Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 09, 2026


New Year's Resolutions plus Minnesota Shooting, Riots & Fraud


Episode Stats


Length

34 minutes

Words per minute

183.76237

Word count

6,370

Sentence count

474

Harmful content

Misogyny

12

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Ted and Ben discuss their New Year's resolutions for 2020 and what they are looking forward to in the new year. They also talk about the work that Compassion International is doing to impact the lives of children around the world through letters and letters of support.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.780 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.320 Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:08.700 It's so nice to have you with us on the radio wherever you are around the country.
00:00:12.080 And as a reminder, if you like the show, you'll love the podcast that we do three days a week.
00:00:15.820 And you can grab it wherever you get your podcast.
00:00:18.820 Senator, it's a new year.
00:00:20.200 And this is our first show in the new year for many on the radio that are listening.
00:00:23.300 And Senator, so let's have a little fun with New Year's resolutions.
00:00:25.800 You've got three and I've got a few as well.
00:00:27.880 I don't know if I have three, but we're going to have those for you in a minute.
00:00:30.500 But before we get to that, I want to tell you about our great friends over at Compassion International.
00:00:35.240 Right now, somewhere in the world, a kid you've never met is writing you a letter.
00:00:40.600 They're telling you about their day, their dreams, the goal they scored, the test they passed,
00:00:47.100 the new friend they made at school.
00:00:49.020 Maybe they're drawing you even a picture.
00:00:51.140 Maybe they've asked you about your family, your favorite color, what makes you laugh.
00:00:56.040 They're wondering who you are, this person who cares enough to be part of their story.
00:01:01.700 And you, you're not just sending money, you're writing back.
00:01:05.360 You're showing up month after month, letter after letter.
00:01:09.140 You're celebrating their victories, encouraging them through challenges and reminding them that
00:01:15.140 they truly matter.
00:01:16.440 Now, this isn't a transaction.
00:01:18.640 It's an incredible relationship that spans continents and changes everything for both of you.
00:01:24.380 That is where Compassion International connects you directly with one child.
00:01:29.740 Real letters, real relationships, and real change.
00:01:33.280 Because poverty isn't solved with donations alone.
00:01:36.800 It's solved by showing up, impact the world one child at a time, and learn how at Compassion.com.
00:01:45.540 That's Compassion.com.
00:01:48.220 All right, Senator, so you've got three New Year's resolutions.
00:01:53.060 I'm going to go out on a limb and say that of my New Year's resolutions, I'm going to be
00:01:57.700 at 33% of your New Year's resolutions.
00:02:00.560 I do not know what they are, but I'm just going to see if we are aligned on this.
00:02:04.200 So give me your top one for the year.
00:02:06.100 I'm ready.
00:02:07.120 All right.
00:02:07.380 So number one in 2026, I'm going to lose some weight.
00:02:10.800 I am too damn fat.
00:02:12.200 You know, I weighed in this week at 236.
00:02:16.800 That is too damn fat.
00:02:18.140 You know, when I graduated from college, I was a buck 35, 135 pounds.
00:02:22.280 I was skinny as a rail.
00:02:24.200 And my target for 2026 is to drop 30 pounds.
00:02:28.840 I want to clock in next January at 206.
00:02:32.200 I'm at 236 right now.
00:02:33.880 Ben and I are in a weight loss group.
00:02:35.400 We've got several guys that are trying to lose weight together.
00:02:38.700 And so my objective over the next 12 months is drop those 30 pounds and be at 206 one
00:02:45.520 year from now.
00:02:46.400 Now, my question is, hold on.
00:02:47.860 How are you going to, what's your plan for this?
00:02:49.680 Is this going to be like water polo?
00:02:51.760 Are you going to get a trainer?
00:02:53.020 I got to give you a little hard time here.
00:02:55.020 I want to know.
00:02:55.680 Look, it's kind of all of that.
00:02:57.120 It's diet and exercise at the end of the day.
00:02:59.460 And you know what?
00:03:00.080 We're going to talk over the course of the year about how to do that and what's working
00:03:03.600 and what's not.
00:03:04.220 We're going to have some of those conversations over the course of the year on the podcast.
00:03:09.000 The objective, which I've decided on, is to drop 30.
00:03:12.300 And so we'll see if we can do that and get to that point.
00:03:15.680 I love it.
00:03:16.760 My second resolution is actually related to my first, which is that I am doing a dry January.
00:03:22.900 Love it.
00:03:24.080 As you know, Ben, I enjoy red wine with dinner.
00:03:28.280 Yeah.
00:03:29.000 It makes for a fun dinner.
00:03:30.920 The problem is it's like injecting calories straight in your gut.
00:03:36.300 And so if you want to drop some weight, having wine with dinner is not conducive to that.
00:03:42.600 And so I've decided for the month of January, I'm going to go dry.
00:03:46.280 And I'll tell you just a few days into it, I'm already feeling I'm sleeping better and
00:03:50.480 feeling better.
00:03:51.120 I think that's just a good it's healthier.
00:03:53.340 I mean, at the end of the day, it's a lot healthier way to live.
00:03:56.700 And so that is resolution number two.
00:03:58.960 I like it.
00:03:59.980 And then resolution number three is I am committing to myself that I am going to read the Bible
00:04:07.220 every day in 2026.
00:04:10.760 All right.
00:04:11.160 That's strong.
00:04:13.080 That's something I've done at different periods of my life.
00:04:16.000 When our girls were younger, we would do devotion at night with them.
00:04:19.340 So we read through the Bible, the New Testament with them.
00:04:24.240 Every night we would read and talk about it and pray together.
00:04:27.260 And, you know, when you're being a parent, that gives you an excuse to do so.
00:04:31.220 But life pulls you a million different directions.
00:04:33.960 And sometimes it eats away at the time you would have to otherwise just sit down and study
00:04:39.380 the word.
00:04:40.380 And so I'm making a commitment to myself also that every day I'm going to read the Bible.
00:04:45.420 And those three things together, I think, are really – they have me excited about
00:04:50.400 2026 because I think all three of them are the right thing to do for this year ahead.
00:04:55.620 Dude, I love that, by the way.
00:04:56.840 The Bible one, that's cool because I literally tried a couple different times.
00:05:01.320 And life gets busy to do that one-year Bible where you read every day and you read the
00:05:05.200 whole Bible in a year.
00:05:06.220 And I got through it a couple times where it was like you get about halfway and then
00:05:09.920 things get happened the year.
00:05:11.240 But the idea of just reading it every day, I actually will take that challenge with you.
00:05:15.820 I will actually commit to getting on board with that one.
00:05:19.540 So my –
00:05:20.060 Awesome.
00:05:20.360 The 33%, by the way, I was right because my weight – so my weight journey, I was – you
00:05:25.980 know this, August 26th.
00:05:27.800 I was 298.
00:05:29.640 I went to the doctor, scared the living snot out of me.
00:05:32.660 I'm now down to, I think, 209.
00:05:35.260 And my goal for this year is – I know.
00:05:38.100 See, that's – I'm glad I didn't look as bad as you just said, right?
00:05:40.960 Like – so I'm like – I'm down about 90.
00:05:43.780 My goal this year is –
00:05:45.220 I didn't realize you were down at 209.
00:05:46.960 That's impressive, man.
00:05:48.200 That is a lot of weight.
00:05:50.560 A lot.
00:05:51.180 And that's really impressive.
00:05:52.720 So yesterday, I was like, what is my goal?
00:05:55.340 And my goal for this year is I want to put back muscle on because I've been so focused
00:05:59.080 on weight loss.
00:05:59.660 So I'm going to work out lifting weights with a neighbor three days a week at least,
00:06:03.420 just weights, do the other stuff I've been doing.
00:06:05.820 But I put on a shirt yesterday to kind of motivate me.
00:06:08.620 I had one of my old shirts.
00:06:09.760 So I pulled it out.
00:06:10.460 I swear to you, it's this far in front of my chest.
00:06:12.960 Like, I was able to pull it out this far.
00:06:14.900 And I kept one.
00:06:15.960 I got rid of all the other clothes, but I didn't want to go backwards.
00:06:18.340 But I kept it.
00:06:18.920 And it's like my motivation.
00:06:19.900 I was like, all right, I can do this this year.
00:06:21.300 So I'll take – I'm at 66% with you.
00:06:24.620 You know me.
00:06:25.420 I laugh.
00:06:26.180 I really don't care about alcohol.
00:06:27.780 It's never been a thing.
00:06:28.820 I'm allergic to sulfa drugs, which means red wine gives me the worst headache in the world.
00:06:33.540 It's probably the biggest blessing God's ever given me because I've never cared.
00:06:37.560 It makes me feel horrible.
00:06:39.160 Like two sips and I feel like I want to die of red wine.
00:06:42.520 So it's never been a thing.
00:06:43.640 But I'm 66% in with you, but I'll encourage you on the other 33%.
00:06:47.300 So I like it.
00:06:48.160 Well, look, it's a journey, and I expect that a lot of our listeners are making your own commitments in a new year.
00:06:55.260 And maybe the resolutions Ben and I are doing are resolutions you'll decide to do in your own life.
00:07:01.840 Maybe you're already skinny and in great shape, and so that's not a resolution you need to make.
00:07:07.340 But maybe there's some other aspect of your life that it's a chance to think about, you know, what you want this next year, 2026, to be, to make a real investment in your own quality of life, in your wife or your husband or your kids and your family.
00:07:26.340 You know, I think all of that really, really matters.
00:07:28.840 And, you know, both of us are dads, and I think both of us – look, I'm facing – Caroline is 17.
00:07:37.520 She's a senior in high school, so we're getting ready to have one leave the house, which is a terrifying moment.
00:07:44.020 And Catherine is 15.
00:07:45.400 She's a freshman.
00:07:46.200 We just got a couple of years until she's gone, too.
00:07:48.860 I'll tell you, the first day we're an empty nester, I'm going to go into the girls' room and probably just cry and miss them.
00:07:56.580 So you've got a few more years until that happens, but my guess is you're going to feel the same sentiment.
00:08:01.520 All right, Senator, I want to get into Minnesota and what happened in Minnesota.
00:08:06.140 There is a rallying cry because of a woman who tried to run over an ICE agent that she is somehow a victim,
00:08:13.260 and the left is wanting to have a civil war over this.
00:08:16.720 You have the mayor there telling ICE agents to literally get the F out.
00:08:20.620 You have civil war, the words being used by the governor.
00:08:23.260 They're seizing on this like it's an opportunity to derail ICE and law enforcement.
00:08:28.920 It is truly sick and shocking to witness what we're watching right now.
00:08:33.100 You're right, and what we're witnessing in Minnesota is the natural culmination of several years of just increasingly heightened rhetoric from Democrats,
00:08:44.420 demonizing ICE agents, demonizing Border Patrol, demonizing law enforcement, just attacking them.
00:08:51.600 And we have Democrats who call ICE agents Nazis.
00:08:54.900 They call them Gestapo.
00:08:55.980 And listen, as you know, I was on the ground in Dallas within minutes of when the deranged shooter in Dallas opened fire at ICE agents there
00:09:10.060 because he had listened to all of the left's horrible anti-ICE rhetoric.
00:09:15.540 We're seeing that pattern.
00:09:18.220 We're seeing acts of violence over and over and over again.
00:09:22.280 And listen, what happened in Minneapolis, anytime someone dies in an interaction with law enforcement, it's tragic.
00:09:28.880 We don't want to see anybody die.
00:09:30.720 But I will say, look, this woman had a very easy way to avoid fatal consequences,
00:09:39.140 which is when law enforcement detains you, you follow the instructions of law enforcement.
00:09:45.140 If you're pulled over at the side of a road and law enforcement pulls you over, you follow their instructions,
00:09:50.740 and you don't drive your vehicle, in this case a big SUV, right at law enforcement because that, look, that potentially can be fatal.
00:10:00.580 And I have to say it's systematically true that if someone attacks law enforcement,
00:10:07.300 you see instances where sometimes someone is pulled over and they reach for and try to grab a police officer's taser or his weapon.
00:10:14.320 And an awful lot of those instances end up with a fatality because if you present what could be a deadly threat to a law enforcement officer,
00:10:26.380 in many, many instances, that's going to be the last thing you do.
00:10:30.020 And unfortunately, this woman, I'm sure if she could go back in time, she would have changed her behavior. 0.98
00:10:37.780 But the decision she made in that split second cost her life.
00:10:42.340 And now we're seeing Democrats deliberately stoking the fire and just pouring gasoline on the divisions and anger.
00:10:51.960 And it's incredibly cynical and incredibly harmful what they're doing.
00:10:55.760 It's so sad to see them look at this almost like an opportunity to score political points.
00:11:00.160 It was like, yes, we've got someone that's passed away.
00:11:02.900 We can now seize on this, make our political statements.
00:11:06.260 It is a tragedy, as you said earlier, that this woman died.
00:11:09.460 I hate that this woman died.
00:11:11.740 But you gave this law enforcement individual no other choice.
00:11:16.120 When you have a car coming right at you, and thank goodness, by the way, if you watch the video, there was some ice on the street there.
00:11:22.060 It's winter.
00:11:23.240 And the tires spun a little bit.
00:11:25.740 If there wouldn't have been the ice there, there's a very good chance he'd be dead right now.
00:11:29.960 It gave him the moment to be able to defend himself that he may not have had otherwise.
00:11:33.640 And I think that's the part about this that I look at it, and I'm like, no one wins in this situation.
00:11:38.920 But you don't get to go out there when you don't like law enforcement and just decide, I don't have to listen to them or I can run them over.
00:11:46.580 And they said, Christine Holmes said it yesterday, more than 100 incidences of people using their cars to go at ice agents in the last 30 days.
00:11:55.200 This is happening all over the country because the left has organized for this exact reason.
00:12:01.040 Yeah, and look, any time there's an officer-involved shooting, there will be an investigation.
00:12:06.320 That's standard procedure.
00:12:07.420 So they'll go and examine the facts after the facts, and then that's the way law enforcement operates any time you've got particularly a shooting involving a fatality.
00:12:15.520 But it is amazing that this particular ICE agent, Christy Noem, the DHS secretary, said, had previously, in recent months, been hit by a car previously and dragged behind a car.
00:12:31.120 So this is the second time this very same agent faced this threat.
00:12:35.340 And we are seeing the extreme left that are threatening ICE.
00:12:46.180 They are, in extreme cases, shooting at ICE agents and using their cars as weapons.
00:12:54.360 And I just wish you would see even a couple of Democrats demonstrate some restraint, demonstrate some prudence, and not just – all right, the mayor of Minneapolis.
00:13:14.300 Yeah.
00:13:15.300 Left-wing radical.
00:13:17.640 Here was his calm, sober reflections on where to go from here.
00:13:22.860 Give a listen.
00:13:24.360 And I have a message for ICE.
00:13:27.760 To ICE, get the f*** out of Minneapolis. 0.95
00:13:32.220 We do not want you here.
00:13:35.240 Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite.
00:13:42.800 People are being hurt.
00:13:44.840 Families are being ripped apart.
00:13:47.240 Long-term Minneapolis residents that have contributed so greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy,
00:13:54.360 are being terrorized.
00:13:55.640 And now somebody is dead.
00:13:59.140 That's on you.
00:14:00.100 And it's also on you to leave.
00:14:04.600 It's on you to make sure that further damage, further loss of life and injury is not done.
00:14:11.640 I never thought I'd see a day where I would witness a mayor be so political after something like this happens to tell law enforcement who were just sent in to do their job, to enforce the laws of the land, to get the F out, and then say it's their fault.
00:14:28.640 What a repulsive partisan swine. 0.96
00:14:33.340 That is, I'm physically sick listening to and watching Jacob Fry.
00:14:41.960 We talked about before how he dances with glee, waving the Somali flag, and the massive fraud that has happened he has presided over and profited from. 0.89
00:14:53.360 And here he is, you know what, this woman, a 37-year-old woman, she's a mother of three, look, she was there in part because of rhetoric like that, because of rhetoric attacking ICE.
00:15:08.420 And by the way, this woman, she was married to another woman.
00:15:12.840 Apparently her wife was there videoing the entire incident.
00:15:17.980 That is a level of radicalization, and it is radicalization the Democrats have caused, they want, and they're deliberately inflaming that passion.
00:15:29.600 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them. 0.98
00:15:35.760 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:15:39.700 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:15:40.880 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:15:42.120 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.
00:15:45.880 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.
00:15:51.600 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:15:54.840 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:16:00.840 Senator, let's go back to just the rhetoric that is coming out of the left,
00:16:04.580 and we're going to talk about the Governor Walz in a moment.
00:16:06.520 But there's been also, I think, a very back law enforcement mentality that's been clear across the entire Trump administration.
00:16:14.640 I'm glad that's their line, and they're not backing down from ICE doing their job.
00:16:18.780 Look, that is absolutely right.
00:16:20.760 President Trump has the back of ICE, has the back of Border Patrol agents and law enforcement.
00:16:26.960 You know, I view my job as having the back of law enforcement.
00:16:29.880 And I'll tell you, as I travel the country, I see, whether it's Border Patrol agents or ICE agents or sheriffs or local police,
00:16:36.380 and I tell them all the time, I just say, thank you, and it's my job to have your back.
00:16:40.520 And that's a big part of why President Trump was reelected in 2024,
00:16:46.040 is law enforcement were tired of having elected politicians who threw them under the bus at any excuse.
00:16:52.900 And a lot of people across the country were tired of politicians who were letting violent criminals into this country
00:16:59.200 and not standing with law enforcement.
00:17:01.680 This week, J.D. Vance, the vice president, did a press conference at the White House.
00:17:05.580 He did a very good job with it.
00:17:06.960 Here's what he had to say about the shooting that happened in Minneapolis.
00:17:10.980 Thank you for taking questions today.
00:17:13.520 Is there a risk with you describing her as a deranged leftist, talking about very specific facts of these events,
00:17:20.740 when an investigation is just beginning?
00:17:23.140 Are you preempting a thorough investigation by drawing such conclusions?
00:17:28.020 And have you received any information beyond the videos we've seen publicly
00:17:32.140 about this individual, her specific acts that has informed your point of view?
00:17:37.260 Well, first of all, the Department of Justice is going to investigate this.
00:17:41.660 The Department of Homeland Security is already investigating this.
00:17:44.120 But the simple fact is, what you see is what you get in this case.
00:17:47.640 You have a woman who is trying to obstruct a legitimate law enforcement operation. 0.99
00:17:52.100 Nobody debates that.
00:17:53.400 You have a woman who aimed her car at a law enforcement officer and pressed on the accelerator.
00:17:58.240 Nobody debates that.
00:17:59.300 I can believe that her death is a tragedy,
00:18:01.440 while also recognizing that it's a tragedy of her own making
00:18:04.300 and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an entire movement,
00:18:09.200 a lunatic fringe, against our law enforcement officers.
00:18:12.920 I think what is clearly happening here, and it's going to keep on happening
00:18:16.280 unless the Democrats wake up and say,
00:18:18.240 you know what, you don't have to agree with our immigration policies.
00:18:21.180 You don't have to agree with what the president or the vice president believe about immigration enforcement.
00:18:25.100 But why don't you take this to the ballot box?
00:18:27.400 Why don't you vote?
00:18:28.360 Why don't you organize?
00:18:29.120 Instead, what some of them are doing, what some of them are doing is encouraging people
00:18:34.260 to get violent with our law enforcement officials.
00:18:37.240 It's disgraceful, and it's got to stop.
00:18:40.100 It's sad that you have to have that type of clarity,
00:18:42.440 but he's absolutely right in what he's saying.
00:18:44.080 If you don't like something, you can vote and change,
00:18:45.920 but you don't just get to make up the rules and target people you disagree with.
00:18:50.380 Well, and more and more, the left is condoning violence, violence on a partisan basis.
00:18:54.840 And let me be clear, violence is always, always wrong, whether I agree with your politics
00:19:00.260 or disagree with your politics.
00:19:02.220 Nobody has a right to engage in violence.
00:19:04.980 And we're seeing on the left, more and more, we've seen the poll numbers of growing numbers
00:19:10.480 of people on the left think violence is justified, think violence is justified against Donald Trump,
00:19:15.580 think violence is justified against Elon Musk, and think violence is justified against ICE.
00:19:20.460 And it's fundamentally wrong, and the Democrats are deliberately pushing this.
00:19:25.640 And listen, I will say, for this woman, she had complete control to avoid this happening.
00:19:32.820 Yeah.
00:19:33.000 And any time you interact with law enforcement, I believe you should interact respectfully
00:19:38.220 and understand, look, if a police officer pulls you over on the road,
00:19:43.360 that officer every day, it is potentially a deadly encounter for that officer.
00:19:48.040 And every year, you have officers who are shot and killed on the side of the road by some
00:19:53.540 lunatic who's packing.
00:19:54.740 They don't know when they're coming up to the driver's side.
00:19:58.660 In most instances, they have no idea who they're going to encounter.
00:20:02.780 I'll tell you, you know, again, you and I are parents.
00:20:05.780 When your kids start driving with my kids, what I tell them is if you get pulled over,
00:20:11.880 pull over, put the car in park, and put your hands on 10 and 2 on the steering wheel.
00:20:17.100 On the steering wheel, visible, because the officer coming up doesn't know if you have
00:20:23.620 a firearm, doesn't know if you're a deadly threat.
00:20:26.000 And by the way, the officer sees your hands at 10 and 2 and realizes you're showing the
00:20:29.680 hands for a reason.
00:20:31.020 The officer comes and says, let me see your, you know, license and registration.
00:20:34.820 It's a good idea to tell the officer, okay, my license is in my wallet.
00:20:39.000 Can I get it?
00:20:39.600 So the officer doesn't think you're reaching for a gun beneath the seat or something.
00:20:44.180 Look, all of that is prudent.
00:20:46.580 It's the advice that I give my kids.
00:20:49.020 It's the advice that every responsible parent I know gives their child that don't put yourself
00:20:56.140 in a position where law enforcement has reason to be afraid.
00:21:01.240 Even if you're not a threat, don't give them reason to be afraid.
00:21:04.360 My dad was in law enforcement.
00:21:05.880 He said to me so clearly, he said, I want to make it clear.
00:21:08.420 You never argue with law enforcement.
00:21:09.980 If they're wrong, you get to go to court, but you always make sure you do not argue and
00:21:17.260 you follow the orders given.
00:21:19.260 And if you've been wronged, that's why we have a judge.
00:21:21.880 That's why we have a court system. 1.00
00:21:23.220 And he was very clear.
00:21:24.340 You're my son.
00:21:25.240 I always want you to be safe.
00:21:26.700 You turn your dome light on.
00:21:27.920 You turn the car off.
00:21:29.120 You put your hands up there.
00:21:30.240 It goes back to respect.
00:21:31.800 But the left is now saying, if you don't like them for whatever reason, you don't have to
00:21:37.380 abide by the rules.
00:21:38.440 You don't have to respect the law.
00:21:40.660 And if you don't like a law, instead of going in and actually voting and trying to change
00:21:44.800 a law, they're saying, just be a vigilante.
00:21:47.080 And that's how we've gotten to this point.
00:21:49.320 And by the way, Ben, at lunch Thursday, several of the senators were talking about exactly this
00:21:54.380 topic.
00:21:54.720 And Mike Lee brought it up.
00:21:56.320 Although what he said is you should put your hands at nine and three instead of 10 and
00:22:00.420 two.
00:22:00.640 I'm like nine and three.
00:22:01.580 Who drives like that?
00:22:03.040 What are you, Mario Andretti or something?
00:22:04.600 That's a little bit weird, the nine and three.
00:22:06.680 I don't know if that's a Utah thing or what exactly that means.
00:22:10.900 But I at least was talk 10 and two.
00:22:13.460 But I don't know.
00:22:14.020 How about you?
00:22:14.560 Are you a 10 and two guy?
00:22:15.500 So I'm a 10 and two.
00:22:16.400 But my dad always said, he's like, if you, he said, when you get pulled over, cross your
00:22:19.960 hands on the top of the steering wheel, because it's showing that you're not trying to grab
00:22:23.340 anything.
00:22:24.220 And I'm like, every time I do it, almost 99% of the time, law enforcement always said to
00:22:28.220 me, thank you.
00:22:29.100 I turned the dome line on.
00:22:30.040 I rolled down all four windows because if they come on the left side of the right, I don't
00:22:33.860 want them to have to worry about anything with me.
00:22:36.020 They've had a hard enough day and they've done this.
00:22:38.600 And like you said, they walk up to a traffic stop.
00:22:40.660 They don't know if you just robbed a bank.
00:22:41.880 That's what my dad always told me.
00:22:43.120 They don't know if you just killed your wife.
00:22:44.900 They don't know if you just ran over someone.
00:22:46.440 They don't know if you have drugs in the car.
00:22:48.220 They don't know who you are.
00:22:50.020 So make them comfortable with you.
00:22:52.620 And I wish we lived in a society where that was like the common denominator now.
00:22:57.500 Unfortunately, it's not.
00:22:58.520 And that naturally deescalates.
00:23:02.080 When you do that, you can see law enforcement kind of just, you know, take an extra breath
00:23:07.740 and OK, this is this is not going to be confrontational.
00:23:11.320 And listen, the reason that didn't happen is this woman didn't want to deescalate. 1.00
00:23:15.880 This woman was there to provoke a confrontation with law enforcement. 1.00
00:23:19.960 She was there because the rhetoric on the left was is stand up and fight ice. 1.00
00:23:25.580 And she was there to do that.
00:23:27.480 And so it was the opposite of deescalation.
00:23:30.200 She was looking to escalate.
00:23:31.980 And tragically, she escalated too far.
00:23:35.400 And she may look.
00:23:37.100 We may never know her intention.
00:23:39.300 She may have just think had thought she was fleeing.
00:23:41.780 But but the officer, if you drive a vehicle right at somebody, particularly an officer
00:23:47.520 who's already been run over once just a few months ago by some another leftist, you are
00:23:54.360 posing a real and present threat.
00:23:58.520 And if you pose a real and present threat to law enforcement, that predictably can result
00:24:04.900 in deadly force as a consequence.
00:24:06.900 By the way, side note, just I was talking to me in law enforcement.
00:24:09.280 And they said, would you please just remind people that we will charge you with major
00:24:13.520 crimes as a deadly weapon if you use your car to hit somebody?
00:24:17.860 We do it every day in America.
00:24:19.400 This is some new rule.
00:24:21.840 You use your car as a deadly weapon.
00:24:24.220 You will go to jail for that, whether you're going after law enforcement or an innocent person.
00:24:29.220 And I think that's the important point for people to remember.
00:24:32.700 If I was in front of that car, I could easily have been run over.
00:24:36.280 You could have anybody.
00:24:37.340 That's why we have laws in the books that say you cannot use your car as a deadly weapon.
00:24:41.400 And if you do, you will be charged with major crimes.
00:24:44.720 It's sad that we even have to have this conversation.
00:24:47.960 But the governor, by the way, Senator, he's not backing down.
00:24:51.640 He's seeing a political opportunity here.
00:24:53.400 The same disgraced governor because of the scandal that's happened in Minnesota.
00:24:57.640 He's now out there calling like this, in essence, a civil war, trying to ratchet things
00:25:02.440 up instead of bring down the temperature, which is also, I think, really sick.
00:25:07.500 And by the way, you remember back in 2022 that the man in Waukesha, Wisconsin, who drove
00:25:14.740 his SUV into a Christmas parade and murdered multiple people, did so very deliberately using
00:25:21.380 it as a deadly weapon and killing children, killing the elderly.
00:25:27.160 And it was horrific.
00:25:28.220 And the grotesque irony is that he had previously used his car as a deadly weapon against, if
00:25:34.560 I remember correctly, his pregnant girlfriend. 0.99
00:25:37.320 Yeah.
00:25:37.700 Uh, and, and, and he had been charged with it and then let out of jail on a nominal, I
00:25:44.380 think it was a $500 bond, uh, because you had one of those George Soros prosecutors who
00:25:50.460 lets people go and they let him out of jail for, for attempting to kill someone with, with
00:25:55.640 a car as a deadly weapon.
00:25:56.760 And he went out to the Christmas day parade and committed mass murder.
00:26:00.700 Uh, a car can be a very deadly weapon.
00:26:03.480 Senator, I want to go back to this, the rhetoric here.
00:26:06.300 And we mentioned the governor earlier, uh, the governor, Tim Waltz is now a disgraced
00:26:11.020 governor.
00:26:11.460 He had to drop out of his reelection campaign because of the fraud that is just continuing
00:26:16.700 to grow in the dollar amount and the different sectors of the government.
00:26:20.420 I'm not sure there's any sector in Minnesota that wasn't involved in fraud and corruption
00:26:25.040 at this point.
00:26:25.820 We're seeing it in transportation, childcare, the list goes on and on, but the governor now
00:26:30.540 seems to think this is like a moment to seize on.
00:26:33.200 And he's now wanting to go to war with the federal government.
00:26:36.580 It's very odd.
00:26:38.480 Yeah.
00:26:39.020 Look, the, the, the Democrat politicians in Minnesota are in crisis right now because this
00:26:43.740 Somali fraud, it is the worst instance of fraud that has ever been uncovered in American
00:26:49.180 history.
00:26:49.800 $9 billion and counting massive theft from the taxpayers.
00:26:53.760 It is so bad that Tim Waltz, I mean, remember like 12 minutes ago, the Democrats said he
00:26:59.020 was going to be vice president of the United States and, and now he's, he's ended his campaign
00:27:04.940 for reelection even as governor because I look, I think he's facing potentially very real criminal
00:27:10.520 liability for the fraud that unfolded under his leadership.
00:27:14.600 And, and, and it is, and, and, and Waltz and, and, and the mayor in Minneapolis that they're
00:27:19.720 not the only ones.
00:27:20.720 I think there's an entire array of Democrats who are responsible.
00:27:25.200 And, and one of the reasons why they are so eager to, to foment riots.
00:27:31.700 I mean, look, they are rooting for a replay of the Black Lives Matter and, and the Antifa
00:27:37.980 riots we saw all over the country.
00:27:39.760 They want people going to the streets.
00:27:41.620 They want them looting stores.
00:27:43.100 They want them firebombing police cars.
00:27:45.120 They are rooting for, for violence because they want to energize their voters and get
00:27:49.820 everyone not talking about the fraud.
00:27:52.580 Here's Tim Waltz, the governor, and here was his response calling for all out war.
00:27:58.840 Well, I said this yesterday.
00:28:00.240 We've never been at war with our federal government.
00:28:04.240 Uh, I think in this case that the national guard is, is their main mission.
00:28:08.940 They have a dual mission.
00:28:09.800 Um, when he said that and it went viral, I'm like, let me get this straight.
00:28:14.600 You have a governor who is in a crisis situation.
00:28:17.320 I'm talking about the Christ on the ground, whose job is to back law enforcement.
00:28:21.600 And his job is also to ratchet down the rhetoric.
00:28:24.380 So we don't have a civil war breakout.
00:28:26.640 And he's like, maybe this is an opportunity for a civil war.
00:28:29.140 He's saying that Minnesota is at war with the United States federal government.
00:28:34.080 The governor just said that.
00:28:35.600 Um, yeah, and listen, if you, if you're an angry left-wing radical, you already hate ICE.
00:28:41.300 You already hate Donald Trump.
00:28:43.080 Um, and then you hear the elected Democrat governor say, Minnesota is at war with the federal government.
00:28:52.500 That is a call to violence.
00:28:55.520 That is a call in war.
00:28:58.460 People get killed.
00:28:59.720 People get injured.
00:29:01.320 Um, that is Democrats very deliberately calling to violence.
00:29:06.200 It is not, we disagree over policy with the federal government.
00:29:10.340 It is, we are, we are at war.
00:29:12.140 And I think a huge part of this is, is a CYA instinct.
00:29:16.920 Yes.
00:29:17.700 Because the fraud is so bad.
00:29:19.360 And I want you to listen, the House of Representatives had a hearing on the fraud in, in Minnesota.
00:29:23.560 By the way, I'm going to be chairing a hearing on the same topic in just a couple of weeks.
00:29:27.000 So we'll cover that, uh, in, in verdict when that happens.
00:29:30.480 But I want you to listen to Brandon Gill.
00:29:32.200 Brandon Gill is a good friend.
00:29:33.740 Uh, he is a congressman from Texas.
00:29:35.360 He's, he's cross-examining this, this left-wing witness from Minnesota.
00:29:39.560 I want you to listen to this exchange.
00:29:41.580 It's, it's, it's really powerful.
00:29:43.280 Thank you for being here.
00:29:44.560 Let me ask you, does large-scale Somali immigration make Minnesota stronger or weaker? 1.00
00:29:50.780 Certainly stronger.
00:29:52.000 Certainly stronger.
00:29:52.880 Do you know what percentage of Somali-headed households in Minnesota are on food stamps?
00:29:57.720 No.
00:29:58.500 54 percent.
00:29:59.580 Do you know what that number is for native Minnesota-headed households?
00:30:03.600 Well, to be clear, a majority of the-
00:30:05.680 It's seven, it's seven percent.
00:30:07.140 There's a big difference between 54 percent and seven percent, is there not?
00:30:10.140 Excuse me, sir.
00:30:10.620 Could I, could I answer the question?
00:30:11.900 Let me, let me move on.
00:30:12.780 We've got a lot of questions here.
00:30:14.000 What, what percentage of Somali-headed households in Minnesota are on Medicaid?
00:30:18.100 I don't know.
00:30:18.920 It's 73 percent.
00:30:20.200 Do you know what that number is for Minnesota native households?
00:30:24.000 Again, you're using the phrase Minnesota native households, but the majority-
00:30:27.660 The number, the number is 18 percent.
00:30:29.400 That's a, quite an astounding difference.
00:30:31.500 I think we would agree.
00:30:32.060 Can I answer the question, please?
00:30:33.280 Let me ask you one more, and then we can go on to that.
00:30:35.020 What, what percentage of Somali-headed households are on welfare in general?
00:30:38.840 I don't know.
00:30:39.520 It's 81 percent.
00:30:40.800 What about, let me just ask you, after 10 years of being in the United States, what percentage
00:30:45.540 of Somali-immigrant households are on, continue to be on welfare?
00:30:49.880 I don't know.
00:30:51.420 The number is 78 percent.
00:30:53.120 So even after 10 years, 78 percent of Somali-immigrant households continue to be on welfare.
00:31:00.420 Do you know what that number is for native Minnesota-headed households?
00:31:04.220 Again, you're using the phrase-
00:31:04.920 Non-Somali-immigrant-headed households. 0.99
00:31:08.700 If I can just answer the question.
00:31:10.440 Go for it.
00:31:10.660 When you're using the phrase native Minnesotans, the majority of Somali Minnesotans are as
00:31:15.660 Minnesotan as any of us.
00:31:16.660 They were born in the United States.
00:31:18.140 It's only 8,000 of the 108,000 Somali-immigrant households.
00:31:21.940 And nevertheless, the welfare usage is astoundingly different.
00:31:26.140 Let me ask you again, does that make Minnesota stronger or weaker?
00:31:29.980 Again, I'd like the opportunity to answer the question here.
00:31:33.060 Go for it.
00:31:33.320 So again, the majority of Somali Minnesotans are born in the United States, as I understand
00:31:38.320 it.
00:31:38.440 Okay.
00:31:38.580 Well, what percentage of working-age Somalians who have been in the U.S. for 10 years or
00:31:43.840 more, 10 years or more, how many of them speak English very well?
00:31:48.740 I don't know.
00:31:49.460 About half.
00:31:51.300 The answer is about half.
00:31:52.240 That seems pretty low, doesn't it?
00:31:54.480 I love just the facts there, Senator.
00:31:56.680 Like, the way that he handled that, it's the reason why you're good friends with him.
00:32:00.240 It's the reason why we played it, because he's just laying out the reality of the situation
00:32:05.320 on the ground, and how we got to a point where virtually every government program in Minnesota
00:32:09.780 has been compromised by the Somali community in this way, where they could grab money and 1.00
00:32:14.580 create fraud with it.
00:32:16.320 But by the way, Brandon got elected.
00:32:18.680 He had a rough primary and a bunch of primary opponents.
00:32:21.280 He had millions of dollars spent against him.
00:32:23.380 Brandon is a conservative.
00:32:24.660 Actually, his father-in-law is Dinesh D'Souza, who's a good friend.
00:32:28.960 And I endorsed Brandon early, went and campaigned with him, and he overcame a ton of money coming
00:32:35.300 against him.
00:32:36.420 And part of what I told the voters of Texas is, listen, if y'all elect Brandon, he's
00:32:40.740 going to go and fight for you and make you proud.
00:32:42.320 He's doing that.
00:32:43.840 You know, I want to make a point about the back and forth, because that weaselly Minnesota 1.00
00:32:49.360 lefty witness, he kept saying, well, the majority of Somalians are born in America.
00:32:55.640 Now, note what Brandon Gill was asking.
00:32:58.660 Somali immigrant-headed households.
00:33:00.820 And the guy says, well, they have a bunch of anchor babies.
00:33:02.840 In other words, we bring over Somali immigrants.
00:33:04.760 They have tons of babies here. 0.99
00:33:07.600 And because of birthright citizenship, which is a really foolish policy, and my hope is 1.00
00:33:12.760 that the Supreme Court will side with President Trump in ending it.
00:33:16.940 But the Somali immigrants come here.
00:33:20.720 They have a lot of babies here. 0.94
00:33:22.580 That guy's focusing on the babies.
00:33:24.540 And Brandon's saying, all right, how about the person who heads the household?
00:33:27.820 And the person who heads the household are these Somali immigrants.
00:33:31.140 And you've got 81% of them on welfare.
00:33:35.220 And I tell you, the stat that was really powerful was 10 years later.
00:33:39.100 They've been here 10 years.
00:33:40.320 It's 78% still on welfare.
00:33:42.820 This is a scam.
00:33:44.000 The Democrats did it deliberately, and they did it to buy votes.
00:33:47.960 They were importing votes to vote for Democrats.
00:33:50.640 They allowed them to commit fraud, to steal $9 billion, and then to bundle those votes for
00:33:56.620 the Democrats, to bundle cash for the Democrats.
00:33:58.740 And the Democrats covered it up.
00:34:00.400 And it's why Tim Walton, Jacob Frey, and so many other Democrats are trying to enrage the left
00:34:06.720 about this shooting with ICE because they want to cover up from the incredible theft and fraud
00:34:12.760 they are responsible for.
00:34:14.940 Amen.
00:34:15.380 I couldn't agree with you more.
00:34:16.700 Don't forget, we do this show three days a week.
00:34:18.560 Monday, Wednesday, Friday is a podcast.
00:34:20.260 Make sure you download Verdict with Ted Cruz wherever you get your podcast.
00:34:23.780 It's free.
00:34:24.680 You'll never miss an episode that we do.
00:34:26.260 We also put it out on video, so you can watch on YouTube as well.
00:34:29.820 So, and or on Facebook, and the center and I will see you back here on the podcast this week.
00:34:36.280 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:34:39.180 Guaranteed Human.