Welcome its verdict with Senator Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson with you. It's nice to have you with us on this Wednesday morning. And there's a big controversy and a big story that the media has just I mean, they've gone all in on that deals with conversations that were had center on the Signal app. A lot of people in government use it. I use this app. It's encrypted, that's why they use it. And a journalist it was inadvertently put on apparently one of those text message threads.
Well, the media are a flutter with what they're calling Signal Gate, which is this text thread on the app Signal and it was about the military strikes against the Huthis who have been attacking shipping shipping in the Suez Canal, and inadvertently the National Security Advisor added this journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, who then wrote an article and I got to say, it's an astonishing article. The media are going crazy and they're using it as an excuse to attack President Trump,
to attack his national security team. Now we're going to break down what exactly was going on there, What did they do anything wrong? Were they talking about? What happened? Why does it matter. We're going to break it all down. We're also going to talk about what has happened to the Democrat Party. They're getting angrier and angrier and angrier, and they are embracing violence every day, they're calling for violence.
They are the Party of Rage. And finally, we're going to talk about the media coverage about how the Democrats are in a quote deep dark hole. That's not me, that's Axios, one of the most mainstream corporate media outlets there is, that says the Democrats are in the deepest hole in fifty years. We're going to break that down.
How when a party decides it doesn't stand for anything, When a party gets so radical that it abandons the voters, When a party is formed only around one idea, which is hatred for Donald J. Trump, that turns out not to be a successful electoral strategy. We're going to talk about that as well.
Yeah, the gig seems to be up certainly the American voters on that. And there's some polling data will also give you in a minute as well that you don't want to miss. I want to tell you about the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews first, and for more than a year it has been of war, of terror, of pain in Israel. The need for security essentials and support for first responders is still very critical in Israel.
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So Senator. When this story broke, it was very clear the media thought this was the moment where they could turn the tables on Donald Trump as administer. I think there was even some dreams of maybe someone gets fired sixty days into this administration, the cabinet because of this journalist report that I got on a text thread with all these important people in Trump administration world. And now I'm going to tell you what I saw.
Well, look what happened is there was a text thread and it was using the app called Signal. Now, Signal is an encrypted app. A lot of people in government use it. You use it, I use it, a lot of journalists use it. It's a way to communicate an encrypted way that it is less likely to be intercepted.
And that there was a group chat that was created by President Trump's national security advisor, Michael Waltz about the upcoming strikes against the Houthis and Yemen, and bizarrely included in the group was a journalist named Jeffrey Goldberg who was at The Atlantic magazine. And jeff Beffrey Goldberg is a liberal. He's a well known journalist, and it I have no good explanation for why Jeffrey Goldberg was added.
He's the editor in chief of The Atlantic, and it was a screw up, and and and let's start with that. It was clearly a screw up. It was embarrassing. It it's sort of comparable to a butt dial. You know, Look, I've inadvertently sent texts to the wrong person. I'm sure you have. In this instance, it was clear it was a mistake. He was not meant to be added to this group, and suddenly, bizarrely he is getting text about an upcoming military strike. So that was bad. At the
end of the day. Though, what is striking, although although you're seeing the sharks circle and trying to attack the president of the National Security Team, is the underlying substance of what's being discussed is actually quite good. So the substance of what's being discussed. The Huthies are radical Islamic terrorists. They're based in Yemen, and they are funded by Iran.
They are Iran proxies, and they have been for months, for years attacking shipping in and around the Suez Canal, and they've been shutting down a massive amount of shipping at the Suez Canal and that has had a real consequence to Americans. So listen, when you go to the grocery store, when you go to the department store, you are paying significantly higher prices because the Huthis have been shutting down shipping through the Suez Canal, which makes shipping
and transportation cost much much higher. And I got to say, for four years, Joe Biden, the Democrats, they didn't do a damn thing. They let radical Islamic terrorists engage in acts of terrorism and shut down shipping, slow down shipping. And what has happened in the first two months of the Trump administration is President Trump gave an instruction to his team. He said, open up the shipping lanes. Let's
go after the Houthies. And by the way, we carried out a military strike hit the Houthis and did real damage. And so this entire text chain is the national security leadership of the Trump administration talking about this upcoming strike, and the strike was a massive success. So on substance, we got to be thrilled. We actually have a commander in chief who's standing up for America, who's defending American shipping, is defending American interests, who's fighting terrorists who hate America.
All of that is a massive contrast from what happened under Joe Biden. What was the mistake? The mistake was inadvertently they added this journalist who then wrote this sort of breathless bombshell story about I was on this text about the war plans, and again it was a screw up. It was embarrassing, but the under lying substance every one of us ought to be really happy about.
You mentioned that this was one of those moments that, look, the press wanted to go ballistic on. There was also really I think a smart move by the White House to have no problem having a conversation about this. The President didn't run away from it. There was no no comment, there was much. There was a lot of like openness and conversation, like, hey, we're more than happy to talk
about this. I actually think the American people appreciate that, because usually when they're screw ups, Amen, everybody just disappears from you know, accountability or even answering questions or saying we can't talk about this time or it deals with classified there's always a million excuses. The president didn't use any of those, like let's talk about it and he did it in front of the journalists, in front of this entire cabinet as well.
Yeah, so let me make a couple comments on this. Number One, During four years of Biden's presidency, he hit hid from the press, he didn't press conferences, he didn't take questions, and it's not complicated why his mental condition was so deteriorated that nobody trust him to take questions. Donald Trump is taking questions. It seems like every day
he's answering hard questions. And so today at the White House he was asked about reporters about what happened here, and we're going to play a segment, and this is a lengthy segment, but it's worth listening to because the president explains what's going on. I think his answers here are terrific and it's worth really listening to what he says.
So give a listen, mister president, are you going to change in you to practices that your national security officials used?
Acker reporter was inaffortently added to a group chat about attacks on Evan.
Well, I think it's a question I've been asked now and I've given it a few answers, and they've all been the same. We have an amazing group or national security now is stronger than it's ever been. We have I've had a very very successful numerous attacks.
In that area.
These are people that shoot down ships. Not only are ships ships all over the world. They're shooting down right out of the water and damaging them badly or they're going down. They're also shooting anything that happens to be flying in the area.
We hit them very, very hard.
There was no classified information as I understand it.
They used a.
App, if you want to call it an app that a lot of people use, a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the big aus. And I think I'll ask Mike, Mike is here. Do you want to respond to theness?
Yes, mister President, you asked about lessons. I think there's a lot of the lessons. There's a lot of journalists in this city who have made big names for themselves making up lies about this president, whether it's the Russia hoax or making up lies about gold Star families. And this one in particular, i've never met.
Don't know, never communicated with, And we are and we are looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room but I'll tell you what the world owes President Trump of favor.
Under Biden, global.
Shipping was shut down, penprick attacks months between them, are destroyers being fired upon dozens of times. President Trump took decisive active action with his national security team, took out the head missileer, knocked out missiles, knocked out headquarters, knocked out communication sites, and for once, as we hear, as you all hear from every one of our allies, thank god for American leadership again, thank God for American strength, your health. And we had a national security team that
was coordinating these efforts. As Director Ratcliffe testified today, his first day on the job, he was introduced to this app on his government systems at the CIA and at the State Department and otherwise. So look this journalist, mister President. Once the world talking about more hoaxes in this kind of nonsense, rather than the freedom that you're enabling. And a key part of our sovereignty is open sea lanes and knocking the crop out of terrorists, which is exactly
what your team. And Pete Hexat, a good friend and fellow veteran, is leading the charge on.
And it's an honor orful excuse me. We had a very very successful evening, and we've had numerous successful evenings and days in that area. The Hoodies are absolutely on the run. The worst of them had been killed. This should have been done a long time ago by Biden. But Biden was an incompetent president. He couldn't do anything. He get in nowhere where it was going. He had no clue. This guy had no clue. This should have
been done a long time ago. As they shoot missiles at chips, randomly shoot missiles at chips, and they make their own missiles. You know, this is not an incompetent group of people. They make their own missiles. They get the missiles also from Iran. It's an offshoot of Iran, another offshoot. You have Hamas, you have Hesbula, you have the Hoodies. You got a lot of stuff going on
with Iran, and we set a letter to Iran. You're gonna have to be speaking to us one way or the other pretty soon because we can't let this happen.
But that's an app that a lot of people use.
And somebody got on, I mean happened to know the guy's in total sleevesberg.
The Atlantic.
The Atlantic is a failed magazine does very very poorly. Nobody gives a damn about it. This gives it a little bit of a shot. And I will tell you this that they've made up more stories and they're just a failing magazine.
The public understands that he's a very good man.
That man is a very good man right there that you criticize so strong, he's a very good man and he will continue to do good job. In addition to him, we had very good people in that meeting, and those people have done a very very effective job.
And you're can see it, and it goes on. By the way, it's going to go.
On, and I think the hoodies wish that it didn't happen, But that's what it's all about. We have to create a safe country, a safe world, and that's what we're doing.
Security put it for.
A spand rem president of senior officials using signal or the use of signal to communicate from senior officials.
I don't know anything about signal.
I wasn't involved in this, but I just turn about it and I hear it's used by a lot of groups.
It's used by the media a lot.
It's used by a lot of the military, and I think successfully, but sometimes somebody can get onto those things. That's one of the prices you pay when you're not sitting in the situation room with no phones on, which is always the best, frankly, but you know, you you the best is to be there. In fact, oftentimes I've been in the infectious Last week, I was in the situation room with something very important and we had a couple of people hooked up by line, and I said,
cancel the line, sorry, fellas. What you do is we'll tell you all about the meeting, because I know people do get on those lines, whether it's signal or anything else.
Yeah, are you going to change any procedures as a result of this.
Well, I mean, look, we look at everything, and you know, they've made a big deal out of this because we've had two perfect months.
We're bringing we are bringing in business.
We have another one announced tomorrow, a big one, very big, like in the history of our country.
Nobody's ever seen anything like it.
And I think probably a lot of people are saying it's They started by saying it was the greatest first month that a president has ever had, and I think that's true. And now they say it's the best second month, and they had to find something and this certainly we'll look at this, But the main thing was nothing happened. The attack was totally successful. It was I guess from what I understand, took place during and it wasn't classified information.
So this was not class of now butch classified information. It's probably a little bit different. But I always say you have to learn from every experience. I think it was very unfair the way they attacked Michael. He's a good person. The person that was on just happens to be a Slees bag. So maybe that's just coincidence.
I don't know. I love it.
Maybe he's just you know, it's leeves bag. You can't make it up.
Well, look, I got to say I love President Trump's answer to this because he's very candid, he's very real. He admits it was a screw up. It was a mess up to add the journalist. But one of the things that's most important is he strongly defends Mike Waltz. Mike Waltz is Donald Trump's national security advisor. Mike is a friend to mine. He's a very good man. Mike is a veteran. He was in Special Forces he received four Bronze Stars while serving combat tours in Afghanistan and
the Middle East and Africa. And he's smart, he's serious. And I got to say, there are people who hate President Trump that are trying to use this mess up to attack Mike Waltz. And I was really glad the President stood strongly with Mike Waltz. He's doing a very good job. I had dinner with Mike just a few weeks ago. He is a smart, serious leader focused on defending this nation from our enemies. I also like that the President focused on the underlying substance. Look, what we
did was a great victory for America. Joe Biden had let four years go by of the who he's attacking, American shipping companies, hurting American interests. And President Trump he's been in office just over two months and he's already standing up, taking out terrorists, fighting for American interests. That is a huge, substant victory. I want to make another point.
There are some observers that are looking at the Trump administration and her writing story saying the Trump administration is isaists. They're not willing to engage and defend American interests. That is wrong. Donald Trump is not an isolationist. America first is not an isolationist philosophy. If you look at the first term of President Trump, he took out General Solomoni from Iran. That was incredibly important. General Solomoni had murdered
over six hundred American servicemen and women. He fought and was vigorous taking out enemies of America. And it's worth noting in the first few months of Trump's first term he took out ISIS. ISIS had a caliphate larger than the state of Indiana, and he utterly decimated and destroyed ISIS. So Donald Trump his record, he is not an isolationist. And this is a good illustration of this. The Huthies
are a proxy of Iran. They were attacking America. Joe Biden was too weak to fight back, and Donald Trump, in his first two months is already fighting back. And the media wants to change the subject from the substance of protecting America to attacks on the administration. I'm very glad. I'm really happy with the President's defense of Mike Waltz and the president's substance of defense of his policy defending America.
You mentioned attacks. I want to move to this other subject, and it deals unfortunately with the issue of actual attacks and violence coming from the Democratic Party and the crazies within it, threatening violence not only against you, but many others, and even mocking Texas Governor Greg Abbott. And I want to get your reaction to that. But first I want to tell you about Patriot Mobile. If you have a cell phone, you need to listen to what you're missing
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witnessed this. It's been directed towards Elon Musk. Threats against Elon Musk threats now are expanding to Tesla dealerships. We're finding in sinerary devices, bombs and dealership for example in Austin, Texas. And then there's people now they're threatening you. This seems to be the Democratic Party's playbook. Now, if there's someone we don't like, we go out after them, We go after their businesses. We tried to destroy what they built,
We try to financially ruin him. All of this, what they did to Donald Trump, and we saw that the rhetoric literally almost cost Donald Trump's life in that first assassination attempt that actually got him. And now they don't seem to be backing down at all.
Well, the Democrats today are the party of rage, the party of anger. And I will say there's a house member in Texas, Jasmine Crockett, who this week has been a rough week for she has been unhinged. She has called for violence against me. She has denigrated and mocked Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, because he is in a wheel wheelchair, because he has a disability. And it really does show who today's Democrats are. And I want you to listen to what she said first about me
and then about Greg Abbott. Give a listen, just in case.
The slow people listening decide to click this up later. I just want to say that I have never promoted violence whatsoever.
I think that you punch.
I think you punch.
I think you're okay with you okay with punching.
You know, I think, and I love Colin, and I think towards the end he started to punch a little harder.
But like it's sad ruse.
I mean, like this dude has to be knocks over the head like hard, right, Like there is no niceties with him, like at all, Like you go clean off on him, right.
I hear that, and I just shake my head center Because of course, when the fire is of the spotlight is on her, she's like, oh, I've never called for violence, And then you play the clip right there, it's very clear what she's saying.
Look, I gotta admit I've never met this woman, Jasmine Crockett. I don't know her. She's a new congresswoman from Texas. She seems really angry, she seems really radical. She seems to be the darling of the radical left because she calls for crazy things I will tell you, Look, I've been this Senate thirteen years. One of it's an incredible privilege. I'm blessed. I jump out of bed every day excited because I get to fight for Texas, I get to fight for America. I will tell you one of the
downsides of this job. I have literally hundreds of death threats against me.
And by the way, I'm going to be clear, you and I we spend a lot of time together. We travel. There are a lot of people that come up and encourage. But man, some of the things that people say. And I've had the threats, not like you've had threats, but it's like part of the business now. Which is the worst part about it is that if you're in politics and you're conservative, there are people that want you to
die and come after you. But you and I we went to a game and people are screaming the F bomb in front of your daughter who was with thus, And there was several times that happened, and it's like there is no just like, you're a dad in that moment, you're a father. I'm a dad when I'm out my son and someone get to my face to the HGB and start screaming exers at me in a cereal io. It's like, what is wrong with these people? And yet it seems to be getting.
Worse not better. Yeah, look, there are a lot of people that are just unhinged and filled with hate. And I'll tell you, look, I'll vivian encouragement. Listen, the folks that listen to verdict, you guys are amazing. I'm so grateful for you. You're incredibly engaged and you're passionate, and you're fighting to save this country. I will tell you, when I travel around, the ratio of positive to negative comments, it is more than ninety percent positive. It's probably ninety
five percent or even ninety eight percent positive. So it's encouraging. When I'm out at airport, when I'm out at a shopping mall, people say nice things. They say thank you, they say that I appreciate you, and that's gratifying that that makes me. There are regularly people who don't and and people on the left. Now, I got to say many of them on the left, when they say something negative, they'll like screw up their courage that they'll run up and they'll go f you and they'll just like yell
at me, and it's very funny. It's like, Wow, you spent a long time thinking about that, and that was the best you could come up with. That was very clever. And my standard response, and unfortunately it happens often enough that I have to have a standard response. My standard response is I say God bless you. And I got to tell you, it infuriates them. And you know, there's a principle in the Bible that if you repay hatred with kindness, that it is like piling hot coals on
their heads. So I'll say God bless you, and I'll smile, I'll be very happy, like when they say f you have my response is God bless you. And there was one time in Houston where this this like liberal woman screamed F you and I said God bless you. And she's like, I don't want your God's love and I said that's okay, Jesus loves you anyway. And it drove her nuts, like like she almost had an aneurysm when I said that. And I try to be smiling and
show a contrast. And I will say, just a couple of days ago, I had a young woman who was screaming F you, and I did say something to the effect of your very charming, your mother, but it must be very proud. How'd that turn out?
Oh?
She just stormed off. And I'm sure as she was driving home she's thought of fifty different responses, but she didn't say any of them. She's just like, yeah, I randomly scream f you at people at the airport. I'm a great person. But listen when you have people on the left, and listen, Jasmine is saying you need to hit him in the head and hit him really hard. I'll be honest, Ben, I really hope someone doesn't hit me in the head really hard, like like I would prefer not to have my brains bashed in.
This is the part where I think it's a bigger issue that concerns me. It's the dog whistles that come from the leaders. Hit by the way Democratic Party, Donald Trump push in your face.
You had two assassins who tried to kill him. Yeah, we've got Democrats who are firebombing Tesla and radical leftists and no Democrat is condemning it. They are calling for violence. These are the same people that had Antifa and Black Lives Matter riots and and and so the threat of violence is very real. We had at the at the baseball practice, we had a radical leftist, a Bernie Sanders supporter, who came and said, he asked someone, Hey, are those
Republicans there? They said yes, and he came with a rifle and shot people and and had It was pure happenstance that Steve Scalise, who was a member of House Leadership, was there because he had a security detail, and that
security detail shot and killed this radical leftist. If let's say Scalice had been ten minutes late that morning, let's say he'd been delayed, he'd been taking his kids to school, he'd been doing something else, and he was delayed, that radical leftist would have murdered over a dozen House members and two US senators. We came incredibly close to a massacre because of the active solicitation of violence. And let me be clear, this is on one side the leftist
calling for violence. I categorically opposed violence. I don't want anyone to engage in violence against leftists. I'm not calling for this nutcase Jasmine Crockett to face the violence. No, no, no, Now, I think her views are anathema and I want you to play what she said like a day or two later, attacking Greg Abbott because it is equally noxious. Listen to this.
We in these hot ass Texas streets, Honey, y'all know we got governor hot wheels down there, Come on now, and the only.
Thing hot about him is that he is a.
Hot ass mess honey.
So so yes, yes, yes.
Yes, I mean you listen to that. It's like, one, what do you think is going to come of that? The other thing is the backdrop behind her is she's literally speaking at the Human Rights Campaign and that's what she's preaching and people are laughing and clapping as she's on stage four again.
But by the way, baby, do you do you know why Greg Abbott is in a wheelchair?
Yeah? It was, if I remember the story correctly, he was running at the park and a random tree limb fell on his head and paralyzed.
It broke us back. And I'll tell you I worked for him five and a half years. Greg Abbott is a dear friend. He's been a boss, a mentor, and he would tell a joke, Like when I first went to work for him, he would tell a joke. He'd get up and say, Okay, I know what you're thinking. How slow was that guy running to get hit by a tree? And like the first time he jokes about it, you're not sure what to say, Like, wait, am I
allowed to laugh about it? And he would, he would tell jokes about it, and you could be like, Okay, I mean, I guess if you can joke about it, I can laugh about it. But you know, it was tragic. And he's been paralyzed for twenty plus maybe thirty plus years, a long time in a wheelchair. And she's sitting there at supposedly the Human Rights Campaign. Now it's a leftist radical group that is obsessed with LGBT. I mean, that's
really what they exist. But they're cheering, yes, Governor hot wheels, he's disabled in a wheelchair?
Ha ha.
What the hell's wrong with these people? I mean that is that is nasty and hateful and it's who's today's Democrat party is.
Yeah, it really is, which brings me to a final thing I want to talk about with you, and this is one of those. It seems like this used to be more effective dividing the country. That's what I think Crockett, for example, loves to do. We divide and then hopefully I can conquer by division, and that doesn't seem to
be working now with the American people. That's why it seems like the president I think truly has a majority support on virtually every issue that he's talking about right now, an overwhelming support sixty five seventy five percent approval ratings in certain categories. Because the Democratic Party does seem to be floundering, and I'm talking about the entire party. I think part of that is because the Democratic Party isn't
really a Democratic party anymore. They're Marxists and socialists and communists masquerading around and so now people are looking at him for what they are.
And Ben, You're not the only person making that point. I'm not the only person making that point. Just this week, there was an article in Axios and Axios may be the sort of most insidery Washington d C. Swampy media outlet there is, and the lead reporters there, Jim Vanderheind Mike Allen. They write a column that is really worth reading because it's astonishing. It is entitled behind the Curtain
DEM's dark, deep Hole, and here's what they write. They say, top Democrats tell us their party is in its deepest toll in nearly fifty years, and they fear things could actually get worse, and they lay out a series of
bullet points. The party has its lowest favorability ever, no popular national leader to help improve it, insufficient numbers to stop most legislation in Congress, a durable minority on the Supreme Court, dwindling influence over the media ecosystem with right wing with right leaning podcasters like Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson, I may be adding that to which I say, and social media accounts ascendant, and that clearly is about verdict
with Ted Cruz and all of our incredible listeners. Another bulletpoint, young voters are growing dramatically more conservative. A bad twenty twenty six map for Senate races. Democratic Senate retirements could make it harder for the party to flip the House. With members tempted by statewide races. There are only three House Republicans in districts former Vice President Harris I in twenty twenty four, a dim signed for a Democratic surge.
There were twenty three eight years ago in seats Hillary Clinton won, and thanks to the number of people fleeing blue states, the math for a DEM to win the presidency will just get harder in twenty thirty. Amen. Amen, Amen, Amen to that.
Don't forget. We do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Hit that subscriber auto download button and help us grow and reach new people by sharing this podcast wherever you are on social media and the Center. I will see you back here on Friday morning.