Latest / The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson / GOP Convention in Texas, plus Talarico Called for “Dismantling” Prisons & Argued All Religions are Equally True

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GOP Convention in Texas, plus Talarico Called for “Dismantling” Prisons & Argued All Religions are Equally True · The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome.
• 0:00
  Speaker 2: It is Vertical Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: It's so nice to have you with us. And Senator,
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: I tell you what, it's convention week. This is the
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: first time in history you and I, I'm already in Dallas,
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: you're about to be on your way, and it is
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: going to be very interesting. A midterm convention. I got here.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: A lot of people are actually really excited.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Well, there's never been one before. This was President Trump's idea.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: I think it's a terrific idea. It's a good chance
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: to make the case to the voters.
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  Speaker 3: We're 56 days out.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: From Election Day, and this is the most consequential midterm election,
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  Speaker 1: I think, of our lifetimes. And this convention, we're going
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: to have two days, Wednesday and Thursday, of speakers that
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: are going to lay out the stakes of this election,
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: both the policy victories that we've had as Republicans in
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: the last two years, I believe under President Trump and
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: a Republican House and Senate, we have had more conservative
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: victories in the last two years than any period since
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  Speaker 1: you and I have been alive. And I think Look,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: if you're terminally online, if you just listen to Twitter
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: all day long, you think nothing has happened, there have
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: been no victories. Well, I hope this convention lays out
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  Speaker 1: the case because we've accomplished an enormous amount, including securing
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the border, passing the biggest tax cut in history, rebuilding
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  Speaker 1: the military, passing the biggest school choice program in history,
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  Speaker 1: passing the Trump accounts. These are huge victories. And winning
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: in the midterms is how we continue to get more
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: and more victories for the American people. But secondly— Every
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  Speaker 1: election is about a choice. It's about, number one, the
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  Speaker 1: path if our side prevails, but it's, number two, the
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: path if the Democrats prevail. And in an ordinary cycle,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the Democrats prevailing is not good for the country. Their policies,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: I think, are harmful. I think most listeners of Verdict
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: agree to that. But now, especially with the radicalism that
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: is in the Democrat Party, with the Green-Red Alliance as
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the Islamist and the Marxists are coming together and are
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  Speaker 1: in the midst of what is essentially a hostile takeover
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: of the Democrat Party, their winning in the midterms is
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  Speaker 1: all the more consequential, and I hope that this convention
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  Speaker 1: makes that case plain for everyone watching, and I hope
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  Speaker 1: everyone does watch.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's going to be really interesting. We're going to
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: break down what those issues are that we've got to
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: talk about in just a moment. If you're going to
• 2:21
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• 2:23
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• 3:09
  Speaker 2: You can sponsorachildtodayatcompassion.com. That's compassion.com. Senator, you're about to be
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: on your way to Dallas as well. I can tell
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: you the energy here is real. I was flying in.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: People were excited on the plane. They were coming in
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: for this midterm convention. I went over and did some
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: TV in the convention hall. You could feel the buzz already.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: It does have the feel and the look of a
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  Speaker 2: presidential election year convention. You and I have been to
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: countless conventions. This is, I think, going to be virtually
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: no different if you're in the room. But The important
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  Speaker 2: part is the president has to make the case, and
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  Speaker 2: so do the other speakers. You're speaking on Thursday, for example,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: that this election is a compare and contrast of the
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  Speaker 2: Democratic Socialists of America, what the Democratic Party has become,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: higher taxes, taking away your right to do what you
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  Speaker 2: want to do, and freedom in private sector and business
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  Speaker 2: and oil and gas, and what the Democrats want to do,
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  Speaker 2: which is a 180 from that, This case, though, Senator,
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  Speaker 2: has to be sold, I think, very well to the
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  Speaker 2: American people for it to be effective.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I think that's exactly right. And I hope
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  Speaker 1: the President does a very, very focused speech laying out
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  Speaker 1: the consequences of each potential outcome of this election, focusing
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  Speaker 1: on the policy victories that we've had together, and also
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  Speaker 1: focused on the threat from the Democrats, because the threat
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: is real, it is extreme. That's certainly what my remarks
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: are going to focus on. And as you said, I'm
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  Speaker 1: addressing the convention Thursday right about 5 o'clock Texas time,
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: about 6 o'clock East Coast time, and I'm going to
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  Speaker 1: focus on the fundamental choice that is before Americans. I
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  Speaker 1: will say there's one aspect in which this is different
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  Speaker 1: from a typical convention every four years, which is conventions
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: usually move public opinion and they move it significantly because
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  Speaker 1: the networks all devote prime time, several hours to the
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  Speaker 1: convention for typically several nights each. during each convention, and
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  Speaker 1: that has an effect. That's a lot of coverage. It
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: is not clear how much coverage this midterm convention is
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  Speaker 1: going to get. I'm certain Fox News is going to
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  Speaker 1: cover it. I'm certain Newsmax is going to cover it,
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  Speaker 1: but I think there's a very good chance that CNN, ABC, NBC,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: CBS give it really scant coverage. I hope they don't,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: and I don't want to be too cynical, but I
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: think they don't want voters to vote for Republicans. They
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: don't want a Republican Senate. They don't want a Republican House.
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  Speaker 1: They want Donald Trump to have a loss. And I
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  Speaker 1: think that by denying the airwaves, that will be one
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  Speaker 1: way that they can advance it. I hope I'm wrong.
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  Speaker 1: And we will find out today and tomorrow. But I
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  Speaker 1: will say, if that's the case, then it is particularly
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  Speaker 1: incumbent on all of us to share the content, particularly
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: the good and worthwhile content from the conference. Because if
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  Speaker 1: it's Look, even if it's just on Fox and Newsmax,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: one of the big things we need to do is
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: just turn out Republicans. Right now, Republicans, I think, are
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: in many respects disunited. And conservatives are unhappy about some things.
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  Speaker 1: Moderates are unhappy about other things. And there's time for squabbling.
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  Speaker 1: There's time for primaries. There's time for disagreements. This is
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  Speaker 1: not that time. We are in the crunch. And we
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  Speaker 1: need everyone to be united. So just talking to Republicans
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  Speaker 1: and to right-leading independents is valuable. But it's also valuable
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  Speaker 1: if the networks do effectively a boycott on communication. Then
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  Speaker 1: I think using social media, sharing key excerpts with other
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  Speaker 1: folks is going to be really important. It is.
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  Speaker 2: And you mentioned networks. It's very funny because I was
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: in there today doing TV, and I noticed that From
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  Speaker 2: a convention standpoint, the Fox News stage and Newsmax seem
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: very large. You did see that CNN had a decent-sized suite,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: that they looked like they had all their equipment. But
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  Speaker 2: the network seems smaller than usual, to me at least.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that goes back to what you're saying.
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  Speaker 2: The last thing they want to do is give the
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  Speaker 2: president primetime coverage.
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  Speaker 4: Uh.
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  Speaker 2: it airtime to go out there and remind the american
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  Speaker 2: people what he's done and let's go through that left
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: if if i'm looking at a a come out of
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: this midterm convention with an a-plus a it's gotta go
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: back to the it's the economy stupid right it's the
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: famous line in politics but it's so very true and
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: that is i think the president's remind people of what
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  Speaker 2: your taxes would look like if democrats other way they
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: vote against uh... the largest tax cut in my lifetime
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  Speaker 2: They vote against the big, beautiful bill. They vote against
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  Speaker 2: no tax on tip, no tax on overtime. That is
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  Speaker 2: what this has got to get down to is, hey,
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  Speaker 2: we understand, by the way, the pain at the pump
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  Speaker 2: right now. We are going to get that down. We
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  Speaker 2: understand that that's a frustration. However, let us remind you
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  Speaker 2: what you do have because of the Trump administration and
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  Speaker 2: because of conservatives in Congress just like you, Senator. That,
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  Speaker 2: to me, is the ballgame.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and by the way, I was with your old
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  Speaker 1: pals at CNN Tuesday night and on Caitlin Collins' show,
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  Speaker 1: and number one, I asked Caitlin, are you going to
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  Speaker 1: Dallas for the convention? She said no, and that kind
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  Speaker 1: of underscores the point I was saying that I think
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  Speaker 1: we're going to see everything other than Fox and Newsmax
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  Speaker 1: giving very limited coverage to what happens in Dallas. But
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  Speaker 1: I will say also that she was pressing me like
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  Speaker 1: crazy on gas prices. She clearly had talking points that
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  Speaker 1: gas prices are too high, and I pointed out, Well, look,
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  Speaker 1: they are higher this year than last year. But in
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  Speaker 1: both instances, they're much, much lower than they were under
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  Speaker 1: Joe Biden. You know, now they're just a little over
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  Speaker 1: four bucks a gallon. A year ago, they were three
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  Speaker 1: bucks a gallon. Under Biden, they were over five bucks
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  Speaker 1: a gallon. In California, they were six and seven dollars
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  Speaker 1: a gallon. And boy, she didn't want to hear that.
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  Speaker 1: She's like, no, no, no, no. But they're higher than
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  Speaker 1: they were last year under Trump. I'm like, in both instances,
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  Speaker 1: they're much lower than they are under Democrats. If you
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  Speaker 1: don't like high gas prices, don't vote for the Democrats
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  Speaker 1: because they want high gas prices, and boy, that was
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  Speaker 1: not a message CNN wanted to carry.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's part of, I think, why the speeches
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: are going to be important, especially for turning out conservative voters.
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  Speaker 2: The biggest thing that I worry about, and if you
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: go back, I jokingly say, take politics out of it,
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  Speaker 2: just look at history. Usually, the party that's not in
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: power in the White House in the midterms has usually
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: a big midterm because there's checks and balances or founding fathers.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: But that way we see these ebbs and flows. Rarely
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: do you see Republicans, if they're in office, get ad seats.
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  Speaker 2: You look at after 9-11. 9-11, that did happen with
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  Speaker 2: George Bush in my lifetime, for example, but traditionally that's
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  Speaker 2: not wrong. So you look at this and I say
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: to conservatives, and I think that's the message that Trump
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: has to hit home is, if you want the America
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  Speaker 2: first agenda, and you voted for it. Well, you voted
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  Speaker 2: for it for four years with me. You've got one
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  Speaker 2: more vote to get those full four years. You're going
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: to get two years, but we're almost at the end
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: of that, and we're going to need you to give
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: us another two years of that agenda. You can't stay home,
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: because if you do, the Democrats will stop everything you
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  Speaker 2: voted for two years ago.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: Well, and.
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  Speaker 1: The Trump legislative agenda, we've had big victories economically, the
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  Speaker 1: biggest tax cut in history, as you mentioned, no tax
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  Speaker 1: on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: We also, on law and order, law and order I
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: think should be a big theme of the convention, that
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: securing the border, illegal border crossings dropping 20%, the murder
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: rate dropping 99%, rather, illegal border crossings dropping 99%, the
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: murder rate dropping 20%. The number of deaths from drug overdoses,
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: dropping 20%. That's a real record of success that I
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: hope we lay out in detail because there are literally
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: thousands of Americans who are alive today because we secured
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: the border and we've been deporting gangbangers and criminals, and
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: that has made our families safer. That's made our kids safer.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: That record of success we should talk about, I hope
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: that we do, But I think every bit as important
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: is laying out the peril. Look, it is no longer
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: just sort of an ordinary, plain-Jane Democrat agenda. If you
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: look at the Marxist and the Islamist who are winning
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: from Mondami to the DSA candidates in Manhattan, three of
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: them that beat established Democrats, to Abdul Al-Sayed in in Michigan,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: to Colorado, to Florida, to Oklahoma. That is where the
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: energy and passion of the Democrat Party is. And not
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: every Democrat in the House and Senate is a communist
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: or an Islamist, but every one of them is terrified
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: of the communist and Islamist because every one of them
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: is looking over their left shoulder afraid of being primaried.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: And so That threat, you know, communism is not something
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: abstract or theoretical. It is something very real, and I
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: hope that this convention makes that clear. I'm certainly going
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: to make it clear on Thursday.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: So let's talk about, you've been on this book tour,
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: and if you haven't grabbed the book, it's a number
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: one New York Times bestseller. You're the author of it.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: It's a biography you did on Clarence Thomas. It is
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: an incredible book. You can grab it now wherever you
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: get your books. But you've done a lot of media,
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: and I would say adversarial media. One of the things
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: that I have noticed, and when I go on CNN
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: and some of the liberal shows, I was on Piers
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Morgan yesterday. It was one of those classic fights with
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: a bunch of liberals. I've noticed their messaging right now
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: is not exactly the strongest. Like, they're not yelling Orange
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Man bad. What they are saying is... Well, we're not
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: communist socialist Marxists per se. We're more in the middle.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: They're spending a lot of time having to, I guess,
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: defend what they are now. And a lot of people,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: I think, are having a hard time figuring out what
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: that is. Because one moment you got guys that are
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: out there saying that they think capitalism is a disease
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: and we should destroy it. And the next one's like, oh,
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: I didn't really mean that, referring to Mondani and then
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: some of these other guys outside that are out there.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: It is making me laugh that their policy right now
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: is let's try not to be as extreme as we
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: really are and dial it down. That's a weird strategy
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: going into a midterm as well.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: Well, that's right, and part of it is because their
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: nominees are really radical. They're radical and scary, and so–
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: The Democrat spin masters are trying to do everything they
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: can to cover up from their record, and the media
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: is too. I want you to listen to this exchange
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: I had Tuesday night with Caitlin Collins talking about James Tallarico.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: And Tallarico tries very hard to come across as a
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: nice guy, as affable, as not scary, and yet his record,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: I've got to say, more and more keeps breaking about
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: how extreme his record is. We covered in the podcast
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: last week how Tallarico was caught several years ago on
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: a Zoom call with Sierra Club left-wing activists saying that
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: he wanted to dismantle communism. Sorry, dismantle capitalism, rather. And,
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: you know, that's problematic for the message that he's a moderate. Well,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: listen to this back and forth with Caitlin Collins because, boy,
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: she was in damage control, basically trying to help Tallarico
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: as much as she could.
• 15:02
  Speaker 5: Who will Republicans have to blame? if Republicans lose Texas?
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Oh, listen, we have a real race in Texas, but
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: you know, we have a real race in most states
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: across the country.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: It's a midterm.
• 15:12
  Speaker 5: But Texas is Texas.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: I am fully aware of this, but you know what? Texas,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: like other states, we've got a bunch of liberals in Texas. Now,
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: we have more conservatives and more common sense Texans than
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: we have liberals, but the liberals are really ticked off
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: and they're energized. And I'll tell you, if you look
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: at this race, James Tallarico, I think, is a dangerous candidate.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: I think substantively he is radical and extreme. But he's
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: very good at seeming charming. He's very good at seeming innocuous. Personally,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: I prefer my wolves in wolves' clothing, not in sheep's clothing.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Here's why I think Ken Paxton is going to win.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Because Tallarico's record is fundamentally out of step with where
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: the people of Texas are. When James Tallarico says God
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: is non-binary, when he says there are six different genders,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: when he says we should have a welcome mat on
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: our southern borders, Those are not the values of Texans
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: when he says we want to end oil and gas.
• 16:04
  Speaker 5: Does Ken Paxton have the value of Texans?
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: Ken Paxton is fighting for.
• 16:07
  Speaker 5: He's had a lot of trouble on his own camp
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: by his own aides who've worked for him, who turned
• 16:11
  Speaker 5: him into the FBI, basically.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: Ken Paxton is fighting for policies that most Texans agree with.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Low taxes, low regulations, lots of jobs, securing the border,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: supporting law enforcement.
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: Those are the.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Policies that Texans agree with.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: And at the end of the day.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: This race is not about whether you personally like one
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: candidate or the other. This race is about, in Texas,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: what policies.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Are good for 32 million Texans.
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: And the policies of James Tallarico, look, Comrade Mondami knows
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: exactly who Tallarico is when he says he wants to
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: dismantle capitalism. So does Abdul Al-Sayed. He is a fellow
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: traveler with the DSA radicals in the Democrat Party. Look,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: James Tallarico is someone who ran a vegan campaign.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: Because he believes meat is destroying the world.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Now, that would be a great campaign in Berkeley, California,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: but it's not Texas.
• 17:03
  Speaker 5: He's not a democratic socialist.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: Okay, you say that.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: Tell me then what does dismantling capitalism mean?
• 17:10
  Speaker 5: That's his own words. Yeah, I know. CNN uncovered those words, actually.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: But now you're trying to help him back away from
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: him because he's recognizing a general election.
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: No, I just cited what his campaigner said about it.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: Of course he's running away from his record.
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: That doesn't mean that's not what he believes.
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, Senator, I love that back and forth there
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: because it goes back to that core, dismantling capitalism. It's
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: so funny. They're like, yeah, CNN found the words, and
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: you're absolutely right. They're trying to help those words go
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: away at the same time.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: You know, it really is funny, CNN saying, no, no, no, no,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: he's not a socialist, he's not a socialist. I just
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: asked the question, well, what does it mean to dismantle capitalism?
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: And his campaign put out a statement, oh, never mind,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: the words he said, and understand, these words, he was
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: on a Zoom call with all these left-wing radicals, they're
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: activists from the Sierra Club. This was just six years ago,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: and he was being very honest what he believes. And
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: CNN is trying to whitewash that. But I'll tell you,
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: new news is broken about Tallarico's extreme record. So for example,
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I talked about law and order, and I think law
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: and order should be a major issue on Election Day.
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: I think Republicans are not putting enough emphasis on it.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: Tallarico's record on law and order is really frightening. So
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: here's a quote he said in 2020. I'm really excited
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: about the formation of a bipartisan criminal justice reform caucus
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: in the Texas House with prominent Democrats and prominent Republicans
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: who understand that we have to move away from a
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: tough-on-crime approach to a smart-on-crime approach that I think, filters
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: down to our schools.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: Okay, that could be okay.
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Let's see what else he's saying. Quote, we are starting
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: an elementary school where we really pursue restorative practices that
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: are going to rehabilitate our students who are suffering from trauma,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: our students who are feeling unsafe in school, and our
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: students who harm a classroom community. Fox News continues saying
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: Tallarico was referring to, quote, restorative justice, a view that
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: links misbehavior to past personal and emotional experiences. In the
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: word of Texas Appleseed, a group that promotes social, economic,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: and racial justice, restorative justice in education emphasizes the relational
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: cost of conflict in a way to deter future bad behavior.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Restorative justice, when applied to a school setting, focuses on
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: how student behavior has harmed others and how to make amends.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: Schools use it to build community and strengthen student-school connections,
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: the group wrote in a definition submitted to lawmakers. The
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: approach is often mentioned as an alternative to, quote, zero-tolerance
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: policies that focus on punishments that deter discourage conduct. To Tallarico,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: its adoption could de-emphasize other forms of punishments. Quote, what
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: that means is really allowing students to repair the harms
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: that they've caused in a classroom community. It's a lot
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: more rigorous and a lot more effective than just expelling
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: a student or suspending a student or removing them from
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: the classroom community. Now, mind you, what he's saying is
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: that means violent criminals will stay in the classroom with
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: your kids, that they're not going to remove them. They're
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: not going to be suspended no matter how much violence
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: they're engaging in, no matter how many drugs they're dealing.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: And in the Texas legislature in 2021, Tallarico introduced a bill.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: It was HB 62, which would have moved schools away
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: from in-school suspension. So not even suspension out of school,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: in-school suspension. out-of-school suspension, and removing kids to alternative educational programs. Now,
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: the bill, which was this left-wing bill, stalled in committee,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: never became law. But in the wake of the Uvalde
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: school shooting, here's what Tallarico said. Quote, if we took
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: just half of what we spent on wars, prisons, and policing,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: and spend it on education, healthcare, and jobs, we could
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: make prisons obsolete. This is what he's saying in a
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: 2022 speech for incarcerated students. A little bit later in
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: the speech, Tallarico calls the idea of prisons themselves a
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: kind of violence. And here's what he says, quote, my
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: experience as a teacher, a legislator, and a Christian tells
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: me that birds don't belong in cages. Children, don't belong
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: in cages. People don't belong in cages. Poverty is violence.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: Pollution is violence. And yes, prison is violence. Quote, I'm
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: not asking you to join the system. I'm asking you
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: to change the system. Dismantle this system of violence. Now understand,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: he says prison is is violence. And what he called
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: for explicitly is dismantling this system of violence. In other words,
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: dismantling prisons. This is the abolish the police nonsense. And listen,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: there's a difference from Tallarico versus my last two opponents,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Beto O'Rourke and Colin Allred. Both Beto and Colin are
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: older than Tallarico. Tallarico is younger and he is of
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: the woke generation. generation, the generation that came up with
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: these idiocies like abolish the police, that came up with
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: Soros DAs that let murderers go. And here he is
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: on the record saying prison is violence. And by the way,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: he's saying nobody belongs in prison. He's not just saying
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: nonviolent drug offenses. Look, I would not lock kids up
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: for a nonviolent drug offense, particularly a small drug offense.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: But there's a difference between that and violence. And I've
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: always drawn A clear line, having spent a lot of
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: years in law enforcement, there are people who are murderers.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: There are people who are mass murderers. There are people
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: who are rapists. There are people who commit horrific acts
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: of sexual abuse and physical violence against kids.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: And you know what?
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: They belong in a damn cage. They belong in prison.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: And Tallarico is on record saying, no, no, no, don't
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: put them in prison. We need to dismantle. And he
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: likes that word dismantle. Remember, dismantle is also what he
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: wants to do to capitalism. He wants to dismantle prisons.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: He wants to dismantle capitalism. That is what communists do.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: And Tallarico pretends he's not. But if you look at
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: what he's calling for, it's the exact same thing the
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Marxists are calling for.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: And I think this goes back to what we mentioned earlier.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: If you take their own word, and if you share them.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: And this goes back to why Democrats don't want to
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: cover the convention that we mentioned earlier, because these are
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: the types of conversations that are going to be had.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: And so why would you want that out there? They
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: want you to believe that Talrico is this pastor-esque kind
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: of guy. They don't want you to believe he's the
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: guy that wants to dismantle capitalism. They don't want you,
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: as we get close to the anniversary of 9-11, for example,
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: to see all the radical things that have been said
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: by Al-Said and Hassan Piker and what they've said about
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: this country and, again, anniversary of 9-11 coming up. That
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: is the last thing they want you to know. But
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: if you look at their words and you look at
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: what they say, Like, I go back to that basic
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: point again. When they tell you what they believe, believe them.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: Hasan Piker said, quote, America deserved 9-11. And look, part
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: of how Tallarico tries to sound innocuous is he styles
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: himself as a pastor. And he went to seminary and
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: he styles himself as a Christian pastor. And that, look, look,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: to a voter who's not paying much attention, they think, well, gosh,
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: if he's a pastor, he can't be that radical.
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: He can't be that extreme.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: I want to focus on another story that broke, that showed,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I guess in some sense he's a pastor, but I
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: just want you to listen to this. And again, I'm
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: just quoting people's words. So Tallarico is a member of St.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, and he's been a member
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: there since he was two years old. For the last
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: 35 years, it's led by Reverend Jim Rigby, whom Tallarico
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: calls a mentor, and the Reverend Babs Miller, is the, quote,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: minister to the parish. So what does Pastor Babs Miller say?
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: She said, and I'm quoting, we still have people in
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: this church, and she's talking about when the Trump assassination
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: attempt happened in Butler, Pennsylvania. We still have people in
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: this church who wish that the young man had not
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: just nicked his ears, but had been more successful. This
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: is a pastor, supposed pastor, saying members of their church
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: wish that Donald Trump had been murdered on that field
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: in Butler, Pennsylvania.
• 26:04
  Speaker 3: And you know what?
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Don't take my word for it. I want you to
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: listen to her in her own words saying this. This
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: is James Tallarico's pastor. Give a listen.
• 26:13
  Speaker 6: If you polled our membership and asked them whether they
• 26:17
  Speaker 6: were Christian, agnostic, or atheist, the vast majority would say
• 26:22
  Speaker 6: agnostic or atheist. Because they don't buy the religion that
• 26:29
  Speaker 6: has been, that we got from the Puritans. We still
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: have people in this church that wish that that young
• 26:38
  Speaker 6: man had not just nicked his ear, but been more successful.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: Hearing a pastor, quote pastor, say it this way, and
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: understanding that is who is guiding his life, now it
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: all honestly makes sense to me.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: And I want you to listen to the first part
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: of the quote we played there. She says, and I quote,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: If you polled our members and asked them if they
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: were Christian, agnostic, or atheist, the vast majority would say
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: agnostic or atheist. So you may be wondering, look, how
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: can a Christian be rooting for the president of the
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: United States to be murdered? You and I disagreed with
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: Joe Biden. We disagreed with Barack Obama. We certainly didn't
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: share his being murdered. That would have been horrific. That
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: would have been terrible. And she's just matter of fact.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Our members wish that he had been shot dead, murdered,
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: assassinated that day. And if you wonder, well, how could
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: a Christian say such a thing? In her own words,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: not just the majority, the, quote, vast majority of the
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: church would say they're agnostic or atheist. So they're not
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: saying they're Christians. And it's unsurprising given the views they're articulating.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: And you might say, okay, all right, so he's the
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: member of this very, very liberal church. And it's not
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: even a church at that point. It's at least not
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: a Christian church. If they're saying we're not Christians, we're atheists,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know how you call that a church. But
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: you might say, okay, let's give Tallarico the benefit of
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: the doubt. Maybe his pastor's are saying they're not Christians.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Maybe the people who go to church with him are
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: saying they're not Christians, but Tallarico says he is, so
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: shouldn't we give him the benefit of the doubt? Well,
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: I want you to listen to what Tallarico says about
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: being a Christian.
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: I'm always so thrilled when I get invited to the
• 28:35
  Speaker 4: Diwali festival. I think I've gone two years in a
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: row now, and also have gotten a chance to speak
• 28:42
  Speaker 4: at some of our local mosques, and I find such
• 28:45
  Speaker 4: wisdom and comfort and inspiration from faith traditions all over
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: the world. And I find that they're all kind of
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: equal pathways to truth. That's how I think. I always
• 28:56
  Speaker 4: think of all of the world's faith traditions as like
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: a circle with that divine mystery of the universe in
• 29:03
  Speaker 4: the middle. And we all have different names for that mystery,
• 29:06
  Speaker 4: whether it's God or Yahweh or Allah or Nirvana, the
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: Great Spirit, whatever you call it, this is all, you know,
• 29:15
  Speaker 4: different pathways to the same kind of fundamental truth of reality.
• 29:19
  Speaker 4: So yeah, it's something I, it's how I try to
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: stay grounded and stay rooted.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: That's how you stay grounded and rooted. That's a faith
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: that I've never heard of before. I guess it's chameleon faith.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Ben, I'll say, I'm not in the business, I don't
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: make a practice of judging other people's faith. I I
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: think faith is a question between you and God. Salvation
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: is a question between.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: You and Jesus.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to sit here and stand in judgment
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: of people. But I am going to listen to the
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: words they say. And what he is saying, if you
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: say you're a Christian, I'm not going to second-guess.
• 29:56
  Speaker 3: You on that.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: But what he's saying there when he says, Every religion
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: is an equal pathway to the truth. So that is
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: directly contrary to the Bible, to the Word of God,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: and in particular, John 14, 6. Here's what Jesus said, quote,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Now,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: there are lots of doctrinal things people can disagree with,
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: and all sorts of differences. And I said, I'm not
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: going to be in the business of judging, but when
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: his pastor says the vast majority of people in the
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: church say they're atheists or agnostics, if you tell me
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: you're an atheist or agnostic, you're not a Christian. Being
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: a Christian means you believe in Jesus as your Lord
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: and Savior. You have accepted his death on the cross
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: in payment for your sins, and it is through grace,
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: through his sacrifice, that you are saved. That's the essence
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: of being a Christian. You can have all sorts of
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: disagreements about, you know, baptism, do you dunk or dip?
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: You and I are both Southern Baptists, we believe in dunking,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: but look, as far as I'm concerned, the heart, and
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: by the way, this is not my view, any pastor
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: who gives their own view, run away. What the Bible
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: says the heart of Christianity is, is believing in Jesus
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: Christ for salvation, and what Tallarico is saying, and by
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: the way, it's the exact same thing this very left-wing
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: pastor of a megachurch up at Kansas who's running for
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Senate there, the Democrats are finding these people that call
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: themselves Christians who say you don't actually have to believe
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: in Jesus. Well, if you're standing up saying you don't
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: have to believe in Jesus, that is by definition saying
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: you're not a Christian. Now, you can be not a Christian,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: but don't pretend to be a Christian. And I got
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: to say, you know, I think, to use a different
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: observation from Jesus, you shall know the truth and the
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: truth shall set you free. I believe these elections, the
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: next 56 days, are all about speaking the truth. Look,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: what we've laid out about Tallarico, about other candidates, is
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: just quoting their records, saying what they are saying. And
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: that's what CNN, it's what the media desperately doesn't want
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: you to know, is their actual record, what they say.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: They don't want you to know James Tallarico wants to
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: dismantle capitalism. And they're going to do everything they can
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: to hide it, but we've got 56 days just to
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: expose the truth. And I think if we do that,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: we'll have a very good election.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: Final question for you on this. We've seen that President
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: Donald Trump and his super PAC, they put $ 10 million
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: into this race against Puerto Rico. About half of that
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: apparently is going to be to explain what Kim Paxton
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: is in favor of, and the other half is going
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: to be used apparently to explain– exactly who Tallarico is,
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: I think that's certainly a step in the right direction. Clearly,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: the president believed this is a really important race, and
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: that's why this is their first big campaign donation of
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: the season.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Yes, I'm glad the president is doing that. I've urged
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the president to continue investing. I've urged the National Republican
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: Senatorial Committee to invest. This is going to be, I
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: think this is going to be about $ 200 million between
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: now and Election Day. And Tallarico and the Democrats have
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: unlimited funds. If we can spend enough money to communicate
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: Tallarico's record and Paxton's record, we'll win. But we can't
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: be outspent 5 to 1 or 10 to 1. If
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: that happens, we lose. So let's not let that happen. Yeah.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: I agree with you there. We're going to have our
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: next show here from the convention as well, so don't
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: miss that. Make sure you hit subscribe or auto-download wherever
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: you're listening to this podcast. And, Senator, I will see
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: you back here from the Republican convention in a couple
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: of days.