Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 06, 2026


SAVE America Act-How to Force the Dems' Hand plus Bringing the Receipts on Somali Fraud & Major Victory Stopping Sex-Change Surgeries for Kids

Topics
Dave Do America Act voter ID popularity Minnesota Somali Welfare Fraud fraud in Minnesota programs accountability for fraud
Hosted by
Ted Cruz
Mentioned
Donald Trump Chuck Schumer Verdict Lucy Tim Walz Keith Ellison Jimmy Carter Jones Jennifer Stewart Caitlin Clark Hillary Clinton Ben Ferguson John F. Kennedy J.K. Rowling Morning Joe Nicki Minaj James Baker John Thune Rick Scott Fox Varian and 6 more
Bonus： Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Feb 5 2026 The UN has Their Hat Out, Why the Netflix Merger is paramount in Entertainment & Americans Agree on Voter ID Week In Review

Episode Stats


Length

34 minutes

Words per minute

166.2

Word count

5,706

Sentence count

434

Harmful content

Misogyny

5

sentences flagged

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

11

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is back in Washington, D.C. this week, and he's got a lot to talk about, including: - The SAVE Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and require photo ID to vote, and what it takes to force a vote on the Senate floor. - A hearing that I chaired this week on Somali-American fraud in Minnesota. - The American Medical Association reverses its position on sex change surgeries for children. - And a call to action from Compassion International to sponsor a child in need.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.720 Guaranteed human.
00:00:05.240 Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:00:08.620 And it's so nice to have so many of you listening to us on the radio all over the country right now.
00:00:12.920 And as a reminder, if you're listening to the show and you maybe have never heard it before,
00:00:16.080 we do this show as a podcast three days a week as well.
00:00:18.980 And so you can download that podcast for free and listen automatically.
00:00:23.460 If you've got an iPhone, just open your search bar, put in podcast,
00:00:27.420 a little purple icon pops up, you click on it, bam, you're into podcasts.
00:00:31.240 And you just put in Verdict or Ted Cruz, and right there you'll see this podcast
00:00:34.480 and you'll listen to each and every episode.
00:00:36.860 Senator, we've got a lot to talk about on the show,
00:00:40.300 including a lot of conversation this week about the SAVE Act in Washington, D.C.
00:00:46.220 And it even was involved in the partial government shutdown as well.
00:00:50.140 Well, we're going to talk about the SAVE Act and what we can do in the Senate
00:00:54.040 to get this passed, to require that only American citizens can register to vote,
00:00:58.840 to require photo ID to vote, and what it's going to take to break down the Democrats
00:01:05.100 and force this vote on the Senate floor.
00:01:08.260 We're also going to talk about a hearing that I chaired this week on the Somali fraud in Minnesota.
00:01:14.040 It is massive.
00:01:15.500 And I'll tell you, at the hearing, the Democrats wanted to talk about
00:01:18.620 absolutely anything else other than this massive fraud.
00:01:22.960 We came with the receipts.
00:01:24.820 We're going to walk you through it.
00:01:26.260 And then this past week was really significant in that the American Medical Association
00:01:32.000 reversed its position, and they now oppose sex change surgeries for children.
00:01:39.860 That is a major shift.
00:01:41.640 It is in significant part a result of the $2 million detransitioner lawsuit.
00:01:48.840 We're going to break down what a sea change this is that the medical associations
00:01:53.580 that were pushing this propaganda have reversed course now.
00:01:57.800 Yeah, it really is incredible.
00:01:59.420 And it's going to, I honestly think, save a lot of kids' lives.
00:02:02.060 And I mean that sincerely, especially when you deal with the suicide rates
00:02:05.280 that are all connected to all of that issue.
00:02:07.460 We're going to talk about that coming up as well.
00:02:09.260 Let me also tell you about an amazing organization called Compassion International.
00:02:14.000 I want you to just pause what you're doing for the next 60 seconds.
00:02:17.600 And I want you to imagine Lucy, a seven-year-old.
00:02:20.740 Her stomach often aches with hunger.
00:02:22.980 Her small hands, instead of holding crayons.
00:02:25.980 Know only the struggle of survival on dusty streets.
00:02:29.720 School is a distant dream.
00:02:32.120 Medical care, a forgotten hope.
00:02:34.380 Lucy's potential is overshadowed.
00:02:36.760 Her future is dim.
00:02:37.880 But what if someone stepped in?
00:02:39.960 What if there was a way to ignite hope for children just like Lucy?
00:02:43.620 Well, there is.
00:02:44.600 And that is with Compassion International partners and the local churches
00:02:48.880 that provide children holistic support.
00:02:52.300 More than just food.
00:02:53.560 They receive critical medical care, life-changing education,
00:02:58.080 vital skills training, and spiritual development.
00:03:00.900 All in Jesus' name.
00:03:02.440 And you can empower a child just like Lucy to break free from poverty.
00:03:08.220 I want you to do what I've done and sponsor a child today.
00:03:11.680 You can visit Compassion.com.
00:03:14.540 That's Compassion.com.
00:03:17.440 All right, Senators.
00:03:18.200 So let's talk about the SAVE Act.
00:03:20.560 It was brought up and it was a part of the discussion, the debate,
00:03:24.340 even with a partial government shutdown.
00:03:26.620 There are a lot of conservatives that I've talked to this past week.
00:03:29.820 They don't understand why this hasn't happened already.
00:03:32.540 It's already come out of the House before.
00:03:35.220 And the big question is, why can't we just pass it right now?
00:03:38.420 I think there's a lot of misinformation on this.
00:03:41.160 And it's not a 50 plus one vote to get this done.
00:03:44.580 It is 60 votes you need to get this done.
00:03:47.820 And if you want to know who to blame, look at the Democratic Party.
00:03:50.660 They have dug in.
00:03:51.980 Chuck Schumer's made it very clear.
00:03:53.640 And there isn't a single Democrat that had his blessing to vote in favor of this thing.
00:03:57.240 He's calling it Jim Crow 2.0.
00:04:00.500 Well, the SAVE Act, which was initially introduced in the House of Representatives
00:04:04.420 by Chip Roy, my former chief of staff,
00:04:06.880 the SAVE Act requires proof of American citizenship to register to vote.
00:04:12.780 It's common sense legislation.
00:04:15.140 And then actually, President Trump has changed it.
00:04:17.960 And President Trump did two changes.
00:04:19.820 Number one, he wanted to change the name from the SAVE Act to the Save America Act.
00:04:24.500 So now the president is calling it the Save America Act.
00:04:27.160 Number two, he wanted to add to it not just proof of citizenship to register to vote,
00:04:32.180 but also a requirement of photo ID to vote.
00:04:35.620 We've done that.
00:04:37.440 I'm a sponsor of the SAVE America Act.
00:04:40.100 I think it makes absolute sense.
00:04:42.580 But the challenge is that the Democrats are dug in and are rabidly opposing it.
00:04:49.620 And under the Senate rules, it takes 60 votes to move forward.
00:04:54.180 And right now, we can anticipate every Senate Democrat voting no.
00:04:58.200 Now, we're going to break down where public opinion is on this,
00:05:03.080 and then I'm going to tell you the strategy that I'm urging John Thune and Republican leadership to do
00:05:08.880 to get this done in the Senate.
00:05:10.860 But first of all, let's just cover where the polling is.
00:05:14.180 I want you to give a listen to actually something pretty remarkable.
00:05:17.520 I want you to listen to Chuck Schumer actually on Morning Joe, so on MSNBC,
00:05:25.060 being questioned about just how much support there is for the Save America Act.
00:05:31.380 So, Leader Schumer, this talk about election security has revived discussions of the SAVE Act,
00:05:37.580 which you have said you oppose.
00:05:39.880 Proponents of it say that it's, you know, to have ID, to prove U.S. citizenship, to be able to vote.
00:05:45.160 Some of the claims they make, to be clear, are overstated.
00:05:48.300 We know there's not widespread election fraud.
00:05:51.220 But polling does suggest, there's a new Pew Research poll,
00:05:54.180 that 95% of Republicans, but also 71% of Democrats, like this idea.
00:06:00.540 So why do you not?
00:06:02.480 It's Jim Crow 2.0. 0.82
00:06:05.040 And I called it Jim Crow 2.0, and the right wing went nuts all over the Internet.
00:06:10.360 That's because they know it's true.
00:06:11.920 What they're trying to do here is the same thing that was done in the South for decades,
00:06:16.440 to prevent people of color from voting.
00:06:19.100 For instance, if you change, you're a woman who got married and changed your last name,
00:06:24.780 you won't be able to show ID, and you'll be discriminated against.
00:06:27.900 If you can't find a birth certificate or a proper ID, you'll be discriminated against.
00:06:33.180 This is vicious and nasty.
00:06:35.000 And I said to our Republican colleagues, it will not pass the Senate.
00:06:38.620 You will not get a single Democratic vote in the Senate.
00:06:41.240 We're not reviving Jim Crow all over the country.
00:06:44.080 Now, Senator, look, I actually believe him.
00:06:46.980 I think it's very clear.
00:06:48.160 He's shot multiple shots, big ones across the bow of every Democrat in the Senate.
00:06:53.000 You are not going to give the Republicans this victory.
00:06:56.520 The part, though, there that he talks about being Jim Crow,
00:06:59.200 he's not listing the African Americans as country,
00:07:01.560 because more than 70% in a poll that was put out by CNN that they were talking,
00:07:07.320 they were mentioning that same poll there.
00:07:09.120 And I want to play it.
00:07:10.160 This was CNN's own words breaking down the support for voter ID based on race.
00:07:17.380 Take a listen to this.
00:07:19.120 Take a look here.
00:07:20.240 Favorite photo ID to vote.
00:07:21.680 85% of white people favor it.
00:07:23.800 82% of Latino.
00:07:25.320 76% of black Americans favor it.
00:07:28.020 So the bottom line is this.
00:07:29.680 Voter ID is not controversial in this country.
00:07:33.040 A photo ID to vote is not controversial in this country.
00:07:35.940 It is not controversial by party, and it is not controversial by race.
00:07:39.480 The vast majority of Americans agree with Nicki Minaj that, in fact,
00:07:43.340 you should have a photo ID to be able to vote.
00:07:46.040 So you listen to him.
00:07:47.600 And again, go back to this.
00:07:49.540 78, I'm sorry, excuse me, 76% of blacks, 82% of Latino, 85% of white.
00:07:55.860 And that's coming from CNN, Senator.
00:07:58.300 Look, the American people overwhelmingly support photo ID to vote because it's a common sense step.
00:08:03.880 You have to have a photo ID to drive a car.
00:08:06.200 You have to have a photo ID to get her an airplane. 0.61
00:08:08.040 You have to have a photo ID to buy a beer at a bar.
00:08:11.420 You have to have a photo ID to go to an R-rated movie.
00:08:15.400 You have to, look, they know it is popular.
00:08:19.960 And by the way, I will say, look, Schumer using the rhetoric about Jim Crow,
00:08:23.960 there is an irony in that it was his party, it was the Democrats, who enacted the Jim Crow laws.
00:08:29.460 It was his party, the Democrats, who created the KKK. 0.89
00:08:33.240 It was his party, the Democrats, that kept the system of segregation in for decades.
00:08:40.420 He uses this rhetoric because the Democrats do not care that Democrats overwhelmingly supported voters.
00:08:47.980 They don't care that African Americans and Hispanics support it.
00:08:50.760 They have a partisan position. 0.79
00:08:52.280 They are for voter fraud.
00:08:54.060 The other question I want to ask you is, why are Democrats so opposed to it if it's not about cheating?
00:09:01.860 Because if whites are at 85, Latinos at 82, and blacks at 76, I'm not sure there's that many subjects.
00:09:07.980 In America, you could get this type of consensus on, including Republicans and Democrats,
00:09:12.960 those that identify as Republicans and Democrats also overwhelmingly agree this is a good thing.
00:09:17.500 Yeah, look, the American people overwhelmingly support photo ID to vote.
00:09:22.780 The Democrats are not opposing this because their base is telling them to oppose it.
00:09:27.480 As we talked about, 71 percent of Democrats, voters, think photo ID to vote is a good idea.
00:09:33.500 They're opposing it for two reasons.
00:09:36.360 Number one, they're opposing it, I believe, because voter fraud is a real and persistent problem,
00:09:42.240 and they count on voter fraud to help them win elections.
00:09:44.540 And so they don't want photo ID because they want cheating.
00:09:48.800 If you look at the Democrats, when they have control over elections,
00:09:52.060 they put in place policies that expand voter fraud.
00:09:57.460 And by the way, look, if you're not inclined to believe me, you might say, okay, Cruz is being a Republican.
00:10:03.900 Although if you're not inclined to believe me, I am wondering why you're listening to Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:10:08.640 But set that aside.
00:10:09.740 If you're not inclined to believe me, maybe you would believe Democrat President Jimmy Carter.
00:10:16.900 Because Democrat President Jimmy Carter joined with former Republican Secretary of State James Baker.
00:10:24.440 They chaired what was called the Carter-Baker Commission, studying voter fraud.
00:10:28.340 They concluded voter fraud is real.
00:10:30.000 It is a problem.
00:10:30.780 It has changed the outcome of elections.
00:10:32.700 And they recommended a series of steps to prevent voter fraud.
00:10:36.560 They recommended, number one, limiting the use of mail-in ballots because mail-in ballots make it easier to cheat.
00:10:43.460 They recommended, number two, requiring photo ID to vote because that makes it harder to cheat.
00:10:49.220 They recommended, number three, prohibiting ballot harvesting, prohibiting paid political operatives being able to collect the ballots of others because that invites voter fraud.
00:11:00.220 Well, Ben, do you know what the position is now of Chuck Schumer and every congressional Democrat?
00:11:04.280 It is to oppose any type of voter ID.
00:11:09.180 It's worse than that.
00:11:10.640 They literally went down the recommendations of the Carter-Baker Commission on how to stop voter fraud, and they reversed them all.
00:11:17.500 Wow.
00:11:17.700 So the Carter-Baker Commission said if you want to stop voter fraud, limit mail-in ballots.
00:11:22.680 The Democrat want mail-in ballots in every election.
00:11:25.680 The Carter-Baker Commission said require photo ID.
00:11:28.920 The Democrats are adamantly opposed to photo ID.
00:11:32.640 And the most pernicious ballot harvesting, the Carter-Baker Commission said unequivocally, ballot harvesting invites, it encourages voter fraud.
00:11:41.300 What is the position of Democrats?
00:11:43.120 They want ballot harvesting.
00:11:44.700 They have made a political decision.
00:11:47.320 By the way, explain ballot harvesting to people that don't understand that terminology.
00:11:53.240 It's been used a lot.
00:11:54.080 But what does it mean?
00:11:54.920 So let's take a state like California.
00:11:57.580 Ballot harvesting is legal in California.
00:11:59.520 What it means is you could have a paid political operative, someone who works for the Democrats, go to a nursing home.
00:12:05.660 Go to a nursing home and fill out the ballots with the elderly people, with them, and take their ballots. 0.75
00:12:12.000 So, okay, Mr. Jones, who are you going to vote for?
00:12:14.240 Who are you going to vote for?
00:12:14.920 Let's do it together.
00:12:15.840 They take the ballots.
00:12:16.660 And you can have one operative collecting hundreds of ballots.
00:12:20.260 Why does that invite fraud?
00:12:21.760 Well, let's say you're sitting there and Mr. Jones votes for Donald Trump.
00:12:27.420 If you're an unscrupulous operative, you know what you do? 0.95
00:12:29.900 You take that ballot and throw it in the trash.
00:12:31.780 Like, nobody checks to see if you send them in.
00:12:34.640 If you turn it in.
00:12:35.320 Yeah.
00:12:35.520 And by the way, if you have, say, in nursing homes, people with dementia, people that are not there,
00:12:40.640 if you're sitting there filling out their ballot with them, you can just vote for the Democrat.
00:12:45.120 And so it sets up a way for paid operatives to cheat, and it makes it very easy to cheat.
00:12:54.260 The Democrats have made a political decision.
00:12:57.500 They are for election fraud.
00:13:01.120 Secondly, though, Chuck Schumer, when he says it's Jim Crow 2.0, I think they view this issue
00:13:10.180 as a way to gin up the extremes in their base and to scare people.
00:13:14.900 Look, Jim Crow 2.0 would be bad.
00:13:16.820 I don't want to see a bunch of racist Democrats putting laws in place that hurt minorities like
00:13:21.420 they did before.
00:13:22.700 And it's all about scary rhetoric.
00:13:26.320 So it's a combination of encouraging fraud and using scary rhetoric.
00:13:30.920 Now, here's the question, Ben.
00:13:33.480 How do we get this done?
00:13:34.900 If the Democrats are adamantly going to oppose it, and I'll tell you what I am urging the
00:13:39.780 other Republican senators, what I'm urging our leadership, is we should nuke what's called
00:13:45.340 the zombie filibuster.
00:13:46.840 What does that mean?
00:13:48.020 So under the Senate rules, it takes 60 votes to end debate.
00:13:51.820 And it used to be, for most of the history of the Senate, to do a filibuster, you had to
00:13:56.700 stand up and talk and talk and talk.
00:13:58.920 You remember back in 2013 against Obamacare, I did a 21-hour filibuster and talked for 21
00:14:04.900 hours straight.
00:14:06.300 That used to be how you had to do it.
00:14:08.440 Now, we don't make the Democrats talk and talk and talk and fill the airspace. 0.78
00:14:13.060 We just let them vote.
00:14:14.840 No, no, I'm voting to filibuster.
00:14:17.300 And once I say I'm filibustering, we're done.
00:14:20.140 We can force them, one after the other, to stand up, to stand up, to keep talking, to keep
00:14:25.740 talking, to keep talking, and make the filibuster really painful.
00:14:30.120 Now, there's another side of it, though.
00:14:33.480 The Democrats can keep challenging whether we have a quorum on the Senate floor.
00:14:39.700 What that means is that we've got to be able to produce 50 bodies.
00:14:43.960 We've got to have at least 50 Republican senators who can show up on the Senate floor and demonstrate
00:14:48.640 a quorum.
00:14:49.140 So it is painful for both the majority and the minority.
00:14:53.620 And right now, it's not clear that we have 50 Republicans who support doing this.
00:14:59.680 I am making the case.
00:15:00.720 This week, I made the case vigorously to my Republican colleagues.
00:15:05.060 Mike Lee is making the case vigorously to our Republican colleagues.
00:15:08.740 Rick Scott is making the case vigorously to our Republican colleagues.
00:15:12.520 But it's not clear if we have 50 or not.
00:15:15.620 If we don't have 50, we can't do it.
00:15:18.220 And so I think we ought to make it incredibly painful for Democrats and do everything we
00:15:24.040 can to try to push them to the point of exhaustion.
00:15:28.460 And if they get to that point, then we can pass the Save America Act.
00:15:32.640 Yeah, by the way, I've been saying this on TV.
00:15:35.000 I think it's really important that Republicans explain that we're in favor of this, but we
00:15:39.420 have to have 10 Democrats to get this thing done. 0.92
00:15:43.800 Sorry, excuse me.
00:15:44.640 Seven, I should say.
00:15:45.600 Seven Democrats to get this thing done.
00:15:47.080 And without getting those seven to get us to the perfect number of 60, it doesn't happen.
00:15:52.280 And understand, we will get zero.
00:15:54.040 We're not going to get seven.
00:15:55.140 We're not going to get one.
00:15:56.720 Every Democrat will follow Schumer's orders on this.
00:15:59.660 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their 1.00
00:16:04.880 elected leaders, and the world around them.
00:16:06.940 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:16:10.660 I'm Jennifer Stewart.
00:16:11.840 And I'm Catherine Clark.
00:16:13.060 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.
00:16:16.840 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of
00:16:21.720 their journey.
00:16:22.560 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:16:25.560 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:16:31.500 All right, Senator, you did something that was really underreported this week.
00:16:35.900 And it was important.
00:16:37.500 I say underreported because there was a partial government shutdown.
00:16:40.160 There was a Trump coming out with Trump Rx as well.
00:16:43.480 There was a lot going on.
00:16:44.980 But this dealt with Somali fraud.
00:16:47.580 And we need to take some real time to discuss exactly what you helped expose this week of
00:16:52.480 what's going on in Minnesota.
00:16:53.360 Well, I'm the chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and I convened
00:16:59.460 a hearing and chaired a hearing this week on the massive fraud that we saw in Minnesota
00:17:04.440 with the Somali community and had witnesses, including the whistleblower who joined with
00:17:11.060 the YouTuber in exposing the fraud.
00:17:14.820 And I got to say, as we were going through the evidence of the biggest fraud in recorded
00:17:20.960 history, that was done with the complicity of Democrat officeholders, it was amazing.
00:17:27.100 Democrat senators wanted to talk about absolutely any other topic other than the actual facts
00:17:33.260 of what happened here.
00:17:34.140 Give a listen to what I had to say at the hearing.
00:17:37.140 Federal prosecutors in Minnesota now estimate that half or more of the $18 billion spent since
00:17:45.660 2018 across 14 Minnesota welfare programs may have been lost to fraud.
00:17:53.120 If confirmed, the amount stolen would rank among the largest welfare frauds in American history.
00:18:00.980 In Minnesota, a welfare system designed to uplift the most vulnerable children was treated like
00:18:08.160 an open ATM, exploiting both taxpayers and the public trust extended to immigrant communities. 0.96
00:18:17.120 Over the last decade, Minnesota Democrats didn't just fail to stop the fraud.
00:18:23.260 They made it easy and profitable and, in a totally lawless fashion, silenced anyone who pointed it out.
00:18:31.880 Taken together, the record shows that the fraud was not accidental or unforeseeable, but was the
00:18:39.860 product of deliberate inaction, willful blindness, and calculated abuse.
00:18:47.180 At this point, I got to ask you this question, Senator.
00:18:50.560 Is there any government program in Minnesota that is not being abused by the Somali community 1.00
00:18:56.800 when they figure out a way to defraud it, they just go all in?
00:19:00.920 If you look at the numbers, the percentages of the Somali community in Minnesota that are on
00:19:09.040 welfare, they're staggering.
00:19:11.360 Here, give a listen from the hearing.
00:19:12.960 The programs move billions of dollars each year, and they're concentrated within a relatively
00:19:20.600 small number of administrative pipelines.
00:19:24.060 Minnesota's Somali community receives welfare benefits at rates far higher than the state average,
00:19:29.600 making these programs both financially significant and politically sensitive.
00:19:34.760 In a state where the two closest statewide elections were decided by less than 1%, the Somali community
00:19:42.960 votes overwhelmingly Democrat.
00:19:46.660 The numbers are stark.
00:19:49.100 81% of Somali households in Minnesota receive some form of welfare.
00:19:54.020 81% compared to 21% of non-Somali households.
00:20:00.020 54% of Somali households receive food stamps compared to 7% of non-Somali households.
00:20:08.000 73% are enrolled in Medicaid compared to 18% of non-Somali households.
00:20:15.560 And 27% receive cash assistance compared to 6% of non-Somali households.
00:20:24.180 You hear those numbers are staggering, and I also think what's scary is what we're witnessing
00:20:29.620 here is also the type of fraud that's now being uncovered in other states, including
00:20:33.520 California.
00:20:34.380 It's shocking rates.
00:20:35.540 Elon Musk was tweeting about that earlier before we were doing the show, just like he
00:20:39.800 can't even believe, and he was the doge guy, just how much stealing.
00:20:45.380 And this is just straight stealing from the American people is going on in virtually every
00:20:49.860 government program that they can get their hands on.
00:20:52.020 It's happening.
00:20:53.300 Look, and it shows the fundamental corruption of Democrats.
00:20:57.360 Number one, they imported vast numbers of illegal immigrants into this country, vast number 1.00
00:21:02.420 of Somalis into this country.
00:21:04.100 They put almost all of them on welfare, so they're paying them.
00:21:07.640 They put them on programs that are entirely fraudulent.
00:21:10.420 They're taking that money, sending it back to Somalia.
00:21:13.240 That money, by the way, the Minnesota taxpayers are the number one funder of Al-Shabaab, the 0.61
00:21:19.320 terrorist Islamist group in Somalia has received hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen money
00:21:27.660 from the Minnesota taxpayers.
00:21:29.580 And the Democrats are doing this deliberately.
00:21:31.820 And I've got to say, it was amazing at this hearing.
00:21:34.780 The Democrat senators at the hearing did not dispute any of what I'm saying.
00:21:38.860 Instead, they just tried to change the subject.
00:21:42.320 Give a listen to my response to their efforts to change the subject.
00:21:45.160 In that enormous word cloud, virtually nothing about $9 billion stolen from Minnesota taxpayers
00:21:55.420 by Somali fraudsters with Democrat politicians knowing full well what is happening, facilitating 0.74
00:22:01.760 it, and harvesting votes and campaign dollars from the people robbing the children of Minnesota. 0.91
00:22:09.840 My Democrat colleagues want you desperately not to focus on those facts.
00:22:16.180 And so instead, miraculously, the Democrats have discovered the Sermon on the Mount.
00:22:22.280 Well, this hearing is going to focus on $9 billion stolen from the taxpayers and hundreds
00:22:30.060 of millions of those dollars going to the Al-Shabaab terrorist organization funded by the Democrats.
00:22:36.800 You would think there would be some sort of accountability there on the point that you
00:22:43.360 just made, Senator.
00:22:44.720 And that is about money going to terrorist organizations.
00:22:47.800 When you were talking about that, was there any of the Democrats that were actually paying
00:22:54.000 attention?
00:22:55.100 Were they listening?
00:22:56.180 Nope.
00:22:56.820 Because you put up a poster, and I want to play this for people, but it was, and if you're
00:23:01.160 watching on YouTube or Facebook, you'll actually get to see this.
00:23:03.400 But you have Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda's most lethal affiliate, a poster of them on a truck as terrorists,
00:23:10.100 and you have it up behind you.
00:23:11.760 And I just want to play this very quickly for people saying, hear what you said.
00:23:15.520 When billions of dollars are stolen from U.S. welfare programs and sent abroad, there
00:23:19.940 is no credible way to ensure those funds do not enrich jihadists within Al-Shabaab.
00:23:25.260 As one confidential source told the Manhattan Institute, the largest funder of Al-Shabaab,
00:23:34.120 a Islamist terrorist organization in Somalia, is the Minnesota taxpayer.
00:23:41.760 Listen to that again.
00:23:43.740 The single largest funder of Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization in Somalia, is the taxpayers
00:23:51.500 of Minnesota.
00:23:52.360 I mean, how are people not going to jail for this, and are people going to go to jail?
00:23:59.580 Because at this point, there are so many conservatives who say, I want someone arrested.
00:24:03.480 If we have our money going to terrorists, are someone going to go to jail for this?
00:24:08.160 Not some, not like a one-fall guy.
00:24:10.660 How is this not just like the paddy wagons backing up and people are going to jail?
00:24:15.020 We need to prosecute every Democrat politician who was complicit in this.
00:24:19.620 By the way, what I laid out about the money going to Al-Shabaab, not a single Democrat
00:24:24.100 senator disputed it.
00:24:25.300 They didn't say a word about it.
00:24:27.180 I want you to listen to the back and forth I had with the Democrat witness, the head of
00:24:31.740 Public Citizen, this left-wing group who really didn't want to see anyone prosecuted for this
00:24:38.140 fraud.
00:24:38.540 Give a listen.
00:24:38.960 Mr. Weissman, your co-president of Public Citizen, which describes itself as a consumer
00:24:47.780 advocate and a pro-democracy organization, would you agree that the fraud in Minnesota
00:24:54.640 was staggering and shocking?
00:24:57.080 I agree that there is fraud in Minnesota.
00:25:00.140 I don't believe these estimates are grounded in any evidence that I've seen.
00:25:03.580 The $9 billion figure was based on a claim just that, well, I think that half of them
00:25:08.120 must be fraudulent.
00:25:09.900 I just heard a comment just saying, boost the number up.
00:25:14.520 But to be clear, and with respect, you missed my testimony, no question there's fraud in
00:25:19.280 Minnesota.
00:25:19.840 And absolutely, I share your righteous anger about whatever degree of fraud there was there.
00:25:23.180 Do you agree that any Democrat politician, or let me be clear, any Republican politician
00:25:29.380 that had knowledge of the fraud and was complicit should be prosecuted?
00:25:35.760 I'm not sure what they're being prosecuted for, but also in my testimony, I described also,
00:25:41.300 outside of Minnesota, the manifold ways that this administration is enabling fraud.
00:25:47.000 Look, I understand.
00:25:48.440 And the reason – hold on, hold on, hold on.
00:25:50.340 The standard is that you want –
00:25:51.400 Sir, sir, I'm going to ask a question, and then you can answer it.
00:25:54.940 Yes, sir.
00:25:55.640 Your organization describes itself as a pro-democracy organization.
00:25:59.920 I'm going to try to find out if you actually are pro-democracy, or if you're simply pro-Democrat
00:26:06.200 and are a partisan.
00:26:07.520 We've seen the Democrats who want to change the topic.
00:26:10.360 So I get you want to testify how much you hate Donald Trump.
00:26:14.160 But I'm quite certain Donald Trump was not running a fraudulent daycare center or a fraudulent
00:26:19.880 autism center in Minnesota.
00:26:22.240 So all of the talking points about how you dislike Trump, set them aside.
00:26:27.160 We will see the Democrats on this committee go down those talking points.
00:26:30.780 Do you believe elected politicians in Minnesota who were aware of this fraud and were complicit
00:26:38.720 in it should be prosecuted?
00:26:40.620 Should there be accountability?
00:26:42.240 There absolutely should be accountability.
00:26:43.700 It is not normal to prosecute government officials for not prosecuting fraud.
00:26:48.240 That is not a standard I'm aware of that you've advocated or that anyone else has advocated
00:26:52.020 in the Senate.
00:26:52.800 So you think it's perfectly okay?
00:26:55.120 I did not say it's okay.
00:26:56.180 If let's say Governor Walz or Attorney General Ellison knew about the fraud, benefited from
00:27:02.020 the fraud in terms of bundling votes, benefited from the frauds in terms of collecting campaign
00:27:06.180 finance violations, and deliberately looked the other way, you think that's not criminal
00:27:11.300 conduct?
00:27:12.060 In that hypothetical, it is not okay.
00:27:15.620 100% not okay.
00:27:17.160 But also, if you'll permit me, that hypothetical is in fact happening throughout this.
00:27:22.140 Yes, I get it.
00:27:22.920 You dislike Trump.
00:27:24.020 I understand you dislike Trump.
00:27:25.780 Mr. Cruz, it is whether I have a standard of accountability.
00:27:28.720 So let me, let me, let me, let me, sir, sir, please do not interrupt me.
00:27:32.120 Please do not.
00:27:32.760 And I am being clear.
00:27:33.420 Please do not interrupt me.
00:27:35.380 Please do not interrupt me.
00:27:37.080 You may answer questions after I ask.
00:27:39.800 You've heard the evidence and testimony about daycare centers with no children, with no toys,
00:27:47.280 with no facilities, with windows that are blacked out.
00:27:51.100 But do you believe it is possible that the officials sending millions of dollars to those fake daycare centers and fake autism senators didn't know what was going on?
00:28:01.080 Well, what I heard was claims about that.
00:28:04.400 And I, too, have watched the video.
00:28:06.020 We're both parents.
00:28:07.800 I'm glad that the child care centers don't open their door for someone who's knocking there.
00:28:12.520 I don't view that as evidence that the child care centers are fake child care centers, although I'm sure there are some.
00:28:19.800 My understanding is that state investigators have gone to do their duty at those exact same child centers and have found that most of them actually are operating correctly.
00:28:28.740 Well, I will say it is disappointing that you had a chance leading a nonprofit that is supposedly pro-democracy to take a principled stand.
00:28:37.780 Instead, you decided to defend the Somali fraudsters because it benefits elected. 0.98
00:28:43.340 Senator, it really is amazing.
00:28:45.540 The Democrats will defend this type of corruption and fraud, and they'll do it right to your face.
00:28:51.880 Yeah, look, they affirmatively support it.
00:28:53.700 They benefit from it.
00:28:54.980 They get elected.
00:28:55.800 Look, one of the things I said in the hearing, the two closest statewide elections in Minnesota were one-point races.
00:29:03.200 So this is the difference between Democrats winning and losing.
00:29:06.880 And I got to say, by the way, I invited to this hearing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
00:29:12.040 I invited Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison.
00:29:15.300 I invited Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry.
00:29:18.860 All three of them refused to come.
00:29:20.640 They could have come and defended themselves.
00:29:22.140 They could have come and said that they were not complicit in this.
00:29:24.880 But they effectively went in, went in into witness protection.
00:29:29.460 And, Ben, I don't know if you saw what our friend John Kennedy said this past week about Tim Walz.
00:29:35.260 What did he say?
00:29:37.100 He said Tim Walz is a less masculine version of Hillary Clinton.
00:29:43.260 We should put that on the back of the Leering Center shirts, right?
00:29:46.660 Like the Leering Center on the front, that quote on the back.
00:29:49.720 I love it.
00:29:50.860 It's really incredible.
00:29:51.600 All right, lastly, before we run out of time, Senator, I do want to talk about a big victory this week for protecting kids.
00:29:57.360 And we're seeing new guidance that's coming out saying that you shouldn't be mutilating children with transition surgeries until they're adults.
00:30:05.400 That's a no-brainer.
00:30:06.540 But now we're seeing a big change.
00:30:08.960 And this is going to save the lives of many children.
00:30:11.300 Yeah, so this week, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons announced that it no longer supported, quote, gender-affirming surgeries for children under 18.
00:30:22.980 This is a big reversal.
00:30:25.000 And then the next day, the American Medical Association said it agrees with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons about the surgery.
00:30:34.380 And so the AMA said also you should not do these surgeries for minors.
00:30:39.700 And the AMA said in a statement that because, quote, the evidence for gender-affirming surgical intervention in minors is insufficient for us to make a definitive statement,
00:30:51.420 the AMA agrees with ASPS that surgical interventions in minors should generally be deferred to adulthood.
00:31:01.000 That is a big, big deal.
00:31:04.040 Just a couple of years ago, the AMA and all these medical groups were pushing, do the surgeries, sterilize the kids.
00:31:11.240 And one of the real triggers was the $2 million malpractice lawsuit that was won by detransitioner Fox Varian.
00:31:21.120 And that prompted—
00:31:22.560 Interesting.
00:31:22.840 That happens, and bam, now every one of these woke groups and the doctor groups that were all making millions off this are like,
00:31:28.980 hold on a second, let's change it.
00:31:30.460 We don't want to lose all of our money.
00:31:32.680 Yeah, and by the way, to give you a sense of just what a massive shift this is,
00:31:37.760 in 2021, here's what the AMA said on its website.
00:31:41.840 Quote,
00:31:42.620 The American Medical Association today strengthened its established position opposing the governmental intrusion into the practice of medicine
00:31:49.640 that is detrimental to the health of transgender and gender-diverse children and adults.
00:31:55.160 Legislatures in 20 states this year proposed banning physicians and other health care professionals
00:31:59.500 from providing medically necessary gender-affirming care to transgender and gender-diverse youth.
00:32:06.400 In response to this legislative trend,
00:32:08.300 physicians and medical students at the AMA's House of Delegates meeting voted to meaningfully expand the organization's strong opposition
00:32:17.140 to undue restrictions on medical care to populations that have been politicized in state legislatures.
00:32:25.000 That was five years ago.
00:32:27.380 And you want to talk about a massive sea change, that's a big, big deal.
00:32:32.220 Yes, Senator, it really is.
00:32:34.400 Yeah, and I'll tell you, J.K. Rowling, who's really been courageous on this topic,
00:32:38.760 she put out a long tweet this week on this topic that's worth reflecting on.
00:32:43.900 She said,
00:32:44.320 A young detransitioner, Fox Varian, has won $2 million damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit 0.99
00:32:50.440 in which she sued the psychologist and surgeon who approved her for a double mastectomy, age 16.
00:32:57.400 Remember they told us that wasn't happening?
00:32:58.780 Well, it happened to her.
00:33:00.440 Varian's mother testified that she'd been against the surgery,
00:33:03.440 but was pressured into agreeing because she'd been told that unless her daughter transitioned,
00:33:08.540 she was likely to commit suicide.
00:33:11.020 As the floodgates open and more and more detransitioners sue the clinicians who subjected them 1.00
00:33:16.920 to an unregulated medical experiment,
00:33:20.480 gender identity activists will almost certainly continue to ignore any evidence that fails to support their preferred narrative.
00:33:27.520 And she goes on to say,
00:33:29.720 This will go down in history as one of the worst medical scandals of all time.
00:33:34.800 Adults inside and outside the medical profession sold troubled young people like Varian
00:33:39.280 the idea that all of their complex trauma would be resolved by removing healthy body parts.
00:33:46.420 You know what?
00:33:47.680 Woke is receding, and that's a huge victory.
00:33:50.680 It's a huge victory for kids, and it's a huge victory for sanity.
00:33:53.780 Amen to that.
00:33:54.840 Don't forget we do this show as a podcast as well,
00:33:57.180 so make sure you download it wherever you get your podcasts.
00:34:00.560 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, hit that subscribe or auto-download button.
00:34:03.300 You can also watch us on YouTube as well.
00:34:05.460 And if you've been listening on the radio, thanks for joining us.
00:34:07.660 We'll see you back here on this radio station next week and all week on the podcast.
00:34:10.880 It's been a pleasure to be with you.
00:34:12.740 You've been listening to Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:34:14.460 See you next week.
00:34:16.380 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:34:19.260 Guaranteed Human.