Welcome in his verdic with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It was a blowout center in the Hawkeye state. Donald Trump wins the Iowa caucuses and no unstated terms, it was a landslide. It was an incredible victory for him, and that brings us to something else. It also is going to be a really big deal for vertical listeners. You have something big to talk about right now.
Well, that's exactly right. So you and I are sitting here. It is ten twenty six pm on Tuesday. This podcast will come out early Wednesday morning, so we're a day after Iowa listen. The results in Iowa were extraordinary. Iowa was hotly contested. The candidates spent a lot of time there. They vigorously fought, and the results were dominating. Trump won everywhere. He won over fifty one percent of the vote. He beat his closest competitor, Ron De Santis by over thirty points.
He won ninety eight out of ninety nine Iowa counties. The only county lost is the most liberal county in Iowa, and he lost that vote that that county by a vote. It was as dominating a result as that there has ever been in the Iowa caucus in anything resembling an open caucus. As a result tonight, earlier tonight, I went on Seohan Hannity and on Hannity, I have endorsed Donald J. Trump for President of the United States, and I did so because the results of Iowa are overwhelming and I
believe in democracy. I deliberately stat out of this race until after the people of Iowa voted, and the reason is we had a contested race. I am friends with multiple candidates in this race. I believe the voters out to determine who our nominee is.
Well they have.
The results were compelling, and so as a result, I have enthusiasmstically and endorse Donald Trump. I think it is time for the party to come together. It is time for us to unite because the stakes are so incredibly high. I believe at this point it is clear who our nominee is going to be. Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee, and I think it's critical we win in November. Listen, the forces that are a rayed against Donald Trump have never been a raid against any
candidate in the history of our nation. It is extraordinary. Foreign indictments, the media, the corruption. It is breathtaking now. Frankly, the Democrats who indicted Donald Trump played a real role in giving him this overwhelming victory in Iowa. And so every one of them when we're sitting here on January twentieth of next year at President Trump's second inauguration, they ought to pause and reflect on the pivotal role they
played in making this happen. That being said, Joe Biden and the Democrats have been a disaster for our nation. The American people are hurting, the people of Texas are hurting, and we need to change the path we're on. And so I've endorsed Trump because I enthusiastically want President Trump to win in November. I want us to change the path we're on, and we need to work to make that happen.
You look at how decisive this victory was, and I want to just really get into the minutia this for a second. Trump got more votes in Iowa than Rohnda Santasniki Hale, and Vivek combined. That was such a strong message. He also didn't do any of the televised debates, and that's where I was looking at this and seeing it and going this is a clear message, I think to Joe Biden and to the Democratic Party that you can come after Donald Trump. You can come after him in
legal terms. You can get mug shots of him, you can put things on him that are egregious and absurd. You can have rogue and disgusting prosecutors like we've witnessed in Georgia for example, And it's not scaring voters away
from Donald Trump. How much of an important aspect of this victory do you think dealt with that that they said, hey, we're going to take him off the ballot Colorado and all these other states, and the people said, not only are we not going to let you do this, but we're going to stand up and we're going to stand behind him, and we're going to send a clear message, I think, to all of these people coming after him.
Trump got fifty one percent in Iowa. That means he got more votes than everybody in the ballot. He got more votes than Ron De Santis and Nikki Hayley and vivek He got more votes than Chris Christie's dropped out. Added to Asa Hutchinson, added to Ben Ferguson and mother Teresa add all of them. Now Trump got more. And by the way, Ben, I apologize, I'm sorry you suffered such a crushing defeat.
I did see to the endorsement, Sarah. I needed that endorsement. But there's always four years from now, right.
You know, the future is always there for you. But look at the end of the day, as I said, when we're here on January twentieth, Alvin Bragg and Fanny Willis and Jack Smith, they ought to remember this moment because they played a pivotal role in it happening. And look, Americans across this country were horrified at the persecution. The
Democrats are afraid. Joe Biden is afraid that if the voters get a free choice, they'll choose to elect President Trump, and as a result, they are abusing the legal process. They're going after him. They're trying to destroy him, and millions of people said enough is enough, this is grotesque. I'm with him. That's powerful, and I understand every bit of it.
When you will get where we go next, and you've obviously done this as a candidate, explain what's going to happen next, moving from Iowa to New Hampshire to South Carolina and how quickly you think this could People will coalesce behind former President Donald Trump the same way that you're saying, Now there's a queer message.
He's going to be the nominee.
But explain the politics of this and now what will happen in this next phase.
Look, I think this race is functionally over. Where we are. Ron de Santis's campaign depended upon his winning Iowa. He didn't and he not only didn't win, it wasn't close. He lost by over thirty points. That is a crushing blow to that campaign. We moved to New Hampshire. New Hampshire is historically a more moderate state, is a flinty independent state. In New Hampshire, DeSantis's numbers are incredibly low. They're single digits. Chris Christy, who had been polling in
the low double digits, is out of the race. Vivek, who had a little bit of support, is out of the race. In New Hampshire, it's basically a two person race between Trump and Nicki Haley. The current polling shows them pretty close. Nicky Haley is running as an establishment moderate. That's the lane she's in. That has always been a lane in the Republican primary and she's consolidated the establishment moderate vote. At the end of the day, I don't
know how she'd do in New Hampshire. She may do well in New Hampshire because the establishment moderate lane historically has been a sizeable lane in New Hampshire. Nationally, establishment moderates are about thirty percent of the Republican Party, and I got to say, is just a simple question of math. There is no way thirty percent beats seventy percent. And so New Hampshire we'll see where it is. Nicki Haley will probably do pretty well. I think Trump likely wins
New Hampshire, but it may be relatively close. But after that we're going to go to Nevada. Nevada is a strange state this year because there's a fight between a caucus and a primary, and it's I think the results in Nevada are going to be a mess this year. So then you will move to South Carolina, where the primary is now. Nikki Haley is obviously the former governor of South Carolina, but South Carolina is a pretty conservative state,
is significantly more conservative than New Hampton. Sure Historically, Iowa and South Carolina often vote together, and frequently New Hampshire is an outlier in that I think it is likely that when we get to South Carolina, Trump will win a dominating victory that I think he's likely to beat Nicki Haley by double digits and it could be by thirty forty points. I think it will be a big victory in South Carolina. And at that point I think the race is over. We will move on to Super Tuesday.
You get a whole bunch of states. It's Super Tuesday has sometimes been referred to as the SEC Primary. You get a lot of Southern states. I think Trump is likely to win across the board on Super Tuesday, and so I think at the latest this race is over by Super Tuesday.
When you look at these other candidates and they're now sitting there, there's one big problem, and that is raising funds and inspiring people. When you lose, and you lose badly, you got to try to go back and rally the troops.
You got to move on.
You got a staff that's been you know, the air has been let out of the balloon. You've been doing this now for months on end, and you have these types of showings as you mentioned with DeSantis and Haley. Vivick obviously dropping out, what's going through their minds tonight moving forward as well? And how much I guess leeway should people give Because you see this online, people are like, you know, drop out now, it's Trump's you know, get out of the way. You need to call left behind
right now. And if you don't, we'll never forgive you. I mean, we see a ton of that in politics. But what perspective and how long should it take them to kind of get their head around the reality of this.
Look that'll play out in time. I'm not pressing anyone to drop out that they're going to decide. By the way, everyone in presidential campaigns drops out for the same reason they go broke. That ultimately, if you look throughout history, decade after decade, that's when people drop out. When they can't pay their salary anymore, when they can't fly anymore, when they can't put it on an event anymore, when they can't run a anymore. When they go broke, they
drop out. DeSantis has an enormous problem. He is going to have a massive problem raising money at this point. He will probably raise some money in Florida. So there are a handful of people in Florida he's still the governor of Florida. So if you're a lobbyist in Florida, if you're a big business in Florida, you'll probably still write him a check because when he loses, he's still going to be the governor of Florida, so you don't want to piss him off. So he'll raise a little
bit of money from Florida. But if you're not in Florida, I don't know anyone that's going to write him a check right now, So that's going to be a huge problem.
Haley.
Haley has had a surge of cash, and she'll get a bigger surge of cash. The never Trumpers Wall Street will be enthusiastically behind Hailey. The people who hate Donald Trump with a burning passion will be enthusiastically behind Hailey. So she's going to get a rush of cash. But at the end of the day, a rush of cash can't buy vote. Jeb Bush in twenty sixteen had a mountain of cash and at the end of the day he won zero states. Nicky Hayley has a path I
believe at best to win one state. It is conceivable she wins New Hampshire. I think she probably doesn't. I think Trump is likely to win New Hampshire, but you can imagine Haley winning New Hampshire. But at that point the path is over. So I think there'll be a ton of money and once you get the race could be over before Super Tuesday. Listen, if Trump wins, He's won Iowa, if he wins New Hampshire, if he wins South Carolina. It's difficult to see how anyone stays in the.
Race go backfire.
Let me ask you this about nick You do you think it'll backfire that the New Hampshire GOP primary debate has now been canceled, that after Nicky Haley has pulled out of those debates. It's being reported by ABC News if they have canceled their New Hampshire primary debate after he said she won't she would.
Only appear if Trump did.
The former President Trump has not been part of any of the previous five debates. I can't imagine why he would change his strategy now. But her dropping out, I actually think that could turn off a lot of voters to her in New Hampshire. What are your thoughts?
You know, it's a hard dynamic because without Trump there at this point Haley debating De Santis would just be weird because DeSantis. I like Ron, He's a friend of mine. He was a great governor of Florida. He still is a great governor of Florida. He doesn't have a path anymore. And so I get Haley saying, well, why would I debate Ron de Santis when he doesn't have a path her opponent? Hailey's only opponent is Donald Trump, and so a debate against anyone not named Donald J. Trump doesn't
make a whole lot of sense. That being said. From Trump's perspective, why on earth would he debate Haley. I mean, he's I think he's won this race. That's why I've endorsed him. I think it is functionally over and I want us to win in November. And I got to say I'm comfortable, very comfortable with that endorsement. Look, there are things Trump says and does that I don't like,
that I disagree with. That's been true forever. But if I compare the record of Donald Trump as president to the record of Joe Biden as president, it's not even close. Under the former, the benefits for the people of Texas and the American people were massive, we had prosperity, we had a secure border, we had peace worldwide. Compared to under Biden. We have skyrocketing inflation. We have crime out of control. We have the worst illegal immigration in the
history of our country. We have the biggest war in Europe since World War II. We have the worst war in the Middle East in fifty years. On any measure, Trump's record is massively, massively, massively better than Joe Biden's, and so that for me makes me very comfortable. I want us to win in November. We need to defeat Joe Biden and the cultural Marxist who take it over our federal government.
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Senator.
I also want to ask you about the issues every election cycle, presidential specifically, you have certain themes and you have certain issues that get and drive voters to the polls. As a candidate, you've got to make sure you're hitting those issues. And when you look at what this overwhelming victory in Iowa means for Donald Trump, it means he's
talking the right issues. When you look forward, I think it's clear it's the economy stupid, it's the worries about inflation, it is the worries about high interest rates.
It's the worries about national security.
And it's still going back to what actually made his campaign explode in sixteen, build the Wall.
I mean, there is.
A national security aspect to the open borders and the chaos down there. If he goes back and stays on these issues, yes, which he's been doing so far pretty well. This seems to be what this election is going to be about. Is were you better off then than you are now under Joe Biden's America.
Yeah, there are two massive issues in this election. Number one is jobs in the economy. And jobs in the economy are always front and center in any election. As you noted, James Carville famously put it in Bill Clinton's election, it's the economy stupid. Like people care about jobs. They care about their family, they care about their income, they care about paying the bills, they care about their children, they care about their future. And the economy Joe Biden
is driven into the ground. The inflation is hurting everyone. Whether you're buying food, whether you're paying for electricity, where you're paying for the health care, whether you're paying for gasoline. Everything the cost has gone up and people are hurting people are really unhappy. They're feeling the pain. The second issue that resonates powerfully is safety and security. And people want to be safe. They want their families to be safe,
they want their wives, their children to be safe. And under Joe Biden, people's safety and security has been seriously compromised. And that's a combination of multiple issues. That's a combination of crime, crime skyrocketing everywhere as Democrats have assaulted the police, attacked the police, and stood with violent criminals against law enforcement.
That has made all of us less safe. You combine that with illegal immigration, and people don't like the chaos, they don't like all of the horrors that are unplaying. But they also don't like the threat to their families and their children that illegal immigration, that bringing in criminals and murders and gang bangers and MS thirteen and terrorists
to this country, the danger that provides. And you put on top of that the wars that we have, the war in Ukraine, the war in Israel, the exposure we have to a major terrorist attack in the next year,
which I think is massive. And people feel that they feel afraid, They feel afraid for their safety and security, and I think those two issues jobs in the economy and safety and security are going to dominate this election, and on both of those the Democrats are a train wreck and Trump's record objectively is massively better.
I got to ask you one other thing about this real quick, and it's going to make you laugh. I have a feeling I'm going to know something, and this rarely happens that you don't know. In the odds in Vegas, the odds Makers today center added a name to the list of prospects who you can bet on to become president of the United States of America.
You know who they added.
Today, Benjamin Ferguson, right, and now President Ferguson. I look forward to visiting your giant block of cheese in.
The Western close.
But my name is still not where the odds makers it is none other than Michelle Obama. They are taking official bets now, the odds makers that Michelle Obama could become president of the United States of America this after the Iowa Caucuses they update their list. Her name has now officially been added. It is a head by the way of people like Kennedy Junior, for example, and it's ahead of I'm trying to remember they had somebody else on there, Oh it was. It's ahead of the governor
of California, Gavin Newsom. The odds makers are saying Michelle Obama out of nowhere. She's not running, right, But we've been We've been saying this on Verdict. Are you a little surprised by this?
No, I'm not. And listen, remember this podcast predicted it first. Now. I still don't think it's greater than fifty percent that Michelle is the Democrat nominee. But as I said recently, I think on last week of the week before's podcast, I think it's probably fifty five forty five that it is Joe Biden versus Michelle Obama. I think it is almost a coin flip. And I think Gavin Newsom has a zero percent chance. I think there's no other Democrat that has a chance. It will be one of the two.
We said this early, Franklin, we said this early. You saw folks in the media kind of say, Okay, this is an outlandish theory. Who are these crazy loons Cruz and Ferguson that are pitching this. And to be clear, I want to be unambiguous. I do not want to see a nation when Michelle Obama is our president. I think she is extreme left. I think her policies would be worse than Joe Biden. But I think Democrats are scared.
They're scared that Donald Trump will win. They recognize Joe Biden is a liability they're looking to get out, and I think the only parachute they see is Michelle Obama And so that that concern is real, and I think it's growing every day.
The odds, just so you know, Donald Trump is eleven to eight now and the best odds you can get Joe Biden is nine to four, Nikki Haley fourteen to one, Michelle Obama twenty to one, and Gavin News from twenty five to one. So for all of those that thought that that was a crazy idea, they're now taking that in Vegas.
Is it is?
It is very interesting to see how quickly her name after that interview which we talked about a week ago here where she did that sit down interview and said it keeps her up at night wondering who's going to be leading this country and we need a strong and powerful leader.
She was talking like a candidate.
They obviously have noticed it as well, And now you can officially take that bets with the odds makers.
There.
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point four zero six percent. For well qualified borrowers, call eight eight eight six seven five forty ninety for details about credit costs and terms. Senator, I want to turn to something else real quick. And it's another issue that you're not going to hear about probably anywhere but here,
and you might see it on Fox. Hunter Biden is back in the news barely keyword barely, and The Washington Post Matt Weiser tweeted this out, saying, in a new court filing, the Department of Justice said they pulled Hunter Biden's gun from evidence in twenty twenty three and found a white substance on the leather gun pouch. An FBI chemist determined it was cocaine. To be clear, quote, investigators literally found drugs on the pouch where the defendant has
kept his gun. And yet no one's talking about cocaine found on the leather pouch.
Of the president's sons firearm.
Really, so look, Hunter Biden is a world of trouble. Anyone who pays attention knows that this filing this week from the Department of Justice was really stunning. It is a felony for someone who has a substance abuse problems, for someone who's using illegal drugs to have a firearm. Here's what the Biden Department of Justice said in their written brief filed in court. I just want to read this. It is the following paragraph title, Cocaine was found on the defendant's brown leather gun pouch.
Here's what the paragraph says.
In twenty twenty three, FBI investigators pulled sealed evidence from the state police vault to take photographs of the defendant's firearmant being Hunter Biden. After opening the evidence, FBI investigators observed a white pottery substance on the defendant's brown leather pouch that had held the defendants firearm in October twenty eighteen.
Based on their training and expertise, investigators believed that this substance was likely cocaine and that this evidence would corroborate the messages that investigators had obtained which showed the defendant buying and using drugs in October twenty eighteen. An FBI chemist subsequently analyzed the residue and determined that it was cocaine. To be clear, investigators literally found drugs on the pouch
where the defendant had kept his gun. Now, look, this is reminiscent of Bob Menendez having evidence in his closet of a jacket with the US Senate seal on it with the name Senator Menendez typed on it with a packet of ten thousand dollars in its pocket, with the fingerprints of the Egyptians who allegedly bribed him.
In his post.
Like I gotta tell you, I practiced law a lot of years. You don't get evidence like this. You don't get evidence that ties every piece of it together. The fact that Hunter his gun case had cocaine on it, and the FBI is determined yep, that's cocaine on his gun case. The felony is possessing a firearm while using illegal drugs. Your gun case has cocaine on it. I don't care how bad a lawyer you are, that ain't
hard to prove. And and and let's be clear, the Biden DOJ was prepared to give a sweetheart deal to Hunter. Biden give him a slap on the wrist and have him serve zero, not a moment of jail time until they got caught at it. And so this evidence, by the way, while they knew that the crime he committed, which is a felony, lying on this form to buy a gun. I mean, you can't make notice center cocaine on the pouch of the gun.
How much what it be for you to have a cage than this?
Look, I want to say something original that's never been said before.
Cocaine. She don't lie, She don't lie. Cocaine.
Yeah, yeah, welcome to your DOJ right now. If you're the President's signed, you can have cocaine on your gun and they still will try to give you a sweetheart deal to cover it up.
By the way, but Ben, don't forget the mystery of the century. The Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, the entire amassed forces of the federal government cannot figure out who left a packet of cocaine in the White House. With cameras everywhere, in security guards everywhere, it's a mystery. Who the hell can figure it out? And his name might rhyme with Bunter Heyden.
All right, I can, I can.
I can ask this because it's a podcast, I can use this word, So I'm going to use it. Which one and we'll end with this center pisses you off more that they can't figure out whose cocaine it was in the White House, or that they can't figure out who leaked the decision coming out of the Supreme court on Roe v.
Wade.
So let me break those down. And I actually I'm joking with the Bunter Hyden thing. But as we said or a previous podcast and go back, I actually don't think it's Hunter Biden's cocaine, really, okay, because and we talked about this, right.
That's right, because I believe it totally is.
No, it's not because the place it's at is where the staff goes in and out. I think it's a staffer. I don't know if it's the chief of staff or the deputy chief of staff or a senior official, but it's an employee and probably a senior employee. But I don't know that of the Biden White House because Hunter Biden, as the presidential son, doesn't go through the staff entrance to the West Wing. I go through all there all
I used to. I haven't been there in years, but when Trump was president, I went through there all the time. That's where staff goes in and out. It's not where the first family goes in and out. And so I actually think the cover up there is they are hiding for a staffer who was dumb enough to bring his or her cocaine into the White House. So I was being a smart ass saying saying it was Hunter Biden's,
but I actually don't think that's Hunters. I do think the cocaine on his gun pouch was Hunters, but that's that's a different thing between the two. It's not even close in terms of what the public consequence is, which is the leaking of the draft opinion from the Supreme Court was consequential at historic levels. It undermined the rule of law, It undermined the Supreme Court, and I think it is an absolute outrage that they have not tracked down and prosecuted the person who did so. So between
the two, it's not even close. But I got to say, more broadly on the cocaine issue, Look, this DOJ filing illustrates that the evidence against Hunter is compelling. It's overwhelming. And mind you that the Biden DOJ has let the most serious offenses, has let the statute limitations expire. They're trying to let them off. Remember remember, remember we said this in our last podcast. The target of this investigation, if you're looking looking at the public interest, is not
and should not be Hunter Biden. The guy is a poor, sad sack who's got enormous problems. But the reason this is a matter of public import is because Joe Biden, Daddy Biden, who's the President of the United States, has now years and even decades of history of corruption of selling official favors for millions of dollars going to his family, and so this filing from the Biden DOJ just shows they've got the evidence like crazy, and yet they're bending over.
I want to ask you, Ben, do you think all right? You own a gun store. Yeah, I want to ask you a question. At your gun store, if the FBI came in and found cocaine on a brown leather package that was holding guns, what do you think how do you think they would treat Ben Ferguson.
I would be in jail and it would be bad. Yeah, it wouldn't even be.
Up for debate, like not close, like sing sing, don't bend over for the soap. Ben, nice to know you. I'll write your letter, I'll bake you a cake and put a file in it.
Yeah, And that would be how they would treat I think pretty much anybody that doesn't have the connections that he has.
Now, if your name were Benjamin Biden, by the way, you would be driving a sweet car. You might have a private plane. You would be living life well because you'd be able to sell favorsome daddy.
Yeah, it's nice to be the last name. I have the last name Biden. That's all they can say. It'll be interesting to see what they do now with this coming out.
As mel Brooks said, it's good to be the king.
It's good to be the king. Don't forget. We did a show Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Please make sure you hit that follow or subscribe button, especially if you're on Apple Listing right now. You got to check and make sure that you hit it regularly for your favorite podcasts because they've changed those algorithms there. It's frustrated. I know a
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