September 13, 2025 • 29 mins
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The assassination of Charlie Kirk
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They frame Kirk’s death as a political assassination, comparing it to historical killings of JFK, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
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The hosts emphasize concerns about political violence, the dangers of polarization, and left-wing reactions online.
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They highlight messages of unity from unexpected voices on the left, such as Cenk Uygur, while contrasting that with those celebrating Kirk’s death.
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Persecution of Christians in Nigeria
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Cruz details violence by Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa, citing statistics of tens of thousands of Christians killed and thousands of churches destroyed.
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He introduces the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025, which seeks to:
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Classify Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” for religious freedom.
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Keep Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa labeled as terrorist groups.
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Sanction Nigerian officials complicit in persecution.
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The discussion connects this to broader issues of U.S. foreign policy, criticizing past administrations (especially Obama and Biden) for not doing enough to defend persecuted Christians.
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Tucker Carlson’s controversial statements
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Carlson’s remarks about offering condolences to Osama bin Laden’s family, questioning Hamas’s designation as a terrorist group, and sympathetic portrayals of Russia and Iran are strongly criticized.
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Cruz and Ferguson accuse Carlson of moral relativism, equating his views with those of progressive politicians like Ilhan Omar or Rashida Tlaib.
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They reaffirm that groups like Hamas, al-Qaeda, and ISIS are terrorist organizations, citing both U.S. and international designations as well as historical attacks.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is Verdict with Ted Cruz week in Review, Ben
Ferguson with you, and we had some really tough stories
that you may have missed that we talked about this week.
First up, we're going to take some time and talk
about Charlie Kirk, our dear friend, and the assassination and
what comes next.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We're going to deal with that first.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We're also going to talk about the persecution of Christians
in Nigeria and Senator Cruz is leading the way on
trying to stop what's happening on that and finally, some
shocking comments coming from Tucker Carlson on Osama bin Laden
and his family. It's the weekend Review and it starts
(00:40):
right now center. I also want to talk about there
is a question. I'm sure you've gotten it. I've gotten
it too, and that is what's next. This is a
moment where my nine year old asked me that I
think the toughest question I've ever been asked by him.
When I put into bed last night, he knew that
(01:01):
daddy's friend had died, and he said, Daddy, is someone
going to shoot you for what you do? And I
gave him the best answer I could. I said buddy.
You know, daddy carries a gun. You know, Daddy shoots back,
and he just started crying. And I think there are
so many people right now that are worried about where
(01:23):
we are in this divide and this feeling that the
left is just wanting to take out anybody that is
successful in articulating conservative or Christian views. I do worry
about where we are as a country. I also think
that you and I and so many others that do this,
everybody that I've been texting and talking with, I don't
(01:45):
think any of us are going to back down. We
maybe do things a little differently, we may take different precautions,
but I don't think they're going to silence any of us.
I'm not backing down. This is my mission field. I
think you feel the same way I do.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Absolutely, and and listen. I think Charlie inspired many people
to speak up and to be brave, to be courageous.
I think more people will be inspired. I will say
his assassination, it wasn't just a murder, it was an assassination.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
He was taken out because of who he is and
because of what he was saying. And he was taken
out because of fear that what he was saying was
so persuasive that people wanted to hear it. Look, when
he went to a college campus, he welcome leftists to
come argue with him, to present their side of the story.
(02:39):
But but but the power of the truth he was
saying was what was dangerous. And and and look, I
I gotta say, I feel a little bit you and
I were not not alive when when JFK was shot
or or Bobby Kennedy was shot, or Martin Luther King
was shot. But I do kind of wonder if that
(03:00):
that's a little bit what this that felt like just
just I have to say, like seeing this happen, particularly
the parallel to President Trump's being shot in Butler, that
it was the same thing over and over again, and
it was it was almost a successful assassination of the president,
(03:20):
and tragically it was a successful assassination of Charlie. Like
what is going on that there is this hate? And
I got to say, by the way, we have seen leftists.
We saw people on MSNBC cackling. I saw an image
on Twitter of this one soulless young woman dancing and
singing that Charlie Kirk had been shot in the neck.
(03:42):
I wanted to. It made me physically sick, the the
the joy at at his being murdered. But rather than
focus on that hate, and we could play those clips,
but you don't need to hear those angry haters. I
want to focus, actually on on some people on the
left that took a right message, and one of them
(04:04):
was was sank Ungyar, whose I don't know him, but
he's he's.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Liberal, hardcore liberal. Yeah. Yeah, he's the young he's guy.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And he put and and and he got it right,
by the way.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
So here's what he posted on x. He said a
while ago, I put out these rules for the Internet.
One when we disagree, we fight. Two we have a
beer afterwards. Three when we agree, we unite. I got
a lot of flax. Surprisingly for the line about the beer.
People would ask, oh, yeah, would you have a beer
with Charlie Kirk. Well I did, and I'm glad I
(04:39):
did because now I won't get to Yes. Charlie and
I disagreed a lot about really important things, but somehow
we didn't lose our humanity. We were still fellow Americans.
We can all choose to hate each other. Now that's
a normal human reaction. We can choose to blame each other,
and I'm sure we will endlessly, or we can defy
(05:00):
the voices of division in the country and have a
beer together this time in grief. If you really want
to strike back at whoever did this, listen to each other.
Instead of hating one another. They want us to hate
each other. Treating one another as brothers and sisters, as
a united America would be an historic act of defiance.
(05:20):
Since I'm on the left, I'll go first for everyone
on the right, and most especially the Kirk family. I
am so sorry for your loss. I share your grief,
and I want you to know that our hearts are
with you. I appreciate sink saying that I retweeted it
and just said, bravo, look like that. I don't want
to focus on the haters, on the anger, on the rage,
(05:42):
on the evil bile that we see, because that was
not Charlie's message. Charlie's message was one of love. It
was one of liberty, it was one of the Constitution,
it was one of the Gospel. It was one of hope,
it was one of faith. That's that that's where we
should focus. And I hope that that is a powerful,
(06:06):
powerful legacy coming out of the thirty one short years
that Charlie had on this earth.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
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. All right, Sanata,
I want to talk about We're talking about standing up
for people of faith. And this is a story that
has certainly been unreported or underreported at best, and it
(06:34):
deals with what is happening with the persecution of Christians
in Nigeria. We also just had this attack, as you
mentioned at the beginning of the show, where sixty plus
were murdered.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Talk a little bit about this and what you're doing
to stand.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Up well in Nigeria. The persecution of Christians has been
nothing short of horrific, and I've spent my tenure in
the Senate advocating for those who are being persecuted for
their faith, advocating for Christians who are facing imprisonment and
torture and murder. The sheer scope of it in Nigeria's
(07:10):
staggering Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group in Nigeria since
their two thousand and nine insurgency Boko Haram has killed
over fifty thousand Christians in Nigeria. Over fifty thousand, and
that's according to a twenty twenty three report from the
International Society for Civil Liberties in the Rule of Law,
(07:33):
which is a Nigerian human rights watchdog. Over eighteen thousand
Christian church churches and over two thousand Christian schools have
been attacked during the same time period, and to put
that in comparison, the watchdog also concluded that thirty four
(07:53):
thousand moderate Muslims died from Jahadist attacks. So the Jahadas
they target, they target Muslims who don't embrace Jahad, but
they especially in Nigeria, target target Christians. Between twenty fifteen
and twenty twenty five, an estimated one hundred and forty
(08:13):
five priests were kidnapped in Nigeria. Multiple priest kidnappings have
happened this year, including one that Bokoharram carried out. In June,
the terror group abducted father Alfonsis Alfina, held him in
captivity for weeks before releasing him and thank god, he
(08:35):
was unharmed. Afina spent over fifty days in captivity and
he had previously spent six years in ministry in the
United States, and violence against Christians in Nigeria has been
a horrific problem. In June, just a couple of months ago,
(08:56):
Jihadis killed over two hundred Nijnigerian Christian villagers in a
farming community that is ninety seven percent Catholic. This is
a massive problem, and it's a problem that occurs with
the complicity of many officials, of judges, of ministers, of
(09:17):
officials in the Nigerian government. So what I did this
week is I filed legislation that's called the Nigeria Religious
Freedom Accountability Act of twenty twenty five and it does
several things. Number one, it requires the Secretary of State
to classify Nigeria as a country of particular concern and
(09:38):
that would add Nigeria to a list of countries where
religious freedom is severely limited. The State Department's list right
now includes Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and
other nations outside the Western world. And severe violations of
religious freedom include torture without charges, force, disappearance, and other
(10:02):
flagrant denials of basic rights. Additionally, my legislation would ensure
that the State Department keeps the Islamist terrorist groups Boko
Haram and also isis West Africa designated as Entities of
Particular Concern, a classification for non state actors responsible for
(10:23):
egregious violations of religious liberty. Boko Haram's stronghold is in
northeast Nigeria and it has an acted presence in several
countries bordering Nigeria. In addition, my bill sanctions Nigerian government
officials who facilitate persecution against Christians and other religious minorities,
(10:44):
and if the bill were enacted, the State Department would
have ninety days to submit a report on the Nigerian
officials responsible for pushing blasphemy laws and for justifying violence
from Islamist groups. This is a very important role for
the United States to defend religious liberty, to defend persecuted Christians,
and it's been a passion of mine since getting elected
(11:08):
to the Senate thirteen years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You know, this is something that it really does concern me.
It worries me.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
And we're seeing and witnessing now so much not just
anti Semitism, but just anti faith, anti Christian.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
And it's happening not just around the world but also well, well,
Monday's God.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Monday's pod focused on how the Biden Department of Justice
actively discriminated against Christians and systematically targeted Christians. Now, thank god,
they weren't doing things on the level of Boghahram. They
weren't weren't kidnapping and murdering them. But there was religious discrimination.
And part of religious discrimination is the Biden administration effectively
(11:46):
turned a blind eye to the persecution of Christians abroad.
So it wasn't committed committing these atrocities, but it also
was not acting nearly as vigorously as it should be
to defend religious liberty abroad.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah. Great point there.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
We're going to in this moving forward, hopefully we'll set
a standard that America is not going to just stand
by and allow this to happen.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Right Well, well, yes, and Ben, I'll give an example,
an example during the Obama administration, there was a young
woman in Soudan named Miriam Ibrahim, and Miriam Ibrahim was
sentenced to receive one hundred lashes and then to hang
by the neck until dead.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
And her crime was being a Christian.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
For the crime of being a Christian, she was sentenced
to that. She was in a prison cell. She had
a toddler named Martin, who was eighteen months old, and
she was pregnant. She was pregnant. She gave birth to
a little girl named Maya. Maya was born in that
prison cell. Well, Miriam Ibrahim had her legs in leg irons.
(12:54):
She was in the mud, giving birth in leg irons. Now,
during the Obama administration, I repeatedly spoke out for Mariam Ibraham.
I went to the Senate floor, I spoke about Mariam Ibrahim.
I called for Sudan to release Miriam Ibrahim from this persecution.
Others spoke out, Other foreign governments spoke out. The Pope
(13:16):
spoke out in defense of Mariam Ibrahim. You know who
wouldn't speak out in defense of her?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Who is that? Barack Obama.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
The entire course of his presidency, he would not say
her name. Samantha Power, who was Obama's ambassador to the
United Nations. I have a pretty good relationship with Samantha
and on Mary Ibraham. Samantha Power was actually quite good.
She spoke out urging Soudan to let Mary Ibrahim go.
I practically begged Samantha Power, why won't Obama say her name? Look,
(13:50):
we can disagree on political and partisan issues, but she's
in prison and sentenced to die for being a Christian.
The entire course of his president, I could not get
Obama to say her name even once. Ultimately, though, the
international pressure became so acute that the government of Sudan
gave in.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
She was married.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Miriam is married to a man from New Hampshire, and
so Sudan released her and she came to the United
States to be with her husband. I met maryam Ibraheim
at a gathering and she was speaking about her experience
and speaking out for religious liberty, and I got to say,
Miriam is a tiny woman. She's maybe, I don't know,
(14:31):
five foot one. I would be surprised if she weighs
even one hundred pounds. She's a very very small woman.
And she was soft spoken, and I asked her, look,
you and I are both Christians. Are faith matters to us, sure,
But you know what, I've never been tested. I've never
been in prisons for my faith. I've never been told
(14:52):
I'm going to die, we will murder you unless you
renounce your faith. I hope and pray and believe I
would do the right thing and say absolutely not. But
I've never been tested with that.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
And so when I.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Met her, I asked her, I said, look, when you
were in that prison cell, when they are threatening to
torture you and murder you, when you're looking at your babies,
your your toddler son and your newborn daughter, and you
know that they're about to execute you, how did you
not lose hope? How did you not give in to despair?
(15:27):
And ben She looked at me, very very calmly, and
she just said Jesus was with me.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
And it was powerful and and I'm hopeful that my
voice then played a part sure in ratcheting up the
pressure to get her released from prison. And so my
hope in Nigeria, I'm going to press to get this
legislation passed. I want to see the Trump administration designate
Nigeria and use pressure. And in particular, there is power
(16:00):
to pressuring the Nigerian government officials because you know what,
ministers of foreign governments, they like to get visas and
take their wives to New York to go shopping. Yeah,
and if you sanction the individual government officials who are complicit,
who are facilitating it, who are enforcing and prosecuting so
called blasphemy laws that can have a real and powerful effect.
(16:23):
And so my hope is this legislation and shining a
light will protect the Christians who are in Nigeria and
will stop the wide scale and murder of the Christians
that has been going on in Nigeria.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, aim into that as before.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
If you want to hear the rest of this conversation
on this topic, you can go back and dow the
podcasts from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.
I want to get back to the big story number
three of the week.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
You may have missed.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Add number two to the list real quick because if
you go Hitler first, let's throw in their next for
especially for people that are i don't know, forty five
and under. The most evil guy that we probably saw
in our lifetime in real life, and that was a
guy by the name of Osama bin Lauden, right like
throw him out there nine to eleven if you were alive,
if you remember it, Osama bin ladd is another one.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Don't don't side with Adolf Hitler.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
And if you were my age, I'm forty four now,
don't whatever you do, don't side with Osama bin Laden
which brings us to this unhinged Tucker point number two.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Yeah, okay, I just want you to listen to what
Tucker had to say about Osama bin Laden. Give a listen.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Let me just say I would be totally comfortable sharing
condolences with Osama bin Laden's family. I hate Asama bin Laden.
On the other hand, if somebody dies, it's okay to
say I'm sorry to his family that he has murder.
That's what I'm saying. Yeah, that's immaterial. I would say
that to the family of an executed murderer in a prison.
(17:53):
It doesn't mean I support the murderer or the murderer,
but this is family, Like, that's okay. That's called like
human decency. And anyone who against that, yeah, and is
even setting up this.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Let me just be clear, if I meet any of
the Osama bin Laden family members center, I'm not gonna
walk up back.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Let me give you.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
American hug, real quick thoughts and prayers like, no, that's
not gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Look, this is a bizarre position that that Tucker says
he's okay with giving condolences to Osama bin Lauden's family.
By the way, on his same reasoning, he'd be just
fine giving condolences to Adolf Hitler's family. Let me tell
you right now, I am not remotely sorry that Osama
bin Laden is dead. I'm not remotely sorry that Adolf
Hitler is dead. By the way, I'm not remotely sorry
(18:37):
that Jeffrey Dahmer is dead. I'm not remotely sorry that
Ted Bundy is dead. I'm not remotely sorry that Charles
Manson is dead. Yeah, if people are evil, psychotic mass murderers,
then society celebrates that they are no longer with us.
There is justice. I believe in the principle of justice
and understand. Osama bin Lauden let out k Kaita. He
(18:59):
planned nine to eleven, he executed nine to eleven, in
which case nearly three thousand people, most of whom were Americans,
were murdered. On September eleventh, You and I were both alive.
I was in Washington, d C. Heidi was in the
White House at the US Trade Representative's office. On nine
to eleven. She evacuated the White House because those terrorists
(19:21):
were murdering people. I lost a friend of mine, Barbara Olsen,
in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon when the
two towers collapsed in New York City. That was a
grotesque act of war. By the way, I'm also not
sorry that the kamikaze pilots in Pearl Harbor who murdered
American sailors, I'm not sorry that they're dead. There is
(19:44):
something bizarre.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
There is a.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Moral relativism to saying, well, we should number one carry
out an incredible military act that takes out Wasama bin Laden,
but then number two express condolences to the family, to
the toddlers, We're so sorry we took out your psychotic
daddy who murdered nearly three thousand Americans. No, we're not sorry.
(20:07):
And this moral relativism, I gotta say it is a
weird thing. Yeah, when someone who considers himself calls himself
a conservative sounds exactly like Ilhan Omar, it is a
weird thing when a supposed conservative sounds like Rashida Talib,
(20:27):
sounds like the AOC and says, gosh, we ought to
be saying I'm sorry to Osama bin Laden's family. No
we should not.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
By the way, it's also weird that he goes in
this way like attacking America in our foreign policy in
essence and anybody that doesn't feel sorry for Terris, while
also giving propaganda out there on behalf of Ladimir Putin
and Russia with the interview that he did with him,
and then going shopping at the grocery store saying how
great life is in Russia, which if you go twenty
miles outside of Russia in any direction of Moscow, it's
(20:58):
very different than what it looks like for the elite
that are in Moscow. And everything in his trip was,
by the way, also controlled. They only let you see
what they want you to see. It's not like he
can roam freely and decide, hey, I don't want to
go to your sure, you send me too, I want
to go to another one that ain't gonna happen. And
then then you go from this to what he had
to say about a terrorist organization that has killed countless
(21:20):
Jews and has said from the river to the sea,
they want to take out and annihilate all all Jews
in Israel. They want Israel to cease to exist. And
he's like, well, hold on a second, maybe they're not
a terrorist organization. Maybe they're just a political organization. We
should think about that. It's like, what the hell's going on.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yeah, give a listen to what he said about hamasbus
because this is utterly bizarre. This is where Tucker has
gone full on woke leftist and don't take my word
for it. Listen to Tucker.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
No one can plausibly claim that a Christian family are
in Hamas. Okay, so like, what tell me you can't
claim there in Hamas? Will simultaneously claiming that Hamas is
uh you know, grupugie hotties, their Islamic extremists, which they
also claim constantly, which I don't know if that's true,
by the way, it seems more like a political organization,
(22:12):
but whatever it is, they're telling us constantly they're al Qaeda,
So it can't also be true that Christians are a
member of al Qaeda. Sorry, yeah, yeah, so then we
know they're not an Amas, So why did they get killed?
Why was their church?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Bloy?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I go back to this, and I again, it's like
he's become an apologist for a terrorist organization, and he's saying, well,
they're not really a terrorist organization. They they they're and
and then the Christian aspect of this intertwarting that they're going, well,
then why do we kill them.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
We kill people that are terrorist centered. That's what we do.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Well, what he's saying there is bizarre. I don't know
that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Let me be very clear.
Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
He'll tell you that, Am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Like they'll actually tell you they're a terrorist organization. They're
happy to tell you this and show you how good
they are at it.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Al Qaeda is a terrorist organization. Isis is a terrorist organization.
This is not just a question of opinion. This is
a question of facts. So let's give some fact. Article
eight of the nineteen eighty eight Hamas Covenants states quote
jihad is its path, and death for the sake of
Allah is the loftiest of his wishes. This is who
(23:19):
Tucker Carlson is defending. Globally, HAMAS is designated a terrorist
organization by the United States of America, that as a
matter of federal law, by Australia, by Canada, by Paraguay,
by Israel, by Japan, by New Zealand, by the United Kingdom,
and the European Union. Now, HAMAS is not formally designated
by Arab countries, but HAMAS is a branch of the
(23:41):
Muslim Brotherhood. By the way, I have legislation in the
Senate right now to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a
terrorist organization because they unquestionably are. Article two of Hamas's
charter describes them as quote one of the wings of
the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Umbrella
organization is designated as a terrorist organization in Bahrain, in Egypt,
(24:04):
in Saudi Arabia, and in the UAE. They have always
been a terrorist organization if you just look at Wikipedia.
No no friend of Israel, no enemy of Hamas. Here's
what Wikipedia says. Quote. From two thousand to two thousand
and four, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly four hundred
Israelis and wounding more than two thousand in four hundred
(24:27):
and twenty five attacks. According to the Israeli Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, from two thousand and one through May of
two thousand and eight, Hamas launched more than three thousand
Casam rockets in two thousand, five hundred mortar attacks into Israel.
And of course, Hamas is who carried out the October
(24:48):
seventh attacks, who sent death squads into Israel, where they
systematically went house to house murdering every person in the house,
targeting them because they are Jews. They murdered elderly people,
they murdered women, they murdered children, they murdered infants, they
murdered toddlers, They raped women and little girls, and they
(25:10):
murdered over twelve hundred Israelis, many of whom were Americans.
It's one of the worst terror attacks in history against
American citizens. And Tucker says, well, I think they're a
political organization. He bases this on the weird fact. Yes,
it is true that in the Gaza strip when they
had elections, Hamas won. The fact that the voters elected
(25:33):
a tort terrorist organization does not make them a political organization.
They were in elected office when they carried out the
October seventh terror attacks. And so I got to say, look,
this bizarre statement wasn't in the course of an episode
where Tucker was interviewing this disgruntled State Department employee who
(25:55):
was fired fired by the Trump administration, and he was
give him an opportunity. And by the way, he was
also slandering uh a young man who works for the
State Department works for Mike Huckabee, the President Trump's ambassador
to Israel, works for Marco Rubio, and and Tucker did
an entire segment attacking this young man. Why because he's
(26:21):
Mark Levin's stepson. I gotta say it is grotesque for
Tucker to go after Mark Levin.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
He does, and let's explain why real quick, because I'm look,
Mark's a dear friend of mine in yours as well.
This is a relative, Mark Levin. Mark Levin is clearly
an advocate for Israel. He has stood there and for America,
let's be clear, and for America America. And so now
since Tucker Carlson, I guess is like, all right, well,
anybody under that I don't like, right, Mark Levin a
(26:51):
family member, Let's just hammer that person to somehow make
it hurt. I wish he had this much animosity towards
Vladimir Putin when he was interviewing him.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
And by the way, not just Flatteriputine, he had the
president of Iran, and I mean it was a love fest.
I mean he practically spooned with the President of Iran.
I don't know if he was big spoon or little spoon,
but there was no skepticism. And by the way, he's
literally interviewing someone who is actively trying to murder Donald Trump.
(27:20):
And this is a weird game. So listen. Tucker recognizes
that the folks that listen to him will get very
mad at him if he explicitly criticizes Donald Trump. So
what does he do instead? He just criticizes everything Trump does.
He blasts. He has a whole segment on how Mike
Huckabee is terrible. Well, who is it that appointed Mike
(27:40):
Huckaby the ambassador to Israel? That would be Donald J. Trump.
And everything he attacks about Ambassador Huckabee he is doing
on behalf of Trump. But Tucker is unwilling. He doesn't
have the courage, You don't have the backbone to actually
attack Trump, so he just attacks everything Trump does. He
attacks bombing Iran, Well, who was the command and chief
who made the order? And by the way, that was
(28:02):
an incredibly successful military operation that made America safer. I
gotta say, listen, if you say something publicly and the
words you said are indistinguishable from something said by Ilhan
Omar Rashida Talib, that ought to be a sign you've
(28:22):
got a problem. And I don't know what's going on
with Tucker. I don't know what is driving. It's one
thing to feel kind of isolationist and to say, gosh,
you know, I don't like wars. Okay, fine, that is
a view. And to be clear, Donald Trump doesn't like
wars either. Joe Biden and the Democrats get us in war.
President Trump has gotten us out of war. But getting
(28:44):
us out of war you do it through strength. And
getting us out of war does not mean that you
refuse to defend America. Fine, if Tucker wants to be isolationist,
knock yourself out. But this bizarre apology and defense of
Osa I'm a bin Lodden, the defense of Hamas, and
defense of the president of Iran, that is, there is
(29:07):
something unhinged. And I hope people around Tucker go in
and say, come on, man, yeah, come come on. Let's
say we love America and we're not gonna lie to
the American people.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Center,
Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to deal
with my podcast, and you can listen to my podcast
every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each
day when you listen to Verdict. Afterwards, I'd love to
have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcasts,
and we will see you back here on Monday morning.
Welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is Verdict with Ted Cruz week in Review, Ben
Ferguson with you, and we had some really tough stories
that you may have missed that we talked about this week.
First up, we're going to take some time and talk
about Charlie Kirk, our dear friend, and the assassination and
what comes next.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
We're going to deal with that first.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We're also going to talk about the persecution of Christians
in Nigeria and Senator Cruz is leading the way on
trying to stop what's happening on that and finally, some
shocking comments coming from Tucker Carlson on Osama bin Laden
and his family. It's the weekend Review and it starts
(00:40):
right now center. I also want to talk about there
is a question. I'm sure you've gotten it. I've gotten
it too, and that is what's next. This is a
moment where my nine year old asked me that I
think the toughest question I've ever been asked by him.
When I put into bed last night, he knew that
(01:01):
daddy's friend had died, and he said, Daddy, is someone
going to shoot you for what you do? And I
gave him the best answer I could. I said buddy.
You know, daddy carries a gun. You know, Daddy shoots back,
and he just started crying. And I think there are
so many people right now that are worried about where
(01:23):
we are in this divide and this feeling that the
left is just wanting to take out anybody that is
successful in articulating conservative or Christian views. I do worry
about where we are as a country. I also think
that you and I and so many others that do this,
everybody that I've been texting and talking with, I don't
(01:45):
think any of us are going to back down. We
maybe do things a little differently, we may take different precautions,
but I don't think they're going to silence any of us.
I'm not backing down. This is my mission field. I
think you feel the same way I do.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Absolutely, and and listen. I think Charlie inspired many people
to speak up and to be brave, to be courageous.
I think more people will be inspired. I will say
his assassination, it wasn't just a murder, it was an assassination.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
He was taken out because of who he is and
because of what he was saying. And he was taken
out because of fear that what he was saying was
so persuasive that people wanted to hear it. Look, when
he went to a college campus, he welcome leftists to
come argue with him, to present their side of the story.
(02:39):
But but but the power of the truth he was
saying was what was dangerous. And and and look, I
I gotta say, I feel a little bit you and
I were not not alive when when JFK was shot
or or Bobby Kennedy was shot, or Martin Luther King
was shot. But I do kind of wonder if that
(03:00):
that's a little bit what this that felt like just
just I have to say, like seeing this happen, particularly
the parallel to President Trump's being shot in Butler, that
it was the same thing over and over again, and
it was it was almost a successful assassination of the president,
(03:20):
and tragically it was a successful assassination of Charlie. Like
what is going on that there is this hate? And
I got to say, by the way, we have seen leftists.
We saw people on MSNBC cackling. I saw an image
on Twitter of this one soulless young woman dancing and
singing that Charlie Kirk had been shot in the neck.
(03:42):
I wanted to. It made me physically sick, the the
the joy at at his being murdered. But rather than
focus on that hate, and we could play those clips,
but you don't need to hear those angry haters. I
want to focus, actually on on some people on the
left that took a right message, and one of them
(04:04):
was was sank Ungyar, whose I don't know him, but
he's he's.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Liberal, hardcore liberal. Yeah. Yeah, he's the young he's guy.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And he put and and and he got it right,
by the way.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
So here's what he posted on x. He said a
while ago, I put out these rules for the Internet.
One when we disagree, we fight. Two we have a
beer afterwards. Three when we agree, we unite. I got
a lot of flax. Surprisingly for the line about the beer.
People would ask, oh, yeah, would you have a beer
with Charlie Kirk. Well I did, and I'm glad I
(04:39):
did because now I won't get to Yes. Charlie and
I disagreed a lot about really important things, but somehow
we didn't lose our humanity. We were still fellow Americans.
We can all choose to hate each other. Now that's
a normal human reaction. We can choose to blame each other,
and I'm sure we will endlessly, or we can defy
(05:00):
the voices of division in the country and have a
beer together this time in grief. If you really want
to strike back at whoever did this, listen to each other.
Instead of hating one another. They want us to hate
each other. Treating one another as brothers and sisters, as
a united America would be an historic act of defiance.
(05:20):
Since I'm on the left, I'll go first for everyone
on the right, and most especially the Kirk family. I
am so sorry for your loss. I share your grief,
and I want you to know that our hearts are
with you. I appreciate sink saying that I retweeted it
and just said, bravo, look like that. I don't want
to focus on the haters, on the anger, on the rage,
(05:42):
on the evil bile that we see, because that was
not Charlie's message. Charlie's message was one of love. It
was one of liberty, it was one of the Constitution,
it was one of the Gospel. It was one of hope,
it was one of faith. That's that that's where we
should focus. And I hope that that is a powerful,
(06:06):
powerful legacy coming out of the thirty one short years
that Charlie had on this earth.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
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. All right, Sanata,
I want to talk about We're talking about standing up
for people of faith. And this is a story that
has certainly been unreported or underreported at best, and it
(06:34):
deals with what is happening with the persecution of Christians
in Nigeria. We also just had this attack, as you
mentioned at the beginning of the show, where sixty plus
were murdered.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Talk a little bit about this and what you're doing
to stand.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Up well in Nigeria. The persecution of Christians has been
nothing short of horrific, and I've spent my tenure in
the Senate advocating for those who are being persecuted for
their faith, advocating for Christians who are facing imprisonment and
torture and murder. The sheer scope of it in Nigeria's
(07:10):
staggering Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group in Nigeria since
their two thousand and nine insurgency Boko Haram has killed
over fifty thousand Christians in Nigeria. Over fifty thousand, and
that's according to a twenty twenty three report from the
International Society for Civil Liberties in the Rule of Law,
(07:33):
which is a Nigerian human rights watchdog. Over eighteen thousand
Christian church churches and over two thousand Christian schools have
been attacked during the same time period, and to put
that in comparison, the watchdog also concluded that thirty four
(07:53):
thousand moderate Muslims died from Jahadist attacks. So the Jahadas
they target, they target Muslims who don't embrace Jahad, but
they especially in Nigeria, target target Christians. Between twenty fifteen
and twenty twenty five, an estimated one hundred and forty
(08:13):
five priests were kidnapped in Nigeria. Multiple priest kidnappings have
happened this year, including one that Bokoharram carried out. In June,
the terror group abducted father Alfonsis Alfina, held him in
captivity for weeks before releasing him and thank god, he
(08:35):
was unharmed. Afina spent over fifty days in captivity and
he had previously spent six years in ministry in the
United States, and violence against Christians in Nigeria has been
a horrific problem. In June, just a couple of months ago,
(08:56):
Jihadis killed over two hundred Nijnigerian Christian villagers in a
farming community that is ninety seven percent Catholic. This is
a massive problem, and it's a problem that occurs with
the complicity of many officials, of judges, of ministers, of
(09:17):
officials in the Nigerian government. So what I did this
week is I filed legislation that's called the Nigeria Religious
Freedom Accountability Act of twenty twenty five and it does
several things. Number one, it requires the Secretary of State
to classify Nigeria as a country of particular concern and
(09:38):
that would add Nigeria to a list of countries where
religious freedom is severely limited. The State Department's list right
now includes Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and
other nations outside the Western world. And severe violations of
religious freedom include torture without charges, force, disappearance, and other
(10:02):
flagrant denials of basic rights. Additionally, my legislation would ensure
that the State Department keeps the Islamist terrorist groups Boko
Haram and also isis West Africa designated as Entities of
Particular Concern, a classification for non state actors responsible for
(10:23):
egregious violations of religious liberty. Boko Haram's stronghold is in
northeast Nigeria and it has an acted presence in several
countries bordering Nigeria. In addition, my bill sanctions Nigerian government
officials who facilitate persecution against Christians and other religious minorities,
(10:44):
and if the bill were enacted, the State Department would
have ninety days to submit a report on the Nigerian
officials responsible for pushing blasphemy laws and for justifying violence
from Islamist groups. This is a very important role for
the United States to defend religious liberty, to defend persecuted Christians,
and it's been a passion of mine since getting elected
(11:08):
to the Senate thirteen years ago.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You know, this is something that it really does concern me.
It worries me.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
And we're seeing and witnessing now so much not just
anti Semitism, but just anti faith, anti Christian.
Speaker 1 (11:21):
And it's happening not just around the world but also well, well,
Monday's God.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Monday's pod focused on how the Biden Department of Justice
actively discriminated against Christians and systematically targeted Christians. Now, thank god,
they weren't doing things on the level of Boghahram. They
weren't weren't kidnapping and murdering them. But there was religious discrimination.
And part of religious discrimination is the Biden administration effectively
(11:46):
turned a blind eye to the persecution of Christians abroad.
So it wasn't committed committing these atrocities, but it also
was not acting nearly as vigorously as it should be
to defend religious liberty abroad.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah. Great point there.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
We're going to in this moving forward, hopefully we'll set
a standard that America is not going to just stand
by and allow this to happen.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Right Well, well, yes, and Ben, I'll give an example,
an example during the Obama administration, there was a young
woman in Soudan named Miriam Ibrahim, and Miriam Ibrahim was
sentenced to receive one hundred lashes and then to hang
by the neck until dead.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
And her crime was being a Christian.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
That's it.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
For the crime of being a Christian, she was sentenced
to that. She was in a prison cell. She had
a toddler named Martin, who was eighteen months old, and
she was pregnant. She was pregnant. She gave birth to
a little girl named Maya. Maya was born in that
prison cell. Well, Miriam Ibrahim had her legs in leg irons.
(12:54):
She was in the mud, giving birth in leg irons. Now,
during the Obama administration, I repeatedly spoke out for Mariam Ibraham.
I went to the Senate floor, I spoke about Mariam Ibrahim.
I called for Sudan to release Miriam Ibrahim from this persecution.
Others spoke out, Other foreign governments spoke out. The Pope
(13:16):
spoke out in defense of Mariam Ibrahim. You know who
wouldn't speak out in defense of her?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Who is that? Barack Obama.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
The entire course of his presidency, he would not say
her name. Samantha Power, who was Obama's ambassador to the
United Nations. I have a pretty good relationship with Samantha
and on Mary Ibraham. Samantha Power was actually quite good.
She spoke out urging Soudan to let Mary Ibrahim go.
I practically begged Samantha Power, why won't Obama say her name? Look,
(13:50):
we can disagree on political and partisan issues, but she's
in prison and sentenced to die for being a Christian.
The entire course of his president, I could not get
Obama to say her name even once. Ultimately, though, the
international pressure became so acute that the government of Sudan
gave in.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
She was married.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Miriam is married to a man from New Hampshire, and
so Sudan released her and she came to the United
States to be with her husband. I met maryam Ibraheim
at a gathering and she was speaking about her experience
and speaking out for religious liberty, and I got to say,
Miriam is a tiny woman. She's maybe, I don't know,
(14:31):
five foot one. I would be surprised if she weighs
even one hundred pounds. She's a very very small woman.
And she was soft spoken, and I asked her, look,
you and I are both Christians. Are faith matters to us, sure,
But you know what, I've never been tested. I've never
been in prisons for my faith. I've never been told
(14:52):
I'm going to die, we will murder you unless you
renounce your faith. I hope and pray and believe I
would do the right thing and say absolutely not. But
I've never been tested with that.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
And so when I.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Met her, I asked her, I said, look, when you
were in that prison cell, when they are threatening to
torture you and murder you, when you're looking at your babies,
your your toddler son and your newborn daughter, and you
know that they're about to execute you, how did you
not lose hope? How did you not give in to despair?
(15:27):
And ben She looked at me, very very calmly, and
she just said Jesus was with me.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
And it was powerful and and I'm hopeful that my
voice then played a part sure in ratcheting up the
pressure to get her released from prison. And so my
hope in Nigeria, I'm going to press to get this
legislation passed. I want to see the Trump administration designate
Nigeria and use pressure. And in particular, there is power
(16:00):
to pressuring the Nigerian government officials because you know what,
ministers of foreign governments, they like to get visas and
take their wives to New York to go shopping. Yeah,
and if you sanction the individual government officials who are complicit,
who are facilitating it, who are enforcing and prosecuting so
called blasphemy laws that can have a real and powerful effect.
(16:23):
And so my hope is this legislation and shining a
light will protect the Christians who are in Nigeria and
will stop the wide scale and murder of the Christians
that has been going on in Nigeria.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah, aim into that as before.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
If you want to hear the rest of this conversation
on this topic, you can go back and dow the
podcasts from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.
I want to get back to the big story number
three of the week.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
You may have missed.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Add number two to the list real quick because if
you go Hitler first, let's throw in their next for
especially for people that are i don't know, forty five
and under. The most evil guy that we probably saw
in our lifetime in real life, and that was a
guy by the name of Osama bin Lauden, right like
throw him out there nine to eleven if you were alive,
if you remember it, Osama bin ladd is another one.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Don't don't side with Adolf Hitler.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
And if you were my age, I'm forty four now,
don't whatever you do, don't side with Osama bin Laden
which brings us to this unhinged Tucker point number two.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Yeah, okay, I just want you to listen to what
Tucker had to say about Osama bin Laden. Give a listen.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Let me just say I would be totally comfortable sharing
condolences with Osama bin Laden's family. I hate Asama bin Laden.
On the other hand, if somebody dies, it's okay to
say I'm sorry to his family that he has murder.
That's what I'm saying. Yeah, that's immaterial. I would say
that to the family of an executed murderer in a prison.
(17:53):
It doesn't mean I support the murderer or the murderer,
but this is family, Like, that's okay. That's called like
human decency. And anyone who against that, yeah, and is
even setting up this.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Let me just be clear, if I meet any of
the Osama bin Laden family members center, I'm not gonna
walk up back.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Let me give you.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
American hug, real quick thoughts and prayers like, no, that's
not gonna happen.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Look, this is a bizarre position that that Tucker says
he's okay with giving condolences to Osama bin Lauden's family.
By the way, on his same reasoning, he'd be just
fine giving condolences to Adolf Hitler's family. Let me tell
you right now, I am not remotely sorry that Osama
bin Laden is dead. I'm not remotely sorry that Adolf
Hitler is dead. By the way, I'm not remotely sorry
(18:37):
that Jeffrey Dahmer is dead. I'm not remotely sorry that
Ted Bundy is dead. I'm not remotely sorry that Charles
Manson is dead. Yeah, if people are evil, psychotic mass murderers,
then society celebrates that they are no longer with us.
There is justice. I believe in the principle of justice
and understand. Osama bin Lauden let out k Kaita. He
(18:59):
planned nine to eleven, he executed nine to eleven, in
which case nearly three thousand people, most of whom were Americans,
were murdered. On September eleventh, You and I were both alive.
I was in Washington, d C. Heidi was in the
White House at the US Trade Representative's office. On nine
to eleven. She evacuated the White House because those terrorists
(19:21):
were murdering people. I lost a friend of mine, Barbara Olsen,
in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon when the
two towers collapsed in New York City. That was a
grotesque act of war. By the way, I'm also not
sorry that the kamikaze pilots in Pearl Harbor who murdered
American sailors, I'm not sorry that they're dead. There is
(19:44):
something bizarre.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
There is a.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
Moral relativism to saying, well, we should number one carry
out an incredible military act that takes out Wasama bin Laden,
but then number two express condolences to the family, to
the toddlers, We're so sorry we took out your psychotic
daddy who murdered nearly three thousand Americans. No, we're not sorry.
(20:07):
And this moral relativism, I gotta say it is a
weird thing. Yeah, when someone who considers himself calls himself
a conservative sounds exactly like Ilhan Omar, it is a
weird thing when a supposed conservative sounds like Rashida Talib,
(20:27):
sounds like the AOC and says, gosh, we ought to
be saying I'm sorry to Osama bin Laden's family. No
we should not.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
By the way, it's also weird that he goes in
this way like attacking America in our foreign policy in
essence and anybody that doesn't feel sorry for Terris, while
also giving propaganda out there on behalf of Ladimir Putin
and Russia with the interview that he did with him,
and then going shopping at the grocery store saying how
great life is in Russia, which if you go twenty
miles outside of Russia in any direction of Moscow, it's
(20:58):
very different than what it looks like for the elite
that are in Moscow. And everything in his trip was,
by the way, also controlled. They only let you see
what they want you to see. It's not like he
can roam freely and decide, hey, I don't want to
go to your sure, you send me too, I want
to go to another one that ain't gonna happen. And
then then you go from this to what he had
to say about a terrorist organization that has killed countless
(21:20):
Jews and has said from the river to the sea,
they want to take out and annihilate all all Jews
in Israel. They want Israel to cease to exist. And
he's like, well, hold on a second, maybe they're not
a terrorist organization. Maybe they're just a political organization. We
should think about that. It's like, what the hell's going on.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yeah, give a listen to what he said about hamasbus
because this is utterly bizarre. This is where Tucker has
gone full on woke leftist and don't take my word
for it. Listen to Tucker.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
No one can plausibly claim that a Christian family are
in Hamas. Okay, so like, what tell me you can't
claim there in Hamas? Will simultaneously claiming that Hamas is
uh you know, grupugie hotties, their Islamic extremists, which they
also claim constantly, which I don't know if that's true,
by the way, it seems more like a political organization,
(22:12):
but whatever it is, they're telling us constantly they're al Qaeda,
So it can't also be true that Christians are a
member of al Qaeda. Sorry, yeah, yeah, so then we
know they're not an Amas, So why did they get killed?
Why was their church?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Bloy?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
I go back to this, and I again, it's like
he's become an apologist for a terrorist organization, and he's saying, well,
they're not really a terrorist organization. They they they're and
and then the Christian aspect of this intertwarting that they're going, well,
then why do we kill them.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
We kill people that are terrorist centered. That's what we do.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Well, what he's saying there is bizarre. I don't know
that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Let me be very clear.
Hamas is a terrorist organization.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
He'll tell you that, Am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Like they'll actually tell you they're a terrorist organization. They're
happy to tell you this and show you how good
they are at it.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Al Qaeda is a terrorist organization. Isis is a terrorist organization.
This is not just a question of opinion. This is
a question of facts. So let's give some fact. Article
eight of the nineteen eighty eight Hamas Covenants states quote
jihad is its path, and death for the sake of
Allah is the loftiest of his wishes. This is who
(23:19):
Tucker Carlson is defending. Globally, HAMAS is designated a terrorist
organization by the United States of America, that as a
matter of federal law, by Australia, by Canada, by Paraguay,
by Israel, by Japan, by New Zealand, by the United Kingdom,
and the European Union. Now, HAMAS is not formally designated
by Arab countries, but HAMAS is a branch of the
(23:41):
Muslim Brotherhood. By the way, I have legislation in the
Senate right now to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a
terrorist organization because they unquestionably are. Article two of Hamas's
charter describes them as quote one of the wings of
the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Umbrella
organization is designated as a terrorist organization in Bahrain, in Egypt,
(24:04):
in Saudi Arabia, and in the UAE. They have always
been a terrorist organization if you just look at Wikipedia.
No no friend of Israel, no enemy of Hamas. Here's
what Wikipedia says. Quote. From two thousand to two thousand
and four, Hamas was responsible for killing nearly four hundred
Israelis and wounding more than two thousand in four hundred
(24:27):
and twenty five attacks. According to the Israeli Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, from two thousand and one through May of
two thousand and eight, Hamas launched more than three thousand
Casam rockets in two thousand, five hundred mortar attacks into Israel.
And of course, Hamas is who carried out the October
(24:48):
seventh attacks, who sent death squads into Israel, where they
systematically went house to house murdering every person in the house,
targeting them because they are Jews. They murdered elderly people,
they murdered women, they murdered children, they murdered infants, they
murdered toddlers, They raped women and little girls, and they
(25:10):
murdered over twelve hundred Israelis, many of whom were Americans.
It's one of the worst terror attacks in history against
American citizens. And Tucker says, well, I think they're a
political organization. He bases this on the weird fact. Yes,
it is true that in the Gaza strip when they
had elections, Hamas won. The fact that the voters elected
(25:33):
a tort terrorist organization does not make them a political organization.
They were in elected office when they carried out the
October seventh terror attacks. And so I got to say, look,
this bizarre statement wasn't in the course of an episode
where Tucker was interviewing this disgruntled State Department employee who
(25:55):
was fired fired by the Trump administration, and he was
give him an opportunity. And by the way, he was
also slandering uh a young man who works for the
State Department works for Mike Huckabee, the President Trump's ambassador
to Israel, works for Marco Rubio, and and Tucker did
an entire segment attacking this young man. Why because he's
(26:21):
Mark Levin's stepson. I gotta say it is grotesque for
Tucker to go after Mark Levin.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
He does, and let's explain why real quick, because I'm look,
Mark's a dear friend of mine in yours as well.
This is a relative, Mark Levin. Mark Levin is clearly
an advocate for Israel. He has stood there and for America,
let's be clear, and for America America. And so now
since Tucker Carlson, I guess is like, all right, well,
anybody under that I don't like, right, Mark Levin a
(26:51):
family member, Let's just hammer that person to somehow make
it hurt. I wish he had this much animosity towards
Vladimir Putin when he was interviewing him.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
And by the way, not just Flatteriputine, he had the
president of Iran, and I mean it was a love fest.
I mean he practically spooned with the President of Iran.
I don't know if he was big spoon or little spoon,
but there was no skepticism. And by the way, he's
literally interviewing someone who is actively trying to murder Donald Trump.
(27:20):
And this is a weird game. So listen. Tucker recognizes
that the folks that listen to him will get very
mad at him if he explicitly criticizes Donald Trump. So
what does he do instead? He just criticizes everything Trump does.
He blasts. He has a whole segment on how Mike
Huckabee is terrible. Well, who is it that appointed Mike
(27:40):
Huckaby the ambassador to Israel? That would be Donald J. Trump.
And everything he attacks about Ambassador Huckabee he is doing
on behalf of Trump. But Tucker is unwilling. He doesn't
have the courage, You don't have the backbone to actually
attack Trump, so he just attacks everything Trump does. He
attacks bombing Iran, Well, who was the command and chief
who made the order? And by the way, that was
(28:02):
an incredibly successful military operation that made America safer. I
gotta say, listen, if you say something publicly and the
words you said are indistinguishable from something said by Ilhan
Omar Rashida Talib, that ought to be a sign you've
(28:22):
got a problem. And I don't know what's going on
with Tucker. I don't know what is driving. It's one
thing to feel kind of isolationist and to say, gosh,
you know, I don't like wars. Okay, fine, that is
a view. And to be clear, Donald Trump doesn't like
wars either. Joe Biden and the Democrats get us in war.
President Trump has gotten us out of war. But getting
(28:44):
us out of war you do it through strength. And
getting us out of war does not mean that you
refuse to defend America. Fine, if Tucker wants to be isolationist,
knock yourself out. But this bizarre apology and defense of
Osa I'm a bin Lodden, the defense of Hamas, and
defense of the president of Iran, that is, there is
(29:07):
something unhinged. And I hope people around Tucker go in
and say, come on, man, yeah, come come on. Let's
say we love America and we're not gonna lie to
the American people.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Center,
Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to deal
with my podcast, and you can listen to my podcast
every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each
day when you listen to Verdict. Afterwards, I'd love to
have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcasts,
and we will see you back here on Monday morning.
Host
Ben Ferguson
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