March 28, 2025 • 30 mins
-
Tariffs on Imported Cars:
- Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported cars, which he described as the beginning of "liberation day" in America.
- The discussion covers the complexities and potential impacts of tariffs, including their use as leverage in foreign policy and economic strategy.
- Ted Cruz supports using tariffs to secure borders and as a tool against countries like China but expresses concerns about long-term economic impacts on American consumers.
-
Pro-Hamas Radicals and Student Visas:
- The podcast discusses the revocation of student visas for individuals involved in pro-Hamas protests.
- Ted Cruz emphasizes that while American citizens have First Amendment rights, foreign students on visas do not, and the government has no obligation to allow individuals who support anti-American activities to stay in the country.
-
Foreign Money in Universities:
- The episode highlights concerns about the large amounts of foreign money, particularly from adversarial nations, flowing into American universities.
- Ted Cruz discusses the potential for this money to influence American education and politics, advocating for transparency and penalties for universities accepting funds from hostile nations.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome in his verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson
with you and Senator We've got a lot to talk
about tonight, including some big news that Donald Trump has
announced a twenty five percent tariff on imported cars. We're
gonna deal with that, but also some other things as well.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
We're gonna talk about tariff's number one, we're gonna talk
about terrorists, number two, Prohamas radicals being deported, having the
student visas revoked, and we're gonna talk number three about
massive foreign money flooding into our universities. All of that
we're gonna break down on today's podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. So let's
start with the tariffs. And Donald Trump has come out
he has announced his twenty five percent tariff on import cars,
and the President announcing it said he believes this is
the beginning of liberation Day in America. Here's the President
in his own words.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
So this is the beginning of liberation Day in America.
We're going to take back just some of the money
that has been taken from us by people sitting behind
this desk or another desk that's not quite as nice,
but they have their choice of seven, as you know,
(01:12):
and we're going to charge countries for doing business in
our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking
a lot of things that they've been taken over the years.
They've taken so much out of our country. Friend and foe,
and frankly, Friend has been oftentimes much worse than foe.
And this is very modest. What we're going to be
(01:35):
doing is a twenty five percent tariff on all cars
that are not made in the United States. If they're
made in the United States, is absolutely not terror. We
start off with a two and a hared percent base,
which is what we were at, and we go to
twenty five percent. And basically, as you know, and as
you've been seeing not reporting as accurately as it should
be reported, because it's a massive story, business is coming
(01:58):
back to the United States so that they don't have
to pay tariffs. And I think also because of November fifth,
the election, they're very happy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Now that's the President talking in the Oval office about this, Senator,
And look, tariffs can be very complicated. This is something
that a lot of people are going to hear and say, good,
we're leveling the playing field. But they can also be
very complicated, and there's a lot that we're dealing with
now in this country with tariffs. So I want you
to break it down for people, say, understand, some of
(02:26):
these tariffs have been a straight up just strategy from
the President to get leverage and to lect countries or
they can't keep treating us the way that they are.
We've seen that with Canada, We've seen that with Mexico.
These are a little bit more complicated and complex.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Well, listen, President Trump uses tariffs for multiple purposes. One purpose,
he uses them for his leverage to incentivize foreign countries
to do things that are in America's interest. The easiest
example of this is the threatened tariffs against Mexico and Canada,
where the President has threatened twenty five percent tariffs against
(03:00):
Mexico and Canada unless and until they actively and aggressively
help us secure our borders. Now, I got to tell
you ben On that I emphatically support President Trump. There
is no greater mandate that came out of the November election.
Then we must secure our borders. And I got to say,
in the first Trump administration, the President used the threat
(03:24):
of tariffs against Mexico, a twenty five percent tariff. He
threatened to get Mexico to make enormous concessions on border security.
Mexico ended up caving and the government of Mexico Amlo,
who is the President of Mexico, assigned six thousand Mexican
soldiers to their southern border. The Mexican southern border is
(03:44):
much smaller than our southern border because it obviously it
constricts into an isthmus. And they put six thousand soldiers
on their southern border, and they adopted the remain in
Mexico policy. So the remain in Mexico policy was amazingly,
tremendously successful. It produced the lowest rate of illegal immigration
(04:05):
in forty five years.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
So when it comes to using.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
The thread of tariffs or tariffs as a avenue of leverage,
especially for something like securing the border, I am emphatically
in sport of it. By the way, we did an
earlier podcast where when the nation of Colombia earlier in
the Trump administration refused to accept illegal immigrants coming back,
Trump immediately threatened tariffs against them, and Colombia cratered within
(04:33):
hours that they just surrendered and said, okay, we'll take
them back. So I'm all for tariffs's leverage to get
positive foreign policy concessions from other countries.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Well, let's talk about the twenty five percent on the
cars and how this kind of got started from a
political standpoint, explained to the American people why this is
a strategy that could work. But also it is very complicated.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So, Ben, there's a second component of President Trump's tariff approach,
which is he genuinely loves tariffs. We've all heard him
rhapsodize at length where he said tariff is the most
beautiful word in the English language. And I got to say,
of every view President Trump has ever had, this is
(05:22):
the most consistent policy view of his entire life. If
you go back to the nineteen eighties when Ronald Reagan
was president, Donald J. Trump was calling for we need
more tariffs on foreign goods.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
He believes this.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I have sat with Donald Trump over and over and
over again, and he goes on at great length about
how tariffs are wonderful, how they're going to raise hundreds
of billions of dollars. He goes on about how when
William McKinley was president, the economy was great. As you're
just played. He goes on saying it's the golden age
of America. Before we had an income tax, we got
(05:58):
our revenue from tariff's. Now, I will say on that front,
I've urged the President two things. Number One, I've urged
President Trump focus on China. I believe China is the
single greatest geopolitical threat to the United States for the
next one hundred years.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
So tariffs are.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
A great tool, a powerful tool, and everything we can
do to delink our economy from China is a good thing.
Everything we can do to on shore to bring manufacturing
back from China to the United States is a good thing.
Everything we can do to nearshore to bring manufacturing back
from China to countries near America, that is a good thing.
(06:39):
So that's number one on what I've urged. The second
thing I've urged the President to do is focus on reciprocity. Now, Ben,
why am I focused on reciprocity. Listen, I believe in
free trade, and well, by.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
The way, for people that are new, maybe they don't
know what is your definition of free trade, so that
they understand that, because there's people that have bastardized free
trade over the last twenty years to mean a lot
of different things.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
So look, as an economic matter, I believe America prospers
and does well when we can export our crops, our livestock,
our goods, our services into other nations. I think we
are the greatest producing nation. We are the greatest economic
power on the face of the planet. And when we
can open up foreign markets to American exports, we do fantastic.
(07:31):
American farmers and ranchers do great when foreign markets are
opened up, and their enormous benefits. Now, what I've verged
the President to do is focus on the principle of reciprocity.
What do I mean by reciprocity. I mean by reciprocity
that we should adopt tariffs that mirror the tariffs other
(07:52):
countries apply to us. Why is it that I'm advocating
for reciprocity because since I believe in free trade, I
think it is better economically for America to embrace free trade.
Reciprocity puts a downward ratchet on our tariffs because if
the Trump administration imposes tariffs against foreign nations, there is
(08:14):
an easy avenue for those foreign nations to lower the tariffs.
And the way they can do so is lower their
own tariffs against American goods. So I can tell you
in the last two weeks, the CEO of a major
European car company was meeting with me and they're very dismayed.
They're very concerned about tariffs being imposed against them. And
(08:37):
I can tell you that this European CEO is advocating
Europe we will zero out our tariffs on American cars.
Right now, Europe has significant tariffs on American cars. The
CEO is advocating we'll drop those to zero if America
doesn't hammer us with tariffs on importing cars to the
(08:57):
United States. That's a great outcome. I want to see
foreign countries lower their tariffs on American goods, so that's
a great outcome. I will say, Ben, it is clear
the President likes tariffs. He describes when you sit down
I spend a lot of time with the President. When
you sit down with him in person, he will go
on sometime for hours at length about how tariffs will
(09:22):
generate hundreds of billions of dollars, how they're terrific for
the American economy. I don't want to see a situation
where it is a major feature of the long term
economic picture of America that we have big tariffs in place.
And here's why who pays tariffs. The American consumer pays tariffs.
If there are major tariffs on imported goods, it means
(09:42):
if you go and buy them, you pay a much
much higher price. And so I would rather see a scenario.
I prefer lower taxes to higher taxes. I would rather
see a scenario where we are not imposing big tariffs,
but at the same time foreign countries are lower their
tariffs so we can export more. So I am emphatically
(10:04):
on board with Donald Trump using tariffs' as leverage. I
have concerns and I think it would be harmful to
Texas in the country if tariffs become a persistent feature
of our economic policy nationally.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
So this is one of those where it's also if
you're a business person, you and your manufacturer, you want
there to be some stability in the market. What am
I dealing with?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
What does the future look like for me?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And so if you're planning, I think, if I'm reading
this correctly, you're saying this is probably going to be
a part of his policy for quite some time. This
isn't going to be a blip on the screen the
way that you described it. And that may be why
so many are so concerned.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Right, So, the single most frequent question I get from
business leaders in Texas and from bus leaders nationally. And
I meet with business leaders literally every single day. That's
a big part of the job of being in the
Senate is you meet with leaders from your state across
the country. The most frequent question I get is what's
going to happen on tariffs? What's going to happen on trade?
And I genuinely don't know. But look, all right, Ben,
(11:09):
you're a fancy schmancy radio host, your you know, big
national guy lots. So you drive a Porsche pan America.
Really cool ass car. Like, by the way, your steering
wheel is like really antique wood, which is cool looking.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It's the best part of the car. And I'm not
gonna lie, it's like it is nice.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Now, the last I checked, Porsche's made in Germany. Yes,
today the President announced a twenty five percent tariff on
foreign made cars. That means if you bought that car tomorrow, you,
Ben Ferguson, would pay twenty five percent more for the
same car you have right now.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
That's meaningful, Yeah, it's meaningful. And what it makes in
the reality is for many people they'd say, all right, well,
I'm not going to spend the twenty five percent premium
on that car.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And listen, I will say, there's there's an economic matter
when it comes to imposing tariffs to block imports. A
lot of nations do that, and there's an economic school
of thought called public choice theory, which examines how political
decisions are made based on economics. And one of the
consequences of tariffs is you have concentrated benefits. So there
(12:21):
are industries and jobs that benefit and do great, and
they're very enthusiastic, and then you have diffuse harms. So
frequently with tariffs, if you put tariffs and you protect
jobs at home, if you look as a matter of economics,
the benefits are in the aggregate much smaller than the harms,
but the benefits are concentrated. So the people who are
(12:43):
getting it are really energized, they care a lot about it,
whereas the people that are being harmed it is more abstract,
They're less energized, they're less focused on it. I believe
America has benefited enormously from exporting our goods and services.
If you talk to any farmer and Rancher, the benefits
of exporting to foreign markets are massive. If you talk
(13:04):
to American manufacturers, the benefits of exporting to foreign markets
are massive. And so I don't want to see a
scenario where every country is putting massive tariffs on imports
from other countries, because it will hurt American exports significantly
and it will raise prices for American consumers. That being said,
(13:25):
if the President employs these tariffs in the way I'm suggesting,
which is focused on reciprocity, then they can be a
powerful tool for lowering the tariffs other countries impose and
expanding trade, expanding what we sell abroad, expanding American business,
expanding jobs, and lowering prices for American consumers. I think
(13:48):
that is a much better outcome.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
I want to move on to the corruption of academia,
and we are now saying that three hundred Prohamas protests
got visas protesters, they got visas revoked, and this was
certainly a big deal. Marco Rubio talking about it, making
it a clear that, hey, we promised you that if
(14:11):
you're here on a visa and it's a privilege to
be here, and you are cheering on the terraces and
you're hurting your campus or this country. You're anti American.
We don't have to put up with it. I love
this your.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Reaction, Amen, hell olujah. And look, this is something we've
talked about on Verdict quite a bit. The First Amendment
protects American citizen. So if you're an American citizen, you
have a constitutional right to espouse the most hateful, horrible,
terrible ideas. American citizen has a First Amendment right to
advocate for being a Nazi, to advocate for being a clansman.
(14:46):
By the way, if you do advocate for being a
Nazi or clansman, the rest of us have a moral
obligation to say, you're a reprehensible bigot and what you're
saying is evil, but you have a right to say it.
But the First Amendment does not apply to foreigners. It
applies to Americans. And when it comes to student visas,
foreigners that are getting student visas, they're asking for permission
(15:07):
from the federal government to come study in America. They
don't have a First Amendment right. And we have no obligation,
no legal obligation, no moral obligation, no obligation under anything.
I can imagine to let people in who hate America,
who are undermining America, who are attacking Jewish students or
other students at campus, who are spreading poison. And so
the story broke this week that three hundred student visas
(15:30):
have been revoked by the way, under Joe Biden, when
we had viciously anti Semitic, anti Israel, anti American protests
on college campuses, to the best of my knowledge, zero
student visas were revoked. And in fact, the Democrats they
support the Prohamas protesters. Well, Trump being elected, and this
is something I predicted before the election. This is something
(15:52):
I said right after the election. You are going to
see the radical anti American zealots. You're going to see
them arrested and deported. Well, well that is happening. Three
hundred student visas have been revoked. And here's what Secretary
of State Mark or Rubio said. Quote, if you apply
for a visa to enter the United States and be
a student, and you tell us that the reason why
you're coming to the United States is not just because
(16:15):
you want to write op eds, but because you want
to participate in movements that are involved in doing things
like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
We're not going to give you a visa.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
If you lie to us and get a visa and
then enter the United States and with that visa participate
in that sort of activity, We're going to take away
your visa. And Secretary Rubio continued, you're no longer legally
in the United States, and we have a right, like
every country in the world has a right to remove
you from our country. Amen, hallelujah. And you gotta ask
(16:53):
yourself why didn't this happen even once under Joe Biden.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Well, you also look at what we found out about
some of the people that are getting arrested. A great
example of that is this Tofts University graduate student from
Turkey was arrested by Ice agents on the street in Massachusetts.
The liberals are losing their minds, like this is so unfair.
Should have not been arrested? How dare you target this student?
(17:17):
But according to the Department of Home in Security, the
woman was arrested for quote glorifying and supporting terrorists and
for showing support for a terrorist organization Hamas, the Palestinian
political party and militant group so they're like, you can
be set all you want to. We're not putting up
(17:39):
with this and it shouldn't be happening in America.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Look, if you are a foreigner and you're saying I
love Hamas, if you're a foreigner and you're saying I
hate America, if you're a foreigner and saying I support
the enemies of America, we have no obligation to admit
you to our country. We have no obligation to let
you stay here, and no legal obligation, no more obligation.
And what is bizarre as the Trump administration is saying,
(18:04):
all right, these radicals that hate America, that are attacking
and threatening violence against Jewish students, that are demonizing Israel,
that are demonizing America, that are praising Amas. And by
the way, look, let's be clear, Hamas are vicious terrorists
that want to murder you. Are you if you're an American?
And I think most of the people listening to this
podcast are Americans. Understand Hamas wants to murder. You understand
(18:26):
Hamas on October seventh, carried out the mass murder of
twelve hundred civilians. They raped women and little girls, and
these radicals are praising child rapists. You know what, if
you're praising child rapists, if you're supporting child rapists, get
the hell out of our country.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Now.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Look, if you're a US citizen, we can't throw you out,
But if you're not, if you're a foreigner, we have
no reason to let you in here. And this is
exactly right, and Benen is amazing. Democrats given a choice,
do you support protecting Americans, protecting Israel, protecting Jewish students
at schools, or do you support the radical anti Israel,
(19:02):
anti American pro Hamas zell It, they are choosing the
violent anti American protesters. They are standing up and saying,
deport nobody. We don't care if you are a radical
pro Hamas supporter, we want you in America. I got
to say, I don't know any rational or normal American
that wants pro Hamas supporters in America.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Let's give a perfect example of this. University of Alabama
a doctoral student that was arrested. An Iranian student who
was studying at the University of Alabama was arrested by
Ice agents.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
The University of Alabama recently learned that a doctoral student
had been detained off campus by federal immigration authorities, the
school said, and statement, federal privacy laws limit what we
can share about an individual student. International students are quote
valued members of the campus community of the university. Added
The student newspaper said that called the crimson White identified
(19:56):
the man arrested who was in the United States on
a student visa, saying quote, it's unclear what charges he's facing,
why he was attained, or if he has a lawyer.
But here's what they did report, and this part really
made me laugh. In the statement that came out from
the University of Alabama College Democrats, the group said they
(20:17):
were aware of the man's arrests and saying, quote, our
fears have come to pass President Donald Trump. The borders
are Tom Homan and ICE have struck a cold, vicious
dagger through the heart of the University of Alabama's international community.
As far as we know right now, ICE has yet
to provide any justification for their actions, so we are
(20:37):
not sure if this persecution is politically motivated, as has
been seen in other universities across the country. It goes
back to your point that you just made. The Democrats
on even at the University of Alabama are like this
is persecution. You know, facts be damned, supporting terrorist activities
be damned. Advocating for hamas be damned.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Well clear, understand the principle.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
When you were quoting that newspaper story, you said, the
Alabama Democrats were saying, we don't know what crime this
person has been charged with. You don't have to be
charged with a crime. Let me be clear, like, okay,
if you're charged with a crime, that ought to be easy.
Although I say it ought to be easy if you're
charged with a crime. My Democratic colleagues, when we argue
(21:22):
to port people who've committed crimes, support people who committed
violent crimes, to port people who are murderers, to port
people who are rapists, to poort people who are child molesters.
My Democratic colleagues party line vote no. So even if
you're guilty of a crime, they don't want to deport you,
but set it aside for a student visa. If you're
(21:42):
not a US citizen, you don't have to be guilty
of a crime. If you come to America as a
foreigner and we've given you a permissive visa, we said, okay,
we want you to come, and you come here and
you grab a bullhorn and say I hate America and
I want the enemies of America to defeat America. You
know what, my answer is, get the hell out. We
don't have a reason to let you in. I don't
have a protection. If you are an enemy of America,
(22:03):
you're entitled to be that.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
They're seven to eight billion people on planet on Earth.
There are some people that are enemies of America. But
why do we have to let enemies of America in?
If you say I hate America. It's like the old
Saturday Night Live skit of the flight attendant as people
are leaving the plane going bubbye, Bubby, you hate America, Bubby,
(22:26):
get out hate America somewhere else. But we're not letting
you in here because we don't need people who hate
American are trying to undermine our nation in this country.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Which brings me to story number three. And this is
one where we have I think led on exposing the
amount of foreign money that's been pouring into universities. We
also exposed it with a Biden crime family and the
amount of foreign dours coming in to the Biden Institute,
for example, and other universities. And we've witnessed the amount
of money coming in to a point where you say,
(22:59):
this doesn't make sense economically. This is my opinion. I
think now you're looking at a bigger issue, which is
what are they actually getting in return for the staggering
amounts of foreign money that's pouring these universities. Is this
co covert opts by foreign nations? Is this trying to
control the next generation of American minds? Is this about spying?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
But when you look at this new report from a
nonprofit and a non person government watchdog group, they're sounding
the alarm saying this amount of money coming in is
not just from do gooders. This money's coming in, It's
coming in for something big center. What is that?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Yeah, look, this is not covert, It is overt. It
is open, is out and brazen. So the history in
Fox News entitled quote new reports sounds alarm on staggering
amount of foreign money pouring into US universities. The report
says that seven hundred and ninety five million dollars has
gone from foreign adversaries to American universe. And here's what
(24:01):
the article says. I'm going to quote a little bit
of it. Quote a new report from a nonprofit and
nonpartisan government watchdog is shedding light on the tens of
billions of dollars tens of billions that have poured into
US universities in recent years, including twenty billion dollars to
some of the most prestigious universities in the country. The report,
(24:23):
produced by Americans for Public Trust and released this week,
found that sixty billion dollars again, sixty billion dollars in
foreign gifts and contracts were funneled into American colleges and universities,
including twenty billion dollars alone to elite schools like Harvard, Yale,
and others. Within that total, seven hundred and ninety five
(24:46):
million dollars came from nations that are long standing adversaries
to the United States, including China, Russia, Venezuela, and Yemen.
This is shocking. It is fundamental corruption. I can tell
you I've introduced legislation to require to minimum that universities
report every dollar of foreign money they received so that
we have scrutiny. And I'll tell you, Ben, one of
(25:08):
the very first pieces of legislation ever passed, when I
was a brand new baby senator thirteen years ago, was
dealing with this issue of foreign money flooding into universities,
and China had been funding these things called Confucius institutes.
Confused institutes were institutes on American college campuses that taught Mandarin,
(25:29):
that taught the Chinese language, and they were used number
one as hubs of espionage where China would send spies
to engage in espionage in the United States, and number
two as tools of propaganda, where they would push propaganda
that was favorable to the Chinese Communist government. And when
I was a brand new baby senator, I introduced legislation
(25:53):
that banned any money from the Federal Department of Defense
going to university that had a Confuseducious institute. And at
the time they introduced it, we had a Democrat Senate.
When I got elected, Harry Reid as the majority leader
of the Democrats were in the majority. I was on
the Senate Armed Services Committee. I introduced this amendment, and
Ben I'll tell you, I got bipartisan support. I got
(26:13):
Democrats to support me and Republicans. We passed it into law,
and the legislation I passed resulted in more than twenty
Confucius institutes across the country being shut down this was
a problem back in twenty thirteen, I got to say,
in twenty twenty five, it's much much worse.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
So what is the government's response now? What should the
government response be moving forward? And is it time to
actually look at these universities and ask questions or have
regulations about money coming in from foreign countries, especially those
that are adversaries of the United States of America. I
(26:52):
don't like government overreach, I want to make that clear.
But the wild wild West that we're we're looking at
right now from this report and sixty billion and foreign
gifts and contracts are funneled to American colleges and universities
like that, they're getting something in return, twenty billion alone
to Harvard, Yale and other elite schools. They're getting something
(27:14):
in return. And if they're buying the minds of American
students or influence, or even what worries me the most
is stealing intellectual property or spying on America and future leaders,
this scares the hell out of mean. So what should
the government's response be?
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yes, yes, yes, all of the above. So they're doing
this to buy influence, They're doing this to push propaganda,
They're doing this to engage at espionage. They're doing this
to steal intellectual property, and so many of our universities,
especially our elite universities, have eagerly jumped in bed with them. Look,
(27:53):
you and I discussed early on in the wake of
October seventh, when the anti Semitic protests were breaking out,
if you look at the universities with the highest percentage
of foreign students, it almost perfectly maps to the universities
with the most the most virulent, the most nasty antisemitic protests.
Universities like colombiaan NYU are at the very top of
(28:15):
the list. And when you let in a bunch of
foreign students. Now, look, universities like foreign students because they
pay full tuition, they pay full freight. They're cash cows.
But why are American universities in the business of educating foreigners,
especially foreigners who hate American or undermining America. I don't
see a reason for that. But not only that, but
(28:37):
they're pushing this to drive a political agenda. And so
what should we do? Number One, we need transparency.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
As I mentioned, I've introduced legislation to require transparency if
a university is getting money from a foreign country. We
need to know about it, how much from which country?
And I'll tell you the legislation I'm introducing puts putative
tax penalties if you get money from a country that
is an enemy of America. In my view of the
federal government ought to put penalties in place where you
(29:06):
end up being taxed more than you get. We don't
need the enemies of America funding our universities and actively
undermining our education. We need leaders who are willing to
stand up for America first. And I think that's incredibly important.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
If you look at the money that came in a
perfect example of this is within that total I gave
you the twenty billion alone going to those elite schools,
seven hundred and ninety five million came from nations that
are long standing advisaris in the US, including China, Rush
of Venezuela, and Yemen. Is it also time to look
at certain countries and say you can't have donations coming
(29:41):
in from there.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Yes, and we ought to penalize the hell out of it.
If it RAN is funding your university, you're doing something
fundamentally wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Great point. Don't forget.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
We do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday hit that
subscriber auto download button and on those in between days,
grab my show, the Ben Ferguson Podcast. I'll keep you
up to date on breaking news as well, and we'll
see you back here on Saturday for the week in
review
Welcome in his verdict with Center, Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson
with you and Senator We've got a lot to talk
about tonight, including some big news that Donald Trump has
announced a twenty five percent tariff on imported cars. We're
gonna deal with that, but also some other things as well.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Well.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
We're gonna talk about tariff's number one, we're gonna talk
about terrorists, number two, Prohamas radicals being deported, having the
student visas revoked, and we're gonna talk number three about
massive foreign money flooding into our universities. All of that
we're gonna break down on today's podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. So let's
start with the tariffs. And Donald Trump has come out
he has announced his twenty five percent tariff on import cars,
and the President announcing it said he believes this is
the beginning of liberation Day in America. Here's the President
in his own words.
Speaker 4 (00:52):
So this is the beginning of liberation Day in America.
We're going to take back just some of the money
that has been taken from us by people sitting behind
this desk or another desk that's not quite as nice,
but they have their choice of seven, as you know,
(01:12):
and we're going to charge countries for doing business in
our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking
a lot of things that they've been taken over the years.
They've taken so much out of our country. Friend and foe,
and frankly, Friend has been oftentimes much worse than foe.
And this is very modest. What we're going to be
(01:35):
doing is a twenty five percent tariff on all cars
that are not made in the United States. If they're
made in the United States, is absolutely not terror. We
start off with a two and a hared percent base,
which is what we were at, and we go to
twenty five percent. And basically, as you know, and as
you've been seeing not reporting as accurately as it should
be reported, because it's a massive story, business is coming
(01:58):
back to the United States so that they don't have
to pay tariffs. And I think also because of November fifth,
the election, they're very happy.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Now that's the President talking in the Oval office about this, Senator,
And look, tariffs can be very complicated. This is something
that a lot of people are going to hear and say, good,
we're leveling the playing field. But they can also be
very complicated, and there's a lot that we're dealing with
now in this country with tariffs. So I want you
to break it down for people, say, understand, some of
(02:26):
these tariffs have been a straight up just strategy from
the President to get leverage and to lect countries or
they can't keep treating us the way that they are.
We've seen that with Canada, We've seen that with Mexico.
These are a little bit more complicated and complex.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Well, listen, President Trump uses tariffs for multiple purposes. One purpose,
he uses them for his leverage to incentivize foreign countries
to do things that are in America's interest. The easiest
example of this is the threatened tariffs against Mexico and Canada,
where the President has threatened twenty five percent tariffs against
(03:00):
Mexico and Canada unless and until they actively and aggressively
help us secure our borders. Now, I got to tell
you ben On that I emphatically support President Trump. There
is no greater mandate that came out of the November election.
Then we must secure our borders. And I got to say,
in the first Trump administration, the President used the threat
(03:24):
of tariffs against Mexico, a twenty five percent tariff. He
threatened to get Mexico to make enormous concessions on border security.
Mexico ended up caving and the government of Mexico Amlo,
who is the President of Mexico, assigned six thousand Mexican
soldiers to their southern border. The Mexican southern border is
(03:44):
much smaller than our southern border because it obviously it
constricts into an isthmus. And they put six thousand soldiers
on their southern border, and they adopted the remain in
Mexico policy. So the remain in Mexico policy was amazingly,
tremendously successful. It produced the lowest rate of illegal immigration
(04:05):
in forty five years.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
So when it comes to using.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
The thread of tariffs or tariffs as a avenue of leverage,
especially for something like securing the border, I am emphatically
in sport of it. By the way, we did an
earlier podcast where when the nation of Colombia earlier in
the Trump administration refused to accept illegal immigrants coming back,
Trump immediately threatened tariffs against them, and Colombia cratered within
(04:33):
hours that they just surrendered and said, okay, we'll take
them back. So I'm all for tariffs's leverage to get
positive foreign policy concessions from other countries.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Well, let's talk about the twenty five percent on the
cars and how this kind of got started from a
political standpoint, explained to the American people why this is
a strategy that could work. But also it is very complicated.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
So, Ben, there's a second component of President Trump's tariff approach,
which is he genuinely loves tariffs. We've all heard him
rhapsodize at length where he said tariff is the most
beautiful word in the English language. And I got to say,
of every view President Trump has ever had, this is
(05:22):
the most consistent policy view of his entire life. If
you go back to the nineteen eighties when Ronald Reagan
was president, Donald J. Trump was calling for we need
more tariffs on foreign goods.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
He believes this.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I have sat with Donald Trump over and over and
over again, and he goes on at great length about
how tariffs are wonderful, how they're going to raise hundreds
of billions of dollars. He goes on about how when
William McKinley was president, the economy was great. As you're
just played. He goes on saying it's the golden age
of America. Before we had an income tax, we got
(05:58):
our revenue from tariff's. Now, I will say on that front,
I've urged the President two things. Number One, I've urged
President Trump focus on China. I believe China is the
single greatest geopolitical threat to the United States for the
next one hundred years.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
So tariffs are.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
A great tool, a powerful tool, and everything we can
do to delink our economy from China is a good thing.
Everything we can do to on shore to bring manufacturing
back from China to the United States is a good thing.
Everything we can do to nearshore to bring manufacturing back
from China to countries near America, that is a good thing.
(06:39):
So that's number one on what I've urged. The second
thing I've urged the President to do is focus on reciprocity. Now, Ben,
why am I focused on reciprocity. Listen, I believe in
free trade, and well, by.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
The way, for people that are new, maybe they don't
know what is your definition of free trade, so that
they understand that, because there's people that have bastardized free
trade over the last twenty years to mean a lot
of different things.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
So look, as an economic matter, I believe America prospers
and does well when we can export our crops, our livestock,
our goods, our services into other nations. I think we
are the greatest producing nation. We are the greatest economic
power on the face of the planet. And when we
can open up foreign markets to American exports, we do fantastic.
(07:31):
American farmers and ranchers do great when foreign markets are
opened up, and their enormous benefits. Now, what I've verged
the President to do is focus on the principle of reciprocity.
What do I mean by reciprocity. I mean by reciprocity
that we should adopt tariffs that mirror the tariffs other
(07:52):
countries apply to us. Why is it that I'm advocating
for reciprocity because since I believe in free trade, I
think it is better economically for America to embrace free trade.
Reciprocity puts a downward ratchet on our tariffs because if
the Trump administration imposes tariffs against foreign nations, there is
(08:14):
an easy avenue for those foreign nations to lower the tariffs.
And the way they can do so is lower their
own tariffs against American goods. So I can tell you
in the last two weeks, the CEO of a major
European car company was meeting with me and they're very dismayed.
They're very concerned about tariffs being imposed against them. And
(08:37):
I can tell you that this European CEO is advocating
Europe we will zero out our tariffs on American cars.
Right now, Europe has significant tariffs on American cars. The
CEO is advocating we'll drop those to zero if America
doesn't hammer us with tariffs on importing cars to the
(08:57):
United States. That's a great outcome. I want to see
foreign countries lower their tariffs on American goods, so that's
a great outcome. I will say, Ben, it is clear
the President likes tariffs. He describes when you sit down
I spend a lot of time with the President. When
you sit down with him in person, he will go
on sometime for hours at length about how tariffs will
(09:22):
generate hundreds of billions of dollars, how they're terrific for
the American economy. I don't want to see a situation
where it is a major feature of the long term
economic picture of America that we have big tariffs in place.
And here's why who pays tariffs. The American consumer pays tariffs.
If there are major tariffs on imported goods, it means
(09:42):
if you go and buy them, you pay a much
much higher price. And so I would rather see a scenario.
I prefer lower taxes to higher taxes. I would rather
see a scenario where we are not imposing big tariffs,
but at the same time foreign countries are lower their
tariffs so we can export more. So I am emphatically
(10:04):
on board with Donald Trump using tariffs' as leverage. I
have concerns and I think it would be harmful to
Texas in the country if tariffs become a persistent feature
of our economic policy nationally.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
So this is one of those where it's also if
you're a business person, you and your manufacturer, you want
there to be some stability in the market. What am
I dealing with?
Speaker 2 (10:28):
What does the future look like for me?
Speaker 1 (10:30):
And so if you're planning, I think, if I'm reading
this correctly, you're saying this is probably going to be
a part of his policy for quite some time. This
isn't going to be a blip on the screen the
way that you described it. And that may be why
so many are so concerned.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Right, So, the single most frequent question I get from
business leaders in Texas and from bus leaders nationally. And
I meet with business leaders literally every single day. That's
a big part of the job of being in the
Senate is you meet with leaders from your state across
the country. The most frequent question I get is what's
going to happen on tariffs? What's going to happen on trade?
And I genuinely don't know. But look, all right, Ben,
(11:09):
you're a fancy schmancy radio host, your you know, big
national guy lots. So you drive a Porsche pan America.
Really cool ass car. Like, by the way, your steering
wheel is like really antique wood, which is cool looking.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It's the best part of the car. And I'm not
gonna lie, it's like it is nice.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Now, the last I checked, Porsche's made in Germany. Yes,
today the President announced a twenty five percent tariff on
foreign made cars. That means if you bought that car tomorrow, you,
Ben Ferguson, would pay twenty five percent more for the
same car you have right now.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
That's meaningful, Yeah, it's meaningful. And what it makes in
the reality is for many people they'd say, all right, well,
I'm not going to spend the twenty five percent premium
on that car.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And listen, I will say, there's there's an economic matter
when it comes to imposing tariffs to block imports. A
lot of nations do that, and there's an economic school
of thought called public choice theory, which examines how political
decisions are made based on economics. And one of the
consequences of tariffs is you have concentrated benefits. So there
(12:21):
are industries and jobs that benefit and do great, and
they're very enthusiastic, and then you have diffuse harms. So
frequently with tariffs, if you put tariffs and you protect
jobs at home, if you look as a matter of economics,
the benefits are in the aggregate much smaller than the harms,
but the benefits are concentrated. So the people who are
(12:43):
getting it are really energized, they care a lot about it,
whereas the people that are being harmed it is more abstract,
They're less energized, they're less focused on it. I believe
America has benefited enormously from exporting our goods and services.
If you talk to any farmer and Rancher, the benefits
of exporting to foreign markets are massive. If you talk
(13:04):
to American manufacturers, the benefits of exporting to foreign markets
are massive. And so I don't want to see a
scenario where every country is putting massive tariffs on imports
from other countries, because it will hurt American exports significantly
and it will raise prices for American consumers. That being said,
(13:25):
if the President employs these tariffs in the way I'm suggesting,
which is focused on reciprocity, then they can be a
powerful tool for lowering the tariffs other countries impose and
expanding trade, expanding what we sell abroad, expanding American business,
expanding jobs, and lowering prices for American consumers. I think
(13:48):
that is a much better outcome.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
I want to move on to the corruption of academia,
and we are now saying that three hundred Prohamas protests
got visas protesters, they got visas revoked, and this was
certainly a big deal. Marco Rubio talking about it, making
it a clear that, hey, we promised you that if
(14:11):
you're here on a visa and it's a privilege to
be here, and you are cheering on the terraces and
you're hurting your campus or this country. You're anti American.
We don't have to put up with it. I love
this your.
Speaker 3 (14:25):
Reaction, Amen, hell olujah. And look, this is something we've
talked about on Verdict quite a bit. The First Amendment
protects American citizen. So if you're an American citizen, you
have a constitutional right to espouse the most hateful, horrible,
terrible ideas. American citizen has a First Amendment right to
advocate for being a Nazi, to advocate for being a clansman.
(14:46):
By the way, if you do advocate for being a
Nazi or clansman, the rest of us have a moral
obligation to say, you're a reprehensible bigot and what you're
saying is evil, but you have a right to say it.
But the First Amendment does not apply to foreigners. It
applies to Americans. And when it comes to student visas,
foreigners that are getting student visas, they're asking for permission
(15:07):
from the federal government to come study in America. They
don't have a First Amendment right. And we have no obligation,
no legal obligation, no moral obligation, no obligation under anything.
I can imagine to let people in who hate America,
who are undermining America, who are attacking Jewish students or
other students at campus, who are spreading poison. And so
the story broke this week that three hundred student visas
(15:30):
have been revoked by the way, under Joe Biden, when
we had viciously anti Semitic, anti Israel, anti American protests
on college campuses, to the best of my knowledge, zero
student visas were revoked. And in fact, the Democrats they
support the Prohamas protesters. Well, Trump being elected, and this
is something I predicted before the election. This is something
(15:52):
I said right after the election. You are going to
see the radical anti American zealots. You're going to see
them arrested and deported. Well, well that is happening. Three
hundred student visas have been revoked. And here's what Secretary
of State Mark or Rubio said. Quote, if you apply
for a visa to enter the United States and be
a student, and you tell us that the reason why
you're coming to the United States is not just because
(16:15):
you want to write op eds, but because you want
to participate in movements that are involved in doing things
like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
We're not going to give you a visa.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
If you lie to us and get a visa and
then enter the United States and with that visa participate
in that sort of activity, We're going to take away
your visa. And Secretary Rubio continued, you're no longer legally
in the United States, and we have a right, like
every country in the world has a right to remove
you from our country. Amen, hallelujah. And you gotta ask
(16:53):
yourself why didn't this happen even once under Joe Biden.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Well, you also look at what we found out about
some of the people that are getting arrested. A great
example of that is this Tofts University graduate student from
Turkey was arrested by Ice agents on the street in Massachusetts.
The liberals are losing their minds, like this is so unfair.
Should have not been arrested? How dare you target this student?
(17:17):
But according to the Department of Home in Security, the
woman was arrested for quote glorifying and supporting terrorists and
for showing support for a terrorist organization Hamas, the Palestinian
political party and militant group so they're like, you can
be set all you want to. We're not putting up
(17:39):
with this and it shouldn't be happening in America.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
Look, if you are a foreigner and you're saying I
love Hamas, if you're a foreigner and you're saying I
hate America, if you're a foreigner and saying I support
the enemies of America, we have no obligation to admit
you to our country. We have no obligation to let
you stay here, and no legal obligation, no more obligation.
And what is bizarre as the Trump administration is saying,
(18:04):
all right, these radicals that hate America, that are attacking
and threatening violence against Jewish students, that are demonizing Israel,
that are demonizing America, that are praising Amas. And by
the way, look, let's be clear, Hamas are vicious terrorists
that want to murder you. Are you if you're an American?
And I think most of the people listening to this
podcast are Americans. Understand Hamas wants to murder. You understand
(18:26):
Hamas on October seventh, carried out the mass murder of
twelve hundred civilians. They raped women and little girls, and
these radicals are praising child rapists. You know what, if
you're praising child rapists, if you're supporting child rapists, get
the hell out of our country.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Now.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Look, if you're a US citizen, we can't throw you out,
But if you're not, if you're a foreigner, we have
no reason to let you in here. And this is
exactly right, and Benen is amazing. Democrats given a choice,
do you support protecting Americans, protecting Israel, protecting Jewish students
at schools, or do you support the radical anti Israel,
(19:02):
anti American pro Hamas zell It, they are choosing the
violent anti American protesters. They are standing up and saying,
deport nobody. We don't care if you are a radical
pro Hamas supporter, we want you in America. I got
to say, I don't know any rational or normal American
that wants pro Hamas supporters in America.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Let's give a perfect example of this. University of Alabama
a doctoral student that was arrested. An Iranian student who
was studying at the University of Alabama was arrested by
Ice agents.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
The University of Alabama recently learned that a doctoral student
had been detained off campus by federal immigration authorities, the
school said, and statement, federal privacy laws limit what we
can share about an individual student. International students are quote
valued members of the campus community of the university. Added
The student newspaper said that called the crimson White identified
(19:56):
the man arrested who was in the United States on
a student visa, saying quote, it's unclear what charges he's facing,
why he was attained, or if he has a lawyer.
But here's what they did report, and this part really
made me laugh. In the statement that came out from
the University of Alabama College Democrats, the group said they
(20:17):
were aware of the man's arrests and saying, quote, our
fears have come to pass President Donald Trump. The borders
are Tom Homan and ICE have struck a cold, vicious
dagger through the heart of the University of Alabama's international community.
As far as we know right now, ICE has yet
to provide any justification for their actions, so we are
(20:37):
not sure if this persecution is politically motivated, as has
been seen in other universities across the country. It goes
back to your point that you just made. The Democrats
on even at the University of Alabama are like this
is persecution. You know, facts be damned, supporting terrorist activities
be damned. Advocating for hamas be damned.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Well clear, understand the principle.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
When you were quoting that newspaper story, you said, the
Alabama Democrats were saying, we don't know what crime this
person has been charged with. You don't have to be
charged with a crime. Let me be clear, like, okay,
if you're charged with a crime, that ought to be easy.
Although I say it ought to be easy if you're
charged with a crime. My Democratic colleagues, when we argue
(21:22):
to port people who've committed crimes, support people who committed
violent crimes, to port people who are murderers, to port
people who are rapists, to poort people who are child molesters.
My Democratic colleagues party line vote no. So even if
you're guilty of a crime, they don't want to deport you,
but set it aside for a student visa. If you're
(21:42):
not a US citizen, you don't have to be guilty
of a crime. If you come to America as a
foreigner and we've given you a permissive visa, we said, okay,
we want you to come, and you come here and
you grab a bullhorn and say I hate America and
I want the enemies of America to defeat America. You
know what, my answer is, get the hell out. We
don't have a reason to let you in. I don't
have a protection. If you are an enemy of America,
(22:03):
you're entitled to be that.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
They're seven to eight billion people on planet on Earth.
There are some people that are enemies of America. But
why do we have to let enemies of America in?
If you say I hate America. It's like the old
Saturday Night Live skit of the flight attendant as people
are leaving the plane going bubbye, Bubby, you hate America, Bubby,
(22:26):
get out hate America somewhere else. But we're not letting
you in here because we don't need people who hate
American are trying to undermine our nation in this country.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Which brings me to story number three. And this is
one where we have I think led on exposing the
amount of foreign money that's been pouring into universities. We
also exposed it with a Biden crime family and the
amount of foreign dours coming in to the Biden Institute,
for example, and other universities. And we've witnessed the amount
of money coming in to a point where you say,
(22:59):
this doesn't make sense economically. This is my opinion. I
think now you're looking at a bigger issue, which is
what are they actually getting in return for the staggering
amounts of foreign money that's pouring these universities. Is this
co covert opts by foreign nations? Is this trying to
control the next generation of American minds? Is this about spying?
Speaker 2 (23:21):
What is it?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
But when you look at this new report from a
nonprofit and a non person government watchdog group, they're sounding
the alarm saying this amount of money coming in is
not just from do gooders. This money's coming in, It's
coming in for something big center. What is that?
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Yeah, look, this is not covert, It is overt. It
is open, is out and brazen. So the history in
Fox News entitled quote new reports sounds alarm on staggering
amount of foreign money pouring into US universities. The report
says that seven hundred and ninety five million dollars has
gone from foreign adversaries to American universe. And here's what
(24:01):
the article says. I'm going to quote a little bit
of it. Quote a new report from a nonprofit and
nonpartisan government watchdog is shedding light on the tens of
billions of dollars tens of billions that have poured into
US universities in recent years, including twenty billion dollars to
some of the most prestigious universities in the country. The report,
(24:23):
produced by Americans for Public Trust and released this week,
found that sixty billion dollars again, sixty billion dollars in
foreign gifts and contracts were funneled into American colleges and universities,
including twenty billion dollars alone to elite schools like Harvard, Yale,
and others. Within that total, seven hundred and ninety five
(24:46):
million dollars came from nations that are long standing adversaries
to the United States, including China, Russia, Venezuela, and Yemen.
This is shocking. It is fundamental corruption. I can tell
you I've introduced legislation to require to minimum that universities
report every dollar of foreign money they received so that
we have scrutiny. And I'll tell you, Ben, one of
(25:08):
the very first pieces of legislation ever passed, when I
was a brand new baby senator thirteen years ago, was
dealing with this issue of foreign money flooding into universities,
and China had been funding these things called Confucius institutes.
Confused institutes were institutes on American college campuses that taught Mandarin,
(25:29):
that taught the Chinese language, and they were used number
one as hubs of espionage where China would send spies
to engage in espionage in the United States, and number
two as tools of propaganda, where they would push propaganda
that was favorable to the Chinese Communist government. And when
I was a brand new baby senator, I introduced legislation
(25:53):
that banned any money from the Federal Department of Defense
going to university that had a Confuseducious institute. And at
the time they introduced it, we had a Democrat Senate.
When I got elected, Harry Reid as the majority leader
of the Democrats were in the majority. I was on
the Senate Armed Services Committee. I introduced this amendment, and
Ben I'll tell you, I got bipartisan support. I got
(26:13):
Democrats to support me and Republicans. We passed it into law,
and the legislation I passed resulted in more than twenty
Confucius institutes across the country being shut down this was
a problem back in twenty thirteen, I got to say,
in twenty twenty five, it's much much worse.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
So what is the government's response now? What should the
government response be moving forward? And is it time to
actually look at these universities and ask questions or have
regulations about money coming in from foreign countries, especially those
that are adversaries of the United States of America. I
(26:52):
don't like government overreach, I want to make that clear.
But the wild wild West that we're we're looking at
right now from this report and sixty billion and foreign
gifts and contracts are funneled to American colleges and universities
like that, they're getting something in return, twenty billion alone
to Harvard, Yale and other elite schools. They're getting something
(27:14):
in return. And if they're buying the minds of American
students or influence, or even what worries me the most
is stealing intellectual property or spying on America and future leaders,
this scares the hell out of mean. So what should
the government's response be?
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yes, yes, yes, all of the above. So they're doing
this to buy influence, They're doing this to push propaganda,
They're doing this to engage at espionage. They're doing this
to steal intellectual property, and so many of our universities,
especially our elite universities, have eagerly jumped in bed with them. Look,
(27:53):
you and I discussed early on in the wake of
October seventh, when the anti Semitic protests were breaking out,
if you look at the universities with the highest percentage
of foreign students, it almost perfectly maps to the universities
with the most the most virulent, the most nasty antisemitic protests.
Universities like colombiaan NYU are at the very top of
(28:15):
the list. And when you let in a bunch of
foreign students. Now, look, universities like foreign students because they
pay full tuition, they pay full freight. They're cash cows.
But why are American universities in the business of educating foreigners,
especially foreigners who hate American or undermining America. I don't
see a reason for that. But not only that, but
(28:37):
they're pushing this to drive a political agenda. And so
what should we do? Number One, we need transparency.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
As I mentioned, I've introduced legislation to require transparency if
a university is getting money from a foreign country. We
need to know about it, how much from which country?
And I'll tell you the legislation I'm introducing puts putative
tax penalties if you get money from a country that
is an enemy of America. In my view of the
federal government ought to put penalties in place where you
(29:06):
end up being taxed more than you get. We don't
need the enemies of America funding our universities and actively
undermining our education. We need leaders who are willing to
stand up for America first. And I think that's incredibly important.
Speaker 1 (29:20):
If you look at the money that came in a
perfect example of this is within that total I gave
you the twenty billion alone going to those elite schools,
seven hundred and ninety five million came from nations that
are long standing advisaris in the US, including China, Rush
of Venezuela, and Yemen. Is it also time to look
at certain countries and say you can't have donations coming
(29:41):
in from there.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Yes, and we ought to penalize the hell out of it.
If it RAN is funding your university, you're doing something
fundamentally wrong.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Great point. Don't forget.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
We do the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday hit that
subscriber auto download button and on those in between days,
grab my show, the Ben Ferguson Podcast. I'll keep you
up to date on breaking news as well, and we'll
see you back here on Saturday for the week in
review
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Ben Ferguson
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