Statehood for DC & Puerto Rico? Full-Blown Political Brawl on Gerrymandering & U.S. Takes Aim at Cuban Strongman Week In Review

Verdict with Ted Cruz

Premiere Networks

Politics, Daily News, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 43.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1. D.C. and Puerto Rico Statehood

- The U.S. Constitution intentionally established Washington, D.C. as a non-state federal district to avoid favoritism.
- Calls for D.C. statehood are framed as a partisan power grab to gain Democratic seats in Congress.
Puerto Rico is described as:
- A more complex case, with internal disagreement among residents (statehood, independence, or commonwealth status).
- Assumed—by Democrats, according to the speaker—to lean Democratic politically.

- Democrats prioritize gaining and maintaining power over policy substance.
- Election systems and rules (e.g., California’s “top-two” system) are manipulated for advantage.
A California election example is used to suggest:
- A possible increase in Republican support.
- Fear among Democrats of losing control.

2. Gerrymandering and Race

- A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about racial gerrymandering.
- A Supreme Court decision limiting race-based redistricting.
  - Both parties engage in gerrymandering, but Democrats are portrayed as worse offenders.
  - Race-based districts are described as unconstitutional discrimination.
    - The notion that minority candidates require racially drawn districts to win.
    - Provides examples of Black Republican politicians elected in majority-white districts.

- The Democratic Party historically supported slavery, segregation, and Jim Crow laws.
- The Republican Party was founded to oppose slavery.

3. Raúl Castro Indictment

- Reports an indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro for his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of civilian aircraft.
  - Strongly condemns Castro and communism.
  - Praises U.S. legal action.
  - Criticizes the Obama administration for engaging diplomatically with Cuba.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:21.7	Guaranteed Human. Welcome, it is verdict with Ted Cruz. We can review. And these are the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, Democrats move to totally change America. This time, they want to add four new U.S. senators, so they gain control of the Senate. Where do they want to do it it and how do they get to this idea? We explain it. Next up, Democrats are furious that Republicans are fighting back
0:26.9	after their decades of gerrymandering and their argument, it's always about race. We explain that.
0:31.9	And finally, an indictment in Cuba with someone with a last name Castro.
0:40.8	It took almost 30 years to get it to happen.
0:42.7	The details behind that as well.
0:45.7	It's the weekend review and it starts right now.
0:50.4	I think that especially people that listen to the show that are younger, they hear this argument on statehood.
0:51.7	Democrats are really leaning into this. It's becoming an election
0:55.4	year issue multiple times over now. And the argument that young people hear and the one that they
1:01.7	then make is, well, they're not being fairly represented. Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C.,
1:07.2	representation, or taxation without representation, Why should we not make sure these people
1:13.3	have a voice in Washington, D.C.? Explain to people listening now how to defend against
1:20.0	that argument that's being made by the left, because they are really pushing this on colleges
1:25.0	and college students and young people in this country?
1:28.1	Well, look, the Constitution explicitly created D.C. and the framers of the Constitution
1:33.1	wanted our nation's capital to be a federal district that was not part of any state.
1:38.4	They didn't want any state to be favored because the Congress was there, because the president
1:42.7	was there. And so they carved out the
1:44.4	lines of the District of Columbia. It was originally carved out to be 10 miles by 10 miles.
1:49.4	And then what ultimately happened is they gave the southern portion of it, everything south of
1:53.6	the Potomac River they gave to Virginia. So what used to be D.C., Arlington used to be part of D.C.
	...

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