BREAKING: Newsom's Power Faces Supreme Court Showdown

We got breaking news, Gavin Newsom's power faces a showdown with the ACLJ at the Supreme Court. Keeping you informed and engaged.

Now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now, your host, Logan Secula.

Welcome to Secula. We got a packed show today. Will Haynes is joining me at the studio, but my dad's calling in in just a few minutes. My brother's going to be calling in in just a few minutes, zooming in. It really is going to be jam-packed.

We're talking about a lot of the work of the ACLJ, and of course. Today is election day for a lot of you, Virginia, and for New York City. This is going to be a big day where all eyes are going to be on that later today. But for now, we have some big news of work that you. Hello look, a lot of you engaged yesterday with our kickoff of our Freedom Drive.

And we want to say thank you to all of you who did. Of course, you can still get involved for the next month during this Freedom Drive.

So be a part of it today at aclj.org. But a lot of you did. And look, the ACLJ work is hard at action, including today, Will, there is a big movement. We're going to talk about this with my dad in the next segment because usually it's nice to hear the ACLJ, the Supreme Court, and Gavin Newsome all in the same sentence. That's right.

So we are taking on what is one of the bigger cases we've taken on in quite some time. As we go to the Supreme Court, we'll be filing a cert petition asking the Supreme Court to hear our challenge as we work with others and this church, Calvary Chapel in San Jose. As the Newsome regime in California is still trying, to get 1.2 Million dollars in fines against this Church, Under COVID restrictions.

So it's 2025. We're just a couple months from 2026. And the Newsome regime in California is still fighting in court, trying to take the tithes away from this church to the tune of $1.2 million. Over what they allege were violations of COVID protocols back in 2020.

Now, you also remember. that they were handing out exemptions left and right for secular activities. You also remember that the governor himself famously went to French laundry, high-end restaurant, so that he could have a good time.

Meanwhile, if you wanted to exercise your First Amendment right, to worship God. They are now coming after this church. For $1.2 million. I don't think that we can say that fine number enough because it is so egregious. You realize they are taking the tithes from the church, from the people that attend this church.

that is going to the work of God. That is going to make California a better place and the world a better place and do ministry. And, you know, Jesus said, give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God's. But it appears that Gavin Newsom and his administration want both of those for themselves. Yeah, absolutely.

And look, I want you to be a part of this conversation. We're talking about years later, also. This isn't talking about fines and they're trying to collect on it in 2020 or 2021. We're talking about five, six years almost later. And this is where they're at being fined to the tune of millions.

Right now, I want your thoughts at 1-800-68-431-10. We're going to break down all of what this means coming up also in the next segment as my dad joins us. Jay Sekulow to really discuss what the path to the Supreme Court looks like, really walk you through all of that. And if you have questions or comments for him as well, you can call in at 1-800-68-431-10. As we know, freedom doesn't defend itself.

The ACLJ team has got to be there. It requires for us to have the courage. To protect it. And that's exactly what our legal team does. Like our media team, incredibly strong, very proud of our team.

Remember, the legal work. When you hear about what we're doing right now, we got to make sure that we always remind you of what's going on in the legal side of the ACL, Jay, because it's easy to get caught up in the news of the day. Not that we understand, thousands of you join us each and every day to find out what's happening in our world. But There is also the incredible work of the organization, and when you donate, you're donating to all of it to the media side, and of course, you're donating. To the legal work here at the ACLJ to make sure we have the ability to have the best of the best.

They can travel around the world so we can have an ACLJ, a European Center for Law and Justice, ACLJ Jerusalem, and so many more. We get background here from my dad Jay Sekulow, but you can have your gift doubled today at aclj.org or aclj.org slash freedom. and scan the QR code that you see on your screen right now. All donations are doubled. Right now, we've launched this drive.

Just this week, yesterday was day one here on the show. Let's have your gift double today. At aclj.org. Help us have a really strong. End of the year, we really could use your support.

That's at aclj.org. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. Dad Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel for the ACLJ, is joining us live now via phone.

Dad, of course, we are talking about the big news that the ACLJ is challenging Governor Gavin Newsom and taking it potentially to the Supreme Court of the United States. Why don't you give us a brief breakdown? I mean, we talked about in the last segment, but for those who are just joining us, of what that is and what it's going to look like.

Well, we are taking it to the Supreme Court of the United States. We're filing the petition for surcharger because what happened to the Calvary Chapel uh there in uh was outrageous. And let me underscore something that Will said. There were all these exemptions that were given by Gavin Newsome in the state of California for retail stores. He had his famous dinner.

all or casinos were allowed to open But churches had Restrictions that made absolutely no sense. They were ultimately held to be unconstitutional. The one restriction that made no sense is they had for every church, you couldn't have a gathering of over fifty people. And that was through whether the sanctuary was five hundred square feet or five thousand square feet or ten thousand square feet.

So none of it made sense. The courts in California, and even some of the California courts, and ultimately the Supreme Court. declared most of those restrictions. unconstitutional. And the ones they did unconstitutional were the ones that were applied to our client, the Calvary Chapel.

Now you've got one point two million dollars of fines being imposed on a church After the order was declared, unconstitutional. I want everybody to think about this for a moment. The political machine in California, the Attorney General and the Governor, Gavin Newsom, and then the Attorney General. believe that they can enforce Foines On a church. That's In a case Were those violations were held to be not applicable because they were unconstitutionally vague.

Yet California doesn't stop.

So we are asking the Supreme Court To take the case? Look, anytime you ask the Supreme Court to take a case, it's an uphill battle, but the facts of this case are very, very strong. And I will tell you something else. And I want our our ACLJ champions and our ACLJ members to understand this. This is one Case at the Supreme Court.

Next month, we're announcing another one, equally as high profile.

So our Supreme Court team is very active right now. The ramifications are very, very serious. this disproportionate treatment that was leveled at churches by the Gavin Newsome administration were held to be unconstitutional, yet, as Will said and you, Logan, were talking about, they've continued to enforce or try to enforce and collect these these fines and these fines, as you all said, are coming from the tithes of the church. And that's another thing. Think about that for a moment.

I want you to envision the church's checkbook With a debit of one point two million dollars. going to the state of California Because The state of California said That the members of the church and the church leadership. Violated an order which was held to be unconstitutional, yet they are asserting fines. That's what this case is about.

Well, and I think that this case also is ironic at the time where Gavin Usum is obviously trying to raise his public profile, toying with the idea of after the midterms announcing he's running for President, as well as pushing this no-kings kind of idea that you're seeing in the left and the Democrat Party.

Meanwhile, We're almost to 2026. And with hindsight and everything, the fact that they are still trying to collect the fines, it's almost one thing if they. They put that in place, then they listened to the courts because of the rulings on and many of these restrictions, and then said, you know what? We're beyond that. We're past it.

We're not going to still try and collect this $1.2 million from this church. But instead, they have fought it at every level of the state system, which is the entire reason we are now having to go to the United States Supreme Court to seek relief in this, because the Gavin Newsom administration and those that are in the California Department of Justice are still thinking that this is what represents California to move forward and try to collect this excessive fine against a church for something back in 2020 when so much has changed and so much of the fines and the structure of those orders were ruled unconstitutional. That's the really the biggest part of this. is that the state of California is so bent on getting this money out of the church. from the donors of that church.

To the culprits of the state of California, to think about this: that they are willing to fight us at the Supreme Court. and fight us all the way. to get money For an order That was held unconstitutional.

So this is exactly what you're dealing with. In Gavin Newsome. You know, they had these no kings rally. They're the ones that act like a monarchy. And I'm going to take it one step further here.

And that is If This is allowed to continue. I Shudder to think. what these governments would do next. If they think they can collect money from an order that's held unconstitutional and still collect money and still seek enforcement, what will they do when they're in power? Or when they are appointing judges and justices to the courts.

That's the real danger on this.

So, for our ACLJ members, we need to be forward-looking. Yes. This is a case that originated several years ago, but we have to be forward-looking. The ramifications of this case. are staggering for the future.

Yeah, Dad, I think one of the things that a lot of people are asking is what they can do. How can they support the ACLJ when they see that we're still out there fighting? They knowing that these cases can take years and years and years. What can they do? We're obviously in the middle of our mid-we're the very beginning of our drive for the month of November, where all donations are matched.

But what can people do to get involved and making sure they are staying engaged what we're doing?

Well, number one, pray for us, pray for our team, pray for the legal team, pray for the media team who brings you this information. uh and pray for the Supreme Court.

So that's number one. Number two. support the work of the American Center for Law and Justice. As Logan said, we're a matching freedom drive. You talk about freedom, this is the ultimate freedom: the freedom of worship, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of speech.

the freedom to be free from government interference in uh the affairs of religious organizations This is what this case is about.

So your support of the American Center for Law and Justice is critical. And yesterday was a big day, and I want to thank all of our ACLJ members. Uh and donors and champions. That supported our work. But this is, like Logan, you just said, this is the beginning of this drive.

November and December are the two most important months. for us at the ACLJ. And as we announce additional Supreme Court cases, remember, we're fighting alongside of President Trump on the tariffs and all of these issues. We've got these two other cases that are coming up. Support the work of the ACLJ.

Your gift will be doubled. If you can donate monthly, become an ACLJ. Champion. All right, before we let you go, obviously a lot of eyes are on New York City tonight as well, as Virginia and New Jersey, but I want to get your thoughts on that. I know President Trump sort of made a half-hearted endorsement of Cuomo last night, just saying, really, you got no choice in this situation.

I mean, I think the numbers are showing that it may not be a very close night. We may see a surprise, but who knows? You never know when New York City. But obviously, things are a bit in flux right now. They are in flux.

The most recent poll I saw yesterday was it was a four point rate, which was just outside the margin of era. Muck. Uh the the the leading candidate is uh He's he's ethic. He's a socialist. And he is made statements that to me are outrageous.

And I think what President Trump did yesterday with his tacit endorsement of Um Uh Governor Cuomo I understand the political why they did that. He did that because. It's kind of the lesser of the problem, and he'd rather deal with Cuomo than Mondambi. That's exactly the situation. Yeah, and obviously, the Jewish community is looking very closely at this.

And one of the also things I think as we head into the break here, people maybe don't understand, because maybe you're like, why is so much attention being drawn to New York City? Is certainly a lot, you know, New York City is a lot of people say the heartbeat of America or will be the capital of the world.

So if you're the mayor of New York City, it's a little bit different than being the mayor of just about any other city in the country. It's the financial capital of the world. of the not just in the United States, of the world.

So the fact is that what happens in New York City affects the rest of the world. Uh and I mean, I could go on and on about the r the importance of the race, but the reality is. That elections have consequences.

So you'll see consequences from this one way or another. And I think we'll know the answer tonight. But again, support the work of the ACLJ because despite elections, we're fighting for you on the front line. Yep, we've never shut down. The government shutdown doesn't affect us.

I mean, it may affect us in terms of all of you who support us, but it does affect our legal team who is always on board, always open, 24 hours a day. And we mean that all holidays, the team is at work, and you hear these cases that sometimes can last years and years. You want to make sure that our team is there for you.

So as we head into break, I do want to encourage you right now to support the work of the ACLJ financially. Of course, this is one of our big drives.

So know that all your donations. Are doubled right now. Of course, you're not paying double. There's another great ACLJ champion. ready to match your donation as soon as you make it to unlock That donation.

So if you make a $100 donation, it becomes. $200 effectively, so on and so on. It could be $5, it could be $500. Know that really, it is the most important time of the year to support the work of the ACLJ over the next few months. And we know.

We need the resources to continue these fights. These are not cheap. Again, we want to have the best of the best. We want to be able to pay for everyone's travel. We want to make sure our team can go where they need to go.

And our media team has those resources as well. We'll be right back with more on Sekulow. Welcome back to Sekulow. Flood lights are open, and I'd love to hear from you as we head into the second half hour of the broadcast. I like to try to take as many calls as we can, of course, this first half.

has been packed. We had my dad on the last segment.

Now my brother Jordan is joining us. Also remotely, because Jordan, you got another big project you're heading up right now, but I wanted to give you a chance to share. Yeah, this is something, of course, we talked about yesterday when I was in the studio with you, Logan, this new FOIA that we are sending to multiple departments within the Department of Justice. This relates directly to the U.S. senators and the one congressman who found out through Chuck Grassley and their investigations through the Judiciary Committee of Arctic Frost that their phones were tapped.

They could see who they were calling, how long they were talking to that person, trace those numbers, and trace their locations.

So we actually, that happened to eight senators and nine, and a single so-far member of the House. We believe it could just be the tipping point, that this is just those who know what was done to them. And what's very cool about this FOIA and very different from any that we filed before, Logan.

So on behalf of the American Center for Law and Justice, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Tommy Tuberville, Senator Marshall Blackburn, Senator Bill Haggerty, Senator Cynthia Lubis, they've all Endorsed the FOIA.

So when it's filed, as it has been today, it's been endorsed by them.

So you've got that double kind of support to say this is newsworthy, this is worthy for our members and for what we do at the ACLJ. And of course, we will provide this data to the senators who had their phones, again, tapped by the FBI. As U.S. senators, knowing, I mean, if you were talking to them, they know you were talking to them through that period of time. This is egregious.

And Logan, the FOIA is just the beginning. This could lead to. The next step. Of course, you might have to go into court to get all the documents, so that's kind of legal action. But there could even be more significant legal action against other players, be it the government or private companies.

Jordan, that's also what's interesting about this. Last segment, we talked with your dad about this new cert petition we'll be filing at the Supreme Court, pushing back, where the state of California is still trying to get $1.2 million in fines on Calvary Chapel, San Jose, for COVID restriction violations back, you know, almost six years ago at this point. But then you look at this: these stories and these cases and this work go hand in hand. It points to people in power. that think that because of their power, They can do whatever they want.

They can throw out the Constitution, and they can, whether it be. Take over a million dollars of parishioners' tithes away from them, or whether it be going to a co-equal branch of government. in subpoenaing records of their phones, To try and go on this witch hunt and create something out of nothing, a fishing expedition, where there was no even basis for a criminal search, but they're going after their political enemies. You see that in California, what we're fighting there, and you see it here. And I think that's what's important is that.

Sometimes this corruption or this overreach manifests in different ways, but ACLJ is savvy. We have some of the smartest lawyers in the world, and that's where we go. We run into those fights because we know that we can't let that stand. No, and I think what you just brought up was the greatest point of this. If it goes from U.S.

senators. to a to a Calvary Chapel church in California. To what we saw was during the Biden administration with the IRS targeting Catholics, targeting people and parents who showed up at school board meetings to express their concern about either the COVID restrictions or the content of their students, especially in the lower grades that they were receiving. And again, they were. treated as potential criminals.

by the federal government.

So if you're a US senator. And your phone can be. basically tapped so easily. By going through a simple legal process by the federal government. If it's so easy to happen to a sitting US senator, How much easier?

What would it be for the government to do this to you and me and to everybody watching or listening to our broadcast right now? It's why this FOIA, I know we file lots of FOIAs. We don't talk about each of them on the air, but it's unique. And Will, you talked about the expertise we have on our team. You don't have those U.S.

senators. Joining the FOIA saying it's on behalf of them that we are doing this, that they are endorsing. Our FOIA that we are filing to the DOJ as we filed today. You don't get U.S. senators signing on to that if you don't have true experts that they know the ACLJ is always going to produce excellent work that they can be proud to put their name on, just like every one of our supporters and donors can be proud of their donations and to put their name down as a supporter of the American Center for Law and Justice.

Jordan, before we let you go, because I know you're actually about to be traveling today. You were in studio here yesterday, last week in DC, but you're headed somewhere else this week. I want to give you an opportunity to let our audience know what you're up to this week and where you're headed. People know we've partnered with CPAC on this very much a coalition effort to end Christian persecution. And part one was let's get Nigeria back on the countries of particular concern list.

We were able to accomplish that last week in Washington, D.C., with ultimately President Trump making that announcement. It was the Biden administration. The Trump administration put them on. Biden administration took them off immediately.

Now, the Trump administration has put them back on within the first term of this President because so many Christians are being killed there. This is in partnership with CPAC, an event actually at Mar-a-Lago for some of their top supporters. And what I'm going to be doing tomorrow is talking to those supporters about this very effort, this effort to end persecution, to fight for religious liberty, joining with CPAC to bring in new partners to this fight.

So we'll be in Florida at Mar-a-Lago to have kind of these high-level discussions with top folks about each of these areas so that we can really make a difference as organizations on our own and collectively. Jordan, thanks for calling in and being a part of the show today. I know that you're traveling and it's always good to hear from you though, especially when you know our ACLJ team is in action. I think you want to hear where they are, what they're doing, where we're going. And you know our Washington D.C.

office has been expanding significantly. This is another layer to that.

So of course, your support right now during this Freedom Drive goes to support that as well. Like I said, even just the cost of travel for our crew, for our team. We have crews right now in Washington, D.C. We have crews traveling right now, obviously.

Now to Florida for this event. The ACLJ team is around the world and none of that happens without you.

So I encourage you to support the work as you can and support the ACLJ in general. If you can't support financially, I ask for you to just pray for us. Pray for our team. It is a tough time. Uh, to be doing some of this work and know that it comes with a lot of sleepless nights, so our team could really appreciate your prayers.

As we head into break, I do want you to give me a call at 1-800-684-31-10. Whether you have a comment about the Gavin Newsom situation, or maybe you have a comment as we head into tonight, as of course, it's election day once again in America, focused on New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia. What are your thoughts? If you're in one of those places, I'd love to hear from you, or if you just have thoughts in general. I've been talking to a lot of friends this morning who are definitely keeping their eyes on it and that are concerned.

Maybe we can have more of a discussion on that. That's at 1-800-684-3110. But again, I want you to think about supporting the work of the ACLJ as we head into the second half hour. If you don't get us in the second half hour on your local radio station, you can find us broadcasting live on aclj.org. on YouTube on Rumble.

on the ACLJ app that's from 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time. Of course you can find us archived later on. Wherever you get your podcast, we're there. I know a lot of you watch and listen later on and not live, but I love the people who watch live.

They engage, they're part of the chats on YouTube and on Rumble. And hey, if you're in a chat right now, As we only have a one minute break, if you're not gonna, if you've already made your donation, you're like, what do I do now? Throw in the comments where you're watching from. I love to see that from around the world, where our viewers come from.

So, do that for me today, and I would really appreciate it. We'll be right back with the second half hour of Sekulow coming right up. Keeping you informed and engaged.

Now more than ever. This is secular. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to the second half hour of Sekulow. Of course, it is election day in America.

A lot of people are keeping their eyes on New York City, and of course, it is the big one between. Cuomo, Momdami, and Sleewa. This is happening right now. Obviously, the polls until very recently showed a pretty big push for Momdani to take it, but the polls have tightened.

So we'll keep an eye on that tonight. I know a lot of people will be watching. But of course, we're also talking about what's going on in California, how the ACLJ is getting involved in this Supreme Court battle with Governor Newsom. And I wanted to kick this off with a phone call from Nancy, who is calling from California, who's also an ACLJ champion. And that is someone that gives like a membership on a monthly recurring basis.

Whenever you make a donation to the ACLJ, you can opt in to just have it make it a recurring automatic donation. Of course, you can cancel anytime. And if you do it during the months of November right now, if you do it during our Freedom Drive, your first donation will be doubled and matched.

So we appreciate that. Nancy, go ahead. Hi, thanks for taking my call. I've actually been a champion for a long time, so God bless you guys for what you're doing.

So I live in California. I'm 72 years old. I'm a widow. And I want people to understand that today, more than anything, you really need to pray for the state of California. We really need to pray for the ACLJ and support them.

This whole thing with Gavin Newsom is way more than just the Supreme Court thing. Today is also the day we vote on this ridiculous redistricting thing that he spent millions of dollars on. Just because he basically threw a tantrum. This man is out of control and he's unleashing chaos on our state. And so I just really want to encourage people to look at the stories Pay attention.

I don't know where people think all this tax money is going to come from. It's my money. It's your money.

So please support the ACLJ. Pray for them. They're doing good work. And that's all I wanted to do. Nancy, first, I really appreciate it.

I just want to tell you, thank you so much for not only being a longtime ACLJ champion, but just your thoughts and your push for people to support know that it means a lot. We are looking at, of course, that redistricting vote today, Will.

Well, and Nancy said, I don't know where all this money is going to come from.

Well, we know that they're still going after $1.2 million from Calvary Chapel in San Jose over those COVID restrictions.

So I guess the governor wants to find money somewhere. But regarding the Proposition 50 fight, which she also referenced, and they are voting today in California on that, that's something where Gavin Newsom decided that the laws passed for their independent commission weren't good enough.

So he decided to push for this to redraw their maps to try and fight the President. But here's what he said last night. And I want you to think about his words in light of what you know we're fighting, that we're taking to the Supreme Court against what his administration is doing. This is byte three about Gavin Newsom talking about what the essence of Prop 50 is. The essence of this moment, what Proposition 50 represents.

to those that have been bullied. to those that have been demeaned. to those that feel powerless. To those that are concerned about not only themselves but each other, our community, this city, our state, our nation. And for that matter, what we represent to the rest of the world.

That's what Prop 50 represents. Prop 50 is not about drawing lines on a map. It is about holding the line. to what makes us who we are. I want to say this to Governor Gavin Newsome of California.

He says that Prop 50 is to those who've been bullied, those who've been demeaned, to those who feel powerless. Put up the picture of him at French Laundry during the COVID restrictions. That's him dining. not following any of the restrictions that now His administration's trying to get a church to pay $1.2 million in fines over. We're almost in 2026.

How do you think the people of your state and the people of Calvary Chapel, San Jose, feel? Do they feel demeaned by what you did as governor and what you're trying to make them pay for, worshiping God? To make sure people don't actually see this, and that's why we're here in our media operations, much as a legal operation. Look, we gotta have the legal team out there to go to the Supreme Court. We gotta make sure we have the media team ready to go.

Because no one will ever hear about this. This is not going to break mainstream media. We got to make sure we can do that for them.

So, I want you to support the work of the ACLJ. And when you do it, know you're doing that. I want your calls, though, right now, about the election tonight: 1-800-684-3110. We're gonna discuss it. Coming up, whether you're in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, or just have comments and you're somewhere around the country or around the world, I want to hear from you right now, 1-800.

684-3110. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. We're screening some calls right now. We do have a few lines still open at 1-800-684-30110.

You've heard about all the work of the ACLJ, all the stuff that we're up to, but of course. Eyes tonight are on New York City as well as Virginia and New Jersey.

Well, then New Jersey and Virginia, maybe not quite getting as much nationwide attention, still showing up. It's right now on Fox News. They're discussing it. Why don't you give us, for people that don't know, what's going on first in Virginia and New Jersey, and then we'll move to New York where sort of everyone is looking. That's right.

We have two gubernatorial races going on today.

So one is in New Jersey.

Well, it's the way you say it. No, I just like it. I liked hearing it. It made me feel good. We have two gubernatorial races going on today.

One is in Virginia, which has obviously been. More in the purple state, kind of lean blue for the last, at least for the Presidential elections, last few cycles. But there is currently a Republican governor. Virginia has a different system where you get a one four-year term as governor. I believe you can run again later, but you can only have one consecutive term.

Or one term governor. Right. One term, no consecutive. No consecutive. Yeah, just four years and then you're out.

I kind of like that.

So, what we've got here is we have a completely interesting dynamic where the state's been going more blue in the nationwide elections, but they still have a Republican governor. And then you have two candidates that are both women candidates. And one side, the Democrats, have said that the. People just aren't ready to vote for a woman when they've realized that Both candidates are. Literally, that's been the argument of why it's been closer than it should have been.

We've also seen racist attacks against the lieutenant governor, current lieutenant governor, who has been running about Eight to ten points behind the Democrat nominee in that race. It's going to be tight. We'll see what happens as the polls close. But we do know that this has been kind of a very race that has a lot of national attention because of what's happened with the Attorney General's race there. Where you had the Democrat candidate there that is race running against the incumbent Republican Attorney General.

Who had these text messages revealed talking about political violence, about wanting one, the former Speaker of the House, the delegates of Virginia, to die multiple times, these little hypotheticals about if you have Hitler and Mussolini and people like that, I'd always, and you have two bullets, who would you do? He'd take out the Speaker of the House.

Now, The current speaker. The former. At the time, he was the speaker of the House of Delegates in Virginia, a Republican. Then that entire conversation, it wasn't as though it was a poor hypothetical joke, kept doubling down. And even was saying in these conversations that he wants the children of that Republican to die in his wife's arms because maybe it would change their policy.

So the entire race in Virginia has been wild because you've had racism from liberals against Republicans. You've had political violence that has come out of this in the rhetoric that has been used. And so that race will be very. Interesting to see if the under-ticket race, the attorney general, won, if that Democrat can win. or if that has any effect on the governor as well.

But then you go to New Jersey, historically a blue state. You have a Republican who is much more like a. 90s Democrat style Republican. Yes, yes. He's not super.

People say that. I don't know, but I think you coined it. It's a good term. He's not super, you know, MAGA or right-wing red state as you think. No, you can't be in those states.

But he is a Republican in New Jersey. And you can be, but you can't be elected typically. Running a very close race. We'll see if there is a Republican governor there for the first time since Chris Christie. New Jersey, oddly, always reliably blue in national elections.

We saw that come down much tighter in the last Presidential election, as well as Republican governors do get elected there. If you spend time in New Jersey, you do sometimes walk around and go, how is this a blue stranglehold that they've had on this? Because the people, I mean, sure, there are pockets everywhere where there are conservatives and liberals, but overwhelmingly, the people just feel like they would be more conservative voters. Just when you're talking to people on the streets, who they are, but they've so historically voted blue. I think it's like in their DNA to vote for the Democrat.

But we are seeing, it's not actually in their DNA, but you know what I mean? It's almost in their family legacy to vote Democrat. Same in Connecticut and some of these places, that you are finally maybe starting to see some of that get peeled back, where it's no longer just, you know, Democrats are the union supporters or this kind of thing. We've seen such a drastic change in there. And of course, We can't forget.

What's going on in New York City? And that's where the eyes are tonight. A week ago, I would have told you I thought it was a sure thing that Mom Dami was going to take it. And now the polls have tightened. I still think if I had to bet, I would still probably be leaning that way just on seeing the way people are going.

And look, I feel for. I feel for non-political New Yorkers. Who have to pick between these three candidates? Because if you don't care about politics and you just watched a debate, you would see a young guy. who's a compelling speaker.

you would say your former governor Who, as much as people may have liked or disliked, certainly had his foibles towards the end of his run, whether that was with COVID or other issues. And then you have the outlier. Of the guardian angel himself. And though I would probably tend to agree more. With him, you know that that, like, that will not happen.

He will not be your winner.

So it's gonna be one of these two. And really, if you are a. Even a traditional Regular Democrat voter in New York, it's probably not an easy decision for you because it's like, do you vote with a future that is a Democrat socialist or do you vote with a past that comes with so much baggage? And so much baggage. I mean, President Trump half-heartedly endorsed Cuomo last night.

But then, of course, you go back and look at some of the things that President Trump had said about Cuomo. And this was not his political direct opponent. This wasn't someone who was running against you.

Well, this is when we're talking about the nursing home situations, all of those mistakes.

Now, has Cuomo atoned for some of those? Has he apologized for a lot of that? Yeah, he has. But I understand this appeal of voting for a young upstart. Of course, if you look at what he believes, That should fall apart quickly, but that's not how people vote.

Well, as well, as Governor Cuomo was asked this morning about the Trump statement, he said, President Trump doesn't like me. He doesn't support me. He just knows that I'm not as bad as that guy. I think there is also a political irony here at the same time that Governor Newsom in California is trying to push forward this Prop 50. And in light of what we even talked about with our case that we're taking to the Supreme Court about.

Things that that governor did with his executive power during the COVID pandemic. You also look at the contrast that there is another governor, COVID-era governor. That has a big ballot race tonight, New York, like you said. Gavin Newsom is someone who is slick, a slick political operative, has been able to wiggle his way out of that in the mainstream, all the negative things that he did as a governor with his executive power during the COVID lockdowns. Uh Governor Cuomo.

More old school politician, New York politician, has not been able to shake off those things he did with his executive power during the COVID lockdown restrictions. But both of them. We'll see a referendum of sorts. On the ballot today with Prop 50 in California and with the mayoral election in New York. It will be very interesting to see what the history is on this with both of these governors having some sort of ballot referendum that they are behind tonight.

Yeah, I mean, it'll be a fun night to watch. If you're into politics, it'll be a fun night to see what is going on to be watching all of it. We'll, of course, keep you updated here tomorrow on what happened. There is an interesting comment that came in. I kind of want to bring this up as we head to break because I'd love your thoughts on this.

They go, you know, they mention Jewish voters a lot in New York. How long will the Jewish voters continue to lean heavily on voting for Democrats?

Well, here's what I will tell you. As someone who uh yeah, my son had his bar mitzvah over the weekend. A lot of my family, a lot of my family of all different kinds of religious backgrounds, whether they were Orthodox, Jewish people, Reform Jewish people, atheist, Christians, all groups were in this room. And I will tell you, as long as there is people platforming and doing what's been going on recently in the sort of right-wing sphere that feels more mainstream than not to a lot of these characters who are the anti-Semitic, not just the anti-Israel group, I'm talking about the ones who are the ones who are purely talking about if it's in your blood. If those people start showing up on your mainstream television, you're not getting any of those people to vote for you.

to vote Republican.

So, all the goodwill that may have been turned is going to be turned completely against you. If you're talking about traditional Jewish voters, I'm not talking about ones that are 19 or 20 or 25. I'm talking about if you want the mass majority of the people that are living in New York City who are Jewish voters, you want them to vote Republican. It is time we call out all of this and put it into it. I'm actually very happy to see a lot of people doing that.

I'm not blaming anyone who's watching this show. I'm just saying. That becoming mainstream cannot happen if you think that you're going to win over. The Jewish population who has, yeah, a lot of them have historically voted blue, even when I disagreed with them and don't think it's right and don't think it is best for our people. But that's certainly not help.

Phone lines are open for you. What do you think about that? I'd love to hear from you. Of course, we'll talk more about the election coming up. And we'll wrap up the show with your voice, the most important voice in the room.

As we head into break, support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org if you can. Of course, it's our Freedom Drive day two, kicking it off strong at aclj.org right now. All right, welcome back. Time to wrap up this show with, like I said, the most important voice, and that's yours. Give me a call.

We got three lines open for you at 1-800-68-430-110. If you're joining us in the chat right now, I see a lot of debate going on about the Jewish community, about where they vote and how they should vote. That's never discussed online a lot. You don't see that a lot. I don't get a lot of notifications on that.

I don't feel like my X feed sometimes feels like it's only that. Right. Sadly, that's where we are right now. I'd love to hear from you about that, though. You can give me a call at 1-800-6-84-3110.

Also, let me know. We see a lot of people in Virginia, a lot of people in New Jersey, but where else are you watching from? Put in the chat where you're watching from. I love to read those as we wrap up the show, just so I have a good idea, a good, good full scale of where people watch our show from. It's really nice always to know that we're not just in a room talking to ourselves, that we're talking to thousands of you.

Even just on each platform, and millions of you throughout the day. Let's go ahead and start with some phone calls. Let's go to Kathleen, who is calling on line one, who's an ACLJ champion. You're on the air. Kathleen from Michigan, and you being pro-life, cannot vote for anyone but Sleewa.

The Republican. They're pro-life. Procommin sense. Kathleen, like I said, there's probably a lot of things I agree with with Sleewad. I I don't think that uh look if I I don't vote in New York City.

But I I'm sure just based on purely if we were to look at A topics and his issues and what he cares about. I don't know his positions on life, but In general, I'm sure I probably would lean that direction.

However, I do understand that he sadly has no chance. And when you have no chance, you start to go, Okay, well, who are going to be the lesser of two evils you got to work with? I don't like it, Kathleen. But the reason President Trump even said you really have no choice. He says you have no choice but to vote for Cuomo.

And I understand that thought process.

Someone you can actually work with, a traditional Democrat over a Democrat socialist. They asked. Cuomo recently, they said, do you think you're still a Democrat? And he said, of course I'm still a Democrat. They're not Democrats.

So, I think that's the kind of statement. Will, you got something to forget?

Well, I mean, to Kathleen's point, actually, I don't think there is a. Pro-choice, I mean, a pro-life candidate in New York's mayoral race. Curtis Lewa actually historically has been more of a moderate person. Person and more of a populist, obviously, with his history in New York, but says that he is pro-choice.

So that. Really, if you're a one-issue voter in New York. I don't think you have really a good option i if you are only trying to find someone who will support life.

Sometimes you end up with bad choices like that. And I think the majority of people are looking for someone that can stop. And actually avowed socialist in that race.

So I think that is where the choices of people who don't agree with Cuomo, even what President Trump said, they don't share policy ideas, but he's trying to stop what could be very bad. For both the American economy, the global economy, if some of the things that Mamdani wants to put into place, if he can do that.

Now, a lot of the stuff he wants to do, he can't do unilaterally. Even Saturday Night Live decided to go to the next one. They parodied that. It's going to be their. Negative spin on Mabdayan, which is, yeah, he's a good-looking guy, good speaker, but he's making a lot of promises he's not going to be able to keep.

They even said, Can I do this? The answer is probably no, you know, on all the things, free everything and the free bus services, the free healthcare, and free Wi-Fi. But look, Kathleen, I understand that frustration, but New York City and New York in general is very different in terms of their beliefs on a lot of the issues that we find very important. And sometimes, like Will said, there isn't a great option on the table for that. I'm not even sure Sleeba has.

Really made statements about it because his mayor is.

Well, that's the thing: is that actually I went to look it up because, once again, you think of his history, what he did. Cuomo certainly does because he's the governor, was the governor. But he told New York One earlier this year, actually, this is just from September, when they were talking. Talking about different issues, and he said he doesn't share the party's ideology on a lot of things. I'm not Second Amendment.

I believe in gun control, LGBTQ. I'm at odds sometimes with the conservatives. I'm not right to life. I'm pro-choice.

Okay, so that's pretty clear. And I agree with you. I didn't think maybe there would be a position statement out there because it's the mayoral array.

Sometimes they don't get into that per se. But no, those are his statements.

So if that is your conviction to vote, like if you cannot vote for someone, you may not have a choice in this mayoral election. I'll show now to a call a couple from New York on YouTube. It's William. William, you're up. Hello.

Um, yeah, I'm concerned about the effects that Mom Donnie or even Cuoma would have on the homeless crisis, especially up here where the ones in New York might get driven to. the ability to give them the assistance and recovery they need would be severely impacted. Look, William, I think that there is a major push to clean up what's going on in the homeless situation. The homeless crisis is happening around the country, really. It's not just limited to New New York and New York City, but of course, it's very.

I mean, I haven't been there in about. Three months, I think I was last there in the September. Uh and it was pretty obvious. How bad it has become. I'll be there again in a couple weeks.

It's again one of my favorite places in the world, New York City. I want to see it return to what it once was in the memory. We went through some very seedy times from pretty much as far back as I can remember until the mid-90s, where it was pretty rough. And then there was a time period there pre-911 where Giuliani had come in, cleaned up Times Square, cleaned up a lot of the tourist areas, and things were thriving and growing. Then 9-11 happened, took another hit.

Then though, it recovered again. Had a massive comeback in New York City. We are still seeing the ramifications of COVID happen in New York City. I think if you drive around, you can just see it. You can see the buildings that are still boarded up, still stores that never recovered.

And of course, the streets. Sadly, I mean, it is heartbreakingly filled with people who have nowhere to go or cannot seek help. And I don't know if the city is doing near enough. Uh to help those people out. Hopefully.

And this is just my prayer: is whoever wins, that that is one of the top things that they focus on. Whoever wins, you know, we don't wish ill on anyone. I think that we will see the ramifications of some of these elections, sure. But maybe because it is a city that is needed to survive, it is needed for America to be what it always has been, that you can have a Cuomo or a Momdami who can go in and get things done. I'm not holding my breath.

Uh but we will see. We will see how it all shakes out here tonight. I mean, that's the thing: we are here. This is happening tonight. A lot of eyes are going to be on New York City as well as Virginia and in New Jersey, as it is the first election since, I mean, it's been one year now since President Trump was elected to his second term.

And what a year it has been. With that being said. I know a lot of your eyes will be on New York City and will be on a lot of places. And look, we've had a struggle this year with the ACLJ because we know that your dollars and where your mind's going is not necessarily always on us and what we're doing, whether you are needing to save money, we understand that, or whether you've decided to put your money. Elsewhere.

I would encourage you though to look no further than the ACLJ. We are doing incredible work, and that is work that is based on Christian principles. We're not talking about work that's just aligned with a certain political party. You know, this is not how it is here at the ACLJack. I want you to go and spend time on our website.

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