Verdict with Ted Cruz - We're not WORTHY or READY for Michelle, a Gambling Curveball in Pro Sports & the Ongoing Atrocities against Christians in Nigeria Week In Review

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.340 Welcome, it is Verdict with Ted Cruz.

00:00:07.400 Week in Review, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.540 And here are the big stories that you may have missed

00:00:11.340 that we talked about this week.

00:00:12.860 First up, Michelle Obama going scorched earth on Americans.

00:00:18.300 She says it's your fault that a woman hasn't become president. 1.00

00:00:22.360 And that also means she's not going to grace you as a candidate 0.92

00:00:26.060 because you don't deserve her.

00:00:27.900 We'll have that in a moment.

00:00:29.140 Also, there is a big gambling issue that has come to light

00:00:33.760 with game fixing or prop bet fixing in major sports.

00:00:38.400 So now, what does it mean for Congress getting involved?

00:00:41.900 We'll have that for you as well.

00:00:43.780 And finally, Christian persecution, Nigeria.

00:00:47.220 It is a real problem, and it's time that we all sound the alarm

00:00:51.660 and we'll let you know what you can do to get involved.

00:00:54.720 It's the Week in Review, and it starts right now.

00:00:57.680 Yeah, and if you think that, by the way,

00:00:59.560 they're the only ones that are discontent right now, you would be wrong.

00:01:03.560 Let's move to Michelle Obama. 0.94

00:01:05.800 She has come out and basically said,

00:01:07.700 I will not grace you with my presence as a president of the United States of America.

00:01:13.640 You don't deserve me because there's too many misogynists out there,

00:01:17.760 and I'm not going to give you my candidacy.

00:01:21.280 Yeah, she was asked whether or not she would run for president. 0.95

00:01:24.920 Her response was, as we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain't ready.

00:01:31.200 That's why I'm like, don't even look at me about running,

00:01:34.040 because you all are lying. 0.98

00:01:35.560 You're not ready for a woman. 1.00

00:01:37.140 You are not.

00:01:38.120 And she says, you know, we've got a lot of growing up to do,

00:01:42.580 and there's still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman,

00:01:47.000 and we saw it. 0.98

00:01:48.020 What utter and complete nonsense. 1.00

00:01:50.520 By the way, Joe Biden was getting his ass kicked. 1.00

00:01:52.960 Now, I understand the Democrats can't tell the difference between a man and a woman, 0.99

00:01:56.120 so maybe Michelle Obama thinks that Joe Biden is a woman, 0.51

00:02:00.900 but Trump was winning when Biden was the nominee.

00:02:03.480 Trump was winning when Michelle Obama was the nominee.

00:02:05.980 Trump was winning, A, because the Biden-Harris-Democrat agenda was a train wreck

00:02:10.760 that hurt the American people,

00:02:12.260 and B, because the American people wanted President Trump back in the Oval Office here.

00:02:16.760 I want you to give a listen to exactly what Michelle Obama said.

00:02:20.260 Give a listen.

00:02:21.040 Do you think that that impacts the room that we've made for a woman to be president?

00:02:25.040 Well, as we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain't ready.

00:02:32.240 That's why I'm like, don't even look at me about running,

00:02:35.140 because you all are lying. 0.98

00:02:36.600 You're not ready for a woman. 1.00

00:02:38.560 You are not.

00:02:39.720 So don't waste my time.

00:02:42.360 You know, we got a lot of growing up to do,

00:02:45.200 and there's still, sadly, a lot of men who do not feel like they can be led by a woman,

00:02:50.560 and we saw it.

00:02:52.540 What was the question?

00:02:55.760 I just said, mm-hmm.

00:02:58.760 So we don't need to ask it again.

00:03:00.820 You answered it.

00:03:02.680 I mean, you listen to that, and the room goes wild with women. 1.00

00:03:06.100 It was clearly a female audience that she's talking with there. 1.00

00:03:09.240 It was also effeminate men. 0.85

00:03:11.540 Don't forget that.

00:03:12.440 Oh, that's true.

00:03:13.240 We can't assume.

00:03:14.240 I mean, this is the Democrat Party.

00:03:16.960 Yes.

00:03:17.480 We can't assume from the high-pitchedness of the screams in the room that it was actually women. 0.99

00:03:22.780 It could be people that identify as a woman. 1.00

00:03:25.060 That's true.

00:03:25.540 Valid point.

00:03:26.080 I apologize for you.

00:03:27.000 Well, if you have a male who's taking estrogen and, like, wearing a tight strap to, like, tuck in,

00:03:32.960 they have pretty high squeals.

00:03:35.180 Well, you know, they shop, hey, during the holidays, they can shop at Target,

00:03:37.760 get those tucking swimsuits for them, right? 0.77

00:03:39.760 And half of them used to work at the White House anyway, so there's always that as well.

00:03:43.780 When I heard that, I laughed because I thought it was so funny.

00:03:50.000 One, I don't think there's a bunch of people that are wanting her to run right now for president.

00:03:55.780 Her best shot at it would have been a coronation like we had with Kamala Harris. 1.00

00:04:01.340 That obviously didn't happen, but she's like, you basically don't deserve me.

00:04:04.920 That is the weirdest Jedi mind trick political thing I've ever seen. 0.89

00:04:08.860 Well, look, it's just arrogance, and you're right.

00:04:12.260 Had she wanted to do it, they would have handed it to her instead of Kamala Harris, 1.00

00:04:16.140 and you and I talked about this a lot on this podcast.

00:04:19.000 By the way, this podcast predicted more than a year before the Democrat Party pulled the rug out

00:04:24.480 from under Joe Biden.

00:04:25.700 We predicted on verdict.

00:04:27.100 Regular listens of verdict, no.

00:04:28.860 We regularly make predictions.

00:04:31.020 We make predictions that, frankly, are risky, that are out there,

00:04:34.840 and the overwhelming majority of the predictions we make on this podcast have come true.

00:04:40.500 When you and I said a year before Joe Biden was yanked unceremoniously off the ticket

00:04:45.860 that Biden would be pulled off the ticket,

00:04:49.600 you and I, and by that I mainly mean me,

00:04:53.420 I was mocked mercilessly.

00:04:58.260 Hold on.

00:04:58.820 I agreed with you at the time.

00:05:00.300 Give me a little bit there.

00:05:01.540 Come on.

00:05:02.060 No, no, you did agree with me, but they didn't make fun of you. 0.79

00:05:05.100 The press went after me and says Cruz is a moonbat numbskull. 0.97

00:05:10.380 I think they kind of bake into the cake that you're a moonbat numbskull. 0.87

00:05:14.260 I do host this show with you, so there's that, right?

00:05:16.880 Guilty by association.

00:05:17.480 It's guilt by association.

00:05:18.900 Sorry about that.

00:05:19.780 But, like, literally the corporate media went crazy.

00:05:23.060 They had episodes mocking me.

00:05:24.760 What a crazy thing for Cruz to say Biden's not going to be the nominee.

00:05:28.300 Obviously, anyone with any sense at all knows he's going to be the nominee.

00:05:33.280 Well, we were right.

00:05:35.380 And if Michelle Obama had wanted it, she would have been the nominee last time. 0.98

00:05:38.880 We predicted that as well.

00:05:39.940 She didn't want it.

00:05:41.160 But the dripping arrogance of her, you know, you listen to her comments. 0.93

00:05:45.300 The American people have a lot of growing up to do.

00:05:48.520 Yeah.

00:05:48.620 Like, the absolute condescension, you people are too immature to elect my magnificence.

00:05:56.180 Why?

00:05:56.920 Not because my ideas are terrible.

00:05:59.440 Not because the Democrat ideas are horrible and have resulted in open borders, have resulted 0.67

00:06:04.420 in people being murdered and women being raped and children being assaulted.

00:06:08.080 Not because we had rampant inflation.

00:06:10.080 Not because Joe Biden and the Democrats caused war all over the earth, turned peace and prosperity

00:06:15.900 into a war in Ukraine and October 7th and a war in Gaza. 0.92

00:06:19.840 You know, not because every single thing we touched turned to absolute garbage. 0.83

00:06:25.640 No, no, no, no.

00:06:26.440 That's not the reason Kamala Harris lost resoundingly. 0.99

00:06:29.680 The reason, according to the leftist ideology, is you all are bigots and you're racist and 0.99

00:06:35.560 you're sexist. 0.99

00:06:36.260 And that's the only possible reason. 0.94

00:06:38.480 And I got to say, that contemptuous condescension is one of the worst characteristics of the

00:06:46.460 Democrat Party today.

00:06:47.660 But it also does indicate this is not a party that is reassessing.

00:06:54.200 You know, normally when you lose an election and you lose an election badly, at least some

00:06:59.580 people with sense in the party go, huh, I wonder why the voters rejected what we said.

00:07:04.560 Maybe we should change.

00:07:05.560 You know, you think back to in 1980, Reagan was elected.

00:07:09.820 In 84, Reagan was re-elected, won 49 out of 50 states, came within a few thousand votes

00:07:15.540 of winning every single state in the union.

00:07:17.400 Reagan won California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, every state but Minnesota.

00:07:23.480 1988, George Herbert Walker Bush was elected.

00:07:26.600 And after losing three consecutive presidential races, Democrats said, huh, maybe nominating Jimmy

00:07:33.440 Carter and Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis was a bad idea. 0.73

00:07:37.420 Maybe crazy left-wing loons do not command a majority in America. 1.00

00:07:42.360 And what did they do? 0.59

00:07:43.060 They pivoted.

00:07:43.700 They moved dramatically towards the center.

00:07:45.460 And they nominated what was then a moderate to conservative Democrat, the governor of Arkansas,

00:07:51.080 named Bill Clinton.

00:07:52.140 And Bill Clinton won two consecutive elections because they shifted.

00:07:56.240 You know what?

00:07:56.740 I don't see any Democrats doing that right now.

00:07:59.500 I don't see them looking and saying, why did we get clobbered?

00:08:03.040 Why did Trump win all seven of the swing states?

00:08:07.880 I don't see Democrats saying that at all. 0.98

00:08:09.660 And Michelle Obama saying, you people are a bunch of bigots and sexists, and you just 0.99

00:08:13.600 need to grow up. 0.99

00:08:15.140 You know what I'm saying?

00:08:16.720 Whoever the Democrat nominee is in 28, please make Michelle Obama your spokesperson, because 0.98

00:08:21.520 we really need her lecturing the American people how much the voters suck. 1.00

00:08:26.500 Because, you know, that historically has proved such an effective way to campaign.

00:08:31.580 Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast

00:08:36.640 from earlier this week.

00:08:38.860 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:08:40.940 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:08:44.920 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:08:48.940 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:08:50.040 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:08:51.280 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:08:55.020 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of

00:08:59.900 their journey.

00:09:00.760 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:09:04.000 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:09:09.780 Now on to story number two.

00:09:11.640 I want to move to another issue, and that is sports gambling.

00:09:15.520 This is an issue.

00:09:17.220 I just genuinely, this is like my TMZ, my soap opera.

00:09:20.960 I'm loving watching the corruption slowly unfold before our very eyes.

00:09:28.040 I say that because I'm a sports fan.

00:09:29.860 You are as well.

00:09:30.500 We've gone to games together.

00:09:31.520 We've gone to playoff games.

00:09:32.840 And I've noticed, and I've got friends that literally play pro sports, and they will watch

00:09:38.000 games, and they'll text him like, that's not normal.

00:09:41.220 That was weird.

00:09:42.700 The end of that game was strange.

00:09:44.720 Look at the cut.

00:09:45.860 Look at the point spread.

00:09:47.060 What the gambling line was here.

00:09:50.080 Look at the over-under.

00:09:51.460 I mean, I have friends who are in these sports, and they're like, they even are like, this is

00:09:57.480 a red flag.

00:09:58.340 Like, this doesn't make sense.

00:10:00.340 What just happened in the last two minutes of the game, or the last four minutes of that

00:10:04.780 game, and now we're finding out we weren't crazy.

00:10:08.140 There's a lot of fixing that's going on.

00:10:10.360 Now, it may not be fixing the outcome of the winner and the loser, and that's what people

00:10:13.700 need to understand, the caveat here.

00:10:15.380 A lot of times, this is like total number of points that are going to be scored.

00:10:19.260 The margin between the two teams.

00:10:21.820 How much will one win by our losing?

00:10:23.440 It can even be as simple as a certain player not hitting what they were projected in points

00:10:29.640 or three-pointers or even free throws, and you see these anomalies or weird things that

00:10:36.140 happen with an individual player or faking an injury so that they make sure they don't

00:10:40.760 finish the game.

00:10:41.900 This was happening in a widespread way among sports, and there were people that were literally

00:10:48.520 getting rich off it.

00:10:49.600 It's called fixing.

00:10:50.440 It may not be fixing the game as in the score, it's fixing aspects of the game that you can

00:10:56.200 bet on.

00:10:57.240 Well, look, you and I are both big sports fans.

00:11:00.040 Sports is an amazing thing.

00:11:01.320 It brings people together.

00:11:02.360 It gives you something to cheer for.

00:11:03.720 It's powerful.

00:11:04.440 It can unify.

00:11:05.460 Yeah, it's so fun.

00:11:06.600 But, you know, look, unfortunately, as long as there's been sports, there's been some risk

00:11:10.880 of corruption in sports, and I got to say, the proliferation of betting on sports has increased

00:11:16.860 that risk, and it's not just betting.

00:11:18.520 It's one thing to bet that your team's going to win or lose.

00:11:21.660 Presumably, if you're betting particularly that your team will win, the incentives are

00:11:25.320 aligned that all the members of the team want to win.

00:11:28.540 But you now have these prop bets where you can bet on all sorts of different aspects of

00:11:32.980 the game.

00:11:33.560 And that, I think, significantly increases the risk of corruption.

00:11:37.080 Because a prop bet, an individual player, can have really significant impact on the outcome

00:11:43.740 of that bet.

00:11:45.460 And so we've seen there's an ongoing criminal investigation involving the NBA, involving

00:11:50.240 coaches and players, fixing games, and Major League Baseball as well.

00:11:55.220 And so I'm chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

00:11:59.220 Part of the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee is sports, both college sports and pro sports.

00:12:04.540 And so I've launched an oversight investigation into the problem of corruption and the impact

00:12:11.960 of prop bets in particular on sports.

00:12:14.700 And so I want to read to you a portion of it.

00:12:17.720 I sent a letter to Major League Baseball, and let me just read you a portion of it, because

00:12:23.980 the facts are really concerning.

00:12:25.940 Here's what my letter said.

00:12:27.460 Dear Mr. Manfred, game-fixing allegations are not new to baseball.

00:12:31.720 105 years ago, a Chicago grand jury indicted eight Chicago White Sox players for allegedly

00:12:38.040 rigging the 1919 World Series.

00:12:41.540 Labeled the Chicago Black Sox in the press, the players were eventually acquitted by a Chicago

00:12:46.200 jury, even though some had earlier confessed, and all eight were banned from baseball for

00:12:52.540 life.

00:12:53.980 Major League Baseball and American sports generally are facing a new integrity crisis.

00:12:58.420 Last week, prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment against two

00:13:03.600 pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians, accusing them of rigging their own pitches to make a profit.

00:13:10.660 That indictment comes just a few weeks after prosecutors leveled similar allegations against

00:13:15.820 coaches and players in the NBA.

00:13:18.560 Ranking member Cantwell and I sent a letter to the NBA requesting documents and information

00:13:22.640 about that matter, and we now seek information from Major League Baseball about how the league

00:13:27.480 is addressing alleged game manipulation and threats to baseball's integrity.

00:13:32.240 The recent indictment alleges Cleveland Guardians players Emmanuel Clace and Luis Ortiz purposely

00:13:39.480 threw certain pitches for balls or strikes.

00:13:43.740 Yep.

00:13:44.040 Both players allegedly told friends of their plan and to place prop bets beforehand.

00:13:51.540 Clace allegedly even made some bets himself.

00:13:55.680 Perhaps most shockingly, this scheme lasted more than two years before Major League Baseball

00:14:00.700 found out.

00:14:01.900 On May 19, 2023, Clace, pitching in relief against the New York Mets, allegedly informed friends

00:14:08.880 he would throw a pitch faster than 94.95 miles per hour.

00:14:14.060 He did.

00:14:15.340 And his accomplices won $27,000.

00:14:18.640 I mean, can you just hit pause there for a second?

00:14:21.800 This letter so people understand.

00:14:23.160 This is like making a mockery of the game.

00:14:25.820 Yes.

00:14:26.040 But it's also just fixing the game where you're like, hey, I'm going to perform differently

00:14:30.520 so that my friends can get hooked up and make $27,000 there.

00:14:35.700 It went on for years.

00:14:37.280 And it's not like this was like one person.

00:14:39.940 I actually believe this is probably a lot more widespread than we are being told.

00:14:44.660 And part of that is I think that Major League Baseball and others are going to cover their

00:14:48.000 ASSs, they want to make sure that we don't realize just how bad it actually was or is.

00:14:54.000 Well, and with individual players and prop bets, they have almost total control over the outcome

00:14:58.660 of that bet.

00:14:59.740 Yep.

00:15:00.000 And so, look, the $27,000 is not the worst part.

00:15:02.760 Let me give you a few more of the facts from the letter.

00:15:05.620 Clace would go on to blow a save opportunity as the Guardians lost 10 to 9 in extra innings.

00:15:11.200 In June 2023, Clace flung a pitch into the dirt in two separate games, well short of the

00:15:19.720 strike zone.

00:15:20.800 While Cleveland fans were shouting in frustration, Clace was apparently cashing in.

00:15:26.100 In both games, he allegedly sent texts notifying his friends that he would throw balls.

00:15:33.160 They placed prop bets on his pitches, winning a combined $96,000.

00:15:41.920 Unbelievable.

00:15:43.360 Across other games from 2023 to 2025, Clace and his accomplices are accused of winning

00:15:49.700 at least $400,000 through fraudulent bets.

00:15:54.500 I mean, that's a lot of money, folks.

00:15:56.240 And that's just one example that got busted.

00:15:58.840 You got to wonder how many others were out there, right?

00:16:01.600 I mean, we've seen what's interesting.

00:16:03.300 I was reading an article the other day.

00:16:05.300 It was talking about there's been an uptick in wild pitches.

00:16:09.700 Yeah.

00:16:09.800 But because you can bet on that, and they're just saying there is certain data that has

00:16:17.000 significantly changed since prop betting got introduced nationwide, basically, you know,

00:16:22.640 where everybody can bet on these things and has grown.

00:16:25.380 And it's like, that didn't happen for 50 years of baseball before when we have data or 30 years

00:16:30.180 in football of data or whatever it may be.

00:16:33.240 And then all of a sudden, they're like, wow, this is happening a lot more often.

00:16:37.300 This is weird that they would get worse at these anomalies when technology and cameras and coaching

00:16:46.380 has gotten so much better.

00:16:48.440 You'd think that would actually reduce the number of these unique moments that happen in sports.

00:16:53.140 And now we're finding out, yeah, it may not be unique at all.

00:16:55.160 Well, and negative prop bets are 100% within the control of an individual player.

00:17:00.600 So if you think about it, if you or I were a major league pitcher, we may not be able to win a bet that my next pitch will be a strike,

00:17:08.940 because you might try to throw a strike and fail.

00:17:11.400 I could not throw a major league strike.

00:17:13.680 But you know what you and I could win a bet on?

00:17:16.760 That my next pitch will be a ball.

00:17:19.760 Because as much like I suck at baseball, but yet I can throw the ball into the dirt.

00:17:24.960 I'm quite confident I can pitch a ball.

00:17:27.320 I could pitch a ball 100% of the time with no deviation.

00:17:31.780 And some of the times, and in this instance, you know, someone who's good at cheating would not pound it into the dirt.

00:17:38.440 They would just be a little bit outside the strike zone, so you couldn't tell.

00:17:41.320 Well, it looks really obvious when you don't even make it to home plate.

00:17:45.540 But that problem, look, you were a Division I tennis player.

00:17:51.740 I'm pretty sure they didn't have prop bets.

00:17:53.220 I promise you I could double fault on command.

00:17:55.320 I could hit a ball long on command.

00:17:57.420 100% of the time.

00:17:58.360 I could hit a ball in the net on command.

00:17:59.980 I could whiff at a ball if that was a prop bet and make money off of it.

00:18:03.440 Yes.

00:18:04.100 All of those things you can 100% control.

00:18:07.580 By the way, I want our listeners to know,

00:18:08.860 if you also get in Ben's head and screw with him,

00:18:12.240 you can make him double fault even when he doesn't want to.

00:18:14.720 But that's a totally different.

00:18:16.440 He's an infinitely better tennis player than I am.

00:18:18.720 But I do have a little bit of ability to taunt him.

00:18:21.320 And if he gets pissed enough, that can happen.

00:18:24.420 Either that or you're going to get hit with the ball.

00:18:26.020 It's one of the two.

00:18:26.860 One of the two is going to happen.

00:18:29.900 One of the two.

00:18:31.340 And that would be a great prop bet, by the way.

00:18:33.080 There is that, although the sad thing is when Ben and I play tennis,

00:18:36.580 we usually play together.

00:18:38.160 So if he's hitting me with the ball, he's really doing it wrong.

00:18:41.180 Because it's one thing to hit your opponent.

00:18:42.760 If you're hitting your teammate, good God, you're doing it wrong.

00:18:44.720 It's only when you get lackadaisical can you become a target.

00:18:47.580 It's just motivation.

00:18:48.760 It's just a straight-up motivation there.

00:18:50.760 Final question on this.

00:18:52.200 I've seen a lot of people in sports, journalists, say,

00:18:55.840 how do you fix this?

00:18:58.020 If it's not saying no more prop bets, right,

00:19:02.260 you have normal gambling on games,

00:19:04.900 I don't know if you can even fix this.

00:19:07.740 Is that far out of control?

00:19:09.040 And is it the job of Major League Sports to police their own?

00:19:12.840 Or can they be trusted?

00:19:14.960 Look, I think there need to be some steps taken to fix this.

00:19:18.400 I'm not sure exactly what those steps are.

00:19:20.340 And so I'm starting with sending letters to the NBA and Major League Baseball

00:19:24.920 because you've got scandals in both sports.

00:19:26.760 And listen, as you know, I'm a diehard Rockets fan.

00:19:31.060 I'm a diehard Astros fan.

00:19:32.820 By the way, did you happen to see the Rockets' last victory against Orlando?

00:19:37.260 No, I did not.

00:19:38.060 Was it a beatdown?

00:19:39.300 Oh, no, no.

00:19:40.000 It was an overtime victory.

00:19:41.500 It was spectacular.

00:19:42.580 Look, the Rockets actually were trailing almost the entire regular season.

00:19:46.800 And I DVR every Rockets game.

00:19:48.320 And so I watched this.

00:19:49.740 I actually watched this.

00:19:50.460 By the way, you haven't mentioned my Ole Miss Rebels in a few weeks.

00:19:53.120 And I just want everybody to know that's because we're winning and we're now, what is it, 10-1?

00:19:57.540 I think that's right.

00:19:58.180 Just want to throw that out there.

00:19:59.160 Beat the Gators.

00:20:00.120 Now back to your Rockets.

00:20:01.500 But when my team loses one game this year, there's two shows in a row that it was brought up.

00:20:06.840 The other 10 weeks, not a peep out of you.

00:20:09.160 I just want to be clear about that record.

00:20:10.860 Keep going.

00:20:11.280 Look, I got to say, as a Texan beating the Gators, I'm kind of like, that's interesting.

00:20:17.240 That's interesting, yeah.

00:20:17.980 One of my favorite images, when Florida played A&M, I tweeted out there was a giant barbecue truck in College Station

00:20:26.060 that had, I think, five seven-foot Gators on a rotisserie rotating around being cooked.

00:20:32.820 So, okay, fine.

00:20:34.240 You guys beat the Gators.

00:20:35.520 That's fine.

00:20:36.460 Okay, good.

00:20:37.020 Thank you for that moral support there.

00:20:38.840 I felt that.

00:20:40.120 I felt that tonight.

00:20:42.060 I'm just saying, the Rockets' win against Orlando was really sweet,

00:20:45.760 because we were not playing great during the whole of the game,

00:20:48.640 and then it was this huge comeback. 0.98

00:20:51.040 And KD, I'm going to say right now, I think the Rockets can win the whole damn thing. 0.97

00:20:55.820 Really? 0.88

00:20:56.320 Oh, that's an early season prediction right there.

00:20:59.120 Now, look, most seasons, I think the Rockets can win it all.

00:21:02.740 But listen, last season, we got to...

00:21:04.180 Yeah, but you've never said it the way you just said it with me.

00:21:06.560 Like, there's hoping, and then there's, like, the real possibility.

00:21:09.600 So you think they're the real deal this year.

00:21:11.440 I really do.

00:21:12.660 They've got a ton of young talent.

00:21:14.380 They're really good.

00:21:15.120 Our problem last season is we didn't have a closer.

00:21:17.680 We didn't have someone who, in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, you could give

00:21:22.080 the ball to, and he could bring it home.

00:21:25.100 And KD, I mean, look, he's one of the greatest players in history.

00:21:28.520 And in the game against Orlando, I mean, it was, you want to talk about cold.

00:21:33.160 He hit two three-pointers that were just devastating.

00:21:37.880 And you had Shang-Goon, who's a great center, who played a great game as well.

00:21:42.600 Did you have a problem on that overtime, by the way?

00:21:44.700 I'm just curious, because you're really into this right now.

00:21:47.980 I didn't.

00:21:48.980 I just had great joy.

00:21:50.380 And as I said, I DVR the games, and I watch them typically late at night at the end of the

00:21:53.960 day, but anyway, my point is, it's one thing, and I will say, I like to play poker, but I've

00:22:01.020 never been into sports betting.

00:22:02.160 So among vices, that is not one that has impacted me.

00:22:07.820 But I get, you know, I'll put five bucks in a March Madness pool, and I've got to say

00:22:12.680 my picks are almost always wrong, because I don't know that I've ever won a March Madness

00:22:16.240 pool, but I'll throw away my five bucks.

00:22:17.820 You're what we refer to as a charity bracket, and we appreciate your service to the charity

00:22:22.380 community.

00:22:22.880 Okay, so I actually, I just pick a homer thing.

00:22:25.680 I pick Texas teams.

00:22:26.820 I pick teams I like, and I'm just like, I'm going to go with, I think my final four a year

00:22:31.480 or two ago was, I think, three Texas teams in the final four.

00:22:35.100 Yeah, that didn't work out too well for you, I'm not going to lie.

00:22:38.120 Yeah.

00:22:39.120 Excuse me, did Ole Miss win the tournament?

00:22:41.780 We do football very well, sir.

00:22:44.020 We do football very well.

00:22:45.720 We win natties and golf, baseball, and tennis.

00:22:49.660 I just, yeah, I know where I am.

00:22:51.760 I know where we live.

00:22:53.160 Basketball's not there yet.

00:22:54.320 I'm okay with that.

00:22:55.320 But I don't pick them to go to the final four.

00:22:57.420 That I can promise you.

00:22:59.040 Yeah, so look, on the question of gambling, and by the way, you've got pro sports, but

00:23:03.200 I'm also concerned about college sports.

00:23:04.980 And in many ways, with such a proliferation, you know, you look at a small school with a

00:23:11.720 game that's not in the headlines, and an individual player there, you know, you may have, it's

00:23:17.200 one thing for, you know, am I that worried about massive superstars making millions or

00:23:23.040 tens of millions of dollars of being corrupted?

00:23:25.500 Well, yes, because we're seeing this in the NBA and Major League Baseball.

00:23:29.180 Well, but the incentive is less than some, you know, 19-year-old kid playing at Podunk

00:23:34.920 School who has a chance to make 10 grand fixing the game.

00:23:41.020 And so I think that is a real challenge.

00:23:43.940 I think the leagues can maybe take some steps about it, but it would not surprise me to see

00:23:48.300 Congress act.

00:23:49.040 And it's one of the reasons I'm just trying to start with saying, okay, tell me the facts

00:23:53.600 of how many allegations you're getting of cheating.

00:23:55.720 What are the facts?

00:23:56.520 Tell me what you know.

00:23:57.800 Tell me what you know.

00:23:59.200 And then, particularly the more serious the problem is, my hope is we may see Congress

00:24:05.120 act in a bipartisan way to fix it.

00:24:07.180 As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go

00:24:11.740 back and download the podcast from early this week to hear the entire thing.

00:24:16.420 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:24:18.200 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:24:22.460 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:24:26.380 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:24:27.560 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:24:28.780 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:24:32.480 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of

00:24:37.440 their journey.

00:24:38.280 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:24:41.520 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:24:47.320 I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed.

00:24:51.340 Senator, one of the reasons why you do this show and why I love co-hosting it with you

00:24:55.620 is we get to talk about issues that are not getting the attention they deserve.

00:25:01.700 One of those right now is the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

00:25:06.800 It is shocking what is happening there.

00:25:09.080 And I just came back from Israel.

00:25:10.720 We haven't got to talk about that as much as we thought because the government shut down.

00:25:14.100 And we're going to get to that.

00:25:15.040 But one of the things that you see when you see that people are under attack because of

00:25:18.600 their faith, and I witnessed it going into the kibbutz, into the homes of those that were 0.97

00:25:23.640 killed, including that nine-month-old child.

00:25:25.480 When I met with the parents who lost their loved ones on that soccer field as their kids

00:25:29.620 were just playing soccer.

00:25:30.980 When I went to the north and I saw the homes that were destroyed and met with people whose

00:25:35.940 lives were destroyed by Hamas there.

00:25:38.580 And you witnessed this type of persecution and death and destruction and went to the

00:25:43.880 site where the music festival was and watched people die just because they were Jews.

00:25:47.760 It makes me angry to now see what's happening in Nigeria.

00:25:52.620 You're shining a light on that.

00:25:54.260 The White House is doing that as well.

00:25:56.080 And the American people need to know what's going on. 1.00

00:25:58.860 Yeah, listen, radical Islamic terrorists, they hate Christians and they hate Jews. 1.00

00:26:04.220 And they have murdered vast numbers of Christians. 1.00

00:26:07.540 They have murdered vast number of Jews. 0.98

00:26:09.600 They continue to do so. 0.97

00:26:10.620 And they also murder a significant number of Muslims. 0.98

00:26:13.340 Radical Islamic terrorists, if you don't embrace their radical jihadist view, their ideology 0.99

00:26:20.300 justifies violence or even murder to force you to submit.

00:26:25.320 And the 13 years I've been in the Senate, I've spent a lot of time fighting for persecuted

00:26:29.940 Christians, fighting for persecuted Christians all across the globe, especially those being persecuted

00:26:36.300 by radical Islamic terrorists. 0.54

00:26:37.920 Boko Haram, that is in Nigeria, is a vicious radical Islamic terrorist group. 0.95

00:26:43.780 And if you look at, there is no country on planet Earth where more Christians have been murdered 0.89

00:26:50.140 in the last 20 years than Nigeria.

00:26:54.240 Since 2009, more than 50,000 Christians have been murdered in the country of Nigeria.

00:27:00.860 I mean, literally, these Christians are being hunted down.

00:27:04.200 Yeah, they absolutely are.

00:27:07.080 Over 20,000 Christian churches and schools have been burned to the ground or otherwise destroyed.

00:27:13.820 I mean, this has been mass murder, and it is horrific.

00:27:18.320 And so I filed legislation in the Senate to direct the administration to designate Nigeria

00:27:23.980 a country of particular concern and to impose in particular sanctions on the government officials

00:27:29.660 because there are many government officials who are acquiescing in this mass murder against

00:27:34.700 Christians. 0.51

00:27:35.200 And so my legislation would impose sanctions on particular government officials.

00:27:41.520 There are 12 states in the North where Sharia laws or blasphemy laws are enforced.

00:27:47.480 There's also federal Sharia and blasphemy laws that are enforced.

00:27:50.920 And the government officials use those laws to discriminate against and to persecute Christians.

00:27:56.880 In some instances, they simply just turn a blind eye, as Boko Haram and other radical 0.97

00:28:02.140 Islamic terrorist murder Christians.

00:28:04.200 In other instances, they actually use the law to facilitate the persecution. 0.92

00:28:09.820 But after I filed the legislation and I began pressing the administration to designate

00:28:16.440 Nigeria as a country of particular concern, President Trump did so.

00:28:20.160 And he sent out a tweet.

00:28:21.840 Here's what his tweet says.

00:28:23.680 It says, Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. 0.52

00:28:28.100 Thousands of Christians are being killed. 0.98

00:28:30.580 Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. 1.00

00:28:34.140 I am hereby making Nigeria a country of particular concern, but that is the least of it. 0.70

00:28:40.160 When Christians or any such group is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria, 3,100 versus 4,476

00:28:49.380 worldwide, something must be done.

00:28:52.440 I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations

00:28:57.960 Committee to immediately look into this matter and report back to me.

00:29:01.880 The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria and numerous

00:29:07.780 other countries.

00:29:08.540 We stand ready, willing, and able to save our great Christian population around the world.

00:29:15.600 Donald J.

00:29:16.160 Trump, President of the United States.

00:29:17.960 That was exactly the right thing to do.

00:29:20.620 I saw President Trump shortly after he issued that designation, and I thanked him.

00:29:26.000 I said, it really makes a difference.

00:29:28.220 It's the right thing to do.

00:29:29.800 He was happy to do it.

00:29:31.480 And I'll tell you, the government in Nigeria is deeply dismayed, and their response, their

00:29:38.140 main defense, they say, well, they argue it's not a genocide.

00:29:42.880 And what they say is, well, yes, 50,000 Christians have been killed, but you know what?

00:29:47.960 Boko Haram has also killed Muslims, so it's all fine. 1.00

00:29:50.960 Well, it is true. 0.99

00:29:51.920 They have killed Muslims. 1.00

00:29:52.880 Nobody's disputing that they've killed Muslims as well, but radical Islamic terrorists target 0.98

00:29:58.680 Christians in particular for persecution, and the government is complicit in that persecution.

00:30:05.560 That's what this is designed to address.

00:30:08.300 And, you know, I got to say, you and I have talked about before that those who hate Jews

00:30:16.480 hate Christians, and those who hate Israel hate America, that that is true. 1.00

00:30:21.700 We've also talked about rising anti-Semitism, and we've talked quite a bit about Tucker Carlson,

00:30:26.060 because I think Tucker has unfortunately gone down a very, very dark path, a path where he

00:30:31.920 brings on Hitler-praising nutjobs onto his show over and over and over again, but it also

00:30:39.720 results, not only does he attack Israel in almost every show he does, but when you go on the 0.69

00:30:47.320 path of hating Israel and blaming everything on the Jews, that often that same dark path

00:30:54.500 leads you to embrace the enemies of America.

00:30:57.340 So Tucker has said, we should apologize to the family of Osama bin Laden.

00:31:02.440 No, no, we should not.

00:31:04.200 Tucker has said he doesn't know that Hamas is a terrorist organization.

00:31:08.060 They might just be a political group. 0.97

00:31:10.180 I'm sorry, but when you murder 1,200 innocent civilians and rape women and children, you 0.96

00:31:15.140 are most definitely a terrorist group, and Hamas has killed a great many Americans. 0.88

00:31:19.960 But it really was striking.

00:31:22.100 Just recently, Tucker did a show where he talked about Nigerians, and he disputed that

00:31:27.260 Christians in Nigeria are being persecuted.

00:31:29.540 I want you to give a listen, because he took the chance to basically defend Boko Haram.

00:31:35.840 Give a listen.

00:31:36.280 But he's all of a sudden, kind of out of nowhere, deeply concerned about the play of

00:31:40.580 Christians in Nigeria, which I want to restate.

00:31:42.740 Maybe a totally valid concern.

00:31:43.780 I don't know.

00:31:44.880 But that's weird.

00:31:46.360 What is that?

00:31:46.880 All of a sudden, everybody's concerned about people who clearly have no track record being

00:31:49.640 interested in Christians at all, including Ted Cruz.

00:31:51.620 What is going on?

00:31:53.700 That, to me, was pretty unhinged, Senator.

00:31:56.860 Look, I got to say, listen, I understand that Tucker's told the world there's no one he hates

00:32:02.120 more than Christian Zionist, and he singled out me and Mike Huckabee as the people he

00:32:06.780 hates the most in the world.

00:32:08.580 But that's truly a bizarre claim, what he says there, which is that I have no interest

00:32:13.500 in defending persecuted Christians.

00:32:15.780 I've literally spent 13 years doing that.

00:32:18.500 You know, I might ask Tucker, does he have any idea who Miriam Ibrahim is?

00:32:22.640 And I suspect he doesn't.

00:32:24.820 So Miriam Ibrahim was a Christian woman in Sudan, and she was imprisoned, and she was

00:32:32.080 sentenced to receive 100 lashes and then to hang by the neck until dead for the crime

00:32:38.400 of being a Christian. 0.98

00:32:39.300 And this was during Barack Obama's presidency.

00:32:41.500 This was early in my time in the Senate.

00:32:43.620 And I spoke out vocally for Miriam Ibrahim.

00:32:47.780 And she had two little kids.

00:32:49.820 She had a son named Martin, and she actually gave birth to a daughter, Maya, while she was

00:32:54.720 in leg irons.

00:32:56.040 And I'll tell you, I repeatedly, practically begged the Obama administration for President

00:33:01.620 Obama to just say her name. 0.92

00:33:03.660 He would not do it.

00:33:04.760 He never once said her name.

00:33:05.960 I went to the Senate floor.

00:33:07.460 I gave floor speeches.

00:33:09.080 I shined a light.

00:33:10.440 And globally, many, the Pope got involved shining a light defending her.

00:33:14.920 And the pressure became so great, Sudan released her.

00:33:18.280 And Ben, I'll tell you, it's an amazing thing.

00:33:20.940 I actually got to meet Miriam Ibrahim when she came to Washington.

00:33:25.100 And I asked her, she was a little bitty woman. 0.98

00:33:27.320 She's not very tall, maybe 5'1".

00:33:29.600 She couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds.

00:33:32.840 And I asked her, I said, Miriam, tell me, when you were in that prison cell and your babies

00:33:38.580 are in front of you and you've been sentenced to die for your faith, how did you not give

00:33:44.840 up hope?

00:33:45.360 And she looked at me with a peace that I'll never forget, and she just said, Jesus was

00:33:51.480 with me.

00:33:52.760 And I mean, it was powerful.

00:33:54.240 That's incredible.

00:33:55.360 But I think this illustrates how anti-Semitism is a poison that ends up poisoning every other

00:34:04.380 view.

00:34:04.900 So now Tucker is running around defending Hamas, defending Boko Haram, saying, well, I don't

00:34:10.540 know that Nigerians or Christians are being killed in Nigeria, and why does anyone care 1.00

00:34:14.580 about that?

00:34:15.460 And apparently Tucker is only interested in atrocities if he can blame them on Israel.

00:34:21.140 And since it's not Israel that's killing Christians in Nigeria, it's not a concern for

00:34:25.280 him.

00:34:26.100 Look, I think we should defend Christians when they're being persecuted.

00:34:30.200 I think we should defend Jews when they're being persecuted.

00:34:32.580 I think we should stand up and make a difference.

00:34:37.300 Now, that doesn't mean that we invade every country in which there's injustice, but it does

00:34:42.600 mean we use our voice as a voice to stand up for those.

00:34:49.100 And look, as you know, my dad was imprisoned and tortured in Cuba.

00:34:53.180 And so I have a particular heart for people who are unjustly detained and have spent a long

00:35:02.200 time highlighting and doing everything we can to get people out of unjust detentions, whether

00:35:08.620 in Sudan or China or Lebanon or anywhere.

00:35:15.920 And I'm very glad President Trump is standing up for the Christians in Nigeria.

00:35:21.040 As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:35:26.880 Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day.

00:35:30.540 You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards.

00:35:33.800 I'd love to have you as a listener to, again, the Ben Ferguson podcast.

00:35:37.660 And we will see you back here on Monday morning.

00:35:41.400 This is an iHeart podcast.

00:35:44.060 Guaranteed human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - November 22, 2025

We're not WORTHY or READY for Michelle, a Gambling Curveball in Pro Sports & the Ongoing Atrocities against Christians in Nigeria Week In Review

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript