Congressman Chip Roy joins Sean to talk about the race for Speaker and just why it's time the party embraces Congressman Jim Jordan and then move on to tackle the nation's business. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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.
Thank you, Scott Shannon, and thanks to all of you for being with us.
Here's our toll-free number.
It is 800-941 Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
So we had one vote for Jim Jordan for speaker.
He fell short.
Look, none of this, the process, the making of the sausage, if you will, and where does that phrase come from?
Making of the sausage.
If you saw how sausage was made, you probably would never want to eat it.
Linda, have you ever seen sausage made?
You don't want to eat it.
I have, unfortunately.
It doesn't bother me at all.
I mean, it's no.
I'm like, oh, I get it.
But you do like to watch brain surgery.
I don't know that you're the right benchmark for this conversation.
That's true.
I've been in brain surgery and I watched it.
I'm like, can I please get closer?
And when I got in the operating room, the first thing that I'm being asked by everybody, how do you feel about blood?
And I'm like, I have no problem with blood, as long as it's not, especially if it's not mine.
You're like, I like it so much.
I'm going to film this and send it to people who it makes throw up.
It's going to be great.
It's the most amazing experience.
I mean, in this particular case, I watched somebody's, you know, an incision is made.
The skin of somebody's face is literally peeled down and they go into the sort of bottom stem of the brain and part of the skull is taken off.
It's fascinating.
I mean, you just, I watch this and I just am blown away by it.
I would say the process we're watching on our floor of our legislative body.
Here's the problem we have is you have a lot of angry people and you got a lot of egomaniacs here.
So, you know, the fact that it may take multiple votes to get here, I'll tell you the two outcomes that can happen.
And I know a lot of you want to call your representatives and frankly, they're supposed to be public servants.
You know, we don't want a pressure campaign.
This is making us mad and everything.
And Sean Hannity asked those questions.
Like, you know, were my questions that hard?
Were they that arduous?
You know, I've heard that you're not voting for Jim Jordan.
Can you tell us why?
How do you plan to open up the people's house?
Can you tell us how?
You know, with all that's going on in the world, don't you think it's imperative with the Middle East and Europe and borders and appropriations bills incomplete and the people's house shut down?
Can you tell me when it's going to be open?
Would you ever, under any circumstances, work with Democrats, as has been reported everywhere, to select a speaker?
I don't think those are tough questions at all.
And many, by the way, many of the people we sent it to, they answered and they were very, very gracious in their answers.
Not that hard.
So how do we analyze the fact that in this vote today, and Jim Jordan got 200, how do you analyze that six Republican votes went to McCarthy, seven went to Scalise, three went to Lee Zeldon, one went to Garcia, one went to the Minnesota Congressman Emmer, one went to Cole, one went to Massey, one absent.
And I can give you the names of all the people that did it.
Look, we expect that there's going to be a second vote today, maybe a third vote tomorrow.
However, this is my admonition.
I don't care how you all look as you make the sausage.
I really don't.
I'm not emotionally involved in this.
But however, if you come up short of anything short of electing a speaker, in this case, Jim Jordan has the support of 200 Republicans.
He needs 16 more.
This doesn't sound like a lot.
And if you can't get over the fact that, well, your guy lost or you didn't like the process or you didn't like this or you didn't like that, and you can't put aside your own personal agenda, whatever it happens to be, or the idea you're mad that your guy didn't win, whatever the reason, you've got to put it aside because if you don't see the big picture, the patience of the American people, my patience is running thin with all this.
And you're going to risk putting all of your jobs in jeopardy in the process.
Because if you can't lead, and by the way, a temporary speaker empowered, you know, McHenry empowered for until January, that is not doing your job.
Your job is to select a speaker.
That is not your job.
To give us a temporary person and empower that person just for 60 or 90 days is not leading.
The people's house needs to be open, especially during troubled times.
And these are troubled times.
And everybody knows that McCarthy's not running.
Everybody knows Scalise is not running.
Everybody knows that this is what we call a protest vote.
Or if some might refer to it as a temper tantrum vote.
I don't know how you want to refer to it.
But the longer that this goes on, the confidence in the people in this country is going to significantly decrease in the Republican Party's ability to lead.
I know you have thin margins.
I know it's not easy.
But if all of you don't come to this simple, basic truth and conclusion that you are all going to win together or you're all going to lose together, it's not going to be, oh, well, I stood on my principle and I stood with Steve Scalise or I voted for Kevin McCarthy because this shouldn't have happened in the first place.
Whatever your reason, your rationale, your wherefore, your why, it doesn't negate the fact that, you know, we're now headed towards the two-week mark where the people's house has been closed and important business needs to be done.
And you're elected to do a job.
And the first order of business is to choose the speaker.
And now you're in the process and you have an opportunity.
Probably will have another opportunity today.
And I assume if that vote gets closer and we get to tomorrow, maybe by then they'll wise up after hearing from a lot of their constituents that they're sick and tired of this Adam Schiff show that goes on in the swamp and the sewer.
Because listen, let me put it this way.
Democrats are loving this.
The White House is loving this.
Everybody except the American people are benefiting from this.
Democrats are benefiting.
They're getting cheap political points.
And it's just time for you guys to do your job.
It's that simple.
And open up the people's house and get back to work.
Roll up your sleeves, get back to work.
It's not that complicated here.
And, you know, the idea that you were asked a few questions or, you know, people are calling and everything and they're being mean.
You know, and I see all these groups have been giving out the number.
We've given out the switchboard number a million times.
I don't even want to get into that today because you know what to do.
You know who it is.
But I will tell you, this any one member can move with a motion to vacate and put us in this position.
That has to stop.
It has to be more serious than that.
But we'll see what happens.
Democrats are offering Speaker Pro Tem, you know, Patrick McHenry in North Carolina a deal to temporarily grant him full powers.
I'm sorry, that's not leadership by the Republican rank and file.
Nor is it, you know, healthy if some of these Republicans are peeled away and would actually partner with Democrats and elect Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker.
If I read one more story about that, I think I'll burst a blood vessel.
So, look, I don't care if it takes a few votes.
I don't care if it takes today and tomorrow.
But after that, my patience is zero for Republicans.
You know, it's just, it has to happen.
They take their first vote.
It's now two weeks to the day after Speaker McCarthy was ousted.
The House last week went, you know, they last went two weeks without a speaker.
That was, what, 1849, according to Chad Pergram.
And in that case, they finally elected Howell Cobb of Georgia as Speaker.
But the House votes repeatedly, you know, during the interim and finally settled on Cobb in that case on the 63rd ballot.
Jim Jordan has significantly narrowed the gap from yesterday in his push to become Speaker.
He's now, the magic number is 216 today.
So he needs 16 more votes.
And if you look at the votes that I was just referring to for Speaker McCarthy, if you look at the votes, you know, for Steve Scalise, all right, in the case of McCarthy, you know, that's six.
In the case of Scalise, that's seven.
In the case of Zeldon, boom, you got you 16.
And then you still have, what, five other votes that you could go with.
Why are people voting the way they are?
I just honestly don't care.
It's not that important to me.
I think a lot of it is ego, and a lot of it is they're mad.
But I just remind them all, not that they ever will listen to Sean Hannity or care about what Sean Hannity says, but they will care what their constituents say.
And, you know, I'm not telling people what to do, but you know how to get in contact with your elected officials.
Remember, they're supposed to be public servants.
This is not that hard.
You know, we have a world that's collapsing around us.
It's time to get to work.
Now we've got Iran warning there may be an imminent preemptive action against Israel by them.
I will tell you, if there is that level of escalation, because now Israel's looking at the possibility of a two-front war in the north, they would be fighting Hezbollah out of Lebanon, and in the south, Gaza and Hamas.
And if, in fact, if the Iranians, and they said yesterday that Israel can expect a preemptive action if Israel launches their defense after the worst terror attacks in their history, yeah, guess what?
They're saying all options are open and cannot be indifferent.
Whatever Israel needs to do to defend itself and protect its country, they are going to do.
So Iran can make all the threats they want.
The Iranian foreign minister, all options are open.
We cannot be indifferent to the war crimes committed against the people of Gaza.
In the coming hours, we can expect a preemptive action by the resistance front.
They're telling Reuters.
Top Iranian diplomat not specifying what he meant by preemptive action.
If Iran enters this war, I promise you it'll be unlike any war we have ever seen.
By the way, John Kirby, no question that Hamas, you know, hostage is seen in a video speaking under duress.
Of course they're under duress.
Have you seen the hostage videos of these Hamas, you know, terrorists holding up little babies that they kidnapped?
Now they think the number of people captive, held hostage, is as many as 200 to 300.
So this is now going to go, this is going to ratchet up really quickly.
Not sure exactly what the point of Joe Biden going there is about.
I've been told from my sources that on the one hand, Joe Biden is, you know, saying all the right things that Hamas needs to be eliminated, but you can't stay there and you can't annihilate Gaza.
Okay, so you want to put handcuffs on Israel as they fight their war.
The same thing you did to Ukraine and wasting our money in Ukraine by putting handcuffs on the Ukrainians to fight back.
Senator Tom Cotton has called on the Biden Department of Homeland Security now to deport pro-Hamas foreign nationals.
I reported this yesterday.
19 Iranians caught in the last week at our border.
What are Iranians doing at our border?
How did they get there?
Who paid for that?
17 Syrians?
Who paid for them?
And Cotton is saying, can you immediately deport any foreign national, especially any alien on a student visa that has expressed support for Hamas and its murderous attack on Israel?
That's simple, basic, fundamental common sense.
Josh Hawley calling on the Biden DOJ to investigate pro-Hamas groups on America's college campuses.
That's 101 also.
But it's also simple, basic national security that you control your own borders and you don't allow in 8 million people in three years like Joe Biden has without any vetting, no background checks, and just free transportation to the city of your choice.
I mean, that is the biggest national security threat by design that I've ever seen or heard of in my life.
Hey there, I'm Mary Catherine Hammond.
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 download Verdict with Ted Cruz Now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey there, I'm Mary Katherine 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 download Verdict with Ted Cruz Now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Roll along toll-free on numbers 800-941.
Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, Congressman Chip Roy of Texas will be joining us at the bottom of the hour.
Where do things stand in this effort to get Jim Jordan the votes needed?
He's down 16 after the first round of votes.
I hope we don't have to go through 15 again.
That would be painful.
But Republicans are making it painful on themselves.
I know people want me to give out the phone number.
We'll put it up on Hannity.com as a public service.
The only thing I ask people is when you make your phone call and you have every right to contact your elected representatives if you choose, just be respectful.
Don't be one of these liberal idiots screaming and yelling and ranting and raving.
Explain to them why you think it's important that the people's house be opened again and that you don't like these temporary measures.
Frankly, I just think it's an abdication of leadership if they cop out and say, oh, we'll empower McHenry for three months.
No, pick a speaker.
That's what you're hired to do.
Yeah, you have to make hard choices.
And yeah, you may not get the person you want.
But that's the way the process works.
I didn't make the process.
It's just the way it works.
I think Jordan would be a great speaker myself.
And I know that people are angry.
And you know that a vote for McCarthy and a vote for Scalise or a vote for Lee Zeldin, those enough would put Jordan over the top.
And then you can get back to the business of opening the people's house and dealing with the important issues of our day.
One thing you can always count on.
Sean Hannity is back on the radio.
All right, 25 now to the top of the hour.
Thank you for being with us.
Here's our toll-free number.
It's 800-941.
Sean, if you want to be a part of the program, I want to take a minute to remind you of the great work and ministry of Pre-Born.
And this is, it's a very simple, but it's having a big, huge impact.
You know, women find themselves that they end up and they're pregnant and some people don't know what to do and they're torn.
And Pre-Born offers free ultrasounds, 4D ultrasounds to any expecting mom.
And they have clinics all around the country, and they offer other great services, counseling services, and women that go forward and give birth to their child.
If they need any help, post-birth, baby formula diapers, whatever it happens to be, baby food, they're there for them.
Unlike Planned Parenthood, they don't get a penny from the federal government, not one cent.
And the amazing thing is, is they just use the science of 4D ultrasound.
And what they're discovering is once expecting moms hear heartbeats and once they're able to see facial features and the miracle of birth growing within them and count fingers and toes, that exponentially the odds are much, much higher that they're going to see this pregnancy through with the help of Freeborn.
Now, they can only do this great work due to your generosity.
I donated two 4D ultrasound machines myself because their clinics desperately need them.
Every 4D ultrasound costs 28 bucks.
Doesn't sound like a lot, but they're lined up every day, and they can't even fit everybody in.
But they can't do it without your help.
So if you believe in the sanctity of life, if you're with the pro-life community, all right, well, here's an opportunity to help a great cause that's having a profound impact on people.
Just dial pound250, say the keyword baby, pound250, keyword baby, or just donate on their website.
I know a lot of you are asking, what are the numbers, Hannity?
Give out the numbers of these congressmen.
I'm not going to get involved with that.
We'll put it up on our website as a public service.
You know the numbers of your local representatives.
But the reality is, okay, so the first vote took place.
We expect probably another vote today.
Hopefully they won't need a third one, which I would expect probably would happen tomorrow.
Congressman Chip Roy of Texas is with us.
Congressman, I don't know how you work in that dysfunctional place we call the swamp or the sewer, but you work there indeed.
I do.
Good to be on, Sean.
Look, I mean, I just want to remind all your listeners and, you know, don't lose heart, right?
We're in the middle of a war, a war to take this country back from a broken Washington establishment that, frankly, the Republican Party was neck deep in for far too long.
You know that, and I know that.
Jim Jordan, Jim Jordan, one of the founders of the Freedom Caucus, a mere eight years ago, with whom I was huddling with Ted Cruz when Ted was his chief of staff, when we were fighting the Obamacare fight in 2013.
Jim, who helped lead the cut, cap and balance effort, which put in the spending restraint sequesters that worked for a while until the swamp bit back.
That guy just got 200 votes for Speaker of the House.
We're in the middle of this battle, and everybody needs to remember that.
Don't back down.
Don't back away because we didn't get the votes on the first round.
This is a long war.
Look, let me be very clear.
He got 200 votes.
Yep, there were 20 who voted for other Republicans.
That's okay.
Now you know who they are.
I spent all weekend working with them.
I haven't been pointing fingers, but they've now voted publicly.
So if you're their constituent, you let them know whether you agree.
My simple question is this.
Here's what's really going on.
And this is what's really important.
What's happening is, and I've got friends in that group, and I've made good friends in that group, 20.
But here's the problem.
The consistency among that group is very clear.
War and money.
It's about the power of appropriators.
There were appropriations chair, cardinals, seven members of the appropriations committee, a bunch of members of the House Armed Services Committee.
The power also of the golden ticket that some wanted for fundraising from Kevin McCarthy.
If you look at that group, it's all about war and money.
The power to spend money, spend Americans' money, or to go get money to be able to go run from office.
And that's what it's all about, none of which are what they campaign on, and none of which are what the American Senate's here to do.
So now, we'll hopefully go back down to the floor.
We'll have a vote, and the American people's voices need to be heard through this process.
Do you want it changed?
Do you stand with Jim Jordan?
Do you stand to change this town so that we can fight the Democrats and win for you?
Or do you want more of the same?
I know what my people want.
I know what I want, and I've been very clear.
I think at some point here, the patience of the American people is going to run thin.
I think it's running thin now.
And I think Jim Jordan, I've said it publicly.
I think he'd be a great speaker.
If you take away the votes from Scalise and the votes from Kevin McCarthy, neither of which are going to be speaker, and you take away the votes for Lee Zeldon, he's not going to be speaker, then that would be enough.
That would be the magic number.
I think today it's 216 or 217 you need today?
I think it's 216.
Goes up, yeah, about 216 or 17.
Okay, I think today it's 216.
So at that point, those votes go.
Now, this vote took place a couple hours ago, and you've had time to meet with some other members, maybe members that voted against Jim.
Are there any that you think now are going to change their mind?
Maybe they wanted to make a statement in this first vote.
However, you know, we've got serious issues beyond personal issues.
You know, we've got war breaking out in the Middle East.
Israel may be facing a two-front war with Hezbollah and in Lebanon in the north and Gaza and Hamas in the south.
And then they've got this added threat that Iran may preemptively strike Israel.
If that happens, you know, all bets are off the table.
Here's what I don't like and I don't want to have as a result.
I don't want a temporary band-aid solution.
Oh, we'll empower McHenry, the pro tem, you know, placement for 30, 60, or 90 days.
That's not leading.
The other thing I can't even believe I'm reading so much about it that can't happen is that some Republicans work with the Democrats and help Hakeem Jeffries become Speaker.
I mean, the fact that that's even being written about shocks me.
And I think that at some point here, they've got to realize, well, maybe it's not my guy.
Maybe it's not my first choice.
But we've got to get back.
It's been two weeks since the People's House has been open, and you've got a lot of business to do on top of wide open borders, appropriations bills that haven't been passed.
And I think the American people now, their patience is running out.
My patience is running out.
Sean, understandably.
And look, my patience is running out because I want us to get busy going on offense to beat back this ridiculous, tyrannical democratic regime that is driving up inflation, taking away our freedom, undermining our security, harming Israel, leaving our borders open, allowing our people to die from fentanyl, all of the things you and I know we need to be fighting against.
But here's the thing.
We're going to fight right now to get the right person to lead us through the next year so that we can have a really successful fall next year.
We have got to have a mandate.
I am not one of those that's over here worried, crying in the corner that we're going to get wiped out next year.
We've got to have this fight, Sean.
It's what we've been fighting for.
Again, back to my point.
Are you in this town because you want leadership's money so you can go run for reelection?
Are you in this town because you want to spend America's money or America's borrowing?
I'm not here for those things.
I'm here to fight and win.
I'm here for first place, not second place.
I'm here for a country that I can pass down to my kids and grandkids.
And I don't know what the 20 who voted against Jim think the message they're sending to the world is other than, yeah, I don't like Jim Jordan, who has devoted his entire career in public office to trying to change this town.
I promise you, every one of the 20, those 20, run against this town, run against spending, run against open borders, run against, you know, all of the tyranny in the federal government.
But yet, here we are.
Somehow, Jim's not going to be able to get.
So you've had a couple of hours.
I assume you've had conversations with some of the 20.
How have they gone?
Well, I mean, we've been having ongoing conversations.
I'm leaving a lot of that to Jim.
I've had some with a few of these folks.
And I think people are starting to understand and hear that, you know, we're not stopping.
We're not backing away.
We've got to figure out how to come together to get this done.
And so, you know, for example, one of these 20, I won't say who yet.
I'm not sure if it's public, has said that they'll vote for Jim next time.
I think there's a couple more that are getting, you know, moving in the right direction.
You know, one of these, who's a really good friend of mine, we talked at length over the weekend.
And, you know, very specifically, this individual said, I'm not going to go vote for Hakeem Jeffries or the Democrats.
He's a socialist.
Like, there's a lot of noise out there that's not, I think, actually true.
We are having a very open family fight that I wish we weren't having.
But at the end of the day, it's not all that bad either.
You know, we're the worst form of government except all the others.
This is a republic.
And right now, we're battling for the soul of the country, and it is a battle worth having.
So we're going to keep going, Sean, and we'll have conversations here until we go back to the floor.
I hope we'll go back to the floor tonight.
We'll see where these numbers go.
I hope they shrink.
Look, there could be a couple of people.
Oh, by the way, the CNN is reporting, one of their reporters, that Scalise and Jordan just met.
Jordan asks for Scalise's help, and the speakers raised Scalise wouldn't commit.
Well, is that true?
I don't know.
I haven't talked to Jim about it, and I haven't talked to Steve about it.
You know, seven people voted for Steve.
I think there are some people here.
Again, I want to go back to the main point.
Steve is a friend.
I like working with Steve.
But at the end of the day, do we want more of the continuation of what we've been doing or do we want to change?
I think virtually everybody I know wants to see a change.
Jim represents change.
Jim is an agent of change.
We need to fight for the American people who are getting screwed over by a government that is too big.
We had one of my colleagues, okay, and I'm not going to say who, it was a private meeting.
One of my colleagues stood up in front of the conference and lectured us that had we chosen a path to go into shutdown to fight over spending levels and to fight to secure our border that, oh, we wouldn't have checks going out to pay for people's salaries and border patrol and our men and women in uniform, all of which is a true concern.
But if you think that that is a Trump card, then you might as well hand your voting card over to the Democrats and say you will never use the power of the purse to fight to change this place.
Because guess what?
Is $886 billion the right amount for defense, Sean?
Why not $1.5 trillion?
Why not $2 trillion?
You want more guns and bullets?
Why don't you borrow more money?
That's a bogus argument.
Somebody's got to grab this place and change it.
And Jim Jordan is the instrument for change, and I'm going to keep fighting for him.
How do you see this going down?
Let's talk about the timeline.
You know, we're now approaching the 4 o'clock hour on the East Coast.
And so I guess my question to you is, do you expect to vote in the next couple of hours?
Is there going to be a vote if you have not behind the scenes secured the 16 votes that Jim would need to get over the top?
Is there going to be more negotiations?
You know, what's Kevin's role in all this?
Well, I mean, Kevin has been a good faith actor working with Jim, try to secure votes over the course of the last several days.
Look, there's a block.
And by the way, I know that to be true because I've had conversations with them.
Yep.
Yep.
Absolutely.
And again, whatever the result of all this, we're all going to have to come together and work together.
But what I'll tell you is, Jim and Kevin, they're working together to try to get votes.
I can't speak for Steve.
I don't mean that negatively or positively.
I just haven't talked to him about it today.
But they're keep working on trying to get votes to get us to the number.
Again, we had 200, like you pointed out.
That's darn close to the 216 or 17 that we need.
We'll keep working through it today.
I don't know what will happen, but I expect us to have a vote tonight.
I would hope so.
And we'll see where the number goes.
Look, it could go up or down.
There are people with raw feelings that believe we shouldn't have abandoned Kevin.
And there's some people who thought that we should go to the next guy up.
I happen to believe, as I said, you know, I didn't support the motion to vacate, but it happened.
Let's move on.
I think Jim Jordan is the right vote.
He's the guy that could change this place.
And I think he could move and mobilize all of us together to go combat the Democrats.
And so we'll keep driving that message today.
Again, the message here, Sean, is the American people are demanding change.
You can't just fold because you're weary.
When all of those men were sitting in the foxholes in Bastogne, they were cold and they were freezing and they were tired, but they didn't stop.
We're not going to stop trying to change this godforsaken, broken town that has racked up $33 trillion of debt and is letting fentanyl pour into our communities.
And it's not just Biden, it's Republicans who are complicit.
Republicans have let it happen.
And we're holding those Republicans accountable right now, and they don't like it.
That's what's happening.
Is it helpful when constituents call?
I mean, because, for example, you saw text messages.
I got a list of people.
I worked my sources all weekend.
You weren't one of my sources, but I talked to you over the weekend, and I found out the list of people that were resisting Jim, and I asked them a few questions.
Is it true that you're not supporting him?
If not, why not?
How do you then plan on opening the people's house?
Do you think this is a good idea for the people's house to be closed when war is breaking out in the Middle East?
We have war in Europe and open borders, and we can't have, we have no appropriations finished.
And would you ever work with the Democrats to elect a speaker?
Do you find any of those questions unfair?
Because apparently it triggered a number of your colleagues.
Well, no, absolutely not.
I think those are fair questions.
I mean, to be clear, you and I talked about this.
I thought over the weekend we should not be pointing fingers at any of our colleagues.
Let them figure it out.
Let Jim go whip the votes.
Now you have 20 people who have gone on the record for God and America and all of their constituents to see.
And there are a lot of friends here.
I've got three Texans.
I'm not going to name them by names, but I've got three Texans here who are friends of mine in the Texas delegation.
I've got good friends of mine that I work with on lots of issues.
And here's the question: why are they a no?
And their constituents deserve to know.
They deserve to know where they would take the country.
That's what I was trying to ascertain.
But let me ask the final question: is it helpful for people to call them or do they get just pissed off and more entrenched in what?
Call.
Absolutely call.
Call my office if you disagree with me.
I deserve that.
You're my constituent.
You call.
You call your member of Congress right now.
Pick up the phone and call your congressman and let them know what you think.
The stakes are too high.
Absolutely.
And I would say that with all 20 of these friends of mine in the room.
Oh, by the way, I'm not pushing the number, but we did put, because so many people have asked for it, we put it up on Hannity.com if people want it.
I just ask that they be polite.
Amen.
I can't stand when people are rude.
All right, Chip Roy, thanks, my friend.
If you had to guess, what time is the vote tonight?
I don't know because I haven't heard.
I'd just throw out a guess at 6 o'clock.
But look, I work for my constituents just like they do.
So your constituents should call.
All right, Chip Roy, Congressman, Texas.
Thank you, sir.
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.