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Join us as we explore the broader implications of Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, examining the political theater of Senate appointments and the influence of outside protests on the legislative process. With insights from various speakers, the episode underscores the political maneuvering involved in gaining consensus for nominees and the vital need for new leadership in key positions. Callers and experts weigh in on these contentious issues and what they might mean for the coming administration’s approach to national and international policy.
SPEAKER 10 :
We got breaking news.
SPEAKER 07 :
Pete Hex at Senate hearing halted by left-wing protesters. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Seculo. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome to Sekulow. It’s Tuesday. We are monitoring live the Senate confirmation hearings of Pete Hegseth. Obviously, this is happening live as we’re doing it, so we are cutting back and forth and we’ll be playing some comments also. But earlier in the moment… while they’re talking, while they’re trying to like, you know, do some real serious deep dive in. And of course, you’re getting a lot of bad questions. You’re getting a lot of personal attacks. That’s what’s happening here. I mean, right before we went on the air, we were listening to the questions and they all had to do with his personal life. You didn’t hear a lot of questions that were of substance that had to do with real policy. Sure, there were some earlier on in the day, but of course, people are taking some pretty big personal shots at Pete Hegseth right now during his confirmation hearing. But earlier in the hearing, It of course got halted this morning as protesters, Will, decided to make their voice heard. These were kind of extreme left-wing protests.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. Multiple times during Pete Heggs’ opening statement. So as he’s delivering his remarks to the Senate before that committee starts questioning, multiple protesters, as they do, they get ready. And one goes and as soon as they clear the room of that one, they wait 30 seconds more and another goes and then so forth. They were able to get them out very quickly. But let’s go ahead and see some of this footage to see as they’re carrying protesters out. One specifically carrying out sideways by the Capitol Hill police. They’re trying to make sure that they can continue the business of the Senate, the advice and consent role. That is enumerated in our Constitution. But yet protesters got up there. They said, stop Christian jihad were some of the signs that were held. Also talking about Pete Hegseth in terms of Gaza. Yeah.
SPEAKER 10 :
The pro-Israel thing, a Zionist.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, exactly. So there’s a lot that was going on there. It was a messy start to the confirmation hearings. There was technically one this morning that already started as well, but that one’s not as focused on by the media. This one, obviously, very headline-grabbing because it has been one of the most contentious nominees that President Trump put forward. But Doug Collins… appeared before the Veterans Affairs Committee this morning to lead the VA but Pete Hegseth today and then when we get back we’ll also talk about some of the ones coming up because there’s a lot especially tomorrow will be a jam-packed day of confirmation hearings that’ll be wall-to-wall on TV networks as the Senate moves forward with this nomination process of these names put forward by President
SPEAKER 10 :
Trump at this point under a week until President Trump takes office so it’s going to be a very hectic week it’s going to be something we’re going to be following very closely phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110 I know a lot of you have questions about this or comments about Pete Hegseth or Tulsi Gabbard some of the others you know there’s been some news with Tulsi Gabbard because they thought that she would be moving forward with her confirmation hearing and look people thought In this moment, people weren’t even sure if Pete Hexler was going to make it to this, make it to the confirmation hearing. And good for him. He made it there. It’s happening. We’ve got a packed show, so stay tuned. We’ve got some great guests coming on. Phone lines, again, are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. If you’re watching on YouTube, if you’re watching on X, if you’re watching on Facebook, whatever it may be, we encourage you to share it. Obviously, a lot more came out of Facebook as well. Some of the more updates as you had… Mark Zuckerberg appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast going after some of the claims that we kind of assumed happened. But the fact that he specifically started talking about that the Biden administration was cursing them out, threatening them over allowing, you know, essentially satire memes, you know, a Leonardo DiCaprio, you know, looking at the TV screen pointing meme. That’s what they were trying to police. And, of course, Facebook eventually said no, that they couldn’t take it anymore. It’s a very interesting time. Phone lines, again, are open for you, 1-800-684-3110. I see some of you commenting on YouTube that you’re having some tech problems, that maybe there are some issues with our sound or video. So, team, let’s take a look into that to make sure we are running crystal clear for all of you. And if you’re watching on our new home, the Salem News Channel, where we are live as well, we encourage you to call in. Make sure to tell phone screeners. that you’re watching there. I encourage you right now to join our demand letter, though, to the Senate and sign our petition. That’s at aclj.org slash sign. Do that right now. Welcome back to Sekulow. If you are watching, we are fixing that technical error right now. It’s just an issue going on with our streams. Hopefully it’s cleared up or it will clear up just shortly. Just stay tuned. Don’t go anywhere. Again, phone lines are open for your questions or comments at 1-800-684-3110. We’re monitoring live in real time the Senate confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth. Again, another person who President Trump picked that we weren’t sure just based on some of the backlash that came, whether he would make it to this day. Still, as the nominee, we obviously saw Matt Gaetz not make it. withdraw and be replaced by Pam Bondi. So this happening, actually getting here, I think is a big deal. Well, the fact that he was able to overcome a lot of that. And here’s what I could say about Pete Hegs that this, you know, these hearings are interesting. There’s a lot of fluff questions and then there’s a lot of dodgy answers. That’s going to be true for everyone who goes up. It’s sort of just the nature of the beast. So you’re not going to learn all that much other than how they do under pressure. Take away any of his credentials as someone who should be qualified or is qualified for this position. Saw Pete Hexeth about a year ago, maybe a year and a half, maybe closer to two years at this point, do a live Fox News event here in Nashville. And I went and I told even our friends at Fox News and I said, he was probably one of the best. communicators, best real-time hosts I had seen. I said at the moment, almost like a Ryan Seacrest level of being able to continue on to be improv and flow perfectly. And I was very impressed with him. So from someone who can communicate with the American people, I thought Pete did an incredible job. And in that moment, I wasn’t thinking of him as being in this position. I was thinking of him more of being a oh man, he’s clearly going to be the next mainstay on Fox News. He’s going to be the one that’s going to get one of those big shows, those evening shows, or maybe he’s going to go on beyond that. Because I thought I was just very impressed with him as a communicator. I thought he was a great communicator of interesting information. He could break it down to where people can understand it. And we kind of need somebody like that in that role. It doesn’t only have to be someone who is obviously very qualified for the position, but also someone who can communicate to the American people as he has been doing now for a number of years.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. And when you watch this hearing this morning, what you see is that on display. He isn’t easily shaken during those opening statements of his when there were multiple protests calling him a Christian Zionist, yelling about Gaza, calling him a misogynist. There were times that that could rattle, and that’s the goal of these protesters, to rattle the nominee.
SPEAKER 10 :
It’s also the goal.
SPEAKER 06 :
Both of the people asking the questions. Exactly. If they’re not friendly. He’s handled these. Even Tim Kaine, former running mate with Hillary Clinton, senator from Virginia, was pretty nasty in the way he phrased his question asking about his… His personal life and trying to tie that to an oath of office to uphold the Constitution. And he didn’t get rattled by it. Now, he may some critics may say give a very political scripted TV answer, but he’s very calm and poised through this. And I think that speaks volumes to also how he he weathered the storm early on. He keeps his head up, he moves forward, and he focuses on the mission, which is what you want out of a Secretary of Defense. And I think we should play this from his opening statement. This is Pete Hegseth talking about the mandate that he will have in the Department of Defense should he be confirmed by the Senate. Let’s go ahead and play bite one.
SPEAKER 05 :
As I’ve said to many of you in private meetings, when President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was was to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense. He, like me, once a Pentagon, laser focused on lethality, meritocracy, war fighting, accountability, and readiness.
SPEAKER 10 :
state and bring up i know a lot of you are just joining us right now maybe you saw the headline the breaking senate hearing halted by protesters this did happen if you are just joining us now there were protesters broke out people asking how’d they get in all that well they have their ways of getting in and it’s a public hearing uh they go in organized and they’re protesting because they think that pete not only is not qualified i don’t even know if they’re actually even talking about his qualifications they think he is someone who they’d consider a christian a christian zionist a christian what was the word they were using uh christian zionist someone said christian jihadist on a sign that they were holding up so i want you guys to see this let’s take a look at this once again uh for those of you just joining us right now uh and while you’re at it if you just saw this hit that thumbs up if you’re watching on youtube or on rumble really helps us out and throw in a comment as well all that does an incredible uh amount for us we did surpass 451 000 subscribers on youtube let’s keep that going hit that subscribe button take a look though here’s the protesters in real time
SPEAKER 07 :
Sit down.
SPEAKER 05 :
I’m leaving, man.
SPEAKER 07 :
Bravo, take him. He’s leaving. He’s gone now.
SPEAKER 05 :
He’s leaving. Well, put your hands off me. Thank you for figuratively and literally having my back. You are a misogynist.
SPEAKER 06 :
Not only that, you are a Christian scientist.
SPEAKER 01 :
And you are the war. You are the war. You are the science.
SPEAKER 10 :
I love that specifically it goes from you’re a misogynist to the second one is also you’re a Christian Zionist. How dare you? It’s like those are one in the same. We do have a comment, though, specifically about that sort of claim of Christian Zionism. It came in. Senator Cotton asked specifically about this because he said, hey, I heard some of the protests.
SPEAKER 06 :
The protesters were having an influence on the content of the hearing.
SPEAKER 10 :
They inspired. We should take a listen. This is just moments ago in the hearing.
SPEAKER 03 :
The first one accused you of being a Christian Zionist. I’m not really sure why that is a bad thing. I’m a Christian, I’m a Zionist. Zionism is that the Jewish people deserve a homeland in the ancient holy land where they’ve lived since the dawn of history. Do you consider yourself a Christian Zionist?
SPEAKER 05 :
Senator, I support, I am a Christian, and I robustly support the state of Israel and its existential defense and the way America comes alongside them as their great ally.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, because another protester, and I think this one was a member of Code Pink, which, by the way, is a Chinese communist front group these days, said that you support Israel’s war in Gaza. I support Israel’s existential war in Gaza. I assume like me and President Trump, you support that war as well, don’t you?
SPEAKER 05 :
Senator, I do. I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas.
SPEAKER 10 :
So pretty strong statement coming out of Pete Hegseth again. Clearly getting questions from someone like Tom Cotton. You’re going to have maybe a bit more, I don’t want to say softballs, but these are questions of someone you agree with. And in this moment saying, yeah, of course, he did not use the word Zionist himself. Hegseth did not use that word, I’m sure. there’s probably some reasons behind that. But definitely said, I’m a Christian. I’m someone who supports the state of Israel and supports Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas. Now, later on in the broadcast, we’re going to be joined by Jeff Balaban from ACLJ.com. Jerusalem because there have been some movements, there have been some news, there’s been some thoughts on hostage releases and deals that could be coming. He’s going to break that down later on. There was also statements being made by other Palestinian governments and leadership that came out saying, hey, we condemn everything Hamas is doing. They are setting us back. So in some ways, this actually has some positive movement for Israel and for the hopeful end to this entire war. and hopefully the freedom of the hostages that are still there for well over, at this point, a year and a half plus. Let’s go ahead and take a phone call. Let’s go to Robert in Maryland on line one. Robert, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
I wanted to ask you a question. Between the election day of Donald Trump winning the election November 5th and him being inaugurated January 20th, 25th of this year, during that 75 or 76 day period, what are the most dangerous actions that happened President Biden has taken that could derail the Trump agenda in your view?
SPEAKER 10 :
Sure, Robert. A lot has happened actually in the last couple of months since then. And it’s still, I mean, again, you can make a lot of these moves up until the very last second as the president. And you see that often. You see presidents making these not only last minute moves, but you would even say last second moves. While the inauguration parties are happening, not parties, but the festivities are happening before the swearing in, there’s usually a couple people still back at the White House making these final moves.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. I think personally, some of the most dangerous. I mean, you see a lot. There’s even like the executive orders on drilling ban for oil, offshore drilling, things of that nature that can be quickly undone by President Trump. So really, while a good moment, PR moment for the left, not necessarily long term devastation to the American economy or energy independence. But some of the ones I think of are actually the foreign policy moves, which are very much at the discretion of the president. And when Joe Biden did things like, I authorize Ukraine now to use weapons we’ve given for long distance ballistic missile strikes within Russia. I think that is, I would put up as one of the top programs moves that this Biden administration has done that could long-term be very, very devastating to world peace, to ending a conflict in Russia with Ukraine. And when you look at that also, it puts us as a NATO member with other NATO allies in that area, Ukraine not being one of them, but puts us in a very precarious situation if a bigger fight breaks out because now Ukraine is launching missiles deeper into the homeland of Russia. side robert i’d put that pretty close to the top of this lame duck session of president biden’s presidency of dangerous moves that he’s done well thanks to members of our aclj team and of course supporters like you that give and donate aclj champions we’re able
SPEAKER 10 :
to fight for the confirmation hearings, but also you’re going to hear from someone who’s been through this themselves in the next segment. So not only do you get to support people here at the ACLJ, but go on ACLJ.org, making your donations or signing our petitions to join the demand letter for the Senate to confirm these nominees at ACLJ.org slash sign. You’re going to be able to hear what it’s like firsthand to have gone through some of these grueling confirmation hearings. What’s it like to be sitting there knowing the world is watching? It’s going to be pretty interesting. You want to stay tuned. Coming up in the next segment, phone lines again are open at 1-800-684-3110. Go to ACLJ.org right now. Welcome back to the broadcast. Member of the ACLJ team and secular broadcast team, Mike Pompeo, Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, is joining us live. And obviously, we’re all monitoring right now the confirmation hearings that are happening on Capitol Hill. Pete Hex is up right now. I wanted to hear from you as someone who has been there. who’s been through this confirmation hearing twice as Secretary of State and CIA Director. Can you tell us what it’s like to be up there knowing the pressure and knowing the world is watching you and knowing you’re going to be thrown questions that are intentionally made even to make you look foolish and at least for half of them to try to do that to you?
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, goodness. Yeah, it was really quite something. I must have done better the first time than the second. I got more votes to be CIA director than I did to be Secretary of State. Look, the reality is you have to stay focused. It is a serious matter. The Senate has properly the role of advice and consent. You honor them and America by doing your best to answer their questions. But you also have to recognize there’s often a lot of theater going on there. So I remember the wisdom that I got from Secretary Baker, which was keep your eye on the ball. Stay focused on the reasons that you’d said yes when the president asked you to stand for confirmation and take on these important roles. Remember the things that you know in your heart to be true. Don’t ever vary from them. Do your best to answer the questions accurately. But when they ask some foolish question, kind of, you know, I almost used a bad word, some nonsensical question aimed at trapping you. Don’t take the bait. Simply go back to basic principles. And when you do that, in the end, the world will observe, American people will observe, and the senators will observe that you’re a serious, thoughtful, decent person aimed at delivering for the American people. That’s what I tried to do. There’s a few moments I didn’t quite pull that off, but I tried my best.
SPEAKER 06 :
Mr. Secretary, as we look at what’s going to be a marathon of wall-to-wall coverage of confirmation hearings over the next few days, weeks even, knowing not just the confirmation process, which you’ve been through, but also the importance of getting the nominees in. into their positions very early on so that they can start to carry out the agenda of the incoming president. What do you think the biggest challenges are for the administration in getting these nominees confirmed and ready to go just next week?
SPEAKER 09 :
Goodness, you know, this is exactly you hit on the central point. The first task is for the nominees themselves to get their act together and get their their documents done. It’s extensive. There’s a lot of work. It’s many, many hours of work. For some people, it’s really complicated financial stuff. Get it done. Get that paperwork and submit it. Don’t fight the process. If you fight the process, you’ll be months into it. Second, We need Senate leadership. This is Republican leadership in the Senate to move these things quickly, to force them. If there’s someone that’s not going to make it for whatever reason, fine, have the hearing, vote them down, get on. But what we found so many times is they’d get hung up and we’d go months and months and months without getting someone moved through. And then finally, finally, this thought. So we’ll all be very focused on the cabinet level hearings that will take place over the next two weeks or three weeks. Those are obviously central, vitally important. But there are thousands of confirmed positions and the Trump administration deserves to get its entire team on the field. In our first term, I became the secretary of state at 19 months in or 18 months into the administration, we still had hundreds of people whose confirmations were pending. And sometimes it was the fault of the nominee. Sometimes it was the fault of the Senate. But in the end, we need all of those folks on the field so that President Trump could do precisely what he told the American people that he would do. He’s capable of that. I’m confident he will, but he can’t do it with a team that’s not supporting his mission, his agenda. And those confirmations have to move forward, not in the singles, not in the dozens,
SPEAKER 10 :
But in the hundreds and thousands, I think Secretary Pompeo, it’s a very interesting point of view that a lot of people maybe don’t understand, which is the timeline of this doesn’t have to. You do. You’re right. You hear the big ticket items, if you will, the big positions. But not that the others are not important. And I are very important. But this can go on for months and months and months. People don’t really understand that, that this isn’t something that you started today to get everything done by January 20th. This is a long-term effort. And if you have people who are, like you said, who they’re not trusting or they’re trying to block, it can be a brutal process. And when you only have a four-year term for President Trump at this point, just because it will only be four years because it’s his second term, they got to get moving fast.
SPEAKER 09 :
No, it’s essential. They need the first several hundred confirmed in the first hundred days. You need to get that level. That’d be your cabinet secretaries, your deputy secretaries, and the undersecretaries in every agency, not just defense and security, but treasury, commerce, uh hud all the these things really matter to people’s lives into their well-being into the american economy uh workers all across america are counting on president trump’s deregulatory agenda that is not going to happen until all of those leaders have been put in position and can get their feet on the ground and start working it and so yes uh We’ll have these bright, shiny objects that happen here in January. February, March, and April are essential for the administration to get its work done and the Senate to do its job and get these folks on the playing field.
SPEAKER 06 :
Mr. Secretary, you wrote a piece for ACLJ.org, Biden emboldened radical Islam, Trump must secure America once again. We saw obviously the horrific terror attack, ISIS terror attack on New Year’s Day here in the United States. And you make the point in the article that Trump already knows how to fix the threat of radical Islam because he already did it. When tying that to these nominations and getting these people confirmed to carry out that agenda, just how important, once again, is it that we have the right people in place so that we can hopefully stem the rise of more radical Islamic jihadist attacks here in America?
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s a great question, brother. I want to mention organizations like the ACLJ. You did a great job supporting my efforts when I was being confirmed. There’s lots of misinformation, lots of people out there telling fibs and whoppers. You all and the folks who contribute to ACLJ do remarkable work at helping level that information set. So thanks for that. You helped me get the opportunity to serve in the way that I did. You know, when it comes to radical Islam, the Biden administration just didn’t get it. They immediately went back to negotiating with the Iranians. They gave them billions of dollars. They had this horrible destruction that took place in Afghanistan in their first summer in office. This emboldened radical Islamists across the world, political Islam. President Trump came into office. I was the CIA director, and the bad guys were cutting the heads off of people on the beaches. People have forgotten. That’s now, what, eight years ago. Very quickly, we put together a strategy, delivered a fighting force and crushed ISIS and put radical Islam on notice that we were serious. I’m counting on the team that he’s putting together now to help him do that. President Trump knows how to solve this problem and to address it in a serious way. And it will be among the most important, very, very, very near term action. issues that he’s going to have to confront because President Biden and his team allowed them to run wild. And, you know, it resulted in what happened on October 7th. When you empower the bad guys, you increase risk to the United States and to our friends and allies like places like countries like Israel.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. Thank you so much, Secretary Pompeo, for joining us today. And again, you’ll check out his new article at ACLJ.org. And while you’re there, you should sign our petition with these confirmations underway. The hearing is underway. The left is targeting what feels like every one of President Trump’s nominees. We must quickly help them get confirmed so, again, we can get this country back on track and back doing what they need to be doing. We sent a demand letter also because we caught Biden’s DOD training soldiers at Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg. where both the New Year’s Day terrorists were stationed, that pro-life Americans are the real terror groups. You saw those. When we sent a demand letter, submitted FOIAs, put a stop to this outrageous program, and it’s working, but we need your help to take action, join our demand letter to the Senate and sign our petition at aclj.org. Phone lines are open for your calls right now at 1-800-684-3110. As we head into the second half hour, of seculo make sure you’re joining us live each day every day from noon to 1 p.m that is on aclj.org youtube rumble and now on salem news channel so join us there as well we’ll be right back second half hour very short break less than a minute coming up keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever this is seculo
SPEAKER 07 :
And now your host, Logan Sekulow.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome to the second half hour of Sekulow. I would love for you to join us right now. 1-800-684-3110. Got a few lines open for you. So if you want to give a call, this would be a great time to do it. Monitoring the Senate confirmation hearing of Pete Hegseth, as well as the other Senate confirmation hearings that are coming. Protesters broke out screaming that he was a Christian Zionist and so on and so on, a Christian jihadist. And of course, now we’ve had some major pushback from the conservatives saying that this is ridiculous. Of course, a lot of them would consider themselves even Christians and Zionists. However, Will, this is not the only confirmation hearing happening this week. There’s a pretty extensive list of what’s going on. So I wanted you to break that down.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. Starting tomorrow, we have Kristi Noem for Department of Homeland Security. and she will be before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. We have Pam Bondi starting at 9.30 before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the Attorney General. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State at 10 a.m. John Ratcliffe for the CIA Director position at 10 a.m. Sean Duffy will be Transportation Secretary before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. We have Chris Wright and Russell Vaught at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. respectively. That’s just tomorrow. That’s one, two, three, four, five, six, seven nominees going all starting earlier in the morning. Pam Bondi, they already have scheduled for a second day on Thursday. There’s a few others as well, like Lee Zeldin for EPA will be on Thursday. So a very packed schedule as the Senate Republicans try to move forward these nominations, getting them ready for when President Trump takes the oath of office next Monday. He’s sworn in. He can officially deliver the nominations to the Senate and then they can vote on them to confirm them. By doing the hearings early, it gets all the legwork out of the way, getting ready to move forward with these confirmations. And it’s an important it’s an important job of the Senate to do this so that we can continue. get down to the work of the new administration and having individuals like Pete Hegseth today, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, those names are going to be the ones you know about and the ones you hear that move forward with this agenda very quickly and aggressively at DOJ, at State Department, the military. So we look forward to their confirmations and hope the Senate keeps this schedule in on a tight ship and moves forward so that we can get to votes.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yep, and phone lines are open as well for you at 1-800-684-3110. In the next segment, we’re going to change gears a little bit. We’re going to be heading over to ACLJ Jerusalem with the head of ACLJ Jerusalem, Jeff Balaban, to really discuss what’s going on in Israel. You may have seen some of the headlines that maybe an agreement is happening, a hostage agreement is happening. We’ve heard this before. So let’s see where we actually end up. But Jeff would know the insider scoop of what’s happening. So stay tuned for that. That’s going to be happening here in just one segment. But we are going to take your calls at the end of the show. So the last segment of the day. So make sure if you’re on hold right now, stay on hold. We’ll get to you. If you haven’t called in, call in now. 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. We’ve got about, we’ll wait and save that call. We have a lot of calls coming in. I want to make sure we’re able to give you enough time. But as we said earlier in the broadcast, Will, this is a time to sign that petition because we have mobilized our government affairs team on Capitol Hill and we need people to stand with us.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. And if you go to ACLJ.org slash sign, you can sign that petition today. Because when we do a petition at the ACLJ, our government affairs team delivers that to senators. They will take it and say, here at the ACLJ, our members, our donors, our supporters, those of you that stand with the ACLJ, want these nominations to move forward. And many times we can even, if needed, we target individual senators by showing, look how many of your constituents in your state want this to move forward so you can go to aclj.org sign to have your voice heard the aclj delivers those it’s not just into the ether but this actually gets sent to u.s senators that are a part of this process to ensure that we can move forward with president trump’s agenda with this america first agenda by not stonewalling and keeping These nominees just floating in the ether of Senate confirmation land.
SPEAKER 10 :
That’s right. As we heard from Secretary Pompeo, that can easily happen. Let’s do it right now. Go to ACLJ.org slash sign and give me a call. 1-800-684-3110. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Secular. Jeff Balaban is joining us, head of ACLJ Jerusalem. Now, there’s been some news that has come out, Jeff, recently. And hey, phone lines are open 1-800-684-3110. In the next segment, we’re going to take as many calls as we can. There have been some headlines recently that seems like we may be heading towards a hostage deal. Of course, this is now, what, 15, 16 months since the October 7th attack. That was, of course, in 2023. Now we are into 2025. But what are the real updates? What’s actually happening? Is there some sort of hope here in the next week or so?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, there’s hope that there’ll be a deal, but not hope that it’s going to be the greatest deal. What’s happening is, after just tremendous support by the Biden administration for Hamas, lots of rhetoric against them, but the fact is that Israel has been forced into supplying them with materiel. Israel always gives humanitarian aid, but Israel has been forced to supply its own enemies while it’s waging a war with materiel. It’s been subject to all kinds of abuse by the Biden administration, liables, et cetera, about the way it’s conducting its war. There’s tremendous hope that a new administration will change that. And the fact is that Donald Trump’s rhetoric directed at the true evildoers of October 7th and the true terrorists and the true genocidal maniacs has had an impact. But the bigger picture here is what its impact is in Iran. So there’s tremendous pressure on the prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu, to do a deal now uh which will result in the lease of some hostages nobody believes all the hostages there’s still over 100 missing they the numbers they’re rolling around maybe 20 alive give or take uh but obviously all of them we want all of them accounted for uh including americans uh and so there’s a lot of pressure here to do a deal because donald trump wants a deal but i think that israel uh in the positive sense is looking forward to an administration that will recognize that the head of the snake here really is Iran. And that what Israel really needs is America’s support against a much more, a larger scale attack or move against the current Iranian regime, its nuclear ambitions, et cetera. And this all falls into that, as your father likes to say, Logan, the nine-dimensional chess game that is Middle East politics. Right, absolutely.
SPEAKER 06 :
Jeff, when you look at what’s going on on Capitol Hill today with Pete Hegseth in his confirmation hearing, you’re seeing the left’s anti-Semitism come out on full display by calling him a Christian Zionist, trying to tie him to that which they hate the most on the left. And when you hear that and you hear also his response to Senator Cotton about, I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas. You know a new sheriff’s in town, but you also see that Fatah tried to put out a statement distancing themselves from Hamas, trying to distance themselves from Iran, saying we won’t let Hamas replicate what’s going on in Gaza here in the West Bank. Not that we are under any illusion that Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas are the good guys in this, but it’s a moment where they understand the very real truth threat that comes with a new administration that isn’t going to keep pandering to them at every turn.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s 100 percent correct. In fact, it’s ironic or it’s very telling. Joe Biden kept on bending over to them more and more and more to Mahmoud Abbas, who is a terrorist, who runs a terrorist organization. There’s nothing there’s no two ways about it. And, you know, the Palestinian Authority is the legal authority. continuation of the PLO. It is still a terrorist organization. And, but now it sees, so when Joe Biden was giving it all kinds of wonderful concessions, they were obnoxious to him and demanding and dismissive and hostile. But now that they see Donald Trump’s coming into town, they’re pandering, hoping that maybe the Trump administration will overlook the fact that they are terrorists also, and that they’ve overseen a generation of raising an entire generation of Arabs to be terrorists. Let’s face it, Israel has a very good track record of coexisting well with Arabs in the region, not just in terms of its ability to make peace thanks to Donald Trump and the Abraham Accords, but for decades, since its founding, you know, 20% of Israel is Arabs, and they’re citizens, and many of them fight in the army, and they serve, you know, in Supreme Court and in Knesset. And so this, it’s not that Israel can’t get along with the Arabs, it’s that the Palestinian whole mechanism was created to destroy Israel, whether it’s Hamas or Fatah or anything else. And let’s hope, and let’s assume, that the incoming people like Piaget and others, it’s not a question of whether they’re just Christians and Zionists, It’s whether they understand what’s in America’s interest, which is stability in the region, which is honestly the undermining of this entire sort of unruh Palestinian narrative that Israel’s the problem. No, it’s not. Israel is the solution for the Jewish people, but also for America’s interest in a peaceful and stable Middle East.
SPEAKER 10 :
You had multiple years there, whether it was the Abraham Accords or even negotiations before that, where things were… Calm, where maybe for that, maybe the most calm that I remember it being in my lifetime. And then, of course, it’s all ramped back up and that’s all pushing towards the terrorist attacks that happened here on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s morning this year, where all of a sudden it’s back at our doorstep. And as you said, the sort of false narrative that the Israeli and Arab community don’t get along within the country, that’s very much not the case. And I would say that’s the case for a lot of places. I was in Europe over the last few weeks and met a lot of people. And a lot of people of Muslim backgrounds or even currently practicing Muslims who are appalled of what’s happening in the name of their faith, if you will, and in the name of what seems to be painted in this way. And it was a bit eye-opening even for me to see those conversations happening. But you’re experiencing that. You’re experiencing that in Israel in real time. It’s just not the way the media and the press work. wants to show it. When you have moments where the PLO and other organizations, look, it took them 16 months to say, don’t do it. But it does show you there is some strength that comes from a conservative, respectively from President Trump’s cabinet and for himself coming into office because they know not only should they be a little scared, but also that there was relative peace not that long ago.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s right. And again, to the point of do we pander to the terrorists or do we sanction them? You know, under Donald Trump, when he was president the last time, he enforced the Taylor Force Act, which is which is passed by both houses and signed into law that we don’t, the American people, we do not send our tax dollars to the Palestinian Authority so long as they are paying for terrorists to slaughter innocents. All right, well, Joe Biden started that tap flowing the same way he started the tap flowing to Iran. So of course there was terrorism because American tax dollars have literally been paying for terrorism. And so this idea that we’re gonna negotiate with pure evil has to be out the window. And so in the current situation, we see a lot of pressure to accept the deal because Donald Trump has been promising that if we move forward, it will be on much better terms than anything that could have been achieved. And it’s only happening because, if it happens, because Donald Trump is the new sheriff coming to town. and going forward i think that you know israel has to learn actually that’s part of what we do in the jerusalem office is to explain to israelis what the american mindset is what the trump administration mindset is what the republican on capitol hill mindset is because they don’t fully understand it they listen to media listening to a lot of groups who don’t really get it we do and they need to understand that they have a lot more flexibility to do what’s in their interest to survive now that donald trump is coming back into office
SPEAKER 06 :
And Jeff, you bring up even like the Taylor Force Act and things that are law in the United States, but yet the Biden administration for years has failed to enforce or take seriously. This is another thing that we talked about over the weekend. Very quickly, we’ve got about two minutes left, but essentially an education committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is calling out another one of these moves, something that’s not going to get talked about broadly, but that the Biden administration is trying to basically get rid of and sweep under the rug all the anti-Semitism complaints under Title VI. at these major universities, the UCLA, University of California campuses, Johns Hopkins, etc. But what they appear are coming out with toothless agreements and resolutions so they can get this over with before people that actually maybe want to stand up for the Jewish students on college campuses would get in there and make them have real accountability at these universities.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, let’s tie it together. You heard the accusation hurled at Pete Hegseth that he’s a Christian Zionist. So if you show any support for Israel, or if you happen to be a Jew, you are persona non grata at a lot of college campuses today. You are actually in physical danger. You’re certainly subject to abuse by faculty and students, and the universities have allowed this to happen. The only… The only curb put on it was by the Republican-led House of Representatives. Well, now the Biden administration is trying to shove these things under the rug, cut quick deals, including, you know, cases that we’ve been deeply involved with, universities that, you know, with students and faculty we have represented, we have brought claims, and they’re trying to cut these quick deals. Essentially, they will just keep in place the anti-Semitic regimes in these pockets of wokeism on American soil, which are these leading universities, which are disastrous for Jews and Christians, and frankly, for America.
SPEAKER 10 :
Jeff, thank you so much for connecting today and being able to share all what’s going on at ACLJ Jerusalem. Of course, keeping us updated on the war in Gaza. So I appreciate you calling in, Skyping in, and being able to see us all. Right now, if you support the work of the ACLJ, you just heard what we’re doing right now. I encourage you to go to ACLJ.org, and if you can, make a donation. If not, sign the petition. That costs you nothing. If you’re watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. Because that’s a big deal. Only about half of you that watch every day subscribe. And that really helps get more people to see us. Liking and subscribing, you know they all say it. You want to know why they all say it? Because it really does help. And we’ve added thousands over the last few days. 451,000 YouTube subscribers right now. And that is just incredible. We’d love to see that in a million. We’d love to see more people getting engaged. Hey, we’ve got Rick Grinnell joining us in the next segment. And calls and questions, 1-800-684-3110. Welcome back to Secular. Rick Grinnell’s joining us live, popping in here at the last segment. Rick, there’s been a lot going on at Capitol Hill. Obviously, the Senate confirmation hearing is happening right now for Pete Henseth. It’s getting a bit heated, as you’d expect. Obviously, the conservatives, the Republicans, throwing him questions that feel legitimate. Some of the Democrats at least pushing and asking some questions. But of course, it’s turning personal real quick and it gets pretty ugly pretty fast. But that is to be expected. He’s not the first person for this to happen to, but of course it keeps everyone’s eye off the ball.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, look, I’m just looking at what Pete is doing and it’s really remarkable. I mean, he’s staying calm. He’s staying focused on what the mission is, which is to reform the Pentagon. Donald Trump is a disruptor. No one should be surprised that he’s going to put nominees in who want to disrupt the and change and reform. Look, the system in Washington is incredibly entrenched. And I think you’re gonna have people who don’t want a disruptor. And so they’re gonna get ugly and personal and sling mud. I think most Americans kind of yawn at this process because politicians tend to be ugly and mean-spirited and they’re just looking for any way to exploit. But I think Pete’s doing a good job.
SPEAKER 10 :
I don’t think the goal was necessarily to make this hearing a circus, but I think what’s probably most shocking and good for Pete for weathering the storm is that I believe the initial goal was for him to not even make it to today, was for him to not even be the nominee, that the pressure was going to be on so greatly. And look, the pressure did come on. It still is. that I think maybe one of the biggest wins is that he is actually sitting there in this confirmation hearing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Look, I think serving in the Trump administration, you have to be really comfortable with being able to take hits from people who just want to sling mud, whether it’s the media, whether it’s Democrats on the Hill. But you’ve got to just stay focused. I mean, Pete has been asked to do a big job It’s to reform the Pentagon, to get us more ready. We all see what’s been happening to our military servicemen and women. We have way too many programs that we’re spending your tax dollars on that are a waste. We have a military that’s not nearly as ready as they should be. And the budget yet is enormous. I mean, you think about how much money we’re spending American tax dollars at the Pentagon, and it’s shocking. And so Pete’s got a big job to reform the place, to try to get us back on track for military readiness. And we are in a situation where it has to be done because recruitment numbers are so low. We have to do something different. And Pete understands that, and I think he will make it through. He’s staying calm. He understands the game of Washington. But again, the rest of us outside of Washington Big yawn, big collective yawn. We’re used to this.
SPEAKER 06 :
Rick, when you watch these hearings, many times the real story of what people are watching for, though, is demeanor. The questions, obviously, you understand the left’s going to be nasty. You understand the right, especially now. There have been some Republican senators who have had more questions than they normally would, like Senator Ernst. But I believe that it sounds like Pete is answering her questions that she has and taking her seriously. But He said in his opening statement that he wants a Pentagon, President Trump and himself, want a Pentagon laser focused on lethality, meritocracy, war fighting, accountability, and readiness. And to see how he has been able to be laser focused on getting through the media storm around his nomination, getting to this hearing, and then even multiple times during his opening statement, not being even phased by the protesters that were having to be drug out, you know, horizontally through the hearing room. He kept his cool and stayed laser focused on today’s mission, answering the questions of U.S. senators in a respectful, honest way. I think that says more about the character and demeanor of how he would take this job, laser focus on lethality, meritocracy, war fighting, accountability and readiness than anything he’ll say to the Senators today.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I think that, Will, it’s a really great point of, you know, the process is what it is. It’s a circus. It’s they’re slinging mud and they’re just trying to get you off your game. They’re trying to see if you care about what the media are saying or the hits that are coming. And you’ve got to be able to stay focused. It’s kind of like an MMA fighter. I love MMA, the UFC. And my friends who are UFC fighters, they say, when you take a hit in the face, you can’t get emotional about it. You’ve got to stay focused to your strategy. And I think that’s the same way in politics is that you have a job to do. stay focused on the mission. And I think Pete’s one of those people that he’s not gonna get rattled by what a New York Times reporter says or the profile piece of a couple of lefty reporters.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, Rick, thank you so much. I know we need to pop in here just for a second. You’ve had a very busy day, and obviously you’ve got a new position coming up very shortly, and we’re excited for you. Excited to keep you here, too, as well, getting great analysis for our group. And, of course, UFC 311 is this weekend. My son’s very excited. He’s been counting down the days. So I’m sure I’ll play him that clip so he knows he’s in good company as a fellow MMA fan.
SPEAKER 02 :
Exactly. All the best.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you. Thanks, Rick. We’re going to take a couple quick phone calls real quick. I know a lot of you have been a hold for a while. These are pretty off topic, but you know what? I told you I’d take them. Let’s go ahead and do it. Let’s go to Ann, who’s calling in Washington. On line one, Ann, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thank you, longtime supporter. Thank you. Appreciate your work. I have a question, and it is this. How is it that the left can arrest, prosecute, even imprison peaceful demonstrators who for interrupting an official proceeding like they did with Jay Sixers or are doing, and yet allow leftist radicals to virtually take over or drive this official proceeding. I can’t figure that out.
SPEAKER 10 :
I mean, and it’s a valid comparison, I’d say, to make. Now, obviously, there are some big differences between what happened on January 6th. There was breaking and entering. There were some more forceful things that happened. You saw windows being shattered, that kind of moment. Because these are public hearings. People can attend. The problem is, well, they did organize. It wasn’t just like one person came. Because their whole intention was to disrupt this. Now, we don’t know. I’m sure they were arrested, quote-unquote, probably ticketed. But we don’t know really what happened with other things thrown out. It is part of the process, some of these protests.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. And also, you have to remember that one of the main charges, and what Ann is even referencing, is that statute about obstruction of official proceedings, which about 1,400 people were charged with in January 6th. But the Supreme Court in the Fisher case drastically narrowed the scope of that. And actually many of the cases because of that were no longer going to be pursued. So I’m not an expert in that law or even the opinion of the Supreme Court, but I have a feeling that that affects the way the individuals would be treated. Now, do I think that they would have been arrested and charged with that? No, because of the reasons that Anne alluded to. It always feels like the left gets away with it. But I do think that is a big part of it, too, is that the Supreme Court limited the scope of that statute being enforced.
SPEAKER 10 :
I hate to do this to you, Don, but we are out of time. I’m going to encourage you. Please just put Don on hold. See if we can take care of him. Send him a book or something. Also see if we can get Don up maybe first tomorrow because I hate you on hold for half an hour. We just ran out of time as Rick wanted to join us. Apologies. Thank you so much for your support. And thank you all of you for supporting the ACLJ. I encourage you to go to ACLJ.org slash sign. Sign that petition right now. Scan that QR code that’s on your screen. We’ll be back tomorrow with a whole new episode, a whole new broadcast live. We’re getting from noon to 1 to Eastern. You can work your way back from there. You can find us on YouTube, on Rumble. Make sure you’re subscribing on those platforms. And now on the Salem News Channel. Talk to you tomorrow.
