Verdict with Ted Cruz - Trump Takes Out Venezuelan Narcoterrorists in Decisive Military Attack plus Stopping DC Crime & Trump is ALIVE!

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.340 Welcome.

00:00:06.040 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.340 Senator, I got to say, there are certain days where it's just really extra fun to be an American.

00:00:14.460 And watching us take on the cartels and watching us blow up a boat filled with drugs.

00:00:21.340 After the president warned, you don't want to keep doing this by Venezuela, and they did it anyway. 1.00

00:00:26.580 God bless America.

00:00:27.580 This is Trump Doctrine, FAFO 101.

00:00:31.360 Well, let me say, it is a bad time to be a narco-terrorist.

00:00:34.900 It is a bad time to be an enemy of America.

00:00:37.560 And we saw President Trump take out a boat off the waters of Venezuela.

00:00:43.060 Eleven Trenderagua gang members were aboard that boat.

00:00:46.480 It was carrying narcotics.

00:00:47.640 We're going to break that down.

00:00:48.600 We're going to talk about what the impact is going to be on Venezuela, on Mexico, on narco-terrorism around the world.

00:00:55.700 This follows on with the last podcast we did and my trip recently to Mexico, calling on Mexico to team up with us in fighting narco-terrorism.

00:01:06.120 What happened in Venezuela shows, one way or another, we are going to defend the United States of America.

00:01:10.860 We're also going to talk about legislation that I introduced this week, legislation to protect D.C., the crime wave we've seen in D.C., the murder wave we've seen in D.C.

00:01:23.580 President Trump has acted decisively to combat that crime.

00:01:27.480 But a major cause of that crime is an ordinance that D.C. passed in 2022, lessening the penalties for violent crime.

00:01:36.180 I filed legislation to repeal that 2022 law.

00:01:39.680 We're going to talk about that as well.

00:01:41.420 And finally, breaking news.

00:01:44.820 Donald J. Trump is alive.

00:01:47.200 That news causes great pain, great hysteria, great mourning for Democrats, for the left-wing media, all of whom were celebrating his death.

00:02:00.560 We're going to talk about just how ridiculous Democrats in the media were in the last few days as they were eager to put President Trump in the cemetery and how sad that is to see people openly rooting for the death of the president. 0.80

00:02:13.700 Yeah, if you thought the Democratic Party could be any less, more soulless, well, here's another example of it. 0.96

00:02:19.980 You can't make it up.

00:02:21.480 All right, I want to tell you real quick about a really cool note I got.

00:02:24.780 I got a note from someone that was 77 years old.

00:02:30.600 And it was a lady, and she said,

00:02:32.800 Mr. Ferguson, I listen to Verdict each and every day you do your podcasts.

00:02:38.300 My grandson turned me on to the show.

00:02:40.800 I've never bought anything off of radio advertising, but I decided to buy Crockett Coffee because I love coffee.

00:02:51.060 And I decided, why not?

00:02:53.020 You are right.

00:02:53.900 It is amazing.

00:02:55.120 Just want to say thank you from a senior citizen who is now waking up drinking the same coffee you guys drink.

00:03:02.160 Godspeed.

00:03:03.000 That is the best maybe email I've gotten this year.

00:03:06.340 And if you haven't tried Crockett Coffee, you got to.

00:03:09.540 It is small batch coffee perfected on purpose by experts who love the taste of amazing coffee.

00:03:16.980 Now, this is small batch, so they do it and they roast it in small batches so that you get premium coffee with every cup.

00:03:24.820 Now, my two friends, my fellow patriots, Buck Sexton, Clay Travis, they actually started this company because they understood that in the coffee business,

00:03:32.880 there are a lot of, like, woke sell-out cups of coffee that you can buy.

00:03:38.380 And they said, look, we're never going to sell out.

00:03:40.140 You can choose between fresh ground, whole bean, or K-cup.

00:03:42.920 You choose.

00:03:43.860 And if you're even interested in the mushroom coffee and the positive benefits that come with enjoying that each day,

00:03:48.520 Crockett Coffee is now producing that as well, and it's amazing.

00:03:51.820 Now, they keep it simple.

00:03:53.440 Dark roast, mild roast, or light roast.

00:03:55.520 They've got a decaf version and the mushroom organic blend.

00:03:58.600 You just get small batch premium coffee the way it's supposed to be made.

00:04:02.740 And here's the other thing.

00:04:03.540 A portion of every purchase goes to support the Tunnel to Towers Foundation because the people at Crockett Coffee pledge to never, ever forget.

00:04:11.460 Now, let me save you money so you can try it.

00:04:14.020 All right, here you go.

00:04:14.820 Go to CrockettCoffee.com.

00:04:17.060 Use my name, Ben.

00:04:18.000 You're going to get 20% off your first order.

00:04:20.540 That's CrockettCoffee.com.

00:04:22.840 Use my name, Ben, as your promo code.

00:04:24.880 You'll get 20% off, and you'll wake up to the best cup of coffee of your life.

00:04:29.380 All right, so I've got to ask you, Senator.

00:04:31.240 I was actually asked this question today, and they said, hold on a second.

00:04:36.020 Senator Cruz goes down to Latin America.

00:04:38.440 He's dealing with and talking about the gangs.

00:04:40.780 He's talking about cartels.

00:04:42.460 He's warning don't mess with America. 0.95

00:04:44.420 And then all of a sudden, we see President Trump take out this boat and send it out to the world.

00:04:49.920 And they're asking me about the timing.

00:04:51.860 Are you just this good, or did you know something that we didn't know?

00:04:56.320 Yeah, I'll confess we really are that good.

00:04:59.500 Or look, put it more simply.

00:05:02.400 Put it more simply, I know Donald Trump.

00:05:05.680 I know who he is.

00:05:06.840 My message to the Mexican government this past week was I think there is a 0% chance, not a 5% chance, not a 10% chance, a 0% chance that four years will pass without President Trump acting decisively to take out the Mexican drug cartels.

00:05:26.000 And the choice that I think the Mexican government has is do they want the U.S. to do so unilaterally, or do they want to work with us?

00:05:36.420 Do they want to be our partners?

00:05:37.660 And I told them, listen, we would much rather work with you.

00:05:40.400 It's a much better situation that we work collaboratively.

00:05:44.000 But I got to say, they got fairly worked up.

00:05:46.780 They said, no, no, no, you have to respect our sovereignty.

00:05:49.380 I said, listen, if these were just local thugs, if these were pickpockets that were robbing people in the streets of Mexico City, it wouldn't be our problem. 0.95

00:05:57.840 But these Mexican cartels are murdering Americans. 0.90

00:06:00.660 And so the commander in chief has an obligation to act against them.

00:06:04.200 And I have to say what just happened is a powerful illustration of it.

00:06:07.700 Now, what happened?

00:06:08.640 In Venezuela, video was put out showing the U.S. military taking out a drug boat and taking it out.

00:06:17.520 And the video shows the boat going along and then, boom, the explosion.

00:06:21.940 Eleven suspected Trenderagua narco terrorists were on board the boat.

00:06:27.520 Here's what Fox News has reported.

00:06:30.120 President Donald Trump shared dramatic video Tuesday of a U.S. military strike that blew apart a Venezuelan drug boat in the southern Caribbean,

00:06:37.800 leaving nearly a dozen suspected Trenderagua narco terrorists dead.

00:06:42.040 Quote, over the last few minutes, we literally shot out a boat,

00:06:46.900 a drug-carrying boat, Trump said during a news conference in the Oval Office.

00:06:50.580 A lot of drugs in that boat.

00:06:52.520 And you'll be seeing that and you'll be reading about that.

00:06:54.800 It just happened moments ago.

00:06:58.320 The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action, Trump wrote in a social media post.

00:07:04.080 No U.S. forces were harmed in the strike.

00:07:06.860 Please let this serve as a notice to anybody,

00:07:10.560 even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America.

00:07:14.500 Beware, beware as all caps.

00:07:17.160 Thank you for your attention to the matter.

00:07:19.640 And it looks like nine exclamation marks.

00:07:22.960 Now, I got to say, nine exclamation marks for 11 terrorists who blew up.

00:07:28.100 That's a really powerful message. 0.96

00:07:29.880 I got to say, if you are a narco terrorist right now,

00:07:32.760 if you're MS-13, if you're Trenderagua,

00:07:35.440 if you're any of the cartels that are bringing drugs into this country,

00:07:39.020 you got to be looking around, you got to be looking up going,

00:07:41.440 is there a drone up in the sky right now?

00:07:43.460 Are they going to take me out next?

00:07:45.560 And that's the kind of decisive leadership that we see in this commander in chief,

00:07:50.560 that in four years, ask yourself,

00:07:53.120 why did Joe Biden not do anything to stop the narco terrorist, 1.00

00:07:59.720 who were murdering Americans, who were flooding drugs into this country, 0.98

00:08:03.680 who were producing a massive death toll?

00:08:07.560 More than 100,000 people died last year of drug overdoses.

00:08:11.900 Seventy percent of that was fentanyl.

00:08:13.420 What did Joe Biden do?

00:08:14.580 Well, it's actually worse than that.

00:08:16.320 Not only did he do nothing, Ben,

00:08:19.080 he was actively opening our border and releasing the terrorists

00:08:22.980 and the smugglers and the human traffickers and the drug traffickers

00:08:26.380 who were engaged in this assault on the U.S.

00:08:29.640 And so this is a powerful moment.

00:08:33.260 Let's just remind people of what you just said and how real that was.

00:08:40.600 They actually sent to Texas forklifts that lifted up the barbed wire barriers

00:08:46.980 that were put down to let illegal immigrants into the United States of America.

00:08:51.380 They sued Texas.

00:08:51.880 Like, if there's any, yes.

00:08:55.060 So Texas is fighting to keep out human traffickers and drug traffickers

00:08:59.240 and the Biden administration, instead of saying,

00:09:01.760 thank you, Texas, let's secure our border, 0.98

00:09:03.520 they went and sued Texas and said, damn it, no, 0.98

00:09:06.280 we need more human traffickers and drug traffickers in America. 0.99

00:09:09.640 They didn't say that, but that's effectively what they said.

00:09:12.880 Yeah, no, it's exactly the message that they sent.

00:09:15.940 I also think one of the interesting things about this video,

00:09:18.160 and if you haven't seen it, it's everywhere on the Internet.

00:09:20.340 But I'm sure it's on, Senator, on your Twitter as well.

00:09:23.840 Go there and look at it.

00:09:25.580 But it was also, and I think this is part of the message that President Trump was trying to say.

00:09:28.620 And by the way, for folks that are watching the video,

00:09:30.740 for folks who are watching this on YouTube or Rumble,

00:09:33.760 we're playing the video right now.

00:09:35.320 So if you're watching this visually, you can get this as an audio pod,

00:09:38.320 but you can also watch it visually.

00:09:39.720 So you can watch the video as we're talking about it.

00:09:42.460 Yeah, and I think as you talk about it or see this video,

00:09:45.740 one of the things that I think is very interesting about the messaging,

00:09:49.560 this boat had no idea this was about to happen.

00:09:52.480 It wasn't flying through the water.

00:09:54.300 It wasn't zigzagging.

00:09:55.600 It didn't know it was under attack.

00:09:57.680 It was just out there doing its thing, and then it just got blown up.

00:10:02.120 The psychological message that that's going to have to send to anybody else

00:10:06.440 thinking about getting in a boat tonight, this morning, tomorrow is,

00:10:11.060 you don't know when you're going to die, but we know where you are,

00:10:14.560 and you will not be able to, A, outrun us because you won't even know we're there.

00:10:18.740 That is a powerful message, and I think that's part of what the president was trying to accomplish.

00:10:23.620 Amen.

00:10:24.620 You know, Carlos Jimenez from Florida said that the vessel belonged to the cartel of the suns,

00:10:30.020 and what he said on X was, this is going swimmingly.

00:10:33.620 We continue, and the uncertainty of it, it reminds me of a couple of things.

00:10:40.240 It reminds me, number one, of the Iranian IRGC, the terrorists, 0.93

00:10:49.500 who one after the other were taken out, were taken out, were taken out,

00:10:53.260 and they didn't know what hit them, and it made them incredibly uncertain.

00:10:56.640 It made them incredibly uncertain.

00:10:57.980 When Israel, we were joking, like the IRGC, 0.99

00:11:01.120 when the Ayatollah would appoint someone as the head of the IRGC,

00:11:04.700 and Israel would take them out, 0.92

00:11:06.520 and then they named somebody else the head of the IRGC,

00:11:09.100 the next day Israel would take them out, 0.88

00:11:10.780 and by like the third or fourth time,

00:11:12.980 like if the Ayatollah calls you and said,

00:11:14.620 hey, Ben, you want to be the head of the IRGC, what would you say?

00:11:18.460 No. No. Hell no.

00:11:21.180 I'm sorry. New number. Who did this? No. Speak English.

00:11:23.300 Like, literally, you got that job, and your life expectancy was about 24 hours.

00:11:29.160 You'd point, no, no, no, I think he'd make a much better head of the IRGC, 1.00

00:11:32.260 the guy next to me, let's kill him. 0.97

00:11:33.980 And the other example it reminded me of, again in the Middle East, 0.99

00:11:38.100 was Hezbollah.

00:11:40.380 And Israel, when they carried out the pager operation,

00:11:45.280 where these pagers that Hezbollah gave to their senior terrorist exploded,

00:11:49.040 and killed terrorists, wounded terrorists,

00:11:52.300 and then, like, I think it was 48 hours later,

00:11:55.580 they had a second operation with walkie-talkies,

00:11:57.620 and the walkie-talkies exploded.

00:11:59.720 And after 48 hours of all of these exploding,

00:12:04.000 imagine for a second you're Hezbollah terrorist, 0.63

00:12:06.480 and the phone rings, and you've got to be like, 0.96

00:12:08.360 whoa, whoa, what, what the hell?

00:12:09.660 Like, the interim effect of knowing any moment could be your last,

00:12:15.220 you don't realize it's coming,

00:12:16.800 it could come from a drone strike in the air,

00:12:19.080 it could come from a pager exploding.

00:12:21.860 That is a powerful deterrent.

00:12:24.300 And this ship just cruising along,

00:12:26.480 I guarantee you the next drug runner that is cruising along in a boat

00:12:30.160 is going to look up and wonder,

00:12:32.620 okay, is there a missile about to explode me into the smithereens?

00:12:37.580 Let's also talk about the message that was sent,

00:12:40.280 not just to the terrorists, the narco-terrorists, 0.56

00:12:43.100 but also to the message it just sent to Mexico,

00:12:46.840 and to the leader in Venezuela, Maduro,

00:12:49.620 who's got a big bounty on his head.

00:12:52.560 Last I checked, I think it's $50 million.

00:12:55.300 Yep, $50 million.

00:12:56.960 So this week, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State,

00:13:00.820 is traveling to Mexico City,

00:13:02.500 and it's right after.

00:13:03.560 I just came from Mexico City,

00:13:04.840 I conveyed to the government,

00:13:06.480 accept our offer,

00:13:07.700 work with our military,

00:13:08.780 take out the cartels.

00:13:10.360 Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico,

00:13:12.060 said, no, we reject your offer.

00:13:14.820 Here's what Marco said on Twitter today.

00:13:19.320 He said, quote,

00:13:20.020 the president has been very clear

00:13:21.440 that he's going to use the full power of America

00:13:23.420 and the full might of the United States

00:13:24.960 to take on and eradicate these drug cartels,

00:13:27.840 no matter where they're operating from,

00:13:30.060 and no matter how long they've been able to act with impunity.

00:13:34.200 Those days are over.

00:13:36.200 And he went on to say,

00:13:39.440 TDA is a designated foreign terrorist organization

00:13:42.840 operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro,

00:13:46.700 responsible for mass murder,

00:13:49.120 drug trafficking, sex trafficking,

00:13:50.980 and acts of violence and terror

00:13:52.460 across the United States and the Western Hemisphere.

00:13:55.980 Now, that is exactly true

00:13:57.960 of the Mexican drug cartels as well.

00:14:00.040 Every word he said.

00:14:01.000 And so for Maduro, you're right,

00:14:02.660 there's a $50 million bounty.

00:14:04.280 If you're Maduro, you've got to feel really nervous right now

00:14:07.120 that there is some ambitious general,

00:14:09.700 or maybe not a general,

00:14:10.620 maybe just a colonel or major in your army,

00:14:12.860 who says, you know what?

00:14:14.160 $50 million sounds pretty good.

00:14:15.940 I sure would like to live a life of leisure on an island.

00:14:19.700 Maduro's got to be incredibly nervous.

00:14:22.060 But the cartels,

00:14:23.460 if the Mexican cartel leaders have to understand,

00:14:27.020 they are next.

00:14:28.960 And if you are a government official in Mexico,

00:14:31.420 you've got to make a choice.

00:14:32.280 Now, by the way, Ben, it's possible

00:14:35.180 the Mexican government may make the decision,

00:14:37.980 you know what?

00:14:39.600 We understand that Trump is going to take out the cartels,

00:14:42.620 but we just can't take the heat domestically

00:14:45.840 for domestic political reasons of being part of that.

00:14:48.540 So we would rather be oblivious

00:14:50.700 and not be a part of it

00:14:51.780 so we can just yell, 1.00

00:14:53.480 damn Yankee imperialist, 1.00

00:14:54.880 which is what they would yell 1.00

00:14:56.300 if they didn't participate,

00:14:57.420 because they may decide

00:14:58.440 that's better domestic politics. 0.80

00:15:00.660 Well, if they decide that, that's fine.

00:15:02.440 I understand that.

00:15:03.800 The message I tried to convey to them is,

00:15:06.500 listen, you're a friend and ally.

00:15:08.440 We would like to cooperate with you.

00:15:10.700 The analogy I used was Colombia with Plan Colombia,

00:15:14.540 where we worked with the Colombian government.

00:15:16.360 We took out the cartels in Colombia.

00:15:18.000 This was under George W. Bush.

00:15:20.000 That's the example that is the preferable example.

00:15:23.680 But if the Mexican government

00:15:25.120 is going to bury their head in the sand like an ostrich, 1.00

00:15:27.520 that does not relieve the commander-in-chief

00:15:30.220 of the obligation of protecting Americans.

00:15:32.000 And I think this week,

00:15:33.300 off the shores of Venezuela,

00:15:35.260 demonstrated he will act decisively

00:15:38.420 to protect this country.

00:15:40.340 If you've ever listened to the show before,

00:15:42.220 you know I'm a big advocate for the Second Amendment.

00:15:44.400 And I've shared on numerous occasions

00:15:46.160 how carrying a firearm literally saved my life

00:15:48.660 from a gang-related attack.

00:15:50.360 But many of you out there

00:15:51.620 may not feel comfortable carrying a firearm.

00:15:53.440 Maybe you have a loved one

00:15:54.700 that's just not comfortable.

00:15:56.140 They need a way to protect themselves.

00:15:58.200 And that's why I want you to know

00:15:59.280 about Berna launchers.

00:16:00.760 I have them,

00:16:01.620 and I've given them to many family members.

00:16:03.700 Berna is a handheld pistol

00:16:05.200 that fires both kinetic rounds

00:16:07.000 and chemical irritants

00:16:08.600 to separate you from an attacker.

00:16:11.460 And I'm here with Josh Sherrard from Berna

00:16:13.660 to tell us how carrying a Berna,

00:16:15.440 when taking a rideshare

00:16:17.180 could be a really good idea.

00:16:19.280 Josh, what has your team learned

00:16:21.200 about safety and ridesharing?

00:16:23.600 So recently, a story has broke

00:16:25.220 about rideshare,

00:16:26.460 including Berna and Lyft,

00:16:27.500 about the fact that they haven't been reporting

00:16:29.800 nearly as many attacks

00:16:31.240 between drivers and riders

00:16:32.600 as previously believed.

00:16:34.300 And unfortunately,

00:16:34.900 some of these are as serious

00:16:36.560 as sexual assaults,

00:16:38.180 major assaults

00:16:39.480 that are putting people in the hospital.

00:16:41.560 So what we know is that

00:16:43.140 there has to be something done

00:16:44.680 in order to improve the safety

00:16:46.600 from drivers and riders

00:16:48.140 on both ends.

00:16:49.460 And unfortunately,

00:16:50.220 Uber doesn't allow guns 0.96

00:16:51.100 to be carried

00:16:51.660 by riders in their cars.

00:16:53.660 So we're looking at trying

00:16:55.380 to find better ways

00:16:56.600 to improve that safety

00:16:57.900 so that when you're riding

00:16:59.100 in a rideshare,

00:16:59.940 you understand

00:17:00.520 that you're going to get

00:17:01.020 from point A to point B

00:17:02.100 and be able to do it safely.

00:17:04.020 And unfortunately,

00:17:05.220 a lot of the rideshare policies

00:17:07.020 out there

00:17:07.600 are not allowing riders

00:17:08.840 to carry weapons

00:17:09.840 inside the vehicle,

00:17:10.820 but a Berna

00:17:11.880 is something you can use.

00:17:13.240 Absolutely.

00:17:14.200 There's explicitly stated

00:17:15.580 in their policy

00:17:16.280 that they do not allow riders

00:17:17.840 to carry firearms

00:17:18.820 in their cars.

00:17:20.220 However,

00:17:20.960 those policies say nothing

00:17:22.200 about other less lethal weapons

00:17:23.780 like Berna launchers,

00:17:24.920 which means that Berna

00:17:25.700 is a great solution

00:17:26.900 for making sure

00:17:28.060 that you can stay safe

00:17:29.100 in these rideshares.

00:17:29.980 Look, I got one.

00:17:31.080 I carry one.

00:17:31.980 My wife has one as well.

00:17:33.360 Many family members.

00:17:34.340 And if you want more information

00:17:35.640 on how you and your family member

00:17:37.020 can protect yourselves

00:17:38.020 with a Berna launcher,

00:17:38.940 go to Berna B-Y-R-N-A dot com. 0.98

00:17:43.580 Again, that's Berna B-Y-R-N-A dot com. 1.00

00:17:47.000 Berna dot com right now.

00:17:49.460 Senator, I want to ask you

00:17:50.400 one final question on this,

00:17:51.940 and that is,

00:17:52.740 how quickly do you think

00:17:54.500 this could ratchet up?

00:17:56.240 I don't believe

00:17:57.280 this is a one and done.

00:17:58.720 I think this is the beginning,

00:18:00.320 not the end.

00:18:02.080 I don't believe

00:18:02.740 that President Trump

00:18:03.520 is bluffing.

00:18:04.620 I don't believe

00:18:05.140 the Secretary of State

00:18:06.040 and going down to Mexico

00:18:07.520 is a bluff either.

00:18:09.480 The President

00:18:10.220 has made it clear,

00:18:11.360 whether it's hitting

00:18:12.220 a terrorist on a tarmac

00:18:13.880 in Iraq,

00:18:15.660 whether it's going

00:18:16.500 after the Iran nuclear sites,

00:18:18.220 whether it's going

00:18:18.700 after ISIS

00:18:19.380 and wiping them out

00:18:20.880 or Al-Qaeda,

00:18:22.260 it doesn't matter.

00:18:23.280 And when he said,

00:18:24.080 I'm going to name you

00:18:25.200 terrorist organizations,

00:18:27.040 declare that

00:18:27.620 that's what you are,

00:18:28.780 that was the beginning.

00:18:30.180 Today was the beginning

00:18:31.040 of the action.

00:18:32.300 Do you have any reason

00:18:33.100 to believe

00:18:33.540 that this is not going

00:18:34.560 to be something

00:18:34.940 that we're going to be

00:18:35.400 talking about

00:18:35.760 for days and weeks ahead?

00:18:37.400 Yeah, no,

00:18:37.740 I think we're going

00:18:38.380 to see this

00:18:38.840 over and over again.

00:18:40.040 I want to play the clip

00:18:41.700 from when President Trump

00:18:42.820 described the action

00:18:44.080 in Venezuela.

00:18:44.980 Give a listen

00:18:45.560 to the President

00:18:46.080 talking about it.

00:18:47.480 When you come out

00:18:48.440 and when you leave

00:18:49.220 the room,

00:18:49.760 you'll see that

00:18:50.360 we just,

00:18:51.860 over the last few minutes,

00:18:53.520 literally shot out

00:18:54.700 a boat,

00:18:57.040 a drug-carrying boat,

00:18:58.460 a lot of drugs

00:18:59.080 in that boat.

00:19:00.440 And you'll be seeing that

00:19:01.840 and you'll be reading

00:19:02.780 about that.

00:19:03.820 It just happened

00:19:04.600 moments ago

00:19:05.620 and our great general,

00:19:09.320 head of the Joint Chiefs

00:19:10.500 of Staff,

00:19:11.040 who has been so incredible,

00:19:13.920 including what took place

00:19:15.440 in Iran,

00:19:16.980 knocking out potential nuclear power

00:19:20.800 for a long time to come.

00:19:22.480 I think within a month

00:19:23.440 they would have had it

00:19:24.180 if we didn't do what we did.

00:19:25.860 But he gave us

00:19:27.400 a little bit of a briefing

00:19:28.920 and you'll see.

00:19:30.980 And there's more

00:19:31.420 where that came from.

00:19:33.140 We have a lot of drugs

00:19:34.320 pouring into our country,

00:19:35.600 coming in for a long time.

00:19:37.600 And we just,

00:19:38.300 these came out of Venezuela

00:19:39.640 and coming out

00:19:41.160 very heavily from Venezuela.

00:19:42.400 A lot of things

00:19:43.020 are coming out of Venezuela.

00:19:44.360 So,

00:19:45.000 we took it out

00:19:46.100 and you'll get to see that

00:19:47.460 after this,

00:19:48.940 after this meeting is over.

00:19:50.820 I mean,

00:19:52.380 the president there

00:19:53.060 just seems so calm

00:19:54.140 and collected like,

00:19:55.080 hey,

00:19:55.320 I warned you,

00:19:56.100 I told you,

00:19:56.920 now it's happening.

00:19:58.540 This is an FAFO moment

00:20:00.160 yet again.

00:20:01.580 Well,

00:20:02.060 as the president said,

00:20:03.020 there's more where that came from.

00:20:04.600 I think those were words

00:20:05.900 that were freighted with import.

00:20:07.480 And this really does

00:20:10.120 key into my meeting

00:20:11.020 last week

00:20:11.720 with the governments

00:20:13.640 of El Salvador and Panama,

00:20:14.960 but especially Mexico.

00:20:16.760 I described how

00:20:18.060 when I met

00:20:18.540 with the Mexican defense minister,

00:20:20.560 he began the meeting

00:20:21.680 by arguing

00:20:22.420 at considerable length,

00:20:24.440 the cartels

00:20:25.200 are not terrorist organizations.

00:20:27.920 And I got to say,

00:20:28.920 I found that

00:20:29.440 a very odd thing

00:20:30.300 for him to argue

00:20:31.000 and obviously I disagreed.

00:20:33.480 And just as an objective matter,

00:20:35.520 whether he thinks

00:20:36.200 they're terrorist organizations

00:20:37.300 or not,

00:20:37.860 the United States

00:20:38.560 has designated them

00:20:39.760 as terrorist organizations.

00:20:40.780 And he said,

00:20:41.380 they're not terrorist organizations

00:20:42.840 because terrorist organizations

00:20:44.220 have a political agenda

00:20:46.120 and they spread fear

00:20:47.180 and terrify 0.70

00:20:47.840 the civilian population.

00:20:49.100 Now,

00:20:49.260 by the way,

00:20:49.840 the cartels

00:20:50.520 murder thousands,

00:20:52.000 they kidnap thousands,

00:20:53.180 they intimidate,

00:20:53.960 they spread fear.

00:20:54.940 By any rational definition,

00:20:57.480 they're a terrorist organization.

00:20:59.060 Now,

00:20:59.680 they're not motivated

00:21:00.740 by politics.

00:21:01.680 They're not the IRA

00:21:02.840 trying to free Ireland.

00:21:04.300 They're not the PLO

00:21:05.380 trying to overturn

00:21:06.860 or Hamas

00:21:07.600 trying to overturn

00:21:08.400 the Israeli government.

00:21:09.300 So it's not political motivations,

00:21:11.140 but it is money

00:21:12.840 and power

00:21:13.520 and control

00:21:14.220 that motivate them.

00:21:15.160 But their means

00:21:16.280 is terrorism.

00:21:18.320 The way they exercise power

00:21:20.980 is through murder

00:21:22.500 and rampant violence

00:21:25.000 and narcotics

00:21:26.960 and through spreading

00:21:29.040 fear and terror.

00:21:30.540 and their consequences.

00:21:32.540 Designating the cartels

00:21:33.700 as terrorist organizations

00:21:34.860 is not just

00:21:35.720 a paperwork notation.

00:21:38.280 Okay,

00:21:38.480 which box do you check

00:21:39.500 on the paper?

00:21:40.800 It means that

00:21:42.140 we have an authorization.

00:21:43.280 Look,

00:21:43.860 we take out terrorists

00:21:44.920 all over the world

00:21:45.900 and being a terrorist organization

00:21:48.100 means you are now

00:21:49.780 a target.

00:21:50.440 It means

00:21:50.880 if you're a terrorist organization,

00:21:52.860 look at the sky

00:21:53.760 because there could be

00:21:55.080 a drone

00:21:55.580 about to light you up

00:21:56.960 any second.

00:21:57.560 And I want to take a minute

00:21:59.420 to step back

00:22:00.960 because when it comes

00:22:01.780 to foreign policy right now,

00:22:04.100 the debate in this country

00:22:05.340 is often simplified

00:22:07.680 to the point of absurd.

00:22:09.640 Many people put foreign policy

00:22:11.640 as a bipolar situation.

00:22:14.040 You are either

00:22:15.140 an interventionist,

00:22:16.280 in which case

00:22:16.920 you want to invade

00:22:17.840 every country on Earth,

00:22:18.860 you always want to send

00:22:19.780 the Marines,

00:22:20.760 or you're an isolationist

00:22:22.380 and you want to do nothing

00:22:23.280 and withdraw from the world

00:22:24.240 and never engage.

00:22:25.820 And I have long believed

00:22:27.420 both of those polls

00:22:29.200 are wrong.

00:22:30.220 I think the vast majority

00:22:31.580 of the American people

00:22:32.400 disagree with the interventionist

00:22:33.680 and disagree

00:22:34.840 with the isolationist.

00:22:35.960 And yet,

00:22:36.340 almost all of foreign policy

00:22:38.160 in politics

00:22:39.680 and the media

00:22:40.260 is treated as if

00:22:41.580 those are the only two choices.

00:22:43.880 I have long considered myself

00:22:45.740 a third point on the triangle.

00:22:47.340 I consider myself

00:22:48.160 a non-interventionist hawk.

00:22:50.660 And here's the point

00:22:51.520 I want to make.

00:22:52.140 I think Donald Trump

00:22:52.940 is as well.

00:22:53.660 I agree with President Trump's

00:22:55.360 foreign policy.

00:22:56.120 America First

00:22:57.620 is not interventionist,

00:22:59.620 but it is not isolationist.

00:23:01.140 And there are a whole bunch

00:23:01.720 of people in politics.

00:23:03.120 On Twitter,

00:23:04.060 it seems there's an army

00:23:05.900 devoted to claiming

00:23:07.820 America First

00:23:08.840 is isolationist.

00:23:10.900 And let me just say

00:23:11.860 the facts are to the contrary.

00:23:13.460 Donald Trump

00:23:14.060 is not an isolationist

00:23:15.300 despite every effort

00:23:17.360 Tucker Carlson

00:23:18.200 tries to make.

00:23:18.940 And Tucker

00:23:19.340 every day

00:23:20.500 goes on and on and on

00:23:21.480 about how Trump

00:23:22.180 is an isolationist

00:23:23.160 and he just ignores reality.

00:23:25.420 Because, look,

00:23:26.100 in the first term,

00:23:27.820 Donald Trump,

00:23:28.600 when he came into office,

00:23:29.760 ISIS had a caliphate

00:23:30.900 the size of the state

00:23:31.940 of Indiana.

00:23:34.060 Trump came in,

00:23:35.340 obliterated ISIS,

00:23:36.820 destroyed their caliphate,

00:23:38.020 took them out entirely.

00:23:39.140 Donald Trump

00:23:39.640 took out General Soleimani.

00:23:41.180 He took out al-Baghdadi.

00:23:43.200 Those are not the actions

00:23:44.580 of an isolationist.

00:23:45.620 The second term,

00:23:47.180 Trump began 0.59

00:23:48.060 by bombing the hell

00:23:49.900 out of the Houthis 0.98

00:23:50.720 who were attacking

00:23:51.580 U.S. shipping vessels

00:23:53.140 and other shipping vessels

00:23:54.240 in the Suez Canal.

00:23:56.900 That's not the act

00:23:57.700 of an isolationist.

00:23:58.820 He then launched

00:24:00.240 an incredibly important,

00:24:02.440 a critical bombing run

00:24:04.220 on the Iranian

00:24:05.180 nuclear facilities.

00:24:06.260 That most definitely

00:24:07.660 was not the actions

00:24:08.600 of an isolationist.

00:24:09.700 And right now today,

00:24:10.880 taking out these 0.61

00:24:11.660 narco-terrorists 1.00

00:24:12.500 in Venezuela,

00:24:13.280 that is not the act

00:24:14.840 of an isolationist.

00:24:15.700 Now, understand,

00:24:17.000 the fact that

00:24:18.840 President Trump

00:24:19.600 is willing to act

00:24:20.540 and act militarily

00:24:21.500 to take out our enemies

00:24:22.560 does not mean

00:24:24.240 that he's an interventionist.

00:24:26.260 Notice that Trump

00:24:27.380 hasn't invaded

00:24:28.100 any countries.

00:24:29.300 I don't believe

00:24:30.060 he's going to send

00:24:31.240 the Marines

00:24:31.760 into Iran.

00:24:33.380 I don't believe

00:24:33.840 he's going to send

00:24:34.460 the Marines

00:24:35.040 into Venezuela

00:24:36.120 or Mexico.

00:24:36.860 And by the way,

00:24:37.460 I would oppose it

00:24:38.500 if he did.

00:24:39.040 I don't agree

00:24:39.660 with doing that.

00:24:40.820 But there is a big difference

00:24:42.380 between targeted use

00:24:44.420 of force against

00:24:45.260 enemies of America

00:24:46.340 and trying to invade

00:24:47.760 other countries

00:24:48.420 and turn them

00:24:48.960 into democracies.

00:24:50.620 And there's another

00:24:51.800 point I want to make.

00:24:54.100 Many on the left,

00:24:55.800 many Democrats,

00:24:56.740 many in the media,

00:24:57.360 and also many

00:24:58.440 isolationists on the right

00:25:00.380 believe that when

00:25:02.460 you withdraw from

00:25:03.220 the world,

00:25:03.680 that's how you avoid war.

00:25:05.780 I want to make the case

00:25:06.660 that's exactly backwards.

00:25:09.460 Look, Joe Biden

00:25:10.440 was the weakest, 0.99

00:25:11.540 most impotent 0.84

00:25:12.280 commander-in-chief

00:25:13.100 we have seen

00:25:13.940 since Jimmy Carter.

00:25:15.960 And that weakness,

00:25:17.280 just like Jimmy Carter,

00:25:18.560 it encouraged

00:25:19.260 the radicals in Iran

00:25:20.680 to foment a revolution,

00:25:23.500 to take over the embassy,

00:25:24.820 to take Americans hostage 0.88

00:25:26.100 for 444 days.

00:25:27.820 The same was true 1.00

00:25:29.100 under Joe Biden.

00:25:30.360 The war in Ukraine

00:25:31.360 was caused

00:25:32.060 because Putin

00:25:32.680 was emboldened.

00:25:34.100 October 7th

00:25:34.980 was caused

00:25:35.520 because Iran

00:25:36.260 and Hamas

00:25:36.760 and Hezbollah

00:25:37.300 were emboldened.

00:25:38.480 if you want

00:25:40.280 to avoid war,

00:25:42.180 I believe,

00:25:43.600 as Ronald Reagan

00:25:44.480 put it in

00:25:45.060 Peace Through Strength,

00:25:46.000 I believe,

00:25:46.740 as President Trump

00:25:48.380 puts it in

00:25:48.940 America First,

00:25:49.860 and the way

00:25:50.320 you avoid war

00:25:51.240 is being strong enough

00:25:52.520 that nobody

00:25:53.540 in their right mind

00:25:54.840 wants to mess with you.

00:25:56.100 That's how you

00:25:56.880 avoid war,

00:25:58.200 and I've got to say

00:25:59.060 this action,

00:25:59.820 taking out the terrorists,

00:26:01.320 it's a step

00:26:01.920 in the right direction.

00:26:02.620 Canadian women

00:26:04.120 are looking for more,

00:26:05.420 more out of themselves,

00:26:06.500 their businesses,

00:26:07.440 their elected leaders,

00:26:08.400 and the world around them.

00:26:09.600 And that's why

00:26:10.080 we're thrilled

00:26:10.580 to introduce

00:26:11.240 the Honest Talk podcast.

00:26:13.260 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:26:14.520 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:26:15.760 And in this podcast,

00:26:16.900 we interview

00:26:17.380 Canada's most inspiring women.

00:26:19.520 Entrepreneurs,

00:26:20.200 artists,

00:26:20.880 athletes,

00:26:21.480 politicians,

00:26:22.200 and newsmakers,

00:26:23.080 all at different stages

00:26:24.120 of their journey.

00:26:25.260 So if you're looking

00:26:26.280 to connect,

00:26:27.080 then we hope

00:26:27.500 you'll join us.

00:26:28.500 Listen to the Honest Talk

00:26:29.340 podcast on iHeart Radio

00:26:30.800 or wherever you listen

00:26:31.840 to your podcasts.

00:26:32.620 All right,

00:26:34.920 Senator,

00:26:35.160 I want to bring it back home

00:26:36.240 to something.

00:26:37.240 And you talk about

00:26:38.320 cleaning things up.

00:26:39.580 That's what

00:26:40.020 President Trump

00:26:40.860 has said he's going to do

00:26:41.680 with the terrorists

00:26:42.500 and those that are

00:26:44.040 bringing drugs

00:26:44.800 in this country.

00:26:45.480 But he's also

00:26:46.460 doing big things

00:26:48.140 in different cities.

00:26:48.900 And now you have

00:26:50.020 introduced

00:26:50.500 the Clean DC Act.

00:26:52.960 Explain to us

00:26:54.140 what this is.

00:26:55.500 Well,

00:26:56.040 the principle

00:26:56.500 is very much the same

00:26:57.640 as we were talking about

00:26:58.620 in foreign policy

00:26:59.460 with the terrorists,

00:27:00.440 which is

00:27:01.520 when you

00:27:02.240 react with weakness,

00:27:04.860 the result is

00:27:05.800 domestically,

00:27:06.520 you get more

00:27:06.940 and more crime.

00:27:07.700 When you react

00:27:08.220 with weakness abroad,

00:27:09.320 the result is

00:27:10.440 internationally,

00:27:11.020 you get more

00:27:11.680 and more terrorism

00:27:12.460 and more and more

00:27:13.180 enemies attacking.

00:27:14.860 The converse is true. 0.98

00:27:16.300 When you react

00:27:17.180 with strength,

00:27:17.900 with regard to crime,

00:27:19.620 when you lock up

00:27:20.540 murderers and rapists

00:27:21.440 and child molesters, 1.00

00:27:22.300 you get fewer

00:27:23.340 violent crimes.

00:27:24.660 Number one,

00:27:25.140 because of deterrence.

00:27:25.980 Number two,

00:27:26.340 because of prevention.

00:27:27.080 You get the bad guys

00:27:27.860 off the street.

00:27:28.460 In D.C.,

00:27:29.880 the murder rate

00:27:30.680 has consistently

00:27:31.580 been one of the highest

00:27:32.880 in the entire country

00:27:33.900 among large cities.

00:27:34.960 It is 27 homicides

00:27:36.600 per 100,000 residents

00:27:38.880 each year.

00:27:39.780 That is higher

00:27:40.660 than Bogota,

00:27:41.660 Colombia.

00:27:42.960 D.C.,

00:27:43.660 not only that,

00:27:44.380 but if you look

00:27:45.080 at vehicle theft,

00:27:46.300 vehicle theft

00:27:46.920 is 842

00:27:48.120 per 100,000 residents,

00:27:50.340 which is three times

00:27:51.660 the national average,

00:27:53.000 and carjackings

00:27:54.200 have tripled

00:27:54.920 in recent years.

00:27:55.800 I'll tell you,

00:27:56.300 actually one time

00:27:57.320 I was filming

00:27:58.040 several years ago,

00:27:58.840 I was filming Verdict.

00:28:00.160 It was a little past midnight,

00:28:01.940 and we had our truck

00:28:02.980 parked on the street.

00:28:03.920 I was in the studio

00:28:04.600 filming it.

00:28:05.520 The truck was broken into,

00:28:07.200 and my briefcase

00:28:08.540 was stolen

00:28:09.120 on the streets of D.C.

00:28:10.800 If you look at D.C.,

00:28:12.400 which is our nation's capital,

00:28:13.700 you've got elected

00:28:14.340 representatives and staff

00:28:15.480 from all 50 states,

00:28:16.700 from all over the country.

00:28:18.580 We had earlier this year,

00:28:20.320 we had a staffer

00:28:21.080 from the White House,

00:28:21.820 from Doge,

00:28:22.840 who was violently assaulted

00:28:24.300 in D.C.,

00:28:25.120 beaten up by 10

00:28:26.340 juvenile offenders.

00:28:28.260 We had,

00:28:28.900 we had in recent years,

00:28:31.300 we had a staffer

00:28:32.120 for Rand Paul

00:28:32.980 who was stabbed

00:28:34.900 in the middle of the afternoon

00:28:36.580 on D.C. street.

00:28:37.660 We had a former official

00:28:38.640 in the first Trump administration

00:28:39.940 who was shot 0.76

00:28:41.380 and killed

00:28:42.080 at 5 o'clock

00:28:42.860 in the afternoon,

00:28:43.720 parked in his car

00:28:44.400 on D.C. street.

00:28:45.600 The violence

00:28:46.440 is out of control,

00:28:47.700 and it was made worse

00:28:49.500 by a 2022 law,

00:28:51.740 a 2022 law

00:28:52.860 in the wake

00:28:53.500 of the George Floyd killing

00:28:56.080 and the Black Lives Matter

00:28:57.240 protest

00:28:57.680 when anti-police fervor

00:29:00.760 was driving the left crazy.

00:29:02.840 The D.C. City Council

00:29:04.240 and the D.C. mayor

00:29:05.120 came in

00:29:05.560 and they passed a law

00:29:06.580 that lessened

00:29:08.160 the penalties

00:29:08.760 for violent crimes

00:29:09.860 almost entirely

00:29:10.640 across the board.

00:29:11.480 They lessened

00:29:11.800 the penalty

00:29:12.140 for murder,

00:29:13.080 they lessened

00:29:13.520 the penalty

00:29:13.880 for carjacking,

00:29:14.840 they lessened

00:29:15.200 the penalty

00:29:15.680 for violent assault,

00:29:17.200 and the effect

00:29:19.000 understandably

00:29:19.980 was those crimes

00:29:21.260 all increased.

00:29:22.060 If you lessen

00:29:22.720 the penalty

00:29:23.100 for violent crime,

00:29:24.580 the crimes increase

00:29:25.740 and this is the thing

00:29:26.680 that the left

00:29:27.260 doesn't understand.

00:29:29.360 We saw a Democrat

00:29:31.020 congressman,

00:29:31.720 Henry Cuellar

00:29:32.280 from Texas,

00:29:33.260 who was carjacked

00:29:35.100 in his car

00:29:36.200 at about 8 or 9 o'clock

00:29:37.240 at night.

00:29:37.580 He was coming home

00:29:38.400 with his dinner

00:29:39.340 and he was carjacked

00:29:40.300 outside an apartment

00:29:41.200 building that,

00:29:41.820 if I remember correctly,

00:29:42.580 five other congressmen

00:29:44.260 lived in.

00:29:45.300 That's how bad it was.

00:29:46.540 Now, I will tell you,

00:29:47.920 in the past Congress,

00:29:49.880 Congress took up

00:29:50.660 legislation to reverse

00:29:52.000 that 2022 law.

00:29:53.900 It passed the House

00:29:55.140 and it passed the Senate

00:29:56.180 and then Joe Biden

00:29:57.360 vetoed it.

00:29:58.300 Joe Biden decided,

00:29:59.340 all right,

00:29:59.680 we're not going to let

00:30:00.700 this go into effect.

00:30:02.160 Well, I've introduced,

00:30:03.660 again, legislation

00:30:04.320 that is called

00:30:05.000 the Clean D.C. Act

00:30:06.360 and the Clean D.C. Act

00:30:07.580 is very simple.

00:30:09.060 It is designed

00:30:10.180 to repeal

00:30:12.000 the 2022 law

00:30:14.660 lessening the penalty

00:30:15.820 for violent crimes

00:30:17.000 and the Clean D.C. Act,

00:30:19.960 we're pushing for a vote.

00:30:21.500 I think the House

00:30:22.180 may vote on it

00:30:23.500 as soon as the next week

00:30:24.560 or two.

00:30:25.480 I'll tell you,

00:30:26.220 the Clean D.C. Act,

00:30:27.260 it's supported

00:30:27.760 by the D.C. Police Union.

00:30:29.440 It's supported

00:30:30.080 by the Fraternal Order

00:30:31.020 of the Police

00:30:31.640 and it's a good opportunity.

00:30:33.380 I think every member

00:30:34.400 of Congress,

00:30:35.020 every Democrat,

00:30:35.720 every House member

00:30:36.440 needs to decide,

00:30:37.780 okay,

00:30:39.060 where do you stand?

00:30:40.260 Do you stand

00:30:40.900 with the violent criminals?

00:30:41.940 Do you stand

00:30:42.280 with the murderers?

00:30:43.000 Do you stand

00:30:43.320 with the rapists?

00:30:44.160 Do you stand

00:30:44.860 with the carjackers?

00:30:45.980 Or do you stand

00:30:47.280 with the citizens

00:30:48.700 of America?

00:30:50.260 That ought to be

00:30:51.080 an easy vote,

00:30:52.040 although sadly

00:30:52.620 I'm going to predict

00:30:53.380 I think an awful lot

00:30:54.360 of Democrats

00:30:54.820 are going to vote

00:30:55.460 with criminals.

00:30:57.780 Yeah,

00:30:58.260 it really does tell you

00:30:59.240 where the Democrats'

00:31:00.300 mindset is right now

00:31:01.340 where they can't even agree

00:31:02.480 that criminals

00:31:03.080 should be held accountable

00:31:04.520 and it also just

00:31:05.640 tells you about

00:31:06.860 how sinister they are,

00:31:08.300 which brings us

00:31:09.300 to our final story.

00:31:10.860 The idea that

00:31:11.760 because the president

00:31:13.080 wasn't seen

00:31:13.960 like 24-7,

00:31:15.260 totally different

00:31:15.700 than Joe Biden

00:31:16.340 when he was president,

00:31:17.020 by the way,

00:31:17.840 that somehow he was dead

00:31:19.320 was a trend

00:31:20.440 on social media

00:31:21.420 and Democrats

00:31:22.240 were celebrating it.

00:31:24.660 Now,

00:31:25.180 it really was bizarre.

00:31:26.420 The left

00:31:27.160 was losing their mind

00:31:28.540 because a couple of days

00:31:29.980 President Trump

00:31:30.980 hadn't done

00:31:31.440 a public event

00:31:32.220 and so suddenly

00:31:33.280 the left,

00:31:34.220 they were so excited.

00:31:36.200 They were so excited

00:31:37.760 that,

00:31:38.140 oh,

00:31:38.340 this means 1.00

00:31:39.980 Trump is really sick,

00:31:41.140 he's in the hospital, 0.98

00:31:42.080 he's had a stroke,

00:31:42.880 he's dead.

00:31:44.080 You know,

00:31:44.280 Andrew Yang,

00:31:44.980 you remember

00:31:45.220 the Democrat

00:31:46.220 who ran for president,

00:31:47.660 he tweeted out,

00:31:48.920 quote,

00:31:50.080 I would be pumped

00:31:50.940 to have a president

00:31:51.760 whose physical vitality

00:31:53.280 or mental fitness

00:31:54.220 wasn't an ongoing

00:31:55.800 issue or concern.

00:31:58.240 It's like,

00:31:58.980 what?

00:31:59.400 Where the hell

00:32:00.340 were the Democrats

00:32:01.100 during the last

00:32:01.900 four years of Joe Biden?

00:32:03.220 The man was

00:32:03.860 almost publicly

00:32:05.580 in a coma

00:32:06.260 for four years.

00:32:07.240 He was drooling

00:32:09.200 and coloring

00:32:09.680 with crayons

00:32:10.600 and the Democrats

00:32:11.500 are like,

00:32:11.820 nothing to see here,

00:32:12.680 no, no, no,

00:32:12.960 it's perfectly fine.

00:32:14.640 Yes,

00:32:15.060 we have a White House

00:32:15.900 staffer,

00:32:16.400 we dress as a giant

00:32:17.540 Easter bunny

00:32:18.840 to lead him away

00:32:19.880 to keep him out of trouble,

00:32:20.920 but there's nothing

00:32:21.800 to see here.

00:32:23.120 And I gotta say,

00:32:24.380 so today,

00:32:26.120 President Trump

00:32:26.720 was asked about this

00:32:27.620 by Peter Doocy

00:32:28.320 and in fact,

00:32:28.840 Peter Doocy

00:32:29.280 asked about the stories

00:32:30.760 that he'd been dead.

00:32:32.080 Listen to the exchange

00:32:33.220 between Peter Doocy

00:32:34.220 and President Trump.

00:32:34.940 about a big viral

00:32:36.860 social media trend

00:32:38.000 over the weekend.

00:32:39.340 How did you find out

00:32:40.260 over the weekend

00:32:40.960 that you were dead?

00:32:43.860 You see that?

00:32:44.760 No.

00:32:45.280 People didn't see it

00:32:45.960 for a couple days.

00:32:46.700 1.3 million user engagements

00:32:48.700 as of Saturday morning

00:32:49.800 about your demise.

00:32:51.940 Really?

00:32:52.380 I didn't see that.

00:32:53.480 You know,

00:32:53.740 I have heard

00:32:54.500 it's sort of crazy,

00:32:55.960 but last week

00:32:56.660 I did numerous news conferences,

00:32:58.800 all successful.

00:32:59.880 They went very well,

00:33:00.680 like this is going

00:33:01.380 very well.

00:33:02.540 And then I didn't do any

00:33:04.480 for two days

00:33:05.120 and they said

00:33:05.720 there must be

00:33:06.620 something wrong with him.

00:33:08.240 Biden wouldn't do him

00:33:09.080 for months.

00:33:10.000 You wouldn't see him.

00:33:11.020 And nobody ever said

00:33:12.080 there was ever

00:33:12.700 anything wrong with him

00:33:13.800 and we know

00:33:14.460 he wasn't in the

00:33:15.200 greatest of shape.

00:33:16.440 No, I heard that.

00:33:17.260 I get reports.

00:33:19.020 Now, you knew I did

00:33:19.960 an interview

00:33:20.540 that lasted for

00:33:21.420 about an hour and a half

00:33:22.440 with somebody

00:33:23.240 and everybody saw

00:33:24.160 that was on

00:33:24.720 one of your competitors.

00:33:27.080 I did numerous shows

00:33:28.960 and also did

00:33:30.240 a number of truths,

00:33:31.820 long truths,

00:33:32.620 I think pretty

00:33:33.240 poignant truths.

00:33:34.880 No, I was very active

00:33:35.700 over the weekend.

00:33:36.460 They also went out

00:33:37.960 to visit some people

00:33:38.900 at the club

00:33:40.380 that I own

00:33:41.060 pretty nearby

00:33:42.440 on the Potomac River.

00:33:44.360 And no,

00:33:45.080 I've been very active

00:33:45.820 actually over the weekend.

00:33:46.940 I didn't hear that one.

00:33:47.840 That's pretty serious.

00:33:49.740 Well, it's fake news.

00:33:50.920 You know,

00:33:51.080 it's just so,

00:33:51.820 it's so fake.

00:33:53.080 That's why

00:33:53.560 the media

00:33:54.960 has so little credibility.

00:33:57.660 I knew

00:33:58.260 they were saying

00:33:59.140 like,

00:33:59.700 is he okay?

00:34:00.600 How's he feeling?

00:34:01.500 What's wrong?

00:34:02.480 I said,

00:34:03.000 I just left.

00:34:04.240 And it's also

00:34:05.060 sort of a longer weekend,

00:34:06.460 you know,

00:34:06.800 it's Labor Day weekend.

00:34:07.780 So I would say

00:34:08.740 a lot of people know

00:34:09.420 I was very active

00:34:10.260 this Labor Day.

00:34:11.620 I had heard that,

00:34:12.620 but I didn't hear

00:34:13.200 it to that extent.

00:34:15.180 I love how the president

00:34:16.400 just trolls the media

00:34:17.400 on this one.

00:34:17.980 Like, yeah,

00:34:18.240 you guys are a bunch 1.00

00:34:18.880 of scumbags 1.00

00:34:19.560 and I'm not surprised 1.00

00:34:20.440 that this is what you did.

00:34:22.040 Yeah, no, look,

00:34:22.580 it was absurd.

00:34:23.800 I mean,

00:34:24.300 this president,

00:34:25.720 you can disagree

00:34:26.440 with them on substance.

00:34:27.780 You can disagree

00:34:28.440 with them on style,

00:34:29.520 but the man

00:34:30.220 has enormous energy.

00:34:31.780 I mean,

00:34:32.140 if you look

00:34:33.000 at the first seven months

00:34:33.900 of this administration,

00:34:34.700 I think there's been

00:34:35.560 no administration

00:34:36.360 in our lifetime

00:34:37.080 that has had

00:34:38.440 more velocity

00:34:39.420 and volume

00:34:40.400 and action.

00:34:41.660 And it has been incredible.

00:34:43.120 And this president,

00:34:43.840 he is going.

00:34:44.920 This weekend,

00:34:45.700 actually,

00:34:45.980 President Trump called me.

00:34:47.140 I talked to him this weekend.

00:34:48.220 He was in great spirits.

00:34:49.300 We were talking

00:34:49.860 substantively.

00:34:50.180 Hold on,

00:34:50.700 you talked to him

00:34:51.420 while he was dead

00:34:52.200 but alive.

00:34:52.900 Oh, yeah.

00:34:53.160 That's breaking news.

00:34:54.180 And oddly enough,

00:34:55.040 I didn't have a Ouija board.

00:34:56.020 I didn't have to do a seance.

00:34:57.400 And he was kind of,

00:34:58.340 and it was,

00:34:58.860 we were not talking about

00:34:59.880 are you all right?

00:35:00.600 He was,

00:35:00.880 he called me on an issue

00:35:01.960 that he and I

00:35:02.400 had been working on

00:35:03.000 so we had a substantive conversation.

00:35:05.040 You know,

00:35:05.740 today,

00:35:06.500 the president announced

00:35:07.540 that there was going to be

00:35:08.240 a White House address

00:35:08.960 at two o'clock.

00:35:10.140 And I got to say,

00:35:11.500 Twitter went crazy

00:35:13.260 with anticipation.

00:35:14.920 And I think people

00:35:16.100 expected them to announce,

00:35:17.860 okay,

00:35:18.240 President Trump is dead.

00:35:19.520 He's entered

00:35:20.060 a permanent vegetative state.

00:35:21.580 He's resigning.

00:35:22.560 Like,

00:35:22.640 like,

00:35:23.120 like the left

00:35:24.140 was,

00:35:25.240 they were beside themselves

00:35:26.800 but,

00:35:27.200 but particularly egregious.

00:35:29.040 I want you to listen

00:35:29.880 to Tim Waltz.

00:35:31.200 Tim Waltz is,

00:35:32.040 is the governor of Minnesota.

00:35:32.980 He's a weird dude.

00:35:35.340 And,

00:35:35.840 and,

00:35:36.160 and you'll remember

00:35:36.860 for like 12 seconds

00:35:37.880 he was Kamala Harris's

00:35:38.980 vice presidential nominee.

00:35:41.180 Give a listen

00:35:41.920 to what Tim Waltz

00:35:42.800 had to say

00:35:43.320 about President Trump

00:35:44.540 and his hopes

00:35:45.340 that the president was dead.

00:35:47.560 You get up in the morning

00:35:48.800 and you doom scroll

00:35:49.700 through things

00:35:50.440 and although

00:35:52.100 I will say this,

00:35:53.100 the last few days

00:35:53.900 you woke up thinking

00:35:54.740 there might be news.

00:35:57.320 Just saying,

00:35:58.720 just saying,

00:35:59.960 there will be news sometime.

00:36:01.860 Just so you know,

00:36:02.560 there will be news.

00:36:03.760 I mean,

00:36:04.360 that's sick 0.79

00:36:04.920 and that's the guy 0.97

00:36:05.640 who ran for vice president

00:36:06.640 of the Democratic Party.

00:36:08.300 Let me say, 0.96

00:36:09.180 that is sick

00:36:10.060 and I have never wished 0.54

00:36:11.800 death upon Joe Biden

00:36:13.880 or Barack Obama

00:36:14.800 or Hillary Clinton 0.99

00:36:15.640 or,

00:36:15.960 or,

00:36:16.260 or any of the Democrat leaders.

00:36:18.040 The president

00:36:18.500 of the United States,

00:36:19.320 whether you agree

00:36:20.500 with them or not,

00:36:21.680 what the hell is wrong 0.97

00:36:22.960 with these people 0.94

00:36:23.680 where they say

00:36:24.180 they wake up every day

00:36:25.340 hoping,

00:36:26.140 please,

00:36:26.500 please,

00:36:26.840 please,

00:36:27.080 let me see 0.98

00:36:27.880 that he is dead. 0.77

00:36:29.180 You know,

00:36:29.440 there used to be a notion,

00:36:30.880 listen,

00:36:31.220 when,

00:36:31.440 when Barack Obama

00:36:32.240 was president,

00:36:33.280 I disagreed

00:36:34.960 with a lot

00:36:35.780 of the policies

00:36:36.500 that he implemented.

00:36:37.460 I think they did

00:36:37.900 a lot of damage,

00:36:38.560 a lot of harm

00:36:39.020 to this country.

00:36:40.260 But,

00:36:40.780 but,

00:36:41.140 but I wish success on them.

00:36:42.800 I wanted America

00:36:43.500 to succeed.

00:36:44.560 You know,

00:36:45.060 we talked about

00:36:45.900 earlier this year,

00:36:46.900 President Trump's

00:36:47.600 State of the Union address.

00:36:48.580 I've been to 13

00:36:49.580 State of the Union addresses.

00:36:51.300 Every single one

00:36:52.420 begins the same way

00:36:53.500 with the sergeant at arm

00:36:54.520 calling out,

00:36:55.320 the president

00:36:56.300 of the United States.

00:36:58.660 And 12 of the 13

00:37:00.640 I've been to,

00:37:01.440 every House member

00:37:02.400 and senator

00:37:02.840 stands and applauds.

00:37:03.880 And that's true

00:37:04.520 whether it's a Democrat

00:37:05.740 or Republican,

00:37:06.540 whether it's your party

00:37:07.320 or the other party,

00:37:08.060 you respect the office.

00:37:09.420 And so,

00:37:10.560 when,

00:37:10.700 when Barack Obama

00:37:12.140 walked onto the floor

00:37:13.620 of the House,

00:37:14.160 I stood and applauded

00:37:15.060 for him.

00:37:15.440 When Joe Biden

00:37:16.040 walked onto the floor

00:37:16.800 of the House,

00:37:17.240 I stood and applauded

00:37:18.060 for him.

00:37:18.380 This year,

00:37:19.160 when Trump

00:37:19.540 walked onto the floor,

00:37:21.160 every single Democrat

00:37:22.540 I saw

00:37:23.020 stayed sitting

00:37:23.620 and would not applaud.

00:37:25.560 And,

00:37:25.700 and,

00:37:25.880 and there's something

00:37:26.780 really wrong

00:37:27.680 when you are

00:37:29.460 openly cheering

00:37:30.800 for the president

00:37:32.540 of the United States 0.98

00:37:33.540 to die 1.00

00:37:34.200 and, 0.95

00:37:34.820 and the people laughing,

00:37:35.900 and I suspect

00:37:36.540 there were reporters there

00:37:37.900 and there were also

00:37:38.640 leftist activists,

00:37:39.660 the people laughing

00:37:40.540 and cheering.

00:37:42.060 There's something

00:37:42.860 just fundamentally wrong

00:37:43.840 about that.

00:37:45.220 Yeah,

00:37:45.400 it really is.

00:37:46.520 Don't forget,

00:37:47.100 we do this show

00:37:47.780 Monday,

00:37:48.200 Wednesday,

00:37:48.480 and Friday.

00:37:49.020 We're going to keep you

00:37:49.560 updated on all

00:37:50.240 the biggest breaking news

00:37:51.200 and the stories

00:37:51.880 the media refuses

00:37:52.820 to cover.

00:37:53.880 So,

00:37:54.160 hit that subscriber

00:37:54.980 auto-download button

00:37:56.580 wherever you are

00:37:58.200 on social media

00:37:59.220 and wherever you are,

00:38:01.360 share it,

00:38:01.680 I should say,

00:38:01.900 on social media

00:38:02.480 and download it

00:38:03.140 wherever you get

00:38:03.640 your podcasts.

00:38:04.380 You can also tell Siri

00:38:05.740 or Alexa,

00:38:06.380 play Verdict with Ted Cruz

00:38:08.000 and it will do it for you

00:38:09.240 just that easily.

00:38:10.460 And the center and I

00:38:10.940 will see you back here

00:38:11.800 in a couple of days.

00:38:12.680 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:38:16.680 Guaranteed human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - September 03, 2025

Trump Takes Out Venezuelan Narcoterrorists in Decisive Military Attack plus Stopping DC Crime & Trump is ALIVE!

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript