On today's show, we're covering the investigation on the Iran-linked video released that targets President Trump's family. 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 Secular. We're back. It's Tuesday, Will. Welcome to Sekulow, July 28th, 2026. Here we are.
Will Haynes is in the studio. We've also got a packed show coming up. Cece Heil is going to be joining us, senior attorney here at the ACLJ. She just got back from an international trip to Morocco, going to cover what the ACLJ is doing there. Again, the work of the ACLJ is all over the world, and I love that so much.
Jeff Balabon, head of ACLJ Jerusalem, is going to be joining us.
So again, we're going all around the planet today to tell you about the work of the ACLJ. That also doesn't stop us from telling you what's going on in the world. And right now, as Senator Graham's funeral procession is happening or is wrapping up right now, we know this service will be a little bit later. There's a lot going on in the news. We also have Prime Minister Netanyahu meeting with President Trump really any minute, or maybe as we speak.
It's probably happening at the same time. There's reports now of a video that has been released by Iran.
Now, it's officially, we've said, was it released by Iran, at least Iran-linked, that. Targets and really shows you ways in very graphic detail To not only threaten, but potentially assassinate members of the President's family. That includes the First Lady, Melania, and their son, Baron. We're not talking about just go out there and do this. We are talking about a video that.
Shows exactly where they shop, what they've been doing, where they could be, how it can happen. This is the disturbing case that we're dealing with right now.
So, and look. We have seen so many threats to the President. We've seen so many threats, by the way, to really all of us who are involved in this world. that it's not shocking or surprising to me whatsoever. But I think maybe it should be a little bit of a wake-up call to what we're dealing with on a worldwide scale.
That's right. And this is a video that was released by the TASNIM news agency, which is one of the kind of state media arms that they have. They have an official news agency, but then this one is owned by the IRGC.
So the mouthpiece officially of the IRGC within Iran. And this video is very detailed. It goes through images of the First Lady, talks about the motorcade, talks about even call signs that are used within the Secret Service of the First Lady, so that these types of plots could be carried out. And not only is it showing where to maybe carry out some sort of attack, it's titled How to Kill Melania Trump. And it is a call to action to maybe people that are here in the United States, people that are aligned with the Iranian cause, if you will, to try and take out the First Lady of the United States.
But it also ends with: this isn't over. Basically, Baron Trump, wait for us.
So it's also making direct threats to other members of the President's family. This is, as we know, The President himself, as well as other officials like Secretary Mike Pompeo and others that have been involved in basically the strength of the United States against Iran throughout the two terms of President Trump, have had a target from the Iranians on them. We know that the Iranians have wanted to carry out assassination attempts on these individuals on U.S.
soil. But when you start to see this expanding beyond just the President, just a cabinet member, This is where it starts to be a little shocking.
Now, we know the Secret Service has protective detail of these individuals. It's not as if they are just out on their own, but it is, once again, a reminder that the Iranians want to cause havoc and cause pain on the United States, including against the President's family. Yeah, we're going to keep talking about this. And again, take this work of the ACLJ worldwide as, look, all of this is. It's a worldwide issue that we're dealing with.
We only got a couple days left now. In our Liberty Drive. Of course, we are still celebrating the 250th of America. But we know when the serious situation comes up, we need to keep you engaged. We're going to talk about the work the ACLJ is doing around the world when we get back.
We have three days left before our deadline, though. And this deadline is great because all donations that are made today will be doubled.
So I encourage you, if you want to support the work of the ACLJ, you like what we do here. Go to aclj.org right now. Do it during the Liberty Drive. That's the best way to do it because your donations go twice as far. Phone lines are open for you as well.
1-800-684-3110. We'll be right back. All right, welcome back to Sekulow. I didn't promote it a lot, but our phone lines are open right now, and I would love to hear from you at 1-800-68-430-110, really on any of these topics. Of course, we're talking about Iran releasing this very disturbing video, but we are also discussing, look.
President Trump's meeting right now with Benjamin Netanyahu. What do you hope comes out of that kind of meeting? Where do you stand currently? I'd love to hear you about that. We have more breaking coming in from our international work.
Like I said, some of the work we're doing in Israel. We can discuss that as much as you would like to at 1-800-684-3110. You also have Senator Graham's funeral right now, a moment where you're seeing a little bit of uniting happening on Capitol Hill as he was sort of one of those last people that purely would work, even if you did not like sometimes where he would land on things, would work with Republicans and Democrats. Do you think we need more people like that? Give me a call.
Let's be a part of the conversation today at 1-800-684-3110.
Well, and when you think about exactly what's happening, as you mentioned, the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu is meeting with the President right now, we'll be talking about that later with Jeff Balabon and what that means. But There's a a multi-front battle going on, at least for public opinion as well in the United States. One, the conflict with Iran, it is ramping back up because of Iran's refusal to just play by the rules set forth in the Memorandum of Understanding. That was the simple, laid-out rules of how we can get to an end to this conflict. I mean, President Trump has pretty much said that's.
Right. Because the Iranians would continue to attack ships, continue to provoke the United States and the Gulf partners in this, and as well as at the funeral of The Ayatollah. The people that gathered there, they specifically, through mediators, requested that it not be a target. Let us just mourn the death of our leader. And the United States was like, okay, fine.
Also, we are in a ceasefire.
So, yes, we get that. And what did the Iranians do? They started attacking ships during that period.
So they haven't been an honest player in this as surprise, surprise. But here's the other thing that we're dealing with: because at the same time, we are dealing with all of the hate towards the state of Israel, towards any sort of global Jewish population. It's expanded that, not just on the left, but in the right as well. And that at the same time You're seeing things like the Senate candidate in Michigan during the debate last night that he had referred to. Uh what who would be a colleague of his if he were to win?
John Fetterman as an ogre on a pike. Violent language going after what would be his colleague. Yeah, someone that, by the way, if you said anything negative about during his campaign due to his medical issues. you would have been labeled as someone who's just horrible, who has no sympathy and no heart, if you questioned whether Senator Fetterman should have been running at the time. Remember, he was dealing with a lot of medical issues, had a hard time communicating.
Now And you had to just trust that he was going to be great.
Now, time has told, he's pretty good. And Guess what happens then? He's someone who actually will play both sides, who will actually discuss, will actually debate. Will occasionally side with Republicans, but not most of the time. We're talking about 1% of the time, really only to do with Israel.
And what has that done that has made him into the villain of the left? And now you can make fun of it. Once again, at the same time, we talked about all of the issues with the mayor of New York. We've talked about all of these things spreading. We talked about the DSA yesterday at length and what their platform is.
So there's this internal battle, political battle, going on in the United States at the same time that you see Iran is wanting to do something that would cause extreme havoc in this country. And we are thankful that we have Secret Service, that they have protection, and we pray that we never see some sort of actual attempt, not even a failed attempt, but just not even an attempt on the first family. But that is the world we're living in right now, where the Iranians are calling for bad actors to do this. And at the same time, you have to wonder. How many more Americans are more sympathetic with the Iranians right now because of how this has become such an anti-Semitic moment?
When you talk about this conflict with Iran, there was all this talk of, you know. President Trump was tricked into doing this by the prime minister of Israel. The lack of even. Credibility that they give the President of the United States that he could just be blindly led into war by Israel is absurd as it is. But that is where we're at.
So you have to take these things seriously. I am glad the Secret Service is taking this seriously. But you also have to be concerned when you see the rhetoric from the mayor of New York. Days and days of fixating on Bibi Netanyahu, what do you have on a solemn holiday of the Jewish people? A crazy person does an attack on a random individual leaving a synagogue.
So, that is the culture and climate we're in. In New York, tried to say this is a mental health issue.
Well, The big concern is that If you continue pushing this rhetoric and you continue to pit Americans against even the best interest of the country, that you have a lot more people willing to do crazy things at the behest of the Iranians. Yeah, I mean, of course, it is a mental health issue. All of this is a mental health issue. We're dealing with people who have been. spurred into chaos, whether that is someone who is being spurred into chaos, by the way.
From a religious point of view, or someone that's been spurred into chaos by just the way the media has treated all of this. That every single thing that the administration does is life or death, and it can nothing can be, nothing can be politics anymore. Nothing can be handling issues that go beyond. You know, you think about how much politics invaded your life even 20 years ago. We can maybe say pre-9/11, now 25 years ago, it was something that was discussed.
Surely, it was something that was a big part of everyone's lives. You have Vietnam War, you have all those things that happen. But it feels like our day-to-day life has really become incredibly polarized. I'm not saying anything new here, I'm not saying anything fresh here, but what I am saying. Is that if there is some sort of path.
That doesn't involve violence. I'd be happy to hear it right now. from anyone by the way. I'm talking about from the left or the right. Show me The idea where you call for stuff to be peaceful.
And then don't incite it with your own rhetoric. You can say the word peaceful.
Well, everyone does. And then look what actually happens. Look what you actually incite. And it seems to be no remorse. for inciting this kind of behavior and this kind of violence.
And that You know, people celebrate or they get disappointed if they see a news report that something was thwarted, that someone was lives was not taken, whether you are on the right or the left. You know, look at sort of Senator Graham's funeral today. You know, people were going through that. Look at some of the horrible things people would put online. It was, and that was for regular human beings, by the way.
Because you saw anyone who actually worked and it was his colleague, they all seemed to actually respect him way more than they did a lot of other people. And then you had human beings who never met the guy. Going on there and saying, going on their social media pages and saying horrendous, horrendous things. About someone who had tragically passed away. I don't care if you agree with them or you disagree with them on politics.
It doesn't matter. These are real human beings. We treat people, we don't treat people like they are anymore. We treat them like they're just some untouchable television personality or fictional character. And we've gotten so far off track with this.
I mean, you have a lot of people today even talking about. Yeah. Senator Grant. And we play a bite from John Thune. John Thune was talking about him being a powerful pro-life voice.
That may not be a lot of things you hear about when you hear maybe your so-called quote-unquote conservative friends on social media who maybe did not like Senator Graham or had issues with him or have decided to say something horrible about someone who has passed away. But let's hear from Senator Thune. This was just today. No tribute to Lindsay's work. Is complete without mentioning that he was a powerful.
voice for the pro-life movement. Until my last breath, I will be fighting for this cause, he said. And he was. He was a fierce defender of Ukraine. He was a fierce defender.
of the unborn. And on the surface, these might seem like two completely Separate issues. But it strikes me that in another way they are both of a piece. In both cases. Lindsey Graham saw injustice.
And he spoke up. Again, that was from Senator Thune. That was just this morning, correct? That's right. Yes, that was in the Capitol Rotunda as they had a - there will be a funeral service in South Carolina, but there was kind of this congressional version that took place in the Capitol this morning.
And the majority leader there, Senator John Thune, speaking, and really a great tribute to the late senator. But once again, and I think that's key as well of defending the unborn and injustice. And when you even think about the work that we do here and the fact that we are such a staunch pro-life organization and we are the American Center for Law and Justice, when you hear that. And your discussion about people dehumanizing others, it seems that we forget. That No matter your background or where you're from, We all as humans are made in the image of God.
And that is where we, as a starting point of this organization with our Christian values. Uh If you forget that. It's very easy. to demonize other people. To the extent we're seeing, and not just have political fights, but actually think of individuals as less than humans.
I saw a mutual friend of ours who's a songwriter professionally. He got a bill passed he'd been working on for years to get new ways that royalties are going to get paid for songwriters. And the comments, he's a Democrat, by the way, very loud Democrat. All the comments were, how dare you work with the administration?
So much so that he had to say, you know, put out a statement. This is what we're dealing with here right now. We'll be right back with Cece Howell joining us. Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open at 1-800-6-84-31-10.
Senior counsel here at the ACLJ, Cece Heil is joining us right now. It's been a few weeks. People are wondering where you were. You sat down, you're like, Yeah, I just got back from Morocco.
So, like, all right, I think we need to have Cece on to talk about what's going on because this is the work that we're doing around the world. Yeah, the ACLJ team is at it, and of course, you're a big part of now the Religious Liberty Council and everything that's happening as well.
So, make sure we always plug that too. But, yeah, where have you been? What have you been up to?
Well, you know, obviously, I'm the international legal director, so everything that has to do with anything international, you know, I'm Overseeing that and hopefully pushing just religious freedom throughout the world. And so, this was the International Religious Freedom Summit in North Africa that was held in Morocco. And it was just a really great opportunity because at the ACLJ, we actually have a client that has issues continuing. concerning Morocco. And we also have some clients In Morocco with some issues.
And so this was an opportunity to go and be on the ground and meet with government officials. There was a day that I got to go to Rabat and have meetings with different embassies there, just trying to find out kind of the policies and procedures of what's going on in Morocco. Morocco, they have a king, and in Morocco, basically to be Moroccan is to be Muslim. That is what they think their heritage is. But it's interesting because really Morocco, the Berbers were Christians.
So Morocco has a real, really rich Christian heritage. And they also have some Jewish heritage there. And what's, again, interesting, it's a king, and to be Moroccan, you are, you know, to be Muslim. And he is the king, the head of the state and the head of the faithful, the commander of the faithful. But they do acknowledge Jewish Moroccans, which is very interesting.
A little bit more open. Yes, they do not acknowledge that you can be a Christian Moroccan, even though there's very much Christian heritage in Morocco just as much as there is Jewish heritage. And so that was kind of the issue that I was there to kind of find out more about because there are Moroccan Christians, but they have no rights.
So if you want to get married, you do it under the Muslim and Islam. If you want to be buried, you are buried in a Muslim cemetery, you know, with your feet facing Mecca. Those are the kind of things.
So they're just deeply rooted in their heritage. Right. And the king is very. I would say amenable to being like religiously, and I hate this word, but tolerance. If you can be progressive in that kind of world, yes, he very much.
They're not the worst. That's right. He very much, very much wants to make sure that even in the mosques, there's never anything that's preached that encourages violence or dissension between, you know, any kind of religious group. And like I said, they absolutely, he says he's the king of the faithful, but he said that it controls on the king of, and it's very clear that means Muslims. Jews and foreign Christians.
So, to be a Christian, there, you need to be foreign.
So, while I was there, I went to an Orthodox church. I went to a Catholic church. They are there, but not Moroccans can be there. It has to be foreign. It also shows how much.
Religion and cultural identity and heritage is treated differently. Because we think of Christianity as a. An opt-in religion, I guess, if you will, that we're all making the decision to join this faith. Where they're born into it. As such, it was a born Muslim.
You are born into the Jewish faith.
So, therefore. Yeah, we don't treat it that way. That's interesting. And really, I mean, it goes to the point of. To be Moroccan is to be Muslim.
They do have this exception of, oh, but we do have some. Jewish Moroccans, but they just will not identify that they have Christian Moroccans. And so even in my conversations with government leaders, I think maybe I was the only one to approach this subject.
Well, I think it's one, it's also interesting that this international summit was held in Morocco. It shows that there is more openness than I think you would think many countries in North Africa or in the Middle East. But it also brings up that point as well, because you were joined by our colleagues at the European Center for Law and Justice. They joined you at this summit. That not only do we have work in places like Pakistan, where it's life or death.
But even in places where they may be a little bit more free or progressive, if you will, for the area. But it doesn't mean that we can just forget about our brothers and sisters in Christ that live there, that may be able to be helped by the good work that the ACLJ and the ECLJ can do and these connections that we have by still trying to get individuals to have equal rights, have international religious freedom wherever they may be, not just in places where it's life or death. Right. And to bring it even home, so in 2010, There was a purge of foreign Christians from out. They purged basically all foreign Christians from Morocco.
So that is one of our clients. You know, basically, these Christians got purged for no reason, most of them with even no convictions.
So it wasn't even like, you know, we see in Turkey where they try to say, oh, threat to national security or charge them with, you know, committing a crime. Proselytization is a crime in Morocco, but a lot of these people were not charged with that. They were just expelled. And so we have a client that wants to go back. Obviously, you know, you live in a country for 15, 20 years.
You have friends, you have connections.
So, you know, there shouldn't be entry bans left on these people.
So that's an issue that the ACLJ is addressing, and we're taking that on. And again, we feel like there was a 2011 constitutional change. That was after the 2010 purge. The king is very, very amenable to. and wants to be tolerant.
And as you see, the United States has recognized Western Sahara as under Moroccan rule.
So of course, right now they love America. In fact, they're going to name a road in Western Sahara, I think the Trump Road that was just announced the other day.
So this is an opportunity where we as Americans really have an opportunity to influence and effectuate real change because there are countries that maybe don't have the best religious freedom, but when we get engaged and involved, we can kind of push and encourage them to make right decisions, even if we're just chipping away at it a little bit of a time. And I think that's what happened in this trip.
Well, and that's one of the reasons we wanted to bring you on today is just to even showcase that sometimes it isn't a life or death matter. It doesn't mean that it isn't important and that we aren't able to do multiple things at once.
So we were thrilled that you were able to go and bring us this report from it as well. And we know that it also opens up more doors as you continue by making these connections, by being with our ECLJ team who's able to sometimes get to places a little bit quicker than we are from the United States. That it's all a part of the work that we continue to do around the world. Yeah. And it's a part of our commitment that we will stand for religious freedom all over and we will defend Christians and other minorities when they are persecuted.
That's right. Thank you, Cece, for joining us. We'll have you back on soon to discuss even more of what's going on. Remember, the work of the ACLJ, as Will said, is a worldwide effort. And we live in the world, by the way.
I know it's easy to get stuck on sort of what's happening in America. Look, it's still our number one.
So, we're talking about even the reasons you were there. A lot of it has to do with American values and what we're doing in America. That being said. The work of the ACLJ goes well beyond. The limits of our country.
We have someone like Sisu who travels all over the world. We have ACLJ Jerusalem. We have the European Center for Law and Justice. And when you support the work of the ACLJ today during our Liberty Drive, that we are celebrating the 250th of America this month. As we are in the last couple days here, your donations are doubled and your donations are spread throughout all.
all of the work that we're doing.
So, if you want to support the work that we're doing on an international front, if you want to support the work we're doing locally, if you want to support the work that we are doing, whether on the media or the legal side, all of it. You just donate aclj.org, your gift doubled today. We'll be back. Second half hour coming right up. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever.
This is Sekulow. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Second half hour of Sekulow for you, Tuesday. Will, we're here. We are.
We made it Tuesday. We made it. Cece High was just on it. If you missed that, I want you to go back after the show. Don't do it now.
We're live right now, and I want to hear from you at 1-800-684-3010. But go back and hear about the work that we're doing all around the world. She was in Morocco over the weekend. I mean, just wild things the team is doing here. Again, all over.
The world. That's again, you can support that work at aclj.org. We are in the last few days of our Liberty Drive, and I want you to do it today. Donate if you can. I mean, we are days away from it wrapping up.
And of course, during these special months is when we're able to offer the unlockable. Matching events where all of a sudden you give $10 and it's worth $20. You give $200, it's worth $400. All of the donations that come in during this month are doubled.
So I encourage you to do that right now at aclj.org. Time is kind of running out on that. We're about to hit our deadline.
So please have your gift doubled today. A lot of people are discussing a lot of topics. We've kind of been popping around here. In the next segment, we're going over to ACLJ Jerusalem as currently Prime Minister Netanyahu is meeting with President Trump as we speak. He was in town.
for Senator Graham's funeral procession that happened this morning. You can see some pictures right now if you're watching online of the President meeting and members of the administration meeting. with Prime Minister Netanyahu, who we'll discuss at length of what that looks like. And what's going on with that? Let's take a call real quick.
Let's go to Renee, who's calling from Texas online. One, I do want you to call in at 1-800-684-3110. Renee, you're on the air. Since Senator Graham's funerals in session, there was a dying wish or a final wish that he had to get sanctions Pressed on Russia. And so I s want to see what you think about that and how that affects Not only the Ukrainian war, but the Israeli war since the Iranians get supplied.
They do business with Russia. Yeah, uh as you mentioned, that was something that even they mentioned his his last night when he was calling his staffer and said, I've got too much to do to go to the doctor right now. I just got back from Ukraine. I need to go and work on the sanctions bill. I have to work on Saudi relations with Israel, etc.
Well, we do know that his sister who took the seat, was appointed by Governor McMaster of South Carolina, said that that was a priority of hers, these Russia sanctions. And today... It has just been announced. This is, I mean, 20 minutes old, that a bipartisan group of senators has announced a deal on this legislation to add more sanctions on the buyers of Russian energy. That is a main source of funding and revenue for the Russian economy.
So that, and you ask, how will it play into as well the Iran-Israel-U.S. conflict as well? This deal also has more sanctions on Iran, which we know can drastically hurt not just the blockade, but when you have these sanctions as well, even if they can cheat, it really takes out the backbone of their economy for Iran as well as Russia.
So that is something that it appears is moving forward as of a few minutes ago. Zelensky is also here for the funeral of Lindsey Graham and had a meeting with senators as well as has a meeting with the President.
So take that as you will as well. We'll keep you updated on that. Thank you, Renee, for calling. Phone lines are light now. Up and I'd like to hear from you.
In the next segment, we will be heading to ACLJ Jerusalem to Jeff Balabon. You've heard on this show for years. He'll be giving us an update of what's going on from his point of view. But then I want to take your calls.
So, right now, If you're listening, if you're watching. I want to hear from you because I like to hear from senior attorneys like CeCe Heil. I like to hear from the heads of our offices internationally. I like to hear from Will sitting next to me. But I love to hear from you.
So give me a call at 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. We haven't spent a lot of time today talking about our Liberty Drive other than saying to give if you can give. But look, we got a lot of things. I'll just read off quickly.
Today, we have a critical hearing in our defense of Colorado pastors who are criminally cited and shut down by officials. This week, we're preparing a submission to the UN Human Rights Council condemning Iran's seizure of St. Peter's Evangelical Church, only operating Protestant church in Iran. We just filed Public Records Act demanding answers on California's politically charged rewrite of their ballot initiative. In federal court, the ACLJ is defending parental rights and their direct the education of their children.
We're defending the rights of Christians to hold Bible studies, religious meetings in their own residences, and so much more, all before our deadline. We need you to support the work of the ACLJ. That is just a very, very small top-level overview. That's at ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Secula.
We're about to head over to ACLJ Jerusalem. Jeff Balabon is joining us, but I want to give you an opportunity to call in if you can. This is the time to do it. Go ahead and get in line. I've got a few lines open at 1-800-68-430-110.
And of course, wrapping up our Liberty Drive for the month of July, as we've been celebrating the 250th of the United States of America. And look, there's a reason we have the ACLJ Jerusalem, and there's a reason it exists also because you have supported us during these times and these special months when we're able to match donations, where donations are doubled. You give $20, there's another donor ready to unlock a $20 pledge. I need you to do it right now, and that's at any kind. That's at ACLJ.org.
But let's hop over to Jeff Balabon. Jeff, right now, President Trump is meeting. With Prime Minister Netanyahu, just want to get your overview on currently where everything stands. Sure.
Well, look, in Israel, people are quite sure that Donald Trump is the greatest friend Israel's ever had in the White House, and it's had other friends in the White House, but no one quite like him. On the other hand, Israel recognizes that, you know, America first. And it's not just because that's a Trump motto, it's because that's what the United States of America should be doing. Israel's quite certain that the relationship that Israel has with America is important to America. But Israel, you know, America's concerns about strategy and stability, and Israel's concerns about Iran and its proxies not getting the power to rain down hell on Israel.
You know, the question is how well and closely do they fit? No one thinks. It's a question of hostility or enmity. Everyone understands that Donald Trump can be abrasive in the way he speaks, but that in his heart and in his mind, he has always understood that the relationship with Israel is especially important to America's stability and also morally correct for the American people. Jeff, one thing that I find interesting actually about this meeting is that they chose to do it, no comments before.
They didn't do the kind of press spray before. They released some photos, but we will find out if maybe they do something later. But I found that interesting. I think one, it was probably to some degree the right choice because of how politically charged this moment is. But that's one thing people are wondering.
What does the relationship look like in public between the two? What is the body language? What is the way that they talk about these things? We know sometimes for world leaders, those meetings have gone awry. You think about that first Zelensky meeting where.
the Vice President piled on at the time about even the way he was dressed and the disrespect and et cetera. I don't think that's what would have been the outcome. But you also have to think of the context of this meeting. Last week, The mayor of New York was spent The first half of the week, really all the way until Thursday. Making Benjamin Netanyahu the only thing he talked about.
He talked about him as a war criminal, an architect of genocide. We laid out last week very clearly the rhetoric he used and how he built up this moment. And what did you have? On Thursday, you had on a very somber. day for Jewish people worldwide.
An attack on someone leaving a synagogue in New York City. We, at the same time, last night there was a debate in Michigan for Senate. Between Haley Stevens and Abdul Al Syed? And what did that Senate candidate choose to do? Choose to call Haley Stevens an APAC-backed candidate, use those same lines, as well as call John Fetterman an ogre on a pike.
Um th this language from someone who was afraid To say anything about the death of the Ayatollah, quote, because a lot of people in Dearborn. are sad. What does it tell you about the state of the United States right now that even this meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu wasn't a public thing, that we have these concerns publicly in America?
So, I'm going to ratchet this up or take it up another notch. Everything you're talking about, Will, is directly related. I mean, there's no question that we're looking at here, whether it's political or it's social or it's media. You know, this is really a reflection of good versus evil. And a lot of the reason that a lot of Americans want America to stand with Israel isn't necessarily because of a particular strategic agenda, even though that's important, but because they understand that there are good players and evil players in the world and that there are evil players who wish America ill.
And unfortunately, it has infected our society. It's infected many quarters of our society, and it's been mainstreamed. It's been mainstreamed now for well over a decade in Washington, or about a decade in Washington. And it's, you know, there are places where the only litmus test is not just are you a Jew, but do you have anything positive to say about anything related to Jews? And otherwise, you are absolute evil.
And this is America's going through its own culture war right now from the inside. What's going on in the White House? Yeah, you mentioned what happened to Mamdani in New York. Yeah, you know, in Israel, people are aware that I have a home in New York are constantly anxious for when I go back to New York. How could you be there?
You're not safe. People in New York are like, how could you be in Israel? It's not safe. When's the war? It's not safe anywhere these days.
And even in America, which is long thought of itself as safe because it's removed and it's distant and it's giant and it's vast, okay, but in America itself, Within America itself, at the highest levels now, in the political level, in the media level, it's okay to talk about these evil terms. I was dealing with people now on another level, we're dealing here. with AI and how AI works. And how they want to program AI. And this is also fundamentally important because the perception people have of the world is coming from information they're getting that's being skewed and being distorted.
And the question they wanted to know is: you know, how do we preach just pluralism? And my response was. Don't talk about pluralism, it's another kind of particularism which says we know everything and we disagree with everybody else. How about we don't all agree on all things, but we have to learn how to live together? That's what America's greatness is, is that we don't have to be identical, but we have to live well together.
And that's what's being attacked right now around the world. And of course, the Jews see it first, but it's coming for everyone. I was talking to Will just earlier during this broadcast and in the break, one of our mutual friends, songwriter here locally, a Democrat, very proud Democrat, loud about it. He was part of passing the Music Modernization or Modernization Act, essentially change the way royalties are done for songwriters. Doesn't feel like something that would be overly political.
Doesn't feel like Israel would get involved. He did the deal. Senator or Steve Scalise, Representative Steve Scalise, sent a thank you message to him. He posted it. And I saw in the comments, how dare you work with Steve Scalise?
He has been a supporter of Israel. I mean, something that has nothing, I mean, nothing to do with Israel at all. It all comes back there. And then, of course, you do see people that are stepping up a little more bluntly. Boy George yesterday released We'll Dance Again, a really powerful song.
You know, there are some shining stars in this moment, if you will, that are not Jewish, that are willing to step out. He's one of them. And also, you know, releasing a lot of what feels like Zionist clothing line, taking some big stances.
So there are some people out there willing to do it, but you are right that it somehow gets back into it, even when it's an issue that has nothing to do with even Israel at all. It's just you worked with someone who happens to support Israel. How dare you?
Well, look, America was founded consciously differently than all the European countries that, you know, was founded by Europeans, but they wanted something different. They didn't want hatred and violence against other people who happened to believe differently or worship differently, or even, you know, you'd have different countries. Claiming they're doing something in the name of the Bible, in the name of God, in the name of Christ, and killing each other, and claiming that's not what God wants. I think we all come, that's at least not the Bible's vision of it, that we kill each other just because we disagree on something. I mean, there's not this lack of violence in the Bible, but there are instructed reasons for it, and we are supposed to fight against evil.
The problem is, they're fighting against good right now. It's always gonna be good versus evil. And so, the story in the Bible. That story of the Jewish people, in particular, the Jewish people and its relationship to the land of Israel, not the state of Israel, but the land of Israel-that's the whole narrative. If they can destroy that narrative, because that narrative destroys them, right?
They're the counter-narrative, and so that's what we're seeing right now. Which is why is it so universal? Why so ubiquitous? Because the story of the Bible, it was you know, Jews were all around the world, and we had to deal with anti-Semitism in different places. But America is the global unipower for several generations now.
And America represents what the Bible's idea of goodness is, right? And that's what they're fighting against, and that's what everything related to the Jews because it's our story, the Jews' story in the Bible, that is brought into America and made blossom, made America blossom, and that's what they're trying to destroy. And the problem now, as we keep on talking about it on the air, is how much of it is occurring from within. And that's really what the fight is.
Well, and Jeff, I mean, we started this broadcast talking about this video that Tasnam News Agency, the IRGC's news arm in Iran, put out targeting the first lady and the first son. And when you start to see that, and they're calling on people in the United States to take this action. But at the same time, you're having a Senate candidate that was afraid to speak out at the time that the Aylatolla was killed because he didn't want to offend his constituents. The ideology has become such a bizarro world right now, where there are people that are ideologically more aligned. With the dead Ayatollah of Iran, than they are with the Judeo-Christian values of the United States founding, that that's a really tough place to be right now.
Listen, all of the enemies of the Judeira Christian vision, which was the founding fathers' vision, it's exactly what American greatness means. It's America's greatness is in its goodness, and that's defined by the Bible's idea of good.
So, all of the enemies, whether it's the Islamist enemy, which is everyone has to subordinate themselves to their vision, right? Whether it's the progressive vision, which is everyone has to subordinate themselves to that vision, right? The global communist socialist vision. Whether it's this vision which calls itself Christian nationalist, but it's just a throwback to sort of the pagan tribalism in Europe that claimed it was Christian, but really that's what America was founded to oppose, to be different from, to separate itself from. You know, all of these visions are saying that Judeo-Christian is a lie.
They're saying the Bible is a lie. The stories in the Bible are a lie. And that's why you see on local little elections, it becomes an issue on discussions about. Royalty rights in music, it's an issue because it's the core of the values that are the essence of what our society is. Yep, absolutely, Jeff.
Thanks for joining us again. We're going to take your calls coming up next. That was from ACLJ Jerusalem. Support our work at aclj.org. Includes our work in Jerusalem.
Right back. All right, we're back. Last segment of the day. Be a part of the show if you want to call in. This is the last chance to do it: 1-800-684-3110.
If it's on topic, we've had a couple calls in that were a little too broad. Let's try to stay a little bit of what the work of the ACLJ is doing, maybe what's going on. At Senator Graham's funeral, as you have at the same time, President Trump meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu and also with Zelensky. Those are all happening in real time. Let's keep it on that.
We can give it a call, 1-800-684-30110. Look, I did want to, as we start to wrap up, This final week of our Liberty Drive. I want the work of the ACLJ to be front and center. It's why today we brought on Jeff Balabon, ACLJ Jerusalem. We brought on Cece Heil, senior attorney.
She was telling you about the international front. And now, look. It's July? We're going to talk a little Christmas. Of course, Christmas in July, that's only five months away from Christmas, not even at this point.
You're going to start seeing things show up in the stores here in the next four to six weeks. The ACLJ, you know, it always is a busy season for us. The end of the year, December is always. the most packed month for the ACLJ.
Some of it has to do with the issues that surround the holidays.
Now you may say, Logan, that sounds like something that happens in a Christmas movie.
Sounds like something that would maybe happen in the eighties and nineties. This is still happening. Every year, and every year the ACLJ team has to jump into action, sometimes at the last minute. And then sometimes we get to do it in the middle of the summer. That's right.
And once again, that's why we are always looking at really two times of the year when there are major constitutional violations that start brewing. Back to school, which we'll be talking about next month here at the ACLJ, and the Christmas season. This is a situation where. The town of Brighton, New York has allowed private. Holiday displays in its town center.
And it's called the Twelve Corners Public Square. And they repeatedly. would not allow a a resident This isn't government speech. This isn't the government putting up this display, but a resident that sought to put a nativity scene in the square during the Christmas season. This isn't the, it wasn't a blanket ban against religious holidays.
They had had a Ramadan banner in their town square during Ramadan. That's obviously not the same season. But they also had had a menorah for Hanukkah.
So this wasn't a situation where it was like no religious holidays are allowed. They actually were allowing other religious holidays, but they weren't allowing this individual to, at their own cost, own expense, display the nativity scene for Christmas. We had sent a demand letter asking for compliance. allowing this to not have this viewpoint discrimination from this town. And they have chose to ignore that compliance letter, and they are still excluding the nativity scene.
So what has the ACLJ done? filed a federal lawsuit. in hopes that we can get this remedied. Before the holiday season, and they can have a nativity statement. It seems outrageous, but this isn't just for the nativity scene.
This is for equal protection under the law. I think that's what some people get mixed up here. They're like, you know, we're also making sure that there are other holidays throughout the year, major religious holidays, that they also have their place. They also have their place if they're steeped, especially if they're steeped in a local culture, a culture in America where they may have people who are locally celebrating these holidays, whether it's a Jewish community wanting to celebrate Hanukkah, again, whether it's a Muslim community that wants to celebrate Ramadan. Of course, as long as it's equally protected, the ACLJ team will be there and will be supporting.
Obviously, the majority of the issues that come out, though. As this case shows. Are issues that seem to be targeted on what the biggest holiday and the one uh that is you know the one preaching peace and is of course celebrated by the mass majority of people in our country. That's right. So, once again, how do we find these even?
People go to aclj.org/slash help. If this is something that maybe your own community has had an issue with, the law is clear on it. Not only is the constitution clear on it, but there's a Supreme Court precedent that. Reinforces sometimes with the exact same circumstances, exact same facts as what we're dealing with here. But if you have an issue in your town, go to aclj.org/help.
Or even we have many times people that are in senior living centers that they're not allowed to put up Christmas decorations that are religious on their door or in their own living space. We will not just turn away from these issues. You may think it's just me personally. It's a small issue. It's not.
There is no issue too small. If it's within our scope and it's a constitutional violation, you're going to get the best legal representation in the world for free. When you come to the ACLJ and contact us, and we will fight and make sure your rights are respected. But we also can't do that. Without the ACLJ members and champions that support this work, that make it so that no issue is too small or no issue is too big, we are there to make it right under the law.
Understand here, we have traveled around the world today, and we're ending this in a local community. Who simply wants to have an activity scene? That is the scope of the work of the ACLJ. We have team members right now in Morocco who just got back. We have Jeff Balabon at ACLJ Jerusalem.
Every day we have our European Center, our ECLJ, working nonstop on cases that are happening around Europe. We have our team in Washington, D.C. that are working directly with the top political leaders to make sure you are represented, that your voice is being heard, and that the issues you care about are still what is being talked about, discussed, debated, and made into law here in the United States of America. And then? Our team goes to a local community.
Where is it again, Will? It's in Brighton, New York. In Brighton, New York. Because none of these issues are small. They may seem small, but understand whether we are talking about massive human rights violations against people of faith around the world.
Where it is life or death. Or we are talking about a community that wants to put up a nativity scene at Christmas. We have different ACLJ teams that are ready to be deployed. That only happens. If people like you support.
You know what happened? Will sent me an article today. I couldn't read it. You know why I couldn't read it because it's behind a paywall. You know what the ACLJ team does?
No paywalls. And I mean that in terms of the content we produce. Whether that's this show you're seeing, the articles we put out on our website, all of the social media content we put out, no one has to pay anything for it. That also means no paywalls, by the way, if you need legal representation. That is incredible.
A lot of these people could not afford to have the legal staff that we have ready to go. We do it at no cost to them. That only happens. That only exists. When people Who enjoy the content, who think we need to be there for people in their local communities, who think we need to be around the world.
Decide to step up. And during these special months, And specifically this one that wraps up in just a couple days. If you support the work of the ACLJ right now, it is doubled. You've heard about the incredible work we're doing around the world. religious liberty, life, election integrity, all the things that we've been discussing for weeks now.
But now is the time for you to step up as well.
So if you're seeing that QR code on your screen. Or if you are driving around, you're listening to us. When you get to a moment where you can, you know, pull off to the side or whatever it may be during this month. I need you to support the work of the ACLJ. There's no paywalls because people like you support.
And there's not a better time to support than right now because your donation goes double. as far. Make your tax-deductible donation today, your gift will be doubled. Just got a couple days till our deadline. We have to engage in all of these fronts.
I think it's incredibly important.
So go to aclj.org slash liberty. That is aclj.org slash liberty or scan the QR code that you see on the screen right now. As we wrap up these important months, again, this is when you hear me talk about it the most. Because it is the most important. Your dollars go the furthest they can go.
That is at aclj.org. Scan the QR code if you can. We'll be back tomorrow with a brand new show. Just for you. See you then.
