All Episodes
Feb. 5, 2021 - Sean Hannity Show
01:38:29
Filling The Swamp

Peter Schweizer, author of Secret Empires whose research is currently being featured in the film, Riding the Dragon exposing the Biden family ties to China, and Eric Eggers, Research Director of the Government Accountability Institute , Author of Fraud: How the Left Plans to Steal the Next Election—of note, published August 2018, and Producer of The Creepy Line—a documentary that exposes the power of big tech has over public opinion (2018) has a new report out with the Government Accountability Institute on deep pocket democrat cronyism. The Sean Hannity Show is on weekdays from 3 pm to 6 pm ET on iHeartRadio and Hannity.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
This is an iHeart Podcast.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
I'm Carol Markovich.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week we do our podcast, Verdic with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So Down, verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, glad you're with us.
Ah, Super Bowl Sunday coming up.
We're gonna have a little fun with Stump Linda, the producer of the program coming up later in the program.
Um, let me just say this.
I've I'm watching I've not been really into the football season as I've been in some years past.
And and I go through ebbs and flows of my life with my interest in sports and football and and and I've been getting back into it in recent years.
I can't stand politics and sport.
I mean, sports, USA Today.
Tom Brady's gotten a pass for being a Donald Trump supporter.
Here we are again.
Are you have you ever been a supporter of Donald Trump?
Can we just keep politics out of the Super Bowl?
This is one day, one day, America pandemic for a full year.
Uh we have we have unrest around the country.
We had a tough election we've all been through.
Now, can we just have four hours of pure blissful distraction, entertainment, and fun for the Super Bowl?
And my advice to all of you in this audience is just go lay back, hang out.
Of course, social distancing, wear your mask, protect grandma, grandpa, those with uh comorbidities, pre-existing conditions, uh, compromised immune systems.
And I mean that.
I'm not just saying that.
Now Fauci, two weeks ago, wear two masks, not one two.
Oh, okay.
What are we gonna find out another year from now?
Wear four masks.
I mean, it it irritates the hell out of me how wrong people have been.
I love these, I love these prestigious medical journals now that have actually retracted their their pieces uh on how bad hydroxychloroquine is, considering all the studies that have since come out, starting with the Henry Ford Center uh study and a bunch of other ones now.
Yeah, used early.
It has a great effectiveness in in helping people lessen the symptoms of the virus.
Oh.
Anyone in the media ever report that?
No.
Because we politicized it.
What did Dr. Osway say?
When you intersect politics and medicine, politics always wins.
And it was sad.
We always said fight with the army you have, not the one you wish you had.
Now we've got the army that we wish we had, and that's the vaccine.
And when my number comes up, I will um I've already kind of decided along with my doctor that I would get the vaccine.
I'm not looking forward to it.
And I've heard some people that have a reaction to it.
And and you know, it's look, you gotta this is a personal decision that you've got to make with your doctor.
Then the CDC guidelines are Fauci saying don't have don't have friends and family over.
Then the CDC is saying, well, instead of shlapping and and and shouting and and having fun like normal people, which is what the whole thing exercise is about.
People want to be normal again.
People want to be able to gather without this fear hovering over their head and operation warp speed is we're now getting there.
If these idiot governors can learn how to dispense the vaccine properly, and half of them don't have a clue what to do.
It's it's pathetic.
It's not that difficult.
Get the vaccine.
Make sure you work with every hospital.
Identify every every frontline healthcare worker.
Put them at the top of the list.
Put also at the top of the list people that are older, their pre-existing conditions, comorbidities, and compromised immune systems.
Then you go by age, considering those that are older tend to be more susceptible to difficulties and the possibility the risk of death is higher.
So you give it to them.
Then I'd focus on neighborhoods that are particularly hard hit.
Um and find those neighborhoods and make sure you go in there so you can stop the spread there.
And then, you know, healthy people like me, whenever you get to me, okay.
I'm waiting.
I'll take it when I can get it.
I'm looking forward to it, but I'm gonna do it.
Have my friends think I'm nuts and I'm gonna get it.
I'm like, uh, I'm watching, I'm reading, I'm talking to my doctor.
I'm doing the right things by this.
Been seeing a lot of a doctor lately.
I've I've been at the dentist, I haven't complained about this all week, getting teeth fixed.
And man, when you don't go to the dentist for two years, bad idea.
Just a really dumb bad idea.
And I don't like to get Novcaine.
So I get my teeth drilled and cavities filled, had to get one root canal, and you know, I don't like to take the Nova Cain.
Oh, it's fast acting.
I'm like, no, it's not.
You say it's fast acting, but it's not fast acting.
I mean, and even the the doctor says to me today, he goes, You can't even shut up in the chair.
I said, No, it's not my nature.
I'm like talking like this.
Yeah, who do you like?
You know, because my mouth is wide open with a drill blasting.
He's like, What?
Who you're who are you pulling for sure, bro?
Uh that's a conversation I had with the dentist.
And like the guy's great.
He's been coming in super early just to give me a little extra time to get this thing messed up and it does.
I don't mind pain.
One thing, most of the cavities I've ever had filled in my life.
I don't take Novocaine.
I don't want it.
And you think, oh my gosh, you're you're crazy.
And I'm not, I'm telling you, it's just there's a level or a threshold of pain, uh, and it just doesn't go beyond that.
It hurts.
You can even bring not tears of crying, but like oh, stars, seeing stars kind of tears, and you get this thing, but it doesn't really bother me.
And then you come through it, and then you don't leave and not being able to talk with the member crazy.
I can't talk.
I hate that feeling.
I just hate the feeling of numbness.
Anyway, but I digress.
That's been my week living at the dentist.
My life at the dentist all week.
That's pretty much been it.
So, but it's but we want a break.
You know, insurrection, impeachment, you know, rioting, a pandemic, a tough election, you know, for four hours, and then I'm reading the CDC.
Use use noisemakers so you don't have to clap and shout and have a spontaneous normal human reaction.
I think most of us are pretty much ready to come out of our skin at this point.
You know, if I, you know, all the times I've had to quarantine.
I can't even, I haven't talked about it, but oh yeah, Hannity's at this place, and yeah, you know the person that you sat next to for three hours, even though socially distant, yeah, they just tested positive.
I'm like, oh no, here I go again.
Loneliness in a world of seclusion.
Um, and you know, but of course we want people to get well.
And I would urge you all to be careful, especially with grandma, grandpa, if they're if they maybe they shouldn't come this year.
Maybe they should stay home this year.
Uh one of the reasons we now see the cases are going down is because, well, we knew there was going to be an increase because people want to see their families over Christmas, and there has been an increase.
It was dramatic, and now we're seeing a sharp decline.
And hopefully, with the I I think they're up to like 30 million, 35, 40 million doses that have been of the vaccine now out there.
It's pretty amazing.
And great credit to our scientists, our medical professionals.
But, you know, the idea that we're getting lectured to use noisemakers, it's driving me nuts.
I'm gonna just offer one other humble suggestion if you're interested.
Whatever your favorite Super Bowl food is, just take the diet day off.
I'm not dieting on Sunday.
Now I'll diet all day today and all day tomorrow, and I'll go back to it on Monday.
But on Sunday, I already know the things that I want to eat.
None of them are healthy, none of them are good for me.
Um, including my own version of a Philly cheesesteak, the Hannity's cheesesteak.
It's great.
It's awesome.
And the chicken wings, uh, I may just yank out the turkey fryer from Thanksgiving and fry them up in there, which I've done before, and they taste awesome.
They're awesome.
The Butterball Turkey Fryer from Master Built, it's incredible.
You can get it at Lowe's or Home Depot if you're out shopping.
It's pretty cool.
Probably out shopping.
Linda says she's getting another foot of snow where she lives.
I'm like, man, I don't even know.
I haven't checked with Starty if we're gonna have any snow where I live.
Um, but have fun, enjoy it, protect the people that need to be protected, obviously.
And the other thing, too, is you're gonna have kids home soon again from school.
The kids went back to school, Christmas came and went, the visiting ended.
We had the predictable spike after, and now the predictable decline, and now more vaccines are getting out there.
I wish people in government would get more organized and uh we can get this done.
And then what I love is you've got some of the best athletes.
One of the best quarterback storylines, sort of like last weekend with Drew Brees or sorry, Aaron Rodgers.
It was the week before Drew Brees and Tom Brady, then Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady, and now it's Mahomes and Tom Brady.
I mean, I just I am always fascinated with the with the stories about the quarterbacks, because in every case I just mentioned Brees, Rogers, Brady, Mahomes, you're looking at franchise quarterbacks.
I mean, Tom Brady, a record 10 Super Bowls now.
He's got six Super Bowl rings, fighting for a seventh.
Mahomes has a chance to go back to back and get Super Bowls, which is hard for any team to have.
Uh-oh.
My doctor just texted me.
How are you, son?
That means he's listening to what I'm about to eat this weekend.
Ugh.
That's so frustrating.
He's also um part of my dojo.
He's the only black belt in the it's it's a more I don't even know if I should talk about it on the air, but it's a place that we go to.
Um, and we have our sensei, and he's been doing it, I think 15 years now, and I'm in year eight, but I am a brown belt, and I'm working through the varying degrees.
And I know people are gonna say you zu karate.
No, is it taekwondo?
No, it's not.
It's a very unique eclectic blend of arts, including Krav Maga, Kenpo, Japanese jujitsu, um, boxing, situational street fighting.
Uh, it includes sticks and blades and firearm training and a lot of core building.
That's what it is.
Bottom line.
And so it's it's a pretty tough workout.
I do it four or five days a week.
He only does it two, though.
So maybe I can catch up to him one day.
But he this guy can throw a punch like uh.
And when we we actually do sparring, I mean, I have I've had my bell rung a number of times.
Actually, it's now impacted my hearing, which is already damaged from all the years having these headphones on.
So anyway, back to my thing here.
Enjoy your weekend.
Just look one day, one day, do it safely.
Maybe you can actually cheer if you're socially distant with a mask, but you won't have to use the noisemakers.
Make the food you want, have the cocktail of your choice, whatever you have, maybe it's Budwise or what.
I don't care what you drink, and and have a good time and try and turn the switch off.
I don't have an I'm not good at turning the switch off.
I wish I was better at it, to be honest.
And and I literally, you know, it's sort of like the best way for me to do it is sort of like okay, to focus on a prayer.
And then you realize you can't focus on it because you're too locked into your head.
And then to get out of your head, you you kind of you gotta start again the prayer.
Let's say you're doing the Lord's prayer.
Then you start it again, and you realize, oh, I'm thinking about work again, or I'm thinking about this person, or I'm thinking about that, thinking about money, thinking about I want to get this.
Okay, then you start again.
And to get all the way through the prayer and actually focus on it.
I mean, our minds are like vacuum cleaners, and we get sucked in constantly.
And then all of a sudden, if you get through, you realize, oh, my heart rate's down.
I feel at peace, and I'm not worrying compulsively like we all have a tendency sometimes to do.
Hey there, I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started Normally, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes, inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
You know, one thing that does drive me nuts, and it's amazing, and I think well-intentioned people would say, Hannity, I think I have a connection.
If you want to get the vaccine, and I'm like, I don't want a connection.
I I just would not be right for me to jump the line.
What do why people think like that?
I think they're trying to be nice, but I'm like, no.
Just like when I buy tickets, I buy them on StubHub.
Have a big account with a lot of points in it.
You know, for when I was buying stuff.
Anyway, they're probably all gone now.
So the front page USA Today, cheating, bribes, theft.
Some get shots before their turn.
There was a big story in New York about this trainer to the stars, Madonna, and whoever else, you know, claim that she was an educator.
You know, you're dealing with somebody looks extremely healthy and doesn't really, you know, fit into the category of being one of the first people to get the vaccine.
You know, but this the article starts out bribing doctors, uh, circulating appointment codes, uh, chartering airplanes, impersonating essential workers.
You know, more than a month since the U.S. began administering the COVID uh 19 vaccines, many people who were not supposed to be first in line have received vaccinations.
Now, there's some very clever people that I actually think is smart.
In New York, they actually recommend it.
Because what happens is it's only a limited lifespan for a lot of the vaccines, and if they don't use it that day, they throw it out.
Now that's stupid.
So people actually will wait outside a facility in the hopes that if at the end of that day people didn't show up that were supposed to get it, that they don't waste it.
Now that I actually think is innovative.
That's pretty smart.
But dozens and dozens of these stories.
Now, by the way, the lady apologized.
Uh you know, I don't know what to say.
What do you think?
What are you gonna do?
Throw people in jail that jump the line.
Um, but you know, people, man, you talk about survival of the fittest.
I mean, that's pretty damn cold to me.
If you if you're willing to jump in front of the line with in front of grandma, grandpa, you know, Uncle Joe with his comorbidities, or somebody that has a compromised immune system for because they had cancer and they need it right away.
That's pretty cold.
That is people, man, because people could be so rough.
That's rough.
Um, you know, what are you gonna do?
Find them.
I don't know, who knows?
Sounds like some people just pay money.
All right, quick break.
We'll get to the issues, Super Bowl predictions.
We'll get back to that later in the program.
Uh glad you're with us.
Hey there, I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started Normally, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So Dallas, verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Or 800 941 Sean.
All right, we're going to do this later in the program, but I feel like doing it now.
John in Los Angeles, what's up, John?
How are you?
Sean Patrick Hennedy.
God bless you.
How are you, my friend?
How about my Irish brother?
You know what a night is seven course meal is, don't you?
I do indeed.
Just get rid of the Brussels sprouts and the cabbage and I'll be fine.
Not exactly a six-packet of potato.
It's horrible.
I can only say that because I'm 100% Irish.
Go ahead.
One of the few on Ancestry that ever came back 100%.
Hey, I just wanted to talk about the Super Bowl.
I'm going all the way for the new for the um Kansas City Chiefs.
I'm a big Steeler fan, so it's tough to say this, but the Chiefs may have the best team of all time.
They look great.
I don't my head tells me, and I'm I don't want to give it all the way now.
We'll do more later in the program.
My head tells me you're right.
My heart tells me, man, Brady winning just pisses so many people off.
It makes me laugh.
And I'm predicting hoping for a close game.
But Brady, I mean, this would be number seven.
His tenth trip to the Super Bowl.
That's insane.
But Mahomes, Kelsey, you're looking at some franchise players, and I love the storyline on quarterbacks and tight ends and receivers is huge for me in this game.
It is big time.
You got this big up and comer who may fight for the goat at one time.
And to me, by the way, goat is greatest of all time.
Yeah, go ahead.
Exactly.
He's got some cheating behind him, and I can't quite give him the best of all time, knowing that that exists.
And I'm a big Steeler fan.
And I know that we'd always change our plays and calls for the game when he would come in because we knew what they did.
And so that's always going to take my experience for the Patriots.
You know, I I totally hear you.
The when you remember Deflate Gate.
I mean, good grief.
I just hope we keep politics out of the game.
But it I'll tell you what I love.
I love the lead up to this, because I didn't really pay attention to the regular season this year.
New York Jets had such a wonderful season.
I think they won one game, uh, maybe two, I forget.
And the Giants didn't do well, and they nearly got into the playoffs anyway.
But, you know, when you have franchise quarterback matchups like Drew Brees, who I love, great guy, Brady is Brady, and then Aaron Rodgers, who's amazing.
Um, he's got a rifle of an arm.
Uh, just watching him throw is is amazing.
Um, and Brady, and then you got now Mahomes, who already is a franchise quarterback and can win back-to-back Super Bowls.
That's a big deal, too, right?
Huge.
Huge.
Yeah, I I think that combination of Kelsey Mahomes is powerful.
My head tells me that would edge edge out Tampa, but I'm going with Tampa.
I'll tell a preview of coming attractions.
You're gonna stick with Tom Brady and his luck.
Or whatever it is.
If you win, what do you mean it's luck?
It's not luck when you win six times.
It's not.
Here, let me let me tell you a little something about Tom Brady.
This is how you beat Tom Brady.
This is how I've always looked at him.
You remember Rocky for Dolph Lundgren?
Dolph Lundbridge, he was a machine.
But once Rocky hit him and he bleached, he said, look, he bleeds.
He's just a man.
And I don't know why these teams haven't figured it out yet.
All you have to do is hit Tom a couple times, and he loses his composure.
He gets rid of the ball quicker than he should.
He runs off like a little girl.
But that's every quarterback.
That's Ben Roxelsberger, your buddy.
I'm telling you, it is every quarterback.
You get enough pressure on a quarterback, he doesn't have time to read the defense and get an open player.
He's never gonna have a good game under those circumstances.
You gotta have a great front line.
Never seen a quarterback like Ben take hits and stand in there and take it home, no doubt.
He's tough.
You will watch Tom Brady flinch like a little girl.
Oh man.
You hit him twice and He runs away.
I feel like Stephen A. Smith now.
This is this is not good.
Uh I I listen, I wouldn't uh he's hard to bet against.
I'm telling you, he is a money pressure player.
He's you know, I love the story that came out of um the last playoff game, and one of the players was you know had tears of joy, and he goes, What's that all about?
Stop crying.
And the guy's like, What?
He goes, We didn't win you anything yet.
We have one more game.
And he's I'm like, man, that is somebody, that is somebody completely dedicated to winning.
And I admire that part.
And you know, why is he hated?
He's hated because he wins.
He's let's be honest.
And then people probably hate him.
Well, he's got a supermodel girlfriend.
They probably hate that part too.
And you know, people are very get very jealous, and then look, the bottom line is whatever city you live in, you usually support your your city team, or like you love Pittsburgh.
It's fine.
Um, but it's gonna be uh I I am I'm fascinated because Mahomes so young, the future's so bright, he's so gifted, so talented, and I love the uh to me.
This is the the gladiator sports.
That the octagon, those are my favorite sports.
Love it.
I love people that you know take hits and uh and fight hard, and you know, the average career is what three, three and a half years for a football player.
Brett Farr was on earlier this week with Eric Bowling.
All right, thanks, John.
All right, I'm tempted to stick with this a little.
Daniel, Georgia, what's up, Daniel?
How are you?
Hey, sorry.
I want to out with the old in with the new.
I'm a Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs by 10, Sean.
I love uh I agree with you on everything but that.
Listen, I I it's not a bad prediction.
I mean, Mahomes is man, he's so talented, so talented.
Uh you know what I love about football though, too, besides the it's you take hard hits.
And I like, you know, life is hard.
We all gotta take hits.
Everybody nobody in this whole life ever gets a pass.
Everybody's got their sh whatever it is, and it transcends um socioeconomic everything.
I don't care if you're rich, I don't care if you're poor.
Life is gonna be hard.
You're gonna face challenges in every way.
And you know, at some point, as Rocky said in his to his son, there's nothing's gonna hit harder than life itself.
It'll beat you to the ground if you let it, and it's not about how hard you can get hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward and keep moving forward, and that's what living's about.
And so I like the fact that you you're you're looking at such a tiny fraction of incredibly gifted college athletes that ever make it to the pros.
Their average career span is a little over three years, not very long, and they do it for the love of the game, you know, more of a baseball phase.
That's what they do it for, and they put their heart and soul into it.
Like I watch guys in the octagon, um, and women in the octagon.
Look at Ronda uh Rousey.
And you know, you get that one or Chuck Lidell, you get that one knockout, and it it forever alters your ability to to fight to the level you did because you got hit so hard, you got knocked out.
And it's uh, but they're they're warriors, they're gladiators, they're tough.
Everybody, I don't care what position player, even if you're a kicker, you can get you can get decked in football.
What do you think?
I agree with you.
It's gonna be interesting to watch.
It's gotta be close.
All right, Daniel.
Mike Ohio, what's up, Mike?
How are you?
Thanks for taking me.
I'm fine.
Hey, what's going on?
I just wanted to say Otto Graham is the goat.
Uh man, that like are we talking about Joe Namath days now?
Oh, way before.
No, that's pre-Nameth.
I know.
Otto Graham.
I don't think I don't think 99% of the people listening right now have a clue who you're talking about.
It's like if I name the 69 Mets lineup, World Series lineup, nobody's gonna know who Ed Cramepool is or Butt Harrelson or Tommy A. G or Cleon Jones.
I understand it, but still uh it's still the fact that uh Otto played 10 years, and 10 years he was in the championship game, and actually he played an 11 championship, just to let you know.
He was actually he played uh for I think it was called the Rochester Royals in the NBA at that time, and he was part of the winning team of that.
And he also uh was a uh he played defense for three or four years for the Browns too.
So Cleveland.
Yes, Otto's the goats.
All right.
Well, that's my buddy Jim Gray's book.
His book is phenomenal.
I've I've read it now cover to cover.
Uh greatest of all time.
And he knew he's known like Tiger Woods' relationship.
Ali is relationship.
I mean, all these Tiger Woods' relationship.
I mean, it just it's amazing when you see people at the highest levels, and by the way, it they don't always win.
You know, it's the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
But you know what I love about sports, and thanks for the call, appreciate it.
What I love about sports, and it's really simple.
It r it it mirrors everything about life.
It just does.
The harder you work, the better you're gonna do.
You g you're not always gonna win.
Sometimes you win, and sometimes you're going to lose.
And at some points, you know, you gotta take those those hits.
Learn to be a gracious winner, learn to be a gracious loser.
But I think the the biggest lesson that everybody learns is you can never work hard enough.
There's always something that you can improve upon.
One of the ways that over the years that I've I think I'd like to think, hopefully, believe hopefully is true, that I've tried to be a better host is you know, I'll read people's comments about this show and and like focus groups or perceptual studies, and man, people are brutally, brutally honest.
And you know, if one if five people hate me because of my or a bunch of people hate me because of my views, I can't help that.
I'm not changing my views.
Well, if some people hate some stylistic this or that, okay.
I listened to it, and if a lot of people say it, what I've discovered is they're usually right.
Not usually, almost always right.
John Vermont, you need a team up in Vermont.
We'll call you the the Snowflake Snowball uh franchise.
I don't know.
What's going on?
Well, you do have a your socialist senators up there.
We got a couple of them, and they're uh they're disgusting.
And uh, but anyways, I just wanted to call in to say as a career uh lifelong New England Patriots fan.
I'm going with Tom Brady, he's the greatest quarterback of all time.
And um, I myself, like you, wasn't watching NFL football this year, but when Brady and the Bucs got into the playoffs, I've watched each one of the playoff games.
They've been they've been amazing, haven't they?
Yeah, they have.
I mean, I saw I thought that the lineup against uh Drew Brees and then Rogers.
I said, my God, this is like candidates for the Hall of Fame playing against each other in live television, and it was wonderful.
But um, don't forget, you were saying, you know, or one of these calls was uh saying he's been lucky.
Well, don't forget those catches that the Giants made against their helmets in the Super Bowl.
Uh you remember those?
And you're a Giants fan, so you could easily have seven or eight all right.
You by the way, you're really pissing off my engineer JC Own.
Jason, you want to weigh in?
Go ahead.
Yeah, we won two against Brady, so shut up.
Uh yeah.
Well, six is larger than two.
Oh, ouch.
A lot of shade being thrown on the show today.
Not good.
All right.
Thank you, John in Vermont.
He's from New England.
New England loves Tom Brady.
Eric in Arizona.
What's up, Eric?
Sean, I've been listening to you for as long as I can remember, so I've always loved your shows.
Um I am a major Tom Brady fan.
Uh grew up in New England, now living in Arizona.
For the Pittsburgh fans, first of all, that called uh a while back.
What in the world does Pittsburgh know about beating New England?
New England has owned, and I mean owned Pittsburgh.
Ouch forever.
I love sports rivalries.
Everyone gets nuts.
I'm loving it.
Go ahead.
But it's not but it's not even close.
Pittsburgh, what wouldn't what in the world would they know about beating New England?
Well, if we go back to the you know, mean Joe Green, Terry Bradshaw days, I'm sorry.
Yeah, you know, they were uh a Franco Harris.
You're right.
I mean, they had a formidable team.
Yeah, but here's here's the reason why Brady's the goat.
And I know I heard the guy from Otto Graham and all that stuff.
Brady, and I don't think this is arguable.
This is not for coming from a fan.
Brady has done more with less than any other quarterback in the league.
Who beyond Randy Moss can anyone name that is a premier number one receiver beyond Moss.
Are we gonna say Julian Edelman?
Really?
I mean, Edelman's great, but he's he's a third level talent in most of the games.
No, you're putting him way too far down on the list.
No, I mean, he's a slot receiver.
He's a he's a slot receiver.
He works well in their system.
But it you know, every everybody when they saw Edelman become great, they started imitating him.
That's why you got the.
You know, Sean, uh Katie's got a few points about who would be a good person to talk about here.
I mean Gronkowski.
Come on now.
Gronkowski, but yeah, Bill Belichick has got to be like ready to jump off a bridge today.
He's gotta be out of his mind for letting Brady go.
Because I bet he Brady probably I'm guessing that Brady would have taken less money to stay and finish out his career in New England.
I don't think so because uh Brady was not given the talent.
And that's what a lot of the New England fans, including myself, had been screaming from the top of the uh uh rooftops for the last three, four years was why doesn't Belichick surround him with talent because he's going to leave, and that's exactly what happened.
Well, the salary cap it I think Brady probably would have given on salary cap to help, you know, with a long-term commitment from Robert Kraft.
I don't know, look, I don't know, but it's I think it was it came down to Brady or Belichick, and they should have I would have found a way, but you know what?
Brady's getting the last laugh.
If even if this is his last trip to the Super Bowl, you know, Brady got the last laugh on this.
All right, man, appreciate it.
Thanks, Eric.
I'll tell you what, we'll go back to this in the final hour of the program today.
We'll have more fun.
I enjoyed that.
Just I everybody needs to chill this weekend.
Eat your favorite food, you know, have a great time.
Hey there.
I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started normally a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
I'm Ben Ferguson, and I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Yes, our predictions Super Bowl Sunday coming up uh a little later in the program today.
And uh we're gonna invite back to the program in a few seconds here, our friend Peter Schweitzer and also another friend, Eric Eggers is with us.
And so we have the Hunter Biden book.
Pretty amazing, right?
Yeah.
Um I wonder if he's gonna talk about oligarchs from Russia and Kazakhstan and Chinese nationals and the Bank of China deal and Boris Maholdings deal.
I I tend to doubt it.
Anyway, so after the uh Senate runoff election, which gave this the Democrats, you know, their slim majority, and then installing, yes, even people that support marijuana legalization and the upper chamber, but putting that aside.
Anyway, I literally call my bankers and I said, guys, if uh this is gonna change, let's do an overnight offering.
Now, this is a it's called Cure, I think Cure Leaf is how you pronounce it.
It's America's largest cannabis company, over 16 million shares on the market overnight, and and brought in 300 million dollars in equity and debt sales in under 24 hours.
I mean, this is serious real business.
I don't think it's good for the country.
I don't think it's good for America.
My own humble opinion, uh, separate and apart from medicinal use of marijuana, whatever.
Um, but there's a bigger issue here.
Now, remember Peter writing the best selling book, Secret Empires, and by the way, is now currently being featured in the film Riding the Dragon, exposing the Biden family to ties to China.
Remember, the government accountability institute, their their mission is to investigate and expose crony capitalism, mute misuse of taxpayer money, and other governmental corruption and malfeasance.
And by the way, they go after Republicans and they go after Democrats.
Now, with that said, let's let's play a little bit.
This is from ABC News Chattanooga about the government accountability institute reporting on exposing corruption in this marijuana field.
Now, why does it matter?
Um, I don't really care what some experts say that have a political agenda or politicians see this as a huge way to tax even more and profit even more, like they profit from every single pack of cigarettes ever sold.
Uh, but it gets it gets into the belly of the beast that the societal implications for these decisions are meaningless.
It's all about how much money they can take in to advance their socialist utopia.
Here's that Chattanooga report.
Some talk uh top lawmakers in Washington say it's time to end the federal ban on marijuana, but it's already legal in some form or fashion in the vast majority of the country.
So, how has the tide shifted so quickly?
As St. Clair National Correspondent Christine Frizel reports, it could be a combination of changing public opinion and growing benefits to elected officials.
The 2020 election brought with it sweeping changes, including more states voting to legalize marijuana.
Forty-seven out of 50 states now allow for marijuana or CBD use for medical or recreational purposes, or both.
But it turns out more acceptance has brought more opportunities.
For people that are in the position to decide who gets to sell it and what they get to sell, um, you know, there's a lot of money on the line.
That money has come in the form of campaign contributions and gifts in exchange for coveted licenses to sell or grow, which in some states can go for a whopping 17 million dollars.
And because it's a highly regulated industry, uh, it's a highly lucrative business to pick winners and losers for these public officials.
The government accountability institute's Eric Eggers helped author a brand new report that details the extent of the corruption with multiple pay-to-play bribery schemes.
In California, the FBI charged Lev Parnis and Igor Freuman for conspiring to funnel foreign contributions into political campaigns to influence marijuana licensing decisions.
In Missouri, multiple FBI investigations are underway, looking into close ties between lobbyists and the marijuana industry.
And in Massachusetts, Fall River Mayor Gisel Correa will face a judge this month, facing 24 counts, including bribery and political corruption for extorting hundreds of thousands of dollars from private citizens trying to set up marijuana dispensaries under state law.
Let's not forget, punt is still illegal at the federal level.
But just this week, three top Democrats in the Senate said they'll be introducing legislation in a matter of weeks that would end the federal prohibition of marijuana.
This follows a similar bill passed in the House just two months ago with support from both Democrats and Republicans.
A new federal law could significantly change the game in an exploding industry that it appears may be growing too fast for authorities to keep up.
I'm Christine Frizal reporting.
Pretty interesting.
Peter Schweitzer, author of Secret Empires, and Eric Edgers is with us.
He's a research director.
They're both with the Government Accountability Institute.
He authored the book.
Eric did Fraud, How the Left Plans to Steal the Next Election.
By the way, published that in 2018.
Welcome both of you back to the program.
You know what I noticed, you know, it's kind of laughable, Peter, because you can even look at the lottery as an example.
Now, if you have the you know, these crime families and they're running the numbers, that's illegal.
We can't have that.
That's bad for society.
But what's the lottery?
It's the government quote monop monopoly on on betting.
We see more and more states now as a means of of garnering revenue.
Oh, we're gonna earmark this money for education on top of all the money they're taxing us anyway, and then we find out not all the money goes to education, but usually the general fund.
So between gambling, which is now expanding, now the the weed industry, if you want to call it that, is expanding.
And meanwhile, it's a monopoly, and they'll end up making more money in government and they'll m I I'm sure sweetheart deals will happen behind the scenes, uh and they care not that everyone else that would do it would be considered doing something illegal.
Yeah, you're right, Sean.
I mean, look, uh I I'm one of those people who think legalizing marijuana is not a good thing.
It has a lot of uh terrible consequences for our society.
But I have friends who are libertarians who, you know, believe it should be freely available.
And when you talk to them, their basic attitude is well, you know, people should be able to grow it and and uh to be able to use it.
But what's happening in these states is not that.
What's happening in this these states is it's being legalized, but then the politicians, meaning most times the governors, sometimes other state cabinet officials, they get to pick and choose who is the one that's gonna get the gold mine that's gonna get a limited license in a controlled market, uh, and is gonna be able to actually sell marijuana legally.
And guess what?
By virtue of the fact that they get to pick who gets the licenses, it's not just the state governments who are going to make money, it's actually the politicians themselves.
And what Eric's done in this report, Sean, is shown from Andrew Cuomo's New York to California to the rest of the country, uh, the people who are making the money are the politicians, the politicians' family members, lobbyists connected to the politicians.
They're all getting rich through this legalized scheme.
And so it's not really about personal freedom, it's not about medical marijuana, it's about politicians finding yet another pocket in which they can enrich themselves.
Eric, you you wrote this piece.
You've you've done the deep dive into this.
Why don't you walk us through all the the intricacies of what p Peter just laid out here and how this is about money in their pocket too?
Well, absolutely, and I think uh as much as the article that you referenced at the beginning of the segment, how the marijuana industry is saying, hey, now the Democrats are in charge, we stand to do very well.
The reality is that we've uncovered in this report is that actually Democrats do really well as a result of the marijuana industry itself.
Now, John Boehner is a notable exception.
If at the federal level, they do in fact legalize marijuana.
John Boehner, because of his past several years of service lobbying on behalf of a marijuana company stands to make up to twenty million dollars.
But he's hardly the only prominent politician who stands to cash in or has who has been cashing in.
Uh in your state, Sean of New York, Governor Cuomo, in 2017, you'd have been hard pressed to find somebody who was more against the legalization of recreational cannabis than Andrew Cuomo.
Yet here we are, just two years later, he's done a total one eighty.
That's one of the questions we sort of investigated in this report.
Well, well, what changed?
Um over a million dollars with the campaign donations and lobbying efforts is one of the things that changed for Andrew Cuomo.
Also, he hired his chief of staff, their brother and father work for a lobbying company that represents marijuana companies.
And so I think, you know, one of the big takeaways for us, in addition to the idea that it's just I think an egregious breach of the public trust that public officials have friends and family that are making money off of public policy, the idea that when the coronavirus epidemic hit, and We saw American life as we know it end in March of last year.
I couldn't send my kids to school anymore.
I don't know about you.
I couldn't go to church anymore.
But in 30 of the states that issued a stay at home order of one variety or another, they allowed cannabis dispensaries to stay open.
So I think, you know, when you follow the money, as Peter is so great about always reminding us to do, I think that helps explain why other basic and vital functions of American society ceased, but the pot industry stayed open.
It's a it's an amazing story, and and I go back and I use the I I think it's a legitimate example.
If you look at, for example, the the battle against organized crime over the years, well what were they involved in?
They were involved in drugs, prostitution, gambling, loan sharking, etc., right, Peter?
All right.
So just now we watch with the tobacco industry, okay.
A lot of people, a lot of lawyers got very rich with the lawsuits, and also the govern governments now tax these things to death.
I mean, you could really trace the entire Eric Gardner situation to here's a guy, why are why are police resources being used to to you know and wasted on a guy that's selling Lucy cigarettes.
He's that's all he's selling.
Because the crackdown is about money, and the money is if they're bringing, you know, cartons and cartons of of cigarettes into a state like like New York, they're not getting their cut of the action.
So gambling is bad and illegal.
Running the numbers is bad and illegal, but uh a lottery is okay.
Sports betting is now gonna be okay.
Uh you can't sell drugs unless the government decides they want to sell it and make a lot of money.
No, you're right, Sean.
I mean, that's that's the inherent problem is that that uh too many of our political leaders and and unfortunately it's people on both sides of the aisle um recognize all of this stuff as a business.
I mean, one of the things we noticed in researching the cannabis industry is the promise has always been that if you legalize marijuana, it gets rid of people selling it illegally.
In other words, it's gonna hurt these criminal gangs who have made all this money for marijuana sales, right?
Well, the problem is precisely what you said earlier.
In a state like California, they tax marijuana legally sold marijuana so high that the criminal gangs that are selling marijuana really have not seen a change in their business.
Uh in fact, they're doing better because it's now legal to possess it.
You're not going to get thrown into jail, but the price of the legally sold one is so high because of state taxes, uh, that these criminal gangs are not being damaged at all.
Uh they're doing quite well.
And so this I think is one of the most important things that that uh all Americans need to consider, I think, particularly conservatives, when you're looking at any kind of policy issue, that is look at what is the incentive structure for our politicians and for the political class, meaning lobbyists and aides and family members.
And what you're usually going to find is they're gonna follow what's in their financial interest, not what's in great public policy interest for us.
Uh and the marijuana industry is just another tragic example of that.
And if we go ahead and do it on the federal level, which it looks like we may very well do given the configuration on Capitol Hill, you're gonna have yet another round of uh individuals who are going to get rich among the political class.
And this this you know widely touted promise that it's gonna throw the you know the illegal drug dealers and the criminal gangs out of business is simply not going to happen.
It's actually gonna make things more profitable for them because now their customers are not going to be charged with possessing their products.
All right, let's get to our phones.
We have time for a quick call here.
Joe is in the great state of Arizona.
Sir, how are you?
Glad you called, sir.
I'm doing great.
I've been hearing a lot of people recently talking about splitting up the Republican Party and starting a third party.
That's not what we need to do.
What we need to do is hold the GOP accountable and let them know that if they keep funding elections of people that do not represent our values, we're gonna stop donating to the GOP.
When it hurts their pocketbook, they'll listen.
Listen, I I don't know.
I mean, I I just think the establishment thin that they will reassert control over these these cult members, Trump supporters, which is ridiculous.
The America First agenda, and I've been hitting this all week.
It's simple.
And I've gone over the agenda ad nauseum this week.
I won't do it now.
But I'll say this.
Um, if and polls bear this out.
If people in the Republican Party have a choice, America first, make America Great again agenda.
In other words, the the policies as implemented by President Trump, the principles espoused by Reagan, who was hated by the establishment, and Newt's contract with America.
If we f the people will go with that agenda, period.
And the establishment thinking that they can get away with just being swamp creatures like they were for many, many decades.
That's not going to fly anymore.
People expect more, and rightly so, and the country deserves better.
Anyway, good call.
Appreciate it.
800 941 Sean, our number, quick break right back.
Super Bowl predictions, much more coming up today.
Hey there.
I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started normally a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, 25 to the top of the hour, 800 nine-four.
One Sean, you want to be a part of this extravaganza.
You know, one of the saddest things that I've I'm I'm now concluding in terms of where we are in the country, we've got double standards here, there, and everywhere.
Breathtaking hypocrisy.
You know, if you look at the insurrectionist language definition, well, the way Democrats apply it to Donald Trump, if they ever applied it to themselves, yes, they're all guilty of insurrection and saying to fight, fight, fight, as we've been playing this week.
If you look at Marjorie uh Taylor Green and the controversy with her, well, if you apply the same standards to the conspiracy theorists that were pushing for three years, uh, the Trump Russia collusion hoax that has now been disproven.
Well, you'd know that they they're a bunch of hypocrites and it's phony feigned selective moral outrage as usual.
But we really learned it when it comes to the investigations into the deep state.
And we did have an inspector general report that laid out the roadmap of crimes that were committed, referrals that were made, and you know, what have we ended up with so far?
And okay, Kevin Kleinsmith, a guy that forged and lied in a fake email, sent that incorrect information to the court in pursuit of one of these FISA applications to ruin Carter Page's life and spy on a president at the time.
Um, you would say, oh, that's a big deal.
Then I listened to the judge at sentencing, and I don't think that he really meant to do this and that his intentions were well-minded, and uh, we'll just uh probation.
Compare that to General Flynn and Papadopoulos and Manafort and compare it to Roger Stone, there's no comparison.
It's just sad.
Um James Comey actually saying something here that uh he doesn't know anything about Kevin Kleinsmith doctoring emails.
Well, he signed three of the four FISA applications, and we now know that the FBI knew about Christopher Steele even admitting this is I think before the second, before the first renewal.
But we know they were also warned ahead of time not to trust the Steele dossier that he had an agenda and that he was supporting Hillary and Hillary paid for it, and they ignored all of that Because they were pursuing a political agenda, abusing power, and this is deep, deep deep state corruption.
And so when you when you think about we're gonna really allow a made up Russian dossier paid for by one candidate as the bulk of information without which, according to oh, let's see, Andrew McCabe, Sally Yates, and others, they couldn't have gotten the FISA applications approved because they tried and they didn't get it before.
So now they get the dirty dossier, Russian disinformation, and now they get it.
And then Kleinsmith, well, they had talked to the main source of Christopher Steele.
None of this is true.
That was all bar talk.
I don't have no idea why people think it's true.
And even Steele himself admitting he did it to help Hillary Clinton in her distracting campaign against the email scandal that was was burgeoning.
Anyway, uh here's the Senate hearing with Lindsey Graham and James Comey.
Oh, I don't I don't know anything about this.
Sure.
Listen.
Again, I I don't agree with your preamble.
I don't think the record established that he was working with the CIA.
I think Carwitz found he was a contact between the.
We've got the we've got this.
We've got the email from the CIA confirming that he was a source for the CIA.
Are you aware of the fact that that email later on was doctored?
Again, I don't accept what you said.
I don't think the record establishes he was a source for the CIA.
I am aware from the whole thing.
Why is Mr. Klein Smith facing criminal indictment?
I only know what I've read in the public record that he was accused of.
You're the director of the FBI, you didn't know that your own agency had information from the CIA verifying what Mr. Page told you if these contacts had a basis, in fact, because he was working with the CIA.
Did you know that Mr. Kleinsmith doctored the email for it to read that there was no association between Page and the CIA that he changed there was to there was not.
How do you feel about that?
I know nothing about Mr. Kleinsmith, only what I've read in the Well, how do you feel in general about an FBI lawyer doctoring information exculpatory to somebody being surveilled?
Any false statement in the course of an investigation is detailed.
But you didn't know anything about that, okay.
Uh, didn't know anything about that.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watts, talks about that.
And uh Jen Saki and KleinSmith, big tech.
We're living through crazy political times.
Judicial Watch is digging hard deep, trying to get information that's been very hard to recover the last four years, and we got a lot of it on the last couple of days of the Trump administration.
Mr. Fenton, welcome back to the program, sir.
Hey Sean, good to be with you again.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you, sir.
All right, let's talk about this.
Did now we know that the FBI, we know now that Christopher Steele admitted to the FBI that in fact uh he made up the the dossier to help Hillary Clinton.
We know that the subsource in January of 2017 admitted that none of this was true.
In other words, the main source for Steele, and yet they still continue to use this before the Pfizer court, again, my term premeditated fraud on the court.
Well, that's certainly true.
And and you take a step further back, you have to remember Steele at one point through 2016, he was being paid by the FBI.
So the Steele operation was a joint operation between the DNC, the Clinton campaign, and the FBI.
Steele's misconduct led to the FBI to cut him off eventually from payment, but not from being a source.
And they so they approached him directly and then through Bruce War, because as as you're highlighting, his material wasn't checking out.
So they needed to keep probing and probing and probing, and they knew it was going nowhere.
And yet, despite the fact they knew it was going nowhere, they had Mueller uh be appointed to investigate a non-crime.
Real a remarkable abuse of power.
And the FBI and the Justice Department we've seen now, Sean, in my view, it can't be trusted on any politically any politically sensitive investigation, that's for sure.
What I've been saying, and I would I've come to believe, and I never really thought was Possible is that you know we have major institutions now that are failing on a spectacular level.
Now, uh I'm not gonna I'm not gonna do what Democrats and liberals do, and that's you, you know, use a broad brush and and say that most FBI guys are you know this is a corrupt institution.
It's not.
They the rank and file, the special agents, I know many of them, and they're as outraged as as both of us are.
And but the reality is you had top people in power, and they abused that power, and they did things and said things and presented things to even courts and a court as important as the Pfizer court, because you know, this is a dangerous world.
We do need surveillance, we do need to protect the American people, but now you know you have conservatives like me wondering if we can even have a Pfizer court unless you know fundamental changes are made.
Government's failing, the media is failing, big tech is failing, institutional leaders are failing.
And uh, you know, I I everywhere I go, whatever happened to Comey, whatever happened to McCabe, whatever happened to all these other players, Strzok and Paige and all these others that were involved in this, and I don't have an answer for them, Tom Fitt, and maybe you do.
I won't either.
Um, I think uh uh uh uh Attorney General Barr made a uh fateful mistake in relying on the institutions of the Justice Department and the FBI to investigate the FBI and Justice Department and frankly these other agencies, he faced resistance early on, we know that.
And I don't think it was resistance he was able to overcome.
And uh I mean look at look at the uh Kleinsmith case.
You know, that was handed to Durham on a silver platter by the IG at the end of 2019.
It took them forever and a day to get a plea deal, and then he goes into court and says, Well, I'm not really guilty, even though I'm pleading guilty.
What and and what is the court supposed to do?
What is the court supposed to do at that point?
It does and we found out already that the Pfizer courts, they never held a hearing on any of the warrants targeting President Trump.
This wasn't about Carter Page, it's about targeting President Trump.
So when you have courts not bothering to hold even a hearing when agencies come in to say, Well, we want to really spy on the Trump team here.
Boy, you're right.
We're why is the court even there to begin with?
Well, I mean, uh I know why it's there to begin with, because we have a lot of evil in the world, and we have a lot of enemies that uh that are targeting America.
And unfortunately, now I have less confidence than I've had in a long time that you know our foreign policy now is fundamentally weakened, and you know, I can't believe we're giving up energy independence because I can see countries in the Middle East that hate us doing backflips and and Putin doing backflips and the Mullers doing backflips and China doing backflips.
It's beyond frustrating.
All right, Tom Think.
And the Pfizer court, the Pfizer court doesn't need to be there.
The president has the authority to spy on foreigners.
The question is, who's accountable when he spies on Americans in the course of protecting us from national security threats abroad?
And the Pfizer courts has taken that responsibility away from the FBI and given them cover, and that cover should be removed.
The FBI and the president need to take up be held accountable for every spy warrant targeting a pre uh any any spy operation targeting Americans directly.
It says verified on the top of the application.
None of it was even verifiable, and they never ever were even held accountable.
Why didn't you verify it?
Simple things like that.
Um, Tom, keep up the good work at Judicial Watch 800 941 Sean is our number.
We have time for some calls.
Uh let's say hi to Diane's in Pennsylvania.
Hi, Diane, how are you?
Glad you called.
Hi, Sean.
Thank you for taking my call.
Uh this is about uh the uh the fake um oh gosh, I can't I lost it with the the trial on Trump.
Well, the impeachment trial.
Okay, you know.
Thank you.
I suddenly it suddenly I went blank.
I'm having a senior moment.
I think it would be fantastic if President Trump would just walk in there, you know, as big as he is, and just take them on, because he has so much on these people, and he has so much proof and evidence that he has done nothing wrong.
Um, and I would love to see that.
They would be terrified.
They wouldn't be able to do that.
You know what the biggest problem?
And I and I've heard other people say what you're saying.
From my mind, the biggest problem is with this is he would then lend legitimacy to what is an illegitimate, unconstitutional process.
And I I don't even think the Senate ought to be lending legitimacy to it.
If I was the Republicans in the Senate, and I've said this before, I wouldn't even show up.
I wouldn't even put on a defense.
Let them rant and rave for as long as they want to rant and rave, and then when it comes time to acquit, the Republicans ought to walk in, vote to acquit, and say, can we get back to the people's business?
Because we already know it's a predetermined outcome here.
I mean, to me, I I just it's so wrong to offer any legitimacy to this process because it's it's illegitimate.
Um but I know what you're saying, uh Diane.
Thank you for a good call.
Uh let's say hi to Scott, North Carolina.
What's up, Scott?
How are you?
Hey, Sean.
Um, my question is who is going to sue Biden?
Is it uh presidential?
Um all his mandates he's putting out, just like they sued Trump.
Who's gonna be?
Stay tuned.
I'm I my sources tell me all of that's coming.
Okay.
Does that help you?
I I know you probably want me to tell you what, but I I'm kind of sworn to secrecy, and I don't never reveal sources, but I'm I'm very confident that that's all in the works.
Well, well, I know Texas is suing him for some stuff.
Uh the ATC.
Texas has done great.
And there's other states as well.
Arizona more recently is uh have jumped in on this, and and there's gonna be a lot more.
I mean, 47 executive orders, ruling by executive fiat, reconciliation.
Uh I mean, as we were going through earlier in the program today, the way they're just they're just ramming it through, bypassing an entire branch of government and their whole function.
It should outrage Americans, but most uh, you know, I I people, you know what the problem is where everybody's so darn busy, you know, living their lives that you know to keep track of and monitor, although we really have to.
What these what what goes on in that sewer, that swamp known as DC, it's it's sad.
And it's it's a f it it's beyond full-time professions for a lot of us, and we try to keep everybody in the loop, but it's none of it's good.
This and and now overcoming, they're even admitting the new energy uh secretary and uh the these jobs probably probably not gonna be able to replace them.
All right, we got one honest answer.
Hey there, I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started normally a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So Dow, verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Coming up next, our final news roundup and information overload hour.
All right, news roundup information overload hour.
We'll get a lot of your calls in this half hour, 800-941.
Sean, you want to be a part of this extravaganza.
All right, it's football weekend.
Now, the CDC is saying you probably don't want to meet with any, you know, friends and family this weekend.
We've got the Super Bowl coming up on Sunday.
We are used to having indoor Super Bowl parties.
I don't have to tell you about everybody reaching into the same bowl of nachos.
How concerned are you?
And what's your message to folks as they think about getting Together for the Super Bowl.
Well, you know, every time we do have something like this, there always is a spike, be it a holiday, Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving.
As you mentioned, Super Bowl is a big deal in the United States.
Enjoy the game, watch it on television, but do it with the immediate members of your family, the people in your household.
As much fun as it is to get together in a big Super Bowl party, now is not the time to do that.
Now, COVID cases are down, but they predictably went up because a lot of people were together over the Christmas holiday.
And you go through this ebb and flow, you see an increase, dramatic increase because of the holiday, then you see the decrease.
And I I fully agree.
You know, you want to protect, especially older members of your family, those with pre-existing conditions, anyone that has comorbidities, anyone with compromised immune systems, just the basic things that everybody now knows what they are supposed to do.
Then it becomes up to them if they want to do it.
And so um, you know, for the CDC to say use noisemakers and don't cheer because you'll be less likely to spew, I guess, your air through the mask or the double mask now that Fauci two weeks ago.
No, we wear two masks.
Uh you know, it gets frustrating because the experts got so much wrong so often.
It's like, although, yeah, oh, sorry, we we we're rescinding our article that said uh hydroxychloroquine doesn't work.
Uh it was a little bit of a mistake when it actually mattered.
And yeah, let's rescind it on a just before holiday weekend and hope nobody notices.
That doesn't happen much in in medical journals.
It's happened twice as it relates to uh HCQ, which is pretty sad.
Anyway, so we are on the program here.
Now Jason is a sports fanatic.
He loves sports, he follows it like I do.
Katie follows it, sweet baby James follows it.
And we've been trying to bring Linda into the football fold for a long time.
And if you remember my analogy before the presidential election, what did I say?
You gotta act like you're you're you're down by six points.
There's two minutes left in the game.
You have no timeouts, you're on your own 20, and you gotta march down the field, cross the plane, and then kick the extra point.
Now, Linda had no idea what any the truth now be honest, you had no idea what I was saying when I would say that, right?
I don't know what you're saying now.
You don't know what I mean by that.
All right, there's two minutes to go, no timeouts, you're on your own 20.
You gotta march down the field 80 yards and cross the plane.
Do you not know what that means?
I can tell you with absolute certainty that I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.
Okay.
It's football.
You you are bragging yesterday.
I'm bragging that I'm learning.
I didn't say I got an MBA in it.
I said that I was learning.
You now know what a what a field gold is, right?
What's a field goal?
I'm told that I was saying that wrong yesterday, and it is a field goal that a f what is that right?
Field goal?
No, no, no, no.
No help, no, no, no, no stop.
No, because I Ethan is at his home studio today, so he's not here today.
He's not gonna help me.
Katie has decided she's not talking to me because I told her she needs to talk in this segment.
So she's already mad at me, so she's not helping me.
And Jason doesn't help me anyways.
So now that we have that out of the way, the field goal is three points.
Which I which I now know.
This makes zero sense to me.
I don't understand.
Folks, she did not know this yesterday.
I didn't know this yesterday.
You don't need to whisper it.
The audience knows they were here.
I do not know.
I did not know.
I know now.
I might forget later.
It might not be the most important thing in my life, but all right.
So how did how do you get the three points for a field goal?
What do you do?
Absolutely no idea.
I don't even know when this happens or why this happens.
This is like the weirdest thing to me.
I thought there was only like the you move the ball to one side or the other, and your teams flip sides every once in a while because they I don't know why.
And then they're supposed to get it in the other side.
They've got a hundred yards, you have to get 10, 10 downs or what is it?
10 downs.
Whatever.
You know what I mean.
Katie, I can hear you.
Shush.
I can stop.
You can't give her any more hints.
Listen, I know I know things now.
I know there's downs, you know, but what I'm betting on.
How many downs are there?
Don't answer.
It's a hundred yards.
And each down is it is 10 yards.
Each down is 10.
Right.
No.
Stop.
Guys, stop helping her.
I don't know.
Stop.
It's you're ruining the segment by helping her.
Listen, It doesn't matter.
I'm gonna be, you know, I'm gonna bet on the color of the gator.
Multiple master's degrees.
It doesn't matter.
See, first of all, your degrees do not determine anything about you.
It just, you know, but what I'm saying is this shouldn't be that hard for you to figure out.
Sort of like me.
I actually find these sports very difficult to understand.
I I have to be honest.
I don't really, I feel like they go like a couple of feet and then they all smash into each other.
They fall down, people get hurt.
There's tents that pop up out of nowhere, so you can't see what happened to one guy or the other guy because nobody wants to know what happened to that guy, because then that's going to change how they run their play.
And uh there's all it takes like 15 minutes every time somebody falls down.
I don't know what's happening.
Okay.
Now, how do you get a touchdown?
What do you mean?
You run, you run to the end, run to the end, put it in the end zone.
Run to the end of what?
You know, the field.
Okay.
What is crossing the plane mean?
I don't know.
I know listen, I know how to get a touchdown.
I mean, I don't personally, but yesterday I told you you can pass the ball and they can catch it in the end zone, but they're not going to be able to do feet inbounds.
It doesn't matter.
Everybody's running in the same direction.
Whenever there's football, everybody's just running, and then there's like people that suddenly appear out of nowhere and they're like hitting your guy from the side.
Yeah, they deck him.
You know, what is it called when they hit the guy and they what is that?
What is that called?
Mean.
I call it mean.
Mean, that's what you call it.
So in past years you prefer to watch the puppy ball.
Can I just safely say that?
I the only time I ever watched the Super Bowl was um when the Eagles were in it.
Because that's my team.
Yeah.
And Andy Reed is amazing, which I'm happy that Andy Reed is, you know, his team is favored to win with Mahomes.
And I I like Mahomes.
He seems very sweet, you know.
He's married to his high school sweetheart and seems like a nice guy, you know, man of faith.
That's all good and everything.
I like it, you know.
But okay, but you're picking Brady, you're picking up.
I like Brady, and I also love to pick the guy that everybody is choosing to hate.
I don't know why people hate this guy.
You know, I didn't know anything.
I can tell you why people hate Tom Brady.
It's not that hard to figure out because he's so successful.
Right, but now his 10th Super Bowl, he's won six Super Bowl rings.
I mean, it's a good one.
He marries the supermodel wife.
I don't think I would say he has the perfect family.
I think that's fake news.
Well, you know, I don't know.
I mean, you know what I'm saying.
You know, he's divorced, he's got kids from one marriage.
That's kind of a mess.
Listen, he's seeing uh listen, everything I can see about Tom Brady, I like.
I I love his professionalism.
I love his dedication to his sport, his commitment to fitness.
Uh and it from what I can see, you know, seems like a nice guy.
All right, do you have any predictions?
Yes, I think the gator aid will be.
Everybody should pay very close attention because she's probably going to get it right.
Beginner's luck.
All right.
First of all, let me just say something.
This is a lesser-known fact.
But every time that I bet on sports, I usually win.
Like when we ever redo an office pool.
There was one year where I worked with a bunch of the ESPN guys, and they got a big kick out of the fact that I didn't know what was happening.
So I agreed to run the pool because ESPN wouldn't let them do it.
And um, you know, and I have no idea what you're talking about.
Go ahead.
But I mean, uh for this year for this weekend, I think that the um Buccaneers are gonna win.
Okay, by how many?
Oh, I don't know.
A lot.
Pick a number about pick a number.
Um, so you're taking the bucks by 17.
Mm-hmm.
Well, it's actually a number um that actually can be reached in football.
So that's actually a good thing for seven is my favorite.
Well, let's bring Katie in.
Katie, you're you really do like football.
And you know sports really well, right?
But you just hate talking on the air.
I do.
It's terrifying.
Are you really afraid right now?
Yes, it's so nerve-wracking.
You don't need to be nervous.
You've been working here a long time.
We've had you on the air before.
You do great.
I know, it's scary every time.
So um, my prediction, uh, I always go for uh, you know, Patrick Mahomes is uh is a Texas quarterback.
He went to Texas Tech.
So I am uh rooting for him.
Um just because, you know, like it's yeah, like you said earlier, uh Tom Brady already has six Super Bowls.
Um Super Bowl wins, so it's like all right, give somebody else a chance for once.
Um but uh yeah, my prediction, I want to say 38-35 with the Chiefs on top.
Wow, that is a strong prediction.
38 35.
Uh Mahomes, look, the you got two incredible franchise quarterbacks here.
So And that to me, the the storyline in this is going to be these two franchise quarterbacks.
All right, Jason, you're in the money now.
What do you think?
I hate Tom Brady with the white hot passion of a thousand sons.
Okay, so I will be rooting feverly.
I I hate the Patriots fun.
Well, but he's not won the Patriots.
He's still affiliated with a Boston team, and anything that's Boston or Philadelphia related, I I will have nothing to do with them.
It was the hardest Super Bowl to root for with Philadelphia and New England a few years ago.
I had to root for Philadelphia, and I felt like swallowing my own bile.
I couldn't take it.
Oh my gosh.
Oh man, that's rough.
That being said, you want a prediction?
What's your prediction, Jason?
I am hoping that the Kansas City Chiefs wipe the floor with Tampa.
Uh if they don't turn the ball over a hundred times, I think Tampa Bay will hang 38 points on Tampa.
I'll I'll say it's 38 to 23.
38-23.
Okay, that's a good prediction.
All right, sweet baby James.
You know, you could really care less, but you'll watch it just because you know there's nothing else to do, and you'll probably be reading a book half the time.
You're exactly right.
I'll go with um I'll go with Tampa Bay, Sean.
As long as the officials don't cheat.
That's my prediction.
By how many?
What's the score?
You know, a touchdown.
I'll give them that.
Tampa Bay by a touchdown.
That's a pretty good all right.
So I'm gonna just say something here, and everyone's gonna hate me and think that I'm I'm hedging.
I'm not gonna hedge.
I'm gonna give a prediction.
But to me, it's a pick'em Super Bowl.
There's too many, it's gonna be turnovers, it's gonna be something we cannot predict right now.
And I like that part.
Or there's gonna be I I would say probably early on, you're gonna see Mahomes, you know, exceling right out of the box.
But Brady's a guy that you can never underrest this, underestimate this guy or think that he's not capable of coming back.
Um, and I to me it's a it's it's a dead heat Super Bowl.
And uh I just want a good game.
Uh and you know, the thing is, it's like because I like both quarterbacks so much, and I'm so fascinated with that storyline that I I'll be happy with the outcome, whatever it happens to be.
I just would prefer it be a great game and be close.
But in the end, the idea that Tom Brady can get a seventh Super Bowl ring, and I think that Mahomes is gonna be there probably if he stays healthy, and I pray that he does, and football needs him desperately.
Um, he's such a draw to the sport because everyone wants to, you know, when you have a franchise top-level quarterback like him or Montana or Sims or Peyton and Eli and I can't Drew Brees and all these great quarterbacks, you just want them to do well.
Um, but it's a tough sport and a lot of injuries, but I'm gonna go with Tampa Bay by three at the end of the day.
So that means that they'd have to have a field goal.
Right?
That's what you're saying.
You want them to win by a field goal?
I want them, I I am predicting.
It's not what I want.
I mean, in in a way, I'm torn.
My heart says Tampa Bay, that's why I'm leaning to them.
My head tells me that the Chiefs are gonna win.
Why?
Because the Chiefs are a great team.
Yeah, but there is a cool storyline too, because they would repeat.
And that's you know, hardly anyone ever gets to repeat and win a Super Bowl two years in a row.
It's hard.
What does that mean?
Repeat.
Oh, because they won last year?
Correct.
Well, I didn't watch last year.
I wouldn't know that.
All right, quick break.
We'll come back, and yes, foods for the Super Bowl, and then we'll get to your calls.
Final half hour, 800, 9-4, one Sean.
All right, as we continue, all right.
What are your favorite foods for the Super Bowl?
That's the next most important.
Uh, are you gonna tell me you're gonna do a little better than your spinach artichoke, puke, green, whatever you make?
Well, I am not doing auto-choke anything.
That's pain in the booty.
I'm gonna make spinach dip.
I'm gonna make um what are those things called with the hot dogs?
Uh in the mini buns.
Pigs in a blanket.
Pigs and a blanket.
Um, those and um mozzarella sticks, you know, things like that.
You know, my Bible studies doing it get together, but I think we're just gonna keep it low-key At home.
Okay.
And you just and Liam's dying to watch, right?
He loves it, man.
I tell you, that kid loves sports.
And he gets it.
He's like, look at that guy.
He just sacked them.
I was like, what?
I'm like, oh my gosh.
I'm like, how do you know this?
I know nothing.
I mean, to me, it just looks like those guys are getting really, really hurt.
And like I'm I'm I feel like I'm probably like the mom in me is like, oh, oh.
All right, I'm running out of time in this segment.
Katie, what do you what's your favorite food to cook for the m for Sunday?
I want to say tacos, actually.
Listen, tacos are awesome.
I like hard shell, though.
You like hard show?
Um sometimes.
It just depends.
Uh it depends on my mood.
Uh I like both corn and flour.
Um coming from South Texas, where like, you know, we have a lot of flower tortillas.
I don't know why that's just like the go-to.
So that's usually what it is, but I do like I do like hard tacos as well.
All right, Jason, what's your favorite food for Super Bowl Sunday?
It'll be pizza and a whole lot of wings.
A lot of people.
Uh you can't go wrong.
I mean, that's it's a big pizza delivery day.
Uh all right, sweet baby James, what are you eating?
Buffalo wings.
We'll order them out.
You don't want to cook them?
No.
Well, you got your turkey fry.
You can just drop them in there.
That's pretty good.
All right.
For me, I make my own Philly cheesesteak, um, which is awesome.
And I won't use a bun, but I might Sunday.
I usually don't use one, put it that way.
And wings.
You do know it's not a bun, right?
We don't put cheese steaks on a hoagie.
Uh first of all, it's called a roll.
A roll.
Got it.
Uh whatever.
Rhode Island's office.
Oh, now somebody's all defensive.
Uh oh.
Oh, we're gonna get to call's final half hour.
Uh fun on a Friday Super Bowl weekend.
All right, 25 to the top of the hour.
Chad, Texas.
Glad you called, sir.
How are you?
Happy Super Bowl weekend.
You know, Sean, I'm doing just fine.
Thank you for taking the call.
Uh I'm glad I've got through, especially today, because uh you're my favorite, Sean, and I get to talk to you on my birthday.
So it's happy birthday.
I won't even ask how old you are.
You're old, you're young, you sound young.
You sound uh let me guess by your age.
You're 46.
Oh my gosh, Sean, you're gonna make me have another gray hair.
Um I I'm 39 today, uh, but definitely feel uh much younger.
I guess uh I'm not sure what uh what a phone has to do with it, but uh you know, Sean, you you're great.
I listen to you every day.
You're on my bucket list of meat.
So being a it's Super Bowl weekend, I'm gonna bypass the political question, so I won't be the Debbie Downer here.
Um I was hoping that maybe you would be down there, but with corona going on still, I figured that you won't have the opportunity because you you typically have been the past couple of years, right?
I well, I was down there last year.
I got a chance to interview the president for the pre-game, and uh that was a great experience for me.
Um I ended up not going to the game.
I I needed to get back for work purposes to I just you know I've been we we're pretty busy here every day.
Uh but I have been to a few Super Bowls in the past.
I'd give it to my kids as their Christmas present every year, and they always seem to like it.
And and have my son in particular, he's the biggest Dallas Cowboys fan in in the world.
Um anyway, he's uh one one day I'm gonna take him to the Dallas Stadium.
I haven't been there yet, the Cowboy Stadium.
ATT Stadium, and Sean, no matter I'm sure you're gonna have you know uh 50-yard line seats, 10 rows above or 10 rows above the field, but you're gonna you're gonna be where I get my tickets every single time ticket.
I get them on Stubhub stuff up.
That's where I get my tickets.
Or I think one year I might have gotten them on NFL.com if I remember, somewhere like that, but I usually just buy them.
I don't ask for free tickets from any but for anybody from anybody.
Uh you know, you pay your way.
And um, you know, by the way, you can buy pretty much anything if you have any money.
I mean, money is free.
That's what I mean, money's freedom.
It does help.
Um, but you know what?
It's really the whole experience.
I think the people love about it.
I mean, people tailgating.
You know what's great about this year?
It's like we've all had it.
Everybody's sick of the lockdowns, Draconian shutdowns.
You know, everyone's tired, you know, we've the between the election and and unrest and the plague, you know, the China virus, and it's just we've all had it.
And we all want to have a few hours to just turn the switch off and not give a flying rip.
And that's what I urge Everyone to do this weekend.
Just you know what?
Enjoy the weekend.
You know, make it fun for you and your family, cook some fun stuff, eat the way you're not supposed to eat for a day.
There's my recommendation.
Have a couple of drinks, enjoy your family, and you know, create some wonderful family memories.
You know, Sean, you would video uh during Thanksgiving uh on your turkey fire, but are uh do you video anything of your Super Bowl feast?
Uh curious about that.
You know, I've just I used to do a lot more of that, and I've kind of given it up in the last couple of years.
And um, but yeah, I I did uh because I love that Master Built uh Butterball Turkey Fryer.
It's great, and I have used it in the past to cook chicken wings in it.
And you just you know it's got peanut oil, it really does an amazing job.
Um such a cool thing.
The other thing I've gotten into is smoking.
I like to smoke ribs, and I got a master built smoker, and it's really cool.
And you know, even this time of year, even though it's cold, I'll go outside and I'll smoke them outside.
You know, Sean, if radio or TV doesn't work out for you, you can always be an executive chef.
I think you got that going on.
Yeah, but the problem is you get ha you gain a lot of weight in that profession.
That's not good for me.
But you do you do martial arts, Sean.
You look great.
You look, you know, you're 20 years young older than I, but you look 10 years younger than that.
That didn't come out right.
I do look great.
No, I didn't mean it that way.
That sounds so stupid.
I'll say this and I'll let you get to it, Sean.
Uh you are on one of my four bucket lists to meet.
Um, obviously, President Trump is one, you're the other.
Tom Brady, I love Tom Brady, Jason probably not gonna like to hear that, and obviously Tiger Woods.
Those guys are champions and they're winners.
So I predict 38, 31, Tampa Bay.
Thank you very much, Sean.
Thank Chad, your your words mean a lot to me.
Have a great time with your friends, your family, whoever you're hanging out with.
Um, I appreciate it.
It's a my honor to be here every day, and I don't say thank you enough.
And the media mob hates us.
We have a list a mile long of enemies that pretty much spend millions and millions of millions every year to destroy us and shut us up and get us canceled, but you you keep us on the air, both on radio and TV.
And we we take it seriously, but we don't really take ourselves seriously.
Derek is in Florida.
Derek, what's going on, sir?
How are you?
Good afternoon, Mr. Henry.
Nice to speak with you.
Uh first Super Bowl prediction.
I think that uh Tampa Bay Patriots are gonna take it by six.
The Tampa Bay Patriots, little dig in that for Belichick or what?
Well, you know, I mean, it's pretty much former and the past New England Patriots are players that were just kind of snuck over to the dark side.
So and I'm a Patriots fan, so it's the Tampa Bay Patriots by six.
Oh, ouch.
You know, I like that I love Gronkowski.
He just he's just a warrior.
He's a fighter.
He's an overgrown man child, and he is so fun to watch.
That's so funny you say that.
He does seem like the little kid that always got in trouble in your class, but it was so fun to watch, get in trouble.
Um I saw an interview with him once, and one of his hobbies is to do push-ups while watching Spongebob.
I mean, you kidding me, really?
That's hilarious.
It was absolutely hilarious listening to him say that.
It was kind of funny.
You can picture him doing it.
Uh right, I appreciate it, Derek.
I'd like to ask you uh, what do you want to get?
Um, and and it is an election thing.
I hate to bring the conversation to the other direction.
But uh with everything that's going on, you know, we we now do not have the right or ability to vote, though I do think you're mistaken.
Republicans will be uh elected, but only rhinos and swamp dwellers that the Democrats uh deem necessary to have to uh keep the guise of a free and fair election.
Uh those are the only Republicans that will ever be elected.
Um we don't have our freedom to speech anymore.
That's being censored.
Um our freedom to gather and freedom to assemble for religion.
That's already been sending out the the wayside uh as uh using um the kind of virus as uh as um uh an excuse.
Um what else do we the people have?
The the convention of states, people keep bringing that up, but that's the one.
That's a that that that is a great option.
It doesn't do anything though.
If if you let me give you a quick answer because we're kind of having a fun segment here.
I don't want to get too into the weeds, but you know, it's gonna take all of us, and we know there's uh 75 million of us that we've got to hold all these people accountable.
The first the first step is we we've gotta like Florida had to fix their electoral problems after 2000 2016, and they did.
So we have the ability to do it.
We've got to have guaranteed integrity in elections and confidence and results.
We don't want to be going through, you know, but when laws aren't obeyed and and so on and so forth, constitutions ignored and and written law ignored, and no partisan observers observing.
We need integrity restored.
There's a way to do it, and I think that's the first order of business.
And then for me, it's simple.
It's the make America great again.
America first agenda and keep it simple.
And you know, I'm looking for people that are gonna show leadership and are willing to use up political capital and not running for reelection to get the job done.
I hope that answers your question, Derek.
Back to our phones.
Pat uh New York.
What's up, Pat?
How are you?
Good, Sean.
Thanks for taking my call.
Um I'm gonna say I'm right there with you, Tampa Bay by three points.
Uh however, I'll caveat that because this is probably one of the only times I've ever disagreed with one of your comments.
Uh I think that uh the game is gonna be decided by two of the greatest tight ends that's ever played the game.
That's a good observation.
That's a good prediction.
If Kelsey has the game of his life, then it's gonna go Kansas City.
And if Gronkowski has his game, then then it's gonna go to Tampa Bay.
And I think that's what it's gonna come down to is uh those two big boys on the end of the line that are gonna make the difference.
Kelsey uh Mahomes, you're looking at two of the best franchise players on Kansas City.
You're a hundred percent right.
I I just like to watch the best in any field, and and this is what we're gonna get on Sunday.
And that part I love.
Uh great prediction, Pat.
Thank you.
Uh let's say hi to Don Iowa.
Don, how are you?
Glad you called.
Hi, Sean.
Thanks for taking my call.
How are you doing?
I'm good.
How are you?
What's going on?
Oh, great.
Just enjoying this uh lovely ice storm we had yesterday.
And uh just getting w ready for Super Bowl, same as everybody else.
Good for you.
What are you gonna be eating?
I'm curious.
I like food.
Food impresses me.
Well, I'm gonna do some uh smoke some ribs like yourself.
Uh I I love smoking.
So we're gonna smoke some ribs and my dog.
So you know how people always say they want to smoke their ribs and it falls off the bone.
Yes.
I don't like it to fall off the bone.
I want to have to dig my teeth into it.
And and rip it off the bone.
That is the best way to fight for them.
Yes, sir.
All right.
And as long as they're good and spicy, that's the way I like them.
And and I come to Iowa by way of uh Boston, by the way.
So you know I'm a Brady fan, and I can't wait to see it.
And your last caller had it right on the money.
This is gonna be a game of the receivers.
The tight tight ends are absolutely gonna be key in this.
So you know, I I predict that uh Tampa Bay is gonna eke it out like uh 36 to 33.
It's gonna be so close.
Man, everybody's very close in the and the scales at least so far tipping towards Tampa Bay.
All right, good prediction, Don.
Have a good Super Bowl Sunday.
Uh, we can't we can't have a Super Bowl without big time AJ Houston, Texas.
What's going on, baby?
Big time Sean at it.
Love that voice.
Man, I tell you what.
Big time Brady.
I'm gonna I say he's gonna do three touchdowns.
Three touchdowns.
He's gonna toss three.
I'm go I'm going with three.
And uh he should have taken because you know they're gonna bash him because uh he loved Trump, you know.
And watch out for that now.
It's gonna come.
Now watch the commentator.
Well, it already can't.
I just didn't bring it up.
USA Today had a piece.
Why did Tom Brady get a pass and he's he supported Donald Trump?
I mean, these people can we keep politics out of sports, please.
Leave it alone.
I don't want to hear their political opinions.
And if they have them, I don't want to hear them on Super Bowl Sunday.
Well, you get ready.
You're gonna hear them, but that's why I stop watching football, baseball, basketball, because when they did that Black Lives Matter bull crap with politics, we watched that to get away from all that crap, Sean.
Seriously.
Can you imagine big time?
The C D C is saying don't don't clap and shout and get excited.
Use noisemakers.
I'm like, uh, talk about a buzzkill.
Oh man.
So wait a minute.
So we don't go to the bathroom either.
Don't forget your mask when you go to the bathroom.
It may be helpful.
Who knows?
Well, hey, let's see what happens.
And uh, hey, Nick, get ready for next week.
Here come another debacle from next week, man.
Listen, it's just all noise.
I'm sick of them.
And we too.
I'm sick of them, Sean.
After the shift show's over, it's time to go on offense.
Time to point out what they're doing, which we're doing already, but thank you, big time.
Uh Joe Ellijay.
We got to get a prediction from uh from Joe and Ella J, Georgia.
What's going on, sir?
Kansas City, Mahones is great.
Mahone's just gonna win.
31-28, Sean.
That's everybody's picking up.
Yep, everyone's picking a close game.
Now, what's your favorite food on Super Bowl Sunday, Joe?
Chili.
I'm gonna have some chili and enjoy it.
And uh I'm fired up and energized, Sean.
Do you make your own or do you go to Wendy's and cheat?
My great wife who I've been married to 50 years cooks it and I'm looking forward to it.
Man, well, congratulations to you and your wife.
That's awesome.
All right, we'll have some chili.
I I've got to admit, I really do like the chili at Wendy's.
The chili at Wendy's is amazing.
And sweet baby James loves it.
Linda's rolling her eyes.
She can't believe that I like Wendy's.
I do.
Let's be honest.
True.
True.
The chili's just like one of many things you like there.
But sometimes I get a lettuce wrap instead of the bun.
You gotta give me some credit.
True, but we're on the road.
We don't need so good.
No.
Are you kidding?
It's either Wendy's, In and Out Burger, Crown Burger, Kentucky Fried Chicken, uh, McDonald's, pizza.
If we're really splurging, you know, we might go to Outback and get a bloomin' onion with a steak.
It's unbelievable.
It's basically Super Bowl Sunday whenever we're on the road.
I you don't have any choice when you're on the road.
And and that's probably, you know, you you want to get me on the road, tell me what I'll be eating, and I'll probably say, okay, I'll go.
That works the best.
All right, 800-941 Sean, our number if you want to be a part of this extravaganza.
All right, so I'm sticking with my prediction on the Super Bowl.
I just want to go over my advice.
Pure and simple.
Yes, protect the older people, the comorbidity people, the the people with underlying conditions, compromised immune systems.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Uh, we'll see you tonight.
Hannity 9 Eastern on Fox.
Set you DBR, Fox News Channel.
Have a great weekend.
Enjoy the Super Bowl.
Stay safe, and we'll see you back here on Monday.
And as always, thank you for being with us.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media, and we're doing things differently.
Normally, it's about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday, normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So Delaware, verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Export Selection