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The episode also delves into the geopolitical complexities of the Middle East, with updates from on-the-ground experts about Israel’s military strategies in Gaza and the persistent threats posed by Iran. We gain firsthand insights from CBN Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell on the evolving military conflicts impacting the region. Tony Perkins continues to bridge the current events with biblical perspectives, engaging with guests on how to appeal to authority with grounded and effective advocacy, affirming the role of faith in shaping political discourse.
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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, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 04 :
We’re talking about the great, big, beautiful bill, you know, that we’re trying to get passed. It’ll be the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country. I think we’re going to have it done. I think the Republicans are going to vote for it. And it’ll be the most consequential bill, I think, in the history of our country.
SPEAKER 06 :
That was President Donald Trump speaking in an interview with Meet the Press over the weekend. Welcome to this May 5th edition of Washington Watch. Thanks so much for tuning in. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, joins us with the latest developments on the one big beautiful bill from Capitol Hill in just a little bit. A quick word of thanks to Jody Heiss for stepping in last week while I was in Israel. As we were preparing to depart, the Israeli military was preparing for another offensive in Gaza.
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This week, Israel is issuing tens of thousands of call-up orders to reservists in order to strengthen and expand our operations in Gaza. Not to occupy, but to expand the military operation. Why? To increase the pressure on Hamas to release our hostages.
SPEAKER 06 :
That was Israeli spokesman David Mincer earlier today. We’ll get the latest on the IDF call-ups and Israel’s forceful response just hours ago to the Houthi attack on the Ben-Gurion Airport that took place over the weekend. CBN Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell will join us from Jerusalem. And before leaving Israel last Friday night, I sat down at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem with U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
SPEAKER 07 :
President Trump will have to know he’s not kidding. They’re not gonna get nuclear weapons. So the question is, do they realize that? Do they risk the control of their regime just for the pride of saying they’re gonna push forward with something that they’ve been told by everyone in the region they’re never gonna have?
SPEAKER 06 :
That was a discussion regarding Iran. We discussed other issues. I’ll share part of that conversation with you later here on Washington Watch. And finally, FRC’s vice president for policy, Travis Weber, and Washington Stand editorial director and senior writer, Suzanne Bowdy, will join me for an analysis of some of the claims made on the Sunday news show, like this one from NPR CEO Catherine Marr.
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Our people report straight down the line, and I think that not only do they do that, they do so with a mission that very few other broadcast organizations have, which is a requirement to serve the entire public. That is the point of public broadcasting, is we bring people together in those conversations. NPR, no bias?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we’ll talk about that later on this edition of Washington Watch. All of that and more coming up on this Monday edition. But before we go to our first guest, a quick reminder, this is Monday, and so this week’s episode of God and Government is now available. Session 12, How to Make a Godly Appeal to Leaders. Now, in this session, I walk through how to make effective, biblically grounded appeals to those in authority. You can find it exclusively on the Stand Firm app. If you don’t have the Stand Firm app, well, text COURSE. That’s COURSE to 67742. And I’ll send you a link that’s the text word COURSE to 67742. Well, during an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, President Donald Trump expressed his confidence in the Republican Party’s ability to pass the big, beautiful bill, which he called the most consequential bill in the history of our country. The president’s optimism precedes what will likely be a week of negotiation on that budget reconciliation measure, a version of which currently sits in the U.S. Senate. How might Republicans come to terms and pass the budget? Well, here to discuss this and much more is U.S. Senator Roger Marshall from Kansas, who serves on four Senate committees, including finance and budget committees. Senator Marshall, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, Tony, it’s great to be with you. And I can’t wait to get this big, beautiful bill across the finish line for the president.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, let’s talk about how’s it looking.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, it’s an uphill battle. There’s no doubt about it. I want to emphasize, look, President Trump did what he said he was going to do. He secured the border. He’s rolling back regulations. Our families are safer. But now it’s time for Congress to deliver. I have a lot of confidence in Speaker Mike Johnson, Jody Arrington over there on the Budget Committee, those folks. I think they’re doing great work. I think we’ll get it done. But there’ll be a little bit of hair pulling yet to get it all the way across the finish line.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. Senator Marshall, also want to recognize you are a medical doctor. You have delivered over 5000 babies. So health care is something that’s very near and dear to your heart. I want to play a clip that comes from Fox News over the weekend. DNC chair Ken Martin making the claims that Republicans are going after Medicaid and cutting Medicaid and medical funding. Play clip number four, please.
SPEAKER 09 :
Donald Trump made a lot of promises to Americans last year, and this budget that he’s bringing forward is actually going to increase prices for most hardworking Americans. That’s where we’re focused on right now. This budget he’s bringing forward, which is going to cut Medicaid, all to give a tax break to the richest people in this country and corporations, and not helping hardworking Americans again.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, you’re not sitting there on the Sunday shows commenting. You’re actually in the trenches doing the work. How do you respond?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, first of all, what’s going to happen if we don’t get this bill done is your listeners are going to have an increased tax amount to $2,000 to $3,000 per family. That’s what’s going to happen if we don’t make the Trump tax cuts permanent. Let’s talk about Medicaid just for a second. Washington DC to save Medicaid to save Medicare. I want to make sure that we’re strengthening Medicaid for those that need it the most. You know it’s only in Washington DC. Can you increase spending 50 to $100 billion a year on a project on a program like Medicaid and people are still going to call that a cut. So we’re going to do everything possible to make sure that we preserve Medicaid for those who need it the most. You know, Tony, that’s what the Bible says that we should do, that we should be taking care of those that are the least amongst us. And I want to make sure that Medicaid dollars are going to those who really need the help.
SPEAKER 06 :
Let’s talk about that for just a moment, Dr. Marshall, because the Biden administration in the last four years expanded Medicaid significantly to those who are younger, able-bodied men who have the ability to work and to acquire insurance. And so I want to underscore something you said there is to save Medicaid. If you expand it to include everything, you’ll end up having coverage for no one.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, Tony, you nailed it. We have over 90 million people on Medicaid now, over 90 million people. It was meant to be on those who need that help, that need that hand up. It was meant for people, for folks in a nursing home maybe that can’t afford nursing home care or folks with a disability. The poorest amongst it was who it was meant for. But we’ve increased spending on Medicaid 50% in five years. It’s on a rocket ship launch right now as far as the amount of money we’re spending on it. And to your point, there’s probably 7 million healthy men out there of working age that are not working. So that’s disappointing. I think that giving people a hand up is important rather than just a handout. I think a job brings dignity. It brings purpose as well. But to be giving young, healthy men Medicaid or food stamps, for that matter, just doesn’t make sense to us. And I think it’d be really the best thing for their mental health is to help them get a job. If they don’t have the education for that job, then let’s help them figure that out as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
And it protects those who truly need help from Medicaid because it will be there for them if you do it responsibly. And I think that is what the Trump administration is pursuing. Speaking of using government money wisely when it comes to health care issues, tell us about the No Subsidies for Gender Transition Procedures Act, which you have proposed along with House Member Claudia Tinney.
SPEAKER 03 :
right so again this is congress doing its job president trump’s already made an executive order that we won’t be spending your taxpayer money on this transgender surgeries or transgender hormones believe it or not tony the federal government is spending about 200 million dollars a year on these transgender procedures and i don’t have to tell you that there’s typically an underlying mental health issue going on with this person and that mental health issue is still going to be there after these surgeries but the big problem to me is that these surgeries are irreversible. One of the things we were taught in medical school, sometimes we have to save patients from themselves. And this would be one of those procedures I think we should be scared of, that they are irreversible, they’re going to cause infertility, they’re going to cause chronic scarring and pain as well typically one surgery leads to more and more and more so i just don’t know how a physician can look a patient in the eye and say this is a good idea and then you know spiritually i think it’s a slap in the face of our creator
SPEAKER 06 :
And again, when you look at the fact that we have $36 trillion in debt and we want to be able to provide, as you said earlier, we want to help those who truly need help. We’re going to be in a position where we can help no one because our economy implodes because of the debt that our government’s carrying.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, we do have a finite amount of resources. This country is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. We’ve been so blessed, but we need to be good stewards as well. I think that we have all the money we need to do the right things. But when you’re spending a trillion dollars on interest, $1 trillion a year on interest, $1 trillion on Medicaid, $1 trillion on Medicare. All of a sudden, those start adding up to some serious numbers, Tony, but we’re $1 trillion of interest every year, and we’re spending $2 trillion more than we make each year as well, just adding to that national debt. This is the biggest long-term problem that our country faces is this national debt issue.
SPEAKER 06 :
On your bill, No Subsidies for Gender Transition Procedures Act, which would protect minors from these irreversible surgeries and experimental use of drugs, as you pointed out, the president, by executive order, has taken steps on this. But so much of what the president has done by executive order can be undone, and that’s why it is important to codify this into law, into the statutes. Do you believe you’ll be able to get a vote on this in the U.S. Senate?
SPEAKER 03 :
I do. And the great thing with the way we’re writing this is we can get it in the reconciliation bill. I know this is deep, deep, deep stuff here. But the reconciliation bill is one of the few things that only takes 50 votes on the Senate to pass something. And we can’t get policy in there, but if it has to do with saving money or spending more money, we can typically get this into the bill. So hopefully the parliamentarian will agree with this. It survives that famous birdbath I’m sure you’ve talked to your listeners about as well. So we’re hopeful we’ll get a vote on it in the reconciliation bill.
SPEAKER 06 :
So what’s the time frame in which you’ll find out whether or not you’ll be able to have this vote on this in the reconciliation?
SPEAKER 03 :
I think we’re probably a month away. There’s probably some other things ahead of this right now for the parliamentarian to decide, but I’m sitting here thinking if the House can get their work done by Memorial Day, get us this bill over here shortly thereafter that maybe the first week or two in June we’re going through the birdbath with all the different issues, get the parliamentarian’s agreement, and maybe we’ll get the president’s one big beautiful bill done by July the 4th, another great president. Another great present for President Trump.
SPEAKER 06 :
A final question for you, Senator Roger Marshall. I’ve been talking to the House speaker. He’s been on the program discussing the issue of the fiscal cliff where the debt ceiling, we’re very close to that. He’s concerned that we will get there before July, probably sometime in June. Is there a sense in the Senate that we’ve got to move quicker on this reconciliation bill, which will include the debt ceiling increase?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Tony, I would tell you that Congress typically functions better when there is a gun at our head, so to speak. And this is certainly the proverbial gun at our head. I think it’ll be a big motivator to help us get something done sooner. And to be honest, I don’t know why what’s going to look different in July that’s going to look in June. So I think we’ll use this to our advantage to get something done sooner than later.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, Senator Roger Marshall, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. Thank you, Tony. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas. And by the way, you saw him at the birdbath. That is a named after Robert Byrd, former senator from West Virginia. It was a proceed. It’s a procedural method that in this reconciliation, which he described only takes 50 votes, 51 votes in the Senate to pass something as opposed to it bypasses the 60 vote threshold. There’s a parliamentarian process that has to go through. It has to be germane, and it has to be to the funding aspect. So it has to either reduce spending or have some connection to spending. It can’t be purely policy related. So that’s a layman’s explanation of the birdbath. All right, don’t go away. More Washington Watch. We go to Jerusalem after this.
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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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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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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.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us on this Monday. Just hours ago, Israel responded to an attack by the Houthis on the airport in Tel Aviv with about 12 airstrikes on Yemen. Now, the Israeli government also announced today a new plan to expand its ground forces, its ground offensive in Gaza with the ultimate goal of eradicating Hamas. Here with the latest from Jerusalem is Chris Mitchell, the Middle East Bureau Chief at CBN News. Chris, thanks for staying up late and joining us today.
SPEAKER 08 :
You’re welcome, Tony. Good to be with you. And we were just together just a couple of days ago here in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER 06 :
Right. I was there on Friday. So my body’s still on the same time clock as yours. But so I feel the lateness of the hour. In fact, just after we flew out of the Ben Gurion airport a day later, this missile ballistic missile from Yemen hits the airport quite significant.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it was, Tony, and I went down there just a few hours after it hit. It was about three or four football fields away from the main terminal, so a very significant missile attack, but it could have been far worse if it went just a little further. What happened apparently was that one of the interceptors by the Iron Dome failed, so it was able to get through. In the past several weeks, Israel has shot down 26 of the 27 ballistic missiles that Yemen has fired. But this one did get through. And then you see the response earlier tonight by the IDF in hitting Hodeidah, which is their main port down there in Yemen. And also, as you mentioned, a huge significant change in strategy by the IDF. They’re no longer going to have sort of these special operations where they take over land, but then they end Gaza, but then they leave it. They’ve called up maybe 60,000, maybe I’ve heard as many as 100,000 reservists to go back into Gaza and take over territory and keep it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I was talking with an IDF officer earlier today that was headed north into Syria to relieve some of the full-time forces that are, I think, going back down, more of the seasoned troops going to Gaza. So there is, it appears to be, a very strong action afoot on behalf of Israel to create maximum pressure to force the release of the remaining hostages.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, that’s right. The two main goals, first of all, to destroy Hamas as a military force and also put the pressure on Hamas to release those hostages. It does carry risks. The IDF chief of staff did, as he presented this proposal to the security cabinet, said it could mean the loss of some of the lives of the hostages. But right now that’s where they believe they need to go and to really, really bring an end to this war eventually by taking Hamas’s advantages away and trying to take the territory that Hamas has been trying to keep. And also they have a plan, Tony, to make sure that the humanitarian aid that goes into Gaza will not be stolen anymore by Hamas, but also a plan so they could secure a security perimeter around the distribution of the humanitarian aid, but make sure that it gets directly to the people in need.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I do want to quote Hamas on that. Hamas decried Israel’s effort to control distribution of humanitarian aid, according to the AP, in Gaza as a quote-unquote violation of international law. Of course, Hamas being an expert on international law, I’m sure. I want to go back to the Houthis for just a moment because we’ve seen several airstrikes on the Houthis, and they’ve been very aggressive in their missile strikes on Israel. So first off, first question is, how is it that after these multiple retaliatory strikes by Israel, are the Houthis still operating? Even the United States has hit them. How is it they’re still doing this? And number two, we must remember they’re a proxy for Iran. This is only going to be eliminated, I believe, when the threat from Iran is eliminated.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah. First of all, the reason why they seem to be able to continue to fire ballistic missiles, it’s a great question. A lot of people are wondering how can after several weeks of a U.S. bombing campaign and the Israeli campaign that has been going on even before the U.S. campaign, How can they do that? Well, the explanation that I’ve heard is that for years they’ve been hiding these mobile launchers throughout the desert. And so they’ve been able to pull these out when they can and fire them. And also I’ve been told that they’re doing it in daytime. They had been doing it at night, which gives even more distress to people here in Israel running to the bomb shelter in the middle of the night. But because the heat signature is so good at night, they do it at the day, which gives the US and Israel their surveillance systems a little harder to track them. But the other point is exactly what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a few weeks ago President Trump said. It’s really Iran which is the mastermind in supplying these ICBMs to the Houthis. They’re the ones that are really controlling by policy, by their arms. And so The other thing that Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday, they’re going to make sure that they hit Iran as well because of these strikes against Israel, and particularly the one at the airport.
SPEAKER 06 :
What do you think is the timeframe of this new plan in Gaza in terms of, it sounds like this is much more aggressive than we’ve seen in the past. It’s almost as if they want to finish this off.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, I understand, Tony, that it’s going to be done in stages. Also, it may begin in earnest after President Trump comes here next week when he visits Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. But it will go in stages. But I’ve been told it’s going to be vast, it’s going to be decisive. It will take time, though, to get up to its maximum. effect against Hamas. By the way, they already control about 30 percent of the Gaza Strip, and they have done a lot of infrastructure to make sure that this plan goes into effect. So it seems like they do want to bring an end to this and try through this campaign to bring the hostages home as well.
SPEAKER 06 :
Are we seeing any of the Palestinians departing the Gaza Strip? Are they still being blocked from leaving?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think they’re still being blocked by leaving by Egypt. And a lot of people have been saying for a long time, you know, in a war zone, usually people have a freedom or they can try to escape. But right now, since October 7th and the war began, most of these Palestinians are unable to leave. They’ve really been sort of human shields and leverage as well by Hamas against the IDF and their campaign.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it’s Hamas’s pawns. They don’t want to lose them. And so they’re working, I think, in concert with the surrounding nations to keep them from leaving. Chris Mitchell, always great to see you again. Thank you. I know it’s late there in Israel. So thanks for staying up late to join us here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thanks, Tony. Great to be with you.
SPEAKER 06 :
Always great to see you. Chris Mitchell, CBN in Jerusalem. Be praying for the peace of Jerusalem and pray for Chris and his team over there that they remain safe. All right. Don’t go away. We’re back with more after this.
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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 worldview. 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 06 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for being with us. By the way, if you are in our journey through the Bible, we’re in the book of Daniel, and we have a study guide available, the book of Daniel, and you can get a copy. Simply text the word Daniel to 67742. That’s Daniel to 67742. Visions and Valor. It’s a great study of the book of Daniel. All right, as I mentioned earlier, I was in Israel last week. I appreciate Jody filling in for me. We were there big week for Israel. It was their Memorial Day, followed by their 77th anniversary of their independence. We were able to partake in those celebrations and remembrance ceremonies. And while I was there, I was able to visit with the delegation I was leading. We visited with the new ambassador to Israel from the U.S., our good friend Mike Huckabee. And before I left, I went back to the embassy on Friday and sat down, and we did an interview that aired this past weekend on This Week on Capitol Hill. It’s my weekend program that I do with House Speaker Mike Johnson. We talked about Israel from a historical and spiritual viewpoint, and we talked about the changes in the Middle East and how things have turned around in the past year. And I wanted to share part of that interview with you, and here… is part of that interview with Ambassador Mike Huckabee. So we were talking about Iran. We’re talking about Syria. Big change there, although that’s we see Turkey’s hand in there. And I’m not so sure they’re extremely friendly toward Israel. Let’s talk Iran. The president, his administration involved in negotiations there. Is there going to be an agreement that we reach with Iran? I mean, are they reasonable people?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, they’re not. To be blunt, they never have been. 46 years they’ve been under the rule of the Ayatollahs and they’ve been very adamant that their goal is to destroy Israel and then destroy the United States. When they said something like that for 46 years, they put two different plots trying to assassinate President Trump. We’re looking at a nation that has a long history of doing everything that it says it’s going to do. Now, are they at a point where They’ve been downgraded in their military capacity because of the Israeli strikes that happened last year. We don’t know. So the honest answer when people say, do you have any hope that this will result in some type of negotiated peace settlement with the Iranian government? All I can do is say, I hope so, because I’d rather see that than war. But if I’m looking at 46 years of their rule, I’m not overly optimistic that they’re just eager to sit down and that they would make a deal, and if they made it, would they keep it? But let’s hope and pray that they do. There is a lot at stake if something doesn’t happen. The president has been adamant that they’re not gonna get nuclear weapons. They’re adamant they are. That’s a stalemate. At some point, and I think I know President Trump will have to know, He’s not kidding. They’re not going to get nuclear weapons. So the question is, do they realize that? Do they risk the control of their regime just for the pride of saying they’re going to push forward with something that they’ve been told by everyone in the region they’re never going to have? And quite frankly, even their Muslim neighbors don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon any more than you would want a 16-year-old boy to have keys to a Lamborghini and a bottle of whiskey. You just don’t give irresponsible people things that they can’t be responsible with.
SPEAKER 06 :
In part, that was some of the genesis for the Abraham Accords, a unified front against the threat to Iran. And there’s one thing that’s a little different about Iran than other Islamic countries or organizations that we’re dealing with, like Hamas, is that the regime does not fully represent the people.
SPEAKER 07 :
No, they don’t. In 2009, there was almost a change of government. People were rising up. It was the green movement. President Obama, in his memoir, admitted that one of the biggest mistakes of his presidency was not providing at least, not military support. Nobody suggested that that was appropriate. But if he could have just said, We support the people who are seeking to be free and to unshackle themselves from this totalitarian government. It might have been a tipping point. Instead, he was totally silent, even as the young lady was murdered in the street and the blood running out of her head. That picture kind of showed the end of the Green Movement. Is that the best way forward for Iran? To be free of a regime like that? Well, it’s a decision their people have to make. But if you look back, the Persian culture is a magnificent one. The Iran before the Ayatollahs was one of the most educated places on Earth. Aligned with the United States. Incredibly aligned with the United States. But even if we weren’t, what they represented was a very modern culture. delightful culture. They were focused on education and advancement in science and innovation. It was one of the really centerpieces of the earth and certainly in the Middle East to see it tragically taken by the Ayatollahs and virtually destroyed the antiquities, the culture. It’s one of the great tragedies of the last 200 years.
SPEAKER 06 :
Ambassador, we’re just about out of time. We’re up against a break. I want to circle back to our earlier conversation in the last segment about the spiritual understanding of Israel and what is happening in this region of the world. Speaking to evangelicals who are the primary audience of this program back in the United States, how should they be praying?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, the Bible says, pray for the peace of Jerusalem. So it sounds right. Even more so that you’re here in Jerusalem. Especially now, especially now. But I think what they need to do is become informed. I’m really concerned, Tony, that we’re seeing a lot of evangelicals in the States who sort of act like, well, Israel doesn’t even matter. It’s not even important to us. And I want them to better understand that not only does it matter, but why does it matter? And if evangelicals educate themselves first in the Scripture, that’s key, and then in understanding this land, its people, and what they’re up against, I think we will see a resurgence of evangelical support for the state of Israel. Well, I pray that you are right, and that’s why we’re here this week. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, thank you for joining us. Thank you, Tony. Always great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 19 :
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SPEAKER 11 :
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SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for being with us on this Monday. All right. You can, by the way, you can watch the rest of the interview with Ambassador Huckabee on my YouTube channel. It’s Tony Perkins on YouTube if you want to check out the rest of that interview as we sit down with Ambassador Huckabee. And I would encourage you to be praying for him as well. Very key role there in Israel as that deals with a lot of the issues in the Middle East. All right, our word for today comes from Daniel 6, verse 3. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. Well, and that didn’t set well with the others. David stood out not because of his position but because of his spirit. He served with integrity, humility, and excellence. That kind of character still gets noticed not only by kings but by the king of kings. The Apostle Paul echoed this in his letter to the Ephesians. He said, Wherever you work and whoever you work for, remember this, God sees, God rewards. And His benefits package, well, it’s truly out of this world. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. Well, as we wrap up today’s program, I want to try something a little bit different. We’re going to bring in two of our own experts here at the Family Research Council to discuss some of the topics that came up yesterday on the Sunday shows. Joining me now for this expert panel discussion is Travis Weber, Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs here at the Family Research Council, and Suzanne Bowdy, Editorial Director and Senior Writer at the Washington Stan. Travis and Suzanne, thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 21 :
Thank you. Thanks, Tony. All right.
SPEAKER 06 :
So we’re going to take a look at some of these clips. I’m going to get your response to them because a lot of issues discussed over the weekend. And I think it’s important that we dissect some of these statements and analyze them both on both sides, because. There’s a lot of political spin put on the issue. So let’s first take a look at CNN’s State of the Union program from Sunday. Democrat Senator Mark Warner suggested a plan for standing up to Iran. Let’s play that clip.
SPEAKER 05 :
The best thing we could do to stand up against Iran would be for Israel to end the conflict in Gaza, get the hostages back, because starting to rebuild and giving the Palestinians some hope for life would allow Saudi Arabia and other nations in the region to, frankly, recognize Israel and then put an even more united front against Iran.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, Travis, that sounds like more of the same. You were with me in Israel last week. We spoke to members of the IDF. We were at Memorial Day services. How would pacifying Hamas walking away from Gaza affect Iran in terms of its hostility toward Israel?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, I mean, Tony, when I hear that clip, my question for him is how exactly is he proposing we stand up against Iran by appeasing and rolling over and giving Hamas, who is aligned with Iran in its ultimate goal of eliminating the Jewish people in the state of Israel. So what the senator is saying there is let’s sort of ease up the gas on Hamas here and so that we can direct our attention to Iran. It’s kind of like saying I’m fighting one army, but let’s just like ignore this one part over here so we can just all turn our attention to the other part as if Hamas is going to join in that effort. Hamas is not interested in helping Israel against Iran. They’re aligned with Iran against Israel. So we need some clarity on the reality of what’s happening in the region, of the alignments in the region. And I would say provide a different prescription, Tony. I think a better prescription is to first step back and ascertain the proper perspective of the region, get clarity of what’s actually happening, which is Hamas, Iran, Turkey, and others in the region really are all aligned in their anti-Israel, anti-Jewish animus, then proceed to describe the prescription for how to help Israel best stand in the midst of a hostile sea of neighbors.
SPEAKER 06 :
Suzanne, I want to go to you on that issue of the Middle East. The Middle East understands power. I think we saw very clearly during the four years of the Biden administration what appeasement gets us. It gets us a world on fire. That seems to be what Senator Warner is proposing.
SPEAKER 21 :
Absolutely. And I have to believe that Iran and the Houthis, Gaza, Hamas are all very concerned about a Trump administration that’s not going to sit back and just take these bombings, just take this hostage situation. They’re going to take it very seriously. And so in this instance, I think Warner’s very misled on what he’s proposing here, as Travis says.
SPEAKER 06 :
Let’s change channels. Let’s go to CBS’s Face the Nation. Senator Tammy Duckworth was laser focused on the Trump administration’s nominee for U.N. ambassador. Mike Waltz, play the clip of Duckworth. Senator Duckworth, please.
SPEAKER 13 :
He’s not qualified for the job just by nature of the fact that he participated in this signal chain. In fact, I think everybody on that signal chain needs to be fired because not a single one of them spoke up and said, hey, this is inappropriate. We should be in a secure channel.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. I’ll throw this out to you first, Suzanne, because you’ve been writing on this. I think Mike Walsh, who is a friend, who I think is actually one of the best equipped in the White House to handle the issues in the Middle East, I think he was maybe too aggressive for some. And I think there was a lot of backbiting, what I hear in the White House. I think appointing him or nominating him for ambassador to the UN, given the issues surrounding his departure, is going to make confirmation very difficult. Am I right?
SPEAKER 21 :
I think you are right. I think the Democrats are salivating at this opportunity to take down a member of the Trump team who, in my estimation, we don’t know all the details about Signalgate, but Mike Walz is so qualified for any position he holds that deals with national security. He has four Bronze Stars. He’s served in the Special Forces. He’s been on the House Armed Services Committee. He’s worked in the Bush administration. So this is a very convenient controversy for the left. I think that they’re just looking for a way to describe the administration as sloppy or amateur or just unprepared for the tasks at hand. And this is a great opportunity for them to shift the messaging, discredit the Trump administration. But Mike Waltz, as a person in the administration, has been solid. And he will continue to be solid if he is able to be confirmed, which will be a tall order for him in the Senate as it’s constructed now.
SPEAKER 06 :
Travis, what do we know about the internal jockeying, so to speak? We have those who are, you know, isolationist that are a part of this kind of new conservative wing of the party. Mike Waltz not fitting into that category. I wouldn’t call him a, you know, a war, a hawk necessarily. He’s one that’s been on this program many, many times because he is well versed in foreign policy and military issues, security issues. But is this a sign, a troubling sign of things to come of the power and influence of the isolationist wing that has the ear of the president?
SPEAKER 18 :
Tony, I do think we need to ask where this is coming from. And as you’re noting, those who just do not like Mike Waltz’s views on how to conduct our foreign policy regionally and otherwise, they would be looking for an opportunity like this, right? And as Suzanne said, it’s very convenient for the Democrats. So my appeal to the administration would be, what does this set you up for? Do not think it’s a good situation right now because they’re kind of, so to speak, putting out to the Democrats for them to try to take down Waltz here. And meanwhile, You know, what are they left with in terms of advice to conduct foreign policy? You need a multitude of counselors. You need counselors who are prepared to face our enemies, take them on, as Trump did when he ordered the strike against the Iranian general during the first administration, right? That was an appropriate response to aggression. That is the language that we’re speaking today. They’re speaking with some of these adversaries. And so in light of all that, you know, looking at what’s happening, Tony, as you say, the jockeying, the current state of jockeying is not really good to set the president up to lead with force in a hostile world when you need clarity. on what’s happening. You need moral clarity and the ability to speak that consistently to your adversaries in a way that they can understand. So, Tony, as you said, we need advisors around the president. We as Americans should want advisors around the president that he can trust and hear from. knowing he cannot personally keep up with every situation that’s happening globally. That’s why you need experts. And so Mike Waltz is certainly one of those on the Middle East, on our military activities globally. And so from that perspective, we should ask, well, who’s going to fill that gap now? Where are we going to get that advice in the foreign policy apparatus for the president and what he needs to do globally?
SPEAKER 21 :
And if I could just step in there, one of the names that’s been floated today is Stephen Miller, who is currently serving as a White House chief of domestic policy. So what you’re really seeing in the Trump administration is a shrinking of the circle of trust. So you have fewer voices speaking into the president, some of whom I don’t know what Stephen Miller’s background is that equips him to be national security advisor. But it really is a troubling sign for the administration, I think, to just so closely shrink who has access to the president on these important issues.
SPEAKER 18 :
And Suzanne, you’re talking about someone who’s been focused on the border a lot. The border is a national security issue, but there are other national security issues. Tony, part of what we’ve seen at our border is people flooding in from not just Mexico and South America, but around the world. So we need to be ascertaining this with a global perspective. And you need to understand what’s happening globally, not just in the immigration system or other select matters closer to home.
SPEAKER 21 :
And I would say it’s a little disingenuous, too, for the Trump administration to say this is a promotion when, in fact, we don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors. And it could very well be something else entirely.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, you don’t remove somebody from a position to promote them to another one. They would stay in that position until confirmed for the other one. All right. Let me move on. Fox News. We saw Fox News Sunday. We actually saw DNC Chair Ken Martin venture across the aisle talking about Medicaid cuts. Play the clip of Martin, please.
SPEAKER 09 :
Donald Trump made a lot of promises to Americans last year, and this budget that he’s bringing forward is actually going to increase prices for most hardworking Americans. That’s where we’re focused on right now. This budget he’s bringing forward, which is going to cut Medicaid, all to give a tax break to the richest people in this country and corporations, and not helping hardworking Americans again.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right. Here we go again. Same same same same line that Republicans are going to be cutting Medicaid. No discussion about the fact that the Biden administration expanded it by about 50 percent to able bodied men that could easily work and have their own health care coverage. This what the Republicans are looking at, waste, fraud and abuse to salvage and save the program.
SPEAKER 21 :
right and i think one of the things that should debunk that claim right off the bat are the lawsuits taking place in swing states where where democrats have tried to put up billboards saying you know the republicans are going to cut grandma’s health care they’re going to eliminate medicaid there aren’t going to be any entitlement programs you won’t have benefits and in fact when republicans even threaten the democrats with defamation lawsuits they backed off they are clearly lying They have no answer for the Trump agenda or for the Republicans who want to cut waste, fraud and abuse. We’ve seen illegal immigrants on the rolls for Medicaid. We’ve seen, as you said, able-bodied people. You were talking with Dr. Marshall earlier. There are some estimates that in blue states, as many as 40 percent of households are on Medicaid, which is astronomical. We cannot continue to fund something or it will be extinct. We just can’t afford this anymore.
SPEAKER 06 :
OK, I want to move one more weekend interview with NPR’s president and CEO, Catherine Moore. She joined Paula Kerger for this conversation. Let’s play the clip of Catherine Moore.
SPEAKER 20 :
Our people report straight down the line, and I think that not only do they do that, they do so with a mission that very few other broadcast organizations have, which is a requirement to serve the entire public. That is the point of public broadcasting, is we bring people together in those conversations. JOHN YANG Straight down the line? What line is that?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, you don’t have to take it from us that NPR is biased. You can take it from NPR’s own staff. Since Uri Berliner, a whistleblower, published a very lengthy expose in the Free Press last year talking about how absolutely convoluted and biased their agenda was, not just in reporting since COVID, but just in the last several years. They only serve a niche audience, and yet they’re getting millions and millions of taxpayer dollars. So it’s a wild suggestion that they are right down the middle.
SPEAKER 06 :
President Trump, though, taking action to eliminate the funding for public broadcasting.
SPEAKER 21 :
Right. And I think that they should be very concerned because this is something he can do through the rescission process, which only requires a simple majority in the Senate. So she has a good reason to be concerned because Trump and the Senate Republicans will take action on this. And very likely the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will take a huge hit.
SPEAKER 06 :
What happens? I mean, how much of their funding comes from government sources? I mean, will they be able to survive?
SPEAKER 21 :
They could if they had, I assume, private influx of dollars, but good luck getting enough to fund it when you’re only serving 11% of the American population, which is roughly the niche that they’re getting right now in terms of listenership.
SPEAKER 06 :
We saw this with Planned Parenthood when the federal government began to withdraw funds for them. They raised the money. They had plenty of money, a billion-dollar operation. I mean, look, if NPR provides a service to those 11 percent, and they happen to be the liberal left, the wealthy, hey, let them fund it. But it – I think it makes our government more fiscally responsible. I personally don’t think that they’ll find the funding they need to continue operating as they do.
SPEAKER 21 :
And that wouldn’t be a tragedy. I don’t think we ever need for the government to provide us with entertainment or news. It comes across as state-funded propaganda. So leave that to the people who are reporting for a living, who can be unbiased, and take the taxpayers out of it.
SPEAKER 06 :
But what about Big Bird? We might miss Big Bird, right? All right, Suzanne Bounty, Travis Weber, thanks so much for joining us. I’ve got to go catch those reruns of Sesame Street. All right, folks, thank you for joining us as well. You can find out more about the broadcast, go to TonyPerkins.com. Better yet, download the Stand Firm app, and you’ll have Washington Watch at your fingertips, along with the Washington Stand, our news feed, which is brought to you not by taxpayer dollars, but by folks like you. Until next time, I leave you once again with the encouraging words the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, prepared, and taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 22 :
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.
