Verdict with Ted Cruz - August 09, 2024


Kamala Harris Enters Witness Protection


Episode Stats


Length

40 minutes

Words per minute

167.47023

Word count

6,808

Sentence count

463

Harmful content

Misogyny

28

sentences flagged

Toxicity

12

sentences flagged

Hate speech

6

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ben Ferguson (D-Massachusetts) break down how the Democratic Party is running their 2020 presidential campaign and how they plan to keep Sen. Kamala Harris silent and out of sight for the next 88 days.

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.
00:00:02.480 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.560 Welcome.
00:00:06.400 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:09.920 And Senator, we are finally getting some intel from the Harris campaign
00:00:15.180 on exactly how they're going to run this presidential campaign through Election Day.
00:00:19.920 And it seems like they're taking a play out of the playbook of Joe Biden's election just four years ago.
00:00:26.200 Well, that's right.
00:00:27.500 We're 88 days out from Election Day, and it is now clear how Kamala Harris and the Democrats intend to run this campaign.
00:00:36.500 Kamala Harris has effectively entered witness protection.
00:00:40.060 They're doing everything they can to shut her up, to keep her silent.
00:00:44.400 Since she became the presumptive Democratic nominee, she's done a total of zero media interviews.
00:00:51.280 She's done a total of zero press conferences.
00:00:54.140 She doesn't answer questions.
00:00:55.180 She doesn't ad-lib, and look, there's a reason why she doesn't ad-lib. 1.00
00:00:58.940 We've all seen a million different clips of her saying bizarre things, saying things that are unintelligible, laughing bizarrely.
00:01:09.020 The Democrats don't want any of that.
00:01:10.700 So here's what the next 88 days are going to entail.
00:01:14.180 The next 88 days are going to entail Kamala reading from a teleprompter.
00:01:19.680 She's going to read from a teleprompter, word for word, speech after speech, rally for rally.
00:01:25.860 She's going to read what they type out for her to say.
00:01:28.640 Beyond that, she's not going to talk to any reporters.
00:01:32.020 She's going to stay in the basement. 0.92
00:01:33.840 For all I know, it may be the basement next to Joe Biden, who's tied up in the basement.
00:01:38.060 And their plan, their plan that they believe they'll win on, is for the corporate media to spend billions of dollars doing a massive PR campaign.
00:01:50.160 It is cynical.
00:01:51.320 It is a cynical basement strategy.
00:01:53.640 And it is a basement strategy that has a potential to work.
00:01:57.060 And so we need to understand just how formidable it is.
00:01:59.520 We're going to break it down.
00:02:00.580 We're going to talk about what it means for this campaign.
00:02:02.440 Yeah, it's really interesting to see this strategy, especially since she's able-bodied and supposed to be the young, vibrant candidate, how they're going to sell this to the American people of her in hiding.
00:02:13.160 And it's for different reasons than they hid Joe Biden.
00:02:15.820 Let me also tell you real quick about my friends over at Ammo Squared.
00:02:19.020 And if you're like me and you love to be able to shoot and hunt and practice shooting and you don't want to run out of ammo and you experience what everybody did during COVID, you couldn't find ammo.
00:02:29.240 And when you did find it, it was outrageously priced.
00:02:32.580 Well, now you don't have to worry about that ever again when there's the next crisis because Ammo Squared helps you stock up on ammunition automatically.
00:02:40.500 It's truly automated, set-it-and-forget-it ammo purchasing program.
00:02:44.240 You pick your calibers, you set your budget, you select a shipping trigger, and bam, that's it.
00:02:49.800 Your ammo grows over time and is stored for free as it builds up.
00:02:55.900 And it's shipped with the click of a button or automatically, however you want to do it.
00:03:00.200 Now, look, it's basically ammunition subscription on steroids because you aren't forced into a set budget or a shipment every month.
00:03:07.460 Instead, you decide your budget, you schedule when you want your ammo to arrive.
00:03:11.740 Ammo Squared offers more than 60 different caliber options.
00:03:14.720 And if you ever change calibers while you're storing up that ammo, you can trade it in and get another caliber.
00:03:21.060 Now, here's the other cool thing.
00:03:22.200 Let's say ammo prices go through the roof and you want to capitalize off of your investment, you can sell your ammo back for big profits.
00:03:30.120 Everything's managed online, and I want to give you some free ammo right now.
00:03:33.800 Go to AmmoSquared.com slash Ben, and you are going to get free ammo in your account today.
00:03:40.540 That's AmmoSquared.com slash Ben.
00:03:43.020 Remember, there's no minimum to buy, no memberships needed, and no extra fees.
00:03:48.340 Customers can buy ammo on a small budget and then watch it grow over time, just like a savings account.
00:03:54.300 It's amazing.
00:03:55.520 AmmoSquared.com slash Ben today to get free ammo in your account.
00:03:59.420 Senator, there was two interesting headlines that really, I think, encompass what's happening with Harris' campaign and hiding her.
00:04:07.100 One of them was Harris, quote, refuses to comment on Trump's debate challenge.
00:04:14.360 Then she refused to comment about doing an interview.
00:04:18.240 Then the campaign, quote, declined requests for comment about why Harris declines requests for comment on the issues of the campaign.
00:04:27.000 That is a headline you cannot make up.
00:04:29.560 Well, and this is going to be their strategy for the next 88 days.
00:04:34.420 And listen, if you're a Democrat, I don't understand why this is attractive, to be honest.
00:04:40.160 This was their strategy in the last election.
00:04:42.380 Joe Biden, four years ago, already had severe mental diminution.
00:04:47.940 He was not mentally up to the campaign.
00:04:50.400 And what did they do?
00:04:51.520 They literally locked him in the basement.
00:04:53.260 I don't know if the White House has a basement, but if they have, it wouldn't surprise me if they had him chained to a wall.
00:04:58.220 I mean, he was not allowed out.
00:04:59.740 He was not allowed in camera sight.
00:05:01.100 He was not allowed to speak to a microphone.
00:05:03.440 And I think they put Kamala in the same cell. 0.96
00:05:06.700 And it's, you know, from the Democrats' perspective, if your candidate is really good, if your candidate is impressive, if your candidate is charming, if your candidate has powerful and profound things to say, then you want to get your candidate out there.
00:05:21.840 You want to inspire people.
00:05:23.060 You want to show this is our candidate's vision for America.
00:05:27.480 So there's a problem for Kamala Harris and for Democrats. 0.99
00:05:31.800 Their vision for America is terrible.
00:05:35.100 It is radical.
00:05:36.120 It is extreme.
00:05:37.660 Kamala's vision for America is open borders for four more years.
00:05:41.160 Kamala's vision for America is trillions more in spending, trillions more in debt, and as a result, inflation skyrocketing.
00:05:47.820 Kamala's vision for America is releasing violent criminals from jail.
00:05:53.160 Kamala's vision for America is undermining our friends and allies, especially the state of Israel.
00:05:59.620 Kamala's vision for America is continuing to show weakness and appeasement to our enemies, to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Iran, to Venezuela, to North Korea, to China, to Russia, to all of them.
00:06:10.840 And if you're thinking about it, that's not a very attractive campaign to actually try to win in November.
00:06:16.640 So they don't want to do any of that.
00:06:18.120 What they want to do instead is scripts that are sort of vaguely affirming.
00:06:23.600 Remember, look, Obama ran on a campaign of hope and change.
00:06:26.700 They're trying to have Kamala run on a similar campaign. 1.00
00:06:29.120 Hope and change, hope and change.
00:06:30.240 Don't ask what the hope is.
00:06:31.700 Don't ask what the change is.
00:06:33.040 You know, in her speech that's written for it, starting to say, she's starting to say, I'm going to take on the big corporations and drive down inflation.
00:06:40.560 Now, never mind that she is part of the incumbent administration. 0.50
00:06:46.940 She and Joe Biden are the sitting vice president and president of the United States.
00:06:50.900 So if there's some magic wand that the president has, presumably she and Joe would be waiving it.
00:06:56.820 And it's empty rhetoric, but I've got to tell you, Ben, it is dangerous because I think from the press's perspective, there's a very real possibility.
00:07:08.800 Not only are they going to let her get away with it, they're going to be actively complicit because basically what they're doing is they're punting to the press and saying, you guys got this.
00:07:19.840 We've got 88 days.
00:07:21.620 Tell the message every day.
00:07:23.620 And to be honest, at least a couple of weeks into it, it's working.
00:07:28.200 From Kamala's perspective, things are going much, much better than they were just a couple of weeks ago.
00:07:36.220 And, Ben, let's also pause and think.
00:07:39.360 What a four weeks we've had in politics.
00:07:41.640 In four weeks in politics, we've seen President Trump shot at and nearly assassinated.
00:07:49.100 We've seen Joe Biden, the sitting president, unceremoniously removed from the presidential ballot.
00:07:56.480 We've seen Donald Trump pick his vice presidential nominee.
00:08:00.220 We've seen Kamala Harris pick her vice presidential nominee. 1.00
00:08:03.240 That's all happened in four weeks.
00:08:04.640 And I've got to say, the entire race has been turned topsy-turvy. 1.00
00:08:09.020 And now they want to keep Kamala muzzled and hidden at all times.
00:08:13.340 You know, you look at the headline, and this one is one of those that just, it's a head-scratcher.
00:08:19.040 Quote, Kamala Harris vows to schedule an interview before the end of the month.
00:08:24.140 Traditionally, Senator, when you're running for office, especially when you're running for the presidency, you want to do interviews.
00:08:31.180 You want to be seen.
00:08:33.160 You want people to be listening to your messaging, your agenda, your plan, right, your goals and aspirations for the country.
00:08:42.500 That's part of campaigning.
00:08:45.420 But when you walk into this thing, and you're Harris, and you are a radical, you're a socialist, communist, Marxist, and maybe your agenda isn't that palpable to the American people,
00:08:54.540 is that part of the strategy now?
00:08:56.180 Why they're like, okay, look, we can hide her, and we don't do the interviews, right?
00:09:00.700 Maybe we do one here or there.
00:09:01.980 We'll pick somebody that'll be easy on us.
00:09:04.180 And we'll just let the media write the story, Donald Trump bad, Kamala Harris not as bad, and that might get us to election day.
00:09:11.040 Well, and it's difficult to overstate how strange that is.
00:09:15.100 Like in a campaign, doing media interviews is, number one, I think a responsibility you owe, but number two, it's a vehicle typically for getting your message out.
00:09:24.080 So as you and I are sitting here right now recording this, it is 1222 in the morning, and I am on the highway driving back from Austin to Houston.
00:09:34.680 I'm in the middle of a campaign, so I'm campaigning.
00:09:36.480 I mean, just today on Thursday, I've done multiple media interviews.
00:09:40.280 That's what one does when one's running for re-election for Senate, much less if you're running to be president of the United States.
00:09:46.820 And it is striking that we are weeks into her campaign, and she's done none.
00:09:51.960 Now, look, I fully expect she's going to get a couple of servile journalists to come up and give her some softball interview 1.00
00:09:58.440 and tell her, Madam Vice President, tell us now, and this is the really important question the American people want to know,
00:10:04.480 are you more beautiful or are you more brilliant?
00:10:06.700 How do you answer that?
00:10:08.180 That I'm sure they'll do.
00:10:09.780 They'll tee up some fawning sycophants. 1.00
00:10:12.160 If we had a functioning press squad, let's take, for example, this week.
00:10:17.860 This week, we had a really consequential set of primaries in Missouri, and in particular, Cori Bush, one of the members of the squad. 0.87
00:10:26.360 Cori Bush was beaten in a Democrat primary.
00:10:29.400 Now, Cori Bush's views are noxious.
00:10:31.940 They're radical.
00:10:32.740 They're extreme.
00:10:33.820 Cori Bush, like Kamala Harris, has been a leading voice for abolishing the police and defunding the police. 0.76
00:10:38.780 Cori Bush, like Kamala Harris, has been viciously anti-Israel, has courted the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party. 0.98
00:10:48.020 In fact, she is the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party.
00:10:51.260 Cori Bush was beaten and was beaten significantly at a Democrat primary.
00:10:55.800 And you know who hadn't said a word about it?
00:10:57.320 Kamala Harris, not a word.
00:10:58.600 Nothing to say about it.
00:10:59.980 Nothing to see here.
00:11:00.980 Now, if you actually had reporters that said, you know, I got a job.
00:11:06.080 I'm actually a reporter.
00:11:07.200 I'm supposed to ask not the questions that the campaign wants me to ask.
00:11:11.380 I'm supposed to ask the difficult questions.
00:11:13.100 Someone would have asked Kamala Harris before the primary on Tuesday, hey, Kamala, what do you think of Cori Bush? 1.00
00:11:19.820 Should she win her primary or not? 0.91
00:11:22.400 Nobody asked that.
00:11:23.460 She didn't answer that.
00:11:24.780 After Cori Bush is beaten, hey, Kamala, what do you think about one of the squad members being beaten?
00:11:29.340 What do you think about the fact that she's the second squad member beaten this year?
00:11:32.980 Jamal Bowman in New York was beaten earlier this year, again in a Democrat primary.
00:11:37.620 What do you think about that?
00:11:38.880 By the way, Cori Bush, when she lost, gave this vicious anti-Israel, anti-Semitic speech where she blamed AIPAC.
00:11:47.600 Now, that, if you're a hardcore leftist, is the best villain imaginable.
00:11:51.840 AIPAC, oh, you're envisioning like Mephistopheles twirling his mustache, as you say, AIPAC.
00:12:00.140 That's who she blamed.
00:12:01.460 Does anyone ask Kamala Harris, say, Kamala, who are you with? 0.99
00:12:05.760 Are you with Cori Bush or do you agree with AIPAC?
00:12:08.660 That's true.
00:12:09.560 AIPAC raised a bunch of money against Cori Bush.
00:12:12.300 Why?
00:12:12.580 Because Cori Bush has been viciously anti-Israel.
00:12:14.960 And AIPAC is a group that raises money to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.
00:12:20.380 But Kamala is trying to walk a tightrope where she wants the support of the squad. 1.00
00:12:27.380 She wants the support of the squad supporters.
00:12:29.640 She wants the support of the rabid anti-Semites in Dearborn, Michigan.
00:12:33.280 She wants the support of the rabid anti-Semites in Minnesota, in the Democrat Party.
00:12:38.600 But she also doesn't want to alienate the other votes she needs. 0.66
00:12:43.820 And right now, the media is perfectly okay with nothing to see here.
00:12:47.500 Let's get back to saying what a great, wonderful, historic candidate you are.
00:12:52.520 And oh, oh, oh, did you see the crowds at her rallies?
00:12:56.100 Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
00:12:58.040 Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna.
00:13:00.200 So let's go to Tim, then.
00:13:02.420 How important is he as a VP candidate if they're going to hide her?
00:13:05.800 Because he hasn't exactly had the best rollout either.
00:13:09.700 He is a radical far-left guy.
00:13:12.420 They've tried to turn him into some sort of, you know, moderate individual.
00:13:16.560 That's been backfiring in an incredible way.
00:13:19.900 He's someone that has repeatedly called, for example, for universal health care.
00:13:23.300 That's really come to be an issue over the last 24 hours.
00:13:26.980 He also says he wants to raise taxes on Americans in a big way,
00:13:30.580 saying that the rich need to pay their fair share.
00:13:33.420 And then just some of his radical beliefs now that he's having to answer questions
00:13:37.640 about abortion on demand, you know, voter ID that he didn't want to have,
00:13:42.240 and allowing illegal immigrants to be involved in politics at a local level he'd even mentioned before.
00:13:48.120 These are things that are coming back to, I think, haunt the campaign, in a sense.
00:13:52.520 Do they hide him as well?
00:13:53.800 Well, listen, historically, vice presidential picks have not made a huge difference.
00:14:01.320 That's something Trump has said a number of times, and he's right in that.
00:14:05.280 Historically, presidential elections are about the presidential nominees,
00:14:08.680 and the VP typically has a very marginal impact on the edges.
00:14:13.580 A VP can make a difference in a given state sometimes.
00:14:16.780 But I will say right now, I think the folks on the right are very focused on Tim Waltz.
00:14:24.140 That's fine.
00:14:25.700 But the biggest value of Tim Waltz is to illustrate how radical Kamala is,
00:14:32.140 because Kamala is the nominee.
00:14:33.960 And understand, Kamala is a wild-eyed leftist. 1.00
00:14:37.900 As the nonpartisan GovTrack website identified, she was, in 2019,
00:14:45.320 the single most liberal United States senator out of 100.
00:14:48.800 She was number 100, the most extreme to the left, to the left of Bernie Sanders,
00:14:53.900 to the left of Elizabeth Warren.
00:14:55.540 So it is not surprising that she picks as her VP, not Josh Shapiro,
00:15:02.580 a perceived moderate Democrat who could potentially deliver a swing state,
00:15:07.320 but who would piss off the pro-Hamas core of the Democrat Party because he's Jewish.
00:15:12.100 And by the way, it really speaks volumes.
00:15:16.220 Just how bad it acts.
00:15:17.280 Here, on this point, I want to play a segment from CNN,
00:15:24.680 because I want you to listen to CNN, the commentators,
00:15:29.300 talking about how they're kind of glad that Kamala didn't pick Josh Shapiro.
00:15:36.160 Why?
00:15:36.820 Because it would tick off the radicals and the pro-Hamas base of the Democrat Party.
00:15:41.220 And they said, well, that'd be bad.
00:15:42.120 We don't want to tick them off.
00:15:43.520 And Jake Tapper, I've got to say, and I wish this was one of our video episodes.
00:15:49.420 It's just audio.
00:15:50.680 I wish you could see it, but you ought to just listen,
00:15:53.700 because he is so uncomfortable.
00:15:55.140 Because the CNN commentators are basically saying, well, she obviously couldn't pick a Jew,
00:16:02.060 because the leftists in the Democrat Party would get really mad if her nominee was Jewish.
00:16:09.800 And you can see Jake Tapper going, no, no, stop, stop saying this.
00:16:14.580 But give a listen to this exchange, because it really shows, number one,
00:16:20.260 how poisoned and extreme the Democrat Party has been, as reflected by their mouthpieces on CNN.
00:16:27.500 But number two, it shows the Tim Walsh pick, I think, is very revealing of who Kamala Harris is.
00:16:33.940 Give a listen.
00:16:34.400 And I think, ultimately, Shapiro, I think fit is important.
00:16:40.100 But, you know, I also think that when you look at the principle of do no harm,
00:16:45.760 maybe they did say, in a state like Minnesota, do we want to,
00:16:51.260 those 100,000 uncommitted voters who came out about the Gaza war,
00:16:56.660 do we want to antagonize those voters?
00:16:59.780 Those are all part of the questions as well.
00:17:02.320 Tim Walsh also spoke conciliatorily towards those people.
00:17:09.700 He said, look, that uncommitted vote is significant, and those people should be heard.
00:17:14.480 So having that kind of response, I think, is probably more of an open door to the parts of the party
00:17:20.040 that have been very frustrated with the Democrats.
00:17:23.520 But just to one point on the Gaza war,
00:17:27.460 Shapiro has the same position on Israel that Governor Walz, that Senator Kelly has.
00:17:33.900 He's actually been more critical of Netanyahu than the other two.
00:17:39.260 But he is Jewish.
00:17:41.760 He's also the face of the crackdown on the protests, right?
00:17:45.460 He spoke very vehemently about those campus protests as being anti-Semitic.
00:17:50.100 Not all of them.
00:17:51.000 The ones that were anti-Semitic, he criticized as being anti-Semitic.
00:17:53.460 But he was out front on the issue.
00:17:55.900 So I'm wondering if that's the kind of thing that, again, for the activist wing of the party,
00:18:02.140 they thought was a slap in the face.
00:18:04.200 Senator, you hear that.
00:18:05.340 And I have to think that this is going to start hurting Harris and Walz's campaign
00:18:11.520 if you just alienated Jewish voters like this.
00:18:16.540 But not just that, those that also stand with Israel.
00:18:20.800 And I do have friends that are liberal that stand with Israel and are proud to stand with Israel.
00:18:26.980 This is not going to sit well with them either.
00:18:29.080 Well, and look, look, CNN is reporting there.
00:18:31.500 And again, I wish you could see Jake Tapper.
00:18:34.100 You and I both know Jake Tapper.
00:18:35.300 But if you watch the video of this, Tapper is so painfully uncomfortable with what the CNN commentator is saying.
00:18:45.340 Because the CNN commentator is like, well, you know, there are a bunch of voters in Minnesota that voted uncommitted.
00:18:52.280 Why?
00:18:52.740 Because they were mad at Joe Biden that he wasn't anti-Israel enough.
00:18:56.180 Yes, he'd undermined Israel from day one.
00:18:58.020 But he was willing to provide some weapons to Israel, and they were mad. 0.58
00:19:02.360 And so, you know, maybe this was a wise decision to go with Walz and not Shapiro.
00:19:07.180 And it's interesting, Tapper goes, well, wait a second.
00:19:09.720 On the policy positions, Shapiro's stated policy is the same as Walz's, is the same as Mark Kelly's, is the difference that he's Jewish.
00:19:21.200 And the commentator doesn't answer, but the answer is basically, well, yeah.
00:19:25.120 No, no, no, no, they're mad.
00:19:26.180 They don't want anyone Jewish on the ticket. 1.00
00:19:29.200 Like, it's not the policy.
00:19:30.840 It's the fact that he's Jewish.
00:19:32.620 And then, so she actually goes back to it.
00:19:35.160 She's like, no, no, no.
00:19:35.980 She tries to dodge, and she says, no, no, no.
00:19:38.500 It's that he denounced the anti-Semitic protests on campus.
00:19:44.120 And Tapper's like, well, yeah, the ones that were anti-Semitic.
00:19:50.480 And the commentator's like, well, well, well.
00:19:51.960 You just, you don't want to make the people mad who like anti-Semitic protests.
00:19:58.340 Like, that was her argument, is because he, A, is Jewish, she didn't admit that, but that was obviously what she meant.
00:20:06.780 And, B, because he dared say viciously anti-Semitic protests are wrong, that the risk was too high for him to be on the ticket.
00:20:18.200 And so where instead did Kamala go?
00:20:21.060 And she went to Tim Walts.
00:20:22.740 Listen, listen, again, I think we should not obsess about Tim Walts.
00:20:27.820 He's not going to matter a whole lot at the end of the day.
00:20:30.560 Now, the media, as much as they're trying to turn Kamala into St. Kamala, they're trying to turn Tim Walts into Andy Griffith.
00:20:38.240 He is a Midwestern coach.
00:20:40.820 He's a dad.
00:20:41.980 He's, gosh, golly, gee, woo-hoo.
00:20:45.220 I mean, he's just a nice old feller.
00:20:47.580 He, like, pets himself some dogs, and he's just, gosh, Grandpa Joe, and this guy.
00:20:57.300 Okay, I'm going to give some unsolicited advice to the Trump campaign.
00:21:02.940 Focus on the substance of Kamala Harris's record and Tim Walts's record.
00:21:10.120 Both of them are radical and extreme.
00:21:14.040 Don't get distracted.
00:21:16.380 Don't go down a digression.
00:21:17.880 The media wants you to go down a digression.
00:21:20.440 These two are the most radical two people ever nominated by a major party to be president and vice president.
00:21:29.360 Their records are identical.
00:21:31.200 The reason Kamala Harris picked Tim Walts is she wanted a fellow radical. 1.00
00:21:36.060 And actually, one illustration that I think really speaks volumes, you know, you look at, you and I have talked about this before.
00:21:45.340 Bernie Sanders, my colleague in the Senate, when he got married, he made the decision to honeymoon in the Soviet Union.
00:21:53.540 Now, that's bizarre.
00:21:56.920 Like, I don't know who says, okay, I'm on my honeymoon.
00:21:59.440 Where do I want to go?
00:22:00.260 The Soviet Union.
00:22:01.900 Comrade, that's where I want to be.
00:22:03.500 Look, Heidi and I, we went to St. Thomas.
00:22:05.240 We went to the beach.
00:22:05.940 It was really pretty.
00:22:06.760 We had some margaritas, daiquiris.
00:22:08.980 We walked barefoot in the sand.
00:22:10.360 Like, that's what you do.
00:22:11.900 Where did you guys go in your honeymoon, Ben?
00:22:13.880 And if you say the Soviet Union, I'm going to very good. 1.00
00:22:15.340 We went down to Mexico.
00:22:17.540 Yeah, we went down to Mexico.
00:22:19.240 Exactly.
00:22:19.560 It was like, hey, where's a direct flight out of Houston?
00:22:23.420 It was like, stop at San Juan Tineo for a week, and then I surprised her with a second week.
00:22:28.080 She thought we were flying home, and I called her boss at St. Jude, and I said, look, I'm only going to get two weeks off my whole life one time.
00:22:35.020 Can I please surprise her?
00:22:36.800 And we went the second week to Cabo. 0.82
00:22:39.780 You are a romantic son of a gun.
00:22:41.540 I've never been to San Juan Tineo.
00:22:42.840 All I know is it's where Tim Robbins was going to go in Shawshank Redemption, and it sure looked pretty in the film, but I haven't been there.
00:22:49.560 Was it gorgeous?
00:22:51.360 Put it on your list.
00:22:52.420 It is one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been in my entire life.
00:22:57.060 Okay, so let me ask you.
00:22:58.080 Do you regret, instead of going to Zawadnejo and walking in the sand, that you didn't go to the Soviet Union and pay homage to Marx and Lenin and Stalin and the heroes of the revolution?
00:23:11.100 Like, that's bizarre.
00:23:12.000 Yeah, you know, it was a toss-up, right?
00:23:16.280 It was a big toss-up.
00:23:17.440 Which one would be better of a surprise, go to Russia and maybe never come back, or go to Mexico and hang out on a beach?
00:23:26.120 Yeah.
00:23:27.080 So the reason it's relevant to talk about where Bernie went on his honeymoon is it shows what his values are, what he admires, what he cares about, who he wants to be.
00:23:37.420 Well, Tim Waltz, on his honeymoon, went to Communist China.
00:23:41.680 Now, that's a little weird, but there's a second piece, and we talked about the fact that he went to Communist China on Wednesday's pod, but the second piece that broke on Thursday that I didn't know for Wednesday's pod, do you know what day Tim Waltz chose to get married on?
00:23:55.740 See, when this broke, I was immediately like, this is going to be some internet, like, rumor, it's going to get fact-checked, it's not going to be real.
00:24:05.740 I was like, there's no way.
00:24:07.780 And then, sure enough, it is real, and you can tell the audience exactly what you're talking about. 0.98
00:24:12.700 He chose to get married on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, the Tiananmen Square, where you had hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Chinese standing up for freedom, standing up against oppression, standing up against the oppressive communist bastards.
00:24:30.720 And the Chinese tyrannical government sent in tanks, mowed them down, and it was an incredible moment of heroism on the part of the students and the young people standing up against tyranny, and it was an incredible moment of brutality on the part of the regime stomping them down.
00:24:51.120 And I've got to say, the only word I know to describe somebody who chooses to get married on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square and then honeymoons in communist China, the only word I know to describe is weird, which is really funny, because Tim Waltz, like, the only thing anyone knows about him is he started running around saying, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are weird, and it's like, dude, that is weird.
00:25:18.120 Yeah, on a whole nother level.
00:25:22.000 Let me tell you about my friends over at Bond Arms, and look, I'm a staunch advocate for God-given Second Amendment rights.
00:25:28.380 If it wasn't for me having a firearm and carrying it, I would not be here right now.
00:25:32.900 I had to use it to protect and defend my life.
00:25:35.260 And you look at what's been going on lately, and you just look at how tough our president is.
00:25:41.000 Donald Trump, number 45, it's amazing how fast he bounced back from that attack on him.
00:25:48.120 Just weeks ago, that attempted assassination, and immediately he got back to work for the American people.
00:25:54.020 Well, the patriot at Bond Arms decided it was time to honor Trump with a really, really, really cool collector's item.
00:26:04.080 You can go see this right now at the website, getbondarms.com.
00:26:10.000 What they have done is they have put together an extremely powerful, tough handgun called the .45 XLV to honor the 45th president called this firearm the living legend.
00:26:22.920 This is a collector's gun, and you can go right now to getbondarms.com, and you can see the new .45 XLV model to honor this amazing living legend, which is Donald Trump.
00:26:37.020 There is a very limited number that will be made of this special handgun, and it will only be available for a limited time at the price, a low price, to honor him of $545.47.
00:26:50.940 Let me say it again, $545.47.
00:26:56.920 It will become a collector's item and something you'll be proud to own, shoot, and show your friends.
00:27:03.080 So check it out.
00:27:03.860 Go to getbondarms.com today.
00:27:07.140 That's getbondarms.com today to find out more.
00:27:12.020 Senator, let me also ask you another question, and that's going to be the debate.
00:27:16.960 There was a debate that was offered up.
00:27:19.580 Kamala Harris said no.
00:27:21.180 That was going to be on Fox.
00:27:22.660 Now, apparently, they've agreed to another debate on one of the major networks, and if she's not doing interviews,
00:27:28.480 and you have to put out press statements, you know, that Vice President Harris pledges to schedule an interview before the end of the month
00:27:35.000 after speaking with her team on Thursday.
00:27:37.720 Quote, it's unclear if the interview will take place in the last three weeks of August
00:27:40.760 or whether the interview scheduling will take place before August ends, quote-unquote.
00:27:46.380 But Harris, as you mentioned at the beginning of the show, has not given one unscripted press conference
00:27:52.680 since she joined the presidential race 18 days ago, to use, you know, Walt's favorite word.
00:27:57.900 That's weird.
00:27:59.140 And may continue to void the press until Labor Day, 25 days from now, 24 days from now.
00:28:05.380 A longtime Harris ally told Politico for their publication, basically, I think, limiting expectations.
00:28:12.140 And now, you look at this, you go, okay, she's going into hiding.
00:28:16.740 How important is the next presidential debate, then?
00:28:19.820 Well, look, Trump came out and challenged her to three presidential debates,
00:28:24.460 and that's a very normal thing to do.
00:28:26.060 If you look in history at modern times, there have typically been three presidential debates,
00:28:32.420 and usually one vice presidential debate.
00:28:34.600 That's been the history for a long time.
00:28:36.420 And so what Trump challenged her to, he challenged her to it on three different networks.
00:28:40.340 That was a very reasonable challenge.
00:28:41.940 I don't think she'll accept.
00:28:43.680 My prediction is we will see one presidential debate between Trump and Kamala.
00:28:48.420 I think her team would love that to be zero, but I think they will probably make the judgment
00:28:53.900 that zero would project so much weakness that it would be a problem.
00:29:00.380 I think the chances that they agree to three are essentially zero, because from their perspective,
00:29:06.800 why would they, every day, they are getting tens of millions of dollars of free press,
00:29:13.320 and the press is just running a 24-hour infomercial for her. 1.00
00:29:18.360 So why would she do anything to take the Kamala Harris infomercial off TV? 0.82
00:29:23.800 The press wants her to win. 0.95
00:29:26.300 I think they will feel like we've got to do one.
00:29:29.360 And by the way, and we'll talk about this as the debate approaches,
00:29:32.400 look, that debate has risks for both of them.
00:29:35.500 It has risks for her, because when she's unscripted, when she's ad-libbing,
00:29:42.000 she can say all sorts of zany things that are not terribly impressive.
00:29:46.120 But it also has risks for Trump.
00:29:48.020 And in particular, it has risks for Trump of being too aggressive, too mean,
00:29:52.420 and that has a potential to backfire.
00:29:54.400 Kamala is not Joe Biden.
00:29:56.060 And so, you know, from the Democrat perspective,
00:30:01.520 I think they would hope that Trump would come across as a bully or mean,
00:30:07.660 because I think they would be calculating that doing so might well push swing voters to Kamala.
00:30:14.600 And so where I think we'll end up is one debate, September or October.
00:30:20.840 I think Trump rightly will keep pushing for more.
00:30:22.840 Well, and ABC News has apparently, yeah, well, ABC News has now apparently confirmed
00:30:28.500 that both Trump and Harris, quote, have agreed to basic terms for their debate on September the 10th.
00:30:36.380 So you're saying you believe there's a very good chance that may be the only debate they do.
00:30:41.580 And remember, that was the previously agreed debate that Joe Biden had also agreed to,
00:30:46.540 that Trump initially was pushing back and not wanting and saying,
00:30:50.000 how about we do Fox instead?
00:30:51.400 And Kamala didn't want to do that. 1.00
00:30:52.840 It's, they both now said, okay, we'll do ABC on September 10th.
00:30:58.500 I'd love to see three debates.
00:31:00.020 I think it would be better for democracy.
00:31:01.460 I think it would be better for the American people, for the voters.
00:31:05.080 But I think Kamala Harris and the Democrats do not give a flying flip about democracy,
00:31:10.580 don't give a flying flip about the voters.
00:31:12.280 They, every single day that she does nothing, the media is campaigning for 24 hours a day. 1.00
00:31:21.460 And I think their entire strategy is don't get in the way of the media campaign unfolding right now.
00:31:27.120 So let me ask you this, and I look to Vegas every once in a while because it just,
00:31:31.780 I find it fascinating to see where they and how they rank the race.
00:31:35.040 You look at this media propaganda that is historic on its scale for Harris and all of the money that's flown in to boost her and the ads that are running,
00:31:47.140 everyone I think has seen them now.
00:31:48.780 She is now only at even odds with Trump in Vegas.
00:31:54.120 This after they've thrown everything that they have at Harris to try to save the Democratic Party.
00:32:01.480 And the question is, is the Kamala honeymoon over if it is, if it's straight up 49-49 in Vegas right now,
00:32:10.700 is this now going to turn into somewhat of an actual and real campaign?
00:32:15.920 Look, I hope so.
00:32:17.040 I still believe Trump is going to win in November and that we're going to see a very good election where Republicans win the White House,
00:32:25.660 we win the Senate, we win the House.
00:32:26.980 That's what I think is likely to happen.
00:32:29.080 That being said, the chances of that today are significantly less than they were three weeks ago.
00:32:35.300 Three weeks ago in Milwaukee, and you and I did several podcasts from Milwaukee, live from the convention.
00:32:41.660 In Milwaukee, the feeling was exuberant.
00:32:44.360 In fact, you and I talked about on this podcast at the convention, I was worried.
00:32:48.640 I said at the time, I think Republicans are overconfident, that we feel like the race is over.
00:32:55.840 We're celebrating.
00:32:57.080 You and I had conversations with people there that were already handing out cabinet positions.
00:33:02.840 And my view is the time for celebration is after the election, not before.
00:33:08.460 Now, the reason there was such a sense of exuberance is because Joe Biden was the opponent.
00:33:14.020 And I think if Joe Biden had stayed the opponent, Trump would have won easily.
00:33:17.060 And the problem was Democrats came to that same conclusion. 0.96
00:33:21.220 Oh, crap, we're going to lose if Biden's the president is the nominee. 0.96
00:33:24.420 So they yanked him out of the way and pushed him aside and replaced him with Kamala. 0.99
00:33:28.500 Right now, three weeks later, we've seen three weeks of relentless propaganda for Kamala. 0.72
00:33:34.740 And we have also seen, so Trump, for much of his presidential time and much of his campaigning time, has been able to dominate the free media narrative, has been able to drive the stories.
00:33:49.460 The past three weeks, the free media narrative has all been about Kamala.
00:33:53.180 And I think one challenge that I'm sure the Trump campaign is focused on right now is how they drive the free media narrative in a way that highlights how radical and extreme Kamala is.
00:34:06.160 And I would say I think it's a mistake for them to get into personal issues, issues that are unrelated to Kamala's extreme record and, in particular, how it impacts people.
00:34:19.700 Listen, every election, I think, is decided.
00:34:23.080 So give us an example of what you mean by that.
00:34:26.420 Give us an example, because you said not getting into the personal stuff.
00:34:31.580 Every election, I think, is decided by the same basic question.
00:34:35.780 Are you better off today than you were four years ago?
00:34:39.820 I think the Trump campaign ought to be discussing every single day how ordinary people's lives are worse,
00:34:47.540 how young people coming out of school, newly married, looking to buy their first home.
00:34:53.080 Are discovering that if you try to buy a home with a 7% or 8% mortgage instead of a 2.5% mortgage,
00:34:59.000 you get half the house you used to be able to get four years ago.
00:35:04.160 Talking about seniors who are discovering every one of their bills has gone up,
00:35:09.640 and yet their income is not keeping pace.
00:35:13.560 Talking about families who are scared because illegal immigrants are being released every single day, 0.99
00:35:21.040 as I said on the stage in Milwaukee, every damn day an American is murdered, a woman is raped, 0.99
00:35:27.880 a child is assaulted and brutalized by illegal immigrants released by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 0.98
00:35:35.260 And I think the Trump campaign should focus on how to drive the narrative every day,
00:35:41.220 both their paid messaging but also, as much as possible, the earned media,
00:35:45.680 on how people's lives are worse now because of the failures.
00:35:52.140 Kamala Harris should not be able to run on the hypothetical of what a Harris presidency would look like, 0.99
00:36:00.540 because you know what?
00:36:01.800 She and Joe have been in office for four years.
00:36:04.480 We know exactly what it looks like, and it's a train wreck.
00:36:07.320 And the Trump campaign, I think, needs to make that the topic of discussion as much as possible every day
00:36:15.280 between now and Election Day.
00:36:17.740 Patriot Mobile is the only conservative cell phone provider out there,
00:36:21.640 and if you have not made the switch to Patriot Mobile, you've got to see what they're doing.
00:36:26.860 It is incredible work.
00:36:28.740 They take your cell phone bill every month after you pay it,
00:36:31.580 and they take about 5% out of that bill,
00:36:33.500 and they give it back to conservative causes that are fighting for our values.
00:36:38.240 Now, why do they do this?
00:36:39.580 Because Big Mobile is giving massive donations to democratic causes, candidates, and organizations.
00:36:46.800 Organizations that are supporting and advocating for abortions, for example.
00:36:51.220 Well, that is not where you want your money going if you're like me.
00:36:55.040 You're tired of your money being used to literally go after your family values,
00:36:59.720 and that is why Patriot Mobile was started more than 10 years ago.
00:37:03.040 Now, I'm proud to partner with Patriot Mobile because they're on the front lines
00:37:07.000 fighting for our First and our Second Amendment rights.
00:37:09.460 They're fighting for the sanctity of life.
00:37:11.680 They're fighting for our military and our veterans and our wounded warriors,
00:37:15.300 and they take a stand for conservative causes,
00:37:18.600 and they put America first, and you can too, by switching to Patriot Mobile today.
00:37:24.380 You're going to get the same nationwide coverage that you've been used to
00:37:27.760 because they use the same towers that you're using right now.
00:37:30.640 And Patriot Mobile operates across all three major networks.
00:37:36.060 What does that mean?
00:37:37.300 Well, they have a coverage guarantee.
00:37:40.540 You're going to love your coverage.
00:37:43.020 And if you don't, they're going to fix everything for you.
00:37:46.380 They have a 100% U.S.-based customer service team.
00:37:49.780 They'll find the best plan for you and many times save you real money.
00:37:53.540 Keep your same number, keep your phone, or upgrade to a new one.
00:37:56.580 Just go to PatriotMobile.com slash verdict.
00:37:59.740 That's PatriotMobile.com slash verdict.
00:38:02.540 Or call them 972-PATRIOT.
00:38:05.020 That's 972-PATRIOT.
00:38:06.980 And right now, you're going to get a free month of service
00:38:09.740 when you use the offer code VERDICT.
00:38:13.120 PatriotMobile.com slash verdict or 972-PATRIOT.
00:38:16.860 And get a free month of service when you use the offer code VERDICT.
00:38:20.580 Senator, final question I have for you, and that is,
00:38:25.040 how do you prep if you're Donald Trump right now
00:38:30.120 for attacking a candidate that's in hiding?
00:38:33.080 I mean, it's different because the last time the attack was pretty clear.
00:38:37.480 The line was, he's incapacitated.
00:38:39.740 He can't do the job, referring to Biden.
00:38:42.060 You can't use that line against Harris.
00:38:44.420 So what do you do to undermine her in hiding?
00:38:47.200 Do you say, hey, I thought she was able-bodied, I guess she's not,
00:38:50.720 and try to bait her that way?
00:38:52.560 What's the strategy?
00:38:54.700 Look, I think you focus on substance.
00:38:57.600 Her policies are extreme.
00:38:59.180 Her record is extreme.
00:39:00.480 Her record is a failure.
00:39:02.000 Her record is hurting you.
00:39:03.980 Your life is worse off.
00:39:07.240 You know, if you look at across the country,
00:39:12.740 virtually no one answers the question, yes,
00:39:16.020 are you better off today than you were four years ago? 0.96
00:39:19.480 Unless you happen to be a big tech billionaire or a Mexican drug lord. 0.99
00:39:24.400 And by the way, if you're a Mexican drug lord, 0.93
00:39:26.420 you ought to vote for Kamala and Waltz. 0.95
00:39:28.080 They're clearly the candidate for you.
00:39:30.200 If you're a big tech billionaire, they're your candidate too.
00:39:32.740 But if you're a steel worker, if you're a suburban mom, 1.00
00:39:39.240 if you're a young person, if you're somebody, if you're a senior,
00:39:42.840 if you're somebody who loves America,
00:39:44.580 if you're somebody who wants your kids safe,
00:39:46.600 if you're someone who wants your grandkids safe,
00:39:48.160 if you're someone who wants to see peace and prosperity in the world
00:39:51.900 and not chaos, then the choice is a lot clearer.
00:39:59.880 And that's what I think the Trump campaign needs to be looking every day
00:40:05.380 to make that real and personal and why it matters to you.
00:40:11.020 Yeah, great point.
00:40:12.360 Don't forget we do this show Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
00:40:14.780 Make sure you hit that subscribe or auto-download button.
00:40:17.420 And on those in-between days, grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson podcast,
00:40:22.220 and I'll keep you up to date on the latest breaking news.
00:40:24.620 The Senator and I will see you back here Saturday morning
00:40:26.560 for our week in review.
00:40:29.420 Anything that you may have missed this week, we do that on Saturdays as well.
00:40:33.100 We'll see you back there then.
00:40:35.600 This is an iHeart podcast.
00:40:38.480 Guaranteed human.