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Ted Cruz: “Iran, the people in Iran had surged to. They were in the top…”

Featuring: Ted Cruz, Republican | U.S. Senate, Texas

A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America

Published January 12, 2026 | Video Starts at 12:19

But. But what is amazing is we have people all over the world listening to this podcast. And yesterday, Ben, you were looking at the downloads and Iran, the people in Iran had surged to. They were in the top 20 countries downloading the Verdict podcast. And that is in the face of having Internet shut down, in the face of having the Iranian regime try to black out. Elon has put Starlink up for free for the people of Iran. (12:19–12:29)

CLAIM

Asserts that Iran is among the top 20 countries downloading the Verdict podcast.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ted Cruz

“More than 90% [of Hamas's budget] comes from Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 06:13-06:13
“Hezbollah... north of 90 [percent of its budget comes from Iran].”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 06:15-06:15
“Joe Biden, the Democrats flowed over $100 million to the Ayatollah and Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 06:32-06:40
“The Ayatollah also has hired hitmen trying to murder President Trump.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 06:44-06:51
“We are prosecuting hitmen that have been arrested in connection with [the plot to murder President Trump].”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 07:00-07:05
“The IRGC is responsible for a minimum of 593 murders of American servicemen and women.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 08:07-08:15
“Many of the drones being used, by the way, also by Russia against the Ukrainian forces in Ukraine are manufactured in Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 08:44-08:53
“Elon has put Starlink up for free for the people of Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 12:35-12:40
“The Islamic regime right now is literally broadcasting Tucker Carlson interviews in, in Persian on their 24 hour news channel.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 24:38-24:50
“There are over a million people rising up on the streets of Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 00:29-00:33
“Iran's influence has grown dramatically.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 04:53-04:57
“Many of the drones used against American forces are manufactured in Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 08:41-08:45
“Many of the IEDs that in Iraq were used against our servicemen and women [were manufactured in Iran].”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 08:44-08:53
“The Biden administration claimed that their number one priority was for Ukraine to win the Ukraine war, and yet they were flooding billions…”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 08:53-09:04
“More than 1 million Iranians are rising up on the ground. They're rising up in every major city across Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 09:15-09:23
“The Verdict podcast, we have roughly a million unique listeners to the podcast all across the country.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 11:49-11:56
“Prior to 1979, Iran was not a theocratic state. It was a secular state.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 15:53-16:01
“Iran completely and totally lost [the 12 Day War].”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 18:01-18:07
“Israel systematically decapitated the Iranian military. They took out all their air defenses.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 18:23-18:30
“They took out all their senior military leaders. They took out the senior leaders of the IRGC, they took out their nuclear scientists.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 18:29-18:36
“President Trump order[ed] B2s to fly from the middle of the United States all the way around the world to drop bunker buster bombs on Iran's…”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 20:11-20:26
“We dropped the equivalent of one third of a nuclear weapon on those three nuclear facilities, utterly destroyed them.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 20:26-20:35
“Flew all the way around the world and came back home with zero American casualties.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 20:34-20:40
“Iran is so toxic, they literally fund every enemy who hates America.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 23:44-23:49
“The Iranian regime, it shut down the Internet. It has a TV blackout.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 24:08-24:13
“Reagan bankrupted the Soviet Union and won the Cold War without firing a shot.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 29:28-29:39
“The world would be better off if China were no longer a communist country.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 30:23-30:27
“The world would be a better place if Iran was not governed by a theocratic, murderous, religious zealot.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 30:33-30:41
“I've opposed the Iraq War for decades.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 31:10-31:13
“The Iraq War was clearly a mistake because it did not advance US national security interest.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 31:24-31:28
“We toppled Gaddafi and the terrorists who hate Americans took over.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 31:50-31:54
“We should want regime change in Iran.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 32:15-32:19
“A free and peaceful Iran is better for Iran and it's better for America.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 33:01-33:06
“The Ayatollah is actively waging war on America. He's spending money today funding terrorists that are trying to kill Americans.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 36:27-36:37
“There are very few outcomes that could be worse than the Ayatollah at this point. They are unmitigatedly our enemies.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 36:53-37:01
“It was less than three years from giving that speech that the Berlin Wall was torn to the ground.”
A Message to the Iranian People: You Can Change the World Right Now, plus WHY it Matters For America | Uploaded January 12, 2026 | 38:49-38:54