Senator Ted Cruz argues Mitch McConnell's bipartisan border deal backfired, enabling Chuck Schumer to frame Republicans as obstructionists while codifying catch-and-release and work permits for an estimated 1.8 million annual illegal immigrants. Cruz blames President Biden for halting wall construction and reinstating dangerous policies, noting the legislation funnels taxpayer funds to sanctuary cities. Beyond immigration, Cruz testifies on social media's failure to stop child exploitation, challenges Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram's safety screens, and discusses fentanyl dangers targeting teenagers before engaging in banter with host Dave Rubin about Cory Booker and school choice. Ultimately, the episode highlights how failed legislative strategies have entrenched open border policies and normalized mass migration. [Automatically generated summary]
I think the plan was cut a deal with Schumer, get all the Senate Republicans on board, and then use that to just attack and browbeat House Republicans.
I mean, the crazy thing is it was Senate Republican leadership teaming up with Chuck Schumer to wage political
You know, Trent Seuss here is one of the young guys he always plays.
You know, look, the young guys, they're in better shape than we are.
They can jump higher, they can run faster, they have more endurance.
And a lot of them, like I said, were serious ballplayers, played college, often football or soccer, occasionally hoops, but generally some other sport.
And they're shocked.
They're like, wait, how are these old farts beating us?
And the reason is simple.
As you know, the young guys, they play like horny puppy dogs.
It was a bad bill because Chuck Schumer wants open war.
So he refused to agree to anything that actually fixes the problem.
Look, I think it is tragic.
That we don't have a bill that we're going to pass that actually would secure the border because it is a catastrophe of unprecedented levels what's happening at the border.
I mean, this happens with everything, but that they jam in all of this other nonsense that has nothing to do with our border, literally more money for Gaza, obviously Ukraine, a whole bunch of other stuff.
I mean, it has nothing to do with what we're talking about here.
Well, listen, Ukraine was the real leverage because Schumer desperately wants Ukraine funds.
And so what Republicans did several months ago is we said, OK, we're not going to back more funding for Ukraine unless we do real border security.
We're not going to secure Ukraine's border until we secure our own.
And we held every Republican.
All 49 Republicans were unified in that.
The problem is, and this is a problem with Republican Senate leadership, is Mitch McConnell went into that negotiation and wasn't insisting on real border security.
You essentially had a structural problem.
Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer started off with two unshakable demands.
Schumer's unshakable demand is he would not secure the border.
He wants open borders because those illegals are future Democrat voters and so he's not going to secure the border.
Mitch came in saying we must get a deal because he wants Ukraine fund.
And so Schumer is not going to secure the border and McConnell is saying we must get a deal.
What do you end up with?
You end up with a deal that doesn't secure the border.
That's where we ended up.
I think what we should have said is we'll take a deal, but the deal must secure the border.
So either Schumer, you give in or you don't get your fund.
I think the plan was cut a deal with Schumer, get all the Senate Republicans on board, and then use that to just attack and browbeat House Republicans.
I mean, the crazy thing is it was Senate Republican leadership teaming up with Chuck Schumer to wage political war on House Republicans, which we do it a lot, and it's part of why this place is so messed up.
I don't want to prematurely... Alright, well let's shift for a minute because you had a really viral moment about a week ago at a hearing with Mark Zuckerberg, which I'm always fascinated by these hearings because you guys drag out billionaires to smack them over the head with a newspaper basically.
It's kind of funny.
We all kind of enjoy seeing them kind of get their comeuppance.
But you were actually dealing with a fairly serious issue with him related to what Facebook, and in this case Instagram specifically, do when it comes to child exploitation and everything else.
How much of when you're up there are you realizing, oh this is theatrics because not much will change after, right?
You know that the policies usually don't change but that you might be able to sort of shift something culturally, something like that.
Yeah, listen, you have an opportunity in those hearings to do real cross-examination, and cross-examination can elucidate facts.
It can also make a point, and it can make a point very effectively.
And in terms of change, listen, cross-examination can change how an issue plays.
I mean, we've had You know, look, we had a hearing a couple of years ago in the Commerce Committee where Boeing, the 737 MAX, with two fatal crashes, killed 346 people.
We had a hearing where the Boeing CEO came in imperious and arrogant.
I tell you, I lit into that CEO.
He resigned within weeks of that hearing.
It cost him his job because he did that badly.
And his entire attitude towards the crisis, they were not owning the very serious mistakes they'd made that had caused 346 people to lose their lives.
So a hearing can have A powerful impact with Big Ted.
Listen, Zuckerberg and Big Tech's behavior, I think, is horrendous.
And often Zuckerberg gets lucky because he has an even worse S.O.B.
now.
When Jack Dorsey was running Twitter, you know, Dorsey looked like a troll under a bridge and brazenly leftists.
And Zuckerberg would be great because everyone would attack Dorsey and Zuckerberg would be spared.
You know, now Zuckerberg wants everyone to attack TikTok.
And look, TikTok, there's a lot to be unhappy with about TikTok.
But this hearing, look, this was a hearing on, in particular, child exploitation on social media.
And the behavior of big tech has been terrible.
And listen, as a parent, I mean, I've got two teenage girls.
I don't know a parent who isn't terrified About the portal to evil we put in the hands of our kids and these phones and the garbage that gets directed at them.
And there were dozens, if not a hundred plus parents in the hearing room who had lost their kids to cyberbullying and sexual exploitation and suicide.
Because the big tech platforms promote incredibly harmful content.
So what I cross-examined Zuckerberg about is Instagram.
When people search for child porn, when they wanted to see images, graphic sexual images of kids being horribly abused, Instagram will put up a warning screen.
I want to end this with some silly stuff that my guys gave us, but let me ask you one other thing on that on the personal side, because you mentioned you have two teenage daughters.
It's a very hard thing because for kids, their phones are their connection to their social network.
I mean, they are, every one of their friends is on it.
It's how all of the social interaction goes.
So look, I wish I could destroy every phone in the world, but you don't want to isolate your kid.
You don't want to destroy your kid's friendships.
And so it's just, look, Heidi and I try to do the best we can to monitor it, to prevent bad stuff, but it is.
The stats are frightening, the number of kids who've been exposed to explicit, to adults propositioning them online, to people targeting them for abuse.
And frankly, when you and I were kids, we didn't deal with that.
I know that you know that the one that hurt me the most was the 92 finals because my man Clyde the Glide lost, which I'm going to give you the easiest question possible.
So Kimmel is probably funnier, but he's killed, you know, it's actually one of the big, big differences.
So, as you know, my latest book is called Unwoke, How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America.
And I talk about it and I talk about all the different institutions that have been captured by the radical left.
And in the chapter that I talk about entertainment, I point out that when I first got to the Senate 12 years ago, it was a regular part of politics going on late night shows.
So, I mean, so I've done Kimmel, I've done Colbert, I've done Jane Leno.
That used to be part of it.
None of them have Republicans on them because they've gotten so weaponized.
And the problem is they're just not funny anymore.
I mean, Kim will routinely will just stand up.
They all stand up and basically scream, I hate Donald Trump.
No, you are less biased than he is, but it is unusual because Marr is a genuine liberal that will actually have people for both sides of the aisle out and have a conversation with him.
So Cory Booker, I met him when he was mayor of Newark.
And he was really courageous at the time on school choice.
He was one of the few Democrats in the country who actually was vocal for school choice.
And I've been active in the school choice movement for 30 years.
And so when we met, it was long before either of us were in the Senate.
And I was like, all right, this guy's got guts because he's taking on, I think, the most important civil rights issue of this century.
Well, what's happened since he's gotten to the Senate is he's a baddest choice.
And I've tried to convince him.
I said, Cory, I want the old Cory Booker back.
I want the one that saw this was right.
And listen, I think it's just in today's Democrat Party, the teachers unions control the checkbooks, but it is It was glorious when he was willing to be vocal at School Choice, but that was a long time ago.