On the Ground with President Bukele in El Salvador plus Cracker Barrel Surrenders

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: On the Ground with President Bukele in El Salvador plus Cracker Barrel Surrenders
Date: August 27, 2025
Host: Ben Ferguson with Senator Ted Cruz (guest)
Network: Premiere Networks

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Overview

In this engaging episode, Ben Ferguson and guest Senator Ted Cruz dive into Senator Cruz’s recent travels on a congressional delegation (CODEL) through Latin America, with a detailed focus on El Salvador’s dramatic turnaround under President Nayib Bukele. The discussion highlights Bukele’s crackdown on gang crime, especially the infamous MS-13, and the resulting transformation into one of the world’s safest countries. The episode also covers domestic U.S. politics with commentary on the Maryland MS-13 gangbanger controversy, and pivots to cultural warfare around companies like Cracker Barrel, analyzing their response to consumer backlash over “woke” rebranding.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Senator Ted Cruz On-The-Ground in El Salvador

Timestamps: [00:21]–[19:55]

• Purpose of CODEL:

  • Cruz explains the significance of Congressional delegations as opportunities for U.S. lawmakers to understand global affairs firsthand, particularly where foreign issues impact U.S. national security or the economy.
  • Quote:
    • "A CODEL is very simple. That is an abbreviation for Congressional delegation, and that is official travel as part of your job serving in Congress." (Sen. Cruz, [03:32])

• El Salvador's Transformation:

  • The country transitioned from being the murder capital of the world to one of the safest nations.
  • Over 80,000 gang members arrested, including targeted crackdowns on MS-13.
  • Construction of the massive Secot prison to house up to 40,000 gang members.
  • Massive decrease in homicides: from 100 per 100,000 in 2015 (one of the world's highest) to 1.9 per 100,000 in 2024 (a 98% drop).
  • Shift in national confidence: reverse migration, with Salvadorans now wanting to return home.
  • Quote:
    • “It went from 100 murders per 100,000 people to last year in 2024, it was 1.9 murders per 100,000 people. It was a 98% decrease in murders. It is stunning.” (Sen. Cruz, [11:53])
    • “You had to murder 10 people [to get in to MS-13].” (Sen. Cruz, [09:57])

• Tech-Driven Law Enforcement:

  • Real-time national crime tracking using advanced computer and AI systems.
  • Every police officer and arrestee’s status tracked centrally.

• Bukele’s Leadership:

  • Both Cruz and those he interviewed—American servicemembers, Salvadorans, government officials—universally praised Bukele, noting a rare political consensus.
  • Quote:
    • "I did not find a single person, a single Salvadoran, a single American... who had anything negative to say. That is rare." (Sen. Cruz, [06:49])

• US Policy Frustrations:

  • Cruz and Bukele both express frustration at the Biden administration’s attempts to undermine Bukele, despite his efforts benefiting U.S. public safety.
  • Praise for President Trump’s support and the effectiveness of strong anti-crime policies.

2. Parallels Between El Salvador and US Cities

Timestamps: [15:08]–[19:55]

• The pair draw analogies between El Salvador’s progress and the challenges faced by crime-ridden U.S. cities like New York, Memphis, Detroit, Baltimore, San Francisco, and D.C.
• They argue that decisive political will—like Bukele's—can restore order and safety anywhere.
• Quote:
  • “It just takes the willpower and the leadership...” (Ben Ferguson, [15:08])
  • “It is a political choice and that's what everyone here was emphasizing. It was a choice before.” (Sen. Cruz, [16:15])

3. Maryland’s MS-13 Gangbanger & Democratic Politics

Timestamps: [27:04]–[31:38]

• The show critiques Democrats for allegedly defending or supporting high-profile criminal illegal aliens, focusing in detail on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a notorious MS-13 member.
• Discussion of legislative and political posturing: Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen is singled out for perceived misplaced sympathies.
• Commentary from Lisa Booth and Pam Bondi amplifies the anti-criminal, law-and-order stance.
• Quote:
  • “Why are the Democrats so emotionally attached to this man who beats his wife and is part of a terrorist organization? Because they think he's going to be good for votes. And I think he's very bad for votes. These people are deranged.” (Sen. Cruz, [29:17])

4. Cracker Barrel’s “Surrender”: Companies and the “Woke” Backlash

Timestamps: [31:38]–[37:33]

• Cruz and Ferguson mock Cracker Barrel’s ill-fated attempt at “woke” rebranding, referencing similar missteps by corporations like Bud Light and Target.
• They credit consumer backlash and market losses for reversing the controversial changes.
• Praise for President Trump and Cruz’s social media advocacy, which they claim pressured the company to restore its original image.
• Insight into internal dissent, with major investor Sardar Biglari’s critical letters highlighted as early warnings ignored by management.
• Quote:
  • “It is a great, great victory for common sense that Cracker Barrel finally gave in and said, you know what? We're going to stop being woke because we'd like to actually have one or two customers when this is all said and done.” (Sen. Cruz, [34:01])
  • “If you're in corporate America, don't listen to marketing executives that don't understand and don't like your customers.” (Sen. Cruz, [36:35])

5. Closing—Looking Ahead and Takeaways

Timestamps: [37:33]–[40:06]

• Cruz teases further insights from the ongoing CODEL, noting upcoming meetings with other Latin American heads of state.
• Positive note on law enforcement: El Salvador now sees 10,000+ police applications, contrasting with past demoralization and danger.
• Notable statistic: With improved conditions, 1.5 million Salvadorans in the U.S. now want to return home—a reversal of migration trends.
• Quote:
  • “They've had over 10,000 applications for people who want to be police officers. Suddenly, people are eager to be police officers because it's making a difference, because they're making their communities safe.” (Sen. Cruz, [39:04])
  • “Now we are seeing reverse migration...about one and a half million [Salvadorans], have said they want to come back to El Salvador.” (Sen. Cruz, [39:38])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “You had to murder 10 people. Wow, 10...if you killed nine, you're not in yet. You're still an amateur.” — Sen. Cruz describing MS-13 initiation in El Salvador ([09:57])
• “It was a choice to end it. And it was a choice that was dramatic in terms of the effects.” — Sen. Cruz, on combatting crime ([16:15])
• “Turns out locking up the criminals, getting them off the street, that works.” — Sen. Cruz ([13:02])
• “How do you not stop and say, wait a second, you told me you couldn't fix this and then in 24 hours you fixed it. ...because my kids don't matter to you as much as the leader of China.” — Sen. Cruz, on San Francisco’s cleanup for Xi’s visit ([21:34])
• “It is a great victory for common sense that Cracker Barrel finally gave in and said... we're going to stop being woke because we'd like to actually have one or two customers when this is all said and done.” — Sen. Cruz ([34:01])
• “It's about your family and safety. And it sounds like people are judging him based on that, not on...liberal-conservative politics.” — Ben Ferguson, on Bukele’s appeal ([19:24])

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Segment Timestamps

• CODEL and El Salvador context: [03:32]–[08:40]
• Crime statistics and MS-13 crackdown: [08:48]–[12:39]
• Bukele’s popularity and politics: [12:39]–[19:55]
• Parallels to U.S. cities and policy: [15:08]–[19:55]
• U.S. politics and MS-13 in Maryland: [27:04]–[31:38]
• Cracker Barrel/Corporate Wokeness: [31:38]–[37:33]
• Closing—reverse migration and optimism: [37:33]–[40:06]

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Tone

The conversation is punchy, direct, and unapologetic, mixing detailed policy insight with sharp humor and culture-war commentary. Cruz brings a mix of admiration for effective leadership and criticism for what he sees as misguided U.S. government and corporate decisions. The show encourages listener engagement and presents strong, straightforward opinions on topical issues.

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Transcript

[Lisa Booth]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Usually I'm the one that's out of town far, far away. Tonight, as we do this show, you're in another country, Senator, and you're on a codel through Latin America.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that's exactly right. As you and I are talking, it is late Tuesday night and I am in El Salvador. I've spent the entire day in El Salvador meeting with senior government officials, meeting with president of El Salvador. I'm going to walk you through exactly what I heard, what I saw, what is happening on the ground. We're also going to talk about. You're in my favorite Maryland man, the Ms. 13 gang banger who the Democrats have decided to make the poster child for their entire party. And he has once again been arrested by ICE and is facing deportation. We're going to lay out the facts of what's happening there. And finally, Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel. After deciding they hate their customers, after deciding they hate everything their company was founded upon, they utterly and completely surrendered. They threw in the cracker, they threw in the barrel. We're gonna break down the absolute mess that was behind that. And, and I'll give you the punchline early. Go woke, go broke.

[Ben Ferguson]

Go woke, go broke. And the best part about this story is this controversy they were warned about a long time ago. If we've got a new timeline on it, it wasn't just over the last week and a half. All right, let's talk real quick about how you start your morning. Have you ever started your morning with a perfect cup of small batch coffee? Now, small batch coffee is different. It is roasted to perfection in small batches on purpose by experts who love the taste of great coffee. If you've never tried it, you need to try Crockett Coffee. Now, Crockett Coffee is amazing. I drink it now every morning. I get to start my morning off with the best cup of coffee I've ever had. And I want to save you money to try it because once you do, you're going to love it. Also going to be supporting the Tunnel to Towers foundation because a portion of every purchase goes directly to them. Because the good people at Crockett Coffee, they also pledge to never forget. Now, Crockett Coffee was also started a brand by two of my good friends and fellow patriots, Buck Sexton and Clay Travis. And this is a company that will never sell out. They'll never sell out on quality either. Now, there's dark roast, there's mild roast, there's light roast. There's a decaf version, and there's even the mushroom organic bl. You choose what you like to try first. And like I said, you're also getting to support Tunnel to Towers with every cup you brew. So save money right now. All right, here's how you do it. Go online to Crockett Coffee dot com. Use my name, Ben. You're gonna get 20% off your first order. That's CrockettCoffee dot com. My name, Ben, is your promo code. You're gonna get 20% off, and you're gonna get to try that small batch and. And the best coffee you've ever had. Crockett Coffee dot com. Use my name, Ben. Get 20% off. You're going to love it. You'll be addicted, just like I am, and you'll get to start your day off with way better coffee than what you're drinking right now. All right, so center, let's talk about why you are where you are right now in El Salvador. Explain quickly what a CODELL is, what it means, and then why you chose to do this in Latin America.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, a CODEL is very simple. That is an abbreviation for Congressional delegation, and that is official travel as part of your job serving in Congress, or in my case, serving in the Senate. And I've done a number of CODELs to different parts of the world. You do it because you need to go and meet with foreign leaders. You need to understand the challenges in different countries as they impact the United States. And so I am right now, this week on a CODEL throughout Latin America. And it started today in El Salvador. And the reason I started in El Salvador is because it's a country that is impacting the United States profoundly. It is impacting the United States because in the last several years, particularly in the Biden administration, we saw a massive influx of illegal immigration from El Salvador that impacted Texas and the whole country. And then we've seen El Salvador turn itself around. President Bukele, the president here who was elected with overwhelming support, reelected with massive support, the success he has had turning crime around, targeting the cartels, targeting the gangs, is extraordinary. And I spent quite a bit of time this evening with President Bukele with his senior team. And that has made El Salvador safer, but it's also made America safer. So that's why I'm here. Now let me tell you how CODELL begins. So I started the day early this morning in Houston in my home. I got up, went to the airport, and I flew down to El Salvador. I got off the plane, and I have a team from my office who's with me of my national security and foreign policy team. We started by going to a military base that the United States Navy has right by the airport. And I met with a number of American sailors who are there. They're engaged significantly in drug interdiction and counterterrorism efforts. And it's an air base where they can support planes, they can support drones, and they can support all sorts of air missions, fighting terrorism and fighting cartels. And so I met with the leadership there of the base, and I met with. There were a number of sailors from Texas. And so I started by having lunch with them, asking them about how it was living in El Salvador, what. What their backgrounds were, and they were from multiple places throughout. Throughout Texas. What is interesting, Ben, I asked each of those sailors, I said, okay, you guys have lived. It varied anywhere from. From a few weeks to two years down in El Salvador. I said, okay, how have things changed? And what kind of job is President Bukele doing? Every single American sailor I spoke with said, it's extraordinary. Like, this country has changed. It is safe. It used to be incredibly dangerous. It is now safe. People are willing to walk the streets. They said people would not walk the streets at night. It was not safe. You would not go out after dark because you would be assaulted, you'd be kidnapped, you'd be murdered. And it is now become incredibly safe. That was the assessment of our sailors. I then went to the US Embassy, and I met with our country team there. I had a classified briefing in a SCIF where they walked through everything that's happening in El Salvador. And then I met with a number of U.S. marines. They were all young men. They had been in the country anywhere from. Actually, one fellow was there literally a day. Wow. And it ranged. This was his second day in country, and it ranged from. I think the Marine had been there the longest was nine months. And I asked them the same question, about a dozen Marines. And so I went and talked with them, and I said, okay, what do you think of the country? Every one of them said, this is an incredible place. We love it down here. But I also asked, okay, what kind of job is the current administration doing? And again, they raved about it. It was one of the interesting things, Ben. Every single person I asked on this trip, I asked, how is President Bukele doing? I did not find a single person, a single Salvadoran, a single American. And I met, as I said, I talked with a number of especially American Servicemen and women. I didn't find a single one who had anything negative to say. That is rare. And there's a reason for that. After meeting with the Marines, after meeting with our country team at the embassy, I went and sat down with the Justice Minister. And I gotta say, the Justice Minister, that presentation, Ben, there are very few presentations I've been in, in my entire time in the Senate that have been more impressive, really, because the Justice. Yes, the Justice Minister laid out what they've done in 2015. Do you know that El Salvador was the murder capital of the world?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it was a. And I'm pretty sure, if I remember correctly, the State Department put it out there, in essence as a do not travel zone for Americans.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

In fact, in 2015, here are the data. The murder rate in el Salvador was 100 people per 100,000. That meant one out of a thousand people in the country was murdered. That was the single highest murder rate of any country on the planet. President Bukele came in and he came in and began going after the cartels. And he began arresting. He arrested over 80,000 gang members. He went after MS.13 and he locked them up. He built a gigantic prison, the Secot prison, that houses up to 40,000 people. It was designed to house gang members. One of the things the Justice Minister said, he said, look, in The United States, Mississippi, 13, to become a member of Ms. 13, you know, you know.

[Ben Ferguson]

We have to do, if I remember correctly, you've actually got to like, kill somebody.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's exactly right. That, that is the test for membership is you have to murder someone. So here's what the justice minister told me that I did not know. Do you know what the requirement was to become a member of MS.13 in El Salvador?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm assuming it's worse.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You had to murder 10 people. Wow, 10.

[Ben Ferguson]

So you're not in the gang unless you kill 10 people. And that explains the murder rate.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If you've killed nine. Yeah, yeah. If you killed nine, you're not in yet. You're not bad enough. You only killed nine. You're still an amateur. And it was fascinating, like listening to the judge describe it. He described how the old government of El Salvador, the leftists, they made a decision to essentially hand government over to the cartels, to disempower the police, to disempower the judiciary, to disempower the government from enforcing law and order. And he said, look, there was a government and the government was the gangs. The gangs were in charge. The gangs imposed taxes. The gangs had an army. The Gangs had a justice system. They were running the country. And it was. The murder rate was so bad that nobody went out at night. I was listening to, I was talking to American personnel who lived there and they said if they had, say, a Salvadoran employee who was working for them, they would insist on going home about 4pm why? Because they would not drive after dark. Because if they did, they might be kidnapped, they might be assaulted, they might be murdered. So you would not drive after dark. So Bukele came in and they said, we're not going to let the gangs be the government of El Salvador. We are going to be the government and we are going to go after them. And they went in and what's fascinating is they said the prior government had a list of most of the gang members. They'd arrest them. They knew who the gang members were. They'd let them go, they'd arrest them again. They let them go again. They'd arrest him again. They let them go again. So they had a comprehensive list. What it took was a simple decision. We're done. We are not letting gang members wreak havoc, murder our citizens, cause terror throughout the country. And so they went and began arresting gang members. They began arresting gang leaders and putting them in jail, taking them off the street. Now here is what is amazing, Ben. The murder rate went from the worst murder rate on planet earth to becoming one of the safest countries in the world. It went from 100 murders per 100,000 people to last year in 2024, it was 1.9 murders per 100,000 people. It was a 98% decrease in murders. It is stunning.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And that's why President Bukali got reelected with over 80% of the vote. Because when you take people from a Mad Max in Thunderdome dystopian hellscape where you're terrified to be out at night, you do not leave your house because you and your family are risking death. To a place where. This evening I was in the capital city and people were walking on the streets and they're safe and, and they're not afraid. It turns out locking up the criminals, getting them off the street, that works.

[Ben Ferguson]

All of you know that I am a pro second amendment guy. I've shared on numerous occasions how carrying my firearms saved my life from a gang related attack. But for those of you out there with family members who may not be comfortable having a gun by their side, you still want them to be able to protect themselves and others in times of danger. And that's where the burner launcher comes in burn is a handheld pistol that fires both kinetic rounds and chemical irritants to separate you from an attacker. And I'm here with Josh Sherrard from Burna to share the true story of how an avid hiker used his burner to stop an attacking mountain lion. Josh, tell us what happened.

[Josh Sherrard]

You know, Jason is an avid hiker, decided to take his family out on a hike that he's done several times. Super easy hike, but super fun. Armed with his burner, you know, this is one of those things where he didn't expect to see anything. And all of a sudden on this hike, this mountain lion appears out of nowhere. Of course he sends his family on down the trail, watches the lion for a few minutes, realizes it's not going away, so uses his burner, fires a few rounds to scare it off, continues down the trail. But unfortunately this mountain lion appears again. At which point he realized he was going to have to up his aggression with that burner, fires four rounds, was able to strike the mountain lion all four times the chest and torso. At which point that mountain lion airs off, never to be seen again. These guys make it down the trail but back to their car, back to home safely. Fortunately, this is all it took to make sure and get this family back home safe off a hike that could have taken an obvious turn for the worst.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I'm going to guess that burner has been used to stop other types of animal attacks as well.

[Josh Sherrard]

Absolutely. We get stories all the time of users with whether it be dogs or other wildlife. We even have an ecological park whose security carries burn for bears out in in the Smoky Mountains out there. That's been effective there as well. So once not just a tool for people but very effective against animals as well.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's really incredible. If you want to get more information on how you and your family member can protect themselves with burner launcher, go to byrna.com that's by r n a.com again by rna.com berna.com you know, this also reminds me so much of the conversation that I think we're trying to have right now in this country, in so many of these dangerous cities, it just takes the willpower and the leadership, whether it's New York, whether it's Memphis or Detroit or St. Louis or New Orleans, Baltimore, the list goes on and on. California, San Francisco. Right. And la. Those types of areas where we've seen the criminals take over, we've seen the gangs take over, we've seen cartels that have clearly got their tentacles into so many of These cities and are making countless dollars off the drug trade, the human trafficking, the sex trafficking, the child trafficking. The list goes on and on. It just takes somebody willing to say enough. That's what the President's doing in Washington D.C. we're witnessing it have instant effects. It's a lot like what you're talking about right now, where you are.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it is a political choice and that's what everyone here was emphasizing. It was a choice before. We're going to allow the gangs to run this country and we don't care if people are murdered. We're not going to do anything about it. It was a choice to end it. And it was a choice that was dramatic in terms of the effects. You know, when I was sitting with the Justice Minister, he pulled up on the computer. They have very detailed statistics. So in 2018, right before Bukele came into office, there were across the country roughly 2,300 murders. Do you know how many murders there have been this year?

[Ben Ferguson]

How many?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

50.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It went from.

[Ben Ferguson]

You want to talk about legacy, by the way?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

300.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. I mean, just think about a leader like legacy. Yeah, you. You're literally saving lives through this policy.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And so the Justice Minister pulled up on the computer they have all across the country. He had every single police officer in the country on this computer. You could see the cars, you could see the foot patrols. He could click on them and you would get the names of this is Officer so and so. Officer so and so in every city across the country where they were, he could actually click on them and connect with them. He could call them on their cell phone, he could video stream with them on their cell phones. He also had a record of every person that had been arrested that day. There were four people who were arrested today. And he had. You could click on them and at 4:32pm I'm making that up, I don't remember the time. But, you know, one guy was arrested for theft or whatever it was and you could click on it, you could see their arrest report. You could actually see the mug shot. I saw the mug shot of a guy who was arrested today and he had real time data literally all across the country. And they're developing AI systems to go and target it. And where they see crime is greater, they go and devote the resources and they get the criminals off the street. Well, I gotta say, having met with the justice minister, then I went, then I went to the presidential office and I met with President Bukele. And I gotta say, President Bukele is one of the most impressive leaders I've ever met. He's young, he's charismatic, and his record of success is extraordinary. His country is fundamentally different. I shared with him. I shared with him the story that every person I had met in the country today. I asked, hey, what do you think of the president? All of them, Everyone, every Salvadoran, every American said, he's doing a phenomenal job. I laughed and said, you know what? I don't know of a politician in America that would be true. It's certainly not true of me. If you ask a guy on the street, there's some people who like the job I'm doing. There are other people who would tell you what a terrible, horrible human being I am. That's a little bit of the price of politics. It says something. But you know what? When you go from the worst murder capital on the planet to one of the safest countries in the world, turns out people really appreciate that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and when you're living in that type of fear in hell, it's not political. It's about your family and safety. And it sounds like people are judging him based on that, not on, like, look, you interact with someone that's conservative, they're gonna love you. Liberals automatically hate you. That's like a 50, 50 split right away when you wake up every morning. It would be nice, by the way, if, while president Trump is doing what he's doing in dc, if people in DC would look at this as a safety issue, not as a political issue, maybe they could take that away from what you're witnessing down there right now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and listen, President Bukele expressed real frustration because the Biden administration did everything they could to undermine him, to attack the government of El Salvador. And I was laughing with president Bukele saying, you know, it is bizarre. I think the policy of America ought to be that we treat our friends well, we are good friends to our friends, and we stand up to our enemies. And under Biden, the policy seemed to be that we treat our friends like crap and we give in and show weakness and appeasement to our enemies. And I gotta say, I think president Bukele, he agreed with that. The Biden administration put sanctions on government officials in El Salvador. They undermined it, they attacked it, and they did everything they could to drive El Salvador away. By the way, when they're locking up these Ms. 13 gang members, these leaders, they're making America safer. And yet the Biden administration undermined them. And one of the things president Bukele was very grateful about is President Trump is exactly the opposite. He and President Trump are quite close. You'll remember not too long ago, he was in D.C. in the Oval Office with President Trump. They've worked together very, very closely. And the difference and what he was emphasizing, he said, this is a choice. It is a choice. And we talked about D.C. we actually analogized it. Look, the president in D.C. said, we're put federal law enforcement officials on the ground, we're going to arrest murderers, we're going to arrest criminals and keep people safe. And the results have been dramatic. Violent crime has dropped significantly in D.C. because of the simple act of saying we're going to arrest violent criminals. That's a choice. I'll tell you. President Bukele brought up San Francisco. He brought up, when, when Xi from China came to San Francisco and he said it was amazing. Suddenly all the homeless people and drug addicts, they removed them all from the streets. And I was laughing. And this is what you and I talked about just two days ago on the podcast Gavin Newsom, when he was able to clean up San Francisco, he told every resident of San Francisco, you don't matter to me. Let's assume, Ben, this is a little bit of a stretch, but you're, let's assume you're a lefty granola crunching Marxist in San Francisco and you've been told over and over again there's nothing we can do about homelessness. There were nothing we can do about heroin addicts shooting up on the street. There's nothing we can do about people defecating on the streets. And then suddenly the leader of communist China shows up and Gavin Newsom cleans everything in its sparkling spick and span. And, and how, even if you are the most left wing Democrat on earth, how do you not stop and say, wait a second, you told me you couldn't fix this and then in 24 hours you fixed it. What that means is you could have fixed it a week ago, a month ago, a year ago, and you didn't because my kids don't matter to you as much as the leader of China. And that, that, that's what Kelly brought up. And he and I were both agreeing. You can fix this problem if you choose to fix this problem. And I got to say, Bukele's results, and we talked about, I did a press conference this evening where of course the reporters were attacking Bukele because they don't like his results. And I said, listen, when you have a 98% reduction in the murder rates, the results speak for themselves. And I said, there's an analogy to President Trump in the United States where when he got sworn in, we have a 99% reduction in the rate of illegal border crossings. That happened immediately. And I did point out to Bukele when I said that, I said, look, you're at 98, President Trump's at 99. I'm not trying to one up you. And I said, to be fair, I said, to be fair, your stat is murder. So that's like, incredibly acute. But if we're arguing between 98 and 99, that is incredible success for both our nations. The following is an ad paid for by Kirk Elliott Precious Metals.

[Ben Ferguson]

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Yeah, that's really a big deal. And the question is, how do people get started?

[Dr. Kurt Elliott]

Just go to kepm.com ben or call us at 720-605390. Ask any question on your mind. Our team is here to help you protect what you've worked so hard to build with zero pressure, Just real guidance. And this is just the beginning. You're never going to be alone on the journey moving forward. The journey is about the relationship to us, not just the transaction.

[Ben Ferguson]

So if you've been thinking about securing your future, now's the time to do it. I trust Kirk and you can too. Visit kepm.comBen that's kepm.comBen or 720-605-3900 today.

[Dr. Kurt Elliott]

Thanks, Ben. I appreciate your trust. We're here to help people move forward with confidence no matter what the headlines say or the world throws at us.

[Lisa Booth]

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[Ben Ferguson]

This, by the way, brings me to subject number two. And you talk about how the left is just hell bent on crime and, and making sure that crime stays high. They're fighting law and order everywhere they can. They still haven't even learned of of how bad it makes them look to support an illegal alien criminal who has become the poster child of the Democratic Party. And let's talk about the update to to this Camaro Brego Garcia story.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, this is the Maryland man who the Democrats have decided is who they stand for. And he's an MS.13 gangbanger and he was arrested, he was deported to El Salvador. He was brought back. He's been charged with human trafficking. He's also been alleged to have physically assaulted and beaten his wife. You and I on this podcast read through the indictment and the human trafficking, the crimes that he'd been involved with MS.13 for a decade. And yet Democrat senators, including Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat from Maryland, who's my colleague, flew down to El Salvador and did something very different than what I did. I sat down with Bukele and wanted to talk about his incredible success making the country safer and protecting innocent families. CHRIS Van Hollen Wanted to go to the prison where Abrego Garcia was and sit down and have margaritas with him and be like, oh, it's terrible that they're locking up gang members. And you know what? You know what Americans want? Apparently, what Van Hollen thinks Marylanders want is more illegal immigrants and more gang members. And so what happened is ICE arrested Brego Garcia, and then they're in the process of deporting him yet again. And the Democrats are once again circling around him because apparently they believe that's what Americans want. And I want you to listen to this clip of what happened concerning his arrest. Give a listen. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Lisa Booth]

Today Ms. 13, gangbanger and FEMA trafficker.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Kilmar Abrego Garcia turned himself into ICE in Baltimore. Do you have any comment on this? And why are the Democrats so emotionally attached to this man who beats his.

[Lisa Booth]

Wife and is part of a terrorist organization?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Because they think he's going to be good for votes. And I think he's very bad for votes. These people are deranged. He's not good for votes. He beat the hell out of his wife. His wife is afraid to even talk about him. She's been mauled by this animal. And, you know, through a system of liberal courts, he's doing things. But, no, we have that under control. And Pam has got that very much under control. Do you want to comment on it?

[Lisa Booth]

No, no, we've got him under control. He will no longer terrorize our country. He's currently charged with human. Human smuggling, including children. The guy needs to be in prison. He doesn't need to be on the streets like all these liberals want him to be. And as part of this operation here in DC, we've also taken off MSM, Ms. 13 members. We've taken, I think, just last night, we got a TDA guy off our streets right here, right around from where we all work. Another TDA member gone because of this project. So we're going to keep America safe from all of these foreign terrorist organizations, including Abrego Garcia.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, one of the funniest things Pam Bondi, when she's talking about it, she said, you know, in DC, we got an MS, and she starts to say MSNBC. And then she's like, an Ms. 13. Yeah, and like an MSNBC reporter, an MSNBC commentator off the street, who, to be honest, there may not be a massive difference, because on MSNBC, what are they doing? They're defending Ms. 13, but I just thought that was a really amusing Freudian slip.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, no, you can't make it up. It's one of those that makes me laugh. You look at this story, and I got to say, I really like our chances right now going into a midterm if Democrats cannot get it together. Even their national, I don't know, convention, whatever the hell you call it. They're obsessed over words and language. They're obsessed with defending criminals and illegal alien criminals. Like they're learning nothing. And they're certainly not listening to the American people and what they're saying either, which is the most important thing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, well, look, we saw an illustration of this with Cracker Barrel. Cracker Barrel is a terrific institution, particularly in the South. And their woke leadership decided that everything the company was built on, they didn't like. And in particular, they didn't like their customers. You know, their customers, they thought, were not nearly as enlightened as they should be. They were not nearly as woke as they should be. And the whole thing was very reminiscent of Bud Light. You know, Bud Light. You had a marketing executive who said, you know, the people who buy Bud Light, we don't like them. We need to have, you know, a bunch of woke transgender activists drinking our beer instead. It was reminiscent of what happened with Target, where they decided to market, you know, to market to transgender toddlers and do it prominently, pushing bathing suits for two year old boys to tuck their genitals, to hide them away, to pretend they're not boys. That was Target thinking this is really what America wants. Because, you know, if you're the parent of a two year old, clearly you want your son to believe he's a daughter when he's two. This is a phenomenon of business leaders who buy into an ideology that is wildly unpopular and ultimately directly antithetical to their customers. And so Cracker Barrel had a logo, had a logo of an old guy sitting on a chair next to a giant barrel. And they decided, okay, let's get rid of the cracker, let's get rid of the barrel, let's get rid of it all. And we'll just have anodyne words because we're really embarrassed that we're for anything nostalgic, anything that is Americana. And the pushback has been phenomenal. Their stock price has tanked. Just like Bud Light, just like Target. And just today they announced, never mind. Okay, yeah, this has not worked well. The beatings are really hurting, so we're going to stop. But it is striking that it took the reaction of the market for them to figure it out. I want to say, though, it is a great Great victory for common sense that Cracker Barrel finally gave in and said, you know what? We're going to stop being woke because we'd like to actually have one or two customers when this is all said and done.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I think the frustration of conservatives now voting with our dollars, and that is what ultimately this came down to, a Cracker Barrel. This was a bunch of Americans that said, okay, you despise us. You despise the. You know, who we are as a customer base. You're basically telling us you don't want us anymore. Watch this. And that is exactly how they got this point very quickly. And look, I also think when you have people like you and the president who are willing to speak out on this and say, you guys are being stupid, they realize how quickly others are like, yeah, us too. Like, we're gonna, you know, we're gonna say that we think this is ridiculous, and we're starting to finally, I think, see the pendulum swing back the other way, which is really, really cool.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I was gratified because yesterday, President Trump publicly called out Cracker Barrel and said, look, you need to just go back to your old logo, like, give this up, end the rebranding and accept that you were wrong. And I'll tell you, I jumped in on Twitter. I retweeted him, I said, this is absolutely right. And the two of us were very vocal saying, go back to where you were. And 24 hours later, they did. So that was gratifying. It's not always that people listen. They listen to common sense. In this case, they did. And it's worth noting, it isn't just in the last week that people noticed that what Cracker Barrel was doing was nuts. Almost a year ago, November of last year, a big investor in Cracker Barrel, a guy named Sardar Biglari, he owns approximately 5% of the restaurant chain stock. He wrote to his fellow shareholders that the Cracker Barrel transformation was a, quote, mistake of misguided executives falling into a textbook trap of overspending on cosmetic remodeling. And he continued, the day Cracker Barrel opened, it was already old, its theme derived from the 1920s. And he wrote, I am concerned that not only will the remodel not work, but it could actually damage the brand further. These decisions are taking us down the same path, I believe, as Ruby Tuesday, Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, and the like. Let me make my position clear. The company's $700 million remodel plan will not work. And he called in a letter to the shareholders in October 2020. Four, the board's transformation plan, quote, obvious folly. And yet the corporate leadership ignored the shareholder owned 5% of the company and they charged down that road anyway. And they vaporized roughly 15% of the market cap of the company because they were more interested in listening to woke marketing executives, and by the way, the entire marketing world, much of that is a scam of left wing woke people who despise their customers. And let me say, if you're in corporate America, don't listen to marketing executives that don't understand and don't like your customers. But in this instance, Cracker Barrel should have listened to its investor and not these marketing execs and it paid the price. But the good news is they finally, finally, finally listened and reversed and said, you know what, the principles we were founded on, the principles America was founded on, those principles are pretty good. We're gonna get back to them.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's incredible. All right, final question for you. You've got day one in the books of the codel. You're going to be down there and also doing more. We're going to be able to talk about that coming up on the next episode of Verdict.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's right. This is a multi day trip and we're traveling to two other countries throughout Latin America and the focus is really on meeting with heads of state, meeting with leaders in each of these countries where the issues directly impact the United States, directly impact Texas. They impact our national security, they impact our economy. By the way, I had dinner tonight with the economy minister here in El Salvador. They're very focused on American investment, on energy, on technology, on pharmaceuticals, on creating jobs. And by the way, to give a sense of how much these changes matter, I'm gonna give you two stats to wrap up with. The justice minister told me They've had over 10,000 applications for people who want to be police officers. Suddenly, people are eager to be police officers because it's making a difference, because they're making their communities safe. Previously, when the gangs were running the country, they had in one year over 300 police officers murdered. Being a police officer was, was literally taking your life and your family's life in danger. Now people are lining up to be police officers because they see the difference. But here's something else. It used to be that the people of El Salvador were fleeing this country because, look, you were risking being murdered, your kids were risking being murdered. You wanted to get out. Now we are seeing reverse migration. There are roughly 6 million Salvadorans in El Salvador. There are about 3 million Salvadorans in the United States. President Bucalli told me roughly half of those Salvadorans in America, about one and a half million, have said they want to come back to El Salvador. They're seeing reverse migration because suddenly people are saying, wait, I fled my country because I was terrified for my safety and my family. Now the country's safe. I want to come back. I love the beach and the mountains and the people and the culture that is changing this country. And it ought to be an encouragement to any other leader, to any mayor, to anyone facing crime and challenges. When you fix these problems, it doesn't just keep people safe, which it does, but it has economic benefits. It literally transforms your community. That's inspirational. And as I said, this is the beginning of a multi day trip throughout Latin America. So in two days, we'll report on the rest of the trip.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's going to be awesome. Don't forget, we do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So hit that subscribe or auto download button and the senator and I will see you back here in a couple of days.

[Lisa Booth]

This is an I heart podcast.