Who Elected Comrade Mamdani, How to Test Negative for Stupid & a Pilgrimage to Israel Week In Review

Summary

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Verdict with Ted Cruz – Week in Review: "Who Elected Comrade Mamdani, How to Test Negative for Stupid & A Pilgrimage to Israel"

Date: November 8, 2025
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson
Guest: Senator John Kennedy

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Episode Overview

This week's "Weekend Review" episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz revisits three major stories:

1. An in-depth breakdown of the New York City election results, exploring the rise of left-wing "Comrade" Mamdani and what it signals for the broader political landscape.
2. A special interview with Senator John Kennedy about his new book, his political journey, and colorful tales from the Senate.
3. Highlights from Ben Ferguson’s recent trip to Israel, reflecting on both spiritual and geopolitical experiences during the ongoing regional conflict.

The episode is a lively mix of political analysis, personal storytelling, and firsthand reporting from one of the world’s geopolitical hotspots.

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1. New York City Election Results & the Rise of "Comrade" Mamdani

Start: [02:04]

Key Discussion Points

• Disaster for Republicans, Surge for the Left:
  Ted Cruz starts by calling the results "a quote, disaster," as turnout on the left—especially among younger and more progressive voters—hit record highs.

  • Quote (Ted Cruz, [02:21]): "Democrats are actually almost doubling down on this type of extremism in their party."

• Youth Voter Surge: Gender Gap
  Ben Ferguson highlights overwhelming support for Mamdani from young women:

  • 81% of young women (18-29) in NYC voted for Mamdani.
  • Gender gap is notable (17-26 points difference between young women and men).
  • Similar margins in New Jersey and Virginia:
    • NJ young women: 80% for Democrat Mikey Sherrill
    • VA young women: 78% for Democrat Abigail Spanberger
    • Young men’s support for Democrats lags by 20+ points.
  • Quote (Ben Ferguson, [05:49]): "Young women. Let me give you some stats... 81% voted for Comrade Mamdani."

• Voter Residency Trends:
  Ben details how new arrivals are defining NYC’s future:

  • Less than 5 years in NYC: 83% voted for Mamdani.
  • 5–10 years: 76%
  • 10+ years but not born in NYC: 54%
  • Born in NYC: only 45% support for Mamdani.
  • Quote (Ben Ferguson, [09:35]): “It is overwhelming... people who lived in New York less than five years, Mandani beat him 83% to 15%.”

• Educational Divide:
  Support for Mamdani is strongest among the highly educated:

  • Bachelor's or advanced degree: 57%
  • Associate’s degree or less: 39-45%
  • Those without high school diploma: 40%
  • Quote (Ben Ferguson, [11:46]): “So who elected Comrade Mandani? It is the smarty pants, college educated, advanced degrees. It is the rich who elected Mandani, by the way? Working class... they’re like, we don’t want a socialist. These people are nuts.”

• Role of Big Donors:
  Highlights George Soros and his son’s public support for Mamdani despite anti-billionaire rhetoric.

  • Quote (Ben Ferguson, [12:27]): “Alex Soros tweeted out a picture... ‘so proud to be a New Yorker’. The American dream continues. Congrats, Mayor. With a picture of the two of them together.”

Notable Segment Timestamps

• [02:04] – Opening framework and the “disaster” for the right
• [05:39] – Youth and gender voting gaps
• [09:11] – NYC residency trends and election impact
• [10:25] – Educationally driven voting breakdown
• [12:27] – Soros’ support and discussion of the millionaire backers

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2. Senator John Kennedy on His New Book: “How to Test Negative for Stupid”

Start: [16:03]

Key Insights & Stories

• Kennedy’s Writing Process:
  He described dictating hours of stories on a Dictaphone at his kitchen table, “speaking plainly” to the “average American.”

  • Quote (John Kennedy, [16:26]): “I wanted to understand that. If you get mad, I can’t help it. I have the right to remain silent, but God did not give me the ability.”

• Political Humor and Colorful Tales:
  Kennedy, famous for his wit, compares Sen. Chuck Schumer’s polling to "clubbing baby seals and chlamydia."

  • Quote (John Kennedy, [17:54]): “[Schumer]’s polling right up there with clubbing baby seals.”
  • Quote (Ben Ferguson, [17:52]): “But to be fair, he’s still above chlamydia.”

• Personal and Professional Journey:
  Kennedy recounts his path from a Depression-era family to law school, clerking, Oxford, and finally politics.

  • Famous law partner mix-up: John Kennedy & Jose Canseco (“John Kennedy and Jose Canseco here to see you.”)
  • On Louisiana politics: describes Governor Edwin Edwards as “as crooked as a dog’s hind legs.”
  • Tells about a notorious campaign bumper sticker: “Vote for the crook. It matters.” ([21:12])
  • Gov. Edwards’ infamous saying: “The only way I can lose this race in the last week is if I’m caught in bed with a live girl or a dead boy.” ([22:03])

• Lessons About the Senate:
  Kennedy’s “biggest transformation” has been learning the importance of killing bad ideas, not just advancing good ones.

  • Discusses frustrations with the slow pace in the Senate and disagreements with Mitch McConnell.

Notable Quotes

• [16:26] John Kennedy: “I have the right to remain silent, but God did not give me the ability.”
• [22:03] John Kennedy (on Gov. Edwards): “...the only way I can lose this race in the last week is if I’m caught in bed with a live girl or a dead boy.”
• [23:19] John Kennedy: “The Senator’s job is not just to advance good ideas, it’s to kill bad ideas. Sometimes killing the bad ideas is more important than advancing the good ideas.”

Notable Segment Timestamps

• [16:26] – Kennedy’s book process, approach, and humor
• [18:42] – Kennedy’s education and entry into law and politics
• [21:12] – Notorious bumper sticker and campaign quips
• [23:19] – Senate lessons, policy, and political strategy

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3. Pilgrimage to Israel: Faith, War, and Firsthand Accounts

Start: [31:19]

Key Stories & Takeaways

• First Impressions & Spiritual Impact:
  Ben Ferguson recounts the profound feeling of walking historic streets “where Jesus most certainly walked” and describes Israel as a breathtaking confluence of history and faith.

  • Quote (Ben Ferguson, [31:30]): “It is amazing... It takes your breath away that Jesus Christ almost certainly stood on this particular piece of stone...”

• On-the-Ground Experience of the Conflict:

  • Ben is part of a religious leadership gathering and invited to tour border regions impacted by the ongoing war.
  • Visited sites near both Gaza (Hamas) and Lebanon/Syria (Hezbollah).
  • Met with bereaved families, including relatives of 12 children killed in a soccer-field rocket attack.
    • Quote (Ted Cruz, [34:21]): “I was asked to come in to meet with the families... some of the families whose children... were killed while playing soccer. It made international news. We covered it on this show.”

• Stories of Loss and Resilience:

  • Family members gave Ben a symbolic soccer ball, covered with stickers, as a token of remembrance.
  • Firsthand account of destroyed homes on the northern border; description of Hezbollah targeting evacuated Israeli villages.
    • Quote (Ted Cruz, [43:23]): “Just pure sport and hatred. Like, we’re going to blow up your neighborhood because you are Jewish... we want you to come back to destruction and ruins.”
  • Recounts Mossad’s "pager attack" operation against Hezbollah terrorists, blending awe and dark humor.
    • Quote (Ben Ferguson, [38:50]): “If you wrote the pager attack as a script to a movie, nobody in Hollywood would buy it...”

• Meeting Hostage Survivors:
  Ted describes meeting the mother of a released hostage who had been separated from his girlfriend and held underground for two years—touching on the psychological warfare waged by Hamas and Hezbollah.

• Faith Reflections:
  Both hosts reflect on the spiritual gravity of the Holy Land and how tragedy deepens religious conviction.

  • Quote (Ted Cruz, [47:14]): “The level of feeling, I would say the Holy Spirit in these places is something I’ve never felt before.”

Notable Segment Timestamps

• [31:19] – Introduction to Israel segment, reflections on faith and history
• [32:52] – First arrival, reason for visit, conference details
• [34:21] – Meeting families of rocket attack victims
• [36:03]–[41:34] – Tactical and personal stories from the north and recounting historic Israeli intelligence operations
• [43:42] – Reflection on broader experiences and spiritual takeaways

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Notable Quotes – Bite-Sized Highlights

• Ted Cruz ([02:21]): “Democrats are actually almost doubling down on this type of extremism in their party.”
• Ben Ferguson ([05:49]): "Young women... 81% voted for Comrade Mamdani."
• John Kennedy ([16:26]): “I have the right to remain silent, but God did not give me the ability.”
• John Kennedy ([22:03]): “[Edwin Edwards] The only way I can lose... is if I’m caught in bed with a live girl or a dead boy.”
• Ted Cruz ([47:14]): “The level of feeling, I would say the Holy Spirit in these places is something I’ve never felt before.”

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Conclusion

This episode is a blend of sharp political analysis, deeply personal backstories, and moving accounts from the frontlines of the Israeli conflict. Cruz and Ferguson tackle both the numbers and narratives behind a major political upset, reveal candid insights about life in the Senate through Senator Kennedy’s humor, and reflect on the solemn realities and spiritual impact of witnessing Israel at war. For listeners wanting to understand this week’s headlines, party dynamics, and the human cost of conflict, this episode delivers a multi-faceted and compelling discussion.

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Transcript

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[Ted Cruz]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz Weekend Review Ben Ferguson with you. And here's some big stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, the polling numbers are out and we now know a lot more about who voted for Communism in New York City. What does it mean for the rest of the country? We'll break it down for you. Also, Senator Kennedy joined us to talk about his new book. Who did he write it for and what was the goal? And finally, I just got back from Israel with an incredible trip and we'll give you those highlights. It's the Weekend Review and it starts right now. All right, so let's break down the election. It was a quote, disaster the media was just thrilled of what happened on election night. Mandani is the one, though, that I want to really focus on for a second. He is a communist. He's a proud communist. He went back to his core beliefs in his victory speech, basically yelling at Donald Trump and saying, we are a communist city. The red apple, literally now is red apple of communism. Breaking this down. This seems to be a point where Democrats are actually almost doubling down on this type of extremism in their party. I think this is actually going to grow between now and the midterms. And I want your reaction to what we learned.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, Comrade Mondami is the face of the Democrat Party now, and I gotta say, the election results this week, they were a disaster. They were an absolute blowout. What is striking is several things. Number one, turnout was exceptionally high among the left wing base. And that's a real warning sign for next year for the midterms. The left showed up in massive numbers. They're pissed. They hate Donald Trump. And that anger is dangerous. That anger is motivating. And too many folks on the right, too many kind of in the common sense middle stayed home. And I will tell you, if you look historically. All right, let's go back to 2008. 2008, Barack Obama's elected. As a result, a lot of folks on the right, you and me included, were really unhappy. We didn't like Barack Obama's policies. We were pissed off. 2010 was a massive tidal wave year. It was the Tea Party wave. And it was in large part because those on the right were particularly energized and angry. Fast forward to 2012. 2012, Barack Obama is reelected president. And the reaction, again, 2014 was another wave election, a huge election. We won nine Senate seats. We retired Harry Reid as Majority leader. We won the biggest majority in the house the since 1928. And it was because, again, those on the right were angry. They were energized. They were contributing money. They volunteered. And those on the left were complacent. By the way, Fast forward to 2018. Donald Trump had just been elected in 2016. 2018 was a very good Democrat year. We lost a bunch of seats. Why? Because the left was really energized and folks on the right were a little bit complacent. This week's election day suggests that we're in real danger of that happening again in 2026. That the left, I'll tell you, on fundraising, the left is out raising the right anywhere between 3 to 1 and 4 to 1. That is really really dangerous. And the turnout, the turnout in Virginia, the left showed up in much bigger numbers. The turnout in New Jersey, the left showed up in much bigger numbers. The turnout in New York City, the left turned out in much bigger numbers. Now, Ben, I'll tell you one of the most interesting. Do you know what demographic was dominated by the radical left wing on election day?

[Ted Cruz]

This is shocking because you and I, we geek out on the political stuff and data after elections. Young people in the Democratic Party were really ready to go vote.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. But let me be more precise. Young women. Let me give you some stats. In New York City, among young women, 18 to 29, 81%. 81% voted for Comrade Mamdani. In New Jersey, 18 to 29.

[John Kennedy]

Wow.

[Ben Ferguson]

In New Jersey, among young women, 80% voted for Mikey Sherrill, the Democrat. In New Jersey, of young Women In Virginia, 78% of young women voted for Abigail Spanberger. It was dominant. And by the way, to give you a comparison, because, yes, young people went left, but there was, there was a big gender gap. So young women In New York, 81% for Mondami, young men, 64% for Mondami. So almost a 20 point gender gap. How about New Jersey young women, 80% for Mikey, Sheryl, 54% of young men. So a 25, 26% gender gap in New Jersey. How about Virginia, 78% for Spanberger. Of young women, just 56% of young men in Virginia. So. So we saw that this was a race where the single most overwhelming demographic was young women, which was so overwhelmingly lopsided that it helped drive the results on election Day.

[Ted Cruz]

When you think about this, and then it goes back to, okay, what was the messaging that was connecting with young women to have them come out in these numbers, or was it not so much of a message? And this is part of the breakdown of trying to figure out what you learn from election to make sure before the midterms, we can either, we can course correct it, or was it just that the left and women in the Democratic Party were so motivated compared to conservative women? I call it the Trump slump. You feel like your party's in power. You feel like they're doing the things that you asked them to do. Donald Trump is putting in complacency, but you feel comfortable because you're like, we just won an election. Yeah, things are great. Donald Trump's doing what he said he was gonna do. So when you look at it, was it issue based based on data that we've seen, or was it more just the other side? Was so angry that Donald Trump won, and they wanted to win so badly to send a middle finger to the president that they showed up in these record numbers and they voted for their candidate.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, we don't have that data yet. There will be time to break that out, but we don't have it right now. But I'll give you another aspect. In New York City, so there was a massive difference based on whether you were a longtime New Yorker or you were new to the city. So if you're a New York voter and you had been in New York City, you lived in New York City less than five years. What percent of the people who lived in New York city less than 5, 5 years do you think voted for Comrade Mandani?

[Ted Cruz]

Got to be overwhelmingly high, 83%.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, how about five to 10 years? What do you think? Five to 10 years?

[Ted Cruz]

I would say it's probably still fairly high, but not as high as that first group.

[Ben Ferguson]

76%. Okay, let's go 10 years or more. But not born in New York City. What do you think the percentage is?

[Ted Cruz]

About 50%, 54.

[Ben Ferguson]

So it drops from 76, five to 10 years to 54. How about I was born in New York City, which, by the way, is 47% of the voters were born in New York City. What do you think? What percent of the vote do you think Mondani got of people born in New York City?

[Ted Cruz]

I'm going to guess below 50%, 34%.

[Ben Ferguson]

Cuomo got 45%. So Cuomo beat Mandani by 11 points among people born in New York. But among people who lived in New York less than five years, Mandani beat him 83% to 15%. So it is overwhelmingly. Look. Yeah, clear.

[Ted Cruz]

What a clear rallying cry from Mandani. And he did this in his campaigning. He did it, by the way, in his. In his victory speech. He said that New York City is a city of immigrants. In other words, if you came here recently, I'm your guy. That the establishment, the old school, the American citizen, you're not a priority in New York City anymore. This reminds me an awful lot of what we were talking about 10 years ago in major cities in the UK we are seeing a lot of those same type of results now in New York City.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. And by the way, there's also a significant educational differential. All right, so if you're in New York and you had an advanced degree, what percent of the vote do you think Mandani got?

[Ted Cruz]

Advanced degree. I would say maybe around 50% or below 57%.

[Ben Ferguson]

Advanced degree, 57%. How about Bachelor's degree?

[Ted Cruz]

Oh, gosh, I'm going to go maybe even lower.

[Ben Ferguson]

57%. So advanced and bachelor's both tied to 57. How about associate's degree?

[Ted Cruz]

I don't. I would say. I would say higher.

[Ben Ferguson]

48. 45%. By the way, Cuomo got 48. So if you had an associate's degree, Mandani lost. How about some college? So you don't have an associate's degree, Mandani?

[Ted Cruz]

I would. I might. My gut is it would go even higher. But you're saying I'm wrong.

[Ben Ferguson]

You're wrong. Some college, Mandani, 40%. Cuomo, 48%. How about high school graduate?

[Ted Cruz]

See, I would have thought high school graduate be 70 plus percent from Mandani.

[Ben Ferguson]

Nope.

[Ted Cruz]

You're telling me that's wrong? This is breaking the normal model, okay?

[Ben Ferguson]

Of high school graduates, Mandani got 39%. Cuomo got 47%. And finally, no high school degree. So didn't even graduate high school.

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, clearly, based on the trend, now the majority vote against Mandani that didn't have a high school degree.

[Ben Ferguson]

So no high school degree. 40% voted for Mandani, 49% for Cuomo. So Cuomo beat Mandani by nine points. So who elected Comrade Mandani? It is the smarty pants, college educated, advanced degrees. It is the rich who elected Mandani, by the way? Working class. Look, if you got a ged, if you've got a high school degree, they're like, we don't want a socialist. These people are nuts. And it is the rich New Yorkers who. Look, I'm not an armchair psychologist, but that is who elected.

[Ted Cruz]

This is the sources.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is the Soros is, by the way, the same comrade Mondani who said we should have no billionaires. Also happily tweeted out a picture. Actually, Soros. Alex Soros tweeted out a picture. So proud to be a New Yorker. The American dream continues. Congrats, Mayor. With a picture of the two of them together. This is the same guy who said no billionaires. Well, except for the billionaires that funded the communist takeover of New York City.

[Ted Cruz]

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

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ted Cruz]

Now on to story number two. I know you gotta run center soon, but I want to ask you one other question.

[Ben Ferguson]

Sure.

[John Kennedy]

Ask me anything you want to.

[Ted Cruz]

And. And it goes back to. To the book.

[John Kennedy]

When.

[Ted Cruz]

When you write this book and you sit down to do it, who did you envision reading it? Is there some bigger purpose where you're like, I want to write this for the future generation? Was part of it? Just. I want to just tell my story and how I got to where I am today. What was it?

[John Kennedy]

Here's what I did. I sat down with a handheld Dictaphone at my kitchen table, and I started dictating. And I dictated. I dictated. I don't. I. I don't know how many hours, hundreds of hours. And then I had it transcribed. And then I put it together, and then I had an editor come in who looked at it and rearranged it, and then I just started editing. And I was speaking to the same person that Ted and I both speak to when we do interviews, the average American. And I tried to speak plainly. I don't try to muddy the water to make it look deep. The American people don't have time for that. And I wanted to understand that. If you get mad, I can't help it. I have the right to remain silent, but God did not give me the ability. And some people are going to like it and some don't. But that's what the American people expect from their politicians today. And it's one of the reasons that Senator Schumer, who Ted and I both know he's right, now, he's got 30% approval rating. He's got a 60% disapproval rating. The other 10% won't pause their video game to answer the pollsters call. And. And Chuck is polling. He's polling right up there with clubbing baby seals. That's. I mean, but.

[Ben Ferguson]

But to be fair, he's still above chlamydia.

[John Kennedy]

He's still.

[Ted Cruz]

He's still neck and neck.

[John Kennedy]

But because Chuck's been here so long, Ted, you know this. He's been here so long, he sounds like Washington.

[Ben Ferguson]

So I will say it's interesting. You and I have a very similar process, it sounds like, for writing a book, because that's very much the books I've written. And some of it is, it may be being a lawyer and having written briefs, that. That process of recording and telling stories in my books, I just try to tell stories because that's how people communicate.

[John Kennedy]

I've read a couple of your books. There's a difference between you and me, though. I've written one book, Ted's written about a squillion. Okay. But it's hard. I mean, I'm not.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is.

[John Kennedy]

It is. It is a painful process, you know.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, you're a kid. When does the idea of being a lawyer. What was it that made you say, hey, I can do that. I want to do that?

[John Kennedy]

My dad was from a Depression family in Oklahoma. He got a degree, works way through college in petroleum engineering, came to Louisiana to work in the oil fields, married my mom. I have three brothers. From day one, they drilled into US Education, education, education. And it wasn't where you're going to go to college or when you're going to go to college. It was where.

[Ben Ferguson]

Right.

[John Kennedy]

And that was drilled in from day one. And I enjoyed college, but I started thinking about law school then. But I stalled and restalled Ted as long as I could. I mean, I spent four years in college, and then I went three years in law school, and then I clerked for federal judge, and I tried to get a Supreme Court clerkship. I didn't. You did. And then I said, well, I'm not ready for the real world. I'm going back to school. I went back and got another law degree. At Oxford.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[John Kennedy]

And then finally I had. You know, I had to. I was out of money, you know, and I wanted to eat and live indoors, so I didn't want to live in a refrigerator box behind an outback. So I had to go to work for a living.

[Ben Ferguson]

And, Ben, I know something that I know you don't know. I know the name of his old law partner.

[Ted Cruz]

Who is that?

[John Kennedy]

Who's that?

[Ben Ferguson]

So he would practice his name, obviously, as John Kennedy, and his partner was Jose Canseco. And he'd walk in and it'd be John Kennedy and Jose Canseco here to see you. They would double take one of my best friends.

[John Kennedy]

I was in a. For Louisiana, a big law firm, six or 80 haulers. And one of my good friends was Jose Canseco. And we'd go to meetings.

[Ted Cruz]

That's amazing.

[John Kennedy]

I'd say, I'm John Kennedy, this is Jose Canseco. We're here to see so and so. And they said they would say, you're here to see security, sir.

[Ted Cruz]

True story.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, so when did you get. When did you get the idea in your head you wanted to run for office? Was this something like, as a kid, you always wanted?

[John Kennedy]

Oh, I always thought about it, but I was practicing all earning A good living. Louisiana politics was rough. I mean, it was rough. It was under Governor Edwin Edwards. I wasn't part of his clique.

[Ben Ferguson]

Who has my favorite political bumper sticker ever?

[John Kennedy]

Yep.

[Ben Ferguson]

And you know exactly where I'm going. Do you know. Do you know this, Ben? I don't know if you know this.

[John Kennedy]

I do.

[Ted Cruz]

I do not.

[Ben Ferguson]

So Edwin Edwards is running for governor against David Duke. Now, David Duke was a former grand grand wizard of the kkk.

[Ted Cruz]

Grand grand. Yeah, grand wizard.

[Ben Ferguson]

Right. But Edwin Edwards was as corrupt. He was as crooked as a dog's hind legs. See, I'm trying to do this to keep up with John.

[John Kennedy]

Pretty good, Ted.

[Ben Ferguson]

And, But. And everyone knew he was corrupt. And so Edwin Edwards bumper sticker said, vote for the crook. It matters.

[John Kennedy]

That's right.

[Ben Ferguson]

And if you're running against a Klansman, that was a winning slogan. And then you know what? He was indicted and convicted of embezzlement or fraud or something.

[John Kennedy]

Well, when the economy was doing well in Louisiana, I mean, this was. Having a colorful governor was all fun and games. He was. He was a big. He was very promiscuous. He used to say, I give, they make. How did he put it? When I give blood, they use it to make Viagra. That was a. I always thought that was a pretty good. And there's a bumper sugar for it.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's a line they would have used about Strom Thurmond, too. You. And I didn't serve with Strom Thurmond, but by all accounts, that would have described him accurately.

[John Kennedy]

And he was running for governor, I think, his third time, and he was way ahead in the polls. He was running against incumbent. And the press asked him, they said, are you going to win this race? And he said, well, let me put it this way. The only way I can lose this race in the last week is if I'm caught in bed with a live girl or a dead boy. And I thought that was pretty clever. But eventually his past caught up to him, and we elected a reformed governor named Buddy Romer. He. And I'd supported him. He asked me to leave my practice, come to Baton Rouge, and I liked it. I was his legal counsel, and I stayed. And then I ran for office and got elected. And I ran for the Senate three times. Took me three times to get here. And I thought they left me for dead for a few times. Politically, I switched parties because the Democrat, I couldn't. I just couldn't be a Democrat anymore. And they all got mad at me and they tried to hurt me, but the Mistake they made. They let me live. They never should have let me live. So I wanted. On the third time, and here we are, we're having fun.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right. Biggest surprises when you get to the Senate. Biggest surprise upside and biggest surprise downside.

[John Kennedy]

Biggest surprise upside. You probably saw this. I came in wanting to gallop. You can't gallop in the Senate. You have to inch along. And at first, that frustrated me. Still does. But it's not altogether bad, because after a while, you realize the Senator's job is not just to advance good ideas, it's to kill bad ideas. And sometimes killing the bad ideas is more important than advancing the good ideas. That has been my biggest transformation in the Senate, but it, It, it's frustrating. Senator McConnell, who's your friend and mine, but Mitch. Mitch was the Majority leader, and I wasn't used to taking orders from another politician, and Mitch and I butted heads a few times. He butted heads with you?

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, yeah.

[John Kennedy]

Mitch liked to run it from the top down. And I thought. I remember you and I talked when we passed President Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. We passed it through reconciliation, and Ted was an advocate of doing a second bill.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[John Kennedy]

And. And it just took a majority vote, no Democrats. And we, I backed him, and, And Mitch wouldn't do it. And we left so much good policy on the table.

[Ben Ferguson]

It remains the most politically indefensible decision.

[John Kennedy]

I've ever seen, and I hope we don't do it under Trump's second term.

[Ben Ferguson]

And actually, John brought that up at lunch today.

[John Kennedy]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Made that argument. And it's clearly. Look, it is our best avenue to win victories, and we should be focused on winning victories. Now, that being said, we got a lot done in that one. Big deal.

[John Kennedy]

Sure. But we get a second bite at the apple.

[Ben Ferguson]

Exactly. And a third if we want it.

[John Kennedy]

And why not take it?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[John Kennedy]

Why not take it? And we don't have to get. We don't have to get Democratic votes. Yep. Because I'm, I'm, I'm. You know, I think. I want to think the best of people, but I just think it's going to be hard to negotiate anything with the Democrats from here on out.

[Ben Ferguson]

They just hate Trump. They're. They're so extreme right now, just blinded by.

[John Kennedy]

By their, Their passion.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Ted Cruz]

Senator, I'm going to. I'm afraid of hitmen from Louisiana. Your staff's telling me. We were supposed to wrap with you a few minutes ago, so I want to hold up the book again.

[John Kennedy]

Oh, man. Thanks.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, so let me Tell everyone.

[Ted Cruz]

Again, know what to buy book is.

[Ben Ferguson]

How to Test Negative for Stupid and why Washington Never Will. It is by John Kennedy, not John F. Kennedy, but John Kennedy, the great United States Senator. The book is funny. It is interesting. It gives you stories behind the scenes of what's going on in the U.S. senate. John Kennedy rats out all his colleagues. He makes them embarrassed. He makes them curl up. Curl up. Chuck Schumer curled up in a ball in the closet and cried like a little girl when John Kennedy wrote this book. So you need to go to Amazon and buy it. And I will say, as I said before, John Kennedy is easily one of my favorite colleagues. He is right back in funny as hell. And he is smart as hell. A lot of people don't realize this man is dangerous and has, you know, he's an Oxford educated lawyer and with a Southern accent, particularly Yankees underestimate and be like, all right, he's got a southern accent. He can't be all that bright.

[John Kennedy]

You can't accuse me of being self aware, not being self aware. I'm fully aware that my voice scares small children and sets off car alarms, but it's my voice. But thank you for having me, Ted. Thank you, Ben.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I'm going to close. I'm going to close with my favorite Kennedyism, which was in a Judiciary Committee hearing. John Kennedy leaned forward into the microphone and he said, Christmas tree ornaments and Jeffrey Epstein, two things, you know, didn't hang themselves.

[Ted Cruz]

I love it.

[Ben Ferguson]

I was sitting there going, wait, this is at an open hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Did he really say that?

[John Kennedy]

It was. I did. It was true. I'd read that joke somewhere. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Ted Cruz]

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[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[John Kennedy]

I.

[Ted Cruz]

Want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed.

[Ben Ferguson]

So, Ben, have you been to Israel before, or is this the first trip?

[Ted Cruz]

This is my pilgrimage. Very first time ever.

[Ben Ferguson]

Well, it is amazing. I have been a number of times to Israel, and it is a breathtaking place. It is a place all of history converges on. It is the birthplace of Christianity. It is the birthplace of Judaism in Israel. In Jerusalem, you walk down roads, the City of David, which is this underground archaeological excavation under Jerusalem. You walk down the road from the Pool of Shiloh to the old Temple, where Jesus most certainly walked. And you walk along it. And there are platforms that a street preacher, an itinerant preacher, would stand and preach on. And you stand. I've stood on those platforms. And it takes your breath away that Jesus Christ almost certainly stood on this particular piece of stone, addressing the crowd of the Israelites who were there in Jerusalem. It is the Sea of Galilee. You look at, you imagine Jesus walking up to Peter, walking up to fishermen and saying, follow me and let me make you fishers of men and not just fishermen. And it is. It's a beautiful place. It is a profound place. So tell me, when did you arrive and what have you done on the ground in Israel?

[Ted Cruz]

So arrived on Monday after delayed flight. Missed a flight because of actually, the shutdown is what we were told. And then we had a timeout with the air traffic controllers and also the crew on the plane. So we sat on the tarmac for about five hours in Houston, and then they said, you got to get off the plane. We've lost our crew because of the rules. And this is a tsa. And it was at the very beginning of kind of the brain.

[Ben Ferguson]

And are you part of a broader group or, like, what's the reason for going to Israel?

[Ted Cruz]

Yes. So I was asked to come over from the Israeli government and also came with the CEO of ifcj, the International Fellowship of Christian Jews. There is a Christian Leadership Conference happening here as well at the same time. That is one that's been postponed because of the war. And so I was asked to speak at that. This is a conference where Bibi is speaking, where you have the mayor of Jerusalem is speaking, you have the US Ambassador, Mike Huckabee as well. And it is bringing Christians together back to the Holy Land. But then what also has happened is they've set up these incredible moments and tours where I've been able to meet with some of the victims of the war and go and see where the war is taking place. So yesterday, we actually Went to the border with Syria and with Lebanon and went literally to where we could see Hezbollah looking at us.

[Ben Ferguson]

And you met with the. The parents of the kids who were killed on the soccer field. Tell us about that.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, so last night I have, and I will try not to get emotional, but it's hard not to. I was asked to come in to meet with the families, some of the families who. Children. There was 12 children that were killed while playing soccer on a soccer field. It made international news. We covered it on this show. And they asked me if I would meet with the families and hear the family stories. And I was there and the parents were talking of. This was one of the little girls you can see who died. And her mother was the first one to speak and she was.

[Ben Ferguson]

The age of the kids.

[Ted Cruz]

I want to tell the story. They were all different ages. They were very young to a 17 year old, if I remember correctly. Some of it was through translation. But you can kind of see the different ages here. Some of them are obviously most were younger, but you can see there, someone's a little bit older in junior high. You can see that's one of the oldest kids there. And that was, you know, it's incredible. But we sat there and we were hearing their stories, these kids. And at the very end, they said they'd like to present me with things. I didn't know they were going to do this. And I put the picture up on social media, but the mother of this young girl said that they wanted to give me something. And I didn't see the ball before they brought it out. But these pictures on this ball, so people understand they're stickers, they're handmade. And they said they wanted to say thank you for standing up for their kids and for telling their story to the world because they want people to understand what it's like to live in Israel and what was taken from them.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, these were children that were doing nothing. They were playing on a soccer field. They were being kids. And suddenly Hezbollah rocket came over and killed them all.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And it was a. The way that they described it was they didn't care who they killed. There was a lot of media spin that, well, this soccer field maybe wasn't directly target. Hezbollah doesn't care who they kill, they just want to kill Jews.

[Ben Ferguson]

Northern Israel, southern Israel. Where's the kibbutz you went to the.

[Ted Cruz]

Tip of northern, on the opposite side of where the attack happened. The initial attack happened on October 6th.

[Ben Ferguson]

Okay. So right by the Golan Heights border.

[Ted Cruz]

With Lebanon and Hezbollah. So if you're looking at the map, this would be in Syria, Hezbollah at the northern point. And they started us there because they said they wanted us to understand that the goal of the.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, for folks at.

[Ted Cruz]

Home to understand from both sides, for.

[Ben Ferguson]

Folks at home to understand. So Israel is a very small nation. It's about the size of the state of New Jersey.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Ben Ferguson]

Where October 7th happened was in the southern part of Israel. It's right by the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is along the Mediterranean in the southern part. And Hamas, which is the terrorist, major terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, entered into southern Israel and murdered over 1200 Israelis, raped women and little girls, took over 200 Israelis hostage. It was also one of the worst American terrorist attacks ever, as we saw dozens of Americans murdered, dozens of Americans taken hostage. Now, northern Israel, which is up by Lebanon and Syria, what you have up there is Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a different terrorist organization. Both Hezbollah and Hamas, their patron is Iran. And Iran funds over 90% of Hamas budget. Iran funds over 90% of Hezbollah's budget. When October 7 first erupted, Israel quite rightly declared, we are going to utterly destroy Hamas. There was an interesting period that extended for weeks and then even a couple of months where it wasn't clear if Hamas would be, or rather Hezbollah would be drawn into this. Hamas was the aggressor on October 7, and Hezbollah had the opportunity just to shut up and not engage. And then Hezbollah pretty quickly decided, nope, we want to raise our hand. We want to engage, and began just. Just firing rockets, a massive barrage of rockets in northern Israel. Israel, thousands. And the kids.

[Ted Cruz]

About 60%. I was told yesterday by the US government, about 60% of all the rockets on hand that Hezbollah had in their arsenal were shot during this war.

[Ben Ferguson]

Repeat that. That's a powerful statement.

[Ted Cruz]

60%. And as we had our briefing from the Israeli government, we actually went to this neighborhood, this kibbutz. And in this neighborhood, their sin for being targeted by Hezbollah was that they farm pink lady apples that we eat in the United States of America.

[Ben Ferguson]

And by the way, much of northern Israel was evacuated because the rocket attacks were so intense that the Israelis couldn't live there anymore because you couldn't go into your own home without risk of rock blowing it up. And so the amazing thing is Hezbollah literally volunteered and said, hey, we want to be part of this. And then the Israelis carried out the pager attack, which remains one of the most extraordinary military and intelligence operations I think the world has ever seen. Where, I mean, I've joked But this is not a joke. If you wrote the pager attack as a script to a movie, nobody in Hollywood would buy it. If you wrote it as a Jason Bourne movie, they'd say, this is ridiculous. You're telling me Israel creates a shell company in Hong Kong, builds years in advance. Years in advance, makes them heavy duty, kind of serious hardcore pagers and embeds where the battery would be a tiny little explosive, then gets this shell company in Hong Kong to sell the pagers to Hezbollah. Like, how the hell do you do that? I don't know how you sell pagers to Hezbollah, but the Mossad does, Israel does. Sells them to Hezbollah. And then this remains the single most targeted military and intelligence attack, I think, in history. Because it was Hezbollah leadership that decided, okay, who is it that gets these pagers? I'm going to give it to every crazy ass terrorist we have in Lebanon. The people that I want to be able to page and say, hey, would you go blow up a bus? Would you go blow up a mall? Would you go murder children? Take this pager. And then Israel, in a simultaneous moment, detonated all the pagers and took out every person that was injured, every person that was killed, with very minor exceptions of someone who was really close to a terrorist. They were personally selected by the leaders of Hezbollah. Hezbollah decided which terrorist died. And by the way, within a day or two, there was a second operation where Hezbollah was using walkie talkies. Those blew up. And I think they also infiltrated.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, they blew those up as well.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. By the end of it, I think every Hezbollah terrorist, every Hamas terrorist, every Iran IRGC terrorist, like, every time a phone rang, they jumped. It was extraordinary. And it was a response to, so what? Hezbollah literally volunteered and said, we want to be decimated as bad as Hamas. And Israel said, well, happy to oblige.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. And you go back to this neighborhood. And as we went into this neighborhood, which the people have, a lot of them have still not returned, some of the farmers are coming there to farm. But Hezbollah knew the houses that they were blowing up in this neighborhood were farmers. They knew that they were families. And what they did to justify their attacks early on was when the people had fled, the Israeli military would take back in to the husband of the home to go get some of their belongings before they would flee again. And they justified the military walking the house as the reason to blow the house up. And so I met with a farmer who had three children, the exact same age as my kids.

[John Kennedy]

Wow.

[Ted Cruz]

And he was showing us his neighborhood, and he was Talking about how I had to come back to 10 of the fields because this is my home. And I was literally under rocket barrage and would come to work knowing that Hezbollah was targeting the houses. And so finally, after a few days, that the homeowner said to the military, don't go back into my house, because as soon as you go in there, they. They blow up my home and everything is destroyed. We went into a home. The books of the children were still there. The stove was still there. The way it was set. That morning, the. One of the homeowners offered me a piece of a broken pot of their home and a burner of the stove and said, take it back. And a piece of their tile in their children's bathroom. I put it on my desk for the rest of my life. But to. To hear them talk about the brutality of Hezbollah, knowing that you're blowing up a farmer's home, who has never bothered you in your entire life for sport. It was just for sport at that point. It wasn't killing a person. They knew that.

[Ben Ferguson]

They were bilious hatred.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, just pure sport and hatred. Like, we're going to blow up your neighborhood because you are Jewish. We know you're not there. We know you have fled, but we want you to come back to destruction and ruins.

[Ben Ferguson]

So you've been in northern Israel. Have you been in Tel Aviv? Have you been in Jerusalem? Where else have you been?

[Ted Cruz]

So, been in Tel Aviv as well, which is an incredible city. I didn't realize how much it's like New York City or a major city. Yeah, it's a very modern city, nightlife city. But one other thing I want to mention about this trip so far is I met with the mother of one of the hostages that was taken that became. Unfortunately, she became famous. If you remember the videos that came out, there is a girl that's been separated from her boyfriend. She is in between two terrorists on a motorcycle, and she's reaching out and screaming for her boyfriend, who is being held with his arms behind his back by two terrorists. And they're separating them. And that video just went viral early on in the moments after he was held underground for two years without seeing sunlight and was starved. He was returned. They just reunited. You may have seen that video of them in the hospital finally getting to see each other again and hugging and falling backwards as they hug on the hospital bed. And the mother was telling the story of her son and the trauma, the way that they were mentally tortured and lied to, that there was destruction of all of Israel been destroyed. We're told that their loved ones had been killed, their family members had been murdered, that no one had survived, that they were going to die, that they were going to dig their own graves. Some of them did. To see the torment. And I think that's one of the things I will forever remember from this trip, and I'm grateful for it, is when we talk about what this is like, the psychological warfare center and the evil of Hamas and Hezbollah has no ends. Whether it's blowing up farmers homes for sport, whether it is killing children, Is that the soccer ball and seeing these kids who were their only crime was being Jewish and playing sports. That's it. Look, this little girl, mother I met.

[Ben Ferguson]

Kill. Civilians are the embodiment of evil. And sadly, we live in a world where evil is plentiful.

[Ted Cruz]

It's incredible. So today I'm going to be leaving with the government and going down to the site of the attack at the festival, and I'm going to be meeting with some of the hostages there. I'm going to hopefully tell those stories as well in one of our next episodes, because it's just telling their stories and letting people understand what happened that day. And going to go to the kibbutz that were attacked there and tour the homes of the children that were murdered in their cribs. I'm going to meet with the families of the elderly that were killed, including Holocaust survivors. I met with some Holocaust survivors that are homeless, in essence, and had to move to Jerusalem to survive the war. I met with them as well. Incredible story. So we'll have more of that, I promise you, coming up in other episodes. But I want to say to everyone that is listening, if you are a person of faith, the pilgrimage to come here and to see, I think the hope of our faith in Christianity to walk where Jesus walked, to walk where he carried the cross. I did that the first day I was here. And to be able to just see the Sea of Galilee and witness where so much of our biblical, 80% of the biblical history in the Bible with Jesus, I got to witness from standing in one place.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's amazing to see.

[Ted Cruz]

And it spread to the world where.

[Ben Ferguson]

They believe Jesus was crucified, where they believe he was buried, and where he rose again in heaven.

[Ted Cruz]

I got to go to the tomb.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, I mean, standing in the tomb, look, as a believer, it takes your breath away.

[Ted Cruz]

As I described it to family in a text, I said the level of feeling, I would say the Holy Spirit in these places is something I've never felt before. The second closest I've ever felt to that type of spiritual gathering of Christians was honestly at Charlie Kirk's memorial. And it was incredible. Two of the biggest spiritual moments in my life have happened in the last 60 days, both in a weird way around tragedy. Which also is why I think it's incredible when you're a Christian that you know that God is still a God of hope.

[Ben Ferguson]

Amen.

[Ted Cruz]

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

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[Ted Cruz]

Oh, let me make an announcement.

[Ben Ferguson]

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