of illegal aliens to Martha's Vineyard. And I cheered when I saw the headline.

[Ben Ferguson]

And then I had to think, you.

[Elizabeth Warren]

Know, there's a certain podcast hosted by a certain senator from Texas that has been calling exactly for that for many weeks now. And I just can't help but wonder if that may have had some effect on this policy going into effect.

[G]

I was thrilled when the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, took me up on the idea and began sending illegal immigrants first to D.C. then to New York, then to Chicago. It's had a fantastic event as these, these Democratic mayors have lost their minds and declared national emergencies. The mayor of D.C. declared a national emergency or a city emergency because 6,000 illegal immigrants were sent to D.C. of course, we've had, since Joe Biden became president, we have had 4.2 million illegal immigrants cross illegally with Biden as president. It is horrific.

[Elizabeth Warren]

That's a crazy number. 4.2 million. That is a crazy number.

[G]

It is larger than many of the states of our union. I mean, 4.2 million since Joe Biden put his hand on the Bible and took the oath of office. That's what's coming. It continues to get worse. And what is amazing about when, when red state governors, first Texas, now Florida are shipping to blue strongholds is the Democrats who talk a good game immediately flip tail. So I want to give you a quote on the from Martha's Vineyard. When I introduced the legislation, you had Democrats, Democrats in the House of Representatives slam me.

[Ben Ferguson]

But I want to read from the.

[G]

County Commissioner of Martha's Vineyard, Keith Chattanoover, and here's the quote he said about my legislation. I would love to see Martha's Vineyard become a haven for new immigrants in the country. But Senator Cruz has no idea what he's talking about regarding a border crisis. He went on to say, immigrants make our country stronger, as evidenced by immigration from Brazil and other countries to the vineyard. And he is trying to whip up racial anxieties for political gain, which is essentially the entire GOP platform. Anyhow, now, that's before they arrived. I want to see if after 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 100 planeloads or busloads, if the county commissioner has the same view.

[Ted Cruz]

Three years ago you said that, Senator, and now we're seeing that Democrats are actually saying, man, this is really effective. Like, this was really, really effective, you did this. It stopped the surge in October 2021.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, three years ago, notice that number 4.2 million illegal immigrants were now over 12 million. What has happened at our southern border is an experiment in radicalism that has never been tried in the United States of America. Our country is struggling. The suffering that has occurred and I will say the actual sending of planeloads and busloads of illegal immigrants to blue strongholds. It showed the complete, complete and utter hypocrisy as every Democrat mayor, every Democrat governor, every Democrat county executive completely demonstrated everything they'd been saying was a lie. And it broke through the media freeze out in a way nothing else did. I think Katie Couric's right that that single action of demonstrating Democrat hypocrisy on this issue could well have decided the presidential election last month.

[Ted Cruz]

Now I'll say this job well done center. That was something you said way beforehand and it clearly they're even admitting now had a massive impact on the outcome of this election. Don't forget we do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Hit that subscribe auto download button so that you can always make sure you get every episode. Also make sure you write us a five star review to help us grow so we can reach new people that may not have listened to the show yet. And on those in between days, grab my show, the Ben Ferguson Podcast as well. I'll keep you up to date on the latest breaking news there as well and we will see you back here on Wednesday morning.