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- [00:00]
Michael Knowles
We spend a lot of time on this show talking about Joe Biden. But today, at the risk of descending into incoherent babbling and sheer pandemonium, we will present the President in his own words. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
- [00:23]
Ted Cruz
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- [01:53]
Michael Knowles
Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Knowles. Senator, there is a lot that I want to get to. I want to get to Martha's Vineyard. I want to get to the Iranian president. But first, I do not want us to be accused of creating a strawman out of Joe Biden. Joe Biden just sat down with 60 minutes for an interview covering pretty much every topic under the sun. And I would like to get your reaction to Biden in his own words since as far as I can tell, the media will never push the man in any way and push back on his talking points.
- [02:31]
Ted Cruz
Well, unfortunately, his mental acuity is so diminished that 60 minutes took 120 minutes.
- [02:40]
Michael Knowles
It was a softball.
- [02:41]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. I mean, how can you not go for that one? Look, the press, that they're not even the Praetorian guard, that they are his loyal propagandists and they allow him to spin without challenge. But let's get to specifics, okay?
- [03:03]
Michael Knowles
So first up, he takes on the issue of inflation. We know we've got 40 year record high inflation. The inflation has kept up. Here is the spin that the White House is putting on it.
- [03:13]
Scott Pelley
Mr. President, as you know, last Tuesday the annual inflation rate came in at 8.3%. The stock market nose dived, people are shocked by their grocery bills. What can you do better and faster?
- [03:29]
Joe Biden
Well, first of all, let's put this in perspective. Inflation rate month to month was just an inch. Hardly at all.
- [03:36]
Scott Pelley
You're not arguing that 8.3 is good news?
- [03:39]
Joe Biden
No, I'm not saying it is good news, but it was 8.2 or 8.2 before. I mean, it's not, I can make it sound like all of a sudden, my God, it went to 8.2.
- [03:48]
Scott Pelley
That's the highest inflation rate, Mr. President, in 40 years.
- [03:52]
Joe Biden
I got that. But guess what? We are, we're in a position where for the last several months it hasn't spiked. It has just barely. It's been basically even. Look, this is a process. This is a process.
- [04:05]
Scott Pelley
Is the economy going to get worse before it gets better?
- [04:08]
Joe Biden
No, I don't think so.
- [04:11]
Michael Knowles
Okay, so you, you saw actually more pushback than I've ever seen from the media there. It wasn't very much at all, but at least he's saying, come on, man, you know, throw a bone here. It's obviously extremely high inflation. Biden says no, the month over month has barely ticked up. What say you?
- [04:26]
Ted Cruz
So you're right. I'll give Scott Pelli some, some credit. He did at least push back some, which is more than the White House press briefing typically does. But, you know, Biden's argument is bizarre. He says, well, it's 8.3, but it didn't get any worse. I mean, it, you know, I'm reminded of an analogy like, like you're, you're badly wounded and you're bleeding out a pint an hour. And his defense is, well, it didn't increase. It didn't go up to two pints an hour. Like you're still bleeding to death. Like 8.3% annualized inflation means that families across this country are badly hurting. And it is continuing to be. It's the highest inflation rate in 40 years and Biden has no solution for it. But it's worse than having no solution for it. He doesn't understand what caused it. There's only one thing that causes inflation. That's government spending too much money, spending money it doesn't have, borrowing money it doesn't have, and printing money it doesn't have. Biden's solution is spend more money they don't have, borrow more money they don't have, and print more money they don't have. That will produce more inflation. And Biden's answer is, well, think how much worse it could be.
- [05:38]
Michael Knowles
Think how much worse it could be month over month. And I think I don't measure inflation month over month. Nobody measures inflation month over month. We measure it year over year. And the fact is that goods cost 8.5% more in September of this year than they did in September of last year. And so even that shift of, well, let's look at the month to month metric. I think, who cares about that metric if it's jumped this much in a year? That's really, really bad.
- [06:07]
Ted Cruz
Well, and look, even that figure understates it in terms of what Americans are actually feeling. You take gasoline. Gasoline is still dou what it was when Biden was elected. That 88%, that's double that is hurting people. $100 gas bill is now not unusual to fill up your truck. You know, people are seeing $150 gas bills, particularly if you're, you're unfortunate enough to live on the West Coast. You know, you look at food bills that have skyrocketed, you look at, you know, you look at electricity, and I my electricity bill, it's a lot more than 8% what it was last year. I think a lot of the bills consumers are paying haven't just gone up a little bit. They've gone up a ton and people are hurting.
- [06:53]
Michael Knowles
So there's good news that Joe Biden gave in this interview amid all the terrible economic news. He said, no, there's a glimmer of light here because of the pandemic. You know, the pandemic from two and a half years ago that was supposed to end in 15 days. The pandemic, he says, is over.
- [07:08]
Scott Pelley
President, first Detroit auto show in three years.
- [07:11]
Joe Biden
Yeah.
- [07:12]
Scott Pelley
Is the pandemic over?
- [07:14]
Joe Biden
The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID We're still doing a lot of work on it. It's. But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one's wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it's changing. And I Think this is a perfect example of it.
- [07:32]
Michael Knowles
Okay. One, do you agree? And two, if you do agree, that's good news, right? That's something Biden can hang his hat on.
- [07:38]
Ted Cruz
Well, listen, he's right. The pandemic is over. I'll tell you who doesn't agree. The Biden White House. Within hours of this interview airing, the White House was immediately walking back. No, no, no, no, no, no. We didn't mean that the pandemic is over. Never mind what he actually said to the camera. Look, we have an administration. They still have vaccine mandates in place. They're still trying to throw people out of the army and the Navy and the Air Force and the Marines because they haven't gotten vaccinated. They're trying to throw people out of the federal government. They're trying to throw FBI agents out. They're trying to throw border patrol agents out. They're trying to throw professionals up and down the federal government out. Look, the D.C. public Schools have announced they're going to impose a vaccine mandate on the D.C. public schools, that if a kid hasn't been vaccinated, that kid can't come to school. In the District Of Columbia, only 80% of the kids have Covid vaccines, but only 60% of the African American kids. So the Democrats are literally trying to throw 40% of the African American kids out of school. Now, they delayed that rule because there was so much pushback from the parents that they're like, gosh, maybe it isn't a good idea to throw 40% of the black kids out of the D.C. public schools. Maybe really bad things will happen from that. But these idiots, they're trying to impose these mandates. We saw just this week, New York is firing teachers who haven't gotten the COVID vaccine. We've seen nurses and doctors fired who haven't gotten the COVID vaccine. Yes, the pandemic is over, but these petty totalitarians. Let me ask you something. The U.S. open. Why is it that we're putting a vaccine mandate to play tennis outside with world class athletes? Because these are petty, totalitarian despots. And, and, and that answer illustrates. We've all known that the pandemic was over for a long time. And yet you know what? Biden's administration is still appealing to impose the mask mandate on airplanes. His DOJ is litigating it right now. It's only because a courageous federal judge says enough is enough. Get rid of the mask. And you know what? You still got numbskulls on planes. Not many, but a few. That that their virtue is so strong they will mask up till the end of time.
- [10:09]
Michael Knowles
So the disconnect I get, because there have been many times when the Biden White House undercuts Joe Biden himself, which raises a lot of questions about who is running the White House. I get the disconnect, but the question then I have is why? Why are they still pushing Covid? Is it ignorance? Is it neurosis? Are they really afraid of the Wuhan virus? Or is it a little more cynical and political than that? Do they see midterm elections coming up, Especially elections that they don't seem very well situated for? And are they hoping to reinstitute some of the extraordinary, quote, unquote public health measures that seem to give them an electoral advantage in 2020?
- [10:48]
Ted Cruz
So I don't think it's the latter. Now to be clear, you're going to see Democrats pushing mail in balloting because they think it elects Democrats and it does elect Democrats. The more policies they put in place that, that increase the likelihood of fraud, the more likely Democrats are to win. So it's, it doesn't have anything to do with COVID It has to do with the fact they want to hold on to power. You know, it's interesting. It's getting in the mind of a leftist is not easy. I think there's several things going on. I do think there are definitely some on the left that have sort of bought the, the, the fear porn, the, the like we're all going to die. We must be masked, we must be quadruple vaxed. We must like, like some of them that has been so beaten into them that it's hard for them. It's like they have Stockholm syndrome or something. Yeah. You know, it's like you see the self righteous lefty driving down the road in the car alone wearing a mask. You know, you see people out in D.C. i saw, this was several months ago, but I saw like two older ladies with gray hairs who, they weren't wearing Birkenstocks, but everything about them conveyed that they were people of the left.
- [12:03]
Michael Knowles
They had some in the closet, so.
- [12:05]
Ted Cruz
So they were walking down the street, no mask. They saw me and reached in their purses and put on their mask because their virtue had to be demonstrated while I was on the sidewalk, anywhere near them. That is a true thing for lefties. I think with lefty politicians it's a different thing. They like power, that they like having the authority to say, you shut your business, you shut your school, you get a vaccine like the vaccine mandate. It is an exercise of power, I will make you comply. You know, Joe Biden told Chicago Fire half your police officers if they don't get the vaccine. It is, it's, it is the petty authoritarianism, but the pettiness is the point. It's, I have the power to control you. Now, on the flip side, I think the inflation component of it, part of the reason that Biden says the pandemic is over is I think they're starting to get scared about November. And so he's trying to have some good news. And saying the pandemic is over is him saying, look, see, we solved Covid. By the way, you're fired if you don't get a vaccine. But see, we solved Covid.
- [13:18]
Michael Knowles
Now, I alluded earlier to the war in Ukraine, obviously a huge challenge for Biden, because in the words of Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, Biden largely was the cause of that, of that war by dropping sanctions on Putin and by, by actually sort of inviting him to invade Eastern Ukraine and saying there wouldn't really be consequences. So here's what Biden said in response to the breakout of the first major war in Europe in 70 years.
- [13:45]
Joe Biden
It has been barbaric, what he's done. His attacks on civilian everything from civilian hospitals to, you know, people's old age homes to neighborhoods where ordinary people live, schools and schools. It's just outrageous. And so the price Ukrainian people are paying for this war is extremely high. But we're going to stay with them as long as they need our help.
- [14:15]
Scott Pelley
You're already north of $15 billion in terms of those commitments. How far do you go?
- [14:20]
Joe Biden
As long as it takes.
- [14:22]
Scott Pelley
Ironclad commitment.
- [14:23]
Joe Biden
Yes.
- [14:25]
Scott Pelley
As Ukraine succeeds on the battlefield, Vladimir Putin is becoming embarrassed and pushed into a corner. And I wonder, Mr. President, what you would say to him if he is considering using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons.
- [14:42]
Joe Biden
Don't, don't, don't. It will change the face of war, unlike anything since World War II.
- [14:53]
Scott Pelley
And the consequences of that would be what, what would the US Response be?
- [14:58]
Joe Biden
You think I would tell you if I knew exactly what it would be? Of course I'm not going to tell you.
- [15:02]
Michael Knowles
So there's a little bit of a slip he has at the end, which is he admits he doesn't know what the, what the response would be. And he said, do you think I would tell you even if I did know? And certainly he's not going to be the one formulating those strategies. Putting aside the blame game, which we know Zelensky blames Biden for the war. But putting aside the blame game for a second, what do you make of his answer? Yes, we will stick with Ukraine. Yes, there's no end to the support that we will give. And his deterrent speech? Slight bit of rhetoric against Putin.
- [15:34]
Ted Cruz
Look, he asks, what do you do? What do you say if Putin is going to drop a nuclear bomb in Europe? That's kind of a big question. Biden's answer is, don't, don't.
- [15:54]
Michael Knowles
Don'T.
- [15:57]
Ted Cruz
Okay, I.
- [15:59]
Michael Knowles
It's uncanny. It's like I've got Biden right in front of me.
- [16:02]
Ted Cruz
Okay, just. Just listening to that. Is there anyone on planet or earth who that would deter from doing anything, literally anything? A third grader who's beating up another third grader who heard someone going, don't, don't. That third grader is getting punched in the nose. Like, look, one of the responsibilities of the commander in Chief is to deter our enemies. Why did Putin invade Ukraine? One of the reasons was Biden's weakness, Waiving sanctions. But another weak reason was Biden is so incredibly weak that every bad actor looks at the Commander in Chief and says, this guy ain't gonna stop nothing. And so, you know, as you noted, he said, well, even if I knew what I was gonna do, I wouldn't do anything. Look, I pray Putin does not use nuclear weapons, but that statement right there increased the likelihood that he will. And we need a commander in chief. I agree. You don't say exactly what the consequences are, but a commander in chief looks in the TV camera and says, using nuclear weapons in Europe would be an extraordinary escalation, and the consequences would be devastating. It would be devastating to Putin, to Russia, to the regime. Under no circumstances will the world sit by and watch a Russian dictator use a nuclear weapon. That's what a commander in chief says. Not some. Some. You know what it reminds me of? Who's the little old guy in the Simpsons who's always getting killed? Like the little bald guy? I can't remember the name of that character.
- [17:57]
Michael Knowles
I forget his name, too.
- [17:58]
Ted Cruz
But that's who Biden seemed like, don't we need strength in the Oval Office? That ain't it.
- [18:05]
Michael Knowles
Now I remember after Biden's completely botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, you said on this show that the way in which America pulled out of Afghanistan makes an invasion of Ukraine by Russia much more likely and an invasion of Taiwan by China much more likely. That's the next question that Joe Biden gets asked. Here's what he says about a potential Chinese further takeover of Taiwan.
- [18:31]
Scott Pelley
What should Chinese President Xi know about your commitment to Taiwan?
- [18:38]
Joe Biden
We agree with what we signed on to a long time ago and that there's one China policy, that Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence. We are not moving, we're not encouraging or being independent. We're not let. That's their decision.
- [18:53]
Scott Pelley
But would U.S. forces defend the island?
- [18:56]
Joe Biden
Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.
- [18:59]
Scott Pelley
After our interview, a White House official told us U.S. policy has not changed. Officially, the U.S. will not say whether American forces would defend Taiwan. But the Commander in chief had a view of his own. So unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir, US forces, US men and women, would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
- [19:24]
Joe Biden
Yes.
- [19:25]
Michael Knowles
So it's amazing in that interview how as Biden is sort of babbling his answer, the voiceover just takes. Everyone says, yeah, okay, nevermind what he says. The White House actually contradicts him. And so now you've got this disagreement yet again between Joe Biden and the White House, whatever that means. You've got this question about what exactly America's policy view vis a vis Taiwan is. There is this question of the one China policy. Again, whatever that is. That phrase has been taken to mean different things at different times over the decades. So two parts. One, what is Joe Biden, the White House actually saying here? And two, do you think that their approach is the right policy to Taiwan?
- [20:08]
Ted Cruz
So look, nobody knows what the hell he's saying. I gotta say, when Biden talks about foreign policy, I've never seen a president like this in my lifetime where he screws it up every day. Like he just says things. This is a guy you wouldn't let handle the remote control of your television set. He doesn't understand what he's saying. He doesn't know what he's saying. Look, that voiceover is weird. Think about it. Have you ever seen a President of the United States interviewed and his White House staff had to correct and retract what he said mid interview? Not even afterwards. Cuz they're like, oh crap. He just like fundamentally changed US policy towards China and Taiwan and he doesn't know it. He has no awareness of it. It's one thing. Look, a Commander in Chief has the prerogative to change U.S. foreign policy. That's part of what a President has an ability to do, at least in significant respects. Although Congress plays a major role in that also. But watching that interview, listen, it's genuinely frightening because he doesn't appreciate any of that nuance. We have an obligation by statute to Support Taiwan and to support Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression. The word support has a lot of flexibility. We have never passed legislation, we've never signed a treaty committing to send US Servicemen and women to fight Chinese soldiers to defend Taiwan. We've committed to support them. But what constitutes support? The statute deliberately doesn't define. And Biden is just cavalier and saying, yep, I'd send US Soldiers to go fight. You know, it's not like they're talking about fighting Grenada to fight the Chinese Red Army. That's kind of a big deal. Let's go to war. And he does it with no appreciation of it. When the White House walks it back, it makes clear that, that, that, that the administration is incoherent on it. And, and this. Actually, there are a lot of similarities to this discussion and the Ukraine Nordstream 2 discussion. This president and the Democrats don't understand the difference between deterrence and acting after the fact. The best way to protect Taiwan is prevent China from going in in the first place. And to do that means you want deterrence in terms of, number one, massive and cataclysmic sanctions on China such that the penalty the Chinese would pay makes them think again. Using levers of power we have that are not sending our sons and daughters to die, but secondly, preparing and equipping the Taiwanese to defend themselves. You know, there's a phrase that is used by the military planners of that Taiwan should be a porcupine. In other words, that, like, if the Chinese try to invade, there should be a lot of spines that they should be really eager to, to put their tushy little derriere. On top of that means expediting arms sales to Taiwan now. And look, Taiwan is a wealthy country. They have the money to pay for F16s, to pay for advanced weapon systems, to pay for equipment. So that if the Chinese military planners are assessing cost and benefit of invasion, the Taiwanese are really robustly available, prepared to repel an invasion. That's actually being smart and proactive on the front end. Biden's not doing nearly enough of that. And in fact, let me give you a very specific example. So the people of Taiwan under Barack Obama, the Chinese government got mad because the people of Taiwan were allowing or, or the, the U.S. government was allowing Taiwanese government officials to have a Taiwanese flag and allowing Taiwanese soldiers to wear Taiwanese military insignia. So the Obama administration passed a new regulation prohibiting Taiwan from displaying their flag on US Government property or from any Taiwanese soldier wearing a uniform. It's bizarre. It's the only nation on earth that we don't let them wear their own military uniforms. That was done in, in explicit capitulation to the government of China when Trump became president. For the first three and a half years of the Trump presidency, unfortunately the State Department kept that rule in place. And I spent three and a half years basically taking a two by four to the Trump State Department to Rex Tillerson and then Mike Pompeo saying this is stupid. We should allow our Taiwanese friends and allies to display their flag and their soldiers to wear their uniforms. Three and a half years I beat him up, I beat Tillerson up on it and then I beat Mike Pompeo up on it. Finally, in the latter half of the last year, the Trump presidency, the State Department reversed its rules. Pat Pompeo agreed with me, reversed the policy and said, okay, Taiwan now can display their flags and wear their uniforms on US Government property. Biden came in when Tony Blinken, the new Secretary of State was coming in. I questioned him about this at his hearing and he, he said that they would maintain the current policy. In other words, allow Taiwan to display their symbols of sovereignty. What happens, Blinken gets confirmed, they flip the policy. So now the Biden administration refuses to allow any symbols of sovereignty. Now I have passed into law now twice my legislation, the Taiwan symbols of sovereignty legislation that would allow Taiwan to display their flag and display and wear, and the soldiers to wear their uniforms. The Biden administration stripped it out at the last minute of the legislation that, that, that, that just passed. And there's another bill that's moving that Joe Biden is actively lobbying removing it. I've been able to get both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate to agree with this legislation. And yet Biden is so committed to appeasing China that he's trying to pull it out. And so it's dangerous when there's this incoherence on policy on a matter as important and consequential as stopping and standing up to Communist China and deferring Chinese aggression. And I think this, this Biden interview just makes it worse.
- [27:19]
Michael Knowles
Well, rather than answer any questions in sensible detail on his own foreign policy, Biden then turned the interview away from his own administration's views toward Donald Trump, suggesting that Donald Trump imperiled national security by keeping classified documents at Mar A Lago, for which Biden then sent the FBI to go knock down the doors of the President's and now main political rival to Joe Biden of his residence. Here's what Biden had to say when.
- [27:53]
Scott Pelley
You saw the photograph of the top secret documents laid out on the floor at Mar a Lago, what did you think to yourself looking at that image.
- [28:03]
Joe Biden
How that could possibly happen, how one, anyone could be that irresponsible? And I thought, what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods? By that I mean names of people who helped or et cetera. And it's just totally irresponsible.
- [28:22]
Scott Pelley
And you don't know what was in those documents?
- [28:25]
Joe Biden
I have not asked for the specifics of those documents because I don't want to get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they can take. I, I've agreed I would not tell them what to do and not, in fact, engage in telling them how to prosecute or not.
- [28:45]
Michael Knowles
So, one, was it really so shocking? I asked that somewhat sincerely, Was it really so shocking, the photograph that the FBI released? I have my suspicions about it, but I'd like to know your answer. And then two, what do you make of Joe Biden saying, look, I don't want to get involved here. I don't want this investigation of Trump to look political?
- [29:05]
Ted Cruz
Look, every part of that answer was an absolute crap CROC number one, is it shocking to see empty manila folders? No, I've seen more frightening things in my life than that. You might get a paper cut from it. I guess that's shocking. It is a little terrifying.
- [29:18]
Michael Knowles
Scary.
- [29:19]
Ted Cruz
You know, it's a little rich seeing Biden go on about how horribly irresponsible it was without any acknowledgment. There was a certain person named Hillary Clinton who had tens of thousands of documents on a private email server that was subject to hacking, including potentially classified documents in violation of law. And Biden was vice president in the administration that refused to prosecute her, that gave her a hall pass and said, never mind. And by the way, this is a Hillary Clinton who also in obstructing the investigation, they use hammers to shatter cell phones and destroy evidence. They use equipment to wipe hard drives clean to obstruct from the investigation. And so the blazing hypocrisy. And by the way, we've also talked about on this podcast how every president after the presidency retains documents. And there's a back and forth with getting the documents back in the archives. And it takes months and it takes years. And Obama had thousands of documents that still haven't been submitted back. And so the weaponization and politicization over a document production question is, I think, quite absurd. But for me, the most priceless part of that exchange was the self righteous. I would never put myself in whether my Department of Justice should go after him. What an utter crock. But I point out two facts. Number one, when Joe Biden was vice president on January 5, he participated, this is 2017, in an Oval Office meeting with Barack Obama, where he suggested to the Department of Justice that they go after Michael Flynn, then Donald Trump's incoming National security adviser under the Logan act, because Michael Flynn, the incoming national security adviser, had had a conversation with a foreign leader. Mind you, every national security advisor in the history of the country has had lots of conversations with foreign leaders, because that's their frigging job, to have conversations with foreign leaders. But it was Biden who suggested go prosecute them and who also signed off on and by the way, keep this entire prosecution and persecution secret from the incoming president. So that is in writing, Sally Yates, the deputy Attorney General. Her notes show it was Biden's idea to do this. So you want to talk about someone who's personally directed the weaponization of DOJ against the Trump administration. Joe Biden's right at the top of that list. And secondly, at present, as president, he is repeatedly called on. You know, I think the Department of Justice needs to be tougher going after Trump. He's calling for them publicly. You know, it's like the classic, you know, who will rid me of this troublesome cleric? He's just calling out loud. And if only there's a Department of justice or an FBI that might listen and send, say, 50 agents to raid the guy's house. But I don't know about it. I just publicly mused, wouldn't it be nice if they did it? What a crock.
- [32:29]
Michael Knowles
Yeah, of course, of course. And to say this is not political is, you know, strains credulity. It's beyond the point of absurdity. And yet, and yet there is a question about whether or not Biden will run in 2024. Biden thus far has said, yes, I am running. Biden has filed the paperwork to run. You have said on this podcast, biden's not going to run. He can't run. Biden for the first time, I think when asked this question starts to open the door to not running in 2024.
- [33:03]
Scott Pelley
Are you committed to running again, or are there certain conditions that have to be right?
- [33:09]
Joe Biden
Look, if I were to say to you, I'm running again, all of a sudden, a whole range of things come into play that I have requirements I have to change, change and move and do.
- [33:17]
Scott Pelley
In terms of election, in terms of.
- [33:18]
Joe Biden
Election loss, and it's much too early to make that kind of decision. I'm a great respecter of fate. And so what I'm doing is I'm doing my job. I'm going to do that job. And within the time frame that makes sense after this next election cycle here, going into next year, make a judgment of what to do.
- [33:36]
Scott Pelley
You say that it's much too early to make that decision. I take it the decision has not been made in your own head.
- [33:44]
Joe Biden
Look, my intention, as I said to begin with, is that I would run again. But it's just an intention. But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen.
- [33:54]
Scott Pelley
How would you say your mental focus is?
- [33:58]
Joe Biden
It's focused. I think it's. I haven't. Look, I have trouble even mentioning, even saying to myself, my own head, the number of years I no more think of myself as being as old as I am than fly. I mean, it's just not. I haven't observed anything in terms of. There's not things I don't do now that I did before, whether it's physical or mental or anything else.
- [34:25]
Scott Pelley
Mr. President, you are the oldest president ever.
- [34:30]
Joe Biden
Pretty good shape, huh?
- [34:31]
Scott Pelley
Which leads to my next question. You are more aware of this than anyone. Some people ask whether you are fit for the job. And when you hear that, I wonder what you think.
- [34:44]
Joe Biden
Watch me.
- [34:48]
Michael Knowles
Not great advice, I think, if Joe Biden's trying to garner support. But your take on that senator, reading between the lines, is the guy running in 2024?
- [34:57]
Ted Cruz
No.
- [34:59]
Michael Knowles
No way.
- [34:59]
Ted Cruz
All right, so there are lots of different elements of that. So let's unpack that. So, first of all, he starts out with blatantly false legal advice. And I recognize Joe Biden was never a very good lawyer, but. But he really showed that there. So he says, well, there are legal consequences if. If I say I'm running. Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. Is the incumbent President of the United States. He has filed paperwork with the FEC as a candidate for President of the United States in the next election. He is, legally speaking, a candidate for President of the United States in the next election. He is raising money to run in the next election. Everything about that is triggered because he is an active candidate raising money for that election cycle, for the 2024 election. Nothing changes if he says yes or no. Now, what. What Biden is, is mimicking. So Trump has said, if I say I'm running, that triggers things. That's true. It does for Trump. Why? Because Trump is not the sitting president of the United States, and he is not a filed candidate. When you file for a candidate, that does trigger limitations, that does trigger a whole set of legal restrictions, all of which apply to Biden one way or the other. So Biden's opening answer is just gobbledygook. But secondly, and here's where I'll be oddly defending Biden in this respect, I understand why he doesn't want to say, no, I'm not running. I think the chances that he's running are zero. He's too old. He knows he's too old. The party would lose its mind if he ran. He's not up to doing the job. Now, the idea that he would run again when he was 142, it just. It ain't going to happen. But I understand why a sitting president doesn't want to announce that. If you announce, I'm not running, you turn yourself into a lame duck a year and a half into his term. That makes sense for him. It is. It is reasonable and rational for him not to telegraph, I ain't running again. So I think that's what he's doing. But, you know, one of the things that makes perfectly obvious that he is. That he's not running again is the Democrats are all openly campaigning. There are at least four. The top tier of the Democrats are Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, and Gavin Newson. All four of them are running right now. They're stabbing each other in the back. They're. They're running around preening for the cameras. The. The primary is happening right now, and they all know it.
- [37:38]
Michael Knowles
Do, do you think any of them are. Are doing particularly well or. Or better than any of the others?
- [37:45]
Ted Cruz
I think Kamala's doing lousy. I think she's had a spectacularly bad tenure as vice president. She came in as the prohibitive favorite. Like, a year and a half ago. There was an argument that she would even clear the field, potentially as the sitting vice president for the Democratic president, who's African American, who's female. I mean, that the Democrats are such bean counters and, and so into identity politics that, that on paper, you're like, wow, Can. Can. How could anyone even run against her? She screwed things up so badly for so long that they're all sharpening their knives and they've decided, forget about it. Buttigieg was the earliest. So early on, you had the Harris Buddha judge jabbing back and forth. The most recent entrant to the field is Newsom, who's ambition is just bursting off. He's, you Know, I, I think the most dangerous place in California right now might be between Gavin Newsom and a TV camera and then Warren. So Warren doesn't get talked about that much. But to my mind, Warren is a dark horse in this field because she still represents the ID of the hardcore progressive socialist, Marxist left, and that can be potent in a Democrat primary. So I think they're, they're leaning in more and more, I will say, the tail end of Biden. Are you too old? And he says, just watch me. Like we have been, dude. Like, like you shake hair hands with the empty air, you talk to the Easter bunny, you get confused. Like tying your shoes. That's the problem. You screw up, you commit to invading China to defend Taiwan just as a slip of the tongue that your own staff has to correct mid interview. That. Let me just engage. An understatement does not suggest the maximum level of competency.
- [39:53]
Michael Knowles
Very diplomatic. Speaking of Bidens, who have made a mess of things overseas, he did address his son. The Hunter Biden issue has gotten worse and worse and worse. Something like 12 to 17% of people who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 later told pollsters that had they known about Hunter Biden's crimes, had the Hunter Biden laptop story not been suppressed by the entire big tech establishment, they would not have voted for Joe Biden. This is clearly a big liability for him if the story can get out, not just about the hookers and the drugs, but also the business dealings, the trading of US Influence. And so Biden was asked about Hunter here. Here's his answer.
- [40:37]
Scott Pelley
Mr. President, if you run again, Republicans are most likely to go after your son Hunter, once again. And I wonder what you would like to say about your son and whether any of his troubles have caused conflicts for you or for the United States.
- [41:00]
Joe Biden
I love my son. Number one, he fought an addiction problem. He overcame it, he wrote about it. And no, there's not a single thing that I've observed at all that would affect me or the United States relative to my son Hunter.
- [41:19]
Michael Knowles
Fair answer, Senator.
- [41:21]
Ted Cruz
Oh, look, I understand why Biden gave that answer. That's an answer probably a lot of fathers would give. The real indictment is CBS that they took that answer. They just says, well, gosh, meanies are saying mean things about your son. Anything you want to say? I love my son. Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank. I appreciate. That's hard hitting news. Okay. Like, like, look, the guy has videoed himself committing multiple felonies. When you have crack cocaine and you're with prostitutes waving a gun around that like violates so many laws it's difficult to catalog this Biden Department of Justice doesn't enforce the laws with respect to him. And that doesn't even begin to touch the corruption. The deals with, with Ukraine. Look, verdict started out talking about Barisma and impeachment. All of that now is ancient history. Getting paid $83,000 a month by a Ukrainian natural gas company when you don't, when you don't know anything about Ukraine or natural gas, that's reeks of corruption.
- [42:30]
Michael Knowles
I think this is really the point here, Senator, because you know, if Biden just gave the answer and said look I love my son, he's a drug addict, degenerate, but hopefully he's cleaning up his life, I think people would move on. It's that last part where he said and nothing whatsoever affects the United States or my presidency or administration. And you think, well putting the drugs and the women and wine, women and song aside, when you're being paid off, when your son is getting a major payoff from a corrupt government, when you then the Vice President are the point person on U.S. relations with that government, to say nothing of Hunter Biden's business dealings in China and elsewhere around the world, that actually does affect the United States and that does affect your presidency.
- [43:13]
Ted Cruz
It very much does. And you look at China and Hunter's investments where you know, Joe Biden is now selling oil from, from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China, including Chinese state owned companies that Hunter's firm was a major investor and shareholder in. That's a big damn deal. You know the, the what it says on the laptop, 10% for the big guy, meaning Joe Biden. On its face that screams corruption. Merrick Garland and this politicized DOJ won't investigate it. They won't. And what should have happened, they need to appoint a special counsel because there's no credibility of a fair and impartial investigation. And again, I'm not going to fault Joe for trying to defend his son and trying to dismiss it, that that's what any parent would do. But there is a responsibility for a journalist actually to have facts. Like the question isn't supposed to be why are there so many Republican meanies? And that's basically what CBS's question was. I thought that was they ought to teach that question in journalism schools. Here's how to flunk the job of a journalist.
- [44:29]
Michael Knowles
Now before we get to the mailbag, Senator, I do want a little bit of a palate cleanser here. We have been dealing with the leader of the free world, at least nominally our own leader. I'd like to turn our attention to another American network TV interview with another world leader. That would be the Iranian president who was asked about his views on the Holocaust.
- [44:51]
Ted Cruz
Do you believe the Holocaust happened?
- [44:54]
Scott Pelley
That 6 million Jews were slaughtered?
- [44:57]
Joe Biden
How many?
- [45:02]
Scott Pelley
Look, historical events should be investigated by researchers and historians. There are some signs that it happened.
- [45:11]
Ted Cruz
If so, they should allow it to.
- [45:13]
Scott Pelley
Be investigated and researched.
- [45:15]
Ted Cruz
So you're not sure?
- [45:16]
Scott Pelley
I'm getting that.
- [45:17]
Ted Cruz
You're not sure. What about Israel's right to exist?
- [45:23]
Scott Pelley
You see, the people of Palestine are the reality. This is the right of the people.
- [45:28]
Ted Cruz
Of Palestine who are forced to leave.
- [45:30]
Scott Pelley
Their houses and motherland. The Americans are supporting this false regime there to take root and be established there.
- [45:38]
Michael Knowles
Not a ton of pushback from Leslie Stahl there. What do you make of the Iranian president's remarks?
- [45:44]
Ted Cruz
So I think that is utterly disgraceful on multiple levels. Let's start off. Raisi is a mass murderer and a terrorist. He is directly responsible for enormous number of murders, of tortures. He has been one of the most repressive figures in this horrific regime for years. He was appointed by the Ayatollah to that position despite a horrific record of human rights abuses. Number two, he was allowed by the Biden administration to come to the United States, to come to New York, to the United Nations. He should not have been. I've introduced legislation to block him from coming. We should not be allowing terrorist and mass murderers into the United States. But the Biden administration, every enemy of a world, every enemy of America, they treat with weakness and appeasement. And this is yet another example. Number three, it's particularly horrifying this interview right now. In recent days, the world was stunned with the news that a 22 year old Iranian woman was captured by the religious police in Iran and was beaten to death for the crime of not wearing a headscarf. She dared to go outside and she wasn't covering her face the way the Islamic radicals insist. And the religious police arrested her and beat her to death. Within hours of that happening, an American journalist on cbs, Leslie Stahl, is sitting there compliantly bleeding like a sheep, wearing a headscarf. That's disgusting. Did she ask about what happened? No. And then the final bit to end with Raisi engaging in Holocaust denial. Well, historians should debate and examine to see if there's evidence. The Holocaust is one of, if not the most horrific event in all of human history. The systematic extermination of 6 million Jews and attempted genocide. You don't think there's evidence? Go to Auschwitz, go to the concentration camp, read the Diary of Anne Frank, examine the horror. And to see cbs. Oh, okay. Well that's a view, yeah. Oh okay. And to sit there while this monster spews antisemitic filth on cbs. There are not words to describe the abdication of responsibility. Leslie Stahl should be ashamed. And CBS should be ashamed that they're willing to kiss up to a monster and a tyrant.
- [48:57]
Michael Knowles
Not so much for a pallet cleanser, you know, I guess the president of Iran generally is not much of a palate cleanser. Before we go, I know it's a long episode, but I do wanna get to some of our wonderful listeners in the mailbag. Question from Andrew Were the Martha's Vineyard Plains a good one time stunt or should GOP governors keep up the migrant buses and flights to left wing cities as a long term strategy?
- [49:24]
Ted Cruz
Keep it up over and over and over again. As you know, I introduced legislation to do this a year ago. I've been calling on on Republicans to do this a year ago. I'm very glad Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis took my advice and carried it out. It was the right thing to do. It's totally transformed the debate. But rich leftist socialists lost their minds when 50 illegal immigrants showed up at Martha's Vineyard. Tomorrow we ought to send a hundred. The next day we ought to send 200, then 500, then a thousand. The volume is so massive. And listen, the reason to do it, I mean it has been amazing watching the media and all these blue check mark activists losing their minds and they're saying, oh, DeSantis and Abbotts are engaged in human trafficking.
- [50:11]
Michael Knowles
No, it's a humanitarian crisis.
- [50:14]
Ted Cruz
It is not human trafficking. To ask somebody, would you like to go to Martha's Vineyard? I will fly you for free there. That's not called human trafficking, despite all the idiots saying it. It is also not cruel and inhumane to take someone to a billionaires playground. Martha's Vineyard is. I've actually never been, so I don't really know what Martha's Vineyard is, but from everything I see, it's a really fancy place. I know the obamas have a $12 million home there, so it's a bunch of rich people and it's presumably really darn nice. The reason to send them there is it's about the only thing that forces the corrupt corporate media to actually cover what's happening. And it also shows the utter hypocrisy. We talked in the last podcast about how the county executive in Martha's Vineyard when I proposed this legislation, said they would welcome the illegal immigrants there. They wanted to be a haven for them and I didn't know what I was talking about. There was no border crisis as soon as they showed up. Oh crap. They declared a crisis. But additionally, it forces the Democrats in the media to defend their incoherence. What did they do in Martha's Vineyard within 24 hours? They put them on buses and shipped them away. Shipped them away to a military base. You know, AOC tweeted out, said shout out to the people of Massachusetts and the people of Martha's Vineyard for demonstrating the very best of American values. And I did something I don't do often. I retweeted aoc, I said, look, well, what did Martha's Vineyard do? They deported them within 24 hours. I agree, let's emulate Martha's Vineyard.
- [51:56]
Michael Knowles
But the very best of American values.
- [51:59]
Ted Cruz
I assume that means Texas can do the same thing. Can we put them on a bus and ship them back to where they came from? Within 24 hours? Can we get them out? Look, the volume is crushing and all of these self righteous virtue signalers are ignoring what is happening. This is human slavery to see lefties saying it was cruel and inhumane to send them to Martha's Vineyard. No. You know what's cruel and inhumane? Hundreds of thousands of children being abused and sexually assaulted by human traffickers under Joe Biden. You know what's cruel and inhumane? Thousands upon thousands of women being raped by human traffickers under Joe Biden. You know what's cruel and inhumane? Hundreds of immigrants abandoned to die in the desert. Pregnant ladies, old people, children dead in the desert week after week. You know what's cruel and inhumane? 53 illegal immigrants dead in a tractor trailer of heat because of the human traffickers under Joe Biden. You know what's cruel and inhumane? Over 100,000 people dying of fentanyl overdoses because of the chaos of Joe Biden's open borders. You know what's cruel and inhumane? Thousands of teenage boys working for the cartels in every city in America cuz they owe thousands of dollars to the cartel. You know what's cruel and inhumane? Thousands of teenage girls enforced prostitution because they owe thousands of dollars to the cartel. And you know what's cruel and inhumane? A corrupt media that won't report on any of that. But they suddenly notice when Buffy's tea time is disturbed at Martha's Vineyard. We ought to keep doing that every damn day till they forced to cover the human slavery disaster that Joe Biden is responsible for.
- [53:48]
Michael Knowles
Hear, hear. 100% agree with the sentiment. I hope. I'm so glad that the governors, some of the Republican governors have taken the advice. We need a lot more of it. I totally agree. We need a lot more of this show, by the way, but I unfortunately cannot stay. We've got to turn to our friend Liz Wheeler on the Cloakroom. Liz, what will you be talking about?
- [54:08]
Ted Cruz
Hi Michael. Hi, Senator. I don't know about you guys, but I feel super confident after hearing those videos in Biden's mental capacity and his mental acuity. Very confident in the fact that he's not actively harming the American people with his impractical and unwise policies. Yikes. Over on the Cloakroom, we are going to talk about something kind of exciting that happened just a couple days ago. The 5th Circuit Court issued a ruling on Big Tech that might lead to a showdown at the Supreme Court. Big Tech, of course, famous for banning conservatives based on our viewpoints. The 5th Circuit issued a ruling saying that corporations do not have a freewheeling right to censor speech. So we are going to discuss what exactly this means. Is it going to reach the Supreme Court, how is the Supreme Court going to rule and what is the implication of this across the country, not just in the state of Texas where the original law emanated from. So you can join us on the cloakroom on Verdict plus at Verdict with Ted Cruz.com plus if you use my promo code, which is Cloakroom, that you can watch for free for the first month of your annual subscription, that is Verdict with TedCruise.com plus I am going.
- [55:21]
Michael Knowles
To self censor right now and take myself off of this show so that you can get to that very interesting conversation. Make sure everyone out there that you like, subscribe on YouTube, on Apple, podcasts, on Spotify, on locals, wherever you get your podcasts. For now, I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
- [55:48]
Ted Cruz
This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought to you by Jobs Freedom and Security pac, a political action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations and candidates across the country. In 2022, jobs, freedom and Security PAC plans to donate to conservative candidates running for Congress and help the Republican Party across the nation.