Speaker 1: We are thirty two days out from the midterm elections.
Speaker 1: We are in the middle of a seventeen state month
Speaker 1: long campaign bus tour, and we are coming to you
Speaker 1: from sunny Las Vegas. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Speaker 1: This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is brought to
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Speaker 1: Verdicts with Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Nols, Senator. Excellent to
Speaker 1: see you in person. You are looking very good and
Speaker 1: awake and energetic for having been on a seventeen state
Speaker 1: bus tour. Well, I'm having a blast. So we're on
Speaker 1: day seven of the bus tour. We started in Texas.
Speaker 1: Tom Ball, Texas, which is just north of Houston, did
Speaker 1: a big rally with Wesley Hunt, who's going to be
Speaker 1: a new Congressman, a Republican elected from there, West Point graduate,
Speaker 1: African American football player at West Point, great guy. We
Speaker 1: went from there down to the Rio Grand Valley. We
Speaker 1: did three rallies down in the Rio Grand Valley with
Speaker 1: three congressional candidates. We did rallies in McCallan, Harlan Jin
Speaker 1: and Laredo. All three congressional candidates all Republicans, all Hispanic women.
Speaker 1: I think all three are going to win, huge, packed
Speaker 1: out rallies down in South Texas. We went from there
Speaker 1: to New Mexico, did a big rally in New Mexico.
Speaker 1: We went from New Mexico to Arizona. Did two rallies
Speaker 1: in Arizona. Seemed to sort of light up the internet.
Speaker 1: You know, I've seen bits and pieces from the tour,
Speaker 1: but your appearance in Arizona really seemed to explode very
Speaker 1: exciting candidates in Arizona. It was fantastic. So we did
Speaker 1: in New Mexico. We were with Vette Harold, who's running
Speaker 1: for reelection. She's fantastic. In New Mexico. In Arizona, we
Speaker 1: were with Eli Crane, who is a Navy seal. The
Speaker 1: guy's a badass, smart, principled, he's a warrior. He's going
Speaker 1: to win defeat a Democrat. And then we did a
Speaker 1: rally with both Blake Masters and Kerry Lake. And I
Speaker 1: got to say that lit it up. She's going to
Speaker 1: be the next governor, and I think Masters has a
Speaker 1: real shot at winning that Senate race. And it was
Speaker 1: those events were packed. And now we're here in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: We're doing a rally here tonight with Mark Robertson and
Speaker 1: Sam Peter's both running for the House here, both have
Speaker 1: a real shot to beat Democrats and get elected. After Nevada,
Speaker 1: we go to Utah. Then we go to Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
Speaker 1: North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, back up to Michigan, back
Speaker 1: up to Wisconsin, and we close it out in Texas
Speaker 1: the day before the election. I'm exhausted just hearing that schedule.
Speaker 1: That's outright, And I do know we've been on the
Speaker 1: road together many many times. I do know. Whatever stop
Speaker 1: you're at, whatever the event is, whether it's a verdict
Speaker 1: life or wherever, you are never the one to say, okay,
Speaker 1: we've all got to go home. I'm two tired guys.
Speaker 1: You stay up very very late, you keep on going
Speaker 1: well as long as you feed me with Scotch and cigars.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to go as long as you like. And
Speaker 1: I have to note a couple of milestones. Number one,
Speaker 1: this is your first time in Vegas. This is shockingly
Speaker 1: I love gambling. I love, you know, staying out late
Speaker 1: and getting up to no good. This is my very
Speaker 1: first time. And I didn't realize they have slot machines
Speaker 1: in the airport. Oh yeah. And by the way, we
Speaker 1: are filming this studio is unique that we are filming
Speaker 1: in a studio where I guess they train show girls.
Speaker 1: Like I know, I went to the rest. That's why
Speaker 1: it looks familiar. Yeah, Like there's there's you know, there's
Speaker 1: mirrors all along the walls and and you know, I
Speaker 1: kind of feel like we ought to be wearing sparklies
Speaker 1: or something. Well that could be. I guess that that's
Speaker 1: a thought for the for the next stage a Verdict.
Speaker 1: And actually, speaking of the next phase a Verdict, there
Speaker 1: is there is huge news that's come in and it's
Speaker 1: come in very very recently, and it's part of the
Speaker 1: reason that I wanted to fly out here. It's really
Speaker 1: really good news and it's a little bit of bad news,
Speaker 1: but I think we should let the audience in on it.
Speaker 1: So here's the really really good news about Verdict. Has
Speaker 1: been a bootstrapped operation from the very beginning, starting in
Speaker 1: a basement in DC, you know, not on one of
Speaker 1: the major outlets or a major podcast or radio network,
Speaker 1: and just really bootstrapped in fun and largely independent. So
Speaker 1: an offer has come in from iHeartRadio to take this
Speaker 1: show to a huge national audience. Now it's already obviously
Speaker 1: at a national audience on podcast, but on radio stations.
Speaker 1: On terrestrial radio, iHeart has a gigantic network. I Heart
Speaker 1: can fund the whole thing, yet fund production, dump a
Speaker 1: whole bunch of money into marketing. This is incredible. It
Speaker 1: will make this show sustainable, not just for the next
Speaker 1: few months, going going into the midterms, but for the
Speaker 1: next years. The only bad news is from the very beginnings.
Speaker 1: As much as I, you know, love this show, it's
Speaker 1: been my moonlighting job because my day job is over
Speaker 1: there at the Daily Wire, and I've been a very
Speaker 1: great loaned out by the Daily Wire to do this show,
Speaker 1: and because the Daily Wire is a different podcast network,
Speaker 1: and because I have a radio show on a different
Speaker 1: radio network. If Verdict is to move into this next
Speaker 1: very sustainable, exciting, energetic phase, it will have to be
Speaker 1: without me as part of it. I certainly will be
Speaker 1: coming back around, maybe coming too a live events, coming
Speaker 1: around as a guest. But I think it is very,
Speaker 1: very important that this show remained sustainable. This show has
Speaker 1: never been about me. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Speaker 1: It's been an amazing ride. We took it to number
Speaker 1: one of all the podcasts. Ted Cruise became a bigger
Speaker 1: podcaster than Joe Rogan and stayed there for a actually
Speaker 1: pretty decent period of time. And so I am really
Speaker 1: very excited for this next phase with iHeart. And there's
Speaker 1: a great broadcaster from iHeart who's been in the business forever,
Speaker 1: who's been a friend of mine for many, many years,
Speaker 1: who is going to come on and fill this seat,
Speaker 1: and that would be Ben Ferguson. Should we bring Ben on? Ben?
Speaker 1: Can you come out here? All right? Welcome, good to
Speaker 1: see how are you two guys that usually get to
Speaker 1: hang out in Tennessee all the way in Vegas. Welcome
Speaker 1: your your maiden voyage. As they say, it is a
Speaker 1: little strange, you know, to have senator from Texas, a
Speaker 1: broadcaster from Texas, a broadcaster from Tennessee who only ever
Speaker 1: sees you in Tennessee, in Tennis for some reason, we're
Speaker 1: in Nevada. It's it's a strange world of politics, that's right.
Speaker 1: So now, the last time Ben that I saw you,
Speaker 1: it's a little blurry. Actually it was about one in
Speaker 1: the mornings. Involved there were cigars, maybe, angrybers, angry liberals
Speaker 1: and politic I remember we were at some honky tong
Speaker 1: down there in Nashville. But since then, and for the
Speaker 1: handful of people out there who might not know who
Speaker 1: you are, what have you been up to? So I've
Speaker 1: been hosting my radio show, syndicated show podcast and uh
Speaker 1: and in three boys, that's what I say. I shouldn't
Speaker 1: say it that way. I'll get in trouble with the wife.
Speaker 1: She's doing the majority of it and I'm paying some bills.
Speaker 1: Is that a better way? That's good? And uh yeah,
Speaker 1: So I mean, man, I don't know why that's the case.
Speaker 1: I raised my daughters all on my own. That's a
Speaker 1: man has decades right there of experience. You gotta understand,
Speaker 1: I'm in real trouble because Heidi listens to this podcast.
Speaker 1: So that statement, my phone is going to ring while
Speaker 1: she do it. I already know how much that bill
Speaker 1: is going to cost and where you're going to end
Speaker 1: up taking her. That's just that, that's that's gonna hurt. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be worse than losing at the Roulette table
Speaker 1: this week. I canna promise you that. So I've just
Speaker 1: been doing that and doing a little more TV and
Speaker 1: getting to hang out with this guy, So that's been good.
Speaker 1: This is very exciting news also because you guys both
Speaker 1: live in the same town. Yeah, you live in Houston,
Speaker 1: so you know, I mean, obviously, this deal came up
Speaker 1: relatively quickly. We're heading right into the midterm elections, so
Speaker 1: we wanted to make sure that this kind of the
Speaker 1: ink could dry, you know, as quickly as possible. Well,
Speaker 1: this thing for the podcast is just a big damn deal. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I Heeart Radio as a monster. It's got eight hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty stations across the country, and so this was
Speaker 1: something this was not something we were out looking for.
Speaker 1: But but they came and they saw what was happening
Speaker 1: on this podcast. They saw the work at the incredible
Speaker 1: viewers and fans and and engaged viewers we have all
Speaker 1: over the country, and they said, listen, we want to
Speaker 1: take this podcast to the next level. We want to
Speaker 1: reach we want to promote it across our eight hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty stations, we want to promote it across our
Speaker 1: podcast and listen. iHeart Is is the network that that
Speaker 1: work and built with Rush Limbaugh and and helped him
Speaker 1: build into the greatest ever h and that works with
Speaker 1: folks like like Hannity and Glenn Beck and Clay and
Speaker 1: back at Jesse Kelly, you know. And there's a coincidence. Actually,
Speaker 1: right before my show became syndicated to Teristra Radio nationwide,
Speaker 1: I got one last little opportunity to be on a
Speaker 1: different radio network. And it was when the president of
Speaker 1: iHeart called me. It was in the last days of
Speaker 1: Rush Limbaugh's show, said, Michael, would you like to host
Speaker 1: Russia's show? And I said, Oh my gosh, this is
Speaker 1: a dream come true. I would love to, said, I've
Speaker 1: got this other radio contract. It's about to be inked
Speaker 1: in like three days, but yes, that would be That
Speaker 1: would be just the greatest thing in the world. And
Speaker 1: so I note the reach of iHeart is just phenomenal.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fun. And I think you talked about
Speaker 1: being a big deal. I think you're getting to expand
Speaker 1: it to three days a week, getting to talk more
Speaker 1: breaking news and having people not have to wait once
Speaker 1: a week to get it. And you wonder if it's
Speaker 1: you know, as it dated and when was it done.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're gonna be able to break news, talk
Speaker 1: about breaking news, and give people your point of view instantly.
Speaker 1: And I think that's so important now. People are hungry
Speaker 1: for that. I mean you've seen it, whether it's your
Speaker 1: podcast or mine or radio. I mean people want to
Speaker 1: go around the mainstream media to the people they trust.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of Americans that are going to
Speaker 1: be introduced, I think because they're going to hear this promotion. Oh,
Speaker 1: Ted's got this podcast. I'm in. I want to hear
Speaker 1: this on a regular basis and make it a part
Speaker 1: of their day. And I'm excited to get to expand
Speaker 1: that with you and reach more people and hopefully ultimately,
Speaker 1: which is what you and I we started. We talked
Speaker 1: about this in Nashville. You and I do this because
Speaker 1: we want to change hearts and minds. You do what
Speaker 1: you do for the same exact reason, and the more
Speaker 1: people we can have listened to what we believe in,
Speaker 1: why we believe in it, why it makes sense logically.
Speaker 1: It's been my life goal, my mission field as politics.
Speaker 1: I've said that for years. I started when as twelve,
Speaker 1: as you know, and started in TV bill O'Reilly when
Speaker 1: I'm seventeen, and that's my mission field. And I look
Speaker 1: at where we're going as a country. I mentioned earlier,
Speaker 1: I've got twin boys or three, and I've got a
Speaker 1: six year old, and I'm terrified of where we're headed.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of given me my second win in
Speaker 1: my career. I think to say, Okay, are we going
Speaker 1: to leave this place better than it was when I
Speaker 1: got to grow up? And right now it's not right.
Speaker 1: If you looked at the clock and you look at
Speaker 1: the issues, and you look at what's happening, but there's
Speaker 1: also some things exciting that's happening, and that is you're
Speaker 1: seeing parents are getting involved in their school boards. You
Speaker 1: see police officers are now getting the backing again from
Speaker 1: society with crime that's out of control. You have people
Speaker 1: that are starting to understand like this deficit that we
Speaker 1: have right now is a massive problem. And you see
Speaker 1: people dealing with inflation the highest in our lifetime. And
Speaker 1: so these are I think, a palliative issues that if
Speaker 1: we can hear from the center more often, it's gonna
Speaker 1: change more hearts and minds. And so that's why I'm
Speaker 1: super excited to get to partner with you and do
Speaker 1: this and to keep the torch going that you guys started,
Speaker 1: because when you started during impeachment, it was unbelievable and
Speaker 1: you guys. I don't know if everyone knows this, but
Speaker 1: the story of how y'all started this and at what
Speaker 1: time of night you started it, Like when you said
Speaker 1: you were moonlighting, you weren't lying earlier during the first impeachment,
Speaker 1: right which impeachment we're talking about, But when you guys
Speaker 1: started this, and I remember listening and thinking, this is
Speaker 1: something that's missing from the market, and that was a
Speaker 1: conversation that was missing, and being obviously a fan of yours,
Speaker 1: I remember the first time I ever had you on
Speaker 1: my show when I was hosting in Dallas, when you
Speaker 1: were running the impossible campaign, yep, against the richest guy
Speaker 1: that do hurt. You can't you can't touch him, you can't.
Speaker 1: You know, this is an election that's already tied up,
Speaker 1: it's done, and you came out of nowhere and proved
Speaker 1: all the experts wrong. And that's you know, From that
Speaker 1: moment on, I was hooked. Well, I will say this,
Speaker 1: it's interesting that you use the phrase hearts and minds.
Speaker 1: As both of you guys know, I'm obsessed with what
Speaker 1: we got to do as conservatives is we have to
Speaker 1: connect with people's hearts and minds. We've got to reach
Speaker 1: beyond the people watching Fox News. We got to reach
Speaker 1: young people, We got to reach Hispanics and African Americans
Speaker 1: and suburban moms. And it has been amazing. You know,
Speaker 1: looking back, it's been two and a half years since
Speaker 1: we started this podcast. We started it, as you just noted, Ben,
Speaker 1: it was on the very first day the first impeachment trial.
Speaker 1: We're on the Senate floor till midnight, one in the morning,
Speaker 1: jumped in a truck and headed over to a basement studio.
Speaker 1: It was dingy. I think we had this same craps right,
Speaker 1: and and it just started like walking off the Senate floor,
Speaker 1: let's talk about it. And it went from a standing
Speaker 1: start with zero viewers, zero downloads two within days, we
Speaker 1: shot to the top of the charts. And I remember,
Speaker 1: I remember that first night. We're sitting down there. I've
Speaker 1: never done a podcast. We know how to do this,
Speaker 1: and we're talking about it, and we were talking about
Speaker 1: what would success look like, and we talked about, okay,
Speaker 1: if we could break into the top hundred. Ye that,
Speaker 1: by the way, to this day is still an amazing
Speaker 1: accomplishment if you even get there, yep, yeah, that that
Speaker 1: would have I think we were speaking, not even realistically.
Speaker 1: We were we were thinking that's actually that would be
Speaker 1: an ambitious goal. Yep. And then what was it? Four
Speaker 1: days later? And then we like boom into the top hundred,
Speaker 1: and then we're in the top ten, and then we
Speaker 1: climbed ten, nine, eight, four three. We're sitting there going,
Speaker 1: holy crap, could you imagine if we get and then
Speaker 1: boom number one as we kicked Joe Rogan out of
Speaker 1: the out of the spot. I mean, it was it
Speaker 1: was crazy. And we've done now, we've done one hundred
Speaker 1: and forty five shows. We've had over fifty million downloads
Speaker 1: of this podcast, and every single week we beat CNN's
Speaker 1: morning show, right, And so that has been that's always
Speaker 1: been the mission, Right, that's what you get as your
Speaker 1: bonus structure. You get to beat CNN every week. That'll
Speaker 1: make you wake up and do the shows. Right. But
Speaker 1: but now with with with iHeart stepping in to distribute
Speaker 1: and promote, the reach is going to be that much broader.
Speaker 1: And I think that's really exciting because this was always
Speaker 1: about really equipping our listeners. If you're gonna battle to
Speaker 1: save the country, if you're gonna take on the cultural
Speaker 1: Marxist if you're going to take on the socialist and
Speaker 1: the people coming at everything that built America, you need
Speaker 1: the tools, you need the information you need to know
Speaker 1: what's going on. And the vision of this podcast was
Speaker 1: always We're gonna give you as much of those tools
Speaker 1: as possible so that you're prepared and you know the
Speaker 1: inside story. And so I couldn't be more excited about
Speaker 1: this next step. It is sad, you know, Michael, you
Speaker 1: and I didn't know each other very well when we
Speaker 1: started RUM. We have become very close friends. We are
Speaker 1: remaining very close friends. You know. I will note you
Speaker 1: know when you started, you were, you know, an uptight,
Speaker 1: young whipper snapper. Yea. And for one hundred and fifth podcast,
Speaker 1: I'll just say right now, we're in Vegas, and for
Speaker 1: the first time ever, Michael Jules is not wearing socks skin. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I will tell you so when we cut, when
Speaker 1: Ben was walking out of here, we cut the camera scene,
Speaker 1: and I will tell you Michael was adjusting his uh,
Speaker 1: adjusting his micro proceeded to undo his belt. I'm like, Michael,
Speaker 1: Ben's coming, do not drop your pants on the podcast set.
Speaker 1: I was told this is Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas.
Speaker 1: I know that was okay that You're right, No, it's true.
Speaker 1: I have now loosened up, apparently to the point of
Speaker 1: political scandal, but it has been really I mean, the show,
Speaker 1: to your point, has really grown and it's loosened and
Speaker 1: it's changed, and we've gone on the road and we've
Speaker 1: done all these great things. And it's so important too
Speaker 1: to continue to hit new and new audiences. And so
Speaker 1: you know, we've cultivated this really, really large, wonderful group
Speaker 1: of listeners. And now moving over to with the show
Speaker 1: moving over to a different platform, that's going to give
Speaker 1: us new listeners. With the show moving to terrestrial radio
Speaker 1: in some cases, that's going to give you an entirely
Speaker 1: new Democrat. And Michael, I'll make a promise to you
Speaker 1: right now that that even though neither Ben nor I
Speaker 1: went there, we will continue to make fun of you.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm really easily that's not going to end.
Speaker 1: That's going to be a consistent That's part of my
Speaker 1: bonus structure they gave me was that I get to
Speaker 1: make fun of Yale on a regular vasis The first
Speaker 1: time I ever went I went to Harvard Kenny School
Speaker 1: right after the OZ four election. Yeah, and I walked if.
Speaker 1: They asked me to speak, and I worked on the
Speaker 1: Bush campaign. They were doing a retrospect of that campaign.
Speaker 1: I walked up there. It's a big room of people,
Speaker 1: and I walked up. I was younger, and I just
Speaker 1: didn't say anything, and the room was just kind of quiet,
Speaker 1: and I didn't say anything, just kind of looked around
Speaker 1: and got to the point where on purpose it was
Speaker 1: a little awkward, and I leaned down. I was like,
Speaker 1: I just want to savor the moment. There's no chance
Speaker 1: in hell I could have gotten into this place, and
Speaker 1: now you're paying me to speak, and the laughing. I
Speaker 1: was like, I may never get to come back, but
Speaker 1: I'm going to enjoy this moment right here, right now,
Speaker 1: where the ivy leaguers jokes on you and I got paid.
Speaker 1: That is magnificent. It was fun. Well, you know, to
Speaker 1: this point, before we go I mean, before we sort
Speaker 1: of let people go in, there will be a whole
Speaker 1: new phase of verdict. I do have to ask you, guys.
Speaker 1: We've got the United States Senator here, been on the
Speaker 1: campaign trail constantly. We've got a lecturer at Harvard Kennedy's
Speaker 1: School for that's right, where do we stand thirty two
Speaker 1: days out from the elections. I still think it's going
Speaker 1: to be an historical election. I think we're gonna retake
Speaker 1: the Senate. I think we're gonna retake the House. But
Speaker 1: you still think we're gonna retake the Senate. I put
Speaker 1: the odds of the House at north of ninety percent,
Speaker 1: and I think there's a real chance we have a
Speaker 1: big majority in the House thirty forty fifty seats. The Senate,
Speaker 1: I'd put the odds at about sixty five thirty five.
Speaker 1: It's not a great map, and if I were to
Speaker 1: predict my prediction right now, is we end up with
Speaker 1: fifty three Republicans. Okay, because previously you had said sixty forty.
Speaker 1: I've gone back and forth between sixty forty and sixty
Speaker 1: five thirty five. A month ago, two months ago, I
Speaker 1: was at sixty five thirty five. A month ago, I
Speaker 1: was at sixty forty, and I'm back to sixty five
Speaker 1: thirty five. So it it did turn a little bit
Speaker 1: south about a month ago, and I think the momentum
Speaker 1: has turned again. I think we're gonna win win a
Speaker 1: bunch of seats. This bus tour is designed to do that, Ben,
Speaker 1: what do you think. I tend to agree with you
Speaker 1: on this. I think that you're seeing a really last
Speaker 1: minute shift, and I've noticed it on my show with callers.
Speaker 1: There is a real level of stress with the American
Speaker 1: people right now, with the economy. I just was in California.
Speaker 1: You're seeing six dollars seven dollars gallon gas, new records.
Speaker 1: You see a present that is just draining our strategical reserves,
Speaker 1: and there's no way to not talk about now how
Speaker 1: low they're going to be come election day. You see
Speaker 1: what OPEC has just done, and you're starting to see
Speaker 1: the housing market switching very quickly. We just sold a house,
Speaker 1: for example, in the real estate agent said, you're lucky
Speaker 1: you got out when you did, because because I think
Speaker 1: if we if this fell through and we went right
Speaker 1: back on tomorrow, it's a desert, he said, it is.
Speaker 1: We've not seen anything like this, he said, since oh eight.
Speaker 1: And I think people are feeling that stress. And I
Speaker 1: think the closer, unfortunately, and I hate this, but the
Speaker 1: closer we get to election day, it's getting worse, not better.
Speaker 1: And I don't think the President can do anything at
Speaker 1: this point, or the Democrats somehow commits you. Oh, no, really,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be okay. Oh, it's gonna be fine. I
Speaker 1: really think people are feeling it now. Small businesses are
Speaker 1: feeling I'm a small business owner. We're seeing it. We
Speaker 1: lost money for the first time ever last month in
Speaker 1: our restaurant. Food costs skyrocketed, labor costs are up, and
Speaker 1: people are feeling it and we'd never experienced it before.
Speaker 1: The count call and they're like, hey, you guys lost
Speaker 1: six thousand, six hundred dollars. Well, and when you hear
Speaker 1: that and you see it and then you start saying,
Speaker 1: what do we do to fix it? I think that's
Speaker 1: the conversation America's having. So I agree with you. I
Speaker 1: think the Senate is definitely, in my opinion, I think
Speaker 1: it's more than I think it's probably even more optimistic
Speaker 1: than you are on that because I think people are
Speaker 1: having these conversations right now, and I think that's going
Speaker 1: to be the only blessing disguises. We're going to get
Speaker 1: a change in leadership, and we're gonna get to go
Speaker 1: back to fiscal responsibility and go back to what was working,
Speaker 1: and people are willing to listen listen to that idea
Speaker 1: now well, and when you talk to candidates. So we're
Speaker 1: here in Nevada. I think Nevada presents the number one
Speaker 1: best pickup opportunity for Republicans in the Senate. Adam Laxalt.
Speaker 1: Adam is a terrific guy. He's a close friend. He
Speaker 1: was attorney general here in Nevada. His grandfather was Paul Laxalt,
Speaker 1: who was the governor and senator from Nevada. As a
Speaker 1: legend in this state. He was Reagan's best friend in
Speaker 1: the Senate. His grandfather was. And Adam is pretty consistently
Speaker 1: running three or four points ahead and the polls that's
Speaker 1: been for about a month. He's been there. And it's interesting,
Speaker 1: whether you talk to him or congressional candidates all across
Speaker 1: the country, the Democrats everywhere have just gone all in
Speaker 1: an abortion. Every ad they're running is abortion, abortion, abortion, abortion.
Speaker 1: And I've been been pointing out, I said, look, of
Speaker 1: course they are. What else did they have to talk about?
Speaker 1: Imagine for a second, God forbid? All right, Ben, you
Speaker 1: wake up tomorrow. You're Catherine Cortez Masto's campaign manager. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Now she's the incumbent Democrat from Nevada. What are you
Speaker 1: going to talk about? You can't talk about the economy
Speaker 1: because the economy has gone to crap under Biden. Inflation
Speaker 1: is horrible. By the way, Nevada has the second worst
Speaker 1: inflation of any state in the Union. Gas prices are
Speaker 1: through the roof, mortgages have tripled. You certainly can't talk crime,
Speaker 1: murder rates, carjacking rates, all the crime rates of skyrocket
Speaker 1: are under the Democrats. And you sure as hell can't
Speaker 1: talk about immigration because the Southern borders at the worst
Speaker 1: spot in sixty two years. What you're going to talk
Speaker 1: for in policy? Isn't it great we surrendered to the Taliban?
Speaker 1: Isn't it great that all of our enemies are going well?
Speaker 1: Isn't it great that we have the first major war
Speaker 1: in Europe since World War friggin two? All of this
Speaker 1: happened under Joe Biden. So if you're a Democrat, what
Speaker 1: do you talk about rather than fearmonger on abortion and
Speaker 1: screaming abortion, abortion, abortion. But look, I think people care
Speaker 1: about kitchen table issues and what affects their family, what
Speaker 1: affects literally putting the food on their family, as people
Speaker 1: are having a hard time paying the grocery. The CNN
Speaker 1: and Mint of this yesterday they said, you know, I
Speaker 1: forget which commentator was on CNN said, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: really surprised that abortion consistently ranks so low in people's priorities.
Speaker 1: And if you've been paying attention to public opinion polls
Speaker 1: for the last um thirty years, you would know that
Speaker 1: is the case of both both pro abortion and pro life.
Speaker 1: How does it watch show thirty? You know, it's an
Speaker 1: impressive tie there, But you know, it's just not even
Speaker 1: if your were all very pro life obviously we've maybe
Speaker 1: do vote on abortion. We are kind of outside the norm,
Speaker 1: you know, And the same is true for people who
Speaker 1: support abortion. It's just people vote on the economy, they
Speaker 1: vote on safety, the vote on crime, they vote on education,
Speaker 1: they vote on all these things that as you say, Senator,
Speaker 1: the Democrats are just completely dead in the water on
Speaker 1: and so there's just a limit to what they can
Speaker 1: message it. There was a joke that happened, and you
Speaker 1: may remember after Donald Trump left office it was like
Speaker 1: I could really use two fifty gallon gas and a
Speaker 1: mean tweet right about now there is when that came out,
Speaker 1: that first one kind of hit and it turned into
Speaker 1: all the issues, like you know, I really wish I could.
Speaker 1: I could use some police officers right now and a
Speaker 1: mean tweet. It is so all encompassing of this election
Speaker 1: right now, and there's there's ideology and then there's reality.
Speaker 1: And it's easy to be a liberal and to seeing
Speaker 1: these Kumbaya moments and the you know, defund the police
Speaker 1: and what do we want dead cops? And when do
Speaker 1: we want them now? Until you see the crime come back,
Speaker 1: until you see the interest rate skyrocket, until you see
Speaker 1: the unemployment numbers, and when these things start to happen,
Speaker 1: it goes back to that mentality, right. I could really
Speaker 1: use some of what we used to have, and I
Speaker 1: think that's the opportunity here. And if if, if, and
Speaker 1: you've seen them on the road, I think the Republicans
Speaker 1: are focused now. Conservatives are focused on these issues and
Speaker 1: talking about them, and that's going to be a huge
Speaker 1: difference on election day. So I was in Arizona yesterday.
Speaker 1: We're in Nevada today, Las Vegas. Driving over to the studio,
Speaker 1: I pulled up Drudge on my phone. Two stories on
Speaker 1: Drudge right now. A professor at University of Arizona shot
Speaker 1: and killed on campus. I'm like, crap, we were there
Speaker 1: yesterday and today Thursday morning. It's Thursday afternoon right now,
Speaker 1: Thursday morning. There was a mass stabbing in front of
Speaker 1: the Wind Casino here in Las Vegas. Not at two
Speaker 1: in the morning, Thursday friggin morning. Yeah, like you will
Speaker 1: talking about one. You want to talk about real crap,
Speaker 1: like like people you know, what was it Northern California.
Speaker 1: You had some lunatic with a samurai sword cut a
Speaker 1: woman's head off. Yeah, right right. That is a real
Speaker 1: threat to people when they look around their towns, in
Speaker 1: their cities, they say, you know, crime is up, police
Speaker 1: protection is down. There has been defunding of the police abroad,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, the first major war in Europe since
Speaker 1: World War Two. There is a lot of uncertainty out there.
Speaker 1: I think personal security, national securities is really going to
Speaker 1: be at the forefront. If you're ranking things to be
Speaker 1: worried about in America. It used to be beheading didn't
Speaker 1: make the list. Yeah, and now are mass stabbings. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and now you have these things there are certing to
Speaker 1: happen in broad daylight in this country. But where were
Speaker 1: they saying defund the police Las Vegas. Yes, you had
Speaker 1: people campaigning off of it. I mean, you look at
Speaker 1: California and look at the crime there. You look at
Speaker 1: even in Memphis, Tennessee, a place that is a was
Speaker 1: defund the police, and you saw this horrific murder of
Speaker 1: this of this runner Liza Fletcher there. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: see that happen. And now you see what the changes.
Speaker 1: You have the governor that had to come down to
Speaker 1: step in just to talk to the people because you
Speaker 1: had a liberal Democratic mayor there. You have a liberal
Speaker 1: city council that still is refusing to fund the police.
Speaker 1: They are literally twelve hundred police officers down from where
Speaker 1: there's supposed to be a sound like Memphis, which is
Speaker 1: the second most angerous city in America, and they are
Speaker 1: refusing to even change things as simple as saying, okay,
Speaker 1: to get more cops, you can live outside of the county.
Speaker 1: You can live right across in Mississippi or Arkansas, you
Speaker 1: know where Memphis is. And the Democrats on the city
Speaker 1: counts they are saying, no, you have to live here,
Speaker 1: and they're saying, we can't recruit enough police officers with
Speaker 1: these ridiculous, arbitrary ideas that you guys have put on us.
Speaker 1: And people are starting to realize this is now life
Speaker 1: and death. And you know, Michael ben insists that they
Speaker 1: know how to make barbecue at Memphis. I just it's true.
Speaker 1: I believe it. Yeah. Well, the speaking of all these
Speaker 1: places around the country, the tour is going to continue on.
Speaker 1: The show is going to continue on. I think there's
Speaker 1: going to be a ton of energy behind it. I
Speaker 1: cannot wait to see this next phase. It's going to
Speaker 1: be amazing. I cannot wait to come back and visit
Speaker 1: wherever somewhere around the country, here or there. It's going
Speaker 1: to be wonderful. It's in excellent hands with mister Benkburg,
Speaker 1: It's in pretty good hands with the Senator Tech. That's good.
Speaker 1: That's good. It's gonna be wonderful. Guys. I can't wait.
Speaker 1: And so for the last time from this chair, it
Speaker 1: has been truly one of the great pleasures and honors
Speaker 1: and privileges of my life to start the show with you, Senator.
Speaker 1: I'm getting choked up. I'm getting mushy. Michael, You're a
Speaker 1: gentleman and a scholar, and the kindest thing I know
Speaker 1: how to say about you is Yale did not fully
Speaker 1: screw you up. That's how sweet night. Listen, It's really
Speaker 1: time with the Verdict. It's it's really wonderful. Cannot wait
Speaker 1: to see the next steps. For the last time from
Speaker 1: this chair, I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Speaker 1: This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought
Speaker 1: to you by Jobs, Freedom and Security Pack, a political
Speaker 1: action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organization, and candidates
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Speaker 1: Congress and help the Republican Party across the nation.