Verdict Year End Week in Review： Goal Post Moved to Protect Joe, Democrat Congressman Carjacked, & WH Changes Course on Antisemitism
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Summary
Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson take a look back at some of the biggest stories of the past year, and look ahead to what's to come in 2020. Ted and Ben dive into the scandal surrounding Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, and how the White House responded to it.
Transcript
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It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
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And as we get ready for a new year, it's important that we take a look back at some of the biggest
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stories of this past year, give you some of those big stories and things to look forward to
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or issues that you may need to be paying attention to heading into 2024.
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The White House had a very interesting response, and this is the third change now in the goalposts
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for Joe Biden's involvement with Hunter Biden's businesses.
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The first was they never spoke about business ever.
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Then they changed it to he was never in business with his son.
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Now the White House's Ian Samms came out and moved the goalposts again when he said this.
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The other allegations is the president was present at some of the meetings between Hunter
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Why was the president at those meetings on those phone calls?
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Well, again, I think this is part of the right wing's misinformation machine to try to confuse
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The truth is that the president, as he has said publicly for years, calls his family every
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He calls his other family members to check in to see how they're doing.
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And what the GOP's own witness testified in this case is that that's exactly what the
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He was checking in with Hunter during a particularly hard time, I might add, a time where the family
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was going through Hunter's brother, Beau's illness.
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And of course, the president checks in with his son and talks to him.
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But again, that witness testified no business dealings of Hunter Biden's or anyone's was
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And so, again, they're trying to make this sort of strange connection when their own investigation
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Before I let you go in, has the president responded in terms of how the president has reacted to
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this, especially somebody who's been in politics and been in Washington for as long as he has
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been, the idea that he is now subject to an impeachment inquiry as president of the United
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You know, the president has been in politics for a long time.
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And I think, as he would say, he's seen a lot of malarkey along the way.
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You know, he's focused on the issues that actually matter to the American people.
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You just saw him spending the last week traveling around the world, shoring up our alliances,
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advancing national interests in Asia, our economic interests in Asia, showing American
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He's announcing today a quarter billion dollar investment in cancer research to try to finally
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That's what his administration and this president is focused on every day.
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They're focused on the actual needs of the American people.
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And I think what he would say is maybe the House Republicans should join him.
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There's the part in there where he says that Joe Biden attended Hunter's business meetings
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That's the new goalpost that they just moved significantly from.
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Now it's, well, he just went to the business meetings because he loves him.
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Well, look, I mean, what good and loving and devoted father hasn't called in 20 times to
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his son's meeting with corrupt oligarchs who are paying millions of dollars in exchange
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for favors from that father while he's sitting and serving as the vice president of the United
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I mean, that's really just what any good dad would do.
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I mean, it really is, it's cynical because they point out that Joe's other son tragically
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So they want to wrap it in the sympathy of a human tragedy to say, well, of course, you
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know, listen, why was Hunter getting paid the millions of dollars?
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Are there any foreign oligarchs calling you up saying, Ben, I want to wire millions of
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And what all of these talking heads, what all of these Democrat hacks are saying, what all
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of the corporate media puppets are refusing to answer is, is what did Hunter get in exchange
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And according to the House, it could be north of 20, 30 million dollars.
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And by the way, not money from, you know, normal American companies, not money from our friends
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They singled out nations with very significant antagonism and hostility to America and some
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By the way, you don't hear any of these Democrats explaining why did Joe Biden have multiple
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Why did he use fake emails to send emails to his son Hunter about Ukraine on government
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email while Hunter was getting paid millions of dollars?
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All of that, the Democrats want you to ignore and say, well, gosh, Joe's just a loving dad.
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They help their sons make $30 million from corrupt oligarchs who are enemies of America.
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I want to get back to this montage, Senator, that was one that went viral.
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And I hope you will give this to your friends, share it on social media, because it's another
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example of how many lies have been told by the Bidens and how much the media has been
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And this is what this impeachment inquiry is going to be all about.
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Never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with
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President Biden met with at least 14 of Hunter's business associates while he was vice president.
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Then vice president Joe Biden had dinner with his son Hunter, along with Hunter's business
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associates from Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan.
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And the day after the dinner, a Burisma executive sent a note to Hunter quoting, dear Hunter,
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thank you for inviting me to D.C. and giving an opportunity to meet your father and spend
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Hunter's lucrative business dealings often included giving as much as 50 percent of his
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The text read, quote, I hope you all can do what I did and pay for everything for this
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It's really hard, but don't worry, unlike Pop, I won't make you give me half your salary.
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His son, Hunter, joining the then vice president on the official visit to Beijing.
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Unknown to the press back then, Hunter Biden was forming a Chinese private equity fund,
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planning to raise money, including from Chinese investors.
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Ten days after the Biden's trip, Shanghai authorities issued the fund's business license.
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And Hunter introduced me as this is Tony, dad, the individual I told you about that's helping
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us with the business that we're working on and the Chinese.
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The email reads this way, quote, at the moment, there's a provisional agreement that the equity
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I thousand percent sit here and know that the big guy is referencing Joe Biden.
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I met with the former vice president in person multiple times.
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A newly revealed text message shows Bobulinski was apparently warned by business partner James
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Chinese executives admitted to reporters that they were actually introduced to the vice
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Hunter and the then vice president, seen with a pair of Mexican billionaires.
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At the same time, Hunter had been working on energy deals in Mexico.
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Joe Biden also had Hunter and his business partner fly on Air Force Two to Mexico.
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His closest business partner, Hunter, has made at least 19 visits to the White House and
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other official locations, including a sit down with then vice president Joe Biden in
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There's photographic evidence of Biden on a golf outing with both his son, Hunter, and
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a man called Devin Archer, who was another member of the Burisma Board.
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We also know that Devin Archer in that picture had a meeting in the White House, one-on-one
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meeting with Joe Biden about a week before they joined the Burisma Board.
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You hear that, Senator, and this explains exactly why this impeachment inquiry is going to be
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It also explains why the Democrat talking point and the corporate media talking point that
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there is no evidence of Joe Biden's corruption is flatly false.
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And I got to say, James Carville saying he's really looking forward to hearings on this.
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Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their
1.00
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And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:09:38.240
And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.
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Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of
00:09:47.740
So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:09:50.740
Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:09:56.620
I want to move to something else that obviously got pushed back in the headlines, but it still is
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The crime wave that we're seeing is not just sweeping the nation, but now it's affecting
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Democratic leaders and leaders in the liberal movement like we haven't seen before.
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You have a Democratic representative, Henry Queller, who was carjacked at gunpoint in
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This comes as in just the past, well, it was in a 24-hour period.
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You had a liberal gay reporter that was shot and killed in his home in Philly.
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You had a far-left activist that was stabbed to death by a deranged stranger in Brooklyn in
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You had this Democratic congressman who was carjacked at gunpoint in D.C. by four African-American
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And yet we have Democrats who have a soft on crime policies that aren't just hurting their
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neighborhoods that I mentioned, these different spots, but it's hurting people in Texas as
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And almost every House Democrat voted against the Republican efforts to stop the D.C.
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weak on crime bill, which specifically would have reduced carjacking penalties.
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This is something that the Democrats, I mean, they voted for this.
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Aldridge, for example, voted with the Dems on this one.
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Well, listen, crime is out of control in this country.
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And it's an issue that has people understandably very concerned.
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I watched tonight the video of the liberal activist in New York at four in the morning being stabbed
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to death on the streets of New York by a guy that certainly appears deranged.
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You're right, the news of the left-wing journalist in Philadelphia who was shot, I think, seven
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times in his own home and killed in the past few days.
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Look, Henry Cuellar is a Democrat congressman from Texas.
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Henry is the most conservative of the Texas Democrats.
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I worked hand-in-hand with Henry, for example, on the Texas bridges.
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We've talked on this podcast before about four bridges from Texas to Mexico that Henry and
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I teamed up in and won big legislative victories to build new bridges to Mexico for legal commerce,
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Henry, as I said, is by far the most conservative of the Texas Democrats.
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Well, in the last couple of days, Henry was coming to his apartment in D.C.
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It was 9.30 at night, and he was getting out of his car, and he was carjacked.
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Presumably, I haven't spoken to Henry since it happened, but you have to assume that with
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My understanding is Henry lives at an apartment building where there are multiple members of
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There are apparently multiple members of congressional leadership who live there, which means there
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And at 9.30 at night, he was carjacked on the streets of D.C., and then that reflects the
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Now, the D.C. City Council, which is populated by left-wing Democrats, they voted to lower
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the penalties for violent crimes, including carjackings.
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In particular, they voted to lower the sentence from 21 years to seven years, and they voted
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to lower the sentence from 40 years, if armed, to 15 years.
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And under the revised code, carjacking is now divided into three gradations, dependent
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on severity, with the lowest penalties for an unarmed offense ranging from four to 18
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years, and the highest penalties from an armed offense ranging from 12 to 24 years.
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Now, in the Congress, thankfully, the Congress has the ability to rescind any legislation in
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the District of Columbia, and the reason for that is the Constitution gives Congress total
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We can't rescind laws in Texas or any other state, but D.C. is a federal district, and
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And so in Congress, we voted to rescind these softened crime laws that lessened the penalties
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for violent crimes, and the results are horrific as we're seeing carjacking, murders, crime
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rates skyrocketing in D.C. and all across the country.
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You also have the White House, who was asked about part of this, and I want to play that
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If a member of Congress is not safe on the streets of the nation's Capitol, who is?
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Look, we're grateful and relieved that the Congressman is unharmed.
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We understand what communities are going through across the country, not just in D.C.
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That's why the president took action very early on in his administration to get the American
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Rescue Plan done, without the help of Republicans.
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That's why every time he puts forward his budget, he makes sure there are billions of dollars
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All you've got to look at is what the president has been able to do this past two years.
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There's always going to be more work to be done, but the fact is, the president has
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Holy crap, if a Democrat congressman is getting carjacked on the streets of D.C.
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at 9.30 p.m., what the heck is the answer?
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And she's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not going to answer that.
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Well, you know, Joe Biden's spending a ton of money, mind you, not actually putting
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criminals in jail, not supporting police, not doing anything to stop crime.
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But he's shoveling a whole lot of cash at Democrat special interest groups.
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He's shoveling a whole lot of cash at deficit spending that's causing rampant inflation.
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Angie Craig, who is a Democrat member of Congress from Minnesota, was assaulted in the apartment
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And this is a pattern that is happening over and over and over again.
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And the city is on pace for the deadliest year in two decades.
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Not only that, nine of the top 10 cities with the highest homicide rights are run by Democrats.
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Twenty-seven of the top 30 cities with the highest murder rates are run by Democrats.
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And you're saying Corrine Jean-Pierre and the Biden White House utterly dodging responsibilities
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for their soft on crime policies that are endangering people all across the country.
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Because even the White House president was asked a question, a follow-up,
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If President Biden's policies are helping bring crime down,
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would he be comfortable with somebody borrowing his Corvette
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and parking it on the street overnight in southeast D.C.?
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I'm just going to get into the facts about what this president has done in this president.
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You park your Corvette on the street, it's going to get robbed.
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They are the propagandists for the administration.
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And so, look, any sane person would say no to the question,
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would you be happy with your classic Corvette parked on the streets of D.C.?
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And the problem is, look, let me underscore that again.
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City Council looked at skyrocketing crime rates and said, you know what the answer here is?
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We've got too many murderers, too many carjackings.
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Let's send people to jail for shorter times for murder and carjacking.
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In the House, every single House Democrat except two,
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Vicente Gonzalez, a Texan, and Henry Cuellar, a Texan who was just carjacked in the last 48 hours,
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If you can think of a House Democrat, they voted in favor of lessening the penalties on carjackers and on murderers.
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Yeah, this is a Democratic Party, and this is certainly going to be an issue with the presidential election.
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Before we wrap up, I want to ask you a final question.
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If you're standing by a doorway and you see a little red box that is three inches by four inches,
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and it says the word fire on it, and it says, pull this for the fire alarm,
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That is not a doorknob, and that is not a way to exit the building.
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Like, don't you immediately lock that person up forever?
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It's not like you were a high school principal.
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It's not like you were a high school principal in a high school that had fire alarms.
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It's not like you were a high school principal in a high school that had fire alarms,
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that had a policy that said if you, a student, pulls the fire alarm, you will be expelled.
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Jamal Bowman, the Democrat congressman, was a principal at a high school that had a policy
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that if you, Ben Ferguson, a student in his high school, pulled the fire alarm, you would be expelled.
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Oh, I'm going to pull the fire alarm because I want to stop the Republican vote.
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And why is it his claim, if you believe him, his defense is,
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I'm dumber than a box of rocks and I think a fire alarm is a doorknob.
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That is his defense, and that's the best interpretation he can hope for.
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By the way, I have to ask now, because you brought it up.
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If a Republican would have done that, how fast would they have been kicked out of Congress?
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To be honest, I don't think they'd be kicked out of Congress, but I think they might have a mugshot.
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And my guess is, look, kicking people out of Congress is pretty severe.
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I think the votes will be there for censuring him.
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But it is a criminal offense in the District of Columbia to pull a fire alarm fraudulently.
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But he is counting on the corporate media to ignore the fact that he was willing to pull a fire alarm
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to try to stop the Congress from voting on a provision that he didn't like,
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which, mind you, was a provision to fund the government.
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So he pulled a fire alarm to cause it to happen.
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But again, he knew the corporate media would cover for him, and they're doing it right now.
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More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.
00:21:50.620
And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.
00:21:56.780
And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.
00:22:00.540
Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.
00:22:06.280
So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.
00:22:09.260
Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
00:22:13.620
Senator, I want to play for you quickly the White House.
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And the White House got themselves in some trouble because the president has mostly been saying the right things.
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But the White House and the staffers, completely different story.
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Take a listen to the White House press briefing.
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What is his level of concern right now about the potential rise of anti-Semitism in light of everything that's going on in Israel?
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I know there's been always questions about credible threats.
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And so I just want to make sure that that's out there.
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But look, Muslim and those perceived to be Muslim have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks.
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And certainly President Biden understands that many of our Muslim Arab Americans and Palestinian-American loved ones and neighbors are worried about the hate being directed at their communities.
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And that is something you heard the president speak to in his address just last Thursday.
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And so one of the things that the president has done is directed his homeland security team to prioritize prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm the Jewish, the Muslim, Arab Americans, or any other communities.
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And that is something that the president has sought to do since day one.
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And as you know, the president ran on protecting communities, obviously, but bringing people together, protecting the soul of the nation.
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And so that is something that the president takes very, very seriously.
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And we're going to continue to denounce any sort of hate towards any American here.
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And so that's what we're going to continue to be steadfast on.
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And again, he has advised, directed his homeland security team to make sure that they're on top of this.
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Now, Senator, the part about this that's so laughable is the White House press secretary has now come out and said, quote,
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she misheard the anti-Semitism question only because of the massive backlash from that answer.
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Well, it really is striking that the White House press secretary is unwilling to stand up and clearly and unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism,
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It is a unique evil that has existed on the face of this planet for thousands of years.
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Moreover, we will ensure that law enforcement resources are there to protect Jewish Americans.
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I'll tell you, Jewish communities across this country have a level of concern and a level of fear unlike any time I've ever seen.
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As the anti-Semitism on college campuses, there was a Jewish student at Columbia who was beaten with a stick in recent days,
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the threats of violence on campuses because the anti-Israel, the Jew-hating far left, is so extreme that there is a real threat of violence
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against the American Jewish community and, for that matter, the Jewish community worldwide in Europe and elsewhere.
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And I've got to say, her answer to that was striking in that the Babylon Bee, which does a fabulous job as a humor and satire site,
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they had an article that they hadn't published, but they tweeted it out today,
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and they said it's hard to stay ahead of reality at the Babylon Bee.
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We had this written up last night only to wake up and see the White House doing exactly this before we had a chance to publish.
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And here was the fake satirical headline that they had written and they were getting ready to publish when Corrine Jean-Pierre beat them to the punch.
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In strong response to rising hate crimes against Jews, Democrats denounce Islamophobia.
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And it's, and I tweeted out, no longer satire, just sad, because their view, listen, when it comes to the anti-Semitic bigots,
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when it comes to the squad, when it comes to the 35 student groups at Harvard and the radicals running our college campuses,
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the Biden White House, and I would have to assume including Corrine Jean-Pierre,
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side with the radicals against the people of Israel and against even American Jews.
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Their answer, they say, we've seen no credible threat of anti-Semitism in America, really.
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Well, where the hell have you been if you haven't seen any?
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Because I got to tell you, the Jewish community is feeling it acutely,
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and we've seen multiple horrific acts of violence directed against Jews, directed against synagogues,
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And for the White House to say they've seen no credible threat is truly absurd.
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Yeah, I was talking literally today to a dear friend of mine who's Jewish that works very close to Times Square in a largely Jewish community,
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and he said they had been told by local law enforcement to really be on high alert and be careful,
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and even had recommended that they travel together in groups, not be isolated alone,
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That is what he said to me today, and yet the White House is acting like none of that's happening at all.
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It is sad, and today's Democrat Party is captive to the far left.
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And I will say, I've had conversations with multiple people on the left who are not deeply political,
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who are shocked at the open anti-Semitism that is arising on the far left.
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It's been there for a long time, but if you're not paying close attention,
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it takes something like the events of the last couple of weeks to really bring in a stark relief,
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We're going to keep breaking news on it, and we'll keep you updated on it each and every day that we do this show.
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Don't forget, we publish a verdict Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays.
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We have a Saturday recap of some of the stories you may have missed during the week as well,
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so make sure you hit that follow button if you're listening on Apple or subscribe or auto-download on other platforms,
00:28:17.920
depending on where you're listening to this show right now.
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Please share it with your family and your friends on social media.
00:28:24.480
Hit that little forward button, and you can get that to them easily that way.
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And don't forget, I will keep you updated on the breaking news on the in-between days between verdicts,
00:28:32.660
so grab my podcast as well, the Ben Ferguson podcast, on those in-between days.
00:28:37.540
And the Senator and I will see you back here on Monday morning.