Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ben Ferguson have offered some particularly worthy takes on their podcast, "The Verdict." In their Monday episode, though, Cruz and Ferguson covered a particularly relevant issue, as to how President Joe Biden might not even be the Democratic nominee. If that's indeed the case, Cruz believes the Democrats will nominate former First Lady Michelle Obama at the DNC next August in Chicago.
When it comes to reaching such a predicament, the Democrats "bailing on Biden," the episode's title reminded. And it's not just because of his age, but also the corruption. And, as Cruz pointed out, who has no love for the mainstream media comprised of those who "are sadly no longer journalists," even the media is turning on the president. "And when the media turns on the presumed Democrat nominee, I think that is the cutting edge of the Democrat Intelligencia saying we may have to cut bait and find someone new," he pointed out.
Cruz and Ferguson mentioned examples such as The Washington Post's David Ignatius saying Biden shouldn't run again, and how CNN has actually been fact-checking the president. Cruz referred to the latter as "funny on like 19 different levels," in part because lying is actually nothing new for Biden, and also because CNN used "deliberately minor examples."
The co-hosts would later discuss the Washington Post op-eds and CNN's fact-checking "are sort of the opening shots" and examples of "the pressure mounting."
As Cruz laid out so aptly why Biden may not run:
And I think the Democrat Intelligencia is getting nervous. And then I believe there is now a real possibility Joe Biden is not the Democrat nominee in 2024. And I think there are two ways this potentially plays out. One way is the pressure ratchets up internally within the Democrat Party, significantly enough that Biden ends up backing out. I think there's some chance of that he doesn't want to, but I gotta say the weird thing about Democrats, they're command and control, they are collectivist. And if enough of the power brokers go to Biden and say enough is enough, is enough. I think there is some possibility. He says, I'm out. I did what I came to do. I stopped Donald Trump from getting in office and 2021. I'm done. I'm riding off into the sunset. That's actually what David Ignatius says, 'look, you can victory lap you did what you wanted to do.'
...
And Democrats are nervous look, Joe Biden is 80 years old. If Biden is elected in 2024, the actuarial tables are very significant, the odds are high that he does not live out a second term, that he dies sometime in the White House. That's just the realities of the age he's at, which means in this next election if the Democrat ticket is Biden-Harris, a huge part of it is going to be you pull that lever for Joe Biden, you are voting for President Kamala Harris. And that, number one scares the heck, I think out of a lot of voters. But number two, makes Democrats nervous because they recognize it scares the heck out of a lot of voters.
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Although, as Cruz points out that "one of the things fueling that is the unease about Kamala Harris" with her terrible favorable numbers, Cruz insisted "the chances of [dropping Harris] are zero." As Ferguson offered, it's harder to get rid of the first black woman vice president, since women and minorities would turn against Biden.
Agreeing, Cruz added that it comes down to the importance of minority voters. "I don't think the Democrats would be willing to dump Kamala Harris because they view African American women as such an essential part of their political coalition to victory that I think they'd be terrified of pissing off black women. And if African American women stayed home, Democrats lose." It is worth noting, though, as Matt highlighted coverage from The New York Times of how nonwhite voters are less than thrilled about Biden.
If Biden is forced out by "the powers that be," Cruz predicts "a free for all," offering "I think a bunch of people get in," with five to 10 candidates getting in the race "the instant Biden is out." The urgency isn't merely due to the excitement and sense of momentum, but also because of filing deadlines, as Cruz reminded. He's expecting it would happen in "the next 60 days."
Although there is this sense of "forcing out," Cruz did mention later in the podcast that the powers doing so would at least try to appeal to Biden's vanity in declaring him to be a hero who is "legendary and immortal" for stepping aside.
Among the top candidates Cruz predicts include Harris; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; California Gov. Gavin Newsom, as so many others have predicted despite his insisting otherwise; and Massachusetts' Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
This is only the first scenario, though, as there's another one that Cruz warns "is more likely, and a heck of a lot more dangerous." That too has to do with Biden's age and mental capabilities, and it avoids the candidates who don't get picked being "pissed."
If at this time, "Biden's mental diminishment has gotten even worse and it to becomes obvious to anyone that he can't find his shoes, and Democrats decide okay, all of this downside is really worrying us, then the convention is the opportunity to parachute someone in," Cruz offered. "You parachute someone in by having some some story that for health reasons Biden's not able to continue."
Cruz admitted "how the Democrats execute that exactly, I don't know," but he also reminded that "the Democrats are very big on smoke filled rooms and forcing through the outcome they want and they obey orders," and that they also have super delegates with disproportionate power, which Republicans do not have. As Cruz framed it, these super delegates "have the ability to really move the votes."
While "the natural thing to say" might involve choosing one of those four that Cruz mentioned above, and Harris might, "in some ways [be] the natural choice," concerns still remain, especially when it comes to picking white candidates over Harris as a black woman.
Cruz thus predicts that "the Democrat kingmakers jettison Joe Biden, and parachute in Michelle Obama." While Cruz and Ferguson paused and reflected and smiled about it, the senator emphasized "I view this as a very serious danger."
Picking Obama not only avoids "infuriat[ing]" black women, but "you avoid the problem you pick from any of the four the other three are pissed, because they're all to some extent, peers, their rivals, they're all jabbing knives at each other," Cruz pointed out, who "can all fight it out next time."
Michelle Obama herself has some sort of charm as the former first lady, as sort of an idea of "the Obamas saving the day." As Cruz added, "in terms of a solution that unifies Democrats, there ain't nothing like that."
While Cruz opined that Michelle Obama is likely not so eager to actually be president, and he doesn't know if she would do it, he was more certain in his view that former President Barack Obama is running the show. "I do think Barack Obama is already running the Biden administration. I think he is already the puppet master behind this Biden White House, I don't think Joe Biden is the decision maker," he offered.
That narrative about the media turning on Biden that is mentioned so much throughout this episode is also at play here as well. "And so when I see the media turning on Joe Biden right now, I think the odds of Michelle Obama parachuting in in August of 2024, have risen dramatically. And that ought to scare the hell out of anyone who who is unhappy about the direction this country is going and doesn't want us to go even crazier, in an even worse direction," Cruz declared.
The idea of Michelle Obama running becomes a lot less nonsensical when one remembers, as Cruz pointed out, that Hillary Clinton "was presumed to be the heir apparent," after also serving as first lady during President Bill Clinton's two terms.
"And so the dynamic from Barack to Michelle, listen, the Democrats are dynastic. The Democrats are top down the Democrats are command and control," Cruz reminded as he brought it back to why one of the other candidates aren't likely to be nominated if Biden doesn't run. "And it's because Michelle has a claim to already being at a higher level in the Democrat pecking order than any of the other contenders. It's the only solution for Democrat power brokers. That doesn't cause a civil war."
In discussing the political views of the former first lady and potentially future Democratic nominee, Cruz warned she is "further left than Barack" and " further left than Joe Biden," offering "I think as a president, she would be disastrous."
With her "really high positives" and "relatively low negatives," including how Americans feel "fondly" of her as the former first lady, Michelle Obama at the top of the ticket paints an opportunity for Democrats.
"And if she parachutes in in August, with big positives and relatively low negatives, and she can also say, 'hey, all the things Joe Biden screwed up on that wasn't me...' that is really potent politically."
"If I were a Democrat, I'd be excited about that," Cruz shared.
Currently, Cruz believes there is a 25 or 30 percent likelihood that Biden is not actually the nominee.
Dems Bailing on Biden...Who Could Replace Him? Plus RFK Jr. Denied Protection & Ridiculous Trump Gag Order.@benfergusonshow and I discuss on an explosive new episode of Verdict, available wherever you get your podcasts.https://t.co/HEXVEKJjg6 pic.twitter.com/TkRznhoLTr
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 18, 2023
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