← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Debate Fallout: Michelle Obama WILL Replace Joe Biden on the Ballot
00:35:19
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- [00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. This is also going to be the Ben Ferguson Podcast and many of you are going to hear this on radio stations as well. This is moments after the presidential debate. Senator Cruz, I didn't think it could actually be this bad. It was worse than even I think either of us could have imagined. And now the Democratic Party is screaming replace the president.
- [00:28]
Ted Cruz
Well, you and I are sitting here. It is 10:17pm Texas time. It is 11:17pm East coast time. The night of the debate. The debate just ended. And I have to say we have just witnessed what I believe is the most consequential presidential debate in U.S. history. Sometimes debate change. Debates change things, sometimes they don't. I believe to bite tonight's debate change things fundamentally. And I believe the odds have now skyrocketed. I believe the odds are north of 80% that the Democrat Party will remove Joe Biden from the ticket and replace him. And I believe they are likely to replace Joe Biden with Michelle Obama because Biden did so disastrously badly tonight that Democrats across the country are in utter free fall and complete panic. We're gonna break all that down tonight.
- [01:16]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. And by the way, this was a prediction that you made on this show back in September of 2023 that the Democratic kingmakers could bring in Michelle Obama. Will that down. I want to tell you real quick about our friends at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. And as Israel's ground campaign against the Hamas terrorists is continuing, the IDF announced that it expects to have complete control of the southern Gava city of Rafa, a Hamas stronghold, within two weeks. Tensions continue to rise in Israel's north as there are constant rocket attacks from Hezbollah that have been fired at Israel. Troops have been injured. Sirens have been sounded in neighborhoods along the Lebanon Israel border as well. And that is where your help comes in. You look at what is happening right now and they need your help in Israel. Since the terror attack on October 7, antisemitism has been on the rise, not just in Israel, but here at home in the US and around the world. And that is why I partnered with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. And today I, I am coming to you to ask that you stand with us and ifcj. This pledge is simple. We are asking Christians to stand with their Jewish brothers and sisters, to never be silent, to show the Jewish people they are not alone, that they have God and Christians on their side. For the month of June, we are asking Christians to sign the pledge which will be delivered to the president of Israel to show that Christians in America are not only standing in solidarity, but they are speaking up as well. So let's take a stand today with the international fellowship of Christians and Jews to let the Jewish people know that they are not alone. And we stand proudly behind them. To sign the pledge, all you have to do is go to supportifcj.org that supportifcj.org to take a stand today and stand with the people of Israel. Support IFCJ.org Senator, I want to get to some of the highlights, but even before we get to the debate, I think the most shocking part is what happened directly after the debate. This was the first thing that America heard on cnn, the host of the debate.
- [03:35]
CNN Moderator
It's into the debate and it continues right now. It involves party strategists, it involves elected officials, it involves fundraisers. And they're having conversations about the president's performance, which they think was dismal, which they think will hurt other people down the party in the ticket. And they're having conversations about what they should do about it. Some of those conversations include should we go to the White House and ask the president to step aside? Others are other of the conversations are about should prominent Democrats go public with that call because they feel this debate was so terrible. They do say in moments in the debate later, the president got better and got his footing. But then at the end, even his closing statement was a little halting the contrast between the two candidates. Let me be clear, none of them, and a lot of Republicans don't think Donald Trump had a great night. Donald Trump broke the fact check machine more than I can count tonight. That will be on the record as we go forward. He refused to answer some very specific and direct questions about his conduct about January 6th and what all. So that will be dealt with out there. And sometimes there's a parallel universe between the political elites and the American people. Be nice to see what the voters say. But I can tell you it started minutes in. It started with the first couple of answers and it has continued throughout the night from a oh my God, oh my God, oh my God to what do we do about this? And it involves very senior people in the Democratic Party, including elected officials, saying we have a problem.
- [04:52]
Ben Ferguson
Just we have a problem. They're moving actively right now to replace Joe Biden, saying we've got time before the convention, which is exactly what you predicted on this show nine months ago.
- [05:06]
Ted Cruz
Well, let me say what you played just there. I agree with half of it and I disagree with half of it. What I do agree with is that Joe Biden did unbelievably badly that his. The degree of dementia he is facing right now, it is escalated to a point that it is unrecognizable. And I think there are a great many Democrats who are looking at this saying, we cannot nominate this man. He is not capable. He doesn't know what's going on. In a second, we're going to play a couple of clips that show that. But it was, I will say, as badly as I thought Joe Biden was going to do, he did worse. It was stunning. I've never seen a debate performance this bad. But the part I disagree of what you just played is I think Donald Trump had, hands down, his best debate performance he has ever had in his life. Look, I've stood on that stage with Donald Trump about a dozen times, and I've seen him, and sometimes he's had good debates, sometimes he's had less than good debates. Tonight, he did exactly what. Earlier this morning, you and I did a special podcast preparing for this debate. And what you and I talked about that Trump needed to do is be calm, be measured, be under control, not interrupt. Joe Biden, let him hang himself, give him the airtime to talk. And Trump did that spectacularly. He was restrained. Even as Biden was saying ridiculous things, he was restrained. He was calmed. He was. Matter of fact, he prosecuted the case and Biden couldn't handle it. Biden repeatedly was screaming, you're a liar, you're lying. I mean, he was. There were moments. Look, it's clear we talked before about the meds. They had him on meds. They put him on different meds from the State of the Union. He was not nearly as amped up as he was at the State of the Union. But when Trump poked him and he got angry, Biden couldn't respond other than just screaming, liar, Liar, liar. And he returned to the State of the Union. Old man on his front porch screaming, get off my front porch. He had moments like that. But. But that's not even the dominant takeaway. The dominant takeaway is this is a man who doesn't know what's going on here. I want to play the clip early in the debate where he just completely loses his train of thought. And this is the answer at which I think people all over the country said, oh, this guy's just not there. Give a listen.
- [07:30]
Ben Ferguson
Excuse me. With dealing with everything we have to do with, look, if we finally beat Medicare, we finally beat Medicare. I mean, Donald Trump's response was, quote, I don't, I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either.
- [07:56]
Ted Cruz
And Biden gets lost and Trump counters with what he counters to. That is. And by the way, the question had nothing to do with Medicare. Like, the word Medicare comes completely out of left field. It's the only thing he mentioned. He's just like, we finally beat Medicare. And then Trump came and said, well, he said at the end, he beat Medicare. He beat it to death. Give a listen to Trump's response. Play the next clip.
- [08:20]
Ben Ferguson
All those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for. What I've been able to do with the COVID Excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with. Look, if we finally beat Medicare.
- [08:48]
CNN Moderator
Thank you, President Biden. President Trump was right.
- [08:51]
Ben Ferguson
He did beat Medicare. Beat it to death.
- [08:53]
CNN Moderator
And he's destroying Medicare because all of.
- [08:56]
Ben Ferguson
These people are coming in, they're putting them on Medicare.
- [08:59]
CNN Moderator
They're putting them on.
- [09:00]
Ben Ferguson
I mean, you hear that? He just stopped. Didn't know what he was doing. And if you look at the look on his face, Senator Joe Biden actually looked lost and was looking around like, what am I doing and where am I?
- [09:13]
Ted Cruz
His brain was frozen. It short circuited throughout the time. I'll tell you, Joe Biden did badly. When he wasn't talking. When he wasn't talking, the look on his face was a look of confusion. Listen, anyone who's ever dealt with an elderly parent, an elderly grandparent who's dealing with the loss of their faculties knows that. Look, my grandmother, my abuela, whom I love, she had Alzheimer's. I've seen what happens. It was clear.
- [09:40]
Ben Ferguson
He.
- [09:41]
Ted Cruz
He didn't know what was going on. He was just confused. And even his most passionate defenders, they can't defend them. All right, Maria Shriver.
- [09:54]
Ben Ferguson
I just saw this tweet.
- [09:55]
Ted Cruz
Kennedy.
- [09:56]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, I just saw this tweet Kennedy. You saw blue blood.
- [10:00]
Ted Cruz
Democrat. Democrat royalty. Let me read you what she just tweeted moments ago. Quote, I love Joe Biden. I know he's a good man. I know his heart is good. I know he's dedicated to our country and is surrounded by good people. Tonight was heartbreaking in many ways. This is a big political moment. There's panic in the Democratic Party. It's going to be a long night. The Democrats have lost. Maria Shriver. That's a problem.
- [10:28]
Ben Ferguson
Well, and listen to Abby Phillips, Abby Phillips saying this on CNN as well in the moments afterwards. This is how she described how bad it was for Joe Biden. Just to co sign what John is saying. I mean, the panic that I am hearing from Democrats is not like anything that I have heard in this campaign so far. And a lot of it has to do with, first of all, there was a deep frustration about Trump's lies. I mean, he lied a lot tonight. But the problem for Biden was that Trump was able to take some sometimes incredible falsehoods and turn them into some kind of argument, whereas Biden's answers were in a lot of cases, not coherent, deeply problematic that he was not able to take pretty straightforward answers and answer them to the.
- [11:17]
Ted Cruz
That's cnn. That is cnn. Who's saying the Democrats are panicking. And Biden's answers were in a lot of cases, not coherent. All right, play Van Jones. Van Jones, this is the hard left. He's on cnn. Listen, here's what Van Jones had to say.
- [11:34]
Ben Ferguson
That was painful.
- [11:35]
Ted Cruz
I love Joe Biden. I work for Joe Biden.
- [11:38]
CNN Moderator
He didn't do well at all.
- [11:41]
Ben Ferguson
He did not do well at all. It's like a funeral. It's like you're watching a funeral in real time on cnn. This is their instant reaction. These are the first voices that America heard after the debate. Drudge Report, for example, which used to be pretty conservative center, now they really hate Donald Trump. Their headline right now is Operation Replace Biden dim scramble with 130 days to go debate catastrophe. Which brings me back to. Let's go back to nine months ago. Nine months ago, September 18th, you and I had this conversation. And by the way, there were a lot in the media and there were a lot of other people in Washington that said you and I were crazy for having this conversation. So let's play the clip.
- [12:27]
Ted Cruz
So here's the scenario that I think is perhaps most likely and most dangerous. In August of 2024, the Democrat kingmakers jettisoned Joe Biden and parachute in Michelle Obama. And I want you to pause and reflect on.
- [12:48]
Ben Ferguson
Oh, I'm pausing and I'm reflecting, as we said. And so is everybody else listening right now.
- [12:52]
Ted Cruz
I view this as a very serious danger.
- [12:57]
Ben Ferguson
I'm smiling right now because it terrifies me. And I also could totally see this happening.
- [13:01]
Ted Cruz
So Michelle Obama, number one, you don't infuriate African American women, which is a critical part of the constituency that Democrats are relying on to win. But number two, you avoid the problem if you Pick from any of the four. The other three are pissed because they're all to some extent peers, they're rivals. They're all jabbing knives at each other. Michelle Obama, because she was first lady, has the ability to kind of parachute in above all four and say, hey, we're not picking among any of you. You guys can all fight it out next time. You're all going to be on the same level. We're coming. This is the Obamas saving the day. And I think in terms of a solution that unifies Democrats, there ain't nothing like that. I also think Michelle is not all that eager to run for president, but to parachute in In August of 24, a couple of months before the presidency and suddenly wake up and be president.
- [14:01]
Ben Ferguson
Not a bad gig. Not a bad gig.
- [14:03]
Ted Cruz
It's not a bad gig at all. Now, would she do it? I don't know. I've met Michelle, but I don't know her personally in any meaningful way. I don't know if she would do it. I do think Barack Obama is already running the Biden administration. I think he is already the puppet master of behind this Biden White House. I don't think Joe Biden is the decision maker. And so when I see the media turning on Joe Biden right now, I think the odds of Michelle Obama parachuting in in August of 2024 have risen dramatically. And that ought to scare the hell out of anyone who is unhappy about the direction this country is going and doesn't want us to go even crazier in an even worse direction.
- [14:50]
Ben Ferguson
September 18th, center of 2023 we had this discussion and even right now on msn.com the headline is we beat Medicare Biden freezes mid answer before being bailed out by moderator. And then they go on to talk about that was a total disaster by the sitting president. And Democrats are running to replace Joe Biden. So they're not even having the conversation behind closed doors. They're having it out on national TV right now and in the news.
- [15:22]
Ted Cruz
Well, and Ben, what you've just played is, I think as good a promo for this podcast as you possibly could have. What we are facing right now, we predicted on this podcast nine months ago in September of 2023, we were among the very first voices to do that. At the time it made a bunch of headlines. And you're right, people thought we were back crap crazy. Let's be clear. They thought I was back bat crap crazy. I shouldn't say we stick you into that. You were there while I was making that prediction, and they were like, Cruz has lost his mind. And by the way, in terms of predictions, we also, at the outset of COVID laid out all of the evidence that Covid originated in a Chinese lab in Wuhan. When, when CNN and abc, cbs, NBC were suppressing that news, when Facebook and Twitter were suppressing that news, we were laying out the evidence then. And, and this morning, before the debate, our analysis of the debate, I predicted unequivocally, Donald Trump is going to kick Joe Biden's ass. That was my prediction. That is exactly what happened. It was the title of the show and there were not a lot of people predicting that. But. But I, number one, thought Biden would do terribly. But number two, if Trump could remain controlled. And he did that. He did that in an excellent way. I'm gonna call President Trump tomorrow and tell him it's the best debate he's ever done. And I've been there for a lot of them. He was measured, he was controlled, he was fact based. He laid out the case. Even his response on Medicare. Let's take the one we just played. It would be easy to be Starkey and say, okay, this guy is like, that answer is incoherent. What Trump did was even better. There said, I mean, look, he said he actually did beat Medicare, which was obviously a weird brain short circuit. And he said the reason he beat Medicare is because he's let millions and millions of illegal immigrants into this country, is putting them all in Medicare, which is going to bankrupt Medicare. And that was a major message that Trump is hitting, is that the invasion at our southern border is also bankrupting Medicare and Social Security. I think that was a smart decision to lean in on that. Joe Biden had no answer. He had no response all night long. As Trump laid out the case you caused the inflation. Joe Biden had no response to that. As Trump laid out the people who are being murdered all across this country from criminals and insane asylums, when Trump would say, look, Venezuela is emptying their jails and sending us murderers and rapists and child molesters and lunatics, you saw Joe Biden just looking confused. He had no response. He didn't dispute it. He had nothing to say in response on foreign policy. And we talked about this again in this morning's podcast. Joe Biden just said, well, if Trump's president, Putin will invade all of Ukraine and all of Europe. And Trump is like, what utter crap. When I was president, Russia didn't invade one square inch of territory anywhere on planet Earth. And by the way he did under Barack Obama and he did under Joe Biden. You're so weak that that's why Putin invaded. And it Trump did an excellent job of prosecuting the case and Biden was utterly incapable of responding. And I think you are seeing, seeing Democrats freaking out. Now, I believe there are two things. Well, let me say a couple things. Number one, let me tell you why I believe it'll be Michelle Obama. Because you're going to see today and tomorrow all sorts of discussion. You're going to hear Gavin Newsom, you're going to hear all sorts of other names.
- [18:49]
Ben Ferguson
Let me ask you this. I think if they do it, what's the pitch? Because it's going to start with Barack Obama, who was just leading Joe Biden off stage, remember? And everybody saw it like he was an elderly old man in old folks home. And I'm not saying that to be mean. I'm just being honest about it. And clearly he witnessed how bad it was. Then does is he the guy that has to look at Michelle tonight going, I'd do it but I can't. I've already been president for eight years. It has to be you, honey.
- [19:14]
Ted Cruz
Well, let me break it into two pieces. Let me tell you why it has to be Michelle. It has to be Michelle because of Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris is the vp. If you push Joe Biden aside, Kamala's next in line. The people who say we want Gavin Newsom, you know what? If the Democrat party pushes an African American woman aside and replaces her with a white guy, their party implodes. They cannot do it. They are bean counters and they are faced. It's actually what forced Joe Biden to pick Kamala in the first place. He backed himself into it. He doesn't like Kamala. And the problem Democrats are having that now is they're looking at Joe Biden. They're saying, oh my goodness, this guy cannot be our nominee. And they look at Kamala and they recognize she's a terrible nominee. And if she's the nominee, they know they'll lose. And so their problem is the only person on planet Earth who can push Kamala Harris aside is Michelle Obama, another African American woman who stands on a different footing as a former first lady. Now what are the impediments that stop it. The impediments are twofold. Number one, Michelle says no. Number two, Joe Biden says no. On the Michelle says no. I think you're going to have Barack coming to her. I think you're going to have a lot of Democrat kingmakers coming to her. And the pitch is going to be, michelle, you need to save America. Michelle, we need you. Michelle, if you do not step forward, Donald Trump is going to be president. Michelle, you are the only person on planet earth that can save the world from a Donald Trump presidency. And listen, people perceive Michelle Obama as somewhat nonpartisan because she was a first lady and first ladies kind of stay out of politics. I think she is more radical than Barack is. I think she is an ideologue. I think she is a leftist. You remember when Barack Obama was running and she talked about his getting elected was the first time in her life she was proud of her country. I think she embraces hardcore leftism, but a lot of people don't know that. And so the pitch to her is going to be save America. And then the pitch to Joe Biden. She's got to say, yes, number one, and then two, Joe Biden has got to agree to step aside. And I think you're going to see in the coming days. You know, you played my prediction from September of 2023. The only thing I might have gotten wrong is I said this would happen in August of 2024. It may be July of 2024. I may have been a month off in the timing because this debate, I think, changed the fundamental terrain.
- [21:46]
Ben Ferguson
Let's also talk about. There was two moments that I think really speak to the demise of the cognitive decline of Joe Biden. And it was subtle but significant. And I want to get your reaction to it. The There was one moment when he was asked about Social Security and he gave a very, very short answer. And then the moderators looked at him like, what are you doing? You still have, I think they said, 84 seconds left or something like that. There was another time he was talking about African American voters, African American community and African American issues. And they're like, sir, you still have like another minute and X number of seconds, 60, 64 seconds left. He couldn't even.
- [22:25]
Ted Cruz
And by the way, he spent eight days at Camp David preparing and he could not fill the two minutes with an answer.
- [22:29]
Ben Ferguson
The two minutes on 2 vi issues like Social Security. Any politician should be able to fill for two minutes. In fact, you should be able to fill.
- [22:38]
Ted Cruz
These were not subtle. These were not gotchas. These were obvious questions. He had nothing to say. He was scared. He was a deer in the headlights.
- [22:50]
Ben Ferguson
So you said deer in headlights. Let's go to the next conversation that's being had right now, and I'm sure it's being had at the White House, at the EOB and at the campaign headquarters, who goes to the president first and says, step down. And then you're also dealing with a guy that's everybody. Very stubborn, though. Like, he can just. Can he just look at them and say, I'm not gonna do it?
- [23:14]
Ted Cruz
He is absolutely stubborn. I think it is Barack Obama. I think it is Nancy Pelosi. I think it is Chuck Schumer. I think it is every leader in the Democrat Party. It's not Kamala Harris. Kamala is not allowed in the room. But I think it is. And they go to him and their pitch to him. They say, joe, you were an historic president. You saved America from Donald. You wanted to be the next fdr. I think they will. They will appeal to his vanity and say, you are the next fdr. You are consequential right now. If you stay in the race, you risk undoing your entire legacy and giving that legacy going down in history as the man who made Donald Trump president. If you stay in this race, it will be your fault that Trump is president. I think they'll appeal to his vanity. And look, that is, I think, to Joe Biden, a really powerful pitch. Look, you look at the debate tonight, he said things. At one point, he said, during Trump's presidency, we had 1000 trillionaires. By the way, there are no trillionaires on planet Earth. At another point, he said, during Donald Trump, we had 50% unemployment. No, that is wildly wrong. At another point, he said he created. Joe Biden created hundreds of millions of jobs. Mind you, there are 330 million Americans, and apparently he's created hundreds of millions of jobs. So more, More jobs than there are working Americans like it is. Every answer was a problem. At another point, he said, the Border Patrol endorsed me. Let's be clear. The Border Patrol union immediately tweeted out, to be clear, we have never and will never endorse Biden at every stage. And what's interesting, he was also trying to insult Trump.
- [24:48]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [24:49]
Ted Cruz
And Trump didn't take the bait.
- [24:51]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. And that was smart.
- [24:53]
Ted Cruz
It was really. And actually, when Trump poked Biden, Biden freaked out. He couldn't not take the bait. And so the contrast. And I'll say something else, you mentioned African American votes. Trump's numbers are surging in the black community. And I think tonight he made a very hard pitch for black voters. And his most significant pitch, he had a lot of points about how bad Trump, how bad Biden has been for the African American community, talked about inflation, how it's hammering black families. But then he also tied it to illegal immigration. And he said, look, the millions and millions of illegal immigrants that are coming into this country, they're taking jobs from black Americans. That is a powerful argument. That is an argument. And by the way, Biden had no response to that. It was silent. It was on the substance. Trump prosecuted the case and Biden crashed and burned. And in fact, the Wall Street Journal just sent out their key takeaway, their story that they wrote tonight and it's now 10:47pm and their headline is Biden crashed in first debate with Trump. That's not an editorial. That's the news headline in the Wall Street Journal. Because it is just objectively, if you watch the Hindenburg explode, you don't say zeppelin landed tonight.
- [26:13]
Ben Ferguson
Great point. Want to talk to you about my friends at Blackout Coffee. The world is up in flames. Bidenomics is a complete until disaster. Uh, and the reality is there's a lot of companies out there that are still going to try to prop him up. There's a lot of woke liberal coffee companies out there that are going to still give incredible amounts of money to Joe Biden and other Democrats running for office. That is one reason why I want you to know about Blackout Coffee. Because they were created by a group of conservatives that said, hey, we're 100% committed to conservative values. We're not going to give our money to these woke companies. And we're con. We're committed to conservative values from the sourcing of our beans, the roasting process, customer support and shipping. Blackout coffee. They truly embody American values. And then here's the other big thing. You get a premium cup of coffee every single day. I start my day at 7am on the radio. I have to have a great cup of coffee. Not an average cup of coffee. I want an amazing cup of coffee. And that is what I get from blackout coffee. I get a premium cup of coffee every single morning. I want you to try it. I'm going to get you to save some money right now. Use the coupon code Verdict and you're going to get 20% off your first order. I'm going to say that again. 20% off your first order by using the promo code Verdict. Just go to blackout coffee.com that's blackout coffee.com verdict blackoutcoffee.com verdict use the coupon code verdict for 20% off your first first order. Be awake, not woke. And get the best cup of coffee, a premium cup of coffee every day. Blackout coffee.com verdict promo code verdict for 20 off your first order. Let's also talk about those that have been lying. The media center has been lying. Congressmen have been lying. Staff members have been lying. They've been going on TV telling you that Joe Biden can run circles around me. The White House press secretary saying over and over again saying there's no cognitive decline here, saying that he's in perfect health. This guy is a, is a beast. He's, he's, you know, he's jacked up. Aviator Joe. Now they're all actually having to admit they're wrong, but no one's gonna, I think, hold them accountable for that. They're just gonna run out there and say, clearly, it's time for him to step aside, step aside, step aside. Which is also weird because if you're not cognitive, you don't have the cognitive ability to be president in the future. Right. And they're saying he can't be the president come January again. Then when does the 25th, and does that even come up because you're admitting that he's basically incapacitated now.
- [28:52]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, listen, we have seen reporters and we've seen Democrats lying about Joe's mental capacity for a long time. And nobody fair and objective who watched tonight could conclude anything other than this is a man who is seriously mentally diminished. You know, it's interesting, Andrew Yang, who you remember, ran for president against Joe in 2020. He tweeted out tonight, quote, Look, I debated Joe seven times in 2020. He's a different guy in 2024. Hashtag, swap Joe out. That's from one of the alternative, one of the other candidates who ran against 2020, from a prominent Democrat. Two of the top trends that were trending tonight right after the debate were dementia and Michelle Obama. Now, that's bad news if that's what's, what's, what is trending and. All right, I want to wrap up tonight's pod with this. I'm going to do something I have rarely, if ever done. I may never have done this before. I'm going to praise cnn. This morning's debate, you and I both thought Jake Tapper and Dana Bash would do a terrible job. They both hate Donald Trump. They both have become hard partisans. CNN did an excellent job tonight with this debate. Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, that was the best debate moderation they have ever done. They asked good questions. They asked substantive questions. They didn't make the debate about them. One of the interesting things, no one is debating about the moderators, bad debate moderators. When Chris Wallace debated the Whole debate was about him because he wanted to be right in the center of the show. When Candy Crowley from CNN was the moderator between Obama and Mitt Romney, she made it all about her. Jake and Dana, they asked good questions. They move subjects along. They would press the candidates, but not in a jerky way. They just say, I asked you the following question. You have another 60 seconds to answer it. When they didn't get their questions answered, that's a perfectly reasonable thing for a debate moderator to do. I've been in multiple debates that each of them have moderated. I think they both were incredibly sensitive to everyone laying out the facts, that they have shown wild bias. And tonight, tonight they didn't. And they did an excellent job. And I think that was a service to the country.
- [31:17]
Ben Ferguson
I have to ask you one other question because everyone's asking it in their head right now. What is the like, hold on a second.
- [31:23]
Ted Cruz
Ben, you didn't respond to that. And since you're a former employee of CNN, I'm not going to let you. Ben, you have 62 seconds. The question is, do you think Jake and Dana did a good job?
- [31:35]
Ben Ferguson
I think they did a decent job and here's why. I'm not going to give them as much credit as you did. You ready for this? All right, all right.
- [31:40]
Ted Cruz
But I'm going to make you answer it. I'm not going to let you wiggle away.
- [31:43]
Ben Ferguson
Fair point. Here's what I'll say. I think they were in as much shock as we were going, holy crap, I'm watching an incapacitated President of the United States of America. And they were caught so off guard. They said, just stick to the script, just stick to the script. Just stick to the script. Like it was a default mode because it was such a glaring disaster with Biden that no one, none of, none of the moderators were honestly paying attention to Donald Trump or anything.
- [32:11]
Ted Cruz
Jake and Dana were more measured than I've ever seen them. They were deliberately controlled. They knew that half the country viewed them as wild eyed partisans. Look, we played this morning, Jake analogizing Trump to Adolf Hitler. Yes.
- [32:28]
Ben Ferguson
And I still believe that too.
- [32:29]
Ted Cruz
He is, I think he believes it. But tonight that didn't come out. And, and so if we're going to criticize him when, when he's not doing a good job, I will say I, I, I think I was, I think.
- [32:43]
Ben Ferguson
They did their job. The biggest political train wreck in American history and they were in it and it was like, I don't know what to do. How do you triage this. And so they got rid of some of that. I think if Joe Biden would have showed up jacked up like he did at the, say, the union, I think it would have been a completely different debate from the moderator standpoint. But I think they saw what everybody else saw, which was, we have a president that is incapacitated and the whole world is watching it now, and no one can stop it. There was no one to step in and lead him off the stage like Barack Obama did two weeks ago. Which brings me back to that question that everyone's asking. How quickly will we find out if the conversations with Joe Biden are going to work to get him to step aside? Number one? Okay. And number two, how quickly do Democrats have to fall back in line and stick with this guy if he doesn't decide to step down? And Those are the two most important questions. Maybe the entire night.
- [33:44]
Ted Cruz
Three weeks, 21 days. This happens or doesn't happen in three weeks. I think you're going to have massive chaos following this debate. You're going to have massive panic. People are going to go to Michelle Obama. People are going to go to Joe Biden. I don't think, given the train wreck that happened tonight, I don't think they'll wait until after the Democrat convention. I think they feel a panic right now. I think they're going to want Michelle Obama to be the keynote speaker at the Democrat Convention, not Joe Biden. So I think we have 21 days for this to play out. And look, over the course of the last year, I've handicapped this. I initially laid it out as a possibility. I then shifted as the Democrats and the media were starting to get nervous about Joe Biden. I shifted to about 50%. As we sit here today, I put the odds at north of 80% that Michelle Obama is the Democrat nominee on the ballot in November of this year.
- [34:40]
Ben Ferguson
There it is. This has been fun. It's shocking. It is crazy to watch this debate in real time. Never watched anything like this. Uh, it's also fun doing a dual show with you with my podcast and your. And our podcast and. And this being on the radio as well. Don't forget, you can download Verdict with Ted Cruz. We do this three days a week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. You can grab my show, obviously, every day. And if you're listening this on the radio, thank you. And make sure you download the podcast that we just mentioned and the center. I will see you back here for the week in Review Saturday, which is a recap of the past week. It's going to be one heck of a show. And you can also grab my show as well. We'll see you back here soon.