Ukraine Deep Dive: Biden Fake Photo Op; Travels to Kiev, not Ohio; Russia Ending New Start Treaty Is Good For America.

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson – "Ukraine Deep Dive: Biden Fake Photo Op; Travels to Kiev, not Ohio; Russia Ending New Start Treaty Is Good For America"

Release Date: February 22, 2023

Introduction

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson, host Ben Ferguson engages in a critical discussion with Senator Ted Cruz, focusing on President Joe Biden's recent trip to Ukraine, the authenticity of the accompanying photo opportunities, and the broader implications of Russia's withdrawal from the New START Treaty. The conversation delves deep into the administration's foreign and domestic policies, media portrayal, and national security concerns.

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Biden’s Ukraine Trip: A Staged Photo Opportunity

Senator Ted Cruz begins by scrutinizing President Biden's visit to Kyiv, suggesting that the trip was meticulously orchestrated for public relations purposes rather than substantive diplomatic efforts. Cruz highlights a suspicious incident involving air raid sirens that went off precisely as Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky exited the building for a photo op.

[02:09] Senator Ted Cruz: "They would be running. And if he wasn't running, the Secret Service would have run and grabbed him and put him in a shelter."

Cruz argues that the lack of a genuine response to the sirens indicates foreknowledge of the event, reinforcing the notion that the visit was a controlled media spectacle. He criticizes the media, specifically CNN, for airing the event without skepticism, labeling it as a "ridiculous farce."

[04:12] Senator Ted Cruz: "It is entirely theater, 100% for show."

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Zelenskyy's Performing Background and Its Impact

The discussion shifts to President Zelenskyy's background as an actor, which Cruz believes influences his portrayal during the war. Zelenskyy's consistent use of military attire and controlled demeanor are seen as performative tactics to garner international support.

[09:55] Senator Ted Cruz: "Zelenskyy is engaged in theater as well."

Cruz emphasizes that both Biden and Zelenskyy’s lack of reaction to potential threats underscores a scripted approach, prioritizing image over actionable leadership.

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Administration’s Focus on PR Over National Security

Senator Cruz criticizes the Biden administration for prioritizing public relations over critical national security objectives. He cites examples such as delayed visits to domestic crises like the East Palestine train derailment, suggesting that the administration neglects pressing American issues in favor of international posturing.

[14:41] Senator Ted Cruz: "Well, it is ridiculous that Joe Biden has not been to East Palestine yet."

He further points out the administration's handling of workforce challenges, such as Secretary Pete Buttigieg's extended absences during domestic crises, portraying it as indicative of a broader pattern of ineffective governance.

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Accountability in Aid to Ukraine: Corruption Concerns

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the financial aid provided to Ukraine. Cruz expresses deep concerns about the lack of transparency and accountability in the disbursement of funds, highlighting Ukraine's history of corruption even before the Russian invasion.

[23:30] Senator Ted Cruz: "There is very little transparency, very little accountability as to where that money is going."

He warns of congressional scrutiny increasing due to an open-ended commitment to the Ukraine war, emphasizing the necessity for stringent oversight to ensure funds are allocated to military support rather than general economic aid.

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Russia’s Withdrawal from the New START Treaty: A Boon for America

The conversation then transitions to Russia's exit from the New START Treaty, an arms control agreement aimed at limiting strategic offensive arms. Cruz frames this withdrawal positively for American national security, arguing that the treaty was disadvantageous and Russia's departure aligns with America's interests.

[34:54] Senator Ted Cruz: "This is unequivocally good for America. This treaty was bad for America."

He contrasts this with past administrations, particularly the Obama administration, criticizing their approach to arms treaties and defense strategies. Cruz advocates for a "peace through strength" philosophy, reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's Cold War policies, asserting that a robust military deterrent is essential for national security.

[35:13] Senator Ted Cruz: "How did we win the Cold War? We stood up to the Soviet Union. We called it out. We built up our military."

Cruz underscores the importance of not tying America's hands with restrictive treaties that allow adversaries like Russia and China to bolster their military capabilities unchecked.

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Comparison to Reagan’s Foreign Policy: Emphasizing Strength Over Diplomacy

Drawing parallels to Reagan’s administration, Cruz argues that a strong military presence and unwavering stance against adversaries are crucial in preventing conflicts. He criticizes the Biden administration’s perceived weakness, suggesting it emboldens hostile nations.

[44:35] Senator Ted Cruz: "Deterrence works, but deterrence only works if you're strong enough that they're afraid of you."

He attributes the current geopolitical tensions and Russia’s aggressive maneuvers to Biden’s lenient policies, contrasting them with the more assertive strategies that led to the Soviet Union's eventual downfall.

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Conclusion: Implications for American National Security and Future Policy

Senator Ted Cruz concludes by emphasizing the critical need for America to adopt a foreign policy centered on strength and accountability. He warns that without such an approach, the United States risks further eroding its national security and inadvertently fostering alliances among adversarial nations.

[46:36] Senator Ted Cruz: "Appeasement, particularly of bad actors, inevitably results in those bad actors getting worse."

Cruz calls for a strategic reassessment of current policies, advocating for greater military preparedness and stringent oversight of international aid to ensure it aligns with genuine national security objectives rather than political theater.

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Final Thoughts

This episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson provides a critical examination of President Biden’s foreign and domestic policies through the lens of Senator Ted Cruz’s perspectives. The discussion underscores concerns about the administration's prioritization of public relations over substantive policy actions, the handling of international alliances, and the need for a robust defense strategy to safeguard American interests.

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Notable Quotes

• [02:09] Senator Ted Cruz: "They would be running. And if he wasn't running, the Secret Service would have run and grabbed him and put him in a shelter."

• [04:12] Senator Ted Cruz: "It is entirely theater, 100% for show."

• [09:55] Senator Ted Cruz: "Zelenskyy is engaged in theater as well."

• [14:41] Senator Ted Cruz: "Well, it is ridiculous that Joe Biden has not been to East Palestine yet."

• [23:30] Senator Ted Cruz: "There is very little transparency, very little accountability as to where that money is going."

• [34:54] Senator Ted Cruz: "This is unequivocally good for America. This treaty was bad for America."

• [35:13] Senator Ted Cruz: "How did we win the Cold War? We stood up to the Soviet Union. We called it out. We built up our military."

• [44:35] Senator Ted Cruz: "Deterrence works, but deterrence only works if you're strong enough that they're afraid of you."

• [46:36] Senator Ted Cruz: "Appeasement, particularly of bad actors, inevitably results in those bad actors getting worse."

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Conclusion

For listeners seeking an in-depth analysis of current geopolitical dynamics and critiques of the Biden administration's policies, this episode offers a comprehensive overview from Senator Ted Cruz’s conservative standpoint. It emphasizes the importance of strong leadership and strategic defense in maintaining national security and preventing the strengthening of adversarial nations.

Transcript

[Ben Shapiro]

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[Clay Travis]

Senator, nice to be with you as always. We've got a lot of stuff that's really serious to talk about this week and I want to start by just the semantics. And it's really been embarrassing, not just in the U.S. but I think around the world. You have the president that tries to act like this trip to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky was a surprise trip. It clearly was not a surprise trip. Many in the media were tipped off and been there for more than a week, waiting on him to get there from what we understand. And then we saw air raid sirens go off at the exact moment that he and Zelensky are walking out for the cameras outside. Neither of them are alarmed by it. Secret Service didn't look around. None of the security detail for Zelensky looked around. In fact, even CNN's ripping on the president. Here's a look at the video first and then we'll show you CNN's. No one really seemed that concerned.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, the thing to understand about the Biden White House is it's all comms all the time. Everything they do is about pr. National security isn't a priority. Defending this nation isn't a priority. Standing with our allies isn't a priority. Defeating our enemies isn't a priority. Securing our border isn't a priority. Defending people from violent criminals isn't a priority. The only thing they care about is communications. They approach everything. Imagine you take a Hollywood producer and put them in charge of the White House. You get the Biden White House. And so you have things like you look at the January 6th committee.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. Done in prime time.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The Nancy Pelosi kangaroo court show committee. They literally brought in a Hollywood producer to put it on. It was meant to be a partisan infomercial to influence the last election. You look at the Biden ridiculous trip to the border. A, he delayed two years before going to the southern border. B, he goes to El Paso. Not to. Not to the Rio Grande Valley, not.

[Clay Travis]

To hundreds of miles away, 800 miles. Bingo.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

El Paso is as far from McAllen as Chicago is from Washington D.C. that's how far away he went. But when he went, prior to that, there had been illegal immigrants camped out, homeless on the streets. They cleaned them all up. Suddenly it was sparkling and pristine. And he went the entire trip without seeing a single illegal immigrant. It was entirely a made for TV event. Well, that's what this was. And so when he walks in, what makes for good tv? Let's sound the air raid sirens. But you're right, it is ridiculous farce. Because if there actually was a real air raid sirens, that wouldn't be a reaction. They would be running. And if he wasn't running, the Secret Service would have run and grabbed him and put him in a shelter.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, they would have picked him up off the ground.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Like if there is an air raid siren coming in and a missile is about to land on their head, you think they'd just be strolling along, no big deal. 100% theater, 100% for show. And amazingly enough, the media called him out for it. You and I aren't the only people who noticed. Even the professional propagandist at CNN called him out for it.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. Look at this. It's amazing. Here's CNN again showing this to the world saying this is basically total crap. I've been here for the past five days. I have not heard any explosions. I have not heard any air sirens until about half an hour ago. Right when President Bide in the center of Kyiv, as Clarissa was just mentioning. So at the same time that life has gotten back to normal, relatively speaking, here in the capital, of course, it is far from that elsewhere in the country. Before I get your response to that, I just want to think about the producers at CNN that allowed that to actually even go out over the air. I worked there for seven years. This was, I think, just an insult to their intelligence and they were mad. How dare you think that we're gonna carry water on this stage of this ridiculous nature, when this hasn't been happening. This is not normal for cnn, but I think it actually just insulted them as journalists. Do you think we're just gonna look at this and act like it was normal?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So I'm not sure they're capable of being insulted, but for whatever reason, they decided not to be propagandists on this topic today. And I gotta say, for the Biden White House and for Democrats generally, that's a warning sign. When they've lost cnn, they're in trouble. It wasn't just cnn. Reuters.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, Reuters. Look at their tweet. They put it up there as another who just said, hey. Air raid sirens blast across the Ukrainian capital as Biden visits Kyiv. Although there were no reports of Russian.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Missile or air strikes, it was entirely theater. The video should have ended with, I'm Joe Biden and I approve this message because it was a TV ad. It was meant to be a TV ad. And, you know, you think back to just how much George W. Bush, who you and I both worked for, regretted Mission accomplished.

[Clay Travis]

So it was one of the biggest mistakes of an entire presidency. And that for people that may not remember, he landed on an aircraft carrier. He got out of that plane. He was in the flight gear. There was a big banner over that aircraft carrier that said mission accomplished. And it was a great moment, PR moment, but it was the wrong thing when we saw how long that war went on.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way, I will tell you as an aside to that Clay Johnson, who was the head of personnel in the White House, had been Bush's, I guess it was, high school roommate. And apparently after Bush gets out, he's in that flight suit. Apparently Clay went up to 43 in the Oval and said, Mr. President, I have to ask you, were you actually wearing a codpiece? That's not a question many people get to ask the President of the United States. And if you happen to be find your high school roommate is president and he wears a COD piece, well, then you get to ask that question.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, you get to ask that question.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I don't know if Biden was wearing a codpiece there.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But I will say he was. That moment, those words mission accomplished haunted the rest of the Bush presidency. And I do wonder if this march with the air raid, this theater. Theater, if this will come back and haunt them. The fact that they've already lost CNN and Reuters on it. Now, that does not augur.

[Clay Travis]

Well, I want to ask you about Zelensky in this, and this is one of the concerns about money. But before we get to that, I want to tell you about our friends over at Augusta Precious Metals. You know what's been happening with the markets, you know how crazy things have been. And if you are close to retirement, you probably have one goal and that is to protect and preserve the money that you've saved for retirement. With Augusta Precious Metals. They can help you do that by using gold and silver through an IRA or a 401K. If you've saved more than $100,000, you should check them out and talk to them. Now they do two things that is really, really cool. Number one, they're going to send you an investor guide for free. But the other thing is they're going to do a web conference with you to talk about you personally, where you are with your retirement goals and then explain to you if gold and silver may be right or wrong for you. I use them and I actually did the web conference and it was phenomenal because everybody's financial situation for retirement is a little bit different. So check them out. Go online right now to AugustaPreciousMetals.com that's Augusta Precious Metals.com you can also call them 8774-GOLD IRA. That's 877-Number-4-GOLD IRA. Tell them I sent you and they'll even pay your fees for up to 10 years. Augusta precious metals.com There have been a lot of questions about Zelensky and how much it seems that he understands he's acting for the cameras. Early on this war he was, you know, doing photo shoots and having makeup artists come in. He also, if you remember, is a very different guy than came to meet with Donald Trump. He wore a suit then. Now he's always in these military esque fatigues. Their sirens go off. He doesn't even look up for a moment, doesn't even look at his body. Men around him like, hey, is this real? Clearly again, another actor basically in this play. Does it worry you how much money we're sending him knowing that this is what's happening in his country?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, it does. And listen, you're right, Zelenskyy is engaged in theater as well. And look, Zelenskyy, before he was president, he was an actor. I mean, he was literally so people.

[Clay Travis]

Know you're not joking.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He was a professional actor in a popular sitcom in Ukraine and now he's president. He understands acting. And so, you know, it's a little jarring seeing all of these images of him in a sweatshirt and fatigues next to Biden in his pressed suit Whether in the Oval Office or in Ukraine, you know, Zelenskyy is always in this outfit and it is a costume and he understands what he's doing. It is performance. I will say, when Zelenskyy came and addressed the joint session of Congress, there was one fellow on Twitter who put out something very amusing, said, look, it's not fair to blame Zelenskyy that he didn't wear a suit to address Congress. After all, an official in the Biden administration stole his luggage.

[Clay Travis]

That's true. Yeah. You have men wearing dresses.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So there you go. But that remains one of the most bizarre stories I've ever seen to have this cross dressing, non binary Biden appointee who's a serial thief of luggage. But be that as it may, it actually proved too much even for the Biden administration. Amazingly enough, once he was criminally charged with theft. But getting back to Zelenskyy, he's engaged in theater. There's a reason that Zelenskyy, you see him at the Oscars, there's a reason you see him on the COVID of magazines. He is deliberately engaged in theater. The fact that neither Biden nor Zelenskyy flinch, look around, do anything when the air raid sirens go off means both of them knew about it. Because there's no chance you're walking through and suddenly air, rain, sirens go off, you react and you react quickly. I mean, I tell you, I've spent fair amount of time in Israel. I haven't actually been there when air raid sirens go off, but I've talked to people who live on a kibbutz, for example, and they describe how when the sirens go off, it can mean you have anywhere from 15 to 45 seconds before a missile explodes. And so you sprint to the closest shelter you can get. And it's the difference between life and death. So no one who is familiar with a war zone just ignores an air raid siren. Zelensky's engaged in theater, so is Biden. And that it underscores the objective of the trip, which is pr, not actual substantive national security objectives.

[Clay Travis]

There was another aspect of this before we get into Russia and what's going on with Russia, that actually relates this story back to the U.S. we've had some issues here. Train derailments have come up. A lot of people, especially looking at what happened in Ohio, are very concerned now about air quality, about water quality there. We've seen a lot of the viral videos of people, including members of Congress, who are throwing rocks and stirring the water basin in these streams. And you're seeing chemicals come up to the surface saying, look, it's all gone to the bottom here. Don't tell us everything's fine. And Mayor Pete's, like, gone. We're not seeing him. There's also people that are angry at the president for going overseas instead of visiting there. The American bill first, including the mayor of the local town where this happened. He let him have it on tv. I understand why. Take a look at this. Absolutely. That was the biggest slap in the face that tells you right now he doesn't care about us.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So.

[Clay Travis]

Agreed. He can send every agency he wants to. But I found that out this morning in one of the briefings that he was in the Ukraine giving millions of dollars away to people over there, not to us. And I'm furious on President's Day in our country. Yeah, President's Day in our country. He's over in Ukraine. Do they have a valid point?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Of course they do. Look, it is ridiculous that Joe Biden has not been to East Palestine yet. You literally have an American city with a major derailment that was on fire where the water is being poisoned, where the air is being poisoned, where it's ongoing for multiple days. And this administration does not give a damn why. Because that part of the state voted 70% for Donald Trump. And it's clear their attitude. Look, it's all politics all the time. It's all communications and PR all the time. And so going there is a bad message, and it really is striking. So Donald Trump publicly said he was gonna go to East Palestine, and promptly. The Biden administration said, ooh, we'll go too now.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, when the timing's right. Mayor Pete now says he's gonna go. I don't even know what that means. When the timing's right. The timing was right the day or two or three after this happened.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and let me ask you a question. What in the hell does Pete Buttigieg have to do to get fired? Like, in the history of this country, has there ever been a transportation secretary who has screwed more things up from in his first year in office, A supply chain crisis that impacted the entire country that made it hard to get basics and essentials. And in the middle of the supply.

[Clay Travis]

Chain country, big formula was on that list. Diapers was on that list. We're talking about necessities of people.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And in the middle of that supply chain crisis, Pete Buttigieg is on a extended paternity leave. So he's literally not even showing up to work. Most Americans had never even heard of supply chain crisis until the thing happened on Buttigieg's watch. That's how he started. Then you went on to almost have a major rail strike last year because he failed to step in and solve the problem at the outset. Then we had just recently the FAA screwed up with their NOTAM system, grounded every flight in America. The first, first time that has happened since September 11th because the FAA screwed up. By the way, we had a hearing on that last week in the Senate in the Commerce Committee, where I'm the ranking member. Pete Buttigieg didn't show up. He sent the acting administrator of the FAA because there's no responsibility from the secretary. And now with East Palestine, how did Pete Buttigieg not get on the first plane after this crisis happened to be there on the ground at this point?

[Clay Travis]

Well, the railway CEOs also don't seem to be worried about him coming down on them because they just showed up finally. The CEO just now showed up, which means they're not afraid that the Biden administration is going to come down heavy on them.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

What Buttigieg does all day long is the same thing Biden does all day long. He does politics. So Buttigieg talks about gun control because, you know, gun control is central to the statutory mandate of the Department of Transportation. It has nothing to do with it. But he talks about how freeways and roads are racist. What the hell are you talking about? A racist road, the last I checked, asphalt on the ground that you drive your car in is not racist. It's not not racist. It's a piece of rock. It's almost as if picking out a small town mayor with no experience is not a good idea to run a major cabinet agency like the Department of Transportation. But Buttigieg, it seems, cannot find the time to do his actual job.

[Clay Travis]

He's too busy thinking about running for office.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And it's the same situation. They actually parallel the way Buttigieg approaches DOT is how Biden approaches the White House, which is every day it's a press release, it's a photo op. It's not actually substantively addressing the problems and solving the problems when it comes to Ukraine. Listen, we have a national security interest in Russia losing. We want Putin to be defeated, but we don't have an interest in just writing blank checks to Zelenskyy funding corruption in the Ukrainian government. We don't have an interest in funding all the civilian bureaucracy. We don't have an interest in funding the welfare system. We do have a national security interest in providing weapons to be used to kill Russians by Ukrainian soldiers. Ironically, the Biden White House number one, caused the war. We've talked about that a lot in this podcast. By waving sanctions on Russia for Nord Stream 2, waiving sanctions on Putin for Nord Stream 2, Biden personally, through his own political stupidity, caused this war. But number two, once the war happened, Biden slow walked military assistance all throughout. You recall early on when the war started, the first reaction of the Biden administration was offering Zelensky, hey, we'll fly you out of the country to abandon the country. And Zelensky said, I don't need a ride, I need ammunition. And the Biden White House had no interest initially in providing military aid. I'll tell you when that was happening. The Biden administration was giving classified briefings to the entire Senate saying this war will be over in less than a week. Russia will sweep into Ukraine, the tanks will overrun the entire country. It'll be over in a week. The Ukrainians have no hope, no prayer whatsoever.

[Clay Travis]

So in other words, don't get involved because it's going to be done anyway.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Their view was surrender. That was their advice to Zelensky. Hey, we'll fly in. Yeah.

[Clay Travis]

When you fly a leader out, how often does that leader come back into power within the next three, four, five, six weeks or years?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right.

[Clay Travis]

Usually doesn't happen.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So the Biden administration is not focused and for a year has not been focused on how do we actually win the war, how do we enable Ukraine to win the war. We talked about in the last podcast how the Biden administration is effectively funding both sides of the war because of waving sanctions on Iran and flowing billions of dollars into Iran, that is providing the drones that are killing Ukrainian citizens and Ukrainian soldiers. Biden administration doesn't want to cut off that funding. So instead they are funding the drones that are on the other side of the war. What they need to focus on is the national security and military objectives. And the objective should not be for Joe Biden to become Santa Claus for the entire Ukrainian government. The objective should be focused on concrete national security objectives, not on air raid sirens and political theater.

[Ben Shapiro]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. You know, when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself, talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start? Talkspace. Talkspace makes it easy to get the support you need. With Talkspace, you can go online, answer a few questions about your preferences, and be matched with a therapist. And because you'll meet your Therapist online. You don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule wherever you feel most at ease. If you're depressed, stressed, struggling with a relationship, or if you want some counseling for you and your partner or just need a little extra one on one support, Talkspace is here for you. Plus, Talkspace works with most major insurers and most insured members have a $0 copay. No insurance, no problem. Now get $80 off of your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com save $80 with code space80@talk.

[Clay Travis]

We're in this thing and it looks like it's open ended. It's basically in his, his announcement there, the sit down there. It was very clear that we are open ended on the amount of money that we're willing to spend. I'm worried about accountability and I want to ask you about if you guys have gotten any updates on like hey, when we do send money, where's it going? Because Ukraine is a very corrupt country before Russia invaded. People need to understand that. So is there any accountability with that money? Before you answer that question, I want to tell you about Patriot Mobile. They're an awesome conservative Christian company that actually fights back for what we believe in as conservatives. I am trying to spend my dollars now with more and more companies that stand up for what I believe in instead of fighting against what I believe in. You probably have noticed what's happening in the world right now when it comes to cancel culture and everything else. So when I can spend dollars a company that fights for what I stand for, I love doing it. And that's why I want you to know about Patriot Mobile. Not only can Patriot Mobile save you money in your cell phone bill, but they give you the same exact coverage off the same towers that you're using right now. You get to keep your same cell phone number as well. And many times you can keep the same cell phone you have in your hand as we speak or you can upgrade to a new one. Now here's the part you're going to love. When you pay your bill. You actually are supporting conservative causes because every time you pay your bill, Patriot Mill takes a portion of it and they give it back to organizations that stand up for our first and our second amendment rights. They stand up for unborn children and they're even now helping with adoptions since we have had Roe v. Wade overturned. So if you want to be involved with A company that stands up for what we believe in. Check out Patriot Mobile. Go to patriotmobile.com verdict you'll get the best deals. Patriotmobile.com verdict or call them 878 Patriot. That's 878- Patriot. Use the promo code. Verdict Senator, there's a lot of people that are worried about the finances of this and I see this a lot and I get this phone call a lot on my show and that is well, where's this money going? Because people have heard that Ukraine is corrupt.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Clay Travis]

Is there any accountability in the accounting for when we send massive amounts of cash? Because we aren't sending as much weaponry as we're sending just pure raw cash to Ukraine. Do we have any accounting or any checks and balances for this now open ended war?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So we're sending both and we don't have nearly as much accountability as we need on the weapons. There are lots of things we're not sending. For example, what are called ATACM ballistic missiles. Atacm, those are ballistic missiles that Ukraine could use to take out the Iranian drones. The bases where Iranian drones are being sent, the operators that are using Iranian drones. Biden administration is not providing the missiles that could take out those Iranian drones because their priority is kissing up to the Ayatollah and entering into a new nuclear deal with the Ayatollah even if it undermines US national security. @ the same time, the billions that are going to the Ukrainian government that are not going for ammunition, not going for weapons, but instead are just going for general economic support. There is very little transparency, very little accountability as to where that money is going. I can tell you in the last couple of weeks I met with an ambassador of a NATO member and European country that is near Ukraine and we spent quite a bit of time talking about what the status of what was going on in the Ukrainian war was. And I'll tell you the warning I gave this ambassador which is that I think congressional patience for an open ended commitment to the Ukraine war is fading quickly. And with a Republican majority in the House, I think you're going to see much more scrutiny on what funds are going. I think there will still be a willingness to provide actual weaponry to provide ammunition or weapons that the Ukrainians can use to defend themselves. I think there will be very little interest in unrestrained checks going to the government of Ukraine. I also think the focus needs to be on what our strategic national objective is for the Democrats.

[Clay Travis]

Do you know what it is from this administration?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

There is none from this administration for the Democrats. This has Become a virtue signal for the Democrats. They wear a Ukrainian flag. Zelensky has become, I think People magazine is gonna name the sexiest man alive. They're in love with him. And it's become a way. A Ukrainian flag has become like a Covid mask. It's a sign to show your virtue.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now, look, on the conservative side. There are a lot of us who are Reagan conservatives that believe standing up to Russian aggression is a good idea, that want Russia to lose, that want Putin to lose. But as we see all these leftists preening around with Ukrainian flags and almost dancing with their fealty to him, it is driving millions of Americans away and saying, all right, if they're for it, I ain't for it. They don't have. Not once has this president articulated a clear national security interest for the United States in this war. The State of the Union address. He talked more about airline baggage fees than he did the biggest land war in Europe since World War II that he caused.

[Clay Travis]

And at the same time, he didn't mention China or the balloon that just come over China, over this country from China. And he also didn't mention the concern. And I wanna ask you this, because this unnatural alliance between China and Russia is one that I do think could bring us to a massive conflict, a World War Three. And yet this administration has literally done everything you could do to position and force these two countries into an unnatural alliance. And if you know anything about foreign policy, you don't want one of the most wealthy countries in the world that has a lot like again, and a massive military in China also connecting with a massive nuclear power, which is Russia and them working together in any type of conflict.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So Russia is our enemy. China is our enemy. Both are true. Putin is a bad guy. Xi is a bad guy. In both instances, we have nations that are deeply antagonistic and hostile to the United States. Biden's weakness towards all of our enemies has the effect of driving all of our enemies together and making them more aggressive. So Biden's weakness towards Iran causes Iran to be getting billions of dollars from Russia providing drones that are being used against the Ukrainians in the Ukrainian war. Biden's weakness towards China and in fact, the fact that the Biden administration is perfectly happy to spend millions of dollars buying electric vehicles and batteries made using slave labor in Chinese concentration camps. That weakness to China makes China more willing to provide lethal military equipment to Russia again to be used to wage the war. In every instance when the Biden administration is weak, our enemies get stronger and they get unified in their opposition to the United States. This crap didn't happen when Trump was president. And there's a reason. They were scared as hell of this guy.

[Clay Travis]

It wasn't dumb luck. There was an actual strategy that his administration had and the foreign policy people around him had. And as you just said, they were scared of his response.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And there's a reason, and this is something that Biden and most Democrats don't understand. Weakness is provocative. The weaker Biden is, the worse our enemies get. Appeasement doesn't work. And it actually, paradoxically, the weaker you are, the greater you increase the chance of war. You want to stay out of World War 3. Don't elect a spineless jellyfish like Joe Biden to be president because our enemies view him as so weak that he sits there for eight days while a Chinese spy balloon conducts espionage on the United States and he does nothing. He shoots it down after its mission's complete. And then getting back to the point that it's all pr, all the time, in the three weeks later, he shoots down three random things in the atmosphere that he doesn't know what the hell they are. They may be some high school kids $12 balloon that we're sending $400,000 missiles to shoot down. That is not the actions of a commander in chief who is soberly clear eyed saying, what do we need to do to defend the nation? Shooting down a high school weather balloon is the equivalent of sounding the air raid alarms. When you walk with Zelensky, it's made for tv. Look how tough I am. I shot something down. It just doesn't happen to be a Chinese spy balloon. The weaker Biden is, the more dangerous our enemies get.

[Clay Travis]

There's a complicated issue, and it's one that I think is really important. And it deals with foreign policy and treaties, with Russia and nuclear weapons. And I want to get into that because this could have probably all been avoided if we would have played it differently. And this is why foreign policy matters. And I want to get into that in a moment. Before we get to that, though, I want to tell you about chalk. We've talked about strength, we've talked about weakness. And if you're a guy that's getting a little bit older and you feel like you're losing some of that edge, well, now's your time to fight back. Chalk is a company choq, and they're here to help real American men maximize their masculinity by boosting testosterone levels up to 20% over 90 days. Now, look, I've been taking this Jesse Kelly. I blame him for this. He told me about chalk and he's like, look, you're getting older. I'm getting older. It really does work. You should try it. I did and it is working now. You can check out the chalk mail vitality stack and you can see if it works for you. This American made company right here, everything's made here in the U.S. check them out. Go to chalk choq.com use the code BEN. You'll get 35% off any Chalk subscriptions for life. Choq.com, code BEN for 35% off Chalk choq.com Senator, I want to get back to this other issue and it is such an important one. It deals with foreign policy. The new START Treaty is something that many people may not even know about what it does. And now Russia's pulled out of it. Honestly hadn't gotten a lot of media attention. It should because if this would have been handled correctly. And this goes back to the Obama Biden years. There's also this dealt a lot of this was going on and whether to renew or not renew under the Trump administration and now with Joe Biden seems to bungle this to a level where we may not be where we would be today if there would have been different decisions made. So explain it for people.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, this week Russia pulled out of the new START Treaty and the media's coverage is kind of confused. They can't figure out what to say about this. I'll tell you what they should be saying. This is unequivocally good for America. This treaty was bad for America, Russia, ironically, this is one of the few things good that has come out of Joe Biden's bungled handling of the Ukraine war is it drove Russia to pull out of a treaty we should have pulled out a long time ago. Now, how does Russia handle treaties? And this goes back to the philosophy we were talking about before. I believe in peace through strength. I think the way you avoid war, I am deeply anti war. The way you avoid war is you're so strong your enemies don't want to screw with you. Reagan understood this. Reagan rebuilt the military. Reagan took on the Soviet Union. Reagan denounced the Soviet Union as an evil empire. He said Marxism, Leninism would end up on the ash heap of history. When he was asked, what's your strategy in the Cold War? He said, very simple. We win, they lose. All of the intellectual glitterati in Washington were horrified at this simpleton who didn't understand nuance. By the way, when it comes To China. We need a similar strategy to how we won the Cold War. And I have spent a decade laying out a strategy just like Reagan articulated with the Soviet Union. A comprehensive strategy to stand up and defeat Communist China. In the years to come with the Soviet Union, we entered a whole series of treaties. And let me cut to the chase on every one of the arms control treaties. The Soviet Union and now Russia, they cheat. They lie, and they always have. And they cheat.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah, they're not honest people. They're never gonna be. They're gonna do whatever they can to get away with. Whatever they can get away with.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way, you know, one of those agreements was something called the Budapest Memorandum. You know what the Budapest Memorandum was?

[Clay Travis]

What was it?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So the United States and Russia are the top two countries in the world that have nuclear weapons. Do you know what the third country used to be?

[Clay Travis]

Is it Budapest? Was it?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, it used to be Ukraine. As part of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had the third largest collection of nuclear weapons on the planet. Ukraine agreed to voluntarily give up all their nukes. So Ukraine took a bunch of nukes that happened in the Soviet Union. It gave them all up. It has zero. In exchange, the United States and Russia signed the Budapest Memorandum agreeing to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine. So Russia signed the agreement saying, yep, we'll honor the borders of Ukraine. And you can see how much they're bound by that. Reagan famously said, with the Soviet Union, trust but verify. With the treaties, I wouldn't even trust at this point, we know that they're going to cheat. And so it's interesting. This is an issue I've been engaged in for a decade. So let's go back to 2014. 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine the first time, invaded Crimea. And it was very interesting. Putin then described it as perfectly legal. And he said it rights an historical wrong in which Russia was robbed of its rightful claim to the Crimean Peninsula in 1954. But what's amazing, it was President Obama's response to the invasion of Ukraine. Then he observed, this is a quote from Obama. President Putin seems to have a different set of lawyers making a different set of interpretations. What an imbecilic thing to say.

[Clay Travis]

It was a clear violation.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This was not about lawyers making an interpretation. Putin was very candid. He has described the dissolution of the Soviet Union as the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century. And he's made clear he wants to reassemble the Soviet Union. How did we win the Cold War? We stood up to the Soviet Union. We called it out. For what it was. We built up our military. And then the piece that was transformational was sdi, the Strategic Defense Initiative. Reagan understood we will use our technological advantage to develop missile defense, which ultimately is how we will beat the Soviets. And you'll.

[Clay Travis]

And by almost bankrupting them as part of it, we will go to the arms race, and we will even put out misinformation, Star wars and everything else, to the point where they just can't keep up financially. And it will weaken them so badly, because we knew they were teetering economically, and we knew they couldn't afford to play with us.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So SDI, the corrupt corporate media in the 80s, derisively referred to it as Star Wars.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And you remember the analogy they used to use of saying, okay, a missile interceptor hitting a missile, that's like a bullet hitting a bullet in air. They mocked it and said, it's impossible. And Reagan had a vision that if we use our technology to take out their missiles, that's how we defeat them. And what happened? You look at Reykjavik in Iceland, where Gorbachev came and said he'll sign a big treaty if, If. If you abandon sdi. And Reagan got up and walked out, said, nope, if that's the price, no. And it ultimately bankrupted the Soviet Union. They couldn't keep up with the economic engine that developed the technology to defend us. Now, leftists being what they are on national security, they're wrong on everything. So missile defense, which is enormously important if you care about peace. If you care about peace. By the way, before missile defense, the strategy was mad. Mutually assured destruction. We both aim nukes at each other, and the only thing to stop you from firing nukes is we're both gonna blow up the world and turn it into a glowing, ashy Cuban missile crisis. In a nutshell, that is Democrat policy. And what Reagan understood is, look, let's use technology to stop their nukes from getting to us to begin with. So what did Obama do? Obama systematically undermined. So, for example, 2009, Obama comes in. One of the first decisions he makes is to cancel plans for a ballistic missile defense system in Central Europe. Plans that George W. Bush had announced. Obama promptly goes in and goes, nope, no missile defense. We don't want to do that. You know, when he announced that, he announced canceling the ballistic missile defense in Central Europe on the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland, September 17, 2009. Like, literally groveling at a level. If you're a Russian press agent, you wouldn't come up with A better time to announce it. And at the same time, he made enormous concessions on missile defense in the New Start Treaty, which was implemented in 2011. So it's another Obama Special, and it initially was going to expire in 2021. And so I called for back in 2014, get out of New Start. Why? Because New Start limits our ability to defend ourselves against missiles. And the Russians cheat. Yeah, the Russians cheat and they cheat.

[Clay Travis]

And they cheat, and we knew they were cheating. We could verify they were cheating.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So we tie our hands and the other side doesn't. Now Fast forward to 2015. 2015, I called on the Obama administration to release the Department of Defense had done an assessment of how much Russia had cheated on the INF Treaty, the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, another treaty that Russia was cheating wildly on. DoD had concluded they're cheating wildly, and yet they suppressed the report. Why? Because they were trying to ram through New Start. So they didn't want to admit Russia's cheating on inf, because if they did.

[Clay Travis]

They wouldn't be able to get the New START cheating.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right. So that was 2015. All right, then 2018, I joined with John Kyl and with 23 additional senators in a letter to President Trump asking him to press back on New Start. That New Start was a terrible treaty. It had been extended, but it shouldn't have been, and we needed to get out of it. Why? Because the Russians cheat and it limits our ability to defend ourselves. Now, Trump on treaties did a good job pulling out of the INF Treaty, and he also pulled out of what's called the Open Skies Treaty, which prohibited our ability to basically do what the Chinese spy balloon was doing to engage in surveillance on Russian sites. Mind you, they engaged in surveillance on our site. So literally, we tied our hands and they openly mocked it and ignored it. I urged Trump pull out Open Skies. He did pull out of open skies on New Start. Unfortunately, Trump didn't pull out of it. He should have done that, but at a minimum, he didn't expand it. So that was good. He refrained from expanding it. What did Biden do when he gets in? One of the first things he did was expand New Start, because there's nothing Democrats like more than a treaty that ties our hands, makes us weaker, and that lets the Russians and Chinese get stronger. Now, here's an amazing thing. I'm going to read you a headline from January 31, 2023. So not too long ago, US says Russia violating New Start Nuclear Arms Control Treaty. So, finally, the Biden administration was forced to admit that Russia was in violation because among other things, they refused to allow inspection activities on its territory. So they say, nope, you can't expect it inspect it. And by the way, this is the same problem with the Obama Iran nuclear treaty where Obama trusted Iran to inspect itself. And under the terms of the treaty, the inspectors could not go into military facilities. Well, guess what? That's where the Iranians put their nuclear research in military facilities like Fordo, a research lab buried in a mountain declared off limits. So this is a pattern. It's a pattern from Obama, it's a pattern from Biden, it's a pattern from Democrats that they enter into agreements that weaken the US militarily and that allow the Russians and also allow the Chinese and also allow the Iranians to cheat and build up their military. And if you believe in peace through strength, you want the opposite. You want us stronger and them weaker. The Biden approach, they're stronger and we're weaker.

[Clay Travis]

We knew we were in trouble with foreign policy. And I go back to this because I think the day that the world realized they could do whatever they wanted to do, I'm referring to the bad guys, was the day that we started taking orders from the Taliban in Afghanistan in our pullout. And if you look at what's happened since then, Senator, whether it be Russia, whether it be Iran, whether it be China, that's the day when they said kick it into high gear and let's do whatever the hell we want to do right now, whether that be screw with Tyhuron, screw with America, spy balloons over America. And as you said earlier, this didn't happen when Donald Trump was president for a reason.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, deterrence works, but deterrence only works if you're strong enough that they're afraid of you. You know, the Democrats in the media like to characterize Reagan as a warmonger. That was something you heard constantly.

[Clay Travis]

He wasn't.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The biggest country Reagan ever invaded in eight years as president was Grenada. The Cold War, which all of the smart liberals, and they would tell you they're smart because they were wrong about everything. All of the smart liberals said the Soviet Union could never be defeated, said we had to give in to Malays, we couldn't take on the Soviet Union, they were too strong. All of that was nonsense. And here's the amazing thing. Under Reagan's leadership, we won the Cold War without firing a shot. Let me repeat that, cuz that's an amazing thing. The Berlin Wall.

[Clay Travis]

Compare it to literally what Russia is happening right now with Ukraine. How many missiles have been dropped. How many people have died? How many people have been tortured? They found mass graves. And again, what Reagan did was take all of that down in Russia without, as you said, firing one shot.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And if Biden hadn't waived sanctions on Nord Stream 2, if he hadn't waived the sanctions on Russia and Putin, there would be no Ukraine war. Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. Caused this war because he was so weak that Putin said, this guy is a paper tiger. And he's not even a tiger, he's just paper. And he went in, we could have stopped it. And it's not just me who said that. Zelensky said that the government of Poland said that weakness is provocative. I've joked before, there's a reason nobody goes and gets a degree from the Neville Chamberlain School of Foreign Affairs. Appeasement, particularly of bad actors, inevitably results in those bad actors getting worse. And that has happened at historic levels in the last two years under Biden.

[Clay Travis]

This is why I love doing this podcast with you, Senator. We get to talk about things that no one else is talking about. I hope all of you will share this podcast, especially this one with your family and friends. Don't forget, we do one video and audio podcast a week and we do two others are audio only. So make sure you subscribe to our podcast. It's free download, it's free. Write us a five star review that'll help us reach more people that have not gotten to listen to the show yet and we'll see you back here in a couple of days.

[Ben Shapiro]

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