1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: Twenty eight trillion, eight hundred forty one billion, six hundred 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 1: seventy three million, nine hundred seventy eight thousand, six hundred 3 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: fifty two dollars. That is the national debt of the 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: United States. Democrats want to add a lot more money 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: even to that colossal number, and the fight over raising 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:27,319 Speaker 1: the US debt ceiling is the epicenter of what's going 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: on in Washington right now. President Joe Biden demanding that 8 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: Republican centers get out of the way, that they use 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: this opportunity to push through the most radical aspects of 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: their agenda and using the debt ceiling crisis to do it. 11 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: What happens if the United States defaults on its debt. 12 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,599 Speaker 1: It's never happened before. We have no idea what will 13 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: happen now, Washington playing with fire. This is Verdict with 14 00:00:54,360 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: Ted Cruz. Welcome back to Verdicts with Ted Cruz. I'm 15 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: Michael Knowles, and I have a whole lot of questions here, Senator. 16 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: We'll get right into it very simply. I hate to 17 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: ask a stupid question, but even I and I've paid 18 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: a lot of attention to these things, even I don't 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: quite understand what this is what is the debt ceiling? 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: Why does the debt ceiling matter? Why do the debt 21 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: ceiling fights come up every few years? And what happens 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: if we do not raise the debt ceiling and default 23 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: on our debt. Well, probably the easiest way to think 24 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: about it is like it's the limit on your credit card. 25 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:38,960 Speaker 1: The debt ceiling is the cap on how much money 26 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: the federal government can pass, and it's a statutory limit 27 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,559 Speaker 1: that's passed into law that limits how much the United 28 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: States government can borrow. Just like if you have a 29 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: credit card that has a ten thousand dollars limit, you 30 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: can't borrow eleven thousand, And if you want to borrow 31 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: more than ten thousand, you have to get on the 32 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: phone and try to ask them to raise it to 33 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: fifteen or raise it to money. That's the same principle 34 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: as the debt ceiling. It is a tool designed to 35 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: try to force Congress to confront spending and to rein 36 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: in out of control spending and out of control debt. 37 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: And the debt ceiling expired on July thirty first, the 38 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: end of July. Now, the Department of Treasury has the 39 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: ability to kind of push the date when the US 40 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,079 Speaker 1: needs to borrow back a couple of months, it's called 41 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 1: using extraordinary measures, and so Janet Janet Yell and the 42 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:38,519 Speaker 1: Treasury Secretary is able to delay the date to sometime 43 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: to mid delayed October. But if the debt ceiling is 44 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: not raised, then the United States government cannot continue to 45 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: borrow borrow money, and so that puts pressure on Washington. 46 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: We're right now in the middle of a battle because 47 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: of two things. Number One, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats 48 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: have the total and complete ability to raise the debt 49 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: ceiling on their own. So Democrats control the Senate, Democrats 50 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: control the House, Democrats control the White House. There's a 51 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: process called budget reconciliation. We've talked about that quite a 52 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: bit on this podcast. Budget reconciliation is the process that 53 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: comes from the Budget Act in nineteen seventy four. The 54 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: part that is really relevant and that comes up with 55 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,799 Speaker 1: some regularity, is it is the major exception to the filibuster. 56 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: So ordinarily, to move to precede the legislation in the 57 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: Senate takes sixty votes. Under budget reconciliation, it only takes fifty, 58 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: and so Schumer and Pelosi and Biden because they have 59 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: control of all the elected branches of government, have the 60 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: ability with just Democratic votes to raise the debt ceiling. 61 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: And they could have done it a week ago, they 62 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: could have done it a month ago, they could have 63 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: done it three months ago. So what's happening? Schumer and 64 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: the Democrats are nervous, And they're nervous because the Democrats 65 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: are in the middle of a massive spending street spree. 66 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: I mean, it is reckless. It is the biggest spending 67 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: spree since World War Two. It is massive. And in 68 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: the face of that, Democrats don't want to vote for 69 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: the debt to pay for their trillions in new spending. 70 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: So what Schumer is doing instead is he keeps bringing 71 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: up the debt ceiling in a legislative vehicle that requires 72 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: sixty votes. So he doesn't want to use reconciliation, which 73 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,720 Speaker 1: he can, and there's nothing Republicans can do to stop 74 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: in from using reconciliation, but he wants to bring it 75 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: up through a vehicle that requires sixty votes. Why because 76 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: he wants ten Republicans to vote for raising the debt ceiling. 77 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: He doesn't want it to be just Democrats who own 78 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: their trillions in debt. What's amazing about that explanation, which 79 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:01,720 Speaker 1: I think spells it out pretty well, is it's the 80 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: opposite of what we're being told in the media. What 81 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: we're being told in the media is that Republicans who 82 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: are fanatical about spending and they're neurotic about not raising 83 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: the debt ceiling, and or they're opportunistic or their cynical, 84 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: they are holding America's good credit hostage because they don't 85 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,679 Speaker 1: want to vote for this thing. But what you're saying is, actually, 86 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: Chuck Schumer could pass this tomorrow. So it's really Chuck 87 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: Schumer and the Democrats who are holding this hostage and 88 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: who are drawing this out and making a big spectacle 89 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: of it. What happens just at a practical level, I 90 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: guess we're kind of dealing with a crystal ball here 91 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: because it's never happened before. But what would happen if 92 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: we just defaulted on our debt? It would be a 93 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: catastrophic impact in the market. It would cause the stock 94 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: market to tumble, it would cause bonds to tumble, it 95 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: would cause the credit rating of the United States to 96 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: be downgraded. That the cascading effects could be enormous. It 97 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: would be wildly irresponsible. No rational person wants to see 98 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: the United States default on its debt. America pays our debt. 99 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: And I gotta, you know, I gotta say, it's worth 100 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: stopping and reflecting it. What a wildly different position we 101 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: are in today versus twenty fourteen, and and and if 102 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: I can take us back to the way back machine 103 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: to twenty fourteen. So twenty fourteen was was my second 104 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: year in the Senate. So I was still a freshman 105 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: in a newbie And the single biggest fight I have 106 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: had in nine years in the Senate occurred on the 107 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: debt ceiling occurred on this issue. And it's as you know, 108 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: I've written two books. Last year I wrote One Vote 109 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: Away about the Supreme Court, great book, go by it. 110 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 1: But the first book I wrote was called A Time 111 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: for Truth, and A Time for Truth was my life story. 112 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 1: I wrote it in twenty fifteen. The opening chapter of 113 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: my first book, A Time for Truth is entitled Mendacity, 114 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: and it is the inside story of the death ceiling fight. 115 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: So let's go back to twenty fourteen. Twenty fourteen, Democrats 116 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: controlled the Senate. It was Harry Reid instead of Chuck Schumer, 117 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: who was the majority leader. Republicans controlled the House, Barack 118 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 1: Obama was president, and there was another debt ceiling coming up. 119 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: We were going to our Senate Republican lunch and every Tuesday, 120 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: Wednesday Thursday, all the Senate Republicans we have lunch together. 121 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: And at one of the lunches, Mitch McConnell, who was 122 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: the minority leader at the time, he stood up and 123 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: he said, I've got a great plan. I want all 124 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: of us to consent to unanimously consent to lower the 125 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: threshold for Harry Reid to raise the death ceiling from 126 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: sixty votes to fifty votes. Now, in the Senate, you 127 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: do pretty much anything by unanimous consent. But unanimous consent, 128 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: as the name suggests, takes all one hundred senators agree. 129 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: So Mitch said, I want all of us to unanimously 130 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: consent to lower the threshold for Harry Reid from sixty 131 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 1: vote to votes. And the beauty of it is, once 132 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: we do that, we can all vote no, the Democrats 133 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: can all vote yes, and we could all tell our 134 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: constituents at home we voted no on the thing we 135 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: just consented to allow happen. And I was sitting there, 136 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: I was frankly expecting leadership to come up with some 137 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: sort of kind of lame and tepid strategy. It had 138 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: not occurred to me that their strategy was absolute and 139 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: total capitulation from the outset. And so I sat there 140 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: in the room and I just raised my hand and 141 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 1: I said, Mitch, you need to understand there is no 142 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: universe in which I will consent to lowering the threshold 143 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: for Harry Reid and Barack Obama to raise our debt 144 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: from sixty votes to fifty votes. I was elected by 145 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: the people of Texas promising to do everything humanly possible 146 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,599 Speaker 1: to stop the out of control spending and debt that 147 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: is bankrupting our kids and grandkids. And I'm not willing 148 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: to do it. Michael. There is nothing I've done in 149 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: my entire time in the Senate that has generated more rage, 150 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: more fury, more red faced senators yelling and cursing at 151 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: me than that simple act of objecting. It was much worse, 152 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: by the way, than the Obamacare. It was much worse 153 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: than the Obamacare filibuster. So leadership was mad that I 154 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: had spent twenty one hours filibustering Obamacare the previous years. 155 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,679 Speaker 1: They were mad about that, But when I objected to 156 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: their scheme to raise the death ceiling. It the fury 157 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: it caused was massive. It's fascinating how much things have 158 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: changed from twenty fourteen to now. In twenty fourteen, Republican 159 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: leadership carpent bomb me, attacked me, planted planted editorials criticizing me. So, 160 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: for example, the Wall Street Journal, which, by the way, 161 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: when Republican leadership is mad at you, the editorial page 162 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: of the Wall Street Journal is their preferred whipping post, 163 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: and it's where they take you out, and it comes 164 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 1: straight from Republican leadership. They go to the Journal. The 165 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: Journal wrote an editorial entitled Minority Maker, and it said 166 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: Cruz is going to ensure that Republicans remain in the 167 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:27,359 Speaker 1: minority in the Senate forever, and that Harry Reid remains 168 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: majority leader because he is fighting and objecting on the 169 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: death ceiling. Now, I point out they wrote that in 170 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,719 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, and just a few months later we had 171 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: the elections in twenty fourteen. And you know, Michael, in 172 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: the Old Testament, if someone came forward and said they 173 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: were a prophet, the Old Testament actually just discussed what 174 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: you should do. You should ask them to make short 175 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: term prophecy, short term predictions, and see if they come true. Well, 176 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: the Journal's prediction that I was going to make Republicans 177 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: a permanent majority, it turned out just a little bit wrong, 178 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: but categorically wrong. And in November twenty fourteen, we won 179 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: nine Senate seats, we retired Harry Read as majority leader, 180 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: and we won the biggest majority in the House of 181 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: Representatives since nineteen twenty eight. And so miraculously, standing and 182 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: fighting also wins elections. The voters like it when Republicans 183 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: don't roll over and surrender to the Democrat. Well, this, 184 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,160 Speaker 1: I think is what really relates to what's going on 185 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: right now today, because I politically, I came of age 186 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: during that era from twenty ten to twenty fourteen, the 187 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: Tea Party movement, your election, Actually you've politically come of age. 188 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: I'm I'm still coming of age. Actually, you know, I 189 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: can't wait to get a little hair on my face. 190 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: I thought this was like a teen drama. Oh, I remember, 191 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: even when I was fresher and facer at the time. 192 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: I remember every Republican, every Conservative who was worth his salt, 193 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: was focused on the debt, on deficit spending, on this 194 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: idea that the inheritance we're leaving to our kids is debt. 195 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: I mean, what kind of a country does that, what 196 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: kind of a generation does that. They're actually going to 197 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,199 Speaker 1: be responsible, We're going to get our own house in order. 198 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: We're going to enact to these principles that we all 199 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,559 Speaker 1: like to talk about. And then your story here, I 200 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: think is very important. What happened is the Republican leadership 201 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: in those back rooms just said, yeah, that was all bunk. 202 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: We're not going to follow any of that. We're just 203 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: going to make it easier. That was just a way 204 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:31,840 Speaker 1: to win elections. And now when we're focusing on this 205 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,960 Speaker 1: debt fight, it seems to me that many Republicans and 206 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: Conservatives don't really care anymore. I mean that focus from 207 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:42,959 Speaker 1: you know, ten years ago, it seems to have moved 208 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: on to other issues. And I wonder if it's because 209 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,559 Speaker 1: we just got burned during the tea party and nothing 210 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: really changed. Well, look, I say a couple of things, 211 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: you know. Number one, if you go back to the 212 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen fight, it's important to note what I was 213 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: fighting for at the time, and I was not fighting 214 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: for never raising the debt ceiling. I've never been someone 215 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: who promises I will never raise the debt ceiling. We've 216 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: got you know, typically the figure is about forty percent 217 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: of what the government spends has borrowed money. So unless 218 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: you're prepared to instantaneously cut government spending by forty percent, 219 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: that's not a reasonable position to say we will never 220 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: raise the debt ceiling. My position in twenty fourteen, my 221 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: position today is that I'm not willing to support raising 222 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: the debt ceiling unless it is accompanied by meaningful structural 223 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 1: reforms that address spending and rain in the out of 224 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: control spending. In twenty fourteen, the case I made to 225 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: the conferences, I said, look, if you look historically, the 226 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: debt scene ceiling has been the lever point where we 227 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: actually get spending constraints. So at the time these figures 228 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: are a little bit out of date because they're twenty 229 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: fourteen figures. But at the time of the last fifty 230 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,560 Speaker 1: two times Congress had raised the debt ceiling, so this 231 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: comes up a lot. Twenty seven of those times Congress 232 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: had attached meaningful spending reforms to the debt ceiling. So, 233 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: for example, the Budget Control Act in twenty ten, which 234 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: made major progress reigning in out of control spending that 235 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: came through a debt ceiling fight. Graham Rudman. Probably the 236 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: most significant spending restraint legislation enacted in the law and 237 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: modern times came through a debt ceiling fight. So it 238 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,640 Speaker 1: is possible to make progress on spending by using the 239 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: death ceiling as leverage. And so what I argued in 240 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen is let's not let this lever point go. 241 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: Let's use it to actually honor our promises to the voters. 242 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: Some of the differences Number one, I think Republican leadership 243 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: has learned Unlike in twenty fourteen, twenty fourteen they thought 244 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: I was bluffing at this point, they don't think I'm 245 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: bluffing anymore. So nobody asked this time, Ted, will you 246 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: consent to lower the thresholds reporters asked. They ran up 247 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: and said, hey, Cruz, are you going to object to 248 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: Laurie the threshold? I was like, h of course. But 249 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: what was interesting is when people learn you don't bluff, 250 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: Nobody in the conference thought I would possibly not object. 251 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:15,560 Speaker 1: They They're just like, yeah, okay, Ted will object to that. 252 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: So that option ain't gonna work. So leadership didn't even 253 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 1: try it. A second difference, and this is an important difference, 254 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: is unlike in twenty fourteen when we had a Republican house, 255 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 1: now they've got a Democratic House, so now they can 256 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: raise the debt ceiling on their own without us. We 257 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: can't stop them. I wish we could, but we can't 258 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: stop them. There does seem to be a lot of 259 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: turmoil within the Democratic Conference. I mean, I guess this 260 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: is a slightly related matter, but in a very different context. 261 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: Kirsten Cinema, one of two semi moderate Democrats in the Senate, 262 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: is being accosted everywhere she goes. She's being costed on airplanes. 263 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: She was accosted in the bathroom by an ille alien 264 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: screaming at her to push for a mass amnesty. This 265 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: is a we always lament civility breaking down, and sometimes 266 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: it's exaggerated and at sometimes it's real. But this seems 267 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: to be crossing a line when you follow female senators 268 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,480 Speaker 1: into the bathroom and start screaming at them. By the way, 269 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: as a foreign national demanding that you give legal status 270 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: to millions of people. Now, look that that is exactly right. 271 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: And the degree to which Kirsten Cinema and Joe mansion 272 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: are being harassed. You look at Cinema and these left 273 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:41,200 Speaker 1: wing activists that she teaches a university class in Arizona, 274 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: and they followed her into her class, they harassed her class, 275 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: and then they followed her from her class into the restroom. 276 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: She went into the stall to use the restroom and 277 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: they sat there filming it and berating her. And by 278 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: the way, they were so proud of what they were doing. 279 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: They were filming doing it. As you noted, they all 280 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: so harassed her on the airplane, the harassed her in 281 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: the airport, and I got to say yesterday there was 282 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,159 Speaker 1: really something shameful because Joe Biden was asked about it 283 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: and he just said, you know, it's part of the process. 284 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: What utter crap. No, I mean, that was an opportunity 285 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: for Biden to show some leadership and say, you know, no, 286 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,160 Speaker 1: you don't harass someone and chase them into the ladies room. 287 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: That is not the way people behave in a civilized democracy. 288 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: But but the left is so angry that they believe 289 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: intimidation and threats are an appropriate way of behaving. And 290 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: right now they are trying to rain the nastiest pressure 291 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: imaginable down on Cinema and Mansion to pressure them to 292 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: flip their votes. At least so far they haven't. This 293 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 1: is on the big Bernie Sanders three point five trillion 294 00:17:55,160 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: dollars socialist budget. Right now, Mansion and Cinema are saying 295 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,400 Speaker 1: they're not going to support it, that it's too big 296 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: and it's too irresponsible, and the left is furious. Well, center, 297 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: I do have to ask you, though I can't believe 298 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: that I'm giving Joe Biden the benefit of the doubt. 299 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 1: It feels very unnatural to me, But I do want 300 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: to ask if he's got a point. Biden says, if 301 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: you're in public life, you're going to get accosted. People 302 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: are going to yell at you. It's and it does 303 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: happen to a lot of people. So to what degree 304 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: is this historic incivility that we're seeing, not just with 305 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: cinema but in recent years even on say, both sides 306 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: of the aisle, And to what degree is this just 307 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:39,520 Speaker 1: business as usual? Look, it actually is markedly different. In 308 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 1: the last couple of years. When Donald Trump got elected, 309 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: left lost their mind. He broke them. Their brains are broken. 310 00:18:49,880 --> 00:18:53,719 Speaker 1: And I can tell you it is very, very different 311 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: serving in public office Look, I've been in some contentious battles, 312 00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: but it's only been the last couple of years. Remember 313 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: a couple of year years ago, Heidi and I were 314 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: at a restaurant in DC at a group of screaming, 315 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:08,880 Speaker 1: angry anarchist came in harassed us. We had to leave 316 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: the restaurant because we didn't want to disturb the other 317 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 1: people who were having dinner, and they chased us down 318 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: the street and into a dark alley. I mean, it 319 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: had the potential of being a very dangerous gathering. It 320 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: was a dozen angry leftists with Heidi and me, and 321 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: it was threatening and serious. Rand Paul and his wife 322 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 1: Kelly Paul, the Black Lives Matter protesters when Trump gave 323 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: his speech at the White House during the RNC convention. 324 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: They were scared for their lives. They had police officers 325 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,479 Speaker 1: that were fighting back what was close to a riot, 326 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,920 Speaker 1: and Rand and Kelly both were frightened that they were 327 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: going to be seriously injured, if not worse. This has 328 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: all gotten nastier than it used to be. I can 329 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: tell you in nine years I've been in the Senate 330 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: for eight of them, I never or had a protest 331 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:06,160 Speaker 1: at my house in the last year or so, I've 332 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:10,679 Speaker 1: had probably twenty five or thirty. Wow. We now have 333 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: twenty four hour security at the house, which which we 334 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,360 Speaker 1: have to do because the protesters have gotten so nasty. 335 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: They have showed up at five in the morning, banging pots, 336 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:25,360 Speaker 1: shining flashlights in the windows of our neighbors, including neighbors 337 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: who have little children, screaming profanities, dropping the F bomb 338 00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:32,239 Speaker 1: at five in the morning, designed to wake people up 339 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: and harass them. And so, what what is happening to Cinema? 340 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: By the way, mansion mansion? When he's in DC, lives 341 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: on a houseboat, and he had protesters row their kayaks 342 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: up to his houseboat and engage with him at his houseboat. 343 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: This is a far nastier form of engagement than used 344 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: to be typical. And I think it is as a 345 00:20:55,840 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: result of Trump's presidency. The left just they convinced themselves 346 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: he's Adolf Hitler, and so all rage and fury is 347 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: justified in opposition to someone who they hate so much. 348 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: You know, it's an interesting case study. I mean, I'm 349 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:13,399 Speaker 1: sorry that you're going through it, but you are a 350 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: kind of an interesting case study here because you you 351 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: were outspoken, you were something of a firebrand the minute 352 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: you got to the Senate. So it's not as though 353 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: they ignored you just because you were a wallflower. And 354 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:25,439 Speaker 1: then later on they started going after you. I mean 355 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: you going back to twenty twenty fourteen. Yet this never 356 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,200 Speaker 1: happened at twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, this never happened. Yeah, 357 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: so this something clearly has changed. And you know, I 358 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: mentioned to try to sound nice and open minded, I 359 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 1: said that there is incivility on both sides of the aisle, 360 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,400 Speaker 1: but we really should not make a comparison here. When 361 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: when you have Maxine Waters saying, go get up in 362 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,640 Speaker 1: their face, go shout at them in public, meaning Republicans, 363 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: when you have Hillary Clinton saying you can't be civil 364 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,040 Speaker 1: with your opponents, when you've got the sitting Vice president 365 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 1: now Kamala Harris bailing out rioters and looters, that is 366 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: a very different thing than what the Republicans are doing. 367 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: But the Republicans are being uncivil as well, though much 368 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 1: less violent. And this is the way they're being uncivil 369 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: as they're chanting. According to the news report, let's go Brandon, Senator, 370 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,360 Speaker 1: can you explain that to me? Well, it's an amazing 371 00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:18,640 Speaker 1: phenomenon that seems to be occurring at college football games 372 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: across the country, and it appears to be spontaneous, but 373 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 1: very large groups of people are are chanting expletives at 374 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: Joe Biden, and in particular, they're chanting F Joe Biden, 375 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: but they're they're not abbreviating it. And it's a fairly 376 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,159 Speaker 1: remarkable thing that seems to be springing up. And the 377 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 1: story you're telling as there was a NASCAR race a 378 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,920 Speaker 1: couple of days ago, and the winner of the race 379 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: was whose name was Brandon was being interviewed and the 380 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:56,120 Speaker 1: crowd behind him is yelling and yelling loudly F Joe 381 00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:02,880 Speaker 1: Biden in clear and very distinct words, and and the 382 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,560 Speaker 1: NBC interviewer who is interviewing him says, Oh, the crowd's 383 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: so excited. You can hear them channing. Let's go Brandon. 384 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: And if you just watch the clip that that is 385 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: not what they're chanting. In her defense, NASCAR races are loud. 386 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,400 Speaker 1: Maybe she had headphones on, maybe she couldn't hear, or 387 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: maybe it was one of the more remarkable examples of 388 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: fake news. I you know, I did tweet nast. Is 389 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: NBC News going to issue a correction because I'm quite 390 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,359 Speaker 1: confident they were not channing Let's go Brandon, and it's 391 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,479 Speaker 1: now become a thing. In fact, the Daily Wire I 392 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: saw is selling let's go Brandon shirts. I got to 393 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 1: admit I was awfully tempted to have verdict, just steal 394 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: the idea and do the same thing. We may put 395 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: a Let's go Brandon shirt on our cactus friend. You know, 396 00:23:54,640 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: I find it it u in the world to fake news. 397 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 1: It was a pretty remarkable moment. It was. This was 398 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: what was so shocking about the whole thing is there 399 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: are a great many people in this country who believe 400 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: that Brandon should go go himself. Let's put it that way. 401 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 1: And so obviously there is something of a popular uprising here, 402 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,120 Speaker 1: especially when people are rowdy at games and things like that. 403 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: And it's the gas lighting. I think that got people 404 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,600 Speaker 1: that the media would would tell you, no, don't believe 405 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: you're lying, eyes, don't believe you're lying. Ears, and even 406 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: you know that this ties into something probably a little 407 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: more urgent and serious to two people in the way, 408 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: quick story, I'll tell you on that. So when I 409 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: first ran for Senate in twenty twelve, my opponent was 410 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: David Duhurst, and he was the Lieutenant governor of Texas. 411 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 1: He's worth about two hundred million dollars. He was viewed 412 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,919 Speaker 1: as unstoppable and unbeatable. He had universal name idea. I 413 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,399 Speaker 1: was at two percent. Nobody had ever heard of me. 414 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: I didn't have any money, I didn't have a prayer. 415 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: And there was a moment really when when everything flipped. 416 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: So the primary, neither of us got fifty percent. On 417 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: primary night, he got forty four percent. I got thirty 418 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,800 Speaker 1: four percent, which shocked people because no one got fifty. 419 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,200 Speaker 1: We went to a runoff. And in between the primary 420 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: and the runoff was the Texas State Convention, about fifteen 421 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: thousand activists from all across Texas. It's the largest Republican 422 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,440 Speaker 1: convention in the country other than the National Republican Convention. 423 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,400 Speaker 1: And Rick Perry, who was a friend but in that race. 424 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: Rick Perry had endorsed David Duhurst, and he was there 425 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,399 Speaker 1: speaking and he said in his speech, and he was 426 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 1: speaking the day before I was going to speak, he 427 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: said everyone should vote for David Dwhurst for Senate. And 428 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: the entire convention erupted in booze, loud, angry, booze and 429 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: it was sort of a it was a wild moment 430 00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: because at that point all of our supporters felt they 431 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,120 Speaker 1: were alone, like this cruise character as no prayer, nobody 432 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: else's voting for him, you can't win, and like each 433 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: of the activists looked in holy cow, everyone else was booing. Well. Afterwards, 434 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:09,119 Speaker 1: Rick Perry did a press conference where reporters asked, Wow, 435 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: the whole convention booed you when you said David do 436 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 1: Hurst name, and Perry, to his credit, he said no, no no, no, no. 437 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: They were not saying boo They were saying do do 438 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 1: do hers? And that was pretty damn funny. I mean, 439 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:31,080 Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, it's not true, but but that's 440 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: that's a pretty clever. That's thinking on your feet though. 441 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: That is thing is Dohurst do yes? Well? You you 442 00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:42,639 Speaker 1: actually you do? You do see this phenomenon, And sometimes 443 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: it's to express their anger at Brandon or Joe Biden, 444 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: depending on your interpretation. Sometimes it's at a political convention, 445 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,359 Speaker 1: and sometimes it's bubbling up from the way that the 446 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: government is actually working. And this is something you've been 447 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: seeing for months and months now, specifically with regard to 448 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,199 Speaker 1: critical race theory and gender theory. In schools. Parents are 449 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 1: showing up to their school boards and they're pushing back 450 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: on these policies, and they're saying, no, get this nonsense 451 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: out of the classroom. This is harming my child's education. 452 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,439 Speaker 1: We don't want any part of it. So there have 453 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:17,080 Speaker 1: been many protest movements in the history of the United States, 454 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: going back a very very long time. Very recently, we 455 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: had a protest movement last year, the BLM and Antifa riots, 456 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: which often turned violent and resulted in lots of people 457 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: dying and lots of businesses being torn down and places 458 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: being set on fire. And we were told those were 459 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: mostly peaceful protests. Well, now we are hearing from the 460 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: Attorney General of the United States, Merrick Garland, that the 461 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: parents who were showing up to protest radical gender theory 462 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: in kindergarten classrooms are very possibly domestic terrorists. A momorandum 463 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: just went out the Attorney General instructing the DOJ to 464 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: watch the disturbing spike in harassment, intimidation, and threats against 465 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,720 Speaker 1: school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff who participate in 466 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 1: the vital work of running our nation's public schools. The 467 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,880 Speaker 1: Department takes his incidents seriously. And is committed to using 468 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: its authority and resources to counter them. Are we now 469 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 1: at the point where we believe that people throwing molotov 470 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,160 Speaker 1: cocktails at federal buildings last year in twenty twenty, they're 471 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: mostly peaceful protesters, but parents protesting radicalism and their kids' schools, 472 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 1: they're the domestic terrorists. I wish you were exaggerating, but 473 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,400 Speaker 1: the statement you just made on its face is so 474 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: utterly ludicrous, and it's also true. You know Merrick Garland, 475 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: who's the Attorney General. He was a Court of Appeals 476 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,959 Speaker 1: judge for twenty some odd years. As you recall, he 477 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: was who Barack Obama had nominated to the Supreme Court 478 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: to replace Scalia. But he didn't get that vacancy because 479 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: we didn't take it up because it was the presidential 480 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,960 Speaker 1: election year and Republicans controlled the Senate and we said, 481 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: the voters are going to decide who filled the seat. 482 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: Merrick Garland is now Attorney General. At his confirmation hearing, 483 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: I asked Garland he actually had a reputation as a 484 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: Court of Appeals judge for being relatively fair and impartial. 485 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: He was not viewed as a hard partisan when he 486 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 1: was a judge and I cross examined Garland at his 487 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: confirmation hearing, and I said, look, under Barack Obama, the 488 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,520 Speaker 1: Department of Justice was politicized and it was weaponized. It 489 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: was turned into a weapon to target people that were 490 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 1: perceived to be the political enemies of the White House. 491 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,120 Speaker 1: And that includes the IRS that went after Tea Party groups, 492 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,719 Speaker 1: when after pro life groups, went after pro Israel groups. 493 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: That includes the intelligence community in the FBI that went 494 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: so far as wire tapping the Donald Trump campaign and 495 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:55,960 Speaker 1: sending in people wearing wires to record them. And I asked, 496 00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: Merrick Garland, will you commit, if you're confirmed no to 497 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: use the Department of Justice as a partisan weapon to 498 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: attack the other side. And he did, He made that commitment, 499 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: he said he would not. That memo you're holding is 500 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,480 Speaker 1: really disturbing because I think he has been breaking that 501 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: promise almost from the moment he got there. But that 502 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,720 Speaker 1: memo is the clearest example of it. So, look, we're 503 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: saying a phenomenal example of democracy and action in that 504 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: parents are rising up at school board meetings and expressing 505 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 1: dismay over critical race theory that's being taught in schools, 506 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: that our kids are being taught lies they're being taught 507 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: that America is fundamentally racist. They're being taught that all 508 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: whites are racists. They're being taught that the entire history 509 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: of America as a history of oppression. And these lies 510 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: are dividing kids based on racial lines, and parents are 511 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: upset about that. They don't like it, and so they're 512 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: going to their school boards and saying, don't teach this 513 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: garbage to our kids. That's actually how our democratic process 514 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: is supposed to work, that elected officials are supposed to 515 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: be accountable to the voters. The left doesn't like accountability. 516 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: They like to be insulated. They're perfectly happy to harass 517 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: people they don't like, but they themselves don't like to 518 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,000 Speaker 1: be held accountable. But now the Department of Justice, Merrick 519 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: Garland is saying they're going to treat a parent going 520 00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: to a school board meeting as a terrorist and a threat, 521 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: and they're going to go after them and they're going 522 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: to persecute them. And this is absurd, It is a 523 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: ridiculous abuse of power. And listen, you pointed out last 524 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: year the BLM and Antifa riots. They burned storefront after storefront, 525 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: they robbed, they looted, they murdered police officers, and yet 526 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: the Department of Justice treated it as isolated issues. Look, 527 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: they were firebombing of federal courthouse night after night after night, 528 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,080 Speaker 1: and yet the Department of Justice that you know, this 529 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: DJ under Merrick Garland traits. It is just, oh, isn't 530 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: that nice that their throat literally throwing Molotov cocktails. This 531 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: is sad that the Democrats. Look, COVID has really revealed 532 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: this as well. Democrats are in they are authoritarians. You 533 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: want to know the basic difference between liberals and conservatives. 534 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: Liberals are comfortable using the coercive power of government to 535 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:32,040 Speaker 1: force you to comply, to force you to obey, whereas 536 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 1: conservatives believe in liberty, believe in individual choice. You can 537 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,080 Speaker 1: say what you want, even if it is dumbass stuff. 538 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 1: You can say it on religion, you can believe what 539 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:43,719 Speaker 1: you want, even if it's dumbass stuff. You can go 540 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: worship a golden calf in your backyard if you want to. 541 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: We believe in individual choice. On vaccines, Look, you and 542 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,480 Speaker 1: I have talked about vaccines. I believe in vaccines. I've 543 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: taken the vaccine, my family's taken the vaccine. But individual 544 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: choice means it's up to you whether you get a 545 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,720 Speaker 1: medical procedure, whether you take a vaccine. Gavin Newsom is 546 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,200 Speaker 1: ordering every school child in California to get the vaccine. 547 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,640 Speaker 1: That is horrific. It is a violation of medical privacy 548 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 1: and autonomy to do that. And the Left doesn't care. 549 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: And so when it comes to parents protesting the radical 550 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: Marxist theories being taught to their kids, the Department of 551 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: Justice will come in and threaten mom at the PTA meeting, 552 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 1: We're going to put you in handcuffs. Holy crap, that 553 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:37,120 Speaker 1: is offensive. This is the irony is that the left 554 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:41,120 Speaker 1: is all for liberation and expression and descent is patriotic 555 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,560 Speaker 1: and protesting when it suits their interests. But then, of course, 556 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 1: the moment that a concerned parent says, actually, I don't 557 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: think little Johnny should be told that white people are 558 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,440 Speaker 1: evil and that America's are rotten place, and that boys 559 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:56,960 Speaker 1: can become little girls, and you know, maybe we should 560 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: just stick to the you know, reading and arithmetic. Maybe 561 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: we should stick to the basically building blocks of education. 562 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:06,320 Speaker 1: They are labeled as domestic terrorists. And what is so 563 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,560 Speaker 1: dismaying to me is as you said, and as you 564 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:14,319 Speaker 1: made clear during his confirmation hearings, Mary Garland was the 565 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: moderate one. He's supposed to be one of the most 566 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,799 Speaker 1: moderate people in the entire administration, So that that is 567 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 1: a great fear. And actually, something else that you touched 568 00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:25,879 Speaker 1: on here is democracy in action. Who sets these kinds 569 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,200 Speaker 1: of standards, Who decides these things? What does our public square? 570 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: What does it look like? We only have a Let 571 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,840 Speaker 1: me make it. Let me make a brief point on that, Michael, 572 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: let me make actually two points on that. Number one. 573 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: Some of the sort of Twitter lefties who said, oh well, 574 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: this is this is threats, this is let me be clear. 575 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,840 Speaker 1: Nobody has a right to threaten anyone. Nobody has a 576 00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:53,040 Speaker 1: right to carry out violence. And if you have someone 577 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 1: who makes a threat of violence or carries out violence 578 00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:58,960 Speaker 1: against a school member, school board member, even if they're 579 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: some not elefty, if you have violence against someone, they 580 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: should be prosecuted and sent to jail. That violence is 581 00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:11,479 Speaker 1: not acceptable. Secondly, look, I going back to the point 582 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,359 Speaker 1: about you know, harassing Kirsten's cinema in the ladies room. 583 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: The parents are doing this at school board meetings that 584 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:20,640 Speaker 1: are designed to be a forum for parents to be 585 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,480 Speaker 1: able to express their views. They're not going to the 586 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:25,759 Speaker 1: homes of the school board meetings, they're not going into 587 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:28,560 Speaker 1: the bathroom with them. They're going to a public forum. 588 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,439 Speaker 1: And and I am all four listen. I mean, I've 589 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:35,400 Speaker 1: done hundreds of town halls. I've had people come and 590 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,520 Speaker 1: disagree with me, and I'm perfectly fine to get in 591 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:43,160 Speaker 1: in a robust discussion in a forum that is appropriate 592 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,839 Speaker 1: for that. I'll tell you one time, it's kind of fun. 593 00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 1: I don't know. Twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, I was actually 594 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:53,520 Speaker 1: part of a protest at the White House against the 595 00:35:54,480 --> 00:36:00,520 Speaker 1: Obama Iran nuclear deal, and there were protesters from that 596 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:04,399 Speaker 1: showed up, Code Pink, the sort of lefty group. They 597 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 1: were there screaming and yelling and they were angry, and 598 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,719 Speaker 1: I actually stopped and I said, all right, look, the 599 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:12,839 Speaker 1: First Amendment gives you a right to speak, it gives 600 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:14,640 Speaker 1: me a right to speak, but it doesn't give either 601 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,720 Speaker 1: one of us a right to shout the other down 602 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 1: and prevent people from hearing what we have to say. 603 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 1: So I said, I'll tell you what. Pick someone from 604 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: your group, You tell me who pick whoever it is, 605 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:28,520 Speaker 1: come on up here, and I'm going to hand you 606 00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,480 Speaker 1: this microphone, and I'm going to let you tell this 607 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:35,839 Speaker 1: crowd why you think the Iran deal is a good deal. 608 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: Now I'm going to give you a response, and you 609 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,680 Speaker 1: may not like my response. And so they selected Medea 610 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:42,840 Speaker 1: Benjamin as one of the founders of code Pink. She 611 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 1: came up there and I said, now, look, if I 612 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:47,759 Speaker 1: give her this microphone, you guys don't get to be 613 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,920 Speaker 1: disruptive and scream and yell and shout everyone down. And 614 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: we proceeded to have I think it was a fifteen 615 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:55,960 Speaker 1: or twenty minute debate on the merits of the Iran deal. 616 00:36:56,480 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 1: Was all televised. If you go online, you can google 617 00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:01,439 Speaker 1: it and watch me debating the head of Code Pink 618 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,120 Speaker 1: on the irand deal. That that is that's democracy in 619 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:09,040 Speaker 1: action too. So I'm not saying that, you know, but 620 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,440 Speaker 1: there's a difference between that and following someone into the 621 00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:16,200 Speaker 1: bathroom while they'll try to trying to use the facilities right. 622 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:19,359 Speaker 1: And this actually ties in pretty directly as we think 623 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 1: of the way our public square has changed. Now. So 624 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,080 Speaker 1: many of these debates happen on social media, and as 625 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,320 Speaker 1: big tech companies get more and more and more power, 626 00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,239 Speaker 1: they seem to be controlling speech in the republic, and 627 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: if you control speech in a republic, you basically control 628 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:34,880 Speaker 1: the whole thing. The way we govern each other is 629 00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:38,560 Speaker 1: that we persuade one another and deliberate and debate. There 630 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:40,839 Speaker 1: is a story here, and I know, as always, i'm 631 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:42,319 Speaker 1: running late and we've only got a little bit of 632 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:44,360 Speaker 1: time left, but but I really want to touch on 633 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:46,440 Speaker 1: it because you were there, you actually saw it firsthand. 634 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,640 Speaker 1: There was a Facebook quote unquote whistleblower. This is a 635 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,799 Speaker 1: woman who is calling out what she seems to think 636 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:58,319 Speaker 1: are the most nefarious activities and operations at Facebook. But 637 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:01,560 Speaker 1: what's strange here, what has me feeling a little weird 638 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:07,520 Speaker 1: about the story is typically whistleblowers against entrenched powers are 639 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,279 Speaker 1: sort of quieted by those powers. They're not promoted, they're suppressed, 640 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:15,400 Speaker 1: they're pushed to the side. And yet this whistleblower is 641 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:20,479 Speaker 1: being lauded in the media by established democrats, by other 642 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:23,399 Speaker 1: people in what you might call the ruling class. So 643 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:26,080 Speaker 1: what is going on here? A lot of conservatives don't 644 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:28,920 Speaker 1: like what Facebook is doing when they suppress our speech, 645 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 1: But what is the angle coming out here from this whistleblower? 646 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:35,319 Speaker 1: So there are two things that are going on two 647 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:40,200 Speaker 1: major concerns about Facebook and this so called whistle whistleblowers 648 00:38:40,239 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 1: at the intersection of them both. The first thing that 649 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,040 Speaker 1: is going on is that Facebook has a practice of 650 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:55,799 Speaker 1: targeting children, and in particular teenage girls and Instagram, which 651 00:38:55,800 --> 00:39:02,520 Speaker 1: Facebook owns. The algorithm is designed to appeal to teenage girls, 652 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:07,800 Speaker 1: but also to reinforce very negative trends with teenage girls. 653 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:12,920 Speaker 1: So for example, body image problems and eating disorders and 654 00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:19,279 Speaker 1: suicidal tendencies, the algorithm feeds all of that. And and 655 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 1: I don't you don't have to take my word for it, 656 00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:23,920 Speaker 1: you can actually take Facebook's word for it. So the 657 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,120 Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago broke a 658 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: bombshell story that Facebook conducted its own research on what 659 00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:35,279 Speaker 1: is the effect of our product on kids and their 660 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:41,759 Speaker 1: marketing to kids, and they concluded that teenage girls, in 661 00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:50,800 Speaker 1: particular Instagram was really toxic and British girls thirteen percent 662 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:57,279 Speaker 1: said they had gotten their suicidal ideas from Instagram. American 663 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 1: girls six percent of them said they had their suicidal 664 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:06,440 Speaker 1: ideas from Instagram. And so Facebook had this research, which 665 00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: was handed over to the Wall Street Journal. In the 666 00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:11,520 Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal reported on it, We've had now three 667 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:13,400 Speaker 1: hearings in the last couple of weeks in the Senate. 668 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 1: I participated in all of them with Facebook witnesses. The 669 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:23,080 Speaker 1: Facebook witnesses have been terrible. They're essentially giving the Sergeant 670 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,440 Speaker 1: Schultz defense. I hear nothing, I see nothing from Hogan 671 00:40:26,480 --> 00:40:29,000 Speaker 1: Heroes a show before you were born, Michael, but a 672 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,320 Speaker 1: great show. For I was a glint in my father's eye. 673 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:34,160 Speaker 1: But I used to watch it as a little kid 674 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:38,160 Speaker 1: with my dad. Hogan's Heres was awesome. So their defense, 675 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,400 Speaker 1: so I've asked. I've asked. There were two witnesses from 676 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:43,479 Speaker 1: Facebook the last two weeks. I've asked them number one, 677 00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:47,719 Speaker 1: is this research true? They say, well, no, it's out 678 00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,040 Speaker 1: of context. I said, great, what's the context? Oh no, no, 679 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:51,960 Speaker 1: we won't release the research. We're not going to tell 680 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,719 Speaker 1: you what the research says. But but we don't like 681 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:56,800 Speaker 1: what the journal reported. And I said, okay, the journal 682 00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:01,719 Speaker 1: reported Mark Zuckerberg personally review this research. Is that true 683 00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:04,680 Speaker 1: to seeing your Facebook witnesses? I don't know. I don't know. 684 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,239 Speaker 1: I don't know what Zuckerbook knows. Who knows? Who knows? No, no, no, 685 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:09,200 Speaker 1: we're not going to say anything about what Zuckerberg knew. 686 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:14,399 Speaker 1: I asked another follow up, which is has Facebook quantified 687 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:18,319 Speaker 1: how many teenage girls have taken their lives because of 688 00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:24,799 Speaker 1: your product? Facebook witnesses refused to answer that question, and 689 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:28,080 Speaker 1: I asked the natural follow up, Okay, you got research 690 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:35,279 Speaker 1: telling you that your product is hurting children. What'd you 691 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:40,120 Speaker 1: do to fix it? What changes did you implement to 692 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:43,719 Speaker 1: fix this problem? And the short answer is the Facebook 693 00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:48,000 Speaker 1: witnesses said nothing, nothing, nothing. We didn't do a damn thing. 694 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,799 Speaker 1: So this week, the so called whistleblower who had been 695 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:55,000 Speaker 1: an employee at Facebook was testifying. I asked her the 696 00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:58,080 Speaker 1: same questions. She was actually much more cooperative in the question. 697 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,359 Speaker 1: She said, yes, that's what the research said. She said, yes, 698 00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:05,719 Speaker 1: Zuckerberg was aware of it. She didn't know if they'd 699 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 1: quantify how many teenage girls had taken their lives because 700 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:11,640 Speaker 1: of the Facebook's product, But in terms of what they 701 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 1: did to change it, she said, not a damn thing. 702 00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:17,080 Speaker 1: In fact, she watched the testimony of the previous two 703 00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:19,719 Speaker 1: Facebook witnesses, she said, it was amazing when you asked 704 00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:22,759 Speaker 1: them that question. She assumed they'd come out with a 705 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:25,520 Speaker 1: five point plan. We did the following five things in 706 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:28,480 Speaker 1: response to it. Which sort of anyone you would think 707 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,480 Speaker 1: if you got a report that you were marketing a 708 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:35,400 Speaker 1: product that was killing children, you would think you would say, 709 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:37,800 Speaker 1: all right, how can we change this so that doesn't happen. 710 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:42,560 Speaker 1: She confirmed Facebook didn't do anything so on that. The 711 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:46,000 Speaker 1: hearing we had today, there was actually bipartisan concern about that, 712 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:51,879 Speaker 1: both Republicans and Democrats. Nobody's defending Facebook in what it's 713 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,960 Speaker 1: doing to teenage girls. And the analogy that most frequently 714 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,080 Speaker 1: gets invoked is the tobacco companies. When the tobacco companies, 715 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,080 Speaker 1: you know, Joe Cammell, when they marketed to kids to 716 00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:04,640 Speaker 1: try to get them addicted to cigarettes as young teenagers 717 00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:07,840 Speaker 1: so they would be lifelong customers. Facebook is kind of 718 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:13,040 Speaker 1: falling into the same category of deliberately engaging in business 719 00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:19,120 Speaker 1: practices that hurt kids. That's category one. Category two is 720 00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,320 Speaker 1: political censorship, and we've talked a ton on this podcast 721 00:43:22,360 --> 00:43:30,480 Speaker 1: about political censorship. In category two, there is a yawning 722 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:36,879 Speaker 1: divide between Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Most if not all, 723 00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:40,640 Speaker 1: Republicans in Congress are very worried about political censorship, about 724 00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:46,640 Speaker 1: Silicon Valley billionaires silencing conservative views they disagree with. Most 725 00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:50,319 Speaker 1: congressional Democrats. Not only are they not worried about it, 726 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:54,600 Speaker 1: not only do many of them deny that it exists 727 00:43:54,800 --> 00:44:00,520 Speaker 1: or that it happens. Their position is, we want more 728 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:07,200 Speaker 1: of it, We want more censorships, silence every quote extremist voice. 729 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:11,320 Speaker 1: And that's their code word. When you hear liberals using 730 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:15,399 Speaker 1: the word extremist. What they mean is youth. What they 731 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:18,040 Speaker 1: mean is any conservative. What they mean is any libertarian. 732 00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,120 Speaker 1: What they mean is Donald Trump. What they mean as 733 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,120 Speaker 1: anyone who voted for Donald Trump. What they mean is 734 00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:24,799 Speaker 1: anyone who's pro life. What they mean is anyone who 735 00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:28,719 Speaker 1: believes that there are two genders. All of that they 736 00:44:28,719 --> 00:44:32,200 Speaker 1: believe is extremist. And they want social media to silence 737 00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:36,440 Speaker 1: at all. And so the hearing today and listen, my 738 00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:40,360 Speaker 1: sense of this whistleblower is that she's very much politically 739 00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:44,520 Speaker 1: on the left, so she wants Facebook to censor even 740 00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:49,600 Speaker 1: more so on that component. Yes, the media and yes, 741 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:55,359 Speaker 1: Democrats are jumping on this whistleblower because they're trying to 742 00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:59,439 Speaker 1: use her testimony to further their preferred political outcome, which 743 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:03,279 Speaker 1: is for face book to censor every conservative view so 744 00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:06,719 Speaker 1: that the only view anyone is allowed to express is 745 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:10,319 Speaker 1: the left wing view, another bait and switch, another if 746 00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:12,880 Speaker 1: you focus on the legitimate problems at Facebook, which we 747 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,880 Speaker 1: would all acknowledge, and use that as a way to 748 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:20,239 Speaker 1: push through even more censorship of conservatives. You're seeing this 749 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:23,839 Speaker 1: happen a lot around the country right now, a lot 750 00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:26,360 Speaker 1: around Washington. There is one place where you will not 751 00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:31,000 Speaker 1: be censored. That is on the Verdict Live Fall Tour. 752 00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:34,359 Speaker 1: We are coming to schools hopefully near you. We're going 753 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:38,200 Speaker 1: to University Wisconsin Madison on the thirteenth of this month, 754 00:45:38,239 --> 00:45:42,399 Speaker 1: so just next week, we are going to Texas. We're 755 00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:45,759 Speaker 1: going to Texas A and M on the fourteenth. It's 756 00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:48,200 Speaker 1: going to be a great deal of fun. I can't 757 00:45:48,239 --> 00:45:50,120 Speaker 1: wait to see everybody there. We've got more schools that 758 00:45:50,160 --> 00:45:53,360 Speaker 1: are going to be announced, but get ready. So, Michael, 759 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,600 Speaker 1: where can they get their tickets? How can they go? 760 00:45:55,640 --> 00:45:59,800 Speaker 1: If they want to come see either University Wisconsin Madison 761 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:02,680 Speaker 1: or Texas A and M. How can they come see 762 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:07,120 Speaker 1: Verdict Live. You've got to go to YAF dot org. 763 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:09,520 Speaker 1: That is a Young America's Foundation partnering up with us 764 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: for this fall tour. Head on over there, click on 765 00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:15,080 Speaker 1: the tour, click on your school you can go get 766 00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 1: all of the information there. It's going to be me, 767 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,239 Speaker 1: It's going to be Senator Cruz. It is going to 768 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:23,880 Speaker 1: be our trusty cactus friend. We didn't get time for 769 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:25,799 Speaker 1: the mailbag. Don't worry. We're gonna have a whole lot 770 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:28,200 Speaker 1: of time for the mailbag in person with all of you. 771 00:46:28,200 --> 00:46:31,480 Speaker 1: You can also stream the events live. You can do 772 00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:35,240 Speaker 1: that on the Young America's Foundation, why AF or Verdict 773 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:38,200 Speaker 1: YouTube channels. We can't wait to see everybody in person, 774 00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:40,960 Speaker 1: but for now, Senator, we have to say goodbye. I'm 775 00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:53,280 Speaker 1: Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. This episode 776 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:55,759 Speaker 1: of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought to you 777 00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:59,600 Speaker 1: by Jobs, Freedom and Security Pack, a political action committee 778 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:04,800 Speaker 1: dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations, and candidates across the country. 779 00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:08,280 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, Jobs Freedom and Security Pack plans 780 00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:11,600 Speaker 1: to donate to conservative candidates running for Congress and help 781 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:13,960 Speaker 1: the Republican Party across the nation.