← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Spending the Day w Trump, Elon & Rocket Ships, plus Alvin Bragg Continues his Lawlessness
00:44:08
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- [00:01]
A
Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, you had one heck of a day. And anybody that was watching the SpaceX launch saw you standing right next to President Trump and Elon Musk. This had to be a very interesting day of conversations as you spent 1112 hours with him.
- [00:21]
B
Well, I did. And I'll tell you, last night I was on the Senate floor till nearly midnight because Chuck Schumer is ramming through a whole bunch of judges and we were fighting him until midnight. Kept the Democrats, Democrats on the Senate floor until midnight. And then this morning I woke up early, I got on a plane and I flew from D.C. down to Palm beach and then I flew with President Trump from Palm beach to Brownsville, Texas for the launch, the SpaceX launch today, and spent the afternoon with President Trump and Elon Musk and then flew back with President Trump to Palm beach where I'm overnighting. And I'll be back in D.C. tomorrow. So it was a full day. It was a fascinating day. Lot to talk about. We also are going to talk about today Alvin Bragg's attempt to extend lawfare, to extend this criminal trial for five years, to punt it down the road and to hold it as a sort of Damocles over President Trump. This is going to fail is my prediction. But we're going to talk about that as well.
- [01:24]
A
Yeah, we're going to. I got a lot of questions to ask you about that plane ride. It's and what I was talking about because it's the first time you guys have spent some real quality time together since election day. And I know everybody listening has got a million questions in their head just like I do. I'm going to get as many of those out as I can. Let me tell you real quick about a incredible organization called uscca. And if you are like me and you carry a firearm to protect and defend yourself and your family, then you need to make sure that you are a member of the USCCA. In fact, there are over 800,000Americans that are members right now. And when you become a member, not only will you get access to their protector academy to learn vital skills like precision shooting and how to fortify your home against criminals, but you also get access to the 247 Critical Response Team and the included benefit of self defense liability insurance. Now that is the most important thing for me. I had to use my firearm to save my life. I had to pull the trigger and I wish I would have had USCCA backing me up with that self defense liability insurance to make sure that I, I and you, if you remember and your family are prepared for anything. There's a lot of activist DAs out there right now that love going after law abiding citizens and people that exercise their second amendment right. That is another reason why you need to join. And for a limited time you can text the word America to 87222 to get the USCCA's free life saving Concealed carry and family defense guide. And also a bonus, a chance to win seventeen hundred dollars to buy any self defense gear you need before it's too late. So text the word right Now America to 87222 right now. That's the word. Text the word America to 87222 right now. All right, center, we're going to do rapid fire here because there's a million people that are thinking what I'm thinking and that is how does it work? You go down to Florida, you meet at the tarmac and then you get on Trump Force One. What is the process of that even like?
- [03:35]
B
So that's exactly right. And the way it worked is I got a call yesterday from Trump's team saying, hey, you want to fly with the President down to Texas and go to the launch? And I said sure. And so I had to get myself down here. And so I flew in commercial down to Palm beach and then went over to the, to the FBO and met the President on Trump Force One. I have to say it's the first time I've been on Trump Force One. I've been on Air Force One with him a lot of times, but it's the first time I've been on his campaign plane. You know, it made me, it reminded me of the first time I joined him on Air Force One. And this was just, I don't know, a couple of months after he became president in 2017. And when I came on Air Force one, I said, Mr. President, nice plane. And he looked at me and laughed and said, yeah, my other one was nicer. And I said, true, but that one didn't have missiles, which he laughed as well. And I have to say, having been on both truck, Force One is really nice. It's a very well decked out, it's a beautiful plane inside a lot of space. And so we sat, had about a two and a half, three hour flight to Texas and about the same back. And so spent a lot of time sitting in the plane talking. It was beautiful. We were there also with a number of folks. Don Jr. Came. Don Jr. S eldest daughter Kai came. We had actually you are going to be very impressed by who came. Do you know who was there?
- [05:11]
A
Who else?
- [05:14]
B
Bryson DeChambeau.
- [05:15]
A
Well, see that now, now I'm having FOMO right now. That's that. And for people that don't know who Bryson is, Bryson is a, is a, a world class golfer. He has won majors and is, and has been a huge Trump supporter and loves hanging out with him. They play golf together quite often.
- [05:33]
B
Well, and he just won the US Open.
- [05:35]
A
Yeah.
- [05:36]
B
And, and it was, I'll tell you, a good chunk of the discussion. So, so I was, there were four of us seated together and I was across from Trump and Bryson was next to me. And a good chunk of the con was about their golf game. And, and he, he and Trump play a lot. And what do you think? Bryson drives.
- [05:55]
A
So I, I'm gonna go 3:40 would probably be somewhere in that area. I mean, the guy just hammers the ball and he had, he's had some that have been 375, 380 as well.
- [06:07]
B
He's, he said he drives pretty consistently. 350 to 360.
- [06:11]
A
There you go. And that. Yeah. With technology now, he's getting better every year. That makes sense. It's. And that is insane if, if you've ever played golf. You know, I mean, I hit the ball pretty decent and my average drive is like 265. So he's got 100 yards on that.
- [06:26]
B
Trump was saying, you play a par four and he's on the green and one.
- [06:30]
A
It's unbelievable. So he just went to go watch the launch as well. That's so much fun.
- [06:34]
B
Yeah, no, he's, he is, and he's a, he's a Texan. He went to smu. He's from California originally, so I didn't know him, but I hung out with him. He was a great guy, really enjoyed hanging out with him. Linda McMahon was on the plane. Now, Linda McMahon was just announced as the new Secretary of Education. I know Linda under the first administration. She was the administrator, the Small Business Administration. And actually Trump told us on the plane, he said, well, what do you think? Linda's going to be our new Secretary of Education. What do you think of that? And we were like, great. In fact, he was talking with Linda. Do we put this out today? We put it out tomorrow. And they ended up putting it out today. So the news broke. She's going to be terrific at that. And so that was a good discussion. And so I had a good chance. I know Linda well and she's been chairing the board of the America First Policy Institute. So she's been very engaged with the President. She's helped leading, she's helping lead the transition team for President Trump. And Linda and I talk quite a bit about the legislation that I authored during the first Trump administration that that would be the most far reaching federal school choice legislation that's ever passed. And it was legislation that I announced with Betsy DeVos, Trump's first secretary of education at the Department of Education. And it became the Trump administration's lead school choice proposal, was my legislation. And in fact, he talked about it in one of the State of the Union addresses. And so Linda and I talked about that and working to push for school choice, to expand the options for students and working together on that.
- [08:11]
A
And she's an advocate for school choice, from what I've read. Is that correct? I mean, that's something that certainly she is saying. Yes, I like this idea.
- [08:18]
B
Yeah, she is certainly an advocate for school choice. And she also has been an advocate for workforce training and education. That's something she's done a lot of at America First Policy Institute. And the proposal that I authored, what it consists of is federal tax credits, dollar for dollar tax credits, $10 billion a year, so $100 billion over 10 years. 5 billion of it is focused on K through 12 education, and 5 billion of it is focused on workforce development education. And the way the legislation is structured, each state can choose whether to opt in or not. So it's not forced on the states. And the states can opt in to the K through 12 part or the workforce development part, or both. And the way it operates is once the state ops in, any individual or corporation that makes a contribution to a scholarship granting organization in that state gets a dollar for dollar tax credit on their federal taxes. And so what it results in is $10 billion in additional resources going to education and school choice. The way it is drafted, however, the federal government stays out of the business of curriculum. The federal government has no control, no strings over what's taught. The only requirement is that for the states to participate, they cannot discriminate against private schools or religious schools. They have to let parents and students decide. And if they do that, the money flows. And it would be transformational to give you a sense of what it means for a state the size of Texas. Texas is about 10% of the national population. The money is allocated pro rata. So that would mean about a billion dollars a year in additional scholarships going to young people and adults in the state of Texas, which would be really, really Potent.
- [10:17]
A
So let's talk about that reform. Since you mentioned her name, and this is the best part about this show is we get to, we get to, you know, go down these rabbit holes. There has been such just fervor from the left to not move towards school choice because it's all about the teachers unions. It's all about putting the unions first instead of the kids. There's a lot of kids in failing schools. There's a lot of African American kids, minority kids, Hispanic kids that are in failing schools as well. Is there the political willpower this go around to actually do it? Because look, I've seen a lot of conservatives say, oh, they like the idea, keyword idea of school choice, but when it comes down to it, they're afraid, they're gun shy. Do you feel like we're seeing a turn now? Especially if you have a secretary of education that's on board with it as well?
- [11:08]
B
So at the state level, definitely at the federal level, it's still going to be a challenge. Let's talk about the state level for a minute. I think next year Texas is going to pass landmark school choice legislation. And that's something I've been incredibly active in. And so going down this rabbit hole, as you mentioned, in the state legislature. So out of 100 senators, to the best of my knowledge, 99 of them avoid making endorsements in primaries in their states and state legislative races. And there's a reason for that, Ben. If you're a U.S. senator and you make endorsements and primaries in your state, it is a political loser for you. The rule of thumb is when you make an endorsement, you get half their friends and all their enemies. And so most people don't do that. They stay out of primaries. I am the only exception of which I'm aware. And I regularly, I make many, many endorsements in primaries in the state house and the state senate. And I make those endorsements based on a single criteria, which is school choice. I think school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century. And I am absolutely committed to fighting for school choice. I think every child should have the right to have access to an excellent education, regardless of their race, their ethnicity, their wealth, their zip code. And so the way I do it in Texas, it is every two years, every election cycle, I have my team prepare an Excel spreadsheet of every vote that every state legislator and every state senator has cast on school choice. And if you voted in favor of school choice and you're otherwise relatively conservative, you are very likely to get my support. If, on the other hand, you voted against school choice, the chances of your getting my support are zero. And if you have anything resembling a credible primary challenger, I am quite likely to support that primary challenger. And when I do so, I don't do so gently. I come in. I'll often cut radio ads or TV ads. I'll come in and actively campaign. And I'll tell you, over the last two cycles, we have repeatedly beaten incumbent state legislators who oppose school choice. Two years ago, we almost passed school choice in Texas, but it failed because a bunch of Republicans voted against it. And this cycle I endorsed against those Republicans. So did Greg Abbott, the governor. He jumped in this time and we beat almost every one of them. And I actually think the opponents of school choice are going to regret killing it two years ago because I think what passes in Texas this spring is going to be much bigger and bolder, and I'm hopeful it will be the biggest and boldest school choice program in America. So at the same time, does that.
- [14:07]
A
Become the blueprint then? And part of the reason why you've taken these political risks and hit and doing what you decided to do in these primaries, I'm guessing, is because you want Texas to be the beacon for the blueprint for the way to get this done state by state, correct?
- [14:22]
B
Yes. Texas should be leading. And one of the things, remember, Texas has about 10% of the school kids in the entire country. So when Texas leads, when we pass the biggest and boldest school choice program, that is going to impact the whole country profoundly. Now, at the federal level, at the federal level, to pass legislation, you've got to get it through the Senate, which means you've got to overcome a filibuster, which means you've got to get some Democrats. Right now, we do not have any Democrats, not even one in the Senate who supports school choice. Part of the reason my legislation combines K through 12 education with workforce development is with the workforce development, I'm trying to broaden the coalition. The Democrats are perfectly happy to tell African American kids and Hispanic kids and their parents go jump in the lake, we're not going to do anything for you because we're bought and paid for by the teachers union. And so we get no Democrats because of that. I'm trying to expand it. So we get the trade unions and construction unions, all of whom care a lot about workforce development, and they are historically significant constituents of Democrats. I'm trying to expand the political coalition. That being said, we still have a significant journey to go. So I think I'm much more optimistic at the state level than the federal level. Now, let's talk more about the plane trip with President Trump. I'll tell you, just mood wise, the President was in a great mood. He was laughing, he was as happy and relaxed as I've ever seen him. As I said, we were talking about golf quite a bit. We were hanging out. He was glowing in the election results. I saw him, I think two weeks before the election was the last time I'd seen him. So I hadn't seen him since the election. I talked to him since the election, but this is the first time I saw him in person. And he was, he was just, he was justifiably really happy about the election results. And we were talking about how it's a mandate, about how his election results, how winning the Senate, the House and how he's winning the popular vote, how he's winning all seven of the swing states really as a mandate to deliver on our promises. And that was a big part of what we talked about on the plane.
- [16:41]
A
Let's talk about also policies and Cabinet. You mentioned you guys are on the plane. He named one. Does he talk policy with you and with everybody around? Is he talking about cabinet positions that are still left and open and need to be filled, or is he talking about confirmations and how that's going to work? I mean, how organized is it when it comes to just, or is he just picking your brain saying, all right, what are we up against? What do we need to do do next?
- [17:08]
B
So look, we're just sitting there. It's, you know, a three hour plane ride. So you're just talking back and forth. You're, you're hanging out and, and talking. He mentioned at the beginning of the plane ride, he said RFK really wants Dr. Oz to, to be his right hand. And, and, and so he asked what we thought of that. I, I said, I, I don't know Oz personally, but he seems like an impressive guy, seems like a good communicator, is obviously a, a medical doctor who knows how to communicate issues of health care effectively, which is something that I think is very valuable. And so he showed us, for example, a statement that they were going to put out that he was like writing right there on the plane. And he would be with his comm staff and they'd come up with a statement, they put it out and I mean, it's a wild thing where he composes a statement or a tweet that goes out and like five minutes later, you know, the TV on the plane is on. And there's the news with his statement. Boom. Right on the TV. And so the news broke that Dr. Oz was gonna be RFK's right hand at Health and Human Services. And that was.
- [18:14]
A
And I know you guys, you had it on CNN and msnbc, right? No Fox on the plane, right?
- [18:19]
B
All Fox, thankfully. Although we did talk some about Joe Scarborough and Mika going down to Mar A Lago, and we were kind of laughing about that.
- [18:28]
A
And what did he say about it? Because it was. We know what they said on TV about it. What did he say about it? Why was there. Why. What was the logic behind having that meeting?
- [18:38]
B
Look, he didn't say a lot. He was pretty gracious about was. I will say, you know, Don Jr. Was, was. Was less. You know, he made a comment, something to the effect of, my dad's a lot nicer than I would be.
- [18:53]
A
Yeah.
- [18:54]
B
But, you know, he, he met with them and sort of look that MSNBC is, is in crisis because they've lost their viewers. I will say we watch. As we were flying back on Fox Tonight, Rosie O'Donnell, who had this, like, blistering statement blasting, Joe and Nika, how dare you go talk to Trump. You'll never be forgiven for this. And I will say we all got a pretty hearty laugh at watching the, the intense hatred from Rosie O'Donnell and the left, who are angry, they're angry at the voters, they're angry at America, they're angry at the world right now for where we are. And I think, in my view, Joe and Mika, we're desperate to try to respond to changed circumstances. But apparently when they spent two years or four years or 10 years saying, He's Hitler, he's Hitler, he's Hitler, apparently they want to sit down and pal around with Hitler.
- [19:49]
A
Yeah. Hang out with Hitler and come back and say, we had a really nice meeting with Hitler. Said, no one ever. But that is exactly what they did on tv. And I think that's part of the reason why there was such a strong reaction from both sides. It was pandering at its. In its worst form. I actually think it was a brilliant move by Trump. And this goes back to the. I call it the Trump Doctrine. He's willing to meet with anybody pretty much at any time, even the people that hate him. He's willing to have conversations with Kim Jong Un or with Mika and Joe Scarborough or with Vladimir Putin. I like that. And I think that's one of the things that the American people like. And I want to get your take on that. As well. But first, let me tell you about Patriot Mobile. If you have a cell phone and your cell phone is with Big Mobile, you got to know where your money's been going. Big Mobile has been giving massive donations to Democratic causes, candidates and organizations, radical organizations that pay for abortions, for example. And if you don't want your money going to help support Democrats getting elected, then you need to switch to Patriot Mobile. They were started more than a decade ago. And right now it's never been easier to make the switch because guess what? All these cell phone companies are using the same networks and the same towers now with technology in 2024. So you get to keep the exact same coverage you love without the woke radical agenda of the left. Now, switching is also the easiest it's ever been. You do it over the phone. You can keep your same cell phone you have right now, keep your same cell phone number, and you can even upgrade your phone if you want to. But when you pay your bill to Patriot Mobile, this is where the magic is for me. They take about 5% of your bill every month at no extra cost to you, and they give it back to conservative causes that are fighting the fight. They're fighting for our Christian values, they're fighting for religious freedom, they're fighting for our first and Second Amendment rights. And they spend a lot of money fighting to protect unborn children. That is why I love being a member of Patriot Mobile. And I want you to check them out today. Go to patriotmobile.com that's patriot mobile.com verdict or you can call them right now and you're going to get a free month when you use the offer code verdict. The number 972 Patriot. That's 972 Patriot. Get a free month of service when you use the offer code verdict or patriot mobile.com verdict. So let's talk about this. It's not just domestic policy, it's foreign policy. Trump is clearly saying, I'll talk to anybody anywhere if it's for the good of the country and for the good of the people. And whether it's on the media side or with these leaders around the world. And that is something I think is contagious. That also threatens Washington.
- [22:31]
B
Well, yeah, and we spent a good chunk of the plane ride also talking about, number one, how to resolve the war in Ukraine and Trump's concern and my concern that Joe Biden is escalating the war and it really is getting dangerous where we are in these next two months, but also talking about how to end the war in Israel, how to defeat Hamas and get the hostages back. And so we had a really robust conversation on both of those fronts. And those are major foreign policy challenges that Trump is inheriting. And I have predicted for a long time that both of those wars will come to an end in the next year, and maybe even sooner than that, because they were both caused, I think, fundamentally by the weakness of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the weakness of our commander in chief. And I think having a strong commander in chief is going to dramatically alter how our enemies behave and bring those conflicts to an end. So we talked about that at considerable length.
- [23:29]
A
Yeah. And you can see people taking his lead at Germany, even talking with Russia, saying, maybe it's time to wind this thing down. That's not something they'd say said before. So let's talk about confirmations for a second. What is the. The schedule look like right now? And I'm sure this had to be part of the conversation because he names people and then what you do next is you go meet with members of Congress to try to gain support. I'm assuming that's full speed ahead right now. Those meetings are already taking place.
- [23:59]
B
Sure. That is moving forward. Forward. And what's going to happen is at the beginning of January, the new Congress will be sworn in. So the new Congress will be sworn in before Trump is. And so we will begin in the Senate hearings on the people he's named to the Cabinet even before he's president. Now, we can't confirm anyone before he's president because he can't nominate anyone until he is president. But we can do the hearings the first couple of weeks of January, and I fully anticipate that's what the Senate will do so that we could move expeditiously with confirmations in particular of the top Cabinet appointments. And so we talked about that at considerable length as well. And then I got to tell you, when we landed in Texas and we landed in Brownsville, Brownsville, as you know, is the southern tip of Texas. And it's where SpaceX at Boca Chica has built their launch site and has built a factory. And the factory is where they build starships, which are massive. They're the largest rockets in the world. They're absolutely massive. They build them there. And it's where the launch was and the size of it just the rocket booster has 33 Raptor engines in it.
- [25:15]
A
Wow.
- [25:15]
B
And each of those Raptor engines produces twice as much thrust as all four engines on a 747. So, I mean, it is Incredible, the power that comes out of the engines. And by the way, SpaceX makes those engines. They make the boosters, they make the starship. And so we were gathered at the observation deck to watch the launch. And the observation deck is a couple of miles away from the launch because you can't be too close, the noise is too great. And so we, you know, saw the launch control room and then stood there with it with Elon and as he was telling us about all the challenges and listen, they're still in the, in the testing mode. I mean, this is a starship that Elon hopes and intends to take to Mars. And so they are testing that. They're improving, for example, the ceramic heat shield tiles that are on the starship, they're improving their thrusters and they're experimenting and learning what works. And so we, you know, look, Elon was, was very honest. He said, look, at a test like this, we don't know what happens. And, and sometimes when you're testing rockets, you know, rockets can blow up. It's why you test them to make sure that, that, that if they do have a problem, that they have a problem before you have a manned crew on it. And there was no manned crew on this launch. But you're testing different, different technology to see how it operates. And so we stood there and watched the launch and people all around the world watched the launch. The launch was successful. It was amazing to watch. We saw it. What was really striking is you see it and then it takes several seconds for the sound to travel that distance. So it's already. And I mean you're literally even at several miles away, like the ground is shaking from the force of the rocket launch. And Elon is someone whom I know well, I've spent a lot of time with Elon, but, but every time I'm with him, the guy is just so friggin smart. I mean, it's, Look, Ben, I've been blessed to get to know a lot of really scary smart people. And I got to say, Elon is just in a class all by himself. I mean, it's, the guy just thinks it's not even outside the box. He doesn't know there's a box. He just, you look at something like rocket ships. Everyone fired rockets in the air and then the boosters fell and you just discarded them and you did it again. And so every rocket was a single use rocket. And Elon revolutionized, said, well, wait a second, why do we have to have single use rockets? Why not fire a rocket in the air? And then have it come down and why not catch it out of the air with giant robot arms, which he calls chopsticks? And everyone said, okay, that's absurd. That's insane. Nobody can do that. That doesn't make any sense. And of course, that's exactly what Elon built. And it's. It has so changed. It was kind of funny. Elon referred several times to this as alien technology. And, you know, I don't think that's too much of an exaggeration watching it. So we all watched in amazement as.
- [28:21]
A
As we were watching, or I was watching on TV and many others were. I do have to say, one of the most fun parts for me of watching, you know, Trump and you and everybody there is just the boy boyhood excitement is. And I say that in the most sincere and authentic way ever on the faces of everyone that was able to watch this. I don't care who you are, just getting to watch it and to see Elon's face and your face and President Trump's face and others that were around you guys. I saw Hagerty there, for example. It was just the moment of, like, this is unbelievable.
- [28:58]
B
Well, and it was traveling. So the starship itself traveled halfway around the world. The booster separated. We saw the booster separate, and initially the plan was that it was going to go down and be caught by the robot arms where it had been launched. And in fact, it separates. The booster was attached to the starship for a minute and a half, and then it separated. And we initially got the call catch as a go, which we were excited about, because they only try to catch it if all the conditions are right. And so they were. They were going to catch the booster, and then they ended up altering the plan and not doing the catch but having it instead land in the Gulf of Mexico. And so the conditions were slightly off, and so they had it land in the Gulf. But Elon was really happy because it landed in the Gulf, but it did not explode. And last time when it landed in the Gulf, it did explode. And so, look, they're testing different things to see what happens. And it was interesting. It floats in the water. I was asking Elon why does it float? He says, well, look, once the liquid methane and liquid oxygen is out, he said, it has the density essentially of an empty beer can. And so just like you throw an empty beer can on the water and it floats, that's the same thing as the booster. And so they're going and salvaging the booster and discovering, okay, what happened? What's going on there. So that landed pretty quickly. The starship traveled for about an hour, and it landed, I think about six hours.
- [30:25]
A
And then did you guys go inside or after how long were you outside? And then where did you get to watch the second part?
- [30:32]
B
So we were outside. We arrived probably an hour before the launch. And so we were talking with Elon, and we were in the control room and just having conversations, and we watched and we watched the booster separate. And then we watched the booster come down. Although we couldn't see, the booster landed far enough out in the Gulf that we couldn't see with our naked eye the booster landing in the water. But we had the video on a big screen, so we were watching it there. And then what we did, because you had about an hour while the starship was traveling in space, and it was going about 26,000 kilometers an hour. It was about 160 kilometers above planet Earth. One of the things Elon said is that the starship was traveling about 10 times the speed of a bullet out of an assault rifle, which, there's an analogy you can understand. Ben and his final junior was laughing, going, all right, that makes sense to me, too. But that's fast.
- [31:30]
A
Yeah, that's fast on a whole nother level. And so you got to watch all of this take place. How important is this, just this technology and the fact it's being done in Texas? Because that is the reason why you were on that plane. That's why they asked you to go down there, because this is in Texas. I don't think people realize what this is doing for the Texas economy as well.
- [31:54]
B
So it is incredible. And while the starship was flying halfway around the world, we left the launch observation site. We went to the factory, which is right at the launch site now, the factory. So five years ago, this was essentially an empty beach, like just sand, and nothing was on it. And in five years, Elon has built this incredible. And I've been to it before, I've toured it before, but. But it is. It takes your breath away. They are manufacturing about one rocket ship a month. And then these things are massive. So you go into the factory and. And there I. I think it was 22 stories high, is how tall the booth. I mean, it just goes up and up and up and up, and it's huge. And, you know, we went in and saw and they are manufacturing them to a level of precision, down to the tenth of a millimeter. I mean, you think about this, it's not like SpaceX is making just widgets. I Mean, if a screw is wrong, the damn thing can blow up. There's so many ways for something to go wrong. And they have a level of precision that is just astonishing. And so we went in and saw and toured. And one of the things Elon said is, look, they're doing launch after launch after launch. And every one, they're improving the technology and they're trying different things. So one of the things they did on this one is they're testing different angles of reentry to see, okay, if you angle the starship at a slightly different angle, is there more heat, is there less heat? What happens, you know, what's the optimum angle? So they're trying all sorts of different things. So we toured those facilities, by the way. They, like, basically built a whole town. They built housing for the employees. One of the things Elon said that you know is a challenge when you're recruiting the best engineers and rocket scientists, and they're literally rocket scientists, is he said, you've got to find a place that their significant others want to live. And so they basically built a whole community with like houses all around there. And like, I didn't go this time, but I've been previously. They have like a little tiki bar that's sort of a club that the employees can go and hang out. And then, you know, he said, look, you gotta, you have to create an environment that both your incredibly skilled employees and their significant others want to be in. And one thing, you know, but not every verdict listener may know, Look, Brownsville has historically been faced very significant economic challenges. And so to have this incredible high tech, billions and billions of dollars invested in Brownsville and in deep South Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley was really significant. By the way, when we took the motorcade from where Trump Force One landed to the launch site, the entire roadside of driving along, there were thousands of people waving signs, waving American flags, cheering. And one of the most significant aspects of this election in Texas is that both Donald Trump and I, both of us won Hispanics in the state of Texas. I won Hispanics by six points statewide. That's unprecedented. And the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas has been bright blue for 100 years. It has been just an absolute bastion of the Democrat Party. And this election, South Texas flipped red. I mean, Starr county had a 50 point move. It's the most Hispanic county in America, and it had a massive move. Trump won it. The move in South Texas, I think, is generational and transformational. And you could just see it as people were cheering and thrilled. The president was there, that that was a very cool aspect of it as well.
- [35:58]
A
Every day I wake up early in the morning and I got to make sure I get a cup of coffee. And look, when you do radio, you got to keep your voice going and you need something hot to drink. Well, I'm not going to have an average cup of coffee. And that's exactly why I want want you to know about blackout coffee and I want you to try it. There's a lot of woke coffee companies out there. You probably thought of a few names right away when I said that, well, don't give your money to those companies. So give it to a conservative company that gives you the best cup of coffee you're ever going to have. Blackout coffee is 100% America and 0% woke. And they are committed to conservative values. From the sourcing of the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping, they embody and are proud to be a true American values company. The other thing is this. They accept, as I mentioned a moment ago, no compromise on taste or quality. Now, I get messages on X almost every day now from different listeners saying, hey, Ben, thanks for telling me about blackout coffee. You weren't joking. It is a phenomenal cup of coffee. Try it, go and see and do it for yourself and you're going to be hooked and I'm going to save you money. Go to blackoutcoffee.com verdict that's blackoutcoffee.com verdict. Use the coupon code verdict for 20 off your first order. Blackoutcoffee.com verdict Be awake, not woke. That's blackoutcoffee.com verdict. Use a coupon code verdict for 20% off your first order. All right, final question on this trip. So you get done with all this excitement and then this is still kind of awesome. You get back on Trump Force One and you fly back to Florida. What was the conversation like on the way home?
- [37:44]
B
Again, it was relaxed. We're having fun. We're talking, you know, we had had Fox on. And so we're watching Jesse Waters, Laura Ingram and Hannity and we're talking about all that and just sort of riffing back and forth. You know, as we were landing, Trump began playing music. And so when he's down at Mar a Lago, Trump likes to basically be the DJ and he has an iPad there that he controls the music in Mar a Lago. And he'll sit there at the table and just play the songs he wants to listen to. And so as we were landing in Palm beach, he put On Guns N Roses, a music video that he loves from Guns N Roses. And then he put on another music video from Pabratti, which you want to talk about some breadth in music taste that, that's what we were listening to as we went wheels down back in Florida.
- [38:34]
A
Now, did you eat any McDonald's? Because there's a lot of pictures that get taken on TRUMP Force one eat McDonald's.
- [38:40]
B
We did not. Our dinner instead was Whataburger because we were in Texas. Dammit.
- [38:44]
A
I love it. See, I set you up perfect for that answer.
- [38:48]
B
You didn't even know the answer to that, did you?
- [38:49]
A
I know, but I set you up there perfectly. So what did he say about Whataburger compared to McDonald's? Was it a no brainer for him?
- [38:56]
B
He was like, this is a really good hamburger. Wow, this is really great. I mean, he, he was, I would say he was a fan.
- [39:03]
A
I love it. All right, I want to ask you lastly about big news that happened and this is much more of a serious topic. Trump team is declaring victory after the Manhattan prosecutors push for a four year freeze on sentencing Donald Trump in his business records case. I've never heard of this before in my life. Maybe this is something that's normal. And Alvin Bragg is upset. He's like, no, no, I still want to go after Donald Trump. You got to delay it. We'll delay it. But I want him, I still want him. I still believe I'm right. I still want to put him in jail.
- [39:38]
B
Well, President Trump has filed a motion to dismiss his criminal condition conviction. And the Manhattan prosecutor, instead of agreeing to that, has suggested to the judge, no, no, don't dismiss it. Just put it on hold for four years. Just freeze it, don't sentence him, just leave the conviction hanging out there. And I gotta say, look, unprecedented doesn't begin to describe it. It is an absolute abuse of power. And look, you gotta understand, Alvin Bragg is an elected Democrat in Manhattan. In Manhattan, you've still got an overwhelming majority of Democrats, many of whom hate Donald Trump's guts. And so for Alvin Bragg, even though politically, nationally, the persecution and lawfare of Donald Trump, I think actually played a significant factor in his winning. And that was a point I made to him on the flight, is that I said, we talked quite a bit about all the cases and everything he's endured. And I said, look, ironically, the more they went after you, the more I think it helped you. And if it had been just one indictment, it might have been more harmful, but there were so many that it became obvious to anyone that this was just a persecution. This was a political witch hunt. This was a partisan effort to go after someone because they were terrified that what would happen is what in fact did happen, that the American people would vote to reelect him. And I think, as I said, it ended up boosting him significantly in the polls. Well, even though it, I think, was harmful to Democrats nationally in Manhattan, I suspect it's quite helpful to Alvin Bragg because there are a lot of partisans who hate Trump. And I gotta say, I am very hopeful, you know, that this will be thrown out. The judge, Juan Merchan, has demonstrated, I think, a lot of bias. He is a partisan Democrat as well. It'll be interesting to see what he does, because I think if he agrees with the prosecutor, if he says, okay, we're going to just put this on ice for four years, I think that will prompt an appeal. It will probably prompt what's called a writ of mandamus to an appellate court to order either the case dismissed or to order him to rule. Because what Alvin Bragg wants to do is he wants to run for reelection saying, I prosecuted Donald Trump, I got a conviction of Donald Trump, and to use it, number one, for his political advantage. Number two, he wants to avoid an appellate reversal. So he wants four years of the appellate courts not examining the many and the rampant legal errors in his rulings. But. But number three, he wants to use this to threaten the President, to have it hangover. And this guy's enough of a zealot that, I mean, he's literally talking about, okay, four plus years from now, when he's done with being president, he's 82 years old. Alvin Bragg wants to put him in jail like it, just to be there to threaten the President every day. And by the way, number four, he wants CNN and MSNBC and all of the corporate media to refer to him as a convicted felon over and over and over again. And if the case is thrown out, that becomes a lot more problematic. I do not believe Alvin Bragg will succeed in this either. The trial judge will say, look, this is not tenable. You can't, you can't have a jury verdict and then just free sentencing for four years. Or if not, I think we will see an appellate court step in and say, this is inconsistent with New York law and is inconsistent with the Constitution. I'm very hopeful that's what will happen.
- [43:23]
A
Well, I think it's fair to say one heck of a day, Senator, and a great day for, for the citizens in Texas, for, for just everybody down there in Brownsville and also to hear that things are full speed ahead on the Trump train after this mandate in a big victory. I also just love hearing that Donald Trump's in such good spirits. He's been through hell and back. He's literally been shot in the last six months. And, and to see him enjoying life the way that you described it, with so many heavy things around him, I think that's just great for everybody to hear. Don't forget, we do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make sure you hit that subscribe or auto download button and write us a five star review if you would as well. And the center and I will see you back here on Friday morning.