← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
LIVE from Normandy: D-Day 80th Anniversary-Celebrating American Heroes
00:44:33
Loading summary
Transcript39 lines
- [00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is the Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, it's an international pod tonight as you're across the pond.
- [00:10]
Ted Cruz
Well, that's right. This is our very first podcast that I have done from Paris, France. I am in Paris right now. I flew yesterday to Normandy to be here for the 80th anniversary of D Day. I was at the celebration all day. I've got meetings the next couple of days here, and it was really an incredible time celebrating what was an historic landmark, a milestone that changed the course of history and the heroism, the courage that was shown BY those American GIs that landed on the coast of France and that invaded the continent to take. Take back the continent from the Nazis. It was incredibly dangerous, incredibly difficult, incredibly inspiring, and it changed the course of history.
- [01:09]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, it is truly incredible. And there's also the politics that are now coming out with the Biden campaign as well. They're now trying to use D Day to advocate for funding with Ukraine. That had to be shocking to you.
- [01:24]
Ted Cruz
Well, it's not surprising because everything they do is political. That's how they approach, unfortunately, day to day life as it's all politics, all the time. But I gotta tell you, nothing can really diminish the experience of being here. It truly is extraordinary being with heroes. And there were hundreds of World War II veterans who came back for the 80th anniversary of D Day. And these guys are all in their late 90s or in their hundreds. If they were 18 years old 80 years ago, then they're 98 today. Now there are several of them that were even 17 and 16 and lied about their ages. So there are a couple that are younger that are 96 and 97. But I visited today with one World War II veteran that was 104. And these guys are incredible, incredible heroes. And when you look at what they did, it was truly incredible. June 4, 1944, Operation Overlord, which was the code name for the Allied invasion of Normandy, France. More than 150,000 troops landed at D Day. And when they landed, they landed into German machine gun fire. You had soldiers, you had, you had barriers they put on the beach. And more than 29,000 US service members were either killed or injured during the Normandy operation, including more than 6,000 on the very first day of the landing. And it is. When you look at today, I stood at Omaha beach and looked out, and you imagine coming across that sand and coming into just machine gun fire. The bravery that was demonstrated on that day was just breathtaking.
- [03:31]
Ben Ferguson
I want to take a moment and Say thank you. So many of you that are Verdict listeners have gotten involved with an incredible organization called Preborn. Preborn is helping save the lives of countless unborn babies. They're doing it by allowing mothers to hear their baby's heart on ultrasound. You may not realize this, but the heart of a child begins to form at conception and adjust. At three weeks, it's already beating. At five weeks, a baby's heartbeat can be heard on that vitally important ultrasound. That's why we partner with Preborn, because we need to help these precious babies. And every day, Preborn's networks of clinics rescues 200 babies from abortion. When a mother with an unplanned pregnancy meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their baby's heartbeat, it is a divine encounter that literally doubles a baby's chance at life. By six weeks, a child's eyes are forming. By 10 weeks, a baby is able to suck his or her own thumb. And for just $28, you could be the difference. For just $28 between the life or death of a child, all gifts to preborn or tax deductible. You can donate easily by just dialing £250. That's £250. And say the keyword baby. That's £250. Say the keyword baby. Or you can also donate securely online at preborn.com/verdict. That's preborn.com verdict. And to all you that have already gotten involved, thank you so much for being involved in fighting back against the radicals at planned parenthood. This 80th anniversary, and you mentioned hundreds came over and there's so many veterans groups that just do amazing work fundraising and helping these veterans, these heroes war, to even get to Normandy to D Day. And the way that they do it and the way that they give them such honor and respect from the moment that they get to the airport in the US until the moment this trip is over, when they get back home. But. But this is a very significant year because it is the 80th anniversary. And if you just do the math, a lot of these veterans that you got to be with literally today, this will probably be their last time to go to Normandy just because of age.
- [06:13]
Ted Cruz
Well, that's right. And I had the opportunity to go to the 75th anniversary five years ago, and I didn't go. I had a scheduling conflict and I had something else I had to do, and I have regretted it every day since then. I should have fixed the scheduling conflict. I was mad at myself that I didn't just. Just push aside the scheduling conflict and go for the 75th. So for the 80th anniversary, you're right. There's a very good chance that the next one that happens, that we're not going to have World War II veterans still with us, or if we do, it's going to be very, very few. And actually, the news broke today that one of The World War II veterans who was 102 actually died traveling to France to come to this. And it's just, you know, they're at the age now where they all understand that this is the, you know, the end of their passage. But it was incredible. I spent a lot of the day shaking hands with these men, thanking them. And, you know, it's interesting, Ben, that there's a consistency in that. One after the other after the other. When you thank them for their bravery, they'll say, look, I just did my job. If you call them a hero, they'll argue with you. They'll say, I wasn't a hero. The heroes are buried behind us. And I gotta say, when you stand in the cemetery and you just see line after line of white crosses and white Stars of David of servicemen and women, when you walk through that cemetery and you read name after name after name, and they're all so young. They're all 18, 19, 20, 21 years old. And so many of them, they came off an amphibious ship and were shot and killed right on the beach. And it's incredible.
- [08:34]
Ben Ferguson
You know, my grandfather fought in War two, and he talked about when they all just went and signed up, and the story that he wanted his grandsons to know was how many young men signed up. And you mentioned their age. Many of them lied about their age to serve their country. They were 17 and even 16. And they lied. And the people. Some of the people he said, knew they were lying. And they went with it every way because. Went with it anyway. Because everybody knew that this was a moment in history that you had to stand up and fight the Nazis or the world could fall.
- [09:13]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. Including George Herbert Walker Bush, who, if I remember correctly, was 17 when he signed up to go fight in World War II. I mean, and that was, you know, you had young Americans stepping forward saying, we're going to defend the world from tyranny. And, you know, particularly after Pearl harbor and the attack on Pearl harbor, when America was thrust into the war, you had just ordinary people who did extraordinary things. And imagine how different the course of history would have been if the Nazis had prevailed, if Adolf Hitler lived out his life as the dictator of Europe The Nazis were unmitigated evil. We now know, and many didn't know at the time about the concentration camps where they murdered over 6 million Jews. It was. There are wars where both sides are in the right and both sides are in the wrong. World War II is not one of those. The Nazis. The world would have been fundamentally different had the Allies not prevailed. And D Day. Look, D Day was not guaranteed to be a success. It was one of the most difficult military assaults ever planned, ever executed. And when you look at. When you look at the cliffs they climbed, when you look at the elevation they had to scale, and you imagine doing it with hand grenades and machine gun fire coming down at you, not to mention incoming fire from airplanes. I mean, it is extraordinary.
- [11:15]
Ben Ferguson
My grandfather. My grandfather told me about D Day. He said it was a day that we all knew that many of our friends were gonna die, and that was accepted. It was just how many were going to die.
- [11:28]
Ted Cruz
Well, look in it. And if you were. If you were in the first wave of the boats, almost all of those soldiers died. And it. There was. The stakes were enormous. And what our country did without America in that war, Germany wins. And we came in, and it was a moment that changed the course of history.
- [12:00]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, I want to talk about just the reaction from first to Americans in France and being at the ceremony. How are you and the rest of the people that are there, especially the veterans, how are they received by the people in France? And then I want to talk about just you. Even the logistics in getting to this event and how all this came about.
- [12:29]
Ted Cruz
Well, look, the veterans are embraced and people are applauding and saying thank you. And I mean, there's just an enormous amount of love. And look, President Macron was there and he was very gracious, and he said, quite rightly, that the American invasion at D Day and it was all the Allies, but it was the Americans leading it, that it liberated France, that France had been conquered by the Nazis. And it's the reaction in seeing these heroes, most of them now are in wheelchairs, and they just have a line of people coming up saying thank you and wanting to take pictures with them and shake their hands. And they're just. You know, there's an enormous amount of.
- [13:25]
Ben Ferguson
Appreciation when you got this, obviously, the invite to go. How does this work? Who all got to go on this. This trip to obviously honor our men and women that gave the ultimate sacrifice, our young boys, but you're going to honor and represent the United States of America. What do the logistics even look like?
- [13:47]
Ted Cruz
Well, sure. So this is what's called a codel, which is a Congressional delegation, and it's official travel by members of Congress. And there are lots of codels. This is part of the job that you travel. You travel to other countries and you meet with military leaders, you meet with foreign leaders. That is a very important part of doing the job. I'm on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And so traveling to other countries, meeting with other leaders, understanding the situation is very important. This CODEL, typically CODELs are organized by one or two senators. This CODEL was organized by Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, and John Bozeman, a Republican from Arkansas. And this was a big codel. This was larger than normal. Often codells are in the Senate. Three or four or five senators is a typical Codell. This one, I think the council was 19. So you had a lot of senators that came, and then there were a bunch of House members that came. I actually don't know how many House members, but I'd say 20 or 30. It was a big group of House members that were here. And so logistically the way this one worked is that we met at the Capitol and then we went over to Andrews Air Force Base and we flew from Andrews Air Force Base to France on Air Force planes. So it's what's called MIL Air, Military Air. And so the Air Force maintains a number of planes that are used for official travel. And so we left on Wednesday, late afternoon. We flew all night. We tried to sleep on the plane as much as we could, although, you know, according to my aura ring tracker, I got a total of 51 minutes sleep last night. So it's not easy.
- [15:47]
Ben Ferguson
I'm glad to know you. And I sleep as well on planes. I can't do it no matter what. Even overseas, I've never been able to sleep on planes.
- [15:55]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, it's just hard to sleep in an airplane plane. I got 51 minutes that I've passed out, but it just. I find it really tough to sleep in an airplane plane seat. But so we landed. We landed early in the morning today. So today is Thursday. We landed early in the morning at about 6:30 in the morning, and we all disembarked the plane and changed clothes. So, you know, I mean, we traveled in jeans and traveling clothes, but then we changed to put on. Put on a suit and put on business attire. And then we all got in buses to head to the ceremony. And there were, There were two ceremonies today. There was one, the American ceremony, and that's at the American cemetery. And that both Joe Biden and Macron both spoke there and that had a lot of time honoring the World War II veterans who were there. And then after that, there was an international ceremony that featured a number of heads of state, and Justin Trudeau from Canada was there and Prince Harry from the UK was there. And it was, that was predominantly driven by the French. So the international event was very different from the American event. I attended both. And then after the event, now we're up in Normandy and the rest of the trip is in Paris. So we, we got on Black Hawk helicopters and went from Normandy to Paris and landed.
- [17:43]
Ben Ferguson
How long is that flight? Out of curiosity, how long is that? And taking off from Normandy at a Black Hawk, that to me just seems really, I don't know, touching historically. I mean, you're taking the same flight that many people were coming in and parachuting in.
- [18:02]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, no, it was really damn cool. Like there's no other way. Like, as the helicopter's taking off and you're like looking at the beach and you're envisioning, when you're looking at the beach, you're envisioning just 150,000 GIs landing on that beach. You're envisioning the smoke and the screens and the blood and the machine guns, and you're envisioning the ships as far as the eye can see and the paratroopers raining down from, from on high. And it was just kind of amazing. And for a chunk of it, we flew along the coast before we cut in to go to Paris. And so it was really. You're flying over the French countryside and seeing the countryside and seeing the coast, that was very cool. And it ended up, I mean, it's now. What time is it now? It is 1108pm so this has been a very long day. We landed in France at 6:30 in the morning and just got to the hotel room at 11:00 at night. So it has been a full day, but it was. And then tomorrow I'm up early and I'm meeting with the US Embassy and doing a briefing with a military briefing. And we've got a whole series of meetings on issues impacting France and Europe that I'll be attending. And then also on Saturday, we're going to go back to Normandy and do a tour of the battlefields and have an historical tour, which I'm really looking forward to as well. Today was the ceremony itself, but I'm looking forward to getting into some of the real details of how the invasion unfolded and what happened.
- [19:47]
Ben Ferguson
I was watching Biden on tv and there was two faces that I noticed sitting there close to the front. Two men that you got to meet today. And there's certain people and moments where you meet a person in the context of some of their greatest work and it excites you. Two of those people you met today was Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. These are, as you describe them, two master storytellers who've done a beautiful job chronicling the incredible heroism of the greatest generation. I could not agree with you more. What was it like to be there in Normandy with them and all that they have done to really raise awareness of the greatest generation and the ultimate sacrifice?
- [20:33]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, that was really cool. I had not met either one of them before. And they were both just kind of standing around before the ceremony started. They were talking to various people. And so I came up and introduced myself. I had a conversation with both of them, with Spielberg. I said, I told him he's an amazing movie maker and I love, you know, this, I love movies. I'm a die hard movie buff. And I just said, you know, telling stories is incredibly important. And I actually, I relayed a story to him. So Saving Private Ryan. My uncle was a Vietnam vet and he worked for years as a counselor at the VA dealing with veterans who had mental health issues. And my uncle told me that when Saving Private Ryan came out, you know, the first 20, 30 minutes of it, where they're landing, I mean, it's as intense a war scene as I think there's ever been in a movie. And what I told Spielberg, as I said, my uncle told me that he had a lot of vets coming in, were really triggered by that scene. And what they told him is that it got the sounds right. And they said it was the first war movie that got the sounds of combat exactly right. And it was bringing Beth back, like being back in combat. And so he lives as a therapist helping them work through that. And it was interesting. Spielberg was telling me, he said, look, they went to great lengths. You know, they took all the different weapons and they fired them and had the microphones to, number one, record the sound of them. But they also, he said, fired them in the sides of beat to get the sound of them hitting a body and breaking bone and flesh. But. And my uncle said also the sound of ricochet and water with the bullets, that. That in particular was an aspect that was really potent. You know, I also talked to him about Schindler's List, which was another incredible movie. And I was talking to him about how moved I was by the scene at the end where, you know, Oskar Schindler is sitting there after having saved so many people from concentration camps. And, you know, he looks at his gold watch and says, you know, my God, I could have saved three people with that. How do I have a watch and three people are dead? Like, like that. The guilt. He felt that as much as he did, he could have done more. And it was, that was actually a neat conversation to have with Spielberg.
- [23:19]
Ben Ferguson
Want to tell you about our friends over Patriot Mobile real quick. And if you have a cell phone, a lot of you have made the switch. And I get emails now and messages on social media from people saying, ben, you weren kidding. Patriot Mobile is incredible. They're the only conservative Christian wireless provider. And you make a difference when you make a switch because they take about 5% of your bill every month at no extra cost to you. And they give it back to organizations that support free speech, religious freedom, which is under attack in this country. And they protect the sanctity of life of unborn children. They also advocate for the second amendment as well as our military, our veterans, and they help with our wounded warrior heroes in this country. Now that is what they do when you pay your bill. But the best part is this. You're not giving your money to Big Mobile that are actually supporting liberal causes. Patriot Mobile wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Big Mobile giving massive donations to Democrats running at the local, state and national level and activist organizations, including massive donations to Planned Parenthood. If you don't want your money going there, there, make the switch to Patriot Mobile. It is so easy now with technology. You don't have to go to a store. You can just call them and you can switch now. I switched a lot a couple months ago and I can tell you it's never been easier. It was done over the phone quickly. I got to keep my same phone. I have the same number that I had before. It is seamless transition. And when it comes to service, you're going to be on the same towers that you're used to right now. Welcome to 2024. Changing your phone, it is not hard anymore. Call Patriot Mobile, make that switch today and stand up for the values you believe in. 972 Patriot. That's 972 Patriot. 972 Patriot. Use a promo code. Verdict. You'll get free activation or they're online@patriot mobile.com verdict. That's patriot mobile.com verdict. I want to talk about the speech and, and, and I was watching and Actually, before.
- [25:26]
Ted Cruz
Before that. Let's not skip Tom Hanks. So Hanks was there too. And so I went and chatted with him too. Now, interestingly enough, Tom Hanks is actually pretty tall, which I didn't. Yeah, it's when I met him, he's. I don't know, maybe 62 or 6 3. He was at least. I'm 5 11. He was at least 3 inches taller than I am, which. Which I didn't expect. And he's kind of skinny. He was tall and kind of skinny, which is not. He's taller than he appears in movies. And he was very charming. And we chatted a little bit and, you know, he said, you know, he said something along the lines of, you know, you know, I'm not going to vote for you. And I kind of laughed and said, well, you're not going to vote for me yet. I'm stubborn enough. I haven't given up on convincing you of that. But it was, you know, he did it in a way that was not obnoxious. Look, both Spielberg and Hanks are Democrats. They're very vocal Democrats. But, you know, that's. We were not there talking politics that day. I mean, and you look at whether it's Saving Private Ryan or his band of brothers in the Pacific, both of which are just incredible series. I've watched both of them, and they do such a powerful job of recounting World War II, both in Europe and in the Pacific, and you know, the heart that each of them has for telling those stories. And I was talking with Spielberg more than Hanks, but I was talking about how important it was to tell the stories of these veterans. You know, we're losing them. Every day, we're losing them. We're coming to the end of when we're going to have them with us and telling their stories so they're not forgotten, I think, is really, really, really important.
- [27:20]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, it's vitally important. I want to go to the President's speech. Lloyd Austin spoke and then the President spoke, and I actually played some of that on my show. And I said this at the beginning. I said, I always root for the President of the United States of America on moments like this, on todays like this, to have an amazing speech. And I root for the President always. My President always, when it comes to national security issues especially and when it comes to honoring our men and women in uniform. And the President gave a speech, and I was watching it with the best of intentions. I wanted to root for. For this speech. But there were some moments in that speech, that caught me a little bit by surprise, and I wanted to know your thoughts on this. There was a couple points where Biden tried to invoke Ukraine, and he also said this, which the media even picked up on. Here's what he had to say during the speech about democracy in America. Now, the question for us is, in our hour of trial, will we do ours? We're living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than they point since the end of World War II, since these beaches were stormed in 1944. Now we have to ask ourselves, will we stand against tyranny, against evil, against crushing brutality of the iron fist? Will we stand for freedom? We defend democracy. We stand together? My answer is yes. It only can be yes. That was an interesting point for me because he said democracy is more at risk now than at any point since World War II. He talked about it on a domestic side, which was implying, I think Donald Trump is a threat to democracy. And then he implied it with, obviously, Russia and Ukraine. And I wanted your reaction to that.
- [29:24]
Ted Cruz
You know, I'm going to say this is an interesting example of having a different reaction to something when you're physically there versus watching it on TV or watching it on Twitter. Look, I know on the way after the speech, like, looking at Twitter and people's reactions, I know people are upset that they view Biden as politicizing here. I gotta say, it didn't feel that political being there in person. And maybe it's because, frankly, you're paying attention to the veterans and the heroes you're in front of. And it's so dominated things that, you know, what Biden said, he barely paid attention to it. Like it was not. It wasn't the dominant event of the day. And, you know, it was fine. He said, okay, you know, what was actually stood out much more to me than anything Biden said.
- [30:21]
Ben Ferguson
What was that?
- [30:22]
Ted Cruz
Crone did something that was really cool, which is he awarded the French Legion of Honor to. It was about eight or ten American GIs. And he, you know, and each of them, they were almost all in wheelchairs. Each of them would stand for it. And they're teetering, and they'd have someone helping them, but they wanted to stand. And he would pin on their chest the French Legion of Honor. That I wasn't expecting. And that was just powerful. That was just like he was literally. And then it was funny. Macron would lean in and he would kiss them on both cheeks, as is the French way. You could kind of see these Old dudes being like, hey, why is this French guy kissing them? But, you know, you're being awarded the French Legion of Honor. That's a pretty damn big deal. And you think about it, for someone who was 19 and, and was right there, I mean, understand we're doing this, like, right next to the beaches where they saw their friends die. Right next to the beaches where I'm going to have to assume that was the most hellish day they've ever experienced or was certainly one of them. Although those that continue to fight in the war, there may have been others that rivaled it. But, you know, you think about it. Imagine being 100 years old and the president of France thanking you for liberating France and pinning the Legion of Honor on your chest. It was. Most of us had tears in our eyes during that.
- [31:55]
Ben Ferguson
I want to talk to you about one of my commitments, and that is I am sick and tired of giving my money to companies that do not stand with my values. And in the coffee business, there are a lot of liberal companies out there. You probably had two or three pop into your brain right when I said that. Well, I start my day every morning at 7:00am on the radio. I've got to be awake, and I want a premium cup of coffee to start my day. That, honestly, I can look forward to. And that is why I switched to blackout coffee. Now, Blackout coffee is 100% America and 0% woke. They are committed to conservative values, from sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support in shipping, and they embody true American values and they accept no compromise on taste or quality. Now, blackout coffee is a premium cup of coffee. It's not average. And I want you to try it. I'm going to give you a discount to give it a shot because when you do, you're never going to switch back. Go to blackoutcoffee.com verdict. That's blackoutcoffee.com verdict and use the coupon code verdict for 20% off your first order. That's blackoutcoffee.Com verdict. Be awake, not woke. Try Blackout Coffee at blackout coffee.com verdict and use that promo code verdict for 20% off your 1st order. Anthony Blinken came out afterwards. He did an interview from Normandy with the backdrop behind him of many of the heroes and the crosses of those tombstones of so many that lost their lives. He had this to say marking the 80th anniversary of D Day. And I want to get your reaction.
- [33:41]
C
And joining us now from Normandy, the United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Thank you very much for joining us here on Morning Joe. What should our allies and enemies take away from the President's speech this morning in Normandy?
- [33:59]
D
The same resolve that the extraordinary men and women that we're celebrating today showed then, he's showing now because they did what they did. We're here today, and we not only have a responsibility to honor what they did, but the real way to honor it is to make sure that we're good in our time, in our moment, in standing up to the challenges that we face. And one of those we see now is aggression from Russia, not only against Ukraine, but against the very principles at the heart of the international system that were put in place after World War II to try to make sure that we didn't have another world war, that we maintain peace and security. And President's determined to make sure we're standing up today, just as they stood up 80 years ago.
- [34:43]
C
And the President talked about Ukraine as one of the current challenges that exemplify the fight against dark forces that never fade. And he made another, yet another commitment. He reinforced the commitment to Ukraine. And by the way, if I may, we're watching live pictures right now of President Biden and the first lady walking through the cemetery in Normandy, France. And as we look at these pictures, which really symbolize the. The losses 80 years ago on D Day, and talk about the losses that Ukraine is incurring right now from the same type of aggression, the President did say that the support for Ukraine would continue, that we will be there for Ukraine. How does that. How does that parallel with some of the reticence we have seen in Washington that actually delayed the much needed aid Ukraine needed to push back against Russian aggression?
- [35:54]
D
Well, you know, Mika, that age should have gotten there a long time ago, but I'm glad it's there now, and it's making a difference every single day. We're pushing it out to the front lines, making sure the Ukrainians who need it against this Russian aggression have it and can use it. But, you know, there's a really powerful parallel, too, between what we're commemorating today and what we're doing now. Back then, it wasn't just the United States here in Normandy. 12 countries came together, 160,000 men coming to this beach, coming to start the final fight that ultimately, 11 months later, led to victory in World War II in Ukraine. We have more than 50 countries standing up, standing together, making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself and to push back this aggression. And that's the power of our alliances. And that's the biggest difference maker we have in the world. Our adversaries, our competitors, they don't have the same kind of voluntary alliances. Yes, sometimes they coerce countries into helping them or maybe they pay them off. Here we have country after country that volunteers to stand together, stand together in defense of principles that we share and no need defending. We're seeing that in Ukraine. We saw that 80 years ago. Here in Normandy.
- [36:59]
Ben Ferguson
You listen to that. It was very clear that NBC was wanting to make that and Blinken wanted to make that connection. And this deals with the reality of Foreign Policy Center. He said his exact quote, there's a really powerful parallel between D Day and the Ukraine war.
- [37:17]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. No, there's not. That's. Look, this White House does all politics all the time. It's what they do. They spin, spin, spin. And the two are fundamentally different. You know, I wish they would treat a solemn commemoration like this for what it is, a solemn commemoration and not treat it as another day in politics. Now, I will say President Zelensky was there. He was at the event. And so that did add some of the focus to it. And actually, I think tomorrow we're maybe sitting down and meeting with President Zelensky. And listen, I agree that we want Russia to lose, that Russia is our enemy Now, Vladimir Putin is not Adolf Hitler. He's our enemy. But he doesn't have concentration camps where he's murdering 6 million people right now. He is our enemy and he does not wish us well. And so I think Vladimir Putin is a KGB thug. It's in America's interest for Russia to lose. But, and we talked about this at great length on the pod, it is Joe Biden's fault and Tony Blinken's fault the Ukraine war happened in the first place. Joe Biden gave multibillion dollar gifts to Vladimir Putin when he waived sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline sanctions that I authored. I wrote the legislation, wrote them into law, and Putin stopped building that pipeline the day President Trump signed my sanctions legislation into law. If Biden had not waived those sanctions, the war in Ukraine would not have happened. If Donald Trump were still in the White House, the war in Ukraine would not have happened. It's Joe Biden's weakness that caused the war in Ukraine. And by the way, as much as Biden and Blinken want to see themselves as Churchill and FDR, if there is a World War II analysis analogy, then Biden is Neville Chamberlain. He is the one who is weak. He is the appeaser. He is the one who gave billions to Russia. He is the one who gives billions to Iran. He's the one that constantly shows weakness to our enemies, which is why we went from peace and prosperity, what he inherited three and a half years ago, to two simultaneous wars playing out across the face of the globe. And look, I'm glad. Biden says he stands for freedom against tyranny. He can't seem to figure that out in Israel because he's blocking weapons going to Israel and at the same time flowing money to Iran that goes to Hamas. And so when it comes to freedom and tyranny, he manages to be on the wrong side of that an awful lot.
- [40:15]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, no doubt about it. I'm really thankful that you got to be there and we got to talk about this and honor our amazing brave men who went and fought and the women that were involved as well.
- [40:30]
Ted Cruz
Oh, by the way, you know who I met? I met the original Rosie the Riveter.
- [40:35]
Ben Ferguson
No way. No way.
- [40:37]
Ted Cruz
That was really cool. She's like 100 years old, but she was the original Rosie the Riveter in those, you know, drumming up support for the military. That was very cool.
- [40:50]
Ben Ferguson
That's incredible. Well, what a trip. You know, my first question on the next pod is going to be about your meeting with Ukraine's Zelensky. So I'm giving you a heads up. That's what everybody listening is going to be like, how did that go and what was said? So I have a feeling we'll have that for you coming up on the next pod. I'm glad. What a great day in history. What an amazing day to remember and to honor those. And I really am glad that we got to talk to you about it live from France. It's incredible.
- [41:21]
Ted Cruz
I want to close out with actually a really cool thing. So at the international ceremony, they had the international ceremony and there was a lot of music. They had young people singing, but they had a military choir singing Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to Die. Which is the formal name of it is Blood on the Risers, which is a song by American paratroopers. And look, it's a gory song that they sung about what was happening and it was amazing seeing them singing it. So I want to close it by playing I just videoed on my iPhone the last two stanzas of it. And I want to close the podcast by playing that because I gotta say, in some ways it was dark, but in some ways it was beautiful. These are 19 year old boys singing. They know they may be about to die, but they're going willingly into it. And so let's close. You know Ben's right. Subscribe to the pod, give us a five star review. Send it to all your friends. All that's true but listen to this and just think about this is a military band military choir in France singing this but imagine the 19 year old GIs getting ready to get on a plane and knowing that they're going to be jumping out really close to the ground with massive machine gunfire and they may not live another hour and yet knowing what they were facing they did it with with eyes open and a heart full of love for America. Glory glory what a hell of a way to die Glory glory what a hell of a way to die he ain't gonna die no more he counted loud he counted loud he waited for the sh he fell the wind he fell the cold he fell the awful drop the sin from his wizards give out and rock and roll his blood Glory glory glory to die Glory glory Even.