Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / The Future of Verdict

Transcript

The Future of Verdict · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: We are thirty two days out from the midterm elections.
0:03
Speaker 1: We are in the middle of a seventeen state month
0:07
Speaker 1: long campaign bus tour, and we are coming to you
0:10
Speaker 1: from sunny Las Vegas. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
0:20
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Speaker 1: of Greens dot com promo code Cactus. Welcome back to
1:28
Speaker 1: Verdicts with Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Nols, Senator. Excellent to
1:31
Speaker 1: see you in person. You are looking very good and
1:34
Speaker 1: awake and energetic for having been on a seventeen state
1:38
Speaker 1: bus tour. Well, I'm having a blast. So we're on
1:42
Speaker 1: day seven of the bus tour. We started in Texas.
1:45
Speaker 1: Tom Ball, Texas, which is just north of Houston, did
1:48
Speaker 1: a big rally with Wesley Hunt, who's going to be
1:50
Speaker 1: a new Congressman, a Republican elected from there, West Point graduate,
1:54
Speaker 1: African American football player at West Point, great guy. We
1:59
Speaker 1: went from there down to the Rio Grand Valley. We
2:01
Speaker 1: did three rallies down in the Rio Grand Valley with
2:03
Speaker 1: three congressional candidates. We did rallies in McCallan, Harlan Jin
2:07
Speaker 1: and Laredo. All three congressional candidates all Republicans, all Hispanic women.
2:13
Speaker 1: I think all three are going to win, huge, packed
2:15
Speaker 1: out rallies down in South Texas. We went from there
2:18
Speaker 1: to New Mexico, did a big rally in New Mexico.
2:21
Speaker 1: We went from New Mexico to Arizona. Did two rallies
2:24
Speaker 1: in Arizona. Seemed to sort of light up the internet.
2:27
Speaker 1: You know, I've seen bits and pieces from the tour,
2:29
Speaker 1: but your appearance in Arizona really seemed to explode very
2:33
Speaker 1: exciting candidates in Arizona. It was fantastic. So we did
2:36
Speaker 1: in New Mexico. We were with Vette Harold, who's running
2:38
Speaker 1: for reelection. She's fantastic. In New Mexico. In Arizona, we
2:43
Speaker 1: were with Eli Crane, who is a Navy seal. The
2:45
Speaker 1: guy's a badass, smart, principled, he's a warrior. He's going
2:50
Speaker 1: to win defeat a Democrat. And then we did a
2:52
Speaker 1: rally with both Blake Masters and Kerry Lake. And I
2:55
Speaker 1: got to say that lit it up. She's going to
2:57
Speaker 1: be the next governor, and I think Masters has a
3:00
Speaker 1: real shot at winning that Senate race. And it was
3:02
Speaker 1: those events were packed. And now we're here in Las Vegas.
3:06
Speaker 1: We're doing a rally here tonight with Mark Robertson and
3:11
Speaker 1: Sam Peter's both running for the House here, both have
3:14
Speaker 1: a real shot to beat Democrats and get elected. After Nevada,
3:19
Speaker 1: we go to Utah. Then we go to Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
3:28
Speaker 1: North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, back up to Michigan, back
3:34
Speaker 1: up to Wisconsin, and we close it out in Texas
3:37
Speaker 1: the day before the election. I'm exhausted just hearing that schedule.
3:40
Speaker 1: That's outright, And I do know we've been on the
3:42
Speaker 1: road together many many times. I do know. Whatever stop
3:46
Speaker 1: you're at, whatever the event is, whether it's a verdict
3:48
Speaker 1: life or wherever, you are never the one to say, okay,
3:51
Speaker 1: we've all got to go home. I'm two tired guys.
3:53
Speaker 1: You stay up very very late, you keep on going
3:56
Speaker 1: well as long as you feed me with Scotch and cigars.
3:59
Speaker 1: I'm happy to go as long as you like. And
4:01
Speaker 1: I have to note a couple of milestones. Number one,
4:04
Speaker 1: this is your first time in Vegas. This is shockingly
4:07
Speaker 1: I love gambling. I love, you know, staying out late
4:10
Speaker 1: and getting up to no good. This is my very
4:13
Speaker 1: first time. And I didn't realize they have slot machines
4:15
Speaker 1: in the airport. Oh yeah. And by the way, we
4:18
Speaker 1: are filming this studio is unique that we are filming
4:20
Speaker 1: in a studio where I guess they train show girls.
4:23
Speaker 1: Like I know, I went to the rest. That's why
4:25
Speaker 1: it looks familiar. Yeah, Like there's there's you know, there's
4:28
Speaker 1: mirrors all along the walls and and you know, I
4:31
Speaker 1: kind of feel like we ought to be wearing sparklies
4:32
Speaker 1: or something. Well that could be. I guess that that's
4:35
Speaker 1: a thought for the for the next stage a Verdict.
4:38
Speaker 1: And actually, speaking of the next phase a Verdict, there
4:43
Speaker 1: is there is huge news that's come in and it's
4:46
Speaker 1: come in very very recently, and it's part of the
4:48
Speaker 1: reason that I wanted to fly out here. It's really
4:52
Speaker 1: really good news and it's a little bit of bad news,
4:55
Speaker 1: but I think we should let the audience in on it.
4:56
Speaker 1: So here's the really really good news about Verdict. Has
5:00
Speaker 1: been a bootstrapped operation from the very beginning, starting in
5:04
Speaker 1: a basement in DC, you know, not on one of
5:08
Speaker 1: the major outlets or a major podcast or radio network,
5:11
Speaker 1: and just really bootstrapped in fun and largely independent. So
5:16
Speaker 1: an offer has come in from iHeartRadio to take this
5:19
Speaker 1: show to a huge national audience. Now it's already obviously
5:24
Speaker 1: at a national audience on podcast, but on radio stations.
5:28
Speaker 1: On terrestrial radio, iHeart has a gigantic network. I Heart
5:32
Speaker 1: can fund the whole thing, yet fund production, dump a
5:35
Speaker 1: whole bunch of money into marketing. This is incredible. It
5:38
Speaker 1: will make this show sustainable, not just for the next
5:41
Speaker 1: few months, going going into the midterms, but for the
5:45
Speaker 1: next years. The only bad news is from the very beginnings.
5:51
Speaker 1: As much as I, you know, love this show, it's
5:55
Speaker 1: been my moonlighting job because my day job is over
5:57
Speaker 1: there at the Daily Wire, and I've been a very
5:59
Speaker 1: great loaned out by the Daily Wire to do this show,
6:03
Speaker 1: and because the Daily Wire is a different podcast network,
6:07
Speaker 1: and because I have a radio show on a different
6:09
Speaker 1: radio network. If Verdict is to move into this next
6:13
Speaker 1: very sustainable, exciting, energetic phase, it will have to be
6:18
Speaker 1: without me as part of it. I certainly will be
6:21
Speaker 1: coming back around, maybe coming too a live events, coming
6:24
Speaker 1: around as a guest. But I think it is very,
6:27
Speaker 1: very important that this show remained sustainable. This show has
6:31
Speaker 1: never been about me. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
6:34
Speaker 1: It's been an amazing ride. We took it to number
6:37
Speaker 1: one of all the podcasts. Ted Cruise became a bigger
6:40
Speaker 1: podcaster than Joe Rogan and stayed there for a actually
6:43
Speaker 1: pretty decent period of time. And so I am really
6:47
Speaker 1: very excited for this next phase with iHeart. And there's
6:51
Speaker 1: a great broadcaster from iHeart who's been in the business forever,
6:55
Speaker 1: who's been a friend of mine for many, many years,
6:57
Speaker 1: who is going to come on and fill this seat,
6:59
Speaker 1: and that would be Ben Ferguson. Should we bring Ben on? Ben?
7:03
Speaker 1: Can you come out here? All right? Welcome, good to
7:08
Speaker 1: see how are you two guys that usually get to
7:12
Speaker 1: hang out in Tennessee all the way in Vegas. Welcome
7:14
Speaker 1: your your maiden voyage. As they say, it is a
7:16
Speaker 1: little strange, you know, to have senator from Texas, a
7:20
Speaker 1: broadcaster from Texas, a broadcaster from Tennessee who only ever
7:24
Speaker 1: sees you in Tennessee, in Tennis for some reason, we're
7:26
Speaker 1: in Nevada. It's it's a strange world of politics, that's right.
7:31
Speaker 1: So now, the last time Ben that I saw you,
7:35
Speaker 1: it's a little blurry. Actually it was about one in
7:37
Speaker 1: the mornings. Involved there were cigars, maybe, angrybers, angry liberals
7:43
Speaker 1: and politic I remember we were at some honky tong
7:47
Speaker 1: down there in Nashville. But since then, and for the
7:51
Speaker 1: handful of people out there who might not know who
7:53
Speaker 1: you are, what have you been up to? So I've
7:55
Speaker 1: been hosting my radio show, syndicated show podcast and uh
7:59
Speaker 1: and in three boys, that's what I say. I shouldn't
8:03
Speaker 1: say it that way. I'll get in trouble with the wife.
8:04
Speaker 1: She's doing the majority of it and I'm paying some bills.
8:07
Speaker 1: Is that a better way? That's good? And uh yeah,
8:09
Speaker 1: So I mean, man, I don't know why that's the case.
8:11
Speaker 1: I raised my daughters all on my own. That's a
8:15
Speaker 1: man has decades right there of experience. You gotta understand,
8:19
Speaker 1: I'm in real trouble because Heidi listens to this podcast.
8:23
Speaker 1: So that statement, my phone is going to ring while
8:27
Speaker 1: she do it. I already know how much that bill
8:29
Speaker 1: is going to cost and where you're going to end
8:31
Speaker 1: up taking her. That's just that, that's that's gonna hurt. Yeah,
8:34
Speaker 1: that's gonna be worse than losing at the Roulette table
8:36
Speaker 1: this week. I canna promise you that. So I've just
8:39
Speaker 1: been doing that and doing a little more TV and
8:41
Speaker 1: getting to hang out with this guy, So that's been good.
8:43
Speaker 1: This is very exciting news also because you guys both
8:46
Speaker 1: live in the same town. Yeah, you live in Houston,
8:49
Speaker 1: so you know, I mean, obviously, this deal came up
8:52
Speaker 1: relatively quickly. We're heading right into the midterm elections, so
8:55
Speaker 1: we wanted to make sure that this kind of the
8:58
Speaker 1: ink could dry, you know, as quickly as possible. Well,
9:01
Speaker 1: this thing for the podcast is just a big damn deal. Yeah.
9:05
Speaker 1: I Heeart Radio as a monster. It's got eight hundred
9:07
Speaker 1: and fifty stations across the country, and so this was
9:11
Speaker 1: something this was not something we were out looking for.
9:14
Speaker 1: But but they came and they saw what was happening
9:17
Speaker 1: on this podcast. They saw the work at the incredible
9:20
Speaker 1: viewers and fans and and engaged viewers we have all
9:24
Speaker 1: over the country, and they said, listen, we want to
9:26
Speaker 1: take this podcast to the next level. We want to
9:30
Speaker 1: reach we want to promote it across our eight hundred
9:32
Speaker 1: and fifty stations, we want to promote it across our
9:35
Speaker 1: podcast and listen. iHeart Is is the network that that
9:39
Speaker 1: work and built with Rush Limbaugh and and helped him
9:43
Speaker 1: build into the greatest ever h and that works with
9:46
Speaker 1: folks like like Hannity and Glenn Beck and Clay and
9:50
Speaker 1: back at Jesse Kelly, you know. And there's a coincidence. Actually,
9:54
Speaker 1: right before my show became syndicated to Teristra Radio nationwide,
9:59
Speaker 1: I got one last little opportunity to be on a
10:02
Speaker 1: different radio network. And it was when the president of
10:05
Speaker 1: iHeart called me. It was in the last days of
10:07
Speaker 1: Rush Limbaugh's show, said, Michael, would you like to host
10:10
Speaker 1: Russia's show? And I said, Oh my gosh, this is
10:12
Speaker 1: a dream come true. I would love to, said, I've
10:15
Speaker 1: got this other radio contract. It's about to be inked
10:17
Speaker 1: in like three days, but yes, that would be That
10:19
Speaker 1: would be just the greatest thing in the world. And
10:20
Speaker 1: so I note the reach of iHeart is just phenomenal.
10:25
Speaker 1: It's gonna be fun. And I think you talked about
10:27
Speaker 1: being a big deal. I think you're getting to expand
10:30
Speaker 1: it to three days a week, getting to talk more
10:32
Speaker 1: breaking news and having people not have to wait once
10:36
Speaker 1: a week to get it. And you wonder if it's
10:38
Speaker 1: you know, as it dated and when was it done.
10:40
Speaker 1: I mean, we're gonna be able to break news, talk
10:42
Speaker 1: about breaking news, and give people your point of view instantly.
10:47
Speaker 1: And I think that's so important now. People are hungry
10:50
Speaker 1: for that. I mean you've seen it, whether it's your
10:51
Speaker 1: podcast or mine or radio. I mean people want to
10:54
Speaker 1: go around the mainstream media to the people they trust.
10:58
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of Americans that are going to
11:00
Speaker 1: be introduced, I think because they're going to hear this promotion. Oh,
11:03
Speaker 1: Ted's got this podcast. I'm in. I want to hear
11:06
Speaker 1: this on a regular basis and make it a part
11:08
Speaker 1: of their day. And I'm excited to get to expand
11:12
Speaker 1: that with you and reach more people and hopefully ultimately,
11:15
Speaker 1: which is what you and I we started. We talked
11:17
Speaker 1: about this in Nashville. You and I do this because
11:20
Speaker 1: we want to change hearts and minds. You do what
11:22
Speaker 1: you do for the same exact reason, and the more
11:25
Speaker 1: people we can have listened to what we believe in,
11:27
Speaker 1: why we believe in it, why it makes sense logically.
11:31
Speaker 1: It's been my life goal, my mission field as politics.
11:33
Speaker 1: I've said that for years. I started when as twelve,
11:35
Speaker 1: as you know, and started in TV bill O'Reilly when
11:39
Speaker 1: I'm seventeen, and that's my mission field. And I look
11:42
Speaker 1: at where we're going as a country. I mentioned earlier,
11:45
Speaker 1: I've got twin boys or three, and I've got a
11:46
Speaker 1: six year old, and I'm terrified of where we're headed.
11:49
Speaker 1: And that's kind of given me my second win in
11:51
Speaker 1: my career. I think to say, Okay, are we going
11:54
Speaker 1: to leave this place better than it was when I
11:56
Speaker 1: got to grow up? And right now it's not right.
11:58
Speaker 1: If you looked at the clock and you look at
12:00
Speaker 1: the issues, and you look at what's happening, but there's
12:02
Speaker 1: also some things exciting that's happening, and that is you're
12:04
Speaker 1: seeing parents are getting involved in their school boards. You
12:08
Speaker 1: see police officers are now getting the backing again from
12:11
Speaker 1: society with crime that's out of control. You have people
12:14
Speaker 1: that are starting to understand like this deficit that we
12:17
Speaker 1: have right now is a massive problem. And you see
12:21
Speaker 1: people dealing with inflation the highest in our lifetime. And
12:24
Speaker 1: so these are I think, a palliative issues that if
12:26
Speaker 1: we can hear from the center more often, it's gonna
12:30
Speaker 1: change more hearts and minds. And so that's why I'm
12:32
Speaker 1: super excited to get to partner with you and do
12:35
Speaker 1: this and to keep the torch going that you guys started,
12:37
Speaker 1: because when you started during impeachment, it was unbelievable and
12:41
Speaker 1: you guys. I don't know if everyone knows this, but
12:43
Speaker 1: the story of how y'all started this and at what
12:45
Speaker 1: time of night you started it, Like when you said
12:47
Speaker 1: you were moonlighting, you weren't lying earlier during the first impeachment,
12:52
Speaker 1: right which impeachment we're talking about, But when you guys
12:56
Speaker 1: started this, and I remember listening and thinking, this is
13:01
Speaker 1: something that's missing from the market, and that was a
13:03
Speaker 1: conversation that was missing, and being obviously a fan of yours,
13:07
Speaker 1: I remember the first time I ever had you on
13:09
Speaker 1: my show when I was hosting in Dallas, when you
13:11
Speaker 1: were running the impossible campaign, yep, against the richest guy
13:15
Speaker 1: that do hurt. You can't you can't touch him, you can't.
13:18
Speaker 1: You know, this is an election that's already tied up,
13:20
Speaker 1: it's done, and you came out of nowhere and proved
13:24
Speaker 1: all the experts wrong. And that's you know, From that
13:28
Speaker 1: moment on, I was hooked. Well, I will say this,
13:32
Speaker 1: it's interesting that you use the phrase hearts and minds.
13:35
Speaker 1: As both of you guys know, I'm obsessed with what
13:38
Speaker 1: we got to do as conservatives is we have to
13:40
Speaker 1: connect with people's hearts and minds. We've got to reach
13:43
Speaker 1: beyond the people watching Fox News. We got to reach
13:46
Speaker 1: young people, We got to reach Hispanics and African Americans
13:48
Speaker 1: and suburban moms. And it has been amazing. You know,
13:53
Speaker 1: looking back, it's been two and a half years since
13:55
Speaker 1: we started this podcast. We started it, as you just noted, Ben,
13:58
Speaker 1: it was on the very first day the first impeachment trial.
14:02
Speaker 1: We're on the Senate floor till midnight, one in the morning,
14:05
Speaker 1: jumped in a truck and headed over to a basement studio.
14:09
Speaker 1: It was dingy. I think we had this same craps right,
14:14
Speaker 1: and and it just started like walking off the Senate floor,
14:17
Speaker 1: let's talk about it. And it went from a standing
14:21
Speaker 1: start with zero viewers, zero downloads two within days, we
14:28
Speaker 1: shot to the top of the charts. And I remember,
14:30
Speaker 1: I remember that first night. We're sitting down there. I've
14:33
Speaker 1: never done a podcast. We know how to do this,
14:35
Speaker 1: and we're talking about it, and we were talking about
14:37
Speaker 1: what would success look like, and we talked about, okay,
14:40
Speaker 1: if we could break into the top hundred. Ye that,
14:45
Speaker 1: by the way, to this day is still an amazing
14:47
Speaker 1: accomplishment if you even get there, yep, yeah, that that
14:50
Speaker 1: would have I think we were speaking, not even realistically.
14:53
Speaker 1: We were we were thinking that's actually that would be
14:55
Speaker 1: an ambitious goal. Yep. And then what was it? Four
14:58
Speaker 1: days later? And then we like boom into the top hundred,
15:00
Speaker 1: and then we're in the top ten, and then we
15:02
Speaker 1: climbed ten, nine, eight, four three. We're sitting there going,
15:05
Speaker 1: holy crap, could you imagine if we get and then
15:08
Speaker 1: boom number one as we kicked Joe Rogan out of
15:10
Speaker 1: the out of the spot. I mean, it was it
15:12
Speaker 1: was crazy. And we've done now, we've done one hundred
15:16
Speaker 1: and forty five shows. We've had over fifty million downloads
15:21
Speaker 1: of this podcast, and every single week we beat CNN's
15:25
Speaker 1: morning show, right, And so that has been that's always
15:28
Speaker 1: been the mission, Right, that's what you get as your
15:30
Speaker 1: bonus structure. You get to beat CNN every week. That'll
15:34
Speaker 1: make you wake up and do the shows. Right. But
15:36
Speaker 1: but now with with with iHeart stepping in to distribute
15:40
Speaker 1: and promote, the reach is going to be that much broader.
15:44
Speaker 1: And I think that's really exciting because this was always
15:46
Speaker 1: about really equipping our listeners. If you're gonna battle to
15:51
Speaker 1: save the country, if you're gonna take on the cultural
15:54
Speaker 1: Marxist if you're going to take on the socialist and
15:57
Speaker 1: the people coming at everything that built America, you need
16:01
Speaker 1: the tools, you need the information you need to know
16:04
Speaker 1: what's going on. And the vision of this podcast was
16:07
Speaker 1: always We're gonna give you as much of those tools
16:10
Speaker 1: as possible so that you're prepared and you know the
16:14
Speaker 1: inside story. And so I couldn't be more excited about
16:18
Speaker 1: this next step. It is sad, you know, Michael, you
16:21
Speaker 1: and I didn't know each other very well when we
16:22
Speaker 1: started RUM. We have become very close friends. We are
16:27
Speaker 1: remaining very close friends. You know. I will note you
16:31
Speaker 1: know when you started, you were, you know, an uptight,
16:33
Speaker 1: young whipper snapper. Yea. And for one hundred and fifth podcast,
16:38
Speaker 1: I'll just say right now, we're in Vegas, and for
16:43
Speaker 1: the first time ever, Michael Jules is not wearing socks skin. Yeah,
16:50
Speaker 1: And I will tell you so when we cut, when
16:52
Speaker 1: Ben was walking out of here, we cut the camera scene,
16:54
Speaker 1: and I will tell you Michael was adjusting his uh,
16:57
Speaker 1: adjusting his micro proceeded to undo his belt. I'm like, Michael,
17:02
Speaker 1: Ben's coming, do not drop your pants on the podcast set.
17:07
Speaker 1: I was told this is Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas.
17:11
Speaker 1: I know that was okay that You're right, No, it's true.
17:14
Speaker 1: I have now loosened up, apparently to the point of
17:17
Speaker 1: political scandal, but it has been really I mean, the show,
17:20
Speaker 1: to your point, has really grown and it's loosened and
17:25
Speaker 1: it's changed, and we've gone on the road and we've
17:27
Speaker 1: done all these great things. And it's so important too
17:30
Speaker 1: to continue to hit new and new audiences. And so
17:34
Speaker 1: you know, we've cultivated this really, really large, wonderful group
17:37
Speaker 1: of listeners. And now moving over to with the show
17:40
Speaker 1: moving over to a different platform, that's going to give
17:42
Speaker 1: us new listeners. With the show moving to terrestrial radio
17:45
Speaker 1: in some cases, that's going to give you an entirely
17:48
Speaker 1: new Democrat. And Michael, I'll make a promise to you
17:50
Speaker 1: right now that that even though neither Ben nor I
17:53
Speaker 1: went there, we will continue to make fun of you.
17:56
Speaker 1: You know, I'm really easily that's not going to end.
17:58
Speaker 1: That's going to be a consistent That's part of my
18:01
Speaker 1: bonus structure they gave me was that I get to
18:03
Speaker 1: make fun of Yale on a regular vasis The first
18:06
Speaker 1: time I ever went I went to Harvard Kenny School
18:08
Speaker 1: right after the OZ four election. Yeah, and I walked if.
18:11
Speaker 1: They asked me to speak, and I worked on the
18:12
Speaker 1: Bush campaign. They were doing a retrospect of that campaign.
18:15
Speaker 1: I walked up there. It's a big room of people,
18:18
Speaker 1: and I walked up. I was younger, and I just
18:20
Speaker 1: didn't say anything, and the room was just kind of quiet,
18:23
Speaker 1: and I didn't say anything, just kind of looked around
18:25
Speaker 1: and got to the point where on purpose it was
18:27
Speaker 1: a little awkward, and I leaned down. I was like,
18:29
Speaker 1: I just want to savor the moment. There's no chance
18:31
Speaker 1: in hell I could have gotten into this place, and
18:33
Speaker 1: now you're paying me to speak, and the laughing. I
18:37
Speaker 1: was like, I may never get to come back, but
18:39
Speaker 1: I'm going to enjoy this moment right here, right now,
18:42
Speaker 1: where the ivy leaguers jokes on you and I got paid.
18:46
Speaker 1: That is magnificent. It was fun. Well, you know, to
18:50
Speaker 1: this point, before we go I mean, before we sort
18:52
Speaker 1: of let people go in, there will be a whole
18:53
Speaker 1: new phase of verdict. I do have to ask you, guys.
18:56
Speaker 1: We've got the United States Senator here, been on the
18:58
Speaker 1: campaign trail constantly. We've got a lecturer at Harvard Kennedy's
19:01
Speaker 1: School for that's right, where do we stand thirty two
19:07
Speaker 1: days out from the elections. I still think it's going
19:11
Speaker 1: to be an historical election. I think we're gonna retake
19:13
Speaker 1: the Senate. I think we're gonna retake the House. But
19:15
Speaker 1: you still think we're gonna retake the Senate. I put
19:18
Speaker 1: the odds of the House at north of ninety percent,
19:20
Speaker 1: and I think there's a real chance we have a
19:22
Speaker 1: big majority in the House thirty forty fifty seats. The Senate,
19:27
Speaker 1: I'd put the odds at about sixty five thirty five.
19:30
Speaker 1: It's not a great map, and if I were to
19:32
Speaker 1: predict my prediction right now, is we end up with
19:34
Speaker 1: fifty three Republicans. Okay, because previously you had said sixty forty.
19:39
Speaker 1: I've gone back and forth between sixty forty and sixty
19:41
Speaker 1: five thirty five. A month ago, two months ago, I
19:44
Speaker 1: was at sixty five thirty five. A month ago, I
19:46
Speaker 1: was at sixty forty, and I'm back to sixty five
19:48
Speaker 1: thirty five. So it it did turn a little bit
19:52
Speaker 1: south about a month ago, and I think the momentum
19:55
Speaker 1: has turned again. I think we're gonna win win a
20:00
Speaker 1: bunch of seats. This bus tour is designed to do that, Ben,
20:04
Speaker 1: what do you think. I tend to agree with you
20:07
Speaker 1: on this. I think that you're seeing a really last
20:09
Speaker 1: minute shift, and I've noticed it on my show with callers.
20:13
Speaker 1: There is a real level of stress with the American
20:16
Speaker 1: people right now, with the economy. I just was in California.
20:20
Speaker 1: You're seeing six dollars seven dollars gallon gas, new records.
20:24
Speaker 1: You see a present that is just draining our strategical reserves,
20:27
Speaker 1: and there's no way to not talk about now how
20:29
Speaker 1: low they're going to be come election day. You see
20:32
Speaker 1: what OPEC has just done, and you're starting to see
20:34
Speaker 1: the housing market switching very quickly. We just sold a house,
20:38
Speaker 1: for example, in the real estate agent said, you're lucky
20:40
Speaker 1: you got out when you did, because because I think
20:43
Speaker 1: if we if this fell through and we went right
20:44
Speaker 1: back on tomorrow, it's a desert, he said, it is.
20:48
Speaker 1: We've not seen anything like this, he said, since oh eight.
20:51
Speaker 1: And I think people are feeling that stress. And I
20:54
Speaker 1: think the closer, unfortunately, and I hate this, but the
20:58
Speaker 1: closer we get to election day, it's getting worse, not better.
21:02
Speaker 1: And I don't think the President can do anything at
21:04
Speaker 1: this point, or the Democrats somehow commits you. Oh, no, really,
21:07
Speaker 1: it's gonna be okay. Oh, it's gonna be fine. I
21:11
Speaker 1: really think people are feeling it now. Small businesses are
21:14
Speaker 1: feeling I'm a small business owner. We're seeing it. We
21:17
Speaker 1: lost money for the first time ever last month in
21:19
Speaker 1: our restaurant. Food costs skyrocketed, labor costs are up, and
21:24
Speaker 1: people are feeling it and we'd never experienced it before.
21:27
Speaker 1: The count call and they're like, hey, you guys lost
21:29
Speaker 1: six thousand, six hundred dollars. Well, and when you hear
21:33
Speaker 1: that and you see it and then you start saying,
21:35
Speaker 1: what do we do to fix it? I think that's
21:37
Speaker 1: the conversation America's having. So I agree with you. I
21:39
Speaker 1: think the Senate is definitely, in my opinion, I think
21:42
Speaker 1: it's more than I think it's probably even more optimistic
21:44
Speaker 1: than you are on that because I think people are
21:46
Speaker 1: having these conversations right now, and I think that's going
21:49
Speaker 1: to be the only blessing disguises. We're going to get
21:51
Speaker 1: a change in leadership, and we're gonna get to go
21:53
Speaker 1: back to fiscal responsibility and go back to what was working,
21:58
Speaker 1: and people are willing to listen listen to that idea
22:00
Speaker 1: now well, and when you talk to candidates. So we're
22:02
Speaker 1: here in Nevada. I think Nevada presents the number one
22:07
Speaker 1: best pickup opportunity for Republicans in the Senate. Adam Laxalt.
22:10
Speaker 1: Adam is a terrific guy. He's a close friend. He
22:13
Speaker 1: was attorney general here in Nevada. His grandfather was Paul Laxalt,
22:17
Speaker 1: who was the governor and senator from Nevada. As a
22:20
Speaker 1: legend in this state. He was Reagan's best friend in
22:23
Speaker 1: the Senate. His grandfather was. And Adam is pretty consistently
22:27
Speaker 1: running three or four points ahead and the polls that's
22:30
Speaker 1: been for about a month. He's been there. And it's interesting,
22:34
Speaker 1: whether you talk to him or congressional candidates all across
22:37
Speaker 1: the country, the Democrats everywhere have just gone all in
22:41
Speaker 1: an abortion. Every ad they're running is abortion, abortion, abortion, abortion.
22:45
Speaker 1: And I've been been pointing out, I said, look, of
22:47
Speaker 1: course they are. What else did they have to talk about?
22:51
Speaker 1: Imagine for a second, God forbid? All right, Ben, you
22:53
Speaker 1: wake up tomorrow. You're Catherine Cortez Masto's campaign manager. Yeah,
22:58
Speaker 1: Now she's the incumbent Democrat from Nevada. What are you
23:01
Speaker 1: going to talk about? You can't talk about the economy
23:03
Speaker 1: because the economy has gone to crap under Biden. Inflation
23:05
Speaker 1: is horrible. By the way, Nevada has the second worst
23:08
Speaker 1: inflation of any state in the Union. Gas prices are
23:11
Speaker 1: through the roof, mortgages have tripled. You certainly can't talk crime,
23:16
Speaker 1: murder rates, carjacking rates, all the crime rates of skyrocket
23:19
Speaker 1: are under the Democrats. And you sure as hell can't
23:22
Speaker 1: talk about immigration because the Southern borders at the worst
23:25
Speaker 1: spot in sixty two years. What you're going to talk
23:28
Speaker 1: for in policy? Isn't it great we surrendered to the Taliban?
23:30
Speaker 1: Isn't it great that all of our enemies are going well?
23:32
Speaker 1: Isn't it great that we have the first major war
23:35
Speaker 1: in Europe since World War friggin two? All of this
23:37
Speaker 1: happened under Joe Biden. So if you're a Democrat, what
23:42
Speaker 1: do you talk about rather than fearmonger on abortion and
23:45
Speaker 1: screaming abortion, abortion, abortion. But look, I think people care
23:49
Speaker 1: about kitchen table issues and what affects their family, what
23:52
Speaker 1: affects literally putting the food on their family, as people
23:55
Speaker 1: are having a hard time paying the grocery. The CNN
23:57
Speaker 1: and Mint of this yesterday they said, you know, I
23:59
Speaker 1: forget which commentator was on CNN said, you know, I'm
24:02
Speaker 1: really surprised that abortion consistently ranks so low in people's priorities.
24:08
Speaker 1: And if you've been paying attention to public opinion polls
24:11
Speaker 1: for the last um thirty years, you would know that
24:14
Speaker 1: is the case of both both pro abortion and pro life.
24:17
Speaker 1: How does it watch show thirty? You know, it's an
24:21
Speaker 1: impressive tie there, But you know, it's just not even
24:28
Speaker 1: if your were all very pro life obviously we've maybe
24:32
Speaker 1: do vote on abortion. We are kind of outside the norm,
24:36
Speaker 1: you know, And the same is true for people who
24:38
Speaker 1: support abortion. It's just people vote on the economy, they
24:41
Speaker 1: vote on safety, the vote on crime, they vote on education,
24:43
Speaker 1: they vote on all these things that as you say, Senator,
24:46
Speaker 1: the Democrats are just completely dead in the water on
24:48
Speaker 1: and so there's just a limit to what they can
24:50
Speaker 1: message it. There was a joke that happened, and you
24:53
Speaker 1: may remember after Donald Trump left office it was like
24:55
Speaker 1: I could really use two fifty gallon gas and a
24:58
Speaker 1: mean tweet right about now there is when that came out,
25:02
Speaker 1: that first one kind of hit and it turned into
25:04
Speaker 1: all the issues, like you know, I really wish I could.
25:06
Speaker 1: I could use some police officers right now and a
25:09
Speaker 1: mean tweet. It is so all encompassing of this election
25:13
Speaker 1: right now, and there's there's ideology and then there's reality.
25:16
Speaker 1: And it's easy to be a liberal and to seeing
25:19
Speaker 1: these Kumbaya moments and the you know, defund the police
25:23
Speaker 1: and what do we want dead cops? And when do
25:25
Speaker 1: we want them now? Until you see the crime come back,
25:28
Speaker 1: until you see the interest rate skyrocket, until you see
25:31
Speaker 1: the unemployment numbers, and when these things start to happen,
25:36
Speaker 1: it goes back to that mentality, right. I could really
25:39
Speaker 1: use some of what we used to have, and I
25:42
Speaker 1: think that's the opportunity here. And if if, if, and
25:45
Speaker 1: you've seen them on the road, I think the Republicans
25:48
Speaker 1: are focused now. Conservatives are focused on these issues and
25:51
Speaker 1: talking about them, and that's going to be a huge
25:53
Speaker 1: difference on election day. So I was in Arizona yesterday.
25:57
Speaker 1: We're in Nevada today, Las Vegas. Driving over to the studio,
26:02
Speaker 1: I pulled up Drudge on my phone. Two stories on
26:06
Speaker 1: Drudge right now. A professor at University of Arizona shot
26:13
Speaker 1: and killed on campus. I'm like, crap, we were there
26:16
Speaker 1: yesterday and today Thursday morning. It's Thursday afternoon right now,
26:20
Speaker 1: Thursday morning. There was a mass stabbing in front of
26:25
Speaker 1: the Wind Casino here in Las Vegas. Not at two
26:28
Speaker 1: in the morning, Thursday friggin morning. Yeah, like you will
26:33
Speaker 1: talking about one. You want to talk about real crap,
26:36
Speaker 1: like like people you know, what was it Northern California.
26:41
Speaker 1: You had some lunatic with a samurai sword cut a
26:43
Speaker 1: woman's head off. Yeah, right right. That is a real
26:50
Speaker 1: threat to people when they look around their towns, in
26:52
Speaker 1: their cities, they say, you know, crime is up, police
26:54
Speaker 1: protection is down. There has been defunding of the police abroad,
26:58
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, the first major war in Europe since
27:00
Speaker 1: World War Two. There is a lot of uncertainty out there.
27:03
Speaker 1: I think personal security, national securities is really going to
27:07
Speaker 1: be at the forefront. If you're ranking things to be
27:10
Speaker 1: worried about in America. It used to be beheading didn't
27:13
Speaker 1: make the list. Yeah, and now are mass stabbings. Yeah,
27:18
Speaker 1: and now you have these things there are certing to
27:20
Speaker 1: happen in broad daylight in this country. But where were
27:24
Speaker 1: they saying defund the police Las Vegas. Yes, you had
27:27
Speaker 1: people campaigning off of it. I mean, you look at
27:30
Speaker 1: California and look at the crime there. You look at
27:33
Speaker 1: even in Memphis, Tennessee, a place that is a was
27:36
Speaker 1: defund the police, and you saw this horrific murder of
27:39
Speaker 1: this of this runner Liza Fletcher there. Yeah, and you
27:42
Speaker 1: see that happen. And now you see what the changes.
27:45
Speaker 1: You have the governor that had to come down to
27:47
Speaker 1: step in just to talk to the people because you
27:49
Speaker 1: had a liberal Democratic mayor there. You have a liberal
27:52
Speaker 1: city council that still is refusing to fund the police.
27:55
Speaker 1: They are literally twelve hundred police officers down from where
27:59
Speaker 1: there's supposed to be a sound like Memphis, which is
28:01
Speaker 1: the second most angerous city in America, and they are
28:04
Speaker 1: refusing to even change things as simple as saying, okay,
28:08
Speaker 1: to get more cops, you can live outside of the county.
28:11
Speaker 1: You can live right across in Mississippi or Arkansas, you
28:15
Speaker 1: know where Memphis is. And the Democrats on the city
28:17
Speaker 1: counts they are saying, no, you have to live here,
28:19
Speaker 1: and they're saying, we can't recruit enough police officers with
28:22
Speaker 1: these ridiculous, arbitrary ideas that you guys have put on us.
28:26
Speaker 1: And people are starting to realize this is now life
28:28
Speaker 1: and death. And you know, Michael ben insists that they
28:31
Speaker 1: know how to make barbecue at Memphis. I just it's true.
28:36
Speaker 1: I believe it. Yeah. Well, the speaking of all these
28:40
Speaker 1: places around the country, the tour is going to continue on.
28:43
Speaker 1: The show is going to continue on. I think there's
28:46
Speaker 1: going to be a ton of energy behind it. I
28:48
Speaker 1: cannot wait to see this next phase. It's going to
28:51
Speaker 1: be amazing. I cannot wait to come back and visit
28:54
Speaker 1: wherever somewhere around the country, here or there. It's going
28:56
Speaker 1: to be wonderful. It's in excellent hands with mister Benkburg,
29:00
Speaker 1: It's in pretty good hands with the Senator Tech. That's good.
29:03
Speaker 1: That's good. It's gonna be wonderful. Guys. I can't wait.
29:05
Speaker 1: And so for the last time from this chair, it
29:08
Speaker 1: has been truly one of the great pleasures and honors
29:11
Speaker 1: and privileges of my life to start the show with you, Senator.
29:14
Speaker 1: I'm getting choked up. I'm getting mushy. Michael, You're a
29:17
Speaker 1: gentleman and a scholar, and the kindest thing I know
29:20
Speaker 1: how to say about you is Yale did not fully
29:23
Speaker 1: screw you up. That's how sweet night. Listen, It's really
29:28
Speaker 1: time with the Verdict. It's it's really wonderful. Cannot wait
29:34
Speaker 1: to see the next steps. For the last time from
29:37
Speaker 1: this chair, I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
29:49
Speaker 1: This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is being brought
29:53
Speaker 1: to you by Jobs, Freedom and Security Pack, a political
29:56
Speaker 1: action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organization, and candidates
30:01
Speaker 1: across the country. In twenty twenty two, Job's Freedom and
30:04
Speaker 1: Security Pack plans to donate to conservative candidates running for
30:08
Speaker 1: Congress and help the Republican Party across the nation.