Biden Ignores Antisemitism, NPR CEO has Issues w Free Speech & WH Terrified of Losing Young Voters Week In Review

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson Episode: Biden Ignores Antisemitism, NPR CEO has Issues with Free Speech & WH Terrified of Losing Young Voters Week In Review
Release Date: April 27, 2024
Host: Ben Ferguson
Guest: Senator Ted Cruz

---

1. Biden's Tepid Response to Antisemitism on College Campuses

Ben Ferguson opens the episode by addressing the White House's inadequate condemnation of antisemitic incidents on college campuses. Highlighting a specific instance where President Biden's response was perceived as insufficient, Ferguson introduces Senator Ted Cruz to delve deeper into the issue.

Key Discussions:

• Senator Cruz's Critique: Cruz labels the President's response as "pathetic," emphasizing a lack of awareness and action regarding antisemitic protests at institutions like Columbia and Yale.

• Incidents Highlighted:

  • Columbia University: A Jewish student was allegedly assaulted with a flag, drawing parallels to Nazi-era antisemitism.
  • Yale University: Reports of a human chain blocking a Jewish student from entering the university, deemed a modern echo of 1939 Vienna University protests.

Notable Quotes:

• Ben Ferguson [00:00]: "These are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this past week."
• Senator Ted Cruz [01:59]: "He's professing ignorance... it is utterly disgraceful."
• Ben Ferguson [03:02]: "A group of Yale Student center formed a human chain to block a Jewish student from entering the university yesterday."

---

2. NPR CEO Catherine Maher's Stance on Free Speech and the First Amendment

The conversation shifts to NPR's new CEO, Catherine Maher, whose views on the First Amendment and free speech have sparked controversy. Ferguson and Cruz scrutinize her statements and policies, questioning the implications for journalistic integrity and taxpayer funding.

Key Discussions:

• First Amendment Challenges: Maher identifies the First Amendment as a significant obstacle in regulating misinformation and "influence peddlers."

• Critique of Maher's Views:

  • Senator Cruz's Oversight Role: As the ranking member on the Senate Committee of Commerce, Science and Transportation, Cruz expresses intent to hold NPR accountable.
  • Public Statements: Clips from Maher's TED Talk reveal her belief that "truth doesn't exist" in certain contentious areas, promoting a subjective approach to truth.

Notable Quotes:

• Catherine Maher [12:34]: "The number one challenge here that we see is, of course, the First Amendment in the United States is a fairly robust protection of rights."
• Senator Ted Cruz [16:03]: "What utter garbage. Like every word of that. You want an indictment of the modern left?"
• Catherine Maher [17:43]: "Free and open was a way of looking at the world that was inherently limited relative to what we were trying to achieve."

---

3. Democrats' Fear of Losing Young Voters and Shift in Stance on Israel

Ferguson and Cruz discuss the Democratic Party's anxiety over diminishing support from young voters, particularly those aged 35 and under. They argue that this fear is driving a recalibration of the party's stance on Israel to regain favor.

Key Discussions:

• Youth Voter Engagement: Concerns that young voters, previously supportive, may abstain, potentially impacting electoral outcomes.

• Policy Shifts:

  • Student Loan Relief as Vote Buying: Ferguson criticizes initiatives like student loan forgiveness as attempts to secure votes through financial incentives.
  • Altered Rhetoric on Israel: The administration's restrained defense of Israel is portrayed as a response to perceived indoctrination against the nation among young demographics.

Notable Quotes:

• Ben Ferguson [22:11]: "If you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week."
• Senator Ted Cruz [24:28]: "These are Yale students cheering the American flag being torn down."

---

4. Antisemitism and Free Speech on College Campuses

The episode delves into specific incidents highlighting the rise of antisemitism and the challenges to free speech on university campuses, illustrating a broader trend of left-leaning activism.

Key Discussions:

• Northwestern University Incident: The dean of students attended an anti-Israel protest targeting the Jewish community center, advocating for the "right to protest."

• Underreporting by Mainstream Media: Cruz and Ferguson express frustration over media silence concerning the funding and orchestration of these antisemitic events, suggesting media complicity or indifference.

Notable Quotes:

• Senator Ted Cruz [30:35]: "The media won't cover that. They have no interest in it whatsoever."
• Ben Ferguson [28:52]: "It's American college campuses and it's all coming and being organized, as you mentioned earlier, by the left."

---

5. International Implications of Rising Antisemitism

Concluding the discussion, Cruz warns of potential international repercussions if antisemitic trends continue unchecked, citing recent incidents in Europe as a cautionary parallel.

Key Discussions:

• London Police Incident: A Jewish individual was threatened with arrest for being "openly Jewish" near a pro-Palestinian march, underscoring the severity of antisemitic sentiments.

• Historical Context: Cruz draws parallels to Europe’s longstanding struggles with antisemitism, suggesting that unchecked antisemitism on U.S. campuses could have dire consequences.

Notable Quotes:

• Senator Ted Cruz [31:13]: "In London, it is now an arrestable offense, according to police, to be openly Jewish."
• Jonathan Turley's Post [32:00]: Discusses the London police’s stance on openly displaying Jewish identity near pro-Palestinian events.

---

Conclusion

Ben Ferguson wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to access the full podcast for a more in-depth exploration of these critical issues. The discussion underscores a pervasive concern about rising antisemitism, challenges to free speech in educational institutions, and strategic political maneuvers by the Democratic Party to retain young voter support.

Final Remarks:

• Ben Ferguson [33:26]: "As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you."
• Senator Ted Cruz [33:50]: [Ends with an advertisement segment unrelated to the episode’s main content.]

---

This episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson provides a critical examination of current political and social issues, emphasizing the need for accountability and proactive measures to address antisemitism and uphold free speech standards.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Weekend Review, Ben Ferguson with you. And these are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this past week. First up, Biden responds to anti Semitism by basically not condemning it at all. Why is the White House playing it this way? We'll explain it. Also, the new NPR CEO has major issues with truth and says that the First Amendment really gets in the way. Why are your tax dollars going to fund her radical agenda? We'll break that down for you as well. And finally, Democrats are scared. They're terrified the youth vote isn't coming in to do what they did last time, and now they're having to take a radical stance against Israel to try to get young voters back on their team. It's the Weekend Review, and it starts right now. We've been covering anti Semitism on college campuses and exposing what's been happening. But now we're getting to see the White House, specifically the president of the United States of America's just pathetic. And that word doesn't seem strong enough, but a pathetic response to anti Semitism on college campuses. I want to play this for you from a reporter to the president of the United States of America and get your reaction to it. Listen to this.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And the anti Semitic protests on college campuses.

[Ben Ferguson]

I condemn the anti Semitic protest.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's why I've set up a program.

[Ben Ferguson]

To deal with that. I also condemn those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians and.

[Catherine Maher]

They'Re how they're being the Columbia University president resign.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I didn't know that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, I'm about to find out more. I love that they asked should she resign? He goes, I didn't know that. I'll have to find out more about that. But he condemns people that are anti Semitic and then says, I also condemn those that don't know about the Palestinians. Like, what in the hell is the president doing here, sir?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, he said he didn't know that. And I actually believe that's some of the most honest words that he said. I think he has no idea what's going on. He's not aware of what's going on. And in particular, he's professing ignorance as to what's happening at Columbia, what's happening at Yale. And it is utterly disgraceful. But you know, who's not ignorant? I mean, I agree he's oblivious, but who's not ignorant are the other Democrats who are supporting this. And I want you to listen to. So there was an event, a climate core Event where AOC was speaking right next to Joe Biden and he was right there. And AOC had something to say on this that I want everyone to listen and hear. Here's AOC addressing Columbia and Yale. It is especially important that we remember the power of young people shaping this country today of all days as we once again witness the leadership of those peaceful student led protests on campus like Columbia, Yale, Berkeley and many others.

[Ben Ferguson]

Really? Because a group of Yale Student center formed a human chain to block a Jewish student from entering the university yesterday. And if you know history, this was a chilling act of antisemitism that echoed 1939 when Nazis blocked Jewish students were entering Vienna University simply because they were, were Jews.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, that's absolutely right. And you also had a Jewish student at Yale who was poked in the eye with a flag and had to seek medical treatment because of that. And to say when you have threats of murder and violence and death, when you have, as you had it at Columbia, a student saying that Hamas should murder the Jewish students on that campus, that is not peaceful. Threats of violence and calling from the murder of your former students is not remotely peaceful. But understand aoc, this is a sitting member of Congress. She's singling out Columbia and Yale. She's praising what's happening at Columbia and Yale. Understand she supports this vicious anti Semitism. And there is Joe Biden happily sitting there. In fact, he said at the same event that he's learned that when AOC listen, speaks, you gotta listen to her. Well, you know that that is unfortunately today's Democrat Party, which, which is the White House, is utterly tepid, unwilling to condemn specifically what is happening at Columbia and Yale and, and the radicals in their party explicitly endorse it and celebrate it.

[Ben Ferguson]

You mentioned the radicals of the Democratic Party. You and I have said this for a long time. When they tell you what they believe in, believe them. I'll give you an example of this. A group of Columbia University professors actually held a rally Monday. These are the professors who are indoctrinating the kids to hate Jews and hate Israel. They held a rally to express solidarity with the anti Semitic students that had been suspended for holding unauthorized protests on campus. And not only that, but when you go back and look at what these leaders, these universities believe, whether it's, you know, Claudine Gay who we've exposed on the show multiple times. But at an event just two months after 9 11, Columbia University's current president remarked, and this was two months after 911 that terrorism is a form of protesting when they Tell you who they are, believe them. Listen to this.

[Catherine Maher]

So it's not. You'll always have individuals who will have extreme views. But what's really troubling in the region is that there's actually quite a broad base of society which has some sympathy for the terrorists. Not so much because they approve of their methods, but it's a form of protesting against a system which is not delivering for them on the economic or the political front.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, that's no wonder that this university is totally. It just lost its mind. And we're watching this anti Semitism. If that's what you're saying in public two months after 9, 11, then imagine how many children you've been able to indoctrinate college students to believe that the Jews are Israel and that you should feel sympathy for Hamas, Hezbollah, isis, al Qaeda, the list goes on and on.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and when she says there's a broad base of society that has sympathy for these terrorists, she's revealing a lot about the world in which she lives, about Ivy League universities, about our elite universities, about our academic system, about the left. Everyone she associates with falls into that crowd when they look at the terrorists and understand we're not talking about terrorists in the abstract. We're talking about Hamas and what they did on October 7th. Murdering 1,200 Israelis, murdering some 30Americans, raping women and little girls, committing atrocities that the world has not seen since the Nazis. And in today's leftist academy, using the president of Columbia's own word, they have some sympathy for that. No, there is no sympathy. Terrorism is not a form of protest. Terrorism is a horrific form of violence that targets civilians, that targets women and children, that commits murder, an act of cruelty. And that's exactly what. What Hamas did. And it's what. It's the reason these college campuses are allowing these anti Semitic protests to go on, these threats against Jewish students to go on. It's the reason Jewish students are being advised by the Orthodox rabbi at Columbia to stay home. Because Colombia will not protect your physical safety. And the reason is the president of Colombia, the administrators of Colombia, they explicitly side with the radicals and with the terrorists. And it is shameful and it's sick.

[Ben Ferguson]

Finally, on this, we're gonna do a deep dive about the dark money that is clearly backing and orchestrating these not only events, but the shutting down of roads and bridges and supporting what's happening on these college campuses being anti Semitic. But there is one caveat, and this should be talked about. And like I said, we're going to give you A lot more on this in another episode. But we've now found out that the NFL, the National Football League, funded a left wing group bailing out anti Israel bridge blockers. And this is again, how the left just holds these companies and these organization hostage. Like, you better give us money. We need some money to bail out some people. And they just do it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well. And look, we talked about in the wake of October 7, how Black lives Matter, how the Chicago chapter put out a tweet praising Hamas, saying we stand with Palestine and having a picture of a paraglider. Remember, it was paragliders that came in that the Hamas terrorists used to murder young people in Israel. And the cultural Marxist, they support each other. And we're seeing that look on Columbia. It's not just the students that are facing threats of violence, it's the faculty too. So a Columbia professor, Shai Davidai, wanted to go, and we talked about this on Monday's pod, that he intended to go and be right among these protesters and stand up for Israel. And what Columbia did, they revoked his past to campus. They zeroed out his access and blocked him. This is the administration of Columbia. They decided between a professor on their faculty who happened to be Jewish or the antisemitic protesters who are threatening violence, that, that, that the problem was the professor who dared to be Jewish. Uh, you know, one of the things that that this professor, David I tweeted out, he said, quote, to all the journalists, I promise I will try to get back to each and every one of you. In the meantime, I want you to consider this. To the best of my knowledge, the last time that a professor was denied access to their own university for being Jewish was Nazi Germany. Well, actually, that's not accurate because we covered on this podcast how USC did that to a USC professor where they ordered him to stay at home and teach from home for precisely the same reason, because anti Israel protesters were threatening violence and they decided not to protect him, but instead to stand with the protesters.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week. Now on to story number two. Senator, if you are at npr, can you imagine if you are lefty, a lefty, how much freedom, I think it would make you feel like you had to then go out there and continue to push propaganda on the American people. If this is your CEO, I mean, it's a license to, to basically go all in on liberal propaganda at the taxpayer's expense.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now that is exactly right. And I've Gotta say, listen, as you know, I'm the ranking member on the Senate Committee of Commerce, Science and Transportation. And part of my responsibility in that role, we've got jurisdiction over about 40% of the U.S. economy. And part of my responsibility is oversight. And I can tell you that I am actively engaging in oversight right now. Calling on NPR to explain, to explain why they're willing to put in place a hard left wing activist, not a neutral journalist, but someone who is biased, who is an active supporter of censorship, to silence the views she disagrees with, why NPR believes that that is an appropriate leader for their institution.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, that's a really great point.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And listen, don't necessarily take our word for it. I want you to listen to Catherine Marr in her own words because it's going to show just how radical she is. And I want to play a couple clips. Let's start with her explaining that in her view, the number one challenge that she faces is the First Amendment of the Constitution. Let's play that clip.

[Unknown]

The number one challenge here that we see is, of course, the First Amendment in the United States is a fairly robust protection of rights. And, and that is a protection of rights both for platforms, which I actually think is very important that platforms have those rights to be able to regulate what kind of content they want on their sites. But it also means that it is a little bit tricky to really address some of the real challenges of where does bad information come from and sort of the influence peddlers who have made a real market economy around it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, it's amazing. Senator, this is the woman running npr and I guess this is almost like the best thing you can put on your resume, right? You're like, hey, I think the First Amendment's a real problem. It's like perfect. We' to hire you at npr.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And she actually says, well, the First Amendment is really important for platforms. But then what she describes as their First Amendment right is for their ability to censor and silence things they disagree with. So to her mind, what she cares about is the ability if there's a view that is right of center. As far as she's concerned, the First Amendment is all about silencing those views. There can be no dissent. All right, I want you to listen to another clip. This is a TED Talk where she's discussing truth when she was at Wikipedia, and somehow she has a different view of truth than I think you and I might have. Give a listen.

[Catherine Maher]

The hard things, the places where we are prone to disagreement, say politics and religion. Well, as it turns out not only does Wikipedia's model work there, it actually works really well. Because in our normal lives, these contentious conversations tend to erupt, or a disagreement about what the truth actually is. But the people who write these articles, they're not focused on the truth. They're focused on something else, which is the best of what we can know right now. And after seven years of working with these brilliant folks, I've come to believe that they are onto something that perhaps for our most tricky disagreements, seeking the truth and seeking to convince others of the truth might not be the right place to start. In fact, our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that's getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done. Now, that is not to say that the truth doesn't exist, nor is it to say that the truth isn't important. Clearly, the search for the truth has led us to do great things, to learn great things. But I think if I were to really ask you to think about this, one of the things that we could all acknowledge is that part of the reason we have such glorious chronicles to the human experience and all forms of culture is because we acknowledge there are many different truths. And so, in the spirit of that, I'm certain that the truth exists for you and probably for the person sitting next to you. But this may not be the same truth. This is because the truth of the matter is very often for many people, what happens when we merge facts about the world with our beliefs about the world. So we all have different truths. They're based on things like where we come from, how we were raised, and how other people perceive us.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

What utter garbage. Like every word of that. You want an indictment of the modern left? You want an indictment of the idiocy of media? You want an indictment of the academic world? You want an indictment of big tech? Good God, what utter garbage. Truth doesn't exist. George Orwell is spinning in his grave and laughing at the same time. Two plus two doesn't equal four. It equals five because we say it is. There is no truth. Listen to that quote. Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that's getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done. But don't worry, this is only for things that don't matter. The contentious issues. What does she identify? Politics and religion. When it comes to politics and religion, look, Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life. But no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't have reverence for truth. We're not interested in that we are interested in, set aside a truth that can be your truth, my truth, Everyone has a truth. Maybe for you, two plus two is five. What utter garbage. You know what? A journalist is supposed to be interested in the truth. Now, do you have perfect truth? No. Do you have perfect knowledge? No. But you should get damn close to it. You should be trying to get to the truth. Remember what journalists used to learn? Who, what, when, where, how, why? Like what happened? What are the facts? Well, no, no, no, not according to her. According to the, to her, there are no facts. There is no truth. It's your truth, it's my truth. And my truth from Catherine Mars perspective is as a left wing partisan, whatever the orthodoxy is. And we will silence views that disagree. And the First Amendment is a pesky, pesky barrier. All right, I want to play one more clip. Yeah, one more clip where she's describing what she did at Wikipedia. Listen to this third clip.

[Unknown]

I started by talking about the idea of free and open as some of our founding principles, sort of free and open source, coming from the idea of the open source community. Well, I have come to the opinion and the perspective that free and open was a way of looking at the world that was inherently limited relative to what we were trying to achieve. Free and open has the best of intentionality. But in the end, what free and open often ended up doing, and particularly in the case of Wikipedia, was really recapitulating many of the same power structures and dynamics that exist offline prior to the advent of the Internet. And so what we ended up seeing was Wikipedia really rebuilt this idea of knowledge as a whole around what the Western canon, you see the exclusion of communities of languages because of the ways in which Wikipedia is based on reliable sources. The idea of a written tradition and something that is particular to many. I mean, not. Sorry, the idea of a written tradition which is particular to some cultures and not to others. The ways in which we ascribe notability often really comes from sort of this white male, Westernized construct around who matters in societies and who is elevated and whose voices. And so some of these ideas of sort of this radical openness really did not end up with the intention, really did not end up living into the intentionality of what openness can be.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, that, that just is brilliant right there.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

God bless. So look, she's explaining at Wikipedia they deliberately abandoned a, quote, free and open approach. By the way, she's telling you what she's going to do at npr. NPR is not going to be free and open according to her because she doesn't believe in free and open. Why? Because free and open number one. She says, well, that advantages cultures that believe in the written word because you know, what good is book learning ever done anyone? Well, heck, you're forgetting those cultures that don't believe in that fancy learning stuff like, what utter garbage. I'm sorry, I thought actually a journalistic outfit should actually reflect, celebrate the best of education, of learning, of what we know. But she says, no, no, no, no. If it's actually free and open, it will recapitulate a white male, westernized, westernized construct. Let me ask you something, Ben, what the hell does that mean? Seriously? Those are the words Marxists use and typically the more syllables they use when they get polysyllabic, the less they're making any sense. So explain to me the phrase recapitulate a white male westernized construction that does not end up living into the intentionality of what openness can mean. Yeah, those words have no content other than I want the power to silence things I don't like. Am I wrong?

[Ben Ferguson]

No, you're right. And my question goes back to this for you. It used to be at NPR and others, they would, they would at least fake it, like their bias. Now it's just flat out open and they're doing it with our tax dollars. Is there ever going to be a day of reckoning where NPR finds out, hey, good luck, do your own thing, because we're not gonna pay for this propaganda anymore.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, if NPR cares at all about journalistic integrity, if they care at all about continuing to receive taxpayer funds, they should terminate Catherine Maher immediately. Her job should be done. They should not have a rabid left wing partisan who hates the First Amendment, who views it as an inconvenience, who wants to censor conservatives, who is actively, explicitly and unabashedly opposed to free and open communication, who doesn't believe in truth, who believes truth is an impediment to what she's doing, that is not a journalist in any way. She ought to go and join Emily's list. She ought to go and join the dnc. She ought to go run for Congress and become a henchman to Nancy Pelosi. She should not actually be running a news organization, especially not a news organization funded by the taxpayers. And if we have to be honest, if you had a Democrat who had a shred of integrity, they would say, of course this is not appropriate for her to run npr. The chances of that happening are zero. But I can tell you I'm going to be pushing for accountability and I'm going to be pushing for oversight of NPR because it is brazenly shameless for them to put someone so wildly unqualified in that position.

[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. I want to get back to the big story number three of the week. You may have missed younger voters, which Joe Biden desperately needs. Those 35 and under are. He's at risk of them not showing up, the ones that voted for him last time. If they don't show up this time can cost in the election. We've seen a lot of pandering. We've seen yet another round of hey, I'm going to pay off your student loans and I don't care how many millions or billions it costs, we're going to buy votes that way. We also see him coming out and not making the big statements defending Israel because the young people have been indoctrinated. And this goes back to what we're witnessing on college campuses. They've been indoctrinated to hate Israel. And so that's why I think we've seen the president not say anything in a real way publicly. In fact, he's talked about what they've leaked from the White House. Let's talk about the leaks over the last two weeks. They claim that the first lady told Joe Biden to stop it, stop it now, referring to Israel's attacks on the terrorists. And, and that was leaked by senior staff. Obviously, there's, there's real leaks that are shocking and then there's leaks that you do on purpose to get a new cycle that was clearly a purposeful leak. And, and then we also had it coming out of the White House that apparently the president in essence told Israel, hey, your iron Dome worked. Take the win. Right. Don't retaliate against, against the people attacking you. Just be excited that you got the win. If that's the messaging from the White House when it comes to actual war, then it's very clear this is all orchestrated as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Understand it's not just Israel that, that the angry left hates. I want you to play a video of what happened at Yale this weekend. And it's going to be hard to tell from the audio, but after you listen to the audio, I'm going to explain what you just listened to. But, but, but play that audio, Ben.

[Ben Ferguson]

Center. I wish people could see that video because if you witness it, it's up on your. On your Twitter right now. It will make you enraged at what they're cheering.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, you really need to see this video. So this occurred on the Yale campus and they're chanting, Viva, Viva Palestina. But what they're doing is they're pulling down the American flag from a flag pole. And by the way, the image of the students, strikingly, the students, the Yale students that are there, if any of them are Palestinian, they don't appear to be. And there is, in the foreground of the image, there is this young blonde kid who appears to be just your typical woke leftist American, although he's got short blond hair and he's wearing a Palestinian scarf. And as the American flag goes down, he thrusts his fist in the air. And the cheering you hear is when the flag goes all the way down and hits the ground. These are Yale students cheering the American flag being torn down. Play the audio again and understand the cheering is when the American flag hits the ground. Play the audio again, Ben.

[Ben Ferguson]

You also see people that are smiling and in essence, laughing, Senator, like they can't believe this is happening on their campus and enjoying the moment. They've been camping out there. But this is at Yale. And if you see this at Yale and you realize Yale is allowing this to happen, the question is, why on earth would you send your kid to Yale and go half million dollars or more into debt or have to pay that money for your kids to be indoctrinated at a place that is clearly not coming down hard on these actions?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now, look, that is exactly right. And it's because the Yale administrators are. Are terrified to engage with against the left because they support the views of the left. I'll tell you something else that was tweeted. There's a story in the Free Beacon. The dean of students of Northwestern attended a protest targeting the campus Jewish community center. So the dean of students went to a rally where protesters said the school quote, weaponizes antisemitism to silence pro Palestinian activism. And let me read you that article. The dean of students at Northwestern University attended an Anti Israel protest this week targeting Hillel, the school's Jewish Student Community center, to defend the demonstrators, quote, right to free speech. Dean of Students Mona Dugo said she showed up at the rally on Monday to support Anti Israel's activist, quote, right to protest and to protect the right to free speech. According to the Daily Northwestern protest organizers demanded that the university end its relationship with Hillel, a 100-year-old nonprofit group that operates Jewish community centers on campuses around the world. Including Northwestern. The protest took place during Northwestern's Admitted Students Day, which seeks to introduce incoming students to campus life. So imagine your Jewish students coming, going, oh, great, this is a welcoming place for me. Hillel is one of the many places in which this university is complicit in infusing Jewishness with Zionism, said one protest organizer in a speech at the rally. A leaflet handed out by protesters accused Northwestern of, quote, funneling Jewish students into Hillel, the Zionist foundation for Jewish Life. It also claimed the school, quote, weaponizes claims of anti Semitism on campus to silence pro Palestinian activism. This is the dean of students. Now, I will say, after this became public, Northwestern, at least to their credit, they put out a statement claiming the Dean of Students goes to every protest to make sure there's not violence. Maybe. It sure doesn't sound like that from. From the article that was printed in the campus paper. But I'm at least glad they're feeling the need to try to explain it. I suppose that is marginally better that then saying, yep, that's where we stand.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's American college campuses and it's all coming and being organized, as you mentioned earlier, by the left. And if you look at this, you go back to what you said at the beginning about how important it is to follow the money. Why is it that when it comes to these issues, and I'm going to answer my own question here, but it's like the media doesn't exist when it comes to investigative reporting. I would assume the media could figure it out pretty darn quickly. Senator, who's paying for this? Who's organizing it? Who's behind it, where the money is originating from? Not a single story is being written about it, though.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, because they don't care. Because the media is ultimately supportive of these goals. They're not covering it. By the way, I will give some credit, and this is something painful for me to do, but I'm gonna give a little bit of credit to cnn. You know who's been most vocal speaking out on this.

[Ben Ferguson]

CNN has had a lot of coverage, you're correct.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Especially this past weekend, and Jake Tapper in particular. And listen, I've been very critical of Jake. You and I both know Jake very well. But on this issue, Jake Tapper has been the single most outspoken major media figure. And I'm gonna give him credit for that because. Because his colleagues and his colleagues at other networks and newspapers should do the same.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, last question for you on this one. If we do find out that these organizations that are backing and clearly growing. These, these anti Semitic protests are directly connected to Democratic donors. Democratic Party Party. What are the chances that the media covers it? Or what do you bet we're the only ones people hear about it from?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

0. The media won't cover that. They have no interest in it whatsoever. They have no interest in who's promoting this, who's funding it, who's paying people. Listen, Ben, as you know, I have had anti Israel, pro Hamas protesters at my home every Saturday morning for over three months now. It's the same group of about 15 people. They're clearly being paid by somebody. Nobody cares who's paying them. Somebody is paying them to. And they're doing this at the homes of other people as well, other elected officials as well. This is a concerted effort. But do you know where this ends up?

[Ben Ferguson]

Where's that?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If you want to see where this ends up, take a look at Europe. Sadly, Europe has for a long time, for centuries, been on the cutting edge of antisemitism. And you can look to Europe to see perhaps the next step of where these college campuses are. This weekend, the London police threatened to arrest a man for being, quote, openly Jewish. And, and I want to read from a post that Jonathan Turley put up this weekend. Quote, the London police are under fire this week for threatening to arrest a man wearing a keeper near the. Near a pro Palestinian march. Officers inform Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism Watchdog, that he was, quote, antagonizing the protesters by being, quote, openly Jewish near such a march. He was told that if he tried to cross the street while being, quote, openly Jewish, he would be arrested for breach of the peace. In the video, police officer. One police officer said, quote, you are quite openly Jewish. This is a pro Palestinian march. I'm not accusing you of anything, but I'm worried about the reaction to your presence. Another officer then adds later, quote, you will be escorted out of this area so you can go about your business, go where you want freely, or if you choose to remain here because you are causing a breach of peace with all these other people, you will be arrested. Now, I want you to pause and reflect on that. In London, it is now an arrestable offense, according to police, to be openly Jewish, to wear a yarmulke. You're the one. If you are simply Jewish and acknowledge your Jewish heritage and don't hide it, that is grounds for being arrested in London. That's where this heads. That is the fruit of the cultural, Marxist, leftist ideology. That is the fruit of the anti Semitism in free fusing our universities.

[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.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You need parts. O'Reilly Auto Parts has parts. Need them fast. We've got fast. No matter what you need, we have thousands of professional parts people doing their part to make sure you have it. Product availability, just one part that makes O'Reilly stand apart.

[Ben Ferguson]

The professional parts people.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, oh, oh.

[Unknown]

O'Reilly Auto Parts.