← The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
U.N. Sec. Gen. Shamefully Blasts Israel & Senate Considers Jack Lew-Key Player in Disastrous Obama Iran Deal-to be Ambassador to Israel
00:48:53
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- [00:01]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is the Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you as well. And Senator, there was a shocking moment at the United nations when the Secretary General had some shocking words to say and now Israel is calling for him to resign. This is spreading quickly in in the world. Your initial reaction to Overall, we're going to play a clip from in a moment. But overall, the shocking anti Semitism coming at the United Nations.
- [00:33]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, the United nations has long been a pit of Israel hatred and anti Semitism. In many ways, the United nations exists so that enemies of Israel can attack Israel on a daily basis. Many aspects of the UN are simply a joke. Things like the Human Rights Council being populated by nations like Cuba, like Libya, like Syria. Some of the very worst violators of human rights in the world populate the Human Rights Council. But the UN also routinely launches investigations of Israel attacking Israel, delegitimizing Israel, undermining Israel. All that being said, the behavior of the Secretary General this week was shameful even by the standards of the United Nations. Give a listen to what he had to say.
- [01:25]
C
On the situation on the ground. Excellencies, the situation in the Middle east is growing more dire by the hour. The war in Gaza is raging and risk spiraling throughout the region. Divisions are splintering societies. Tensions threaten to boil over. At a crucial moment like this, it is vital to be clear on principles, starting with a fundamental principle of respecting and protecting civilians. I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7th of October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians or the launching of rockets against civilian targets. All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions. And I respectfully note the presence among us of members of their families. Excellencies, it is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence. Their economy stifled, their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing. But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
- [03:15]
Ben Ferguson
Wow. In other words, we stand with Israel. But let's tell you every reason why we actually stand with the Palestinians in Hamas. And now we'll start telling Israel what they can and cannot do to protect themselves.
- [03:27]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that was utterly disgraceful and dishonest. And in A moment. I want to go through it literally, sentence by sentence, but. But I want to first talk about who it is that's speaking. So this is Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres. He's from Portugal. He was previously the Prime Minister of Portugal, and he was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. Now, what did he do? What. What did he also do? He was also the President of the Socialist International. So you need to understand, this is the left. The far left hates Israel, and the far left embraces anti Semitism. He was pre. Before that, he was Secretary General of the Socialist Party, but he was President of the Socialist International, the global Socialist International. So this is one of the leading socialists in the world, a man of the left, revered by leftists. This is who they admire. And I want to go through Ben. I want. I want to play what he's saying again, and I want to stop it a couple of times and just comment on it sentence by sentence. So play it again from the beginning.
- [04:33]
C
The situation in the Middle east is growing more dire by the hour. The war in Gaza is raging and risks spiraling throughout the region. Divisions are splintering societies. Tensions threaten to boil over. At a crucial moment like this, it is vital to be clear on principles, starting with a fundamental principle of respecting and protecting civilians.
- [05:04]
Ben Ferguson
Well, let's just stop there. He says it's spiraling out of control. Center. It spiraled out of control the moment that Hamas parachuted in and started taking hostages and killing people. I mean, you had journalists that gathered in Israel to watch the videos that were taken from the Hamas terrorists. They were wearing the equivalent of body cameras, GoPro cameras, and they watched the atrocities in Israel. And this guy says, it could spiral out of control. We've already passed that point. They spiraled it out of control from square one.
- [05:36]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that's exactly right. And this statement is all about drawing a moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel. They're both bad actors, they're both to be condemned, they're both to be criticized when they're not remotely comparable. Keep playing, because I want you to listen to his words and what exactly he says.
- [05:53]
C
I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October Acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring, and kidnapping of civilians or the launching of rockets against civilian targets.
- [06:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Stop. So I want you to look there, okay? So there he does the obligatory, I condemn what Hamas did. I mean, that he has to say. Now notice, he says, I condemn it unequivocally. Nothing can justify it. And he says the targeting of civilians or the launching of rockets, he doesn't specify the magnitude. Is the holocaust different from somebody being murdered on the streets? What happened on October 7th is Hamas went in house to house murdering civilians, targeting civilians. They have killed now over 1,400 Israelis. They murdered elderly people, they murdered little children, they violently raped. Notice he didn't use that word, rape. They violently raped women. They violently raped little girls. Did he condemn the raping of little girls? Nope, didn't mention it at all. It just says, well, the targeting of civilians are firing rockets that I condemn. He has no acknowledgement that they are beheading and burning alive infants. The scope of it, the depravity of it, is grotesque. And this enlightened, socialist, leftist jackass cannot bring himself to condemn it beyond. I have spoken unequivocally and I condemn it. But let me get on to what I really want to say, which is I hate Israel. Continue.
- [07:31]
C
All hostages must be treated humanely and released immediately and without conditions. And I respectfully note the presence among us of members of their families.
- [07:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that's very kind, Excellencies.
- [07:45]
C
It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.
- [07:56]
Senator Ted Cruz
Stop so vacuum guy, you're lying. Gaza is not subject to occupation, suffocating or otherwise. Israel left Gaza. Israel gave the Palestinians Gaza. They didn't just give Gaza to the Palestinians, they handed it over. They said, you want to be in charge, you can have your own state. You're in charge of it. You run it. And they had millions and millions of dollars flow into it. All Israel did is put up a wall and say, look, you lunatics, don't come kill us, but you're in charge. The only people occupying Gaza is Hamas. Israel is not in Gaza, although they are going into Gaza now to kill the Hamas terrorists. But that statement, what he means by suffocating occupation is the fact that Israel exists. That's what he means. When anti Semites talk about this, that's what they mean is as long as there is one square inch of Israel, it is in his worldview a suffocating occupation. It's why when the rabid anti Israel activists chant, from the river to the sea, they mean from the Jordan river all the way to the sea, they mean obliterating all of Israel. That's what he calls a suffocating occupation. But that is not Gaza. If it's occupied by anyone, it's occupied by Hamas, which is Palestinian. Israel is not in Gaza. Keep playing.
- [09:19]
C
They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence, their economy stifled, their people displaced, and their homes demolished.
- [09:30]
Senator Ted Cruz
Stop. So we've talked before on this podcast about one of the classic tools that demagogues and liars use is use of the passive voice. Now, what is the passive voice? For those of y'all who weren't paying close attention in high school grammar? The active voice is when there is an actor who is acting on the verb Ben hit the tennis ball. That's the active voice. Ben is the actor. He is hitting the tennis ball. The passive voice is the ball was hit. The passive voice is deliberately used to. To hide the actor. So the Nixon White House famously said crimes were committed, not who committed the crimes. It is a way you obscure the actor. So when they say their economy was stifled, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean Stifler from American Pie, he means stifled. He doesn't acknowledge who has stifled the Gaza economy, which is Hamas, that takes millions of dollars that flow in there to build hospitals, to build schools, to build water pipes. And what do they. They take it all, they loot it all, and they take the water pipes and they turn them into rockets to attack Israelis because the only thing these lunatics want to do is murder Jews because they are filled with genocidal hatred and the misery of the Palestinian people. Look, I agree that many of the Palestinian people are utterly miserable because Hamas terrorists use them as human shields. And they don't build schools, they don't build hospitals, they don't care about Palestinian babies, they hate Jews more than they care about the Palestinian people. Keep playing.
- [11:15]
C
Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing. But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
- [11:33]
Senator Ted Cruz
He claims that the oppression of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks of Hamas. But that is, of course, what his entire speech is doing, is trying to justify the horrific, inhumane, grotesque terror attacks of Hamas. And, and, and then when he says, says at the end that they should not justify the punishment of the Palestinian people, understand this. Because the media, the corporate media, cnn, abc, NBC, NBC, they will lie to you. They will not tell you this. They will do what that dishonest demagogue did. They will suggest that it is Israel that wants Palestinian civilians to suffer or die. That is a flat out lie. Israel goes to greater lengths than any military on the face of the planet, including Portugal's. This guy's the former prime minister of Portugal Port Portuguese military doesn't go to those lengths to avoid civilian casualties, including texting civilians, including dropping leaflets from the skies, including dropping dud bombs to let people know where they're going, including trying to evacuate civilians. The Israeli military does everything humanly possible to minimize civilian deaths. Why are there civilian deaths? Because Hamas wants them. Hamas wants Palestinians to die. Hamas wants deliberately puts its headquarters in the basement of hospitals. It puts missiles in the basements of kindergartens because it wants dead Palestinian kindergarten children so that idiots like this can then use those dead human shields as a club to attack and demonize Israel.
- [13:14]
Ben Ferguson
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- [15:06]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, here's what Israel has said. Israel's UN envoy, Galad Erdan called the Secretary General's comments shocking and he demanded that he resign. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen cancelled a meeting with Guterres. And Minister Benny Gantz, who actually, in the political world of Israel is considered more man of the left, labeled the UN Chief a terror apologist. Here is a quote from from Ambassador Erdogan. The UN Secretary General who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women and the elderly is not fit to lead the U.N. i call on him to resign immediately. There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words. He went on to say the remarks were, quote, horrible and completely disconnected from the reality of our region. It is sad that a person with such views is the head of an organization that arose after the Holocaust. It's really unfathomable. Now, you asked, is the United States going to echo that? Is Joe Biden going to echo the call for the UN Secretary General to resign? I'm willing to put the odds of that at 0.0%. There is no chance Joe Biden will call on the UN Secretary General to resign because those sentiments are the sentiments that are held by senior members of his administration, including, by the way, John Kerry, who's right now the climate czar. But he was the Secretary of State under Barack Obama. When John Kerry was Secretary of State, he referred to Israel as an apartheid state. That is an utter lie. It is completely false. When John Kerry did so, I went to the Senate floor and called on John Kerry to resign as Secretary of State. And I said at the time, I said, for the US Secretary of State to repeat these blood libels. His words will be used by the enemies of Israel. They'll be used by Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran and those that seek the destruction of Israel. And so, unfortunately, under Joe Biden, I think there's no chance they're going to call on him to resign, because many of them agree with him.
- [17:26]
Ben Ferguson
It is so shocking that we are at a point now where we have an administration that can't just be outraged over basic issues of right and wrong. And this, to me, is an issue of right and wrong. So for verdict listeners right now that say, hey, I want to stand up for Israel, should they be calling their congressmen and their senators and telling them that they should be putting pressure on this administration on this UN issue, what.
- [17:51]
Senator Ted Cruz
You should be doing is speaking out for Israel, using your voice to make clear that what Hamas did was a grotesque war crime. It was horrific. It was inhumanity of the kind and nature that the Nazis carried out in the Holocaust. It was targeting innocent women and children because they are Jews. And Israel is justified in defending itself and in utterly destroying Hamas. And so look, I think we should be holding American politicians to account when they undermine Israel, as the Biden administration does repeatedly, as the squad does repeatedly, as radicals in our colleges and universities do repeatedly, and as the UN Is doing. And so I think adding your voice is important. And I think one of the most important ways to do that is sharing this podcast. I mean, the information we cover in this podcast, you don't get. You can watch CNN Every minute, 24 hours a day, although God help you if you did. I would not wish that on my worst enemy.
- [19:06]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, but.
- [19:07]
Senator Ted Cruz
And you have spent hours, Ben, on cnn. You know exactly the circle of hell we're talking about with that.
- [19:13]
Ben Ferguson
Yes, I did seven years in hell, literally. That's what I tell people about my time there as a conservative trying to fight the battle.
- [19:19]
Senator Ted Cruz
But they don't cover news. They won't tell you about any of this. It's simply not. They are now political propaganda. Fox News will cover this, but Fox News, you get a snippet here and there, you get a couple of minutes of it, but you don't get the level of in depth analysis of the facts that we try to provide in this podcast. And the reason, look, you and I are sitting Here, it is 11:12pm we typically record these podcasts at 10:00 at night or 11:00 at night or midnight because both of us have full time day jobs. But I think it is important to get this information out. And so sharing this podcast and making the case that when we see civilian casualties, which we will, making sure people understand this is because Hamas wants Palestinian civilians to die. They are counting on Democrats and the media to use this to attack Israel.
- [20:13]
Ben Ferguson
You know, there's also something else that's happening and that's gonna happen on Wednesday. And it is interesting, the timing. You have a man that has been nomin become the ambassador to Israel from the US I had the privilege of watching you question him and I want to play part of that because we're now, I mean, if there's any time to have a strong, staunch ambassador, a man that's willing to stand side by side with Israel, this would be the time for the Biden administration to do that. And yet there are a lot of problems with this individual. And I, I want people to hear what you had to say to him back and forth a little bit. Take a listen.
- [20:55]
Senator Ted Cruz
You played A pivotal role in flooding over $100 billion to the Iranian regime. The Biden administration has continued that policy, flooding nearly an additional $100 billion to the Iranian regime. That policy of appeasement, sending hundreds of billions of dollars to a theocratic, homicidal, genocidal maniac who leads chants of Death to America and death to Israel has proven catastrophic. The death squads in Israel from Hamas are funded in real and meaningful ways by the billions of dollars the Obama administration and now the Biden administration has flowed directly to Iran. That has proven disastrous. We also have drones. As you know today the UN arms embargo on Iran expires today. Ironically, the day of your hearing you were pivotal in advocating for UN Resolution 2231, the Iran deal, which is why the arms embargo is expiring today. On October 7, Hamas used swarms of sophisticated drones in their October 7 attack. Do you believe the world is safer today because of 233, 2231 and the expiration of the arms embargo allowing Iran now to sell inter ballistic missiles and long range drones?
- [22:40]
D
Senator, I think you would have to agree that the history of the US engagement on JCPOA has changed, changed substantially since I sat.
- [22:48]
Senator Ted Cruz
You think the world is better and safer with the arms embargo expired.
- [22:53]
D
But Senator, if the US was not.
- [22:57]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yes or no, are we safer today with no arms embargo?
- [23:00]
D
I think it's a much more complicated than that because we're not part of jcpoa. Therefore there was no extension of the arms embargo. I would have advocated for an extension of the arms embargo and we might well have.
- [23:11]
Senator Ted Cruz
And by the way, the Biden administration has been in power two and a half, two and a half years. The arms embargo is expiring today and you were pivotal in that happening. Let's look. If you look at just that exchange right there. So Jack Lew was the Treasury Secretary under Barack Obama. Before that he was Chief of Staff under Barack Obama and he played a central role in the Obama Iran nuclear deal. The Obama Iran nuclear deal was spectacularly foolish. It resulted in over $100 billion going to Iran and just flooding that economy with cash. By the way, Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. And that money that Jack Lew sent to Iran and the money that in the past two and a half years the Biden administration has sent to Iran in a very real sense funded these Hamas death squads and the terror attacks on Israel. But you know, his response is well gosh, we're out of the Iran deal now. So it's not my fault. Well, as I pointed out there, Joe Biden's been in office two and a half years. He's tried desperately to give Iran everything it wanted. He's given them another hundred billion dollars just about. And nonetheless, under Jack Lew's leadership, there is no longer an arms embargo. And that was because Lou led the fight to eliminate the arms embargo. And we can see those drones attacking and those rockets raining down on Israel.
- [24:36]
Ben Ferguson
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- [26:36]
Senator Ted Cruz
Because the Biden administration didn't just send money to Iran in massive numbers, it has also sent money to Gaza that went to Hamas. And at the time, I led a coalition of senators urging the Biden administration, do not send money to Gaza because it is controlled by Hamas. It will be used by Hamas for acts of terrorism. We now know that the Biden administration reached the following determination, and I quote, due to its overall strength and level of control over Gaza, we assess that there is a high risk. Hamas could potentially derive indirect, unintentional benefit from US Assistance to Gaza. High risk. Now, as Treasury Secretary, you're familiar with these determinations. Under ordinary anti terrorism laws, you can't send money where there's a high risk. It'll be used for terrorism. But what did the Biden administration do? It waived our anti terrorism law because their political agenda was so important they were willing to take that high risk. Was it a mistake to send hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza that in a very real and practical way funded the death squads and funded the rockets that are being used to murder Israelis?
- [27:43]
D
Senator, I was not in government at the time these decisions were made.
- [27:46]
Senator Ted Cruz
Was it a mistake?
- [27:47]
D
I'm not familiar with the back and forth that you're referring to, but my understanding is the funding that went to Gaza was for things like the hospital and humanitarian.
- [27:56]
Senator Ted Cruz
So was OFAC wrong when it concluded there's a high risk that Hamas could derive benefits?
- [28:00]
D
Senator, I would have to look at the document.
- [28:03]
Senator Ted Cruz
You are one of few people that has the expertise to do this.
- [28:06]
D
I have high regard for ofac. I just am not familiar with the document.
- [28:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
So is the world safer or less safe because hundreds of millions of dollars were sent to Gaza when it's controlled by Hamas?
- [28:18]
D
Senator, Hamas's activities have proven how evil they are and how important it is to.
- [28:24]
Senator Ted Cruz
So you're not answering that question. Let me ask this question, but I will say this. Biden Secretary of the treasury, has repeatedly undermined Israel. Stop. Stop for a second. Stop for a second. All right, let's just take that exchange right there. So. So I referenced something called ofac. What is ofac? OFAC is the Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC of the Treasury Department. So OFAC reports to the Treasury Secretary. Jack Lew knows exactly what OFAC does. OFAC all the time makes determinations about whether money is likely to support terrorism. And if it is, you can't send the money. That's ofax job. So notice Jack Lew's defense. He says, well, I don't know. I'm not part of the administration, mind you. He's been nominated by Joe Biden to serve as the United States Ambassador to Israel. But his defense is ignorance. He's not going to defend the sending money to Gaza, even though ofac the office that used to report to him concluded there was a high likelihood it would go to Hamas and go to terrorism. Instead he says, well, I don't know, I just, I don't know anything, you know, just, I'm just some guy sitting here. Don't ask me to know it, know anything about it. And then he also puts out the rather amusing talking point. Well, the money was supposed to go to hospitals. No kidding?
- [29:39]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [29:40]
Senator Ted Cruz
Thank you. Hundreds of millions that has flooded into Gaza was supposed to go to hospitals. Remember the goose stepping Secretary General of the UN where he says talks about the poverty in Gaza. Well, the reason they're so poor is they take all the money that's supposed to go to hospitals and they send it to Hamas to kill Jews instead, because that's the only thing they care about is murdering as many Jews as possible. And Jack Lew should know that. But, but. All right, the questioning goes on because next I ask him about the Biden administration systematically undermining Israel. And I'm going to foreshadow slightly if you thought he didn't know anything about, or he claimed he didn't know anything about Biden's policy towards Gaza, he's going to claim he knows even less about Biden's policy towards Israel. Within hours of the attack commencing, the State Department sent out a tweet from the Office of Palestinian affairs, an office that would report to you if you're confirmed. That said, we unequivocally condemn the attack of Hamas terrorists and the loss of life that is incurred. We urge all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks. Terror and violence solve nothing. Do you agree with this tweet that was sent by the Biden State Department.
- [30:51]
D
Senator, I would have to read it. I'm not familiar with it.
- [30:57]
Senator Ted Cruz
You're not familiar with it?
- [30:58]
D
I want to go back to the last point.
- [31:00]
Senator Ted Cruz
Hold on a second. You're not familiar with this tweet? They sent it out at three in the morning while the attacks were unfolding. I blasted it at three in the morning and they deleted it within the hour because it was shameful. They were telling, telling Israel, do not respond while your citizens are being murdered.
- [31:17]
D
And by the way, the President of the United States has stated clearly the policy of the United States. I agree with the President of the United States.
- [31:24]
Senator Ted Cruz
I understand. But at the same time, this administration repeatedly walks back what he says. So here's another tweet. Sent from the State Department. Turkish Foreign Minister and I spoke. This is from Secretary Blinken. Spoke further on Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel. I encourage Turkey's advocacy for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately. Do you agree with this tweet from the Secretary of State calling for a cease fire immediately after this attack began?
- [31:53]
D
I think the President and the Secretary of State have made clear that Israel has a right and a responsibility.
- [31:58]
Senator Ted Cruz
Do you agree with this tweet from the State Department?
- [32:00]
D
Senator, I can't respond to tweets that. That you're reading to me. I.
- [32:04]
Senator Ted Cruz
Why are you not familiar with it? I'm telling you, haven't followed what the administration has said on this. By the way, they deleted this tweet as well. Day after day after day, this administration has systematically undermined Israel. And finally, you advocated for unstop. All right, let's take that back and forth. Notice his entire defense is. I don't know, a damn thing. I have no idea. Now, mind you. So Jack Lew was nominated months ago. His nomination hadn't gone anywhere. Why hadn't it gone anywhere? In fact, there were some Democrats who were attacking me, saying, Cruz is holding this nomination. That was, in fact, not true because you cannot hold a nomination until it is cleared committee and is headed to the floor until it is made it out of committee. No senator can hold any nomination because there's no. There's no ability in the Senate to do that. So the reason Jack Lew had not proceeded until last week is because the Democrats who controlled the hearings hadn't scheduled a hearing for him. And they just allow his nomination to sit there for week after week after week after week. Now, once this attack happened, suddenly the Democrat talking point went out, and it went out from the White House, it went out from the Democrats in the Senate and the House. Everyone was echoing, we must confirm Jack Lew now, now, now, now, now. Why? Because Israel is in crisis and we need our ambassador there. And so they rushed the hearing last week, and today we're going to vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I assume every Democrat is going to vote to confirm Jack Lew. And they're saying we must do it because of the war in Israel. Now, notice his defense. There's a war in Israel. And he's saying, well, I don't know what's happening. I don't know what the State Department said. I don't know what the State Department said the day the attack happened. I don't know what the Secretary of State said the day after the attack happened. Both of those tweets were deleted because they were disgraceful. They were deleted after I called them out. And his defense, it's, it's, it. It's just the I know nothing defense. And, and there's a reason he has to give that defense because the alternative is to actually defend it. And even the Biden administration won't defend it. They deleted the tweets and realized, oh, crap, we can't say this out loud. And so instead he, He. He's reduced to just dissembling.
- [34:14]
Ben Ferguson
And it seems to work for them because they, it's like they say, we'll get away with it because surely no one's really going to try to stop us now that we desperately need this nominee. Is that part of the game plan here? Just, hey, act like you're an idiot so you get the nomination done with, and then you can do what you really know and we know you're going to do for us and what you really believe in. And you're not going to be a tough guy, you know, with, with Hamas, Hezbollah. In fact, you're probably going to be tough on Israel as the ambassador from.
- [34:42]
Senator Ted Cruz
The U.S. yeah, look, the Biden administration's argument is essentially our policies have utterly screwed up the Middle east, have caused chaos in Israel. Sending hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran and funding terrorists was a spectacularly bad idea. But because things are so screwed up, we need to confirm one of the guys who was one of the lead advocates for sending hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran and the terrorists. In other words, one of the architects of the policies who screwed this up. We gotta confirm as our ambassador, because things are so screwed up that makes no sense. I would like to see a US Ambassador to Israel confirmed yesterday. I'd like to see one who actually is committed, number one, to defending America, but number two, to standing with our friend and ally, Israel. And Jack Lew's record has been precisely backwards. But let's go to the last exchange of the hearing because the last exchange really reveals. And finally, you advocated for UN Resolution 2334, which declared much of Israel illegally occupied territory, including the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem and the Western Wall. Do you believe the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall are illegally occupied territory?
- [35:50]
D
Senator, I do not believe that it is illegally occupied territory.
- [35:56]
Senator Ted Cruz
Why did you support a UN Resolution saying that it is?
- [35:59]
D
I think we could have a conversation about that, but it's going to take me more than 10 seconds to respond.
- [36:05]
Senator Ted Cruz
To it all the time. You like allow the witness to respond? If you allow the Witness to respond.
- [36:12]
D
So first, if I can respond, you've said a lot of things that you have not given me a chance to respond to. I sanctioned Hamas in 2015. Hamas was sanctioned again today. So I don't think it was a fair characterization of either what I did or this administration. Second of all, the issue of a UN Resolution is it was a UN Resolution that all the parties had to agree to, that was negotiated to take out the most offensive provisions, whether it was a good or a bad resolution. In the end, the President decided to abstain rather than have a worse resolution come out. You can agree or disagree with that.
- [36:50]
Senator Ted Cruz
He could have vetoed it, but he.
- [36:52]
D
Was trying to prevent a worse resolution come out.
- [36:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
He could have vetoed it. The time has expired, Senator Duckworth, so understand that exchange. So this all happened at the end of 2016. So December of 2016, the presidential election has happened. Donald Trump has just been elected. Barack Obama is a lame duck on the way out. Before they leave, they decided they wanted to stick it to Israel on the way out the door. So In December of 2016, the Obama administration orchestrated UN Resolution 2334. UN Resolution 2334 is the most viciously anti Israel, anti Semitic resolution that's ever made it out of the United Nations. It declares much of modern day Israel illegally occupied territory and illegitimate. It declares Judea and Samaria illegally occupied territory and illegitimate. It declares, as I mentioned in the question, the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem as illegally occupied territory. It declares the Western Wall. It's also called the Wailing Wall. You may remember there's a famous picture of Barack Obama wearing a yarmulke with his hand resting against the Western Wall. Under UN Resolution 2334, the Western Wall of Solomon's Temple is illegally occupied territory. Now, that is absurd. It is a lie. It is incredibly damaging. Now, how did the Obama administration did this? They did this by orchestrating behind the scenes and getting the enemies of Israel to draft it, to author it. They were actively involved in drafting it. But then his defense that he kept saying, well, we did it because we wanted to prevent something worse from happening. We wanted to prevent them from passing an even worse resolution. Now, there is a technical legal term for what he just did there, and that's called a lie. That's called utter garbage. Why? Because under the UN Charter, the United States is a permanent member of the Security Council and we have a veto. We can veto any, any resolution that comes out. So if the United States says two words, says, I object, the resolution fails, that's a power the United States has. So he said, well, the president decided to abstain. So he did more than that. The Obama administration was behind the scenes orchestrating the whole thing. But Lou was intimately involved in undermining Israel on the way out the door. And I will note, when the Trump presidency started, I introduced legislation that would have cut off funding for the United nations entirely from the United States unless and until they rescinded UN Resolution 2334. And we should have stood hard and done that, unfortunately. In fact, I got in arguments with Nikki Haley. It was nominated to be UN Ambassador because she disagreed with doing that. And I think we should have stood firmly and said, this is a viciously anti Israel resolution and we will not stand for it. You're not getting our money as long as you're attacking Israel. That's what we should have done. But I gotta say, I have no doubt that the Secretary General of the UN would have been thrilled and maybe was thrilled at the time with the resolution. It's entirely consistent with the remarks that he made this week.
- [40:27]
Ben Ferguson
It is, again, one of those issues where Americans need to understand these are important and big votes and these are people that are getting into positions of power and they're putting not just our security at risk, but especially those in Israel at risk. And with this anti Semitism, to be clear, that's what it is. I also want to play for you, Senator. The White House, they're taking some heat now for their stance on Israel. That seems to be changing by the hour. Before I do that, I want to tell you about our friends at Chalk. If you are a guy and you're getting a little bit older and you feel like that you have lost some of your strength and your vitality and weakness is setting in, complacency setting in. Maybe you just don't feel like yourself. You want to go out and be more active, but you just feel like you are complacent and fatigued. Well, you're not alone. The problem is men's testosterone levels are off a cliff, historically at an all time low. Thankfully, the patriots at Chalk are here to help real American men take back your right to proudly maximize your masculinity by boosting testosterone levels up to 20% over 90 days. I've been taking the chalk male vitality stack now for months. I can tell you it works. It's manufactured right here in the US of A. And chalk's natural herbal supplements are clinically proven to have game changing effects on your energy, on your focus, on your mood. And it is going to be a game changer. You can maximize your masculinity today by going to chalkchoq.com you can boost your testosterone levels up to 20 over 90 days. Use the promo code BEN. You'll get 35 off any Chalk subscription for life. So use the promo code BEN and 35 off is what you're going to save. Choq.com promo code BEN for 35 off. That's chalk. C h o q.com center I want to play for you quickly. The White House and the White House got themselves, themselves in some trouble because the president has mostly been saying the right things. But the White House and the staffers, completely different story. Take a listen. The White House press briefing level of.
- [42:42]
E
Concern right now about the potential rise of anti Semitism in light of everything that's going on in Israel. So a couple of things. Look, we have not seen any credible I know there's been always questions about credible threats and so just want to make sure that that's out there. But look, Muslim and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate fueled attacks. And certainly President Biden understands that many of our Muslim Arab Americans and Palestinian American loved ones and neighbors are worried about the hate being directed at their communities. And that is something, something you heard the president speak to in his address just last Thursday. And so one of the things that the president has done is directed his team, Homeland Security team, to prioritize prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm the Jewish, the Muslim, Arab Americans or any other communities. And that is something that the president has sought to do since day one. As you know, the president ran on, you know, bringing, protecting communities obviously, but bringing people together. The soul, protecting the soul of the nation. And so that is something that the president takes very, very seriously. And we're going to continue to denounce any sort of hate towards any American here. And so that's what we're going to continue to be steadfast on. Again, he has, he has advised our directed his Homeland Security team to make sure that they're on top of this.
- [44:15]
Ben Ferguson
Now, Senator, the part about this that's so laughable is the White House press secretary has now come out and said, quote, she misheard the anti Semitism question only because of the massive backlash from that answer.
- [44:31]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, it really is striking that the White House press secretary is unwilling to stand up and clearly and unequivocally condemn anti Semitism, say anti Semitism is wrong. It is evil. It is a unique evil that has existed on the face of this planet for thousands of years and we are completely opposed to it. Moreover, we will ensure that law enforcement resources are there to protect Jewish Americans. I'll tell you, Jewish communities across this country have a level of concern and a level of fear unlike any time I've ever seen. As the antisemitism on college campuses. There was a Jewish student at Columbia was beaten with a stick in recent days, the threats of violence on campuses because the anti Israel, the Jew hating far left is so extreme that there is a real threat of violence against the American Jewish community and for that matter, the Jewish community worldwide, in Europe and elsewhere. And I got to say her answer to that was striking in that the Babylon Bee, which does a fabulous job as a humor and satire site, they had an article that they hadn't published, but they tweeted it out today and they said it's hard to stay ahead of reality at the Babylon Bee. We had this written up last night only to wake up and see the White House doing exactly this before we had a chance to publish. And here was the fake satirical headline that they had written and they were getting ready to publish when Karine Jean Pierre beat him to the punch. The fake headline read, in strong response to rising hate crimes against Jews, Democrats denounce Islamophobia. That's exactly what she did. Yeah, and it's. And I tweeted out no longer satire. Just sad because their view, Listen, when it comes to the anti Semitic bigots, when it comes to the squad, when it comes to the 35 student groups at Harvard and the radicals running our college campuses, the Biden White House and I would have to assume, including Karine Jean Pierre, side with the radicals against the people of Israel and against even American Jews. Their answer, they say, we've seen no credible threat of anti Semitism in America. Really? Well, where the hell have you been if you haven't seen any? Because I got to tell you, the Jewish community is feeling it acutely. And we've seen multiple horrific acts of violence directed against Jews, directed against synagogues, including mass murders in the United States. And for the White House to say they see no credible threat is truly absurd.
- [47:08]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, I was talking literally today to a dear friend of mine who's Jewish that works very close to Times Square in a largely Jewish community. And he said they had been told by local law enforcement to really be on high alert and be careful and even had recommended they travel together in groups, not be isolated alone, and to be careful at their places of business. That that is what he said to me today. And yet the White House is acting like none of that's happening at all.
- [47:38]
Senator Ted Cruz
It is sad, and today's Democrat Party is captive to the far left. And I will say I've had conversations with multiple people on the left who are not deeply political, who are shocked at the open anti Semitism that is arising on the far left. It's been there for a long time, but if you're not paying close attention, it takes something like the events of the last couple of weeks to really bring it in. A stark relief. And I hope this is opening some eyes.
- [48:08]
Ben Ferguson
We're gonna keep covering it, we're gonna keep breaking news on it and we'll keep you updated on it each and every day that we do this show. We can promise you that. Don't forget, we publish a verdict Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays. We have a Saturday recap of some of the stories you may have missed during the week as well. So make sure you hit that follow button if you're listening on Apple or subscriber auto download on other platforms. Depending on where you're listening to this show right now, please share it with your family and your friends on social media. Forward it. Hit that little forward button and you can get that to them easily that way. And don't forget, I will keep you updated on the breaking news on the in between days between verdicts. So grab my prayer podcast as well, the Ben Ferguson Podcast on those in between days and the sender and I will see you back here Friday.