SuperBowl, CA Taxes, Follow the DEI Money & VA Assault on Democracy

Summary

Podcast Summary:

Verdict with Ted Cruz
Episode: Super Bowl, CA Taxes, Follow the DEI Money & VA Assault on Democracy
Date: February 9, 2026
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz & Ben Ferguson

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Overview

In this episode, Senator Ted Cruz and co-host Ben Ferguson delve into a wide array of political topics framed by recent cultural and legislative events. They begin with a lighthearted discussion of the Super Bowl halftime show, then transition into serious critiques of California's tax policies, concerns about the Mellon Foundation’s influence in academia, and sweeping changes in Virginia’s political climate post-election. Throughout, the conversation is candid, often irreverent, and heavily critical of progressive initiatives and Democratic strategies, offering a behind-the-scenes look at conservative interpretations of current events.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Super Bowl and Halftime Show (00:34–09:01)

• Ted Cruz’s Super Bowl Experience: Cruz reveals he missed most of the game due to travel and barely caught highlights of the halftime show, joking about the media fuss around artist Bad Bunny.
• On Bad Bunny and Outrage Culture:
  • Cruz observes that "most of the halftime shows are kind of silly," and while there was supposed outrage from the political right, he personally found it unremarkable.
  • Memorable Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz, 01:48):
    "I know that there were a lot of folks all worked up... On the right, you're supposed to be outraged... I just found myself not caring."
• Generational Perspective: Ted Cruz notes his daughters are fans of Bad Bunny, reflecting generational gaps.
• Cultural Anecdotes: Cruz shares personal stories about his late aunt, the importance of family, Cuban heritage, and cultural discipline.
  • Notable Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz, 05:33):
    "A shankleta was this, like, heavy rubber sandal... My theasonia could pull it off and whack you in the back of the head. It was like this, you know, boomerang bow. And you'd be like, wow, that hurt. She was very good at it."
• Family Tribute: Cruz honors his aunt (who fought against Castro) and their family's history, segueing into his political journey.

Timestamps:

• Super Bowl & Halftime: 00:34–03:38
• Family Anecdotes & Funeral: 03:24–08:40

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2. California’s Tax Policy & The “Jock Tax” (09:01–13:00)

• Outrage Over Taxes: The hosts highlight the story of Super Bowl player Sam Darnold, who, due to California’s taxes, lost money playing in the game despite earning a bonus.
  • Breakdown of Earnings: Regardless of a win or loss, Darnold paid more in California taxes than he earned.
  • Notable Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz, 10:06):
    "If he wins, he’s going to receive $178,000 as a bonus. And he will pay $249,000 in taxes to California... meaning he will lose $71,000."
• Broader Impacts: Discussion on how musicians, comedians, and athletes avoid performing in California to dodge high taxes.
• Comparison to Texas: Cruz touts Texas as an income tax-free alternative that provides better incentives.
  • Notable Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz, 12:36):
    "Welcome to California. Congratulations on the Super Bowl. And by the way, when you play the Super Bowl in Texas, we don't tax you a penny and you get great Tex Mex."

Timestamps:

• California Tax Story: 09:01–13:00

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3. Exposing the Mellon Foundation and “Follow the Money” in Academia (14:49–25:39)

• Wall Street Journal Highlight: Cruz summarizes a column revealing the Mellon Foundation’s extensive funding of progressive, identity-driven academic initiatives.
  • Examples of Funding:
    • University of Virginia’s program for hiring “racial equity” focused faculty.
    • Funding for projects at Utah, Santa Cruz, Wayne State, and more, targeting transgender and “environmental anti-racism” projects, prison abolition, and intersectional studies.
  • Radicalization Accusation: The foundation is described as having shifted from neutral arts/humanities support to aggressive ideological activism.
  • Notable Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz, reading columnist, 17:05):
    "The Mellon Foundation is the nation's largest supporter of the arts and humanities... In recent years, it has been refashioned as a tool for advancing an identitarian vision of social justice for academia."
• Hiring Practices & Ideological Constraints: Examples given of job listings and professor research targeting specific identities.
• Long-term Impact: Cruz argues such trends are corrupting higher education, making academia inhospitable to those outside progressive orthodoxy.
  • Host’s Summary (Ben Ferguson, 23:22):
    "This is pay to play in its simplest form."
• Philanthropy Capture: Cruz warns that right-leaning donors must guard their legacies, so their foundations are not taken over by leftists.

Timestamps:

• Introduction to Mellon Foundation Critique: 14:49–18:30
• Details on Funding & Announced Purposes: 18:31–21:25
• Critiques and Broader Implications: 21:25–25:39

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4. Organized Activism & “Buy-to-Protest” (25:17–25:39)

• Paid Protests: Ferguson and Cruz argue that much of what appears as grassroots protest (e.g., anti-ICE activism) is actually funded, not organic.
• Example: Cruz recounts reports of activists being openly paid to protest, citing a viral video and a Laura Ingraham encounter.
• Notable Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz, 25:17):
  "There is real money that is fomenting violence and that is quite literally fomenting revolution. That's what they're trying to do."

Timestamp:

• Organized Activism: 25:17–25:39

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5. Virginia’s Post-Election “Assault on Democracy” (27:37–33:41)

• Political Realignment: Cruz warns that Virginia, following its recent Democratic wave, is rapidly implementing “radical” policies:
  • Cutting ties with ICE enforcement.
  • New redistricting seen as extreme gerrymandering.
• Details of Redistricting: Cruz lays out how Democrats, representing 52% of the electorate, now control 91% of the state’s congressional delegation.
• Comparisons to Other States: The episode draws contrasts to Texas and New England, noting gerrymandering is common but claiming Virginia’s moves are especially egregious.
  • Notable Quote (Sen. Ted Cruz, 29:46):
    "The 47% of Virginians who voted for Trump are now going to get 9% of the congressional representation in the state."
• Cynical Democrat Response: An unnamed state senator’s crude retort, "You all started it and we effing finished it," is presented as emblematic of Democratic attitudes.
• Broader Message: The hosts frame this as a warning for the rest of the country before the midterms; Democrats, they argue, will use power aggressively to cement their advantage.

Timestamps:

• Virginia Policy Shifts & Redistricting: 27:37–33:41

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Notable Quotes in Context

| Time | Speaker | Quote | |-------|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:48 | Ted Cruz | "I know that there were a lot of folks all worked up... On the right, you're supposed to be outraged... I just found myself not caring."| | 05:33 | Ted Cruz | "A shankleta was this, like, heavy rubber sandal... My theasonia could pull it off and whack you in the back of the head."| | 10:06 | Ted Cruz | "If he wins, he’s going to receive $178,000 as a bonus. And he will pay $249,000 in taxes to California... meaning he will lose $71,000."| | 12:36 | Ted Cruz | "Welcome to California. Congratulations on the Super Bowl. And by the way, when you play the Super Bowl in Texas, we don't tax you a penny and you get great Tex Mex."| | 17:05 | Ted Cruz | "The Mellon Foundation... has been refashioned as a tool for advancing an identitarian vision of social justice for academia."| | 29:46 | Ted Cruz | "The 47% of Virginians who voted for Trump are now going to get 9% of the congressional representation in the state."| | 25:17 | Ted Cruz | "There is real money that is fomenting violence and that is quite literally fomenting revolution. That's what they're trying to do."|

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Conclusion

This episode weaves personal anecdotes, humor, and pointed criticism to discuss cultural, economic, and political issues through a conservative lens. The central themes are dismay at progressive influence (in both entertainment and policy), concern about activist-driven philanthropy in academia, and alarm about Democratic majorities leveraging political power in states like Virginia. The underlying motifs are “follow the money” and vigilance against ideological capture, with the message urging conservative engagement and awareness ahead of the midterms.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed. Humanos Cuatro iPhone 17.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

S hinosa nes acite intercambio con cuatro lineas nuevas en siertos. Planes Unlimited.

[Podcast Host]

Welcome. It is vertical center Ted Cruz, post Super bowl show. Nice to have you with us, Senator. I know you are just really excited about the halftime show. You didn't watch any of the game, though. But that part you were there for, I'm assuming, right?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, it's Super Bowl Sunday. I will say I had the great joy of being on an airplane during a lot of the Super Bowl. So I, I caught part of the third quarter and that, that, that was about it. So I didn't watch much. I got a field goal. That was about it. I did not see the halftime show, although I did pull it up on my phone and watch part of it afterwards. But, you know, look, I mean, the Super Bowl, a lot of times I'll go to a Super bowl party. In this case, I was just, Just flying and landing in Texas, so got on the. Got home midway through. You know, I gotta say a lot of the noise about the halftime show.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I just found myself not caring, but, like, I know that there were a lot of folks all worked up and on the right. You're supposed to be outraged that, that, that, you know, Bad Bunny.

[Podcast Host]

There was like, no English spoken. I couldn't send a damn where the guy was saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, so I'm not bilingual like you are, though, sinner. There's a difference. See, you understood it.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I didn't know Benjamin. Look, we Latinos, a little bit of Spanish won't kill you. Like, I, I just, you know, I don't like the guy. I. At the Grammys, I thought he made an ass of himself like, like saying ice out that I, That I don't like. And I don't really like when celebrities try to force their politics on us. But, you know, I watched him, like, in the sugar cane and dancing around. I think most of the halftime shows are kind of silly. So, like, this didn't strike me as particularly unusual in more or less silliness, you know, the guy falls through a roof and lands in someone's apartment. That was just kind of strange. But I, you know, it was.

[Podcast Host]

I found myself at the level now where you just say if you're like a singer and this is what you do, you just don't give a crap.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, look, I mean, I. My girls like Bad Bunny. I have to admit, he's not on my playlist, but I have a 15 and 17 year old daughter and they listen to him some. Most of the halftime shows don't do much for me. I mean, it's, it's. They're fine. They're typically, typically like pop singers and. And you know, I tend to listen to more. More country music or classic rock anyway, so look, it was. We've already talked more in the last four minutes about it than I've probably thought about the whole thing.

[Podcast Host]

I love it. I love it. By the way, did you see that turning point out like 5 million live watching on YouTube.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And look, Kid Rock, you know, I mean, Kid Rock testified before the Senate this past week. And so I got to visit with Kid Rock. He came to my office. He was a nice guy. I liked him. But to be honest, I was on a plane for Kid Rocks too. So I didn't watch either one of them. You know, it. I will say also, you know, as we talked about last week on the podcast, on Friday, I was at my tia Sonia's funeral, and that was up in Dallas. And I spoke at the funeral and my sister spoke at the funeral and my cousin Bibi spoke and my dad spoke and both my niece and nephew spoke. And, you know, it was a real celebration of my theasonia and actually played a lot of Spanish music because my Theosauna liked it. So, you know, I enjoyed that more than the snippet I saw Bad Bunny, but, you know, that's fine. But I have to say, I was just kind of like, it was a beautiful funeral. She was 82. As, as folks know, we put out last week, the interview that we did. We had my Thea Sonja on. On Verdict and interviewed her. And she was a freedom fighter. She fought against Fidel Castro in Cuba. She was thrown in prison. She was tortured, actually, she was, along with my tia Miriam and my tia Mela. Neither of them are my aunts, but just in Latin culture, you just kind of collect Diaz. By the way, if you're a kid, every one of the Diaz will spank every one of the kids. I mean, it's literally just kind of.

[Podcast Host]

Like law and order. That's just how that's supposed to go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

If there's a kid misbehaving, anyone will do that. You whack the kid and. And I got a lot of.

[Podcast Host]

You had a lot of those then in your life when you were a kid.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and their weapon of choice was the shankleta, which. Which is this. This. You're gonna have to Bad Bunny.

[Podcast Host]

Translate this for me. What does that mean?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay. A shankleta was this, like, heavy rubber sandal she would wear. And my theasonia could pull off the shankleta off of her foot, throw it, and she'd whack you in the back of the head. And it was like this, you know, boomerang bow. And you'd be like, wow, that hurt. She was very good at it. But, you know, look, what I liked about the funeral is it captured her spirit. She was loud, she was fiery. She was a warrior for liberty. Listen, when you've been thrown, imprisoned, and tortured by communists. Yeah. Freedom matters a lot to you. I told the story at the funeral about how when I first ran for Senate back in 2012, and I was running against the Lieutenant governor, who was worth a couple hundred million dollars and so put $35 million of his own money in the race and just ran saturation attack ads. And my Thea Sonia, she was furious, and she. She. She cursed like a sailor. And. And she was like, I will Blankety Black kick. Kick his ass. And I'm like. Just means. Calm down.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's not good politically for you to be beating up my opponents. And by the way, you would not want to fight my Theo, Sonya. She. She would.

[Podcast Host]

I believe you.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

She was fighting ferocious. I did have a rule. My Thea Sonia was not allowed to talk to reporters. And she'd be like, why not?

[Podcast Host]

That's a great rule.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I'm like, thea, because I know you, and you're liable to say anything. You're liable to curse them out. It's from the heart. But. But let's just. Let's just keep those sentiments within the family. There's a reason I called her my tia loca, my crazy aunt. But I got to tell the story about just a couple of weeks ago when I went up to see her, and she was in the hospital, and she was fading fast. She was kind of coming in and out of consciousness, and she wasn't entirely able to understand everything that was happening. And you could tell it was. We were in the last days, but. But I had the chance to tell her. I said, thea, they got Maduro. They arrested Maduro. And I. And I told her, tia, the Cuban communist government is going to fall soon. And she just beamed. The smile on her face. Wow. It was. It was beautiful. And. And. And it was a celebration of life. Look, I'm. I'm sad. We're all sad that she's gone, but she led a full life every minute. She loved living, and she brought joy. She brought unconditional support. She was ferociously loyal. So, yeah, I was thinking much more about that than.

[Podcast Host]

Some guy named Bad Bunny.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And by the way, I was glad at least the early promo said Bad Bunny was going to wear a dress. He didn't wear a dress. Not that I saw. So. So I was glad of that, at least that, you know, small victory. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

He leaves that in, like, you know, the burning of flags other places. Right?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Not, not during the Super Bowl.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

You know, just, I'm just saying, I.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I, I am curious, though, how much Bad Bunny is going to be taxed for having gone to the Super Bowl.

[Podcast Host]

So, by the way, this is the story that I think everyone should be outraged over.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Right.

[Podcast Host]

If I, if, if, if Bad Bunny didn't get you going, here is the story. And we've got the tax dollars. If you want to know why California is fading fast and why so many people that when they start making money are out there and so many people in, in the, in the crypto world and the it world and all the other worlds are like, they're getting out there, like they're leaving fast as they can. Let's just break down. We've got some data for people of, of how much money California made off the super bowl of those that were actually making money at the Super Bowl. It really is incredible data.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, it is. If you look at Sam Darnold going into the game, here's what his incentives were. If he wins.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He's going to receive $178,000 as a bonus.

[Podcast Host]

Yep.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And he will pay 249,000 in taxes to California for, for his time here. Meaning he will lose $71,000. Yeah, that's what ended up happening. If he had lost, then he would have gotten $103,000 in bonus, but he would still owe 235,000 in taxes, meaning he would have lost $135,000. So I guess, Sam, congratulations, you only lost $71,000 for stepping foot in the Commonwealth of California instead of losing $135,000. And what kind of insanity is it that that's how the California tax system is?

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, it is. And it's. And I mean, this is you, you fly in there and you just do a day's work and you're a performer. They are going to take as much money as they can, and they don't care. Like, they're. Now, there's, there's, There was interesting article I was reading online about.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, look, I think, But I think Bad Bunny changed his name. He's now Sad Bunny because California took all his money.

[Podcast Host]

Say you're not wrong on that one, but they were talking about bands and.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, you know, if you, if you let California keep going, he may soon be like Fatal Attraction Bunny. I mean, there's a whole, like, like rabbit.

[Podcast Host]

There's a whole rabbit hole you can go down on this one. Is that what you're telling me right now? Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All right. I went there, then you. You went worse.

[Podcast Host]

Okay, you're welcome. You're welcome. I'm here all night, folks. No comedians, though, are avoiding California for the tax reasons. You just said that. I mean, it's, it's real. Why would you spend the night there if you know you're not going to make near as much money and you can choose to go somewhere else? Like go to Nevada, go to New Mexico. I mean, there's, there's a lot of other places you can go to perform. And there's a lot of people that are now saying they're actually avoiding it for the reasons you just described with those bonuses and taxes.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So California has the highest marginal income tax of any state. Its top marginal rate is 13.3% on wage income and on capital gains that exceed $1 million a year. The top rate for wage income climbs to 14.6% when you include the state disability insurance rate, which has no wage cap. And that's on top of federal taxes. So federal taxes at the top of the tax bracket, you're paying 37% plus 14.6%. So the reason Darnold owes that money is because he is tallied with. With eight duty days in California while they were. They get there getting ready for the Super Bowl. He got popped with it. Welcome to California. Congratulations on the Super Bowl. And by the way, when, when you play the super bowl in Texas, we don't tax you a penny and you get great Tex Mex.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, exactly. There's. There's a reason why, by the way, golfers hate playing and winning at Pebble Beach. They get mad because when they win there, or when there was the LA Country Club at the US Open, they were like, you basically think you're getting this big paycheck, and then you call your agent. You're like, what happened? Like, dude, you want in California? I can't help you there. Like, if, if you're gonna win your first time on tour, you don't want it to be in California for that reason. For the next 60 seconds. Can you hit pause on your life and just think about this every day, millions of children face a crushing reality. A constant defeating message echoes in their empty stomachs and their desperate eyes. And it is that you don't matter. Poverty doesn't just steal food and shelter. It steals hope, dignity, and the fundamental belief that they are loved. But there's another message, one of boundless love and hope. Through Compassion International, you can change the child's story forever. You can sponsor a child just like I do. You can introduce them to a loving heavenly father. You can equip them with education, health care and the support to overcome poverty. This isn't just about one child. It's about transforming families, revitalizing communities and changing nations. It's about proving that every child truly matters. So help give a child a future. Give them hope. Visit compassion.com today. That's compassion.com all right, let's move on to some other big stuff here, Senator, that I want to deal with and there's something you want to talk about which I really like this subject and it deals with left wing funders that are being exposed. I actually think this is going to be a trend with what we're witnessing with, with, with all the attacks on ice around the country, I think we're going to more of this Follow the Money. You've been saying that on this show for a while. Follow the money, Follow the money. Follow the money. And we have a new example of that that we're going to expose here. So I hope everyone listening or watching will make sure you hit that share button. Share this episode on social media because we're going to be a part of that in a very big way and explain what we've now found.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, there was a very interesting column in the Wall Street Journal about the Mellon Foundation. And the Mellon foundation is America's biggest funder of the humanities and it is a radical leftist foundation. And let me read from this column. The University of Virginia launched a hiring spree in 2020 as it pledged to become a racial equity focused university. A special initiative promised to recruit 30 doctoral fellows and open the gateway for them to fill tenure tech jobs. One current fellow specialties include trans feminisms and gender queer life writing. Another researches how Filipino nurses resist racial capitalism. The program owes its existence to the Andrew W. Mellon foundation, which funded it to the tune of $5 million with a $7.7 billion endowment. The Mellon foundation is the nation's largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Its annual giving has long dwarfed that of the National Endowment for the Humanities. In recent years, it has been refashioned as A tool for advancing an identitarian vision of social justice for academia. The consequences are far reaching. Through public record requests, I've acquired dozens of proposals and progress reports for Mellon funded projects. The records show how the foundation has lavishly promoted progressive scholar activism. At the University of Utah, the transformative intersectional collective created workshops on transgender and queer of color, critique and quote environmental anti racism. Supported by a half million dollar Mellon grant at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Visualizing Abolition project promotes research and art that calls for the elimination of prisons with the support of $8 million from Mellon. For much of its existence, the Mellon foundation narrowly supported the arts and humanities. One signature project was the creation of jstor, the widely used online database of academic research. The foundation avoided controversy. That changed with the dawn of the social justice era. As early as 2014, then President Earl Lewis told the Chronicle of Higher Education that the foundation would take a more activist approach, especially around issues of race. On taking over in 2018, the current president Nutjob Nut Job is me. Editorializing Nut job Elizabeth Alexander announced that Mellon would view all of its giving through the lens of social justice. This new ideological mission is notable because of Mellon's great influence within the academy, especially in hiring and promoting faculty. As jobs in the humanities have become ever more scarce, Mellon has poured millions of dollars into career building fellowships and faculty hiring schemes. Putting its stamp on on professors around the country. Mellon money appears up and down the academic career ladder. The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, which has received $38.3 million since 2020.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Steers College students towards an academic career. The Mellon funded Dissertation Innovation fellowship, supported by $8.9 million since 2022, gives a living stipend to four 45 graduate students annually. Mellon has given $6 million to Wayne State University, 4.6 million to Texas A&M University and $15 million to the university of California system, all to higher faculty. With the Mellon emerging faculty leaders and other programs, Mellon's support continues well into a professor's career. Mellon grantees often signal their discriminatory intent. A University of Virginia grant proposal notes that Mellon's $5 million gift would go towards, quote, advancing our goal of doubling the number of faculty of color at UVA by 2030. A University of Oregon proposal promises a special postdoctoral fellowship to establish a pipeline for, quote, black, indigenous and people of color bipoc in the professoriate. Its progress report notes that, quote, all interviewees identified as black, indigenous and people of color. In other words, we are only looking at people if we can racially discriminate Perhaps most significantly, Mellon funded personnel building programs almost uniform, espouse a distinctly identitarian brand of progressivism. At Emory University. You're going to like this. Mellon Mays fellows study eco womanism, whatever the hell that is. They study black trans studies and racial colonial capitalism. Students who specialize in intersectional neologisms will be well prepared for melon funded faculty jobs. In 2023, Ohio State put out a job ad. So this is Ohio State. What are they looking for? A quote, assistant professor of black sexualities noting a recent $2 million Mellon foundation gift that was that funded 10 new faculty positions, by the way.

[Podcast Host]

I'm just thinking about that. They're like, if you get that job and you're like, do you call mom and are you like proud of that or are you more like, yeah, I got the new job?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, the person who got it, Zalika Iba Orimi, the professor hired for the job, lists black porn and black sexual logics among her areas of expertise.

[Podcast Host]

Oh, there you go. Okay, there you go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Mellon has bankrolled many professors notorious for their activism. At the Socialism 2025 conference, Assistant Professor Iman Abdel Hadi referred to her employer, the University of Chicago, as evil and a colonial landlord. By the way, if you call your employer evil, you should be fired. That's just very simple. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

Not hard.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Conceded that working there was useful for political organizing. Ms. Abdel Hadi came up through the University of Chicago's Provost Postdoctoral Fellowship program, a long standing Mellon funded hiring program. A few months after the conference, she was arrested at, wait for it, an anti ice protest and charged and charged, oh, two counts of aggravated battery of a police officer.

[Podcast Host]

You know that's the money well spent, right?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

She has pleaded not guilty. Mellon's funding has amplified a bleak trajectory for the academy. Today. A young person drawn to traditional fields like military history or Classics should think twice before entering the academy. A young scholar who quote, advances an anti capitalist prison apple abolitionist agenda, as one Ohio State professor put it, can find abundant support, especially from the Mellon Foundation. Higher education reform will only succeed when this unfortunate trend is reversed. And this was written by Mr. Saylor, who's the director of the Higher Higher Education Policy at the Manhattan Institute. This is the kind of poison if you look at our universities and say, why have they gotten so bad? Why have they gone so far off track? You have radicals who are controlling, as you mentioned before.

[Podcast Host]

I said over and over again, we'll give you faculty. We get to pick them out. And this is what you've got to Hire, but we'll give you the money to hire them. And then you can radicalize university just by paying and employing the people and putting them and placing them at the universities. And this is pay to play in its simplest form.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, it's follow the money and you have radicals who are taking over. And by the way, Andrew Mellon was not a socialist, was not a transgender porn aficionado that we know of, that we know of to be fair. But you look at, and this is one of the real challenges, the great capitalists of a prior era, they gave much of their money to foundations and they initially appointed people to run the foundations. And then time passes and those foundations over and over and over again had been captured by radical leftists. The Ford Foundation. Henry Ford would roll over in his grave if he knew the garbage the Ford foundation funds. And it's one of the things people on the right need to think much more carefully about if they are engaged in philanthropy. Making sure that it's not captured because that's been one of the real sources of propaganda. And a perversion of these institutions is capturing the money flow that goes into colleges and universities.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah, it is, it's incredible. And you go back to find the money. Let's go back to ICE protests real quick. This is very much going to be the same playbook. It's part of the reason why you say follow the money and see who's bringing it in because they're paying these activists. There was a video that went viral and of them practicing their chantism chants, anti ICE chants before one of their protests. It looked like in a church and getting all of the protesters there to then teach them their chance. And the video went viral over the weekend. That's all being funded by somebody. This is not organic.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, Laura Ingraham was talking to some of the protesters on the street. She said you should be working at a job. And the protest said I am. I'm getting paid like it's. There is real money that is fomenting violence and that is quite literally fomenting revolution. That's what they're trying to do.

[Podcast Host]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and look, understand that there is no such thing as a moderate Democrat anymore.

[Podcast Host]

No, they're dead.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Abigail Spanberger, like, ran claiming to be a moderate, and only the most gullible believed her. All of the Democrats, they've been radicalized. This is a party that is driven by the open border, abolish police, transgender zealots. So what has she done in her first few days? Well, one of the very first things she did is she cut ties with ICE in federal immigration enforcement, which means if Virginia has a criminal, illegal alien, if Virginia has an illegal alien who's.

[Podcast Host]

A murderer or a rapist or a.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Child molester or a child molester, they will let him go. And even though they're illegal alien, Virginia is now gonna refuse to cooperate with the ice, refuse to handle, handle, hand murderers over to ice, and instead, what Abigail Spanberger is saying is the people of Virginia would rather that the murderers be released into their communities and, and prey on their children. She's also quite dramatically this week, signed a redistricting bill that, that, that is nothing short of radical and unfortunately. So let's do the math. Virginia has 11 congressional seats right now. The current delegation is six Democrats, five Republicans. Virginia just Had a takeover of Democrats of the state legislature and the governor's mansion. They redrew the map and they went from six Democrats and five Republicans to a map that is designed to produce 10 Democrats and one Republican. Now what does the math mean? So Virginia is a pretty, it's a blue to Purple State. In 2024, 47% of the state voted for Donald Trump. So Kamala won Virginia. But 5,000, 347, it was a very close, very tight. The 47% of Virginians who voted for Trump, they are now going to get 9% of the congressional representation in the state.

[Podcast Host]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

How about the 52% of Virginia who voted for Harris? You know how much they get?

[Podcast Host]

How much?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

91%.

[Podcast Host]

There you go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

52% of the state. The Democrats get 91% of, of, of the congressional representation. Now on Twitter, you can hear the, the lefty saying, ah, but Texas did it. I, this is all about Texas. Okay, let's look at the math. Texas, 56% of Texans voted for Donald Trump. In the new map that Texas drew, that 56 will get 79% of the seat. So look, it is drawn to favor the party in power, but it is not remotely as brazen. By the way, California, their new map also is designed to give the Democrats more than 90% of the congressional delegation. And you know what? The Northeast is even worse. You look at states like Maine, states like New Hampshire, states like Vermont, states like Rhode island, states like Connecticut. Where states like Massachusetts. Massachusetts. Do you know how many Republican members of Congress are elected? Massachusetts?

[Podcast Host]

I want to say it's one or zero.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Zero.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

All of New England, all of New England, they're just like, republicans don't exist. We will erase you.

[Podcast Host]

Yeah. And by the way, what happens with this? Is this going to be a back and forth tit for tat when you see this type of egregious. So then other states are going to have to counter it. Is that just how we're going to go?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So there was a left wing Democrat. I responded to this and I tweeted out a brazen abuse of power and an insult to democracy. And I went through the numbers you just talked about and this left wing Democrat state senator came back who I'd never heard of and actually didn't even know about this until someone on my staff told me about it. But she responded by saying, you all started it and we effing finished it. And by the way, she did not abbreviate effing. No. So she's a charming and lovely person, clearly. Yes. And you know, there's something richly ironic about it because every Democrat loves to preen about how much they love democracy. And yet it's quite evident that they don't care at all about democracy. What they care about is keeping Democrats in power. That is practically the only thing they care about. I want you to listen to Abigail Spanberger talking about gerrymandering, what she thinks about it. Give a listen. Because Republicans have to depend on redistricting and stealing votes and taking seats like.

[Podcast Host]

They did in North Carolina in order.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

To actually be able to win elections.

[Podcast Host]

So well, we're just going to steal them right back, by golly. Right. There's Your Liberal Logic 101.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

But it is also the degree. It is far more brazen. As I mentioned, Texas, 56% of the state voted for Donald Trump. The new map. If Republicans win in the seats that were drawn, the new map will produce 79% of the congressional delegation to be Republican. That is a difference of 23%. So that's an additional 23%. What did Virginia do? They went from 52% voting for Kamala Harris to getting 91%. That is 39 points higher. That is a massive. And it's a grotesque gerrymander. And by the way, I'm quite confident if they could have drawn it 11 0, they would have. You know, there are five districts that slice through Northern Virginia to get all the liberals that work in the federal government. And they basically like take a slice of liberals from Northern Virginia and then stick it with rural Virginias to rob the votes of the rest of the state. That is redder. Yeah.

[Podcast Host]

And this is going to be their game plan moving forward state after state after state. Now, all because they say they're doing it in reaction to Texas. No, they've been doing it for a very long time now. They're just telling you we're doing it on purpose. At least they're being honest about it. I got to give them that. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So make sure you hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcast. You can also watch this episode on YouTube. So follow us on YouTube and hit that subscribe button there. Don't worry, it doesn't cost you a dime anywhere to listen or watch this show and the center. I will see you back here on Wednesday morning. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.