Welcome.
It's nice to have you with us on Verdict, with Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you as always and center.
We've got a lot to talk about.
Well, there's a ton happening. The Trump administration announced that they are going to begin revoking student visas for Chinese students and vigorously scouring their applications to make sure that they are not connected to the Chinese Communist Party. That is a welcome step that is much needed. We're going to break that down in detail. California also reversed its policies on transgender athletes, taking a major step to protect women and really showing that the left realizes they are
in full retreat. We're going to explain exactly what's going on there. We're also going to talk about the sad news this past week that my good friend Phil Robertson, the Great Phil Robertson, passed away. We're going to reflect on the impact he had, and I'm going to take you guys inside what it's like to go duck hunting with Phil Robertson, one of the most incredible and fun
things I've ever had the joy of doing. And finally, the Trump administration announced that the American Bar Association the ABA is no longer going to have any special role in judicial selection. Long overdue, and a great announcement all of that on today's show.
Yeah, it's a good one.
I want to talk to you real quick though, about what's happening in Israel and what we're seeing right now is truly disturbing. Anti Semitism is on the rise around the world, and sadly, even right here in America. Jewish schools are being targeted, synagogues are being threatened, and families are living in fear. It's something that we hoped we'd never see again in our lifetime. And so let me say this, silence is not an option. This is the moment that we can all take a stand with the
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You may have heard of it.
It's called IFCJ and they are on the front lines providing real help where it's needed the most. They're giving food and sheltered Jewish families that are under threat. They're even building bomb shelters on virtually a daily basis for children in Israel, and they're helping survivors of hate rebuild their lives. And they don't just respond to crisis, they
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All right, so let's.
Dive into this big first topic center and it deals with what you mentioned earlier, China and Chinese student visas. There was an interesting number that was thrown out earlier in the day on TV, and I'm going to quote it. I'm not sure if it's ex exactly accurate, but it is, and that's why I said it was. I saw it earlier today and I want to prefix that with saying it.
But it's said that there were about five hundred American students that have visas in China and more than two or eight thousand Chinese students in the US is what was said, Why are we doing so much for Chinese students, many of them by the way they come in here, that spy and rob of us of our intellectual property, and the administration ter administration is basically saying, we're trying to put a stop to this.
Well, what the Trump administration has announced. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that they will begin aggressively revoking the visas of Chinese students in the United States. China engages in extensive propaganda and espionage, and they're going to begin vetting and vetting aggressively whether a particular student seeking a visa to come to this country has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. I think this is long overdue and
it's part of a broad effort. They're also engaged with foreign students that are coming to the United States, examining their social media history, examining if they have a history of radicalism. So, if you are seeking a student visa to come to America and you've been public saying I hate America, I want to destroy America, which Sadly, we've seen some of these radical students who've said that, and nonetheless, Joe Biden the Democrats said, welcome to America. We need
more people who hate our nation and want to destroy it. Well, I think the president's exactly right to stand up and say we're not going to welcome people to this country who are trying to undermine and destroy this country. With respect to China, you know the question of espionage and intellectual property theft that's existed since the dawn of time. Look, when the first caveman invented the wheel, I suspect somebody stole his idea and made another wheel. That that's part
of the human condition. What is not ever before existed is a nation state with massive economic resources like China making it a state policy to engage in the theft of resources. And so I am very I think it's exactly right that we're going to vigorously scrutinize those students coming in to make sure that they are not operating
as agents of the Chinese Communist Party. Now, let me say at the same time, look, part of the reason you don't get that many Americans going to China to study is you don't have a whole lot of folks that want to go to Chinese universities, whereas people from all over the world want to come to American universities. And I will say, if you have people who are not agents of the communist government, we want the best
and brightest in the world coming to America. We end up having inventions coming here because the best and brightest students across the country come and come and study science at engineering and they make inventions, and those inventions in
turn fuel American companies and they create great jobs. And so I think the administration is cutting the right balance here, which is saying we're going to stop spies, we're going to stop terrorists, but at the same time that that doesn't mean that we want to close our doors entirely too brilliant physicists and engineers from around the world being able to come to America and benefiting from from the fruits of that.
You know, there's one thing that we mentioned. Gosh, there's probably a little over a year ago on this show. In the podcast that we do, I tell people this is why you should download Verdict with Ted Cruz.
We do it three days a week.
We talked back when under the Biden Harrison administration there was even warnings coming from their administration that they're the number one threat to this country was China and Chinese
espionage and influence operations. That is now a Kumbaya moment with the Trump administration, where in essence, two administrations that saw nothing o't eye both agreed on China and what they were trying to do and stealing an electual property and sending an incredible number of spies into this country and many of them come through our university system.
Yeah, but the Biden administration did next to nothing to stop it. So they acknowledged it's a problem, but at the same time, they were complicit in it. And I'll tell you I have for over a decade been leading the fight to stop Chinese espionage, to stop Chinese propaganda, to stop China's malign efforts. I think we need a comprehensive effort to take on communist China, much like we had under Ronald Reagan to win the Cold War against
the Soviet Union. And I'll tell you, Ben, one of the very first pieces of legislation that I authored and passed dealt with exactly this, and it dealt with what are called Confucius institutes. So Confucius institutes were started at US universities all across America, where there were roughly two hundred of them, and they were controlled by Communist China. They were paid for by Communist China, by the government, and they were used to engage in propaganda and espionage
on campus. I authored legislation and said, if you have a Confucius Institute on campus, you will not get funding from the federal government, from the Department of Defense. I passed it into law, and I'll tell you that simple piece of legislation resulted in over a hundred Confucius institute shutting down at universities across the country, shutting down their espionage,
shutting down their propaganda. I think the Trump administration's announcement is the next step in that very important fight.
Senator, Let's deal with California.
And there has been a fight since the President came in with his executive order on trying to protect women from men being in their locker rooms, being in their sports beating them up. We saw it during the Olympics in boxing. We've seen countless women who their achievements have
been taken away from them. On the podium because of men claiming their women, which is impossible in reality, and California decide they were going to stand up to Donald Trump, and guess what, it didn't go very well for them.
Well, listen, we've seen the Democrat Party getting more and more radical ever since Donald Trump took the oath of office back in twenty seventeen. They hate Trump and they've gotten more and more extreme on a host of issues. And one of the poster children for their extreme issues is embracing boys in girls sports, men and women's sports. And it is wrong, it is unfair, it invites injury, and it also deprives both both girls and women of
athletic victories they should have and they've earned. There are differences between boys and girls. There are differences between men and women that did not used to be a controversial proposition. It is only in today's looney tune left that they can't tell to the difference between men and women. But I got to tell you, even though in the Senate, Senate Democrats all of them continue to defend men in women's sports and boys and girls sports, we're seeing the
state of California. We're seeing the Democrats beginning to retreat. We're seeing Gavin Newsom, the governor who's been a far left radical governor. He's got ambitions of being president, he's looking at running in twenty twenty eight, and he's decided, Okay, we're on the wrong side of an eighty twenty issue. I want to get the hell away from this. And
so California announced this is a big deal. They're changing their policy for track and field so that if you're a biological girl and you got you missed out on making it to the state championship because you were beaten by a biological male who claims to be a transgender woman, then the girl you will still get your slot. You still get invited to the state championship. Look, that's a significant step in the right direction, and Gavin Newsom is
embracing it. And I got to say this really illustrates that at least some Democrats realize, Wow, we are on the wrong side of an issue that America. America wants to protect girls sports and women's sports. We want to protect our daughters and we don't want to see them hurt or competing unfairly. And so the crazy thing is that means in track and Field in California. Now they may give three gold medals, one to the boy, one to the girl, and one to the transgender athlete. You
may have gold medals all around. But for bright blue California to make this concession, it shows that at least some Democrats realize they are way on the wrong side of this issue.
This also, I think is an issue that it's worth fighting for, and I think many that are listening or saying, we don't want to give in, and we don't want to give up, and the penoum went so far to the radical left for so many years that this is the fight that is worth fighting on and fighting over.
And showing California having to change girls track and field championship rules after the Trump threatens funding over the trans athletes is just an example of hey, we are and many times the silent majority, and we need to start acting like it, especially on these types of issues.
Well, I'll tell you Ben this, this issue is a powerful issue. And as you know, I ran for re election in Texas last year in twenty twenty four. It was a quarter billion dollar race. I was Chuck Schumer's number one target and my campaign was was the first campaign in the country last year to put real time and energy behind this, this issue of We're going to protect girl sports from boys competing, and we put tens of millions of dollars behind this issue. What's fascinating is
the media completely misunderstood the issue. So one of the things that my campaign did is we did focus groups in Houston and Dallas of undecided moderate women to understand what issues moved them, and we tested thirty thirty five different messages. The number one issue that moved undecided moderate women in Texas was boys and girls sports. And when
I started campaigning on it, it was very funny. The reporters are like, oh, Cruise is trying to appeal to the crazy right wing, and I was just laughing at him, and I'm like, you guys are so clueless. This is not the crazy right wing. This is soccer moms. This is soccer moms who love their daughters. And we land on this issue. And then you saw senate races all across the country pick up the same message because they were
seeing the same data. We where we saw President Trump lean in Harvard on this.
Some of those women that you were talking to, let's be very clear, had moved from California because you know, the like, how many people from California moved to Texas over the last six years a lot.
We have over one thousand people a day moving to the state of Texas, and California is overwhelmingly the heaviest, the largest state that is sending people to Texas. But this issue, what's fascinating Ben, is you know, four years ago, this issue did not work politically. You saw campaigns try to raise it four years ago, and I think people thought then that that that it was jumping the shark, that it didn't feel real. Four years ago, I think people said, oh, come on, that's that's that's not a
real threat. Well, you know what we've now seen Leah Thomas, the the the the swimmer who who is a biological man and looks like Michael friggin Phelps, who who who We've also seen And I think this was really a seminal moment in the Olympics, the two dudes competing in in in women's boxing and beating the hell out of women. And I think a whole lot of people said, wait, this is not theoretical. This is happening over and over
and over again. Enough is enough and and I think this is another milestone that that California is retreating on this issue shows that that truth and sanity are are winning.
Yeah, and now the question becomes how much are they going to be able to fight back through the court system and is this going to be something that's going to be unfortunately an issue for probably years to come.
Well, look, we'll see. And to be honest, California hasn't conceded all together. They're still having biological males compete against women, which is which is unfair. It invites injury. You know, if you're playing volleyball, We've seen women who have a biological man spiked the ball into their head and they get injured. I mean, I mean it is California is still looney Tunes. But the fact that even the lefty government of California is saying we've gone too far, that's a very positive sign.
We had some really sad news this week, but also a celebration of an incredible legacy in a life.
You know him from Dug Dynasty.
Phil Robertson passed away this week and many people may not realize this, he was actually incredibly influential in your twenty sixteen presidential campaign. He went all in for you and even did an ad for you. Some thought that was political suicide for Duck Dynasty, the brand, Oh don't get involved in politics. Whatever you do, just you know, be Dug Dynasty stuff well, you know, in Walmart, and just be famous. He was not afraid to take a stand for what he believed in, whether it was his
faith or in politics. And that's one of the reasons why I absolutely love the legacy of Phil Well.
Phil Robertson was extraordinary. He was one of a kind. He was truly an American original.
Uh.
He passed this week at age seventy nine. And and and Phil built a business empire as the the the founder of Duck Commander, and and and on television, he was, you know, a unique character. He and his family with their long scraggly beards, with their love of hunting, with their real I mean, there was a genuineness to fill.
And then there is to his whole family that that is it is spectacular and and and there is also a love of a love of Jesus, a love of God, an open embrace of faith, which which frankly you don't see on TV very much. And and and it is part it was integral to who Phil was. I I was really blessed I got to know Phil, I admired him, I considered him a friend, and I got to say, you know it, one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life is I got to go duck
hunting with Phil. And this was during the twenty sixteen presidential campaign. They invited me to come to his home, and so I came to his home and went and had dinner with him and the whole family, which was really cool. And then then we got up at four in the morning the next morning and went to the duck blinde. And listen, you and I both enjoy hunting. Hunting is a lot of fun. I've hunted with a
lot of different people. I will tell you, hands down, Phil Robertson is the best shot with a shotgun I've ever seen in my life.
Like, like, we're not the only person that's told me that. I was talking with another friend that went and hunted with him. They said like he was next level, like completely different level, that it was just in his blood and he knew how to shoot. And it was just like, oh wow, Like this is like Olympic level is I was described to me this week.
So we would be in the blind and you see some ducks flying over the horizon, and Phil would take a shot at a distance. I wouldn't even pick up my gun, like it's a distance, like there's no way on Earth I'm hitting that bird. If the duck flies over by us, I'll shoot it. But like that, like he he. That was the thing that really stood out is that he would shoot ducks at a distance that was like fifty percent further than any other duck hunter
I've ever seen. And as I said, they were far enough away that I didn't even buy I'm an okay shot with a shot, and I could hold my own, but these ducks were so far away I wouldn't waste the shells. And it was It was impressive to watch. He was also just just real. He was fun. All Right, I'm gonna tell you a neat Phil Robertson story that he told me.
So.
So, Phil was a very good athlete. He was actually the starting quarterback at Louisiana Tech University. I did not know that he was the starting quarterback. And then one day he quit. He quit the team and said, I'm not gonna play anymore. Now, do you know who his backup quarterback was?
Who was that?
It's a guy named Terry Bradshaw.
Is that why he quit?
Nope, Nope, that's not why he quit. So Terry Bradshaw, who, for those of you who are not not football fans, is one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks ever to play, was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Is a legendary quarterback. Terry Bradshaw was Phil Robertson's backup. He was not getting a ton of playing time because Phil Robertson was the starter.
He quit because football season interfered with hunting season. And so the story Phil told me is is his coach came to his apartment and was gonna was trying to convince Phil to come back and play football. And Phil said, hey, coach, coach, come on in, come on in. Hey, he said, come on in the bathroom. I'm cleaning a deer here in the bathroom in my bathtub.
So the coach which comes in and he's.
Cleaning a deer, and the coach says, Phil, I'm not going to convince you to come back and play football, am I? And Phil says no, not a chance. But but I'm really glad you came over. And so he quit and Terry Bradshaw, a legend was born, and then a second legend, Phil Robertson was born because his love of hunting led him led him to to to form for Duck Commander, to start Duck Dynasty and one of
the coolest things. So in twenty sixteen, he cut a TV commercial for my presidential campaign and like the image of it. It's the two of us hunting together and wearing camo and we got face paint and he's talking. But I want to play that that ad. You don't have the visuals, but you can google it if you want to watch the visuals. And it was classic. But this is this is all Phil, And I'll just say this.
Not a word of this was scripted. They just pointed the camera at him and said, Phil talk, and this is what he said.
And by the way, let's meet.
This has got to be the only presidential campaign ad that actually starts with duck calling. I just want to point that out, because Phil is calling in the Ducks and that's the first thing you're going to hear.
Our qualifications for President of the United States or rather, Nara is here.
She's got me?
Does he or she love us?
And he or she do the job?
And finally, well to kill a duck and put him in a pot and make him a good duck Combo. I've looked at the candidates. Ted Kruse is my man. He fits the bill, He's got me, he loves us, he's a man for the job, and he will go duck hunt. Because today we're going Ted Krues is my man. I'm voting Park Cruise. The reason we're going to vote for you, all of us, is because you're one of us, my man. That's why looking for you. It's no ever.
I got to say, it might be one of the best ads I've ever seen. It's the closest you'll ever be to Rambo Senator uh with a face paint.
But but this was a big.
Risk for him, and I'm sure there was a lot of pr people around him, like why do you want to get involved in politics? Gonna alienate people that could be you know, duck commander friends and and people that could buy stuff from you. Why do you want to get into politics? He believed in you that much, he said, I don't care.
Yeah, look if he was listening to pr people. I I certainly saw no evidence of it. I think he's a man who followed what he believed was right, and he spoke out and he spoke the truth. You know. One of the things I loved about Duck Dynasty is is that his faith was real and he and he talked about it, and he was proud to to to demonstrate the love of Jesus every day. And I'll tell you a really cool follow up. So he cut that ad and and I asked Phil, hey, would you come
to Iowa? Would you campaign with me on the ground in Iowa. Now it was in the middle of duck season and Phil had gone hunting every single day of duck season every year for more than forty years. He had never missed a day. And so we'd asked him to come. We were having a big rally in Iowa. We asked him, Phil, you would you fly up to Iowa and join us? And we didn't get a definite answer.
He had the invite and he told me he actually went to went to the Duck blind at at you know, four four thirty in the morning, and he was sitting there and he said he sat there like twenty minutes, and then he got up and left and got on a plane and flew to Iowa. And it was the first day in over forty years that he didn't go duck hunting on a day during duck season, and instead he came and campaigned in Iowa.
He was awesome. Some of what the impact did that have in Iowa?
When when he I mean because this was at the height of their fame obviously in sixteen.
Well look we wont Iowa on Iowa, uh decisively, and and and and ended up winning twelve states in twenty sixteen, and Phil's coming there UH played a uh made a real difference. And I'll tell you Phil spoke at that rally, and my dad spoke and and and Phil and my dad were about the same age.
It.
Phil was a little bit younger than my dad. My dad's eighty six. Phil was seventy nine when he passed. But but they got along. And my father's a pastor and and and and like Phil, my dad is is unapologetic. Like like my father Ben, you know my dad well he is. He's incapable of guile, He's incapable of telling you, of not telling you what he thinks it really is sometimes to his own fault. My dad will just say
exactly what he thinks. Consequences be damned. Uh and and it's a and And the back to back at that rally of having Phil talk and my dad talk, that combination was was really really potent.
It's it's an incredible story.
I know you you you know the family as well, and I know you wanted to say to them obviously it's something about their father passing, and just how thankful you are for the legacies.
Left well, look to the to the entire family, to Jason and Willie and cy and and and the entire extended family. You guys have had an incredible impact on America. You've had an incredible impact touching people's lives, You've had an incredible impact speaking up for for ordinary Americans. But but also you guys have powerfully spread the gospel. And I appreciate that, that cheerful, happy warrior, that unapologetic willingness to speak truth. Look, we are sad that that Phil
is not with us. We are mourning, and I'll tell you Heidi and I are praying for the family that is mourning the loss of of the patriarch. But at the same time, we're celebrating a life incredibly well lived, and and and he's with Jesus now and and and Phil we love you all.
Right, Senata, So let's dive into this other issue that really is an interesting one. You've got a lot to say about the Trump Justice Department telling the American Bar Association that it will no longer comply with ratings for judicial nominees.
Now, explain the politics behind this.
The ABA has had a lot of power and they're basically now saying we're not going to let you guys have that power because there's been a lot of bias coming out of the American Bar Association.
Well, the American Bar Association, it's a national organization of lawyers, and it is a left wing advocacy group. It is not fair, it is not impartial. It is a radical left organization. And the ABA has had a formal role in judicial selection for seventy five years. It started rating judicial nominees in nineteen fifty three, and an until Hill two thousand and one, the ABA actually had a formal
role evaluating judicial nominees before they were nominated. So a president a Department of Justice and Administration would would share with the ABA, Hey, we're thinking of nominating Ben Ferguson to be a federal judge. And they'd go and research and interview former clients, and at some point people would say, wait, Ben's not even a lawyer, How the hell is he going to be a judge? Like, you probably should go to law school first. And by the way, that point
is not crazy. But they engaged that they would do a formal role and they would rate the qualifications of judicial nominees. Now here's the problem. For decades, the ABA's qualification measures were wildly biased. So, for example, Robert Bork, Robert Borke. Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Borke to the Supreme Court in nineteen eighty seven. Robert Bork was, by any measure, one of the most qualified federal judicial nominees in the
history of this country. Robert Bork had been the Solicitor General of the United States, the chief lawyer for the United States in front of the Supreme Court of the United States. Robert Bork had been one of the most renowned and respected law professors for decades. Robert Bork had been a federal judge on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and so a remarkable career. And yet the ABA when they evaluated Robert Borke, they coned
he was quote not qualified to be a judge. They also concluded the same thing for Frank Easterbrook, again, brilliant, brilliant judge, brilliant professor, one of the greatest judges to have ever served on the Court of Appeals. Frank Easterbrook, the ABA concluded he was not qualified. Also Edith Jones. Edith Jones is a judge on the Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals down in Texas. I know Judge Jones well. She's a phenomenal jurist, one of the best and most
conservative of judges in the entire country. The a BA rated her not qualified. Well. The breaking news is this week the Trump Justice Department announced the a BA will no longer have a role in judicial selection. They will no longer have a role in vetting. They're out and and and the Department of Justice said, you know what, they can chime in like any other left wing advocacy group, but they don't have a role in this process.
This is going to have, like I think, a big impact on the quality BONDI informing the a b A that they'll no longer enjoy the special access to judicial nominees. And the left, by the way, when that news came out, they totally freaked out. And I think that also shows just how much they were depending on the ABA to get rid of good candidates that were maybe more conservative.
Yeah, and and and so Pambondi sent a letter to the president of the a B A and and and she said, quote, well, the a BA is free to come in on judicial nominations along with other activist organizations. There is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations, and the Department of Justice will not do so. And so previously the Office Illegal Policy, which is the office within the Department of Justice that
handles judicial selections, they changed. They had previously directed judicial nominees to provide a waiver to the ABA to let the ABA access non public information, including bar records. And so no longer is the Department of Justice going to tell judicial nominees give the ABA special access. That is over and moreover, Pambondi says, quote nominees will also not respond to questionnaires prepared by the ABA and will not
sit for interviews with the ABA. In other words, you can be like every other whack job organization on the left, but you're not going to have any special access whatsoever. This is something I've called for a long time. I have for years, for more than a decade, advocated that the A B a BA is wildly biased and it should it should not have a special role in the process. And I want to commend President Trump and Pambondi. It's the right thing to do.
Sinaer.
We hear a lot about bias and and biased against conservatives, but my other question is were they also biased in advocating for liberals.
Absolutely, they are a hard left advocacy organization masquerading as a non partisan professional organization. And Joe Biden over the last four years nominated over and over again radicals and zealots, many of whom were wildly unqualified, and the ABA was more than happy to stamp them with a rating of qualified and and and one example is is Charnette Charnelle Bagel Congrin, who was wildly unqualified, and yet the ABA happily deemed her qualified and rather than me layout how
bad she was. I want you to list into this cross examination from my colleague John Kennedy to this judicial nominee and the Senate Judiciary Committee here, give a listen.
Thank you, mister chairman, and congratulations to all of you. Judge on the far end, tell me what Article five of the Constitution does.
Article five is not coming to mind.
At the moment. How about Article two?
Neither is article two?
Okay? Do you know what proposivism is?
In my twelve years as an assistant Attorney General and my nine years serving as a judge, I was not faced with that precise question. We are the highest trial court in Washington State, so I'm frequently faced with issues that I'm not familiar with, and I thoroughly review the law, our research, and apply the law to the facts presented to me.
Well, you're going to be faced with it as if you're confirmed. I can assure you of that.
He was dumbfounded at the end there, like, I can't believe you don't know this.
Well, And let me underscore how simple the first two questions are that he asked. So the Constitution has seven articles. It's not a very long document. Article five is the article through that lays out the process for amending the Constitution. It's fairly basic. That was his opening question, she had no idea what Article five was. Article two is even
more fundamental, so the first three articles the constitution. Article one creates the Congress, Article two creates the President and the executive branch, and Article three creates the federal Judiciary. To not know what Article two is is stunning to give you a sense you will flunk constitutional law and not graduate law school if you don't know what Article two is. She was being nominate needed to be what
is called an Article three judge. I assumed she had no idea what Article three was, and nevertheless the ABA said she's qualified to be an Article three judge even though she has no idea what it is. I'm very glad the ABA no longer has a role in making those determinations.
As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Sentner, Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to down with my podcast and you can listen to my podcasts 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 the Ben Ferguson podcasts and the Senat and I will see you back here for the weekend review on Saturday morning,