Verdict with Ted Cruz - June 30, 2026


BONUS POD—FREEDOM VS. MANDATES： The Fight Over Faith, Jobs and Vaccines

Topics
religious liberty and Vaccine Mandates
Hosted by
Ted Cruz
Mentioned
Joe Getty Patriot Mobile Wi-Fi Donald Trump Ben Ferguson Jared Isaacman Dan Patrick Ben Carson Brett Baer COVID-19 Newt
BONUS POD： Billions Stolen, War Paused & a Communist Mayoral Candidate goes for DC Understanding the Historic Supreme Court Victories & Losses this Week

Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

154.86

Word count

2,389

Sentence count

125

Harmful content

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

On today's show, Ben Ferguson talks about the importance of the 4th of July and why you should be using your cell phone to make a difference in this country. Plus, a story about how the Religious Liberty Commission could change the way the federal government treats Americans whose religious beliefs conflict with government mandates.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.460 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.280 Do you call it soccer?
00:00:06.120 Or do you call it football?
00:00:08.320 You're right. 0.99
00:00:09.100 Who gives a f***? 0.98
00:00:10.860 It doesn't matter what you call it. 0.97
00:00:13.080 The 90 minutes is what matters.
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00:00:25.020 Canada's premier betting destination for the world's game.
00:00:28.440 bet with sports interaction 19 plus please play responsibly on neutral podcast we're celebrating
00:00:36.340 america's 250th birthday and i ask my guests how they're spending their 4th of july brett bear i
00:00:43.320 will be working i'll be in washington because it's a big big day jared isaacman i plan to be
00:00:49.680 flying in f5 fighter jet painted in freedom 250 colors along with four other fighter jets
00:00:55.220 flying over the nation's capital.
00:00:56.860 Listen to Newt's World on the iHeartRadio app,
00:00:59.740 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you did your podcast.
00:01:04.240 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand?
00:01:07.720 We're not boring.
00:01:08.700 A lot of news is boring.
00:01:09.700 And tedious.
00:01:10.580 And depressing.
00:01:11.160 And makes you angry.
00:01:12.540 You don't want to live your life like that.
00:01:14.800 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:01:15.860 He's Joe Getty.
00:01:16.520 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:01:17.620 We try to bring you the truth.
00:01:18.700 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
00:01:21.200 How about something about a comedic tone?
00:01:25.220 We have a winner. Yes. Listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:01:34.780 Because of the mail in ballot ruling, which was a little bit surprising, gives people more time to vote illegally, let's say.
00:01:43.480 But the Save Act is even more important. And that's the right. You have to be a citizen of our country.
00:01:50.200 Okay, you have to show you're a citizen of our country called citizenship. 0.77
00:01:54.380 Voter ID by photo, photo voter ID, and no mail-in ballots unless you're in the military disabled. 0.60
00:02:01.360 You're ill or you're away, even on a vacation.
00:02:04.280 We're being very open about it.
00:02:06.380 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:02:10.340 Good Tuesday morning.
00:02:11.340 Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:02:14.260 And we've got an exciting story for you.
00:02:16.360 Donald Trump put together the Religious Liberty Commission.
00:02:19.820 and it presented on Friday the final draft of a report to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office
00:02:26.100 with recommendations on how to enhance religious liberty policies
00:02:30.420 that would directly relate to the COVID-19 vaccine
00:02:34.260 and others within the healthcare industry, as well as the U.S. military.
00:02:40.380 Translation, no more mandates.
00:02:43.020 So what does it mean moving forward?
00:02:45.060 We have it all for you.
00:02:46.260 But before we get to that, I want to tell you about Patriot Mobile and how your cell phone can have a huge difference in this country moving forward.
00:02:54.860 If you think wireless companies are all the same, you might need to take a look at Patriot Mobile.
00:03:00.280 Patriot Mobile isn't just different because of its mission.
00:03:03.360 It's actually built to outperform the carriers you have and use right now.
00:03:07.900 They offer premium priority nationwide service on any of the three major U.S. networks, helping you get the best possible coverage wherever life takes you.
00:03:18.660 And with Patriot Mobile, you can even have two separate networks on a single device that eliminates the need to carry multiple phones and giving you peace of mind you just can't get with the other providers.
00:03:30.440 Now, if you need internet on the go, Patriot Mobile Wi-Fi hotspots connect to multiple networks
00:03:35.480 to keep you connected while traveling or working remotely.
00:03:38.840 They also offer international roaming and enterprise solutions for businesses
00:03:43.180 that need dependable connectivity and U.S.-based support.
00:03:47.140 You can keep your number, keep your phone, and you can upgrade to a new one if you want to.
00:03:51.660 And you can switch from your home or office.
00:03:54.400 It just takes a few minutes.
00:03:55.620 And when you call Patriot Mobile, you're going to talk to a real person right here in America.
00:04:00.720 So superior coverage, superior products, superior customer support.
00:04:04.760 That's why I switched to Patriot Mobile.
00:04:07.500 Go to PatriotMobile.com slash Ben 47.
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00:04:29.880 It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
00:04:33.560 Story number one.
00:04:34.700 There's been a ton of talk recently about taxes, about immigration, about foreign policy,
00:04:39.900 and about Supreme Court decisions coming down.
00:04:43.800 But there's one story about religious liberty that you really need to know about.
00:04:47.480 President Trump is trying to follow through on many of his recommendations made by his Religious Liberty Commission.
00:04:54.720 It actually could fundamentally change how the federal government treats Americans whose religious beliefs
00:04:59.680 will conflict with government mandates, including health care workers and members of the United States military.
00:05:07.120 A lot of this goes back to COVID-19 and the COVID vaccine.
00:05:10.580 Well, last week, the commission that's chaired by the Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and the vice chair, Dr. Ben Carson, delivered its final report to President Trump in the Oval Office after spending more than a year holding seven hearings in hearing testimony for more than 100 different witnesses.
00:05:31.240 the commission was created in 2025 to identify threats to religious liberty and then recommend
00:05:37.600 legislative and regulatory and executive actions this is exactly by the way how government should
00:05:43.760 work and the report it's pretty amazing not only does it cover schools and parents and faith-based
00:05:49.940 organizations and anti-semitism and the workplace but two sections could have enormous consequences
00:05:56.980 They deal with health care and the U.S. military.
00:06:00.460 So let's start with health care.
00:06:02.600 The commission recommended significant expanded protections not only for doctors,
00:06:08.680 but nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, and then other medical professionals
00:06:13.360 who object on religious or moral grounds to participating in certain medical procedures.
00:06:19.660 Among its recommendations are stronger enforcement of federal conscience laws
00:06:24.840 and support for legislation such as the Conscientious Protection Act
00:06:29.360 as well as more aggressive investigations by the Department of Health and Human Services Office
00:06:34.160 for civil rights as well as strategic litigation by the Department of Justice
00:06:38.900 not only to defend health care workers but their religious freedoms.
00:06:43.040 They were trampled all over by the last administration
00:06:46.700 and during COVID-19 mandates of yes, the vaccine.
00:06:51.820 Now supporters are making it clear.
00:06:53.680 They believe no Americans should have to choose between their deeply held religious beliefs
00:06:58.620 and literally providing for their families, losing their careers.
00:07:03.000 Critics, of course, on the radical left, they argue that expanding conscientious protections
00:07:08.180 would just make it more difficult for some patients to access certain medical services.
00:07:13.980 Well, regardless of wherever you stand on that, this is a major policy debate
00:07:18.160 that is going to reshape because of Trump's leadership on health care employment across the entire country.
00:07:25.800 And then there's the second part of this, and that's the military.
00:07:28.620 The commission recommends streamlining and then strengthening the religious accommodations process for service members.
00:07:36.720 It also highlights testimony from top military personnel who said they suffered career setbacks,
00:07:43.480 lost benefits or were even forced out of our service after refusing a simple covid-19
00:07:50.460 vaccination requirement even after they stated it was on religious grounds now you got to remember
00:07:58.140 the covid years you had not hundreds but thousands of military members that requested religious
00:08:04.800 exemptions for vaccine requirements for the covid-19 shot some requests and the majority
00:08:10.800 actually were denied some service members were then forced to leave the military now others
00:08:16.420 argued that they were effectively forced out of their career that they had been spending decades
00:08:21.640 building and serving their country and that's where the commission's report comes in they said
00:08:28.020 those stories illustrate why stronger protections are not only needed because in the future and yes
00:08:34.580 with future administrations there will be a democrat at some point back in the white house
00:08:38.800 They said the future administrations cannot, in the commission's view, unnecessarily burden the free exercise of religion.
00:08:47.480 And then that is where it really comes back to COVID-19 vaccine in the debate.
00:08:52.160 The report itself, I want to be clear, does not recommend banning vaccine mandates.
00:08:58.480 Instead, it recommends making religious accommodation requests that are really actually just more meaningful
00:09:04.980 and ensuring that when you do make that request, if you're serving in our military or at our
00:09:10.880 hospitals, that you receive greater legal protection in both civilian health care and
00:09:15.980 military settings.
00:09:17.360 Now, if those recommendations are actually implemented through executive action or legislation,
00:09:23.200 the next time the federal government considers a nationwide health care mandate, which is
00:09:27.760 exactly what happened under the liberal leadership in this country, then agencies may face a
00:09:33.060 much higher bar before denying religious exemption requests and that potentially is a very significant
00:09:39.320 change and one for the better the commission also heard testimony from workers including military
00:09:45.540 service members who said not only do they lose their jobs but they lost pensions they lost
00:09:50.600 retirement opportunities and yeah then they lost their jobs because they declined the COVID-19
00:09:56.580 vaccines based on religious grounds now those accounts are cited as evidence that it's clear
00:10:03.320 that we need stronger safeguards that are desperately needed and warranted the report
00:10:08.460 also goes well beyond covid it also recommends that the department of justice the department
00:10:14.840 of health and human services and the equal employment opportunity commission develop
00:10:19.460 know your rights materials and create hotlines and online reporting systems for people who
00:10:26.040 actually believe that their religious liberties have then been violated and that could even be
00:10:30.540 the federal government doing it it also proposes honoring individuals who had defended religious
00:10:36.660 liberty through new presidential awards and calls for additional education about first amendment
00:10:43.240 protections now president trump has already come out praising the commission during the oval office
00:10:49.120 presentation of all of this saying that the administration intends to strengthen religious
00:10:54.620 liberty protections for all americans and emphasize that freedom of religion is central
00:10:59.900 to the country's constitutional rights and constitutional traditions now to be very clear
00:11:05.540 none of these recommendations automatically become law that's why i'm telling you about it right now
00:11:11.420 some of these could be pursed through executive action others could require congress's approval
00:11:17.760 and others will likely face significant court challenges why because democrats are going to
00:11:24.260 sue on all of this but what the president has now laid out is a roadmap that could shape federal
00:11:30.260 policy for decades to come and clearly he's willing to fight this battle and if you're a supporter
00:11:37.620 then you see these recommendations as not only restoring what you believe is the original
00:11:42.340 meeting of the first amendment free exercise clause but also about better protecting americans
00:11:47.940 from actually being penalized because of sincerely held religious beliefs now the left they're angry
00:11:55.340 they say all this is is a shift in the balance of power between religious liberty and other legal
00:12:01.400 protections they say it's creating new conflicts over access to service and equal treatment under
00:12:07.320 the law those debates well they're going to want to have them i think we'll win but what is clear
00:12:13.980 is that the commission has now placed religious liberty squarely at the center of a national
00:12:19.540 conversation and when it comes to health care workers and members of the military
00:12:24.220 these implications could be substantial that's why you should be excited if all of these
00:12:31.320 recommendations are actually adopted future administrations will then face greater legal
00:12:37.220 constraints before requiring you to comply with policies that conflict with sincerely
00:12:43.380 held religious beliefs, particularly in areas like public health mandates, as well as medical
00:12:49.620 ethics.
00:12:50.580 Now, whether you view this as a restoration of your constitutional protections you already
00:12:55.020 had or a significant policy shift, it's a debate about, well, just the beginning of
00:13:01.640 all of this.
00:13:02.420 And one of these, it could have a huge impact on health care as well as the armed forces and then dealing with the other big issue, the scope of religious accommodations in America.
00:13:14.700 This all will have a big impact for years to come and will probably impact not only your kids, but maybe even your grandkids when they're born.
00:13:23.640 That's why Donald Trump clearly is going to have this argument, this fight, this debate right now.
00:13:29.300 because if we don't have this debate now what happens the next time there's a covid-esque
00:13:35.420 outbreak what happens when they come up with a vaccine quickly are you going to be forced to
00:13:40.820 take that vaccine or lose your job well that happened to thousands and thousands of american
00:13:47.460 soldiers and that's part of why this commission is doing their work right now and giving these
00:13:53.260 recommendations the president of the united states of america we already know the president says
00:13:59.100 yes to these types of recommendations. He's the one signing the alarm about abuse of power
00:14:04.500 by the Democratic Party, the Socialists, and the Marxists in Washington, D.C.
00:14:08.680 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit
00:14:14.420 subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in-depth news,
00:14:20.160 also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast, and we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:14:24.700 On Newt's World Podcast, we're celebrating America's 250th birthday.
00:14:30.000 And I ask my guests how they're spending their 4th of July.
00:14:33.860 Brett Baer.
00:14:34.820 I will be working. I'll be in Washington because it's a big, big day.
00:14:39.600 Jared Isaacman.
00:14:40.620 I plan to be flying in an F-5 fighter jet painted in Freedom 250 colors
00:14:44.800 along with four other fighter jets flying over the nation's capital.
00:14:48.340 Listen to Newt's World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:14:55.880 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand?
00:14:59.360 We're not boring.
00:15:00.340 A lot of news is boring.
00:15:01.320 And tedious.
00:15:02.200 And depressing.
00:15:02.800 And makes you angry.
00:15:04.160 You don't want to live your life like that.
00:15:06.440 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:15:07.500 He's Joe Getty.
00:15:08.160 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:15:09.260 We try to bring you the truth.
00:15:10.420 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
00:15:12.680 How about something about a comedic tone?
00:15:14.420 we have a winner yes listen to armstrong and getty on demand on the iheart radio app
00:15:22.860 apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts