Verdict with Ted Cruz - May 12, 2021


What Just Went Down


Episode Stats


Length

34 minutes

Words per minute

169.63518

Word count

5,851

Sentence count

426

Harmful content

Misogyny

4

sentences flagged

Hate speech

13

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Ted Cruz was in multiple places on Capitol Hill today, covering hearings on gun control, campaign finance reform, and the Corrupt Politicians Act. And he was on his phone the whole time. So much so, in fact, that he accidentally tweeted about it.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.560 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.260 A lot went down on Capitol Hill today,
00:00:06.960 a lot of which you probably didn't hear about.
00:00:09.140 But one man was there to do the job of many.
00:00:12.520 He refuted the Democrats' arguments
00:00:14.460 for upending our election system.
00:00:16.320 He shot down the Democrats' arguments
00:00:18.360 for taking all of our guns.
00:00:19.760 And most impressively of all,
00:00:21.580 he tweeted the whole time.
00:00:23.900 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:00:24.540 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:30.000 Senator Cruz,
00:00:33.000 I want to hear everything that happened today.
00:00:35.780 It seemed as if you were in multiple places at once.
00:00:39.480 Hearings on guns,
00:00:40.900 hearings on the Corrupt Politicians Act.
00:00:43.880 And there was a charge
00:00:46.020 that while you were tweeting during all of this,
00:00:48.460 that it was just your staff
00:00:49.980 sort of tweeting on your behalf
00:00:51.880 while you were in the Senate.
00:00:53.280 You, I have to ask,
00:00:54.800 I know you'll shoot straight here,
00:00:56.740 were you the one tweeting?
00:00:58.300 Oh yeah, that was me.
00:00:59.660 I was live tweeting.
00:01:02.280 Look, when you're in a room with senators
00:01:04.460 who are droning on and on and on,
00:01:06.920 particularly when they're reading from,
00:01:08.880 like staff has written a couple of pages
00:01:10.640 of like text for them to read,
00:01:12.940 it's a little bit like the student
00:01:15.620 in Charlie Brown listening to the teacher
00:01:17.640 and the teacher goes,
00:01:18.760 wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.
00:01:21.080 And the truth of the matter is,
00:01:23.080 like most senators are on their phones
00:01:25.260 and are scrolling through email or texts
00:01:28.600 or this being the social media world that it is.
00:01:32.300 I was on Twitter.
00:01:33.360 And then of course,
00:01:34.480 some lefty publications saw me on Twitter,
00:01:37.960 on C-SPAN,
00:01:39.060 and so tweeted about me being on Twitter,
00:01:41.720 on C-SPAN.
00:01:42.880 And so I promptly retweeted them
00:01:44.960 and said, yep, that's exactly right.
00:01:46.720 And they were sort of surprised going,
00:01:47.960 holy crap, is he retweeting us?
00:01:49.280 It's like, yes, I am.
00:01:51.140 And in fact, they made fun of me
00:01:53.580 because Amy Klobuchar was giving
00:01:55.340 some long, long speech
00:01:57.280 that I suppose somebody somewhere listened to,
00:02:01.080 but nobody in the room did.
00:02:02.980 And they were shocked
00:02:04.340 that I was on my phone for that.
00:02:05.780 And I just said, well,
00:02:06.600 she's still reading her statement
00:02:08.060 even after your tweet.
00:02:10.460 Well, you obviously wear many hats.
00:02:12.180 You're a senator.
00:02:12.960 You're a podcast host.
00:02:14.680 You are often the booking producer on this show.
00:02:17.040 So I'm not at all surprised to hear
00:02:18.400 that it was actually you on Twitter.
00:02:20.440 So you were covering it.
00:02:21.500 Actually, I mean,
00:02:22.020 we're joking about the Twitter of it all,
00:02:23.560 but it is important
00:02:24.460 that you were communicating this
00:02:26.180 and shedding light on what was going on.
00:02:28.180 You were in multiple places.
00:02:30.880 Yeah.
00:02:31.040 Look, and there's value to that.
00:02:34.700 I was.
00:02:35.880 So the day started off,
00:02:37.820 I went to a TV studio
00:02:39.240 and did Fox News in the morning
00:02:41.380 to talk about the markup
00:02:42.600 that was coming on HR1 or S1,
00:02:46.280 which is the big election,
00:02:49.020 federal takeover of elections bill
00:02:51.480 that is the top priority for Democrats.
00:02:54.020 And what we had today
00:02:55.460 was what's called the markup.
00:02:57.740 The markup is when you actually take the bill
00:03:00.540 and you consider amendments to it.
00:03:02.760 And the rules committee in the Senate
00:03:05.040 is the committee that has jurisdiction.
00:03:06.760 I'm on the rules committee.
00:03:08.500 Actually, interesting bit of trivia.
00:03:10.760 I was put on the rules committee
00:03:12.480 as a brand new baby freshman,
00:03:16.300 which is relatively unusual
00:03:18.140 for newly elected senators,
00:03:20.780 in my case, nine years ago,
00:03:22.320 to be put on it.
00:03:23.380 And actually, the reason Mitch McConnell
00:03:25.300 asked me to serve on the committee
00:03:27.040 is that the rules committee
00:03:28.260 has jurisdiction
00:03:29.660 over campaign finance reform legislation.
00:03:31.920 And he asked me at the time,
00:03:33.180 he said, look,
00:03:33.880 when the Democrats come
00:03:35.780 with some horrible campaign finance legislation,
00:03:39.180 Ted, I'd like you to lead
00:03:40.120 the fight against this.
00:03:41.180 And that's sort of like,
00:03:42.360 you know, throw me in that briar patch.
00:03:44.000 I am eager to defend the First Amendment,
00:03:47.280 to stop the Democrats' efforts
00:03:48.880 to undermine democracy.
00:03:51.400 And so I was happy to do it then.
00:03:52.800 And this is the most dramatic time.
00:03:55.440 And so the markup started at 10 a.m.
00:03:58.980 and it wrapped up about 7 p.m.
00:04:01.720 So it went about nine hours straight.
00:04:04.140 And during the course of it,
00:04:05.900 we had, oh, I don't know,
00:04:07.220 30 or 40 different amendments.
00:04:08.920 I filed 46 amendments.
00:04:10.760 And so we brought up
00:04:12.600 amendment after amendment
00:04:13.740 debating the bill.
00:04:15.380 The bill is a really bad bill.
00:04:17.820 And I do hope and think
00:04:19.620 that the markup today
00:04:21.460 highlighted just how extreme,
00:04:23.300 just how partisan the bill is.
00:04:25.680 And I think the Democrats ended up
00:04:27.740 casting some really bad votes today
00:04:30.040 that underscores their top priority
00:04:33.300 is staying in power.
00:04:36.120 What this bill is all about
00:04:37.660 is keeping Democrats in power
00:04:39.100 for the next 100 years.
00:04:40.760 And they're really trying
00:04:41.800 to rig the game to do that.
00:04:43.360 And I think the most important function
00:04:46.200 of the markup today
00:04:46.980 was to highlight how they're doing it.
00:04:49.480 So you mentioned here
00:04:50.640 the campaign finance angle.
00:04:52.880 It actually sort of surprised me
00:04:55.140 because I had forgotten
00:04:56.640 how broad this bill is.
00:04:58.820 When I think of S-1, H-R-1, 0.98
00:05:00.900 we're calling it
00:05:01.580 the Corrupt Politicians Act.
00:05:04.040 In my mind,
00:05:05.120 this was about changing the rules
00:05:06.740 for congressional elections
00:05:08.680 and federalizing those rules
00:05:12.000 that would ordinarily be made
00:05:13.100 by the states.
00:05:13.660 But then you're reminding me
00:05:14.860 there's a campaign finance aspect to it.
00:05:17.740 Could you just take us through
00:05:18.780 a little bit of specifically
00:05:19.940 that portion,
00:05:20.900 but sort of all the pieces
00:05:22.400 of this legislation?
00:05:23.740 Sure.
00:05:24.420 So this thing is nearly 900 pages long.
00:05:27.580 And it is every bad idea,
00:05:30.020 every left-wing advocacy group
00:05:31.780 has had over the last 20 years
00:05:33.480 to try to change elections
00:05:36.180 to make sure that Democrats always win.
00:05:38.980 So what does the bill do?
00:05:40.260 Well, let's start with,
00:05:41.380 what does it mean, H-R-1 or S-1?
00:05:43.340 Nobody knows what that means.
00:05:45.080 H-R-1 means it is the very first bill
00:05:47.400 filed by Democratic leadership
00:05:48.940 in the House.
00:05:49.700 S-1 means it's the first bill
00:05:51.360 filed by Democratic leadership
00:05:53.260 in the Senate.
00:05:54.520 It means it's their number one priority.
00:05:57.040 And so just pause for a second
00:05:58.520 and think about
00:05:59.240 what the Democrats are telling you.
00:06:01.520 Their top priority isn't COVID.
00:06:03.480 It's not vaccinations.
00:06:05.120 It's not jobs.
00:06:06.200 It's not reopening schools.
00:06:07.980 Their top priority is staying in power.
00:06:10.640 And that trumps everything else.
00:06:13.720 Now, what does this bill do?
00:06:15.380 Well, it federalizes elections.
00:06:17.100 It puts the federal government
00:06:18.060 in charge of elections
00:06:18.900 across this country.
00:06:20.860 One of the things it does is,
00:06:23.180 look, we've got 50 states.
00:06:24.760 States generally administer elections
00:06:27.020 and they pass laws
00:06:28.240 governing how elections are handled.
00:06:30.220 This bill, which many of us are calling,
00:06:33.660 as you noted,
00:06:34.140 the Corrupt Politicians Act.
00:06:36.460 What it does is it essentially repeals
00:06:39.460 virtually every state voter integrity law.
00:06:43.780 Now, what does that mean?
00:06:44.740 Here's some examples.
00:06:47.020 Voter ID.
00:06:48.300 29 states require some form
00:06:50.780 of identification to vote.
00:06:52.680 You think about it,
00:06:53.380 it's a common sense provision.
00:06:55.460 75% of Americans support photo ID for voting.
00:06:59.460 By the way, that's true.
00:07:01.740 60% of Democrats support photo ID for voting.
00:07:05.960 77% of independents support photo ID for voting.
00:07:10.380 60% of African Americans
00:07:11.980 support photo ID for voting.
00:07:14.220 What does the Corrupt Politicians Act do?
00:07:16.380 It repeals every one of those laws.
00:07:17.760 It makes it illegal
00:07:18.760 for a state to require voter ID.
00:07:22.620 Likewise, ballot harvesting.
00:07:23.940 All right, what is ballot harvesting?
00:07:25.280 It is a particularly corrupt practice
00:07:27.200 where you send in a paid political operative
00:07:30.620 to collect the ballots of other peoples.
00:07:33.480 Why is that corrupt?
00:07:35.600 Well, because let's say you have an operative
00:07:38.740 from the DNC,
00:07:39.740 the Democratic National Committee,
00:07:41.780 who goes into a nursing home
00:07:43.040 where you have a bunch of people
00:07:44.400 who are elderly,
00:07:45.180 some of whom may not even be capable
00:07:46.960 of making decisions.
00:07:48.500 With ballot harvesting,
00:07:49.980 these operatives help them fill out their ballots,
00:07:52.080 including people that may not be competent
00:07:54.580 to make those decisions.
00:07:56.140 And it invites voter fraud
00:07:58.360 because number one,
00:07:59.820 they can prompt the people to vote
00:08:01.360 the way the operative wants them to.
00:08:03.540 Number two, if the operative sees how they vote,
00:08:06.500 let's suppose you have a senior
00:08:08.040 who stubbornly votes for Donald Trump
00:08:10.140 instead of Joe Biden.
00:08:11.820 The corrupt operative can take that ballot
00:08:14.160 and throw it in the trash.
00:08:16.220 It is dangerous when you have
00:08:18.340 an employee of a political campaign
00:08:21.060 handling the ballots of other people.
00:08:23.620 That's why 31 states
00:08:25.240 either prohibit or restrict ballot harvesting.
00:08:28.200 What does the Corrupt Politicians Act do?
00:08:30.540 It repeals every one of those restrictions
00:08:32.500 and it mandates ballot harvesting.
00:08:35.220 Likewise, this bill
00:08:37.180 mandates universal mail-in ballots.
00:08:40.540 It mandates drop boxes everywhere,
00:08:42.280 both of which are very susceptible to fraud.
00:08:45.140 It also provides for welfare for politicians.
00:08:50.120 This is one of the more egregious elements of it.
00:08:53.020 That it provides for a six to one
00:08:55.580 federal government match
00:08:57.140 for money raised in increments under $200.
00:09:01.680 So if you raise $200,
00:09:03.280 the federal government gives you $1,200 to match that.
00:09:06.860 That is a particularly idiotic proposal.
00:09:09.680 As I observed at the hearing today,
00:09:12.540 if you think of all of the populations
00:09:14.380 in need of welfare,
00:09:15.860 in need of subsidies,
00:09:16.840 in need of supports,
00:09:18.440 politicians are really near the bottom of that list.
00:09:22.100 Yeah.
00:09:22.540 And I'll tell you, Michael,
00:09:23.880 the provision that I think is most naked,
00:09:26.920 that makes most obvious
00:09:28.160 what the Democrats are doing,
00:09:29.960 is the Federal Election Commission.
00:09:31.900 It was established after Watergate.
00:09:33.920 So Watergate was a big scandal,
00:09:35.340 campaign finance scandal.
00:09:36.440 Well, they created the Federal Elections Commission
00:09:38.960 in the 1970s.
00:09:41.000 It's a bipartisan commission.
00:09:43.380 There are three Democratic commissioners,
00:09:44.960 three Republican commissioners.
00:09:46.120 The reason they did that
00:09:47.000 is they wanted it to be for the FEC to act.
00:09:50.860 It had to be bipartisan agreement.
00:09:52.560 You had to get at least four commissioners,
00:09:55.120 meaning you had to get at least one
00:09:56.440 from the opposing party.
00:09:58.220 What does the Corrupt Politicians Act do?
00:10:00.200 It turns it into a partisan organization.
00:10:01.960 It leaves it with three Democratic commissioners
00:10:05.540 and only two Republican commissioners,
00:10:07.980 which means the FEC becomes essentially
00:10:10.260 the attack dog for Chuck Schumer.
00:10:13.640 And it's designed,
00:10:15.420 what the intention of this would be,
00:10:17.960 is to use it to target,
00:10:19.800 to persecute,
00:10:21.220 to investigate Republicans.
00:10:23.120 And by the way,
00:10:23.680 to do it in all likelihood,
00:10:25.860 a month or two before the election,
00:10:27.460 right when they're vulnerable,
00:10:28.480 to have an October surprise
00:10:29.940 of guess what?
00:10:31.160 Every Republican in a close race,
00:10:33.200 the Chuck Schumer Federal Election Commission
00:10:34.940 is going to announce an investigation
00:10:36.540 into some scandalous aspect of them.
00:10:39.040 It's a really bad idea.
00:10:41.220 And that's what this bill does.
00:10:43.720 So it's amazing
00:10:45.200 because I've been, you know,
00:10:47.200 reading the headlines on this bill.
00:10:49.480 And but when you see it all laid out,
00:10:51.280 all of these things,
00:10:52.600 it's such a major bill.
00:10:55.980 And yet that's not all you were doing today.
00:10:58.780 There was another major issue.
00:11:00.340 So while the Democrats
00:11:01.040 are trying to ram down,
00:11:02.700 which I think you put it very well,
00:11:04.620 the most radical legislation
00:11:05.820 you've seen in your time there,
00:11:08.200 perhaps rivaled only by the Equality Act
00:11:10.340 or something like that.
00:11:11.400 And Michael,
00:11:11.700 it's much more dangerous
00:11:12.500 than the Equality Act
00:11:13.480 because it's designed to rig the system.
00:11:16.880 So two of the provisions
00:11:17.840 that are most dangerous
00:11:18.920 in the Corrupt Politicians Act.
00:11:21.220 So one is automatic voter registration.
00:11:24.060 So any individual
00:11:26.380 that has any interaction
00:11:27.620 with the government.
00:11:28.480 So if you get a welfare check,
00:11:30.620 get an unemployment check,
00:11:32.180 if you get a driver's license,
00:11:33.800 if you go to a state college
00:11:35.980 or university,
00:11:37.040 you're automatically registered to vote.
00:11:40.280 Now, that is intended to
00:11:42.420 and will, in fact,
00:11:43.740 if it's enacted,
00:11:45.340 register millions
00:11:46.740 of illegal aliens to vote
00:11:48.280 because there are anywhere
00:11:50.900 from 11 to 20 million
00:11:53.740 illegal aliens in the country.
00:11:55.140 The estimates vary.
00:11:57.280 A large,
00:11:58.480 a significant percentage
00:11:59.640 of that group,
00:12:00.280 we don't have an exact estimate,
00:12:01.640 but it is in the millions
00:12:02.700 by any way you assess it,
00:12:04.440 is interacting with the government.
00:12:06.240 And all of these
00:12:07.380 who are interacting
00:12:08.020 with the government,
00:12:09.400 this bill is designed
00:12:10.800 to automatically register them.
00:12:13.600 Not only that,
00:12:15.360 a number of states
00:12:16.420 have very reasonable provisions
00:12:18.060 that provide that criminals
00:12:19.600 can lose their right to vote,
00:12:21.880 that if you commit
00:12:22.760 a horrific crime,
00:12:24.960 a number of states have said
00:12:26.040 you can forfeit
00:12:26.800 your right to vote.
00:12:28.080 What does the Corrupt Politicians Act do?
00:12:30.060 It strikes down
00:12:30.600 every one of those laws.
00:12:31.560 It says criminals,
00:12:33.400 the instant they're released
00:12:34.880 from jail,
00:12:35.580 can vote.
00:12:36.900 And the reason for this
00:12:38.500 is Democrats have decided,
00:12:41.460 and I think quite reasonably,
00:12:43.440 that having millions
00:12:45.520 of illegal aliens vote
00:12:46.900 and thousands
00:12:48.040 or hundreds of thousands
00:12:49.120 or millions of criminals
00:12:50.280 and felons vote, 0.99
00:12:52.180 that those individuals
00:12:54.740 are likely to vote
00:12:55.760 for Democrats
00:12:56.440 and it will benefit Democrats.
00:12:57.920 This is all about
00:12:58.760 keeping Democrats in power.
00:13:00.840 So during the course
00:13:03.140 of the day in the markup,
00:13:04.160 as I said,
00:13:04.540 I had 46 amendments.
00:13:05.780 I introduced an amendment
00:13:06.720 to provide that
00:13:08.700 before anyone
00:13:09.380 is automatically registered
00:13:10.480 to vote,
00:13:11.340 you have to verify citizenship,
00:13:12.880 that you're not
00:13:13.460 registering someone illegal.
00:13:15.480 Of course,
00:13:15.840 every Democrat voter
00:13:16.680 know that amendment
00:13:17.300 was voted down.
00:13:18.000 I introduced another amendment.
00:13:20.040 So a portion of this law
00:13:21.300 grants amnesty,
00:13:23.440 grants immunity
00:13:24.320 to any illegal alien
00:13:26.240 who's illegally registered
00:13:27.360 to vote
00:13:27.740 because of the automatic registration.
00:13:29.280 Look, the bill anticipates
00:13:30.580 millions of illegal aliens
00:13:32.160 are registered to vote.
00:13:33.940 And so it grants amnesty.
00:13:34.960 It says they're not liable.
00:13:36.500 There's no criminal liability,
00:13:37.760 no civil liability.
00:13:38.860 They're completely immune
00:13:40.180 from any exposure
00:13:42.920 for being illegally registered
00:13:44.220 to vote.
00:13:44.980 I introduced amendments
00:13:46.200 to just strip that. 0.99
00:13:48.000 That is so radical
00:13:49.300 and I feel people
00:13:50.620 may not appreciate that.
00:13:52.380 On the one hand,
00:13:53.280 Democrats are saying
00:13:54.240 this bill absolutely
00:13:56.080 will not register
00:13:57.380 illegal aliens to vote.
00:13:59.200 And also,
00:14:00.320 when they are,
00:14:01.340 they'll get amnesty for it.
00:14:02.380 That's in the same bill.
00:14:03.700 It is in the same bill.
00:14:05.380 The Democrats argued
00:14:06.540 no illegal aliens 0.98
00:14:08.220 will be registered to vote.
00:14:09.280 I said, great,
00:14:09.740 then you should vote
00:14:10.220 for my amendments.
00:14:10.940 If it's not registering anyone,
00:14:12.660 then you ought to welcome
00:14:13.800 these amendments.
00:14:14.400 They're like,
00:14:14.620 no, no, no, no,
00:14:15.040 we can't have
00:14:15.860 the amendments.
00:14:17.540 So I introduced
00:14:19.380 a narrow amendment
00:14:20.580 to say,
00:14:21.020 let's get rid of the amnesty.
00:14:22.320 If nobody's registered
00:14:23.920 illegally to vote,
00:14:24.780 what's the value
00:14:25.460 of creating a special amnesty
00:14:26.920 for people
00:14:27.620 who are illegally
00:14:28.060 registered to vote?
00:14:29.480 Every Democrat voted no.
00:14:30.780 They voted it down.
00:14:32.660 On the criminals,
00:14:33.980 all right,
00:14:34.160 here's a very funny thing.
00:14:35.320 So I had a whole series
00:14:36.320 of amendments
00:14:36.940 allowing states
00:14:39.380 to prevent criminals
00:14:40.320 from voting.
00:14:42.000 The first amendment
00:14:43.400 that got called up
00:14:44.840 was from Senator Hyde-Smith
00:14:47.720 and it was an amendment
00:14:49.500 focused on child molesters
00:14:51.620 and it said people
00:14:53.580 that commit crimes
00:14:54.620 against children,
00:14:56.380 states can prevent
00:14:57.080 them from voting.
00:14:58.000 And one of the things
00:14:59.260 I did going into this meeting,
00:15:00.580 I sat down before the markup
00:15:02.660 with Mitch McConnell,
00:15:03.960 I sat down with Roy Blunt,
00:15:05.200 who's the ranking Republican
00:15:06.220 on the committee,
00:15:06.920 and we laid out a strategy
00:15:08.540 for fighting this.
00:15:09.320 And so I drafted
00:15:10.000 a whole bunch of amendments
00:15:10.840 and one of the things
00:15:11.460 I did is gave a number
00:15:13.500 of amendments
00:15:13.940 to other Republican senators
00:15:15.160 for them to drive forward.
00:15:17.080 So Cindy Hyde-Smith,
00:15:18.220 senator from Mississippi,
00:15:19.240 introduced this amendment
00:15:20.140 that said if you've committed
00:15:22.620 a crime against children,
00:15:24.700 states can prevent you
00:15:25.560 from voting.
00:15:27.180 Miraculously, Michael,
00:15:28.740 this amendment passed
00:15:29.740 and Angus King,
00:15:31.420 who is an independent
00:15:33.040 from Maine,
00:15:33.700 although he votes
00:15:34.280 exactly like a Democrat,
00:15:36.080 he voted yes.
00:15:36.940 He said I'm a parent
00:15:37.740 and so if you commit
00:15:38.520 a crime against kids,
00:15:39.320 states can say
00:15:40.660 you can't vote.
00:15:41.380 And I argued forcefully
00:15:43.340 like why is it Democrats
00:15:45.940 think our democracy
00:15:46.920 would be better
00:15:47.500 if child molesters
00:15:48.280 were voting?
00:15:48.940 When I think of
00:15:49.780 what the country needs,
00:15:51.440 the enlightened views
00:15:52.920 of child molesters
00:15:53.860 is not high on the list.
00:15:55.620 So once Angus voted for that
00:15:58.300 and he's like,
00:15:59.520 well, you're not going
00:16:00.040 to have a whole bunch
00:16:00.600 of other amendments
00:16:01.240 onto other crimes.
00:16:02.180 And I said,
00:16:03.200 well, yeah,
00:16:03.520 I do have a whole bunch
00:16:04.380 of others,
00:16:04.660 but I'll just do one.
00:16:05.480 So I pulled up mine,
00:16:07.540 which was murderers.
00:16:09.100 I said, OK,
00:16:10.000 you've agreed child molesters.
00:16:11.540 States can say
00:16:12.080 they can't vote.
00:16:12.660 How about murders?
00:16:13.320 People convicted
00:16:14.040 of the felony of murder.
00:16:17.140 Angus King voted no to that.
00:16:18.400 The Democrats voted it down.
00:16:19.640 So every Democrat
00:16:20.420 on the committee voted
00:16:21.360 that it should be illegal
00:16:24.620 for states to say
00:16:26.100 murderers can't vote. 0.99
00:16:27.380 That's how radical
00:16:28.280 these guys are.
00:16:29.000 Well, and it's not even to say
00:16:31.020 because people will,
00:16:32.820 you know,
00:16:33.200 confuse the federalism
00:16:35.420 of it all.
00:16:36.500 All you're suggesting here
00:16:38.280 is that states
00:16:38.920 should have the right
00:16:40.220 to determine
00:16:41.380 whether or not
00:16:42.160 murderers can vote.
00:16:43.480 That even that was too much
00:16:45.140 for for the Democrats.
00:16:47.220 Yeah, to be clear,
00:16:47.940 my amendments were not
00:16:49.440 requiring a standard,
00:16:51.800 whether it is photo ID
00:16:52.900 for voting,
00:16:53.600 whether it is
00:16:54.280 barring criminals
00:16:55.400 from voting
00:16:56.080 under the Constitution.
00:16:57.700 The principal responsibility
00:16:59.440 for for those decisions
00:17:02.000 are the states.
00:17:02.680 Now, I will say this
00:17:03.600 in discussing it.
00:17:05.560 There is an argument
00:17:06.520 that some on the right
00:17:07.500 are making,
00:17:07.920 which is that this whole bill
00:17:09.240 is unconstitutional.
00:17:11.020 I actually think
00:17:11.900 that argument
00:17:12.380 is probably not right,
00:17:13.560 that the way
00:17:14.180 the Constitution
00:17:14.760 is drafted,
00:17:16.140 the states have
00:17:17.460 significant responsibility
00:17:19.680 for structuring elections,
00:17:22.060 but Congress
00:17:22.860 also has the authority
00:17:24.240 to to promulgate standards.
00:17:26.480 And so it's a concurrent
00:17:27.560 jurisdiction.
00:17:29.220 So I think it is a
00:17:30.800 I don't think
00:17:31.740 it's a valid argument
00:17:32.640 to say Congress
00:17:33.360 can't legislate here.
00:17:34.660 What I do think
00:17:35.640 is a valid argument
00:17:36.820 is that Congress
00:17:37.560 shouldn't be repealing
00:17:39.800 the laws of 29 states
00:17:42.860 when it comes to voter ID,
00:17:44.260 31 states
00:17:45.040 when it comes to restricting
00:17:46.260 ballot harvesting,
00:17:47.660 that Congress
00:17:48.300 should respect
00:17:49.260 the state laws
00:17:50.820 that in turn
00:17:51.540 reflect the values
00:17:52.840 of their citizens.
00:17:54.160 This is an important point
00:17:55.520 because there are
00:17:56.500 a lot of conservatives,
00:17:57.580 I think,
00:17:57.900 who just want to say,
00:17:58.680 oh, well,
00:17:58.980 we don't need to worry
00:17:59.640 too much
00:18:00.100 because the courts
00:18:01.460 will strike it down.
00:18:02.620 And so you're making
00:18:03.200 the point,
00:18:04.180 actually,
00:18:05.060 that might not be
00:18:06.240 a bulletproof argument.
00:18:07.460 But then there's also
00:18:08.220 the practical
00:18:08.960 political reality here,
00:18:10.720 which is that
00:18:11.380 when we rely on the courts,
00:18:13.060 very often we're disappointed.
00:18:14.600 So probably we're going
00:18:15.720 to want to fight
00:18:16.160 against this now.
00:18:17.800 Well, and it's worse
00:18:18.400 than that.
00:18:19.040 I don't think the courts
00:18:20.140 will strike this down.
00:18:21.040 And here's why.
00:18:23.100 If the Corrupt Politicians Act
00:18:25.240 passes into law,
00:18:26.600 it will be because
00:18:27.480 the Democrats
00:18:28.020 have ended the filibuster,
00:18:30.540 because they have
00:18:31.680 rammed it through
00:18:32.700 on 50 votes.
00:18:33.520 It will be because
00:18:34.200 Joe Manchin
00:18:34.800 and Kristen Sinema
00:18:35.640 gave in.
00:18:37.400 If that happens,
00:18:39.780 the Democrats
00:18:40.400 will also pack
00:18:41.300 the U.S. Supreme Court.
00:18:42.420 They'll put
00:18:42.840 four left-wing justices
00:18:44.280 on the court.
00:18:45.420 And a packed Supreme Court
00:18:47.440 with four left-wing justices
00:18:48.980 will uphold
00:18:50.040 the Corrupt Politicians Act.
00:18:51.440 So the current Supreme Court
00:18:53.460 would certainly strike down
00:18:56.860 significant elements
00:18:57.840 of this bill.
00:18:59.340 But a packed Supreme Court
00:19:01.080 with four new
00:19:01.820 left-wing justices
00:19:02.880 will rubber stamp this.
00:19:04.640 And so the filibuster
00:19:06.120 is the whole ball of wax
00:19:08.760 in terms of stopping this.
00:19:10.180 And this is really about,
00:19:12.440 you know, Michael,
00:19:12.900 if you look at what
00:19:13.500 the Democrats are trying to do,
00:19:14.780 I'd really break it
00:19:15.540 into two baskets.
00:19:18.160 What is bad policy?
00:19:19.260 They want to do things
00:19:20.180 that are just bad policy.
00:19:21.460 Massively high taxes,
00:19:22.620 massively high regulations,
00:19:24.320 open borders,
00:19:25.440 trillions of dollars
00:19:26.480 in spending.
00:19:27.120 All of that is bad.
00:19:27.980 It's harmful.
00:19:29.100 But all of that
00:19:29.900 can be undone.
00:19:30.740 If Republicans
00:19:31.240 take majorities again,
00:19:32.460 we can cut taxes again.
00:19:33.660 We can cut regulations.
00:19:34.980 We can try to cut spending,
00:19:36.200 although historically
00:19:36.820 that's harder to do.
00:19:38.400 But bad policy
00:19:40.000 can be undone.
00:19:42.140 There's a whole
00:19:42.860 separate category
00:19:44.400 that the Democrats
00:19:45.120 are trying to do
00:19:46.000 that is rigging the game,
00:19:48.360 that is changing the rules.
00:19:50.280 And what falls into that,
00:19:52.340 H.R. 1,
00:19:53.000 the Corrupt Politicians Act,
00:19:55.000 making D.C. a state
00:19:57.080 to get two new
00:19:58.060 Democratic senators
00:19:58.960 and packing the U.S. Supreme Court.
00:20:00.920 And those are designed
00:20:02.280 to change the rules
00:20:04.540 because I think Democrats believe
00:20:06.160 if they enact those,
00:20:07.840 they stay in power
00:20:09.040 the next hundred years,
00:20:09.960 that Republicans can't win
00:20:11.400 if millions of illegal aliens
00:20:13.320 and millions of criminals
00:20:14.520 are voting.
00:20:15.820 And that's why
00:20:16.420 they want to do it,
00:20:17.180 particularly if you have
00:20:17.940 a partisan
00:20:18.460 federal election commission
00:20:20.300 that is a political weapon
00:20:23.600 going after Republicans
00:20:24.880 at the behest of Chuck Schumer.
00:20:27.220 They believe,
00:20:27.940 I think,
00:20:28.200 quite reasonably
00:20:29.000 that that will ensure
00:20:30.080 they win for a long time to come.
00:20:32.000 That's why
00:20:32.660 this is the whole enchilada.
00:20:34.220 Senator,
00:20:34.640 you've sufficiently depressed me
00:20:36.320 about the Corrupt Politicians Act.
00:20:38.320 So now,
00:20:39.160 because a wise man
00:20:40.100 once said
00:20:40.560 that it is always darkest
00:20:42.180 before it goes totally pitch black,
00:20:44.660 we have to address
00:20:45.740 the other topic
00:20:46.660 that you were working on today,
00:20:48.820 which is the gun grab.
00:20:50.820 Democrats are trying to pass
00:20:52.340 big gun control.
00:20:55.320 You were there,
00:20:56.000 you were in the room.
00:20:56.780 What's it look like
00:20:57.520 and how do we stop it?
00:20:58.700 Well,
00:20:58.960 it's the Constitution Subcommittee,
00:21:00.800 the Senate Judiciary Committee.
00:21:02.040 I've been the chairman
00:21:02.680 of that committee
00:21:03.320 for a number of years.
00:21:04.820 I'm now the ranking member
00:21:05.860 because we're in the minority.
00:21:06.940 So Senator Richard Blumenthal
00:21:08.320 from Connecticut
00:21:08.900 is now the chairman.
00:21:10.500 He had a hearing
00:21:11.360 on so-called ghost guns.
00:21:13.380 I mean,
00:21:13.540 you said it's always darkest
00:21:14.520 before it goes pitch black.
00:21:15.740 I guess it's fitting
00:21:16.480 that pitch black
00:21:17.620 is when the ghosts come out.
00:21:19.320 I showed up,
00:21:20.140 irritatingly enough,
00:21:21.140 this hearing
00:21:21.820 was at the exact same time
00:21:23.700 as the markup
00:21:24.440 for the Corrupt Politicians Act.
00:21:26.020 So what I talked about
00:21:27.160 on the hearing
00:21:28.520 on, quote,
00:21:29.020 ghost guns,
00:21:29.660 and what is a ghost gun?
00:21:30.960 I mean,
00:21:31.160 to be honest,
00:21:32.080 who the hell
00:21:32.540 has heard of a ghost gun?
00:21:33.820 I mean,
00:21:33.980 you want to talk about
00:21:34.620 a made-up phenomenon
00:21:35.920 and it's designed
00:21:37.240 to be really scary.
00:21:38.340 Like, ooh,
00:21:38.780 ghost guns.
00:21:39.520 What the heck are those?
00:21:41.400 They're handmade guns.
00:21:42.520 They're people,
00:21:43.820 they're hobbyists
00:21:44.440 who make handmade guns.
00:21:45.840 They make guns from kits.
00:21:48.500 They order different kits online
00:21:50.660 and they assemble them.
00:21:52.260 And the reason
00:21:52.900 this is a made-up problem
00:21:54.120 is there is zero evidence,
00:21:56.440 like nothing,
00:21:57.820 nada,
00:21:58.960 that handmade guns
00:22:01.380 are producing
00:22:02.060 any violent crime at all.
00:22:04.040 Like,
00:22:04.280 it's a totally made-up,
00:22:06.760 and so I kind of unloaded
00:22:08.740 on the Democrats this morning
00:22:09.920 and I said,
00:22:10.420 look,
00:22:10.900 you've got a hearing
00:22:11.740 on a totally bogus threat,
00:22:13.560 but it's designed
00:22:14.660 to be scary
00:22:15.240 and frankly,
00:22:16.020 they're taking advantage
00:22:17.900 of ignorant liberals
00:22:19.280 who don't really know
00:22:21.200 anything about guns
00:22:22.280 and a ghost gun.
00:22:23.860 They want to use a term
00:22:25.060 that sounds really frightening,
00:22:27.040 but I said,
00:22:27.960 what,
00:22:28.140 are you next going to hold
00:22:29.160 a hearing
00:22:29.580 on Civil War replica cannons?
00:22:32.900 I mean,
00:22:33.360 they're not being used
00:22:34.360 in crimes.
00:22:34.900 You want a hearing
00:22:35.640 on gun crime?
00:22:37.340 Gun crime's a serious problem.
00:22:38.440 How about have a hearing
00:22:39.180 on Chicago
00:22:39.960 and New York
00:22:40.920 and Philadelphia
00:22:41.600 and how left-wing
00:22:42.840 gun control laws
00:22:43.680 aren't working?
00:22:44.400 That's actually
00:22:44.940 a real hearing.
00:22:47.280 But they don't want
00:22:48.180 to do that.
00:22:49.660 And what I talked about
00:22:50.640 also in my opening comment
00:22:51.860 is I said,
00:22:52.420 listen,
00:22:53.700 why is it the Democrats
00:22:54.660 are trying to do this?
00:22:55.620 Because number one,
00:22:56.460 their objective
00:22:56.980 is not going after
00:22:57.960 actual gun crime.
00:22:59.000 It is stripping
00:23:00.580 the Second Amendment rights
00:23:01.660 from law-abiding citizens,
00:23:02.820 that the people
00:23:03.460 that build homemade guns
00:23:04.740 are collectors.
00:23:06.100 Frankly,
00:23:06.620 if you're a gangbanger
00:23:07.840 in Chicago,
00:23:09.260 you're not making
00:23:10.080 a homemade gun.
00:23:11.220 You're buying
00:23:11.640 an illegal gun
00:23:12.400 on the black market
00:23:13.220 that you're murdering
00:23:13.900 people with.
00:23:14.460 I mean,
00:23:14.640 that's where the guns
00:23:15.700 come from.
00:23:16.700 But here's what
00:23:17.760 this is all about,
00:23:18.700 and it was interesting.
00:23:20.360 Blumenthal,
00:23:20.880 in his opening statement,
00:23:21.820 he said,
00:23:22.200 look,
00:23:22.400 these are untraceable.
00:23:24.700 And untraceable
00:23:25.540 is meant to be scary.
00:23:28.500 They want to be able
00:23:29.980 to trace
00:23:30.820 every firearm in America
00:23:32.300 because they want
00:23:33.000 a registry
00:23:33.640 of every firearm
00:23:34.460 in America.
00:23:34.860 And I put it out.
00:23:35.460 I said,
00:23:35.700 listen,
00:23:36.960 Heidi and I
00:23:37.540 own a number
00:23:38.080 of firearms.
00:23:39.200 There is no government
00:23:40.180 list of the firearms
00:23:41.100 we own.
00:23:41.660 It's none of your
00:23:42.300 damn business
00:23:43.660 what firearms we own.
00:23:44.840 You want to find out
00:23:45.440 what firearms we own?
00:23:46.320 Come into our house
00:23:46.940 at night.
00:23:47.260 You'll find out
00:23:47.760 what firearms we own.
00:23:49.260 Like it is,
00:23:51.640 and for the big
00:23:53.340 government liberals,
00:23:54.220 they want a registry.
00:23:55.820 And the reason
00:23:56.680 they want a registry
00:23:57.580 is if you look
00:23:58.480 at countries
00:23:59.040 throughout history
00:23:59.780 that have confiscated
00:24:00.760 firearms,
00:24:01.740 it always starts
00:24:02.920 with a registry,
00:24:03.660 a list of
00:24:04.540 what guns
00:24:05.740 does Michael Knowles
00:24:06.740 own so that
00:24:07.500 when they come
00:24:07.960 knock on the door,
00:24:08.980 they say,
00:24:09.900 okay,
00:24:10.140 Mr. Knowles,
00:24:10.980 you've got a rifle,
00:24:12.700 you've got a shotgun,
00:24:13.980 and you've got
00:24:14.500 a 38 revolver.
00:24:16.260 Produce the guns
00:24:17.100 now.
00:24:17.440 We're seizing them.
00:24:18.840 And so
00:24:19.340 I am fighting
00:24:21.140 tooth and nail
00:24:21.760 against a registry.
00:24:22.700 This whole ghost guns
00:24:23.540 thing is a made-up
00:24:25.280 BS topic
00:24:27.540 because what they want
00:24:29.700 is a registry
00:24:30.240 of every gun
00:24:30.740 to be able
00:24:31.080 to confiscate it.
00:24:32.280 Before we go,
00:24:33.380 we're,
00:24:34.220 as always,
00:24:34.980 pressed for time.
00:24:35.920 Before we go,
00:24:36.500 we've got to touch
00:24:37.380 on this Israel issue.
00:24:39.360 We have to touch
00:24:40.180 on it because
00:24:40.920 I don't understand
00:24:41.900 anything about it.
00:24:43.020 And I think
00:24:43.580 most people,
00:24:44.360 frankly,
00:24:44.800 are looking at
00:24:45.720 this conflict,
00:24:46.560 the Israel-Palestine
00:24:47.580 conflict.
00:24:48.300 It seemed to have
00:24:49.180 been fine.
00:24:50.180 Everything seemed
00:24:50.700 to be going
00:24:51.020 pretty well
00:24:51.600 for the past
00:24:52.400 four years.
00:24:53.100 You had lots
00:24:53.480 of new peace treaties.
00:24:54.280 We happened
00:24:54.980 to be doing
00:24:55.760 episodes.
00:24:56.340 We were in D.C.
00:24:57.360 During those peace treaties,
00:24:58.440 you were there
00:24:58.980 at the signing
00:24:59.500 of them.
00:25:00.400 And now
00:25:01.900 everything's
00:25:02.600 gone to hell
00:25:03.260 in a handbasket.
00:25:04.940 What went wrong?
00:25:06.320 Weakness causes
00:25:07.240 violence and aggression.
00:25:09.640 Terrorists
00:25:10.120 like weakness.
00:25:12.760 They're encouraged
00:25:13.480 by weakness.
00:25:14.200 You know,
00:25:14.340 I had dinner,
00:25:15.340 I think,
00:25:15.700 week before last
00:25:16.560 with David Friedman,
00:25:17.920 who was the former
00:25:18.780 U.S. ambassador
00:25:19.720 to Israel
00:25:20.340 under President Trump.
00:25:21.420 David is a good friend.
00:25:23.380 Four years
00:25:23.920 of President Trump,
00:25:24.860 you saw the
00:25:25.740 Palestinian attacks
00:25:26.940 on Israelis,
00:25:27.920 on Americans,
00:25:29.040 drop dramatically.
00:25:30.240 And it was because,
00:25:31.180 I believe,
00:25:32.840 President Trump
00:25:33.560 drew a line
00:25:34.040 in the sand
00:25:34.500 and says,
00:25:34.820 we stand with Israel.
00:25:35.660 There was no ambiguity
00:25:36.300 about it.
00:25:37.540 What did Joe Biden
00:25:38.300 do when he came in?
00:25:39.180 Immediately put
00:25:39.900 ambiguity about it.
00:25:40.920 Immediately,
00:25:41.840 one of the things
00:25:42.600 Biden started doing
00:25:43.640 is he sent over
00:25:45.260 $100 million
00:25:45.840 to the Palestinian Authority.
00:25:47.560 Now,
00:25:47.680 the Palestinian Authority
00:25:48.740 is the quasi-government
00:25:51.720 of the Palestinians
00:25:53.020 within Israel.
00:25:54.300 It is in what's called
00:25:55.760 a unity government
00:25:56.780 with Hamas.
00:25:57.540 Hamas is a terrorist
00:25:58.460 organization.
00:25:59.340 It's explicitly
00:25:59.940 a terrorist organization.
00:26:02.340 Hamas 0.96
00:26:02.900 and the Palestinian Authority,
00:26:04.560 they pay bounties
00:26:06.840 to terrorists.
00:26:07.580 So,
00:26:07.900 if you're
00:26:08.500 a Palestinian terrorist
00:26:09.700 and you strap dynamite
00:26:11.060 on a vest
00:26:11.640 and you walk
00:26:12.740 into a mall
00:26:13.320 and you detonate
00:26:14.120 the dynamite
00:26:14.680 and you murder 0.83
00:26:15.400 women and children, 0.97
00:26:16.340 Hamas 0.96
00:26:18.340 and the Palestinian Authority
00:26:19.480 will pay your family
00:26:20.900 an ongoing stipend
00:26:24.780 for the rest
00:26:25.340 of their lives.
00:26:26.660 And it's a major
00:26:27.600 budget item
00:26:28.500 that they want
00:26:29.740 to encourage.
00:26:30.700 So,
00:26:30.760 it's the government
00:26:31.640 spending money
00:26:33.220 to pay the families
00:26:34.460 of terrorists
00:26:35.100 as rewards
00:26:35.900 for them murdering
00:26:36.940 Israelis
00:26:37.360 and murdering
00:26:38.400 Americans.
00:26:39.780 Yeah.
00:26:40.080 A couple of years ago,
00:26:41.180 Congress passed a law
00:26:42.160 called the Taylor Force Act.
00:26:43.440 Taylor Force was a Texan.
00:26:44.780 He was a veteran
00:26:45.400 who was murdered
00:26:46.560 by a Palestinian terrorist
00:26:48.380 in Israel.
00:26:49.780 And the Taylor Force Act
00:26:50.820 says U.S. tax dollars
00:26:52.460 will not go
00:26:53.120 to any organization
00:26:54.020 that rewards terrorists,
00:26:56.720 that pays the families
00:26:57.720 of terrorists
00:26:58.400 as a reward
00:26:59.420 for them committing terror.
00:27:01.000 What did Joe Biden do
00:27:02.220 in the first couple
00:27:02.820 of months in office?
00:27:04.080 Basically ignored
00:27:04.960 the Taylor Force Act
00:27:05.940 and started paying
00:27:06.840 hundreds of millions
00:27:08.000 of dollars
00:27:08.380 to the Palestinian Authority.
00:27:09.600 So,
00:27:09.820 Joe Biden is sending
00:27:10.580 your tax dollars,
00:27:11.440 my tax dollars,
00:27:12.360 to fund Hamas 0.64
00:27:13.980 in their payments
00:27:15.540 to terrorists.
00:27:16.300 And you know what?
00:27:17.240 The terrorists see that
00:27:18.420 and say,
00:27:18.880 okay,
00:27:20.100 this Biden administration
00:27:21.180 is weak.
00:27:21.960 They won't stand
00:27:22.560 with Israel.
00:27:23.360 So let's start
00:27:24.420 firing rockets.
00:27:25.260 And they're firing rockets.
00:27:26.620 They're firing hundreds
00:27:27.560 of rockets
00:27:28.200 at Jerusalem,
00:27:28.940 at Tel Aviv,
00:27:30.000 all up and down Israel.
00:27:31.640 And by the way,
00:27:32.500 not only is the Biden
00:27:33.500 administration
00:27:34.020 not doing anything
00:27:34.900 meaningfully about it,
00:27:36.140 but you've got Democrats
00:27:37.860 like Ilhan Omar
00:27:39.680 and Rashid Tlaib,
00:27:42.120 Omar accused Israel 0.98
00:27:43.940 of carrying out
00:27:45.100 acts of terrorism
00:27:46.660 because it's trying
00:27:48.440 to defend itself
00:27:49.360 against rocket attacks
00:27:50.780 aimed at civilians
00:27:51.820 and it's trying
00:27:52.420 to take out the terrorists.
00:27:54.100 And listen,
00:27:55.380 I tweeted this week,
00:27:56.660 why is a member
00:27:57.340 of Congress acting
00:27:58.360 as the press secretary
00:27:59.560 for Hamas?
00:28:00.660 And this is contrasted.
00:28:03.140 Six months ago,
00:28:03.960 we were seeing historic peace
00:28:05.380 in the Middle East.
00:28:06.120 Why?
00:28:07.200 Because the president
00:28:07.960 of the United States
00:28:08.680 and the U.S. government
00:28:09.480 was clear and unequivocal.
00:28:10.760 We stand with Israel
00:28:11.580 and no one wanted
00:28:12.220 to screw with us.
00:28:13.620 Now,
00:28:14.660 because Biden
00:28:15.440 is not able
00:28:16.140 to be clear and unequivocal,
00:28:17.320 suddenly they want
00:28:17.940 to screw with Israel 0.95
00:28:18.940 and they want
00:28:19.240 to screw with us.
00:28:19.980 And this is,
00:28:21.020 it's a manifestation
00:28:22.020 of the failures
00:28:23.040 of Biden's foreign policy.
00:28:24.800 It's night and day.
00:28:26.240 I remember when John Kerry,
00:28:28.120 before he was traipsing
00:28:29.260 all over the world
00:28:29.960 stopping the sun monster,
00:28:31.460 when John Kerry
00:28:32.260 was the secretary of state,
00:28:34.220 he said that
00:28:35.200 it is not possible
00:28:36.420 to solve
00:28:37.340 the Israel-Palestine conflict.
00:28:39.380 It is not possible,
00:28:40.820 rather,
00:28:41.600 to solve
00:28:42.120 the Middle Eastern conflict
00:28:43.680 more broadly
00:28:44.540 without first dealing
00:28:46.020 with the Palestinian conflict.
00:28:47.980 And the Trump administration
00:28:49.260 comes in and says,
00:28:50.240 you know,
00:28:50.660 I don't think that's true.
00:28:52.040 I think we're going to just deal
00:28:52.960 with all of these other Arab states
00:28:54.380 and we're going to get peace deals
00:28:55.720 with those separate states.
00:28:57.360 And the Democrats said
00:28:58.800 that was not possible.
00:28:59.840 Well, what happened?
00:29:00.700 For the last several years,
00:29:02.600 we've seen lots and lots
00:29:03.840 of peace treaties.
00:29:04.800 Now that seems to be falling apart.
00:29:06.760 I have to tell you,
00:29:07.560 Senator,
00:29:08.100 a bit of a depressing show
00:29:09.680 on the voting rights,
00:29:11.000 on the guns,
00:29:11.860 on the international diplomacy.
00:29:13.440 Is there any glimmer of hope here?
00:29:14.920 I think the markup today
00:29:16.500 on the Corrupt Politicians Act
00:29:17.960 was very beneficial in one sense.
00:29:20.540 It showed just how radical
00:29:22.420 and extreme the Democrats were.
00:29:24.680 I mean,
00:29:24.980 when every Democrat
00:29:26.540 on the committee voted
00:29:27.600 to allow murderers to vote,
00:29:29.800 that's a pretty extreme vote.
00:29:31.640 When every Democrat
00:29:32.540 on the committee voted
00:29:33.460 to allow millions
00:29:34.720 of illegal aliens to vote,
00:29:36.200 that's an extreme vote.
00:29:37.320 When every Democrat voted
00:29:38.420 to maintain the amnesty
00:29:40.400 for millions of illegal aliens
00:29:42.020 voting illegally,
00:29:43.140 that's an extreme vote.
00:29:45.140 You know,
00:29:45.320 there's another provision.
00:29:46.280 We talked about
00:29:46.860 the six to one
00:29:47.900 match of federal funds,
00:29:50.700 which is,
00:29:51.100 you know,
00:29:51.400 welfare for politicians.
00:29:53.380 One of the things
00:29:54.220 I did at the markup today,
00:29:55.500 I went through
00:29:56.380 what every Democrat
00:29:58.340 on the committee
00:29:59.020 had raised
00:29:59.820 in Q1
00:30:01.120 in the first quarter
00:30:01.840 of this year.
00:30:02.420 And I went through
00:30:03.140 how much they would get
00:30:04.560 under the match.
00:30:05.280 And some would get
00:30:06.200 a million.
00:30:07.600 Angus King,
00:30:08.200 I think,
00:30:08.460 would get like $750.
00:30:09.920 He got virtually nothing.
00:30:11.740 The Democrat
00:30:12.540 who got the most
00:30:13.560 was John Ossoff,
00:30:14.900 who was just elected
00:30:15.720 out of Georgia.
00:30:16.540 And he would get
00:30:17.240 a little over $11 million
00:30:18.980 in federal funds.
00:30:20.200 I mean,
00:30:20.320 that's a bunch of money,
00:30:21.380 $11 million.
00:30:22.880 So the senator
00:30:25.500 who would get the most
00:30:26.520 on the committee
00:30:27.160 was yours truly.
00:30:28.880 And last quarter,
00:30:31.960 in Q1 of this year,
00:30:33.820 I raised $5.3 million.
00:30:36.620 $5.3 million.
00:30:38.380 98% of that
00:30:39.700 came from contributions
00:30:40.800 under $100.
00:30:41.880 I think the average
00:30:42.540 contribution,
00:30:43.240 if I remember right,
00:30:43.740 it was either $41 or $47.
00:30:45.200 I forget which one it was,
00:30:46.140 but it was 40-something.
00:30:49.580 $5.3 million,
00:30:51.140 six to one match.
00:30:52.220 Now there's a cap.
00:30:53.060 So what it would have meant
00:30:53.980 is I would have gotten
00:30:55.980 $24 million
00:30:57.580 from the federal government.
00:30:58.980 And I asked the Democrats,
00:31:00.960 I said,
00:31:01.260 why do my Democratic colleagues
00:31:02.500 want to give my campaign
00:31:03.900 $24 million
00:31:05.560 in federal funds?
00:31:08.720 This is asinine.
00:31:09.840 I don't want the funds.
00:31:10.980 I'd like to go raise the funds.
00:31:12.540 By the way,
00:31:13.000 if you're watching this,
00:31:13.780 go to tedcruz.org
00:31:14.740 and make contribution.
00:31:15.500 I welcome those funds,
00:31:17.600 but I'm not interested
00:31:18.940 in taking federal taxpayer money.
00:31:21.060 And every Democrat
00:31:22.460 voted to give my campaign
00:31:25.160 $24 million in federal funds.
00:31:26.960 I mean,
00:31:27.160 it's asinine
00:31:28.240 because
00:31:29.640 their priority
00:31:31.860 is staying in power.
00:31:33.080 And so they want
00:31:34.180 billions of dollars
00:31:36.680 of federal funds
00:31:38.260 going to their campaign.
00:31:39.620 So as incumbents,
00:31:40.840 they have massive amounts
00:31:42.520 of money
00:31:42.920 and they can crush
00:31:44.200 any challenger.
00:31:45.160 And I got to say,
00:31:46.180 Chuck Schumer
00:31:46.720 began the hearing
00:31:48.200 by giving the markup
00:31:49.040 by giving this
00:31:49.700 sanctimonious speech.
00:31:52.320 And it was a speech
00:31:53.460 about Jim Crow.
00:31:55.540 And I responded
00:31:57.360 shortly thereafter
00:31:58.160 and I said,
00:31:58.780 look,
00:31:59.940 Chuck Schumer
00:32:00.520 rightly talked
00:32:01.240 about Jim Crow.
00:32:02.080 Jim Crow was shameful.
00:32:03.240 It was racist.
00:32:03.940 It was bigoted.
00:32:05.160 Jim Crow laws 1.00
00:32:05.940 were written
00:32:06.460 by Democrats.
00:32:08.020 They were implemented
00:32:09.240 by Democrats.
00:32:10.460 And the purpose
00:32:11.180 of Jim Crow laws 0.71
00:32:12.160 was to keep
00:32:12.920 Democrats in power
00:32:14.340 forever.
00:32:15.360 Now,
00:32:16.160 I recognize
00:32:17.600 today's Democrats
00:32:18.500 and the corrupt media.
00:32:20.600 Their narrative was,
00:32:21.640 well,
00:32:21.900 that was the Democrats
00:32:22.740 of a long time ago,
00:32:23.780 but not today.
00:32:25.200 I said,
00:32:25.580 listen,
00:32:26.080 this bill today
00:32:27.240 is Jim Crow 2.0.
00:32:29.100 This is designed
00:32:30.220 for the same purpose,
00:32:31.560 which is to prevent
00:32:32.420 the voters
00:32:33.040 from throwing
00:32:34.400 the bums out, 0.83
00:32:35.120 to prevent the voters
00:32:36.160 from voting Democrats
00:32:38.060 out when they
00:32:38.900 embrace socialism,
00:32:40.280 when they embrace
00:32:40.800 open borders,
00:32:41.480 when they pack
00:32:42.940 the Supreme Court,
00:32:43.920 when they advocate
00:32:44.940 abolishing the police.
00:32:47.020 The Democrats
00:32:48.060 want the voters
00:32:48.980 not to have the power
00:32:50.120 to vote them out.
00:32:50.900 And how do they do that?
00:32:51.840 They do that
00:32:52.540 by registering
00:32:53.800 millions of illegal aliens,
00:32:55.520 allowing criminals
00:32:56.420 to vote,
00:32:57.000 and making
00:32:58.120 the Federal Election
00:32:59.000 Commission
00:32:59.460 a partisan weapon
00:33:00.440 to target Republicans.
00:33:01.440 This is all about
00:33:02.540 disenfranchising voters
00:33:04.700 just like Jim Crow. 0.59
00:33:06.380 And I got to admit,
00:33:07.380 to say Democrats
00:33:08.980 didn't like that
00:33:09.800 would be something
00:33:10.520 of an understatement.
00:33:12.300 And I think
00:33:13.260 there is value
00:33:14.380 to shining the light
00:33:16.100 and explaining
00:33:16.820 what it is
00:33:17.500 they're trying to do.
00:33:18.700 I think that's true.
00:33:19.600 And you know,
00:33:20.520 a guy who's going
00:33:21.140 to turn down
00:33:21.680 24 million bucks
00:33:22.780 probably doesn't care
00:33:23.780 what the Democrats
00:33:24.420 say about him
00:33:25.040 on the committee.
00:33:26.820 24 million bucks.
00:33:27.860 You know,
00:33:28.000 I guess there is
00:33:28.620 the glimmer of thing.
00:33:29.640 I guess the glimmer
00:33:31.380 of hope is
00:33:31.800 no matter how...
00:33:32.620 If they'd upped it
00:33:33.160 to 25,
00:33:33.920 I might have been
00:33:34.380 open to it.
00:33:36.700 That's exactly it.
00:33:38.040 I suppose there's
00:33:38.700 got to be a number
00:33:39.300 somewhere.
00:33:39.740 But if you think
00:33:40.660 you're having a bad day,
00:33:41.760 you're looking at
00:33:42.520 the politics
00:33:43.060 all around the world,
00:33:43.660 you say everything's
00:33:44.280 going to hell
00:33:44.640 in a handbasket.
00:33:45.820 At least you didn't
00:33:46.540 have to turn down
00:33:47.160 24 million dollars
00:33:48.180 today like
00:33:48.900 Senator Cruz did.
00:33:49.780 We have to leave
00:33:50.240 it there, Senator,
00:33:51.160 but we will be back soon.
00:33:52.460 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:33:53.580 This is Verdict
00:33:54.140 with Ted Cruz.
00:33:59.640 This episode of Verdict
00:34:05.420 with Ted Cruz
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