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- [00:01]
Ted Cruz
The Republic ain't over yet. A major Republican victory in blue Virginia this week. Glenn Youngkin defeats Terry McAuliffe. The race came down not so much to personalities, but to a simple who has the right to raise your kids? Who has the right to education? What will the future of of our country be? And the election victory gave Republicans something that we have not had in a very, very long time. In one word, hope. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
- [00:44]
Liz Wheeler
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- [01:58]
Ted Cruz
You know, I was already on cloud nine. I was already feeling pretty good after that victory last night and now I'm feeling even better and equally disoriented because we've been doing this show now for two years and that is the first time that we've ever made any money on this show. That's the first time I've ever heard from a sponsor. This just coming off of our wonderful Verdict Live in Wisconsin and Texas and Washington, D.C. where we were joined by our friend Liz Wheeler. And Liz, now you're reading ads for us and what are you doing? Are you actually putting the show on sustainable financial footing?
- [02:35]
Liz Wheeler
Yes, Michael. I like to think of myself as the breadwinner here in this situation. It's my honor and my privilege to be here thank you for inviting me to join you.
- [02:43]
Michael Knowles
You may notice something different about the pod, which is we just finished our campus tour. Liz was part of the tour and was fantastic. And by pop. People really enjoyed Liz being part of the conversation, so she's now formally part of the podcast. And so, Liz, thank you for being on the road with us with Verdict, but thank you for being part of the pod going forward as well.
- [03:06]
Liz Wheeler
Oh, it's my pleasure, Senator. It's actually an honor to be here having these conversations with you and with Michael. So thank you for including me. Thank you for the invite.
- [03:14]
Ted Cruz
You know, Liz, you picked a pretty good time to join the show because this is your first sort of official episode here, you know, not as part of one of these live events. And it happens to be greatest day for Republicans in recent memory. And Senator, I know that you were there last night. You were at the Youngkin victory party. You called this early on. I remember you had been providing quite a bit of help to the Youngkin campaign very, very early on when people said, there's no way that the Republicans are gonna take back Virginia. And then what happened last night? We all got a little bit of hope.
- [03:47]
Michael Knowles
Yeah, look, last night was fantastic. It was a big damn deal for the country. It was a big damn deal for Virginia, but for the whole country. And Glenn Youngkin is someone I've known a long time. I've known a number of years. He's a friend. His wife Suzanne's a friend. They actually have a ranch in Texas. Heidi and I have stayed on their ranch in Texas and floated in the river on inner tubes with a cold beer and a hot summer's day. And Glenn is someone. I endorsed Glen early in this race. I endorsed him in the primary. It was a big contested primary and went out and campaigned for Glenn. I spent two days on the road. In fact, the last two days of the primary, I was on the road barnstorming the state of Virginia with Glenn, and we did rallies all over the state. It's a little bit crazy. There were in that primary, about 50,000 people voted in that primary. We did the math. About 5,000 of those people came to our rallies those last two days. So about 10% of the actual voters in the primaries came and saw us at our rallies in person, and he ended up winning the primary. A big part of the reason I backed him is that I believed he was by far the strongest candidate to win in November. And we needed to win in November. Last night, Heidi and I were both at the election party. It was awesome. The room was rocking, and it was fairly beautiful. Seeing the kind of dazed stupor and rage from the Terry McAuliffe camp as they realized that the monarchy to which he wanted to resume ruling his subjects in the Commonwealth of Virginia, that somehow a funny thing happened on the way to the election booth, which is the voters said no and hell no, and Virginia now has a Republican governor, which is a powerful canary in the coal mine. It really shows, I think, what's to come November of next year, in 2022.
- [05:49]
Ted Cruz
Liz, I know you, like me, were waiting up until after midnight last night because, I don't know, I call it cynical. I had this fear that around three in the morning there would be an undisclosed number of ballots that suddenly appeared in Fairfax county or something like that. But no, they called it by the end of the night and we finally got to go to bed.
- [06:11]
Liz Wheeler
We did, which was amazing. But, I mean, I don't know about you, but make no mistake, it seemed like the Democrats were teeing something up in Fairfax County. Glenn Youngkin just pulled out such an enormous victory that they knew that they didn't stand a chance even with perhaps rescanning ballots. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. I think the biggest takeaway about this election is the strength of parents. I mean, you had Barack Obama, you had Kamala Harris, you had Stacey Abrams all campaigning for McAuliffe, and yet parents in the state of Virginia still defeated him. The strength of parents is stronger than the strength of the entire Democratic Party.
- [06:45]
Ted Cruz
Well, that is a wonderful thing. And I know that we're going to be hearing more from some of the Verdict plus members a little bit later. So you're gonna be fielding questions for them, and then we'll have you back on to hear from all the wonderful people who are supporting this show.
- [07:03]
Liz Wheeler
Yes, I've been looking around on Verdict, and there are some great questions. I'm looking forward to hearing both of your answers a little bit later on. Anybody who's listening to this or watching this, who wants to participate in Verdict, go to verdict with TedCruz.com plus submit your question. We'll try to get as many answered as we can. That is verdict with TedCruz.com/Michael. Senator, I will see you in a few minutes.
- [07:26]
Ted Cruz
Excellent. We'll see you a little bit later. Senator, you bring up an aspect of this race that I know a lot of conservatives, sometimes they don't really seem to understand, which is, call it the Buckley rule, that you vote for the most right viable candidate. And you said you felt not only is Glenn Youngkin a good guy, but that he was the kind of candidate who could win in Virginia.
- [07:52]
Michael Knowles
Yeah, look, I mean, we need candidates who can win. And you look at Glenn, the campaign they ran. And by the way, Glenn's political team was my political team. It was my senior people that were running his campaign. And Glenn is pro life. He's pro Second Amendment. He ran on securing the border. He ran a conservative campaign. And he ran on school choice. He leaned in aggressively on school choice. Ralph Northam, the Democrat, who's one of the most radically pro abortion governors in the country, in fact, who. And we've talked about this on the pod before. Ralph Northam has talked about post birth abortion, which is horrifying at a whole different level in terms of where the left is on these issues. Youngkin ran a disciplined campaign. That, number one, he didn't get drawn into personality politics. So the whole attack of the Terry McAuliffe crew was that Glenn Youngkin is Donald Trump. That was sort of their one card. And their other card was he's a racist, because all Republicans are racist. That was it. That's all they had to say. And I think McAuliffe was shocked that the race was competitive. He assumed it would just be a cakewalk and a coronation and no Republican could win in Virginia. And I think what McAuliffe did, he really focused on issues that mattered to people across the state. And he got, you know, Biden won Virginia by double digits. And that means there were a whole bunch of voters who in 2020 pulled the lever for Joe Biden, who in 2021 pulled the lever for Glenn Youngkin. That's a big deal. And I think there are lessons to be learned about how Youngkin did that. And he focused on issues that matter. It turns out that suburban moms don't like it when you abolish the police. They don't like it when you endanger their families, when you endanger their kids. And it turns out that suburban moms like it even less when you treat parents as domestic terrorists. When you say, as McAuliffe did, that parents should have no role in deciding what their kids are taught in schools. And the old joke that a gaffe is when a politician tells you what he actually thinks. Look, McAuliffe said that in a debate. And the Youngkin campaign did a great job of jumping on it and running with it. And at the victory party last night, it was rocking. But there were signs all over the place. There were signs, women for Trump, women for Youngkin. There were signs Democrats for Youngkin. There were signs, parents for Youngkin. And I think they did a very good job in particular, of mobilizing moms who don't want critical race theory taught to their kids, who don't want school boards that cover up sexual assaults and rapes in the bathrooms, and who don't want arrogant politicians that view the moms and dads as domestic terrorists. And that, I think, decided the race and won the race last night.
- [11:03]
Ted Cruz
You know, people are gonna be fighting now over what the big issue was. Some people are saying it's because Trump wasn't involved. Some people are saying it's because Trump was involved. Some people are saying it's because of critical race theory. Some people are saying it's because of the COVID lockdown. Some people are saying this, that and the other thing. People with their own interests in politics and on the right are trying to claim the victory. Do you have a sense being so close as you were to the race, what the number one issue was really? Was it really education? Was it just a reaction against Joe Biden? Do you have any sense?
- [11:35]
Michael Knowles
So I think it varied as the campaign moved forward. And so early on, I think the COVID lockdowns were a big issue. People didn't like the COVID lockdowns. They didn't like small businesses being shut down. They didn't like schools being shut down. And so Glenn was campaigning on let's reopen businesses, reopen schools. That resonated. I think people didn't like Ralph Northam was dumbing down the schools, was dumbing down advanced education for students, and was saying, we're not going to teach advanced education anymore in Virginia schools. And Glenn campaigned on, yes, we are. Our kids deserve to have advanced courses and the ability to learn and achieve excellence. That was powerful. Glenn campaigned on school choice, and he did so early on. I think school choice is a winning issue for Republicans. I think it is a powerful issue. If you look at Youngkin's numbers, he went up with African Americans, he went up with Hispanics, he went up with Democrats, he went up with women. I mean, he went up across the board. The media wanna make it all about Trump. I think Youngkin did a good job. Trump endorsed him. Youngkin welcomed the Trump endorsement, was glad to have it, but didn't want to make the entire election about the personality of Donald J. Trump. There are many people, you and I included, who are supporters of the president, who recognize that he did extraordinarily good things as president. But to win, Youngkin needed some Voters in Virginia, and in particular suburban women in Virginia who voted against Trump, Youngkin needed them to switch their votes to him. And I think he did that. You know, the campaign did a very smart job of the first several months. They focused on Glenn's story, on who he was and defining him, telling his story. You know, he grew up in Virginia, grew up in modest circumstances. He went to Rice and played basketball four years at Rice, and met his wife Suzanne, as a Texan. She went to smu. And then he had a career in business, an incredibly successful career in business where he was a CEO. And I think the campaign did a good job of defining who Glenn was. So that when Terry McAuliffe came in at the back end and said, he's Donald Trump, he's Donald Trump, people were like, well, no, he's not. He's that guy. And that was valuable to define his own life story, what he believes, and to certainly welcome and embrace the support from Trump supporters, but not make it just a personality referendum. I think that was smart. I then think the second phase of the election really shifted hard to parents and schools. And I think Loudoun county played a pivotal part in this victory. Had the horrific events that transpired in Loudoun county not happened, I think the odds are very good Terry McAuliffe would be the next governor of Virginia. That Loudon McKenney. We've talked about it before on the pod. We talked about it on our campus tour. But in terms of Virginia, I think a lot of parents were offended to be treated as domestic terrorists, to be dismissed, to be ridiculed, to have their concerns just sidelines. And I think the arrogance of the far left was parents or you guys don't matter. And I think there were a lot of parents, in particular moms in Virginia that didn't appreciate it. And last night's election, that played a really pivotal part.
- [15:18]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, you know, this actually brings up another aspect of the past few weeks, and I'd like to bring Liz in for this cause. I do want to get to our mailbag, but I would ask, Senator, we're talking about Law and Order and the supposed moderates out there. You grilled Merrick Garland, the supposedly moderate judge who's the attorney general now for Joe Biden. You grilled him, and I think we would be very remiss if we didn't talk about it.
- [15:45]
Michael Knowles
So. Yeah, Michael, that's right. Last week, Merrick Garland testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. And I took the opportunity to question him very gently, but to really hold him to account for what I think is the politicization of the Department of Justice. At his confirmation hearing, Garland said that he would not allow DOJ to become what had become under Barack Obama, which was a political weapon used to target the enemies of the White House. And in this instance in particular, I think that's exactly what Garland allowed it to happen. And so, you know, I began with this, this letter from the national association of School Boards. And I said, look, you know, General Garland, do you know how many instances are cited in this letter? The letter was the basis of his direction to the FBI and his memo. He said, no, I don't know how many. And I said, well, I just did a quick count right here. There are 20 of them. Do you know how many of them were violent or arguably violent on their face? He said, no, I don't know that either. I said, well, there's a reason you don't know that because you didn't give a damn to check. You didn't look. You, your staff didn't look. No one investigated. From my quick examination of the letter here, it appears five of them on their face may have been violent. That means 15 of them were not. Now, 15 of them were expressing speech. Sometimes parents who were mad who were expressing vigorous speech, but they were engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment. And I pointed out, I said, look, DOJ senators, we've sent letters to DOJ that for months, you ignore. You don't care what we have to say. You just utterly ignore when we write the Department of Justice. And yet when these well connected Democrats who are working with the White House demand that you go after parents and target them, five days later, you snap your fingers and you direct the FBI to do it. And the heat on the national association of School Boards was so great, they actually withdrew the letter. They apologized for it. They're having local chapters resign from their organization. And they said they were embarrassed by the letter. They withdrew it. And I asked the attorney general, well, are you embarrassed? Do you have the same integrity, the same sense of shame that the NASA association of School Boards did? And Garland's like, no, no, no, no, no. I apologize for nothing. There was nothing that intimidated parents. And it's like, really, really? You think sending the FBI to go after parents, that. That's not intimidating, that doesn't chill their speech, that doesn't frustrate our democratic process. And it really was striking, I think both the arrogance that Garland conveyed, but simultaneously the cluelessness and one component of that. Look, Garland has been a judge for 24 years, he hasn't had anybody question him. In 24 years, he's not faced a single difficult question. He's not had anyone scrutinize what he says or does. To be honest, he probably hasn't had anyone say an unkind word to him in 24 years. Federal judges, particularly judges on the D.C. circuit, the second highest court in the land, everybody who interacts with them kisses their behinds all day long. And I think Garland was willing to play the political hack and give the White House what they wanted. And it never even occurred to him that he would face scrutiny or oversight from anyone else. And he said, well, lawyers who would read this memo would understand the Supreme Court case law of this case and the other case. I'm like, I'm sorry, mom doesn't understand that parents aren't reading Supreme Court cases. You're the Attorney General. You don't think sending a memo to the FBI, to the Men in Black, the G Men, to go target parents intimidation, then you are being clueless. You're not doing your job as Attorney General, and you're allowing DOJ to be politicized. And I think that was, it was shameful, but it was also, it played a real role in the victory in Virginia last night. Now with that, Liz, you're back. Now, do we have any questions from the mailbag from Verdict Plus?
- [20:14]
Liz Wheeler
We do. And by the way, I think you're exactly correct on how serious Merrick Garland's behavior, how much of an impact it had in Virginia. It's almost inarguable that it didn't. And you played a really big role in that. So I know that our country appreciates that, especially parents of young children who don't want their kids indoctrinated. So anybody who's not part of Verdict Plus, I invite you to join us over there at verdict with TedCruz.com plus, you'll get exclusive access to the Senator himself. A lot of your questions will be answered, just like right now. There are some great questions. While I tee these up, I do want to skip the line and ask you a question myself. And that is there's a rumor in the United States Senate that you lost a wager on the floor of the Senate. Can you confirm, Senator, whether this is true or false?
- [20:59]
Michael Knowles
Oh, that's painful. It is very painful. So, tragically, my Astros lost the World Series. And we lost last night, and I will say so Tuesday night. I truly was bittersweet because I was at the Youngkin election party. We were celebrating the victory. It looked like A victory all night long. But on my phone I was watching the live stream of game six of the World Series and the Braves were just whipping our asses. It wasn't even close. First couple innings were pretty good. Then we were down three nothing. Then we were down six nothing. Then we were down seven nothing. And so I'm miserable watching it, but really happy for Virginia and the country. But it gets even worse because I had a wager with Jon Ossoff, the new senator from Georgia, over who would win the World Series. And the stakes of the wager, now that I've lost, sadly, I'm gonna have to deliver Texas barbecue and shinerbach beer to his entire staff. And so we'll treat them to lunch and give them Texas barbecue and beer. And it's okay cuz they don't really have barbecue in Georgia. I'll get some grief for that comment. But even worse, I'm going to have to wear a Braves jersey, which it already burns. I can feel the pain from doing so. This is my third World Series wager. Two years ago in 2019, I had a bet with Tim K over the Astros and the Nationals. Sadly, I lost that one. And so I delivered to Tim the barbecue, the beer, and I wore a nats jersey. But two years before that, in 2017, I had a wager with Kamala Harris. And Kamala delivered California wine and seized chocolate and she livestreamed it as she was wearing Astros gear. And so I gotta say, winning the bet is a lot more fun than losing the bet. And so I'm not looking forward to paying up to Ossoff. I will do so. And I talked to him tonight about it. I said, look, I'll do so and I'll do so cheerfully. But be forewarned, I'm gonna be bitching about it at the same time.
- [23:04]
Liz Wheeler
Well, we look forward to seeing at least images, if not videos of this over on Verdict Plus. I know we're sorry that you lost the wager, but we do want a little peek into this, A little peek into this tradition that you've set.
- [23:17]
Michael Knowles
And Liz, I do have to say there is something exquisite that the World Series was between Texas and Georgia, two states that passed voter integrity laws after Major League Baseball yanked the All Star Game out of Atlanta because Georgia passed Georgia voter integrity laws. I love the fact that the World Series trophy, that Major League Baseball had to present it in Atlanta, they had to go to the commissioner, had to go to games in Houston and Atlanta. And it is all I can say is karma's A bitch. That it really is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
- [23:55]
Liz Wheeler
It is, it is. I mean, that's poetic justice if I ever heard it. Okay, we have a lot of great questions tonight. I wanna get to Nancy's question first. And this, I think, speaks a little bit to the demographic that won the election for Glenn Youngkin in Virginia. Nancy asks, please explain the difference between suburban voters and working class voters. She says she's both.
- [24:14]
Michael Knowles
Yeah, so that's a very good question. And it goes right to the heart of two demographic trends that are playing out in the country that have played out for the last several years. One is working class voters, blue collar voters who have been moving. Right. And those are truck drivers, steel workers, construction workers, cops, firefighters, the men and women with calluses on their hands, the people that work at factories, union members. They've been moving. Right. That's moved Midwestern states more Republican as a consequence, simultaneously, you have suburban voters, voters who live not in the inner cities, but who live in the suburbs surrounding big cities, and in particular, suburban women. You have, you know, they used to be called soccer moms and women who live in the suburbs. Historically, the suburbs have been Republican. In Texas, for example, the suburbs around our cities, the way Texas has historically voted, the big cities are bright blue. The suburbs have been red donuts surrounding the big cities. And then the rural areas voted Republican as well. And that combination kept Texas reliably Republican. Well, in the last few years, the suburbs have turned purple. They're not blue, but they've turned purple. And a number of suburban voters, particularly suburban women, had begun voting Democrat. And a number of suburban women were not fans of President Trump. And it was really a personality referendum with some suburban women voters. What we saw in Virginia is the working class voters stayed with Youngkin, but at the same time, he brought some of those suburban women who had shifted Democrat. He brought them back to the Republican tally. And if we bring both of those together, that's really a winning coalition.
- [26:13]
Liz Wheeler
It is. And if only we could continue this sweet, sweet victory that we've been reveling in all day on the Republican side. I think that would be great. Okay, the next question is, the username of this individual is Software Nugget? Who asks. I was just watching some of clips of you, Senator Cruz, on YouTube and wondering why you use the terms biological male and biological female as if there are other types instead of just male and female.
- [26:37]
Michael Knowles
You know, look, it's a good question, and I guess I would say it is a nod towards modern discussion that you've got the Left, who bizarrely insists that if I say I'm a woman, I am a woman. And just the act of declaring I am woman, hear me roar transforms me into being a woman. And there's so much language police today that when you refer to a male or female, given how the media covers it, given the sort of bizarre language games that we play, there is arguably some ambiguity. And so when I use the phrase a biological male, I mean, someone that's got a Y chromosome and has got the equipment that makes a male a biological female, you got two X chromosomes, you have the equipment that makes you female. I'm just trying to describe the hardware and the jeans. I'm not speaking necessarily about what you believe, what you want to be, what gender, whether male, female, or any of the. What is it? Facebook has 57 different genders. I don't even understand all the different worlds of genders people say they are. I get the point. But for me, at least, it's the clearest way to convey in this bizarre language, Orwellian world we live in, what it is I'm trying to convey.
- [28:05]
Ted Cruz
I do not use the term biological male or biological female because I do fear that it grants the premise that there are other kinds of males. You're a spiritual male or a psychological male or something like that. But I do understand the prudential reason that people are doing it. It is to. To draw this distinction. First of all, it is to meet people where they are. It is to sometimes to avoid certain bans on big tech platforms that will forbid you from referring to a man who thinks that he's a woman as a man. I mean, there are all of these prudential and instrumental reasons to do that. But yes, I do think ultimately the way we're going to win is by watching that language very, very closely and recognizing that even when we appear to be opposing the new politically correct jargon, sometimes we can inadvertently be accepting some of their premises. And so, you know, they say it's good to be blunt and straight talking and call a spade a spade. And yes, I think we ought to call a man a man and a woman a woman.
- [29:10]
Liz Wheeler
Well, there you go. And for anybody who wants to submit questions for our next episode, for the mailbag on that episode, please go over to verdict with TedCruise.com Verdict+ supporters exclusively have the option to submit questions for Michael Knowles and Senator Ted Cruz. All right, this next question is actually one of my favorite questions. I'm very excited to hear your answer. This is what they ask, Senator, what Three government agencies would you most like.
- [29:35]
Michael Knowles
To abolish, number one, the irs? I think the IRS is a tool of oppression. I think it is a tool of intrusion into privacy. You can see with the Bernie Sanders budget, the Democrats are trying to use the IRS to monitor every financial transaction any American engages in. Over $600. I would shut down the IRS. I would padlock it. I think we ought to have a simple flat tax where you fill out your taxes on a postcard I've introduced. I've laid out the details of a flat tax and how you could operate it. That would be incredibly simple, that virtually the entirety of the IRS would become irrelevant and unnecessary. So that would be number one. Very close. Second would be the federal Department of Education. I think the federal Department of Education has been used to try to impose national curriculum standards, to try to violate and trample upon the authority of local jurisdictions to run their own schools. I don't think we need a federal government trying to set local curricula. As for the third ones, there are a number of different ones you can point to. I'd probably point to the Department of Commerce as third. The Department of Commerce is a big grab bag of all sorts of different. Whether it is corporate welfare and cronyism or all sorts of different components. There's some elements of the Department of Commerce that are necessary. For example, the Census Bureau Constitution actually requires the federal government to conduct a census every 10 years. We still need a Census Bureau. So you could move the Census Bureau somewhere else. You don't need the whole Commerce Department to do it. There are other elements of the Commerce Department. There are some essential functions in it. I gotta say, Liz, I think back to 1995. So 1995, I just graduated from law school and I was a law clerk in Northern Virginia, was clerking for Judge Michael Ludig, who was at the time the strongest conservative federal appellate judge in the country. And it was at the time of the. Newt Gingrich. The Republican revolution had just happened. And you remember there was a government shutdown at the time, and only essential workers, federal workers, were allowed to go to work. And I remember the Department of Commerce at the time put out a press release that they said 70% of our workers did not come into work. Only 30% came in. But they said, fear not. All essential functions were carried out. And I remember laughing at the time and saying, great. You just put out a press release saying, you only need 30% of your staff. That 70% can be dismissed tomorrow if all the essential functions can be done with 30% of your staff, we can save some real money. So that's an initial stab at three agencies.
- [32:24]
Liz Wheeler
And listen, I like any answer that essentially encompasses the idea of abolishing the administrative state once and for all. And I think those answers are pretty good. All right, Michael, now same question to you. What three government agencies would you most like to abolish?
- [32:38]
Ted Cruz
Well, these days I'd like to go after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. I don't really like that. This sort of little known agency that is now enforcing this draconian vaccine mandate on everybody. That would be one that I think should go. People often will say the Energy Department. And that's all well and good, but I'd like to get rid of some of these more obscure offices. I'd like to get rid of within each office, I would like to get rid of the deputy assistant, deputy director, assistant of Diversity and Inclusion and Equity. I'd like to get into that. And then really even beyond abolishing these agencies and departments, I want to take them over.
- [33:23]
Michael Knowles
Okay.
- [33:24]
Ted Cruz
We've been talking about cutting all these agencies for a long time, but I think that assuming we're not going to be able to do that all that successfully, I want to go in, get our own guys in there, and then start wielding the government on the happy occasions that the people give us political power to ends that are good and just and moral and right and more favorable to conservatives.
- [33:47]
Liz Wheeler
Well, that may be easier said than done, although I certainly agree with you. All right, I'm looking on Verdict plus now. All of the great people over on Verdict plus have been submitting questions. And here's a question, Michael, for you, this is the question. Is the common good branch of conservatism actually conservative? Is it constitutional? This question comes from Nancy.
- [34:09]
Ted Cruz
Yes, of course it is. By definition, you know, a republic comes from the res publica, right? The things we have together, the things that are in common. The Constitution is pretty clear. It's to provide the blessings of liberty for the American people, to provide for the general welfare. And the whole point of self government is that we are going to exercise our judgment and our prudence to have a better country for all of us. We don't just live as these individualized atoms floating in free space. We have a country together. And so we need to have things in common. And this didn't used to be controversial. I mean, this was the understanding of not just the founding fathers, but of statesmen from time immemorial. And I think one thing that we've made a Mistake in recent decades is we have put the cart before the horse. That phrase blessings of liberty here I think is pretty important. Liberty is wonderful, True liberty especially is wonderful. And individual liberty and the liberty of localities is all wonderful, but it's an instrument. It's not an end unto itself. It is an instrument towards something. When the framers of the Constitution tell us that they are trying to give us the blessings of liberty, they are acknowledging something that we all used to know, which is that our liberty is not just so that we can sit at home and say, by golly, I'm free, but it's so that we can have a good country, so that we ourselves can flourish, our families can flourish, our communities can flourish, and ultimately our nation can flourish. It's deeply, deeply conservative. And the denial of the common good or of the good or this hyper focus on emancipation and liberation or whatever, that really historically comes from the left much more than it comes from the right or from conservatives.
- [35:55]
Liz Wheeler
This is almost part two, I think, of the great conversation that we had at Catholic University that that spoke to the definition of liberty and how that is inherently, I guess you, you posited that it includes the common good. It was a great debate. Okay, so one more question that we have here is a very good question, very pertinent to the time that we are in right now. And this comes also from Verdict plus from the username Cracklin. He says, should government leaders be making decisions about mandates that they or their family will heavily profit from? Is that a legal or ethical conflict of interest?
- [36:34]
Ted Cruz
Certainly it would be. If a government official stands to reap a huge sum of money because of some policy that he's foisting onto the public. That would be a major conflict of interest. And it relates to another problem we have in Washington D.C. which is people, legislators in Washington D.C. forcing mandates on their constituents that they do not abide by by themselves. And Senator Cruz has alluded to this a number of times with some of his Democrat colleagues over there and pro mask and pro mandate Democrats throughout our politics who demand one thing of all of us. And then when you catch them at a party or catch them at a restaurant or catch them out on the street, or even when they think the cameras are off, they will not be following that themselves. And so I think there needs to be a lot of accountability. A lot of the debate that we've had here on the lockdown, mandates and the rest of it have focused on ideology, philosophy, the science, and all of these ideas, but there is just a basic level of Corruption you've gotta watch out for, too. You do not want your politicians of any party being crooked, corrupt and abusing the public trust for their own private gain. And so it's something we absolutely need to watch out for, especially during this massive power grab of the last 592 some odd days of 15 days to slow the spread.
- [38:01]
Liz Wheeler
Right. And I think maybe the last 20 months since the beginning of COVID more Americans than ever before have understood have firsthand tangible knowledge of what it means when government officials are corrupt. All right, this question is just for the Senator Andrew John asks after the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, just how tense is the air among Senate Democrats from your perspective?
- [38:23]
Michael Knowles
You know, it's interesting. They ought to be freaking out. I think it varies. The hard left, their response to the elections is doubling down. Their response, whether it's Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren or aoc, they say the reason they lost Virginia is they weren't radical enough. They needed to be even more extreme. They needed to ram through Bernie Sanders socialist budget. They needed to be more spend more money, be more radical, be more crazy. That's why they didn't win. I've got to think there's some Democrats that realize that's crazy talk. But if they do, they're not saying it. I will say this morning in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I went round and round with Bob Menendez from New Jersey and Tim Kaine from Virginia. And we were fighting on the State Department in foreign policy. And in particular, the Biden administration is withholding $130 million of military aid to Egypt in order to try to force Egypt to release 16 prisoners who are currently incarcerated. And they won't publicly identify who those 16 prisoners are. And so I'm trying to force the administration to name the 16 prisoners to make it public. And I've asked them, are they affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, are they terrorists, are they anti Semites, are they anti American, what's their history? And the Biden administration doesn't want to because I think they can't defend the radicals that they're trying to get released. And so we were going back and forth and at the hearing, Tim Kaine made a reference to accountability and I laughed and said, senator from Virginia referenced accountability. Well, I was in his state last night and we had some accountability because the voters of Virginia elected a Republican governor. And I would note the chairman of the committee, Senator Menendez, his state right now is basically tied in the gubernatorial race. They've since narrowly called it for the Democrat, but that's some real accountability. It's accountability for the extreme policies of this administration. And at least in that hearing, boy, they did not like it. You could see the fury and rage. And there's nothing Democrats like less than when the voters hold them accountable. And I will be shocked if there are not some moderate Democrats right now behind closed doors just freaking out. But at least publicly, they're not expressing it all that much.
- [40:58]
Liz Wheeler
Well, I think we've all seen the video of Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris, while she was on the campaign trail for Terry McAuliffe, saying that the state of Virginia, this gubernatorial race, was going to be a bellwether, not just for 2022, but for 2024. My question to you is, do you believe that this is accurate? Is the victory for Republicans in Virginia a bellwether of what's to come?
- [41:20]
Michael Knowles
Very much so. I think that's why Virginia matters so much. When I was barnstorming the state of Virginia, when I was campaigning with Glenn Youngkin, that's something I said at every rally we did. I said, listen, Virginia is a bellwether. And I pointed out the last time we had something like this was 2009. Barack Obama became president. He was a radical leftist. He ran through Obamacare, he ran through Dodd Frank, and he went far too left. And the very next election that occurred was 2000 was 2010, and it was the Virginia Guber. It was 2009, the Virginia Gubernatorial election. It's the off cycle year and New Jersey, and in that year, Bob McDonnell won a Republican in Virginia and Chris Christie won a Republican in New Jersey. Republicans won both of those elections and it presaged the 2010 Republican tidal wave that was coming. And it really set that up. I think last night was similar, that the victory in Virginia shows 2022 is going to be a very, very good election. And if Democrats keep doubling down on radical leftist policies, I think it also presages 2024, which I believe is going to be a very, very good election.
- [42:44]
Liz Wheeler
Again, Michael, same question to you.
- [42:46]
Ted Cruz
You know, it was a great relief last night when the Republicans won this election and did very well elsewhere outside of Virginia as well. Because I think so many of us were so depressed, we thought the system is just rigged and there are gonna be ballot drops at 3 o'clock in the morning, a water pipe is gonna burst and we're just not gonna win any elections again. And this has this reinforcing effect because if you think that it's not possible for you to win elections, then you're less likely to turn out, you're less likely to register, you're less likely to do those things. And so it'll become a self fulfilling prophecy. So I do think it reminded us the Republic's not dead yet. There is still a chance. Republicans can still win. Really? I totally agree. I don't think this bodes well for Democrats in 2022 or 2024 either. Now we've got two things ahead of us. One, we've gotta make sure the Republicans we just elected actually do something and have a record of accomplishment. And as Senator Cruz knows well, sometime squishier colleagues out there are not so good at that. And it's really the stalwarts who hold firm. So we gotta do that. We gotta keep up the focus, we've gotta keep up the excitement. And I think this is so strange for conservatives. We actually might have a whole lot to look forward to in the coming elections. Liz, it is so wonderful for you to join us. For you to join us obviously on the tour in person and digitally as well. Now we've got to leave it there. But before we go, since we so enjoyed being on the road for Verdict Live and seeing all of you all around the country, we're doing it again. We are partnering with YAF again next semester for the Verdict Live Spring Tour. If you want us to come to your school, then apply@yaf.org verdict. You can submit an application there. Whether you are at some nice, wonderful, conservative Christian school or maybe you're among the purple hairs at UC Berkeley, wherever you are, apply today. We look forward to seeing you next time. We look forward to seeing you in person. But until then, I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
- [45:01]
Michael Knowles
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.