Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 24, 2024


It's OVER...Trump WON!


Episode Stats


Length

41 minutes

Words per minute

169.89499

Word count

6,973

Sentence count

553

Harmful content

Misogyny

17

sentences flagged

Toxicity

42

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson react to Trump's big win in New Hampshire and Nikki Haley's decision not to drop out of the race. They also discuss why they don't think Nikki Haley will drop out and why it's 70/30 that she stays in.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.620 Welcome, it is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:09.340 And Senator, it is a big win for Donald Trump.
00:00:13.000 This is, as some have described it, two in a row and two last places in a row for Nikki Haley.
00:00:18.600 She says she's not dropping out.
00:00:20.800 She's just begun and this thing's going to go on for quite a few more states.
00:00:25.140 In her words, give me your reaction to that.
00:00:27.720 Well, the simple reality is this thing is over.
00:00:32.020 Trump has won the Republican nomination.
00:00:35.540 You and I are sitting here.
00:00:37.100 It is 11, 11 p.m. on Tuesday night.
00:00:41.080 So the votes are not fully counted.
00:00:43.560 But as we sit here right now, 77% of the votes are counted in New Hampshire.
00:00:48.940 Donald Trump has 139,001, which is 55%.
00:00:57.080 And Nikki Haley has 109,639, which is 43.4%.
00:01:06.100 So as we sit here right now, Donald Trump has an 11.5 point lead in New Hampshire.
00:01:14.120 The race has been called for Trump.
00:01:15.960 He's going to win New Hampshire.
00:01:16.940 And so where do we stand?
00:01:19.440 Where we stand is Trump won Iowa by 30 points.
00:01:24.740 And Trump has won New Hampshire, and it's very likely he will have won New Hampshire by double digits.
00:01:31.080 The exact margin won't be known until late in the night, but it is very likely to be double digits.
00:01:36.420 Right now it's 11.5 points.
00:01:38.200 If any candidate wins Iowa and New Hampshire, the fat lady's singing, Katie bar the door, it is over.
00:01:47.360 The big question right now is what does Nikki Haley do? 0.98
00:01:52.040 And I don't know.
00:01:53.620 I think it is 70-30 that Nikki Haley stays in.
00:02:01.140 Now, frankly, the rational thing for Nikki Haley to do is drop out now. 0.86
00:02:06.580 And the reason is simple.
00:02:10.020 She's headed to South Carolina.
00:02:12.120 That is her home state.
00:02:13.460 She was the governor there. 1.00
00:02:15.060 She is going to get clobbered in South Carolina. 0.85
00:02:18.960 It's going to be double digits.
00:02:20.420 It could be as big as Iowa.
00:02:22.460 It could be 30 points.
00:02:24.180 And I will say when you lose your home state by that kind of crushing double-digit margin, it leaves a mark.
00:02:32.820 Now, I mentioned, I think the odds are 70-30 that Nikki Haley does not drop out.
00:02:39.000 She said that tonight.
00:02:40.460 Her speech tonight was defiant.
00:02:42.180 I'm staying in.
00:02:43.080 I'm going the distance.
00:02:44.320 I get that.
00:02:45.960 And the reason I think the odds are 70-30 she stays in is because she has a crap ton of money. 1.00
00:02:53.340 The billionaire donor class is all behind her. 0.56
00:02:57.020 Now, I got to say the billionaire donor class.
00:03:00.000 Look, I know a lot of the Republican billionaires.
00:03:03.240 They are astonishingly consistently wrong when it comes to politics.
00:03:11.200 They keep supporting candidates who lose.
00:03:14.340 And what's weird, look, these billionaires have been incredibly successful business leaders.
00:03:19.960 They know how to run companies.
00:03:21.540 They know how to sell goods to customers.
00:03:23.980 They know how to respond to data.
00:03:25.960 And yet when it comes to politics, they are myopic.
00:03:30.480 Their worldview is essentially, well, all the people in the country club agree with me.
00:03:35.440 So that's what I'm going to do.
00:03:36.980 And they don't notice that they keep losing and losing and losing and losing.
00:03:40.160 And they don't have the rational response when your approach to politics is this isn't working, is to say, what am I doing wrong?
00:03:50.240 Like, like, apparently I'm misunderstanding.
00:03:53.480 Oddly enough, the entire country is not like the country club in the Hamptons.
00:03:58.760 Like, there are people in flyover country who have a different view.
00:04:04.720 The simple reality, Nikki Haley has run as an unapologetic establishment moderate. 0.99
00:04:11.880 Yeah, that's where money is coming from.
00:04:14.760 Look, look, that's catnip to Republican donors.
00:04:18.000 They are so excited.
00:04:19.860 Yes, that's what they want.
00:04:21.180 They want an establishment moderate.
00:04:23.900 Listen, in virtually every state in the country, the numbers are establishment moderates are about 30 percent of the primary vote.
00:04:31.720 Now, if you want to appeal to 30 percent of the primary vote, that's a great thing to run as.
00:04:37.500 The problem is, and it's a simple question of math, 30 percent does not beat 70 percent.
00:04:46.460 And I don't know how these gazillionaires twist themselves into pretzels thinking my 30 percent is going to beat 70 percent because something's going to change.
00:04:58.100 The rational thing, as I said, would be for her to drop out. 0.94
00:05:01.100 I don't think she will because she's got so much money.
00:05:04.760 As we talked about in yesterday's podcast, and this was an unusual week, I want to encourage you guys.
00:05:10.640 If you are interested in the presidential primary process, this is going to be a week that we're going to put out five podcasts.
00:05:18.360 We put out one Monday.
00:05:20.820 I got to say, Ben, you really like the Monday podcast.
00:05:23.060 Is that fair to say?
00:05:23.820 I did.
00:05:24.440 It was one of my favorite ones we've ever done.
00:05:26.240 So why?
00:05:26.700 So tell people why, because for folks that are listening, if you didn't listen to Monday's podcast, I think you ought to go back and listen.
00:05:32.820 But, Ben, tell people why.
00:05:34.540 I'm going to be honest.
00:05:35.520 I love when people get to see the side of you that I know and I get to see and to hear you talk personally about your presidential campaign in 16 and the blood, sweat and tears that goes into a political campaign.
00:05:50.640 Being privileged to be around your campaign in 16 and working on the Bush campaign in 2004 and others and understanding just how intense it is and to get your perspective on all of this, but also your memories was something that I was so happy that other people got to hear it.
00:06:09.940 Because I've gotten to get some of those stories from you, and I even got some news stories from you on Monday as well.
00:06:15.260 But we got done with it, and I was like, this might be one of my favorite shows that we've ever done, because it just showed a side of you that I get to see that I want everybody else to see if that makes sense.
00:06:26.560 Well, look, one of the things that I think makes this podcast work is you and I are genuinely friends.
00:06:32.040 We hang out together.
00:06:33.780 We play tennis together. 0.99
00:06:35.620 You kill me.
00:06:36.860 We play pickleball together. 1.00
00:06:38.120 You kind of suck at pickleball. 0.99
00:06:39.940 I do. 0.99
00:06:40.360 It's true.
00:06:40.760 I hate it. 1.00
00:06:41.760 We haven't played poker yet together, but I'll kick your ass at poker. 1.00
00:06:45.780 I love the trash talking. 1.00
00:06:47.700 This is also very accurate. 0.96
00:06:49.140 It's extremely accurate.
00:06:50.300 I won't remind you the one time we did play poker, but we'll keep going.
00:06:54.020 Look, when we started this podcast, and this is pre-you, when I started this podcast with Michael Knowles, and by the way, it was like four years ago, and I didn't know what the hell a podcast was.
00:07:04.640 I remember our first guest was Lindsey Graham. 0.51
00:07:07.680 Yeah.
00:07:07.880 Lindsey Graham came down to a basement in Washington, D.C., and his question was, what in the hell is a podcast?
00:07:13.920 I felt sort of avant-garde because I knew what a podcast was, but I wasn't much more educated than he was, and some of the early and best advice I got is they said, look, the best podcast is like you and I are sitting down at a dinner table.
00:07:31.540 We have a couple of glasses of wine, and we're feeling good, and we're talking, and we try to do that.
00:07:37.340 We try to have a real conversation, and because we're friends, because we've got sometimes we agree a lot, but sometimes we disagree, and we've got different takes, and the back and forth is what makes it interesting.
00:07:48.200 And all right, I'm going to give all the podcast listeners an interesting insight.
00:07:52.460 You may be wondering, hey, wait, why did we have a podcast on Monday, and then a bonus podcast on Tuesday, and then a podcast on Wednesday, and then a podcast we're going to have on Friday, and then one on Saturday?
00:08:03.300 Like, that's weird.
00:08:04.460 You normally do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then the Saturday recap.
00:08:07.760 All right, so I'm going to let you all in on the insight why.
00:08:10.760 So Sunday afternoon, we recorded the Monday podcast, and we did it, and it's funny.
00:08:16.480 Ben had a bunch of topics he wanted.
00:08:18.180 He wanted to get into China.
00:08:19.660 He wanted to get into the border.
00:08:20.780 He wanted to get into all this stuff, like all these ideas, and I was like, you know, I just think, like, Iowa and New Hampshire will consume it all.
00:08:28.540 He's like, I don't know.
00:08:29.340 That's 10, 15 minutes.
00:08:30.440 I'm like, yeah, no, I kind of feel like I have more to say.
00:08:33.300 Yeah, and you were right on that one.
00:08:36.900 And the interesting thing is, look, to folks listening to this, you and I don't know what the hell we're going to say.
00:08:42.800 We're doing a podcast right now.
00:08:44.960 You don't know what I'm going to say.
00:08:45.980 I don't know what I'm going to say.
00:08:46.960 I mean, part of what hopefully makes this interesting is we just have a conversation, and hopefully you and I are relatively knowledgeable people, and we have conversations about issues that matter, and we sort of go back and forth and follow where the muse goes.
00:09:01.500 Anyway, Sunday, we're sitting there.
00:09:04.180 We're doing YouTube, and we recorded what ended up being an hour and 10-minute podcast, and we started with – I'm talking with Iowa, and I did sort of a deep dive into the history of Iowa, the history of New Hampshire, the history of South Carolina, and I thought it was interesting.
00:09:17.840 I like – look, this is what has determined the leader of the free world for the last 50 years.
00:09:24.120 That's interesting stuff to me.
00:09:25.720 But then after, like, 30, 40 minutes, we started getting into – you asked, well, what does it mean to drop out?
00:09:32.900 Ron DeSantis just dropped out.
00:09:34.360 What's that like?
00:09:35.080 And listen, there are not many people on planet Earth that have gone through, like, a winning presidential campaign that you almost win, and then you don't, and then you drop out, and sort of the trauma and the personal relationships and the grassroots and all of the dynamics.
00:09:50.040 And so I tried to talk about all that, and that was sort of the second half of the pod we recorded.
00:09:55.220 And then afterwards, Ben said to me, hey, I love this pod, but we got a problem.
00:10:01.440 The second half is, like, a thousand times better than the first half.
00:10:05.140 Like, the first half is kind of interesting and academic and theoretical, but the second half is – and, Ben, what you said is what you just said a minute ago, like, is why I listen to the podcast, because it's stuff you can't hear anywhere other than verdict.
00:10:21.300 It's like insight from someone who's run for president, come in second, and almost won.
00:10:26.800 And so you and I made a weird decision.
00:10:29.140 We said, okay, we have an hour and 10-minute podcast we've recorded.
00:10:32.940 Let's take the second half, cut it off, and make it Monday's podcast, because you said – and I didn't disagree – that's the most interesting and stimulating part, so let's give people what they'll like the best.
00:10:49.280 But then I said, look, I thought the stuff about the history of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, for me, was interesting.
00:10:56.020 Maybe I'm enough of a political geek that I'm interested in stuff that is not as sort of scintillating, but I thought it was really good stuff.
00:11:02.940 And so we came up with – initially, I said, well, what if we put it out on Wednesday? 0.89
00:11:08.400 And Ben said, all right, you moron, you can't put it out on Wednesday, because Tuesday night we'll have the New Hampshire results. 0.93
00:11:13.320 Yeah. 1.00
00:11:13.740 So if we put out an academic discussion of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina on Wednesday, right after what happened in New Hampshire, people will be like, what the hell's wrong with you idiots? 1.00
00:11:23.020 Yeah. 0.91
00:11:23.380 So we came up with, all right, screw it, let's chop it up, make it a second pod, we'll just put it out on Tuesday, bonus pod, see if you like it, and now we're here Wednesday.
00:11:34.220 But the point of all of this is that it's meant to be real-time, not different from, right now you're in Texas, I'm in D.C., but if we were sitting at a dinner table, this is what I'd be saying to you, and you'd be saying the same, presumably.
00:11:50.900 Absolutely. And that's the part that I love the most about getting to do this with you, is that people get to hopefully see that aspect and hear these types of conversations.
00:12:02.220 And that's when we started today, I was like, all right, I got to know your thoughts on Nikki Haley.
00:12:06.620 Should she drop out? And who gets to make that decision? 0.53
00:12:10.580 If you've got the money to keep going, and Nikki Haley clearly has the establishment, I would call it the rhino money, to keep going, what is in it for her to keep going if you keep losing? 0.70
00:12:23.860 I want to get your thoughts on that, number one.
00:12:25.300 And number two, there is some politicking involved in this decision, and there's a theory that if she can hang on long enough, it gives her a better chance of being chosen as the VP to unify the party.
00:12:39.020 If it's divided for weeks on end, states keep coming and going and coming and going.
00:12:45.020 And there's people that have said to me in the last, you know, eight or nine hours, hey, is Nikki Haley basically running for vice president?
00:12:52.800 If she can extend it long enough, she's the last one standing, that it may be in a position where Donald Trump says, fine, I got to pick you to unite the party because we're so divided because of this drag out, knock down primary that we had.
00:13:04.620 Your reaction to both those questions?
00:13:06.440 I don't think Nikki Haley is running for VP anymore. 0.96
00:13:12.360 I don't think Trump's going to pick her as VP.
00:13:16.960 I think she's running.
00:13:18.660 She's decided.
00:13:20.480 I am the great hope for the establishment.
00:13:24.840 I am the never Trumper vision.
00:13:27.700 And the problem is a lot of those never Trumpers have a ton of money and they can't stand Trump and they'll keep writing checks.
00:13:34.960 But they don't think enough about politics to think, how do you get to 51 percent?
00:13:42.300 And so I think she will stay in this race because, as we talked about on Monday and Tuesday, the reason virtually every single presidential candidate in history drops out is the same reason they run out of money.
00:13:58.820 Nikki Haley hasn't run out of money.
00:14:00.820 She's got people who will keep writing checks as they hate Trump.
00:14:03.280 So I think she'll stick around. 0.99
00:14:05.640 Now, here's why I think it's dumb. 0.96
00:14:07.980 I think every day and every week she sticks around will hurt her. 0.98
00:14:12.340 And getting crushed in her home state, I think, will do real damage.
00:14:18.680 And in my view, where we are right now, this is entirely about 2028.
00:14:22.620 I think if Nikki were rational, and I doubt she is.
00:14:26.820 I like Nikki.
00:14:27.720 Look, Nikki's a friend of mine.
00:14:29.080 She's a nice enough person.
00:14:31.000 But almost every presidential candidate is surrounded by sycophants.
00:14:35.360 They're surrounded by sycophants who tell you what you want to hear.
00:14:38.620 But even more importantly, their paycheck depends on you staying in the race. 0.70
00:14:44.680 And so if everyone around you keeps getting paid if you stay in the race, you know what's amazing? 0.98
00:14:51.460 Their advice is stay in the race. 0.99
00:14:53.520 Yeah.
00:14:54.100 Because they want those paychecks.
00:14:55.500 And so at this point, I think they're looking forward to 2028.
00:15:00.460 I think any one of them that has an IQ in the double digits, forget triple digits, let's just get to double, in the double digits recognizes Trump's won.
00:15:10.500 He's going to be the nominee.
00:15:12.060 But they're thinking now, okay, let's stick around a long time.
00:15:15.080 Let's unify all the establishment moderate vote.
00:15:18.600 And will be the great establishment hope in 2028.
00:15:23.940 Well, look, good luck to that.
00:15:25.680 Again, 30% doesn't beat 70%. 0.99
00:15:28.100 And getting your ass kicked in South Carolina and then Super Tuesday and state after state after state, that's fine. 0.98
00:15:36.680 The donors may not think that they may think, gosh, if you lose every state, that's a great path to being elected president. 0.99
00:15:45.440 I guess they can think that.
00:15:49.080 I don't understand the reason behind it.
00:15:52.080 So if I were on Nikki's team, I'd be saying, hang it up.
00:15:56.140 It's time.
00:15:57.320 Now, I'm not calling on her to do that because, as we've talked about in this podcast, it's not my role to tell her to drop out.
00:16:05.180 She's got to decide.
00:16:06.680 But I think the path to victory for her is zero.
00:16:11.540 Trump is the Republican nominee.
00:16:13.820 He may win in November.
00:16:15.400 He may not.
00:16:15.940 I hope he wins.
00:16:16.760 I'm supporting him.
00:16:18.380 I don't know.
00:16:19.440 I think he can win, but I think he also can lose.
00:16:21.860 So I'm very worried about November.
00:16:23.740 But I think the path for Nikki Haley to win the primary is 0.001%.
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00:18:15.920 Senator, I want to also ask you about one of the things that Nikki Haley said in her speech tonight,
00:18:21.320 and she said it several times over the last couple of days,
00:18:25.080 and that is that America doesn't need two 80-year-olds trying to run this country,
00:18:29.920 really turning this into an age issue.
00:18:32.760 I think that can work with Joe Biden, but it's not so much as age as it's a clear cognitive decline.
00:18:39.500 You don't see that from Donald Trump.
00:18:41.580 You certainly didn't see it on stage tonight.
00:18:44.420 And this campaign schedule and the way that he's out there campaigning is pretty intense.
00:18:49.540 When you look at her saying basically, vote for me because I'm younger and he's too old,
00:18:54.240 we've seen that and it backfired.
00:18:57.140 And Ronald Reagan, it worked to his advantage.
00:18:58.840 Do you think this could be a major mistake?
00:19:01.520 Well, as you note, Reagan, when Walter Mondale tried to make that an issue against him,
00:19:05.900 said, listen, I'll commit right now.
00:19:10.020 The age issue is there and I'm not going to use my opponent's youth and inexperience against it.
00:19:17.020 And it was in the debate.
00:19:19.280 Everyone cracked up laughing.
00:19:21.160 Mondale cracked up laughing.
00:19:22.500 It was just, it was a funny line.
00:19:24.140 By the way, you look at the backstories of the debate prep.
00:19:28.300 Reagan's, this is in 84, his reelect.
00:19:30.460 Reagan's team was terrified of the age question.
00:19:32.800 They were worried that Reagan was too old.
00:19:34.860 And Reagan basically told them, I got this.
00:19:38.120 And he did.
00:19:39.080 It crushed the issue.
00:19:40.440 Now, listen, both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are older than Reagan was in 84. 0.81
00:19:48.500 With Biden, the mental deterioration is massive. 0.91
00:19:52.600 It is obvious. 0.93
00:19:53.520 It is a real problem. 0.98
00:19:55.480 I fully expect the Democrats to lean in and make the point that Trump has mental deterioration,
00:20:02.240 not because it's true, but because they're trying to protect Biden.
00:20:06.200 And so I get why Nikki's doing it.
00:20:09.060 Look, Nikki is 30 years younger than Trump.
00:20:11.100 So, so fine.
00:20:12.360 Making that argument and people are all excited.
00:20:15.360 So I'm in D.C. on Capitol Hill.
00:20:18.100 The reporters were all peripatetic about, oh, Trump confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi.
00:20:25.640 Let me tell you some reality.
00:20:28.020 If you give a ton of speeches with TV cameras on you all the time, you will misspeak. 0.99
00:20:35.520 You will say some dumb stuff. 0.98
00:20:37.300 And all right, I'm going to tell a story. 0.99
00:20:39.120 One of the most embarrassing stories from the 2016 presidential campaign.
00:20:44.980 So the last state that I competed in was Indiana.
00:20:48.560 And as we talked about on Monday, I dropped out after we lost Indiana.
00:20:55.100 One of the very last campaign events we did was in the gym where they filmed the movie Hoosiers.
00:21:03.020 Yeah, yeah.
00:21:03.380 And Hoosiers is one of the greatest all-time movies ever.
00:21:07.700 And it may be, it may be my single favorite sports movie.
00:21:11.340 I like, I love Hoosiers.
00:21:12.900 Gene Hackman's a phenomenal actor.
00:21:14.540 It's a great movie.
00:21:15.540 Dennis Hopper.
00:21:16.220 It's just, it's fantastic.
00:21:17.780 And it's also, by the way, on brand with your passions for people that don't realize this.
00:21:21.480 Your, your way of getting exercise is playing basketball.
00:21:24.700 You still play two to three times a week, every week.
00:21:27.580 And that's, that's what you absolutely love to do is to play basketball.
00:21:31.680 So for you to know that, you know, the, the, the movie Hoosiers like the back of your hand.
00:21:36.220 I love Hoosiers.
00:21:37.800 So we did this great rally in the Hoosiers gym.
00:21:40.320 And, and it's the, it's the one where they filmed in the movie.
00:21:43.020 So it's the, the one in the little town.
00:21:45.440 Uh, and so there's a great scene in the movie Hoosiers where this, this little, little team makes it to the big state championship.
00:21:56.280 The big state championship is in Indianapolis.
00:21:59.400 And this tiny country team is scared because like the team from Indianapolis, it's a big public school.
00:22:05.960 There are guys that are big, they're tall.
00:22:08.400 They're, they're like slam dunking.
00:22:10.040 Like they're a, they're a hardcore inner city team and these like little country hicks are like, okay, how do we compete against these guys?
00:22:18.720 And there's a great scene where Gene Hackman, they're in the gym in Indianapolis, the big city.
00:22:25.080 And he goes and sends someone on the team.
00:22:28.260 He says, go, go run a tape measure from the hoop down to the floor.
00:22:34.800 And he said, measure the height of it.
00:22:38.280 And he measures it.
00:22:39.980 And it's 10 feet.
00:22:41.880 And Gene Hackman, the coach goes 10 feet.
00:22:45.100 Exact same distance as our gym back home.
00:22:49.120 And it's, it's, it's a way of making the point that, that like, look, we're playing the same game.
00:22:53.900 It may feel scary in the big city, but, but this is the same game.
00:22:57.540 Now I was making the point because we just had the New York primary where Trump had won.
00:23:01.640 And I was making the point, look, this is the same, but we can win here.
00:23:07.980 So I had my body guy, Bruce, whom I love.
00:23:12.020 He, he was the field goal kicker for Oklahoma state.
00:23:14.940 We traveled all over the country together.
00:23:16.780 I had him, I said in the middle of the speech in the Hoosiers gym, I said, Bruce, measure a tape measure from the rim to the floor.
00:23:27.020 And I said, 10 feet, 10 feet, the same as it is in Indianapolis.
00:23:30.780 And I was quoting the movie.
00:23:33.460 And I left the speech and I felt pretty good.
00:23:35.980 I'm like, hey, I give a pretty good humdinger of a speech.
00:23:39.440 And I walked off the stage and my team was ashen.
00:23:43.760 They were like, oh my God, oh my God.
00:23:45.400 Like they were horrified.
00:23:46.520 I'm like, what, what, like, what did I do wrong?
00:23:49.380 And apparently, instead of saying measure to the rim, I said measure to the ring.
00:24:00.120 And I didn't hear it.
00:24:02.760 Like if you talk a million words, look, you're a talk radio host.
00:24:07.360 How many things have you said in a microphone?
00:24:09.320 And if you talk a million words, I didn't hear it.
00:24:11.420 I said ring and I just, my brain, like it was a brain fart.
00:24:15.140 Yeah, Diaz, who produces a show, has been with me now for, what, a decade.
00:24:21.320 And there's, and he laughs.
00:24:23.160 He says, that's why he's here.
00:24:24.200 Because there's times I've said things like, that's not right.
00:24:26.760 And I'm like, what do you mean?
00:24:27.500 That's not what I said.
00:24:28.240 He's like, yeah, you did.
00:24:29.240 You said it wrong.
00:24:30.580 And then sure enough, he'll play it back to me.
00:24:32.440 And I'm like, yep, I said that wrong.
00:24:33.920 I got to correct it on the air during the next, you know, in the commercial break.
00:24:36.680 He's like, you got it wrong.
00:24:37.540 I'm like, there's no way I screwed that up and said it that badly or missed, you know, said it incorrectly.
00:24:43.140 And he's like, yeah, you did.
00:24:44.020 I was listening.
00:24:45.140 It happens.
00:24:45.980 It just, you put a microphone in front of somebody three hours a day.
00:24:48.940 You can't say that many words without screwing something up.
00:24:51.700 You're going to mess up.
00:24:53.180 So, so when I walked off stage, my team was horrified.
00:24:57.140 I'm like, what?
00:24:57.680 I thought I did a good job.
00:24:58.900 Like, I was really confused.
00:25:01.600 So, to call the rim a ring, every late night host just had a field day with it.
00:25:10.840 They're like, oh, the basketball ring and playing basketball with a stickety stick.
00:25:16.920 And football, you throw the leather volleyball.
00:25:20.420 Like, it was, look, the jokes are not hard.
00:25:22.520 And they were funny.
00:25:23.040 I actually watched them and laughed.
00:25:24.680 I'm like, yeah, that really sounds funny. 1.00
00:25:26.580 Like, what an idiot. 1.00
00:25:29.080 And the thing, as you noted, that was, like, so painful. 1.00
00:25:33.620 Listen, there are a crap ton of things in which I'm really ignorant. 0.91
00:25:36.460 But I love hoops. 0.94
00:25:39.080 So, today, I play two and a half hours of hoops.
00:25:41.320 I play twice a week.
00:25:42.460 I typically play Tuesday afternoons and Sunday night.
00:25:46.100 I play probably five to six hours of hoops a week.
00:25:50.460 I, in high school, I was a mediocre to poor high school basketball player.
00:25:58.660 I'd say I'm still a kind of mediocre to poor high school basketball player.
00:26:02.960 I've about maintained my skills 35 years later.
00:26:06.800 But the crushing, I love hoops.
00:26:11.280 I DVR every single Rockets game, and I watch most of them.
00:26:15.860 Like, it's basketball.
00:26:18.200 If there's a sport I know and care about and love, it's basketball.
00:26:24.320 And everyone mocked the hell out of me for calling the rim the ring.
00:26:27.920 And I know what the hell the ring is.
00:26:29.720 Look, I just did that there.
00:26:31.240 I know what the hell the rim is.
00:26:32.960 That's a good illustration.
00:26:35.360 So, all of the media is in a tizzy that Trump had a comment where he confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi.
00:26:44.480 And I get it.
00:26:45.220 It's easy.
00:26:46.160 And it's frankly valuable.
00:26:48.200 If you have a political agenda, re-elect Joe Biden. 0.56
00:26:52.820 And the American voters are really concerned about the intellectual diminution of Joe Biden, one of the best strategies to counter it and say, yeah, but Trump is totally old and feeble, too. 1.00
00:27:06.360 Now, I think it's crap. 1.00
00:27:08.540 And I'll tell you what. 0.99
00:27:10.120 I'm going to make a challenge to the press and the Biden White House.
00:27:14.520 Let's have the November election decided right now.
00:27:17.700 Give us Donald Trump and give us Joe Biden for an hour on a cognitive test.
00:27:22.340 And the winner is the president. 1.00
00:27:23.560 I'll take that because Trump will kick Biden's ass on that. 0.99
00:27:28.480 And by the way, no one will take us up on that. 0.99
00:27:31.100 No, of course not.
00:27:31.920 But because there is a media and PR mandate, I think Nikki is leaning into a narrative the press wants to run with.
00:27:43.260 And I get why.
00:27:44.180 Look, if you're running against someone, if the press likes a narrative, you want to use it against your opponent.
00:27:50.080 But but I think it just doesn't fly.
00:27:53.140 The distance between is is Trump older than he was eight years ago?
00:27:59.180 Yeah, like the rest of us are.
00:28:01.860 You're older.
00:28:02.320 I am like like that's part of life.
00:28:04.900 But there is no universe in which Trump's mental condition is remotely comparable to where Joe Biden's massive deterioration is.
00:28:14.900 Canadian women are looking for more, more of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders and the world around them. 0.70
00:28:21.260 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:28:24.820 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:28:26.120 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:28:27.160 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.
00:28:36.920 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:28:40.160 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:28:44.200 Let me ask you one other question on this. 0.95
00:28:47.840 At what point does Nikki Haley become and these are my words, I want to be clear about that, a useful idiot for the Democratic Party, for the left, because the longer that they can drag this out. 0.89
00:28:58.360 And I'm talking about the media and the Democratic Party, the better off it is for Joe Biden. 0.87
00:29:04.040 You're not having to focus on one on one debates and attacks and back and forth, even through the media with with a Republican candidate and a Democratic candidate.
00:29:13.500 It also, you know, they're they've tied him up in court.
00:29:16.860 Now they can tie him up in a primary that can be extended.
00:29:20.280 At what point does it become a real problem for Donald Trump to unify the country?
00:29:28.060 There is specifically conservatives, the Republican Party.
00:29:31.260 And it becomes such a big advantage for Joe Biden.
00:29:34.800 Yeah, I'm not worried about that.
00:29:37.720 My prediction right now is Nikki Haley will drop out 18 hours after the South Carolina primary. 0.74
00:29:46.400 I don't think it'll be such a beatdown, you think it's her home state.
00:29:49.280 Yeah, I don't think she'll last to Super Tuesday.
00:29:52.860 Listen, the impact, by the way, going back to 2016, Marco Rubio, who Marco stuck around too long and the fact that he stuck around helped give Trump the nomination.
00:30:03.920 But Marco dropped out right after he got crushed in the Florida primary.
00:30:09.860 You cannot lose your home state and particularly lose it badly and survive.
00:30:15.420 And so I think Nikki.
00:30:18.080 The smart thing for Nikki to do would be tomorrow to suspend her campaign. 1.00
00:30:22.380 I don't think she will, because I think she's got money in the bank and she wants to go.
00:30:28.120 And, you know, look, as they say in Dumber Dumber, you know, you know, do you have a one in a million chance?
00:30:35.480 Yes.
00:30:35.800 So you're saying I've got a chance.
00:30:37.520 Yeah, I think that's where she is.
00:30:39.080 She's like one in a million.
00:30:40.160 Let's go.
00:30:41.320 But I think getting crushed in South Carolina will end that campaign.
00:30:45.360 I also think every day she stays in the race, she is hurting herself for 28. 0.94
00:30:53.880 And at this point, I view the Haley campaign is entirely a 2028 campaign.
00:30:58.940 Basically, Nikki Haley is campaigning against Glenn Youngkin, who is going to be the moderate establishment choice for 30 percent of the primary base.
00:31:08.820 Okay, we'll see.
00:31:10.460 There'll be someone.
00:31:11.300 There's always someone.
00:31:13.240 That's the way our primaries work.
00:31:15.600 But I think the more she gets beat, the weaker she is.
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00:32:43.880 Senator, I want to move to another issue real quick that has obviously become a very big deal,
00:32:49.240 and it deals with border security.
00:32:50.760 Obviously, New Hampshire's important, but can you explain exactly what just happened at the Supreme Court
00:32:59.500 when it came to the Supreme Court ruling that the Biden administration, in a 5-4 decision,
00:33:05.880 can resume removal of the razor wire that was installed by the state of Texas along the border,
00:33:12.080 specifically near Eagle Pass, and they say at least while the litigation is ongoing.
00:33:18.340 What was even more shocking, I think, is the fact that Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett sided with left-leaning justices
00:33:26.980 to rule in Biden administration's favor and allow the Border Patrol to go in and remove the razor wire,
00:33:33.820 which the Texas National Guard then put back up, at least from the latest videos we've seen from the border.
00:33:40.980 This is a shocking moment.
00:33:43.160 Many people in Texas are angry about this, saying,
00:33:46.060 what about states' rights here, and how could these two concerted justices side with the Biden administration?
00:33:53.480 Look, this is a horrible decision.
00:33:57.300 I'm angry about it.
00:33:58.900 It is deeply disturbing.
00:34:01.620 Fact number one, we are seeing an invasion at our southern border.
00:34:07.540 9.6 million illegal immigrants have crossed in under Joe Biden.
00:34:12.580 It is deliberate.
00:34:14.000 He wants this to happen.
00:34:15.520 It is the worst illegal immigration in our nation's history. 1.00
00:34:19.560 Number two, it's deliberate.
00:34:22.020 Biden wants this to happen.
00:34:24.540 The Democrats want this to happen.
00:34:26.340 They are facilitating it.
00:34:27.940 They are accelerating it.
00:34:29.780 They are actively wanting more and more and more of it.
00:34:33.860 So Texas, understandably, is responding to defend ourselves.
00:34:37.740 I commend our governor.
00:34:39.220 I commend our state legislature for acting to protect the sovereignty of Texas
00:34:43.540 and for investing billions of dollars in border security and law enforcement
00:34:49.260 and putting personnel and putting up barriers to try to stop this invasion of our state.
00:34:55.520 Now, what happened on this case, it arose to the Supreme Court on an emergency appeal on an injunction.
00:35:04.600 There was an injunction against the federal government to stop the federal government
00:35:09.660 from cutting down the razor wire, the Constantino wire that Texas had erected.
00:35:14.100 And the Fifth Circuit, the Federal Court of Appeals, had upheld the injunction.
00:35:18.840 What happened today, Tuesday, is the Supreme Court, by a vote of five to four, vacated that injunction.
00:35:29.060 What that means is right now the federal government has the legal ability to cut down that razor wire,
00:35:35.720 to allow illegal immigrants to continue invading the state. 1.00
00:35:39.220 Now, the good news, the merits of the appeal is still pending.
00:35:43.620 And so the Fifth Circuit can still rule on the merits of the appeal as to whether Texas has the authority.
00:35:49.260 And by the way, the Supreme Court could still rule on the appeal.
00:35:51.720 So it is possible that Texas prevails, that the results of an emergency appeal on an injunction
00:35:59.820 are not always the same as the merits results on the substantive issue.
00:36:05.080 So that's true. But at the end of the day, you had the three liberals, plus John Roberts, plus Amy Coney Barrett,
00:36:13.860 ruling for the Biden administration, saying you can cut down this razor wire.
00:36:18.180 Now, on one level, I understand it, that there is a heavy presumption in Washington in federal courts,
00:36:26.420 which is that the federal government gets to trump the states.
00:36:29.660 And that is part of the Constitution is the supremacy clause that says the Constitution, the federal law is the supreme law of the land.
00:36:39.580 I think it is a real problem that John Roberts is a creature of Washington.
00:36:45.920 I don't think he understands what is happening at the southern border.
00:36:49.000 I think Amy Coney Barrett is a law professor from Indiana. 1.00
00:36:53.700 I don't think she has any understanding of what's happening at the southern border.
00:36:57.740 In ordinary times, if this were just a regular time and a state were trying to block what the federal government was doing,
00:37:06.880 the Supreme Court would fairly routinely rule with the feds.
00:37:09.940 What I don't think these justices have a real appreciation for is how horrifically bad it is, how lawless it is,
00:37:19.900 what the Biden administration is doing.
00:37:22.560 There's never been a president who refuses to follow the law like Joe Biden did.
00:37:26.980 So here's the statement that the Border Patrol Union put out today.
00:37:32.000 Quote, the Supreme Court's decision today is going to undoubtedly encourage more illegal immigration.
00:37:40.720 Unfortunately, this means Border Patrol agents are going to be tied up dealing with give-ups
00:37:45.180 rather than going after the criminal elements that constantly cross our border illegally.
00:37:51.700 The administration no doubt will say this is a win for border security.
00:37:57.040 But if they sought rank-and-file input, they would be told this will do the exact opposite.
00:38:04.180 Agents support what Texas was trying to accomplish in the absence of true border security policies from this administration.
00:38:14.560 I agree with the Border Patrol Union.
00:38:17.060 And so I am angry.
00:38:18.580 I'm frustrated.
00:38:19.400 I think the court is out of touch.
00:38:21.020 I think they're just reflexively agreeing with the federal government against the states.
00:38:25.960 And I think it is a profound mistake that continues the invasion that's happening in our southern border.
00:38:32.440 To be clear, one other thing on this is when you hear the Biden administration say that they are working to secure the border,
00:38:40.120 I think everybody needs to remember at this moment that not only are they not,
00:38:45.000 they went all the way to the Supreme Court to make sure they could unsecure portions of the border
00:38:49.620 where razor wire was put up to secure the border.
00:38:52.460 So that's how much they want to open border.
00:38:54.500 So understand, hold on, I want to underscore what you're just saying.
00:38:57.160 So today in the Capitol, as I was walking to the Capitol, lots of reporters wanted to ask me about this decision.
00:39:03.120 And they said, well, gosh, Biden just says if Congress will pass the supplemental bill,
00:39:07.740 then he'll have the ability to secure the border.
00:39:09.980 And I said, listen, understand, Biden doesn't want to secure the border.
00:39:13.380 He wants this crisis.
00:39:14.700 He wants more illegal immigrants. 1.00
00:39:16.220 And I said, for Pete's sakes, Biden is actively litigating against the state of Texas to stop Texas from securing the border.
00:39:26.840 That's what they want.
00:39:28.440 They want this invasion.
00:39:30.440 And that's exactly what the Biden administration is doing with the emphatic support of essentially every Democrat member of the Senate
00:39:39.080 and every Democrat member of the House.
00:39:41.180 It will be a huge election year issue.
00:39:43.780 We will keep covering it here.
00:39:45.500 That I can promise you.
00:39:47.200 But I want to make sure that we got this out there for many people that are asking that same question.
00:39:52.200 Why do these two justices, a lot of people, you know, believe they were conservative and they screwed the state of Texas.
00:39:58.140 They screwed conservatives.
00:39:59.120 They sided with the Biden administration.
00:40:01.040 Your explanation hopefully will make a little bit of sense to people and understanding of why this happened.
00:40:05.860 And it's still being litigated.
00:40:07.160 I think that's something else we need to be clear about.
00:40:10.280 It's still being litigated.
00:40:12.140 And that will play out.
00:40:13.160 How long will it take for this to get a final ruling through this litigation?
00:40:18.080 Potentially years.
00:40:19.140 It could take a long time.
00:40:20.940 And if Trump wins, it'll become mooted because Trump will stop litigating.
00:40:24.940 There you go.
00:40:25.760 Don't forget, we do this show traditionally.
00:40:27.440 Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, and a weekend review on Saturdays.
00:40:30.300 This week, we have given you five episodes that you will get.
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