Welcome.
It is Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson with you and Center. With overwhelming support from the Senate, this foreign aid package has passed that obviously is the center of the world right now for not only in this country people wondering what was going to happen, but obviously these nations around the world in quitting Israel.
Well, that's exactly right. It is a major foreign aid bill that just passed the Senate and it is now headed to President Biden's desk. We're going to break it down. We're going to get into the good, the bad, and the ugly about what was in it and what's going
to happen next. We're also going to talk about what continues to happen on college campuses, the anti semitism, it keeps getting worse, and we're going to talk about the Biden Whitehouse's pathetic response to these instances of violence and anti Semitism that sadly the radicals and his party support.
You guys know that I do this show a lot of times very late at night, and then I get up in the morning and I do a radio show at seven am, and having a fabulous cup of coffee is incredibly important. I do not like average coffee. I want a premium cup of coffee. And I also don't want to be giving my money to woke coffee companies. Now, when I said that, you probably have a name that popped right in your head. Well, guess what. You don't have to buy Woke coffee anymore. You can buy Blackout
Coffee one hundred percent committed conservative values. From sourcing the beans to the roasting process, customer support and shipping. They embody true American values and they accept no compromise on taste or quality.
Now, I want you to.
Try Blackout Coffee because it is incredible coffee and I use it every single day, and it is a company that I am proud to get my money to and I know that when they ship in the mail my coffee, it's going to be phenomenal. Now they've got a lot of different options. They've got flavored coffee, which is check out the cinema one.
Oh my gosh, it's amazing.
And if you travel like I do, their instant coffee is premium instant coffee. I travel with it. It's amazing. Go to Blackoutcoffee dot com. Slash Verdict it's Blackout Coffee dot com slash verdict and use coupine code Verdict. I'm going to save you twenty percent off your first order. So get rid of the world coffee that you may be drinking now and switch to Blackout Premium coffee.
Blackout Coffee dot com slash verdict.
Be awake, not woke, and get twenty percent off your first order with a promo code verdict now Center, before we get into the vote, I have a surprise for you, and I know you're going to be excited about this. Okay, you got to get and this is headlines now. National Inquirer has come out in the court case in New York and admitted they made up the story center about your father. Yes, Ted Cruz's father linked to the Jaska assassination.
They're admitting they made it all up. I want everybody to hear from you first on that.
Well.
Look, just because the National Inquirer made up that my father played a part in killing Kennedy doesn't mean that he didn't secretly play a part in killing Kennedy. I'm just saying that they haven't proven a nation negative. Although they did admit they doctored the photograph and like like basically mashed two photos to create literally the very embodiment
of fake news. And I got to say, my favorite response on this whole issue was something Marco Rubio said at a set at Launch shortly after this idiotic story broke, where Marco stood up and he said, look, I need all of you all to know that I know for a fact this story about.
Ted's dad is a lie.
And and Marco's explanation he said it has to be a lie because if a Cuban had done that, he would have told everybody. Yeah, and so I saw. I appreciated Marco coming to my dad's defense.
I love this.
I hope you framed this for your father because it's hysterical and you should put it side by side and give it to him for Father's Day because it's just amazing. It is official, this inquire made up the story about your father.
Yeah.
I got to say, does that mean that Elvis is not working at a Walmart in Idaho?
There is a chance.
There is a chance, but they haven't confirmed that yet, so let's not jump to conclusions here.
Okay, we'll get fact check on that one, but congrat the Aliens are real.
The Space aliens are real.
Yes see, I'm no longer afraid of your dad. Like we hang out. I've always been a little nervous.
Now I know it's just really just just watch your p's and q's.
I love it all.
Right, Let's get into this vote in Washington and explain for everyone listening.
This came out of the House. It was a big fight.
There is a very divided, i think conservative mindset on this. I have a lot of friends that are very upset about this. I have others that say it's important that we fund Israel and other things. This then came to the Senate. Walk us through the mindset of of not only you, but also other Republicans that are saying this is something that need to get done and that's why we passed it.
Well, listen, this is a bill number one. The House struggled mightily to vote out. It was a huge battle. There were lots of pieces there that they agonized on and ultimately voted it out before the Senate. Listen, I struggled with this vote. I struggled with this vote as much as any vote I've ever cast in the Senate. And the reason is there are elements in this bill that I very strongly support, and there are elements in
this bill that I really dislike. And sometimes you have legislation that combines good and bad and you've got a way, Okay, does the bad outweigh the good? And in this case, I found a very difficult decision. I spent hours and hours thinking through the pros and cons and what the right principled approach was. Let me tell you what's good about this bill. The biggest thing that is good and important about this bill is it finally provides emergency military
aid to Israel. Israel is in the middle of a war. It has been an a war since October sixth, the horrific terrorist attack that occurred. It has been battling Hamon and Gaza, battling Hamas while the Biden administration has been undercutting it over and over and over again and pressing the government of Israel to stop killing Hamas terrorists. It's also been the subject of a massive attack from Iran, over three hundred drones and missiles, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Iran has been waging war against Israel, and so I think it's critically critically important that we provide military aid to Israel now and that's going to happen now. So I'm very glad of that that aid is finally going to go. Let me be clear, though, this military aid to Israel should have gone six months ago. It should have gone right after October seventh, It should have gone
when this war started. And you'll recall back in November, I and several other Senators forced a vote on the Senate floor we took over the Senate from Chuck Schumer. We used a rare procedural technique called a rogue cloture petition should to force a vote on a standalone Israel emergency military aid bill, and every single Democrat, all of them, voted no. And the only reason this military funding didn't go six months ago is because the Democrats obstructed it
each and every day since then. And so I'm glad finally that military aid is going to Israel. But it should have gone last month, it should have gone the month before, it should have gone all the way back six months ago, and it's the Democrat's fault it didn't.
So let's talk about some of the other things that were in this bill as well, and explain what all is in this big, big kind of conglomerate here.
Well, let me tell you what else is good in the bill. So number one, the military aid to Israel. Number two, this bill includes the Houses bill to force the Chinese Communist Party to give up control of TikTok in the United States. That's something also that I strongly support. I think it is very important for national security. The Chinese Communist Party uses TikTok. It has the capacity for number one espionage and surveillance of every American and I
think that is very dangerous. Number Two, the Chinese Communist Party uses this to push propaganda, particularly to our young people. And and so this bill forces the CCP to divest from TikTok. That's another very good thing in this bill. Thirdly, this bill also includes eight billion dollars in funding for
Taiwan to defend itself against aggression from China. And and and listen, I have long long made clear that that that that that China I believe represents the most significant long term geopolitical threat to the United States, and Taiwan is on the front lines of China's global global aggression. And so I think it is critically important that that that we continue standing with the people of Taiwan. So those are three really good things of the bill.
Let's go back to TikTok for a second and explain that when will this kick in the metrics of it, how this will work. And I want to go back to and compare this also on a story we've done before. TikTok has had like forty to one stories supporting the Palestinian slash Hamas over Israel. Clearly that has had a major impact on younger people are who are actually against Israel.
And we've seen this on the college campuses, and this is being used is a mind war machine to clearly influence and change public opinion on people like Jewish people, the Israeli government, and even to make people sympathetic towards terrorists. That's what China's been doing. And this is just in real time when it comes to Israel. Yeah, no, that's
exactly right that TikTok. The CCP uses TikTok to push pro Hamas propag and to undermine Israel, to push anti American propaganda, including things like like trending Osama bin Laden speaking out on jihad and against against America, and so removing the ability of the Chinese Communist party to have control over that that that's really important. How long will this take then for the divistion and and for truly to be a separation where Chinese isn't dictating what happens
on the platform? Is this going to be immediate before the election or in reality, is it's going to be after the election?
Well, one of the prices that the Democrats insisted upon to pass this was that that it be delayed till after the election, So it will be after theazing. Yeah, you know that that that's how the Democrats approached it.
Yeah, because they wanted to make sure that they had the advantage using TikTok all the way up and through the election.
Those are are the Democrats we have.
So you look at this bill and you talk also about.
Taiwanese and the allies and then be able to defend themselves. There was some criticism that this wasn't enough money for them to actually defend themselves against China. Can you can you explain why this amount of money was chosen and why you think this is adequate this moment.
Look, eight billion dollars is a significant amount of military aid, and it's designed to help help Taiwan be more resilient, you know, in in military defense theory, the idea obviously, the Taiwanese army is not sufficient to defeat the Chinese army. China is a much more massive country with a much larger military. But the idea is to make Taiwan, the phrase that is often used as a porcupine, make Taiwan
difficult to invade, to deter China from doing so. And so that's really what the military aid is focused on doing, is helping Taiwan be more resistant to an amphibious military assault so that China doesn't doesn't engage in war. And listen that that is often the smartest way to approach national security is to engage in deterrence so you don't have to engage in war. And that that that's exactly what this is trying to do with China and Taiwan.
Let's talk about how what was in the bill that was frustrating for you, that upsets you, that that is irritating. The reality is I'd love that if we could just get only what we want. There are compromises that have to be made. There's Democrats who are the majority in the Senate, and we have a very slim majority. Now in the House Republicans, you have a president who's a Democrat.
So so what in here is frustrating that you that you say, hey, yeah, I'm not okay with this, but this is the reality of how this went down.
Well, there were several other other elements in the bill that that in total, were too problematic for me to support the full package. First of all, the bill spends over nine billion dollars on so called humanitarian aid, much of which goes to Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas. And we have seen under Joe Biden this pattern over and over again of their sending millions and millions of dollars to Gaza, only for it to be diverted by Hamas, only for it to be used for terrorism. And and
this this bill follows that pattern. It does not it doesn't learn from the failures of the Biden administration, and it keeps sending money that will be used ultimately against America and against our allies.
When you see this happen and the way it came out of the Senate, for conservatives that are listening that are just frustrated because they feel like we're sending too much money overseas, We're not securing our southern border, and we're putting other countries ahead of our interests. What is your message to them, because that's an important one right now.
Well, look, there are aspects when it comes to military aid, particularly for Israel and Taiwan. We are doing that because that is in America's interest, that that that the enemies of Israel are the enemies of America, and with Israel advances America's national security interests. And by the way, we get enormous military benefits from our alliance with Israel, including benefits from the Masad intelligence benefits that the people they are fighting. Listen, Iran, there is a reason the Iotolin
Iran chance death to America and death to Israel. The Iotola also refers to Israel as the little Satan and America as the Great Satan. And so helping Israel prevail benefits American national security. It keeps us safer. The same is true with Taiwan, that deterring China. Listen, if China, God forbid, were to invade Taiwan, that would be an enormous problem for US national security interest for a lot of reasons. But let me just focus on one, which
is advanced semiconductors. Right now, we manufacture very few, A very small percentage of advanced semiconductors are manufactured in the United States. The over whelming majorities manufactured overseas, primarily in China and Taiwan. And if China were to invade Taiwan, it would give the Chinese Communist Party the ability to have the American economy and the American military in a stranglehold.
You look at virtually everything we use in today's modern life, it involves semiconductors and advanced semiconductors.
That's true for your phone.
That's true for your car or truck, that that that's true for just about every appliance you have in your home. That that's true for just about every serious piece of military equipment we have, whether it's every tank or every fighter jet, or every ship or or every computer. We are massively dependent on advanced semiconductors. It's one of the reasons I have been so vigorous in fighting to bring semiconductor manufacturing back to the United States, back to Texas.
It's one of the reasons why I co authored legislation to streamline the ronmental permitting for building new semiconductor fabs, including massive ones that are going into Texas. My legislation, which I authored with Mark Kelly, Democrat from Arizona, the Kelly Cruise Bill, passed the Senate one hundred to nothing.
We're working to get it through the House. But in the interim, until this passes into law, until we build up semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the United States, America is incredibly vulnerable and so deterring Chinese aggression in Taiwan is all about protecting America's national security interests.
Yeah, great point.
I want to talk to you about freedom gold Usay, if you are like me and you want to make sure that you're protecting your hard earned dollars, especially if you're in retirement or close to retirement, you know how important it is to diversify your assets. With inflation still well above the Fed's target rate and consumer prices are so much higher than they were just two or three or four years ago. Now, that's why you need a financial plan that ensures that the money you save today
will be enough for you tomorrow. Now, imagine thinking that you were on track four years ago and looking at the cost of living now. And that's where gold and silver come in. Gold and silver have historically been amazing hedges against inflation in a phenomenal way to protect your hard earned retirement funds. How to be clear, no one's saying put all your money in gold or silver. No, you need to find a trusted partner and you need to find someone that can give you all the facts
about gold and silver and diversification. You also need to make sure you're working with a reputable firm. Yes, there are many companies out there that charge enormous fees. In fact, on average, Freedom Gold USA charges twenty five to thirty percent less than most major gold and silver firms. Another way to look at that is when you want to have twenty five to thirty percent more gold and silver in your account than what you would do with the
same amount of cash somewhere else. That's why I recommend Freedom Gold USA. So take control your financial future and know you're working with a firm that is looking out for your long term financial stability.
Go to Freedom.
Gooldusa dot com slash verdict. That's Freedom goold Usa dot com slash verdict, or call them right now. One eight hundred sixty five five eight eight four three. That's one eight hundred sixty five five eight eight four three, and save yourself, Like I said, on average a charge twenty five to thirty percent less than most major gold and silver firms. You've heard of one eight hundred sixty five five eight eight four three or online it freedom goold
usa dot com, slash vertict center. I know there was a couple other problems in this bill that you also wanted to highlight.
What are those?
Well, they're big problems. Number two. Uh, this bill has three point four billion dollars for quote, migration and refugee assistance and and and that's the pocket of money the Biden administration has used to pour cash into the NGOs that are assisting with illegal immigration at our southern border. And so this gives them billions more to keep funneling into these organizations that that that that are trafficking people illegally into this country and helping traffickers bring people illegally
into the country. I can't support that.
Now.
That's something that is obviously very frustrating. And this is what I think so many conservatives have been hearing about, and they're frustrated because why is it that this always happens?
Well, and listen that that that leads to the third and the single biggest problem with this bill is it does nothing, zero, nada to secure our southern border. It doesn't It doesn't address the crisis, and it is an existential crisis. We are seeing a full on invasion. And and just a few months ago Republicans all stood united and said we are going to use this Ukraine bill as leverage to force the Demo Crats to do something on our southern border. And all of us initially stood
united on that. Listen, I still believe that. I still believe and the Democrats they care passionately about this Ukraine Aid bill. Listen, we saw in the House of Representatives. We saw House Democrats ridiculously waving Ukrainian flags on the floor of the House. It was a pitiful spectacle. And as an aside, can you imagine those Democrats ever ever showing the same joy waving an American flag. It's hard
to imagine. But no, they were happy to jump up and down and wave Ukrainian flags on the House floor. It's clear they care passionately about that. And so I believe we should have stuck to our guns and said, Okay, if you want additional money for Ukraine, let's take serious
steps to secure the border. Not the bogus Chuck Schumer bill that would have made the problem worse and would have put catch and release into law, and what a normalize two million ellgoimmigrants a year, but serious legislation to secure the border. Once again, in front of the Senate, I introduced HR two as an amendment to the bill. And to be clear, if they had attached HR two strong border security to this bill, I would have voted yes. But they didn't, and and ultimately the House was not
able to move it out with border security included. And for me, as a Senator representing the great State of Texas, I can't sit by while our state and our country is invaded and allow this moment to go by. I can't support this bill without border security. I can't allocate funds to secure Ukraine's border before we secure our own border.
And that is the number one reason that I had to vote no. It is the crisis we have at home is too grave to allow this bill to move at least with my support, without fixing the problem here at home.
You mentioned the open border.
House Committee on Homeland Security found that illegal aliens are costing US an estimated four hundred fifty one billion dollars per year, the majority of that going to healthcare for illegal immigrants.
As crime as skyrocketing.
Now our hospitals are being filled with illegals who can't pay, and that is what they found. And yet we're sending money, like you said, to secure another country's border.
Well, and it's the Democrats have gone all in. They have decided that they are the open border party, that they are willing to give up anything, including apparently that we're willing to give up Ukraine aid in order to keep the open borders. I think we should have held the line and use this to force real border security, not not the fake, fake kind that Chuck Schumer was trying to get attached to this.
I want to move also to another major issue center, and that is we've been covering anti semitism on college campuses and exposing what's been happening. But now we're getting to see the White House, specifically the President of the United States of America is just pathetic and that word doesn't seem strong enough, but a pathetic response to anti semitism on college campuses. I want to play this for you from a reporter to the president of the United States of America and get your reaction to it.
Listen to this and.
The anti submitted protests on college campuses.
I condemn that another protests.
That's why I've set up a full gam to do with that.
I also condemn those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians and how they dreaming.
And then Columbia University president resigned. I didn't know that.
I'll not have to find out more time.
I love that they asked should she resign because I didn't know that. I'll have to find out more about that. But he condemns people that are anti Semitic, and then says, I also condemned those that don't know about the Palestinians, Like, what in the hell is the president doing here?
Sir?
Well, look, he said he didn't know that, and I actually believe that's some of the most honest words that he said. I think he has no idea what's going on. He's not aware of what's going on, and in particular, he's professing ignorance as to what's happening at Columbia, what's happening at Yale, And it is utterly disgraceful. But you know who's not ignorant. I mean, I agree he's oblivious,
But who's not ignorant? Or the other Democrats who are supporting this And I want you to listen to So there was an event, a Climate Core event where AOC was speaking right next to Joe Biden, and he was right there, and AOC had something to say on this that I want everyone, everyone to listen and hear. Here's AOC addressing Columbia Yale.
It is especially important that we remember the power of young people shaping this country to day of all days, as we once again witness the leadership of those peaceful student led protests on campus. It's like Columbia, Yale, Berkeley and.
Many others really, because a group of Yale student center formed a human chain to block a Jewish student from entering the university yesterday. And if you know history, this was a chilling act of anti Semitism that echoed nineteen thirty nine when Nazis blocked Jewish students are entering Vienna University simply because they were Jews.
Now that's absolutely right. And you also had a Jewish student at Yale who was poked in the eye with a flag and had to seek medical treatment because of that. And to say when you have threats of murder and violence and death, when you have it as you had it at Columbia, a student saying that Hamas should murder the Jews wish students on that campus. That is not peaceful. Threats of violence and calling from the murder of your former students is not remotely peaceful. But understand, AOC, this
is a sitting member of Congress. She's singling out Columbia Yale. She's praising what's happening at Columbia Yale. Understand she supports this vicious anti semitism. And there is Joe Biden happily sitting there. In fact, he said at the same event that he's learned that when AOC listened and it speaks,
you got to listen to her. Well, you know that that is Unfortunately, today's Democrat Party, which is the White House, is utterly tepid, unwilling to condemn specifically what is happening at Columbia and Yale, and the radicals in their party explicitly endorse it and celebrate it.
You mentioned the radicals of the Democratic Party. You and I have said this for a long time. When they tell you what they've leave in, believe them. I'll give you example of this. A group of Columbia University professors actually held a rally Monday. These are the professors who are indoctrinating the kids to hate Jews and hate Israel. They held a rally to express solidarity solidarity with the anti Semitic students that had been suspended for holding unauthorized
protests on campus. And not only that, but when you go back and look at what these leaders these universities believe, whether it's Clutting Gay, who we've exposed on the show multiple times, but at an event just two months after nine to eleven, Colombia University's current president remarked, and this was two months after nine to eleven, that terrorism is a quote form of protesting.
When they tell you who they are, believe them. Listen to this.
So it's not you'll always have individuals who will have extreme views. But what's really troubling in the region is that there's actually quite a broad base of society which has some sympathy for the terrorists. Not so much because they approve of their methods, but it's a form of protesting against a system which is not delivering for them on the economic or the political front.
I mean, that's no wonder that this university is totally just lost to its mind and we're watching this anti semitism. If that's what you're saying in public two months after nine to eleven, then imagine how many children you've been able to indoctrinate college students to believe that the Jews are Israel and that you should feel sympathy for Hamas has Isis al Kaeda.
The list goes on and on.
Well, and when she says there's a broad base of society that has sympathy for these terrorists, she's revealing a lot about the world in which she lives, about Ivy League universities, about our elite universities, about our academic system, about the left. Everyone she associates with falls into that crowd when they look at the terrorists and understand, we're
not talking about terrorists and the abstract. We're talking about Hamas and what they did on October seventh, murdering twelve hundred Israelis, murdering some thirty Americans, raping women and little girls, committing atrocities that the world has not seen since the Nazis, and in today's leftist academy, using the President of Columbia's own word, they have some sympathy for that. No, there is no sympathy. Terrorism is not a form of protest.
Terrorism is a horrific form of violence that targets civilians, that targets women and children, that commits murder and act of cruelty. And that's exactly what Hamas did, and it's what It's the reason these college campuses are allowing these anti Semitic protests to go on, these threats against Jewish students to go on. It's the reason Jewish students are being advised by the Orthodo Rabbi at Columbia to stay
home because Columbia will not protect your physical safety. And the reason is the President of Columbia, the administrators of Columbia. They explicitly side with the radicals and with the terrorists.
And it is shameful and it's sick.
Finally, on this, we're going to do a deep dive about the dark money that is clearly backing and orchestrating these not only events, but the shutting down of roads and bridges and supporting what's happening on these college campuses being anti Semitic. But there is one caveat, and this should be talked about it. And like I said, we're going to give you a lot more on this in another episode. But we've now found out that the NFL, the National Football League, funded a left wing group bailing
out anti Israel bridge blockers. And this is again how the left just holds these companies and these organization hostage, like you better give us some money.
We need somebody to bail out some people, and they just do it well.
And look, we we talked about in the wake of October seventh, how how black lives matter, how the Chicago chapter put out a tweet praising Hama, saying we stand with Palestine and and and having a a picture of a paraglider. Remember it was a paragliders that came in that the Hamas terrorists used to murder young people in Israel, and and and the cultural Marxist they support each other,
and and and and we're seeing that. Look on Columbia, it's not just the students that are facing threats of violence, it's the faculty too. So a Columbia professor, Shi David I wanted to go, and we talked about this on on on Monday's pod, that he intended to go and and be right among these protesters and stand up for Israel. And what Columbia did. They revoked his past to campus. They they zeroed out his access and blocked him. This
is the the administration of Columbia. They decided between a professor on their faculty who happened to be Jewish or the anti Semitic protesters who are threatening violence, that the problem was the professor who dared to be Jewish.
You know.
One of the things that this professor, Davidai, tweeted out. He said, quote to all the journalists, I promise I will try to get back to each and every one of you. In the meantime, I want you to consider this. To the best of my knowledge, the last time that a professor was denied access to their own university for
being Jewish was Nazi Germany. Well, actually that's not accurate, because we covered on this podcast how USC did that to a USC professor where they ordered him to stay at home and teach from home for precisely the same reason, because anti Israel protesters were threatening violence, and they decided not to protect him but instead to stand with the protesters.
Yeah, we're going to talk more about this dark money. I can promise you that, don't forget. We do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so make sure that subscribe, follow auto download button. Also, if you will help us reach other people by putting and sharing this podcast on your social media, it is amazing when you guys get in the fight and when you share what we're bringing to you, how many people find it for the very first time and hear what the media is basically covering
up and refusing to cover. So when you do that, it makes a huge difference. Thank you for doing that. Don't forget. You can grab my podcast on those in between days. I'll keep you update on the latest breaking news the Ben Ferguson podcasts as well and the Cenater.
I will see you back here in a couple of days.