Verdict with Ted Cruz - July 18, 2025


Epstein, Trump & WSJ-MAGA Battle Explodes, plus Congress Defunds NPR & PBS and Stephen Colbert Canceled


Episode Stats


Length

35 minutes

Words per minute

155.86832

Word count

5,530

Sentence count

492

Harmful content

Toxicity

35

sentences flagged

Hate speech

4

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joins Sen. Ben Fincher (D-NJ) to discuss the Epstein scandal, the fallout from it, and what we can do to fight for transparency in the wake of it.

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 .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.220 Welcome, it is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:09.200 Senator, we have got so much to talk about on the show,
00:00:12.660 including a lot that deals with the Epstein, quote, files,
00:00:17.500 and people are demanding transparency.
00:00:21.280 Well, there's an absolute battle playing out in Washington, D.C.,
00:00:23.900 and you've got a battle about the Epstein files,
00:00:26.260 President Trump, The Wall Street Journal, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, Dan Bongino.
00:00:31.680 It is chaos.
00:00:32.960 We're going to do our very best to break down what's going on,
00:00:35.480 what to expect, what's going to happen next.
00:00:37.800 We're also going to talk about really important legislation
00:00:40.960 that just passed Congress, passed the Senate,
00:00:44.000 defunding PBS, defunding NPR.
00:00:46.460 This is a major conservative victory.
00:00:49.100 We've been trying to do this for decades, and we finally got it done.
00:00:52.140 And finally, we're going to talk about something that I'm going to confess
00:00:56.300 is just beautiful.
00:00:58.100 Stephen Colbert has been fired.
00:01:00.620 He's been canceled.
00:01:02.100 We're going to break that down, talk about what's going on.
00:01:04.940 A lot is happening right now.
00:01:07.120 Yeah, before we get all that, I just want to talk to you real quick
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00:03:00.600 All right.
00:03:01.520 So, Senator, let's break down some of the just frustrations with the Epstein hoopla.
00:03:08.240 The media is just going after Donald Trump.
00:03:11.860 The left is now caring about Epstein.
00:03:14.680 They never did before.
00:03:16.400 They're trying to attack Trump, saying he's trying to hide something.
00:03:20.100 And I think it's pretty clear you've been an advocate for this.
00:03:24.140 I have since the beginning.
00:03:25.760 I want transparency.
00:03:26.940 I want to make sure that the people that were involved are held accountable.
00:03:32.020 There seems like there's been no accountability except for one person going to jail.
00:03:35.740 And I want to make sure that our government wasn't covering something up because a lot of people have lost, like, confidence in our institutions.
00:03:43.160 And we know they've lied to us a lot.
00:03:45.780 I don't think there's anything wrong with hardcore conservatives wanting that level of transparency.
00:03:52.100 Well, I think millions of conservatives, millions of Americans have been frustrated in the last week.
00:03:56.940 Because the media has been just beside themselves trying to flame a civil war.
00:04:03.660 They wanted a civil war between MAGA and Trump.
00:04:06.300 And they're hoping that all of the elements of the conservative movement, all of the elements of President Trump and his supporters will consume each other.
00:04:15.700 I don't think that's going to happen.
00:04:17.680 So part of my advice to everyone is just breathe, count to ten.
00:04:22.260 We're going to make it through this.
00:04:23.580 Now, let me give you some ways to think through this.
00:04:25.980 I'm going to give you four principles.
00:04:28.340 Number one, transparency is good.
00:04:31.280 We should support transparency.
00:04:32.860 We should demand transparency.
00:04:34.300 We should fight for transparency.
00:04:36.420 That's important.
00:04:37.140 Number two, protect the victims.
00:04:41.960 A couple of months ago, I had dinner with Pam Bondi.
00:04:44.500 Pam is a good friend.
00:04:45.640 We were talking about the Epstein files and what had been released.
00:04:49.080 What she told me then is she said that there were hundreds, even thousands of hours of tapes.
00:04:55.080 The tapes were explicit, she said.
00:04:57.680 They were explicit of children being abused.
00:05:01.060 And she said it was taking time to edit those videos to make sure you protect the victims.
00:05:07.240 Look, nobody wants to see children being sexually assaulted, having their privacy violated.
00:05:12.320 So I think it's important to protect the victims.
00:05:14.960 It's not their fault.
00:05:17.260 Number three, and this is a principle I have said for years on this issue.
00:05:22.340 Release it all.
00:05:24.980 That should be the basic standard.
00:05:26.460 Put it out there.
00:05:27.320 Release it all.
00:05:28.880 Make it public.
00:05:29.920 That's what I've encouraged the president to do, the White House to do, the Department of Justice to do, the FBI to do.
00:05:35.260 I think that is a simple and straightforward standard.
00:05:38.700 And then number four, predators should be prosecuted.
00:05:44.800 Anyone who sexually assaulted a child should be prosecuted and they should go to jail.
00:05:52.220 This is a simple and straightforward standard.
00:05:54.700 This is what we should be demanding.
00:05:55.940 Now, we're going to break this down in this show.
00:05:58.440 We're going to talk about what's going on.
00:05:59.760 But understand, the media, you were on CNN earlier tonight.
00:06:05.440 CNN is so excited.
00:06:06.940 They're so excited because they're seeing strong supporters of the president who are criticizing the president.
00:06:12.720 CNN doesn't care about the truth.
00:06:14.180 If they cared about the truth, by the way, Joe Biden had these files.
00:06:17.720 He had these files for years.
00:06:19.640 Did CNN ever mention the words Jeffrey Epstein?
00:06:22.440 They didn't want Joe Biden to release the files.
00:06:24.540 They didn't want Merrick Garland to release the files.
00:06:26.560 They're not concerned about the substance.
00:06:28.360 They're just excited about the civil war among President Trump and his supporters.
00:06:34.720 That should tell you something.
00:06:36.460 We're going to break that down even further. 0.99
00:06:37.960 But understand at the end of the day, the people cheering on for this to get ugly, many of them, the Democrats and the corporate media, have been proven to be utter and complete hypocrites. 0.61
00:06:52.360 Because if they didn't say a word when Joe Biden was president, then they need to be quiet right now and stop pretending they care about this.
00:07:01.480 Let's talk about what transparency looks like.
00:07:04.820 And this was one of the big debates, as you mentioned, CNN obsessed over this.
00:07:10.500 And I said, look, this has to be done in a responsible way.
00:07:13.440 I also think the American people need to understand Donald Trump cannot just sign and everything go out to the public.
00:07:19.960 There are judges that will have to decide what is made public in a lot of the information we have on Jeffrey Epstein.
00:07:26.440 And they're trying to act like Donald Trump's the one that's not allowing anything to happen.
00:07:30.180 That's not the case.
00:07:32.200 Well, that's right.
00:07:33.420 And listen, the media and the Democrats have been eager to fan a dispute between Pam Bondi, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino.
00:07:42.040 Now, I want to caution everyone.
00:07:43.980 Do not take as true everything reported in the media.
00:07:47.780 Yeah, I've read the same things you are, that Dan Bongino screaming at Pam Bondi that there's a civil war, that he's threatening to resign, that Kash Patel is threatening to resign.
00:07:56.880 I don't know.
00:07:58.400 I have not been in these meetings.
00:08:00.440 I'll tell you, all three of them are friends of mine.
00:08:02.900 I like Pam Bondi.
00:08:04.260 I like Kash Patel.
00:08:05.540 I like Dan Bongino.
00:08:06.580 I've known all of them for a decade.
00:08:09.080 I believe they're good people.
00:08:10.520 I believe they're principled people.
00:08:11.940 I believe they're trying to do the right thing.
00:08:14.620 And my hope is the Trump administration will follow the four principles I laid out and handle this the right way.
00:08:23.420 But do not get carried away with the media excitement of the people who hate President Trump, hate his administration, and want his administration to be in a civil war.
00:08:36.080 I very much hope, I do not know, but I hope that Bondi, Patel, and Bongino come together and they do the right thing together and do not believe the exaggerations of a civil war right now.
00:08:48.080 Senator, I want to get in also to another big story that came out.
00:08:52.480 It dealt with Epstein and the Wall Street Journal report, the president punching back extremely hard on this reporting.
00:09:01.760 Well, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that there was a book prepared for Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday, and it had letters from a number of prominent people, and that one of the letters was from Donald Trump.
00:09:14.780 And this was a breathless article, and you're right, President Trump is punching back hard.
00:09:20.560 He says it is fake.
00:09:22.140 He says it is false.
00:09:23.680 He says he's going to sue the Wall Street Journal.
00:09:26.340 Now, Ben, you don't know the truth on this.
00:09:28.760 I don't know the truth on this.
00:09:30.600 I'll tell you what the Wall Street Journal reported.
00:09:32.740 Just on the text of it, I got to admit, this thing sounds weird.
00:09:37.700 And if any of us have a BS meter, it ought to be flashing.
00:09:43.140 So here's what the Wall Street Journal reported.
00:09:46.620 It reported the letter said, quote, voiceover, there must be more to life than having everything.
00:09:53.980 And then it's this weird dialogue.
00:09:56.760 Donald, yes, there is, but I won't tell you what it is.
00:10:01.640 Jeffrey, nor will I, since I also know what it is.
00:10:07.420 Donald, we have certain things in common, Jeffrey.
00:10:10.940 Jeffrey, yes, we do.
00:10:14.620 Come to think of it.
00:10:16.640 Donald, enigmas never age. 1.00
00:10:19.860 Have you noticed that?
00:10:21.760 Jeffrey, as a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you.
00:10:28.400 Donald, a pal is a wonderful thing.
00:10:32.600 Happy birthday.
00:10:34.000 And may every day be another wonderful secret. 0.83
00:10:37.600 And then underneath that is a hand-drawn, pretty shoddy drawing of a naked woman and the now very famous signature of Donald Trump drawn on top of the hand-drawn naked woman.
00:10:51.760 Now, look, I don't know if this is real or not, but I got to say that doesn't sound like Donald Trump to me.
00:10:57.280 I've known President Trump a long time.
00:11:00.640 That exchange just sounds strange.
00:11:04.160 I've seen online.
00:11:05.640 I've never heard President Trump use the word enigma, as in enigmas never age.
00:11:10.520 That's not the language President Trump speaks in.
00:11:13.340 This sort of weird, existential, self-reflective dialogue out of Camus.
00:11:20.220 That ain't the Donald J. Trump I know.
00:11:25.300 And I got to say, President Trump's response on this, it was not ambiguous.
00:11:31.320 It was not slight.
00:11:32.620 It was not conflicted.
00:11:34.920 Here's what President Trump said in response to this.
00:11:39.260 He said on truth, quote,
00:11:41.480 Mr. Murdoch stated that he would take care of it, but obviously did not have the power to do so.
00:12:02.980 The editor of the Wall Street Journal, Emma Tucker, was told directly by Caroline Levitt and by President Trump
00:12:08.980 that the letter was a fake, all caps.
00:12:11.960 But Emma Tucker didn't want to hear that.
00:12:14.740 Instead, they're going with a false, malicious, and defamatory story anyway.
00:12:19.400 President Trump will be suing the Wall Street Journal, News Corp, and Mr. Murdoch shortly.
00:12:24.720 The press has to learn to be truthful and not to rely on sources that probably don't even exist.
00:12:30.500 President Trump has already beaten George Stephanopoulos slash ABC, 60 Minutes slash CBS, and others,
00:12:38.000 and looks forward to suing and holding accountable the once great Wall Street Journal. 0.97
00:12:42.780 It has truly turned out to be a, quote, disgusting and filthy rag, 0.97
00:12:46.980 and writing defamatory lies like this shows their desperation to remain relevant. 0.95
00:12:52.240 If there were any truth at all on the Epstein hoax as it pertains to President Trump,
00:12:57.620 the information would have been revealed by Comey, Brennan, Crooked Hillary, and the other radical left lunatics years ago.
00:13:06.040 It certainly would not have sat in a file waiting for Trump to have won three elections.
00:13:11.740 This is yet another example of fake news.
00:13:14.940 Now, I've got to say, President Trump is not being shy or subtle or restrained on that.
00:13:22.260 He's saying it's an absolute lie.
00:13:25.120 And, look, I think we'll see this play out in the days ahead.
00:13:29.900 But on the face of it, like the strange drawing of a naked woman that seems like it's drawn by about a 12-year-old,
00:13:38.940 that doesn't seem like anything I've ever seen President Trump do.
00:13:43.540 And it's kind of very conveniently signed with the same signature we've seen on pictures, on laws, on executive orders, on pardons.
00:13:56.880 It has a lot of appearances of being fake.
00:13:59.360 We'll see what happens.
00:14:01.100 Well, and the clear point the president was making was he's saying it's not real and I'm going to sue.
00:14:07.160 Suing, by the way, the company that owns Fox News, that's a pretty bold statement.
00:14:12.080 I also think that, you know, goes to the heart here where he's saying this is not a real story.
00:14:17.040 And let's also be clear.
00:14:19.320 When the president digs in, traditionally, we have seen when he says this is not a real story,
00:14:25.300 Russia collusion is a great example of that.
00:14:28.920 He's been right.
00:14:30.060 And when he's sued, he's been right.
00:14:31.980 Well, and let me make three points that are critical in analyzing this battle between Trump and the Wall Street Journal.
00:14:38.760 Number one, the most compelling argument, and he made this in his truth,
00:14:43.100 is if there were evidence of Donald Trump in the Epstein files,
00:14:47.660 Biden would have released it.
00:14:48.960 Biden had this.
00:14:49.920 Merrick Garland had this.
00:14:51.060 They were in the middle of a nasty fight.
00:14:53.300 If they had anything to implicate Donald Trump, we would have seen this on the front pages of the paper in October of 2024,
00:15:01.140 right before the election.
00:15:02.240 The fact that they didn't, I think, is the single most compelling piece of evidence to suggest that this is not real.
00:15:08.940 Number two, and I want to underscore this.
00:15:12.040 Don't forget Bill Clinton.
00:15:15.480 Jeffrey Epstein was a Democrat.
00:15:17.080 He was a friend of Bill.
00:15:18.200 You know what was hanging in Jeffrey Epstein's living room in his Manhattan brownstone?
00:15:25.820 Ah, the famous Bill Clinton blue dress painting.
00:15:29.400 No, that's exactly right.
00:15:30.840 It was a painting of Bill Clinton in a blue dress wearing red pumps.
00:15:34.920 It was weird.
00:15:36.280 And that's what Jeffrey Epstein had hanging on his wall.
00:15:39.060 He was a huge Democrat donor.
00:15:41.020 He supported Chuck Schumer and Democrats. 0.97
00:15:43.520 And so don't forget Bill Clinton, and there's a lot of effort to paint this Democrat scumbag as a Trump guy. 0.87
00:15:53.820 And a final point. 0.95
00:15:54.840 Here's what President Trump truthed this week.
00:15:58.140 Quote, based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein,
00:16:01.860 I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent grand jury testimony subject to court approval.
00:16:07.860 This scam, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end right now.
00:16:14.380 Bravo, release it all.
00:16:16.660 That was right in the principles we said right up front.
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00:16:47.380 Jusqu'au 2 mars, des conditions s'appliquent des tailles chez Nissan.
00:16:50.320 Amen to that.
00:16:51.340 And let's talk about some winning that's been taking place, Center.
00:16:54.800 It's been amazing what the President has been able to do with you guys.
00:16:57.900 Benjamin, are you tired of winning?
00:16:59.880 I'm not tired.
00:17:00.980 I'm not tired of winning, that's for sure.
00:17:02.240 I'm not tired at all.
00:17:04.000 Yeah, you look at just the last six months.
00:17:06.000 The Trump administration, we've secured the border.
00:17:08.840 They've launched ICE raids.
00:17:10.580 They've ended child gender surgeries.
00:17:13.280 They designate the cartels as terrorist organizations.
00:17:16.400 They've kicked out DEI out of government.
00:17:18.500 And then the big one, which should make so many taxpayers happy,
00:17:23.260 they have defunded NPR with your help and leadership.
00:17:26.940 That is amazing.
00:17:27.800 Well, I got to say this, this week was a very important week.
00:17:31.520 So at 220 in the morning, late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning, the Senate voted and we voted to defund NPR and defund PBS.
00:17:41.300 Now, as a conservative, I have been fighting to defund NPR and PBS as long as I can remember.
00:17:47.340 NPR, PBS have been left-wing propaganda outlets forever.
00:17:53.600 And as bad as they were, look, when we were kids, when it was Sesame Street and Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, okay, that was fine.
00:18:02.680 But in recent years, they have been radicalized.
00:18:06.460 They always lean left.
00:18:07.320 But in recent years, they've been open outlets for left-wing propaganda.
00:18:12.920 And I got to say, the left was certain we could never defund them.
00:18:17.680 And I will tell you, on the Senate floor as we were taking up the rescissions package,
00:18:22.180 so President Trump sent a package of some $9 billion of rescissions, federal spendings, to call back.
00:18:30.400 We were battling on the floor, and we had – it was beyond 2 in the morning.
00:18:35.020 It was very unclear if we were going to prevail because I got to say, there were several Republicans who were wobbly.
00:18:41.400 There were several Republicans who were threatening to vote with the Democrats.
00:18:45.200 And as late as about 2 in the morning, I didn't know if we were going to win.
00:18:49.860 We did prevail.
00:18:51.480 And I got to say, what a testament to the president.
00:18:54.000 And what a testament.
00:18:54.820 Let me give just a shout-out to Senate Republicans and House Republicans for coming together,
00:19:00.460 for pushing past their differences, defunding NPR and PBS is the right thing to do.
00:19:06.200 And the Senate finally, finally, finally voted to do that this week.
00:19:10.140 Yeah, this is such a big message, I think, to taxpayers that we're no longer in the business of just completely abusing your tax dollars
00:19:19.780 and actually using your tax dollars to go for political purposes, which is the scariest part of all of this,
00:19:27.480 is how political these dollars had become, advocating for radical extreme things against family values.
00:19:34.640 And by the way, I don't want our tax dollars going for conservative things in broadcasting either.
00:19:39.980 I want to make that very clear.
00:19:41.700 Like, that's not what we're advocating for at all.
00:19:44.060 The government should not be in the propaganda business.
00:19:46.920 This is the argument I made on the Senate floor.
00:19:48.940 So listen to what I stood up and urged my colleagues late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning.
00:19:54.940 Give a listen.
00:19:56.160 Public broadcasting has long been overtaken by partisan activists, plain and simple.
00:20:02.220 This isn't just an abstract critique.
00:20:03.980 NPR and PBS have revealed their left-wing bias time and time again.
00:20:09.640 When blowing the whistle on NPR, Yuri Berliner, a former senior editor, himself a left-wing Democrat,
00:20:16.560 wrote that, quote,
00:20:17.760 NPR has always had a liberal bent.
00:20:20.640 An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR.
00:20:25.940 We don't have an audience that reflects America.
00:20:29.020 Exhibit A.
00:20:29.720 After the New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story, NPR ran political cover for the Democrats,
00:20:37.880 refusing to cover the story, quote,
00:20:40.420 We don't want to waste listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions.
00:20:45.800 Mind you, the story was true.
00:20:47.880 That's why they didn't want to cover it.
00:20:49.440 As for PBS, its coverage of last year's DNC was only 12% negative.
00:20:57.100 The RNC, a staggering 72% negative.
00:21:01.440 If you want to watch left-wing propaganda, turn on MSNBC.
00:21:06.400 But the taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize it.
00:21:10.520 I urge a no vote on this amendment.
00:21:12.100 That obviously was very powerful, and the facts that you laid out there are also incredibly accurate.
00:21:18.260 Look, the principle is simple, and I'll say it again.
00:21:21.040 If you want to watch left-wing propaganda, turn on MSNBC, or for that matter, CNN,
00:21:27.360 or for that matter, read the New York Times or any of a host of corporate media outlets.
00:21:31.880 But you know what we shouldn't be doing?
00:21:33.620 It's using your taxpayer money to subsidize it.
00:21:37.200 And I've got to say, I'm going to give a shout-out to my colleague, John Kennedy.
00:21:41.240 John is a good friend, but he also has a fabulous sense of humor.
00:21:45.360 I want you to listen to John Kennedy talking about NPR, some of the most radical stories they've run.
00:21:51.180 I want to give you a few examples of stories that NPR has published using taxpayer money.
00:21:58.200 I'll just read the headlines.
00:21:59.620 First headline, NPR news service.
00:22:04.600 Michael Avenatti, quote, a profile of the media-savvy attorney.
00:22:11.500 They love Michael Avenatti.
00:22:14.480 You know where Michael Avenatti is today?
00:22:17.220 He's in jail.
00:22:19.720 You know why? 1.00
00:22:21.460 He's a crook. 0.98
00:22:23.340 But for a while, he was a media darling on NPR. 0.98
00:22:28.540 Here's another headline from NPR.
00:22:32.320 How racism became a marketing tool for country music.
00:22:38.420 I kid you not.
00:22:41.200 The American taxpayers are spending half a billion dollars a year to pay a local station to buy content
00:22:48.760 that says country music is racist.
00:22:51.960 Here's another headline from NPR.
00:22:58.940 Donald Trump's long embrace of Vladimir Putin.
00:23:04.580 Remember the Russiagate?
00:23:09.420 The Steele dossier?
00:23:10.540 Today, NPR was right in there promoting it.
00:23:15.620 A couple more headlines that NPR is putting out there using your tax dollars.
00:23:24.360 This headline, monuments and teams have changed names.
00:23:28.460 Let me say it again.
00:23:30.560 Monuments and teams, presumably sports teams,
00:23:34.400 have changed names as America reckons with racism.
00:23:40.320 Birds are next.
00:23:42.780 I don't know any birds that are racist.
00:23:46.340 Here's another headline.
00:23:48.060 Eating less beef is a climate solution.
00:23:51.760 Eating less beef is a climate solution.
00:23:58.740 I don't have anything that's vegetarians.
00:24:01.580 I'm a semi-vegetarian myself.
00:24:04.720 I eat beef and beef and cows eat grass.
00:24:09.120 So that makes me a semi-vegetarian.
00:24:12.080 But that's my choice.
00:24:13.260 Not on NPR.
00:24:16.900 Eating less beef is a climate solution.
00:24:19.400 Here's why that's hard for some American men.
00:24:23.280 Here's a final headline.
00:24:24.520 I could go on the rest of the evening.
00:24:26.380 How the Taliban adds to Afghanistan's woes 0.97
00:24:30.400 when it comes to climate-fueled disasters.
00:24:34.420 Boy, I can tell you that's on the mind of every person in Afghanistan today.
00:24:38.380 It's climate change.
00:24:40.000 And the Taliban.
00:24:41.180 I can guarantee you.
00:24:43.260 I don't have a problem with these headlines.
00:24:45.800 This is America.
00:24:47.640 If you want to publish articles like this,
00:24:51.520 which no person with a brain above a single-cell organism
00:24:56.800 would call fair and balanced,
00:24:59.160 if you're a news outlet and you want to publish this kind of stuff,
00:25:02.900 that is your right as an American.
00:25:05.700 We have freedom of the press.
00:25:06.980 We have the First Amendment.
00:25:08.520 You're not free in our country if you can't say what you think.
00:25:11.220 You're not free in our country if you can't express yourself.
00:25:15.140 I'm all for this, if that's what these outlets want to do.
00:25:19.860 But I'm not for taking $500 million every single year
00:25:27.200 and giving it to these stations to the exclusion of everybody else so they can do it.
00:25:34.900 Amen to that, Senator.
00:25:36.860 I couldn't agree with your colleague and good friend, Senator Kennedy, more.
00:25:41.080 I love John Kennedy.
00:25:42.500 I will say he said something in that.
00:25:44.540 As you know, I'm married to a California vegetarian.
00:25:47.480 Her entire family are all vegetarians.
00:25:49.500 And an argument I make with my in-laws often is I say,
00:25:52.960 listen, all the animals I eat, they're all vegetarian.
00:25:55.720 And I will say, you've owned a barbecue restaurant.
00:25:59.860 I am a proud carnivore.
00:26:01.920 John Kennedy is fantastic.
00:26:03.560 But NPR and PBS are a joke.
00:26:06.040 And we have reason to celebrate because despite a massive battle,
00:26:10.640 we won, we won, we won.
00:26:13.060 The Senate voted to cut off, to zero out taxpayer funding.
00:26:17.460 We're no longer paying for left-wing propaganda.
00:26:19.960 Senator, there is just some news that shocked the left.
00:26:25.680 I don't know how this could be true,
00:26:27.960 but the late show has been destroyed by Stephen Colbert,
00:26:32.000 the point where they're like, we're not even just firing you.
00:26:34.220 We're just canceling the entire brand that has been a staple in American culture,
00:26:39.940 an iconic show for decades.
00:26:43.160 And now they're just like, yeah, we're done.
00:26:45.540 I mean, it's amazing, right?
00:26:47.240 You alienate half the country.
00:26:48.800 You hate half the country.
00:26:50.060 You mock half the country.
00:26:51.380 No one could have seen this coming.
00:26:53.940 Well, look, I got to say what you and I talked about just a few minutes ago.
00:26:58.200 I'm not tired of winning yet. 0.98
00:27:00.740 Stephen Colbert is a vicious, dishonest, partisan leftist. 0.98
00:27:07.240 He is utterly consumed with Trump derangement syndrome. 1.00
00:27:12.300 And he hates, he despises more than half of America. 1.00
00:27:16.640 He thinks we're idiots. 1.00
00:27:18.860 He thinks we're racist. 1.00
00:27:19.980 He thinks we're morons. 1.00
00:27:21.360 He is a condescending, arrogant jackass. 1.00
00:27:25.700 Now, look, I say this with direct experience. 1.00
00:27:29.520 I've been on Colbert's show.
00:27:31.560 There used to be a time, listen, I'm someone, I love comedy.
00:27:34.980 I love late night comedy.
00:27:36.220 I grew up watching an SNL.
00:27:37.500 I grew up watching Johnny Carson and Jay Leno and, like, really fun late night comedy.
00:27:44.140 And by the way, if you've got a sense of humor, you can laugh at both sides.
00:27:47.980 I'm okay with late night comics making fun of Republicans, making fun of Democrats.
00:27:52.240 Look, both sides are funny.
00:27:53.460 There's lots of jokes to tell.
00:27:55.560 There used to be a time.
00:27:56.840 I've been in the Senate 13 years.
00:27:58.900 When I got there, it was part of the job.
00:28:00.820 I've done just about every late night show.
00:28:03.200 I've done Jay Leno, I've done Colbert, I've done Jimmy Kimmel, I've done Jimmy Fallon.
00:28:11.180 It was a fun part of the job.
00:28:14.520 It's disappeared.
00:28:15.640 None of the late night shows have Republicans on anymore.
00:28:18.520 They don't invite anyone.
00:28:20.080 In fact, it was really fitting.
00:28:21.700 Stephen Colbert's show where he announced, I've been canceled.
00:28:25.580 I'm pulled off the air.
00:28:26.720 You know who his guest was?
00:28:27.960 Adam Schiff.
00:28:28.620 Because, of course, it was Adam Schiff.
00:28:30.720 Because, and Colbert's the worst of them.
00:28:34.520 He's a vicious, nasty, so I remember when I first did his show, you know, the hosts come
00:28:39.940 by and they talk to you in the green room and they chat with you.
00:28:43.680 And, you know, I said, look, like all of these late night comics, they think they're going
00:28:48.840 to be, you know, they're going to be this, like, meet the press, like, we're going to
00:28:54.240 ask you really tough questions.
00:28:56.160 By the way, Democrats, they have love fests, they laugh, they joke, they kid around, but
00:29:02.580 with the Republicans, they're going to nail you to the ground.
00:29:04.820 And I'm like, look, you want to ask tough questions, that's fine.
00:29:08.640 But you go on a late night comedy show to humanize, to say a little bit of who you are,
00:29:14.300 to laugh.
00:29:15.240 And Colbert just got angry. 0.65
00:29:16.720 He's just like, I want to prove you are evil. 1.00
00:29:20.820 You are the devil. 0.98
00:29:21.600 And by the way, they don't even do that anymore. 0.99
00:29:23.280 They just don't have Republicans on.
00:29:25.800 And Colbert, of all of them, was the worst.
00:29:28.160 By the way, Jimmy Fallon of the late night guys is the best.
00:29:31.700 Yeah.
00:29:31.820 Fallon, you know, it's interesting.
00:29:33.540 Fallon inherited Jay Leno's audience.
00:29:36.740 Jay Leno inherited Johnny Carson's audience.
00:29:39.460 Their audience is a lot of Midwestern conservatives.
00:29:43.180 And so Jimmy Fallon, like, I had a great time.
00:29:46.860 I did Jimmy Fallon back when I was running for president.
00:29:49.340 He had a very funny skit where he dressed up as Donald Trump and called me and went back
00:29:55.600 and forth. 0.98
00:29:56.080 But he was the one late night host who was not a jerk. 0.98
00:30:00.340 Actually, Leno wasn't either. 0.97
00:30:01.660 But that was early on.
00:30:04.640 Colbert is directly responsible, along with his compatriots, with destroying late night comedy.
00:30:10.720 And I want to play.
00:30:12.260 By the way, it's because it wasn't humor.
00:30:15.100 It's not funny. 0.98
00:30:15.820 It's just, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you is not funny. 0.97
00:30:19.600 Yeah.
00:30:19.840 It's also, by the way, the reason why I think Shane Gillis was at the ESPYs, because humor
00:30:24.100 is actually back.
00:30:27.400 And Colbert turned his show into this, like, sanctimonious, woke lecture every night attacking
00:30:33.420 half of America.
00:30:34.980 Well, and let me prove it.
00:30:36.160 I want to play just a selection of, you know, he became this, like, scold for you must get
00:30:44.880 the COVID vaccine.
00:30:45.880 And here are a couple of examples of this bizarre song he did.
00:30:49.900 You're going to listen to it.
00:30:50.860 I wish you could see the videos, because the videos have him dancing like a fruitcake
00:30:56.940 nut, dressed as a human syringe.
00:31:00.420 But just listen to it, because you can get a sense of just how sanctimonious he was.
00:31:03.900 Give a listen.
00:31:04.300 Let's find out the way the vaccine is changing the scene in our new recurring segment, The
00:31:10.760 Vaccine.
00:31:30.560 Longer.
00:31:32.080 Longer.
00:31:33.100 Stahl.
00:31:33.620 Why the can, can you ask?
00:31:37.340 I asked that myself.
00:31:38.580 The answer, public domain.
00:31:42.820 It's the answer to most things, really.
00:31:45.120 The vaccine.
00:31:46.120 I'm a Yankee-Doo vaccine. 1.00
00:31:49.800 Shut, shut, shut, shut, shut, shut, shut.
00:31:55.080 The vaccine.
00:32:01.080 The vaccine.
00:32:03.620 We have a vaccine.
00:32:07.660 Get your shot right now.
00:32:09.580 In your arm. 0.99
00:32:10.580 It won't hurt.
00:32:11.500 Then go hug your mom. 0.97
00:32:13.040 Get your shot.
00:32:14.920 Hug your mom. 0.97
00:32:17.020 Get your shot.
00:32:21.280 Hug your mom.
00:32:22.620 By the way, by the way, I just wonder, like, how many of those segments had vaccine commercials
00:32:29.340 from pharmaceutical companies in there, and it's like, hey, I got you.
00:32:32.340 I'll do a big thing.
00:32:33.740 They put this out.
00:32:34.100 I am Stephen Colbert, sponsored by Pfizer.
00:32:36.980 Right, exactly.
00:32:37.760 They put this thing out.
00:32:38.920 It's 10 minutes and 49 seconds long.
00:32:41.380 By the way, I say they.
00:32:42.860 Literally, the video we just played from you was the, quote, vaccine, the box set, the late
00:32:47.440 show with Stephen Colbert.
00:32:48.540 They put this out themselves and were that proud of it.
00:32:53.440 No, they were proud of it, and it's vicious.
00:32:57.180 It's nasty, and it's not funny.
00:32:59.960 Like, I'm fine with a comedy host that makes fun of everyone.
00:33:05.600 That's, you know, one of my favorite movies, and we didn't include this one we did on July
00:33:09.280 4th, our movie section, but one of my favorite movies was Team America, World Police.
00:33:14.880 Did you ever see that, Ben?
00:33:16.520 Oh, yeah.
00:33:17.040 Great movie.
00:33:18.320 Hysterical movie, and it's done, it is, it's puppets, and it makes fun of both sides.
00:33:24.640 It makes fun of Republicans, but it makes fun of Democrats, and it's, now I will warn you,
00:33:28.640 it is profane.
00:33:29.620 I had the incredibly poor judgment to play this video for my in-laws on a family vacation,
00:33:35.780 and I will tell you, about nine minutes into it, when they had dropped the 30-second F-bomb,
00:33:42.420 I was like, okay, wow, this was a really bad idea, and my mother-in-law is frowning at me,
00:33:46.980 and I'm like, wow, okay, never mind.
00:33:49.260 But unbelievably funny, because it's actually comedy.
00:33:53.620 It's making fun just watching Stephen Colbert saying, I hate Donald Trump.
00:33:59.620 Yes, Stephen, we got you, but you know what?
00:34:03.020 Stephen Colbert is now unemployed.
00:34:05.380 He's been canceled, and he's been canceled, because oddly enough, Americans don't like to listen to someone screaming at them, 0.97
00:34:12.320 I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I'm smarter than you, I'm a left-wing elitist, I make millions of dollars, and I despise you.
00:34:19.380 And so I've got to say, in response to his musical medley, urging everyone, you must get the vaccine, 0.99
00:34:26.880 I have a different musical medley that I want to say, not just to Stephen Colbert, but also to NPR and to PBS.
00:34:33.420 Here's my musical response.
00:34:34.740 Truly amazing.
00:34:47.920 You've got to love that song right there.
00:34:49.500 Don't forget, we do this podcast, this show, I should say, as a podcast, three days a week.
00:34:55.480 So make sure you subscribe to Verdict with Ted Cruz wherever you get your podcasts.
00:35:00.220 Have a fabulous week.
00:35:02.440 The Center and I will see you back here on this radio station, wherever you are, next weekend.
00:35:07.140 And hopefully, you'll hear us three days a week on the podcast.
00:35:10.680 Have a great one.
00:35:25.040 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:35:27.940 Guaranteed human.