Verdict with Ted Cruz - Mmm, Ted Cruz

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.480 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.420 Tweeting while on a family vacation this week,

00:00:07.200 Ted Cruz slammed his critics,

00:00:09.460 claiming that those who hate on him

00:00:11.120 are just sexually frustrated

00:00:12.760 and unable to resist his raw sex appeal.

00:00:16.660 Cruz said that Democrats who are fixated

00:00:18.800 on criticizing him all the time

00:00:20.320 are obviously motivated by their, quote,

00:00:22.940 deranged sexual frustrations.

00:00:26.260 They are drawn to him,

00:00:27.660 an alpha male whose powerful presence

00:00:29.960 and distinct scent of a dusty Texas sunrise in September

00:00:34.240 caused his haters to lash out in their unfulfilled desire.

00:00:39.900 Mmm, Ted Cruz.

00:00:42.900 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

00:00:51.980 Today's episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz

00:00:54.160 is sponsored by American Hartford Gold.

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00:03:32.120 Welcome back to VERDICT with Ted Cruz.

00:03:33.920 I'm Michael Knowles.

00:03:34.820 I'm just seeing now that that article was published

00:03:38.140 by the Babylon Bee,

00:03:39.800 though I don't see what about it would be funny in any way.

00:03:44.120 We now know from AOC, among other people,

00:03:48.260 that all political criticism is merely grounded

00:03:51.160 in sexual frustration.

00:03:52.920 So, Senator, I think you would be perfectly justified

00:03:55.520 in making those claims.

00:03:57.160 You know, I got to say, Michael,

00:03:58.460 this has gone a little bit viral online,

00:04:01.060 and I'm both puzzled and, I guess, slightly offended

00:04:06.020 that people are finding it so amusing.

00:04:08.860 I'm not really appreciating the comedy aspect to it.

00:04:13.540 You know, the reference to, what is it,

00:04:16.700 the musk of a Texas sunset?

00:04:18.900 I mean, I thought that was required

00:04:20.820 to get elected in the great state of Texas.

00:04:23.000 And listen, I, for one, find AOC's reasoning compelling.

00:04:28.600 She said everyone who criticized her

00:04:30.380 just wants to date her.

00:04:32.460 And that's obviously the case.

00:04:35.340 And I guess, you know, what's good for the goose

00:04:38.340 is good for the gander.

00:04:39.720 And so all of the MSNBC hosts and CNN hosts

00:04:43.640 and Democrats who foam at the mouth

00:04:45.500 are just, you know, hot for teacher.

00:04:48.640 And, you know, they all want to be on this podcast.

00:04:51.340 I guess that's what's going on.

00:04:53.180 Liz is the only person with two X chromosomes

00:04:55.160 on this show right now.

00:04:56.500 I'm not sure about the cactus.

00:04:57.360 Can you attest to the verity of what AOC has to say?

00:05:02.640 Listen, it's so, this is hilarious, by the way,

00:05:05.700 that Babylon Bee article is just, it's hysterical.

00:05:08.860 I actually texted Seth to see who wrote that particular line

00:05:12.520 that just slayed me, the Ted Cruz line,

00:05:15.140 because Senator, with all due respect,

00:05:16.500 this is the most hilarious thing

00:05:17.900 that's ever been written about you.

00:05:19.600 And like I said, I mean that with all respect,

00:05:21.880 but it's actually more believable.

00:05:23.340 The AOC thing is more believable

00:05:25.860 if it actually were satire.

00:05:27.720 It is hard to comprehend

00:05:29.000 that a sitting member of U.S. Congress

00:05:31.600 made a comment about critics of her policies

00:05:34.740 and said, well, you just have a crush on me.

00:05:36.280 You just want to date me.

00:05:37.380 Like, are we grownups?

00:05:38.360 Are we adults?

00:05:39.120 Are we really politicians who believe this?

00:05:41.400 It's unbelievable.

00:05:42.740 Well, in honor of all the frustrated and angry libs this year,

00:05:48.280 I'm pleased to announce that Verdict

00:05:49.760 will be coming out with a swimsuit calendar.

00:05:52.660 And it's just to help relieve their tension.

00:05:56.680 Well, I know we will be having

00:05:58.540 some mailbag questions coming later on.

00:06:00.980 I assume most of them will be kind and polite.

00:06:04.320 Some might be critical.

00:06:05.520 And so I look forward to channeling

00:06:07.740 all of those frustrations, sexual or otherwise.

00:06:10.620 Absolutely. And anybody who wants to ask a question,

00:06:12.780 we have some great questions today.

00:06:14.240 These might be the best questions yet.

00:06:16.140 Anybody who wants to ask a question

00:06:17.400 of Senator Cruz, Michael Knowles, or me

00:06:19.220 can do so on the Verdict Plus community.

00:06:22.040 That's verdictwithtedcruz.com slash plus.

00:06:24.900 Just head on over there.

00:06:25.820 I have a post that says, you know the drill,

00:06:28.020 ask the question,

00:06:28.680 and it will hopefully be answered on the episode.

00:06:31.140 And we will get to that shortly.

00:06:32.720 Wonderful. All right.

00:06:33.500 We'll see you very soon, Liz.

00:06:34.920 Senator, I think when a lot of people

00:06:37.720 were listening to AOC's

00:06:39.960 reasoning here,

00:06:41.600 they thought that she sounds a little bit desperate.

00:06:43.820 The lady doth protest too much, me thinks.

00:06:46.360 And I can't help but notice

00:06:47.780 that 24 of AOC's Democrat colleagues in the House

00:06:52.180 are not running for re-election.

00:06:54.140 This compared with only 11 House Republicans

00:06:56.260 who are not running for re-election.

00:06:58.380 Are the Democrats afraid of facing

00:07:01.200 an electoral tsunami in 2022?

00:07:04.140 Look, I think they're absolutely afraid of it.

00:07:06.260 I would say virtually everyone in Congress

00:07:08.580 expects that the election in November

00:07:11.080 is going to be a red wave.

00:07:13.240 I think it's going to be on the order of magnitude

00:07:15.200 of 2010.

00:07:16.580 I think it's going to be on the order of magnitude

00:07:18.940 of 1994.

00:07:21.800 That in both instances,

00:07:23.140 you had a Democrat president

00:07:24.440 who veered too far to the left

00:07:26.560 and the American people said,

00:07:27.700 hold on a second.

00:07:28.540 And we saw huge Republican majorities come in.

00:07:31.160 I think we're headed the same direction in 2022.

00:07:33.220 Now, if the Republicans retake the House,

00:07:36.960 there is the prospect of impeachment.

00:07:38.960 And actually, this show,

00:07:40.900 The Verdict Podcast,

00:07:42.280 made news and possibly made history

00:07:44.280 this past week

00:07:45.860 because the White House had to respond

00:07:48.980 to something that you said on this podcast.

00:07:51.760 I think it may be the first time

00:07:53.360 the White House has responded to a podcast

00:07:55.800 because on our last episode,

00:07:58.840 you said that if the Republicans retake the House,

00:08:02.060 as it looks like they will,

00:08:03.700 they very well might impeach Joe Biden.

00:08:05.880 Does the White House have a reaction

00:08:07.480 to Senator Cruz saying

00:08:09.440 President Biden may be impeached

00:08:11.960 if the Republicans take that to House next year,

00:08:14.820 specifically for the border policies?

00:08:17.160 Well, our reaction is maybe Senator Cruz

00:08:19.520 can work with us on getting something done

00:08:21.760 on comprehensive immigration reform

00:08:23.260 and putting in place measures

00:08:25.000 that will help make sure smart security

00:08:27.660 is what we see at the border,

00:08:29.920 taking a more humane approach to the border

00:08:32.240 instead of name-calling, accusation-calling,

00:08:35.220 and making predictions of the future.

00:08:37.040 Go ahead.

00:08:37.720 Thank you, Jack.

00:08:38.720 Not much of an answer, if you ask me.

00:08:41.220 Well, you know, it's striking on several things.

00:08:43.300 One, you know, she accuses us of name-calling.

00:08:46.040 Last I checked, we didn't engage in any name-calling.

00:08:48.340 We just observed the reality

00:08:50.060 that if there's a Republican majority in the House,

00:08:52.860 which I think is extremely likely,

00:08:55.660 that there will be very significant pressure

00:08:57.720 and a very significant likelihood

00:08:59.220 that we will see impeachment proceedings.

00:09:02.120 And, you know, it was interesting

00:09:03.540 when she talked about the border,

00:09:05.020 she says, well, we need, quote, smart security.

00:09:07.800 And talk about a euphemism.

00:09:10.100 You know, we had 2 million people

00:09:11.500 cross illegally last year.

00:09:13.140 We had the highest rate of illegal immigration

00:09:15.200 in 61 years.

00:09:17.040 She says she wants a more humane policy.

00:09:20.080 How about start with not having children

00:09:22.660 physically and sexually assaulted

00:09:24.580 by human traffickers?

00:09:26.380 How about start by not having women

00:09:29.180 physically and sexually assaulted

00:09:31.540 by human traffickers?

00:09:33.620 How about start by not having

00:09:35.480 the highest amount of fentanyl

00:09:37.980 and illegal drugs trafficked in this country

00:09:40.060 that we've ever seen

00:09:41.200 in the history of this country?

00:09:42.440 What they're doing, it ain't humane.

00:09:44.680 And you want to work together on this?

00:09:46.040 Fine, let me give you a place to start.

00:09:48.000 Enforce the damn laws.

00:09:49.480 Of course, of course, enforce the laws.

00:09:51.140 They have no interest in doing that.

00:09:53.100 This is not just some cheap political shot.

00:09:54.860 They have said they have no interest

00:09:56.700 in doing that.

00:09:57.400 They've reversed a lot of the border security measures.

00:09:59.960 So on this question of impeachment,

00:10:02.980 is this just a purely political,

00:10:06.620 partisan threat that now,

00:10:08.380 whenever the other party holds the Congress,

00:10:11.020 they're going to impeach the president?

00:10:12.420 Or is there some constitutional legal basis

00:10:15.960 for impeaching Joe Biden?

00:10:17.100 Oh, look, a little bit of both.

00:10:18.980 What we said in the last episode of Verdict

00:10:21.460 is that one of the consequences

00:10:24.040 of the Democrats in the last Congress

00:10:26.700 so politicizing impeachment,

00:10:28.800 impeaching Donald Trump,

00:10:29.720 not once but twice,

00:10:31.660 because they disagreed with him,

00:10:33.220 because they hated his policies

00:10:34.460 and they hated his politics even more.

00:10:37.440 Verdict was launched

00:10:38.640 on the first day of the first impeachment trial.

00:10:41.440 And you and I said during that first trial

00:10:43.640 over and over again,

00:10:44.780 when we were down in the basement

00:10:46.060 at one in the morning,

00:10:47.960 that if they make this political,

00:10:49.840 if they go after Donald Trump

00:10:51.820 because they hate him,

00:10:53.720 that the inevitable consequence

00:10:55.520 of what the Democrats are doing,

00:10:57.200 abusing the constitutional process

00:10:59.220 of impeachment,

00:11:00.940 is the next time you get a Democratic president,

00:11:03.060 the next time you get a Republican House,

00:11:04.920 it's going to be almost inevitable

00:11:06.560 that they're going to be forced

00:11:08.780 to impeach him as well.

00:11:09.940 That's not how the Constitution

00:11:11.320 was meant to work.

00:11:13.600 But the Democrats made the decision,

00:11:16.360 damn the torpedoes.

00:11:17.320 They didn't care about the consequences.

00:11:20.040 And you and I said at the time,

00:11:23.160 this is a dangerous road to go down.

00:11:24.880 You shouldn't use impeachment

00:11:26.120 to express political disagreements.

00:11:28.760 But the Democrats did so twice

00:11:31.580 in a partisan charade.

00:11:33.500 We get to January 23

00:11:36.560 with a Republican House.

00:11:38.180 I think the political pressure

00:11:39.980 to do the same thing,

00:11:41.060 just apply the same standard

00:11:42.820 to Joe Biden

00:11:43.900 that the Democrats applied

00:11:45.040 to Donald Trump

00:11:45.820 will be enormous.

00:11:46.880 Now, it's interesting, Michael.

00:11:48.940 After the podcast came out last week,

00:11:52.740 the Twitterverse went nuts.

00:11:57.900 MSNBC went nuts.

00:11:59.400 Left-wing journalists went nuts.

00:12:00.780 They said, oh my gosh,

00:12:01.520 this is terrible.

00:12:02.160 This is terrible.

00:12:02.960 And what you and I said

00:12:04.500 when we talked about this last week

00:12:06.080 is I said there are multiple grounds

00:12:08.180 on which the House

00:12:10.440 could impeach Joe Biden.

00:12:12.920 And it was funny.

00:12:13.760 One of the MSNBC hosts

00:12:15.360 came back and said,

00:12:16.240 there are not multiple grounds.

00:12:18.720 I thought it was amusing

00:12:19.720 that apparently he wasn't disputing

00:12:21.640 there were grounds,

00:12:22.360 just not multiple grounds.

00:12:23.860 And since none of these people

00:12:25.660 actually do reporting or journalism,

00:12:28.480 we can walk through a few of them

00:12:30.140 and actually discuss them.

00:12:31.560 And the one I mentioned

00:12:32.220 in the last podcast,

00:12:33.280 the strongest ground

00:12:34.480 is immigration,

00:12:36.620 is the president's utter failure

00:12:38.940 and refusal

00:12:39.900 to enforce the immigration laws

00:12:43.380 and to create absolute chaos.

00:12:45.820 And it's not just,

00:12:47.500 it's not just doing a bad job.

00:12:50.980 It's utterly defying the law.

00:12:53.520 And Article 2 of the Constitution

00:12:55.160 gives the president

00:12:57.240 a responsibility

00:12:58.240 to, quote,

00:12:59.360 take care that the laws

00:13:00.940 are faithfully executed.

00:13:02.200 And Joe Biden has decided

00:13:03.660 he's not going to do that.

00:13:05.220 Because during that,

00:13:06.600 the first impeachment trial,

00:13:08.260 when we launched verdict,

00:13:09.820 one of the arguments

00:13:11.400 that the Trump team was making

00:13:12.900 was that maladministration

00:13:14.940 is not a grounds for impeachment.

00:13:16.780 As you say,

00:13:17.420 just doing a bad job

00:13:18.580 is not grounds for impeachment.

00:13:19.940 But you're saying

00:13:20.340 there's a difference here

00:13:21.160 between doing a bad job

00:13:23.080 at enforcing the laws

00:13:24.120 and flagrantly,

00:13:25.800 intentionally,

00:13:26.820 consistently

00:13:27.380 refusing to enforce the law.

00:13:29.540 Well, that's right.

00:13:30.180 And this touches on debates.

00:13:31.640 If you go back

00:13:32.100 to early episodes of Verdict

00:13:33.460 we got into in great detail,

00:13:35.020 which is what does

00:13:36.140 high crimes or misdemeanors mean?

00:13:38.140 The constitutional standard

00:13:39.360 for impeachment,

00:13:40.240 impeaching the president,

00:13:41.640 is that he has to be guilty

00:13:43.020 of high crimes or misdemeanors.

00:13:44.360 And there was a robust debate

00:13:45.920 about whether high crimes

00:13:47.880 or misdemeanors

00:13:48.700 constitute federal crimes,

00:13:50.820 crimes that are on the books.

00:13:52.680 And one of the ironies is

00:13:54.200 that all the positions

00:13:55.800 are switched.

00:13:56.760 So when it was Donald Trump,

00:13:58.520 all the Democrats says,

00:13:59.520 no, no, no,

00:13:59.900 doesn't need to be

00:14:00.420 a criminal offense,

00:14:01.140 doesn't need to be

00:14:01.480 a crime at all.

00:14:02.560 Ukraine,

00:14:03.100 just because we don't like

00:14:04.140 what he did on Ukraine,

00:14:05.100 Ukraine bad,

00:14:05.900 so impeach the guy.

00:14:08.140 And we pointed out,

00:14:09.540 I think the better argument

00:14:10.900 is that it should be

00:14:12.900 a criminal offense.

00:14:13.940 There's a dispute.

00:14:15.280 And I would note,

00:14:16.220 you know,

00:14:16.780 Justice Joseph's story,

00:14:18.360 who's one of the great

00:14:19.940 early Supreme Court justices,

00:14:22.320 he talked about this.

00:14:23.540 And Justice Story said,

00:14:24.920 quote,

00:14:26.000 our fathers adopted

00:14:27.320 a constitution

00:14:28.200 under which

00:14:29.900 official malfeasance

00:14:31.640 and nonfeasance,

00:14:34.240 and in some cases,

00:14:36.280 misfeasance,

00:14:37.320 may be the subject

00:14:39.120 of impeachment.

00:14:40.780 That's an argument.

00:14:41.800 It's an argument

00:14:42.380 that the Democrats

00:14:43.180 and they're going after Trump

00:14:44.120 could rely on.

00:14:45.720 In the case of the border,

00:14:48.760 it's nonfeasance.

00:14:49.780 It's utterly refusing

00:14:50.980 to follow the law.

00:14:51.820 So that's one ground.

00:14:53.220 But there are at least

00:14:54.060 two other grounds,

00:14:54.920 and there are probably more.

00:14:56.040 The two other grounds

00:14:57.560 on which a Republican House

00:14:59.780 could consider impeachment

00:15:00.780 are the utter

00:15:02.780 and colossal disaster

00:15:04.380 of the Afghanistan withdrawal,

00:15:06.680 the president abandoning

00:15:08.760 Americans behind enemy lines,

00:15:11.020 the president sharing intelligence

00:15:12.960 with the Taliban,

00:15:15.360 the president abandoning Bagram,

00:15:17.800 releasing,

00:15:18.700 including,

00:15:19.500 as a result of Biden's

00:15:20.720 abandoning Bagram,

00:15:22.320 releasing the terrorist

00:15:23.540 who became a suicide bomber,

00:15:25.600 murdering 13 American

00:15:27.020 servicemen and women.

00:15:28.260 That could easily

00:15:29.860 be considered malfeasance

00:15:31.680 and a ground of impeachment.

00:15:34.300 And a third potential

00:15:35.860 ground of impeachment

00:15:36.800 is the president's

00:15:38.700 lawless vaccine mandates.

00:15:41.100 And what this would turn on,

00:15:43.640 and look,

00:15:43.820 it's one thing to adopt

00:15:45.420 a strain interpretation

00:15:46.500 of the law,

00:15:46.940 but what this would turn on

00:15:48.040 is the extent to which

00:15:49.900 the president's lawyers

00:15:50.960 advised him

00:15:51.940 this is contrary to law.

00:15:54.080 And we've talked about

00:15:55.360 on this podcast,

00:15:56.200 I believe the Department

00:15:57.460 of Justice

00:15:58.020 and or the White House lawyers

00:15:59.480 told the president

00:16:01.180 and told his senior advisors,

00:16:03.060 you don't have the authority

00:16:04.360 to do this under OSHA.

00:16:05.440 You don't have the authority

00:16:06.260 to do this.

00:16:07.220 You're going to be challenged

00:16:08.260 and it will very likely

00:16:09.340 lose in court.

00:16:10.220 And I think he made

00:16:11.120 the decision essentially,

00:16:12.500 I don't care.

00:16:13.840 I'm going to abuse my power

00:16:15.380 and do it anyway

00:16:16.080 because a bunch of people

00:16:17.080 are going to comply.

00:16:18.900 And you could make an argument

00:16:20.540 that that,

00:16:22.040 to the extent,

00:16:23.120 and that the full factual

00:16:24.040 predicate hasn't been developed,

00:16:25.420 you'd have to lay out

00:16:26.520 that he was acting

00:16:27.880 in open defiance of the law.

00:16:30.540 But if you made out

00:16:31.780 that predicate,

00:16:32.760 that would be a third

00:16:34.400 potential ground

00:16:35.340 for impeachment.

00:16:35.980 None of those

00:16:37.940 at the end of the day

00:16:39.060 may be a slam dunk.

00:16:41.460 And if the Democrats

00:16:42.160 had not gone down the road

00:16:43.700 of impeaching Trump twice

00:16:45.280 for political

00:16:46.420 and policy disagreements,

00:16:48.480 then you probably wouldn't see

00:16:50.440 a Republican House respond

00:16:52.060 using the same means.

00:16:54.460 But once they started

00:16:55.500 this process,

00:16:56.580 we predicted at the outset

00:16:58.180 that this was going to be

00:16:59.120 a slippery slope.

00:17:00.720 And unfortunately,

00:17:02.740 I think that is where

00:17:05.460 we are today.

00:17:06.180 And what's good for the goose

00:17:07.060 is good for the gander.

00:17:08.240 And on this point

00:17:10.060 of protections

00:17:11.280 against pure mob rule,

00:17:13.600 which the other political party

00:17:15.860 seems to have been

00:17:16.900 a little reckless about,

00:17:18.520 you are now seeing that

00:17:19.800 with the filibuster.

00:17:21.580 So the filibuster,

00:17:23.100 a protection against

00:17:24.340 majoritarianism,

00:17:26.440 is really,

00:17:27.860 seems to be at the heart

00:17:28.900 of a lot of the debates

00:17:30.120 going on at the Capitol.

00:17:32.700 Build Back Better,

00:17:33.940 Build Back Broke,

00:17:34.760 if you want to call it that.

00:17:35.900 The Biden budget

00:17:36.880 seems dead on arrival

00:17:38.600 as long as Joe Manchin

00:17:40.140 holds firm,

00:17:40.920 which he's doing right now.

00:17:42.440 So many of the Democrat

00:17:43.760 priorities have flopped.

00:17:46.120 And yet it seems

00:17:47.200 that right now

00:17:47.880 Chuck Schumer

00:17:48.500 and Senate Democrats

00:17:49.500 are really, really pushing

00:17:51.040 to get rid of the filibuster.

00:17:53.100 One, do you think

00:17:53.880 it's going to happen?

00:17:54.860 Two, what would it mean

00:17:56.000 for the Senate

00:17:56.880 and for the country

00:17:57.500 if it does?

00:17:58.540 So I hope that it doesn't.

00:17:59.820 I don't know.

00:18:01.940 The Democrats

00:18:02.480 are under enormous

00:18:03.900 political pressure

00:18:04.760 because Build Back Broke

00:18:06.080 failed.

00:18:07.740 They're putting

00:18:08.640 massive political pressure

00:18:10.500 on Joe Manchin,

00:18:11.540 Democrat from West Virginia,

00:18:13.060 Kyrsten Sinema,

00:18:13.940 Democrat from Arizona,

00:18:15.140 who are the two people

00:18:16.360 that at least so far

00:18:17.640 have taken down

00:18:19.440 Build Back Broke.

00:18:21.600 And they want

00:18:22.580 to end the filibuster.

00:18:23.700 Now, what is the filibuster?

00:18:25.320 So there are a couple

00:18:26.120 of different kinds

00:18:27.040 of filibusters.

00:18:27.740 Um, one, it used

00:18:31.540 to be the case

00:18:32.300 that it required 60 votes

00:18:33.740 to proceed to a nomination,

00:18:35.180 to proceed to a judicial nomination,

00:18:37.420 to proceed to an executive nomination.

00:18:39.920 The Democrats ended

00:18:41.720 that filibuster

00:18:42.600 when Harry Reid

00:18:43.300 was majority leader.

00:18:44.140 I was in the Senate

00:18:44.740 at the time

00:18:45.320 and he did what's called

00:18:46.340 the nuclear option,

00:18:47.900 which is he broke

00:18:49.940 the rules of the Senate

00:18:50.980 in order to change

00:18:52.640 the rules of the Senate.

00:18:53.660 He eliminated

00:18:54.460 the filibuster

00:18:56.040 for executive nominations

00:18:57.860 and for judicial nominations.

00:19:00.240 Although he carved out

00:19:01.280 judicial nominations

00:19:02.200 except for the Supreme Court.

00:19:04.020 Why did he do that?

00:19:04.700 Because there wasn't

00:19:05.100 a Supreme Court vacancy.

00:19:06.120 Everyone knew

00:19:06.620 if there was a Supreme Court vacancy,

00:19:08.140 they'd immediately nuke it

00:19:09.420 for the Supreme Court.

00:19:10.320 But since there wasn't

00:19:10.920 a vacancy,

00:19:11.960 they only nuked it

00:19:12.920 for judges short

00:19:14.040 of the Supreme Court

00:19:14.860 and executive vacancies.

00:19:17.000 Fast forward

00:19:17.780 to the Trump presidency.

00:19:20.280 Republicans ended it

00:19:21.640 for the Supreme Court as well,

00:19:22.900 applied the same standards

00:19:23.980 to all nominations.

00:19:24.920 The history actually

00:19:28.560 of requiring 60 votes

00:19:30.660 for nominations

00:19:31.340 was relatively short.

00:19:33.580 Most of the history

00:19:34.480 of the Senate nominations

00:19:35.580 preceded

00:19:36.420 only requiring 50 votes.

00:19:39.320 So it was actually

00:19:40.240 the reason why

00:19:41.240 you had a filibuster

00:19:42.360 for judicial nominations.

00:19:43.660 You know who invented

00:19:44.220 the filibuster for judges?

00:19:46.000 Chuck Schumer.

00:19:47.560 So when George W. Bush

00:19:50.180 got elected,

00:19:51.920 Chuck Schumer

00:19:53.040 was a rising,

00:19:54.540 ambitious Democrat.

00:19:56.280 And he hatched this plan.

00:19:58.240 He did it actually

00:19:58.820 with Larry Tribe,

00:19:59.700 the Harvard law professor.

00:20:00.980 He said,

00:20:01.680 let's start filibustering judges.

00:20:03.900 Prior to that,

00:20:05.320 it had never been done.

00:20:06.440 You didn't filibuster judges.

00:20:08.360 That was not,

00:20:09.420 there had never been

00:20:10.920 a partisan filibuster

00:20:12.960 of a Supreme Court justice.

00:20:15.240 The only one

00:20:16.180 who had ever been filibusters

00:20:17.300 was Abe Fortas.

00:20:19.320 And Abe Fortas

00:20:20.140 was not a partisan filibuster.

00:20:21.480 Both Republicans

00:20:22.200 and Democrats participated

00:20:23.280 because it was corruption

00:20:24.820 that was the basis of it.

00:20:26.040 So the Senate

00:20:26.620 from both sides

00:20:27.920 of the aisle agreed,

00:20:28.780 no, we're not going

00:20:29.400 down this road.

00:20:30.500 But Schumer

00:20:31.180 concocted the plan,

00:20:32.740 let's start filibustering judges.

00:20:34.800 And if you remember,

00:20:35.680 Bush had a slate

00:20:36.420 of initial judges

00:20:37.260 and Schumer

00:20:37.740 and the Democrats

00:20:38.340 filibustered them.

00:20:41.340 But think back

00:20:42.560 for a second,

00:20:43.840 Clarence Thomas,

00:20:45.020 one of the most

00:20:45.980 contentious Supreme Court

00:20:47.420 nominations

00:20:48.020 of our lifetimes.

00:20:49.860 Justice Thomas,

00:20:50.600 I think,

00:20:50.860 is a great

00:20:51.500 and extraordinary justice.

00:20:53.780 The Democrats

00:20:54.400 were massively opposed

00:20:55.660 to him.

00:20:56.060 Not a single Democrat

00:20:56.920 filibustered Clarence Thomas.

00:20:58.940 Clarence Thomas

00:20:59.520 was confirmed

00:21:00.360 52-48,

00:21:02.420 I believe.

00:21:03.760 He didn't have 60 votes.

00:21:05.200 A single Democrat

00:21:06.520 could have filibustered

00:21:08.080 Clarence Thomas.

00:21:09.020 Ted Kennedy

00:21:09.660 did not filibuster

00:21:11.240 Clarence Thomas.

00:21:12.480 Joe Biden

00:21:13.080 did not filibuster

00:21:14.340 Clarence Thomas

00:21:14.920 because you didn't

00:21:15.540 filibuster judges.

00:21:17.060 Schumer came up

00:21:17.720 with a plan to do it.

00:21:18.940 That got ended.

00:21:21.060 Contrast that

00:21:21.760 with the legislative

00:21:22.480 filibuster.

00:21:23.560 The legislative

00:21:24.600 filibuster

00:21:25.360 for most

00:21:26.920 of the history

00:21:27.500 of the Senate,

00:21:28.560 it has required

00:21:29.980 60 votes

00:21:31.080 to proceed

00:21:31.720 to legislation.

00:21:34.560 Inevitably,

00:21:35.200 that frustrates

00:21:36.520 the majority.

00:21:37.400 Whoever's in the majority,

00:21:38.700 if they don't have

00:21:39.600 a 60-vote

00:21:40.220 supermajority,

00:21:41.020 they're unhappy

00:21:42.080 that they need

00:21:42.600 to get 60 votes.

00:21:44.260 What it does

00:21:45.180 is it forces compromise.

00:21:46.600 It slows down

00:21:47.440 the legislative process.

00:21:48.480 It forces

00:21:49.320 some modicum

00:21:50.660 of bipartisanship.

00:21:52.380 It doesn't let

00:21:53.380 a narrow majority,

00:21:54.520 and right now

00:21:54.980 the Democrats

00:21:55.480 have the narrowest

00:21:56.460 possible majority,

00:21:57.820 just ram

00:21:58.540 through a partisan agenda.

00:22:00.700 Schumer wants

00:22:01.420 to nuke the filibuster,

00:22:02.820 break the rules,

00:22:04.060 and with a 50-50 Senate

00:22:06.000 with the narrowest

00:22:06.840 possible majority,

00:22:08.340 ram through

00:22:09.160 a partisan agenda.

00:22:10.580 If he gets

00:22:12.020 Manchin and Sinema

00:22:12.800 to give in to it,

00:22:13.740 he'll succeed.

00:22:14.720 So this would be

00:22:16.420 beyond the debates

00:22:17.640 over the budget

00:22:18.340 or the various proposals

00:22:20.420 that have flopped

00:22:21.320 for the Democrats.

00:22:22.040 This would be

00:22:22.660 a big move for them,

00:22:24.200 but it seems to me

00:22:24.880 it's not the biggest news

00:22:26.020 in D.C. this week,

00:22:27.360 and it's not the biggest move

00:22:28.280 coming out of the Democrats

00:22:29.460 or the liberal establishment.

00:22:31.180 That would be something

00:22:32.080 that's totally outside

00:22:33.420 of the lawmaking process.

00:22:35.320 Frankly,

00:22:35.680 it's even sort of

00:22:36.380 beyond the White House.

00:22:37.280 That would be

00:22:38.000 the flip-flop

00:22:38.800 on coronavirus.

00:22:41.140 Maybe it's just me.

00:22:42.460 Call me crazy.

00:22:43.640 But I did happen

00:22:44.740 to just recover

00:22:45.480 from the coronavirus,

00:22:46.820 so I'm clear now.

00:22:48.240 I'm good.

00:22:48.720 I've made it.

00:22:49.280 Thank you all

00:22:49.740 for your well wishes.

00:22:50.980 Wonderful way

00:22:51.560 to spend Christmas.

00:22:52.960 It would seem

00:22:53.560 that during this period,

00:22:55.640 the White House

00:22:57.160 and the Democrats

00:22:57.700 have done a complete 180

00:22:58.900 on the virus,

00:22:59.900 on the vaccines,

00:23:00.780 on the lockdowns,

00:23:01.640 on the isolation.

00:23:02.880 What happened?

00:23:04.260 Look,

00:23:04.500 it really is stunning.

00:23:05.380 We've seen the CDC

00:23:06.460 shorten the quarantine period.

00:23:09.180 We've seen Dr. Fauci

00:23:10.960 suddenly discover

00:23:12.140 some reasonableness.

00:23:13.560 You know,

00:23:13.660 one of the things

00:23:14.280 that was most striking,

00:23:15.040 Fauci went on TV

00:23:16.680 and he said,

00:23:17.760 well, you know,

00:23:18.420 there are children

00:23:19.280 in the hospital

00:23:20.280 with COVID,

00:23:21.860 but many of them

00:23:22.720 are not in the hospital

00:23:23.820 because of COVID.

00:23:26.840 And I couldn't help,

00:23:28.200 I literally laughed out loud

00:23:29.640 because there are some of us,

00:23:30.820 you and I have been saying

00:23:31.800 that for a year.

00:23:33.140 And when we said that,

00:23:35.000 we were characterized

00:23:36.500 as tinfoil hat-wearing loons

00:23:39.320 and murderers

00:23:40.260 for pointing out,

00:23:41.100 I mean,

00:23:41.640 you remember,

00:23:42.240 we've talked about this

00:23:43.620 on the pod.

00:23:44.680 There was a very funny meme online

00:23:46.760 that was a,

00:23:48.820 it was a fake headline.

00:23:50.220 It was,

00:23:51.280 woman eaten

00:23:51.860 by great white shark

00:23:53.220 dies of COVID.

00:23:54.180 And it's the same point

00:23:57.360 that some of these statistics

00:23:59.060 of someone

00:23:59.620 who's positive for COVID

00:24:00.620 and even some of the,

00:24:01.760 some of what are called

00:24:02.920 COVID deaths,

00:24:03.900 look,

00:24:04.180 if there are people

00:24:05.140 who have died

00:24:05.720 because of COVID,

00:24:06.500 but there are also people

00:24:07.300 who had other horrible diseases

00:24:10.000 and were dying anyway

00:24:11.700 who also happened

00:24:12.800 to have COVID.

00:24:13.540 And if we were being rational

00:24:15.000 discussing it,

00:24:16.380 we would make that distinction.

00:24:17.640 When you and I made it,

00:24:19.240 CNN, MSNBC,

00:24:20.780 the CDC,

00:24:21.400 the Biden White House,

00:24:23.500 they all mocked it.

00:24:25.160 And now suddenly Fauci

00:24:26.620 is saying it.

00:24:28.500 I think some of it is,

00:24:30.060 it's driven by a couple of things.

00:24:31.300 Number one,

00:24:33.100 the Democrats' policies

00:24:34.280 on COVID

00:24:34.820 are deeply unpopular.

00:24:36.760 Shutdowns are unpopular.

00:24:38.000 Shutting down schools

00:24:38.720 are unpopular.

00:24:40.080 Mandates are unpopular.

00:24:41.360 They've gotten too far

00:24:42.340 out over the skis.

00:24:43.420 Well, and you,

00:24:43.820 you have seen,

00:24:44.440 by the way,

00:24:45.180 even President Biden

00:24:46.720 probably had the biggest

00:24:47.640 flip-flop of all.

00:24:48.560 He ran on the idea

00:24:49.480 that he was going

00:24:49.960 to shut down the virus.

00:24:50.980 Now he's saying,

00:24:52.680 verbatim,

00:24:53.380 there is no federal solution.

00:24:55.080 This will only be handled

00:24:56.080 at the states,

00:24:56.720 which again,

00:24:57.300 you and I said

00:24:58.000 a year ago

00:24:59.100 or more than a year ago,

00:25:00.340 but now that seems

00:25:01.460 to be the official line

00:25:02.380 of the administration.

00:25:03.440 Well, and ironically enough,

00:25:04.640 when Trump said it,

00:25:06.200 he was roundly denounced

00:25:08.300 by the corporate media

00:25:09.520 and by Democrats

00:25:10.320 as a horrible,

00:25:11.440 heartless oath

00:25:13.180 for saying word for word

00:25:15.180 what Biden said.

00:25:16.580 And the irony is,

00:25:17.960 the most significant

00:25:19.380 federal solution

00:25:20.360 or at least

00:25:21.420 the most significant

00:25:23.140 part of a federal solution

00:25:24.760 was Operation Warp Speed,

00:25:26.780 which the Trump administration

00:25:27.900 carried out,

00:25:28.620 which was to

00:25:29.300 cut through the red tape

00:25:30.940 and dramatically speed up

00:25:32.260 the development of vaccines.

00:25:33.560 That was a federal process

00:25:35.920 because there was

00:25:36.440 federal red tape

00:25:37.280 in the way of getting

00:25:38.040 the vaccines.

00:25:39.060 But that federal solution,

00:25:40.900 Donald J. Trump implemented,

00:25:42.380 so Biden can't claim credit

00:25:44.180 for it.

00:25:44.660 So at this point,

00:25:46.160 he acknowledged

00:25:46.920 what was obvious.

00:25:49.980 But another part

00:25:51.580 of the flip-flop,

00:25:52.920 look, Omicron

00:25:54.080 may be,

00:25:56.640 and I hope that it is,

00:25:57.720 the beginning of the end.

00:25:59.440 You know,

00:25:59.960 you mentioned you had COVID.

00:26:01.120 I'll note you and I

00:26:01.820 are social distancing

00:26:02.620 by 800 miles.

00:26:04.000 We are.

00:26:04.640 I think that's safe.

00:26:05.160 But, you know,

00:26:09.520 over the Christmas holidays,

00:26:10.680 it seems like

00:26:11.380 everybody I knew

00:26:12.680 had COVID.

00:26:13.420 I mean,

00:26:13.600 it was just

00:26:14.840 everywhere.

00:26:18.300 And,

00:26:18.940 but everyone I knew

00:26:20.580 had it

00:26:21.180 also said

00:26:22.440 it was pretty mild.

00:26:23.460 It was like

00:26:23.920 a mild cold or flu,

00:26:25.580 that this variant

00:26:27.280 seems much more mild

00:26:28.820 than some of the prior variants.

00:26:31.620 And this may well be

00:26:33.340 the beginning of the end

00:26:34.480 in that if everybody

00:26:35.820 or almost everybody

00:26:36.740 catches it,

00:26:37.480 and it's fairly mild

00:26:38.760 if that's the case,

00:26:40.540 that,

00:26:41.720 that is often

00:26:43.480 how pandemics

00:26:44.520 peter out.

00:26:45.260 Once,

00:26:45.680 once you get

00:26:46.520 herd immunity,

00:26:47.800 once you get

00:26:48.620 a large enough percentage

00:26:50.400 of the population

00:26:51.200 that has had it,

00:26:52.640 that immunity,

00:26:53.540 let us hope,

00:26:54.400 and there's some early testing

00:26:55.440 to suggest this is right,

00:26:56.940 will be an immunity

00:26:57.800 for other variants as well.

00:26:59.160 Now,

00:26:59.320 the thing could,

00:27:00.180 could mutate

00:27:01.540 and we could see

00:27:02.160 a new and more dangerous variant,

00:27:03.960 but,

00:27:04.040 but Omicron,

00:27:06.000 I think part of the,

00:27:07.960 the COVID gymnastics

00:27:10.100 we're seeing

00:27:10.800 from the Biden White House

00:27:11.820 and the NIH

00:27:12.340 and the CDC

00:27:13.060 are due to the fact

00:27:14.780 that everybody has in there,

00:27:16.080 like,

00:27:16.280 holy crap,

00:27:16.880 we're like canceling airline flights

00:27:18.720 and shutting down schools

00:27:19.660 and like,

00:27:20.240 if everybody has to quarantine

00:27:22.020 for like a long time,

00:27:24.360 the entire world shuts down again

00:27:26.200 and they're realizing

00:27:27.420 that's not feasible,

00:27:31.260 but what's fascinating

00:27:32.500 is that's a political determination,

00:27:33.920 not a medical determination

00:27:36.120 or,

00:27:36.960 or a scientific determination.

00:27:38.020 And they have admitted this.

00:27:39.600 Rochelle Walensky,

00:27:40.400 head of the CDC,

00:27:41.360 Dr. Fauci,

00:27:42.200 I think the grand poob

00:27:43.120 of the entire world

00:27:44.040 at this point,

00:27:44.780 they have both said

00:27:45.800 that part of the decision

00:27:48.460 was based on

00:27:48.980 what people could tolerate.

00:27:49.960 So they're explicitly saying

00:27:51.580 this was political

00:27:52.820 and this raises

00:27:53.600 another strange question,

00:27:55.640 which is,

00:27:57.380 some of us,

00:27:58.240 you know,

00:27:58.640 I hate to say

00:27:59.100 we told you so,

00:27:59.800 but some of us

00:28:00.360 had been saying

00:28:01.000 a lot of these things

00:28:01.820 a lot earlier

00:28:03.180 than Joe Biden

00:28:04.160 and Dr. Fauci

00:28:04.780 and Rochelle Walensky.

00:28:05.960 Many of us

00:28:06.480 were censored for that.

00:28:07.660 Episodes of my show

00:28:08.940 over at the Daily Wire

00:28:09.900 have been censored

00:28:10.960 for saying things

00:28:11.620 that now Dr. Fauci

00:28:12.520 and Joe Biden say.

00:28:14.140 Joe Rogan,

00:28:15.000 Joe,

00:28:15.200 biggest podcaster

00:28:15.960 in the world,

00:28:16.600 except for that week

00:28:17.360 when we launched

00:28:18.160 the Verdicts podcast,

00:28:18.920 Joe Rogan

00:28:20.500 has seen

00:28:21.340 some of his episodes

00:28:22.260 censored.

00:28:23.980 Dr. Malone,

00:28:25.140 who is one of the scientists

00:28:26.180 who helped to develop

00:28:27.160 mRNA vaccine technology,

00:28:29.480 who went on

00:28:30.200 Joe Rogan's podcast,

00:28:31.320 who has made

00:28:32.180 other media appearances,

00:28:33.200 has been censored

00:28:34.160 for saying things

00:28:35.160 that plenty of scientists

00:28:37.880 have agreed with.

00:28:38.760 So I guess the question is,

00:28:41.720 who is allowed

00:28:44.140 to say what

00:28:45.300 and how come

00:28:46.500 different people

00:28:47.620 are permitted

00:28:48.500 to say one thing

00:28:49.800 and other people

00:28:50.500 who say the very same thing

00:28:51.480 will be censored

00:28:52.560 by big tech

00:28:53.800 or others?

00:28:55.200 Well, Michael,

00:28:55.600 I got to start

00:28:56.340 with a fact check

00:28:57.300 and this is one

00:28:58.800 where I got to say

00:28:59.740 the fact checkers,

00:29:00.540 PolitiFact would be

00:29:01.320 exactly right

00:29:02.220 and what you would

00:29:03.440 said would objectively

00:29:05.420 be misinformation

00:29:06.320 because you just said

00:29:07.940 that you hate

00:29:09.160 to say I told you so.

00:29:11.300 And that just isn't right.

00:29:13.240 You love to say

00:29:15.220 I told you so.

00:29:16.260 Guilty as charged.

00:29:16.860 You got me.

00:29:18.060 You got me.

00:29:18.740 Absolutely.

00:29:20.220 Look, it is utter

00:29:21.960 and ridiculous hypocrisy.

00:29:24.160 It's big tech

00:29:26.040 is so shameless

00:29:26.940 it would make

00:29:28.240 Orwell blush.

00:29:30.640 You know,

00:29:31.240 you think in,

00:29:32.920 you know,

00:29:34.540 1984,

00:29:35.740 you think we're

00:29:36.420 at war with Eurasia.

00:29:37.540 We're always,

00:29:38.080 we've always been

00:29:38.700 at war with Eurasia

00:29:39.660 and then when the

00:29:40.180 operative facts change,

00:29:41.320 immediately it changes.

00:29:42.400 Right.

00:29:42.500 And it's,

00:29:43.560 they don't blink.

00:29:44.560 They don't,

00:29:45.660 you know,

00:29:45.940 big tech would silence

00:29:47.340 anyone who said

00:29:48.720 that the evidence

00:29:50.580 suggested that the virus

00:29:52.120 came from a Chinese lab

00:29:53.660 in Wuhan.

00:29:55.760 And then suddenly,

00:29:57.140 miraculously,

00:29:57.860 oh, wait a second,

00:29:58.500 the evidence shows

00:29:59.300 that the virus

00:30:00.380 came from a Chinese lab

00:30:01.780 in Wuhan,

00:30:02.420 which this podcast

00:30:03.480 said in March

00:30:04.720 of last year,

00:30:05.760 we laid out the evidence.

00:30:07.060 We're one of the first

00:30:07.960 podcast,

00:30:09.440 one of the first

00:30:10.140 media outlets

00:30:11.060 because the corporate

00:30:11.840 media refused to cover it.

00:30:13.620 So we went in depth

00:30:14.900 in the podcast

00:30:15.560 laying out the evidence

00:30:16.940 that it escaped

00:30:18.420 from the Wuhan Institute

00:30:19.400 of Virology

00:30:20.260 and what was behind

00:30:22.180 all of that.

00:30:23.420 Now,

00:30:24.060 almost all of that's

00:30:24.900 been,

00:30:25.700 if not fully confirmed

00:30:29.320 publicly,

00:30:30.300 heavily validated publicly

00:30:32.060 is probably the fair way

00:30:33.340 to say it.

00:30:34.400 And magically,

00:30:35.440 I remember,

00:30:36.500 you had Fauci

00:30:37.660 asking Mark Zuckerberg

00:30:39.320 silence anyone

00:30:41.220 who suggests

00:30:42.320 this came from

00:30:43.180 the Wuhan lab.

00:30:45.300 And it is

00:30:47.820 the absolute arrogance

00:30:50.160 of we're going

00:30:52.100 to silence

00:30:52.780 any dissenting views,

00:30:54.240 even if they turn out right.

00:30:55.660 And when they turn out right,

00:30:57.400 they don't say they're sorry,

00:30:59.060 they don't say

00:30:59.520 they shouldn't have been silenced.

00:31:00.600 Hunter Biden,

00:31:01.600 Hunter Biden laptop,

00:31:02.920 the New York Post

00:31:03.660 was blocked

00:31:04.240 by big tech

00:31:06.600 for publishing

00:31:07.520 a true story.

00:31:10.020 True,

00:31:10.780 but damaging

00:31:11.320 to the Democrats.

00:31:11.960 And we're seeing this

00:31:13.320 over and over again.

00:31:15.060 You know,

00:31:15.480 the idea that they blocked

00:31:16.880 Rogan's latest podcast

00:31:19.200 with one of the inventors

00:31:21.700 of the technology

00:31:22.760 that was used

00:31:24.060 for the vaccine,

00:31:25.460 that's insane.

00:31:27.160 If you disagree

00:31:28.060 with what the doctor says,

00:31:29.840 disagree with it.

00:31:30.860 Right.

00:31:31.480 But to step in

00:31:33.500 as Big Brother censors,

00:31:36.620 it's just,

00:31:37.760 it's a level of hubris

00:31:38.920 that's really staggering.

00:31:39.980 This does,

00:31:40.480 before we get to the mailbag,

00:31:41.500 this does raise,

00:31:43.440 I guess,

00:31:44.040 a what happens next

00:31:45.200 type question in D.C.,

00:31:46.620 which is now that

00:31:47.740 the facts of COVID

00:31:49.760 and the lockdowns

00:31:51.760 and the vaccines

00:31:52.400 seem to be changing,

00:31:53.880 or at least the narrative

00:31:54.780 around them is changing,

00:31:56.140 you're seeing,

00:31:56.800 for instance,

00:31:57.200 a judge granting

00:31:58.280 a stay

00:31:59.540 against the vaccine mandate

00:32:00.980 for some Navy SEALs.

00:32:02.100 Just use one example.

00:32:03.700 Do you think that

00:32:04.660 the changing narratives

00:32:06.380 on vaccine efficacy,

00:32:08.660 on the virus,

00:32:10.740 on the effectiveness

00:32:11.660 of the lockdowns,

00:32:12.720 do you think that

00:32:13.380 is going to have any effect

00:32:14.460 on these outcomes

00:32:15.640 in the court cases?

00:32:16.680 Are the SEALs going to be able

00:32:17.680 to avoid taking

00:32:18.580 the Fauci ouchie?

00:32:19.840 On the SEALs case,

00:32:20.940 I actually am involved

00:32:21.940 in that case.

00:32:23.000 So I led a group

00:32:24.440 of nine senators

00:32:25.340 and 38 House members,

00:32:26.880 and we filed

00:32:27.560 an amicus brief

00:32:28.480 supporting the Navy SEALs

00:32:30.340 and the federal district court

00:32:31.380 and urging the federal district court

00:32:34.000 to step in and stop.

00:32:35.920 Joe Biden is trying

00:32:36.920 to fire Navy SEALs.

00:32:39.080 These are heroes

00:32:40.860 who've gone through

00:32:42.240 incredible training.

00:32:43.480 Look, Michael,

00:32:44.060 you and I couldn't last

00:32:45.120 20 minutes

00:32:45.940 in Bud's training.

00:32:47.760 We might not be able

00:32:48.940 to last two minutes

00:32:49.860 in Bud's training.

00:32:50.700 These guys

00:32:51.260 are heroic warriors,

00:32:54.760 and Biden just wants

00:32:56.760 to fire them

00:32:57.560 because they won't submit

00:32:58.880 to his illegal vaccine mandate.

00:33:00.700 And so a federal district court

00:33:03.240 in Texas issued an issue

00:33:04.800 to stay preventing them

00:33:06.760 from being fired.

00:33:08.260 The next step is,

00:33:09.920 is we'll see an appeal

00:33:11.140 in the Fifth Circuit

00:33:11.900 of that stay.

00:33:12.860 It will depend to some extent

00:33:15.120 on if there's a good panel

00:33:16.320 in the Fifth Circuit,

00:33:17.140 but the Fifth Circuit

00:33:17.800 as a whole has been excellent

00:33:19.380 on the mandate litigation.

00:33:21.560 So I have a decent level

00:33:24.380 of optimism

00:33:25.100 that stay will be upheld

00:33:27.240 on appeal.

00:33:28.580 But I think that is

00:33:29.540 a big win that we saw

00:33:31.780 this week

00:33:33.240 in the Navy SEALs litigation.

00:33:34.800 And the legislature

00:33:35.360 can take this up too.

00:33:36.560 Worth pointing out

00:33:37.520 that you are introducing

00:33:39.560 legislation at least focused

00:33:41.660 on mandates within D.C.

00:33:45.020 Now it's D.C.

00:33:46.920 obviously is its own

00:33:48.560 federal district,

00:33:49.920 but the Congress

00:33:52.240 and the Senate

00:33:52.760 have some control over that

00:33:54.320 and it seems probably

00:33:55.720 the mayor would push back

00:33:57.660 against some of the control

00:33:58.440 that the Senate has.

00:33:59.500 So what is the likelihood

00:34:00.320 that this is going

00:34:01.780 to have an effect?

00:34:02.520 Yeah, so what has happened

00:34:03.580 is that the D.C. City Council

00:34:05.160 has passed an ordinance

00:34:06.700 requiring school children

00:34:08.240 to be vaccinated

00:34:08.960 and forcing school children

00:34:10.760 to be vaccinated

00:34:11.500 regardless of what

00:34:12.200 their parents want.

00:34:13.720 I think that's a total

00:34:14.940 abuse of power

00:34:15.700 that it ought to be up

00:34:16.660 to parents whether or not

00:34:18.100 your kids get vaccinated.

00:34:19.540 And each parent

00:34:20.240 can make that decision,

00:34:21.320 can talk with your doctor

00:34:22.320 and make the decision.

00:34:23.560 But but the local school board

00:34:25.760 has no right to force you

00:34:27.140 to vaccinate your five year old.

00:34:30.000 Of course, D.C. being.

00:34:33.000 D.C. being a bunch of Democrats,

00:34:35.500 they are they are authoritarians.

00:34:38.220 They are the party of mandates

00:34:39.900 to hell with the science,

00:34:41.140 to hell with reason,

00:34:42.080 to hell with your rights,

00:34:43.220 to hell with your body,

00:34:45.060 your choice.

00:34:45.640 We're going to force you

00:34:46.440 to do it.

00:34:47.880 So D.C. is unlike any city

00:34:50.160 in the United States of America

00:34:51.400 in that D.C.

00:34:53.680 is explicitly

00:34:54.960 in the Constitution

00:34:56.720 given to Congress.

00:34:59.140 Congress actually

00:34:59.840 has plenary authority.

00:35:01.220 Plenary is a fancy legal word

00:35:02.660 for blanket authority over D.C.

00:35:05.480 Congress is actually

00:35:06.460 in charge of D.C.

00:35:07.400 Now, we passed a bill

00:35:09.120 called the Home Rule Act

00:35:10.420 that allows for a mayor

00:35:12.420 and a city council,

00:35:13.560 but that's delegated authority.

00:35:15.220 The authority all remains

00:35:16.320 with Congress

00:35:17.020 because that's how

00:35:17.820 the Constitution is written.

00:35:19.680 The Home Rule Act

00:35:20.680 explicitly provides

00:35:21.980 that when the city council

00:35:23.100 passes an ordinance

00:35:24.080 that that a member of Congress

00:35:26.460 can introduce

00:35:27.200 a resolution of disapproval

00:35:29.100 to essentially overturn

00:35:31.220 that ordinance.

00:35:32.140 So that's what I've done

00:35:33.060 is I filed a resolution

00:35:35.020 of disapproval

00:35:35.940 to overturn

00:35:36.960 the D.C. city council's

00:35:39.140 vaccine mandate

00:35:40.340 for school children.

00:35:43.840 And we'll see.

00:35:45.680 I expect there will be

00:35:46.980 battles in the Senate

00:35:47.860 that Chuck Schumer

00:35:48.660 and the Democrats

00:35:49.280 will not want to vote

00:35:50.500 on my resolution

00:35:51.860 of disapproval,

00:35:52.620 but we'll see if we can

00:35:53.500 get a vote on it or not.

00:35:54.680 And I'm going to be fighting

00:35:56.040 to get a vote

00:35:56.740 and get every Democrat

00:35:58.200 in the Senate on record.

00:36:00.120 Do you support

00:36:01.440 forcing parents

00:36:03.700 to vaccinate

00:36:04.640 their five-year-old

00:36:05.800 whether or not

00:36:07.300 that parent wants to do so?

00:36:08.680 Because I think that is

00:36:09.540 a really abusive position.

00:36:11.020 And we ought to get

00:36:12.040 every Senate Democrat

00:36:13.120 on record on it.

00:36:13.780 Well, you're hearing

00:36:14.560 a lot of parents

00:36:15.300 talking about this

00:36:16.180 at school boards.

00:36:17.240 And we should hear,

00:36:18.140 by the way,

00:36:18.500 from some of our listeners

00:36:19.760 in the verdict mailbag.

00:36:21.460 So shall we bring back

00:36:22.420 our friend Liz

00:36:23.160 for some mailbag questions?

00:36:24.660 Thanks, Michael.

00:36:25.240 We have, as I mentioned earlier,

00:36:26.420 we have some great questions.

00:36:27.580 Before we get to

00:36:28.100 the questions, though,

00:36:28.900 I want to give everybody

00:36:30.380 an update

00:36:30.880 on our viewer-led

00:36:33.480 special anniversary episode

00:36:35.400 that's coming up this month.

00:36:36.540 We are about to get to

00:36:38.580 the two-year anniversary

00:36:40.820 of our inaugural episode

00:36:42.040 on Verdict.

00:36:42.940 That'll be January 21st.

00:36:44.540 And we, in December,

00:36:45.900 for the 100th episode,

00:36:47.260 we announced giveaways

00:36:48.760 as well as viewer-led

00:36:50.360 challenges or polls,

00:36:51.440 if you will.

00:36:51.700 And I want to give

00:36:52.060 a little update on that.

00:36:52.900 So we said,

00:36:53.860 if we reach 15,000 members

00:36:56.280 on the Verdict Plus community

00:36:57.720 by January 15th,

00:36:59.820 I believe,

00:37:00.140 or January 21st,

00:37:01.220 that's the inaugural episode

00:37:02.960 anniversary,

00:37:03.600 15,000 members

00:37:04.740 on the Verdict Plus community,

00:37:06.480 then we will select,

00:37:07.660 we will randomly select

00:37:08.980 one of our Verdict Plus VIPs,

00:37:11.760 one of our subscribers,

00:37:12.800 to come to a live taping

00:37:14.260 of Verdict

00:37:15.080 when we are

00:37:15.820 at a college campus.

00:37:17.400 Well, we started out

00:37:18.380 at about 8,000 members.

00:37:19.700 We are all the way up

00:37:20.720 to 12,000 members

00:37:21.940 on Verdict Plus,

00:37:22.920 so we're almost there.

00:37:24.100 This is a benchmark

00:37:24.940 that we can hit.

00:37:25.840 You still have time.

00:37:26.900 Go to verdictwithtedcruz.com

00:37:28.640 slash plus.

00:37:29.780 Become a member.

00:37:30.860 It's free to become a member,

00:37:32.140 and you might just be

00:37:33.900 the winner

00:37:34.660 you might just be

00:37:36.080 the recipient

00:37:36.980 of a trip

00:37:38.140 to a live taping

00:37:38.980 of Verdict

00:37:39.460 if you join in time.

00:37:41.920 That's the first thing.

00:37:42.460 The second thing

00:37:42.960 is on YouTube,

00:37:44.160 on episode 100,

00:37:45.880 on YouTube,

00:37:46.700 on the Verdict channel,

00:37:48.260 we will be randomly

00:37:49.300 selecting 15 people

00:37:50.580 who leave a comment.

00:37:51.720 You must leave a comment.

00:37:52.960 We will be randomly

00:37:53.660 selecting 15 people,

00:37:54.980 and those 15 people

00:37:55.960 will be the lucky winners

00:37:56.900 of a box of signed

00:37:58.300 Verdict merch

00:37:59.440 from our merch store.

00:38:00.680 We're talking T-shirts.

00:38:02.080 We're talking

00:38:02.800 that sweet cactus hat.

00:38:04.300 We're talking stickers

00:38:05.040 for the back

00:38:05.480 of your laptop

00:38:06.060 if you leave a comment

00:38:07.700 on episode 100

00:38:09.220 on YouTube.

00:38:10.120 So head on over there

00:38:11.100 and leave that comment

00:38:12.140 if you want signed merch.

00:38:14.000 If you don't,

00:38:14.900 do it anyway.

00:38:15.580 Leave a comment.

00:38:16.380 And then third and finally,

00:38:17.960 on Apple,

00:38:18.820 on the podcast app

00:38:19.860 on Apple,

00:38:20.480 we said if we get

00:38:21.080 to 50,000 reviews

00:38:22.220 on Apple Podcasts

00:38:23.280 by January 21st,

00:38:24.700 then we will let you,

00:38:25.860 the fans,

00:38:26.560 pick what we do

00:38:27.440 in one episode next year.

00:38:28.640 So this is the idea

00:38:30.600 of Real Truth Cactus.

00:38:32.080 I think this is

00:38:32.600 a fabulous idea.

00:38:33.840 And so what I mean

00:38:34.580 when I say

00:38:35.000 we will let you

00:38:35.880 pick what we do,

00:38:36.800 we will have a poll

00:38:38.160 once we have gotten

00:38:39.100 to 50,000 reviews

00:38:40.540 on Apple Podcasts.

00:38:41.460 We will have a poll

00:38:42.220 on the Verdict Plus community,

00:38:43.840 and the poll will ask you,

00:38:45.320 would you rather

00:38:46.020 see the senator

00:38:47.180 wear a Braves jersey

00:38:48.340 for an entire episode,

00:38:50.200 see the senator

00:38:50.880 and Michael arm wrestle,

00:38:52.940 bring the cactus

00:38:54.280 to make a guest appearance

00:38:55.900 on the show,

00:38:56.380 or to hear Michael

00:38:57.560 roast Princeton

00:38:58.320 and the senator

00:38:59.100 roast Yale

00:38:59.800 in a throwdown episode.

00:39:01.560 Now we've come,

00:39:02.540 we've come a good ways

00:39:03.680 on this one.

00:39:04.160 We are at 38,000 ratings

00:39:06.060 and counting on Apple Podcasts,

00:39:07.460 so you gotta get over there

00:39:08.560 and give us a good

00:39:10.560 five-star rating,

00:39:11.240 a glowing review

00:39:12.140 so that we hit this benchmark

00:39:13.320 because I don't know about you,

00:39:14.100 but I would like to see

00:39:14.920 an arm wrestling match.

00:39:16.040 And we have just a few more days

00:39:17.980 until we are at the deadline.

00:39:19.480 So just a little update

00:39:20.440 on our giveaway

00:39:21.600 on our special

00:39:22.420 two-year anniversary

00:39:23.480 coming up.

00:39:24.260 And because I control

00:39:26.380 the question, Senator,

00:39:27.380 because I'm the gateway

00:39:28.260 to these questions,

00:39:29.420 I'm gonna throw a question

00:39:30.260 for myself in here

00:39:31.300 before we get,

00:39:32.560 before we get to the rest

00:39:33.480 of these questions.

00:39:34.100 My question is,

00:39:34.820 have you been following

00:39:35.580 the Elizabeth Holmes trial

00:39:36.820 and, you know,

00:39:38.080 Theranos,

00:39:38.680 this is the biggest fraud,

00:39:41.000 I think,

00:39:41.360 that's been perpetuated,

00:39:43.220 the biggest medical fraud

00:39:44.260 that's been perpetuated

00:39:45.100 in at least my lifetime,

00:39:46.540 as long as I can remember.

00:39:47.580 She's been on trial

00:39:48.900 for dozen,

00:39:50.100 or over a dozen counts,

00:39:52.020 defrauding investors

00:39:52.980 and patients,

00:39:53.700 and she was found guilty

00:39:54.900 of about half of them,

00:39:56.700 not guilty on a few,

00:39:58.280 and the jury could not

00:39:59.860 come to a conclusion.

00:40:00.800 They were deadlocked

00:40:01.780 on several of those counts.

00:40:03.100 As a lawyer,

00:40:03.880 as an attorney yourself,

00:40:04.660 what do you make of this?

00:40:06.100 Yeah, no,

00:40:06.440 it's been stunning.

00:40:07.960 I'm gonna get to your question.

00:40:09.180 Let me first of all say

00:40:10.280 that if the arm wrestling

00:40:12.200 is what the verdict viewers select,

00:40:18.020 Michael can't alter that

00:40:19.900 and make it thumb wrestling.

00:40:20.980 It's got to be real

00:40:22.480 and throw down

00:40:25.120 with an absolute result.

00:40:27.620 This is what you go up

00:40:28.780 against a Harvard-trained lawyer

00:40:30.100 and all your tricks

00:40:30.940 go out the window.

00:40:31.760 All right,

00:40:32.380 fair enough.

00:40:34.720 So, yeah,

00:40:35.420 look,

00:40:35.620 the Elizabeth Holmes verdict

00:40:36.920 and the trial

00:40:38.240 and the whole scandal

00:40:39.100 is astonishing.

00:40:40.640 You look at Theranos,

00:40:42.460 Elizabeth Holmes,

00:40:43.200 she seems like a character

00:40:45.000 invented in Hollywood,

00:40:45.960 with a husky voice

00:40:49.760 and the black turtlenecks

00:40:51.780 and the obsession

00:40:53.580 with Steve Jobs,

00:40:55.180 that she wanted to be Steve Jobs

00:40:57.060 in a way that,

00:40:58.100 frankly,

00:40:59.100 is a little Glenn Close,

00:41:00.700 boil your rabbit in a pot,

00:41:02.640 obsessive.

00:41:04.120 But you look at the Theranos,

00:41:06.060 it became a billion-dollar company.

00:41:08.360 It raised money

00:41:09.360 from all over the place.

00:41:11.380 It brought in,

00:41:12.940 you know,

00:41:13.480 a blue-chip board

00:41:16.060 and board of advisors,

00:41:17.620 including, you know,

00:41:18.640 Henry Kissinger,

00:41:19.720 including George Schultz.

00:41:21.820 I mean,

00:41:22.680 it was an incredible pantheon.

00:41:27.420 Jim Mattis,

00:41:28.280 former Secretary of Defense,

00:41:30.500 was on the board of advisors.

00:41:33.020 And the whole thing was a con.

00:41:34.800 The whole thing was a crock.

00:41:36.100 She claimed

00:41:36.800 that they had this technology,

00:41:38.340 these machines,

00:41:39.100 that you could take

00:41:40.260 one tiny pinprick of blood

00:41:42.540 from your finger

00:41:43.380 and analyze it

00:41:45.100 and predict

00:41:45.640 if you have diabetes,

00:41:46.760 if you have all these diseases

00:41:47.800 and do,

00:41:48.900 you know,

00:41:49.180 you go to the doctor

00:41:50.000 and they take blood.

00:41:50.880 They stick the thing in

00:41:51.860 and they do one test tube

00:41:52.920 after another,

00:41:53.560 after another,

00:41:54.140 after another.

00:41:54.920 She said,

00:41:55.300 no, no, no,

00:41:55.560 we can get rid of all of that

00:41:56.560 and do just one little drop of blood.

00:41:58.600 And she had,

00:41:59.300 you know,

00:41:59.580 major drugstores,

00:42:02.760 Walmart,

00:42:03.100 and I think CBS

00:42:05.420 and Walgreens

00:42:06.200 all like wanting

00:42:07.800 to be a part of this.

00:42:09.100 And the whole thing was a crock.

00:42:10.760 It didn't work.

00:42:11.860 These boxes

00:42:13.380 that were allegedly

00:42:15.060 the machines chewing on it,

00:42:16.720 they didn't do it

00:42:17.600 and they just kept

00:42:19.100 digging and digging and digging.

00:42:21.300 And so what happened

00:42:22.240 is we just saw the conclusion

00:42:24.280 of the federal trial.

00:42:25.260 So she was charged

00:42:26.820 with criminal fraud,

00:42:28.660 with defrauding people,

00:42:30.440 with lying about

00:42:31.620 the results of their technology

00:42:33.220 and just, you know,

00:42:34.140 basically being a crook.

00:42:36.340 You know,

00:42:37.040 it's not much different

00:42:38.420 than Madoff

00:42:39.560 and a Ponzi scheme.

00:42:41.680 It's raising money

00:42:43.320 and lying to investors

00:42:44.680 and engaging in criminal fraud.

00:42:46.720 There were 11 counts

00:42:48.160 brought against her

00:42:49.000 of different specific items

00:42:52.120 of fraud.

00:42:53.040 And the jury,

00:42:54.040 it was in the Northern District

00:42:54.800 of California,

00:42:56.080 the jury convicted her

00:42:57.320 on four of the counts.

00:42:58.220 the jury acquitted her

00:43:01.040 on four of the counts.

00:43:02.040 So four of the counts,

00:43:03.000 they concluded the evidence

00:43:04.200 and this was a multi-week,

00:43:05.800 this was a long trial.

00:43:08.480 Four of the counts,

00:43:09.440 they said she's not guilty of.

00:43:10.540 So those counts are gone.

00:43:12.060 Four of them,

00:43:12.820 they convicted her

00:43:13.540 and then three of the counts,

00:43:14.920 they deadlocked.

00:43:15.620 So the jury couldn't agree.

00:43:17.900 Those three counts,

00:43:19.180 there'll likely be a mistrial

00:43:20.380 on those counts.

00:43:21.200 If the jury deadlocks,

00:43:22.220 you don't have a result

00:43:23.060 one way or the other.

00:43:24.920 But the four counts

00:43:26.440 on which she was convicted,

00:43:28.220 are serious.

00:43:30.400 And potentially,

00:43:33.020 the maximum

00:43:33.820 she could be sentenced to

00:43:35.160 is 80 years in prison.

00:43:36.560 Each of those four counts

00:43:37.800 has a statutory maximum

00:43:40.420 of 20 years in prison.

00:43:42.180 So if the sentences

00:43:43.840 ran consecutively,

00:43:45.300 if she got the statutory maximum

00:43:46.640 from all four

00:43:47.500 and they were consecutive,

00:43:48.740 it'd be 80 years in prison.

00:43:50.080 That being said,

00:43:51.500 that is a very,

00:43:52.440 very unlikely outcome.

00:43:54.340 It's unlikely

00:43:55.200 that the sentences

00:43:55.940 will be consecutive

00:43:56.940 and under the

00:43:58.640 sentencing guidelines,

00:44:00.040 I think most of the analysts

00:44:01.580 who have dug into this

00:44:02.600 are predicting a sentence

00:44:04.320 somewhere between

00:44:05.040 one and two years in prison

00:44:06.400 so that she will serve

00:44:07.560 in all likelihood

00:44:09.320 real and meaningful

00:44:10.940 prison time,

00:44:12.180 but not

00:44:13.220 an 80-year sentence.

00:44:15.900 And I got to say,

00:44:17.880 there's a documentary

00:44:19.760 that's a fabulous documentary.

00:44:21.280 I recommend it

00:44:22.120 that I've watched.

00:44:23.740 And they're making a movie

00:44:24.740 where Jennifer Lawrence

00:44:26.260 is playing her.

00:44:27.180 And I mean,

00:44:27.600 holy cow,

00:44:28.860 this stuff is wild.

00:44:30.800 I don't know

00:44:31.460 if Jennifer Lawrence

00:44:32.300 will have a crossbow

00:44:33.660 and shoot Henry Kissinger

00:44:35.380 in a Hunger Games redux,

00:44:38.080 which I think

00:44:38.800 would be a much more fun movie

00:44:40.780 if you started mixing genres.

00:44:43.920 But I'll probably

00:44:45.320 watch the movie too.

00:44:46.400 Right.

00:44:46.640 It's so insane.

00:44:47.480 I read the book

00:44:48.180 that was published

00:44:49.220 by the journalist

00:44:50.040 who actually exposed

00:44:51.140 the fraud from the beginning.

00:44:52.060 I think it's called Bad Blood.

00:44:53.620 And it truly is insane.

00:44:54.900 The most insane part

00:44:55.960 is that she knew

00:44:57.100 pretty much from the get-go

00:44:58.320 what she was doing.

00:44:59.320 She knew that this did not work

00:45:00.640 and that there was no possibility

00:45:01.840 of this technology

00:45:02.560 being developed.

00:45:03.700 That's the part

00:45:04.360 that's just so unbelievable.

00:45:05.740 It's not like

00:45:06.340 this technology

00:45:07.220 was being developed

00:45:07.980 and it just didn't end up

00:45:09.280 working out.

00:45:10.140 And, you know,

00:45:10.660 she led people on

00:45:12.040 a little bit further

00:45:12.660 than she should know.

00:45:13.500 She knew from the get-go

00:45:14.760 that this was not going to work

00:45:16.580 and she still raised

00:45:17.820 all this money.

00:45:18.660 And like you said,

00:45:19.340 her behavior about Steve Jobs

00:45:20.460 was so sociopathic.

00:45:21.880 You have to wonder

00:45:22.600 if even if she gets

00:45:23.900 a year or two in prison,

00:45:24.740 if this is justice

00:45:25.700 given what she did.

00:45:27.280 Honestly,

00:45:27.640 I could probably talk about this.

00:45:28.720 I've been following this story

00:45:29.620 for years now.

00:45:30.560 I could probably talk about this

00:45:31.380 for a whole episode.

00:45:32.260 But I do want to get

00:45:33.080 to some questions

00:45:33.760 from the Verdict Plus community

00:45:35.260 because we have

00:45:35.820 some really good ones.

00:45:37.260 We have some really good ones.

00:45:38.400 And the first one

00:45:39.000 is from T.M. Erickson.

00:45:40.600 Senator,

00:45:41.240 T.M. Erickson asked,

00:45:42.340 what are the top 10

00:45:43.580 legislative priorities

00:45:45.120 that we should expect

00:45:46.040 from a GOP Congress

00:45:47.360 in 2023?

00:45:48.220 Oh, that is a good question.

00:45:51.740 So some of it depends on

00:45:53.860 will we see

00:45:55.140 a Republican House

00:45:58.080 or House and Senate?

00:45:59.580 And we've talked before,

00:46:00.820 I'll handicap the odds

00:46:02.120 of our taking the House

00:46:03.000 at about 90-10.

00:46:04.160 I think it's extremely likely.

00:46:06.380 The Senate's more of a coin flip.

00:46:07.680 I think it's about 50-50.

00:46:09.120 I think it's going to be

00:46:09.920 a really good year,

00:46:11.040 but it's a bad map.

00:46:12.240 There are a lot more

00:46:13.120 vulnerable Republican seats

00:46:14.860 on the ballot

00:46:15.600 than there are

00:46:16.680 vulnerable Democrat seats.

00:46:18.540 That being said,

00:46:19.620 I think there's a very

00:46:20.560 real possibility

00:46:21.520 we come into 23

00:46:22.560 with both a House

00:46:24.120 and Senate.

00:46:25.780 I think the top priority

00:46:27.740 should be,

00:46:29.040 number one,

00:46:29.600 focusing on jobs,

00:46:31.340 focusing on

00:46:32.320 reducing the burdens

00:46:34.280 on job creators,

00:46:35.240 on getting people

00:46:35.900 back to work.

00:46:37.360 I think the focus

00:46:39.580 should also be

00:46:40.640 on reining in

00:46:42.300 the abuse of power

00:46:43.860 from President Biden.

00:46:47.520 And that means

00:46:49.040 taking on the crisis

00:46:50.840 at the border

00:46:51.360 and securing the border.

00:46:52.500 We ought to be passing

00:46:53.320 bill after bill after bill

00:46:54.820 and forcing Biden

00:46:56.700 to veto him,

00:46:57.620 forcing Biden to veto

00:46:58.920 common sense legislation

00:47:00.700 that actually responds

00:47:03.660 to the overwhelming

00:47:04.740 priorities of the country,

00:47:06.000 forcing Biden to veto

00:47:07.320 legislation on

00:47:09.500 on the border.

00:47:11.800 Now,

00:47:12.360 this actually keys up

00:47:13.580 with a question

00:47:14.180 Michael asked

00:47:14.780 at the beginning of the pod.

00:47:15.660 He said,

00:47:15.980 are the Democrats

00:47:16.640 going to end the filibuster?

00:47:19.400 I don't know.

00:47:21.000 I hope that they don't.

00:47:23.360 If they do

00:47:24.520 and Republicans

00:47:26.740 then win

00:47:27.640 in 2022,

00:47:29.780 we'll be able to pass

00:47:31.680 bill after bill after bill

00:47:32.960 and force Biden

00:47:33.740 either to veto them

00:47:34.600 or sign them.

00:47:35.660 If they don't end

00:47:36.620 the filibuster,

00:47:37.660 the House will be able

00:47:38.780 to pass them

00:47:39.380 and we can go to the Senate

00:47:40.380 and force Democrats

00:47:42.040 either to filibuster them

00:47:43.640 or have Biden

00:47:45.500 veto them.

00:47:47.220 I don't think

00:47:48.360 there is a significant

00:47:49.500 likelihood

00:47:50.040 that we see

00:47:51.040 big,

00:47:51.800 major,

00:47:52.380 positive legislation

00:47:53.520 passing

00:47:54.240 in 2023

00:47:56.480 and 2024

00:47:57.460 and becoming law

00:47:58.500 because anything good,

00:48:01.040 Biden will veto.

00:48:02.620 A major tax cut,

00:48:04.120 simplifying,

00:48:04.900 what I'd like to see

00:48:05.680 is a simple flat tax,

00:48:06.840 abolish the IRS.

00:48:08.820 Well,

00:48:09.140 Biden wants to put

00:48:10.120 tens of millions

00:48:10.760 of dollars more

00:48:11.440 into the IRS

00:48:12.100 and hire thousands

00:48:13.940 of IRS agents

00:48:15.060 to harass

00:48:16.160 and hound families

00:48:17.180 and small businesses.

00:48:17.960 So he's not going

00:48:18.860 to agree

00:48:19.440 with tax simplification.

00:48:21.060 He's not going

00:48:21.860 to agree

00:48:22.460 with border security.

00:48:23.920 He's not going

00:48:24.600 to agree

00:48:24.940 with a lot

00:48:25.420 of common sense

00:48:26.140 legislation,

00:48:26.800 but we ought

00:48:28.300 to tee it up

00:48:28.980 one after the other

00:48:30.080 after the other.

00:48:30.780 We also ought

00:48:32.520 to engage

00:48:32.980 in very real oversight

00:48:34.240 and so holding

00:48:35.240 hearings

00:48:35.940 on the abuses

00:48:37.660 of power

00:48:38.260 from the Biden

00:48:38.980 administration,

00:48:39.760 particularly because

00:48:40.740 if and when

00:48:42.380 Republicans

00:48:42.840 take the majority,

00:48:43.880 I expect the Biden

00:48:44.760 White House

00:48:45.280 to shift their focus

00:48:46.780 even more so

00:48:48.560 to executive orders

00:48:49.580 and regulations

00:48:50.300 and so abusing

00:48:51.420 the executive power

00:48:52.520 and so Congress

00:48:53.300 needs to use

00:48:54.080 our oversight power

00:48:55.800 to rein that in.

00:48:57.900 It's a whole

00:48:58.800 different question

00:48:59.660 if and when

00:49:00.320 we get a Republican

00:49:01.140 president elected

00:49:02.480 in 2024

00:49:03.260 when we have

00:49:04.100 a president

00:49:04.620 who can sign

00:49:06.020 legislation

00:49:06.660 and a law,

00:49:08.040 but even if

00:49:09.680 we win in November,

00:49:10.600 which I think

00:49:11.180 we're going to,

00:49:11.960 we're still going

00:49:12.620 to be battling

00:49:13.260 an incredibly

00:49:14.280 partisan

00:49:14.800 and incredibly

00:49:15.540 lawless White House.

00:49:17.300 And Michael,

00:49:17.740 let me narrow

00:49:18.260 this question for you.

00:49:19.240 So the question

00:49:19.920 was top 10,

00:49:20.800 but as a voter,

00:49:21.880 which obviously

00:49:22.480 is different

00:49:22.900 than an elected

00:49:23.460 official in Congress

00:49:24.500 as the senator is,

00:49:25.580 as a voter,

00:49:26.160 if there's one thing

00:49:27.040 that you want Republicans,

00:49:28.620 if we do have

00:49:29.260 the majority

00:49:29.640 in both houses

00:49:30.620 but are in opposition,

00:49:32.800 of course,

00:49:33.040 to the Biden White House,

00:49:34.440 what do you want

00:49:35.260 to see from

00:49:36.460 a Republican-controlled

00:49:37.640 Congress?

00:49:38.860 Well,

00:49:39.400 you know,

00:49:40.700 unfortunately,

00:49:41.760 as the senator

00:49:42.880 pointed out,

00:49:44.000 we're just going

00:49:44.620 to be shut down

00:49:45.480 on a whole lot

00:49:46.180 of things,

00:49:46.680 even if you get

00:49:47.660 a Republican House,

00:49:48.800 even if you get

00:49:49.360 a Republican Senate.

00:49:50.660 So you'd say,

00:49:51.440 first thing,

00:49:51.920 you've got to stop

00:49:52.680 the insane illegal immigration,

00:49:54.520 which we've talked

00:49:55.140 about on this episode

00:49:56.320 and on many episodes

00:49:57.320 of this podcast.

00:49:58.540 Two million foreign nationals

00:49:59.980 pouring over the border

00:50:00.860 illegally is insane

00:50:02.600 and you cannot

00:50:03.980 plausibly remain

00:50:05.060 a country

00:50:05.540 if you don't even

00:50:07.200 have the basic borders

00:50:08.680 to stop millions

00:50:09.840 of foreigners

00:50:10.880 from illegally

00:50:11.740 entering into your country.

00:50:13.040 But then something

00:50:13.760 that I think

00:50:14.340 you are seeing

00:50:15.200 from some conservatives

00:50:18.060 who understand

00:50:19.140 what time it is

00:50:20.000 and what you're seeing

00:50:21.240 a lot of conservative

00:50:22.140 voters calling for

00:50:23.300 is for Republicans

00:50:24.880 to wield the legitimate

00:50:26.680 political power

00:50:27.720 that they have,

00:50:28.860 whether that means

00:50:30.060 going in

00:50:30.780 and telling schools

00:50:33.040 that they can't teach

00:50:33.940 crazy racial

00:50:35.040 and sexual theories

00:50:36.020 to their kids,

00:50:37.280 whether this means

00:50:38.320 going in

00:50:39.000 and telling woke corporations

00:50:40.840 that they can't silence

00:50:42.400 Americans,

00:50:43.320 that they can't silence

00:50:44.100 in some cases

00:50:44.640 duly elected representatives

00:50:46.220 or even over the past year

00:50:48.380 the duly elected

00:50:49.400 sitting president

00:50:50.040 of the United States.

00:50:51.260 For a long time

00:50:52.460 there was this idea

00:50:54.500 that the only threat

00:50:55.380 came from big government

00:50:56.760 and big government

00:50:57.660 does pose a threat

00:50:58.640 but big corporation

00:51:00.060 poses a threat too.

00:51:01.360 Big culture poses a threat too.

00:51:02.900 Big tech poses a threat too.

00:51:05.100 And so I think that

00:51:06.280 serious conservatives

00:51:08.560 and serious Republicans

00:51:09.600 are willing to go in

00:51:11.060 and actually wield

00:51:12.860 legitimate power

00:51:14.120 so that we don't just

00:51:15.500 cede the whole culture

00:51:16.300 to the left.

00:51:17.460 And I'm not just flattering

00:51:18.680 the host of this show here

00:51:20.100 but, you know,

00:51:20.800 Senator Cruz has done that

00:51:21.800 in the U.S. Senate.

00:51:22.820 There have been a handful

00:51:23.620 of governors

00:51:24.480 and a handful

00:51:25.160 of lower level

00:51:26.440 Republican politicians too.

00:51:28.420 But I know that is

00:51:29.500 one area where the voters

00:51:30.680 are really calling for it

00:51:31.960 and unfortunately

00:51:32.840 the GOP establishment

00:51:34.360 sometimes seems

00:51:35.560 to not want to actually

00:51:36.880 do anything

00:51:37.920 with the power

00:51:38.760 that the people give them.

00:51:40.280 Well, and Michael,

00:51:40.740 let me jump in on that also

00:51:41.940 to say last week

00:51:43.180 we saw a major threshold

00:51:45.240 which is that Twitter

00:51:47.060 banned a sitting member

00:51:48.520 of Congress,

00:51:49.500 Marjorie Taylor Greene.

00:51:50.440 Now, look,

00:51:51.420 you may not agree with her.

00:51:52.940 You may disagree

00:51:54.120 with what she says

00:51:55.040 but they've already banned

00:51:57.020 the former president

00:51:57.880 of the United States

00:51:58.660 which is astonishing

00:51:59.660 and an abuse of power.

00:52:00.780 They're now saying

00:52:01.540 a sitting currently

00:52:02.760 elected member of Congress

00:52:04.060 they're going to silence.

00:52:05.660 And mind you,

00:52:07.060 they're not silencing AOC

00:52:08.780 who says we all want to date her.

00:52:11.060 They're not silencing

00:52:12.640 Ilhan Omar

00:52:13.480 who is rabidly

00:52:16.440 anti-Israel

00:52:17.480 and spewing

00:52:19.760 far too often

00:52:21.740 hateful sentiments online.

00:52:23.700 They're not silencing

00:52:25.500 represented Tlaib.

00:52:26.600 They're silencing

00:52:27.420 once again

00:52:29.600 an elected official

00:52:30.660 they disagree with.

00:52:31.700 If you disagree

00:52:32.700 with an elected official

00:52:34.020 say why they're wrong.

00:52:36.800 Don't abuse

00:52:37.720 your monopoly power

00:52:38.800 to silence them.

00:52:40.440 And I think big tech

00:52:41.420 is going to get worse

00:52:42.540 and worse

00:52:43.260 and worse

00:52:43.920 and sadly

00:52:45.320 I think it's only

00:52:46.040 a matter of time

00:52:46.900 before they come

00:52:47.580 after verdict

00:52:48.180 and they are going to

00:52:51.620 the more they get away

00:52:52.780 with silencing people

00:52:53.800 they disagree with

00:52:54.800 they're moving

00:52:55.420 the Overton window

00:52:56.680 so that it is soon

00:52:59.700 going to be

00:53:00.340 maybe the only people

00:53:01.560 you can listen to.

00:53:03.600 They're willing

00:53:04.380 to ban Trump.

00:53:05.240 They're willing

00:53:05.480 to ban Joe Rogan.

00:53:06.420 They're willing

00:53:06.700 to ban Marjorie Taylor Greene.

00:53:08.700 And it makes you wonder

00:53:10.080 who's next

00:53:11.100 because the more

00:53:11.880 they get away

00:53:12.460 with no consequences

00:53:13.880 the worse it's going to get.

00:53:16.180 That's why I think

00:53:16.620 it's important

00:53:17.180 the one thing

00:53:17.940 a Republican Congress

00:53:19.320 can do

00:53:20.100 and can do effectively

00:53:21.180 even with a Democrat

00:53:22.520 controlling the White House

00:53:23.560 is oversight

00:53:25.220 and accountability

00:53:26.320 and I think

00:53:26.980 the American people

00:53:27.560 there's not only

00:53:28.020 an appetite for that

00:53:28.900 it's a necessity

00:53:29.860 it's a necessity

00:53:30.840 when we have

00:53:32.100 what we're facing

00:53:32.840 in the radical left.

00:53:34.220 So Senator

00:53:34.760 the next question

00:53:35.620 is from Alex Pinckney

00:53:37.020 and this is a question

00:53:38.220 this is a very practical question

00:53:39.400 it's not a policy question

00:53:40.400 but because you're

00:53:41.380 a lawyer specifically

00:53:42.240 Alex asks

00:53:43.660 I'm considering

00:53:44.220 going to law school

00:53:45.080 here in Minnesota

00:53:45.780 but they have diversity

00:53:46.880 equity and inclusion

00:53:47.980 so I fear

00:53:48.840 they're going to have

00:53:49.820 a contorted view

00:53:50.560 of the Constitution

00:53:51.260 and what our founding fathers

00:53:52.720 believed philosophically

00:53:54.200 which law school

00:53:55.500 do you recommend?

00:53:58.220 So that's a very good question

00:53:59.940 I think if you're going

00:54:01.540 in Minnesota

00:54:02.000 the odds are

00:54:02.940 almost 100%

00:54:04.560 they're going to have

00:54:05.500 a distorted leftist view

00:54:06.820 but you know

00:54:07.800 it's not just Minnesota

00:54:08.660 it's almost every state

00:54:10.360 the union

00:54:10.820 the sad state

00:54:12.660 of the legal academy

00:54:13.600 like universities

00:54:15.440 across the country

00:54:16.280 is they're almost

00:54:17.000 overwhelmingly hard left

00:54:19.200 you know

00:54:20.560 my general view

00:54:21.800 on colleges

00:54:22.700 but especially

00:54:23.480 on law school

00:54:24.380 is go to the best school

00:54:26.180 you can get into

00:54:26.880 that in many ways

00:54:28.980 what you're purchasing

00:54:29.900 is a credential

00:54:30.760 when you go

00:54:33.500 look

00:54:34.340 it's your responsibility

00:54:35.400 to have a firm foundation

00:54:39.280 to develop

00:54:40.000 to learn

00:54:40.760 to study

00:54:42.980 and not just accept

00:54:44.640 propaganda

00:54:45.360 from professors

00:54:46.360 and that's true

00:54:47.140 at just about

00:54:47.960 any place you go

00:54:48.840 but I do think

00:54:50.760 particularly for law school

00:54:51.960 you know

00:54:52.940 lawyers are weird

00:54:53.880 weird in many respects

00:54:55.180 but

00:54:55.520 one of the respects

00:54:57.400 that's weird

00:54:58.320 is you'll have

00:54:59.180 a 70 year old lawyer

00:55:02.400 who if you look

00:55:04.100 at their firm bio

00:55:05.340 it will prominently

00:55:07.360 state where they went

00:55:08.240 to college

00:55:08.620 and law school

00:55:09.180 like it

00:55:10.320 it's a very odd

00:55:12.280 that doesn't

00:55:12.820 you know

00:55:13.200 often as prominent

00:55:14.840 as what they've done

00:55:15.660 for the last 50 years

00:55:16.940 and

00:55:17.700 you contrast that

00:55:19.240 to say

00:55:19.800 someone in business

00:55:20.840 you know

00:55:22.640 Elon Musk

00:55:23.540 I don't even know

00:55:24.540 where Elon Musk

00:55:25.160 went to school

00:55:25.700 who cares

00:55:26.200 the guy's got

00:55:26.840 a gazillion dollars

00:55:27.820 and has done

00:55:28.280 amazing things

00:55:28.900 in business

00:55:29.340 and he's got

00:55:29.820 obvious results

00:55:30.500 so you know

00:55:31.560 who cares

00:55:31.980 where he went

00:55:32.540 to school

00:55:32.900 lawyers

00:55:35.540 I guess

00:55:35.980 part of it

00:55:36.600 is because

00:55:37.400 many people

00:55:38.580 can't

00:55:39.860 make their

00:55:40.640 own

00:55:41.300 determination

00:55:43.840 of the quality

00:55:45.000 of their services

00:55:45.860 they rely

00:55:47.420 on proxies

00:55:48.300 instead

00:55:48.760 you know

00:55:51.060 if you're CEO

00:55:51.740 of a big company

00:55:52.500 and the company's

00:55:53.060 printing money

00:55:53.580 that's objective

00:55:54.380 and simple

00:55:55.020 and if you're not

00:55:56.260 Elizabeth Holmes

00:55:56.940 and engaged in fraud

00:55:57.900 the numbers are clear

00:55:59.340 and transparent

00:55:59.940 lawyers

00:56:02.920 there's an

00:56:03.620 odd

00:56:04.360 academic

00:56:05.520 snobbery

00:56:06.300 that is bizarre

00:56:07.420 and kind of stupid

00:56:08.320 but that being said

00:56:10.080 for a young person

00:56:10.920 thinking about

00:56:11.440 going to law school

00:56:12.380 I think it makes sense

00:56:14.040 to go to the best school

00:56:14.800 you can get into

00:56:15.660 and then take the time

00:56:17.480 you know

00:56:17.880 read Justice Scalia

00:56:18.920 read Clarence Thomas

00:56:20.000 read Robert Bork

00:56:21.040 read conservatives

00:56:22.400 learn

00:56:22.980 but you're gonna have

00:56:24.240 to go out of the way

00:56:25.020 to learn on your own

00:56:26.120 the other side

00:56:26.820 of the story

00:56:27.380 because the professor

00:56:28.740 is just about everywhere

00:56:29.620 are a train wreck

00:56:30.880 I think that's correct

00:56:32.500 that's true sadly

00:56:33.560 for undergraduate too

00:56:34.980 that most of the education

00:56:36.940 that happens

00:56:37.840 at a higher education level

00:56:40.680 has to be done independently

00:56:42.120 that was even true

00:56:43.080 for my undergraduate

00:56:44.340 majoring in political science

00:56:46.380 most of what I learned

00:56:47.560 about the founding of our country

00:56:48.520 and political philosophy

00:56:49.480 and the history of the world

00:56:51.440 and as it pertains to politics

00:56:52.740 and as it pertains to our country

00:56:54.040 was based on my own

00:56:55.160 independent study

00:56:55.940 not necessarily

00:56:56.740 what I was being taught

00:56:57.860 or what I learned

00:56:59.100 in school

00:56:59.740 so I think that's

00:57:00.760 sound advice

00:57:01.340 if anybody wants

00:57:03.040 to ask a question

00:57:03.680 for next week's episode

00:57:04.680 you can do so

00:57:05.380 at verdictwithtedcruise.com

00:57:07.160 slash plus

00:57:08.120 that's verdictwithtedcruise.com

00:57:09.840 slash plus

00:57:11.040 thank you to all

00:57:11.860 of our wonderful

00:57:12.620 friends for listening

00:57:14.520 thank you to all

00:57:15.720 of our wonderful critics

00:57:17.080 for your sexual frustrations

00:57:19.400 until next time

00:57:20.320 I'm Michael Knowles

00:57:21.380 this is Verdict

00:57:22.000 with Ted Cruz

00:57:22.880 this episode of Verdict

00:57:33.140 with Ted Cruz

00:57:33.980 is being brought to you

00:57:35.080 by Jobs Freedom

00:57:36.080 and Security Pack

00:57:37.260 a political action committee

00:57:38.820 dedicated to supporting

00:57:40.000 conservative causes

00:57:41.080 organizations

00:57:41.960 and candidates

00:57:42.960 across the country

00:57:44.020 in 2022

00:57:45.100 Jobs Freedom

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00:57:50.400 and help the Republican Party

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Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 18, 2022

Mmm, Ted Cruz

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