Statehood for DC & Puerto Rico? Full-Blown Political Brawl on Gerrymandering & U.S. Takes Aim at Cuban Strongman Week In Review

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz: Week in Review

Episode: Statehood for DC & Puerto Rico? Full-Blown Political Brawl on Gerrymandering & U.S. Takes Aim at Cuban Strongman
Date: May 23, 2026
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson

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Episode Overview

This week’s edition of Verdict with Ted Cruz revisits headline political battles and controversies, focusing primarily on:

1. The push for statehood for Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico and its potential impact on U.S. Senate control.
2. Fiery Senate Judiciary Committee exchanges over racial gerrymandering, with Cruz confronting Democratic accusations and historical narratives.
3. The dramatic indictment of Raul Castro for his role in crimes against Americans, contrasting U.S. presidential attitudes toward the Cuban regime.

The tone is combative, deeply partisan, and rich in historic references, with Senator Cruz and his co-host offering advice to conservative listeners on countering progressive arguments. The episode is punctuated by crusading rhetoric, pointed historical claims, and several memorable exchanges on air and in Congressional hearings.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Statehood for DC & Puerto Rico: Election-Year Power Play

[02:21–09:15]

• Core Argument:
  Senator Cruz contends the Democrats’ push for statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico is a naked power grab designed to add guaranteed Democratic seats to the Senate, rather than a good-faith effort for fair representation.

• Constitutional Framing:

  • Cruz reiterates the founders intended Washington D.C. to be a federal district to prevent any single state from gaining undue influence over the federal government.

    "The only reason Democrats want D.C. to be a state is because D.C. would immediately become the most liberal state in the union... They want two new Democrat senators... They want to be radical and extreme. ...the only focus is power." — Ted Cruz (04:17–05:35)

• Puerto Rico is 'More Complicated':
  While Democrats assume Puerto Rico will elect two Democratic senators, Cruz points out its political diversity and ongoing debate over statehood vs. independence vs. commonwealth status.

• Race, Party, and Political Assumptions:
  Cruz accuses Democrats of racial essentialism, saying they conflate race and party loyalty and are frustrated by non-Democratic minorities.

  "If there’s one essential feature about [Democrats], they’re racist. They believe all African Americans must be Democrats... They believe all Hispanics must be Democrats..." — Ted Cruz (05:50–06:12)

• Surge in Republican Ballots in California:
  Cruz references a sudden increase in early Republican voting in California’s gubernatorial race as "proof" that the electorate can shift unexpectedly—contrary to party engineers’ expectations.

• Gavin Newsom’s “Break the Glass” Scenario:
  Cruz mocks Governor Newsom’s response to the possibility of a Republican-only runoff, casting it as a veiled threat to subvert the democratic process:

  "If Republicans win... He will, quote, break the glass. And I don't know what the heck that means. ...Cancel the election? ...A promise of an insurrection." — Ted Cruz (10:27–10:58)

  • Ferguson wryly summarizes: "So in other words, we're just going to rig elections." (10:21)

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2. Senate Fireworks Over Gerrymandering & Racial Discrimination

[15:17–26:46]

• Hearing Recap:
  Cruz recounts a tense Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on racial gerrymandering, responding off-the-cuff to Democratic Senator Mazie Hirono, who castigated Republicans as racist.

• Historical Retort:
  Cruz launches into a pointed history lesson, pinning the legacy of racial discrimination—including poll taxes, literacy tests, and Jim Crow laws—on the Democratic Party.

  "When Senator Hirono says we had poll taxes, I want to ask you who 'we' is... It was mostly the Democrats." — Ted Cruz (16:54–17:17)

• Civil Rights, Gerrymandering, and Electing Minorities:

  • Cruz rejects the Democratic claim that racial gerrymanders are needed to elect Black or Hispanic representatives, citing various Black and Hispanic Republicans elected in majority-white districts.

    "Tim Scott... won statewide. ...Burgess Owens... Byron Donalds... John James... Wesley Hunt... all elected in majority white districts, all Republicans." — Ted Cruz (19:05–19:55)

  • Accuses Democrats of not accepting minority identity outside of liberal orthodoxy:

    "...in the Democrats’ world, you are not black if you're not a liberal Democrat. ...same arrogance to Hispanic voters." — Ted Cruz (20:00–20:10)

• Gerrymandering Hypocrisy:
  Cruz alleges Democrats are the primary abusers of gerrymandering, especially in New England, excluding Republicans entirely from large swathes of the region.

• Spirited Exchanges:

  • Senator Alex Padilla rebukes Cruz’s style:

    "Just because you think you are the smartest person in the world doesn't mean the rest of us agree to that. Okay. Thank you." — Alex Padilla (22:50–23:08)

  • Cruz responds with a famous debate zinger:

    "Senator Hirono. Senator, I knew Dianne Feinstein. I served with Dianne Feinstein. And you're not Dianne Feinstein." — Ted Cruz (23:38–23:46)
    (paraphrasing Lloyd Bentsen’s “You’re no Jack Kennedy”)

  • Cruz and Ferguson on Democratic tactics:

    "How dare you speak the truth." — Ted Cruz (24:23) "I'm offended by the truth." — Senator Josh Hawley (24:25)

---

3. U.S. Indicts Raul Castro – Justice after 30 Years

[29:15–37:36]

• Context:
  Raul Castro, the former Cuban president, is indicted for his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of anti-Castro activists’ planes over international waters.

• Personal Connection:
  Cruz and Ferguson celebrate the move, describing it as emotional for Cuban Americans and as long-delayed justice.

  "This Cuban American in Houston, Texas, in my laundry room... is celebrating because Raul Castro has been indicted." — Ted Cruz (30:11–30:20)

• Indictment Details:

  • Charges: conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder.
  • Victims: Four Americans involved in humanitarian efforts.

• Broader Foreign Policy Contrasts:

  • Cruz lambasts President Obama for his overtures to Castro ("sat down with him at a baseball game") and draws a bright line with Trump’s "indict them, don’t negotiate" approach.
  • Criticizes former Obama officials for lamenting the indictment.

    “All of the Obama bros are weeping right now because if you gave them a choice — who do you like more, Raul Castro or Donald Trump? 100% of the Obama bros would pick Castro over Trump.” — Ted Cruz & Senator Josh Hawley (37:25–37:30)

• Communism’s ‘Evil’ Legacy:
  Cruz expresses his personal and ideological loathing of communism:

  "Communism is the most evil ideology humanity has ever created... Communism has produced more murder, more torture... than any ideology in the history of our planet." — Ted Cruz (32:10–32:40)

• Actionable Prospects:
  Cruz assesses the likelihood of a U.S. operation to arrest Castro as “50/50,” dependent on his location and the practicality of intervention.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The only, only focus is power." — Ted Cruz on Democrats’ motives for DC statehood (04:58)
• "If there's one essential feature about [Democrats], they're racist." — Ted Cruz (05:50)
• “If you pesky voters vote Republican... we will use our power to crush the voters. This is Democrats gone wild.” — Ted Cruz (11:03)
• “Just because you think you are the smartest person in the world doesn't mean the rest of us agree to that.” — Alex Padilla (22:50)
• "Senator, I knew Dianne Feinstein... And you're not Dianne Feinstein." — Ted Cruz (23:38)
• "Tim Scott... won statewide." — Ted Cruz on minority Republicans’ electoral success in non-gerrymandered districts (19:27)
• “Communism is the most evil ideology humanity has ever created.” — Ted Cruz (32:15)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Statehood Power Play (DC & PR): 02:21–11:52
• Gerrymandering Judiciary Fireworks: 15:17–26:46
• Raul Castro Indictment & US Policy: 29:15–37:36

---

Summary Final Thoughts

This episode exemplifies the vehement partisanship of current U.S. political debate, as Cruz and Ferguson interweave detailed constitutional, historical, and personal narratives to challenge Democratic positions. The rhetoric is often explicit and combative, embodying the podcast’s avowed mission to both inform and arm conservative listeners for ongoing political arguments—especially concerning democracy, representation, and the specter of communism.

Listeners seeking in-depth conservative perspectives on high-stakes issues, as well as the rhetorical flourishes of political combat, will find a wealth of provocative content and memorable zingers here.

Transcript

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[TNA Wrestling Announcer]

wrestling fans the action continues every week.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is total non stop action.

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TNA Thursday night Impact Every week on AMC. For showtimes and more information visit tnarrestling.com welcome.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is verdict with Ted Cruz Week in review and these are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, Democrats move to totally change America. This time they want to add four new U. S Senators so they gain control of the Senate. And where do they want to do it. And how do they get to this idea? We explain it. Next up, Democrats are furious that Republicans are fighting back after their decades of gerrymandering. And their argument, it's always about race. We explain that. And finally, an indictment in Cuba with someone with the last name Castro. It took almost 30 years to get it to happen. The details behind that as well. It's the Weekend Review and it starts right now. I think that especially people that listen to the show that are younger, they hear this argument on statehood. Democrats are really leaning into this. It's becoming an election year issue multiple times over now. And, and the argument that young people hear and the one that they then make is, well, they're not being fairly represented. Puerto Rico, Washington D.C. representation or taxation with that representation. Why should we not make sure these people have a voice in, in Washington D.C. explain to, to people listening now how to defend against that, that argument that's being made by the left because they are really pushing this on colleges and college students and young people in this country.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look, the constitution explicitly created D.C. and the framers of the Constitution wanted our nation's capital to be a federal district that was not part of any state. They didn't want any state to be favored because the Congress was there, because the President was there. And so they carved out the lines of the District of Columbia. It was originally carved out to be 10 miles by 10 miles. And then what ultimately happened is they gave the southern portion of it, everything south of the Potomac river they gave to Virginia. So what used to be D.C. arlington used to be part of D.C. it

[Senator Josh Hawley]

was given to Virginia.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So it's now that 10 mile by 10 mile diamond kind of chopped, the bottom portion chopped off by the Potomac River. And the idea of the framers was, was quite clear that it was not fair. If you had a state that had our capital, that state would have advantages that no other state had. The only reason Democrats want D.C. to be a state is because D.C. would immediately become the most liberal state in the union. It would make California and Illinois and New York look conservative by comparison. They want two new Democrat senators. They want one new Democrat House member. That they want to be radical and extreme. Because. Because. And notice it's not about any substance. Go back to Kamala's list. Is there a single policy she listed that impacts your life, that is about your job, that is about your kids, that is about your family? No, the only, only focus is power. By the way, if D.C. if they were likely to vote Republican, you would see democrats saying making D.C. a state is Jim Crow. Yeah. Puerto Rico is actually a little more complicated because Puerto Rico has elected Republicans. The Democrats assume Puerto Rico will elect two Democrat senators. They might be right, but they might be wrong. If Puerto Rico became a state, we would fight and vigorously contest it. I don't know if we could prevail on that or not. But their assumption. Look, the Democrats, if there's one essential feature about them, they're racist. They believe all African Americans must be Democrats. That's why they hate Clarence Thomas, because in their view, he's a traitor to. To his race. They believe all Hispanics must be Democrats. That's why they hate me, because they think I'm a traitor to my race. And, and so their view of Puerto Ricans is you must be Democrats because we, the Democrat Party, control you. I'm not sure that would play out. But look, Puerto Rico is a territory. It has a different history. And by the way, the people of Puerto Rico have long been divided on the question of whether to become a state or not. At various times in elections, they've had options of statehood, they've had options of independence. There's some in Puerto Rico that want to be a separate and independent nation. And then the third option, which is what they have now, they're a commonwealth, they get some of the benefits of American citizenship, but yet they're not fully estate. And the people of Puerto Rico have long disagreed on that. Democrats don't care about any of that. All they want is power. And I'll point to another instance. We've talked about Kamala nationwide. We've talked about Virginia and Governor Spanberger, both gone wild. And then you look at Republican at California. So, all right, here's a story in the New York Post, May 16. California sees massive surge in Republican votes as more than 900,000 ballots already returned. Could the state of California actually be turning red early? Voters in the Golden State have already returned more than 900,000 ballots ahead of the June 2 primary, showing a massive surge in Republican votes compared to four years ago for the governor's race. A post on Saturday from the research Firm Political Data PDI showed that out of 905,889 ballots that have been returned, 37% were for from Republicans, with Republican returns up 11% compared to the same stage of the 2022 midterm. So Republican votes up 11%. More shocking is the fact that the data showed 41% of Democrats who have returned their ballots, down 13 points from the same moment in the primary election. Four years ago. So Republicans up 11%, Democrats down 13%. Now we all know because they tell us incessantly, Democrats are committed to democracy. And they beat their chest when they say it and they get a little tear in the corner of their eye. It is democracy with a trademark on it. It is capital democracy. And by democracy, what do they mean? They mean any decision making apparatus that elects Democrats. That's how they define democracy. If the voters vote for something they don't like, to hell with the voters. The Democrats want what they want. So. Gavin Newsom. California has this really weird system of electing governors where you vote for their like 60 candidates on the ballot, both Republicans and Democrats. They got rid of a primary and the way, the way it works, the top two candidate vote getters then go to a runoff. There are right now two strong Republicans who are in the top four. Steve Hilton and Chad debranco. Those two could possibly end up one and two. If that happened, it would mean the runoff would have only Republicans. By the way, it was Democrats who designed this system because they wanted every election to feature just two Democrats. They wanted to ensure that there wasn't even a Republican on the general election ballot. They assumed they could take the top two seats and just clean every time.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, every time in this. And then they'd never have to worry about a Republican winning again, you know,

[Senator Ted Cruz]

and it turns out when you do things like, like let your city burn to the ground, not fill in the water, let homeless people on the streets, let, let needles and robbery and, and abuse the economic system so much, propose a wealth tax to confiscate people's wealth, destroy jobs, cause a massive exodus of people fleeing California. Turns out when you really, really, really screw up running the state or running, say, the city of Los Angeles, eventually people notice. And so here's Gavin Newsom. I want you to listen to Gavin Newsom talking about what would happen if Republicans win the top two spots in the election. If California voters choose to vote Republican. We all have agencies. We can shape the future. There's still a lot. Look, I've said this before, so I'll repeat it. I don't anticipate this need to be the case, but there is a break the glass scenario. And there's many people that have a deep understanding of what it would look like if Democrats were locked out. And we're going to do everything to make sure that doesn't happen. I'll leave it.

[Ben Ferguson]

So in other words, we're just going to rig elections. Is that, is that basically the response? I don't worry. This may happen once, but it'll never happen again.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator, look what he called the break the glass scenario. Understand what he's saying to the voters. If you pesky voters vote Republican and if the top two candidates that come into the runoff are both Republicans, he will, quote, break the glass. And I don't know what the heck that means. What, Throw one of the Republicans out of the election, Cancel the election. I mean, anything he's talking about. Do you know what you just witnessed there? A promise of an insurrection. That is, in fact, that's.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, it's a fair way of saying it. You're basically saying, even if you guys decide to go a different way, we won't let you.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He said, we have the agency. We have the power. There are break the glass scenarios. If Republicans win, this is. He's literally declaring war on the voters. He's saying, you voters have no say in the state. And if, God forbid, from his perspective, you choose to vote for Republicans, you deny us power, we will use our power to crush the voters. This is Democrats gone wild. And look, Gavin Newsom, Abigail Spamberger, Kamala Harris, they're all doing the same thing. They're freaking out, they're panicking, and they're saying they're, we got to keep changing the rules so that under no circumstances is it possible that we lose. That's dangerous. It's cynical. It is explicitly, as Kamala put it, an assault on the Constitution and an assault on democracy. And this is where today's Democrats are.

[Ben Ferguson]

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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[Senator Ted Cruz]

t h o s.com David Application times may vary.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Rates may vary.

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It's a celebration 250 years in the

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[Ben Ferguson]

I want to move to some fireworks that took place today in the Senate judiciary where they were talking, you guys were talking about the issue of gerrymandering and it got very heated between you and another senator walk us through that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, we had a hearing in the

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Senate Judiciary Committee on racial gerrymandering and the Supreme Court's recent decision making clear that you cannot draw congressional lines discriminating based on race.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And the Democrats have been losing their minds about this.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

They've been screaming that it's Jim Crow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Mazie Hirono, the very, very liberal

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Democrat from Hawaii, she spoke right before me, and she gave a whole speech

[Senator Ted Cruz]

about how Democrat or how Republicans are racist, how they.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

They want to hurt minorities. And it was just.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It was a typically vicious, false, slandering speech. I'll tell you. I had a whole set of remarks prepared for me.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

I had a whole set of questions prepared for me.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I did not ask a single one

[Senator Josh Hawley]

of the questions my team had prepared.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

What I did instead was just off the cuff.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

It was reacting to Maisie Hirono's comments. Give a listen and hear what I had to say.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Mr. Chairman, just a moment ago, our colleague, Senator Hirono said there's a lot more to say. And indeed, she's right. And in fact, I want to go back to her comments. She began by saying, we have a long history of racial discrimination in this country. That's undoubtedly correct. And then she said, quote, we had poll taxes, we had literacy tests. We even had tests of how many

[Senator Josh Hawley]

jelly beans are in a jar.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Mr. Chamberlain, when. When Senator Hirono says we had poll taxes, I want to ask you who we is and in particular, what party was it that implemented poll taxes, Taxes in the South? And I don't want to necessarily speak in every single case, but I'm pretty confident it was mostly the Democrats. And what party was it that put literacy tests in place in the South? Same answer.

[Narrator]

Mostly the Democrats.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And what party was it that had tests like how many jelly beans are in a bottle? The Democrats. Tell me, what party were the founders of the Ku Klux Klan from? I'm pretty sure that was the Democrats. Indeed. In fact, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the founder of the Klan, was a delegate to the 1860 Democrat National Convention. What party wrote the Jim Crow laws in the South? The Democrats. And so on this side of the aisle were members of the Republican Party. Who was the first Republican president? Abraham Lincoln. The Republican Party was literally founded to oppose slavery. We came into existence because slavery was a grotesque evil. And it was President Lincoln, the first Republican president, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, who won the Civil War, and that resulted in the freeing of the slaves and the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, by the way, Fast forward to the civil rights era. Bull Connor, one of the most noxiously racist politicians. What party was he from? He was a Democrat. The Democrats, for the entire history of their party have been a party based on racial discrimination. They affirmatively embrace it. They support it. Let me ask you, Mr. Grime, is discrimination, is discriminating based on race consistent with the United States Constitution? No. What does the 14th Amendment say about discrimination based on race? It's prohibited. What does the 15th amendment say about discriminating based on race and in particular drawing congressional lines and explicitly discriminating based on race?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

It's prohibited.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Now the Democrats are fond of telling this story. That is, and I wish I could find a kinder way to say it, a flat out lie, that without discriminating based on race that no African Americans will be elected and no Hispanics will be elected. Indeed, there was one fellow online who was a vocal left wing spokesperson who tweeted out, if I'm advising anybody to run for president, they sure as hell better have a solution to how you make sure that it's not another hundred years before another black person can represent South Carolina. So that that's a typical Democrat statement, that we cannot elect a black person in South Carolina without discriminating based on race. I want to ask you, Mr. Chamberlain, who is the junior senator from South Carolina right now? That would be Tim Scott. And all right, I'll tell you what I said online. I said, hey, Grok, who is Tim Scott and why do Democrats think he isn't black? And by the way, was Tim Scott elected because of a gerrymandered district drawn only to elect an African American? No. He won statewide. He won statewide. By the way, the Democrat position is you can only elect African Americans with a gerrymandered district. I will point out Burgess Owens, an African American, is elected in a majority white district in the state of Utah. He's a Republican. Byron Donalds, another African American, is elected in the majority white district in Florida. He is a Republican. John James, another African American, is elected in the majority white district in Michigan. He is a Republican. And my own Congressman, Wesley Hunt, who represents me in the House of Representatives, he is elected in the majority white district, he is a Republican. And yet in the Democrats world, you are not black if you're not a liberal Democrat. There is an arrogance to African American voters. By the way, they also have that same arrogance to Hispanic voters. They say you're not Hispanic if you're not a liberal Democrat. Well, I'll tell you, I am proud to be the first Hispanic ever elected to represent the state of Texas in the United States Senate. And Mr. Chamberlain, in my election in Texas, was I elected in the gerrymandered district that could only elect in Hispanic? No, you were elected statewide. Discrimination based on race is wrong. Final question. The Democrats are now clutching their pearls that seats drawn to elect liberal Democrats in the south are going to go away. You may get black Republicans instead. Indeed, in Tennessee, they're freaking out that a liberal white guy who's a Democrat is likely going to lose his seat to an African American woman who's a Republican. And they say that's horrible racial oppression. My final question is this. If you look nationwide, which party has egregiously abused gerrymandering for decades? Both parties are guilty of it. But which. Who has been the worst offender? And in particular, take New England, take Massachusetts, take Connecticut, take Rhode island, take Maine, take Vermont, take New Hampshire. How many Republicans are elected from all of New England in the House of Representatives? I think the answer to that is 0. 0. They've drawn every district in a naked gerrymander, and yet they're very upset that their illegal pursuit of power has now been stopped by the Supreme Court that is enforcing the Constitution and prohibiting the racial gerrymandering discrimination their party is built on.

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Senator Medill.

[Senator Alex Padilla]

Just part of personal privilege.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Sure.

[Senator Alex Padilla]

I feel personally aggrieved to sit here and to be lectured by my colleague from Texas. And this reminds me of the time when he was first elected to the Senate and the Judiciary Committee had a hearing on gun safety. And he felt a need to lecture Dianne Feinstein, who was a leader on gun safety legislation. And he took that opportunity to lecture Dianne Feinstein about gun safety and her leadership on the issue. And she said to him something along the lines of, I did not sit here on this committee for however many years. She did, only to be lectured by you. And that is how I feel. So why don't you just stop lecturing the rest of us? Just because you think you are the smartest person in the world doesn't mean the rest of us agree to that. Okay. Thank you.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Senator Hirono. Senator, I knew Dianne Feinstein. I served with Dianne Feinstein. And you're not Dianne Feinstein. All right. Senator Padilla.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, I just got one question for you. You're not a big morning person. So who made you mad this morning? And what did you eat? Because that was brilliant.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, look it, I couldn't stand seeing

[Senator Josh Hawley]

the Democrats being hypocritical and dishonest and,

[Senator Ted Cruz]

you know, it was striking. Maisie Hirono said, I'm offended. I'm offended that you said this. You know what she didn't do?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

She didn't dispute a single word I said, because every word I said was factual. She didn't dispute that her party has been viciously racist since the very beginning of that party, that it embraces racial gerrymandering.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Like every word of substance. She just.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

And this is a classic Democrat tactic.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

How dare you speak the truth.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

I'm offended by the truth.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And obviously, my reference at the end,

[Senator Josh Hawley]

I was quoting a Democrat. If you'll recall when George W. Bush

[Senator Ted Cruz]

or not George W. Bush, George H.W.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

bush was running for president, and he was running with Dan Quayle, and he was running against Michael Dukakis, and his running mate was Lloyd Benson. And Lloyd Benson was a senator from Texas.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Dan Quayle, when he was nominated

[Senator Josh Hawley]

to be vice president, was a very young senator. I think he was 41 or 42, and he did not have a ton of experience.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And in the vice presidential debate between

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Dan Quayle and Lloyd Benson, Dan Quayle had a riff that I suspect was prepared by his team where he said, look, I'm the same age that John Kennedy was when he became president. And it was, I think, their line to say, gosh, I'm not inexperienced, because Kennedy and I are the same age. And Lloyd Benson looked at him and said, senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. I served with Jack Kennedy. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy. And that obviously was the riff I was using for Maisie Dianne Feinstein.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

My first year, we did have a

[Senator Josh Hawley]

fiery blow up over gun control because she was a big advocate of gun control. I am a big defender of the Second Amendment.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And when I asked her a specific question about the constitutional basis for what

[Senator Josh Hawley]

she was proposing, she got very upset. And she, much like Mazie Hirono, she

[Senator Ted Cruz]

said, I am not a sixth grader. And she was horrified that I would actually ask her the constitutional basis for

[Senator Josh Hawley]

what she was trying to do.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Maisie does not have. She could not refute a word I said.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

So instead, she resorted to insults and emotional offense. And look, I think that's a fairly

[Senator Ted Cruz]

typical example of where the Democrats are. Truth and facts are not their strong

[Senator Josh Hawley]

points, and they're not going to engage in them.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Instead, they're going to try to engage in deception. And sadly, that was the entire Democrat

[Senator Josh Hawley]

theme in the entire hearing.

[Ben Ferguson]

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.

[Narrator]

It's a celebration 250 years in the

making and we want everyone in America from Maine to Montana, from Alabama to Alaska to be a part of it.

This year marks America's 250th anniversary and we're coming together from coast to coast at star spangled events, live performances, and the largest day of giving in American history.

Join the nationwide celebration at america250.org

[Senator Ted Cruz]

what

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[TNA Wrestling Announcer]

fans, the action continues every week. Watch CNA Thursday Night Impact every week on amc.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It is like electricity blowing through your veins.

[TNA Wrestling Announcer]

Don't miss the adrenaline, the drama and the total non stop action.

[Ben Ferguson]

No one can ever be as good as this right here.

[TNA Wrestling Announcer]

Don't miss the action of TNA Thursday Night Impact every week on AMC. For showtimes and more information visit TNA

[Ben Ferguson]

wrestling.com I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed. I want to move on to what we talked about in the last show has now become a reality and that is Raul Castro has been indicted. This is bringing lots of celebration to the, the Cuban community down in Florida. A lot of excitement also in Cuba because of this. And we've seen some of those videos, have been able to get out of the country with limited access to the Internet there. But this is a very big moment for justice. And, and now we, we, there couldn't be more of a, a stark difference between having a former President Barack Obama that would sit down with this man who's now been accused of murder by the United States of America, indicted for that. He sat down with him in a baseball game, hung out with him, and now Donald Trump's like, no, no, no, we don't do that with bad guys. We don't negotiate with them, we indict them.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

Well, forget the Cuban community in, in Florida. This Cuban American in Houston, Texas, in my laundry room, thankfully not surrounded by cat crap right now, is celebrating because Raul Castro has been indicted. Let me read from Fox News. Former Cuban President Raul Castro has been indicted in connection with to his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment, which a Florida grand jury returned in April, was unsealed Wednesday, Acting U.S. attorney General Todd Blanche said during an announcement in Miami on Wednesday. It charges Castro with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four separate counts of murder. The indictment stems from a February 1996 indictment in which four Americans, Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandra Jr. Mario de la Pena and Pablo Morales, were flying in civilian aircraft when Cuban military aircraft shot their planes down in international waters and killed them. The indictment alleges, according to Blanche, quote, they were unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida Straits. Blanche said, quote, as alleged in the indictment, Raul Castro and five co defendants participate in a conspiracy that ended with Cuban military aircraft firing missiles at those planes and killing four Americans. He continued, nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them and not face accountability. Blanche also said, joining Blanche, announcing the indictment were United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reading Quinones Deputy FBI Director Christopher Rea and Florida Attorney General James New Timer. Look, Raul Castro, he's in his mid-90s. He is a murdering, torturous communist bastard. Look, if there's one thing, and let me say to the folks that Listen to verdict. You guys know me. If there's one thing about me, I genuinely and deeply and passionately loathe Communists. Communism is the most evil ideology humanity has ever created. Communism has produced more murder, more torture, more imprisonment, more poverty, more misery than any ideology in the history of our planet. Fidel Castro was an evil monster. When Fidel Castro died, I gave a floor speech saying how happy I was that Fidel Castro had moved to warmer climates. I believe Fidel Castro is burning in hell right now. His brother Raul was vicious, was responsible for much of the oppression in Cuba. He's no longer the president. He's now 94. And I am incredibly glad, I am gratified that the Trump Department of Justice has indicted him for murder. This is an evil man and this may well set, send, set the predicate, just like Nicolas Maduro for the United States going in to execute this arrest warrant to arrest him.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And I gotta say, one of the striking.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, I had to ask you this real quick. Do you think there's a decent probability that is actually what could happen here?

[Senator Josh Hawley]

50, 50. Look, I think President Trump is going to ask the military. How likely are we to succeed? It depends where Raul Castro is. Could you mount a military campaign to go in and get him? I don't, I don't know how security is. I have zero classified information on this, so I'm not revealing anything. But I don't think President Trump will order the operation if it is unlikely to succeed. So if Castro makes a stupid decision and goes somewhere where we could get him, I think there's a real chance we go arrest him. If he is hidden underground, either figuratively or literally, where we don't know where he is, that becomes more complicated. So I don't know the answer to that, but, but I think it's a 50, 50 proposition right now. And I will say the contrast, if you look at the alums from the Obama administration, if you look at Ben Rhodes, who was the deputy National Security Advisor under Obama, he is effectively weeping. You look at Jen Psaki. Jen Psaki had Ben Rhodes on TV and they were lamenting how horrible it was that Raul Castro had been indicted. Understand when Obama was president, he went and joined Raul Castro at a baseball game. They were palling it around, they had their arms around each other and listen, Commies like other commies. Listen. Barack Obama, when he was president, at times he pretended he was moderate. But I think as the years have gone by, it has been clear, look, there is a very real communist movement in the Democrat party. They've got people like Graham Platner, this crazy self described communist running for Senate in Maine. The guy with the Nazi Totenkampf tattoo on his chest. Yeah, he will tell you he's a communist. Aoc Ilhan Omar, those folks, they won't quite tell you they're communists, but they're close. Al Said, who's the radical leftist running for Senate in Michigan is also pretty damn close to a communist. And listen, I believe, I think Obama is responsible for all of this. He has radicalized the Democrat party. And so you look at the pictures and images of Obama embracing Raul Castro. Obama loved communists who were enemies of America. Obama started his presidency, one of the very first things he did, he went to the University of Cairo in Egypt and he gave a speech and he said Iran has a right and he used the word right to nuclear technology. Now that's idiocy. That makes no sense. But all of the Obama bros are weeping right now because if you gave them a choice, who do you like more? Raul Castro, the communist murdering, torturing, evil tyrant or Donald Trump?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

100% of the Obama bros would pick Castro over Trump.

[Senator Josh Hawley]

And so they're all freaking out.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I gotta say, karma is a as

[Ben Ferguson]

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.

[Narrator]

It's a celebration 250 years in the

making and we want everyone in America, from Maine to Montana, from Alabama to Alaska to be a part of it.

This year marks America's 250th anniversary and we're coming together from coast to coast at star spangled events, live performances and the largest day of giving in American history.

Join the nationwide celebration at america250.org

[Senator Ted Cruz]

what

[Cornhole Ad Host]

if your next favorite hobby came with a built in crew? That's cornhole. Whether you're brand new to the game or just looking for an excuse to get outside, there's a whole world of players out there ready to welcome you in local leagues, weekend tournaments, backyard throwdowns, it's all happening near you. Find your people at your next [e-mail] events. New hobby, new friends. Same you just having a lot more fun.

[TNA Wrestling Announcer]

Professional wrestling fans, the action continues every week. Watch CNA Thursday night Impact every week on amc.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It is like electricity flowing through your veins.

[TNA Wrestling Announcer]

Don't miss the adrenaline, the drama and the total non stop action.

[Ben Ferguson]

No one can ever be as good as this right here.

[TNA Wrestling Announcer]

Don't miss the action of TNA Thursday Night Impact Every week on AMC. For showtimes and more information visit tnarestling.com

[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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