Our discussion moves to pivotal legislative issues across states. We unpack Texas Senate Bill 10’s potential to mandate Ten Commandments displays in classrooms, featuring expert insights from legal professionals like Jonathan Saenz. We contrast this with California’s controversial AB 495, which threatens parental rights by allowing unauthorized individuals to remove children from schools. This episode provides an in-depth look at how these legislative measures reflect broader cultural tensions and what they mean for citizens’ rights.
SPEAKER 05 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and news makers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 04 :
Earlier today, just before 8.30 a.m., our city experienced an unthinkable tragedy. Minneapolis police officers responded to a report of a shooting at a mass that was happening at the Annunciation Roman Catholic Church on the block behind me. This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshiping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.
SPEAKER 19 :
That was Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara speaking to the press earlier today after a gender-confused gunman fired through the windows of a church during mass to mark the first week of school. This is Washington Watch and I’m Jody Heiss. There is a lot that we will be covering on today’s edition, but I want to jump right into this breaking news story, which is just absolutely horrific in every way. It’s heart wrenching. Absolutely. This deserves our immediate attention and prayers. So we’re going to jump right into this. Joining me now to unpack what is known so far is former Secret Service agent Tim Miller. He’s a 30-year law enforcement and military professional whose extensive background includes leadership roles in Homeland Security, law enforcement, and the Marine Corps, where he retired as lieutenant colonel. Today, he’s founder and president of Lionheart International Services Group. Tim, welcome back to Washington Watch. It’s good to have you.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you, Jody. I’m sad to be here under these conditions.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, absolutely. Let me just start. What do we know so far about what happened today?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, unfortunately, it’s a repeated script. We saw this play out at the Covenant School in Nashville. A person struggling with gender identity attacked, again, innocent children that could not defend themselves in In the middle of a worship service in Minneapolis, school had only just started. The kids were excited. You can imagine the euphoria being back in school. And unfortunately, terror came to that place. And the person that came, I’m not even going to mention his name, had problems. Projected a lot of information regarding his intentions on social media, wrote a manifesto, highlighted a bunch of previous sick individuals who have done shootings in the past. And Jody, unfortunately, the Catholic church that was hosting this did not have security. And so unfortunately, the kids were left to defend themselves. Thank God that this person ended up taking their wife or the carnage would have been exponentially worse.
SPEAKER 19 :
So what questions remain in your mind at this point? I mean, obviously, this was a very confused, hate-filled individual with some of the things that I’ve seen as well. But what questions remain in your mind as this is continuing to be a breaking story?
SPEAKER 20 :
Well, it’s important to realize, Jody, we’re still at the very, very beginning. But the information that we’ve already heard is shocking. I mean, he was clearly demonic and had satanic focuses. He was clearly he had been affiliated with that school. And that’s an important point. Same thing in Covenant School in Nashville, affiliated before, but there was this ongoing hatred directed back against the Christian community. And in this case, I think the chief of police summarized it accurately when he called this person a coward. Let me tell you, it doesn’t get more evil than to target innocent children that can’t defend themselves, but it does convey the level of hatred that And the animosity. And, you know, it’s an important point, too. And I would remind your audience, there were warning signs. It seems like more often than not, after the fact, we learn about warning signs. My question would be who was watching his social media? Who was monitoring this person’s life and able to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, timeout? We’ve got to leave the culture of, I don’t want to get involved behind and embrace the culture of, if I see things that suggest mental illness, which I do believe that was a factor in this, I think the chemicals and the process of transition affects stuff. And I think to everyone, I would say, when you begin to see those indications and warnings, do something about it. Let the police know. Let someone that’s
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, last question here real quickly. I know the mayor actually stated that it could have been much worse, and he commended the faculty for the school, and so we’re grateful for that. But what happens next after a shooting like this, real quickly?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yeah, so there’s going to be an awful lot of forensic review. Obviously, unfortunately, every child that was shot, they’re going to be occupying the space. They’re going to be doing what they do in terms of matching, marking shell casings and going through. These are all homicide investigations for the children that died. But then they’re going to go, as importantly and parallel to that, they’re going to go back to the house. They’re going to begin to review and investigate all of the social media to find out how far back Did this planning begin? Were there signs along the way that could have stopped it? But most importantly, Jody, we need to know if there are other like-minded people like this person out there. I would remind you that this person held up previous school shooters as a standard bearer for him to emulate. That’s sick. And unfortunately, that’s the initial greatest concern. We got to find out where others involved, where others supported. And, you know, quite honestly, are there other threats out there that we need to get a handle on?
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you so much, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Miller, Lionheart International Services Group. We appreciate your input on this developing and horrifying development. Thank you for joining us. All right, I want to switch over now. Joining me now to provide a congressional perspective on this and the broader issue of crime in our nation as a whole is Congressman Addison McDowell. Serves on several committees within the House. He represents North Carolina’s 6th congressional district, and he joins us now by phone. Congressman McDowell, thank you so much for joining us again on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, sir. Thanks, Jody.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. First, let me get your thoughts on the shooting that took place today.
SPEAKER 12 :
You know, I think it is unimaginable as somebody that has two young daughters and two young children to Um, you know, you want to, you want to believe that they’re safe when they’re not with you. You have to believe that. And, um, I just, I cannot fathom what the moms and dads that, uh, are having to, uh, now bury their children. I cannot imagine what they’re going through. Uh, I just, we have to, all of us, we have to pray for, um, the, the teachers that were there that witnessed all of this. because they are going to have a real job to do now as they minister to these children that had to witness this. You know, we’ve got to pray for the parents of the children that were there that weren’t harmed, and we’re so grateful that there wasn’t more carnage there today. But I’m just heartbroken by this, and I think, you know, there is a— there’s a lot that can be said, and it doesn’t need to be said right now. And I think, I hope that leaders can, I hope that we can all join together in remembering these young children and these parents and not, you know, we just need to mourn right now.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, it is. It is totally heartbreaking. Eight year old, 10 year old among the deceased and multiple other children in critical condition. You know, there’s been a lot of attention, Congressman, over the last week or so on crime as a whole, as the president has taken charge of that issue, a federal crackdown, if you will. in D.C., but now he wants to expand that elsewhere. Can I get your overall assessment of what the president has been doing and what his thoughts are going forward?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I think that people were pretty clear last November that they wanted law and order, and that’s exactly what this president is giving to us now. I mean, you look no further than Washington, D.C., where the ineptitude of the leader’s that were in the government locally, they couldn’t get the job done, and it didn’t take anything but a leader that cared more about law-abiding citizens than they did criminals. And I think if I’m one of these governors or these mayors from a city or a state that is just crime-ridden, I would welcome whatever tools that the federal government would offer me to help get rid of these criminals and these violent, People that need to be off of our streets. And so if I’m Gavin Newsom, I’m welcoming the president sending in the National Guard because he obviously couldn’t get the job done or chose not to, one or the other. And so we’ve got a president that cares about law and order, and that’s a great thing.
SPEAKER 19 :
So let me ask you this. There is some talk going on that the president put up on Truth Social last night, about midnight, about a comprehensive crime bill that he and House Speaker Johnson and Senate Leader Thune and other Republicans supposedly are working on. Any idea what that might look like?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I mean, I can’t touch on that, but I think it’s important that we do something because if leadership and, you know, if local leadership is failing you, and tough on crime leadership and a Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican-controlled White House. If they can get the job done, we ought to do it. And so you’re never going to catch me sympathizing with these criminals. I’m always going to fight for the folks that are law-abiding citizens, and however we can do that legislatively, I think we should.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, well, it’s going to be very, it’s a critical time in our nation. And as you mentioned, we have cities, Chicago and states like California and others that are just refusing to acknowledge a crime problem. It’s both refreshing to see that we have a president trying to crack down on it, but also worrisome that we have other leaders in our country who don’t want to do the same. We’re less than a week away. Let me just wrap up with this. Less than a week away from Congress returning. What is going to be on the docket for Congress as you come back?
SPEAKER 12 :
I think it’s more of what we’ve been doing, Jody. That’s cutting taxes, making sure that more money stays in your pocket rather than coming to the federal government who so clearly doesn’t know how to use it. You know, we want to keep cutting taxes. We want to keep getting rid of waste, fraud, and abuse. And we want to make sure that the government is as out of your life as it can be. And so, you know, that’s what we want to do. I think, you know, we’ve got to keep fighting and making sure that every promise that the president and that we made on the campaign trail, we make good on it. And so the work continues, and I’m excited to get back and keep checking the boxes of the promises that we made.
SPEAKER 19 :
About 30 seconds or so left before I’ve got to let you go, but what have you been hearing in your district while you’ve been back on the district work week month?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, I mean, people are fired up with the one big beautiful bill. You know, they’re grateful for the tax cuts and for there finally being politicians that do what they say they’re going to do, like Donald Trump. And, you know, folks are fired up about that. And the more that they learn about this bill, the more they like it. And so we’re excited to keep getting the message out about everything that this bill does for folks back home.
SPEAKER 19 :
Congressman Addison McDowell, North Carolina, as always, it’s an honor to have you on Washington Watch. We appreciate you jumping in here and helping us out with the events that are unfolding today. Blessings to you. Thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, sir. God bless.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, coming up, a Ten Commandments battle. It’s all happening in Texas classrooms, and we will cover that next right here on Washington Watch. Stay tuned. We’ll be back right after this break.
SPEAKER 02 :
Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple. The abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
SPEAKER 13 :
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us and stand on the word.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss. An honor to be filling in today for Tony and deeply appreciate you entrusting this hour to us as well. All right. Next Monday, the Texas Senate Bill 10 is scheduled to take effect. It will make it a requirement for teachers to display a copy of the Ten Commandments in classrooms if the material has been donated to the school. Although a district judge last week did block the statute from taking effect in the 11 school districts that are named in ongoing litigation, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced earlier this week that all the schools not enjoined by litigation must abide by SB 10. So how might all of this Texas showdown ultimately play out? Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is Jonathan Saenz. He’s the president and attorney for Texas Values, which is the family policy council for the great Lone Star State. Jonathan, welcome back to Washington Watch. Appreciate you joining us.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s great to be with you, Jody. Thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. So I briefly described SB 10, but why don’t you unpack it for us a little bit more, especially when we consider that so many people are not describing it accurately.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it’s great to talk about one of the most important pieces of legislation and law in the history of Texas. And I’ve worked on religious freedom laws and legislation for close to 20 years in the state of Texas. We’ve got great information on the Texas Ten Commandments law, too, if people want to go to the website, TenCommandmentsTexas.com. But this is a real simple issue. All the classrooms in the state of Texas are required to display religious the poster of the Ten Commandments. Now in the law, there’s specific guidance on the size and also there’s an agreed upon wording and that wording of the Ten Commandments is the same as the wording on the Ten Commandments monument on our Texas Capitol. And that’s important because that language from that Ten Commandments monument was upheld at the US Supreme Court in 2005. And as a matter of fact, Our attorney general at the time was Greg Abbott. He argued that case successfully at the U.S. Supreme Court. He’s now our governor, and he proudly signed that legislation into law. September 1st, as you mentioned, is the effective date. Most of the state laws that are passed during our legislative session this year go into effect starting September 1, which happens to fall on Labor Day. But also at that website, TenCommandmentsTexas.com. You can get links to find out how you can donate these posters to the local public school. And that’s how it’s intended to work is people are going to donate these posters. Now, school districts can choose to purchase posters on their own. And through the website that we’re using in our collaboration of great groups like Wall Builders and David Barton and others, they’re only a dollar for each poster. So it’s really not much of an expense whatsoever. But we estimate there are over 300,000 public school classrooms in the state of Texas. That’s a lot of ground to cover, but we think that we’re going to get there. Now, there is a court ruling in place, but as you mentioned, it only affects 11 school districts. Jody, there are 1,200 school districts in the state of Texas. So a very, very small percentage of school districts are impacted by this court ruling. And I was in court. I was in the courtroom a Friday or two ago. When there was a hearing on this issue, on this Texas Ten Commandments law, and it was very clear, this judge certainly relied more on opinion and not follow precedent. Because if you follow the Supreme Court precedent, including some recent cases like the Coach Joe Kennedy versus Bremerton case, it’s very clear that we’re back to a standard where you can have displays like this, even though they’re religious in nature, because the Ten Commandments relate to the the history, the historical foundations of our law and government. There’s a depiction of the Ten Commandments on the U.S. Supreme Court. So if it’s good enough for the U.S. Supreme Court, it should be good enough for the classrooms in Texas.
SPEAKER 19 :
Absolutely. In fact, this is the issue that, the beginning issue that actually led me to Congress as a pastor. We had a battle over the Ten Commandments, and that was A victory that we ended up having in Georgia as well. I’m so proud to see what Texas is doing. Now, I’m not a lawyer, but you are. So as the Texas Attorney General, is he right that schools that are not enjoined need to abide by SB 10? Is this like is this in concrete what they must do?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, it is correct that the school districts that were not a part of the litigation, and it was just 11, but if any school districts find themselves getting threatened by someone saying that they can’t put up these Ten Commandments posters when this law goes into effect on September 1st, the Attorney General’s Office is ready to defend those school districts free of charge through Ken Paxton’s Attorney General’s Office here in the state of Texas. Not only that, Our good friends, First Liberty Institute, led by Kelly Shackelford, who serves on the Board of Texas Values, have joined our message, which we’ve been saying since this ruling, that all of those other school districts, okay, let me do the math, 1,189 school districts, the rest of them are not required to follow this court ruling because that ruling did not impact them. They were not a part of that litigation. And so this is a lower court ruling. And I’ll tell you, Jody, Some of the most important U.S. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals decisions that protect religious freedom and American heritage have started with a bad decision at the lower court. And no difference here. And I’ll tell you, it’s interesting about this judge, Judge Berry. I was in the courtroom, but he’s also got a history of some bad decisions on religious freedom and also constitutional issues. Several years ago, a case that First Liberty was involved in, I was involved at the time, and our Attorney General Greg Abbott at the time, who’s now our governor, was a case where the judge said that a teenage valedictorian could not say a prayer at a graduation ceremony. Not only that, he said she couldn’t say the word prayer. So this lower court judge has a history of getting overturned. We think that’ll happen here. So in the meantime… The school districts, the other ones, not the 11, but the other 1189, the presumption is that this law is constitutional and that’s the law they follow. And so when they follow a state law also, they don’t have to worry about being in jeopardy that they’re going to have some type of liability because as long as they’re following state law, which they would be doing in this case, they’d have the protection of the attorney general’s office and they wouldn’t face any particular liability themselves.
SPEAKER 19 :
Wow, great news. Great to hear that. All right, we’ve got maybe 30 seconds or so. What’s next in the litigation of this whole thing, SB10?
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, the Texas Attorney General’s Office, led by Ken Paxson, they have appealed this ruling of the lower court. As I mentioned, this judge has a history of being overturned. So we expect the Fifth Circuit to take up that decision and reverse them soon. Now, there have been cases in the Fifth Circuit out of Louisiana that have taken up this issue, but they’ve asked the full Fifth Circuit to take a look at this issue. It may all end up at the U.S. Supreme Court. But in the meantime, it’s great that it only affects a couple of school districts in Texas. And we expect to have a court of appeals victory on this issue. And Jody, I’ll tell you, we expect eventually this is going to be a victory of biblical proportions. But more information, if you’re curious, TenCommandmentsTexas.com to follow along as this issue moves forward.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you so, so much, Jonathan Sines, president and attorney for Texas Values. We’re excited about that. Thank you for bringing us this news. God bless you.
SPEAKER 03 :
God bless you, too. Thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, coming up, we are going to turn from red state legislation to blue state legislation. Now look, while Texas is trying to get the Ten Commandments in the classrooms, we have California who’s wanting to undermine parental rights and pave the way for child abductions. Unbelievable. We’ll discuss all of it right after the break, so stick around.
SPEAKER 08 :
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SPEAKER 07 :
At Family Research Council, defending the family isn’t just a mission, it’s our daily calling. Every team member at FRC uses their God-given talents to stand for biblical truth, protect life, and uphold religious freedom.
SPEAKER 06 :
Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
SPEAKER 14 :
I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
SPEAKER 17 :
Through my work at the Washington Stand, I passionately defend what God has defined for marriage and family. I don’t see the Washington Stand as just a place to talk about cultural events. It’s a place to share biblical truth. It’s a perfect outlet to advance and defend what God has defined as good, true, and beautiful. Because of you, we’re able to frame things in such a way that help Christians stand for truth on the things that matter most, like life, faith, family, and freedom. Thank you for standing with us.
SPEAKER 06 :
Thank you for your support. It is so critical to the work that we at Family Research Council are doing day to day as we support and strengthen the family. So thank you.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss, filling in today for Tony. All right, this next issue is one that we’ve hit on several times this month, and that is the California Assembly’s Bill 495. This is a radical, radical piece of legislation that would ultimately undermine parental rights and literally create an alarming risk of child abduction and exploitation. And last week, while we were talking about this, we mentioned how HB 495 was moved to suspension after a hearing by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Well, this Friday is the suspense file hearing. So what is the likelihood that AB 495 will be moved off the suspense file and actually go to the Senate for a vote? Well, joining me now with all the latest on this horrible piece of legislation is Jonathan Keller. He’s the president and CEO of California Family Council. Jonathan, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
Jody, always good to be with you and the Washington Watch community. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, it’s an honor. Thank you for all that you do out there. You’ve got your plate full in California these days. All right. For those who may not be familiar, I gave a little introduction there of AB-495. But start off giving us a little bit further, more of an overview of it. And what is both its intent and the potential consequences?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, let me back up and first say that this is a bill that is really controversial. It’s gotten more press than we’ve seen on almost any legislation in the last 10 years, frankly. The level of interest and concern over this is really unprecedented. And I think the reason is, Jody, a lot of times bills that we deal with, whether it’s abortion or transgenderism or different things, They are kind of out there. They’re dealing with the world. They’re dealing with threats that might come to our family ideologically. But this is something that’s happening really practically. This is something that, I mean, really could affect every single mom and dad, grandpa and grandma in the state of California because it could affect every single child in the state of California. And let me back up and say the best case scenario for this bill is is that you would have a family that is somehow caught up in the immigration controversy that our country is dealing with right now. Tragically, because of President Biden’s lack of following the law over the last four years, we had literally millions of families come into this country, breaking the law and thinking that there were going to be no consequences and no repercussions. Well, thankfully, President Trump is dealing with that. He is shutting down the border. He is working to deport people who are here illegally and who may have committed crimes. Now, Jody, the tragedy is that in some cases there are innocent children that have been caught up in all of this. They’ve come across the border with their parents, and they maybe are completely innocent. They might be kindergartners, junior hires, or anywhere in between. And the best case for this bill, AB-495, would be it would provide an expedited way for those children to be placed with a family member or a close family friend. The problem is, is this bill does not have any sort of a limiting principle. Not only does it allow the parents of an illegal immigrant child to pick them up from a school, It allows the parents, or excuse me, the family or non-family members of any child, not just an illegal immigrant child, but any child could be picked up from school by this bill. You do not have to have a parental signature. You do not have to have parental notification or opt-out. And if you have a bad actor, whether it is a relative who disagrees with how you’re raising your child and wants to co-opt that parenting authority, or whether it is someone who’s totally non-related but has somehow formed a relationship with your child, any of those people could potentially go on campus, pick up a child, and take control of them. Now, there’s a question, okay, is it legal custody? Is it full legal custody? No. But the fact that you would be able to even remove the child initially is incredibly troubling. I mean, Jody, you and I know the fact is if this was happening at churches, if you had a church that was allowing kids to be picked up by just any person from the nursery or any person from Sunday school, there would be outrage. And yet, because this is being authorized by the state of California, A lot of the media is more than willing to try to whitewash the concerns about this.
SPEAKER 19 :
Unbelievable. All right, so there was a big rally last week, made big waves. You spoke there. What do you say to the claims that churches, this whole issue is too political for churches to engage in? We’ve only got a little over a minute here.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I will say, first off, it was such a blessing to be at that rally. I know a good friend of yours and a good friend of Tony’s and the whole FRC family, Pastor Jack Kibbs, was the one who organized that rally and brought all of us to Sacramento. I know also you’re very familiar with our good friends, Karen England from Capital Resource Institute, Gina Gleason from Real Impact. It was such a blessing to be with them out there on the steps of the Capitol. And I think if you go back and watch that rally, I would urge you – this is not too political. Do not ever let anyone tell you that protecting your own children, protecting the children in your community is too political. I mean, that is one of the most fundamental things that Jesus calls us to do is to let the little children come unto him. And one of the best ways we can do that is by protecting them from those who would capture them or coerce them into not following their parents and to not learning about Jesus.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right, just almost just a yes, no answer. Is anything going to be able to stop this legislation from advancing?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I would say never say never. I know that we have our governor, Gavin Newsom, I think is interested in being president. I don’t think there’s any way he becomes president or even runs for president if this bill is signed. So pray that he vetoes this.
SPEAKER 19 :
I agree with you on that. Thank you, Jonathan Keller, president and CEO of California Family Council. Appreciate you coming on and breaking this down for us. All right, friends, coming up, many divisions within the Democratic Party. They were being spotlighted this week during the Democratic National Committee summer meeting in Minneapolis. We’re going to cover this right after the break. We will also be discussing church raids that are taking place in South Korea. So much more yet to cover. Stick around. We’ll be back in a moment.
SPEAKER 01 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 18 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 15 :
There are so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 18 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 15 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 18 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 16 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in for Tony and so glad to have you with us as well. All right, a real quick but real important announcement before we get into our next guest. I’ve said it before, but I cannot overemphasize the importance of our upcoming Pray Vote Stand Summit taking place October 17th and 18th in Chino Hills, California. If you’ve never been there, it’s worth going there just to see it. But it’s especially worth going there to be a part of this life transforming conference. You don’t want to miss it. You can register and get more information at PrayVoteStand.org. PrayVoteStand.org. All right. The Democratic National Committee has been holding its summer meeting this week in Minneapolis. This is, in fact, the first DNC major gathering, at least since President Trump returned to the office. And it’s clear. that the democratic party is in a very tough spot and frankly even the legacy media has had to acknowledge that the democrat brand is hurting it’s unpopular poll numbers are dropping fundraising and voter registration is lagging compared to republicans And there are all sorts of divisions within the Democratic Party. It seems to me the only thing that Democrats seem to be united on is their opposition to President Trump, regardless of what he does, be it good or bad. Maybe, just maybe, here’s an idea. Maybe somebody needs to come up with a vaccine for Trump derangement syndrome. Think about it. You could probably make a killing. But anyways, is the anti-Trump strategy that the Democrats are united on, is that going to be enough to make a difference in the midterm elections? Well, with me now to discuss this is Matt Carpenter. He’s the director of FRC Action. Matt, thanks for joining me today. Always great to have you.
SPEAKER 11 :
Great to be here, Jody. Thanks so much.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. So I mentioned some of the issues that the Democrats are facing. Can you just take that, Matt, a little bit further and unpack it for us?
SPEAKER 11 :
Absolutely. Yeah, the Democratic Party is certainly in a tough spot. They’re in sort of a Gordian knot of complications. You mentioned their historic low approval ratings. A recent polling showed they’re at just 24 percent approval rating among registered voters with a 56 percent disapproval rating. Jody, that is a tough spot to be. And you also talked about sort of the leadership struggles they’ve had. You had Randy Weingarten and David Hogg, who were vice chairs of the DNC, resign earlier this year after only having been elected by a few months prior. Just going to show that there’s a lot of dysfunction within the party as well. But the problems don’t stop there for the party. They’re also strapped for cash at the moment. They only have $14 million cash on hand going into the midterm elections, which, by the way, have basically already started compared to the RNC’s $84 million in cash on hand. That is a pretty lopsided war chest there against the Democrats’ favor. And I also, you sort of alluded to this as well, when I want to really put a fine print on this one, almost a four and a half million voter registration edge shifting over
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. All right, we’ve lost Matt Carpenter for a few moments. We’ll try to get him back. We got him back. Matt, can you hear us?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, sorry about that, Jody. All right, that’s no problem. Yeah, so the voter registration numbers for the Democrats are dropping substantially. They lost 2.1 million voters. Think about that. Between 2020 and 2024, the Republicans picked up 2.4 million voters. That’s a 4.5 million voter edge swing towards the GOP.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, those are stunning numbers. I mean, having followed this for a long time myself, and I’m sure you as well, I don’t recall ever hearing numbers like you just laid out there. This is a major, major news item that the American people are sending to the Democratic Party. I wanted to get your take on this as well. One of the headlines over the past several days was the division within the DNC meeting over Israel. Can you unfold for us what’s happening on that topic?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, absolutely. This has been another sticking point for the party as well. You sort of have this energetic, more extreme left wing, younger faction, frankly, within the DNC that wants to put an arms embargo on shipments to Israel from America, as well as cut off all military aid altogether right now in the middle of this war between Israel and Gaza. And you also have sort of a countervailing resolution that the DNC considered from Chair Ken Martin, which he ended up actually withdrawing, which would have called for a two-state solution and a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian aid. Neither of these resolutions ended up passing. They ended up having to rescind the chair’s amendment, and they ended up saying, basically, let’s talk about this some more. So unresolved, and this is at a moment when the party is meeting ahead of the midterm elections, trying to show unity, to ease donors’ concerns, and then get some momentum. And that’s just not, you know, for them to not even be able to figure out which side of this conflict they’re on, and come to some kind of a resolution about it is telling that there’s a real division there.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, and the division is deep. I mean, you’ve got the squad on the one hand that just continue to push the Democratic Party further and further and further to radical extreme left positions. And then you have some who are trying to at least scratch their way a little bit more towards the center. And it just seems like the fracture is deep and wide. It’s a web that they’ve created for themselves. And in the midst of all of that, you know, one thing that I’ve learned in my time in Congress in Washington, everything is political and everything you try to spin your way out of when you get a mess. And it appears that’s exactly what the Democrats are trying to do right now. There are some within their party that are trying to spin politics. all this division and create a different narrative somehow suggesting that their ability to debate and to discuss and to disagree with one another somehow is the strength of the party and it’s not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength what’s your take on that narrative spin
SPEAKER 11 :
yeah i mean there are certainly between a rock and a hard place you have this core faction of the democratic base which is just they’re constantly telling their elected representatives we want more aggressive action we want we want more countervailing uh policy positions we want to see you get really aggressive and pushing back against the Trump agenda, the Republican agenda in Congress. And you have the party that’s trying to find a footing. They’re trying to figure out we’re hemorrhaging voters. We’re not bringing in donors. And we’ve got to weave this needle between this radical element in our base and where the majority of voters are. And they’re having a very difficult time doing that at a moment when they really can’t afford not to be in that position.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yeah, and it’s funny in an odd kind of way, not in a comical way, but it’s funny to me how they continue to find points of unity that are points that the American people reject. For example, one of the things that it appears that they are coming away rather unified on is DEI, the diversity, equality, and inclusion stuff. In fact, they passed a resolution that reaffirmed their support for these so-called American values. But goodness, we just saw what happened with Cracker Barrel this week, trying to do the whole thing, that same thing, and the American voice passed. strongly rejected even Cracker Barrel. And yet here we have the Democrats rallying around, unifying around DEI and calling that American values. But considering how Americans are responding to DEI, what’s your take on the Democrats rallying and unifying around this?
SPEAKER 11 :
Certainly in my mind, Jody, the 2024 election was absolutely a referendum on that agenda. I just think the Biden administration took every opportunity they could to push that DEI agenda and every nook and cranny they could of the federal government into American society. And it was rejected at the ballot box. And to your point as well, it’s been rejected in the marketplace. So I think Americans are not they’re not tired of pushing back. They’re they’re they’re They’re pretty dug in where they are against the DEI initiative. And it’s frankly astonishing that the party would double down on that and not show any daylight between where the majority of the American people are, where the American consumer is, and where their base is. And just at least start making some incremental steps. You would figure, right, once you’ve been rebuked at the ballot box, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. And we’re just not seeing that with the passage of this DEI resolution at the DNC.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, Matt Carpenter, it looks to me like the Democrats are – they’ve got an uphill battle before them if they’re going to claw their way out of this. They’ve got to make some serious changes. So let me ask you this before I let you go. How does their battle and their desire to try to gain more power in Washington look? I mean, when we’re going into this 2026 midterm election, realistically, what does it look like for the Democrats?
SPEAKER 11 :
Well, Jody, we’ve covered a lot of the institutional, you know, kind of cultural headwinds that they’re facing. The fact of the matter is the margins in Congress are still very tight. And also the Democratic base is incredibly angry. They’re incredibly energized. Just yesterday, we saw a state house seat in Iowa, which was a conservative area that President Trump carried in 2024 by 11 points. A Democratic candidate prevail in that special election by 10 points. That’s a 21 point swing towards the Democrats. They’re coming out to vote. They are energized. They are fired up. If you’re on the Republican side, you can’t take anything for granted. You know, you can’t look at fundraising numbers. You can’t look at party registration numbers and just rest on your laurels.
SPEAKER 19 :
Wow. Well, it’s going to be very interesting. Matt, if I’ve still if I lost him. Okay. Well, it’s extremely interesting what’s going to be happening as we come into this midterm election. I think the Democrats definitely are in a world of trouble, and they know it. They know they are. So let me take a moment now. I want to bring in – we’ve covered a lot on the program today, but before we conclude, there’s one more news item that has not been getting much attention that I believe is extremely important for us to deal with, and it has to do with churches that allegedly are being raided in South Korea. This was actually given a lift a little bit ahead of President Trump’s meeting on Monday with the president of South Korea. But this is an extremely important issue and, again, is not getting much coverage. So joining me now to discuss this real quickly is Professor Morse Tan, who served as the ambassador at large for global criminal justice during the first Trump administration. He’s now the senior executive director of the Center for Law and Government Affairs. at Liberty University. Ambassador Tan, thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 10 :
Glad to join you.
SPEAKER 19 :
All right. So during his first meeting at the White House with President Trump, South Korea’s president responded to a reporter’s question about the raids on churches. Give me, if you can, what he said and what’s happening with these raids in churches.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yes. So President Lee Jae-myung, who’s a fake and illegitimate president, who was not duly elected by the people, he is lying about it. He has been engaging in raids. He raided the largest church in the world, the Yoidoku Gospel Church. He raided Billy Kim’s church, who is Billy Graham’s translator. He’s called the Billy Graham of Korea. He has the largest Baptist church in the world. That church was raided as well. There was another church that was raided in Busan, which is the church of the person who is leading the Save Korea movement, a conservative Christian movement. It was Pastor John’s. Pastor John’s church was also raided. There have been a whole series of churches who have been raided. He’s the one who set up this special prosecutor. That is also involved in doing these sorts of raids. The Osan Air Base, America’s largest air force base in Korea, was also raided. The command and control center was raided, which has data about all the flights that are happening of all flying objects across the Korean peninsula. And so… This fake illegitimate president who is a liar, who is a criminal gangster, was trying to pull the wool over President Trump. Well, let me let me ask you this.
SPEAKER 19 :
Our time slipping away. Let me ask you, what is behind this? What is the motive? South Korea has always been great for decades now with religious liberty and so forth. What what is the motive?
SPEAKER 10 :
What’s going on is you have the communization of South Korea going on, where you have extreme leftists who have taken control of all the main influential authority-wielding parts of not only the government but the society who are rapidly communizing South Korea. It’s not what the people want, but you have a small number of South Korean extreme leftists who are communizing South Korea and consider Christians and conservative Christians to be enemies.
SPEAKER 19 :
Wow. You know, here in the United States, as you well know, we deal with the Johnson Amendment, which has been a government tool really to muzzle churches from speaking out on political issues from the pulpit, even when those issues are clearly biblical issues. But what are the church-state dynamics in South Korea? Is there anything similar, or is this a new development with the government coming after churches?
SPEAKER 10 :
This is a new development. Never before had church sanctuaries and the senior pastor’s office been raided like this before. This has never before happened in South Korean history. But this is part of the larger oppression, repression, and persecution that is happening by the present South Korean administration, where they are targeting conservatives, Christians, conservative Christians, and this is going on a pace rapidly in South Korea right now, and most Americans have no idea.
SPEAKER 19 :
No, they certainly don’t. And to be very honest with you, I was not aware of this was going on until really just this week as some of the news started unfolding and we started having conversations here at Family Research Council. And so, listen, I want to thank you, Morris Tans, for coming and joining us today, the Senior Executive Director there at Liberty University Center for Law and Government. Excellent information, and we are just going to begin to call on people to pray for this situation. There’s a major problem with the president there. All right, friends, we’ve covered a lot of turf today. I want to thank you for joining us as always. Hope you have a fantastic evening, and we’ll look forward to being with you again tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 05 :
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.
