Join Jody Heiss as he fills in for Tony Perkins on an enlightening episode of Washington Watch. Delve into President Trump’s first 100 days back in office, where action and achievement seem to have set a remarkable pace. Analyze the economic strides made through tariffs and investments, pushing America towards new heights. Congressman Addison McDowell shares insights on the next big legislative move, the reconciliation process, and protecting middle-class Americans. Meanwhile, Gordon Chang brings vital information on China’s economic state, painting a picture of a regime in turmoil amidst trade challenges.
SPEAKER 06 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, good afternoon. Hope you’re having a fantastic day. Welcome. Welcome to this Tuesday edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, the Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. I’m deeply honored whenever having the opportunity to fill in for Tony, and he happens to be in Israel. He’s leading a delegation of U.S. Christian leaders And so, as I said, it’s great to be filling in for him. And we deeply appreciate you entrusting this hour of your time to us. Let me give you some of the highlights that we’ll be covering today. Well, it’s finally here. President Trump’s 100th day back in office. And what a 100 days it’s been. We’ve seen so much coming from this president. It’s frankly hard to keep track of it all.
SPEAKER 20 :
President Donald Trump has been working nonstop at a feverish pace to deliver results for the American people. I don’t think we’ve seen a president in 100 days get more things accomplished, follow through on more promises to get this country back on track. And we’re only 100 days in. Yeah, he’s right.
SPEAKER 04 :
We’re only 100 days in. That was House Majority Leader Steve Scalise earlier this morning. And really, it’s not easy to keep track of all that President Trump has done during these first 100 days. But we’ll take a look at some of the promises that he’s made and the promises he’s kept when I’m joined by FRC Action’s Matt Carpenter just a little bit later in the program. And today, as part of its week-long celebration of the president’s 100 days, the White House highlighted the investments he’s made in America through his economic agenda.
SPEAKER 17 :
At this point, President Trump has secured more investments in the United States of America in 100 days than Joe Biden did in four years. President Trump is America’s businessman in chief. Under President Trump, there has never been a better time to invest in America. And the president finally said enough is enough and refused to allow America and our workers to be ripped off any longer on trade.
SPEAKER 04 :
Some powerful points there. That was White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt earlier this morning. And while the president’s actions are putting America first, no doubt about it, they’re also putting China in a very tough spot.
SPEAKER 08 :
Over time, we will see that the Chinese tariffs are unsustainable for China. I’ve seen some very large numbers over the past few days that show if these numbers stay on, Chinese could lose 10 million jobs very quickly. So the onus will be on them to take off these tariffs. They’re unsustainable for them.
SPEAKER 04 :
That was U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bassett, and I’ll be discussing what’s happening in China a little bit later in the program when I’m joined by China expert Gordon Chang. Meanwhile, the president’s actions against DEI in the federal government are also having an impact on the private sector. And I’ll discuss this later with Will Hild of Consumers Research. And then looking ahead, specifically past this first 100 days, what might we see coming in the next 100 days? Well, congressional Republicans are hoping it will be the president’s big, beautiful bill that we’ve all been hearing about for the last several weeks. That one big, beautiful bill, which Mike Johnson, Speaker, has also been talking about, that’s a big part. of what the president is trying to achieve. Congressman Addison McDowell, who’s a member of the House Budget Committee, will be joining me here in just a moment to discuss the latest on that. So friends, we’ve got a lot coming your way as always. If by any chance you miss any portion of today’s program, as you know by now, you can always catch it by going to our website, TonyPerkins.com, where you’ll not only find this, but many other programs archived there, as well as lots of resources for you. All right, let’s jump into our first topic. While congressional Republicans are absolutely celebrating President Trump’s first 100 days in office, they’re also working at fever pitch to keep the momentum going. And a key part of that is what’s come to be known as the big, beautiful bill. It’s the budget reconciliation process that’s currently taking place in Congress. And as Speaker Johnson noted earlier today, the bill is going to be the vehicle through which the America First agenda will be delivered. What’s the status of that bill? And how are congressional Republicans coming alongside the administration to make sure this gets across the finish line? Well, here to discuss this is freshman Congressman Addison McDowell, who serves on three committees, including the all-important Budget Committee. He represents the 6th Congressional District of North Carolina. Congressman McDowell, welcome to Washington Watch, and welcome to Congress.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, thank you so much. It’s great to be with you today.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s our pleasure to have you. Listen, you’re a freshman, and before we jump into the reconciliation bill, I’d like for you to share a little bit of our audience about you, a little bit about yourself and your journey to Congress. I know you spoke on the House floor today regarding the National Fentanyl Awareness Day, and I know that’s a very important issue to you. Tell us a little about that.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, yeah, so my… My story, kind of the reason that I’m in politics and the reason that I ran for Congress is a story that is not uncommon to many, many Americans. I lost my younger brother, Luke, to a fentanyl poisoning in 2016. He was 20 years old, and his life was cut short by a poison that was being manufactured in China. and smuggled up through our southern border. And so I felt the effects of that tragic loss of my younger brother, and it led me to public service. And so I was able to speak about that today on the floor of the House, which is such an incredible honor. But it was a great way to highlight something that is not by any means unique to just my family, but many families across our country.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s certainly not unique, Congressman, but it is deeply personal. And what an incredible story how God used that to bring you to where you are now and standing on behalf of millions of other families dealing with the same poison problem. If I can, let’s turn and talk a little bit about the reconciliation bill, just because our time is going to slip away. What’s the current state of this bill? How’s the House and the Senate between the two handling it?
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, well, so we’re right now this week, we’re beginning the reconciliation process. And so we’re meeting in committees that are identifying different cost saving measures that we can find so that we can pay for middle class tax cuts. That is the key here. We’re looking for savings so that we can deliver the America first agenda. And reconciliation, it’s going to secure the border. It’s going to unleash American energy. It’s that drill, baby drill that the president talked about. And this is real savings for real Americans that we’re rooting out this waste, fraud, and abuse that we’ve heard so much about. But we’re protecting the president’s mandate. The American people spoke loud and clear that they wanted to restore sanity to Washington. And that is exactly what this bill does.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it’s amazing. And I don’t think people really understand. It’s a complicated thing. The whole process for a reconciliation bill is complicated. But it really is a vehicle by which the entire agenda is able to ride. And yet there’s some bickering, obviously, back and forth. What are some of the hangups that need to be dealt with as this thing tries to get across the finish line?
SPEAKER 10 :
Sure. Well, I mean, they’re mostly technical. And our conference is having the debate right now about, okay, how do we go about doing something? Do we do it this way or do we do it that way? And the thing that we want, all of us, I believe, is the most conservative, you know, agenda, America First agenda bill we can get, that we can get 218 votes for. That’s the most that we can hope for. And so, you know, while the process may be different in the Senate, Or the process may be different in the House. I think we’re aligned in that we want a conservative outcome here. And so there are certainly lively discussions and debates amongst Republicans in Congress. But at the end of the day, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that the main things here is secure the border and prevent a massive tax increase on the middle class that the Democrats have all voted for multiple times now.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. So with all the hangups, the debates, the deliberations underway, are you seeing any progress? Do you feel good that this is going to make it to the end goal?
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. One hundred percent. I mean, I think you look at the leadership team right now. They’ve been doubted every single step of the way that we could deliver on tough votes that we didn’t have a crazy margin that we could work with. And we’ve stuck together. We’ve done that. Now, I will say this about our speaker. I know that you and I both are men of faith. I think it’s really good that we have a speaker that is on his hands and knees praying a lot because he’s going to need it. Because this is going to be tough, but we didn’t sign up for something easy. And so I think we’re going to get this done no matter how hard it is. But I think we’ll get it done.
SPEAKER 04 :
And having that knowledge of the genuineness of our speaker’s relationship with the Lord gives tremendous, tremendous peace and assurance going through this process. Any idea how long you think the budget reconciliation bill will take to pass?
SPEAKER 10 :
You know, it’s hard to say. I think it’ll certainly – it looks like it’ll be done by our August recess, but it’s hard to say when exactly it will be done, and we can’t – We can’t control the Senate. So the Senate is a different ballgame completely. And so we’re just going to have to see.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it is. Senate’s always been. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I will refrain. But that’s an issue always to deal with and another issue to pray about as we go through all of this. Now, it’s been an amazing hundred days. Speaker Johnson actually has come out boldly stating that President Trump could probably likely be the most consequential president of modern times. Your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 10 :
I couldn’t agree anymore. I mean, this president in the first 100 days has done more at such an incredible pace that it’s almost hard to keep up with. But the simple four-word phrase that I think describes this perfectly is promises made, promises kept. It’s a crazy concept in Washington to do what you say you’re going to do. That’s exactly what the president is doing. And I’m thankful for that. But this is common sense being restored. This woke nonsense is out and real world common sense solutions are in. The border’s closed. I mean, look at the numbers. The president has proven what he said, that it didn’t take new laws. It just took a new president. And our border is secure. We’re well on our way to taking our country back from this invasion. And we’re eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. I mean, this first 100 days,
SPEAKER 04 :
uh in comparison to the last four years is it’s a 180 degree difference stunning i was speaking to a group just last night in my opinion the next 100 days is going to be just as busy as the first 100 days our time is about up but do you agree with that yeah i couldn’t agree more absolutely Congressman Addison McDowell of North Carolina, I can’t tell you what an honor it is to have you both in Congress and to have you a part of Washington Watch this evening. We are grateful that God has placed you where you are in the midst of great personal trial to get you there. But God bless you, my friend. Thanks for joining us. Look forward to talking to you again in the future. All right, friends, coming up, we’re going to have Matt Carpenter on to talk about this past first hundred days of President Trump’s second term and what can we expect going forward in the future. A lot more coming your way here on Washington Watch. Stay tuned. We’ll be back in a moment.
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At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
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Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
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Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
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This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
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Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
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These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
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Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
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We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
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FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
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Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
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Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
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Good afternoon. Hope you’re having a great day. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am your host Jody Heiss sitting in today for Tony. All right. As we’ve been discussing today, today, April 29th, officially marks President Trump’s 100th day in office. And as you probably have heard, the White House actually started celebrating this week on Monday all the accomplishment of the second Trump administration. And they’re going to continue celebrating all through the week. And why is this important? historically a president’s first 100 days in office or in this case back in office but that first 100 days acts as a marker it’s a marker to determine how successful how effective that president has been and it sets the pace for how successful we can anticipate that president being so as we look at these hundred days it’s a significant milestone and the question How successful has President Trump fared so far in his second term? And what can we expect in the next 100 days? Well, here to discuss this is Matt Carpenter. He’s the director for FRC Action. Matt, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thanks for having me, Jody.
SPEAKER 04 :
All righty, the 100th day is finally here. I know you and I and a host of others, we’ve been working through this 100 days from the very beginning. It’s hard to believe it’s already here, but how has President Trump performed with his commitments so far?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I mean, it’s been a barnstorm of a first 100 days, certainly a brisk pace for sure. Jody, shortly after the election, we took the task to ourselves to go back and look through all the public statements, all the campaign rallies, some of the very policy-oriented videos that the Trump campaign put out. All the specific ones. The president was famous for his Make America Great Again, Make America Safe Again. Some of those taglines, we haven’t included those. Those are a little bit more on the subjective side. It’s tough to measure some of those open to interpretation, let’s say, but we identified 52 specific statements. On day one, I’ll do this. My Department of Justice will do that. Things that we thought we could credibly post online and then as the administration took action on those proposals. And so far, I think about 140 executive orders later, he’s addressed all but 16 of them, Jody. A number of them are partially completed. Some of them, like onshoring critical medicines, for example, are ongoing. You hear it almost daily, investments some of these pharmaceutical companies are making in producing needed medicines. here in America. And so we’re still tracking this, but for sure, it’s been a very successful, by the metrics they’ve laid out on the campaign, first 100 days for the Trump administration.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, it’s been amazing. In fact, I have the website up here. For those of you who may want to go check this out, Matt and his team did a spectacular job. You can find it at frcaction.org slash trump tracker, frcaction.org slash trump tracker. The promise is made, the promise is kept, where it all stands. So Matt, what major takeaways can we draw, takeaways that you draw from this first 100 days so far?
SPEAKER 11 :
I think really, really out of the gate, the president took initiative to address the major concerns of the American people, the issues that were center to the to the electorate at large, things like immigration, securing the border. We saw in the previous administration threw open the southern border and basically did everything they could to just inject the country full of non-citizens. That’s been, you know, all illegal border crossings are basically plummeted to zero at this point, and the president’s deportation plans are still ongoing. Addressing the cost of living crisis, we had, you know, historic inflation under the Biden-Harris administration. The Trump administration has, you know, he’s directed the entire federal government, the entire executive branch to look for ways to address the cost of living crisis. They’ve identified energy policy as one of the kind of underpinning areas where they think that they can bring down the cost of goods. And so they’ve done a lot getting out of the Paris Climate Accords, going after the Obama era clean power plan rule. to make energy more affordable. And they’ve also done things kind of aspirational. And you almost kind of wonder, is President Trump having a little fun here with our neighbor to the north in Canada, talking about annexing Canada, but maybe more seriously looking at Greenland, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America. So he’s got his eye on the history books, I think, with the first 100 days here. But he’s not neglected some of the commitments he’s made to the more socially conservative elements of the Republican Party. He’s reinstated the Mexico City policy. He’s overturned the Department of Defense’s policy to reimburse for travel related to performing abortions, which was a huge one, something that FRC Action was engaged in during the Biden-Harris administration, supporting Senator Tuberville’s stand there. You remember that, Jody? Oh, yeah. And then also enforcing the Hyde Amendment. Just huge policy wins.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s absolutely incredible, like you said. And, you know, this is not necessarily a big deal, so we don’t need to go into it. But have you by chance had any opportunity to kind of compare the first 100 days of this Trump administration versus the first 100 days of Biden?
SPEAKER 11 :
It did. Jody, I went back and looked and I hate to bring us all back to the COVID era, but the major focus of the Biden administration those first 100 days were things like mask mandates and vaccine mandates and just folding the LGBT agenda into every nook and cranny of the federal government and promoting so-called gender-affirming care to minors, and throwing open the southern border as well. So it’s just been, the Trump administration is almost like an immune reaction to the cancers of the Biden-Harris administration in some ways. It’s just this reaction, this 180 from those policies and a pure repudiation from the American people.
SPEAKER 04 :
Less than a minute to go here. Matt, real quickly, what do you anticipate in the next 100 days?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I think you and Congressman McDowell covered this well. I think the focus is going to be a lot on this big, beautiful bill, the reconciliation bill. As I understand, there’ll be tax reform elements. There’ll be some elements related to border enforcement. The president’s immigration plans as well will be included there. And then I anticipate there’ll be some national defense spending as well. And then we’ll probably pivot into posturing for the midterms. That’s coming up. We’re not even halfway through 2025, and already 2026 is underway.
SPEAKER 04 :
Unbelievable. Matt Carpenter, Director of FRC Action, thank you so much. A job well done to you and all of your team. Just high five all of them for me. Thank you. And thank you for joining us on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 11 :
Thanks, Jody. Great to be with you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks. All right. Coming up next, all that’s happened this first 100 days and all the economic things that are taking place, China is also being majorly impacted by all of this. In fact, our next guest says that China is now exhibiting end of regime conduct. Coming back, Gordon Chang will join me. You don’t want to miss this. We’ll be back in a moment.
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Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we’re less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our world view. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They’re disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release, and the forest from the trees.
SPEAKER 04 :
Welcome back. Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heist filling in this week for Tony, who is in Israel. All right, in kicking off this week’s celebration of President Trump’s first 100 days back in office, the White House yesterday highlighted its efforts on border security. Today, it focused on the economy and the investments that President Trump has made in America’s future. And while we wait to see how his liberation day, that refers to the tariffs, we wait to see how all that’s going to play out for America. We might already be seeing how they’re impacting America’s biggest adversary. That would be China, which continues to try and protect its economy and their image, despite evidence to the contrary. So is China and their economy in dire straits? Well, here to discuss this is China expert Gordon Chang. He’s a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and author of several books, including Plan Red, China’s Project to Destroy America. You can find him on X at the handle at Gordon G. Chang. Gordon, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always an honor to have you.
SPEAKER 07 :
It’s always an honor to be talking to you, Jody. So thank you.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, listen, I have seen some of your other interviews. I’ve seen what you’ve written, and it’s just amazing the insight that you’re bringing to the table, how China is being impacted right now. Let’s start with them defending what they call free trade by calling for nations to stick together and resist the U.S. tariffs, where you say that their approach to trade is both predatory and criminal. Why is that?
SPEAKER 07 :
First of all, it’s criminal because China’s been stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of US intellectual property each year, probably on the order of a half trillion dollars annually. But it’s increasingly predatory because China has failed to honor its trade obligations, especially those that it took on when it acceded to the World Trade Organization. So we have a China right now that is ramping up its export production giving subsidies, all sorts of things that are not permitted under the rules that it had accepted. And that’s why President Trump imposed his tariffs. And that’s why other countries also have imposed tariffs on Chinese goods, because they don’t want to have China decimate their industries as China decimated ours.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. All right. So what’s happening in China, both as a response, as a result of the tariffs imposed by President Trump, but around the world, likewise, trying to protect their other interests, other countries. What kind of impact is this having on China?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, we’re starting to see factories close, especially in the export sector in the south. The layoffs are going to be they’re going to start rolling. They’re going to even be worse than they have been. Even before Liberation Day, the Chinese economy probably was contracting. China claims 5.4% growth in the first quarter. But when we look at the price data, Jody, we see an economy in deflation. And that’s hard to reconcile an economy in a deflationary spiral with robust growth. So now when China can’t export because of these tariffs, because their exports are way down, I think we’re going to see a Chinese economy that will be plunging. Wow.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. One of the things, Gordon, that I read from you that I said, I want Gordon on the program to talk about this. You’ve suggested China’s behavior right now exhibits what you call end of regime conduct. Can you expound on that?
SPEAKER 07 :
In the last three weeks, Jody, we’ve seen very provocative Chinese military activity directed against South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Australia. Now, this is at a time when China actually needs friends because it needs to export more. Remember, it’s not exporting many goods to the U.S., and it needs to sell those to other countries, and yet it is making enemies of other countries, especially countries in the region very close to China’s shores. That is lashing out. It’s extremely counterproductive, nonsensical. And so I think that end of regime behavior is perfect description for what China is doing right now. It just looks of desperation. It looks like it is just irrational.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. And I actually aired coming into the program today, Treasury Secretary Scott said that they could lose, China could lose as many as 10 million jobs through all of this. And I’m actually seeing reports of riots taking place in the streets. This is a very serious situation in China right now, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 07 :
It is, and it’s certainly more than $10 million because even the investment banks are talking about layoffs of $16 million, and it could very well be more than that because we’re dealing with an export sector that is basically no customers. It was ailing last year, and now with the tariff war, it is in a position where China can’t do very much except try to give subsidies or social benefits to laid-off workers. But the number of workers who are going to be laid off will be in the millions, and it could even be more than that.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, less than a minute left. Is all this going to bring China to the table to negotiate?
SPEAKER 07 :
You would think so. But what we see is China trying to give concessions in the dark, such as eliminating tariffs on essential American goods, such as aviation parts, industrial chemicals, some semiconductors, medical devices. medicines. They don’t want to talk to the United States for various political internal reasons, but they will give concessions. And that is actually folding. You know, a lot of people say, oh, President Trump folded. But no, I don’t think he did. But clearly China is.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. Incredible information. Gordon Chang, Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, thank you as always for joining us on Washington Watch. All right, coming up next, major companies are rethinking their previous approaches to pride marketing. I’ll be talking with Will Hilde about all of this. He’s the Executive Director of Consumers Research. A lot more coming your way. Stay tuned. We’ll bring all those developments to you in just a moment.
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How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture. and explore how christians can faithfully exalt christ in all of life follow outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week welcome back to washington watch good afternoon hope you’re having a great day i’m jody heist sitting in today for tony
SPEAKER 04 :
All right, you just heard or saw, depending on how you’re joining us today, an ad on the new God in Government series. Friends, this is an incredible video series that we want you to take advantage of. And the release that came out this week deals with a biblical worldview. in the midst of a post-Christian culture. I don’t know that there is much that could possibly be considered more important for believers right now. than to have an understanding as to how to embrace a biblical worldview in the midst of this culture globally in which we’re living. And you can access and learn a lot about this important issue, this week’s issue. Text the word COURSE to 67742 and take advantage of this God in Government classes course. It is incredible information. All right, let’s move forward into this final segment as we continue to look back on President Trump’s first 100 days of his second administration. We have unquestionably seen how he has been able to dismantle the previous administration’s DEI crusade across the federal government. But what President Trump has done on this issue of DEI reaches beyond just the federal government. It’s also had a major impact on the private sector. How? Well, let’s discuss that. Joining me now is Will Hilde. He’s the executive director of Consumers Research, which is the nation’s oldest consumer protection organization. And with Will at the helm, Consumers Research has been a leader in the fight against ESG and woke capitalism. So I don’t know of anyone who knows more about the topic than Will. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you, Will. Great to be with you again. All right, so let’s just begin just kind of a 30,000 foot view, your assessment of the second Trump administration on day 100 in terms, let’s just go ahead and be specific when it comes to DEI.
SPEAKER 12 :
How’s he done? I couldn’t have asked for more. It’s been such an incredible whirlwind of pushback and executive orders on the entire DEI grift complex. Really nothing more we could ask for, especially just this last week when they got rid of the disparate impact. from the LBJ administration, which was basically an excuse to discriminate against normal people without any proof that any kind of discrimination actually happened because all you needed was the fact that a rule or a policy affected one group more than another. So I think it’s been fantastic and we’ve seen what this is doing to the federal government. But I’m hopeful over the next 100 days, we’re going to start to see this trickle through to the for-profit sector, the corporate sector, because a lot of this was actually driven by government, either threats of suit against companies that didn’t have a DEI department or weren’t engaging in DEI, or government contracts that required DEI to be going on at the company in order to get federal funds.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, that is what’s so impressive to me. His work in this first 100 days, specifically on this issue, is far beyond impacting just the federal government. I mean, we just had the New York City Pride Parade just lose a ton of major sponsors, people like MasterCard, Citi, and PepsiCo. all sorts of companies pulling out from Pride Month and all this kind of stuff, the parade there. Tell us about that. Why are these companies pulling out?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I think there’s a few reasons going on there. First of all, I think that they are increasingly seeing consumer fatigue with the constant shoving of the LGBTQ agenda down people’s throats through the corporate sector. They don’t get as much credit as they used to get from the left for doing it anyway, and they’re getting an increasing amount of heat for doing it from people who just won’t want these corporations to engage in politics at all. They find it nauseating. So I think that’s part of it. In addition, it’s going to take a long time. It’s sort of like if you were to take out a bunch of poison from a pond, it takes a little while for things to return back to the way that they used to be. I think we’re going to find out that a lot of this corporate activity, as I alluded to before, was actually being driven by government action, either direct subsidization through programs that required it or encouraged it, or enforcement of Civil Rights Act-type statutes that went after corporations if they weren’t being seen as properly deferential to these advocacy groups. I think what you’re seeing, from what I’ve seen, there actually is huge layoffs going on at Human Rights Council, one of the big activist groups that were pushing this agenda. It suggests that donations are down. They’ve lost a lot of momentum. I’m hopeful that this is a combination of consumer fatigue from what we’ve seen. We’ve seen a lot of that with the work that we’ve done, but also an ending to the subsidization and enforcement against companies that don’t do it.
SPEAKER 04 :
So it’s both. I think you’re spot on with that. The people are fatigued with all this stuff being crammed down their throats, but unquestionably, the role that the Trump administration has had pushing back against all these things has likewise had an impact. I think that’s a good insight. Is there anything else you think that the Trump administration can do to discourage, not just from the federal government, but discourage these big companies from continuing to push the woke ideologies on consumers?
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely, and the big thing, we’ve actually pointed them in some directions for this, but the big thing is that executive order, a lot of people didn’t even know about, that Trump put out requesting that each agency that has civil rights enforcement action, so that’s almost all of them, because almost all of them have some sort of civil rights department, look for nine corporations or organizations that are currently discriminating against whites or Christians and go after them for that because as we all know it has become basically commonplace for Christians to be discriminated against in the workplace. Getting involved in Pride Month itself in my estimation is a hostile workplace environment infraction for a corporation. Imagine if MasterCard said that they were going to force every employee to go to trainings or celebrate Easter for an entire month. Imagine the lawsuits that would come out of that. And yet that’s what they’ve been doing every June. So that EO from Trump pointing people or pointing the agencies to look into, pick nine organizations or companies and look into that. I’m literally looking for follow through on that. I think that’s gonna be huge. If corporations really start to feel the heat from that, If people like Harmeet Dhillon, who now runs the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, if the inspector generals in the civil rights divisions of even the Department of Education, which has been mainly shut down but still does have by statute a Department of Civil Rights, if they start going after schools and corporations and medical facilities for this kind of discrimination and DEI behavior, then I think you’ll really start to see it’s already in retreat. but it’s sort of a war of attrition. They’re just sort of slowly laying people off. I think you start seeing the lawsuits flying. This stuff will be disavowed. They will be coming to the government saying, how do we just settle? We engaged in this for a decade, but we know it’s illegal. How do we get ourselves out of this? So that’s really the next step that I’m looking for. Some of the targets that we’ve gone after, I think, make great candidates. For example, we’ve gone after the Cleveland Clinic for a rank – discrimination against not only their own employees, but also patients. They’d set up programs that were only open to people of a certain skin color. And of course, they’ve been engaging in child sex changes, which is grotesque and, you know, almost you struggle for words to describe that in horrible enough ways. If they were to face legal consequences from the Trump administration, I think that would go a long way to cleaning up our entire society.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. All right. So that’s encouraging. What about what about on the consumer side? So you’ve got the pressure that you’re saying that the Trump administration can still apply. Is there anything that consumers can do to send a message to these major retailers to back off all these pride celebrations and DEI initiatives and quit pushing all that stuff down our throats?
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. I’m so glad you asked that question because I think conservatives tend to only think of their power being in terms of their wallet. In other words, if they don’t like a company organization, what they’re doing, they’ll just won’t shop there. I won’t spend my money there anymore. The problem with that is twofold. One, the left is very noisy when they do that. They let people, they use their other category, which is voice, right? So they connect the fact that revenues are falling with what they’re upset about. If you don’t tell… a company, why it is you stop shopping there. They spend millions upon millions of dollars trying to figure out why people shop at Target or Walmart or go to a different place. It’s hard. It’s not an easy thing to do and you have to do all kinds of polling. It’s a lot easier when you send an email or call somebody and say, I don’t appreciate this thing. We saw this with Target. We saw this with Budweiser. It went viral on social media. Say something both to the company and say something on social media because they track that kind of thing, right? So I would say two categories. Use both your wallet and use your voice. Make sure to use that voice. Conservatives haven’t been doing that. If people would like to get involved with us to help with that, we have something on our website at consumersresearch.org. That’s consumersresearch.org. It’s called Woke Alerts. We won’t bombard you, but it’s a once a week text message based system. We will text you the woke company of the week, but we won’t just get you rattled and angry about all the bad things that are happening. We always have a call to action. We always have a way to contact the company, either by phone or email or on social media, and tell them why it is you’re upset about them. And we’ve seen huge results with that. Whole DEI departments have fallen because we’ve put out woke alerts on this. We have about, I think, over 100,000 subscribers to this. It doesn’t cost a dime. We won’t hit you up for money once a week and everything. So this isn’t about us making money. This is about activating a base of people to communicate to these companies and push back, and it’s been working.
SPEAKER 04 :
Incredible. Woke company of the week. All right, real quick, last question, because I want to get to my next guest real quickly. But we do have woke companies out there. Ben & Jerry’s, Costco, Delta. I mean, there’s a host of them. J.P. Morgan. What would you say to those companies? What’s your message to them real quickly?
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely. Well, I think some of them have staked their position and made it very clear from the beginning. Ben and Jerry’s probably isn’t going to change. Even their own, you know, the names of the ice cream usually have some woke connotation to a lot of them. But I think companies like J.P. Morgan have to be a lot more nervous because, one, they serve a much more diverse politically and socioeconomically consumer base, and they have to be worried about their perception. So pushing back on that is going to be a lot more effective. The other thing they have to worry about is banking is an incredibly regulated industry. And if people start to speak to their representatives, both at the state and the federal level, and say, I don’t like what JP Morgan is doing in terms of debanking conservatives or Christians. I don’t like what they’re doing in terms of the pushing harmful net zero, which is, I won’t go into all that, but basically it’s going to raise prices for basically everything you buy. If people start to talk to their elected representatives about that, they have to worry about that big time. And so that’s another thing you can do is talk to your state and local reps or your federal reps and say, I don’t like what these big banks are trying to do to control our politics. They should stick to banking, not engage in that. So think about when you’re, you know, let’s say you make three phone calls, right? Don’t call Ben and Jerry’s. That would not be a recommendation. They get conservative hate. They’ve been getting it for the entirety of their existence. But a company like Wells Fargo, a company like J.P. Morgan, a company like Bank of America, for example, which has become very woke but still literally has the word America. It literally wears the flag as part of its logo. Pushing back on a company like that and letting them know you know what they’re up to and you don’t like it, that’s going to have way more of an effect. So I pick those neutral targets or companies that try to come across as neutral. you
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you, Will Hilde, Executive Director of Consumers Research. Great information. Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 12 :
God bless.
SPEAKER 04 :
God bless you as well, my friend. All right, I want to transition over real quickly because there’s some things that have been happening in Ohio that I think you need to be aware of. And I want to bring on, if I can right now, Joshua Arnold. He’s the senior writer with the Washington Stand. Joshua, thank you for… hanging out and for coming on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hi, Jody. Happy to be here.
SPEAKER 04 :
All right. Let’s go to the Supreme Court has been in Ohio, has made some pretty significant calls here recently on the transgender issue. Bring us up to speed.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s right. Ohio is one of 27 states that have passed protections for minors, protecting them from gender transition procedures. As has been the case in many of these states, some liberal activist lawyers sued. They got an injunction against, or they got a ruling against that law. An appellate court in Ohio ruled that it was unconstitutional in order to the lower court judge to issue a permanent injunction that would keep the state from enforcing this law. The state appealed to the Supreme Court. They asked for an emergency stay that would allow them to continue enforcing the law while the appeal proceeds. And this morning, the Supreme Court of Ohio granted that stay.
SPEAKER 04 :
Wow. All right, so what’s next? Sometimes all this legal back and forth can get very confusing. What’s the next step in all of this?
SPEAKER 09 :
In fact, it’s particularly confusing in this case because the ACLU that challenged the law disagreed with the state about what the proper appellate procedure was. So the Supreme Court, it looks like, has stepped in to straighten that out and said, okay, pause on all lower court actions. We’ve got the ball now. And now it’s going to be the Supreme Court of Ohio hearing an appeal by Attorney General Dave Yost, who’s been on this program before, about that law to protect children from cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, which have irreversible effects.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, there’s just so much taking place on this one issue alone, and so many different issues, but this is a big one that we’re so thrilled there’s momentum here. And, for example, the Trump administration, the Department of Justice, has reversed the Biden administration’s support of prison inmates having transgender surgeries. Tell us about that. What has the Trump administration done here?
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s right. It was actually suits brought by prisoners in Georgia, in Georgia state prisons against the state of Georgia. And the Biden administration Department of Justice intervened to file what are called statements of interest, claiming that by not allowing these prisoners to get taxpayer funded gender transition surgeries, the state of Georgia was violating the Americans with Disability Act and the Eighth Amendment. which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. That’s obviously ridiculous. The Trump Administration Department of Justice, its Office of Civil Rights, has now reversed those statements of interest and pointed out that actually, no, there’s no law that requires taxpayers to pay for gender transition procedures, especially surgeries, for prisoners. And that’s going on with a whole sea change there in the Department of Justice that the Trump Administration is bringing about.
SPEAKER 04 :
couldn’t have said it any better the sea change it’s happening across the board joshua arnold senior writer at the washington stand thank you so much for this update that is unfolding today in ohio thanks for joining us all right friends that wraps up another edition of washington watch amazing how fast time flies but thank you so much for joining us keep the torch ablaze and we’ll see you again tomorrow right here on washington watch
SPEAKER 06 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
