Ted Cruz defends three-times-a-week podcasting side-hustle, says it's a 'critical part of the job'

• Ted Cruz's highest-profile 2024 Democratic challenger says the Texas senator is podcasting too much.
• But Cruz argues that hosting a thrice-weekly podcast is "critical" to being effective as a senator.
• "That is not somehow peripheral to doing the job," said Cruz. "It is integral to doing the job."

Sen. Ted Cruz is, without a doubt, the single most prolific podcaster on Capitol Hill: every single week, he releases three episodes of "Verdict," each of which last anywhere from thirty minutes to more than an hour.