Verdict with Ted Cruz - October 21, 2021


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


Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 14 minutes

Words per minute

167.26865

Word count

12,473

Sentence count

863

Harmful content

Misogyny

18

sentences flagged

Toxicity

49

sentences flagged

Hate speech

23

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Ted Cruz visits the Catholic University of America in U.S.A. on the third stop of the Verdict Live Tour in partnership with Young America s Foundation. He and his wife Heidi talk about the President's mask mandate, the Transportation Secretary taking a paternity leave, and why you should care.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
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.