BONUS POD: Civil War Inside the Democratic Party Erupts Over ICE Enforcement

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz

BONUS POD: "Civil War Inside the Democratic Party Erupts Over ICE Enforcement"

Release Date: January 21, 2026
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz (not present in this episode) & Ben Ferguson (hosting solo)

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Verdict, host Ben Ferguson delves into escalating tensions within the Democratic Party over ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) operations, particularly referencing events in Minnesota. Ferguson frames the debate as a “civil war” among Democrats—between factions openly calling to abolish ICE and those who want to guise their aims. The episode centrally criticizes Democratic leaders’ positions on law enforcement and accuses them of protecting criminal illegal immigrants, while spotlighting their rhetoric and responses to recent ICE arrests and leftist protests.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Framing the Democratic Party’s “Civil War” (03:04)

• Ferguson opens by asserting that the Democratic Party is in turmoil over how to handle ICE, with some wanting to abolish it outright (“do we just straight up be honest and say we want to abolish ICE or do we kind of lie a little bit?” – 03:11).
• The host portrays the Democrats as “going to war with ICE” rather than with criminals being arrested for grave offenses.

2. Spotlight on Recent Arrests in Minnesota (04:16)

• Ferguson and an unnamed official discuss specific “criminal illegal aliens” arrested in Minneapolis, referencing charges including sex offense against a child, rape, lewd or lascivious acts with a minor, and domestic assault.
• The official criticizes local and state media for not reporting these arrests:

  "It's very interesting that I haven't seen this individual or many others like him reported on very much by the local news media or the state news media." – Guest, 04:55

3. Critique of Democratic Leaders’ Responses (06:46)

• Ferguson accuses leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer of defending convicted criminals and claims Democrats are acting to keep “rapists and child molesters” in the country.
• He argues that Democrats are reverting to a “playbook” of demonizing ICE, describing agents as Gestapo and denying the agency’s focus on serious criminals.

4. Democratic Rhetoric and Protests (08:46)

• Ferguson plays and reacts to clips from Democrats including Chris Van Hollen, who praises protesters opposing ICE:

  "One of the things that gives me great hope even amidst all of this division and chaos sown by Donald Trump, are the patriots in places like Minneapolis who are standing up, blowing whistles to protect their neighbors." – Chris Van Hollen, 08:48

• Ferguson criticizes the celebration of these “patriots,” equating their actions with protecting criminals and lambasts local governments for refusing to cooperate with ICE (“let them go instead of actually holding them for ICE” – 09:31).

5. Responses to Church Protests and Local Leaders (10:36)

• The St. Paul mayor, when questioned about protesters entering a church to target a supposed ICE-affiliated pastor, suggests law enforcement would have responded the same way to any disturbance at a place of worship (10:53).
• Ferguson argues this amounts to tacit approval for far-left groups disrupting religious services.

6. Senator Tina Smith’s Position (12:01)

• Smith, asked about protests targeting churches, emphasizes most Minnesota demonstrations are “peaceful and nonviolent” and advises not to “fuel Donald Trump’s narrative” (12:25).
• Ferguson criticizes Smith for what he sees as minimization of aggressive acts and claims this demonstrates pride in far-left activism.

7. Narrative from Minneapolis City Council (13:20)

• Ferguson features a city council member characterizing ICE as not being about public safety, and even blaming federal agents for the city’s first murder.

  “If this was about safety, ICE would be out of our city.” – Democratic Minneapolis City Council Member, 13:50

• Ferguson calls this a “disgusting lie” and accuses city officials of refusing to confront crime.

8. Stacy Abrams and National Democratic Messaging (15:18)

• Ferguson plays a clip of Stacey Abrams drawing parallels between the rise of Trump and historical dictatorships via “economic populism.”

  “Economic populism raised up Hitler in Germany. It raised up Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. And we watched it raise up Trump and his regime right here in America.” – Stacey Abrams, 15:18

• The host contends this reveals the left’s willingness to rhetorically escalate in opposing Trump and ICE.

9. John Ossoff’s Church Comment (16:29)

• Ossoff is quoted as refusing to directly condemn protests targeting church pastors suspected of immigration enforcement ties, instead refocusing on care for the vulnerable in a biblical context.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben Ferguson’s Framing:

  "There is anarchy in the Democratic Party right now and they have gone to war. Not with the people that they should be going to war with—the criminals... but instead they're now going to war with ICE." — Ben Ferguson, 03:07

• On Arrested Criminals:

  “These individuals were walking the streets of Minneapolis with impunity as of yesterday.” — Guest, 04:20
  “…there's a whole stack of them… when we look over the past year at the 10,000 that have been arrested here… that stack is enormous.” — Guest, 05:38

• On Protesters' Actions:

  “They are protecting the child rapists and the murderers, the worst among us that ICE are going out to get.” — Ben Ferguson, 09:24

• On Local Government:

  “In Minneapolis, the local government refuses to work with ICE… let them go instead of actually holding them for ICE…” — Ben Ferguson, 09:29

• Stacy Abrams on Trump:

  “Economic populism raised up Hitler in Germany. It raised up Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. And we watched it raise up Trump and his regime right here in America.” — Stacey Abrams, 15:18

• Takeaway Message:

  “This is why every election is so important. It’s also the reason why so many voted for Donald Trump because they want law and order now.” — Ben Ferguson, 16:57

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Event | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 03:04 | Ferguson sets up “civil war” within the Democratic Party | | 04:16 | Discussion of specific ICE arrests in Minnesota | | 06:46 | Ferguson criticizes Democratic leaders, references Schumer| | 08:46 | Chris Van Hollen defends protestors in Minneapolis | | 10:36 | St. Paul mayor on protests disrupting church service | | 12:01 | Senator Tina Smith addresses protest methods | | 13:20 | Minneapolis City Council comments on ICE and safety | | 15:18 | Stacey Abrams invokes Hitler/Chavez in analogizing Trump | | 16:29 | John Ossoff’s church-related remarks | | 17:37 | Ferguson’s closing statement and call to action |

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Tone & Style

• The episode is combative, urgent, and critical, with Ferguson using strong language (“anarchy,” “deranged mobs,” “civil war,” “Gestapo”) to characterize Democrats’ actions and rhetoric.
• Democratic leaders are repeatedly accused of dishonesty, endangering public safety, and attacking law enforcement, while Republican positions—including Trump’s—are portrayed as defenders of order and justice.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode offers an unapologetically conservative critique of the Democratic Party’s internal strife over ICE enforcement, featuring a string of quotes and real-world incidents from Minneapolis as proof of dangerous leniency toward criminal illegal immigrants. Host Ben Ferguson portrays Democrats as radicalized, arguing that they protect lawbreakers and vilify ICE, all while refusing to confront the fallout in their own communities. The show includes pointed reactions to statements from prominent Democrats, ending with a call for listeners to take the left’s rhetoric seriously when preparing for future elections.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson (Host)]

You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.

[Ben Ferguson]

Good Wednesday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update. It is a civil war in The Democratic Party right now, Democrats coming out in force trying to demonize ice and more of them calling to abolish ICE altogether. So what are they going to do and what is President Trump have to say in response? It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.

[Ben Ferguson (Host)]

Story number one, there is anarchy in.

[Ben Ferguson]

The Democratic Party right now and they have gone to war. Not with the people that they should be going to war with the criminals who are being arrested in this country, but instead they're now going to war with ice. Now, there is a civil war within the Democratic Party of their trying to decide, do we just straight up be honest and say we want to abolish ICE or do we kind of lie a little bit? Now, before I get to that, I want you to hear about the arrests that have happened since yesterday in Minnesota. I want you to listen to what the federal government has put out about the arrest since yesterday. As Democrats say that ICE need to get the F out of their city, the F out of their state, and there needs to be a civil war against the ICE agents. This is also coming as the Democratic Party is saying in the future they may go out and arrest ICE agents and hold them accountable for the crimes they claim they're committing now. So who are they actually out arresting? Well, listen to this. And this is again, just since yesterday.

[Guest / Expert / Official]

He came here today. I printed out a couple of a few individuals that I'd like to share with you. Individuals that were arrested since yesterday. These three individuals were arrested just since yesterday. Keep in mind now, these individuals were walking the streets of Minneapolis with impunity as of yesterday. We've got Hovi Kumaye, a criminal illegal alien from Laos, a registered sex offender, convicted of sex offense against a child, including fondling and failure to register as a sex offender. This individual was walking the streets of Minneapolis just yesterday. This individual right here. It's very interesting that I haven't seen this individual or many others like him reported on very much by the local news media or the state news media. That's interesting. Let's don't quit there. No, you can't. Let's continue here. We've got Samuel Arabella Hernandez, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, charged with rape and lewd or lascivious acts with a minor. Now think about that for just a second. Rape. And then on top of that, lewd and lascivious acts of the minor. This individual is walking the streets of Minneapolis with impunity just yesterday. Let's don't quit there. Let's, let's Keep on there. We've got Annabelle Gomez, a criminal illegal alien from Honduras, previously arrested for criminal sexual conduct and domestic assault. Other convictions include disorderly conduct and driving under the influence of liquor, walking the streets. As of yesterday, these are just three. Three that I decided to print out. There's a whole stack of them. There's a whole stack of these. As a matter of fact, when we look over the past year at the 10,000 that have been arrested here in Minneapolis and Minnesota, that stack is enormous. These are the kinds of individuals this operation focuses on, individuals who escalate situations and endanger others. Again, our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues and ma and PA America. This is exactly, exactly why interior enforcement exists, to remove dangerous criminals from our communities. Remove dangerous illegal alien criminals from our communities. It's all.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, these are the stories the left doesn't want you to know about, because this is all about a civil war. Quote, trump's politicalization of the DOJ will not deter Mayor Fry, Governor Waltz, and AG Ellison from doing their jobs to protect the people of Minnesota. I stand with them against these blatant abuse of power. So let's just be clear. Senator Schumer is fighting hard to. To keep criminals like Paul Jong, a rapist and child molester, in the country. He's been convicted of sex offenses against child fondling, burglary, larceny and rape. He was arrested in Minnesota. This individual is who Chuck Schumer is defending in the Democratic Party. That's where the Civil war comes in. There are other Democrats who are like, we can't say that publicly. Like, we know we want to abolish ice and we are the same party that says we wanna get rid of police officers. But now, how do you actually accomplish this? That is the debate they're having on tv. Now they're going back to their old playbook, which is to demonize, dehumanize, and try to convince Americans that ICE agents are the Gestapo, that ICE agents are not crime fighters, not actually going after the worst that are out there, that are illegal immigrants, you know, the rapists and the murderers and the sex traffickers and the drug deal. No, no, no, no. They want you to believe that somehow that is ice. And the Do Gooders are the people that broke into this country that are also committing heinous crimes. Take a listen to Chris Van Hollen. This is what he had to say is he's trying to rewrite history. And there's a theme that is happening. This is orchestrated by the Democratic Party. Listen to what he said about the deranged leftists that are impeding ICE operations and what he calls them.

[Guest / Expert / Official]

One of the things that gives me great hope even amidst all of this division and chaos sown by Donald Trump, are the patriots in places like Minneapolis who are standing up, blowing whistles to protect their neighbors. Blowing whistles on the illegal tactics of ice. And I was just at a rally in Hagerstown, Maryland, today. Hundreds of people coming out because ISIS signaled that they might use a facility in Hagerstown for their purposes. And people were coming out to say no.

[Ben Ferguson]

You listen to Van Hollen. One of the things that gives me great hope are the patriots in places like Minneapolis who are standing up, blowing whistles to protect their neighbors. Now, who are they actually protecting? They are protecting the child rapists and the murderers, the worst among us that ICE are going out to get. And why are they having to do that? Because in Minneapolis, the local government refuses to work with ICE. There have been more than 500 people that could have been handed over to ICE that were in custody of the Minneapolis police departments. And what do they do? They let them go instead of actually holding them for ICE to be held accountable for their actions. This, again, is the Democratic Party. You take a listen to the St. Paul mayor. You may not have heard much about her compared to the mayor of Minneapolis who said to get the F out of our city, referring to ICE agents, but she's just about as radical as he is. And I want you to hear what she said about the targeting of church members that happened over the weekend. Don Lemon, the former CNN radical, was there as well. And here's what she said.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Curious how you see this. Do you think that some of those protesters may have gone beyond their First Amendment rights and going into a church like that and broke the law? I will say that. That, you know, ISIS led the way in their charge of going on to school properties and detaining people from places that should be just as well kept sacred. And so, you know, we would have. We responded the exact same way we would have at any place of worship that our PD came in. And, you know, because this is an ongoing investigation, I can't comment more than that, but I would say we would have handled this in any other way. In any other place of worship.

[Ben Ferguson]

In any other place of worship. So there's the St. Paul mayor who's done nothing about the deranged mobs that are targeting a church during their church service and then defending these far leftists and then blames ice. ICE has led the way. We responded the Exact same way we would have at any place of worship. Meaning that if these radicals want to come into a church during a service and terrorize those parishioners in Minneapolis and in St. Paul, they're in favor of it. Take a listen to Democratic Senator Tina Smith refusing to answer a simple question. And the simple question is, hey, these far left anti ICE mobs, should they be targeting churches during service? Here's what the Senator had to say.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Yesterday we saw a group of protesters go into the city's church to protest a pastor that they believe is an ICE agent. That has, of course, generated considerable criticism from those who say this was a desecration of a place of worship. Would you urge protesters to do more of what we're seeing here, or do you think that is counterproductive for what they're trying to achieve? So almost all of the protests and demonstrations that we've seen in Minnesota, and especially in Minneapolis and St. Paul, have been peaceful, have been nonviolent. And of course, that is the right response. What all of our messages have been is basically don't take the bait, don't fuel the President's narrative, don't fuel Donald Trump's narrative that this is, that this is a dangerous place. Let's show them how we stand up for each other and stand up for our neighbors. And that's what makes me so proud of Minnesota.

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[Ben Ferguson]

You listen to that Democratic senator. She now says that's what makes her so proud. Almost all of the protests and demonstrations that we've seen in Minnesota have been peaceful. So she's telling you and admitting, okay, yeah, some of them have gotten completely out of hand. But we're just so proud of all these people that just keep showing up. And we're just so proud that they're out there terrorizing people in church. Democratic Minneapolis city council member telling this lie about ICE agents. And again, this goes back to the playbook of dehumanizing and attacking ICE agents, trying to turn them into the bad guys, into the Gestapo. Remember, you have a mayor and a governor that have not only disparaged ICE agents, but they've said they want a civil war and they can get the F out of their city. Well, now you've got a Democratic Minneapolis City Council member saying this. Every single person in the city understands that this is not here for public safety. Right, Jake? We've had the first murder in the city of Minneapolis, was perpetrated by federal agents. If this was about safety, ICE would be out of our city. And so I think we are seeing every Single individual from every single corner walk of life in this city start to understand that this is not about safety and that we are trying to do something here in our city because it's not. Okay? So to be clear, that is a Democratic City Council member telling a lie to a Jake Tapper. Notice how he doesn't say a word to stop him? A disgusting lie to smear ICE agents who are already under attack while trying to arrest rapists, murderers and pedophiles. This city council member said this was just. If this was about safety, ICE would be out of our city. No, ICE is actually doing the job that you refuse to do. Minnesota Democrats are protecting the criminal illegals, just like the fraudsters who are there that have stolen countless dollars from American taxpayers. You've got deranged individuals out there just like Stacey Abrams invoking Hitler and Chavez when trying to smear President Trump. This is part of the Democratic Party, Stacy Abrams saying it this way in an interview. Listen carefully the words she chooses.

[Interviewer / Reporter]

Economic populism raised up Hitler in Germany. It raised up Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. And we watched it raise up Trump and his regime right here in America.

[Ben Ferguson]

That is Stacey Abrams invoking Hitler and Chavez when smearing President Trump. Why is she allowed to say this and get away with it in her own party? Because they believe it. They are going to continue to advocate and to completely go after Donald Trump and any Republican and ICE agents and law enforcement because they do not want law and order in America. John Ossoff saying this about what is happening in Minnesota and did he condemn the violence? Does he condemn what's happening with ICE agents? Well, here he is in his own words. I don't know, Pastor, where it is in Scripture that it says deny care to the sick, that it says take from those with the least to give.

[Guest / Expert / Official]

To those with the most, that it says violate the house of worship to.

[Ben Ferguson]

Hunt down the refugee. Notice he has no problem with hunting down the pastor who they think is connected to law and order. He won't condemn the far Left, the anti ICE mob that targeted a church in St. Paul during service, and instead slanders ICE for arresting criminal illegals. So this is the Democratic Party filled with Marxist socialists and communists who wanted to fund all law enforcement and wanted to fund ice. This is why every election is so important. It's also the reason why so many voted for Donald Trump because they want law and order now. Thank goodness Donald Trump is not giving in to the radical left. Instead, he's holding them accountable. And as the left continues to tell you what they believe in. I say one thing, listen to them. This is what they believe. This is what they want for this country. This is how much they hate law enforcement when they tell you believe them. And it's our job to call them out.

[Ben Ferguson (Host)]

Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson Podcast and we will see you back here on Monday morning.

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[Ben Ferguson]

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