Verdict with Ted Cruz - Islamist Revolution in Syria-What It Means, plus Trump Dominates Meet the Press

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.540 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.180 Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.180 And Senator, we've got a lot to talk about tonight, including the shocking news coming out of Syria that Assad is gone.

00:00:17.240 He's out of the country, out of power.

00:00:19.980 Well, that's exactly right.

00:00:21.440 We've seen the Bashar Assad regime toppled this week after a 14-year civil war. 0.98

00:00:30.400 Now, Bashar Assad is a cruel and horrible dictator. 0.85

00:00:34.380 He's taken refuge in Russia. 0.98

00:00:36.540 His falling is a major loss for Russia.

00:00:40.140 It's a major loss for Iran.

00:00:41.740 It's a major loss for Hezbollah.

00:00:43.780 All were allies.

00:00:45.200 All are seriously hurt by his falling.

00:00:47.320 But the rebels who have toppled him may well be even worse.

00:00:52.460 It is radical Islamists who have been fighting against him.

00:00:55.460 Many of them are remnants of al-Qaeda, remnants of the Islamic State.

00:01:00.080 And the people of Syria and Israel and America may soon find that the new leadership is even worse than the old.

00:01:07.460 We're going to break that down in real depth.

00:01:09.560 Beyond that, Donald Trump went on Meet the Press this week.

00:01:13.160 He sat down, did an extensive interview, and laid out a calm, clear vision for coming in, for securing the border, for getting the economy coming back.

00:01:23.460 We're going to break that down as well.

00:01:25.260 Yeah, it's really an interesting interview, especially to see how the media is not getting him flustered at all, and it's driving them crazy.

00:01:31.280 We'll play some of that audio for you in a moment.

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00:03:26.280 Senator, let's start with the last thing that you said when you were mentioning what has just happened with Assad falling.

00:03:32.740 This is great news in theory.

00:03:35.360 But I go back to Libya and Gaddafi. 0.93

00:03:37.480 When Gaddafi fell there, there was a lot of people like, all right, this is great news, and we got rid of a horrible human being. 1.00

00:03:44.600 But then the country fell into, in essence, civil war and total anarchy and chaos.

00:03:49.720 And that is the big concern here, obviously, is that now the remnants of al-Qaeda ISIS could actually be in charge of this country.

00:03:57.780 Yeah, I'm not convinced it's great news at all.

00:03:59.520 Listen, the world is a dangerous place, and there are bad dictators.

00:04:05.180 But we've seen a pattern for the past 20 years of Americans supporting people toppling dictators who are fighting terrorists only to have the terrorists take over and start fighting Americans instead.

00:04:18.060 And my perspective on this is, is this good for America or not?

00:04:23.120 I would say at best it is too soon to tell.

00:04:26.400 Let's step back and do a little bit of history.

00:04:28.220 Bashar Assad is a dictator. 1.00

00:04:30.420 He's a monster. 1.00

00:04:31.840 This is a man who used chemical weapons against his own citizens. 1.00

00:04:35.340 He's responsible for murdering hundreds of thousands of people.

00:04:38.900 So nobody with any sense defends Bashar Assad.

00:04:42.640 The problem is the rebel groups fighting against him, many of them may well be worse. 0.66

00:04:48.600 Many of them come, are connected to al-Qaeda, to radical Islamic terrorists.

00:04:53.220 And the challenge is, and we saw it, you're right, we saw it in Libya when Gaddafi was toppled, and we ended up with even worse radical Islamic terrorists taking over. 0.93

00:05:11.560 In this case, the people fighting are Islamists.

00:05:15.560 They are remnants of al-Qaeda.

00:05:21.300 They are remnants of the Islamic State. 0.54

00:05:24.620 And one of the leading Islamist groups who played the critical role in toppling Assad is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, which is a former affiliate of al-Qaeda and part of the rebel forces.

00:05:42.940 And the Islamist leader of HTS is Abu Muhammad al-Ghalani.

00:05:50.920 He right now has a $10 million bounty on his head from the United States.

00:05:54.580 Now, he is trying to – the press is describing him as a more moderate radical Islamist.

00:06:02.940 I'm not sure what a more moderate radical Islamist is.

00:06:06.060 You know, I think back to 2014.

00:06:09.040 2014, Barack Obama was president.

00:06:11.000 You remember, Barack Obama drew what he called a red line.

00:06:14.280 And he said, if Bashar Assad uses chemical weapons, America will respond with force.

00:06:20.380 We will attack it.

00:06:21.360 Well, Assad did use chemical weapons.

00:06:24.360 And Obama came to Congress to ask for Congress's agreement to attack Syria.

00:06:31.260 Now, I'll tell you at the time, I kept an open mind.

00:06:34.160 I wanted to actually hear the commander-in-chief's justification for why attacking Assad's regime was in the U.S. national security interests.

00:06:44.620 And I could imagine a scenario – listen, Assad had major chemical weapons caches.

00:06:52.800 He used chemical weapons against his own people.

00:06:55.720 I can imagine a mission that might make sense to go in and perhaps take out the chemical weapons.

00:07:00.200 I could see that if he could lay out a credible case that those chemical weapons could be used against Americans or our allies.

00:07:07.980 That's a mission I could see making sense.

00:07:10.000 But at the time, and this is back in 2014, you had multiple rebel groups affiliated with radical Islamic terrorists, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, and they were fighting.

00:07:24.180 And the question that I asked, and I asked this repeatedly of the Obama administration, both in classified briefings and in public briefings, I said,

00:07:32.060 okay, if you succeed in toppling Assad and the chemical weapons fall into the hands of the radical Islamic terrorists, how is that better for us?

00:07:44.100 How do you prevent the people who take over from being worse than the people who are there right now?

00:07:51.120 And I got to tell you, they had no answer.

00:07:52.900 It was utterly incoherent.

00:07:54.280 At one point, John Kerry was the secretary of state.

00:07:57.440 He said their objective was to conduct a, quote, unbelievably small attack, basically a press release.

00:08:05.420 This is essentially what what John Kerry was saying and the way he justified it is he said, well, by crossing this lines, they violated international norms.

00:08:14.020 So we have to do an unbelievably small attack to register our protests to their violating the international norms.

00:08:20.420 And I thought that was completely incoherent.

00:08:23.320 Either the attack would be too small to do anything, in which case, what the hell are we doing?

00:08:27.780 Or it would be strong enough to succeed in toppling Assad, in which case there was a risk of the weapons falling into the hands of our enemies.

00:08:37.020 So I oppose Barack Obama attacking Assad in 2014 because he could not articulate a clear basis why it was in U.S. national security interest.

00:08:46.980 Now, fast forward a decade later.

00:08:49.340 The Civil War has waged on and on and on.

00:08:51.560 Now, several things have happened.

00:08:53.500 One, Russia is weakened significantly by the war in Ukraine.

00:08:58.360 Russia is in a much weaker place.

00:08:59.920 Number two, Iran is in a much weaker place.

00:09:02.740 Israel's war against Hamas and Hezbollah have weakened Iran, and Hezbollah is in a much weaker place.

00:09:08.160 And so that's one of the factors that I think.

00:09:11.120 Explain to people, just so they know, all three of the countries you just mentioned, or I should say terrorist groups and then two countries, they were the ones that have been propping up Assad for the last, in essence, decade.

00:09:23.940 Especially when these rebel forces started gaining in certain parts of the country.

00:09:28.840 And Russia came in and said, hey, we got your back.

00:09:31.100 Iran said, hey, we got your back.

00:09:32.540 You've got the terrorist organizations.

00:09:34.420 They're like, hey, we'll keep you in power.

00:09:36.340 We'll prop you up.

00:09:37.680 Now they're all distracted.

00:09:39.340 And that's how these rebel groups are able to pull this off this time.

00:09:42.260 Well, that's right.

00:09:43.540 That all of the groups that were propping Assad up were weaker.

00:09:47.040 And I'll tell you, President Trump put out, I think, a very good statement in response to this.

00:09:52.340 And here's what Trump wrote on Truth Social.

00:09:54.700 He wrote, quote, Assad is gone.

00:09:58.280 He has fled his country.

00:09:59.580 His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.

00:10:07.680 There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. 0.94

00:10:11.340 They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead in a war that should never have started and could go on forever.

00:10:22.220 Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, and the other because of Israel and its fighting success.

00:10:33.020 Likewise, Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. 0.84

00:10:37.500 They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers and many more civilians.

00:10:42.220 There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.

00:10:47.000 Trump added, quote, too many lives are being so needlessly wasted.

00:10:51.860 Too many families destroyed.

00:10:53.520 And if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger and far worse.

00:10:58.360 I know Vladimir well.

00:11:00.060 This is the time to act.

00:11:01.500 China can help.

00:11:02.320 The world is waiting.

00:11:04.140 And I got to say, I am glad that Trump is expressing caution about what is happening in Syria.

00:11:12.820 And that caution is well-founded.

00:11:15.620 The Biden administration, they're celebrating.

00:11:17.520 The Biden White House is trying to victory lap this as a great victory for democracy.

00:11:23.060 Well, we'll see.

00:11:24.680 But when you have individuals who have been terrorists for many years, who have been radical Islamists, look, when the Islamic Revolution happened in 1979 in Iran, it was a horrible development for the people of Iran.

00:11:37.860 And so, is there celebration right now on the streets of Syria?

00:11:42.200 Sure. 0.98

00:11:43.080 Because Assad was a monster and people are celebrating the toppling of a monster. 0.98

00:11:47.280 They also celebrated the toppling of Saddam Hussein. 0.97

00:11:49.780 They also celebrated the toppling of Gaddafi.

00:11:51.780 They also celebrated the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

00:11:55.740 And we have seen many, many times that revolutions of one oppressive dictator can far too often be replaced by an even worse regime.

00:12:06.440 And so, I think this is an exceptionally dangerous time right now.

00:12:10.000 And it is going to be important to do everything we can to prevent chemical weapons from falling into the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists who would use them against Americans.

00:12:20.080 Well, let's talk about that aspect and also the White House.

00:12:23.120 Fox was reporting, and you mentioned a moment ago, that Biden seemed to, in essence, take credit for Assad's downfall.

00:12:30.380 And it was almost like it was, hey, this is a great victory lap moment for me.

00:12:34.540 I can add this to my resume and say, look what I've done.

00:12:37.940 And there was a lot of questions asked.

00:12:40.080 Here's how they reported it.

00:12:41.240 Hey, Lucas.

00:12:42.380 Well, good evening, Doc.

00:12:43.540 A lot changed in the region, it turns out.

00:12:45.860 And President Biden also mentioning this was an historic opportunity in Syria, but cautioned about risk and uncertainty with a U.S.-designated terrorist group closing in on Damascus and toppling the Assad regime.

00:12:58.560 And, of course, President Biden also seemed to take credit for Assad's downfall.

00:13:03.340 Our approach has shifted the balance of power in the Middle East through this combination of support for our partners, sanctions, diplomacy, and targeted military force when necessary.

00:13:15.560 You hear that from him, and you're like, okay, so your foreign policy in the Middle East is, screw Israel any chance you get, but you're wanting to claim now that you're part of what took down Assad, and then also saying, now we know there's a bunch of terrorists that are now going to be in charge in Damascus, but hey, we still think this is a great day. 0.61

00:13:35.540 Look, the world is a very dangerous place, and unfortunately, people who are enemies of America become stronger and stronger under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

00:13:45.740 And when Trump comes into office on January 20th, he's going to inherit a very dangerous world, but I am comforted our enemies are scared of a strong commander-in-chief.

00:13:57.160 That's what we need right now.

00:13:58.740 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them. 0.98

00:14:04.840 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk Podcast.

00:14:08.800 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:14:09.980 And I'm Catherine Clark.

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00:14:29.800 Let's move to Donald Trump and this interview that he did.

00:14:33.020 And it was one where I love how unflappable he was.

00:14:38.060 And one of those moments in this conversation, it does tie into what happened in Syria, was Donald Trump talking about,

00:14:45.600 I've stopped wars with tariffs.

00:14:47.700 And they're really trying to hammer him because he's using tariffs as leverage around the world right now.

00:14:52.420 He's made it very clear with Canada and the conversations with Trudeau and Mexico and others that he is not going to allow for America to be taken advantage of.

00:15:01.520 I want to get your reaction to this back and forth that he had in this interview with Kristen Welker, who was really trying to rough him up.

00:15:08.220 I'm a big believer in tariffs.

00:15:10.360 I think tariffs are the most beautiful word. 0.68

00:15:12.260 I think they're beautiful.

00:15:13.240 It's going to make us rich.

00:15:14.880 We're subsidizing Canada to the tune of over $100 billion a year.

00:15:20.040 We're subsidizing Mexico for almost $300 billion.

00:15:24.520 We shouldn't be subsidizing.

00:15:25.780 Why are we subsidizing these countries?

00:15:27.580 If we're going to subsidize them, let them become a state.

00:15:29.720 We're subsidizing Mexico and we're subsidizing Canada and we're subsidizing many countries all over the world.

00:15:36.180 And all I want to do is I want to have a level, fast, but fair playing field.

00:15:42.220 Sir, your previous tariffs during your first administration cost Americans some $80 billion.

00:15:48.380 And now you have major companies from Walmart, Black & Decker, AutoZone saying that any tariffs are going to force them to drive up prices for their consumers.

00:15:58.760 How do you make sure that these CEOs, that these companies don't, in fact, pass on the cost of tariffs to their consumers?

00:16:07.220 They cost Americans nothing.

00:16:09.720 They made a great economy for us.

00:16:12.620 They also solve another problem.

00:16:15.100 If we were going to have problems having to do with wars and having to do with other things, tariffs.

00:16:20.120 I have stopped wars with tariffs by saying you guys want to fight.

00:16:24.260 It's great.

00:16:24.720 But both of you are going to pay tariffs to the United States at 100 percent.

00:16:29.320 And they have many purposes, tariffs, if properly used.

00:16:34.240 I don't say you use them like a madman.

00:16:36.400 I say properly used.

00:16:38.220 But it didn't cost this country anything.

00:16:40.580 It made this country money.

00:16:42.480 And we never really got the chance to go all out because we had to fight COVID in the last part.

00:16:49.160 And we did it very successfully.

00:16:50.820 And when I handed it over to Biden, the stock market was higher than what it was just previous to COVID coming in was actually higher.

00:17:00.380 Tariffs are a properly used are very powerful tool, not only economically, but also for getting other things outside of economics.

00:17:09.380 You hear him talk there.

00:17:12.080 It just I love his demeanor, number one.

00:17:14.400 And when she's trying to get in, you know, in this fight with him, he's not taking the bait.

00:17:19.760 He's just saying this is my policy.

00:17:21.480 I have a mandate.

00:17:22.460 The people said they want this.

00:17:23.760 I am going to do this.

00:17:24.920 Well, let's be clear what the mandate is and what it isn't.

00:17:30.260 Donald Trump has a mandate to secure the border.

00:17:33.160 Absolutely.

00:17:33.920 Donald Trump has a mandate to bring our economy back, to bring inflation under control, to bring us back to peace and prosperity.

00:17:41.660 When it comes to tariffs, listen, Trump's views have been they've covered a wide range.

00:17:50.100 Trump has frequently spoken about his support for tariffs.

00:17:53.640 And this goes back 40 years in the 1980s when Reagan was president.

00:17:59.020 Trump was critical of Reagan for being a free trader.

00:18:01.840 And Trump has long supported tariffs.

00:18:04.260 Now, I will say, you know, when I am talking right now to to all sorts of business leaders in Texas, to people across the country,

00:18:14.720 probably the biggest policy uncertainty they have about what's going to happen the next four years concerns tariffs

00:18:21.680 and what the new administration is going to do.

00:18:23.840 And to be candid, I am not certain.

00:18:26.060 I am not certain what their policies are going to be.

00:18:29.160 I will say there was a lot of substance in how Trump answered that question.

00:18:34.280 Number one, where he made the point, look, you don't do tariffs like a madman on everyone.

00:18:39.540 If you do that, if you impose tariffs on everyone, you are raising costs and raising taxes on the American people.

00:18:46.040 And that is not a good idea.

00:18:47.780 So I'm I'm glad he is saying that there are some voices in the echo chamber around Trump that would love to see tariffs raised on everyone.

00:18:55.880 And so I'm glad he's saying, no, we're not going to do that.

00:18:58.700 He's also drawing a distinction that I think is important between tariffs used as a matter of economic policy versus tariffs used as leverage to achieve a different policy victory.

00:19:10.980 And I would point in particular to the tariffs that he's threatened on Mexico and Canada of 25 percent each.

00:19:17.340 And to be clear, what he has said on that when he announced that he was going to do that was he would impose those tariffs unless and the unless is critical.

00:19:27.180 Mexico and Canada both vigorously assessed it in securing our borders and stopping the flood of illegal immigration.

00:19:35.420 And that that is using tariffs for a very different purpose as leverage to move other countries to adopt policies that that are in America's interests.

00:19:46.940 And I got to say, I strongly approve and agree with using tariffs as a lever, particularly to secure the border in when Trump was president the first time.

00:19:57.680 He used the identical threat, a 25 percent tariff on Mexico to force Mexico to bring them to the table and get them to agree to the remain in Mexico agreement and remain in Mexico was the principal vehicle that produced the plummeting numbers of illegal immigration that produced the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years because Mexico didn't want those tariffs.

00:20:21.140 As I understand what Trump is saying, he's saying the same thing here.

00:20:24.940 So he is not pledging, I don't believe, big tariffs on Mexico and Canada going forward as a matter of economic policy.

00:20:33.300 What he is and I'll point out that that if he were suggesting that that would be directly contrary to the actual policy that he implemented when he was president because he rejected NAFTA.

00:20:44.920 But he negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which produces a lot of benefits to the United States, a lot of benefits to Texas.

00:20:54.460 Was an agreement that President Trump negotiated to get a fairer trading agreement between America and Mexico and Canada.

00:21:02.940 And so when you're talking about tariffs on Mexico and Canada, I understand the president to be saying what he said very explicitly in his public statement, which is that he's using them as leverage to secure the border.

00:21:16.640 Now, more broadly, when it comes to tariffs, I expect the president to be vigorous using tariffs, especially regarding China.

00:21:25.680 And I do think we should be very focused on China.

00:21:28.780 China is the greatest geopolitical threat facing the United States.

00:21:32.020 And I think Donald Trump is clear eyed about that in a way that Joe Biden and the Democrats are not.

00:21:37.060 Let's talk about the border.

00:21:39.100 And there was certainly a pretty intense conversation about what Donald Trump has said he wants to do.

00:21:46.380 And I think the American people actually know what his plan is.

00:21:50.200 The media just doesn't want to accept that he has a mandate to do it.

00:21:54.320 Here is part of that conversation.

00:21:56.600 Let's talk about mass deportation, one of your big agenda items.

00:22:00.280 You've talked about prioritizing people who have criminal histories.

00:22:03.800 Correct.

00:22:04.040 But is it your plan to deport everyone who is here illegally over the next four years?

00:22:09.620 Well, I think you have to do it.

00:22:11.480 And it's a it's a very tough thing to do.

00:22:15.340 It's but you have to have, you know, you have rules, regulations, laws.

00:22:19.900 They came in illegally.

00:22:21.040 You know, the people that have been treated very unfairly are the people that have been online for 10 years to come into the country.

00:22:26.520 And we're going to make it very easy for people to come in in terms of they have to pass the test.

00:22:31.040 They have to be able to tell you what the Statue of Liberty is.

00:22:34.260 They have to tell you a little bit about our country.

00:22:36.740 They have to love our country.

00:22:37.860 They can't come out of prisons.

00:22:39.100 We don't want people that are in for murder.

00:22:40.800 So we had 11,000 and 13,000 different estimates, 13,000 and 99 murderers released into our country over the last three years.

00:22:51.800 They're walking down the streets.

00:22:53.320 They're walking next to you and your family.

00:22:55.420 And they're very dangerous.

00:22:56.740 13,000 figure, I think, goes back about 40 years.

00:22:59.660 No, it doesn't.

00:23:00.500 No, it's within the three year period.

00:23:02.120 It's during the Biden term.

00:23:03.280 No, that was a fiction that they put that out.

00:23:05.640 This was done by the Border Patrol.

00:23:07.100 Well, it's 13,099 and it's during the Biden period of time.

00:23:11.420 And these are murderers, many of whom murdered more than one person.

00:23:15.700 You don't want those people in this country.

00:23:18.340 But you're saying something, sir, that's significant.

00:23:21.440 I just I just want to make sure I'm clear, which is that you're saying, yes, you're going to focus on the people with criminal histories.

00:23:26.220 But everyone who's here illegally has to go. 1.00

00:23:28.900 I'm saying this.

00:23:30.380 We have to get the criminals out of our country.

00:23:33.020 We have to get people that were taken out of mental institutions and put them back into their mental institution, no matter what country it is.

00:23:40.020 Do you know that Venezuela, their prisons are at the lowest point in terms of emptiness that they've ever been?

00:23:47.540 They're taking their people out of those prisons by the thousands and they're drunk.

00:23:52.860 And just to get back, because I know exactly what you're getting at.

00:23:55.740 Number one, we're doing criminals and we're going to do them really rapidly.

00:23:59.920 We're getting the worst gang probably with MS-13 and the Venezuelan gangs are the worst in the world. 1.00

00:24:06.720 They're vicious, violent people. 0.91

00:24:08.400 And you see what they've done in Colorado and other places.

00:24:11.100 They're taking over, literally taking over apartment complexes and doing it with impunity.

00:24:16.500 They don't care.

00:24:17.400 They couldn't.

00:24:18.360 They just are.

00:24:19.220 They're in the real estate.

00:24:20.220 You know, the local police say that is not the case in Colorado.

00:24:23.400 Oh, it's totally the case.

00:24:24.880 I mean, I think you don't believe the local police.

00:24:26.840 I play it.

00:24:27.620 I used to play it at my rallies every single night.

00:24:30.280 No, they're breaking into doors.

00:24:32.040 They're taking over the building.

00:24:33.260 But, sir, you raise the point.

00:24:34.680 And by the way, the police, the police are afraid to do anything.

00:24:37.300 You raise the point that the logistics are complicated.

00:24:40.740 You said it yourself.

00:24:41.720 But everything's complicated.

00:24:42.640 Yeah, I mean, you need 24 times more ICE detention capacity just to deport 1 million people per year, not to mention more agents, more judges, more planes.

00:24:51.740 Is it realistic to deport everyone who's here legally? 1.00

00:24:54.320 You have no choice.

00:24:55.160 First of all, they're costing us a fortune.

00:24:57.460 But we're starting with the criminals.

00:24:59.600 And we've got to do it.

00:25:00.840 And then we're starting with others.

00:25:02.780 And we're going to see how it goes.

00:25:04.580 Who are the others?

00:25:05.460 Others are other people outside of criminals.

00:25:07.860 We have convicted murders.

00:25:09.500 We don't mean people that are even on trial.

00:25:12.080 We have people that have murdered numerous people are on our streets and in our farms.

00:25:18.160 And we have to get them out of our country. 1.00

00:25:20.380 You know, it's amazing to me, Senators, the fact that Christian Welker there was just like, well, it's this is impossible.

00:25:25.300 You can't do this.

00:25:26.480 So why even act like you can deport or round up a bunch of heinous criminals?

00:25:32.140 There's no way you can do this.

00:25:33.620 So let's just admit defeat and say we can't do it and we can't afford it.

00:25:38.080 I mean, the Biden administration just sent, what, another billion dollars in funding to Ukraine?

00:25:44.360 Why don't we spend some money here and actually get what we need to get rid of these heinous criminals?

00:25:48.840 I think that's the point he's trying to make.

00:25:50.900 Well, and we're going to see that happen.

00:25:52.460 We are going to see on January 20th, we're going to see the new administration come in.

00:25:56.860 We're going to see them reverse catch and release immediately.

00:26:01.080 We're going to see them return to building the wall.

00:26:03.420 We're going to see them reinstate the Remain in Mexico agreement.

00:26:07.520 What it is going to mean is that on January 20th, if you come here illegally and you're apprehended, you will be deported.

00:26:14.700 And we will see the numbers plummet.

00:26:16.720 They'll plummet immediately.

00:26:17.940 The first priority Trump is going to focus on is securing the border itself.

00:26:21.780 And very closely connected to that is going after illegal immigrants. 0.96

00:26:25.720 And in particular, as he said repeatedly, starting with the criminal aliens, starting with the convicted murderers, the rapists, the child molesters, starting with the Venezuelan gangs, starting with the most dangerous illegal immigrants. 0.96

00:26:39.440 And, you know, Welker was saying, well, gosh, this is going to be expensive. 0.97

00:26:41.800 It's going to take a lot of resources.

00:26:43.520 I'm going to hold on to that clip.

00:26:45.200 That's going to be valuable because, you know what, Congress is going to, we are going to take up and pass a reconciliation bill.

00:26:51.400 We're going to do it early in this next year that is going to provide funding to enable us to secure the border.

00:26:58.600 We're going to get it done.

00:26:59.440 And I think Trump was very, a matter of fact, laying out this is a mandate from the American people.

00:27:04.220 He intends to do it.

00:27:05.500 And I intend to work hand in hand with him to make sure it gets done.

00:27:09.600 I want to talk to you real quick about the USCCA.

00:27:12.560 And you may not realize that the USCCA now has over 800,000 members.

00:27:18.760 Why?

00:27:19.780 Because, well, not only do you get access to the Protector Academy to learn vital skills like precision shooting and how to fortify your home against criminals,

00:27:28.360 but you also get access to the 24-7 critical response team.

00:27:33.640 Now, this is something I wish I would have had when I was involved in my shooting.

00:27:37.300 I had to use my gun to save my life.

00:27:39.000 And I'm so thankful that I had my firearm to be able to save my life.

00:27:44.020 But the worst part was afterwards.

00:27:46.160 Who's looking out for my Second Amendment rights, making sure that my rights are not being violated?

00:27:52.140 Well, you get the wrong DA in a woke liberal city.

00:27:54.400 And many times, they don't like law-abiding citizens carrying a firearm.

00:27:59.160 And that is exactly why you need that 24-7 critical response team.

00:28:03.600 It also includes the benefit of self-defense liability insurance when you're a member of the USCCA to make sure that you and your family are prepared for anything.

00:28:13.280 And here's the other thing.

00:28:14.080 For a limited time, if you text the word AMERICA right now to 87222, that's the word AMERICA to 87222,

00:28:23.860 you're going to get the USCCA's free life-saving concealed carry and family defense guide

00:28:29.460 and a chance to win $1,700 to buy any self-defense gear that you need before it's too late.

00:28:37.460 So, text the word AMERICA right now to 87222, and you'll be entered to win the $1,700 to buy any self-defense gear that you need.

00:28:48.920 And you'll also learn about the USCCA as well.

00:28:52.560 And finally, Senator, Donald Trump went to France.

00:28:55.920 It was a very interesting trip.

00:28:57.900 He was meeting with world leaders.

00:28:59.260 And one of the things that I thought was really interesting about this trip was social media reacted to Trump's just dominating force

00:29:09.420 and the clear contrast between how world leaders were interacting with him compared to Joe Biden and this administration.

00:29:18.160 There was an interesting handshake when there was a meeting in France as well.

00:29:23.040 I'm sure you saw some of this on social media and on the news.

00:29:26.560 I want to get your reaction to even Macron and their handshake.

00:29:30.580 It was like a fist, like, hey, we're back, bros.

00:29:33.900 Good to see you.

00:29:35.720 Yeah, look, I mean, Donald Trump shakes hands like a man.

00:29:39.440 And when it came to Macron, he shook hands in a way that was a dominating way to shake hands.

00:29:46.900 Macron was nervous.

00:29:48.080 He was uneasy.

00:29:49.020 He wasn't sure what to do.

00:29:50.440 Now, Macron's own political situation in France is incredibly tenuous.

00:29:53.960 And listen, the contrast, Macron has been kissing up to Biden like crazy.

00:29:59.800 Biden, when he interacts with Macron and every other world leader, interacts from a position of weakness.

00:30:05.120 None of them are afraid of him.

00:30:06.360 None of them.

00:30:07.560 None of them are worried about what he might do.

00:30:09.820 You know, you look at that at our southern border.

00:30:12.020 I'm reminded we did a podcast, I don't know, about a year, year and a half ago, where we played AMLO, then the president of Mexico, standing next to Joe Biden and just crowing how he's the only president in our lifetimes who has not built even one meter of wall or fence.

00:30:30.740 Ni un metro. 0.90

00:30:31.460 And he's saying and Biden just grinning like a goofy fool while AMLO is saying, well, look, this guy, we can just run all over him. 0.97

00:30:39.400 Well, we have seen that that that Trump is not someone that that foreign leaders are going to run all over. 0.95

00:30:46.020 And so so that is that that that is a powerful demonstration of the simple fact that America's back.

00:30:53.000 Yeah, no doubt about it.

00:30:54.880 We don't forget, we do a show Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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00:31:00.060 Please share this podcast wherever you are on social media and write us a five star review that helps us reach new listeners.

00:31:06.280 And on those in between days, I'll keep you updated on the breaking news.

00:31:09.380 We've got a lot of breaking news happening around the world.

00:31:11.480 So grab my podcast as well.

00:31:13.180 The Ben Ferguson podcast and the senator.

00:31:15.660 I will see you back here on Wednesday morning.

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Verdict with Ted Cruz - December 09, 2024

Islamist Revolution in Syria-What It Means, plus Trump Dominates Meet the Press

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