Pardon-palooza: Biden Plans to Pardon EVERYBODY, plus Supreme Court hears Challenge to law Prohibiting Sex Transition Surgeries for Kids

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz Episode: Pardon-palooza: Biden Plans to Pardon EVERYBODY, plus Supreme Court hears Challenge to law Prohibiting Sex Transition Surgeries for Kids
Release Date: December 6, 2024

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In this compelling episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz, host Senator Ted Cruz and co-host Ben Ferguson tackle two headline-grabbing topics: President Joe Biden's expansive pardon plans and a significant Supreme Court case challenging Tennessee's law banning sex transition surgeries for minors. The duo provides an in-depth analysis, blending legislative insights with constitutional discourse, to unpack the implications of these developments for the American political landscape.

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Biden’s Broad Pardoning Strategy

Predicting Executive Overreach

The episode kicks off with Cruz expressing frustration over President Biden's apparent intention to issue a wide-ranging series of pardons before his term concludes. Cruz laments the need to "admit so often that we were just absolutely right in predicting something," referencing their previous discussions about the White House's pardon aspirations (03:31).

Co-host's Insight on Pardons

Ben Ferguson echoes this sentiment, highlighting that their podcast accurately forecasted the White House's direction. He states,

"We predicted that the left wing media and Democrats were pressing Joe Biden to issue a ton more pardons to pardon the rest of his family, to pardon members of his administration. And now the White House is confirming this move." (05:09)

Political Ramifications

The hosts delve into the political repercussions of such pardons. Ferguson underscores the audacity of the administration's approach, noting the inclusion of high-profile figures like Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, and Anthony Fauci. He remarks,

"Everyone who may have committed wrongdoing is panicking that there may be some accountability. And so they want to pardon everybody for whatever crimes they might have committed." (07:43)

Legislative Responses and Accountability

Cruz brings attention to Adam Schiff's efforts to curb presidential abuse of pardon power, referencing Schiff's 2018 legislative attempts. He challenges Schiff,

"Now, Adam Schiff, why aren't you introducing this legislation all over again so we can know all of the people that are going to be pardoned, why they're being pardoned and all the files that show what the information is behind it." (11:23)

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Supreme Court's Bold Ruling on Transgender Youth

Tennessee's Controversial Law

Shifting focus, the hosts analyze the Supreme Court's recent hearing on Tennessee's law prohibiting sex transition surgeries for minors. Cruz critiques the law as a protective measure against "body mutilation," asserting,

"That is just, I'm sorry, child abuse. If you're mutilating a child at 2 and 3 and 4 years old." (27:23)

ACLU’s Constitutional Challenge

They detail the ACLU's opposition, which argues that banning such surgeries infringes on constitutional rights by denying minors necessary medical treatments. Ferguson summarizes the legal battle,

"Tennessee was arguing that we must protect children from harm and body mutilation...the ACLU is fighting back, saying this violates the Constitution." (26:41)

Supreme Court Deliberations

The conversation delves into the oral arguments, highlighting Justice Sotomayor's controversial comparison of these procedures to taking aspirin. Cruz vehemently opposes this analogy,

"She is saying this is not a big deal at all if you're mutilating a child because even aspirin has risks and effects." (31:00)

Predicted Outcomes and Judicial Philosophy

Ferguson predicts the Court's ruling, leaning towards upholding Tennessee's law. He cites Chief Justice Roberts' stance on deferring to state legislatures,

"Chief Justice Roberts' reasoning that he articulated at the oral argument is going to lead him to vote. I think we will see." (38:08)

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Implications and Future Outlook

Erosion of Checks and Balances

Cruz and Ferguson express concerns over the potential erosion of constitutional checks and balances. Ferguson emphasizes the absolute nature of the pardon power,

"Under the Constitution, the pardon power is essentially an absolute power. There are no limitations that Congress can enforce on the pardon power given to the president." (22:32)

Public Accountability as the Last Line of Defense

They argue that public scrutiny remains the primary check against presidential overreach, citing Biden's pardon of Hunter Biden as a case where public backlash serves as a constraint,

"The real constraint is just public shame and disgrace." (24:24)

Broader Constitutional Concerns

The hosts connect these issues to broader constitutional debates, questioning the judiciary's role in interpreting and enforcing these laws. Cruz calls for the election of conservatives to ensure the upholding of constitutional integrity,

"This is why elections are so important. It's why it's so important that conservatives get elected because these are the people that make unbelievable decisions and it deals with kids' futures." (44:26)

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Conclusion

In wrapping up, Senator Ted Cruz underscores the critical nature of these discussions, urging listeners to remain vigilant and politically active to safeguard constitutional principles. The episode serves as a clarion call to the public to engage with and influence the unfolding political and legal narratives shaping the nation's future.

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Notable Quotes:

• Ben Ferguson (05:09): "We predicted that the left wing media and Democrats were pressing Joe Biden to issue a ton more pardons to pardon the rest of his family, to pardon members of his administration. And now the White House is confirming this move."

• Ben Ferguson (07:43): "Everyone who may have committed wrongdoing is panicking that there may be some accountability. And so they want to pardon everybody for whatever crimes they might have committed."

• Senator Ted Cruz (31:00): "She is saying this is not a big deal at all if you're mutilating a child because even aspirin has risks and effects."

• Ben Ferguson (22:32): "Under the Constitution, the pardon power is essentially an absolute power. There are no limitations that Congress can enforce on the pardon power given to the president."

• Senator Ted Cruz (44:26): "This is why elections are so important. It's why it's so important that conservatives get elected because these are the people that make unbelievable decisions and it deals with kids' futures."

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This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz offers a thorough examination of imminent political maneuvers and landmark judicial decisions, emphasizing the importance of constitutional fidelity and the active role of the electorate in shaping policy outcomes.

Transcript

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Take a deep dive into the stories.

[Ted Cruz]

Making the news headlines across the world. The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why?

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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 and the Newsagents usa. They're eating the dogs. The people that came in. Listen to the NewsAgents on the iHeartRadio.

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App, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Emily Maitlis]

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews wishes you a blessed beginning of the holiday season as you gather with your families, grateful for the blessings God has given us all. But let us also remember those who are facing unbelievable hardship, in need of food, fellowship and hope. That includes the people of Israel who are threatened daily by attacks from enemies on all sides. And during these hard times, Israelis are thankful to the Fellowship for food and basic assistance, truly life saving aid when the rest of the world seems to have turned its back on them. Your gift of 25 will help provide a food box to an elderly Jew or a Jewish family who are suffering and in desperate need. A gift of $100 will help provide four of these life saving food boxes this holiday season. Please consider standing with Israel and the Jewish people. Go to supportifcj.org to make a gift. Now that's supportifcj.org or call to give 888-488ifcj. That's 888-488-4325.

[Ted Cruz]

Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. And Senator, I hate it when we have to admit so often that we were just absolutely right in predicting something. And sure enough, now the White House is hunkered down, going through long lists of pardons and letting the American people know you should expect more pardons before we leave office.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Well, this week we were struck with the stunning news that the White House has announced verdict with Ted Cruz Wednesday podcast was exactly entirely 100% accurate that every word we said. And by the way, if you didn't listen to Wednesday's pod, you should listen to Wednesday's pod because we predicted, we said, that the left wing media and Democrats were pressing Joe Biden to issue a ton more pardons to pardon the rest of his family, to pardon members of his administration. And now and we said, look, that's the direction they're going. And seemingly in response to our podcast, the White House immediately came out and said expect more pardons. And we're seeing a list of people now that they are contemplating pardoning. In addition, we had a major Supreme Court case argued this week, a challenge to Tennessee's law that prohibits sex transition treatments for children. And the ACLU has challenged this, arguing that it violates the Constitution, that the Constitution requires that you be able to mutilate and sterilize children. That argument played out in the Supreme Court this week we're going to lay out how it went.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it's truly shocking what they were saying, including some of the Supreme Court justices. And we have the audio from those oral arguments that will I think shock most parents out there. Want to tell you real quick about a cool opportunity for you. A chance to win $1700 to buy any self defense gear that you need before it's too late. Now how do you win right now? You can text the word America to 87222 right now. That sex the word America to 87222 now who's giving it away? Well, the US CCA and the USCCA is doing incredible work to help protect people just like you when it comes to you exercising your second amendment rights. Look, I've had to use a firearm to protect and save my own life. I had to pull the trigger. And I wish I would have been a member and even known back then USCCA, because with activist DAs around the country right now, you never know what's going to happen even if you're in the right. Many DAs don't like law abiding citizens. Carrying firearms and protecting yourself and your family is so important. Now not only when you become a member of the USCCA and they have over 800,000Americans right now that are already members. Why? Because they understand how important it is to get access to their protector academy where you learn vital skills like precision shooting and how to fortify your home against criminals. You also get access when you're a member to the 247 critical response team. That is the most important thing and it includes the benefits of self defense liability insurance to make sure that you and your family are prepared for anything. Now for a limited time you text the word America to 87222 and you're going to get the USCCA's free life saving Concealed Carrying Defense Family Defense Guide and that chance to win seventeen hundred dollars to buy any self defense care that you need before it's too late. So text the word America to 87222 right now. So we talked about this two days ago and as you said, I'll say it again, go back if you miss that podcast and listen to it because we talked about this idea that was really coming out of the White House that they wanted to expand the list of people that would be given pardons that could also include the President in theory pardoning himself. What we are now seeing is the White House is saying yeah, it's coming and you should prepare for a lot of people to quite possibly be pardoned. So just get used to it. Your instant reaction, the White House now confirming this story?

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Well, we put out the podcast Wednesday morning as the sun was coming up. And several hours later, Politico issued a report entitled, biden White House Is Discussing Preemptive pardons for those in Trump's crosshairs. It was written by Jonathan Martin, who's a longtime Washington reporter. And what he reports is that White House officials are debating issuing blanket pardons to multiple people, which is exactly what we predicted. And here's what Politico reports. Quote, those who could face exposure include such members of Congress's January 6th committee as Adam Schiff. Liz Cheney also mentioned Anthony Fauci and others as well. And so that's the initial list. Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Anthony Fauci, that's who they are discussing. And what is striking is there are now multiple elected Democrats explicitly urging this. So, for example, Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said in a press interview, quote, if it's clear by January 19th that revenge is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people, because that's really what our country is going to need next year. Another Democrat, Congressman Brendan Boyle from Pence, Pennsylvania, likewise called for blanket pardons. He said, quote, this is no hypothetical threat. The time for cautious restraint is over. We must act with urgency to push back against these threats and prevent Trump from abusing his power. I will say, to I guess some modicum of his credit, one person pushing on the other side is Adam Schiff. Now, to be clear, they're talking about giving him a pardon. And Schiff was quoted as saying, quote, I would urge the president not to do that. I think it would seem defensive and unnecessary. Well, I gotta say, it is stunning. And you're right. The White House is now publicly saying, expect more pardons, here we come. And it's a question of just how much they're going to abuse power, because it really is, at this point, stunning. And apparently everyone who may have committed wrongdoing is panicking that there may be some accountability. And so they want to pardon everybody for whatever crimes they might have committed.

[Ted Cruz]

And you talk about Adam Schiff. Let's remind people of back in 2018, what Adam Schiff did. Adam Schiff introduced a bill to keep Trump from, quote, abusing pardon powers for his family. This was on CNN on Don Lemon show back in 2018.

[Emily Maitlis]

So the president's pardon of Scooter Libby, Congressman, has inspired you to propose new legislation what exactly would it do? What it would do is say that in the event the President pardons anyone in an investigation in which the President is a witness, a subject or the target, those investigative files will all be turned over to the Congress. The Congress ought to know whether the President is using the pardoned power to obstruct justice. The American people have a right to know. I think it is clearly constitutional. It doesn't prohibit him from granting a pardon, even a pardon he shouldn't grant. But it does say that we will be able to at least find out whether the President is using this power to shield himself from liability. It offers transparency at the very least.

[Ted Cruz]

Wow. I mean, what a great idea. Now, Adam Schiff, why aren't you introducing this legislation all over again so we can know all of the people that are going to be pardoned, why they're being pardoned and all the files that show what the information is behind it. I, I'm waiting for this, Adam. Shift of 18 to appear again, Senator.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Well, and I gotta say, under that reasoning, that would have the Department of Justice forwarding the investigatory files of Hunter Biden to Congress, to the Republican majorities in both Congresses under his reasoning. He just argued for that. I'll be curious to see if he thinks it should apply in those circumstances. You know, you know, spoiler alert. I would not bet on it.

[Ted Cruz]

No, I wouldn't either. Let's also talk about POLITICO's Jonathan Mart and what he said on TV about this pardon list. This was after the writing in Politico. Take a listen to how he described it earlier.

[Emily Maitlis]

So titled Biden White House is discussing preemptive pardons for those in Trump's crosshairs. In it you write this quote, president Joe Biden's senior aides are conducting a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted with President Elect Donald Trump's return to the White House. It's according to senior Democrats familiar with the discussions, deliberations touch on pardoning those currently in office, elected and appointed, as well as former officials who've angered Trump and his loyalists. Those who could face exposure include such members of Congress's January 6th committee as senator elect Adam Schiff and former GOP representative Liz Cheney. Also mentioned by Biden's aides for a pardon, Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who became a lightning rod for criticism from the right during the COVID 19 pandemic. The President himself, Jonathan continues, who was intensely focused on his son's pardon, has not been brought into the broader pardon discussions yet, according to people familiar with deliberations. So, Jonathan, what does this look like? What are you pardoning Anthony Fauci for? What are you pardoning Liz Cheney for who have not been charged or convicted of crimes? That goes to the heart of this deliberation, Willie. And why this is so delicate? Because the White House counsel and a handful of senior White House aides, including Jeff Zients, the chief of staff, are having this debate right now in the West Wing, which is, do we leave these folks out in the cold and potentially expose them to Cash Patel's FBI and Donald Trump's White House for any number of charges or some kind of show trial to get a measure of revenge and at the very least make them pay six figures in legal bills to avoid such a case? Or do we offer preemptively pardons to people who there's no proof they've done anything wrong whatsoever and really may not want to pardon in the first place? That's a real tough call because if you don't do it and Patel and company come after some of these people and you had the chance to give them inoculation legally, that's a hell of a thing to regret. At the same time, do you want to pardon somebody like Liz Cheney or Anthony Fauci and suggest any kind of impropriety that could only add fuel to the Trump aggressors in the first place? It's a real tough nut.

[Ted Cruz]

I love the way he describes it. The Eddie is like it's a real tough nut. Like, this is a hard one. You know, should we just admit we broke a hell of a bunch of laws and just hand out the pardons, or do we act like we didn't break laws and hope they don't come after all of us?

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Well, and I will say, even the way he's reporting it, the Trump aggressors. Look, the idea that anyone in and around Joe Biden would be held responsible for laws they have been broken is treated as a pearl clutching horror for the media and for the Democrats. And listen, my view, and we've talked about this at length, I don't want to see a Republican Department of Justice. I don't want to see a Republican FBI. I don't want to see a Democrat Department of Justice. I don't want to see a Democrat FBI. I want a Department of justice and an FBI that enforces the law regardless of party and that apparently is a terrifying thing to individuals who previously considered themselves unaccountable and not bound by the ordinary constraints of law.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and even look at Bill Clinton, for example. Bill Clinton is now coming out saying he wants to stop the cycle of criminalizing politics. That's pretty rich from the Democrats after. That's all they've done the last four years. Here is Bill Clinton at the Dealbook Summit. It's a New York Times event.

[Emily Maitlis]

Listen, you think Biden should be pardoning, pardoning Trump.

[Ted Cruz]

And by the way, there's some people.

[Emily Maitlis]

Who think that Trump should be pardoning Biden. Well, I do think we should stop trying to criminalize politics, but on the other, I think we should, both of.

[Ted Cruz]

Us.

[Emily Maitlis]

Because obviously, and the people don't like it and they're not going along with it from right to left. On the other hand, you have to ask yourself, if you do this blanket thing, is there anything a president could do that he would or she someday would get in trouble for?

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, Senator, they weaponized the FBI, the doj, the entire apparatus of the White House, the executive branch, to go after their political enemies for four years. And now all of a sudden they're like, hey, we should not have Republicans doing that. Republicans never did that. The Democrats are the ones that have done it.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

I'm curious, did Bill Clinton say that the first time Trump was indicted? Did he say that the second time Trump was indicted?

[Ted Cruz]

Hell, no.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Did he say that the third time Trump was indicted?

[Ted Cruz]

Nope.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Did he say that the fourth time Trump was indicted?

[Ted Cruz]

No. And he didn't say it when they were raiding Mar Lago either.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Yeah. I mean, it is amazing. And by the way, Bill Clinton also didn't say that when the Trump DOJ was prosecuting people for peaceful protest on January 6th when they were using the violent acts of a limited number of people as an excuse to engage in political persecution. Bill Clinton didn't speak out when the Biden Department of Justice was targeting parents for going to school board meetings and speaking out, sending the FBI to intimidate moms and dads who are exercising their constitutional rights at school board meetings. He didn't speak out when the Biden administration was firing people for declining to take the COVID vaccine. He didn't speak out when the Biden administration was coercing private businesses to fire people for declining to take the COVID vaccine. He didn't speak out when the Biden administration sent over a dozen FBI agents withdrawn machine guns to arrest a pro life protester at dawn in front of his children by the way that case, the jury threw it out when they tried to put him in jail and the jury said this is ridiculous and threw it out incredibly quickly. The absolute and brazen hypocrisy of the Democrats that they've suddenly discovered, uh oh, don't use the legal process against us. And I want to be clear, I do not believe the Trump administration should persecute Democrats. I do believe they should follow the law. And if individuals have violated the law, they should enforce the law. That is very different from targeting and weaponizing doj. You know, I sat down this week with Pam Bondi, the nominee to be Attorney General, and the entire discussion I had with her was about restoring integrity to the Department of Justice. Not about turning it into a tool just to be used to target the other side, but bringing it back to what it is supposed to be, which is having fidelity to the rule of law.

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[Ted Cruz]

You're talking about the fidelity and the rule of law here. So the question now becomes, if the president decides to walk out there, there and say, I'm going to preemptively pardon everyone, Fauci Schiff, Liz Cheney, people all around my family, all of the, all of maybe the business associates, for example, around Hunter Biden, is there anything that Congress will be able to do to stop this or to rein it in? I go back to Adam Schiff when he was like, well, what we should be doing is you should have sent over all the documents. Or is this pretty much like he's in charge, charge? He's leaving. He can do whatever the hell he wants. It's the power of the presidency. And even if he wants to abuse the pardon power, he has the right to do it. What mindset should everyone listening have on reality?

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[Bartesian Advertiser]

Look, under the Constitution, the pardon power is essentially an absolute power. And so there is not any limitation in the Constitution that Congress can enforce on the pardon power that is given to the president. The only limitation is public pressure, public scrutiny. The only thing that constrains presidents is they don't want the world to know that they're utterly corrupt hacks. Now, I will say Biden's got a problem in that because he's already done the Hunter Biden pardon. And I'll read from an article in Axios which often reports on sort of inside gossip in the White House and Capitol Hill. And the story is entitled behind the Curtain, Biden's Haunting Twin Sins. And here's what Axios reports. President Biden's post presidency now looks bleak as his brutal final months. Some top Democrats tell us they're so furious about Biden's abrupt, clumsy pardon of his son Hunter that they're threatening to withhold donations from his future presidential library and his, quote, twin selfishness. What it says is why it matters. Biden, 82, will limp away from the limelight widely disliked by the public. And now Loathed by many Democrats who blame him for twin sins of selfishness. Running again then pardoning Hunter after repeatedly saying he wouldn't. That's the real constraint is just public shame and disgrace. And the question is, are Democrats capable of public shame anymore or is Trump derangement syndrome so bad that their answer to everything is Orange man bad?

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it's a great point. I want to take a moment and say thank you to so many of you that have been involved with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. They are wishing you a blessed beginning of the holiday season. And as you gather with your families, grateful for the blessing that God has given us all, let's also remember those who are facing unbelievable hardship, those in Israel that are in the need of food, fellowship and just hope. That includes the people of Israel who are threatened daily by the attacks from enemies on all sides. And during these hard times, Israelis are thankful for the fellowship, for the food and the basic assistance that they are providing truly life saving aid when the rest of the world seems to have turned their back on them. Your gift of $25 will help provide a food box to an elderly Jew or a Jewish family who are suffering and in desperate need. A gift of $100 will help provide four of these life saving food boxes this holiday season. Please consider standing with Israel and the Jewish people. You can go to supportifcj.org to make a gift now that support ifcj.org or you can call them 888488 ifcj. That's 888488, 4325. And you can give right now, Senator, I want to move to this other case and it is a case that has really been interesting to follow the Supreme Court hearing this case on gender transitions for minors. Now, this has all come out of a case in Tennessee where Tennessee was arguing that you must protect children from harm and body mutilation, especially at very young ages. And the left and the federal government saying, well, hold on a second, we're in favor of this transgender care, arguing that even those that are two and three and four years old, they know that they're trans, so let them be sterilized and castrate themselves. That is what the ACLU lawyer said in his own words while he was arguing this on TV on cnn. I want you to listen and get your reaction to that.

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[Emily Maitlis]

These are not doctors being forced to provide this medication.

[Ted Cruz]

These are doctors who are wanting to.

[Emily Maitlis]

Treat their patients in the best way.

[Ted Cruz]

That they know how, based on the.

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Best available evidence to us.

[Ted Cruz]

And these are young people who may.

[Emily Maitlis]

Have known since they were two years.

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Old exactly who they are, who suffered.

[Emily Maitlis]

For six, seven years before they had any relief. And what's happening here, it's not the.

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Kids who are consenting to this treatment, it's the parents who are consenting to the treatment.

[Ted Cruz]

And as a parent, I would say.

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We, when our children are suffering, we are suffering.

[Ted Cruz]

And these are parents who love their children, who are listening to the advice.

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Of their doctors of the mainstream medical.

[Emily Maitlis]

Community and doing what's right for their kids.

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And the state of Tennessee has displaced their judgment.

[Ted Cruz]

Now, you hear that argument. And that to me is just, I'm sorry, child abuse. If you're mutilating a child at 2 and 3 and 4 years old. And that's what Tennessee was saying.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Well, Tennessee passed, I think, a very reasonable law that prohibited puberty blockers and hormones and sterilizing children, sterilizing minors. And we're seeing multiple state legislatures that are acting to protect children. I think that is a reasonable and common sense step. And what happened is, unsurprisingly, that the state got sued and the ACLU argued that making it illegal for a small child to be sterilized and made permanently unable to have children or even to be mutilated, that prohibiting that violated the 14th Amendment, the equal protection clause of the Constitution. That was the argument. And this, the Court of Appeals upheld the Tennessee law and the Supreme Court took the case. And so that was the argument you heard right there. The ACLU lawyers arguing for being able to sterilize 8 year old. Just using the math the lawyer laid out. The lawyer talked about a child at the age of two might know that he or she is transgender and they might have had to wait six years. Last I checked, two plus six is eight. And so the legal argument is that eight year old, the parent should be able to sterilize that child. And you know what, if that child decides that at 18, he or she wants to be a dad or wants to be a mom, well, too late now, because when you were eight, we went ahead and sterilized you. So there's no going back. And this argument went back and forth. All right, I'm going to make a prediction. My prediction. I think the Supreme Court is going to uphold Tennessee's law. And I think we may see a breakdown that plays out along pretty familiar ideological lines. Now, it was pretty striking. The three liberal justices all were asking questions that, that I gotta say, we're really Extreme and showing the modern left they are all in on mutilating and sterilizing children. This is not a fringe view on the left. Today's elected Democrats and sadly the left wing activists they put on the courts are absolutely committed to this extreme agenda. So I want you to listen, justice.

[Ted Cruz]

Out of my order. Justice Sotomayor downplaying the risk of mutilation Minors in this back and forth in these oral arguments, this is what she.

[Emily Maitlis]

Said, cannot eliminate the risk of detransitioners. So it becomes a pure exercise of.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Weighing benefits versus risk.

[Emily Maitlis]

And the question of how many minors.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Have to have their bodies irreparably harmed for unproven benefits is one that is best left.

[Ted Cruz]

I'm sorry, counselor.

[Emily Maitlis]

Every medical treatment has a risk. Even taking aspirin. There is always going to be a percentage of the population under any medical.

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Treatment that's going to suffer a harm.

[Emily Maitlis]

So the question in my mind is not, do policymakers decide whether one person's life is more valuable than the millions of others who get released from this treatment? The question is, can you stop one sex from the other one?

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, she's saying this is not a big deal at all if you're mutilating a child because even aspirin has risks and effects. So therefore, just put it under the category of everything goes.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Well, that that sums up today's radical left. In their view, severing a child's genitals is comparable to taking aspirin. She also claimed, quote, millions of people are getting relief from this. Now, thankfully, we do not currently have millions of children being sterilized. But let's be clear, that's the left's worldview, is that sterilizing little boys and little girls, mutilating them, making them permanently unable to have children, that should be happening on the scale of millions and millions of little boys and little girls. That is Justice Sotomayor here. Take a listen to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

[Emily Maitlis]

Drawn by the statute, that was sort of like the starting point.

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The question was whether it was discriminatory.

[Emily Maitlis]

Because it applied to both races and.

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It wasn't necessarily invidious or whatever. But you know, as I read the.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Statute here, excuse me, the case here.

[Emily Maitlis]

You know, the court starts off by saying that Virginia is Now one of.

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16 states which prohibit and punish marriages on the basis of racial classifications.

[Emily Maitlis]

And when you look at the structure.

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Of that law, it looks in terms of inconsistent. You know, you can't do something that is inconsistent with your own characteristics.

[Emily Maitlis]

It's sort of the same thing.

[Vizio Advertiser]

So it's interesting to me that we now have this different argument and I.

[Emily Maitlis]

Wonder whether Virginia could have gotten away with what they did here by just.

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Making a classification argument the way that.

[Emily Maitlis]

Tennessee is in this case.

[Vizio Advertiser]

Yes, I think that's exactly right. That there is absolutely a parallel between any law that says you can't act inconsistent with a protected characteristic.

[Ted Cruz]

And in all other contexts, you hear it there. This is another example of just how extreme these. And this is why the elections, by the way, are so important, Senator. I mean, this is why Donald Trump being elected was so important, because when he's not, when you don't have a conservative in the White House, you get these radical activists who are Supreme Court justices, and if they have the majority, this is what they want you to be able to. This is what they want to happen to your children.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

Well, and let me break down what that exchange back and forth was. So Ketanji Brown Jackson, who Joe Biden put on the Supreme Court, is comparing this Tennessee law to the law in Loving vs. Virginia. Now, Loving vs. Virginia is a Supreme Court case. It's a landmark case that struck down Virginia's ban decades ago, many, many years ago on interracial marriage, on African Americans and Anglos choosing to get married. And she says, quote, it's sort of the same thing. Now, Virginia's law was an abomination. It was restricting adults making the decision to get married. It was deliberately doing so on the basis of race, which, mind you, we fought a civil war in significant part to end slavery and to vindicate equal rights. And we passed and adopted the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to end slavery, to protect equal protection and to give African Americans the right to vote to ensure that there's not, not racial discrimination. But in the last few, not sterilizing an eight year old is the same thing. Like that is bizarre. And by the way, the person who responds to Justice Jackson is Joe Biden's Solicitor General, the top lawyer for the Biden administration before the United States Supreme Court. She's saying, oh yeah, they're exactly the same thing. In our worldview, you ought to be able to mutilate children. It doesn't matter how young. The Constitution protects your right to mutilate your child. That is a bizarre view. That is an extreme view. And that, sadly, is where today's modern left is.

[Ted Cruz]

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[Bartesian Advertiser]

Yeah. There are vast amounts of money at stake. And it has become. It really is a strange obsession of the radical left. It is a virtue signal. Remember we had on on Verdict a couple of months ago, Sean Theory. Sean Theory was an African American Democratic state rep in Texas. She was an elected Democrat. She had been elected for four terms. And on this issue, there was a bill in Texas to prohibit mutilating minors, and she ended up voting for it. And the Democrat Party she described on the podcast. If you didn't listen to that podcast, you ought to go back and listen to it because it's incredibly revealing. She described how her fellow Democrats, African Americans in the Texas state legislature would come to her and she'd say, did you have you study the damage this does to children? That if you give puberty blockers and you sterilize a child, it does lifelong medical damage to him? It's horrible. And she said, the many other Democrats she described said, oh, we know, we agree, it's terrible, but you cannot oppose this in our party. Party, they will end you. Our party will end you. Well, she ended up doing the courageous thing and voting for common sense and voting for kids. And the Democrats recruited a primary challenger to her and beat her in the primary. And they spent over $1 million in a Democrat primary for a state House seat. That is how radical this issue is. So there is money, there is big money on the other side, and it is enforced in the U.S. senate. Every single Democrat has voted in favor of mutilating minors. There is no dissension that is allowed on this.

[Ted Cruz]

Sick.

[Bartesian Advertiser]

And I gotta say, and Joe Biden is enthusiastically in favor of it. You know, I gotta say, also, look, this Supreme Court case, part of the reason that there is such focus on it is there was a previous Supreme Court decision called Bostock. And Bostock is a decision that interpreted federal anti discrimination law, unemployment discrimination, and it is currently illegal under federal law to discriminate in employment based on race and other characteristics, including sex. And in Bostock, the Supreme Court took a prohibition on discrimination based on sex and construed sex to mean also being transgender. And that decision, that was a 6, 3 decision. That decision was authored by Justice Gorsuch, and it was a fairly shocking decision. A lot of people were shocked that Justice Gorsuch wrote that opinion. It was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, in addition to what were then four liberals who were on the court at the time Justice Ginsburg was still on the court. It was before Amy Coney Barrett had had been nominated and before Justice Ginsburg obviously had passed away. So that was 6, 3 on the other side. I don't think we will see the same outcome. I will say at the oral argument, Justice Gorsuch did not say a word, not a word. So we do not have any indication from him as to how he will vote. But Justice Roberts was quite vocal. And what he laid out is actually the reason why I'm confident the Tennessee law will be upheld, which is he laid out the proposition that the Court should be deferring to state legislatures, and particularly when you're dealing with contested medical evidence, that state legislatures are far better suited to assess contested medical evidence and make a determination and make a policy decision. That's how our democratic system works. And I think Chief Justice Roberts reasoning that he articulated at the oral argument is going to lead him to vote. Vote to uphold the law. I think we will see. I think we will certainly see. Justice Alito and Justice Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett and Kavanaugh, also their arguments at oral arguments suggested that they would defer to the Tennessee state legislature as well. I hope Justice Gorsuch will as well. I think there's a very good chance that this will be a 6, 3 decision upholding the Tennessee law. But the fact that the Court decided Bostock the other way. Now, Bostock, was a question of federal statute and interpreting the words Congress had adopted. It was not a constitutional case. It was not interpreting the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. And I'll note, by the way, there is a third outcome. So what could the Supreme Court do here? They could do three things. They could do more than three things, but three key things. One, they could affirm the Tennessee law. That's what I think they are likely to do. Two, they could strike down the Tennessee law. They could rule that this law violates the Constitution and therefore is null and void. I do not think they're likely to do that, but I think the three liberals will vote to do exactly that. The third option they could do is they could reverse the decision and conclude that this law is sex discrimination. And under the Constitution, sex discrimination is subject to what's called intermediate scrutiny. Now, the toughest standard constitutionally for legal. For legal analysis is what's called strict scrutiny. And racial discrimination under the Constitution by government is subject to strict scrutiny. Sex discrimination is subject to intermediate scrutiny. So the middle ground they could do is they could vacate the decision below and send it back to the lower court to apply intermediate scrutiny. I hope they don't do that, and I don't think they will. But but there is a non zero chance they might do that, which is what makes this case concerning all of that being said, my prediction is they're going to conclude correctly that the Tennessee law is constitutional and that is a judgment for the state legislatures to make.

[Ted Cruz]

As I said before, this is why elections are so important. It's why it's so important that conservatives get elected because these are the people that make unbelievable decisions and it deals with kids futures and this is a perfect example of it. Don't forget we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Hit that subscribe or auto download button and the Senator I will make sure if you see this by the way, please share it on social media because that's how we reach new people. Write us a five star review if you would take a moment to do that as well. On those in between days, grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, and I'll keep you updated on the latest breaking news there. And we'll see you back here in a couple of days.

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ted Cruz]

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