← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
NAACP Boycotts Florida & AOC Steps in it on Race, plus Target Stores target Kids with Sexually Explicit Products, and an AM Radio Victory
00:44:40
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- [00:01]
Ted Cruz
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you as well. And we have got a loaded show for you. The NAACP doesn't want you to go to Florida specifically if you are African American saying it's unsafe on the same exact week that Rhonda Sant is announcing he's going to run for president. Yeah, there's no coincidence there at all. Also mothers standing up and saying no to target, coming after children. And now it looks like we're winning. Just like there was big victories with Bud Light. And finally, AM radio. Yes, it may be sticking around for a little while longer in your vehicles. We're going to give you an update on that. But first, center, let's get back to this big story. And that is the NAACP came out with, I think, which was one of the most disgusting warnings about Florida, clearly political and saying they have a travel advisory to Florida the exact same week that Ron DeSantis is announcing he's running for president. What's funny about this is there are actually several NAACP top executives that live in Florida. I'm curious, are they going to sell their houses right away?
- [01:14]
Ben Ferguson
Well, it was obviously partisan, it was obviously political and it's sad what to see what's happened to the naacp. You know, I have to say this topic sparked something of a Twitter war. And I think it's worth it for listeners of the POD to walk through the Twitter war. So when the NAACP issued its, quote, travel advisory for the state of Florida over the weekend saying that Republican Governor Ron DeSantis policies constitute an all out attack on black Americans and other minorities, I responded and said, quote, this is bizarre, utterly dishonest. In the 1950s and 60s, the NAACP did extraordinary good helping lead the civil rights movement. Today, Dr. King would be ashamed of how profoundly they've lost their way. Now that comment triggered a whole bunch of leftists, including one very lefty professor at my alma mater, guy named Kevin Cruz Kruse, who says, quote, In 1965, Dr. King called for a national boycott of the state of Alabama, saying that Democratic governor George Wallace's policies constitute, constituted a, quote, reign of terror against black Americans. Well, from there, Norm Ornstein, who's the big lefty Democrat commentator, said, quote, guess who would have been first in line to filibuster against the Voting Rights act and the Civil Rights Act? Yes, Ted Cruz. Ooh, they got me now. So I responded to Norm Ornstein and I said, quote, nonsense. That shameful filibuster was led by Democrats. Your party, my party, the Republicans proudly voted for the civil Rights act in much higher percentages than the racist Dems. Now, here's where it gets interesting. This great scholar of American history, this learned analyst on all things concerning race, Alexandria Acacia Cortez, sends the following tweet why don't you go ahead and tell people what happened to the parties after that? TED well, I'm never one to turn down a kind invitation from someone trying to be helpful to the discussion, so I happily replied and I quote, tweeted AOC and I said, sure. And what follows is a 7 tweet thread which, if you will indulge, I'm going to walk you through. Sure. First the Dem Party founded the kkk. Then the Dem Party wrote Jim Crow laws. Then the Dem Party filibustered the Civil Rights act. Tweet 2 Today the Dem Party filibusters school choice, trapping millions of black kids in failing schools. Today the Dem Party pushes abolishing the police, which results in many more black lives murdered. Today the Dem Party voted against my bill to stop D.C. from throwing 40% of black kids out of schools because of the VAX mandate. Tweet number three the Republican Party was founded to oppose slavery. Our first president, Republican President was Abraham Lincoln, who won the Civil War and ended slavery. It was Republicans who voted for the Civil Rights act at a much higher percentage than racist Democrats. Tweet number four Today we produce the lowest African American unemployment ever under the Trump economic boom. Today we produce the lowest African American poverty levels ever under the Trump economic boom. Tweet 5 Today, in 2017 I passed the largest expansion of federal school choice ever, making 529 plans cover K through 12 over the objection of every single Senate Democrat. Tweet number six Also, just two years ago, the Democrat Governor of Virginia had put the photo of a man dressed as a KKK Klansman on his personal yearbook page. And today the sitting Democrat President Joe Biden gave in 2011 a flowery eulogy for an exalted cyclops of the KKK. And final tweet tweet number seven and to add all that, the Democrat Party aggressively supports open borders, which has led to the deaths and brutal assaults of thousands of Hispanics. And AOC somehow can't seem to find her white pantsuit to cry over their suffering.
- [06:22]
Ted Cruz
Senator, it's amazing how easy it is for the left to play the race card. And I love the fact that you had that Twitter thread with her. I also think this is going to clearly be part of the strategy for the Democratic Party going into this next election cycle. It seems to be the strategy that they're going to use no matter what, on anybody that they see as a threat, a conservative that's up and coming. The fact that the NAACP has now done this, they've not put out a travel warning to places like New York City, San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, my hometown of Memphis. They haven't put out travel warnings to any of these other top crime cities. They haven't done it in Baltimore or even in Washington, D.C. but they're doing it for an entire state of Florida because they don't like the guy who's the governor, and they don't like he's about to announce he's running for president. So therefore we're going to label him a racist. And sure enough, it worked. Because in a lot of the news stories in the last 24 hours, they're like, well, Ron DeSantis is going to announce he's running for president. And the NAACP has said it's not safe for African Americans to go to Florida. Tiger woods lives in Florida. I don't think he's going to be moving anytime soon.
- [07:34]
Ben Ferguson
And vast numbers of African Americans are moving to Florida because Florida has been an oasis of freedom, just like Texas. Texas and Florida, people are moving. They're voting with their feet. They're leaving Democrat states like New York, like California, like Illinois. They're fleeing in vast numbers and coming to states like Texas and Florida. And Democrats hate that. And listen, as I said in my initial tweet, I really do respect the NAACP. What they did in the 1950s and 60s, standing up against segregated schools, which coincidentally had been put in place 100% of the times by Democrat politicians, what they did litigating Brown versus Board of Education at the Supreme Court and ending segregation, that was historic. What they did fighting the civil rights movement, what they did in sit ins, what they did at lunch counters, what they did in marches, what they did with Dr. King and nonviolent protests. There's a reason in my office in the Senate for over a decade, I've had a bust of Dr. King directly across from my desk. It was extraordinary. And it is sad to see the current leadership who they're just Democrat partisans. They're not pretending to be concerned. If they actually cared about civil rights, the NAACP would join me in leading the fight for school choice, in leading the fight to say every African American child in this country has a right to access quality education. And we're not going to accept politicians trapping our kids in failing schools. We're not going to accept African American kids in Schools where children aren't learning, where they don't have literacy, where they're dropping out of schools where they're drug dealers. In the hallways, where little girls are being violently assaulted in the bathrooms. They would have righteous indignation and rage, but they don't have any of that. Instead, they are simply partisans. And I gotta say, aoc, her response to this, look, it typifies the response of many hyper partisan Democrats that are suffused in ignorance, but also supremely sure that the corporate media will never report on what they're saying. So I actually think what she typed in. Why don't you tell us, Ted, what happened to the parties after that? That it never occurred to her that I would accept her invitation. Now, I gotta say, you and I are recording this late in the evening Tuesday night. To date, AOC has not responded. She's quietly shut her mouth. This may be the first time in history AOC has failed to respond to something. We'll see if she rises to the occasion or not. She may do some sort of Cancun insult or something. That's the typical leftist, like, oh yeah, your mama. So, so maybe that's coming. But she won't respond on the substance because she can't. And let me tell you something else, Ben. So there's some lefties on Twitter that are like, oh, your staff researched this and wrote this Twitter thread. Let me be clear. And you spent a lot of time with me. You know exactly where this thread came from. I read the idiotic tweet from AOC and I sat in the car. In fact, I delayed a meeting to sit there on my phone and I and type out each of these seven responses because I was so pissed at her dishonesty because the Democrat Party record on race is shameful and they eagerly lie to the American people about it.
- [11:03]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, they do. And seeing you, by the way, I've witnessed you in the zone. And when there's something that catches you like this, it is don't talk to me until I'm done moment. And I'm glad that you owned it this way. And I agree with you. I doubt she responds with anything substantive at all. If she does respond.
- [11:23]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, if she does respond, it'll be some sort of ad hominem attack. That is just personal and nasty. And her legions of left wing Twitter followers will all immediately coo, ooh, you got him by saying something nasty. But what she won't do is respond substantively. What she won't do is dispute the points. Look, the incumbent Democrat president gave a glowing eulogy of a self declared exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, the Democrats live in this bizarre fiction, which is they admit from 1860 to 1870 to 1880 to 1890 to 1900 to 1910 to 1920 to 1930 to 1940 to 1950 to 1960, their party were a bunch of bigoted racists who hated African Americans, who founded the clans, who engaged in lynching, who discriminated, who put in segregated schools and were horrible vicious bigots. And they also admit from 1860 to 1870 to 1880 to 1890 to 1900 to 1910 to 1920 to 1930 to 1940 to 1950 to 1960, the Republican Party was founded to end slavery, was fighting for civil rights, was fighting against the Democrat bigots, and was the one leading those efforts for more than a century. Now here's the weird Democrat fiction that all of these historically illiterate leftists insist on Twitter. They say, well, yeah, that's all true, but in the 1960s, the two parties magically switched places and suddenly all of these evil, vicious, bigoted Democrats became Republicans. And suddenly, by the way, so the way their narrative works, all of the noble Republicans who were fighting racism apparently decided to become the old racist Democrats, which is a really weird. Like, how exactly does that work? You know, I just wish I was in the party of Bull Connor. I'd feel better about race if Bull Connor and I were aligned. Like, what on earth? It's a bizarre idea. And by the way, virtually all of those Democrats stayed Democrats their whole lives. You didn't actually see the south shift to Republican until the 1980s or the 1990s or the 2000s. And it shifted, really, because the Democrat party abandoned working class voters and abandoned cultural sanity. But none of that. Democrats can't be bothered with it. They just assume there's a fairy godmother that came from Cinderella, waved her wand, and suddenly the bigoted clan founding Democrats became noble Democrats. And if that's true, why did Joseph Robinette Biden praise and give a flowery eulogy to Robert Byrd? Robert Byrd was the Senate Majority Leader. He was a Democrat Senate. And he was a quote, exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan. By the way, the Klan gives idiotic names to their idiot, idiotic, racist positions. But Robert Byrd got that because he was a recruiter for the Klan. He called up people and said, hey, I'm a bigoted Klan's member. Wouldn't you like to be one too? And he became a Democrat Senator. Then he became the Senate Majority Leader for Democrats. And then Joe Biden stood up and said, the exalted Cyclops for the Klan. He was my mentor in the Senate. I'm sorry, aoc, you don't get to pretend that the history of bigotry in your party that extends to the current resident of the Oval Office has magically disappeared.
- [15:05]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, great point, Senator. Great point. I also want to talk about something else that's happened, and that is I am so happy and encouraged to watch what's happened with Bud Light. And the sales have declined. Now they're off about 25% year over year because people are standing up saying they've had enough. This is now turned into a Bud Light 2.0 situation at target stores. And before we get into that story, I want to tell you about our friends at Patriot Mobile. We were talking just a moment ago about standing up for what you believe in. And that is why I want you to know about Patriot Mobile. 99 of you listening have a cell phone. And for years, big mobile companies have been dumping millions of dollars into leftist causes. And we had to take it because there was another option. And you need a cell phone. Well, not anymore. Patriot Mobile is America's only Christian conservative wireless provider. They offer dependable nationwide coverage on all three major networks, so you get the best possible service in your area without the woke propaganda pushed by leftists working hard to destroy this country. Now, when you switch to Patriot Mobile, you support free speech and religious freedom and the sanctity of life, the Second Amendment, our military, our veterans, our first responders. That is because every month when you pay your bill, they take a portion of that bill at no extra cost to you, and they give it back to these causes. So put your money where your values are and work with a company that values what we believe in. Patriot Mobile. 878-patriots. The number that's 878 Patriot or patriot mobile.com verdict. Use the promo code verdict. And you will also get the best deals of the day plus free activation. Patriot mobile.com or 8 7, 8, Patriot Center. You've been watching, and it's been very interesting to see, and it makes me happy to watch conservatives that are organizing to the point where Target has had to hold an emergency meeting over their LGBTQ plus merchandise for Pride Month in some of their stores. They're even moving these displays from the front of the store to other areas of the store because in some of their, quote, southern locations, because they're trying to avoid the customer outrage that Bud Light and as they described it, apparently the Bud Light situation. Many Target locations across the country are featuring a massive area. I'm talking about real square footage of June Pride Month displays on an annual basis. They've gotten bigger and bigger, but this year they seem to have crossed a line that many mothers are saying no. This includes tuck friendly bathing suits so young boys can look like girls wear girls bathing suits for quote transgendered people. And they are also having a line of, of gender fluid outfits on top of the fact that they also brought an artist to design these children clothing items and, and different things for Pride Month. One of those designers artists is a well known Satanist who says that Satan is actually the party of trans people. And he is proud to be working with Target and be and to be designing many of these outfits for you to put your kids in them. Now moms are standing up. I know this has to make you happy as well.
- [18:31]
Ben Ferguson
Well, Ben, as I listened to you describe this, my first reaction is, oh, come on, this is a Babylon Bee story, right? This can't actually be real. Like when you threw in the Satanist thing, I'm like, oh, nobody could be that ridiculous. Look, we saw Bud Light when we discovered they had no idea who their customers were and they frankly looked down on them and thought they were a bunch of ignorant oafs. And so they wanted instead to get some new young woke teenagers drinking Bud Light. That has backfired on them, I think mightily. Now Target, listen, it would be nice if big corporations just stayed out of politics, just didn't engage. Just if beer companies made beer and sold us beer, if Target made lots of inexpensive stuff that you need around the house and sold it to us. It would be nice if they didn't. If Disney wasn't preaching their WOKE agenda day in, day out. But at a minimum, is it too much to ask that they leave our kids alone? Look, when I saw what Target was doing, at first I was skeptical. I'm like, okay, fine. So if they've got some gay pride stuff that people who were gay or lesbian want to wear, okay, they're customers too. If they want to buy a rainbow shirt, okay, that's fine. But you know what? They're not marketing rainbow shirts to adults who choose or identify as, as gay. They're marketing, marketing it to children, little children. They're literally selling onesies. Onesies for babies that have queer pride flags and slogans covering them. Now the last I checked, a baby doesn't know what the hell he or she is. And any parent that looks at their one year old and said, I've decided you're gay. That doesn't say anything about the baby. That says everything about the adult projecting that on that infant. And they're marketing these. Look, I gotta admit, you showed this to me. I'd never seen this before. You showed me the bathing suits, the tuck bathing suits. That's just weird. But I guess it would be one thing. Look, it frankly would be a weird thing if Target were selling tuck bathing suits for adults. I'd be a little skeptical of, okay, why is that? Commanding shelf space instead of at some specialty store. But they're selling these quote, tuck bathing suits for three year olds. Yeah, three year olds. Boys who apparently mommy and daddy have told them that their ding a ling is a bad thing and they need to hide it as a three year old. And I gotta say, I look at this and my reaction is, leave our kids the hell alone. And then you throw in Ben, that it's literally a guy who calls himself a Satanist who designed this. And let's be clear, you're not calling him a Satanist. I'm not calling him a Satanist. I don't know if this clown worships Satan or not. He's calling himself a Satanist. He says, yep, that's me. I worship the devil. Like, at some point, did anyone at Target say, hey, maybe hiring the Satanists to design queer clothing for three year olds and to encourage them to hide their genitalia and bind them back.
- [22:26]
Ted Cruz
Just look at this guy's actual words. He said on his own social media that clearly Target could have checked out if they. And they probably did. Quote, satan loves you and respects who you are. And lgbtqia plus people are so often referred to as being a practice with Satan. Instead, that is who they hired to hide to design for Gay Pride month at Target. And it's not just there, like you said, it's about the kids and leaving our kids the hell alone. You click if you go to target.com. and I think people need to see this for themselves, because when you see it, you'll be outraged. Go to target.com when I first heard.
- [23:04]
Ben Ferguson
The story, I'm like, that's nutty.
- [23:07]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, go to target.com pride and there's children's books for. For. I'm talking about like 1 year olds. One of them is Dotson. It's a. It's a book for young, young children. Not. Not like 6 and 8 year olds. Like, we're talking like little, like a baby color, like flip hard book. Those hard pages. Short book. Dodson, My Journey to Growing up Transgender. Illustrations by. And then it has the name of the person. There's the net right next to that. Bye bye Binary. It's a board book. Now, a board book is for young. Young. We're talking about one year olds. Another board book, the pronouns book. And it shows a bunch of gay pride stuff and pronouns.
- [23:48]
Ben Ferguson
So, Ben, I want to ask a serious question. I want to ask a serious question. The left, whether elected Democrats or lefties on Twitter, they lose their mind when anyone uses the word groomers. People that are grooming young children. What else is this if not grooming? When you're talking about one and two and three year olds, Bingo. I don't even know how you defend this or argue to the contrary. I don't want them selling T shirts for three year olds. A little boy saying, I want to get jiggy with a woman. Like, I don't want them selling fishnet stockings and stripper clothes to four year old girls. Like, you know, this reminds me of in Florida, the law they called the don't say gay law. And my reaction was always, it's not the don't say gay law. It's the don't say sex law. Like with little kids with 3 year olds, 4 year olds, 5 year olds, 6 year olds. I don't want the schools talking about gay sex. I don't want them talking about straight sex. I'd like them to teach reading, writing and arithmetic and leave our kids alone. And my view is the same of Target. They ought to stay out of the sex business altogether. If they're selling kids swimsuits, they ought to have swimsuits with the Dallas Cowboys on them. They ought to have swimsuits with a mermaid on them or a unicorn or a Transformer. But they shouldn't be trying to turn the kids into transformers. Just let kids be kids. And you know what's infuriating is some senior official or multiple senior executives at Target signed off on this campaign and thought it was a good idea to sexualize our children.
- [25:35]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, I tell everybody that's listening right now, go look at it for yourself. Target.com pride and you'll understand how much of an important issue they've gone all in on this. If you click on the book section for the children's books, for example, just to put it in perspective, there are 51 pages of propaganda books, hardcore books, pushing your children beyond the gender binary. Hard book for kids. Bye bye Binary. The Pronoun Book. Mama and Mommy and Me in the middle. I mean, the list goes on and on of how they're trying to indoctrinate. Look at it. And I won't say this to all the moms out there that are really exposing Target. Thank you for doing it. I just say that personally watching people stand up for their kids is amazing. I think a lot of people were inspired during COVID to start standing up for their kids in a different way. And I think it's. That may be the best part of this story, is mothers and fathers and grandparents and grandmothers are paying attention now like never before after what we found out when they were teaching our kids in our schools. And this is another example of the success we have as conservatives when we stick together.
- [26:49]
Ben Ferguson
Ben, let me ask one more question. You know, one thing I noticed about all the press stories on this is it says that Target is reconsidering this in their Southern stores. Now I gotta say, I find that amazing. I certainly believe that parents in Texas and Florida and other store places in the south are unhappy about this. But is it really the case that parents in New York are happy about this, that, that in the Midwest, that, that in Nebraska they think it's a good idea for Target to be sexualizing our kids? If they're just addressing this in the South, I, I find it hard to believe that, that in, in many states, but maybe in San Francisco, maybe in the most aggressively left wing places in the country. But in most of the country, I think parents don't want sex of any kind, straight or gay, being thrust upon their kids. And it's remarkable that Target thinks it's only the ignorant rube southerners in their view that care about this.
- [28:00]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, it's pandering. And that's why we've got to keep it up no matter where you live, like you said all over the country, because it's just an emergency meeting that we were described for Southern states. And to be clear, they're just moving the merchandise from the front of the store where it was prime shopping location, back into the sections where the stuff, you know, would normally go, like the children's section, the adult section of clothing, instead of having this massive amount of square footage they're doing at the front of the store. This is pandering. Don't be hoodwinked by this. Don't think that they're doing you a favor. This stuff is still in their stores. And that goes back to the buying issue. You look at Bud Light, Bud Light sales are down almost 25% year over year right now. And that's because people said, hey, I'm not buying it and I'm not going to come back anytime soon. All right, let me tell you real quick about my our friends at Augusta Precious Metals. If you've been looking at what's been going on in the economy, then I want you to think about this. How stressful has it been for you? Has it been stressful because you're stressed out about your retirement account, your 401k, your IRA? Maybe you lost some money and you know there's no time to make up those losses. Well, this is exactly the right time for you to take a look at gold. And our friends at Augusta Precious Metals, they are here to help you use gold to protect your hard earned dollars. That's the big deal with a gold ira. Augusta Precious Metals actually will sit down with you one on one, talk to you about your retirement, talk to you about your savings. And this is the other reason why they have got such great reviews. If you have not looked at Augusta Precious Metals, look at them. If you want to protect your money, talk to them. Talk to them about protecting your IRA or your 401k. Go online to Augusta Precious Metals dot com. That's Augusta Precious Metals dot com. Reach out to them. Get started with gold and don't let the bank failures get you down. Not only will you get the free guide to gold but you'll also get a free gold coin if you open up that account. 877 the number four gold IRA. Get your free coin and get great information. 877 the number four gold IRA. 877. The number four gold IRA. Lastly Senator, there was a big victory that took place this week. You were instrumental in it. A lot of people may not know about this so I want you to give a little bit of the background. There are a lot of car manufacturers that were going to get rid of AM radios. AM radio is something that a lot of people rely on in emergencies. AM radio and the signal of AM is very different than FM. And when there's outages and cell phones go down, whether it be in tornadoes or natural disasters or terrorism attack forbid or hurricanes, AM radio has the ability to reach people with the crank AM radios that you can have that you don't even need power for. They were looking at taking these out of cars and it looks like now we've had a victory where at least one manufacturer saying hey, we now understand this safety side of things. We're going to keep them in our automobiles. Tell people a little bit more about that.
- [31:10]
Ben Ferguson
Well, that's exactly right. There were multiple big car manufacturers that were talking about taking AM radio out of cars. And there are lots of downsides of that. Number one, as you noted, is the downside of emergencies. In a hurricane, in a tornado, in a time of emergency, you often have FM stations going down. And much of our emergency broadcast system is designed to go out over AM radio. So it would place people unable to hear the essential communications during an emergency. But Ben, I also think more broadly than that. I think there's a reason that big car companies were open to taking down AM radio, which is AM radio is where a lot of talk radio is found. And talk radio is overwhelmingly conservative. And let's be clear, big business doesn't like things that are overwhelmingly conservative. If the only source of your news is watching CNN or MSNBC or even the big networks, your news is going to skew hard left. Talk radio, and whether it was Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity or Mark Levin or Ben Ferguson goes out and has an enormous impact over AM radio. I think that was a major reason why you were seeing multiple car companies move in that direction. And the consequence, an awful lot of people listen to talk radio when they're driving to work or they're driving home. And so removing AM radio means that people wouldn't do it. By the way, this also impacts farms and ranches, rural and agricultural listeners, where there are a lot of places where you're out in the country where AM radio stations can be the only choices you have to hear, hear what's going on on ag matters or music or talk or news. And so what I did, I joined with Ed Markey. Ed Markey is a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts, maybe one of, if not the most liberal senator in the entire U.S. senate. And Ed Markey and I together introduced legislation that would mandate that car manufacturers include AM radio on their cars, that they not remove the ability of customers to listen to AM radio. Because in my view, as I said, it was an effort at censorship to silence conservative voices. Well, I gotta say, number one for Ed Markey and me to introduce a bill together in the world of Washington is a pretty shocking thing because look, Markey and I agree on very, very little. And the most conservative member of the Senate along with one of the, if not the most liberal member of the Senate joining together, I think that kind of freaked a lot of observers out in Washington. It may have made them think it was a sign of the apocalypse. And what happened yesterday was a big deal. The CEO of Ford Motor Company And Ford was one of the companies that said they were going to pull AM radio. The CEO of Ford Motor Company sent out a tweet and I will read it to you. After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we've decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln Motor Company vehicles. For any owners of Ford electric vehicles without AM broadcast capability, we'll offer a software update. So that is a terrific victory. And look, I hope with Ford making this decision, the other carmakers will follow suit because that ensures that customers have choices. And I actually view this very similar to the fight we had earlier this year where DirecTV had deplatformed Newsmax. And I engaged vigorously to press DirecTV to put Newsmax back, back on air because I think customers deserve the right to choose to watch Newsmax if they want. I know a lot of Texans enjoy watching Newsmax. I enjoy watching Newsmax. And when you have giant corporations deciding we're only going to allow left of center news to be consumed, that's a real problem. I viewed the removal of AM radio from cars in a similar light. And so we have a lot to celebrate. Ford is a huge seller of cars. So congratulations to Ford on doing the right thing. Your customers appreciate it and I think it'll be rewarded in the marketplace.
- [35:41]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, you know, and I'm one of those obviously do a radio show on AM and have my virtually my entire life since I was started at 12. But for me, yes, I was terrified of the aspect of the censorship that you just mentioned. But if you know anything about AM radio, it saves lives when there are natural disasters. And, and that for me far was, was part of the shock. I think of this plan as so many of these car makers were really just lockstep at one after another. Yeah, we're not going to offer him. We're not going to offer him. We're not going to offer AM anymore. And it, by the way, it costs nothing just to put, just so people understand AM radio technology and cars is, I mean we're talking pennies to put it in if you're already putting in all the other FM technology etc. And that's where it was like, okay, not only do they seem to not understand the safety aspect of this, but is it about censorship? And that's why I'm so glad you guys got together to do this. I have to ask you, how did this alliance between the two of you happen and what was his mindset about this going in?
- [36:47]
Ben Ferguson
Well, look, and I'll say the boycott on AM radio started with electric vehicle manufacturers who argued that that the electric vehicle technology interfered with the AM radio antenna and the signal and it caused interference. Now, technologically, on an electric vehicle, it's relatively simple to solve. My understanding is, with a quite inexpensive shield, you don't have the interference. But they didn't want to add the shield. And so they were removing AM radio. And when it was limited to a couple of electric vehicle manufacturers or models, it was still a pretty small presence in the marketplace. What had happened now is that more and more big manufacturers were extending this more broadly, and we were facing a very real scenario where a significant percentage of new vehicles sold would not have AM radio at all. And that would be a real problem from an emergency response perspective and a real problem from a censorship perspective. So I'll tell you, Markey reached out to me. I'm the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Ed is on the Senate Commerce Committee. I don't know what his motivation was, but look, for many Democrats, they are in favor of all sorts of mandates, and so they're often willing to mandate that a manufacturer provide all sorts of things. As a general matter, I'm pretty skeptical of mandates and so on. Many things we don't see eye to eye. But in this instance, the emergency response factor persuaded me, and the viewpoint discrimination targeting talk radio in particular, that moved me significantly. I don't want to see important voices and free speech silenced, and I think pulling AM radio out of automobiles would have done that. And so I agreed to sign on, and the two of us rolled it out together. And I think the fact of our legislation played a pivotal role in forcing Ford to change its policy. And I hope that other car manufacturers will follow suit.
- [38:56]
Ted Cruz
One other thing that is really cool about the history of AM radio, the first station in history to be programmed for African American programming is still on AM radio only in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. WDIA and the many African American radio stations in America also came together over the last several weeks as well to demand that AM stay. Because it's part of history. It's a part of their business. They have invested in this in these radio stations and bought them. And it was really nice to see so many different people come together. Let me lastly remind you about our good friends at Chalk. If you're a guy and you deal with a real issue that many men deal with, and that's, well, feeling like you've lost your strength and vitality and that weakness and complacency have set in. You're not alone. There's a lot of men in America actually around the world where the men's testosterone levels have actually fallen off a cliff historically to an all time low. That's where the patriotic chalk come in. They're here to help real American men take back your right to get back that strength and vitality. Now I've been telling you about chalk now for several months. I take the male vitality stack every day. It works and it can help you boost your testosterone levels up to 20% over 90 days. So if, if, if you identify with the idea of hey, I've gotten older, I feel a little bit of weakness and complacency. Check out chalk. Manufactured right here in the US Chalk, natural herbal supplements are clinically proven to have game changing effects on your energy, your focus, your mood. Go to chalk choq.com that's chalk. Choq.com use the promo code BEN for 35% off any Chalk subscription for life. Again, promo code BEN, 35% off center. Lastly, I just got to ask you one other question and that is are you watching the NBA Finals? Did you, have you picked a team at the end of this or have you totally checked out?
- [41:04]
Ben Ferguson
Look, to be honest, once, once the Rockets are out of it, I tend not to follow it terribly closely. My rule on sports is that I root for any Texas team against any non Texas team. But I'm a die hard Rockets fan. And listen, this past season was not a good Rocket season. That's a rebuilding season. They have a bunch of young players and I think they have have great talent. But at the end of the day, the Rockets aren't in it, the spurs aren't in it, the Mavericks aren't in it. So I haven't watched it close. I've watched a couple of the games. I do think the NBA was really, really hoping for a Lakers Celtics matchup.
- [41:51]
Ted Cruz
Yes, they were.
- [41:52]
Ben Ferguson
The basketball gods decided that was not, not what was going to happen. You know, I'll probably watch some of the finals and I'll, I'll enjoy it. But, but without the Rockets in it, I'm not following it close.
- [42:04]
Ted Cruz
I gotta tell you, I gotta tell you, I loved watching the Nuggets sweep the Lakers. Senator, that was, I was hoping you were gonna go there at the beginning of your response because watching the Lakers, I'm just not a fan of the Lakers. Get swept by the Nuggets was a blast to watch.
- [42:21]
Ben Ferguson
I listen. LeBron James, my last reelection campaign, he endorsed against me. He showed up in Texas, wearing a Beto O'Rourke hat. And so I have to admit, no part of me is weeping that LeBron is going to be watching the Finals on TV. You know, that's, you know, karma has a wonderful sense of humor.
- [42:46]
Ted Cruz
I love it.
- [42:46]
Ben Ferguson
I will say this on a light note that I think you'll like. I've spent the last three days, as you know, in New York City. I've been doing fundraising meetings and also doing a bunch of media interviews for the past several days. And I was having lunch in a nice New York restaurant yesterday, and as I was walking through the restaurant, the bartender stopped me and he said, ted, I love the podcast. I listen to it three days a week. And he said, today's podcast. So this was Monday, he said, was awesome. I listened to it this morning already. His name was Salvatore. And I was having dinner with a gentleman, a friend of mine who is older, who was asking me, what exactly is a podcast? Like, like, who listens to it? I don't understand. Explain this to me. And so I asked Salvatore, I said, salvatore, can I ask you something? Will you come with me to my table? And I introduced Salvator to my friend. I was having dinner and I said, would you just tell my friend what you said? And, and, and, and he tells him it. And, and my friend says, so. So. Are you from Texas? Did. Are you? And I'm laughing, but no. He's the bartender here in Manhattan who listens to Verdict three days a week. That's awesome. Every day as I travel across Texas and travel across the country. So I want to say to our Verdict listeners, you guys are awesome. And Salvatore, if you're listening and listening to the end, you rock. And I appreciate you.
- [44:25]
Ted Cruz
There you go. I love it. Don't forget, download this podcast. We do it Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. If there's big breaking news, we even throw in special pods in between. Make sure you hit that share button and share this on social media, and we will see you back here in a couple of days.