Verdict with Ted Cruz - November 09, 2023


Breaking Down the GOP Debate-Did Anything Change？


Episode Stats

Length

43 minutes

Words per Minute

178.12149

Word Count

7,781

Sentence Count

583

Misogynist Sentences

10

Hate Speech Sentences

18


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.540 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.280 Welcome.
00:00:06.040 It is a special pod verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, and also Senator
00:00:11.960 Cruz's book, Unwoke, How to Defeat Culture, Marxism, America.
00:00:15.560 Congratulations, Senator.
00:00:16.580 It's at number one in multiple categories right now on Amazon.
00:00:20.940 If you haven't grabbed the book yet, get it.
00:00:23.400 It's incredible.
00:00:24.680 It is a special pod because it's the GOP debate.
00:00:29.440 And I want to get your first overall thoughts on the night, Senator.
00:00:33.920 I watched it.
00:00:35.240 I didn't really think there was any big shock or anything that's going to catapult somebody
00:00:40.220 out of this debate.
00:00:41.420 I found parts of it a little fatiguing and just kind of boring.
00:00:45.280 Your reaction?
00:00:47.220 Well, I basically think that's right.
00:00:48.940 We're sitting here right now.
00:00:50.620 It's 1030 at night.
00:00:51.660 The debate just ended.
00:00:53.260 And I didn't see anything this evening that fundamentally changed the race.
00:00:58.680 We are seeing the field start to winnow some.
00:01:02.980 The last debate, there were seven candidates on the stage.
00:01:05.800 This time there were five.
00:01:07.000 And so you had Mike Pence has dropped out of the race.
00:01:09.600 And you had Doug Bergman, who didn't make the threshold for this debate.
00:01:14.640 And so the field winnowing is significant.
00:01:18.860 I think you're seeing more and more that the battle for who is the principal alternative
00:01:27.040 to Trump is shrinking down to DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
00:01:33.540 You saw the other candidates on the stage.
00:01:35.960 Chris Christie continues just throwing bricks at Trump, but not getting, as I see it, any
00:01:43.160 significant traction.
00:01:45.240 Tim Scott, I like Tim a lot.
00:01:48.160 He's my colleague.
00:01:48.960 He's my friend.
00:01:50.000 But he has been having real trouble getting traction in this race.
00:01:53.560 And Vivek, look, Vivek had some some colorful moments, some fiery moments.
00:01:58.960 But but at the end of the day, most of the dynamic tonight seemed to be a battle between
00:02:04.800 DeSantis and Haley.
00:02:05.840 And you could tell they were both throwing some hard, hard shots at each other, trying
00:02:11.880 to knock the other off and say, OK, I'm the lead person to take on Trump.
00:02:17.300 You've you've obviously done this, been in a presidential debate, quite a few of them.
00:02:21.920 And as that stage gets smaller and smaller, there is a perk, I think, for the voter.
00:02:26.620 And that is much more of a substantive debate.
00:02:29.580 There was one part of this debate that dealt with the border.
00:02:32.600 It was a part where DeSantis, I think, was really trying to to make himself be the front
00:02:37.580 runner on border security issues.
00:02:39.680 And it dealt with the issue of going after drug cartels and actually using special ops
00:02:45.720 to take them out.
00:02:46.720 Here's part of what he had to say on the debate stage.
00:02:49.060 Well, first, I was speaking to a dad who lost a son to fentanyl overdose.
00:02:55.080 Son wasn't a drug addict.
00:02:56.520 He had taken some pill that happened to be laced with fentanyl and it was a fatal overdose.
00:03:01.140 And when he told me, obviously, the pain of losing a child is as bad as it gets.
00:03:05.560 But he said what was salt in the wounds is that these elites in D.C. don't give a damn
00:03:10.880 about what's going on in this country.
00:03:12.620 They don't care that we have tens of thousands of opioid deaths that the fentanyl is pouring
00:03:18.160 in.
00:03:18.420 They are not taking the type of action we need to.
00:03:21.000 We're declaring it a national emergency on day one.
00:03:23.400 I'm sending U.S. military to the border.
00:03:25.720 I'm going to stop the invasion cold.
00:03:27.820 I am going to deport people who came illegally.
00:03:30.680 And I'm even going to build the border wall and have Mexico pay for it like Donald Trump
00:03:34.220 promised.
00:03:34.720 How are you going to do it?
00:03:35.640 Yeah, Mexico is not going to fork over money.
00:03:37.480 We're going to impose fees on the remittances that foreign workers send to foreign countries.
00:03:41.800 We'll raise billions of dollars.
00:03:43.120 I'll build the wall.
00:03:43.860 But we are going to designate the cartels to be foreign terrorist organizations or something
00:03:47.960 similar to that.
00:03:49.220 And we're going to authorize the use of deadly force.
00:03:51.680 We're going to have maritime operations to interdict precursor chemicals going into Mexico.
00:03:56.020 But I'll tell you this.
00:03:57.300 If someone in the drug cartels is sneaking fentanyl across the border when I'm president, that's
00:04:01.800 going to be the last thing they do.
00:04:03.040 We're going to shoot them stone cold dead.
00:04:04.660 We're going to shoot them stone cold dead.
00:04:07.780 The audience absolutely erupted to that line saying, hey, we'll treat them like terrorists.
00:04:13.560 I want your reaction to that.
00:04:15.780 So, look, I think on the fentanyl question, the answers from the candidates were all fine.
00:04:22.480 To be honest, many of the answers felt like talking points.
00:04:26.540 There was very little done in terms of an indictment of Joe Biden.
00:04:31.680 In fact, it was really hard to hear Joe Biden's name even tonight.
00:04:36.100 It was really striking that the candidates didn't say Joe Biden's name and they didn't
00:04:40.380 say Donald Trump's name very much.
00:04:41.920 Both of them.
00:04:43.280 You know, it's kind of ironic right now.
00:04:45.220 I think most people think the most likely nominees are Biden and Trump.
00:04:50.040 And yet the five on the stage rarely mentioned either name.
00:04:54.060 I think that was a strategic mistake.
00:04:56.200 On the border, you know, I think it would have been more effective to see someone really
00:05:01.940 vigorously, passionately litigate the case against Biden.
00:05:06.500 This is a manmade disaster.
00:05:08.300 Joe Biden created it.
00:05:09.860 Joe Biden inherited the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years.
00:05:13.720 And he came in and deliberately screwed it up and he screwed it up by ending remain in
00:05:18.420 Mexico.
00:05:18.740 He screwed it up by reimposing catch and release.
00:05:21.800 He undermines the Border Patrol and the president can fix this.
00:05:26.180 And I got to say, I didn't hear any of the candidates really explain it.
00:05:30.240 I don't know if they understand it or not, but they didn't explain it, that this is one
00:05:34.460 of the issues on which a president can fix it and can fix it immediately.
00:05:39.440 And that was not clearly articulated.
00:05:42.780 I have to say that the several of the candidates talked about using the military to go into Mexico
00:05:49.900 and kill the cartels.
00:05:51.560 I got to say, I think that position is loopy.
00:05:54.480 Our military doesn't invade sovereign nations.
00:05:59.120 And we should not start.
00:06:01.600 We shouldn't be invading Mexico or Canada or any place else.
00:06:04.880 Now, what I do think we need, and I've talked about this before, is something like Plan
00:06:10.100 Colombia, which happened under George W. Bush when you had the Medellin cartel, when you
00:06:15.680 had a massive wave of drugs coming in, and President Uribe in Colombia asked for America's
00:06:22.800 help, said, please come in and help us get rid of the drug dealers.
00:06:26.560 And we did.
00:06:27.080 We sent the military in and eradicated much of their leadership.
00:06:30.500 I think that would make enormous sense.
00:06:32.800 But I didn't hear anyone point out that to do this, you would need the Mexican government's
00:06:37.360 approval that we should not be in the business of invading Mexico.
00:06:41.540 And I think fundamentally, the reason people are saying, let's send the military in and
00:06:46.940 invade Mexico is because they're not explaining what has caused this crisis.
00:06:51.820 It is a deliberate, deliberate choice by Joe Biden, by Kamala Harris, by Alejandro Mayorkas,
00:06:59.580 and by the Democrats in Congress to open up our borders.
00:07:03.560 And that choice could be reversed immediately by a president who understood the problem and
00:07:09.220 was prepared to say, if you are apprehended, you will be deported.
00:07:13.060 We will put you on a plane.
00:07:14.160 We will send you back.
00:07:15.340 The numbers would plummet.
00:07:17.080 Both the numbers of illegal immigration and the numbers of drugs coming into this country
00:07:21.940 would plummet.
00:07:23.180 I'll mention something else also, which is on immigration, Vivek talked about our northern
00:07:28.560 border.
00:07:28.960 And he said another thing that I thought was was really kind of odd.
00:07:32.900 And he said, we need to build two walls, one on our southern border, one on our northern
00:07:38.360 border, I don't know what the guy's talking about.
00:07:40.880 The idea that we would build a wall on our border with Canada, number one, it would be
00:07:46.800 a massive wall.
00:07:47.760 That's a much, much bigger wall than our southern border.
00:07:50.660 And number two, there is nowhere near the traffic to justify building a massive wall across
00:07:58.040 what is in many cases open wilderness between Canada and very spartily populated parts of the
00:08:05.100 United States.
00:08:06.520 That was an odd policy recommendation.
00:08:08.840 But I think, look, people are looking for something that sounds catchy and sexy to solve
00:08:14.860 this problem rather than explaining and articulating what really caused it.
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00:09:59.160 Well, I want to get the facts compared to talking points so that people understand this
00:10:05.220 and dive into this a little bit more.
00:10:07.320 I hear the idea that we go after the cartel members and we treat them like terrorists
00:10:13.020 and we use special forces to go after them.
00:10:15.520 And yes, in theory, Senator, that sounds great.
00:10:18.860 But if we're not welcomed, and there's no indication that Mexico would welcome that right now,
00:10:24.180 they haven't asked for it from what I understand, unless you know something different than what's
00:10:27.980 been publicly reported, they're not begging or clamoring for us to come down there and
00:10:32.280 take on the cartels.
00:10:34.120 Could we do that?
00:10:35.740 Could a president do that without the permission, just airspace and all the other logistics that
00:10:42.000 are involved and go after these cartels they're bringing in fentanyl?
00:10:45.320 Because that sounds like a great promise that may be very hard to fulfill legally.
00:10:50.580 Look, could a president do that?
00:10:52.880 A president's commander in chief, you could order the military to go in.
00:10:56.080 But ordinarily, if you invade another country, that's considered a declaration of war.
00:11:01.720 And listen, I would love to send the military after the cartels if, if, if the Mexican government
00:11:08.240 asked for our help.
00:11:09.160 And to be clear, Colombia did, but it took, it took the situation getting bad enough that
00:11:15.760 they recognized they needed our help.
00:11:17.540 And, and one of the problems is under Joe Biden, because he's opened up the border, the cartels
00:11:25.080 in Mexico have, have increased their profits by 2,600%.
00:11:29.940 Back in 2018, they made roughly $500 million profits from human trafficking.
00:11:35.160 Last year, they made $13 billion from human trafficking.
00:11:40.080 The consequence of that is the cartels have become one of, if not the dominant player in
00:11:45.920 Mexican society.
00:11:46.780 We've seen crime rates skyrocket.
00:11:49.020 We see murders and kidnapping and disappearing all across Mexico.
00:11:53.300 It is tragic.
00:11:54.560 We see Mexican politicians, Mexican journalists.
00:11:57.280 We see prosecutors, judges threatened at massive numbers.
00:12:02.260 I sat down with, with, with the mayor of Reynosa, major American city right across from McAllen
00:12:07.400 just a few weeks ago for lunch, along with several others in McAllen.
00:12:11.340 He was describing how in Reynosa, they've had roughly 6,000 people disappeared by the cartels.
00:12:18.660 These are horrific numbers.
00:12:21.060 And, and so right now, at least AMLO, who is viciously anti-American and has become more
00:12:26.540 anti-American with a weak president like Joe Biden, would never, ever, ever invite the
00:12:32.080 military in to take out the cartels.
00:12:33.880 Now, AMLO is going to be out of office.
00:12:35.760 The next president, we'll see what happens.
00:12:38.080 But, but I, I think the answers on illegal immigration were fine, but, but, but none of
00:12:44.240 them expressed a deep understanding of what in fact is happening.
00:12:47.460 It was interesting as I was watching it and I want to get your take, I was looking at
00:12:52.200 these answers and almost like they were saying, I'm with Trump too.
00:12:55.360 And then Ramaswamy is like, I'm with Trump and then I'll build even more wall in Canada.
00:12:59.840 It was like then overreach there.
00:13:01.680 There wasn't any sense of, of like ownership of their own ideas on how to deal with fentanyl,
00:13:06.960 how to deal with China and how to deal with the cartels and how to deal with the Southern
00:13:10.500 border.
00:13:11.080 It was regurgitating what I think it's like they'd all already heard that was popular.
00:13:15.820 That concerned me as a Republican.
00:13:18.240 Yeah.
00:13:18.740 And, and remember, look, every one of these candidates is theoretically running to be
00:13:24.640 the alternative to Trump.
00:13:27.240 Having an immigration debate where nobody mentions the name Joe Biden and nobody mentions Donald
00:13:32.660 Trump, it's just kind of weird, like it's, it's sort of missing the point.
00:13:38.420 It's people reading a few kind of, like I said, talking points without acknowledging
00:13:45.620 number one, this is an area Trump had very significant success and, and he negotiated
00:13:51.000 the remain in Mexico deal.
00:13:52.560 That was a big damn deal.
00:13:54.800 It was a game changer.
00:13:56.200 It was unbelievably successful.
00:13:58.020 And then Biden on his first week in office, ripped it to shreds and caused this crisis.
00:14:02.620 And, and, and to have that discussion without acknowledging that context, I, I think, let
00:14:09.880 me put it this way.
00:14:10.800 I don't think any of those candidates in discussing illegal immigration moved a single voter and,
00:14:17.700 and that from their perspectives is a problem.
00:14:20.620 Yeah, it certainly is.
00:14:21.540 There was also a grand debate over pro Hamas propaganda on TikTok.
00:14:26.720 Now we've had debates about TikTok before.
00:14:28.840 Should it be banned?
00:14:30.420 It's been banned on, on government devices and many states have banned it from state government
00:14:35.100 devices.
00:14:35.660 Uh, is it a spying apparatch and is also in a sense of mind control, uh, where they're pushing
00:14:41.160 propaganda in the face of young people in the face of people on TikTok 24 seven.
00:14:45.720 What we saw after what happened with it, with the attack on Israel is a massive, and there's
00:14:52.640 data to back this up, a massive onslaught of pro Hamas propaganda that was being pushed into
00:14:58.680 the feeds, into the scrolling, uh, of, of people that are on TikTok.
00:15:03.820 This is the reason why I don't use TikTok.
00:15:06.420 I believe it is nothing more than a Chinese, uh, communist party spying apparatus and, uh,
00:15:11.980 propaganda machine.
00:15:13.620 This was part of the debate.
00:15:15.380 I want you to hear it and I want to get your debate, uh, your, your reaction to it as well.
00:15:19.400 We're going to stay on China and we're going to talk specifically about TikTok.
00:15:22.780 Last week, Congressman Mike Gallagher, who is chairman of the House Bipartisan Select Committee
00:15:28.500 on the Chinese Communist Party, published a long essay on TikTok following the flooding
00:15:33.480 of pro Hamas propaganda on the TikTok accounts across the United States.
00:15:38.260 Chairman Gallagher called it shocking.
00:15:40.220 He called the app predatory, controlled by America's preeminent adversary.
00:15:44.200 One used to push propaganda and divide America, it's spyware, he said, in means of surveillance.
00:15:50.540 Governor Christie, do you agree with Chairman Gallagher?
00:15:53.060 And if so, would you ban or force the sale of TikTok?
00:15:56.160 I agree 100% with Chairman Gallagher.
00:15:58.720 And let me say this, TikTok is not only spyware.
00:16:03.440 It is polluting the minds of American young people all throughout this country.
00:16:09.540 And they're doing it intentionally.
00:16:11.080 And when you saw what happened in the last few weeks with all of this anti-Semitic, horrible
00:16:18.600 stuff that their algorithms were pushing out at a gargantuan rate, this is China trying
00:16:26.080 to further divide the United States of America.
00:16:29.040 And this is one of the big failings among many of the Trump administration.
00:16:33.020 He talked tough about TikTok.
00:16:36.080 I heard him do it many times.
00:16:37.500 But when it came down to it, he did not ban them when he could have and should have.
00:16:43.220 And now since then, we've had an additional nearly six years of this type of poison be put
00:16:50.640 out throughout the United States, even putting aside the spying, which we know is going on
00:16:55.060 in the theft of American personal data and information.
00:16:59.180 So in my first week as president, we would ban TikTok.
00:17:04.900 They want to go ahead and sell it?
00:17:06.900 Let them go ahead and sell it.
00:17:07.960 But I'll tell you another reason we would do it.
00:17:10.100 Facebook's not in China.
00:17:12.860 X is not in China.
00:17:15.140 They're not permitting a free flow of information to the Chinese people from our social media
00:17:20.860 companies.
00:17:21.520 Yet we just open the door and let them do what they're doing.
00:17:24.560 And TikTok should be banned because they are poisoning American minds.
00:17:28.540 And I would do it week one.
00:17:29.820 Thank you, Governor.
00:17:31.460 Senator, you hear those talking points that came there from a guy that actually I think
00:17:37.680 is a pretty good debater.
00:17:39.020 And it probably hit with a lot of Americans the way that Chris Christie described them.
00:17:44.140 And I think the compare and contrast with China is brilliant.
00:17:47.140 He's like, look, they ban our stuff all the time.
00:17:49.280 They don't let X in there, Twitter.
00:17:50.760 They don't let Facebook in there.
00:17:52.040 Why are we so shy as a nation to get rid of a of tick tock or force the sale?
00:17:57.660 Your thoughts on that?
00:17:59.320 Look, I think you're right.
00:18:00.760 I think Chris's answer there was quite good.
00:18:03.660 And and but but at the same time, one of the things that was striking is is as I saw it,
00:18:08.720 there was basically complete agreement on tick tock across the debate stage that immediately
00:18:13.780 after that, Hugh Hewitt asked asked DeSantis if he agreed.
00:18:17.740 He said he did.
00:18:18.560 He asked Nikki Haley and and and Ramaswamy Vivek said that he agreed, although he he said
00:18:25.480 more broadly that other tech companies are sharing information with China.
00:18:29.100 We need to crack down on that.
00:18:30.280 He's right on that.
00:18:31.940 And and then he asked Nikki Haley and Nikki Haley used it as a chance to punch back at other
00:18:38.100 can other candidates on the stage who had attacked her on China generally.
00:18:41.600 So so I didn't hear her answer the question, but look, the answers were good.
00:18:47.760 And what you just played from Chris was well articulated.
00:18:51.620 Again, I don't know that any of these answers are differentiating.
00:18:54.580 When you get everyone on the stage agreeing, it's difficult to see what votes are being
00:18:59.940 moved.
00:19:00.360 If they're all saying the same thing, it's status quo.
00:19:03.580 And and I will say, you know, Chris, they're saying if I were president, I would ban it.
00:19:10.300 You know, I would have liked to actually have seen a follow up from the moderator.
00:19:14.220 Well, what under what legal authority would you ban it?
00:19:17.080 Look, she and China can ban whatever the hell they want because it's a dictatorship.
00:19:20.700 But but to actually ban something in America takes some legal authority.
00:19:24.720 And it's one thing to say I would go to Congress and push legislation to ban it.
00:19:29.120 That's that's a position that is a reasonable position for a presidential candidate to make.
00:19:34.000 But but I have not seen an effective argument that the president has the unilateral power
00:19:40.220 to wave a magic wand and suddenly say tick tock is banned in America.
00:19:43.920 And and if Christie has an argument for that, he certainly didn't articulate it.
00:19:48.580 How would you ban it?
00:19:49.960 I mean, explain to people how that would work legally.
00:19:53.020 If you if let's let's say that any one of these people magically could do this instantly
00:19:57.700 tomorrow, it's not as simple as you just described it.
00:20:01.440 Right.
00:20:01.620 This is one of those empty promises in a campaign that people make, which drive voters insane.
00:20:06.380 But what would it actually take to get rid of tick tock or force a sale?
00:20:11.060 Oh, look, you could have and there was discussion under Trump of trying to force a sale and their
00:20:16.500 their existing laws.
00:20:18.280 There's there's there's a process called CFIUS that deals with foreign investment in the United
00:20:22.560 States.
00:20:23.520 I'm not saying it is impossible to come up with an argument of executive power to do
00:20:27.720 this.
00:20:28.440 But but Christie did not present any argument under that.
00:20:31.500 And I haven't seen a persuasive argument that it can be done as an executive matter.
00:20:36.220 If it's not done as an executive matter, then it would take legislation.
00:20:39.740 And you'd have to actually get get that to move through Congress.
00:20:43.560 And it certainly has not moved yet.
00:20:46.220 I do agree.
00:20:47.520 Look, tick tock.
00:20:48.780 The Chinese government has has control of tick tock, the ability to monitor monitor what's
00:20:54.240 happening on tick tock.
00:20:55.280 They are pushing very harmful messages.
00:20:57.980 I think they are deliberately harming the United States.
00:21:00.860 I think they are targeting our kids.
00:21:02.560 They're targeting our kids with garbage.
00:21:04.560 They're targeting our kids with self-harm messages.
00:21:07.320 They're targeting our kids with with substance abuse and drug use messages.
00:21:11.620 And and on Hamas, it has been horrific.
00:21:15.240 The pro Hamas propaganda that's being pushed on on tick tock.
00:21:21.720 Now, I will say that we saw we saw a back and forth where Nikki Haley slammed Vivek because
00:21:29.700 he's on tick tock.
00:21:31.240 Um, and and he came back with a pretty good response and said, well, look, you know, all
00:21:37.980 the lefties are on tick tock and we need to actually have some positive messaging there.
00:21:42.040 I understand that argument.
00:21:43.220 I'm not on tick tock myself, but but but because of the Chinese control.
00:21:47.600 But it worries me at time that if all conservatives abandon that platform and so many kids are
00:21:52.880 following it, that that that we're leaving it to be almost entirely negative.
00:21:57.780 And so I thought Vivek's response there was pretty good until he went too far and he
00:22:04.320 had a nasty shot at Nikki Haley where he said, well, your daughter's on it and you're a hypocrite.
00:22:10.300 And and and Nikki quite rightly got pissed off at that.
00:22:14.180 Yeah.
00:22:14.420 And this was this was that response for this point.
00:22:16.760 It was a great back and forth.
00:22:18.280 And if you missed it, here's what it sounded like.
00:22:20.840 Well, I want to laugh at why Nikki Haley didn't answer your question, which is about looking
00:22:24.700 at families in the eye.
00:22:25.880 In the last debate, she made fun of me for actually joining tick tock while her own daughter
00:22:30.180 was actually using the app for a long time.
00:22:32.340 So you might want to take care of your family first.
00:22:34.060 Leave my daughter out of your voice.
00:22:37.140 The next generation of Americans are using it.
00:22:40.400 And that's actually the point.
00:22:41.940 You have her supporters cropping her up.
00:22:43.880 That's fine.
00:22:44.640 Here's the truth.
00:22:45.560 The easy answer is actually to say that we're just going to ban one app.
00:22:49.400 We got to go further.
00:22:50.160 We have to ban any U.S.
00:22:52.460 Company actually transferring U.S.
00:22:55.300 data to the Chinese.
00:22:56.340 Here's a story.
00:22:57.240 Most people.
00:22:58.020 I'm going to jump back in there because you heard the back and forth where she even says
00:23:01.400 you're just scum.
00:23:03.180 Yeah.
00:23:03.340 Look, I think that was a very, very bad moment for Vic.
00:23:07.860 When you're attacking someone's kid, she was exactly right to pop back at him.
00:23:13.780 And I just think that's out of bound.
00:23:15.640 Don't don't attack people's kids.
00:23:17.300 You want you want to criticize the candidate.
00:23:19.500 Great.
00:23:19.860 But going after their kid, I think Vivek lost votes and lost support on that.
00:23:26.200 And I think a lot of parents are like, leave the kids the hell out of it.
00:23:29.320 And her reaction, the disgust she had where I think that was real.
00:23:35.920 And that was, I think, one of the most consequential moments of the debate.
00:23:40.580 Canadian women are looking for more, more of themselves, their businesses, their elected
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00:23:50.660 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:23:51.760 And I'm Catherine Clark.
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00:23:58.100 athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.
00:24:02.480 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:24:05.720 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:24:09.780 And I want to move to Israel real quick and get your reaction.
00:24:14.040 This obviously has become a presidential election cycle that is that is heavy in now foreign policy.
00:24:21.700 Ron DeSantis was asked the question about Israel.
00:24:24.840 There's an obsession.
00:24:25.620 Now, you and I talked about this yesterday.
00:24:28.100 There is an obsession by the left for a ceasefire.
00:24:31.480 Now, the White House is pushing for a ceasefire.
00:24:34.320 Bibi has made it very clear.
00:24:35.860 No, if you want to ceasefire, then release all of the hostages.
00:24:39.700 Otherwise, we're moving forward and we're not stopping until we get rid of Hamas.
00:24:45.100 And now there's new warnings coming from the U.N. and even the White House about Israel.
00:24:49.940 If you go too far in their words, they're now turning Israel into the bad guys.
00:24:53.840 Also, what you predicted, they had a few weeks to do what they need to do.
00:24:56.960 And after that, they were going to people are going to turn on them very quickly.
00:24:59.880 But DeSantis said this when he was asked about America's foreign policy and Netanyahu.
00:25:04.440 I would be telling Bibi, finish the job once and for all with these butchers, Hamas.
00:25:11.020 They're terrorists.
00:25:13.260 They're massacring innocent people.
00:25:15.460 They would wipe every Jew off the globe if they could.
00:25:19.000 He cannot live with that threat right by his country.
00:25:23.180 That Hamas should release every hostage and they should unconditionally surrender.
00:25:27.200 I'm sick of hearing the media.
00:25:28.420 I'm sick of hearing other people blame Israel just for defending itself.
00:25:32.720 We will stand with Israel in word and in deed, in public and in private.
00:25:37.500 And I can tell you, as governor, I actually did something about it.
00:25:40.260 Biden's neglect has been atrocious.
00:25:42.660 We had Floridians that were over there after the attack.
00:25:46.000 He left them stranded.
00:25:47.400 They couldn't get flights out.
00:25:48.980 So I scrambled resources in Florida.
00:25:51.360 I sent planes over to Israel.
00:25:53.380 And I brought back over 700 people to safety.
00:25:57.020 There could have been more hostages had we not acted.
00:26:00.420 And I'll tell you this.
00:26:01.220 I met the first plane load when they came to Florida.
00:26:04.220 And one of the mothers pointed to a six-year-old daughter.
00:26:06.240 And she said, my daughter had been saying the last two nights, mommy, I don't want to hear
00:26:10.820 any more bombs, no more rockets.
00:26:12.240 I just want to get back to Florida.
00:26:14.400 So there's a difference between words and deeds.
00:26:17.560 We acted and we saved lives.
00:26:19.700 I thought that was a strong point.
00:26:21.180 Not just about American leadership and how we should make sure that we get people out of
00:26:25.060 countries when we can.
00:26:26.060 And this is, I think, a clear, indirect shot, in essence, at the president for what happened
00:26:31.580 in Afghanistan and also what's happening now.
00:26:34.240 But also him saying to Bibi, you can't expect him to do anything but what he's doing now
00:26:39.420 to keep his people safe.
00:26:40.700 He cannot live with terrorists next door.
00:26:42.840 Now, that was an excellent answer.
00:26:45.060 It was one of, if not the strongest moment of the night.
00:26:48.280 It was excellent both on substance that he was calling out the need to support Israel in
00:26:53.180 destroying Hamas.
00:26:54.080 He called out Biden, so unlike the other points I made where they were reluctant to call out
00:26:58.940 Biden, he went very directly at Biden.
00:27:01.020 And part of what made that answer so strong is that DeSantis acted decisively.
00:27:06.600 He had something to say there because as governor of Florida, sending those planes to bring Floridians
00:27:12.180 home from Israel, that was a big deal.
00:27:14.000 That was well done.
00:27:14.880 That showed initiative.
00:27:15.880 That showed leadership.
00:27:17.280 It's part of why Ron has such a strong record as governor of Florida.
00:27:21.140 As an executive, he's able to act unilaterally in a way the other candidates can't.
00:27:26.000 It's not something it's not like Chris Christie could suddenly send planes to take people to
00:27:30.640 New Jersey.
00:27:31.100 He does not have that capacity.
00:27:33.920 Ron, as governor, did.
00:27:35.820 But no other governor did that.
00:27:37.300 There are 50 governors in America and only one did that.
00:27:39.800 And so it was a combination of substantively strong combined with a unique moment in his
00:27:46.200 record that Ron was able to capitalize on.
00:27:48.980 And look, this is one of the things that I've been emphasizing.
00:27:53.200 Debates are all about one of a couple of things.
00:27:56.960 Number one, are you moving votes?
00:27:59.000 Are you moving votes and moving them from whom?
00:28:01.040 They've got to come from somewhere.
00:28:02.160 So if you are adding to your vote total, you're taking votes from somebody else for the candidates
00:28:07.500 on that stage.
00:28:08.520 If they're adding to their vote total, they're either taking votes from one of the other candidates
00:28:13.900 on that stage or from Donald Trump.
00:28:16.900 And and you do that through points of differentiation.
00:28:20.160 If you all say the same thing, nothing changes.
00:28:24.440 Well, that's an instance where what DeSantis was saying was different.
00:28:28.220 And I think that was that was a differentiating moment.
00:28:32.220 There needed to be more of those in the debate for the candidates.
00:28:37.880 I do think the field is shrinking.
00:28:40.020 I think it is more and more becoming between DeSantis and Haley.
00:28:44.220 I think Nikki had a good and effective night.
00:28:46.540 She's articulate.
00:28:47.400 She defended herself well.
00:28:49.280 There were lots of shots coming at her.
00:28:51.540 Uh, but, um, I think all of the candidates would have been better off by having more
00:28:59.000 differentiators between themselves and the other people on that stage and critically
00:29:03.700 between themselves and Trump and between themselves and Biden.
00:29:06.860 Do you think lastly on the debate that there will be this many candidates on the next debate
00:29:11.860 stage or do you think there will be more that fall off and it goes to, as you mentioned
00:29:16.060 earlier, that DeSantis, Nikki Haley, you know, kind of two people.
00:29:19.280 So, so I don't know.
00:29:21.820 Um, I have read the press speculation.
00:29:23.640 So the RNC has increased the threshold for the next debate.
00:29:28.280 Uh, and at least the press speculation is that Tim Scott is unlikely to clear that next
00:29:33.300 threshold.
00:29:33.800 I don't know if that's right and we'll see where things are, but I do think falling off
00:29:38.300 the debate stage is, is effectively fatal in this race that if you're not there, uh, it
00:29:43.860 is difficult to see how a candidacy survives if it can't make the debate stage.
00:29:47.760 Um, I don't know if Christie makes this, the debate stage or not.
00:29:52.040 I just, I, I have not looked at his numbers closely enough to see if, if he would make
00:29:57.120 the stage, it would be a very different debate if it were down to three people.
00:30:01.100 I think the three that, that will make it for sure are DeSantis, Haley, and probably Vivek,
00:30:07.300 his numbers are strong enough.
00:30:08.520 And I will say, so in 2016, when I was doing debates, and this is true of every debate that,
00:30:14.160 that I do, you, you try to think in terms of moments.
00:30:17.360 Do you have a moment that, that catches fire, that goes viral, that results in fundraising?
00:30:24.300 So if you have a really good moment that catches fire the next day, and even that night, your
00:30:28.700 fundraising can explode.
00:30:30.240 I had debates where within 24 hours, we'd raise millions of dollars because you had a
00:30:34.760 moment that really just, just resonated.
00:30:37.200 Um, it, it, and it can move votes.
00:30:41.200 You know, when we had a great debate, it was striking where we'd go to events and events
00:30:45.720 that used to have 300 people would have 2000 people.
00:30:49.980 And, and, and it was an immediate effect of a really strong debate.
00:30:53.640 And so that feel it.
00:30:54.560 I mean, it's no joke.
00:30:55.420 You can really feel like, wow, we really did well last night because the people showed
00:30:59.420 up for us today.
00:31:00.240 Yeah.
00:31:01.280 And so there were not a whole lot of moments like that.
00:31:04.500 Now I will say Vivek had a, a good moment in his opening and his opening, he blasted
00:31:11.760 the RNC and it was memorable and he blasted the debate moderators.
00:31:16.240 And if you have that clip, you ought to play that because that was, uh, that was one of
00:31:19.820 the more striking moments of the debate.
00:31:22.100 Mr.
00:31:22.640 Ramaswamy, let me turn to you.
00:31:24.120 Uh, please make your case.
00:31:25.220 Why would you, uh, why should you be the nominee and not the former president?
00:31:29.860 I think there's something deeper going on in the Republican party here.
00:31:32.640 And I am upset about what happened last night.
00:31:35.700 We've become a party of losers at the end of the day.
00:31:38.560 It was a cancer in the Republican establishment.
00:31:41.240 Let's speak the truth.
00:31:42.340 I mean, since Ronna McDaniel took over as chairwoman of the RNC in 2017, we have lost
00:31:46.880 2018, 2020, 2022, no red wave that never came.
00:31:51.440 We got trounced last night in 2023.
00:31:54.700 And I think that we have to have accountability in our party for that matter.
00:31:58.660 Ronna, if you want to come on stage tonight, you want to look the GOP voters in the eye
00:32:02.460 and tell them you resign.
00:32:03.520 I will turn over my, yield my time to you.
00:32:06.380 And frankly, look, the people there cheering for losing in the Republican party.
00:32:10.180 Think about who's moderating this debate.
00:32:11.980 This should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk.
00:32:15.040 We'd have 10 times the viewership asking questions that GOP primary voters actually care about
00:32:20.480 and bringing more people into our party.
00:32:22.540 You think the Democrats, and we've got Kristen Walker here, you think the Democrats would
00:32:26.420 actually hire Greg Gutfeld to host a Democratic debate?
00:32:30.500 They wouldn't do it.
00:32:31.680 And so the fact of the matter is, I mean, Kristen, I'm going to use this time because
00:32:33.740 this is actually about you in the media and the corrupt media establishment.
00:32:37.840 Ask you the Trump-Russia collusion hoax that you pushed on this network for years.
00:32:42.220 Was that real or was that Hillary Clinton made up disinformation?
00:32:46.920 Answer the question.
00:32:47.800 Go.
00:32:49.060 Mr. Ramos.
00:32:49.700 Sorry.
00:32:50.800 This is how we get our country back.
00:32:54.060 We need accountability because this media rigged the 2016 election.
00:32:58.540 They rigged the 2020 election with a Hunter Biden laptop story.
00:33:01.420 And they're going to rig this election.
00:33:02.740 Your time is up.
00:33:04.000 Let me turn to Governor Christie.
00:33:05.900 Why are you?
00:33:06.420 And by the way, I love how fast he jumped in there to take those blows, which, by the
00:33:15.160 way, his attack on that debate moderator is accurate.
00:33:19.500 She did, in fact, push the Russian hoax for years on the network.
00:33:25.740 So listen, I will say that that was a striking opening.
00:33:28.640 I mean, that that is unusual.
00:33:30.580 That may be unique in the in the history of presidential debate openings and it will be
00:33:35.920 memorable.
00:33:37.060 I'm not sure that it moved a lot of votes, but it's the sort of thing that will go viral
00:33:45.420 online.
00:33:46.040 It's the sort of thing there was fire flowing.
00:33:48.420 Now, it also feels a bit performative.
00:33:51.800 So, for example, unloading on on Ronna McDaniel.
00:33:55.580 Listen, I'm frustrated.
00:33:58.060 We're all frustrated at the election results last night and that we've had multiple elections
00:34:02.240 with with results that that were subpar.
00:34:05.820 And we can have long discussions about why that is.
00:34:09.020 I got to say it is a bit of a weird argument to say it's Ronna McDaniel's fault.
00:34:14.200 Like, I'm sorry, the head of the RNC is not winning or losing national elections.
00:34:19.940 And so what I felt that was is really Vivek has run his whole campaign never, ever, ever
00:34:27.260 criticizing Donald Trump.
00:34:28.560 So he didn't want to blame Trump.
00:34:30.640 And so Ronna was kind of a convenient whipping boy for that.
00:34:35.380 But but the sort of solution he was pointing to is you need to resign, I thought was less
00:34:41.640 effective.
00:34:42.120 And you could point to Trump.
00:34:43.920 You could point to Mitch McConnell.
00:34:45.080 You could point to to candidate selection as to why we lost.
00:34:49.140 You could point to messaging.
00:34:50.240 But but targeting Ronna on there, I thought was odd.
00:34:54.060 Look, going after the media is pretty much always a good strategy in a Republican debate.
00:34:59.100 And I will say his substantive point is exactly right and something I've called for for a long
00:35:04.400 time.
00:35:05.140 I believe Republican presidential primary debates should only be moderated by people who will
00:35:12.400 vote in a Republican primary debate.
00:35:14.560 If you look at Democrat primary debates, you have media journalists, all of whom are Democrats
00:35:19.560 who moderate the debates and every one of the moderators wants one of the Democrats on
00:35:24.560 the stage to win.
00:35:26.080 If you look at many Republican debates, they're moderated by journalists.
00:35:30.660 Often all of them are going to vote in the Democrat primary and they want every person on the stage
00:35:36.780 to lose.
00:35:38.260 And so tonight, the only person on that stage who's going to vote in a Republican primary
00:35:43.720 is Hugh Hewitt.
00:35:44.380 And I thought Hugh did did an admirable job.
00:35:46.240 I like Hugh.
00:35:46.820 He's a smart guy.
00:35:47.760 He's very knowledgeable on foreign policy and national security.
00:35:50.960 I thought he did an admirable job.
00:35:52.400 And I did think Vivek's point about Welker pushing the Russia hoax was really, it scored.
00:36:03.160 I will say it would have been more effective if the moderators had been more blatantly biased.
00:36:10.260 And I will say I did think that Welker and Lester Holt did not do a bad job tonight.
00:36:15.980 There have been debates where we've seen moderators do horrible, horrible jobs and make it all about themselves.
00:36:25.100 And here, I thought the moderators were fairly restrained and did a good job of not making it about themselves.
00:36:33.900 And it's striking there even at the end after he blasts Welker where she doesn't engage.
00:36:38.160 She just says, OK, you know, moving on.
00:36:40.680 And, you know, when it comes to authenticity, I mean, that that whole riff felt to me a bit like a performance piece
00:36:48.100 because he was resolved to blast the moderators before they'd done anything.
00:36:52.720 I think it would have been more effective in response to demonstrated bias.
00:36:58.400 And I didn't see nearly as much bias from the moderators as we've seen in other debates.
00:37:05.220 Yeah, great point.
00:37:06.020 And it was like you said, when sometimes you have lines that you get ready for and you look for.
00:37:10.420 And he played that hand before they showed their bias in this debate.
00:37:14.000 And it may have looked, like you said, too pre-planned there.
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00:38:50.300 Last question for you.
00:38:52.060 A little comedy and congratulations.
00:38:55.360 Jimmy Kimmel is promoting your book, Senator.
00:38:58.820 I'm very excited about this.
00:39:00.640 I also am waiting for the restraining order because he's absolutely obsessed with you.
00:39:04.840 Your new book that is out, Unwoke, How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America.
00:39:10.040 He gave it a prime time promotion on his show last night.
00:39:14.480 Here's what it sounded like.
00:39:15.660 Ted Cruz has a new book.
00:39:16.720 It's called Unwoke.
00:39:18.320 It's, uh, he's, you know what?
00:39:19.980 He's so cool.
00:39:20.960 He's, um...
00:39:22.040 You can tell it's Ted's book because the dust jacket doesn't quite fit.
00:39:26.480 It won't...
00:39:27.000 It won't button in the front.
00:39:29.460 But this is Cruz's fifth book.
00:39:31.460 The last one was called Ted Cruz, A Time for Truth.
00:39:35.080 You see him there without the beard.
00:39:36.300 He also wrote Ted Cruz's Head Ooze.
00:39:39.140 Um, he wrote Glued Pubes, The Guide for Guys Who Can't Grow a Beard.
00:39:43.400 Of course, the New York Times bestseller, A Partially Digested Rat, and other things I found on my chin pouch.
00:39:49.680 There are many interesting musings and revelations in the books.
00:39:52.400 Uh, he says, The Princess Bride is his favorite movie, and he's seen it hundreds of times, which is definitely not true.
00:39:59.160 No one's seen anything hundreds of times.
00:40:00.760 And apparently, he's not a big fan of late-night television.
00:40:03.760 This is an excerpt, real excerpt.
00:40:05.360 He wrote,
00:40:06.080 A late-night TV is virtually unwatchable.
00:40:08.360 I love comedy, but watching angry leftists scream about how much they hate Donald Trump isn't remotely funny.
00:40:14.080 It's pitiful.
00:40:14.880 Well, all I'll say is, it's an honor to be called pitiful by a man who abandoned his dog in an ice storm to go to Mexico.
00:40:22.900 But congrats, Ted.
00:40:25.820 And seriously, I do want to say, you know, writing a book like this is a huge accomplishment, especially for him.
00:40:33.200 You know, it's very difficult to type with hoops.
00:40:36.820 I mean, Senator, doesn't it prove your point that you just wrote in your book?
00:40:41.740 That was the part that made me laugh, is as he's forcing this comedy on the audience and there's some awkward laughter, it's like, yeah, thanks for proving the point of what you just wrote about in your book.
00:40:52.160 Sure.
00:40:52.540 Look, I mean, it was when he did that last night.
00:40:55.520 I actually tweeted his monologue out this morning, and I said, hey, thanks for pitching my book.
00:41:01.400 You forgot the link to where you can buy it.
00:41:03.440 And I sent the link, and I did something that is fairly obligatory also, which is Kimmel regularly blasts me in his late night monologues.
00:41:13.360 And every time he does, I respond and I point out that ever since I whipped Jimmy Kimmel's ass in one-on-one hoops, it seems that I'm living rent-free in his head.
00:41:26.820 And so I sent a video of me scoring on him and blocking him just to remind him of that moment that I think he probably still wakes up in tremors about.
00:41:38.740 But I thought it was hysterical.
00:41:40.160 What he read there was an actual excerpt from the book, and then he put up the book cover.
00:41:44.280 And I think that's fabulous, but I do wish the substantive point that late night humor, I wish, was actually funny.
00:41:53.020 I love comedy.
00:41:54.160 I grew up watching SNL.
00:41:55.500 I like real comedians who are funny, and they used to be funny.
00:41:59.360 And now it's one of the many examples, and I discuss it at length in the book Unwoke, how Trump broke the media, Trump broke the Democrat Party,
00:42:08.980 and Trump broke late night comedy because they just, it's a partisan primal scream instead of, good comedy makes fun of both sides.
00:42:20.940 I'm perfectly fine with making fun of me, but they never ever make fun of the Democrats.
00:42:25.000 It's purely a, I am leftist, hear me roar.
00:42:28.720 Yeah, it's a great point.
00:42:30.360 Don't forget, grab the book, especially, you know, now that Jimmy Kimmel's promoting it, Unwoke, How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America.
00:42:36.700 Yeah, congrats, Senator, it's number one in multiple categories right now on Amazon.
00:42:41.040 You can grab it right now on Amazon.
00:42:42.280 It'll get to you really quickly.
00:42:43.900 You can grab a copy for a great Christmas gift as well, or wherever you get your books.
00:42:48.540 It is out now.
00:42:50.560 Unwoke, How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America.
00:42:54.080 And there's also another liberal book, by the way, that you were beating earlier today.
00:42:57.760 Just a little side note.
00:42:59.000 Rachel Maddow has her new book out, and you were ahead of that, which made me just grin a little bit, Senator.
00:43:04.780 Well, that is a good thing, and beating lefties is a great American pastime.
00:43:12.920 There we go.
00:43:13.720 Don't forget, this show is Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
00:43:15.920 Hit that subscribe, auto-download, or follow button, because if you don't, you'll miss special pods like this one when we give you debate reaction on a normal night where we don't do it.
00:43:26.580 So make sure you hit that subscribe, auto-download button as well, and give us a five-star review.
00:43:31.440 And the Senator and I will actually see you back here tomorrow for our regular episode on Friday, and we'll see you then.
00:43:37.700 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:43:40.360 Guaranteed human.