Fox News "Sunday Morning Features" - Transcript Interview with Ted Cruz
Interview
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Senator Ted Cruz, great to have you this morning. Congratulations on the new book, and thank you for being here.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Well, thank you, Maria. Good morning. And it's great to be with you.
BARTIROMO: Senator, we're talking about a lot of issues that are important to viewers this morning as it relates to this upcoming election.
But you pinpoint the most important, potentially, and that is Supreme Court announcements, appointments. Tell me why you believe this issue can change the course of history.
CRUZ: Well, I think nothing matters more long term than preserving the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, preserving our fundamental liberties that all of us enjoy as Americans.
That's why I wrote this book. I spent much of the COVID lockdown this spring and summer actually sitting right here in my living room writing the book. The book comes out October 6, in three weeks, but it's already available for preorder on Amazon or on https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__OneVoteAway.com&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=xqoGUeGhRs2cu_dAImn196BSK7r30LgaRZoTanZiTlc&s=ig7fK3ZCKeTlAUuS-RQh594nUl6KRQ9gNKA3p2LO3GU&e= .
And what the book does is, it walks through -- each chapter is a different constitutional liberty. And each chapter, it talks about free speech, it talks about religious liberty, it talks about the Second Amendment, it talks about U.S. sovereignty.
And the way the book is written, each chapter is telling war stories about landmark cases, many of which I litigated. So, it's telling the inside story of what went on.
So, for example, on religious liberty, I talk at great length about a case called Van Orden v. Perry. Van Orden v. Perry started in the state of Texas. It was a challenge to the Ten Commandments monument that stands on the state capitol grounds.
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And an atheist, a homeless man, brought a lawsuit challenging that monument. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court. And Texas won 5- 4. It was just one vote away, preserving the right to acknowledge God almighty in the public square. We were one vote away from the Supreme Court ordering, tear down that monument, tear down crosses at cemeteries.
Another case I argued that I talk about in the book is the Mojave Desert veterans case.
BARTIROMO: Right.
CRUZ: Actually didn't argue it, but I litigated it.
It was, in California, a lone white Latin cross that memorializes the veterans who gave their lives in World War I. And the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging it, saying, you cannot gaze on the image of a cross on public land. It went all the way to the Supreme Court.
And, 5-4 -- I represented the veterans pro bono, for free -- 5-4, we prevailed, and the Supreme Court didn't order that monument torn down. We're one vote away.
That same thing is true on the Second Amendment.
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BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: The same thing is true on free speech.
On issue after issue, what I do in the book is walk through, here is what was going on in the case, here are the players, here's what's happening.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And, you know, Maria, it's designed, hopefully, to be readable, to be interesting, to be fun. You don't have to be a lawyer to read it.
If you care about free speech, if you care about religious liberty, if you care about any of our rights, then this book is designed to explain where they stand right now, and just how much jeopardy they're in.
BARTIROMO: So, let's talk about where we stand right now, Senator.
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I want to get into the issues at stake for the American people come November, now 50 days away.
CRUZ: Yes.
BARTIROMO: Why do you believe certain rights are actually in jeopardy? Why do you believe, right now, in some of these issues that are so important to us, our constitutional rights, like free speech, why do you believe they are in jeopardy or at risk right now, with this 5-4 situation in the Supreme Court?
CRUZ: Well, because, on issue after issue, there's a four-justice radical left majority on the court.
I will give you an example on the Second Amendment, Heller vs. District of Columbia. Now, that's a case many people know. It started in D.C. Dick Anthony Heller, who was a federal police officer, brought a lawsuit, because it was illegal for him -- even though he carried a gun at work, he was not allowed to have a gun at home.
He couldn't have an operative firearm at home. And the Second Amendment protects our right to keep and bear arms. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court. I represented 31 states in that case.
And the position of the dissenters -- it was 5-4 -- many -- most of these cases were 5-4. The position of the dissenters, here is what they were saying, Maria. They weren't saying some gun control sometimes is permissible. That, we could have an argument about, but that was not what they were saying.
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What the dissenters said, the four justices who lost, they said the Second Amendment doesn't protect any individual right whatsoever. That means, you and I have zero rights. They said instead it's what's called a collective right of the militia.
Now, what does that mean? That's a fancy lawyer term for a nonexistent right. Under the dissenters' view, if the Second Amendment only protects a collective right, the federal government, the states, the local government could make it a felony for you or I to own, possess a firearm, and we would have no recourse.
We'd have no ability to sue. We'd have no right under the Second Amendment. The dissenters are literally erasing the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights. And we are one vote away.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
CRUZ: If Joe Biden wins, the odds are very high, depending on what appointments he gets, that that four votes will become five votes, and the Second Amendment will be erased from the Bill of Rights.
That's the stakes of this election. And it's true on issue after issue. You know, I have got another chapter talking about elections and democracy. And I take readers inside the inside story of Bush vs. Gore.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
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CRUZ: I was one of the lawyers that helped litigate Bush vs. Gore in 2000.
That case, when it went to the Supreme Court, four justices were prepared to take away the right to elect our president, to take it away from the voters, and to give it to unelected judges instead.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
CRUZ: And every chapter walks through, these are the stakes.
But then the book also lays out, here is how a Republican president should get it right. So, the last chapter traces the history of judicial nominations, starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And Democrats, they get this right almost every time. Their nominees bat close to .1000. They vote almost exactly how Democrats would want them to vote on every issue.
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BARTIROMO: They're all in line. Yes. They're all in line.
CRUZ: Republicans, at best, Republican nominees maybe bat .500.
We need to get it right. And the book lays out, here is how you get it right. Here is what you look for, so that we stop screwing this up and stop rolling the dice with our constitutional liberties.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
Senator, the president has put your name on a list of potential Supreme Court justices that he would name. Do you want the job?
CRUZ: You know, I don't. It is deeply honoring. It's humbling to be included in the list. I'm grateful that the president has that confidence in me.
But it's not the desire of my heart. I want to be in the political fight. I want to be fighting to nominate and confirm three, four, five principled constitutionalist justices.
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But that's not where I want to serve.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: I want to stay fighting right where I am in the U.S. Senate.
BARTIROMO: Well, Senator, I want to ask you about some of those fights.
I mean, we had news this week in terms of John Durham's investigation. Got to get your take there. And you have been very vocal on China, new developments there as well, plus your SCRIPT Act with regard to entertainment. Got to get your take on this Netflix show "Cuties," which is all the talk right now.
Stay with us. We will slip in a break.
We are talking with Senator Ted Cruz this morning. We will get the latest efforts to hold Beijing accountable, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
We're back in a moment.
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BARTIROMO: And we're back with Senator Ted Cruz.
And, Senator, we were talking about your book.
I want to get your take on the latest polls and how you're feeling about the Senate. I have been speaking to a number of CEOs and business managers lately, and they are concerned that the Republicans could lose the majority this coming November.
Where are the risks? And what do you feel is most important in terms of the vote in 50 days now?
CRUZ: Well, Maria, I'm very concerned about this election. I think it is exceptionally volatile. And I think it depends on what happens over the next two months.
I think, if we see people starting to go back to work, I think, if we see a renewed sense of hope and optimism, we could have a phenomenally good election. We could see the president reelected by an even bigger margin than last time. We could see Republicans growing our majority in the Senate. We could even see Republicans re taking the House of Representatives.
And I'm fighting hard for all of those to happen.
But, on the other hand, if, in the next two months, we see more people losing their jobs, more shutdowns, we see COVID numbers going up, if people are depressed and demoralized, if they are giving up hope, we could see a terrible election.
We could see an absolute bloodbath, where Biden wins the presidency, and we wake up and Chuck Schumer is the majority leader and Nancy Pelosi is the speaker of the House.
And I have got to tell you, Maria, the damage that a Biden-Schumer-Pelosi government would do, I think, in two years would exceed the damage that Barack Obama and Joe Biden did in eight years.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And I don't recall an election in my lifetime where there was so much delta, so much volatility between a very a very good election and a Watergate-level catastrophic election.
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BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: I don't month which one it's going to be, which means the stakes right now are enormously high.
BARTIROMO: They are enormously high.
You have come out with your own bill to safely reopen the economy, get kids back to school. I know that school choice is very important to you, and you would expect that that's very important to suburban women, which has been one of the cautious or weak spots for President Trump.
Talk about school choice here, and why you believe that is and may ultimately resonate with voters.
CRUZ: Well, I think school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.
And I think it is particularly poignant right now. We have got 56 million schoolkids all across America. And, right now, a whole lot of kids, a whole lot of families, a whole lot of moms and dads are hurting.
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You know, as you know, Heidi and I, we have got two little girls. They're nine and 12 years old. Since March, they have been distance learning at home. And so, for most of the time, I have been working here at home here sitting in this living room. Heidi has been working in her office from home.
And we have had Catherine, our fourth grader. She's been on the kitchen table doing distance learning. Caroline, our seventh grader, has been in her bedroom doing distance learning.
That's hard. And that's hard. And we have got two parents who have been able to work at home, who are able to help both girls get online, stay engaged, do their homework.
You know, Maria, I cannot imagine how unbelievably difficult, how impossible it's been for a parent that's a single mom right now. If you're a single mom, you're trying to hold ends together.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: You maybe have three, four, five kids at home, trying to get them online.
And what we're seeing, tragically, is for millions of kids, they're not getting an education right now.
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BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: They're not logging in online.
BARTIROMO: It's a big cost.
CRUZ: And this was -- initially, we were told, OK, this is just going to be a week or two to flatten the curve.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: Well, this has gone from a week or two to months to now we're coming up on half-a-year.
And, if it continues, there's a whole generation of kids that is at risk of being lost.
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BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And so I have legislation. It's included in my bill the Recovery Act, but, actually, the Senate voted on my school choice legislation last week.
What it provides is $5 billion of federal tax credits for contributions to scholarship granting organizations that give scholarships for K-12 education.
BARTIROMO: Right.
CRUZ: And it's matching dollars.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And what that means -- let's take the state of Texas.
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State of Texas, we got 29 million people. It would mean that, in the next year, there would be an additional $500 million in scholarships in Texas, so that, if you're a mom...
BARTIROMO: It's very powerful, yes.
CRUZ: ... at home and you're not -- your kids aren't getting educated, you can get a scholarship to find a school that will give an education to your kids. And it's an injection of new cash.
And I have got to tell you, I'm sorry to say, Republicans were united, supported my school choice legislation. Every single Democrat voted against it.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
CRUZ: Every single Democrat voted to leave those kids trapped, without providing the relief they need.
BARTIROMO: Yes, that's unbelievable.
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Look, I want to get to two more things. We only have a couple seconds here -- a couple minutes, rather.
CRUZ: Yes.
BARTIROMO: But your young girls that you have, which is why your red flag antennas went up when you saw Netflix promoting this show called "Cuties."
It's extremely disturbing to me as well. You sent a letter to the Justice Department asking whether or not they have done something wrong by promoting "Cuties."
CRUZ: Yes.
BARTIROMO: You want to know whether there should be an investigation into Netflix. Tell me about that real quick, because I want your take on China before we go.
CRUZ: Well, this movie "Cuties," it sexualizes 11-year-old girls, has them dancing like strippers, has them in very suggestive sexual roles, and it's, frankly, disgusting.
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BARTIROMO: It is. It is. I don't even want to show the video.
CRUZ: Kids ought to be preserved, and we ought to protect them.
And Netflix is an incredibly profitable U.S. company. Barack Obama makes a ton of money from Netflix. And they are profiting. They are making money by selling the sexual exploitation of young kids.
And so I asked the attorney general to investigate them, because federal law makes it a crime. It is a felony to distribute child pornography.
And, you know, it's interesting online. Lots of so-called journalists were defending, well, it's just a movie.
You know what? We arrest and put in jail people every year for movies.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
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CRUZ: If you have child pornography, if you have kids engage in sexual activities, if you produce it, if you distribute it, you face criminal penalties.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And Netflix is making a ton of money.
I guarantee you every pedophile in America is going to watch this movie. And that Netflix is sitting back fat and happy making money on it, that's not right.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
And you would think that suburban housewomen be with you on that as well, by the way, going into this election.
Real quick before we go, Senator, on China, in terms of where we are, there will be a very different approach, depending on who wins this election, in terms of our long-term relationship with China, yes?
CRUZ: Absolutely.
China is, I believe, the single greatest geopolitical threat facing the United States for the next century.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: Donald Trump, one of the most significant things he's done as president on foreign policy is stand up to China. And he's changed the debate. He has stood up vigorously to China.
Now, I think, in the second term, he needs to stand up even stronger to China.
BARTIROMO: All right.
CRUZ: But Joe Biden has spent 57 years -- 47 years, rather -- just kissing up to China, saying China's not a threat, saying China's our friends, saying we should be in bed more with China, don't worry about the communists murdering and torturing and stealing.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: Let's go make some money.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
CRUZ: This election, if you want communist China to have more power in America, Joe Biden is your guy.
Actually, even Nancy Pelosi said that in an interview, that China wants Joe Biden to win.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: That's not good for America.
BARTIROMO: Senator, thank you so much for joining us this morning. It's good to see you, sir.
We appreciate your time, Senator Ted Cruz.
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