← The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
Verdict with Ted Cruz: Longest Shutdown in History Continues, AI Tells us How to Destroy a Nation & "NO KINGS" Funding from Commie Billionaires Revealed
00:38:25
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Annabe Advertiser
This is an iHeart podcast.
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Ben Ferguson
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Public Investing Advertiser
Right now support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures tired
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Cancer Survivor/Advocate
I think when you're diagnosed with cancer you crave a semblance of normalcy and control and so work allowed me to be me. So I think it's really important that companies stay flexible. Cancer in a diagnosis can be all consuming, but it doesn't have to be.
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Public Investing Advertiser
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Ben Ferguson
We can make work a better place
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Senator Ted Cruz
for healing, learn more and sign the pledge@workingwithcancerpledge.com welcome.
- [02:20]
Ben Ferguson
It is Vertic with Center Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with You hope you've had a fabulous weekend. And we've got a lot to cover on this Monday, Senator, including a big update on the government shutdown. Where are we now?
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Senator Ted Cruz
We are right now on day 44 of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The Democrats are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security. They're refusing to fund ice. They're refusing to fund Customs and Border Patrol. We're going to break it down on where things are. The good news, thankfully is the TSA is going to be funded as of today Monday. And that means lines are going down in airports. But the rest of the TSA is still facing a shutdown and the Democrats are showing no, no sign of budging. We're going to give you the inside story on that. We're also going to talk to you about the reason that happened, which is we're going to step back and take a look at AI and ask AI a very simple question. How do you destroy a country? How do you destroy a country from inside without a war? And we're going to see what AI tells us. And that in turn will lead us to the no Kings protest, which spoiler alert is one of the answers to how you destroy a country. This fake no Kings protest all across the country funded by billionaires, communists and left wing activists. We're gonna break it down and we're gonna give you the receipts. Who is paying for this? And ask a simple question, what is their objective? All of that on today's verdict.
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Ben Ferguson
Yeah, it's a really interesting one to say the least. I wanna also talk to you about your dollars and where you spend them. And there is one bill that almost every one of you has. It is a cell phone bill. But did you know there's a conservative cell phone provider out there that actually gives back to conserv every time you pay your bill. It is called Patriot Mobile. And people ask me all the time, how good is the coverage? Because you want to stay with the big mobile companies, I've been saying now for years and they've been in business for well over a decade that it is amazing coverage. If you've got coverage right now you love, you're going to love your coverage of Patriot Mobile even more. But you get rid of the woke left agenda. So if you're worried about coverage, don't be. Now why should you switch to Patriot Mobile? Not only you're probably going to save real money every month, but then the magic happens. A portion of your bill every month goes back to support conservative causes, candidates, organizations that fight for our first and our Second Amendment rights, the rights of unborn children. And they do something that's really special. They stand with our men and women in uniform, whether it's police officers or law enforcement in general or our men and women that fight for this country overseas. They stand with our wounded warriors and our fallen families who have lost a loved one. So that there is the financial need and aid that is needed. So that's why I want you to switch to Patriot Mobile, because every time you pay that bill, you're making a real difference. Now, I also want to give you a free month of Service. Go to patriot mobile.com verdict that's patriot mobile.com verdict or call them 972-patriot. That's 972-patriot for a free month of service. Switch today, make a difference patriot mobile.com verdict or 972-patriot and get a free month of service with a promo code Verdict. All right, center. So it's Monday. You actually flew. I was a commoner. I drove back from cpac. You decided to go to the airport and fly. Are things getting better from what you saw? And where are we with this government shutdown? Because everybody is looking at the airports like it's the worst place in the world. You don't want to go.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah. The good news is on Saturday, I was up in Dallas at cpac. I flew back to Houston Saturday night at dfw, there were essentially no lines. The TSA lines were empty. Houston, when I landed the lines, I landed at Terminal A and there were no lines in Houston at Bush. Now, Bush and Atlanta have been the two worst airports for the delays. And that's something. When this is all said and done, one of the things that I'm gonna wanna sit down with TSA and figure out why things were so much worse in Houston at Bush Airport than they were in other airports. But at least Saturday night when we landed from Dallas, the line in Houston was way, way down. My daughter Catherine is landing at Bush Sunday night tonight at 9pm so we'll see what the lines are when she lands. But the lines are going, she missed a flight, right?
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Ben Ferguson
Didn't she miss the flight?
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Senator Ted Cruz
She did. She waited four hours Thursday night in line at Bush, missed her flight and then had to get up early Friday morning, waited another four hours and then got on her fl. She's spending the weekend with a friend and then coming back tonight. Look, these delays have been infuriating. But if you go back and look at the last podcast we did, the podcast we did Late, Late Thursday night we did the podcast at three in the morning. Thursday night, Friday morning, I'm still recovering
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Ben Ferguson
by the way, but keep going.
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Senator Ted Cruz
It was an interesting example. And by the way, the reason we had done it so late is actually Thursday night I was speaking at a faith and freedom gather in Pittsburgh. And it was great that you had probably 500 Christian activists who were fighting to save our country. It was a terrific evening. But when I finished the event, I need to get back to D.C. and given how unreliable the airports were, we decided to drive from Pittsburgh back to D.C. and so we left at about 9pm from Pittsburgh. Ordinarily that's about a three hour drive. Yeah, it was raining, the weather was not good. So it took us five hours to get from Pittsburgh back to D.C. i show up at our D.C. apartment just after 2am and you and I sit down and did the podcast.
- [08:04]
Ben Ferguson
See, I thought you were just trying to haze me that night because you knew how tired I was from the day of driving to Dallas. I was like, I guess he's just messing with you. So you really were in the car for five hours.
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Senator Ted Cruz
All right, that makes sense. I drove further than you did for the same reason because the airports, with all the chaos, it was just unreliable. And I didn't want to have to count on that to get back. So we decided to drive. But. But I will say, as we were recording the podcast late Thursday night, early Friday morning, that's when the Senate passed the bill that funded all of TSA or and funded all of DHS, but carved out ICE and carved out $6 billion from CBP. And in fact, in the middle of the pod, I looked and said, oh wow, okay, it just passed the Senate. And the reason I did that is that you had John Thune who went to the floor at like 2:30 in the morning and called for a voice vote. There are only half dozen senators on the floor. That was an agreement both sides had reached to let it pass. Well, we said at the time we weren't sure how things were going to play out. And Friday that that illustrated to be the case because the House came back and House Republicans were pissed. They were really, really angry.
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Ben Ferguson
Like not even a little bit, a lot. Like I was talking to some of them and they were like, they, they were like, you guys think this is going to fl. So explain that and where it is now.
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Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, they were volcanically mad. And part of it is House Republicans have not been dealing with Senate Democrats for the last 44 days. And so House Republicans views were it is ridiculous. It is objectively insane to defund ICE and to cut the funding for cbp. And they're absolutely right. It is reckless, it is dangerous. It is a lunatic policy that for the entire history of the Republic never would have happened except right now.
- [09:53]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
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Senator Ted Cruz
And what I will say is, Senate Democrats, they are so angry, they hate Trump so much. My view, and we've been talking about this in the pod for two weeks. I'm not surprised with where we ended up. And I think it's where we will end up being. Because in my view, I believe the Democrats will never again vote to fund Ice Forever for a year. I agree with you for five years, for 10 years, that they are just a no. And they do not care if they shut down law enforcement. They want open borders. They don't want criminals deported. They don't want murderers deported. They're just a hard no. And so what I was arguing to my colleagues, look, this is an unbelievably dangerous and indefensible position. It also happens to be reality. They're not going to move. So what I said is, all right, let's fund everything they'll go along with. But I'm not saying surrender. And in fact, I'm saying let's go on offense. Let's fund everything they're willing to fund and then let's immediately take up a reconciliation bill. We don't need Democrat votes to do that. And what I have argued to my colleagues is let's fund ICE for 10 years. 10 years is the maximum budget window you can do. And I've urged, let's not just do it at current levels. Let's up the funding by 10%. So Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer are right now crowing to the left. Ha, ha. We got everyone to defund ice. Look how successful we are. I wanna say, stick it where the suns don't shine.
- [11:17]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
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Senator Ted Cruz
The effect of your ridiculousness is you increased funding for ICE by 10% and got it funded for 10 years. That's actually going on offense. That's the case that I made to my colleagues. By the way, the White House was fully part of those negotiations and agreed, which is why the Senate did what it did. But the House has not been banging into the reality that the Democrats are just not going to move. They don't care.
- [11:43]
Ben Ferguson
And so, yeah, I mean, they're obsessed with defunding ice. That is a victory for them. As you describe it, there is no negotiating. And you're right, they want to destroy anybody that has a badge and the power and the authority they have for law and order. This is the same party, by the way, that was defund the police and let everybody out of jail with prison reform. And then they said, well, we want cashless bail for people based on how much money they have, even if they've committed murder or they're rapists. They wanted to completely undermine every part of law and order in this country. And ICE just falls right into that.
- [12:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
That's right. And the House Republicans had a visceral, emotional, and completely understandable reaction of this is indefensible. So they passed a bill that just funds everything. Yeah, that bill, unfortunately, will go nowhere. We voted on that bill, I think, eight separate times, and the Democrats voted it down every time. So the effect of the House saying no, TSA will be funded because the president signed an executive order to fund them. But the effect of the House saying no is the Coast Guard is still not getting its paychecks. FEMA still not realizing that.
- [12:46]
Ben Ferguson
Okay, so give me the list. So Coast Guard and fema, Coast Guard, there's a natural disaster thing. Terrible happens right now. They've got nothing coming. Right.
- [12:56]
Senator Ted Cruz
Secret Service, the people that we asked, if someone tries to kill the president, put your body in front of the bullet and die for the president. Secret Service is not getting their PayCheck right now. DHS, the offices cyber terrorism, the offices that deal with bioterrorism, the people charged with preventing a terrorist attack are not getting paid. And it's why, in the face of just the Democrat insanity. And by the way, we've had four major terror attacks in the last three weeks, all from radical Islamic terrorists. So the idea that we're defunding the department that prevents terrorist attacks and fights against them, it is a level of recklessness that I've never seen. And so I get the House's reaction. But the consequences of saying we're not gonna vote for the deal that the White House negotiated with Schumer, understand, it was the White House that cut this deal. It was the White House that was the point. The negotiating point. Back and forth with Schumer. House Republicans were mad about it. But the consequence of that is Coast Guardsmen and Secret Service and FEMA are not getting their paycheck. And unless something significant changes, they're not gonna get their paycheck for another two weeks. So we're not gonna see lines at airports, but we're gonna have Coast Guardsmen who are risking their lives to rescue people, to stop drug smugglers and human smugglers who don't know how they're gonna pay their rent, don't know how they're gonna pay their mortgage, who are going to food pantries to feed their kids. And not a Democrat cares. And so it's the good news on ICE and CBP is we pre funded both of those back last year when we did the big reconciliation bill.
- [14:38]
Ben Ferguson
And by the way, thank goodness you guys did that. Was that preemptive because you had a feeling this could happen or was that kind of dumb?
- [14:44]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yes. No, it was preemptive. We knew they were getting more and more extreme. I don't think we fully realized how bad it was. We had not yet focused on their just absolute refusal to fund ice and they don't care about the consequences. But we funded four years of ICE and CBP because we could see that that was gonna be a problem. Which means if the House had passed the bill that the White House had negotiated with Senate Democrats, the President would have signed it. He said he would have signed it. And all of DHS except ICE and parts of CBP would be funded. And those parts of ICE and CBP were already funded. It's why the White House was willing to do it. Cuz they're like, oh, we've got all the money we need for right now. So even though the Democrats talking point is we defunded ice. Yeah, they wouldn't have taken a penny away from ice. And we've already started the reconciliation process. We are going to fund ICE and CBP for the next 10 years. But right now, unfortunately, we just crossed. So 44 days is the longest government shutdown in American history. The old record was the Schumer shutdown right before election Day last year. That was 43 days. So we've now crossed the line. And unless something dramatically changes, this will continue at least another two weeks.
- [16:01]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, another two weeks. And that's the part that I think so many Americans are frustrated about. But like you said, the lines though will go down during that next two week period.
- [16:09]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yes, but it may take some time. Remember, we've had about five minutes literally.
- [16:13]
Ben Ferguson
I was gonna ask you. Yeah. So what are you being told? And have you talked to, you know, who's in charge? Transportation Secretary and others at Homeland Security. You got Mark Wade there now. I mean, the idea that this is gonna just get instantly fixed overnight, that's not reality. You mentioned it. 500 plus agents have quit.
- [16:30]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, they've quit their manpower shortages. Now I will say I've been in multiple airports. There are ICE agents. One of the things President Trump did is Put ICE agents in the airports. They're helping speed things along. You know what I saw in the Houston airport, the Dallas airport and the DC Airport was as people were walking along, they were stopping and saying thank you to the ICE agents. It's causing some real problems in the
- [16:55]
Ben Ferguson
Democratic agenda, by the way. I'm glad the President did it because it also humanizes ICE agents and shows that there are Americans, just like you and I are, who love their country and want to protect and defend their country and they're willing to serve.
- [17:08]
Senator Ted Cruz
Can I make a point also? That is an aside, but it's worth pausing and reflecting.
- [17:12]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [17:14]
Senator Ted Cruz
Do you remember 13 years ago when I was a brand new baby senator and one of the very first things I did was a 21 hour filibuster against Obamacare the end of September 2013 and it led to an extended government shutdown. I was Harry Reid who forced the shutdown. But if you remember, the press demonized me for that shutdown. I mean, just relentlessly pounded the hell out of me.
- [17:40]
Ben Ferguson
Yes.
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Senator Ted Cruz
What I was trying to do regarding Obamacare in 2013 is what Chuck Schumer just did concerning ICE and CBP.
- [17:52]
Ben Ferguson
Great point.
- [17:53]
Senator Ted Cruz
The difference. There is a difference. When I led the fight against Obamacare, you know who led the fight against me?
- [18:00]
Ben Ferguson
Who Was that?
- [18:01]
Senator Ted Cruz
Mitch McConnell and Republican leadership.
- [18:04]
Ben Ferguson
Oh, that.
- [18:04]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah.
- [18:04]
Ben Ferguson
You were an outsider then, for sure.
- [18:06]
Senator Ted Cruz
That's right.
- [18:07]
Ben Ferguson
I remember. They didn't like you very much.
- [18:09]
Senator Ted Cruz
You are understating it. Billion.
- [18:12]
Ben Ferguson
Okay. They hated your guts and they wished the Democrat would beat you, basically. At that point, I'm being honest. Like that's, that's not crazy.
- [18:20]
Senator Ted Cruz
Undoubtedly. Right. And in fact, in 2013, we had more leverage, we had more official control than the Democrats do Now. So in 2013, we had control of the House of Representatives and the Democrats had control of the Senate and the White House. Right now, the Democrats have none. They don't have the Senate, they don't have the House, they don't have the White House. So Republicans were in a stronger position in 2013 than Democrats are today, just in terms of the bodies they control and what I argued. And in fact, if you look at 2013, I made the case to House Republicans, fund all of the government, but do not fund Obamacare. And House Republicans agreed with me. They did exactly that. So I encouraged House conservatives to stand up. Millions of Americans picked up the phone and called their members of Congress. And House Republicans in 2013 stood strong, funded all of government, but not Obamacare. And when it went to the Senate, the case I made to my colleagues, I said, here's a crazy idea. How about Senate Republicans support House Republicans.
- [19:20]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [19:21]
Senator Ted Cruz
And Mitch McConnell. And Senate leadership not only did not do so, it was Republican leadership that went on TV pounding me and repeating Harry Reid's talking points. Points. And I just want to say, look, the difference between today and then, as Chuck Schumer and the Democrats stood together, you didn't have Chuck Schumer taking a flamethrower to Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. You had him just standing united. And it showed what I argued in 2013 could have happened. And by the way, their argument was, how will Barack Obama possibly make any concessions on his signature legislative achievement, Obamacare. What was the singular issue Donald Trump was reelected on in 2024? It was securing the border. That's exactly what the Democrats were fighting on. And yet the White House was willing to make this deal. Now, to be clear, neither Trump nor I are giving up on supporting CBP and ICE and securing the border. But my point is, if you stand united, you can have leverage. And that's the Democrats have shown exactly what my strategy was 13 years ago.
- [20:32]
Ben Ferguson
It really is incredible. And like you said, it's a fight. There's still a lot of Americans that are frustrated. It's very frustrating, by the way, as a conservative, to see how often Republicans get power. And then I feel like we kind of screw it up because we don't support each other. The way that you just described it is spot on for that. It was a big part of the conversation this week at CPAC when I was there. It's like, why is there this divide right now when we, when we're in power? But yet again, here we are having that same conversation.
- [20:59]
Public Investing Advertiser
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI, it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio that's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisors Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures sink into
- [22:01]
Annabe Advertiser
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- [22:31]
Cancer Survivor/Advocate
I need to be healthy every day to survive it and go through the next chemo round and the next chemo round. So it's important that work was part of that to keep my mind busy for eight, nine hours. And then I had to go back and face the reality. I had a goal and the goal is to survive.
- [22:47]
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- [22:53]
Ben Ferguson
We can make work a better place
- [22:55]
Senator Ted Cruz
for healing, learn more and sign the pledge@workingwithcancerpledge.com Let me ask this question. Why would the Democrats be doing this? What might they be trying to accomplish and how can we figure that out?
- [23:07]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, all you gotta do is just look at their playbook, which I think is literally to destroy this country from within. And it's a conversation I'm so glad we get to have here. So I was this weekend I was prepping, I was doing Kaylee McEnany show and then I was doing a Good Friend Life, Liberty Levin, Mark Levin's TV show. And so you prep hard for that because Mark's a dear friend of ours. And I was thinking about what the Democratic Party was doing, the no Kings rally that was happening and I decided, I was like, I'm going to ask AI, how do you destroy a country without a civil war, without war, without bombs, without shooting? What would you do? And what it sent back to me literally sounds like if you had a mission statement of the Democratic Party of the United States of America, I sent it to you. Let's go through this a little bit because it is a warning to every American if you When I say that I truly believe the Democratic Party hates this country, and they want to destroy it, and they have disdain for it. When you look at what AI says you do to destroy. And I didn't say America. I want to be clear about this. I said, to destroy a country.
- [24:12]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, and then I'll say, look, I don't like to impugn the motives of others, but throughout the Biden administration, I have asked the question. This is before AI was commonplace. I asked the question, if you were trying to destroy America deliberately, if that were your stated objective, what would you do differently than what the Biden White House has done? That's another way of putting it. Well, we now have AI on our phones. And so you typed in, you asked, how would you destroy a country without going to war? And ChatGPT came up with eight steps. Let's just go through what AI says. This is how you destroy a country. And ChatGPT began with, history shows you don't need bombs or an invasion to weaken a country. Bad policy decisions, especially over time, can do real damage from within. Number one, economic mismanagement, runaway spending, unsustainable debt, high inflation or overregulation can choke growth, weaken currency stability, and erode trust in institutions.
- [25:16]
Ben Ferguson
We got three of the four, my friend. Three, I mean, three of the four literally are very, very clear there.
- [25:22]
Senator Ted Cruz
Which one are we missing?
- [25:23]
Ben Ferguson
Well, I mean, inflation isn't. Is not the top of the list for me on that one.
- [25:28]
Senator Ted Cruz
But it was under Biden. I mean, we had incredibly high, like, look, it's the Democrat policies that led to every one of them. That is their economic policy.
- [25:37]
Ben Ferguson
Yes. No, no, no, you are absolutely correct there. And I was really in my head, like, to where are we now? And I'm like, well, thank goodness we've lowered inflation a lot with, with Donald Trump being in office. But you're right, their policy was runaway inflation under the Biden regime. Then what they call it Bidenflation. They're like, that's not real. We've got a great economy, right? Yes. So much for that.
- [25:55]
Senator Ted Cruz
All right, number two, breakdown of law and order. If laws aren't enforced consistently, whether on crime, borders or corruption, public confidence collapses and disorder can grow. Now, how is that anything but word for word what the Democrat open border policy, anti law enforcement policy has been for the past decade.
- [26:21]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. And that, I mean, this again, I go back to, like, people listening right now. This is what AI says. If you want to destroy a country from within, how you do it, and everything in that category, the Democrats are doing at full speed, not like dabbling in It. It's full speed for them.
- [26:35]
Senator Ted Cruz
Okay, number three. Weak or inconsistent leadership, frequent policy reversals, lack of clear direction, or prioritizing politics over governance can create instability and uncertainty. Look, we spent four years with a man with dementia as commander in chief with his finger on the nuclear button, and AI is telling us, if you want to destroy a country, that's a great way to start.
- [27:03]
Ben Ferguson
Yep, no doubt.
- [27:05]
Senator Ted Cruz
All right, number four. Number four. Erosion of institutions, undermining courts, law enforcement, elections, or the military, either through politicization or loss of credibility, can weaken the backbone of a country.
- [27:26]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, let's go through this. Democrats put out a video not that long ago telling people in the military to go rogue against the president. United States of America. We had a sitting member of.
- [27:37]
Senator Ted Cruz
Defy your commander's orders.
- [27:39]
Ben Ferguson
Defy and put out a full video on it. And defying it. They're accomplishing every single check there in that list of things that they said to do there.
- [27:49]
Senator Ted Cruz
All right, number five. Cultural and social division. Policies or rhetoric that deepen divisions, racial, economic, political. Can fracture national unity and make it hard to function cohesively.
- [28:06]
Ben Ferguson
I mean, if that's not the Democratic Party, I don't know what is right now. Right.
- [28:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Things like describing ICE as Nazis and Gestapos. Things like demanding that you dox law enforcement officers and go harass their families. By the way, last night, Heidi and I took Heidi out to Date Night in Houston, and a fellow came over to me who was a former Democrat elected judge in Houston, he's an older guy, and he came to me very earnestly, and he said, I think it is terrible. I think it is horrible, and I want to ask you to reconsider. He said, I think it is terrible that ICE wears masks, and we need to stop it right now. And I said, sir, I understand what you're saying, but I said, do you know why they're wearing masks? He's just like, no. And I said, they're wearing masks because the extreme left is doxing them and is urging radicals to go to their homes and threaten their wives and threaten their children. They're wearing. And I said, and by the way, this is not just some fringe. Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, said about ICE officers, we will unmask you. We will go to your home. We will find you. And he's like, well, I don't support that. I said, well, but with respect, it's your party that is doing it, and it is the elected leaders of your party that are calling for it. And the reason these officers are wearing masks, I don't like that they wear masks. I wish they didn't have to. If we didn't live in a world where they were facing a threat of violence against their children, that they wouldn't feel the need to wear masks to protect their families. And I gotta say, this guy who I think was a very sincere, very liberal Democrat engaged with not a word I was saying, he's like, well, they just need to stop now. And when I asked, like, how would you feel? What about your family? He had no response. Number six, education decline. If education systems fail to produce informed skilled citizens, long term competitiveness and civic understanding suffer.
- [30:08]
Ben Ferguson
Yes, that is public education in America today. We have spent countless dollars on it. We are failing the majority of our kids in this country in public education. They're behind in reading, writing and arithmetic. We're behind the rest of the world. We rank very low in the world, especially of civilized countries. We're one of the lowest in math, one of the lowest in reading. We're one of the lowest in science, for example. And this is the Democratic Party dumbing down this country. And again, AI says this is exactly how you have a country that you can completely destroy.
- [30:41]
Senator Ted Cruz
And understand that the Democrats have had a near total monopoly on public education in the big inner cities for decades. They had almost total control and the results have been screamingly, horribly bad. Now, the good news is we're pushing back. Texas passed the largest state school choice program in the country. As you know, I spent a lot of time and energy fighting for Texas to do that. And last year with the reconciliation bill, we passed the biggest federal school choice bill in history. I wrote that provision. It's going to unleash tens of billions of dollars of scholarships to kids in need. But, you know, look, according to AI, if you want to destroy a country, do what has been done to our schools. Number seven, Energy and infrastructure neglect. Weakening domestic energy production or failing to maintain infrastructure can hurt national security and economic resilience. Now, I think that may actually be written into the DNC platform. Their objective is to weaken domestic energy production and fail to maintain infrastructure. It is the entirety of what the Biden administration did. 365 days for four years consecutively.
- [31:55]
Ben Ferguson
Yes, yes, yes.
- [31:58]
Senator Ted Cruz
All right. Number eight. Dependence on adversaries relying heavily on rival nations for critical supply chains. Energy, China. Technology. Manufacturing can create strategic vulnerabilities.
- [32:14]
Ben Ferguson
China, China. China with a side of China.
- [32:17]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah. And to be fair, this one I will not blame entirely on the Democrats. There are a lot of Republicans who bear some blame for making us so totally dependent on China. I've spent 14 years in the Senate fighting to delink our economy from China, to move semiconductor manufacturing back to this country, to move pharmaceuticals back to this country, to move critical minerals back to this country. Both parties bear some fault in letting us become so dependent on China. But what's amazing about this, Ben chatgpt is generally considered a lean, pretty left. You did not ask some right wing source criticize the Democrat agenda. And let me ask a serious question. If you were a Democrat senator, let's say you're Chuck Schumer. I'm going to ask you to go through the mental anguish, put yourself into his loafers.
- [33:08]
Ben Ferguson
Yes.
- [33:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
How would you respond to this? How would you if you were willing to and you don't just get to attack and yell like.
- [33:16]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [33:17]
Senator Ted Cruz
What substantive answer would you give to those eight things that, that are the essence of the Democrat agenda right now?
- [33:24]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. I don't know how. If he was answering it honestly, he'd be like, we stand for all these things. It just so happens it's exactly how Chad GBT AI tells us to destroy a nation. And I don't know how you would defend it. Right. You could yell and you could pander and you could say it's Republicans, but that was the reason why. And I want to give a shout out because she's a good friend of ours. Kaylee, let me go long, I think in that segment to put this out there on Fox. She has a great weekend show and I want to say thank you to her because she's a, she's just a, she's a great person. Great. You and I know her well. But she was, look at you trying
- [33:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
to get invited back to guest host. I mean, look at you like, like, like kiss it up.
- [33:59]
Ben Ferguson
Who never. Whoever knew this on tv, right? They don't let you read whoever knew
- [34:04]
Senator Ted Cruz
that that Benjamin could be this charming.
- [34:08]
Ben Ferguson
But I admit it because I was like, I'm going to take this risk and read on my phone. They don't like that on TV and they let it go. And then it went viral and I'm glad it did because this is the warning from AI that this is the Democratic Party and what they're doing. Which brings us, by the way, to the demise of this country in real time and their no Kings rally. This is something that this show and Senator, you warned about the first time there was a no Kings rally, a quote from a Fox News article. I'm going to go back in time says Quote, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican from Texas, was the first to sound the alarm on ties between Soros and the quote, unquote, no Kings protest during an interview with Fox News. Sean Hannity and you and I were talking about that on this show. Follow the money. Look who is behind this. The kingpins is how I describe them, of the Democratic Party, the communists, the socialists, the Marxists, the billionaires and multimillionaires. They are the kingpins of the party. They're funding all this. None of this is organic. All of this is manufactured BS and the media want you to believe this is organic and this, all this just randomly happens because people are angry. No, this is all orchestrated and paid for by Democratic kingpins in their party.
- [35:23]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, Ben and I will say this is the reason I think that people listen to Verdict or watch verdict on YouTube because we cover topics and we give you information long before you can get it somewhere else, often years before. So go back to Covid. Within a couple of months of the COVID pandemic, starting on this podcast, we had two podcasts, one in March of 2020, one in April of 2020, laying out the facts that supported the conclusion that the COVID virus escaped from a Chinese government owned lab, likely the Wuhan Institute for Virology. And I think the odds are overwhelming that Covid escaped from a Chinese government lab. And I think the odds are significant, greater than 50% that the virus was in fact created in that lab through gain of function research, taking existing viruses and making them more lethal, making them more transmissible, making them more targeted to humans. It's less compelling than the lab leak basis, but I think it is greater than 50%. We put that out years before that was publicly acknowledged by federal agencies. And at the time social media, Facebook and Twitter were censoring those views, this podcast verdict was putting them out. Likewise, a year ago, this podcast put out with receipts that these no King rallies, they're not organic. They're not just rising up out of nowhere. They are funded. They are funded by George Soros, they're funded by left wing billionaires and they are communist Marxist organizations. Now, this latest rally, it was striking. Number one, Bernie Sanders, I did enjoy it. Bernie Sanders hopped into his first class seat to fly to his no Kings rally to denounce the oligarchs as he's sitting up in first class. But if you look at that's slumming
- [37:09]
Ben Ferguson
it for him, by the way.
- [37:09]
Senator Ted Cruz
It's usually a private jet, normally a private jet. So you're right, he was slumming it, yeah, first class was really like with the proletariat. But if you look at this latest rally, you had flags everywhere of hammer and sickle, the Soviet Union flags. You had people chanting about we need a communist revolution. Look, here's the latest story from Fox News. Quote, a network of about 500 groups with an estimated $3 billion in combined annual revenues is behind the coordinated nationwide no Kings protest Saturday, including communist groups who are using the day to call for a, quote, revolution, according to a Fox Digital News investigation. According to a copy of the permit for the quote, flagship march in St. Paul, Minnesota, Indivisible, a national well heeled democratic political advocacy organization funded by billionaire George Soros, is the lead coordinator for the protest. But Fox News Digital has also identified key participation by a network of radical socialist and communist organizations funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American tech tycoon and avowed communist living in China. Over nearly a decade, Singham has financed a constellation of activist institutions that promote revolutionary socialist policies and frequently collaborate in protest campaigns including the People's Forum in New York, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Answer Coalition, and Code Pink, whose founder, Jody Evans is married to Singham. These groups work closely with the Freedom Road socialist organization. They are all sending members to the protest. And one group said they plan to bring a message of revolution to the protest. This is who they are and they're less and less bothering to hide it.
- [38:58]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, they really are. And look, if you listen to some of the speakers, one of those at the no Kings rally was the emcee in Minnesota. It was Liz Winstead. She said, finally, the quiet part I guess you could describe out loud. I want to play this for everyone so they can hear. This is what you missed if you didn't go to one of the rallies. Take a listen.
- [39:18]
Cancer Survivor/Advocate
I want people to know that if you want to act like Minnesota or you think Minnesota is a model, what can I do? Well, you can check your ego about what you want to do and listen to the leadership. And when they tell you what they need done, you do that. And you pay enough attention to the amazing organizers who've been on the ground who actually have the information, who've already done the work instead of starting your own. Oftentimes you're like, who's doing it? It's like someone, you just need to learn who. And then you need to be the pack mule in the fight that they have been doing and organizing. Because let me tell you what, what we need is pack mules because there's brilliant minds and Brilliant leaders in this community who oftentimes are putting up the folding chairs when they should be literally strategizing because that's their strong suit. So be the be the folding chairs people. Be the al bring donuts people for the brilliant minds who are actually making this train run. And on that note, I'm going to bring up some really brilliant minds.
- [40:27]
Ben Ferguson
Like I've never heard such a condescending way for an emcee to talk to the minions beneath you. We are the socialist communist dictators. You are the people that put the chairs up and bring the donuts. We don't need to be doing these basic jobs cuz we're so much smarter than you are. We need to be strategizing. So you need to shut up, sit down and do what we tell you to do. I was glad that you said it. And the best part was there were people that cheered it.
- [40:53]
Senator Ted Cruz
This is who communists are. Fidel Castro was a billionaire. Vladimir Putin is a billionaire. Raul Castro is a billionaire. Communist dictators live the lives as kings. The irony of these idiot leftists waving signs that say no kings and then also waving signs that say we need a communist revolution. Every communist dictator lives better than any king has ever lived. And the people suffer in every instance. And I'll tell you that video, I really hope that video that Pam Bondi is listening carefully, that Kash Patel is listening carefully, that Scott Bessant at the Treasury Department is Listen carefully. Follow the money. I have been advocating this since the day the second Trump administration started these violent protests. This whether whether it was the George Floyd, the antifa and Black Lives Matter riots, whether it was the open border riots, whether it was the anti Semitic riots on college campuses, whether it was the harassment of law enforcement in Minneapolis causing violent altercations, or whether it is these fake no kings rallies. They're all the same thing. Yep, it is all the same. People paying for it. And right now the only people who've been arrested anywhere have been, as she said, the pack mules. The people just engaging in the little violence. And not the people writing millions of dollars of checks. The brilliant strategist who, you know, what they may well have typed into AI. How do you destroy a nation? And they are executing it precisely.
- [42:28]
Ben Ferguson
Perfect. Perfectly. You're absolutely right. Don't forget, we do this show three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcast. And you can also watch this episode on YouTube. So subscribe on YouTube as well and on Facebook and watch it there and the center and I will see you back here Wednesday morning. Can you buy real Bitcoin in your retirement account? If not, it's time to upgrade to Bitcoin ira. You can buy and sell Bitcoin with major tax advantages. Visit bitcoin ira.com or call 86 at 679-7871 now life gets messy.
- [43:04]
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- [44:02]
Cancer Survivor/Advocate
I think when you're diagnosed with cancer, you crave a semblance of normalcy and control. And so work allowed me to be me. So I think it's really important that companies stay flexible. Cancer in a diagnosis can be all consuming, but it doesn't have to be.
- [44:18]
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- [44:25]
Ben Ferguson
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- [44:27]
Cancer Survivor/Advocate
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- [44:31]
Senator Ted Cruz
Com. This is an iHeart podcast.
- [44:34]
Cancer Survivor/Advocate
Guaranteed human.