Welcome.
It is a special Debate Verdict with Ted Cruz and Ben ferguson podcast. We get to do these on big nights jointly like this. Depending on where you're listening to us right now, you get us both. Senator, your initial reaction, you watched the debate. I watched the debate. What were your big takeaways?
Well, tonight was a big and consequential debate, but I have to say it before we get into it, and then this entire podcast we're going to analyze the debate in depth and say what it showed about about where the race is, where President Trump is, where Kamala Harris is. But I do want to point out it is exactly midnight as you and I are recording, which means that it has just become September eleventh, and for our listeners who are downloading this, you'll be downloading this today during
September eleventh. And so I just want to start by acknowledging that twenty three years ago, the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history happened, and you and I both lived through nine to eleven. We had friends who lost their lives in nine to eleven. We saw the agony and We have talked on this podcast many times about my view that today we have a greater risk of a major terrorist attack than we have had any time since September eleventh, two thousand and one, because of the
disastrous policies of the last four years. And so I want to acknowledge that at the front end, and then we're going to walk through right now what the biggest takeaways are from the debate tonight Center.
This was a obviously important debate for Kamala Harris. It was really a rollout in a sense where she could be challenged. What we quickly saw though, was a three on one debate against Donald Trump and ABC News.
What an end kind donation they gave.
Yeah, the ABC moderators did not do a good job that They clearly were biased towards Kamala Harris. We saw that from their live quote fact checking, where repeatedly they'd follow up what Trump said by contradicting him, by disputing him. Many instances, their fact checks were wrong and they never never could be bothered a fact check a word that came out of Kamala Harris's mouth. It was very one sided on that front. But look, ABC News was the
least consequential part of tonight. What tonight illustrated is that Kamala Harris is utterly incapable of defending her own record. And what we saw tonight, this was her stump speech, and this was her DNC convention speech, cut into sound bites and repeated. She memorized a series of vignettes, a series of little segments, and just repeated those talking points
ad nauseum. And it really became clear with the very first question of the night, and the first question of the night that David Muir asked her, is the question that you and I and Monday's podcast said is the single most important question of the debate and really of every election, which is are you better off than you were four years ago? And to Mere's credit, he started with that question, are people off today than they were
four years ago? Under Trump? Now? Interestingly enough, Kamala refused to answer it at all. She didn't say yes, she didn't say people's lives are better, she said nothing at all. Instead, she had a little memorized set peace about how I was raised in a middle class family. I was raised with a mom who loved me and struggled. And she just talked about her bio and gave just just empty platitudes that continued for the entire night. And so look, we saw this evening. Why it is that Kamala's campaign
team keeps her hidden in Joe Biden's base. Why they just bring her out, have a read from a teleprompter, and then they tackle her and throw back in the basement. Because all right, let's take the very simple question. She didn't say, yes, you're better off than you were four years ago. Why, well, you really can't, Like it's impossible to defend on every front. Inflation. All let's just take inflation in the economy. Her policies and Joe Biden's policies
have been disastrous America. The working people of America have seen the price of just about everything go up, from food to electricity, to rent, to lumber, to healthcare, to gasoline, to mortgages, everything go up. And critically, this is where her record matters. Kamala Harris was the tie breaking vote multiple times on the floor of the Senate on trillions of dollars of the out of control spending from this
administration that has caused this inflation. She was literally without her vote, the trillions of dollars that we borrowed, and the trillions of dollars that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ran the printing presses on that drove this inflation that doesn't happen, and she can't defend that. She doesn't have a good answer. When it comes to energy and gas prices.
People are hurting because of gas price as well. It is her policies and Joe Biden's policies that has waged war systematically on oil and gas production and American energy, and she can't defend that either, and so instead she simply says, well, we're going to lower energy prices, We're going to lower gas prices, and with no acknowledgment that Wait a second, she is, in fact the sitting vice president, and who knows where the heck the actual president is besides passed out asleep on a beach.
When you see, I think the strategy, and now it actually I think makes more sense, right, like just hider, buy ads, get the media to cover for you and protect you at all costs. And maybe that is a winning strategy, which comes to the obviously, the next big question, should there be another debate?
Do you believe there will be? In the other debate.
They were obviously in the Harris camp implying that there was a big victory tonight, saying that was fun, let's do it again, and threw out another date. Uh, signaling from her campaign they want to tee it up again and go toe to toe with Donald Trump again.
Is that the right move for her?
Well, listen, I think Trump should absolutely accept that offer for another debate. He should jump on it and say let's go. I think the debate is a valuable opportunity to calmly litigate her actual record. And and let me say this though, even if Trump does does follow that advice and does accept the debate, I think there's very little chance it happens. I think Kamala's team will back
out on it. I think they're mostly just puffing out their chest and boasting right now with the offer of another debate, I think there is no world in which they let her do a second debate. I think it's back to the basement. And if I were to predict, we're not going to see Kamala emerge from the basement until election day. It's like the groundhog until she sees
her shadow on election day. She doesn't get to come out of the basement, other than to show up at a rally here and there and read from the teleprompter the same speech. But they want to keep her absolutely controlled and repeating. And listen, I will say, the Democrat Party has very good message masters. They have very good This is the party of Hollywood. This is the party of storytellers. Her memorized set pieces, some of them are
pretty effective. They're disconnected from reality. They don't acknowledge any facts on earth. But if you just listen to them, they are calmly reassuring, they sound nice. And it's why. Look, this is the same reaction I had with her convention speech. It's dangerous as hell, because if you're not paying close attention, what she says sounds nice unless she is forced to
confront her actual own record. And in the entire debate, the ABC moderators never once pointed out that her record is exactly the opposite of what she said on the debate stage over and over again.
So when I watched the debate, the question I always ask myself is okay, if I was going in a night voting for Donald Trump, was I convinced by Kamala Harris that I should switch my vote, The answer honestly is no. And if I'm a Kamala Harris voter and was going into the night watching Kamala Harris saying I'm going to vote for her. Am I going to switch
my vote to Donald Trump tonight? Honestly? Probably not. Does that mean that this is a draw in essence, where Hey, Donald Trump's team they walk out of this going Okay, maybe we could have done a little better on this that or the other. Maybe we'll work on that for the next subbate, but we didn't do any harm and we got out are some good points. Kama's team probably says, hey, we survived the night we had you in hiding in
the basement. Is this one of those debates that we both said was one of the most important ever?
But could in theory be a draw?
Because really, you're if the if the barometer is I'm trying to change hearts and minds.
Did anyone's mind change tonight?
Well, Kamala's team and all of our cheerleaders in the corporate media are going to relentlessly hype that she won, that she won, that she won. And by the way, they were going to say that whatever happened she could literally fall to the ground and start screaming and wailing and kicking her feet in the air, and they would say she won, So that that was going to be the narrative regardless. I will say, what we learned is she doesn't have a good answer to her own record.
The Trump campaign needs to continue to prosecute the case. So let's take, for example, there was a hole back and forth on abortion, and Trump said accurately that she supports late term abortions into the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy, and she just said, over and over again, no, I don't know, I don't that's false, that's false, and
the moderators sat there like potted plants. Well, it so happens that Kamala actually has a record, and in particular, she has voted for legislation on the floor of the Senate to strike down every single restriction on abortion in the country and to legalize abortion in the eighth and ninth months up to the moment of birth. That is
her actual voting record, what she has voted for. There was another exchange where Trump points out that the governor of Virginia, the former governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam had advocated for post birth abortion, and she flat out lied and said no, no, he didn't know, he didn't and play that.
Because we have that clip. And this is why I love doing the show, is we get to play it. This is Northam on the radio on WTP saying what she said, and the media said, never happened.
If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered, the infant would be kept comfortable, the infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mothers.
I mean, where's the fact check for ABC News on that? Senator?
Yeah, and understand Ralph Northam, he was a Democrat governor of Virginia. He was also someone whose medical school yearbook featured a picture of a Klansman. That's another part of Ralph Northm's background. But he was also an obgyn, so he was actually talking about as a doctor who presumably has done that. He was describing the approach, and that is delivering a baby. The baby is alive, is breathing, is outside the mother's womb and he's talking about just
letting the baby die. And again, this is where records matter. Kamala has a record on this. So when she says
that's ridiculous, that's no, no, no, no, no, that's not true. Well, Kamala Harris voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, and that was a bill that we voted on the floor of the Senate that said if during the course of an attempted abortion, the child is delivered, the child is born, and this happens, and the child is alive and breathing and outside the womb, that the doctor cannot
just let the baby die. And she voted no. Now, as you noted, ABC did in fact check her on that, her voting record is very clear, and this was a pattern over and over and over again on energy. So her big trick now on energy is she's run away from her long held position opposing fracking. Okay, fine, so she's like, yeah, I just flip flopped on that. What ABC didn't point out is, well, wait a second, your repeated statements about banning fracking, that's not the only thing
you've done on energy. First week in office. You and Joe Biden shut down the Keystone pipeline. Joe Biden, when he was campaigning for president, promised to shut down drilling on shore, on federal lands and offshore. You put in over ninety different regulations and executive orders attacking oil and gas production in the United States that has had a very direct effect driving up cost. Your administration banned new permits exporting liquid natural gas. Like her record on energy
is terrible, and she has no answer to that. And by the way, Trump did a good job on this point of saying, listen, you banned the Keystone pipeline and gave a giant gift of Vladimir Putin by allowing him to complete the Nordstream two pipeline, which caused the war in Ukraine. And that's something you and I have talked about in this podcast a lot. It was my legislation in the Senate that sanctioned Nordstream two and shut it down.
Trump signed my legislation and Putin literally stopped building the nord Stream two pipeline the day that Trump signed sanctions legislation in the law. Northstream two was a dead hunk of metal at the bottom of the ocean until Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office and they demonstrated weakness and and they waived the sanctions on nord Stream two and it was a multi billion dollar gift to to Russia and it caused the war in Ukraine. None of that does she have an answer for.
We just got in the official number. ABC News fact check Donald Trump seven times, not one time the debate. Did they fact check Kamala Harris?
Not once?
So that's the official caw tally now is seven times on Trump. That's three on one, and I do think that's going to have a turnoff. I would hope to some of those voters, maybe in the middle, the undecideds, which very much can be the deciding factor in this election. Will that play with undecideds? Do you think did they see the bi that you and I saw?
They saw that some, but I think they also go in expecting the media to be biased. So I don't think anyone is surprised that ABC is a left wing mouthpiece for the Democrats. That's been the case sadly for a long time for ABCNBCCBSC and AN, MSNBC, all of them have been mouthpieces for the Democrats. So yes, they saw it, but again they're not surprised. Look, the critical thing that we saw tonight is is she doesn't have a good answer on the chaos at our southern border.
Kamala Harris was the borders are. She is directly responsible for the worst level of illegal immigration in our nation's history. She is directly responsible for the people who have died. Eight hundred and fifty three migrants died last year crossing illegalian in this country. She is responsible for the people, the women who have been brutally raped. She's responsible for
the children who have been brutalize. She's responsible for the little boys and little girls who've been horribly assaulted by human traffickers. She's responsible for the one hundred and ten
thousand Americans who died last year of drug overdoses. She is responsible for the murderers that she and Joe Biden had in their custody, Murderers like the illegal alien murder of Lake and Riley that she and Joe Biden had in custody, and they released murderers like the illegal alien murderer of Rachel Morin that illegal alien was in her custody. She released them. Murderers like the illegal alien murderers of
Joscelyn Hungary. Both of them were in her custody and she and Joe Biden released them, and so that record. She was not forced tonight to answer for any of that record and that, but it demonstrated that she does not have a good response. And and that's what I think the next two months the Trump campaign has to prosecute systematically based on the facts. Here is her record, Here is what she has done, and it hasn't worked.
It has failed, and the American people are worse off as a result of the failures of her extreme policy.
You mentioned Donald Trump's got to bring up some more of this stuff, and I think you and I've talked about this, but let's just remind people since kamaiers took off as total prices are up over twenty percent, car insurance up fifty four percent, hotels are up say when you rent a hotel fifty one point two percent, Gases up fifty point fifty percent, fuel oil is up forty nine point one, transportation up thirty two point nine, Electricity is up thirty one point seven percent.
Baby food's up over thirty fifty.
Percent, eating out of up twenty five percent, Airfare up twenty three percent, rent up twenty two percent, and groceries are up about twenty two percent as well. That's what they've got to focus on, every single one of a Sarah, It's not all this other and the weed stuff. They I really do believe they've got to keep it simple for the American voter, especially if you're trying to go after undecided.
Sure. And and that's what we talked about in Monday's pod, that that the focus needs to be on harms, harms, harms. How are people's lives worth aught worse off because of the horrible policies that Kamala Harris is directly responsible for. And and that's true. On inflation, she was literally the tie breaking vote behind the trillions of spending that that unleash this inflation. It's true. On energy, she and Joe Biden. It has been their executive orders and their regulations that
have driven up energy prices. And and and it's true on the border, and and and let me play there that there was one of the best exchanges with something Trump said on the border where he made the point that that that that listen, she could secure the border today, and and and and and listen, listen to this what what what he said to her?
Right now, I would say we would both leave this debate right now. I'd like to see her go down to Washington, D C. During this debate because we're wasting a lot of time. Go down to because she's been so bad, it's so ridiculous.
Go down to Washington, D C.
And let her sign a bill to close up the border, because they have the right to do it. They don't need bills, they have the right to do it. The president of the United States. You'll get them out of bed, You'll wake them up at four o'clock in the afternoon. You'll say, come on, come on down to the office, let's sign a bill.
It was a great moment in the debate.
Yeah, look, that point is very powerful. And understand this invasion at our southern border. It is happening right now today. There are hundreds, if not thousands of illegal immigrants crossing the border right now today today, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are apprehending hundreds, if not thousands of illegal aliens and they're going to release them tomorrow. There are criminals they're going to release tomorrow sorrow. There are murderers they're
going to release. Going forward, there are rapists, there are child molestors, and they keep on doing it. And the point Trump is making and listen, his campaign needs to follow this up by explaining, by really explaining. Look, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office, they inherited the lowest rate of illegal immigration in forty five years. Donald Trump, I worked hand in hand with President Trump
to secure the border, and we had incredible success. When Trump was president, the border was secure, and it was unilateral executive actions that caused this crisis. Three decisions that Biden Harris did in the very first week. Number one, they immediately halted construction of the border wall. Number two, they reinstated the disastrous policy of catch and release, and number three they pulled out of the incredibly successful Remain
in Mexico agreement. All three of those they could reverse tomorrow. And so the point like, literally, go down to the White House right now and do it. That is absolutely right. It is also right that if and I pray when Trump is re elected that he will reverse all three of those decisions on January twentieth of next year, and we will see the border crisis end, and it will
end quickly, and so that point was very effective. Let me say, also, Ben, I thought the foreign policy portion of the debate was particularly strong for Trump and it was very weak for Kamala Harris. At one point, she looks over at Trump and says, well, you know, everyone knows that he was weak and ineffective on foreign policy. And I got to say to me that that was a laugh line. And listen, if you look across the globe,
we had peace and prosperity when Trump was president. We had no foreign wars, and in fact, we saw peace breaking out in the Middle East. We saw the Abraham Accords being signed, we saw Arabs and Israelis coming together. And I think it is absolutely the case that if Trump were still in the White House today, the war in Ukraine would not have happened, in the war in Israel would not have happened. That it was Joe Biden
and Kamala Harris's weakness that caused those wars. And critically, and Trump did a good job of this too, laying out that that Listen, Kamala Harris has flowed over one hundred billion dollars to Iran. Iran provides ninety percent of the funding for hamas ninety percent of the funding for Hesbela, Kamala Harris, in a very real sense paid for the death squads that carried out the atrocities on October seventh, and and and Kamala has no answer to that, And
and tonight showed that powerfully. You know.
I also think, and you go to the end of the debate that one of the best parts was actually Donald Trump in his closing argument. And it goes back to the campaign strategy I think he needs to have moving forward, and that is to make sure he makes this about what she has done in comparison to what she claims she wants to do while she's in charge.
Like you're in charge, you're in charge, You're in charge?
Is it?
In Trump?
So she just started by saying she's going to do this, She's going to do that, She's going.
To do all these wonderful things. Why hasn't she done it.
She's been there for three and a half years. They've had three and a half years to fix the border, they've had three and a half years to create jobs and all the things we talked about.
Why hasn't she done it? She should leave right now.
Go down to that beautiful White House, go to the Capitol, get everyone together, and do the things you want to do. But you haven't done it, and you won't do it because you believe in things that the American people don't believe in.
It's a great line, and I wish it would have been used even more.
Yeah, that was the closing was Trump's best, best part of the entire debate, and that was exactly the right message. It's a message that the Trump campaign should amplify every
day between now an election day. Listen, you and I have talked about how Kamala is trying to engage in this divorced from reality campaign where she pretends she's not in office, that she's not the incumbent, she disavows all responsibility for the mess that is happening, and in fact, she's behaving as if Donald Trump is the incumbent president
and she's the change candidate. She is in office right now, Joe Biden is in office right now, and on every single level, on inflation, on crime, on illegal immigration, on foreign policy, on safety and security, the world was much much better when Trump was president than it is today, and that needs to be emphasized every day between now an election Day.
Center her final question.
I think for you and really for me when I was watching this tonight and it say, okay, where do we go from here? I'm in favor of another debate. I think you cover that earlier, right, you agree Trump should do another one Number one.
Yes, but I don't think she will. I think you will.
So your prediction is she's done yep. Number two.
If you're Donald Trump, what do you learn for tonight and what do you take into your big campaign rallies from this? And what is your messaging to your surrogatece tomorrow on the surrogate call.
I think the message is she cannot defend her record, and her record is a failure. The American people are worse off. But listen, I think it's important to remember also, this is not about Donald Trump, and it's not about Kamala Harris. It is about the American people. It is about It is about young, young couples who are going out and buying their first home and they're discovering that a seven and a half percent mortgage rate is much much worse than a two and a half percent mortgage
rate that you get about half the house. That's happening right now nowaday people are hurting. It's about a single mom who's trying to make ends meet and she can't afford to buy groceries anymore because the prices have gone so high, and when she tries to fill up her tank to go to work, it just about breaks her.
It's about the people who are suffering. Look today, on September tenth, there was a ceremony in the Capitol where the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the thirteen servicemen and women who were murdered in Afghanistan from the absolutely disastrous and incompetent withdrawal from Abbigate. And I'll tell you, the families were there, and it was a beautiful ceremony, and the families. I spoke to many of the families. I thanked every one of them that I could to
say thank you for your service and sacrifice. I'm sorry. But I also to many of them. Had a follow up conversation where I said, there needs to be accountability.
There has been zero accountability. That the focus for the campaign every day from now to election day needs to be the difference between Trump's record and Kamala's record and critically bringing it home to the voters, how their lives were much better when Trump was president than they have been under Kamala, and that her policies are failures and they're hurting the American people. That's got to be the central message.
Yeah, as you mentioned a second ago, on this anniversary of nine to eleven, I think it's important that we also take a step back, remember how important it is that you have competent leaders that understand how important it is to protect and defend the home, lan, to protect and defend freedom. And also just a moment to say thank you to all of those that serve this country, to all of those that wear the uniform, to all those that have given the ultimate sacrifices and their families.
There were so many people that died on nine to eleven, but there was also the second part, and that was so many that died because they wanted to protect and defend us after nine to eleven that gave the ultimate sacrifice. And I said to everybody listening, say thank you to a veteran. Text them. Everybody knows a veteran, tell them
thank you. I had the privilege of playing golf today with some of those that actually took out some of the worst terrorists in the world, some special operators, and they were amazing guys, and I say to them, thank you, because without you giving up years of your life and risking your life and losing your brothers in uniform, we wouldn't have the freedoms we have today.
And that's what we need to remember. I think during this election season as well.
Don't forget. We do the show Monday, Wednesday, Friday on Verdict. I do my show Ben Ferguson podcasts every single day. So grab our podcast at that subscriber auto download button wherever you listen to these podcasts.
It's always fun.
We get to do a joint podcast the Senator and I will see you back here in a couple of days, and I'll see you back here tomorrow on the Ben Ferguson podcasts as well. And again, God bless America and thanks to all of our veterans that are listening to you.
Guys are the heroes.