Verdict with Ted Cruz - What's Next After Mayorkas and Senate Immigration Bill, Press Corps Turns on Joe Biden, & Americans WANT a Secure Border Week In Review

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.600 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.240 Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz.

00:00:06.720 The Week in Review.

00:00:08.140 Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.320 And these are the top stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week.

00:00:13.420 First up, it was a very big week in Washington, D.C.,

00:00:16.180 especially after Mayorkas failed to be impeached by the GOP.

00:00:21.240 Will they try again?

00:00:22.460 And what could that look like?

00:00:24.020 Also, the Senate immigration bill fails as well.

00:00:27.040 So what will be next for the White House?

00:00:30.000 Plus, the DOJ comes out with a shocking report saying that Joe Biden is basically incompetent

00:00:36.780 and couldn't be charged with crimes because he's just too old and can't remember anything.

00:00:42.340 The fallout from that will be massive.

00:00:44.480 So what does the White House do in response?

00:00:46.940 And finally, polling shows that the American people are desperate for a secure border.

00:00:52.780 And this includes Democrats.

00:00:55.380 It's the Week in Review, and it starts right now.

00:00:58.280 Not only is it a lie, Donald Trump's not the president right now.

00:01:01.720 And you look at the numbers to also back up why it's a lie.

00:01:05.360 In 2020, illegal border encounters were 400,000.

00:01:09.380 2021, it jumped to 1,735,000.

00:01:13.180 Then in 2022, under Biden again, it jumped to 2,379,000.

00:01:18.060 In 2023, 2,476,000.

00:01:21.780 And yet he wants to say the only reason the border is not secure is because of Donald Trump.

00:01:25.780 It's a lie.

00:01:26.800 There are the facts to back that up.

00:01:28.160 But what's next now?

00:01:29.660 Well, and let me explain more why it's a lie.

00:01:32.040 Listen, what Biden is saying, what Schumer is saying,

00:01:34.500 is that we had a fabulous bipartisan agreement that would have solved this problem.

00:01:39.160 But then crazy Donald Trump and their telling decided he didn't want to solve this problem.

00:01:46.000 And he threw a fit and said, don't pass anything because I want to campaign on this. 0.64

00:01:49.640 And then their narrative continues to be, and all the Republicans are sheep and they just obeyed Donald Trump.

00:01:55.520 And the reason this failed is because Trump ordered Republicans to oppose this.

00:02:00.360 That is Joe Biden's story.

00:02:01.980 It is also Chuck Schumer's story.

00:02:03.720 It is also the story of every single Senate Democrat.

00:02:07.380 I'm reading the clips and it's word for word, every Senate Democrat.

00:02:11.360 And you know what?

00:02:11.880 It's also Mitch McConnell's story.

00:02:13.640 And it's the story of several other Republicans who are going out and they're saying, oh, you're just following Trump's orders.

00:02:18.960 Well, listen, I talk to Trump frequently, but I can tell you I haven't had a single conversation with Trump about this issue at all.

00:02:26.480 I've been leading the fight against this issue from the beginning.

00:02:29.760 We haven't talked about this supplemental bill, but it was obvious on the merits.

00:02:33.760 I looked to the merits and said, does this bill solve the problem?

00:02:36.320 And it doesn't.

00:02:38.420 But it is incredibly harmful when Republican senators, many of them just they don't like Trump and and and they're they're frustrated now.

00:02:49.560 And so they're lashing out, but they're lashing out in a way that helps Democrats.

00:02:53.760 So where do we go from here?

00:02:55.440 I mean, there's also another defeat.

00:02:57.080 People are frustrated on the House side and impeaching Mayorkas.

00:02:59.760 That failed.

00:03:00.620 Granted, it could come up for another vote.

00:03:02.440 But as of now, that seems like that's a failure.

00:03:05.320 We have an open border.

00:03:06.380 That seems like another failure.

00:03:08.420 Is this now just going to be a wide open border till Election Day?

00:03:11.920 And that's what this this next election is going to be about.

00:03:14.840 Hey, you vote for Republicans and you'll get a secure border only if we have the House Senate and the White House.

00:03:21.000 Look, in all likelihood, yes.

00:03:23.940 Joe Biden caused this open border.

00:03:26.580 Joe Biden could secure it tomorrow.

00:03:28.480 He did it unilaterally.

00:03:30.520 He didn't pass any new legislation.

00:03:32.120 He didn't change the law to cause this crisis.

00:03:34.040 He simply defied the law.

00:03:36.040 He made three decisions that caused this crisis.

00:03:38.260 He stopped building the border wall.

00:03:40.060 He reinstated the disastrous policy of catch and release.

00:03:43.500 And he ended the incredibly successful policy.

00:03:46.120 The agreement remain in Mexico.

00:03:48.060 That's what caused this crisis.

00:03:49.620 Biden could change that tomorrow.

00:03:51.780 He doesn't want to.

00:03:52.780 He's not going to.

00:03:54.260 Now, actually, to fix this, we don't necessarily need a Republican president, a Republican House, and a Republican Senate.

00:04:00.840 We just need a Republican president. 0.98

00:04:02.180 If Trump were president again, we would secure the border again.

00:04:06.060 Why?

00:04:06.460 Because he would vigorously enforce the law.

00:04:08.600 Biden is defying the law.

00:04:10.220 Winning the White House is the key to securing the border.

00:04:12.740 Now, with a Republican Senate and House, we can do more.

00:04:16.200 We can be more effective.

00:04:17.460 But you ask, what's next?

00:04:20.360 Well, listen, what's next?

00:04:22.260 Tomorrow, we're going to vote on this supplemental with the bad border provisions.

00:04:28.000 That's going to fail.

00:04:29.440 What we're anticipating will happen next is Schumer is going to go back to the supplemental that has Ukraine and has Israel and has Taiwan and does nothing on the border.

00:04:39.200 That's what he tried initially that we blocked in the fall.

00:04:43.800 And I don't know what will happen.

00:04:46.600 I'm going to oppose it because what I said before, I still believe I'm not going to vote for this bill until we actually secure our border.

00:04:54.440 When I said it, unlike Republican leadership, I wasn't just reading talking points.

00:04:58.900 I actually believe that securing the border is the existential national security threat facing the United States right now, and we should use the leverage that the Democrats desperately want on Ukraine to try to get it done.

00:05:11.600 So I think our view should be, if you want Ukraine funding, attach it to HR2 and you'll get your funding.

00:05:18.800 But Schumer's going to take up Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan.

00:05:23.160 He's probably going to begin tomorrow.

00:05:24.520 And I don't know what will happen, but I think there is a very real possibility that a significant number of Republicans vote for that, that they care so much about the Ukraine funding, they're going to say, we tried on the border, we failed, now let's fund Ukraine.

00:05:39.260 If they get nine votes, which I think is probably pretty likely, they'll get 60, which is what it takes to pass the Senate.

00:05:47.240 And so I think there's a reasonable prospect that a supplemental bill that funds Ukraine and Israel and Taiwan will pass out of the Senate.

00:05:54.100 But then I think it's very likely to fail in the House.

00:05:57.640 I don't think the House will take it up.

00:05:59.200 And that means that McConnell and Schumer and Biden still have a problem.

00:06:03.920 If they want Ukraine funding, passing a clean funding bill out of the Senate is not going to get the job done.

00:06:10.720 And so what I would urge the House to do is take the Ukraine funding bill, attach H.R. 2 to it, and send it back to the Senate and keep fighting.

00:06:20.040 Use the leverage we have to say, hey, you can have this funding if you want.

00:06:25.440 Secure the border first, because that matters more.

00:06:28.580 And use that leverage.

00:06:30.040 Look, that will not come from McConnell and Senate Republican leadership.

00:06:34.160 But I'm hopeful the Speaker and House Republicans will hold the line.

00:06:38.100 And I hope that's what's next.

00:06:39.680 Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

00:06:47.000 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:06:49.180 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:06:53.380 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:06:57.100 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:06:58.280 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:06:59.500 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:07:03.200 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.

00:07:08.680 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:07:12.240 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:07:16.300 Now on to story number two.

00:07:20.120 Let's talk about the politics now of this because you and I witnessed it for the first time in history.

00:07:25.640 We played it for everybody listening.

00:07:27.600 The White House press corps turning on him.

00:07:32.040 This is something he's never experienced.

00:07:34.080 In fact, I want to play for you just an example of how quick CNN turned on him.

00:07:38.860 You would have thought they were talking about Donald Trump, except they were talking about Joe Biden.

00:07:42.540 And take a listen to this from CNN.

00:07:44.540 Ultimately, what Robert Hur says in this report is essentially the technical elements of a crime.

00:07:51.700 It appears Robert Hur is saying we're met.

00:07:54.240 But what he ends up doing is looking at the soft factors.

00:07:57.760 And you're allowed to do that.

00:07:58.500 You have to do that as a prosecutor.

00:07:59.840 And he takes into consideration things like what he says, and maybe this is overstated, maybe not.

00:08:05.100 I'll leave that to the political folks. 0.51

00:08:06.120 But he says, essentially, Joe Biden would have created a sympathetic picture in front of a jury.

00:08:10.700 He had memory issues.

00:08:11.780 He had age issues.

00:08:13.220 And that goes into, was he able to form the mental intent here?

00:08:17.940 That's CNN.

00:08:19.140 And they weren't done there.

00:08:20.820 They also then went on to say that Joe Biden was, in essence, a liar at his press conference.

00:08:26.640 Here's this.

00:08:27.300 That is what blew my mind about Joe Biden's statement.

00:08:32.740 Except two major things he just outright contradicts or is contradicted by, however you look at this, this report.

00:08:39.900 There are two things he said that are completely the opposite of what Robert Hur found.

00:08:43.640 And who do you believe is up to, I guess, the individual consumer?

00:08:47.480 First, Joe Biden says, I did not act willfully.

00:08:50.140 Willfully just means voluntarily, intentionally.

00:08:52.360 Well, the second sentence of this whole summary says, President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials.

00:08:58.420 The facts in here show it was willful.

00:09:00.440 He knew.

00:09:01.020 He talked about it.

00:09:01.960 And the second thing he says is, I did not disclose classified documents to my ghostwriter.

00:09:06.980 Page three says that he did that.

00:09:09.020 It says, Mr. Biden shared information, including some classified information from those notebooks. 0.91

00:09:13.400 Well, Senator, I watched that on CNN and I said, holy crap, they're turning on him.

00:09:22.060 And this is the end of Joe Biden's presidency as we know it. 0.89

00:09:26.040 They're trying to offload him in real time because of this report saying, here it is.

00:09:31.400 Let's take him out.

00:09:32.540 Yeah, look, this is a massive problem, and it's not a problem that goes away in a day or two or a week or a month.

00:09:39.140 This is a problem that continues every day.

00:09:42.200 Joe Biden remains in the presidency.

00:09:44.480 I'll also point out something else, which is this report implicitly exonerates Donald Trump,

00:09:53.760 which is an enormous problem for Biden as well.

00:09:57.140 Because, look, one of their big marquee cases against Trump, now they're prosecuting him for damn near everything,

00:10:02.920 including late library books, but one of their marquee cases is that Trump possessed classified documents in Mar-a-Laga.

00:10:10.240 And let me read again from the report.

00:10:12.880 This is what they say about Biden.

00:10:14.580 Quote, contemporary evidence suggests that when Mr. Biden left office in 2017,

00:10:19.740 he believed he was allowed to keep the notebooks in his home.

00:10:22.600 In a recorded conversation with his ghostwriter in April 2017, Mr. Biden explained that despite his staff's views to the contrary,

00:10:30.320 he did not think he was required to turn in his note cards to the National Archives,

00:10:34.120 where they were stored in a skiff, and he had not wanted to do so.

00:10:38.460 At trial, he would argue plausibly that he thought the same thing about his notebooks.

00:10:44.240 If this is what Mr. Biden thought, we believe he was mistaken about what the law permits.

00:10:49.300 But this view finds some support in historical practice.

00:10:54.540 The clearest example is President Reagan, who left the White House in 1989 with eight years' worth of handwritten diaries,

00:11:02.100 which he appears to have kept at his California home, even though they contained top-secret information.

00:11:08.020 During criminal litigation involving a former Reagan administration official in 1989 and 90,

00:11:13.000 the Department of Justice stated in public court filings that the, quote,

00:11:17.380 currently classified diaries were Mr. Reagan's, quote, personal records.

00:11:23.720 Yet we know of no steps the Department or other agencies took to investigate Mr. Reagan

00:11:28.520 for mishandling classified information or to retrieve or secure his diaries.

00:11:33.440 Most jurors would likely find evidence of this precedent, and Mr. Biden's claimed reliance on it,

00:11:42.120 which we expect would be admitted at trial, to be compelling evidence that Mr. Biden did not act willfully.

00:11:50.920 As with the marked classified documents, because the evidence is not sufficient

00:11:57.000 to convict Mr. Biden for willfully retaining the notebooks, we declined prosecution.

00:12:03.060 Now, that entire passage, you could write word for word and simply replace the word Biden with Trump,

00:12:11.980 and it would be a major defense for Trump.

00:12:16.540 And this incoherence, the Department of Justice is going to have a nightmare,

00:12:21.380 because I promise you Trump's defense lawyers are going to quote that back at them and say,

00:12:27.060 you know what, the Department of Justice was right.

00:12:30.520 And if they were right about Biden, by the way, on this podcast,

00:12:33.240 we walk through how the historical precedent was president after president after president

00:12:39.280 had kept documents, including President Reagan, including President Obama, including President Clinton.

00:12:44.380 We walk through the history.

00:12:45.840 That's what the Department of Justice just concluded as their reason not to prosecute Biden.

00:12:52.200 And the obvious screaming question is, well, then why do you go after the opposing party

00:12:57.680 other than because you are politically trying to stop the voters from voting for the other guy?

00:13:04.740 You go back to politics of this for a second, and I can only imagine

00:13:09.820 how stressed out White House staff is tonight.

00:13:12.920 I'm sure you agree with me.

00:13:14.740 It's one o'clock in the morning right now, as you and I are still talking.

00:13:16.840 Yeah, they're all awake.

00:13:17.860 Nobody is asleep right now.

00:13:18.880 They're all awake.

00:13:19.720 Yeah, and they're probably at the White House still.

00:13:22.560 They lost Democrats today, and they lost the media today.

00:13:27.380 And now it's got to feel like you're either inside the inner circle of Team Biden

00:13:31.900 to prop him up and protect him, and now the Democrats seem to be circling the wagon.

00:13:37.220 In your opinion, is this the beginning of the end of the Biden presidency?

00:13:43.200 Do you think he actually makes it to Election Day?

00:13:46.760 Because he's going to dig in.

00:13:47.940 That was clear from the press conference tonight.

00:13:50.140 But it looks like, and this could change, but as of 1 a.m. right now,

00:13:53.820 it looks like Democrats are saying it's official.

00:13:56.260 We are not going to support Joe Biden in this presidential run any longer.

00:14:01.060 We've got to figure out how to offload him.

00:14:02.580 Look, I think the odds remain very low that he steps down before the end of his term.

00:14:09.260 I think as long as he is able to stand vertically and not fall over,

00:14:14.960 he is going to finish out this year.

00:14:17.880 That being said, as I said at the beginning of this pod,

00:14:21.940 I think the odds that the Democrats push him aside and replace him with Michelle Obama

00:14:26.860 are about 65 to 35, or put it another way, it's about 2 to 1.

00:14:30.640 And now, more likely than not, that the Democrats decide this guy cannot be our nominee in November.

00:14:40.440 One other question I do want to ask you.

00:14:43.080 Does this change the way that Republicans investigate Joe Biden,

00:14:48.240 knowing that the DOJ has now basically said,

00:14:51.060 you can't charge this guy with anything, or we're not going to charge this guy with anything.

00:14:55.220 If they wouldn't do it now, why would they change that logic moving forward?

00:14:58.560 How does that change the way that James Comer and Jim Jordan are doing their investigations?

00:15:02.820 And should it change the way they're doing their investigations at all?

00:15:06.840 It shouldn't, and I don't think it will.

00:15:09.300 And as we've discussed at great length on this podcast,

00:15:12.260 the evidence of Joe Biden's corruption, of his deliberately selling favors

00:15:18.040 from the Vice President of the United States to foreign oligarchs,

00:15:21.620 to Russian oligarchs, Ukrainian oligarchs,

00:15:23.840 Chinese communists, for millions and millions of dollars.

00:15:27.820 That evidence is very significant.

00:15:31.220 And it is repeated evidence, not only of doing so, but doing so willfully,

00:15:36.140 doing so deliberately, and then aggressively covering it up and lying about it.

00:15:41.000 And I think we will see the House continue to lay out that evidence

00:15:44.080 and to lay it out at great length.

00:15:46.040 And I would point out, number one, an immediate step for that potentially is impeaching Joe Biden.

00:15:53.300 And the Department of Justice doesn't get a vote on whether or not to impeach Joe Biden.

00:15:58.300 But number two, whether or not Biden gets prosecuted for bribery

00:16:04.920 is ultimately not going to be a question decided by this Department of Justice.

00:16:10.540 The chances that Merrick Garland brings charges are 0.00%.

00:16:14.760 He is acting, and he has acted his entire tenure like a political operative who works for the DNC.

00:16:22.640 So Merrick Garland's not going to do it.

00:16:24.700 And indeed, there is considerable evidence,

00:16:28.120 underscored by two IRS whistleblowers who are career employees and Democrats,

00:16:33.300 that Merrick Garland actively lied to Congress under oath,

00:16:37.500 committed felonies, and obstructed justice.

00:16:39.360 So with or without this report, this DOJ was never going to prosecute Joe Biden.

00:16:45.340 That being said, if the House continues to lay out the evidence

00:16:48.780 and we have a Department of Justice that is not controlled by Joe Biden,

00:16:53.020 if there's a Trump Department of Justice and there is real evidence of bribery and corruption

00:16:59.860 of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden and the extended Biden family,

00:17:03.880 I think the possibility of prosecution is real and significant.

00:17:08.280 One other question, and this is something that I think so many Americans want to know.

00:17:13.320 When you see this report that just came out and you see the cognitive decline

00:17:17.620 and what they're stating in this report, you've got to ask this question,

00:17:22.220 who is running this country right now?

00:17:24.200 Because if it is as bad as the special prosecutor is saying it is, behind closed doors,

00:17:29.360 and we know how this media has propped him up and protected him,

00:17:32.800 and we know how the White House has limited his schedule, he sleeps in the morning,

00:17:36.820 he works usually between, I think they said, what, noon and four.

00:17:39.840 He's not doing big events.

00:17:41.660 He's getting the name of leaders wrong now, and who's alive and who's dead now on a regular basis.

00:17:47.200 It's happened three times in the last three days.

00:17:49.220 Who is running the country, Senator?

00:17:51.840 And does that concern you as well?

00:17:54.820 So I can tell you I get asked that question regularly.

00:17:58.320 I get asked that question tonight.

00:18:00.100 Every week someone asks me who's running the White House, who's running the government.

00:18:04.460 The honest answer, and this is really scary, I don't know.

00:18:08.780 I genuinely don't know.

00:18:10.360 I have a theory.

00:18:11.100 I think it is Barack Obama.

00:18:13.140 But I can't prove that.

00:18:14.280 I don't know that to be a fact.

00:18:15.640 It's just that there are various data points, including the fact that Obama remained in D.C.,

00:18:22.200 something no president in modern times has done.

00:18:24.640 He's regularly in D.C.

00:18:25.960 He's regularly holding court.

00:18:27.260 He's meeting with Democrats.

00:18:29.020 He's meeting with members of the administration at his house.

00:18:32.240 And so I think it is likely Obama, but I can't prove that.

00:18:35.380 I just know it's not Joe Biden.

00:18:37.100 So it is some combination of Obama and other senior White House officials

00:18:42.180 and people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and AOC.

00:18:45.640 But the candid answer is, I have no idea.

00:18:49.300 As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic,

00:18:52.980 you can go back and download the podcast from early this week to hear the entire thing.

00:18:58.260 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:19:00.460 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:19:04.600 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:19:08.320 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:19:09.480 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:19:10.440 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:19:14.520 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers.

00:19:18.040 All at different stages of their journey.

00:19:20.240 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:19:23.460 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:19:27.520 I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed.

00:19:33.080 So then how did leadership get this so wrong?

00:19:36.120 Because the American people in the polling specifically on the border crisis was overwhelmingly

00:19:43.560 in the side of conservatives and what we've been calling for, what we've been advocating for,

00:19:50.740 and for genuinely securing the border.

00:19:53.100 In fact, it played even more into the hands of the Republican Party after you had this fight between Texas

00:20:00.340 and cutting the razor wire and Mayorkas and what's happening with the Biden administration.

00:20:06.960 And the polling shows that the American people are not with Joe Biden on this issue.

00:20:12.000 How could they not see that?

00:20:13.760 How could Mitch McConnell not see that?

00:20:16.620 Because Mitch McConnell, what he cares about is Ukraine funding.

00:20:20.180 He has said repeatedly it is the most important thing in the country to fund the war in Ukraine.

00:20:26.640 And so...

00:20:27.420 Does he believe that or is there something behind the scenes politically that I don't understand?

00:20:30.820 I think he believes it.

00:20:32.020 I have no reason to doubt his sincerity in saying that, but he is passionate about it.

00:20:37.020 And when it comes to the border, look, would he like to secure the border?

00:20:40.900 Sure.

00:20:41.640 Would he vote for something to secure the border?

00:20:43.680 Sure.

00:20:44.400 But it's not a driving priority for him.

00:20:47.320 If it doesn't happen, well, okay, that's unfortunate, but it's not...

00:20:50.880 It wasn't his objective in this whole thing.

00:20:53.460 And so here's the fundamental challenge.

00:20:55.900 And listen, this bill was negotiated by James Lankford, Republican from Oklahoma, by Chris

00:21:02.220 Murphy, an extremely liberal left-wing Democrat from Connecticut, and by Kyrsten Sinema, a liberal

00:21:09.380 to somewhat moderate Democrat slash independent from Arizona.

00:21:15.140 And Lankford, Lankford's a really good guy, and Lankford has been just gone through a buzzsaw

00:21:21.620 on this.

00:21:22.060 And basically what happened is leadership pushed him out on a limb and then sawed the limb off

00:21:28.400 behind him.

00:21:29.120 And he's been getting pounded.

00:21:31.440 But here was the problem for Lankford.

00:21:33.300 And Lankford was just...

00:21:35.060 Followed orders and did what leadership asked him to do.

00:21:37.520 And here was the problem.

00:21:38.420 There were two mandates that were non-negotiable.

00:21:42.300 Chuck Schumer's mandate effectively was, we will not secure the border.

00:21:46.060 We won't agree to anything that is effective securing the border.

00:21:49.000 That was Chuck Schumer's non-negotiable.

00:21:51.560 Mitch McConnell's mandate, his non-negotiable was, we must, must, must get a deal because

00:21:57.280 what he cares about is Ukraine funding.

00:21:59.820 So Lankford was essentially told, do whatever you can to get a deal from Schumer.

00:22:05.500 But no is not an answer.

00:22:07.160 You must agree to what Schumer wants.

00:22:10.460 And so Lankford spent hundreds, thousands of hours negotiating with Chris Murphy, which

00:22:15.420 I do not envy the guy.

00:22:16.720 That was not fun.

00:22:19.180 But he was operating from a position that McConnell wouldn't let him say no.

00:22:23.940 McConnell's instructions were, get a deal.

00:22:26.500 So when you ask James, well, why are these terms so bad?

00:22:30.220 Why aren't they better?

00:22:31.000 He says, well, that's all the Democrats would agree to.

00:22:33.540 Yeah.

00:22:33.820 Like, like, it's real simple.

00:22:35.340 If you want the Ukraine funding, pass HR2.

00:22:38.500 And you got to be prepared to walk away.

00:22:40.740 Now, I don't know what they would have done if that happened.

00:22:42.640 But we will never know.

00:22:43.900 Because McConnell's immediate response when Schumer said, no, no, no, we won't do HR2, is, well,

00:22:49.200 OK, well, then we'll do whatever you want.

00:22:51.880 And it's even worse than that.

00:22:54.900 This was an incredibly misguided strategy.

00:22:57.200 But I want you to listen to McConnell at a press conference today after our lunch.

00:23:02.880 Give a listen.

00:23:05.040 Leader McConnell, you know, Senator Schumer says that he worked extensively with you on

00:23:12.660 this package.

00:23:13.600 What do you say to your colleagues who said that you misread your conference in helping

00:23:17.560 to craft this border?

00:23:19.380 I followed the instructions of my conference who were insisting that we tackle this in October.

00:23:24.980 I mean, it's actually our side that wanted to tackle the border issue.

00:23:31.500 We started it.

00:23:33.920 Obviously, with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate, our negotiators had to

00:23:40.820 deal with them.

00:23:42.440 And James Lankford, under those situations, did a remarkable job to pick off the Border Council,

00:23:49.780 which supported President Trump.

00:23:51.740 certainly underscores that it was a quality product that that particular union felt would

00:23:57.020 make progress toward making things better.

00:24:00.160 But as I said earlier, things have changed over the last four months.

00:24:07.500 And it's been made perfectly clear by the speaker that he wouldn't take it up even if we sent it to him.

00:24:16.040 And so I think that's probably why most of our members think we ought to have opposition tomorrow.

00:24:22.860 We'll see.

00:24:23.400 And then move on with the rest of the supplement.

00:24:27.160 I mean, that's a great story, Senator, but it doesn't seem to necessarily add up with reality, does it?

00:24:32.400 Well, and I want to underscore.

00:24:34.580 So you're seeing half of what was the biggest fight at lunch today.

00:24:39.040 And so I wanted you to listen to that, because that's what Mitch said at lunch.

00:24:42.520 And I have a policy at the lunches, which is I don't repeat what other senators say at the lunch.

00:24:46.840 I think they're owed some expectation of privacy that we can have candid and really frank discussion.

00:24:53.740 So I don't repeat what others say, but I repeat what I say, because if I said it, I have a right to repeat it and say it elsewhere.

00:24:59.500 Given that Mitch went out and just said it to the reporters, I can tell you that's what he said in the room as well.

00:25:03.460 And when he said it, I stood up and I said, by the way, and you listen to the words he just said, that press conference, he said, well, gosh, it was the Republican conference that wanted to tackle this issue.

00:25:15.760 Notice, tackle this issue.

00:25:17.260 Yeah.

00:25:17.680 No, we didn't want to, quote, tackle this issue.

00:25:21.060 We wanted to solve this issue, fix the border.

00:25:25.120 Notice he said, well, gosh, it's Democrats.

00:25:27.120 So obviously we weren't going to succeed in solving the border.

00:25:29.640 So we just had to tackle the issue and do what the Democrats want.

00:25:34.000 That's his view.

00:25:35.600 But when he made that argument, and you just listened to it, I stood up immediately after him.

00:25:41.400 And I said, I got to say, if Republican senators go out and repeat what Mitch just said, it would be spectacularly harmful.

00:25:51.240 And it would be a massive political favor to Chuck Schumer and every Democrat running.

00:25:58.040 And let me explain to you why.

00:25:59.160 Because what Mitch argued, notice he said there, hey, you know, James did a fantastic job.

00:26:03.580 And this bill was a great work product.

00:26:05.400 It was a terrific bill.

00:26:07.520 And Mitch was like saying, well, just say, well, the House wouldn't pass.

00:26:10.700 And I said, let me be clear.

00:26:12.340 If a bunch of Republicans go out and say this is a terrific bill, but the House wouldn't pass it, every Democrat, John Tester this week has already said, look, I was ready to secure the border.

00:26:22.000 But these crazy right wingers wouldn't pass it. 0.72

00:26:25.020 And their story they want to tell is these knuckle dragging Trumpers don't actually want to secure the border because we had a great bill to secure the border. 0.98

00:26:34.900 And they're so crazy they want. 0.65

00:26:38.320 So their argument is that Republicans want the issue. 0.83

00:26:40.920 We want to campaign on the border rather than actually fix it.

00:26:44.160 And I'll tell you, I yelled at my colleagues last week when they were making this argument.

00:26:48.480 And I said, listen, for me, I've lived this border.

00:26:51.240 There is nobody in this body who wants to solve this more than I do because it is a travesty that is hammering and destroying Texas every day.

00:27:01.000 But I said, listen, if a bunch of Republicans go out and tell the story, this was a great bill that would secure the border. 0.85

00:27:08.680 But, you know, Trump is so crazy we couldn't do it. 0.98

00:27:11.580 But the Speaker of the House and the House Republicans, they're so crazy we couldn't do it. 0.99

00:27:15.160 And so it's their fault.

00:27:16.140 But we had a fabulous bill.

00:27:18.060 I said, listen, you are literally repeating Schumer's talking points for every Senate Democrat incumbent.

00:27:26.840 If you want John Tester to win, go say what you just said to the reporters.

00:27:30.580 If you want Sherrod Brown to win, if you want every Democrat running to win, go say that.

00:27:36.260 And I said, look, what you ought to say.

00:27:38.320 And I said, listen, you don't have to throw James Lankford under the bus.

00:27:40.780 He's a good man. 0.97

00:27:41.980 But the reason this bill sucks is because the Democrats are radical zealots who don't want to secure the border. 0.99

00:27:50.620 And so they wouldn't agree to a bill other than a bill that sucks. 0.99

00:27:54.820 And that's not a complicated message. 1.00

00:27:56.980 You don't have to say, you know, Lankford is is is a horrible human being.

00:28:01.100 You just have to say he was given an impossible task because it depended on the Democrats agreeing and the Democrats want open borders.

00:28:10.880 As long as they want open borders, they won't agree to legislation that stops open borders.

00:28:14.960 But the infuriating thing is Mitch walked right out and said it to the press.

00:28:19.560 So he's perfectly happy to say, hey, great, Bill, just crazy Republicans won't pass it.

00:28:24.540 And that's exactly what Schumer is saying as well.

00:28:27.460 The two of them.

00:28:29.580 This wasn't a Lankford Murphy bill.

00:28:32.320 This was a Schumer McConnell bill.

00:28:34.680 This was the two of them.

00:28:36.040 And why was it?

00:28:37.420 Because both of them desperately want to fund the Ukraine war.

00:28:41.260 And on immigration, they just wanted to throw whatever fig leaf was necessary on the table to give to to to give an excuse to try to get Ukraine funding passed.

00:28:52.060 There's a lot of people that are going to be listening.

00:28:53.580 They're going to say, all right, well, yes, this seems like this is a victory that we didn't have this bill become law.

00:29:00.060 But there also seems to be a lot of frustration of, OK, what's next?

00:29:04.980 I mean, Senator, we we can't secure the border.

00:29:08.540 That is their leverage on everything.

00:29:11.260 Biden's sitting there saying, OK, fine, we'll just keep having record number of illegal immigrants come across the southern border.

00:29:18.220 You look at the numbers there.

00:29:20.780 We're breaking record after record.

00:29:22.900 I go back to the basics.

00:29:24.540 Biden said in his press conference, quote, the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump.

00:29:29.920 We know that's a lie.

00:29:31.680 Notice, by the way, that's Mitch McConnell's talking point, too.

00:29:35.420 Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell are saying the same thing.

00:29:37.640 Why is the Republican Senate leader repeating Biden and Schumer's talking point?

00:29:42.960 That is a lie.

00:29:44.660 Not only is it a lie.

00:29:46.000 Donald Trump's not the president right now.

00:29:47.740 And you look at the numbers to also back up why it's a lie.

00:29:51.640 In 2020, illegal border encounters were 400,000.

00:29:55.660 2021, it jumped to 1,735,000.

00:29:59.460 Then in 2022, under Biden, again, it jumped to 2,379,000.

00:30:04.420 2023, 2,476,000.

00:30:08.020 And yet he wants to say the only reason the border is not secure is because of Donald Trump.

00:30:12.040 It's a lie.

00:30:13.060 There are the facts to back it up.

00:30:14.420 But what's next now?

00:30:15.860 Because...

00:30:16.160 Well, and let me explain more why it's a lie.

00:30:18.300 Listen, what Biden is saying, what Schumer is saying, is that we had a fabulous bipartisan

00:30:23.420 agreement that would have solved this problem.

00:30:25.980 But then crazy Donald Trump, in their telling, decided he didn't want to solve this problem.

00:30:32.240 And he threw a fit and said, don't pass anything because I want to campaign on this. 0.89

00:30:35.800 And then their narrative continues to be, and all the Republicans are sheep, and they just

00:30:40.760 obeyed Donald Trump.

00:30:41.960 And the reason this failed is because Trump ordered Republicans to oppose this.

00:30:46.620 That is Joe Biden's story.

00:30:48.180 It is also Chuck Schumer's story.

00:30:49.960 It is also the story of every single Senate Democrat.

00:30:53.760 I'm reading the clips, and it's word for word, every Senate Democrat.

00:30:57.420 And you know what?

00:30:58.160 It's also Mitch McConnell's story.

00:30:59.820 And it's the story of several other Republicans who are going out and they're saying, oh,

00:31:03.700 you're just following Trump's orders.

00:31:05.140 Well, listen, I talk to Trump frequently, but I can tell you, I haven't had a single

00:31:08.860 conversation with Trump about this issue at all.

00:31:12.740 I've been leading the fight against this issue from the beginning.

00:31:16.020 We haven't talked about this supplemental bill, but it was obvious on the merits.

00:31:20.120 I looked to the merits and said, does this bill solve the problem?

00:31:23.100 And it doesn't, but it is incredibly harmful when Republican senators, many of them just,

00:31:30.680 they don't like Trump and, and, and they're, they're frustrated now.

00:31:35.840 And so they're lashing out, but they're lashing out in a way that helps Democrats.

00:31:38.680 As always, thank you for listening to verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:31:44.580 Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day.

00:31:48.240 You're not listening to verdict or each day when you listen to verdict afterwards, I'd

00:31:51.880 love to have you as a listener to again, the Ben Ferguson podcast, and we will see you back

00:31:56.360 here on Monday morning.

00:31:59.080 This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 10, 2024

What's Next After Mayorkas and Senate Immigration Bill, Press Corps Turns on Joe Biden, & Americans WANT a Secure Border Week In Review

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