Bonus: Schumer Shutdown-What to Expect plus Dem Rhetoric Keeps getting Worse, Inciting Violence & Endangering Law Enforcement

Summary

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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Bonus: Schumer Shutdown—What to Expect plus Dem Rhetoric Keeps Getting Worse, Inciting Violence & Endangering Law Enforcement
Date: September 30, 2025
Hosts: Ben Ferguson & Senator Ted Cruz (guest hosting)
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Brief Overview

In this bonus episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz dissect the imminent possibility of a government shutdown—dubbed the "Schumer Shutdown"—attributing it to Democratic strategies in Congress. The episode also explores the intensifying, incendiary rhetoric used by some Democratic leaders, which the hosts argue is fueling violence and placing law enforcement at risk. The conversation is interwoven with recent events, notable political quotes, and a montage of controversial statements about law enforcement, especially ICE.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Michigan Church Attack and Law Enforcement Response

Segment Start: [02:51]

• Event Recap:
  • Recent attack at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan: “4 dead, 10 wounded” ([02:51]).
  • Attacker drove truck into church, opened fire, set fire to the church.
• Law Enforcement Praised:
  • Senator Cruz emphasizes rapid response: “Law enforcement did an unbelievable job… probably saved countless lives… including a lot of children.” ([05:17])
  • Condemnation of anti-police rhetoric: Claims that continued demonization of law enforcement, particularly by Democrats, is making their job more dangerous.

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2. The Looming Schumer Shutdown: Causes & Consequences

Segment Start: [06:41]
Deep Dive: [09:55] – [22:57]

A. Shutdown Mechanics and Blame Attribution

• How funding works:
  • Cruz details how appropriations work and the standard government funding cycle.
  • As of midnight September 30, government funding expires unless action is taken.
• The ‘Clean CR’:
  • House passed a “clean Continuing Resolution” (CR)—no policy changes, just temporary extension.
  • Senate requires 60 votes; with 53 Republicans, at least 7 Democrats are needed.
  • Democrats, according to Cruz, “are lining up party line to say no” ([10:41]).

B. Motivation Behind Democratic Actions

• Accusations of political theater:

  • Cruz argues Democrats are shutting down the government to appease their party’s radical base after internal dissent on previous deals ([12:12]).
  • Alleges Schumer wants to avoid being “primaried by AOC” and prove himself to the left.

• Notable quote:

  "I believe Schumer’s made a decision—he’s gonna shut the government down because that’s how he proves to the crazies in his party that he is a ferocious warrior."
  <span style="font-size:90%;">—Sen. Ted Cruz [12:44]</span>

C. Democratic Double-Standard: Quotes Over the Years

• Cruz provides a litany of Democratic statements opposing shutdowns in years past, contrasting them with present actions:

  • Chuck Schumer (Jan 2024): “Passing a clean CR… will avert a harmful and unnecessary government shutdown.”
  • Bernie Sanders (Jan 2018): “Shutting down the government is a serious and dangerous action… We must do everything possible to prevent.”
  • Mark Kelly (Sept 2023): “A shutdown would have serious impacts… we can’t let any of that happen.”
  • [Numerous additional past quotes, timestamps: [12:52] – [15:56]]

• Cruz’s claim:

  • These same Senators are now ready to vote for a shutdown, not on principle but to appease anti-Trump sentiment.

• Notable quote:

  “[Democrats] want to have a primal scream. And so I think the odds are very high the Schumer shutdown will happen…”
  <span style="font-size:90%;">—Cruz [15:47]</span>

D. What Does (and Doesn’t) Shut Down?

• Essential services continue: Military, law enforcement, air traffic control, Coast Guard, etc.
• Non-essential workers: Furloughed, usually receive back pay.
• Services disrupted: National parks, Smithsonian museums, etc.
• Recent memo from OMB:
  • Trump admin may use shutdown to “terminate… workers in government agencies critical to Democrat priority” (EPA, Labor, IRS).
  • “If Schumer and the Democrats force a shutdown, we’re going to see the Trump administration give pink slips…” ([18:43])
  • Cruz predicts internal Democratic backlash if this happens.

E. Political Impact & Predictions

• Possible outcome: Dem-constituency jobs targeted, Democrats under internal pressure.

• Cruz argues a shutdown for a few days would have limited long-term consequences and might result in a more 'efficient' government.

• Ben Ferguson's question:

  “Should we secretly be hoping this happens… to get leaner as a government and stop all the waste and abuse?” ([20:42])

• Cruz’s take:

  • “That could end up being a very good outcome.”
  • Predicts Democrats will cave after public backlash if targeted layoffs happen.

F. Media Blame Game

• Cruz anticipates media blaming Trump and Republicans even if Democrats block a “clean CR.”
• Notable quote:

  “Will CNN and MSNBC… try to say… [to] keep the government open, he should spend over a trillion dollars and give in to the Democrats’ demands...? Sure, they’ll try... but that’s a hard argument.” ([24:42])

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3. Case Study: Less-Lethal Self-Defense & Public Safety

Segment Start: [06:41] – [08:51]

• Ben Ferguson touts the benefits of the Byrna less-lethal launcher for home protection.
• Senator Cruz shares a story about a homeowner in California deterring an intruder with this device rather than a firearm, emphasizing “lowest level of force” as a positive outcome.

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4. Ramping Up Rhetoric: Democrats, Law Enforcement, and Political Violence

Segment Start: [29:06]
Deep Dive and Montage: [30:01] – [41:59]

A. Escalating Accusations & Impact

• Discussion of "incendiary" language from Democratic leaders against their political opponents and law enforcement.

• Gavin Newsom’s all-caps tweet: "Stephen Miller is a FASCIST”—noted for 27 million views ([30:28]).

• Kirk assassination referenced, with Cruz attributing part of the motivation to this kind of rhetoric.

• Direct Quote:

  “Labeling Republicans they disagree with as fascist… is inviting more and more violence.”
  <span style="font-size:90%;">—Cruz [30:51]</span>

B. Media Montage: Democratic Statements on ICE and Law Enforcement

Start: [33:12], runs several minutes

• Compilation of Democrats calling ICE:

  • “Modern-day Gestapo”
  • “Nazi Germany”
  • “Slave patrols”
  • “Secret federal police force”
  • “Terrorists,” “thugs,” “masked agents”
  • Calls for “abolishing ICE” and “unmasking ICE agents”

• Notable moments:

  • ICE Cube’s tour bus being firebombed, allegedly due to confusion about the name "ICE" ([32:46]).
  • Multiple Democratic leaders explicitly or implicitly comparing ICE to Nazi or authoritarian institutions.

• Cruz’s analysis:

  • Drawing a direct line from rhetoric to real-world danger for law enforcement.
  • Points to the Dallas ICE shooter using an app called “ICE Finder” to target agents ([42:13]).

• Quote:

  “This is a direct result. And it’s not fringe people. Hakeem Jeffries stood at the podium and said, unmask these guys and go after them. And… lunatics are listening to them.”
  <span style="font-size:90%;">—Cruz [42:23]</span>

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5. Final Thoughts: Consequences and Future Outlook

Conclusion: [43:17] – [43:34]

• Hosts stress the danger of "doxxing" ICE agents—argue that mask-wearing is protective, not nefarious.
• Vow to “keep exposing” incendiary rhetoric and to continue the fight in favor of law enforcement and against what they call Democrat extremism.
• Encourage listeners to tune in for future episodes.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sen. Ted Cruz on shutdown prediction:

  “I believe Schumer’s made a decision. He’s going to shut the government down because that’s the way he proves to the crazies in his party that… he is a ferocious warrior.” ([12:44])

• Sen. Ted Cruz on Democratic rhetoric:

  “Labeling Republicans they disagree with as fascist… is inviting more and more violence.” ([30:51])

• On ICE agent safety:

  “Democrats, including Hakeem Jeffries, have called for unmasking ICE, identifying them and going after them. Look, that’s putting ICE law enforcement officers at risk… lunatics are listening to them.” ([42:23])

• On less-lethal defense:

  “The lowest level of less lethal force is able to rectify the situation without bringing a gun into that situation.” ([08:22])

• Ben Ferguson's commentary:

  “Democrats get talking points and they stick with them. And when they do this, they’re doing it on purpose to undermine the rule of law.” ([41:24])

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Important Timestamps

• Michigan Church Attack & Law Enforcement: [02:51] – [05:17]
• Shutdown Mechanics & Blame: [09:55] – [15:56]
• Democratic Quotes on Shutdowns: [12:52] – [15:56]
• Government Shutdown Consequences: [16:30] – [22:57]
• Media Blame & Political Fallout: [22:57] – [25:44]
• Byrna Self-defense Story: [06:41] – [08:51]
• Democratic Rhetoric on Law Enforcement: [30:01] – [41:59]
• ICE agent “doxxing,” real-world impact: [42:13] – [43:17]

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Overall Tone & Style

• Direct, urgent, and confrontational, with a blend of detailed analysis and partisan critique.
• Frequent references to current events as illustrative case studies.
• Use of humor (“That’s a terrible Bernie Sanders impersonation”) and conversational banter, but dominated by serious concerns about violence and political conflict.

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This summary captures the central debates, critical claims, and rhetorical tone of the episode, making it robustly informative for listeners catching up on the content or seeking insight into current conservative talking points on law enforcement, government shutdowns, and political discourse.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is verdict with center Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It's nice to have you with us. And we've got a packed show for you on this Monday morning, including the very sad news that is coming out of Michigan. An attack there on a church, a Michigan church shooting attack. The new numbers we have are four dead, 10 wounded as of when we are recording this. And, Senator, it's just another tragic event we're witnessing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, unfortunately, this is a pattern we're seeing over and over again of violent murderers attacking churches, attacking Christian schools, targeting people of faith. In this case, it was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormon Church in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan. A deranged man drove his truck through the front of the church while the church members were worshiping, opened fire, murdered, as you said, 4 dead, 10 injured as of right now, and also set the church on fire. All of us, I think today saw the images of the church aflame. And at this point, we don't know the details, we don't know the motivations of why this deranged killer targeted this church. But we've seen so much hatred for people of faith. And I will say right now my prayers, and I know yours too, Ben, are with all of those who are wounded that they would reach a swift recovery. Where our prayers are with the families of those who were murdered and everyone in the LDS church that is really just hurting right now at this persecution. It is another manifestation of the hate that we have seen day after day after day. And I very much pray our nation gets beyond this vicious hate.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, no doubt. And I gotta say, law enforcement did an unbelievable job of saving lives and showing up very quickly after this heinous attack began and probably saved countless lives based on the number of people that were inside. And Senator, this just goes back to a really important point that we have got to stop demonizing law enforcement in this country the way that Democrats have continued to do that. ICE Agents, is a great example of what we saw last week because these men and women who put on a badge every day are willing to go into situations where they don't even know what's going on and save people's lives. They did it yet again in Michigan.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, you're exactly right. And I will say in Michigan, law enforcement responded within minutes, came in and took out the shooter and no doubt saved a lot of lives, including a lot of children. And later in the podcast, we're going to talk about the consistent pattern of rhetoric and demonizing law enforcement, demonizing ice that we have seen from Democrats. And even in the face of these horrific murders, Democrats keep ratcheting up the rhetoric and tragically, that that rhetoric is inviting violence. We're going to lay that out in detail. But before we do that, we're going to talk about the impending Schumer shutdown. We are two days away from the expiration of funding for the federal government and I believe it is highly likely that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats will force a shutdown this Sunday. On the Sunday shows this the Democrats were out in force, all blaming the impending shutdown on Donald Trump. Donald Trump, which is no surprise because in their world, everything is Donald Trump's fault. But we're going to break down, number one, why it is so likely that the Democrats are going to force the Schumer shutdown. But number two, what to expect? What does it mean? What are the consequences of a government shutdown if on midnight September 30, the Democrats block funding the government? We're going to explain it all to you on today's podcast.

[Ben Ferguson]

All of you know that I am a pro Second Amendment guy. I've shared on numerous occasions how carrying my firearms saved my life from a gang related attack. But for those of you out there with family members who may not be comfortable having a gun by their side, you still want them to be able to protect themselves and others in times of danger. And that's where the burner launcher comes in. Burna is a handheld pistol that fires both kinetic rounds and chemical irritants to separate you from an attacker. Burner is a handheld pistol that fires both kinetic rounds and chemical irritants to separate you from the attacker. I'm here today with Josh Sherrard from Berta to share the true story of how a California homeowner used a burner launcher to stop a home intruder. Josh, tell us what happened.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, Bob Braid was one of the earliest adopters of Burna back when we first started. He lived in California in a residential system suburb of LA that was pretty prone to a lot of vagrancy, a lot of homeless walking up and down the street. He kept a burn in his living room and one of these vagrants wandered in his home just confused, probably drunk and intoxicated in the wrong house. Bob was able to pull his burner out, point it at the intruder who promptly backed out of the home back into the yard. And of course, it was all caught on surveillance. You didn't even have to use the burner. And he was able to ward off this intruder in a situation that that could have ended incredibly badly and more force been used. This is a great demonstration of how the lowest level of force can be used to rectify a situation. And of course, it was all caught on video, which makes for, for a great illustration of how that burner can be used on a day to day basis.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's a lot of people are going to say, well, why wouldn't the homeowner just use a gun in this case?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, well, one, it comes down to legality. You know, in this part of California, it may be very difficult to use a gun. And then two, we saw this intruder literally just stumbled into the wrong home in an altered state of mind. Nobody wants to kill anybody that doesn't need killing, that they absolutely don't have to. So this is a great instance where the burner was able to be used, the lowest level of less lethal force is able to use to rectify the situation without bringing a gun into that situation.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I tell you, I have one of these. My family members do as well, a lot of my friends. If you want more information, how you want or a family member can protect themselves with a burner launcher, go to Byrna B y r n a.com that's burner.com by rna.com Again, protect yourself and your family. Burna by rna.com all right, so let's get into this shutdown, Senator, and this is a very interesting shutdown. Democrats, obviously, they have a game plan. They were rolling it out, as you mentioned on the Sunday shows. And what they're clearly aiming for is a shutdown where they can say, this is Donald Trump's fault. Hakeem Jeffries, he was on TV about the government shutdown unloading on the president and saying, look, Republicans have behaved as consistent rubber stamps for Trump's extreme agenda. And so therefore there has to be some accountability for that. So this is a shutdown they're going to cause, even though, as you mentioned, it's clearly a Democratic shutdown if it happens.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, let me explain what a shutdown is and why this is relevant. So the way the federal government works is the executive branch cannot spend money unless Congress has appropriated that money. That's how the Constitution works, that Congress has to appropriate money in order for the executive to make an expenditure of taxpayer funds. And typically those appropriations are for a period of time. The fiscal year of the federal government runs from October 1 to September 30. So at midnight on September 30, the existing funding for the federal government will expire. In order to continue funding, Congress has to act now. The House has passed a continuing resolution. It's also called a cr. A continuing resolution essentially says nothing changes. And the House's continuing resolution funds the government until the middle of November. It changes no policy, it does nothing. It just says everything that's happening now, let's keep it going for a couple of months. The House has passed it. It is now in the Senate. In order for legislation to pass the Senate, it takes 60 votes. That's the ordinary filibuster rule. A week ago we took up the House's clean cr. There's no riders, no attachments, nothing on it. It's just a clean let's keep the government open. The Democrats voted party line against it. Now we cannot pass funding for the government in the Senate unless at least seven Democrats vote for it. We have 53 Republicans, we need 60. That means if seven Democrats won't vote with us, nothing passes the Senate. And a week ago the Democrats all lined up party line. They are projecting right now. We're going to vote this week again on a clean cr. And mind you, this is not a Republican piece of legislation with some major Republican priority. I'd love to see some Republican priorities in there, but this is not, this is simply let's keep the lights on. Let's keep the government open. And the Democrats are lining up to say no, no, let me tell you why the Democrats are I think, very likely to force a shutdown. Because several months ago, when we had the last battle over government funding, Chuck Schumer agreed to keep the government open. And the left wing of his party lost their mind. AOC and all of the woke radicals, the socialists, got furious with Chuck Schumer. Chuck Schumer's favorabilities plummeted. And I gotta tell you, Chuck is terrified of being primaried by aoc. His job is in real jeopardy. And so I believe Schumer's made a decision. He's gonna shut the government down because that's the way he proves to the crazies in his party that, that he is a ferocious warrior. Now let me give you some quotes from multiple Democrats about government shutdowns. And the only thing that was different on this is at the time of the quotes you had a Democrat in the White House. So here's what Chuck Schumer said in January 2024. Quote, Passing a clean CR this week is important for two main reasons. First, passing the CR, of course will avert a Harmful and unnecessary government shutdown. No reasonable member on either side, Democrat or Republican, wants a government shutdown. About Chris Murphy, one of the biggest radicals in the Senate In September of 2013, here's what he said. Quote, there is a time and place to debate health care, just like there is a time and place to debate energy policy and immigration and education. But not when the funding of the federal government and all the lives are impacted by it hang in the balance. How about Elizabeth Warren? Same time, September 2013. The least we can do, the bare minimum that we can do, would be to pass a continuing resolution to keep the doors open and the lights on. Threatening a shutdown is the last resort for those who other can't otherwise win their fights through elections, can't win their fights in Congress, can't win their fights for the presidency, and can't win their fights in courts. Here's what Brian Schatz said in September of 2023. I've seen the same thing over and over again. Shutdowns don't work. The government eventually reopens and neither side has accomplished a single thing. No one wins, but Americans have a lot to lose. Senator Mark Warner, September of 2024. That's a year ago. Government shutdowns unleash chaos on federal workers, delay pay for service members, and weaken our position on the global stage. Bernie Sanders in January of 2018. Shutting down the government is a serious and dangerous action. That's a terrible Bernie Sanders impersonation. Sorry about that. That we must do everything possible to prevent shutting down the government would impact tens of millions of our fellow Americans who would be unable to access government services. It would severely impact federal employees who would not get the paychecks they expected. It would also have a very significant impact on our armed forces. In other words, we must do everything that we can to prevent a government shutdown. Senator Mark Kelly, a supposed moderate from Maryland, September of 2023. Quote, A government shutdown would have serious impacts. Service members won't get their paychecks. Airports could have major delays. Nutrition assistance for children could be cut off. We can't let any of that happen. Congress needs to work together to prevent a shutdown. I literally have 20 more of these quotes. Senator Tim Kaine, January 2019. I'm a senator from Virginia. Some of the hardest effects of a shutdown would be seen in my state. Well, you know what? Every one of these guys, I think it is very likely they're gonna vote in the next 48 hours to shut the government down. And it's not because they think a government shutdown is a good idea. It's because their base just hates Trump and they want to have a primal scream. And so I think the odds are very high the Schumer shutdown will happen because he will force the Democrats all to vote to shut the government down.

[Ben Ferguson]

When you talk about this vote and when this goes down, what's the timeframe? And then how does he come out of this getting. Is it just a few days, you think? Is this one of those that could turn into weeks that we've seen in the past? Or is it just, hey, I did it, therefore, I really am a radical Democrat, so therefore you should keep voting, voting for me instead of aoc?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, I think there's a chance this extends to weeks. Now, let me explain what a shutdown means. A government shutdown doesn't shut down every function of government. So the basic principle is essential functions continue even when government funding has expired. So what does that mean? The military continues to serve and protect this nation. Law enforcement continues to serve. Border Patrol continues to serve. FBI agents continue to serve. Anyone who is essential for the public safety continues to serve. Air traffic controllers continue to serve. The Coast Guard continues to serve throughout the government. What happens agency by agency is the agency heads have to designate employees who are, quote, essential and employees who are, quote, non essential. And the non essential workers stay home. They stay home, they're not paid. The government paychecks stop. Now, typically after a shutdown, and shutdowns can extend weeks or even longer. Typically, at the end of the shutdown, the workers all come back and they're paid back pay. So it actually costs the federal government a lot of money and a lot of functions that are non essential. So one of the classic areas that will be shut down if Schumer forces the Schumer shutdown will be national parks. So I will say if you were planning this weekend to take your family to a national park, if you're going to Yellowstone, I would watch the news very closely because if the Schumer shutdown happens, Yellowstone park will be closed. If you're planning to bring your family to D.C. to go to the Smithsonian, the Smithsonian museums will be closed if the Democrats force a shutdown. That being said, I will tell you something that has changed the terrain very significantly. So last week, Russ Vogt, who is the head of omb, the Office of Management and Budget, put out a memo to federal agencies and said, I want you to lay out a plan if the Democrats force a shutdown to terminate workers who are working government Workers who are working in areas that are not consistent with the president's agenda and the priorities of this administration. I got to tell you, I feel a little bit like Brer Rabbit. Throw me in that briar patch. I think if, if Schumer and the Democrats force a shutdown, we're going to see the Trump administration give pink slips, not furloughs, but terminate workers, and in particular terminate workers in government agencies that are critical to Democrat priority. So, so you could see workers in the EPA being terminated. You can see workers in the Department of Labor being terminated. You could see workers in the IRS being terminated. And not just furloughed for a few days, but handed a pink slip given a reduction in force, saying your services are no longer required. And I will tell you, if that happens this week, we will hear a collective howl of agony from Democrats. And I'm willing to bet so senators will all return to Washington on Monday. Our first vote will be at 5:30 Monday evening. Tuesday, all the Democrat senators will have lunch together. All the Republican senators will have lunch together. Given this memo from the Trump White House, I'm going to predict that the Democrat senators are going to be screaming at each other in that lunch because there are going to be some Democrat senators who say, do not give Trump the excuse to lay off a bunch of workers who are fighting for Democrat priorities and what we care about. And I think Schumer is scared for his own political survival, so I think he's going to try to force a shutdown anyway. But that memo has changed the dynamic in a very real way. And so there is a non zero chance that seven Democrats decide to heck with it, I'm gonna break with Schumer and vote to keep the government open. That would be a good thing if it happens, but we'll see what happens this week.

[Ben Ferguson]

So let me ask you this question because I think it's an interesting one. And that is, should we secretly be hoping this happens so that we get those jobs that many people say, hey, let's lay them off and let's get leaner as a government and stop all the waste and abuse and the fraud and the overspending? This would be in that kind of Doge mentality, Or is that a cautionary tale of like, hey, you may think this is great, but it's really not?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, I think that could end up being a very good outcome. If the Democrats force this, it would be worthwhile for them to feel a very real consequence in terms of their constituencies who fund, fund their endeavors. Losing the ability to promote their priorities and listen. Within the federal government, within the deep state, there are a great many bureaucrats who are left wing bureaucrats who are fighting for the teachers unions, who are fighting for the radical environmental groups. And it would be good for America for anyone that is actively undermining the country, actively undermining jobs, actively undermining the ability of kids to get a good education. It'd be good for America for those folks to be terminated. And I do think if the Democrats force a shutdown, that President Trump will view that as all the justification he needs to make permanent reductions in force, which could be a very good outcome. I think what will happen then is the Democrats will cave and the government will be funded. And if the government shuts down for a few days because the Democrats want to have a temper tantrum, at the end of the day, the consequences of that are not enormous. They're going to blink, they're going to give in. Because simply keeping the lights on, at the end of the day, they don't have an argument against that.

[Ben Ferguson]

So final question on this, and that is, if this does extend and everything happens and the shutdown the way that you described it and what this really looks like, at what point does this hurt the Democrats? Like, is it weeks or months in? I mean, we've seen longer shutdowns. It does seem that shutdowns now are just automatically taking a little bit longer.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So, look, in the first Trump administration, we had a lengthy Schumer shutdown. And at the time of the Schumer shutdown, in the first Trump administration, the federal government had funded the military, had passed funding for the military. And so our active duty military soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines were, were getting their paychecks. But unfortunately, we had not funded the Coast Guard. And the Coast Guard is funded in a different title than the remainder of the military. And so I went to the Senate floor and fought to fund our Coast Guardsmen. Our Coast Guardsmen are often left out. And by the way, the Coast Guardsmen were going to work. They were protecting our border. They were rescuing people in distress. They were doing the heroic work that the Coast Guard does every day, but they were not getting their paychecks. And I'll tell you, the Democrats stood up and objected and said, no, we will not pay the men and women of the Coast Guard. I think you'll see some of that same effort. If there is a shutdown, you can anticipate that multiple Republicans, myself included, will go to the Senate floor and try to fund individual portions of the government say, okay, Chuck Schumer, you want to shut the government down? How about the Coast Guard? Will you pay for them? And the Democrats will probably object. How about nih, the National Institutes for Health? Do you want to fund them? Do you want to do cancer research, or do you want to shut that down? And my prediction is the Democrats will object over and over and over again to each of these individual funding efforts. And part of the reason they'll do that is they're counting on the media to be dishonest, to try to blame the shutdown on Trump. I think that is very hard to do when the bill on the floor is a clean cr. All it is doing is continuing the status quo. Will CNN and MSNBC and the corporate media try to say that means it's Trump's fault, that really, to keep the government open, he should spend over a trillion dollars and give in to the Democrats demands of passing their extreme agenda? Sure, they'll try to say that, but that's a hard argument. And so I think you'll see lots of spinning. But part of the problem is I think Democrats feel there are no consequences to them when they embrace extreme positions. And so you could see an extended shutdown because the first Schumer shutdown in the first Trump administration, I think the Democrats felt they paid no political price for it and that probably emboldens them to force another shutdown.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Where do you see the business actually heading?

[Ben Ferguson]

Featuring the iconic journalists of Variety and hosted by co Editor in Chief Cynthia Littleton.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The only constant in Hollywood is change.

[Ben Ferguson]

Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Daily Variety and listen now. Over 300 channels, zero bills, that's TiVo plus live news, reality movies and more. No credit card, no signups available on smart TVs powered by TiVo. Grab the remote, press play and start watching T bow plus free binge worthy always on. Learn [e-mail] you know you talk about the extremism of the Democratic Party. You're witnessing it now on this issue on Capitol Hill, but we're also witnessing it with their rhetoric that has not been toned down even since the assassination of Charlie Kirk. And Democrats act like they're being moderates, that they're not being radical or extreme. Well, we've got the tapes now to prove that's just absurd.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's exactly right. It is. No matter how much violence we see, the Democrats keep leaning in on their extreme rhetoric. Just this weekend, Gavin Newsom tweeted out in all caps, stephen Miller is a fascist. That's the entirety of the tweet. It's in all caps. Stephen Miller is the deputy White House Chief of staff. And it is, by the way, as of the time that we are recording this, it has 27 million views. So people are seeing Gavin Newsom saying, Stephen Miller is a fascist. And just to remind you, the bullet casings from the rounds that were fired and murdered Charlie Kirk, among the things etched on the bullet casings were, hey, fascist, catch. Gavin Newsom knows that. His staff knows that. And labeling Republicans they disagree with as fascist is. Tragically, it is inviting more and more violence. And I wish I could tell you that Gavin Newsom was an outlier. He's not. Democrats across the board are doing this. I want you to listen to Hakeem Jeffries on CNN and listen to just how he's ratcheting the rhetoric up and up and up. Give a listen when he was greeted formally by former President Joe Biden. And then, of course, at the Capitol during the inauguration, which, by the way, was like a super villain convention that the American people had to witness. And it's been a national nightmare ever since. One question.

[Ben Ferguson]

Super villain convention. So Charlie Kirk's assassinated. Democrats say they need to down, you know, tone down the rhetoric. And then we're, what, 14 days later, and he's saying that this was a super villain convention. That's not.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That was Friday night, by the way, where he says that the inauguration is super villain convention. Tim Waltz, governor of Minnesota, obviously was Kamala Harris's vice presidential nominee, has described ICE as, quote, the modern day Gestapo. J.B. pritzker, the governor of Illinois, claimed the country is becoming, quote, Nazi Germany because ICE is, quote, grabbing people off the street and disappearing them. Jasmine Crockett, who manages to never find, never find a level too idiotic, too inflammatory, too over the top that she's willing to go. She compared ICE to, quote, slave patrols. And look, this is so extreme. There was something remarkable that happened in the last couple of days. I don't know if you saw this. Ice Cube, the rapper.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. His bus was attacked.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

His bus was in Portland, Oregon, and it was firebombed because these idiots saw the word ICE and thought that Ice Cube was ice, the Immigration Enforcement Agency. But like, like these antifa leftist knuckleheads, you know, by the way, like ICE T and ice, ICE Baby better like, you know, cover up their name tags because the folks that are angry are not terribly bright, but it is a consequence of this demonizing, of treating them. Look, it's fine for one side or the other to say, I disagree with my opponents, they're wrong, their policy positions are harmful, they're a mistake. That's the normal give and take a political discourse. And there's something fundamentally different when you scream fascist, Nazi, Gestapo and you direct it not only to your political opponents who keep being the victims of violence, but you direct it to law enforcement and to ice. I was just in Dallas at the ICE facility where another deranged shooter unloaded on an ICE facility. And it seems no matter how bad it gets, the Democrats keep it up. We put together a montage. I want you to listen. I'm going to apologize for this. I'm going to subject you to several minutes of Democrats Gone Wild just to show just how elevated their rhetoric is and how harmful it is. So give a listen to this montage. Donald Trump's modern day scapo is scooping folks up off the streets. They're in unmarked vans, wearing masks, being shipped off to foreign torture dungeons. No chance to mount a defense, not even a chance to kiss a loved one goodbye. Just grabbed up by masked agents, shoved into those vans and disappeared. When you compare the old films of the Gestapo grabbing, grabbing people off the streets of Poland and you compare them to those nondescript thugs who grabbed that, that student, that graduated student. It does look like a Gestapo operation. You know, my dad served in the, in Second World War, he fought the Nazis. And I think he's looking down right now and he's happy that I'm fighting today's Nazis.

[Ben Ferguson]

Because if we just roll this clock on the wall back 75 years, we'd be looking at a time in Nazi.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Germany where people ran around with signs like this new ICE sign that says, report all foreign invaders to ice. With Uncle Sam there holding up the sign.

[Ben Ferguson]

This could have been a Gestapo member 75 years ago. Report all Jews.

[Commercial Announcer]

As somebody who understands history, when I.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

See ice, I see slave patrols. The dangers that we saw in in, you know, Nazi Germany are the dangers that we need to react to now.

[Ben Ferguson]

And another $30 billion to hire and.

[Commercial Announcer]

Trained ICE agents who have functionally become a secret federal police force.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

With expanding domain, an authoritarian government in.

[Ben Ferguson]

Washington D.C. is dispatching masked agents to.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Abduct immigrants from our streets to be coming out of our country. I mean, I grew up in a dictatorship and I don't even remember ever witnessing anything like that. To have democracy, a peacon of hope for the world to now be turned into one of the, you know, one of the worst countries where the military are in our streets without any regard for people's constitutional rights, while our president spending millions of dollars prompting himself up like a failed dictator. Every single ICE agent who's engaged in this aggressive overreach and are trying to hide their identities from the American people will be unsuccessful in doing that. This is America. This is not the Soviet Union. We're not behind the Iron Curtain. This is not the 1930s. And every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, will of course be identified.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is not Germany. That's the SS and the Gestapo. This is the United States of America. Unmask yourselves.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Just been overwhelming.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, just watching everything online now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The ice, you know, thugs and people do not want to continue to watch people fund this kind of extraction, this kind of violence. Yeah, it's violence. The other things, and all the other cuts, pay is for a massive increase in the masked secret police that are terrorizing our communities. Ice. This is despicable. It's un American. I called ice, the modern day Gestapo a few months ago and some people thought that was going too far, thought that was too extreme, got angry at me for saying that, well, come on, like that's literally what's going on. You have called to abolish ice. How do we achieve a future that's post ice. How do we achieve a future free.

[Commercial Announcer]

Of terrorism by abolishing ice? ICE is a terrorist organization. It needs to be defunded and needs to be abolished.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We're seeing aggressive Gestapo type tactics in people being approached on the street, in their home, at the clinic, at church, at all kinds of locations. That's why this morning on the house.

[Ben Ferguson]

Of the floor, I warned the American.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

People that this is looking like the American Gestapo in the making.

[Ben Ferguson]

I think we need to be really.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Active at like challenging what ICE is doing on every front we can.

[Ben Ferguson]

And obviously being ready.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

In the case of Trump, trying to.

[Ben Ferguson]

Call in the National Guard or whatever federalized National Guard, I can't see how.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Anybody can say they're a Christian and treat someone from another land in their own land this way. It's mean is what it is.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's mean spirited.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

A lot of these folks are being picked up by, you know, hooded thugs in the street in the most un American ways.

[Ben Ferguson]

I see agents without visible ideas, without any official markings on them with masks. They're ask. They're acting more like vigilantes than of agents of our government because we don't.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Live in a country, an authoritarian country.

[Ben Ferguson]

Where we have secret police who are.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Masked, who are intimidating, who are scaring people. That's the stuff of authoritarian states.

[Ben Ferguson]

That is not the stuff of the.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

That's not how the United States operates. He sent out ICE and Border Patrol to intimidate folks from walking in to our event. He ended up arresting this poor soul that was just trying to sell strawberries as collateral damage to intimidate us. That is a preview, Stephen, of things to come in voting, Bruce, and polling places across this country. And the ICE issue is alarming beyond words. It is the private, largest private domestic.

[Ben Ferguson]

Army of its type police force anywhere in the world.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He'll have 30,000 people that increasingly appear to be swearing an oath of office to him. Not the Constitution of the United States again. Wake up to what's going on in this country. That's happening in the United States of America. Masked men jumping out of unmarked cars, people disappearing, no due process, no oversight, zero accountability happening in the United States of America today. People ask, well, is authoritarianism. You're being hyperbolic. Bull. We're being hyperbolic. If you're a black and brown community.

[Ben Ferguson]

It'S here in this country.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I have heard enough in the last couple weeks about ICE agents and wearing masks that I think when we win the majority in the House, you're going to see enough Democrats make it a priority for ICE enforcement that they are no longer faceless. It looks too much like some 1800s.

[Ben Ferguson]

Bank robber or, you know, some KGB.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Officer in Russia, you know, pulling protesters off the streets.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, you listen to that and it's very clear that Democrats get talking points and they stick with them. And when they do this, they're doing it on purpose to undermine the rule of law. They're to undermine law enforcement. We've seen them do this with the Supreme Court as well. There's quite a few, quite, quite a few examples recently of them really just using the words to turn people to hate someone, to hate law enforcement, to hate police, to hate the Supreme Court, to hate law and order. And yet they say they want to ratchet down, but they're not. They're doing the complete opposite of that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So, and Ben, let me ask you. So one of the key Democrat talking points that they keep repeating is they say that ICE or fascist or Nazis or Gestapo because they're wearing masks. Let me ask you, why is ICE wearing masks?

[Ben Ferguson]

So they're not doxxed. That's what it boils down to. So that they're not outed by the same people that have maps of where ICE agents are so that you can go after them if you want to.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I mean, so Democrats, including Hakeem Jeffries, have called for unmasking ice, identifying them and going after them. And look, that's putting ICE law enforcement officers at risk. That's putting their spouses at risk. That's putting their children at risk. This lunatic in Dallas used an app, the ICE Finder, to go find the facility to get up on the roof with a bolt action rifle and fire multiple rounds, murdering two people. And look, I understand. I think it's perfectly reasonable if you're an ICE agent not to want a bunch of angry radicals who want to harm you and your family to be able to dox you. This is a direct result. And it's not fringe people. Hakeem Jeffrey stood at the podium and said, unmask these guys and go after them. And that tragically, lunatics are listening to them.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, they really are. We're going to keep exposing it and keep calling them out when they do it. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So hit that subscribe or auto download button wherever you get your podcasts and the Senator and I will see you back here on Wednesday morning.

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[Ben Ferguson]

Stop settling for weak sound. It's time to level up your game and bring the boom. Hit the town with the ultra durable LG X Boom portable speaker and enjoy vibrant sound wherever you go. Elevate your listening experience to new heights because let's be real, your music deserves it. The future of sound is now with LG XBoom and for a limited time save 25% at LG.com with code fall25. Bring the boom XBoom there's a lot going on in Hollywood. How are you supposed to stay on top of it all? Variety has the solution. Take 20 minutes out of your day and listen to the new daily Variety podcast for breaking entertainment news and expert perspectives.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Where do you see the business actually heading?

[Ben Ferguson]

Featuring the iconic journalist of Variety and hosted by co editor in chief Cynthia Littleton. The only constant in Hollywood is change. Open your free iHeartradio app, search daily Variety and listen now. Tired of flipping through apps to find something good? Meet TiVo plus your one stop free streaming network. No credit card required. With over 300 free channels, you get binge worthy movies from action and comedy to Indian award winners. Plus top TV shows, live news, sports, highlights and family programming all in one place. Watch live or on demand right from your home screen. Free. No signups, no fees, just press play. That's TiVo plus free, binge worthy and always on. Check us [e-mail] a new NFL season means a fresh start and fresh styles. @nflshop.com you'll find the latest jerseys, hats.

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