← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Hezbollah Terrorist CAUGHT at Our Southern Border, Media LIES About Trump Calling for 'Bloodbath' & Hunter Runs Away
00:41:26
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- [00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And Senator, I hate to say that this is something we talked about a long time ago and had been warning, but sure enough, another warning sign coming from our southern border with terrorists using and exploiting that open border to get into America.
- [00:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. We've got a big show today. Last week, a Hezbollah terrorist was caught at our southern border trying to cross into this country, trying to come here to detonate a bomb in New York City. We're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened with that. On top of that, we saw this past week the media engage in a frenzy of lies and deception. If you picked up any newspaper, you've seen the headline that Donald Trump pledged a, quote, bloodbath if he didn't get elected. That makes for good headlines. It just turns out it was a complete and total lie. Will explain. And finally, Hunter Biden. You know, Hunter Biden had a lot of bravado when the House wanted him to come in, wanted him to come in for a private deposition. And he said publicly, I will not come in in a private deposition. I will only come publicly. I want to tell my story to America. Well, he ended up blinking. He ended up coming in for a private deposition. And now the House has asked him to come in for a public hearing. And what did Hunter Biden do? Run away, say? Absolutely not. I'm not willing to do a public testimony. I want out of here. We'll get to the bottom of that as well.
- [01:27]
Ben Ferguson
First, I want to say thank you to so many of you that have gotten involved and helped the people in Israel. And you know about the atrocities that were committed by Hamas last October 7th. But there is still major needs on the ground, this vicious war that has been kicked off by Israel having to defend herself from terrorists on every side. And the toll on the Israeli people is staggering and massive. There are hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been forced from their homes, entire communities that have been torn apart and lives that have been devastated by death and destruction. That is why we're asking you to help get involved with the international fellowship of Christians and Jews. You'll know them as ifcj. And they are right in the middle of this need. Every single day on the ground in Israel, they, they're distributing critical essentials still like things like basic food and water, medicine, emergency supplies for hundreds of thousands of suffering Jews. The need is great. And that is why I'm asking you to partner with IFCJ today. It doesn't matter how much you can give because right now they are doubling in impact and helping provide twice the support. When you give, all you have to do is go to support IFCJ.org to help. Every donation is needed to help the people of Israel and to give the international fellowship of Christians and Jews. Go to supportifcj.org give as generously as you can because your gift will be matched to double in impact and help provide twice support supportifcj.org that's supportifcj.org thank you and God bless you guys for getting involved. Senator, let's get to this first story at the border. I would like to say that I'm shocked by this, this article. The New York Post has put it out talking about this illegal immigrant from Lebanon. He was caught at the border admitting, number one, he's a Hezbollah terrorist. Number two, he's a Hezbollah terrorist hoping to make a bomb. And number three, he says he was headed to New York City.
- [03:33]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. And I want to credit the New York Post for breaking this story. It's a very important story. This was an illegal immigrant from Lebanon. He was caught sneaking over the border and he admitted that he trained as a member of Hezbollah, that his destination was New York City and he hoped to make a bomb. His name was Basil Basel ebaddi. He was 22 years old. He was caught by Border Patrol on March 9th near El Paso, Texas. While he was in custody, he was asked what he was doing in the US to which he replied, quote, I'm going to try to make a bomb. Abadi said in a sworn interview that he had trained with Hezbollah for seven years and had served as an active member guarding weapons locations for another four years. Ebodi's training focused on jihad and on killing people that was not Muslim. So listen, this individual was clearly a threat. He said he was headed to New York City and we ought to, number one, be thankful that this Hezbollah terrorist was caught. He admitted who he was. He admitted what he came to do. But understand the numbers keep growing and growing and growing. In fiscal year 2022, 98 individuals on the terror watch list were encountered at our southern and northern borders. And in fiscal year 2023, that number doubled to 172. So far in the first four months of 2024, 59 more people have been apprehended. According to the federal numbers and understand for the entirety of the Trump presidency for 2017-2018-2019-2020, a total of 30 people on the terror watch list were apprehended crossing illegally. So we've gone from 30 over four years to 172 in a single year. That is what happens when Joe Biden and the Democrats open up our southern border. And it is inviting the inevitable, which is what just happened. Hezbollah terrorists crossing our border with the intention of carrying out acts of terror in the United States.
- [05:54]
Ben Ferguson
If it wasn't for this incredible reporting. And I want to make sure we give a lot of credit to this reporter who did this, the New York Post, Jenny Taylor. She. She put this out there. I have a question, Senator, and you may know this answer. This is the first time we've heard about this because the media reporting it. How many times this happened where there is someone that is saying the exact same things. Is this individual, this terrorist that we don't know about because the government hasn't told us?
- [06:28]
Senator Ted Cruz
So here's the infuriating answer. I have no idea. I serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We have jurisdiction over immigration, over the border. And yet when we ask, how many Hezbollah terrorists have you encountered, how many Hamas terrorists have you encountered? They won't answer that. They stonewall. The Biden administration does not want anyone to know. They certainly don't want Congress to know. And more importantly, they don't want the American people to know.
- [06:57]
Ben Ferguson
Is that behind closed doors, by the way, when you.
- [06:59]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yes, both. I mean, both behind closed doors and public. Both.
- [07:02]
Ben Ferguson
So. So there I'm going through excuses in my head. I could see where they say, well, sir, there's a public, you know, hearing. We don't want to give you that information. It may put our, you know, methods or whatever at risk. But you're saying these questions you guys are asking behind closed doors so that that idea is thrown out the window. And they're still stonew.
- [07:19]
Senator Ted Cruz
They absolutely stonewall. They will not give you an answer and understand. All right, let's take fiscal year 2023, 172 people on the terror watch list. Now, now, that's troubling. But what's much more troubling is the hundreds of thousands of gotaways understand that 172 are the people they apprehended. That gives you an indication that the volume coming across of terrorists or potential terrorists has exploded, has dramatically, has exponentially increased. But the really serious terrorists are the ones that don't get apprehended, are the ones that. That are gotaways. And, and so, all right, here's how this plays out at the border. When you're at the southern border, groups come across illegally, many of them turn themselves in affirmatively. That consumes a lot of the energy of Border patrol is just dealing with people that go find border patrol, turn themselves in. And by the way, when they do so, suddenly the border patrol agents, let's say you've got two agents out in a truck and they've got 30 people who turn themselves in. Those agents are now out of commission for several hours. They have to watch those, those, those migrants. They have to call for backup, they have to get vehicles, they have to transport them to the system, they have to get them processed. There are more than half the border patrol agents are back at the detention facility processing them or are sitting there filling out paperwork or giving them food or giving them clothing or giving them diapers. You know what they doing if they're at the detention center, they're not on the border patrolling. They're not looking for drug dealers, they're not looking for human traffickers, they're not looking for terrorists. And so the people that turn themselves in suck an enormous amount of resources away from patrolling the border. And then the bad guys are the ones, the really bad guys, the really dangerous ones are the ones that evade arrest. Now some of them get caught. And I will say we don't know of this individual, how he was apprehended outside El Paso. We don't know if he was dumb enough to turn himself in. Uh, if he was, that this guy is not going to be in, in, in the terrorist chapter of Mensa. Uh, so I don't know. I don't know if he turned himself in or I don't know if, if he was attempting to be a. Got away and they caught him. That is not in the New York Post reporting. I'd sure like to know. But I can tell you today, whatever day it is, there are thousands of gotaways. Every day there are thousands of got aways. That's what the volume is. And those gotaways are the ones I'm very worried about about 10, 20, 50, 100 more Hezbollah and Hamas terrorists coming over and intending to do something worse than 9, 11 intending to do something on the order of magnitude of October 7th or even worse. This is a clear and present danger, and it is caused daily by Joe Biden and Congressional Democrats leaving our border wide open.
- [10:22]
Ben Ferguson
It seems that the administration is more obsessed with the PR aspect of not telling you guys what's actually going on than they do about national security. What have they actually told you guys in the Senate that you can tell us, obviously publicly, about the terrorists that are Coming across the southern border. Has there been any admission that they're concerned about it or they're worried about it? I mean, I know the FBI director has changed his tune in the last three or four months, obviously, and is saying he's very concerned about those known terrorists or those in the watch list coming across our southern border. But the rest of the administration seems to be completely silent on that.
- [11:01]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, the FBI, it's interesting the administrator of the FBI has changed his tune. He has been in the past few months repeatedly and loudly warning of the risk of a terror attack. And I have to assume it's because what the FBI is seeing that they are, number one, terrified. But number two, I think they view it as almost inevitable we will see a terror attack. And they want to get that on record. But you know what? Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, a single Democrat senator, a single Democrat House member, all of them are silent. Here, listen to what Joe Biden said on March 11. Give a listen.
- [11:34]
Ben Ferguson
Look, what we need is, we need.
- [11:36]
Joe Biden
Is, we need just an orderly process.
- [11:38]
Ben Ferguson
At the border not to keep. They're not vermin, they're not scum, they're not people who are all criminals coming. I mean, I love that idea from Joe Biden from back in the day, but there's nothing orderly about what's happening at the border. That's been clearly documented.
- [11:57]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, it's not orderly. It's chaos. And this line about they're not people who are all criminals coming. Well, what about this Hezbollah terrorist? What about him? I guess Joe Biden's defense is, well, you know, we have terrorists in the United States. What about Lake and Riley's parents? His answer is, well, he let that murderer go, but his answer is, well, you know, we have murderers in the United States. What about Jeremy Caceres, the two year old boy in Maryland who was murdered by another illegal alien that, that Joe Biden released? Again, his answer is, well, we have murderers here. He takes zero responsibility for releasing murderer after murderer after murder. He takes zero responsibility for releasing child rapist after child rapist after child rapist. And he takes zero responsibility for the terrorists who are coming in to murder Americans. His answer is just, well, I want an orderly process. If we have an orderly way to bring terrorists in, that's great for America. That is so wildly A, incompetent, but B, ideological that, that he refuses to actually value the safety and security of Americans above his political ideology of complete and total open borders.
- [13:12]
Ben Ferguson
Final question. I want, I want to get your response to the White House Press Secretary Jean Pierre and what she said about the open border and him not using executive action to secure the southern border, which they know is a problem, it's obvious. But also the second part I want to ask you, Senator, is if there was, God forbid, a terrorist attack, do you think this administration would not move immediately to secure the border through executive action? And I say that in reference to this from the White House press Secretary. Take a listen.
- [13:40]
Senator Ted Cruz
The president said yesterday that he was.
- [13:43]
Ben Ferguson
Hoping executive action on the border would happen by itself, that Congress would legislate it. Can you just confirm for us that this indicates that he's no longer considering executive action on the border?
- [13:54]
Karine Jean-Pierre
Well, the president has been very clear, and I've been very clear anytime I've asked about executive actions here. The bottom line, the bottom line is in order to have actually have change, extensive change, real change, comprehensive change, that Senate bill that was, that was negotiated between Republicans and obviously Democrats in the Senate, would have been the best way to go. It would have been the toughest, fairest piece of, piece of legislation, law, if you will, if it had been, if it had been moved and the President was able to sign it into law. And that's what's important. The president is trying to make it very clear no executive action would, would have that effect, the effect that this bipartisan negotiation would have had.
- [14:35]
Ben Ferguson
I mean, Senator, you hear that and then it's like, okay, what if there is something that, heaven forbid, happens? Are they going to stick to that same line or would they pivot quickly?
- [14:44]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, unfortunately, I don't think they would pivot quickly. I think they would immediately look to put the blame anywhere else but themselves because we've seen that pattern over and over and over again. Listen, when I listen to that press conference with Karine Jean Pierre, it saddens me to say, but how do you know when Karine Jean Pierre is lying? Answer. Her lips are moving. Everything that woman says from the podium at the White House on behalf of the President of the United States is a lie and a deliberate lie. Number one, she claims the Democrat bill would have secured the border. The Democrat bill, as we've discussed at great length, is a terrible bill. It would not have secured the border. It would have put into law. It would have codified Joe Biden's open borders. It would have made the problem worse. But number two, when she claims, gosh, without legislation, there's nothing that can be done, that is a deliberate lie. The Biden administration has taken 94 executive actions on immigration just in the first hundred days in office. And understand those 94 were all designed to open up the border. They were all designed to stop the steps that Donald Trump had put in place that were working, that were securing the border. Every One of those 94, Joe Biden could reverse. He doesn't want to reverse it. And so when he was asked. All right, here, give a listen again on March 11 to what happens when, when Biden is asked about executive action on the border.
- [16:09]
Ben Ferguson
President, what is a border?
- [16:11]
Senator Ted Cruz
Executive action.
- [16:14]
Ben Ferguson
An executive action on the border count on the border action happened by itself. They're passing it. The Congress can't come to an agreement. Well, they haven't yet.
- [16:23]
Joe Biden
They haven't yet.
- [16:24]
Ben Ferguson
Mr. President, I'm helping them. I love how that, that reporter's like breaking news. The president, like, talking like she's talking to her old grandfather, like, but, sir, they can't reach an agreement. It's just embarrassing. But there's the present. Completely out of touch with reality.
- [16:38]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, except that's his pattern every day, which is to shift blame. Well, they haven't yet. I'm not helping them. It's their, it's their fault. Taking no responsibility for what he did. Let's go back to Lake and Riley because I think Lake and Riley sums up the number one issue before the American people in this election. Lake and Riley should still be alive. And the reason she is not alive is because of decisions made by Joe Biden and made by partisan Democrats. And let's recap what happened. Lake and Riley's murderer came into the United States illegally from Venezuela. He came in to El Paso, same place this Hezbollah terrorist was. He was apprehended in El Paso, same place this Hezbollah terrorist was. Joe Biden made the decision, I'm not going to follow the law. If Biden were willing to follow the law, here's what would have happened. When the murderer came in, they would have taken him, put him on an airplane and flown him back to Venezuela. If that had happened, Lake and Riley would still be alive. But instead, Joe Biden decided, I'm going to let this guy go. I don't care what the law says. I want to let him go. And so he did. He let him go. After that, the murderer went to New York City and immediately was arrested again, this time for endangering the welfare of a child. And this is the second time Lake and Riley could have been saved. But unfortunately, New York City is a sanctuary city controlled by left wing Democrats. And so they let the murderer go again. Had they put him in jail for endangering the welfare of a child, Lake and Riley would be alive. Had they simply referred him to ice, to the federal immigration control and had ICE had the Biden administration deported him, Lake and Riley would be alive. But they didn't, they just let him go. They just said, oh it's a criminal. What should we do? We should let him go because that's what our ideology demands. And then the murderer went down to Georgia. This 22 year old woman, a nursing student was out jogging, out jogging. And this psychopath beat her to death, bludgeoned her to death. And Joe Biden in the State of the Union when, when, when he was heckled and, and, and called, called out about Lake and Riley, he took zero responsibility for that. He, his defense is, well, she was killed by an illegal. Legals kill people too. So okay, apparently because the fact that there are murderers in the United States, he has no responsibility for releasing more murderers into the United States. More rapists in the United States, more pedophiles into the United States, more terrorists in the United States. That sadly is the record of Joe Biden and every congressional Democrat who has rubber stamped this for over three years.
- [19:48]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, you add in on fentanyl on top of that and then you add in these new issues with terrorists coming across the southern border and yet this administration refuses to deal with the issue. We'll keep you updated on that, I can promise you. Want to tell you real quick about our friends over at Patriot Mobile. If you're like me and you are just done with giving your money to woke companies or fighting against your values, then you need to look at your cell phone right now. You may not realize but the cell phone provide provider you're with right now more than likely is giving big donations to leftist causes, candidates, organizations, including Planned Parenthood. You may not realize that Big Mobile gives massive donations to Planned Parenthood. And if you're sick and tired of giving your mind to companies that literally hate your values, then you can switch right now to Patriot Mobile. For more than 10 years, Patriot Mobile has been America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. And when I say only, trust me, they are the only one. Patriot Mobile is not only a great supporter of conservative causes, including this show, but they also offer you, which is really important, dependable nationwide coverage giving you the ability to access all three major networks. And that means this. You get the same exact coverage that you have right now without funding the left. When I look down at my phone on the left hand side, it says Patriot in the top corner. And when you switch to Patriot Mobile. You're sending a clear message that you support free speech, religious freedom, the sanctity of life, our second amendment, as well as supporting our military, our veterans, our first responders and wounded warriors. Switching easy. You get to keep your same phone number. You get to keep your same phone or upgrade to a new one if you want to. And they have 100% U.S. based customer service team. So go right now to patriot mobile.com verdict patriot mobile.com verdict or call them 972-PATRIOT. That's 972-PONRIOT. You'll get free activation when you use the offer code Verdict as well. So join me and other conservatives today. Make that switch patriotmobile.com verdict or 972-patriot. That's 972-patriot center. I want to move on to the other big story that you mentioned earlier and that is no shock here. The media's lied about Donald Trump and lied about him yet again on something that's just not accurate. And they're also saying that there is going to be a bloodbath in the U.S. if Trump isn't elected as president again. That's their warning to America. Take it from there.
- [22:30]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, we saw the entire corporate media in unison report on Trump's rally. And let me read you some of the headlines. NBC News, Trump says there will be a, quote, bloodbath if he loses the election. CBS News in Ohio, rally, Trump says there will be a, quote, bloodbath if he loses the election. Rolling Stone, Trump says there will be a, quote, bloodbath. All of them virtually word for word. And I have to say, when I saw these headlines, look, I was concerned. I had not seen the speech in Ohio. I read all the headlines and I was like, oh, good goodness, I hope he didn't say that. That, that sounds like a really bad thing to say, like a threat of violence if he loses the election. I mean, that, that's not a good thing to say. Then I listened to what he actually said and we're going to play for you in one second what he actually said. And I'm going to tell you, if you have not heard what he actually said, if you just saw the headlines, this is going to piss you off because it is totally and completely different than what the media reported on. So listen, listen to the segment of his speech that prompted all those headlines.
- [23:40]
Joe Biden
Mexico has taken over a period of 30 years. 34% of the automobile manufacturing business in our country, think of it, went to Mexico. China now is building a couple of massive plants where they're going to build the cars in Mexico and think they think that they're going to sell those cars into the United States with no tax at the border. Let me tell you something to China if you're listening, President Xi and you and I are friends, but he understands the way I deal those big monster car manufacturing plants that you're building in Mexico right now. And you think you're going to get that, you're going to not hire Americans and you're going to sell the cars to us now, we're going to put a 100% tariff on, on every single car that comes across the line. And you're not going to be able to sell those cars. If I get elected now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole. That's going to be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country. That'll be the least of it. But they're not going to sell those cars. They're building massive factories. A friend of mine, I mean, you.
- [24:45]
Ben Ferguson
Can hear where he's going from there. But let's go back to the headlines that you just mentioned a moment ago. Donald Trump chillingly warns of a bloodbath in the US if he isn't elected as president. Again, another headline, NBC News, Rolling Stones, all of these, putting them out there saying the bloodbath Trump described would be in the car industry. Did they say that? No, no, they didn't say that. All they're saying, like, basically, if you don't elect him, there's going to be a civil war. Not even remotely close to what he actually said.
- [25:16]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, this is deliberately deceptive. He's talking obviously about the auto industry. He's talking about the loss of manufacturing jobs in the auto industry. He's talking about Joe Biden being unwilling to fight for U.S. jobs, for U.S. manufacturing, for the U.S. auto industry. He's in Ohio where there are a bunch of blue collar workers, a bunch of Ohio workers, and he's saying, if you elect me, I'm going to fight for U.S. jobs. And if you don't, we're going to have a bloodbath in the auto industry because we're going to see jobs going away. Now, that is a perfectly normal way to describe the position he's laying out. And you know what? Every single reporter who watched it and listened to it, they know that, too. And yet they have an agenda. They want to say Trump is threatening violent revolution if he's not elected. That's, that's their narrative. And Facts be damned. He said the word bloodbath. That's all we need. No context is necessary. Doesn't matter that he was talking in depth about the auto industry, about factories, about Chinese factories, about factories in Mexico. Doesn't matter that he's talking about putting tariffs on cars made overseas to protect jobs here. Look, this is a trade debate. We've had trade debates for a long time, and yet the media, this is a great example. NBC News knows they're lying. CBS News knows they're lying. Rolling Stone knows they're lying.
- [26:42]
Ben Ferguson
And they do not read the Politico headline, read the political headline for everybody. Or in part of their. I should say in their article, just read their one statement. You and I were talking about this earlier, and it just tells you how much they're willing to deceive the American people.
- [26:55]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, Politico says Trump says country faces, quote, bloodbath if Biden wins in November. So they use that quote and then it says in the subhead, while it is unclear what the former president meant exactly. The remarks came as Trump was complaining about the automobile industry. Complaining, mind you. And it's unclear. No, it wasn't unclear, you blithering morons. You know, it wasn't unclear. You just want to write that headline. And he said a word that gave you a hook. Okay, that's all we need. We got that word. Let's cut it out of context, go tell our lies. And you know, the media wonders, why does nobody believe the corporate media? It's because no real journalist would listen to that speech and write that headline. And by the way, every journalist whose byline is there ought to demand the headline be corrected. Now, now, one thing to know, reporters typically don't write headlines. It's the editor that writes the headline. But if your name is going under a headline and the headline is a blatant lie, any reporter with a shred of integrity would say, change the headline or I'm retracting the story and denouncing it as misleading. Any reporter with real integrity would resign rather than putting his or her name under a story that was a blatant lie. And yet, you know what? Not a one of them has done that. To the best of my knowledge, none of these outlets have corrected or retracted their story. And you know, there's an old line that a lie can make it halfway around the world before the truth even gets its shoes on. This is, this will fit like the many other hoaxes, like the Russia hoax, like all of the attacks on Trump that the media has made up, I guarantee you there will be people, millions of people, who believe, well, Trump threatened a bloodbath if he doesn't win. When he was talking about, no, we need US Manufacturing jobs and auto jobs in America, and Biden is doing a lousy job of fighting for US Manufacturing. That's a message a large percentage of America agrees with. And the media wants to just deliberately deceive their readers.
- [29:11]
Ben Ferguson
It brings me to the final story that you mentioned earlier. And you know, it's funny how the media will go and lie to you over claiming there's this bloodbath if, if Trump wins and taking it out of com, taking out of context, but then you look at another story which you would think they would have reported on over the weekend, and there was complete, I, I would call it malfeasance by not talking about this Joe Biden. They had no, they had no problem talking about his son, Hunter Biden, when he went to Washington, D.C. when he had that press conference, when he said, I will not testify behind closed doors because the Republicans are gonna lie about what I say and I will only do it in a public hearing. I demand a public hearing. And there was a big charade, and it was in front of the Capitol where you serve, Senator. And now we found out that there is a public hearing that's coming and Hunter Biden has rejected the GOP invitation for the public hearing after demanding that the same GOP give him a damn public hearing and demanded it in Washington in front of the Capitol.
- [30:18]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, this was all theatrics and it was all dishonest theatrics by Hunter Biden and his legal team and by Joe Biden and the White House. But as you noted, Hunter Biden said from the beginning that he only wanted to testify in public. He didn't trust a closed door event. He said he was happy to testify in public. So the House has taken him up on it and invited him, said, come testify. On March 20, we've got a hearing. Devin Archer, Tony Bobulinski and Jason Galanis are testifying, by the way, these are individuals Hunter knows very well that he's done business with. Come testify publicly and immediately. The lie was apparent because Hunter Biden said no. Hunter Biden's lawyer refused to go, calling the public hearing a, quote, blatant planned for media event. And in fact, let me read what, what, what Abby Lowell, who's Hunter Biden's lawyer, wrote, quote, your blatant plan for media events is not a proper proceeding, but an obvious attempt to throw a Hail Mary Pass. After the game is ended, let me remind you of a statement you made about how witnesses, and specifically Mr. Biden, could satisfy your prior requests. At your press conference after the January 10, 2024 committee hearing to hold Mr. Biden in contempt, you stated, quote, all we need are people to come in for the depositions and then we'll be finished. We just need people to show up to the depositions and we'll wrap this up. Nobody wants to wrap this up more than I do. Mr. Biden did just as you asked. And as you, as you did when you announced that witnesses could choose depositions. You want to ignore what you said now let me note. You and I had this conversation with James Comer at the time. And James Comer is a good man. He's a friend. He's doing a very good job. I told him then on this podcast, forget about the closed door deposition. Hunter is saying he will testify publicly. Do it tomorrow. Get him on record publicly tomorrow. I wish I could say I'm surprised. I'm not surprised. Hunter Biden is playing games. He is trying to delay this until after the election. And as I reminded James Comer, Hunter Biden's not the target here. He's not the reason. This is a matter of public concern. Joe Biden, the corruption of the President of the United States is the target. And so listen nothing of me, no part of me is surprised that Hunter's now saying, oh no, I did the deposition, now I'm not going to do it. I think the next step is obvious. The House needs to issue a subpoena for Hunter Biden to testify publicly. Hunter will have a choice. Comply with the subpoena or defy the subpoena. And if he defies the subpoena, the House needs to hold him in contempt. That needs to happen fast. Time is running out. But. But I gotta say, you know all of the bravado. Remember we talked about on. On verdict also how when the House was having a hearing, Hunter Biden showed up in the hearing room just, just gloating in my view. I wish they had right then said, Mr. Biden, come down to the table. We're swear you in, let's go. That's what they should have done. I still think and hope they will get him to testify publicly. But if he avoids public testimony through these games, it will be tragic because this is an effort at obfuscation. This is an effort at cover up. This is an effort at hiding the criminal behavior of Joe Biden, the President of the United States.
- [33:47]
Ben Ferguson
I want to ask you how important it is going to be to get him publicly talking about his father. Before I do that though, I want to tell you about our friends over at Blackout Coffee. If you're like me and coffee is really important, I start off every day on the radio at 7am I need a good cup of coffee. I hate bad cups of coffee. And not only do I hate bad cup of coffee, but I really hate woke companies. You know how many woke coffee companies are out there? Well, blackout coffee is zero percent woke. They are a hundred percent America. And if you want to start your day with a premium cup of hot American first coffee, you got to check out blackout coffee. I'm going to save you money trying it for the very first time. Blackout Coffee is 100 committed to conservative values. From sourcing the beans, the roasting process and customer support and shift shipping. They embody the true American values and they accept no compromise on taste or quality. So here's the best part for you. You're going to get 20 off your first order and get addicted to what I would say is an amazing premium cup of coffee in your home or office every day. Go to blackoutcoffee.com verdict blackout coffee.com verdict use the coupon code verdict. You're going to get 20 off your first order and that's when you're going to get hooked on the best premium cup of coffee you're ever going to have. So go right now to blackout coffee.com verdict and why? Because you're going to be awake, not woke. Stop supporting woke companies, especially the extreme woke coffee companies out there. Blackout coffee.com verdict promo code verdict 20% off your first order. Senator, how important is it that we get Hunter Biden on the record publicly? It's one thing to read the transcripts. You've read them. What's been released. I've read what's been released. We've had reporting on it. But look there, there, there's an aspect of Hunter Biden that can offer, in my opinion a huge opportunity for conservatives to capitalize on just how corrupt Joe Biden is. Because you never know what he's going to say or how angry he's going to get or how self righteous he's going to be. And part of having a public hearing is getting to ask him those uncomfortable questions that need to be answered. But you don't know what he's going to do. And that is, I think something the American people deserve to see.
- [36:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
It's incredibly important. Look, Hunter Biden I believe is lying. I think he lied in his closed door deposition. I think if he has a public hearing, he will lie. But I also think he's not a very good liar. His lies are facially inconsistent. They're contradictory. And competent cross examination can demonstrate how he is lying to cover up for his father. Now we have a closed door deposition. We have a transcript. A transcript is dry. A transcript is lifeless. A transcript is not going to dominate the evening news. A transcript people are not going to watch and see for themselves and understand the context of it. The context of this is very much like going into the 2020 election. The 2020 election. In October of 2020, the news broke of the Hunter Biden laptop. The New York Post broke the story and we saw Big Tech silence and censor it. We saw Facebook and Twitter block anyone sharing it. We saw Big Tech threaten to deplatform any media outlets that reported on it. And media outlets like Politico happily obeyed Big Tech and simply kept it secret. What was in the Hunter Biden laptop? Mind you, the Hunter Biden laptop was real. It was accurate. It had evidence of multiple felonies. And mind you, also the Department of Justice and the FBI knew that it was real and accurate because they had the laptop in their possessions and they had had it for over a year. But particularly as you get closer to an election, their objective is do not let the American people see things that demonstrate Joe Biden's criminal culpability. The same thing is true here. The reason to have Hunter Biden testify is so the American people can look him in the eye. You know, the American people are very good at judging credibility. They can tell when somebody is spouting bs. They can tell when they're not telling the truth. And it's harder to tell that when you're reading a transcript. And so in my view, it is critically important to get Hunter Biden in sworn testimony alone. I actually don't think it was a great idea to have him testifying alongside a bunch of other people. I get there's some value in saying, well, so and so said this, how about you? But I think Hunter Biden ought to be alone at that table. I think every question ought to be directed to him and you can use the answers from the other witnesses to cross examine him. I also hope if and when Hunter testifies that there's a degree of coordination. One of the problems when you have a hearing is if you've got lots of individual members, lots of House members, each of whom has five minutes, you will often have people go on marches in one direction or another, and they don't follow up on anything. And it's kind of whatever any individual member wants to do. They just ask that. And some of them are not very good cross examiners, so they can't follow up. And it doesn't present a coherent storyline. It doesn't systematically dismantle the lies. What I hope is that James Comer and or Jim Jordan, the chairman, sit down with their Republican members, that they plan out a strategy for the hearing, a strategy for the cross examination that they assign each member of the committee. Okay, you've got this point. This point here. Here are the questions that will be helpful to ask, and you drive a systematic message. That's something in the Commerce Committee. I'm the ranking member on the Senate Committee of Commerce, Science and Transportation on major hearings. That's exactly what I try to do in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We have done that on multiple hearings. For example, the Brett Kavanaugh hearing, that was a major fight. We sat and we strategized exactly how we were going to handle the cross examination, the messaging. I hope the House does that. But none of that matters unless you get Hunter at the witness stand, sworn in, and on national television. Because, listen, if Hunter's testifying, as much as the media wants to hide it from the American people, they cannot completely do so. And it gives the American people the chance to decide, is the President of the United States corrupt? Has he taken bribes from Chinese Communists, from Russians, from Ukrainians, from. From foreign oligarchs? It lets the American people decide. When Hunter sent a WhatsApp text to a Chinese communist threatening his father's punishment if the Chinese communists didn't send him millions of dollars. Was dad complicit in that shakedown? I think the answer is obviously yes. But seeing Hunter being forced to answer those questions goes a long way to letting the American people decide based on the facts.
- [41:07]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, great point. Don't forget, the senator and I do this show Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And on those in between dates, make sure you download my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast. I'll keep you updated on everything that's going on on those in between days. So grab the Ben Ferguson podcast and the Senator. I will see you back here on.