-
Elon Musk vs. Donald Trump Feud
The episode opens with a detailed discussion of the public spat between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, described as a painful clash between two influential figures. Cruz, who claims personal friendships with both, expresses hope for reconciliation, emphasizing their shared love for America and the importance of unity against liberal opposition. -
The “Big, Bold, Beautiful Bill”
The hosts delve into a major legislative package aimed at fulfilling conservative priorities such as border security, military rebuilding, energy independence, and tax cuts. Cruz outlines the Senate’s plan to revise the House version of the bill, aiming for deeper spending cuts and stronger fiscal conservatism. -
Chinese Nationals Smuggling Pathogens
A significant portion of the episode is devoted to the arrest of two Chinese nationals accused of smuggling a dangerous agricultural pathogen into the U.S. The discussion frames this as a national security threat and a continuation of China's alleged bio-espionage efforts, drawing parallels to COVID-19 and emphasizing the need for vigilance. -
Campus Anti-Semitism and Radical Protests
The episode concludes with a disturbing case involving a Columbia University protester with alleged ties to Hamas. The individual is accused of hate crimes and violent threats against Jewish students. Cruz criticizes the Biden administration and liberal institutions for failing to address rising anti-Semitism on college campuses.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you,
and we have got a very big show for you.
And yes, we are going to talk about the elephant
in the room, two men that have had some back
and forth, the most powerful man in the world, Donald Trump,
the President, and the richest man in the world, Elon Musk.
I want to be clear, I love both these men
dearly and think they've done amazing things for this country,
(00:24):
and we are gonna talk about it.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
We're gonna start with that.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Well, the battle that unfolded between Elon and Trump this
past week, it was painful for all of us to watch.
We're gonna break it down. I was actually in the
Oval office with the President when the Twitter battle started.
I'm gonna bring you inside that and we're gonna assess
what are the consequences and where we go from here.
We're also going to talk about the one big, bold,
beautiful bill, what's gonna happen, what the Senate's gonna do.
(00:48):
I'm optimistic, but we're gonna break down the details. And
then we're gonna talk about a rather remarkable story about
the FBI arresting a Chinese national for bringing a dangerous
path pathogen into the United States, a pathogen that could
have done enormous damage. And finally, a Columbia protester, a
radical Jew hater who was talking about lighting someone on
(01:12):
fire on the Columbia campus. He's being prosecuted for his
crimes of violence. We're going to break that down for
you as well.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
We certainly are.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
And I also want to talk to you real quick
about something that's happening in this country and around the
world and how you can get involved to stand with
the people of Israel. We saw what just happened in Colorado,
and the first question people ask is what can I
do well.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
You can stand up to anti Semitism.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You can stand up to these radicals by standing with
people in Israel. Right now, Jewish schools are being targeted
right here in America. We are watching Jewish individuals be targeted.
Synagogues are being threatened, and unfortunately, so many Jewish families
are now living in fear, and it's time for us
to stand up. Silent is not an option. This is
(02:02):
the moment to take a stand. And that's why I
want you to get involved with a group that I
love dearly. It's the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
You may have heard of them as IFCJ. They are
literally on the front lines providing real help where it
is needed the most. They're giving food and shelter to
Jewish families that are under threat right now in Israel.
(02:23):
They are building bomb shelters for children right now in Israel.
They are helping survivors in America and all over the
world that have had their lives affected by this type
of hate and the attacks. And they don't just respond
to the crisis, they work every day to prevent it
as well. Now, your gift of just forty five dollars
(02:44):
will help support their life saving work by helping provide food,
shelter and armored vehicles, armored ambulances and so much more
like those bomb shelters. The Bible's pretty clear, I will
bless those who bless you, and supporting IFCJ is a
spiritual stand and it's showing up for God's people when
(03:06):
it counts. So if you want to stand with so
many that are hurting right now, and you want to
stand with Israel, please call and make a donation eight
at eight four eight eight IFCJ. That's eight eight eight
four eight eight four three two five are go online
to IFCJ dot org. Every dollar helps, don't wait be
(03:27):
the difference IFCJ dot org or eight eight eight four
eight eight IFCJ. So, Senator, let's start with the Elon
Musk Donald Trump back and forth. I hate seeing this
because Democrats are loving it, the liberal medias are loving it.
And I want to be clear, I think Donald Trump
is not wrong. I also think Elon Musk is not wrong.
And unfortunately, Elon is working under the assumption that Congress
(03:51):
actually wants to do the job and save our country,
and I think Trump's working under the reality that there's
a lot of people in Congress that actually aren't looking
at out for the American people.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Both men, in many ways are right.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well. Listen, what unfolded this week was incredibly painful. These
are two men whom I know very well. They're both
good friends of mine. President Trump has been an extraordinary president,
his election, his re election in November, save this country
from absolute destruction. Elon Mosquez is one of the greatest
(04:24):
business men, one of the greatest innovators, one of the
greatest thinkers I think the world has ever seen, and
he is what he has done, whether in with SpaceX,
whether with Tesla, whether with all of his companies, or
whether buying Twitter or creating a free speech zone where
people can engage in public debate. That was massively consequential.
(04:47):
And that doesn't even begin to touch the impact that
Elon had a doze exposing massive government waste, fraud and abuse.
And so I got to say, I watched the two
of them, and by the way, you and I we
had Elon Musk's guest on this podcast that that is
one of my favorite podcasts we've ever done.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
At the White House. Nonetheless, it was.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
At the White House, and and a week ago he
and the President were very very close, and and what
happened today. So I was sitting in the oval is
this unfolded? And I was sitting there and and and
the tweets were coming, and listen, Elon is brilliant, and
he is strong willed, and he's a force of nature.
Donald Trump is brilliant, and he is strong willed, and
(05:30):
he is a force of nature. And and these are
two alpha males who are pissed off and and unfortunately
they're unloading on each other. And I wish that were
not the case, because I think the country does better
when when these two amazing heroes are working side by
side for the country and not not just unloading on
(05:53):
each other, but but listen that they're they are angry.
It's not complicated, but it is unfortunate. I will say,
every enemy of America, every Marxist, every person who hates
our country, every person who hates freedom, is cheering for
this divide to be real, to be deep, to be lasting,
(06:13):
to be permanent. They would be thrilled. Everyone who loves
our country is cheering for Elon and President Trump to
kiss and make up. Like Look, they may not agree
on everything, but they're too significant in this country for
them to be fighting at cross purposes. I don't want
either one fighting at cross purposes. And I will say,
(06:36):
you know, listen, when I was in the Oval, Trump
was pissed. I mean he he was venting on this topic,
and I understand it. Elon was saying some some really
harsh things. I understand why Trump was pissed, and the
back and forth. Knowing both of them, it was not
surprising to see it, you know, I gotta say, Ben,
it reminded me. There's a gift that's popular online from
(06:59):
Anchorman where Ron Burgundy, you know, Will Ferrell's character goes. Yeah,
that escalated quickly because it just went from zero to
eleven instantaneously. I get it, knowing both of the players.
But I hope it goes from eleven back down to
zero or maybe one or two.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I hope it goes every bit as quickly. Well.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
And as I said at the very beginning, the only
people that are happy right now over this is the
liberal media and the Democrat Party.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
And they're the ones that are sitting there going this
is amazing, and I'm meaning popcorn, and look, I think
both these men are right. I understand Elon musk frustration
in general. I wish Washington didn't have so many swampy
people there, but there's also what we wish and the
reality and the reality is it is really hard to
get something this big done with dealing with so many
(07:50):
players in DC.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And look, I hope there's a truce.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I hope that both of them get this figured out
behind the scenes very very quickly. I think there's a
very good chance that's going to happen, because they're going
to see the left and them celebrating over this as well.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And the way that you described it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
These two men are brilliant, and we need them working
together for the for the good of the country. Because
there's one thing I know about both them. They both
love America, and I think there's no doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I think that's exactly right. I hope they will
come back together. On the substance we're going to discuss
in a minute. Both of them are right on the substance.
President Trump is right, we have to get this one big,
beautiful bill pass. We're going to Elon is right that
we have to make the bill better. We have to
cut more spending and tackle the deficit and debt more
than we do. They're both right. We're going to break
(08:36):
that down in just a minute. But I'll say also,
look the sentiment I have. I feel like the kids
of a bitter divorce where you're just saying, I really
wish mommy and daddy would stop screaming. I think a
lot of a lot of conservatives are feeling like this
is not good. Let's hug and make.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Up, all right, So let's talk about the bill that Obviously,
the fight with Elon and Trump has been over.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You were in the Oval office.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
This bill is obviously something that you've talked about with
the President. There are people that have concerns about what's
in the bill, and there's an opportunity for the Senate,
as you guys are doing reconciliation on this bill, to
improve it, make it better. What do people need to
know about this bill, like what' sen it that you
should be proud of?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And what are the changes that need to be made?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Well listen on the merits of the fight between Elon
and Trump. As I mentioned, both are right. President Trump
is absolutely right. We need to get this passed because
this is the major vehicle to deliver on the promises
we made to the voters, and failure is not an option.
We cannot fail to secure the border. We cannot fail
to rebuild the military. We cannot fail to unleash American energy,
(09:47):
and we cannot fail to extend the Trump tax cuts
and make them bigger and bolder to unleash economic growth.
All of those we are going to get done, and
the only avenue to getting them done is this reconc
iliation bill. So we will get it passed. But that
being said, this bill can be made much better. I'm
glad the House passed it that's the first step in
(10:10):
this becoming a law. The House came together, they got
a majority, they sent it to the Senate. But you
know a lot of people are asking, Okay, what happens now?
Does the Senate just pass the House bill? And the
answer is not remotely. So what is happening right now? Isa,
say that again?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Say that again for everybody listening, because that may be
music to some earors listening right now, Say that again.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
The Senate will not pass the House bill.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
All right, there we go.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
We got it, and I like, I love this, I'm smiling,
keep going.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
So listen.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Under a constitution, we have two chambers, two legislative bodies.
The House has passed their bill. The Senate is going
to pass our own bill. And what has happened is
each major committee has been given what are called reconciliation
instructions to draft their portions of the bill. I'm the
chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
so I've drafted my portion of the bill. The Senate
(11:02):
bill will have similarities to the House bill. The similarities
will be anywhere, my guess is from about two thirds
to three quarters of the House bill. So the good
provisions of the House bill will keep the bad provisions
I hope will jettison and say no, we're not going
to do that. And my hope what I am fighting
(11:23):
in the Senate to do is to have the Senate
cut spending significantly more than the House did. And this
is a point. Look, I think there's a real possibility
the Senate today is more conservative than the House. And
that's unusual, that is rarely the case. Here's why I
think that there are fifty three Republicans in the Senate.
(11:45):
I think it is entirely possible that the fiftieth most
fiscally conservative senator is to the right of the two
hundred and eighteenth most fiscally conservative House member.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And so very inching perspective, by the way, because I
don't think people think about it that way at all.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
No, they think about that there are one hundred fire
breathing conservatives in the House. That's true, but a majority
in the House is two eighteen, so one hundred doesn't
pass anything. So if you ask the House, okay, who's
the two hundred and eighteenth, who's the wobbliest Republican that
gets you to a majority, that Republican I think is
(12:24):
actually significantly to the left fiscally compared to the fiftieth
Senate Republican. So I'm not sure how bold we will do.
And I may have to do a podcast where I
do a maya culpa and say I was too optimistic.
But my hope is what the Senate will pass will
(12:44):
demonstrate much more fiscal restraint than what the House passed.
That's what I'm arguing to my colleagues. So I mentioned
I was in the Oval right as the Trump Elon
battle was unfolding. I was there for two reasons. Number One,
I was urging we need to cut more spending, and
I gave the President a list of nearly three trillion
dollars of spending cuts that we could do, urging, okay,
(13:07):
let's cut the spending. We can do this, we can
make this happen. Elon is right that we're bankrupting our
country and we need to do more than the House
bill does. I think the Senate will do that. What
will happen The Senate will pass our bill, I think
right before July fourth. Now, when the Senate passes the bill,
it's probably not going to be done. The likely outcome
(13:29):
after the Senate passes the bill is it will go
to conference where the House and Senate will negotiate back
and forth. The House will say we don't like some
provisions in this bill. The Senate will say we don't
like some provisions in your bill, and we'll reach a compromise.
My guess is the final bill will be passed at
the end of July, right before the August recess, and
(13:50):
sent to the President to be signed at the beginning
of August.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I think that's likely.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
There's another chance, when the Senate passes our bill, maybe
the House just says, okay, accept it, and we'll pass it.
That possibility is not zero, but I think it's more
likely we'll have a conference committee and reach some compromises.
I will say this Ben twenty seventeen, the last time
we passed big tax cuts, I was here. I spent
(14:18):
hundreds of hours negotiating those tax cuts. One interesting dynamic
if you look at the current House of Representatives, more
than sixty percent of the House Republicans were not in
Congress in twenty seventeen when we did this last time,
and so the back it's a stunning number.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
That is a huge number. No one I wouldn't have
guessed that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Look, there's been a lot of turnover in Congress, and
so most of the House members were not here. What
happened in twenty seventeen, the House passed a good bill.
It went to the Senate and we made it much
much better. And then actually it went to conference committee
and it became significantly better. I'll give a couple of examples.
Number one, the House, when they initially passed it, did
(15:03):
not repeal in twenty seventeen the Obamacare individual mandate. The
House Conservatives or all my buddies, they said, there's no
chance you Senate Republicans will do this. You guys like
all of the jellyfish in the Senate, they'll never do this. Well,
I led the fight in the Senate and said, this
Obamacare of individual mandated is wrong, it is abusive, it
is unfair, and we ended up unifying Senate Republicans and
(15:26):
we repealed it, but the Senate added it. That was
a major, major victory. Another example, the bill that passed
out of the House initially in twenty seventeen had big
tax cuts for sea corps, for big big corporations, but
much smaller tax cuts for pass throughs and es. Corps
which tend to be small businesses. And in the Senate
(15:47):
we said that's not right. We need to fight for
small businesses. We improved that dramatically. I think the same
thing is going to happen. And so I was sitting
in the Oval saying, number one, here are three trillions
more in tax cuts you can make. And number two,
I was arguing, in particular the school choice provision in
the House bill. We need to make it bigger, we
(16:07):
need to make it boulder, we need to make it
more effective. That was the case I was making directly
to the President in the Oval office this week.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Center, let's move to this.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Really, I would say, very shocking and scary news that
not one, but two Chinese nationals have been charged by
US federal authorities for allegedly smuggling a dangerous agricultural pathogen
into the United States of America. It is basically, in
Layman's terms, a fungus that poses a significant threat to
(16:41):
crops such.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
As wheat, barley, and rice.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It could cause massive disease and in essence famine on
our agriculture in this country. And this was brought into
this country, and it just screams of another example of
why you don't trust and why we have to watch
them and protect ourselves. It reminds, I think a lot
of people of COVID nineteen. But this could literally recavoc
(17:08):
on our entire national security from a basic we need
food to live strategy if it was weaponized against us.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Well, this is a story. Unfortunately you're not going to
watch on the corporate media ABCNBCCBS, They're not going to
cover it. But China is our enemy, and China is
I think the greatest geopolitical threat we have for the
next one hundred years. We saw with COVID the incredible
threats of a pathogen, of a virus that can do
(17:40):
enormous damage, can destroy trillions of dollars, can take massive
toll in human life. Well, this story and I just
want to read to you a tweet from the director
of the FBI, Cash Betel. Here's what the FBI director said,
quote new I can confirm that the FBI arrested a
Chinese national within the United States who allegedly smuggled a
(18:04):
dangerous biological pathogen into the country. The individual, Young Quinn Jian,
is alleged to have smuggled a dangerous fungus called Fusarium gramminarium,
which is an agro terrorism agent, into the US to
(18:25):
research at the University of Michigan, where she works. This
fungus can cause a disease called head blight, a disease
of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, causing significant health issues
in both humans and livestock. It is responsible for billions
(18:46):
of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Evidence also
indicates Jian had expressed loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party
and had received funding from the Chinese government for similar
work on this pathogen in China. Jihn's boyfriend, Zuniang Liu,
(19:08):
also charged in the complaint, works at a Chinese university
where he conducts research on the same pathogen. Liu is
alleged to a first liede that admitted to also smuggling
Fusarium gran grannarium into America through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport
(19:33):
so that he too could conduct research at the University
of Michigan. Both individuals have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling
goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud.
This case is a sobering reminder that the CCP is
working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to
(19:58):
infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would
have grave consequences, putting American lives and our economy at
serious risk. Your FBI will continue working tirelessly to be
on guard against it.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
You go through this and let's unpack it and just
go back a little bit to pain. I think the
broader picture, we've seen China financially infiltrate our colleges, our
best colleges. We have seen them by influence. We saw
this hell with the Biden Institute. For goodness sakes, we
(20:37):
have witnessed the number of Chinese students that we allow
to come into this country, be trained here, have access
to R and D here. And then we've witnessed what
our government did under Fauci with the amount of money
we were sending to China that was doing a lot
of this type of research and other things. And we
shouldn't be surprised that this has happened now. But this
(21:01):
again goes back to the vulnerability. If China is sending
you money and sending billions of dollars to American universities,
and then we see this type of research and the
access at these research insuits like the University of Michigan,
et cetera. Why isn't there a massive red flag on
every dollar now coming in from China? After seeing yet
(21:21):
again the Chinese are enemy and they cannot be trusted.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
There's no doubt there should be. And listen, when I
was first elected to the Senate thirteen years ago, I
was saying then that China is the greatest threat we
have for the next hundred years. I got to tell you, Ben,
at the time, that was a very lonely view in
the United States Senate. Every Democrat disagreed with me, and
most of the Republicans did too. They all looked to
(21:48):
China and they saw nothing but dollar signs as far
as the eye could see. Now, COVID changed that for
a lot of people. They realized the mendacity, the duplicity
the damaged China causes. China engages in widespread murder of
its citizens, torture of its citizens. It has over a
million wigures in concentration camps, modern day human slavery, organ harvesting.
(22:13):
But they also engage in massive propaganda, massive espionage against
the United States, massive theft of intellectual property. They are
engaged in a global battle for world domination. They're objective,
which they've told us, They're very explicit. Their objective is
to be the dominant world power and to displace America,
(22:37):
and we need to combat them on the global stage.
China is engaged in Africa, in Latin America, and the
Middle East and Asia, every part of the world. China
is trying to become the dominant world power. They are
waging a thousand year war. And when it comes to
the danger of pathogens, look you look at COVID.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
COVID.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
It was clear within the first couple of months of
this pandemic that the evidence strongly suggested that the virus
escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China.
We now know that the corporate media suppressed that story,
that Facebook suppressed that story at the explicit request of
(23:20):
doctor Fauci. I will tell you this podcast Verdict with
Ted Cruz in March and in April of twenty twenty,
when COVID was first starting, we laid out the evidence
that this came from China, from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
(23:41):
Before you could get it practically anywhere else. China bears
enormous responsibility for what happened with COVID. I think the
evidence is overwhelming that COVID escaped from a Chinese government lab.
I think the evidence is significant that COVID was actually
invented in a Chinese government lab, that they took natural
(24:03):
viruses and they altered them using Gaina function research. That's
not as compelling as the fact that it escaped from
a government lab, but I think there's a lot of
evidence of that. By the way, there are multiple federal
agencies that are now explicitly concluded that COVID likely escaped
from a Chinese government lab. When COVID escaped, the Chinese
government covered it up. They suppressed the evidence, they destroyed
(24:26):
the samples, They did everything they could to prevent others
from understanding the source of this virus and also to
frustrate efforts to stop the spread of this pandemic. Now
put that in the context of this story, a dangerous
agro terrorism fungus that could do massive damage to crops,
(24:46):
to livestock, to human beings in the United States being
smuggled in by not one but two Chinese nationals being
paid by the Chinese Communist Party. Look, it is not
difficult to imagine a pathogen like that being released in
the United States and doing enormous damage. And that's the
(25:07):
sort of threat our government we need to be vigilant
against when it comes to Communist China.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Well, and it goes back to again some of this
evidence that apparently they've been discussing the plan to smuggle
these biological materials since at least twenty twenty two. The
electronic device has contained documents expressing the Chinese Communist Party,
the CCP, and detailing research funded by the Chinese government.
So the story just keeps repeating itself. It is over
(25:36):
and over again when we see these things happen. It's
directly tied tied to the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese
Communist government, and we should not be surprised as is happening.
Will there be any reaction or anything that Congress can
do on this very quickly?
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Well, listen, this has been an area I've been legislating
for a long time. So, for example, one of the
very first bills I passed into law dealt with Confucius institutes.
Confucius institutes were formed on us universities all across the country,
hundreds of them, and they were funded by the Chinese
Communist Party. They conducted espionage and propaganda. I introduced legislation
(26:14):
to cut off federal funding the universities that have Confucius institutes.
Passed it into law, and as a result, we've shut
down most of the Confucius institutes across the country. So
we can fight this, but we need to be vigilant
and we need to fight.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
All right, Senat, I want to move on to another story.
We tease this earlier Columbia protester and self proclaimed Jew
hater had direct links to hamas Tersel. Disturbing new phone
records revealed that the DOJ has come out with another
example of we were not doing a good enough job
(26:49):
of protecting America and letting people in that we did
not know exactly who they were.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Well, today's Democrat party has rallied around defending the anti
Semitic protesters on college ca campuses, and the media has
as well. And yet the viciousness, the hatred, the violence,
and the ties to terrorists on these protests are significant.
So this is a story that broke just this week,
and I'm reading now from The New York Post quote
(27:15):
a jew hater who protested against Israel on Columbia University's
campus and contemplated setting a student on fire, allegedly had
a direct link to Hamas's deadly Al Cassam Brigades militant group.
The Post can reveal. Tarek Bazruk, awaiting trial after being
(27:38):
indicted on three federal hate crimes against Jewish people, was
quote a member of a chat group that received regular
updates from Abu Obidan, the official spokesperson for the Brigades.
According to allegations in federal documents, the accusation is the
(28:00):
first evidence of an agitator receiving information directly from Hamas
and taking action during protests on the university campus. Basruk twenty,
who was not a Columbia student and many of the
people who were conducting these protests were not students at
the universities, also frequently wore the green headband used by
(28:22):
Hamas terrorists and boasted to friends about having relatives overseas
who were part of the terror group, Prosecutors claim in
a letter filed with the court. While on Columbia's campus
during protests in April twenty twenty four, Basruk allegedly texted
a pal saying he lit a flare and considered lighting
(28:46):
someone on fire, but that there were quote too many
people around him for him to take on otherwise he
would have quote herded them. Columbia University says it has
no record of Bazruk being on campus and it wanted
to be clear that this individual is not affiliated with
our university in any way, adding the school strongly condemns
(29:09):
anti Semitism and violence, and we are horrified by the
violence and hate crimes described in the indictment. Bazruk, a
US citizen born and raised in New York, was also
arrested next to the campus in December twenty twenty four
for one of the three attacks against Jewish peoples of
which he stands accused. This is the kind of violent
(29:32):
hate and violent hate tied to terrorism that we've seen
erupting at universities across the country.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
It's such a concerning, I think thing now, because if
you're a Jewish student, do you feel safe on any
college campus? It's an honest question that we should ask.
If you are a student on a college campus now,
do you feel safe and feel like the campuses are
going to protect your safety when they allow these protesters
on college campuses. A guy that refers to himself as
(30:02):
a Jew hater, right who protests against Israel on Columbia University.
So now this is completely infiltrated that the best you know,
quote universities that America has to offer are actually now
becoming the most radical.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
And yet there are still people on the left.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
That are saying, no, no, no, you got to allow this
to happen, No matter what, you got to allow these
these disturbances and these takeovers, and the and the and
the sit ins, and the and the and the taking
over buildings and the attacking of Jews. It goes back
to the anti semitism that has festered on our college campuses.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
And that the Democrats are defending. By the way, we
have text exchanges between Chuck Schumer and Columbia University where
where Chuck Schumer said, look, it's only the Republicans who
are concerned about this anti semitism. We the Democrats were
fine with it. I mean, I mean that that is
the explicit position. There is a Prohamas wing of the
(30:57):
Democrat Party. It is tragic that didn't use to exist,
but it is how radicalized they've gotten. And this particular
individual who's charge, according to the Department of Justice, he
had a picture of Obeida, who was the spokesperson for
Al Caasom, the military arm of Hamas, and one of
an individual waving a Hama's flag. This was on his phone,
(31:18):
and an Al Casom brigade's meme which reads, quote by God,
I would not trade the al Casom Brigades for the
world and everything in it. May God be pleased with
them and allow them to break the wicked enemy through him.
Also included in his phone are quotes from text messages
in which Baruk Bazruk rather allegedly identifies himself as quote
(31:44):
a Jew hater, so that's his term for himself, labels
Jews as quote worthless, exhorted Allah to quote get us
rid of Jews, and called an acquaintance an effing Jew
and told a friend to slap that be and he
(32:04):
did not abbreviate be in reference to a woman with
an Israeli sticker on her laptop, according to court documents,
and understand this individual that there was a real risk
of violence he was. He kicked one Jewish student college
(32:25):
student in the stomach. In a text message four days later,
he wrote that quote, if he ever sees a Jewish person,
he is going to boom boom them. He's accused of
slugging a Jewish Columbia University student in the face while
ranting about Hitler and the Nazis, and he's been arrested
(32:45):
a total of six times first conduct at Israel and
Gaza protests, including multiple assaults. Law enforcement searched his Manhattan
apartment and found brass knuckles, four knives, a Taser, an
airsoft gun that looks identical to a revolver, spent casings
(33:05):
from an actual firearm, and five hundred thousand dollars in cash.
An additional search turned up another two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. Now, Ben, who the hell has seven hundred
and fifty thousand dollars of cash in his apartment? Let
me give you one other fact that just to color this. Bazruk,
(33:27):
a twenty year old, lives with his parents. He has
said he has a net worth of three thousand dollars
and that he's quote unemployed and supported by his parents.
Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Yeah, and the big question is how many more are
out there like them? Final question on this Trump administration
also escalating pressure on Colombia as the Department of Education
is questioning the university's accreditation. Is this the right way
to start to deal with these radical universities?
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Yes, stand up to them. The Trump administration is doing
exactly right. These violent protests occurred because radical administrators, radical faculty.
They sided with the pro hamas protesters, and I am
very glad. Look, you ought to just ask the question
why was nobody arrested during the Biden administration while we're
(34:23):
none of the protesters arrested, while we're none of the
funders arrested, while we're none of the universities having their
their funding suspended. And it's because the Democrats they were
cheering on the protesters as.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Well as always thank you for listening to Verdict with
senter Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to
deal with my podcast and you can listen to my
podcasts every other day you're not listening to Verdict or
each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards, I'd love
to have you as a listener to again. Ben Ferguson
Podcasts and The Center, and I will see you back
here for the weekend review on Saturday morning.
Well, welcome.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is Verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you,
and we have got a very big show for you.
And yes, we are going to talk about the elephant
in the room, two men that have had some back
and forth, the most powerful man in the world, Donald Trump,
the President, and the richest man in the world, Elon Musk.
I want to be clear, I love both these men
dearly and think they've done amazing things for this country,
(00:24):
and we are gonna talk about it.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
We're gonna start with that.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Well, the battle that unfolded between Elon and Trump this
past week, it was painful for all of us to watch.
We're gonna break it down. I was actually in the
Oval office with the President when the Twitter battle started.
I'm gonna bring you inside that and we're gonna assess
what are the consequences and where we go from here.
We're also going to talk about the one big, bold,
beautiful bill, what's gonna happen, what the Senate's gonna do.
(00:48):
I'm optimistic, but we're gonna break down the details. And
then we're gonna talk about a rather remarkable story about
the FBI arresting a Chinese national for bringing a dangerous
path pathogen into the United States, a pathogen that could
have done enormous damage. And finally, a Columbia protester, a
radical Jew hater who was talking about lighting someone on
(01:12):
fire on the Columbia campus. He's being prosecuted for his
crimes of violence. We're going to break that down for
you as well.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
We certainly are.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
And I also want to talk to you real quick
about something that's happening in this country and around the
world and how you can get involved to stand with
the people of Israel. We saw what just happened in Colorado,
and the first question people ask is what can I
do well.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
You can stand up to anti Semitism.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
You can stand up to these radicals by standing with
people in Israel. Right now, Jewish schools are being targeted
right here in America. We are watching Jewish individuals be targeted.
Synagogues are being threatened, and unfortunately, so many Jewish families
are now living in fear, and it's time for us
to stand up. Silent is not an option. This is
(02:02):
the moment to take a stand. And that's why I
want you to get involved with a group that I
love dearly. It's the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
You may have heard of them as IFCJ. They are
literally on the front lines providing real help where it
is needed the most. They're giving food and shelter to
Jewish families that are under threat right now in Israel.
(02:23):
They are building bomb shelters for children right now in Israel.
They are helping survivors in America and all over the
world that have had their lives affected by this type
of hate and the attacks. And they don't just respond
to the crisis, they work every day to prevent it
as well. Now, your gift of just forty five dollars
(02:44):
will help support their life saving work by helping provide food,
shelter and armored vehicles, armored ambulances and so much more
like those bomb shelters. The Bible's pretty clear, I will
bless those who bless you, and supporting IFCJ is a
spiritual stand and it's showing up for God's people when
(03:06):
it counts. So if you want to stand with so
many that are hurting right now, and you want to
stand with Israel, please call and make a donation eight
at eight four eight eight IFCJ. That's eight eight eight
four eight eight four three two five are go online
to IFCJ dot org. Every dollar helps, don't wait be
(03:27):
the difference IFCJ dot org or eight eight eight four
eight eight IFCJ. So, Senator, let's start with the Elon
Musk Donald Trump back and forth. I hate seeing this
because Democrats are loving it, the liberal medias are loving it.
And I want to be clear, I think Donald Trump
is not wrong. I also think Elon Musk is not wrong.
And unfortunately, Elon is working under the assumption that Congress
(03:51):
actually wants to do the job and save our country,
and I think Trump's working under the reality that there's
a lot of people in Congress that actually aren't looking
at out for the American people.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Both men, in many ways are right.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Well. Listen, what unfolded this week was incredibly painful. These
are two men whom I know very well. They're both
good friends of mine. President Trump has been an extraordinary president,
his election, his re election in November, save this country
from absolute destruction. Elon Mosquez is one of the greatest
(04:24):
business men, one of the greatest innovators, one of the
greatest thinkers I think the world has ever seen, and
he is what he has done, whether in with SpaceX,
whether with Tesla, whether with all of his companies, or
whether buying Twitter or creating a free speech zone where
people can engage in public debate. That was massively consequential.
(04:47):
And that doesn't even begin to touch the impact that
Elon had a doze exposing massive government waste, fraud and abuse.
And so I got to say, I watched the two
of them, and by the way, you and I we
had Elon Musk's guest on this podcast that that is
one of my favorite podcasts we've ever done.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
At the White House. Nonetheless, it was.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
At the White House, and and a week ago he
and the President were very very close, and and what
happened today. So I was sitting in the oval is
this unfolded? And I was sitting there and and and
the tweets were coming, and listen, Elon is brilliant, and
he is strong willed, and he's a force of nature.
Donald Trump is brilliant, and he is strong willed, and
(05:30):
he is a force of nature. And and these are
two alpha males who are pissed off and and unfortunately
they're unloading on each other. And I wish that were
not the case, because I think the country does better
when when these two amazing heroes are working side by
side for the country and not not just unloading on
(05:53):
each other, but but listen that they're they are angry.
It's not complicated, but it is unfortunate. I will say,
every enemy of America, every Marxist, every person who hates
our country, every person who hates freedom, is cheering for
this divide to be real, to be deep, to be lasting,
(06:13):
to be permanent. They would be thrilled. Everyone who loves
our country is cheering for Elon and President Trump to
kiss and make up. Like Look, they may not agree
on everything, but they're too significant in this country for
them to be fighting at cross purposes. I don't want
either one fighting at cross purposes. And I will say,
(06:36):
you know, listen, when I was in the Oval, Trump
was pissed. I mean he he was venting on this topic,
and I understand it. Elon was saying some some really
harsh things. I understand why Trump was pissed, and the
back and forth. Knowing both of them, it was not
surprising to see it, you know, I gotta say, Ben,
it reminded me. There's a gift that's popular online from
(06:59):
Anchorman where Ron Burgundy, you know, Will Ferrell's character goes. Yeah,
that escalated quickly because it just went from zero to
eleven instantaneously. I get it, knowing both of the players.
But I hope it goes from eleven back down to
zero or maybe one or two.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I hope it goes every bit as quickly. Well.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
And as I said at the very beginning, the only
people that are happy right now over this is the
liberal media and the Democrat Party.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
And they're the ones that are sitting there going this
is amazing, and I'm meaning popcorn, and look, I think
both these men are right. I understand Elon musk frustration
in general. I wish Washington didn't have so many swampy
people there, but there's also what we wish and the
reality and the reality is it is really hard to
get something this big done with dealing with so many
(07:50):
players in DC.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
And look, I hope there's a truce.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I hope that both of them get this figured out
behind the scenes very very quickly. I think there's a
very good chance that's going to happen, because they're going
to see the left and them celebrating over this as well.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And the way that you described it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
These two men are brilliant, and we need them working
together for the for the good of the country. Because
there's one thing I know about both them. They both
love America, and I think there's no doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I think that's exactly right. I hope they will
come back together. On the substance we're going to discuss
in a minute. Both of them are right on the substance.
President Trump is right, we have to get this one big,
beautiful bill pass. We're going to Elon is right that
we have to make the bill better. We have to
cut more spending and tackle the deficit and debt more
than we do. They're both right. We're going to break
(08:36):
that down in just a minute. But I'll say also,
look the sentiment I have. I feel like the kids
of a bitter divorce where you're just saying, I really
wish mommy and daddy would stop screaming. I think a
lot of a lot of conservatives are feeling like this
is not good. Let's hug and make.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Up, all right, So let's talk about the bill that Obviously,
the fight with Elon and Trump has been over.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
You were in the Oval office.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
This bill is obviously something that you've talked about with
the President. There are people that have concerns about what's
in the bill, and there's an opportunity for the Senate,
as you guys are doing reconciliation on this bill, to
improve it, make it better. What do people need to
know about this bill, like what' sen it that you
should be proud of?
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And what are the changes that need to be made?
Speaker 3 (09:24):
Well listen on the merits of the fight between Elon
and Trump. As I mentioned, both are right. President Trump
is absolutely right. We need to get this passed because
this is the major vehicle to deliver on the promises
we made to the voters, and failure is not an option.
We cannot fail to secure the border. We cannot fail
to rebuild the military. We cannot fail to unleash American energy,
(09:47):
and we cannot fail to extend the Trump tax cuts
and make them bigger and bolder to unleash economic growth.
All of those we are going to get done, and
the only avenue to getting them done is this reconc
iliation bill. So we will get it passed. But that
being said, this bill can be made much better. I'm
glad the House passed it that's the first step in
(10:10):
this becoming a law. The House came together, they got
a majority, they sent it to the Senate. But you
know a lot of people are asking, Okay, what happens now?
Does the Senate just pass the House bill? And the
answer is not remotely. So what is happening right now? Isa,
say that again?
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Say that again for everybody listening, because that may be
music to some earors listening right now, Say that again.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
The Senate will not pass the House bill.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
All right, there we go.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
We got it, and I like, I love this, I'm smiling,
keep going.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
So listen.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Under a constitution, we have two chambers, two legislative bodies.
The House has passed their bill. The Senate is going
to pass our own bill. And what has happened is
each major committee has been given what are called reconciliation
instructions to draft their portions of the bill. I'm the
chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
so I've drafted my portion of the bill. The Senate
(11:02):
bill will have similarities to the House bill. The similarities
will be anywhere, my guess is from about two thirds
to three quarters of the House bill. So the good
provisions of the House bill will keep the bad provisions
I hope will jettison and say no, we're not going
to do that. And my hope what I am fighting
(11:23):
in the Senate to do is to have the Senate
cut spending significantly more than the House did. And this
is a point. Look, I think there's a real possibility
the Senate today is more conservative than the House. And
that's unusual, that is rarely the case. Here's why I
think that there are fifty three Republicans in the Senate.
(11:45):
I think it is entirely possible that the fiftieth most
fiscally conservative senator is to the right of the two
hundred and eighteenth most fiscally conservative House member.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And so very inching perspective, by the way, because I
don't think people think about it that way at all.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
No, they think about that there are one hundred fire
breathing conservatives in the House. That's true, but a majority
in the House is two eighteen, so one hundred doesn't
pass anything. So if you ask the House, okay, who's
the two hundred and eighteenth, who's the wobbliest Republican that
gets you to a majority, that Republican I think is
(12:24):
actually significantly to the left fiscally compared to the fiftieth
Senate Republican. So I'm not sure how bold we will do.
And I may have to do a podcast where I
do a maya culpa and say I was too optimistic.
But my hope is what the Senate will pass will
(12:44):
demonstrate much more fiscal restraint than what the House passed.
That's what I'm arguing to my colleagues. So I mentioned
I was in the Oval right as the Trump Elon
battle was unfolding. I was there for two reasons. Number One,
I was urging we need to cut more spending, and
I gave the President a list of nearly three trillion
dollars of spending cuts that we could do, urging, okay,
(13:07):
let's cut the spending. We can do this, we can
make this happen. Elon is right that we're bankrupting our
country and we need to do more than the House
bill does. I think the Senate will do that. What
will happen The Senate will pass our bill, I think
right before July fourth. Now, when the Senate passes the bill,
it's probably not going to be done. The likely outcome
(13:29):
after the Senate passes the bill is it will go
to conference where the House and Senate will negotiate back
and forth. The House will say we don't like some
provisions in this bill. The Senate will say we don't
like some provisions in your bill, and we'll reach a compromise.
My guess is the final bill will be passed at
the end of July, right before the August recess, and
(13:50):
sent to the President to be signed at the beginning
of August.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
I think that's likely.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
There's another chance, when the Senate passes our bill, maybe
the House just says, okay, accept it, and we'll pass it.
That possibility is not zero, but I think it's more
likely we'll have a conference committee and reach some compromises.
I will say this Ben twenty seventeen, the last time
we passed big tax cuts, I was here. I spent
(14:18):
hundreds of hours negotiating those tax cuts. One interesting dynamic
if you look at the current House of Representatives, more
than sixty percent of the House Republicans were not in
Congress in twenty seventeen when we did this last time,
and so the back it's a stunning number.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
That is a huge number. No one I wouldn't have
guessed that. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Look, there's been a lot of turnover in Congress, and
so most of the House members were not here. What
happened in twenty seventeen, the House passed a good bill.
It went to the Senate and we made it much
much better. And then actually it went to conference committee
and it became significantly better. I'll give a couple of examples.
Number one, the House, when they initially passed it, did
(15:03):
not repeal in twenty seventeen the Obamacare individual mandate. The
House Conservatives or all my buddies, they said, there's no
chance you Senate Republicans will do this. You guys like
all of the jellyfish in the Senate, they'll never do this. Well,
I led the fight in the Senate and said, this
Obamacare of individual mandated is wrong, it is abusive, it
is unfair, and we ended up unifying Senate Republicans and
(15:26):
we repealed it, but the Senate added it. That was
a major, major victory. Another example, the bill that passed
out of the House initially in twenty seventeen had big
tax cuts for sea corps, for big big corporations, but
much smaller tax cuts for pass throughs and es. Corps
which tend to be small businesses. And in the Senate
(15:47):
we said that's not right. We need to fight for
small businesses. We improved that dramatically. I think the same
thing is going to happen. And so I was sitting
in the Oval saying, number one, here are three trillions
more in tax cuts you can make. And number two,
I was arguing, in particular the school choice provision in
the House bill. We need to make it bigger, we
(16:07):
need to make it boulder, we need to make it
more effective. That was the case I was making directly
to the President in the Oval office this week.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Center, let's move to this.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Really, I would say, very shocking and scary news that
not one, but two Chinese nationals have been charged by
US federal authorities for allegedly smuggling a dangerous agricultural pathogen
into the United States of America. It is basically, in
Layman's terms, a fungus that poses a significant threat to
(16:41):
crops such.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
As wheat, barley, and rice.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
It could cause massive disease and in essence famine on
our agriculture in this country. And this was brought into
this country, and it just screams of another example of
why you don't trust and why we have to watch
them and protect ourselves. It reminds, I think a lot
of people of COVID nineteen. But this could literally recavoc
(17:08):
on our entire national security from a basic we need
food to live strategy if it was weaponized against us.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Well, this is a story. Unfortunately you're not going to
watch on the corporate media ABCNBCCBS, They're not going to
cover it. But China is our enemy, and China is
I think the greatest geopolitical threat we have for the
next one hundred years. We saw with COVID the incredible
threats of a pathogen, of a virus that can do
(17:40):
enormous damage, can destroy trillions of dollars, can take massive
toll in human life. Well, this story and I just
want to read to you a tweet from the director
of the FBI, Cash Betel. Here's what the FBI director said,
quote new I can confirm that the FBI arrested a
Chinese national within the United States who allegedly smuggled a
(18:04):
dangerous biological pathogen into the country. The individual, Young Quinn Jian,
is alleged to have smuggled a dangerous fungus called Fusarium gramminarium,
which is an agro terrorism agent, into the US to
(18:25):
research at the University of Michigan, where she works. This
fungus can cause a disease called head blight, a disease
of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, causing significant health issues
in both humans and livestock. It is responsible for billions
(18:46):
of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Evidence also
indicates Jian had expressed loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party
and had received funding from the Chinese government for similar
work on this pathogen in China. Jihn's boyfriend, Zuniang Liu,
(19:08):
also charged in the complaint, works at a Chinese university
where he conducts research on the same pathogen. Liu is
alleged to a first liede that admitted to also smuggling
Fusarium gran grannarium into America through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport
(19:33):
so that he too could conduct research at the University
of Michigan. Both individuals have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling
goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud.
This case is a sobering reminder that the CCP is
working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to
(19:58):
infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply, which would
have grave consequences, putting American lives and our economy at
serious risk. Your FBI will continue working tirelessly to be
on guard against it.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
You go through this and let's unpack it and just
go back a little bit to pain. I think the
broader picture, we've seen China financially infiltrate our colleges, our
best colleges. We have seen them by influence. We saw
this hell with the Biden Institute. For goodness sakes, we
(20:37):
have witnessed the number of Chinese students that we allow
to come into this country, be trained here, have access
to R and D here. And then we've witnessed what
our government did under Fauci with the amount of money
we were sending to China that was doing a lot
of this type of research and other things. And we
shouldn't be surprised that this has happened now. But this
(21:01):
again goes back to the vulnerability. If China is sending
you money and sending billions of dollars to American universities,
and then we see this type of research and the
access at these research insuits like the University of Michigan,
et cetera. Why isn't there a massive red flag on
every dollar now coming in from China? After seeing yet
(21:21):
again the Chinese are enemy and they cannot be trusted.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
There's no doubt there should be. And listen, when I
was first elected to the Senate thirteen years ago, I
was saying then that China is the greatest threat we
have for the next hundred years. I got to tell you, Ben,
at the time, that was a very lonely view in
the United States Senate. Every Democrat disagreed with me, and
most of the Republicans did too. They all looked to
(21:48):
China and they saw nothing but dollar signs as far
as the eye could see. Now, COVID changed that for
a lot of people. They realized the mendacity, the duplicity
the damaged China causes. China engages in widespread murder of
its citizens, torture of its citizens. It has over a
million wigures in concentration camps, modern day human slavery, organ harvesting.
(22:13):
But they also engage in massive propaganda, massive espionage against
the United States, massive theft of intellectual property. They are
engaged in a global battle for world domination. They're objective,
which they've told us, They're very explicit. Their objective is
to be the dominant world power and to displace America,
(22:37):
and we need to combat them on the global stage.
China is engaged in Africa, in Latin America, and the
Middle East and Asia, every part of the world. China
is trying to become the dominant world power. They are
waging a thousand year war. And when it comes to
the danger of pathogens, look you look at COVID.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
COVID.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
It was clear within the first couple of months of
this pandemic that the evidence strongly suggested that the virus
escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China.
We now know that the corporate media suppressed that story,
that Facebook suppressed that story at the explicit request of
(23:20):
doctor Fauci. I will tell you this podcast Verdict with
Ted Cruz in March and in April of twenty twenty,
when COVID was first starting, we laid out the evidence
that this came from China, from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
(23:41):
Before you could get it practically anywhere else. China bears
enormous responsibility for what happened with COVID. I think the
evidence is overwhelming that COVID escaped from a Chinese government lab.
I think the evidence is significant that COVID was actually
invented in a Chinese government lab, that they took natural
(24:03):
viruses and they altered them using Gaina function research. That's
not as compelling as the fact that it escaped from
a government lab, but I think there's a lot of
evidence of that. By the way, there are multiple federal
agencies that are now explicitly concluded that COVID likely escaped
from a Chinese government lab. When COVID escaped, the Chinese
government covered it up. They suppressed the evidence, they destroyed
(24:26):
the samples, They did everything they could to prevent others
from understanding the source of this virus and also to
frustrate efforts to stop the spread of this pandemic. Now
put that in the context of this story, a dangerous
agro terrorism fungus that could do massive damage to crops,
(24:46):
to livestock, to human beings in the United States being
smuggled in by not one but two Chinese nationals being
paid by the Chinese Communist Party. Look, it is not
difficult to imagine a pathogen like that being released in
the United States and doing enormous damage. And that's the
(25:07):
sort of threat our government we need to be vigilant
against when it comes to Communist China.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Well, and it goes back to again some of this
evidence that apparently they've been discussing the plan to smuggle
these biological materials since at least twenty twenty two. The
electronic device has contained documents expressing the Chinese Communist Party,
the CCP, and detailing research funded by the Chinese government.
So the story just keeps repeating itself. It is over
(25:36):
and over again when we see these things happen. It's
directly tied tied to the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese
Communist government, and we should not be surprised as is happening.
Will there be any reaction or anything that Congress can
do on this very quickly?
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Well, listen, this has been an area I've been legislating
for a long time. So, for example, one of the
very first bills I passed into law dealt with Confucius institutes.
Confucius institutes were formed on us universities all across the country,
hundreds of them, and they were funded by the Chinese
Communist Party. They conducted espionage and propaganda. I introduced legislation
(26:14):
to cut off federal funding the universities that have Confucius institutes.
Passed it into law, and as a result, we've shut
down most of the Confucius institutes across the country. So
we can fight this, but we need to be vigilant
and we need to fight.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
All right, Senat, I want to move on to another story.
We tease this earlier Columbia protester and self proclaimed Jew
hater had direct links to hamas Tersel. Disturbing new phone
records revealed that the DOJ has come out with another
example of we were not doing a good enough job
(26:49):
of protecting America and letting people in that we did
not know exactly who they were.
Speaker 3 (26:54):
Well, today's Democrat party has rallied around defending the anti
Semitic protesters on college ca campuses, and the media has
as well. And yet the viciousness, the hatred, the violence,
and the ties to terrorists on these protests are significant.
So this is a story that broke just this week,
and I'm reading now from The New York Post quote
(27:15):
a jew hater who protested against Israel on Columbia University's
campus and contemplated setting a student on fire, allegedly had
a direct link to Hamas's deadly Al Cassam Brigades militant group.
The Post can reveal. Tarek Bazruk, awaiting trial after being
(27:38):
indicted on three federal hate crimes against Jewish people, was
quote a member of a chat group that received regular
updates from Abu Obidan, the official spokesperson for the Brigades.
According to allegations in federal documents, the accusation is the
(28:00):
first evidence of an agitator receiving information directly from Hamas
and taking action during protests on the university campus. Basruk twenty,
who was not a Columbia student and many of the
people who were conducting these protests were not students at
the universities, also frequently wore the green headband used by
(28:22):
Hamas terrorists and boasted to friends about having relatives overseas
who were part of the terror group, Prosecutors claim in
a letter filed with the court. While on Columbia's campus
during protests in April twenty twenty four, Basruk allegedly texted
a pal saying he lit a flare and considered lighting
(28:46):
someone on fire, but that there were quote too many
people around him for him to take on otherwise he
would have quote herded them. Columbia University says it has
no record of Bazruk being on campus and it wanted
to be clear that this individual is not affiliated with
our university in any way, adding the school strongly condemns
(29:09):
anti Semitism and violence, and we are horrified by the
violence and hate crimes described in the indictment. Bazruk, a
US citizen born and raised in New York, was also
arrested next to the campus in December twenty twenty four
for one of the three attacks against Jewish peoples of
which he stands accused. This is the kind of violent
(29:32):
hate and violent hate tied to terrorism that we've seen
erupting at universities across the country.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
It's such a concerning, I think thing now, because if
you're a Jewish student, do you feel safe on any
college campus? It's an honest question that we should ask.
If you are a student on a college campus now,
do you feel safe and feel like the campuses are
going to protect your safety when they allow these protesters
on college campuses. A guy that refers to himself as
(30:02):
a Jew hater, right who protests against Israel on Columbia University.
So now this is completely infiltrated that the best you know,
quote universities that America has to offer are actually now
becoming the most radical.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
And yet there are still people on the left.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
That are saying, no, no, no, you got to allow this
to happen, No matter what, you got to allow these
these disturbances and these takeovers, and the and the and
the sit ins, and the and the and the taking
over buildings and the attacking of Jews. It goes back
to the anti semitism that has festered on our college campuses.
Speaker 3 (30:37):
And that the Democrats are defending. By the way, we
have text exchanges between Chuck Schumer and Columbia University where
where Chuck Schumer said, look, it's only the Republicans who
are concerned about this anti semitism. We the Democrats were
fine with it. I mean, I mean that that is
the explicit position. There is a Prohamas wing of the
(30:57):
Democrat Party. It is tragic that didn't use to exist,
but it is how radicalized they've gotten. And this particular
individual who's charge, according to the Department of Justice, he
had a picture of Obeida, who was the spokesperson for
Al Caasom, the military arm of Hamas, and one of
an individual waving a Hama's flag. This was on his phone,
(31:18):
and an Al Casom brigade's meme which reads, quote by God,
I would not trade the al Casom Brigades for the
world and everything in it. May God be pleased with
them and allow them to break the wicked enemy through him.
Also included in his phone are quotes from text messages
in which Baruk Bazruk rather allegedly identifies himself as quote
(31:44):
a Jew hater, so that's his term for himself, labels
Jews as quote worthless, exhorted Allah to quote get us
rid of Jews, and called an acquaintance an effing Jew
and told a friend to slap that be and he
(32:04):
did not abbreviate be in reference to a woman with
an Israeli sticker on her laptop, according to court documents,
and understand this individual that there was a real risk
of violence he was. He kicked one Jewish student college
(32:25):
student in the stomach. In a text message four days later,
he wrote that quote, if he ever sees a Jewish person,
he is going to boom boom them. He's accused of
slugging a Jewish Columbia University student in the face while
ranting about Hitler and the Nazis, and he's been arrested
(32:45):
a total of six times first conduct at Israel and
Gaza protests, including multiple assaults. Law enforcement searched his Manhattan
apartment and found brass knuckles, four knives, a Taser, an
airsoft gun that looks identical to a revolver, spent casings
(33:05):
from an actual firearm, and five hundred thousand dollars in cash.
An additional search turned up another two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. Now, Ben, who the hell has seven hundred
and fifty thousand dollars of cash in his apartment? Let
me give you one other fact that just to color this. Bazruk,
(33:27):
a twenty year old, lives with his parents. He has
said he has a net worth of three thousand dollars
and that he's quote unemployed and supported by his parents.
Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Yeah, and the big question is how many more are
out there like them? Final question on this Trump administration
also escalating pressure on Colombia as the Department of Education
is questioning the university's accreditation. Is this the right way
to start to deal with these radical universities?
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Yes, stand up to them. The Trump administration is doing
exactly right. These violent protests occurred because radical administrators, radical faculty.
They sided with the pro hamas protesters, and I am
very glad. Look, you ought to just ask the question
why was nobody arrested during the Biden administration while we're
(34:23):
none of the protesters arrested, while we're none of the
funders arrested, while we're none of the universities having their
their funding suspended. And it's because the Democrats they were
cheering on the protesters as.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Well as always thank you for listening to Verdict with
senter Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to
deal with my podcast and you can listen to my
podcasts every other day you're not listening to Verdict or
each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards, I'd love
to have you as a listener to again. Ben Ferguson
Podcasts and The Center, and I will see you back
here for the weekend review on Saturday morning.
Host
Ben Ferguson
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