It's OVER...Trump WON!

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson: "It's OVER...Trump WON!"

Release Date: January 24, 2024

Hosts: Ben Ferguson & Senator Ted Cruz

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1. Donald Trump Clinches the Republican Nomination

In the opening segment, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz delve into the unfolding Republican primary race, highlighting Donald Trump's decisive lead. At [00:23], Cruz underscores Trump's dominance:

"Donald Trump has an 11.5-point lead in New Hampshire. The race has been called for Trump. He's going to win New Hampshire."

Cruz presents the latest figures, noting that with 77% of New Hampshire votes counted, Trump leads Haley by a significant margin. He emphasizes that securing victories in both Iowa and New Hampshire virtually guarantees Trump the Republican nomination, declaring:

"The simple reality is this thing is over. Trump has won the Republican nomination."

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2. The Declining Prospects of Nikki Haley

A substantial portion of the discussion focuses on Nikki Haley's campaign trajectory. Despite her assertions of perseverance, Cruz remains skeptical about her viability. He analyzes her performance in recent primaries and predicts her eventual exit:

"The path for Nikki Haley to win the primary is 0.001%."

Cruz attributes Haley's continued presence in the race to her substantial financial backing, particularly from the "billionaire donor class." He criticizes these donors for their consistent yet misguided support of establishment candidates who fail to resonate broadly:

"The billionaire donor class...they are myopic. Their worldview is essentially, well, all the people in the country club agree with me, so that's what I'm gonna do."

Cruz suggests that Haley's stance as an "unapologetic establishment moderate" appeals to a narrow 30% of the primary vote, which is insufficient against Trump's overwhelming support. He warns that prolonged participation in the race could damage her standing, especially if she receives a significant loss in her home state of South Carolina.

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3. Insights into the Podcast's Evolution

Transitioning from campaign analysis, Ferguson and Cruz reflect on the development of their podcast. Cruz shares anecdotes about the podcast's format, likening it to a candid dinner conversation where genuine dialogue and differing viewpoints enrich the discussion. At [11:18], he explains the decision to release multiple episodes in a single week to capture the most engaging content:

"Because you and I don't know what the hell we're going to say. We're doing a podcast right now... it's meant to be real time."

This approach aims to provide listeners with in-depth insights and personal perspectives that aren't typically available through mainstream media outlets.

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4. Nikki Haley's Age as a Campaign Issue

The conversation shifts to Nikki Haley's strategy of highlighting age differences between herself and Donald Trump. Drawing parallels to Ronald Reagan's 1984 campaign, Cruz critiques Haley's tactic, suggesting it may backfire. He references Reagan's successful dismissal of age concerns posed by Walter Mondale:

"Reagan basically told him, I got this. And he did it crushed the issue."

Cruz contends that while Haley is significantly younger than Trump, leveraging age as a primary campaign issue may not resonate effectively with voters and could undermine her campaign's credibility.

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5. Supreme Court Ruling on Texas Border Security

A critical segment of the discussion addresses a recent Supreme Court decision affecting Texas's border security measures. Cruz vehemently criticizes the ruling, which allows the Biden administration to remove razor wire erected by Texas along the border near Eagle Pass. At [33:19], he articulates his frustration:

"This is a horrible decision. I'm angry about it. It is deeply disturbing..."

Cruz asserts that the decision exacerbates the ongoing border crisis, facilitating increased illegal immigration. He decries the role of justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, labeling their support for the administration's actions as out of touch with the realities on the ground:

"If this were just a regular time and a state were trying to block what the federal government was doing, the Supreme Court would fairly routinely rule with the feds."

Cruz emphasizes the urgent need for robust border security and criticizes the Biden administration for what he perceives as deliberate attempts to undermine state sovereignty and national security.

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6. Impact on the Republican Party and Future Elections

In examining the broader implications of the border security issue, Cruz connects it to the Republican Party's challenges in unifying the conservative base. He warns that prolonged internal conflicts and unsuccessful primary campaigns, like Haley's, could weaken the party's position heading into future elections, particularly the 2028 presidential race.

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Conclusion

Senator Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson provide a comprehensive analysis of the current Republican primary landscape, emphasizing Trump's strong position and the diminishing prospects for contenders like Nikki Haley. They offer critical insights into campaign strategies, internal party dynamics, and pivotal policy issues such as border security. The episode underscores the complexities facing the Republican Party as it navigates internal divisions and external challenges in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.

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Notable Quotes:

• [00:23] Cruz on Trump's lead:

  "Donald Trump has an 11.5-point lead in New Hampshire. The race has been called for Trump."

• [04:10] Cruz criticizing billionaire donors:

  "The billionaire donor class...they are myopic. Their worldview is essentially, well, all the people in the country club agree with me, so that's what I'm gonna do."

• [18:57] Discussion on campaign age issues:

  "Reagan basically told him, I got this. And he did it crushed the issue."

• [33:19] Cruz on Supreme Court ruling:

  "This is a horrible decision. I'm angry about it. It is deeply disturbing..."

• [38:19] Cruz on Biden's border strategy:

  "Biden doesn't want to secure the border. He wants this crisis."

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This summary provides an in-depth overview of the podcast episode, capturing the essential discussions and perspectives shared by Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz. For listeners seeking detailed political analysis and insider viewpoints, this episode offers valuable insights into the current state of the Republican primary and key national issues.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And Senator, it is a big win for Donald Trump. This is as some have described it, two in a row and two last places in a row for Nikki Haley. She says she's not dropping out, she's just begun. And this thing's gonna go on for quite a few more states in her words. Give me your reaction to that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, the simple reality is this thing is over. Trump has won the Republican nomination. You and I are sitting here. It is 11:11pm on Tuesday night. So the votes are not fully counted. But as we sit here right now, 77% of the votes are counted in New Hampshire. Donald Trump has 139,001, which is 55%. And Nikki Haley has 109,639, which is 43.4%. So as we sit here right now, Donald Trump has an 11.5-point lead in New Hampshire. The race has been called for Trump. He's going to win New Hampshire. And so where do we stand? Where we stand is Trump won Iowa by 30 points and Trump has won New Hampshire and it's very likely he will have one New Hampshire by double digits. The exact margin won't be known until late in the night, but it is very likely to be double digits. Right now it's 11.5 points. If any candidate wins Iowa and New Hampshire, the fat lady singing Katie, bar the door, it is over. The big question right now is what is Nikki Haley do? And I don't know. I think it is 70, 30 that Nikki Haley stays in. Now frankly, the rational thing for Nikki Haley to do is drop out now. And the reason is simple. She's headed to South Carolina. That is her home state. She was the governor there. She is going to get clobbered in South Carolina. It's going to be double digits. It could be as big as Iowa. It could be 30 points. And I will say when you lose your home state by that kind of crushing double digit margin, it leaves a mark. Now I mentioned I think the odds are 70, 30 that Nikki Haley does not drop out. She said that tonight. Her speech tonight was defiant. I'm staying in. I'm going the distance. I get that. And the reason I think the odds are 70, 30 she stays in is because she has a crap ton of money. The billionaire donor class is all behind her now, I gotta say. The billionaire donor class, look, I know a lot of the Republican billionaires, they are astonishingly, consistently wrong when it comes to politics. They keep supporting candidates who lose and what's weird, look, these billionaires have been incredibly successful business leaders. They know how to run companies. They know how to sell goods to customers. They know how to respond to data. And yet, when it comes to politics, they are myopic. Their worldview is essentially, well, all the people in the country club agree with me, so that's what I'm gonna do. And they don't notice that they keep losing and losing and losing and losing. And they don't have the rational response, when your approach to politics is, this isn't working, is to say, what am I doing wrong? Like, apparently, I'm misunderstanding. Oddly enough, the entire country is not like the country club in the Hamptons. Like, there are people in flyover country who have a different view. The simple reality, Nikki Haley has run as an unapologetic establishment moderate.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, that's where money's coming from.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, look. That's catnip to Republican donors. They are so excited. Yes. That's what they want. They want an establishment moderate. Listen, in virtually every state in the country, the numbers are establishment moderates are about 30% of the primary vote. Now, if you want to appeal to 30% of the primary vote, that's a great thing to run as. The problem is, and it's a simple question of math, 30% does not beat 70%. And I don't know how these gazillionaires twist themselves into pretzels, thinking my 30% is going to beat 70% because something's going to change. The rational thing, as I said, would be for her to drop out. I don't think she will because she's got so much money. As we talked about in yesterday's podcast, and this was an unusual week, I want to encourage you guys, if you are interested in the presidential primary process, this is going to be a week that we're going to put out five podcasts. We put out one Monday. I gotta say, Ben, you really like the Monday podcast? Is that fair to say?

[Ben Ferguson]

I did. It was one of my favorite ones we've ever done.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So why. So tell people why. Because for folks that are listening, if you didn't listen to Monday's podcast, I think you ought to go back and listen. But, Ben, tell people why.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm gonna be honest. I love when people get to see the side of you that I know and I get to see and to hear you talk personally about your presidential campaign in 16 and the. And the. The blood, sweat, and tears that goes into a political campaign. Being privileged to be around your campaign in 16 and working on the Bush campaign in 2004 and others. And, and understanding just how intense it is and to get your perspective on all of this, but also your memories, was something that I was so happy that other people got to hear, because I've gotten to get some of those stories from you, and I even got some news stories from you on Monday as well. But I, I, we got done with it, and I was like, I, I, this is might be one of my favorite shows that we've ever done, because it just showed a side of you that I get to see that I want everybody else to see, if that makes sense.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, one of the things that I think makes this podcast work is you and I are genuinely friends. We hang out together, we play tennis together. You kill me. We play pickleball together. You kind of suck at pickleball.

[Ben Ferguson]

I do. It's true. I hate it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We haven't played poker yet together, but I'll kick your ass at poker.

[Ben Ferguson]

I love the trash talking. This is also very accurate. It's extremely accurate. I won't remind you the one time we did play poker, but we'll keep going.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, when we started this podcast, and this is pre you when I started this podcast with Michael Knowles, and by the way, it was like four years ago, and I didn't know what the hell a podcast was. I remember our first guest was Lindsey Graham. Yeah, Lindsey Graham came down to a basement in Washington, D.C. and his question was, what in the hell is a podcast? And I wasn't much. I felt sort of avant garde because I knew what a podcast was, but I wasn't much more educated than he was. And some of the early and best advice I got is they said, look, the best podcast is like, you and I are sitting down at a dinner table and we have a couple glasses of wine, and we're feeling good and we're talking, and we try to do that. We try to have a real conversation. And because we're friends, because we've got sometimes we agree a lot, but sometimes we disagree and we got different takes and the back and forth is what makes it interesting. And. All right, I'm going to give all the podcast listeners an interesting insight. You may be wondering, hey, wait, why did we have a podcast on Monday and then a bonus podcast on Tuesday and then a podcast on Wednesday, and then a podcast we're going to have on Friday and then one on Saturday? Like, that's where you normally do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then the Saturday recap. All right, so I'm going to let you all in on the insight. Why? So Sunday afternoon, we recorded the Monday podcast and we did it. And it's funny, Ben had a bunch of topics he wanted. He wanted to get into China, he wanted to get into the border, he wanted to get into all this stuff, like all these ideas. And I was like, you know, I just think, like, Iowa, New Hampshire will consume it all. And he's like, I don't know, that's 10, 15 minutes. I'm like, yeah, no, I kind of feel like I have more to say than that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, and you were right on that one.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And the interesting thing is, look, to folks listening to this, you and I don't know what the hell we're going to say. We're doing a podcast right now. You don't know what I'm going to say? I don't know what I'm going to say. I mean, we. Part of what hopefully makes this interesting is we just have a conversation and hopefully you and I are relatively knowledgeable people and we have conversations about issues that matter, and we sort of go back and forth and follow where the muse goes. Anyway, Sunday, we're sitting there, we're doing YouTube, and we recorded what ended up being an hour and 10 minute podcast. And we started with. I'm talking with.

[Ben Ferguson]

I.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

When I did sort of a deep dive into the history of Iowa, the history of New Hampshire, the history of South Carolina. And I thought it was interesting. I like, like, look, this is. This is what has determined the leader of the free world for the last 50 years. That's interesting stuff to me. But then after like 30, 40 minutes, we started getting into. You asked, well, what does it mean to drop out? Ron DeSantis just dropped out. What's that like? And listen, there are not many people on planet Earth that have gone through like a winning presidential campaign that you almost win and then you don't, and then you drop out and sort of the trauma and the personal relationships and the grassroots and all of the dynamics. And so I tried to talk about all that. And that was sort of the second half of the pod we recorded. And then afterwards, Ben said to me, hey, I love this pod, but we got a problem. The second half is like a thousand times better than the first half. Like, the first half is kind of interesting and academic and theoretical, but the second half is. And Ben, what you said is. What you just said a minute ago, like, is why I listen to the podcast, because it's stuff you can't hear anywhere other than verdict it's like insight from someone who's run for president, come in second, and almost won. And so you and I made a weird decision. We said, okay, we have an hour and 10 minute podcast we've recorded. Let's take the second half, cut it off and make it Monday's podcast. Because you said, and I didn't disagree, that's the most interesting and stimulating part. So let's give people what. What they'll like the best. But then I said, look, I thought the stuff about the history of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina for me was interesting. Maybe I'm enough of a political geek that I'm interested in stuff that is not as sort of scintillating, but I thought it was really good stuff. And so we came up with initially, I said, well, what if we put it out on Wednesday? And Ben said, all right, you moron, you can't put it out on Wednesday. Cuz Tuesday night we'll have the New Hampshire results. So if we put out an academic discussion of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina on Wednesday, right after what happened in New Hampshire, people would be like, what the hell's wrong with you idiots?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So we came up with, all right, screw it, let's chop it up, make it a second pod. We'll just put it out on Tuesday, bonus pod, see if you like it. And now we're here Wednesday. But the point of all of this is that it's meant to be real time, not different from right now. You're in Texas, I'm in D.C. but if we were sitting at a dinner table, this is what I'd be saying to you. And you'd be saying the same, presumably.

[Ben Ferguson]

Absolutely. And that's the part that, that's the part that I love the most about getting to do this with you, is that people get to hopefully see that aspect and hear these types of conversations. And that's when we started tonight. I was like, all right, like, I got to know your thoughts on Nikki Haley, should she drop out and who gets to make that decision. If you've got the money to keep going, and Nikki Haley clearly has the establishment, I would call it the Rhino money, to keep going. What is in it for her to keep going if you keep losing? I want to get your thoughts on that, number one. And number two, there is some politicking involved in this decision. And there's a theory that if she can hang on long enough, it gives her a better chance of being chosen as the VP to unify the party if it's divided for weeks on end, states keep coming and going and coming and going. And there's, there's people that have said to me in the last, you know, eight or nine hours, hey, is Nikki Haley basically running for Vice president? If she can extend it long enough, she's the last one standing, then it may be in a position where Donald Trump says, fine, I got to pick you to unite the party because we're so divided because of this drag out, knockdown primary that we had your reaction to both those questions.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I don't think Nikki Haley is running for VP anymore. I don't think Trump's going to pick her as vp. I think she's running. She's decided I am the great hope for the establishment. I am the Never Trumper vision. And the problem is a lot of those Never Trumpers have a ton of money and they can't stand Trump and they'll keep writing checks, but they don't think enough about politics to think, how do you get to 51%? And so I think she will stay in this race because as we talked about on Monday and Tuesday, the reason virtually every single presidential candidate in history drops out is the same reason they run out of money. Nikki Haley hasn't run out of money. She's got people who will keep writing checks as they hate Trump. So I think she'll stick around. Now, here's why I think it's dumb. I think every day and every week she sticks around will hurt her. And getting crushed in her home state, I think will do real damage. And in my view, where we are right now, this is entirely about 2028. I think if Nikki were rational, and I doubt she is, I like Nikki. Look, Nikki's a friend of mine. She's a nice enough person. But almost every presidential candidate is surrounded by sycophants. They're surrounded by sycophants who tell you what you want to hear. But even more importantly, their paycheck depends on you staying in the race. And so if everyone around you keeps getting paid, if you stay in the race, you know what's amazing? Their advice is stay in the race.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Because they want those paychecks. And so at this point, I think they're looking forward to 2028. I think any one of them that has an IQ in the double digits, forget triple digits, let's just get to double in the double digits, recognizes Trump's won, he's going to be the nominee. But they're thinking now, okay, let's stick around a long time, let's unify all the establishment moderate vote and we'll be the great establishment hope in 2028. Well, look, good luck to that again. 30% doesn't beat 70%. And getting your ass kicked in South Carolina and then a Super Tuesday and state after state after state. That's fine. The donors may not think that. They may think, gosh, if you lose every state, that's a great path to being elected president. I guess they can think that I don't understand the reason behind it. So if I were on Nikki's team, I'd be saying, hang it up, it's time. Now, I'm not calling on her to do that because as we've talked about in this podcast, it's not my role to tell her to drop out. She's got to decide. But I think the path to victory for her is zero. Trump is the Republican nominee. He may win in November, he may not. I hope he wins. I'm supporting him. I don't know. I think he can win, but I think he also can lose. So I'm very worried about November, but I think the path for Nikki Haley to win the primary is 0.001%.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, as you note, Reagan, when Walter Mondale tried to make that an issue against him, said, listen, I'll commit right now the age issue is there and I'm not going to use my opponent's youth and inexperience against him. And it was in the debate, everyone cracked up laughing. Mondale cracked up laughing. It was just, it was a funny line. By the way you look at the backstories of the debate prep. Reagan's, this is an 84 his reelect. Reagan's team was terrified of the age question. They were worried that Reagan was too old. And Reagan basically told him, I got this. And he did it crushed the issue. Now listen, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are older than Reagan was in 84. With Biden, the mental deterioration is massive. It is obvious. It is a real problem. I fully expect the Democrats to lean in and make the point that Trump has mental deterioration not because it's true, but because they're trying to protect Biden. And so I get why Nikki's doing it. Look, Nikki is 30 years younger than Trump. So fine making that argument. And people are all excited. So I'm in D.C. on Capitol Hill. The reporters were all peripatetic about, oh, Trump confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. Let me tell you some reality. If you give a ton of speeches with TV cameras on you all the time, you will misspeak, you will say some dumb stuff. And I'm going to tell a story, one of the most embarrassing stories from the 2016 presidential campaign. So the last state that I competed in was Indiana. And as we talked about on Monday, I dropped out after we lost Indiana. One of the very last campaign events we did was in the gym where they filmed the movie Hoosiers.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Hoosiers is one of the greatest all time movies ever. And it may be, it may be my single favorite sports movie. I like, I love Hoosiers. Gene Hackman's a phenomenal actor. It's a great movie. Dennis Hopper, it's just, it's fantastic.

[Ben Ferguson]

And it's also, by the way, on brand with your passions. For people that don't realize this, you, your, your way of getting exercise is playing basketball. You still play two to three times a week every week. And that's, that's what you absolutely love to do, is to play basketball. So for you to know that you know the, the, the movie Hoosiers like the back of your hand.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I love Hoosiers. So we did this great rally in the Hoosiers gym. And, and it's the, it's the one where they filmed it in the movie. So it's the, the one in the little town. And so there's a great scene in the movie Hoosiers where this, this little, little team makes it to the big state championship, the big state championship in Indianapolis. And this tiny country team is scared because, like the team from Indianapolis, it's a big public school. They're guys that are big, they're tall, they're, they're like slam dunking, like, they're, they're a hardcore inner city team. And these like little country hicks are like, okay, how do we compete against these guys? And there's a great scene where Gene Hackman, they're in the gym in Indianapolis, the big city. And he goes and sends someone on the team, he says, go, go run a tape measure from the hoop down to the floor. And he said, measure the height of it. And he measures it and it's 10ft. And Gene Hackman, the coach, goes 10ft, exact same distance as our gym back home. And it's a way of making the point that, like, look, we're playing the same game. It may feel scary in the big city, but this is the same game. Now, I was making the point because we just had the New York primary where Trump had won. And I was making the point. Look, this is the same, but we can win here. So I had my body guy, Bruce, whom I love. He was the field go kicker for Oklahoma State. We traveled all over the country together. I had him. I said in the middle of the speech in the Hoosiers gym, I said, bruce, measure a tape measure from the rim to the floor. And I said, 10ft, 10ft, the same as it is in Indianapolis. And I was quoting the movie. And I left the speech, and I felt pretty good. I'm like, hey, I give a pretty good humdinger of a speech. And I walked off the stage, and my team was ashen. They were like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. They were horrified. I'm like, what? What? Like, what did I do wrong? And apparently, instead of saying measure to the rim, I said, measure to the ring. And I didn't hear it. Like, if you talk a million words. Look, you're a talk radio host. How many things have you said in the microphone? And if you talk a million words, I didn't hear it. I said, ring. And I just. My brain, like, it was a brain fart.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Diaz, who produces a show, has been with me now for what, a decade? And there's. And he laughs. He says that's why he's here, because there's times I've said things like, that's not right. And I'm like, what do you mean? That's not what I said. He's like, yeah, you did. You said it wrong. And then sure enough, he'll play it back to me. And I'm like, yep, I said that wrong. I got to correct it on the air during the next, you know, in the commercial break. He's like, you got it wrong. Like, there's no way I screwed that up and said it that badly, or Miss, you know, said it incorrectly. And he's like, yeah, you did. I was listening.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right?

[Ben Ferguson]

It happens. It just. You put a microphone in front of somebody three hours a day, as I.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Said, say that many words without screwing.

[Ben Ferguson]

Something up, you're going to mess up.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So. So when I walked off stage, my team was horrified. I'm like, what? I thought I did a good job. Like, what? I was really confused. So to call the rim a ring, Every late night host just had a field day with it. They're like, oh, the basketball ring. And playing basket, playing baseball with a sticky stick. And football, you throw the leather volleyball. Like it was. Look, the jokes are not hard, and they were funny. I actually watched them and laughed. I'm like, yeah, that really sounds funny like that. What an idiot. And the thing, as you noted, that was, like, so painful. Listen, there are a crap ton of things in which I'm really ignorant, but I love hoops. So today I play two and a half hours of hoops. I play twice a week. I typically play Tuesday afternoons and Sunday night. I play probably five to six hours of hoops a week. I. In high school, I was a mediocre to poor high school basketball player. I'd say I'm still a kind of mediocre to poor high school basketball player. I've about maintained my skills 35 years later. But the crushing. I love hoops. I DVR every single Rockets game, and I watch most of them like it's basketball. If there's a sport I know and care about and love, yeah, it's basketball. And everyone mocked the hell out of me for calling the rim the ring. And I know what the hell the ring is. Look, I just did that there. I know what the hell the rim is. That's a good illustration. So all of the media is in a tizzy that Trump had a comment where he confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. And I get it. It's easy and it's frankly valuable. If you have a political agenda, reelect Joe Biden, and the American voters are really concerned about the intellectual diminution of Joe Biden. One of the best strategies to counter it and say, yeah, but Trump is totally old and feeble, too. Now. I think it's crap. And I'll tell you what, I'm gonna make a challenge to the press and the Biden White House now. Let's have the November election decided right now. Give us Donald Trump and give us Joe Biden for an hour on a cognitive test. And the winner is the president. I'll take that, because Trump will kick Biden's ass on that. And by the way, no one will take us up on that.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, of course not.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Because there is a media and PR mandate. I think Nikki is leaning into a narrative the press wants to run with, and I get why. Look, if you're running against someone, if the press likes a narrative, you want to use it against your opponent. But I think it just doesn't fly. The distance between. Is Trump older than he was eight years ago? Yeah, like the rest of us are. You're older. I am. Like, that's part of life. But there is no universe in which Trump's mental condition is remotely comparable to where Joe Biden's massive deterioration is.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let me ask you one other question on this. At what point does Nikki Haley become, and these are my words, I want to be clear about that, a useful idiot for the Democratic Party, for the left, because the longer that they can drag this out, and I'm talking about the media and the Democratic Party, the better off it is for Joe Biden. You're not having to focus on one, on one debates and attacks and back and forth, even through the media, with, with a Republican candidate and a Democratic candidate. It also, you know, they've tied him up in court. Now they can tie him up in a primary that can be extended. At what point does it become a real problem for Donald Trump to unify the country there is specifically conservatives, the Republican Party, and it becomes such a big advantage for Joe Biden.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I'm not worried about that. My prediction right now is Nikki Haley will drop out 18 hours after the South Carolina primary.

[Ben Ferguson]

It'll be such a beat down. You think? And it's her home state.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I don't think she'll last to Super Tuesday. Listen, the impact, by the way, going back to 2016, Marco Rubio, who. Marco stuck around too long and the fact that he stuck around helped give Trump the nomination. But Marco dropped out right after he got crushed in the Florida primary. You cannot lose your home state and particularly lose it badly and survive. And so I think Nikki, the smart thing for Nikki to do would be tomorrow to suspend her campaign. I don't think she will because I think she's got money in the bank and she wants to go and, you know, look, as they say in dumber, dumber, you know. Do you have a one in a million chance? Yes. So you're saying I've got a chance? Yeah, I think that's where she is. She's like one in a million. Let's go. But I think getting crushed in South Carolina will end that campaign. I also think every day she stays in the race, she is hurting herself for 28. And at this point, I view the Haley campaign as entirely a 2028 campaign. Basically, Nikki Haley is campaigning against Glenn Youngkin, who is going to be the moderate establishment choice for 30% of the primary base. Okay, we'll see. There'll be someone. There's always someone. That's the way our primaries work. But I think the more she gets beat, the weaker she is.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's 20, 24 and a lot of us are trying to get our finances in order. And there is some great news for homeowners, especially if you have got a New Year's resolution, which is to get those finances in check. Interest rates have dropped and are now in the fives a lot lower than they were last year. If you've been buried in high interest credit card debt, now's the time to break free. American Financing can help you access the cash in your home to pay off your high interest debt last year. Their salary based mortgage consultants help customers save on average, I'd say an average of $854 a month. That's like giving yourself a ten thousand dollar raise. What a way to start the new year. And if you start today, you may be able to delay two mortgage payments. So call American Financing today 888-675-4090 that's 888-675490 or online at american financing.net that's american financing.net MLS 182334 MLS consumer access.org APR for rates in the five start at 6.406% for well qualified borrowers. Call 888-675490 for details about credit costs and terms. Senator, I want to move to another issue real quick. That is obviously become a very big deal and it deals with border security. Obviously New Hampshire is important, but can you explain exactly what just happened at the Supreme Court when it came to the Supreme Court ruling that the Biden administration in a 5 to 4 decision can resume removal of the razor wire that was installed by the state of Texas along the border, specifically near Eagle Pass. And they say at least while the litigation is ongoing. Uh, what was even more shocking I think is the fact that Roberts and Amy Comey Barrett sided with left leaning justices to rule in Biden administration's favor and allow the border patrol to go in and remove the razor wire which the Texas National Guard then put back up. At least from the latest videos we've seen from the border. This is a shocking moment. Many people in Texas are angry about this, saying what about states rights here? And how could these two conservative justices side with the Biden administration?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, this, this is a horrible decision. I'm angry about it. It is deeply disturbing fact. Number one, we are seeing an invasion at our southern border. 9.6 million illegal immigrants have crossed in under Joe Biden. It is deliberate. He wants this to happen. It is the worst illegal immigration in our nation's history. Number two, it's deliberate. Biden wants this to happen. The Democrats want this to happen. They are facilitating it. They are accelerating it. That they are actively wanting more and more and more of it. So Texas understandably is responding to defend ourselves. I commend our governor. I commend our state legislature for acting to protect the sovereignty of Texas and for investing billions of dollars in border security and law enforcement and putting personnel and putting up barriers to try to stop this invasion of our state. Now, what happened on this case? It arose to the Supreme Court on an emergency appeal on an injunction. There was an injunction against the federal government to stop the federal government from cutting down the razor wire, the Constantino wire that Texas had erected. And the Fifth Circuit, the federal court of appeals, had upheld the injunction. What happened today, Tuesday, is the Supreme Court, by a vote of 5 to 4, vacated that injunction. What that means is right now the federal government has the legal ability to cut down that razor wire to allow illegal immigrants to continue invading the state. Now the good news, the merits of the appeal is still pending. And so the 5th Circuit can still rule on the merits of the appeal as to whether Texas has the authority. And by the way, the Supreme Court could still rule on the appeal. So it is possible that Texas prevails, that the results of an emergency appeal on an injunction are not always the same as the merits results on the substantive issue. So that's true. But at the end of the day, you had the three liberals plus John Roberts, plus Amy Coney Barrett ruling for the Biden administration saying you can cut down this razor wire. Now, on one level, I understand it that there is a heavy presumption in Washington in federal courts, which is that the federal government gets to trump the states and that is part of the Constitution is the supremacy clause that says the Constitution and federal law is the supreme law of the land. I think it is a real problem that John Roberts is a creature of Washington. I don't think he understands what is happening at the southern border. I think Amy Coney Barrett is a law professor from Indiana. I don't think she has any understanding of what's happening at the southern border in ordinary times. If this were just a regular time and a state were trying to block what the federal government was doing, the Supreme Court would fairly routinely rule with the feds. What I don't think these justices have a real appreciation for is how horrifically bad it is, how lawless it is, what the Biden administration is doing. There's never been a president who refuses to follow the law like Joe Biden did. So here's the statement that the Border Patrol union put out today. Quote, the Supreme Court's decision today is going to undoubtedly encourage more illegal immigration. Unfortunately, this means Border Patrol agents are going to be tied up dealing with give ups, rather than going after the criminal elements that constantly cross our border illegally. The administration no doubt will say this is a win for border security. But if they sought rank and file input, they would be told this will do the exact opposite. Agents support what Texas was trying to accomplish in the absence of true border security policies from this administration. I agree with the Border Patrol union. And so I am angry, I'm frustrated. I think the court is out of touch. I think they're just reflexively agreeing with the federal government against the states. And I think it is a profound mistake that continues the invasion that's happening in our southern border.

[Ben Ferguson]

To be clear, one other thing on this is when you hear the Biden administration say that they are working to secure the border, I think everybody needs to remember this moment that they, not only are they not, they went all the way to the Supreme Court to make sure they could unsecure portions of the border where razor wire was put up to secure the border. That's how much.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Hold on. I want to underscore what you're just saying. So today in the Capitol, as I was walking to the Capitol, lots of reporters wanted to ask me about this decision. And they said, well, gosh, Biden just says if Congress will pass the supplemental bill, then he'll have the ability to secure the border. And I said, listen, understand, Biden doesn't want to secure the border. He wants this crisis. He wants more illegal immigrants. And I said, for Pete's sakes, Biden is actively litigating against the state of Texas to stop Texas from securing the border. That's what they want. They want this invasion. And that's exactly what the Biden administration is doing with the emphatic support of essentially every Democrat member of the Senate and every Democrat member of the House.

[Ben Ferguson]

It will be a huge election year issue. We will keep covering it here, that I can promise you. But I wanted to make sure that we got this out there. For many people that are asking that same question, why do these two justices, a lot of people, you know, believe they were conservative and they screwed the state of Texas, they screwed conservatives, they sided with the Biden administration, your explanation, hopefully will make a little bit of sense to people and understanding of why this happened. And it's still being litigated. I think that's something else we need to be clear about. It's still being litigated, and that will play out. How long will it take for this to get a final ruling with through this litigation?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Potentially years. It could take a long time. And if Trump wins it'll become mooted because Trump will stop litigating.

[Ben Ferguson]

There you go. Don't forget, we did a show traditionally Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, and a weekend review on Saturdays. This week, we have given you five episodes that you will get. So we will see you back here on Friday. Friday morning. Don't forget, hit that subscribe, follow or auto download button, especially if you're on Apple. They've changed the algorithms. If you're listening on Apple, make sure you're still have that check mark on the top right to follow this show. A lot of people been saying, hey, all of a sudden the show stopped downloading. You're gonna have to check that periodically, from what we understand. So make sure you do that. And the center and I will see you back here on Friday.