Pres. Trump Takes Action to Protect the American People

Today on Jay Sekulow Live, President Trump takes direct action to help people during the pandemic. We'll talk about it and the potential legal challenges on Jay Sekulow Live.

Live from Washington D.C., Jay Sekulow Live. Politically, I do give credit to President Trump here. Now on the substance of it, really the analogy is when there were Obamacare subsidies to insurance companies that were not appropriated by Congress. President Obama did the exact same thing with money spending that President Trump is doing now. So the Democrats are on thin ground to criticize this as an unconstitutional executive order. Phone lines are open for your questions right now.

Call 1-800-684-3110. I would say if the Democrats want to challenge us in court and hold up unemployment benefits to those hardworking Americans that are out of a job because of COVID, they're going to have a lot of explaining to do. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. So the President has signed four executive actions. He did this on Saturday aimed at delivering relief to Americans who are struggling with the economic fallout of the COVID pandemic and accusing the Democrats in Congress of stonewalling and going home, greater aid efforts, not working together to do what they did the first time, which was a bipartisan legislation that was supported widely to make sure that Americans had unemployment aid, that they had assistance to renters and homeowners so that they weren't being evicted, a payroll tax holiday for people making a hundred thousand dollars or less a year, extensions of student loan relief. So the President, using his emergency powers as President by executive order, has done a $400 weekly federal unemployment aid. He signed that executive order, signed an executive order to renters and homeowners on evictions. And so whether it's paying a mortgage or paying rent that extends the evictions another 120 days, that moratorium, which was already in the legislation, a payroll tax holiday for employees making a hundred thousand dollars or less a year from September 1st to December 31st of 2020. So again, and then the extension of the student loan relief, the executive action suspends federal student loan payments and sets interest rates to 0% through December 31st. So again, this is what is this?

This is package number four, I guess, technically or three. And the idea here is that while people are unemployed, while people are hurting, that the government would come in and offer direct economic aid. Now, unfortunately, they've not been able to get this through Congress. So Congress has not been able to do this.

But this, I think it begs the question, I want to go to Thanh on this. And the question is, this is being done by executive order, executive decree by the President. What is the congressional mood and what is the congressional thought as to moving something forward?

Yeah, well, I think before you answer that question, you have to remind people why we got to this point. I mean, Democrats just last week, Jay, were offered an extension of the unemployment insurance benefits at the full $600 level. They refused it. So when Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer run to the microphones and say that this is not nearly enough, people have to remember they were offered everything that they asked for last week and turned it down.

So I don't think they want a deal, Jay. That's why we got to this point. Now, are there going to be legal challenges of some of these things? Of course, that is a knee jerk reaction in Washington, D.C. right now.

Jay, I actually think at least a couple of these, and I know you're going to get into this, but a couple of these at least will stand. Some of the others, there might be a fight over it. But to answer your question about the congressional response, Jay, I really don't believe Democrats in Washington, D.C. ever wanted a deal. And that's why we're at this point. I'll tell you who's going to be busy, the lawyers.

Lawyers are going to be busy. But why did the Democrats, Jordan, from a political standpoint, why did they say not going to do it? Americans suffering under President Trump heading into the election, I know it sounds sick, better for them than Americans who get the relief they need at least through the end of the year.

So whether it's the PPP extension and the payroll extension, the payroll tax holiday for those $100,000 under student loans, not being evicted, not having to worry about that, they want people to have to worry about that because they want to put the blame on President Trump. That's the sick reality of the politics at play here. That's why the first time around, it was far enough away from the election that everybody came together.

Kumbaya put it all together easy. Second time around, it's been this war again when it should have been the same thing, because really, this is about helping all Americans who cares what politics you have. And yet it is all about politics. I think they want to hurt. They think this will hurt the President because it will hurt Americans. It's pretty sick politics.

They play tough. Challenge ACLJ.org. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. Whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

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Take part in our Matching Challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

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Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash GIFT. You know, it's interesting because Ari Fleischer was on Fox News and we played this with our Facebook and Periscope audience and share this broadcast with your friends and family. If you're watching on Facebook and Periscope, it's great to bring them in as we discuss these issues that really do affect every single American as schools are going back. Those that are going back are going back like this week.

So we're going to see in these next couple of weeks, is that going to be a viable option in person, in class schooling? We've got all those students that we're representing. I'm going to call right after radio today about the situation out of New Hampshire potentially as well.

So I mean, there's a lot going on, but Ari Fleischer had this to say. It was, you know, it's interesting that here we have a Republican President and Republicans ready to dole out extra government assistance and who's standing in the way? The left.

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer by 21. It's a real role reversal. I'm used to decades of politics in Washington in which the Democrats positioned themselves as the only people who cared because they were willing to spend money. And that was the definition of caring in Washington. And Republicans came across as a group of accountants and bookkeepers who constantly said no.

Well, what's happened here? President Trump has flipped the tables. He is trying to get help to those who are unemployed. And the Democrats are coming across like a group of accountants and lawyers who are saying we can't do it.

So this is done for one reason, one reason only, and it's politics. Because if you look at what the President's outlined in the federal unemployment aid, calls for $400 a week supplement, similar to what was done last time, requires the states to pay for 25% of the 400 weekly supplement. So the federal government's picking up 75%, diverts $44 billion from FEMA in order to do this. Extra unemployment help would last until December 6 or until the disaster relief fund balance drops to $25 billion. Aid is on top of the existing state unemployment benefits. State payments do widely vary depending state to state.

But the idea is to try to keep money in the pockets of the American people. Jordan, you just mentioned the school situation. I saw over the weekend, there is talk now about getting direct aid. You know, we've got federal legislation talking about direct aid.

We'll get an update from Thanh on where that might be. But this is becoming a real conversation piece as the return to school, which ties right into this unemployment situation. There's just a lot of unknowns right now.

So many unknowns. I mean, Thanh, we have the School Choice Now Act. We've had people like Senator Rand Paul say, you know what, every federal dollar that goes towards education should just be allocated to parents right now because there's so much uncertainty. Your school could be going back this week.

But with that big, huge asterisk that says, you know, if we have a surge in COVID, we'll have to figure something else out. So that's for those schools that are even trying to go back. And I guarantee you, however that works, it will impact the schools that were planning to go back in a couple more weeks, in a couple more weeks. So if it doesn't work in a couple of these places that go back earlier, then it's going to have a ripple effect across the country. And parents are going to be, that are planning for school to be coming back, like in my child's case, supposed to be August 31st.

So if though all the other schools that went back earlier in her state have had to close because of COVID outbreaks, that's going to reset everything for every single parent in her school and other schools like it that were going back a little later because they're going to have to make those calls on whether to try and reopen or not, and how to do school virtually for very young kids. Jordan, I really think we've been ahead of the curve on this one in Washington, D.C. We've been advocating for several months now, really, that there's got to be more flexibility on the state and local level with the federal dollars that are sent down to the states. And Jordan, we've been backing the School Choice Now Act by Senator Scott and Chairman Alexander, as you noted. Jordan, the support for that kind of approach is rapidly building in Washington, D.C. You mentioned the legislation from Senator Paul. That would actually go beyond what Senator Scott's legislation was. His legislation addresses about $23 billion in federal spending and gives flexibility to parents of teachers. Rand Paul wants to get to as much of that $68 billion in federal spending government-wide as he can and create flexibility because, as you note, the school districts that would have been receiving it, many of them are not opening. So, Jordan, I think all of the momentum in Washington, D.C. is moving toward the approach that we've been advocating for some time now. Now, of course, the challenge is going to be getting a vehicle like the stimulus bill across the line so that some of those ideas can be implemented.

But, Jordan, I would tell you this. It's only because the message that we've been pushing has led the way in Washington, D.C. that now policy makers are following suit. And we're helping literally, you know, 1,500 families or more right now. So, that is very encouraging. We did have a technical glitch on our Facebook feed, by the way.

I just was talking to Will. So, if you're watching on Facebook, we're back up now. Share it with your friends. We had almost twice that audience on Facebook a few minutes ago and they had a technical glitch. So, just share it with your friends.

Same thing on Periscope or any other social media platform when you're getting the broadcast. I think it's interesting, though, that the politics of this has become so pronounced as this moves forward. That's right. And, I mean, I think that it, to me, to me, it's a brilliant political move by President Trump because it sets the Democrats, also sets people like Joe Biden, they're going to have to say, why are you against this? Why are you against adding to the unemployment, adding to federal unemployment aid, the $400 additional aid, so a supplement? There was that whole talk about whether there shouldn't be a supplement because maybe that's causing people not to go back to work.

And yet President Trump has said, we're not going to do 600 this time, but we'll do 400 this time. So, still a supplement, so additional unemployment aid. Why are you against assistance to those who rent and homeowners so that they aren't evicted if they can't make a lease payment or if they can't make a mortgage payment? Why are you against the payroll tax holiday for people making $100,000 or less? Why are you against the extension? That puts money right in their pockets, by the way, in the employee's pocket. Why are you against the extension of student... Do we have a number? Is it 15%, 7.5? Let's find out what that is.

Will, let's find out what that is. How can you be against the extension of student loan relief till the end of the year? I mean, at least until we can get a handle. And Thade, this is my question, I guess, to you, is how much time does Congress really have to get this done? I mean, it's like they're not taking it that seriously. I'm not blaming Republicans, by the way. I feel like the Democrats are stonewalling it. So are they staying in DC working hard on this or are they back and forth, back and forth? Yeah, the answer to that is no. I mean, the time is up, Jordan.

Most of these provisions have already expired. Speaker Pelosi has actually had the House home for several months now. She said she would call them back on 24 hours notice if they got a deal. Leader McConnell has kept the Senate in at least a perfunctory session, although most of the senators have gone back to their states.

So sort of a similar posture. He said he would call them back on 24 hours notice. But Jordan, I would answer your question about why. Why are you opposing this?

And just play it out a little bit. I mean, I think you're going to continue to hear the excuse from Speaker Pelosi and others that it's just not enough. Well, here's the response to that. Instead of $400 of unemployment insistence, what is the current number, Jordan? It's zero.

That number has expired. So if she doesn't think the 400 is enough, she should have taken the $600 extension and then continued negotiating. The lie that's being perpetuated to the American people is that this is somehow a cut. Jordan, the current unemployment assistance as it stands today, as I speak to you, it is zero dollars from the federal government. You only get what the state gives you. This would be an additional $400.

So Jordan, that answer, you're going to continue to hear it, but it is simply just not true. You know, folks, we're going to take your phone calls. 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. The payroll tax right now is at 6.2% for Social Security, 1.45% for Medicare. So that's 7.65% total for employees. So if you gave a payroll tax holiday from that 7.65% for those making $100,000 or less, I mean, that's a considerable less taxes they're going to be paying. That's cash.

That means they're not... It's not like a refund. Your paycheck will be increased by that amount. Yeah, your paycheck will go up by... What was the percentage? So 7.65%. So if somebody made $50,000 a year, 10% of that would be $5,000, 3,500 bucks.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, so you think about that, it's considerable... Over the course of a year. Yeah, but it's considerable what you're talking about for six months. Yeah, so half that.

Yeah, and then if you've got two earners in your household. So the fact that the left opposes this, I get that some Republicans don't love the vehicle that's being used here on principle, but the issue is that we are in a pandemic. This isn't just like a random time of use of Presidential power. This is a time of crisis in our country where the President has tried to do everything possible to keep our economy afloat, and he's done a pretty good job of that actually with the unemployment numbers go down, stock market has been pretty good.

I mean, sometimes uncertain, but pretty good. And to continue that path leading into a Presidential election when investors get very uncertain and you start seeing a lot of fluctuation, you've got to have some relief that people can rely on at least for the end of the year. And it's not going to be...

Shouldn't be about politics. It shouldn't be about $100 here or there on the weekly federal unemployment aid. I mean, if Democrats came back and said, no, it must be $500. Okay, I think Republicans need to say yes to that.

But you know what? Democrats aren't doing that. So we've got to fight hard, one, for what the President has done now, because he's going to come under legal challenge significantly. But two, I think the pressure has got to be on Congress in general. Yes, Democrats need to get back to doing their job. It is wrong that Nancy Pelosi just sent everyone home. But two, Republicans need to be ready to negotiate because we're talking about temporary relief during a crisis. If they don't like the precedent that this sets by a Presidential action this way, then get legislation done. That's all you need to do because this crisis is continuing.

COVID continues to spread. So you've got to do something. We're fighting at aclj.org on all these issues. It's a matching challenge month, double the impact your donation at aclj.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected, is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free powerful publication, offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at aclj.org slash gift. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad, whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy, and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

For that, we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes $100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support. Take part in our matching challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at aclj.org. Welcome back to Jay Sekio Live.

This is Jordan Sekio. Harry Hutchinson is joining us as well from our law and policy team. I think it would be fair to say right off the bat here, what would be better if we had legislation that got to the payroll programs, and then we had PPP, and the education funding, and direct checks going out to people?

Absolutely, legislation would be better. The President's taking the action he believes he can do through executive order during a time of crisis and pandemic. But I want to go to Harry Hutchinson on this because Harry, we had the President issuing these four executive orders, a $400 weekly federal unemployment aid, assistance to renters and homeowners that, again, extends the tithes before there can be evictions, because all this was expiring, payroll tax holiday for those making $100,000 or less, which is about 7.6%, and an extension of student loan relief puts the rate down to zero through the end of the year. And yet we have Democrats complaining about this and threatening to file lawsuits, and even Harry, Republicans threatening that, well, the President doesn't really have this power, and yet it is Congress who cannot get legislation so that we can get PPP, which is, by the way, how most businesses have been able to keep people on payroll to get education funding and to get those direct checks out to people, Harry.

Absolutely, Jordan. Congress continues to confirm its commitment to doing nothing in the middle of a crisis, and so President Trump's decision to sign four executive orders to aid the American people during the current pandemic and the resulting economic emergency does four things. First, as the Wall Street Journal notes, he escaped Nancy Pelosi's political trap. Second, he recognizes that the Supreme Court, by its refusal to block Obama's pen and phone method with regard to DACA, has given him additional powers. Third, he puts pressure on the Democrats who sought to blackmail the President into supporting programs and policies that have nothing to do with the coronavirus. And fourth, he exposes the Democrats' hypocrisy. The Democrats, for instance, complain that the President's moves jeopardize Social Security and Medicare. That is clearly dishonest. Democrats supported the payroll tax holiday when President Obama did it, and Mrs. Pelosi praised it at the time.

So a lot of these complaints are simply sour grapes because the President has escaped the Democrats' political trap. You know, I think, Jordan, one of the things that's interesting here, we've got a caller coming in on this, is that why would you be objecting to a tax holiday if that's going to get more dollars into directly? I mean, it's right in your paycheck. You'll see a difference immediately.

So that people can then spend, which helps the economy as well. You're right. Jules called in from Texas on Line 4. Jules, welcome to JCECio Live. You're on the air. Good morning, gentlemen.

Such an honor to talk with you. And yes, I am concerned because total fires are erupting on the internet about Trump making the bike attack holiday a permanent condition. I interpreted his statements to me during this emergency, the state of emergency. It's the extra unemployment help would last until December 6th. What about the payroll tax? Does it say we have a specific end date? Yeah, September 1st to December 31st.

Yeah, it's the end of the year. This is not a permanent tax cut. This is an emergency relief because Congress is failing to do its job. And unfortunately, courts can't just jump in and decide, but people will. So they're litigants who will. Shame on them because this is about helping every American, regardless of their politics, their partisanship. It's about people who really are in need. People are facing evictions from their homes because of their mortgage payments, facing evictions from their apartments or places they rent because they can't make rent, facing, again, economic disaster and getting unemployment aid, a little bit extra unemployment aid. This is what you're going to file lawsuits against.

So I want to ask this to Harry. So from an economic policy perspective, getting money directly to people that are both unemployed as it would with the unemployment insurance, but also a little extra to people that are employed, what kind of impact does that have on the economy in the short term? I think in the short term, it buoys the economy and it propels the economy going forward.

Why? Because people have an expectation that things will indeed get better. Meanwhile, the Democrats would prefer that renters be thrown out on the street, that people would remain unemployed so long as they could blame President Trump. So I think the Democrats are exposing themselves consistently at cynical politicians who do not care about the American people.

Yeah, I mean, I 100% agree with that. I mean, the Washington approach to this is, it's like Nancy Pelosi sending everybody home during a time of crisis and pandemic. Are they actually home now? And they even have that special voting, you know, they approved in the House where you can even have to be there, but some of them have to be there to do it. And yet she said, I'll bring them back 24 hours notice then, but they're done debating. Schumer and Pelosi met with Mark Meadows and Mnuchin, and they said no. Yeah, the House is completely gone, Jordan, and they've been gone more weeks than not. Some of them have been coming back. Some have been using proxy votes. The Senate is in morning business as we speak, which is sort of a pro forma session, but Leader McConnell has said he will not formally take a recess until this happens.

Jordan, I would, I would just maybe add one layer to the conversation that you just had with the caller. I really think that one of the cases the President was making is that if he defers this payroll tax and gives a little bit of a holiday, the American people are going to see through the farce that it is, and they're really going to like it. And they are going to demand of Democrats that it be permanently repealed and that the funding sources for Medicare and Social Security be funded other ways.

Jordan, I think it comes out of people's paychecks without them seeing it. And so they don't realize how significant it is. And I think what the President is saying, and the Democrats probably realize this, is once this money starts hitting people's paychecks, they're going to wonder why it was coming out in the first place. And that will create demand to permanently repeal it. Yeah, it's a nearly 10 percent extra tax from the federal government. So on top of the federal tax you already pay, this is another 10 percent that everyone pays. And all this is doing is saying that if you make a hundred thousand or less, you're going to get relief from that. Not everybody, but those who make a hundred thousand or less are going to get relief from that. And it's, Harry, again, that's direct relief to the bottom line. So the taxpayer that's working sees it immediately.

Absolutely. And by the stroke of a pen, essentially the President is putting money into the pocket of the American working people. And I think that is a brilliant, brilliant move, because with respect to some of the earlier stimulus plans, such as the $1,200, we had large instances of fraud.

Here there's no fraud. You simply get the relief on the monies that you have already earned. And I think the Democrats are essentially in political shock because he's done this and he's taken away many of their pre-election commercials. It all comes down to that the reason we don't have an agreement is because of politics.

Yeah. It's not over a hundred dollars on unemployment extension extra. It's not over that. This is politics. Democrats are betting it's better to have the American worker hurting over these next few months because they'll blame President Trump, not Joe Biden or Democrats. It's horrible.

It's really gross. The American Center for Law and Justice, our government affairs team, fighting for you, our policy team, fighting for you. Right. Regardless of political affiliation, we are fighting for the American family. So we encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ in our matching challenge campaign.

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We'll be right back. Second half hour of JCECO live coming up. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes 100. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Live from Washington, D.C., JCECO Live. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. Hey, welcome back to JCECO Live.

This is Jordan Sekulow. I know we've had some issues, too, if you're watching on Facebook and Periscope. I think for right now, Facebook and Periscope is back on. And we'll get the full, if that's how you get the broadcast and watch it each day, I will have the full broadcast up for you later this afternoon as well so you can watch the full show if it keeps cutting out on your end, if you've had trouble with that.

But I encourage you to share it. A lot of people rejoin each time. We want to kind of go through. So what has the President done this weekend, just quickly, via executive order, if you're just joining us for this second half hour? He's done four things, four executive orders. He has done a $400 a week federal unemployment aid extension that supplements the unemployment aid. People were getting $600 a week extra.

That program expired at the end of July. Now they'll be getting $400 a week extra on top of the unemployment they already receive. He's providing the second executive order is assistance to renters and homeowners. That was part of the CARES Act that is expired as well in July.

Make sure that they don't get evicted, whether you're on a lease or a mortgage. So it extends that time for you to not be evicted. Fourth executive order is the payroll tax holiday.

For people making $100,000 or less, that's about 7.6% in taxes they won't be paying beginning September 1st goes to December 31st, and the extension of student loan relief through the end of December 31st, 2020. None of this is long-term, and all of this is because of congressional failure, dad. That's all of this is because Congress could not come together. And unfortunately, this doesn't include some of the provisions that are the most key for businesses like PPP.

Yeah, I know that. And that's why Congress needs to get back to work. That payroll protection program is not having that there. The President is acknowledging he can't do that by executive order.

Yeah, you gotta really, you want the help for small businesses. But let me say this, with all this going on and the unknown, this is to try to meet an unknown evolving situation. For instance, word just came within the last hour that the Big Ten football is gonna cancel. Last week, they announced their season, and then I guess the Mid-Atlantic also canceled theirs. And I don't know what the SEC is doing yet. SEC, Big Ten wanted all five big conferences to cancel. They have not yet, but I mean, this is probable. SEC came out and said no, but I think no one knows. The reason I'm saying this is everybody's responding fan to the unknown. And it seems like to me that Congress is so fixed in their ways and so determined that it's gonna be this only way that they're not having the real flexibility to respond here at the speed of relevance.

By the time they respond, it's gonna be irrelevant. No question about it, Jay. And I just shake my head every time I hear one of the answers from a congressional leader who criticizes one of the executive actions or another says it's not enough. Well, the way you not only get enough, but also get to some of the things that Jordan was talking about, the PPP or the direct assistance to the American people or the testing for vaccines or that $105 billion, Jay, for schools that we've talked so much about and getting some flexibility for parents. The way you get that is through legislation. So we've heard sharp words go back and forth between the White House and frankly, both Republicans and Democrats.

But I think pretty much all of those parties, Jay and Jordan, largely agree on this one point. Legislation would be a lot better. Through executive action, you can't reach to all of these things.

There are limits. Well, how do you get legislative action? You've got to stay in Washington DC and stay negotiating in the room until what? Until you have a deal that can pass both chambers and be signed by the President into law. The President is here. The Senate is in session.

The House is nowhere to be found. So while everybody agrees legislative action would be better, you can't have that if the House isn't in session and if they're not negotiating for a deal. All right, folks, we're going to continue talking about this. We're going to talk about the economics of this, especially to the situation with China. US Senate candidate Bill Hagerty, former ambassador to Japan, be joining us in the next segment of the broadcast where we talk about these issues, these core economic issues.

This is where he comes from, the world of business. We come back on the broadcast and I encourage you support the work of the ACLJ. You know those parents that we're helping.

There's thousands of parents that we're trying to assist with all these school issues they're facing, churches that we're assisting. We're doing it all at no cost because of your support to the ACLJ. Donate today at ACLJ.org. Be part of our matching challenge.

Double the impact of your donation. That's ACLJ.org. We'll be right back. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. Whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy, and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

For that, we are grateful. Now there's an opportunity for you to help in a unique way. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's Matching Challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20.

A $50 gift becomes $100. This is a critical time for the ACLJ. The work we do simply would not occur without your generous support.

Take part in our Matching Challenge today. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family. Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

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Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to Jay Sekio Live. This is Jordan Sekio, a good friend of our broadcast, Bill Haggerty. He is the US Senate nominee for the Republicans in Tennessee, is an open seat. Yeah, he won the primary and now be focused on the general election. And he is really an expert on the economics, on issues like China.

He was a former ambassador to Japan. The President has just issued these four executive orders trying to help Americans. So I thought it'd be great to have Bill Haggerty back on joining us because of these economic issues and to join us with my dad as well. So Bill, first, it's great to have you on as the nominee. And I know you've got a lot of work to do between now and November, but there are big issues facing the country right now when it comes to the economy.

And the President is trying to take action when Congress is just failing to do so. Indeed, Jordan, great to be back with you all. And hello to Jay too. Yeah, the President, the President had to step up. I talked with him, of course I talked with him Thursday night after the election. That was an exciting time. And to get his congratulatory call was great.

It's funny. I was on the phone with Ivanka on one phone and then her dad called on the other. But great, great, great conversation that night, all about bringing our party together, having another conservative alongside Marsha Blackburn to serve in the Senate for Tennessee, and then how we're going to win in November. But when we talked over the weekend, when the President and I talked over the weekend, we talked a lot about the executive orders and how important it is to get our economy restarted. And the fact is that the Democrats seem more interested in halting progress on our economy. The Democrats want to put politics over the American people. And we need strong fighters who understand the economy in the Senate and will get things moving again. So I applauded the President for taking action. As you all know, it would have been great if Congress could have come to terms, but the House was not going to do it. Nancy Pelosi is not going to do it.

They left town without a deal. And the President was left with the American people who need help. So... Bill, I think the President had no choice. I mean, I look at the executive order, and of course, I'm friends with Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, who's carefully drafted these documents and viewed them. But you look at the two major aspects of it. One is relief to people that are unemployed still, that $400 per week supplement in addition to the state unemployment. And then the reduction of the payroll tax, which is a direct help to people that are employed to the tune of 7.5% of their paycheck. So that's real dollars that go to them. And as you said, Congress couldn't get it done.

But in my view, these were have-tos. I mean, you cannot leave the American people hanging because any particular political party is trying to make a political issue out of people surviving between now and the end of the year with a very unknown pandemic. Yeah. And it's not the first time we've seen it. Nancy Pelosi held up the CARES Act, too.

First time for five days when we're trying to put the initial PPP program in, and then at 10 days, the second time when we were trying to extend it. So it's all about politics on the Democrat side. Another question, this is one I wanted to ask you for a while, and that is, you know, China has been an offender here.

That's being kind. And I know you've got a lot of expertise in Asia, Japan, but also in the entire region. And I'm looking at the situation with China, the amount of trade that we do with China, the amount of debt that China holds in the United States. And yet this pandemic in large part is the result of China's either negligence or worse, but let's assume just for the sake of this, it's just negligence.

So they have this pandemic that takes place. The economic impact of it has been more than the debt that we owe the Chinese. They own a lot of our debt.

Well, how do you handle this moving forward when you're in the United States Senate? Well, I think we actually acknowledge the threat that China has become. It has been something that's concerned me for years.

I think now the American public has had an opportunity to wake up to it, though. As you mentioned, when I was serving as United States ambassador to Japan, Japan is the cornerstone of all of our operations in the Asia Pacific. We have more military stationed there than any place else in the world. The reason is that's where we deal with threats like North Korea and China, right there at the doorstep. And the concern with China is extensive.

It's not just economic. They have been aggressive militarily. They've increased their military budget eightfold over the past couple of decades. As you know, they're building basically islands that are military bases on the South China Sea, the busiest trade lane in the world. They have been very aggressive diplomatically, taking over organizations like the World Health Organization.

Their influence there is untoward. And then with respect to economics, they've been doing this game for years. They steal intellectual property. If you want to do business there, you've got to transfer your technology. And they heavily subsidize their industries to unfairly compete. But now that this pandemic that they unleashed on the world has really uncovered the fact that we are far too dependent on China. They've been able to overtake our industry.

So we now depend on them for medical supplies, our antibiotics, and certainly high technology. We cannot do that any longer. I think everyone in America has woken up to that now. So I want to see us get those jobs back, get our supply chains back on shore, and strengthen America from a national security standpoint, as well as an economic standpoint. Bill, I would like to, because now that you're talking to the President more, now that you are officially the nominee, it was a different kind of campaign because of COVID. And you're still going to be campaigning, the President's got to be campaigning.

What do we all kind of expect? I mean, I know it's state to state, but everybody's trying to kind of realize, I know you were doing it throughout your campaign as well, is how to campaign during COVID. It's a different time.

And you're in a unique spot because you're in an open seat. So the current US Senator Lamar Alexander is retiring. So he can still do the work of Tennesseans while you're in Tennessee doing the campaign work you've got to do. But it is unique and it doesn't seem like it's really changing.

We do have some schools going back in places like Tennessee as early as this week. We'll see how long that goes. But certainly this is a national issue too for someone like the President to figure out how to campaign. What would your advice be to candidates like him who are going to have to campaign in a totally different way and you've gone through it now? Well, when we set off our campaign, I challenged my team.

I said, I want this to be the best run Senate campaign in the nation. And we've run an excellent campaign, but we had to modify and shift our strategy completely when the pandemic hit. The first thing we did was really turn our attention to helping people. It became much more than a campaign at that point. We had our team volunteering, doing runs, supermarket runs, pharmacy runs for folks that were shut in.

As you know, we had tornadoes in Tennessee too. There was a lot to work with on that. We were volunteering there, but we continued to move forward. We've been campaigning in a new way. We've moved to technology platforms. Everybody now knows what Zoom is, the variety of technology platforms we use to reach out to people. We've done a number of Facebook live events, but it's not the same.

Voters want to be able to see and engage with their candidates. It's been a real challenge, but I think that our team has really cut new ground here and we've been able to successfully navigate through all of this. The President's going to be doing the same thing. He's done tele-town halls with me. The President now we're talking about this over the weekend. The tele-town halls have actually been quite effective. Thousands and thousands of people dialing in right here in Tennessee.

It's going to happen nationwide too, but we're going to have to make a shift to new technology as we continue to navigate this. Bill, Thanh Bennett, who heads up our Office of Government Affairs in Washington, someone your staff will be working with after the election, has a question for you as well. Ambassador Haggerty, great to have you with us.

Appreciate that. I wanted to circle back to the comments you made about dysfunction in the United States Senate because that's obviously something that we deal with every single day here at the American Center for Law and Justice. Front and center again this week as they failed to reach a deal with the White House and with the House of Representatives on a stimulus package. One of the things that we've been working with the current senator, Chairman Alexander and Jordan alluded to this, is trying to get more flexibility to states with education dollars. I know that's something that you've been interested in well, but just broadly speaking, how do we address some of that dysfunction in the Senate and in the Congress to get more power out of D.C. and back to the people?

What are your thoughts on that? Well, I think one of the first things we've got to do is be very clear as we call out the Democrats' play and the strategy that they're undertaking. They are putting politics over people here in America, and I think we need to communicate strongly that our goal is to get America back to work, to get America healthy again. We've had so many positive accomplishments. I mean, if you look at the acceleration of vaccines through the FDA process, I think there are 97 different vaccines under fast-track development now.

That's never happened before. If you look at what we've done in the economy, there has been a significant movement forward to really help us get unprecedented packages through the Senate. We've got a big challenge ahead of us. The White House has taken a great leadership role. I think that the Republicans in the Senate have tried to hold the line, but it's been extraordinarily difficult with the Democrats who have 100 percent focus on November the 3rd and anything they can do to win, and I think we just need to call it out as often as we can.

I think Steven Mnuchin made a great comment over the weekend or Friday that if the Democrats decide they want to take these executive orders to court, they're going to have a lot of explaining to do with the American people because they failed to step up to negotiate a deal with us. Let me thank you, Bill, for joining us on the broadcast again after your win last week, and now that you are the official U.S. Senate candidate in Tennessee for the Republican Party, congratulations to you, but also just for the expertise you're able to provide to our audience each time you're on because of your career in business and also as an ambassador to Japan. So I thank you for spending that time. If you want to find out more about Bill, it's teamhaggerty.com, teamhaggerty.com. Bill, it's always great to have you on the broadcast, and good luck out there on the campaign trail. Thank you so much. Great to be with you again. All right, folks, we will be right back on Jay Sekio Live.

You will not believe what happened on CNN over the weekend. This is good. This is a great way to end the broadcast on a Monday, get everybody laughing a little bit. Too good.

Too good. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Today, online at ACLJ.org slash gift. At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad, whether it's defending religious freedom, protecting those who are persecuted for their faith, uncovering corruption in the Washington bureaucracy and fighting to protect life in the courts and in Congress, the ACLJ would not be able to do any of this without your support.

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Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. All right, folks, so it's great to have Bill Hagerty on, and I will let you know, as always, and even during the primary, we invited his primary opponent on, canceled twice on us, didn't schedule the third time, so we tried to do that. It didn't happen.

Yes, we canceled twice. We'll be inviting the Democrat nominee. It's Marquita Bradshaw, that invite going out. Surprise nominee, too, right? Very surprise nominee. She was spent, I think, under $10,000 running against a DNC-endorsed candidate and former military veteran who spent millions of dollars.

I'd like to ask her how she did it. Who came in third place, and I think she spent, by the FEC report's latest, about $8,400 and won in a primary. Republican primary had over 600,000 votes, so certainly a lot more. The Democrat primary had over 300,000. She won it, and she won it handedly, and by the way, that DNC-backed candidate didn't come in second, but came in a faraway third.

Unreal. So kind of interesting there, so we'll see if Marquita Bradshaw will join us on the broadcast, talk about how she pulled off that victory as well and her plans for Tennessee. I'm sure very different than Bill Hagerty's, but we always offer that to each side. If they want to take advantage of it, we do, but we got to start with this.

This one, Will caught over the weekend. I don't always watch Brian Stelter. Sometimes I do, so I don't just laugh, but usually it's not this bad. Now, his is reliable sources, right? It's about media coverage, right? So it's a show about the media, which is like, so I love those shows.

Fox has one too. It's like, let's talk about ourselves and how great we are on the media, but whatever. Brian Stelter, CNN, this is on Sunday. So he has this to say, and this is how he starts. Just think about this.

He read this off a teleprompter, I guess, without even thinking about his own show and an entire network, which is about hating Trump. Take a listen to Bite 8. Yeah. I don't want to claim it's new. I just am arguing that it's getting worse. It's getting more severe. Erin, your view of this, you know, when you see entire media companies essentially exist to tear down Joe Biden, is there an equivalent to that on the left tearing down Trump?

There really isn't. I am so stunned. First of all, Brian, don't throw stones at your own house, CNN, number one. MSNBC has made their career out of doing it. So out of the three big cable news networks, Fox, CNN, and MSNBC, two of them, Job has been tearing down Donald Trump.

And then he says, this is just so shocking that they've got these networks dedicated to supporting Trump and yet there's no one supporting Biden and there's no one tearing down Trump. And if you listen to these networks, which I can't do anymore, and listen, and you know this, Jordan, I have been on these networks over the last four years a lot. And I have been insulted.

I have been ridiculed. Friends of mine said, why are you going on? You all have said, why are you going on? I said, well, I'm going on because I represent the President of the United States and I want to get our position at least out there.

And the comments, and I have a good relationship, for instance, with Chris Cuomo, as you know, from CNN. But I was on Chris's program and then they did a transfer over to Don Lemon. Now, Chris had asked me to be on the program, I agreed to do it.

I'd done it many, many times. And Don Lemon called me, what did he say? A fool, I think. Really nasty. Now, to Chris's defense, Chris defended me saying, if I need a lawyer, I'm hiring Jay Sekulow.

I get that. But this idea that there's no bias in these networks, who do they think they're kidding? The American people? I think CNN is actually the worst because they try to fake like they're not. MSNBC is honest about it. Fox has their opinion shows, which are conservative.

They're honest about it. I think their daytime is pretty much the news. CNN throughout the day, they're just, it's read the crayons, read what's under the screen. It's constant anti-Trump propaganda. They spin everything during every show, every host.

You don't have to wait until opinion time in the evening. It's every single show is anti-Trump. At least MSNBC, you know what you're going to be getting. At least with Fox, you know what you're going to be getting. CNN, they try to play it like, oh, we're really fair. No, you're not.

You're actually the worst offender by trying to act like you're playing fair. But it went on. I mean, this conversation actually went on, play bite nine. It's really a diet of this type of information that a lot of these voters are getting. A lot of the voters that I talk to, I can, you know, when I interview them, I do hear them saying a lot of the talking points that sound very familiar from, from some of these shows, which I try to listen to when I'm out on the campaign trail or when I'm at home, you know, watching TV, you know, you can, you can hear these, these comments being echoed by voters. And you know, that this is the diet that they're on, you know, AM radio, you know, conservative talk.

Oh no. MSNBC, CNN. They don't want to mention those. Yeah. NPR, which we pay for.

I mean, come on. I mean, it's like, there's so much liberal media that they're mad about conservative AM talk radio. Because it's successful.

Yes. And left leaning. It gets through to people's minds. Left leaning radio has never worked. They pride, they had, I'm trying to remember the name, will never remember, what's the name of that? Air America. Air America. And it just, and they had some well-known hosts. It just never, never took off. It never took off.

Can I go back to Than for a minute? So Than, we've got an executive order. I don't know if they're going to challenge it or not. They say they might. I think that's got a political consequence to them. I mean, are Democrats going to be sitting at home saying, I don't want the tax relief and I don't want the unemployment insurance to go to these people? It doesn't sound like a great way to win an election.

Does it, Jay? I mean, look, I think probably you won't be able to keep somebody from challenging it, but then they're going to get out there and they're going to start attacking it. And they're going to start realizing that they're on the wrong side of getting funds to Americans who desperately need it. And Jay, I predict that at some point that will drive them back to DC to cut a deal that could have been had today.

Because again, I'll just leave you with this. The United States Senate offered Speaker Pelosi a full extension for a week while negotiations continued of the $600 in unemployment assistance that they wanted while they negotiated. They said no. So that number went to zero. Jay, I think they will not be able to keep everybody from refraining from challenging it. So they'll challenge it. Then they'll realize it was a bad political move and they'll come back to the negotiating. We've got a little bit of breaking news and that is the prime minister of Lebanon and the entire cabinet has resigned in wake of last week's explosion. That's a game-changing moment in Lebanon.

Yeah. I mean, it would be interesting to see the political consequences there. France is obviously making another move and there's talk about what is France trying to recolonize Lebanon. Originally, Lebanon was a French colony. But they are relying heavily on France, obviously, to rebuild their capital city, Beirut, and figure out why was this highly explosive material that was taken to make sure that it was not used by terrorists stored so closely to the epicenter of the city.

And then what exactly happened here, which we're still trying to get to the bottom of, was it nefarious or not? But the incompetence level and the amount of loss of life is just so extreme. So that is huge news because Lebanon is always on the brink of going with Hezbollah. Oh, and people said these explosions were worse than the 20 years of civil war, the bloodshed that were in the two seconds of the explosions were worse than the civil war between Hezbollah. Our hearts go out to the people of Lebanon.

Yes, certainly. All right, folks, that's going to do it for the broadcast today. We've hired a lot of topics we hit, including a media bias, talked about China and Japan, talked about the situation with the executive orders getting aid to the American people. The ACLJ, American Center for Law and Justice, we're front and center on these issues. We're fighting for your family. When Congress is trying to ignore you, we're there pushing it hard. That's what Thanh does, leading his team up in Washington, D.C. We're bringing this broadcast every single day. If there's lawsuits, we will defend through, in that case, amicus briefs on the constitutionality of this. Having said all of that, don't forget we're in a matching challenge campaign as well. If you're able, and only if you're able, we'd like your support.

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