Discover video-sourced quotes by politicians

Ted Cruz: “The regime has never been as weak as it is right now [in…”

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

Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz

Published April 15, 2026 | Video Starts at 09:58

The entire time, he was asking, what do you think I should do in Iran? And my answer was, this opportunity is massive. The regime has never been as weak as it is right now [in Iran]. If we miss this opportunity, we will regret it for decades. He asked, what do you think I should negotiate further? I said, no, the ayatollah is not negotiating in good faith. (09:58–10:03)

CLAIM

Asserts that the Iranian regime is currently at its weakest point.

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.

Discover more from

Ted Cruz

“The military objectives that were set at the outset that the president said, and the administration said they wanted to take out Iran's air…”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 02:21-02:53
“The Ayatollah and almost all of the senior military leadership have been taken out as well.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 02:56-03:02
“It took Iran about 40 years to build that military. It took us 39 days to completely dismantle it.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 03:12-03:17
“The Iranian regime has been the number one state funder of terrorism worldwide. They provide over 90% of the funding for Hamas, over 90% of…”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 04:21-04:34
“They've killed nearly a thousand Americans in that span of time.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 04:34-04:39
“The Ayatollah hired two teams of hitmen to try to murder President Trump.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 07:52-07:57
“The race is a mess right now. Just in the primary, it was $100 million primary. It's already the most expensive primary in American history.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 26:01-26:10
“Illegal border crossings down 99%.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 28:27-28:30
“Iran can engage in no enrichment, zero, and Iran must hand over the enriched uranium that they have.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 03:30-03:39
“For 47 years, the Iranian regime has been waging war against the United States.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 04:02-04:09
“I think the Iraq war was a mistake.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 06:33-06:35
“Of the remaining 16 [Republican candidates in 2016], there were only two who thought the Iraq war was a mistake.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 06:59-07:04
“Saddam Hussein was a monster. He was killing terrorists. We came in and toppled him and the terrorists took over and began killing…”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 07:27-07:37
“We did the same thing to Gaddafi in Libya. He was killing terrorists. We toppled him. The terrorists took over, began killing Americans.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 07:39-07:46
“Iranian regime was already killing Americans. They were funding terrorism.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 07:48-07:53
“In Vietnam, we put troops on the ground. We left them there for years.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 08:37-08:41
“We're not going to see hundreds of thousands of troops on the ground [in Iran].”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 08:50-08:56
“The objective, I believe, should be regime collapse [in Iran].”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 08:58-09:03
“The ayatollah is not negotiating in good faith. He is lying to you.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 10:09-10:14
“Every single Democrat in the Senate except John Fetterman vocally, vigorously, passionately opposed [the conflict with Iran].”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 11:56-12:04
“The last two arguable moderates were Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. The Democrats chased both of them out of the party.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 12:24-12:31
“The policy positions of the Democrat Party [include] open borders, abolish ICE, abolish the police, [and] effectively supporting Hamas.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 14:42-14:50
“What are the policy positions of Republicans? Low and reasonable taxes, reasonable and predictable regulations, secure the border, support…”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 14:53-15:05
“Presidents for a long time have tried to jawbone the Fed into lowering interest rates.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 17:11-17:15
“Donald Trump, I think, is a black swan event. He is a unique individual in history.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 17:23-17:31
“The Republican Party is in the midst of a fundamental debate about who we are and what we stand for.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 17:34-17:41
“Are we a small government, free market conservative party, or are we a big government, nanny state party?”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 17:42-17:50
“Are we an isolationist party that wants to withdraw from the world, or do we believe in American leadership in the world?”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 17:57-18:05
“If I have anything to say about it, we are going to be a free market, conservative party, and we are going to be a party that believes in…”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 20:00-20:09
“There are two camps in the Trump administration [regarding tariffs].”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 20:17-20:22
“There is another camp that views tariffs not as a means to an end, but as the end in and of themselves.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 20:42-20:50
“The threat of tariffs are one of, if not the single most potent tool that a president has.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 21:44-21:52
“We have seen our trading partners beating a path to Washington and saying we're will slash our tariffs.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 21:57-22:03
“When Bush was president, we didn't see our trading partners rushing in here offering to slash their tariffs.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 22:32-22:38
“The working families tax cut that we passed last year, without exaggeration, there are more conservative wins in that bill than any…”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 23:59-24:10
“No tax on tips. That was my legislation that now 6 million Americans have now filed for deductions under no tax on tips.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 24:14-24:22
“The school choice provision that's in the bill I wrote that is going to unleash tens of billions of dollars of scholarships to kids in need.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 24:24-24:33
“The Trump accounts is another provision I wrote.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 24:34-24:39
“The runoff that's happening right now, I think it will be at least another $50 million in the runoff that will be spent.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 26:10-26:16
“I think James Talarico is a very dangerous Democrat candidate.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 27:10-27:16
“The murder rate down 20%.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 28:29-28:32
“Deaths from drug overdose down 20%.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 28:32-28:35
“The biggest tax cut in American history.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 28:35-28:38
“We could see new governments in Iran, Venezuela and Cuba all this year.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 28:39-28:45
“The redistricting was designed to elect five new Republicans [in Texas].”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 29:11-29:17
“I carried Hispanics statewide by six points, and that's unprecedented.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 29:33-29:39
“Trump carried the Valley and I carried the Valley.”
Gerard Baker in Conversation with Texas Senator Ted Cruz | Uploaded April 15, 2026 | 29:50-29:53