Verdict with Ted Cruz - November 22, 2024


Gaetz Withdraws as AG, the ICC Tries to Arrest Netanyahu & The View Melts Down


Episode Stats

Length

33 minutes

Words per Minute

173.41443

Word Count

5,731

Sentence Count

365

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

5


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.440 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.220 Welcome.
00:00:06.180 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz.
00:00:08.360 Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:09.820 Senator, I think the big headline, everybody knows what that is.
00:00:13.440 It is official.
00:00:15.540 Matt Gaetz has formally withdrawn his name for consideration for the attorney general position
00:00:22.200 in President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.
00:00:25.820 Well, that was stunning news that broke yesterday afternoon, I'll tell you, in the Senate.
00:00:31.420 I don't think anyone expected it.
00:00:33.420 It came over the wire, and it's a big deal.
00:00:37.080 The day before, I had sat down and met with Matt Gaetz, so I'm going to talk about that.
00:00:42.260 I'm going to talk about that nomination and what's coming next for the Department of Justice.
00:00:46.440 Additionally, this week, we saw the stunning news that the International Criminal Court,
00:00:50.960 the ICC, has issued arrest warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu,
00:00:56.200 and for the Israeli Defense Minister.
00:00:58.440 This is an abomination.
00:01:00.480 It is an attack on Israel.
00:01:02.220 It is an attack on America.
00:01:03.360 We're going to break it down.
00:01:04.380 We're going to break down what the response of the federal government should be,
00:01:07.960 what Donald Trump is going to do about it.
00:01:09.540 And we're also going to break down how Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' weakness is what produced
00:01:15.480 this abomination.
00:01:16.320 And finally, we're going to talk about how so much of the corporate media, they're just
00:01:20.660 losing their minds.
00:01:21.760 We're going to close with the view and the heritans on the view, just in absolute misery,
00:01:31.260 that Donald Trump has been reelected, that he is going to be the 47th president of the
00:01:36.220 United States.
00:01:37.520 And sadly, it's a pattern we're seeing across the corporate media and with elected Democrats,
00:01:42.540 where they learn nothing from the election, and their response is just absolute rage and
00:01:47.700 despair.
00:01:48.900 Yeah, it is.
00:01:50.380 That audio, we're going to play it for you a little bit.
00:01:52.460 You don't want to miss it.
00:01:53.740 Want to talk to you real quick about the USCCA.
00:01:56.660 And if you carry a firearm, you need to be a member of the USCCA.
00:02:01.640 I carry a firearm virtually everywhere I go, and protecting myself is my number one priority
00:02:07.040 in my family.
00:02:07.900 I've had to use a firearm to save my life when I was a victim of a gun crime.
00:02:12.540 And I wish I would have been a member and known about the USCCA when that happened.
00:02:17.300 Now, there's a reason why there's over 800,000 Americans that are members of the USCCA, because
00:02:22.220 not only do you get access when you're a member to their Protector Academy to learn skills like
00:02:27.720 precision shooting and also how to fortify your home against criminals, but you also get
00:02:33.020 access, and this for me is the most important, to 24-7 critical response team.
00:02:39.120 And the included benefit of self-defense liability insurance to make sure you and your family are
00:02:45.700 prepared for anything.
00:02:47.180 Every day, there are law-abiding citizens that have to use their Second Amendment rights.
00:02:51.100 You want to make sure you have someone protecting you when you exercise those rights.
00:02:56.220 And there are a lot of activist TAs right now.
00:02:58.680 They do not like law-abiding citizens carrying firearms.
00:03:01.820 And that is why the USCCA is so important.
00:03:04.820 Now, here's the other cool thing.
00:03:06.480 For a limited time, if you text the word AMERICA to 87222, that's 87222, you're going
00:03:14.800 to get the USCCA's free Lifesaving Concealed Carry and Family Defense Guide.
00:03:20.300 You're also going to get a chance to win $1,700 to buy any self-defense gear that you need before
00:03:26.520 it's too late.
00:03:27.640 So text the word right now, AMERICA, to 87222 right now.
00:03:33.160 All right, Senator, so you met with Matt Gaetz yesterday, less than 24 hours later.
00:03:39.480 Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his nomination.
00:03:42.720 Let's paint the picture for some of you that listen to the show that say, how does this work?
00:03:47.440 Because it was an interesting meeting.
00:03:49.140 The vice president-elect was in the meeting as well, from what I understand.
00:03:52.240 He was walking around Capitol Hill with Matt.
00:03:54.640 When you see each other and you know both of these men, how does it work?
00:03:58.320 Does he come into your office?
00:03:59.420 Is it just a three?
00:04:00.240 Do you close the door?
00:04:01.020 And then walk us through how that meeting works.
00:04:04.620 Well, in the past week, Matt Gaetz had met with all of the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary
00:04:11.480 Committee.
00:04:12.400 And so he reached out and his team reached out, asked for a meeting.
00:04:16.160 Of course, we said yes.
00:04:17.620 And so I met with Matt on Wednesday afternoon, early evening.
00:04:24.520 And the meeting, he was in the meeting, and then J.D. Vance was accompanying him to all of those meetings as well.
00:04:32.860 And so we met actually in a room in the Capitol.
00:04:36.020 They were holed up in a room in the Capitol, and I came and sat down and met with him in about a half-hour meeting.
00:04:41.720 And it was a very positive and substantive meeting.
00:04:46.320 I will say I did not know Matt Gaetz.
00:04:48.960 I've met him, I think, once or twice before, basically in a green room before going on a hit on Fox.
00:04:55.900 But I'd never had a conversation with him.
00:04:59.120 So when I sat down to meet him, it was the first time I'd ever had a substantive conversation with him.
00:05:04.960 And we had, as I said, I think a worthwhile conversation.
00:05:08.380 The bulk of what we talked about is I asked him, what's your vision for DOJ?
00:05:13.400 Look, I don't know that there is a more important appointment that President Trump will make than the appointment to be Attorney General.
00:05:21.360 In particular, because under Joe Biden, the Department of Justice has been so corrupted, so politicized, so weaponized,
00:05:31.020 that we need a strong Attorney General to come in and clean house, to come in and restore integrity to the Department of Justice.
00:05:41.000 That is not going to be an easy task.
00:05:43.080 And so much of what I was asking him is, look, how do you get that done?
00:05:46.400 How do you take on the hardcore partisans that have burrowed into career positions throughout DOJ?
00:05:53.320 How do you deal with that?
00:05:54.860 How do you ensure that the Department of Justice does what it is designed to do, which is to enforce the law regardless of party?
00:06:06.200 Let me be clear.
00:06:07.180 I don't want a Republican Department of Justice.
00:06:13.240 I don't want a Democrat Department of Justice.
00:06:14.940 I want a Department of Justice that enforces the law regardless of party.
00:06:19.120 And that is not an easy task.
00:06:21.340 And so what I was mostly doing is asking him, how would you get that done?
00:06:25.000 How would you take it on?
00:06:26.000 What in your background has prepared you to do that?
00:06:27.980 What's your vision?
00:06:29.100 How would you execute it?
00:06:30.320 I also asked quite a few questions about, listen, President Trump has a big and bold agenda and he has a major mandate from the voters.
00:06:39.160 On election day, as attorney general, how would you go about advising the president how to effectively implement his agenda?
00:06:49.320 Listen, everything the president tries to do over the next four years, Democrats are going to sue him.
00:06:54.680 Blue states are going to sue him.
00:06:56.240 Left wing attorney generals are going to sue him.
00:06:58.620 Special interest groups are going to sue him.
00:07:00.420 And so we need a Department of Justice that is smart and savvy and knows how to defend that litigation, knows how to prevail and knows how to how to implement a litigation strategy that that, number one, defends the policies of the president, the administration.
00:07:18.440 But number two, that that has a real vision, a real vision.
00:07:24.380 Listen, this president was elected with a mandate, among other things, to to rein in out of control job killing regulations, to rein in the administrative state.
00:07:35.480 That is a major objective of President Trump in this new administration's major objective of mine.
00:07:41.120 And they're going to be big legal challenges to doing so.
00:07:44.300 And so so I think President Trump needs an attorney general who can give smart, serious advice on on how to how to how to carry that out.
00:07:54.520 So when you when you have these conversations, did you know that there was a chance that within 20 hours of you having that meeting, less than that, that Matt Gaetz was going to pull out?
00:08:05.200 And what was the word on Capitol Hill?
00:08:08.340 No idea at all.
00:08:09.500 Um, and it was, uh, as I said, the meeting that I had with him was very positive.
00:08:14.940 And then I came out there were a horder reporters that were in the hallway that were waiting, uh, with with bated breath.
00:08:20.840 How'd the meeting go?
00:08:21.500 How'd the meeting go?
00:08:22.700 Um, and and what I told them there is I said, look, it was a very productive meeting.
00:08:26.260 And and I think Matt Gaetz is entitled to a full and fair, uh, confirmation process.
00:08:32.040 He needs to have a hearing.
00:08:33.000 He needs to have a hearing quickly.
00:08:34.060 We need to move the Senate needs to move expeditiously, uh, move forward with the confirmation of, of all of President Trump's cabinet members.
00:08:44.000 Um, that'll get started.
00:08:45.700 That'll the hearings will get started early in January.
00:08:48.560 The hearings will get started actually before President Trump is sworn in because the new Senate, we will be sworn in at the beginning of January.
00:08:56.740 So we'll have two and a half weeks where the new Senate is in office, but, but Trump has not yet been sworn in because he doesn't become president until January 20th.
00:09:05.120 So we'll begin hearings of major cabinet appointees starting in early January.
00:09:10.240 You can't vote them out of committee then because they're not formally nominated until Trump becomes president and nominates them.
00:09:19.020 So there is a, you can't confirm someone before they're nominated, but you can do the hearing and you can get prepared.
00:09:25.840 So as soon as they're nominated, you can vote and confirm them.
00:09:29.280 And, and, and I think we need to move expeditiously to do that.
00:09:32.680 Uh, but I gotta say on Thursday afternoon when the news broke, uh, it was a complete surprise to me.
00:09:40.740 I think it was a surprise to anybody.
00:09:42.140 If anybody knew about it, um, that, that they certainly didn't indicate that they did.
00:09:46.520 And, and it, I, you know, I found out over Twitter, it, it just, you know, uh, Gates put out a statement and, uh, you know, I was in, in a meeting and I got text.
00:09:55.560 I got a text over the phone that just sent me the Twitter statement.
00:09:58.300 I was like, wow, okay.
00:09:59.900 Um, and, and I think, I think most, uh, most senators were, were very surprised.
00:10:04.800 Now, my assumption, uh, is that Gates did so because he and the team, the Trump team perceived some, some real difficulties in Senate confirmation.
00:10:16.520 And, and, and there certainly have been, been multiple senators who, who expressed significant concern, uh, about Gates's background.
00:10:24.220 I don't know if he would have had the votes to be confirmed or not, uh, but his statement that he put out, uh, what it said, and I'll, I'll just read the statement that Gates put out, uh, on X.
00:10:36.340 He said, quote, I had excellent meetings with senators yesterday.
00:10:40.300 I appreciate their thoughtful feedback and the incredible support of so many.
00:10:44.340 While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump Vance transition.
00:10:53.120 There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle.
00:10:57.040 Thus, I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general.
00:11:02.800 Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on day one.
00:11:06.320 I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful president in history.
00:11:11.040 I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice, and I'm certain he will save America.
00:11:17.540 So that was his statement, um, and as I said, I think in particular the timing was, was a surprise to, to most, if not every senator.
00:11:27.140 When, when you look at moving forward politically, what is the best move now for the president?
00:11:33.220 Is that, is to take his time, uh, or do you expect we're going to name pretty quickly so you can move on from the Gates story and say, hey, that's old news, let's go to the next thing.
00:11:42.440 I got to get somebody in there because, as you mentioned, this is a, a hearing for whoever the next nominee is that, that needs to be on the books and they need to be having the meetings that you were literally having 24 hours ago.
00:11:54.160 Yeah, look, I, I expect they will move relatively quickly.
00:11:57.640 I, I will say it's more important to get it right than to get it super fast.
00:12:02.760 Uh, as I said, I don't know that there's a more important appointment that, that, that Trump will make that, that, than attorney general.
00:12:09.220 And, and, and it needs to be a serious lawyer.
00:12:11.880 It needs to be someone with integrity.
00:12:14.120 It needs to be someone with, with legal savvy, with, and it needs to be someone with, with a steel backbone.
00:12:20.420 And, and so, look, there, there were multiple press reports of, of different people that Trump had interviewed that he was looking at.
00:12:27.780 Uh, one of the people who was reported in the press reports is a guy named Bob Giffra.
00:12:31.960 I, I know Bob very well.
00:12:33.340 Bob, uh, is the head of Sullivan and Cromwell, which is one of the biggest law firms, uh, in the country.
00:12:39.360 It's based in New York.
00:12:40.380 And, and Bob is, uh, was a former law clerk, uh, to Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
00:12:46.040 And, and, and I've known Bob for 30 years and, and he's a, he's a smart, serious lawyer, uh, who would certainly be up to the task if, if that's who Trump decided to nominate.
00:12:55.860 Um, that, there were other names that, that were tossed around.
00:12:58.960 There was some discussion, uh, about Mike Lee.
00:13:01.620 I think Mike Lee would do a terrific job.
00:13:03.540 I, I, I don't think Mike is interested in the job, but I think he'd be, he'd be terrific if he was willing to do it.
00:13:08.720 But, but I think what is really important is that they get it right and, and they appoint someone, uh, who, who is prepared to, to really turn around the battleship that is the Department of Justice and bring it back to what it's supposed to be.
00:13:26.380 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.
00:13:32.740 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:13:36.460 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:13:37.640 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:13:38.860 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.
00:13:42.620 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.
00:13:48.360 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:13:51.360 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:13:55.860 I've got my short list and I'm, I'm looking over it.
00:14:00.420 And I was having this conversation earlier.
00:14:03.100 All right, what's next?
00:14:04.560 And I'm going to ask the question that I think the majority of people listening right now are thinking in their head, too.
00:14:09.580 Why not a guy by the name of Senator Ted Cruz from Texas?
00:14:14.240 He's an attorney.
00:14:15.480 He knows the Constitution backwards and forwards and maybe even can write it in different languages, for goodness sakes.
00:14:21.340 That's how well you know it.
00:14:22.840 And there are people that are going to be sitting here the same way I am going, like, this screams Senator Ted Cruz.
00:14:30.340 Is your name, should that, I mean, would you look at that if it was a conversation?
00:14:35.020 Because I have you at the top of my list, not because I know you, but because I think you could do the job incredibly well.
00:14:41.740 Well, look, it is certainly humbling to be discussed in that context.
00:14:46.020 And I appreciate it.
00:14:48.800 I am not interested in the job.
00:14:50.800 I am going to stay right where I am.
00:14:52.980 I'm going to stay in the United States Senate.
00:14:54.540 As you know, I'm getting ready to be the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
00:14:58.500 You know, I just got got an incredible responsibility and mandate from the people of Texas.
00:15:04.400 30 million Texans made the decision to reelect me and send me to the Senate to fight.
00:15:09.200 And frankly, I think in the U.S. Senate, the Senate is going to be the battlefield for many of the victories that we need to win over the next four years.
00:15:18.260 The Senate is going to be the battlefield for for securing the border.
00:15:23.600 The Senate is going to be the battlefield for cutting taxes and simplifying the tax code.
00:15:27.460 The Senate is going to be the battlefield for repealing job killing regulations.
00:15:31.260 The Senate is going to be the battlefield for strengthening our national security, for standing with Israel, for defeating Hamas and Hezbollah, for standing up to China.
00:15:39.840 And I think I am, frankly, more needed in the Senate.
00:15:46.240 I think I could have a bigger and more lasting impact in the Senate.
00:15:49.620 And so I care intensely who's going to be attorney general.
00:15:54.200 And I hope it is someone very strong, very capable.
00:15:56.460 And I I fully expect to work closely with whomever Trump appoints.
00:16:02.520 But but but it ain't going to be me.
00:16:04.480 Final question on this.
00:16:05.920 And that deals with the other nominees.
00:16:09.040 What do you expect when it comes to meetings?
00:16:11.620 I mean, is it is it is it going to be locked and loaded with other nominees or is this one still going to take precedent if it's named quickly?
00:16:18.100 And how does that order of who you meet with work?
00:16:21.720 Well, it tends to vary committee by committee.
00:16:24.960 So Matt Gaetz, for example, was meeting with the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee.
00:16:30.100 And the reason is obvious, which is the attorney general goes first to the Judiciary Committee.
00:16:34.620 The Judiciary Committee holds the hearing and then you have to be voted out of committee and then it goes to the floor of the Senate.
00:16:39.920 There are other people, for example, Pete Hegseth has been nominated for secretary of defense.
00:16:46.480 I assume Pete is meeting with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee because Senate Armed Services Committee would be the committee that would hold his confirmation hearings.
00:16:54.780 And you naturally prioritize meeting with members of the committee.
00:16:58.880 So for each cabinet appointee, that's going to be decided initially by what is the committee of jurisdiction that will hold the confirmation hearing and that will have oversight.
00:17:09.920 jurisdiction. So so for so for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, we've got jurisdiction over a lot of the federal government.
00:17:21.000 The Secretary of Commerce will come before our committee.
00:17:23.800 The Secretary of Transportation will come before our committee.
00:17:26.660 The chairman and the commissioners of the FTC, of the FCC, they'll all come before our committee.
00:17:33.280 The administrator of the FAA, the administrator of NASA will come before our committee.
00:17:38.040 And so all of those various folks will naturally meet with members of the Commerce Committee on foreign affairs.
00:17:45.040 Marco Rubio has been nominated to be secretary of state.
00:17:48.220 He's naturally going to meet with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
00:17:52.040 Now, that one's a little bit different because Marco's on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
00:17:56.480 So am I. I know Marco very well.
00:17:58.120 We were sort of talking and laughing about.
00:18:00.380 I mean, it's a different I think Marco is going to be confirmed quite easily.
00:18:03.420 That being said, they will systematically initially meet with the senators on the committee of jurisdiction.
00:18:13.560 And normally you meet with the other side as well.
00:18:16.160 Normally you meet with I would expect them to meet certainly with the Democrats on the committee that that has jurisdiction.
00:18:22.160 And then depending on the position, they will meet with with others as well.
00:18:28.000 And so it's not it's not uniform.
00:18:31.400 Every cabinet nominee doesn't meet with all hundred senators.
00:18:34.640 But depending on the degree of importance of the nomination and who the individual senator is, if they have particular equities or or they're particularly involved in a subject matter, then there would be those meetings as well.
00:18:47.820 But but that's that's on more of an ad hoc basis.
00:18:50.340 I want to talk to you about our friends at the IFCJ.
00:18:53.780 The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving as you gather with your families, grateful for the blessings that God has given us all.
00:19:04.140 But let's also remember those who are facing unbelievable hardship in need of food, fellowship and hope.
00:19:10.520 That includes the people of Israel who are threatened daily by attacks from enemies now on all sides.
00:19:16.540 And during these hard times, Israelis are thankful for the fellowship for food and basic assistance.
00:19:22.880 We're talking about truly lifesaving aid when the rest of the world seems to have turned its back on them.
00:19:28.860 Your gift of twenty five dollars will help provide a food box to an elderly Jew or a Jewish family who are suffering and in desperate need.
00:19:39.160 A hundred dollars will help provide four of these lifesaving food boxes.
00:19:44.700 This Thanksgiving, please consider standing with Israel and the Jewish people.
00:19:49.120 And how do you do that?
00:19:50.440 By going to support.
00:19:52.380 IFCJ dot org to make a gift right now.
00:19:57.040 That's support.
00:19:58.640 IFCJ dot org.
00:20:00.000 Or you can call them and give your gift over the phone.
00:20:03.180 888-488-IFCJ.
00:20:06.780 That's 888-488-4325.
00:20:12.040 888-488-IFCJ.
00:20:14.440 Or go to support.
00:20:15.660 IFCJ dot org.
00:20:17.960 Senator, I want to pull an audible real quick because I should have mentioned this earlier.
00:20:21.920 But as we were just talking about Israel, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant.
00:20:31.140 And they also they're like, oh, yeah, we threw in a Hamas guy, too.
00:20:34.800 So it looks like we're being equal here.
00:20:37.640 This is a shocking attack by the ICC on Netanyahu.
00:20:42.100 And also one that makes it very tough for him to travel more than likely the way he needs to because of the threat of being arrested, for example, if he is traveling to many parts of Europe.
00:20:55.340 Well, it is an absolute outrage.
00:20:57.460 And the ICC already had very, very questionable legitimacy.
00:21:02.600 But but with this decision, the International Criminal Court has just become a kangaroo court.
00:21:08.620 And frankly, that's not fair to kangaroos.
00:21:10.600 I mean, I mean, it is it is an absolute this is a a political act of anti-Israel hatred and and anti-Semitism that sadly infest so many of our international institutions that that that just hate Israel profoundly.
00:21:28.720 And and I believe the United States, we should impose sanctions on every individual involved in issuing this arrest warrant from the prosecutor to the judges to everyone involved.
00:21:39.880 They should be sanctioned by the United States government.
00:21:42.940 We should also make clear that we will sanction anyone who attempts to enforce this arrest warrant.
00:21:48.940 And if you're a French prosecutor, be prepared to have American sanctions put on you.
00:21:53.600 If you try to to enforce this, this utterly lawless arrest warrant and and understand the reason that the ICC did this is because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's incredible weakness.
00:22:08.920 Listen, the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel.
00:22:12.620 Israel is not a party to the ICC.
00:22:14.660 It also has no jurisdiction over the United States of America.
00:22:17.640 And understand this is a threat not just against Israel, although it is very much that.
00:22:22.880 But this is a threat against America.
00:22:24.800 This is a threat against the people who hate America.
00:22:27.220 Imagine these same bigots who hate Israel, how much they would love to issue an arrest warrant for Donald Trump or for the secretary of state or the secretary of defense of the United States.
00:22:38.360 And it is only because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are so weak that the ICC felt empowered to issue this.
00:22:45.340 It's not an accident that this came out after the presidential election.
00:22:49.860 But before Trump was sworn in, that is when the enemies of Israel and the enemies of America historically have done some of the worst actions against the United States and and and against Israel.
00:23:01.960 It is when, if you remember, at the end of Obama, the last time we were in this comparable moment, which is a Democratic administration was ending and Donald Trump was getting ready to be sworn in as president.
00:23:16.240 That would have been November and December of 2016.
00:23:18.840 Right after the election, Obama was leaving.
00:23:21.140 And remember what what the Obama administration did.
00:23:24.260 They orchestrated U.N. Resolution 2334, which is one of the most shameful resolutions ever to be voted on in the United Nations.
00:23:34.360 And and the Obama administration, it this this resolution denounced much of modern Israel as illegitimate and illegally occupied.
00:23:43.660 It denounced the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem as illegitimate and illegally occupied.
00:23:49.400 It denounced the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem as illegally occupied and illegitimate.
00:23:55.100 And and what happened is the Obama State Department orchestrated it.
00:24:00.340 They got others to push it and they just stood back and abstained.
00:24:04.720 And I will tell you this week, I had a classified briefing with Tony Blinken, the secretary of state.
00:24:09.920 And I asked him very directly in that briefing.
00:24:15.080 Is the Biden administration going to do the same thing?
00:24:17.900 Because last time y'all did that, it profoundly hurt Israel.
00:24:23.500 It was used by the enemies of Israel to justify all sorts of targeting against the people of Israel.
00:24:30.480 And I'm very concerned the Biden administration is going to try to orchestrate something similar at the United Nations.
00:24:37.180 We had a vote this week that that actually the Biden administration blocked to their credit where the U.N.
00:24:44.140 was trying to call for an immediate ceasefire of the war against Hamas.
00:24:47.960 But they did not include within it a demand that the hostages be released.
00:24:52.260 And the Biden administration vetoed it without the hostages being released as part of the language.
00:24:58.480 But I'm worried in the next two months that they will try to do something very similar to what happened in December of 2016 with 2334.
00:25:09.800 And I think that this ICC arrest warrant is is shameful.
00:25:14.580 I also think the incoming Trump administration is going to stand very strongly against this absolutely disgraceful decision.
00:25:22.700 Thune came out and threatened the International Criminal Court with sanctions if it doesn't drop the Netanyahu warrant for arrest.
00:25:27.940 But he also called on Schumer to not wait for the Republicans to get in charge to do the right thing and to do something now on this.
00:25:37.520 He said if if if Majority Leader Schumer does not act, the Senate Republicans majority will stand with our key ally Israel and and make this and other supportive legislation a top priority in the next Congress.
00:25:50.180 Is there a chance that Schumer could actually lead on this as Thune called on him to do and said, don't make us wait till January, do the right thing now for Israel?
00:26:00.020 Well, I think the chances are virtually zero.
00:26:03.400 So the House has passed legislation to do exactly that.
00:26:07.620 And Schumer has refused to take it up.
00:26:09.500 The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, we have had legislation before us from Jim Risch, who's getting ready to be the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee to do exactly that, to sanction the ICC for doing this.
00:26:21.900 And the Democrats have refused to take it up.
00:26:24.160 It's basically shut down the Foreign Relations Committee for the last six months because the Democrats have blocked legislation standing up to the ICC.
00:26:33.100 And look, this is the unfortunate reality that in today's Democrat Party, there is a pro-Hamas faction of the Democrat Party.
00:26:45.600 And I don't think that is hyperbole.
00:26:47.180 It is tragically the case.
00:26:48.800 They are the ones cheering.
00:26:50.440 We just had votes this week that Bernie Sanders pushed on the floor to cut off weapons to Israel, to cut off 32,000 tank rounds to Israel,
00:26:59.960 to cut off over 50,000 mortar cartridges to Israel, to cut off the kits that are used to make precision bombs.
00:27:09.460 Now, understand, the argument of the leftists is that when Israel is bombing Hamas or Hezbollah, they accidentally have incidental civilian casualties.
00:27:20.660 So what is their response?
00:27:22.560 Take away the ability to have targeted smart bombs so they can only drop dumb bombs that they can't steer.
00:27:27.700 The difference, a precision bomb, you can direct it so you hit your target, and it's much less likely to have collateral damage.
00:27:34.740 These leftists hate Israel so much they want to say, no, let's take away your ability to target your weapons.
00:27:39.820 So we increase the number of civilians killed.
00:27:43.600 And 19 Senate Democrats voted to cut off Israel's funds.
00:27:47.480 That pro-Hamas faction of the Democrat Party, not every Democrat in the House and Senate is a member of it,
00:27:54.440 but just about every single Democrat is terrified of that faction.
00:27:59.440 And it's why Schumer, look, the internal notes from Columbia University when Columbia was having the anti-Semitic protest
00:28:09.040 and the leaders of Columbia were talking to Schumer, Schumer told them, don't worry about it.
00:28:13.800 The Democrats, we don't care.
00:28:15.120 It's only the Republicans who care about this.
00:28:18.000 Understand what that admission was.
00:28:20.040 And that was out of Schumer's own mouth, that we, the Democrats, don't care about violent anti-Semites terrorizing students
00:28:29.240 in Columbia University and other universities, threatening Jewish students.
00:28:33.100 It's not a priority for them.
00:28:35.200 Why?
00:28:35.620 Because they're terrified by the pro-Hamas faction of the party who supports the radicals and the anti-Semites.
00:28:43.020 That is tragically where we are, and so I'm going to predict we will take up the legislation to sanction the ICC,
00:28:50.240 and we will do it early next year when we have a Republican Congress and a Republican president.
00:28:55.600 I don't even know that we'll need that legislation, though, because I expect the Trump administration to act unilaterally.
00:29:02.200 I think there's ample authority under the law for them to act, even if the Democrats filibuster legislation to sanction the ICC.
00:29:09.480 I think the president will have ample authority to act come January 20.
00:29:13.660 Let me talk to you real quick about my friends over at Blackout Coffee.
00:29:17.540 If you are like me and you start your day off with a cup of coffee every day, well, then you've got to get the best cup of coffee of your life,
00:29:22.960 a premium cup of coffee without the woke agenda of the left, and in the coffee space, there are a bunch of woke coffee companies.
00:29:32.040 Well, you don't have to give them your money anymore, and you don't have to compromise for an average cup of coffee either.
00:29:37.380 You need to try Blackout Coffee.
00:29:39.540 Now, I want you to try it, and you're going to save 20% off your first order.
00:29:43.380 Go to blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict.
00:29:46.180 That's blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict, and use the coupon code VERDICT for 20% off your first order.
00:29:55.960 Blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict.
00:29:58.020 Be awake, not woke, and get the best cup of coffee that you've ever had.
00:30:03.240 Blackout is 100% committed to conservative values from sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support, and shipping,
00:30:09.460 and they embody true American values, and they accept no compromise on taste or quality.
00:30:16.220 So go to blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict.
00:30:18.540 Use coupon code VERDICT for 20% off your first order.
00:30:22.360 That's blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict, and use that promo code VERDICT for 20% off.
00:30:27.720 Senator, finally, I want to hit something else that is, I have to admit, I am enjoying this, watching the liberal media meltdown.
00:30:35.420 The View had an all-time meltdown about Donald Trump's win.
00:30:40.360 Joy Behar, on The View, said this to the audience.
00:30:44.920 Take a listen.
00:30:45.980 Do you know what's in the air, Whoopi?
00:30:47.500 What's Trumpism?
00:30:48.720 We lost the election.
00:30:50.020 Wait a minute.
00:30:50.720 We lost the election.
00:30:52.320 We're miserable.
00:30:53.300 Half of this country is miserable.
00:30:55.300 And let's just tell the truth.
00:30:56.940 We hate that he won.
00:30:58.520 We hate it.
00:30:59.060 I mean, I know we're all, like, Nazis, and I know that we're all deplorables, and I know that we're all floating garbage,
00:31:09.820 but you would think they would have learned from losing an election, and clearly they're not.
00:31:14.920 Look, I got to say, if Joy Behar is crying on TV and is miserable and is unhappy, that's a good day for America,
00:31:25.680 because her radical and extreme ideas, they're hurting the country.
00:31:30.820 And, you know, that may be the most honest thing she's ever said on The View, because she is a hard leftist.
00:31:37.060 And notice, she's learned nothing.
00:31:41.280 She's listened to nothing.
00:31:42.560 There's no part, nobody on that show has stopped to say, wait, why did the American people overwhelmingly reject our disastrous policy agenda?
00:31:52.300 They're not asking that.
00:31:53.560 They're just mad at what they view as the idiot voters.
00:31:59.280 And listen, that's an arrogance that we see in elected Democrats.
00:32:02.540 It's an arrogance we see throughout the corporate media.
00:32:05.060 And I think it's going to fuel their doubling down and getting, if anything, even more extreme.
00:32:14.480 Yeah, I agree with you on the more extreme part.
00:32:17.360 They're certainly not learning from Election Day.
00:32:19.180 Don't forget, we do the show every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
00:32:21.900 Hit that subscribe or auto-download button.
00:32:25.340 And the second thing I will remind you is grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast,
00:32:29.600 and I will keep you up to date on those in-between days on the latest breaking news.
00:32:34.540 We also have a Week in Review we do on Saturdays.
00:32:38.280 So if you missed any show during the week, you'll hit the highlights of what we talked about in our Week in Review on Saturdays.
00:32:45.740 So make sure you grab that podcast as well.
00:32:47.740 And please share this.
00:32:49.020 Write us a five-star review.
00:32:50.500 It helps us reach new people.
00:32:52.140 So if you would do that, we greatly appreciate it.
00:32:54.480 And the center and I will see you back here on Saturday for our Week in Review.
00:32:58.240 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:33:01.800 Guaranteed Human.