Biden Jokes About Running Over Reporter Who Asked About Israel

This is Logan Sekulow, President Biden.

Guess what he did? He joked about running over reporters simply for asking about Israel. Live from Washington, DC.

Sekulow live. Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive away? No, you can't.

Not unless you get in front of a car as I step on it. I'm gonna tease you. Phone lines are open for your questions right now.

Call 1-800-684-3150. Israel and Hamas have entered their 10th day of fighting, though earlier this afternoon, four rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon by suspected Palestinian factions there. This is a breaking development because the Israelis may be facing now a two-front war. And now your host, Logan Sekulow. This is Sekulow, I'm Logan Sekulow, sitting in for my dad and brother, and I'm joined by Will Haynes, right here. Right here. Right here.

And obviously, we got Andy Akonimo, we got Thad Bennett, we got everybody joining us today. And I don't know if you heard this in the open. There was... Well, how do you explain it? They were doing a test drive for the new Ford electric... The Ford Lightning, yes. The electric truck.

The F-150 Lightning. And Ford has been doing a big push and rollout for this. Actually, today, they're gonna unveil it. Yesterday was in, like, the auto camouflage they do when they're still in the testing phases of vehicles.

Yeah. They had President Biden in the front seat, showing him how it works. You know, he could gun it and go...

Throw it to 60 in a few seconds. Pretty impressive electric truck. We see all these electric trucks coming. But as what happens with a President in general, we saw this a ton with President Trump, when there was press around, they always will throw in a question related to what's going on in the world. Yeah, they do their job. They're supposed to. They have access to the President.

And maybe we can get a question in while he's here, we have his attention. They're gonna go for it. Yeah, they're not just there for us. They're a press moment of, look at our new cool truck. I mean, yes, people cheer. It's fun to see. You see him in the front seat driving.

It's nice and fun. But hey, someone said, hey, I got a minute with the President. I have a minute, a second with the President.

Can I ask him simply just a question about what's going on in Israel? And before the reporter could get the question out, you got to hear what happens. So if you're watching, I believe you get to see this.

So if you're watching on Facebook or on YouTube, enjoy. This is our President, Joe Biden. I'm just going to step on it. I'll come off at 80 miles an hour.

You'll see what it is. Okay. Ready? Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive away?

No, you can't. I'm not going to let you get in front of the car as I step on it. I'm going to tease you. Okay, here we go. You ready? See it, sir.

You ready? I think we can cut away at this point. There he goes. He drives it. There he goes, driving off impressive machinery. But one quick question.

Can I ask you something about Israel? And the essential answer was not unless you want to get in front of this truck right now, when I hit 80. Threatening in a joke. It definitely was joking.

I want to say, I'm teasing as if he had to clarify, you know, I am joking. You can tell it upset him that this happened. Look, if you are watching what's going on in the world right now, you see what's happening in Israel. The US isn't, regardless if you think we're not involved, we are involved in this. We're going to have on Secretary Pompeo a little bit later to talk about that, how we're directly aiding both maybe the Palestinians and the Israelis and how that's all happening. We're going to get into that a little bit later in the show.

But when things like this happen, and the world needs to respond, because Washington needs to be held to task. Yes. Was he out there for something fun to do? Sure. But when asked a very just quick question, can I ask you something quick about what's happening when it looks like the Middle East is crumbling right now to be hit with a joke?

Not exactly the most appropriate of times. It was a legitimate question, Logan. It was a question that should have been asked. It was a question that should have been answered. Look, every President has their own ways of defusing this.

Sometimes we like those ways. Sometimes we don't. But here's what we should care about. A terrorist organization is attacking one of our strongest allies in the world. And the President of the United States, Logan, that is the person who can do the most from a US perspective to defuse that. He should have answered it. And quite frankly, he should have done a lot more over the last 10 days. That's what we should all care about.

Absolutely. Hey, if you want to be on the air today, you can do it 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. We'll get responses and commentary from our entire team when we get back. But I want to hear from you, the listener base. I want to know what you want to say. 1-800-684-3110. If you're watching on Facebook, share it.

If you're on YouTube, hit the like, hit the thumbs up, and subscribe. We'll be right back with more on Secula. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work.

Become a member today. 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, Planned 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.

Welcome back to set kilo again. This is Logan secular. We're talking about the current situation going on in Israel and our President's lack of response and the administration's lack of response. It's definitely not a support of our ally. And I hate the way this always gets spun. It happens with Israel. It specifically happens honestly, when it's under a democratic regimes.

If we're just going to be honest in administration, this is just what happens. As someone who spent a lot of time there, all of us have spent, the three of us have spent a lot of time there, months probably collectively that we have spent time, maybe years collectively that we've been in that country. If you've never experienced it, I think it's a really hard to commentate on it correctly, specifically if you're getting the spin that's coming out of Hamas. If you're taking the spin from Hamas, maybe first take a look at where your source is.

Okay. Then you look over to Israel, a country that is vibrant, lively, diverse, you know, lots of different faiths. I mean, obviously it's predominantly Jewish, but a lot of different faiths. People have no faith.

There is all of your, it's as Western as you can get in the Middle East. But still having its roots obviously in biblical history. And it's an amazing experience.

If you ever got to get to go, I would highly encourage going. So when someone like us see this, you see there's anger in us, or we seem very upset. It's because we've seen it. We've lived in it. When you hear about these towns that are under attack from Hamas rockets, you would play the clip in the break.

A woman said that she counted 80 alerts, just herself of alerts of sirens going off. It's because we've been in those places. We've been in those towns. We've been in the Palestinian territories as well. We've been to the areas we can go to Bethlehem and those, those places we've been there and we've worked there and we've helped the people of our Palestinian.

It's not like we're over here. It's like, there's people, it's not about the people. It's about the people who are in control. And again, when you say Hamas is in control, I feel like the last 20 years since Hamas, I feel like it became a word that pretty much everyone knew. I feel like we are seeing a tragic rewriting of history and it's deeply disturbing. I think it's really disturbing for people who have been to Israel. When you see Benjamin Netanyahu out there making these big speeches and you could see there's, he can't believe the fact that these countries and these allies are turning on them.

Again, who punched first this specific instance? It's absurd. And again, it really does bother me. Well, and people need to remember that Hamas is a designated foreign terrorist organization by the United States State Department. It's not like this is a new thing.

This is since 1997. So this isn't some new group that came out of nowhere or a government that is launching rockets at the state of Israel. This has been going on a long time and the fact that they are launching rockets, Hamas is saying, hey, we will maybe consider a ceasefire if Israel agrees to conditions. So they're extorting the Israeli government to some degree by saying, you have to do this and then we'll stop our rocket attacks. But then the President on a phone call this morning with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire. Now, it's one thing if he's like, we have put pressure on Hamas and we've turned off the aid to Hamas and we've stopped our talks with Iran to shut down the weaponry and the money they're funneling to Hamas. And so that's why we expect a de-escalation. But no, it's putting pressure on the Israelis who are the targets of a foreign terrorist organization to de-escalate the situation. They're hitting back hard, but I understand.

I mean, I get it. And look, this administration, and Andy, we'll talk about this, this administration, they'll talk about it, trust me, we'll get to this in the next segment. They're already saying, you know, we're not doing anything the Trump administration did.

Why? Because you had four years of relative quiet and silence? It's insane to think, oh, they got it wrong? You guys are getting it right?

I mean, look at this. That really bothers me when I hear the Biden administration criticizing the Trump administration's approach to the Middle East. You had relative peace more than that.

I don't remember anything like this happening in the four years of the Trump administration. I saw progress in the Middle East. I saw progress in the Abraham Accords with the Gulf States. I saw a lessening of tensions because the United States took a very strong position with respect to our ally Israel and made it very clear to the Palestinians that we're not going to pay you to slay people in the Middle East and took actions that I think were responsible.

And what is the leadership role that the United States needs and should take in the world? Now you've got a President, cognitively disabled in my opinion, who tells the Israeli prime minister, I'm expecting a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire. And my question is, what was the provocation that started this? There was no viable, logical, reasonable, palatable provocation on the part of Israel that commenced and caused the Hamas people and its caucus in the United States Congress. Talib and her followers and so forth, Omar and so on, to take the position that Israel took was to defend itself. If that had happened to Washington or to New York, as Israeli prime minister Netanyahu said, we knew, quote, I'm quoting, damn well, close quote, that the United States would have retaliated. And the same thing is happening.

Israel is defending itself and has the right to do that. I wouldn't de-escalate one minute. Well, I think that said a lot. I want to hear from you about that now.

I feel like we've got a lot of people who are now very fired up, Andy, about this 1-800-684-3110. It is really upsetting, and I think that's what we've said. You see us reacting this way. I think also because we had the Abraham Accords, we saw progression for maybe the first time in a lot of our, in our lifetime, we saw progression. We saw Israel being accepted by Middle Eastern countries, other countries, and we saw people going over to, whether it was the UAE or to Dubai, and these places were finally, they were having Hanukkah celebrations. They were doing all these, and it just felt like finally, finally, these countries get it.

They understand they need to be working with Israel, and it felt like America finally got it. But maybe one of the big problems is that, you know, the people who are the leaders of the social media, political side of this are people, they said, like the Squad, who have such power and influence, and maybe conservatives need to step up and find some people who can actually speak in like they can to these issues. Instead, it is harder, it is harder to get excited about people who are, you know, been statesmen for 50 years out there when they say that some Democrats are, you know, pro-Israel or on the line.

You have your Chuck Schumer's and those guys who are traditionally more, you know, Zionist in nature. It's not as exciting as when you have, you know, a group of people in their 30s and 40s who are very passionate and very convincing, and I think we've seen that become a big issue that we need to at least take a look at. Well, and another problem is that you hear the rhetoric out of the administration, and I think we should play by 24 from Jen Psaki, because there's an issue here where they're trying to pursue this strategy of quiet diplomacy and saying, let's not do this in the public sphere. But we know that Hamas has this intense propaganda machine that they are putting out, and we know that there are members of the foreign press and sometimes domestic press in the United States that will take their images and propaganda and report it as the truth and as Israel is the bad guy when they're the ones that started this situation and this escalating into a war. But then if the White House has this type of statement by 24, where do we go from here? The best way to end an international conflict is typically not to debate it in public. Our focus and our strategy here is to work through quiet, intensive diplomacy.

Seems like something she read in a self-help book. We all know the best way to end an international conflict, as if that arises every day, is to typically not to debate it in public. I completely disagree. I think the public square is exactly where big conflicts, international conflicts take place, whether that is the Revolutionary War or whether that is the French Revolution. Revolutions happen, people discussing it in the streets. Let's talk about it behind the scenes, though, and try to figure it out.

You want to see this cool truck? It feels like so many things have come up to be distractions from what's happening around the world. They've come up with things. Look, even I would say this as much as, look, I'm thrilled the mask mandates are gone. It did feel like very convenient timing to just say, hey, by the way, don't look over there. Take your mask off.

You can take your mask off. Don't worry. We're good. Things are good. The world's not crumbling. Everything is fine.

Take your mask off. There's no gas in the southeast. Oh, well. There's terrorists running wild in Israel. It's fine. We're all fine. You see this F-150?

It's cool. It goes real fast and it's electric. This is where you have to really take a hard look at what's going on. In DC, spin is pretty much the name of the game. This quote from Jen Psaki, Logan, it is sheer lunacy. Let me tell you the best way for a world superpower to intervene in an international conflict is to make sure the entire world, both parties in this current conflict and the rest of the world knows absolutely unequivocally clear where the United States stands. And by the way, if you cross the United States or if you cross our allies, what will happen to you? Logan, that's the best way for the United States to end this conflict. Yeah, absolutely. Hey, phone lines are open right now.

1-800-684-3110. But in the next segment, so make sure you keep watching or keep listening however it is you get you this show, Secretary Mike Pompeo is going to be joining us. We're hearing some interesting questions and his response to Jen Psaki.

Maybe she talked a little bit about how they don't think really the Trump administration did anything good in the Middle East. So we're going a different route. We'll see how he feels about that. That and more coming up on Secular.

We'll be right back. 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, the Planned 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. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today.

ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Secular. This is Logan Secular sitting in for my dad. We're joined by Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, the former U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. Thanks for joining us today. And before we get to you, I want to play a clip real quick. This is just the setup here. This is from Jen Psaki from Press Gaggle.

Yesterday, the day before yesterday. Let's take a listen. This is aboard Air Force One, so just know the sound is a little rough. And this is about their current Biden strategy in the Middle East. Let's take a listen. Again, I would say that we are not following the same tactics of the prior administration. The President has reinstated humanitarian assistance and security assistance to the Palestinians. That's something that was stopped back in 2018 and we felt was not a constructive action by the prior administration. Aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival, we don't think they did anything constructive, really, to bring an end to the longstanding conflict in the Middle East.

Okay, we'll stop it there. Secretary Pompeo, just give me your response to that. Nothing constructive, maybe coming out of the previous administration in the Middle East. Yeah, well, I agreed with her. They're not using the same tactics and they're certainly not using the same strategy. It doesn't actually appear that they have a strategy.

This is silliness that she speaks of there. The Abraham Accords flowed from three central ideas. One was, first, we provided unequivocal support to the Israelis.

It stopped exactly the kind of rocket attacks that you're seeing today. Thousands of rockets landing in Israel. Second, we made clear that the destabilizing force in the Middle East was the Iranian regime. It's that same Iranian regime. The two things are happening right now. One, the Americans are sitting with them in Vienna trying to negotiate a deal to give them billions of dollars more. And second, the Iranians are taking the money that they have and funding them to Hamas and using it to fire rockets into Israel.

This is crazy stuff. The third thing we did was convince Arab states that the Palestinian cause was important, it mattered, but peace and stability in the region were even more important and we delivered on that. There was much good that came. This happened under their watch.

They're going to own it. She talked about restoring funding to the Palestinians. Any idea where that money's going?

Well, and I actually had a follow-up to that question that she admits it's not just humanitarian assistance, but also security assistance for the Palestinians. And we know where that goes. We know it goes to pay to slay. We know it goes to further this violence against Israel. I mean, is the Biden administration now complicit in what's going on currently? You know, one thing you learn very quickly in the national security world is that money is fungible.

Wherever you think you may be sending it, it may well be going someplace else. You can be sure that U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used for corrupt purposes. That's why we stopped it, was the very reason. The fact that they are not holding the Hamas terrorists, the corrupt Palestinian leadership in the West Bank accountable. And then now I heard today President Biden saying that he's expecting a decrease in violence. Well, I know how to get a decrease in violence really quickly, have the Iranians stop underwriting Palestinian terror. The Israelis have every right to defend themselves. I hope they take out every bit of Hamas's infrastructure and make sure that something like this can't happen again. And I hope that Americans across the broad political spectrum will make clear that is U.S. policy.

It is not enough. It is not enough for Democrats to say they are pro-Israel. They need to call out congressmen like Ro Khanna and AOC and Rashid Talib, who are acting in a way that is deeply anti-Semitic. They need to be clear about this, they need to be articulate about it, and they need to defend Israel's right to defend not only the Jews in their country, but they're defending with the Iron Dome Christians and Arabs. And Muslims, people of every faith inside that country, are being protected, and it's the Palestinians that are trying to kill those very same people. We talked about this a little bit earlier, and I think for those of us who've spent time there, who've spent time in the Middle East, spent time in Israel, watching the Abraham Accords unfold was a deeply emotional experience for a lot of us to see this progression happening for a country that we love and for a people that we love. And again, you said, multi-faith in Israel. It's an amazing place to visit and to be. So to see that progression, like I said, I'd sit there with tears in my eyes watching the movement, the progression, whether it was signing deals with all these different countries and the travel and everything, because this is what we wanted, because there's always that thought process of, you've got to make sure when you went into Israel, you had to be careful if they stamped your passport, where were you going to go next?

Because some countries wouldn't even allow you into the next place. And then to have that turn, to have this such an under a year, six months, to have the Middle East go back to how it was four years ago, six years ago, where it just seems like there's chaos. It's heartbreaking to watch. And when the response is, well, we're doing this quietly behind the scenes, we're not taking this. I think Jen Psaki said, we're going, you know, everyone knows diplomacy is it's quiet. You know, we do quiet diplomacy. That's the most effective way when all of us know it's exactly the opposite.

No, that's right. One of the things that we did in the Trump administration that was really important as we spoke the truth and we said it out loud, we didn't make claims that we weren't prepared to defend. When we drew a line, we meant it, meant we drew perhaps fewer lines in some cases, but we were going to lock into it and we were going to deliver really good outcomes. When we said Qasem Soleimani is threatening Americans, we took him off the map. The same way this administration needs to make very clear their commitment to allow Israel to do everything it needs. We need to continue to support Israel with military assistance. I saw some Democrat yesterday saying they were going to stop military assistance to Israel because of the fact that they're defending their own people. I saw today, I saw crazy stuff from BLM. Every Democrat who has supported the Black Lives Matter movement needs to explain why they're on the side of Black Lives Matter, who has made clear that they are now forming common cause with these terrorists, now 20 plus year designated terrorists from the United States. There's a lot of explaining to do. There are a lot of people who have wanted to play the line and claim they were pro-Israel, wouldn't defend them when it matters most.

This is the time that it matters most. Moral clarity is absolutely the currency of the day and we should have every expectation that every leader ought to speak loudly and clearly and succinctly promoting Israel and defending Israel's right to defend its own people. Mr. Secretary, we know that Iran is funding and supplying its proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. We know that because Hamas has boasted about it. They're getting their resources from Iran and they admitted it, so you suspected it and we now know that they confessed to having done it. What I want to know is, is the Biden administration willing to sacrifice our relationship with Israel, which is of long-standing duration, in order to get a new deal with Iran that they have been kibitzing with them in Vienna about?

It's not just Israel, although Israel is at the center of it. I think that they're prepared to sacrifice just about anything. I think this JCPOA became an article of faith for the leftist foreign policy establishment. They think there's nothing that is too much to sacrifice to get some crazy nuclear deal that guarantees a pathway for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

They are deeply wedded to this. I don't see any indication that they're prepared to walk away from the table while they are sitting there discussing handing billions of dollars to the Iranians through this deal. The Iranians are funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to terrorists.

I mean, that is a head-scratcher of unimaginable proportions. I don't see any indication they're prepared to walk away. I think they're prepared to sacrifice an awful lot to get that. And sadly, the Europeans, the Chinese, and the Russians are all on the same side on this JCPOA craziness. Secretary Pompeo, I really appreciate you coming on and talking to us about this specific topic. And I want to say this to you and to the people who are listening and watching.

Because again, you've seen passions run pretty hot during this last hour. Because we do really care about what's happening in Israel. We really do care. We've been a part of it for so long. And when we had four years of incredible movement, it is so heartbreaking to see such a back step happen. And all I can do is say this, is we have people like Secretary Pompeo and a great team. But also pray, pray for our leaders that their hearts will be changed. Because we've seen it honestly happen. We've seen a lot of policies, them having to go, okay, maybe we go back to how the Trump administration was running things. Maybe things were going okay. Hopefully that's what happens in the Middle East.

I doubt it, but let's pray for it and let's hope that we see progression happen. Hey, we've got another half hour coming up on Sekulow. Join us if you don't get us on your local radio station.

We're live right now on YouTube and on Facebook. Just search ACLJ or Sekulow and we're there. Be right back. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today.

ACLJ.org. Live from Washington, D.C., Sekulow Live. And now your host, Logan Sekulow. Hey, this is Logan Sekulow, joined by a great panel today.

You've got Will Haines, Yevgenia Kahneman, Thad Bennett, D.C. We just got done with Secretary Mike Pompeo. If you didn't catch that, you're going to want to watch it. It was a really great segment. We'll have it later on. As soon as the show is over, it gets archived. It's on YouTube. It's on ACLJ.org. It is on our app. However you get this show, you can find it archived, unless you're listening over the radio. And then you need to go to our website and find it.

I don't think I have to explain that to you, but I'll give you the steps to get there. Now, let's keep talking about what's going on in the Middle East, and specifically, Will, how the United States is responding. And specifically, maybe the Democratic leadership is responding.

When I say leadership, I also mean the loudest voices in the room. So yesterday, we talked about on the show that there was an approved arms sale to Israel of $735 million. And this had been noticed by the Biden administration.

There is a review period by Congress. And what we saw kind of breaking was that the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was seeming to take pressure from the left about this deal and may be asking for a delay from the Biden administration on this sale. Now, Than, there is some update on the Hill about where this stands as of today. Yeah, it really speaks directly to what Secretary Pompeo was talking about, about the internal struggle inside the Democrat Party.

Will, we talked about this on several different shows. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was trying to freeze that sale of arms, precision missiles, to Israel. I really think, due to pressure from the Squad and others inside the Democrat Party, as of today, Will, a little bit of good news, the pushback that he got on that, he has walked that back. He's no longer sending that letter to President Biden.

So that sale, as of now, is going forward. However, just illustrating what we've been talking about, AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is actually introducing a resolution of disapproval into the House today. So she is going to try to go around leadership and get this considered on the floor of the House. It's very likely not going to get scheduled, Will.

But just the fact that it's not scheduled doesn't mean that people shouldn't take notice. I really think the Democrat Party has a very big schism here. It's not what we're used to over the last 10 years, where there's broad bipartisan support. And we need the moderate voices inside the Democrat Party to stand up today and to look at this resolution that's being put forward and say, no, we reject that and we stand by our ally Israel.

But it's interesting, Will, that divide, I mean, it's happening in real time inside the House of Representatives as we speak. Isn't it a concern that the chairman who, when he was elected to that position within the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was kind of touted as someone that was pro-Israel? And we even brought up on the broadcast that he had put out that strong definitive statement about Hamas conducting terror attacks against Israel. But we saw him potentially flip and say he was going to send the letter. But now, again, it seems that he's flipped back to the correct position, the one that we would hope he'd be at, but that someone that's the chairman is easily swayed over a 36-hour time period like that.

It's become a very hot button topic, more so than ever in my lifetime. I think Israel has always been one of those situations, one of those issues where there was some party division. But never to this extreme, to where it felt like the mainstream leaders were having such a problem with explaining their support of Israel. You always had your Jimmy Carters of the world who were saying, you know, this is apartheid, this is trying to claim all of these things against Israel. Or you had your few senators and congressmen who were like, well, that person is clearly anti-Semitic.

Those are things that were always happening. But now to see the mainstream cultural shift, you do have to believe that there's a bigger story being told here, but it doesn't mean we don't fight back. That doesn't mean we don't have an office in Israel ready to go. We have people on the ground ready to engage when necessary. We have offices and legal teams and media teams around the world for reasons like this and for moments like this. The reason we have people like Mike Pompeo, the reason we have people like Rick Grenell, we have my dad and my brother, this entire ACLJ family that comes together when these moments happen to make sure your voice is being heard.

Because it doesn't matter what the squad says or what's happening in Washington. We know that there are thousands and millions of you worldwide who we have to represent. We'll be right back with more on Secular. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today. 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, Planned 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. Welcome back to Sekulow. We're going to take some phone calls to come up. I want to hear from you. 1-800-684-3110.

Typically the last segment of the show. I like to take as many calls as possible. So if you have a call related to what's going on in the Middle East and Israel, the U.S.'s response, what this all means for the world, I'd love to hear from you. 1-800-684-3110.

Let's go ahead and actually take one of those phone calls and maybe it'll spark your interest. Let's go to Bobby in New York on Line 1. Bobby, you're on the air. Right.

Niagara Falls on the American side. You guys are the greatest, by the way. What I want to know is if the U.S. does not support Israel at all or limited support, could Israel be finished as a nation? Can you let me hear your answer? Because I'm not near a radio right now.

Yeah, Bobby. We'll keep you on hold. So big question. Let's just take it from maybe a little bit broader and say what happens when the United States refuses to support Israel?

And look, I don't think that's outside of the realm of existence right now. Israel doesn't have a very strong military on their own. That's why there are people who are saying, well, look, it doesn't matter who hit first. Who has the stronger military? Israel has a stronger military. They're going in there and taking out all this infrastructure and the ways the tunnel systems and all of those things. And somehow that got flipped where they were the bad guys for going in in that sense because they have stronger military.

Andy, you've been there. One of the strongest militaries in the world coming out of one of the smallest countries in the world. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I've been to Israel seven times in my lifetime. And it is an incredible experience to go to the Holy Land of Israel and to see exactly the things that are not only Jewish sites, but as Logan pointed out earlier, Christian sites as well. We have – and Arab sites as well.

So it's an amalgam of people. But is Israel going to be finished? No, Israel will never be finished as a country. Israel will fight to the end. And because there is an Israeli Defense Force, IDF, that's what it's called, a defense force.

It's not an offensive army. It is to defend Israel. And as Prime Minister Netanyahu said, if the Arabs put down their arms, there will be peace. If we put down our arms, Israel will cease to exist as a country. The Israeli nation is not prepared to put down its arms and to allow itself to be wiped off the map. And no matter what the Arabs say and what its neighbors say, that is not going to happen. And that is, by the way, the end goal of these countries. I think that's where we have it backwards. And we're not seeing the clear picture here, which is not like they're quietly saying, yeah, we want Israel to be wiped off the map.

It's like in the press releases. This is a real problem and a real threat, and we treat it as if you can judge it through American eyes. And you really can't. And Hamas, like you said, their goal is the destruction of Israel. They don't recognize Israel's right to exist.

So this isn't equal footing. There are Palestinians that have voting rights and are citizens of Israel that they couldn't imagine any sort of Israeli citizen going into Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, and having the same rights, having equal rights, being allowed to vote in an election for Hamas. Like, this is absurd to try to sit here and say that the international media, the way they'll elevate, like, the plight of the people of Gaza. The plight of the people of Gaza is that they're controlled by the terrorist organization that wants the destruction of Israel. And that's why even the film Unshaken that's up at ACLJfilms.com is a film that we were participating in producing, one of the first ACLJ films that showed us helping get a family out of Gaza because the husband of the family ran the only Christian bookstore, and he was murdered in the streets for his faith.

And they wanted to then take the children and put them under the leadership of the imams and the local leadership in Gaza, and we helped get them out to take them out of that situation. Absolutely. And look, I see some comments coming in, people are like, well, how do you feel this way when we have such a distinguished gentleman as President Biden? I just saw that comment come in.

Compared to what we had for the last four years, I think we need to go back, can we play the bite, can we play how we set up this show originally that we only played once, but I think we need to hear it again. When asked about Israel, while driving a Ford F-150 Lightning, the brand new electric Ford that was unveiled today, and as reporters do, look, I remember the President being overseas, President Trump being asked about the most domestic questions. When he's overseas, you got to always be prepared when you're the President, but here's what your distinguished gentleman, President Biden, had to say when simply asked, can I ask you about what's happening in the Middle East? Okay, I'm just going to step on it. I'll come off at 80 miles an hour. You'll see what it is, okay?

You ready? Mr. President, can I ask you a quick question on Israel before you drive away? No, you can't. I'll not let you get in front of the car as I step on it. I'm going to tease you.

I'm teasing. Makes a joke about running over the reporter who simply asked, can I quickly ask you a question about Israel? The biggest story in the world right now.

Right. Than, it's a world of chaos, and we have a President making low light, making a little joke, and moving on. And of course, immediately, by the way, he does step on it and physically runs away from the question. Well, I think the biggest problem is that he did that after 10 days of inaction.

This ties right back to the last caller that we had, Logan. I mean, when the United States stands down, it has real ramifications, and we're seeing that right now. I mean, it clearly emboldens Israel's enemies. It clearly, Hamas and Hezbollah think they have a green light to continue these attacks.

And by the way, Logan, it's not like that's the only action. What about cozying up to Iran again with the deal? Who do you think funds Hamas and Hezbollah to launch these rocket attacks?

It's Iran. So look, the Biden administration, they want to be flippant, they want to be joking, they want to be endearing with the press. This is an ally that is under attack, and the actions being taken by this administration are actually fueling those hostilities. So look, I would ask him that question at any moment you get the opportunity. And by the way, it's not just about a verbal response.

It's about setting the U.S. posture in a place that actually defends our allies. Yeah, Chris, we totally probably doesn't have the answer. Well, and how can the press corps be okay with that kind of answer? I understand that they weren't the biggest fans of Donald Trump, but at least he would have probably gotten out of the truck and talked to him for 45 minutes. Whether or not they liked what he was saying, that's a different story.

They all laugh and cheer as the car pulls away. It's their job to cover the presidency and cover the policies of the administration and to be in the press pool going to a trip like this. Their job is to ask those questions. How can they be satisfied with, get in front of the truck, I'll run you over, I'm just kidding.

The press should be outraged that that happened. It kind of goes back to, I remember President Trump said something about maybe doing something to someone in the street and how people would still cheer for him. That's not that dissimilar. It's like, I'm going to run you over if you ask me this question.

What's the difference? Nothing. This is where it's absurd to get people all cheered. Look, I'm pro-electric vehicle. I got no problem with electric vehicle, especially after what? It just happened for a lot of us in the Southeast. A gas shortage because everyone panicked. You know why they panicked? They didn't necessarily panic because they don't trust that we're not going to get gas again. They panicked because they've seen the last year how ineffective an administration can end up doing in such a quick amount of time and how quick we can have problems in this country. And things immediately can switch and things can change.

Your life can change and alter. And people panic, not unjustly. I have to say right now, it's not an unjust panic to go fill up your gas tank when there was this happening.

Because we've been through a heck of a lot in the last year. So I understood everyone who did that. People were saying, don't go do it. I understand that you have to look out though for your family.

And that's what people felt. And look, so electric cars, great. I have no problem with it. I think these are modern wonders.

We should be exploring it. I'm glad that everybody is releasing them. That's cool.

I got no problem with it. But to take such a big, bigger, I'd say right now, moment, this moment. Imagine if this was about COVID, about anything else. It wasn't Israel. And he just said, get in front of it. We're thousands of people are also dying. Get in front of the car.

I'll run you over even if you ask me a question. We wouldn't take it. You only take it because it's Israel.

You only take it because Israel somehow anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli bias is something that we've completely tolerated in America. And it's disgusting. It's disturbing.

It's got to stop. But when you have administrations and Presidents like this, it's not going to happen. And that's why you have to have organizations like the ACLJ who are going to speak the truth to you. And look, I know that there's a lot of people who have commented, a lot of people talk about biblical, the biblical side of this. And I think that that is something that we should always be aware of, especially when it comes to the Middle East. When you go to Jerusalem, Andy, when you go there and you walk around, it's not like you don't feel the biblical significance of where you are in the moment that you are in. And there's still this chaos breaking out because of people's faiths.

And it's not just a current modern issue. When you walk into the old city of Jerusalem, you basically walk into the time of Christ. You're back in antiquity, in late antiquity. You feel it. It emanates. It oozes from the walls, from the churches, from the religious sites, from the pilgrims who have come there to worship.

Of any denomination, whether they be Christians or whether they've gone there to see the mosque or whether they've gone to see the Western Wall and to pray there. That is what is really the heart and the core of Israel. And this is what is being challenged by Hamas, the eradication of that sovereignty God. And that is what's being challenged and what is being harmed by what is happening from the rocket launches in Israel.

And Israel has a right to defend itself because, as I've said before, it's not only defending the Jewish population, but the Arab and Christian population as well. Absolutely. Give us a call right now. You heard it from Andy. 1-800-684-3110. As we head into the next segment again, I'm going to slow that down for you.

1-800-684-3110. We can't rest on this situation. You may say, look, we've talked about this so much. I know, and we're going to continue to talk about it. We're going to move on to other topics tomorrow. We're going to have other shows.

But we're going to always go back to what's happening in the Middle East, as long as there is conflict like there is right now. And again, you're talking about the biblical significance. I believe there's a grander story being told.

We've seen people comment that there's a blood moon this weekend. In general, I look at these things and there's a bigger story happening here. This is 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, play on 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. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today.

ACLJ.org. Welcome back to secular. Our final segment of the day, we're going to take we have a lot of calls and we're going to take as many of them as we can. So if you're listening right now and you're on hold, stay on hold. We're going to do our best to get through. Let's go to the order that they came in. Let's go to John in South Carolina on line three.

John, you're on the air. First, I want to say thank you for what your organization does. My question is, excuse me, being now that Hezbollah is getting involved from Lebanon. Why doesn't the U.S. get involved and just shut down those sites? Nothing else. Just, you know, protect Israel's north side.

Well, that's a very good question, John. And here's what the U.S. did. The President called Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning and he said he expects a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire. So he's putting pressure on the Israeli prime minister. Meanwhile, as you bring up, the northern front of this battle is opening up against Hezbollah in Lebanon. So now Israel is facing a multi-front battle. It's not just with Hamas and Gaza to the west.

It is up north as well. So the Israelis have a very potentially precarious situation if the Iranian proxy to the north is also joining in with the Iranian proxy to their west and creating this tumultuous situation that there is no way that Israel should be trying to de-escalate something by doing anything else than taking out the terrorist organizations to the north and to the west. That's the only way to de-escalate this is to put an end to their capabilities to attack from multi-sides. We've stood on that border. We've seen it firsthand. We've been there. I mean, you're talking about you could see the buildings just across.

It looks like it's across the street, obviously, because of the border. These are not, you know, far off. You like to think in the Middle East. You think of like you're just in the middle of the desert. It's like not quite like that, Andy.

You're talking about civilization on top of civilization in very small areas. I have been in the Golan Heights when Hezbollah attacked Israel and sites in Israel. And the guide spirited us away to a safe location so that we wouldn't be bombed by what Hezbollah was doing. And the Hezbollah flag was flying over Lebanon. I could actually see it across the border. It's that close. And so Hezbollah is a threat now to the northern tier of Israel, just as to the southwest you have Gaza. And Israel and the President is asking Netanyahu, the prime minister, to stand down.

I don't think so. Yeah, Golan Heights, known for, honestly, beyond that, very good burgers. Good burgers. And good wine. Good cheese.

And good cheese. It's a great place. All right, let's keep moving on. Let's see. Look, we've been there. We have proof. Golan Burgers. Pretty good.

Check it out. Let's go to Kathy on Line 4 in Oregon. You're on the air.

Hi, thanks for taking my call. I get a little confused when I hear people say, like, his press secretary, that Biden has stopped short of demanding a ceasefire. I want to know, why would Israel have to listen to Joe Biden anyway?

Well, that's a good question. I think this one, maybe I'm going to kick over to Than because, look, we live in a, in the United States of America, global superpower here. And your biggest ally, Israel, Israel's biggest ally, United States of America, global superpower. So when, there does carry some weight, Than, when it comes to the United States and why we are so deeply involved in what's going on in the Middle East.

It absolutely carries a lot of weight. I would say that Kathy is correct on this point that Israel doesn't have to take President Biden's word for it. And in fact, they aren't. Prime Minister Netanyahu has already said, look, we're going to do what we have to do to defend our borders, whether or not the United States stands with us. Now, we as Americans, though, Logan, still have to make a determination whether or not our alliance means anything.

And look, I would make two quick points on this. Israel doesn't need the United States to have the military capacity to take out the sites that we're talking about. They're perfectly capable of doing that on their own. But here's what we're doing. We're propping up their enemies. So we're speaking out of both sides of our mouth if we're going to fund Iran, who's going to fund these proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah. And then we're going to say to Israel, yeah, go ahead and defend yourself and take out these sites. We can't be speaking out of both sides of our mouth. We have to only defend our ally. And here's a direct response from Benjamin Netanyahu by 30.

Go ahead. There are only two ways that you can deal with them. You can either conquer them, and that's always an open possibility, or you can deter them. And we are engaged right now in forceful deterrence. But I have to say, we don't rule out anything. We hope we can restore quiet. We hope we can restore it quickly. I want to say that we're doing that while doing our utmost to avoid civilian casualties. All right.

That's a direct response from Benjamin Netanyahu. Again, I said I was going to get through as many calls as possible. We were running short on time. But Richard, you're up.

California, line one, quickly. I just want to say God bless ACLJ and God bless Israel. This is very upsetting. Well, my head's exploding. My heart's exploding.

I understand that. It makes me weep that this administration is doing what they're doing. What I'd like to know, there's another side to this story. I'd like to know where the heck they're getting all this money to throw away to Iran and to Palestine. This country has gone through hell as far as COVID and the economy and everything else, and he's just throwing money away to the wrong people. As an American citizen, I'd like to have a say where my money's going. Well, Richard, I feel like that's a question that comes up each and every time, and especially right now when we had an economic disaster of a year.

Where's the money coming from? Well, and one thing we know is that there is a lot of issues with money right now. Specifically, we know that some of the COVID funding is having to be used to help secure the border because they don't have necessarily the right funds down at the border. We're going to talk about it tomorrow.

We'll get into that tomorrow. But to that effect, the Iran situation is a little bit more complex because some of it is frozen assets of the Iranians because of sanctions that the Trump administration put in. And so what they would be doing is allowing them access to their terror funds by unfreezing those assets. But yes, we're giving direct aid to the Palestinians. That is your taxpayer dollars going directly to the Palestinians for security purposes, which we know ends up being used by the Palestinians to pay people to kill Israelis and Americans in some cases.

And again, I want to clarify, the Palestinian government is talking about Hamas. They're talking about these organizations. There are a lot of great people who are in these nations. These are really smart, wonderful people that we've spent time with. So I don't want to be painting with some broad brush of there's everyone in there is this evil group.

It's not that at all. There are great people there. It breaks my heart for them as well that we have to see stuff like this happen when we haven't had to for years and years and years of relative peace. But now the tide has turned once again. And that is why we have to always speak up. We only got a minute and a half. I don't know if we can get to any of these calls. I think we are out of time.

So to Thaddeus and to Judy, I am so sorry. If we could send him the Jerusalem book, that would be nice. My dad has a book. He was the number one New York Times bestselling author. My dad, he has a book, Jerusalem, a biblical and historical case through the Jewish capital. This isn't necessarily just me advertising.

I'm sitting right here. It's a good book to pick up and get a little educated on what's going on there. Because like I said, there's biblical significance, there's historical significance, and there's obviously the current thing.

And like I said, I believe there's a bigger story being told here. We need to always be praying for Israel, praying for peace around the world. Does it always occur? Do things happen?

No. God knows where things are headed. And we will be there as well to always be by your side to get through some of these times. That's why we have offices all over the world at the ACLJ. There's always a petition.

There's always ways to support. There's always great content. If you want to see also how we've helped around the world, the ACLJ team, the digital team, and the video team put together an amazing short documentary on the release of Pastor Brunson.

You've heard us talk about that. It's available right now on our YouTube channel. So click subscribe.

It's called Never Forgotten or Not Forgotten. It's the story of Pastor Brunson. You'll see it there right now. Go watch it.

It's about six, five, six minutes. It is a wonderful piece to see exactly the kind of work we do and how when you can work with a good administration, things can get done. They can also go directly to MoreThanEver.com, and it's highlighted there as well. Right. MoreThanEver.com, which also a new series is coming out on MoreThanEver.com. Take a listen.

Take a watch. Thank you guys. We'll be back tomorrow on Secular. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org.