1. Confrontation at the White House:
- President Trump directly confronted a governor during a meeting at the White House, challenging the governor's stance on federal directives regarding transgender athletes in women's sports.
- The President emphasized the importance of compliance with federal law and threatened to withhold federal funding from non-compliant states.
2. Federal Compliance and Legal Threats:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated a compliance review of the University of Maine, potentially jeopardizing $100 million in federal funding due to non-compliance with the Executive Order on transgender athletes.
- The President's administration is taking a firm stance on enforcing federal laws to protect women's sports.
3. Political and Social Commentary:
- This ncludes commentary on the broader political landscape, criticizing the Democratic Party for not learning from past elections and for their stance on various issues such as open borders, anti-Israel policies, and transgender athletes in sports.
- It highlights the perceived disconnect between Democratic policies and public opinion on these issues.
4. Cartel Violence and Border Security:
- We report on a Texas rancher killed by a suspected cartel IED near the Mexican border, emphasizing the dangers posed by cartel activities.
- It discusses the Trump administration's efforts to secure the border and combat cartel violence, including plans to designate cartels as terrorist organizations.
5. Assassination Attempt on Trump:
- There is a detailed account of an assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the subsequent investigation.
- We raise concerns about the FBI's handling of the investigation and the lack of transparency.
6. Elon Musk and Government Efficiency:
- Elon Musk's efforts to improve government efficiency through his work with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) are highlighted.
- Musk's findings of waste and inefficiency in government agencies, such as unused electronic subscriptions and ghost payments, are discussed.
Please Hit Subscribe to this podcast Right Now. Also Please Subscribe to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson and the Ben Ferguson Show Podcast Wherever You get You're Podcasts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz Weekend Review. Ben
Ferguson with you, and here are the big stories that
you may have missed that we talked about this week.
First up, Donald Trump and the governor of Maine. They
come to blows over men in women's sports, the Present
making clear he's going to protect women in sports no
matter what. So what happens on the legal front next,
we'll have that for you. Also, there is now a
(00:24):
big question after the House passed a huge budget resolution
and a big beautiful bill, So what does the timeframe
look like to actually have a real budget that has passed?
And what does it mean for the taxpayers? Will there
be a chance that this can get through the Senate
into the Present's desk to sign it. I'll explain that
in just a moment as well. And finally, there's new
(00:45):
information out of Butler, Pennsylvania and an accusation the New
York Posts that the attempted assassination on Donald Trump that
shooter may have actually had help from others. It's the
week in Review and it starts right now. There's a
badass moment the White House where the President straight up
called out a governor who was in attendance for the
(01:09):
governors that a bunch of governors come to the White House.
They had their big governors at meeting. They invited these
governors come to the White House, and the President just
straight out called out or of the governors for the
plan that had leaked in essence that he was going
to defy the directive from the federal government about protecting
women from men playing in their sports transgendered you know,
(01:31):
individuals claiming that their chick and the President just said, like,
I don't care, you're here, Glad you're here. Are you
going to not go along with what I told you do?
And it was one of those flashpoint moments, just showing you.
I think the difference is time and the mentality of
this president.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, no, that's exactly right. Trump is not backing down.
And I got to say the Democrats that seems they've
learned nothing from the election. Here, give a listen to
the exchange betwetween the governor of Maine and President Trump.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
The NCAA has complied immediately, by the way, that's good,
but I understand Maine is the main here. The governor
of Man, are you not going to comply with it?
Well we are the federal law. Well, you better do it.
You better do it because you're not going to get
any federal funding at all if you don't. And by
(02:19):
the way, your population, even though it's somewhat liberal, although
I did very well there, your population doesn't want men
playing in women's sports. So you better you better comply
because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding. Every state. Good.
I'll see you in court. I look forward to that.
That should be a really easy one. And enjoy your
(02:39):
life after governor, because I don't think you'll be an
elected politics.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I mean the trush talking. I just got to say,
looking at the female governor main saying like, hey, the
people there want this too. You should listen to people.
I'll see you in court. All right, great, look forward
to it. I don't think you're me in politics much
longer either. If you keep this up. This is just
a different Donald Trump this time around.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well it is and and and by the way, there's
also real teeth to it. So so simultaneously with this exchange,
the US Department of Agriculture announced that it had initiated
a compliance review of the University of Maine and the
state could be in jeopardy of losing one hundred million
dollars in federal USDA funding over non compliance with the
(03:23):
Executive Order on keeping Males out of female sports. And
at the end of the day, and and and by
the way, this is not hypothetical that this is happening
in in Maine. Uh in Maine, that there was a
transgender boy who identifies as a girl who took first
place in the girls pole vaulting at Maine's Class B
(03:47):
state championship. And and it's a win that helped helped
the high school take first place overall. And and and
so you know, how would you feel if it if
it's your daughter who's in second, and she's the best
pole vaulter in her in the state, who's a girl,
But there's a dude who says, no, I'm a girl
(04:09):
who beats her and dominates. It's just fundamentally unfair. And
I got to say overwhelmingly eighty ninety percent of Americans
agree with that proposition. And what's striking is this is
not Democrats fighting on some issue where where the voters
are with them. I promise you, even in Maine, the
(04:31):
voters don't want this. They're not happy about this and
today's Democrat party this election. If there is an elected
Democrat who learned anything from this election, I don't know
who it is, because not only are they.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
This has become like the new litmus test though of
the extreme left right.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
They're also doubling down on open borders, they're also doubling
down on anti Israel. Look that the Democrats in the
Senate voted against sanctioning the ICC, the International Criminal Court,
which has gone after Benjamin et Yahoo in Israel. Every
Democrat but one, every Democrat but John Fetterman voted against Israel.
And they did that after the election. They did that
(05:12):
just a few weeks ago. I mean, that's where the
Democrats are right now, is they're still open border, they're
still anti Israel, they're still pro boys and girls sports.
And it's look, look, this is the same issue we
started with fundamentally. I think, you know, the Democrats love
to prattle on about democracy. But when they prattle on
(05:34):
about what democracy, what they really mean is they want
power and they don't care what the voters want. They
don't care about respecting the will of the voters. Instead,
they want to fight against the will of the voters.
It's why they indicted Trump not once, not twice, not
three times, but four times. It was designed to stop democracy.
(05:57):
It's why you had multiple Democrats and state officials trying
to remove Donald Trump from the presidential ballot. Because nothing
says defending democracy like stopping the damn voters for voting
for your opponent and making it impossible. This is all intertwined,
which is it is a lack of humility, a lack
(06:19):
of understanding that you have a boss, and the boss
is the men and women who elected you.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I'm trying to figure this out. Is this pure arrogance
or is this a political move by the radical left
to say, we're not going to comply and we think
it's going to be good for us to raise money
and for our base break this down for us.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
What do you think? Well, listen, Unfortunately, elected Democrats remain
radical that they have not learned any lessons from the
November election. So if you look at Democrats in Congress,
if you looked at Democrat governors, they continue to support
open bord, they continue to support releasing murderers and rapists
(07:04):
and child molesters into this country. You look at we
talked about this in last week's pod how Massachusetts is
literally releasing violent child rapists who are illegal immigrants rather
than turn them over to Ice to be deported. And
I got to say, look, this is not a sixty
forty issue. It's not a seventy thirty issue. This is
(07:28):
at eighty twenty or a ninety ten issue.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I mean, if you.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Ask any rational, insane person a violent child rapist, should
we release him into our community? Any rational person, most
normal Democrats would say hell no, that's a dumb ass idea.
And yet the elected Democrats in Massachusetts, their answer is
(07:52):
let them go. We are opposed to deporting anyone, no
matter how vile. That they're continuing the same position on
They continue to support. The Democrats in Congress continue to
support sterilizing and castrating children for sex change operations. Again,
that's an eighty twenty issue. They're on the wrong side
(08:14):
of it, but they're listening to their radical base. And
when it comes to men and women's sports, this is
another eighty twenty issue. The American people don't want boys
competing against their daughters, they don't want men competing against women,
and yet the Democrats are all in on that. And
I've been amazed Normally, when your party gets clabbered in
(08:37):
an election, you go and reassess, gosh, maybe we miscalibrated,
Maybe we should change where we stand. The Democrats are
not doing that. And so what happened this week is Pambondi,
the new Attorney General, targeted in particular three states, targeted Maine, California,
(08:58):
and Minnesota, and she issued a warning to them that
those states have to comply with federal anti discrimination laws
that require them to keep boys at a girl sports.
And here's what Pambondi said, quote, This Department of Justice
will defend women and does not tolerate state officials who
ignore federal law. We will leverage every legal option necessary
(09:23):
to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump's
executive Order protecting women's sports. And she continues. The Department
of Justice says, quote, as President Trump's recent executive order
one four to two zero one on this subject explains,
allowing men and boys to compete in women's in girl
(09:44):
sports quote is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls.
This practice is also illegal under federal law. It denies
women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel
in competitative sports in violation of Title nine of the
(10:04):
Educational Amendments of nineteen seventy two. And so understand, the
Department of Justice is making clear they intend to sue
these states and they intend to cut off federal funds
to these states if they continue to embrace the radical
notion that they're going to let boys compete in girls' sports.
We talked about in Monday's pod how the governor Maine
(10:24):
is in open defiance, saying to hell with you, We'll
see you in court. It's amazing democrats continue to embrace
these radical positions.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
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. So
for people that say, okay, this past, how quick is
this going to move forward or how long is this
going to be a long way to go? So what's
the timeline on this? So we limit expectations are be realistic.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So the budget resolution just starts this process. Now, what's
happened in the House. They've directed each of the House
committees to draft the underlying bill. So what was voted
on tonight was not securing the border. It was not
rebuilding the military, it was not cutting taxes. It was
the opening resolution to say go draft that legislation. That
(11:18):
was a real fight.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
So this is the first sitting to use a baseball analogy.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yes, now it actually gets your your batter at the plate,
Like if they'd failed, they don't even get a batter
at the plate. So now we can start swinging. We're
in the game. But they're gonna be harder steps forward.
And I believe we're going to get this done. I
believe we're going to get this done. We're going to
secure the border, we're going to rebuild the military, we're
(11:44):
going to unleash American energy, and we're going to extend
the tax cuts. But it is going to be a
lot of trade offs. It's going to be hard. It's
gonna be hard because the House majority is so excruciatingly
tiny that on any issue, if you lose two votes,
you're you're you're out of luck. Uh. But but I
(12:05):
think we will get the job done. And I will
say both Mike Johnson, the Speaker, and Steve Scalise, the
Majority leader, they're both good friends. I work very closely
with both of them, and I think we will go
through some difficult paths to get there, but all of us,
(12:25):
from the most conservative Republican to the most moderate, squishy,
wobbly Republican, all of us want to produce these victories
we get. There was a mandate from the election, and
we can't fail. And by the way, if we fail,
if we don't secure the border, if we don't rebuild
the military, if we don't unleash energy, if if we
(12:47):
don't extend the tax cuts, we'll get killed in November
of next year.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, and that's I'm a big believer, tru said on
the floor, right like, Hey, you don't want to be
involved in this, right.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Edit done. We made a promise to the voters. Let's
deliver on the voters, and I think today was an
important step to doing that.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Let's talk about the border for a second. There was
another big story and I want you to just read
part of this for people, because it truly is heartbreaking.
It makes me angry. It's what you see in war
in the Middle East, and it's happening now against ranchers
and people in agriculture. The warning is very real now
(13:29):
that the cartels are acting like what they are terrorists, organizations.
I think this is another example of the President getting
it right, saying we're going to declare them as terrorist
organizations because they that's what they do. They are terrorists organizations.
And now we have another data point of saying, here's
the proof.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
So let me read from a story of the New
York Post. Texas rancher killed by suspected cartel ied on
Mexican border as authorities worn of growing threat. Here's what
the New York Post reported. Quote. A Texas border rancher
was killed near the border by a suspected cartel ied
(14:08):
earlier this month, the Texas Department of Agriculture told the
Post Tuesday, as officials issued an urgent safety warning for
the Rio Grande Valley rancher. Antonio Gespes Saldierna, seventy four,
who worked on both sides of the border along with
(14:28):
Horatio Lopez Pena, was killed in the blast in Tamalipas, Mexico,
which was just south of Brownsville, Texas. Lopez's wife, Ninphi
Griselda Ortega was hospitalized with injuries. Salderna was driving on
his ranch when he hit the explosive device, causing it
(14:52):
to detonate. According to KRGV. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller
said the deadly explosion is part of a quote growing
threat posed by cartel activity along our southern border and
encourages ranchers to quote exercise extreme caution in the area. Quote.
(15:13):
I encourage everyone in the agricultural industry to stay vigilant,
remain aware of their surroundings, and report any suspicious activity
law enforcement. Additionally, you can avoid dirt roads and remote areas,
Refrain from touching unfamiliar objects that could be explosive devices,
limit travel to daylight hours, stay on main roads, and
(15:36):
avoid cartel controlled regions. Said Miller. This is happening right
at the Texas Mexico border. I gotta say it is
dangerous and it shows. You know, some in the media say, gosh,
it's hyperbole, it's rhetoric to call the cartel's terrorists. They
are terrorists, and their murdering Texans.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Mean moving forward if they continue this, and how could
this change the way that we interact with them, Because
I think there's a lot of Americans right now they're like, look,
if we're gonna call them terrafts, let's go after them
like they're terrists. How dare them be allowed to do this?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Well, I believe we're going to do that. I believe
we're starting with we saw on January twentieth, President Trump
securing the border. We've seen the numbers of illegal crossings plummet,
drop ninety percent. We're going to go after them. We're
going to go after them. We're gonna go after the
people who are here, the murderers, the rapist, the child molesters,
(16:36):
the the gang members. We're resting them, we're deporting them,
We're gonna send them back. But we're also stopping the
traffic coming in, the human traffickers, the drug traffickers, that
is impacting the cartel's bottom lines. But I think we're
going to use leverage to go after the cartels directly
and try to Joe Biden and the Democrats gave billions
(17:01):
of dollars to the cartels, a stat you and I
have talked about multiple times, but it's a stunning stat.
In twenty eighteen, the Mexican draw cartels made roughly five
hundred million dollars from human trafficking. Five hundred million dollars
is a lot of money. Last year, they made thirteen
(17:21):
billion dollars a two thousand, six hundred percent increase that
is ending now, and I have every confidence the Trump
administration is going to go after their money. It's going
to go after them directly. And you are going to
see the cartels targeted, just like we target al Qaida
and Hamas and Hezbola. The days of the cartels terrorizing Americans,
(17:45):
those days are ending as before.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
If you want to hear the rest of this conversation
on this topic, you can go back and dow 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.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
May have made.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
There was another shocking headline that also came out today
and that deals with the assassination attempt on Donald Trump
and Butler Pennsylvania. The headline for the New York Posts
is quote would be Trump assassin may have had an
accomplice and data shows, as investigators say, FBI suppressed info.
(18:22):
I wouldn't believe that headline if I wouldn't have just
had the conversation with you for the last ten minutes
that we just had about the FBI covering up at
Epstein information as well.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Well. This is a stunning article I do not know
if it is true, but if there is evidence that
the attempted assassin, the man who shot Donald Trump and Butler, Pennsylvania,
had an accomplice or multiple accomplices, that would be a
big damn deal. And you know, I got to say,
(18:54):
it has been a long time. It has been two
hundred and twenty nine days since President Trump was shot
at that rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and yet we know
next to nothing about the shooter. It's almost as if
it just dropped into a memory hole and disappeared. And
I want to read some of this article from the
(19:15):
New York Post because it has some crusting information in it.
It's not clear, it's not clear what's true or not.
But let me read from the New York Post quote.
It's been almost nine months since a seemingly mild matter
twenty year old attempted to assassinate then Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, and we still
(19:38):
have no good reason why. Sources told the Post the
FBI has obstructed efforts to solve the mystery of why
Thomas Matthew Crooks, who left no manifesto, did what he did.
It's left local law enforcement, as well as Crooks's former friends, classmates,
and teachers frustrated. Those who may not know. Crooks's parents,
(20:01):
Matthew and Mary, have refused all interviews and remain in
their small, three bedroom home sealed off from the world.
Like Hermit's neighbors say, they only leave the house at
three AM to buy groceries. Quote. By the way, why
do we know nothing about that guy in Butler? Elon
Musk yelled out to the audience at SEAPAC last week,
(20:25):
before warning that FBI Director Cash Battel is going to
get to the bottom of it. A veteran private investigator
from Erie, Pennsylvania, who was hired shortly after the fateful
July thirteenth event at Butler Farm to look into Crooks
by a private client, told The Post he believes a
quote criminal network was operating with him at the time
(20:49):
of the assassination attempt, is still in existence and still
wants to kill President Trump. Doug Hagman, whose team of
six other investigators had been working the case for months
and have interviewed more than one hundred people, said they
also conducted extensive geofencing analysis of cell phones and tablets
(21:12):
not belonging to Crooks that were found with him at
his home, at the rifle range where he took target practice,
at the rally, and at Bethel Park High School, where
he graduated in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
We don't think he acted alone, Hageman told the Post. Quote,
This took a lot of coordination. In my view, Crooks
was handled by more than one individual, and he was
used for this assassination attempt. And I wouldn't preclude the
possibility that there were people at the rally itself helping him.
(21:46):
Hageman said. One of the electronic devices geolocated with Crooks
at several different places at the time of the shooting
is still pinging today at Bethel Park High School. Look,
I don't know if this is true or not. I
don't know any background about this private investigator, and I
(22:07):
don't know if his allegations are are right or not.
But it is frustrating that the American people. Look, I'm
on the Senate Judiciary Committee. I have no information that
isn't public about who this would be assassin was, what
is motivation was, what evidence there is of anyone else
being involved? And I'll tell you when I sat down
(22:30):
with both Cash Betel and with Pam Bondi when they
were preparing for their confirmation. I had an extensive conversation
with both of them about the need for transparency that
when you've had four years of both the Department of
Justice and the FBI politicized and weaponized, the result is
(22:50):
that people don't trust the FBI. I mean, this article
in the Post repeatedly argues that the FBI is an
obstructing effort to get to the bottom of what happened.
That that's infuriating if true, and it is very much
my hope that we'll see Pambondi and cash Betel make
(23:11):
significant information about this assassination attempt public. The American people
have a right to know, have a right to know
if anyone else was involved with this. And I don't
know if the FBI, if they didn't put a priority
on it, I don't know if they didn't investigate, I
don't I guess it is possible this kid acted alone.
(23:34):
But the absolute dearth of information is it frustrating and infuriating.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Well, and it goes back to the point that I
think Pambondi made at the White House with many of
these conservatives, which is We're doing everything we can now
to be transparent, but there is still a very deep
state rebellion and they are hell bent on not when
the American people know what's going on. They're above us,
(24:03):
they think they're more important than us. They don't believe
they have to play by the rules, they don't have
to be transparent, and until you get that fixed, there's
going to be a lot of doubting in the American
from the American people in these institutions.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I think that's exactly right. You know, the article says
that Hageman, this private investigator, said that he was personally
escorted to the Butler County line and told to leave
twice during the course of his team's investigation. The people
who did so were either federal agents or some type
(24:37):
of private security and so look, and I actually I
can understand an FBI investigation that they would be frustrated
with having a private investigator interviewing the same people. So
that actually the fact that the FBI was telling this guy,
you know, buzz off, that's not shocking to me. But
(24:58):
I don't know what investigation the FBI conducted. I certainly
don't know the results of the investigation. They haven't made
anything public to the American people, and I think the
FBI's attitude has been in recent years. They don't know
the publican answer, You don't get to know anything if
they don't want to tell you.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, great point. I want to move also to another story,
and this goes back to the issue of trust Elon
Musk and Doge. New poll numbers are out saying that
the majority of American people actually approve of what Elon
Musk is doing, and they think that Dog is having
a real impact in a positive way for this country
and for taxpayers and the waste, fraud and abuse. They
(25:38):
want them to keep moving forward. What we're also seeing
centered at the exact same time is I would now
describe it as a clearly well organized orchestrated effort by
the media and the Democrats to ramp up their smears
against Trump early on, or I should say against Elon On.
(26:00):
They were trying to drive a wedge between Elon and
trust Trump. You could see it in their rhetoric where
it's like, well, you know, Elon, it thinks he's the president,
and oh.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah, they were the Time magazine cover story that put
Elon at the resolute desk in the Oval office was
obvious in a clumsy attempt to piss Trump off and
get Trump mad at Elon. And it was so transparent
that that that that I think it did not remotely
have the effect they were trying to have.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Yeah, and backfired, but that was where you could tell
they were. The first step was, well, maybe we can
drive a wedge here. That hasn't worked. So now what
we're witnessing is just a full on smear campaign against
Elon Musk, even on the View. And this was an
interesting moment for me because it's like you're getting real
(26:46):
close to slander and libel when you when you do
what the View does against Elon Musk. I don't know
if they care that they have to apologize pretty regularly
now for things they say on the air with legal
notes they keep having to make. But Joe Bahart had
this to say on the View about Elon Musk, and
I want to play it and then get your reaction
(27:07):
to it.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
And an Elon Musk kisses his butt and strokes his
his tiny ego or big ego, whatever it is, and
he doesn't get to do he can take a nap
while the guy was not born in this country who
was born under apartheid in South Africa, so has that
mentality going on. He was pro apartheid, as I understand it, right,
(27:31):
he's a natural. Oh really, how did he do that?
Did he come over the board? Yeah, he allegedly overstate
that vs subject. But I think this is just perfectly
but wonderful for Trump. He's can take a nap and
let this Barger foreign agent, you know, an enemy of
the United States do his job.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I mean, not only does she say he's an enemy,
but then she says in favor of apartheid, by the way,
not true. Came back on the air later in the
show and try to undo that and said, Elon, don't sue.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Well, look, I mean the View they are unhinged lunatics
and they don't care about truth. But they you know,
the crazy thing is Joi Bihar believes what she says.
You know, it's amazing. Apparently Elon Musk is the only
immigrant that Joi Bihar and the crazies on the View dislike.
(28:26):
If you're an MS thirteen gang member, if you're a
murderer or a rapist, they're perfectly fine with you. They
don't have a problem with Joe Biden, the Democrats releasing
millions of criminals into America that they have no problem with.
But if someone comes legally to this country, if someone
builds multiple incredible companies, creates thousands and thousands of jobs,
(28:49):
is an incredible innovator and then volunteers his time to
serve as nation that merits being called a foreign agent
and an enemy of the United States. You know, at
the end of the day, what the view was saying
doesn't say much about Elon Musk, but it says a
lot about the media and the left and how terrified
(29:12):
they are of him. And I'll tell you Marci Captor,
a Democrat congresswoman, had very similar comments. Listen to what
she said about Elon Musk. Apparently she enjoyed Baharror reading
from the same talking points.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, and this was in front of the United States
Capital where she said it.
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Mister Musk has just been here twenty two years, and
he's a citizen of three countries. I always ask myself
the question, with the damage he's doing here, when push
comes to shove, which country is he loyalty to? South Africa,
Canada or the United States. And he's only been a
citizen I'll say again twenty two years.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
By the way, I thought it was Democrats for the
last four years that were obsessed with the legal immigrants
coming into this country and saying, who is anyone else
to say that they aren't Americans and we don't even
call them the legal as you must call them immigrants,
and they're just like you and I. But all of
a sudden, a guy by the name of Elon Mosk
is actually getting things done, and now they're just going
to slander them and say which countries are really little
(30:12):
to like he's some sort of secret agent or bad
actor for another nation.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Well, look, I spent a good chunk of this morning
with Elon over at the White House and he met
with a number of Senators talking about what he's doing
on DOGE, and it was a very interesting meeting. And
it's stunning some of the things that they're finding. They're finding,
for example, they're going into agencies and finding agencies that
(30:37):
have more electronic subscriptions than they have employees.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And in many instances thousands and thousands more like like
thirty thousand licenses for different electronic applications, thirty thousand licenses
and fifteen thousand employees that order of magnitude, and so
they're going in and canceling the ones that that that
aren't used. They also went and checked and they said
(31:06):
hundreds and hundreds of them had never been opened, had
never even been installed. So even of the employees, not
everyone is using them. They've never logged in, and so
they can go and check, all right, and so anyone
who's not using it, they're canceling those. Those are the
sorts of things they're finding that are really just astonishing.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Well, when you met with him today, does it seem
that he's even shocked by what he's finding.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
You know, they're things like he talked today about ghost
payments about the Treasury has computers that that that transfer
funds that make federal payments, and and he says that
that that there are ghost payments that are going out
that a program officer puts in for for for a
payment to to a contractor to to somebody, and then
(31:55):
the program officer retires, dies, leaves is gone on, and
the payments just keep on going and and you know it,
he said, it's stunning. The Treasury. The Treasury computers have
a field where you categorize, Okay, what is this payment
(32:16):
for and what in in the congressional appropriation is it
going for? And he said, routinely that field is left blank.
He said, us AI D they always left it blank.
He said, so there's no way, he said, many ways.
It's it's it's it's incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to
(32:37):
audit the billions of dollars that are going out the
door because they don't keep the records. And it was
interesting Elon's comments. He said, if any public company did this,
he said, they would be massively fined and the executives
would be put in jail.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
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 list 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 we will see you back here on Monday morning,
Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz Weekend Review. Ben
Ferguson with you, and here are the big stories that
you may have missed that we talked about this week.
First up, Donald Trump and the governor of Maine. They
come to blows over men in women's sports, the Present
making clear he's going to protect women in sports no
matter what. So what happens on the legal front next,
we'll have that for you. Also, there is now a
(00:24):
big question after the House passed a huge budget resolution
and a big beautiful bill, So what does the timeframe
look like to actually have a real budget that has passed?
And what does it mean for the taxpayers? Will there
be a chance that this can get through the Senate
into the Present's desk to sign it. I'll explain that
in just a moment as well. And finally, there's new
(00:45):
information out of Butler, Pennsylvania and an accusation the New
York Posts that the attempted assassination on Donald Trump that
shooter may have actually had help from others. It's the
week in Review and it starts right now. There's a
badass moment the White House where the President straight up
called out a governor who was in attendance for the
(01:09):
governors that a bunch of governors come to the White House.
They had their big governors at meeting. They invited these
governors come to the White House, and the President just
straight out called out or of the governors for the
plan that had leaked in essence that he was going
to defy the directive from the federal government about protecting
women from men playing in their sports transgendered you know,
(01:31):
individuals claiming that their chick and the President just said, like,
I don't care, you're here, Glad you're here. Are you
going to not go along with what I told you do?
And it was one of those flashpoint moments, just showing you.
I think the difference is time and the mentality of
this president.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, no, that's exactly right. Trump is not backing down.
And I got to say the Democrats that seems they've
learned nothing from the election. Here, give a listen to
the exchange betwetween the governor of Maine and President Trump.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
The NCAA has complied immediately, by the way, that's good,
but I understand Maine is the main here. The governor
of Man, are you not going to comply with it?
Well we are the federal law. Well, you better do it.
You better do it because you're not going to get
any federal funding at all if you don't. And by
(02:19):
the way, your population, even though it's somewhat liberal, although
I did very well there, your population doesn't want men
playing in women's sports. So you better you better comply
because otherwise you're not getting any federal funding. Every state. Good.
I'll see you in court. I look forward to that.
That should be a really easy one. And enjoy your
(02:39):
life after governor, because I don't think you'll be an
elected politics.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I mean the trush talking. I just got to say,
looking at the female governor main saying like, hey, the
people there want this too. You should listen to people.
I'll see you in court. All right, great, look forward
to it. I don't think you're me in politics much
longer either. If you keep this up. This is just
a different Donald Trump this time around.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Well it is and and and by the way, there's
also real teeth to it. So so simultaneously with this exchange,
the US Department of Agriculture announced that it had initiated
a compliance review of the University of Maine and the
state could be in jeopardy of losing one hundred million
dollars in federal USDA funding over non compliance with the
(03:23):
Executive Order on keeping Males out of female sports. And
at the end of the day, and and and by
the way, this is not hypothetical that this is happening
in in Maine. Uh in Maine, that there was a
transgender boy who identifies as a girl who took first
place in the girls pole vaulting at Maine's Class B
(03:47):
state championship. And and it's a win that helped helped
the high school take first place overall. And and and
so you know, how would you feel if it if
it's your daughter who's in second, and she's the best
pole vaulter in her in the state, who's a girl,
But there's a dude who says, no, I'm a girl
(04:09):
who beats her and dominates. It's just fundamentally unfair. And
I got to say overwhelmingly eighty ninety percent of Americans
agree with that proposition. And what's striking is this is
not Democrats fighting on some issue where where the voters
are with them. I promise you, even in Maine, the
(04:31):
voters don't want this. They're not happy about this and
today's Democrat party this election. If there is an elected
Democrat who learned anything from this election, I don't know
who it is, because not only are they.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
This has become like the new litmus test though of
the extreme left right.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
They're also doubling down on open borders, they're also doubling
down on anti Israel. Look that the Democrats in the
Senate voted against sanctioning the ICC, the International Criminal Court,
which has gone after Benjamin et Yahoo in Israel. Every
Democrat but one, every Democrat but John Fetterman voted against Israel.
And they did that after the election. They did that
(05:12):
just a few weeks ago. I mean, that's where the
Democrats are right now, is they're still open border, they're
still anti Israel, they're still pro boys and girls sports.
And it's look, look, this is the same issue we
started with fundamentally. I think, you know, the Democrats love
to prattle on about democracy. But when they prattle on
(05:34):
about what democracy, what they really mean is they want
power and they don't care what the voters want. They
don't care about respecting the will of the voters. Instead,
they want to fight against the will of the voters.
It's why they indicted Trump not once, not twice, not
three times, but four times. It was designed to stop democracy.
(05:57):
It's why you had multiple Democrats and state officials trying
to remove Donald Trump from the presidential ballot. Because nothing
says defending democracy like stopping the damn voters for voting
for your opponent and making it impossible. This is all intertwined,
which is it is a lack of humility, a lack
(06:19):
of understanding that you have a boss, and the boss
is the men and women who elected you.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
I'm trying to figure this out. Is this pure arrogance
or is this a political move by the radical left
to say, we're not going to comply and we think
it's going to be good for us to raise money
and for our base break this down for us.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
What do you think? Well, listen, Unfortunately, elected Democrats remain
radical that they have not learned any lessons from the
November election. So if you look at Democrats in Congress,
if you looked at Democrat governors, they continue to support
open bord, they continue to support releasing murderers and rapists
(07:04):
and child molesters into this country. You look at we
talked about this in last week's pod how Massachusetts is
literally releasing violent child rapists who are illegal immigrants rather
than turn them over to Ice to be deported. And
I got to say, look, this is not a sixty
forty issue. It's not a seventy thirty issue. This is
(07:28):
at eighty twenty or a ninety ten issue.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I mean, if you.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Ask any rational, insane person a violent child rapist, should
we release him into our community? Any rational person, most
normal Democrats would say hell no, that's a dumb ass idea.
And yet the elected Democrats in Massachusetts, their answer is
(07:52):
let them go. We are opposed to deporting anyone, no
matter how vile. That they're continuing the same position on
They continue to support. The Democrats in Congress continue to
support sterilizing and castrating children for sex change operations. Again,
that's an eighty twenty issue. They're on the wrong side
(08:14):
of it, but they're listening to their radical base. And
when it comes to men and women's sports, this is
another eighty twenty issue. The American people don't want boys
competing against their daughters, they don't want men competing against women,
and yet the Democrats are all in on that. And
I've been amazed Normally, when your party gets clabbered in
(08:37):
an election, you go and reassess, gosh, maybe we miscalibrated,
Maybe we should change where we stand. The Democrats are
not doing that. And so what happened this week is Pambondi,
the new Attorney General, targeted in particular three states, targeted Maine, California,
(08:58):
and Minnesota, and she issued a warning to them that
those states have to comply with federal anti discrimination laws
that require them to keep boys at a girl sports.
And here's what Pambondi said, quote, This Department of Justice
will defend women and does not tolerate state officials who
ignore federal law. We will leverage every legal option necessary
(09:23):
to ensure state compliance with federal law and President Trump's
executive Order protecting women's sports. And she continues. The Department
of Justice says, quote, as President Trump's recent executive order
one four to two zero one on this subject explains,
allowing men and boys to compete in women's in girl
(09:44):
sports quote is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls.
This practice is also illegal under federal law. It denies
women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel
in competitative sports in violation of Title nine of the
(10:04):
Educational Amendments of nineteen seventy two. And so understand, the
Department of Justice is making clear they intend to sue
these states and they intend to cut off federal funds
to these states if they continue to embrace the radical
notion that they're going to let boys compete in girls' sports.
We talked about in Monday's pod how the governor Maine
(10:24):
is in open defiance, saying to hell with you, We'll
see you in court. It's amazing democrats continue to embrace
these radical positions.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
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. So
for people that say, okay, this past, how quick is
this going to move forward or how long is this
going to be a long way to go? So what's
the timeline on this? So we limit expectations are be realistic.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
So the budget resolution just starts this process. Now, what's
happened in the House. They've directed each of the House
committees to draft the underlying bill. So what was voted
on tonight was not securing the border. It was not
rebuilding the military, it was not cutting taxes. It was
the opening resolution to say go draft that legislation. That
(11:18):
was a real fight.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
So this is the first sitting to use a baseball analogy.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yes, now it actually gets your your batter at the plate,
Like if they'd failed, they don't even get a batter
at the plate. So now we can start swinging. We're
in the game. But they're gonna be harder steps forward.
And I believe we're going to get this done. I
believe we're going to get this done. We're going to
secure the border, we're going to rebuild the military, we're
(11:44):
going to unleash American energy, and we're going to extend
the tax cuts. But it is going to be a
lot of trade offs. It's going to be hard. It's
gonna be hard because the House majority is so excruciatingly
tiny that on any issue, if you lose two votes,
you're you're you're out of luck. Uh. But but I
(12:05):
think we will get the job done. And I will
say both Mike Johnson, the Speaker, and Steve Scalise, the
Majority leader, they're both good friends. I work very closely
with both of them, and I think we will go
through some difficult paths to get there, but all of us,
(12:25):
from the most conservative Republican to the most moderate, squishy,
wobbly Republican, all of us want to produce these victories
we get. There was a mandate from the election, and
we can't fail. And by the way, if we fail,
if we don't secure the border, if we don't rebuild
the military, if we don't unleash energy, if if we
(12:47):
don't extend the tax cuts, we'll get killed in November
of next year.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Yeah, and that's I'm a big believer, tru said on
the floor, right like, Hey, you don't want to be
involved in this, right.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Edit done. We made a promise to the voters. Let's
deliver on the voters, and I think today was an
important step to doing that.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Let's talk about the border for a second. There was
another big story and I want you to just read
part of this for people, because it truly is heartbreaking.
It makes me angry. It's what you see in war
in the Middle East, and it's happening now against ranchers
and people in agriculture. The warning is very real now
(13:29):
that the cartels are acting like what they are terrorists, organizations.
I think this is another example of the President getting
it right, saying we're going to declare them as terrorist
organizations because they that's what they do. They are terrorists organizations.
And now we have another data point of saying, here's
the proof.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
So let me read from a story of the New
York Post. Texas rancher killed by suspected cartel ied on
Mexican border as authorities worn of growing threat. Here's what
the New York Post reported. Quote. A Texas border rancher
was killed near the border by a suspected cartel ied
(14:08):
earlier this month, the Texas Department of Agriculture told the
Post Tuesday, as officials issued an urgent safety warning for
the Rio Grande Valley rancher. Antonio Gespes Saldierna, seventy four,
who worked on both sides of the border along with
(14:28):
Horatio Lopez Pena, was killed in the blast in Tamalipas, Mexico,
which was just south of Brownsville, Texas. Lopez's wife, Ninphi
Griselda Ortega was hospitalized with injuries. Salderna was driving on
his ranch when he hit the explosive device, causing it
(14:52):
to detonate. According to KRGV. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller
said the deadly explosion is part of a quote growing
threat posed by cartel activity along our southern border and
encourages ranchers to quote exercise extreme caution in the area. Quote.
(15:13):
I encourage everyone in the agricultural industry to stay vigilant,
remain aware of their surroundings, and report any suspicious activity
law enforcement. Additionally, you can avoid dirt roads and remote areas,
Refrain from touching unfamiliar objects that could be explosive devices,
limit travel to daylight hours, stay on main roads, and
(15:36):
avoid cartel controlled regions. Said Miller. This is happening right
at the Texas Mexico border. I gotta say it is
dangerous and it shows. You know, some in the media say, gosh,
it's hyperbole, it's rhetoric to call the cartel's terrorists. They
are terrorists, and their murdering Texans.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Mean moving forward if they continue this, and how could
this change the way that we interact with them, Because
I think there's a lot of Americans right now they're like, look,
if we're gonna call them terrafts, let's go after them
like they're terrists. How dare them be allowed to do this?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Well, I believe we're going to do that. I believe
we're starting with we saw on January twentieth, President Trump
securing the border. We've seen the numbers of illegal crossings plummet,
drop ninety percent. We're going to go after them. We're
going to go after them. We're gonna go after the
people who are here, the murderers, the rapist, the child molesters,
(16:36):
the the gang members. We're resting them, we're deporting them,
We're gonna send them back. But we're also stopping the
traffic coming in, the human traffickers, the drug traffickers, that
is impacting the cartel's bottom lines. But I think we're
going to use leverage to go after the cartels directly
and try to Joe Biden and the Democrats gave billions
(17:01):
of dollars to the cartels, a stat you and I
have talked about multiple times, but it's a stunning stat.
In twenty eighteen, the Mexican draw cartels made roughly five
hundred million dollars from human trafficking. Five hundred million dollars
is a lot of money. Last year, they made thirteen
(17:21):
billion dollars a two thousand, six hundred percent increase that
is ending now, and I have every confidence the Trump
administration is going to go after their money. It's going
to go after them directly. And you are going to
see the cartels targeted, just like we target al Qaida
and Hamas and Hezbola. The days of the cartels terrorizing Americans,
(17:45):
those days are ending as before.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
If you want to hear the rest of this conversation
on this topic, you can go back and dow 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.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
May have made.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
There was another shocking headline that also came out today
and that deals with the assassination attempt on Donald Trump
and Butler Pennsylvania. The headline for the New York Posts
is quote would be Trump assassin may have had an
accomplice and data shows, as investigators say, FBI suppressed info.
(18:22):
I wouldn't believe that headline if I wouldn't have just
had the conversation with you for the last ten minutes
that we just had about the FBI covering up at
Epstein information as well.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Well. This is a stunning article I do not know
if it is true, but if there is evidence that
the attempted assassin, the man who shot Donald Trump and Butler, Pennsylvania,
had an accomplice or multiple accomplices, that would be a
big damn deal. And you know, I got to say,
(18:54):
it has been a long time. It has been two
hundred and twenty nine days since President Trump was shot
at that rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and yet we know
next to nothing about the shooter. It's almost as if
it just dropped into a memory hole and disappeared. And
I want to read some of this article from the
(19:15):
New York Post because it has some crusting information in it.
It's not clear, it's not clear what's true or not.
But let me read from the New York Post quote.
It's been almost nine months since a seemingly mild matter
twenty year old attempted to assassinate then Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, and we still
(19:38):
have no good reason why. Sources told the Post the
FBI has obstructed efforts to solve the mystery of why
Thomas Matthew Crooks, who left no manifesto, did what he did.
It's left local law enforcement, as well as Crooks's former friends, classmates,
and teachers frustrated. Those who may not know. Crooks's parents,
(20:01):
Matthew and Mary, have refused all interviews and remain in
their small, three bedroom home sealed off from the world.
Like Hermit's neighbors say, they only leave the house at
three AM to buy groceries. Quote. By the way, why
do we know nothing about that guy in Butler? Elon
Musk yelled out to the audience at SEAPAC last week,
(20:25):
before warning that FBI Director Cash Battel is going to
get to the bottom of it. A veteran private investigator
from Erie, Pennsylvania, who was hired shortly after the fateful
July thirteenth event at Butler Farm to look into Crooks
by a private client, told The Post he believes a
quote criminal network was operating with him at the time
(20:49):
of the assassination attempt, is still in existence and still
wants to kill President Trump. Doug Hagman, whose team of
six other investigators had been working the case for months
and have interviewed more than one hundred people, said they
also conducted extensive geofencing analysis of cell phones and tablets
(21:12):
not belonging to Crooks that were found with him at
his home, at the rifle range where he took target practice,
at the rally, and at Bethel Park High School, where
he graduated in twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Quote.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
We don't think he acted alone, Hageman told the Post. Quote,
This took a lot of coordination. In my view, Crooks
was handled by more than one individual, and he was
used for this assassination attempt. And I wouldn't preclude the
possibility that there were people at the rally itself helping him.
(21:46):
Hageman said. One of the electronic devices geolocated with Crooks
at several different places at the time of the shooting
is still pinging today at Bethel Park High School. Look,
I don't know if this is true or not. I
don't know any background about this private investigator, and I
(22:07):
don't know if his allegations are are right or not.
But it is frustrating that the American people. Look, I'm
on the Senate Judiciary Committee. I have no information that
isn't public about who this would be assassin was, what
is motivation was, what evidence there is of anyone else
being involved? And I'll tell you when I sat down
(22:30):
with both Cash Betel and with Pam Bondi when they
were preparing for their confirmation. I had an extensive conversation
with both of them about the need for transparency that
when you've had four years of both the Department of
Justice and the FBI politicized and weaponized, the result is
(22:50):
that people don't trust the FBI. I mean, this article
in the Post repeatedly argues that the FBI is an
obstructing effort to get to the bottom of what happened.
That that's infuriating if true, and it is very much
my hope that we'll see Pambondi and cash Betel make
(23:11):
significant information about this assassination attempt public. The American people
have a right to know, have a right to know
if anyone else was involved with this. And I don't
know if the FBI, if they didn't put a priority
on it, I don't know if they didn't investigate, I
don't I guess it is possible this kid acted alone.
(23:34):
But the absolute dearth of information is it frustrating and infuriating.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Well, and it goes back to the point that I
think Pambondi made at the White House with many of
these conservatives, which is We're doing everything we can now
to be transparent, but there is still a very deep
state rebellion and they are hell bent on not when
the American people know what's going on. They're above us,
(24:03):
they think they're more important than us. They don't believe
they have to play by the rules, they don't have
to be transparent, and until you get that fixed, there's
going to be a lot of doubting in the American
from the American people in these institutions.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
I think that's exactly right. You know, the article says
that Hageman, this private investigator, said that he was personally
escorted to the Butler County line and told to leave
twice during the course of his team's investigation. The people
who did so were either federal agents or some type
(24:37):
of private security and so look, and I actually I
can understand an FBI investigation that they would be frustrated
with having a private investigator interviewing the same people. So
that actually the fact that the FBI was telling this guy,
you know, buzz off, that's not shocking to me. But
(24:58):
I don't know what investigation the FBI conducted. I certainly
don't know the results of the investigation. They haven't made
anything public to the American people, and I think the
FBI's attitude has been in recent years. They don't know
the publican answer, You don't get to know anything if
they don't want to tell you.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Yeah, great point. I want to move also to another story,
and this goes back to the issue of trust Elon
Musk and Doge. New poll numbers are out saying that
the majority of American people actually approve of what Elon
Musk is doing, and they think that Dog is having
a real impact in a positive way for this country
and for taxpayers and the waste, fraud and abuse. They
(25:38):
want them to keep moving forward. What we're also seeing
centered at the exact same time is I would now
describe it as a clearly well organized orchestrated effort by
the media and the Democrats to ramp up their smears
against Trump early on, or I should say against Elon On.
(26:00):
They were trying to drive a wedge between Elon and
trust Trump. You could see it in their rhetoric where
it's like, well, you know, Elon, it thinks he's the president,
and oh.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah, they were the Time magazine cover story that put
Elon at the resolute desk in the Oval office was
obvious in a clumsy attempt to piss Trump off and
get Trump mad at Elon. And it was so transparent
that that that that I think it did not remotely
have the effect they were trying to have.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Yeah, and backfired, but that was where you could tell
they were. The first step was, well, maybe we can
drive a wedge here. That hasn't worked. So now what
we're witnessing is just a full on smear campaign against
Elon Musk, even on the View. And this was an
interesting moment for me because it's like you're getting real
(26:46):
close to slander and libel when you when you do
what the View does against Elon Musk. I don't know
if they care that they have to apologize pretty regularly
now for things they say on the air with legal
notes they keep having to make. But Joe Bahart had
this to say on the View about Elon Musk, and
I want to play it and then get your reaction
(27:07):
to it.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
And an Elon Musk kisses his butt and strokes his
his tiny ego or big ego, whatever it is, and
he doesn't get to do he can take a nap
while the guy was not born in this country who
was born under apartheid in South Africa, so has that
mentality going on. He was pro apartheid, as I understand it, right,
(27:31):
he's a natural. Oh really, how did he do that?
Did he come over the board? Yeah, he allegedly overstate
that vs subject. But I think this is just perfectly
but wonderful for Trump. He's can take a nap and
let this Barger foreign agent, you know, an enemy of
the United States do his job.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
I mean, not only does she say he's an enemy,
but then she says in favor of apartheid, by the way,
not true. Came back on the air later in the
show and try to undo that and said, Elon, don't sue.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Well, look, I mean the View they are unhinged lunatics
and they don't care about truth. But they you know,
the crazy thing is Joi Bihar believes what she says.
You know, it's amazing. Apparently Elon Musk is the only
immigrant that Joi Bihar and the crazies on the View dislike.
(28:26):
If you're an MS thirteen gang member, if you're a
murderer or a rapist, they're perfectly fine with you. They
don't have a problem with Joe Biden, the Democrats releasing
millions of criminals into America that they have no problem with.
But if someone comes legally to this country, if someone
builds multiple incredible companies, creates thousands and thousands of jobs,
(28:49):
is an incredible innovator and then volunteers his time to
serve as nation that merits being called a foreign agent
and an enemy of the United States. You know, at
the end of the day, what the view was saying
doesn't say much about Elon Musk, but it says a
lot about the media and the left and how terrified
(29:12):
they are of him. And I'll tell you Marci Captor,
a Democrat congresswoman, had very similar comments. Listen to what
she said about Elon Musk. Apparently she enjoyed Baharror reading
from the same talking points.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, and this was in front of the United States
Capital where she said it.
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Mister Musk has just been here twenty two years, and
he's a citizen of three countries. I always ask myself
the question, with the damage he's doing here, when push
comes to shove, which country is he loyalty to? South Africa,
Canada or the United States. And he's only been a
citizen I'll say again twenty two years.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
By the way, I thought it was Democrats for the
last four years that were obsessed with the legal immigrants
coming into this country and saying, who is anyone else
to say that they aren't Americans and we don't even
call them the legal as you must call them immigrants,
and they're just like you and I. But all of
a sudden, a guy by the name of Elon Mosk
is actually getting things done, and now they're just going
to slander them and say which countries are really little
(30:12):
to like he's some sort of secret agent or bad
actor for another nation.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Well, look, I spent a good chunk of this morning
with Elon over at the White House and he met
with a number of Senators talking about what he's doing
on DOGE, and it was a very interesting meeting. And
it's stunning some of the things that they're finding. They're finding,
for example, they're going into agencies and finding agencies that
(30:37):
have more electronic subscriptions than they have employees.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And in many instances thousands and thousands more like like
thirty thousand licenses for different electronic applications, thirty thousand licenses
and fifteen thousand employees that order of magnitude, and so
they're going in and canceling the ones that that that
aren't used. They also went and checked and they said
(31:06):
hundreds and hundreds of them had never been opened, had
never even been installed. So even of the employees, not
everyone is using them. They've never logged in, and so
they can go and check, all right, and so anyone
who's not using it, they're canceling those. Those are the
sorts of things they're finding that are really just astonishing.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Well, when you met with him today, does it seem
that he's even shocked by what he's finding.
Speaker 2 (31:33):
You know, they're things like he talked today about ghost
payments about the Treasury has computers that that that transfer
funds that make federal payments, and and he says that
that that there are ghost payments that are going out
that a program officer puts in for for for a
payment to to a contractor to to somebody, and then
(31:55):
the program officer retires, dies, leaves is gone on, and
the payments just keep on going and and you know it,
he said, it's stunning. The Treasury. The Treasury computers have
a field where you categorize, Okay, what is this payment
(32:16):
for and what in in the congressional appropriation is it
going for? And he said, routinely that field is left blank.
He said, us AI D they always left it blank.
He said, so there's no way, he said, many ways.
It's it's it's it's incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to
(32:37):
audit the billions of dollars that are going out the
door because they don't keep the records. And it was
interesting Elon's comments. He said, if any public company did this,
he said, they would be massively fined and the executives
would be put in jail.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
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 list 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 we will see you back here on Monday morning,
Host
Ben Ferguson
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