All Episodes
Previous Next
Oct. 2, 2023 - Sean Hannity Show
37:00
Battle on the Hill - October 2nd, Hour 2
| 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 Markowitz, 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, 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 with Verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, our two Sean Hannity show, toll-free.
It is 800-941.
Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
All right.
So we've had this intramural battle within the Republican ranks, and it's a little frustrating to me on a number of fronts, but it's absolutely salvageable if Republicans can just be united on a plan.
And while there's very strong arguments to be made that it would have been ideal to have 12 appropriations bills passed, certainly over the summer, July and August, or put forward and voted on directly, there has been some amazing work done and needle threading in very positive ways.
And the two people that really that I've been in touch with, that I've been in touch with many people, that have led this effort are Congressman Chip Roy of Texas and Byron Donalds of Florida.
These guys have been working really hard behind the scenes to try and bring everybody together.
I thought both continuing resolutions were really good.
Byron Donalds, Chip Roy, Chip, why don't you give us the behind the scenes?
What do you got going on?
Well, thanks, Sean.
Great to be on.
Great to be on my friend Byron.
And look, you summarized it very well for the listeners out there.
Look, this is the sausage getting made.
We demanded in January that we have a seat at the table, that we open this process up.
This town has been being run behind closed doors for far too long, so it's messy.
You and I sat, Byron and I sat next to you after the speaker agreement in January.
And I said that sometimes you got to break a little glass in this town.
Well, some glass is getting broken again.
We're trying to kind of navigate through it.
Bottom line for me is pretty simple.
I don't think right now, this is my opinion, that it's time in the middle of the third quarter to go down the road on motion to vacate.
I think the timing here is not the right path.
From my standpoint, where we should be is we got to finish the job.
I didn't like the deal on Saturday.
I did.
I would have preferred what we put forward, what Byron and I and others worked to put forward.
But some of our colleagues on the right weren't there.
They wanted to see appropriations bill.
They didn't want to do a CR.
It wasn't a CR.
It was cut and border security.
But okay, move on.
My deal is what happened Saturday happened.
I don't want that to happen again.
So let's right now endeavor to get in 45 days.
Let's finish the appropriations fight.
Am I right in saying that we have four appropriations bills done?
We have four appropriations bills done.
We have two that I'm going to go to rules committee and hopefully move out for this week and another one for later this week.
Let's get that done in the next 45 days.
Number one, let's force spending below the debt ceiling deal.
Number two, let's make sure that we force, if there's going to be a demand for another dollar for Ukraine, not my preference, but if there's going to be another dollar spent for Ukraine, we must secure the border.
We must pass HR2.
We must have the border security as a part of it.
And this is the important part, any dollar spent for Ukraine should be offset out of IRS or Inflation Reduction Act money.
Texas needs to get paid back out of IRS and Inflation Red Act money for the open border.
And the disaster relief bill that was just tacked on to the TR on Saturday for $16 billion needs to be offset out of IRS or Inflation Reduction Act money.
There is a path, and I think Kevin can prove his speakership if he gets those things done.
That is what we ought to do over the next 45 days.
Listen, Byron, are you on the same page?
Yeah, I am, Sean.
I got to tell you, coming back, I flew back this morning to Washington.
And at the end of the day, it's about securing our southern border first and foremost and getting, to quote my friend Chip, the woke and weaponized stuff out of our government.
That is the mission.
Everything else takes us away from that.
And so, yeah, I don't like this 45-day clean CR.
I would have much rather have cut 30% out of the federal agencies and secured the southern border and forced the White House to do that.
And Sean, one quick thing.
But Byron, the problem was not even the moderates.
You both of you put together.
And again, you guys are the conservative wing of the Republican caucus.
You guys are the Freedom Caucus members there.
You guys are the ones that are fighting for the things that I want and that most of this audience wants.
And that is secure borders, fiscal responsibility.
And yeah, you're right about getting rid of woke weaponization.
I'd also add to that a Department of Justice that's been weaponized.
Look, I wish the process was going faster for Comer and Jim Jordan and Jason Smith, but they're making a lot of progress, those three.
And they're unpeeling layers of an onion under very difficult circumstances where nobody's cooperative.
So we're all on the same page here, but yet we don't have some other conservatives that would otherwise be with us.
And I want to get to that in a second, but go ahead.
Well, I think, look, the one thing about this town, I've learned this pretty quickly in three years, is this town works on leverage and frankly, political leverage.
And you have to find those opportunities to leverage this town into doing the things that they don't really want to do, but that's what the people want.
And right now, that is border security.
So in my mind, Sean, I agree with what Chip is saying, but everything we do the next 45 days has to be focused on making sure that we secure the southern border, no matter what Joe Biden thinks and no matter what Chuck Schumer thinks, that has to be the line in the sand for us to proceed going forward.
See, what's crucial to me is as soon as you guys do unite and HR2 is a part of it.
That's the border security bill.
Congressman Chip Roy, I agree with you on the offset issue, and I like the idea of Texas being paid back because it's billions of dollars that have been unfairly burdening the people of Texas.
And they have 150,000 illegal immigrants in New York, and they're asking for $12 billion.
Certainly, if they get $12 billion, you deserve $150 billion at least.
But my point is here, once you guys get these measures, fiscal responsibility measures, border security measures into a bill that the House passes, then you're going to throw this in the hands of Mitch McConnell.
And that will allow conservatives like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, and others, you know, to now begin to battle them because this is only going to be settled in conference.
And I think, you know, once the American public becomes aware of the options, which is reckless spending and a deal that McConnell made with Schumer or these significant improvements that you guys are demanding, I think you'll have the public on your side, and then all pressure then switches to them where it should be.
Well, let me just say this.
Something really important happened this past weekend on Saturday.
I did not, let me repeat for the audience, I voted against and did not want a 45-day CR with $16 billion in disaster supplemental.
I did not want to vote for another dollar for Homeland Security without securing the border.
However, that's what ended up being the play call, given the circumstances of the day.
And here's one good thing, though.
The Senate Republicans rallied around that instead of what Mitch McConnell wanted, which was the deal with Schumer with the Ukraine money in it.
That is so critically important because it demonstrates that we have leverage to force the hand because 117 Republicans voted against the $300 million of Ukraine funding that we separated out from the Department of Defense funding bill last week so that we could move the defense appropriations bill through.
That is a majority of the Republican conference.
And we saw Senate Republicans rally around us instead of Mitch McConnell.
Guys, we've got to play the long game here and win this.
Let me be very clear.
I am not going to walk away from what we need to do to, with all due respect to my, you know, to the speaker, to, I'm not, we've got to hold him accountable to get this done.
Okay.
And we cannot dither, but we have got to get this done right now in November and December.
We have an obligation to secure the border, cut spending, and hold the Senate accountable and use Ukraine as the leverage necessary to get that done, in my view.
I agree.
Okay, so now I've got to ask both of you.
Matt Gates, your colleague has pretty much promised a motion to vacate.
How big a distraction does that become and where does that end?
Byron Donalds.
Well, I think it's a major distraction.
It's going to take all of the focus away from appropriations.
We need right now, Sean, for the Republican members, whether they're long-standing members or new members like myself, moderates, conservatives, they all got to come get to an agreement on passing these other bills.
This motion to vacate, it takes away from all of that.
For people who are concerned about the FBI and Jack Smith and wanting to hold the Department of Justice accountable, there's not going to be any leverage to do that if House Republicans are fighting amongst themselves.
And so, look, I understand where Matt is, but I just think it's the wrong fight at the wrong time.
Chip, what's your take?
Yeah, in my view, and I agree with Byron.
And by the way, in fairness to Matt, I mean, he does make one good point, and he deserves credit for this.
He felt he's been promised and that it was an original promise we get the appropriations bills done on time.
We didn't get them done on time.
100%.
And I've been critical of the speaker for that, as has Byron.
I don't want to speak for him, but we've been critical of that.
And I agree with that.
But look, this is the situation, in my view.
We're in the middle of the third quarter, maybe the end of the third quarter, heading into the fourth quarter.
And we've had some wins this year, and we've had some setbacks this year.
I think that the speaker deserves the ability to finish this process, this year's process, through the appropriations process, through the battle of funding government, through the Ukraine debate and border, and to honor the commitments he's made.
Because let's take a step back.
He's honored commitments to put conservatives on committee.
He honored commitments to put conservatives on the rules committee.
He honored the agreements that we were to move a good border bill this year.
There's a lot of things that were done.
The debt deal fell short, 100%.
I led the charge along with Byron to highlight how it was deficient.
But now here we sit.
I didn't like the 45-day deal.
Our conservative brothers and sisters should have agreed with us.
And if they had, we would have gone into shutdown and we've been fighting for the American people for a secure border and cutting spending.
But we didn't.
The speaker made the call, you know, and now I believe in the third quarter, let's let the fourth quarter go.
We're going to set the demand, win this game, and we'll move on.
If you don't, well, then we're going to have to deal with it.
All right, quick break more with Congressman Chip Roy, Congressman Byron Donalds on the other side.
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 Podcast, 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.
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 Podcast, 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, as we continue with Byron Donalds and Chip Roy discussing, you know, the appropriations process.
Now, they kicked the can down the road for 45 days, but there is an opportunity here to salvage this in major ways.
But everybody's got to be pulling in the same direction.
I mean, there's all these threats out there that, oh, we're going to use the ethics committee process to punish Matt Gates.
I don't like that idea either, Byron.
No, I totally agree with you, Sean.
Completely against it.
Look, I get it.
Members are upset about what happened over the weekend, but retaliating against another member is just the wrong thing to do.
Listen, we had Liz Cheney in our conference, Sean, when she was going after Donald Trump.
We had Adam Kingsinger in our conference when he was going after Donald Trump, sitting on the January 6th committee.
So I think going after Matt is the absolute wrong play.
I don't want to see that happen at all.
Nobody should be, they shouldn't be turning the screws of this place against a member because he simply disagrees.
And Matt has a disagreement tactically on how we land this plane, so to speak.
Wrong play.
If he gets the appropriations now that he wants in this 45-day window, I mean, this is all, to me, it's salvageable.
If I'm wrong, correct me.
And we get the 12 with the very specific things that both of you have mentioned here.
To me, you end up on the winning side here.
And you win together or you're going to lose together.
It's not like, you know, one part of the team wins and one loses.
It's going to be you win together or lose together.
So I would agree.
And here's the most important part.
We have to keep the spending levels below the debt ceiling deal.
Way below, yes.
And number two, we must secure the border.
And this we're going to be very clear.
This thing is going to rise or fall on the willingness of our leadership to draw a line in the sand.
You're going to legitimately secure the border.
And I know what that means.
It is HR2.
The provisions in HR2.
You know, it's a few additional things that we need to do for Border Patrol.
Get that done.
And now you can talk about Ukraine.
If you agreed to a deal to give a single dollar to Ukraine and we haven't secured the border, then it is the whole new game.
I was just going to say that the gloves are off that.
We've got to stay together and unified and get the job done.
I'm willing to ride that out in December to try to get that done.
Okay.
Byron, do you agree?
You're in a full agreement with that.
Yeah, I agree with that, Sean.
Listen, we have one mission is doing the job that the people sent us here to do.
Everything else is take a back seat to that.
And look, if our leadership doesn't get us to that point where we feel we had everything, did everything we could, then they got to answer for that.
Are you both confident you get there with Kevin?
Get there.
What do you mean?
You mean get there?
In other words, is Kevin going to do everything that we just discussed?
Well, I'll put it this way.
He must.
Got it.
Byron, you agree?
100%.
All right.
We're speaking with one voice.
I agree with everybody here.
And the good news is there is an opportunity here.
I mean, I think we kind of missed one or two, and a lot of it had to do with both of you.
But with that said, you know, that's life in Washington.
But you got 45 days now to wrap this up and get those goals achieved.
And then it gets into the hands of the Senate.
And you know what?
I just say in conference, you just stay strong and just sit there and drop it on their lap.
They deserve the pressure.
Anyway, thank you, Byron Donalds, Chip Roy.
I think both of you are on TV tonight.
Look forward to having you both on.
We'll have new developments by then as well.
Thanks, Sean.
See you in a minute, Byron.
Later.
800-941-Sean on number you want to be a part of the program.
Continuing the mission of saving America as we return to the Sean Hannity Show.
All right, 25 to the top of the hour.
Thank you for tuning in.
Write down our toll-free number.
It's 800-941-Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
I really love my friends at Henry Repeating Arms.
They're just phenomenal.
You're going to love Henry, too.
Look, if you're looking for a very special gift, Christmas is coming.
Birthdays, I don't know why.
Everybody has a birthday, it seems, every other day.
Oh, happy birthday.
Happy birthday.
Happy birthday.
I'm like, one thing nobody ever has to do in my life is say happy birthday to me.
I'm done.
I'm finished counting my birthdays.
I don't want to count them anymore.
I'm just moving on with life.
If you want a really cool gift, though, you got to check out my friends at Henry Repeating Arms.
I just, I love this company.
And anyway, they have firearms made right here in America.
Every part made in America, old world craftsmanship.
It's phenomenal.
Check out their website.
It's HenryUSA.com.
You're going to love the line of Henrys they have available.
And you can get their free holiday gift guide.
They'll send you free decals.
You can use it as stocking stuffers for people you love.
And when you give someone a Henry, you are giving them, frankly, a work of art that is built with the finest craftsmanship I've ever seen in a firearm.
And anyway, their performance is top-notch.
Every single Henry I've gotten is accurate right out of the box.
They shoot smooth and straight, reliable from day one.
Over 200 models of rifles, shotguns, revolvers now that you can choose from.
They have something for everybody.
If you're an outdoorsman, if you're a hunter, beginner, collector like I am, or just those looking for home and self-defense options available.
And one of the things I love the most about these firearms is, you know, they're really family heirlooms.
I mean, that's how good the craftsmanship is here.
You can pass these down generation to generation, and they're always backed by the company's lifetime warranty and the owner's 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Again, made in America.
Go to henryusa.com.
It's a great gift this holiday season.
Get their free holiday gift guide, decals today, and henryusa.com, and they'll send it out ASAP, and you're going to look at this collection and love, love this company.
It's so good.
All right, 800 9.1 Sean on number before we get to anything here.
I understand all the arguments.
And nobody likes Vladimir Putin.
Let me be very clear.
Vladimir Putin is a murdering, dictating thug.
And what's very, very unfortunate as he was building up his troops along the border with Ukraine, why anybody after he annexed Crimea, they doubted in any way that he had full intentions of going into Ukraine.
I don't know because I thought that was naive, dumb, and stupid.
You know, I think not to be prepared for China trying to take over of Taiwan and again, their geopolitical ambitions, territorial ambitions, they want to fulfill.
That's all part of the equation also.
And then what is the most frustrating, just like until Donald Trump became president, NATO never paid their fair share.
Okay, he got them to pay their fair share.
We still paid the bulk of monies because they were basing it, you know, your payments based on a percentage of GDP.
Now they're back to not paying their fair share anymore.
And this is a European continent problem.
This is not an American problem.
Ukraine is not a member of NATO.
When I see innocent, you know, men, women, and children that are being slaughtered by an evil madman in our time, do I like it?
No, I don't.
But there's got to be certain conditions before America, you know, actively, you know, it just seemed to unilaterally grab the mantle and take on the massive amount of funding for this war at a time when we could least afford it.
And Europe has not stepped up to protect their own continent.
That's my first point of anger.
It's real anger.
So unless and until Europe does their fair share, and unless and until they adopt strategies that show and prove that they actually want to win the war, end it, and get the hell out of there, the United States' role, you know, frankly, should be non-existent until they all start doing their part.
Anyway, here's Joe Biden saying we cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.
I guess one thing you have to think about is how much does Joe need Zelensky's help now that Joe is on tape bragging that he leveraged the billion dollars when he was vice president and to get a prosecutor fired from investigating Burisma, the oil and gas giant that was paying his son, who admits he had no experience, a fortune.
I wonder how much of this money that Joe wants to use of your tax dollars might be protection money so that whatever information the Ukrainians have on him and Hunter and his family and the business dealings won't be forthcoming.
It's a fair question.
Nobody else seems to want to raise it, but I'll raise it.
And anyway, here's Joe.
While the majority of the Congress have steadfastly supported Ukraine to defend itself against the aggression and brutality of the Russians' attack on women and children in addition to the military in Ukraine, there's no Ukraine funding in this agreement.
Despite that, I did not believe we could let millions of Americans go through the pain of a government shutdown.
But let's be clear.
I hope my friends on the other side keep their word about support for Ukraine.
They said they're going to support Ukraine in a separate vote.
We cannot, under any circumstance, allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.
I fully expect the Speaker to keep his commitment to secure the passage and support needed to help Ukraine as they defend themselves against aggression and brutality.
No, it's become a proxy war for the U.S. versus Russia.
Anyway, let's get to our telephones here.
A lot of you are being very, very patient.
Rick is in Louisiana.
Rick, hey, how are you?
Glad you called, sir.
I'm doing fantastic.
My subject was, you know, somebody needs to dig deep and see if there's any record, you know, of any of these prosecutors saying that they were, you know, looking at making President Trump ineligible for the voting, I mean, for running for president.
Because if they can get somebody on record, especially the Georgia lady.
Well, I mean, you have, in the case of Georgia and the cases in New York, including this case that opened today, you do have AGs and prosecutors and DAs on record saying that they are running on a platform to get Donald Trump and to get his family and to get their organization.
Yeah, but to get Donald Trump, I'm talking about to make him ineligible to run.
That would be election.
Those efforts I don't see going anywhere.
There's been chatter talk in a number of states, but it all dies down when they realize there's something that would prevent them from doing that, and that's the Constitution, which does not have any such requirements for eligibility to run for president.
Uh-huh.
And, you know, one other question about Biden's issues with his, with, you know, Hunter.
Isn't $50,000 a month rent, isn't that money laundering?
You know, it all depends on how you define money laundering, isn't it?
You know, are you talking about the money that he spent on his father's house for the room that he was staying in?
That's correct.
Yes.
And because, you know, if the normal rent would be $5,000 or $10,000, then getting $40,000 is a way to wash the money to get it to his dad.
Well, it certainly is a question that needs to be answered.
And how long did that go on for and how much money was actually transferred?
And, you know, everybody keeps saying, well, you know, Joe never benefited financially.
Well, not according to his son Hunter, not according to the emails with Eric Sherwin, who is the financial, apparently, lead for Rosemont Seneca and Hunter's communications with him about how they're going to pay for Pops' home repairs, nor the conversation that Hunter had, I believe, with his own sister saying, well, at least you don't have to give half your income to Pops, or Tony Bobolinski exposing that the big guy and putting money aside for the big guy, the big guy being Joe Biden.
So not that the bribery statute actually even mandates that Joe benefited one penny, but if he took actions as vice president that resulted in the enrichment of his family, which we know he did, then that does, in fact, reach that high bar of bribery.
I would think so.
I think you're right.
I think you get an A plus.
Good call, my friend.
All right, listen, important role as a parent-grandparent.
You got to make sure your kids are safe as possible when they go to school.
That means, yeah, you got to have those conversations with your child school safety director, with the principal, the vice principal.
And you need to know about the Knox entry access system.
That allows law enforcement into lock doors during emergencies where every second matters requiring immediate entry.
Now, the Knox Advanced Electronic E-Key technology can be used by local, state, federal law enforcement personnel.
The E-Lock system can be shared by multiple jurisdictions.
It accelerates their access into the buildings to save lives.
And the Knox entry system can be installed, managed by a single school, by an entire district.
Firefighters, they've now trusted Knox products as their choice for access since 1975.
And now, Knox Entry Systems for School is providing law enforcement with the same exact resources.
When seconds count, you want law enforcement not to be struggling with access.
Anyway, just send your school administrators, your safety directors, your principals, have them check it out at schoolentryoneword.com.
That's schoolentry.com today.
Final hour roundup is next.
You do not want to miss it.
And stay tuned for the final hour free-for-all on the Sean Hannity Show.
All right, we're going to get back to our phones.
Don't forget at the top of the hour, Jay Secula will weigh in on this sham, you know, trial going on in New York today.
It is, it is, it is so, frankly, it's un-American what's going on here, what they're trying to do here.
How the great injustice.
I've never seen anything like this in my life.
But anyway, he'll weigh in on it.
Laura Trump will weigh in on it.
But let's get back to our phones.
Melissa, next in Arizona.
How are you, Melissa?
I'm doing good, Sean.
We're out here in the border state, and it's really, really gotten crazy here.
And I just want to start off by saying we love President Trump here.
Arizona used to be a bright red state until we had all the California people move here and bring their kooky policies with them.
I think there's a lot of truth to what you're saying.
Yes.
Yes, yes, a bright red state.
But we love President Trump.
But Mr. Hannity, I do have a bone to pick with you, though.
Everybody has a bone to pick with me at some point.
Don't worry, my own kids don't agree with me all the time.
Linda agrees with me half the time.
I love Linda.
Katie, too.
Katie's so nice, too.
Everyone sucks up to Linda and Katie so they can get on the air.
I know this little game everyone plays.
This is not my first rodeo.
Go ahead.
But no, when Ted Cruz was, Senator Ted Cruz was running for president, you would have him on.
And you were really hard on him.
I really wasn't.
And I think Ted Cruz would admit that.
You know, at the time, his campaign accused me of giving more time to Donald Trump.
And by the way, little intramural battles like this, everyone gets all worked up.
And at the end of, we actually did a complete thorough check, and we actually timed out how much time I had given in the primary to Senator Cruz, who's a friend of mine, and Donald Trump.
And it turned out that actually Cruz had gotten more time than candidate Trump.
Candidate Cruz got more time.
Well, this is the thing I wonder about because then you have people like Stephen A. Smith.
I love Stephen A. He's my friend.
But we talk sports.
We just mess around.
Well, see, this is the thing.
A lot of us here, we see you, Mr. Hannity, as a champion for the working class because you have this big platform.
But then when we see you buddy up with Stephen A. Smith, who his kooky ways have affected the working class, you can't tell me that.
Stephen A., 99% of the time, is talking sports.
Now, when he comes on this show, you know, we talk politics because in the course of any given show on any given day, if he's listening, he's sending me these really snarky, sarcastic notes telling me how wrong I am.
And, you know, occasionally I'm sending him notes, too, about how wrong he is on sports.
And I can tell you it's only done out of good fun with Stephen A.
But what we have seen is you seem to be more friendly with Stephen A. Smith than you were with Senator Cruz when he was running for president.
You've been watching Senator Cruz and my relationship.
We're like, I love Senator Cruz.
We've been friends for a long time.
I've campaigned for Senator Cruz when I wasn't allowed to.
I got in trouble for campaigning for him.
When he was running for president, you were a little mean to him.
And then we had kooky people like.
Linda, was I mean to Senator?
I don't think I was ever mean to Senator Army.
You're mean to everyone.
All right, stop.
Was I mean to Senator Cruz?
I would hope you would really confront Stephen A. Smith when he comes on.
Why is Stephen A. He's only on like just briefly, occasionally.
He's a friend of mine.
And we just have a good time together.
We don't agree on everything, but he's a wonderful person.
He's got a great heart.
But he's a sports guy.
He's not a political commentator.
If he's voted the way he has, and then it's affected the working class.
He's fairly down the middle when it comes to politics.
He thinks the left wing is out of their mind.
He just doesn't like Donald Trump.
That I can tell you.
He shouldn't be allowed to vote.
If he doesn't agree with you, we are not going to let him vote.
We can't do that.
I mean, listen, let me just say this.
Some iPod.
I bring people on this program and I disagree with some of them.
It doesn't have to be personal.
I think when I challenged, for example, Gavin Newsom, I did a pretty good job of exposing that the policies he's put in place are not working.
And, you know, in spite of his very, very professional, glib, you know, answers, people, and I'm and me pressing him, I think people get to the right place and conclude, okay, yeah, taxes are too high out there.
Their energy policies are too extreme.
Their sanctuary state status is way out of control and is causing the chaos all over the country now.
There's a reason people leaving that state in droves.
You know, people are smart.
I give them a lot of credit, okay?
Yeah, I mean, I just wish you would press more instead of giggling with him.
Oh, no.
Did you not see me the other night with Gavin?
I pressed him hard.
I pressed him hard on all those issues.
With him, you giggled with him.
I go, why is he giggling with me?
What do you think?
I'm Kamala Harris.
I don't giggle.
I'm not a giggler.
Have I ever giggled, Linda?
A little bit of a bromance with Newsome.
I'm not going to lie.
Yeah, but wait a minute.
But what's the method to my madness?
Tell him a kindness?
I don't know.
No, the method is I've been telling people, you better pay attention to this guy.
And I am telling people, if I just said it, it would have no impact.
Showing people, it's had an impact.
Let me tell you, this debate between him and DeSantis has gotten way more attention than I ever thought it would.
Even more attention than me defending Taylor Smith, Taylor Swift.
I got a lot of attention.
I clearly like her a lot.
He can't even get her name right.
I don't know what I can't.
Tears on my guitar.
I think that's the only song I know for sure that she sings.
I just hate when people are just mean.
You know, she's one of the nicest people to her fans.
She writes her own music.
I respect it.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
I'm Carol Markowitz.
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, 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 download Verdict with Ted Cruz Now, wherever you get your podcasts.
▲
Export Selection