Botching the Border

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson: Episode Summary - "Botching the Border"

Release Date: March 25, 2021

In the episode titled "Botching the Border," hosts Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles delve deep into the escalating immigration crisis at the United States southern border. Through a candid discourse, they explore the policies of the Biden administration, compare them with previous administrations, and discuss the broader implications on American society and governance. This summary encapsulates the key points, discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps for clarity.

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1. Introduction to the Border Crisis

The episode opens with Michael Knowles highlighting the surge in unaccompanied minors at the southern border:

Michael Knowles [00:00]: "A record number of unaccompanied minors at the southern border of the United States. Minors that we were told would not be held in detention facilities anymore, now overflowing those facilities."

The conversation sets the stage for an in-depth analysis of the current situation, questioning the Biden administration's stance and actions.

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2. Escalation Under the Biden Administration

Ted Cruz asserts that the situation qualifies as a crisis, emphasizing the dramatic rise in illegal crossings:

Ted Cruz [00:52]: "Well, it's a crisis, and it's not complicated to call it that. We are seeing the volume of illegal crossings rising dramatically."

He critiques specific Biden policies, including halting the construction of the border wall and reverting to the "catch and release" strategy, which he argues incentivizes more illegal immigration.

Ted Cruz [01:48]: "So border wall done. Within days, the Biden administration returns to catch and release."

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3. Policy Shifts and Their Consequences

Cruz details the removal of the "remain in Mexico" policy, a significant Trump-era immigration strategy:

Ted Cruz [02:54]: "And what the Biden administration did is it took that really important international agreement and it essentially ripped it up, said, nope, we don't want him to remain in Mexico. We want them here, and we want to let him go."

This policy reversal, according to Cruz, has led to an influx of Central American immigrants maneuvering through Mexico to enter the U.S., exacerbating the border situation.

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4. Comparisons with Previous Administrations

A significant portion of the discussion contrasts the current administration with those of Obama and Trump. Cruz recalls the immediate impact of Trump's election on illegal crossings:

Ted Cruz [04:25]: "What we're seeing is really the mirror image of what we saw in late 2016 and early 2017 when Trump was elected."

He points out that despite minimal initial action, illegal crossings decreased markedly during Trump's early tenure, attributing this decline to immigrants’ perception of strict enforcement.

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5. Humanitarian Concerns and Abuse

The hosts delve into the humanitarian fallout of lax immigration policies. Cruz shares harrowing accounts of human trafficking and abuses faced by migrant children:

Ted Cruz [07:46]: "They are providing human traffickers who... are vicious, horrific, criminal cartels."

He condemns the administration's approach, arguing that it inadvertently puts children in harm's way by allowing them to remain in the U.S. without adequate oversight.

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6. Press Access and Transparency Issues

A contentious point raised is the Biden administration's restriction on press access to detention facilities:

Ted Cruz [14:51]: "The Biden administration is worse than the Obama administration on this front."

He contrasts this with previous administrations, asserting that the current administration's lack of transparency hinders public understanding of the crisis.

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7. COVID-19 Implications

The episode also touches upon the intersection of immigration policies and the COVID-19 pandemic. Cruz criticizes the administration for releasing immigrants without proper COVID-19 testing:

Ted Cruz [16:10]: "They're releasing it in Texas, my home state."

He highlights the inconsistency in the administration's COVID-19 policies, pointing out the risks posed by undetected virus carriers being released into communities.

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8. Legislative Battles and the Senate Filibuster

Shifting focus, Cruz discusses the potential passage of the "Corrupt Politicians Act" (HR1) and the implications of eliminating the Senate filibuster:

Ted Cruz [25:08]: "If the Corrupt Politicians act passes, there will be lots of legal cases challenging it."

He expresses skepticism about the act's survivability in the courts, especially if Democrats proceed without the filibuster's protective barrier.

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9. The Future of Senate Legislation

Cruz outlines the procedural maneuvers Democrats might employ to pass controversial legislation, including expanding the Supreme Court:

Ted Cruz [26:24]: "They will pack the United States Supreme Court... the packed left wing Supreme Court will uphold the Corrupt Politicians act."

He underscores the strategic threats posed by such actions, warning of long-term structural damage to the country's governance.

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10. Closing Remarks and Call to Action

In the episode's conclusion, Cruz and Knowles advocate for public engagement and vigilance:

Ted Cruz [31:26]: "We're gonna pass the Corrupt Politicians act and you pack the Supreme Court and you do lasting structural damage to the country."

They encourage listeners to subscribe, support their initiatives, and stay informed about ongoing political developments.

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Key Takeaways

• Policy Reversals Fuel the Crisis: The Biden administration's halt of border wall construction, reinstatement of "catch and release," and withdrawal from the "remain in Mexico" policy are identified as primary drivers of increased illegal immigration.

• Humanitarian Impact: Lax policies, according to Cruz, lead to increased vulnerability among migrant children, exposing them to trafficking and abuse.

• Transparency Concerns: The current administration's restricted press access to detention facilities is criticized for obscuring the reality of the border situation.

• Legislative Threats: Potential changes to Senate procedures and attempts to pass restrictive legislation without bipartisan support could have lasting negative effects on American governance.

• COVID-19 Management: The intersection of immigration policies and pandemic response measures raises additional public health concerns.

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Notable Quotes

• On the Border Wall and Policy Changes:

  Ted Cruz [01:48]: "So border wall done. Within days, the Biden administration returns to catch and release."

• On Immigration as a Crisis:

  Ted Cruz [00:52]: "Well, it's a crisis, and it's not complicated to call it that."

• On Filibuster and Legislative Process:

  Ted Cruz [27:32]: "And in the Senate rules, any senator can appeal the ruling of the chair."

• On Supreme Court Packing:

  Ted Cruz [26:44]: "They will pack the United States Supreme Court... the packed left wing Supreme Court will uphold the Corrupt Politicians act."

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Conclusion

"Botching the Border" presents a critical examination of the United States' immigration policies under the Biden administration, juxtaposing them against previous administrations and highlighting the resultant surge in illegal crossings and humanitarian crises. Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles argue that policy reversals have not only failed to curb illegal immigration but have also endangered vulnerable populations. Additionally, the episode warns of potential legislative overreaches that could undermine the country's foundational governance structures. Through a blend of policy analysis, personal anecdotes, and legislative insights, the hosts advocate for stricter immigration enforcement and greater legislative scrutiny to address the multifaceted challenges at the U.S. southern border.

Transcript

[Michael Knowles]

A record number of unaccompanied minors at the southern border of the United States. Minors that we were told would not be held in detention facilities anymore, now overflowing those facilities. A crisis, you might call it at the border, but the Biden administration would not call it a crisis. We'll get into what's really going on. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Knowles. Senator, there is one issue above all that is dominating right now. It happens to have a lot to do with your state. There is no transparency whatsoever on this. You are having liberal reporters telling people that they had greater access under Trump, under Obama. Right now, they are being shut out. What is going on at the border?

[Ted Cruz]

Well, it's a crisis, and it's not complicated to call it that. We are seeing the volume of illegal crossings rising dramatically. Last month, in the month of February, we had over 100,000 illegal immigrants detained. We are seeing in particular a crisis with children. We're seeing unaccompanied children, the numbers rising and rising and rising. We're seeing detention facilities that are overcrowded, that are packed, that are at, you know, 6, 700% capacity. And it keeps getting worse. And there's several things to understand about it. Number one, why it's happening. This is the direct result of a series of decisions the Biden administration has made. So Joe Biden gets elected. He gets sworn in on January 20. Within days, he announces, we're stopping construction of the wall.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

So border wall done. Within days, the Biden administration returns to catch and release. Now, what is catch and release? Catch and release is the policy. It was the policy during the Obama administration where when an illegal immigrant was caught, they'd be given a court date sometime in the future and let go and said, hey, come to court. And lo and behold, a whole bunch of them never show up. This is not complicated to figure out. One of the most significant things the Trump administration did was end catch and release. But the most important thing that the Biden administration did is they ended the remain in Mexico policy. Now, what is the remain in Mexico policy? It was one of the biggest foreign policy and immigration victories of the entire Trump administration. And the Trump administration negotiated a deal with the government of Mexico. So the vast majority of the immigrants crossing illegally into this country are not Mexicans.

[Michael Knowles]

Right.

[Ted Cruz]

They're Central Americans now who are crossing through Mexico. So there are illegal immigrants in Mexico crossing Mexico's southern border illegally to get to the United States.

[Michael Knowles]

They're largely coming from Guatemala, El Salvador.

[Ted Cruz]

A couple other countries, Nicaragua, and countries that have a lot of violence, that have a lot of criminal activity, that have a lot of poverty. And so they're fleeing that in large numbers. The remain in Mexico policy was an agreement with Mexico where if these folks come and want to apply for asylum in the United States, they stay in Mexico while the case is proceeding.

[Michael Knowles]

Right.

[Ted Cruz]

And what the Biden administration did is it took that really important international agreement and it essentially ripped it up, said, nope, we don't want him to remain in Mexico. We want them here, and we want to let him go. And that consequence, we are seeing massive numbers of illegal immigrants being released into the United States. And in turn, look, if you're sitting at home in Guatemala and you're trying to decide whether to come, when you see people being released, when you see people getting to stay, that's when you jump in a caravan and head north.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, you know, there was a liberal journalist, Martha Raddatz, on a liberal network, abc, interviewed an illegal alien. His face was covered because he's obviously committing a crime. And she said, would you have done this under Trump? He said, no way. I. I'm doing this because Biden said that basically, I would not face any consequences. He said, the primary reason I'm fleeing is my country is no good and it's violent, and I want to get out of there. But I would never have done this if not for the Biden administration.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, what we're seeing is really the mirror image of what we saw in late 2016 and early 2017 when Trump was elected. We saw illegal crossings plummet by two thirds, and it plummeted by January and February of 2017. And at the time, Trump had just been sworn in. To be honest, he hadn't done anything yet. I mean, he literally was just moving in. And it is actually an astonishing thing. Think back to the presidential debates, the race of 2015, 2016. If any Republican had said, if you elect me, the sheer act of electing me will drop illegal immigration by two thirds.

[Michael Knowles]

Right.

[Ted Cruz]

You'd have been laughed out of the room. Like, every reporter would have laughed at you. Everyone said, that is absurd. So Trump, by January, February 2017, hadn't hired new Border Patrol agents. He hadn't built a wall. He hadn't done anything. And the numbers plummeted. And the reason they plummeted is that people believe Trump was going to enforce the law. And so if you're making the decision, do I leave my country? Do I pay thousands of dollars to a human trafficker? Do I Engage in a life risking journey only to be apprehended and sent home. No, I think I'll just stay here. We're seeing the mirror image of that now. Right now, people making that same calculation are looking at Joe Biden saying, you know what? If I get there, I get to stay. So olly ollie oxen free, let's go.

[Michael Knowles]

Right, right. Because this is a very basic matter, but when you incentivize certain behavior, you get more of it. And you disincentivize certain behavior, you get less of it.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, Michael, if you say things like that, you're gonna identify yourself as a conservative and they're gonna require you to wear like a patch or something. Liberals don't understand incentives. It's one of the most fundamental divides between left and right is the concept of incentives. So let's take kids and kids in cages. Remember, for four years we heard the press harping on kids in cages. Kids in cages. Kids in cages under Trump. Well, the cages were built by Barack Obama.

[Michael Knowles]

To quote the former president who built the cages.

[Ted Cruz]

Joe.

[Michael Knowles]

Right. A lot of these photos that had gone viral, they were from the Obama.

[Ted Cruz]

Administration, during the Obama administration, and here's why. So if you go back to what broke the system was daca, which now the press loves and the Democrats love, it was President Obama's illegal executive amnesty. And what had happened there, if you go back and remember, and this feels like a long time ago, this is 2012, but if you remember, Obama had been asked over and over and over again by immigration activists, will you just declare amnesty? Use an executive order, declare amnesty. And Obama had said repeatedly, I can't do that, it's against the law. He said, I'm not a king, I'm not an emperor. That's how Obama put it. I'm not a king, I'm not an emperor. And then one day he woke up and he was an emperor, and he issued a lawless order, directed his administration, nevermind federal immigration law. We're not going to follow it anymore. If you came to this country as a kid, we're going to grant you amnesty. Now, the year before he did that, there were roughly 6,000 unaccompanied minors came into this country. So 6,000 significant number. The next year, you know how many there were more? I'm going to guess 93,000.

[Michael Knowles]

Wow. I didn't realize it was that high.

[Ted Cruz]

And it goes back to what you just said, incentives, which is kids. And parents realized, okay, the president just announced, if you came as a kid, you get to Stay. What's gonna happen? Well, let's send a whole bunch of kids. And actually the Obama Department of Homeland Security, they interviewed a number of these kids. They asked them, why are you coming? And the kids said, because I get a permiso, which is if I come, I get to stay. Fast forward to today. We're seeing the exact same thing. You're seeing the Obama administration or rather than the Biden administration. Right.

[Michael Knowles]

Tomato, tomato.

[Ted Cruz]

No, it's worse. It's tomato versus like massive bright red tomato paste. It's all the bad ideas, more combat because. And they don't understand incentives.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, or perhaps they do understand incentives, but actually they desire this sort of behavior because they think it gives them advantage.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, it reminds me of years ago, I was reading a newspaper article and I think it was a city council member in San Francisco who said, I don't understand. We have the most generous homeless benefits in the country and we keep getting more and more homeless people.

[Michael Knowles]

It's so strange.

[Ted Cruz]

I remember reading it going, yeah, you're right, you don't understand. Like if you pay people to do something, they'll do it.

[Michael Knowles]

Right.

[Ted Cruz]

And we're saying this with these kids.

[Michael Knowles]

But you know, to play devil's advocate a little bit, to give the devils their due. In the Biden administration, Jen Psaki said something the other day that I was sort of exasperated when she said it because they said, okay, you said you wouldn't put the kids in cages, and you're putting the kids in cages and you're letting some of them go, but you have to separate them because you gotta verify that the adults that they're with actually are their relatives. And this, the things you're doing, it's basically just what the Trump administration did, except it would seem to be to a much greater degree. And, and she said, well, there just aren't a lot of options. I said, well, where was that kind of understanding when President Trump was doing that? And I guess though, I would want to take her question seriously. What are you going to do when there aren't a lot of options?

[Ted Cruz]

So look, there are some Democrats, I think there are a lot of Democrats across the country who want to genuinely be compassionate. And I understand that that's the right instinct. I mean, it's not a little kid's fault. And so, you know, Jen Psaki has also said, you know, we're just, we're not going to lock up kids now. Nevermind that they are locking up kids.

[Michael Knowles]

To a much greater degree actually.

[Ted Cruz]

To a massive degree. It comes down to incentives. Look, during the Obama administration, I remember traveling down to Texas and a lot of, you know, of our 2000 mile border that we have with Mexico, 1200 of those miles are along the border of the state of Texas. So we've got more than half the border is in Texas. And I remember visiting, going to Lackland Air Force Base outside of San Antonio where they were housing, they had built facilities, built the early cages for kids. This is the Obama administration. I was there visiting and I remember I was talking to an official from the Health and Human Services Department. And mind you, this is the Obama administration. So it's the Obama hhs. And this official described to me how the cartels were putting guns to the heads of little kids and forcing children to cut off the fingers or the ears of other kids. And what would happen is a family in Nicaragua or Honduras or El Salvador would give 3, 4, 5,000 dollars to a human trafficker. These human traffickers are not nice people. They're not. They don't love children. They are vicious, horrific, criminal cartels. And what they would do once the family had given three, four, five thousand dollars to the cartel, to the trafficker, they would then deliver to the family their child's finger or ear and say, give us another $3,000. And they would extract more money from the parents. And so the Obama HHS official told me that they were getting number one kids that were horribly deformed, had fingers cut off or ears cut off, and they were getting other kids who were psychologically traumatized because they had a gun put to their forehead. It wasn't even the traffickers that were cutting off the fingers and ears. It was the other kids. And my view that the Democrats say we need to grant amnesty, we need to let kids come because we're compassionate. I'm sorry if you're creating a system that, that is incentivizing tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. And the Biden Department of Homeland Security is projecting over 100,000 kids coming in the country unaccompanied. Little boys, little girls. If you're putting little boys and little girls in the hands of human traffickers, you're not compassionate, you're not humane. You are a monster. And every one of those kids that is sexually assaulted and those I remember.

[Michael Knowles]

I think it was horrific. Huffington Post, some years ago with Fusion published a survey. I believe the number was between 60 and 80% of women and girls who crossed the border illegally were raped or sexually assaulted along the way.

[Ted Cruz]

It is, it's staggering and it's not humane or compassionate. And I will say I get frustrated with Democrats who virtue signal about how much they love immigrants, that they support a policy that involves a bunch of immigrant children being physically and sexually abused. It is grotesque. And the real compassionate policy is what we have had, which is to say we're gonna enforce the law. We're not gonna do catch and release. And if you come here illegally, we're gonna send you home. And the reason that is compassionate is you don't end up with kids being handed over to traffickers. Those numbers dropped dramatically, and we're seeing that. And it seems like Biden and the Democrats don't understand cause and effect.

[Michael Knowles]

There's the question of the justice in and of itself, of saying a people has a right to have. But then there is this secondary effect, which is you're gonna see those numbers plummet. You know, obviously, that's a good argument.

[Ted Cruz]

6,000 to 93,000. We're not talking a small effect, right? I mean, we're talking orders of magnitude. And so I'll tell you, on Friday of this week, I'm going down to the border, and I'm bringing a number of senators right now. The current number is 17 senators are coming down. So I invited. I invited John Cornyn, my colleague from Texas. I invited the other Republican senators. We've got a total of 17 senators coming down. We're gonna tour the facilities where they're detaining the kids. We're gonna tour. We're gonna meet with the Border Patrol. We're gonna meet with the Border Patrol union. I know those guys very, very well. We're gonna go out on a boat with Texas DPS on the Rio Grande. And let me tell you something amazing. The Biden administration has refused to allow any reporters to attend.

[Michael Knowles]

This was not true during the Trump administration. He got all that flack from the press. The press had much better access under the Trump administration.

[Ted Cruz]

Trump administration, the press had access to all these facilities. Obama administration, the press had access. Look, the Biden administration is already worse than the Obama administration on this front. You know, the picture of kids in cages that for four years was blamed on Trump.

[Michael Knowles]

Right.

[Ted Cruz]

That was actually a picture taken during the Obama administration. It's because they actually, you know, Biden promised to have the most transparent administration ever. We sent a letter, and here's the ridiculous justification the Biden administration is doing. They say, well, we'd love to have reporters there, but we can't because of COVID Oh, so you've got facilities with hundreds of illegal immigrants packed into Them at many hundreds of percent greater than their capacity. You've got kids almost stacked upon each other. And their view is there's no risk of COVID there, but one reporter, if you are. So ABC News wants to embed with us, wants to come, and we invited. And ABC News offered to bring a TV camera and be a pool camera. Now, what is a pool camera? Pool camera is what they call a TV camera that will share its footage with all the other networks. So they could literally have one reporter and one cameraman.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, yeah. No, that would be a risk.

[Ted Cruz]

And there is a risk for Covid. And it's such an obvious lie. You know, Alejandro Mayorkas, who's the Secretary of Homeland Security, he went on the Sunday shows this weekend and he repeated the obvious lie. Well, it's just because of COVID we intend to do it. And look, some of the press is getting agitated. So this week I have been a vigorous defender of the press, which is an odd position for me to be.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, this is very strange. I'm biting my tongue on all the great jokes I could make about the press right now because I actually do sort of defend them against the Biden administration.

[Ted Cruz]

So I actually believe in a free press. I believe in the First Amendment. Right, right. And what the Biden. If Trump had done, what the Biden administration had done, the press would be lighting themselves on fire.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, of course.

[Ted Cruz]

Instead, they're just shilling for and defending the Trump administration. Let me give you the most absurd part about all of this. So they're releasing thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants into my home state of Texas. They're setting up detention facilities downtown Dallas, the convention center. They're detaining illegal immigrants. Midland, Texas, they're detaining illegal immigrants, much against the wishes of the community. They're releasing them. Here's an amazing stat. In Harlingen, Texas, the illegal immigrants they're releasing are testing positive for COVID 19 at a seven times greater rate than the US population.

[Michael Knowles]

I also did not realize it was that severe. All I noticed was that the administration is now admitting that it is releasing people into the United States who have not been illegal aliens, who have not been tested for Covid. And you saw the DHS secretary was sort of backed into a corner on this, and he said, well, it is the official policy to test. They said, right, but are you doing that? Well, we are doing our best. And it's an admission, it's all but an admission that they are releasing people in the midst of this pandemic where we're not allowed to leave our homes.

[Ted Cruz]

And they're releasing it in Texas, my home state.

[Michael Knowles]

Right.

[Ted Cruz]

And the communities in Texas are not happy about that. And it's one of the things that is frustrating about watching the Biden administration is the absolute hypocrisy on Covid. So they're perfectly willing to release illegal immigrants who may be criminals into Texas, into the United States, even if they may have COVID 19 and not test them. But yet they won't allow a single reporter with a camera to see anything on the border, because that reporter might have Covid. And you know what? I'm willing to bet even if that reporter tested negative that day and had been vaccinated, they'd still say no. It's not the COVID risk that they're worried about. It is the risk. We don't want anyone to see the Biden cages.

[Michael Knowles]

I have to ask you this. With regard to being able to go out and do things once we're vaccinated. His Royal Highness, Dr. Anthony Fauci has come out and suggested that, sure, we all get vaccinated. We're still gonna have to wear the mask socially. Distance not gather. Maybe we can have a few friends over for the Fourth of July. Senator, we're now on day, what, 372 of 15 days to slow the spread. When can we return to normal?

[Ted Cruz]

Come to Texas. You can do it right now. Look, it is asinine and insane. So I've been vaccinated. Members of Congress were offered the vaccine early in January. I actually didn't take it then. There were a number of members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, who got the vaccine early and ostentatiously. I didn't. I didn't think it was right. Look, I'm relatively young. I'm healthy.

[Michael Knowles]

Healthy guy.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. I didn't want to cut in line.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And so my view at the time, as I said, we need to wait and let seniors let frontline workers get the vaccine first. And I don't want to hurry. Ultimately, in the last couple of weeks, I went ahead and got the vaccine. It had been. You know, there had been tens of millions of vaccines administered. Many of the seniors, many of the frontline workers had gotten it. And, you know, I mean, I do have. My mom is 86. My dad. My dad actually turned 82 today. And so given my parents, I said, and given that I'm out a lot as a senator, I went ahead and got the vaccine in the Senate. I think it's the case that all 100 senators have the vaccine. Now, I think Rand Paul may not have gotten it, although Rand had Covid. So he's got the natural immunity from having had it. CDC's guidance today is that people who are vaccinated can gather in small groups. The most asinine thing is senators still gather, all wearing masks. And it's just like, okay, wait, this may be the safest place on the planet. Like, every person here is all vaccinated. Right. But it's a virtue signal. And you get Democrats that are wearing two masks, and it's coming 3, 4, 5. They're just gonna walk around with bags on their head. I mean, and it is. And I'm not one of the. Like, there are people who are crazies who say it's all a hoax. Doesn't make any sense, do nothing.

[Michael Knowles]

It's gonna give you 5G, which, frankly, I could use the better cell service. If I became a hotspot, that'd be perfectly fine.

[Ted Cruz]

This is. Look, this is a serious disease. We've had over half million Americans killed. We've had over 47,000 Texans killed. I think we need to treat it seriously. But we have. For God's sakes. Has there been an infectious disease? Certainly not in our lifetime. That we've treated this seriously. And it has become this irrational zealotry and a means of control. I gotta say, if you've had the vaccine, the idea that you must wear a mask forever is idiotic. The whole point of getting the vaccine is to go back to normal.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, this gets back to incentives. If you're going to say, all right, we want you all 300 plus million Americans, you need to all get the vaccine. But also, nothing about your life can change once you get the vaccine.

[Ted Cruz]

It doesn't make any sense. And look, I think a lot of people. There are people on the extremes. There are people that are, like, shut down everything and they're terrified to breathe. There are people who are like, doesn't matter.

[Michael Knowles]

Licking doorknobs and things like that. Right?

[Ted Cruz]

Doorknobs are delicious. But most people are somewhere in the middle of, like, take reasonable precautions. But let's not be nuts about it. If you look at how this is playing out, those who want government control don't want to let go of it. And I think a lot of people recognize there's an irrationality to it. So, for example, restaurants. When Houston opened up, Heidi and I began going out to eat at restaurants. We tried to do it pretty regularly because we want to support the small businesses in our community. And the rules you're walking along, you got to wear a mask. And I guess the virus is somehow connected to the tension in your thigh muscles. Because under the rules in a restaurant, if you and I stood up. Yes, then we'd have to put on a mask.

[Michael Knowles]

You're dangerous then.

[Ted Cruz]

But as soon as we sit down, you can take off the mask and we can be here for three hours sitting right here. And there's no risk of the virus.

[Michael Knowles]

It gets absorbed into your hamstring is what happens.

[Ted Cruz]

I think it's because your thighs are no longer tense. Or maybe it's an altitude thing. At three feet, the virus can't transmit. But at six feet, it can't.

[Michael Knowles]

Thinner up there.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Like most people realize. Come on, this is crap.

[Michael Knowles]

Of course.

[Ted Cruz]

I mean it. Airplanes. So, you know, I flew from Houston to D.C. today. So in the airplane, I gotta get on the plane. I'm on the plane, I'm wearing my mask. I gotta wear my mask. Sitting next to someone, they're wearing their mask. But there's the drink exception.

[Michael Knowles]

So you got in trouble for the drink exception.

[Ted Cruz]

Oh, my. They went nuts. So when I drink my coffee now, I hang my mask from my ear, so it's like visibly there. But I want you to think of the logic of this. If I'm sitting there, I've gotta get the mask. Cause it's gonna kill people. But if I have a cup of.

[Michael Knowles]

Coffee in my hand, the coffee absorbs the virus.

[Ted Cruz]

I think it's. And it works for a Coke, it works for orange juice, water. It's liquid. The virus doesn't like liquid or food, liquid or solid. It only likes. Like at some point everyone's going, this doesn't make any sense.

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, it's an obviously arbitrary exercise in power. And it does actually get to something that I guess relates. But it gets to this abuse of power more broadly. But I have to ask you about it. It's from the mailbag question from Prudence, who asks if HR1 passes. So HR1, you've referred to it as the Corrupt politicians Act. If HR1 passes, is there any legal case to fight back against it? So not a political case to defeat it before it passes, but let's say God forbid it happens. Can you fight it in court?

[Ted Cruz]

Of course. And if the Corrupt Politicians act passes, there will be lots of legal cases challenging it. But I gotta say, if it passes, we're gonna lose all those cases.

[Michael Knowles]

Don't tell me that. I thought we'd end on a high note.

[Ted Cruz]

Don't count on the courts to Save us. And here's why. If the Corrupt Politicians act passes, it will pass because the Democrats have ended the filibuster. The filibuster is the rule that requires 60 votes to pass legislation. If they've ended it and dropped it to 50 votes, that's the only way they'll pass the Corrupt Politicians act designed to keep Democrats in power for the next hundred years. If that happens, they will then add two new states to the Union. They'll add the District of Columbia, they'll add Puerto Rico. That's because Democrats believe they will elect four Democratic senators. D.C. clearly will. Puerto Rico might or might not. Republicans, we'd fight for Puerto Rico and try to win. But if Democrats are right that that elects four new Democratic senators, they will then pack the United States Supreme Court. They will add four left wing judicial activists to the Supreme Court, take it from nine justices to 13. If that happens, the odds are 100.000% that the packed left wing Supreme Court will uphold the Corrupt Politicians act because the Democrats will only appoint left wing activists who will uphold the Corrupt Politicians Act.

[Michael Knowles]

So the key then, now that you've taken away that hope, that we might be able to fight in court, but I think rightly so, if you have to fight it before it's passed, then that requires keeping the filibuster and that requires winning over one of the moderate, semi moderate Democrats.

[Ted Cruz]

So where we stand right now in the Senate, there are 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats. So it's evenly divided. That means on any tie vote, the Vice President, Kamala Harris breaks the tie of the 50 Democrats. If all of them vote together, they can end the filibuster. They can do what's called the nuclear option. Now what does that mean? Look, the filibuster is written into the rules of the Senate that it takes 60 votes to go forward. But the way you exercise the nuclear option is the Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer moves to proceed to a bill, you have a vote. The vote is 50. 50 vice president votes. Yes. And the presiding officer rules that 51 votes not being 60, you can't proceed to it.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And in the Senate rules, any senator can appeal the ruling of the chair. So what would happen is Chuck Schumer would appeal the ruling of the chair and would say the chair just ruled that we need 60 votes to proceed to this. I appeal the ruling of the chair. And if all 50 Democrats vote in favor of the appeal, and if the Vice President votes in favor of the appeal, that's 51 votes. You can Appeal the ruling of the chair with 51 votes. And under the Senate, that becomes a precedent. So it breaks the rules of the Senate that are written because you have 51 votes to appeal the ruling of the chair. That becomes the new precedent that it no longer takes 60. Even though that's what's written in the rules. It takes 50. One of the 50 Democrats, only two have suggested that they wouldn't end the filibuster. The two suggested are Joe Manchin, he's a Democrat from West Virginia, and Kirsten Sinema, who is a Democrat from Arizona. Right now, both of them are making lots of noise like we're going to stand up and not end the filibuster. I gotta admit, I am very skeptical. Let's take Joe Manchin. So Joe was the governor of West Virginia, has been Senator. Joe is a very nice, affable, likable guy. He was a college football quarterback just.

[Michael Knowles]

Like me and you. College football quarterback?

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, you know, we were the geeks in the debate club. He was the star quarterback. Exactly the same. Everybody likes Joe. You can't not like Joe. He just has a personality that is easy and affable. When I first got elected to the Senate, I remember Jim Dement told me, he said, ted, Joe Manchin is like a purple unicorn. He will always, always, always be there for you until you need him. I can tell you in nine years in the Senate, I do not know of a single issue of consequence on which Joe Manchin was the deciding vote. So basically what Joe has done is if Republicans are gonna win, if we had 51 votes, he might give you a 52nd. So he might make it bipartisan, but.

[Michael Knowles]

He'S not gonna be that 51st vote.

[Ted Cruz]

He has never on any issue that matters in the nine years I've served with it, I've never seen him willing to stand up to Chuck Schumer.

[Michael Knowles]

What about cinema?

[Ted Cruz]

She hadn't been there that long. She's only been there a couple of years. I like her. She's very nice. I haven't seen her stand up to Schumer. Now, who knows? She hadn't been there long enough that we don't have as long a track history with her. But I don't know what Schumer has, the degree to which Democrats are terrified to cross him. And so here's my concern is that cinema caves and Manchin finds a cute game to pretend he didn't cave.

[Michael Knowles]

It seems like he's already setting that up.

[Ted Cruz]

So he's talking about the talking filibuster. Now, the talking filibuster is to say, well, any senator can speak as long as they want, but at the end of the talking filibuster, we're gonna vote. And insisting on the talking filibuster is a way to break the filibuster. Right. By the way, if they insist on a talking filibuster, I'm gonna spend some time talking.

[Michael Knowles]

You have a little bit of a track record on this.

[Ted Cruz]

I have, I think the fourth longest in history, 21 hours.

[Michael Knowles]

Could we do verdict from the Senate floor?

[Ted Cruz]

They won't let us do that. But, you know, last time I read Green Eggs and Ham, I will tell you, a friend of a very dear friend of mine suggested said if the Democrats force the talking filibuster, Republicans should stand up and read the Bible from COVID to cover.

[Michael Knowles]

I think many on the other side of the aisle would go screaming out of the room.

[Ted Cruz]

It actually is a great way to clear Democrats off the floor. But look, we'll see what happens. But insisting on the talking filibuster is frankly a game to say, I haven't ended the filibuster. But at the end, when eventually you collapse and can talk no longer, then you vote and it's 50 and you pass the Corrupt Politicians act and you pack the Supreme Court and you do lasting structural damage to the country.

[Michael Knowles]

It would seem to me you have seen a lot of these things coming and we've talked about it on the show. You can go back and see the tape. And a lot of them have really come to pass and they seem closer to passing. Right now we're focused on that crisis on the border. Seems to me there is a crisis just as serious, maybe much more serious, with the Corrupt Politicians act with other legislation they're trying to force through.

[Ted Cruz]

By the way, Michael, is there a way for people to subscribe or like this show?

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, you're talking about this. Well, speaking of crises that we're facing in the private sector here, we're certainly gonna be booted off of all the platforms at a certain point. But in the meantime, that's actually a wonderful recommendation. You can subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, YouTube, any and every social platform that will still have us to verdict. We also really appreciate it when you leave a five star review.

[Ted Cruz]

Can we give six?

[Michael Knowles]

You can try. It will not be successful, but you can try.

[Ted Cruz]

Don't turn it into one because you think that's like five plus one.

[Michael Knowles]

No, you've got, I would say, just to be safe, maybe go with the five. And thank you to everybody who has been listening. And you know, we're gonna keep bringing this to you. Even I. I hate to admit that I didn't know all of this going in.

[Ted Cruz]

And by the way, we had a big announcement last show.

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, are you referring to what happens once they do boot us off of these social platforms? We will be taking verdict on the road. We will be doing a wonderful partnership with the Young Americas foundation, now being run by Governor Scott Walker. We will be coming to six campuses around the country, but we have not yet decided which campuses we will be going to. So we already did one event in Miami that was a ton of fun. We have six live events that are going to be going on over the next year. Please submit either to mailbagverdictpodcast.com or just tweet one of us. Which schools you believe that we should go to. We would appreciate that while you subscribe. By the way, some people have written into me. I'm not kidding, Senator. They subscribe and then for some reason they're unsubscribed and they don't.

[Ted Cruz]

Keep doing it again.

[Michael Knowles]

Keep doing it again for the big.

[Ted Cruz]

Tech overlords and don't let them unsubscribe.

[Michael Knowles]

Absolutely. We will see you next time. I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Foreign.

[C]

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.