← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The FBI is Targeting Catholics, NBA Coaches Are Attacking The 2nd Amendment, & Bud Light is Going Woke
00:47:52
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- [00:02]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, nice to chat with you today. And let's start with the big headline that, that so many people, especially in the Catholic faith, are talking about. And that is the fact that it looks like the FBI was trying to infiltrate Catholic groups and using, trying to use people in the church to basically become, you know, FBI informants. There's also a lot of people that are asking the question now, did the FBI lie to Congress about this, saying, I don't know, we didn't do this. And now it's coming to light that, in fact, this was actually happening. Your initial reaction to that?
- [00:44]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, I think these reports are very concerning. We have seen that the Biden Justice Department has a persistent animosity to religious faith and that they are willing to weaponize the Department of Justice and the FBI to target people of faith. We've seen that in a host of different contexts. We've seen that, for example, in their unwillingness to prosecute the protesters who are committing federal crimes by protesting outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, and because the Attorney General disagrees with the Dobbs decision, he refuses to prosecute even a single one of them. At the same time, we've also seen the Attorney General and the Department of Justice and the FBI bring very limited prosecutorial resources to going after violent terrorists who are attacking, who are vandalizing, who are firebombing crisis pregnancy centers. Again, because their politics, they don't prioritize those acts of violence. And now the latest news. We knew publicly, because of a whistleblower who had leaked it, that one of the field offices, the Richmond field office of the FBI, had written a document that was entitled Interest of Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremists in Radical Traditionalist Catholic Ideology Almost certainly presents new mitigation opportunities. And so this, this memo, it was called a Domain Perspective, was leaked by a whistleblower. And when Chris Wray, the head of the FBI, was asked before the Senate Judiciary Committee about it, he denounced the document. And he said the document was appalling and that it had been withdrawn. Well, what has now broken this week is, is that Jim Jordan and the House Committee on the Weaponization of Law Enforcement has made public that the FBI, and in particular the Richmond field office, was using undercover agents and in particular at least one undercover employee to try to penetrate local Catholic churches. And so, for example, this is a quote from the opportunities part of the memo. It says, in addition to redaction, we don't know what's under the redaction engage in outreach to the leadership of Other Society of St. Pius X Chapels in the FBI Richmond area of responsibility to sensitize these congregations to the warning signs of radicalization and to enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires. And so this piece, Chris Wray had not indicated before that the FBI was placing undercover operatives. I don't know whether they were trying to recruit undercover sources from within the Catholic Church or whether they were trying to place agents undercover. Either way, that, that is a major escalation from what was known previously and it's very concerning.
- [04:18]
Ben Ferguson
It also has to concern you the fact that we're not getting straight answers yet again from the DOJ and the FBI. And this isn't the first time that's happening. We've had reports even they've come out recently about the White House may have actually been involved or at least read in on the Donald Trump mar a lago raid. We know that they lied about, you know, having parents be labeled as domestic terrorists. Uh, is a, is another example there that we're going to school boards. I mean there, there have been quite a few instances now where the documents call into question the FBI and the DOJ on their explanations. When they come before you and, and your fellow members of Congress where their stories don't add up, you can be old fashioned, just say it seems like they're lying to you guys on a pretty regular basis.
- [05:04]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, unfortunately, neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice have shown any willingness to be held accountable by Congress or the American people. With both the Attorney General and the head of the FBI, they are highly resistant to answering questions. They typically will stonewall. They'll refuse to answer any specifics. By the way, they've done this persistently concerning January 6th. When I've questioned the Department of Justice, when I've questioned the FBI about undercover agents that were involved in January 6th, they refused to answer. When I questioned them about Raips, they refused to answer. They simply stonewall. When I asked the FBI if undercover agents were involved in inciting acts of violence, they refused to answer. And I think that is highly concerning. There's an attitude within the FBI and the Department of Justice that they get to decide the rules, they get to decide what's acceptable and that no one can hold them to account. And I think it's producing an enormous lack of trust in law enforcement. It's the reason I wrote the book a few months ago, justice how the Left has Weaponized the Legal System. Because in that book I outlined how under Joe Biden, the Department of justice and the FBI have deliberately been turned into weapons to target the political opponents of this administration. And with regard to the targeting of the Catholic Church, look, these documents indicate that they see as a quote, warning sign, people who attend Latin masses. Now, Latin masses are something attended by millions of people across the world. And simply being following traditional Catholic beliefs, the idea that that is indicative of being a criminal or being violent or being a terrorist is absurd. But it also, it demonstrates a deep animosity and distrust to people of faith. And this is, it's a pattern that, sadly, the FBI director seems to have little or no interest in drilling down and holding the people accountable who are demonstrating this animosity.
- [07:40]
Ben Ferguson
Senator, on Tuesday, I was hosting Outnumbered on fox. I was in New York, and we were sitting there talking about this exact.
- [07:46]
Senator Ted Cruz
Ben, is that known as a humble brag?
- [07:49]
Ben Ferguson
That's a humble brag right there. Right.
- [07:51]
Senator Ted Cruz
You know, the other day when I was palling around with my buddies, you know, Jay Z and Beyonce, and then, you know, Frank Sinatra wandered in and. I'm sorry, go ahead, Ben. I didn't mean to interrupt you.
- [08:02]
Unnamed Guest
No.
- [08:02]
Ben Ferguson
But we were sitting there on set and they were talking about this. And I said the question that I now want Congress to ask, forget the Catholic part just for a moment, because I think now the question has to be, okay, if you're now an extremist in the eyes of the FBI and the Biden administration, because you go to a very traditional Catholic Mass, then who else is on this list? And how many other religions are they trying to infiltrate right now? Are they going after Baptists? Are they going after Methodists? Are they going after Presbyterians? My question now is, well, if they're doing this with Catholics and, and, and, and those that are traditional, their words, traditional Catholics right now. But now you're an extremist traditionalist Catholic. All right, you used to just be a traditionalist Catholic. Now you're an extremist. If they're doing this and labeling this on Catholics, I just want to know who else is on this list and who else are they sending these guidance out on? Are there other religions or conservative groups? If you're on the Tea Party, if you used to be a member of the Tea Party, if you've gone to Republican Convention, if you've gone to a Ted Cruz event or rally, are you now on a list as well?
- [09:13]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, we know that they define extremist by politics. And their definition of extremist is anyone who disagrees with their politics with regard to Tea Party groups. We know that the Obama IRS explicitly targeted Tea Party groups and went after them. We know that they targeted groups that defended the Constitution because they viewed the Constitution and Bill of Rights as a threat. And all of that is detailed. There's an entire chapter in justice corrupted called the IRS Comes Knocking that walks through chapter and verse. And it's worth remembering when that story broke, that the Obama IRS was targeting Tea Party groups and conservative groups. Barack Obama publicly gave a press conference where he said that he was angry and he said the American people have a right to be angry. So he recognized, at least he pretended to recognize, that it was appalling, that it was wrong, that it was an abuse of power. And then what happened was the Obama Department of Justice stonewalled over and over and over again. Lois Lerner pleaded the Fifth refuted, refused to testify, and the Department of Justice refused to prosecute her. So they stonewalled across the board. If you look at this, this recent FBI memo, they explicitly focus on politics. So, for example, this is a quote from the memoir. The ongoing convergence of the far right white nationalist movement and RTCs. RTCs are their fancy acronym for quote, Radical Traditionalist Catholics was further demonstrated through the increase in hostility toward abortion rights advocates on social media in the run up and aftermath of the Supreme Court's Dobbs leak. In other words, if you're pro life, that is an indication that you are a dangerous radical. And the document had four appendices, one of which was a list from the Southern Poverty Law center which is widely denounced for smearing conservative groups as hate groups and for being a hard left political advocacy organization. And now you have the FBI relying on that to target people they politically disagree with. That is highly, highly concerning.
- [11:42]
Ben Ferguson
Well, let's talk about another aspect of this, and I want to go back to the FBI. I remember you're, you're a boot guy. You love cowboy boots. I love cowboy boots. By the way, I got a new pair. I'll show you on set this week. I'm upping my game. You're going to be jealous, but you've got some pretty nice boots. And you used one of those to make a point of, of the absurdity of FBI guidelines on, quote, symbols that they also put a list together that indicate extremist groups. I guess now maybe, you know, if you have a Catholic symbol, that's gonna get on there too. You got a rosary that's gonna get you on the list. And I wanna play that for everybody to go back because this is not something new. This is a year ago when this happened. I'm gonna play that. But first, let me tell you about our friends at Patriot Mobile. If you've got a cell phone and 99% of you listening do, you're probably using it right now to listen to this podcast. How would you like to know that every time you use your phone, every time you pay your bill, every time that you are texting or calling someone, you're actually fighting for the values you believe in? Well, Patriot Mobile, that's exactly what they do. They're different. Stop giving your money to woke companies and give it to companies that are aligned with your values. Now, here's what's cool about Patriot Mobile. Patriot Mobile actually takes a percentage of your bill every single month, and they give it back to conservative causes and organizations that you help choose to support. We're talking about first and Second Amendment groups. We're talking about protecting the life of unborn children. We're talking about helping with adoptions in a post Roe v. Wade world. This is what Patriot Mobile does. So make the switch. You get to keep your same cell phone number you have right now, and you get to make a difference every single time you pay your bill. Call them. Use the promo code. Verdict. You'll get the best savings and promotions of the day. 878-patriot 878-patriot 878,patriot. Or online@patriotmobile.com Verdict. Use a promo code. Verdict. Center this. When this happened with the Catholic Church, it was. It immediately reminded me of that moment where you were questioning Ray before the Senate and you used your actual boot, put it on the table because of a symbol that is on your boot. And this is what it sounded like.
- [14:02]
Senator Ted Cruz
And this is a text that I was particularly struck is the Gonzalez battle flag. Come and take it as indicative of being a violent, extremist militia. Well, I will self report right now that every day in the Senate, I wear my boots that have the Gonzalez battle flag on the back of them. Director Wray, what are y'all doing? This makes no sense. Do you agree with this FBI guidance that the Betsy Ross flag and the Gadsden flag and the Gonzalez battle flag are signs of militia violent extremism?
- [14:43]
Ben Ferguson
Well, Senator, I'm not familiar with the particular document you have behind you, and I'm not in the practice of trying to comment on documents that I haven't recognized. But I will tell you that when.
- [14:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
We put out intelligence products, including ones that reference symbols, which we do across.
- [15:01]
Ben Ferguson
A wide variety of contexts, we usually make great pains, take great pains to.
- [15:08]
Senator Ted Cruz
Put caveats and warnings in the document that make clear that a symbol alone.
- [15:14]
Ben Ferguson
Is not considered evidence of violent extremism. I mean, Senator, some of these symbols are on license plates in states, for.
- [15:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
Goodness sakes, including the great state of Texas. And look, that exchange there, I had behind me a poster board showing this document from the FBI that was identifying these symbols as signs of extremism. And they're things like literally the Betsy Ross flag, the Gonzalez battle flag. It's worth, for those who are not familiar with Texas history, the history of the Gonzales battle flag, there is a town in South Texas, the town of Gonzales. And in the 1800s, Texas was part of Mexico, and the dictator of Mexico was General Santa Anna. And General Santa Anna issued an order to the Texians who lived in Gonzales. And at the time, Texans were called Texians. And the order was for the Texians to hand over their guns and also to hand over the cannon that guarded the city. And in response, what the Texians did is they erected a battle flag. And the battle flag simply has a picture of the cannon with a star, and underneath it the legend come and take it. And that battle flag became the beginning of the Texas War for Independence, where Texas, Sam Houston was Texas's George Washington. He led the army of the Texians. Santa Ana came and attacked Gonzalez, attacked Goliad, attacked the Alamo. And just like the Continental army under George Washington, who lost nearly every battle of the American Revolution to the redcoats, to the British, the Texians likewise lost nearly every battle to the Mexican army, which was much bigger, much better armed, right up until the Battle of San Jacinto, where we won a decisive victory and won our independence and Texas became an independent nation, the Republic of Texas. For nine years, Texas was its own nation from 1836 to 1845 until in 1845, Texas joined the United States and became a state in the Union. That's the history of the Gonzalez battle flag. And the reason I wear it on my boots is I admire that rugged independence, that spirit of freedom. It's been really an unofficial flag of when I first ran for the Senate, that standing up for freedom is a fundamentally, a quintessentially American value. And for the FBI to identify that and say, well, that shows that you're an extremist. What that really shows is an antipathy to anything other than far left Democrats. And the Gadsden flag, also flag from the American Revolution. It's if you're a patriot, if you believe in America, that makes you suspicious. And, you know, I'll say This. So you heard Chris Wray's response where he said, well, gosh, I don't know what that memo is. Well, you know what Chris Wray hasn't done, to the best of my knowledge, gone and figured out who wrote that memoir. Gone and figured out why they were targeting symbols of American patriotism and freedom. Gone and figured out who has that partisan animosity and bias. And likewise, with the demonstrated antipathy to traditional Catholics, as best I can tell, nobody's been held accountable. Now, it is possible that the antipathy to Catholics was particularly concentrated in the Richmond field office. That's where this memo originated. And the FBI did retract the memo targeting Catholics. The piece, though that's new that just came out is that in addition to the memo that the FBI had relied on at least one undercover agent to spy on the Catholic Church and keyword.
- [19:38]
Ben Ferguson
At least one other, at least, which. Which is concerning to everybody listening.
- [19:44]
Senator Ted Cruz
It is so. So here's how Jim Jordan put it. Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith. So they're trying to enlist priests, they're trying to enlist church leadership to be FBI informants to spy on their own congregations. And that. You know, we've talked before about Chris Wray. I. I do not believe Chris Wray is a. Is a hardcore leftist. He was appointed to that position by Donald Trump. The problem with Chris Wray as. As director. So he's not nearly as bad as James Comey was. James Comey abused the power of the FBI and effectively waged war on. On President Trump from within the administration. Chris Wray has not been nearly as abusive as Comey, but I think Chris Wray is fundamentally a company man. I think he views his job as. Defend everyone at the FBI, even if they are hardcore partisans who burrowed into senior career positions and are corrupting the machinery of justice with a partisan lens or a lens of antipathy to people of faith. And what. What Director Wray is not doing is digging down and saying, okay, I may not have known about this memo when it issued, but I know about it now, and I want to see who wrote it. I want to see what we've done. I want to go in and stop it. And we don't see any of that. And that's if he's not doing that he's not doing his job and he's allowing the FBI to continue to be abused politically.
- [21:50]
Ben Ferguson
Last question for you. If you're the person that wrote this memo at the FBI, should you lose your job over this?
- [21:58]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, probably we need to see.
- [22:03]
Ben Ferguson
We don't seem to have any accountability anymore. It's like everybody in government can do whatever the hell they want. And then when they get busted, and I think this is where Americans are getting really frustrated center is that they see this happen. We keep seeing these stories, and no one loses their job. Lois Learner, another example that you mentioned earlier. I mean, over and over, when they're, when they admit something happens and they're like, okay, this memo went out and it shouldn't have. No one seems to ever get fired.
- [22:29]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, Lois Lerner was allowed to retire and she kept her pension.
- [22:33]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [22:35]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look at the Biden administration. Can you name one person who's lost his job?
- [22:40]
Ben Ferguson
That's my point.
- [22:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, the last podcast we did, we did a deep dive on Afghanistan, where at the time of our disastrous surrender to the Taliban and the catastrophe that unfolded, everyone recognized that it was a catastrophe. Now you have the Biden White House trying to whitewash the whole thing and pretend it was all terrific and we should be proud of the great surrender Joe Biden did there. Not a single person, as far as I know, has lost his or her job because of that screw up. And so this is a consistent pattern, which is the people who are weaponizing the machinery of justice not only are not held accountable, they don't have any fear of being held accountable, because the White House is certainly not willing to actually demonstrate that the buck stops here or anywhere else.
- [23:38]
Ben Ferguson
I want to get to another big issue, and that is, I was really excited, Senator, because I thought that you were going to get us the hookup with spurs tickets. At some point when we were doing this podcast, we definitely get to go see the spurs play, and we're gonna get great seats for that. Apparently, that's not gonna happen now because Coach Greg had some words for you. I'm gonna play that for you in a moment and saying it's your fault that we got all these guns in America. Before we get to that, though, I want to tell you about our friends, I guess is precious metals. You know, what's happening in the economy right now. You know, it's been happening on Wall Street. You've been watching what's been happening with banks. It's getting a little crazy. So you may be thinking yourself, hey, I need to make Sure, I can protect my hard earned dollars. I want to protect my assets. Well, that's exactly what Augusta Precious Metals does for me. You can buy gold and silver through them through an IRA or a 401k. This is about diversifying and protecting your hard earned dollars. Here's the other cool thing right now. They're going to give away free gold. Yes. Get free gold and get some peace of mind at the same time. How does it work? If you've saved a hundred thousand dollars or more for retirement, August will actually pay you in pure gold. To learn how a gold IRA can protect you. That's a big deal. A pure gold coin for free. Reach out to Augusta Precious Metals a day. Get started with gold. Don't let the bank failures get you down or Wall street get you down. Get the free Gold Guide and get some peace of mind. Call them 877-the-4-Gold IRA. The number 48774-Gold IRA to learn how to protect your retirement and get your free gold coin. That's Augusta Precious Metals dot com. Use my name, Ben, by the way, and you can get your fees for up to 10 years for free. 877-number-4 gold IRA there. If you don't know about the spurs coach, he made me hate the spurs after I used them because he's become such a hardcore woke activist and he now is taking aim at you. Senator, I got to play this for people. Take a listen of you in this room.
- [25:50]
Unnamed Guest
When we were in school, we worried if Nancy would dance with us on Friday after the football game or something. That was, that was our anxiety. But they're going to cloak all this stuff. You know, the second, the myth of the Second Amendment, the freedom, you know, it's just. It's a myth. It's a joke. It's just a game they play. I mean, that's freedom. Is it freedom for kids to go to school and try to socialize and try to learn and be scared to death that they might die? That day with Ted Cruz will fix them because he's going to double the number of cops in the schools. That's what he wants to do. Well, that'll create a great environment. Is that freedom or is it freedom to have a congressman who could make a postcard with all his family holding rifles, including AR15 or whatever? Is that cool?
- [26:40]
Ben Ferguson
All right, Senator, he says the second Amendment is a myth. And this is a guy that has the Alamo in his. In the town where he lives and for the team that he represents. You'd think he'd Learn a little bit of history before he starts saying stuff like this.
- [26:58]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, look, we've seen for a long time that there are a lot of institutions in sports that don't really like their fans very much, don't really like their customers, don't respect their customers, that look down on them. Popovich is someone who has been a partisan for a long time. He's a liberal Democrat. He is someone who. Listen, the spurs are a terrific team. In 2014, I had the great joy of taking my dad on Father's Day to see the spurs win the NBA Finals. And. And I happily cheered them on. They've had some terrific players on the teams over the years. I am first and foremost a Rockets fan, but. But. But I happily cheer on every Texas team. But, you know, I. I do wish, you know, the end. You see this in the NBA. You see it, the NFL, the. These incredibly rich athletes who hypocritically disdain their fans and customers and who lecture them almost inevitably from a point of ignorance. So Gregg Popovich is telling you that. That. That it's a myth that the Second Amendment protects your rights. It's a myth that the Second Amendment protects your freedoms. I mean. I mean, that's a fairly astonishing proposition. And I would note. You've been to NBA games. I've been to NBA games. You know what there are a lot of at NBA games? Police officers.
- [28:28]
Ben Ferguson
A lot of police. A lot of security.
- [28:30]
Senator Ted Cruz
Armed police officers with weapons strapped in their holsters. You know, Popovich is surrounded by armed security most of the time. And this is true. This is true with so many Hollywood liberals that have armed bodyguards protecting them. And they say, you little people, you don't have a right to defend your family. You don't have a right to defend your children. But me, I'm going to be surrounded in perfect safety and take away your rights to defend yourself. I mean, that. Unfortunately, that kind of condescension is all too common. But beyond that, he also, you know, went after me by name. Now, listen, this is not new. You know, this is the same guy who supported Beto O'Rourke when he ran against me. And, you know, when Beto O'Rourke said, Damn right, we're gonna take your guns, you know, I guess Popovich was cheering because, you know, he has his police officers to protect him. So what does he care about if you can defend your family? But I thought it was really striking what he went after me at in this little rant. He went after me for proposing that we double the number of police officers in Schools, he says, do you want that? Let me be clear. Yes, I want that. Look, I don't get this. This recent conceit of leftists that police officers don't make us more safe. Like, it is a bizarre view. Listen, it is horrific, the rise in violent crime that we've seen across this country. But leftists like Popovich put none of the blame on George Soros Das that are releasing murderers. They put none of the blame on the leftists that they support who are calling for abolishing the police. Instead, they put the blame on you for exercising your right to keep and bear arms, to protect your family and your children. And it is. Look, if you look at the number one factor that stops a violent crime, it is an armed police officer who stops that crime. And look, I gotta say, it's a very strange thing for the left that they just. They have decided cops are bad. Let me tell you this right now. I guarantee you, if someone stood up and said, we're going to pull all the police officers from Greg Popovich's neighborhood, he'd be horrified. I'll tell you, I'd be horrified. Someone announced they were pulling the police officers from my neighborhood, I'd be like, that's a terrible idea. I want officers to keep my family safe. I want officers to keep his family safe. But there's a political talking point now that if you want to keep our kids safe, clearly police officers are not going to do anything to help. That's just weird and it's stupid and it's counterfactual.
- [31:40]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. I got to tell you, I texted while you were talking there to a buddy of mine that played in the NBA, actually played for Popovich. And I asked him, I said, I got to ask you quickly. I said, I won't use your name. What was the security like when you were at the spurs, specifically around you and the team? And he wrote back, I'm reading this exactly like this is. I just got this in real time. He said one all at all times on the road. We had a security detail with us when we were at practice. There were security details with us as soon as you got to the facility, there was security detail there. There was heavy security at every away and or home game, security in the tunnel, security outside the locker room, and security to our cars that included the coaching staff after games.
- [32:34]
Senator Ted Cruz
And of course there is. Look, I just criticize that.
- [32:37]
Ben Ferguson
My point is your hypocrisy that you're mentioning. This is a coach that has. And again, it's the former player Saying this, he had security around him all the time when he traveled, all the time when he's on the bench. He also just said there was three police officers around their bench at all times. At least three. He's, he's still texting me as we speak. He said on the road they had a head of security that was, that was with them at all times, who planned all of their security with the hotels, meals and to and from the arenas on the road. He said, in essence, we had 24 hour security around us for all operations around the team that included the coach. So he's got basically 24 hour security for him. But he mocks your idea of having that for our children.
- [33:17]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, yeah. For some reason, the protection that is suitable to ultra wealthy left wing athletes is not suitable for our children. They deserve less protection beyond that. So I'll say two stories. One, you know, I just went a week ago to a Rockets game where the Rockets were playing. And actually my daughter Katherine, who's 12, was, was one of the dancers at halftime. She's in a girls dance troupe and they had a bunch of.
- [33:47]
Ben Ferguson
That's awesome.
- [33:49]
Senator Ted Cruz
A bunch of kids dancing at halftime. And she did awesome. It was, I was cheering her on and had a blast. And she really, they did a fantastic job at halftime. But at the game, which was just in the last week, you know, there were, I must have talked with myself, 30 police officers, maybe more. And that's great. You want police officers at something like a game because you don't want anyone to commit an act of violence. That keeps us safe. That's a good thing. I'll also tell you, a few months ago, I was visiting a friend of mine on the east coast and he's someone who every week trains doing jiu jitsu. And somehow he talked me into joining him doing jiu jitsu, which, which I, is not something I do as a kid. I took judo for several years.
- [34:41]
Ben Ferguson
I'm trying not to laugh right now, Senator, but, you know, this is how you get real injuries.
- [34:47]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, I, I know, and, and like I'm sitting there going, okay, I'm gonna get attendant hyperextended. I'm gonna get something. But he brought me in to, to, to train with, where he trains regularly. And I said it was actually, it was really, really fun. But the guy who was doing the training was a police officer who traveled with an NBA team doing security for them. And so he was a very high level black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu at a police officer. And he helped lead the security for an NBA team, that's a good thing. But explain to me why what's good for the rich guys is not good for everybody else.
- [35:32]
Ben Ferguson
Maybe you should have just described as, I want the same security for our kids that Coach Popovich gets. And then it would, then he wouldn't have said anything. Maybe that's how we should move forward, saying, I just want the same protection that the NBA gives to their players and at the arenas for our children.
- [35:49]
Senator Ted Cruz
You know, unfortunately, part of it is the social pressure. You notice that there are not NBA coaches. Look, Steve Kerr is another one who is a very loud and outspoken leftist. And he usually pops off, you know, pops off with, with inane, leftist, hyper partisan statements. And they are rarely carefully reasoned. You know, I remember some years back, Steve Nash, who was a great player, but when he was a coach, had a quote. And I'm doing this from memory, so I may get it slightly wrong, but my recollection is his quote was something to the effect of all wars are immoral. There have never been any good wars. And I remember thinking at the time he said it that that was a very odd statement. Look, I am, I don't like war. I think we should avoid war. But I really wish some reporter had asked him, excuse me, coach, could you name five wars? I mean, you've just given us a statement about history and the history of mankind. Just name five wars. Now, what's interesting is very quickly, like if he had to name five wars, I don't know if he could, but let's assume hypothetically he could. Maybe he goes to the Civil War, maybe he goes to the American Revolutionary War. Maybe he goes to World War I or World War II. I'll bet you 20 bucks if you ask him to name five wars, he can't do it without naming World War II.
- [37:29]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, World War I.
- [37:31]
Senator Ted Cruz
And he can't do it without naming the Civil War. And I would challenge any leftist. Give me your argument for why World War II was an immoral war, why stopping Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, why stopping the Holocaust, why stopping the face of evil was an immoral war. Because I'll tell you, when our boys scaled the cliffs of Normandy, I think it was one of the greatest acts of heroism the world has ever seen in the Civil War. I'd be very interested to hear a leftist explain why it was immoral to fight a war that resulted in ending the abomination of slavery in the United States.
- [38:13]
Ben Ferguson
Like, great point.
- [38:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
And the problem is all of the political dynamics in modern sports tell players, tell coaches you can get involved in politics if it goes to the radical left. If you're Colin Kaepernick and you're taking a knee during the flag and dis. Disrespecting our soldiers and sailors and veterans, that's fine. If you're disrespecting our police officers, that's great. But you certainly can't say anything pro America, pro police, pro anything that is other than left of center.
- [38:54]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. And it's really sad. But this is the NBA now and this is what's happening with, with all these teams are trying to go woke and it's, it's amazing. They continue to say things like this. I gotta ask.
- [39:05]
Senator Ted Cruz
And by the way, you look at Edis Cantor, Freedom Cantor, who spoke out against genocide and over a million Uyghurs imprisoned in China in concentration camps. And his reward for doing that is he was fired and he's unemployable in the NBA. His numbers were strong. He was putting up double digit scoring average, double digit rebounding average. His numbers he was producing at an NBA level. But they decided if he stays on our team, China won't allow us to broadcast our games in China. So we care more about the money. So that politics was not acceptable. But you could put Black Lives Matter on the, on the NBA court and never mind that it's a Marxist group that is rabidly anti American. The. That's perfectly okay.
- [39:56]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, I got you. You, you bring up talking about this, something I have to ask you about quickly. And it's. It may be a woke backfire with Bud Light, but before we get to that, let me tell you about our friends over at Chalk. If you are a guy, you're getting a little bit older and you feel like you're losing a little bit of that edge, you're feeling a little fatigued and tired in the day. You just don't feel like yourself when you're working out and things like that. That is where chalk comes in. Chalk can help you get your edge back. They can help you maximize your masculinity by boosting testosterone levels up to 20% over 90 days. Now I've been talking about chalk. I've been using chalk now for a couple months. I can tell you it works. If you are a guy and you're just sick and tired of not having that strength and vitality you used to have and you're tired of being weak and just having that fatigue complacency. Try chalk. I've been taking the male vitality stack. You can do it. As well. Maximize your masculinity today@chalk choq.com ch.com use the promo code. Ben, you're going to get 35 off any chalk subscription for life. And you can cancel at any time. So check them out. Chalk chq.com Get 35% off of your order. Chalk choq.com There's a backfire that it seems to be taking place. I'm happy it's happening. Budweiser decided to go really woke center. They decided to put a chick dress or a dude dressed like a chick on a beer can and give them a deal to go woke. This is part of their new marketing campaign. Are you gonna throw away your Bud Light and go to White Claw? Now what happens?
- [41:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, look, it is an amazing phenomenon how woke corporations have decided that their customers are idiots, that they look down on their customers. We're seeing big business after big business. Embrace the radical left. Embrace a left wing agenda. In this case, embrace someone who's transgender. Put them force as. This is the spokesperson for Bud Light. When I saw this whole thing, my first thought was, have they ever met a typical Bud Light drinker?
- [42:22]
Ben Ferguson
If there's any dumb move, and I'm just talking about just straight up dumb beer drinkers, especially dudes that drink beer, they do not want a can with a dude dressed like a chick. That's just nothing. That's nothing you want.
- [42:34]
Senator Ted Cruz
And listen, if it were, you know, you know, dark cherry flavored hard cider, maybe, maybe that's a marketing play that makes sense. But this is Bud Light. And you know, the idea that it's like they're not interested in what their customers want. They want to be praised on Twitter. They want their ad executives. Boy, look, part of the problem is Madison Avenue is hardcore left wing. And you look at this across the board over and over and over again. By the way, we saw this with the NFL. The NFL likewise looks down on the typical fan who goes to an NFL game. And I got to say, it's making people pissed off. What's interesting is the backlash. In a lot of instances, it seems that the right is not very good at boycotts. And so companies feel they can do this with impunity. This Bud Light issue is getting some real traction, it seems to me. And the phrase go woke, go broke. Listen, I think this has gone beyond just Twitter to people saying, you know what, there are other beers on the market. And I got to tell you, in my instance, so a company that pushed me over the edge was Nike. And Nike, I didn't like the Colin Kaepernick thing at all. It really pissed me off. But even then, it didn't push me away from Nike. It wasn't until that they began actually to go back to the FBI story we started the podcast with. The FBI identified the Betsy Ross flag as a symbol of extremism. Well, you remember Nike decided to pull the Betsy Ross flag off one of their sneakers because people like Colin Kaepernick were unhappy with it. And that was the point where I said, all right, enough is enough. And I gotta tell you, look, they don't care if I buy their products. But I was not only a Nike consumer, I was an incredibly loyal Nike consumer. Like, every pair of tennis shoes I had owned from being a kid till my mid-40s was a Nike. That. That's just what I bought. I bought Nikes. Every pair of athletic shorts and T shirts that I wore to play basketball or sports or do whatever. Almost every single thing I owned were Nikes. And I just finally said, enough is enough. I'm not gonna support a company that has decided its business model is mock and attack America. The problem is it, you know, it's not. Nike stock has continued to do fine. They're continuing to make profits. Part of it is they also do this. One of the reasons they Virtue signal is to cover up from their otherwise questionable practices. So Nike figures if they're showing how leftist and woke they are, maybe you won't ask about the child labor that's assembling their tennis shoes. Um, but what's interesting about this Bud Light issue is is it at least appears right now. You know, you probably saw the video online of Kid Rock shooting up several cases of Bud Light and, and expressing his, his, his sentiments. I, I would say clearly and unambiguously.
- [46:16]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, that's a good way of putting.
- [46:19]
Senator Ted Cruz
Seems to be getting some real traction. And, and I hope this serves as, as, as a warning to other companies. Just stay out of politics. Just, just sell your damn beer. Like, like, yeah, you don't have to have a view on, on, on transsexuals one way or the other. Like, why does a beer company need.
- [46:42]
Ben Ferguson
To get in that frame, engage in.
- [46:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
That look, if you're a makeup company, I can understand a makeup company saying we're going to decide to advertise to people who are transsexual. That that could be a marketing decision. That is not nuts. But for Bud Light, it is hard to imagine the ad exec who said this.
- [47:01]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, there's.
- [47:02]
Senator Ted Cruz
Really tap it into our demographics.
- [47:04]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, this is one of those moments where, where for me, when I, as soon as I saw the can and saw the promotion during March Madness, I was, I was like, yeah, I'm done. Like, I. I have no doubt. I will never drink a Bud Light again in my life. If you bring me one, I will refuse it. That's how far. That's how offended I was by it. And I was like, no, screw it. Then you watch where they Nike doubles down and brings the same dude dressed like a chicken to sell Nike sports bras. And I'm like, yeah, the hell with you guys too. It'll be interesting. Like you said, how this plays out. Don't forget, download the podcast Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. We do this show three days a week. We do one podcast a week that's on video, so you can watch that on YouTube and also on Facebook. Follow us there. Right. It's a five star review as well. That'll help us reach more people. And we'll see you back here in a couple of days.