GOP Convention in Texas, plus Talarico Called for “Dismantling” Prisons & Argued All Religions are Equally True

0:00This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed Human This is an I Heart Podcast.

1:00This is an I Heart Podcast. This is an I Heart Podcast.

2:00Welcome, it is Vertico Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you and so nice to have you with us. senator i tell you what it's convention week uh... this is the first time in history you and i i'm already in Dallas you're about to be on your way uh... and it is uh... going to be very interesting a midterm convention i got here a lot of people are actually really excited well there's never been one before this was president trump's idea i think it's a terrific idea it's a good chance to make the case to the voters were fifty six days out from election day and and this is the most consequential midterm election i think of our lifetimes and this convention we're gonna have two days when staying thursday of speakers that are going to lay out

3:03the stakes of this election uh... both the policy victories that we've had as republicans in the last two years i believe under president trump and a republican house and senate we have had more conservative victories in the last two years than any period since you and i have been alive and i think look if you're termally online if you just listen to twitter all day long you think nothing has happened there been no victories well i hope this convention lays out the case because we've accomplished an enormous amount including securing the border passing the biggest tax cut in history rebuild in the military passing the biggest school choice program in history passing the trump accounts these are huge victories and and winning in the midterms is how we continue to get more and more victories for the american people but secondly every election's about a choice it's about number one the path if our side prevails but it's number two the path of the democrats prevail and in an ordinary cycle the democrats prevailing is is not good for the country their their policies i think are harmful i think most

4:05listeners a verdict degree to that now especially with the radicalism that is in the democrat party with the green red alliance as the islamist and the marxist are coming together and are in the midst of what is essentially a hostile takeover of the democrat party their winning in the midterms is all the more consequential and i hope that this convention makes that case plain for everyone watching and i hope everyone does watch yeah it's gonna be really interesting we're gonna break down what those issues are that we've got to talk about in just a moment if you're going to change someone's life you want to know what actually last and that's one reason compassion international has become one of the most trusted child development ministries in the world independent research shows children sponsored through compassion stay in school longer are 40 percent more likely to graduate high school and 80 percent more likely to finish college and that's because sponsorship isn't just temporary relief it's long-term

5:08investment through the local church meeting the fiscal needs while sharing the hope of jesus now i want you to join me and doing some is truly incredible for just forty three hours a month you can help shape a child's future and it's so easy go to sponsor a child today at compassion dot com you can sponsor a child today at compassion dot com that's compassion dot com center you're about to be on your way to Dallas as well i can tell you the energy here is real i was flying in people were excited on the plane they were coming in for this midterm convention i went over to some tv in the convention hall uh... you could feel the buzz already it does have the feel and the look of a presidential uh... election year convention you and i've been the countless conventions this is i think going to be a virtually no different if you're in the room but the important part is the president has to make the case and so

6:09to the other speakers you're speaking on thursday for example that this election is a comparing contrast uh... of the democratic socialist of america with the democratic party has become uh... higher taxes taking away your right to to do what you want to do and and freedom and private sector in business and oil and gas and what the democrats want to do which is a one eighty from that this case though center has to be sold i think very well to the american people for to be effective yeah now i think that's exactly right uh... and i hope the president does a very very focus speech laying out the consequences of each potential outcome of this election focusing on the policy victories that we've had together and also focused on the threat from the democrats because the threat is real it is extreme uh... that's certainly what my remarks are going to focus on and and as you said i'm addressing the convention thursday right about five o'clock texas time about six o'clock east east coast time and i'm gonna focus on the fundamental choice that it that is before americans

7:12i i will say there's one aspect in which this is different from a a typical convention every four years which is conventions usually move public opinion and they move it significantly because the networks all devote prime time several hours to the convention for typically several nights uh... during each convention and that has an effect that's a lot of coverage it is not clear how much coverage this midterm convention is going to get i'm certain fox news is gonna cover it i'm certain newsmax is gonna cover it but i think there's a very good chance that cnn abc nbc cbs give it really scant coverage that that uh... i hope they don't uh... and i don't want to be too cynical uh... but i i think they don't want the voters to vote for republicans they don't want a republican senate they don't want a republican house they want don't trump to have a loss and i think that that by denying the airwaves that will be one way that they can

8:13advance that i hope i'm wrong and we we will find out uh... we will find out today in tomorrow but but i will say if that's the case then it is particularly incumbent on all of us to share the content particularly the good and worthwhile content from the conference because if it's look even if it's just on on fox and newsmax one of the big things we need to do is just turn out republicans right now yeah republicans i think are in many respects dis united and conservatives are unhappy about some things moderates are unhappy about other things and there's time for squabbling there's time for primaries there's time for disagreements this is not that time we are in the crunch and we need everyone to be united so just talking to to to republicans and to write leading independence is valuable but it's also valuable if the networks do effectively a boycott on communication then i think using social media sharing key excerpts with with other folks is

9:15going to be really important it is and you mentioned the network that's very funny because i was in there today doing tv and i noticed that from a convention standpoint the fox that news stage and newsmax seem very large uh... you did see that team and had a decent size sweet that they look like they had all their equipment but the network seems smaller than usual to me at least uh... and i think that goes back to what you're saying they do the last thing they want to do is give the president prime time uh... airtime to go out there and remind the american people what he's done and let's go through that list if if i'm looking at a a come out of this midterm convention with an a plus it's got to go back to the it's the economy stupid right it's the famous line and politics but it's so very true and that is i think the president has to remind people of what your taxes would look like if democrats had their way they vote against uh... the largest tax cut in my lifetime they vote against the big beautiful bill they vote against no

10:17tax on tip no tax on over time that is what this is got to get down to is hey we understand by the way the pain at the pump right now we are going to get that down we understand that that the frustration however let us remind you what you do have because of the trump administration and because the conservative uh... in congress just like you center that to me is the ballgame well and by the way i was with your old pals at cnn twos day night and and on katelyn collins a show and number one i ask katalan are you going to Dallas for the convention she said now and and that kind of underscores the the point i was saying that i think we're gonna see everything other than fox and newsmax giving very limited coverage to what happens in Dallas uh... but but i will say also that she was pressing me like crazy on gas prices she clearly had talking points that gas prices are too high and i pointed out well look that they are higher this year than last year but in both instances they're much much lower than they were under jobot and

11:19you know now they're just over four bucks a gallon a year ago they were three bucks a gallon underbiting they were over five bucks a gallon in california they were six and seven dollars a gallon and boy she didn't want to hear that she's like no no no but they're higher than they were last year under trump unlike in both instances they're much lower than they are under democrats if you don't like high gas prices don't vote for the democrats because they want high gas prices and boy that was not a message cn wanted to carry yeah and that's part of i think why the speeches are gonna be important especially for turning out conservative voters that that the biggest thing that i worry about and and if you go back take take i jokingly say take politics out of it just look at history usually the party that's not in power in the white house in the midterms has usually a big midterm because there's checks and balances are founding fathers but that way we see these ed's and flows rarely do you see republicans if they're in office get will get add seats that you look at after nine eleven that did happen with george bush in my lifetime for example but

12:23traditionally that's not wrong so you look at this and i say to conservative and i think that the message that trump has to hit home is if you want the america first agenda and you voted for it well you voted for for four years of me you've got one more vote to get those full four years you're gonna get two years but but we're almost at the end of that and we're gonna need you to give us another two years of that agenda you can't stay home because if you do the democrats will stop everything you voted for two years ago well and and the trump legislative agenda we've had big victories economically the biggest tax cut in history as you mentioned no tax on tips no tax on so security no tax on over time uh we also on law and order law and order i think should be a big theme of of of the convention that securing the border illegal border crossings dropping 20% the murder rate dropping to ninety nine percent rather illegal border crossings dropping

13:25ninety nine percent the murder rate dropping 20% the number of deaths from drug overdoses dropping 20% that that's a real record of success that i hope we lay out in in detail because there are literally thousands of americans who are alive today because we secured the border and we've been deporting gangbangers and criminals and and that has made our family safer that's made our kids safer that record of success we should talk about i hope that we do but i think every bit as important is laying out the peril look at it it it it is no longer just sort of an ordinary plain jane democrat agenda if you look at the marxist and the islamist who are winning from mandami to the dsa candidates in manhattan three of them that be established democrats to abdual al-sayed in in michigan to to colorado to florida to oculahoma

14:28that is where the energy and passion of of the democrat party is and and not every democrat in the house and senate is a communist or an islamist but every one of them is terrified of the communist and islamist because every one of them is looking over their left soul shoulder afraid of being primary and so that threat you know communism is not something abstract or theoretical it is something very real and i hope that this this convention makes that clear i'm certainly going to make it clear on thursday so let's talk about you've been on this book tour and if you haven't grabbed the book it's a it's a number one year times best seller uh... you're the author of it it's a bag of you did on cramps tomas it is an incredible book you can grab it now wherever but you've done a lot of media and and i would say abacerial media one of the things that i have noticed and and when i go on cnn and and some of the liberal shows up on pierce morgan jess david's one of this classic fights with a bunch of liberals i've noticed their messaging right now is not

15:31exactly the strongest like they're not yelling orange man bad what they are saying is well we're not we're not coming to socialist marxas per se where we're more in the middle there's spending a lot of time having to i i guess defend what they are now and a lot of people i think are having a hard time figuring out what that is because one moment you got guys are out there saying that they think capitalism is a disease and we should destroy it and the next one's like oh i didn't really mean that referring to you know mondani and and then some of these other guys that i'll say that that are out there it is making me laugh that their policy right now is let's try not to be as extreme as we really are and dial it down that's a weird strategy going into a midterm as well well that that's right and and part of it is because their nominees are are really radical their radical and scary and and so the democrats been masters are trying to do everything they can to cover up from their record and and the media is too i want you to listen to this exchange

16:33i had to stay night with katlyn collins talking about james telerico and and telerico tries very hard to come across as as a nice guy as affable as not scary and yet his record i got to say more and more keeps breaking about how extreme his record is we covered in the podcast last week how telerico was caught several years ago on a zoom call with with seara club left wing activists saying that he wanted a dismantle communism that we're sorry dismantle capitalism rather and uh... you know that's problematic for the message that he's a moderate well listen to this back and forth with katlyn collins because boy she was in damage control uh basically tried to help telerico as much as she could who will republicans have to blame if republicans lose texas oh listen we have a real race in texas but you know we have a real race in most states across the country it's a midterm the texas is texas i i i am fully aware of this but you know what texas like other

17:37states we got a bunch of liberals in texas now we have more conservatives and more common sense texas than we have liberals but the liberals are really ticked off and they're energized and i'll tell you if you look at this race james telerico i think is a dangerous candidate i think substantively he is radical and extreme but he's very good at seeming charming he's very good at seeming innocuous personally i prefer my wolves in wolves clothing not in sheep's clothing here's why i think ken pakson's gonna win because telerico's record is fundamentally out of step with where the people of texas texas are when james telerico says god is non-binary when he says there there's six different genders when he says we should have a welcome mat on our southern border those are not the values of texas when he says we want to end oil and gas just ken pakson have the value of texas ken pakson is fighting a lot of trouble on his own camp by zone aid to work for him can't turn them into the FBI basically is fighting for policies that most texas agree with low taxes low regulations lots of jobs securing the border supporting law enforcement

18:42those are the policies that texas agree with it at the end of the day this race is not about whether you personally like one candidate or the other this race is about in texas what policies are good for thirty two million texas and the policies of james telerico look comrad mandami knows exactly who telerico is when he says he wants to dismantle capitalism so so does abdual alseid he is a fellow traveler with the ds a radicals in the democrat party look james telerico is someone who's who who ran a vegan campaign because he believes meat is destroying the world now that would be a great campaign in burtley california but it's not texas he's not a democratic socialist but uh... you say that tell me tell me then what is the what is dismantling cat capitalism mean but these i i it's his own words yeah i know that see it in uncovered those words actually but but now you're trying to help him back away from him because he's recognized in a general election what his campaign has said about it we've also

19:42signed it's he's running away from his record that doesn't mean that's not what he believes i mean center i i love that back and forth there because it goes back to that core dismantling capitalism it's so funny i can't see it in found the words and you're absolutely right they're trying to help those words go away at the same time uh... you know it really is funny cnn saying no no no he's not a socialist not a socialist i just asked the question well what does it mean to dismantle capitalism and his campaign put out a statement oh never mind the words he said and understand these words he was on a zoom call with all these left wing radicals their activists from the cera club this was just six years ago and he was being very honest what he believes and cnn is trying to whitewash that but but i'll tell you there new news is broken about taleriko's extreme record so for example i talked about law and order and i think law and order should be a major issue on election day i think republicans are not putting enough emphasis on it taleriko's record on law and order is is really frightening so so here's a quote he said in 2020

20:43i'm really excited about the formation of a bipartisan criminal justice reform caucus in the texas house with prominent democrats and prominent republicans who understand that we have to move away from a tough on crime approach to a smart on crime approach that i think filters down to our schools okay that that could be okay let's let's let's see what else he's saying quote we're starting an elementary school where we really pursue restorative practices that are going to rehabilitate our students who are suffering from trauma our students who are feeling unsafe in school and our students who harm a classroom community fox news continues we're saying taleriko was referring to quote restorative justice a view that links misbehavior to past personal and emotional experiences in the word of texas apple seed a group that promotes social economic and racial justice restorative justice and education emphasizes the rational the relational cost of conflict in a way to deter future bad behavior restorative justice

21:45when applied to a school setting focuses on how student behavior is harmed others and how to make amends schools use it to build community and strengthen student school connections the group wrote a definition submitted to law lawmakers the approach is often mentioned as an alternative to quote zero tolerance policies that focus on punishments that deter discourage conduct to taleriko its adoption could deemphasize other forms of punishments quote what that means is really allowing students to repair the harms that they've caused in a classroom community it's a lot more rigorous and a lot more effective than just expelling a student or suspending a student or removing them from the classroom community now mind you what he's saying is that means violent criminals will stay in the classroom with your kids that they're not going to remove them they're not going to be suspended no matter how much violence they're engaging in no matter how many drugs they're dealing and and in the texas legislature in 2021 taleriko introduced a bill it was hb 62 which would have moved schools away from in school suspension so not even suspension out

22:51of school in school suspension out of school suspension and removing kids to alternative educational programs now the bill which was this left wing bill stalled in committee never became law but in the wake of the uvalde school shooting here here's what here's what taleriko said quote if we took just half of what we spent on wars prisons and policing and spend it on education health care and jobs we could make prisons obsolete this is what he's saying in a 2022 speech for incarcerated students a little bit later in the speech taleriko calls the idea of prisons themselves a kind of violence here's what he says quote my experience as a teacher a legislator and a Christian tells me that birds don't belong in cages children don't belong in cages

23:53people don't belong in cages poverty is violence pollution is violence and yes prison is violence quote i'm not asking you to join the system i'm asking you to change the system dismantle this system of violence now understand he says prison is violence and what he called for explicitly is dismantling this system of violence in other words dismantling prisons this is the abolish the police nonsense and listen there's a difference from taleriko versus my last two opponents beto aurora can and call an all red both beto and collin are older than taleriko taleriko is younger and he is of the woke generation the generation that came up with these ideacies like abolish the police that came up with soros d a's that let murderers go and here he is on the record

24:58saying prison is violence and by the way he's saying nobody belongs in prison he's not just saying nonviolent drug offenses look i i i would not lock kids up for a nonviolent drug offense particularly a small drug offense but there's a difference between that and violence and i've always drawn a clear line having spent a lot of years in law enforcement there are people who are murderers there are people who are mass murders there are people who are rapists there people who commit horrific acts of sexual abuse and physical violence against kids and you know what they belong in a damn cage they belong in prison and and taleriko is on record saying no no don't put them in prison we need to dismantle and and he likes that word dismantle remember dismantle is also what he wants to do to capitalism he wants to dismantle prisons he wants to dismantle capitalism that is what communists do and taleriko pretends he's not but if you look at what he's calling for it's the exact same thing the Marxist are calling for hitting your protein goals has never

25:59been this easy or tasted so good introducing skypot protein soda the refreshing soda with 10 grams of complete protein and no misleading collagen fillers visit your local Costco now and pick up the variety pack featuring three delicious flavors light refreshing and ready for wherever your day takes you it's any time protein that helps you reach higher skypot protein soda reach for the sky pick up your skypot protein soda variety pack today at your local Costco looking for something new try fencing the Olympic and Paralympic sport that mixes speed strategy and fun it's like chess meets cardio quick feet quick decisions and a satisfying beep when you score a point kids teens and adults can start anytime no experience needed and many clubs have loner gear coaches teach fundamentals and safety from day one find a beginner class for your kids near you at try fencing dot org that's try fencing dot org get the feeling you should maybe

26:59get out more see and do more totally normal so as staying stuck as finding out what and where just seems hard a do more subscription brings your concerts and comedy sports and museums for seven scrawny bucks a month you get at least one pair of tickets to something great discover new bands laugh learn do more and right now do more makes interesting and adventurous easy because your first month's free at do more stuff dot com slash free they say not all heroes where capes but with the heart for its employee benefits for small business brokers can feel like they do life disability accident critical illness and more all the big benefits you trust us for scaled for small businesses to bundle and save and what really matters it's easy and effortless for them and you so while capes may be optional the heart for its employee benefits are not visit the heart for dot com today because what works for your small business customers can work even harder for you it's fall in jeep country and during the drive into fall sales events get a great deal on four by

28:02fours that refuse to be contained like jeep rankler confidence built into every drive with the most awarded SUV ever jeep grand Cherokee and freedom that can't be denied with the open air freedom and jeep gladiator after eighty five years it's no surprise that jeep became America's SUV brand get a great deal during the jeep driving to fall sales event jeeps one more awards over its lifetime than any other SUV brand jeep and the jeep grill register trade marks of fca uslc and i think this goes back to what we mentioned earlier if you take their own words and if you share them and and this goes back to why democrats don't want to cover the convention that we mentioned earlier because these are the types of conversations that are going to be had and so why would you want that out there they want you to believe that how reco is this past arrest kind of guy they don't want you to believe you the guy that wants to dismantle capitalism they don't want you uh... as we get close to the anniversary none eleven for example to see all the radical things have been said by al-said and has on piker and and what they've said

29:04about this country and and and again anniversary of not eleven coming up that is the last thing they want you know but if you look at their words and you look at what they say like i i go back to that basic one again when they tell you what they believe believe them as on piker said quote america deserved nine eleven and look part of how teloriko tries to sound innocuous is he styles himself as a pastor and he went to seminary and he styles himself as a Christian pastor and and that look looked to to a voter is not paying much attention they think well gosh if he's a pastor he can't be that radically can't be that extreme i want to focus on another story that broke that that that showed i guess in some sense he's a pastor but i just want you to listen to this and again i'm i'm just quoting people's words so teloriko is a member of saint andrus presbyterian church in austin and he's been been a member there since he was two years old for the last thirty five years it's led by reverend jim jim rigby whom teloriko calls a mentor

30:09and the reverend babs millis miller is the quote minister to the parish so what does does pastor babs miller say she said and i'm quoting we still have people in this church and she's talking about when the trump assassination attempt happened in butler pennsylvania we still have people in this church who wish that the young man had not just nicked it he nicked his ear but had been more successful this is a pastor supposed pastor saying members of their church wish that don't trump had been murdered on that field in butler pennsylvania you know what don't take my word for it i want you to listen to her in her own words saying this is james teloriko's pastor give a listen if you pulled our membership and ask them whether they were christian agnostic or atheists the vast majority would say agnostic

31:14or atheists so i don't buy the religion that has been that we invite but that we that we got from the puritans we still have people in this church that we said that young man had not just nicked his ear but been more successful hearing a pastor quote pastor say it this way and understanding that is who is guiding his life now it all honestly makes sense to me and i want you to listen to the first part of the quote we played there she says and i quote if you pulled our members and ask them if they were christian agnostic or atheist the vast majority would say agnostic or atheist so you may be wondering look how can a christian be rooting for the president of the united states to be murdered you and i disagreed with joe biden we disagreed with brocco bama we certainly didn't

32:16cheer his being murdered that would have been horrific that would have been terrible and and she she's just matter of fact you know our members wish that he had been shot dead murdered assassinated that day and if you wonder well how could a christian say such a thing in her own words the not just the majority the quote vast majority of the church would say their agnostic or atheist so they're not saying their christians and it's unsurprising given the views they're articulating and you might say okay all right so he's the member of this this very very liberal church and it's not even a church at that point if they it's at least not a christian church if they're they're saying we're not christians were atheist i don't know how you call that a church but you might say okay let's let's give taleriko the benefit of the doubt maybe his pastors are saying they're not christians maybe the people go to church with him are saying they're not christians but but taleriko says he is so shouldn't we give him the benefit of the doubt well i want you to listen

33:17to what taleriko says about being christian i'm always so so thrilled when i get invited you know to the duole festival i think i've gone two years in a row now um and you know also um have gotten a chance to speak at somewhere local mosques and i find such wisdom and comfort and inspiration from faith traditions all over the world um and i find that they're all kind of a equal pathways to truth you know that's how i think that you know i i always think of all of the world state traditions as like a circle with you know that that divine mystery of the universe in the middle and we all have different names for that mystery you right whether it's god or yaway or ala or nirvana a great spirit whatever you call it um this is all you know different pathways to the same kind of fundamental truth of of of reality so yes it's something i i i'm it's it's how i how i try to stay grounded and stay rooted that's how you stay grounded rooted that of faith that i've

34:21i've never heard of before i guess it's chameleon faith i don't know ben i'll say i'm not in the business i don't make a practice of judging other people's faith i think faith is a question but between you and god salvation is a question between you and jesus i i'm not going to sit here and and stand in judgment of people but i'm going to listen to the words they say and and what he is saying it if you say you're a christian i'm not going to second guess you on that but but what he's saying there when he says every religion is an equal pathway to the truth so that is directly contrary to the bible to the word of god and in particular john 146 here's what jesus said quote jesus answered i am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me now there are lots of doctrinal things people can disagree with and and all sorts of differences and i said i'm not going to be in the business of judging but when his pastor

35:23says the vast majority of people in the church say they're atheistic or agnostics if you tell me you're an atheist or agnostic you're not a christian being a christian means you believe in jesus as your lord and shat saver you have accepted his death on the cross in in payment for your sins and it is through grace through his sacrifice that that you are saved that's the essence of being a christian you can have all sorts of disagreements about you know baptism do you dunk or dip you and i are both southern baptists we believe in dunking but but look as far as i'm concerned the the heart and but by the way this is not my view my any pastor gives their own view run away what the bible says the heart of christianity is is is believing in jesus christ for salvation and what taloriko is saying and by the way it's the exact same thing this very left wing pastor of a mega church up at canza's who's running for senate there the democrats are finding these people that call themselves christians who say you don't actually have

36:29to believe in jesus well if you're standing up saying you don't have to believe in jesus that is by definition saying you're not a christian now you can be not a christian but don't pretend to be a christian and i get to say you know i think to use a different observation from jesus you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free i believe these elections the next fifty six days are all about speaking the truth look what we've laid out about taloriko about other candidates is just quoting their records saying what they are saying and that's what cnn it's what the media desperately doesn't want you to know is their actual record what they say they don't want you to know james taloriko wants dismantle capitalism and they're going to do everything they can to hide it but we've got fifty six days just just to expose the truth and i think we do that will have a very good election final question for you on this we've seen that president don't trump and his his super pack they put ten million dollars into this race against

37:33taloriko about half of that apparently is going to be to explain uh what kimpaksins in favor of and the other half's going to be used apparently to explain uh exactly who taloriko is uh i think that certainly is step in the right direction it's clearly the president believe this is a really important race and that's why this is their first big campaign donation of the season yes i'm glad the president is doing that i've urged the president to continue investing i've urged the national republican senatorial committee to invest this is going to be i think this is going to be about two hundred million dollars between now and election day and taloriko and the democrats have unlimited funds if we can spend enough money to communicate taloriko's record and paxton's record will win but we can't be outspent five to one or ten to one if that happens we lose so let's not let that happen yeah i agree we do there we're going to have our next show here from the convention as well so don't miss that make sure you hit subscribe or auto dala wherever you're listening this

38:36podcast and the center i will see you back here from the republican convention in a couple of days