← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Acting President Blinken Calls Out Israel, Universities go All In on Defending Hamas & Ted Cruz Supports Jim Jordan the Week In Review
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- [00:01]
Ted Cruz
Welcome. It is the Verdict with Ted Cruz. Weekend Review, Ben Ferguson with you. And these are the big stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. Number one, de facto president of the United States of America, Anthony Blinken, decided to go on TV and tell the world what Israel should be doing. Yes, calling them out and giving them certain things and bars they must hit instead of actually calling out the Hamas terrorists who have been beheading little children. Number two, colleges, including professors and Ivy League schools, have now gone all in to defend Hamas. Yes, Hamas. So what's going to happen at these universities? We talk about that. And finally, Senator Ted Cruz with story number three, endorsed Jim Jordan for the speakership as Steve Scalise is out. It is the Weekend Review with Ted Cruz and it starts right now. Secretary Blinken, who's the most outspoken so far from the administration, he went on TV not really condemning that much Hamas or what they're doing, but actually calling out Israel saying, quote, we're looking to Israel to apply the highest standard to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. We're not, we're not, we're not saying anything about the Americans that have been taken, the Americans have been killed, or all the atrocities of war crimes you just mentioned. No, no, we're going to put Israel on notice, as you just described it. You better not screw this up.
- [01:33]
Ben Ferguson
If this is a prolonged attack, what kind of humanitarian crisis are you expecting here and impact on civilians?
- [01:43]
Anthony Blinken
Well, we've seen this unfortunately repeat itself, although the magnitude, the scale of what Hamas did here is something we haven't seen before. But in prior instances, those who have suffered along with the victims of terrorism are civilians, including in Gaza. And whatever Israel does in Gaza, as always, we look to it to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, something, of course, that Hamas doesn't do. On the contrary, not only does it not seek to avoid them, it deliberately targets civilians. Yeah, it's gunning down Israelis in the streets, in their homes, and as I said, dragging them across the border in Gaza. So there's absolutely no, no comparison. But we look to Israel, as always, to apply the highest standards when it comes to avoiding civilian casualties and anything it may do in Gaza.
- [02:33]
Ted Cruz
It's amazing the but there at the end. But right, we'll say all this is bad, but, but Israel, you better be better than everybody else.
- [02:41]
Ben Ferguson
Well, and I got to say, Ben, listening to that, I have mixed sentiments. On one level, frankly, Tony Blinken is better than most of the clowns in this Biden administration. He at least acknowledges that Israel is bending over backwards to try to avoid killing civilians and that Hamas is deliberately killing civilians. That's something that's a tiny shred of truth. Now what he doesn't do is acknowledge that Israel historically has gone to incredible lengths to avoid civilian casualties. And the reason Palestinian civilians are killed is because Hamas wants them to be killed. Because they deliberately put their military assets in a place where it is impossible to take out their military assets without killing Palestinian civilians. That the Palestinian deaths are what Hamas wants because they know the useful idiots in the media will use it against Israel. Let me give an example of some of the vicious rhetoric coming in this case. This is what the statement that Congresswoman Cori Bush put out as these atrocities are ongoing. Quote, I am heartbroken by the ongoing violence in Palestine and Israel. And I mourn the over 250 Israeli and 230 Palestinian lives that have been lost today and the thousands injured following attacks by Hamas militants on Israeli border towns and Israeli military bombardment of Gaza. I strongly condemn the targeting of civilians and I urge an immediate ceasefire and de escalation to prevent further loss of life. Our immediate focus must be on saving lives, but our ultimate focus must be on a just and lasting peace that ensures safety for everyone in the region. Violations of human rights do not justify more violations of human rights. And a military response will only exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike. As part of achieving a just and lasting peace, we do must do our part to stop the violence and trauma by ending US Government support for Israeli military occupation and apartheid. I am continuing to closely monitor the situation and my office is ready to support the residents of the first district with family members and loved ones in the region. So literally, while Israel's 911 is unfolding, this Democrat squad member accuses Israel of apartheid, a total lie, and calls for ending US Government support for Israel's military in the middle of a war. And she simultaneously, what does she call for? An immediate ceasefire of the military response. In other words, Israel. Never mind that terrorists are murdering your civilians, are targeting your civilians, are kidnapping your civilians. We in America call for you to stop the cease fire and do nothing in response. You know, I gotta say, how many Democrats are condemning this viciously anti Semitic, anti Israel statement that sadly was echoed by multiple members of the squad. And the degree to which the far left tolerates and even celebrates this vicious antisemitism, it gets worse and worse every day.
- [06:11]
Ted Cruz
Is Joe Biden. And I want to end with this. He's a guy that, you know, he called a lid at 11:34am for people that don't understand what a lid is, that means basically the day's over, right? That's, that's the way they tell the media, hey, he's doing other things now. He's not making any more public statements. We haven't heard from a president saying, don't harm Americans. He hasn't said that Israel is, got our, you know, our unwavering support and we will do whatever we have to do to get Americans back. And he, and he's sitting there and saying nothing publicly here while all of this is going on. Is he the worst president in our lifetime when it comes to a policy of clearly not standing with Israel? Because he's not.
- [06:53]
Ben Ferguson
Look, he's not even sitting with Americans in Israel unequivocally. For the last two and a half years, the Biden administration has engaged in a systematic, granular, day to day effort to undermine the nation of Israel. You know, within the first couple of weeks of our first couple of months of the Biden administration coming into office, the State Department put out written guidance prohibiting employees at State from referring to the Abraham Accords. The Abraham Accords were the historic peace treaty that the Trump administration negotiated between Israel and numerous Arab countries. Instead, the Biden administration State Department was ordered to refer to them as normalization agreements. They couldn't use the word Abraham. They couldn't acknowledge the historic nature of it. Now, I called that out and in fact, I brought out the documents that demonstrated it was the Biden White House that directed State to do that. They were so embarrassed by that, they backed away from it. So now they use the terms, the frequency with which. So one of the things they did, they changed the Office of Israel and Palestinian affairs. They changed the name of it to the Office of Israeli and Palestinian Affairs.
- [08:11]
Ted Cruz
Wow.
- [08:12]
Ben Ferguson
Why? Because they didn't want to acknowledge the nation of Israel exists and they wanted to put Israel's claims of sovereignty on the same level of parody as the Palestinian terrorists that are right now committing these atrocities. Beyond that, the Biden administration is the first government in U.S. history to implement a policy of BDS, a boycott, divestiture and sanctioning, in particular, cutting off funding for scientific research, cancer research, no less, in Judea and Samaria, what they call the occupied territories, portions of Israel that now the federal government is boycotting and saying we will not fund. Because their view is the same as these squad members. They view Israel as illegitimately occupied territory. And so the harm that is coming from the Biden administration is horrific. And let me just Ask you this as we wrap up. You know, we've seen Joe Biden light up the White House in rainbow colors in support of a transgender agenda. We've seen the White House in blue and gold in support of Ukraine. What's the White House done for Israel? It's not blue and white.
- [09:31]
Ted Cruz
No. I would even go a step further. What has the White House done for any Americans that are being harmed right now in Israel?
- [09:37]
Ben Ferguson
Do we know the names of any Americans who are hostages? Do we know the names of any Americans who have been killed? Has the president spoken about it? Has the president gone on national television? Has the president said, if you harm one American, you will face real repercussions? No. What they've said is, do not retaliate Israel. Don't strike back at the terrorists. This administration funded the atrocities. Understand? Do not forget the $50 billion that Joe Biden and the ideologues in this administration flooded to Iran. That money funded these attacks. Now, by the way, the Biden White House's defense of that, they say, no, no, no, no, no. Our money technically went to other. Other endeavors. Well, money is fungible. If you send $50 billion in there, they can spend other money to fund the terror attacks. And by the way, the some $40 billion that is from oil sales, that is completely available to be spent. And in a very real and direct sense, it funded this attack, as did the money that the Biden administration sent to Gaza that they stated in writing they knew would go to Hamas for terrorism. Well, congratulations to the Biden White House. It's done exactly that.
- [11:02]
Ted Cruz
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. Now, on to story number two. Let's talk about this from a internal and inside of the US Perspective for a minute as well. Colleges, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Black Lives Matter. Standing with these terrorists. You have federally elected leaders around the country that are standing with these terrorists. You have a Colorado state representative, Tim Hernandez, who said this today.
- [11:39]
Tim Hernandez
I think it's despicable what they're protesting for and what you are protesting and the fact that you can't condemn women and children and elderly people being murdered in the streets.
- [11:49]
Ben Ferguson
What about it?
- [11:51]
Tim Hernandez
Do you condemn it?
- [11:52]
Ted Cruz
I already said.
- [11:53]
Tim Hernandez
Why can't you say yes?
- [11:55]
Ted Cruz
Because I already gave you my answer.
- [11:56]
Tim Hernandez
You didn't give an answer. And every. I think anybody who would watch this would understand what you're actually.
- [12:03]
Ted Cruz
This is a man who's at a protest against Israel, who's been elected to the state legislature. You put that and you combine that with the squad. Senator, I will give a little credit. The White House at least today understood that they needed to stand up against Omar and Talib and others. The White House press secretary did say that what they had said was repugnant and disgraceful, their statements on Israel. But you combine these younger leaders with what we're now witnessing on college campuses at Harvard, at University of Penn, it scares me for this country. There was a conversation even about this on cnbc, even cnbc, who deals with financial issues like what the hell is going on on college campuses? And this is what they said.
- [12:52]
Jonathan Greenblatt
Let me ask a question. Let's say you're the president of Harvard University.
- [12:56]
Unnamed University President
Yeah.
- [12:56]
Jonathan Greenblatt
If you've looked at what's happening at Harvard, there are students who.
- [12:59]
Unnamed University President
Mind boggling.
- [12:59]
Jonathan Greenblatt
Mind boggling, right. But students who are gathering to support the Palestinians, to support Hamas. Yeah, frankly, very, very, very specifically to support Hamas. And what's happening? What is the role of the president of a university or frankly, the president of a company, when they have either students or employees or others who want to view and express that position, which I find disgraceful. But I wonder.
- [13:29]
Unnamed University President
Well, I think there is what the.
- [13:31]
Jonathan Greenblatt
Answer is supposed to.
- [13:32]
Unnamed University President
Look, the first thing that I would do if I was president, Harvard University, I would say we are clearly not educating students, for students to think that again, you know, murder at scale is somehow legitimate, that occupation causes terror. I mean, there are no Israelis in Gaza, for goodness sakes. It's a silly turn of phrase. But to your question, what would I do? Well, number one, I would say we need to revisit our entire core education because they're clearly not teaching morals or values. That's number one. And then number two, the president of Harvard, like the president of UPenn, like the president of any of his institutions, needs to stand up and speak out and say, this is disgraceful and wrong. Students are.
- [14:11]
Ted Cruz
But they're not doing that, Senator. They're not saying it's wrong. They're waiting days to even respond. And it's only after famous alumni and donors finally came down on them to the point where they're like, you have to give a statement and they put out a basic statement on paper.
- [14:26]
Unnamed Commentator
Well, let me say the. The voice you were just hearing there was Jonathan Greenblatt.
- [14:30]
Ben Ferguson
He's the head of the Anti Defamation.
- [14:32]
Unnamed Commentator
League, and I'm glad he's speaking out. He actually was speaking clearly and effectively there. The ADL has a long history of calling out anti Semitism in recent years. It has been far too willing to basically act as a defender for the Democrat Party and as a partisan. And so I'm glad they're standing up and speaking with clarity here. It's important. But look what happened at Harvard. You have 35 student groups that put out a statement. I want you to understand what they said.
- [14:58]
Ben Ferguson
I'm going to read you from the.
- [15:00]
Unnamed Commentator
Joint statement by Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups.
- [15:03]
Ben Ferguson
On the situation in Palestine.
- [15:05]
Unnamed Commentator
Notice the situation in Palestine, not Israel. They don't even acknowledge Israel exists. We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence. That's the opening sentence. It is Israel's fault that Hamas terrorists are murdering children. It is Israel's fault that Hamas terrorists are raping women and little girls in the streets and parading them through the street. It is Israel's fault that they are kidnapping toddlers and holding them hostage. It is Israel's fault that they are using those toddlers as human shields. They're using women and men as human shields. It is Israel's fault that Hamas terrorists are murdering civilians indiscriminately walking house by house by house. And if you're a Jew, they murder you. What a ridiculous, outrageous situation. And look, that statement they put out initially, for the first couple of days, Harvard said nothing. It was the only statement from the Harvard campus that, that anyone seemed to be aware of. Then Harvard put out an initial statement that was the most milquetoast lukewarm statement of, well, we want to be a safe space for people to have all sorts of views. You know, the pro genocide mass murder view and the anti genocide mass murder view. No, I'm sorry, that's not a topic of reasonable debate. Beheading babies is always, always, always wrong. Period. Full stop. Finally, on Tuesday, the president of Harvard was guilted into condemning we stand against Hamas's beheading babies. It took five days of getting pounded, I got to say. Listen, I'm an alumnus of Harvard Law School. It is embarrassing that our universities, the problem is they become petri dishes, they become incubators for radical left wing views. And other than a Hamas headquarters, there are few places with more vicious anti Semitism and hatred of Israel than America's elite universities today. You talk to, to Hillel students, you talk to Jewish students on campuses. They're afraid. They're afraid of violence. They're afraid to wear a yarmulke, they're afraid to be publicly identified as Jewish because they risk violence. They risk swastikas being spray painted on their student Center. They risk attacks from the radical left. And the radical left more and more embraces, cherishes and nurtures antisemitism. And schools like Harvard, sadly, are the breeding grounds for this hatred. And they can't figure it out enough to stay. Genocide is bad. That should not be a controversial proposition.
- [18:05]
Ted Cruz
Well, and even members in Congress, Rashid Tlaib was asked directly to her face what she thought about women being raped and babies getting their heads cut off. She wouldn't answer the question. Take a listen to this.
- [18:22]
Rashida Tlaib
And burn children alive. Do you support Israel's rights to defend themselves against.
- [18:29]
Jonathan Greenblatt
We're just going to go through there.
- [18:30]
Rashida Tlaib
You can't comment about Hamas terrorists chopping off babies heads. Congresswoman, do you have a comment on Hamas terrorists knocking off baby heads? You have nothing to say about Hamas terriers bobbing off babies heads. Do you condone what Hamas has done? Chopping off babies heads, burning children alive, raping women in the street? You have no comment about children's heads being chopped off. Congressman, why do you have a Palestinian flying outside your this. If you do not condone what Hamas terrorists have done to Israel, do Israeli lives not matter to you?
- [19:29]
Ted Cruz
I mean, Senator, that was. Whoever that reporter was, God bless her for continuing to ask a basic question. Children were burned alive. Babies heads were cut off.
- [19:40]
Ben Ferguson
And I got to say, if you haven't seen the video of that clip, you ought to Google it and watch.
- [19:46]
Unnamed Commentator
It because watching the video is even more disturbing. So Congresswoman Tlaib is walking down the hallways in Congress. So the steps you hear the whole time or she's walking, she's walking, she's walking. And this reporter just asked her, do you not have a comment on chopping babies heads off? How hard is it for a congresswoman to say we should not chop the heads off babies, we should not burn children alive, we should not rape women in the streets.
- [20:13]
Ben Ferguson
That is not, in a normal sane.
- [20:16]
Unnamed Commentator
World, a controversial proposition. And yet her politics are so radical, she cannot bring herself to say that she has in front of her office she has a Palestinian flag. It's interesting. She has a Palestinian flag and she has a transgender flag, which is ironic because Hamas would murder anyone who's gay or transgender. So like, the two flags are utterly in conflict. But in today's modern left, that nobody bothers with intellectual coherence. They embrace their ideology and don't worry about it.
- [20:47]
Ben Ferguson
But I gotta say, it is stunning. Like she walks a long, long way.
- [20:52]
Unnamed Commentator
And the end of that video, she gets on an elevator and the door closes and you know she asked, do Israeli lives matter? And by the way, Congresswoman Tlaib conspicuously avoids using the word Israel. She refers to Palestine. Look, today's radical left in the Democrat Party does not acknowledge Israel's right to exist. And I got to say, it's not just Congresswoman Talib. It's Cori Bush, it's aoc. It is the hard left of the Democrat Party. And by the way, it's the Biden State Department, whose response initially to this was Israel, stand down. Do not engage in any military action following the worst attack on Israel in 50 years following Israel's 9 11.
- [21:41]
Ben Ferguson
Do nothing.
- [21:42]
Unnamed Commentator
That that is sadly the view of today's radical left. And, and for the Democrats who don't agree with it, I hope that they find the courage to call out the members of their own party that are.
- [21:57]
Ben Ferguson
Saying things that are disgraceful.
- [21:59]
Ted Cruz
As before. 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. I want to get back to the big story number three of the week. You may have missed Steve Scalise, who got the majority of the votes in the conference to become the speaker of the House. He has now broke, made big breaking news by saying this about dropping out of the race.
- [22:25]
Steve Scalise
I know we've been following this. It's been quite a journey and there's still a long way to go. I just share with my colleagues that I'm withdrawing my name as a candidate for the Speaker. Designee. If you look at over the last few weeks, if you look at where our conference is, there's still work to be done. Our conference still has to come together and is not there. There are still some people that have their own agendas. And I was very clear. We have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs. This country is counting on us to come back together. This House of Representatives needs a Speaker and we need to open up the House again. But clearly not everybody is there and there's still schisms that have to get resolved.
- [23:21]
Ted Cruz
This is not that surprising to me, Senator, because it was clear he wasn't going to have the votes. Just like with Kevin McCarthy, he didn't have the votes. That means is this now a pathway for Jim Jordan to become the Speaker? Because you also came out and endorsed Jim Jordan saying you believe he's the most fiscally conservative, the best guy for this job.
- [23:42]
Ben Ferguson
Well, that's right, I did. And it's worth going back and explaining why I did that, because we had talked on the podcast previously that I intended to stay out of the House leadership election. And that's what I've done. The 11 years I've been in the Senate, I've stayed out of every House leadership election we've ever had. And my standard position has been that questions of House leadership are for the House members to decide. And that's what I had said on the podcast repeatedly. I'd said it to reporters in Capitol Hill repeatedly. That was a position I was very comfortable with. And then a couple of days ago, Jim Jordan called me, and he made a very direct ask. He asked for my support. Now, Jim is a friend. He's a good friend. I know Jim very well. Jim has been a guest on this podcast. We had him on two consecutive episodes doing a deep dive into the fantastic work that he's doing as focusing on the weaponization of the Department of Justice and the FBI and government. And Jim is someone I've worked with the entire time I've been in the Senate. He is a strong conservative, and he asked for my support, and he leaned in hard on it. And I thought about it, and I thought carefully, and my general philosophy on political endorsements, and I make endorsements all over the country in Senate races, in House races, in gubernatorial races, in school board races, all sorts of races, is that I support the strongest conservative who can win. And both of those are important. I want a proven record that you're a real conservative. And I want a path to victory. I'm not interested in tilting at windmills. I'm not interested in a candidate that does not have a path to victory. And as I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that Jim was that person, that he would be certainly the most conservative speaker we had ever had, but that he had a real and viable path to win, that he had real and meaningful support. Now, obviously, his chief rival and the only two declared candidates at the time for speaker were Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise. And Steve is a friend as well. Steve and I are good friends. We spent a lot of time together. I like Steve. Steve is a conservative. And Steve, look, the statement that you just played, that was not an easy statement for Steve to give, and I respect that he gave it. I think it was heartfelt. Steve is obviously hurting, but I think he's also trying to do the right thing. And I'll tell you, before I endorse Jim Jordan, when I hung up the phone with Jim, before I put out the endorsement, I picked up the phone and I called Steve and the first thing I did is just ask Steve how he was doing health wise. He's dealing with a rare form of blood cancer and I've been concerned and praying for him. And he told me he is doing better and the treatment is proceeding very well. But I gave him the heads up, just man to man. I said, listen, you're my friend, Steve, I'm going to make this endorsement of Jim. He asked me to do it, and Jim and I have been very close and I'm going to endorse him. But I told Steve at the time, and I believe this, I said, listen, I think you'd make a terrific speaker and I think Jim would make a terrific speaker. So do not take this endorsement as a negative comment on you, but rather just a statement that I think Jim Jordan is the strongest conservative who has a path to win. And Steve was very gracious about it and we're friends and I certainly anticipate continuing to work with Steve in the years ahead. Now, what happened this week is the House Republican Conference met and they had a closed door meeting and they had a vote and Scalise won the vote by a vote of 113 to 99. So Jordan got 99 votes, Scalise got 113. And actually the press coverage was saying.
- [27:53]
Unnamed Commentator
Well, that's it, Scalise is the Speaker.
- [27:56]
Ben Ferguson
And what happened subsequently is there were a number of House Republicans who did not vote for Scalise, who said over the hours and days that followed that they were not going to vote for Scalise. And they dug in, apparently, and it did not appear that Steve had a path to 218. And so I think he's pulling out because he, at least at this point, doesn't see a path to 218. Does that mean Jim Jordan is going to be the choice? I don't know. With a House majority of just four votes, any five Republicans can say no and veto. Anyone. And Look, Jordan got 99 votes in the conference. That tells you there were over 100 Republicans who didn't vote for him. I hope Jim can earn the support of his colleagues and unify. I will say, listen, it's a tough time. I mean, one of the things that's playing out in the House is there are a lot of raw emotions. People are angry. You have the individuals who voted last week to remove Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. I think those individuals have strong feelings. But I also think McCarthy and his core allies are very, very angry. And so look, anytime you have people that are emotional and angry. It's hard for them to come together now. For folks worried that this chaos will last forever, I don't think it will. I think we will have a speaker and I think we'll have a speaker relatively soon. I don't know how long it will take. I still think we'll have a speaker by the end of this week. So by the end of Friday or Saturday, but I don't know. It may bleed into next week and it is possible if Scalise doesn't have the votes and if Jordan doesn't have the votes, that someone else will emerge as a third option that is some sort of compromise candidate. And there are a couple of names that are floating around, but it's not clear at this point what will happen. But I will say to anyone concerned, we will have a speaker of the House. The Republicans will come together. It just may take a little more time and a little more opportunity for emotions to cool.
- [30:28]
Ted Cruz
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.