← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
MAJOR Victory-Radical Biden Judge Who Sent a 6'2" Male Serial Rapist to a Women's Prison DEFEATED, plus Biden Continues in Absolute Free-Fall
00:43:26
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- [00:02]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, there is big news from Capitol Hill today that you get to break.
- [00:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. First of all, the news that is consuming the globe, which is Joe Biden continues in free fall. It keeps getting worse and worse and worse. There's the disastrous big boy press conference. But beyond that, there is the Cabinet now leaking on him that they haven't had a Cabinet meeting in eight months, that the Cabinet meetings they did have were pre scripted where they're walking through Kabuki theater. There's also the leak coming out of the Biden campaign itself that they begun polling Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump. And we're going to talk about what it means that the internal team, the Cabinet and the campaign is turning on Joe Biden as this free fall continues. We're going to get into that in depth. But before we do it, we're going to cover a story that nobody else is covering because it is an important story, which is yesterday on Capitol Hill, there was a big, big victory on Capitol Hill. Y'all recall we had a prior podcast where we discussed this radical left wing judge that Joe Biden nominated, Sarah Netburn, a magistrate judge in New York who is an extreme leftist. She was handpicked by Chuck Schumer. And among other things, she has this stunning decision where There was this 6 foot 2 guy who was a serial rapist, a child rapist who decided at age 52 that he was a woman. And this judge ordered that he go to a woman's prison and be housed with women. And she disregarded the rights of those women. She disregarded common sense. She disregarded sanity. Well, I cross examined her a number of weeks ago and Thursday morning the Senate Judiciary Committee had the markup when we were voting on it and I spoke against the nomination and we had a stunning victory. We're gonna get into that in just a moment.
- [02:07]
Ben Ferguson
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- [04:00]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, I'm going to explain this, but I got to tell you, the victory was a surprise. The Democrats were not expecting it. The chairman of the committee, Dick Durbin, was not expecting for the good guys, for common sense, for reality to prevail. They were assuming they'd get a straight party line vote. That's not what happened. But, but before I walk through what happened, I want you to hear my remarks at the markup. And this is a little bit lengthy but, but this is what I said at the markup and then I'm going to tell you the results and how it produced a stunning victory. Have a listen.
- [04:39]
Unnamed Senator
Thank you. Mr. Chairman. I have deep concerns about Judge Sarah Netburn's nomination and specifically about her radical rulings that endanger women by placing biological men in women's prisons. And given the avalanche of letters this committee has received from women's groups and female inmates, I'm not the only person with concerns. In the case of JJS vs. W.S. plyler, the prisoner dubbed July Justine Shelby, his real name is William McLean, was a serial rapist. There's no other way to say it. He was also a 6 foot 2, fully intact biological man. His past criminal offenses included child molestation of a 9 year old boy, rape of a 17 year old girl and criminal deviate conduct. No factual details are in the record, but the state defined the offense as quote, compelling with force or the threat of force, sexual conduct. As a result of these offenses, Shelby was incarcerated for 18 years. One year after being released on parole, Shelby broke parole by circulating violent child Pornography. And so, back in prison and at 51 years of age, Shelby decided that he was a woman. And as a self declared woman, he demanded to be jailed with biological woman. And failing to lock him up with other women, he argued, was a violation of the eighth amendment. Now, luckily for Shelby, his lawsuit ended up in front of Judge Netburn. Putting political ideology over justice and reality. Magistrate Judge Netburn recommended that Shelby, quote, be transferred immediately to a woman's facility. Despite a lifelong pattern of rape, sexual assault, and obvious sexually predatory instincts, Magistrate Judge Netburn's opinion declared that, quote, there are no signs that petitioner is at risk of reoffending. That defies words. Magistrate Judge Netburn doubled down on her commitment to a radical political ideology in her opinion. Casting aside any concerns for the female prisoners, Judge Netburn wrote, The BoP also posits that permitting petitioner to live among women will be traumatizing and possibly dangerous to them. This concern is overblown. Those are her words. Netbird's opinion went on, quote, the BOP's repeated refusal to transfer petitioner to a woman's facility to further her gender transition despite knowing the condition of petitioner's physical and mental health violates the Petitioner's 8th Amendment rights. This judge's ruling, the Constitution requires that biological men who wake up one day and say, I'm a woman have to be housed with female prisoners. This judge also ruled, in effect, that female prisoners have no rights. The Democrats on this committee like to say they support the rights of women, but we're about to find out whether they do or not. Because in this case, you're taking a 6 foot 2 man who is a serial rapist. And this judge sent that man to Fort Worth, Texas. I asked that judge, do the women in that prison have any right if it was your mother, if it was your daughter, if it was your wife, how would you feel if your daughter was housed with a 6 foot 2 man who a serial rapist. Because political ideology matters more than sanity. And by the way, the threat that this ideologue said is overblown is happening all over the country. For example, in Judge Netburn's home state of New York in 2024, a former prisoner at Rikers island claimed that she was groped and raped by a male inmate posing as a transgender woman. There had also been a prior rape attempt at Rikers in 2021 by another transgender inmate against a biological female inmate. In New Jersey in 2022, a transgender inmate impregnated not one, but two female inmates. In California, a woman's group sued the Department of Corrections after transgender prisoner raped two women, impregnating one of them. And in the chairman's home state of Illinois, a female inmate sued the Department of Corrections after she was raped by a transgender inmate. This is happening over and over and over again and it's because of ideology being put ahead of common sense. At her hearing, I asked Judge Netburn, do you regret your decision transferring a serial rapist, a biological man, to a woman's prison? Her answer was, quote, no. I faithfully applied the law to the facts. That is not the law and these are not the facts. As I mentioned at the outset, this committee has received letters from female prisoners horrified at the prospect of being housed with a biological male, fearing, quite reasonably, for their safety. Interestingly, the chairman has not read to you the letters those female inmates have sent to this committee, pleading on this committee to use some common sense. I'm going to read a couple for you, Alyssa K. A current inmate. Here's what she wrote to us. Quote, people are already getting raped and nobody cares. Honestly, someone in here is going to end up getting killed. Having men here in prison with us disrupts any sense of rehabilitation. We fear for our safety. We have further loss of privacy as we are forced to share intimate spaces with a man. We watch some, as some prisons are victims of abuse and others willingly engage in sexual acts in our shared space. This isn't right. This isn't fair. Do any of our Democratic members care about Alyssa Kay's concerns? How about Amy I, a former inmate? Here's what she wrote to us to say, quote, I urge the committee to watch my story and the story of other female prisoners and a brave resigned lieutenant who spoke out against this anti woman policy. Women, including incarcerated women. Just because a woman is in a prison doesn't mean she loses her rights. That's me talking, not the letter. I'll get back to the letter. Women, including incarcerated women, shouldn't be erased as a matter of law to accommodate the interest of men. One person's rights cannot come at the cost of another's. Here's another letter. Evelyn V. A former inmate. She wrote to us and said, quote, as a former inmate in the California State prison system, I share your concern about how women's rights are being pushed aside compared to the interest of men who are self identifying as women and gaining entry to facilities meant for women. Now at the hearing, Judge Netburn told told us again she thinks concerns of the risk of Shelby engaging in sexual re offense are, quote, overblown. I strongly Disagree. And as it happens, we now have facts. Just yesterday, yesterday. Exquisite timing, by the way, on this markup. Yesterday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Shelby, who is housed at FMC Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, was placed in administrative segregation for exposing himself to female prisoners, apparently joking that he was fully intact. Congratulations, Judge Netburn. That's what you're doing to the women in this prison. You're subjecting them to victimization and assault. If a guy on the subway did this, whipping out his genitalia to you on the subway, you deck the guy and arrest him for indecent exposure. But this radical says he's got a constitutional right to be there and do this. I have to say this is an issue. Everyone on this committee knows this isn't right. Every one of us, every one of us would be horrified if a loved one found out she was the cellmate of a 6 foot 2 man who was a serial rapist. But in today's topsy turvy political world, the way you get nominated to be a judge is you demonstrate you're a radical. I know people must be saying, well, gosh, New York has 20 million people. They couldn't find one person qualified to be a judge to give a lifetime appointment to. And that's the point. What they're looking for is show us you're a radical. This is an opportunity for every senator to demonstrate whether you'll stand up for the rights of women or not. I sadly expect a party line vote on this. But I will say this. If we have a party line vote, Mr. Chairman, I'm going to make a request. I'm going to request, Mr. Chairman, that you ask Majority Leader Schumer to expedite a floor vote on this judge on the floor. I want to see Senator Tester vote on whether a 6 foot 2 man should go to a women's prison. I want to see Senator Brown, I want to see every Democrat go on record. Do you give a damn about the women in your state or not? It's a simple choice. And it's a choice that will be defined by the word yes or the word no.
- [14:10]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, you gave that speech hoping that there would be people that would obviously hear it and would then say, okay, maybe he's right. That's apparently what happened.
- [14:24]
Senator Ted Cruz
It is, and it was remarkable. Look, I assumed what would happen is what has happened over and over and over again in the Senate Judiciary Committee, that everyone would just rubber stamp the nomination, vote it out, and that really I was speaking to the American people and ultimately to all 100 senators trying to defeat this judge on the floor of the Senate. But after I spoke, Mike Lee spoke, and Lindsey Graham spoke, they both were very effective laying out this judge's record like I did. And then they began the roll call vote. And the way the roll call vote works is the clerk of the committee begins reading out each of the senators. And it starts with the senior senator in the majority, who's not the chairman. And it goes down in seniority. So the clerk goes, Senator Whitehouse. Senator Whitehouse is Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat from Rhode Island. Senator Whitehouse.
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Unnamed Senator
Aye.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Next. Senator Klobuchar. Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota. Senator Klobuchar.
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Unnamed Senator
Aye.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Next. Chris Coons, Democrat from Delaware. Senator Coons.
- [15:25]
Unnamed Senator
Aye.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Next. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat from Connecticut. Senator Blumenthal.
- [15:30]
Unnamed Senator
Aye.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Next. Mazie Hirono, Democrat from Hawaii. Senator Hirono.
- [15:35]
Unnamed Senator
Aye.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Next is Cory Booker, Democrat from New Jersey. Senator Booker.
- [15:40]
Unnamed Senator
Aye.
- [15:41]
Senator Ted Cruz
Next is Alex Padilla, Democrat from California. Senator Padilla.
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Unnamed Senator
Aye.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Next is John Ossoff, Democrat from Georgia. Senator Ossoff. No.
- [15:52]
Ben Ferguson
Wow.
- [15:53]
Senator Ted Cruz
You could have heard a pin drop when he said that. The last two members of the Democrats going down the dais were Peter Welch, Democrat from Virginia. He votes aye. And Laphonza Butler, Democrat from California. She votes aye. And then Dick Durbin, the chairman at the end, votes aye. But Jon Ossoff, Democrat from Georgia, voted no. And all the Republicans voted no. And as a result, this judge was defeated 11 to 10. Now, I'll tell you, I am convinced that Dick Durbin, the chairman, had no idea Ossoff was going to vote now. And I think he was genuinely shocked when Ossoff said no. They thought they were going to have a party line vote and move her on. And I think Ossoff thought about it and said, okay, I got to run for reelection in the state of Georgia, and if I vote for a judge that sends a 6 foot 2 serial rapist to a woman, to a woman's prison, I ain't get reelected.
- [16:48]
Ben Ferguson
And do you guys talk before these votes like that with Democrat members? So. So you were expecting this to be a. They would move it on as well, right? You were as shocked as probably Durbin.
- [16:59]
Senator Ted Cruz
100% of the times we've done this. They vote party line. Look, the Democrats put the most partisan Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. You know, different committees have different ethos. Judiciary Committee is like the Roman Coliseum. You strap on your armor and you get battle axes and you go fight the barbarians. The Commerce Committee, which I'm the ranking member on, is totally Different Commerce Committee, it's Kumbaya. You go arm in arm. You work together, you cooperate. And what's interesting is many of the same people are on both committees, but it's just like the committees operate differently. They take up different topics. And so my entire remarks at the markup, I assumed none of these Democrats, it doesn't matter what I say, they're not going to listen to me. They're going to vote. Yes, but really what I was aiming, look, it's why I asked Urban, when you guys party line vote this out, we ought to have a vote on the floor because we would have defeated this judge on the floor. Joe Manchin was not going to vote for this judge. I think we might well have gotten Kyrsten Sinema and as I mentioned, for Tester and Brown, couple of months before an election to vote for a judge who did this, that could cost them their elections. And so I was like, all right, if you want to move this radical, let's get a vote right now and let's let the voters have a say in this. I was very confident we would defeat her on the floor. I got to say, I was stunned when Ossoff voted no. And I think the Democrats were, too. It is. It has never happened since I've been on Judiciary. Republicans have done that. Republicans did that to Trump a couple of times. There were judges that we decided, no, that's not going to fly. But the Democrats have never done that. And that is a victory, a big, big victory. And I think it shows just how extreme and out of the mainstream this White House and Democrats in the Senate are that every Democrat but one was prepared to move forward. By the way, none of the Democrats argued with what I said. None of them. None of them engaged and had an argument on the other side other than Durbin said, well, she was a magistrate judge, so technically she didn't order the guy to a women's prison. She just recommended that he go to a women's prison against the strenuous opposition of the Bureau of Prisons. By the way, who said that there was a big risk of sexual assault, but other than that, the other Democrats all just sat there silently. But you know what they're counting on? I want everyone listening to this podcast to ask yourself, did you hear about this judge on the six o'clock news?
- [19:37]
Ben Ferguson
Nowhere. It was, this is a dead story.
- [19:40]
Senator Ted Cruz
Did you read about it in the New York Times? This is a New York judge. Chuck Schumer picked this judge. This is a judge who was nominated to be a New York Federal judge. She was just defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Is it on the front page of the New York Times today? You know, you and I are recording it on Thursday, but I'm going to wager a gazillion dollars. I don't have a gazillion dollars, but it doesn't matter because I'm not going to lose the wager. It's not going to be on the front page of the New York Times. The media doesn't want you to know about it because. And by the way, I was waiting for one of the Democrats to self righteously say trans women are women. What do you mean? Why are you calling him a man? And recall when this judge was being at her hearing and I cross examined her, she said during the hearing, well, she was entirely female. And I said, judge, really, does this person have male genitalia? Well, yes. Well then he's not entirely female.
- [20:46]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [20:48]
Senator Ted Cruz
And the irony, literally the day before the markup, the story breaks that this guy pulled his genitalia out and was waving it in front of the other women and harassing them and was put in administrative segregation for doing so. There's no surprise, by the way. Let me ask you something. If you're a dude and you get convicted of a violent crime and you have a choice, do you go to a men's prison or a women's prison? What moron would choose to go to a men's prison?
- [21:23]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, just on the issue of safety to yourself. Right. You fake it and say, hey, I identify as a woman because you know, the chance of you being assaulted goes significantly down.
- [21:34]
Senator Ted Cruz
Sure. And look, the letters I read, those letters were powerful. And you know what? None of the Democrats on the committee even read the damn letters. None of them cared. I entered him into the record. I asked later, I didn't play this, but I asked, did any of you read the letter? Nobody responded. They literally don't care. They voted to confirm her anyway. And it's an example of how the left is utterly out of touch. They do not care about the people they're hurting, whether it's the people who are dying from illegal immigrants that their open borders are letting into this country, or whether it's about the women who are being raped because the policies they support are putting male sexual predators in female prisons. And this is happening over and over and over again. And not a one of them. They don't mention it. They don't. They'll just repeat their ideology. Trans women are women except for the fact that they have genitalia that can rape a woman and they keep doing so in prison over and over again, setting that minor, inconvenient detail aside. Other than that, my ideology says go ahead.
- [22:36]
Ben Ferguson
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- [24:48]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, look, I, I think we are seeing Joe Biden in free fall. We're seeing Democrats turn on him every day. We're seeing additional Democrat House members turn on him. We saw this week Democrat Senator Peter Welch come out and say Biden shouldn't run. We know that Democrat Senator Mark Warner was trying to get other Democrats to do the same. We've seen NBC turn on him. We've seen CNN turn on him. We've seen the New York Times turn on him. We've seen George Clooney turn on him. And it's every day you look at the campaign. So NBC News reported, quote, no one involved in the effort thinks he has a past. That is a quote from Biden campaign insiders who say the writing is on the wall. And here's another quote. The Biden campaign has started to quietly assess the viability of Harris's candidacy against Trump in a new head to head poll. A source familiar with the decision told NBC News. Now that means the campaign is leaking this story. Hey, we better check out Kamala. Oh, our guy's in trouble. Let's, let's go do the polling. His own campaign team is leaking again with him. Let's go back to that quote from his campaign team. No one involved in the effort thinks he has a path. That ain't good.
- [26:09]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, it's not good. And if they're doing this to undermine his candidacy, I think it's also goes back to the point that we've kind of started to witness, which is that whether you're a cabinet member or you're on the campaign, you're fighting now for your own survival and the power and the access to power. You don't want to lose. So if you think you're going to lose with Joe Biden, then why not throw a poll out there for Kamala and see if that gives you a better result, which means you get to keep your job in an administration.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah. Look, this, this is all about power. And you know, we mentioned also there was the bombshell story this week that again is not getting a ton of coverage. But there has not been a single cabinet meeting in eight months. That, that is bizarre that there hasn't been a cabinet meeting. The cabinet doesn't meet. And in the last full cabinet meeting took place on October 2, 2023. And not only that, so, so there's, there's a story from cnn, quote, back in Washington. There have been clear signs throughout his term of Biden being increasingly stage managed with lists of talking points, names of questioners and drawings of where he should walk presented to him by aides ahead of closed door cabinet meetings that Biden attends. It is customary for cabinet officials to submit questions and key talking points that they plan to present in front of Biden ahead of time to White House aides. Two sources with direct knowledge told CNN the entire display is kind of an act. One of those sources told CNN they would come and say, hey, the President is going to call on you in about 25 minutes and ask this question. What are the bullet points you'll respond with? The second source, who echoed the same description, said that when Biden attends Cabinet meetings, they are, quote, not freewheeling and pretty well orchestrated. And the meetings themselves are infrequent, with one Cabinet secretary telling CNN they are uncertain of Biden's condition because they so rarely see him.
- [28:20]
Unnamed Senator
Wow.
- [28:21]
Ben Ferguson
There now is a real question about the 25th Amendment being a possibility. Remember, this was something that Democrats were obsessed with with Donald Trump. I want to just remind people, back in 2000, in 17, this is what Democrats were saying on TV.
- [28:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
This is scary.
- [28:44]
Unnamed Commentator
Hashtag 25th Amendment.
- [28:47]
President is not equipped to do the job.
- [28:50]
Unnamed Senator
So now they're saying he's mentally incapacitated. And more than two dozen Democratic lawmakers are backing a bill that says he should leave all office.
- [28:59]
Unnamed Commentator
Should he be removed from office.
- [29:01]
His brain is simply incapable of processing the information. Emotionally, psychologically unstable. Initiate proceedings to remove the president.
- [29:08]
You and several of your Democratic House colleagues met with a psychiatry professor from Yale, Dr. Bandy Lee. She told CNN today, quote, as the President is unraveling, he seems to be losing his grip on reality and reverting to conspiracy theories.
- [29:22]
Dr. Lee and other psychiatrists who've been up to meet with members of Congress have been predicting increasingly delusional and paranoid behavior on the part of the President. The president is dangerous and unable to successfully meet the powers and duties of office.
- [29:38]
Ben Ferguson
That was 2017. Not about Joe Biden, but about Donald Trump.
- [29:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
Amazing. You could imagine every one of those quotes about Joe Biden. Yeah, and those quotes, I think didn't happen to mention other than maybe the first one, Trump's name.
- [29:52]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [29:53]
Senator Ted Cruz
And so if someone just heard that snippet, they might say, wow, the Ds are ready to invoke the 25th Amendment. I gotta say, look, the fact that, that the CNN story is quoted is leaking from the Cabinet.
- [30:07]
Ben Ferguson
Well, and this goes to the reporting today from CNN. Here is the bombshell CNN report that Cabinet secretaries not only submitting questions, but my question now is, is this being done on purpose so that they may actually start Talking about the 25th Amendment? Listen to how CNN blew this up today at the White House.
- [30:27]
Unnamed Commentator
Perspective now with CNN's MJ Lee, who's there for us. MJ, you and your colleagues have some reporting on the mood behind the scenes.
- [30:35]
What are you hearing from your sources?
- [30:37]
Well, Boris, there's certainly been a lot of confusion and anger and sadness inside the White House, across the administration, the campaign, and across the Democratic Party more broadly since the President's really halting and shocking debate performance. My colleagues and I have spoken over the course of the last two weeks to dozens of Democratic sources, including, I should note, senior Democrats who have spent real time with the President and in some cases have known the President for years. And what has been striking is that none of them had ever seen this version of President Biden that we all saw on the debate stage. Age that was so faltering and dazed. And plenty of officials that we spoke with said, look, of course we've known that the President has age. He is certainly not the same person that we know from say a year ago. But the what they had said and that was so noteworthy is that they said they couldn't have possibly known about the full extent of the President's decline. And what many of them blame at this point is this apparatus and daily operation that is built around the President that is so painfully choreographed and stage managed. They said that is designed to prevent the President from being often out in these unscripted settings for an extended period of time. And that really what that meant was that only a small circle of inner circle of advisers and perhaps family members could have known about sort of this full picture of the President's condition. Just one example that is in our story is that according to two sources, before Cabinet meetings that the President attends, Cabinet officials will submit their questions and talking points, key talking points and bullet points that they plan to present to the President in these closed door meetings. This is how one source described it. They said the entire display is kind of an act. They would come and say, hey, the President is going to call on you about 25 minutes in and ask this question. What are the bullet points that you'll respond with? Now the White House's defense has been that that is standard practice for any administration. They said in a setting like this, you never want the President to be not aware of what is going to be discussed.
- [32:58]
Ben Ferguson
They, you look at this Senator, I, I, I sit there and I'm like, okay, you've got people that serve at the pleasure of the President who are now looking out for their own best interests. They don't want to lose their power. You got people on his campaign that apparently have the same mentality as these Cabinet members. And all the leaks about Joe Biden are coming from within. Now you can't control them. Like White House leaks destroy presidencies. And now it's like, if you're leaking this and you're a senior cabinet member, are you doing it to prep the country for possibly the 25th?
- [33:38]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, I think that prospect is rising, I got to say. Also the White House defense. Well, this is standard operating procedure. Listen, I have been in literally hundreds of meetings with presidents, whether Donald Trump or Barack Obama, and I've never been in one meeting where we had talking points and it was choreographed. That doesn't happen. I talked to Donald Trump a couple days on the go, on the phone call. He didn't know what I was gonna say. I didn't know what he was gonna say. Because you're talking to an actual human being. Every day when senators meet, we don't read scripts. To do this job, you actually have to be able to talk about colleagues and say, okay, what's going on? And ask questions and discuss things. Now, look, you'll read a speech. That's commonplace. But at a meeting, a cabinet meeting, where they're supposed to be your top advisors. I meet with my senior staff every week. My senior staff don't come in there. I don't ask them. Give me the talking points of what you're going to say before you say it. Because professionals are able to have a conversation, listen and process information and by the way, then ask follow up questions. What about this? Well, should we do this? What do you think about this? Okay, let's, let's go down this direction. That's actually the way presidents operate. I've been in bunches of free flowing presidential meetings with Trump and we'd be all over the place and you'd have people argued on one side and argued on the other and Trump will say, what about this? And I mean, we would. You know, I've been up in the White House residence with him and a couple other senators with people screaming at each other till 10, 10:30 at night. That is dramatically different from the Kabuki theater that Joe Biden was putting on. Now, to be clear, his entire cabinet was complicit. His entire White House staff was complicit. The Democrats in Congress were complicit. They all knew this. They're all saying, gosh, we're shocked, just absolutely shocked. I've told you, Biden won't meet with Republican senators. That's been true for three and a half years. I haven't had any meetings with President Biden members now.
- [35:36]
Ben Ferguson
Right. It's not just you guys. It's now the Cabinet you won't even meet with.
- [35:39]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, when Republican senators meet to have lunch, we talk about how weird it is that we haven't talked to Joe Biden. We all know Joe. He was a man of the Senate for 40 years. But they won't let him meet with us because this has been obvious for three and a half years. And the media, the Democrats, they were all complicit until the debate thrust it unavoidably in front of the public, and now they're all running scared.
- [36:07]
Ben Ferguson
Does this change the calculus in your mind for Democrats moving forward? I mean, I thought by the end of this week they would get back in line behind him. We don't seem to have that happening at all. And it now seems that from within are the people that are, that are hurting him the most. I'll give you an example. Jake Tapper went on his show on CNN today, and this is what he said.
- [36:33]
Unnamed Commentator
Let's bring in our panel. And on that note, I want to share something with you. All that a longtime Biden adviser just texted me. Okay. He or she said, quote, I just think there's an unfortunate inevitability to all this. I am sad because I've known him a long time and he's a good man. I'm angry at his inner circle who have not served him well and at times committed malpractice in their service. And I am frustrated at the family, the Biden family, for not expanding the circle so there would be at least a truth teller or two in their midst. They created a perfect storm of an echo chamber, and it is biting them all in the ass. Again, as with mj, apologies for the salty language, but this is the extent of the frustration. Gloria, your reaction.
- [37:23]
Ben Ferguson
Again, this is Jake Tapper. He's not burning somebody. This advisor, this longtime advisor, I think, made it very clear that for. Well, listen, listen, like, go on tv.
- [37:37]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, listen, Ron Klain sent that text expecting that Jake Tapper would, would read it on, on air. And by the way, I don't know. It was Ron Klain. I'm just, just picking up.
- [37:47]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. I mean, whoever did this said, go on, go on air and read this. I'm letting you do it.
- [37:52]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, you don't send it to Jake Tapper without expecting that he's going to repeat it. That's why you're sending it. And, and look, the, the press is turning on him. Remember, like 12 minutes ago where the corporate media would say, it's a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory when you say that Obama's running things. We've said a number of times in this podcast that it's Obama who's pulling the strings. I want you to listen to Morning Joe talking about who's really behind everything right now. Give a listen.
- [38:23]
Ben Ferguson
Before I play that, I want to tell you about our friends at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Since the start of the Sword of Iron War war in Israel on October 7, we have seen death and destruction in the Holy Land. And for more than 40 years, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has been on the ground in Israel and within hours the war starting. And every day since, they've been feeding the hungry and protecting the vulnerable. The attacks continue in the north and the south in Israel. But there are resilient survivors who bravely share their stories in a series the Fellowship calls Faces of Iron. I want you to hear their stories because so many in the media have not been covering them. Survivors, for example, like Danny, whose beloved daughter and her husband were burned alive on October 7th by Hamas terrorists, need to be heard by the world. Danny is a commander of the volunteer fire and rescue in his community. Despite fire equipment nearby, Danny could do nothing as his daughter's house burned and his daughter and her husband lost their lives. Christians like you support Israel through the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. It's this support that helps these survivors remain steadfast and strong. I want you to hear more of their stories like the one I just mentioned and I want you to show your support for Israel and stand with the people of Israel. All you have to do to hear these stories and spread them on social media is go to supportifcj.org that support ifcj.org here's that clip, Senator, that you mentioned a moment ago. Morning Joe.
- [39:55]
Unnamed Commentator
One thing that we do have to underline here just so so viewers can can follow what's going on behind the scenes is is the Biden campaign and many Democratic officials do believe that Barack Obama is is quietly working behind the scenes to orchestrate this.
- [40:18]
Senator Ted Cruz
I mean, if you and I had said that a month ago, they would go crazy. They would mock us. Now, Now I want to play also what Mika Brzezinski said about the George Clooney op ed, because that's just give a listen to what Mika says.
- [40:34]
Unnamed Commentator
This wasn't George Clooney.
- [40:35]
Senator Ted Cruz
But. But.
- [40:36]
Unnamed Commentator
Well, what do you mean it just wasn't.
- [40:39]
Come on.
- [40:39]
But who do you think it was?
- [40:42]
It was not Matt Damon. Who do you think it wasn't? Julia Robertson who do you think it was?
- [40:47]
You can say the name, you won't melt. It's not Voltambord. Are you saying you think Barack Obama put him up to this?
- [40:54]
I, I think that Barack Obama has a lot of influence and I, I think that there's. There's a lot there.
- [41:03]
There's a lot there.
- [41:04]
There's a lot there.
- [41:05]
Ben Ferguson
There's a lot there.
- [41:06]
Unnamed Commentator
Will.
- [41:07]
There are two people in this picture and one has had a presidency that was absolutely undeniably historic.
- [41:17]
Well, I think you have two people.
- [41:19]
That had extraordinarily historic in terms of legislative accomplishments.
- [41:25]
Well, you say.
- [41:27]
And they're both historic.
- [41:28]
And they're both historic. And Barack Obama for sure. Affordable Care Act. George. I mean, not George Clooney. He probably said it too, Willie, but Joe Biden actually whispered that. That was a big deal. Effing deal.
- [41:44]
Ben Ferguson
This is the conversation they're having on MSNBC as George Clooney comes out. I love Joe Biden, but we need a new nominee.
- [41:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah. And to be clear, Politico also reported, quote, before Hollywood icon and Democratic donor George Clooney played published his buzzy and brutal New York Times op ed yesterday, calling on Biden to step aside as the nominee. We're told he reached out to former President Barack Obama to give him the heads up. The two men, who are friendly, both attended the LA fundraiser Clooney referenced in his piece where the actor said he'd beheld a diminished Biden and that the leader he interacted with was, quote, the same man we all witnessed at the debate. While Obama did not encourage or advise Clooney to say what he said, he also didn't object to it, we're told from people familiar with their exchange. The lack of pushback is an eye popping revelation given that the former president was one of the first big voices defending Biden following his abysmal debate performance, while many of his former aides have been some of the incumbent's biggest critics. Again, if you and I said that 12 minutes ago, they would have fitted us for the tinfoil hats and said we were loons. And now every one of them is saying this is Barack Obama pulling the strings.
- [43:01]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, we'll get ready. It's civil war and it is not calming down within the Democratic Party. Don't forget, we do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please hit that subscriber auto download button and if you'll share this podcast to get the news out about the incredible defeat of this radical judge. No one else is covering it. Put it up on social media. Wherever you are on social media. And the senator and I will see you back here in a couple of days.