Bonus: Here are the Receipts -Soros Funds Fake No Kings Rallies, plus Stopping the Mass Murder of 50,000 Christians in Nigeria

Summary

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (Verdict Bonus Episode): “Here are the Receipts - Soros Funds Fake No Kings Rallies, plus Stopping the Mass Murder of 50,000 Christians in Nigeria”
Original Air Date: October 21, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this bonus episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz dive into two major topics:

1. The Funding and Organization behind the recent “No Kings” anti-Trump rallies, alleging ties to George Soros and other left-wing advocacy organizations, and
2. The ongoing mass murder of Christians in Nigeria, a humanitarian crisis overlooked by mainstream media, and Cruz’s proposed legislative response.

Throughout, the dialogue mixes hard-hitting political commentary with direct appeals to listeners, detailed legislative proposals, and notable interludes featuring outside media voices.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. “No Kings” Rallies: Astroturf or Grassroots?

[03:18–24:06]

• Senator Cruz and Ben Ferguson dissect recent anti-Trump “No Kings” rallies (02:00–03:18), asserting that they are not authentic grassroots events but instead orchestrated and funded largely by left-wing networks fronted by George Soros and similar donors.
• The hosts highlight the lack of diversity at these rallies and mock the mainstream media’s framing of them as massive, populist protests.
• Cruz criticizes left-leaning rallies as “Astroturf”—artificial grassroots movements engineered through elaborate funding channels (06:26–07:00).
• Funding Pipeline “Receipts”:
  • Open Society Foundation (Soros) “has given away more than $32 billion,” with at least $7.61 million to Indivisible, which organized or materially supported the “No Kings” events (14:10–16:00).
  • Other groups like Tides Foundation were also cited as significant funders.
• Media Critique: Ben Ferguson alleges pre-rally and real-time media coverage wildly exaggerated march sizes and impact (09:20–10:08).
• Senator Cruz: “The irony of no kings... these are the same radical left wing Democrats that indicted Donald Trump...in an effort to stop the voters from re electing him... Then they tried to remove Trump from the ballot. Thankfully, the Supreme Court said no.” (06:44–08:09)
• Cruz mocks the left's inconsistency: “They call this the no Kings rally. What they really want to protest is the Kings rally... When you coronate someone... and skip the whole voting thing, that is kind of right at the heart of monarchy.” (08:09–09:17)
• Both note that the rally-goers are predominantly older, white liberals; Senator Cruz: “It was like a Patagonia convention with lots of prune juice.” (16:11)
• Disinformation: Both mention falsified videos and social media posts inflating actual protest turnout using recycled past footage.
• Law & Order Angle: Panelists compare “No Kings” issues to ongoing debates about policing, safety, and crime in American cities—arguing activists are removed from those realities and more interested in spectacle than substantive change. (18:33–20:43)

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2. Legislative Response: The Stop Funders Act

[20:43–25:44]

• Senator Cruz details his legislative proposal, the Stop Funders Act, which:
  • Would add “rioting” as a predicate act under RICO (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), allowing prosecutors to hold financial backers of violent protests criminally liable.
  • Argues that current funding structures deliberately split across organizations to evade accountability, but this bill would connect the dots and allow prosecution of those who bankroll coordinated riotous activity.
• Cruz expresses confidence in Republican support but notes the difficulties posed by the need for 60 Senate votes to overcome a filibuster, predicting party-line opposition from Democrats (24:18–25:44).
• Ferguson: “This isn't authentic or organic. It is bought and paid for... pay to play politics.” (11:40)

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3. Mass Murder of Christians in Nigeria

[30:52–43:14]

• Humanitarian Crisis Illustrations:
  • Over 50,000 Christians killed, 18,000 churches and 2,000 schools burned by Boko Haram and other Islamist militants since 2009. (31:19–33:20)
  • Senator Cruz reads from the U.S. State Department’s 2024 report, documenting grave human rights abuses, including targeted violence against Christians.
  • Nigerian government is accused of “acquiescence” and, in some cases, direct prosecution/persecution of Christians under blasphemy and Sharia laws.
• Legislative Action:
  • Cruz has introduced a bill requiring the Secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a “country of particular concern,” imposing sanctions on officials complicit in or turning a blind eye to atrocities.
  • Pushes for both Congressional action and executive (possible Trump administration) intervention.
• Why Isn’t the Media Covering It?
  • Ferguson and Cruz repeatedly lament the near-silence in Western and particularly American mainstream media, attributing lack of coverage to bias and disinterest (“It’s Africa... and they should be [talking about it],” Cruz at 40:07).
  • Cite frustration that leftist groups and students protest aggressively over Gaza but ignore far greater documented mass violence against African Christians.
• Quotes & Outside Voices:
  • Bill Maher (via Real Time): “If you don't know what's going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck... This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza... They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Where are the kids protesting this?” (39:26–40:01)
  • Van Jones (CNN): “Africa right now is being overrun by Islamist terrorists, including Boko Haram, with no conversation about that at all... There’s almost no response from the global left and no attention from mainstream media is a crime against African people, black people and human rights.” (40:58–41:52)
  • Senator Cruz: “There are not many issues that bring together. Me, the Pope, Bill Maher, and Van Jones.” (43:14)
• Call to Action:
  • Cruz urges listeners to share about the crisis, pressure Congress and the administration, and “highlight 50,000 Christians massacred since 2009, the single greatest mass slaughter of Christians anywhere in the world.” (37:18–38:00)

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4. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Astroturf Funding:

• “Turns out that deranged Trump hating America hating radical socialist, Marxist anarchist police abolishing nutcase billionaires can fund what looks like an awful lot of action. I gotta say, given all that cash, what is striking to me, Ben, is how lame the result was.” — Sen. Ted Cruz (15:09)
• “It was like a Patagonia convention with lots of prune juice.” — Sen. Ted Cruz (16:11)

On Media Framing:

• “Meanwhile, the average American was watching football on Saturday.” — Ben Ferguson (10:08)
• “Their messaging is incoherent, but at the end of the day, there is no messaging other than a primal scream. They hate Trump.” — Sen. Ted Cruz (08:46)

On Nigeria and Injustice:

• “The most Christians being murdered anywhere on the face of the planet is happening in Nigeria.” — Sen. Ted Cruz (34:25)
• “No Jews, no news.” — Van Jones (41:41)
• “You can't read about it in mainstream media.” — Sen. Ted Cruz (40:08)

Outside Voices:

• “This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.” — Bill Maher (39:41)
• “No Jews, no news. As long as you can put the Jewish state in the conversation, it's going to be a big conversation. If you can't, you get no attention at all.” — Van Jones (41:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:18–12:35 — Discussion starts on “No Kings” protests, media coverage, demographics, and authenticity.
• 12:35–16:42 — Breaking down Soros/Indivisible/Tides funding; analysis of turnout, social media inflations.
• 16:42–24:06 — Broader discussion on protest funding, accountability, Cruz’s Stop Funders Act.
• 24:18–25:44 — Political prospects for passing the Act; legislative mechanics.
• 31:19–36:59 — Deep dive: State Dept. report, mass killings of Nigerian Christians, Nigerian govt. response.
• 37:18–43:14 — What happens next, foreign policy pathways, media response, Bill Maher & Van Jones soundbites, final call to action.

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, sardonic, and strongly opinionated, with humor and rhetorical pointedness throughout.
• Frequently shifts between serious policy detail and cultural/political mockery.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (Verdict) offers a dense, spirited critique of the left’s protest strategies and the U.S. media’s selective outrage, while sounding the alarm over an underreported humanitarian tragedy in Nigeria. Senator Cruz presents both political analysis and direct legislative proposals, challenging listeners to scrutinize protest funding and advocate for oppressed Nigerian Christians, all while lampooning what he casts as the left’s inconsistency and performative activism.

Listeners are encouraged to share the episode, engage with their representatives on the issue of Nigeria, and hold media and politicians accountable for selective outrage and inaction on genuine global crises.

Transcript

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[Leon Neyfakh]

When I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi, nine times out of ten they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes or just asked why Benghazi?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The truth became a web of lies.

[Leon Neyfakh]

From prologue projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.

[Podcast Narrator/Voiceover]

What difference at this point does it make?

[Leon Neyfakh]

Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And Senator, we had a really big day of rallies around the country over the weekend. Apparently Democrats are just writing big old checks right now to go back to their old school organizing for these outrage rallies at a king by the name of Donald Trump, who's been in office many less years than any of the Democrats that they're out there complaining about him being in office.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, this weekend we saw protests all across the country that was angry white women go march. It was boomers unleashed. And it was an expression of rage. What we're going to talk about here is follow the money. Who's paying for this? Not only was this an expression of rage, but it was an expression of rage that was Astroturf. That was bought and paid for. And we're going to follow the money to George Soros and his network and and an entire interconnected network of radical left wing groups that were funding these protests. We're also going to talk about a tragedy that has been unfolding in recent years in the country of Nigeria where more than 50,000 Christians have been killed. The mass murder of Christians in Nigeria has been ongoing. It is targeted, it is systematic. Boko Haram and other jihadists are targeting Christians, are targeting churches, are targeting schools. We're going to lay out the facts of what's going on. The government of Nigeria is pressing back and saying, nothing to see here, Nothing to see here. We're going to give you the facts, and we're going to talk about legislation I've introduced to hold the government of Nigeria accountable and to pressure them to finally, finally, finally stop the mass murder of Christians.

[Ben Ferguson]

Amen to that. Want to take a moment and talk to you real quick about my good friends over at Burna. Being able to protect my family is so important to me. And it's one of the things that I want you to know about, how you can help protect your family, family as well from those that may be trying to do you harm. Now, for weeks, I've been joined by Josh from Burna to share stories of how people just like you and me have used their burner launcher protect themselves and their families. Now, burn is a handheld pistol that fires both kinetic rounds and chemical irritants to separate you from an attacker. Josh is back today to share a true story of how a man was able to stop chemicals, two pit bulls from harming him and his daughter using the burner sd. Josh, tell us the story.

[Josh from Burna]

You know, this story is great because I guarantee many people have been in a very similar situation. So Kyle, an Illinois resident, was walking his young daughter home from a play date just down the street from their house, when he noticed two unleashed pit bulls running down an alley, aggressively charging right at them. He quickly lifted his daughter over a fence of a yard to put her in a safe place and drew the burn SD that he was actually carrying on him. And using a combination of kinetic and our max projectiles, Kyle fired five rounds of the two pit bulls striking both the ground in front of them, but also the dogs themselves. The dogs stopped in their tracks. The rounds had an immediate effect, and both dogs quickly ran the other way. The entire incident was also captured on home surveillance video, allowing everyone to watch exactly how Burna kept Kyle and his daughter out of harm's way.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, look, obviously the burner worked great in this case, but why wouldn't someone choose to use a gun in this case instead of a burner? So many people ask me that type.

[Josh from Burna]

Of question, you know, same. I get to ask that all the time. And here we have a couple different reasons. One, he may not be in an area where he could carry a gun, depending on the laws of your state, it may limit where you can and can't carry a gun and to. Look, nobody wants to kill these dogs, right? Nobody wants to kill anybody but dogs either. If we can use a lower level of force to affect a safe getaway for us and everyone else and man, that's the way to do it. And that's exactly what happened here.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you want to be able to protect your family and you want to have something like this, a left lethal option, you need to check out Burna. You can go right now to burna by rna.com again that's burna by rna.com you'll understand after you see the videos exactly why I carry this in every car we have. Burna by rna.com all right, center. So let's get into this day of, of I call it rage. This anti American day. This no kings. There. There was something that hit online and it just made me smile because it said, all right, so let me get this straight. There's no kings referring to Donald Trump. Chuck Grassley's been in office 50 plus years. Chuck Schumer 44 plus years. Mitch McConnell 40 plus years. Nancy Pelosi 38 years. Maxine Waters 37 years. Bernie Sanders 34 years. Trump's been in office a total of four years at nine and a half months. But somehow they're saying Donald Trump is the king. When you look at the numbers there and that's like some bipartisan numbers, it's pretty darn funny.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, it is. And there was this little minor detail of an election that occurred in November in which the American people overwhelmingly voted to re elect Donald Trump. Very quickly. Look, you're trying to engage in reason, Ben. Reason is not welcome on the radical left anymore.

[Ben Ferguson]

I forgot about that memo.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is emoting. This is rage. This is Orange man bad. There's nothing more beyond that. And by the way, this is also voters bad. The irony of no kings, they're suggesting that they're somehow fans of democracy. Understand, these are the same radical left wing Democrats that indicted Donald Trump not once, not twice, not three times, but four times in an effort to stop the voters from re electing him. These are the same left wing radicals who then went to left wing judges and and in multiple jurisdictions, including Colorado, Illinois, Maine, their left wing radicals ruled they would remove Donald Trump's name from the ballot. Because nothing says you are a defender of democracy like making it impossible for the voters to vote for your opponent. Now, thankfully, the US Supreme Court came in unanimously 90 and said no, no no, sorry. You don't get to rig an election by removing your opponent, the Republican nominee for president, from the ballot. And wonder of wonders, with Trump on the ballot, the voters voted for him. This is actually, you know, in some ways, the left had some truth in advertising. They just had one too many words. They call this the no Kings rally. What they really want to protest is the Kings rally. Look, when Joe Biden was president, they wanted him to have unlimited power. And by the way, once they realized that Joe Biden had been legally dead for three years and that he was not going to be a formidable candidate in November, they promptly defenestrated him, threw him out a window, grabbed Kamala Harris, said, congratulations, you're the Democrat nominee. And you know what detail? They skipped the whole voting thing. Like the Democrat primary voters didn't get to vote at all. They basically tried to make her a queen. You know, when you coronate someone, when you put a crown on someone and say, don't be, don't bother with the little voting stuff, we've decided you get to run, that is kind of right at the heart of monarchy. So this, their messaging is incoherent, but at the end of the day, there is no messaging other than a primal scream. They hate Trump. And look, it's a good thing they did these rallies because, you know, prior to Saturday, I didn't know they hated Trump. I really, I had missed that the last 10 months. And so it really took seeing a bunch of 75 year old white liberal women screaming outside and dyeing their hair pink. You know, without that, we would have had no idea that the far left did not like President Trump.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, one thing that was interesting about these, these rallies is the way that the media covered it. It was before the rallies happened, they were already making these things a success and said, oh yeah, we're expecting millions to gather across the country. Then as it was happening, I was flipping the channels in between watching what's really important, and that was cowards football. Over the weekend, during, during a couple moments, I checked over to see how they were covering it. It was like millions gather. I'm sorry, center. I did not see millions as in plural, anywhere close to that. Yet. There were some bigger crowds for sure. New York City, for example, Chicago. It was not millions. And yet they already act like this was just some amazing, unprecedented success. Meanwhile, the average American was watching football on Saturday.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and I do have to express my condolences. I'm very sorry about Ole Miss and Georgia.

[Ben Ferguson]

I knew you were waiting for the show to just go ahead and talk about that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, I knew that hurt, but look, you can gain solace because even though Ole Miss lost to Georgia, Ole Miss Royalty prevailed because Arch Manning and the Longhorns won. Although I got to admit, it was an ugly game.

[Ben Ferguson]

At least there's some intellectual honesty.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And the Aggies keep on winning. And, and I was, I was sad that that Tech finally lost. They're still a heck of a team. But. But, but, but I'm very sorry about Ole Miss.

[Ben Ferguson]

The grin right now on your face is unbelievably telling, unbelievably telling of your thoughts and prayers now that you got that moment out of the way. Yeah, I'm glad that was his moment. He's been waiting all weekend. He was silent. He didn't text me on Saturday. I want the audience to understand that he was waiting for the show to bring that up. So let's talk about the money here for a second. This, this is clearly.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But by the way, I will say one of my closest friends, Gray, as you know, played played football at Arkansas.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Arkansas came within inches of beating the Aggies. And my phone would have lit up the grief he would have given me. And to be fair, Arkansas almost did beat the Aggies. I mean, it, it, you know, the A and M Arkansas game remind me a little bit of the A and M Notre Dame game where neither side bothered to bring defense. They just scored like crazy. And whoever had the ball. Last one.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it was, it was, it was, it was aired out Football 101. So you look at the money here and, and I, I wasn't concerned. I did TV over the weekend on, on no Kings and they asked me like, you know, well, this seems to be momentum. Like, it's not momentum if you're paying for it. This isn't authentic or organic. It is bought and paid for. If I gotten by a bunch of ads this weekend to play for whatever my thing is, you know, that I want to advocate for, does that mean there's actual authentic momentum behind it? Or does that just mean that I paid for something like this, to me, is pay to play politics. I'm not concerned about, quote, momentum. I do think, however, those that were organizing and paying for this no Kings rally are holding America hostage with a government shutdown. If there's any takeaway for me, it's that that Democrats could not open the government back up until after the no Kings rally took place. Now, this week, they may actually be able to do their damn job.

[iHeart Radio Announcer]

Well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And this past Week I went on Fox News and said, there's clear evidence that George Soros and his network is paying for these not King's rallies. And I have to say, lefty activists on Twitter went crazy and said, there's no evidence of that. What's Cruz talking about? Well, you know, fortunately we brought the receipts, so. So let me, let me walk through and in fact, if you want to read it, Fox News has has a story entitled, quote, soros Foundations helping fund anti Trump no Kings protests nationwide. So, and here are, here are the facts. In 2003, the Open Society foundation, which was founded by George Soros, issued a two year grant of $3 million to Indivisible. The grant was, quote, to support the grantee's social welfare activities. According to the Open Society Foundation's website, what is invisible doing it is, quote, managing data and communication with participants. That is Astroturf for the no Kings protest that will be taking place in Washington and across the country. According to the Open Society Foundation's website, George Soros has given away. How much do you think George Soros has given to the Open Society Foundations?

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, it's Soros. It's got to be millions. It could easily be tens of millions.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

More than 32 billion dollars.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow, okay, I was down on that one.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

More than 32 billion. Billion with a B. Golly. And if you look at that, they in turn are funding Indivisible. And Indivisible is organizing or helping organize the no Kings foundations. By the way, the left has these, these interwoven dark money organizations. So for example, in 2017, Individual Visible received a $350,000 grant from the Tides foundation from Tides Advocacy, which is a group affiliated with the Tides Network. The Tides foundation, which is also affiliated with the Tides Network, has been funding anti Israel campus riots. The Grant report for 2024 for the Open Society foundation was not available, but Soros foundation have awarded grants to Indivisible every single year since Indivisible was created. In 2017, in total, the Open Society Foundations have awarded 7.61 million in grants to the group behind the no Kings protest. So 7.61 million. That's where the money's coming from. So if you're surprised, there's a lot of organizing. Well, it turns out that deranged Trump hating America hating radical socialist, Marxist anarchist police abolishing nutcase billionaires can fund what looks like an awful lot of action. I gotta say, given all that cash, what is striking to me, Ben, is how lame the result was. Like I Gotta say, to be honest, I didn't spend a whole lot of time watching footage of it. But the footage I saw, you know what was missing? Any black people? Any Hispanic people?

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, maybe every video I saw, non minorities welcome, right? Could that be it?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, look, every video I saw, it was a bunch of old white liberals. It was like, you know, it was like a Patagonia convention with lots of prune juice. I mean, it was really. The numbers were underwhelming. You knew the numbers were underwhelming when you started to see on Twitter people sending fake videos of protests in prior years and claiming, oh, this is the no kings turnout.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. And that happened a lot, by the way. You're not joking when you say that. I saw quite a few of those and it just made you laugh.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. There's a video of a big protest in Boston years ago that has been tweeted around like crazy. And they say, oh, this was no kings in Boston. It's like, no. Well, why are you sending around a fake video? Because even when you have millions of dollars from George Soros, apparently the people motivated by the way, this is very much the same pattern. As, you know, they did a dry run for this with the protests in D.C. against President Trump sending in the National Guard. And again, those protests were a bunch of white liberals. There were very few in the video I saw very few African Americans. And the high crime areas in D.C. are predominantly African American. And it was really striking. You see these sort of wealthy liberal, many of them are government bureaucrats who are saying, no, no, get the national guard out of D.C. and then if camera crews that would go into high crime areas in D.C. you'd look at the people living there, predominantly African American, facing gang bangers and drive by shootings and facing being afraid to go out at night. And there's interview after interview with D.C. residents who are like, okay, I feel a lot safer. This is great. By the way, your hometown of Memphis, you got the same interviews where people are saying, for the first time in a long time, I feel safe to go outside. I can go outside with my kids. I'm not afraid of my kids getting shot or attacked or abducted.

[Ben Ferguson]

Even Beale street, which is the famous street in Memphis where you can go listen to live music downtown by the FedEx forum. I know people that have not gone down there 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years, they're now going down there because it's been so unsafe. And the National Guard's there. And now citizens of Memphis are actually getting to go enjoy their Own city again, which is exactly what we've seen in Washington dc.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And it's amazing that the position of the Democrat party is they are against law and order. Apparently having law and order means you have a king, that they are against criminals being arrested. Apparently that's the act of a king. That they are against violent criminals being incarcerated, taken off the streets, and they are against our families being protected. You know, I gotta say, people who are not political radicals find all of that common sense. That's not a particularly right wing proposition that violent criminals. You know, I'll tell a story, Ben. When I was a brand new baby lawyer back In, I think 1997, I just finished clerking for Chief Justice Rehnquist. I just started practicing law at a little law firm in D.C. and there was a show on PBS that was called Debates, Debates. And it was a three on three debate for an hour. And they would take a particular topic and then get three conservatives, three liberals, and you debate for an hour. And it was, it was produced by a guy named Warren Stibel, who was also the producer of Firing Line with Bill Buckley. And I got a call from someone from a friend of mine who said, hey, they're looking for someone to go on this show. Do you want to do this? And it ended up being the first TV show I ever went on right at the start of my legal career. And the topic was, should we release? Should we grant amnesty? To quote, America's political prisoners. And by that they meant cop killers and other radical left wingers who were incarcerated, but they claimed they were political prisoners because they had an ideology and they were having a hard time finding conservatives to debate the conservative side of it. And I remember I got the phone call asking if I would do it and I started laughing and I said, okay, so let me get this straight. You want me to defend the proposition that violent criminals should be punished? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I feel good with that. I'm quite comfortable with that proposition.

[Ben Ferguson]

Man. Way to, way to load the deck against me. Right?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, and look, to be clear, I don't care if they're left wing or right wing or they don't have any wings at all. If you commit acts of violence, you should be arrested, you should be prosecuted, you should go to jail. And listen, the question we asked at the start of this show about following the money, regular listeners of the POD will know that is something that I'm pressing both Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice and Cash Patel and the FBI to do, not just the money behind the no Kings rallies, but also the money behind the anti Semitic protest on college campuses, the money behind the Black Lives Matter antifa riots all over the country, the money behind the open border riots in Los Angeles and other cities earlier this year. I think it is likely all the same money. It is the same collection of radicals who are a combination of extreme leftists, Marxists, jihadists, anarchists, and I think George Soros is the granddaddy of them all. But I've introduced legislation and the legislation is called the Stop Funders Act. And what the Stop Funders act would do is very simple. It simply adds rioting to the list of predicate acts under rico. Now what is rico? RICO is the Racketeer Influence and Corruption Corrupt Organizations Act. And it is a tool that prosecutors use to go after organized crime. It is a very powerful prosecutorial tool. And the value of RICO is that what you can do is under rico, you can prove an organization. This is used often for something like the Mafia or say a drug cartel, where you prove the existence of an organization and that you're part of the organization and then you have to prove that you committed predicate acts and you can be prosecuted on a RICO and serve long jail time. Well, the way the left right now is funding rioting is they do it through multiple different organizations that are deliberately ignorant of what each other is doing. And I think they're doing it to avoid accountability and liability. The Stop Funders act, by adding rioting to the list of predicate acts for RICO would give prosecutors a heck of a tool that if you're cutting the check, that is going to funding the rioting. And rioters are engaged in acts of violence. Rioters are on campus assaulting Jewish students in a public street, looting a store, firebombing a police car, murdering someone, assaulting someone that you, the person who wrote the check and funded the entire effort, you the one who say on the college campuses paid for all of the tents that look exactly the same. They all match. You would face liability just like you would if you were the one writing the check and funding the Mafia family or funding the drug cartel. And so I'm urging Congress take up my Stop Funders act, pass it. And DOJ needs to go after the money. If we cut off the money with no checks, there would be no, no Kings protest. Not because people are prevented from speaking, but because this sort of demonstration is, is not real and organic. It is driven by a handful of left wing billionaires who are using their money to buy the appearance of something much Broader how?

[Ben Ferguson]

Final question on this. How hard or how easy should it be or will it be to get this pass with Republican leadership? It doesn't seem like this would be a hard thing to convince people to say, yeah, we need to follow the money.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So, look, I think it is easy to get Republican votes. I think all or virtually all Republicans would vote for it. The challenge to passing it in the law will be the Senate filibuster rule, which means to pass it, we need 60 votes in the Senate, which would mean we would need at least seven Democrats. There are 53 Republicans. It's the same challenge we have in the middle of the Shutdown. We need 60 votes. We need at least seven Democrats to reopen the government. And right now the Democrats are just, no, no, hell no to everything. So I think it is entirely possible and maybe even likely that if we bring it up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, that every Senate Democrat would vote no on the committee. Now, if that happens, it would still be voted out of committee because if the Republicans all voted together, we have a majority on the committee. And so if we voted out of committee, it would go to the floor. And what I'm urging Republican leadership to do is put it up for a vote on the floor. And listen, if the Democrats all want to vote no, they can. That prevents it from being passed. But I got to say, that is a terrible vote. If you are voting against liability for violent rioting. That is not a vote. That is not a vote that any Democrat running in a purple state wants to defend his or her constituents. And so I think either we take it up and they decide to support it and we pass it, or we take it up and they vote party line against it, in which case those are terrible votes and you campaign against them.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Leon Neyfakh]

Always.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[NFL Network Announcer]

The NFL International games continue on NFL Network and here our stars come out in the morning.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's go.

[NFL Network Announcer]

Week 10 Bajan Robinson and the Falcons touchdown Iguana take on Daniel Jones and the Colts in Berlin.

[Ben Ferguson]

Fireworks in the fourth quarter.

[NFL Network Announcer]

Then in week 11, Jaden Daniels and the Commanders touchdown once again. Face Tua and the Dolphins in Madrid. Snooze off. Game on it's Sunday morning football continues November 9th at 9:30 Eastern only on NFL Network.

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[Leon Neyfakh]

When I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi, nine times out of ten, they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes or just asked why Benghazi?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The truth became a web of lies.

[Leon Neyfakh]

It's almost a dirty word, one that connotes conspiracy theory.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Will we ever get the truth about the Benghazi massacre?

[Leon Neyfakh]

Bad faith, political warfare and frankly, bullshit.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We kill the ambassador just to cover something up. You put two and two together.

[Leon Neyfakh]

Was it an overblown distraction or a sinister conspiracy?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Benghazi is a Rosetta Stone for everything.

[Ben Ferguson]

That'S been going on for the last 20 years.

[Leon Neyfakh]

I'm Leon Naifak from Prologue Projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.

[Podcast Narrator/Voiceover]

What difference at this point does it make?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, that's right. Lock her up.

[Leon Neyfakh]

Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to move now, Senator, to something that you've been spearheading and leading on. It's certainly not getting attention in the media, but you're wanting to hold Nigeria accountable for the 50,000. Let me say that number again. 50,000 Christians that have been killed there. Explain why this story is so important and what you're trying to do. And also, why is no one covering this as it's been described to me?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, it is truly horrific. The numbers are stunning. The numbers are staggering. Here are the top line numbers of what we're seeing. We have seen over 50,000 Christians killed. We have seen over 18,000 churches and at least 2,000 schools burned. And the response to this, the Nigerian government is fighting back ferociously, saying, this is not happening. This is not true. There's a battle. The Nigerian government officials are getting very angry that I'm calling them out. I want to read to you from the executive summary of the U.S. state Department's 2024 Country Report on human rights practices in Nigeria. And here's what it says. Quote, significant human rights issues included credible reports of arbitrary and unlawful killings, disappearances torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary arrest or detention, serious abuses in a conflict, serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, violence or threats against labor activists or union members, and significant presence of any of the worst forms of child labor. Non state actors committed arbitrary and unlawful killings, disappearances, physical abuse and other mistreatments. Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa continued attacks on civilians, military, police, humanitarian and religious targets, unlawfully recruited and forcibly conscripted child soldiers and carried out scores of attacks on population centers in the northeast regions. Abductions by Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa continued. Both groups subjected many women and girls to gender based violence, including forced marriage, sexual slavery and rape. This is what's going on in Nigeria right now and it is going on far too often with the acquiescence of the elected government officials. Far too often. And in some instances, you have provinces in Nigeria that have on the books blasphemy law and Sharia law and they will prosecute Christians for blasphemy. They will prosecute Christians for violating Sharia law, in which case the government becomes a tool of the persecution of Christians. And, and look, it is, it is devastating. It, it is. The. The most Christians being murdered anywhere on the face of the planet is happening in Nigeria. And so I introduced legislation to require the Secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern and to impose sanctions, including in particular, sanctioning the individual government officials. So if you're a local official and you're enforcing blasphemy laws and Sharia laws and you're persecuting Christians or you're turning the other way and turning, turning a blind eye to Christians being murdered in mass numbers. The result of my legislation would be each of those individual government officials would face sanctions. And I gotta say, the Nigerian government has been pushing back ferociously. For example, the chairman of the House committee on foreign Affairs, Oluwole oke, said the Cruz bill is, quote, a deliberate attempt to damage the Nigerian image. And he insists Nigeria is a very tolerant country. Well, other than murdering 50,000 Christians, very tolerant. Other than that. Likewise, the minister of information and national orientation, Muhammad Idris, rejected the suggestion that, quote, any Nigerian officials will willingly, deliberately indulge in the act of siding with violent extremists to target any particular religion in the country. Likewise, presidential spokesperson Baya Onano demanded that Cruz stop his, quote, malicious and contrived lies against, quote, my country. And finally, Senate president God's Will Akpabillo cautioned against framing the crisis, quote, along religious lines since, quote, terrorists and bandits target Nigerians indiscriminately, regardless of faith. Now, listen, it is certainly true that Boko Haram and other religious radicals in Nigeria are killing Muslims as well. They are killing both. But they are systematically targeting Christians for mass murder. When you've got 50,000 Christians being murdered, that is not accidental. That is not random. And the over 18,000 churches and the over 2,000 schools, they are singling out and targeting Christian churches and Christian schools and burning them to the ground. And the government of Nigeria is not acting with any vigor at all to defend and to defend the Christians or just to keep them alive.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, to keep them alive. And so now, obviously, this is about letting it shining a light on this. And then you go back to the policy aspect of this. What happens next? And for people specifically that are listening, what do they need to be doing and advocating for to make sure that we can move this forward?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, the next step needs to be that. I'm pushing for the Congress to pass my legislation. I'm on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, so I'm pressing for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to take it up. That would designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern now, I would note, but the Trump administration can do so on its own. And this is often the case in foreign policy areas where I'll introduce legislation and I'll push for action. So, for example, I've introduced legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. I've done so repeatedly in multiple congresses. I think it is unequivocally a terrorist organization. In fact, Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine is what they call themselves. And that has not yet happened. But I would like to see Congress pass my legislation. But the most likely way we'll get the Muslim Brotherhood designated is that I will succeed in convincing President Trump and the Trump administration to do so. And I've been making that case vigorously with respect to Nigeria. The same thing is true. I'm going to try to pass the legislation, but I'm also very much making the case to the Trump administration. They have the authority to do it now. And look, I want to point out, you asked what people can do. Speak out. Highlight 50,000 Christians massacred since 2009, the single greatest mass slaughter of Christians anywhere in the world. And look, here's how Fox News put it. Quote, a diplomatic battle is being waged between leading Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Nigerian government officials. The Texas senators has warned he will hold them accountable for the reported mass slaughter of tens of thousands of Christians in Nigeria. The officials say Cruz is lying, with one claiming that despite even the Pope publicly calling out the killings, there is religious harmony in the country. But you know what? Maybe you don't believe me. Maybe you don't believe the Pope. So if. If the Pope and I are both wrong, how about this? Maybe, maybe you'll believe Bill Maher. You have a listen to what Bill Maher had to say on this topic.

[Bill Maher]

If you don't know what's going on in Nigeria, your media sources suck. You are in a bubble. And again, I'm not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They've killed over 100,000 since 2009. They burned 18,000 churches. This is so much more. These are their Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza. They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country. Where are the kids protesting this? Thank you.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Thank you.

[Podcast Narrator/Voiceover]

No one will talk about it. So thank you.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Absolutely.

[Podcast Narrator/Voiceover]

It's Africa.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's why no one's talking about it. And they should be. You can't read about it in mainstream media.

[Podcast Narrator/Voiceover]

It's sad.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So thank you for bringing it.

[Bill Maher]

Well, because the Jews aren't involved. That's why it's the Christians and the Muslims.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Who cares? He is exactly right. And I appreciate Bill Maher calling it out and shining a light on it. And he's right that the corporate media does not want to cover it. And by the way, on that same show, someone you know well, Van Jones from cnn, he was on that show. And Van Jones is a very left wing guy and he's on CNN regularly. But he commented and he chimed in, agreeing with Bill Maher here. Give a listen to Van Jones talking about the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria.

[Bill Maher]

You're talking about young people. A lot of them seem to know one thing. White people did some very bad things in this world and they certainly did. But there are other things to know.

[Van Jones]

Yes. And including the fact that in Sudan right now, which nobody is talking about, you have Arab militia murdering people by the wheelbarrow, including the fact that Africa right now is being overrun by Islamist terrorists, including Boko Haram, with no conversation about that at all.

[Bill Maher]

I did it last week. Nigeria.

[NFL Network Announcer]

Yeah, Nigeria.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, this is an actual planned genocide.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, they really want to kill all the Christians in that country and they are systematically doing it.

[Van Jones]

And the fact that there's almost no response from the global left and no attention from mainstream media is a crime against African people, black people and human rights. I agree with that 100%. It turns out that there's a double standard for Jews. That is true. No Jews, no news. As long as you can put the Jewish state in the conversation, it's going to be a big conversation. If you can't, you get no attention at all. This is a big problem.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is a big problem. I mean, you hear Van Jones saying it, he is correct. It is a huge problem. No Jews, no news. Like, I mean, it's amazing that this is happening.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, we see the protests on college campuses. We see these angry leftists who are completely enraged about Gaza. The instant President Trump negotiates a peace deal, they go away. Now Hamas is executing Palestinians on the street, lighting up Palestinians on their knees, shooting them in the back of the head and not a peep. These leftist radicals, they are perfectly fine with Palestinians being systematically murdered. As long as it's Palestinians, as long as Hamas doing the murder. You don't see a protest, you don't see any calls a genocide. Their protest is about one thing, which is they hate Israel and they hate Jews. And I gotta say, where, where is abc? Where is cbs? Where is NBC? Where is CNN and msnbc? Where's the New York Times, where's the Washington Post about the mass murder of over 50,000 Christians in Nigeria? You know what, if you want to find out things like that, you gotta listen to Verdict, you gotta listen to the podcast. You gotta go and work. But I will say there are not many issues that bring together. Me, the Pope, Bill Maher and Van Jones.

[Ben Ferguson]

Amen to that. Amen to that. Man, make sure you take this podcast, share it with your family and friends, put it up on social media. If you hit that little forward button, you can put it on wherever you're on social media. It's actually really easy and it helps other people hear this. Also, if you missed our episode on Friday with, with Donald Trump's son, son Eric Trump, go back and grab that. It was a really interesting episode. I want to make sure you guys, if you missed it on Friday, you can grab that as well. And the Senator and I will see you back here on Wednesday morning.

[NFL Network Announcer]

The NFL International games continue on NFL Network. And here our stars come out in the morning. Week 10, Bajan Robinson and the Falcons take on Daniel Jones and the Colts in Berlin.

[Ben Ferguson]

Fireworks in the fourth quarter.

[NFL Network Announcer]

Then in week 11, Jaden Daniels and the Commanders touchdown once again. Face Tua and the Dolphins in Madrid snooze off. Game on. It's Sunday morning Football continues November 9th at 9:30 Eastern only on NFL Network.

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Wishing the holidays could come early. If you own or manage your business, they can. With help from iHeartradio. People are already shopping for their loved ones and hunting for deals wherever they can find them, including right here. They're listening to the radio. They're listening to podcasts. They could be listening to you. Don't wait for everyone else to kick off the holidays. Get your best season of the year up and running today. Call 844-844-IHEART or visit iheartadvertising.com.

[Leon Neyfakh]

When I told people I was making a podcast about Benghazi, nine times out of ten they called me a masochist, rolled their eyes or just asked, why Benghazi?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The truth became a web of lies.

[Leon Neyfakh]

From Prologue projects and Pushkin Industries. This is Fiasco Benghazi.

[Podcast Narrator/Voiceover]

What difference at this point does it make?

[Leon Neyfakh]

Listen to Fiasco Benghazi on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[iHeart Radio Announcer]

This is an iHeart podcast.