Dive into the political and cultural landscape of Asheville, North Carolina with Mike Gallagher as he discusses the ongoing debate over immigrant rights and how liberal communities handle these complex issues. In this episode, Gallagher examines the impacts of cultural liberalism in Asheville, sharing his personal experiences visiting the city and highlighting the contrasting views on immigration and legality.
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From the wild world of D.C. politics to America’s culture clash, brace yourself for the reality check you’ve been waiting for. The one and only Mike Gallagher.
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Once again, a federal judge has come along and said to the Trump administration, we don’t like you. We’re going to try to stop you. We’re all we got. The left has rogue, in this case, a Clinton-appointed judge. attempting to dismiss the charges against Letitia James and James Comey on a technicality, nothing to do with the merits, claiming that the prosecutor isn’t qualified. Yesterday I saw Jonathan Turley, the esteemed law professor, say that not so fast all those who are celebrating… Tish James getting away with what the government said she tried to get away with. She was indicted on mortgage fraud charges. And all the reporting that we’ve seen coming out of her house in Virginia, I mean, it’s like a horror movie. I mean, you know, people coming and going, criminals living there, some criminal niece. on the lam from Charlotte, North Carolina. I mean, it’s just a real den of iniquity. But Turley said, oh, not so fast. Don’t get so excited because they still are going to quite likely face charges. once this technicality is sorted out. Here’s Jonathan Turley reacting on… Oops, wrong number here. I pushed the wrong button. Here’s Jonathan Turley reacting on Fox News Channel as Letitia James, as well as James Comey, are now celebrating and spiking the football and saying, ah-ha-ha, we got away with it. We’re not going to be held accountable, Professor Turley says. Not so fast.
SPEAKER 09 :
Letitia James might be celebrating a tad too early. The problems here are not with the charges themselves, but essentially with the cop, or in this case, the prosecutor. So the court is not saying that she was innocent of these charges. The court is simply saying that the person who signed off on the charges didn’t have authority to do that. So the obvious thing here is to get someone who is lawfully in a position to perform this role. Usually after 120 days, the district court appoints someone as the replacement. They’re going to have to work this one out. It’s rather uncharted territory here to make sure that the next person who signs is going to be beyond these types of questions. They could also appeal. You know, they’re already past the original date. But the argument is that they do have a right to go back to the grand jury. So they may just appeal and say, look, we think we have a good argument here that, yes, there’s 120 days. But we have some rather novel sort of shifts that occurred here that we believe, you know, do not trigger that that final date and that we had the ability to use Halligan in the way we did.
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So we’ll see how it plays out. We’ll see how it unfolds. But meanwhile, on this Thanksgiving week, it’s Tuesday. We’ve got a lot to be grateful for. I continue to be astounded at your generosity. We’ve kicked off our annual Angel Tree Christmas campaign for the children of American prisoners. I’ll give you an update on that in just a moment. There’s some good news out of the administration regarding the war campaign. In Ukraine, a U.S. official is telling reporters that a Ukrainian delegation has agreed with the United States on the terms of a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. So for all the people that have the Ukrainian flags in their front yard, you’re grateful to the Trump administration, right? You’re thankful, correct? I mean, I wonder if the people will – all the Ukrainian flags that I saw in Asheville, North Carolina neighborhoods. And I couldn’t believe how many Ukrainian flags are still up in Asheville. Asheville is a very, very liberal southern city. It’s such a contradiction for me because it’s such a beautiful city with wonderful – we had some great meals there. And we went up to North Carolina for Joyce’s birthday Saturday. And I spent the weekend in Asheville, and I toured Biltmore House, fascinated by the family behind it and the way that beautiful, huge chateau in the mountains was built. But you drive through the streets of Asheville, I mean, there is a sign on almost every street corner in neighborhoods of Asheville, immigrants have rights. I think that’s what the sign said. Let me look at my phone. I took a picture of it because I kept thinking, well, wait a minute. Illegals don’t have any, you know, constitutional rights. So what do they mean? Oh, here’s the sign. I should send it to Christian to put on the screen here on Salem News Channel. Love thy neighbor. Defend immigrants’ rights, immigrant rights. Love thy neighbor, defend immigrant rights. What does that even mean? What right doesn’t an immigrant have? What you really mean is defend illegals. That’s what you mean, right, liberals of Asheville, North Carolina? Just be plain in your language. You don’t mean defend immigrant rights. You mean defend the illegals. You want the illegals to stay. You think it’s normal for somebody to sneak across our border, live here, benefit from our social services and our infrastructure and all that we have to offer, and you want to defend them because you’re a zany liberal living your hippie life in Asheville, North Carolina. Just put it on the sign. Don’t pretend that you’re talking. Don’t conflate illegals with immigrants. Most of us are products of immigrants. My grandparents, not my great-grandparents, my parents’ parents, came over on the boat from Ireland and Lithuania, respectively. They sailed past the Statue of Liberty. And as far as I know, they did everything by the book. They followed all the laws. They obeyed all of our rules. They didn’t sneak here in the middle of the night. They didn’t cross the Rio Grande on a banana boat. They did it the right way. So what right do you think Asheville immigrants aren’t enjoying right now? I’d love to know. The fact is most normal Americans are fully supportive of what Trump is doing right now. Here’s Harry Enten. I want to start every hour today because I’m so thankful and so appreciative. There’s such good news going on. I mean, this is great news. Look, hey, all you Asheville folks with your Ukrainian flags, we’ll give you time. Replace the Ukrainian flag with the Make America Great Again flag. Put up a MAGA sign in your front yard because now I know you’re thankful to the Trump administration for brokering a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Right? Right? Here’s Harry Enten on CNN shocking that liberal audience with some hard truths about the popularity that President Trump still enjoys.
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So is the president losing Republicans? No. Look, this is still Donald Trump’s Republican Party, and we can see it here. It’s like a rock, to quote Bob Seger. I mean, take a look here. Republicans who approve of Trump. Six months ago, it was 87%. Now, well, hello, it’s the same number. It’s 87 percent. He has not lost any support among Republicans compared to six months ago. As I said at the beginning, he’s like a rock. He’s like a rock. The Republican base is sticking by Donald Trump at this point in time.
SPEAKER 12 :
It really is interesting to watch his overall approval rate go down, down, down, down, but see this be completely constant here. It is among independents. It is not among Republicans. OK, so how does this compare to past presidents in a second term?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, okay, I think this gives the game away, right? Which is Donald Trump, if you look at 21st century presidents’ own party approval at this point in term two, who leads the pack? It’s Donald John Trump. 87% of Republicans approve Donald John Trump. You go back to 2013, 78% of Democrats supported Barack Obama, and it was 78% of Republicans who supported George W. Bush back in 2005 at this point. So Donald Trump has the biggest… Own party, highest own party approval of any president who served their entire second term in the 21st century.
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What am I watching there? Oh, that’s CNN? Oh, really? What’s that data for? Oh, CNN? Oh, their poll says that Trump is more popular than Barack Obama was with Democrats? That Republican support for Trump is higher than Democrat support was for Barack Obama at the same stage of both of their presidencies? What’s this you say? Trump is more popular with Republicans than George W. Bush was during the same stages of their presidencies? Hmm. That’s not what the noise says. The noise suggests that Trump’s popularity is plummeting. So see what I mean about good news during this Thanksgiving week? Don’t listen to the noise. So I want to listen to you. And we’ll post this sign up for you to see. I went through one neighborhood. It was in almost every yard. Love thy neighbor. Defend immigrant rights. Those are the yard signs all throughout Asheville, North Carolina. What do they mean by that? I mean, you and I know what they mean. They mean let the illegals stay. I just wish leftists in Asheville and all throughout the country would be honest in their language. Just honestly say, let the illegals stay here. We don’t want illegals deported. Don’t hide behind love thy neighbor, defend immigrants’ rights. Immigrants’ rights are not being violated in any way, shape, or form. What rights do you think illegal immigrants have? Hate to break it to you. Spoiler alert. Not many. But tell me what you think they mean. 800-655-MIKE. Tell me if you think the people with the Ukraine flags are going to be grateful to the Trump administration for brokering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Join us. 800-655-MIKE here in the Relief Factor studios. Your call, your voice, your perspective. Coming up. From city streets to mountain trails, your gear should go wherever life takes you. That’s why at Modern Rugged Leather, every bag is handcrafted from premium, responsibly sourced leather designed to look sharp, last long, and tell a story of its own. Every stitch. Buckle and strap reflects timeless craftsmanship and is backed by a lifetime warranty because quality shouldn’t quit when the adventure begins. Whether it’s the boardroom or the back roads, modern rugged leather helps you carry confidence every single step of the way. Modern rugged leather, modern style, timeless durability, backed for life. Life takes you places. Make sure your gear keeps up. Shop the full collection and find yours today at ModernRugged.com. ModernRugged.com. That’s ModernRugged.com. Love thy neighbor. Defend immigrants’ rights. What does that mean? Somebody in Asheville called me. I’m told we got even some conservatives in Asheville, although people are saying it’s more the outskirts. It’s a beautiful city. Look, I’d love to live there, but I don’t know if I could stand it. Although I’m told everybody’s nice there. Every restaurant I went into, every coffee shop, every store. All the clerks had purple or blue hair and nose rings. It’s like it’s a city requirement. Do you have to have purple hair and a nose ring in order to get a job at that cute little coffee shop I went into? It’s kind of wild. It’s Asheville, North Carolina. And what I’m told is, and they got hammered by Helene. The hurricane really did a lot of damage. A lot of damage there. And the community all banded together. And I love that. I really do. I’m not trying to just pick on lefties. I’ll bet you a bunch of lefties got in there and helped clean up western North Carolina and Chimney Rock and that whole area that got just devastated by the storm. But, my gosh, I wonder why Asheville is so liberal. But if you can translate this for me, love thy neighbor, defend immigrant rights. Now, there’s a website. I almost don’t want to give it. I’m almost afraid to look at the website. There’s a website on these purple and white signs that I saw scattered all throughout Asheville. I’ll bet you the website is all about pushing back against illegals being deported. It doesn’t have a thing to do with immigrants because you cannot conflate illegal immigrants with legal immigrants. There is a difference. There is a difference. 800-655-MIKE. 24 past the hour. Portions of our show are sponsored by Hotel Hartness. I was there this weekend. My home away from home. Because after Asheville, I went over to Greenville. Did the show from WRD Monday morning. Travel and Leisure’s World Best rates the Hotel Hartness the number one resort in the entire state. And you can stay there too. It’s my home away from home. I love that place. Love all the people there. What a beautiful, beautiful hotel. And again, you can stay there as well. Go to hotelhartness.com. Hotelhartness.com. That’s hotelhartness.com. Frank’s in Connecticut. All right, Frank, what do you suppose those purple and white signs actually mean? And I saw all over Asheville, love thy neighbor, defend immigrant rights. Are they really worried about legal immigrant rights or are they worried about the illegals?
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, Mr. Gallagher. I think it’s to preserve their voter base. And that’s the only thing that’s going on here. And it’s not only here, but up in Connecticut and other places. That is the essential issue, and if it’s not the essential issue, I would like someone else to explain why it’s not.
SPEAKER 08 :
I want to know. See, that’s a great question you ask, Frank. If that’s not your reason, and if you’re watching right now on Salem News Channel, you’re seeing the sign. That’s a picture I took in a beautiful little neighborhood in Nashville. Look, I admit it. I was looking around at homes. I was looking at neighborhoods. I might live there. I’ve always talked about maybe someday moving full-time to the Carolinas. If I’m in Nashville, I’m an hour and a half away from my dear friends Peg and Joey. And Patty and Ansel and all the people I know and love, they’re like family. And it’s beautiful. It’s nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the shops are wonderful, and the restaurants are great. Love thy neighbor. Defend immigrant rights. And look, you can see the website on the sign. I almost don’t want to read the website over the air yet. I’m going to look at it here in a minute. Ah, what the heck. Let me give it to you. You check it out. Love thy neighbor. WNC.org. Apparently, that’s the organization giving all these bleeding-heart progressives in Asheville the yard signs to put out all over the place. LoveThyNeighborWNC.org. WNC, of course, stands for Western North Carolina. 800-655-MIKE. Tony apparently is in Asheville. Tony, do you have purple hair and a nose ring?
SPEAKER 04 :
Mike, no nose ring and just a little salt and pepper on the hair.
SPEAKER 08 :
Nature’s doing that, right? God’s doing that. You’re not using any hair dye. That’s right. That’s right. I mean, well, first of all, let me just pick your brain for a minute since I got you on the phone. Yes, sir. Why is Asheville so liberal?
SPEAKER 04 :
I’m not real sure. I’m a native North Carolinian, very rare commodity up here. And I think a lot of it might be it’s been a very popular place. You know, back in the day, you mentioned it. The Biltmore, you know, if Scott Fitzgerald and Stella and Hemingway, it was a popular place to go to, you know, get away from the heat. Yeah, that’s right. And I don’t know.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wait a minute. But you said something, though. Let me let Tony. You said you’re a native North Carolinian here, which is a rare commodity. Maybe that’s the answer. Maybe a lot of these people are just all transplants. I think that’s got a lot to do with it, Mike. Interesting. That fascinates me. Well, I don’t know. It’s hard to understand how such a beautiful place has… Well, look, Austin’s a beautiful city. There’s a lot of communities in America. And look, you want to live there, live there. That’s why people gravitate to red states. That’s why people go, I guess, to blue states. Although I don’t know there’s a whole lot of people, you know, breaking down the doors and burning off the tire treads to get to New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco. I don’t think a whole lot of people are clamoring to go to blue states these days. It’s the other way around. Hey, what about the seditious six? Don’t you love that phrase? It’s like something right out of a Marvel movie. Jesse Waters has a fascinating position about why they did what they did. Stick around. More coming up.
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Mike Gallagher.
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Every single day it’s a joy to remind you that portions of our show are sponsored by MyPillow. As you know, our friend Mike Lindell, big legal victory last week. He’s been in a ton of hot water, as you know, because he believes in election integrity. Of course, due to his friendship with President Trump. Well, last week there was a $5 million vote. judgment against Mike that was overturned by the courts. Good news for MyPillow. So you keep praying for MyPillow and you keep supporting this great American company. The premium MyPillow, limited time, great price, $18.98. If you go to MyPillow.com, this pillow is a godsend. Look, I bring the MyPillow products with me when I’m on the road. Here at the hotel in Washington State, I’ve got the MySlippers with me, those unbelievable slippers, because I pat around in the hotel room. I don’t know what’s on that rug. I bring the MyPillow with me. I roll it up into the suitcase. I’ve even got my MyPillow loungewear. Tons of great products. If you haven’t been to the site in a while, go check it out. Go to MyPillow.com. Look for the Mike Gallagher specials. Click on that box. And with anything you order, enter the promo code MikeG. You’re going to save big. The slippers, the doggy beds, and the Giza dream sheets. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. MyPillow.com. Promo code MikeG. Or call 800-928-6034. 800-928-6034. Like we love to sing.
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SPEAKER 02 :
He met him in person, Mandami, and great meeting. I mean, the night before, just like the night before I went there, he said, you know, he’s a communist. Trump, he’s a great guy, great meeting. He said, you know, they asked him, you know, what about the communist things? Well, you know, he said, maybe he’ll change. My views have changed. Trump said, I’d love to live in New York under this guy. He might be a great mayor. See, that’s what it is. You’ve got to talk to people and negotiate.
SPEAKER 07 :
In the ReliefFactor.com studios, here’s Mike.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, I went on to the site so you don’t have to. LoveThyNeighborWNC.org. So let’s listen together and let’s read together what they said. Because, look, if people of faith want to support immigrants, nothing wrong with that. That’s a good thing. Look, conservatives don’t lack compassion. So let’s see what they’re all about. Love Thy Neighbor is a collective effort by faith communities and people of faith across western North Carolina. Okay, so far so good. Our diverse faiths call us to stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors and family and to work together towards a humane and just world for all God’s children. Okay. Okay. So far, so good. I’m in. I’m buying into that. Wait a minute. What’s this? Regardless of immigration status. Ah, there it is. There you go. Ding, ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. The Love Thy Neighbor campaign joins together people of faith and and our wider community to speak out and to put our faith in action in defense of immigrant rights. And then they go back to the immigrant rights again. See, regardless of immigration status, it doesn’t matter to these delusional people. It doesn’t matter. Look, legal, illegal, steal, don’t steal. Rob a bank. Don’t rob a bank. We’re all God’s children, and nobody should suffer any accountability for that. Look at this. Read and sign our petition. Look, order yard signs here. Or sponsor signs for others. HOA in the way of visible support. Uh-oh, not those pesky homeowners associations. Ha ha ha. I didn’t see a lot of those in Asheville. I saw a lot of these signs. But this is, of course, a sleight of hand that the left is so good at. It’s what they do. Illegal, legal, doesn’t matter. We’re going to call them immigrants. Don’t you dare call them illegal. And they tried undocumented for a while. Remember that? A decade or so ago, they thought, They thought undocumented was better than illegal. Well, now they don’t want undocumented. Now they’re just going to pretend that everybody’s an immigrant. And we wonder why people are running away from the ideology that informs these delusional, delusional lost souls. I don’t think they mean harm. They do mean well. But don’t pretend that our side isn’t a side of compassion. You want to know how compassionate we are? Every Christmas time, every holiday season, we do something called the Angel Tree Christmas Campaign. Prison Fellowship is a ministry started by Chuck Colson, where this ministry reaches out to families of people who are incarcerated. Make no mistake, a lot of these children… are children of color. These are a lot of black and brown kids. And you know what you’ve done so far in one day? You’re sending Christmas presents to 421 of these children. $30 sends a Christmas present, a Bible, and a personal message from their mom or dad who is behind bars to that child on Christmas morning. Do you realize what a blessing that is? Because when the child gets a Bible, there’s a good chance that child may read the Bible. There’s a good chance that child may never make the mistakes of his mom or her mom and dad. And there’s a good chance that that child’s soul will be saved for eternity. You’re going to give these children a lifeline, not only for this life, but for eternity, for $30 a kid. So to those who say we’re not compassionate, I want to prove a point. I want to do something right now that really is going to knock your socks off. Knock your Christmas socks off. Knock your heat holder socks off. Proud sponsors of the Mike Gallagher Show. We have a huge goal, of course, of over 4,300 kids that we want to get sponsored and get Christmas gifts this Christmas. But right now we’re at 421 kids. And you can see the counter. You’ll see it yourself. You can keep track. And it’s $30 a child. $30. I want to get to $500 by the end of the hour. And I want to tell anybody who might be listening to us and watching us right now who thinks we’re hard-hearted because we know the difference between legal and illegal immigrant, unlike the people of Asheville, North Carolina. You want to see how hard-hearted we are? Watch how many people send Christmas presents and Bibles and personal messages from incarcerated parents to these children in the next 10 minutes. Watch and see. Go to MikeOnline.com right now. Come on, let’s make a big stand, a bold stand together. I’ll bet we can get over 500 kids. We’re at 421 right now. Put your donation in. It takes about two minutes for the donation to populate, and then you’ll see your donation reflected online. on the counter. Right now it says 421 out of 4,333 kids, which is the goal of children getting Christmas presents and Bibles and personal messages from their mom and dad. It’s a beautiful thing, this Angel Tree Christmas campaign, and I’m excited. I’m grateful. I’m thankful this Thanksgiving week. And boy, how lucky I am to get to do this with you every day. So let’s go to MikeOnline.com. Come on, let’s send a message. Let’s show the world how gentle and compassionate and loving we really are. MikeOnline.com. Robertson, Connecticut. 20 before the hour. We’re glad to have you here. Our number is 800-655-MIKE. One number does it all. Call or text. Hey, Robert, happy Thanksgiving. How are you?
SPEAKER 15 :
Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your listeners also, Mike. Thank you. I just wonder, living here in the People’s Democratic Republic of Connecticut, How many people are virtue signaling with those signs are actually bringing anybody into their house or contributing to your excellent fund?
SPEAKER 08 :
Amen. Well, it’s like I said about the people with Ukraine signs. Do you think the people with Ukraine signs are going to thank President Trump if they actually reach the possible peace deal that they’re apparently on the verge of reaching? They’ll never do it.
SPEAKER 15 :
They’ll never do it. Speaking of Mr. Trump, something I don’t hear often enough in the talk radio world, that’s pretty much what I listen to, I don’t hear anybody saying thank you to Mr. Trump for having vanquished Hillary and Kamala.
SPEAKER 08 :
And I think we need to add that to the long list of achievements. Amen. You just did. Thank you, Robert. Happy Thanksgiving. One open line, 800-655-MIKE. Scott is in North Carolina. Hi, Scott. Welcome aboard. Happy Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER 14 :
How’s it going, Mike? Hi, good. Good. How are you? I’m good. I just wanted to play a little bit of a devil’s advocate. I’m in the construction field. And I see it every day. I know I’m in the trenches. And, you know, the immigrants, they were given Social Security numbers by the Biden administration, which in their eyes made them legal to work. So and many companies as well hire these people and they’re great workers. There’s a shortage of good workers. Trust me. It’s more like entitled Americans that really don’t want to do the hard work that most people, that most immigrants are doing, especially in the construction field. And if they’re hardworking and, you know, they go to work every day, they’ll work four days a week. You know, they’re here to better themselves and the companies that they work for. I don’t see a problem in… having some kind of a legal avenue that we can get, get at least them legalized or amnesty.
SPEAKER 08 :
My wife, my wife, you got a lot to unpack here. First of all, you’re incorrect. Illegals did not get social security numbers from the Biden administration. That isn’t true at all. In fact, that isn’t correct at all. The way it works, the official rule from the social security, even under the Biden administration, Only non-citizens who are authorized to work, either they have a valid, you know, visa, they have a work permit, they’ve got a valid non-work reason, only they can obtain a Social Security number. So I get that. I mean, but look, let’s look at your bigger picture questions. And they’re good ones. And I love it when people play devil’s advocate. There’s nothing wrong with welcoming. Have you noticed the tone and the tenor of the Kristi Noem spots to illegals saying, look, You can be here. We want you here. We welcome you. You’ve got to do it the right way. You’re not allowed to sneak into the… And I use that word intentionally. I use that word purposefully. Because it is sneaking across the border. We can’t sneak into Mexico. We can’t sneak into Canada. and try to take up residence there. We’re one of the only countries on the planet that lets this happen because of people like the people in Asheville with the purple signs pretending that legals or illegals doesn’t matter. There’s no distinction. So do it the right way. And I’ve noticed the tone of these Kristi Noem Homeland Security spots. She says in the spots, hey, we’ll give you money. We’ll give you financial assistance. Fly back to your country. Start over. Come into the country legally. We welcome you. That’s not heartless. That’s not something that the faith community of Western North Carolina should oppose. Is there nothing in the faith community that expects citizens and people and humanity to follow the rules and obey the law, not break our laws? I’ll bet you we’re going to get to 500 in the next 10 minutes. I can’t wait. I’m going to refresh the page here in a minute. 800-655-MIKE is our number. But I’m jazzed about this. Don’t let me down. Come on. We were at 421 a couple of minutes ago. I’ll bet we’ll get to 500 in this next segment. What do you say? MikeOnline.com. Give these kids a Christmas present and give yourself a Thanksgiving blessing. Because you’re doing God’s work. You’re blessing these children. MikeOnline.com. Contribute to the Angel Tree campaign. Let’s watch that number soar.
SPEAKER 06 :
Mike Gallagher.
SPEAKER 05 :
Out in these parts, some folks call it radio. We call it the last campfire of the American spirit. Stoke the fire of freedom with American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. American Ground Radio, planting seeds, growing freedom. Listen wherever you get your podcasts and visit our website at AmericanGroundRadio.com.
SPEAKER 07 :
The Mike Gallagher Show on Salem News Channel and the Salem Radio Network.
SPEAKER 12 :
Mr. President, why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, it’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who’s highly respected, asking him a horrible, insubordinate and just a terrible question. You could even ask that same exact question nicely. You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.
SPEAKER 07 :
In the ReliefFactor.com studios, here’s Mike.
SPEAKER 08 :
There’s President Trump, soft pedaling and pulling his punches. He’s tiptoeing around. He never wants to hurt anybody’s feelings. And yet, he is said to be one of the most generous people you’ll ever meet. And I’ve seen all kinds of evidence of that. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about his quiet generosity with people who work for him, people that he reaches out to, people he’s assisted financially. The image that conservatives are hard-hearted is wrong. Now I’m about to bring in a guy that means an awful lot to this show and to me because yesterday we were all excited about Eric. Eric Hansen, our operations director, with the show now 26 years. And so Eric and I, look, I don’t know what I’d do without Eric. It’s just a fact. The guy is the go-to for everything. But on Thanksgiving… He shuts down. He always takes the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving off because he’s preparing the feast for the Hanson family. And so yesterday we asked him, well, what are you making? Peg Hudson was on the line. She was texting me saying, ask him what he makes. And so we said, all right, as he finally gets underway, let’s take this audience live to the Eric Hansen kitchen, which is exactly what we are doing now. There he is in the kitchen. How are you?
SPEAKER 13 :
How about that for a while? I get the guest sound effect and everything. That’s terrific.
SPEAKER 08 :
I love it. Did you cue Alex to play it or did he do it on his own?
SPEAKER 13 :
I may have let him know that it was important that I really wanted the guest sound effect. All right.
SPEAKER 08 :
So this is fun. This is fun because it’s a Thanksgiving tradition. And of course, we love hearing about your tradition. And I also a big tradition for us, Eric, as you know, and you’re just as invested in this as the rest of us. The Angel Tree Christmas campaign. Eric, yesterday our number was like 330 kids, which is incredible for the first day, right? Amazing. Guess where we are right now? How many children are sponsored now? Again, a reminder, for $30, everyone gets to sponsor a child by having a Christmas present sent to them. a Bible, and a personal message from their mom and dad who are in prison. And it’s a beautiful ministry. And every year they give us this monster number. I mean, Eric, you can pull the curtain back and admit, how panicked do I always get this time of year that we’re not going to hit our goal?
SPEAKER 13 :
We sweat it out every year. Every year we sweat it out. But at the end of the day, it always works out.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, and because they give us an incredibly huge goal, which is an unbelievable blessing. But, you know, look, the normal goal is like 2,600 kids. Our goal is 4,333 children, Eric. And so right now we’re at 526 kids. Now, isn’t that 526 after one day of the campaign, Eric?
SPEAKER 13 :
That’s amazing.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s amazing. Well, it’s our audience. And here’s what I believe. We’re going to prove. how loving and generous and giving and thankful our audience is. I believe that as I’m talking to you about your Thanksgiving feast, I think we’re going to go over 600 kids. I think in the next 20 minutes we’re going to get over 600 kids. So before you start into Thanksgiving, work your magic. I’m going to rub that bald head of yours, and we’re going to make you my lucky charm. You’ve got to be the show’s lucky charm today and motivate our audience to take us over 600 children who are going to be blessed by Christmas gifts, Bibles, and a message from their incarcerated mom or dad, courtesy of this beautiful ministry, the Prison Fellowship Ministry. Go ahead, Eric. Take it away.
SPEAKER 13 :
I could never do it as well as you do, but I will say this. And we’ve done a lot of different campaigns for a lot of different really great causes over the years. I don’t think there’s a single cause better than this that benefits people who deserve it more than Angel Tree. To give a Christmas gift to a kid who is missing a parent, a father or mother. at Christmas time and to make them happy and not just for the kids. And it’s incredibly important for the kids and for the parents too, to have a connection with their kids because it’s so important and it’s easy. It’s only $30 for a kid. I believe I don’t have the copy in front of me, but I’m pretty sure that’s $30. It is, is $30. You’ll spend $30 before dinner time today. And if you had $30 and, and you could spend it on a, on a kid who really needs it, Why wouldn’t you?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well done. Well done. So $30. Please go to MikeOnline.com. And maybe by the end of our conversation, Eric, we’ll hit 600 children. What a blessing that would be for the first two days of our campaign. Right now we’re at 526. out of our goal of over 4,300 kids, and I think we’re going to get there. $30, $150 for five kids, whatever you can afford. How about blessing these children and be thankful for your blessings by paying it forward? And do it in spirit, in the honor of Eric Hansen, who’s busy slaving away over an oven, getting ready for Thanksgiving. So tell us how it’s coming. Give us the update.
SPEAKER 13 :
It’s going well. I’m in the beginning stages. I do have a few things made. I have some things prepped. I have this. This is homemade chicken stock that I made over the weekend. Yeah, so I make that with the whole chicken.
SPEAKER 08 :
You make your own chicken stock?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yes. That’s where we start. We start with chicken stock, and that goes in probably 60% of the things that I make. And then I’ve got vegetables. I’ve got some carrots here. I’ve got a whole bowl of carrots. I’ve got beets. I’m making beets today. So that’s what we’re doing after this. I hate beets. They’re the best. A little goat cheese. I have a potato as a prop, but I have five pounds of these, which I’ll be making later on tomorrow. Over here, let me show you this. Yeah? This is the stuffing.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s the stuffing. That’s my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Not exactly PhD compliant, but nonetheless, it’s a little bit of a cheat to do some stuffing.
SPEAKER 13 :
I think PhD would be very upset with this entire meal.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, they won’t be upset. Ashley, Dr. Lucas understands. Hey, it’s Thanksgiving. You get back on the wagon on Friday. You get right back on the horse.
SPEAKER 13 :
What else you got going on? I’ve got onions here. I’ve got sweet potato.
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, and just like that, there goes the internet feed. Just goes dark.
SPEAKER 13 :
Oh, well, that’s the alarm because our break is coming up. So I know the break is coming up.
SPEAKER 08 :
No, no, no. You went out. We lost your connection. Hold up what that jar was real quick because we went out. The connection cut out.
SPEAKER 13 :
This is flour. This is just bread flour.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s what I had you hold up again? A jar of flour? I thought it was something exciting. Sweet potatoes.
SPEAKER 13 :
And then, of course, I have this, which I figured I would eat on camera. This is the cranberry sauce. Ooh, that looks so good. I can just say, I will tell you, and I’m not supposed to eat it, but, you know, for Angel Tree, I’ll do it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Don’t tell Gina. We’ll hear her yelling in the background. Is it good? Oh, my God. There’ll be none left. All right. Good job. All right. Happy Thanksgiving. We love it. We love you. We miss you. We’ll see you after Thanksgiving. Everybody’s doing a great job here in your absence, and Alex is doing a fantastic job, and Christian and Tracy, and keep working away because your family’s going to love it. I’ll do it. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. I appreciate it, Eric. And Eric, honestly, is my go-to. And I’ve been so blessed to go to him over the years. You get to hear many of our conversations. And maybe in spirit of our partnership, our friendship, our camaraderie over these many years, and that’s a long time. I mean, he’s been with me for 26 years. When I first went into national syndication, we needed to find an operations manager. And he was it. And he is the guy that everybody loves, the guy that everybody goes to. And I hope that maybe because, again, our whole team gets behind this Angel Tree campaign. What a message we could deliver to the world. To think that we could get over 600 children Christmas gifts after just two days of our campaign, that’s an amazing blessing. And incidentally, thank you for indulging us in this campaign because it’s the time of year where we just feel such gratitude, such thanks for getting to do this for a living, such appreciation to be able to bless these many children. Because again, as I say, not only are you going to save Christmas for them, You could be saving their souls because a lot of these children are going to get saved because of that spiritual experience of reading the Bible. Please go to MikeOnline.com. See if you can get us over 600. I think we can. I think we can do it. By the end of the hour, MikeOnline.com to support the Angel Tree Campaign.
SPEAKER 06 :
Mike Gallagher.
