Well, let me first start off by saying, happy new year. Welcome to verdict with Senator Ted Cruz,

Ben Ferguson with you. Senator, happy New Year's to you and your family. It's nice. We had a little

time off during the holidays, and I know you got to spend some great time with your family and your kids,

and I know you got some pretty good christmas gifts as well so

merry christmas to you your family and happy new year as well we have got a lot to chat about

that has been happening and and let's start with this story democrats trying to kick

Donald trump off the ballot in colorado in Maine, and this has been unfolding really over the

holidays. Well, Ben, good to be back with you. Happy New Year. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas

and a wonderful New Year's, and we are starting now, 2024. I will say, looking back over

2023, what an absolute dumpster fire of a year. What a mess it has been. What a disaster

it's been on the southern border. What an absolute assault it's been on the rule of law.

Donald Trump indicted four different times as Democrats engage in lawfare trying to fight

through the courts what they cannot be at the

ballot box. I have to say the decisions in Colorado and Maine are the most grotesque assaults

on democracy that I have ever seen in my life. You know, there is an irony. There's an irony with

leftists. They always, always, always accuse you of the thing it is they are in fact doing.

It has become this ostentatious virtue signal for anyone on the left to say we must defend democracy. We must save democracy.

Usually they flick their hair back and let the wind blow their hair a bit as they are saving

democracy. And yet, we see partisan Democrats directly attacking democracy. What is democracy? Democracy is a process through which

the people vote and their wishes are enacted. Now, technically speaking, we're not a democracy.

We're a Democratic Republic. In other words, the voters vote to elect representatives, hence a

republic. But we are built on democratic principles, which is that

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