Today on Sekulow, protests erupt in New York against the mayor from the radical left. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments.
For call, one eight hundred six eight four three one one zero. And now your host. Welcome to Sekulow. Will Haines here, joined in studio by Jordan Sekulow. Later on in the broadcast, we're going to have Senator Bill Haggerty from Tennessee.
You won't want to miss that, as he breaks down where he sees the midterms going, as well as some of the policy issues that should be front and center. But Jordan, this is one of those stories you love to see. Because after spending all of this time yesterday talking about how egregious and disgusting the statement that the mayor of New York put out on October seventh about. the The way that he tied war crimes and tried to equate Hamas and Israel, but yet almost make Hamas the victim of October seventh in the aftermath of that, and we spent plenty of time. If you watch that broadcast, and we have an article up at aclj.org about why words matter in times like these, but you don't love to see the disrespect that was shown at this vigil because it was a vigil for the victims of October seven.
Held last night in New York City, and the mayor attended.
So you, that is something that he should have done. Yeah.
However, there were protests not from people thinking it was disrespectful of him being there from the radical left. For him, they're chanting that he's guilty of genocide. Yes, because he showed up at at a vigil for people that were killed. I mean, I think this yes, a hundred percent is that he showed up at all for Jews. And they showed for all four Israeli Jews who were killed on October seventh.
He wasn't speaking. I don't think at this. This it was just he attended. Just like and again, this is after he put out a statement that was very short on what happened to the Israelis on October seventh and what Hamas did, and very long if you look at the statement on how horrible the Israeli response has been in the the terminology he uses. But this is.
How radical his own base is! If you even show up. To acknowledge that what happened on October seventh was wrong, and that you believe that because of that you had an Israeli response that you also believe was over the top and wrong, also that you can't even be there, you can't show any any kind of solidarity with people who you acknowledge on October seventh were attacked, was a terror attack, and you can again still look at his statement. He. Still thinks what Israel did in response was much worse, but he's—you cannot appease.
That radical left that he is the he's been crowned the new leader of you know he's a he proclaims himself as a socialist and they had chance ready to go against him once again I think and we'll play these chance in the next segment but when we talk about this and we've said hey when they say from the river to the sea believe them yeah when they make genocidal statements believe them this is the perfect example because the mayor just went to a vigil for people that died on the deadliest day. Outside City Hall, outside his office, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. That's what yesterday marked. That was the vigil that they were there for, and people showed up not just with Palestinian flags, Hezbollah flags, signs that said "We stand in solidarity with Iran," signs that held up fallen Hezbollah leaders that they were mourning at this vigil, Hamas flags.
So when they say things like "from the river to the sea," it's not just a slogan. It's not just some lefty hippie college student. It is genocidal, terroristic language, and they mean it so much so that their poster boy, that they got elected as the mayor of New York City, is no longer radical enough for them because he showed up. Where constituents were mourning the death of Jews and Israelis and Americans on October seventh. This is real, folks, and we're going to get more into it in the next segment.
As I said, you'll love to see it from Andami getting a taste of what reality is. I don't think it's going to change anything. If anything, it may make him more radical. But we'll break it all down in the next segment on Sekulow and support the work of the ACLJ at aclj.org. Welcome back to Sekulow, and this is a story that I was not expecting to develop last night.
After we spent so much time talking about the statement that the mayor of New York put up on October seventh, and how how tepid it was, and how it undid all the goodwill that he may have gotten just a week before with his combating anti-Semitism strategy. Was released and where he spent about a quarter of his post morning October seventh dedicated to October seventh, and then he spent about three fourths of it, three quarters of it, going after Israel and the United States. I thought that was as low as it could get yesterday on October seventh. It's like everyone said, can we just have a day that you don't have to be anti-Israel and anti-American? Can you just have one day, mayor, and then you know he did a mayoral thing and he went to the vigil that was outside City Hall, and we can play some of this.
This is what he was met with at this candlelight vigil. Bite one.
So if you hear that, and if you're watching, I mean, he's got a very stoic look on his face. Clearly, I don't think he wanted to be there to begin with, but clearly, all his supporters are now turning on him, chanting things like "Traitor, traitor! Come on out! You sold all your people out!" There also were chants of "Mandami, you can't hide! We charge you with." Genocide.
The man has been the mayor of New York since January first of this year, and has done nothing but try and arrest Bibi Netanyahu, threaten things, and make it worse for American Jews in the city of New York. But yet, Jordan, if you even acknowledge October seventh was a thing, it appears those that chant from the river to the sea are going to come after you because they mean it. Yeah, and I think what probably angered them was language that we think was actually the wrong language to use. You know, he, I think you could when he condemned the war crimes by Hamas, that that again kind of legitimizes Hamas as this military group. We talked about that before as a as a real, it's not just a almost right instead of a terror group that is controlled by Iran.
So. Even in that statement, yes, they committed war crimes and other other acts that were illegal. He left it at that, and he went on that long statement about how, but the the crimes didn't in there, and the suffering didn't in there, and it was all blame Israel. But I think for this crowd, the fact that he even acknowledged. That Palestinian Muslims did something really bad on October seventh.
Whether you think they were justified by taking any kind of action against Israelis or not, the action that they did take crossed the line. To acknowledge in a statement that alone will was way too much. For these radical pro-Palestinian protesters, a lot of them white kids—not all of them, but a lot of them white kids—who have probably never been to that region of the world—but are ready to call him a traitor because his statement wasn't all about Palestinians and it didn't justify. It wasn't pro-Hamas. It didn't justify the actions of Hamas.
He never used the word terror. He didn't call it terrorism. No, he called it a war crime, which which legally has a very big distinction. Yeah, war crimes. There, there are international conventions.
It is two state actors. That that also infers that Hamas was engaged in legitimate conflict and went too far. Right in some actions. Right. It would be like you know you can go to war, and not all of the wars that you've conducted.
The war is horrible. Is a war crime. There can be aspects where a certain brigade or division. Is found in in courts, and as we look at the look at tribunals after a war has come to a close, they found that you know certain generals or leadership may have been conducting activity that leads to a war crimes designation. That doesn't mean the entire war and the entire military or the entire nation was guilty of war crimes.
It's interesting that he uses that because then if you flip that on on Israel, how can you take such an anti Israel Jewish position. If you believe that while it was just some of actions by Hamas were war crimes, well, then what about Israel? You're just saying that some of them were were war crimes, and other parts of it were legitimate defense of of their own people who were attacked on October 7th. They didn't start the attacking. They were attacked.
They responded. They're a much bigger, stronger military. And as they said, this they can never allow this to happen again. The never again kind of thing. If you're going To hit countries that have a real militaries, if you are going to hit them hard, they're going to hit you back much harder.
Well, and this is it is shocking to see that one. But we can't acknowledge, can't even acknowledge. I mean, you say with this reality because he's living in this this like post genocide world where you can't even acknowledge that on one side there was something wrong too that you have to be.
So pro Hamas, so pro Palestinian. That anything they did, any of the children they killed, any of the people they kidnapped, any of the rape they carried out, anything that they, the videos they put out, the executions—that you can't condemn any of that. You can only condemn Israel's actions and stand with the Palestinian people. And that's why at this, at these, these, these people who attended this counter protest were were not just waving Palestinian. Flags, but Hezbollah and Hamas, Hezbollah, yeah, and Hamas flags in the streets of New York City on a day when Hamas killed the most Jews in one day since the Holocaust.
Well, and once again, and they had signs that said "Liberation in Action" and had silhouettes of paragliders in October seven.
So yes. These individuals that were there—they were pro. What happened? They are pro October seventh. They are pro terror, and I think that's what's we also can't lose here.
Is the mayor is probably going to make this out? He's been very good with PR. He's been very savvy as a politician. He's going to use this moment to be like, "Look, I'm a moderate." You know people on the right that are very extreme that are are pro Israel. They don't like me.
They didn't like my statement. wasn't good enough for them. But look, my own constituents, those that elected me, those that are from socialist organizations, they're not happy with me either. Look, I'm just the moderate guy here in New York.
So don't don't think he's going to miss that opportunity as well. That that is definitely in the mayor's playbook to try and spin this and make this a positive for himself. I mean, he clearly didn't look happy to be there. He also decided after this to go to dinner last night at the only Palestinian restaurant on the Upper East Side.
So there is that as well, where everything he does seems to be messaging and symbolic of of look, I am still with you, even if I go to the vigil. That was clearly planned out as well.
So don't let even the optics, as as wild as it is, to see him reap what he has sown. One, it's horrific for those that were there to mourn last night. That that is a form of terrorism. What those protesters were doing, holding up signs in support of Hezbollah and support of Hamas, that is very much a trying to intimidate psychologically those that are there to hold a candlelight vigil.
So, for the mayor, you kind of hope that it could be a reckoning moment. For him, it won't be. I don't believe that he is going to change or think any differently than he does now. Get out of this moment. But at the same time, just imagine the people that are there to mourn.
It's only three years past that. Imagine on a three years after nine eleven at Ground Zero, people holding up pro Al Qaeda flags and saying, "Leave Bin Laden alone." I mean that is the equivalent of what they are doing right there last night, and it's shocking, Jordan. Yes, and I think the idea here, and it's a lesson: when you start working with these these radical groups, you can't go halfway with them, and and you get your you get their support, and you get through this primary, and you become mayor at a very young age by kind of tapping into the radicalism of New York City and young people and protesters. But they're not rational, right? They they have chosen a side, and their side is terror groups, whether it's Hamas or Hezbollah or Iran.
It's not just the Palestinian people. They've chosen a side in a conflict.
So if you choose a side in a conflict, you then can't acknowledge that your side. Did anything wrong, or was the reason the conflict began? And that's why I think they were so upset that they feel like they've been thrown under the bus. They've been that Mandami is already a traitor. This is someone who tries.
It's like he wakes up every day and tries to. How can I spew some anti-Semitism today without it being looking so anti-Semitic on first read? Right. I mean, I think if he were to wear. A kaffiya and have a Palestinian lapel pin.
That wouldn't be enough. That wouldn't be enough. I think if he would have not shown up, they may have been okay with that, right? Because it was a vigil for the victims of October 7th. It wasn't a vigil for everyone.
It was a victim. It was a vigil for the the Israeli Jews who were killed and kidnapped on October 7th. If he had not shown up. The counter protesters may have been there to protest the Jews and to kind of try and disrupt things, but they wouldn't have focused their attention on Mandami. You can't have it both ways.
You can't demonize. The Jewish state of Israel and the people, and the Jewish people, and then at the same time expect your supporters to be okay with going to a vigil for those who were targeted on October seventh by Islamic radicals, folks. We will be right back with more on this, as well as C. C. Heil, senior counsel here at the ACLU, to give an update on an important case out of Pakistan.
We will be right back with more. Welcome back to Sekulow. We are joined now by C.C. Hyle, senior counsel here at the ACLJ, and oversees our international work. But C.C., this is a case many people have followed for quite some time here at the ACLJ, as we've been involved with it.
And there's some celebration, but also some heartbreak that comes with what we're about to discuss. This is a case out of Pakistan. We are going to give you some great news that we've been fighting for, and a lot of you ask about all the time. But we're also going to give you an action point of how you can still be praying, getting involved, supporting the ACLU as the fight is not over. But this is the A.U.
brothers that were on death row. In Pakistan for the blasphemy laws, and I want you to give an update to everyone of of where we are now after yesterday. Yes, so I'll just give a little bit more background too, just because these two brothers were arrested. They were actually charged in 2011. One was arrested in 2014.
One was arrested in 2015, and they were arrested for charges of posting blasphemous material online. Which during the trial we actually represented a moon. From the very beginning through his whole trial process, and during the trial, they didn't provide any evidence that linked our client to any of these postings at all. And so we went through the whole process of going through the trial court where they got convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. Then we went through the process at the Lahore High Court, the appeal that, and then in 2022 that was upheld.
So then we went to the Supreme Court, and we've been to the Supreme. Court since that 2022 appeal from the Lahore High Court, and 13 times this case has been scheduled to be heard, and 13 times it was postponed. Finally, finally, and at the Supreme Court, I'll say we actually then took on the brother too.
So we then at during the Supreme Court represented a Moon and Kaiser in this case. Finally, on July 6, the Supreme Court heard the arguments and just. This week, we got the opinion from the Supreme Court that acquitted Amin Ayub, but sadly upheld the conviction for Kaiser Ayub.
So, what is interesting about this? This is the first time. First time the Pakistan has ever upheld at the Supreme Court a blasphemy conviction, so it's very, very disconcerting. Because you know Pakistan wants to say, "Oh, we're being more Western and and more you know democratic." That's right, absolutely. But yet this is the first time that they've ever upheld a blasphemy conviction, and you have to remember the punishment is death by hanging.
Right. So we have one. We are in victory. He gets to walk free now. Walk free in Pakistan doesn't mean that you're super free.
That's right. We have to protect him. The mobs will be after him, so we have to be very discreet in what we do and getting him out and changing his location and everything else. But the fight doesn't end now for his brother. We have the ability to file a revision petition at the Supreme Court, which is different from our United States Supreme Court.
We actually can file a revision petition. A larger bench has to hear that, right? And we are going to do that because there is no reason that these false blasphemy charges should stand.
Well, and for people that are more familiar with our legal system, that sounds very much like the appeals court. How if a three-judge panel hears something, you can ask for an en banc review, where it still stays in that same court level. Which obviously, Supreme Court, that's the final quarter of review there in in Pakistan. But it's asking for a broader look at it. It's like.
Similar analogy to the Onbunk panel, asking a broader panel at the appeals court to hear a case if you believe that you didn't get the outcome you wanted.
So I I think one be be thankful, continue to pray for Amun, yes, because of his safety. But imagine that nine years on death row, yeah, that we and we have been fighting, yes, nine years for this this young man who is now grown up on death row. We have achieved victory. That is by God's grace, by the hard work of our attorneys doing all that legal work. But we have the brother who is a more recent client of the ACLJs.
But now we have that opportunity. But it can't just be hoping for the legal system to do the right thing in this review panel.
Now we have to make the world hear about this. Absolutely, this is like an all-out effort internationally that everyone. Their voices that this cannot stand that Pakistan cannot enforce this conviction for it literally a false blasphemy charge where there was no evidence they did not prove their case they cannot enforce it that is absolutely ridiculous and we do we're we're balancing it because we do have the victory on the one hand and I just want to point out just a humanitarian side, Aamir's wife. Every single week for eleven years, she took a train, four to five hour ride to the prison, four to five hour ride from the prison. Every single week for eleven years, she visited her husband, and now that sweet woman gets to have her husband back, and that is an amazing victory.
But then it also just makes it even more sad for the brother Kaiser, and we have to absolutely every single needs person needs to raise. Their voice, especially from the international world, this cannot stand.
Well, explain to folks because I just—if there's any confusion out there about how one brother gets found and they they throw out the charges. I mean, including a penalty that would have been the death penalty, so serious. And then one brother, they say, no, he should still be put to death. Yes.
So we do not have the full opinion, so we don't have that yet. Yeah.
However, I would say there was a difference. The trial court. We represented Amun all through the trial court.
So our defense and our that's right.
So the record that gets preserved is different for the two clients. We didn't take on Kaiser the brother until he got to the Supreme Court level and wanted to hire us as well. Got it. And so that's how it is. A little bit different.
The trial record is different, but truthfully, the facts are the same. Right. This. That's yes. It was an online post.
And that is not a reason for someone to suffer death by hanging. And they never, even if you are guilty, even if you did say something, a blasphemy charge. This is 2026, folks. Yeah, this shouldn't be a world where people are being hung to death. Because of something posted online, it's nuclear power, not a nuclear power, and one that wants to be more friendly with the Western world.
So you know what they need to be embarrassed by this, absolutely. And that's what we're going to do here, and we need your help.
So you can support the work of the ACLJ. You can go to aclj dot org slash sign, where you can put your name behind this, and you can sign our petition. Because where are we taking that? We're taking it to the halls of Congress. We're taking it to the White House.
We're taking it to the UN. We Have a lot of resources here, but we can't do any of it without you.
So sign that petition today, and if you can donate to this effort, aclj.org is the place to do it as well. But go to aclj.org/slash/sign. Sign that petition because this is absurd. It's twenty twenty-six. And even if it's like, yeah, he's guilty of this crime, that shouldn't be a crime.
But the reality is, is they use these things to keep Christians oppressed. That's all these blasphemy laws are. They are concerned, and they want to keep the minority down in their country that happens to be Christians.
So, Pakistan, you're on notice from the ACLJ and all our members and CC. I know that you're going to continue to give us updates, but we got to be loud about this now, folks. We have a great victory that we worked for nine years on. That I don't know a week that's gone by in those nine years that I haven't talked to you or someone else in our office about this case. And that is a wonderful victory for that man, even though he suffered an injustice for nine years.
But his brother still needs our help, and we're going to continue until we get justice for him as well.
So support our work at aclj.org.
Now is the time to do it. It's going to be full court press, and the world will hear about this case. Sign the petition at aclj.org today, folks, because we want justice in Pakistan, and we can get it with your help. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow.
Welcome to Sekulow second half hour of the broadcast. I'm Will Haynes, joined in studio by Jordan Sekulow, and after this segment. We will be joined by Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, and we're going to into a lot of stuff because the the doom and gloom about the midterm elections and where the Senate sits. He's got a very interesting perspective that we're going to ask him about. As he is a sitting senator, he is in a party that is currently in the majority, as well as The all of the talk now is no longer about the House.
That's a foregone conclusion. It's how big will Democrats win in November to take back the Senate.
So we're going to ask him about that because I'm certain he has a unique perspective on it, and I can't wait to hear it. But Jordan, we're going to also ask him about policy, about China, about Iran, because of all these things that he is an expert, a leading senator on these issues. But there's a little bit of breaking news about Iran as we sit here. There is.
So this just came across as we were looking just during the break, and it broke on Fox News that President Trump has ruled out striking Iran before the November third midterm election. Saying, "quote, productive discussions are ongoing." He did say that while the blockade will remain in full force and effect, there will be oil flowing in record numbers of barrels through the Hormuz Strait—22 million barrels last night alone—with not one barrel going from or going to Iran.
So we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections to be held the United States on November 3rd. But, but did in the statement. And Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.
So I think again, putting out some of these statements.
Some of this is political, leading into the fact that early voting has started in some states. He is traveling to some red states, and he has already been in places like Nebraska. He's going to be in Tennessee this weekend as well, and so we are seeing President Trump, you know, kind of hit the campaign trail. I think these statements he puts out as President United States are to assist those candidates because they're getting asked questions, right and And listen, it's very hard if if you're not the President and you get asked questions about okay, what what do you think is going to happen next in Iran without some direct signals of information that has been shared publicly. You know, you can't just can't take your confidential or classified briefings and let everyone know.
So by the President, I think putting this out again, it kind of shows our hand and his hand in in just how he feels about proceeding with Iran between now and November and election. That's not long-term output, but it's you know over a little bit less than a month, you know, and and we talk often about and it. He gives that time frame the President, but how many many we've had viewers and callers call in and say, "I think Iran is waiting till after the midterms," which which on its face sounds like such a funny thing to say that a foreign power, that an adversary that we are in a conflict with, is is you know planning and trying to decide what to do around our. Internal domestic political cycle, and you know we're very different. We have three separate co-equal branches of government.
So, so why would you know we're not a parliamentary system? We're not where the the the legislative branch flips and you get a new executive as well. Why would they do that?
Well, you have to think back to who told the world that's the thing to do. It was two individuals: Barack Obama and John Kerry. Barack Obama told the Russians. Remember, he said this.
Next election will be my last election.
So tell Vladimir that give me until then, and I'll have a lot more flexibility. That's the first sign: the President, the leader of the free world, telling the Russians, "Give me through this election." And then you had John Kerry, who arguably violated the law, even though that law may or may not be constitutional, the Logan Act, that said he went to the Iranians. During the first Trump term, and said, "Hey, give us until after the election; we'll have more flexibility." And then Joe Biden happened to win in 2020, and a new President was in power.
So, who tells our adversaries to wait until after an election? The Democrats, the Obama cronies, and himself.
So never forget that when we start to talk about something that should be an absurd thing, that our executive branch, who is still going to be in power, may be easier to manipulate after an election. Who did that? Barack Obama and John Kerry. We'll be back with more on Secular with Senator Bill Hagerty in studio, and support our work at aclj.org. Welcome back to Sekulow, and we are honored, as always, to have Bill Hagerty, the senator from Tennessee, joining us in studio today.
It's always a special treat to have the senator here. And Jordan, how about you? Go ahead and walk us through some of the pressing issues we've got of the day. Jump right into it, because we've got a national audience. I want to start there.
And senator, they're hearing a lot of doom and gloom. I mean, the truth is, they turn on. It doesn't really matter which cable news. Channels they turn on. They say it's going to is this going to be impossible of a hill to climb?
And we we keep trying to reiterate to them that if we get out there and vote, we win. And stop listening to the polls. Stop listening to the pundits. We know there's enough voters out there, especially in midterm elections, for any Republican and any Democrat to win. It's who gets the people out.
I think the design here is the demoralization of Republican voters. That's that's the objective. I put into one of the The large language models a couple of days ago just asked it to provide me with the current polling for the United States Senate. If you believe those polls, you would think we're going to get wiped out in a landslide. That there's no no senator could win any race.
These are the public polls, these are the polls that are being put out by the media, by the Democrats. They don't compare in any way to our private polling. But I think what's most important is that we have voter turnout on our side. That's where enthusiasm. Really matters.
That's why President Trump is traveling around the country trying to get the base energized. He'll be back for me here in Tennessee on Saturday. He's he's moving around the country trying to get Republican voters to realize: look, it does matter that you voted the midterm. And I know he's not going to be on the ballot, but without our support, he's not going to be doing anything other than just fending off the left and dealing with legal challenges and things we we definitely worked with here at the ACLJ, but and in our private capacity. But things we don't want to hamper those final two years, and the Senate playing the very key role there.
You, you, because again, Tennessee is coming to Tennessee, which is interesting because this is a deep red state. But you've also been traveling the country, and you have picked up on some races that have been concerning to you as well. That people, our audience, should know about. We've been preaching them too, and kind of going through lists and saying, "Hey, if you've got extra support, you can get to this race or that race." Let me take you through the math, at least how I see it. On the Senate front, right now we're at 53 Republicans, 47 Democrats.
If you think about where we can add a couple of seats, I'll go first to Michigan. Mike Rogers is going up against El Saeed. The public polls have El Saeed up one point. I I can't imagine that our turnout operation cannot defeat a one point margin in the public polls. And I also think the enthusiasm definitely should be with Mike Rogers, former FBI agent.
You know, a a terrific guy, somebody that's got all the confidence in the world going up against. You know the Democrat Socialist poster boy with this guy El Saeed, and it's just been amazing. I should say the overwhelming outpouring I've had from Democrats who are Jewish, who do not want to see this happen in their country.
So I think that we have a very good shot at putting Michigan on the board that takes us to fifty-four. Then let's go to New Hampshire for a minute. There, John Sununu is running. John has been in the Senate before, his father and. His brother were both governors, a very popular political name in in New Hampshire politics at the governor's level.
You've got Kelly Ayotte, who is running strong. She will win on the governor's race, and that's going to give momentum to Sinunu, that I think is very powerful.
So I can get to fifty-five right there. Then you've got to ask yourself, where do you start subtracting? Right. Let's go to Maine. Just take it, take take it there.
Every every cycle, Susan Collins is going to lose Maine, and she never does. Right, and she never does, and she's not going to lose it this time. She's actually up in the New York Times poll. I couldn't believe it, which means she's probably up five or six. She's up.
She's never up in the polls. She's never up in the polls. Five already. I mean, so the fact is, she she's going to win that. You know, she had Graham Plattenner there to to begin with, the the Nazi that the Democrats were were putting for.
And they've replaced him with somebody just as bad.
So I think the the people in Maine are seeing through that, and I do think that Susan wins. Let's let's move to Ohio, a race that's going to be a very hard fought, very expensive. There you've got a great guy in John Yuster. John was lieutenant governor, appointed to fill the seat that J.D. Vance left, and he's running against a an old time.
Politician, forty-four years. I think he's been on the ballot. It's funny to hear Bernie Moreno talk about it, to hear John Yooz talk about it. This guy's been on the ballot since these guys were in grade school. Yeah, yeah.
And I think the first job he ever had coming out of college went to Yale. And you know, started in elected politics and has never left, and doesn't know what to do. We we we argue that maybe we should have gotten him a real job these past two years.
So Chuck Schumer has convinced him to come back to run again. I've got to believe that Ohioans are tired of of this guy, but you know, it's something that we've got to take take really into account because he has high name recognition. Right, he's been there, and they they've pulled the number of people in Ohio still think the guy's an incumbent.
So I think it's a it's a question of educating voters, letting them know that Sherrod Brown has let them down. And John Huston's got a lot, a lot to talk about.
So that race right now is polling a dead heat. I think Houston can pull it out, but turnout's going to be absolutely critical there in Ohio as well. It seems like that what the Democrat Party did was they said, "Let's try a different strategy here, which is we're going to pick this person for here, we're going to pick this person for here." They might not actually work that well together, but we have a chance to win. And then we go to some of the hijinks like Alaska, where I mean, you you called me about that, and it was. Pretty shocking to get that call because you don't.
You know, Alaska. I wouldn't put in the Tennessee category of red. It's certainly more unique, I think, because but also the size is small. Getting to people can be difficult. But the fact that that's one where I mean, it's just so obvious that they were doing anything possible.
Well, and my favorite part about the hijinks, as Jordan called it in Alaska, is the New York Times sent a reporter to Alaska to get to the bottom of it, right? And they said, "We're going to find out: is this person a Democrat plant?" To take votes from the real Dan Sullivan, or is he a legitimate guy? And this is a big coincidence. And the reporter decided we can't figure it out. I think that tells you everything you need to know.
If the New York Times says we don't have enough evidence either way, you know what the real deal is. There, the real deal is very obvious, and only it only exists because of ranked choice voting. If if you didn't have that, the the the incentive would not exist to do what they're doing in Alaska. But here's what Chuck Schumer did: he's trying to confuse Alaskan voters. They get a guy who is actually a donor.
To the Democrat opponent to Dan Sullivan, the guy's a donor. He works with the same operatives, the same Democrat operatives, and he tries to register as Dan S. Sullivan, which is the real Dan Sullivan's middle initial. That's not that's not the fake Dan Sullivan's middle initial, but he actually put that middle initial down in his registration papers. I mean, it is so obvious.
This is a fraud being perpetrated on Alaskans, and the goal here with ranked choice voting is to peel away a couple of three points.
So as Jordan said, Alaska would normally go for Sullivan. I would say six or seven points in the red, you know, for red over blue. But they get in this ranked choice voting the top four vote getters. It gets a little worse than this Daniel J. Sullivan guy.
The fourth person in terms of vote count was another left wing Democrat. I'm on the phone with the real Dan Sullivan the day that the the deadline was was up and he said by five o'clock I guarantee you Barack Obama will have promised this woman an ambassadorship or something something big in the Democrat Party maybe the job that we wish Sherrod Brown had I don't know but she drops off just as Dan was was was was was afraid she would and you know a guy who's been a perennial candidate a Republican is now the fourth on the ballot no chance of winning but could he peel off you know a percent or Could the fake Dan Sullivan peel off another couple of percentage, and that makes this really close?
So Alaska is one where we need to send resources. We need to help the real Dan Sullivan. He's a great guy. He's been a good senator, and they are trying to pull a fraud on the. I would think too, in a place like Alaska, when you talk about resources, we've talked about Ohio and the amount of money there, and some of these other states that are got so many media markets.
You would imagine in Alaska, money could go pretty far. I would think so. People's support could go far. You don't have to be someone that can donate, you know, thousands of dollars. Your fifty bucks could could go a long way.
Yeah, I think it could make a real difference. But this this this fraud that they're trying to perpetrate could be one more Senate seat.
So it it it's certainly very good reason to be concerned. I never dreamed we'd be talking about Alaska in this sort of setting, and here we are. No, I mean, and of course Texas too. I mean, you go to Texas too, where that's the that's the other one where it's. I think polling's gotten better.
But it's still, you know, even they're saying the gubernatorial poll that wasn't on the map of anyone, and again, these are the polls, and it does seem like they're trying to press our vote, but. I don't want to let them do that, and I think that sometimes it's good entertainment for shows like ours to do the doom and gloom and start the blame game now. But but we don't we know what happens if if the Senate goes and the House goes or even just one of them, and Donald Trump is President. Motivation is clear: the media and and their allies and the and the Democrat Party are pushing very hard to demoralize Republican voters. But you know.
It's always a Texas. The Democrats always talk about Texas, but they can't pull it off, and I don't see them doing it this time. This. This Talarico guy, whoever he is, you know the the multi gender. I don't even know where this guy's philosophy comes from, but it doesn't seem to fit with Texas at all.
But again, you you hear the media just just enthralled with the opportunity, so to speak, to take that state. As you roll through it, though, and I put Iowa on the on the map as well. One we're concerned about, I think it's going to have a very positive impact with President Trump. President Trump's elimination of diesel fuel taxes, because the farmers are really feeling. I can tell you, that's true here in my home state of Tennessee.
That's good for Ashley. Yeah, Ashley Hansen. She's she's she's a great candidate. She should win there, but she's been under fire too. And there's a gubernatorial race that's not that's not going well for Republicans, and so she's going to have to to work very hard to make that work.
Iowa is not a is not a blue state, but Ashley is Ashley needs some help right there as well. But if you run through all of it, I have a very hard time. Subtracting from that initial fifty-five and getting down to a point where we would actually get to fifty or below, so we're going to have to work. We can't take things for granted, but I absolutely believe that we can make a strong Republican showing here if our voters turn out and support Republican candidates. We have more to talk about, but will yeah, and we're going to hang out with the senator a little bit more.
We got a lot of policy questions as well. Welcome back to Sekulow. Final segment of the broadcast, and we are still joined by Senator Bill Hagerty from Tennessee and Senator. We one, I think that was very helpful for our audience to break down the state of the Senate because it is so much doom and gloom. If you read even conservative news sources, that you know, oh, this is it.
Throw your hands in the air. The sky is falling. But once again, midterms are always a turnout game, and and that's what we're here. And when you break it down like that, it is almost a hope. Situation for many of our listeners and callers that call and ask these questions every day.
Hearing it from you with your one the the the perfect way you broke down each race is was great for our audience to hear. But these are many of these individuals are your colleagues. You know them. You know how their ground game is going to work. You know their strategy and you know their heart and the policies that they're fighting for.
And I think one thing to me that is being lost in this midterm, as many times midterm. Are are focused on more local politics or more domestic politics? Where the the Presidential years, that's when you start to get into national security, economic trade, things of that nature. But I think this midterm cycle, more than any, we should be focusing on all of the threats that we face from China and Russia and even the Iran conflict ongoing. I know there's fatigue with some voters around that, but especially the economic issues when we talk domestic issues and Domestic pocketbook issues—you can't talk about those without the threat that the China has on our economy, or Russia on the global picture.
And I wonder if that's one thing that's missing from this discussion in this midterm cycle that typically isn't there, but maybe should be.
Well, t here is an underlying t here is an underlying issue that is affecting the midterms, and that's the situation in Iran. Because it's having a direct impact on gas and diesel prices here in America, the situation in Ukraine is also having an impact because that impacts fertilizer prices. There are other elements, naphtha, other other other inputs, if you will, that have become more expensive as a result of the unrest in the world. and And I'll come back to the Iran situation if I can take a minute because here's where I here's where I think we are. the The Iranians were taught under the first Trump administration to Wait for the election.
This is exactly what John Kerry told them in in 2020, when the Iranians were very close to making a deal with the Trump administration. I was U.S. ambassador to Japan at that point. My job was to get the Japanese to stop buying Iranian crude oil. We did that around the world.
We brought the Iranian economy close to a shutdown. It's worse today than it was then. But John Kerry went to them and said, "Wait till the election. You may get a better result." Well, they did. They got Joe Biden, who immediately released sanctions.
By May of 2021, you know this. The 11-day war breaks out in Israel. The Houthis hit Saudi. You know what happened October 7th of 2023. All of this being funded by Iran, that's now flush with cash thanks to the Biden administration.
They're waiting for the election on November the 3rd, is what I think is happening. But they don't have any. No pun intended. They don't have any gas left. Right.
So I think after November the 3rd, we're going to see a pretty rapid situation where the Iran situation gets addressed. Once Iran is addressed, once we get that energy back on the world markets, Russia becomes a lot easier to deal with. And as we deal with Russia and Ukraine, what I think we'll see is is a dramatic reduction in inflation. We've already lowered inflation tremendously from the Biden years, right? But I think we're going to see, particularly on on fuel and input costs, a dramatic positive impact.
If you look at the stock market today, that's forward looking. The stock market already has a positive view of the economy. We're hitting new records. We last week was incredible.
So if you look to the mid to the long term, I think our economy is going to be in much better shape. But we've got to deal. With the most immediate situation, get the midterms behind us. Deal with Iran, deal with Russia, and then the focus long term is, as you say, China. Right.
I do want to talk a little about Tennessee, our home state, and you're running again for U.S. Senate. What are you hearing from voters who you know well? Maybe new voters who've moved in more recently to Tennessee and maybe voting for you for the first time. Like, what issues are driving them?
Because I think the media is pushing a lot of issues that probably aren't actually driving everyday citizens. Who are just now starting to wake up to it. There is an election coming up, midterms get a little bit, you know, a lot smaller turnout, but there is early voting on the horizon as well. But as you travel the state of Tennessee, what do you hear?
Well, I talked to a lot of people who are new voters. This is their first time to vote in Tennessee, but they've come from other states, and they've come from other states for a reason. Because they, they they they view liberty and freedom as as precious rights, and they aren't seeing that in the states that are leaving. If you look at what's happening here with respect to crime, I've worked my heart out in Memphis, bringing the Memphis Safe Task Force to bear. We have had a crime reduction of almost fifty percent in total.
Look at look at the decline in in every level, whether it's homicide rates, cars, carjackings, etc. You know, from fifty percent to two thirds down. Memphis is becoming one of the safest cities. In America, over the last year, again a forty-seven percent reduction in crime in Memphis overall. The same period in Minneapolis, a twelve percent increase in crime.
Yeah, policy policy absolutely matters, and you've got this striking contrast between a city and a state that cooperates with the federal government, Memphis, and you've got this contrast in Minneapolis in Minnesota with a city and a state that don't want to cooperate with the federal government, and the people are being held hostage. Crime is going up. You see what's happening with the fraud. You know, Minneapolis is a basket case. Minnesota has turned into a basket case.
People are moving to Tennessee, so that contrast is coming clearer and clearer to people. And that's what's bringing people here to Tennessee. They want to preserve liberty and freedom. They want to be safe. They don't want to be overrun.
They want the fraud out of the system, and they know that we do that here in Tennessee. We preserve freedom. We preserve liberty, and we're for the taxpayer, not for the government. And as well, I think I mean we talk. About those global issues, the economic issues, the trade issues, because of a state like Tennessee that has really, because of positive leadership, whether it be through your leadership as a senator, through the the great governors that we've had over the past decades now, that have really put us on a national and global stage economically.
That's also attractive to people that move here. But we've also seen the people that move here. They don't move here and try to change Tennessee into their image. To a better California, they actually come here because they love the the history of Tennessee. They love the the politics, for lack of a better word, of Tennessee.
The freedom, the liberty here, and and they they love it and become Tennesseans. And I think that that's what's a beautiful thing about the way this state has progressed, for lack of a better term, and grown through economic development and and population development, is that we still keep. Our core values here, but are able to grow into a very modern global state. Yeah, well, I hear people describe themselves as refugees when they arrive here, but but they're corporate refugees as well. You think about Oracle Corporation moving moving to Tennessee, eight thousand five hundred jobs they're talking about bringing Tennessee.
You know, the the cutting edge of high tech enterprise, and it's moving right here. What's happening in nuclear energy in Oak Ridge National Labs and around East Tennessee? There's a renaissance going on in energy right now. It's happening right here in Tennessee. These companies are thriving here, and that's attracting a lot of activity.
Well, Senator and Jordan, if you have anything else left, where where can folks go to to visit your campaign? Your message to to Tennessee voters, but also voters all across the country.
Well, my message is this: it's critical to turn out. The Democrats did this in 2022. Joe Biden had a miserable record, but they had their turnout game, and they went from a fifty-fifty Senate to actually picking up one seat. We can do the same thing. We got to turn out.
We got to have faith in our leadership, and we've got to to not let the media. And the Democrat noise makers dissuade us from getting out, turning out, and voting. If we do, we win. If we do, President Trump has the the support that he needs to continue moving the nation in the right direction. It's a positive situation.
If we don't, we're not going to get another person confirmed. We'll never get a Supreme Court justice confirmed, and we'll we'll have two years of of real problems. It's time to fight. Get your friends to the polls. Make sure they're registered.
Make sure you know when you can start early voting. All of that in center. As always, we appreciate. Your friendship with us here at the ACLJ and on this broadcast is. Thank you, Jordan.
Thank you, Senator, for joining us today, and thank you all of you for watching and listening to this broadcast. We'll be back tomorrow with much more on Sekulow, a lot more issues. But we once again want to thank the Senator for taking the time out of his busy schedule to come here and educate our audience about what's going on in the Senate, what's going on in Tennessee, the United States, and around the world. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
