Sleepy Joe’s Soporific Speech

Summary

Podcast Summary: Sleepy Joe’s Soporific Speech The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Host: Premiere Networks
Episode Release Date: April 30, 2021

---

Introduction

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson, the conversation centers around President Joe Biden's recent State of the Union address. The discussion primarily features political commentator Senator Ted Cruz, who provides a critical analysis of Biden's speech, the administration's policies, and the broader political landscape. Hosted by Michael Knowles, the episode delves into themes of political theater, partisan divides, and the influence of corporate PACs in politics.

---

Overview of Biden’s State of the Union Address

Senator Ted Cruz opens the discussion by expressing his disappointment with Biden's State of the Union address, describing it as both "boring but radical." He highlights the lack of bipartisan applause and the predominantly empty and masked atmosphere in the congressional chamber.

Notable Quote:

“The whole thing was 63 minutes. I'm amazed that I didn't sleep more during the speech.” — Ted Cruz [00:59]

Cruz emphasizes that the speech failed to acknowledge significant issues such as the border crisis, national debt, and achievements like Operation Warp Speed. He criticizes Biden for not attempting to unify the nation or offer concessions to the opposition.

---

Critique of Biden’s Policies

Cruz elaborates on the partisan nature of Biden’s policies, suggesting they are intentionally designed to alienate Republicans. He cites the COVID relief bill and the $2.6 trillion infrastructure bill as examples of legislation that received zero Republican support, reinforcing a hardline partisan stance.

Notable Quote:

“The radical didn't surprise me. I was trying to stay awake, actually, one of the reasons why it was so boring.” — Ted Cruz [01:39]

He further criticizes the administration’s approach to taxation, with plans for substantial tax increases, and underscores the administration's neglect of pressing issues like the border crisis and national debt.

---

Masks and COVID Policies

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on COVID-19 policies, particularly the use of masks during the State of the Union. Cruz criticizes the continued emphasis on masks despite widespread vaccination and questions the necessity of such measures in the Senate, where all members are vaccinated.

Notable Quote:

“It was designed to hide just how extreme the policies are that are being implemented.” — Ted Cruz [03:50]

Cruz shares his personal stance on mask-wearing, explaining his decision to stop wearing a mask on the Senate floor after vaccinations became widespread. He criticizes the arbitrary and inconsistent guidelines from the CDC, arguing that they undermine confidence in vaccination efforts.

---

Corporate PAC Money and Conservatism

The conversation shifts to the influence of corporate PACs in politics. Cruz announces his decision to cease accepting corporate PAC contributions, a move he describes as a stand against "woke corporations" that undermine American values. He urges fellow Republicans to follow suit to reduce the influence of big businesses in politics.

Notable Quote:

“If you guys are going to be actively fighting the American people, tearing down America, tearing down freedom, I don't want your stinking money.” — Ted Cruz [20:15]

Cruz criticizes major corporations and their CEOs for supporting the radical left, highlighting instances where businesses have backed Democratic policies and withdrawn support from Republican-favored initiatives. He connects this trend to broader issues of corporate welfare and the alignment of big business interests with the Democratic Party.

---

Concluding Thoughts

Senator Cruz concludes by reinforcing his commitment to individual liberty and fiscal conservatism. He applauds the move to reject corporate PAC money as a necessary step for Republicans to regain their independence from big business influences. The episode wraps up with a call to action for listeners to engage with the podcast and submit questions for future episodes.

Notable Quote:

“So I think that if other Republicans follow suit, that will be a real improvement.” — Ted Cruz [22:59]

Cruz and Knowles emphasize the importance of preserving conservative values and resisting the encroachment of liberal policies facilitated by corporate interests. The episode underscores the ongoing struggle within the GOP to balance traditional conservative principles with the pressures of modern political and economic landscapes.

---

Key Takeaways

1. Bipartisan Divide: Biden’s State of the Union address was perceived as disengaging and excessively partisan, lacking in bipartisan appeal or acknowledgment of critical issues affecting the nation.

2. COVID-19 Policies: Continued emphasis on masks post-vaccination is criticized as unnecessary and inconsistent, undermining public trust in health directives.

3. Corporate PAC Influence: The influence of corporate PACs is a significant concern, leading to Cruz’s decision to reject corporate donations to maintain political integrity and resist corporate overreach.

4. Conservative Strategy: There's a call for Republicans to distance themselves from big business influences to better represent the interests of the American populace and uphold conservative values.

---

Notable Quotes

• “The whole thing was 63 minutes. I'm amazed that I didn't sleep more during the speech.” — Ted Cruz [00:59]
• “The radical didn't surprise me. I was trying to stay awake, actually, one of the reasons why it was so boring.” — Ted Cruz [01:39]
• “If you guys are going to be actively fighting the American people, tearing down America, tearing down freedom, I don't want your stinking money.” — Ted Cruz [20:15]
• “So I think that if other Republicans follow suit, that will be a real improvement.” — Ted Cruz [22:59]

---

Conclusion

This episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson provides a critical examination of President Biden’s State of the Union address and the current political dynamics within the GOP. Senator Ted Cruz offers a perspective that highlights the challenges facing conservatives in maintaining their principles amidst increasing corporate influence and partisan divisions. The discussion serves as a call to action for Republicans to reclaim their political autonomy and advocate for policies that reflect traditional conservative values.

---

Note: This summary is based on the provided transcript and podcast information. Discrepancies between the transcript and the podcast platform may exist.

Transcript

[Michael Knowles]

100 days into his administration, President Biden has finally addressed a joint session of Congress, sort of with a State of the Union address, sort of. The room was largely empty. There were lots of masks, people going in and out. We will cover all of that. Senator Cruz, rather, was there in the room. Senator, any reports? Senator, welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz. I am Michael Knowles. I have often been called boring but radical. And Senator, I guess you've been getting a lot of that these days. You had the finest moment of the night. I'm sort of damning with faint praise because that State of the Union address was unbearable to watch. And I really empathized with you in the room because the TV cameras caught you front and center dozing off during the speech.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, look, the whole thing was 63 minutes. I'm amazed that I didn't sleep more during the speech. I mean, it was so. It was actually on this podcast, what, a month, two months ago, that we actually coined the three word summary for the Biden administration. Boring but radical. It was on Verdict and that prediction had proven right. And in fact, going into the State of the Union, I did a bunch of preview interviews where reporters say, okay, well, what's tonight going to be? And I said, it's going to be boring but radical. I didn't realize just how true that was in both directions, in both the.

[Michael Knowles]

Boring side and the radical side.

[Ted Cruz]

The radical didn't surprise me. I was trying to stay awake, actually, one of the reasons why it was so boring. So there's a weird aspect of State of the Unions and actually you and I talked about this last State of the Union, which is there's kind of a game Republicans, Democrats play. If it's your party, you're popping up like pop goes the weasel on every sentence, like yay, yay, yay. And what's interesting is if you're in the out of power party, so if you're a Democrat when Trump's president, if you're a Republican, when Obama or Biden's president, a State of the Union is often kind of a complicated thing because you're listening to each sentence and try to evaluate, do I clap? Do I not clap? Do I stand? Do I not stand? And you know, look, the Supreme Court justices, the generals, they kind of clap and stand for nothing other than the beginning of the speech. And occasionally America is good. And then there's sort of statements in between. This was bizarre. This is the now the ninth State of the Union or that kind of speech that I've been to. There was virtually nothing for any Republican to clap at. I mean, it was strange. There were whole swaths of, I don't know, seemed like 10, 15 minutes where we're just sitting there and every word out of Biden's mouth is directed only to Democrats and it's only Democrats clapping. And he wasn't even throwing like a tiny fig leaf trying to bring anyone together. Trying. And that's part of why I nodded off and helped the Internet go crazy last night.

[Michael Knowles]

So in terms of the big takeaways for people who, like you, were nodding off not in the Capitol, but in their own homes, what are we supposed to make of this? Because I almost wish that Biden were more overtly radical, that he were more exciting, because he would be calling more people's attention to what he's trying to do. So what is he trying to do? What is going to get done? And do Republicans have any hope?

[Ted Cruz]

Well, Michael, your point is really important, that the boring is by design. It's a mask, it's a facade. It's designed to hide just how extreme the policies are that are being implemented. By the way, interestingly enough, I also saw screenshots of at different points Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi both nodding off. And I guess Mitt Romney was also filmed nodding off. And so I saw Mitt on the floor today and I said, mitt, man, you and I apparently need to get more sleep. And he laughed and said, I wasn't sleeping. I was looking at my phone. It's like, okay, me, I was sleeping.

[Michael Knowles]

That's not a great excuse.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I was genuinely like, I was nodding off. And you know, but look, if you look at what this administration has done, the hard partisan nature of it is remarkable. They start with a so called Covid relief bill gets zero Republican votes in the House, zero Republicans in the Senate. That's actually hard to do. I mean, last year we did five Covid relief bills that were overwhelmingly bipartisan. I mean, they made the decision they didn't want any Republicans. They wanted a hard partisan bill. Infrastructure. Their $2.6 trillion infrastructure bill as written will get zero Republicans. And again, which is hard to do because there are a lot of Republicans that care about infrastructure. But Biden's bill, 5% of the bill is roads and bridges. I mean, it really is absurd. And you know, everything on earth they're gonna tax, every tax is going up. I mean, that's there. We're looking at trillions and trillions and trillions in new taxes. The brazenness of it you know, you think about the speech last night. Not a word about the crisis at the border that his policies have created. By the way, in the midst of the speech, I don't know how much of this made it on tv, but Lauren Boebert, who's, you know, a new freshman House member and someone I like and helped get elected and supported, and she's a fireball. But midway through the speech, she pulled out of her bag a reflective emergency blanket, like the children are wrapped in the cages on the border, and she wrapped herself up in the reflective emergency blanket. I gotta tell you, Kevin McCarthy is sitting in front of her and turns and just glares with dagger eyes. I was doubled over laughing. But it was an interesting sort of quiet protest of the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants that Biden is ignoring and the crisis that he's created that he's ignoring. You know, not a word about the massive debt. Not a word about, you know, not a word of graciousness to President Trump and Operation Warp Speed. I mean, he just crowed about the vaccines without acknowledging that. He laughed at Trump when he said that we would have a vaccine by the end of the year. And that's, of course, exactly what they did. So I thought the substance of it, if you actually hired an actor to give the identical speech, but in an angry, partisan tone, people would have been shocked. I mean, it really is. It's almost a theatrical thing of having these soporific tones, which, as you know, being a yali. Soporific is an underused term, but it literally means putting people to sleep. And last night, that was a literal use of the word.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. You know, this has been Biden's great advantage, certainly in the last several years, which is. If you just read the text of the speech last night, that would have, I think, put a lot of Republicans on their guard. If Kamala Harris, for instance, gave that speech, I think it would have put a lot of people on the very defensive. But because it's Biden, it lulls everyone into this false sense of security. There was, however, one moment I noticed of quasi almost bipartisanship, and it was the moment when Joe Biden began to take ownership of a major Trump policy, or at least a presumptive Trump policy, which was getting out of Afghanistan and was very curious, was in that room, the Democrats applauded. The Republicans weren't applauding. With a couple of exceptions.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. When President Biden said, we're gonna pull out of Afghanistan, there were that. I saw only two Republicans who applauded. I Applauded and Mike Lee applauded, and the rest of our side of the aisle sat there stone faced just looking at him. And I think that's unfortunate because I think this is an area where President Trump was right and he was leaning in to end the endless wars that we've been in. Afghanistan, it's been 20 years, and it's time to bring our sons and daughters home. That doesn't mean we stop killing terrorists and defending our nation, but we don't need to be on the front lines of a battlefront for generations. And you're now literally having having soldiers serving on a front that their parents served on. And that's a pretty strong sign that we've been there too long.

[Michael Knowles]

Yeah. This issue is one that I think shows the way that the GOP is kind of transforming from the way that it once was and the way that Biden is transforming. Let's not forget the decision to restart the war in Afghanistan, to really surge the troops there. That was an Obama Biden decision back when President Obama came into office. But other than that one brief moment, it did seem extraordinarily divisive. And then there was the visual fact that you had the masks in the room. You had Joe Biden, who was very much pushing this idea of public health crisis and we're not allowed to go back to normal. And everything about it just felt so eerie. When are we going to be able to get back to normal? How are we going to be able to push this unified government to get us back to normal?

[Ted Cruz]

Look, I thought there was an enormous amount of political theater. Now listen, State of the Union, there's always political theater. But when it comes to Covid and masks, every person in that room has been vaccinated. And we're also spread out. So we were far away from each other. I actually think it's idiotic that anyone was wearing a mask. And there was a little moment at the beginning of the speech, I don't know if you saw. When Biden goes up there, he walks up at his mask, because of course he does. And then he turns and looks to Nancy Pelosi and asks permission before he removes his mask. It may have been the most beta moment for a US President in history, and it was just pitiful. And look, I gotta tell you, I was conflicted on what to do. So for I think, three weeks now, I have not been wearing a mask on the Senate floor.

[Michael Knowles]

And you've made a big point about this. There have been reporters who have said, please put a mask on and you've said you're more than welcome to walk away from me, but I've been inoculated.

[Ted Cruz]

And listen, I'm not a zealot on mask issues. I wore a mask a year on the Senate floor. This is a dangerous disease. I thought, take reasonable precautions. Makes sense. But in the Senate, it's every person or virtually every person has been vaccinated, and it doesn't make it. I believe in vaccines. And so it's interesting. So Rand Paul has not worn a mask throughout. He was kind of the lonely in the heat of the pandemic. Now he got the disease. So he said, look, I got the disease. I have antibodies, which is reasonable. But Rand was the only one of a hundred that wasn't wearing a mask for months and months and months. And then after everyone got vaccinated, and, you know, Michael, you'll remember, I actually delayed getting vaccinated. So they offered us the vaccines, I think, early January. And I didn't think it was right for members of Congress to cut in line. I mean, I'm relatively young, relatively healthy. I get that a whippersnapper like you doesn't think I'm that young. But, you know, compared to my colleagues in the Senate, I'm still in short shorts and wearing a beanie.

[Michael Knowles]

That's right. And you remember when the polio vaccine came out, so you're well acquainted with all these vaccines.

[Ted Cruz]

And so, you know, I said, all right, I'm gonna wait and let seniors get the vaccine. I'm gonna let first responders get the vaccine. It's not right for me to cut in line. And I did that until about March. And at March, there had been tens of millions of vaccines. The people who were at highest risk had had the opportunity to get the vaccine. And then I said, okay, I'll get it. So I've gotten it now. And so a couple of weeks ago, I just stopped wearing the mask. So what's funny? Two, three days, I stopped wearing the mask. Walk on the Senate floor, and nobody notices. Like, I was doing it for two, three days, and it was just a nothing burger. And then finally, one reporter for cnn, like, sticks a camera in my face and is like, wait, wait, you're not wearing a mask. Why are you not wearing a mask? And I said, because we're all vaccinated. And actually, this reporter says, well, I'm not vaccinated. I'm like, well, that's your choice.

[Michael Knowles]

Consider getting a vaccination.

[Ted Cruz]

The elevator closed. And I remember thinking, like, okay, if you're choosing not to get a vaccine. You can do that. But what right do you have to insist that the rest of us must wear masks? Because you've chosen not to get a vaccine, you don't have a right like it is available to you. And so I have not been wearing it for two, three weeks. I did wear my mask last night, and I sort of struggled with the question. But Pelosi is running this, you know, military installation. Do you know that she is fining House members, fining them if they don't wear a mask on the floor. And she is insisting that House members go through metal detectors. And as idiotic as it is because she's afraid some Republican is gonna be packing heat. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And thankfully the Senate is not that idiotic. And they actually. They took down metal detectors or whatever. Cause like, when I walked in, we didn't go through metal detectors. But I went ahead and wore the mask on the House floor. Cause that's sort of what they're doing there. But I felt pretty sheepish for doing so because it was all theatrics.

[Michael Knowles]

There is something deferential and conservative about saying, well, I'm in this chamber now. It's being run by this crazy lady, so I guess I'll follow the rules. But that's fine.

[Ted Cruz]

That's pretty much exactly what I was doing.

[Michael Knowles]

And it is really nice to see that you've taken this very sensible approach, I think, from the beginning. And I don't think that people on either side can call you reckless about the masks or particularly zealous about.

[Ted Cruz]

I'm sure they can.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, they certainly will. Regardless. The only question is, now, there are so many layers to this question, and I think even a lot of conservatives are very confused. What do we do here? It's not just I recognize the pun of many layers to the masks, but you do. You have some people who say we need to wear three masks. There are some people who say just wear one mask is fine. Some people are saying you don't need to wear a mask. Some people are saying everyone needs to get vaccinated. Some people are saying you need a vaccine passport. Some people are saying ban it at the government level, ban it at the private level. What is the conservative, sensible, American way to approach this issue?

[Ted Cruz]

So I think a vaccine passport is a terrible idea. And I have been vocal and outspoken saying the government shouldn't require it. It would be horrific if the government did it. And I don't think private businesses should. So I don't think airlines should. I don't think private businesses should. I'm someone who believes in vaccines. I think vaccines are a good thing. I've gotten the COVID vaccine. Heidi's gotten the vaccine. My parents have both gotten it. Heidi's parents have gotten it. And I'm encouraging people to get it. I'd like to see as many people as possible get it. But I also believe in individual liberty. And if you don't want to get it, that's your choice. And there are some people who've got health issues for whom it may not make sense to get it. And so I think each person should evaluate whether it makes sense in your circumstances. But, you know, I think the CDC is actually doing real damage with the arbitrariness of their rules. So, for example, even after people get vaccinated, they're still idiotically saying, oh, well, wear masks here and there and everywhere. And it's like, well, wait a second. If we want people to get vaccinated, one of the best ways to do so is make clear once you get vaccinated, you can take the damn mask off. I mean, I mean that I think CDC's dragging their feet on that is very possibly disincentivizing millions of people from getting vaccines. And, you know, this week they put out the guidance of, okay, now you don't need to wear a mask when you're outside if you've been vaccinated. And it's like, well, okay, only morons were doing that. Thank you. And do I need a mask when I'm taking a shower? You haven't clarified that point. Although, did you see Michael, a track coach in Massachusetts, was fired because he wouldn't make his kids wear masks while running cross country track outside.

[Michael Knowles]

He didn't want his students to collapse in the woods and fall down on a rock.

[Ted Cruz]

There's so much of this mass stuff that is just petty totalitarianism. It is, we can control you and we want to control you, and that's what we're doing.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, the rules keep changing, but it's not really about the rules themselves. I find it's about, as you say here, the imposition of the rule. Who gets to impose their will on others? I want to go back to something you said, though, that I think is extraordinarily important. On the question of the vaccine passport, a number of governors have been divided on this because a lot of it's taking place at the state level. Some are saying we will not have any mandates from the government on the vaccine passport. Others are saying we will not permit private businesses to force you to show your medical history when you come into the bar or when you try to go on an airline or something to that effect.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and you're seeing employers that are firing employees for not getting the vaccines, which I think is terrible. I think that is deeply, deeply troubling and shouldn't be allowed.

[Michael Knowles]

This ties in with something that you published yesterday in the Wall Street Journal and you did not tell me that this was coming out. It's not like I got advance notice. I just saw the alert in the Journal and I basically stood up and cheered when I saw this op ed because it's something that conservatives just don't get. Except for very few who are pretty rock ribbed. You said that the era of conservative shilling for private companies, corporations that hate our values and are opposing our country and are opposing even voter integrity measures, that time is over. And you said that you will not accept corporate PAC money in your campaigns.

[Ted Cruz]

So. That's right. I mean, look, we've all been watching the rise of the woke corporations and these big businesses, these Fortune 500 companies where the CEOs have essentially decided they're going to be the political enforcers for the radical left. They're going to be the muscle for the Democratic Party. And we've seen whether it's Coca Cola or Delta Airlines demagoguing on the Georgia voter integrity law or companies demagoguing on the Texas voter integrity law and obviously Major League Baseball yanking the all star game out of Atlanta and moving to lily white Denver instead, which just totally beclowns it. Atlanta is 51% black. Denver is 9% black. So they are so racially woke that they're gonna take $100 million out of the pockets of a bunch of African American small business owners and move it to a bunch of wealthy white people in Denver. It's weird.

[Michael Knowles]

Also worth pointing out that Georgia they left because of the voter integrity law. Colorado has relatively strict voter laws. It's not a clear cut issue over which has the more lenient voter laws.

[Ted Cruz]

So the dynamic that's playing out in the Fortune 500 big business is not conservative. They are not our friends. Many of them are just risk averse and scared. And the liberal mob comes after them and they mobilize their employees, they mobilize their shareholders, they mobilize the press. And these CEOs are more than willing to just cave in and give the mob whatever they want. And it's really dangerous. And so what I announced this week is that I am no longer going to accept any corporate PAC checks, that corporate PACs, I won't take their money. And to give a sense of the magnitude of that. So I've been in the Senate nine years. Over those nine years, I've gotten about $2.6 million in campaign contributions from corporate PACs. Now I've raised well over $100 million during that time. And so that's not, it's not the lion's share of the money that I've raised, but it is, you know, $2.6 million ain't nothing. And I just decided enough is enough. If you guys are going to be actively fighting the American people, tearing down America, tearing down freedom, I don't want your stinking money. And I've called on other, other Republicans to do the same. And I think it's a powerful thing. And listen, you and I have talked about before, corporate welfare has always been garbage. And Republicans have been too willing to engage in that. Where big companies come and say give us a subsidy, give us corporate welfare, give us a band aid. And I've been fighting against that from day one. A lot of other Republicans get sucked in. So the Export Import bank, which serves as essentially a giant subsidy for Boeing, a massive corporate welfare scam. I fought against the Ex IM bank for the entire time I've been in the Senate. But whole lot of Republicans are eager to carry Boeing's water on that. Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball has a unique exemption from the antitrust laws that no other sports league has. And so in response to moving the All Star Game, I joined with Mike Lee. We introduced legislation to revoke Major League Baseball's exemption from the antitrust laws. And I think these two should be tied together, which is no corporate welfare and no more money from big companies. And I think that if other Republicans follow suit, that will be a real improvement.

[Michael Knowles]

I hear this all the time from conservatives writing in. I'm not talking about elected people, I'm not talking about beltway staffers or anything, but just conservatives around the country. They say these Republicans are such shills. Even the ones who will call out the woke corporations, they're totally in their pockets. They'll still accept a lot of money. I think it is such a great move, it said, and such a strong message. And it shows what we all know to be true, that there is nothing conservative about letting these giant woke corporations totally undermine the American way of life and that you're not going to accept their money to do it.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, big business gets in bed with Big government. Big business likes big government. Big business uses government regulations to crush their enemies, to crush their competition. I think we should be the party of the little guy. I think we should be the party of the entrepreneurs of the disruptors. The giant companies don't need our help. And frankly, the policies they push for are almost uniformly terrible. You know, I was encouraged. So I put this op ed out Thursday morning and within a few hours one of my colleagues, Josh Hawley, had already put out on Twitter that he was going to follow my lead and likewise turn down, down corporate PACs. I think that's gonna increase the pressure on a lot of other Republicans to go down the same road. And if that happens, that's a good thing.

[Michael Knowles]

I love that there was a line in Joe Biden's speech which was, it was totally regurgitated left wing talking points where he said the 99% and the 1% and we've gotta make the rich pay their fair share even though they already pay virtually all of the taxes. And it was this classic class warfare sort of stuff. But then I remembered the rich, and especially corporations voted for Biden, donated to Biden. That is this idea that the Democrats are the party of the working man and the Republicans are these plutocrats with their fancy cigars. I mean, I might have the fancy cigars, but the idea that we're all rich uncle pennybags, it's just not what's going on in the parties.

[Ted Cruz]

And I can say this. I've smoked multiple cigars with you. I've never once seen you use a hundred dollar bill to light it. And I think you're too cheap to do that, which is good. I would advise against that fiscal conservative. Look, you look at the Fortune 100. There are only a handful of CEOs in the Fortune 100 who could be remotely characterized as right of center. They're almost all Democrats. And that is the ethos of big business. Because big business does great under the Democrats. They're quite happy with this massive expansion, expansion of spending and regulations and even taxes. The giant companies think if you tax everyone, you'll drive the little guys out of business and the big guys will be just fine. And that's bad, right?

[Michael Knowles]

Of course, Barry Goldwater put it very well in conscience of a conservative. He said, conservatives need to make war on all monopolies. We need to make war on all unlimited power, all of this unchecked power. And anyway, I don't mean to lay it on too thick here, but I was just so pleased to see that op ed I hope that all the other Republicans feel the pressure. It's absolutely the right direction for the party. And we've got a lot of questions in from our wonderful listeners, all of whom they're so great. They subscribe, they leave a five star review on the Apple podcasts, they go to all the different platforms. So we really, really appreciate that. And we are not going to get to a single one of those mailbag questions right now because I want to spend most, if not all of our next episode on Verdict, getting to our listeners in the mailbag. So please be sure to send those questions in. And while you're at it, maybe you subscribe, maybe you leave a five star review, maybe you send it around to your friends and we will get into all of those questions asap. Senator, 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.