Working Blue-Collar America vs. The Entitled, College Educated Left

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Working Blue-Collar America vs. The Entitled, College Educated Left"

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Host: Ben Ferguson
Guest: Senator Ted Cruz
Release Date: July 24, 2026
iHeartPodcasts

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Episode Overview

This episode of The 47 Morning Update features host Ben Ferguson in discussion with Senator Ted Cruz, centered on the shifting dynamics within the American political landscape. The focus is on the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the changing demographics of party support, and an examination of blue-collar versus college-educated voting patterns. Ferguson and Cruz argue that the Democratic Party is increasingly dominated by far-left, college-educated elites, while the Republican Party is portrayed as the home for working-class, blue-collar Americans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The DSA's Influence in the Democratic Party

• Opening Concern: Ferguson introduces the DSA as a "real organization" wielding "real power" in the Democratic Party, influencing primary endorsements—potentially shaping the party's future (02:40).
• Cruz’s Warning: Cruz brands the DSA as "not simply socialist, they are communist... outright Marxists," calling their influence a "hostile takeover" of the party (03:03).
  • Quote (Cruz, 03:03): “The Marxists who are taking over the Democrat party are absolute zealots.”
• Notable Moment: Cruz rebuffs any notion of celebrating the Democrats’ radicalization, stressing that a healthy democracy requires “two major political parties that actually have normal people that are not nuts" (03:25).

2. Who Supports Whom? — Demographics & Polling

• Cruz discusses a recent poll breaking voters down by education (four levels) and income (five brackets)—totaling 20 segments (03:31).
• Most Democratic Segment: Postgraduate degree holders earning $30,000–$60,000/year (05:57).
  • Quote (Cruz, 06:53): “These are downwardly mobile, overeducated, bitter ideological leftists who feel like the world owes me something and dammit, I'm mad now.”
• Most Republican Segment: High school or less education, earning $60,000–$100,000/year (07:17).
  • Quote (Cruz, 07:20): “High school or less, you're out working and succeeding. That is the base of today's Republican Party.”
• Shift in Party Stereotypes: Cruz explains the old “Republicans are the party of the rich” is outdated, claiming instead:
  • Democrats: “party of rich coastal elites”
  • Republicans: “blue collar party” (05:22)
  • Cruz’s base: “Truck drivers and steel workers and cops and firefighters and waiters and waitresses... those are my peeps.” (05:55)
• Ben Ferguson quips about “Harvard Yellen, Princeton crazies” and Ivy League courses on Taylor Swift, ridiculing elite academic pursuits (06:47).

3. Entitlement, Higher Ed, and Economic Disconnection

• Cruz asserts many postgraduates are “entitled kids... from wealthy families,” with “worthless degrees... underwater basket weaving, queer theory... nobody wants to pay you for queer theory—that actually does not earn a paycheck.” (06:53)
• He contrasts this with Republicans as “the party of jobs... people who go out and work and have calluses on their hands” (08:20).
• Ferguson highlights the Republican position on gender and identity issues as “the party of sanity”—believing in traditional gender definitions (08:37).
  • Quote (Ferguson, 08:37): “We're the party of sanity where we believe men are men and women are women.”
  • Cruz adds, “these crazy woke radicals don't believe there's such a thing as a woman.” (08:43)

4. Policy Achievements for Blue-Collar Workers

• Ferguson references Cruz's work on “no tax on tips and no tax on overtime” and Trump’s agenda as marks of the Republican shift toward blue-collar Americans (08:51).
• Cruz claims authorship for the “no tax on tips” bill, highlighting its benefit for waiters, waitresses, and barbers, “single mom waiting tables, that's real money in her pocket for her kids” (09:29). - Quote (Cruz, 09:29): “The average deduction is over seven grand... that's real money.”
• Cruz asserts that even for those with less education but higher earnings, Republicans poll stronger across income levels, further framing the GOP as the natural choice for working Americans (10:45).
• He attributes the leftward shift of college-educated voters to ideological indoctrination within higher education (11:09).

5. Educational System and Indoctrination

• Ferguson and Cruz agree that ideological influence begins in public schools and continues through college (11:19).
  • Ferguson points to “gay pride days,” debates over locker room access, and “unions have taken that space over... using it as a ground to prey on kids minds" (11:19).
• Cruz highlights his school choice and “Trump accounts” legislation as answers to progressive educational trends (12:07).
  • School choice to “help millions of kids get out of failing schools.”
  • “Trump accounts” aimed to “create a whole new generation of capitalists.”

6. Economic Value, Work Ethic, and Upshot

• Cruz, citing Nate Silver, draws a link between postgraduate-educated, low-to-middle income Americans and DSA membership (12:46).
  • “In the group's most recent member survey in 2021, 80% of members... had bachelor's degrees... 45% had household incomes below 60,000 per year.”
• He argues that young “left wing radicals” lack practical skills: “A plumber does something of value... and yet these left wing radicals were told... you should just gaze at your navel and engage in political rantings and ravings.” (13:40)
• Cruz frames Republican blue-collar supporters as grounded in real economic contribution—“digging ditches…put up Sheetrock”—in contrast to the DSA’s upwardly credentialed base (14:20).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

03:03 — Ted Cruz:
"The DSA is not simply socialist, they are communist. They are outright Marxists. They are radicals. And we are witnessing a hostile taker takeover of the Democrat party."

05:22 — Ted Cruz:
"Democrats [are] the parties of rich coastal elites and Republicans are a blue collar party... my base has been truck drivers and steel workers and cops and firefighters and waiters and waitresses."

06:53 — Ted Cruz:
"These are downwardly mobile, over educated, bitter ideological leftists who feel like the world owes me something and dammit, I'm mad now."

08:37 — Ben Ferguson:
"We're the party of sanity where we believe men are men and women are women."

09:29 — Ted Cruz:
"I wrote the legislation that has no tax on tips... The average deduction is over seven grand. You want to talk about like a single mom waiting tables, that's real money in her pocket for her kids."

12:46 — Ted Cruz (citing Nate Silver):
"In the group's most recent member survey in 2021, 80% of members... had bachelor's degrees... 45% had household incomes below 60,000 per year."

13:40 — Ted Cruz:
"A plumber does something of value. A cop does something of value... and yet these left wing radicals were told you don't need to actually study something that can produce a good or service people want..."

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:40 – Introduction of the episode theme and DSA's rising influence
• 03:03 – Ted Cruz characterizes the DSA as Marxists and warns about their impact
• 05:22 – 06:47 – Shifts in Democratic vs Republican voter base, the rise of elite education
• 06:53 – Cruz’s critique of postgraduate, low-income Democratic voters
• 07:17 – 08:20 – Republicans as the natural home for blue-collar Americans
• 08:37 – Culture war: GOP “party of sanity," gender debates
• 08:51 – 09:29 – No tax on tips; focus on working class legislation
• 11:09 – 12:07 – Indoctrination in education, school choice, Trump accounts
• 12:46 – Nate Silver's data on DSA members
• 13:40 – 14:20 – Value of work and blue-collar Republican ethos

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Tone & Style

• Tone is combative, unapologetic, and direct, in line with conservative talk radio and political commentary.
• The dialogue is energetic, blending data-driven points with charged rhetoric, satirical barbs, and populist themes.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode frames the Democratic Party as consumed by a radical, college-educated, downwardly-mobile elite, contrasting it with the Republican Party’s purported core of blue-collar, working Americans. Ferguson and Cruz argue that the GOP champions sanity, traditional values, and tangible economic support for workers, while warning listeners of the dangers of ideological capture in education and the Democratic leadership by "Marxist" influences. The central claim: the true battle for America’s future is between the blue-collar reality and the ideological claims of the over-educated left.

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For listeners seeking perspective on the culture and class fault lines animating present-day American politics—especially the right’s viewpoint—this is an essential episode.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

Good Friday morning. It is so nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update. And we've got a very big story for you. The Democratic Socialists of America, well, they've gotten even more radical. And Senator Ted Cruz joins me to talk about just how radical they have become and what you can expect moving Forward. It's the 47 Morning Update, and it starts right now.

Story number one.

All right, so let's start out, Senator, talking about the Democratic Socialists of America. I want to declare it now very clearly for people listening to the radio. This is a real organization. They have Real power in the Democratic Party. And many believe this is actually the future of the Democratic Party including who they decide to endorse to run on the Democratic side for the presidency.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, let me be clear. The DSA is not simply socialist, they are communist. They are outright Marxists. They are radicals. And we are witnessing a hostile taker takeover of the Democrat party. And look, there are some Republicans that are celebrating saying hey this is great, the other side has gone crazy, that we should be really happy. That's going to be easy to beat them in November. Let me be clear, I'm not celebrating. I think it is dangerous as all get out. Listen, I want a country with two major political parties that actually have normal people that are not nuts. I'd like, okay, look, if Democrats are fans of a little bit higher taxes, a little bit more regulations, okay, like I don't agree with that but we can have a reasonable conversation between how high taxes should be. The Marxists who are taking over the Democrat party are absolute zealots. And I gotta say there was some very interesting polling that came out this week and it looked at voting patterns from 2016 to 2024 and who voted for the Democrat running for president, who voted for the Republican running for president. And it broke, broke the voters down into 20 quadrants. So it had, in terms of education, it had high school or less. It had some college, four year college degree or postgraduate degree. So those are the four educational levels. And then on income it had less than 30,000 a year. It had 30 to 60,000 a year and it's 60 to 100,000 a year. It had 100 to 200,000 a year. And then finally it had 200,000 plus a year. So that's 20 quadrants. Now of of those 20, what do you think was the single highest percentage voting for the Democrat presidential nominee?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm going to guess, I'm going to guess younger just because I think that's where they get a lot of their support right now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, it is true. This was not age based though. This was education based. So younger.

[Ben Ferguson]

So I'm going to say less than college degree or high school diploma. And I may be wrong.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You are totally and completely wrong. I love you.

[Ben Ferguson]

So it's the Harvard Yellen, Princeton crazies. That's what we're getting at here.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It is. So the old traditional stereotype was Republicans of the party of the rich and Democrats of the party of the poor and working class. That I don't know that that was ever the case. But it is not the case today, Democrats of the parties, of the party of rich coastal elites and Republicans are a blue collar party. And listen, that has been my base from the day I got elected to the Senate. My base has been truck drivers and steel workers and cops and firefighters and waiters and waitresses. That's who my base has been. But I want you to look at these.

[Ben Ferguson]

You work in the Permian as your

[Senator Ted Cruz]

voter look, you got a South Texas oil and gas guy, Hispanic guy, driving a pickup truck. You go bird hunting on the weekend. Those are my peeps. All right, so the single most Democrat of the 20 quadrants is postgraduate degree. So not just college. They got a postgraduate degree, master's or above, and making 30,000 to 60,000 a year. And 70% of those folks voted Democrat for president. Now who are we talking about? We're talking about a bunch of entitled kids, many of whom came from wealthy families that they went to college. They weren't done yet. They went to grad school, by the way. Many of them got worthless degrees, underwater basket weaving, queer theory. And they're like, yes, I'm expressing my individuality, it turns out.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, don't forget the Taylor Swift classes they have at the Ivy League schools. Now don't forget that's like a master's degree you can get.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now it turns out nobody wants to pay you for queer theory that actually does not earn a paycheck. And so these are downwardly mobile, over educated, bitter ideological leftists who feel like the world owes me something and dammit, I'm mad now. Do you know what the single most Republican contingent of the 20 quadrants was?

[Ben Ferguson]

What was that?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

High school or less.

[Ben Ferguson]

Interesting.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

60,000 to 100,061% of them vote Republican. Only 39% vote Democrat. By the way, high schooler less 100,000 to 200,000 is 40% Democrat, and high schooler less 200,000 or more is 41% Democrat. So high school or less, you're out working and succeeding. That is the base of today's Republican Party. In terms of educational levels, the most Republican educational level is high school or less. And actually Republicans win every income level from 30,000 all the way up the so. So if you run down the high school or less, less than 30,000 Democrats narrowly narrowly win. It's 5,149. So it's almost a tie, making less than 30,000. 30 to 60,000 Democrats get 43%, 60 to 100,000 Democrats get 39%. Hundred to 200,000 Democrats get 40% and over 200,000 Democratic Democrats get 41%. So if you only have a high school degree or less, you're voting Republican. Why? Because we're the party of jobs, we're the party of regular people. We're the party of people that actually go out and work and have calluses on their hands. That's what we're doing.

[Ben Ferguson]

We're the party of sanity where we believe men are men and women are women. And by the way, by the way, we believe women.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Women exist. It's not even women or women like these crazy woke radicals don't believe there's such a thing as a woman.

[Ben Ferguson]

No, they don't. And this goes back, by the way. And I want to pause here because I think it's important to bring this into perspective. When you worked hard to push the legislation for no tax on tips and no tax on overtime and also no tax, you know, and the Social Security, like all of those things that Donald Trump was talking about America first, you were pushing this legislation very, very hard and leading it through the Senate. That explains also a lot about where the ball has moved as well. Yes, the Republican Party was the one that came up with this and Donald Trump, not the Democrats. By the way, Democrats fought against it. Remind people how they voted on that issue.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So listen, on no tax on tips, I'm the author of that. I wrote the legislation that has no tax on tips. When I'm at a restaurant, I'll often tell the waiter and waitresses, hey, by the way, how do you like no tax on tips? They all love it. The average deduction is over seven grand. You want to talk about like a single mom waiting tables, that's real money in her pocket for her kids. When I'm at, when I'm getting like my haircut at the barbers, like my barbers are giving me a high five saying thank you. That is, that has always been my base, but that's the base of the Republican Party. You contrast that to the educational line. That is most Democrat are people with postgraduate degrees and postgraduate degrees making less than 30,000, they vote 67% Democrat. 30,000 to 60,000, they vote 70% Democrat. The single most Democrat of all 20 quadrants. Postgraduate degree making 60,000 to 100,000, they vote 65% Democrat. Postgraduate degree making 100,000 to 200,000, they make six, they vote 65% Democrat. And postgraduate degree making more than 200,000, they vote 66% Democrat. So if you have a, and by the way, I've got a law degree. So apparently I did not Learn the indoctrination that I was supposed to learn going to college and law school. And by the way, the college numbers are not much better if you go to college. And Ben, I'm sorry to tell you, this is not broken out. Did you go to Harvard? This is. Did you go to college? So you went to Ole Miss? Yeah, those numbers are there too. Everyone with a college degree is majority voting Democrat right now. And I think the ideological indoctrination from colleges plays a big, big part of this.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, and it's not just college. It's also happening in our public schools at all levels. You see it in the indoctrination elementary schools, you see this in the indoctrination we've seen with the gay pride days and the indoctrination of those types of scenarios. And men in women's locker room and boys and girls or girls and boys sports like the indoctrination in the elementary and the middle. And the high school is just as bad. The unions have taken that space over. They are using it as a is a ground to prey on kids minds, to get them to believe that somehow America and democracy and capitalism is genuinely evil. And if you tell them that for 12 years, then send them to college and you indoctrinate them again. Now we're witnessing what happens.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And by the way, that's a big part of the reason why last year I also authored the biggest school choice bill in American history that is going to help millions of kids get out of failing schools and get a good education. And why I also authored the Trump accounts which is going to create a whole new generation of capitalists as our kids become invested in the stock markets and owners of the biggest employers in America. Let me tell you what Nate Silver wrote. Look, Nate Silver is this writer who is not a conservative. He's left of center. But here's what he writes. Quote, what is the most democratic voting group in America? It's voters with postgraduate degrees, but lower to middle household incomes of 30,000 to 60,000 per year. This is very much also the sweet spot for the DSA. In the group's most recent member survey in 2021, 80% of members, this is of the DSA, of the crazy left wing Marxist aged 25 or older had bachelor's degrees.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But 45% had household incomes but below 60,000 per year. And so listen, part of this is these are young knuckleheads, many of them growing up with wealth, some with trust funds who were told to go to school and nobody actually said, hey, when you go to school, if you're going to go to college, maybe you ought to study something that you could get a job, that you could produce something of value. And the concept of I want to provide for my family, so I want to do something that's valuable. Look, a plumber does something of value. A cop does something of value. A teacher does something of value. A doctor does something of value, A nurse does something of value. And yet these left wing radicals were told you don't need to actually study something that can produce a good or service people want. You should just gaze at your navel and engage in political rantings and ravings. And so part of the reason why they become communists is they think the world owes them a living. They can't actually produce anything valuable. You know, if you were out digging ditches, that's valuable. A high school graduate who's out getting working as a construction worker knows, if I want to get paid, I gotta go out and put up, put up Sheetrock. That is a big, big difference.

[Ben Ferguson]

Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.

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