← Verdict with Ted Cruz
Verdict with Ted Cruz
Bondi Rocks, Newsom Doubles Down on Policies Hurting Californians & Dems Demagogue Entrepreneurs
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- [00:00]
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- [01:29]
Senator Ted Cruz
Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. As always, Senator, this will be our last show before there is a inauguration that's gonna be taking place next week, which is really fun, but it's already started on Capitol Hill with confirmation hearings and I think it's pretty fair to say if Democrats were hoping for fireworks and they were hoping to, you know, derail some of the nominees this week, they failed miserably. We're. We're kicking tail and taking names.
- [01:58]
Ben Ferguson
So. Ben, I love you, but I gotta say, somebody needs to buy you a calendar. So inauguration is on Monday, which means we will have a Monday morning podcast, which means you and I will record it on Sunday. So this is our second to last podcast.
- [02:12]
Senator Ted Cruz
All right? Second to last. Okay, fine. So we're gonna have one more show technically on the day of the inauguration.
- [02:18]
Ben Ferguson
Fair point. I understand when Monday occurs is a difficult thing to figure out, so I'm gonna give you that. But right now, this is Friday's podcast. And so we're going to talk about what happened this week and what happened this week. It's real simple. We had confirmation hearings for half of the Trump Cabinet and the Democrats came out pouncing. I mean, that's what the New York Times says Republicans do all the time. They pounce and they pounce and they pounce. And the bottom line is they utterly failed. If you're a Democrat trying to think you're going to defeat the Trump Cabinet, you are despondent right now because they shot at everybody and they failed everywhere. Here's the spoiler alert. I believe every single Trump Cabinet nominee will be confirmed. We're going to talk about. So I participated in a number and we're going to talk about in particular Pam Bondi, because Pam Bondi is attorney general, I think is the most important Trump nominee. She will be confirmed as attorney general. But we're going to break down the issues that we talked about because it really went to the core, core of restoring integrity to the Department of Justice. So that's number one. We're going to talk about number two. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, he's facing horrific wildfires that sadly, his own misguided policies played a significant part in increasing the likelihood of, in limiting the ability of California to fight against. What is Gavin Newsom doing? He's not focused on, we need more fire mitigation. We need more sensible public lands management. He's not doing that. He's not focusing on, we need more sensible water management. We need to stop having empty reservoir. We need to have fire hydrants full. No, he's not saying that. And he's also not saying, all right, enough with woke firefighter policies, enough with dei. We need to actually hire firefighters devoted to fighting fires. Nope, he's not saying that. Gavin Newsom. Instead, he rolled out a proposal and he said if anyone offers to buy somebody's home, somebody's property that's been burned to the ground, that is devastated, and I, Gavin Newsom, think the offer is too low, I'll criminally prosecute you. I will throw you in jail. It is again, if Saturday Night Live made fun of leftists, they couldn't come up with a better skit than this. And so I pointed that out. He went back at me. Gavin Newsom and I went back and forth. And finally, Bernie Sanders, Bernie Sanders, in the confirmation of Scott Bessant to be Treasury Secretary, he came out with the bold new Democrat policy. They hate, hate, hate billionaires. Well, except for leftist communist billionaires who fund the Democrat Party. But other than that, they're against them. All that, at the end of the day, I gotta say, Scott Bessant popped it back and, and, and showed the utter and complete hypocrisy of Bernie Sanders. That's what we're covering on today's pod.
- [05:19]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, it was. That's going to be really fun audio. You do not want to miss that in a second. So let's go back to the confirmations. And this was just, I think, an exciting time for many Trump supporters. We. There was worry early on that there could be some derailing of some nominees here. You're up against the media, you're up against the Dems. They, and they try to, you know, derail in any way they can. That just does not seem to be what's going to happen here. As you said, you believe everyone's going to get confirmed.
- [05:50]
Ben Ferguson
I do. So. So, look, we talked about in the last pod, Pete Hegseth. Pete Hegseth is clearly the one they're targeting the most. They went after Hegseth hard. But I got to say, Pete did a fantastic job at his confirmation hearing. I think he's going to make it through. If you look at Pam Bondi as the nominee for Attorney General, she did a spectacular job in her hearing, a master class. And I want you to listen to right now my questioning of Pam Bondi. So I went right after Mazie Hirono, Democrat from Hawaii, who gave this long screed about how Pam Bondi and Trump was gonna politicize the Department of Justice. Why? And here's what Mazie asked her. She said, well, because Trump is going to ask you to prosecute his opponents, and you're going to do it because you're a political hack. And so I went right after this. Give a listen to my questioning of Pam Bondi in the hearing this week.
- [06:47]
Pam Bondi
General Bondi, welcome. Thank you for your long career in public service and thank you for your willingness to take on this. This incredibly important office. You know, I have to say, I don't know that there is a more important position in this new administration than the position to which you have been nominated. Attorney General of the United States. I thought the exchange just a moment ago with Senator Hirono was illustrative. She asked you how you would respond if the President asked you to target his political enemies. It's rather striking because it's not a hypothetical. It has happened over the last four years. And I think perhaps the most tragic legacy of the Biden Harris administration has been the politicization and the weaponization of the United States Department of Justice. And we don't need to ask hypothetically, because Joe Biden publicly mused and allowed the New York Times to report it, calling on Merrick Garland, why will he not prosecute Trump more quickly? And Merrick Garland, sadly, he sat in that chair and promised to be apolitical. And he broke that promise almost the instant he walked into the Department of Justice. If you look on the west pediment of the Supreme Court of the United States, just above the entrance, there's a simple yet profound forward phrase, equal justice under law. We have seen over the last four years a Department of justice that systematically targeted the political opponents of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and that systematically protected his friends and allies. And it is tragic to see the loss of confidence in the American people, in the Department of Justice and in the FBI, I would note. I don't think there's an institution in America who has lost more respect from the American people than the FBI has in the last four years. That is a grotesque violation of the obligation of the Department of Justice and the FBI. So I want to start with just a very simple question. If you are confirmed as Attorney General, will you pledge to fairly and faithfully uphold the law, regardless of party?
- [08:52]
Scott Bessen
So help me God?
- [08:54]
Pam Bondi
Amen. Look, and I want to be clear for folks at home, I don't want a Republican Department of Justice. I don't want a Democrat Department of Justice. I want a Department of justice that follows the damn law. And I think the American people do, too. That shouldn't be too much to expect. Now, I'm grateful to President Trump for nominating you. I think on any objective level, you're clearly qualified for this position. You have been a prosecutor for decades. You have been the elected Attorney General of the state of Florida, the third largest state in America, for eight years. Let me ask you, in terms of your practice, how many criminal cases over the course of your career have you personally handled?
- [09:39]
Scott Bessen
Handled? Thousands.
- [09:41]
Pam Bondi
How many of those were before a jury?
- [09:44]
Scott Bessen
Hundreds. I don't want to overstate, but hundreds. I was in a courtroom for many years. I tried four when I was an intern. Jury trials. I think you had to try at least 20 in misdemeanor before you went to felony. Then you were in court every day. And I was also lead trial attorney for many years, trying many cases, so.
- [10:05]
Pam Bondi
And how many of those cases would have been before a judge?
- [10:08]
Scott Bessen
Oh, hundreds and hundreds as well, but hundreds before a jury, I would assume.
- [10:14]
Pam Bondi
And as Attorney General of Florida, how Many lawyers did you Supervise?
- [10:17]
Scott Bessen
Roughly approximately 400, Senator.
- [10:20]
Pam Bondi
Now, I also want to clarify something. During the course of this hearing, several Democrat senators have referred to you as President Trump's, quote, personal lawyer. Now, I don't believe that is an accurate characterization. As I understand it, you represented President Trump as a White House special advisor during his first impeachment trial, is that correct?
- [10:43]
Scott Bessen
Within Office of White House Counsel? Yes, Senator.
- [10:47]
Pam Bondi
And is is working within the White House Counsel's office different than representing Donald J. Trump individually as his personal lawyer?
- [10:57]
Scott Bessen
Absolutely.
- [10:58]
Pam Bondi
How's it different?
- [11:00]
Scott Bessen
You're working for the government. You're working for the Office of White House Counsel. You're not representing him in his personal capacity.
- [11:07]
Pam Bondi
And so you have not represented him in his business affairs, in his personal life, or in any of the criminal trials he has faced?
- [11:14]
Scott Bessen
No, Senator.
- [11:15]
Pam Bondi
And, you know, when it comes to weaponization, it's worth noting that in more than two centuries of our nation's history, no president had previously been indicted, no president had previously been prosecuted until the Biden Harris White House came along. And in the last four years, we've seen Donald Trump indicted and prosecuted not once, not twice, not three times, but.
- [11:37]
Scott Bessen
Four separate times, and two assassination attempts.
- [11:42]
Pam Bondi
Senator, I have to say, Javert from Les Mis would be chagrined at the efforts of Democrats to do anything possible to take him down. And I believe the real target in this was not President Trump, but it was the American people that these prosecutions were brought because partisan prosecutors were terrified that the American people would do exactly what they did in November of 2024 and vote to reelect Donald J. Trump.
- [12:10]
Scott Bessen
By 77.3% million Americans. 77.3 million Americans.
- [12:17]
Pam Bondi
Will you commit every day as Attorney General to follow the law, to follow the Constitution, to uphold the rule of law without favor and without regard to the partisan position of any criminal defendant?
- [12:35]
Scott Bessen
Yes, Senator.
- [12:36]
Pam Bondi
That's what we should all expect from an Attorney general.
- [12:39]
Senator Ted Cruz
Thank you, Senator. I love the way that you laid that out to explain just so many of the attacks and fallacies, but also what our job is and the fact. And you've said this before, and I think it's a great point to make. Again, you don't want a Republican Department of DOJ or a Democrat. You want it to be nonpartisan, because that's what got us into this mess with legal warfare against every conservative, anyone around Trump. And the list is long of people that have been persecuted by this doj.
- [13:08]
Ben Ferguson
Well, and the Democrats have been screaming at her, what will you do if Trump demands go prosecute Democrats. And the point I tried to make is, listen, that's not an hypothetical. That's not some abstract question. Joe Biden did that. He did that with Merrick Garland. And by the way, Merrick Garland saluted, said, sir, yes, sir, and went and indicted Donald Trump over and over again. So. So we know what that looks like. And I don't believe Pam Bondi will do that, by the way. I don't believe Donald Trump will demand that. Now, I will say we had a second round of questioning with Pam Bondi, and in the second round, I focused on a different aspect of politicization. One aspect of it is using the machinery of justice to go after your enemies, using the machinery of justice to protect the political friends of the president. But there's a different aspect of politicization, and that is refusing to follow the law for an overarching political agenda. In this case, the radical open borders agenda. So listen to this shorter round of questioning that I had with Pam Bondi later in the day.
- [14:13]
Pam Bondi
An excellent job at this hearing. And I want to go back to the topic you and I discussed before, which is the politicization of the Department of Justice. I want to focus on a different aspect of it. We talked about the Department of Justice under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris being used to target the president's political enemies. We talked about it being used to protect the political friends and allies of the White House. But there's another aspect of politicization and lawlessness, and that is refusing to follow the law, utterly defying federal statutory law. And I think there's no area where this has been more egregious than as it concerns our immigration laws. We have had four years of a wide open southern border. My state, Texas, has borne a disproportionate burden as a consequence of that, as 12 million illegal aliens have flooded into this country. And what the Biden administration has done, no other president in the history of America has done. The Biden administration has simply ignored the law. And when illegal aliens are apprehended, they release them. Federal law says they shall be detained, says they shall be deported. And frankly, our constitutional system is not meant to deal with a president who defies the law. Article two says the president shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. This administration utterly defied the law. I have said, somewhat tongue in cheek, Joe Biden did something I previously thought was impossible. He made me miss Barack Obama. Because Barack Obama, for all my disagreements with him when it came to illegal immigration, he by and large followed the law. Barack Obama deported millions of people. The left got mad at him and called him the deporter in chief. No administration has ever done what this administration has done, which has said, we are going to facilitate the invasion of this country. We're going to release 12 million people, and we are going to see Americans murdered, women raped, children abused and murdered. We're going to see drugs flood into this country, Fentanyl flood into this country. And so I want to ask you several things on this. First of all, in your experience, what are the consequences of open borders and who pays the price when illegal immigrants, and in particular violent, criminal illegal immigrants are released in the country?
- [16:31]
Scott Bessen
American citizens, Senator. And I think they're paying. I know they're paying the price every single day. We're seeing it. We're watching it. We've talked about Lake and Riley, of course, multiple times. But there are multiple victims, violent crime in all of our states. And as we say now, every state is a border state. I was at the border, not in your state, but in Yuma, Arizona, several months ago. And I saw firsthand, I saw the Border Patrol agents and Customs showed us IDs and driver's license, Venezuela, from all of these countries, IDs just thrown on the ground and people were allowed to walk freely into our country. Senator, I never knew the definition of a disposable child. I never heard that term in my entire career until I was there. A disposable child. The agents kept recognizing a little boy coming over and over. You're familiar with it, I'm sure. Same little boy.
- [17:31]
Pam Bondi
And let me ask, just because my trafficked. Let me ask because my time has expired. And the issue you're raising is so incredibly important. One statistic that every American should know is the number 300,000. There are over 300,000 children that this administration has lost. Lost little girls and little boys who came here unaccompanied were in this administration's custody. They handed them over to adults, many of them not blood relatives, and they don't know where they are. I've never seen a single Democrat in this committee ask one question about the 300,000 children. I want to ask you a commitment. Will you, as Attorney General, investigate and make every effort to find those children and if they are subject to abuse, get them out of those abusive situations that the federal government has put them into?
- [18:14]
Scott Bessen
Yes, Senator.
- [18:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
Thank you, Senator. This goes back to, I think, one of the things we talked about and highlighted on this show and that was just the abuse of power by Mayorkas and not even knowing about, for example, the wristbands which you've described on the show that were found at the border. And so many people that are trafficked had to wear those, including kids. You look at how we've lost all these kids and hearing her commit to actually using the DOJ for this reason, which should be a non political reason. Reason saving kids from sex slavery, for goodness sakes. That was encouraging to hear.
- [18:52]
Ben Ferguson
It was very encouraging. That commitment was very important. Look, you and I, in our last podcast two days ago, we talked about the horrific scandal in the United Kingdom of thousands of girls subject to repeated child rape for decades and how the government turned its back on them, refused to prosecute, refused to investigate, all in the name of multiculturalism. By the way, if you did not listen to Wednesday's podcast, you ought to listen to it because it really is. There are among the stories that really bother me that horrify me. That's really at the top of the list. But you and I talked about on Wednesday how it's easy to say as Americans, well, gosh, it's a shame the Brits did that, but we're somehow better than that. No, we're not. 300,000 kids in America have been lost and the Biden administration doesn't care. Democrats in Congress don't care. The media doesn't care. I am very, very glad this week that Pam Bondi committed to me on the record that as Attorney General, she's going to investigate. I hope she's going to create a task force in the Department of Justice to go and find those 300,000 kids to go figure out, are these children being abused? Are they being physically abused? Are they being sexually abused? What happened that it's not okay for the federal government to lose 300,000 little boys and little girls? This week I sat down with Bobby Kennedy and when I sat down with him, I asked him the same question. He's going to be the next secretary of hhs. Will HHS investigate and fight those children and make sure they're not being abused? And I'll tell you, he committed to be in my office the same thing. That's a big deal. And it's one of the many things that makes me very excited about this new cabinet coming in.
- [20:39]
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- [21:38]
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- [22:39]
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- [23:07]
Senator Ted Cruz
Let's talk about timing because there's a lot of people worried that there's going to be, you know, delays with Cabinet members. You mentioned half of the of the cabinet you guys have had up in front of you this week. There are 20 attorney generals are calling for what they described as swift Senate confirmations of Chrissy Noem, Pam Bondi, Cash Patel. Are there going to be shenanigans to try to delay this? Are you concerned about that? Because there have been a lot of articles written about that the last couple of days.
- [23:34]
Ben Ferguson
You know, I'm not really concerned. So we have had hearings already for about half of the Cabinet nominees. Now, I'm gonna point out January 20th has not happened yet. So it's before Donald Trump has become president. Again, none of these nominees have been nominated, so nobody can be nominated to a Cabinet position until the president is in office. He will not be in office until noon on January 20th. So the Senate is holding confirmation hearings on a whole bunch of nominees who haven't been nominated yet. And that's a good thing. I think on January 20, Trump will take the oath of office at noon. That day will confirm, I think probably a couple of Trump Cabinet nominees. My guess is Marco Rubio will be confirmed as Secretary of State. I think it will be an overwhelming vote. I think he'll get north of 90 votes. He might even get north of 95 votes. It will be all the Republicans and most of the Democrats. I think there's a good chance. John Ratcliffe, who's been nominated to be director of CIA, I think he'll be confirmed on January 20th. And I think the rest of the Cabinet will be confirmed in the next 30 days. So will it be instantaneous? Will it be in 10 minutes? No, but I think within 30 days, we'll move the Cabinet through and we'll move expeditiously. And this week's been a very good week for that because the Cabinet nominees have performed exceptionally. And I think they're all going to get confirmed.
- [25:00]
Senator Ted Cruz
So let's talk about, and go back to something you said a moment ago, and that's, you know, what are you focusing on? It's very clear that the Republicans are focused on moving forward, getting things done for the people. And you look at what Democrats are doing, whether. And we're going to get to this part in a minute, but whether it's them saying, oh, we don't like people that aren't our fans right now, so we're going to call them oligarchs, we're going to attack people that are rich. And then you look out in California where the wildfires unfortunately are still burning. And it seems to be pure politics right now for the governor out there who had enough time to, while these wildfires are going on, to get in back and forth with you.
- [25:38]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. So, Gavin Newsom, you and I did A podcast last week, and it was another podcast, which if y'all didn't listen to, I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it. Laid out the specific policies that California had put in place that increased the chances of disastrous and catastrophic wildfires and that reduced the ability of California to fight those wildfires. Now, look, what is happening in California is horrific. And as you know, Heidi's a native Californian. A lot of her family is out in California. My heart is breaking for these Americans who are seeing their homes burned to the ground, the people being killed. It is an absolute tragedy. And I am grateful for the firefighters, for the police officers, for the first responders who are risking their lives to save people. Even at the time we are rallying around protecting people in harm's way. I think it is valuable to ask, are there policies that California enacted that made this worse? And the answer is yes. And then I gotta say, this week, Gavin Newsom jumped out and we're going to play the audio in a second. And here's what he tweeted. He said, quote, today I signed an executive order prohibiting greedy land developers from ripping off LA wildfire victims with unsolicited, undervalued offers to buy their destroyed property. Make no mistake, this is a prosecutable crime. So play Gavin Newsom saying this.
- [27:14]
Pam Bondi
Altadena, I just signed an executive order with community leaders to deal with the issue that is becoming a bigger and bigger issue every day, and that's land developers that are engaging in predatory efforts to make unsolicited offers for properties at significantly below market value. This predatory behavior is disputed, disgusting in the best of times, and of course, here in the midst of this tragedy at scale, it's disgraceful. So we're going to hold those folks accountable. I'm very grateful for the leadership here in the community that promoted this approach. And this executive order is a reflection of their direction and their commitment to preserving the unique character of this community for generations to come.
- [27:57]
Senator Ted Cruz
Make no mistake, this is a prosecutor crime, is what he put out there in his tweet saying, I'm signed this executive order prohibiting the greedy land developers from ripping off LA wildfire victims with unsolicited offers.
- [28:11]
Ben Ferguson
So I responded. I responded on Twitter and I sent back the following tweet. Misguided California policies. Number one, limited fire mitigation efforts, number two, produced water shortages, and number three, underfunded firefighters. And by the way, that's what we discussed at depth in our podcast last week. The tweet continued. Now Democrat politicians are making it harder for those devastated by the wildfires to sell their destroyed properties. This will only hope hurt the victims. So that was my response. And then I got to say it's interesting. You know, Newsom is in the middle of a crisis and yet somehow he found time to tweet back against me. He was mad at what I had to say. So here's what Gavin Newsom tweeted back. He said, quote, openly shilling for scammers and bottom feeder land speculators is a weird play even for you, Ted. Our executive order doesn't prevent anyone from selling their property. It prohibits scammers from making unsolicited offers to buy property for pennies on the dollar. And then I gotta say I responded to that and I said, leftists ignorant of basic economics have played a major role in the exodus of millions from California. Now Newsom brags that he will criminally prosecute anyone making a quote unquote low offer to purchase a fire devastated property. The result, many Californians won't get offers. And I got to say this back and forth, I think it actually reveals a lot. The left today, they don't understand basic economics. They don't understand economics 101. Let's say you're a person in LA and let's say your home has been tragically destroyed. Let's say you're in tragedy, you're in crisis, you don't know what to do. It's burned to a crisp. You can't afford to rebuild. You don't know what to do. And you know what? Maybe someone comes in and makes an offer and says, hey, Ben, your property that has been burned down, whether it's your home or commercial property where you have, I'll pay you X dollars for that. Now, before the fire, you probably wouldn't have taken X dollars because your property wasn't burned to the ground, it was worth more. But after the fire, you might well say, holy cow, I'm, I'm in panic. I need help. That is a lifesaver to me. So thank you. I will take X dollars because I can't afford it. If I don't, don't get some help right now. What does Gavin Newsom saying, nope, if you make an offer, dammit, I'm going to prosecute you and throw you in jail. What that means, let's say, Ben, your home's burned to a crisp. You know what? People aren't going to make you offers because if they're worried, wait, if I offer to buy Ben Ferguson's home, the lunatics in California are going to come prosecute me and put me in jail. You know what? I ain't making an offer. So you know what you're going to get for your property? 0. Because numbskull politicians are focused on demagoguing someone who would offer to buy a fire destroyed property rather than focusing on stopping these wire fires, preventing them, and supporting the firefighters to stop them if and when they occur.
- [32:01]
Senator Ted Cruz
There's also a family aspect of this that is concerning. And you and I saw this. With the, the massive flooding that happened in Houston, my, my in laws house got flooded out. They had no intent of moving. But after they got flooded, it was the right time for them to leave that house and sell that house, that lot basically, and move closer to, to where the rest of the family was. That was a family decision. And if someone knocked on the door and was like, hey, I don't know if you want to rebuild this, maybe you should. You know, this is a lot value that is worth a lot. And here's the economics of this. There were many people that made that decision as well. You just took that away from them.
- [32:43]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, look, it's not complicated. In a free society, I have a right to offer you. If I see something, if I see your house, if I see your car, if I see anything, and I say, hey, I'll give you a hundred thousand dollars for that. I'll give you a million dollars for that. I'll give you a thousand dollars for that.
- [33:03]
Pam Bondi
Whatever.
- [33:04]
Ben Ferguson
Like, like we have a free society where I can tell you, Ben, you have something. Do you want to sell it? I'll offer you this price. By the way, no one's forcing you to say yes. Like if someone makes an offer, you could say, go pound sand. No, I don't want to sell it. And that's perfectly fine. If you remember the movie Bugsy, great movie about the beginning of la and Warren Beatty is playing Bugsy Siegel and he's in Beverly Hills and he sees this gorgeous mansion and he walks up to the door, knocks on the door and he says, I want to buy your house. The guy says, it's not for sale. And he says, nonsense, everything's for sale. How much do you want? And he says, it's not for sale. And then he offers some massive amount. And 30 seconds later, the guy leaves his house and Bugsy Siegel moves into his house. Like at some level, the right to offer, I will pay you X for what you have. That's the basic conduct of free people. And so, but the point on this and this is, this is Economics 101. When Gavin Newsom says, I'm going to come and lock you up and put you in jail if you make an offer to people in crisis, well, you know what? People are not going to make offers. So people are sitting there who are trapped and hopeless and who, their insurance was canceled. They can't get insurance. They can't pay their property taxes. They can't, they don't know what to do. They're all going to be worse off. Because, listen, if someone makes an offer to buy it, maybe you say, no, I don't want that offer. It's not enough. I don't want it. Okay, you're not any worse off. Have you been hurt because someone called and said, I'll give you this amount for your property. You're not hurt. But for people who are in crisis, that offer may be the life preserver they need. And Gavin Newsom said, nope, nope, nope, you ain't getting offers. Guess what? You're just going under. Because we, the California Socialists, we're not going to focus on protecting you. We're going to focus on demagoguing the big bad rich person who would offer to buy your property instead.
- [35:07]
Senator Ted Cruz
It also goes back to this other narrative. When we heard it from the President of the United States of America the other night. He was obsessed with this idea of oligarchs. I actually think this was a little bit different. And Bernie Sanders started naming names when he was doing the confirmation hearing for the man who's up for, for Treasury Secretary. And, and I want to get your take and we're gonna play Bernie. But one of the things I, I, I felt was really kind of icky about this was the fact that it's like, hey, we're warning some of you that have stepped out of line from the Democratic Party that we're coming after you when we get our power back. If you do, if you step conservative side of things. And that's why we're warning you that if we name you as a, an oligarch, then if we get our, when we get our power back, there's going to be some sort of hell to pay. And you better be careful how much you work with Donald Trump and you support freedom of speech and you support freedom of expression online and the able, the ability to post things. And that's what it was boiling down to. And it was, I think, even more weird. It was in a back and forth with a guy for Treasury Secretary. It's like, wait, are you trying to weaponize treasury to say, hey, your job is to now make sure there's no billionaires in America.
- [36:29]
Ben Ferguson
Well, look, it's worth giving a listen. So listen to this back and forth and in terms of the demagogic language of the Democrat Party, this is a great example. Give a listen.
- [36:41]
H
When you have a small number of multi billionaires who have enormous economic, media and political power, would you agree with President Biden who last night stated, and I quote, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, end of quote. That's what President Biden said last night. I agree with him. Do you? I enjoyed our visit and I hope you got my follow up materials that we on the discussions, my previous findings on the tariffs and China. And look, the three billionaires who you listed that all made the money themselves. Mr. Musk came to the country as an immigrant. I understand that. But what I'm asking you is when you have a handful of people like Musk who will soon be part of the Trump administration and others, when you have three people owning more wealth than the bottom half of American society, when these people have enormous influence over the media, when they spend huge amounts of money in both political parties to elect candidates, what Biden said last night is we're moving toward an oligarchy. I'm asking you that question. Do you think forget how they made their money, do you think that when so few people have so much wealth and so much economic and political power that that is an oligarchic form of society? Well, I would note that the President Biden gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two people who I think would qualify for his oligarchy. So this is not a condemnation of any one individual. I'm just asking you, would so few people have so much wealth and power, but do you think that that is an oligarchic form of society, Senator? I think it depends on the ability to move up and down the. No, that's not really the answer. I mean even if you had that mobility, no matter who those individuals might be. All right, but let me ask you another question.
- [39:01]
Senator Ted Cruz
I love there how he's like, all right, I'm going to move on because this isn't landing. He just threw it back in my face that we just gave medals of the highest level of metal you can give to a civilian to two of the people that would be categorized oligarchs. One of them, by the way, is a hard core radical by the name of George Soros.
- [39:20]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, George. George Soros just got the Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden. He celebrated. He also gave it to Hillary Clinton. And by the way, before that, Barack Obama gave the Medal of Freedom to Bill Gates. And listen, the position of Bernie Sanders is we hate billionaires. Unless you're billionaires who support socialists and the Democrat Party, then you're okay. But to be clear, you're only okay if you're buying absolution. The instant you stop buying absolution, we will demonize you and we will burn you in effigy in the streets. And I gotta say, I like Scott Bessen's point. He's like, wait, you're attacking these people? None of these three people you're attacking, none of them inherited wealth. You know, Elon Musk came as an immigrant from Africa. Like, he built amazing companies. And to a socialist, they don't care what you did to build wealth. They're gonna demonize you. They're gonna attack you. And it's an example of. And by the way, it's why you get so many incredibly rich, so many billionaires who back the Democrat Party because they're basically paying for protection from Robespierre, from the guillotine in the French Revolution. And I gotta say that that is where the Democrat Party is. But I'll give Scott Bessen a shout out. He responded with fantastic answers, which is why Bernie ran. Ran to the hills and ran away because he realized it wasn't going the way he wanted. Scott Besson's gonna get confirmed. Every Trump Cabinet member is gonna get confirmed.
- [40:59]
Senator Ted Cruz
That might be the best thing we've heard all day. Every member is gonna get confirmed at Trump's Cabinet, and that's incredible. Don't forget, we do the show Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and we've got one more show. I just know the Senator wants to remind everybody, one more show Monday.
- [41:12]
Ben Ferguson
I thought you told me this was the last one before inauguration. I was listening to you at the beginning of the show. You said that.
- [41:20]
Senator Ted Cruz
You know, I'm changing here. I'm just moving with the calendar, moving with the times here, Senator. So we'll have that final one for you before inauguration that will air on Monday on Inauguration Day. Don't forget, our weekend review will be on Saturday as well. Hit that subscribe or auto download button and we'll see you back here on Saturday and then for one more show on Monday as well.
- [41:43]
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