Big Victories in Iran, More Risks of Terrorism at Home and Tucker & Dems Both Attack Trump

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz
Episode: Big Victories in Iran, More Risks of Terrorism at Home and Tucker & Dems Both Attack Trump
Date: March 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Senator Ted Cruz and co-host Ben Ferguson provide a detailed analysis of recent U.S. military actions against Iran—focusing on Operation Epic Fury’s successes, implications for national and global security, and economic effects like oil price spikes. The discussion pivots to the political battles over Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding, the risks of terrorism both at home and abroad, and the unified opposition Cruz perceives from both Democrats and some conservative voices, notably Tucker Carlson. The hosts also unpack arguments about Iran policy, the Obama-era nuclear deal, and what it means for U.S. deterrence and foreign relations.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Operation Epic Fury: Military Gains Against Iran

[00:23 - 03:00]

• Sen. Cruz details the dramatic decrease in Iranian missile and drone launches, attributing it to effective U.S. military strategy:
  • Missile launches decreased from 350/day to just 15 by day eight.
  • Drone swarms saw a similar drop, peaking at 541 on day two but declining to just 12 by day eight.
  • “What that means is that our forces have systematically taken out, number one, their air defenses. Number two, we’ve taken out their missile launch sites and their drone launch sites…” — Sen. Cruz [01:25]
• Initial reliance on smart munitions transitioned to more sustainable gravity bombs after achieving air superiority.
• The U.S. now exercises total air and naval dominance, virtually eliminating Iran’s ability to attack by missile or drone.

2. Domestic Impacts: Oil Prices and U.S. Energy Security

[03:58 - 10:33]

• Ben Ferguson raises concerns about gas price spikes and the economic ripple effects.
• Sen. Cruz:
  • Expects the spike to be “short term” and credits Trump with halving gas prices over his tenure.
  • Introduces a Twitter thread from analyst Guy Laren, suggesting Trump’s endgame is to “Venezuelize” Iran—not regime change for its own sake, but to seize control over Iranian oil exports, especially via Kharg Island, thereby hitting Iran’s principal income source.
  • The U.S. has “seized nodes, the choke points and resource pools that make the world and AI run... This is a coherent imperial strategy.” — Sen. Cruz quoting Guy Laren [08:46]
  • This serves not only U.S. security but is “a very, very powerful China play,” potentially hobbling China’s access to Middle Eastern energy resources.

3. Increasing Terror Risks at Home: Political and Security Fallout

[10:33 - 13:32]

• Discussion of domestic terrorism threats, referencing recent “terror scare” incidents in New York and Austin.
• Sen. Cruz blames Biden and Democrats’ “open borders” policy for allowing radical terrorists into the U.S.:
  • “This vulnerability is here because for four years, Joe Biden and the Democrats opened up our borders and basically invited radical Islamic terrorists to come to this country.” — Sen. Cruz [11:31]
  • Criticizes media for failing to report the “Islamic” motivation behind such attacks.

4. DHS Shutdown: Partisan Games and National Security

[13:07 - 16:00]

• Ben Ferguson and Sen. Cruz discuss the ongoing partial government shutdown, with Democrats blocking DHS funding except for ICE (due to prior Republican legislative maneuvering).
• DHS shutdown impacts the Coast Guard, FEMA, TSA, but not ICE.
• Sen. Cruz calls the Democrat maneuver “empty politics appealing to their radical base,” inflicting pain on the public and risking security just to appease anti-ICE sentiment:
  • “...instead [they’re] cutting off the funding for the rest of DHS that exists principally to stop terrorist attacks.” — Sen. Cruz [15:25]

5. Global Security: Reactions Abroad and Ongoing Threats

[17:28 - 20:19]

• Reports of terror incidents and heightened threats, including an embassy bombing in Norway.
• Sen. Cruz: Iran’s cut-off funding is stoking desperation among Islamists; Democratic action on DHS funding is “reckless” and could “very well cause more terrorist attacks, including potentially a catastrophic terrorist attack.”
• Trump’s Iran strategy is described as a systematic dismantling of all offensive and defensive capacity, aimed at “unconditional surrender.”

6. Debate over Iran Nuclear Deal and Pathways Forward

[20:19 - 24:11]

• Audio clip of Sen. Chris Murphy arguing the Obama-era Iran deal “was working,” with daily inspections keeping Iran over a year away from a bomb, and Trump’s withdrawal “precipitated the crisis.”
• Sen. Cruz rebuts, labeling Murphy’s claims “utterly fact-free propaganda”:
  • Inspections under the Obama deal were limited, with key sites like Fordo off-limits.
  • Compares Obama’s deal to “calling up a drug dealer” and asking them to self-certify.
  • Claims the deal was structured to allow Iran nuclear capability after 15 years.
  • Praises Trump’s bombing of nuclear facilities and withdrawal from the deal.

7. Criticism from the Right: Tucker Carlson’s Opposition

[24:11 - 29:29]

• Cruz targets “isolationist” voices on the right, especially Tucker Carlson.
• Plays a Carlson clip in which Carlson claims “unconditional surrender means foreign troops get to rape your wife and daughter if they want… it would require weapons of mass destruction… presumably nuclear weapons.”
• Reaction from Ben Ferguson: “That is like some of the most anti-American propaganda I’ve ever seen spewed by someone like Tucker Carlson. It is a new low.”
• Sen. Cruz responds with outrage:
  • “You America hating Islamist fluffer. I gotta say that makes me mad... We have never done that. That is not something America does.” — Sen. Cruz [26:56]
  • Notes Iranian state TV and the Muslim Brotherhood amplify Carlson’s show as propaganda.
  • “Tucker Carlson has gone full out to war with Donald Trump’s national security and foreign policy… He and Chris Murphy are now… comrades in arms.” — Sen. Cruz [29:04]

8. Breaking News & Lessons from North Korea

[31:08 - 35:19]

• Announcement: Iran’s regime appoints the son of the former leader as the new Ayatollah.
• Cruz notes the mullahs “want the country to continue to be run by Islamist clerics who embrace a death culture.”
• Draws a distinction between rational deterrence (e.g., North Korea) and religious zealots (“death cult”) in Iran, arguing the latter are less susceptible to deterrence and thus a greater threat.
• Illustrates how similar failed diplomatic strategies (Clinton-era North Korea deal, Obama-era Iran deal) brought by the same negotiator (Wendy Sherman) yielded nuclear proliferation.

9. Closing: Political Realities and Calls to Action

[36:53 - 39:29]

• Ongoing airport security issues and delays are linked back to the DHS funding fight.
• Sen. Cruz: The only way Democrats will change their tune is through “political pain”:
  • Urges listeners to call, write, and use social media to escalate pressure.
  • “They are endangering all of our families by cutting off the funding needed to fight terrorism at a time when the risks of terrorism are unacceptably high.” — Sen. Cruz [39:17]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “President Trump and the military has achieved total air dominance, has all but eliminated their ability to launch ballistic missiles and drones, and meanwhile has achieved naval dominance as well…” — Ted Cruz [02:43]
• “This vulnerability is here because for four years, Joe Biden and the Democrats opened up our borders and basically invited radical Islamic terrorists to come to this country.” — Ted Cruz [11:31]
• “We are not going to allow that country to be led by lunatics who are spending millions of dollars trying to murder Americans. That’s what victory looks like.” — Ted Cruz [19:50]
• “If you surrender to America, American soldiers are going to rape your women. We have never done that. That is not something America does. No, Tucker, American soldiers are not going to rape Iranian women... That is grotesque.” — Ted Cruz [26:56]
• “You may think back to when Tucker was on Fox News and he actually said a lot of things you and I loved… This guy today is just a kook… Tucker Carlson has gone full out to war with Donald Trump’s national security and foreign policy.” — Ted Cruz [28:49]
• “Deterrence works with many countries because you have rational actors... When you celebrate death and suicide, that normal cost-benefit analysis does not apply.” — Ted Cruz [32:10, 33:47]
• “They are endangering all of our families by cutting off the funding needed to fight terrorism at a time when the risks of terrorism are unacceptably high.” — Ted Cruz [39:17]

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Important Timestamps

• Operation Epic Fury stats & military strategy: [00:23 – 03:00]
• Oil prices and energy analysis, including Kharg Island: [04:45 – 10:33]
• Domestic terror scares and border policy debate: [10:33 – 13:32]
• DHS shutdown consequences & ICE funding: [13:32 – 16:00]
• Global security risks and Democrats’ DHS position: [17:28 – 20:19]
• Sen. Chris Murphy’s Iran deal argument: [20:19 – 21:22]
• Cruz’s detailed rebuttal & “Scarface” analogy: [21:37 – 24:11]
• Tucker Carlson’s clip and Cruz’s response: [24:44 – 29:29]
• Iran’s new Ayatollah, lessons from North Korea: [31:08 – 35:19]
• Airport security, DHS funding as political weapon: [36:53 – 39:29]

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Tone and Style

This episode embodies the confrontational, urgent, and sometimes combative style characteristic of "Verdict with Ted Cruz." News events are framed as validation of “America First” security policies and as evidence against Democratic priorities, with Cruz frequently calling out political opponents, both left and right. Rhetorical flourishes, analogies (Scarface, “Venezuelizing” Iran), and direct audience appeals reinforce a sense of crisis and the need for active civic engagement from listeners.

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For listeners who missed the episode:
You’ll find a sharp, numbers-driven update on Iran, a critical look at domestic threats, and an extended critique of both liberal and some conservative opposition to Trump’s policies—packed with memorable lines, policy analysis, and political heat.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human welcome. It is Verdict with center Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And it's nice to have you with us around the country. We've got a lot to talk about, including the latest on Operation Epic Fury. This regime is being really just decapitated in Iran. Center. And this is good news when it comes to national security.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that's exactly right. We're seeing extraordinary results in terms of the military conflict with Iran and the efficacy with which this attack is removing the regime's ability to launch missiles, to launch drones. Let me give you the numbers because the numbers are really striking. So on day one of this conflict, Iran launched 350 missiles, ballistic missiles. On day two, it dropped 175. On day three, it dropped to 120. On day four, it dropped to 50. On day five, it dropped to 40. On day six, it dropped to 32. On day seven, it dropped to 28. And on day eight, it dropped all the way down to 15. So they went from 350 ballistic missiles launched a day to just 15 launched a day. How about drone swarms? Same pattern. Day one, 294. Day two, 541. So they surged on day two, day three, 200. Day four, 85. Day five, 45. Day six, 38. Day seven, 30. And day eight, 12. So what that means is that our forces have systematically taken out, number one, their air defenses. Number two, we've taken out their missile launch sites and their drone launch sites. Most of their missile launch sites are mobile. So what happens is when they launch from a mobile missile launcher, we lock onto it and take that launcher out. And we've done that systemically. Now, early on, we were using smart bombs and guided missiles. That's very expensive munitions. And you saw in the first few days of this conflict a lot written saying that the rate at which we're using munitions is not sustainable. Well, the plan was never to use smart munitions for the entire duration of the conflict. Rather, the plan was to use it to take out both their defensive capacity and their offensive capacity. We've done that now. Now, having achieved air superiority, we're able to use gravity bombs, we're able to use munitions, which we have vast quantities of and which are much, much less expensive. In other words, President Trump and the military has achieved total air dominance, has all but eliminated their ability to launch ballistic missiles and drones, and meanwhile has achieved naval dominance as well, taking out most of the ships in their navy. That level of control has put us in a position where we're Seeing extraordinary

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

And it's something that I think so many Americans have been concerned over what this means at home. You look at gas prices, for example. Let's talk about that for a moment. The president has said, and many that are analysts, military and say, look, if this is a short term thing, this is going to be a short term pain and what you gain is massive compared to that in the future because this is how much Iran could hold the world hostage. Look at this. What has happened here recently and these prices have obviously jumped significantly. The president has made it clear he thinks this is going to be short term event and we're not invading. We are going after regime change and then things will go back to normal. 20% of the world supply goes through the Strait of Hormuz. That's another part of this and the calculation here. So break that down a little bit so people understand.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I think that's right. We have seen an energy spike. And anytime there's a conflict in the Middle east, you typically see oil prices spike and gasoline prices spike. My expectation is that will be a short term spike. I don't expect this conflict to last more than a couple of weeks. And I think you'll see gasoline prices drop back down. And I will note President Trump has a lot of credibility on this. When he came in, we were seeing gasoline prices across the country in some places, six, seven dollars a gallon. And those prices have dropped all but in half. In Texas, you could routinely buy a gallon of gas for between two and three bucks a gallon. And so that has been very effective. I also want to make a broader point about analyzing the energy component of what's going on and there was a Twitter thread by this analyst named Guy Laren who is not a fan of Trump's, but I think actually his analysis of the energy policy in the Middle east was very insightful, so I want to share it with you. So he asks, is Trump planning to venezuelize Iran? This analysis deviates from the mainstream media portrayal of a fickle, senile or BB led president. It assumes Trump is evil but rational. A thread. Now, I don't agree with the evil characterization there, but the rest of this analysis is quite insightful. So he continues, what is Karg island and why does it matter? A tiny strip of land half the size of Manhattan nestled in the Northern Persian Gulf. 1 hour by boat from the Iranian shore, gazelles roam next to oil terminals through which Iran exports 90% of its crude. Iran's pre war signal. Before the war, as American forces massed across the region, Iran did something revealing. It ramped up Carg exports from 1.5 million barrels of oil a day to 4 million near record levels. That means that the Iranians read Trump differently than the Western media does. They don't think he's after regime change or democracy. They think he's after oil. They might be right. NBC reported that Trump outlined to his aides his vision for a post war Iran, quote, a new Iranian regime cooperates on oil production similar to how the US and Venezuela are. The Venezuela template. Out of Trump's own mouth. AI's Michael Rubin, a former adviser to the George W. Bush administration who is in direct contact with the Trump advisors, is pushing the same logic. Referring to the Revolutionary Guards, he says, quote, if they can't sell their own oil, they can't make payroll. Meaning that if the US seizes carg, it doesn't need regime change. It directly controls Iran's most important source of income. Everything the U.S. and Israel has done so far fits this strategy. First, quote, decapitate and delegate. That was Israel's role. Khamenei killed. The Iranian leadership is in disarray now. To whom do you delegate? The answer isn't clear yet. So the US is reportedly encouraging Kurdish rebellion in the north of the country, forcing Iran to send forces upwards and thin out their defenses in the south, where Kharg is. Meanwhile, the US has systematically destroyed the Iranian navy operations reaching as far as Sri Lanka, where an Iranian warship was intercepted. Southern Iran is being pummeled. These aren't random. They are clearing the operational space for a naval seizure of Kharg. Ian Bremmer captures the military logic precisely. The Kharg island isn't extensively fortified and sits isolated enough that the US destroyers could establish a credible defensive perimeter well offshore. The US is also preparing to escort tanker convoys through the Strait of Hormuz and seeking financial mechanisms to insure ships after Lloyd's pulled out. These services aren't free. In practice, the US would control the straits, the jugular of global energy trade. China can't respond militarily. It prepared its navy to defend the Strait of Malacca, its other vulnerability. Approximately 80% of China's imported crude oil and nearly two thirds of its total maritime trade pass through the Strait of Malacca. Having the US control the Persian Gulf, from which China imports roughly half its crude and a third of its gas, is a strategic catastrophe for Beijing. The alternative, Deeper dependence on Russian energy. Practically natural gas from Siberia, which is exactly what Beijing loathes. It does not want to be dependent on the transactional Putin. Step back. Greenland, Panama, Venezuela, now the Persian Gulf. Trump isn't leading the world through alliances and institutions. He's seizing nodes, the choke points and resource pools that make the world and AI run whether it works or not. This is a coherent imperial strategy. Now, I gotta say, I don't agree with every word of that, but that is very insightful analysis and helps you understand why. The American success in Iran, it's critically important to our safety. And the principal reason for going in is to keep Americans safe from Iranian terrorism and aggression. But it is also a very, very powerful China play, enhancing US economic security and national security.

[Ben Ferguson]

You know, one of the things you mentioned there is what Americans worry about. And you go back to just some of the headlines that we're seeing right now. One of them, out of New York, there was an arrest made after a homemade explosive caused terror scare in New York City. This device that was hurled at Gracie made some protests determined to be highly dangerous ied, capable of serious injury or death. People see this like, well, maybe. And again, I think it's important that we deal with this. They say, well, this is why maybe we shouldn't have gone after Iran. I think that's flawed logic to think that way. These threats are threats whether we got there or not. And they're like, I don't think there's a direct cause and effect. I think there are bad people in the world that want to commit heinous crimes and their timing may change because of what we did in Iran. But if you're a terrorist in this country that got in this country through the open borders or however you got in here and you're Planning something or trying to do something. I think it's in your DNA. Based on your beliefs, you were gonna do it no matter what.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and look, this vulnerability is here because for four years, Joe Biden and the Democrats opened up our borders and basically invited radical Islamic terrorists to come to this country. If you look what happened in New York, New York, you had Islamists throwing dangerous IEDs capable of serious injury or death. And, you know, ask yourself, in the reporting on this, have you seen a single news report mention that the jihadist who threw the nail bomb into a crowd in New York City repeatedly shouted, allahu Akbar? I haven't seen that. I haven't seen that on cnn. I haven't seen that on MSNBC or the New York Times. They don't want to cover that. And to be clear, we saw the same thing in Austin a week ago when. When the terrorists there, wearing a sweatshirt that said Property of Allah, wearing a T shirt with an Iranian flag, attacked a bar on 6th street in Austin. And again, this is the terrorism, the vulnerability that President Trump is acting to protect against. But I gotta tell you, in the midst of this, look, we have an enhanced risk for terrorism right now. It is obvious Jihadist clerics have put out a fat walk hauling on terrorists to try to kill Americans. And in the middle of this, do you know what we did this week? We voted again to fund the Department of Homeland Security. And every Democrat except John Fetterman said, no, we will not fund dhs, the department literally created to defend us against terrorist attacks.

[Ben Ferguson]

You mentioned that. And let's go into that a little bit more. This is all about politics and it shouldn't be, because this is about a national security issue. And I think it's important that we take a moment and explain exactly why Democrats have wanted to keep this shutdown going. This is a partial government shutdown. It's something they're obsessed with dhs. They don't like it. They don't like law and order, they don't like ICE agents, and they're putting our lives at risk. And they don't really seem to care that that's what they're doing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

They don't. And understand it's all empty politics appealing to their radical base. So the Democrats have decided they hate ice. They are the party of illegal immigrants, and they are opposed to ice. They are opposed to law enforcement. They're opposed to police. Now their DHS shut down. Do you know how many ICE agents are not being paid because of it?

[Ben Ferguson]

How many?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Zero. They are not defunding ice. They are failing miserably in any effort to defund ice. Why? Because last year when we passed the working Families tax cut, the big reconciliation bill, we funded ice. We knew the Democrats would play stupid games with it, so we said, fine, we'll provide the funding for ice. So ICE agents are being paid. The DHS shutdown is not cutting off even a penny for ice. The people they are cutting off, they're cutting off the Coast Guard, they're cutting off fema, they're cutting off tsa. Look, if you're flying a plane, you can expect delays to begin getting longer and longer and longer because those TSA agents that have to check you in right now, they're showing up at work and they are not being paid. I just got off a plane yesterday, thank the TSA agents who were there, and they appreciated that. But they said, you know, boy, it'd be nice to get paid. And I agreed. I said, it is utter bs. I'm sorry about that. You should be paid. And I just apologize to them. Although, to be clear, I'm voting to fund them. But the Democrats are trying to ratchet up and inflict pain. And they believe the media won't blame them when your flights are delayed. They believe the media won't blame them when. When. When Coast Guardsmen, you know, young men and women serving in the Coast Guard don't have the money to pay their rent, don't have the money to pay their mortgage. They believe the media won't blame them when fema, the people in charge of responding to disasters, are not being paid, and it slows down federal disaster response. The Democrats believe the media will not blame them. So this is entirely an effort to say screw you to ICE by not cutting out ICE funding, because they can't do that because Republicans already paid for ice, but instead cutting off the funding for the rest of DHS that exists principally to stop terrorist attacks. So they're. They're telling you, I, Chuck Schumer, I Democrat, hate ICE and hate law enforcement so much that I'm going to increase the chance of a terrorist attack in your community just to tell the crazies in my party how much I hate ice.

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[Ben Ferguson]

I want to go back to something else that we also are seeing. And it's not just these, these domestic terrorist attacks here that may be inspired by what's happening, but we're also now seeing this happen around the country. Police are the world, I should say police are investigating an explosion outside the US Embassy, for example, in Norway. What can you tell us about that and the concern that people have all over the world now for what this, with the reactions happening from these Muslim extremists?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, Islamists are taking this time to engage in acts of violence, acts of terrorism, and we could expect to see more of this now. Understand, many of these Islamists have been funded by Iran for years. And so they see their money stream, their money spigot being cut off. But we need full capacity to protect ourselves at a time that is dangerous. I believe what the Democrats are doing is reckless, and I pray that it does not lead to it. But the Democrats action cutting off the funding for DHS could very well cause more terrorist attack, including potentially a catastrophic terrorist attack. And I'm not aware of any of the Democrats who is expressing any concern about this or is willing to do anything about it. Look, they might leave DHS shut down, leave these people not paid for the rest of the year. They are radical enough to do this and the media is complicit in it. And it's the reason President Trump is trying to resolve this conflict with Iran quickly. And, and what President Trump has called for is unconditional surrender, that he wants Iran to surrender. And he is systematically taking out first their air defenses, then their missile launch capacity, then their drone launch capacity, then their missile manufacturing capacity, then their drone manufacturing capacity, then their military infrastructure, their leadership. And at this point, he is systematically degrading their ability to fight back day after day after day. He is exactly right to say this ends when the Iranian regime says we surrender. And when they surrender, the result is going to be that the theocratic despots who chant death to America, who pay for terrorists to murder Americans, who pay for hitmen to try to murder President Trump, they are out of power. We are not going to allow that country to be led by lunatics who are spending millions of dollars trying to murder Americans. That's what victory looks like. I believe that's where we will end up. But I will say at the same time, we are seeing people spread propaganda and we're seeing two groups that are spreading the same propaganda. Let's start with Democrats. Let's start in particular with Chris Murphy. I want you to listen to what Chris Murphy has said. Give a listen.

[Senator Chris Murphy]

Mullahs in Iran, this is again, Rubio's characterization are mad men. And they believe in holy war and they believe in killing the crusaders of the United States and the Jews of Israel. And there is a special degree of unacceptability for them having a nuclear weapon. So, yeah, I don't disagree. But what I disagree with is that an aerial military campaign or even the insertion of ground forces can permanently dislodge Iran from having a nuclear weapon. Again, you were talking about knowledge that can't be bombed out of existence. So how do you stop a diplomatic agreement? We had a diplomatic agreement. Barack Obama negotiated an agreement in which Iran was more than a year away from getting a weapon. We had daily inspections scouring the country. It was working. Donald Trump's advisers told him it was working. He threw that agreement into the trash. We which precipitated the crisis that we are in today. This is a place where diplomacy probably is the only true path to make sure that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, let me ask you this, Senator. He says it was working. That is a flat out lie. And I think most people that have been following this would know that he's acting like they just decided to go rogue, referring to the Trump administration just get into a war for no reason at all.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So what you just heard from Senator Chris Murphy is utterly fact free propaganda. He's just repeating left wing talking. Now, look, Chris Murphy wants to run for president as a left wing Democrat, as a successor to Bernie Sanders in terms of a rabid socialist isolationist. And so facts are not going to get in the way. One of the things he said there, we were having daily nuclear weapons inspections. That is a lie under the terms of the Obama nuclear deal, Number one, there were multiple areas that were off limits from inspection. What areas were off limit from inspection? Well, one of them was Fordo, the military site under a mountain where they were doing their nuclear weapons development. By the way, Donald Trump dropped bunker buster bombs on Fordo and took it out and destroyed it. But under the Obama nuclear deal, nobody could inspect Fordo. And even when we wanted to expect other areas of research, we had to call the Iranians and get their permission and they would inspect it for us. You know, I've sort of joked that's like calling up a drug dealer. Can you imagine, like the classic movie Scarface. The scenario that Obama negotiated is basically that the DEA would call Tony Montana, the drug dealer in Scarface, and go, hey, Tony, would you check your warehouse and tell us if there are any drugs there? And Tony would go, yeah, man. Yeah, man. Hold on, hold on. Let me look, let me look. Nope, nope, no drugs there. We're clean. That is the Obama nuclear deal. It was literally Obama calling up the Ayatollah. Hey, you got any nukes? No, man, we're good. We don't have any nukes. No nukes here at all. All right, thanks. That's the idiocy of the Democrats. They knew and by the way, the Obama Iran nuclear deal sunset in 15 years. So after 15 years, Obama said, we're fine with your having nukes. Chris Murphy. And the Democrats know that. They don't care. That deal was designed to allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. I'll tell you, when President Trump in the first term pulled out of the Obama Iran nuclear deal, it was exactly the right decision. I had urged him to do so and, and it set the stage. Iran is now, particularly after President Trump last year bombed the nuclear weapons facility. Iran's nuclear program is way, way, way back. And yet they remain dangerous and they remain absolutely committed to developing nuclear weapons. Now the Democrats and the press are trying to undermine President Trump. They're trying to undermine the US Military, and they're trying to bolster Iran and the, and the Ayatollahs. Do you know who else is doing that?

[Ben Ferguson]

Who else?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Tucker Carlson and the rest of the so called woke. Right. There's a group of isolationist folks on the right. It is a small group, but they are loud and vocal. And Tucker Carlson has now all but declared war on President Trump's foreign policy. I want you to listen to Tucker Carlson in his latest show. I'm going to warn you, what he says here is shocking and it is to the left of Chris Murphy. So it is more anti Donald Trump than Chris Murphy and the Democrats. Listen to Tucker Carlson.

[Tucker Carlson]

Unconditional surrender means foreign troops get to rape your wife and daughter if they want. And everyone knows that. And that has been. If there's one consistent lesson of history, it means unconditional surrender means foreign troops get to rape your wife and daughter. Everyone can feel that. That's like the most atavistic instinct there is. And so to avoid that, people will do anything. And so that's why it requires that level of force to get a population subdued to the point of unconditional surrender. That's why. And so in this case, of course, we don't have the ground force necessary. I don't think Americans would voluntarily participate in it. I just don't think we can do that. It would require weapons of mass destruction. It would require presumably nuclear weapons in order to do that. And let's stop, let's not lie to ourselves. We're moving toward that.

[Ben Ferguson]

You hear Tucker there, and I mean, you want to talk about unhinged. That is like some of the most anti American propaganda I've ever seen spewed by someone like Tucker Carlson. It is a new low, even for him. And that. And the bar keeps dropping day after day.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, the phrase, the words someone like Tucker Carlson, you don't even have to put that constraint. That is more anti American rhetoric than anything I've ever heard Bernie Sanders say or even Chris Murphy, what he said there. Listen, Tucker continues to go to new lows and new lows. And part of it is President Trump this week said that Tucker Carlson is, quote, not MAGA and not smart. The more Tucker Carlson attacks Donald Trump, the more fringe he gets. And so I think this was Tucker acting out. When Trump said what was obviously true. But Tucker just said, go back, rewind and listen to what he just said. He said, number one, if Iran surrenders, that American soldiers are going to rape their wives and daughters. And in fact, he said it twice. What utter and complete garbage. You America hating Islamist fluffer. I gotta say that makes me mad. I think of the servicemen who. And women, but the. But the men in particular who are risking their lives. And Tucker Carlson standing there saying, if you surrender to America, American soldiers are going to rape your women. We have never done that. That is not something America does. No, Tucker, American soldiers are not going to rape Iranian women. You know, who rapes the people they conquer? Iranians do, Islamists do. That is in fact part of what they do. Part of what they do is. Is. Is that they rape women as a means of subjugation. But Tucker's not going to tell you that because Tucker is now one of the leading proponents of Sharia law in the United States. He's literally an apologist for Islamist. And so, so now you might say, wow, that statement seems incredible. It seems extreme. Here are a couple of data points. Number one, during this war, the Iranian national television is playing Tucker Carlson show in Iran. They view that as such valuable propaganda. They want the Iranian people to hear Tucker. Number two, the Muslim Brotherhood, by the way, Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and they are terrorists. Are tweeting out Tucker CARLSON show the Muslim Brotherhood is saying, this is our spokesman. Man, this guy is good. I cannot recall another major political figure on left or right who has said, if you surrender to America, American soldiers will rape your women. That's what Tucker Carlson just said. That is grotesque. And by the way, any soldier who sees Tucker Carlson ought to say, how dare you say that American soldiers. No, we would not. And impugning our troops is disgusting. And the second thing that Tucker said in that clip is that Donald Trump is moving towards using a nuclear weapon in Iran. No, he's not. Tucker. That is a complete nutter lie. That is false. We are not going to nuke Iran. It is only deranged. That's the sort of thing the Ayatollah would say. And you've gotta ask yourself, look, some of you may think back to when Tucker was on Fox News and he was actually said a lot of things you and I loved that made a lot of sense. This guy today is just a kook. And even worse than that, he is the most prominent purveyor of Islamist lies about America and about Donald Trump. Tucker Carlson has gone full out to war with Donald Trump's national security and foreign policy. And it is he and Chris Murphy are now, they are comrades in arms. He and Chris Tucker Carlson and Chris Murphy and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Ilhan Omar and aoc. They all have the exact same foreign policy and it is anti American and it is pro Islamist and it's dangerous as hell.

[Ben Ferguson]

Having just come back from Israel, I want to paint you a picture. It's midnight, sirens are blaring and you have only seconds to grab your child and run. Now imagine you're elderly. Your legs don't work like they used to. Getting downstairs feels impossible. And after all of that, you end up in a bomb shelter for hours, even days, because you can't make the trek again. This is what's happening across Israel as Operation Epic Fury continues. Children are being traumatized, families are just exhausted and homes have been destroyed. And that's why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is there on the ground bringing food, emergency equipment, care for those children and help for the elderly and supplying the bomb shelters and medical centers for critically needed essentials. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to stand for Israel and stand for good against evil, this is it. And that's why I'm asking you to now please act. Give $45 right now to rush life saving essentials to the vulnerables under fire. You can also call 888-488-IFCJ. That's 888488, IFCJ. Join me and give and make a real difference [e-mail] that's IFCJ. We've got some breaking news as we are recording this on Sunday. They have now named a new leader in Iran. It is the son of the former leader there. That is someone that the president has said is unacceptable. Your reaction to that as well?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, it's not surprising. The mullahs are going to get together and they're going to want another mullah to be the ayatollah and they want the country to continue to be run by Islamist clerics who embrace a death culture. And it's interesting. One of the things I'm going back to Chris Murphy and what he said a minute ago, you know, we rely on deterrence to stop the most egregious acts of harm. Deterrence works with many countries because you have rational actors. Let's take, for example, North Korea. So North Korea is an exceptionally dangerous part of the world. Why does North Korea have nukes? Well, it goes back to a previous Democrat, president, Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton sent a State Department employee named Wendy Sherman to negotiate a nuclear agreement with Kim Jong Il, who was the father of the current dictator, Kim Jong Un. And the deal they cut is that Bill Clinton agreed to send billions of dollars to North Korea. And in exchange for that money, North Korea would promise not to develop nuclear weapons. Well, what happened? We now know what happened. They took the billions of dollars, they used it to develop nuclear weapons. And today North Korea has nuclear weapons. So it was a spectacular failure. Fast forward to Barack Obama. Barack Obama comes into office and he decides his signature foreign policy move is he wants to negotiate an agreement with Iran on nuclear weapons. So what does he do? He actually goes and recruits the same damn person, Wendy Sherman, to negotiate his Iran deal. Literally, there are 8 billion people on planet Earth. Ben, there is 1 out of 8 billion who has screwed this up previously has negotiated a deal to send billions of dollars to a foreign dictator and it's resulted in that dictator using the billions of dollars to develop nuclear weapons. That would be Wendy Sherman. That's who Obama brought in and said, hey, can you do the same for us? Now we live with the failures of the Clinton administration and Wendy Sherman with North Korea. And Kim Jong Un is a dictator. He's megalomaniacal. He's dangerous as hell. He is testing ICBMs. He has targeted, explicitly target US citizens, including Austin. Texas is a city that he has said he's targeted before. However, our best protection is Kim Jong Un knows if he ever used a nuclear weapon, the result would be massive, overwhelming retaliation and his regime would lose power that day. It would be the end of his life if he did that. As dangerous as Kim Jong Un is, at least there's some possibility of rational self deterrence. Here's what makes Iran orders of magnitude more dangerous. When you're dealing with religious extremism, when you're dealing with theocratic zealots who are in a death cult, who glorify death and suicide, rational deterrence doesn't work the same way. So for example, if the Ayatollah detonated a nuclear weapon, say in Tel Aviv or in New York or Los Angeles, and let me be clear, I believe if the Ayatollah could do so, he would have done so already. The response would be overwhelming and devastating. But the problem is when you celebrate death and suicide, that normal cost benefit analysis does not apply. And so yes, they've named a new Ayatollah. The Ayatollah is what? The son of the old Ayatollah. Okay, great. That is not acceptable because President Trump has rightly made the decision. We're not going to allow US national security to be vulnerable to religious zealots who are funding terrorism, who are funding, who are the number one funders of terrorism worldwide and have been for 47 years. So Ayatollah number one, Skippy Jr. Is not going to get to take over either. Because allowing Iran to wage war and to murder Americans is not consistent with US national security.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

with a promo code. Verdict I want to get real quick to one other thing you talked earlier about DHS funding and let's get to just some of the concerns that people are having. You had a midair panic as Southwest flight was diverted to Atlanta due to security threat amid Iranian terror feel fears air. You also had a Fort Lauderdale bound flight diverts with security scared the passengers removed. Like these are real stories that are happening that people are concerned about. And so my question is how quickly can we get the Democrats to understand that this funding is important. We've seen even at Hobby Airport where you and I fly out of a lot, three and a half hour security lines that is unacceptable for the American people.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, the only reason they will flip is if the political pain becomes real to them. I think the Democrats are listening to their zealots, to the people who want open borders, who want ICE abolished, who want the police abolished, who are cheering on when the Democrats defend criminals and illegal aliens and gang bangers. Look, go back to the State of the Union address. It was powerful when President Trump turned to the Democrats and said I'll give you an opportunity to decide right now where do you stand? Stand with me now if you agree our principal responsibility is to defend American citizens and not illegal aliens, 0 Democrats 0 stood and applauded. They all remained seated. That is where their base is. And right now the media is not holding them to account. During the Schumer shutdown last year that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats forced the longest shutdown in American history right before the elections last year. One Democrat aide told a reporter said, we're going to keep this shut down. Quote, until airplanes start falling from the sky, they feel immune from political consequences. That will only change when they start to feel meaningful political heat. That means the folks listening to this podcast use your voice, speak out, make phone calls, call Senate offices, post on social media, get other people, write op ed, speak about it, and hold Democrats to account. They are endangering all of our families by cutting off the funding needed to fight terrorism at a time when the risks of terrorism are unacceptably high. We need to do a better job protecting the homeland. And the Democrats are being reckless at a level I've never seen.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it really is incredible. Don't forget we keep you updated on all these issues. So hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcasts. Share this podcast on social media and rise to five star review if you wouldn't mind. And the center and I will see you back here in a couple of days.