Senator Ted Cruz gave one of his most candid interviews on the TRIGGERnometry podcast this week, defending the Iran war from the inside, and revealing his personal role in advising Trump the night before the strikes. Cruz confirmed he was with Trump essentially the entire day on the Friday before Operation Epic Fury launched — on Air Force One to Corpus Christi and then one-on-one in the presidential limousine. “He was asking me what I thought we should do on Iran,” Cruz said. His advice was direct: don’t negotiate further, the regime is lying, and this is the moment. “I think the regime is weaker than it ever has been, and we have an opportunity. If we can collapse this regime, America will be much, much safer.” He told Trump the only deal worth accepting was the same offer made to Maduro: Leave the country and live out your days in exile, or face the alternative. “Removing from power Islamists who are actively trying to kill Americans makes us safer.” Cruz was emphatic that this is not Iraq. He noted that in the 2016 primary, he opposed the Iraq war. His framework — which he calls being a “non-interventionist hawk” — holds that every military decision must be judged on a single standard: does it protect American lives? Saddam and Gaddafi were monsters, he argued, but they were killing terrorists. Remove them, and the terrorists took over and started killing Americans. Iran is different because Iran itself is actively killing Americans. Nearly a thousand over 47 years, two assassination squads sent after Trump personally, and the funding of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. “Removing from power Islamists who are actively trying to kill Americans makes us safer.” Cruz made the case that the Ayatollah was a theocratic zealot leading a death cult that celebrates martyrdom. “I think there is some real chance he would detonate that weapon in Tel Aviv or New York or Los Angeles.” And if the response killed millions of Iranians? “I think the Ayatollah might have been just fine with that.” The TRIGGERnometry hosts — Konstantin Kisin and Francis Foster — were not pushover interviewers. They challenged Cruz on three fronts. First, satellite imagery suggested the 12-day war didn’t fully destroy Iran’s nuclear capability, which is why the U/S/ is striking again, suggesting the original operation was oversold. Second, they raised the Qatari gas field bombing, which Iran struck, and which is responsible for 15 percent of the world’s natural gas supply, potentially taking 3-5 years to restore. Third, they pointed to the political reality: Republican Senate odds have dropped from 82 percent to 50/50 since the conflict began, and the longer it drags on, the more it risks the midterms. Cruz acknowledged the political risk openly: “If the election were held today, there’s a very good chance we would lose the House,” but argued the war would be over in weeks, not months, and wouldn’t be front and center by November. On a related note, Cruz called Tucker Carlson “the most dangerous demagogue in America,” accusing him of interviewing open Nazi Nick Fuentes and nodding approvingly when Fuentes declared his mission was to defeat “global Jewry…not Israel, Jews.” He also accused Tucker of having a professor on who argued America should have supported the Nazis, saying Tucker “gazed adoringly” throughout. “I’ve resolved I’m not going to sit quietly and watch my party destroyed by the same forces that have destroyed the Democrat party.” Cruz closed on an optimistic note, pointing to the painting of Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate hanging in his office and arguing that Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba could all see regime change within six months. “When America stands and leads, freedom is an incredible and powerful thing.” READ MORE from Tyler Rowley: Podcaster Nick Freitas Drops the Skinny on Joe Kent’s Resignation Broadly Speaking, the Iran War Is About China Tyler Rowley is a Catholic author and founder of Right Mic — a daily newsletter that curates the best conservative podcasts.