Verdict with Ted Cruz - A Senator, a Catholic, and a Cactus Walk Onto a Campus

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.420 Guaranteed human.

00:00:11.140 Now, thank you.

00:00:15.400 We have now been to two schools.

00:00:18.260 This is the third stop on the fall Verdict Live Tour

00:00:21.740 in partnership with Young America's Foundation.

00:00:24.240 Special thanks to the Logan family.

00:00:26.200 We started out on Governor Walker's home turf

00:00:29.560 of Wisconsin.

00:00:30.980 We moved on.

00:00:32.120 Well, we were supposed to be on a college campus.

00:00:34.200 That didn't quite work out.

00:00:35.540 They don't like us up there,

00:00:36.900 but we still made that podcast work.

00:00:40.000 We then moved on, Senator,

00:00:41.080 to your home turf of Texas.

00:00:43.340 We are now on my home turf,

00:00:45.720 this very popish place here.

00:00:48.280 A Southern Baptist and a Catholic and a cactus 1.00

00:00:51.840 walk onto a university campus.

00:00:54.420 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

00:00:59.560 It is really terrific to be here

00:01:04.440 at Catholic University of America.

00:01:06.800 You know, we just came from the land of freedom in Texas,

00:01:09.640 and I landed here, and I got to tell you,

00:01:11.640 I was pretty shocked

00:01:13.100 because there's this mask mandate in place.

00:01:16.120 Every single person in Washington, D.C.

00:01:18.780 needs to wear a mask

00:01:20.440 except the President of the United States.

00:01:23.000 Do I have that right?

00:01:23.700 Look, only if he's out at a restaurant

00:01:27.460 and piling around with rich people.

00:01:29.640 Then the mask mandate doesn't work.

00:01:31.880 And to be fair,

00:01:35.020 he didn't know there was a camera.

00:01:38.100 Most importantly,

00:01:39.360 he didn't know about the camera.

00:01:40.120 And look, this is a very tricky virus.

00:01:42.580 You put a camera on you,

00:01:44.240 my God, you need 16 masks.

00:01:46.760 You take the camera off,

00:01:48.420 no problem at all.

00:01:50.360 I have to say, it is pretty audacious.

00:01:52.480 Right now, we've been talking about this vaccine mandate,

00:01:55.580 the mask mandates,

00:01:56.920 that is actually shutting down segments of our economy.

00:02:00.400 And amid all of this,

00:02:01.840 with such hubris,

00:02:03.220 with no shame at all,

00:02:04.780 the President and his wife

00:02:06.500 walk into this restaurant.

00:02:08.160 The security detail is masked.

00:02:09.640 Everyone else there is masked.

00:02:10.780 But the rules don't apply to him.

00:02:12.160 By the way, you know,

00:02:12.920 that is the same restaurant,

00:02:14.280 or actually the sister restaurant of,

00:02:16.440 if you remember a couple of years ago,

00:02:18.400 when Heidi and I were going out to dinner in D.C.

00:02:20.660 and this group of Antifa protesters

00:02:23.200 surrounded us,

00:02:24.980 yelled at us,

00:02:26.060 ended up following us out of the restaurant.

00:02:28.640 Exact same restaurant that Joe Biden

00:02:30.220 is walking around in without masks.

00:02:32.520 You know, to Biden's credit, though,

00:02:34.300 I think we need to give him credit.

00:02:36.300 He, unlike the Transportation Secretary,

00:02:39.260 has ostensibly been showing up for work

00:02:41.200 over the past two months.

00:02:42.260 But the Transportation Secretary,

00:02:44.420 amid the worst supply chain crisis,

00:02:47.440 certainly of my lifetime,

00:02:49.620 he's on two months,

00:02:51.260 going on three months,

00:02:52.260 of paternity leave.

00:02:55.340 You know, I gotta say,

00:02:57.320 this story actually pisses me off.

00:03:00.820 Look, number one,

00:03:02.620 people are walking on eggshells

00:03:04.360 around this story.

00:03:05.440 Yeah.

00:03:06.020 They're like nervous about,

00:03:07.960 oh, well, it's paternity leave, 0.98

00:03:10.000 you're not supposed to say anything bad about that.

00:03:12.760 Totally fine.

00:03:13.300 You know, we're really,

00:03:14.280 we're woke,

00:03:15.480 we're sensitive. 0.98

00:03:17.460 And, you know, he's gay,

00:03:18.780 so that I really can't say anything about it. 0.90

00:03:20.640 You can't touch it.

00:03:21.540 Don't say it, Senator.

00:03:22.920 And, like, okay,

00:03:24.460 our country is over 200 years old.

00:03:29.640 I am pretty sure Pete Buttigieg

00:03:31.880 is the first and only Cabinet Secretary

00:03:35.940 in the history of our country

00:03:37.780 to take a paternity leave.

00:03:39.740 Yes.

00:03:40.540 Yeah, I think that's fair.

00:03:42.400 You know,

00:03:43.480 not just,

00:03:45.120 okay, stay home,

00:03:46.420 be a few days with the kid,

00:03:47.740 be a week with the kid, 0.99

00:03:48.960 but two damn months. 0.99

00:03:50.120 Yeah. 0.99

00:03:50.440 And counting.

00:03:51.180 And he said he won't,

00:03:52.100 he won't stop,

00:03:52.900 he won't come back to work,

00:03:54.160 even with the supply chain crisis.

00:03:56.000 I suppose the only thing

00:03:57.140 you have to recommend it

00:03:58.140 is that probably

00:03:59.160 if Buttigieg were doing his job,

00:04:01.580 the crisis would be worse.

00:04:02.720 I have to assume.

00:04:03.620 Look, this story actually encapsulates

00:04:08.260 a lot of the things

00:04:09.200 that are infuriating.

00:04:10.260 Number one,

00:04:10.820 Buttigieg doesn't show up

00:04:12.780 to work for two months.

00:04:14.180 Yeah.

00:04:15.060 Number two,

00:04:15.760 they keep it a secret.

00:04:17.160 They don't tell anyone.

00:04:18.040 There's no public announcement.

00:04:19.260 There's no,

00:04:19.880 he's a Cabinet member.

00:04:21.520 If you're a Cabinet member,

00:04:22.480 you've got a responsibility

00:04:23.300 to show up to work.

00:04:25.580 Number three,

00:04:26.440 it was fascinating,

00:04:27.660 none of the press reports on it.

00:04:29.040 Yeah.

00:04:29.160 Is there any reporter

00:04:31.240 at the Department of Transportation

00:04:32.520 who 60 days in would say,

00:04:34.800 you know who we haven't seen

00:04:36.420 in 60 days?

00:04:39.820 That secretary guy,

00:04:41.600 does he still work here?

00:04:43.480 And it's,

00:04:44.980 okay, look,

00:04:45.520 you might say

00:04:46.540 the Secretary of Transportation

00:04:48.740 doesn't show up to work

00:04:50.240 and it's like a tree

00:04:50.940 falling in the woods.

00:04:51.860 Who notices?

00:04:52.580 Who cares?

00:04:53.420 Right.

00:04:53.620 But it happens to be

00:04:55.060 right in the middle

00:04:56.140 of a transportation crisis

00:04:58.020 that is impacting

00:04:59.180 the whole country.

00:05:00.080 Well, now listen,

00:05:00.880 I'm not an economist,

00:05:02.000 so I would like

00:05:03.060 to hear your thoughts

00:05:03.880 as a lawmaker,

00:05:05.220 someone who sees this up close.

00:05:06.940 I have been reliably informed

00:05:08.980 that historic inflation

00:05:11.740 and an historic

00:05:12.940 supply chain crisis

00:05:14.000 is, one,

00:05:15.620 a high-class problem,

00:05:17.140 that's what the White House

00:05:17.860 Chief of Staff said,

00:05:19.140 and two,

00:05:20.460 it's actually a good thing.

00:05:21.960 That's what Jen Psaki 1.00

00:05:23.100 at the White House

00:05:23.680 and Pete Buttigieg

00:05:24.500 have both said

00:05:25.640 in the last two days.

00:05:26.540 Look, there is an arrogance

00:05:28.540 to this,

00:05:29.340 and all of these themes

00:05:30.660 are connected together.

00:05:32.580 The arrogance is

00:05:34.220 that this administration

00:05:36.240 wants to implement policies

00:05:38.440 on working people,

00:05:40.240 on the little people,

00:05:41.580 that they themselves

00:05:42.480 don't follow.

00:05:43.320 Yeah.

00:05:44.360 And when you look

00:05:45.780 at something like inflation,

00:05:47.040 so the White House

00:05:47.520 Chief of Staff,

00:05:48.180 Ron Klain,

00:05:49.240 tweeted out

00:05:49.900 that it's a high-class

00:05:51.840 problem, inflation.

00:05:52.960 You know, last I checked,

00:05:54.080 buying food

00:05:55.720 is not a high-class problem.

00:05:57.140 Yeah.

00:05:57.680 The last I checked,

00:05:58.860 rent isn't a high-class problem.

00:06:01.500 Gas isn't a high-class problem.

00:06:03.460 Diapers aren't

00:06:04.160 a high-class problem.

00:06:05.500 You know,

00:06:06.420 it's easy to sit back

00:06:09.460 and say,

00:06:09.860 oh, what difference

00:06:10.760 does it make

00:06:11.600 as inflation's going up

00:06:13.860 and up and up?

00:06:14.900 But listen,

00:06:15.620 and I gotta say,

00:06:16.320 we're with

00:06:17.120 mostly college students,

00:06:19.380 by the way,

00:06:19.700 love the Astros shirt,

00:06:20.600 awesome shirt.

00:06:21.180 By the way,

00:06:25.280 in 19,

00:06:26.940 when the Astros

00:06:27.760 played the Nationals,

00:06:28.880 I went to

00:06:30.300 one of the games

00:06:31.800 here in D.C.,

00:06:33.600 sat behind home plate,

00:06:35.120 was the lone orange shirt

00:06:36.680 in a sea of red.

00:06:39.800 And remember,

00:06:40.060 that was a weird series

00:06:41.000 where the away team

00:06:41.940 won every game.

00:06:43.400 So I was literally

00:06:44.140 surrounded by

00:06:45.120 Nationals fans.

00:06:46.040 I'm wearing Astros.

00:06:47.100 It is a miracle 1.00

00:06:47.860 I didn't get my ass kicked. 0.99

00:06:49.220 I'm seeing a theme here, 0.99

00:06:50.260 that restaurant in D.C.

00:06:51.700 with Antifa,

00:06:52.640 and then you're

00:06:53.020 the orange shirt

00:06:53.560 of the Nationals.

00:06:54.280 And at the game,

00:06:54.880 it had nothing to do

00:06:55.360 with politics.

00:06:56.020 It was all baseball

00:06:56.980 and we were winning

00:06:57.920 and so I was pretty loud

00:06:59.380 and obnoxious about it.

00:07:02.120 But,

00:07:03.440 look,

00:07:04.000 the double standard,

00:07:06.420 you know,

00:07:06.760 for all of y'all

00:07:07.540 in college,

00:07:08.200 the last 20 years,

00:07:09.420 we've lived in this

00:07:10.220 sort of weird

00:07:11.300 holiday from history.

00:07:13.480 Because inflation

00:07:14.400 hasn't really exists.

00:07:16.260 We've had inflation

00:07:17.420 1 and 2%

00:07:18.400 for about 20 years now.

00:07:20.260 I'll tell you,

00:07:22.880 I remember the 1970s.

00:07:24.360 So I was born in 70s.

00:07:25.400 I was a kid

00:07:26.120 in the 70s.

00:07:27.880 And I mean,

00:07:28.140 I remember when we had

00:07:29.460 double-digit inflation.

00:07:30.760 I remember when you had

00:07:31.560 home loans,

00:07:33.300 home mortgage loans

00:07:34.260 of 21 and 22%.

00:07:36.400 That's massive.

00:07:39.860 And the thing about inflation,

00:07:41.400 we're up at about

00:07:41.980 5 or 6% now.

00:07:43.660 So we're several times higher

00:07:46.020 than what's historically

00:07:46.960 been true.

00:07:48.140 And I'll tell you

00:07:48.820 who really gets hit

00:07:49.540 by that

00:07:50.040 are seniors.

00:07:52.120 If you're a senior,

00:07:53.240 you're on a fixed income.

00:07:55.000 And suddenly,

00:07:55.800 all your expenses

00:07:56.340 are going up.

00:07:57.300 Right.

00:07:57.800 Rent,

00:07:58.480 food,

00:07:59.240 gas,

00:08:00.340 utilities,

00:08:01.160 everything you're paying for.

00:08:02.460 And so the income

00:08:03.100 doesn't move

00:08:03.880 and the outflow goes up.

00:08:05.560 You know,

00:08:05.840 there's an irony

00:08:06.560 where the White House

00:08:07.260 chief of staff

00:08:07.940 and the whole Biden

00:08:08.780 apparatus now

00:08:09.780 is trying to pretend

00:08:10.880 that inflation

00:08:11.540 and supply chain issues

00:08:12.480 are a high-class problem.

00:08:13.780 Actually,

00:08:14.260 the opposite is true.

00:08:15.600 These issues

00:08:16.220 disproportionately affect

00:08:17.820 poorer people.

00:08:19.580 You know,

00:08:20.120 historically speaking,

00:08:21.660 wealthier people

00:08:22.200 can just make,

00:08:23.000 they tend to make

00:08:23.720 more money

00:08:24.200 even as inflation goes up.

00:08:25.740 But also,

00:08:26.880 basic goods,

00:08:27.720 gas,

00:08:28.200 heating your home,

00:08:29.040 food,

00:08:29.520 I mean,

00:08:29.720 that will disproportionately

00:08:30.740 affect people

00:08:31.640 on smaller incomes.

00:08:32.880 But it's the,

00:08:33.840 speaking of gas,

00:08:35.240 it's the gaslighting

00:08:36.780 that's going on now.

00:08:37.740 We're being told

00:08:38.500 that up is down

00:08:39.520 and black is white

00:08:40.620 and right is left.

00:08:41.900 And meanwhile,

00:08:42.640 by the way,

00:08:43.200 while we're debating

00:08:44.040 paternity leave 1.00

00:08:45.340 for our transportation secretary.

00:08:47.360 And let me be clear

00:08:48.320 about something

00:08:48.800 because look,

00:08:49.360 you and I are both fathers.

00:08:50.960 In fact,

00:08:51.340 you're a new father.

00:08:52.240 I am.

00:08:54.120 Thank you.

00:08:57.720 You know,

00:08:59.340 babies always get applause

00:09:01.100 at a Catholic university.

00:09:02.200 You can count on it.

00:09:04.500 So,

00:09:05.640 you know,

00:09:05.920 I remember

00:09:06.500 when our girls were born,

00:09:08.240 so our girls are 13 and 10.

00:09:10.160 Catherine's about to turn 11.

00:09:12.060 And listen,

00:09:12.860 maternity leave is awesome. 1.00

00:09:14.400 Heidi took

00:09:14.900 the full maternity leave.

00:09:16.700 It was wonderful

00:09:17.420 with a newborn.

00:09:19.100 So,

00:09:19.660 our girls were born

00:09:20.420 10 and 13 years ago.

00:09:21.460 I have to admit,

00:09:22.300 10 and 13 years ago,

00:09:24.560 I'd never heard

00:09:25.420 of paternity leave.

00:09:26.360 10 months ago,

00:09:27.180 I'd never heard

00:09:27.660 of paternity leave.

00:09:28.380 We didn't talk about,

00:09:29.660 and it wasn't like

00:09:30.460 we made a conscious decision

00:09:31.780 not to talk about it.

00:09:33.020 It was okay.

00:09:33.800 She was caring.

00:09:35.140 And I love my girls,

00:09:36.540 but we just,

00:09:37.080 it wasn't a thing.

00:09:37.920 All right,

00:09:38.060 so now it's a thing

00:09:38.840 and that's fine.

00:09:39.580 Yeah, yeah.

00:09:40.160 In a lot of jobs,

00:09:41.960 that can be fine,

00:09:44.160 but being in the cabinet

00:09:45.500 is different.

00:09:46.480 Yeah.

00:09:46.720 But like,

00:09:47.960 you have a responsibility

00:09:49.600 not to disappear

00:09:52.560 from the job

00:09:53.740 for two months.

00:09:55.340 And you know what?

00:09:56.040 It's not that damn hard

00:09:57.200 to pick up a Zoom.

00:09:58.340 In the middle of,

00:09:59.460 in the middle of a pandemic,

00:10:00.740 you can Zoom,

00:10:01.960 you can be on the job

00:10:03.180 at home.

00:10:05.040 And it says something

00:10:06.840 that there's a view

00:10:08.520 that this is not a problem.

00:10:10.940 We can do what we want.

00:10:12.100 And it's the same

00:10:13.120 double standard

00:10:14.320 that applies

00:10:15.040 in a lot of contexts.

00:10:15.920 And meanwhile,

00:10:17.620 if you Zoom out

00:10:18.540 and you look at

00:10:19.100 the geopolitical picture here,

00:10:21.460 we're sitting around

00:10:22.680 debating whether

00:10:23.600 cabinet secretaries

00:10:24.720 should just disappear

00:10:25.660 for family time

00:10:26.560 for more than two months.

00:10:27.860 We're debating

00:10:28.780 whether woke generals

00:10:30.620 in the military

00:10:31.540 ought to be sending

00:10:33.100 critical race theory texts

00:10:34.780 to the troops.

00:10:36.220 Meanwhile-

00:10:36.240 Well, look,

00:10:36.620 it's not like there's

00:10:37.300 anything important to monitor.

00:10:38.700 No, there's nothing.

00:10:39.420 I mean, it's not like

00:10:40.120 the Chinese are testing 1.00

00:10:41.260 hypersonics or anything.

00:10:42.700 Yeah, that's the thing

00:10:43.860 I just read about.

00:10:44.700 So our greatest

00:10:45.900 geopolitical foe

00:10:47.480 is testing out weapons

00:10:48.960 that are blowing us away

00:10:50.380 that we didn't know

00:10:51.140 were possible at the moment.

00:10:53.020 And meanwhile,

00:10:53.720 we're twiddling our thumbs.

00:10:55.420 So look,

00:10:56.140 a hypersonic,

00:10:57.120 you look at

00:10:57.540 a ballistic missile

00:10:59.520 that goes up in the air,

00:11:00.980 goes up into the atmosphere,

00:11:03.500 comes down,

00:11:04.120 and we have missile defense systems

00:11:05.300 to take them out.

00:11:06.080 And then you put 0.97

00:11:06.680 a nuclear warhead

00:11:07.460 on the top of an ICBM

00:11:09.340 and you can,

00:11:10.480 our missile defense systems

00:11:11.520 are designed

00:11:12.140 to try to take them out.

00:11:13.240 A hypersonic

00:11:15.480 is very dangerous

00:11:16.640 because in what China tested

00:11:18.220 is something that goes up

00:11:19.180 on a rocket,

00:11:20.400 but then very low

00:11:21.900 to the atmosphere

00:11:22.640 goes about five times

00:11:23.780 the speed of sound

00:11:24.600 and is able to orbit

00:11:26.040 the earth,

00:11:26.540 is able to steer.

00:11:27.800 Suddenly,

00:11:28.940 missile defense

00:11:29.460 doesn't work that well.

00:11:30.660 And they were testing it

00:11:31.720 with the ability

00:11:32.260 to put a nuclear warhead

00:11:33.500 on the front end of it. 0.97

00:11:35.240 It also means

00:11:36.220 one of the potentials,

00:11:37.740 so our missile defense

00:11:38.960 is all keyed

00:11:39.940 on missiles coming

00:11:40.740 over the North Pole.

00:11:41.600 Look, a lot of it

00:11:42.500 was developed

00:11:42.960 with the Soviet Union

00:11:43.880 where naturally

00:11:44.480 the North Pole

00:11:45.140 is the shortest distance there.

00:11:48.180 With China also, 0.79

00:11:49.560 the North Pole

00:11:50.200 is the most natural.

00:11:51.080 So you've got,

00:11:51.940 in Alaska,

00:11:52.560 big missile defense batteries.

00:11:53.960 Well, the problem

00:11:54.360 with the hypersonic

00:11:55.100 is they can now

00:11:56.140 come over the South Pole.

00:11:58.080 They can come over

00:11:58.660 this potentially.

00:12:00.020 The technology

00:12:00.860 would let them

00:12:01.360 come over the South Pole

00:12:02.540 where we don't have

00:12:03.800 the same missile defense

00:12:05.420 on our southern border

00:12:07.120 or for that matter

00:12:07.900 our southern border,

00:12:08.660 the Rio Grande.

00:12:09.160 Then they could just

00:12:09.680 give it to a drug cartel

00:12:12.060 and carry a nuke.

00:12:12.780 That's probably

00:12:13.140 the easiest way.

00:12:13.800 That's the most direct way.

00:12:15.060 Far closer than the South Pole.

00:12:16.660 And listen,

00:12:17.900 hypersonics,

00:12:19.280 technology is moving forward.

00:12:21.000 We're developing them.

00:12:22.140 Our enemies

00:12:22.500 are developing them.

00:12:24.160 But I've got to say,

00:12:25.120 reading the stories,

00:12:27.620 the Biden administration

00:12:28.980 repeatedly said

00:12:29.820 we were shocked.

00:12:30.800 We were astonished.

00:12:31.880 We had no idea

00:12:33.120 they had this technology.

00:12:34.880 And it reminded me

00:12:35.600 of the disaster

00:12:36.860 in Afghanistan

00:12:37.580 where they said

00:12:38.220 we were shocked.

00:12:38.820 We were astonished.

00:12:39.980 We had no idea

00:12:40.980 the Taliban were bad guys. 0.96

00:12:44.560 If only someone had told us.

00:12:46.260 And maybe they should be

00:12:47.660 shocked a little less.

00:12:49.040 Like if they weren't

00:12:50.380 concentrating on

00:12:52.660 putting out

00:12:53.620 cartoon recruiting ads.

00:12:55.320 Yeah.

00:12:56.340 Yeah.

00:12:56.720 Maybe we could be focused

00:12:58.200 on our enemies 0.79

00:12:59.720 who want to kill us. 0.99

00:13:00.560 Right. 0.98

00:13:00.980 You know,

00:13:01.440 when you look at

00:13:02.200 the current crop of leadership,

00:13:03.820 whether it's in the agencies

00:13:04.880 or it's in the White House

00:13:06.020 or wherever,

00:13:06.580 or it's in the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

00:13:09.080 it's pretty depressing.

00:13:10.900 When you look at

00:13:11.660 the future of America,

00:13:12.540 though,

00:13:12.740 when you look at

00:13:13.220 the young people,

00:13:13.900 especially the ones

00:13:14.520 assembled here,

00:13:15.280 it gives you a little more hope.

00:13:16.360 Should we get to their questions?

00:13:18.280 Absolutely.

00:13:18.540 That's what I'm here for.

00:13:19.500 Yes.

00:13:19.660 Should we bring out

00:13:20.080 our friend Liz Wheeler

00:13:21.060 to moderate an open discussion?

00:13:23.320 We're going to be taking

00:13:23.840 all of your questions,

00:13:25.460 so make sure that you line up.

00:13:27.900 If you disagree with us.

00:13:28.860 I'm sure all of them.

00:13:29.860 Not all.

00:13:30.780 If they're tough,

00:13:31.780 please,

00:13:32.260 we don't need to hear that,

00:13:33.560 okay?

00:13:33.800 And just for the rule,

00:13:35.840 if you start with linear algebra,

00:13:39.100 I'm going to make

00:13:39.980 the Yale graduate

00:13:40.640 answer that one.

00:13:41.580 That's great.

00:13:42.560 You know,

00:13:42.960 I mostly studied

00:13:43.900 lesbian dance theory,

00:13:45.780 underwater basket weaving,

00:13:47.140 you know,

00:13:47.360 all the top majors at Yale,

00:13:49.020 so.

00:13:51.900 But you know what we can do?

00:13:53.220 We'll kick it to Liz. 0.84

00:13:54.260 She can answer those questions.

00:13:55.400 You know,

00:13:55.700 if you make that promise,

00:13:56.900 we may demand

00:13:57.860 a performance.

00:13:59.500 Good to see you.

00:14:01.600 Good to see you.

00:14:02.680 Good to see you,

00:14:03.500 Senator.

00:14:03.960 I hope when you said

00:14:05.060 that a Catholic,

00:14:07.120 a Senator,

00:14:07.820 and a Cactus

00:14:08.380 were coming to a campus

00:14:09.940 that I hope you weren't

00:14:11.040 talking about me

00:14:11.820 when you said Cactus.

00:14:12.240 You are not the Cactus.

00:14:13.220 You are the second Catholic, 0.96

00:14:14.460 actually.

00:14:14.840 We brought reinforcements.

00:14:16.760 Should we take some questions?

00:14:17.580 Good, good, yes.

00:14:18.620 Do we know the rules

00:14:19.440 of the questions?

00:14:20.880 We know the rules

00:14:21.500 of the questions.

00:14:22.300 Ask one question,

00:14:24.060 not two,

00:14:24.680 not three,

00:14:25.040 not two part,

00:14:25.960 not three part.

00:14:26.560 One question.

00:14:27.060 Make it succinct

00:14:27.820 so that we can get

00:14:28.740 to as many questions

00:14:29.400 as possible.

00:14:30.820 If you disagree

00:14:31.680 with the Senator,

00:14:32.560 if you disagree

00:14:33.080 with Michael,

00:14:34.040 our producers

00:14:34.540 will bring you

00:14:35.060 to the front of the line

00:14:35.760 because that's why

00:14:36.380 we're here.

00:14:37.460 We're also going to,

00:14:38.540 while everyone gets lined up,

00:14:40.280 I want to talk to you

00:14:41.040 for just a second

00:14:41.860 about Verdict Plus.

00:14:43.780 It's a portal

00:14:44.460 for access

00:14:45.180 to Senator Ted Cruz

00:14:46.500 where not just tonight,

00:14:48.060 but every night,

00:14:48.860 or not every night,

00:14:49.580 but frequently,

00:14:50.400 we will get together

00:14:51.160 and do question and answer

00:14:52.900 so you can submit questions

00:14:54.300 through that portal.

00:14:55.820 It's Verdict

00:14:56.460 with TedCruise.com

00:14:58.180 slash plus.

00:14:59.220 You probably have

00:14:59.780 a little card

00:15:00.340 that was on your seat

00:15:01.140 when you sat down.

00:15:02.240 There's a promo code

00:15:03.320 on that card.

00:15:04.700 I think the promo code

00:15:05.640 says live.

00:15:06.560 You will get a month

00:15:07.320 free trial

00:15:08.020 to Verdict Plus

00:15:08.920 if you use that promo code.

00:15:10.420 So that's

00:15:10.740 Verdict

00:15:11.040 with TedCruise.com

00:15:12.060 slash plus

00:15:13.920 and the promo code

00:15:14.980 is live.

00:15:16.420 And while everyone

00:15:17.240 is lining up,

00:15:18.020 we're actually going

00:15:18.560 to take our first question

00:15:19.520 directly from Verdict Plus.

00:15:21.800 There's some great questions

00:15:22.620 that have already been

00:15:23.440 submitted.

00:15:25.500 So this first question,

00:15:27.160 Senator,

00:15:27.420 is directed,

00:15:28.240 obviously,

00:15:28.840 at you.

00:15:29.920 It's from an Iraqi war veteran

00:15:31.860 and he says,

00:15:32.780 as we all know,

00:15:34.000 there have been

00:15:34.300 over 160,000

00:15:35.760 quote-unquote migrants

00:15:36.820 released into the country

00:15:37.900 since March.

00:15:38.860 With that being said,

00:15:40.080 why are we still

00:15:40.840 not processing

00:15:41.720 K-1 fiancé visas?

00:15:43.540 Why punish those

00:15:44.700 who are trying to do

00:15:45.400 immigration the legal way?

00:15:47.280 Yeah, look,

00:15:47.640 I think it's a very good question.

00:15:49.600 You know,

00:15:49.820 my view on immigration,

00:15:51.020 I've always summarized

00:15:52.140 in four words,

00:15:53.460 legal good,

00:15:54.180 illegal bad.

00:15:55.460 I think there's a right way

00:15:56.540 to come to this country.

00:15:57.440 The right way

00:15:58.000 is to stand in line,

00:15:59.080 to follow the rules

00:15:59.820 and come here legally.

00:16:01.720 And fiancé visas

00:16:03.100 have been one of the long

00:16:04.380 and traditional ways

00:16:05.280 of doing that.

00:16:06.420 You know,

00:16:06.640 one of the strange things

00:16:07.920 about how the Biden

00:16:08.700 administration

00:16:09.380 has handled immigration

00:16:11.940 is on the southern border,

00:16:14.040 we have an open border.

00:16:15.300 We've had over 1.3 million

00:16:16.820 people cross illegally

00:16:18.040 just since Biden's

00:16:19.320 become president.

00:16:20.440 But at the same time,

00:16:21.880 they've shut the border

00:16:22.900 down to legal commerce.

00:16:24.380 It's a very strange

00:16:25.500 combination

00:16:26.180 where they're not allowing.

00:16:29.280 So you have

00:16:29.700 Mexican citizens,

00:16:30.680 for example,

00:16:31.400 who routinely

00:16:32.400 would come up to Texas

00:16:33.500 and they'd go shopping,

00:16:34.660 they'd go out to dinner,

00:16:36.280 they would come.

00:16:36.900 There's a heavy traffic

00:16:37.960 back and forth

00:16:38.800 that is a legal commerce

00:16:40.280 back and forth.

00:16:41.620 The Biden administration

00:16:42.560 shut that all down.

00:16:43.700 So it is a bizarre,

00:16:45.400 if you're coming

00:16:46.120 with a cartel

00:16:46.820 to break the law,

00:16:48.100 they're fine with it.

00:16:49.000 If you're actually

00:16:49.600 coming legally

00:16:50.580 to drive the economy,

00:16:52.280 they're not.

00:16:52.800 I think that's backwards

00:16:54.040 and we ought to be

00:16:54.940 prioritizing doing it

00:16:56.580 the right way.

00:16:57.360 But do you think,

00:16:58.180 Senator,

00:16:58.560 I mean,

00:16:58.800 to the viewer's question,

00:17:01.280 is it incompetence

00:17:02.940 from the Biden administration

00:17:04.000 or to quote your colleague

00:17:05.800 Marco Rubio

00:17:06.520 from the campaign,

00:17:07.820 you know,

00:17:08.220 does Biden

00:17:09.220 know exactly

00:17:10.120 what he's doing?

00:17:10.780 Let's dispel 0.99

00:17:11.240 with the fiction

00:17:11.760 that he doesn't know

00:17:12.580 what he's doing.

00:17:13.120 I mean,

00:17:13.320 is this intentional?

00:17:14.540 So I think

00:17:16.540 the open borders

00:17:17.400 are intentional.

00:17:18.760 And it's because

00:17:20.460 it's two things.

00:17:21.620 One,

00:17:22.220 Biden and Harris

00:17:24.140 essentially made promises

00:17:27.200 to the radical left

00:17:28.720 in the Democratic Party

00:17:29.780 that they would have

00:17:30.360 open borders,

00:17:31.020 that they wouldn't

00:17:31.800 enforce the law.

00:17:35.180 And so far,

00:17:35.900 they haven't been willing

00:17:36.580 to renege

00:17:37.440 on those promises.

00:17:39.200 But secondly,

00:17:40.060 I think more broadly,

00:17:41.200 they view

00:17:41.800 unlimited illegal immigration

00:17:43.620 as future

00:17:45.300 Democratic voters.

00:17:46.320 I think this is a

00:17:47.560 crass political decision.

00:17:50.380 And I got to tell you,

00:17:51.160 it's horrific.

00:17:51.860 I've spent a lot of time

00:17:52.920 at the border.

00:17:55.160 The kids who are coming in

00:17:57.100 are being brought in

00:17:57.920 by traffickers.

00:17:58.900 They're being abused.

00:18:00.800 It is,

00:18:03.160 it takes your breath away

00:18:04.660 to see what's happening.

00:18:06.560 You know,

00:18:06.800 on the legal side,

00:18:08.200 I don't have a good answer

00:18:09.500 for it.

00:18:09.920 So why,

00:18:10.540 for example,

00:18:11.000 they shut down

00:18:11.580 legal commerce

00:18:12.200 across the bridges,

00:18:12.840 I don't know.

00:18:14.520 It doesn't make any sense.

00:18:16.180 You know,

00:18:16.500 I actually,

00:18:17.380 I've called for them

00:18:19.180 to open it up.

00:18:19.860 Democrats have called

00:18:20.640 for them to open it up,

00:18:21.420 but they don't do it.

00:18:22.260 I have never been able

00:18:23.500 to get a good answer

00:18:24.580 as to why.

00:18:25.800 It's interesting, too,

00:18:26.800 I think,

00:18:27.060 to note that

00:18:27.600 the Biden administration

00:18:28.560 tried to prevent

00:18:29.300 the media

00:18:29.740 from covering this.

00:18:31.240 They tried to prevent

00:18:32.000 the drones

00:18:32.600 that were showing footage

00:18:33.720 in Del Rio.

00:18:34.540 I mean,

00:18:34.720 you were actually

00:18:35.240 the first one.

00:18:35.940 You took your cell phone

00:18:36.760 down there

00:18:37.300 to show the American people

00:18:38.840 what was happening

00:18:39.600 because clearly

00:18:40.600 the Biden administration

00:18:41.340 knows that what's happening

00:18:43.080 isn't just arbitrarily happening,

00:18:45.320 that it's happening

00:18:45.760 as a direct result

00:18:46.680 of their political choices.

00:18:48.340 So it does beg the question

00:18:49.660 whether it's being done

00:18:50.640 or for what intention

00:18:51.960 it is being done

00:18:52.780 since they know

00:18:53.400 that their choices

00:18:53.960 are causing that problem.

00:18:55.260 Yeah.

00:18:56.220 All right.

00:18:56.880 Are you guys ready?

00:18:57.940 So when you step up

00:18:59.100 to the mic,

00:18:59.600 introduce yourself first

00:19:00.680 and then you can address

00:19:01.900 your question

00:19:02.400 to the senator,

00:19:03.260 to Michael,

00:19:03.620 or to me.

00:19:05.020 What's your name?

00:19:06.740 Hi,

00:19:07.120 my name's Nick.

00:19:07.980 I'm a senior history major

00:19:09.360 here at CUA

00:19:10.080 and for the record,

00:19:10.800 the history department

00:19:11.560 rocks here.

00:19:12.880 Great.

00:19:13.480 I love to hear it.

00:19:19.000 So Senator,

00:19:20.080 I want to ask you

00:19:21.180 about freedom.

00:19:21.860 You talk a lot about freedom.

00:19:22.920 You talk a lot about liberty.

00:19:24.760 But with all respect,

00:19:25.680 I haven't heard you

00:19:26.600 talk a lot about

00:19:27.720 throughout your career

00:19:29.080 what is the purpose

00:19:30.100 of human freedom.

00:19:31.340 So I want to ask you tonight

00:19:32.380 what is the purpose

00:19:33.600 of human freedom

00:19:34.300 and is it the ultimate virtue

00:19:36.060 as human beings

00:19:36.840 that we should seek

00:19:37.640 or is there something more?

00:19:39.760 Wow.

00:19:49.700 So Nick,

00:19:50.400 let me say

00:19:50.880 you have just demonstrated

00:19:52.000 your first statement

00:19:52.780 which is

00:19:53.120 the history department

00:19:53.940 rocks here.

00:19:56.380 That is a great

00:19:58.500 and profound question

00:20:00.120 and we're starting

00:20:00.880 with depth.

00:20:02.520 Look,

00:20:03.240 at the end of the day

00:20:05.240 I think every human

00:20:06.400 yearns for meaning,

00:20:09.820 yearns for a purpose

00:20:11.000 larger than ourselves,

00:20:12.780 a purpose larger

00:20:13.640 than our lives.

00:20:17.100 That is a purpose

00:20:18.280 that for billions,

00:20:20.060 for the time of humanity

00:20:22.860 has been filled

00:20:23.680 for many

00:20:24.260 with faith.

00:20:26.860 As for me,

00:20:27.700 I'm a Christian

00:20:28.200 and my faith

00:20:29.740 is a very important part

00:20:30.800 of who I am.

00:20:31.440 But I think

00:20:33.900 when it comes

00:20:34.680 to freedom,

00:20:35.360 there's a different role

00:20:36.780 if you're assessing

00:20:38.600 how am I going

00:20:39.200 to live my life

00:20:40.120 than there is a question

00:20:41.480 of what are the

00:20:42.060 governmental policies

00:20:43.080 that should be in place.

00:20:45.320 And, you know,

00:20:46.560 if you look at

00:20:47.220 the founding

00:20:47.960 of our country,

00:20:48.720 we were founded

00:20:49.680 by people

00:20:50.440 fleeing religious oppression

00:20:52.100 and coming to a place

00:20:54.540 where we could

00:20:55.900 live according

00:20:57.240 to our faith

00:20:57.960 and worship God

00:20:59.400 and live our lives

00:21:00.840 according to our faith,

00:21:02.060 according to our conscience.

00:21:04.040 And so,

00:21:05.700 from a governmental perspective,

00:21:07.220 I think government

00:21:07.940 should not have

00:21:08.780 its finger

00:21:09.360 on the scale

00:21:10.880 one way or the other.

00:21:12.220 We should protect rules

00:21:13.480 that allow everyone

00:21:14.340 to go and seek

00:21:15.860 whatever faith questions,

00:21:18.320 whatever faith journey.

00:21:19.540 And by the way,

00:21:20.740 look,

00:21:20.980 I'm a Christian now,

00:21:21.980 but all of us

00:21:22.780 have had a faith journey.

00:21:24.040 I was raised

00:21:24.600 as a Christian.

00:21:25.300 I had a period

00:21:26.020 when I was in school

00:21:27.780 where I was probably

00:21:28.900 fairly described

00:21:29.680 as an agnostic.

00:21:31.260 I had doubts,

00:21:32.800 which a lot of young people

00:21:34.280 certainly do.

00:21:35.480 Actually, Heidi

00:21:35.940 had a similar journey

00:21:37.000 questioning her faith

00:21:38.580 when she was in school.

00:21:39.740 I certainly did, yeah.

00:21:41.340 That's a very common

00:21:42.420 part of life.

00:21:43.960 I think we ought to have

00:21:45.500 legal rules in place

00:21:48.640 that protect the ability

00:21:50.160 of each of us

00:21:51.080 to try to answer

00:21:52.560 the ultimate question,

00:21:53.620 to try to answer

00:21:54.560 what is our purpose.

00:21:56.100 I can tell you

00:21:56.600 one thing I point out

00:21:57.600 a lot,

00:21:58.220 particularly when I talk

00:21:58.780 to young people,

00:21:59.460 is I say,

00:21:59.960 look,

00:22:00.780 think about

00:22:02.420 what people will say

00:22:04.820 at your funeral.

00:22:06.540 A little macabre,

00:22:07.660 but when you're dead

00:22:08.700 and buried,

00:22:09.800 what are they going to say?

00:22:11.180 And nobody is going

00:22:12.160 to remember

00:22:12.660 how big of a flat screen

00:22:13.780 TV you had.

00:22:15.620 Nobody is going to remember

00:22:16.820 if you had a fancy car

00:22:18.040 or not.

00:22:18.480 I mean,

00:22:18.940 the material possessions

00:22:20.440 in life,

00:22:21.600 look,

00:22:21.920 you need enough money

00:22:22.740 to have food

00:22:24.080 and shelter

00:22:24.660 and provide

00:22:25.420 for your family,

00:22:26.740 but the only thing

00:22:28.500 anyone ever talks

00:22:29.480 about at a funeral

00:22:30.220 are the lives

00:22:32.160 that you touched,

00:22:32.960 are the people

00:22:33.600 whose lives

00:22:34.340 were made better

00:22:35.100 because you lived,

00:22:36.420 are the people

00:22:37.080 you inspired,

00:22:37.940 are the people

00:22:38.360 you helped,

00:22:38.980 are the people

00:22:39.580 whose world

00:22:41.880 was bettered

00:22:43.460 because of your effort.

00:22:45.340 And so,

00:22:46.300 I think that's a big part

00:22:48.760 of having a higher purpose

00:22:49.920 is making a positive difference

00:22:52.220 in your home,

00:22:54.600 in your family,

00:22:55.460 in your neighborhood,

00:22:56.240 in your community,

00:22:57.100 in your state,

00:22:57.800 in your country.

00:22:59.340 And I think each of us

00:23:00.580 is on a journey

00:23:01.200 to figure that out.

00:23:02.480 It's also worth remembering

00:23:04.180 a line from St. Paul

00:23:05.820 when we're trying

00:23:06.620 to make sense of

00:23:07.220 what do we really mean

00:23:08.060 by freedom?

00:23:08.920 St. Paul says,

00:23:10.260 the things that I want to do,

00:23:11.620 I don't do,

00:23:12.380 and the things that I don't

00:23:13.320 want to do,

00:23:13.860 I do.

00:23:14.740 Now,

00:23:15.040 is he just speaking gibberish?

00:23:16.760 What does that even mean?

00:23:17.960 Well,

00:23:18.500 what he's describing

00:23:19.580 is the difference

00:23:20.280 between his appetite,

00:23:21.860 his base desires,

00:23:23.280 and his higher rational will.

00:23:25.780 And we all know,

00:23:26.400 I mean,

00:23:26.580 the clearest example of this,

00:23:27.600 I guess,

00:23:27.760 would be a drug addict, 0.91

00:23:28.580 right,

00:23:28.800 who,

00:23:29.520 at the very base appetite level,

00:23:32.000 wants to shoot up

00:23:33.100 a bunch of drugs.

00:23:34.080 But at the higher level,

00:23:35.180 he does.

00:23:35.540 He wants to quit.

00:23:36.220 He wants to be in control

00:23:37.240 of himself

00:23:37.660 and have freedom.

00:23:38.880 You know,

00:23:39.140 the founding fathers

00:23:40.140 described this distinction

00:23:41.220 as one between liberty

00:23:42.740 and licentiousness. 0.86

00:23:44.580 And,

00:23:44.860 you know,

00:23:45.100 we all used to understand,

00:23:46.240 not just conservatives,

00:23:46.980 everybody in this country

00:23:47.900 used to understand that.

00:23:49.100 And I think recently

00:23:50.080 we've kind of redefined liberty

00:23:51.680 as this idea of just

00:23:53.020 doing whatever you want,

00:23:54.940 you know,

00:23:55.160 no matter how base that is.

00:23:57.840 And,

00:23:58.160 you know,

00:23:58.560 the founding fathers warned

00:23:59.680 that this would be

00:24:00.640 the end of liberty.

00:24:01.740 This is why

00:24:02.200 when John Adams says

00:24:03.220 that the Constitution

00:24:04.520 is built for a moral

00:24:05.520 and religious people

00:24:06.380 and it's not fit

00:24:07.080 to the government

00:24:07.560 of any other,

00:24:08.640 he's not Bible thumping.

00:24:10.440 John Adams was not

00:24:11.200 a Bible thumper. 0.91

00:24:12.160 I mean,

00:24:12.260 he's not being superstitious.

00:24:13.660 He's describing

00:24:14.540 this complex fact

00:24:16.260 of human freedom.

00:24:17.640 And,

00:24:17.880 I mean,

00:24:18.160 I think that's what

00:24:18.720 you're speaking to,

00:24:19.560 Senator,

00:24:19.820 and I suspect

00:24:20.420 that's what the question

00:24:21.400 is getting at.

00:24:22.480 That if we want

00:24:23.500 self-government,

00:24:24.400 if we want to keep

00:24:24.920 the project

00:24:25.560 of the republic going,

00:24:26.840 we need to be able

00:24:27.620 first to govern ourselves.

00:24:29.800 And in recent years,

00:24:31.220 we've had trouble

00:24:31.960 doing that.

00:24:32.740 And on the question

00:24:33.740 of licentiousness,

00:24:34.700 for what it's worth,

00:24:35.460 the brownies here

00:24:36.100 were provided

00:24:36.580 by the state of Colorado.

00:24:37.400 I think,

00:24:40.680 too,

00:24:40.900 if I may interject here,

00:24:41.820 I think,

00:24:42.120 too,

00:24:42.260 as Catholics

00:24:42.820 and as Christians,

00:24:44.100 we should recognize

00:24:45.060 that freedom

00:24:46.040 as protected

00:24:46.620 by the government

00:24:47.220 is a vehicle

00:24:48.460 for us

00:24:49.100 to make the right decision.

00:24:50.300 It allows us

00:24:51.260 as Christians

00:24:52.080 and as Catholics

00:24:52.720 to choose virtue,

00:24:54.080 to choose Christ.

00:24:55.040 It almost mirrors

00:24:55.820 the choice

00:24:56.740 that Christ gives us,

00:24:57.980 you know,

00:24:58.220 giving us free will.

00:24:59.580 We can choose him

00:25:00.240 or we can choose

00:25:00.720 to reject him.

00:25:01.780 And that's why

00:25:02.460 it's incumbent

00:25:03.040 on us as both

00:25:05.120 Catholics and Christians,

00:25:06.180 but also political activists,

00:25:07.400 to defend freedom

00:25:08.800 in as many aspects

00:25:10.160 of life as we can

00:25:11.040 because it allows us

00:25:12.200 to be,

00:25:13.080 as Christians and Catholics,

00:25:14.200 closer to God

00:25:14.840 by making those decisions.

00:25:15.980 So it's also a vehicle

00:25:17.000 that mirrors our faith,

00:25:18.300 I think.

00:25:20.040 Thank you.

00:25:28.440 Hi,

00:25:28.960 what's your name?

00:25:29.840 Hi,

00:25:30.260 I'm Jane Edwards.

00:25:32.000 So I actually have a question

00:25:34.020 regarding immigration.

00:25:35.500 I am a history major here

00:25:36.680 at Catholic University.

00:25:38.420 And my question

00:25:39.740 for the immigration

00:25:41.380 is,

00:25:41.900 for legal immigration,

00:25:42.780 because it is often

00:25:43.940 on a case-by-case basis,

00:25:46.120 will you actively seek

00:25:47.400 to fund immigration courts

00:25:48.880 and lawyers?

00:25:50.220 So it's a great question.

00:25:52.080 The answer,

00:25:53.160 at least on the court side,

00:25:54.880 is yes.

00:25:55.780 And I can tell you,

00:25:57.500 so back a couple of years ago,

00:25:59.480 you remember when

00:26:00.280 suddenly the news

00:26:01.500 was dominated

00:26:02.140 with the phrase

00:26:02.900 kids in cages.

00:26:04.160 And it was said

00:26:07.280 over and over again.

00:26:08.900 Look,

00:26:09.300 I was very concerned

00:26:10.820 then and now

00:26:12.000 about the kids in cages.

00:26:14.540 And I actually introduced

00:26:16.660 legislation to address it.

00:26:18.140 And in particular,

00:26:18.920 you had a phenomenon.

00:26:20.200 So if you go back

00:26:21.060 to the history

00:26:21.880 of where this came from,

00:26:23.060 why is it that

00:26:23.780 there are kids in cages?

00:26:24.680 The initial cages

00:26:27.460 were built

00:26:28.180 by Barack Obama.

00:26:29.320 And what happened,

00:26:30.520 if you go back to,

00:26:32.820 and my numbers are,

00:26:35.300 if you go back to,

00:26:36.260 I believe it's 2013,

00:26:38.100 the number of

00:26:39.380 unaccompanied children

00:26:40.700 that came to the U.S.

00:26:42.700 in that year

00:26:43.580 was, I believe,

00:26:45.520 6,000.

00:26:47.860 Shortly thereafter

00:26:49.000 is when Obama

00:26:49.900 announced DACA,

00:26:51.000 which was the

00:26:51.780 executive amnesty

00:26:52.960 for people who came

00:26:54.240 illegally to the country

00:26:55.940 as children.

00:26:57.380 Now, if you announce

00:26:58.400 amnesty for people

00:26:59.580 who come as kids,

00:27:01.020 you create a massive incentive

00:27:03.240 for people to come as kids.

00:27:05.320 And the very next year,

00:27:07.040 the number of

00:27:07.600 unaccompanied children

00:27:08.620 that came illegally

00:27:09.600 to this country

00:27:10.300 went from 6,000

00:27:11.740 all the way up to 93,000.

00:27:14.420 It was a massive explosion.

00:27:17.040 And so the first time

00:27:18.100 I saw the kids in cages

00:27:19.520 was in 2014.

00:27:21.460 They were in Texas.

00:27:22.540 Barack Obama was president.

00:27:23.500 And they were in

00:27:23.840 Lackland Air Force Base.

00:27:24.820 And they built them

00:27:25.600 because the numbers,

00:27:27.280 the massive numbers

00:27:28.360 were coming in

00:27:29.300 as a response

00:27:30.880 to the executive amnesty.

00:27:32.540 And actually,

00:27:33.140 the Border Patrol

00:27:35.420 interviewed the kids

00:27:36.380 and said,

00:27:36.700 why are you coming?

00:27:38.200 And the kids said

00:27:39.660 over and over again,

00:27:40.480 they said,

00:27:40.940 because we get a permiso,

00:27:42.920 which is if we come,

00:27:44.000 we get to stay.

00:27:47.900 It was very difficult

00:27:48.960 to get the press

00:27:49.880 to cover all of the kids

00:27:51.260 that were in cages then.

00:27:52.300 And kids, by the way,

00:27:53.200 that were being physically assaulted,

00:27:55.660 sexually assaulted,

00:27:57.240 the traffickers

00:27:58.340 that are bringing them in

00:27:59.220 are bad, bad guys.

00:28:01.800 Fast forward

00:28:02.480 to the Trump presidency.

00:28:03.440 Then suddenly,

00:28:04.640 the kids in cages

00:28:05.680 that were still there,

00:28:07.100 that became a major issue.

00:28:08.620 And we saw a new phenomenon,

00:28:10.440 which was family units coming over.

00:28:13.100 And so that was

00:28:13.480 a different form of migration.

00:28:15.860 And what drove that

00:28:17.160 is something called Flores.

00:28:20.200 So Flores was a lawsuit

00:28:22.680 that the Obama administration

00:28:24.380 had settled.

00:28:25.480 And it's a settlement

00:28:26.340 that they entered into

00:28:27.240 in the Ninth Circuit

00:28:28.100 that provided

00:28:29.580 a strict time limit

00:28:31.420 on how long

00:28:33.480 a child could be kept

00:28:34.820 in detention

00:28:35.320 if they came illegally.

00:28:36.800 And the Obama administration

00:28:38.200 agreed to it.

00:28:38.960 It was entered into

00:28:39.580 as a consent decree

00:28:40.620 by the federal court.

00:28:42.380 Under Flores,

00:28:43.140 what it then became the case

00:28:44.940 was that if an adult

00:28:47.800 came with a child,

00:28:49.720 all of them would be released

00:28:51.660 within the time limits

00:28:52.940 of Flores.

00:28:54.100 And so it would force them

00:28:55.520 all to be released.

00:28:56.640 And we started to see

00:28:57.440 a phenomenon

00:28:57.980 that was a terrible phenomenon

00:29:00.440 where adults

00:29:02.960 were showing up with kids

00:29:04.320 that were not their kids.

00:29:05.480 So they would present

00:29:06.480 as a family unit.

00:29:08.060 And Border Patrol

00:29:09.020 would do a DNA test

00:29:10.380 and a very significant

00:29:11.380 percentage of them

00:29:12.220 were completely

00:29:13.020 unrelated to the kids.

00:29:14.520 And in fact,

00:29:15.040 we were seeing

00:29:15.800 a horrific phenomenon

00:29:17.760 of children

00:29:19.340 being rented out.

00:29:20.640 That if you were

00:29:21.220 a single adult man

00:29:22.400 who wanted to come

00:29:23.700 to the United States,

00:29:24.640 if you brought a kid,

00:29:26.700 that kid was a

00:29:27.860 get-out-of-jail-free card.

00:29:29.880 Well, in light of all of that,

00:29:31.500 I introduced legislation

00:29:32.520 and I tried to team up

00:29:33.720 with the Democrats.

00:29:34.440 So I spent,

00:29:35.940 oh, probably 20 hours

00:29:37.640 negotiating with

00:29:38.600 Dianne Feinstein

00:29:39.380 and trying to say,

00:29:40.740 Dianne,

00:29:41.040 let's not have

00:29:43.860 family separation.

00:29:45.040 I agree emphatically

00:29:46.040 families should stay together.

00:29:47.720 That if you have

00:29:48.660 a mom and dad and kids,

00:29:50.360 they should all stay together.

00:29:51.640 No one wants to see

00:29:52.460 the kids separated

00:29:53.140 from the family.

00:29:54.280 But the answer

00:29:55.520 can't be

00:29:56.360 so release everybody

00:29:57.480 because that

00:29:58.240 creates much more

00:29:59.740 illegal immigration.

00:30:00.700 So the bill I introduced

00:30:01.900 kept families together.

00:30:04.280 it created

00:30:07.080 safe, secure

00:30:08.300 family detention facilities

00:30:09.900 where you would

00:30:10.860 keep a family

00:30:11.840 all together.

00:30:12.780 And then it funded,

00:30:14.540 if I remember correctly,

00:30:15.740 I think it was

00:30:16.120 500 new immigration judges

00:30:18.380 to provide

00:30:19.560 for expedited hearings

00:30:21.240 so that if you have

00:30:22.300 a family presenting

00:30:23.640 a claim of asylum,

00:30:24.840 presenting a credible

00:30:26.080 fear of persecution,

00:30:27.440 that you would have

00:30:28.900 the courts right there

00:30:30.060 to adjudicate it

00:30:30.960 right then,

00:30:31.900 get a swift answer.

00:30:32.920 And if they meet

00:30:33.500 the legal standard,

00:30:34.400 they stay.

00:30:35.200 And if they don't

00:30:35.820 meet the legal standard,

00:30:36.820 you put them on a plane

00:30:37.600 and send them home.

00:30:38.840 And so I filed this legislation.

00:30:40.420 You can read the bill.

00:30:43.580 You know,

00:30:44.080 it was interesting

00:30:44.580 negotiating with Diane.

00:30:47.540 When she and I would talk,

00:30:49.240 we actually had

00:30:49.960 quite a bit of agreement.

00:30:51.620 And she was,

00:30:52.580 when we'd talk about

00:30:53.500 what was happening

00:30:54.240 at the border

00:30:54.820 and she was disturbed by it,

00:30:57.540 you know,

00:30:57.760 I have to say

00:30:58.660 her staff,

00:31:00.200 I think,

00:31:01.420 was far to the left

00:31:02.560 of where she was.

00:31:04.280 And actually,

00:31:05.060 Democratic leadership,

00:31:06.200 they sent Dick Durbin

00:31:07.300 to basically monitor Diane

00:31:09.720 because they didn't want her

00:31:10.620 to agree to anything with me.

00:31:12.720 We ended up

00:31:13.460 not being able

00:31:14.040 to get bipartisan agreement.

00:31:15.500 So I filed my bill,

00:31:16.960 but no Democrats

00:31:18.140 joined together.

00:31:18.860 I said,

00:31:19.140 look,

00:31:19.320 we can end family separation

00:31:20.880 right here

00:31:22.200 and we can also fund

00:31:23.760 the immigration courts

00:31:25.180 to resolve these claims.

00:31:27.840 There was no Democratic

00:31:29.160 appetite to do that.

00:31:33.000 Thank you.

00:31:37.620 All right.

00:31:38.380 For those watching online,

00:31:40.640 those watching the event

00:31:41.600 live streaming on YouTube,

00:31:42.620 make sure you subscribe

00:31:43.420 to the Young America's Foundation

00:31:44.720 YouTube page

00:31:45.960 and ring that bell.

00:31:47.240 I'm talking to you,

00:31:48.200 those who are watching

00:31:49.100 online right now.

00:31:50.280 Before we get to your question,

00:31:51.460 I do want to take another question

00:31:52.520 from Verdict Plus.

00:31:53.600 This is a little bit

00:31:54.020 of a saucy question

00:31:54.980 about big tech

00:31:55.740 and I'm very interested

00:31:56.760 to hear your answer, actually.

00:31:58.560 And this is the username

00:31:59.900 of this individual

00:32:00.540 I thought was very funny, too.

00:32:01.740 It's Real Truth Cactus.

00:32:03.560 Ah, yes.

00:32:04.080 We love the Real Truth Cactus.

00:32:05.420 Real Truth Cactus.

00:32:06.880 He asks,

00:32:08.060 is it a she?

00:32:08.540 She, it's a she. 1.00

00:32:09.640 She's the lady truth cactus, yeah. 1.00

00:32:11.260 Oh, well, my apologies, of course.

00:32:13.320 This is what she asks,

00:32:14.440 is it a coincidence

00:32:15.340 that Facebook shut down

00:32:17.040 the same day

00:32:17.560 that Francis Haugen,

00:32:18.420 that's the Facebook whistleblower

00:32:19.800 that testified in Congress,

00:32:21.320 blew the whistle on them

00:32:22.240 or am I just crazy?

00:32:23.300 You know, I have to admit,

00:32:27.100 I thought the same thing

00:32:29.200 and that day tweeted out

00:32:32.200 a GIF of Facebook headquarters

00:32:36.040 running through the hallways

00:32:37.340 going, shred it all! 0.73

00:32:38.700 Shred it all! 0.62

00:32:40.640 You know, I don't know,

00:32:41.900 but it was,

00:32:42.660 it sure was an interesting

00:32:43.760 coinkydink. 0.97

00:32:44.720 You know, if the last few years

00:32:46.280 have taught us anything,

00:32:47.120 I think it's that

00:32:47.880 the difference between

00:32:49.120 a wild, crazy conspiracy theory

00:32:51.060 and the truth

00:32:51.860 is about 6 to 12 months,

00:32:53.840 you know, that would be

00:32:54.580 the big distinction, so.

00:32:56.100 Well, here's my follow-up question.

00:32:58.400 That whistleblower.

00:32:58.740 But I have it on good authority.

00:33:00.040 It came from Russia

00:33:00.640 to begin with.

00:33:02.660 Here's my follow-up question.

00:33:03.280 That's a joke.

00:33:03.900 For the internet censors,

00:33:05.140 that's a joke.

00:33:06.300 I didn't get it on good authority.

00:33:07.940 I got it from

00:33:08.440 the Hillary Clinton campaign.

00:33:17.240 YouTube can't stand

00:33:18.640 when we call them out

00:33:19.360 for subscriptions,

00:33:19.960 so we got to balance

00:33:20.820 that out a little bit.

00:33:21.920 Let's get to your question.

00:33:23.020 What's your name?

00:33:24.420 Hi, my name's Allie Trust.

00:33:26.240 I'm a double major here

00:33:27.760 in philosophy, pre-law, and history.

00:33:30.080 Wow.

00:33:30.780 I have, thank you,

00:33:32.360 I have a question

00:33:33.680 about immigration

00:33:34.500 regarding the humanitarian crisis

00:33:36.400 at the border.

00:33:37.160 Yeah.

00:33:37.600 What are you,

00:33:38.700 or what would you do

00:33:39.920 regarding all the abuse

00:33:42.060 and sexual assault

00:33:42.920 going on at the border

00:33:43.740 right now

00:33:44.180 with those kids in cages?

00:33:45.940 Yeah, look, it's,

00:33:47.180 what is happening now,

00:33:50.800 I've been to the border

00:33:52.620 a lot of times.

00:33:53.740 I've represented Texas

00:33:55.140 nine years in the Senate,

00:33:56.160 going down to the border,

00:33:57.240 something I do frequently.

00:33:58.680 I've never seen it

00:33:59.580 remotely this bad.

00:34:01.120 And it's worth noting,

00:34:03.640 you know,

00:34:03.820 when you ask,

00:34:04.420 what can we do about it,

00:34:05.460 sometimes when,

00:34:06.520 when the press

00:34:07.280 asks that question,

00:34:08.400 what they mean is

00:34:09.580 there's no way to solve it.

00:34:10.620 I'm not suggesting

00:34:11.220 that's what you,

00:34:11.720 you mean by it,

00:34:12.600 but it's what the press

00:34:13.380 means when they ask it.

00:34:15.560 And we know that's

00:34:16.520 actually not true

00:34:17.380 because last year

00:34:19.060 we had the lowest rate

00:34:20.580 of illegal immigration

00:34:21.380 in 45 years.

00:34:22.880 So what we were doing

00:34:24.280 a year ago was working.

00:34:27.100 What were we doing

00:34:28.160 a year ago?

00:34:28.760 Well, the best way

00:34:29.460 to understand

00:34:30.040 how we got into

00:34:30.720 this crisis now

00:34:31.600 is the first week

00:34:34.680 Joe Biden was in office,

00:34:36.520 he made three decisions

00:34:37.580 on immigration

00:34:38.240 that had massive consequences.

00:34:40.600 First thing he did

00:34:41.540 is he immediately halted

00:34:42.640 construction of the wall.

00:34:44.400 And so if you go down

00:34:45.060 to the wall,

00:34:45.780 there are portions of it

00:34:46.840 that are built,

00:34:48.020 that are big,

00:34:48.840 beautiful wall,

00:34:49.580 as someone might say.

00:34:52.460 And then on January 20th,

00:34:54.500 they literally dropped

00:34:55.540 their tools.

00:34:56.340 You see rebar

00:34:57.160 that's just rusting

00:34:58.120 down on the ground.

00:34:59.440 You see bulldozers

00:35:01.380 that are just parked

00:35:02.280 and they,

00:35:02.920 we are paying contractors

00:35:04.600 millions of dollars

00:35:05.580 not to build the wall.

00:35:07.580 That was step number one.

00:35:09.080 Step number two

00:35:10.040 is the Biden administration

00:35:11.440 reinstated catch and release.

00:35:14.420 Catch and release

00:35:15.100 was the policy

00:35:16.220 where you apprehend someone,

00:35:17.560 you give them a court date

00:35:18.400 sometime in the future,

00:35:19.620 you let them go,

00:35:20.560 say, hey,

00:35:20.920 please show up at court.

00:35:22.120 The vast majority of them

00:35:23.360 are never seen again.

00:35:25.160 Catch and release

00:35:25.720 doesn't work.

00:35:26.400 If you want a secure border,

00:35:27.860 you can't have catch and release.

00:35:30.080 The third decision,

00:35:31.580 and this was probably

00:35:32.240 the most significant,

00:35:33.940 was that Joe Biden

00:35:35.840 ended the remain

00:35:37.060 in Mexico policy.

00:35:38.220 Now, remain in Mexico 0.99

00:35:40.340 was an agreement

00:35:41.960 that President Trump

00:35:43.160 negotiated

00:35:43.760 with the government

00:35:44.300 of Mexico.

00:35:45.620 And Mexico agreed 0.97

00:35:46.920 that people crossing

00:35:48.300 illegally into the United,

00:35:49.620 into Mexico,

00:35:51.160 typically from Central

00:35:52.320 or South America,

00:35:54.020 would remain in Mexico

00:35:55.620 while the U.S.

00:35:56.980 asylum cases

00:35:57.780 were proceeding.

00:36:00.360 Remain in Mexico 1.00

00:36:01.400 proved to be

00:36:02.340 an incredible success.

00:36:04.720 And it's what produced,

00:36:05.760 I mentioned a moment ago,

00:36:07.060 we had the lowest rate

00:36:09.060 of illegal immigration

00:36:10.100 last year in 45 years

00:36:12.260 because of remain in Mexico.

00:36:14.100 Our government

00:36:15.040 working cooperatively

00:36:16.160 with the government

00:36:16.820 of Mexico.

00:36:18.140 On day one,

00:36:19.140 Biden tore that

00:36:19.900 into pieces.

00:36:21.960 And we have today

00:36:23.340 the highest rate

00:36:24.380 of illegal immigration

00:36:25.320 in 21 years.

00:36:27.980 And let me take a minute

00:36:28.860 to talk about,

00:36:30.020 so,

00:36:31.100 what is happening,

00:36:33.660 you know,

00:36:34.860 a few weeks ago,

00:36:35.720 I was down in South Texas

00:36:36.820 did a bunch of roundtables

00:36:38.040 and sat down

00:36:38.920 with law enforcement

00:36:39.780 and sheriffs

00:36:40.400 and ranch owners

00:36:41.780 and farmers

00:36:42.540 and local elected officials.

00:36:45.980 So the ranchers,

00:36:47.060 I remember there were

00:36:47.620 two different ranchers,

00:36:49.180 both women,

00:36:49.720 who described

00:36:50.260 almost the exact same thing.

00:36:51.600 They said,

00:36:52.360 they don't allow

00:36:54.260 their teenage kids

00:36:55.520 to go out on their property

00:36:57.300 without an armed firearm.

00:36:59.340 That there are just

00:36:59.900 so many traffickers

00:37:01.080 crossing their property

00:37:02.400 on a daily basis

00:37:03.960 that it's not safe

00:37:05.020 for their kids

00:37:05.520 to be out there.

00:37:06.280 And they were mad.

00:37:07.420 They were ticked off.

00:37:09.520 You know,

00:37:09.820 how is my country

00:37:11.400 not allowing

00:37:13.120 these criminal cartels

00:37:15.840 just to ignore

00:37:17.080 the law with impunity?

00:37:19.540 We also heard

00:37:20.920 from law enforcement

00:37:22.420 who described

00:37:23.240 so many of the illegal immigrants 1.00

00:37:24.980 who come across,

00:37:26.380 they're wearing

00:37:27.120 a colored wristband.

00:37:29.040 And the color corresponds.

00:37:31.880 So to cross the border,

00:37:33.020 you have to pay the cartels.

00:37:35.000 You can't,

00:37:35.580 if you're in Mexico,

00:37:36.420 you want to cross in the U.S., 0.85

00:37:37.640 if you try to swim

00:37:38.760 on your own, 0.99

00:37:39.320 they'll kill you. 1.00

00:37:41.600 The cartels 0.99

00:37:42.680 have a total monopoly

00:37:43.800 and you pay them

00:37:45.300 anywhere between

00:37:46.060 three and $8,000.

00:37:48.360 And what happens

00:37:49.440 when people come across

00:37:50.480 is typically

00:37:51.020 they get put

00:37:51.900 in stash houses

00:37:52.940 just north of the river.

00:37:54.720 The stash houses

00:37:55.500 are really violent,

00:37:57.280 dangerous places.

00:37:58.060 There are a lot

00:37:59.620 of physical assaults there.

00:38:01.000 There are a lot of rapes

00:38:01.840 that happen

00:38:02.300 in these stash houses.

00:38:04.080 And often,

00:38:05.180 they will extort

00:38:05.860 thousands more

00:38:06.760 once you're there.

00:38:08.340 And so the color-coded

00:38:09.320 wristbands

00:38:10.100 correspond to

00:38:11.540 how many thousands

00:38:12.220 of dollars you paid

00:38:13.300 and how many you owe.

00:38:15.440 Now, what happens next?

00:38:17.520 Many of these folks

00:38:18.540 then go turn themselves in

00:38:20.240 to the Border Patrol

00:38:21.800 and the Biden administration

00:38:23.140 sends them to cities

00:38:25.140 throughout the country.

00:38:26.100 So you may think,

00:38:27.620 you know,

00:38:27.880 maybe you're from

00:38:28.880 New York

00:38:29.560 or L.A.

00:38:30.260 or Chicago

00:38:30.900 or maybe you're from D.C.

00:38:32.540 You may think,

00:38:33.180 well, gosh,

00:38:33.560 I'm not on the border.

00:38:34.440 This is not a problem

00:38:35.380 that impacts me.

00:38:37.140 Well,

00:38:37.660 there are hundreds

00:38:38.760 of thousands

00:38:39.460 of illegal immigrants 0.94

00:38:40.380 that the Biden administration

00:38:41.360 is sending

00:38:42.040 to every city

00:38:43.140 across the country.

00:38:44.540 And you get,

00:38:45.480 for example,

00:38:46.200 teenage boys

00:38:46.960 that arrive here in D.C.

00:38:49.220 who owe the cartel

00:38:50.460 several thousands of dollars.

00:38:52.520 And so they're working

00:38:53.700 for the cartels

00:38:54.520 and they have to pay it off.

00:38:55.900 Remember,

00:38:56.100 the cartels,

00:38:56.940 they know

00:38:57.240 who their families are.

00:38:58.920 And so if you're

00:38:59.760 a teenage boy

00:39:00.960 and you owe $4,000,

00:39:03.080 if you don't pay that off, 1.00

00:39:04.860 they will kill your mother. 1.00

00:39:06.480 They'll kill your sister. 1.00

00:39:08.540 And so you now have 1.00

00:39:09.860 all of these,

00:39:11.500 many of them

00:39:12.240 are teenagers

00:39:12.900 working for the drug cartels

00:39:15.420 in every city

00:39:17.340 across the country.

00:39:19.100 You also tragically have,

00:39:21.100 particularly with teenage girls,

00:39:22.500 many of them

00:39:24.020 are put into

00:39:24.580 forced prostitution. 0.66

00:39:26.920 And it is horrific.

00:39:29.920 So the prostitution houses 1.00

00:39:31.800 that the cartels

00:39:32.660 have set up

00:39:33.260 are like an old plantation.

00:39:36.300 They keep a ledger

00:39:37.740 of every expense.

00:39:38.780 So they charge you

00:39:39.840 for your room.

00:39:41.080 They charge you

00:39:41.640 for your board.

00:39:42.480 They charge you

00:39:43.120 for utilities.

00:39:44.440 They charge you

00:39:45.440 for every different.

00:39:46.480 In fact,

00:39:46.640 I was told

00:39:47.840 the cost

00:39:48.680 for the scissors

00:39:49.800 to cut

00:39:51.540 the ankle monitor

00:39:53.520 bracelet off your ankle

00:39:54.880 was $30.

00:39:56.420 They charge you

00:39:57.040 $30 to cut

00:39:57.940 the bracelet off.

00:39:59.440 And so if you can imagine

00:40:00.720 a 15-year-old girl

00:40:02.880 from Honduras

00:40:04.500 or Nicaragua

00:40:05.400 or Guatemala

00:40:05.960 who came north

00:40:08.800 because she wanted

00:40:09.360 to come to the promised land.

00:40:10.520 She wanted to live free.

00:40:12.120 She was inspired

00:40:13.020 by America.

00:40:15.160 And a few months later,

00:40:16.460 she is living

00:40:17.600 in hell 0.99

00:40:19.100 in forced prostitution 0.99

00:40:22.040 in an establishment

00:40:24.660 run by the drug cartels.

00:40:27.660 This is horrific.

00:40:29.820 And it's one of the things

00:40:30.900 that frustrates me

00:40:32.180 politically

00:40:33.340 when we talk about it

00:40:34.580 is that the defenders

00:40:35.460 of this policy

00:40:36.460 say they're being

00:40:37.380 humane

00:40:38.340 and compassionate.

00:40:40.060 There's nothing humane

00:40:41.660 about what is happening

00:40:42.600 to these people.

00:40:44.280 I think the answer

00:40:45.440 to fix it

00:40:46.100 is reverse

00:40:46.620 the three decisions

00:40:47.580 Joe Biden made

00:40:48.800 which is return

00:40:49.960 to building the border wall,

00:40:51.380 end catch and release,

00:40:53.100 and reinstate

00:40:53.900 the remain in Mexico policy.

00:40:55.880 And we know that worked

00:40:57.160 because it worked

00:40:57.860 last year

00:40:58.540 dramatically well.

00:41:00.460 But right now,

00:41:01.260 at least Joe Biden

00:41:01.960 and Kamala Harris

00:41:02.540 don't want to do it.

00:41:03.240 There was an incredible statistic.

00:41:04.620 It came out a few years ago.

00:41:06.000 It was actually reported

00:41:06.900 in the Huffington Post,

00:41:08.300 left-wing outlet.

00:41:09.540 It was relying on data

00:41:10.540 from Fusion

00:41:11.100 and Amnesty International

00:41:12.340 that 60 to 80 percent

00:41:13.900 of women and girls

00:41:14.820 who cross the border illegally 0.56

00:41:16.080 are raped 0.96

00:41:16.960 or otherwise sexually assaulted 0.89

00:41:18.580 on the journey.

00:41:19.860 Senator,

00:41:20.440 to your point,

00:41:21.920 there are politicians

00:41:23.400 in this country,

00:41:24.400 and I'm not going

00:41:25.180 to both sides it,

00:41:26.040 it's politicians

00:41:26.800 on the left,

00:41:27.980 overwhelmingly on the left,

00:41:29.540 who are incentivizing people

00:41:31.260 to do this

00:41:31.900 and incentivizing

00:41:32.900 this perilous,

00:41:33.680 violent journey

00:41:34.260 because they think

00:41:34.980 they can score

00:41:35.520 some votes out of it

00:41:36.460 and in some cases

00:41:37.720 cheap labor,

00:41:38.440 but mostly it's votes.

00:41:39.720 And if you are doing that,

00:41:40.800 if you are opposing

00:41:41.920 a border wall,

00:41:42.660 if you are opposing

00:41:43.420 border enforcement,

00:41:44.580 if you are doing

00:41:45.100 all the things

00:41:45.660 that the left is doing

00:41:46.420 in this country,

00:41:47.120 as far as I'm concerned,

00:41:48.200 you've got blood

00:41:48.780 on your hands.

00:41:49.660 And it's not going

00:41:50.580 to be solved

00:41:51.040 as a both sides question.

00:41:52.700 It's the left

00:41:53.300 needs to grow a conscience

00:41:54.360 and look at the numbers

00:41:55.660 and look at the reality

00:41:56.680 of what's happening

00:41:57.420 and cut it out.

00:41:59.440 Yeah, and Michael,

00:42:00.120 I think too,

00:42:01.040 it's especially pertinent

00:42:01.940 being at Catholic University

00:42:03.180 that sometimes the leadership

00:42:05.280 in the church

00:42:05.900 misunderstands

00:42:07.300 the church doctrine

00:42:08.180 on compassion

00:42:09.240 and on humanitarianism

00:42:10.320 and teaches instead

00:42:11.720 social justice

00:42:12.520 because we know

00:42:13.180 biblically we're taught

00:42:14.300 to welcome the traveler

00:42:15.060 and welcome the stranger

00:42:15.920 and that the church,

00:42:17.560 sometimes the leadership

00:42:18.660 of the church

00:42:19.120 teaches that this is equal

00:42:20.840 to an open borders policy.

00:42:22.880 Speak to why

00:42:23.420 this is not correct.

00:42:24.560 Well, you have a right

00:42:25.520 to a country.

00:42:26.940 There's nothing

00:42:27.640 in Catholic doctrine

00:42:29.100 saying that you don't

00:42:30.600 have a right

00:42:31.060 to have your own country

00:42:32.120 or that patriotism is wrong

00:42:33.880 or that enforcing

00:42:34.600 the law is wrong.

00:42:35.420 Actually, the civil authority

00:42:36.840 is instituted with

00:42:38.080 the authority of God

00:42:39.260 and St. Paul writes about this.

00:42:41.000 You see this throughout the Bible

00:42:42.520 and the love of country

00:42:44.680 is an extension

00:42:45.300 of the love of one's own family.

00:42:46.780 It's perfectly natural

00:42:47.700 and it's perfectly right.

00:42:49.580 So we want to be very kind

00:42:51.300 and very welcoming

00:42:52.000 and we do all of these things.

00:42:53.200 We do it in private charity

00:42:54.120 and we do it

00:42:54.580 at the national level too

00:42:55.840 but this does not mean

00:42:57.060 tearing down borders.

00:42:58.720 That actually can have

00:42:59.620 a very negative consequence

00:43:01.440 because by the way,

00:43:02.320 if you erase the borders

00:43:03.500 of this country,

00:43:04.500 you are erasing

00:43:05.280 the national identity itself

00:43:06.600 and then where is it exactly

00:43:08.420 that the people

00:43:09.040 are fleeing to?

00:43:10.120 It's an incoherent action.

00:43:11.740 Well, and Liz,

00:43:12.300 I think you raise

00:43:13.260 a good question

00:43:13.900 and I'd say a couple

00:43:15.000 of things on that point.

00:43:16.680 Number one,

00:43:17.320 I will say that charities

00:43:19.840 and churches,

00:43:20.660 but in particular

00:43:21.240 Catholic charities

00:43:22.140 in South Texas

00:43:23.000 does an incredible job

00:43:25.060 caring for these children,

00:43:26.980 caring for these women

00:43:27.980 who are abused.

00:43:29.860 There is in the Rio Grande Valley

00:43:31.520 Sister Norma

00:43:32.640 who leads that effort

00:43:34.060 and I know Hershey is there

00:43:35.460 constantly.

00:43:36.220 She works tirelessly

00:43:37.400 and, you know,

00:43:38.620 these children

00:43:39.280 who are going through

00:43:40.580 unspeakable horrors,

00:43:44.220 it's not the kids' fault

00:43:45.620 and we should certainly

00:43:47.480 show these children

00:43:49.280 and these people

00:43:50.080 love and compassion,

00:43:51.860 but the real love

00:43:53.120 and compassion

00:43:53.820 would be not to create

00:43:55.280 a legal system

00:43:56.600 that incentivizes

00:43:58.700 hundreds of thousands

00:44:00.140 or millions of people

00:44:02.140 to be brutalized

00:44:03.600 by these cartels

00:44:04.580 and, you know,

00:44:07.000 it is absolutely true

00:44:08.840 that the Catholic Church

00:44:12.520 and the Bible teach

00:44:15.700 to welcome the traveler,

00:44:17.060 but often what is missed,

00:44:19.640 there is no country

00:44:20.800 on the face of the planet

00:44:22.420 that welcomes more immigrants

00:44:25.540 than the United States

00:44:26.440 of America.

00:44:27.080 We are the most generous

00:44:28.300 and welcoming country

00:44:30.260 in the history

00:44:31.200 of the world

00:44:31.700 and, in fact,

00:44:32.960 the countries

00:44:33.640 that lecture us

00:44:35.420 on how dare you

00:44:37.620 secure your borders,

00:44:39.760 they don't let people in.

00:44:41.700 I mean, 0.93

00:44:42.320 it's utter and complete hypocrisy. 0.86

00:44:45.320 We're a country built by, 0.94

00:44:46.960 look,

00:44:47.140 my dad came as an immigrant

00:44:48.340 from Cuba.

00:44:48.960 I love that we are

00:44:51.100 a melting pot

00:44:52.240 and we are built

00:44:54.220 by people seeking freedom.

00:44:55.580 We should keep that,

00:44:57.340 but simply having

00:44:59.740 a lawless system

00:45:01.260 where innocent people

00:45:03.540 are abused

00:45:04.400 by vicious criminal cartels,

00:45:06.980 that's not compassionate.

00:45:09.140 That is being willfully blind

00:45:11.240 to the horrific crimes

00:45:13.060 that are being carried out

00:45:14.280 as a result

00:45:15.340 of failed government policies.

00:45:18.040 Yep,

00:45:18.320 I think that's correct

00:45:19.880 and it's the right thing

00:45:22.080 to note

00:45:24.180 which side of the aisle

00:45:25.180 those policies

00:45:25.800 are being carried out.

00:45:26.740 Thank you for your question.

00:45:28.780 All right,

00:45:29.080 while we're teeing up

00:45:29.860 the next question,

00:45:33.140 that card that I mentioned before

00:45:34.220 that's on your seat

00:45:34.840 that has that promo code,

00:45:36.040 make sure to visit

00:45:36.620 verdictwithtedcruise.com

00:45:38.540 slash shop.

00:45:39.840 You can see this hat

00:45:40.720 that's sitting very comfortably

00:45:42.340 back here on the cactus.

00:45:43.680 We have some pretty cool

00:45:45.020 cactus merch

00:45:45.840 that's now up for sale.

00:45:47.400 You can get 10% off that merch

00:45:48.620 by using that promo code live

00:45:50.520 if you go to verdictwithtedcruise.com

00:45:52.200 slash shop.

00:45:52.820 Liz, I gotta say

00:45:53.340 that's very Escher-esque

00:45:54.720 of the cactus

00:45:55.420 wearing a hat

00:45:56.080 with a cactus on it.

00:45:57.100 It just sort of

00:45:57.620 is folding in upon itself.

00:45:59.860 And I don't know

00:46:00.280 if I was supposed

00:46:00.720 to mention tonight

00:46:01.420 that the cactus

00:46:02.360 beat both of your faces

00:46:03.540 onto the merch. 0.78

00:46:04.080 I'm not surprised.

00:46:05.420 I'm not surprised.

00:46:06.280 We have a face for podcast

00:46:07.280 but the cactus

00:46:08.260 is the real star of the show.

00:46:09.460 Yeah,

00:46:09.580 that's exactly right.

00:46:10.920 All right,

00:46:11.380 are you ready with your question?

00:46:12.200 Yes.

00:46:12.580 Introduce yourself, please.

00:46:13.600 Howdy,

00:46:13.920 I'm Sam.

00:46:14.640 I'm a working professional

00:46:15.480 but Senator Cruz,

00:46:16.340 I was actually one of your interns

00:46:17.680 back in college

00:46:18.780 down in Houston.

00:46:19.620 I see Grant over there.

00:46:21.040 So, hey Grant.

00:46:22.020 I don't know

00:46:22.520 if he remembers me

00:46:23.180 but hey.

00:46:25.240 And, you know,

00:46:26.000 Michael and Liz

00:46:26.760 obviously we're both,

00:46:27.980 all of us are part

00:46:28.660 of the mystical body of Christ

00:46:29.540 so I feel like

00:46:29.960 I already know

00:46:30.400 you guys already.

00:46:31.080 That's where I knew you from.

00:46:32.140 I knew I knew you

00:46:32.940 from somewhere.

00:46:36.160 So,

00:46:36.840 my question

00:46:38.060 is to both Michael

00:46:40.020 and Senator Cruz

00:46:41.320 and Liz as well

00:46:42.340 if you'd like.

00:46:43.800 Surrounding the definition

00:46:44.740 of liberty,

00:46:45.340 liberty is a word

00:46:46.080 that's kind of used

00:46:46.680 as a buzzword

00:46:47.280 on the right

00:46:47.700 but is also used

00:46:48.720 by many on the right

00:46:49.500 to justify

00:46:50.180 and perhaps

00:46:50.780 even passively

00:46:51.860 allow the cultivation

00:46:52.800 of very vicious acts.

00:46:55.340 So,

00:46:55.680 I was wondering

00:46:56.060 if Michael

00:46:56.660 and Senator Cruz

00:46:57.560 if you could both

00:46:58.140 give your own definition

00:46:59.240 of the word liberty

00:47:00.080 and maybe compare

00:47:01.520 and contrast

00:47:02.020 because something tells me

00:47:02.800 you might not perfectly

00:47:03.680 agree on the definition.

00:47:05.280 Sure.

00:47:05.640 I'll borrow my definition

00:47:07.340 of liberty

00:47:07.880 from Lord Acton.

00:47:09.620 Winston Churchill

00:47:10.360 famously said

00:47:11.160 that if you don't

00:47:11.820 have a good education

00:47:12.600 you should just quote

00:47:13.460 really smart people.

00:47:14.980 So,

00:47:15.580 I'll quote Acton.

00:47:16.480 I quote Michael Knowles.

00:47:17.580 All the time.

00:47:19.720 So,

00:47:20.320 Lord Acton points out

00:47:21.400 that liberty

00:47:22.060 is not the ability

00:47:22.980 to do whatever

00:47:23.740 you want to do

00:47:24.700 but rather the right

00:47:25.720 to do what you ought to do

00:47:27.280 and we touched on this

00:47:28.940 a little bit earlier

00:47:29.560 when we talked about

00:47:30.300 how liberty

00:47:30.800 and licentiousness

00:47:31.660 are not the same thing

00:47:32.500 about how the rational

00:47:33.740 will exists

00:47:34.560 to mediate between

00:47:35.640 the appetite,

00:47:36.480 the base passion

00:47:37.040 and the divine will

00:47:38.100 and it's what separates

00:47:39.400 us from the beasts.

00:47:41.060 So,

00:47:42.100 I guess the example

00:47:43.040 I would use

00:47:43.500 to bring all of that

00:47:44.340 down to earth

00:47:45.060 is education.

00:47:47.140 The point of education

00:47:48.460 is to make us free.

00:47:50.940 Right?

00:47:51.120 That's why we call it

00:47:51.960 liberal education.

00:47:52.820 We call it the liberal arts.

00:47:54.100 So,

00:47:54.340 the whole point of it

00:47:54.900 is to make us free

00:47:55.820 and when you are free

00:47:57.020 you are not being coerced.

00:47:59.160 Right?

00:47:59.380 That's,

00:47:59.820 I think that's

00:48:00.720 probably the basic thing

00:48:01.880 we would all say

00:48:02.440 about freedom.

00:48:03.460 But the irony here

00:48:04.780 or the

00:48:05.600 the complication

00:48:07.220 is that

00:48:08.420 in order to attain

00:48:09.560 this freedom

00:48:10.100 you need to be coerced

00:48:11.760 by your teachers,

00:48:13.280 by the exams,

00:48:14.340 by the grades.

00:48:15.660 I mean,

00:48:15.880 you're coerced

00:48:16.820 for 12 years,

00:48:18.560 13,

00:48:19.180 I don't know,

00:48:19.540 15,

00:48:19.980 depends on how much

00:48:20.720 schooling you're

00:48:21.220 going to go through.

00:48:21.900 By the time

00:48:22.520 that this administration

00:48:23.180 is over

00:48:23.760 with free college

00:48:24.460 and pre-K

00:48:24.900 it's going to be

00:48:25.300 35 years.

00:48:26.180 So,

00:48:26.480 it's a lot of coercion.

00:48:27.920 But,

00:48:28.120 but it does serve

00:48:28.980 a purpose.

00:48:29.940 You do actually

00:48:30.920 have to train

00:48:31.840 your will

00:48:32.880 and this is

00:48:34.800 a difficult process

00:48:36.260 and when people

00:48:38.100 are in college

00:48:38.740 sometimes they make

00:48:39.540 some mistakes,

00:48:40.320 they let their appetites

00:48:41.260 run away with them,

00:48:42.140 it's not so good.

00:48:43.400 George W. Bush

00:48:44.280 famously said,

00:48:45.020 when I was young

00:48:45.440 and irresponsible

00:48:46.020 I was young

00:48:46.500 and irresponsible.

00:48:47.400 But the idea

00:48:48.020 is you want to mature

00:48:49.100 and grow up.

00:48:50.340 And so,

00:48:50.920 I think we have

00:48:51.780 this mistaken

00:48:53.060 conception of liberty

00:48:53.980 that really comes

00:48:54.820 from Freud.

00:48:55.800 We have this kind

00:48:56.660 of steam engine

00:48:57.420 idea of liberty

00:48:58.400 which is that

00:48:59.600 I've got all

00:49:00.940 of these appetites

00:49:01.680 and desires

00:49:02.160 and if I don't

00:49:03.660 engage in them,

00:49:04.580 even the base ones,

00:49:05.580 even the naughty ones

00:49:06.600 that I'm not supposed

00:49:07.120 to do,

00:49:07.660 if I don't let off

00:49:08.700 a little steam

00:49:09.320 every once in a while

00:49:10.240 then I'm just

00:49:10.920 going to explode.

00:49:11.840 This is different

00:49:12.740 from say Aristotle's

00:49:14.200 understanding of behavior

00:49:15.700 of vice and virtue

00:49:16.680 and the Catholic

00:49:18.180 understanding

00:49:18.740 and my own understanding

00:49:19.600 which is that

00:49:20.280 when you practice

00:49:22.480 the virtues

00:49:23.000 which are habits

00:49:24.120 they get a little

00:49:25.440 bit easier.

00:49:26.220 This is a fallen world,

00:49:27.320 we're all sinful,

00:49:28.180 we're going to stumble,

00:49:29.140 we're probably not going

00:49:30.300 to act perfectly

00:49:31.020 in this world.

00:49:31.720 In fact,

00:49:32.000 I know that we're not.

00:49:33.260 But it is going

00:49:33.960 to become easier

00:49:34.900 the more you practice

00:49:35.920 these virtues.

00:49:36.880 And the same is true 0.99

00:49:37.520 of the vices

00:49:38.040 and I say this

00:49:39.000 with a great deal

00:49:39.480 of experience.

00:49:40.460 When you practice

00:49:41.500 the vices,

00:49:42.480 it's kind of hard

00:49:43.240 to do it the first

00:49:44.000 couple of times

00:49:44.700 and then it's easier

00:49:45.300 and easier

00:49:45.660 and then it's harder

00:49:46.560 to stop.

00:49:47.160 And this I think

00:49:47.740 would be the description

00:49:49.160 of addiction.

00:49:50.360 And so any coherent

00:49:51.940 understanding of liberty

00:49:53.220 I think has to take

00:49:54.720 into account virtue.

00:49:56.140 It certainly did

00:49:56.620 for the founding fathers.

00:49:57.660 It has for statesmen

00:49:58.980 for all time,

00:49:59.740 you mentioned

00:50:00.640 the mystical body

00:50:01.560 of Christ.

00:50:02.520 Christ says

00:50:03.460 in the gospels,

00:50:04.420 the man who sins

00:50:05.300 is a slave to sin.

00:50:06.880 And we just know

00:50:08.240 that to be true

00:50:08.940 in our own lives.

00:50:09.920 Anyone who's ever sinned

00:50:10.900 knows that that is the case.

00:50:12.700 And so I think

00:50:13.280 I agree with you.

00:50:14.100 I think sometimes

00:50:14.660 just in recent decades

00:50:16.300 we've taken

00:50:18.380 a more shallow view

00:50:19.660 of liberty

00:50:20.100 and liberty

00:50:20.880 is not a shallow thing.

00:50:22.280 And to quote

00:50:22.920 Ronald Reagan,

00:50:23.480 it's not passed

00:50:23.980 in the bloodstream either.

00:50:25.240 It's one generation 0.99

00:50:26.740 away from being lost

00:50:27.780 which is why

00:50:28.400 it's so important

00:50:29.140 to educate people

00:50:30.520 in freedom.

00:50:31.360 That's what

00:50:31.720 YAF is trying to do.

00:50:33.420 That's part of the purpose

00:50:34.300 of this podcast.

00:50:35.000 And while the left

00:50:37.060 I think wants

00:50:37.720 to really suppress

00:50:38.680 our freedom

00:50:39.220 by appealing

00:50:40.100 to all of our vices,

00:50:41.560 Senator Cruz and I

00:50:42.240 talked about this

00:50:42.960 on the PragerU book show.

00:50:44.680 We talked about

00:50:45.100 Brave New World

00:50:45.940 and the conquering

00:50:47.560 of a people

00:50:48.020 by cultivating vice.

00:50:49.380 I think we need

00:50:50.280 to recognize

00:50:50.920 that to have true freedom

00:50:52.040 we have to have

00:50:53.000 some idea

00:50:53.560 of what's good.

00:50:55.340 So that was

00:50:56.340 an amazingly erudite

00:50:58.720 and well thought out answer.

00:51:01.380 Thank you.

00:51:01.720 I will say

00:51:02.860 that number one

00:51:03.860 Michael talked

00:51:04.560 about practicing vices

00:51:05.840 and I will note

00:51:08.180 that after the last

00:51:09.020 verdict we did

00:51:09.720 at Texas A&M

00:51:10.660 that you and the entire team

00:51:11.920 came back to my house

00:51:12.920 in Houston

00:51:13.400 and we practiced vices.

00:51:15.220 Until about

00:51:15.800 three in the morning.

00:51:16.460 Three in the morning

00:51:17.060 we had some very expensive scotch

00:51:18.940 and some very good cigars.

00:51:21.780 And I'll say

00:51:22.760 your practice makes perfect

00:51:24.480 and you're getting

00:51:24.940 pretty good in.

00:51:25.700 I keep working on it.

00:51:28.280 But Senator,

00:51:29.240 to be fair,

00:51:30.160 the body is a temple

00:51:31.200 and the temple

00:51:31.940 needs incense.

00:51:32.960 Okay, so I'm going

00:51:33.580 to defend that.

00:51:40.700 So one of the things

00:51:41.800 I find interesting

00:51:42.620 in your question

00:51:43.400 is you said

00:51:44.320 you guys may disagree

00:51:45.420 on this

00:51:46.040 and I think

00:51:46.620 that was insightful

00:51:47.340 because I listened

00:51:48.260 to what Michael said

00:51:49.180 and I thought

00:51:49.540 it was quite learned

00:51:51.080 and yet I didn't

00:51:51.920 really agree with it.

00:51:53.820 And, you know,

00:51:55.460 I would say

00:51:56.000 there's a distinction.

00:51:56.980 It may be

00:51:57.260 the Catholic-Protestant

00:51:58.220 distinction.

00:51:59.560 I would say

00:52:00.480 I have a more

00:52:02.040 libertarian bent

00:52:03.040 perhaps than Michael.

00:52:04.440 I would say most people.

00:52:05.540 I think Attila the Hun

00:52:06.360 has a more libertarian bent

00:52:07.540 than Michael.

00:52:07.560 Well, there is that.

00:52:09.420 Look, when you ask

00:52:10.560 what liberty is,

00:52:12.300 liberty is the right

00:52:13.160 to make your own choices

00:52:14.380 in your own life,

00:52:15.540 to think,

00:52:16.200 to speak,

00:52:17.580 to the right to,

00:52:19.980 as John Locke put it,

00:52:22.200 life, liberty,

00:52:22.940 and property.

00:52:27.600 Liberty,

00:52:28.880 one of the famous

00:52:29.700 formulations of liberty

00:52:31.020 is my right

00:52:31.720 to swing my fist

00:52:33.240 ends at the tip 0.99

00:52:33.920 of your nose.

00:52:35.240 You have a right

00:52:36.200 to do whatever you wish

00:52:37.220 with your life.

00:52:38.400 You don't have a right

00:52:39.560 to impinge

00:52:40.420 on the liberties of others.

00:52:41.620 You don't have a right

00:52:42.340 to impinge

00:52:42.960 on the rights of others.

00:52:44.380 There's some

00:52:44.940 in the philosophical world

00:52:47.180 or legal world

00:52:48.260 that have posited

00:52:49.420 a distinction

00:52:50.320 between negative liberties

00:52:51.680 and positive liberties.

00:52:52.900 Negative liberties

00:52:53.580 are essentially

00:52:54.360 leave me alone.

00:52:56.540 Don't silence my speech.

00:52:58.900 Don't prevent me

00:52:59.780 from practicing my faith.

00:53:01.500 Don't take away

00:53:02.440 my right to keep

00:53:03.200 and bear arms.

00:53:03.840 Those are negative liberties.

00:53:05.520 Positive liberties,

00:53:06.520 and they're typically

00:53:07.100 folks on the left

00:53:07.960 that are advocating this,

00:53:09.360 are a liberty

00:53:10.760 to have health care,

00:53:13.960 a liberty to have housing,

00:53:15.500 a liberty to have,

00:53:16.660 and it's an entitlement

00:53:18.740 that is framed

00:53:20.720 as a liberty.

00:53:22.500 In my view,

00:53:23.400 liberty is the former

00:53:24.300 and not the latter.

00:53:25.200 Liberty is the right

00:53:26.120 to be left alone.

00:53:28.000 Now, what Michael said

00:53:29.440 about the right

00:53:31.100 to do as you ought,

00:53:33.300 look, yes,

00:53:34.920 I think you ought

00:53:36.020 do as you ought.

00:53:37.240 That's what ought means.

00:53:39.440 The power of tautology.

00:53:43.120 But I also think

00:53:44.140 you have every right

00:53:44.800 not to do as you ought.

00:53:46.060 And so if you want

00:53:48.400 to exercise your free will 0.70

00:53:51.560 to be a sloth 0.97

00:53:54.240 or a drunkard 0.99

00:53:56.640 or to fritter away your life,

00:54:00.220 you have a right to do that.

00:54:01.940 Now, I would hope you wouldn't.

00:54:04.400 I would encourage you not to.

00:54:06.860 But it is within

00:54:08.380 the realm of choice

00:54:12.080 for you to make.

00:54:12.720 And so in the legal world,

00:54:15.520 and I'll shift to law,

00:54:17.040 there's a big debate

00:54:18.060 in constitutional law

00:54:19.400 that is sometimes viewed

00:54:22.200 as a debate

00:54:22.760 between Scalia and Thomas.

00:54:25.220 And it is whether

00:54:26.440 the law protects,

00:54:28.180 whether the Constitution

00:54:29.100 protects natural rights.

00:54:31.740 And my view is

00:54:33.400 that the Constitution

00:54:34.500 limits the power

00:54:36.680 of government,

00:54:37.220 and there are a host

00:54:37.980 of things.

00:54:38.380 So, for example,

00:54:39.320 school choice

00:54:42.180 is an issue

00:54:43.400 I am deeply passionate about.

00:54:45.600 I've spent 25 years

00:54:47.140 of my life

00:54:47.660 fighting for school choice.

00:54:49.680 As much as I believe

00:54:50.960 in school choice,

00:54:51.760 I don't think you should

00:54:52.440 have judges

00:54:52.980 mandating school choice,

00:54:55.020 even though it would

00:54:55.880 help kids enormously.

00:54:58.460 Because I don't think

00:54:59.880 we should be reading

00:55:00.900 into the Constitution

00:55:02.180 a mandate

00:55:03.620 for our own

00:55:04.440 personal policy choices.

00:55:05.800 So, when it comes

00:55:07.300 to what liberty is,

00:55:08.740 I would say

00:55:09.340 I have a more capacious

00:55:12.880 framing of it.

00:55:14.920 And I would leave,

00:55:16.960 in terms of urging

00:55:18.280 the virtuous life,

00:55:20.480 that was a very

00:55:21.140 Aristotelian call

00:55:22.740 on your part,

00:55:24.000 I think that's a great,

00:55:26.140 that is a great calling

00:55:29.060 for pastors and priests

00:55:30.820 and motivational speakers

00:55:32.400 and anyone seeking

00:55:33.920 to, teachers,

00:55:34.660 anyone seeking

00:55:35.440 to help people

00:55:36.340 find their calling

00:55:37.980 in life,

00:55:38.800 but at the same time,

00:55:41.180 we shouldn't force it.

00:55:44.340 And by the way,

00:55:45.040 a natural area

00:55:46.560 this is playing out

00:55:47.580 is vaccine mandates,

00:55:49.220 where you have government

00:55:50.980 trying to force people

00:55:52.260 to make a healthcare decision.

00:55:54.480 I've been vaccinated.

00:55:55.760 I believe in vaccines.

00:55:57.520 I encourage people

00:55:58.300 to get the vaccine.

00:55:59.420 I also believe

00:56:00.260 you have individual liberty

00:56:01.320 and the right

00:56:01.760 not to get the vaccine

00:56:02.880 if you choose not to.

00:56:04.100 And you're an adult

00:56:05.220 and make your own choices.

00:56:07.580 And I will say

00:56:09.060 in response to that,

00:56:10.880 I did tweet out

00:56:12.540 the hashtag

00:56:13.320 your body,

00:56:14.020 your choice.

00:56:16.280 And the left

00:56:17.120 lost their mind.

00:56:19.100 And they just,

00:56:20.100 no, you're not allowed

00:56:21.320 to say that.

00:56:21.960 I'm like,

00:56:22.280 why are you telling people

00:56:23.300 they got to stick 1.00

00:56:23.980 a damn shot in their arm? 1.00

00:56:25.240 I think liberty 1.00

00:56:28.000 should have a lot

00:56:28.640 of flexibility

00:56:29.160 and a lot of room in it,

00:56:30.760 including the liberty 1.00

00:56:32.220 to make stupid decisions 1.00

00:56:33.320 because, to be honest, 1.00

00:56:35.540 we learn more

00:56:36.060 by mistakes anyway

00:56:36.980 and you have the right 0.98

00:56:37.680 to do dumb things too. 0.98

00:56:39.160 Right. 0.98

00:56:39.680 And I think it matters too

00:56:40.620 what liberty is in relation to.

00:56:42.280 So if you're talking

00:56:42.780 about liberty in a community

00:56:44.000 or liberty in a culture

00:56:45.100 or liberty in your,

00:56:46.960 you know,

00:56:47.280 church group,

00:56:48.200 that's different,

00:56:49.160 you know,

00:56:49.460 the cultural stigma

00:56:50.240 that might be on certain actions

00:56:51.280 versus whether it's legal.

00:56:53.040 And we know,

00:56:54.120 you know,

00:56:54.440 many politicians are abusive.

00:56:55.860 We know people in power

00:56:56.820 like to exercise that power.

00:56:58.680 And so we have to,

00:56:59.800 we have to,

00:57:00.360 I think,

00:57:00.800 take the more libertarian

00:57:01.760 view on liberty

00:57:02.460 to allow us to make

00:57:03.780 the choice to be holy

00:57:04.800 because that's what liberty

00:57:06.000 should be for conservatives

00:57:08.040 and Christian conservatives

00:57:08.860 is the ability for us

00:57:11.060 to choose that virtue

00:57:12.120 that you're talking about

00:57:13.020 because it's like,

00:57:13.740 it's like personal charity

00:57:14.900 versus welfare, right?

00:57:16.380 You know,

00:57:16.720 if you are forced

00:57:17.720 by the government

00:57:18.320 to give money,

00:57:19.640 it does nothing for you.

00:57:21.200 You're not giving

00:57:21.820 of your own free will.

00:57:22.460 You're not giving of your heart

00:57:23.420 versus when,

00:57:24.320 you know,

00:57:24.620 you're giving

00:57:25.100 by your own choice.

00:57:26.980 That is an act of charity

00:57:27.840 that benefits both you

00:57:28.900 as the giver

00:57:29.400 and the recipient of that.

00:57:31.000 So I lean more libertarian

00:57:32.320 on liberty too

00:57:32.960 to make sure that

00:57:33.720 your right to live your life

00:57:36.000 or as the founders say,

00:57:37.020 life, liberty,

00:57:37.560 the pursuit of happiness,

00:57:38.480 which obviously means property,

00:57:39.860 which means the extension

00:57:40.640 of person,

00:57:41.240 the fruits of your labor

00:57:41.960 is protected

00:57:42.980 because that allows us

00:57:43.900 the right to make

00:57:45.260 the right choices.

00:57:46.360 Well, you know,

00:57:46.840 while I may disagree

00:57:48.400 with that particular

00:57:49.820 libertarian view,

00:57:50.640 I will point out

00:57:51.540 to the senator's point

00:57:52.700 on our staying out late

00:57:54.900 and smoking cigars

00:57:55.960 and, you know,

00:57:57.140 having scotch

00:57:58.140 and things like that.

00:57:59.000 We burn the evidence.

00:57:59.960 And burning the evidence,

00:58:01.420 I will say,

00:58:02.500 I have always relied

00:58:03.680 on the capaciousness

00:58:04.760 of libertarians

00:58:05.740 when I myself

00:58:06.980 am indulging

00:58:07.820 in these behaviors.

00:58:08.840 And in my defense,

00:58:09.980 I went home

00:58:10.480 and fed my baby.

00:58:11.700 Did a virtuous thing.

00:58:12.980 Yes.

00:58:13.520 Thank you for your question.

00:58:14.360 I appreciate it.

00:58:14.920 All right.

00:58:20.400 This is going to be

00:58:20.940 the final question,

00:58:21.980 but for everybody

00:58:22.640 who I appreciate

00:58:23.400 getting in line,

00:58:24.160 if you didn't get a chance

00:58:24.940 to ask your question,

00:58:26.220 you can go to

00:58:26.800 verdictwithtedcruz.com

00:58:28.200 slash plus

00:58:29.120 and you can submit

00:58:29.760 your questions there.

00:58:31.160 And like I said,

00:58:31.680 Senator Cruz and I

00:58:32.420 will be taking questions

00:58:33.560 on a fairly regular basis

00:58:34.820 from those who are part

00:58:36.660 of that community.

00:58:37.840 So, hi.

00:58:38.460 What's your name?

00:58:39.200 Hi there.

00:58:39.660 My name is Peter.

00:58:40.900 I actually work here

00:58:42.080 in the DMV area.

00:58:43.100 I have a question

00:58:45.160 for you, Senator,

00:58:46.860 and for Mr. Knowles.

00:58:50.080 Why does it not seem

00:58:52.240 like you work better

00:58:57.080 to work across the aisles

00:59:00.460 with people that have

00:59:02.040 a platonic idea

00:59:03.140 of the way that the world works

00:59:04.240 versus us

00:59:05.000 as an Aristotelian view?

00:59:07.580 We both have the same idea

00:59:09.780 of eudaimonia,

00:59:10.580 but it doesn't seem like

00:59:13.560 you work well

00:59:15.420 across the aisle enough

00:59:16.620 to do meaningful changes.

00:59:21.560 So, Peter,

00:59:22.540 that again

00:59:23.400 is a very learned question

00:59:24.620 and I will say

00:59:25.360 Catholic University

00:59:27.360 is coming through

00:59:28.220 powerfully strong.

00:59:29.520 Look, in many ways,

00:59:34.720 the failure

00:59:35.340 of both parties

00:59:36.820 to work across the aisle

00:59:38.060 is a symptom

00:59:40.080 of a broader phenomenon

00:59:41.220 that's playing out

00:59:42.080 in our society

00:59:42.900 and culture,

00:59:43.800 which is that

00:59:45.020 we're getting more

00:59:45.800 and more polarized

00:59:46.920 and tribalized

00:59:49.580 and atomized.

00:59:51.620 And I think social media

00:59:53.120 contributes to that

00:59:54.660 powerfully.

00:59:55.320 You know,

00:59:56.600 it used to be

00:59:58.020 that we had

00:59:59.920 homogenizing institutions

01:00:01.880 in our lives,

01:00:02.700 that we might be

01:00:03.740 a Republican,

01:00:04.440 we might be a Democrat,

01:00:06.120 and yet

01:00:06.720 we went to work

01:00:08.800 with someone

01:00:09.260 of the opposite party.

01:00:10.340 We went to church

01:00:11.000 with someone

01:00:11.420 of the opposite party.

01:00:12.420 Our kids played together

01:00:13.760 on the playground.

01:00:15.380 And it's hard

01:00:16.560 to believe

01:00:17.960 someone's the devil

01:00:19.240 if you're sharing

01:00:21.720 a burger

01:00:22.120 at a backyard barbecue.

01:00:23.400 Today,

01:00:27.140 we're so separated

01:00:29.580 that the right

01:00:31.120 listens to right-wing news,

01:00:33.000 the left listens

01:00:33.720 to left-wing news.

01:00:35.500 On social media,

01:00:36.780 if someone disagrees with you,

01:00:37.940 you just unfriend them.

01:00:38.760 They disappear.

01:00:40.020 And we end up

01:00:40.960 in these feedback loops

01:00:43.660 where we only hear

01:00:45.780 views we agree with,

01:00:46.980 and we think

01:00:47.520 that's the only thing.

01:00:49.640 We began this podcast,

01:00:54.520 got a couple of questions

01:00:55.280 on immigration.

01:00:56.560 If you watch Fox News

01:00:58.200 or Newsmax or OAN,

01:01:00.480 you know about

01:01:01.440 the immigration crisis.

01:01:03.260 If you watch CNN,

01:01:04.600 it doesn't exist.

01:01:05.840 It's simply,

01:01:06.380 there is no immigration crisis.

01:01:08.860 That is a really harmful dynamic.

01:01:11.720 How does it play out

01:01:12.620 on Capitol Hill?

01:01:14.580 I'll say in the Senate,

01:01:16.060 at least,

01:01:16.560 here's an encouraging thing,

01:01:18.100 by and large,

01:01:20.440 the senators get along

01:01:21.420 pretty well.

01:01:23.100 There's very little

01:01:24.440 direct personal incivility

01:01:27.680 one to the other,

01:01:28.540 which is good.

01:01:29.000 There's more of that

01:01:29.600 in the House.

01:01:30.100 The House is a

01:01:31.120 more bare-knuckle place

01:01:32.840 and people can be

01:01:34.060 nastier to each other.

01:01:35.540 There's very little of it

01:01:36.460 in the Senate.

01:01:38.840 There are a number

01:01:39.600 of Democrats

01:01:40.140 I get along with

01:01:41.480 very well.

01:01:43.680 You know,

01:01:43.900 Cory Booker

01:01:44.460 and I are friends.

01:01:45.580 Kirsten Gillibrand

01:01:46.440 and I are friends.

01:01:48.800 Actually,

01:01:49.380 three different

01:01:50.040 Democratic candidates

01:01:51.080 for president,

01:01:53.120 Cory Kirsten

01:01:55.420 and Amy Klobuchar

01:01:56.260 all campaigned

01:01:57.840 and used as a laugh line

01:02:00.040 in the Democratic primary,

01:02:01.640 heck,

01:02:02.020 I can even work

01:02:02.860 with Ted Cruz.

01:02:04.980 But it was just

01:02:06.000 kind of like,

01:02:06.640 okay,

01:02:07.220 apparently,

01:02:08.020 I'm unifying Democrats

01:02:09.300 somehow,

01:02:10.260 obliquely.

01:02:10.960 There are,

01:02:16.120 and there is

01:02:17.080 some bipartisan

01:02:17.980 cooperation.

01:02:18.800 So let's take,

01:02:19.520 for example,

01:02:20.820 Kirsten Gillibrand.

01:02:21.980 Kirsten and I

01:02:22.540 have worked

01:02:22.920 on a number

01:02:23.400 of matters together.

01:02:24.700 We started working

01:02:26.080 together my first year

01:02:27.280 in the Senate

01:02:27.760 where we were both

01:02:28.300 on the Senate Armed Services

01:02:29.280 Committee.

01:02:30.200 And she's been

01:02:31.180 really heroic

01:02:32.020 in leading the fight

01:02:33.580 to change

01:02:35.020 how the military

01:02:35.900 handles rape 0.86

01:02:36.860 and sexual assault.

01:02:37.800 And there's been

01:02:39.600 a long,

01:02:40.660 persistent problem

01:02:41.520 in the military

01:02:42.180 of far too many instances

01:02:43.660 of sexual assault

01:02:45.200 and victims of assault

01:02:46.400 being afraid

01:02:47.480 to come forward

01:02:48.260 and report.

01:02:49.020 And what Kirsten

01:02:49.700 had been advocating

01:02:50.540 was moving

01:02:51.920 the decision

01:02:52.800 and the prosecution

01:02:53.660 of sexual assault

01:02:54.960 out of the direct

01:02:56.400 chain of command

01:02:57.280 rather than

01:02:57.840 the commanding officer

01:02:58.740 making that decision,

01:03:00.420 moving the decision

01:03:01.580 to a professional

01:03:02.580 career military prosecutor.

01:03:05.280 And then that's

01:03:05.760 a change

01:03:06.420 other countries,

01:03:08.480 our allies,

01:03:09.120 the United Kingdom

01:03:09.860 has done that,

01:03:11.020 Israel has done that, 1.00

01:03:12.400 and it's seen

01:03:13.340 significant improvements

01:03:15.200 in terms of preventing assault.

01:03:17.500 Kirsten made those arguments,

01:03:18.860 actually went into,

01:03:19.960 we were having

01:03:20.480 a hearing

01:03:21.780 and a markup.

01:03:22.800 I went in

01:03:23.420 with an open mind,

01:03:24.400 I listened to the arguments

01:03:25.360 she made,

01:03:26.420 thought they were persuasive

01:03:27.700 and I teamed up with her.

01:03:29.320 And so for eight years

01:03:30.440 we've been working

01:03:31.280 side by side.

01:03:32.840 She's been leading

01:03:33.440 the Democratic efforts,

01:03:34.500 I've been leading

01:03:34.960 the Republican efforts.

01:03:35.820 I think we're likely

01:03:37.380 to finally win

01:03:38.320 that victory this year.

01:03:39.540 I think we're right

01:03:40.080 on the cusp of victory.

01:03:43.400 That was an example

01:03:44.800 where we were able

01:03:46.140 gradually to build

01:03:47.300 bipartisan support.

01:03:49.660 The problem more broadly,

01:03:52.380 because the electorate

01:03:57.600 is polarized,

01:03:58.220 let's take right now

01:04:03.200 the Bernie Sanders budget.

01:04:05.720 We're getting ready

01:04:06.460 to vote on the

01:04:07.100 Bernie Sanders budget.

01:04:08.200 It's a $5.5 trillion budget.

01:04:11.340 It is massive in size.

01:04:13.880 It has trillions of dollars

01:04:15.180 in tax increases.

01:04:17.180 And the congressional Democrats

01:04:20.100 have decided

01:04:20.940 they want to use brute power

01:04:22.820 to ram it through.

01:04:24.100 So there are no Democrats

01:04:26.120 talking to Republicans

01:04:27.000 about this.

01:04:28.360 They don't intend

01:04:29.080 to get a single Republican

01:04:30.140 vote in the House.

01:04:30.960 They don't intend

01:04:31.420 to get a single Republican

01:04:32.420 vote in the Senate.

01:04:33.900 Right now,

01:04:34.880 they're trying to pound

01:04:35.840 the living daylights

01:04:36.760 out of Joe Manchin

01:04:37.620 and Kyrsten Sinema,

01:04:39.020 the two lone Democratic

01:04:40.500 holdouts in the Senate,

01:04:41.720 to get them to submit.

01:04:45.920 They're talking to an echo chamber

01:04:48.180 that is amplifying the extremes.

01:04:54.140 And to be honest,

01:04:55.120 the right is too.

01:04:56.940 That ends up producing

01:04:59.920 far less cooperation

01:05:02.020 and common ground.

01:05:03.260 I think we can move beyond this.

01:05:05.300 I'll tell you,

01:05:06.140 I am,

01:05:07.300 in terms of the polarization

01:05:09.040 and fighting we've had,

01:05:11.400 I am short-term pessimistic

01:05:13.580 and I'm long-term optimistic.

01:05:15.720 Short-term,

01:05:16.640 I think that the Democratic

01:05:18.200 leadership in Congress

01:05:19.400 and this administration

01:05:20.400 are really radical right now.

01:05:23.260 That I think,

01:05:24.200 and in many ways,

01:05:25.060 that's an outgrowth

01:05:25.940 of the Trump presidency,

01:05:27.780 is the left hated Trump

01:05:29.560 so much that it radicalized them.

01:05:33.240 And that's being reflected

01:05:35.840 in policy after policy

01:05:37.100 after policy.

01:05:38.480 I don't see a whole lot

01:05:40.240 of common ground right now

01:05:41.520 as they're trying to ram

01:05:42.400 through the Bernie Sanders budget.

01:05:44.380 You're not going to get Republicans

01:05:45.440 going along with that.

01:05:47.240 I do think, however,

01:05:48.920 going forward,

01:05:50.240 there is the potential

01:05:52.420 for common ground,

01:05:55.140 particularly if we don't demonize

01:05:58.840 or vilify each other.

01:06:00.720 So this is a nasty business.

01:06:03.220 I mean, you get insulted,

01:06:04.900 you get, I mean,

01:06:05.500 they go after your family,

01:06:06.640 they go after your kids. 0.99

01:06:07.960 It is brutal.

01:06:09.700 And by the way,

01:06:10.280 like I'm on Twitter,

01:06:11.480 I read just about every nasty thing

01:06:13.320 people say on me about Twitter.

01:06:14.700 And there are a lot of them.

01:06:15.400 I mean, you get,

01:06:16.420 and the funny ones I enjoy,

01:06:18.500 like if someone just says F you,

01:06:19.800 it's like, ooh,

01:06:20.260 that's very clever.

01:06:21.700 You know, let's go, Brandon.

01:06:23.540 But I try, and I hope others try,

01:06:39.320 not to engage in nasty personal slanders.

01:06:43.060 I mean, even as we discussed things here,

01:06:45.740 I'll disagree on policy.

01:06:47.580 I'll explain why a policy decision,

01:06:50.300 I think, is a bad idea.

01:06:51.960 And look, I will tell a joke.

01:06:53.860 So, I mean,

01:06:54.240 the fact that you don't,

01:06:55.800 you know,

01:06:56.300 you don't have to talk like you got a ruler

01:06:59.580 inserted somewhere.

01:07:00.660 I mean,

01:07:00.840 you can have some fun.

01:07:02.020 But if you're criticizing,

01:07:04.400 I think it's better to have

01:07:05.720 a light touch and a smile

01:07:07.640 rather than, you know,

01:07:09.440 the typical political attack ad

01:07:11.120 is this, you know,

01:07:12.240 super deep voice.

01:07:14.060 My opponent hates kitten.

01:07:17.040 Ted Cruz.

01:07:19.480 I don't even know.

01:07:20.300 Oh, gosh.

01:07:20.940 What do you, I,

01:07:21.380 yeah, it sounds scary.

01:07:22.580 So.

01:07:22.800 You could work better

01:07:24.960 across the aisle, though,

01:07:27.040 with them on meaningful changes

01:07:29.180 to bring this back

01:07:30.020 to a republic from the democracy

01:07:31.840 than it is.

01:07:33.160 Say,

01:07:34.540 using the, uh,

01:07:37.140 Can you hold the microphone up?

01:07:38.620 I'm sorry.

01:07:39.260 Saying,

01:07:39.880 phasing out the,

01:07:41.060 phasing out the

01:07:44.180 positive human rights

01:07:45.600 that the federal government does

01:07:48.080 to

01:07:49.580 increase,

01:07:51.480 say,

01:07:52.100 like a UBI,

01:07:53.500 phasing out the rest

01:07:54.360 of the positive human rights

01:07:55.480 that the federal government does,

01:07:57.980 doing that,

01:07:58.900 and to restructure the,

01:08:00.280 to restructure the IRS

01:08:02.220 to be,

01:08:03.400 to do, uh,

01:08:04.500 a tax on the velocity of money

01:08:05.840 and, like,

01:08:06.300 that's it.

01:08:08.040 So I think those are

01:08:09.300 creative ideas.

01:08:10.700 I think those are,

01:08:11.900 when it comes to the IRS,

01:08:13.380 I've long advocated

01:08:14.700 abolishing the IRS.

01:08:16.280 Woo! 0.99

01:08:17.440 Woo! 0.99

01:08:17.800 Woo! 0.99

01:08:18.160 Woo! 0.99

01:08:18.320 Woo! 0.99

01:08:18.800 Woo! 0.99

01:08:19.280 Woo! 0.99

01:08:19.440 Woo! 0.99

01:08:19.800 Woo! 0.99

01:08:21.480 And simply having

01:08:26.040 a simple flat tax.

01:08:27.440 And by the way,

01:08:28.140 to understand the dangers of it,

01:08:29.720 we didn't get into it,

01:08:31.160 but one of the elements

01:08:32.300 of the Bernie Sanders budget

01:08:33.520 right now

01:08:34.260 is

01:08:35.460 requiring your bank

01:08:38.120 to report to the IRS

01:08:39.980 every single transaction

01:08:42.000 you make

01:08:42.740 of $600 or more.

01:08:44.900 And,

01:08:45.180 and you want to talk about

01:08:46.480 big brother monitoring.

01:08:48.180 That,

01:08:48.360 that is a terrifying thing.

01:08:50.020 And,

01:08:50.640 and I'll say,

01:08:51.880 you know,

01:08:52.760 the press will characterize

01:08:54.020 that as,

01:08:54.580 oh,

01:08:54.720 that's just monitoring

01:08:55.680 big money rich people.

01:08:56.980 Look,

01:08:57.280 we're in a room

01:08:57.840 of college kids.

01:08:59.460 Every one of you

01:09:00.160 that has an apartment,

01:09:01.240 if you're in D.C.,

01:09:02.180 you're paying more than

01:09:03.060 $600 in rent

01:09:04.220 unless you've got

01:09:05.400 42 roommates.

01:09:07.280 You know,

01:09:07.680 that,

01:09:10.200 I am very skeptical

01:09:11.900 of government power.

01:09:12.900 And I think the more

01:09:13.720 you can protect liberty

01:09:14.900 against government power,

01:09:16.340 against government spying,

01:09:17.900 against government control,

01:09:19.120 the better.

01:09:21.600 Those are ideas

01:09:22.720 that get a lot of resonance,

01:09:24.120 I think,

01:09:24.620 when you talk to people.

01:09:25.680 And it's frankly,

01:09:26.620 it's one of the purposes

01:09:27.720 of this podcast

01:09:28.500 is,

01:09:29.080 is that we try

01:09:30.760 to engage

01:09:32.800 in substance

01:09:33.580 on issues.

01:09:36.400 You know,

01:09:36.980 as Michael knows,

01:09:37.760 my wife Heidi

01:09:38.420 listens to the podcast

01:09:39.780 and if,

01:09:40.460 if she thinks

01:09:41.460 we get too dogmatic,

01:09:42.720 if we're suddenly like

01:09:43.860 pounding the table

01:09:45.040 and,

01:09:45.300 and repeating Republican

01:09:46.280 talking points,

01:09:47.140 she'll call Michael

01:09:48.820 or me and say, 0.99

01:09:49.380 that sucked. 0.95

01:09:51.060 You know, 0.95

01:09:51.800 it's never compliments

01:09:53.000 when the number comes up.

01:09:54.220 I don't think,

01:09:54.800 now I can agree to you.

01:09:55.920 That's not true.

01:09:56.380 Sometimes she'll say,

01:09:57.300 Michael was really good.

01:09:58.280 Ted,

01:09:58.540 not so much.

01:09:59.120 Michael is great.

01:10:00.940 But I,

01:10:01.620 you know,

01:10:01.900 frankly,

01:10:02.420 I appreciate the honesty

01:10:03.560 because you do want

01:10:04.920 to make sure

01:10:05.300 that you're engaging

01:10:05.880 with real issues.

01:10:06.980 You're not just

01:10:07.460 strawmanning the other side.

01:10:09.320 You're not,

01:10:09.980 increasingly,

01:10:10.860 it's,

01:10:11.140 we're not even speaking

01:10:11.840 the same language.

01:10:12.620 We can't even agree

01:10:13.660 on the definition

01:10:14.260 of man and woman

01:10:15.200 these days.

01:10:15.720 So it can be difficult

01:10:16.700 to communicate

01:10:17.360 with the other side.

01:10:18.920 And,

01:10:19.000 and you want to be engaging

01:10:20.100 with the best arguments

01:10:21.220 that they have.

01:10:22.240 But there is another side

01:10:23.360 to it,

01:10:23.780 which comes from

01:10:24.600 Ronald Reagan.

01:10:25.720 He was famously asked

01:10:26.940 his strategy

01:10:28.000 on the Soviet Union

01:10:29.320 and the Cold War.

01:10:30.480 And they were waiting

01:10:31.460 for some three-hour lecture

01:10:32.660 on the Cold War.

01:10:33.700 And he said,

01:10:34.280 my strategy is simple.

01:10:35.940 We win and they lose.

01:10:37.580 Is there,

01:10:38.080 is there some element here

01:10:39.440 of,

01:10:39.820 we win?

01:10:40.840 So there is,

01:10:41.080 and let me suggest,

01:10:42.180 I mean,

01:10:42.420 look,

01:10:42.600 you invoke Reagan

01:10:43.840 and Reagan has been

01:10:44.860 my political hero

01:10:46.700 my whole life.

01:10:48.480 Mine's Cincinnati's.

01:10:49.660 You look,

01:10:50.580 well,

01:10:50.740 you're going back

01:10:51.240 a little further

01:10:51.720 than I am.

01:10:53.660 You look at Reagan

01:10:54.940 and let's take,

01:10:55.840 Reagan came in

01:10:56.980 in 19,

01:10:58.540 elected in 80,

01:10:59.540 came in in 81.

01:11:01.400 You know,

01:11:01.920 in Washington,

01:11:02.700 there's a little bit

01:11:03.540 of a folklore,

01:11:04.800 which is that Reagan

01:11:06.180 and Tip O'Neill,

01:11:07.300 who was the Democratic

01:11:08.020 Speaker of the House,

01:11:09.840 they were good

01:11:10.540 old Irish Pauls

01:11:11.880 and they'd sit around

01:11:12.840 and they'd have a drink

01:11:13.920 and they'd yuck it up

01:11:14.980 and they were friends

01:11:15.840 and they reached

01:11:16.440 common ground.

01:11:17.800 And that's usually told

01:11:20.120 in contradistinction

01:11:21.900 to the horrible,

01:11:23.340 crass SOBs 1.00

01:11:24.360 we have today.

01:11:27.580 That was always

01:11:29.060 a bit of a rose-colored

01:11:30.420 glasses telling.

01:11:32.740 You know,

01:11:32.960 go back and read

01:11:33.820 what Tip O'Neill said

01:11:34.880 about Ronald Reagan.

01:11:36.260 I mean,

01:11:36.640 he unloaded on him

01:11:38.260 bare knuckles.

01:11:39.220 And so let's take,

01:11:40.200 for example,

01:11:41.420 the Reagan tax cuts.

01:11:42.560 So Reagan passed

01:11:43.460 major tax cuts

01:11:44.400 in 81,

01:11:45.400 86,

01:11:46.220 he came back

01:11:46.820 with major tax

01:11:47.660 simplification.

01:11:48.920 Both of them

01:11:49.760 were overwhelmingly

01:11:50.760 bipartisan.

01:11:52.320 How did they get done?

01:11:54.280 The way they got done

01:11:55.680 is Reagan made the case

01:11:57.800 to the American people

01:11:58.760 and he directly went

01:12:00.820 to the American people

01:12:01.900 and said,

01:12:02.300 if we cut taxes,

01:12:03.480 we need to get

01:12:04.260 the economy moving

01:12:05.340 under Jimmy Carter.

01:12:06.260 It was stagnant.

01:12:07.100 If we cut taxes

01:12:08.500 on families

01:12:09.620 and small businesses

01:12:10.500 and job creators,

01:12:11.720 we're going to get

01:12:12.940 jobs back

01:12:13.800 at the economy moving.

01:12:14.780 And what happened

01:12:15.500 was he persuaded

01:12:17.580 millions of Americans

01:12:18.780 who proceeded

01:12:20.140 to pick up the phone

01:12:21.100 and call

01:12:22.000 their congressmen,

01:12:23.560 call their congresswomen,

01:12:24.860 and a bunch of

01:12:25.860 Democratic House members

01:12:27.700 bolted,

01:12:29.040 crossed over,

01:12:30.700 and voted

01:12:32.280 for the tax cuts

01:12:33.640 because it was

01:12:34.440 overwhelmingly popular

01:12:36.180 with the people.

01:12:37.520 And I think

01:12:38.400 the most powerful tool

01:12:41.100 in all of politics

01:12:42.640 is the bully pulpit

01:12:43.840 of the presidency

01:12:44.620 is the ability

01:12:46.100 Ronald Reagan

01:12:46.860 would go on TV

01:12:48.740 and he wasn't mean

01:12:49.640 about it.

01:12:51.500 And in fact,

01:12:52.480 maybe this is a good thing

01:12:53.400 because we've gone

01:12:54.420 a little bit long,

01:12:56.000 but a good story

01:12:57.200 to wrap up.

01:12:57.880 One of my favorite

01:12:58.600 Reagan stories,

01:12:59.360 he was doing

01:13:00.000 a press conference.

01:13:03.360 So a bunch of reporters

01:13:04.160 were there.

01:13:05.460 And one of the reporters

01:13:07.620 was Sam Donaldson

01:13:08.640 and Sam Donaldson

01:13:09.500 was the kind of

01:13:10.660 tough ABC reporter.

01:13:12.460 You know,

01:13:12.740 kind of mean.

01:13:14.140 And Donaldson goes,

01:13:15.600 Mr. President,

01:13:16.700 Mr. President,

01:13:18.580 you have blamed

01:13:19.740 the problems

01:13:20.420 in this country

01:13:21.420 on everybody else.

01:13:23.260 You blame them

01:13:23.860 on Tip O'Neill.

01:13:24.620 You blame them

01:13:25.240 on Democrats

01:13:25.920 in Congress.

01:13:26.620 You blame them

01:13:27.420 on everybody else.

01:13:29.820 But you're

01:13:30.540 President of the

01:13:31.200 United States.

01:13:31.860 Don't you bear

01:13:33.680 any of the

01:13:34.880 responsibility

01:13:35.520 for the problems

01:13:36.840 we have in this country.

01:13:39.180 And Reagan smiled

01:13:40.640 and he leaned forward

01:13:41.520 with a twinkle

01:13:42.060 in his eye

01:13:42.660 and he said,

01:13:44.880 Well,

01:13:46.260 Sam,

01:13:48.020 yes.

01:13:49.400 Yes,

01:13:49.920 I do.

01:13:51.360 I bear

01:13:52.380 considerable

01:13:53.920 responsibility

01:13:54.880 because for

01:13:56.520 many years

01:13:57.600 I

01:13:58.800 was a Democrat.

01:14:00.100 Ladies and gentlemen,

01:14:04.840 on that note,

01:14:05.640 I want to thank

01:14:06.220 our friend Liz Wheeler,

01:14:07.560 host of the Liz Wheeler Show.

01:14:09.220 You can bring her

01:14:09.820 to your campus

01:14:10.880 with Young America's

01:14:12.360 Foundation.

01:14:12.840 Head on over

01:14:13.320 to YF.org.

01:14:14.240 Thank you, Liz.

01:14:15.120 I want to thank

01:14:15.740 Senator Cruz

01:14:16.480 and I mostly want

01:14:17.420 to thank all of you.

01:14:18.300 Thank you for being here.

01:14:19.760 This is Verdict

01:14:20.420 with Ted Cruz.

01:14:21.140 This is an iHeart Podcast.

01:14:33.260 Guaranteed Human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - October 21, 2021

A Senator, a Catholic, and a Cactus Walk Onto a Campus

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