What an amazing week, a massive red wave. Welcome it is Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, the Weekend Review, Ben Ferguson with you, and well, you know what the big story is. Donald Trump is the forty seventh President of the United States of America. So let's start with this. The silent majority made the difference in this election. The silent majority woke up and said we are sick of the radical extremist policies of Harris and Joe Biden. That was the difference. Will break it down for you. Plus,
could the happiest man in America actually be Joe Biden? Well, he was all smiles when he had his first press conference talking and promising a smooth transition of power to Donald Trump after they forced him out of the White House, and finally Elon Musk all up in a Trump campaign, and now he could be bringing some of his magic to the White House. It's the week in Review and
it starts right now. Senator. Let's also just talk about I think the silent majority was sick and tired of being dictated to and yelled at and called hitler and called garbage. I think that played into this race for the first time a Republican has won the popular vote in two decades, twenty plus years. If that doesn't feel like vindication, I don't know what is. But this was
a moment where Americans stood up to the media. They stood up to the Taylor Swifts and the Beyonces and the George Cloonies of the world and all these radicals in the media and said, no, no, I'm not going to be quiet. I'm not going to be told them a racist, are a bigot, because I set up for my traditional values and.
You're not going to bully me anymore. This is massive. I think you're exactly right. It turns out it is a bad electoral strategy to insult and condescend and treat the voters like crap. And that's what the Democrats. Look at the last two weeks. You had Kamala Harris launch their strategy of calling Donald Trump hitler. You then had
Joe Biden calling half of America pieces of garbage. And you then had Mark Cuban on behalf of Kamala Harris, her top surrogate, go out and insult women and say there are no smart and strong women voting for Donald Trump. That combination, look, I got to tell you, I've run in a lot of elections. I've never found that insulting the voters is a smart electoral strategy. And it was a little bizarre to see the Democrats go all in on that.
Yeah, it didn't work and it was a failure. There. Let's talk about what happens in the Senate, because I think this goes back to how important it was with your race and the fact that you were able to win by such a large margin over already there was an incredible amount of money. We didn't get talk about this on Verdicts, as we mentioned earlier, but there was an incredible amount of money and Chuck Schumer, you were
his number one target. They came after you. They based kind of pulled away from this race a little bit financially after you just wiped him during the debate. Congratulations on that something we didn't get to talk about on the show. But if people are boring, they're junkies like I am, and you want to watch one hell of a debate, go watch Center Cruise and they all read debate. It was unbelievable and that shifted the race financially. But the amount of money that came in from outside to
try to turn Texas into a liberal state. But at the end of the day, Republicans are closer to flipping New York in Texas. And that is a data point as well that I think you got to look at.
Yeah, no, no, that's exactly right. I will say the debate. The debate was ridiculous fun. I loved that debate. I had a lot of fun doing it, and I think it went well. I will look this race. Chuck Schumer was explicit that I was his number one target in the country, and they flooded cash into the state of Texas. This race was the single most expensive Senate race in the entire country. It will end up being nearly a quarter billion dollars. Nearly two hundred and fifty million dollars will
have been spent on both sides in this race. That ain't cheap. Schumer poured well over one hundred million into the race. And I got to say one of my more fun things that I enjoyed doing last night at the election night speech, as I took the opportunity to thank Schumer, I said, thanks, Chuck, we may have won a couple more Senate seats tonight because you wasted so
much money in the state of Texas. So I appreciate that, and it I got to say, I guarantee you there's some Democrats who are second guessing that, who are questioning did that make any sense just to pour the money into Texas and lose the states they lost.
You talk about the Senate agenda moving forward. Obviously the border is going to be something very quick. But there are some new ideas that have come out of this Trump campaign that connected with voters. A great example is Elon Musk and Trump talking about, Hey, retired people should be completely tax exempt. They've already paid their taxes. We need to stop taxing Social Security benefits. Some of these common sense things. What are the chances that some of
these ideas that connected with the American people? No taxes on tips is another example, will turn into a reality if we have the House and Senate or is that's still going to be a really tough thing to get done.
Look, if we have the House, I think we'll get it done. No taxes on Tips. I'm the author of that legislation in the Senate. When I introduced it, it was interesting. It's bipartisan legislation, both of the Democrat senators from Nevada joined almost immediately. They told me twenty five percent of the workers in Nevada are tipped workers, and so they jumped on immediately. If we have the House, I think it will be part of the tax cuts, no taxes on tips. I also think we'll get it done.
No taxes on Social Security. That is a little bit harder to do because in terms of the budgetary cost, it's not cheap, and so the negotiations back and forth there'll be some bumps on that. But the President is pushing for it. I'm strongly in favor of it. I think we'll get it done as part of the tax cuts. Both of those are big, big important policy ideas. And listen, in terms of the Senate, let's break down where we
stand on the Senate right now. So we went into last night with the Democrats having a fifty one forty nine majority. As of right now, Republicans have fifty two. So we have three pickups that are clear. One of them is West Virginia. We knew that was one hundred percent. And so Jim Justice, the governor, is going to now be the Senator. He's going to replace Joe Manchin, the Democrats basically conceded West Virginia once Joe Manchin wasn't running.
There wasn't a Democrat alive who could win West Virginia. They conceded that the two others that we have won are Montana and Ohio. Montana was John Tester. Montana is a bright red state and Tim Shee He just just beat Tester. That's a victory we thought was quite likely and it happened. Montana is too red a state to be represented by a Democrat. Ohio, likewise, Sharett Brown was beaten by Bernie Moreno last night. That's a great victory.
That was a hard fought victory. I'll tell you Shared Brown and John Tester two the very best politicians in the country. You don't get elected counter to the way your state generally votes unless you're really really talented. And you know, John Tester with a flat top haircut, Nate figures. He seemed like a big, old fat Montana rancher that just was a regular guy, and it got him elected even when Trump was carrying the state and Republicans were
carrying the state in past years. SAME's true in Ohio, where Shared Brown seemed like just a regular guy. At the Union Hall, and there were voters in Ohio that were voting Donald Trump shared Brown. Now both Brown and Tester vote like communists, they vote like Chuck Schumer, but they're very good character actors, and when they're back at home they pretended not to. Those two victories ensure that
we have the majority in the Senate. And then on top of that, right now we have four other possibilities. We had one hard loss. We did not win Wisconsin. We were leading a good chunk of the night. Eric Hoved was narrowly leading Tammy Baldwin's Wisconsin's now been called
for the Democrats. So assuming those numbers are right, it looks like we did not win Wisconsin in the Senate, although Trump won Wisconsin and the presidential Right now, we have a shot at winning Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, and Arizona, and all of those are uncalled right now. And here are the numbers. Pennsylvania right now, Dave McCormick, the Republican is leading forty eight point nine percent to forty eight
point five percent, so it's really really close. Michigan. Michigan right now, the Democrat is leading forty eight point six percent to forty eight point three percent, so we are down by point three percent both Pennsylvania and Michigan. Ninety seven percent of the vote is in Nevada. Nevada right now, the Republican Sam Brown is leading forty seven point five percent to forty seven percent. That would be a flip if we won Nevada. Eighty eight percent of the vote
is in there. And then Arizona, Arizona. Right now, this is probably it's the furthest distance we have to have to climb. The Democrat is leading fifty point four percent to forty seven point seven percent, so it's three points that we need to pick up, almost three points. Now, only sixty three percent of the vote is in in Arizona, and it's a Merica Copa County. It's the suburbs of Phoenix that are still counting. So look, it is certainly
possible that we win Arizona. Trump has won Arizona, but three points is a bigger margin to close than the other states. And so all four of those we're going to wait and see.
Let's talk finally about the takeaways from the media, and I'll go back to what I said earlier. Donald Trump trumped them all. He trumped the Democrats, he trumped the globalists, he trumped the deep state, he trumped the news media. They're still having meltdowns. This morning, The View, the girls on the View, the ladies in the View came out wearing black like it was a funeral, mental health crisis. MSNBC's O'donald Trash as the Founding Fathers called the electoral
College voter suppression. This morning, Joy Reid at MSNBC said, Florid extreme right wing fascist state now officially Van Jones came out and started playing the race card in the gender card. Stewart had a total meltdown on his show, and this is just what we're seeing in the moments after a Trump victory. It's like they didn't learn their lesson. I mean, you would think they would take away and go, okay, what did we do wrong. They're not stopping.
You know, look, we'll see what happens. I think there right now, there's a lot of blaming of Kamala for being a terrible candidate. There's a lot of blaming of Joe Biden for having been essentially unconscious for several years. I don't see the Democrats right now taking responsibility for gosh, we advocated an agenda that was horrible for America. You know, there used to be Senate moderates among the Democrats. I don't know of any Senate moderates left. The only two
arguable ones where Joe Manchin and Kirsten Cinemon. They're both on and and so that that dynamic. You know you you look at I would love to see some Democrats recalibrate and say, let's move to the middle. But but I think right now they're just emoting. They're just engaged
in a in a combination of rage and shock and disbelieve. Look, you know you and I talked about Mark Halprin, he used to be the head of political news at ABC, did an interview with Tucker Carlson where Halprin said that he thought there would be real mental health crises and and violence from the left if Trump won. That that he was laying out the case that that those of us not afflicted with Trump derangement syndrome do not understand
just how much of a meltdown this will be. I look, I hope we don't go there, but but I do think I don't see many Democrats willing to to to repent and change their ways.
Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week. Now onto story number two. You know, one of the things that's also interesting about this conversation is the fact that Democrats who said, well, you know, we were trying to say democracy were screwed. Now we got to dictator a tyrant coming in, are actually the
ones acting like that. Governor Newsom has already come out saying I'm calling a special session to prep the battle against incoming Trump administration, calling it a special legislative session focus on potential state litigation against the Trump administration over issues that could impact his state.
Look, they're going to resist on every front. They're going to fight because why because they hate democracy. That's the irony. They talk about democracy constantly, but what they mean momocracy is we will force you to obey us, whether or not the voters want it. They don't actually want democracy. If they want a democracy, they wouldn't have prosecuted Trump four different times because they would have trusted the voters. They like power, and they mask their lust for power
in calling it democracy. But I gotta say, there's at least one Democrat right now who is celebrating, who is smiling ear to ear, who may well be the happiest man in the world, and that would be Joseph Robinette Biden. He is joyful. And I'm going to wager you twenty bucks that Joe Biden and Jill Biden they both pulled the lever for Donald Trump when they voted on Tuesday.
It wouldn't surprise me because if you go back to this coup, and to quickly remind people, it was the Democratic mafia and the fam the five families, it was the Schumer, Pelosi, Obama Clinton's that were in this and Harris, those five families had a coup. I think they probably threatened him with a twenty fifth amendment if you don't step aside, we're gonna do this too, because we don't want to lose, and we think we can win. With
Harris and Joe Biden. I have not seen him have a bigger grin on his face when he did this Rose Garden conversation. Whatever. Well, look the whole thing started.
I mean, I think Biden found out about it when he woke up with his dog Major's head in his bed, and he was just screaming and screaming and screaming. And for those of y'all too young to get the reference, that's a reference to The Godfather, where where the movie producer who refuses to cast a young Frank Sinatra has this this prize race horse that that the Godfather decapitates and puts the horse's head in the bed. And it
really was. It was the five families they met and they said, mister Biden, your services are no longer needed. And and you know what I think Joe Biden is. I don't think it's an accident that Joe Biden put on a Maga hat in the middle of the election. I do not think it is an accident that Jill Biden when she went to vote, dressed in all read I think that was quite deliberate. But listen to Joe Biden. Listen to the joy that he is emanating today.
Now take a listen to Joe Biden. And I'll say it again. When he came out, he was grinning from ear to ear in the Rose Garden.
Yeah, it's good to see you all, particularly good to see my granddaughter sitting in the front row here. Hi Van how are you, honey. For over two hundred years, America has carried out the greatest experiment in self government and history of the world. That's not hyperbole, that's a fact.
For the people.
The people vote and choose their own leaders, and they do it peacefully, and we're in a democracy.
The will of the.
People always prevails. Yesterday, I spoke with President elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory, and I assured him I direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That's what the American people deserve. Yesterday I also spoke with Vice President Harris. She's been a partner and a public servant. She ran an inspiring campaign and everyone got to see something that I learned early on to respect so much her character.
She has a backbone like a rammod. She has great character, true character. She gave her whole heart and effort, and she and her entire team should be proud of the campaign they ran. You know, the struggle for the soul of America since our very founding has always been an ongoing debate and still vital today. I know for some people it's a time for victory to state the obvious. For others, it's a time of loss. Campaigns, your contest of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other.
We accept the choice the country made. I've said many times, you can't love your country only when you win. You can't love your neighbor only when you agree something. I hope we can do no matter who you voted for, they see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans. Bring down the temperature. I also hope we can later rest the question about the integrity of the American electoral system. It is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent,
and it can be trusted win or lose. I also hope we can restore their respect for all our election workers who busted their next and took risks at the outset. We should thank them, thank them for staffing voting sites, counting the votes, protecting the very integrity of the election. Many of them are volunteers who do it simply out of love for their country and as they did as they did their duty as citizens. I will do my duty as president. I'll fulfill my oath, and I wanted
the Constitution. On January twentieth, we'll have a peaceful transfer of power here in America. To all our incredible staff, supporters, Captinet members, all the people who have been hanging out with me for the last forty years.
God love you.
As my mother would say, thank you so much. You put so much into the past four years. I know it's a difficult time.
I mean, this was a different Joe Biden. You can even say, a joyous Joe Biden is not what you would normally think. And you gotta look at it and go, man, he was living it up on election. I like, you guys threw me out and guess what, you didn't get the prize after all.
Yeah, And look, I am certain that Joe Biden looked at his family, looked at his top staff, and said, if it had been me, I don't want he believed. He believes it through and through. And I don't think he will ever forgive Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer for throwing him overboard, doing it unceremoniously and saying we want Kamala instead. And look, we'll never know what that alternative reality would be. I mean, Biden's first
debate was a disaster. That's undoubtedly true. But I will tell you on election night, Biden did better everywhere than Kamala did like Kamala or let me frame it in the obverse, Kamala did worse than Biden did everywhere. And Joe Biden, I think, is celebrating and not even that quietly. And you know what, I'm celebrating too, because it means the country. It's morning in America again and we're turning the country around as before.
If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and down the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing. I want to get back to the big story number three of the week. You may have missed. All right, let me ask you this question. You've actually met and chatted with Elon Musk. There is something different that's happening right now, and that's the people around Trump. There's a very good chance that Elon Musk could be involved in
the Trump administration on a real level. We see him bring in people like RFK Junior. We see him bringing in different minds that traditional you know politicians have not done. How significant could it be to have a guy like Elon Musk coming in and looking at like, you know, accountability and efficiency with I say, it's government, which is clearly bloated, and this is something he's really good at.
Yeah. Look, Elon is extraordinary. I know him well, he's become a friend. I've spent a lot of time with Elon. I'll tell you that they're smart people you encounter in life. Elon is next level. I mean, there's just the guy is freakin' brilliant and he knows how to run a company like you look at the incredible success he has, whether it's Tesla, whether it's it's SpaceX, whether it's the boring company, whether it is uh X, Like he has an ability to run. And by the way, the many
of those companies are like really precise manufacturers. You look at SpaceX where they're manufacturing rocket ships with precision, with with within a like a like a tenth of an inch or less. I mean it is And I've been down to the like they're factory in Bocachica down down by Brownsville in the southern tip of Texas. I mean it is remarkable. They're turning out of rocket ship a month and they just built it out of nothing. I mean is it's incredible and Elon is all in. We
saw him pour himself into this election. At the end, I think it made a difference. I think he made a difference in Pennsylvania where he really devoted a lot of time and energy and money and personal credibility. And I think it will be significant his impact on the federal government. Now, there are structural impediments to having efficiency in government, and so I don't think people should think we're suddenly going to be in nirvana and everything will
be solved. Because in a company, Elon can walk in and fire anyone he wants. And by the way, when he bought Twitter, he fired a whole bunch of the folks there and all the woke radicals. He basically said, bye bye, you're out of here. The federal government, that is much much harder to do. You've got civil service protections that enables career bureaucrats to burrow in. I think we will see the Trump administration take on the career bureaucracy in a way that has never ever happened before.
That's a big deal. I expect Elon to play an important role in that. But but I don't want to understate the legal barriers, the bureaucratic barriers, that that it is not like just coming into a company where you have the ability to give anyone a pink slip. The bureaucracy will fight back. And by the way, in the first Trump term, we saw the deep state wage war
on Donald Trump. I very much hope the team coming in understands much much better just how dangerous the foe is they're facing of the radical leftists who burrowed into the federal government, and that they're better prepared and ready to take them on.
Yeah, no doubt about it. And by the way, saving free speech by buying x just so people know how biased that I would say the media is. And I'm talking about the media. You have control over Facebook. We were comparing last night many conservative influencers and center. You're
gonna find this interesting. From October ninth through November the fifth, the reach that I had on Facebook was down eighty three point six percent as a conservative on Facebook in the month leading up to election well, and there were quite a few other conservatives. I was talking earlier with Megan McCain about this, and we opened up our analytics, our insights on our public pages and again I'm looking
at it right now. Eighty three point six percent. That's how much they turned off the faucet to free speech of conservative influencers on Facebook, on Meta, on Instagram in the last thirty days before the election. So the liberals had free flow of intel and information and their side and conservatives were throttled almost eighty five percent. I just think that's interesting to see what Elon must have to save freedom of speech on x He didn't do that there.
He let everybody talk. God bless America when it comes to that. Your final thoughts to all the listeners of Verdict, all those that came out and voted for you, I know you want to say something to them as well.
Look to the listeners of Verdict, you guys are amazing. You're the most informed, you're the most engaged. You care about our nation. You're fighting to save our nation. And everyone in Texas who worked so unbelievably hard. Look that this was a battle I believe about keeping Texas, Texas, my race, the money, the media, everything that came in against us. They if you live in Texas, by the way,
thank god the ads are over. I mean, you couldn't turn on your TV without every second or third AD being an attack AD, just hammering the living daylights out of me and the people of Texas. I'll tell you it was inspirational. You can out on the road with me. We did a fifty three stop bus tour all across the state of Texas, over nine thousand miles we covered,
We did rallies everywhere, and it was incredible. The people and you're just ordinary people, students, senior citizens, single moms, Hispanics, African Americans, just Texans standing up and saying we want to keep Texas Texas want. We want low taxes, low and reasonable regulations, lots of jobs. We want security, we want the border secure. We want to support law enforcement. We want criminals in jail. We want to defend our freedom.
We want free speech, religious liberty, the Second Amendment. All of that was on the ballot last night, and I want to say it is breathtaking the Texans that came out for me, and nationally, the people who supported the campaign, who contributed the campaign, thank you, thank you, thank you. And the people who supported Donald Trump, who supported Senate candidates and House candidates across the country. You helped change America. And I believe pull it back from the brink of destruction.
And I just want to say thank you to the incredible patriots who together saved America last night.
As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Center Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to deal with my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day you're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict. Afterwards, I'd love to have you as a listener to again Ben Ferguson Podcasts, and we will see you back here on Monday morning.