Comparing the string of losses of the conservative party to the Aggie football team, the host of “The Michael Knowles Show” Michael Knowles said he is hoping to similarly score a big victory. 

Hosted by Texas A&M Young Americans for Freedom, Sen. Ted Cruz and Knowles gave a live performance of their podcast, Verdict on Oct. 14 in Rudder Theater. 

Cruz and Knowles opened the episode by discussing their disapproval of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pro-athlete Kyrie Irving, who was recently forced to miss several Brooklyn Nets games after he refused to get vaccinated. 

“Kyrie Irving may be one of the most important people on the face of the earth right now,” Cruz said. “He’s taking a stand against forced vaccination mandates and he’s doing it at a real cost. I don’t know if there’s anyone here who’s willing to say, ‘I care about principles enough that I’ll give away 100 million dollars and not play.’”

Cruz and Knowles used the almost 2-hour podcast to discuss topics such as Columbus Day, the media and gender-neutral bathrooms in public schools. They welcomed guest star and TV show host Liz Wheeler to give her opinions on the topics, including a focus on partisan media. 

“It used to be that conservative media [was] kind of a niche,” Wheeler said. “The last four or five years, the media organizations that claimed to be non-partisan, they don’t even try to pretend they’re not biased anymore. We saw that during the election.” 

When asked if he is supporting his upcoming campaign, Cruz reflected on his time working for current Gov. Greg Abbott. 

“I saw Abbott stand for conservative principles over and over again in big fights that other politicians would shy away from,” Cruz said. “Abbott has been a mentor to me for 20 years. [He] has supported me, has campaigned for me [and] has been with me. I would be [ungrateful] if I didn’t support Greg Abbott. He is a good man, he is a decent man and he has fought for conservative principles for decades.”

Economics junior Rachel Sweeney said she thinks it’s beneficial to get conservative voices on campus.

“We believe that free speech is super important, so we want a diverse view of voices,” Sweeney said. “We believe in conservative values, so we want to bring people who support our values to campus. It gives us the opportunity to learn new ideas, and we want to present our ideas so people have the opportunity to learn and find a space on campus with people who believe the same as they do.” 

Young America’s Foundation spokeswoman Kara Zupkus said the organization is committed to increasing the number of young Americans who understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom. The organization will be hosting former Vice President Mike Pence on Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium. 

“Young America’s Foundation has an unparalleled lecture series where we bring conservative voices to campuses like Texas A&M and even some more liberal campuses,” Zupkus said. “We think it’s really important that students hear a perspective that’s probably not often present in the classroom from their professors and administrators. Inspiring them with the ideas of traditional values, strong national defense and American freedom.” 

Cruz said the goal of his podcast is to explain things to the audience and help them learn, rather than getting dogmatic. 

“Let’s go through an issue, understand what the other side is, understand why someone would believe that and this is something the left never does,” Cruz said. “I do think it’s something conservatives need to do more is explaining and helping people think through and decide for themselves, and hopefully this podcast plays a role in that.”