Election Night: Paxton Defeats Cornyn—What Happened, Why & What’s Next

Summary

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Podcast Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: Election Night: Paxton Defeats Cornyn—What Happened, Why & What’s Next
Date: May 27, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson
Guest: Senator Ted Cruz

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Episode Overview

This special election night episode is a crossover between Ben Ferguson’s "The 47 Morning Update" and the "Verdict with Ted Cruz" podcast. The episode focuses on the dramatic results of the Texas Republican Senate primary runoff, where Attorney General Ken Paxton defeated incumbent Senator John Cornyn in a landslide. The conversation dives into the factors behind Paxton's victory, the implications for both the Texas GOP and national politics, and a thorough breakdown of the Democratic nominee James Talarico, whom Cruz and Ferguson characterize as radically left. The episode also serves as a warning to conservatives not to take the general election for granted, backed by historical analogy to Cruz’s own tough races.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Election Night Breakdown: Paxton’s Massive Upset

• Ken Paxton decisively beat John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary runoff, securing a nearly 30-point victory with about 64% of the vote versus Cornyn’s 36% (06:32).
  • Cruz: “That is a massive win… a 28 point victory. We'll see what the final numbers are.” (06:32)
• Both hosts agree this outcome marks a “sea change” in Texas politics, as Cornyn, a 24-year incumbent, was considered a Senate institution and had establishment backing (07:27).
• Cruz recounts Cornyn's history as majority whip and how close he came to becoming majority leader.
• Trump’s late endorsement of Paxton was influential, but polling indicated Paxton was leading beforehand. Trump’s endorsement amplified Paxton’s margin (07:58).
• “In many ways, this race played out as a traditional conservative versus establishment primary,” Cruz observes, referencing his own outsider campaign in 2012 (08:58).

2. The Money Factor

• The campaign shattered spending records: “For the single most expensive Senate race in American history… in a primary,” Cruz notes (10:38).
  • Over $150 million spent, with 90+% backing Cornyn (10:49).
  • Paxton achieved victory with comparatively little funding.
• The contrast draws parallels to Cruz’s 2018 re-election battle against Beto O’Rourke, in which he was outspent 3-to-1 (19:11).

3. Warnings for the General Election

• Both warn against Republican complacency—high spending and leftwing energy mean the general election is by no means guaranteed, even in red Texas.
  • Cruz: “Do not take this general election for granted.” (12:51, 44:48)
• Democrats will “viciously” attack Paxton, exploiting his legal and personal controversies.
• Cruz recounts his own tight 2018 race, where he saw record Democratic turnout and was targeted with unprecedented outside spending (16:16–20:51).

4. The New Democratic Opponent: James Talarico

• Talarico, a young state representative and pastor, is described as “dangerous” because he packages radical left ideas in a soft-spoken, pastoral demeanor (22:57).
  • “He sounds like a preacher… He quotes biblical verses. What worries me is someone who’s not paying attention … might turn on the TV and say, ‘Oh, he seems like a nice young man.’” – Cruz (22:57)

Radical Positions Enumerated

• Talarico’s campaign is officially vegan and he promoted cutting meat consumption as “existential” to fight climate change (26:18–28:39).
• He claims there are “six biological sexes” and that “God is nonbinary,” ideas that Cruz and Ferguson lampoon as out of touch with Texas values (31:34–34:46).
• He has taught students to write Obama memoirs and posted tips to evade ICE.
• Talarico critiqued the American flag as a "complicated symbol," equating it to the cross and Jesus—another point Cruz deems as evidence of leftist worldview (35:01).
• Self-critical comments on his own “whiteness” and “masculinity,” plus repeated tying of Christianity to progressive political stances, all receive extended mockery and analysis (37:19–40:16).

Memorable Montage

• Notable Talarico quotes played and discussed:
  • “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 nonbinary.” (33:41–34:46)

5. Campaign Strategy & The Stakes

• Cruz stresses the importance of not underestimating Talarico, describing him as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” due to his appealing style masking radical content (22:57, 44:48).
• Paxton is congratulated—Cruz pledges full support and promises to help him mobilize the base for November (51:53).
• Both hosts predict the Democrat playbook will exploit Paxton’s vulnerabilities while pitching moderate appeal (44:48).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Cornyn’s Loss:
  “That represents a sea change. John Cornyn has been in the Senate for 24 years… And instead, he has faced an election where he lost by 28 points.” – Ted Cruz (07:27)
• On Trump’s Role:
  “The Trump endorsement certainly grew that margin of victory … But I think one of the factors that caused President Trump to endorse is he was looking at the same polling.” – Cruz (07:58)
• On 2018’s Lessons:
  “The Beto campaign was shocked to lose. They believed they had won that race… They had confetti cannons on the stage…” – Cruz (20:03)
• On Talarico’s Radicalism:
  “He has said Jesus was a radical feminist. He has said white men are the greatest domestic terrorist threat in our country.” – Cruz (32:53)
• On the Dangers of Underestimating:
  “If you're not paying attention, if you don't know his record, if you're not listening to what he said, you can be deceived. And so we need to… put his own words in front of the voters.” – Cruz (44:48)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:02 – Show start, opening takeaways, overview of election night
• 06:32 – Election results and Paxton’s victory margin analysis
• 07:27 – Cornyn’s Senate history and significance of defeat
• 10:38 – Record-breaking campaign spending discussion
• 15:53 – The dangers facing Paxton in the general, lessons from Cruz’s career
• 16:16 – Breakdown of the 2018 Texas Senate race with Beto O’Rourke
• 22:57 – Preview and warnings about James Talarico
• 26:18 – Dissection of Talarico's campaign and policy positions
• 33:41 – Talarico soundbites montage
• 35:01 – Discussion about American flag and symbolism
• 37:19 – Talarico’s remarks on “whiteness” and masculinity
• 42:44 – Talarico’s focus on transgender issues and further critique
• 44:48 – Closing warnings, Cruz on Talarico’s “slick” campaign
• 45:50 – Final thoughts, campaign takeaways, episode close

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Tone & Language

• Direct, humorous, occasionally mocking: Ferguson and Cruz alternate between serious warnings and banter, often poking fun at what they see as out-of-touch leftist positions, especially around Texas culture (meat, masculinity, and religion).
• Alarmist and strategic: The tone is urgent, especially when advising conservatives not to be complacent and to scrutinize the Democratic nominee carefully.
• Personal and anecdotal: Cruz shares campaign stories from his own career as lessons for Paxton and listeners.

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Summary Takeaways

• Ken Paxton’s win over John Cornyn is seen as a defining moment for grassroots conservatism over establishment politics in Texas.
• Despite Paxton’s win, the coming general election is not a guaranteed GOP victory, given historic spending and leftwing mobilization.
• Democrats’ nominee James Talarico is positioned as uniquely dangerous due to his ability to dress radical positions in mainstream, pastoral language.
• The episode serves both as an analysis and as a call-to-action for conservatives to stay alert, organize, and not underestimate either progressive fundraising or candidate presentation.

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Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human

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[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you and Senator, it is election night. We're doing a dual pod right now for, for our show and my show as well. There is one big takeaway. It was a great election night in general for conservatives all over the country.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, we had election night in Texas and it was a big election. It was a consequential election. We had the runoff for the U.S. senate race and, and we now know with absolute certainty that come January, I am going to be serving with a new senator from the state of Texas. We had the Republican runoff between my current colleague John Cornyn and his challenger, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. And Paxton won decisively, a big double digit victory. We're gonna break down what happened at election night and what it means for Texas. We're also gonna break down what's next in the general election. Who is the Democrat nominee? This James Talarico guy. And I'll warn you, it ain't pretty. We're going to get into that in detail right now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, he's, he's definitely a radical and we're going to let all of America understand exactly who he is. Want to take a moment, though and talk to you about your dog. Whether it's old, young, we got a new puppy. There is something that you can give your dog to make sure that your dog has the best life ever. And it's called rough greens. I tell you, moving from the puppy years to old age brings in nostalgia. Remember the day you brought your puppy home. The tiny paws, the wagging tail, the spark in their eyes. And man, that energy that just wouldn't quit. Well, they've gotten older. You wonder where that spark went. They're slower, pickier at meal time. Their stomach often seems off. And you find yourself cleaning up those messes, worrying and quietly thinking, is this just what aging looks like? That's not old age, by the way. That's actually malnutrition. They're missing their probiotics, the enzymes, the omega oils, and the live vitamins and minerals that your dog needs to digest and absorb food. When the gut is out of balance, everything's harder for your dog that you love. And that's where rough greens really come in. I've seen it firsthand as our dog got older and we got our dog back, that happiness in life. And in fact, Rough Cranes is America's number one dog supplement. You just sprinkle it right over their current food and it's packed with all the live nutrients they need. It's all natural, made in the US of A. And thousands of dogs are feeling younger, more energetic and healthier than they have in years. Your dog could be one of them. And I want you to get a free Jump Start trial bag for your dog today and you'll understand exactly why it's amazing. You just cover the shipping costs. Go to rough greens.com and all you have to do is use the discount code verdict. That's R U f f greens.com discount code verdict. Rough greens, they make any dog better. So center. This is one of those. That is a very interesting case study in. Traditionally, if you are a establishment, if you are an incumbent, you have a massive advantage. You have a lot of fundraising that comes in. You got a lot of Washington money that comes in. You have special interest money, like you got a lot of advantages and usually a bigger microphone. What we have learned so far through this whole process around the country is just because you have that if Donald Trump decides that he wants to go against you and wants to back another America first candidate he believes will serve the interests of his agenda better, you could be in serious trouble. We watched it happen in Louisiana. We've now seen it happen in Texas.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, I think that's right. There was an awful lot going on in this race. Let's, let's start off just with the results. So we're sitting here, it's right now 11:43pm Tuesday night, election night. And as of right now, this is with 92% of the results in. Ken Paxton is getting 64% of the vote. John Cornyn is getting 36%. So that is, as of right now, 858,547 votes for Ken Paxton. Oh, just bumped up 862,150 votes for Ken Paxton to 484,625 for John Cornyn. So that is nearly a 30 point victory, a 28 point victory. We'll see what the final numbers are when all the votes are tallied. But, but that, that is a massive win.

[Ben Ferguson]

And yeah, that represents, that is a, that's a bloodbath for any incumbent. I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat. And that's how the media is it as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and it represents a sea change. So John Cornyn has been in the Senate for 24 years. He has been an institution in the Senate. He was the majority whip of the Senate. So he was the number two elected Republican in the Senate. He served that position for six years. John Cornyn ran for majority leader when we took the majority, when Mitch McConnell stepped down as, as Majority leader. John Cornyn ran against John Thune. And it was a close election. John Cornyn obviously did not prevail. But it, but it was a vote that was decided by just a couple of votes. And so John Cornyn, in a different universe, would have been the majority leader of the United States Senate right now. And instead, he has faced an election where he lost by 28 points. Now, there were a number of factors at play there, and I will say Donald Trump endorsed and endorsed late, and there's no doubt it had a very significant impact. That being said, most of the polling that was in this race even before the Trump endorsement showed that Paxton was going to win and was likely to win with a sizable victory. And so I think the Trump endorsement certainly grew that margin of victory and made it the dramatic, the nearly 30 point victory that it was. But I think one of the factors that caused President Trump to endorse is he was looking at the same polling everyone else was looking at that showed Paxton with a significant lead in the race to begin with. There are a lot of reasons for this, but in many ways, this race played out as a traditional conservative versus establishment primary, and that's a primary. I know a lot about my race. 14 years ago when I was elected to the Senate was very much the same dynamic where I was running against David Dewhurst. He was the sitting Lieutenant governor. He had universal name ID. He had over $200 million. So he wrote a $35 million check to his own campaign. And I'd never been elected to nothing. Like, like, literally the last thing I was elected to was student council. So I was at 2% in the polls.

[Ben Ferguson]

I was ahead of you technically, because I did win, like, I think, class president, freshman year in college. So I even had more credentials than you did at that moment. I just, I just want to make sure that the audience understands that right

[Senator Ted Cruz]

now it was an impossible race. And yet what we saw when I was elected in 2012 is we saw the conservative grassroots come together, and we ended up going from 2% in the polls to winning by double digits in the primary and winning by double digits. We won the primary by 14 points, and we won the general by 16 points. And so it was an amazing victory of the conservative grassroots against the person everyone thought was the unbeatable frontrunner. This Corn and Paxton race had similar dynamics. The money in this race was massive. So this is now shattered records.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

For the single most expensive Senate race in American history. In a primary. In a primary.

[Ben Ferguson]

And we're talking more than usually just spent in a general election by a lot.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So just in phase one of the primary, over $100 million was spent. I think when. When you tally the runoff, it will end up being well north of $150 million spent in that this and the overwhelming. That 90 plus percent of that was spent supporting John Cornyn. So. So Paxton spent relatively little money and won by an overwhelming margin. Now, one of the consequences of this is, is the Democrats, they are looking to attack Ken Paxton. He is a conservative. Kent, both Ken and John are friends. I've served with John Cornyn 14 years. He and I are very different senators, but we've worked well together, and we've worked in a cooperative and collegial way. That's part of how you represent your state. Sure. And at the same time, Ken Paxton has been a friend of mine for a long time. Both Paxton and Cornyn I've supported previously. I've campaigned with them previously. I've campaigned for them previously. Paxton, objectively, I believe, has been the most conservative state attorney general in the country, has a strong record as a conservative state ag. That was a big part of why he prevailed, and that was driving his momentum long before President Trump made his endorsement. That being said, there are a lot of nasty personal attacks that have been leveled at Ken Paxton, and the odds are precisely 100.0% that we will see millions and millions of dollars of attack ads in the general election, bringing up every one of those personal attacks and going after him viciously. The Democrats are not going to play nice because they see a chance. The Democrats believe they have a chance to win the general. And I got a message to Republicans in Texas and nationwide, do not take this general election for granted.

[Ben Ferguson]

Amen to that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It is easy to say, it's Texas, it's red, we're going to win, and I believe we are going to win. But I also think the Democrat nominee, James Talarico, is a dangerous candidate.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, I have been there before both of my reelects. I was Chuck Schumer's number one target in the country. And so they've thrown everything in the kitchen sink trying to take, take me out. And I've been there. They're getting ready to do that to Ken Paxton. And actually there is potentially a real analogy between 2026 and 2018. 2018 was my first reelect.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

2018 was two years after Donald Trump was first elected president. In 2018, you had several things going on. Number one, the left was enraged. They hated Donald Trump, so they were energized and they showed up in massive, massive numbers. In 2018 and also, two years into the administration, without Trump on the ticket, there was some complacency. And so across the country, Republican turnout was not nearly as high as it had been. And those two together are a dangerous combination. What did that mean in 2018? Let me, let me give you just what we faced in that year. The Democrats more than doubled their turnout in Texas. They drove Democrat turnout from 1.8 million all the way up to 4 million more than 2x. Now, my campaign, as you know, and you know my campaign team well, we're obsessively numbers and data driven. Yeah, we saw all of that happening. We saw the surge in Democrat turnout, Democrats who'd never shown up, coming out to vote. And so we, we set out to drive up Republican turnout. I did a 50 stop bus tour across the state, spent six weeks barnstorming the state, spent a lot of time in rural Texas and deep east Texas in West Texas, in the Panhandle, you've got conservative voters there who historically don't show up in midterms. They typically stay home. And I was ringing the bell saying, look, if you stay home, we will lose the state of Texas. Yeah, we ended up driving.

[Ben Ferguson]

That was public, by the way. I was around that campaign and it was, we were nervous. When did, by the way, when did you actually feel good in that year about, like having a victory that day? I, if I remember correctly, till the very end, there was not a lot of, like, swagger in the campaign. Like, ah, hey, we got this thing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and, and there's a reason for that. So we drove Republican turnout from 2.8 million all the way up to 4.2 million.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So I won by point two. I won by 200,000 votes out of more than 8 million votes cast statewide. The margin was 2.6%. And look, a lot of observers, I'll tell you, the Beto o' Rourke campaign. I was running against Beto o', Rourke, and he was particularly the first time he ran, which was against me. He was a remarkable candidate, charismatic, became a national phenomenon. That 2018 race, at the time was the single most expensive Senate race in U.S. history. That's how much they wanted to take me out. Um, to, to give you a sense of The. The kind of financial mismatch. Cause I was outspent 3 to 1 in that race. In the third quarter of 2018, I raised 3 to 1.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, I like when in politics, you don't usually win when you're down three to one. Just so people understand how much outside influence money came in.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So let me give you a little bit of the math. Third quarter of 2018, I raised $12 million in hard money. People going to my website contributing money. That was, at the time, the record for the most hard money any Senate candidate had raised in a single quarter in the history of the state of Texas.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Do you know how long my record lasted?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm gonna guess like, three seconds.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Two hours. It took two hours.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, two hours. There we go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So. So my record was 12 million. It was the most. And the old record had been like, 8 or 9 million. So I had beaten the old record by a decent margin. My record was 12 million. Two hours later, Beto O' Rourke reported his numbers. What do you think he raised that quarter?

[Ben Ferguson]

I see. I. If I remember it, was it, like, almost double what you had?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, it was 38 million. It was more than 3x. I had 12. He had 38 in one quarter. That was the kind of dynamic we were facing. And I got to tell you, the Beto campaign was shocked to lose. They believe they had won that race. They went into election night thinking they'd won. They had confetti cannons on the stage because they're looking at the numbers and they're saying, okay, we've more than doubled turnout. Game over. Like. Like, if you have.

[Ben Ferguson]

They had unlimited spending power against you because the entire Democrat machine from D.C. to California was in to take you out. So if you've got unlimited funds and you double the turnout, in theory, you should absolutely win that race.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So 2026 has a lot in common with 2018. It's two years into the beginning of another Trump presidency. The left is highly energized. They're raising a ton of money. They hate Ken Paxton just like they hate me. They're going to raise a mountain of money against him. And I guarantee you leftists are gonna be energized and show up to vote. And. And the challenge is much the same as 2018. I called Ken tonight. I congratulated him. He was obviously very happy. And. And. And I said, listen, I'm all in. You have. You have my total support. I'm gonna do everything I can to help you, to help you raise money, to help you turn people out to help you with the grassroots. We've got to win because the race is is dangerous and and, and the left is coming after him and and their candidate is very reminiscent of Beto o' Rourke. Now, now James Talarika, he was a state rep, but any someone whose substantive views are really extreme. You know, last podcast we did, we highlighted Graham Platner, the the, the communist with a Nazi tattoo in Maine, who is the Democrat nominee in Maine. And we talked about just how extreme and crazy the Democrat Party is. Well, James Talarico is absolutely extreme. We're going to break that down in just a minute. But I will tell you what makes Talarico dangerous and that worries me is he packages it in this very nice aw shucks demeanor and he sounds like a preacher. He went to seminary, so he is a licensed preacher and he much of what he says. He quotes biblical verses. And what worries me is someone who's not paying attention much to politics might turn on the TV and look at him and say, oh, he seems like a nice young man. And for me, I would rather my wolves come in wolves clothing rather than look like a sweet, inoffensive nice young man who happens to be an extreme radical left winger. I'd rather they be out in the open and let you know exactly who they are.

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[Ben Ferguson]

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 mark me on the show tonight, aren't you? I've been talking a long time today.

[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 the night I'm just. Yeah, I'm more than happy at midnight for you to say that word on my behalf.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That would be existential Existential.

[Ben Ferguson]

There we go. 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, 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.

[G]

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 other big nonnas. 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'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 Canada is a vegan campaign like that in Texas. And this goes back to, like, everyone needs to 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. Oh, yes, 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.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That Is the fact, you know, 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 looked? To be clear, My wife Heidi is vegetarian. That's a choice you could make. I am an enthusiastic carnivore.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes. I had barbecue tonight. Literally. That's like 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. There's something else. It was in the. It was in the sausage. Did you not eat the sausage?

[Ben Ferguson]

Was it? Oh, yeah, 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 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's not.

[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 the 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]

Because we will in a second. But. We will in a second. But, but I want to just walk 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 Paxton 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. And are you going to believe CNN or your own lying ears? He has said that the Bible justifies abortion, that he is pro abortion because of the Bible.

[Ben Ferguson]

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 the 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.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is the guy you voted for.

[G]

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.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, really? 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.

[G]

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 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. 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, in Maine is more expensive the ss Sad too, right?

[Ben Ferguson]

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 refused 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, prophetic voices

[G]

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 got to 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 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 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.

[G]

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

[Ben Ferguson]

Right.

[G]

Use it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[G]

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

[Ben Ferguson]

Wait, which one is it? Now I'm. I'm a little confused. Are, 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.

[G]

Dude.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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'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.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, 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.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want you to pause what you're doing for just one minute, and I want you to hear about Alejandra. She lives in a remote community with very few resources and little to no health care. So when Alejandra gets sick, her parents have no real options, no doctors in their community, and no money for real medical care. By the third day, her body was shutting down. She woke up and just long enough to tell her, mom, I can't take the pain anymore. I can't keep going. Her parents drove hours to find a doctor who tried everything, but she needed a private hospital, and that was impossible for her family to afford. And that is when Compassion International stepped in. Now, through Compassion, Alejandra was treated. And against all odds, she survived. She lived because someone just like you took action. Right now, unfortunately, there are children just like Alejandra who won't survive unless someone like you steps in. Compassion International partners with local churches, providing children with the support that they need. Critical medical care, plus food, education, and the hope of the gospel, all in Jesus name. So help a child just like Alejandra. Today you can visit compassion.com that's compassion.com and I gotta say, Senator, I. I want. As we wrap up the show, I do want to ask. When I look at this race and I look at Talarico and I look at everything you and I have just talked about quickly, and we're going to keep talking about throughout now until. Until November, I can promise you, because there's more that's going to come out. There's more crazy things going to say. But I do like the fact that I feel like there's a little bit of sanity coming back into the political world where you now can just talk about this individual and what he believes. And you can look at voters in Texas and you can just say, this is not what we believe in. We do not believe in mutilating children. He's obsessed, by the way, with transgenderism. We do not.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And transgender children in particular. He is, he is described, I forget the exact phrase, but people near his heart, or most near his heart are transgender children.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And look, if you think you ought to be sterilizing and mutilating little boys and little girls, that is an extreme out there position. That's not where most Texans are, but it is where Talarico is.

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[Ben Ferguson]

And I, and I, I do find a little bit of comfort in knowing that, like, how do you run against a guy like this in, in a place like, again, Texas? And I think other Republicans around the country should, should actually look at this. Sometimes winning is just saying, this is not who we are. We're not for that. We, we don't, we're not a bunch of vegans, okay? We, we, we're normal people that eat meat. And, and we're not going to shame you for that. There's not six genders in the world. Certainly Jesus is not advocating for that either. And even if you can quote scripture, if you take it out of context in this way, and, and you, and you take. I, I think part of just being a Christian, I find so offensive about Talarico is the fact that he's sitting there saying he's an expert, and yet he's, he seems to be taking the Bible and using it for evil instead of for good. And all these radical ideals that clearly God is not in favor of. God is not in favor of mutilating children. He's not in favor of there being six different genders. Like, that's not what he's about.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And remember, even the devil can quote scripture. If you look back to when the devil was tempting Jesus in the garden right before he was crucified, the devil repeatedly quoted Chris scripture at him and Jesus rebuked him. And so the fact that he quotes scripture does not mean he is being truthful about what the Bible is saying. And if he's twisting it and using it for evil ends that are precisely the opposite of what the Bible is saying, that is not honorable or righteous or truthful. And, you know, listen, I'll say, the Paxton campaign has started calling him Low T Talarico, which I think is pretty darn funny.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But I want to give a caution. It's a caution I gave at the beginning. Do not take this general election for granted. Here's what Talarico tweeted tonight right after the primary results. Quote, I want to thank Senator John Cornyn for his years representing our state. We don't agree on everything, but we're. We both still believe in public service to Senator Cornyn supporters. You have a place in our campaign. Yeah, that's very savvy. He's making a very open pitch to more moderate Republicans. Vote for me. Look, I'm a nice, sweet, gentle, inoffensive guy. Wouldn't hurt a fly. And if you're not paying attention, if you don't know his record, if you're not listening to what he said, you can be deceived. And so we need to, I think this campaign, an awful lot of it, is going to be putting his own words in front of the voters because they do reveal who he is. But he's really good at being slick and pretending to be something he's not. That, in politics, is dangerous.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, no doubt. I love when we get to do a, do a pod like this. Don't forget, you can download Verdict with Ted Cruz wherever you get your podcast three days a week. You can also grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast as well, each and every day, wherever you get your podcasts. And the Senator and I will see you back here on Verdict on Friday. And to all the Republican candidates, had a big night. Congratulations. Running for office is hard and it's really fun when you get some W's on the board. So that is fun. And we'll see you back here Friday morning.

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