10-16-25 *INTERVIEW* Ryan Schuiling with Ted Cruz

There are more than 200 left-wing groups behind these no-kings rallies this weekend. They deliberately are blind to what each of the others are doing. That's part of how they avoid accountability. RICO is designed for precisely that sort of criminal enterprise. And so I believe the Senate we ought to take up and vote on and pass our stop funders legislation. And I've urged both Pam Bondi at DOJ and Kash Patel at FBI. Follow the money and prosecute those who are writing checks, funding acts of violence, political violence, or otherwise across the country. And Senator Ted Cruz joins your host, Ryan Shuling, here on K-O-A. Senator, thank you for your time. Ryan, good to be with you. Thanks for having me. Now, the timing of these no-kings rallies throughout the country is humorous to me in the wake of what President Trump just accomplished in the Middle East. Do you see that irony as well? And what are they implying that Donald Trump is a king? Well, unfortunately, the left in today's Democrat Party has devolved into just really a party of anger and hate for Donald Trump. I mean, that's the one unifying principle. uh... it's the reason we have a government shut down right now is they're all trying to demonstrate to the radical left how much they hate donald j trump and and these protests are are organized and and you know the point you just played that clip from last night but the point that i was making these protests are not organic they're not just springing up magically There is real money behind these. And this has been a pattern that has extended for a number of years. You go back to the Antifa and the Black Lives Matter riots all across the country where we saw American cities burning. We saw police cars being firebomb. We saw people being murdered. You go back to the anti-Semitic riots on college campuses. You go back to the pro-open borders and pro-illegal immigration riots in Los Angeles and other cities. All of those were funded. I'm not the only person who noticed on the anti-Semitic college campus protests that the tents all match, that there's clearly money, significant money that is flowing. And the same is true for these so-called no-kings rallies, that you have the George Soros networks and you have others that are funding this. And I believe the way to stop this organized left-wing violence is not just prosecute the individual to commit the violence, but go after and prosecute the people writing the checks and paying for what is in effect domestic terrorism. If you're threatening violence and doing so for a political agenda, that is unacceptable. And if you're paying people to do that, that is a criminal act. One of those No King's rallies coming here to Denver this Saturday, and Ted Cruz implying that there might be RICO predicates in the form of the funding for those so-called rallies that I agree with the Senator, they are far from organic and just spontaneous. Senator Ted Cruz, our guest, reminder, you can catch his daily podcast on the IHeart Radio app entitled Verdict with Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson, also a part of that, and we want to make sure that you are aware that you can subscribe, download, and listen to that podcast. Ted Cruz,

Town Hall last night on CNN. Caitlin Susan Collins was the moderator, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a big part of that. Bernie Sanders didn't know what he was in for with this questionnaire, though. How do you think this shutdown reflects on Chuck Schumer's leadership? Well, I think it reflects more on Mike Johnson's leadership and President Trump's leadership. This is a leadership which said... It's okay to give a, well, how do you feel? You tell me, I think it's a good idea to give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest people in the country and then make massive cuts, their health care for working class people? I think Chuck Schumer has voted for continuing resolutions 13 times in the last four years, and he has the opportunity to vote for one again, but he's refusing to come to the table. I think, look. Oh, talk about your all-time backfires. Chuck Schumer is trying to pin this shutdown on the Republican, Ted Cruz, but I don't know that that narrative is playing in Peoria. No, it is not, and it's not because it's false. And the questioner who was questioning Bernie last night is exactly right. This is the Chuck Schumer shutdown. We are right now on day 16 of the Chuck Schumer shutdown. And the reason we have the shutdown is really twofold. Number one, the Democrats have shut the government down because they want to try to force free taxpayer-funded health care for illegal aliens. And in particular, in the one big beautiful bill that we passed this summer that President Trump signed on the 4th of July, we explicitly put a prohibition on Medicaid funds going to illegal immigrants. The Democrats are insisting they will not reopen the government unless we repeal. That prohibition on funding illegal immigrants. And so that is not a position the American people support. The American people don't want to give free health care to illegals, but the extremes in the Democrat Party do. But I'll tell you, Ryan, secondly, and what this shutdown is about even more than that, is Chuck Schumer is facing a political crisis, which is back in March when we had the last expiration of government funding. The Democrats actually worked in a bipartisan manner with Republicans, and we kept the government open. And Chuck Schumer almost lost his job. The radical left got furious with him, and Chuck Schumer is looking over his left shoulder, and he sees Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez breathing down his neck getting ready to primary him. And the reason the government shut down today is Chuck Schumer is trying to prove to the crazy radicals. that he hates Donald Trump as much as they do. And so the questioner was exactly right. When Joe Biden was president, 13 different times, we passed a clean continuing resolution. That meant Republicans cooperated with Democrats to keep the government open. Today, the House has passed a clean CR. We could do it the 14th time, but no. Chuck Schumer has to prove to all the crazies in the No King's rally that he just, he's motivated by just as much hate for Trump as they are. And it really is a shame that you're saying federal workers held hostage and the U.S. government held hostage for what is an empty political stunt.

to appeal to the extreme left of the Democrat Party. Senator Ted Cruz, our guest, I want to follow up on what you just said, Senator, with this other excerpt from that town hall on CNN last night, I don't think this played very well for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders goes off on a tangent when they are asked if the plan is to primary Chuck Schumer and if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will be the one to do it. But are you saying that Chuck Schumer should not be worried about a primary challenge from you? I mean, no. Let me jump in on this one. This is what we're talking about. That's exactly what we're talking about. You have a country that is falling apart. We're at a house housing crisis, a health care crisis, an education crisis, massive income and wealth and equality, a corrupt campaign finances them, and the media says, oh, you're going to run what are you going to run for? Nobody cares. Nobody cares. It's the House Speaker and President Trump and the Vice President saying it. Pardon? Well, of course, they're saying it to deflect attention away from the real issue. Exactly. And he'll tell you what the real issue is. Let's see if CNN talks about it. We're living in the richest country in the history of the world, right? All right, you tell me why we're the only nation not to guarantee health care at all people. The only nation not to guarantee paid family and medical leave. Why we have a $7.25 an hour minimum wage. Why we have 800,000 people sleeping out on the street. Why we have a president who denies the reality of climate change. Why we have oligoths on top who have more and more power every day. Let's talk about that issue, not her own political future. She'll decide that. Ted Cruz, what does it say to you that they reacted so violently to that question as to whether Chuck Schumer's leadership is to be challenged? because they know the answer is yes. That for all intents and purposes, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is acting as the Democrat minority leader in the Senate, that she is leading Chuck Schumer around, like she has a ring through his nose. And wherever she wants to go, he happily follows. I will say, I predicted this before. I actually think Chuck Schumer will be the inaugural member of the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for president team, and he's going to try to convince her, Alexandria, you're really far too important to think about something as lowly as Senate. You belong in the Oval Office. I think that's Chuck Schumer's plan. He's going to try to convince her of that. But listen. Bernie and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the entire Democrat Party, they are radical and they are extreme. I've done three different town hall debates with Bernie Sanders on CNN. And in fact, like he was asking, why don't we have socialized health care? Well, the answer is because it doesn't work. At every place that it does implement it, you have scarcity, and you have rationing, you have the federal government telling you you can't get the health care you want. And I'll tell you a response that I've given Bernie when he asked that question is, you know, Ryan,

It was an incredible success. We had B-2 bombers fly halfway around the world, deliver bunker-busting bombs to take out three nuclear facilities, including the Fordow facility that's literally built in the bottom of a mountain. uh... to develop nuclear weapons and understand iran was working to develop nuclear weapons because i believe they intended to use them when the ayatollah chance death to america and death to israel i believe him and so president trump is a strong commander in chief that bombing strike was incredibly effective and you know you played that that Tucker Carlson exchange i got to say Tucker Carlson publicly said he tried very hard to convince President Trump not to bomb the nuclear weapons facilities in Iran. And Tucker Carlson predicted, he said, if we bomb those facilities, the result will be World War III. He said thousands of Americans will die. And he said Iran will beat us. Iran will win World War III and beat the United States of America. Now, Ryan, those predictions were laughably absurdly wrong. Instead, what happened is we utterly destroyed their nuclear weapons facility, and that demonstration of strength. Look, Iran is the chief patron of Hamas and Hezbollah, more than 90% of the funds for Hamas and Hezbollah come from Iran, and when Iran lost that war... It broke the spirit and broke the back of Hamas, and it's why we have the historic peace accord in Israel and in Gaza right now because we have a strong commander-in-chief in Donald Trump. And so my simple message on that is Donald Trump was right and Tucker Carlson was wrong. Senator Ted Cruz, our guest. Now, he is a primary sponsor to keep AM radio in cars. This is a pivotal moment for us here at IHeart. And, of course, you can catch his daily podcast, the verdict with Ted Cruz right on the IHeart radio app along with Ben Ferguson. But a final question on a lighter note, Senator, they are shutting down the MTV music channels in the UK. And it's only a matter of time before it happens here in the United States. Your all-time favorite music video on MTV is? Oh, I'd have to say Michael Jackson's thriller. I was a teenager then. It's very funny. My press secretary is looking at me completely confused. I think she wasn't alive when thriller came out. But, you know, when suddenly everyone started dancing as zombies, that was a fun time in teenage years. Making news right here. I heart Denver. Senator Ted Cruz joining us here today. Senator, so grateful for your time. Thank you so much and continue the good work there on Capitol Hill. Take care. God bless.