Ted and Ben are joined by Sen. Ben Ferguson (R-MA) to discuss a variety of topics, including: China's student visa ban, the tragic loss of Phil Robertson, the American Bar Association's new role in judicial selection, and more!
00:03:20.260Why are we doing so much for Chinese students?
00:03:23.580Many of them, by the way, they come in here that spy and rob us of our intellectual property.
00:03:28.540And the administration, Trump administration, is basically saying we're trying to put a stop to this.
00:03:34.500Well, what the Trump administration has announced, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that they will begin aggressively revoking the visas of Chinese students in the United States.
00:03:46.180China engages in extensive propaganda and espionage.
00:03:51.180And they're going to begin vetting and vetting aggressively whether a particular student seeking a visa to come to this country has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
00:04:04.880They're also engaged with foreign students that are coming to the United States, examining their social media history, examining if they have a history of radicalism.
00:04:12.640So if you are seeking a student visa to come to America and you've been public saying, I hate America, I want to destroy America, which sadly we've seen some of these radical students who've said that.
00:04:23.240And nonetheless, Joe Biden and the Democrats said, welcome to America.
00:04:26.340We need more people who hate our nation and want to destroy it.
00:04:29.580Well, I think the president's exactly right to stand up and say we're not going to welcome people to this country who are trying to undermine and destroy this country.
00:04:37.680With respect to China, you know, the question of espionage and intellectual property theft, that's existed since the dawn of time.
00:04:47.580Look, when the first caveman invented the wheel, I suspect somebody stole his idea and made another wheel.
00:04:57.620What is not ever before existed is a nation state with massive economic resources like like China, making it a state policy to engage in the theft of resources.
00:05:10.920And so I am very I think it's exactly right that we're going to vigorously scrutinize those students coming in to make sure that they are not operating as agents of the Chinese Communist Party.
00:05:22.380Now, let me say at the same time, look, part of the reason you don't get that many Americans going to China to study is you don't have a whole lot of folks that want to go to Chinese universities, whereas people from all over the world want to come to American universities.
00:05:35.900And I will say if you have people who are not agents of the communist government, we want the best and brightest in the world coming to America.
00:05:44.620We end up having inventions coming here because because the best and brightest students across the country come and come and study science and engineering and they make inventions.
00:05:53.160And those inventions in turn fuel American companies and they create great jobs.
00:05:57.480And so I think the administration is cutting the right balance here, which is saying we're going to stop spies, we're going to stop terrorists.
00:06:04.480But at the same time, that doesn't mean that we want to close our doors entirely to to brilliant physicists and engineers from around the world being able to come to America and benefiting from from the fruits of that.
00:06:18.200You know, there's one thing that we mentioned, gosh, it was probably a little over a year ago on this show and the podcast that we do.
00:06:25.180I tell people this is why you should download verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:06:29.220We talked back when under the Biden-Harris administration, there was even warnings coming from their administration that they're the number one threat to this country was China and Chinese espionage and influence operations.
00:06:43.520That is now a kumbaya moment with the Trump administration, where, in essence, two administrations that saw nothing eye to eye, both agreed on China and what they were trying to do in stealing intellectual property and sending an incredible number of spies into this country.
00:07:02.500And many of them come through our university system.
00:07:05.900Yeah, but the Biden administration did next to nothing to stop it.
00:07:10.720But at the same time, they were complicit in it.
00:07:12.880And I'll tell you, I have for over a decade been leading the fight to stop Chinese espionage, to stop Chinese propaganda, to stop China's malign efforts.
00:07:25.360I think we need a comprehensive effort to take on communist China, much like we had under Ronald Reagan, to win the Cold War against the Soviet Union.
00:07:33.280And I'll tell you, Ben, one of the very first pieces of legislation that I authored and passed dealt with exactly this.
00:07:39.160And it dealt with what are called Confucius Institutes.
00:07:42.140So Confucius Institutes were started at U.S.
00:07:46.220Universities all across America, where there were roughly 200 of them.
00:07:50.240And they were controlled by communist China.
00:07:53.200They were paid for by communist China, by the government.
00:07:56.140And they were used to engage in propaganda and espionage on campus.
00:08:00.480I authored legislation and said, if you have a Confucius Institute on campus, you will not get funding from the federal government, from the Department of Defense.
00:08:09.640And I'll tell you, that simple piece of legislation resulted in over 100 Confucius Institutes shutting down at universities across the country, shutting down their espionage, shutting down their propaganda.
00:08:23.840I think the Trump administration's announcement is the next step in that very important fight.
00:08:30.580And there has been a fight since the president came in with his executive order on trying to protect women from men being in their locker rooms, being in their sports, beating them up.
00:08:43.100We saw it during the Olympics in boxing.
00:08:45.580We've seen countless women who their achievements have been taken away from them on the podium because of men claiming they're women, which is impossible in reality.
00:08:56.200And California decided they were going to stand up to Donald Trump.
00:09:25.660And it also deprives both girls and women of athletic victories they should have and they've earned.
00:09:34.200There are differences between boys and girls.
00:09:36.460There are differences between men and women.
00:09:38.100That did not used to be a controversial proposition.
00:09:40.920It is only in today's Looney Tune left that they can't tell the difference between men and women.
00:09:47.000But I got to tell you, even though in the Senate, Senate Democrats, all of them continue to defend men and women's sports and boys and girls sports.
00:09:58.740We're seeing the Democrats beginning to retreat.
00:10:01.700We're seeing Gavin Newsom, the governor, who's been a far left radical governor.
00:10:05.760He's got ambitions of being president.
00:10:08.120He's looking at looking at running in 2028.
00:10:11.000And he's decided, OK, we're on the wrong side of an 80-20 issue.
00:10:14.360I want to get the hell away from this.
00:10:16.940And so California announced this is a big deal.
00:10:19.820They're changing their policy for track and field so that if you're a biological girl and you got you missed out on making it to the state championship because you were beaten by a biological male who claims to be a transgender woman, then the girl, you will still get your slot.
00:10:39.880You still get invited to the state championship.
00:10:43.400Look, that's a significant step in the right direction.
00:10:48.680And I got to say, this really illustrates that at least some Democrats realize, wow, we are on the wrong side of an issue that America, America wants to protect girls sports and women's sports.
00:11:01.460We want to protect our daughters, and we don't want to see them hurt or competing unfairly.
00:11:08.720And so the crazy thing is that means in track and field in California now they may give three gold medals, one to the boy, one to the girl, and one to the transgender athlete.
00:11:20.200You may have gold medals all around, but for bright blue California to make this concession, it shows that at least some Democrats realize they are way on the wrong side of this issue.
00:11:33.320This also, I think, is an issue that it's worth fighting for, and I think many that are listening are saying we don't want to give in and we don't want to give up.
00:11:41.700And the pendulum went so far to the radical left for so many years that this is the fight that is worth fighting on and fighting over and showing California having to change girls' track and field championship rules after the Trump threatens funding over the trans athletes is just an example of, hey, we are, many times, the silent majority, and we need to start acting like it, especially on these types of issues.
00:12:07.800Well, I'll tell you, Ben, this issue is a powerful issue, and as you know, I ran for re-election in Texas last year in 2024.
00:12:18.920I was Chuck Schumer's number one target, and my campaign was the first campaign in the country last year to put real time and energy behind this issue of we're going to protect girls' sports from boys' competing,
00:12:34.380and we put tens of millions of dollars behind this issue.
00:12:38.380What's fascinating is the media completely misunderstood the issue.
00:12:42.760So one of the things that my campaign did is we did focus groups in Houston and Dallas of undecided moderate women to understand what issues moved them,
00:12:51.700and we tested 30, 35 different messages.
00:12:54.500The number one issue that moved undecided moderate women in Texas was boys' and girls' sports, and when I started campaigning on it, it was very funny.
00:13:05.640The reporters are like, oh, Cruz is trying to appeal to the crazy right wing, and I was just laughing at him.
00:13:16.840This is soccer moms who love their daughters, and we led on this issue, and then you saw Senate races all across the country pick up the same message because they were seeing the same data we were.
00:13:28.640We saw President Trump lean in hard on this message.
00:13:31.740And by the way, some of those women that you were talking to, let's be very clear, had moved from California because how many people from California moved to Texas over the last six years?
00:13:44.140We have over 1,000 people a day moving to the state of Texas, and California is overwhelmingly the heaviest, the largest state that is sending people to Texas.
00:13:54.980But this issue, what's fascinating, Ben, is, you know, four years ago, this issue did not work politically.
00:14:02.020You saw campaigns try to raise it four years ago.
00:14:04.580And I think people thought then that it was jumping the shark, that it didn't feel real four years ago.
00:14:10.540I think people said, oh, come on, that's not a real threat.
00:14:14.880We've now seen Leah Thomas, the swimmer who is a biological man and looks like Michael friggin' Phelps, who we've also seen, and I think this was really a seminal moment, in the Olympics, the two dudes competing in women's boxing and beating the hell out of women.
00:14:35.480And I think a whole lot of people said, wait, this is not theoretical.
00:14:38.920This is happening over and over and over again.
00:15:15.240You know, if you're playing volleyball, we've seen women who have a biological man spike the ball into their head and they get injured.
00:15:21.780I mean, California is still Looney Tunes, but the fact that even the lefty government of California is saying, we've gone too far, that's a very positive sign.
00:15:34.040We had some really sad news this week, but also a celebration of an incredible legacy and a life.
00:17:37.980I've hunted with a lot of different people.
00:17:40.120I will tell you hands down, Phil Robertson is the best shot with a shotgun I've ever seen in my life.
00:17:46.480You're not the only person that's told me that.
00:17:48.500I was talking with another friend that went and hunted with him.
00:17:51.960They said, like, he was next level, like, like completely different level that it was just in his blood and he knew how to shoot.
00:17:59.940And it was just like, oh, wow, like this is like Olympic level is how it was described to me this week.
00:18:05.240So so we would be in the blind and you see some ducks flying over the horizon and Phil would take a shot at a distance.
00:18:13.900I wouldn't even pick up my gun like like it's a distance like there's no way on earth I'm hitting that bird.
00:18:18.900If the duck flies over by us, I'll shoot it.
00:18:20.700But like that, like he he that was the thing that really stood out is that he he would shoot ducks at a distance that was like 50 percent further than any other duck hunter I've ever seen.
00:18:32.960And as I said, they were far enough away that I didn't even buy.
00:19:22.160So Terry Bradshaw, who for those of you who are not not football fans, is one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks ever to play, was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is a legendary quarterback.
00:19:32.160Terry Bradshaw was Phil Robertson's backup.
00:19:34.600He was not getting a ton of playing time because Phil Robertson was the starter.
00:19:37.940He quit because football season interfered with hunting season.
00:19:44.580And so the story Phil told me is is is is his coach came to his apartment and was going to was trying to convince Phil to come back and play football.
00:19:54.380And and Phil said, hey, coach, coach, come on in, come on in.
00:19:57.360Hey, he said, come on in the bathroom.
00:19:58.780I'm cleaning a deer here in the bathroom in my bathtub.
00:20:03.120And so the coach comes in and he's cleaning a deer.
00:20:06.600And the coach says, Phil, I'm not going to convince you to come back and play football, am I?
00:20:16.360And Terry Bradshaw, a legend, was born.
00:20:18.680And then a second legend, Phil Robertson, was born because his love of hunting led him, led him to to to to to form form duck commander to start duck dynasty.
00:25:05.760I know you you know, the family as well.
00:25:08.420And I and I know you wanted to say to them, obviously, it's something about their father passing and just how thankful you are for the legacies left.
00:25:16.520Well, look, to the to the entire family, to Jason and Willie and Cy and the entire extended family, you guys have had an incredible impact on on America.
00:25:27.540You've had an incredible impact touching people's lives.
00:25:30.320You've had an incredible impact speaking up for for ordinary Americans.
00:25:34.600But but also you guys have powerfully spread the gospel.
00:25:39.240And I appreciate that that cheerful, happy warrior, that unapologetic willingness to speak truth.
00:25:47.540Look, we are sad that that Phil is not with us.
00:26:17.920And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women, entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.
00:26:27.420So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:26:30.420Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:26:37.460So let's dive into this other issue that really is an interesting one.
00:26:43.280You've got a lot to say about the Trump Justice Department telling the American Bar Association that it will no longer comply with ratings for judicial nominees.
00:26:54.360Now, explain the politics behind this.
00:26:57.720The ABA has had a lot of power and they're basically now saying we're not going to let you guys have that power because there's been a lot of bias coming out of the American Bar Association.
00:27:07.940Well, the American Bar Association, it's a national organization of lawyers, and it is a left-wing advocacy group.
00:27:21.660And the ABA has had a formal role in judicial selection for 75 years.
00:27:27.680It started rating judicial nominees in 1953, and until 2001, the ABA actually had a formal role evaluating judicial nominees before they were nominated.
00:27:42.720So a president, a Department of Justice, an administration would share with the ABA, hey, we're thinking of nominating Ben Ferguson to be a federal judge.
00:27:52.260And they'd go and research and interview former clients, and at some point people would say, wait, Ben's not even a lawyer.
00:28:00.000How the hell is he going to be a judge like he probably should go to law school first?
00:28:04.460And by the way, that point is not crazy.
00:28:09.400But they engaged that they would do a formal role and they would rate the qualifications of judicial nominees.
00:28:28.100Robert Bork, Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork to the Supreme Court in 1987.
00:28:34.160Robert Bork was by any measure one of the most qualified federal judicial nominees in the history of this country.
00:28:39.900Robert Bork had been the Solicitor General of the United States, the chief lawyer for the United States in front of the Supreme Court of the United States.
00:28:47.900Robert Bork had been one of the most renowned and respected law professors for decades.
00:28:54.640Robert Bork had been a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
00:29:03.260And yet the ABA, when they evaluated Robert Bork, they concluded he was, quote, not qualified to be a judge.
00:29:09.080They also concluded the same thing for Frank Easterbrook.
00:29:12.500Again, brilliant, brilliant judge, brilliant professor, one of the greatest judges to have ever served on the Court of Appeals, Frank Easterbrook.
00:29:20.520The ABA concluded he was not qualified.
00:30:24.140And so Pam Bondi sent a letter to the president of the ABA, and she said, quote,
00:30:30.040While the ABA is free to comment on judicial nominations along with other activist organizations, there is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations, and the Department of Justice will not do so.
00:30:44.440And so previously, the Office of Legal Policy, which is the office within the Department of Justice that handles judicial selections, they changed – they had previously directed judicial nominees to provide a waiver to the ABA to let the ABA access non-public information, including bar records.
00:31:06.500And so no longer is the Department of Justice going to tell judicial nominees, give the ABA special access.
00:31:18.160Nominees will also not respond to questionnaires prepared by the ABA and will not sit for interviews with the ABA.
00:31:25.120In other words, you can be like every other whack job organization on the left, but you're not going to have any special access whatsoever.
00:31:33.860This is something I've called for a long time.
00:31:36.680I have for years, for more than a decade, advocated that the ABA is wildly biased, and it should not have a special role in the process, and I want to commend President Trump and Pam Bondi.
00:31:50.140Senator, we hear a lot about bias and bias against conservatives, but my other question is, were they also biased in advocating for liberals?
00:31:58.880Absolutely. They are a hard-left advocacy organization masquerading as a nonpartisan professional organization.
00:32:08.140And Joe Biden, over the last four years, nominated over and over again radicals and zealots, many of whom were wildly unqualified.
00:32:15.680And the ABA was more than happy to stamp them with a rating of qualified.
00:32:20.880And one example is Charnel Bejelkingren, who was wildly unqualified, and yet the ABA happily deemed her qualified.
00:32:31.800And rather than me lay out how bad she was, I want you to listen to this cross-examination from my colleague John Kennedy to this judicial nominee in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
00:34:12.960So, the first three articles of the Constitution, Article 1 creates the Congress.
00:34:17.260Article 2 creates the President and the Executive Branch.
00:34:20.340And Article 3 creates the Federal Judiciary.
00:34:22.960To not know what Article 2 is is stunning.
00:34:26.600To give you a sense, you will flunk constitutional law and not graduate law school if you don't know what Article 2 is.
00:34:33.940She was being nominated to be what is called an Article 3 judge.
00:34:39.560I assume she had no idea what Article 3 was.
00:34:42.540And nevertheless, the ABA said she's qualified to be an Article 3 judge, even though she has no idea what it is.
00:34:48.700Because I'm very glad the ABA no longer has a role in making those determinations.
00:34:53.360As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
00:34:59.020Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day you're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards.
00:35:06.060I'd love to have you as a listener to, again, the Ben Ferguson podcast.
00:35:09.860And the Senator and I will see you back here for the Weekend Review on Saturday morning.