Verdict with Ted Cruz - March 06, 2026


What's the Objective in Iran？ plus New DHS Secretary & Big Texas Primaries


Episode Stats

Length

36 minutes

Words per Minute

153.06767

Word Count

5,576

Sentence Count

464

Misogynist Sentences

4

Hate Speech Sentences

19


Summary

Ted Cruz and Ben Fergusons discuss the Iran situation and the impact it has on the markets. They also discuss the impact of the sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, and what to do about it. Finally, they discuss the election results and what they mean for the future of the Texas midterms.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.680 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.400 Welcome.
00:00:05.060 It is Vertical Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you as well.
00:00:08.560 And if you're listening on the radio, it's so nice to have you with us all over the country.
00:00:12.300 And Senator, we've got a big show.
00:00:14.520 We've got a lot to talk about, including election night in America.
00:00:17.940 You've got big movements at the Department of Homeland Security and some really interesting
00:00:22.960 news that deals with Iran.
00:00:25.900 Well, we're going to start with Iran.
00:00:27.640 What is happening in the military conflict with Iran, America is having incredible success
00:00:33.160 taking out Iran's military forces, their ability to use missiles and drones to murder their
00:00:40.800 neighbors, to murder Americans.
00:00:42.740 We're going to break down exactly where things stand and where they're likely to go.
00:00:47.160 We're also going to do some analysis of, in particular, the impact that cutting off the
00:00:53.460 flow of oil from Iran and from Venezuela is having on China, which is one of the most
00:00:59.620 significant consequences of what's unfolding.
00:01:01.940 We're going to break that down for you.
00:01:03.600 We're going to talk, in addition, about the big news that broke this week, which is that
00:01:09.400 we're going to have a new Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
00:01:12.860 President Trump announced that Kristi Noem is no longer going to be the Secretary of DHS,
00:01:17.160 and in her place is going to be Mark Wayne Mullen, the center from Oklahoma.
00:01:21.600 We're going to talk about why that happened and what to expect next.
00:01:25.640 And finally, we're going to talk about the elections that happened this week, in particular,
00:01:29.420 the elections in Texas.
00:01:31.360 We had big elections in Texas, lots of things going on, some real risks in terms of the
00:01:37.540 Democrats wanting to flip Texas blue.
00:01:40.800 We're going to talk about how likely that is and what to expect.
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00:03:09.680 All right, Senator.
00:03:11.780 So let's talk about where we are with Iran.
00:03:13.960 I got to say, I am incredibly impressed with the Trump administration, the Department of War,
00:03:20.580 and just the leadership and the bravery, but also the planning.
00:03:24.960 Like, it is really incredible to see just how powerful, how accurate,
00:03:31.220 and how good our intelligence has been, obviously, sharing Israel back-and-forth intelligence,
00:03:37.580 taking out not just the Ayatollah, but virtually everyone around him at this point.
00:03:43.420 That is a job you don't want, by the way, because every time they keep naming a new person,
00:03:46.700 we take them out within minutes, if not hours, of them being named to their new job.
00:03:50.300 And this is a big display of what America can do.
00:03:54.960 Well, there's no doubt that our military has been incredibly effective.
00:03:59.120 You know, I will say, as we're now just about a week into the attack on Iran,
00:04:04.760 there are people who are asking, what is our objective?
00:04:08.200 And it has been less than transparently clear to a fair number of folks what it is we're trying to accomplish.
00:04:16.660 I want to be very clear what it is that we're trying to accomplish.
00:04:20.900 Iran is a profound national security threat to the United States.
00:04:27.560 The regime in Iran, for 47 years, has been the number one state funder of terrorism in the world.
00:04:35.520 For 47 years, Iran has provided 90% of the funding to Hamas, 90% of the funding to Hezbollah, 90% of the funding to the Houthis.
00:04:46.940 They have killed, to date, nearly 1,000 Americans.
00:04:53.360 The Ayatollah, when he was still alive, would lead mobs chanting, death to America.
00:05:00.760 The Ayatollah twice hired hitmen to try to murder President Donald Trump.
00:05:09.980 The president, on Saturday, made the decision to go in, to go in with overwhelming force,
00:05:16.920 and to take out the Ayatollah, to take out this regime.
00:05:22.060 What's the objective?
00:05:23.340 Let me be very clear.
00:05:24.300 The objective is regime collapse.
00:05:27.000 It is taking this government out.
00:05:30.300 The Ayatollah was eliminated the first day.
00:05:33.600 Much of his National Security Council, the top leadership, was eliminated the first day.
00:05:40.140 They were meeting together.
00:05:41.860 Israel took them out with a targeted bombing, and they're gone.
00:05:46.060 Moving forward, our objectives, likewise, are taking out Iran's short-range and medium-range missiles and their drone capacity.
00:06:00.200 Now, right now, Iran, we just had a very lengthy classified briefing this week.
00:06:04.700 So I heard from the senior administration officials on all of these issues.
00:06:10.180 Iran has been producing roughly 100 missiles a month.
00:06:14.340 And one of the reasons that the administration acted now is you look.
00:06:20.060 So to date, we have six U.S. servicemen and women who've been killed.
00:06:26.120 If we had delayed, Iran was building so many missiles, Iran was building so many drones,
00:06:34.380 that an attack at a later date would have likely resulted in substantially more U.S. casualties.
00:06:41.860 Yeah.
00:06:42.100 And I think a lot of people didn't understand how close they were to actually doing that.
00:06:45.900 Yeah.
00:06:46.120 Listen, Iran, in the course of the nuclear negotiations, had told our negotiators that they had uranium, enriched uranium,
00:06:57.080 sufficient to produce 11 nuclear bombs.
00:07:00.980 And their intention, I believe, was to develop nuclear weapons.
00:07:05.580 And to be honest, look, they wanted nuclear weapons.
00:07:08.640 I think if they had nuclear weapons, they would have used nuclear weapons.
00:07:13.080 No doubt.
00:07:13.400 The risk was unacceptable that the Ayatollah, when the guy routinely screams death to America,
00:07:21.680 if there's one principle of geopolitics, it's when someone tells you they want to kill you, believe them.
00:07:30.420 Yeah.
00:07:31.340 The Ayatollah and the Ayatollah Khamenei, by the way, his predecessor was the Ayatollah Khamenei.
00:07:37.940 Their names are really similar.
00:07:39.840 They're different dudes.
00:07:40.840 They're both theocratic lunatics who hated American.
00:07:44.680 Yep.
00:07:46.240 And they both have killed vast numbers of Americans.
00:07:53.140 They have been waging war against us for 47 years.
00:07:56.420 And, as you know, I spent virtually the entire day on Friday, right before this war launched, with President Trump.
00:08:05.300 I was on Air Force One with him.
00:08:07.100 I was in The Beast, riding one-on-one with him.
00:08:09.840 And we spent most of that time talking about Iran.
00:08:13.100 It was right before he issued the go order.
00:08:15.520 And I was urging him, I said, this regime has never been more fragile, never been more vulnerable.
00:08:25.620 Do not let this opportunity pass.
00:08:29.680 Take them out now.
00:08:31.460 Because there is very little, if anything, we can do in the global stage that will improve U.S. national security more than taking out the Iranian regime.
00:08:42.300 This will make Americans safer.
00:08:46.000 Donald Trump agreed, and he acted.
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00:09:21.020 Senator, I want to get back into what we were talking about with Iran a moment ago.
00:09:24.960 The objective question has been a really important one and an important response.
00:09:30.640 There are a lot of conservatives that are worried about getting into a never-ending war.
00:09:34.460 There's a lot of people that will never forget my generation of that, you know, evidence that was put before the U.N.
00:09:41.460 about why we should go into Iraq.
00:09:43.140 And we found out that intelligence was, well, basically crap.
00:09:46.300 And there's people that worry that we're going to get into another situation like that.
00:09:50.060 I'm not worried about that.
00:09:51.600 I think the president's been very clear about his objective here.
00:09:54.500 And I want you to talk more about it because I think there's a lot of people that have those questions for good reason.
00:09:59.520 The objective is very simple, to collapse this regime, to take this regime out of power.
00:10:08.700 Now, I will say the Trump administration has been a little bit cautious in articulating that.
00:10:13.860 And I think the reason is they are reluctant to say the words regime change.
00:10:18.920 And you just highlighted why.
00:10:21.340 Because regime change brings back the Iraq War, brings back George W. Bush, and a lot of bad experiences.
00:10:27.360 Now, let me be clear.
00:10:28.880 I think the Iraq War was a mistake.
00:10:31.000 I've been very clear.
00:10:32.060 I've been on the record for that for more than a decade that the Iraq War was a mistake.
00:10:36.380 That being said, the Iraq War was a mistake because we went in.
00:10:41.640 Saddam Hussein, who was an evil dictator, was murdering his own people.
00:10:45.640 He was killing terrorists.
00:10:47.600 We came in.
00:10:48.340 We toppled Saddam Hussein.
00:10:49.760 The terrorists took over.
00:10:50.800 They began killing Americans.
00:10:52.120 It made America less safe.
00:10:54.060 By the way, we did the same thing in Libya.
00:10:56.520 Gaddafi was, again, an evil tyrant.
00:10:58.760 He was murdering his own citizens.
00:11:00.220 He was killing terrorists.
00:11:01.640 We came in and toppled him.
00:11:03.280 The terrorists took over, began killing Americans.
00:11:05.360 I don't believe we should do something that results in more Americans being at risk.
00:11:11.160 This is a qualitatively different situation.
00:11:14.220 The Ayatollah and the Mullahs have effectively declared war on the United States.
00:11:19.020 They have been waging war, actively killing Americans for 47 years.
00:11:23.440 They have been funding terrorists killing Americans for 47 years.
00:11:27.260 And so removing radical, theocratic, homicidal and genocidal maniacs from power makes America substantially safer.
00:11:39.600 That's what the administration is doing.
00:11:41.240 They haven't necessarily articulated that the objective is regime collapse.
00:11:45.460 What they've talked about is they've said we want to take out the short-range missiles, the medium-range missiles, the drones, the drone manufacturing capacity, the missile manufacturing capacity.
00:11:55.860 All of that is right.
00:11:57.380 But, look, there are lots of countries on Earth that have short-range and medium-range missiles.
00:12:02.500 France has short-range and medium-range missiles.
00:12:05.060 We're not bombing France right now.
00:12:06.600 Why?
00:12:07.320 Because France is not led by theocratic lunatics who want to murder us.
00:12:11.220 The reason we're acting against Iran is the government, the Ayatollah, who is no longer with us.
00:12:18.440 Thank you.
00:12:18.960 And I'm very glad he went to meet his 72 virgins.
00:12:21.700 Amen to that.
00:12:22.700 I'm sure he is deeply dismayed when he discovers that all 72 of his virgins are Nick Fuentes.
00:12:30.040 I'm sure that that is not what he anticipated.
00:12:33.840 But the reason we are acting is because the leadership of this country has been trying to and has been, in fact, killing Americans.
00:12:45.600 And I want you to listen to President Trump when he talks about, number one, I want you to listen to President Trump when he talks about the successes we've had.
00:12:55.560 Give a listen.
00:12:56.660 And before we begin, I think I will say a few words about what's going on with respect to our operation in the country of Iran.
00:13:06.980 And the United States military, together with the wonderful Israeli partners, continues to totally demolish the enemy far ahead of schedule and at levels that people have never seen before, actually.
00:13:24.700 We're destroying more of Iran's missiles and drone capability every single hour, knocking them out like nobody thought was possible.
00:13:34.320 As soon as they set off a missile within four minutes, the launcher gets hit.
00:13:41.100 They don't know what's happening.
00:13:43.120 But we have the greatest military anywhere in the world.
00:13:46.720 Their Navy is gone.
00:13:48.280 24 ships in three days.
00:13:50.920 That's a lot of ships.
00:13:53.260 Their anti-aircraft weapons are gone.
00:13:58.680 So they have no air force.
00:14:00.440 They have no air defense.
00:14:02.100 All of their airplanes are gone.
00:14:05.020 Their communications are gone.
00:14:08.280 Missiles are gone.
00:14:09.700 Launches are gone.
00:14:11.140 About 60 percent and 64 percent, respectively.
00:14:15.500 Other than that, they're doing quite well.
00:14:18.500 I said, what's left?
00:14:20.540 But they're tough and they want to fight.
00:14:23.860 And they're calling.
00:14:25.320 They're saying, how do we make a deal?
00:14:26.900 I said, you're being a little bit late.
00:14:28.220 And we want to fight now more than they do.
00:14:33.040 We've had 47 years, depending on the way you count it.
00:14:38.600 But 47 years of horror with this group.
00:14:42.720 And, you know, when you see somebody walking down the street without their legs, without the arms, whose faces so badly affected and hurt.
00:14:53.800 It mostly came from 95 percent, Soleimani and Iran.
00:15:01.360 And we, other presidents, lived with it.
00:15:06.100 I didn't live with it.
00:15:06.920 And so, our people are doing a great job.
00:15:09.780 Again, the greatest military anyone's seen.
00:15:13.540 Senator, I love that he just is so proud of our military.
00:15:16.900 But let's go back to the oil part as well, which is really important.
00:15:19.440 So, one of the critical pieces of this that many people don't realize is that between going after Maduro and Venezuela and going after Iran, in addition to taking out two very serious enemies of America, President Trump is also taking a serious step against China.
00:15:38.560 Because both Venezuela and Iran have been sending vast amounts of oil to China.
00:15:45.900 What percent of Iran's oil exports do you think have historically gone to China?
00:15:52.680 I'm going to guess it's a significant amount because they definitely need them as an ally.
00:15:57.260 Well, that was kind of a Weasley answer.
00:15:59.340 But let me give you the more precise answer.
00:16:02.680 That would be 87.2 percent of Iran's oil exports have gone to China.
00:16:06.960 What percent of Venezuela's do you think went?
00:16:09.000 It's got to be, let's say, 60 percent plus?
00:16:11.940 That's actually pretty good.
00:16:13.020 55.1 percent.
00:16:14.380 So, more than half of Venezuela's and nearly 90 percent of Iran's have gone to China.
00:16:20.380 And so, the effect of taking both of these leaders out has been not only to reduce the threats to America, but it has done a serious blow to China and their energy sources.
00:16:31.460 That makes a big difference for America.
00:16:33.000 I want to be honest with you for a second about how an act of compassion really feels.
00:16:39.020 A couple of years ago, I made the choice to partner with an amazing organization called Compassion International.
00:16:46.340 Why?
00:16:47.040 Because I wanted to sponsor a child in need.
00:16:50.100 It was a nice idea, sure, but I had no idea just how much that simple act would change my life as well.
00:16:57.460 I sponsored Nadia and got to watch her life change right in front of my eyes, going from starving literally alone on the streets to getting the health care and education she needs to reach her God-given full potential.
00:17:12.960 I got to be a part of that change.
00:17:15.120 And the light of that compassion not only illuminates in her, it illuminates now in me.
00:17:21.140 That is the power of compassion.
00:17:23.760 The light of Christ shines on all of us.
00:17:27.580 Feel it for yourself and change literally a child's life.
00:17:31.700 Change the world and you also change yourself.
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00:17:36.740 Visit Compassion.com.
00:17:39.040 That's Compassion.com.
00:17:41.740 Senator, there was a shakeup.
00:17:44.700 You don't want to ever be the first one to be a cabinet secretary to get the boot, but it was pretty clear Christy Noem got the boot this week.
00:17:51.900 One of your colleagues is going to take over at Department of Homeland Security, Mark Wayne Mullen.
00:17:55.860 I want to get your take on all of that.
00:17:58.880 Well, the president announced this week that he was removing Christy Noem from secretary of DHS and replacing her with Mark Wayne Mullen.
00:18:07.380 I have to say this was not much of a surprise to anyone watching closely.
00:18:13.420 Christy Noem testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
00:18:16.920 I was part of that hearing.
00:18:18.480 I questioned her on it.
00:18:21.800 The questioning was bumpy.
00:18:24.160 And she got – the Democrats, of course, went after her hard, but a number of Republicans went after her hard as well.
00:18:30.320 And I have to say one of those that was the most effective was my friend and colleague from Louisiana, John Kennedy.
00:18:40.180 John has been on this podcast, and he's someone who's a good friend of mine.
00:18:45.600 I want to play John Kennedy's cross-examination at Christy Noem because this proved very consequential cross-examination.
00:18:53.980 Give a listen.
00:18:54.480 How do you square that concern for waste, which I share, with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?
00:19:18.480 Sir, the president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally that they needed to leave or we would detain them and remove them and they'd not get the chance to come back to America the right way.
00:19:39.900 That has been extremely effective.
00:19:41.640 They didn't ask you to run these advertisements, is that right?
00:19:46.420 We had that conversation, yes, before I was put in this position and sworn in and confirmed, and since then as well.
00:19:54.180 Okay.
00:19:54.860 Did you bid out those service contracts?
00:20:00.080 Yes, they did.
00:20:00.740 They went out to a competitive bid, and career officials at the department chose who would do those advertising commercials.
00:20:08.080 And the people that you ended up picking were people who had formerly done your political work back in South Dakota, is that right?
00:20:20.920 No, that's not correct, sir.
00:20:22.480 I think it is.
00:20:23.040 No, it's not, sir.
00:20:24.360 The individuals who, I believe the careers who they chose were two different media firms.
00:20:31.080 There's been conversation about their subcontractors, but we have no legal authority to look into subcontractors on work like that.
00:20:39.660 Okay.
00:20:40.680 And you're saying that you're testifying that President Trump approved this ahead of time.
00:20:47.700 Is that my understanding?
00:20:49.460 We had conversations about making sure that we were telling people.
00:20:53.200 No, ma'am, I'm asking you, sorry to interrupt, but the President approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently.
00:21:07.980 Yes, sir.
00:21:08.360 We went through the legal processes.
00:21:10.360 Did it correct?
00:21:10.900 Did the President know you were going to do this?
00:21:12.660 Yes.
00:21:13.480 He did?
00:21:14.040 Mm-hmm.
00:21:14.520 Yes.
00:21:14.920 Okay.
00:21:15.200 And one thing, Senator, I think would be helpful to know is how effective that communications has been.
00:21:23.000 Well, they were effective in your name recognition.
00:21:27.260 I mean, I personally just, I mean, to me, it puts the President in a terribly awkward spot.
00:21:35.480 And I just, I'm not saying you're not telling the truth.
00:21:40.040 It's just hard for me to believe knowing the President, as I do,
00:21:44.100 that you said, Mr. President, here's some ads I've cut and I'm going to spend $220 million running them,
00:21:53.340 that he would have agreed to that.
00:21:55.660 I don't think Russ Vogt at OMB would have agreed to that.
00:22:00.940 It's something we have to defend.
00:22:03.120 I'm on the Appropriations Committee.
00:22:04.800 I mean, my research shows that you did not bid them out, that you picked, in fact, one of the people you picked,
00:22:17.640 the strategy group, I'm sorry, Safe America Media was a company formed 11 days before you picked them,
00:22:27.700 and that the strategy group got most of the money, and the head of that is married to your former spokesperson.
00:22:38.900 Look, we all have friends who are qualified.
00:22:41.540 I'm not quibbling with that.
00:22:43.440 I'm just, it troubles me.
00:22:46.380 A quarter, a fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars in taxpayer money,
00:22:52.040 when we're scratching for every penny and we're fighting over rescission packages,
00:22:58.420 I just can't agree with, Madam Secretary.
00:23:02.600 Are you still running those ads?
00:23:04.440 No, Senator, I did not have anything to do with picking those contractors.
00:23:09.420 I know politicals at the Department of Homeland Security did.
00:23:12.480 I understand.
00:23:13.340 Are you still running those ads?
00:23:14.040 Clear officials followed the competitive bid process for that.
00:23:16.560 Are you still running those ads?
00:23:17.700 I think the ads are due to end here in March, I think within a week or two.
00:23:21.900 I'm not sure of the end date.
00:23:23.640 The one that is running is focusing on angel families.
00:23:26.400 Have you seen that?
00:23:27.260 It is the one that's talking about this is our why.
00:23:29.580 This is why we work every day is for the angel families and their victims.
00:23:35.400 Senator, it was not a good showing there for her.
00:23:39.760 And, you know, your colleague there, Senator Kennedy, asking questions I think a lot of Americans care about.
00:23:45.420 The president's also come out saying she did not run this by him in the amount of money being spent either.
00:23:51.000 That also didn't work well for her either.
00:23:54.980 Well, and that's something that John Kennedy pointed out.
00:24:02.300 He said in the aftermath, he said that President Trump was, quote,
00:24:08.320 mad as a murder hornet that Noem claimed he approved the $200 million ads contract.
00:24:17.300 And listen, John is a good friend of mine.
00:24:20.880 I talked to him today on the Senate floor.
00:24:23.340 And I just the number of nominees that his cross examinations have taken out is quite remarkable.
00:24:30.200 And I think it was John Kennedy's cross-examination that was pivotal in the decision to shift from Christie.
00:24:39.420 Look, I like Christie personally.
00:24:41.520 I had dinner with her just a few weeks ago.
00:24:44.800 And I do think the results of the Department of Homeland Security in terms of securing the border have been very effective.
00:24:50.660 And so that is beneficial.
00:24:55.360 I think John Kennedy's line of questioning here was fair, and it was incredibly effective.
00:25:04.600 I also think, and we've talked about this on the podcast before, that the messaging from the administration,
00:25:12.500 particularly following the shooting of two different Americans in Minneapolis, that the messaging was wrong.
00:25:21.700 And it did real damage.
00:25:24.420 That I think the messaging was, look, any time an American citizen is killed in a confrontation with law enforcement, it's a tragedy.
00:25:34.600 And we should see our officials acknowledging it's a tragedy.
00:25:38.880 We should see our officials saying, listen, if there's an officer involved shooting, there's going to be an investigation.
00:25:44.120 We're going to examine what happened and determine what exactly caused it.
00:25:49.140 And instead, the rhetoric immediately leaped to really aggressive rhetoric,
00:25:56.380 calling both of the individuals using language like terrorists and seeking mass murder.
00:26:03.540 And that was hard to square with the facts of what occurred.
00:26:10.220 I think that rhetoric did damage to the administration,
00:26:14.860 and I think it was one of the things that contributed to the decision of the president
00:26:19.600 to shift from Christy Dohm as the leader of Homeland Security.
00:26:26.360 Mark Wayne Mullen.
00:26:27.360 Mark Wayne, I've served with him in the Senate.
00:26:29.180 He's a good guy.
00:26:32.980 He's someone the president trusts.
00:26:35.260 I think he will be confirmed.
00:26:36.800 I think it will be a party-line vote in the Senate.
00:26:39.660 We may get John Fetterman, but I would be surprised if any other Democrat votes for him.
00:26:45.840 So my prediction is the vote on Mark Wayne Mullen will be 54 to 46, that 46 Democrats will vote now.
00:26:53.620 And I think Mark Wayne, look, there are advantages to being an experienced elected official.
00:27:01.780 He was a House member.
00:27:02.600 He's been a senator.
00:27:04.100 I'm hopeful that he will bring a level of professionalism and effectiveness.
00:27:08.940 The results of DHS have been quite strong.
00:27:11.880 But I do think the testimony that Secretary Noem gave, it was not an easy day for her.
00:27:23.400 And I think John Kennedy, Tom Tillis also lit into her really hard.
00:27:27.920 But I think the Kennedy cross-examination was more significant.
00:27:32.180 There's been quite a bit of reporting that the president was unhappy that she said that he knew
00:27:38.000 about the ad she had run, and I don't have independent knowledge of that,
00:27:42.600 but I don't have reason to doubt that reporting.
00:27:47.240 And so, look, we need to secure our border.
00:27:51.380 We've had an incredible success rate doing so, so far,
00:27:54.140 and I'm hopeful that Mark Wayne Mullen coming in will continue with that success
00:27:57.440 and continue to keep our family safe.
00:28:00.400 It was Election Day on Tuesday at America.
00:28:03.780 It was a very big Election Day in Texas.
00:28:06.140 There was certainly some upsets on the House side.
00:28:09.480 There was a lot of people around the country watching Dan Crenshaw's race.
00:28:12.260 He lost that race to someone that you endorsed.
00:28:15.740 That was a big one that I was on national TV talking about over and over again.
00:28:20.460 And then there's obviously the Senate race that's happening as well.
00:28:23.280 That's now gone into a runoff between two people that you know well,
00:28:27.840 your colleague in the Senate, and also Ken Paxson.
00:28:31.000 So we're going to have to wait and see how that plays out as well.
00:28:33.740 But then there's also the Democrat running against whoever wins that runoff.
00:28:38.960 And this is a guy that Democrats are really excited about.
00:28:42.720 He's talented.
00:28:43.880 He's radical.
00:28:45.240 He's extreme.
00:28:46.060 But he comes across like a very moderate guy if you listen to him today.
00:28:51.140 Well, we had primary day in Texas this week, and it was highly consequential.
00:28:56.180 Number one, there were a number of House candidates who I endorsed who prevailed.
00:29:01.220 We had one, Jessica Steinman, who was my former regional director in Houston.
00:29:07.400 She won decisively the Republican primary.
00:29:10.240 She is going to be in all likelihood the next Republican congressmember from Houston.
00:29:16.680 We had another, Chris Gober, who's been my lawyer for 10 years.
00:29:20.120 He won his primary decisively.
00:29:22.040 He's going to be a new Republican congressman from Central Texas.
00:29:25.900 We had another, John Bonk, who I endorsed, who is a close friend.
00:29:32.080 He is the son-in-law of one of my closest friends in the world, who has been my national finance chairman for years.
00:29:40.020 By the way, that was a fun night.
00:29:41.800 Just let's take a moment to talk about how fun that was.
00:29:44.400 So you were obviously in D.C., but I went to the victory party, and it's fun to see someone that you and I know personally and the smile on your dear friend Willie's face.
00:29:54.160 And even Heidi was there as well, your wife.
00:29:57.240 It was really a cool evening to see someone work hard and win.
00:30:00.700 I know you had to have a really—that had to feel personal to you.
00:30:04.220 So Willie, who's John Bonk's father-in-law, is one of my two or three closest friends on planet Earth, and I love him.
00:30:13.100 He's a good man.
00:30:14.260 He's a principled man.
00:30:15.400 He's a conservative.
00:30:16.560 He's a godly man.
00:30:17.740 He's someone who, frankly, I rely on for advice, for spiritual counseling.
00:30:23.500 We pray together.
00:30:24.360 We talk together.
00:30:26.380 And John is very likely to win.
00:30:31.260 And he did not clear 50 percent, so unfortunately there's going to be a runoff, but I think he's going to prevail.
00:30:36.740 I actually did a rally for him just a week ago, and in the middle of the rally, while I had several hundred people there rallying for him,
00:30:43.240 I got the chance to announce from the stage while I was up there that President Trump had endorsed him.
00:30:49.440 That was a very cool moment.
00:30:51.520 We knew it was likely to come.
00:30:52.940 I thought there was a chance that Trump would call on the cell phone.
00:30:56.380 If he had called, I would have put the cell phone up to the microphone and let him announce it to the whole crowd.
00:31:01.260 Instead, I got to announce, and the crowd went nuts.
00:31:05.000 That was really gratifying to have three people who are two who are members of my team and have been employees and another who's a very close friend to see three new likely members of Congress coming.
00:31:18.140 That was a big deal.
00:31:20.400 We also had Don Huffines, who I endorsed for comptroller in a statewide position in Texas that won decisively.
00:31:28.080 That was a big victory.
00:31:29.060 And then you noted, Dan Crenshaw, look, in my 14 years in the Senate, I almost never endorse against Republican incumbents.
00:31:41.140 And there's a reason.
00:31:43.200 If you're serving in the Senate, if you're working in Congress, if you're endorsing against your colleagues, it makes it very hard to get anything done.
00:31:50.120 Like, that makes lifelong enemies.
00:31:53.380 And so you just have to be really reluctant to do so.
00:31:56.040 I endorse in open races, but I almost never endorse in races against Republican incumbents.
00:32:03.440 I've made two exceptions in 14 years.
00:32:05.660 The first was Liz Cheney because Liz Cheney lost her mind and became a radical leftist who hated President Trump.
00:32:11.860 And so I endorsed her opponent, Harriet Hageman, who beat her and is getting ready to be the new senator from Wyoming now.
00:32:19.280 And then I did it again for Dan Crenshaw for much the same reason, because he had really lost his way.
00:32:28.780 He had gotten angry with his constituents.
00:32:32.560 There were multiple instances in which he yelled.
00:32:35.480 There was one instance where he yelled at a 14-year-old girl and just got angry.
00:32:41.300 In this race, there's a very good friend of mine who's been a longtime supporter and close friend who was supporting Dan's opponent.
00:32:52.720 And Dan decided to just light him up.
00:32:55.300 This is a banker, a private citizen in Texas, and Dan decided to go after him personally.
00:33:00.920 And I've got to say, that pissed me off.
00:33:03.440 He's a close friend of mine, and I didn't like Dan just attacking him directly.
00:33:11.420 And so I endorsed his opponent, Steve Toth.
00:33:14.280 Steve Toth has been a state legislator for a number of years.
00:33:16.860 He's a very strong conservative.
00:33:19.560 And it ended up that Steve Toth won, and won decisively, won by a big margin.
00:33:25.540 And that was a little bit of a cannon shot.
00:33:30.340 You know, I will say, Dan also, oh, a couple of months ago, we were on a plane landing in D.C.
00:33:38.340 And in the jetway walking off, Dan began screaming and cursing at me.
00:33:44.300 And it was really a little unhinged.
00:33:46.780 And he was like, why are you coming after me?
00:33:48.540 And I was like, well, I'm not.
00:33:51.880 And he was mad that supporters of mine were supporting his opponents.
00:33:59.180 And look, I don't control what my supporters do.
00:34:02.340 They're, you know, individuals who have free choice.
00:34:05.880 But he was literally screaming and cursing at me.
00:34:08.560 And I told him at the time, I said, Dan, if I come after you, I promise you, you'll know it.
00:34:17.940 Like, it will not be subtle.
00:34:19.620 It will not be hidden.
00:34:21.180 You will have full awareness of it.
00:34:24.020 And but I told him afterwards, I said, listen, in 14 years in the Senate, you were the only House member who's ever screamed and cursed at me on an airplane.
00:34:33.460 And that includes all the Democrats.
00:34:34.720 It's like and so it just it pushed it pushed me beyond the edge.
00:34:38.920 And the voters of Texas decided that that he was not reflecting their conservative values.
00:34:43.900 And so they've elected Steve Toth will be a great member of Congress.
00:34:47.940 He'll be a strong conservative.
00:34:49.760 Now, we've got the Senate race, the Senate race.
00:34:52.760 There is a runoff between John Cornyn, my colleague right now, and Ken Paxton, the attorney general.
00:34:58.760 Both of them I know very well.
00:35:00.480 Both of them are friends of mine.
00:35:01.580 Both of them I've worked together closely with for years.
00:35:05.520 I've endorsed both of them in the past.
00:35:07.420 I've campaigned with both of them in the past.
00:35:09.580 And I got to say this this primary is bitter and nasty.
00:35:12.860 Look, it is to date the most expensive primary in American history.
00:35:18.020 Yeah.
00:35:18.160 And John and Ken really dislike each other.
00:35:23.080 And so it is going to be brutal.
00:35:24.580 It is going to be ugly.
00:35:26.460 I don't know how it's going to resolve.
00:35:28.840 President Trump tweeted out this week that he is going to make an endorsement.
00:35:32.840 He is not yet.
00:35:33.720 So we'll see what the president decides to do on this.
00:35:36.060 But I will say at the same time, the Democrats nominated a guy named James Tallarico, who's a state rep.
00:35:43.240 And this guy is dangerous.
00:35:44.680 He's an ordained minister.
00:35:46.460 He's a radical.
00:35:47.360 He's a hardcore leftist.
00:35:49.400 And will in subsequent podcasts break down just how radical and extreme his record is.
00:35:54.200 But what makes him dangerous is he sounds reasonable.
00:35:58.520 He masks his radicalism in reasonable sounding, soft language.
00:36:06.120 He masks it in the language of a pastor.
00:36:09.760 It's incredibly deceptive and dishonest, but that makes it dangerous.
00:36:13.460 And so we've got a real fight in Texas, and I don't know what the result will be.
00:36:16.900 Yeah, we're going to cover it all.
00:36:18.100 I can promise you that.
00:36:19.000 Don't forget to download Verdict with Ted Cruz wherever you get your podcasts.
00:36:22.100 In the center, I will see you back here on this radio.
00:36:24.200 We'll see you next week as well.