Democrats Chant KKK while the GOP & America Chant USA

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: Democrats Chant KKK while the GOP & America Chant USA
Date: February 25, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks)
Notable Contributors: Senator Ted Cruz, Michael Knowles

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Episode Overview

This post–State of the Union edition of The 47 Morning Update is an energetic, candid roundtable featuring Ben Ferguson, Senator Ted Cruz, and Michael Knowles. The trio provides a behind-the-scenes breakdown of President Trump’s State of the Union, sharp criticism of Democratic behavior during the event, and an in-depth discussion of current Republican strategies. The episode mixes playful banter with pointed analysis, focusing heavily on optics, party unity, and legislation shaping the 2026 midterm landscape.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: A Post–State of the Union Roundtable

• Recording Context:
  The show is recorded at 1 a.m. immediately after the State of the Union. (04:29)
• Playful Banter:
  Lighthearted ribbing among the hosts establishes camaraderie, with stories about cigars and poker nights interspersed with political talk.
  • “I'm doing this show in protest right now because I was on a plane...I was relegated to a little box on a monitor.” – Ben Ferguson (04:29)

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Democrats’ Optics at the State of the Union

• Core Theme:
  The hosts decry Democrats for refusing to stand and applaud several unifying statements and moments during Trump’s speech, interpreting this as politically and morally damaging.

• Top Examples:

  • On supporting Americans over undocumented immigrants:
    • “He looked over, he said, okay, I want everyone to stand up if you agree…America should protect Americans…And [Democrats] refused to stand. Political malpractice the likes of which one has rarely seen.” – Michael Knowles (10:07–10:45)
  • On rejecting political violence:
    • “A third would not stand for ‘we reject political violence of all kinds’. It was, I felt, a disaster of optics for Democrats and a disaster of morals.” – Michael Knowles (13:03)
  • On crime and supporting victims:
    • “Democrats didn’t want to stand for Charlie. They didn’t want to stand for Erica again. That itself is disgraceful.” – Michael Knowles (12:08)

• Memorable Moment:

  • Senator Cruz claims Rep. Rashida Tlaib was chanting “KKK” while the House chanted “USA.” (13:43)
    • “She was chanting KKK. KKK. KKK." – Ted Cruz (13:57)
    • The hosts later link this to the historical roots of the Democrat party with the KKK. (14:22)

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Democrats’ Multiple Responses and Internal Division

• Observation:
  The hosts mock the four separate Democratic responses to the State of the Union (Spanish, progressive/radical, moderate, governor of Virginia).

  • “If you're a Marxist, socialist, communist, or a radical lefty…here's all of your responses.” – Ted Cruz (16:05)

• Political Messaging:
  They argue Democrats will “run as moderates” but govern radically left, warning voters not to be fooled. (16:56–17:16)

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Republican Messaging & Trump’s Performance

• Praise for Trump:
  Near-universal agreement that this was “the best speech Donald Trump has ever given.” (09:19)

  • Emphasis on Trump’s “real and authentic” reaction to Democrats, humor, and focus on pocket-book issues.
  • “He looked really calm. He looked really just like, I'm doing this because I want to fix the country.” – Ben Ferguson (38:22)

• Key Policy Showcases During SOTU:

  • No tax on tips and overtime (42:00)
  • Trump Accounts (youth investment accounts) (44:42)
  • Crackdown on illegal immigration; drop in crime/murder rates (39:20)
    • “Murder rates have dropped 20%. Drug overdose deaths have dropped 20%... There are literally thousands of Americans who are alive today because Trump was elected and Republicans won Congress.” – Senator Ted Cruz (39:20)

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The Trump Accounts Legislation: Origin Story and Impact

• Background:
  Senator Cruz details how the “Trump Accounts” (401(k)-style accounts for kids) emerged from a chance conversation set up at a poker game (46:47–48:19). Legislation was drafted in Cruz’s office and included employer matches and philanthropic contributions.

• Philanthropic Impact:
  Michael and Susan Dell, Brad Gerstner, and Ray Dalio fund these accounts – aiming to build a new generation of capitalists (52:12–54:45).

  • “What makes the Trump account so incredibly potent is we're starting at age zero...for philanthropy, the math is powerful. If you put another thousand dollars in at the outset, it really, really grows.” – Ben Ferguson (54:45)

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Candid Takes on Democrat Politicians and Political Optics

• Mockery of Gavin Newsom:
  Critiqued for social media “grandstanding” and historically inaccurate statements regarding the National Guard. (27:19–29:49)
  • “I said you were historically illiterate because you apparently have no idea about the civil rights movement and the fact that Eisenhower federalized the National Guard.” – Ben Ferguson (28:30)
• Al Green’s Sign:
  Discussion on Rep. Al Green’s ejection for holding a confusing protest sign; hosts lampoon the poor optics. (32:36–33:33)

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Long-Game Reflections: GOP Challenges and Unity

• Electoral Headwinds:
  Both Knowles and Cruz acknowledge Republicans face headwinds—d+6 environment, historic midterm patterns, and need for message discipline. (58:28–59:44)

  • “If the election were today, it would not be a great outcome...we lose the House and the Senate is potentially in jeopardy.” – Ted Cruz (59:18)
  • But both see the substantive record and SOTU performance as strong foundations if they’re messaged effectively in coming months.

• Teamwork & Leadership:
  Praise for Speaker Johnson and enhanced GOP unity compared to previous cycles. (42:53)

  • “There is a very real sense that Republican leadership have our act together for once...that matters.” – Ben Ferguson (43:53)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Democratic Optics:

  • “Democrats didn’t want to stand for Charlie. They didn’t want to stand for Erica again. That itself is disgraceful.” – Michael Knowles (12:08)
  • “A third would not stand for ‘we reject political violence of all kinds.’...a disaster of optics for Democrats and a disaster of morals.” – Michael Knowles (13:03)
  • “She was chanting KKK. KKK. KKK." – Ted Cruz, about Rashida Tlaib (13:57)

• On the GOP's Message:

  • “He looked really calm. He looked really just like, I'm doing this because I want to fix the country.” – Ben Ferguson (38:22)
  • “I think the message tonight was the record of the last year...objectively phenomenal.” – Ted Cruz (38:22)

• On Legislation:

  • “If Phil Hellmuth does not connect me with Brad Gerstner, April a year ago, there are no Trump accounts.” – Ben Ferguson (48:19)
  • “Every kid will have skin in the game and be an owner of the biggest employers in America.” – Ben Ferguson (54:47)

• On GOP Unity:

  • “There is a very real sense that Republican leadership have our act together for once…That matters.” – Ben Ferguson (42:53)

• On the Outlook for 2026:

  • “If the Republicans can stay on message...If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” – Michael Knowles (58:28)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• State of the Union aftershow introduction: 04:29
• Initial reactions and banter: 05:08–09:16
• State of the Union optics and Democrats' “KKK” chant allegation: 09:19–14:22
• Discussion of four Democratic responses: 16:00
• Republican/Trump messaging, economic issues, crime: 18:30, 39:19
• The Trump/child investment accounts segment: 44:42–56:49
• Summary perspectives on 2026 election odds: 58:06–60:42

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Tone & Style

• Candid, brash, and frequently satirical.
• The conversation is deeply partisan, with a focus on Republican unity and victories and lampooning Democrats for perceived missteps.
• Banter and humorous jabs mix with specific policy explanations, offering listeners both entertainment and information.

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Conclusion

This episode provides an unfiltered, insider’s Republican take on the State of the Union, lambasting Democratic strategies and highlighting Trump-era accomplishments. The hosts emphasize party unity, legislative wins such as the Trump Accounts, and the need for disciplined messaging to convert strong policy substance into electoral victories. For listeners seeking how the GOP’s insiders view the political battlefield after a major national address, this episode delivers sharp analysis, insider stories, and plenty of political theater.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Michael Knowles]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

What do you have to lose?

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[Michael Knowles]

The new Chicken Bacon Ranch Street Chalupa, the Taco Bell. You can't get just one. Okay, so that's not like some marketing hyperbole. You literally can't get just one. They come in twos. So like, if you want just one, you're gonna need to find a friend who loves slow Roasted Chicken bacon and Avocado Ranch sauce. Or a friend of a friend. Or have an awkward conversation with a complete stranger to see if they're obsessed with Chicken bacon and Avocado Ranch. Or you could just like eat them both because you're obsessed with slow roasted Chicken bacon. Okay, you get the idea. The new Chicken Bacon Ranch Street Chalup is a Taco Bell. By participating Taco Bell US locations for a limited time while supplies last, I'm

[Senator Ted Cruz]

asking you to approve the Save America act

[Ben Ferguson]

to stop illegal aliens and others

[Senator Ted Cruz]

who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections. That cheating is rampant in our elections.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's rapid. You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Good Wednesday morning. It's so nice to have you on the day after the State of the Union on the 47 Morning Update. And we've got obviously one big story. The Democrats were chanting KKK from the floor of the House while Republicans and the rest of us were chanting usa. This is how radical the left has become. So what did the president say about our future this year moving forward? We've got it all for you. Israel is a very hot topic right now. And with so many opinions and emotions surrounding it, it can feel hard to know where to start. The Bible tells us, I will bless those who bless you. That isn't just a comforting promise. It's a clear calling from God. And today, with anti Semitism rising around the world, that calling is more urgent than ever. At a time when Jewish communities are experiencing more hostility, more threats and more violence than ever, Christians have a powerful opportunity to respond with God's love to say, you are not alone. When Christians choose to bless Israel, we're not entering a political issue. We're honoring the root of our faith and standing against hatred. Supporting Israel is more than a belief. It's a biblical mandate. And by partnering with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, you can push back against darkness and and be a light to God's people. Learn how you can bless Israel and be blessed in return. Visit IFCJ.org today. That's IFCJ.org today. Be a blessing. Live in the world. Answer the call. It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now. Story number one, it is 1am in the morning, Eastern time after the State of the Union. I want to be very clear that I am doing this show in protest right now because I was on a plane. No, no, let me, let me rephrase that, Senator. True or false, you and I hung out yesterday in your office.

[Ben Ferguson]

We did. And you were in D.C. and I can't help it that you fled Washington during the State of the Union. And listen, karma's a. And so when you decided you were a little girl and you had to get out of town because the Democrats getting mad at the president were scary. There was a consequence, which is for those who are watching on YouTube, a coup has occurred. The original co host of verdict has returned and seized the seat. To be clear, he has relegated Mr. Ferguson to appearing As a little box on a monitor.

[Michael Knowles]

We banished Ben. I saw not just the seat, but I saw this cigar. And I said, this is very good. And this has actually become something of a tradition, I've noticed.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I've.

[Michael Knowles]

I've only ever been to two states, by the way.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If only TC would tell us that there is a tradition, then I wouldn't have gotten a plane at 2:00 clock this afternoon, leave Washington, D.C. like, like, think about this. Hey, Ben, we should have cigars, have the State of the Union and do the show here. Great idea. I'll change my flight. That is how normal people would have done this. Michael and I could have figured this out a year in advance.

[Ben Ferguson]

This happened late on the fly. And so this afternoon, Michael texted me and said, hey, you want to grab cigars after everything tonight? And I was like, well, we have to do the pod, but aha, aha. I have an idea. And I didn't really want to do the pod and finish at 2 in the morning and then have cigars. And so I'm like, we'll combine it. And by the way, Daily Wire does this great. What is it? Late night. What is it called?

[Michael Knowles]

Backstage.

[Ben Ferguson]

Backstage. I've done several times done backstage with them where they sit around and drink scotch and smoke cigars. And so I said, let's bring some backstage. This is like a Marvel Universe crossover where, like Daily Wire and I Heart are intersecting this also.

[Michael Knowles]

Really, it's kind of a Double Verdict tradition in that two years ago, I came to my first State of the Union address. It was Biden's State of the Union, the one where they injected him with whatever they injected him with. And he yelled for 92 minutes. And then afterward, actually before I'd set it up, I said, hey, Senator, I happen to be in town. Hate to pressure you for a cigar. Same thing. He said, well, okay, we can have a cigar, but you got to do the podcast first. I said, okay, well, that'll be a lot of fun. And so, of course, it's, you know, midnight, one o' clock in the morning. And this really takes us back, because when Verdict started, it was always one o' clock in the morning. And it was actually not all that far from here in Washington D.C. though I noticed the digs have improved a little bit.

[Ben Ferguson]

So we are in a highfalutin cigar bar in D.C. because it turns out it's actually complicated to find a studio that will let you smoke a cigar.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes, I don't get to light my cigar. That's the part that I'M really chapped about. I did look at my wife and send her, you know, Anna well. And I was like, what are the chances for. For the sake of the show in authenticity, I could smoke said cigar. I literally did not get an answer. I got the look. And when you're married, you guys both know the look. Each one of our wives all have a look that they give you. And I was like, okay, I got it. I know how this is.

[Ben Ferguson]

So, Ben, you are thoroughly domesticated. Yes. Yes. And it doesn't pune your manhood. Yes. But. And I'm now going to tell a story on myself. So when Heidi and I were engaged, we had an apartment in D.C. and I would host poker games. And at the poker games, we would smoke cigars. And we'd do it at my dining room table, and my buddies that would come over and play, they'd be like, dude, how does Heidi let you smoke cigars inside? And I was in my 20s and stupid, so I'm like, look, if you're the man of the house and you want to smoke a cigar, you smoke a cigar in your damn house. That's right. And I said it with all the bravado of a young idiot.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Meanwhile, he didn't own said house. It was an apartment.

[Ben Ferguson]

But keep going.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Like the story.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

So then we get married. We actually get married 25 years ago, May 27, 2001. This is our 25th anniversary.

[Michael Knowles]

Wow.

[Ben Ferguson]

And we come back from our honeymoon, and shortly thereafter, I'm hosting a poker game, and Heidi says, get the damn cigars out of the apartment. You will never smoke another one inside again. And in 25 years, I never have. And so when I say you are domesticated.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's another way of saying you're actually married. Aren't we all.

[Michael Knowles]

Aren't we all domesticated in a way?

[Ben Ferguson]

So, Ben. Ben, what'd you think of the damn State of the Union?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I actually think it was the best speech Donald Trump has ever given. I actually thought it was one of the most real and authentic responses from. From him to the Democrats and how they were acting. I love that he was like, you can't even stand for that. You won't even stand.

[Ben Ferguson]

You guys are crazy.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, you guys are crazy.

[Michael Knowles]

And it came, like, the third most incredible line. I mean, there were a lot of them.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, but. But it came on TV in an amazing way.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did it?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I mean, it was just his look, his demeanor. He was looking over at them. I mean, you were there, obviously, so it's going to Feel different to you. But like, I'm watching, I'm going, that line landed. And I think the American people probably saw it, and they're like, wow, this is going to be really good.

[Michael Knowles]

So I'm sitting there. It was very kind of Speaker Johnson to invite me. And I'm sitting over the Democrats, so I got a prime view of the Democrats. And the first line that really brought down the House was when President Trump looked over, and it was beautifully written and beautifully executed. He looked over, he said, okay, I want everyone to stand up. If you agree with the statement that America should protect Americans or something to that effect.

[Ben Ferguson]

And not illegals first.

[Michael Knowles]

And not illegals.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And not illegals.

[Ben Ferguson]

It was over. Illegals. Yes. Yeah.

[Michael Knowles]

And they refused to stand political malpractice, the likes of which one has rarely seen. And it was a brutal moment. He totally took advantage then.

[Ben Ferguson]

So that moment will be played in a million campaign.

[Michael Knowles]

Yes, yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, it was the longest sustained applause of Republicans. We stood and we applauded, and we applauded. And he just looked over. He stepped away from the Western with amazement, watching them. And the ad writes itself, they're for illegals and not for you. And they were given that choice. Do you stand with Americans or do you stand with illegals and the entire party. No, we are the party of illegal aliens and not the party of Americans.

[Michael Knowles]

It was shocking. So then he doubles down on. I'm skipping around a little bit in time because it escalates.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, by the way, he noticed a trend. He noticed. This is gonna be the trend of my speech. Like, I don't think he planned it this whole. Like, you guys aren't going to stand for that. It was the moment. And then it hit. And then it was like, I'm going to keep doing this tonight to show Americans how crazy these guys are on the left. That's how it came across on tv.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, he.

[Michael Knowles]

He landed it on the. The transgender ideology.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Michael Knowles]

Kid who had been transed, and it destroyed his family. And then the kid finally ended up in the right place. And the.

[Ben Ferguson]

The.

[Michael Knowles]

He said, isn't that wonderful? The family's reunited and everyone's flourishing. And the Dems wouldn't stand. And that was when he dealt the blow. He said, these people are crazy. And that, too, lit it up. Now, where it got a little dark. But it was the same strategy or was the same tactic, I suppose, is when he started bringing up violence. And he obviously turns to Erica Kirk, this national hero, perhaps the most sympathetic figure in the entire country, certainly up there. And the Democrats didn't want to stand for Charlie. They didn't want to stand for Erica again. That itself is disgraceful. But he even gave them an out. He said, we are a country where we say in God we trust and we reject political violence of all kinds. And I was looking over. Some Democrats stood for that.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'd say more than half. On the political violence. I looked, and it was probably 60, 70%.

[Michael Knowles]

Think about that.

[Ben Ferguson]

But a third did not.

[Michael Knowles]

What an indictment.

[Ben Ferguson]

A third did not.

[Michael Knowles]

A third would not stand for we reject political violence of all kinds. It was, I felt, a disaster of optics for Democrats and a disaster of morals.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and on the. We don't stand for political violence. The reason two thirds stood is Schumer stood. By the way, have you ever noticed how much Chuck Schumer looks like the villain in the Smurfs? What's the name? I don't even remember the name of the villain. Like the curved over, like, you know, he's hunched. He has kind of a hunchback.

[Michael Knowles]

Maybe Penguin from Batman was what I got.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, but.

[Ben Ferguson]

But he sort of.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, I. I couldn't agree with you more. By the way, you guys are in there, so you may not know this, so I may break news to you. Did you guys see what Rashid Talib was chanting while everyone was chanting usa. USA at one of the points in the speech?

[Michael Knowles]

No.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

She was chanting kkk. Kk. Kk.

[Michael Knowles]

Really? Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, you know, truth in advertising. Credit, Credit.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I don't know if you can see, but let's be our good friend Steve guess. Put it out there. Watch Democrat. Representative Talib, she's chanting KKK while everyone else is cheering usa.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, let's be honest. The KKK was founded by Democrats. It was almost exclusively populated by Democrats. Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Klan, was a delegate, a delegate to the DNC National Convention in 1860. He was a national delegate. And you look at the Klan was founded by Democrats. Jim Crow laws were founded by Democrats. Segregation was enforced by Democrats. They have been the party of racial bigotry the entire history. And by the way, our party, I mean, we often refer to our party as the party of Lincoln, but we were literally founded to abolish slavery.

[Michael Knowles]

Right.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's why the Republican Party came together. And by the way, we did. The first Republican president is who signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, you know, on racial animus. And Rashida Tlaib did you see, I don't know if you caught this, but when President Trump said what a wonderful thing, we released all the hostages. We got the hostages released, both dead and alive. We returned even their remains. And most people stood up. I looked. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib were sitting down.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep. Yeah. And by the way, at one point, they heckled when there was a reference to the end of the war in Gaza. They heckled and screamed genocide. I mean, that's. That's who their party is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and look at tonight, there was four Democrat responses like, that's not good for your party when you're that broken.

[Ben Ferguson]

For who were the four?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So you had one in Spanish. You had one that was a progressive radical. You had one that was the, like the next level moderate. And then you had the Virginia governor. You had four official responses.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm going to have to disagree with you. I don't even know who they were. But there are four who were progressive radicals.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, I agree with you. Yes, I'm giving you their official statement. But they literally had, hey, depending on how crazy you are, if you're a Marxist, socialist, communist, or a radical lefty or like the transgender or maybe just like a normal Democrat, here's all of your responses for you, and we'll have all of those for you.

[Ben Ferguson]

So right after the State of the Union, I did Hannity, and as I was sitting there waiting to go on, Fox wouldn't put Hannity on air until Spamberger finished her response. So I sit down and put my earpiece in, and it's just her voice screeching and loud. And I turn to Hannity and I said, sean, I haven't led nearly a wicked enough life to deserve to listen to this. And so I just turned the volume off. I'm like, I can't. There's just a limit to how much pain I can endure.

[Michael Knowles]

But you know what's very telling about Spanberger is you had Andy Beshear come out, who is a serious presidential candidate, Kentucky governor, and he said, spanberger is the model for Democrats in the midterms, which means, translation, they will run as moderates.

[Ben Ferguson]

It means lie.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

They'll lie, they'll lie.

[Michael Knowles]

They'll run as moderates, and they will immediately enact the most radical leftist agenda you could maybe imagine.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Michael, I love, by the way, I know you're a man of the people and you do all of your own yard work, but if you lived in

[Ben Ferguson]

Virginia, how many people here are wearing French cuffs?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That would be only that guy right there. I just want to be tucked them in the one where the big cloud of smoke that just went up in the Air. That would be that guy's cufflinks. Yeah, that's the one there. So they're there.

[Ben Ferguson]

Look. It is impressive because at Yale he wore a cravat.

[Michael Knowles]

I'm going more populist as I age,

[Senator Ted Cruz]

and I will say Michael had designer before we knew what those were.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay.

[Ben Ferguson]

But I'm also impressed because Ben at Ole Miss never wore pants. So. So we're kind of reaching a kind of middle ground.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Even though actually a man of the people, a man of Prada and Gucci, it just. It is, it is what it is. No, but like in Virginia, they've gone so crazy. They're, they're, they, they literally have laws written right now that she's in favor of to ban gasoline powered weed eaters and blowers, and then they're putting a 10% tax on electric blowers. So they're going to charge you even more to be green. That's Virginia.

[Ben Ferguson]

I love that the President brought up that. To shovel snow in New York under my. You need two forms of id, which I actually had been advising. I think humor is a really powerful way to drive this point. And I think that. And also the fact that Jon Ossoff, to get to his rally against photo ID for voting, you had to show an ID show. Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You had to show photo id. Yeah.

[Michael Knowles]

This, I think, was the key, I mean, really the reason that the State of the Union succeeded. And I agree it was one of Trump's best speeches. The Warsaw speech in the first term was also an excellent speech, but this was up there. And I think the reason it succeeded was the President had to reassure voters who voted for him en masse. You know, he won the popular vote. He had to reassure them that we are still the party of normal, of safety, of flourishing, of.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Of sanity.

[Michael Knowles]

Of sanity. Where I think some voters. You have this question after the Minneapolis immigration enforcement. Why is it that voters still support mass deportations but oppose ICE to porting people? You know, that's kind of a contradiction. Why is it that the fundamentals of the economy are looking pretty good? You know, record high stock market, pretty good inflation, pretty good job numbers, pretty good GDP could have been better if not for the government shutdown that the Dems gave us. Why is it that they're a little. The voters are a little worried about the economy, but the economy seems to be doing well. It's this fear that we're in a precarious moment. And so I think both sides went into this saying we want to be the party of stability, of security, of Normal of flourishing. That's why Hakeem Jeffries told the Democrats, hey, be cool. And if you can't be cool, don't show up.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, I think it's. Of course, Al Green got thrown out of here.

[Michael Knowles]

Al Green couldn't resist.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

At least he had a big sign that he got to walk around with.

[Ben Ferguson]

Right?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He felt just.

[Ben Ferguson]

Apparently so. And his sign said, blacks aren't apes. Yeah. And I turned. I was sitting next to Todd Young, and I said, wow. Is Al Green protesting Gavin Newsom?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Like it, by the way. Gavin Newsom. He's like the perfect Democrat. Made in the laboratory. Yeah. An idiot.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Who says racist?

[Ben Ferguson]

Open racist. Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Who says racist?

[Ben Ferguson]

Who goes in front of a crowd of African Americans and goes, I'm just like you. You're stupid. And I am, too.

[Michael Knowles]

Unbelievable.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And I can't read.

[Ben Ferguson]

I got a 960 on the SAT, which, by the way, Michael got a 960 on the verbal portion of his set.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And yes, I know it's only 800, but. But. But still.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes, I. I love that. You just had to geek out and show the geeks that, you know, the max is an 800 there, to be clear. I can't remember. I took the damn thing and I can't remember what it was.

[Ben Ferguson]

Anyone doubt I was a geek?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, that's.

[Michael Knowles]

I know.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I just. We have to remind you, though, every once in a while that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's be clear on things like that. I pop Michael. Mostly because my own vulnerabilities are so glaring on that.

[Michael Knowles]

No, listen, the admission rate for Princeton, I think.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Hold on, let's be clear. Both of you know your scores right? By heart. What you made, what were you. Michael, don't lie.

[Michael Knowles]

It was higher than Gavin Newsom's, I'll tell you that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, what was it? I want to know. I want to know what it was.

[Michael Knowles]

Do you want to know the irony? I'll tell you the irony of my essay.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, I can't. This is. This is him delaying the brilliance. Keep going.

[Michael Knowles]

I did. I did get on the math and the verbal. I got a perfect score.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's what I was.

[Michael Knowles]

However, you don't want to know the irony. There was, at that time, the writing component.

[Ben Ferguson]

There was a writing thing that they

[Michael Knowles]

added that was kind of optional or experimental. And the funny thing is, I did not get a perfect score. I actually don't remember the exact. It was less. It was the 680 or something. But the funny thing is.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's the thing.

[Michael Knowles]

I went into and my most famous book has no words in it.

[Ben Ferguson]

So it ended up.

[Michael Knowles]

It ended up working out just fine.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

TC what was yours?

[Michael Knowles]

Newsome.

[Ben Ferguson]

I am gonna decline to answer on the advice accounts.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, wow.

[Ben Ferguson]

Because I am in elected politics and running around, like, squawking about your SAT score.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Did you have two questions on the three categories, like, michael, I just want to know we can release that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did you have score any of that? I did not. And I did well on the test. But I am. I'm just telling you, I may not know much about politics, but I am quite certain it is dumb as hell. This was my SAT score to prove

[Senator Ted Cruz]

how much of a man of the people I am. I walked in and took the test. I forgot my. My calculator. And I looked at the lady that does the test, and I said, what is the minimum for NCAA requirements? Can I do it without a calculator? And she goes, I'm intrigued to see if you can. And I was above the NCAA minimum without a calculator. And I took it once, and the score came in, and my mom was furious when it came in the mail. She's like, you're taking it again? She was so mad, I forgot my. Remember the TI83 or whatever. It was like, you know, like the calculator you took with you. And I was like, I forgot it that my mom's an educator. She was like, you're taking it? I was like, no, I'm not. I'm above the minimum for NCAA requirements. That's all I care about. And that way, I took it once.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, so I'm going to tell you SAT LSAT story. So when I show up at college, my first job, I worked at Princeton Media Services videotaping things. And, like, I run and operate a video camera and, like, videotape all sorts of different programs and things. And that paid either seven or eight bucks an hour. And then I got hired by the Princeton Review to teach the Satisfaction, which was a much better job because it paid 15 bucks an hour. And so I'm like, hot diggity damn, I could do that math. And 15 is better than 7. So for like a year or two, I taught the sat. I guess a year. And then I'm like, wait, there's no margin in teaching the sat. I've already taken it. And I knew I wanted to go to law school, so I went to the course and said, hey, can I teach the lsat? And so they paid me to train me to teach the lsat, which was useful because I had to in fact, teach the lsat. So when I was a sophomore in college, I was teaching the lsat. And the students would say, well, what score did you get?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It sounds like I'm taking daycare right now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, no, no, it was. There were real classes. But the hysterical story is, so I taught the LSAT for a year, and then so junior year, we're taking the lsat. And you guys both know my college roommate, who was my law school roommate. And other than Heidi, my best in the world. David Panton.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Jamaican, incredibly talented, became Barack Obama, was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. David was the second black president of the Harvard Law Review. So. But when David and I are in college, we're both taking the lsat. The night before the lsat, David and I, like complete morons. Did I mention that we were like 19 or 20, I guess 20. We stayed up all night playing Nintendo. We literally did not sleep. We pulled an all nighter playing Mario Brothers on Nintendo.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This story checks out, by the way.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay?

[Ben Ferguson]

The LSAT was in Newark. So I had a. My first car was a green 78 Ford Fairmont.

[Michael Knowles]

Right?

[Ben Ferguson]

So I drove us to Newark. We take the LSAT, it was at 8am so we leave at like 6, 6:30, go sit for the test. It's like four hours or so. So we're coming home, coming back to college at like one in the afternoon. And we're driving back and I said, so, David, how did it go? And he said, well, during one of the sections, I put my head down and fell asleep. And he said, I woke up with two minutes left and I just filled out B for every question. And he turns to me and says, do you think B is the right answer? And so it turns out you can cancel your LSAT score on the spot if you want to see. What happened? Just canceled the score. And so the poor guy had to take it again. And then he did. Well, the second time he took it, but he literally. I laughed so hard I almost crashed the car. But. But I ended up keeping him up all night and making him fall asleep during the L. Sat.

[Michael Knowles]

What if all the answers were B?

[Ben Ferguson]

They could have been.

[Michael Knowles]

He might have missed out on the perfect score.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He could have the perfect score.

[Michael Knowles]

The Newsom thing is really frustrating because right now he is the leading candidate for the Democrats, I think, without question.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And I'm so happy he is.

[Michael Knowles]

By the way, at the Munich Security conference, Newsom's still the leading candidate. And on the one hand, he has these social media posts where he's sitting there performatively reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. Performatively reading all these books that are.

[Ben Ferguson]

But by the way, are you aware that Newsom lit himself on fire in a social media exchange about Verdict?

[Podcast Advertiser]

No.

[Ben Ferguson]

So coming back from Munich, we did a whole show on Munich, lighting up AOC and lighting up Newsom. And Newsom in Munich said, donald Trump is the first president in history to federalize the National Guard. And so on Verdict, I said, gavin Newsom is historically illiterate.

[Michael Knowles]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

And actually you talked about it on your show.

[Michael Knowles]

I defended your use of the English language properly.

[Ben Ferguson]

And so I said that. And then he tweeted out. He said, calling someone who's dyslexic illiterate is a new low even for Cruz.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And mind you, who knew he was dyslexic? I didn't know that until he sent out. To this day. Yeah. Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

For a guy that then also claims on a white podcast he can read a 300 page book in two hours. Don't forget, that came out as well. So. So for being majorly dyslexic.

[Ben Ferguson]

Right. But then. So we actually had twin responses. So my staff came up with a response with a gift from Zoolander. And I wrote a response and said something like, I didn't say you couldn't read, you clown. I said you were historically illiterate because you apparently have no idea about the civil rights movement and the fact that Eisenhower federalize the National Guard. And this is actually a cool. I think this is the first tweet I've ever sent that was partially written by AI. So I went to Google and I just typed in Eisenhower federalizing National Guard. Yeah. And instantaneously, several paragraphs pop up that are beautifully researched. And so I cut and pasted one of them that said on date. And I didn't know the date. You know, Eisenhower signed executive order number. And I didn't know the executive order number, but it was like this beautifully researched. So the second half of the tweet, I actually wrote that tweet while playing hoops. So as you guys know, I play hoops twice a week. So it was like in between games on my phone, I like type the first half, put it, put it in the air.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Were you the last. Wait, wait, wait.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wait.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Timeout, timeout.

[Michael Knowles]

I got it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You opened up something there. You said in between games, were you the odd man out?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I lost.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Did you?

[Ben Ferguson]

I lost.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay. You lost. I just want to get that on the right. Michael, did you hear what he said? Michael, can you make sure his mic's working. He just. Did he say he lost? I just want to be very clear.

[Michael Knowles]

I think that was recorded, in fact.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay, got it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, yeah. I'm glad that we got that. That was worth staying up late for. Just that right there. Keep going with your story, sir. This is getting good.

[Ben Ferguson]

So. But when I sent my tweet, my social media team was all mad, and they're like, wait, we like our Zoolander tweet? And I said, no, no, put them both out.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And let's have an experiment. Let's see who wins, who gets more. Like. Like, you've got mine, and, you know, you guys. And so it was close. I only beat them by 250%, so they got, I think, 400,000 engagements, and I got 1.1 million. But I will confess making an admission on this. Although they didn't get nearly the reach, the comments on the Zoolander gif, the people that saw it way better loved it.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, they're just, like, best tweet in the history of the Internet. Like, they were. So I think it was a smaller niche audience. Yeah. But the ones it hit, it really hit.

[Michael Knowles]

That's good.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's almost like as good as when you were the Zodiac Killer. Maybe you still are, but, you know, those. Those never make me not laugh.

[Ben Ferguson]

What do you mean, when I was the Zodiac?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, exactly.

[Michael Knowles]

I have the statute of limitations recently, but I think you're safe now, so you can.

[Ben Ferguson]

Do you know that in 2016, an actual poll done in the state of Florida found 38% of Floridians believed that I could be the Zodiac Killer? I still believe, to be clear, the Zodiac Killer killed at least five people in Northern California in the late 1960s. I was born in 1970.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And yet nearly half of Floridians believed I could be the Zodiac Killer.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. Yeah, that's.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You could have lied about your age. You could have lied about your age. This is how conspiracies begin.

[Ben Ferguson]

I did have one. One rally where this kid had a sign. He's, like, 20, and he had a sign that said, are you the Zodiac Killer? And I went up to him, I put my hand on his shoulder. I said, son, if I was the Zodiac Killer, would you really want to be here with that sign right now? Yeah.

[Michael Knowles]

You know, this actually was the point, which is how we got onto Newsom, the sign. I don't know if you guys saw the memes that were going around. So I lost a bet on this. I bet that the Democrats would not have a member ejected from the speech. I thought they might have asked or something.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Did you actually believe that, though?

[Michael Knowles]

I didn't think that. I thought they would listen to Hakeem Jeffries and try to chill, but they can't. Green has no chill, so he opens up.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, there's a very real chance Al Green loses his Democrat primary a week from now.

[Michael Knowles]

Really?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, really. He's actually in jeopardy. And so I think the antics were partially. Of course, he did his antics last year, like waving his cane, which like to embody a grumpy old man, like, get off my lawn, you kids.

[Michael Knowles]

It's perfect. But he made a real optical error, which is he unfurled the sign, which, from my angle in the gallery, I could not see. So I said, what's he saying? And I guess the sign said, black people aren't apes. But the problem was the way he was holding looked like it said R.

[Ben Ferguson]

It looked like it said R. The

[Michael Knowles]

one that I saw maybe one of those said that, too. The one I saw said, black people rent apes. Which was like an unfortunate. Any way you slice it, these are very unfortunate optics. And I thought, you know, the Democrat leader in the House asked one thing. He said, hey, guys, please don't look crazy during the speech. And as the President is walking into the room, Al Green unfurls this sign. And I thought, you have the discipline of a fruit fly. Like, there is no chance they didn't make it five minutes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

They're insane. All right, I have to ask you guys being there, because one of the best lines of the whole speech that was just one of those little kind of tit for tat lines, but it worked, was when he was talking about insider trading, and then he said Nancy Pelosi's name. And it was amazing on tv, because if you didn't know the story, you immediately went to go.

[Ben Ferguson]

Every one of us was.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, ever.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And I was, too. But, like, if you didn't know and then you saw the reaction and. And you heard the. The hissing boot, whatever it was in the hall. I don't know exactly what they were saying. It was like they were like, you can't say her name like that. You know? Then everybody went and Googled insider trading. Nancy Pelosi. And then they learned about the story. Like, they literally helped him sell his. The story. What was the reaction from. Were Democrats mad or what was the reaction?

[Michael Knowles]

You were on the floor.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, look, they. They were mad constantly. So is there one? I will say, though, there's a difference from this year and last year. So last year they went through the entire State of the Union and they didn't applaud. They didn't applaud when Trump walked in, they didn't applaud for anything. They just sat there stone faced and heckled and waved their K Nano. This year, before the State of the Union, I actually went to several Democrats and I asked them, I said, okay, are you guys going to applaud for the US Hockey team? Like, come on. And they all said yes. In fact, several of them had an expletive. They said f yes. And I said, look, to be clear, last year you didn't applaud for a kid with cancer.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Is that a crazy question? Okay. One of the Democrats, who I actually like, he's, I'm not going to identify, but he's got a good sense of humor. I said that to him and he said, yeah, we hate kids with cancer. Which was like, all right, like, don't argue, just kind of own it and be. I'm like, all right, well, well played.

[Michael Knowles]

They did it again this year, by the way. There was a little girl who couldn't walk, who now might be able to walk. And it was same thing. A good chunk of Democrats would not. I guess they were trying to play the stoic card. It did not read, at least from my vantage. I thought it looked really callous because there was no unity within the party, so there was no clear messaging. Look, it all seemed pretty disastrous. The question then I have, as a proper conservative who is always looking for the downside of things just to temper my jubilation.

[Ben Ferguson]

Do you think.

[Michael Knowles]

I think universally the speech was viewed as quite good, quite effective. Does it make a meaningful difference in the midterms?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, I think it does. All right, lay out why, and I'll tell you why. This speech was the things that irritate Republican slash moderate voters about Trump, that it's all about him. And he doesn't know when to, you know, the mean tweets and to, when to shut up and, and, and the things that irritate those that can stay home watching. His demeanor tonight, he came across in such a way of like, these guys don't want this. These guys don't put you first. These guys don't do this. He also was giving incredible accolades and, and awards and the U.S. h. There was momentum there. It was one after another. It was a 100-year-old man, a veteran. It was the guy who was flying the helicopter, the Chinook, and telling his story. He was praising what makes America great and the people that make America great. I actually think that if you are a moderate voter, someone maybe a Republican, that traditionally stays home during the midterms, I actually think that this speech landed with you more than any other speech of Trump, the way it played on tv. I think it also is going to land on the economic issues of him reminding the no tax on tips, the no tax on overtime. I'm trying to make life more affordable, the gas prices. Those are things that I actually think will. You know, they've been hammering him on approval ratings at 40 this or 39 or 38, depending on what poll. I think he gets a bump that actually stays because he landed it so well in the audience. And he looked really calm. He looked really just like, I'm doing this because I want to fix the country. And other speeches haven't come across that way always.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Let me agree with you in that. I think the message tonight was the record of the last year. The record of the last year, I believe is objectively phenomenal. And I've been in The Senate now 14 years. We've never had a year where we've accomplished even a few fraction of what you did this year has been accomplished in the last year. I mean, it is staggering. And he did a good job. You know, we talked about on the last pod, how, how I spent 30, 40 minutes on the phone with, with Trump last week. And one of the things we talked about was messaging for the midterms. And I said, listen, we need to focus on results, on the very real Results. Securing the border, 99% drop in illegal crossings. And then I encouraged him. A message that's not getting the attention it should is the impact on crime.

[Michael Knowles]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Amen.

[Ben Ferguson]

Murder rates have dropped 20%. Drug overdose deaths have dropped 20%. There are literally thousands of Americans who are alive today because Trump was elected and Republicans won Congress.

[Michael Knowles]

That's a great message.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. And that's been lost. And I was really happy. Like the first 20 minutes of the speech were laying out that message and going through murder rates and crime rates and DC Rates and like how unhappy the Democrats were that crime rates had plummeted in D.C. and New Orleans and your hometown of Memphis.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Memphis, yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And the Democrats were furious that fewer people are being murdered.

[Michael Knowles]

They wouldn't stand up en masse for murder declining. You know this. I was looking at the polls in aggravating of the polls from just January and February leading into this.

[Ben Ferguson]

And to be fair, the pro murder community in America is pretty small.

[Michael Knowles]

It is. Look, it's a constituency, but it's not the one you want. And so I was looking at this aggregate of polls, Marist, pbs, a handful of others, and the hard fact, I spoke to some members of Congress about this today, the hard fact is Republicans are underwater on the economy, on economic perception. I think you could put, could turn it around. But right now we're a little bit underwater on health care. Democrats always win on health care and on defense of democracy, or it's kind of a contrived category. But anyway, they win on that. So the ones that we're winning on right now quite decisively are immigration and border enforcement, even more so now the border is shut down and especially on crime. So the key, it seems to me, is one, that tells you people are concerned about safety and two, if you can tie all of that together, the crime relates obviously to illegal immigration. That's why it's called illegal. And the housing prices, even all the way to the, you know, the fact that you have six months consecutive decline on housing prices coinciding with mass deportation

[Ben Ferguson]

with 2 million people being deported, and that's just less demand.

[Michael Knowles]

That's right.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, by the way, like, a couple of weeks ago, the Houston Chronicle had a front page story that said murder rates in Houston have declined 18%.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yep.

[Ben Ferguson]

And Heidi showed me the article because she knew it would piss me off

[Senator Ted Cruz]

because we talked about this the other day.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, the article, the Chronicle says nobody can figure out why. It's completely inexplicable. The experts we talk about have no idea why the murder rate is dropping. And it, like, doesn't occur to them that arresting and deporting murderers and gang bangers will reduce the murder rate. Like, like it's not. This is not rocket science.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Fewer murderers means fewer murders. But yet to Democrats, that makes no sense to them. Yeah. And so that message was good. I also liked on no tax on tips that he had the mom who was the waitress stand up and he said between no tax on tips and no tax on overtime, she's going to take home 5,000 more dollars this year than last year. That was real and it's not abstract. And by the way, the Democrats wouldn't applaud for her like the mom waiting tables. They're not rooting for her and they want to take that $5,000.

[Michael Knowles]

And that's real money. $5,000 is real money. It's not some abstraction. So nuts and bolts. If this was a speech obviously geared at the midterms, do you think it

[Ben Ferguson]

moves the needle, if you keep message discipline of focusing on it. Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way. Yes. Yesterday morning, you and I have been talking about this. I had breakfast with Speaker Johnson, and you talk about the reason why I think this one sticks. There is a very real sense that Republican leadership have our act together for once that we haven't had in a long time. I also think that matters. Speaker Johnson understands he basically has a 1, 1, 1 person majority he does not want to have. And President Trump doesn't want to have the Democrats take over the House. It is insanely slim. And I think they're working so well together, the same way, Senator, that you work so well with the president. There does seem to be that we're actually on the same team for once. I've not experienced that many times in my life in the Republican Party. Like, there's always the infighting. We always know how to screw it up when we get power. There's different people jockeying for positions. There does seem to be a little bit of momentum now that we're on the same team going the midterms. That's the other reason I think this speech will continue in the momentum, because you have Johnson and others advocating, look, I hope so.

[Ben Ferguson]

To play devil's advocate. We're a very divided country. And so the people who hate Trump still hate him after this speech, for sure. They're not actually listening. And so I do think, Ben, you focused on the right area, which is the people who voted for him in 24, but may be demoralized by the press narrative that has been driven. And to the extent this focuses them on, wow, we're winning some big, big victories. I also really liked, look, the no tax on tips emphasis. I liked because I wrote that, that bill, and I really liked his emphasis on the Trump accounts, because as you guys know, I wrote that, too. And the Democrats wouldn't applaud for that.

[Michael Knowles]

Sorry, I actually have to pause here because I'm sitting in the upper part of the gallery to the right. If you're the president pointing and you didn't get, everyone was standing up at certain moments. That was one where I bolted up and other people were kind of slower. I think they didn't quite process what the Trump accounts meant. I'm really into the Trump accounts. Like, Trump accounts, I think are such a white pill, you know, focusing on families, which is an existential issue. It's so practical. And I'm gonna confess something. I should follow this professionally. I'm supposed to follow this closely. I did not know that you were pushing the trump accounts that you were.

[Ben Ferguson]

I wrote it.

[Michael Knowles]

Unbelievable. I should have known, but I didn't know.

[Ben Ferguson]

In fact, do you wanna hear the story of the origin of the trump accounts? It's a cool story. I've told it on the pod, but not in a while. So they originated from a poker game in Vegas. So, as you guys know, I like poker.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way, Michael, were you invited to this poker night? I just want to be clear about this.

[Michael Knowles]

I'm very offended, but I wasn't there either. I'm very. I was not invited to the poker night.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay, neither was I. All right, we're on the same team again. Keep going, Sender.

[Ben Ferguson]

It was a poker game for political donors. If you guys want to write me a check, I'll invite you to the poker game.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay, so now he's saying, we're poor.

[Michael Knowles]

My trump.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Poor people now rich podcasters.

[Ben Ferguson]

So, you know, you ought to be able to write a check.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Michael, if you and I ever have a poker game, I think we will. We'll organize it next time. We'll invite the center in advance. You agree with that?

[Michael Knowles]

We're very generous people.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes, we are. We're very kind podcasters. Keep going with your story.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, so I do a poker fundraiser, typically in April in Vegas. And so not last April, but two Aprils ago, I was there, and. And typically several poker pros will come. I'm buddies with a number of the poker pros. And so we're sitting at the Bellagio 3 in the morning, and Phil Hellmuth, who's one of the greatest poker players to have ever lived, Phil would tell you he is the greatest poker player to ever live. And he's got a real argument to it. He's got, I think, 15 bracelets. So it's crazy.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's a lot.

[Ben Ferguson]

So we're sitting there playing poker, and he asked me. He says, hey, do you know Brad Gerstner? And at the time, I didn't. I'm like, yeah, who's he? And he's a very successful venture capitalist in Silicon Valley. And he has this idea that was called Invest America. And I'm like, what's that? And Phil describes it for a minute, and I said, hey, that sounds like something I'd be really interested in. And so Phil pulls out his phone and he puts together a text thread and connects me and Brad and says, you two should talk. You would really like each other. The next week, Brad gets on a plane, flies to D.C. comes to my office, and pitches the Invest America accounts. I immediately called my policy team in and said, let's start drafting this. So we drafted the legislation. Now Brad has said for months he had talked to a bunch of other senators and none of them did a damn thing. He talked to them and they'd all kind of nod and be like, yeah, yeah, that's a great idea. And then no one would do anything. We sat down and wrote the bill. That is the bill that is Trump accounts. It was my bill that we wrote. And it is literally the case that if Phil Hellmuth does not connect me with Brad Gerstner, April a year ago, there are no Trump accounts. And the American, the kids of America do not have trillions in investments, which is what they're going to have through Trump accounts.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, this is Michael. Michael. You know what I heard there, by the way? I heard that. Could you imagine the bills that could have been written if you, Michael and I were there at that table?

[Michael Knowles]

I know.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I mean, the ideas we could have come up with, we could have cured cancer. Maybe at this point.

[Michael Knowles]

We could have ended the 9th and 10th wars. That could have added to the record.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes, we could have. State Department, the ending of the Michael and Ben wars. I like this.

[Michael Knowles]

You know, the thing that I love about the Trump accounts in particular from the Republican coalitional standpoint is, you know, the right always has all these different ideological factions because we're more independent thinkers and the left has progressives and very progressives and John Fetterman, I guess. And we, you know, we kind of have all these divisions. And so one of the divisions that's come about in recent years, last five or 10 years, is people who are focused on more the common good, you know, kind of an Aristotelian view of politics. And people are more focused on the libertarian view that comes from classical liberalism up through, say, Hayek. And what I love about the Trump accounts is it actually marries the two. Yep, it's this beautiful. It just hits this sweet spot.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's good that.

[Michael Knowles]

No flattery. Cuz I actually didn't even know you were behind it. That is really good stuff. By the way.

[Ben Ferguson]

We had Brad on Verdict. No, no, he's. He's come on Verdict and talked about the whole idea and Brad came up with the idea with his two teenage sons and they spent years pushing it. And Brad was there and recognized by the President of the State of the Union. So Brad had put together a CEOs council behind the Invest America accounts and the chairman of it was Michael Dell. And Michael's a good friend of mine, he's a Texan. We spent a lot of time together, and the CEOs had all committed that they would contribute or match to Trump accounts. So there are two accelerators that are written into these Trump accounts that make them even more potent. Number one is that employers can contribute or match. And listen, when Congress passed section 401k of ERISA, nobody knew how fundamentally they were changing how Americans save for retirement. Today, there's more than $12 trillion in 401k accounts. Accounts. Trump accounts are 401ks for kids.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

So in very short order, you're going to see trillions of dollars in there. The two accelerators. One is that employers can contribute or match. And so all the employers on the CEO Council had already committed, we're going to contribute or match. This is going to become a ubiquitous, a standard employee benefit, just like a 401 contribution is a pretty standard employee benefit. You're going to see employers, we're already seeing a bunch who will match or contribute to the Trump accounts of the kids of their employees. So that accelerates massively. The second thing, and we deliberately wrote this so that it can accept philanthropy and it can accept charitable gifts. And as you know, Michael and Susan dell have given six and a quarter billion dollars, and what they've given is $250 for America's 250th birthday to every child in America under age 10 who lives in a zip code where the median income is 150,000 or less. And so we wrote it. So you can turn the dials. You can turn the dials geographically, you can turn the dials age wise, you can turn the dials income wise. So Michael's done that. Brad Gerstner has given $250 to every kid in Indiana under age 5 in zip codes with median income of 150,000 or less. And Ray Dalio, the hedge fund billionaire, has sponsored the kids in Connecticut.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's so cool.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I actually have talked to a number of gazillionaires, and Michael Dell and Brad are getting on zooms and talking to people with great wealth.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's awesome.

[Ben Ferguson]

Encouraging them, give your resources. And here Michael and I have talked at length about that. And one of the things that he got excited about. So look, Michael and Susan have between 100 billion and $200 billion. Like, it's a massive amount of money. And they're smart and responsible and. And so they've had serious conversations about how do you give away your fortune? And look, you look at People who've achieved great fortunes. They create a foundation. The foundation gets taken over by a bunch of Marxists who spend all their money undermining everything the founders believe every time, right. Henry Ford is rolling over in his grave. John D. Rockefeller is spitting in his grave. And one of the problems with that much money is it's hard to give it away. Most charities can't take a billion dollars. Like, it's too much money and it swamps them. So Michael and Susan have given six and a quarter billion dollars, but they've told me they are contemplating giving much, much more than that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's so cool.

[Ben Ferguson]

One of the things that's really powerful about these Trump accounts is they're infinitely scalable. They could literally absorb the entirety of Michael Dell's fortune and the fortune of every other gazillionaire. And what is really potent is the time value of investing. Look, if someone starts saving or investing when they're 60, it's hard for it to grow and accumulate enough to be really significant in by the time they retire. What makes the Trump account so incredibly potent is we're starting at age zero, we're starting at babies. So you've got a time horizon where the kids of a single mom waiting table can accumulate hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars. And so for philanthropy, the math is powerful. If you put another thousand dollars in at the outset, it really, really grows. And so that's something that is going to be really significant to speed these up. And the point Michael, you made, which got me really excited, is we're creating a new generation of capitalists.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Amen to that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Every kid will have skin in the game and be an owner of the biggest employers in America.

[Michael Knowles]

I thought this was a really important point the President touched on. Well, one, the Trump accounts just do that. So it gives people skin in the game. Even when the President pointed out only half of Americans have access to 401s.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Michael Knowles]

He said, we want to bring that

[Ben Ferguson]

other half of Americans, let them opt in to the thrift Savings plan. That's an idea I've talked with the President and the White House about. I think it's a brilliant idea. I strongly support it. I'm working on legislation to do that as well to codify that.

[Michael Knowles]

Great.

[Ben Ferguson]

Because it's. Look, the more you can create investors get people with equity. And one of the important things about how the administration is designing the Trump accounts app is that it is not gonna simply say you've got X dollars in the S&P 500. It's gonna break down every constituent stock they own within it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's awesome.

[Ben Ferguson]

So a 10 year old will be able to see, I own 100 bucks of Apple or Tesla or Ford or McDonald's. And they'll see. So a kid won't be rooting. I hate evil corporations. I want them to fail. They're gonna be like, wait, I own that corporation. I want them to do better. That changes their whole worldview. It makes them capitalist.

[Michael Knowles]

You know, even during one of the big crises of capitalism in the early 20th century, where you had real excesses of industrialization that created, you know, like child labor and all this stuff, there was this movement among serious Christian thinkers to try to resolve these tensions between capitalism and the working poor. And there were all these. Chesterton had a version with Belloc distributism, the whole point. And theirs didn't really work. But the whole point was you need people to really have a stake in the society, in following subsidiarity and all these principles that are so enshrined in the American system too. And this really does that. Where you think, oh, I have a stake in the corporations. I have a stake.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, I miss geeky cerebral academic stuff on the pod. I will say the sort of tenor of verdict has shifted. I don't know why. I can't imagine the cause. But I'm just saying, you know, I'm having a waft of nostalgia.

[Michael Knowles]

There's a little more. Chesterton comes in. Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All the people that just fell asleep, wake back up. I got you back. Keep going.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay. All right, all right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Wake up now. Our audience level just went like this. But we're back now. They're all awake again. Make your final point. Go ahead.

[Michael Knowles]

This key is really important because this is what really jazzed me about it. I don't like it when the right fractures into a million directions because, you know, I feel for Speaker Johnson. He has the worst job in all of politics.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Michael Knowles]

He has to herd a bunch of cats. They all have all sorts of views. They have all sorts of principles, some of which conflict with each other. And so it's hard to get the right to do anything together.

[Ben Ferguson]

And these kind of. He is a good and decent man. Yeah, he's a good friend.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He's doing an amazing job.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, he's. He's a. He's a wonderful guy and he's doing a great. He happens to also be doing a great job. But I just think what, what the President was speaking on, especially these kinds of issues, these are the kind of things that can actually rally the right together with moderate voters, frankly, even centralized, who don't want the crazy.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Final question for each of you quickly, as we are hitting about an hour here in our State of the Union coverage over under on the midterms now, how much better do you feel going at leaving the end of the night compared to going into the beginning of the speech tonight? How much more optimistic are you that we can hold the House?

[Michael Knowles]

Hold the House? It's going to be very hard, in my view, to hold the House. I would say, look, I feel I'll just pick a number. I feel 20% better. If the Republicans can stay on message, if the Republicans cannot devolve into petty infighting, if the Republicans can be disciplined, that's a lot of ifs in the way they campaign. These are all, you know, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. I still think historic headwinds, best of circumstances. The party in power, especially with unified government, loses the House in the midterms. However, I think that the president did any every single thing possible to put the party in an advantage heading into November.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator.

[Ben Ferguson]

And look, my view right now, the political environment is rough.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

If the election were today, it would not be a great outcome. We are nationally in about a D +6 environment. What that means it is where polling is. Nationally is about 6 points more Democrat than it was on election day in 2024. If we're in a D +6 environment, we lose the House and the Senate is potentially in jeopardy.

[Michael Knowles]

Crazy.

[Ben Ferguson]

If the election were today, that would be a real possibility. The good news is we got eight months and the substantive record is phenomenally good. It's not just a little bit good, it is insanely good. And so tonight was encouraging because Trump focused most of his time on laying out methodically that substantive record and just how good it is and what we have to do. I mean, I do like that we have eight months. Most Americans don't know all these victories we're winning.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Exactly.

[Ben Ferguson]

And so our task is communicate the victories that are making a real difference in people's lives. But the good news is we have a monster amount of substance to talk about. We just need to talk about it. And I think if we make that case, we could certainly keep the House and the Senate and grow our majorities in both.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

There you go.

[Ben Ferguson]

Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.

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