Liberals Kill Spirit, Tucker's Antichrist Talk & Cuban Island Intrigue w Squad Member Jayapaul Week In Review

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: Liberals Kill Spirit, Tucker's Antichrist Talk & Cuban Island Intrigue w Squad Member Jayapal – Week In Review
Date: May 9, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks) | Guest: Senator Ted Cruz

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Episode Overview

In this “Week in Review” episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz dissect three headline-grabbing stories:

1. The demise of Spirit Airlines and the failed government bailout.
2. Tucker Carlson’s controversial New York Times interview—including claims about Trump, the Antichrist, and rising extremism.
3. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s advocacy on behalf of the Cuban regime—raising legal and ethical questions about U.S. lawmakers’ foreign involvement.

With a characteristic blend of outrage, pointed humor, and personal anecdotes, Ben and Ted provide a behind-the-scenes look at news shaping the American political conversation, highlighting what they see as damaging liberal actions on the economy, culture, and foreign policy.

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1. The Spirit Airlines Bailout: “Liberals Kill Spirit”

[02:52 – 13:16]

Key Points & Discussion

• Background:
  Spirit Airlines faced collapse. There was speculation the Trump administration would bail out the airline, with a proposal for the federal government to invest $500 million in exchange for a 90% stake.
• Divergent Views on Bailouts:
  • Senator Ted Cruz:
    • Strongly opposed the bailout, both publicly and privately:

      “This is an absolutely terrible idea. The TARP corporate bailouts were a huge mistake, and the government doesn't know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline...” (04:22)

    • Met with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to directly argue against the deal.
    • Cited his background in free-market economics and invoked classic definitions of socialism.
    • Exception for national security (e.g., rare earth minerals) but not for consumer businesses like airlines.
  • Critique of Government Control:
    • Warned against the government as America’s “biggest shareholder,” predicting it would erode competitiveness and the success of American enterprise.
    • Colorful analogy:

      “A better idea was simply to put $500 million in a pile on the floor, pour gasoline on it and light it, because then at least you'd get some warmth... You could like roast marshmallows by it.” (06:53–07:06)

• Real-World Impact and Human Stories:

  • Ben Ferguson:

    • Highlighted the pilot layoffs; shared the story of a Spirit pilot, Captain John Jackson, who received a hero’s send-off on Southwest Airlines after Spirit’s shutdown.

      “They basically Southwest gave him the send off that he deserved... It went online viral...he rode alongside his son who was a first officer. It was awesome.” (10:23)

  • Senator Ted Cruz:
    Praised Southwest:

    “American Airlines [is] also a great Texas company... Southwest I think does a great job and that was a very class move. I'm glad they honored the spirit pilot who was retiring. I'm sorry that so many other pilots are now out of a job. I think many of them will end up getting hired by other airlines. But it's still an awful lot of pain and hurt from, from the disastrous Biden economic policies.” (12:10–12:49)

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2. Tucker Carlson’s NYT Interview: “Antichrist Talk & Holocaust Denial”

[16:30 – 27:42]

Key Points & Discussion

• Tucker Carlson’s Interview Disaster:
  • Ben Ferguson: Characterized the New York Times interview as “a disaster,” contending Carlson’s attacks on Trump and Cruz reveal his unraveling reputation.

    “I think the demise of Tucker Carlson is happening in real time. I think his audience is disappearing very quickly.” (16:30–17:22)

  • Senator Cruz was repeatedly (8-9 times) named and criticized in the interview.
• Holocaust Denial, Extremism & False Equivalence:
  • Interview excerpt features an unnamed Carlson supporter making the case that Cruz is morally worse than Nick Fuentes—the Holocaust denier and white nationalist:

    “Ted Cruz is a sitting U.S. Senator who has called for the killing of people who did nothing wrong... That’s basically what the entire U.S. Senate does every single day, and no one notices.” (17:40) “The Holocaust didn’t start with the gassing of Jews. It started with the dehumanization...that is what...” (18:41)

  • Cruz’s Outraged Response:

    “Let’s start with the fact that this loon...brought me up eight or nine times in that interview. Apparently I am living completely rent free in his brain and every word he's saying is a brazen lie. I am 55 years old. Never once have I called for the murder of innocence. Never once have I called for the murder of children.” (20:18–20:53)

    • Criticizes Carlson for “normalizing Nazis,” defending Nick Fuentes, and aligning himself with hate.

    “Tucker has gone to the point now of embracing Nazis. It's not just Nick Fuentes who's an open Nazi...” (21:15) “He is apologizing for Islamists. He is apologizing for Sharia. He is apologizing for America haters. He is attacking Trump every day. He is attacking Israel, he's attacking Jews. He knows he's lying about me. But his mission is also to normalize Nazis.” (22:14)

• The Antichrist Claim & Evasive Response:

  • Audio from the NYT interview features the interviewer pressing Carlson to clarify his “Trump is the Antichrist” comments.

    Interviewer: “On your show...you said, and I'm quoting, maybe he didn't put his hand on the Bible because he affirmatively rejects what's inside that book...Could this be the Antichrist?” Carlson: “I actually did not say, could this be the Antichrist...I don't know where that comes from, but I know that those words never left my lips because I'm not sure I fully understand what the Antichrist is...” (24:22–24:46)

  • Senator Cruz: Calls out the denial:

    “He says, I may have said some are asking. He didn't say that she played what he said, she played verbatim what he said. He asked very directly, is Donald J. Trump the Antichrist? Look, I'm willing to answer that. No. I don't believe President Trump is the Antichrist. But Tucker doesn't live in the world of facts...he is pushing, pushing anti Semitism. He's pushing Jew hate every day, like, every week.” (25:27)

  • Cruz concludes with:

    “Tucker is becoming more and more irrelevant each and every day...If you're actually an American who believes in free enterprise, who believes in America, who believes in America First, Tucker hates your guts and his mission is to attack you. And I think that's why more and more people are moving away from him...” (26:30–27:42)

  • Ben Ferguson:

    • “He said to his brother...we are going to be held accountable for helping this man win the White House.” (26:19)

---

3. Cuban Island Intrigue: Rep. Jayapal’s Cuba Advocacy

[31:03 – 41:24]

Key Points & Discussion

• Controversial Congressional Actions:
  • Ben Ferguson: Presents the case of Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal's efforts to aid Cuba amid harsh U.S. sanctions.

    “You have a liberal Democratic Congresswoman Ja[ya]pal, who has defied President Trump to literally go work with a foreign country, Cuba, to try to get them oil. And I’m pretty sure that if I’m looking at this the right way, this could be against the law.” (31:03)

• Jayapal’s Own Words on Cuba:
  • Pramila Jayapal:

    “I was in conversations with the ambassadors from Mexico and some other places, and I know other countries in Latin America are trying to figure out how to get oil. But it is a crisis beyond imagination...I have called these sanctions an economic bombing of the infrastructure of Cuba. It is illegal. It is against the war...It is bombing the infrastructure of Cuba with economic sanctions...” (32:24–34:17)

• Senator Ted Cruz’s Response:
  • Accuses Jayapal and many Democrats of actively supporting communist enemies of America:

    “Too many elected Democrats in Congress hate America and actively, aggressively, and enthusiastically support the communist enemies of America.” (31:35)

    • Cites Jayapal’s language about “kidnapping of Maduro” and blames her for siding with a narco-trafficker indicted for devastating the U.S. with drugs.
    • Details his family history of suffering under Cuban communism; expresses anger that U.S. lawmakers would try to keep the regime afloat.

    “The idea that they are actively trying to smuggle fuel into Cuba because their objective is they want the communist regime in Cuba to stand...I find infuriating.” (36:44)

• Personal Story—Cuban Roots:
  • Cruz recounts his aunt’s suffering in Cuban prisons and her joy when Maduro was arrested:

    “She was in Cuba after the revolution. She fought in the Cuban revolution. She was Tortured in Cuban prisons. When she was dying...I told her, I said, yeah, we just arrested Maduro. Cuba's next. Cuba is going to fall. The look of joy in her face...” (37:29–37:55)

    • Warns that communism is the “most evil ideology” in history, and presents a vision of a post-communist Cuba thriving with American investment.

    “There are millions of Cuban expats...who, if Cuba had a free market government...would eagerly invest in Cuba. There would be billions of dollars, tens of billions...Cuba is stuck in the dark ages.” (39:39–40:38)

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Notable Memorable Quotes

• On Corporate Bailouts (Cruz):

  “A better idea was simply to put $500 million in a pile on the floor, pour gasoline on it and light it, because then at least you'd get some warmth...You could like roast marshmallows by it.” [06:53–07:06]

• On Government Running Airlines (Cruz):

  “Who in their right mind thinks the federal government knows anything about how you run an airline?” [07:19]

• On Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes (Cruz):

  “Tucker has gone to the point now of embracing Nazis...his mission is also to normalize Nazis.” [21:15–22:14]

• On the Decline of Tucker Carlson (Cruz):

  “Tucker is becoming more and more irrelevant each and every day. He's really talented...But the good news is he is becoming so irrelevant right now.” [26:30]

• On Communism and Cuba (Cruz):

  “Communism is the most evil ideology that the world has ever produced. ... What befuddles me...Why would you root for Cuban Communists over America?” [38:15, 41:14]

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Important Timestamps

• [02:52] Spirit Airlines Bailout Discussion Begins
• [07:06] "Roast Marshmallows" Analogy
• [10:23] Pilot Send-Off Story
• [12:10] Cruz on Southwest Airlines
• [16:30] Tucker Carlson NYT Interview Recap
• [20:18] Cruz Responds to Criticisms in the Interview
• [24:22] Confrontation on "Trump Antichrist" Comment
• [26:30] Cruz on Carlson's Declining Relevance
• [31:03] Jayapal’s Cuban Intervention Case
• [32:24] Jayapal’s Statement on Cuba
• [36:44] Cruz on the “Smuggling fuel” for Communism
• [37:29] Cruz’s Family’s Cuban Story
• [39:39] Vision for a Free-Market Cuba

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Episode Tone & Style

Intense, combative, driven by conservative values and a flair for sharp, sometimes humorous analogies. Both Ben Ferguson and Ted Cruz blend personal anecdotes, policy critique, and moral condemnation—addressing listeners who see U.S. tradition, capitalism, and anti-communism as core tenets under threat.

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Useful for listeners seeking in-depth, right-leaning perspectives on recent political events—especially on bailout economics, media feuds, and U.S. foreign policy toward hostile regimes.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome in this Verdict with Ted Cruz. WEEKEND Review, Ben Ferguson with you. And these are the stories you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, you may not realize that Spirit Airlines could have been saved a couple years ago, but Democrats stopped purpose. Why do they do it? We've got the receipts and we'll explain exactly what liberals were behind destroying another American airline costing thousands of people their jobs. Also, Tucker Carlson's now saying Donald Trump is the Antichrist. And then when he's called out on it, he says he never said it. The problem is it's on video. And finally, why is it that there are members of the United States Congress that are working on behalf of Cuba right now to try to help the regime? We'll explain that as well. It's the week in review and it starts right now. Let's talk about another aspect of this. And it was the there was a lot of, of, you know, fodder online and there was a lot of media reports that, well, maybe America would, would give a government would give a bailout. We'd own, you know, 80, 90% of the company, whatever the number was. Ultimately, that did not happen. Explain. I hear bailout and I always get real cringy. We've had some that have been really good where we've gotten our money back as taxpayers. But in this scenario, there's many that say, you know what, it makes me really nervous. It did not happen. But can you explain how the government getting involved with that and how that works and who's making that decision of saying yes or no?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. So this last week, there was considerable discussion about the Trump administration potentially bailing out Spirit Airlines. And the bailout that was being discussed was the federal government would give Spirit Airlines $500 million. And in exchange for that, the federal government would own 90% of the airline. And there were differences of opinions within the administration on that. So the secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, was vocally arguing against that, saying, that's a bad idea. Howard Ludnick, the secretary of commerce, was the one who was advocating this idea. I publicly came out against it, and I came out loudly. I sent a tweet a little over a week ago that said the following, quote, this is an absolutely terrible idea. The TARP corporate bailouts were a huge mistake, and the government doesn't know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline that the Biden administration killed. Now, when I said that I'm the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over aviation. When I came out against it, that got quite a bit of media attention and it prompted a number of other members of Congress spoke out against it after I did so, I will tell you, Ben, that was my public statement. I also went so last week I had dinner with Howard Ludnick. Howard is a friend. He and I work together very, very closely. He's the secretary of Commerce, and the Commerce Committee is the Senate committee that has jurisdiction over the Commerce Department. So Howard and I had dinner last week, and a good chunk of the dinner was spent discussing the potential Spirit bailout. And I will tell you, one on one with Howard, it was just the two of us having dinner. I leaned in really hard and said, this is an absolutely horrible idea. Corporate bailouts are a bad, bad strategy. They were a bad strategy when we did tarp. They're a bad strategy when you have the government coming in and bailing out giant corporations, but they're particularly bad when the government doesn't know a damn thing about the business. And so if we'd ended up giving $500 million to Spirit and having the federal government own 90% of Spirit number one, I believe we would have lost our money. In fact, I had said, somewhat cynically, a better idea was simply to put $500 million in a pile on the floor, pour gasoline on it and light it, because then at least you'd get some warmth.

You could like roast marshmallows by it.

That would get something positive and beneficial from it. But fundamentally, who in their right mind thinks the federal government knows anything about

how you run an airline?

How do you set pilot schedules? How do you run baggage handling? How do you make sure somebody's suitcase that's headed to Pittsburgh doesn't end up in Milwaukee? How do you negotiate with pilots unions, with flight attendant unions? How do you ensure safety and all of that? The federal government doesn't know a bloomin thing about it. And it is a really dangerous road. Look, there are some voices and some voices within the administration that are pretty excited about the federal government taking ownership shares in lots and lots of companies. I think that is a really bad idea. And Ben, I'm going to harken back to when I was a kid. When I was in high school, and you may recall, I was part of a group in Houston that was called the Constitutional Corroborators. And it was started by this nonprofit in Houston called the Free Enterprise Education Center. And as high school kids, we studied free market economics. We read Milton Friedman and Hayek and Bastiat and von Mises. And we studied the Constitution. And we ended up touring around Texas speaking on the Constitution. And it was five high school students. We would set up ESL and say we'd go to like a Rotary Club or a Kiwanis Club or a Lions Club and folks would be sitting there having lunch. And the five high school students would set up ESLs and we would write from memory the entire Constitution in shortened mnemonic form. And we would write a definition of socialism, which is government ownership or control of the means of distribution or production. And the reason we wrote this, and this is what I was doing at 14, 15 years old, is if you don't know what it is, you can't identify it when you have it. Well, the folks who are arguing the federal government should own or control the means of, of production and distribution and economy are directly arguing we should adopt socialism for our economy. That is a really, really bad answer. And I think a budget airline made it obvious to most observers, look, there are limited circumstances. So for example, in national security areas where you're dealing with critical minerals and rare earth minerals, where it makes sense to have some government control because you, because you need to be able to ensure that we can defend our nation from national security threats. But outside that very limited category, it is a really dangerous, slippery slope to start having the government be a shareholder and especially be the biggest shareholder in major companies. That's how you lose the competitiveness. That's how you lose the incredible success of the American for enterprise system.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it really is. You know, when things like this happen, I always go back to there are real people that are affected by it and there's always, you know, people that are out without a job today. There's also stories that come out of it that I think are amazing. The New York Post had this story and I think it's a great way to just wrap this up in a human way. It said Spirit Airlines pilot give an emotional send off from rival airline after his retirement from flight, which is a huge deal when you're a pilot, was cut amid the shutdown. The Spirit airline pilot received a hero send off with the help of another airline. Captain John Jackson was scheduled to fly one last time for Spirit into Baltimore Washington International on Saturday when they ceased operations and went out of business in the. Not in the dead of the night. Jackson was left stranded by the permanent shutdown. He hitched a ride with Southwest Airlines in Fort Lauderdale. He rode alongside his son who was a first officer. And this was the coolest part, it went online viral. They basically Southwest gave him the send off that he deserved. Southwest put it up on their social media. It went to well over a hundred thousand people that responded to it very quickly. They showed him in the cockpit with his son. It was awesome. And I just gotta say even when things like this happen I do love seeing the, just the hearts of Americans and, and people that do this and gave him a send off. The, the Southwest Airlines carry him. They went under the water Canyon salute. After arriving at bwi. I just, I, I tell you it's awesome when you see things like that happen. So to that retiring pilot who didn't get his final flight job well done to Southwest and, and thanks for making that guy's day special.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well good for Southwest. That, that, that was the right thing to do. And I'll say Southwest is, American Airlines was also a great Texas company. You know Texas is, is, is really a critical hub for aviation. And I'll say I, I, I fly just about every airline all the time. I, I jokingly refer to Southwest as the company plane. Yet you know, people ask sometimes they, they assume senators fly private jets all around and, and the vast majority of the time you fly commercial and you fly coach and, and so I tell people, I say oh yeah, I've got a private jet. It's a 737 and it's with 135 of my closest friends on Southwest. That's my private jet. But Southwest I think does a great job and that was a very class move. I'm glad they honored the spirit pilot who was retiring. I'm sorry that so many other pilots are now out of a job. I think many of them will end up getting hired by other airlines. But it's still an awful lot of pain and hurt from, from the disastrous Biden economic policies.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now if you want to hear the rest of this conversation you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

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[Ben Ferguson]

now on to story number two. Tucker Carlson did a sit down interview with the New York Times. It was a disaster. And Tucker Carlson got busted lying, including his accusations that Donald Trump is the Antichrist. He also attacked Senator Ted Cruz countless times in the interview, Completely obsessed with him. Senator Cruz and I break down the shocking interview, and it's everything you need to know. Take a listen. All right, Senator, let's move to Tucker Carlson. He did an interview, and it couldn't have gotten worse for him with the New York Times. I've said this before. Some disagree with me. I. I think the demise of Tucker Carlson is happening in real time. I think his audience is disappearing very quickly. I think these types of interviews do incredible damage to his integrity, is character.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And.

[Ben Ferguson]

And these interviews just show how unhinged he is, which we've been talking about for quite some time. He's also still obsessed with you and had something very interesting to say about you in this New York Times interview as well.

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

Who do you think is more morally repulsive? Ted Cruz.

[Interviewer]

Who do you think is more morally repulsive?

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz is a sitting U. S. Senator who has called for the killing of people who did nothing wrong. Whole populations who advocated for this war. Nick Fuentes is like a kid. He's like 26 or 70. He has no power except his words. Here you have a public official who we pay, who has actual power, who's voting for things, who's making policy decisions, and those decisions would include. In fact, they are focused on the murder of people who did nothing wrong, and yet no one thinks it's a big deal. Well, this is totally fine. I mean, if there's tape of Nick Fuentes saying we should kill people because we hate their parents or it's okay to kill children, I would love to see the tape because that's disgusting. And that's basically what the entire U.S. senate does every single day, and no one notices. Nick Fuentes said something naughty that I disagreed with. He made fun of things that I don't think I would ever make fun of.

[Interviewer]

He's a white nationalist who's denied the Holocaust. And what I will say, but is

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

that worse than killing kids?

[Interviewer]

From my understanding of my own, you know, I was just in Germany recently, and, you know, it was such a good reminder that the Holocaust didn't start with the gassing of Jews. It started with the dehumanization of Jews. It was language that was used. And again, that is what.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I couldn't agree more.

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

And that's why when you have a US Senator, a member of Congress, a US Ambassador waving away civilian deaths as if they don't matter, that's the language of genocide, which results and this is the lesson of the Holocaust in genocide itself. And it has. So the lesson for me really watching all of this is that this can happen in civilized countries, in all human beings. There is the capacity to ignore the evil right in front of you. And my point is it's happening right now. And my job, to the extent I have one, I don't really have a job, but I just want to remind people that we're all capable of that, including me, and that we're watching it right now. And if you think that Nick Fuentes is a greater threat to other human beings than Ted Cruz, I would love

[Interviewer]

to know how I can imagine people hearing this and thinking you are soft pedaling the Fuentes. You are apologizing.

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

Soft pedaling nicuentes. I'm trying to awaken people to killing of innocents in our midst, which we are not only encouraged to ignore, but really told to ignore on pain of being denounced. And I'm just saying. No, I'm not doing that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator Nick Fuentes is a Holocaust denier.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

That doesn't even touch it. Let's start with the fact that this loon, I think he brought me up eight or nine times in that interview. Apparently I am living completely rent free in his brain and every word he's saying is a brazen lie. I am 55 years old. Never once have I called for the murder of innocence. Never once have I called for the murder of children. By the way, he claims that I do that. He claims that the entire US Senate does that. And it's just. It's at a point where it's a pathological lie. There's no basis in fact. There's no evidence. He just says it. He just asserts it. And he knows he's lying. He doesn't care. He's lying. By the way, his defense of Nick Fuentes as well. Nick Fuentes said something naughty. Naughty. Okay, here's what Nick Fuentes said. He said Hitler was right. Hitler was very, very cool. I agree with Hitler. On Tucker show, Nick Fuentes said his mission in life is to defeat global Jewry. That's not something naughty. That is a rabid Nazi bigot. He also said Nick Fuentes also said that he celebrates Stalin's birthday every year. Tucker nodded approvingly. And by the way, Tucker, there's a reason why Tucker is celebrating Nick Fuentes. Tucker has gone to the point now of embracing Nazis. It's not just Nick Fuentes who's an open Nazi. Tucker had one, had one lunatic professor on his show who said that Winston Churchill was the villain of World War II. And another lunatic professor on his show who said there's a good argument the Americans should have supported the Nazis in World War II. No, there's nothing. But Tucker is on a mission. And I believe at this point, I cannot prove it, but I believe Tucker is being compensated, is being paid by cutter or other foreign nations. He is apologizing for Islamists. He is apologizing for Sharia. He is apologizing for America haters. He is attacking Trump every day. He is attacking Israel, he's attacking Jews. He knows he's lying about me. But his mission is also to normalize Nazis. By the way, one of the things he said this week is Graham Platner, the lunatic Democrat nominee, or likely nominee, almost inevitable nominee in Maine for Senate, who is a self described communist. Graham Platner says I am a communist. And who has not just a Nazi tattoo on his chest, but a Totenkampf, which is the tattoo of the SS in the death chambers of the concentration camps. You know what Tucker Carlson said? Oh, I want to interview Graham Platner. I'm sure they do. Maybe they have matching Nazi tattoos. I don't know what tattoos. Tucker Carlson said. As Tucker would say, I'm just asking questions. But apparently if you're a Nazi, if you say Sig Heil, Tucker wants to elevate you. And I got to say, and not

[Ben Ferguson]

just elevate you, normalize you, make it go away.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And listen, by the way, when you lie about people, you notice his whole diatribe about me. He provided no evidence what I just listed about Tucker. I can give you the episodes where he said every one of those things. Those are objective facts. But here's so, so Tucker is now a professional liar who lives without facts. And I want you to listen to this exchange. And if you're watching on YouTube, it's even better if you watch it because it's not just me. Tucker has decided he hates America. He hates Donald Trump, he hates Jews, he hates capitalism. He had this other lunatic on his show who said that Jesus hated capitalism and Jesus was a socialist. He is attacked. He is. All right, I want you to listen to him being confronted over his argument that Donald Trump is the Antichrist. This is what Tucker has argued. And when he's confronted with his own words, he just flat out lies.

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

Listen, what I was saying, which is you cannot mock other people's gods and put yourself in their place, period. That is a deal killer for me. That's worse than the war with Iran. In my opinion, yeah.

[Interviewer]

But I ask because, you know, you've been talking on your show about whether Trump is the Antichrist.

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

I have not said that.

[Interviewer]

On your show, the day after Easter, you noted he did not put his hand on the Bible during his swearing ceremony as president. You said, and I'm quoting, maybe he didn't put his hand on the Bible because he affirmatively rejects what's inside that book. And then on a recent show, you went further, saying, here's a leader who's mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist?

[Nick Fuentes Critic]

I actually did not say, could this be the Antichrist? Here's a leader who's mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist? Well, who knows? I don't know where that comes from, but I know that those words never left my lips because I'm not sure I fully understand what the Antichrist is. If there's just one. I actually tried to understand it. I may have said some are asking that. I'm not weighing in on that because I don't understand it. Just to be totally.

[Interviewer]

No. In Revelations, obviously, the center.

[Ben Ferguson]

He said that, like, 15 days ago when the interview took place. This was, like, by the way, a year ago.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He says, I may have said some are asking. He didn't say that she played what he said she played verbatim what he said. He asked very directly, is Donald J. Trump the Antichrist? Look, I'm willing to answer that. No. I don't believe President Trump is the Antichrist. But Tucker doesn't live in the world of facts. He doesn't live where any words he says matter and the words he's saying. So there's good news and bad news. The bad news is the words he's saying are having really serious negative consequences. He is pushing, pushing anti Semitism. He's pushing Jew hate every day, like, every week. His show focuses on how the Jews are responsible for everything wrong in the world. But he's also pushing America hate. He's pushing how America is terrible. He's pushing Trump hate. He has said he regrets supporting Trump. He wished Trump had lost. I mean, that's.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, he said to his brother, it was. It was like this sad moment where they're like, we, we are. We are going to be held accountable for helping this man win the White House.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Like, so.

[Ben Ferguson]

So there's their lives.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So the good news is Tucker is becoming more and more irrelevant each and every day. He's really talented. He's a charming, charismatic guy. Even when he's lying to you. He's like Obi Wan Kenobi in Star wars going these are not the drones you're looking for. He just flat out lies. But he's charming and good at it. But the good news is he is becoming so irrelevant right now. And listen, I hope he has a really nice home in Qatar. By the way, you may not know this, but he bragged that he has bought a home in Qatar. He also has repeatedly praised the Ayatollah, the President of Iran, he's praised Maduro, he's praised Mandami. Like if you're a Hitler, if you're Hitler, if you're a Hitler lover, if you're a communist, if you're a leftist, if you are, if you are an America hater, if you're an Islamist, if you're an Ayatollah, Tucker Carlson loves you. If you're actually an American who believes in free enterprise, who believes in America, who believes in America. First, Tucker hates your guts and his mission is to attack you. And I think that's why more and more people are moving away from from at this point, it's so disconnected from reality that it's just kind of sad.

[Ben Ferguson]

Don't forget, share this podcast wherever you can with your family and your friends and I'll see you back here tomorrow. As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Love.

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[Ben Ferguson]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed. All right, Senator, this is a very interesting and just weird story. You have a liberal Democratic Congresswoman Ja Powell, who has defies President Trump to literally go work with a foreign country, Cuba, to try to get them oil. And I'm pretty sure that if I'm looking at this the right way, this could be against the law, which she's now trying to do is again, advocate for Cuba right now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, Ben, let me make a statement that I don't want to be true. And I want to make the statement and then we're going to assess the facts to determine if it's true. Here's the Too many elected Democrats in Congress hate America and actively, aggressively and enthusiastically support the communist enemies of America. Now, as I say that, listen, as someone who loves our country, I hate saying those words. I don't want them to be true. I want you to listen to the words of Pramila Jayapal, who is a left wing, progressive Communist member of the Democrat Party from Washington. Listen to what she had to say about what she's been doing lately.

[Pramila Jayapal]

In January, Trump issued an executive order threatening tariffs on any country supplying fuel to Cuba. This was this January, just a few months ago. And oil shipments from Venezuela, that's where Cuba had been getting its oil, were halted after the US Operations to kidnap Nicolas Maduro. Since January, only one Russian tanker of oil has made it to Cuba. In fact, it landed just a couple of days before I landed. And one tanker has enough oil basically for 10 to 14 days of Cuba's oil needs. So it's a very limited amount of time. Now Russia has said they're going to send another tanker. I was in conversations with the ambassadors from Mexico and some other places, and I know other countries in Latin America are trying to figure out how to get oil. There's. But it is a crisis beyond imagination. Just this past Friday, on May 1, Trump signed a broad executive order that widens sanctions and allows for new penalties similar to what we have for Iran and Russia, against foreign banks and firms that are dealing with Cuba. And it also reinforces the ban on US Tourism. I have called these sanctions an economic bombing of the infrastructure of Cuba. It is illegal. It is against the war. We've been talking about this in Iran. Obviously, to bomb the infrastructure of any country that is against international law, this is essentially doing the same thing. It is bombing the infrastructure of Cuba with economic sanctions that essentially ensure that the infrastructure collapses.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's something interesting that she said there. She kept saying the kidnap of Maduro like it was a crime center. I'm like, which, I mean this like, whose side is she on? Is it on the side of Maduro and, and the countess in Cuba? Because the way she said it there, she was saying it like it was a crime, what America was doing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So listen, there used to be a rule that politics ends at our water's edge. I like that rule. I liked a time where we said, gosh, Democrats and Republicans will disagree. We'll disagree on how high the top marginal Tax rate should be. We'll disagree on some policy questions. But when it comes to defending America, when it comes to standing with American servicemen and women, when it comes to standing up against our enemies, we're going to stand united. Sadly, that is not this world. Representative Jayapal, who I've never met, she's a very, very left wing. She is part of the squad. She is part of AOC and Ilhan Omar and these extremely left wing house members. Look, when she says the kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro, Understand, Nicholas Maduro was indicted for being a massive narco trafficker. Our FBI came down, executed a legitimate arrest warrant. The Delta Force accompanied them to carry out that arrest warrant. She describes it as the kidnapping. That is language that is identical to what every enemy of America would say. The last I checked, executing a legitimate arrest warrant. Nicholas Maduro, number one, he's. He's a tyrant who's responsible for massive oppression of his people, for murder, for torture, for. He has destroyed Venezuela, just like you, Chavez has. But you know what? That's not what he was indicted for. That's not what he was arrested for. He is a huge narco trafficker and he has killed thousands of Americans through the drugs he's flooded in this country. And her view is Nicolas Maduro is the victim. It is the evil American government that dared arrest this narco trafficker. So on Cuba, understand, she is unambiguous. She stands with the Cuban communist government. And I will say this. My family was imprisoned and tortured by Cuban communists. I don't take this as cute. I don't take this as fun. I get that she's from Washington state. I get there are a bunch of leftists who snap their fingers at. Yes, yes, yes, Communism is wonderful because they're soft and weak and they hate America. But I gotta say, the idea that they are actively trying to smuggle fuel into Cuba because their objective is they want the communist regime in Cuba to stand, to exist, I find infuriating. Look, Ben, did you ever have a chance to meet my Theasonia?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, I actually did once at an election event.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay. My Thea Sonia, my aunt, she's my father's kid sister. I. I adored her. She was an amazing, spectacular person. She passed away earlier this year.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

My nickname, what I've called her my whole life, is my Thea loca, which is Spanish for crazy aunt. She was a fireball. She died at 82. She lived a wonderful life, a life that I celebrate. She was in Cuba after the revolution. She fought in the Cuban revolution. She was Tortured in Cuban prisons. When she was dying, she. She lived in Dallas. She was fading away earlier this year and. And she was on her deathbed. We all knew she was going. And I told her it was right after Maduro had been arrested. And I told her, I said, yeah, we just arrested Maduro. Cuba's next. Cuba is going to fall. And I gotta say, the look of joy in her face. And there are millions of people in America. Millions of Cuban Americans, millions of Venezuelan Americans, millions of Chinese Americans and Korean Americans. And everyone who has been a victim of communism, who has understood. Listen, Ben, I believe communism is the most evil ideology that the world has ever produced. There's been no ideology in American history and world history that has resulted in more murder, more torture, more slavery, more oppression, more poverty and more misery than China. And to listen to an elected member of Congress, a leader of the Democrat Party, saying she desperately wants to smuggle fuel in because her objective is to save the communist government in Cuba. I gotta say, it will be an amazing thing. I don't know what's going to happen in Cuba, but we have a greater opportunity right now than at any point in my lifetime to see the communist regime fall. And then here's what I want to see happen. I want to see this communist regime fall. I want to see a new government in Cuba that is democratically elected, that is legitimate, that. That is just two things that embraces free markets.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And that wants to be friends with America. And let me tell you what that will look like if that happens. Number one, I would love to see Cuba be this oasis of free enterprise, much like a Singapore or a Hong Kong before China took it over. I think it could be extraordinary. But number two, Cuba has a massive advantage. There are millions of Cuban expats, Cubans who fled Cuba, came to America seeking freedom, who, if Cuba had a free market government that was friends with America, would eagerly invest in Cuba. There would be billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars that would be invested in Cuba. You would see a mass of capital. Cuba is stuck in the dark ages. It's like going to Cuba, and I've never been. I will go to Cuba when we have a free Cuba. I do not wish to go to Cuba under communism, But Cuba, the cars they drive. Do you know the cars they drive are from the 1950s?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's like the movie. The land that time forgot when the revolution happened, the car stopped, the innovation stopped, the food stopped, the misery stopped. The poverty. Everything froze in time. And I'll tell you, Cuba has some of the most beautiful beaches on the face of the planet. If we have a free market government that's friends with America, we will see this tourist oasis. Billions of dollars flooding into Cuba and it's just 90 miles off the coast of America and and what befuddles me. I want to ask you this Ben. Take a minute. Get in the mind of a leftist congresswoman. Premier Jayapal, why would you root for Cuban Communists over America?

[Ben Ferguson]

As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

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