Verdict with Ted Cruz - Exclusive Preview： Welcome to The Cloakroom

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

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00:00:04.280 Hey, Verdict fans.

00:00:05.460 I want to give you a sneak peek of my new series

00:00:07.460 with Senator Ted Cruz.

00:00:08.580 It's called The Cloak Room on Verdict Plus.

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00:00:31.560 Without further ado, here is The Cloak Room.

00:00:34.880 Hello and welcome.

00:00:36.100 I am so excited to introduce today

00:00:37.900 The Cloak Room on Verdict Plus.

00:00:40.340 This is only for Verdict Plus subscribers.

00:00:42.580 If you are a member, go ahead and become a subscriber

00:00:44.920 so that you can see all the cool stuff

00:00:46.620 that we're going to be talking about over here.

00:00:48.120 This is a brand new series with Senator Ted Cruz.

00:00:50.580 It's co-hosted by me, Liz Wheeler.

00:00:52.440 Basically, what's going to happen is

00:00:53.940 I'm going to pick his brain like I would in a strategy session.

00:00:56.800 It is a behind-the-scenes peek into details

00:00:59.480 of what goes on in D.C.,

00:01:00.660 just like The Cloak Room of the actual Senate.

00:01:03.340 Today, we're going to talk about

00:01:04.400 how to apply a constructed foreign policy

00:01:06.880 to a situation, a real-life situation like Ukraine.

00:01:10.020 We're also going to talk about Whoopi Goldberg,

00:01:11.620 and we're going to talk about Tom Brady.

00:01:13.100 Again, if you are a member of the Verdict Plus community already,

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00:01:27.560 Senator, I'm pretty excited about this.

00:01:29.460 Yeah, I think this is going to be awesome.

00:01:31.760 And in fact, it may be a good thing to start.

00:01:34.400 Do you know what the actual Senate Cloak Room is?

00:01:37.160 I do, but I have to tell you,

00:01:38.720 I don't know a lot of details,

00:01:40.260 except it has this sort of cloak and dagger connotation.

00:01:44.800 It's a back room, right?

00:01:46.480 Where you guys go to have your off-the-floor,

00:01:48.400 off-the-record conversations?

00:01:49.840 So, you know, if you turn on C-SPAN,

00:01:51.840 you see the floor of the Senate.

00:01:53.080 And so that's where there are 100 desks,

00:01:55.360 and that's where we go to vote,

00:01:56.620 and that's where when we're speaking on the Senate,

00:01:58.220 we debate, and that's all on C-SPAN.

00:02:00.300 And if you look at someone who's speaking,

00:02:02.480 and you're kind of in the middle of the floor of the Senate,

00:02:05.060 behind you are a couple of doors.

00:02:08.180 And there are two cloakrooms, actually.

00:02:09.600 So there's a Republican cloakroom

00:02:10.940 and a Democratic cloakroom.

00:02:12.940 And the Republican cloakroom,

00:02:14.220 to the surprise of nobody,

00:02:15.360 is behind where all the Republicans sit,

00:02:16.800 and the Democrats are behind where all the Democrats sit.

00:02:18.720 So you go through those doors,

00:02:19.920 and basically the cloakroom is a room in the back there.

00:02:23.480 There are a bunch of couches.

00:02:24.620 There are leather chairs like this.

00:02:26.820 There's still a bunch of ashtrays.

00:02:28.340 I don't think anyone has actually smoked

00:02:29.860 in the cloakroom for decades,

00:02:32.040 but there's still ashtrays from back in the days

00:02:34.500 when they did.

00:02:35.500 And then you go around the corner,

00:02:37.860 and there are a bunch of phone booths.

00:02:41.340 And the phone booths are where you can go,

00:02:43.620 and you can get on your cell phone and call someone.

00:02:45.320 You can call your staff.

00:02:46.000 You can call whoever you want

00:02:46.880 if you want to have a private conversation.

00:02:48.920 And so people gather and talk in the cloakroom.

00:02:51.480 There are TVs up there.

00:02:52.500 There's cloakroom staff that is sort of paying attention

00:02:55.240 to what's happening on the floor.

00:02:56.380 But it's basically the room in the back

00:02:58.500 of the Senate floor where you gather

00:03:01.800 when you're not on the floor,

00:03:03.000 but you're not back in your office,

00:03:04.420 which is far away.

00:03:05.620 So let me ask you this.

00:03:06.720 Is this like a normal staffing room,

00:03:09.300 or is this where you go

00:03:10.300 when you really want to be off the record,

00:03:12.040 and you want to wheel and deal, if you will?

00:03:14.720 Is this where shady deals are made?

00:03:16.820 You know, I wouldn't say shady deals,

00:03:18.720 but it's just kind of like

00:03:19.660 if you're having a whole series of votes,

00:03:22.420 it's where you'll go hang out.

00:03:23.920 There's usually a little bit of food in there,

00:03:25.960 like they're peanuts,

00:03:26.940 and it actually goes back and forth,

00:03:28.700 like in the Republican cloakroom.

00:03:31.220 The Georgia senators would want Georgia peanuts there. 1.00

00:03:34.240 There'd be North Carolina peanuts.

00:03:35.540 There'd be a little back and forth.

00:03:37.820 There's some candy in there that you kind of grab,

00:03:41.500 but it's mostly,

00:03:42.720 it's also where they put things like condolence books.

00:03:45.980 Like we just had a few weeks back,

00:03:48.640 Johnny Isakson,

00:03:49.540 who had been the Republican senator from Georgia,

00:03:51.940 he passed away.

00:03:53.300 So we had a condolence book where we all went in

00:03:55.560 and each of us signed something to Johnny's family

00:03:58.140 and just thanks him for his service.

00:04:00.680 So the cloakroom is a place

00:04:01.720 you'll find something like that.

00:04:03.020 But it's kind of where you sit around and hang out.

00:04:06.300 People will tell jokes.

00:04:08.560 People will talk about sports.

00:04:10.240 I mean, it's where you get senators

00:04:12.540 hanging out in a more relaxed context.

00:04:16.040 So it's really behind the scenes,

00:04:17.820 which means that this series on Verdict Plus

00:04:20.460 is very aptly named

00:04:21.440 because that's exactly what it is behind the scenes.

00:04:23.540 So one of the things that is going to be unique

00:04:26.040 to this series is I want to talk about the philosophy

00:04:28.620 of the political philosophy

00:04:30.820 and sometimes the moral philosophy

00:04:32.300 of some of the things that are happening in our nation.

00:04:34.540 So not just the practicalities,

00:04:35.840 which are also important.

00:04:36.800 And we discuss those all the time in a public area,

00:04:39.740 but the philosophy.

00:04:40.540 And so what I mean by this

00:04:41.380 is Whoopi Goldberg on The View this week

00:04:43.740 said that the Holocaust was not about race.

00:04:46.360 And she faced an immediate backlash for this,

00:04:49.200 as she should.

00:04:50.300 And she ended up apologizing for this.

00:04:52.960 And she just said,

00:04:53.760 I apologize.

00:04:54.360 I was wrong about this.

00:04:55.160 I stand corrected, I think were her words.

00:04:57.340 So my question to you is,

00:04:58.820 obviously not was she wrong?

00:05:00.140 Of course she was wrong.

00:05:00.960 Obviously the Holocaust was about race. 0.91

00:05:02.980 Obviously the Democratic Party

00:05:04.340 is a little bit too cozy to anti-Semites.

00:05:07.640 And so they tend to play footsie a little bit

00:05:10.740 with these folks.

00:05:11.760 My question to you is,

00:05:13.140 given the cancel culture

00:05:15.180 that's become pervasive in our nation,

00:05:17.040 when should we accept the apologies

00:05:20.200 of people in the public eye

00:05:22.360 who make really nasty comments like this,

00:05:26.040 like the claim that the Holocaust is not about race?

00:05:27.740 Oh, look, I think when it comes to public comments

00:05:31.740 on left or right,

00:05:33.000 we should be pretty forgiving,

00:05:34.860 particularly when someone says,

00:05:36.380 I misspoke.

00:05:37.580 I'll tell you one reality of living a life

00:05:39.820 where you have a TV camera pointed at you all day long,

00:05:42.060 which you do and I do,

00:05:43.740 is if you say enough millions of words,

00:05:47.120 some of them are going to come out wrong.

00:05:48.840 Um, and so, you know,

00:05:52.500 look, is the left,

00:05:55.680 are there too many anti-Semites

00:05:57.840 among the hard left,

00:05:59.140 people like the squad who hate Israel?

00:06:00.940 Yes.

00:06:01.560 I have no indications

00:06:02.400 that that describes Whoopi Goldberg.

00:06:04.160 I certainly don't know anything. 0.99

00:06:05.660 It was a dumb thing to say. 0.98

00:06:09.060 Um, but she said it was a dumb thing to say. 0.98

00:06:11.260 So I'm going to give her credit 0.71

00:06:11.940 for sort of backing.

00:06:13.100 I mean, you know,

00:06:13.520 the Holocaust is one of the most grotesque evils 1.00

00:06:16.720 in the history of humanity.

00:06:18.460 And it is driven by the explicitly racist ideology

00:06:21.940 of Hitler and the Nazis

00:06:24.180 that viewed Jews and viewed others,

00:06:28.320 but Jews in particular, 0.92

00:06:29.380 as an inferior race and as subhuman. 0.98

00:06:32.940 And in fact, we've talked about on Verdict

00:06:35.640 how that justification of this group of people

00:06:40.800 does not qualify as people 1.00

00:06:43.100 in the history of mankind

00:06:46.520 has almost always been

00:06:48.640 a predicate for horrific evil,

00:06:51.340 whether it is the Holocaust

00:06:52.580 and the Nazis believing

00:06:53.920 that Jews did not qualify as human beings,

00:06:56.680 whether it was the justifications of slavery

00:06:59.420 and believing that African-Americans

00:07:01.160 were not people but were property,

00:07:03.700 or whether it is the justifications behind Roe

00:07:06.380 that unborn children are not children, 0.99

00:07:08.480 that any time you take a human being

00:07:11.540 and say they're not a human being,

00:07:15.000 that history is shown

00:07:17.240 is usually the predicate to terrible evil.

00:07:21.220 And so, you know,

00:07:24.440 I'm glad that we'll be apologized for that,

00:07:28.140 but as a general matter,

00:07:29.120 I don't think we ought to be silencing people

00:07:31.960 for stumbling over what they say 1.00

00:07:35.500 or saying something stupid. 1.00

00:07:36.440 No, and that's why I think 1.00

00:07:37.960 this is a good discussion, actually,

00:07:39.500 because, I mean, like you said,

00:07:40.960 we both work in the public eye here.

00:07:43.140 Every one of us has said something

00:07:44.580 that came out wrong

00:07:45.760 for whatever reason

00:07:47.500 or misspoke or made an error,

00:07:49.280 and correcting that

00:07:50.260 or apologizing for that is fine,

00:07:51.640 but there's also the matter

00:07:52.820 of someone betraying their true colors, I guess,

00:07:56.140 or betraying a poisonous ideology,

00:07:57.740 one that is as poisonous

00:07:58.760 as you just described,

00:08:00.080 and perhaps that's good for people to know.

00:08:02.500 But like I said,

00:08:03.180 the philosophy of cancel culture

00:08:04.600 is sometimes interesting to discuss,

00:08:07.920 as I think it is here.

00:08:10.020 I want to move along these topics

00:08:11.740 kind of quickly, though,

00:08:12.700 because this one,

00:08:14.240 are you ready?

00:08:14.660 I mean, when I warned you

00:08:15.800 that we were going to nerd out

00:08:17.000 on this series,

00:08:18.020 this is exactly what I meant.

00:08:19.200 So you gave a speech

00:08:20.220 in the spring of 2019

00:08:21.640 about foreign policy.

00:08:23.660 Now, this wasn't about

00:08:25.200 a particular real-life event

00:08:27.800 that was happening around the world.

00:08:28.940 This was a presentation

00:08:30.380 of foreign policy philosophy,

00:08:32.260 and this is something

00:08:34.080 that I think is a lost art in the Senate.

00:08:36.200 It used to be that all senators

00:08:37.140 had a constructed foreign policy.

00:08:39.400 Now, most politicians,

00:08:40.520 even in the highest offices in our land,

00:08:42.540 don't have a constructed foreign policy,

00:08:44.680 and I think that's why we're seeing,

00:08:46.720 when it comes to Russia and Ukraine,

00:08:48.560 why we're seeing this differing of opinion,

00:08:53.040 this spectrum among conservatives.

00:08:54.860 Some people are very interventionist,

00:08:56.280 some people are very isolationist,

00:08:57.740 and there's this disagreement

00:08:59.360 on how to handle

00:09:00.460 what's happening in the world right now

00:09:02.020 because people don't have

00:09:02.960 a preconstructed philosophy

00:09:04.960 on foreign policy,

00:09:06.540 and you do.

00:09:07.940 Yours is,

00:09:08.500 and you say it's not actually

00:09:09.600 a middle ground

00:09:10.440 between isolationism

00:09:11.600 and interventionism.

00:09:12.820 You say it's actually like a triangle.

00:09:14.440 It's a third point.

00:09:15.480 So, first of all,

00:09:16.400 can we talk just for a minute

00:09:17.840 about what your philosophy,

00:09:19.980 all world real-life events aside,

00:09:21.800 what your philosophy

00:09:22.640 on foreign policy is?

00:09:24.380 Yeah.

00:09:24.560 Look, I'm happy to,

00:09:26.420 and, you know,

00:09:28.400 the conventional wisdom

00:09:29.500 looking at Republican foreign policy

00:09:31.160 is that it's binary,

00:09:33.580 that they're one of two approaches,

00:09:35.900 that you're either

00:09:37.140 what's typically called

00:09:38.260 an interventionist

00:09:39.280 or a neocon,

00:09:40.460 which is,

00:09:41.680 your approach is,

00:09:42.680 we've got to go defend democracy,

00:09:44.160 we've got to go use our military,

00:09:45.480 we've got to invade countries, 0.99

00:09:46.580 we've got to get engaged

00:09:47.260 in nation building.

00:09:48.840 There have been a lot of Republicans

00:09:50.400 who have embraced that,

00:09:52.160 that that had its assent

00:09:54.200 under the presidency

00:09:55.020 of George W. Bush,

00:09:56.380 but there have been people

00:09:57.880 from John McCain

00:09:59.240 and Lindsey Graham

00:10:00.160 to Marco Rubio

00:10:02.300 and Tom Cotton

00:10:03.220 that are explicitly interventionist.

00:10:08.240 On the other side

00:10:09.400 are the isolationists,

00:10:10.660 and the most notable proponents

00:10:12.620 of that are Ron Paul

00:10:13.660 and Rand Paul,

00:10:14.380 both of whom,

00:10:15.140 but there are others,

00:10:15.880 particularly in the House,

00:10:16.640 there are several other people

00:10:17.440 who I think would fall

00:10:18.300 into the more isolationist camp.

00:10:21.840 And it used to be

00:10:23.100 that if you're a Republican,

00:10:24.280 you had to be one of the two.

00:10:26.060 I think both of those are wrong.

00:10:27.780 I disagree strongly

00:10:29.300 with both of those.

00:10:30.400 And as you noted,

00:10:31.420 I've described my views

00:10:32.540 as a third point on the triangle.

00:10:37.300 I describe myself

00:10:38.680 as a non-interventionist hawk.

00:10:42.160 Now, what does that mean?

00:10:44.000 It means that the central touchstone

00:10:46.600 for all U.S. military involvement

00:10:48.660 and for foreign policy

00:10:49.980 should be protecting

00:10:51.880 the vital national security interest

00:10:53.700 of the United States.

00:10:55.860 What does that mean

00:10:56.700 as a practical matter?

00:10:57.520 It means we should be

00:10:58.080 very, very reluctant

00:10:58.980 to engage in military conflict.

00:11:01.900 But we should also be focused

00:11:04.940 on the purpose and the objective.

00:11:06.580 So let's make it specific

00:11:07.540 because that's very abstract.

00:11:08.580 So let's make it,

00:11:09.540 let's bring it to concrete matters.

00:11:12.040 And let's take a couple of

00:11:13.640 foreign policy disputes in the past,

00:11:16.060 and then I'll actually do one

00:11:17.700 that is going on right now

00:11:18.940 in a discussion we had today

00:11:20.380 that illustrates this at this point.

00:11:22.280 Yeah, apply it to Ukraine.

00:11:24.500 So let me, let me,

00:11:26.140 let me first start with history

00:11:27.480 and then go to Ukraine.

00:11:30.600 When Barack Obama was president,

00:11:33.020 he wanted to attack Syria 1.00

00:11:36.960 when Bashar Assad crossed Obama's red line

00:11:40.740 and used chemical weapons.

00:11:41.900 Obama drew a red line,

00:11:42.900 said if you use chemical weapons,

00:11:44.280 we're going to attack you. 0.92

00:11:45.600 Assad did, 0.87

00:11:46.340 and Obama says,

00:11:46.880 let's go attack. 0.98

00:11:48.980 I was in the Senate at the time

00:11:50.440 and my view was,

00:11:51.240 okay, I'm going to keep an open mind.

00:11:52.280 I want to hear

00:11:52.880 how the commander-in-chief

00:11:53.980 justifies this.

00:11:55.080 Explain to me

00:11:56.260 the vital U.S. national security interest

00:11:59.400 in attacking.

00:12:00.320 And I pressed the Obama administration

00:12:03.360 both publicly

00:12:04.120 and in classified settings.

00:12:05.880 I said, okay,

00:12:07.520 at the time,

00:12:08.560 there were nine major rebel groups. 0.99

00:12:11.400 Bashar Assad is a monster. 0.99

00:12:13.480 He killed 400,000 of his own citizens. 1.00

00:12:15.440 He's a bad, bad guy. 0.99

00:12:17.360 But I said, all right, 0.99

00:12:18.000 if we attack him

00:12:18.940 and you topple him, 0.85

00:12:21.200 he has a big chemical weapons stash

00:12:22.820 and they fall into the hands of the rebels.

00:12:24.640 There were, at the time,

00:12:25.340 nine major rebel groups.

00:12:27.260 Seven of them were affiliated

00:12:28.540 with radical Islamic terrorists.

00:12:30.080 They were people like Al-Qaeda, 0.95

00:12:31.380 Al-Nusra.

00:12:32.980 And I said, well,

00:12:34.220 if chemical weapons fall into the hands

00:12:36.460 of people like Al-Qaeda and ISIS

00:12:37.880 who want to kill us, 0.58

00:12:39.280 that's worse for America. 0.91

00:12:41.180 I don't want people

00:12:42.220 who want to kill us

00:12:43.080 to have weapons to kill us. 0.99

00:12:45.520 The Obama administration 0.91

00:12:46.800 could not give a coherent answer

00:12:48.520 in terms of how they prevent

00:12:49.760 that from happening.

00:12:50.720 So I opposed military intervention

00:12:53.040 in Syria

00:12:53.560 because I said,

00:12:54.140 it's not protecting America.

00:12:55.460 It's not protecting our lives.

00:12:57.260 Rand Paul and I agreed on that.

00:12:58.560 We were both on the same page on that.

00:12:59.980 Now, Rand and I were

00:13:00.660 for very different reasons.

00:13:01.960 Rand just from the beginning

00:13:03.080 said, nope, nope, absolutely not.

00:13:04.720 Now, I could have imagined

00:13:07.320 a military mission

00:13:09.740 that I would have supported

00:13:10.700 if Obama had said,

00:13:11.740 look, there's a chemical weapons cache here.

00:13:13.840 It's big.

00:13:14.560 It's significant.

00:13:15.320 We're going to come in

00:13:15.960 and either destroy it

00:13:16.920 or seize it and take it away

00:13:18.140 so they can't be used

00:13:19.440 against us or our allies.

00:13:21.040 I could have seen a mission

00:13:22.160 focused on protecting America

00:13:25.040 that might have made sense.

00:13:26.680 That was not what Obama did.

00:13:28.280 On the other hand,

00:13:30.340 Iran,

00:13:31.780 the Ayatollah Khamenei

00:13:33.020 getting a nuclear weapon

00:13:34.200 I think is an existential threat

00:13:36.500 to the United States.

00:13:37.500 I think the risks are too high

00:13:38.880 that the Ayatollah

00:13:40.120 who chants death to America 0.97

00:13:41.420 and death to Israel 0.99

00:13:42.340 would use a nuclear weapon

00:13:44.460 and that's why I'm the leading opponent

00:13:47.320 of the Iran nuclear deal.

00:13:48.800 It's why I've said if need be,

00:13:50.240 if Iran is on the verge

00:13:51.380 of getting a nuclear weapon,

00:13:52.960 we should do whatever it takes

00:13:55.360 to stop it,

00:13:56.000 including military force.

00:13:57.100 Now, to be clear,

00:13:58.600 when I say military force,

00:14:00.480 I don't mean go invade Iran

00:14:02.720 and spend 20 years there

00:14:04.000 trying to turn it

00:14:04.760 into a liberal democracy. 0.99

00:14:07.040 I mean, bomb living crap out of it 0.99

00:14:08.980 and level what they're doing 0.99

00:14:10.200 and leave.

00:14:11.580 Like, the focus should be

00:14:13.020 protecting America.

00:14:14.640 And another way of phrasing it, Liz,

00:14:17.460 is peace through strength,

00:14:18.580 which is what Reagan's philosophy was,

00:14:20.980 that if you're strong enough,

00:14:22.720 you don't have to use military force.

00:14:24.960 Biggest country Ronald Reagan

00:14:27.180 ever invaded was Grenada.

00:14:29.540 Because he was so strong,

00:14:31.400 our enemies didn't want to mess with us.

00:14:33.060 And by the way,

00:14:34.580 Trump's foreign policy

00:14:36.000 was very much with me

00:14:37.920 on that third point in the triangle,

00:14:39.360 where you think about it,

00:14:41.780 he wanted to withdraw

00:14:43.240 from foreign conflicts.

00:14:44.440 He didn't want to leave

00:14:45.420 our soldiers and sailors

00:14:46.680 and airmen and Marines

00:14:47.660 in foreign theaters

00:14:48.860 getting shot at.

00:14:49.820 But at the same time,

00:14:50.880 he was strong

00:14:51.980 and took out, for example,

00:14:53.920 General Soleimani,

00:14:56.120 the leading state sponsor

00:14:57.280 of terrorism in Iran.

00:14:58.560 And so that's peace through strength

00:15:01.980 or being a non-interventionist talk.

00:15:03.860 Yeah, and President Trump

00:15:04.900 called it America first.

00:15:06.220 You call it national interest.

00:15:07.580 It's essentially,

00:15:08.280 as you say, the same thing.

00:15:09.560 Yes.

00:15:09.860 Here's where it becomes

00:15:10.680 a little more nuanced.

00:15:11.520 So here's my question here.

00:15:12.520 As it applies to Russia

00:15:14.520 building up or amassing troops

00:15:16.580 on the border of Ukraine,

00:15:18.340 how do you determine,

00:15:19.600 under your foreign policy philosophy,

00:15:22.200 how do you determine

00:15:23.200 what the national interests

00:15:25.160 of the United States are

00:15:26.980 in either aiding Ukraine

00:15:28.980 or becoming militarily involved

00:15:31.120 in Ukraine?

00:15:31.480 Because there certainly

00:15:32.240 are arguments to be made

00:15:33.600 that the United States

00:15:34.600 has an interest

00:15:35.260 in helping enforce

00:15:36.180 international law

00:15:37.120 or defending a country's right

00:15:38.720 to self-determination.

00:15:40.020 On the other hand,

00:15:40.820 there are also arguments

00:15:41.700 that that's not a vital

00:15:43.040 national security interest

00:15:44.600 to the United States

00:15:45.400 to do that.

00:15:45.940 So what are the elements

00:15:46.740 that you use to determine that?

00:15:48.380 How do you apply it to Ukraine?

00:15:49.720 So in Ukraine,

00:15:50.460 I think under no circumstances

00:15:52.940 should we send the U.S. military

00:15:54.940 to fight Russia and Ukraine?

00:15:57.220 I don't think that's our job

00:15:58.380 to go fight Russia.

00:15:59.260 I don't want to send the military.

00:16:01.060 If Biden or anyone else

00:16:02.000 supports it,

00:16:02.540 I will oppose it.

00:16:04.220 I'm not willing to risk

00:16:05.520 our sons and daughters

00:16:06.340 in that military conflict.

00:16:08.560 Now, given that,

00:16:09.900 that doesn't mean, though,

00:16:11.140 that I'm willing to walk away

00:16:12.280 from Ukraine and abandon it.

00:16:13.720 There are all sorts of tools

00:16:15.200 that America has

00:16:16.260 short of sending in the Marines.

00:16:18.420 What I can't stand

00:16:19.040 about the neocons

00:16:19.780 is their solution

00:16:20.440 to everything is invade.

00:16:22.860 We've talked a lot

00:16:23.860 on Verdict about Nord Stream 2

00:16:25.460 and the sanctions

00:16:26.200 that I drafted

00:16:27.040 that were targeted sanctions

00:16:28.180 that shut down that pipeline.

00:16:30.200 Using our economic might

00:16:31.740 to target the bad guys

00:16:32.880 is a great and powerful tool.

00:16:35.500 I think we also ought

00:16:36.420 to be providing lethal weaponry 0.87

00:16:38.780 to the Ukrainians.

00:16:39.620 Look, the Ukrainians 1.00

00:16:40.260 want to defend themselves.

00:16:41.320 I'm happy to help arm them.

00:16:43.380 So if the Ukrainians 0.96

00:16:44.240 want to fight the Russians, 1.00

00:16:45.640 have at it.

00:16:46.700 I'm just not willing

00:16:47.580 to risk Americans 0.66

00:16:48.620 in that fight.

00:16:49.460 And, you know,

00:16:51.280 I mentioned there's

00:16:52.280 sort of a real-time

00:16:53.240 application of it.

00:16:54.240 So today,

00:16:55.300 we were having lunch.

00:16:56.800 Every Tuesday,

00:16:57.480 Wednesday, and Thursday,

00:16:58.280 all the Republican senators

00:16:59.180 have lunch.

00:16:59.760 And we spent a lot of the time

00:17:00.960 talking about Ukraine.

00:17:02.960 And one of the Republican senators

00:17:05.060 asked several other senators,

00:17:07.100 said,

00:17:07.680 how would you justify

00:17:09.560 in 30 seconds or less

00:17:11.720 how it's in our interest

00:17:13.520 to defend Ukraine?

00:17:14.700 And I got to say,

00:17:16.680 one of my colleagues

00:17:17.440 who will remain nameless,

00:17:19.140 but he is someone

00:17:20.020 who is a prominent neocon,

00:17:23.380 gave this talk about,

00:17:25.720 well,

00:17:26.460 we have these norms now

00:17:29.720 that we don't allow countries 0.65

00:17:31.240 to invade other countries.

00:17:33.200 And if they do,

00:17:34.620 we've got to protect those norms

00:17:36.280 and protect the international order

00:17:38.020 and prevent the ability

00:17:39.300 of one country

00:17:39.980 to invade the other country.

00:17:41.240 And I'm sitting there at lunch

00:17:43.740 going, 1.00

00:17:45.000 what a load of shit. 1.00

00:17:47.540 Like, 1.00

00:17:47.840 I disagreed with every word he said.

00:17:50.620 And like,

00:17:51.020 I literally had to stake,

00:17:52.500 I didn't argue with him

00:17:53.800 at the moment.

00:17:54.200 I just sort of clenched my fists

00:17:56.100 and let him talk.

00:17:58.820 But about 15 minutes later,

00:18:01.040 I got up

00:18:01.720 and I went back to the question

00:18:03.100 that one of my colleagues had asked.

00:18:05.680 And I said,

00:18:06.100 listen,

00:18:06.380 I don't agree with any of

00:18:07.700 what so-and-so said

00:18:08.980 about the justification.

00:18:09.760 You want to know

00:18:10.480 why we have an interest in Ukraine?

00:18:12.560 Because Vladimir Putin

00:18:13.740 wants to rebuild

00:18:14.600 the Soviet Union

00:18:15.460 and the Soviet Union

00:18:16.400 was a formidable

00:18:17.540 and terrifying enemy of America.

00:18:20.280 It is in our interest

00:18:21.220 not to have the Soviet Union rebuilt

00:18:23.160 because I don't want

00:18:23.860 Putin and Russia stronger

00:18:25.040 because they hate America

00:18:26.320 and want to defeat us.

00:18:27.240 I want to keep Putin 0.62

00:18:28.040 and Russia weaker.

00:18:29.460 And so allowing Putin

00:18:30.780 to reassemble the Soviet Union

00:18:32.500 is really bad

00:18:34.120 because it threatens

00:18:35.760 the safety and security

00:18:36.880 of the United States.

00:18:37.740 So we ought to use

00:18:38.560 what tools we can

00:18:40.000 to prevent Putin

00:18:41.640 from getting stronger.

00:18:42.640 By the way,

00:18:43.460 we ought to prevent

00:18:44.220 the Chinese communists

00:18:45.500 from getting stronger.

00:18:46.340 We ought to prevent

00:18:46.800 North Korea

00:18:47.320 from getting stronger.

00:18:48.140 We ought to prevent

00:18:48.620 Cuba from getting stronger.

00:18:49.900 We ought to prevent Iran 1.00

00:18:50.740 from getting stronger

00:18:51.520 because our enemies

00:18:53.240 getting stronger

00:18:54.080 threatens us.

00:18:55.580 But I'm not interested

00:18:57.060 in sending the Marines

00:18:57.940 to any of those places

00:18:59.220 to fight the bad guys.

00:19:00.920 I want to use other tools

00:19:02.340 to weaken our enemies

00:19:04.120 and strengthen our friends

00:19:05.300 because that protects

00:19:06.200 American lives.

00:19:06.980 Well, this is one

00:19:07.900 of the interesting things,

00:19:08.820 I think,

00:19:09.360 about having a preconstructed,

00:19:11.840 meaning a well-considered

00:19:13.680 foreign policy philosophy

00:19:14.800 because then you can take

00:19:15.580 the tenets of that philosophy

00:19:16.760 and you can apply it

00:19:17.900 to real-life circumstances

00:19:18.900 instead of letting

00:19:19.700 the emotions

00:19:20.320 of whatever conflict

00:19:21.500 is happening

00:19:22.080 on that day

00:19:23.100 and that time

00:19:23.780 sway whether you think

00:19:25.080 that you should send in

00:19:26.040 the United States military 0.82

00:19:27.240 to crush whoever it is.

00:19:28.860 And the other thing

00:19:29.980 I think worth noting here

00:19:31.240 is that the same thing

00:19:32.640 happened in Afghanistan,

00:19:33.560 actually,

00:19:33.860 where we got to this point

00:19:35.500 where the choices

00:19:36.440 almost seemed like

00:19:37.120 a lose-lose.

00:19:38.020 Either in Ukraine,

00:19:39.000 for example,

00:19:39.520 it's a lose

00:19:40.300 if we send in our troops

00:19:41.440 and it's a lose

00:19:42.260 if we allow Putin

00:19:42.920 to take over Ukraine

00:19:43.660 to try to rebuild

00:19:44.480 the Soviet Union.

00:19:45.500 And it is worth noting,

00:19:46.740 too,

00:19:46.940 that it doesn't have

00:19:47.900 to be that lose-lose.

00:19:49.120 It doesn't have to be

00:19:49.680 that binary decision,

00:19:51.340 but we're at this place

00:19:52.740 where we're at this

00:19:53.420 binary lose-lose

00:19:54.400 because elections

00:19:56.020 have consequences,

00:19:56.900 because Biden also

00:19:58.280 doesn't have a well-constructed

00:19:59.820 foreign policy philosophy

00:20:00.820 and he's allowed it

00:20:01.780 to get to this point.

00:20:02.520 Well, it's even worse

00:20:04.380 than that

00:20:04.780 because Biden's

00:20:06.020 foreign policy

00:20:07.460 is weakness.

00:20:09.180 If you look

00:20:10.160 at what he's doing,

00:20:11.660 every enemy to America

00:20:13.160 he's showing weakness to,

00:20:14.520 he believes in appeasement.

00:20:15.960 I mean,

00:20:16.280 it is the left-wing

00:20:17.880 Democratic Party

00:20:18.740 believes.

00:20:19.900 The enemies of America, 0.69

00:20:21.020 they think everyone

00:20:21.780 wants to get along.

00:20:22.780 They're all nice

00:20:23.520 and if you just give in

00:20:24.760 to Russia,

00:20:25.760 to China,

00:20:26.280 to North Korea,

00:20:26.940 to Iran,

00:20:27.800 they're all right.

00:20:28.540 It's why Biden

00:20:29.240 is perfectly fine

00:20:30.200 with Iran getting 0.97

00:20:30.820 a nuclear weapon

00:20:31.520 because they're like,

00:20:32.220 oh,

00:20:32.620 they'll be fine

00:20:33.320 with a nuclear weapon.

00:20:34.080 They don't understand evil.

00:20:36.060 And so you look at Russia,

00:20:38.220 one of Biden's first acts

00:20:39.980 was surrendering

00:20:41.520 on Nord Stream 2

00:20:42.380 and waiving the sanctions

00:20:43.800 that had worked,

00:20:45.160 that had stopped Putin.

00:20:47.160 I wrote them,

00:20:48.120 I authored them,

00:20:49.040 Trump signed them

00:20:49.720 in the law,

00:20:50.160 they worked.

00:20:51.160 Biden came in

00:20:51.800 and just gave them away,

00:20:52.780 just gave Putin this gift.

00:20:55.340 And I got to tell you

00:20:56.760 right now,

00:20:57.920 the Biden administration

00:21:00.420 is so panicked

00:21:01.420 about the Ukraine invasion,

00:21:02.560 which they've caused,

00:21:04.260 that they are in

00:21:05.480 full-on appeasement mode.

00:21:06.780 So they are in the process,

00:21:08.120 I fear,

00:21:08.740 of dismantling NATO,

00:21:10.120 where they're offering

00:21:11.760 to Putin,

00:21:13.120 you want us to pull

00:21:14.120 our troops out of Europe,

00:21:15.140 you want us to abandon

00:21:16.080 the Baltics,

00:21:16.700 you want us to abandon

00:21:17.460 Poland,

00:21:17.960 you want us to abandon

00:21:18.660 Romania,

00:21:19.220 you want us to abandon

00:21:19.940 Estonia and Lithuania

00:21:21.180 and Latvia,

00:21:22.320 we'll pull out,

00:21:23.220 we'll pull missiles out,

00:21:24.100 we'll pull troops out,

00:21:24.960 we'll stop exercises,

00:21:26.600 we will abandon Europe

00:21:29.000 if you just promise

00:21:31.020 to be nice to us,

00:21:31.860 Mr. Putin.

00:21:33.260 And weakness

00:21:35.180 invites conflict.

00:21:38.540 It's the left believes

00:21:39.700 if you're weak,

00:21:40.380 you don't have military conflict.

00:21:41.720 I actually think weakness

00:21:42.880 makes military conflict

00:21:44.660 more likely.

00:21:45.680 Why do you think

00:21:46.640 our enemies

00:21:48.640 didn't attack us

00:21:50.000 when Donald Trump

00:21:50.720 was president

00:21:51.320 because they thought 1.00

00:21:52.080 he was bat crap crazy 0.99

00:21:53.380 and he'd like 1.00

00:21:54.360 blow them off 0.99

00:21:55.120 the face of the planet 0.99

00:21:55.960 and he was strong enough

00:21:57.220 that enemies of America

00:21:59.160 didn't want to mess with us.

00:22:00.380 Why is it

00:22:01.060 that we're facing

00:22:02.020 a Russian invasion 0.53

00:22:02.880 of Ukraine?

00:22:03.540 Why is it that China 0.99

00:22:04.520 is preparing

00:22:05.260 to invade Taiwan?

00:22:06.460 Because they think

00:22:07.240 Biden's so weak

00:22:08.320 that they run all over him

00:22:09.940 and so I think

00:22:10.560 the leftist weakness

00:22:11.760 creates more military conflict.

00:22:14.920 It does.

00:22:15.300 Weakness emboldens

00:22:16.340 authoritarians

00:22:17.240 and dictators.

00:22:18.000 We can see that

00:22:18.480 with what's happening

00:22:19.160 with the behavior

00:22:20.680 of Vladimir Putin

00:22:21.400 and the Chinese 0.83

00:22:22.000 honestly

00:22:22.340 and the North Koreans.

00:22:23.640 Okay, that's our nerdy

00:22:24.360 deep dive into foreign policy

00:22:25.680 and now we're going to do

00:22:26.340 a hard pivot

00:22:27.040 into Tom Brady.

00:22:29.440 Quarterback Tom Brady

00:22:30.200 announced his retirement

00:22:31.080 this week

00:22:32.320 and I got to tell you

00:22:32.980 I'm not a huge football fan

00:22:33.940 myself

00:22:34.300 but my husband

00:22:35.020 is a diehard

00:22:36.560 lifelong

00:22:37.460 Patriots

00:22:38.340 slash Tom Brady

00:22:39.860 fan

00:22:40.420 to the point

00:22:40.880 that I had to ask him

00:22:41.780 when Tom Brady

00:22:42.300 left the Patriots

00:22:43.100 and went to the Bucs

00:22:43.860 whether he was going

00:22:44.740 to root for the Patriots

00:22:46.000 or whether he was going

00:22:46.780 to root for Tom Brady

00:22:47.400 at the Bucs

00:22:47.920 and you know

00:22:48.740 I have to say

00:22:49.700 his answer was Tom Brady

00:22:50.740 here.

00:22:51.340 However,

00:22:51.960 the controversy here

00:22:53.080 is that Tom Brady

00:22:54.060 when he announced

00:22:54.620 his retirement

00:22:55.100 he thanked the Bucs

00:22:56.140 organization

00:22:56.700 and all the Bucs fans

00:22:57.560 and his teammates

00:22:58.080 and he didn't thank

00:22:59.340 Patriot Nation.

00:23:00.280 He didn't thank

00:23:00.840 his old teammates.

00:23:01.800 He didn't thank

00:23:02.200 his old coach.

00:23:02.800 He didn't thank his fans.

00:23:03.960 He later did on Twitter

00:23:05.100 but only after backlash.

00:23:07.600 What do you make of that?

00:23:08.740 Was that a deliberate diss

00:23:10.800 you think?

00:23:11.920 I don't know

00:23:12.520 that it was a diss

00:23:13.260 to the fans

00:23:13.960 and in fact

00:23:14.620 I doubt that it was.

00:23:16.180 I mean Tom Brady

00:23:17.180 is so beloved

00:23:18.260 in New England

00:23:18.940 that I can't believe

00:23:22.740 he was dissing

00:23:23.400 his fans up there.

00:23:24.940 Was it a diss

00:23:25.660 to his old team?

00:23:26.640 Was it a diss

00:23:27.280 to Bill Belichick?

00:23:28.200 I'm sure it was.

00:23:29.300 That was quite deliberate

00:23:31.560 and look

00:23:32.040 there was always

00:23:32.800 I always liked Brady

00:23:33.660 I always thought

00:23:34.140 he was a heck

00:23:34.640 of a quarterback.

00:23:36.080 You know

00:23:36.280 there's a constant

00:23:37.380 debate in sports

00:23:38.560 over the GOAT

00:23:39.540 the greatest

00:23:40.440 of all time.

00:23:42.460 In basketball

00:23:43.700 the debate

00:23:44.420 is between

00:23:44.880 Michael Jordan

00:23:45.600 and LeBron James.

00:23:46.960 I am emphatically

00:23:47.940 on Team Jordan

00:23:48.860 in that

00:23:49.180 although some of that's

00:23:49.860 generational.

00:23:50.520 I'm 51.

00:23:51.280 I grew up

00:23:52.540 watching Jordan dominate

00:23:53.760 and I'm not

00:23:54.400 a big LeBron fan

00:23:55.340 although he's

00:23:55.780 ridiculously talented.

00:23:57.180 I will concede 0.50

00:23:57.660 his talent

00:23:58.120 but I think Jordan

00:23:59.180 had more heart

00:23:59.980 and was more

00:24:00.480 of a champion.

00:24:02.960 In football

00:24:04.220 the GOAT

00:24:05.520 you could argue

00:24:06.220 different players

00:24:07.140 some might say

00:24:08.040 Joe Montana

00:24:09.000 he was certainly

00:24:10.040 someone that had

00:24:10.640 a strong claim

00:24:11.400 to it.

00:24:12.980 Brady was

00:24:13.740 unbelievably winning

00:24:14.920 with the Patriots.

00:24:16.420 I mean he would win

00:24:17.080 over and over

00:24:17.740 and over again

00:24:18.360 but you could give

00:24:19.420 all these sorts

00:24:20.140 of excuses.

00:24:20.920 He had an amazing

00:24:21.900 supporting cast

00:24:22.860 around him.

00:24:23.380 Bill Belichick's

00:24:24.020 a great coach.

00:24:25.060 He had great receivers.

00:24:26.260 I mean he just had

00:24:26.980 an amazing team

00:24:28.160 around him.

00:24:29.640 So some credited

00:24:30.860 Brady's success

00:24:32.000 to well look at

00:24:33.120 everyone he's playing

00:24:33.860 with.

00:24:34.900 And Brady did

00:24:35.560 something that's

00:24:36.160 phenomenal which is

00:24:37.100 he left the Patriots

00:24:38.160 and he went

00:24:38.560 and joined

00:24:38.920 Tampa Bay

00:24:39.540 and he basically

00:24:40.400 said to hell 0.94

00:24:41.040 with you guys 1.00

00:24:41.720 I'm out of here.

00:24:43.420 The Patriots

00:24:44.080 said you're too 0.96

00:24:44.720 damn old 0.97

00:24:45.220 you can't win 1.00

00:24:45.900 and he went

00:24:46.280 and joined

00:24:46.660 Tampa Bay

00:24:47.260 and won the

00:24:48.140 Super Bowl

00:24:48.620 with him.

00:24:49.260 Like it was

00:24:50.360 one of the

00:24:51.300 biggest

00:24:51.760 hoss moves

00:24:53.280 I've ever seen

00:24:54.860 to like leave

00:24:55.840 you got all

00:24:56.500 your stars

00:24:57.020 I'm going

00:24:57.420 to Tampa Bay

00:24:58.200 watch me

00:24:59.200 do it again.

00:25:00.920 Gronk came

00:25:01.600 out of retirement

00:25:02.380 to play with him

00:25:03.160 which was awesome

00:25:04.100 and it was

00:25:06.920 spectacular

00:25:08.060 I tweeted

00:25:09.200 at the time

00:25:09.800 I just tweeted

00:25:10.440 an emoji

00:25:11.880 of a goat

00:25:12.460 like you go

00:25:13.620 and win with

00:25:14.440 another team

00:25:14.960 and do it again

00:25:15.740 and not in

00:25:17.740 like when LeBron

00:25:19.560 James left

00:25:20.620 Cleveland to go

00:25:21.400 to Miami

00:25:21.860 it was a temper

00:25:22.660 tantrum of a

00:25:23.440 spoiled star

00:25:24.220 you know he did

00:25:24.660 this whole show

00:25:26.260 of who gets

00:25:27.200 LeBron

00:25:27.720 like oh piss 1.00

00:25:28.840 off like you 0.99

00:25:29.620 know you're not

00:25:30.120 all that.

00:25:31.700 Brady was very

00:25:32.340 different.

00:25:32.760 He went

00:25:33.540 and just

00:25:34.320 won

00:25:36.240 and so I'm

00:25:37.220 a huge Brady

00:25:37.920 fan

00:25:38.380 I'm sure

00:25:40.440 the diss

00:25:41.160 was meant

00:25:41.740 to Belichick

00:25:43.380 and the Patriots

00:25:44.500 themselves

00:25:44.840 but I would

00:25:46.520 be astonished

00:25:47.300 if Brady

00:25:47.780 had anything

00:25:48.520 but respect

00:25:50.260 and adoration

00:25:51.200 for the fans

00:25:52.100 who loved him

00:25:53.640 and who continue

00:25:54.220 to love him.

00:25:55.160 And I will say

00:25:55.980 based on the

00:25:56.920 experience of my

00:25:57.660 own household

00:25:58.380 at least

00:25:58.980 you are correct

00:25:59.560 about one thing

00:26:00.160 the fans

00:26:01.060 do not take it

00:26:01.940 personally

00:26:02.380 they forgive

00:26:03.240 him for tweeting

00:26:03.840 about it

00:26:04.340 after and consider

00:26:05.500 it just a diss

00:26:06.040 to the team

00:26:06.520 and not to them.

00:26:07.660 All right

00:26:07.820 Senator we have

00:26:08.280 one mailbag

00:26:08.840 question from

00:26:09.460 one of our

00:26:09.980 Verdict Plus

00:26:10.740 subscribers.

00:26:11.940 This is from

00:26:12.960 the Steve42

00:26:13.960 Steve asked

00:26:15.040 what are

00:26:15.460 Senator Cruz's

00:26:16.020 thoughts on

00:26:16.720 conservatives

00:26:17.520 and the Republicans

00:26:18.540 finding a way

00:26:19.060 to unify for

00:26:19.840 the 2022

00:26:20.320 and 2024

00:26:21.140 elections.

00:26:22.460 Republicans

00:26:22.740 have an amazing

00:26:23.340 ability he says

00:26:24.080 to snatch defeat

00:26:24.980 from the jaws

00:26:25.480 of victory

00:26:25.940 with these golden

00:26:26.800 opportunities on the

00:26:27.580 horizon.

00:26:28.020 How do they

00:26:28.340 not just F it up?

00:26:29.880 Look it's a very

00:26:31.220 good question

00:26:31.800 and you know

00:26:32.520 there's an old

00:26:33.280 cartoon back

00:26:34.440 before you and

00:26:35.180 I were were

00:26:35.900 born Pogo

00:26:37.520 had a line

00:26:39.160 this cartoon

00:26:39.760 from the 50s

00:26:40.420 we had met

00:26:40.940 the enemy

00:26:41.400 and they is

00:26:42.300 us.

00:26:44.640 There's a lot

00:26:45.300 of truth to

00:26:45.840 that.

00:26:46.120 We managed

00:26:46.740 to shoot

00:26:48.140 each other 0.86

00:26:48.620 listen 22

00:26:49.520 I think we're

00:26:51.380 going to be

00:26:51.680 fine.

00:26:52.220 I think we're

00:26:52.640 going to win.

00:26:53.260 I think Republicans

00:26:53.880 are going to retake

00:26:54.480 the house with a

00:26:55.280 big margin.

00:26:55.960 I think it's

00:26:56.240 going to be like

00:26:56.700 a tidal wave

00:26:57.340 year and I'm

00:26:58.620 getting more

00:26:59.060 and more

00:26:59.320 confident we're

00:26:59.900 going to retake

00:27:00.360 the Senate

00:27:00.720 also.

00:27:02.220 The one

00:27:03.160 danger that

00:27:03.860 could screw

00:27:04.380 it up is a

00:27:05.360 civil war

00:27:06.240 between Trump

00:27:07.540 and Senate

00:27:08.020 Republicans.

00:27:08.760 I don't want

00:27:09.100 to see that

00:27:09.560 happen.

00:27:09.960 I hope that

00:27:10.500 doesn't happen

00:27:11.240 because that's

00:27:12.120 if we're

00:27:13.940 just and

00:27:15.680 that means we

00:27:16.580 need some

00:27:16.940 restraint on both

00:27:17.800 sides.

00:27:18.300 We need there

00:27:20.500 are some Senate

00:27:21.200 Republicans that

00:27:22.060 desperately want

00:27:22.740 Donald Trump to

00:27:23.380 go away. 0.82

00:27:23.900 He's not going

00:27:24.500 away.

00:27:24.860 That is delusional

00:27:25.880 and the Senate

00:27:27.720 Republicans who want

00:27:28.540 it need to 0.96

00:27:28.920 shut up and 0.99

00:27:30.320 stop provoking 0.99

00:27:31.460 him and then I

00:27:32.080 hope that

00:27:32.960 President Trump

00:27:33.680 exercises some

00:27:34.580 restraint and

00:27:35.300 doesn't unload

00:27:36.160 on the Senate

00:27:38.340 Republicans he's

00:27:39.080 irritated with.

00:27:39.740 If we avoid

00:27:40.460 going to war 0.71

00:27:41.340 with each

00:27:42.260 other we'll

00:27:43.560 win in 22.

00:27:45.540 After we win

00:27:46.480 in 22 then we

00:27:47.720 need to actually

00:27:48.260 do something.

00:27:48.980 If we have

00:27:49.340 majorities we've

00:27:50.080 got to actually

00:27:50.620 deliver on our

00:27:51.300 promises and

00:27:51.980 fight.

00:27:52.820 Are we going to

00:27:53.660 be able to pass

00:27:54.360 great new

00:27:54.920 legislation?

00:27:55.700 No because

00:27:56.020 Biden will veto

00:27:56.940 it but we

00:27:58.140 need to have

00:27:58.560 some backbone

00:27:59.160 to fight

00:27:59.580 against Biden

00:28:00.300 and there

00:28:00.920 will be

00:28:01.280 Republicans

00:28:02.220 wanting to

00:28:02.880 roll over

00:28:03.360 and surrender?

00:28:04.300 Yes.

00:28:05.280 Do I expect

00:28:06.160 that I'm going

00:28:06.580 to be fighting

00:28:07.040 tooth and nail

00:28:07.760 against them?

00:28:08.640 Yes.

00:28:11.660 There is a

00:28:12.740 difference of

00:28:13.340 philosophy.

00:28:14.740 Republican

00:28:15.220 leadership in

00:28:15.960 Congress often

00:28:16.700 believes the

00:28:17.280 way you win

00:28:17.920 is don't rock

00:28:19.520 the boat,

00:28:20.020 don't make an

00:28:20.560 issue, don't

00:28:21.320 cause too much

00:28:22.640 fuss. 0.93

00:28:25.740 Look, on the

00:28:26.660 Biden Supreme

00:28:27.220 Court nomination

00:28:27.960 I've had several

00:28:28.660 of my Republican

00:28:29.260 colleagues say

00:28:29.900 it would be good

00:28:30.720 if this just

00:28:31.220 went through

00:28:31.620 quickly and we

00:28:32.220 just let it

00:28:32.640 happen and

00:28:33.080 didn't make a

00:28:33.900 mess and I'm

00:28:34.340 like are you

00:28:34.740 out of your

00:28:35.080 mind?

00:28:35.840 He's going to

00:28:36.320 nominate a

00:28:36.860 leftist who

00:28:37.340 wants to

00:28:37.640 destroy the

00:28:38.140 Constitution and

00:28:39.080 we need to

00:28:39.520 fight like

00:28:40.100 hell.

00:28:40.460 Now we may

00:28:40.820 not be able

00:28:41.100 to beat it,

00:28:41.860 beat the

00:28:42.200 nominee, we

00:28:42.640 may not be

00:28:43.080 able to beat

00:28:43.680 the nomination

00:28:44.220 but just

00:28:46.900 stand up and

00:28:47.720 fight for what

00:28:48.340 you believe in so

00:28:49.240 that even now

00:28:50.580 is a fight.

00:28:51.140 Once we have

00:28:53.500 majorities it'll

00:28:54.160 be a bigger

00:28:54.600 fight but I

00:28:55.300 think the way

00:28:55.920 we win in

00:28:56.840 24 is fighting

00:28:58.800 for something

00:28:59.320 that matters

00:28:59.960 and that,

00:29:01.400 you know,

00:29:03.800 if Donald

00:29:05.780 Trump doesn't

00:29:06.340 run for

00:29:06.680 president we'll

00:29:07.360 have a big

00:29:07.940 crowded primary

00:29:09.060 in 24.

00:29:10.040 Look, I think

00:29:10.480 primaries are

00:29:11.040 good and healthy.

00:29:11.680 We'll have a

00:29:11.980 discussion about

00:29:12.620 what's the

00:29:13.020 right direction

00:29:13.640 to go.

00:29:14.960 The advice I

00:29:16.300 give candidates,

00:29:17.260 the advice I

00:29:18.100 give both

00:29:19.320 House members

00:29:19.860 and senators

00:29:20.400 is real

00:29:20.800 simple.

00:29:21.600 Do what you

00:29:22.000 said you

00:29:22.300 would do.

00:29:22.660 Just follow

00:29:23.560 through on your

00:29:24.160 promises.

00:29:24.700 Whatever you

00:29:25.240 told the

00:29:25.760 voters you

00:29:26.160 do, do

00:29:27.420 it.

00:29:28.980 Too often

00:29:29.780 politicians don't 0.94

00:29:31.040 do that,

00:29:31.600 particularly

00:29:31.960 Republicans.

00:29:33.440 And if we

00:29:34.680 do what we

00:29:35.100 said we

00:29:35.420 would do,

00:29:35.760 I think

00:29:35.980 that's a

00:29:36.300 path to

00:29:36.640 winning.

00:29:37.100 Yeah, and

00:29:37.460 like you

00:29:37.920 said, I

00:29:38.220 agree 100%

00:29:38.920 force that

00:29:39.660 veto.

00:29:40.720 Show the

00:29:41.080 American people

00:29:41.600 not only that

00:29:42.820 you're doing

00:29:43.260 what you

00:29:43.580 promised and

00:29:44.460 that Biden

00:29:45.160 is vetoing

00:29:45.720 it, but it

00:29:46.000 also puts on

00:29:46.600 record all of

00:29:47.600 these squishy

00:29:48.100 Republicans who

00:29:48.840 won't vote for

00:29:49.880 a conservative

00:29:50.260 agenda and

00:29:50.800 the Democrats

00:29:51.340 who are voting

00:29:51.720 against what

00:29:52.080 people want.

00:29:52.520 It's a very

00:29:52.800 powerful tool.

00:29:54.020 Senator Cruz,

00:29:54.540 this was a

00:29:55.060 really fun

00:29:55.600 inaugural discussion

00:29:57.640 for this series.

00:29:59.180 Thank you for

00:29:59.740 sitting down.

00:30:00.100 We're going to

00:30:00.300 do this again.

00:30:00.920 this is The

00:30:02.120 Cloak Room on

00:30:03.220 Verdict Plus.

00:30:04.640 This is an

00:30:05.060 iHeart Podcast.

00:30:07.160 Guaranteed

00:30:07.680 Human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 16, 2022

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