Biden's Immigration Dumpster Fire exit, the Timing of the Israel Ceasefire & Can College Campuses Reverse Course on Antisemitism Week In Review

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz
Episode Title: Biden's Immigration Dumpster Fire Exit, the Timing of the Israel Ceasefire & Can College Campuses Reverse Course on Antisemitism
Release Date: November 30, 2024
Host: Senator Ted Cruz
Co-Host: Ben Ferguson
Produced by: Premiere Networks

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Overview

In this episode of "Verdict with Ted Cruz," Senator Ted Cruz and co-host Ben Ferguson delve into three critical and pressing issues dominating the national discourse:

1. Biden’s Immigration Policies
2. The Timing of the Israel Ceasefire
3. Antisemitism on College Campuses

Through incisive analysis, heated discussions, and insightful commentary, Cruz and Ferguson unpack the implications of current administration policies, foreign affairs decisions, and societal challenges affecting American communities.

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1. Biden’s Immigration Policies: Creating an “Immigration Dumpster Fire”

[01:39 - 14:47]

Key Points:

• Loosening Immigration Policies:
  Ben Ferguson criticizes President Biden’s recent actions to loosen immigration policies, asserting that these measures are designed to overwhelm the incoming Trump administration with challenges, thereby undermining border security commitments made by voters.

• New Immigration App Concerns:
  The administration is reportedly launching a new app aimed at streamlining migrant check-ins. Cruz highlights significant flaws, such as glitches preventing effective tracking and the app’s inability to verify past arrests or outstanding warrants, potentially allowing illegal immigrants to evade deportation.

• Potential Impact on Trump’s Administration:
  Cruz argues that Biden’s policies are strategically timed to create a backlog of illegal immigrants, presenting the Trump administration with a difficult task of reversing these measures amidst what he describes as an already tumultuous situation.

Notable Quotes:

• Ben Ferguson:
  “[...] Biden has decided at the very end of his administration, not respecting the voters when one of their top issues was border security, to loosen key migrant policies, quote, unquote [...]” [02:00]

• Ted Cruz:
  “I think it is absolutely clear that both Biden and Harris want Trump to fail. They want the problems in this country to get worse and they want to make sure that Donald Trump inherits the worst stinking pile of crap possible.” [03:24]

• Ben Ferguson:
  “There are currently 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US who have been ordered deported by a DOJ immigration judge but haven't been removed yet.” [08:04]

---

2. The Timing of the Israel Ceasefire: Biden Administration's Role

[16:57 - 25:25]

Key Points:

• Ceasefire Agreement Critique:
  Ferguson questions the Biden administration's role in facilitating a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, suggesting that Washington pressured Israel into an agreement that leaves it vulnerable by not supplying necessary weapons.

• Media Portrayal of Israel:
  The hosts express frustration with how mainstream media outlets like NBC/MSNBC portray Israel, insinuating it as akin to a terrorist organization, and criticize the administration for not adequately supporting Israel’s defense needs.

• Israel’s Defense Stance:
  Cruz emphasizes Israel’s right to self-defense and accuses the Biden administration of attempting to limit Israel’s military capabilities by delaying weapon shipments, thereby weakening its position against threats like Hezbollah.

Notable Quotes:

• Ben Ferguson:
  “It's amazing how the media here is acting like Israel is a terrorist organization. They should be held to the same standards as a terrorist organization.” [19:14]

• Ted Cruz:
  “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats are trying to tie Israel's hands, and they're trying to do it before the Trump administration comes into office.” [24:12]

• Israeli Government Spokesman (Jeff Paul):
  “We will respond forcefully to any violations. [...] Israel Reserves. That right.” [22:26]

---

3. Antisemitism on College Campuses: A National Crisis

[27:37 - 40:16]

Key Points:

• Rising Antisemitism:
  The conversation shifts to the alarming increase in antisemitic incidents on college campuses over the past year. Ferguson questions whether this trend can be reversed with the new administration under Trump, expressing concern over the safety and acceptance of Jewish students.

• Solutions and Accountability:
  Victoria, a guest contributor, suggests that holding university funding at risk could compel institutions to address antisemitism effectively. She recounts her personal experiences with aggressive leftist opposition on campuses and emphasizes the need for financial leverage to enforce policy changes.

• Call for Courage and Action:
  Cruz applauds Victoria’s bravery in confronting extremist views and urges more academics and students to stand against antisemitism. He shares personal anecdotes to illustrate the long-standing battle against political opponents and underscores the importance of unwavering commitment to national security principles.

Notable Quotes:

• Victoria:
  “I think we can also look at this from the state perspective and hold that funding at risk, and that will actually change this behavior.” [28:19]

• Ted Cruz:
  “Victoria has a lot of courage going on to college campuses and facing the crazy left, the angry left, the Israel hating and America hating left.” [29:45]

• Ben Ferguson:
  “It's amazing how the law doesn't matter. He just said, well, if it's saying I think is immoral, then I'm going to just say I'm not going to follow the law.” [12:09]

---

Conclusion

Senator Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson provide a robust analysis of the current political landscape, focusing on immigration, foreign policy with regard to Israel, and the rise of antisemitism in educational institutions. Their discussion underscores the challenges posed by the Biden administration’s policies and emphasizes the need for strong, principled leadership to address these critical issues. Through factual reporting, passionate debate, and strategic insights, the episode serves as a comprehensive overview for listeners seeking to understand the complexities shaping the nation today.

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Note: To engage further with these discussions, listeners are encouraged to download the full podcast episode available on major platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the official "Verdict with Ted Cruz" website.

Transcript

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[Vizio Representative]

It's Colleen Witt and Eating While Broke is back for Season three, brought to you by the Black Effect podcast network and iHeartRadio. We're serving up some real stories and life lessons from people like Van Lathan, D.C. young, fly, bone Thugs and Harmony and many more. They're sharing the dishes that got them through their struggles and the wisdom they gained along the way. We're cooking up something special so tune in every Thursday. Listen to Eating While Broke on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple.

[Ted Cruz]

Podcasts or wherever you get your PODC.

[Vizio Representative]

Podcast presented by State Farm.

[State Farm Representative]

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz and our Week in Review, Ben Ferguson with you and we had some major stories this week. You may have missed them and I want to get you up to date. First up, Biden wants more illegals to come in to this country by loosening policies before Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20. Why is he doing it? Clearly trying to create an immigration dumpster fire for Donald Trump and the administration obviously not listening to the American people. Also, Joe Biden is celebrating the Rose Garden, the Israel Ceasefire. Well, why did it actually happen? Well, it was because he abandoned our ally and refused to send the weapons that Israel needed. And finally, Anti Semitism out of control on college campuses for the last year. So now will things change and will they reverse course because Trump has become president. We're going to talk about all of it. It's the weekend review and it starts right now. There is like two dumpster fires that seem to be happening simultaneously with the Biden administration, his team around him. And I think Americans should be incredibly angry over this for the fact that they're clearly saying, we know we lost the election, we know you chose a different path, but we're going to stick it to the American people and also stick it to the Trump administration. Biden has decided at the very end of his administration, not respecting the voters when one of their top issues was border security, to loosen key migrant policies, quote, unquote, right before you go into December, January and until January 20th, when obviously Donald Trump would undo all of this.

[Ted Cruz]

I think it is absolutely clear that both Biden and Harris want Trump to fail. They want the problems in this country to get worse and they want to make sure that Donald Trump inherits the worst stinking pile of crap possible. So you look at challenges at home and abroad. At home, the greatest domestic challenge we have is the open borders that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris put in place. Abroad, the greatest challenge we have are the wars that are unfolding because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris weakness. Domestically, what are they doing? Well, apparently neither Biden nor Harris learned a damn thing from the election. They didn't hear from the voters that they don't want an open border, they don't want this invasion. So instead they're doubling down and they're trying to make it harder for Trump to come in with the new administration, secure the border and remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens. Take a listen to this reporting on Fox about what specifically the Biden administration is doing. Sandra, The Biden administration is quietly loosening immigration policies before Trump takes office. This according to the New York Post. It reports the administration is testing a.

[Jeff Paul]

New app that will allow illegal migrants to bypass in person check ins at their local ICE office.

[Ted Cruz]

Jeff Paul is live with more. It sounds like they're just giving Donald.

[Jeff Paul]

Trump one more thing to undo.

[John]

Well, John, we do know the Biden administration has been testing this new Immigration and Customs app and the idea is to streamline the check in process for migrants, allow them to use their phones or computers to touch base with immigration officials while they wait for their date in court instead of appearing for those check ins in person. A source tells Fox News ICE has been using the app already in a couple of cities. But according to the New York Post, it's going to be launched officially next month in New York City. The field office there reportedly has been overwhelmed, fully booked with appointments for a year. Our sources tell us that's the really the push to get this backlog moved through the concerns regarding this app. Obviously, it's a new app, so there's going to be some glitches. The other wider concern is could it cause even more migrants to go under the radar? We'll have to see what happens, John.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's also some major issues in the reporting with this app. For example, the app reportedly has severe glitches and issues and does not track a migrant's location if he or she is using an Android phone or laptop. So, hey, if you're an illegal immigrant, just don't use an iPhone phone and they won't be able to track you. The app also does not check migrants for past arrests or outstanding warrants, which is what they do now, currently. And so that's another problem. They say the app allows them to opt out of the contest. Government orders to undergo electronic tracking. So you can just say, no, I don't want to be tracked. There's no way to find you. And they know all of these glitches are in here, and yet they're going, yes, we should move forward with this knowing that Donald Trump's going to undo it.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, understand, the problem is not just that Donald Trump's going to undo it, but the Biden administration is trying to make it harder to find these illegal immigrants. Why would you say, hey, you don't have to check in in person. Hey, you can check in on an app that doesn't track your location if you're on an Android phone, hey, you can check in in a way that we're not going to find out if you've been arrested, if you have a warrant. This is all designed to help illegal immigrants go underground because Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and let's be clear, every Democrat in the House and Senate, you don't hear any of the Democrats speaking out against this. None of them are saying, this is wrong, don't do this. This is designed to make it more difficult for the incoming administration to find illegal immigrants and to arrest illegal immigrants and to deport illegal immigrants. That includes the convicted murderers that have been released by this administration, the convicted rapists, the convicted child molesters. You look at 20, 23 set the record for the highest number of illegal immigrants entering the country in a single year, 3.2 million. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they don't want those illegal immigrants removed from this country. They see them as future Democrat voters. This is all about power. And I gotta say, it is stunning. Well, here I want you to take a look at this tweet from Bill Melugin that lays out some of the numbers. And for those of y'all that are listening, I'm going to read it to you. This is what Billian tweeted, new per US official to Fox News. There are currently 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US who have been ordered deported by a DOJ immigration judge but haven't been removed yet.

[Ben Ferguson]

So that's, by the way, if people want to know where Trump's going to start. I think Bill Malugian's tweet is a great reminder. There are 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US have been ordered to be deported. So if you want to know where they're going to start, this is where they would start.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I'm told approximately 13,000 of them are being held in ICE custody. So out of 1.4 million, only 13,000 are in custody. The population of 1.4 million illegal immigrants have final orders of removal, meaning they have had their immigration cases heard, received their due process, and have been ordered removed from the US By a DOJ federal immigration judge. A fraction of them may still have appeal options available to them and may not yet be removable. With only 13,000 in federalized custody, we are potentially looking at a lot of people roaming around the country who are in the US Illegally and who have been ordered removed. It is impossible to know how many of them may be in state or local custody. That 1.4 million, you are right, is exactly where I expect the Trump administration to start. I also expect them to start with the 500,000 convicted criminals, those with other criminal convictions, murder, rape, child molestation, who are illegal immigrants who are released to go and apprehend the criminals, go after the murderers, the rapists, the child molesters, go after the Venezuelan gang members. If you're a Venezuelan gang member, my advice is pack up and move out right now because we're coming for you. This administration is going to arrest you, they're going to remove you, they're going to deport you. And if you've committed criminal offenses, they're going to put you in jail.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's talk about the tone, death aspect of this. And I say tone death. Some people would care. They don't seem to care, referring to the Biden administration. You just had a trial that was watched in Georgia of an incredible young lady who fought for her life for 18 minutes, 18 minutes. She was fighting to save her own life. She was ultimately killed by an illegal immigrant that we were paying for the hotel rooms. We were flying him from New York to Georgia, and we're allowing him to be able to kill this incredible student in nursing school. And yet the response from this administration is, yeah, we're gonna keep facilitating that and do it on an app and make sure we can't track people for the next 70 days. Because, well, we're sorry that you guys picked Donald Trump and you wanted security. We're not gonna give that to you.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, it's even worse than that. The attitude of a great many Democrats is massive resistance. It is reminiscent of Bull Connor during the civil rights battles. Bull Connor was an elected Democrat who did not want to follow the law and was defying the law, and he was bitterly angry. I want you to give a listen to a modern day Bull Connor, which is the Democrat mayor of the city of Denver. Give a listen to what he has to say about civil disobedience. You've mentioned that a couple of times now. Would you be willing to participate in those? As the mayor of Denver, would you be willing to go out and protest these things?

[Denver Mayor]

I would if I believe that our residents are having their rights violated. If I think things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un American in our city, I would certainly protest it, and I would expect other residents would do the same.

[Ted Cruz]

Trump's new borders are. Tom Homan has said that he is willing to arrest leaders like yourself for standing in the way of these policies that they want to enact. Would you be willing to go to jail for these things?

[Denver Mayor]

Yeah, I'm not afraid of that. And I'm also not seeking that. I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems. Republican and Democratic presidents in the past have all tried to find solutions to these problems. President Reagan helped people get access to work so they could stay and support themselves. Biden and Harris worked on restricting entry at the border to close down. There are a lot of ways to approach this problem. We don't think it has to come to this. But, yeah, I think when you look at, you know, Ralph Carr has always been one of my heroes. He was the governor who, in the middle of the internment of Japanese Americans, said this was the wrong thing to do and he stood up. It was unpopular. People were mad at him about it. That was the middle of wartime. If the president or any of his actors are going to do things that we think are illegal, or immoral or un American. We'll stand up against those.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's amazing how the law doesn't matter. He just said, well, if it's saying I think is immoral, then I'm going to just say I'm not going to follow the law. That's clearly. And they want to become martyrs. They want to become famous. He's enjoying this moment. Please put me in handcuffs. Make me a martyr. And I'm saying that we are still a sanctuary city.

[Ted Cruz]

So understand the mayor of Denver is the modern day Bull Connor. He is standing at the courthouse saying, I will block federal law. I will not follow federal law because my politics, my prejudices. It's interesting, he referenced Japanese internment camps. Who was it that ordered Japanese internment camps? That was a Democrat, President, fdr. You want to talk about patterns of lawlessness, The Democrat party has over a century of history of lawlessness. And I'm gonna call for something right now. So the mayor of Denver has said, we want illegal immigrants in our city. We will fight to keep illegal immigrants in our city. I don't care that the voters don't want it. I don't care what federal law says. I don't care about the women being murdered, the women being raped, the children being assaulted. I'm gonna call right now for Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, for Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and for any other red governor to start sending buses to Denver, Colorado. Mayor of Denver wants illegal immigrants. Well, you know what, Joe Biden, one of the lies that mayor just said is, well, Biden and Harris tightened the standards at the border. That is called a lie. They didn't tighten the standard. They open up the border. Texas is being invaded right now. And I'm going to urge the state government of Texas, send every one of the illegals who comes into the state to Denver, Colorado. Drop them off in front of the mayor's residence. He wants them there. He's willing to go to jail to fight for them to be there. Fine. We will send you, the Venezuelan gang members to your city. And let's see. You know, I'm going to predict right now, the residents of Denver aren't going to like this. I'm going to predict right now.

[Ben Ferguson]

When's the tipping point? That was the question I was going to ask you because it is in Colorado where we've seen these gangs from Venezuela take over apartment complexes.

[Ted Cruz]

Aurora, Colorado. And by the way, abc, the corporate media just said, well, it was only a handful of apartment complexes.

[Ben Ferguson]

We sent five of them.

[Ted Cruz]

You know what we'll send a few more. And let us know when you would like us to stop because you're so proud. See today's Democrat they don't fight for American citizens. They fight for illegal immigrants. They fight for Venezuelan gang members. They want more of them there. Well, I'm happy to remove them from the state of Texas, to remove them from Florida, to remove them from other red states. And guess what? They can all learn to be ski pros now.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

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[State Farm Representative]

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[Roku Representative]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Now on to story number two. Senator, let me ask you another question about the. Also, when it comes to the timing of this, there was Israel wanted to make clear they feel like the Biden administration completely abandoned them and their leadership, which was to force them into a ceasefire. Israeli government spokesman went on MSNBC and this is what he said on that.

[Katie Tur]

Potential cease fire deal. Joining us now, Israeli government spokesman in the office of the Prime Minister David Menser. Really good to have you. Thank you for being with us. Is this a permanent deal or a temporary deal?

[Jeff Paul]

Look, the length of the cease fire depends on what happens in inside Lebanon. We will certainly, from Israel's point of view, adhere to the agreement, but we will also insist on the agreement being enforced. We will respond forcefully to any violations. So with the US's understanding, we will maintain the full freedom of military action. Yes, of course we want our people to go home to their homes in sovereign Israeli territory. But if Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack. If it tries to rebuild its terrorist infra infrastructure near the border, we will attack. And the Prime Minister's made crystal clear. If it launches rockets, if it digs tunnels, if it brings in truckloads of rockets, we will attack. We all want peace in this region, no one more than Israel. But we will respond forcibly to any violation of this agreement.

[Katie Tur]

Does that go for the other side as well? If Israel comes back and rearms itself and resets for a possible future escalation, possible future escalation in Lebanon, is that a violation of the agreement?

[Ben Ferguson]

I just got to stop and get your reaction to that. It's amazing how the media here is acting like Israel is a terrorist organization. They should be held to the same standards as a terrorist organization. Like, well, hold on a second. If you're going to hold terrorist standards, Israel, are you guys going to not, you know, arm yourself? Again, Israel is doing this in a defensive manner because they've been attacked from all sides and yet NBC is asking a question, question like they're a terrorist group.

[Ted Cruz]

That, that may be the most astonishing question I've ever heard a reporter say in my life. I want you to play that, play just the final question again, I want you to hear it because this is staggering. This is. Do you have the name of this reporter?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, this is on Katie Tour Show NBC/MSNBC. And again, here's that question as she acts like Israel is a terrorist organization.

[Katie Tur]

Does that Go for the other side as well. If Israel comes back and rearms itself and resets for a possible future escalation, possible future escalation in Lebanon, is that a violation of the agreement?

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, people wonder why the media, no one has any faith in them anymore.

[Ted Cruz]

And understand. Katie Tur was a star reporter for NBC. She was embedded with the Trump campaign in 2016. She now has her own show on MSNBC. And what an absurd question. Is the agreement violated if Israel rearms itself? Katie, Israel is a sovereign nation. Israel is entitled to defend itself. There's nothing in this agreement. I mean, listen to the idiocy of. Well, doesn't this agreement say that Israel cannot have an army, can't defend itself, has to be utterly defenseless. Why? Well, they committed the horrible crime of existing when Hamas came in and murdered 1200 innocent civilians. Like, there is a reason that we did an episode early on, after October 7th, it's actually one of my favorite episodes entitled CNN is Hamas's Air Force. So is MSNBC. So is ABC. By the way, you want to go back? And that's one of the episodes we put on YouTube. It's a video episode and you can watch it because we play about a dozen different clips where the corporate media is the PR arm of Hamas. Well, there is MSNBC being the PR arm of Hezbollah, saying, well, wouldn't it violate it if Israel rearms itself? No, Israel has a right to defend itself and to keep the people of Israel safe. And they are not the equivalent, as apparently MSNBC seems to think of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah that target and murder civilians.

[Ben Ferguson]

I wish, by the way, I could say that this was the worst for Katie in this interview. Listen to the response from the Israeli government spokesman and then the follow up to this about why the timing has happened now for this deal to be done. And that's where Israel basically kind of says, like, yeah, it's, it's the Biden administration's fault because they didn't give us what we need to defend ourselves.

[Jeff Paul]

Listen, of course not, Casey. Israel is a sovereign country, not a terrorist organization. We're talking about Hezbollah, a terrorist organization in my country, but also, last time I checked, in your country too, Katie, they're a terrorist organization. They're our enemy. But make no mistake, they're your enemy in the States as well. So we, of course in Israel will defend ourselves. That's our rights, like any other country in the world, to defend ourselves. But if this terrorist organization begins to prepare another attack against us, we will defend ourselves. Israel Reserves. That right.

[Katie Tur]

Is this contingent upon the U.S. on freezing weapons shipments, specifically those one ton bombs that Israel had been using so effectively?

[Jeff Paul]

Well, look, the Prime Minister made clear just before, a couple of hours ago, that the reasons why this has happened now are three reasons. It's because we want to focus now on the Iranian threat. The Prime Minister didn't want to expand on that, but we know that Iran is preparing to create a nuclear weapon. We cannot let that happen. We will always make that our number one priority. Because Iran say they wish to wipe this country off the face of the earth. Katie. When they say it, we believe it. And the second reason, of course, is to, yes, give our forces a breather and to replenish our stocks. And there have been big delays. The Prime Minister made that clear, that, yes, the US Is our closest ally in the world. There are no two closer countries anywhere in the world. But there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries. The Prime Minister made that clear. And these delays, we hope, will be resolved very, very soon. But really, the third reason for this ceasefire now is to separate, as the Prime Minister said, the fronts and isolate Hamas from day two of this war. Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side. That was a massive miscalculation. With Hezbollah now out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own. And Israel can increase our pressure on Hamas, get our hostages home, which is our sacred mission. It's our number one priority.

[Katie Tur]

Has.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, you hear it there. There's still like, hey, you guys, let us hang out to dry. The Biden administration did this on purpose. We need this. We got to wait for Trump to come in.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and that's why this ceasefire happened now, as the Biden White House put enormous pressure on Israel to accept this deal. Israel did. And it is rational for Israel to make the decision focusing on Hamas, cutting Hamas off from Hezbollah. That is a major strategic step forward. And so I understand why the deal was attractive. But the deal is also. This White House is A, it was prompted by this White House for extended periods of time, cutting off weapons to Israel. But B, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats are trying to tie Israel's hands, and they're trying to do it before the Trump administration comes into office. And so what I'm trying to make clear is nothing in this deal ties Israel's hands to protect itself, to defeat and kill terrorists. Understand? Literally. On the day of October 7, the Biden administration was saying publicly, do not retaliate militarily. They have been saying every day since October 7th happened. Stop killing terrorists and Israel to its credit. And I gotta say that the Prime Minister's spokesman there, I think, did a fantastic job of articulating that Israel is going to defend itself, whether or not Democrats in Washington are willing to support it as before.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from early this week to hear the entire thing.

[Vizio Representative]

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[State Farm Representative]

Black Friday is coming. And for the adults in your life who love the coolest toys, well, there's sound something for them this year too. Bartisian is the premier craft cocktail maker that automatically makes more than 60 seasonal and classic cocktails each in under 30 seconds at the push of a button. And right now Bartisian is having a huge site wide sale. You can get $100 off any cocktail maker or cocktail maker bundle when you spend $400 or more. So if the cocktail lover in your life has been good this year or the right kind of bad, get them Bartesian at the push of a button. Make bar quality Cosmopolitans, Martinis, Manhattans and more all in just 30 seconds. All for a hundred off. Amazing toys aren't just for kids. Get a hundred off a cocktail maker when you spend 400 through Cyber Monday. Visit bartesian.com cocktail that's B A R T E S I A N dot.

[Roku Representative]

Com cocktail it's beginning to sound a lot like the holidays. The Roku Channel, your home for free and Premium TV is giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations from iHeart, all for free. Find the soundtrack of the season with channels like Iheart, Christmas and North Pole Radio. The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung TVs and the Roku mobile app on iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and turn up the cheer with iheartradio on the Roku Channel. Happy streaming.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to get back to the big story Number three of the week you may have missed. Let me ask you a question about college campuses. And we talked a moment ago, you mentioned, and the senator and I talked about this a lot on the show, those presidents that came before Congress and it was shocking that they would not stop the just abuse of the Jewish students and not protect them. Do you feel like the pendulum will swing back watching what happened to some of those presidents and just seeing how extreme these college campuses have gotten? Or do you think they're just so indoctrinated to hate Israel now that this is just the policy of almost all of these Ivy League schools?

[Victoria]

Well, the good news, Ben, is as a sort of broken down academic myself, I can tell you one thing, which is the one thing they care more about than their parking spaces is their funding. And so if you hold their funding at risk, they will stop this behavior. And so I was at Penn last April to give remarks on why I think it's a bad idea to hate Jews. And I required three layers of armed guards. I had Philadelphia city cops, I had Penn cops. And Heritage was not satisfied with that. And they sent an additional armed guard with me because it was such radical thing for me to go on campus and make these remarks. And that speech isn't free. A lot of people had to pay for that, including the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, amongst others. And it just, it was a really enlightening moment that we have to hold this funding at risk. And I've heard President Trump talk about this, I think very forcefully that no university should get federal funding. And I think we can also look at this from the state perspective and hold that funding at risk, and that will actually change this behavior.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and I gotta say, Victoria has a lot of courage going on to college campuses and facing the crazy left, the angry left, the Israel hating and America hating left. And we need to see more of that courage, more of that courage among academics, more of that courage among students. And, you know, I think back, you know, I mentioned Ben at the outset that Victoria was my first national security advisor. And I think it's worth recounting a little bit of that story when we first started working together. So I was elected to the Senate 12 years ago. I show up in December of 2012, sworn in in January of 2013, and when you're a brand new senator, when you're a baby senator, they put you down in these little bitty basement offices, and it's basically freshman hazing. I mean, there are a hundred Senate offices that are full offices, but they keep the new senators down in the basement for three, four, five months, just basically as an initiation. And so Victoria was part of our very first team that came together right when I was newly elected. And she came and joined us initially for what was going to be two weeks, and just to help us get started, help us hire some staff, and then she was going to move on. And when we got there, one of the very first things we had is we had a vote on John Kerry, who had been nominated as Secretary of State. And John Kerry, at the time I was elected, he was a senator, so he was a colleague of mine for like four minutes. And then Obama, at the beginning of the second term, nominated Kerry as Secretary of State. I remember John Kerry came by my basement office. Victoria was sitting in the office in the meeting. And Kerry was, let me speak nicely, incredibly confident in himself. I'm trying to put that in a kind tone. And he gave me this sort of long lecture how I really needed to embrace the law of the Sea Treaty, which. The law of the sea treaty, among other things, significantly undermines U.S. sovereignty and gives away the ability of we the people to make our own laws. And I remember sitting there just kind of laughing and being like, okay, this guy has no idea who I am. Like, none whatsoever. And, and, and we. We then came to the vote on the floor of the Senate, and it was one of the very first votes I ever took. And. And I went down and voted no. And. And there was literally an audible gasp on the floor of the Senate when I voted no, because a freshman senator was certainly not supposed to do that. The vote was 97 to 3. So 97 senators voted yes. There were only three of us that voted no.

[Victoria]

It was 94 to 3.

[Ted Cruz]

Oh, was it 94 to 3? Okay, well, then I guess Kerry didn't vote for himself. And I remembered the three. I remember that. I don't know who skipped. Whoever skipped, they did better than the 94. And then immediately thereafter, about concurrently with it was the confirmation of Chuck Hagel. Now, Chuck Hagel is who Obama had nominated to be Secretary of Defense. And Chuck Hagel had been a Republican senator. I didn't know Hagel, but as I looked at his record, his record was terrible. And so I ended up leading what was the very first filibuster in American history against a defense secretary. And it was successful. It was before Harry Reid had used the nuclear option, before he'd blown up the filibuster. So you can't filibuster now a cabinet nominee anymore, but you could then. And we successfully held 41 Republicans, we stopped his nomination. And then actually, Republicans being what they are, several other Republicans who joined us went wobbly and decided to confirm him anyway. But that's another story. But what I will say is I think it got Victoria's attention that this was not going to be just a quiet go along to get along tenure in the Senate, that we were there to fight battles and lead battles, and she ended up staying in. And I'll tell you something astonishing, Penn, so if you rewind the clock, 12 years ago, 12 years ago, I am elected to the Senate. I'm elected to the Senate. I'm 41 years old, Brand new, elected to the Senate. And as I came into the Senate, I had areas that I knew a lot about. If you were talking about legal issues, if you're talking about criminal justice, if you're talking about constitutional law, I had a long background in all of those issues. When it came to foreign policy, I had essentially zero background, just my professional career. I'd never worked in foreign policy. I'd never worked in the State Department or the Defense Department. I'd never dealt with foreign policy. My focus had always been domestic. When I was on the George w. Bush campaign 24 years ago, I was the domestic policy advisor. That was my specialty. And so look, economic matter, domestic matters. I had a lot of experience foreign policy, I had essentially none. But I did have some strong beliefs. I'm the son of a Cuban immigrant who had fought in the Cuban Revolution. I believed profoundly in freedom. I was inspired by Reagan. Peace through strength is a principle and philosophy that I believed deeply in, but I didn't have a terribly deep subject matter expertise. And so one of the things I give that background, because one of the remarkable things Victoria did is basically convened a university in the United States Senate to train me up in foreign policy. And I say so with complete humility. And what proceeded for four years is we would do deep dives. And when I'm in DC, Heidi and the girls stay back in Houston. So when I'm in dc, I'm solo. I don't have, I don't have anybody at home. And so my philosophy, if I get to get to my apartment at 7 or 8 or 9 o'clock at night, I'll be mad at my team. I'll be like, wait, what am I doing sitting in an apartment staring at a wall? There's work to be done. Like, now, if Heidi and the girls were there, I'd want to be home with the kids. But if they're not there, I Want to work. And so every night when I'm in D.C. i do a working dinner. And what Victoria began convening is we'd do working dinners. And many of them were with subject matter experts where we'd bring in, say, a Middle east policy expert or couple, we'd bring in an Israel expert or an Iran expert, we'd bring in a Russia expert, we'd bring in a China expert. And we do a deep dive onto a subject matter and sit there and have a three, four hour dinner, really asking, you know, I'm a big believer that there are no stupid questions other than the question you don't ask because you're afraid to ask. And so I was perfectly happy to ask question after question after question. And I will just say now, 12 years later, where I have been in the middle of virtually every foreign policy battle in the Senate for a long time now, it's worth Looking back to 12 years ago, the incredible job Victoria did, systematically giving me a knowledge set to go along with principles that I started with. But I didn't have the subject matter expertise. And there's literally no person on planet Earth more responsible for my being able to develop that subject matter expertise than Victoria.

[Ben Ferguson]

Victor, let me ask you a question following up on what he just stated there. And that is, it's getting close to Christmas. A lot of people buying gifts. It's Black Friday right now. As people are listening to this. When you wrote this book, who did you envision reading it? Is this one of those books that you should absolutely get for maybe your kids are in high school or in college? Is this, I mean, when you, when you write it? I, when I wrote my book, I'm like, I was trying to envision who do I want to read this book? Who am I trying to give information?

[Victoria]

To give information, Ben, to people who, who are interested in American national security. And not to correct Senator Cruz, but not that I ever would, but the only thing I would adjust to what he just said is it's not foreign policy. This is national security. This is what touches all Americans every day. And so I would hope everyone from a high school senior to somebody who's just interested in the Middle east would be interested in this book because they want to know why this is in the United States best interests. And I would boil this down to a single issue. And I remember so clearly when we made the decision to do this, which was when Senator Heller's bill to move the Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem came up right away in January of 2013. And it did not have a co sponsor. And I said to Senator Cruz, would you like to be co sponsored? And he said, yes, I would. You know, this seems like a really good idea because this gives that kind of clarity that we were just talking about. And that's when I knew we were off to the races. Same thing with the vote on John Kerry, same thing with Chuck Hagel, that we are going to take a new approach to these issues. And it's one of the reasons it was not easy for me to leave Senator Cruz's staff to go into the Trump administration. But I had no conflict of interest because it was essentially the same policies. These are the America first policies. And one of those keystones of that is the relationship between the United States and Israel. And so that's really the purpose behind the book, to explain to people why that is and then to give them ammunition to spread that information around. Because I think the disinformation about Israel, the very negative information about the Jewish people as well as Israel, is so pervasive. So that's why I wrote it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I know it's going to be an important book and a lot of people are going to want to try to grab this. Where can they get it? Where do you tell people to go?

[Victoria]

Unfortunately, they can get it anywhere they would like. They can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, they can go to the Encounter Press website. But Amazon is probably the easiest what we all have on our phones. So really appreciate any kind of preorders and I hope it makes a great gift.

[Ben Ferguson]

As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day you're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

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