AOC causes Founding Father Grave Roll Overs, 'WE didnt get our Way' so BYE VA SCOTUS & Trump takes China Week In Review

Summary

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The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: AOC causes Founding Father Grave Roll Overs, 'WE didn’t get our Way' so BYE VA SCOTUS & Trump takes China Week In Review
Date: May 16, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson
Guest: Senator Ted Cruz
Duration covered: Content from approximately [03:19] to [43:02]

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Episode Overview

In this weekend review, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz break down three major political stories:

1. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and the Founding Fathers – Fact-checking statements by AOC on American democracy, history, and current left-wing narratives.
2. Virginia Supreme Court Gerrymandering Ruling – Examining the fallout and national implications of the Virginia Supreme Court’s recent decision against Democratic-led redistricting efforts, and Democratic threats to overhaul the court.
3. President Trump’s Trip to China – Discussing bipartisan Senate advocacy for the release of political prisoners, and analyzing the broader stakes and objectives of the U.S.-China summit.

Ben and Ted unpack what these stories reveal about ideological divides, the current state of American institutions, and President Trump’s foreign policy priorities.

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1. AOC’s Take on American History and Democracy

Key Discussion Points

• AOC’s Historical Claims Critiqued
  • Ted Cruz asserts that AOC misrepresented the origins of American democracy, suggesting she projects modern leftist grievances onto the Founding era ([04:07]).
  • Cruz emphasizes the actual timeline: Declaration of Independence (1776), followed by the Constitution (ratified 1789-1791), framing America’s democratic system.
  • Cruz notes America’s founding was not “against billionaires” but in opposition to tyrannical government.
• Slavery and America’s “Original Sin”
  • Cruz acknowledges “when our nation was created, African Americans in half the country were slaves,” and calls slavery “the original sin of America... a grotesque evil” ([05:20]).
  • He credits Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party, and abolitionists for ending slavery, clarifying, “Our party was created in order to defeat slavery.”
• Civil Rights Movement and Party History
  • Cruz reminds listeners the Republican Party was more supportive of the Civil Rights Act than Democrats at the time, challenging AOC’s party to “own that history.”
• Leftist Rhetoric on Democratic Progress
  • Cruz critiques “the squad and all of the communists on the left,” accusing them of historical ignorance and conflating the American Revolution with anti-capitalist movements ([06:50]).
  • He contrasts progress through “appealing to founding principles” versus attacking them.

Notable Quotes

• Sen. Ted Cruz ([05:20]):
  “Slavery is the original sin of America. It was a grotesque evil. I will point out though… The person who did it [abolished slavery] was Abraham Lincoln, the very first Republican president. Our party was created in order to defeat slavery.”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([06:53]):
  “They’re so ignorant that everything I just said there, they don’t know. They’re told that the American Revolution was a communist revolution against the billionaires.”

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2. AOC on Immigration and “Paramilitary Forces”

Key Discussion Points

• AOC’s Comments on Law Enforcement and Private Prisons
  • Ben Ferguson plays a clip of AOC warning that for-profit detention centers and ICE represent a dangerous, ever-expanding system that could eventually target other Americans ([08:04]).
  • AOC claims: “…once they've rounded up every person in this country, who do you think is next?” ([09:04])
• Cruz’s Response and Reversal
  • Senator Cruz flips this accusation, arguing historically it is “the left” that has created mass detention centers and concentration camps worldwide, referencing Soviet gulags, Cuban prisons, North Korean camps, and the Uyghur camps in China ([09:35]).
  • In the U.S., Cruz points out “it was FDR who set up internment camps for Japanese Americans… That was a Democrat” ([12:03]).
  • He further asserts: “If you support government power, you are willing to use that government power to lock up everyone who disagrees with you... there’s something fundamentally different between locking up a violent criminal... and locking up lawful citizens.”

Notable Quotes

• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ([08:59]):
  “It’s not enough to be a profitable business. You have to keep growing those profits. And so once they've rounded up every person in this country, who do you think is next?”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([09:35]):
  “In almost every instance where there have been mass detention centers, it’s been the left that has put them in place… You look at China. China today has over a million Uyghurs… It’s the largest instance of human slavery on the face of the planet.”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([12:03]):
  “It was FDR who set up internment camps for Japanese Americans who were American citizens... that was a Democrat. By the way, she talks about Jim Crow… Do you know who wrote the Jim Crow laws? That would be Democrats. Do you know who founded the KKK? That would be Democrats.”

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3. Virginia Supreme Court & Gerrymandering (Starts [18:44])

Key Discussion Points

• Democrats' Redistricting Backlash
  • Ben Ferguson frames the story as Democrats threatening the Virginia Supreme Court after their preferred gerrymandered maps were struck down:
    “It doesn't matter. There is no law and order anymore in the Democratic Party. They don't get their way, we just... dismantle the Supreme Court, dismantle the constitution, get rid of everybody in our way.” ([18:44])
• Cruz: “Hard Left Zealotry” and Power Grabbing
  • Senator Cruz outlines the history: Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger campaigned against gerrymandering, then pushed for “an emergency redistricting plan that took the map from 6-5 Democrat to 10-1 Democrat” ([19:25]).
  • Describes court challenge: Virginia Supreme Court (largely Democratic appointees) struck down the plan as unconstitutional, surprising many.
  • Democratic response: Proposals to oust justices via a “mandatory retirement age of 54,” or “abolish the government of the state of Virginia” to replace the court.
  • Cruz references similar tactics nationally, and Supreme Court’s recent ruling that racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional.
• Calling Out Double Standards
  • Cruz points out all of New England electing zero Republicans, showing Democrats gerrymander as much, if not more than Republicans.
  • In the South, Cruz mocks claims that ending racial gerrymandering will leave Black voters disenfranchised—citing Republican Tim Scott’s Senate win and a pending race where a Black Republican woman may replace a white Democratic incumbent ([27:13]).

Notable Quotes

• Ben Ferguson ([18:44]):
  “Democrats, when they tell you they're crazy and they hate this country... Believe them. Democrats now are threatening to boot the entire Virginia Supreme Court.”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([19:25]):
  “The Democrats who run as moderates are lying to you. Every word she [Gov. Spanberger] said on the campaign trail was a lie.”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([24:05]):
  “Their entire purpose is to throw every justice on the Supreme Court off so they could pack them with left-wing activists...”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([25:02]):
  “You take the states in New England... How many Republicans do you think are elected in all of New England?”
  Ben Ferguson: “I'm going to go with zero.”
  Cruz: “Zero would be right.”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([27:39]):
  “...the Democrats position is, yes, defeating a white Democrat guy to elect a black Republican woman is racist against black people. Like, yes. Like, how do you say, no, no, this white liberal is blacker than this actual African American woman. That. That is their view.”

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4. President Trump’s China Trip & Political Prisoners (Starts [32:49])

Key Discussion Points

• Bipartisan Senate Action
  • Senator Cruz details passage of his resolution (with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin) urging President Trump to prioritize the release of imprisoned political dissidents in China, especially democracy activist Jimmy Lai and several pastors ([33:11]).
  • Resolution passed the Senate unanimously, 100-0, to send “a bipartisan voice...urging the President to prioritize the releasing of these political prisoners.”
  • Cruz argues this bipartisan backing gives President Trump leverage to raise such issues in his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping ([35:11]).
• Historical Example - Mark Swidan
  • Cruz recounts successfully using a similar tactic to free Mark Swidan, a Texan and political prisoner detained over 10 years in China ([35:38]).
• What Success Looks Like for Trump’s Trip
  • Cruz: Trump is seeking Chinese help to pressure Iran on nuclear enrichment and Middle East stability, open the Chinese market for U.S. agriculture and manufacturers, and most importantly, to free wrongfully detained political prisoners ([42:01]).
  • Cruz states: “He’s fighting for American jobs in China. He’s fighting for American national security in China. And he’s also fighting for China to do the right thing and release these wrongfully detained political prisoners.”
• Acknowledgment of Trump’s Record
  • Ferguson: “This is an administration...that has really been about getting back Americans all over the world.”
  • Cruz: “President Trump is very effective at this.” ([41:51])

Notable Quotes

• Sen. Ted Cruz ([35:11]):
  “When I put this resolution on the floor, I’m working in coordination with the White House, with the administration… What this does is give him additional ammunition. It lets him say to Xi: ‘Look – the Senate, 100 to nothing.’”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([37:05]):
  “...calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained members of Zion Church, including Pastor Jin... and to end the harassment and intimidation of church members and their relatives.”
• Sen. Ted Cruz ([42:01]):
  “...He’s fighting for American jobs in China. He’s fighting for American national security in China. And he’s also fighting for China to do the right thing and release these wrongfully detained political prisoners.”

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Memorable Moments & Tone

• Ferguson and Cruz’s exchanges are sharp, combative, and often sarcastic, especially when discussing Democratic leaders and left-wing narratives.
• Cruz repeatedly brands opponents as ignorant, radical, or dishonest, but also provides detailed historical arguments and examples.
• Ferguson uses humor and anecdote, e.g., referencing Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen as “the whitest guy you’ll ever see” ([26:52]).
• The episode is heavy on counter-narratives to mainstream media and Democratic talking points, tailored for a conservative audience seeking robust fact-based rebuttals and confident optimism about Republican-led victories at home and abroad.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:19] – Ben Ferguson introduces the weekend review topics.
• [04:07 - 07:46] – Ted Cruz and Ferguson analyze AOC’s statements on American democracy and history.
• [08:04 - 14:29] – AOC’s immigration/police remarks, Cruz’s historical rebuttal, left and detention camps, party history.
• [18:44 - 28:24] – Deep dive into the Virginia Supreme Court, gerrymandering, Supreme Court packing threats, and party hypocrisy.
• [32:49 - 43:02] – President Trump’s China trip, bipartisan Senate action on political prisoners, pressure strategy, and goals for US-China relations.

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Summary Table

| Segment | Topic | Speakers | Timestamp | |---------|----------------------------------------|--------------------|------------| | 1 | AOC on Democracy & Founders | Cruz, Ferguson | 04:07-07:46| | 2 | AOC on Immigration, “Paramilitary” | Ferguson, Cruz | 08:04-14:29| | 3 | Virginia SCOTUS & Gerrymandering | Ferguson, Cruz | 18:44-28:24| | 4 | Trump in China, Political Prisoners | Cruz, Ferguson | 32:49-43:02|

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Listen For

• Well-structured, ideologically clear conservative arguments on history, law, and governance.
• Strong criticism of left-wing narratives and Democratic institutional maneuvering.
• Detailed explanation of bipartisan foreign policy successes.
• Moments of humor and pointed rhetorical jabs between Ferguson and Cruz.

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To dive deeper into any of these topics, consult the segment timestamps above or listen to the full episode for detailed context and debate.

Transcript

[Cancer Patient]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

for healing, learn more and sign the [e-mail] welcome.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is verdict with Ted Cruz. We can review Ben Ferguson with you and here are the big stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, AOC doesn't understand how America was started, but she put words in the mouths of our founding fathers. The only problem is there's receipts of what they actually believed. And we fact check her on exactly how ridiculous some of her comments were. Up next, the Virginia SCOTUS gerrymandering reversal that has rocked the entire country. So what does it actually mean? And how is this going to affect the midterm elections? And finally, President Trump heads to China. What is coming out of that meeting in Beijing? And could we see the releasing of political prisoners from the U.S. it's the weekend review and it starts right now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The Declaration of Independence that that was the birthday of our nation. And it was Thomas Jefferson who penned the immortal words, we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That declaration, by the way, declaring our independence not from billionaires, but from oppressive government, from King George, that was the beginning of our nation. And then some 20 years later, the United States Constitution which created our democracy. I mean, if you want to look at the moment that our democracy was created, it was the delegates in Constitution hall in Philadelphia who drafted the Constitution, who set up our system of government, and then the states that had to ratify it and once it was ratified, it went into effect. That is what has created our democracy. Now if she were speaking, precisely what she could have said is when our democracy was created, it was imperfect and we had to travel a journey to move towards greater equality. That statement is Unequivocally right. It is true.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, accurate.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

When our nation was created, African Americans in half the country were slaves. They had no right to vote. Women had no right to vote. On the question of slavery, I've said many times, slavery is the original sin of America. It was a grotesque evil. Uh, I will point out though that how did we abolish slavery? Look, we abolished slavery, number one. The person who did it was Abraham Lincoln, the very first Republican president. Our party was created in order to defeat slavery. That was the purpose. That's the origin of the Republican Party. The Democrat Party, by the way, virtually its entire tenure defended, say, slavery and fought ferociously in favor of slavery. But the way the abolitionists in the Republican Party successfully abolished slavery was not by attacking our founding principles, not by attacking the Constitution, not by attacking the Declaration, but rather by appealing to those principles, by saying we are not living up. When Jefferson wrote the words all men are created equal, that statement is on its face completely incompatible with slavery. Jefferson knew that. He was brilliant and he was putting into place, I believe, with, I agree with Dr. Martin Luther King who said the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice. But aoc, and this is true with the squad and with all of the communists on the left, they're so ignorant that everything I just said there, they don't know, they're told that the American Revolution was a communist revolution against the billionaires, that the answer is more government power. And they repeat things like black Americans gave us democracy, which is just simply not accurate. The civil rights movement was one of the greatest democratic movements in our nation's history. By the way, she points to the Civil Rights Act. Look, Civil Rights act, far more Republicans, a much greater percentage of Republicans in Congress voted for the Civil Rights act than Democrats. Her party opposed the Civil Rights Act. The majority of them. And so yes, we're on a journey, but the left, their ignorance is a close battle. Which predominates, Ideology or ignorance. But they're both intertwined and they're both fundamentally wrong.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, AOC was not done there. She also had another pretty interesting line. She made it very clear that she wanted to say something about illegal immigrants and saying through fear mongering that once they're all deported, they're going to come after other groups referring to Republicans. Take a listen to this.

[Cancer Patient]

All of a sudden we now have a paramilitary force. We don't have a court system. Right. They don't need, they don't think, they need judicial warrants. So you don't get Due process. So you start creating this black box system. That's right, Black box warehouses. Point a finger, whether it's like again, like we saw in Jim Crow, whether you just point a finger and 100 years ago accuse a little black boy or something, you can point a finger, right, and accuse someone of that today. If you think when once you build that machine that it's only going to be reserved to that. That's right. This eats profit. These things. Ice. It's not just ice. It's Core Civic, it's Geo Group. These, those are corporations that run ICE detention centers. That's right. They are for profit. They are traded on Wall Street. And what happens is that those companies and this system is that it does not accept anything but growth. It's not even good enough to be profitable. It's not even good enough to be profitable. You have to be more profitable and more profitable and more profitable. It's not enough to be a profitable business. You have to keep growing those profits. And so once they've rounded up every person in this country, who do you think is next?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, look, that, that is the. Both the classic ignorance and misinformation of the left. So, so they understand. AOC supports a open border. So she wants to abolish the police. She wants to abolish ice. She opposes all law enforcement that actually secures our border against foreign invaders, against illegal immigrants, against violent murderers, rapists, child molesters and gang bangers. And her position has consistently been let all of them out of jail. But at the same time, she wants to tell her very ill informed supporters, if there are detention centers that are used for illegal immigrants, that are used for violent criminals, those will be used by government against you. And part of what is really astonishing is if you look throughout history, in almost every instance where there have been mass detention centers, it's been the left that has put them in place. You look at whether it is the Soviet Gulags where communists imprisoned millions. You look at Joseph Stalin, you know, you read Solzhenitsyn, the Gulag Archipelago and talks about the incredible miseries of communism imprisoning millions in prisons. You look at my father's home country of Cuba and the prisons that are there right now. You look at North Korea, Cuba's communist, Soviet Union was communist, North Korea's communist. You have gulags there. You look at China. China today has over a million Uyghurs who are religious minorities, who are in concentration camps. It's the largest instance of human slavery on the face of the planet. That is Communist China. And by the way you look at World War II, the Nazis. So leftists like to paint the Nazis as right. But let's be clear, Nazis were National Socialists. That was their policy. That's what Nazi stands for, is National Socialist. The economic policy of the left is what the Nazis believed in, government control. And I do want to be clear, it's not just historical leftists who have imposed concentration camps. Let me be very clear. I think slavery is wrong, concentration camps are wrong. Detention camps. By the way, in the United States, which president created detention camps and detained American citizens?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm gonna go with it was a Democrat as I just wanna be clear about this.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It is a Democrat. It was FDR who set up internment camps for Japanese Americans who were American citizens and interned thousands of them, forcibly detained them during World War II. That was a Democrat. By the way she talks about Jim Crow. She probably doesn't know this, but do you know who wrote the Jim Crow laws? That would be Democrats. Do you know who funded, who funded and founded the kkk? That would be Democrats. And I want to read, to give you something recent. In 2020, there was an Iowa based field organizer for Bernie Sanders, his campaign who was caught on tape discussing the need for quote, re education camps for people who did not support Bernie Sanders, particularly for Trump supporters. So aoc, it is her side that has advocated we're going to put the people we disagree with in camps. In some level that's not shocking because the left has always been willing, if you support government power, you are willing to use that government power to lock up everyone who disagrees with you. And there's something fundamentally different between locking up a violent criminal, locking up someone who has violated the law, that is protecting the community, that's protecting our citizens, that is upholding the rule of law. There's something fundamentally different between that and rounding up and locking up lawful citizens. And in history, virtually the only people to have done so have been leftists, have been communists like aoc. And yet, look, I do think she studied Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. She starts and throughout accuses her opponents of doing that, which she would do. And look, these interviews, truth matters. And let me say this as a final point, this is a big part of the reason we do these podcasts is to actually engage and give you the substance. Because if someone is a young person and they're listening to AOC and they're like, oh, oh yeah, the American Revolution fought to overcome the billionaires. We got to stop those billionaires. This podcast is here to give you the facts and information to push back on that dishonest and ignorant indoctrination.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Rates may vary.

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[Ben Ferguson]

it's Ben Ferguson and I want you to pause what you're doing for just one minute. And I want you to hear about love, generosity and compassion. We say those words all the time. And they sound good, Good, they feel good. But here's the truth. Those words don't mean anything unless they turn into action. And right now, not later today, not tomorrow, there's a child in the world who doesn't know if they'll eat, if they'll have a chance to learn, or if there's any hope at all. And while we're all busy, life keeps moving forward. But that child is waiting. This is where you come in. With compassion international, you have the chance to change a child's future not just with words, not with promises, but with real help that provides food, education and hope through local churches and people already in their community. Put your words into action and join me. Introduce a child to a loving heavenly father [e-mail] that's compassion.com this is Martha

[Martha Stewart]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Now on to story number two. Let's move on to Virginia real quick. And this one is also a very interesting story. Democrats, when they tell you they're crazy and they hate this country and they hate our laws and our rules, like believe them. Democrats now are threatening to boot the entire Virginia supreme court. And, and let's explain how we got to this point center because it's. This is a warning of us coming with our u. S. Supreme court. They want to get rid of it. They want to pack it every time they get a ruling they don't like. It doesn't matter. There is no law and order anymore in the democratic party. They don't get their way. We just, just dismantle the supreme court, dismantle the const, get rid of everybody in our way.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, the Virginia state legislature sadly is Democrat. The governor, Abigail Spamberger ran as a moderate. She actually ran saying gerrymandering is wrong. We should Oppose gerrymandering. Yeah, she got elected. And by the way, Abigail Spanberger is a object lesson for elections across the country. The Democrats who run as moderates are lying to you. Every word she said on the campaign trail was a lie. She got in as this hard left zealot. She immediately stopped cooperating with federal law enforcement, started releasing illegal immigrants, violent criminals, into Virginia. She began proposing new taxes on just about everything you can imagine. And when it came to redistricting, the current map in Virginia, there are 11 House members in Virginia. Six of them are Democrats, five of them are Republicans. That's about right. Virginia is a purple state. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, was the previous governor in the 2024 election. Kamala Harris won Virginia, but. But by just a few points. So 65 was about right in terms of where the state was divided. But the Democrats, for them, power is the number one objective. And so they rammed through an emergency redistricting plan that took the map from 6, 5 Democrat to 101 Democrat. And they told the roughly 45% of Virginians who vote Republican, you no longer get representation. We're going to disenfranchise you because all we care about is power. And basically, they drew these horrible maps where much of Virginia, the rural parts, are bright red. And you've got northern Virginia, which are basically D.C. suburbs, which are a bunch of government employees, many of whom are very liberal. And so they drew these maps where most of the districts reached into Northern Virginia, grabbed a bunch of government bureaucrats and used them as left wing voters to turn the rest of the district blue. Well, the problem is they got challenged in court and initially a trial judge ruled that the redistricting was illegal under the Virginia state Constitution. That got appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. Now, the Virginia Supreme Court, the justices are Democrats. They were put on there by Democrats. They were confirmed by Democrat legislatures. The Virginia Supreme Court last week, shockingly, most observers were astonished, looked at the Virginia state constitution and said, hey, what the legislature did here was illegal. And they struck it down. By the way, the previous attorney general of Virginia, Republican Jason Meares, had written an opinion saying, under the Virginia constitution, you can't do this. This is contrary to law. Now, when that happened, Democrats in Washington, their heads exploded because this was critical to their seizing power. Since then, they have called for, number one, they've called for putting a mandatory retirement age in Virginia on the Supreme Court of 54. Their entire purpose is to throw every justice on the Supreme Court off so they could pack them with left wing activists who will uphold the redistricting, they have also talked about just fundamentally overturning. So Mark Elias, who is the hardcore left wing Democrat lawyer who brings all of these incredibly partisan decisions. Anytime a Republican is elected in close election, Mark Elias files a lawsuit seeking to overturn the voters will. He is one of the most rabid partisans in the country. He tweeted out a quote from the Virginia Constitution, quote, whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, inalienable and indefeasible right to reform, alter or abolish it in such a manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal. And to be clear, what he is saying is, I don't like what the Virginia Supreme Court concluded, even though they're Democrats. So abolish the government of the state of Virginia. That's how radical these zealots are. And by the way, you combine that with the recent decision of the U.S. supreme Court that concluded that racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional, that drawing lines, drawing congressional lines, discriminating, saying we're going to put people of one race in the district, take people of another race out of the district, that that's unconstitutional. It had been an open question whether complying with the Voting Rights act was essentially an exception to the constitutional prohibition on racial gerrymandering. And the Supreme Court concluded 6, 3. No, it is not that the Constitution, the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, prohibit discrimination based on race, prohibit voting discrimination based on race. I think that is the right reading of the Constitution. And the Democrats have lost their ever loving mind because, understand, look, all right, all of New England, you take the states in New England in the Northeast which vote anywhere from 60, 40 Democrat to 65, 35 Democrat, depending on the state. How many Republicans do you think are elected in all of New England?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm going to go with zero.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Zero would be right. In state after state, Massachusetts zero, Maine zero. Vermont zero. New Hampshire zero, Rhode island zero, Connecticut, zero. That is, they just gerrymander the heck out of it. And they have 100% of the representation Democrat in the South, Democrats have used the Voting Rights act to insist, if you can draw a district that elects an African American Democrat, you must elect that Democrat. Now the bizarre thing is we've seen Democrats who also insist, and one of the more absurd things they've said, well, in light of the Supreme Court decision, that discriminating based on race is unconstitutional, you've seen Democrats saying South Carolina will never ever elect an African American To Congress. Now, I have to admit, when that happened, I pulled out Twitter.

[Ben Ferguson]

I like when you get your little snarky tweets out there. I knew as soon as I said I was waiting for a countdown clock until you did what you did. I could have predicted that tweet. And, like, in a moment's notice, as soon as I saw, I was like, I can't wait. And then you did it. So keep going.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. I said, hey, Grok, who is Tim Scott and why did Democrats believe he's not black? So, Tim Scott. Yeah, Tim Scott is my colleague in the Senate. He's African American. He was elected to Congress to a House district in South Carolina. Then he became a senator. He's been reelected over and over and over again in South Carolina, and yet to the Democrats, he does not count as black, because if you're a Republican, suddenly you're white. It doesn't matter. And mind you and their view. And by the way, Tennessee, your home state.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, dude, this is the best one. Steve Cohen, who's, like, the whitest guy you'll ever see, he doesn't like me, by the way. He was my. My congressman for many years. He. They were losing on TV the day, and I got to smack some of them around because they were saying, you're taking away this seat, that African Americans are being disfranchised. I'm like, hold on a second. Steve Cohen is like the widest old cranky white guy you've ever met, but

[Senator Ted Cruz]

he's a liberal Democrat. So he's a black Democrat.

[Ben Ferguson]

But here's what's interesting. Charlotte Bergman, who is an African American single mother, is probably going to win the seat now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And so wait a second. You're saying as. As a result of this Supreme Court decision, yes, a white guy, a Democrat's going to lose, likely, to a black

[Ben Ferguson]

woman, to a black single mother who has. Who has. Who lost a family member to violent crime in Memphis.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Like, and the Democrats position is, yes, defeating a white Democrat guy to elect a black Republican woman is racist against black people. Like, yes. Like, how do you say, no, no, this white liberal is blacker than this actual African American woman. That. That is their view. And understand all of their hysterics come down to power. Like, if you're saying, abolish the Virginia Supreme Court because I don't like what they rule, and by the way, we appointed them, but we still don't like how they rule. So if you don't rule in a way that keeps us in power, we will burn down the foundations of our government that is. That's just sad.

[Ben Ferguson]

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.

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[Ben Ferguson]

it's Ben Ferguson and 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

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[Ben Ferguson]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed. All right, Center, I want to talk about the President's big trip to China and specifically you add some notes, some requests, some advocacy for some Americans that are being held. And this was a really big moment that people should be talking about.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. So this was a meaningful legislative week. We've already talked about the two victories we had in the Senate Judiciary Committee passing two bills I authored. We had a third victory on the Senate floor, which is the entire Senate passed a resolution that I authored along with Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, concerning the President's China trip and in particular urging the president to prioritize the release of political prisoners, the release of people who are wrongfully imprisoned in China, including Jimmy Lai, who's the great democracy activist in Hong Kong. I met Jimmy Lai when I traveled to Hong Kong. I met with him. His health is failing. He is being imprisoned because the Chinese Communist government views him as a threat to their Communist oppression and Then also focusing on the Christian pastors, including Pastor Ezra Zinn, who have been targeted, who have been arrested. China has been cracking down on Christian pastors. And so Dick Durbin and I together introduced this resolution. We took it to the Senate floor and this week it passed 100 to nothing. So the entire Senate, with a bipartisan voice, urged the president prioritize the releasing of these political prisoners.

[Ben Ferguson]

It matters how much political, I think pressure in a positive way does that create for the conversation that happened because when you meet with an adversary like China, and if you've ever been around these meetings, I was around a couple of them in the Bush second term. A lot of it is very much scripted. You have State Department that gets with their equivalent, the State Department, they decide what will and will not be talked about the table in these meetings. But when you have 100 to nothing vote, you have Dick Durbin, you have you. And is that giving the ammo extra to the President, saying, hey, you've got all of the United States Congress behind you. It gives you a reason, even if you need to, in essence, to break protocol on what's been agreed to in the meetings and say, hey, this just happened and we got to talk about it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, no, that's exactly right. And this is something, when I put this resolution on the floor, I'm working in coordination with the White House, with the administration, and the President had already indicated an openness to raising these political prisoners. And what this does is give him additional ammunition. It lets him say to Xi, look, the Senate, 100 to nothing. We may have political disagreements in our country and other topics, but not on this. Every single senator, from the most conservative to the most liberal, they're all on the same page. And I'll use an example that's actually a very similar circumstance, which is Mark Sweden. So Mark Sweden is a Texan who was wrongfully imprisoned in China for over 10 years. He was thrown in prison, his health failed badly. And I led the fight in the Senate for years to free Mark Sweden, including sitting down with a Chinese ambassador in one on one leaning in very hard urging China to release him, that civilized countries don't keep political prisoners. Joe Biden was president during much of this time. And so I repeatedly pressured President Biden and the State Department to raise Mark Sweden. Mark Sweden's mom lives in Texas. I talked to her multiple times. And I did the same thing. I introduced a resolution calling for the release of Mark Sweden and it passed the Senate just like this one did. 100 to nothing that gives real force and it ended up Joe Biden followed through and pressed it. The State Department followed through, and finally the pressure was enough that China released Mark Sweden. So he is no longer in a Chinese prison. He has been released. He came back. In fact, he came to my office. I had the opportunity to meet him and embrace him. And this is someone who, for years, I was speaking his name and demanding his release. And it's, you know, often when you're dealing with a government like the Chinese Communist government, it's a question of ratcheting up pressure. And any one step typically is not enough. But the more pressure you put on, the more leverage you put on, the more likely they are to comply. So here's what the resolution said, expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should prioritize securing the release of Pastor Jin Mingri, Pastor Guo Guanfu and his wife Pangju, Jimmy Lai, Dr. Gulshan Abbas and Ekpur Assad detained by the People's Republic of China during future engagements with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Whereas the government of the People's Republic of China has arrested Chinese, American and British citizens for the peaceful expression of free speech or religion or such acts by family members. Whereas, such arrests have been widely condemned by the international community and human rights organizations with repeated calls for the release of the detainees. Whereas on May 17, 2025, Pastor Gao Guang Quan Fu of the Light of Zion Church in Xian City was detained and is being held on charges of, quote, using superstitious activities to undermine the implementation of law. In other words, being a Christian is what they're holding him for and also, quote, fraud. Whereas Pastor Gao's wife, Pang you, who was subsequently detained on June 7, 2025, remains held despite holding no official position in the church and has been denied access to critical prescription medication. Whereas. Honor. About October 10, 2025, authorities of the People's Republic of China detained Pastor Jen Mingri, founder of Zion Church, along with other church leaders on equally dubious charges of, quote, illegal uses of information networks. Whereas Pastor Jin continues to be detained without access to critical medications to treat diabetes or contact with family members in the People's Republic of China and the United states. Whereas on November 7, 2025, the Senate unanimously passed Senate Resolution 463, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained members of Zion Church, including Pastor Jen. And by the way, that was my resolution as well that I introduced and passed last year. And for the government of the People's Republic of China to end harassment and intimidations of the relatives of Zion Church members and their relatives. Whereas in 1995, Jimmy Lai founded the Apple Daily newspaper in Hong Kong and subsequently faced repeated harassment and arrest, including a 69 month sentence in 2022 on dubious fraud charges that were later overturned and a subsequent 20 year sentence in February 2026 on dubious national security charges. Whereas in December 2025, President Donald Trump said he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to consider releasing Jimmy Lai. Whereas on December 4, 2025, House Resolution 930 was introduced commemorating Jimmy Lai and calling on authorities, the People's Republic of China, to immediately and unconditionally release Jimmy Lai and all other Hong Kong pro democracy advocates in prisons. And it goes on. There are a whole series more of Whereas provisions, but then it says resolved, that the Senate calls upon the President to prioritize securing the humanitarian release of Pastor Jen Mingri, Pastor Guo Gao Kwanfu and his wife Peng yu, Jimmy Lai, Dr. Gulsham Abbas and Ekpursat, and other wrongfully detained individuals. On the agenda for engagements with President Xi Jinping, including the anticipated May 2026 summit. And urges the President to seek verifiable proof of life and access to independent legal counsel, family communication and medical care for such detainees. And reaffirms the commitment of the United States to defend political and religious freedoms worldwide.

[Ben Ferguson]

Incredible. It really is. And look, this is a administration, as you know, that has really been about getting back Americans all over the world.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

They've made it a priority with great success. President Trump is very effective at this.

[Ben Ferguson]

And that's the reason why I think it's gonna be very interesting to see what comes out of this. Quickly. Your, what is your definition of success of overall this big meeting with China?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, it depends. There are a number of things that President Trump is trying to accomplish. One of the things he's trying to do is to get China to assist with Iran. And China is the main purchaser of Iranian oil. And so China could exert a lot of leverage over Iran. And the President is urging Xi to lean on Iran in particular to hand over their enriched uranium, to stop enriching, to stop funding terrorism and to open the Strait of Hormuz. Secondly, I think the President is also working to open the Chinese market. So, for example, it's been reported now that China agreed to buy 200 Boeing planes. That's a big deal. The President is fighting for farmers and ranchers to get our crops and our livestock into China. And he's fighting for US Manufacturers. And so he's fighting for American jobs in China. He's fighting for American national security security in China. And he's also fighting for China to do the right thing and release these these wrongfully detained political prisoners.

[Ben Ferguson]

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

[Martha Stewart]

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