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

124

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 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04 Do you call it soccer?
00:00:06 Or do you call it football?
00:00:08 You're right. 0.99
00:00:09 Who gives a f***? 0.98
00:00:10 It doesn't matter what you call it. 0.97
00:00:13 The 90 minutes is what matters.
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00:00:25 Canada's premier betting destination for the world's game.
00:00:28 bet with sports interaction 19 plus please play responsibly on neutral podcast we're celebrating
00:00:36 america's 250th birthday and i ask my guests how they're spending their 4th of july brett bear i
00:00:43 will be working i'll be in washington because it's a big big day jared isaacman i plan to be
00:00:49 flying in f5 fighter jet painted in freedom 250 colors along with four other fighter jets
00:00:55 flying over the nation's capital.
00:00:56 Listen to Newt's World on the iHeartRadio app,
00:00:59 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you did your podcast.
00:01:04 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand?
00:01:07 We're not boring.
00:01:08 A lot of news is boring.
00:01:09 And tedious.
00:01:10 And depressing.
00:01:11 And makes you angry.
00:01:12 You don't want to live your life like that.
00:01:14 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:01:15 He's Joe Getty.
00:01:16 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:01:17 We try to bring you the truth.
00:01:18 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
00:01:21 How about something about a comedic tone?
00:01:25 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 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 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 Okay, you have to show you're a citizen of our country called citizenship. 0.77
00:01:54 Voter ID by photo, photo voter ID, and no mail-in ballots unless you're in the military disabled. 0.60
00:02:01 You're ill or you're away, even on a vacation.
00:02:04 We're being very open about it.
00:02:06 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:02:10 Good Tuesday morning.
00:02:11 Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:02:14 And we've got an exciting story for you.
00:02:16 Donald Trump put together the Religious Liberty Commission.
00:02:19 and it presented on Friday the final draft of a report to President Donald Trump in the Oval Office
00:02:26 with recommendations on how to enhance religious liberty policies
00:02:30 that would directly relate to the COVID-19 vaccine
00:02:34 and others within the healthcare industry, as well as the U.S. military.
00:02:40 Translation, no more mandates.
00:02:43 So what does it mean moving forward?
00:02:45 We have it all for you.
00:02:46 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.
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00:03:43 that need dependable connectivity and U.S.-based support.
00:03:47 You can keep your number, keep your phone, and you can upgrade to a new one if you want to.
00:03:51 And you can switch from your home or office.
00:03:54 It just takes a few minutes.
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00:04:07 Go to PatriotMobile.com slash Ben 47.
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00:04:29 It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
00:04:33 Story number one.
00:04:34 There's been a ton of talk recently about taxes, about immigration, about foreign policy,
00:04:39 and about Supreme Court decisions coming down.
00:04:43 But there's one story about religious liberty that you really need to know about.
00:04:47 President Trump is trying to follow through on many of his recommendations made by his Religious Liberty Commission.
00:04:54 It actually could fundamentally change how the federal government treats Americans whose religious beliefs
00:04:59 will conflict with government mandates, including health care workers and members of the United States military.
00:05:07 A lot of this goes back to COVID-19 and the COVID vaccine.
00:05:10 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 the commission was created in 2025 to identify threats to religious liberty and then recommend
00:05:37 legislative and regulatory and executive actions this is exactly by the way how government should
00:05:43 work and the report it's pretty amazing not only does it cover schools and parents and faith-based
00:05:49 organizations and anti-semitism and the workplace but two sections could have enormous consequences
00:05:56 They deal with health care and the U.S. military.
00:06:00 So let's start with health care.
00:06:02 The commission recommended significant expanded protections not only for doctors,
00:06:08 but nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, and then other medical professionals
00:06:13 who object on religious or moral grounds to participating in certain medical procedures.
00:06:19 Among its recommendations are stronger enforcement of federal conscience laws
00:06:24 and support for legislation such as the Conscientious Protection Act
00:06:29 as well as more aggressive investigations by the Department of Health and Human Services Office
00:06:34 for civil rights as well as strategic litigation by the Department of Justice
00:06:38 not only to defend health care workers but their religious freedoms.
00:06:43 They were trampled all over by the last administration
00:06:46 and during COVID-19 mandates of yes, the vaccine.
00:06:51 Now supporters are making it clear.
00:06:53 They believe no Americans should have to choose between their deeply held religious beliefs
00:06:58 and literally providing for their families, losing their careers.
00:07:03 Critics, of course, on the radical left, they argue that expanding conscientious protections
00:07:08 would just make it more difficult for some patients to access certain medical services.
00:07:13 Well, regardless of wherever you stand on that, this is a major policy debate
00:07:18 that is going to reshape because of Trump's leadership on health care employment across the entire country.
00:07:25 And then there's the second part of this, and that's the military.
00:07:28 The commission recommends streamlining and then strengthening the religious accommodations process for service members.
00:07:36 It also highlights testimony from top military personnel who said they suffered career setbacks,
00:07:43 lost benefits or were even forced out of our service after refusing a simple covid-19
00:07:50 vaccination requirement even after they stated it was on religious grounds now you got to remember
00:07:58 the covid years you had not hundreds but thousands of military members that requested religious
00:08:04 exemptions for vaccine requirements for the covid-19 shot some requests and the majority
00:08:10 actually were denied some service members were then forced to leave the military now others
00:08:16 argued that they were effectively forced out of their career that they had been spending decades
00:08:21 building and serving their country and that's where the commission's report comes in they said
00:08:28 those stories illustrate why stronger protections are not only needed because in the future and yes
00:08:34 with future administrations there will be a democrat at some point back in the white house
00:08:38 They said the future administrations cannot, in the commission's view, unnecessarily burden the free exercise of religion.
00:08:47 And then that is where it really comes back to COVID-19 vaccine in the debate.
00:08:52 The report itself, I want to be clear, does not recommend banning vaccine mandates.
00:08:58 Instead, it recommends making religious accommodation requests that are really actually just more meaningful
00:09:04 and ensuring that when you do make that request, if you're serving in our military or at our
00:09:10 hospitals, that you receive greater legal protection in both civilian health care and
00:09:15 military settings.
00:09:17 Now, if those recommendations are actually implemented through executive action or legislation,
00:09:23 the next time the federal government considers a nationwide health care mandate, which is
00:09:27 exactly what happened under the liberal leadership in this country, then agencies may face a
00:09:33 much higher bar before denying religious exemption requests and that potentially is a very significant
00:09:39 change and one for the better the commission also heard testimony from workers including military
00:09:45 service members who said not only do they lose their jobs but they lost pensions they lost
00:09:50 retirement opportunities and yeah then they lost their jobs because they declined the COVID-19
00:09:56 vaccines based on religious grounds now those accounts are cited as evidence that it's clear
00:10:03 that we need stronger safeguards that are desperately needed and warranted the report
00:10:08 also goes well beyond covid it also recommends that the department of justice the department
00:10:14 of health and human services and the equal employment opportunity commission develop
00:10:19 know your rights materials and create hotlines and online reporting systems for people who
00:10:26 actually believe that their religious liberties have then been violated and that could even be
00:10:30 the federal government doing it it also proposes honoring individuals who had defended religious
00:10:36 liberty through new presidential awards and calls for additional education about first amendment
00:10:43 protections now president trump has already come out praising the commission during the oval office
00:10:49 presentation of all of this saying that the administration intends to strengthen religious
00:10:54 liberty protections for all americans and emphasize that freedom of religion is central
00:10:59 to the country's constitutional rights and constitutional traditions now to be very clear
00:11:05 none of these recommendations automatically become law that's why i'm telling you about it right now
00:11:11 some of these could be pursed through executive action others could require congress's approval
00:11:17 and others will likely face significant court challenges why because democrats are going to
00:11:24 sue on all of this but what the president has now laid out is a roadmap that could shape federal
00:11:30 policy for decades to come and clearly he's willing to fight this battle and if you're a supporter
00:11:37 then you see these recommendations as not only restoring what you believe is the original
00:11:42 meeting of the first amendment free exercise clause but also about better protecting americans
00:11:47 from actually being penalized because of sincerely held religious beliefs now the left they're angry
00:11:55 they say all this is is a shift in the balance of power between religious liberty and other legal
00:12:01 protections they say it's creating new conflicts over access to service and equal treatment under
00:12:07 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 is that the commission has now placed religious liberty squarely at the center of a national
00:12:19 conversation and when it comes to health care workers and members of the military
00:12:24 these implications could be substantial that's why you should be excited if all of these
00:12:31 recommendations are actually adopted future administrations will then face greater legal
00:12:37 constraints before requiring you to comply with policies that conflict with sincerely
00:12:43 held religious beliefs, particularly in areas like public health mandates, as well as medical
00:12:49 ethics.
00:12:50 Now, whether you view this as a restoration of your constitutional protections you already
00:12:55 had or a significant policy shift, it's a debate about, well, just the beginning of
00:13:01 all of this.
00:13:02 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 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 That's why Donald Trump clearly is going to have this argument, this fight, this debate right now.
00:13:29 because if we don't have this debate now what happens the next time there's a covid-esque
00:13:35 outbreak what happens when they come up with a vaccine quickly are you going to be forced to
00:13:40 take that vaccine or lose your job well that happened to thousands and thousands of american
00:13:47 soldiers and that's part of why this commission is doing their work right now and giving these
00:13:53 recommendations the president of the united states of america we already know the president says
00:13:59 yes to these types of recommendations. He's the one signing the alarm about abuse of power
00:14:04 by the Democratic Party, the Socialists, and the Marxists in Washington, D.C.
00:14:08 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit
00:14:14 subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now. And for more in-depth news,
00:14:20 also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast, and we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:14:24 On Newt's World Podcast, we're celebrating America's 250th birthday.
00:14:30 And I ask my guests how they're spending their 4th of July.
00:14:33 Brett Baer.
00:14:34 I will be working. I'll be in Washington because it's a big, big day.
00:14:39 Jared Isaacman.
00:14:40 I plan to be flying in an F-5 fighter jet painted in Freedom 250 colors
00:14:44 along with four other fighter jets flying over the nation's capital.
00:14:48 Listen to Newt's World on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:14:55 Why should you listen to Armstrong and Getty on demand?
00:14:59 We're not boring.
00:15:00 A lot of news is boring.
00:15:01 And tedious.
00:15:02 And depressing.
00:15:02 And makes you angry.
00:15:04 You don't want to live your life like that.
00:15:06 Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.
00:15:07 He's Joe Getty.
00:15:08 We're Armstrong and Getty.
00:15:09 We try to bring you the truth.
00:15:10 And help you figure out this crazy modern world.
00:15:12 How about something about a comedic tone?
00:15:14 we have a winner yes listen to armstrong and getty on demand on the iheart radio app
00:15:22 apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts