Verdict with Ted Cruz - The Cloakroom Preview： What if China Invades Taiwan？

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.120 Hey guys, Liz Wheeler here.

00:00:06.400 In addition to this week's episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz,

00:00:09.100 which you heard earlier this week,

00:00:10.980 we wanted to bring you a bonus sneak preview

00:00:13.240 of The Cloaked Room,

00:00:14.520 a series I co-host with Senator Cruz each week

00:00:16.760 over on the Verdict Plus community on Locals.

00:00:19.540 Did you know we do so much more each week

00:00:21.660 than just bringing you the main Verdict episode?

00:00:24.060 Senator Cruz takes mailbag questions,

00:00:26.060 he posts memes,

00:00:26.960 he interacts with subscribers,

00:00:28.120 and more over on Verdict Plus.

00:00:30.560 In this preview of The Cloaked Room,

00:00:31.980 we're talking about Jon Stewart

00:00:33.440 calling Senator Cruz a mother effort.

00:00:36.020 And on the more intellectual side of things,

00:00:37.580 we're talking about how the United States

00:00:39.460 should respond in the event that China invades Taiwan.

00:00:43.060 If you like what you hear,

00:00:44.160 you can get more of Senator Cruz

00:00:45.320 and more of The Cloaked Room every week

00:00:47.220 over on Verdict Plus.

00:00:48.620 You can head over to verdictwithtedcruise.com slash plus,

00:00:52.160 and if you use my promo code,

00:00:53.660 which intuitively is Cloaked Room,

00:00:55.480 you can get one month free,

00:00:56.540 that's verdictwithtedcruise.com slash plus,

00:00:59.200 and promo code Cloaked Room

00:01:00.380 to check out all the episodes

00:01:01.860 of The Cloaked Room right now.

00:01:03.420 We'll see you over there.

00:01:04.380 In the meantime,

00:01:05.340 please enjoy this preview of The Cloaked Room.

00:01:07.320 Hey guys, welcome.

00:01:08.680 I'm Liz Wheeler.

00:01:09.480 This is The Cloaked Room on Verdict Plus.

00:01:11.200 We have a lot to talk about tonight.

00:01:13.080 There's so much happening with Taiwan this week.

00:01:14.980 But first, Senator Cruz,

00:01:16.380 we have big news,

00:01:17.200 a big announcement to make.

00:01:18.300 Baby Knowles number two has arrived.

00:01:20.540 Huge congratulations to Michael

00:01:21.960 and his wife and his entire family

00:01:23.660 on the arrival of their new baby boy.

00:01:26.140 Obviously, Michael is out this week

00:01:27.540 spending time with his family,

00:01:28.960 as he should be.

00:01:30.140 I'm so excited for him.

00:01:31.000 This is his second son.

00:01:32.320 Yeah, no, it's awesome.

00:01:33.460 He's got a second baby boy,

00:01:35.940 and they are celebrating and enjoying.

00:01:39.100 And, you know, when Michael comes back,

00:01:40.500 we'll do everything we can

00:01:41.420 to make him feel at home,

00:01:42.540 which means we'll do lots of crying

00:01:44.460 and drooling, 0.99

00:01:46.780 which frankly is a lot of what happens

00:01:48.240 in the Senate too.

00:01:49.060 So there's a consistency to it,

00:01:50.760 but it's great news,

00:01:51.940 and we're celebrating with Michael.

00:01:53.600 Yeah, Michael posted some pictures

00:01:54.960 publicly on Instagram

00:01:55.900 of a little guy and man,

00:01:57.020 is he a doll?

00:01:57.940 Michael's wife did a fabulous job. 0.93

00:01:59.760 Huge congratulations to them.

00:02:01.640 We're actually going to do

00:02:02.420 two Cloak Room episodes this week

00:02:04.060 in honor of Michael's new baby.

00:02:05.500 Also, because Michael is out this week,

00:02:07.560 it'll be an inside look

00:02:08.580 into what you and I, Senator Cruz,

00:02:10.080 do on the Cloak Room every week.

00:02:11.920 Today, we are going to talk about Taiwan,

00:02:13.580 but before that,

00:02:14.880 I want to talk with you about Jon Stewart.

00:02:16.660 You seem to make Jon Stewart pretty mad.

00:02:18.160 This week, he actually made a video 0.57

00:02:19.420 calling you a mother effer,

00:02:21.440 and he was standing in front of people 0.94

00:02:22.660 chanting,

00:02:23.620 when senators lie,

00:02:25.440 veterans die.

00:02:26.480 So, Senator Cruz,

00:02:27.040 maybe you can tell me today,

00:02:27.840 what exactly did you do

00:02:28.700 to piss off Jon Stewart?

00:02:30.920 Yeah, no,

00:02:31.520 this was a pretty surreal week

00:02:32.880 on that front.

00:02:34.220 Jon Stewart kind of lost his mind

00:02:35.700 and did an awful lot of demagoguing

00:02:39.960 and very little actually truth-telling.

00:02:42.920 So let's unpack this,

00:02:44.720 because what happened in the past week

00:02:46.460 was confusing,

00:02:47.660 and I got to say,

00:02:48.500 the corporate media did a horrible job

00:02:50.400 reporting on any of it.

00:02:52.080 The underlying bill

00:02:53.400 that the Senate was considering

00:02:55.020 is a bill called the PAC-DAC,

00:02:56.440 and what the PAC-DAC does

00:02:57.800 is it focused on

00:02:59.020 veterans' health care,

00:03:00.760 and in particular,

00:03:01.600 veterans who have gotten diseases

00:03:03.920 from burn pits,

00:03:05.540 these giant pits

00:03:06.540 that were very common

00:03:07.720 in both Iraq and Afghanistan,

00:03:10.160 where all sorts of toxic chemicals

00:03:12.700 and all sorts of garbage was burned,

00:03:15.980 just lit on fire,

00:03:17.480 and unfortunately,

00:03:18.340 it let off a lot of toxic fumes,

00:03:20.440 and now we've got veterans

00:03:21.760 who are coming back

00:03:22.540 with all sorts of health problems,

00:03:24.440 including cancers

00:03:25.920 and other diseases

00:03:27.440 that there's significant science

00:03:29.500 tracing back to inhaling

00:03:31.740 the toxic fumes

00:03:33.420 from these burn pits.

00:03:34.600 And I have long been an advocate

00:03:37.300 of providing health care

00:03:39.280 for those veterans

00:03:40.020 who were injured

00:03:41.140 from exposure to burn pits.

00:03:42.700 It's something I've advocated

00:03:44.260 for a long time,

00:03:45.120 and this bill in particular

00:03:46.320 is a bill that creates

00:03:48.820 $280 billion in new funding

00:03:51.920 for health care for our veterans

00:03:54.800 for exposure to burn pits,

00:03:57.300 and I emphatically support that bill.

00:04:00.260 This bill also has $400 billion

00:04:02.400 in existing funding

00:04:03.940 that's already in the funding stream

00:04:05.440 for health care for veterans,

00:04:07.180 so all told,

00:04:08.240 the total price tag of the bill

00:04:10.020 was $679 billion.

00:04:13.440 I supported that in June.

00:04:15.460 I voted for it.

00:04:16.940 I agreed with it,

00:04:18.480 and I think it's a good idea.

00:04:20.760 Now, after we voted on it in June,

00:04:25.300 we subsequently, last week,

00:04:27.500 were voting on what's called cloture,

00:04:29.440 which a vote on cloture

00:04:30.480 is a vote to cut off debate,

00:04:33.380 to disallow any amendments.

00:04:35.580 This was the second time

00:04:36.460 the bill had come up.

00:04:38.080 And the second time it came up,

00:04:40.660 Pat Toomey, my colleague from Pennsylvania,

00:04:43.580 raised a very specific concern

00:04:45.860 about one element that was in this bill,

00:04:48.160 which is an accounting gimmick

00:04:49.880 that the Democrats used

00:04:51.580 within this bill.

00:04:53.180 I mentioned that the bill

00:04:54.040 has two components,

00:04:55.100 $400 billion of pre-existing funding

00:04:57.100 for veterans,

00:04:58.260 $279 billion in new funding

00:05:00.220 for those exposed to burn pits.

00:05:02.000 Well, the $400 billion

00:05:03.960 in pre-existing funding

00:05:05.820 is currently what's called

00:05:08.340 discretionary funding.

00:05:09.740 And discretionary funding,

00:05:11.740 discretionary spending

00:05:12.760 is spending that has to be

00:05:14.720 reauthorized by each Congress.

00:05:16.460 And discretionary funding

00:05:18.680 is subject to an overall cap

00:05:21.840 in terms of how much

00:05:23.080 discretionary spending is allowed.

00:05:26.660 What the Democrats did with this bill

00:05:28.720 is they shifted that $400 billion

00:05:30.560 from discretionary spending

00:05:32.640 to mandatory spending.

00:05:34.920 Now, why does that matter?

00:05:36.120 Well, mandatory spending,

00:05:37.300 the way the federal budget works,

00:05:39.060 mandatory spending is on autopilot.

00:05:40.920 It goes automatically.

00:05:42.980 It doesn't have to be appropriated.

00:05:44.820 It doesn't have to be reauthorized.

00:05:46.460 It's mandatory.

00:05:47.680 And so it's just on autopilot.

00:05:50.100 Why does that matter?

00:05:52.020 Well, it doesn't matter

00:05:53.320 in terms of ensuring

00:05:54.960 that the money will be spent

00:05:56.200 because look,

00:05:56.780 Congress is going to spend money

00:05:58.120 for veterans health care.

00:05:59.360 There's no prospect

00:06:00.560 that Congress is going to fail

00:06:02.540 to provide the funding

00:06:04.140 for veterans health care.

00:06:06.460 The reason the Democrats

00:06:08.040 wanted to do that

00:06:08.980 is by shifting it

00:06:11.160 from discretionary to mandatory.

00:06:13.320 They, as a bookkeeping matter,

00:06:17.600 cut discretionary spending

00:06:19.280 by $400 billion.

00:06:20.620 The $400 billion they moved to mandatory,

00:06:22.640 suddenly it created a hole

00:06:24.280 on discretionary spending

00:06:26.220 where our total aggregate

00:06:27.600 discretionary spending

00:06:28.680 is $400 billion below the cap.

00:06:31.040 The reason they wanted to do so

00:06:34.020 is they want to spend

00:06:35.960 $400 billion more

00:06:37.640 in unrelated pork.

00:06:39.420 It has nothing to do with veterans,

00:06:40.860 it has nothing to do with this bill,

00:06:42.200 but the hole they just created

00:06:44.060 in discretionary spending,

00:06:45.480 it was their intention

00:06:47.160 to fill that hole

00:06:48.800 and to fill it with whatever pork projects 0.95

00:06:50.620 they wanted to spend.

00:06:52.480 And so Pat Toomey had an amendment,

00:06:54.180 a very simple amendment,

00:06:55.360 just to shift the spending

00:06:56.580 back to discretionary.

00:06:57.760 So to reverse the budget gimmick

00:07:00.620 that they had employed.

00:07:04.100 Last week when we voted on cloture,

00:07:06.620 Pat had spent the entire week

00:07:08.260 making the case

00:07:09.020 to the conference at lunch

00:07:10.220 that the only way

00:07:12.200 we could get a vote

00:07:13.100 and try to force them

00:07:14.640 to shift it back to discretionary

00:07:16.140 is if we stood together

00:07:18.580 and at least 41 of us

00:07:20.160 voted to deny cloture.

00:07:21.940 And if we did that,

00:07:23.240 if we blocked Schumer

00:07:24.380 from going ahead on the bill,

00:07:25.580 we would have the leverage

00:07:27.680 to force a vote on the amendment.

00:07:29.340 That happens a lot in the Senate.

00:07:30.500 That's how you get leverage

00:07:31.900 to get a vote

00:07:32.720 is you block cloture.

00:07:35.020 Well, we did that last week

00:07:36.680 and

00:07:38.000 Jon Stewart lost his mind

00:07:41.520 and the corporate media

00:07:43.700 lost their minds.

00:07:45.420 Jon Stewart proceeded

00:07:46.780 to go on this,

00:07:47.860 this profanity-laced tirade

00:07:50.420 blasting me,

00:07:52.600 blasting other Republicans

00:07:53.800 and basically his thesis

00:07:56.540 was that apparently

00:07:57.840 Republicans hate veterans.

00:07:59.240 We're just,

00:08:00.140 you know,

00:08:00.500 when you think about Republicans,

00:08:02.080 what is it that characterizes

00:08:03.300 Republicans in the mind

00:08:04.780 of a wild-eyed leftist demagogue?

00:08:07.780 It's that we don't like veterans.

00:08:09.480 Mind you,

00:08:10.000 that is

00:08:11.060 facially absurd.

00:08:13.880 But the problem was

00:08:15.380 Stewart

00:08:15.840 is not being

00:08:18.620 a

00:08:19.480 legitimate advocate.

00:08:20.980 He's not being an honest broker.

00:08:22.480 He's being a partisan hack

00:08:24.320 and he saw an opportunity

00:08:25.500 to use this

00:08:27.300 to scream

00:08:27.980 and curse

00:08:28.620 and attack

00:08:29.220 and try to deceive.

00:08:30.840 Look,

00:08:31.040 people who are not paying

00:08:31.840 much attention

00:08:32.580 but just hear Stewart

00:08:34.480 screaming Republicans

00:08:35.680 hate veterans,

00:08:36.480 some of them might be deceived

00:08:37.580 into believing that.

00:08:39.140 It was dishonest

00:08:40.180 when Stewart started.

00:08:41.260 It remains dishonest today.

00:08:43.180 And so what happened today

00:08:44.320 is we just,

00:08:45.000 we voted on Pat Toomey's amendment.

00:08:46.880 I voted for Pat Toomey's amendment.

00:08:49.000 It narrowly failed.

00:08:50.020 So unfortunately,

00:08:51.860 the budget gimmick

00:08:52.720 is still there.

00:08:53.420 And then we voted on the bill

00:08:54.440 and I voted for it.

00:08:55.980 We ended up having 86 senators

00:08:57.440 vote for it

00:08:58.460 because we support

00:08:59.320 the underlying

00:09:00.120 bill.

00:09:02.700 But it was an amazing

00:09:04.140 illustration

00:09:04.740 of how dishonest

00:09:05.800 the press is

00:09:06.400 because almost

00:09:07.000 none of the corporate media

00:09:08.580 actually covered

00:09:09.900 the substance

00:09:10.400 of what the dispute

00:09:11.020 was about.

00:09:12.000 So this is actually

00:09:13.000 interesting

00:09:13.460 because the truth

00:09:14.140 of the matter is,

00:09:15.020 you can correct me

00:09:15.780 if this is inaccurate,

00:09:16.800 but the truth

00:09:17.140 of the matter is

00:09:17.740 it was actually

00:09:18.480 the Democrats

00:09:19.560 who were temporarily,

00:09:21.120 I guess,

00:09:21.940 holding this money hostage

00:09:23.620 from veterans

00:09:24.520 to pay for their health care

00:09:25.440 because they wanted

00:09:26.380 an additional

00:09:27.240 $400 billion

00:09:28.300 to spend on things

00:09:29.300 unrelated to veterans

00:09:30.220 or health care,

00:09:30.920 just their own

00:09:31.520 political pet projects.

00:09:32.820 That's exactly right.

00:09:34.080 And so actually last week

00:09:35.960 when we were voting

00:09:36.480 on cloture,

00:09:37.160 we made very clear

00:09:37.940 to Schumer,

00:09:38.920 if you adopt

00:09:39.620 Toomey's amendment,

00:09:40.420 we'll approve this

00:09:41.140 instantaneously.

00:09:42.120 So we could have

00:09:42.700 passed this last week

00:09:43.740 and one of the things

00:09:44.880 Stewart and the rest

00:09:46.540 of the media were saying

00:09:47.180 is it's Republicans

00:09:47.960 who have delayed this

00:09:48.920 and veterans are dying.

00:09:49.980 Well, we could have

00:09:50.300 passed this last week,

00:09:51.280 but the Democrats

00:09:52.560 love their pork so much

00:09:53.780 they didn't want

00:09:54.240 to pass it last week.

00:09:55.360 And by the way,

00:09:55.920 one of the reasons

00:09:56.600 the media went really crazy

00:09:59.300 is I was skeptical

00:10:01.920 we'd get 41 Republicans

00:10:03.340 to stand together

00:10:04.240 to try to stop

00:10:05.500 yet another $400 billion

00:10:07.880 in pork spending

00:10:09.120 unrelated to veterans.

00:10:10.020 And we did miraculously

00:10:12.240 hold Republicans together.

00:10:14.520 And so when that happened,

00:10:17.060 Steve Daines,

00:10:17.760 Republican from Montana,

00:10:19.060 he and I did a fist bump

00:10:20.140 on the Senate floor,

00:10:21.640 which caused Stewart's

00:10:24.760 pretty little head

00:10:25.400 to explode 0.91

00:10:26.040 and caused all of the leftists

00:10:28.380 to say, you know,

00:10:29.820 Twitter is covered with,

00:10:31.100 you know,

00:10:31.760 Cruz is fist bumping

00:10:33.460 veterans dying.

00:10:35.220 Yeah, that's it, Johnny boy.

00:10:36.440 That's exactly what it was about.

00:10:38.040 Not Cruz is fist bumping

00:10:40.040 trying to stop Democrats

00:10:41.340 from bankrupting the country

00:10:43.020 with $400 billion

00:10:43.980 in unrelated pork

00:10:45.080 that by the way

00:10:45.960 is fueling inflation

00:10:46.900 that is making people's lives

00:10:48.160 really, really suck, 0.92

00:10:49.360 including veterans lives 0.98

00:10:50.700 who are having to pay

00:10:51.540 seven, $8 per gallon for gas.

00:10:55.300 It is amazing

00:10:57.020 the deception

00:10:58.640 that the media played in this.

00:11:00.460 And so I'll tell you tonight

00:11:01.420 when I voted yes on the bill

00:11:03.400 and Steve Daines

00:11:04.040 voted yes on the bill,

00:11:05.240 we did another fist bump

00:11:06.400 in the exact same spot.

00:11:07.820 We purposely did it again

00:11:09.740 to illustrate the point.

00:11:11.820 But I'll tell you something else

00:11:14.140 I said at lunch.

00:11:14.860 So we were discussing

00:11:15.600 at lunch today

00:11:16.220 before the vote

00:11:16.960 what the next steps were.

00:11:19.580 And we were able to get a vote

00:11:20.620 on Toomey's amendment

00:11:21.360 because we denied cloture last week.

00:11:24.220 But I said, listen,

00:11:25.700 it looks like

00:11:27.080 we're going to lose the vote

00:11:28.640 on Toomey's vote amendment.

00:11:30.100 We knew that by lunchtime

00:11:31.540 that it looked like

00:11:32.180 the way the whip was coming out.

00:11:33.320 We were not going to win the vote.

00:11:35.040 And I said,

00:11:36.160 this was still a good

00:11:37.660 and worthwhile fight to have.

00:11:39.540 Why?

00:11:40.960 Because we've now increased

00:11:42.640 the political cost

00:11:44.180 of the Democrats

00:11:46.040 trying to use

00:11:46.860 that political gimmick

00:11:47.880 to fill that $400 billion hole.

00:11:50.800 That by focusing the fight on it,

00:11:52.960 the Republican conference

00:11:53.940 is now much more focused

00:11:55.140 on that $400 billion

00:11:56.300 fake hole

00:11:57.800 that they made

00:11:58.560 just by moving the money

00:11:59.580 to the other side of the ledger,

00:12:00.720 the mandatory side.

00:12:02.380 And maybe we've made it radioactive

00:12:04.880 for the Democrats

00:12:05.700 to come back in another bill

00:12:07.100 and add that pork spending

00:12:08.680 of that $400 billion

00:12:09.700 in the hole.

00:12:11.040 And what I also urge

00:12:12.340 the conference

00:12:12.880 is when Republicans

00:12:15.060 take over,

00:12:16.200 hopefully in January,

00:12:17.760 we ought to fill the hole.

00:12:19.560 In other words,

00:12:20.000 we ought to lower the cap

00:12:21.120 to basically eliminate

00:12:22.860 this budget gimmick.

00:12:24.380 And because we had this fight,

00:12:27.260 I don't know if we'll succeed

00:12:28.980 in lowering the cap

00:12:29.860 to erase this budget gimmick,

00:12:31.600 but our chances of doing so

00:12:33.360 are much higher

00:12:34.840 because we fought this fight

00:12:37.400 and endured

00:12:39.040 the dishonest demagoguery

00:12:41.520 of the left

00:12:43.080 over the weekend.

00:12:44.880 And by the way,

00:12:46.080 I looked on Twitter right now

00:12:47.540 to see if the mainstream media

00:12:48.960 was giving equal coverage

00:12:50.300 to your fist bump,

00:12:51.360 fist bumping

00:12:52.060 for this,

00:12:53.320 this healthcare for veterans.

00:12:54.620 And no,

00:12:55.160 it's not trending anywhere.

00:12:56.400 It's nowhere.

00:12:57.640 So that shows you

00:12:58.220 exactly what you need to know.

00:12:59.740 But speaking,

00:13:00.940 you know what is trending

00:13:01.640 on Twitter right now,

00:13:02.400 actually,

00:13:02.820 is Nancy Pelosi's visit

00:13:04.000 to Taiwan.

00:13:05.460 And I want to ask you

00:13:06.480 about this because

00:13:07.100 in a previous episode

00:13:08.200 of Verdict,

00:13:08.780 you gave the chances

00:13:09.820 of China invading Taiwan

00:13:11.680 to be 50-50.

00:13:13.700 Do you,

00:13:14.380 would you change

00:13:15.120 your calculation

00:13:15.920 given Nancy Pelosi's visit

00:13:18.680 and China's threat?

00:13:20.940 Probably an empty threat,

00:13:21.980 in my opinion.

00:13:22.740 Their empty threat

00:13:23.240 of shooting down her plane

00:13:24.140 or responding with their army.

00:13:25.340 Do you think

00:13:25.920 that they'll use that

00:13:26.700 as justification

00:13:27.280 to invade Taiwan?

00:13:28.380 Is there a higher likelihood?

00:13:30.300 So it remains

00:13:31.340 a very real risk.

00:13:34.580 You know,

00:13:35.340 rewind over a year ago

00:13:36.960 when Biden had

00:13:37.980 his disastrous

00:13:39.300 surrender and withdrawal

00:13:40.700 in Afghanistan.

00:13:43.580 The weakness

00:13:44.580 and appeasement

00:13:45.460 of this administration

00:13:46.740 encouraged every one

00:13:47.760 of our enemies.

00:13:48.440 I said at the time,

00:13:49.300 as you'll recall,

00:13:50.660 the chances of Russia 0.64

00:13:51.760 invading Ukraine 0.89

00:13:52.640 have risen tenfold.

00:13:53.720 The chances of China 1.00

00:13:55.380 invading Taiwan

00:13:56.140 have risen tenfold.

00:13:59.160 Our enemies

00:14:00.180 are emboldened

00:14:01.080 because they see

00:14:01.860 the commander-in-chief

00:14:03.060 as weak and ineffective. 0.72

00:14:04.960 Now,

00:14:05.340 let's get to this week

00:14:06.420 and Nancy Pelosi.

00:14:08.620 It is astonishing

00:14:10.120 how badly

00:14:11.700 the Biden administration

00:14:12.820 has screwed this up.

00:14:14.040 It's breathtaking.

00:14:15.020 I'm hard-pressed

00:14:16.140 to think of

00:14:17.580 an analog

00:14:18.460 in recent times.

00:14:20.840 So Pelosi announced

00:14:21.800 she was going to go to Taiwan.

00:14:22.800 We actually had

00:14:24.420 a classified briefing

00:14:25.400 yesterday

00:14:25.980 with senior officials

00:14:27.480 from state and DOD

00:14:28.860 talking about this

00:14:31.020 and I chewed them out.

00:14:32.540 I mean,

00:14:32.760 I lit into them.

00:14:33.900 I can't tell you

00:14:34.420 what they said,

00:14:35.020 but I can tell you

00:14:35.440 what I said

00:14:35.920 because what I said

00:14:36.540 isn't classified.

00:14:37.860 And I chewed them out

00:14:39.200 saying,

00:14:40.680 it is hard to overstate

00:14:42.740 how badly 0.96

00:14:43.540 you guys have screwed 0.97

00:14:44.500 this up.

00:14:45.340 Number one,

00:14:46.760 when Pelosi said

00:14:48.460 she was going to Taiwan,

00:14:49.680 the Biden administration

00:14:52.260 leaked

00:14:53.000 that the Department

00:14:54.800 of Defense

00:14:55.300 opposed her going.

00:14:57.140 We don't know

00:14:57.780 who leaked it.

00:14:58.460 We don't know

00:14:58.760 if it was DOD.

00:14:59.720 We don't know

00:15:00.180 if it was state

00:15:00.940 or if it was the White House.

00:15:02.180 My guess is

00:15:02.820 it was the White House.

00:15:04.040 I think it was probably

00:15:04.900 the Biden National Security

00:15:08.060 Council that did so.

00:15:10.700 But I don't know that.

00:15:11.640 That's inference.

00:15:12.600 I have no,

00:15:13.280 somebody from the administration

00:15:14.520 leaked it. 1.00

00:15:15.160 That was spectacularly stupid. 1.00

00:15:22.740 And one of the things 1.00

00:15:23.800 I pressed the administration on

00:15:25.180 is do you think

00:15:25.660 it was beneficial

00:15:26.280 or harmful

00:15:27.000 to leak

00:15:28.980 that the Department

00:15:29.640 of Defense

00:15:30.100 is telling the Speaker

00:15:30.900 of the House,

00:15:31.820 oh, please,

00:15:32.820 please, please

00:15:33.620 don't go to Taiwan

00:15:34.920 and make the Chinese

00:15:36.580 Communist angry.

00:15:37.520 Of course it was harmful

00:15:38.520 because it shows

00:15:39.900 this White House

00:15:40.640 is so weak

00:15:41.320 and terrified

00:15:41.960 that they're scared.

00:15:44.040 but then it got,

00:15:45.000 and you mentioned

00:15:45.480 in your question,

00:15:46.200 it got truly

00:15:48.300 Monty Python-esque

00:15:50.160 level absurd

00:15:52.560 because a Chinese

00:15:55.040 government-run newspaper

00:15:56.600 publicly called

00:15:59.020 on the Chinese military

00:16:00.240 to shoot down

00:16:01.300 Nancy Pelosi's plane

00:16:02.980 when she tried to land.

00:16:06.560 And then at the

00:16:07.160 White House press conference,

00:16:09.500 the White House press secretary

00:16:10.720 was asked,

00:16:11.640 what do you make?

00:16:12.680 What is the administration

00:16:13.800 position

00:16:14.620 on this Chinese

00:16:17.520 government-run newspaper

00:16:18.980 calling for Chinese missiles 0.95

00:16:20.740 to shoot down

00:16:21.760 Nancy Pelosi's plane?

00:16:23.820 And the White House press secretary

00:16:25.200 said,

00:16:25.460 oh, we have no position

00:16:26.240 on that.

00:16:27.360 Which I got to admit,

00:16:28.880 Liz, 0.99

00:16:29.060 is frigging nuts. 0.99

00:16:30.240 Listen, 0.98

00:16:30.860 I'm no fan

00:16:31.560 of Nancy Pelosi,

00:16:32.960 but the only answer

00:16:35.000 to that question

00:16:35.960 should be

00:16:36.720 anyone attacking 0.98

00:16:39.680 and trying to murder

00:16:40.820 the speaker 0.72

00:16:42.440 of the House

00:16:43.080 of the United States

00:16:43.940 of America.

00:16:44.360 If they shot down

00:16:45.200 her plane,

00:16:45.840 it would be an act

00:16:46.800 of war

00:16:47.300 and the result

00:16:48.860 would be overwhelming

00:16:50.540 and catastrophic.

00:16:51.460 That is the only answer

00:16:52.880 you can give,

00:16:53.840 whether you like Pelosi

00:16:54.840 or not.

00:16:56.860 And the level

00:16:57.940 of weakness

00:16:58.580 that you asked

00:17:00.620 the Biden White House,

00:17:01.700 what's your position

00:17:02.480 on China murdering

00:17:03.620 the speaker of the House

00:17:04.480 of the United States?

00:17:05.480 Oh, we don't have a view.

00:17:06.620 You know,

00:17:06.920 what's a little murder

00:17:07.960 of senior government officials

00:17:09.400 between friends?

00:17:10.480 Like, 0.97

00:17:11.280 holy crap, 0.99

00:17:13.000 that statement 0.99

00:17:14.140 increased the chances

00:17:16.160 of China invading Taiwan

00:17:17.640 dramatically

00:17:18.380 because they're taking

00:17:19.840 a measure of

00:17:20.960 does Joe Biden

00:17:22.020 have the backbone

00:17:22.860 to do anything?

00:17:25.100 And if they're not

00:17:25.960 even willing to say,

00:17:26.980 please don't shoot down

00:17:27.780 our speaker of the House,

00:17:28.780 what are the chances

00:17:29.380 they're going to do

00:17:29.860 much of anything else?

00:17:31.500 It's so unreal

00:17:32.740 to watch this unfolding.

00:17:34.460 You and I did an episode

00:17:36.000 a while back

00:17:37.040 on the cloakroom

00:17:38.320 talking about

00:17:39.160 your foreign policy philosophy

00:17:40.880 and you described it as

00:17:42.480 on the spectrum

00:17:43.940 of isolationists

00:17:45.600 to interventionists.

00:17:46.740 You said it's not

00:17:47.400 somewhere in between

00:17:48.160 on the spectrum.

00:17:48.780 It's a third point

00:17:49.660 on a triangle

00:17:50.460 where you analyze

00:17:52.600 what the interests

00:17:53.920 of the United States are

00:17:55.600 before getting involved

00:17:57.160 in a foreign conflict

00:17:58.220 to make sure

00:17:58.820 that it's particularly

00:18:00.140 within our interests

00:18:01.220 and not just

00:18:01.880 something that

00:18:03.000 we're interested

00:18:04.400 in when we get involved

00:18:05.900 and especially

00:18:06.340 our military getting involved.

00:18:07.480 So taking that

00:18:08.320 and by the way,

00:18:08.980 anybody watching this

00:18:10.040 who hasn't watched

00:18:10.700 that episode,

00:18:11.080 I highly recommend

00:18:11.680 you go back

00:18:12.240 and look at it.

00:18:13.500 Very interesting.

00:18:15.100 One of our best,

00:18:16.000 if I do say so,

00:18:17.080 myself,

00:18:17.680 but how would you apply

00:18:18.980 that foreign policy philosophy

00:18:20.700 to a scenario

00:18:22.960 where China invades Taiwan?

00:18:24.860 Should the United States

00:18:25.620 get involved?

00:18:26.460 Should we not?

00:18:27.760 And if so,

00:18:28.480 how much?

00:18:29.240 In what way?

00:18:30.600 What are our interests?

00:18:31.300 So it's a highly

00:18:31.880 complicated question.

00:18:34.360 And should we get involved?

00:18:37.820 Absolutely, yes.

00:18:38.700 And actually,

00:18:39.120 the Taiwan Assistance Act

00:18:40.260 obligates us to get involved.

00:18:42.080 Now, the act does not specify

00:18:43.480 what get involved means.

00:18:45.220 So there's a whole range

00:18:46.240 of involvement.

00:18:48.180 Anytime you're dealing

00:18:49.560 with a superpower

00:18:50.440 that is a threat

00:18:52.620 on the order

00:18:53.300 of communist China

00:18:54.260 or on the order

00:18:55.040 during the Cold War

00:18:55.920 of the Soviet Union,

00:18:57.060 your best hope

00:19:00.060 is to deter aggression

00:19:01.540 and you deter aggression

00:19:03.560 from a position of strength

00:19:04.780 and not a position

00:19:05.660 of weakness.

00:19:06.720 So during the Cold War,

00:19:08.600 nobody in their right mind

00:19:09.640 wanted to get

00:19:10.120 into a shooting war

00:19:10.720 with the Soviet Union.

00:19:11.700 Ronald Reagan

00:19:12.200 did not want to get

00:19:12.960 into a shooting war

00:19:13.800 with the Soviet Union,

00:19:15.220 but he believed

00:19:16.280 in peace through strength

00:19:17.420 that if we build up

00:19:18.180 our military

00:19:18.720 and we create

00:19:19.180 enough deterrence

00:19:20.020 that we can defeat them

00:19:21.700 without having

00:19:22.500 to go to war with them.

00:19:23.800 Likewise,

00:19:24.840 look, 1.00

00:19:25.100 only a lunatic 1.00

00:19:26.140 wants to go to war 1.00

00:19:27.640 with communist China.

00:19:29.580 That a full-out war

00:19:31.100 with communist China

00:19:32.040 would result

00:19:32.660 in massive casualties

00:19:33.920 on both sides.

00:19:35.520 No one in the right mind

00:19:36.400 wants to see that happen.

00:19:38.580 Taiwan poses

00:19:43.680 an enormous threat

00:19:45.200 to the Chinese government

00:19:46.320 for a number of reasons.

00:19:48.120 One,

00:19:49.980 because it demonstrates

00:19:51.280 that Chinese people

00:19:54.940 can live

00:19:55.540 in freedom

00:19:56.180 and prosperity

00:19:57.020 and with human rights.

00:19:59.780 Look,

00:20:00.120 the people in Taiwan

00:20:01.020 are ethnically Chinese.

00:20:02.400 There's no difference

00:20:03.360 in the nationality,

00:20:05.720 the ethnicity,

00:20:06.500 the history

00:20:06.960 of the people on Taiwan

00:20:07.980 from the people

00:20:08.580 in mainland China.

00:20:09.900 But what terrifies Xi

00:20:12.540 and the Communist Party

00:20:13.620 is the 1.3 billion Chinese

00:20:16.340 living under communist tyranny

00:20:18.140 and oppression

00:20:19.240 look across the Taiwan Strait

00:20:21.580 and say,

00:20:21.920 hey, wait a second,

00:20:22.520 they're Chinese just like us,

00:20:23.760 but they are free,

00:20:25.940 they have elections,

00:20:26.900 they have free speech,

00:20:28.180 they have prosperity,

00:20:29.960 their standard of living

00:20:30.900 is much, much better

00:20:31.780 than ours.

00:20:32.760 Wait a second,

00:20:33.560 that system,

00:20:34.440 that free enterprise system

00:20:35.740 is a lot better 0.59

00:20:37.480 than our crappy 0.99

00:20:38.120 communist system. 0.98

00:20:39.660 That's why the Chinese government 0.92

00:20:41.440 is so terrified of Taiwan

00:20:42.800 because it emboldens

00:20:44.520 their system.

00:20:45.120 Now, for the same reason,

00:20:48.880 we should speak out vigorously

00:20:51.080 in support of Taiwan,

00:20:53.420 vigorously in support of Hong Kong

00:20:54.880 because they both have demonstrated

00:20:56.380 the power of freedom

00:20:57.520 and free enterprise.

00:20:59.080 And what's in our interest

00:21:00.020 is seeing the Chinese 0.91

00:21:01.040 communist government fall,

00:21:03.160 just like it was in our interest

00:21:04.600 to see the Soviet Union fall.

00:21:06.920 And so what I think

00:21:07.900 we should be doing

00:21:08.780 is number one,

00:21:09.920 vigorously speaking out for Taiwan,

00:21:11.760 that I think using the bully pulpit

00:21:13.540 of America is really powerful

00:21:15.560 and it undermines

00:21:16.500 totalitarian regimes.

00:21:18.660 But number two,

00:21:21.140 providing weaponry,

00:21:24.200 selling weaponry to Taiwan.

00:21:25.640 Look, Taiwan is an incredibly

00:21:26.980 successful economy.

00:21:28.020 They can afford to buy our weapons.

00:21:29.280 We're not giving them stuff.

00:21:30.260 It's not a case of welfare.

00:21:32.820 They're incredibly successful.

00:21:34.840 But we should be selling them

00:21:36.700 military weaponry,

00:21:38.940 sophisticated military weaponry

00:21:40.820 that they can use

00:21:42.000 to defend Taiwan

00:21:42.980 against China

00:21:43.820 and to change

00:21:44.840 that cost-benefit analysis.

00:21:46.400 So the Chinese generals

00:21:47.280 are saying,

00:21:48.120 well, wait a second.

00:21:49.340 If we launch

00:21:50.320 an amphibious attack,

00:21:51.720 these guys have

00:21:53.060 sophisticated enough

00:21:54.320 weapons

00:21:56.400 that they can drive up

00:21:57.860 the cost a lot.

00:21:58.820 In particular,

00:22:00.260 what you want

00:22:01.060 is asymmetric

00:22:02.580 weaponry,

00:22:04.200 the ability to have

00:22:05.220 not just

00:22:05.820 a bunch of tanks

00:22:07.620 that are sitting stationary

00:22:08.640 and are really easy

00:22:09.420 to take out,

00:22:10.360 but you want things

00:22:11.560 that are mobile,

00:22:12.460 you want things

00:22:13.240 that some of the things

00:22:14.880 we're seeing in Ukraine

00:22:15.780 like javelins and stingers

00:22:17.340 and mines that you can put

00:22:19.240 in the Taiwan Strait,

00:22:20.260 all of which make

00:22:21.080 an amphibious assault

00:22:22.020 much more difficult.

00:22:23.180 I'll mention,

00:22:23.920 by the way,

00:22:24.260 another reason why

00:22:25.300 a Chinese invasion 0.91

00:22:27.300 of Taiwan

00:22:27.860 would be enormously harmful

00:22:29.880 to the United States

00:22:30.820 is a very large percentage

00:22:33.900 of advanced semiconductors

00:22:35.240 that are made worldwide

00:22:36.420 are made in Taiwan.

00:22:37.420 America produces 0.91

00:22:39.200 very little of it.

00:22:40.140 Hopefully we'll see more

00:22:41.180 and the Senate

00:22:42.600 just passed a big bill

00:22:43.760 that has tax incentives

00:22:45.320 to create

00:22:45.900 manufactured semiconductors

00:22:48.120 here.

00:22:48.520 I support the tax incentives.

00:22:50.120 It also had

00:22:51.040 corporate welfare

00:22:52.140 for big multinationals.

00:22:53.840 I don't support that,

00:22:54.860 so I voted against

00:22:55.600 the overall bill,

00:22:56.960 but

00:22:58.060 if China invaded Taiwan

00:23:01.080 tomorrow,

00:23:02.020 it would have a stranglehold

00:23:03.920 on advanced semiconductors

00:23:05.460 on a global scale.

00:23:07.720 Our military

00:23:08.540 is dependent

00:23:09.180 on those semiconductors.

00:23:10.980 Our technology industry,

00:23:12.920 phones,

00:23:13.680 satellites,

00:23:14.320 computers,

00:23:16.020 cars,

00:23:17.320 the level

00:23:18.500 of our economy

00:23:19.660 that would be held

00:23:21.200 hostage to China

00:23:22.540 if China took over Taiwan

00:23:24.220 would be devastating.

00:23:27.140 So the right answer

00:23:28.640 is not

00:23:29.400 let's send in

00:23:30.660 the Navy

00:23:31.640 to go fight

00:23:32.220 the Chinese Navy.

00:23:33.100 That's a very bad outcome.

00:23:34.220 the level

00:23:35.840 the response

00:23:36.860 instead is

00:23:37.920 let's be smart

00:23:38.880 and proactive

00:23:39.540 and deter the invasion

00:23:40.720 in the first place

00:23:41.740 by making clear

00:23:43.200 that the cost

00:23:44.720 to China

00:23:45.320 will significantly

00:23:46.160 exceed the potential benefits.

00:23:48.160 This is why

00:23:48.520 it's so important

00:23:49.020 to have

00:23:49.560 a foreign policy

00:23:50.640 philosophy

00:23:51.260 because you can

00:23:52.040 identify U.S. interests

00:23:53.100 and then you can

00:23:53.680 moderate our response

00:23:55.120 and how to be

00:23:55.960 a deterrent first

00:23:57.040 based on

00:23:58.140 that structure,

00:23:59.120 that framework

00:23:59.640 and not based on

00:24:00.820 just the emotion

00:24:01.540 of the moment.

00:24:03.360 Okay,

00:24:03.660 we have a mailbag question

00:24:04.720 and some context

00:24:05.500 for this question.

00:24:06.720 This week

00:24:07.220 the Senate

00:24:07.800 is set to vote

00:24:08.640 at the end of the week

00:24:09.520 on the Manchin-Schumer

00:24:11.520 so-called

00:24:12.640 Inflation Reduction Act

00:24:13.980 of 2022.

00:24:15.000 We know that Manchin

00:24:15.760 caved to Schumer

00:24:16.760 after Manchin

00:24:17.420 had torpedoed

00:24:18.160 Build Back Better.

00:24:18.960 This is kind of

00:24:19.480 Build Back Better light.

00:24:20.760 They claim it's

00:24:21.320 addressing inflation.

00:24:22.280 We know that

00:24:22.620 that's not true.

00:24:23.840 Craig Alexander asks,

00:24:25.940 do you believe

00:24:26.640 Senator Cruz

00:24:27.380 that Senator

00:24:28.300 Kyrsten Sinema

00:24:29.320 will vote yes

00:24:30.400 for this bill?

00:24:31.240 I genuinely

00:24:32.420 don't know.

00:24:33.620 It is the only hope

00:24:34.780 of defeating it.

00:24:35.500 So there are 49

00:24:36.200 Democrats who are yes.

00:24:37.620 I'm confident

00:24:38.580 there are 50

00:24:39.380 Republicans who are no.

00:24:41.220 So the only one

00:24:42.380 who will decide it

00:24:43.180 is Kyrsten Sinema.

00:24:45.140 I will tell you

00:24:46.140 Sinema was playing

00:24:47.020 pretty coy today.

00:24:47.880 So she was

00:24:48.480 on the Senate floor.

00:24:50.120 She was in the cloak

00:24:50.680 room today.

00:24:51.260 We were all asking her

00:24:52.180 saying, you know,

00:24:52.800 gosh, a no

00:24:54.140 would be a really

00:24:54.720 great vote.

00:24:55.300 We'd love to see it.

00:24:56.820 She wouldn't tell us.

00:24:58.200 So we asked her.

00:24:59.120 She wouldn't tell us.

00:25:00.820 She is not publicly

00:25:02.340 committed.

00:25:03.040 So she has not said

00:25:04.320 one way or another.

00:25:06.920 I think it is possible.

00:25:11.160 She may insist

00:25:12.300 on some changes to it.

00:25:13.500 If I were to guess

00:25:14.460 what's most likely,

00:25:16.340 I think it's most likely

00:25:17.580 she votes for something,

00:25:19.260 but it's not

00:25:20.060 this exact version.

00:25:21.120 And I don't know

00:25:21.700 what her conditions

00:25:22.420 will be,

00:25:22.940 but I think

00:25:23.580 she will probably 0.73

00:25:25.460 put a price

00:25:27.520 on her yes vote.

00:25:29.400 And I hope

00:25:30.380 the price

00:25:30.940 makes it less bad.

00:25:32.300 On these issues,

00:25:33.720 she has been,

00:25:35.140 look,

00:25:35.420 she's had real guts

00:25:36.260 taking on Schumer

00:25:37.100 and the crazies 0.89

00:25:37.720 in her parties.

00:25:38.480 And so

00:25:39.200 I don't know

00:25:40.300 what that'll be.

00:25:42.160 But if I were

00:25:43.320 to predict

00:25:43.880 she will have

00:25:45.880 some condition

00:25:46.600 and make them

00:25:47.200 change it somehow.

00:25:48.760 And if they do that,

00:25:50.280 I think she probably

00:25:51.240 gets to yes

00:25:52.020 at the end of the day.

00:25:52.800 But I don't know.

00:25:53.360 We'll find out

00:25:53.880 in the next couple of days.

00:25:55.320 Well, I think

00:25:55.640 we're all going to be

00:25:56.280 sitting here waiting

00:25:57.000 with bated breath

00:25:57.840 to see what she decides.

00:25:59.060 I hope and I pray

00:25:59.920 that she has the courage

00:26:00.740 to reject this

00:26:01.480 tremendously bad bill.

00:26:03.040 But what do you guys think?

00:26:04.120 Let me know.

00:26:04.680 Post, tell me.

00:26:05.340 Do you think Sinema

00:26:05.760 is going to vote yes?

00:26:06.380 Do you think she's

00:26:06.800 going to vote no?

00:26:07.320 Do you think she's

00:26:07.720 going to put conditions

00:26:08.420 on it that will be

00:26:10.200 given to her

00:26:11.180 and then she will vote yes?

00:26:12.600 What do you think?

00:26:13.380 Post, let me know.

00:26:14.320 Also, don't forget

00:26:14.940 we have two episodes

00:26:15.780 of The Cloak Room

00:26:16.560 this week.

00:26:17.360 In our next episode,

00:26:18.340 we're going to talk

00:26:18.880 about a topic

00:26:19.380 that I promised you

00:26:20.000 a couple weeks

00:26:20.520 we would talk about.

00:26:21.220 We're finally getting to it.

00:26:22.400 We're going to talk

00:26:26.280 I don't want to miss this one.

00:26:27.560 Senator, as always,

00:26:28.620 it was good to chat with you.

00:26:29.900 I'm Liz Wheeler.

00:26:30.620 This is The Cloak Room

00:26:31.600 on Verdict Plus.

00:26:32.960 This is an iHeart podcast.

00:26:35.660 Guaranteed human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - August 05, 2022

The Cloakroom Preview： What if China Invades Taiwan？

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