Liberals Celebrate Kirk Assassination on Social Media, 'Love' Texts from Assassin to Boyfriend & Designating Antifa as Terrorist Organization Week In Review

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz - "Liberals Celebrate Kirk Assassination on Social Media, 'Love' Texts from Assassin to Boyfriend & Designating Antifa as Terrorist Organization Week In Review"

Date: September 20, 2025
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz & Ben Ferguson

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Episode Overview

This "Weekend Review" episode dives deep into transformative news of the week, focusing on the aftermath and media response to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The episode examines the reactions on social media and in traditional media, unpacks newly released text messages between the assassin and his transgender boyfriend, and details legislative and executive moves to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. Throughout, Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson highlight perceived double standards in media coverage, the weaponization of language, and the political importance of tracking the funding behind left-wing activism and political violence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media and Social Media Reaction to Charlie Kirk's Assassination

[03:07 – 11:34]

• Double Standards in Political Violence:

  • The hosts note a stark contrast between the conservative reaction to Kirk’s assassination and violence seen in other political contexts:
    • “Did any cities get burned down? No, none. Police officers that were attacked? No. Was there any assaults on people because that were angry? No.” (Sen. Cruz, 03:57)
  • They accuse mainstream media and left-wing pundits of not condemning those who celebrated Kirk's death, and even enabling such sentiment.

• Debate on Free Speech vs. Consequences:

  • Cruz and Ferguson clarify the boundaries of free speech:
    • “...you have a First Amendment right to say unbelievably horrible hateful things...The First Amendment does not mean that you are immune from the consequences of your speech.” (Cruz, 05:04)
  • Citing hypothetical situations, they argue that expressing joy over murder, especially from positions of power, should have consequences, such as losing a job or being expelled from university.
  • Ferguson references the president of the Oxford Union, who celebrated Kirk's death on social media, as an example of toxic normalization of violence.

• Polling Data on Political Violence:

  • The hosts reference polling that allegedly shows “50.2%” of self-described left-of-center respondents justify the murder of Elon Musk, and “56%” for Donald Trump, highlighting leftist radicalization. (Ferguson, 07:44)
  • They urge Democrats to forcefully denounce violence, citing Bill Maher's stance that “Donald Trump is not Hitler. Stop saying that.” (Ted Cruz, 09:29)
    • Notable quote:
      • "Stop saying it. Exactly. Well. And I think now they're realizing that using the words fascist and Hitler and these types of things has desensitized people and allowed for this type of violence to become reality." (Sen. Cruz, 09:29)

• Silver Linings in Response:

  • Despite the tragedy, the hosts find solace in public support for Kirk after his death:
    • “His Christian testimony has become so powerful. I will say his wife, Erica, the speech she gave this week reduced me to tears.” (Ben Ferguson, 10:22)
    • The aftermath has prompted more people to engage with Kirk’s work, go to church, and read the Bible.

• Call to Investigate Funding:

  • Cruz and Ferguson urge authorities to “follow the money” behind left-wing activism and violence:
    • “There is real money that is going into these riots. On campus that is going into funding Antifa, that is going into funding Black Lives Matter. ...We need to follow the money behind the radicalization.” (Cruz, 11:02)

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2. The Assassin’s Text Messages and Media Coverage

[14:42 – 27:16]

• Newly Released Text Messages:

  • Ferguson reads disturbing texts between the assassin and his transgender boyfriend, emphasizing that they serve as a full confession:
    • “Now, number one, reading those text exchanges, it is 100% clear. It's not 99%. It's not 98%. It's 100% clear. This defendant is the murderer. He is the assassin.” (Ferguson, 18:57)
  • The texts indicate clear motive and premeditation, including explicit details.
  • Both hosts refuse to name the perpetrator (“I don't repeat these bastards name.” - Ferguson, 15:34) to deny notoriety.

• Criticism of Mainstream Media’s Framing:

  • They accuse networks like CNN and MSNBC of obscuring the motive.

    • “Kaitlan Collins and CNN and msnbc, they say, we don't know the motive. ... Yes, they have. They repeatedly laid out the motive. ...He was not hiding his motive.” (Sen. Cruz, 19:51)

  • The most heated criticism is leveled at ABC News for how they covered the text messages, alleging they romanticized the relationship and overlooked the gravity of the crime.

    • Memorable exchange with ABC audio:
      • “[ABC] It was very touching in a way that I think many of us didn’t expect. A very intimate portrait into this relationship between the suspect’s roommate and the suspect himself...” (ABC, 21:11)
    • Hosts’ response:
      • “Touching and loving. Oh, these text messages. I murdered this person for you. Oh, my love. Pitter patter, pitter patter. That is repulsive.” (Ben Ferguson, 22:14)
      • “It’s like what in the world are you guys doing over there at ABC News with your Special Report live coverage?” (Sen. Cruz, 21:58)

• ABC’s “Doubling Down”:

  • The hosts play a second clip where ABC’s Matt Gutman insists again on the emotional and “touching” aspects of the exchange:
    • “He kept calling him my love. My reason for doing this is to protect you, you know, but also asking him to delete the messages and not speak to law enforcement. So there's this heartbreaking duality...” (Matt Gutman, 24:38)
    • Cruz and Ferguson find this framing “repulsive” and symptomatic of what they view as a broader media corruption.

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3. Pursuing Antifa as a Terrorist Organization & Following the Money

[30:12 – 38:10]

• Cruz’s Senate Judiciary Committee Exchange with FBI Director (Kash Patel):

  • Cruz recounts urging the FBI and administration to “follow the money” behind violent protests and to officially designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.
    • “Antifa. Do you believe Antifa is a terrorist organization?...I would encourage the administration to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.” (Ben Ferguson & Sen. Cruz, 30:33)
  • He introduces (and supports) the Stop Funders Act, which would add rioting as a RICO predicate, enabling the prosecution of those who financially support violent protests.

• Testimony and Trump Administration Action:

  • Cruz details how, the day after his Judiciary Committee push, President Trump responds by declaring his intention to designate Antifa a terrorist organization, with heavy consequences for its funders.
    • “Trump described the group as, quote, a sick, dangerous, radical left disaster. ...strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated...” (Ferguson, 33:57)
  • Cruz asserts that this move distinguishes protected speech from criminal conduct:
    • “Free speech is protected. You can say things that are vile, ...Conduct is not protected. When you engage in violence, it is not protected. What an TIFA is doing, engaging in violence, engaging in harassment, engaging in threats, that is not protected.” (Cruz, 35:18)

• Foreign and Domestic Funding Claims:

  • Cruz suspects Antifa and related protests are funded from both foreign hostile actors (Qatar, Iran, China) and wealthy leftist donors like George Soros.

• Importance of RICO Prosecutions:

  • Discussion of the need to attack not just “street-level” actors but the network of financiers:
    • “If you want to solve the problem, it's why I've introduced the legislation, the Stop Funders Act. Because RICO is an incredibly powerful tool to prosecute not just an individual defendant, but a criminal organization.” (Cruz, 36:13)

• Host’s Concluding Distinction:

  • “If you engage in violence, it is not speech. Violence is not speech.” (Ben Ferguson, 37:47)
  • Cruz and Ferguson maintain that the true task is to protect all forms of speech, even distasteful ones, but to draw a hard line at violence.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Free Speech and Consequences:
  • "The First Amendment does not mean that you are immune from the consequences of your speech." (Sen. Cruz, 05:04)
  • "If you go in and tell your boss, go screw yourself, yeah, you're gonna get fired." (Cruz, 07:42)
• On Normalizing Political Violence:
  • “This is a problem when you define your opponent as Hitler, Nazi, evil, fascist. That is a permission structure to then say violence is an appropriate response.” (Ferguson, 07:44)
  • “Now they're realizing that using the words fascist and Hitler and these types of things has desensitized people and allowed for this type of violence to become reality." (Cruz, 09:29)
• On ABC’s Coverage:
  • “That is repulsive. It is repulsive that ABC News is gushing over this psychopathic murderer...To them it is sweet and beautiful. This radical leftist murdering Charlie Kirk. I got a message for you guys. It’s not sweet and it’s not beautiful.” (Ben Ferguson, 22:14)
• On Antifa as a Terrorist Organization:
  • “There’s a big difference between a political organization and a terrorist organization. And Antifa has all the markings, as you described it, of a terrorist organization.” (Sen. Cruz, 37:13)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:07] - Start of main content, outlining episode themes
• [07:44] - Discussion of political violence polling and the normalization of rhetoric
• [10:22] - Reaction to public mourning and rallying support for Kirk
• [14:42] - Examination of assassin’s text messages
• [21:11] - ABC News coverage and hosts' reaction
• [24:38] - Second ABC News segment, hosts' strong response
• [30:12] - Details on Cruz’s exchange with Cash Patel and legislative push
• [33:57] - Trump administration responds, officially moves to designate Antifa
• [36:13] - RICO strategy explanation
• [37:47] - Summarizing distinction between speech and violence

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Tone & Language

• The tone is passionate, assertive, and often combative toward mainstream media and political adversaries.
• Both hosts use vivid, unfiltered language to emphasize points (e.g., “repulsive,” “psychopathic murderer,” “gushing”).
• There is a consistent focus on double standards and perceived left-wing hypocrisy.

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For Listeners

• This episode synthesizes a critical conservative take on the week’s events, centered on the intersection of political violence, media coverage, free speech, and policy.
• The show is especially notable for its unflinching criticism of media responses and the push for real-world policy change regarding Antifa.
• Listeners interested in further details can find extended discussions in the full episodes referenced by the hosts.

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Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Welcome. It is verdict with Ted Cruz Week in Review. Ben Ferguson with you. And these are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, media and social media. Why are they not coming out condemning those who are celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk? In fact, they're allowing it to happen. So what does this say about America? We're going to break that down. Also we have the text messages now from the assassin to his roommate, transgender lover. What was said in there that's so revealing that in a moment. And finally, Cash Patel and Senator Cruz on naming antifa a terrorist organization and what this means moving forward. It's the weekend review and it starts right now. I go back to this. How many, I mean we watched one of our own be assassinated. Did any cities get burned down?

[Ben Ferguson]

No, none.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Police officers that were attacked? No. Was there any assaults on people because that were angry? No. And yet they're mad. I love this headline from the Daily Beast which if you don't know what that is, a hardcore liberal propaganda machine that has an incredible amount of influence in the left. Their headline yesterday, 10:05am Keyboard warriors grieving this week's assassination of self anointed champion of quote unquote free speech Charlie Kirk have launched an online campaign to get anyone who criticizes him fired from their jobs. Their sub headline is free speech crazed maga. Karen's go full cancel culture on Kirk critics. No, let's be clear about the people we are exposing. It's people. They weren't criticizing Charlie Kirk. They were. They were celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk and our major positions of power at universities and at other jobs or things like we mentioned earlier where they refused to put up to print out a piece of paper for goodness sakes.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, but Ben, let me make two distinctions that are important because it's easy to get these confused. Number one, let's talk free speech. Yes. In the United States the First Amendment gives you the right to speech, to speak and not to be criminally prosecuted for it. So you can say the most horrible hateful things. You do have a First Amendment right to say unbelievably horrible hateful things. You can say that you are celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk or anyone else and the First Amendment will protect your ability to do so. Which means the government cannot come prosecute you and put you in jail for saying that. The First Amendment does not mean that you are immune from the consequences of your speech. And if you say things that are horrible and hateful, it is not uncommon for someone to be terminated. So, for example, at a university, if a student goes and decides to dress in a white robe as a Klansman and burn a cross and say that we should murder African American students, I guarantee you that student will be expelled from school. Now, you can't prosecute him. He has a First Amendment right to do that. So that is not a criminal offense to do that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Correct.

[Ben Ferguson]

But the university should absolutely expel him because of just how noxious those views are. The same is true here. When you have teachers that are celebrating cold blooded murder, there are consequences for that. But that's a distinction I'll point out. Also, the president of the Oxford Union who debated Charlie Kirk and is this vicious leftist, he put out a tweet celebrating let's effing go. He said when Charlie Kirk was shot. This is a guy who literally had one on one debated against Charlie Kirk, and he is the incoming president of the Oxford Union, which pretentiously describes itself as the world's greatest debating society. Look, in my view, this individual ought to be expelled from Oxford for the same reason you would expel him if he were a Klansman burning a cross and saying, let's murder black students. Now, the United Kingdom does not have the same First Amendment that applies to it the way the United States does. So actually, in England, if he said that, he might well be criminally prosecuted. I don't agree with criminally prosecuting speech, but the First Amendment does not give you a get out of jail free pass. Look, I promise you, any one of you in your jobs, if you go in and tell your boss, go screw.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yourself, yeah, you're gonna get fired.

[Ben Ferguson]

You will get fired. You have a first amount right to say so, but he also has a right to terminate you. But let me say secondly on this, both sides ism. The media really wants to say, gosh, political violence, it's a problem that just occurs everywhere. No, right now it is heavily concentrated on the left. And the left has normalized political violence. We saw two separate assassination attempts of Donald Trump. We saw this tragically successful assassination of Charlie Kirk over. And we saw for a year antifa and Black Lives Matter riots. And I want to read you some polling results that were done last year and people were asked, would it be justified to murder Elon Musk and Would it be justified to murder Donald Trump? And those who were self described left of center, 50.2% said it would be justified to murder elon Musk, and 56% said it would be justified to murder Donald Trump. That is. And by the way, the right of center numbers were 14.3% and 20.3%. So I wish all those numbers were zero. But this is a problem on the left. This is a problem when you define your opponent as Hitler, Nazi, evil, fascist. That is a permission structure to then say violence is an appropriate response. And we need to see Democrats having the courage to say enough is enough. Look, Bill Maher did a great job where he, in his monologue, he said, let's be clear, Donald Trump is not Hitler. Stop saying that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Stop saying it. Exactly. Well. And I think now they're realizing that using the words fascist and Hitler and these types of things has desensitized people and advocated and allowed for this type of violence to become reality. Where the big question people are asking is, what's next? I do want to say one thing that I think I found incredibly comforting is seeing how many young people are at colleges this weekend over college football. We're putting up signs saying that they are Charlie Kirk. The number of people that are following him now on Instagram exploded by. I don't think I'm wrong. I think it's millions of people now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Who are following his. I think it is likely that more people have listened to Charlie Kirk speak in the last week than did in the entirety of his life.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And that's the silver lining.

[Ben Ferguson]

His Christian testimony has become so powerful. I will say his wife, Erica, the speech she gave this week reduced me to tears. It was beautiful. God's anointing was upon her as she did that. And a lot of people who had never clicked on and watched Charlie Kirk say anything this week did so and said, hey, who is this guy that touched so many people? I think a lot of people chose to open their Bible and start reading their Bible. A lot of people chose to go to church. That is a great thing. That is something I hope and believe we're going to see a lot more of. And let me say in subsequent podcasts, we're going to talk about what's coming next. And here's one of the most important things that I am urging the President, the Department of justice, the FBI to do, which is follow the money. Follow the money of everyone that is pushing this leftist hatred, that is pushing this violence. There is real money that is going into these riots. On campus that is going into funding Antifa, that is going into funding Black Lives Matter. And we need to this is not just one isolated lunatic in Utah. We need to follow the money behind the radicalization that is leading to people being so twisted and engaging in these horrific acts of violence.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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

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Dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.

[Ben Ferguson]

The News Agents.

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

And The News Agents USA listening to.

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The News Agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free Iheart app and search the news agents to start listening.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now on to story number two. I want to move to the text messages that have come out and it's very interesting to see all of the evidence that is now we are seeing the transparency of these text messages that were between the, the shooter and his transgender boyfriend. And, and I, I also want to say there's some people that are saying, oh, you're, you're taking this hook, line and sinker. I don't know if they planned the text messages. I don't know if this was him trying to protect the roommate and act like the roommate knew nothing about it. I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of that. But what was shocking about this is how the media decide to play it and romanticize their relationship through the text messages. In the weirdest, creepiest way I've ever seen the mainstream media do this.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, look, I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to read you these text messages because they're horrifying. But it, but it makes clear there is no doubt that this murderer is guilty. And by the way, there is a reason I won't say the murderer's name. Because anyone who engages in a mass murder and horrific crime like this, part of the reason they do this, they want to be famous. I don't repeat these bastards name. I will call him the murderer or the assassin or the defendant, but I will not say his name. But the murderer and his boyfriend were exchanging texts and the murderer left under a keyboard in their apartment a note saying that he had the opportunity to kill Charlie Kirk and he took it. And his boyfriend, who is a man who is transgender and transitioning to be a woman, responded what? With like a whole bunch of question marks. And you're joking, right? And, and here's the exchange. The murderer says, I'm still okay, my love, but I'm stuck in Orem for a little while longer. Shouldn't be Long until I can come home. But I got to grab my rifle. Still, to be honest, I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I'm sorry to involve. You weren't the one who did it, right? I am. I'm sorry. I thought they caught the person. No. They grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in similar clothing. I had planned to grab my rifle from the drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. It's quiet. Almost enough to get out, but there's one vehicle. Lingering Boyfriend. Why? Murderer. Why did I do it? Boyfriend? Yeah. Murderer. I've had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. If I'm able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again. Hopefully they have moved on. I haven't seen anything about them finding it. Boyfriend. How long have you been planning this? Murderer. A bit over a week. I believe I can get close to it, but there is a squad car parked by it. I think they already swept the spot, but I don't want to chance it. Murderer. I wish I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle. I'm worried what my old man would do if I didn't bring back Grandpa's rifle. I don't know if it had a serial number, but it wouldn't trace to me. I worry about prints. I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits. Didn't have the ability or time to bring it with. I might have to abandon it and hope they don't find Prince. How the f will I explain losing it to my old man? Only thing I left was the rifle wrapped in a towel. Remember how I was engraving bullets? The effing messages are mostly a big meme. If I see notices bulges uwu on Fox News, I might have a stroke. All right, I'm going to have to leave it. That really effing sucks. Those are the text exchanges. Now, number one, reading those text exchanges, it is 100% clear. It's not 99%. It's not 98%. It's 100% clear. This defendant is the murderer. He is the assassin. He is confessing to his boyfriend. I did it. He is confessing details of the crime that only the murderer would would know. He will be convicted. He was charged today. He will be convicted. But he is guilty today. Based on that evidence, it is 100% certain. He is guilty and his motive is clear. You know Kaitlan Collins and CNN and msnbc, they say, we don't know the motive. Maybe he just disliked tall people. Maybe he was just, you know, firing his gun in celebration and it accidentally hit the throat.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Accidentally. Somebody that was there excited just to see Charlie Kirk. And it went off randomly.

[Ben Ferguson]

Like the level of. And by the way, an idiot commentator at MSNBC said maybe it was a supporter of Charlie Kirk firing his gun in celebration. Now, thankfully, that commentator got fired for that idiocy. But the motive is absolutely clear. He hated Charlie Kirk. He's a left wing antifa activist. He's a transgender activist. He is sleeping with a transgender man who is transitioning to be a woman. And so the motive is that there's no ambiguity. But CNN hates that motive. They cannot admit that's what happened. Oh, my goodness. That would undermine their entire political agenda. So they desperately have to say the motive is unclear. By the way, Kaitlan Collins said repeatedly, well, law enforcement hasn't laid out the motive. Yes, they have. They repeatedly laid out the motive. They said it's a left wing activist who's radicalized. The bullets had carved on them antifa and transgender messages. I mean, this is not subtle. He was not hiding his motive. But, but, but I have to say, as repulsive as CNN's reaction was, ABC's was worse. I want you to listen.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Way worse. Way worse. Like, you can't overstate it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay, I want you to listen to ABC News's reaction to this text exchange between the murderer and his transgender boyfriend. Here. Give a listen.

[H]

You have seen an alleged murder with such specific text messages about the alleged murder weapon, where it was hidden, how it was placed, what was on it. But also, it was very touching in a way that I think many of us didn't expect. A very intimate portrait into this relationship between the suspect's roommate and the suspect himself, with him repeatedly calling his roommate who was transitioning, calling him my love and I want to protect you, my love. So it was this duality of someone who the attorney said, not only jeopardize the life of Charlie Kirk and the crowd, but was doing it in front of children, which is one of the aggravating circumstances of this case. And on the other hand, he was, you know, speaking so lovingly about his partner. So a very interesting and as Pierre said, riveting press conference.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

David. I love how they say it's a riveting press conference center. It's riveting and just, you know, he referred to him as my love. And this is just so sweet and sincere. It's like what in the world are you guys doing over there at ABC News with your Special Report live coverage?

[Ben Ferguson]

Touching and loving. Oh, these text messages. I murdered this person for you. Oh, my love. Oh, my love. Pitter patter, pitter patter. That is repulsive. It is repulsive that ABC News is gushing over this psychopathic murderer and ABC News. Oh, they're touching and sweet text messages. He is confessing to a deliberate murder because he hates what somebody is saying. He murdered a husband. He murdered a father of two little kids. One boy, one girl. And ABC News thinks it's so sweet that he confessed to his transgender boyfriend, which, of course, they call his roommate, even though he's calling him my love. Like, there is no ambiguity when you call someone my love. What exactly the relationship is. But ABC News cannot admit to them it is sweet and beautiful. This radical leftist murdering Charlie Kirk. I got. I got a message for you guys. It's not sweet and it's not beautiful.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. By the way, side note on this, I don't know if you knew this, but 10 minutes after that, like, the Internet exploded over it. He went back on and doubled down on it and basically did the same thing again. Like, I'm not backing down from this. I think it's genuine. Genuine and sweet and sincere in a.

[Ben Ferguson]

Love story, you know, what a romantic Romeo and Juliet story, you know, psycho leftist murderer killing people because he's filled with hate. I can't think of anything more beautiful than that. Certain. Certainly ABC News is very persuasive in that regard.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it's there. He'll be the face of the network before you know it.

[Ben Ferguson]

God help us. Did he really double down? Did he really go back on air and do it again?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Yes. Do you want to hear it? Because I've got it if you want to hear it.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is. This is Matt Gutman.

[Ben Ferguson]

I haven't heard this, so. So play it for us.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So this is 10 minutes after he said on ABC News Live. It's heartbreaking on so many levels. Obviously, Charlie Kirk was murdered brutally in front of a crowd of thousands. On the other hand, there is this duality of every portrait of a. Of a. Again, his exact words of a very. Like, this is like, love story.

[Ben Ferguson]

Touching.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, touching. So this is. This is 10 minutes later after the Internet. And I'm. I have no doubt that he knew that there was a problem. Right. So he knew there was an issue.

[Ben Ferguson]

100%.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

100%. Here he is 10 minutes later.

[H]

It is. It's heartbreaking on so many levels. Kyra, obviously Charlie Kirk was murdered brutally in front of a crowd of thousands of people who watched him being shot through the neck and then essentially bleed out in front of him. And I think one of the things that the attorney here made a very fine point about is that a lot of these charges, seven charges were aggravated because children were present, children witnessed this, children were put in harm's way. And that was something that obviously is aggravating here. And that's one of the reasons that the suspect, in addition to the alleged murder being political in nature, is facing the death penalty. They're going for the death penalty. And on the other hand, there is this duality of a very, a portrait of a very human person, a very human experience from this entire family. As you mentioned it, the mother essentially discovered that it was her son who had done this. The kid who had got a 34 out of 36 on the ACT, who had a 4.0, who got a full ride to college here, that that kid was the one who allegedly perpetrated. She saw those pictures and said, identified him essentially. And then those text messages. And I don't think I've ever experienced a press conference in which we've read text messages that are a so fulsome, so robust, so apparently allegedly self incriminating and yet on the other hand, so touching, right? With the suspect reaching out to his roommate who is allegedly his boyfriend, who we understand, you know, identified as male at birth, now identifies as female. And the terminology he used, he was trying to protect him. He kept calling him my love. My reason for doing this is to protect you, you know, but also asking him to delete the messages and not speak to law enforcement. So there's this heartbreaking duality that we're seeing, seeing very tragically playing out.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If that's not doubling down, I don't know what is.

[Ben Ferguson]

Fulsome, touching, loving. It is heartbreaking. Look, I don't know who this particular reporter is, but. But I will say it says something that this speaks to him in such a touching, moving way. I see depraved maniacs who just committed cold blooded murder. And his boyfriend, his boyfriend is like not saying, dear God, what the hell did you do? He's just like, oh, oh, it was you. Okay. You know, the boyfriend never said there's anything wrong with murdering Charlie Kirk. He was perfectly fine with it. There ain't nothing touching about these two psychopaths reveling in their cold blooded murder. And for ABC to think it is, that really tells you how messed up ABC is.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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Into the stories making the news headlines across the world.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why. From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents Dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.

[Ben Ferguson]

Affairs and The News Agents USA listening.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

To the News Agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the news agents to start listening.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed, Senator. I want to get to something else that happened earlier this week and that was the questioning of the FBI director, Cash Patel. You had the opportunity to talk with Cash on a number of different issues. Obviously one of them that was in front of mine was the assassination of our friend Charlie Kirk.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, absolutely. So this week, Cash Patel, the director of the FBI, testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and I took the opportunity to question him on a number of topics. But front and center, to urge Kash Patel to follow the money and in particular to go after Antifa and to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. Here's the exchange. Cash and I had give a listen. I want to encourage you in the course of this investigation. Absolutely. Go after anyone who aided and abetted, but I want to more broadly encourage you follow the money. The violence we are seeing is not purely organic. There is, I believe, significant money that is spreading dissension, that is spreading violence. Antifa. Do you believe Antifa is a terrorist organization? I believe Antifa is associated with a.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Lot of violence in this country. As to its designation, I'll leave that.

[Ben Ferguson]

To the appropriate authorities. So I would encourage the administration to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization to go systematically after antif. They've committed acts of violence all over the country and the shell casings have multiple references to slogans that Antifa has popularized. I believe there is considerable money funding and I would note that I've introduced legislation called the Stop Funders Act. Stop Funders act would add rioting to the list of predicate offenses under rico. I believe the money should be fought, should be tracked and prosecuted under rico. And both the Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots of a couple of years ago and the pro open border riots in Los Angeles and other cities of this past year, I believe there was significant money behind those riots. I'm not the only person who noticed at the anti Semitic protest and violent protests on college camp campuses that many of the tents all matched. And so I would ask, would it aid your ability to prosecute these matters if Congress passed into law the Stop Funders act and if rioting was added to the list of predicate offenses for rico?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yes.

[Ben Ferguson]

Talk to me about the efforts of the FBI to go after the funders of the Anti Semitic protests on college campuses, the pro open border protests in cities, and potential LGBT violence. Talk to me about the efforts to go after the money of those who are funding and promoting violence.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

As I've always said, Senator, money doesn't lie.

[Ben Ferguson]

We've been following the money and so that's what we're doing, issuing lawful process to organizations involved with criminal activity because the money's got to come from somewhere.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And it has to be funded somehow.

[Ben Ferguson]

So we have extensive investigations ongoing into numerous organizations that are related to violent criminal activity. Cutting off the money will make America much safer. And that is the core job of the FBI. And I thank you for doing your job.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now, you look at what you just said there in the back and forth center, and this turned very quickly into a new policy from the Trump administration as well. That is the best news coming out of this.

[Ben Ferguson]

Absolutely. So, so this, this testimony was on Tuesday. The very next day, President Trump announced he was doing what I was calling for, which is designating Antifa as a terrorist organization. I'm going to read to you from Fox News. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he will designate antifa, a left wing activist group, a major terrorist organization. Trump described the group as, quote, a sick, dangerous, radical left disaster. In a truth social announcement, the president added that he will be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. The announcement comes just days after Trump said he would 100% consider the designation. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Monday, Trump accused ANTIFA participants of being, quote, professional agitators in response to the administration's recent crackdown on illegal immigration. Quote, ANTIFA is terrible. The President said, these aren't protests, these are crimes that they're doing. They're throwing bricks at cars of the ICE and Border Patrol. They're professional agitators. They should be put in jail. What they're doing in this country is really subversive. And I will say this goes right to the heart of a distinction that I've tried to laid out, lay out repeatedly, which is free speech is protected. You can say things that are vile, that are hateful, that are horrible, that we hate, and the First Amendment protects it. Conduct is not protected. When you engage in violence, it is not protected. What an TIFA is doing, engaging in violence, engaging in harassment, engaging in threats, that is not protected. And so what I urge Cash Patel, follow the money, go after the money. And look, I believe there's money that is coming from foreign nations. There's money that's coming from Qatar, there's money that's coming from Iran. There may be money coming from Communist China. And there's also money coming from the gazillionaire left wing funders of the Democrat Party, people like George Soros and his entire organization that are funding these radical organizations. And it's one thing to go and prosecute the individual criminals. We should do that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Sure.

[Ben Ferguson]

But if you want to solve the problem, it's why I've introduced the legislation, the Stop Funders Act. Because RICO is an incredibly powerful tool to prosecute not just an individual defendant, but a criminal organization. And criminal organizations are usually structured with a hub and spokes. And so following the money is how you get the people writing checks that are sitting in their Manhattan penthouses for funding the anti American, anti Israel communist jihadist agitators that are destroying this country. And so I got to say, I was really encouraged. I've been pressing in the first Trump administration, I pressed for years for the first Trump administration to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization. There was a lot of openness to that argument, but it never succeeded. They never did it. This time. When I pressed on Tuesday, the next day, the President came out and said, we're gonna do that. That's exactly the right thing to do.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it is big. It's gonna be really important. It's gonna have a huge impact going forward. That may be the best part of all. And of course, you know you're doing something right. When the left is losing their mind, they're saying, oh, this the president trying to silence political organizations. I'm sorry, they're not a political organization. Organization. There's a big difference between a political organization and a terrorist organization. And Antifa has all the markings, as you described it, of a terrorist organization, going all the way back to 2016 when you first were calling for this.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you engage in violence, it is not speech. Violence is not speech. And by the way, anyone who commits violence should be prosecuted and go to jail. And that's true whether you're left wing or right wing, I might agree with what you're saying. But if you engage in violence, that is not acceptable. Speech is different from violence. We ought to protect speech and we ought to prosecute violence and put the violent criminals in jail.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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

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[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The news agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why. From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current affairs.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And The News Agents USA listening to.

[Emily Maitlis and John Sopel]

The Newsagents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the news agents to start listening.

[Ben Ferguson]

This is an iHeart podcast.