Media Lies & Hypocrisy: From Don Lemon to Andrea Mitchell to the NYT

Summary

Summary of Podcast Episode: "Media Lies & Hypocrisy: From Don Lemon to Andrea Mitchell to the NYT" The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson Release Date: February 24, 2023

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Introduction

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update, host Ben Ferguson engages in a robust discussion with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, delving into the pervasive issues of media bias and hypocrisy. The conversation critically examines instances where mainstream media figures and outlets have displayed apparent double standards, particularly in their treatment of conservative voices and viewpoints.

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1. Media Bias and Double Standards

A. The Decline of Independent Journalism

At the outset ([00:16]), Senator Cruz laments the deterioration of media integrity, asserting:

“One of the most dangerous aspects in our democracy today is that we no longer have a free and independent media. We no longer have a media that engages in actual journalism.”

Cruz emphasizes that the media has shifted from objective reporting to partisan propaganda, predominantly aligning with leftist ideologies. He criticizes the corporate media for abandoning traditional journalistic principles, focusing instead on pushing a liberal agenda and attacking conservative figures.

B. The Don Lemon Incident

Ben Ferguson introduces a significant example of media hypocrisy involving CNN's Don Lemon ([01:48]). He highlights an incident where Don Lemon made controversial remarks about women's age and their prime years without facing the same repercussions that a conservative commentator would likely endure under similar circumstances.

Don Lemon’s Comments ([02:22]):

“So talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think that. I think it's the wrong road to go down...”

Senator Cruz’s Critique ([03:15]):

“His comments there are drippingly misogynistic... He's willing to suggest that, that once a woman hits her 40s, by her 50s, she's over the hill...”

Cruz accuses Don Lemon of misogyny and demonstrates a double standard in the media's tolerance, pointing out that Lemon faced minimal consequences and returned to his role without a genuine apology. He further criticizes CNN for defending Lemon, highlighting the media’s reluctance to hold its own accountable members to the same standards expected of conservatives.

Ben Ferguson’s Observation ([07:44]):

“He gets his job back, right?...”

Ferguson underscores the lack of accountability, noting that if a conservative had made similar remarks, they would have been swiftly dismissed.

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2. Andrea Mitchell’s Controversy

A. Interview with Vice President Kamala Harris

Ben Ferguson shifts focus to another media figure, Andrea Mitchell of NBC, who recently conducted an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris ([09:51]). Mitchell reportedly made misleading statements regarding Governor Ron DeSantis’s stance on teaching slavery in Florida schools.

Andrea Mitchell’s Question ([11:50]):

“What does Governor Ron DeSantis not know about black history and the black experience when he says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren?”

Senator Cruz vehemently disputes Mitchell’s portrayal, labeling her questions as "incredibly ignorant" and "a total blatant lie" ([12:05]). He argues that Florida schools do teach about slavery and its aftermath, citing historical context to counter Mitchell's claims.

B. Media's Misrepresentation and Apology

Mitchell later issued a statement attempting to retract her earlier comments without offering a genuine apology ([21:21]):

“In my interview last Friday with Vice President Harris, I was imprecise in summarizing Governor DeSantis’s position...”

Cruz criticizes this as a non-apology, arguing that Mitchell failed to acknowledge the falsity of her statements fully. He draws parallels between Mitchell's and Lemon’s actions, illustrating a pattern of the media’s disregard for factual accuracy when it conflicts with their partisan narratives.

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3. The New York Times Op-Ed Fallout

A. Tom Cotton’s Op-Ed and Editorial Board Response

Senator Cruz discusses a pivotal incident involving Republican Senator Tom Cotton’s op-ed submitted to The New York Times during the summer of 2020, amidst national unrest and protests. Cotton advocated for deploying the National Guard to address the riots, a stance that Cruz personally disagreed with ([27:15]).

Cruz recounts how the New York Times staff, predominantly young and left-leaning, reacted vehemently against the op-ed, leading to the firing of the editorial page editor, James Bennett ([32:42]). The response, according to Cruz, exemplifies the media's intolerance for dissenting conservative opinions and its swift punitive measures against perceived deviations from their ideological stance.

B. Senator Cruz’s Personal Experience with Op-Eds

Ben Ferguson inquires about Cruz’s attempts to publish op-eds in liberal outlets like The New York Times ([33:28]). Cruz reveals that while he has successfully published numerous op-eds in conservative and moderate publications, his efforts with liberal newspapers have largely been unsuccessful. He shares an anecdote about columnist Frank Bruni of The New York Times apologizing for past derogatory remarks made about him, highlighting the entrenched partisan bias within such institutions ([36:35]).

“Frank Bruni... wrote... 'I owe Ted Cruz an apology...'”

Cruz criticizes the farewells and contemplations of journalists like Bruni as insufficient, labeling them as admissions of failure to maintain journalistic objectivity.

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4. Critique of Mask Mandates and Related Media Narratives

A. New York Times Opinion Piece by Brett Stevens

Ben Ferguson addresses another controversial New York Times opinion piece by Brett Stevens titled, “The mask mandates did nothing. Will any lessons be learned?” ([37:08]). The article asserts that mask mandates were ineffective in curbing the spread of COVID-19, basing its conclusions on studies from Cochrane and highlighting the lack of significant evidence supporting mask efficacy.

Senator Cruz supports the article’s findings, arguing that mask mandates were a bureaucratic overreach with minimal impact. He emphasizes the media's role in perpetuating narratives that support governmental policies without adequately questioning their efficacy.

“It's stunning the Times published this...”

Cruz also criticizes public figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci and President Joe Biden for their roles in promoting and maintaining mask mandates despite emerging evidence questioning their effectiveness.

B. Media's Inversion of Reality

Cruz accuses the media of gaslighting the public and inverting reality by blaming Republicans for school shutdowns while attributing the closures to Democratic policies. He underscores the media's double standards in attributing responsibility and shaping public perception to fit a liberal agenda.

“They try to gaslight the American people...”

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5. Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Senator Cruz concludes by reiterating the media's abandonment of genuine journalism in favor of political advocacy and ideological enforcement. He underscores the absence of accountability among media figures and outlets, highlighting their persistent alignment with leftist ideologies regardless of factual inaccuracies or public backlash.

“Journalism is dead...”

Ben Ferguson echoes Cruz's sentiments, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing media biases to preserve democratic integrity and informed public discourse.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Senator Ted Cruz on Media Decline ([00:16]):

  “One of the most dangerous aspects in our democracy today is that we no longer have a free and independent media.”

• Don Lemon's Controversial Comment ([02:22]):

  “She wouldn't be in her prime according to Google.”

• Senator Cruz Criticizing Don Lemon ([03:15]):

  “He doesn't consider Nikki Haley a woman... Don Lemon despises Clarence Thomas.”

• Andrea Mitchell’s Misrepresentation Apology ([21:21]):

  “I regret it. A woman's age doesn't define her either personally or professionally.”

• Senator Cruz on New York Times Op-Ed Fallout ([27:15]):

  “James Bennett... was a down the road left wing Democrat partisan.”

• Frank Bruni’s Apology to Ted Cruz ([36:35]):

  “I owe Ted Cruz an apology, though really, it's the readers to whom I should say I'm sorry.”

• Senator Cruz on Mask Mandates Op-Ed ([39:55]):

  “It's stunning the Times published this...”

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Final Remarks

This episode of The 47 Morning Update presents a critical examination of perceived media biases, using specific instances involving prominent media figures and outlets to illustrate broader concerns about journalistic integrity and partisanship. Through the insights of Senator Ted Cruz, the discussion underscores the challenges faced by conservatives in navigating a media landscape that, according to Cruz, favors liberal narratives and marginalizes opposing viewpoints.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And Senator, you and I were chatting before the show that it's been one hell of a week for the corrupt media, and they've just been stepping in it all week long.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, listen, it's. It's. One of the most dangerous aspects in our democracy today is that we no longer have a free and independent media. We no longer have a media that engages in actual journalism. And I don't think that's hyperbole. You know, there was a time when people in the media viewed their mission as reporting both sides, as reporting the facts and letting you decide. There was a time when journalists were trained to focus on the facts, the who, what, where, when, why, and not focus on editorializing. That no longer is the mission of the corporate media. The corporate media today, they have embraced their view as propagandists. They have embraced their view as partisans. And in fact, when it comes to partisans, I think the corporate media are the most vicious leftists there are. They will criticize the Democrat party for one thing and one thing only, and that's not being leftist enough. They view their job as drive them to the left, and they also are the attack dogs. And I gotta say, when they're engaged in attacks, their bigotry comes out, their ignorance comes out, their despising of anyone who isn't a leftist comes out. And it really. The double standard is profound.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. You look at this week, and just one of those perfect examples is what happened with Don Lemon. And to be clear, before we play this, if a Republican, if a conservative would have said this on tv, I have no doubt that they would have been fired. In fact, I can even say if I was at CNN and I was there for seven years, if I would have said what I'm about to play for you, I would have immediately been shown the door. And yet Don Lemon gets to come back without an apology. Take a listen.

[Don Lemon]

So talk about age makes me uncomfortable. I think that. I think it's the wrong road to go down. She says people, you know, politicians are something and not in their prime. Nikki Haley is in her prime. Sorry. When a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s, what are you talking. That's not, according to me, prime for what? It depends. I mean, it's just like, prime. If you look it up, it'll. If you look. If you Google when is a woman in her prime? It'll say twenties, thirties, and forties. I don't necessarily. So I got Another thing, I agree with that. So I think she has to be careful about saying that, you know, politicians aren't in their prime.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You need to qualify. Are you talking about prime for like, childbearing, or are you talking about.

[Don Lemon]

The facts are.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Google it.

[Don Lemon]

Everybody at home. When is a woman in her prime? It says 20s, 30s, and 40s. And I'm just saying Nikki Haley should be careful about saying that. That politicians are not in their prime and they need to be in their prime when they serve, because she wouldn't be in her prime according to Google.

[Ben Ferguson]

Google or whatever it is now. I love it because they're even mocking him on the set. They can't believe he's actually saying this. They're obviously trying to protect him in a sense. But then he doesn't even have to apologize sender, and he gets his job back, right?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, his comments there are drippingly misogynistic. You know, Joe Biden is, what, 142 years old? And according to him, apparently Biden is in his prime. But, but he's willing to suggest that, that once a woman hits her 40s, by her 50s, she's over the hill, Just, just, just, you know, put her out to pasture. And, and it's. There's a reason he's willing to say, say that because he doesn't consider Nikki Haley a woman. It's the point we made on, on the pod we just did with Wesley Hunt. Don Lemon does not consider Wesley Hunt to be a black man. Don Lemon does not consider me to be Hispanic. If you dare to be conservative, the left erases you from whatever victim class they want to put. And they put everyone in victim classes, but they define it. You're only black if you're a leftist. As Joe Biden said. If you're not voting for Joe Biden, you ain't black. I mean, what a big bigoted thing to say. Don Lemon, I promise you, despises Clarence Thomas. Why? Because he dares, as a black man, to be a conservative. And Don Lemon not only despises Nikki Haley, but he views her with a particular. If it were just a white guy, fine, he could live with that. Old, fat, bald, white guys are the one group they think are allowed to be conservatives. But if you're a woman, you're a traitor. And so his comments reveal the particular contempt, you know, the differential of how the left treats Clarence Thomas versus how they treated Antonin Scalia. Antonin Scalia was a strong conservative, was brilliant, and the left didn't like him, but they didn't react. You know, you had one magazine that portrayed Clarence Thomas as an Uncle Tom, basically shining the shoes of Antonin Scalia. That's bigoted and racist. But they arise. Contempt is their feeling. And so after he made these comments, CNN realized, oh, he stepped in it. Now, you're right, Ben. If you'd said the exact same thing, if you read his words on air, they would have fired you probably before you were finished speaking. Yeah, but for Don Levin, because he's a left leftist and because he was attacking a Republican, all is fine and good. So he put out a tweet. I want to read the tweet he made. The reference I made to a woman's prime this morning was inartful and irrelevant. As colleagues and loved ones have pointed out, and I regret it, A woman's age doesn't define her either personally or professionally. I have countless women in my life who prove that every day. Now, this statement is several things. I'll tell you what it is not an apology. Nowhere in there are the words I'm sorry. Nowhere in the words are, I'm a bumbling, left wing, hypocritical, misogynist jackass, which is what he should have said. You know what? He also doesn't say that what he said was wrong. What he says is, it's inartful. In other words, may have been true in his mind, but he didn't express it quite as artfully, as elegantly as he might have. And he said an irrelevant. Now, irrelevant doesn't mean wrong either. It just means, well, I shouldn't have pointed it out because I don't know, it's not relevant because people criticized me. And he, he, he goes on, he says, and I regret it. He doesn't say, I'm sorry. He doesn't apologize to Nikki Haley, to women, doesn't apologize. And then he says, a woman's age doesn't define her either personally or professionally. Well, he still isn't disagreeing with his asinine statement. Look, my wife Heidi turned 50 last year. Heidi Cruz is absolutely in her prime. In fact, Heidi is going to run a marathon next month to celebrate turning 50. Margaret Thatcher, who last I checked, wasn't in her 20s or 30s or 40s.

[Ben Ferguson]

And she was in her prime. Unbelievable leader.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You want to talk about a woman who bestrode the earth like a colossus, who, along with Reagan and Pope John Paul, changed the course of human history. But you know what? Don Lemon doesn't think she was in her prime because she's not a Woman. Why? Because she's conservative and you don't count as a woman for leftists. And then the amazing thing is, what does CNN do? They take him off the air for two days and then back on air because it's a double standard that only applies to one political side of the aisle.

[Ben Ferguson]

There was something that I laugh about because I woke up this morning to a text from a former colleague of mine at cnn and it said, please check Don Lemon's Twitter. And at 4:35am he took so much heat from the tweet that you just read that he then put out a new tweet and this is what it said. I appreciate the opportunity to be back on cnn. This to my network, my colleagues, and our incredible audience. I'm sorry, I've heard you. I'm learning from you, and I'm committed to doing better. See you soon. Yet he still can't bring himself to actually apologize to the person he originally offended. So even the like.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay, by the way, let me, let me be clear. Let me be clear, Ben. It's not just Nikki Haley who. He did insult her by saying she's not in her prime, but he insulted every woman in her 50s, in her 60s, in her 70s. What an asinine statement. By the way, under the Constitution, the minimum age to be president of the United States is 35. So I guess in Don Lemon's world, there is a 15 year window when a woman in her prime is allowed to be president between 35 and 49 and a half. Like, what an asinine proposition. And mind you, Joe Biden, they don't think anything of it. Hillary Clinton, I guarantee you, Don Lemon never said, you know what? Hillary Clinton wasn't in her 40s when she ran for president. It's an absolute double standard.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, it certainly is. And, and by the way, Don Lemon wasn't the only one to step in it. This week. Andrea Mitchell had her own big oops moment. I'm going to tell you about that in a second, but first, I want to tell you about Patriot Mobile. Many of you have actually reached out. It's cool when we start to hear from you. That make the switch to Patriot Mobile, the only conservative Christian cell phone coming to the US One of you that was a small business owner sent a message to me saying, ben, they're awesome. Thanks for telling me about Patriot Mobile. Now, what happens with Patriot Mobile is what you're going to love. You get the same cell phone service you have right now, the same coverage. You keep your same cell phone number if you want to. You can 99 of the time keep your same cell phone that you have in your hand or you can upgrade to a new one. Except when you pay your bill, you're actually fighting for what you believe in because they take a portion of your bill every month at Patriot Mobile and they stand up for our first and Second Amendment rights. They support causes like standing up for unborn children and helping with adoptions. So when you use your phone, when you send a text message and when you pay your bill, you're actually supporting the values that you believe in. Many times you'll actually save money. And if you've got a business or a small business, check out Patriot Mobile because they have a business division that can help you switch all those lines over as well. Go online to patriotmobile.com verdict that's patriotmobile.com verdict or call them 878-PATRIOT. Use the promo code verdict for the best deals of the day. 878-PATRIOT Center Andrea Mitchell also got herself in a lot of hot water this week when she did what the only way I can describe is basically a hit on Governor Ron DeSantis trying to imply that he's some sort of extreme Klansman racist. And she had an interview, an NBC exclusive with Vice President Harris. And here's what was said. And the only problem with what was said is it wasn't true.

[Andrea Mitchell]

Let me ask you, what does Governor Ron DeSantis not know about black history and the black experience when he says that slavery and the aftermath of slavery should not be taught to Florida schoolchildren?

[Kamala Harris]

I don't know what he knows and what he doesn't know, but I know this. Any push to censor America's teachers and tell them what they should be teaching in the best interest of our children in partnership with the parents of America is, I think, wrong headed. The people who know our children best are their parents and their teachers in terms of the time they spend and the investment they've placed in the brains and capacity of our children who are our nation's future. And it should not be some politician saying what should be taught in our classrooms.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I mean this story, the problem with it is it's not true, Senator, as you pointed out.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So, so there are lots of problems with it. Number one, Andrea Mitchell is the question is incredibly ignorant, like what she's saying. It's not even just a little bit not true. It's a total blatant lie. But it is a blatant lie based on her assumptions that all Republicans are ignorant. Philistines who don't want history taught in any way, who don't want. Who don't want slavery or the aftermath of slavery taught. Now, of course, Florida schools teach about slavery and the aftermath of slavery. And by the way, you want to talk about who wants to cover up history? Andrea, who was it that signed the Emancipation Proclamation? Oh, yeah, that was Abraham Lincoln. That was the first Republican president. Who was it that founded the Ku Klux Klan? Oh, yeah, those were Democrat politicians. Who was it that wrote the Jim Crow laws? Oh, yeah, those were Democrat politicians. Who was it that eulogized an exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan? Robert Byrd. Oh, yeah, that was Joe Biden, the sitting Democrat President of the United States. You want to talk about who doesn't want to deal with slavery in the aftermath of slavery, it is Andrea Mitchell who's never reported on any of those facts. The absurdity of saying that Republicans, in this case, Ron DeSantis, don't want the fact of slavery taught is deliberately ignorant, and it's based on the same assumption. Look, what she is doing and what Don Lemon did are the exact same thing. They have contempt for anyone who isn't a leftist, and they assume these. These ridiculous caricatures. So, for example, Ben, I'll go back to 2021, where Andrea Mitchell again tweets out, I had commented about the Trump impeachment trial, the second trial, and I said it was, as Shakespeare put it, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing. Now, Andrea Mitchell jumps on Twitter and she tweets the following. Ted Cruz says impeachment trial is like Shakespeare, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. No, that's Faulkner. Now. That's her response. Now she. I actually let a little bit of time elapsed because Twitter was really wonderful in that and that everyone piled on and pointed out that, no, you fool, that is, in fact from William Shakespeare, from Macbeth. Life is a tale told, told by an idiot, full of sand, sound and fury, and signifying nothing. And Faulkner, when he wrote the Sound and the Fury, was quoting from Shakespeare. So Mitchell, finally, when the entire world pouted on her how ridiculous she was, she sends out this. This sort of apology tweet. I clearly studied too much American literature and not enough Macbeth. My apologies to Senator Cruz. Now, look, I don't care about the fact that she gets this wrong, but it reveals a mindset which is, listen, you can disagree with me, you can think I'm wrong. I'm probably wrong about a lot of things in life. Certainly my wife and Daughters would tell you I am. But Mitchell, among all the criticisms, I think it would be difficult to make the case that I'm an illiterate imbecile. I might be misguided, I might be mistaken, but I did manage to pass the third grade. And, but to Andrea Mitchell's mind, any Republican is an oaf, is a bigot, is an imp. So the sort of. Her ignorant, dripping, no, that's Faulkner. No, my dear, I actually have studied literature, and it shows a mindset. And by the way, let's go back to Kamala Harris answer after you see Mitchell's dripping condescension for the state of Florida. And, and notice, by the way, her total loving question for Kamala. What does Ron DeSantis not understand about the black experience? Good job, Andrea. Cutting question. Way to put. Put Kamala on. On defensive. Like, please attack one of the leading Republican opponents to. To. To. To Joe Biden.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's shooting fish in the barrel. And this is what the media does when they have these soft interviews. And I love how they put up their exclusive right. Like it's a really big get for. For Andrew Mitchell with the vice president. And then you just hand them these questions when there's real pressing matters. This is what they give them.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and, and being given the please attack the Republican, of course, Kamala Harris is more than happy to oblige because, look, Andrea Mitchell is a leftist. The interview would not have proceeded differently if they had the press secretary for the Joe Biden for president campaign conducting it. The press secretary would ask the same questions. Andrea Mitchell would, because they both have the same objective, which is to get the Democrats reelected. Now, you look at Kamala's response where Kamala's like, well, no, I don't know what he knows or doesn't know. Silly, ignorant, bigoted Republican. But what I know is nobody should censor teachers. Now, let me pause for a second and say that that actually is an answer on one level that sounds, well, censorship is bad. So, gosh, nobody should censor teachers. That sounds great. And she says no politician should decide what's taught in school. Well, what she's not acknowledging is that every public school sets curriculum and curriculum is set. So, for example, you choose, are we going to teach arithmetic? Are we going to teach history? Are we going to teach English? What are the topics that we want to set for students to learn in our schools? And the irony is when she says no politician should decide what's being taught. Kamala Harris adamantly wants. What happened here is Ron Desantis declined to have Florida schools teachers the curriculum for the so called AP course in African American studies. That was a hard leftist critical race theory narrative about how America is fundamentally and irredeemably racist. It cited numerous Marxist authors pushing critical race theory, dividing us on race, indoctrinating. And this is one of the things that so often today's left does. What they're criticizing is what they are trying to do. They want teachers to indoctrinate. And Kamala throws in teachers and parents. Well, to be honest, she doesn't believe and parents, because Kamala and Biden and the Democrats, they don't want parents to have a say. If you ask parents, should we be teaching critical race theory in schools, the overwhelming majority of parents say no. And by the way, Democrats, when it come to critical race theory, they give incoherent answers. On one level they say it's not being taught, it's only a college level class. On the other level, they say if you don't teach it, you're erasing slavery from school. Well, those are both false statements, but it shows the hard ideology of today's Democrat politicians and also the blatant partisanship of today's corporate media.

[Ben Ferguson]

Andrea Mitchell did have to come out after she was hammered for lying and give a quasi apology at the very end of her show as she described as a postscript. Here is the again, fake apology from another member of the liberal media and a postscript.

[Andrea Mitchell]

In my interview last Friday with Vice President Harris, I was imprecise in summarizing Governor DeSantis position about teaching slavery in schools. Governor DeSantis is not opposed to teaching the fact of slavery in schools, but he has opposed the teaching of an African American studies curriculum as well as the use of some authors and source materials that historians and teachers say makes it all but impossible for students to understand the broader historic and political context behind slavery and its aftermath in the years since.

[Ben Ferguson]

So I'm wrong, but I'm still right. Is that, is that the new apology of the left when you screw up this big?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, she just gave Don Lemon's apology. She said it was inartful. No, it was false. It was a blatant lie. It was an ignorant lie. You're still not correcting the lie. And in fact, she says he's opposed to teaching an African American studies curriculum because she says historians say this is necessary to understand it. Really? Which historians? Those would be the Marxists that are pushing critical race theory, which I don't know that Mitchell claims this, but I'm certain She does claim that it's not being taught in schools, except now she says it's essential to understand slavery. Once again, it's not an apology, it's a non apology because she flat out lied. She flat out lied on air and she didn't care to, to even bother to know what the facts are. And look, this is very similar to the earlier controversy in Florida where the media, and I don't know if Mitchell said anything about it, but I bet she did, where they attack the Florida law as the don't say gay law. Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

And it never said that anywhere in there at all.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

What the Florida law essentially said, I said, if you want to call it something, the right thing to call it is don't say sex. It prohibited teaching about sexuality for grades pre K, kindergarten, first, second and third grade. So third graders and below don't say sex. And by the way, look, I'm a parent. You're a parent. I don't want my kindergartner being taught about gay sex or straight sex. Like I want my kindergartner playing with blocks. And I would be deeply dismayed to have the teacher getting into sex and sexuality with 5 year olds. Most parents agree with that, by the way. A large majority of Florida parents agree with that. And let's be clear, the Florida law by fourth grade. Fourth grade. Hey, have at it. You know, apparently, you know, play Debbie Does Dallas and get in anything you want, but. But wait until they get fourth grade. And so the media was deliberately dishonest about that law, just like they're being deliberately dishonest. Saying don't teach about slavery is like don't say gay. That is not in fact what is happening. But remember, we started this podcast with the premise the media has abandoned its mission of actually being journalists and reporting facts. Can you imagine Walter Cronkite saying what Don Lemon said? Can you imagine Walter Cronkite asking that profoundly ignorant and dishonest question that Andrea Mitchell said. Can you imagine Tim Russert doing that? There used. Can you imagine Ted Koppel doing that? There used to be actual journalists who cared about getting it right, who cared about not engaging in political advocacy. And the Don Lemons of the world and the Andrea Mitchell's of the world have utterly abandoned any pretense at journalism.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. Another example of this is in the New York Times. We've got new intel on the fallout of when one of your colleagues was asked to write an op ed. And it was total chaos that this was given to a sitting U.S. senator. Before I tell you that story I want to talk about our good friends over Augusta Precious Metals. If you've been working hard and preparing for retirement, you know right now more than probably any other time, you want to protect what you've saved. That is where Augusta Precious Metals comes in. They want to talk to you about your retirement and protecting your hard earned assets. They do this by using gold and silver. Augustus Precious Metals is all about protecting IRAs and 401ks in this crazy, crazy economy. It is so important the closer you get to the actual retirement years because there's less time or no time to make up your losses. So if you've saved a hundred thousand dollars or more, you should take a look at their free guide or sign up for their web conference. Both of them are filled with economic insights and a goal Gold IRA info for your peace of mind. They also do a web conference. I have done this. I use Augusta's Precious Metals. They have helped me diversify. And that's another reason why I want you to call them 8774 Gold IRA. A conservative company. 877 for the number four Gold IRA or visit Augusta precious metals.com that's Augusta precious metals.com say I sent you and they'll pay your fees for up to 10 years. Augusta precious metals.com Senator, there was another story this week that really pulled back the curtain behind the initial freakout over Tom Cotton. Riding an op ed at the New York Times set the stage for everybody. They may have forgotten this story and then we'll get in the nitty gritty of, of the total anarchy that happened at the idea, the thought of a sitting US Senator writing an op ed in the New York Times.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So this was in the summer of 2020 and you'll recall there were antifa and Black Lives Matter riots all over the city. All over the country rather. There were American cities on fire. There were riots, there were stores being looted, there were police cars being firebombed, there were police officers being murdered. And during all of this time, Tom Cotton, my colleague Republican senator from Arkansas, wrote an op ed. And in the op ed he advocated that the President should send in the National Guard to quell the unrest. And he submitted the op ed to the New York Times. I don't believe they solicited it. I think he just submitted it. And the New York Times made the decision to publish it. Now personally, I actually didn't agree with Tom's op ed. I didn't think that was the right solution to send in the National Guard. I thought it should be Handled as a law enforcement matter. I think they should have sent in police officers and arrested the rioters and put them in jail. But, but I didn't think that that was. I was not persuaded that the National Guard was the right avenue for stopping the riots. I think the riots should have been stopped using law enforcement. Be that as it may, it was a perfectly reasonable point of view. And because the New York Times dared to acknowledge it exists, there was a meltdown in the newsroom. And one of the things that's happened in journalism is there are lots of 20 somethings who were basically kids. They've come out of universities that were woke little sanctuaries and they're now working. They're working at places like the New York Times and they have very fragile sensitivities. And they freaked out. They freaked out and demanded that, that the editor of the editorial page be fired. Now who was the editor of the editorial page? Guy named James Bennett. James Bennett is a down the road left wing Democrat partisan. He is unquestionably Democrat. The chances that James Bennett agreed with Tom Cotton's op ed I can quantify. They were 0.00%. He did not agree with it. By the way, James Bennett's brother, Michael Bennett is a sitting Democrat senator from the state of Colorado. He's a Democrat through and through. Well, the children on the New York Times staff revolted. And what happened? The weak kneed ownership at the New York Times promptly responded by firing Bennett. Why? For ignorance. For daring to publish the op ed. Now mind you, nobody would have minded if the New York Times wrote an editorial next to the op ed and said we disagree emphatically with the views advocated by Senator Cotton. This is a terrible view and it's wrong. That's their right. But the children didn't want that. They didn't want even the fact that someone had a different view acknowledged. And then there's a new book coming out that quotes someone named Charlie Wartzel who I've never heard of, but he is apparently a tech writer. He's a white guy which unfortunately in the modern leftist order of things, races is preeminent to everything. But this fellow Charlie Wurtzel, the tech writer started to cry because quote, and this is from the new book that came out, none of his friends wanted to talk to him anymore because he worked for this horrible evil newspaper that would print this op ed. Now first of all, okay, the reporter started killing to cry. Are you serious? Are there any journalists left at the New York Times? The idea you think of hardscrabble journalists. Can you imagine Woodward and Bernstein weeping of, oh, you very scary thing you published. My friends won't talk to me. I mean, this sounds like a seventh grader throwing a fit. I'm reminded of the great movie A League of Their Own where Tom Hanks goes, there's no crying in baseball. If you had real journalists, there should be no crying among journalists. Look, if JFK is shot, you can cry. If Martin Luther King is shot, you can cry. If the Challenger space shuttle blows up, you can cry. But if you read scary words that frighten you and your censorious friends are mad at you, a real journalist doesn't cry and complain. Fire the bad man. It, it is indicative of just how broken today's corporate journalist is.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, and, and, and so people understand this as well. The reason why Tom Cotton's letter, I think was probably published is he's a former guy that enlisted in the United States army. And so he had a unique perspective on the National Guard. Whether you agree with him or not, what he was saying in his op ed, it was, it completely made sense for, for his op ed to be published based on his service in the military. So people also know this inside baseball. Back In June of 2006, while he was stationed in Iraq, he actually gained a lot of public attention for writing an open letter to the editors of the New York Times. So it's not the first time he'd written a letter. It's not the first time he'd submitted it to the New York Times either. And yet he does it, they print it, and then it's off with their head. Anyone that actually helped allow this to see the light of day.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, it is an example of how these are no longer journalists. The fact that Republicans exist should not be a triggering event for for real journalists and these little children that throw fits. By the way, the New York Times is a hard partisan indoctrination. Like, like, I, I don't actually understand the value of having an editorial page that only carries one view. I guess their diversity of opinion is they have Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, but they almost never run views from any conservative, from any Republican. The New York Times, I have to ask you this.

[Ben Ferguson]

How many times have you submitted op over, I mean, your career, it's 10 plus years in the Senate, but how many times have you even ever gotten a chance to submit and, and knew that? Or is it a waste of time? I guess a better way of putting it, like, you know, they're going to say no to you or have you ever had success of writing an op ed that has actually been published in a liberal newspaper?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So I've, yes, I've written over the last 10 years, at least dozens, probably hundreds of op eds. So I like writing op eds, I like communicating. Same reason I do the podcast, same reason I write books. I think one of the real responsibilities of doing this job is to use the pulley pulpit and try to persuade. I've had a lot of op eds published in the Wall Street Journal that a lot of op eds published in the Houston Chronicle, in the Dallas Morning News. I've had a lot of op eds published in USA Today have had op EDS published in the Washington Post. I don't remember. I think the New York Times may have published one op ed of mine. I don't remember for sure. We submit a lot to the New York Times and they fairly routinely turned me down. Now I will tell you one amusing time when, when I did make the New York Times editorial pages so they bashed me repeatedly. But one of their left leaning editorialist, a guy named Frank Bruni, who had written, written in the New York Times, bashing me over and over again. He retired from the New York Times, decided to stop writing and his farewell column was published on June 17, 2021. And it's a fairly remarkable column and I just pulled it up on my phone a second ago. I want to just read you the beginning of it. The title of his column is Ted Cruz I'm Sorry. And here's how the column begins. I owe Ted Cruz an apology, though really, it's the readers to whom I should say I'm sorry. One day in 2015, when I had a column due in hours and couldn't settle on a topic, I took the easy route of unloading on Cruz, who was one of the many unappealing contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. He was fair game for rebuke, no question there. But did I illuminate his dark character, enlighten my readers, or advance any worthwhile cause by comparing him repeatedly to the unstoppable entity in the horror movie it follows? No, I just swam with the snide tide. I did that too often. Many columns do. And he goes on to talk about how basically in the columns he just wrote hard leftist drivel because it was easier to propagandize with all of the assumptions of one political side versus actually being a real objective commentator, which sadly the New York Times and much of the corporate media has abandoned as a vision for what they will do.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, at least they got it right on this last one, though, right? I mean, just. You do your whole career being a sellout, then you're like, okay, maybe I should have done it a little differently. You can't make that up. I want to go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, I did did kind of like that. His 2015 column compared me to an evil, malevolent demonic spirit. I have joked more than once, I've made this promise on the campaign trail. I've said, listen, if the New York Times ever starts praising me, I may have to resign right then and there. And so, you know, calling me Beelzebub is probably par for the course for the Times.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. And you know what? It's not the worst thing someone's ever said. That's what I always remind people. Like, I can't believe so and so said something about you. I'm like, trust me, it's not the worst thing that's ever been said. Just get my name right. That's all I care about. You do that, and I'm happy to move on. One last thing. And the media is freaking out over this, and the lefties are just losing it. There was a headline also in the New York Times, an opinion piece by Brett Stevens, and the headline reads, the mask mandates did nothing period. Will any lessons be learned? Question mark? Before we get into this article, we want to tell you about our friends over at Chalk. All right? If you are a man and you feel like you've got a little bit older, you feel like you've lost a little bit of your strength and vitality, and you don't want to be, you know, kind of a woke liberal, you don't want to be weakness and complacent, then you need to check out chalk. The problem is, in this country, men's testosterone levels are actually off a cliff. Historically, they're at an all time low. Thankfully, the patriots at Chalk Choq are here to help real American men take back their right to proudly maximize their masculinity by boosting Testosterone levels up 20% over 90 days. Now, my buddy Jesse Kelly, he turned me on to this. Like, ben, you got to try chalk. And I was like, all right, fine, I'm going to do it. I've been telling you about chalk, and I've been using it now for about three weeks. I can tell you this. It works. I'm taking the male vitality stack, and you can try this as well. You can maximize your masculinity today. Go to chalk.comchoq.com use code BEN and you'll get 35 off your Chalk subscription for life. That's ch oq.com use code BEN for 35% off subscriptions are cancelable at any time so give it a shot chalk choq.com center that this opinion piece the New York Times by Brett Steven was awesome just because the pictures and if you look at the pictures it's all these disgusting masks that are on the ground that polluted the country and really the world because the obsession with masks and now we're finding out that the most rigorous and this is from this op ed and comprehensive analysis of scientific studies conducted on the efficiency of mask for reducing the spread of respiratory illnesses, including COVID 19. It was published late last month. Not a lot of hoopla and the consensus was clear. This was basically a total waste of time. There was no evidence quote that they mask make any difference is what was said full stop stop in this. And the man the left is freaking out over the fact the New York Times allowed this to even be published.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well that's exactly right and I'll tell you that the op ed continues after the authors of this story says there's just no evidence that they masks make any difference full stop. The op ed goes on from there to say but wait, hold on. What about N95 masks as opposed to lower quality surgical mask or cloth masks? Makes no difference? None of it, said Jefferson. What about the studies that initially persuaded policymakers to impose mask mandates? They were convinced by non randomized studies, flawed observational studies. What? What about the utility of masks in conjunction with other preventive measures such as hand hygiene and physical distancing or air filtration? There is no evidence that many of these things make any difference. And the op ed continues. These observations don't just come from anywhere. Jefferson and 11 colleagues conducted the study for Cochrane. A British nonprofit is widely considered the gold standard for its reviews of health care data. The conclusions were based on 78 randomized controlled trials, six of them done during the COVID pandemic, with a total of 610,872 participants in multiple countries. And they track what has been widely observed in the United States. States with mask mandate mandates fared no better against Covid than those without. Now look, you and I were saying this a year ago, we were saying this two years ago. The data were there then. By the way, Foushee said it two years ago until he decided it was politically more advantageous to flip and order people to wear masks. And you are right, it's stunning the Times published this. I do wonder if there is a newsroom of crying children screaming that somebody else be fired for daring to publish this. But also, more broadly, where's the accountability? Where's Fauci being held accountable? Where's Joe Biden being held accountable? Right now? Today, the Biden administration is litigating in federal court to have the authority to reinstate the mask mandate on airplanes. Now, if this is right, that the data show they have zero efficacy, who's going to stand up and say I was wrong? Have you heard Joe Biden say that?

[Ben Ferguson]

No, he's not going to stand.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Kamala Harris or Chuck Schumer or Fauci or anyone. These people that wrecked our economy, that destroyed millions of children's education, that destroyed businesses, that, that did trillions of dollars of damage, these people that decreed that elderly would die alone and not have their children and grandchildren able to hold their hands have to date borne zero responsibility. And even worse, they try to gaslight the American people. You have Randy Weingarten saying, oh, we didn't want to shut down schools. It was Republicans who shut down schools. It's the absolute brazen chutzpah of just inverting reality. And yet you know what? Our corporate media, the double standard, like Don Lemon, everyone who got up and lied to you for year after year after year, like Don Lemon, will be back on air. Like Andrea Mitchell, we back on air because if you are lying in pursuit of leftist ideology, truth and falsity don't matter. Integrity doesn't matter. Standards don't matter. If you are a propagandist, if you work at Pravda, which sadly, too many of our journalists believe they do, then all that matters is your politics and journalism is dead.

[Ben Ferguson]

I couldn't have said it better myself, Senator. It was a fun show today just to look at this terrible week for the left and getting busted over and over again all across the spectrum. Don't forget, we do the show three days a week. Make sure you hit that subscriber auto download button. Please write us a five star review as well. It helps us reach more people on the charts and we will see you back here in a couple of days.