Michigan Offers Cash to House Illegals, AMLO Blackmails America, & the Challenges for Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson Week In Review

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: Michigan Offers Cash to House Illegals, AMLO Blackmails America, & the Challenges for Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson Week In Review
Release Date: March 30, 2024

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Introduction

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson, host Ben Ferguson engages in a compelling discussion with Senator Ted Cruz, delving into pressing political issues shaping America today. The conversation navigates through Michigan’s controversial immigration policies, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s (AMLO) recent interview perceived as diplomatic blackmail, and the intriguing political shift of Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson from the Democratic to the Republican Party. This summary encapsulates the key points, notable quotes, and essential insights from their in-depth analysis.

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1. Michigan’s Newcomer Rental Subsidy: Controversial Cash Incentives for Housing Illegal Immigrants

Overview: Michigan has initiated the Newcomer Rental Subsidy program, offering homeowners up to $500 per month (totaling approximately $6,000 per year) to house individuals classified under various immigration statuses, including refugees, asylees, and victims of human trafficking.

Key Points:

• Program Intent: Designed to provide housing solutions outside state shelters for individuals seeking refuge.
• Eligibility: Includes refugees, asylees, special immigration visa holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants, Afghan nationals, Ukrainian humanitarian parolees, and those under family reunification processes from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Colombia.
• Funding Mechanism: Michigan taxpayers fund the subsidies, raising concerns about the legality and ethical implications of incentivizing homeowners to harbor illegal immigrants.

Notable Quotes:

• Senator Ted Cruz [00:01]: "How is this legal? We're gonna break that down for you."
• Ben Ferguson [03:21]: "This program is truly a win-win as it addresses the most pressing barrier to refugee resettlement by meeting housing needs while setting up families for success with increased employment and opportunities."

Discussion: Senator Cruz questions the legality and ethicality of Michigan’s approach, suggesting it equates to "buying votes" by financially incentivizing residents to support Democratic policies. Ben Ferguson critiques the Democratic Party’s stance, labeling the program as illogical and detrimental to hardworking American families facing economic challenges.

Insights:

• Political Strategy: The program is viewed as a tactic to secure votes by financially rewarding residents for supporting immigration-friendly policies.
• Economic Impact: Concerns are raised about the potential inflationary effects and the strain on housing markets due to increased demand.

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2. AMLO’s 60 Minutes Interview: Alleged Diplomatic Blackmail and Its Implications

Overview: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) conducted a sit-down interview with 60 Minutes where he outlined demands that the United States must meet to curb the flow of illegal drugs and immigrants across the southern border. His demands include significant financial contributions and policy reversals related to Latin American nations.

Key Points:

• AMLO’s Demands:
  • $20 Billion Annually: For poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
  • Lift Sanctions on Venezuela: Ending economic penalties imposed by the U.S.
  • End Cuban Embargo: Reversing long-standing trade and diplomatic restrictions.
  • Legalization of Millions of Law-Abiding Mexicans: Granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.
• Threat of Continued Migration: AMLO asserts that failure to meet these demands will result in ongoing illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
• Perception as Extortion: Analysts and the podcast hosts characterize AMLO’s tactics as a form of diplomatic blackmail, akin to actions by criminal cartels.

Notable Quotes:

• Andrés Manuel López Obrador [16:56]: "Your critics have said what you're doing or what you're asking for to help secure the border is diplomatic blackmail. What do you say?"
• Senator Ted Cruz [17:05]: "20 billion a year. And if you give me 20 billion a year and then you allow all the illegal immigrants to become citizens in your country... This is extortion on a level that I can't even get my head around from Mexico."

Discussion: Senator Cruz and Ben Ferguson critique AMLO's demands as coercive measures that leverage financial incentives to manipulate U.S. immigration and foreign policies. They draw parallels between AMLO’s strategies and those of Mexican drug cartels, emphasizing the administration's alleged failure to prioritize national security over political correctness.

Insights:

• U.S.-Mexico Relations: The episode highlights tensions stemming from immigration and drug trafficking, portraying AMLO’s administration as undermining U.S. sovereignty for political gains.
• Policy Critique: The conversation underscores frustrations with the Biden administration’s handling of border security and foreign policy, suggesting a lack of resolve in addressing these critical issues.

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3. Eric Johnson’s Political Shift: From Democrat to Republican Mayor of Dallas

Overview: Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has made a significant political shift by switching from the Democratic to the Republican Party. This move sparks discussions about the viability and impact of Republican leadership in major American cities traditionally dominated by Democrats.

Key Points:

• Reason for Switching: Johnson believes that Republican policies on law and order, public safety, and fiscal responsibility are better suited for effective city governance.
• Electoral Strategy: Johnson asserts confidence in his ability to win future elections as a Republican, citing strong community support and successful previous campaigns.
• Republican Mayors Association: Johnson emphasizes the importance of establishing a robust Republican presence in large cities to influence broader electoral outcomes at state and national levels.

Notable Quotes:

• Eric Johnson [28:26]: "I’d win overwhelmingly. I don’t have any doubt about it. No doubt about it."
• Senator Ted Cruz [28:51]: "They’re going to say, oh well, this guy could never win. That’s why he waited till the end of his term to then switch parties."
• Eric Johnson [32:05]: "Republicans running our major cities because 80% of Americans live in cities. By 2050, that number is going to be 90%."

Discussion: Senator Cruz and Ben Ferguson explore the implications of Johnson’s party switch, framing it as a strategic move to align with policies they argue promote public safety and fiscal prudence. They discuss the broader Republican agenda to gain traction in urban centers, which are pivotal for controlling state-level elections and, by extension, national outcomes.

Insights:

• Political Realignment: Johnson’s switch is portrayed as a potential catalyst for a larger Republican resurgence in metropolitan areas.
• Policy Advocacy: Emphasis is placed on law and order, infrastructure, and economic management as key Republican strengths in city governance.
• Historical Context: The conversation references past Republican efforts in urban settings, suggesting renewed efforts could reshape electoral landscapes.

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Conclusion

In this episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz offer a critical examination of current political strategies and policies affecting immigration, international relations, and urban governance in the United States. They argue that Democratic initiatives in Michigan and AMLO’s recent maneuvers undermine American sovereignty and economic stability, while highlighting the potential for Republican leadership to effect positive change in major cities like Dallas. The discussion underscores a broader narrative of political contention and the strategic maneuvers both parties employ to secure their agendas amidst evolving national challenges.

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Notable References:

• Michigan Newcomer Rental Subsidy Program: Discussed at [00:01] - [05:47]
• AMLO’s 60 Minutes Interview: Covered extensively from [10:15] - [28:07]
• Eric Johnson’s Party Switch and Republican Mayors: Explored from [28:25] onwards

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Final Thoughts: This episode serves as a robust analysis of contemporary political dynamics, emphasizing the intersection of local policies and national implications. Through incisive dialogue, Ferguson and Cruz advocate for Republican strategies aimed at reclaiming influence in key areas to counterbalance Democratic policies they view as detrimental to American interests.

Transcript

[Ted Cruz]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz and the Week in Review, Ben Ferguson with you. And these are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about earlier this week. Let's start off with what's happening in Michigan and a shocking move. Democrats are looking to buy votes by giving homeowners cash thousands and thousands of dollars a year if they will house illegal immigrants. How is this legal? We're gonna break that down for you. Plus Mexico's president decides to come out and do a sit down interview with 60 Minutes. What he said was pretty clear, you gotta well bribe him and then he might help you stop the flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants coming across the border. But if you don't give him billions of dollars every single year, he says the problem is gonna continue and Americans will die. And finally, you may have seen the world get rocked when a Democratic mayor switched the Republican party in a major city in America. So why did he do it? We're gonna have the story of Eric Johnson, the mayor of Dallas in his Verdict Weekend Review. And it starts right now. There's new poll numbers out over the weekend that show that Donald Trump, who lost Michigan to Joe Biden the last election, he won it in 16. Trump now tops Biden by 8 points in a Michigan poll. That is significant. The president's approval rating in Michigan is at 35%. So what is Michigan doing? I, I guess it's time to buy votes. They're now offering homeowners a 500amonth stipend if they'll welcome what they describe as newcomers. What that is is an illegal immigrant into their home. And the state of Michigan will subsidize you $500 a citize up to a year. So basically six grand is what they're willing to give you to house someone now?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, that's right. The program that Michigan has rolled out, it's called the Newcomer rental subsidy and it's designed to provide shelter outside of state shelters for so called refugees. And refugees is simply the term they use for illegal aliens. It lasts for up to a year. And according to Michigan, those eligible include refugees, asylees, special immigration visa holders, victims of human trafficking, Cuban entrants, Haitian entrance, Afghan nationals and Ukrainian humanitarian parolees. So get this, the state of Michigan is quite literally paying individuals paying homeowners to house illegal immigrants in their house. And by the way, it's not just them. Others who qualify include individuals who arrived under the family reunification parole process for El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia. Who in Michigan, what Michigan taxpayer says, you know What I really want, I want my taxes going to paying my neighbor to put an illegal immigrant that Joe Biden led into this country into his house and we'll send them 500 bucks a month to keep the illegal immigrant there. That is how nutty today's Democrat Party is on this issue.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and my question is, and I'm not joking when I say this, is this not a form of just buying votes? If you're talking each person is now worth $6,000 to a Michigan homeowner to house them. And I don't know if there's a cap that you can only have one or maybe you have two. What if it's a family? I'm assuming we're not going to break up the family. So is if you have a family of four and you house them, are we now talking that they're worth $24,000 to your bottom line? How is that not the Democratic Party basically buying votes saying, hey, you better keep us in office, you better vote for us because we're worth 24 grand a year to you right now?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and look, I'll read you a quote from Amy Hovey, who is the executive director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, who said the program would help migrants, quote, build a new life here. And she said, quote, this program is truly a win win as it addresses the most pressing barrier to refugee resettlement by meeting housing needs while setting up families for success with increased employment and opportunities. That's the position of the Democrat Party. You too can have an illegal alien in your house.

[Ted Cruz]

Do they, do they care about the cost of housing going up? I mean, is that a conversation you guys have in D.C. is that a question that anyone asks of the Democrats when you have this many illegal immigrants coming into America? And I'll go back to what you were talking about the very beginning and these votes. It's not just the 320,000 legal immigrants that we have flown into this country at the taxpayers dollars paying for these charter flights. But if you look at how many illegal immigrants have come across the southern border since Joe Biden was sworn in, it's at least at minimum 7.2 million illegal immigrants that have entered the US under the Biden admin, which is greater than the population of 36 individual states in America. And now we see housing cost issues, rent cost issues, and we see inflationary issues and we see that we're seeing wages that are being undermined by illegal immigrants. If Michigan does this and other states go along with it, which other states are as well they're saying the same thing. Housing illegal immigrant will give you cash. Is that not the definition of undermining hard working American families who are just struggling to survive?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well look, you gotta understand, the modern Democrat view is they can spend unlimited money, trillions of dollars. They can print unlimited money and if they want more, they'll just tax the hell out of you. And it's a giant Ponzi scheme where they print money, they raise taxes, they spend more money, inflation goes up, so they print more money. And when it comes to if the voters don't like it, don't worry, they'll change the composition of the voters. They'll let 10.4 million people into this country illegally. Those guys the Democrats are confident will vote Democrat so they stay in power, that is. You know, there used to be a time when you could have a common sense discussion. There are no longer any Democrats in Washington, in Congress who engage in common sense. I mean look, we saw these votes, every single one of them lined up over and over and over again. Illegal immigrant who built, who beat up a cop. Nope, don't deport him. Like, like tell me what world does a sane irrational person believe that? And yet every Senate Democrat there, that's their view.

[Ted Cruz]

Last question on this. When, when they vote lockstep like that, is that pre planned with a conversation they have behind closed doors and they say, hey, no matter what they throw at you, no matter how sane it is, you do not agree with Republicans on anything.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's why it took all night. They knew what we were gonna have votes on. We had put forward, these are the amendments we want votes on. And we spent the entire day Friday just doing nothing because Schumer was talking to his Democrats saying okay, here are the votes. We need every Democrat to stand lock arms and just vote against all of them.

[Ted Cruz]

And he had walk me through Friday that day. Cuz people don't understand, I think, how dysfunctional Schumer can make things when they're trying to get things done like this. So you guys wake up Friday, you know, you had to stay over another day.

[Ben Ferguson]

But we didn't. We, we actually thought we would be done Friday afternoon. In a normal world we would have been. We stayed there the whole night.

[Ted Cruz]

So tell me like you guys wake up Friday morning, you do you have a vote schedule yet? And then he changed or he just say hey, wake up and stand by until I tell you when you get to vote.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's much more the latter. And the way the Senate works, it's a strange place. So the majority leader only has one real power under the rules, and it's what's called priority of recognition, which means he is recognized first if he's on the floor. And he uses that to control the Senate calendar, to fill the pending business with whatever he wants so that no one else can put anything else on the Senate calendar. So you spend a lot of time just sitting around, waiting. It's a very weird thing, I'll tell you. When I was, you know, new in the Senate, and I'd be a typical Senate week, you will fly to D.C. monday mornings, and you'll fly home Thursday nights. And then typically I'm home in Houston Thursday nights. Friday, I travel somewhere around Texas. Sometimes Saturday, I travel around Texas. I try to spend Sundays home with the family. And then Monday morning I fly back to D.C. that's the usual rhythm of things. But on Thursdays, I would call home. Back when, when Republicans had the majority, I would call home and my daughters would ask, well, are you coming home tonight? And I'd say, I don't know. It depends what, what Mitch schedules when he schedules votes, and we have no idea. My daughters used to say, is that mean man gonna let you come home? And by that mean man, they meant Mitch McConnell, because you literally have no control over your schedule. It is, it is utterly incoherent. So Friday, we spent all day, we were waiting to see if a deal would be reached. We were waiting to see if a deal would be reached. And throughout the afternoon and evening, it looked like there was going to be no deal. At midnight Friday night, funding for the federal government was set to expire and we were going to have a shutdown. So as the evening went on, I was on the Senate floor for a while. It looked like there was no deal. I went and with some senators, grab some food, watch some basketball and, and actually, I, I had gone home. I changed, changed out of my suit, was getting ready to go to bed, and then after 11pm I got the note. Nope, we're getting ready to vote. And we began voting at 11:56pm So I, I had to get dressed again, head back to the Capitol. Everyone did. And we voted from 11:56pm until 2:03am is when it was over. But it, it, it. That's just kind of how hectic things are.

[Ted Cruz]

Senator, lastly, this story broke. It's not being covered, of course, by the media, because why would they want to tell you about this? But apparently now the Biden administration has decided we don't want to offend extremists jihadist extremists. And they want to change the way you talk about actual terrorists.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, that's exactly right. This is a story that the Daily Wire broke and it's a memo that was sent by the diversity, equity and inclusion officials at the Biden administration's top intelligence agency. And it warns personnel not to use, quote, problematic phrases when discussing Islamic terrorism and foreign adversaries such as China. The uncle, the unclassified newsletter, and it's from the office of the Director of National Intelligence is called, quote, the Dive. And it was obtained through Freedom Information act request by the Daily Wire. It argues in its cover story that the intelligence community needs to focus on, quote, changing terminology related to counterterrorism because, quote, words matter. Here's more. Quote, the article is about one of our goals, disentangling Islam from words and phrases used to discuss terrorism and extreme violence. It goes on to declare that trying to remove, quote, certain phrases to identify international terrorism threats that are hurtful to Muslim Americans. Some of the problematic phrases include, but are not limited to Salafi, jihadist, jihadist, Islamic extremist, Sunni, Shia, extremism, and radical Islamist.

[Ted Cruz]

Only in America could you have a memo that someone took this much time and wastes time under the Biden administration to make people that are directly associated with terrorism feel better about, I guess what, not being a terrorist.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and sadly, this is continuing the. This the path of putting politics above national security that we saw when Barack Obama was president. When Barack Obama was president, I actually chaired a hearing that examined the purge that the Obama White House insisted DHS do to remove from their records any reference to radical Islamic terrorism or Islam or Muslim or jihadist. And. And they erased over 800 times they erased those words from their records. And by the way, the word purge, that's not me adding that word to it. That was the word that was used by the political official in the Obama White House in the instructions to dhs, purge your files. Well, these same radicals are now running Biden's intelligence agencies. And this article is part of a newsletter that is created by ODNI that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Intelligence Community Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Accessibility Office. And it was sent to personnel throughout the intelligence community, which includes the CIA, the nsa, the FBI, the dhs, and the Department of Justice. All of them are being told the fact that Palestinian Islamic Jihad was one of the two terrorist groups that carried out October 7th. October 7th was carried out by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Apparently that is an inconvenient fact. To the language commissars, who I presume want to edit out the word Islamic from the name of the terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Look, they're not murdering Jews because they dislike their hairstyle. They are murdering Jews because they have a perverted view of radical Islam that mandates jihad and countering jihadism, countering the radical religious extremism behind it. It is only possible if you acknowledge it exists. And so on one level, you say, okay, this sort of language, political correctness stuff, it's silly. But in this instance, it's much worse than silly. It is dangerous. Because if the intelligence community has no idea, refuses to acknowledge what is actually happening, it means they will be utterly ineffective in fighting against it and keeping Americans and our allies safe.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, and this is one of those moments when you say, what are they focusing their time on right now? Is it political correctness or is it actually keeping us safe from actual jihadist terrorists that they're afraid of offending by using the name? It reminds me a lot of the president saying that an individual that killed an innocent young girl in Georgia was an illegal immigrant and then apologized to the illegal immigrants for calling that individual, who is the alleged murderer, an illegal immigrant. It's like, what are you focusing on? What is important to you? Protecting innocent people? Protecting people from terrorist attacks? Or is it this PRPC wokeness? Is that matter more to you than actually fighting the bad guys?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, unfortunately, based on things like their late night votes where every Democrat voted against the American citizens, voted in favor of illegal aliens, voted in favor of sending billions of dollars to Iran, it's not difficult to figure out where their priorities lie right now.

[Ted Cruz]

Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week. Now on to story number two, center. I want to move to another issue. There was an issue, a interview, I should say, that happened on Sunday. A lot of people don't watch 60 Minutes anymore. But the Mexican president did do a sit down interview and it actually took a couple days until anyone noticed it, which was, I think, the most unique part of this, first off. And then what he said it was diplomatic blackmail, as it's been described by many. As the Mexican president said that the flow of illegal immigrants will continue unless the US Meets some of his new demands. In an interview, he was asked about the flow of not just illegals, but also drugs coming across the southern border. And here's what the president of Mexico said about America.

[Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador]

He thinks you have the power in this moment to Slow down migration. Do you plan to say we do.

[Ben Ferguson]

And want to continue doing.

[Ted Cruz]

But we do want for the root.

[Ben Ferguson]

Causes to be attended to, for them to be seriously looked at with the.

[Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador]

Ear of the White House. President Lopez Obrador proposed his fix that the United States commit $20 billion a year to poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, lift sanctions on Venezuela, end the Cuban embargo and legalize millions of law abiding Mexicans living in the US if they don't do the things that you said need to be done, then what?

[Ben Ferguson]

The flow of migrants will continue.

[Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador]

Your critics have said what you're doing or what you're asking for to help secure the border is diplomatic blackmail. What do you say?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm speaking frankly.

[Ted Cruz]

We have to say things as they are. Senator, there's like five different things I want to discuss with you. Let's just start with number one. This is diplomatic blackmail. 20 billion a year. And if you give me 20 billion a year and then you allow all the illegal immigrants to become citizens in your country that are there, then you give what we want with Cuba in Venezuela, and then if you keep giving us 20 billion a year, we might stop the flow of fentanyl coming across the southern border. This is extortion on a level that I can't even get my head around from Mexico.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, look, of course it is. And the Mexican president, everyone calls him amlo. Amlo is short for his full name, which is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He is a thug. He is a hard leftist. He's been a hard leftist his entire life. He has been vocally and visually, viciously anti American his entire life. That has been. That's how he got elected. That was his campaign. Standing up against the Yankee imperialists to the north. That's who he is. And by the way, notice his demands. His demands are in the embargo against Cuba and end the sanctions against Venezuela. He's standing with communist dictators in Cuba and Venezuela. That's who he aligns himself with, is the hard left, anti American communist axis through Latin America. That's who Amlo is. So it's not surprising. That's who he's always been. Now that being said, is he trying to extort America? Of course, is the threat that the flow of migrants will continue unless you pay us off.20 billion a year to Latin American countries. It's kind of like, you know, a mob enforcer. Nice little bar you got here. Shame if something happened to it. Boy, a fire would do real damage. He's saying well, we'll keep these migrants coming unless you pay us off. Just, you know, a bag of cash each week would be good. I'll send my guys to pick it up. Yes, that's exactly what he's trying to do.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, it's almost like, is there a difference between the president of Mexico and the, the cartels of Mexico? Because the way he was talk seems like the same type of conversation you'd have with the narcos.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and by the way, Amlo, one of the problems is his government has very much been in bed with the narcos and it is devastating the nation of Mexico. The people of Mexico are facing murders, they're facing kidnapping, they're facing enormous violence from these multi billion dollar global criminal cartels that Amlo has facilitated. But I'm going to say something that's going to surprise you. I'm actually not terribly upset that Amlo's doing that. That's who he is. That's, you know, it's, it's like brand.

[Ted Cruz]

Is what you're saying. It's not like he's betraying us. This is who he is.

[Ben Ferguson]

He is an anti American leftist who is going to behave like a thug. He is just like Nicolas Maduro. He is just like the Chavistas in Venezuela. He's just like the Casteristas, Fidel Castro and all of their progeny in, in, in Cuba. And, and that's who he is. But, but you know why I'm actually not all that worked up about what he said?

[Ted Cruz]

Why is that?

[Ben Ferguson]

Because Joe Biden wants him to say this. Understand? This crisis at our southern border is not because Amlo like his comment. You could stop it, couldn't you? And, and, well, yes, but, but pay us money for us to stop it. Understand? Joe Biden doesn't want it to stop. Chuck Schumer doesn't want it to stop. The Democrats don't want it to stop the 10.4 million illegal immigrants. They're glad of them. They want more. They want 10 million to become 20 million to become 30 million, those they view as future Democrat voters. And so Amlo listen, you know, do you get mad when, when, when, when a little like yapping dog comes and yaps at the door? No, Amlo's gonna scream, so what if we had a president? I'll tell you, when Donald Trump was president, Amlo was terrified of him. Utterly and completely terrified. And by the way, Amlo actually did a pretty good job when Trump was president because he was so afraid. Let's pause and ask how did we secure the border under Trump? What happened? And I'll tell you what happened. Trump threatened amlodipine. And what he said is, you either help us secure the border or I'm going to oppose. I, Donald J. Trump. I'm going to impose a 25% tariff on everything coming out of Mexico. And Amlo ran screaming. It terrified him because he believed Trump would do it. It wasn't an empty threat and he was terrified. And what happened? Number one, AMLO put 6,000 troops on Mexico southern border. You know, remember the shape of Mexico. Mexico is much more narrow at the south than it is at the north. At the north, Mexico has a 2,000 mile border with the United States. At the south, their border is much, much smaller. AMLO put 6,000 soldiers on their southern border to stop the flow. And critically, because of Trump's threat, AMLO agreed to the remain in Mexico agreement. What was Remain in Mexico? It said anyone that crossed illegally into Mexico and most of the people coming at that time and now were not Mexicans, they were from elsewhere at the time, they were mostly from Central and South America. Remain in Mexico said they would stay in Mexico. These illegal immigrants would remain in Mexico while their US asylum case was proceeding. And what happened when suddenly people paid cartels thousands of dollars, traveled all the way north and discovered, holy cow, I don't get to come into America, I'm stuck in Mexico, I can't cross over. The numbers plummeted to the lowest rate in 45 years. So when Amlo says this, by the way, the instant Joe Biden became president, the numbers skyrocketed because Biden is weak. Amlo isn't afraid of him. AMLO isn't scared at all. And actually everything Amlo is threatening Joe Biden and every other Democrat in Congress wants him to do that.

[Ted Cruz]

It's almost like he's empowered to say this because he's actually backed up by the American policy. That's what you're telling us.

[Ben Ferguson]

That is exactly right, that he's doing what they know he'll do. He's look, look, Marxists gonna Marxist, that's who they are. He is going to engage in anti American rhetoric. The only thing he responds to is strength. This Biden White House is not capable of strength against leftists, against enemies of America. They're only capable of strength against our friends. They're only capable of undermining allies of America. But because Amlo is a leftist, just like in Cuba, they're communists, just like in Venezuela, they're communist, just like Lula in Brazil is an anti American leftist, just like Petro in Colombia is an anti American leftist. Every anti American leftist, this administration gives everything they want, and usually they want to give them money. So when actually AMLO's saying, lift the Cuban embargo, you know what Biden White House wants to lift the Cuban embargo. When Amlo says end the sanctions against Venezuela, you know what? Biden wants to end the sanctions against Venezuela. This is. They are, to use the old communist phrase, they are fellow travelers.

[Ted Cruz]

You mentioned the drug aspect of this, and I want you to hear what he had to say and everybody listening because there's zero compassion. The number one killer 49 under in this country is fentanyl. In this nation, more than anything else, that's what's killing us. And he was asked about the drugs and he kind of mocked America and laughed at America's demise when it comes to drugs and the deaths that are happening. Take a listen.

[Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador]

The head of the DEA says cartels are mass producing fentanyl. And the U.S. state Department has said that most of it is coming out of Mexico. Are they wrong?

[Ted Cruz]

Yes. Or rather, they don't have all the information because fentanyl is also produced in the United States.

[Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador]

The State Department says most of it's coming from Mexico.

[Ted Cruz]

Fentanyl is produced in the United States, in Canada and in Mexico, and the chemical precursors come from Asia. Do you know why we don't have the drug consumption that you have in the United States?

[Ben Ferguson]

Because we have customs, traditions, and we don't have the problem of the disintegration of the family.

[Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador]

But there is drug consumption in Mexico, but very little. So why the violence then in Mexico?

[Ben Ferguson]

Because drug trafficking exists, but not the consumption.

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, he's laughing when he gives the last answer there. Like, he's smiling and smirking when he's like, ha, ha, this is hilarious. Like, I can't believe you guys are even asking me these questions.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, look, that's exactly right. And he's lying when he's suggesting that fentanyl is manufactured in large quantities in the United States. The vast majority of what is killing Americans is being manufactured in Mexico. Now he's right that the precursors are coming from China. It's the Chinese Communists who are sending it to Mexico. It's the Mexican drug cartels who are manufacturing it and they're smuggling it over the border. There's some fentanyl production in the United States, but. But it, it is very minor compared to the volume coming from Mexico. He knows that. But. But this is, and, and by the way, understand the, the total volume. Last year, over 100,000Americans died of drug overdoses. 70% of that, over 70,000 was from fentanyl. And the vast majority of that was Chinese fentanyl manufactured in Mexico by the Mexican drug cartels. And AMLO is saying sadly, with Biden's blessing and the Democrats blessing, we're going to keep it flowing as before.

[Ted Cruz]

If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing. I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed if you were up for re election right now, running as a Republican for mayor.

[Eric Johnson]

Yes.

[Ted Cruz]

Your policies haven't changed. The only thing that's changed is a D went to an R. Correct. Could you win?

[Eric Johnson]

I'd win overwhelmingly. I don't have any doubt about it. No doubt about it. I'll tell you why I believe that. I tell you why I'm glad someone finally asked me that on the record. That's where the chatter is. We, that's why I asked.

[Ted Cruz]

They're going to say, oh well, this guy could never win. That's why he waited till the end of his term to then switch parties.

[Eric Johnson]

So here, here's the reality that people have to ignore to even make that argument. But I understand why people need to make it. I mean, I told someone, I said, you know, you don't switch parties in a two part system, one or the other and think the other part is going to say, well, you know, we wish him the best, he was great and it's our loss. You know, they got to come up with something. And this is kind of, these are the kinds of arguments they've come up with. But here's the reality I won my last election with. It wasn't 93%. Dallas City, you know, has ordinances about how write in candidates get on the ballot. And if you write in a name other than the actual write in candidate's name, that's there, you just essentially didn't vote. You threw your vote, your, your ballot in the trash. Of the cast votes which were canvassed by the city and are the official records of the city, 98.7% of the vote, that's Democrats and Republicans in that group. That's a, that's a pretty hearty endorsement of the incumbent mayor. And I didn't run with a D or an R behind my name. I ran just with, you know, as Eric Johnson because you don't run in Texas, in any city with a D or for folks who aren't from Texas. We don't actually have partisan elections in Texas for mayor. You just run and you don't run with a party support. Now what do I think would have actually happened if I had just come out and said six months before the election I'm actually a Republican? Here's what would have happened. Some Democrats would have gotten together and said, well, this is an opportunity for us to run an ostensibly just overtly partisan candidate. We're going to do something that's never been done in Dallas before, which is just make it partisan, like to say, okay, we got an R running and now we're going to run a D against them. The problem is that the R you're talking about for four years well enough to clear the field and win with 98.7% of the vote. But that didn't happen yet. So let's just go back and say a Republican who's been that effective, who happens to also be African American and supported by the African American community, we think that that person would lose simply by saying I've become a Republican. I think what happens is I won the first race in a contested nine person field, that it went to a runoff with 12% of the vote. I won, you know, 56, 44. I think that goes down to the normal pretty solid win of a 54, 53% win. But I still win. There's no question. I still win that race because I'm the incumbent at that point. No incumbent mayor. If we've had Republican and Democrat mayors before, by the way, no incumbent mayor seeking reelection in Dallas has ever lost, ever.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, so let me, let me ask a final question, which is you have started now a national organization, the Republican Mayors association, and you have been out articulating that Republicans need to have an agenda for the cities that we can't just write off big cities where an awful lot of Americans live. And I think that's a very important message. It's something, and I want to ask you what's your vision for the message Republicans should have in the cities and how do we end up with a lot more Republican mayors to big cities? What's the path forward there?

[Eric Johnson]

I said this in the Wall Street Journal and I meant it. It's a two way benefit for America and for our party. America needs the leadership that Republicans provide at the local level because of the things we talked about just a few minutes ago. A Republican mayor is going to, is going to, because it's part of the DNA of the party is going to be right on law and order issues, going to be right on public safety. People who've asked me about that, I've said, let me just quiz you very quickly. Every bad idea you can think of about public safety came from one side of the aisle. There's not even a mixed bag on this issue. If it's a bad idea when it comes to public safety, you know, defund the police, don't prosecute, shop with whatever. Republicans don't propose ideas that undermine law and order. They not every Democrat believes them, but they only emanate from the Democrats. That's just a factual statement. So a Republican is going to be right on law and order and public safety. A Republican mayor is going to be right on taxes. A Republican mayor ought to be right on infrastructure spending and investing prudently. And there's studies that show, I mean, have proven that you actually have lower debt levels and you issue less debt when you have a Republican mayor versus a Democrat. MIT professor actually studied this and concluded that it is a statistically significant different level of debt associated with a city when there's a Republican in charge and a Democrat in charge. So we actually need Republicans running our major cities because 80% of Americans live in cities. By 2050, that number is going to be 90%. So the country actually needs the leadership. But I'm actually telling you as a group of partisans, we actually have to pay attention to this. And I think we have to pay attention to it because I in my heart of hearts believe that by being competitive in the cities, by basically re engaging because we were once engaged. There was a Republican Mayors association at one time. It had a similar name. It was like the Republican Conference. It was during the Ford administration. And it's. At some point we just lost interest in competing at that level and it sort of just faded away. But it was very active at one time and we were more competitive in our cities at one time. We need to get more competitive there again, because the margin of victory at the state level in states like Wisconsin, in states like Michigan, states like Pennsylvania, is the difference between performing at the city level in you ready? Madison Green Bay and in Detroit and in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh by just 5 or 10 percentage points better. So in other words, engaging in the cities in a more significant way and having the GOP brand associated with the things we're talking about at the local level, it doesn't take that many votes. And now all of a sudden the whole state is no longer lock Stock and barrel going one direction. Because the of the advantage that's been run up in the cities, you've cut into the advantage that the cities have.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, Eric, I'll tell you on that point. So Heidi and I met 25 years ago when we were both working on the George W. Bush campaign in 2000, the presidential campaign. And actually in that campaign, you know, I was a young 29 year old staffer, but I wrote, wrote a memo urging that the campaign consider at the time Condoleezza Rice as a vp. And in the course of the memo, I laid out all sorts of reasons why I thought this was worth considering carefully. But one of the things I did is I did an electoral analysis. I looked at the three preceding presidential elections and I posited a series of hypotheticals. I said what would have happened if Republicans had gotten 5% more, 10% more or 15% more of the African American and Hispanic vot. So I didn't posit what if we get 50% more. I did 5, 10 or 15. So goals that were achievable, I believe. And I ran through the numbers and the one that was most, that stood out the most was if Republicans had gotten an additional 15% of the African American and Hispanic vote in 1996, Republicans would have won an additional 96 electoral votes. I mean, it lifts the election dramatically. But to do that, we've got to compete.

[Eric Johnson]

It's a whole different national conversation about the competitiveness of this party. If we are a factor at the city level.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Eric Johnson]

Because it's just where so many people are concentrated. It's getting harder and harder to figure out how to win elections where we're just not even playing there. I mean, we just, it's just not even. We ought to be competing in every major city where we're currently just sort of saying, you know, a Democrat hasn't won. I mean, a Republican hasn't won there in a long time. So let's not try. We just flipped. Just in this last cycle, the mayor, the current mayor of I believe it's Charleston, South Carolina is now Republican. They hadn't elected a Republican mayor in Charleston in like 175 years. So it can happen. It can be done. You have to run the right candidate. He was a former legislator like I was, and he ran a great campaign. Now they got a Republican mayor. So what's going to happen next is he's going to do a good job. And when he does a good job, these people who've been voting for Democrat Mayors for 175 years are going to say, you know what, Republicans are in charge. The city just seems to be, it's safer. We hire more cops and crime goes down. And you know what, the taxes go down and, you know, things are just better. The brand means something to them at the local level. And not just the brand will always have a federal aspect to it. It'll always have a state aspect to it. But right now in this party, we're missing a brand at the local level. It doesn't mean anything right now at the local level. And we get to decide what it means. And I'm saying we should be running solid conservatives at the local level, winning elections, running cities well. And then that makes people at the local level go, yeah, I'm actually a Republican. I love my Republican mayor. And so I'm a Republican. And that has benefits for people running for U.S. senate, running for president, running for governor. But we are right now just aren't doing anything. I mean, I was shocked to find that there was no one even in this lane. I wasn't even stepping on anybody's toes by doing this.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, let me say, Eric, I appreciate you. I appreciate your friendship, I appreciate your leadership and I appreciate your joining us on the Verdict podcast.

[Eric Johnson]

Appreciate that man.

[Ted Cruz]

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