← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Having Lunch w Trump, DHS Inspector General Calls out Biden Admin's Deficient "Vetting" of Illegal Immigrants & Will Joe Pardon Hunter?
00:38:43
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- [00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Nice to have you with us. And Senator, you had a very interesting day spending some time with former President Donald Trump and some of your colleagues. And I want to get your reaction to that.
- [00:17]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. It is 1:29 in the morning right now. I just landed back in Texas. So I'm back home. Always glad to be back home, always. But today I had lunch with President Trump. He came by and he had lunch with all the Republican senators. Before that, he met with all the Republican House members. I'm going to tell you about that lunch and what all happened. Second, we're going to talk about a new inspector general report from the Department of Homeland Security that blows the whistle that the Biden administration is not vetting the illegal immigrants they're releasing. They're not vetting them. And it's leading to what we saw just this week, terrorists being released into this country who are preparing to commit major terrorist attack. We're going to address that as well. And finally, we're going to talk about what's going to happen with Hunter Biden. And in particular, Joe Biden has said that he will not pardon his son, but he is not committed, that he will not commute the sentence. We're going to talk about what is likely, what Biden is likely to do about his son. And we're going to get into that.
- [01:23]
Ben Ferguson
I want to do, I want to do a verdict live from Vegas just so we can get some good odds on that one. Senator, I think we can make some serious cash off of those promises coming from the White House. We need to do a studio audience live there. Everybody get on the action. It's going to be I'll put a.
- [01:38]
Senator Ted Cruz
Dollar on damn near any bet. Bet.
- [01:40]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. There you go. I love it. Let me talk to you real quick about the economy. And with inflation still well above the Fed's target and interest rates still at a, what, two decade plus? Hi. Right now people are looking for ways to protect their hard earned money. And one way many are doing this all over the world right now is with gold and silver. Now, there are a lot of gold and silver companies out there, but you want to make sure that you maximize your savings and your investments. And that means finding a reputable company that you can work with. I want you to know about Freedom Gold usa. The number one reason why I recommend them is for this reason, on average, they charge 25 to 30% less than most major gold and silver firms. What does that mean? That means you're maximizing your hard earned dollars and getting 25 to 30% more gold or silver in your account. Now, when it comes to buying gold and silver, you need someone you trust and you need to reach out to Freedom Gold usa. Freedom Gold USA is all about educating their clients on how to invest in precious metals. They will never tell you to put all your money in gold or silver. There's a lot of companies out there that do that every day. They do fear mongering. That is not what Freedom Gold USA is about. They understand that it's important to have a diversified financial portfolio. And when it comes to gold and silver, they want you to know that you have the right portfolio. Gold and silver have historically been great hedges against inflation, a great way to protect your hard earned retirement funds. So take control of your financial future now and save on average 25 to 30% less is what you're going to pay than most other major gold and silver firms. When you work with Freedom Gold USA, they're online at freedomgoldusa.com verdict. That's freedomgold USA.com verdict or call them 1-800-655-8843. That's 1-800-655-8883 and ask them about getting free silver in your account today. Senator, this was a very interesting moment on Capitol Hill. Donald Trump came and met with a lot of the Republican leadership. A lot of your colleagues were there. And the initial reports that came out were saying it was a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of excitement from the Republican leaders that were there. You were in the room. Tell us what was happening.
- [04:12]
Senator Ted Cruz
So I was. So Trump began the day by meeting with the House Republicans. I was not in that meeting. Some of the reports of that is that was a little bit wild and woolly that that got into all sorts of topics. But Trump came by the Senate to have lunch with us. And so we met at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is like three blocks away from the Capitol. And Trump joined us for the lunch. And it started, we're all sitting, sitting in a room. It started with him talking for about, oh, 20, 25 minutes. And then we did a whole series of Q and A where probably about a dozen of us asked him questions and he commented on those. And then we went out and we did a press conference where we stood, we all stood behind him and he stood up and gave the press conference. And listen, I got to say the biggest thing about the lunch that struck me was the unity in the room. Look, the media likes to talk about divisions in the Republican Party. And there are certainly some. But today, I didn't see any of that. Today, everyone in the room was focused on winning in November and turning the country around, and Trump was in great spirits. You know, one of the things I asked him after the meeting, I came up and spent a couple of minutes talking with him. I just asked, how are you doing? I mean, it's been this BS you're dealing with, with these New York convictions. They're utter garbage. But listen, it's not fun to be convicted of felonies. I mean, he's been through hell. And so, just as a personal level, I was asking him how he was doing, and he said he was doing fine. And it seemed real and genuine. I mean, he was not down in the dumps. He was not discouraged. In fact, he was really in good spirits. He was optimistic. And his message to everyone is, listen, let's stand together. And he emphasized several things. Number one, he emphasized the border, that we've got to secure the border, that it is insane, that we have open borders, that it's an invitation to terrorists. And he's exactly right. If and when Trump wins, we will secure the border in the first month or two of the next Trump administration. And I can say that because we know how to do it. We did it before, and we'll do it again. He also talked a lot about inflation and energy in particular. And he pointed out, quite rightly that energy is foundational to inflation. One of the reasons that prices have gone up on just about everything is that energy prices have skyrocketed because the Biden administration has been waging war on American energy. And we are an energy powerhouse. We're the number one producer of oil in the world. We're the number one producer of natural gas in the world. And the Biden administration is doing everything they can to. To stifle that. And Trump was very clear that we're going to reverse that. We will reverse that fast early next year, and that's going to have a real impact on energy prices and inflation across the board. We also talked about national security and in particular, how insane it is that the Biden administration has flowed $100 billion to Iran. And if and when Trump wins, that's going to end as well.
- [07:18]
Ben Ferguson
You mentioned a moment ago that there seemed to be unity in the room. That's incredibly important for getting legislation passed. Yes, and. And you need that. And we didn't have that type of unity. I. I would argue last time in 2016, early on, there was some Splinters. There was some divide divisiveness in the House and Senate side. What you seem to be describing this time is if Donald Trump is elected and Republicans have control of the House and Senate, it's game on from the. From January 2nd. There's not gonna be, you know, let's get to know each other time and have some meetings and maybe come over the White House, like there's an agenda and it's ready to go for the American people.
- [07:59]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, I think that's exactly right. And let me put it in broader context, which is yesterday, the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, came and had lunch with all the Republican senators. And by the way, that almost never happens. When Paul Ryan was Speaker, he didn't do that. When John Boehner was Speaker, he didn't do that. When Kevin McCarthy was Speaker, he didn't do that. Mike Johnson has done that this multiple times. This is either the third or fourth time he's come and had lunch with all the Senate Republicans. I think that's great. He was talking at lunch yesterday. He said, you know, it's amazing that the media treats it as a news story that the House and Senate are talking to each other. And the reason he came over and talked to us is he said he's focused on his end very much, on developing the agenda and the plans to hit the ground running if and when we win in November, if we come in to January of next year with a Republican president, Republican Senate, Republican House, we got an enormous amount to accomplish. And the speaker, to his credit, is very focused on the first hundred days. What can we accomplish? What can we do to change the path of the country? I encouraged him to dig in on that. In fact, I shared with the speaker and with everyone else in the room. You know, a lot of the senators that are there now were not there back in 2017 when Trump first became president. You know, the speaker said, look, when Trump first became president, he was a freshman, he was brand new in the Congress, and he was amazed that the Congress was not prepared with a legislative agenda from day one. And he pointed out that he thought a lot of Republicans were surprised that Trump won. They were expecting Hillary to win. And so when the administration came in, they weren't ready for primetime. They didn't know what to do in this instance. I'm very glad the speaker is trying to think proactively. And I described. I described something that I did back in the summer of 2018. So summer of 2018, we did a lunch with all the Senate Republicans, and I prepared a PowerPoint that was about 50 pages long. And I spoke to my colleagues probably the better part of an hour. And the title of the PowerPoint was Carpe Diem. And what I did in the PowerPoint is I looked in the past in previous instances when one party controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. It happens pretty rarely. When the Democrats do it, they fundamentally transform the country. So in the last century, the first time they did it, they passed the New Deal. The second time they did it, they passed the Great Society. The third time they did it, they passed Obamacare and Dodd Frank. And now for the last two years, we've seen they've spent us into an absolute inflation and recession hole. And on the other hand, Republicans, when we have unified control, we tend to do small and piddling things. So what I argued in the PowerPoint is, at the time I presented, it was August of 2018. I said, listen, any rational political observer recognizes that there's a very real chance that we will lose at least one House of Congress in November.
- [11:20]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [11:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
And I said to my colleagues, particularly the guys who were the sophomores, who were the people who had been elected two years earlier, and I said, look, for you guys, we have 183 days till the next Congress. For many of you, if we do not pass things now, you will never again have another chance to pass anything into law. And so I put together a spreadsheet. It was about 50 different bills. All of the bills had been written by different Republican senators. Some I had written, but most of them were my colleagues. And all of the bills were bills that had a reasonable prospect of garnering 51 votes. They weren't fringe things that would get 10 or 12 votes. They were all things that would easily get 45 Republicans and that had a real shot at getting 50. And what I argued is, I said, listen, this is going to sound radical to you, Ben. We should do something. We should not do nothing. Amazingly enough, that argument proved unpersuasive. Mitch McConnell said, well, so the principal avenue that if you look, the biggest legislative victory of the Trump years was the 2017 tax cuts. We passed that using what's called budget reconciliation. Budget reconciliation is a process under a bill called the budget act of 1975. The budget piece is not terribly consequential. What's consequential is, under the terms of the statute, you have an up down vote at 50 votes, and it can't be filibustered. So it's one of the most important exceptions to the filibuster. We could have. If you look at the Democrats, they did three budget reconciliations. It's how they passed almost all of their agenda that put us in this hole. When the Republicans had the majority, we did only one budget reconciliation. We did not do a single one in 2018, which, frankly, Ben, is indefensible. And so I made the case of the speaker and my colleagues, let's not make that mistake again. Let's hit the ground running.
- [13:41]
Ben Ferguson
This seems different. And even when I say different, there's also a lot of people behind the scenes that are working on putting together a Trump administration and a government and learning from the mistakes that happened in 2016. How encouraged are you by that? I mean, I've had quite a few people I know that I've talked to in many different areas of government who are saying, this just feels different. This time. We. We learn from our mistakes in 16. We learn from our inaction and people that we should have replaced and changed with conservative minds. And we've witnessed what happens when you do that. But this time, it's going to be different. That may be the thing I'm the most excited about, is if we had, like you mentioned, a House and Senate ready to go, but also many of the bureaucrats that have been changed out very quickly this time. That seems to be the plan.
- [14:35]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, in 2016, I think Trump's winning surprised a lot of people. It surprised a lot of Republicans in the Senate, surprised a lot of Republicans in the House. It frankly surprised the Trump campaign team, and I think it actually surprised Trump himself on Election Day. I think they were all a little bit startled that they had won, and suddenly, holy cow, we're gonna go do this now. And so it resulted in, when the administration came in, in the beginning of 2017, in Congress, Republican leadership in the House and Senate was not prepared with an agenda because they had assumed Hillary was going to win and they didn't need one. And the White House did not have the experience to know how to drive an agenda. There was no First Hundred Days mission. And you're right, there's a whole series of nonprofits that are engaged in laying out specific plans for executive orders, for regulations, for legislation. And whether it is the America First Policy Institute or the Heritage foundation or others, I think if and when Trump wins this November, we will hit January with a much, much better level of preparation to make a lasting difference immediately.
- [15:53]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, you mentioned the border, and I want to talk more about that in a moment. But first, I want to talk to you real quick. If you're a guy and you're like me and you've gotten a little bit older and you feel like you've lost that edge. You don't have the energy you used to have. Fatigue sits in quickly now you want to be active, you want to work out, but it's just not like it used to be. Well, the problem is very clear. It's men's testosterone levels are off a cliff historically at an all time low. And that's the problem that so many guys as they end up getting to their 40s and above end up having that major drop in testosterone. Well, thankfully the patriots of chalk Choq are helping real American men take back their right to proudly maximize their masculinity by boosting testosterone levels up to 20% over 90 days. Now I've been taking chalk's male vitality stack for over a year now. Here's the best part. I am now down about £60 from where I was a year ago. I've been taking chalk and I got to give it a lot of credit. It has given me that energy that I needed to get back into my routines of working out. Manufactured right here in the US of A. Chalk's natural herbal supplements are clinically proven and I witness this every day to have game changing effects on your energy, your focus and your mood. So if you're ready to get back in the game, if you're sick and tired of feeling sick and tired or just fatigued, then do what I did. Maximize your masculinity. @chalkchoq.com use the promo code verdict. You're going to get a massive discount on any subscription for life. That's choq.com promo code verdict for lifetime savings on any subscription, limited time offer and subscriptions are cancelable at any time. Choq.com promo code verdict. Let's deal with one aspect of the border real quick. Senator, you guys talked about that. It's something that, that really I think catapulted Trump to get the presidency in 16 when he, when he talked about building damn wall and it clicked with a lot of Americans. Now the president, Joe Biden the other day tried to help Mary and said all right, I'm gonna do some executive action here on the southern border. But a new poll reveals that Biden's border security move fails to satisfy voters as the crisis continues. In other words, the American people are saying we're not taking the bait this time. We, we, we, we are saying your executive order is pretty much worthless. It is not shutting down illegal crossings at the southern border this on top of the fact that we have now people that are on the terrorist watch list and those connected ISIS k that crossed the southern border and got into this country that way. And then they let them go. And so now they've been arrested in the last week. And then we got another warning center this week about we're not doing a good enough job vetting the people that are coming across that we are catching.
- [18:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. And listen, I think Democrats believe that the American people, the voters, are stupid and that they're easily deceived by an announcement that Biden's got an executive order to secure the border. Good, the problem's fixed. I don't think the voters are stupid. I think they've got an enormous amount of common sense. And at this point, anyone who is paying attention even a tiny bit knows that this invasion at our southern border is deliberate. It's what the Democrats want. It's what Joe Biden wants. It's what Kamala Harris wants. It's what every Democrat in the Senate and the House wants. I think people get that. And that's one of the challenges. The Biden campaign's trying to deceive them and saying, no, no, no, no, it's not Biden. He's trying to fix it. I don't think people are gonna buy that. But as you noted, just an additional piece of evidence that's really quite compelling and quite concerning is that there's a brand new report that came out this week from the Inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security. And the DHS Inspector general concludes, number one, that DHS has not been effectively screening non citizens and asylum seekers. Number two, that CBP can't access all federal data to complete thorough screening and vetting. And number three, the DHS Inspector General in the Biden administration concluded as following, quote, DHS will remain at risk of admitting dangerous persons into the country or enabling asylum seekers who may pose significant threats to public safety and national security, to continue to reside in the United States, end quote, until these challenges are addressed. This is a bombshell report from the inspector general. And so, of course, the corporate media is ignoring it altogether.
- [20:51]
Ben Ferguson
You look at this, there's so many warnings. And we've seen the FBI give their warnings, that the director there has given his warnings. And he says that it is a very concerning and real national security threat of the open southern border. You then put this, combined with ISIS and what you just talked about, and you have to ask yourself the question, who is to blame for being asleep at the wheel here? Or is it just Democrats say, look, we're willing to sacrifice some Americans, Some of you are going to die in a terrorist attack one day. But we got in 20 million new illegal immigrants, and that was worth it for us. How, how do you look at this subject now, knowing these warnings are coming now from people, I think, inside of our government under Biden, who are trying to cover their rear ends?
- [21:35]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, listen, in terms of Washington Democrats, the Democrats in the Senate and the House, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the executive branch, Ben, to be honest, I don't think they give a damn. I. I have seen no evidence.
- [21:48]
Ben Ferguson
That's my worry. It's like. It's almost like it's. Well, it's the price that we're willing to pay. We're willing to sacrifice safety, security. And in reality, if you. If you compare it to what ISIS K did in Russia, American lives to get what we ultimately want, which is a new voting bloc.
- [22:05]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, I think the Democrats right now in Congress are incredibly cynical. And the only thing they're focused on is what will keep them in power, what will ensure that there are more and more and more and more Democrat voters. And I think they look at the 11 million people they've allowed into this country illegally, and they view them all as future Democrat voters. Now, some of them, I think they are counting on voting illegally this election. And the rest of them, I think they're counting on voting legally once a Democrat administration gets into office and grants them amnesty. And so I think from their view, they are fundamentally remaking the demographics of this country, and they're trying to remake it in a way that ensures that Democrats remain in power forever. And the thing that is tragic is they're more than happy, the Democrats are more than happy to look the other way at the people dying, at the people dying crossing the border day after day after day, the migrants dying. They're perfectly happy to look the other way at the children being brutalized. They're perfectly happy to look the other way at the women being repeatedly sexually assaulted. They're perfectly happy to look away at all of the victims of crime we've seen all across the country. From illegal aliens that the Biden administration has released. And most inexplicably, they have to date, been perfectly happy to look the other way at the growing and deeply troubling risk of a major terrorist attack in the United States, from illegal aliens that the Biden administration has released among us.
- [23:44]
Ben Ferguson
During your time serving in the Senate, have you ever seen this many Warnings on a national security issue.
- [23:51]
Senator Ted Cruz
No.
- [23:51]
Ben Ferguson
Come before you guys publicly because it's not just like one person is a whistleblower. You're talking about the head of the FBI. You're now talking about the DHS Inspector general. You're talking about others with the Department of Homeland Security, Border patrol agents, the border union. I mean, they're. They're all singing now the same tune, which is, we're sitting on a time bomb.
- [24:13]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, I think the facts have gotten so overwhelming that they had no choice. If you look at Christopher Wray, who is the head of the FBI, he has testified now repeatedly in front of Congress, and he said there is an enormous risk of a terrorist attack in the United States. It is from our southern border. We are all vulnerable, and we've got to step up and fight back on this. As you know, I know Chris Wray very, very well. We both clerked for the same court of appeals judge. I've known Chris Wray for 30 years. I think he's a good man. Interestingly enough, he's not a Democrat. I think he fully considers himself a Republican. And my fault with Chris Wray, which I've articulated multiple times, is that I think he's a company man. I think his view of his job as the FBI director is to defend the career employees at the FBI, to circle the wagons around the senior leadership. And that might, in an ordinary circumstance, make sense, but it doesn't make sense here when you have hardcore partisans who have burrowed into senior leadership positions and who are corrupting the integrity of the FBI. That being said, Chris Wray keeps going to Congress and saying, people, the risk of a terrorist attack is enormous. He's trying to ring the bell because he's looking at the intel. Look, let me read you from just the opening page of the report from the Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security. It says, quote, what we found. The Department of Homeland Security's technology, procedures and coordination were not fully effective to screen and vet non citizens applying for admission into the United States or asylum seekers whose asylum applications were pending for an extended period. Although U.S. customs and Border Protection deployed new technologies to enhance traveler screening, it could not access all federal data necessary to ensure complete screening and vetting of non citizens seeking admission to the United States. In addition, CBP used varied and sometimes inconsistent inspection procedures for travelers arriving in vehicles at land ports of entry. Finally, CBP does not have the technology to perform biometric matching on travelers arriving in vehicles at land ports of entry. Once a noncitizen files an asylum application. U.S. citizenship and Immigration Services conducts screening and vetting to verify each asylum applicant's identity, determine their eligibility. However, USCIS did not always complete timely screenings for more than 400,000 affirmative asylum applicants who filed for asylum between October 2017 and March 2023. 400,000. Additionally, USCIS does not have a dedicated procedure or comprehensive technology solution to perform interim screening of asylum applicants whose cases were not adjudicated within the required 180 day timeframe.
- [27:43]
Ben Ferguson
So you look at all of that and it reminds me so much of 9, 11 when we found out afterwards, yes, everybody wasn't talking to each other. The FBI and the CIA weren't talking to one another. And so things were falling through the cracks. Except this time they're all saying things are falling through the cracks before the attack, not after. Is there any chance that we can get this together quickly enough to fix it before it's too late? Or is this just now an administration's decision of, hey, we know what we're doing here, we know the risk and we're okay with it?
- [28:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
I think there's no chance with this administration. Look, look, Joe Biden, it's scary. It is terrifying. Joe Biden is utterly absent. He is not competent to do the job he's in. Kamala Harris is a dumpster fire. Alejandro Mayorkas is brazenly defying the law and is in fact, presiding over the criminal invasion of this country. Merrick Garland is so politicized, the Department of Justice is not going to do anything. I do not believe these individuals will change their behavior. They made the devil's bargain that they will destroy our country in order to let enough illegal immigrants into this country to ensure they stay in power. And so I think the only, only, only answer is for Republicans to win in November, for Trump to win reelection, and for us to win the Senate and the House.
- [29:16]
Ben Ferguson
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- [32:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, look, the odds are significant, I believe, that Joe Biden pardons his son. And I think it all hinges on what happens in November. I think if Joe Biden loses, then he will pardon Hunter in November or December. He will pardon Hunter before leaving. If Joe Biden wins, it gets more complicated. I think he will want to pardon Hunter, but if he's starting a second term and he's got four years to go, I think his political team will be terrified that pardoning Hunter, especially after you promised the American people you would not would do irreparable damage to him. And so what I think is likely is if he wins, instead of pardoning Hunter, that he will commute the sentence. Commuting the sentence basically says, okay, no more jail time for you. You can go. You're still a felon. You're still a convicted felon. You still have many of the detriments of being a felon, but you're wearing a bulletproof vest, so it is at least much, much harder to kill you. I think the two options are Biden loses, he pardons Hunter, Biden wins, he commutes Hunter's sentence and lets him go from jail.
- [33:23]
Ben Ferguson
You look at the White House, and what you said would directly contradict what the White House has said. The White House press secretary, Jean Pierre, saying this second one with the President.
- [33:33]
C
Pardon or commute his son if he's convicted.
- [33:36]
D
So I've answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple of weeks ago, And I was very clear, and I said no.
- [33:43]
Ben Ferguson
I mean, she didn't just say pardon. She also said, commute the sentence. The president will not do it. No. And I guess that's a smart political answer going into November. And then after you win, who cares, right? You've lied to the American people on, quote, having a secure border when they know they're. You're lying to them. You look at them in the face, you tell them Biden nomics is working when every American hurting. You tell people the economy is strong and great right now when it's clearly not. I mean, these are the lies that they tell every single day. So why not lie on this one?
- [34:13]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, and listen, Karine Jean Pierre does that every day. We have detailed at great lengths the deliberate lies she has told from the White House briefing room. The one that is still the most galling is when she stood up there and said, you know, people are not just walking across our border. That's not happening. And that is such a brazen lie. You'll recall on this podcast, I invited to take Careen down to the border any day of the week. And we would go out on patrol and we would find illegals crossing day after day after day. That's how we got to 11 million illegals. She did not take me up on that invitation. But I will tell you, multiple times over the last two years, she's gotten in arguments with this podcast with points you and I have made on the podcast that she's been forced to stand up at the White House press briefing and defend. And actually, one of our good friends, Kayleigh McEnany on Fox has put together a compilation of Kareem Jean Pierre's repeated flip flops and repeated lies. Take a listen.
- [35:14]
E
Hunter Biden, I want you to watch this closely because I am very confused. Green. Jean Pierre was asked during a gaggle yesterday if President Biden would commute Hunter's sentence. We know he said he wouldn't. Pardon, would he commute it? She answered very differently than she did on September 15, 2023. Watch the two answers.
- [35:36]
D
What I'm saying is that the president. I have not spoken to the president about this. And what I'm saying is he was asked about a pardon. He was asked, he was asked about the trial specifically. And he answered it very clearly, very forthright. As we know, the sentencing hasn't even been scheduled yet. I don't have anything beyond what the president said. He's been very clear about this second one.
- [35:59]
C
Would the president pardon or commute his son if he's convicted?
- [36:03]
D
I've answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple of weeks ago, and I was very clear.
- [36:08]
E
And I said no, that's confusing. That's a change.
- [36:13]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yes, it is.
- [36:14]
E
I think she's clearly leaving the door.
- [36:16]
Senator Ted Cruz
Open for America to accept, frankly, a commutation inevitably which.
- [36:20]
D
Who would be surprised given the person at the helm.
- [36:22]
Ben Ferguson
You were making some great points about Hunter.
- [36:24]
D
I want to just give you some.
- [36:25]
Senator Ted Cruz
Space to make them too.
- [36:26]
C
I just think that their real risk here is that he is a vulnerability. If he were to be facing jail and flip, and I know that's people, oh, my God, he'd never flipped. If you read the text messages and some of the stuff that's in evidence already in the cases he's facing, there's no love loss between Hunter and some of the members of the Biden family. Let's just put it this way, he's not on the same page with Jill. He's got issues with the uncle. I think the uncle is actually the one that's the most vulnerable, particularly in the area of the Chinese money. They can't afford to have him turn hostile. And that's why once his legal troubles concretized, all of a sudden he's at the White House. He's on the plane. He's going to, you know, with on trips with Joe Biden. They're keeping him close.
- [37:07]
Ben Ferguson
You know, Kayleigh, by the way, one thing there that I do want to ask your opinion of. There was criticism of Joe Biden flying back and forth to the trial. They were holding hands Walking in and out of the courtroom and, and coming back from overseas to make appearances. The point that was made there about the liability, like, hey, we got to keep him close because if. If we're not sure he could even handle jail, and if he did, then what could happen to the other family members? It's a very interesting perspective and point, especially if you go back and read some of the things that he has said and wr. In his own words.
- [37:46]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah. I gotta say, I don't actually agree with the criticism of Jill Biden on this. She's his mom. Her son is facing multiple felony counts. He's now been convicted of multiple felonies. Her son has had a very troubled life, has had enormous substance abuse problems. I am never gonna fault a mom for loving her son. And so the fact that she came back to be with him in the trial, look, that's part of being a mom.
- [38:13]
Ben Ferguson
Fair point, Senator. I appreciate it as always. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Make sure you hit that subscribe that like or auto download button and we'll keep you updated on all of this. Also, on those in between days, grab my podcast. I'll keep you up to date on the breaking news in between the Ben Ferguson podcast as well and the center and I will see you back here. And also on Saturdays, we do that the week in review. So if you missed anything this week, we'll have that for you on Saturdays as well. And we'll see you back here in a couple of days.