Screaming Primal Rage

Summary

Podcast Title: Screaming Primal Rage
Podcast: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Release Date: August 13, 2020
Host/Author: Premiere Networks
Hosts in Transcript: Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles
Duration Covered in Transcript: 00:00 – 25:38

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Screaming Primal Rage," hosts Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles delve deep into the escalating tensions surrounding political discourse in America, focusing particularly on the roles of Antifa, the Democratic Party, and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. The conversation navigates through recent Senate hearings, the influence of extremist groups, and strategic approaches for conservatives to counteract what they perceive as leftist overreach.

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Antifa and Democratic Party Responses

The discussion opens with a heated exchange about Senator Mazie Hirono's stance on violent extremism. Hirono emphasizes the importance of protecting free speech while condemning violent extremism across the political spectrum. Ted Cruz criticizes Hirono and her Democratic colleagues for not explicitly denouncing Antifa, suggesting a partisan bias that shields leftist violence.

• Mazie Hirono’s Statement (Transcript [00:00 – 00:40]): Hirono advocates for unity against violent extremism without singling out any political group, stressing that Democrats care about this issue despite accusations to the contrary.

• Ted Cruz’s Critique (Transcript [00:40 – 01:35]): Cruz accuses Hirono and other Democratic senators of failing to specifically condemn Antifa, instead labeling law enforcement as "secret police" and other derogatory terms without addressing leftist violence directly.

Notable Quote:

“To constantly accuse Democrats of not caring about that is really, I can only say that you aren't listening.” – Ted Cruz [00:40]

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Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Antifa

Cruz details his experience chairing a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on Antifa violence, highlighting the lack of bipartisan condemnation of the group by Democratic senators. He contrasts this with Republican testimonies that openly criticize Antifa and other right-wing extremist groups.

• Testimony Highlights (Transcript [02:07 – 06:09]): Cruz recounts testimonies from Department of Justice and Homeland Security officials, notably Ken Cuccinelli, who provided alarming statistics on officer injuries in Portland due to Antifa activities. Cruz emphasizes the Democrats' inability to offer a unified stance against Antifa, undermining their claims of addressing extremism.

Notable Quote:

“Not a single one of them was willing to say even a single word critical about antifa.” – Ted Cruz [03:51]

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Black Lives Matter: Origins and Extremism

The conversation shifts to the Black Lives Matter movement, with Cruz dissecting its origins and ideological underpinnings. He asserts that BLM is founded by trained Marxists and connected to extremist elements, citing the organization's leadership and funding sources to argue that BLM's agenda goes beyond advocating for Black lives.

• Founders’ Marxist Ties (Transcript [11:03 – 13:37]): Cruz references the involvement of Angela Davis and other Marxist figures in BLM's founding, highlighting their connections to communist organizations and extremist activities.

• BLM’s Objectives and Public Perception (Transcript [15:03 – 16:08]): He claims BLM's primary goal is to abolish the police, a stance opposed by a significant majority of Black Americans according to polls, and warns of the potential increase in crime and loss of lives if this agenda succeeds.

Notable Quotes:

“The phrase Black Lives Matter is indisputably true. Period. The end.” – Ted Cruz [10:06]

“Black Lives Matter is essentially abandoning it to that.” – Ted Cruz [16:55]

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Impact of Corporate Funding

Cruz addresses the paradox of major corporations like Microsoft and Amazon funding BLM, which in turn advocates for boycotting these same companies. He uses this to illustrate what he views as the hypocrisy and self-destructive tendencies of the movement.

• Corporate Irony (Transcript [17:46 – 18:34]): Cruz points out that Microsoft and Amazon, led by white executives Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos respectively, are major donors to BLM, which calls for boycotting white-owned corporations. This, he argues, is a direct attack on the very entities supporting their cause.

Notable Quote:

“Microsoft is literally donating money to an organization calling for people to boycott Microsoft.” – Ted Cruz [17:46]

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Strategies for Conservatives to Counteract Leftist Narratives

The hosts discuss effective strategies for conservatives to combat what they perceive as leftist dominance in shaping public discourse. Emphasizing the importance of engaging with younger audiences and leveraging storytelling alongside factual arguments, Cruz advocates for a balanced approach that combines humor with substantive policy discussions.

• Engaging the Youth (Transcript [19:06 – 21:34]): Cruz suggests that younger generations are highly receptive to messages about freedom and encourages using relatable narratives to communicate conservative values effectively.

• Battle of Ideas vs. Personality Contest (Transcript [22:00 – 25:21]): He warns against allowing elections to become mere personality contests focused on individual figures like Donald Trump, advocating instead for a focus on substantive policy debates that highlight the strengths of conservative ideologies over leftist policies.

Notable Quotes:

“Why does freedom matter? I say, look, you can do it much better.” – Ted Cruz [19:17]

“If this is a battle of ideas, because the left has gone insane. Yeah, their ideas are terrible. If this is a battle between socialism and free enterprise, we win.” – Ted Cruz [22:01]

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Conclusion

Ted Cruz and Michael Knowles conclude the episode by reinforcing the necessity for conservatives to engage actively in shaping the national conversation. They underscore the urgency of countering leftist narratives with well-articulated arguments and by appealing to both the hearts and minds of the American populace.

Final Thoughts:

“We have to fight on the field of ideas. I think the Democrats want to make this election entirely a personality election.” – Ted Cruz [25:11]

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Key Takeaways

• Bipartisan Condemnation: The conversation highlights a perceived imbalance in how political parties address extremism, with Democrats criticized for not explicitly condemning leftist groups like Antifa.

• BLM’s Radical Roots: Cruz presents a narrative that BLM is rooted in Marxist ideology and extremism, challenging the mainstream portrayal of the movement.

• Corporate Hypocrisy: The funding of BLM by major white-led corporations is used to illustrate contradictions within the movement’s objectives.

• Strategic Advocacy: Emphasizes the importance of engaging younger demographics through storytelling and substance-based policy debates to counteract leftist influence effectively.

Overall, the episode "Screaming Primal Rage" serves as a fervent critique of leftist movements and Democratic strategies, advocating for a proactive and intellectually robust conservative response to preserve American freedoms and societal structures.

Transcript

[Mazie Hirono]

And all that. That's called freedom of speech. And that's what the steering title is, protecting speech. So all I can see is, look, we should all join hands and in denouncing and whatever words you want to use about violent extremism of all stripes, and I think we can all agree on that. So to constantly accuse Democrats of not caring about that is really, I can only say that you aren't listening. So I hope this is the end of this hearing, Mr. Chairman, and that we don't have to listen to any more of your rhetorical speeches. Thank you very much. I'm leaving.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, I appreciate the, as always, kind and uplifting words of Senator Hirono. And I would also note that throughout her remarks, she still did not say a negative word about antifa, nor has any Democrat here. They instead engage in a political game where they depend. You're welcome to say something negative about antifa right now.

[Mazie Hirono]

I think that I've covered the subject quite well. You are not listening.

[Ted Cruz]

Okay. She declined to speak. So that is the position of the Democratic Party. I would note also that of the seven Democratic senators who spoke, not a one of them apologized for or denounced multiple Democrats calling law enforcement officers Nazis, stormtroopers and Gestapo. To be fair, I don't have not heard the word Nazi, but stormtrooper was Nancy Pelosi and Gestapo was another Democratic leader.

[Michael Knowles]

Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Knowles. I'm sitting here, of course, with the senator. Senator, you have not yet chased me out of this room, but I notice you seem to have chased your Democratic colleague out of the Senate yesterday.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, Michael, I don't like what you're saying, so I'm going to need to get up and run away and leave now. You're very frightening and you're causing me to hyperventilate.

[Michael Knowles]

Yes, well, because I'm posing these very difficult questions to you, such as are you willing to condemn antifa.

[Ted Cruz]

So it was really crazy. So I chaired a hearing on antifa violence and it's I, as you know, chair the Constitution Subcommittee, Senate Judiciary Committee. And so the hearing was focused on the right and the First Amendment peaceably to assemble. And by the way, if you remember back, do you remember Chris Cuomo on cnn, I think, saying, where is it written that protesting and gathering has to be peaceable? And it's kind of like, well, okay, there's this thing called the First Amendment.

[Michael Knowles]

It's in the Constitution, the right of.

[Ted Cruz]

The people peaceably to assemble. It's right there. First Amendment part of The Bill of Rights attached to the. Well, you gotta understand cnn, they don't have copies of the Constitution, so you can understand. You wouldn't expect Cuomo to be familiar with it.

[Michael Knowles]

I don't know that it's even allowed in the building, frankly.

[Ted Cruz]

I think that's probably right. Well, the hearing was on free speech and the right peaceably to assemble and how radical anarchists and Marxists are taking over these protests and engaging in rioting and violence. And so we had testimony and in the entire course of it. So we had testimony originally from the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy Secretary, testified, did a fabulous job. But seven different Democratic senators participated in the hearing. Not a single one of them was willing to say even a single word critical about antifa. They wouldn't. And it's, you know, I gotta say, look, I'll give the Dems credit. They have a message discipline. Like when a talking point goes out, I don't know who it is.

[Michael Knowles]

Is that what it is though? I mean they basically, they get the talking points, they stick to it, they.

[Ted Cruz]

Repeat the same words over and over again. So for example, all of them called the DHS law enforcement officers, secret police. That was clearly the talking point. So Mazie Hirona is the ranking Democrat on the committee. She plays this video, I think from the New York Times where it refers to them as unidentified officers. And literally the video playing, they have in giant yellow all caps, letters the words police. Like that's not unidentified.

[Michael Knowles]

They are identified, there's no question about that.

[Ted Cruz]

But it doesn't stop them. So they're talking points. And so they're talking points on antifa, on the terrorists, is they just scream right wing violence. White supremacists. White supremacists. And the difference, by the way, look, I'm white supremacists, Nazis, kkk. Those guys are racist idiots. Lock them all up. If they commit violence, lock them up and throw them in jail.

[Michael Knowles]

This is the point. This was what was so shocking to me when I was watching this clip of you talking to Senator Hirono when some fringe lunatic guy who maybe he associates with the right and he comes out and says something bigoted, all the right disavows, condemns, takes two seconds. Nobody worries about it. But none of your Democratic colleagues. Zero, not one could condemn antifa or the Marxists or the other. I mean it seems so simple to me. Why couldn't they do it?

[Ted Cruz]

So not only that, but also we've seen their rhetoric. So Nancy Pelosi called federal police officers stormtroopers. Jim Clyburn, one of the ranking leading Democrats in the House, called them Gestapo, like calling cops Nazis. And not a single Democrat, I mean, repeatedly that was called up. Not one of the Democratic senators would walk away from it. And so at the end of the hearing, Maisie got up and stormed out. And she's like, well, no, no, I've condemned violence. I'm like, well, no, not from Antifa. Not from the left. You insist the only violence that occurs is on the right, facts be damned. Do you know what Ken Cuccinelli told us at the hearing? What he said? There have been in the last six months, 277 officer injuries in Portland.

[Michael Knowles]

Wow.

[Ted Cruz]

277.

[Michael Knowles]

So Ken Cuccinelli, Deputy Secretary of Department of Homeland Security.

[Ted Cruz]

And he testified it. And he testified, in fact, he had. So they're throwing rocks at the officers. They're throwing frozen water bottles. In fact, Ken had a frozen water bottle with him just to illustrate. They hit an officer in the head with a sledgehammer. They're bringing knives, they're bringing guns. They're throwing gasoline and lighting gasoline on fire. They're firing mortars with commercial fireworks, and.

[Michael Knowles]

They have those lasers.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and you and I. So we did. We did an interview with the Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, and we did it at dhs, which was pretty cool. But while we're doing the interview, you and I are sitting there. Into the room walks Ken Cuccinelli.

[Michael Knowles]

You know, in the moment, I couldn't quite tell. Obviously, the lighting was a little dark. So I said, who is this guy who's kind of walking in? If I'd known it was him, I would have said he should come right on the show.

[Ted Cruz]

And if I'd have seen him, he came in behind me, so I didn't see him. If I'd have seen him, I said, cooch, come on over, pull up a chair. Because he was coming to testify that.

[Michael Knowles]

Afternoon, and he had a prop.

[Ted Cruz]

He had. So the commercial laser that they're using. Yeah. I have to admit, when I read about the sort of lasers to the eyes, that. That struck me as a little bogus.

[Michael Knowles]

Because we've always had little laser pointers. Right. You chase your cat around with it.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Like, I mean, isn't that in that. All of Twitter is cat videos. Like. Like, I think that's the entirety of the Internet.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

But what was interesting is these commercial ones. So. So Cooch had one of those. He said, here, hold your hand out. So I did and he points it and in like one second, it takes about a second, and then you go, oh, crap. And you yank your hand. I mean, it burns.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, you know, I don't think that you were necessarily foolish. When he says, put your hand out, you did it. But then I saw it burned you. And then you tell me, hey, Michael, put your hand out. And I, like a fool, I put my hand out and I get it burned by Cucinelli's laser.

[Ted Cruz]

Look, this is basic human instinct. You know, you have like spoiled milk and you go, oh, this tastes terrible. Here, try something.

[Michael Knowles]

But it's serious. I mean, you can light a piece of paper on fire with those lasers. And this is the kind of thing that's being shined in the cop's eyes.

[Ted Cruz]

And Cuccinelli testified over 30 officers have had eye damage where they shine it in their eyes and it's a risk of permanent blindness. And in fact, what they're doing is they have these shields and they get up right close at them to shine the laser right in their eye and try to blind them.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. And you know, one thing you did very well at the hearing and for some reason I noticed these clips aren't going around. I don't know why the press isn't covering it. You went through with great specificity who these people are. The organized anarchists, the organized Marxists who are behind these riots all over the country. You know, I think the Democrats, they've outright denied that Antifa even exists. Jerry Nadler the other day pretended it's not real. You went through those specifically. These are real Marxists, these are real anarchists.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and you take two different groups that are worth focusing on, one Antifa, and you've got. We heard a lot of testimony. Antifa is profoundly violent. They engage in terrorism, they encourage terrorism, they train people to engage in this violence. They're also profoundly anti free speech. They use violence as a way to silence speech they disagree with. Yeah, and these are concerted. You know Andy Ngo, the journalist, he testified at the hearing about being violently beaten up. By the way, they call him a white supremacist, as he described, he's the son of a Vietnamese immigrant. He's Vietnamese and gay. He's not your like.

[Michael Knowles]

He is the most Vietnamese white supremacist I've ever met. There's no question.

[Ted Cruz]

But you know what they call Ben Shapiro? A Nazi. So never let foul facts get in the way of their attacking rhetoric. Yeah, but you know, so you had.

[Michael Knowles]

The anarchists of Antifa and you had Marxists as well, as you explained yesterday.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and I talked at some length about Black Lives Matter. Now, it's important to understand the difference. The phrase Black Lives Matter.

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, yeah, of course.

[Ted Cruz]

Is indisputably true. Period. The end. And let me actually take a digression for a minute. I think most Republicans are morons when it comes to talking about Black Lives Matter, because when you have someone say, does Black Lives Matter? You get all these Republicans, no. All lives matter. Yeah. Why can't you just say yes? If you ask me, yes. Black Lives matter.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, it's like Maisie Hirono's answer. Right. Will you condemn antifa? I condemn extremism, say. Right. But what about specifically antifa? You know, very simple question, like, absolutely.

[Ted Cruz]

Black lives are precious and they matter immensely. And the reason is every life is created by God. But you see, Republicans, like, terrified to say that because we're in such a.

[Michael Knowles]

Weird, politicized world and also because there's this organization which is very different.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and that's. So the statement Black Lives Matter is a truism. Overwhelming majority of Americans agree with it. It should be everyone.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah, basically everyone, I think, agrees with that.

[Ted Cruz]

But there's something very separate from the organization that is called Black Lives Matter. And this. There's an article I entered into the record of the hearing from the Washington examiner that gives some of the history of the organization. So it was founded by three radicals who describe themselves in their own words as trained Marxists. So they are. This is not me calling them Marxists. They tell you they're Marxists. They tell you they've studied Marx and Lenin and Mao. They.

[Michael Knowles]

I mean, there's a video of Patrice Cullors, who's. Who's one of the co founders. She says, alicia and I, or Alicia Gors, another co founder, are trained Marxists. And the third co founder, Opal Tometi, is seen smiling in photographs with the communist dictator of Venezuela. They're not hiding this sort of thing.

[Ted Cruz]

So not only that, one of the founders of the organization Black Lives Matter describes as her mentor Angela Davis. Now, Angela Davis, I don't have to call her Communist. She tells you she was a communist. She was not once but twice the vice presidential nominee of the Communist Party of the United States. So she's an avowed communist Marxist and by the way, you know, is rabidly anti Semitic, rabidly anti Israel. Someone else. Who? Susan Rosenberg. Now, who is Susan Rosenberg? Susan Rosenberg is the vice chair of the board of directors of Thousand Currents. Now, what is Thousand Currents? Thousand Currents is what is funding the organization Black Lives Matter. Now, who is Susan Rosenberg? Also, she was part of the revolutionary military group known as the May 19th Communist Organization affiliated with the Weather Underground. She was convicted of weapons and explosive charges and sentenced to 58 years in prison. So she's a convicted terrorist, by the way. She was pardoned by Bill Clinton on the last day of his presidency. It was one of those midnight pardons.

[Michael Knowles]

She and a million other people were pardoned at the end of the administration.

[Ted Cruz]

So she was. Rosenberg in the 1960s and 70s was on the FBI's most wanted list. She was caught in 1984 unloading hundreds of pounds of dynamite and weapons, including a submachine gun. So we're not talking like a sort of mild little rebel.

[Michael Knowles]

It's not just a frozen water bottle either.

[Ted Cruz]

It is not. So, Garza, one of the Black Lives Matter founders, talks about how convicted cop killer Asanta Shakur is one of her main inspirations. Now, Shakur is right now today on the FBI's most wanted list. There's a million dollar reward for Shakur's information leading to her capture. She's believed to be hiding in Cuba. And she was a member of the Black Liberation army, another terrorist organization. She's wanted for escaping from prison. And she was in prison serving a life sentence for murdering a police officer. And the police officer, an individual named Warner Forster, was shot and execution style, point black. This wasn't an accidental. This was. And by the way, it's not like these folks are just kind of. Okay, we're all like vaguely know each other. So Cullors, one of the three founders, wrote a memoir entitled when they call you a terrorist, a Black Lives Matter memoir. So it's like what we're all about. The forward is written by Angela Davis, and the epigraph is written by Shakur, the cop killer.

[Michael Knowles]

Wow.

[Ted Cruz]

So they're.

[Michael Knowles]

They don't tell you this in the mainstream media. In fact, I had never heard that. And I've actually done some research into the BLM organization.

[Ted Cruz]

So Angela Davis. You don't talk about the anti Semitism of Angela Davis for a minute. She was asked. So she was a big apologist for the Soviet Union. Yeah, yeah, look, Communists. That's what they did. So she was traveling to Moscow and she was asked if she would speak up for the Jewish prisoners of conscience in the Gulags in the Soviet Union. And her answer was, and this is a quote, that they are all Zionist fascists and opponents of socialism. And so therefore she would urge that they be Kept in prison. Not only would she not speak up with them, she. She'd be like, lock them up. By the way, Angela Davis just recently endorsed Joe Biden for president.

[Michael Knowles]

That's right. And she said he would be easy to manipulate.

[Ted Cruz]

Black Lives Matter itself refers to Israel as an apartheid state committing genocide. That's their terms. But what does Black Lives Matter stand for? If you go look at their website, their number one priority is abolishing the police nationwide.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. Which is, by the way, according to Gallup polling, opposed by 81% of black Americans. It was either Gallup or It was a YouGov poll, but it just came out.

[Ted Cruz]

And if Black Lives Matter succeeded in their stated objective of abolishing police, the result would be many, many more black lives are lost, of course, because you would have many more murders, many more rapes, many more assaults, which sadly we're seeing in big cities right now as police are being held back. But. But without law enforcement, those living in the most high crime neighborhoods get their victims. And many of the far too many of the victims of crime are African American. And Black Lives Matter is essentially abandoning it to that. Not only that, Black Lives Matter, the organization calls for abolishing the nuclear family. Like moms and dads.

[Michael Knowles]

Nobody could you say that again.

[Ted Cruz]

It's very like they explicit and this. Go read their own website. Don't take my word for it. That's what they're advocating for now, let me tell you. And by the way, they also call for a white boycott. They say boycott white corporations, that nobody should buy anything from white corporations. Now, one of the things I talked about, the hearing yesterday, we're seeing all these companies, particularly tech companies that are wanting to Virtue Signal, who are giving millions and millions of dollars right to this organization, Black Lives Matter. Among those tech companies that are doing it are Microsoft, Amazon. I went and listed a whole bunch. But pause for a second and think, look, Microsoft's largest shareholder is a guy named Bill Gates. Last time I checked, Bill Gates, a white guy.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

So Microsoft is literally donating money to an organization calling for people to boycott Microsoft. Like saying, do not purchase any products from anything. Bill Gates, Amazon. Amazon's giving him money.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

Jeff Bezos is a white guy. Amazon is funding a group saying, don't buy anything from Amazon. And it's look, you want to support social justice, great, wonderful. Go support school choice. Go give scholarships for inner city kids to go to excellent schools. There are all sorts of things you can do. But the problem is because people are terrified of contradicting the indisputably true statement that Black lives matter.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. That they'll support this awful organization.

[Ted Cruz]

And they are funding explicit Marxists who want to destroy capitalism, destroy free enterprises, destroy the family.

[Michael Knowles]

Speaking of our friends who are stuck at home, a number of them are writing in questions for the mailbag from Balaam's donkey. This is a Twitter account. I don't think it's his Christian name. What can I do personally to stop this madness? I'm not famous, I'm not important, I'm not even a good debater. But I know what I believe. Give me specifics.

[Ted Cruz]

Speak, speak to your friends, speak to your family. And you know what? You are famous, Balaam's donkey, because you've got. With social media. Every one of us is publisher now.

[Michael Knowles]

I know he's also on a big podcast right now.

[Ted Cruz]

Every one of us can speak out. And I actually tell, like, I don't know how old Balam's talking is, but I talk to a lot of high school kids, college kids, and when it comes to defending freedom, why does freedom matter? I say, look, you can do it much better. I'm 49 years old. How many 15 year olds are gonna listen to me? Yeah, I'd much rather have a 15 year old say, why does it matter to be free? Use your voice to explain why freedom matters, why free speech matters. Look, the left are intolerant, totalitarian and oppressive. So speaking out, using humor, telling stories.

[Michael Knowles]

And on that point, knowing what you say. I mean, Balaam's donkey says he knows what he believes, and I believe him. But I think some people, you know, they want to get out there and argue their point of view. The other, the other side of this is study the facts. I mean, read up, know what your point of view is so that you can articulate why, why you support your country, why you like your freedoms, why.

[Ted Cruz]

You like your rights and help educate others. And look, left and right tend to communicate differently. Too many people on the right communicate like accountants.

[Michael Knowles]

Yes, yes.

[Ted Cruz]

Just drives me crazy. Numbers and a green eye shade. Yeah, and the left, they go for the heart. I mean, their argument is, he wants to eat your children.

[Michael Knowles]

I mean, that's what they say.

[Ted Cruz]

We gotta do both. And it's why stories are. When you and I did the pod with Jon Voight and we were talking to him about storytelling as a natural skill, and actually this may have been afterwards where we were enjoying a cigar together.

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, yeah.

[Ted Cruz]

And I think this was after the pod and we were talking with John and I said, look, storytelling is A natural human expression of all of us, and it's how we all communicate. And John Discreet said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, lad.

[Michael Knowles]

I think, no, no, lad. No.

[Ted Cruz]

You do a better Jon Void impression than I do. To be sure, there are better storytellers and worse storytellers, but it is how our hearts are stitched together.

[Michael Knowles]

Yes.

[Ted Cruz]

So tell stories.

[Michael Knowles]

We need more than just eggheads. I mean, we want the accounting to work out, but you have to grab people with a narrative. Chase wants to know, speaking of, sometimes we're lemming, sometimes we fight back. He has a question about Owning the Libs, a politics of opposition banding together, he says, is owning the Libs a strong enough policy platform to win the House Senate and keep the White House?

[Ted Cruz]

Of course not.

[Michael Knowles]

So. Of course not.

[Ted Cruz]

Look, this election, we win, Trump gets reelected, Republicans win. If this is a battle of ideas, because the left has gone insane. Yeah, their ideas are terrible. If this is a battle between socialism and free enterprise, we win. If this is a battle between abolishing the police and protecting people's safety, we win. Like, their positions are so extreme.

[Michael Knowles]

But I suppose this raises the question, because when I hear Owning the Libs, there is something to this, right? A politics of opposition where. Because their ideas are so extreme, because they're, you know, they're like pulling down statues and burning down the country. I wonder if what Chase is asking is, is it enough to just point to their craziness?

[Ted Cruz]

So my point on this, though, is that we have to fight on the field of ideas. I think the Democrats want to make this election entirely a personality election, and they wanted a referendum on, do you like Donald Trump, yes or no? There's a reason Joe Biden is hiding in his basement, Right. And it's actually, I don't think that it's that he's senile and has dementia. I think they've made the decision. They think they're winning on a personality popularity contest on Donald Trump. And so they just figure, all right, why, you know, if you're winning, don't mess with it. Yeah, Right. And so from their perspective, they would characterize it as sort of owning Trump. Let's just make it all about him. Look, you and I both have fun on Twitter and own the occasional lib.

[Michael Knowles]

Nothing wrong with that.

[Ted Cruz]

But I try to do it. I know you do, too, actually, on substance and issues. So if it's a question of, do you have the guts to actually take them on? Yes, that matters. Do you have a sense of humor and be fun about it? You know, do you see the Portland rioters are now complaining. They want, like, the government to fund equipment so they could riot. And look, I saw that and I tweeted it out and I said, you know, absolutely, I agree. I'm more than happy to give it to you. Every one of you that engages in violence, I'll give you a taxpayer paid orange jumpsuit, three hots and a cot. That's exactly right. I mean, it's, you know, but it needs to be on substance. There's also a point to that. When I'm saying that I'm making a point that these are violent criminals that should be incarcerated. You can have a little bit of fun with it, and you probably should.

[Michael Knowles]

But it's gotta be grounded in something real if it's gonna be effective.

[Ted Cruz]

You know, just saying you suck is not a great message. And it, frankly, is. How leftist? I mean, that's basically what they say to Trump, is they just hate him. I mean, they're just Orange man bad is what they say. Orange Man. I mean, that's. They just scream primal rage. But look how many Republicans are actually engaged in a real battle of ideas right now. And what I'm urging the White House, if they let it be a personality contest.

[Michael Knowles]

Yep, that's what the left wants.

[Ted Cruz]

That's what the left wants. And I think that's much more dangerous than focusing on ideas that. That work.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. Well, we will have to leave it there. We'll see you on the next episode. We'll see you on the next episode. I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

[Ted Cruz]

This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought to you by Jobs, Freedom and Security pac, a political action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations, and candidates across the country. In 2022, jobs, freedom and Security PAC plans to donate to conservative candidates running for Congress and help the Republican Party across the nation.