← Verdict with Ted Cruz
Verdict with Ted Cruz
SAVE America Act-How to Force the Dems' Hand plus Bringing the Receipts on Somali Fraud & Major Victory Stopping Sex-Change Surgeries for Kids
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- [00:00]
Ben Ferguson
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human can you buy real Bitcoin in your retirement account? If not, it's time to upgrade to Bitcoin ira. You can buy and sell Bitcoin with major tax advantages. Visit bitcoin ira.comBen to learn more.
- [00:17]
Public Ad Announcer
Right now support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com/podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc, SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available@public.com disclosures not everyone can.
- [01:21]
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- [01:50]
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Sunday, iHeartRadio brings you live to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara for the Super Bowl 60 tailgate concert presented by NetApp. It's the ultimate pre game party featuring an exclusive performance from Teddy sw. Your front row experience will be on iHeartradio stations across the country and the free iHeartradio app is Sunday at 3:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific. Then after the concert, tune in to the Super Bowl 60 pregame show on NBC.
- [02:21]
Ben Ferguson
Welcome. It is Verdict with center Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you and it's so nice to have some of you listening to us on the radio all over the country right now. And as a reminder, if you're listening to the show and you maybe have never heard it before, we do this show as a podcast three days a week as well. And so you can download that podcast for free and listen automatically. If you got an iPhone, just open your, your search bar, put in podcast, a little purple icon pops up, you click on it, bam, you were into podcasts and just put in Verdict or Ted Cruz. And right there you'll see this podcast. You listen to each and every episode. Senator, we've got a lot to talk about on the show, including a lot of conversation this week about the SAVE act in Washington, D.C. and it even was involved in the partial government shutdown as well.
- [03:07]
Ted Cruz
Well, we're going to talk about the SAVE act and what we can do in the Senate to get this passed, to require that only American citizens can register to vote, to require photo ID to vote, and what it's going to take to break down the Democrats and force this vote on the Senate floor. We're also going to talk about a hearing that I chaired this week on the Somali fraud in Minnesota. It is massive. And I'll tell you at the hearing, the Democrats wanted to talk about absolutely anything else other than this massive fraud. We came with the receipts. We're gonna walk you through it. And then this past week was really significant in that the American Medical association reversed its position and they now oppose sex change surgeries for children. That is a major shift. It is in significant part a result of the $2 million detransitioner lawsuit. We're gonna break down what a sea change this is that the medical associations that were pushing this propaganda have reversed course now.
- [04:14]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, it really is incredible. And it's gonna, I honestly think save a lot of kids lives. And I mean that sincerely, especially when you deal with the suicide rates that are all connected to all of that issue. We're gonna talk about that coming up as well. Let me also tell you about an amazing organization. I want you to just pause what you're doing for the next 60 seconds and I want you to imagine Lucy, a 7 year old. Her stomach often aches with hunger. Her small hands instead of holding crayons, know only the struggle of survival on dusty streets. School is a distant dream. Medical care, a forgotten hope. Lucy's potential is overshadowed. Her future is dim. But what if someone stepped in? What if there was a way to ignite hope for children just like Lucy? Well, there is and that is with Compassion International Partners and the local churches that provide children holistic support. More than just food, they receive critical medical care, life changing education, vital skills training and spiritual development, all in Jesus name. And you can empower a child just like Lucy to break free from poverty. I want you to do what I've done and sponsor a child today. You can visit compassion.com that's compassion.com. all right, Senator, so let's talk about the SAVE Act. It was, it was brought up and it was a part of the discussion, the debate. Even with a partial government shutdown. There are a lot of conservatives that I've talked to this past week. They don't understand why this hasn't happened already. It's already come out of the House before. And the big question is, why can't we just pass it right now? I think there's a lot of misinformation on this. And it's not a 50 plus one vote to get this done. It is 60 votes. You need to get this done. And if you want to know who to blame, look at the Democratic Party. They have dug in. Chuck Schumer's made it very clear. And there isn't a single Democrat that had his blessing to vote in favor of this thing. He's calling it Jim Crow 2.0.
- [06:17]
Ted Cruz
Well, the SAVE act, which was initially introduced in the House of Representatives by Chip Roy, my former chief of staff. The SAVE act requires proof of American citizenship to register to vote. It's common sense legislation. And then actually, President Trump has changed it. And President Trump did two changes. Number one, he wanted to change the name from the SAVE act to the Save America Act. So now the President is calling it the Save America Act. Number two, he wanted to add to it not just proof of citizenship to register to vote, but also a requirement of photo ID to vote. We've done that. I am a sponsor of the Save America Act. I think it makes absolute sense. But the challenge is that the Democrats are dug in and are rabidly opposing it. And under the Senate rules, it takes 60 votes to move forward. And right now we can anticipate every Senate Democrat voting no. Now, we're gonna break down where public opinion is on this, and then I'm gonna tell you the strategy that I'm urging John Thune and Republican leadership to do to get this done in the Senate. But, but, but first of all, let's just cover where the polling is. I, I want you to give a listen to, actually something pretty remarkable. I want you to listen to Chuck Schumer actually on Morning Joe. So on msnbc, being questioned about, about just how much support there is for the Save America Act. So, Leader Schumer, this talk about election security has revived discussions of the Save act, which you have said you oppose. Proponents of it say that it's, you know, to have idea to prove US Citizenship, to be able to vote, though some of the claims they make, to be clear, are overstated. We know there's not widespread election fraud, but polling does suggest there's a new Pew research poll that 95% of Republicans but also 71% of Democrats like this idea.
- [08:17]
Ben Ferguson
So why do you not.
- [08:19]
Chuck Schumer
It's Jim Crow 2.0 and I called it Jim Crow 2.0. And the right wing went nuts all over the Internet. That's because they know it's true. What they're trying to do here is the same thing that was done in the south for decades to prevent people of color from voting. For instance, if you can't, if you change, you're a woman who got married and change your last name, you won't be able to show ID and you'll be discriminated against. If you can't find a birth certificate or proper id, you'll be discriminated against. This is vicious and nasty. And I said to our Republican colleagues, it will not pass the Senate. You will not get a single Democratic vote in the Senate. We're not reviving Jim Crow all over the country.
- [09:01]
Ben Ferguson
Now, Senator, look, I actually believe him. I think it's very clear. He's, he's shot multiple shots, big ones across the bow of every Democrat in the Senate. You are not going to give the Republicans victory. The part, though there that he talks about being Jim Crow, he's not listening to African Americans, this country, because more than 70% in a poll that was put out by CNN that they were talking and they were mentioning that same poll there, and I want to play it. This was CNN's own words breaking down the support for voter ID based on race. Take a listen to this.
- [09:36]
Ted Cruz
Take a look here.
- [09:36]
Ben Ferguson
Favorite photo ID to vote, 85% of white people. Favorite 82% of Latino. 76% of black Americans favor it. So the bottom line is this. Voter ID is not controversial in this country. A photo ID to vote is not.
- [09:51]
Ted Cruz
Controversial in this country. It is not controversial by party and.
- [09:54]
Ben Ferguson
It is not controversial by race. The vast majority of Americans agree with Nicki Minaj that in fact, you should have a photo ID to be able to vote. So, so you listen to him. And again, Go back to this 78. I'm sorry, excuse. 76% of blacks, 82% of Latino, 85% of white. And that's coming from CNN.
- [10:14]
Ted Cruz
Senator, look, the American people overwhelmingly support photo ID to vote because it's a common sense step. You have to have a photo ID to drive a car. You have to have a photo ID to get on an airplane. You have to have a photo ID to buy a beer at a bar. You have to have a photo ID to get the Democrat rated. You have to look, they know it is popular. And by the way, I will say, look, Schumer using the rhetoric about Jim Crow. There is an irony in that. It was his party. It was the Democrats who enacted the Jim Crow laws. It was his party, the Democrats, who created the kkk. It was his party, the Democrats, that kept the system of segregation in for decades. He uses this rhetoric because the Democrats do not care that Democrats overwhelmingly supported voters. They don't care that African Americans and Hispanics support it. They have a partisan position. They are for voter fraud.
- [11:11]
Ben Ferguson
The other question I want to ask you is why are Democrats so opposed to it if it's not about cheating? Because if whites are at 85, Latinos 82 and blacks at 76, I'm not sure there's that many subjects in America you could get this type of consensus on. Including Republicans and Democrats as identify as Republicans and Democrats also overwhelmingly agree this is a good thing.
- [11:34]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, the American people overwhelmingly support photo ID to vote. The Democrats are not opposing this because their base is telling them to oppose it. As we talked about, 71% of Democrats voters think photo ID to vote is a good idea. They're opposing it for two reasons. Number one, they're opposing it, I believe, because voter fraud is a real and persistent problem. And they count on voter fraud to help them win elections. And so they don't want photo ID because they want cheating. If you look at the Democrats, when they have control over elections, they, they put in place policies that expand voter fraud. And, and, and by the way, look, look, if you're not inclined to believe me, you might say, okay, Cruz, Cruz is being a Republican. Although if you're not inclined to believe me, I am wondering why. You're listening to Verdict with Ted Cruz. But set that aside. If you're not inclined to believe me, maybe you would believe Democrat President Jimmy Carter. Because Democrat President Jimmy Carter joined with former Republican Secretary of State James Baker. They chaired what was called the Carter Baker Commission, studying voter fraud. They concluded voter fraud is real. It is a problem. It has changed the outcome of elections. And they recommended a series of steps to prevent voter fraud. They recommended, number one, limiting the use of mail mail in ballots because mail in ballots make it easier to cheat. They recommended, number two, requiring photo ID to vote because that makes it harder to cheat. They recommended, number three, prohibiting ballot harvesting, prohibiting paid political operatives being able to collect the ballots of others because that invites voter fraud. Well, Ben, do you know what the position is now of Chuck Schumer and every congressional Democrat?
- [13:22]
Ben Ferguson
It is to oppose any type of voter id.
- [13:26]
Ted Cruz
It's worse than that. They literally went down the recommendations of the Carter Baker Commission on how to stop voter fraud, and they reversed them all. So the Carter Baker Commission said, if you want to stop voter fraud, limit mail in ballots. The Democrat want mail in ballots in every election. The Carter Baker Commission said, require photo id. The Democrats are adamantly opposed to photo id. And the most pernicious ballot harvesting, the Carter Baker Commission said unequivocally, ballot harvesting invites. It encourages voter fraud. What is the position of Democrats? They want ballot harvesting. They have made a political decision.
- [14:03]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, explain ballot harvesting to people that don't understand that terminology. It's been used a lot. But what does it mean?
- [14:12]
Ted Cruz
So let's take a state like California. Ballot harvesting is legal in California. What it means is you could have a paid political operative, someone who works for the Democrats. Go to a nursing home. Go to a nursing home and fill out the ballots with the elderly people with them and take their ballots. So, okay, Mr. Jones, who are you going to vote for? Who are you going to vote for? Let's do it together. They take the ballots and you can have one operative collecting hundreds of ballots. Why does that invite fraud? Well, let's say you're sitting there and Mr. Jones votes for Donald Trump. If you're an unscrupulous operative, you know what you do? You take that ballot and throw it in the trash. Like nobody checks to see if you send in. Yeah. And by the way, if you have, say in nursing homes, people with dementia, people that are not there, if you're sitting there filling out their ballot with them, you can just vote for the Democrat. And so it sets up a way for paid operatives to cheat, and it makes it very easy to cheat. The Democrats have made a political decision. They are for election fraud.
- [15:19]
Public Citizen Representative
Go ahead.
- [15:19]
Ted Cruz
Secondly, though, Chuck Schumer, when he says It's Jim Crow 2.0, I think they view this issue as a way to gin up the extremes in their base and to scare People, Look, Jim Crow 2.0 would be bad. I don't want to see a bunch of racist Democrats putting laws in place that hurt minorities like they did before. And it's all about scary rhetoric. So it's a combination of encouraging fraud and using scary rhetoric. Now here's the question, Ben. How do we get this done if the Democrats are adamantly going to oppose it? And I'll tell you what, I am urging the other Republican senators, what I'm urging our leadership is we should nuke what's called the zombie filibuster. What does that mean? So under the Senate rules, it takes 60 votes to end debate. And it used to be for most of the history of the Senate to do a filibuster, you had to stand up and talk and talk and talk. You remember back in 2013 against Obamacare, I did a 21 hour filibuster and talked for 21 hours straight. That used to be how you had to do it. Now we don't make the Democrats talk and talk and talk and fill the airspace. We just let them vote. No, no, I, I, I, I'm voting to filibuster. And once I say I'm filibustering, we're done. We can force them one after the other, to stand up, to stand up, to keep talking, to keep talking, to keep talking and make the filibuster really painful. Now there, there, there's another side of it, though. The Democrats can keep challenging whether we have a quorum on the Senate floor. What that means is that we've gotta be able to produce 50 bodies. We've gotta have at least 50 Republican senators who can show up on the Senate floor and demonstrate a quorum. So it is painful for both the majority and the minority. And right now it's not clear that we have 50 Republicans who support doing this. I am making the case. This week I made the case vigorously to my Republican colleagues. Mike Lee is making the case vigorously to our Republican colleagues. Rick Scott is making the case vigorously to our Republican colleagues. But it's not clear if we have 50 or not. If we don't have 50, we can't do it. And so I think we ought to make it incredibly painful for Democrats and do everything we can to try to push them to the point of exhaustion. And if they get to that point, then we can pass the Save America Act.
- [17:49]
Public Citizen Representative
Yeah.
- [17:49]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, I've been saying this on tv. I think it's really important that Republicans explain that we're in favor of this, but we have to have 10 Democrats to get this thing done.
- [17:59]
Ted Cruz
Seven. Seven.
- [18:00]
Ben Ferguson
Sorry, excuse me. Seven. I should say seven Democrats to get this thing done. And without getting those seven to get us to the perfect number of 60.
- [18:08]
Ted Cruz
And understand we will get zero. We're not going to get seven. We're not going to get one. Every Democrat will follow Schumer's orders on this.
- [18:17]
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- [19:11]
Ben Ferguson
Today, in communities around the world, millions of children like Lucy faced the crushing weight of poverty, hunger, illness and a lack of opportunity dim their bright futures. But through Compassion International and local churches, everything is changing. Lucy receives nourishing food, vital medical care and the chance to go to school. She learns life skills, develops God given talents and builds a loving relationship with Jesus. It's a journey from vulnerability to empowerment. And it's sparked literally by your love. This transformation echoes far beyond Lucy, impacting her family, the community and shaping the future of her nation. And you can make this profound difference right now. So join me in sponsoring a child. Visit compassion.com today. You'll empower life and change the world. That's compassion.com to learn more.
- [20:12]
Public Ad Announcer
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI it all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com disclosures not everybody can.
- [21:13]
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- [21:43]
Ben Ferguson
Right, Senator, you did something that was really underreported this week and it was important. I say under reported because there's a partial government shutdown. There was the Trump coming out with Trump Rx as well. There was a lot going on, but this dealt with Somali fraud and we need to take some real time to discuss exactly what you helped expose this week of what's going on in Minnesota.
- [22:06]
Ted Cruz
Well, I'm the chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and I convened a hearing and chaired a hearing this week on the massive fraud that we saw in Minnesota with the Somali community and had witnesses, including the whistleblower who joined with the YouTuber and exposing the fraud. And I gotta say, as we were going through the evidence of the biggest fraud in recorded history that was done with the complicity of Democrat officeholders. It was amazing. Democrat senators wanted to talk about absolutely any other topic other than the actual facts of what happened here. Give a listen to what I had to say at the hearing. Federal prosecutors in Minnesota now estimate that half or more of the $18 billion spent since 2018 across 14 Minnesota welfare programs may have been lost to fraud. If confirmed, the amount stolen would rank among the largest welfare frauds in American history. In Minnesota, a welfare system designed to uplift the most vulnerable children was treated like an open atm, exploiting both taxpayers and the public trust extended to immigrant communities over the last decade. Minnesota Democrats didn't just fail to stop the fraud. They made it easy and profitable and in a totally lawless fashion, silenced anyone who pointed it out. Taken together, the record shows that the fraud was not accidental or unforeseeable, but was the product of deliberate inaction, willful blindness, and calculated abuse.
- [23:59]
Ben Ferguson
At this point, I got to ask you this question, Senator. Is there any government program in Minnesota that is not being abused by the Somali community? When they figure out a way to defraud it, they just go all in.
- [24:14]
Ted Cruz
If you look at the numbers, the percentages of the Somali community in Minnesota that are on welfare, they're staggering. Here, give a listen from the hearing. The programs move billions of dollars each year, and they're concentrated within a relatively small number of administrative pipelines. Minnesota Somali community receives welfare benefits at rates far higher than the state average, making these programs both financially significant and politically sensitive. In a state where the two closest statewide elections were decided by less than 1%, the Somali community votes overwhelmingly Democrat. The numbers are stark. 81% of Somali households in Minnesota receive some form of welfare. 81%, compared to 21% of non Somali households. 54% of Somali households receive food stamps compared to 7% of non Somali households. 73% are enrolled in Medicaid compared to 18% of non Somali households. And 27% receive cash assistance compared to 6% of non Somali households.
- [25:37]
Ben Ferguson
You hear those numbers are staggering. And I also think what's scary is what we're witnessing here is also the type of fraud that's now being uncovered in other states, including California. It's shocking rates. Elon Musk was tweeting about that earlier, before we were doing the show, just like he can't even believe. And he was the Doge guy. Just how much stealing, and this is just straight stealing from the American people is going on in virtually every government program that they can get their hands on. It's happening.
- [26:05]
Ted Cruz
Look, and it shows the fundamental corruption of Democrats. Number one, they imported vast numbers of illegal immigrants into this country, vast number of Somalis into this country. They put almost all of them on welfare. So they're paying them. They put them on programs that are entirely fraudulent. They're taking that money, sending it back to Somalia. That money. By the way, the Minnesota taxpayers are the number one funder of Al Shabaab, the terrorist Islamist group in Somalia. It has received hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen money from the Minnesota taxpayers. And the Democrats are doing this deliberately. And I Gotta say, it was amazing at this hearing. The Democrat senators at the hearing did not dispute any of what I'm saying. Instead, they just tried to change the subject. Give a listen to my response to their efforts to change the subject. In that enormous word cloud. Virtually nothing about $9 billion stolen from Minnesota taxpayers by Somali fraudsters with Democrat politicians knowing full well what is happening, facilitating it, and harvesting votes and campaign dollars from the people robbing the children of Minnesota. My Democrat colleagues want you desperately not to focus on those facts. And so instead, miraculously, the Democrats have discovered the Sermon on the Mount. Well, this hearing is going to focus on $9 billion stolen from the taxpayers and hundreds of millions of those dollars going to the Al Shabaab terrorist organization funded by the Democrats.
- [27:50]
Ben Ferguson
You would think there would be some sort of accountability there for. On, on the point that you just made, Senator, and that is about money going to terrorist organizations. When, when you were talking about that, were. Was there any of the Democrats that were actually paying attention? Were they listening or just so. So you. Because you put up a poster and I want to play this review. But it was. And if you're watching on YouTube or Facebook, you'll actually get to see this. But you have Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda's most, most lethal affiliate, a poster of them on a truck as terrorists, and you have it up behind you. And I just want to play this very quickly for people saying here what you said.
- [28:27]
Ted Cruz
When billions of dollars are stolen from US Welfare programs and sent abroad, there is no credible way to ensure those funds do not enrich jihadists within Al Shabaab. As one confidential source told the Manhattan Institute, the largest funder of Al Shabaab, a Islamist terrorist organization in Somalia, is the Minnesota taxpayer. Listen to that again. The single largest funder of Al Shabaab, a terrorist organization in Somalia, is the taxpayers of Minnesota.
- [29:05]
Ben Ferguson
I mean, how are people not going to jail for this? And are people going to go to jail? Because at this point there are so many conservatives say, I want someone arrested. If we have our money going to terrorists, are someone going to go to jail for this? Not some like, not like a one fall guy. How is this not just like the paddy wagons backing up and people are going to jail.
- [29:27]
Ted Cruz
We need to prosecute every Democrat politician who was complicit in this. By the way, what I laid out about the money going to Al Shabaab, not a single Democrat senator disputed it. They didn't say a word about it. I want you to listen to the back and forth I had with with the Democrat witness, the, the head of Public Citizen, this left wing group who, who really didn't want to see anyone prosecuted for this fraud. Give a listen. Mr. Weissman, your co president, a public citizen, which describes itself as a consumer advocate and a pro, pro democracy organization. Would you agree that the fraud in Minnesota was staggering and shocking?
- [30:10]
Public Citizen Representative
I agree that there is fraud in Minnesota. I don't believe these estimates are grounded in any evidence that I've seen. The $9 billion figure was based on a claim just that. Well, I think that half of them must be fraudulent. I just heard a comment just saying boost the number up. But to be clear and with respect, you missed my testimony. No question there's fraud in Minnesota and absolutely I share your righteous anger about whatever degree of fraud there was there.
- [30:35]
Ted Cruz
Do you agree that any Democrat politician, or let me be clear, any Republican politician that had knowledge of the fraud and was complicit should be prosecuted?
- [30:48]
Public Citizen Representative
I'm not sure what they're being prosecuted for, but also in my testimony I described also outside of Minnesota, the manifold ways that this administration is enabling fraud.
- [30:59]
Ted Cruz
Look, I understand the reason. Hold on, hold on, hold on.
- [31:02]
Public Citizen Representative
Standard is that you want.
- [31:03]
Ted Cruz
Sir, I'm going to ask a question and then you can answer it.
- [31:06]
Public Citizen Representative
Yes, sir.
- [31:07]
Ted Cruz
Your organization describes itself as a pro democracy organization. I'm going to try to find out if you actually are pro democracy or if you're simply pro Democrat and are a partisan. We've seen the Democrats who want to change the topic. So I get you want to testify how much you hate Donald Trump, but I'm quite certain Donald Trump was not running a fraudulent daycare center or a fraudulent autism center in Minnesota. So all of the talking points about how you dislike Trump, set them aside. We will see the Democrats on this committee go down those talking points. Do you believe elected politicians in Minnesota who were aware of this fraud and were complicit in it should be prosecuted? Should there be accountability?
- [31:54]
Public Citizen Representative
There absolutely should be accountability. It is not normal to prosecute government officials for not prosecuting fraud. That is not a standard I'm aware of that you've advocated or that anyone else has advocated in the Senate.
- [32:05]
Ted Cruz
So do you think it's perfectly okay?
- [32:07]
Public Citizen Representative
I did not.
- [32:07]
Ted Cruz
If, let's say, if, let's say Governor Waltz or Trump, Attorney General Ellison knew about the fraud, benefited from the fraud in terms of bundling votes, benefited from the frauds in terms of collecting campaign finance violations and deliberately looked the other way. You think that, you think that's not criminal conduct in that hypothetical?
- [32:25]
Public Citizen Representative
It is not okay. 100% not okay. But also, if you'll permit me, that hypothetical is in fact happening throughout.
- [32:33]
Ted Cruz
Okay, yes, I get it. You, you dislike Trump. I understand.
- [32:40]
Public Citizen Representative
Accountability.
- [32:41]
Ted Cruz
So let me. Let me. Sir, sir, please do not interrupt me. Please do not.
- [32:44]
Public Citizen Representative
Clear.
- [32:45]
Ted Cruz
I am. Please do not interrupt me. Please do not interrupt me. Sir. You may answer questions after I ask. You've heard the evidence and testimony about daycare centers with no children, with no toys, with no facilities, with windows that are blacked out. Do you believe it is possible that the officials sending millions of dollars to those fake daycare centers and fake autism senators didn't know what was going on?
- [33:13]
Public Citizen Representative
Well, what I heard was claims about that and I too have watched the video. We're both parents. I'm glad that the child care centers don't open their door for someone who's knocking there. I don't view that as evidence that the child care centers are fake child care centers, although I'm sure there are some. My understanding is that state investigators have gone to do their duty at those exact same child centers and have found that most of them actually are operating from correctly.
- [33:41]
Ted Cruz
Well, I will say it is disappointing that you had a chance leading a nonprofit that is supposedly pro democracy to take a principled stand. Instead, you decided to defend the Somali fraudsters because it benefits elected senator.
- [33:56]
Ben Ferguson
It really is amazing. The Democrats will defend this type of corruption and fraud and they'll do it right to your face.
- [34:03]
Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, they affirmatively support it. They benefit from it. They get elected. Look, one of the things I said in the hearing, the two closest statewide elections in Minnesota were 1 point races. So. So this is the difference between Democrats winning and losing. And I got to say, by the way, I invited to this hearing Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz. I invited Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. I invited Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry. All three of them refused to come. They could have come and defended themselves. They could have come and said that they were not complicit in this. But they effectively went in, went in into witness protection. And Ben, I don't know if you saw what, what our friend John Kennedy said this past week about Tim Waltz.
- [34:47]
Ben Ferguson
What did he say?
- [34:49]
Ted Cruz
He said Tim Waltz is a less masculine version of Hillary Clinton.
- [34:55]
Ben Ferguson
We should put that on the back of the leering center shirts. Right, like the leering center on the front. That quote on the back. I love it. Truly incredible. All right, lastly, before we run out of time center, I do want to talk about a big victory this week for protecting kids. And we're seeing new guidance that's coming out saying that you shouldn't be mutilating children with transition surgeries until they're adults. That's a no brainer. But now we're seeing a big change, and this is going to save the lives of many children.
- [35:23]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. So this week, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons announced that it no longer supported, quote, gender affirming surgeries for children under 18. This is a big reversal. And then the next day, the American Medical association said it agrees with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons about the surgery. And so the AMA said also, you should not do these surgeries for minors. And the AMA said in a statement that because, quote, the evidence for gender affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement. The AMA agrees with ASPS that surgical interventions in minors should generally be deferred to adulthood. That is a big, big deal. Just a couple of years ago, the AMA and all these medical groups were pushing do the surgeries, sterilize the kids. And one of the real triggers was the $2 million malpractice lawsuit that was won by D Transition, or FOX variant. And that's interesting.
- [36:34]
Ben Ferguson
That happens in bam. Now, every one of these woke groups and the doctor groups that were all making millions off this are like, hold on a second, let's change it. We don't want to lose all of our money.
- [36:44]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. And by the way, to give you a sense of just what a massive shift this is in 2021, here's what the AMA said on its website. Quote, the American Medical association today strengthened its established position opposing the governmental intrusion into the practice of medicine that is detrimental to the health of transgender and gender diverse children and adults. Legislatures in 20 states this year proposed banning physicians and other health care professionals from providing medically necessary, gender affirming care to transgender and gender diverse youth. In response to this legislative trend, physicians and medical students at the AMA's House of Delegates meeting voted to meaningfully expand the organization's strong opposition to undue restrictions on medical care to populations that have been politicized in state legislatures. That was five years ago. And you want to talk about a massive sea change. That's a big, big deal.
- [37:44]
Ben Ferguson
Yes, Senator, it really is.
- [37:46]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. And I'll tell you, J.K. rowling, who's really been courageous on this topic, she put out a long tweet this week on this topic that's worth reflecting on. She said, a young detransition, or FOX variant, has won $2 million damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit in which she sued the psychologist and surgeon who approved her for a double mastectomy, age 16. Remember, they told us that wasn't happening? Well, it happened to her.
- [38:11]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [38:12]
Ted Cruz
Varian's mother testified that she'd been against the surgery, but was pressured into agreeing because she'd been told that unless her daughter transitioned, she was likely to commit suicide. As the floodgates open and more and more detransitioners sue the clinicians who subjected them to an unregulated medical experiment, gender identity activists will almost certainly continue to ignore any evidence that fails to support their preferred narrative. And she goes on to say, this will go down in history as one of the worst medical scandals of all time. Adults inside and outside the medical profession sold troubled young people like Varian the idea that all of their complex trauma would be resolved by removing healthy body parts. You know what woke is receding, and that's a huge victory. It's a huge victory for kids and it's a huge victory for sanity.
- [39:06]
Ben Ferguson
Amen to that. Don't forget, we do this show as a podcast as well, so make sure you download it wherever you get your podcasts. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, hit that subscribe or auto download button. You can also watch us on YouTube as well. And if you've been listening on the radio, thanks for joining us. We'll see you back here on this radio station next week and all week on the podcast. It's been a pleasure to be with you. Been listening to Verdict with Ted Cruz. See you next week. Can you buy real Bitcoin in your retirement account? If not, it's time to upgrade to Bitcoin. Ira. You can buy and sell Bitcoin with major tax advantages. Visit bitcoin ira.com or call 866-679-7871.
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- [40:30]
Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
What do you have to lose?
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Ted Cruz
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- [41:00]
Ted Cruz
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