Explore the global impact of the ACLJ as Logan Sekulow articulates the successful influence of their media and legal teams on significant policy shifts. In this episode, Sekulow highlights President Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East and his bold statements encouraging Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords. With contributions from Rick Grinnell and Jay Sekulow, the conversation underscores the courage and strategic advocacy pivotal in driving national and international change for the pro-life movement.
SPEAKER 07 :
We got breaking news. Thanks to ACLJ champions like you, the Trump administration has launched a massive hospital investigation.
SPEAKER 04 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome to Sekulow. We’ve got a great show lined up for you today. Will Haynes is joining me in studio. My dad, Jay Sekulow, will be joining us a little bit later, as well as Rick Grinnell, to wrap up the show. And we’re talking about a lot of the breaking news. Obviously, President Trump right now in the Middle East, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, speaking live right now. We’ll break into that if there’s anything that’s worth hearing. Of course, there’s a big investment forum that’s happening right now. But the breaking news that really came out, this happened last night, HHS. has really taken a little bit of a nod from you, the ACLJ supporter, the ACLJ champions who have been working so diligently on their fight for life. And look, there was a little concern. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running the HHS, his views on life have kind of gone back and forth. He was at one point very, very pro-choice. Then he said he was kind of convicted, saw what was actually going on and realized that he needed to adjust his point of view. And of course, he is also fulfilling the Trump administration’s policy. But maybe, and not maybe, we know this for sure. I always tell you to visit ACLJ.org, see all the incredible content that’s happening here, watch this show, read our blogs, see what’s going on. But guess who else was? Some people at the HHS. And they reached out to us, and now they’re taking action, Will.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right. So yesterday we get a press release from the Health and Human Services Agency that says HHS acts to protect health care workers’ conscience rights. And it goes on to talk about an investigation, a compliance review out of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS. That is looking into this hospital and investigating their compliance with federal law that safeguards conscience rights in health care. The federal conscience protection statute known as the church amendments and the OCR has opened the review based on information that ultrasound technicians employed by the hospital allegedly faced potential termination because they have religious objections to conducting ultrasounds in an abortion procedure. Now, some of you may remember we talked about a case that the ACLJ was handling late last year. where we were representing five ultrasound techs at one hospital in New Mexico, in Albuquerque. And what they were being told was that they had to assist as ultrasound techs in abortion procedures. This hospital that had previously not performed abortions at all because it had historically religious ties had been bought and sold by several companies over the year. And now this hospital had contracted with a local abortion provider to basically subcontract out abortions. And they were using hospital personnel to assist this abortionist with those procedures. We had clients that came to the ACLJ and said, There used to be conscience protections, but they’ve amended it to try and force us to assist with this outside provider in his abortion business, his or her abortion business. And we think this violates our constitutional rights. And it did. And we got involved and we actually got those protections for them. But now there’s a new administration in town
SPEAKER 07 :
and the hhs has launched this investigation based off of our clients cases that we handled for them it’s really amazing again based on the support from the aclj and the aclj team and our incredible team whether that’s the media team or the legal team the hhs is taking direct action because of us because of you the aclj supporter understand it is a new day and thankfully We are able to get this kind of real motion going, but we can’t do it without your support. So I want to encourage you, if you feel in this moment like you actually have a chance, actually feel like we are turning a new leaf, it’s really amazing, give me a call at 1-800-684-3110. I want to hear from you. We’re going to take calls a little bit earlier in the show today because Rick Grinnell is on in the last segment. So call us now at 1-800-684-3110 and support the work of the ACLJ if you can at aclj.org. We’ll be right back with my dad, Jay Sekulow, coming up in just a segment. Welcome back to Sekulow. I do want to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110. If you’re watching on YouTube, I encourage you to hit that thumbs up. We really appreciate that. Throw a comment in. Let me know where you’re watching from because this is a big day and it should be considered a big day for the ACLJ because it shows you what happens when a administration that is a little bit more favorable to our causes. You would never have had this in a Democrat run presidency. Okay. And look, uh, You can say a lot about the Biden administration. You can say a lot about the Obama administration. Certainly, they were not going to be fighting for the rights of pro-lifers and people that work in the medical field that are also pro-life. And I think we need to restate what’s happening because this is, again, this is a big win, if you will, for all of us. And again, this is because of what we posted on our website. So again, shout out to our media team. Shout out to our legal team. Because someone at the HHS went to ACLJ.org, heard about what we were doing, read the article, reached out and said, we want to get involved. What can we do? Give us some more information. And then they launched this. And it’s unbelievable. Again, take this as a big win as the HHS has launched this investigation into hospitals. Again, because we said, hey, we were defending five medical professionals for being forced to participate in abortions to not violate their conscience. And here we are.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right. So what happened in this case for the ACLJ is that a hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, early 2024, signed an agreement with a local abortionist where they could refer to this abortionist for abortions. And this practitioner, this abortionist would use hospital resources in those abortion procedures, such as using ultrasound techs for assisting in the procedure of abortion. And we had clients that reached out to us because they stated their objection over their conscience rights, which are well established in U.S. precedent, in law, Civil Rights Act. And they basically were told by the hospital that they had seen that while previously this hospital had strong conscience protections in their policies, they had kind of shifted it. to make it where there could be loopholes. And our clients were basically faced with either violate their conscience and be tasked by the hospital with assisting in abortions or lose their employment that was basically the choice that our clients had to make but they reached out to the aclj we represented five different ultrasound techs that did not want to participate in abortions that wanted to claim their conscience protections. We fought back. We were able to cite law under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as well as the FDA versus Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine that allows doctors and other health care personnel to refuse to perform or assist in abortion without punishment or discrimination from their employers. That’s a Supreme Court opinion. And we actually got the hospital to cave for our clients. They granted full religious accommodations to each of our clients. Right. But it didn’t stop there because we know that this was growing under the Biden administration. We had hospital workers in Kentucky and other places of the country that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to have this kind of issue. So we know that this was not a priority of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Health and Human Services. But now there’s a new administration in town, Logan.
SPEAKER 07 :
Times have changed. That’s right. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, their Office for Civil Rights, has now launched a formal compliance review of Presbyterian Hospital’s actions. So to find out how it happened, what had happened, and the review is determined whether the hospital violated federal conscious protection laws. including the church amendments. HHS’s review follows the ACLJ’s legal complaint. Of course, like I said, they reached out and wanted more information from us. And this is the impact of the organization. I can’t undersell it or oversell it enough. The ACLJ is involved in so many different things. And our website is so important. And that’s why, look, that’s why our content, I always say, it’s not behind a paywall. You have to log in to read it. Because if you did, guess what? This HHS person, employee, may probably never saw it.
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t think there was a grant for an ACLJ paywall like there was for, you know, Politico Pro, Reuters, millions of dollars a year for that.
SPEAKER 07 :
So instead, we rely on places like Google News or maybe you go to ACLJ.org directly. And this is the impact. They are taking it on themselves to figure out what happened here. And of course, they’ve reached out to our team. And that’s just it’s just amazing. It’s such a change. And again, I can’t help but just really encourage you all to keep supporting the work of the ACLJ. You may say, well, now you have a friendly administration and of course, you’re going to work with you. Yeah, but we got to. These are the moments. Because now, instead of being completely on the defense, we can actually make some offensive actions. We actually can get things done and moved forward with a friendly administration. And again, this is coming from RFK Jr.’ ‘s HHS. Someone that a lot of people in the pro-life movement thought, this guy is not going to be good for the lives of the unborn. But you know what? I got to give him props. We got to give him props. And though I don’t know his direct involvement in this, we do know it’s coming from his department. And that’s a pretty miraculous thing. And that’s showing that he’s also changing some hearts and some minds and supporting a vision of a pro-life America, which is something that I don’t know a decade ago, five years ago, even since the overturning of Roe, that you would have thought that this is where we’d be. And thankfully, we are now seeing these protections coming in from the federal government, stepping in, working with the ACLJ, reading our content, basing their investigations off of our clients and the work that we’ve done. Folks, this is incredible. So if you’ve ever thought about working or donating to the ACLJ and being a part of this and becoming a champion, or you’ve always worried that maybe we’re not doing what we say we do or maybe we don’t do enough, look at this. The proof is right in front of you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and there are other implications in this as well. One, it is also key to remind the audience, the members, the champions of ACLJ that not only does our legal work matter, but this broadcast, our writing on our website, all of those things are a key component in how this action takes place because we can do the legal work and have great success, but it’s also that public advocacy angle that caused this to not just be a win for five hospital workers in New Mexico. And that is a great win. That’s really important for them. They get to keep their job and not have to violate one of their deeply held beliefs about the sanctity of life and not having to perform abortions. But when the Department of HHS gets involved, here are some things that also happen. It sets national precedent that every hospital, every provider that may think about, under the last four years, we could get away with a lot because you know what the civil rights office at HHS- They could get away with murder. Literally, and forcing people to participate in that. And they may have thought because the civil rights office was not concerned with the conscience protections of Christians, of conservatives, of those that have pro-life values. under the Biden administration actually those protections were weakened under the Biden administration but this new precedent puts all these providers on notice all the ones that we have to go toe-to-toe with and say cut it out or we’re going to federal court and let these people remain employed and provide the service to you That if you do this, you’re getting a federal investigation. We’re not messing around. We’re not the previous administration. As well as it also reaffirms that these conscience protections are going to be upheld. They are going to be viewed, rightly so, as the law of the land. And that’s going to also help people get better care. Because they’re not concerned about losing their job over being forced to participate in procedures that they hold a deeply held conviction against performing.
SPEAKER 07 :
There also was another big win for the pro-life movement. In the next segment, my dad, Jay Sekulow, is going to be joining us to talk about the history of ACLJ’s involvement in these kind of cases and give you the details of all that went wrong. down it’s going to be a great segment you’re going to make sure you tune in we’re also going to take some calls after that because in the end of the show rick ronell’s going to be joining us usually we take the calls at the last segment we’re going to be taking them a little bit earlier today so this is a great time to call in look president trump right now is uh currently in riad saudi arabia I’m sure there’s a lot of thoughts. It’s kind of a controversial moment to be in the Middle East, and obviously there’s still what’s going on in Israel. What are your thoughts as President Trump visits Saudi Arabia, visits Riyadh, and kind of makes a full Middle Eastern tour? He’s there with a lot of people, including Elon Musk, Sean Hannity, a whole group of that is there live with him for this. I’d love to get your thoughts. Do you think this is the right thing to be doing right now? What do you think? 1-800-684-3110. But today, again, we are thrilled to share that breaking news. And, you know, we took that action defending those five ultrasound technicians. They’re being forced to participate in abortions. The Biden administration said, you know, they had to do it. But we won. And now, in a major development, as we said, President Trump’s HHS and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’ ‘s HHS just launched a formal investigation into the hospital’s conduct. And the reason they got involved was because of people like you and our ACLJ media team. They’re jumping into action because they saw an article on our website. That is the impact of the ACLJ. making national, international, global changes. It’s not only the hearts and minds, but to the law. You should be a part of that team right now. Support the work of the ACLJ at aclj.org and support life. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. As I said, we’re going to take calls a little bit earlier today because Rick Grinnell is going to join us in the last segment. My dad, Jay Sekulow, joins us live right now. Of course, we’re going to be talking about a big win for the ACLJ, but do we want to lead with what was going on with President Trump right now? As soon as we get that sound, I think we’ll play that and we are good to go.
SPEAKER 03 :
So let’s do it.
SPEAKER 07 :
So this is President Trump speaking at, again, the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum right now. This just happened.
SPEAKER 02 :
And with the historic Abraham Accords that we’re so proud of, all the momentum was aimed at peace. And it aimed very successfully. It’s been an amazing thing, the Abraham Accords. And it’s my fervent hope, wish, and even my dream that Saudi Arabia, a place I have such respect for, especially over the last… fairly short period of time, what you’ve been able to do, but will soon be joining the Abraham Accords. I think it’ll be a tremendous tribute to your country, and it will be something that’s really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East. I took a risk in doing them, and they’ve been an absolute bonanza for the countries that have joined. The Biden administration did nothing for four years. We would have had it filled out. But it will be a special day in the Middle East with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins us. And you’ll be greatly honoring me. And you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East. And I really think it’s going to be something special. But you’ll do it in your own time. And that’s what I want. And that’s what you want. And that’s the way it’s going to be.
SPEAKER 07 :
President Trump making that statement again, encouraging Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords. And who knows if this was a pre-approved statement that the Saudis knew was going to be stated. But, Dad, pretty powerful moment because, look, there’s probably controversy just going over there and having these meetings. But when you’re willing to go up on stage and say those kind of things to that crowd, pretty big moment.
SPEAKER 06 :
And there have been people criticizing President Trump because on this trip he’s not going to Israel for meetings. And people were saying he’s developing an anti-Israel view. And the first major statement that he makes is what? Well, we should have Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, which, by the way, would be a game-changing moment in the Middle East. have been a game-changing moment, but this would take it up to a whole new level. And it just, you know, we’ve been involved in this. I mean, the ACLJ has been involved. It was involved in the Abraham Accords. I can’t tell you how many meetings we had at the Oval Office and elsewhere on the issue of Israel. That was led by, as you remember, President’s son-in-law, Jared Kirshner. And, of course, our colleague, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. So there’s been great progress getting Saudi Arabia in would be, like I said, a game changing moment and something the American Center for Law and Justice would wholeheartedly endorse.
SPEAKER 03 :
keep following that that’s a big moment but that’s not why we had you on today we want to have you on because there’s another win will that’s right we discussed on the show yesterday that big victory out of ohio where we were defending a pro-life protester someone that protested against abortion in ohio in a criminal proceeding and we had that big win we wanted to talk to you about one just the the history of you with those type of cases but also why it was so important that we had that victory on friday
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, in 1988, we were then called Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, and we had a case that we took, which was very controversial at the time, and that was representing Operation Rescue. pro-life protests in the 80s and 90s led by Randall Terry. And we ended up taking, well, you know that you don’t remember this, but your dad would. We had a case in Atlanta that went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States on abortion protests. We had cases out of Wichita that went to the Supreme Court. Anyways, there was a series of them. And we were successful in both getting the jurisdiction So they couldn’t go into federal court in the first place. And number two, ultimately on the First Amendment, free speech issues. But what you have is you still have to go back and back and back. And here you go again. And this one in Ohio is unique in this sense. I mean, we’ve had this happen a few times where you go into criminal court and the defense, we’re ready to go. And then the prosecutor, the state totally folds. I will tell you where it’s happened the most on these pro-life cases. Pat Monahan, one of the founders and senior members of the ACLJ, and I tried… Hundreds of cases just like this in Ohio. We tried them all over the country. And what I’m saying to our ACLJ members is we have to stand. Roe versus Wade has been overturned, and that’s a huge thing. And I didn’t know if I’d see that in my lifetime, and unfortunately we did. And that’s a great thing. But the fight for life is always on the front lines. It’s the crisis pregnancy centers. It’s the pro-life sidewalk counselors. It’s the protesters. That’s the free speech. And that has to be protected. And we went into federal court or getting ready to go into federal court on a civil rights claim for these individuals. But also, more important than that right now is to understand the moment that your team was ready to go, ready to go because of the ACLJ members and champions around the country, ready to fight for life right there in Ohio, won the case with a dismissal in court. Now there’ll be another series of cases on the civil side. But this is a long history we’ve had. with Logan and Will on both this issue and as we started the segment off, certainly in the Middle East.
SPEAKER 07 :
And so much for religious freedom and for that expression of free speech. I mean, I did, and I even told you this, Dad, I did an interview last night or I sat in on a podcast. It was all about Christian music and it was just a fun time. The guy right before the host. who is a local radio host in Bakersfield, California, and also is the weatherman there. And he, before he got on, he said, Hey, I just want to let you know, I never was able to tell your dad, but in 1996, 1997, me and my students in high school built a 45 foot cross and they were going to tell us we could not have it on display. And your dad flew out and took care of it for us. We have been doing this for my time in Bakersfield. I do remember that. Yeah. So we’ve been doing that for a long time. time and a long history. And those stories come up, and we’re going to highlight those a little bit later this year as we celebrate the work of the ACLJ, because those stories come up, people reach out all the time who have had these, sometimes they were a one day experience like he did, where he was never able to reach out after that. But you have this, you have the HHS doing what they’ve done because they read a blog on our website. The impact is so large. I hope people understand the impact they’re making when they support the ACLJ.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you know, you mentioned the situation with HHS and they go on to our website, which tells you our media advocacy is as important as the legal advocacy that is getting the information out. So kudos to our team, the media teams that worked on this to get the information out and then, of course, to get the results. But look, I mean, if you look at any of these cases, if you look at the issue as it relates to the HHS investigation, if you look at the pro-life protesters we’re representing, if you look at what’s happening right now in Saudi Arabia and say to yourself, as an ACLJ member, ACLJ champion, I’m making a difference on every issue we’re talking about.
SPEAKER 07 :
right and it all changes when you have a more friendly administration but understand just because you have that look we can say this confidently when there is a more friendly administration a lot of times it’s harder to raise funds to support the work of the aclj because you may look and go oh they’re fine life was uh it was protected look at what happened they got a win there for their clients they don’t need us we do need you because we couldn’t do it without having the best of the best like you said whether it’s the media team or a legal team if we not don’t have the best of the best Success doesn’t happen like it does, and you don’t have these opportunities when you have a friendly administration to really get it taken care of.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly right, and that’s why people need to go to ACLJ.org. Become an ACLJ champion if you can. Support our work monthly, or you can make a one-time gift, ACLJ.org.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, thank you so much for joining us, Dad. We’ll have you, I’m sure, again on a top topic. Look, we’ve got a second half hour coming up. Join us at ACLJ.org right now. Again, go to ACLJ.org. Be a part of the organization. We have a second half hour, though. If you don’t get it on your local radio station or you’re listening in a different way, you can find us broadcasting live each day, 12 to 1 p.m., on YouTube, on Rumble, on ACLJ.org, on the ACLJ app, which is an incredible experience as well. And later on, you can find his podcast. You can find us on all those outlets archived. You can go back and really explore that free content just like the HHS does on ACLJ.org. We’ll be right back.
SPEAKER 04 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 07 :
Welcome back to Sekulow. Second half hour coming up. Rick Grinnell is going to be joining us in the final segment of the show today. So sorry, just moved my mic about that. Sorry, audio guys. Phone lines are open for you. I’d love to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110. In the next segment, I’m going to take as many calls as we possibly can before we get to Rick Grinnell because he’s got some important stuff to share with us. We’re going to talk about President Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia, what that looks like, why it’s important, and also now his push for Saudi Arabia to join the abraham accords what does that look like for the future of israel moving forward i think this is a good day a big day and of course if you are just joining us right now as i know some of you are the breaking news that came out of the world of the aclj is that the hhs has filed an investigation launched investigation into a specific hospital and a specific hospital that was maybe forcing their uh ultrasound techs to perform to be part of abortion procedures so you know guiding them or whatever it may be now we at the aclj had already been fighting on behalf of them we had already won but the hhs members of that team were on our website at ACLJ.org. They saw a story about this right on our website and they said, no, this is not enough. We got to take action. They reached out to our ACLJ team and we were able to provide them with other information we could. And now they are launching a full-blown investigation. Again, this is President Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’ ‘s HHS launching this investigation after reading a blog on our website. That is the impact of the ACLJ media team. Because this is an important day. And it’s an important day for all of you pro-life activists who honestly have been concerned maybe about President Trump and concerned about RFK Jr.’ ‘s stance on life. That it’s been not as pro-life as some of you may want it to be. Of course, we all said it was much more pro-life than we would have gotten with a Harris administration or certainly with a Biden administration. But here we are taking action, again, supporting people’s rights, people’s conscience to perform the job they got hired to do and not violate their own moral convictions.
SPEAKER 03 :
I want to read this quote from the press release HHS put out. This is the acting director of the Office for Civil Rights. And think about this quote in the context that someone at HHS within the Office for Civil Rights read about this case that you made possible on our website, ACLJ.org, by reading the blog, and that you caused this to happen by your support of the ACLJ. The department is committed to enforcement of our nation’s laws that safeguard the fundamental rights of conscience and religious exercise. healthcare professionals should not be coerced into, fired for, or driven out of the profession for declining to perform procedures that the federal law says they do not have to perform based on their religious beliefs or moral convictions. One, do you think a statement that strong would have come out of the Office for Civil Rights under the last administration? No. But it is now? And it’s all because of you and the work that we do here with your support.
SPEAKER 07 :
It may have, but it may have said your morals don’t matter.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s shocking. It’s hard to fathom how great of a statement that is and how this case was started and this investigation was started.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, absolutely. It’s because of people like you, because of supporters like you, because people that said maybe it was during our life and liberty drives. Maybe it was during our faith and freedom months. Maybe it’s going to be during our upcoming or maybe it’s right now who just said, you know what? I feel like I need to be a part of this because they are making real change. They are actually being active and doing things, whether it’s through the media or through the law. We are there around the world. Understand that. I mean, President Trump’s talking about the Abraham Accords right now. Of course, we have on this show Mike Pompeo quite regularly. He was kind of the architect of those Abraham Accords. It’s really amazing what our team has been able to do and accomplish when you have a friendly administration. But even when you have a friendly administration, it’s not easy. It’s certainly not cheap. So I encourage you to support the work. I do want you to call in right now. We got a few lines open, 1-800-684-3110. You’re not going to be able to hold very long because I’m going to take calls in the next segment. So you got about a minute to call in. Call in right now. Get on hold and we’ll get your calls coming up in just a second. Again, that’s at 1-800-684-3110. Even if you’re watching online, it’s a great time to have your voice heard. I want to have a few questions, a few comments, even just support. I’d love to hear it. Be right back. Great time to call in at 1-800-684-3110. You’ve got a couple more minutes. This is about a 10-minute segment. We’ve got about three lines open for you right now, so this will be a great time to call in. Let’s go ahead and kick things off with Ronald, who’s calling in South Carolina, watching on Rumble, one of our favorite free speech platforms. Thanks for watching, Ronald, always on Rumble. Go ahead with your question or comment.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes, thanks for taking my call. All I can say is, in a way of comment, is that morality, integrity… And decency is once again back in our government. And I just say that we are now having, and the reason why I believe that the trip is important that he’s taking into the Middle East is because we need to see, they need to see a strong president and a strong cabinet and a strong America. And I think that is very, very, very necessary compared to the previous administration that we have had And I thank God for your work. As your father said, kudos to the media staff for getting the word out by which it was able to be seen and picked up by the HHS administration. So great job, guys. Great job. May God bless you and everyone at HHS.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yes, thank you here at the ACLJ. We appreciate it, Ronald. I really want to say, number one, thank you to you for calling in and sharing those feelings. This is a big moment for the ACLJ. This is a big year. You need to be a part of it as well. But I also, you know, you talk about, it seems like there’s decency and morality, integrity to our government. Look, they’re going to spin it every which way. You’re going to see President Trump, he may have language that you may not like. He may have a personal life, a background that you may not care for. But you know what I can at least say about him is he’s fulfilled a lot of those campaign promises that a lot of people did not do. A lot of presidents did not do. A lot of them talked a big game and they pretended maybe to be your moral authority. And I’m talking about Republicans and Democrats. They pretended to be holier than thou, mightier than thou. They never showed their flaws. President Trump is who he is, it seems like, whether you like it or not. But here’s what I can say, whether he believes it or not, Look at the reaction. Look at what he has done for the pro-life world. Done more for the pro-life world, I would say, than any president in our history. The ones who’ve talked big games often got politicked out of doing the job they said they were going to do, but not this administration previously, and certainly not this one now. One now that should be maybe even a little bit more libertarian in their actions towards life. It’s not what’s happening.
SPEAKER 03 :
That’s right. And even discussing with our attorneys about this specific investigation from HHS, they wanted to make sure that all of you understand that kind of the strategic legal success that the ACLJ can have in these situations where it isn’t just defending the clients and being right on the law. Because that is important and we are and we win for our clients because of how good our attorneys are and because we are correct on the facts, correct on the law when we defend someone and defend their constitutional rights. But it’s also that public advocacy angle. It’s about people speaking out. It’s about the ACLJ amplifying their voices, their freedom of speech, their First Amendment right when protecting their other constitutional rights. All these things work together to create successes like this and to create an environment where people at the Department of Health and Human Services can even know about this. Because if it isn’t for this public advocacy, for speaking out, for you all sharing it and watching this broadcast and commenting and liking that gets this information to more and more people, That also is a major reason why something like this can even occur, that HHS can even see it and then be able to take action. So once again, that’s why thanks to the media team, thanks to the attorneys, but also thanks to you, the viewer, the donor, the champion, those of you make it possible for this work to even happen.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. We’re going to take some more calls coming up. Is Ann ready? Is she clear? Can you, can we double check that just to make sure? Yeah, she is. Okay. We’re going to go to Ann who is calling in France right now and you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay. So glad I have a question of your opinion. I would take, I heard it, I read it this morning and I agree with it. I would take a bullet for president Trump, but I am not happy with him taking this jet from the Qatar and I want your opinion.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, I mean, I think this is a conversation that a lot of people should be having and going, okay, what is our relationship going to be like with a lot of our partners and friends in the Middle East? Are they friends? Are they not friends? Where do those lines get drawn? I think President Trump has created a much different negotiation tactic in terms of how he works with these countries. So look, you may like it, you may not like it. I don’t think I know enough information, enough facts yet to say I have an opinion one way or the other. Of course, when you read the headline, the headline makes you cringe a little, and that’s okay. And then you can make up your own mind and decide what it actually looks like. Of course, he’s saying, hey, it’s going to save us a bunch of money. Why wouldn’t we? I can see that point of view and I can also see yours, Ann, that goes, you know, you love President Trump, but maybe this isn’t the right path. It’s OK to call it out when you feel like it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, and I think that point as well about we’ve only seen headlines at this point. I think that depending on what this ends up, it could be something that gives the left a problematic issue that they can pounce on. And I think that’s the key details are what we don’t have to know what it’s going to be like, because the Qataris also have said they’re a different version of what’s being reported in The New York Times. And I think whenever you see a headline in the New York Times before anything has been announced, you have to take it with a grain of salt. And so, therefore, could it be a lease or a purchase? Now, there is one thing. We do have an ally in Qatar. However, we also know that Qatar is a very problematic nation. They are a major finance center for terrorism. They’ve allowed Hamas to live there. Some of that has been strategic planning so people could keep an eye on Hamas. But they aren’t necessarily what you consider the best friend in the region.
SPEAKER 07 :
I don’t know the connection or if there is a connection. But when you have something like Alexander getting released on the same day or couple days that this happens as well, I don’t necessarily think that this is it. President Trump, again, working a bit three dimensionally and trying to figure out ways to negotiate and work with people and also getting deals done. You may not like it. It may throw it off. Number one, I want to say, Anne, thanks for watching from France. I appreciate that as well. We have the European Center, the ECLJ. You know, we don’t talk about this show is worldwide. Thanks to YouTube. Thanks to Rumble. Thanks to these platforms. It’s really amazing. We were able to reach all around the world. But I think we have to also look at how this president has worked at getting out the hostages in Israel. But as Will said, the New York Times, you’ve got to be a little more careful with too, because really their reporting, even for Eden Alexander, was a bit leaning in towards he is the last hostage. and really it was the last american living hostage uh there’s still potentially many more that are alive but the new york times almost wrote it off as all right we got our last person out so what we’re going to continue supporting this war uh a real weird flex coming in but let’s uh let’s go ahead and maybe take some more calls before we get to rick renell coming in the next segment yeah let’s go ahead and go to royce on line one from colorado royce you’re on the air
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, this jet that the president is accepting is a nothing burger here. He’s accepting it for the country and not himself and anything that. CNN or the New York Times or ABC, NBC report on that they want to stir up some trouble there. I go the exact opposite direction. All they’re doing is trying to make trouble.
SPEAKER 07 :
Royce, I don’t know about this exact topic, whether you like it or not like it, but I will say this. President Trump’s most successful campaign since 2016. is calling out the news and saying, you know, really coming up with the whole fake news mantra that I believe had huge impact, by the way, on those platforms. Because where we would all be concerned about what the New York Times was going to say, we’d be concerned about what all of these news outlets were going to say. What’s MSNBC going to say? You know what he said? He said, they’re lying to you. And you know what? Most people, their eyes were opened and they saw through it. So now, if the New York Times wants to say something horrible about what’s going on right now, maybe with the HHS launching this investigation and the ACLJ, whatever. Doesn’t matter because we know people like you are listening smarter than that and know they are writing from their agenda and their side. So I can say without a doubt that has been something that has been very, very successful from President Trump.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, I will say one other thing about this jet before we move on, and that is the. The main reason he’s looking for another option is he commissioned a new Air Force One, which is 40 years old, back in his first term. Boeing has gone billions of dollars over budget already and still probably won’t even be ready to have a jet by the time he leaves office. But I will also caution this. While Trump doesn’t care what the New York Times says to some degree, The Democrats are going to run in the midterms on impeaching Trump. Mark my words, you already see Senator Ossoff from Georgia saying he would support it. So a senator. So where he has to be careful is before the midterms, if people try to find something that, like a trumped-up phone call during the first impeachment, if they can rally behind that as Democrats and win in the House of Representatives, it completely wipes out the second part of his term because they will just be trying to impeach him again. So there are some areas to maybe keep caution in for that very reason.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, phone lines are pretty much closed. Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to take any more calls because coming up in the next segment… Our friend, colleague Rick Grinnell will be joining us. You’re not going to want to miss that. We’re going to talk about President Trump’s trip currently in Saudi Arabia and so much more. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. Rick Grinnell is going to be joining us in just a moment, but I wanted to take us to Saudi Arabia right now. President Trump just ended his speech in Riyadh, and he mentioned, not only mentioned, spent a good portion of his time talking about the Abraham Accord, something that’s kind of controversial, I’d say, to just bring up and really take a bold stand about it. Let’s hear from President Trump, and then we’ll get reaction from Rick Grinnell.
SPEAKER 02 :
And with the historic Abraham Accords that we’re so proud of, all the momentum was aimed at peace. And it aimed very successfully. It’s been an amazing thing, the Abraham Accords. And it’s my fervent hope, wish, and even my dream that Saudi Arabia, a place I have such respect for, especially over the last… fairly short period of time, what you’ve been able to do, but will soon be joining the Abraham Accords. I think it’ll be a tremendous tribute to your country, and it will be something that’s really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East. I took a risk in doing them, and they’ve been an absolute bonanza for the countries that have joined. The Biden administration did nothing for four years. We would have had it filled out. But it will be a special day in the Middle East with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins us. And you’ll be greatly honoring me. And you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East. And I really think it’s going to be something special. But you’ll do it in your own time. And that’s what I want. And that’s what you want. And that’s the way it’s going to be.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right, Rick, I want to get your immediate feedback. Of course, this is coming from President Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia right now saying, hey, we want you to join the Abraham Accords. We want you to be a part of that peacemaking history. And hopefully we’ll get you there soon. Another Trump negotiation tactic to say that clearly from that stage.
SPEAKER 08 :
I think I think the reality is, is that the Saudis. Can you hear me? Sorry about that. There was a delay. OK, no problem. I think the reality is, is that we would have had the Saudis in the Abraham Accords already if we didn’t have a Biden administration that had funded the Iranian regime and terrorism to create this war in the Middle East. We were on a path of peace with Donald Trump. Remember, Donald Trump handed Joe Biden peace in the Middle East and peace in Europe. Joe Biden turned around and handed Donald Trump a war in Europe and a war in the Middle East. And so this has greatly impacted the historic Abraham Accords, the peace accords between Arabs and Israelis, because now we have war. between Arabs and Israelis. And we’ve got to fix this. And I think that’s what President Trump is saying. In due time, we need to fix this. So as soon as we bring peace, as soon as Donald Trump brings peace to the Middle East, I think you’ll see the Saudis quickly forge a peace agreement in Abraham Accord with the Israelis.
SPEAKER 03 :
Rick, I was planning on asking you, you know, we had all of these big moves yesterday, whether it be the prescription drug pricing executive order, the deal in framework with China and also the release of Eden Alexander by Hamas without having to give any terrorists back to Hamas for that. But. I was going to say, hey, now that President Trump’s in the Middle East, do you think we could expect any more fireworks or something like this, some big announcements? But right off the bat, before I even got to ask you the question, we see him on stage in Saudi Arabia making this bold statement. But I guess I still will ask, do you think there’s more to come as he goes on this tour of the Middle East and using his style, his very straightforward and special negotiation tactics, that we could see some other big announcements coming this week?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think there’s no question that you’re going to see a lot more big announcements. Donald Trump likes to make news, and he understands that when you’re on a foreign trip like this, you need to make some news. And so there’s no question we will see more. And I think it’s going to be around this idea that President Trump just said, which I think will go down in history as an amazing line from so far this trip, which is we want, Donald Trump said, we want commerce, not chaos. We want technology, not chaos. more terrorism. And to have it put so succinctly that we’re here for the economics, for the benefit of the family getting jobs and stability is so unique coming from a president that I think people will remember this and certainly the welcome that he’s been receiving so far in Riyadh has just been unbelievable.
SPEAKER 07 :
That’s right. It’s not just in Washington, D.C. It’s just not around our nation. We do have to make sure that we’re involved in the global stage. Not only the ACLJ, but obviously the president and everything that goes on. We had an administration that felt like though they would spend some time in the Middle East here and there and kind of speak out of both sides of their mouth. They were not willing to actually get things done. Sit down, negotiate. It was all propaganda media campaigns. And now we’re seeing a president actually using those negotiation tactics that we brought him in for. And you have things like Alexander getting free, the American hostage in Gaza. We’ve seen a lot of movement. In the Middle East. And again, it could be a very controversial time to be over there and to be part of it. And of course, he brings along a group like Elon Musk and Sean Hannity, all these people to really experience what it’s like in these nations to not just deal with what’s going on within our own walls and understand the global impact.
SPEAKER 08 :
And look, he has Secretary of State Marco Rubio with him. He has Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He has a team with him that really knows how to solve problems and bring about peace rather than the chaos that we’ve had for the last four years. I think the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Qataris are very thankful that Donald Trump is concentrating on this region and making sure that we are bringing about commerce, not chaos.
SPEAKER 07 :
Some comments come in and like, well, what about what’s going on in the States? Don’t we need to make sure that we’re focused on that, that we actually do have the resources and the time going on. And look, I was just in your home state of California this weekend with my son. It was one of his maybe second or third trip out to Southern California. And he was telling me he had sort of fallen in love with that area of the country and now being out there. though there is that push of going okay i see the way he connects with it i see the way people are commenting uh we need to not forget what’s going on in our country and of course you have been trying to fix that state now for quite some time so i’m going to need you to do that for my kids
SPEAKER 08 :
Look, California is an amazing state and we just have had terrible leadership. We have leadership that tells us to take quick showers because we don’t have enough water and we don’t have enough water to fight a fire, but we live on the ocean. And so it just doesn’t make sense to people. I think people are really over the fact that the leadership is nuts in California. And now you’ve got Gavin Newsom pretending that we all have to do something about homelessness after fanning the flames and really taking money. billions of dollars and just basically lighting it up in in a fire because it’s been so wasted on homeless programs uh it’s a whole industry it’s a whole racket i actually think that the fbi should go investigate this the spending on homelessness in california to see the abuse the corruption the scandals and and that this all comes from a leader like gavin newsom I also think it’s quite funny that Gavin Newsom is flirting with the idea of running for president. The idea that he’s going to be in Wisconsin or Michigan or Pennsylvania and try to sell the California ways.
SPEAKER 07 :
Not going to happen. Rick, thank you so much for joining us. We always appreciate your guidance, your support, and of course, anything we do for you, let us know. Go to ACLJ.org to support the work right now. Thanks to our incredible media team for getting us into action. They did a great job on this, and that’s because of you. Go to ACLJ.org today.
