Weak US Response to CHINA Crackdown

Today on Sekulow, the Biden administration has created a new pro-Palestinian post at the State Department. We'll talk about that more today on Sekulow. Keeping you informed and engaged. Now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you.

Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. Hey, welcome to Sekulow.

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your friends and family, being thankful to our Creator for all that we are blessed with, even in troubling times and tough times and difficult times. And of course, we're seeing a lot of that around the world, but we have it here in our own country too. We can't stop fighting back. The Biden administration, going along with their, remember their pledge was we want to open up that Jerusalem consulate that was specifically for the Palestinians, which was very anti-Israel. This was a US consulate in Jerusalem. And this was again, after the Trump administration moved the embassy to its rightful location in the capital of Israel in Jerusalem.

They haven't done the consulate reopening yet, but they've put in place the way to do it. They've upgraded a individual at the State Department, who was in the State Department specifically as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs, now has moved up to Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs, solely responsible for the Palestinian territories. His name, Hadi Amir. This is someone who wrote back just a year after September 11th. I'm inspired by the Palestinian intifada. He wrote this, I have news for every Israeli. This is after the killing of the head of Hamas' Al-Qassam brigades, that Arabs now have televisions. They will never, never forget what the Israeli people, the Israeli military, the Israeli democracy have done to Palestinian children.

And there will be thousands who will seek to avenge these brutal murders of innocents. He also threatened Americans. This is a US official that, quote, we too shouldn't be shocked when our military assistance to Israel and our Security Council vetoes that keep on protecting Israel come back to haunt us. This is who Joe Biden has promoted to this new position.

By the way, was negotiating the position with the Palestinian authority, gave no notice to the Israelis. Yeah, absolutely. And it's something that, of course, a lot of our listeners, I'm sure, are fired up about when you hear sort of the rolling back, almost if you will, not quite there. It's not removing Jerusalem as the capital yet, but it feels like that's almost on the way.

And it is sad. Let's give a call, though. If you want to call in, you want to talk about this and your thoughts on the Biden administration doing this, creating this post, if you will, this department that is going to be more of the middleman now for a pro-Palestinian front, give us a call, 1-800-684-3110, 1-800-684-3110.

We'll be joined later in the show by Jeff Balaban and by Rick Grenell. Yeah, I think, again, this is what I want to hear from you from because it's the administration setting that US policy. This is where they have the most leeway as President.

You have the most power to act regardless of Congress. Now, could the new house come in and start trying to defund some of these entities? That's discussions we can have come January. But right now, what the Biden administration is doing is, and why we always watch these lame duck sessions very closely, is they rush through as quickly as possible any kind of legislation they can while they still got the House and the Senate majorities. So that will be different come January. So we'll take your calls on that too, 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. Of course, eyes are on what's happening in China. Very weak response from the United States, which shows you, and we'll talk about this a little bit more when we talk about Rick Grenell as well, just the position the US is in when it comes to China that we can't even call out the Chinese for their repressive actions against their own people. This zero COVID policy that people are completely locked down and they've decided to take to the streets. Unprecedented in China. It's also people in Hong Kong are protesting in solidarity with the people there. And our response is, it's never been a good policy, the zero COVID policy. And we support free speech generally. So weak. What brings you the whole thing we get back? It was like the weakest statement. It starts like going on to our then talking points like, well, we disagree with theirs.

Here's our talking points, not exactly supporting the protests that are going on in China when you actually are seeing what could be a revolutionary moments in a country you really didn't think it could happen in. Again, phone lines need to be opened. Phone lines need to be opened. 1-800-684-3110. They are not open. Open them up.

1-800-684-3110. All right, welcome back to Sekulow. We're going to continue to discuss this issue because we're taking action on this promotion of Hadi Amir because I want to just say one thing about that. We're getting to China. And I want your thoughts on this because we are so reliant on China that it's like we can't even condemn when we need to condemn such horrendous actions. And we can't even support what we need to support these unprecedented protests that we're seeing in China. The Chinese people rising up against their authoritarian government calling for an end to the Chinese Communist Party, calling for an end to President Xi. I mean, that is a bold statement. You're risking your life to make that kind of statement in China.

They're trying to get the world's attention, but the world is so reliant on Chinese goods and manufacturing that you can't even issue tough statements. Now, when it comes to this, Hadi Amir, the Palestinian official in the U.S. State Department, remember he said, we shouldn't be shocked when our assistance to Israel and our votes come back to haunt us. And what we saw in the Trump administration logo was the exact opposite. We were able... It's like this group cannot stand the Abraham Accords because so many Muslim majority Arab nations said, obviously we'd like to figure out this Palestinian issue once and for all, but we want to do business with Israel and tourism. Yeah, and we saw extreme progress.

We saw what I always said was like an emotional amount of progress that happened in a very short period of time, stuff you never saw. So much so that you'd have in the UAE, you'd have Hanukkah celebrations that were happening and it became one of the biggest travel places for Israelis to go on holiday. That's a pretty wild thing to think about if you really know the history of it. And all those things were happening very quickly, and our relationships under the Trump administration had changed so dramatically in the Middle East, it was relatively calm. All this does is soak up a lot of fire amongst the people there. Because obviously, look, Israel is very much... It's not like America, and it is. You have now Netanyahu who is forming his government.

He is a legacy figure, someone who's been around forever, but also is more conservative, is more of that Trump kind of figure. And then you have a country that is fairly split, just like here, that maybe do want to see some resolution. But most people at least agreed that the Abraham Accords were a positive thing. Now you have a situation happening where you're seeing the Palestinian plight and issues, obviously something we should always be talking about, but it becoming a more divisive issue once again. When that starts happening, you know the politics gets involved, and sadly, that's when bloodshed starts happening in the Middle East. Now you have on the other side of this, you have what's happening in China, and China, there is a response finally over the weekend. I don't know if you saw a lot of this for people who are watching. Videos out of China that you never really thought you'd see, one that they would even control the fact that you would see it, which is a big response to the zero COVID lockdown they've been having.

What they're essentially thought process is that there's one, and we've talked about this on Secular Brothers, there's a point where at Disneyland a few weeks ago in Shanghai, they just locked everyone in. That's the kind of thing that's happening, and now people are taking to the streets- Don't worry, it's so dystopian too, we'll keep some of the rides open. Well, it's also because there was a fire, right?

This is what happened. There was a fire that broke out, and the fire departments could not, because of the COVID restrictions, the fire departments could not go in and save people, and I think 10 people died or something like that. And when that happened, the people actually spoke out, and that's what's happening right now.

And look, if that's what it takes, it's horrible, then that's what it has to get to, but the fact that you have people, they know they're risking their lives. This is a much different situation than any of us going and protesting in the streets. In China, it is a very different world.

No, I'd say the only thing really comparable, nothing is comparable with the size of their government, because you can't even compare Ron's size of their government, but I mean, that'd be similar. It's like taking to the streets there. You might be shot at by snipers, literally, and you could be arrested and disappeared forever. Yeah, and it happens. Yes, and it does happen, and so you're risking your life.

I mean, there's no other way around it, to stand up for just basic... I mean, these are talking about the most basic of basic freedoms, just the freedom of movement or the ability for, like you said, the firefighters to come and put out a fire, but oh, because of our COVID policies. And again, we still don't get to the bottom of what did they do with COVID?

How responsible are they? The more and more they take actions like this, the more and more they seem directly responsible for creating it and unleashing it on the world. Yeah, exactly, and I think that's a proven point, and also they're using it for their own control of their people. We've heard that from so many countries that we do work in with authoritarian governments, that since COVID lockdowns began in the West, these countries that are not in the Western world use them as... They call people in some of these countries, if you take to the streets en masse, that's a terrorist action now, because you're spreading the disease.

So protesting is now terrorism. Yeah, and there is a... You want to read? I think I have it.

I think you have it as well. This is the White House response from this morning that came out. You want to read it?

You want me to do it? The National Security Council, and so that's inside the White House. We've said that the zero COVID policy is not a policy we're pursuing here in the United States.

That's wonderful. Zero COVID policy, to clarify, is legitimately they're trying to completely eradicate it. So if there's one person that pops a positive test, it sends everything back into some sort of lockdown. Yeah, like whole cities.

Yeah. And as we've said, we think it's going to be very difficult for the People's Republic of China to be able to contain this virus through their zero COVID strategy. For us, we're focused on what works, and that means using the public health tools like continuing to enhance vaccination rates including boosters, and making testing and treatment easily accessible. We've long said that everyone has the right to peacefully protest here in the United States and around the world. This includes in the PRC. So the strongest statement there is that people have the right to protest in the PRC, but they don't specifically respond to why people are protesting there. They just said, it's not a policy we're pursuing here in the United States. Hopefully we knew that was something that wasn't happening. At least that's a little bit clearer. When you do have Dr. Fauci that was going on TV saying, school shutdowns, maybe it comes back.

You had that over the weekend as well. So I'm sure people are concerned about that, but you have a statement like this. What I hate about it is, like you said, it doesn't stand up necessarily for the protests that are happening. It just says it's something we're not pursuing right now.

Well, that's good. And they're even saying that these are some of the biggest protests they've seen since the Tiananmen Square. So this is a legitimate, real protest that's happening in China. It's hard to get footage. There are clips and things you can see. You can see some of the drone stuff that's been happening there, which is pretty frightening. However, the stuff that has come out is pretty emotionally moving.

And you hope that this actually leads us somewhere. They were chanting for Xi Jinping to step down. They were calling for the lockdown, some of it in English also. I watched the chants and some of them were in English, I think so they would get national attention or international attention, international attention. So they're chanting in English for him to step down.

They're chanting in English for the end of these protocols. And it's pretty emotional time to see in China that this would happen. I really didn't think you'd really see this anytime soon. And what I want to take your calls about is, unfortunately, go to the store, or maybe you're still waiting for supplies, electronics, waiting for the vehicle that you want specifically, because they're just not available. There is more on the market now than there was.

So it's slightly- Well, they've changed certain things. Go to the car dealership and stuff, they might have one of the vehicles you're looking for, but you can't really compare. One of my family members got a new car, and of course, this is very first world problems, got a new car and they said, hey, by the way, here's a list of features that aren't going to work until we get the chips.

So like your seat heaters, those kinds of things. So they'll sell you the car. They'll sell you the car, it's just not ready to go. It's drivable, but it doesn't have the right chips to access and unlock all the features. Which is the reason you're paying more for it.

Of course. And they're like, well, maybe hopefully we'll have it in six months. And then you bring it back in, we'll put the chip in. It also shows you how reliant we are on those kinds of things. Those small little features. I'm not talking about plastic toys.

So that becomes important for Christmas shopping, certainly. But we're talking about the high tech that China's involved in. Like we said, this is how so much of our vehicles operate based off the technology made there. So you can't just say we're going to cut them off. You have to have a long-term strategy in place to say, how do we become, like we say, energy independent? How do we become China independent? And that's not a one-year plan.

And it's not a talking point. It's probably a decade or longer plan because you'd have to invest in so much new manufacturing, not just in the United States, but you'd have to find some partners around the world. Mexico is probably the closest where you could have a large labor force help their economy, less people than try, or also, and these countries where we're seeing the mass migration from, put the plants there. But you've got to trade the workforce there.

That's years and years of getting things going. It's a different way of thinking. And I think this example of, unfortunately, this protest, the US, the Biden administration certainly is not very bold when it comes to China. But even a bold administration, I think, would still feel like their hands are tied. Like maybe they would say something more supportive of the protesters, but we still got to figure out how to get these chips to the United States. Yeah, absolutely.

Those who are pushing for electric vehicles and all the different things that they want. Yeah, but will they ever be made? Will we ever actually see these things exist? Obviously, sure. There are Teslas, there are other products, but a lot of these ones, people have had on pre-orders for years, and they're never going to see them.

Or you're going to see them, now the technology will be outdated and people moved on because of, again, some of these really extreme restrictions that are happening. But maybe, just maybe, stuff changes. And also this is a good time as we're heading to the break to tell you about the work of the ACLJ. We are in the middle of a matching challenge. That's right.

Especially ending the month of November here strong would be excellent. If you have the means, I know it's a hard time for a lot of people. If you have the means, go to ACLJ.org. All donations are effectively doubled. That means there's another donor ready to match your donation. So if you give $100, it's effectively $200. If it's $5, it's $10.

So you can do that all amounts accepted. ACLJ.org. We get back Jeff Balbon. We were going to continue discussion about the Palestinian situation.

Welcome back to Secio. We're going to take your calls on China in just a few minutes. 1-800-684-3110. We're going to be talking to Rick Grenell about that in the second half hour of the broadcast. But I want to go to Jeff Balbon, who is the director of our office in Jerusalem and a senior counsel with the ACLJ. Jeff, on this topic where you've got this individual who's been a problematic individual within the State Department, in and outside of the US government and at the Brookings Institute for a number of years. Hadi Amir made very anti-American statements, which is interesting because he works for the US government, very anti-Israel statements.

And now he's been promoted to this special representative to the Palestinian Authority. Yeah, this is basically America's waging war on the idea of Israel as a sovereign state. And they're doing it in everything but name.

So every step is happening step by step. They're just not declaring it. And this has moved. Let's put this in context, Jordan. It used to be that the claim was there was a peace process and so that Israel and others would negotiate with the PLO, a terrorist organization, in order to achieve peace. But the PLO has shown itself to remain a terrorist organization, even though it's now called the Palestinian Authority. It has never gone for peace. It keeps on using money, including now American tax dollars, to subsidize the killing of Jews. It refuses every offer of peace, including fantastically huge offers of territory, land control, because it just wants the eradication of Israel. And what the Biden administration is doing is step by step reversing the steps that the Trump administration did, which brought tremendous peace and normalization by saying, you know, this Palestinian thing, it's not working out. Let's focus on peace and normalization elsewhere. Well, the Biden administration is putting all their eggs into the basket of forcing the creation of a Palestinian state, which really means forcing a PLO terrorist state in the Jewish heartland. And it's untenable. Yeah, we haven't seen reforms.

There have not been changes in the past. It's the same old actors, even the Palestinian Authority, the same old actors who are just as corrupt. I think, Jeff, it's important to point out, too, they're horrendous for their own people. I mean, they steal the money. They enriched themselves.

They're all billionaires, and yet their people are still struggling. That's right, Jordan. You know, we spend a lot of time at the Jerusalem office. We spend a lot of time over what's called the Green Line in Judea and Samaria, the Jewish homeland, the Jewish heartland. And that's the area that the world calls contested or even occupied, which is really outrageous, the idea that Jews would be occupying Judea.

But it's the truth is on the ground. The Arabs that we see and deal with regularly, they want to be under Israeli sovereignty. They don't want to be under the Palestinian Authority because they see what's happening in Gaza. It's the same kind of situation where they have total control. And it's just it's a brutal, thuggish terrorist regime that treats its own people terribly. And you're right, they enrich themselves. Billions of dollars. Literally, Mahmoud Abbas is a billionaire.

He is a Holocaust-denying terrorist funding billionaire, thanks to the United States of America and Europe. Yeah, I mean, that is what people, that story never gets told, is how corrupt these officials are. So even if you wanted to say, let's make a change, you'd have to have this significant change in leadership.

And it looks like it's just going to be their kids next. I mean, it's very much like a dictatorship. It's not like, again, that there's a lot of new leaders there. It's the same families enriching themselves, taking power. I think, Logan, too, there's probably people want to update what's going on inside Israel, too, with the elections there, if there's been kind of... Oh, yeah, sure.

Maybe, Jeff, you can kind of give a bit of that. Obviously, we kind of catch the headlines, whether it was the Netanyahu victory, but what that means. Obviously, the government is very different in Israel in the way it's run from what we're used to here. So I guess what would be an update for those listening of what's happening in the government in Israel? Because you hear a Netanyahu victory. You think that's obviously a win for the more conservative party in Israel.

Sure. So there's actually been a lot of news in the last few days, which is to say there's been some question. Actually, there's been a lot of pressure, again, from the United States, from the Biden administration, from Democrats in Washington, for Bibi to not form... for Netanyahu to not form a government with the right wing, meaning with those who want to keep Judea and Samaria safe for the Jewish people. And there was a lot of pressure saying, you know, the Democrats aren't going to support you, the White House, America is not going to support you. And of course, they're trying to demonize the right wing coalition, which dominated. It wasn't that Bibi won this election specifically himself. He controls the largest party in terms of numbers of seats in their parliament, in their Knesset. But there's a now substantial block, a solid majority block of pro-Jewish, and that sounds surprising to come from Israel, but it's not, pro-Jewish state, pro-Judean Samaria legislators. And that's whom Bibi, it looks like, will form a coalition with, despite, thank goodness, despite the pressure that they've been getting from the United States. And that's very good for Israel's sake, and it's very good for America's sake, because that's the team that is able to make peace with Arab nations, not the other team.

Yeah, exactly right. Jeff, we appreciate you joining us. Jeff, again, oversees our office in Israel. I think it's a great time to remind you all, during our matching challenge, Logan, that we have that office in Jerusalem.

I know during some of the COVID years, people got kind of localized, and we didn't think it was globally, and these things were happening, like the Abraham Accords, and the movement of the embassy, and then boom, we get hit with COVID. It's to remind people about that work that we do significantly around the world. Yeah, we have offices all over the world, the ACLJ Spiglia's offices that Jeff was part of, in Jerusalem, and we are there on the ground to make sure when these kind of situations arise, that we are there to also speak for the American people as well, because I think that's something that's important. When you hear, look, just like we get a lot of news that comes in that's very anti-Israel, it feels like it probably goes the other way as well, which is saying America is not on your side, and that we know that's simply not the case, that a majority of Americans are pro-Israel, conservatives and liberals.

It's just the problem is when the most loudest people in the room are the left of the left, which again, kind of works your way back around to being just anti-Semitic, that that becomes the narrative that gets pushed all around the planet. We know that's not necessarily the case, and that's why we exist in all of these different places. That's why there is an office in Israel. That's why there's an office in Europe. We are making sure that our voices are being heard, really throughout the entire world, not just in America. Obviously, America is our American Center for Law and Justice, the ACLJ.

That's our focus, but it's not the sole focus by any means. All right, folks. I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org. That's ACLJ.org.

I want to let you know too, that on this issue, we're taking action at the ACLJ. This in my hands is a copy of our FOIA that's about to go out to the US State Department, requesting information regarding the appointment of the new Special Representative for Palestinian Affairs. Something we're doing right now, and remember, with the change in Congress, this becomes that much more important, the FOIA work. We are filing this FOIA to get information about how did this come to light? Why are you promoting this individual?

What's the long-term strategy here? Then we can provide that to Congress. Congress is now going to have a new oversight role, especially with the House of Representatives. Our FOIA work really goes to the next level because we're able to work with friendly members of Congress who can then haul these individuals before their committees and ask them direct questions.

Ask Hadi Abir about his statements, warning that the Arabs have televisions, they'll never forget what Israel did, and he also threatened America that we shouldn't be shocked when our military assistant comes back to haunt us. We can bring these officials forward, but we've got to keep the pressure up. We have to keep the attention up because these stories can be kind of fly by night.

You can see them once and then move along. Yep. Thank you, Jeff.

I appreciate it. You've got something to say, it sounds like. Yeah, I just want to quickly, and I want to say the other reason this is important, it's not only because we are able to provide information back to Washington, but it's necessary for the people in Israel to understand what it is that Washington's doing. And exactly this FOIA becomes so critical because we become a point of information. Our office in Jerusalem becomes a point of information so that Congress understands Knesset, that Knesset understands Congress, and Jerusalem and Washington can understand each other through people they trust like us. So folks, I mean, then again, it's a reason to support just what Jeff said right there. The interplay the ACLJ is able to play between the Israeli government and the US government.

That's because of your financial support of the American Surfer Law and Justice. We have a matching challenge. You can double your impact of your donation through the month of November. So a couple of days left. Donate today at ACLJ.org.

That's ACLJ.org. We'll be right back. Keeping you informed and engaged. Now more than ever, this is Sekulow.

And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. Just talking about a lot of issues today involving the world. So involving the Palestinian Authority and what the US government's doing, the Biden administration doing there, FOIA that we're filing there, and also what's happening in China.

We asked people to call in on that at 1-800-684-3110. Logan, let's get right to the phones because there's unprecedented protests not seen since the protests in Tiananmen Square. So in decades. And it's a good reminder too that the Chinese Communist Party tries to show that imagery, like everybody's on board in China, that everybody actually likes the idea of the Chinese. That's their propaganda.

It definitely makes you feel like. You realize there is a whole underlying group of folks who know they're oppressed, who know they have very little voice. They're actually protesting with blank pieces of paper so that the censors on TV have nothing to censor out. So they're figured out ways to protest.

How to protest and use that commentary. Unfortunately, there's not much the world can do because we're so reliant. It'd be like if the world tried to cut off the US. It's too difficult because the world is so reliant. But even more so when you are the manufacturing and high-tech power of the world, which we, in a sense, created China.

We made China into that high-tech power that it is today. All right, let's go ahead. Let's start with Ryan in Nevada on Line 1.

Ryan, you're on the air. Thank you guys for taking my call. And I agree with a lot of your points. The reason that the US cannot speak out so forcefully on China with these truly peaceful protests is the fact that we depend on China for so much of our life. For example, what you described doing with the carbon chips, the food, the medication, all that stuff is we get directed from China. How we've used it before, we created China by propping them up. So we can't speak for them. And the same of what you're saying before, as the outside countries saw what was happening to US protests-wise, they can't slam on us because we were just like China. We're giving so much out to the world.

So it's a double edge. This is the point is that if we had a long-term plan, and it has to be long-term, Logan, but we start implementing it. It says, how do we become Chinese independent, like American energy independence? How do we become independent from China? And that doesn't mean we have to network together at all.

You don't want world war and you don't want going back and forth. So you got to figure out the relationship, but how do we put industries in other places? Maybe US isn't always the most effective place to do all this manufacturing, but we certainly have other countries who are not our enemies. Yeah, and other countries that are pretty well equipped to do this. Looking for jobs and look at where people are migrating from and say, hey, what if we invest, if we can invest in the US, but why can't we invest in some of our countries that are more friendly to us? And maybe that could also be one of the solutions to the immigration crisis.

Yeah. And it is a big problem that we obviously all are experiencing, but I do think we do have to have find a response to China because like we've said before, it's not simple at all. This is a very difficult situation because of how reliant we are on China. Again, it's not just like, okay, well, I would rather make things in America. Therefore we will make things in America. No, go try as a small business to have your product manufactured in America. Most companies won't even take your call and China is ready to go. I mean, they're ready to go tomorrow, you know, immediately.

You need to create your own like Mike Liddell style. Right. You have to do that. And that obviously is a much bigger undertaking for most small businesses or even even large businesses. I mean, look, when you buy a phone, it says, you know, designed in California, but we know what it actually means. Designed in California, created not in California, go buy a pair of shoes. You may be, they may be designed in America, but, or in Italy or wherever, look where they're being manufactured. A lot of times you get your shipment notification straight from the factories. Now you can see where they're coming from. We don't even have the capability right now to do it. So you're right.

There needs to be a long-term plan that we can actually look towards at some point in the future, having some independent I have a pair of like boat shoes on right now. They're made in Maine. It's small and it's much worse. They're much worse. They're high quality product. Let me tell you, you could buy like 10 pairs of boat shoes for the same price from a Chinese made infection that would, that would look as good for a while. Yeah. And they may not last quite as long.

They'd probably don't like replace, like this one will like replace things, things over. So I like supporting that U S business in Maine. Of course, but it costs a lot more. You actually have to wait to get your shoes. You can't just buy them.

You have to wait. You understand why people can't. Right.

And this is why Walmart and Target and those things are your dominant shoes. We're talking about, we're not talking about a high tech, right? So again, we're going to talk about with Rick Renell, uh, all these issues where continue to take your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110 support the work of the ACLJ. Donate today, be part of our matching challenge, ACLJ.org. We can't do the work without you.

All right, welcome back. We're joined by our senior advisor for foreign policy, national security, Rick Renell, who's traveling in Serbia. I'll ask about that in a minute, but I want to talk, uh, Rick first about these unprecedented protests that we're seeing in China. And unfortunately, a pretty weak response from the U S government to say the least out of the national security council, we've been discussing on air. The issues is that one, I'm not sure that how any administration could be too strong because we're so reliant on China that we've got to kind of put forward. If we're ever going to really support these protest movements that are very rare there, uh, that we have to also have a plan to become more independent, uh, from especially Chinese technology and manufacturing.

Yeah. And let's also add the, the incredible COVID concerns that, uh, our intelligence agencies have been very clear that COVID originated in Wuhan, China, and that the Chinese scrambled to cover it up and really wreaked havoc on the world. We should never forget that because of, uh, what the secrecy of the communist party of China has done to the world economy. I would also add to that, Jordan, our concerns that China comes to Alaska early in the Biden administration and lectures the United States on our human rights record.

Here is a country that systematically denies basic human rights to its people lecturing us on American soil. And the Biden administration was incredibly weak. So this is now a pattern where the Biden administration is very nervous about standing up to, uh, China for some reason, I'll add one more in the 2020 election in October, 30 days before the election, when big tech and the left tried to tell us that Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation, Joe Biden specifically, as well as his campaign jumped on the idea that this was Russian disinformation, telling Americans in the last 30 days, do not look at Hunter Biden's laptop, because this is Russian disinformation. They knew it wasn't. They knew that that laptop had very troubling information about the Biden family's relationship, economic relationship with China. And yet they told Americans to look away during the election. And now we know that's been confirmed by every media outlet.

It's real. It's true that, again, that these emails, the back and forth, the exchanges, the business that was being done, that yes, this is the Biden family that relies heavily on China to fund their lifestyle and to fund the entire family's lifestyle. When they're inside and outside of government, Hunter's kind of like the front person for that, but he's, he's distributing the money amongst the entire family. Yeah, I think there is some, we've talked about this before, there's a vision of Hunter Biden, I think a lot of us have, which is this sort of almost Roger Clinton sort of bumbling person with drug problems, all this stuff, but you don't think of him as what he kind of more is, which as you said was, yes, obviously he has his demons as we very well have been well accounted for, but this was a guy doing very high level business dealings with countries and with a lot of different businesses and getting them involved in things, again, to essentially be that person who was the front man for the Biden family to make sure that all everyone's pockets were full and a lot of pressure was on him. So it is interesting to see the way the media maybe perceives it. I look at it a little differently. I don't look at it as, again, in that sort of buffoonery way.

I look at it as a guy who's a very high level working on some very shady business. Yeah, I mean, Rick, do you think that with the House now, some of this we can get to the bottom of, it's not just about just attacking Joe Biden or his family, it's about how conflicted are they and is that why these statements are so weak from the National Security Council when it comes to China? Is that why we don't have a policy to be less dependent on Chinese manufacturing so that we don't have these supply chain issues in the future? So that our kids and grandkids are so reliant on the Chinese who are not behaving like an ally anymore or a friend? Well, look, I think the reality is, is we need Congress to get to the bottom of why Joe Biden and his administration are afraid to stand up to China.

We see multiple situations, examples, where they're afraid to stand up to China. Let's also remember to every single person listening to this broadcast, that you were told that you're a conspiracy theorist, if you said Hunter Biden's laptop was real. During the election, Big Tech came after all of us, canceled us. They tried to stop our truth telling. They canceled the New York Post Twitter account for publicizing this.

This was a systematic problem. It's not going to be fixed until the media understands that when they speak up and when they're fair and they hold Biden to account, then you're going to see the Biden administration not be so weak. You're going to see them not weaponize government even more.

But right now, the Biden administration is feeling emboldened and reckless because the media are allowing them and are literally just, you know, cheerleading rather than trying to push back. Hey, Rick, one thing I think a lot of people are curious about is they're always wondering where you are and what you're up to. And I kind of want to ask you about that. We know you're calling right now from Serbia, and I think there should be an update of what's going on in your world.

Where in the world is Rick Grenell, right? Well, so as everybody knows, I negotiated the, for President Trump, negotiated the Serbia-Kosovo economic normalization agreement. There were four agreements. And in that agreement, we envisioned, and this is a very Trumpian thing, that the private sector would come in and begin to develop if we could get the two parties to stop fighting. And that's exactly what I'm trying to do from the private sector.

I'm not a part of the government at all. And as a private sector citizen working for private, with private equity firms to bring in American investments into the Balkans, we're doing some really cool things. And I'm here to try to really do that next step on the economic agreement from the private sector. Rick, we always appreciate it.

You're joining us to be part of the team, wherever you are in the world, taking that time, and again, trying to do good things. And do good things again, folks, the creative and right way, which means you don't always have to do it through the government. As Rick said, it's kind of Trumpian to say, but that you can do it a lot more through the private sector. So Rick, we always appreciate it. You know, folks, we have Rick right on with the broadcast for you because you support the work of the ACLJ. This is a matching challenge, whether it's Rick, whether it's Mike Pompeo and these experts. And then the team, Harry Hutchinson is going to be joined in the next segment, who's got a background in oil and gas. So we're going to be talking about what's going on in Venezuela and the fact that you might, we're now going to be pumping oil there again. The Biden administration, okay, pumping there, not okay with pumping here. But we have these experts because of the support for us at the ACLJ. Yeah, absolutely. And right now is a perfect time to make that charitable donation.

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That's ACLJ.org. We'll be right back on Secular. Welcome back to Secular. We're going to talk about some news out of how the Biden administration is propping up dictators around the world to try and solve energy crises here. We're, of course, not drilling in the United States, but I do want to take first Jim's call out of Tennessee online too. Hey Jim, welcome to Secular. Thanks for holding on. You're on the air.

Thank you. I just had a simple question. It's been on my mind for a while. We borrowed some 31 trillion dollars from China. Does that lean against us doing more or are they doing less? So I mean, this is kind of like the power that they have over the United States.

So let me go to Harry Hutchinson as director of policy. When it comes to that debt, and we know the Chinese own, I think they're majority owner of American debt, and they purchased that. How much power does that give them over the U.S.? I think it gives the Chinese government extreme leverage with respect to U.S. policy. And that leverage is actually accelerating and increasing.

Why? Because the U.S. is so dependent on particular goods, such as pharmaceuticals. So if they cut us off with respect to the drug market, if they refuse to buy U.S. Treasury bonds going forward, then the United States faces a very dire situation.

And the Biden administration will have difficulty fine funding its so-called Inflation Reduction Act, which actually will likely increase the level of inflation. So I think the Chinese government has huge leverage. And more importantly, they know it and they know how to exercise that leverage going forward.

And more countries we can add to the list of adding leverage over the United States. So instead of drilling here and allowing energy companies, which by the way, the Biden administration continues to demonize every time they have an opportunity to talk, they're blaming the oil and gas companies for the prices, saying they're making record profits. They could be doing more.

It's their fault. It's not the administration's policies or the fact that they said they wanted to put it into fossil fuel and the industry. But in the first time in years, the U.S. Treasury Department, Harry, has granted the Chevron the ability to start drilling in Venezuela again, which will directly benefit the dictatorship, the Maduro dictatorship in Venezuela, which has been another country where people have just, we see a lot of them at the southern border because it's just in a horrendous state.

Absolutely. And so again, the Biden administration has been very, very consistent. It prefers dictatorships to dealing with the real needs of the American people. At each and every opportunity, at each and every junction point, the Biden administration has basically said, we are prepared to give up U.S. energy independence.

We are prepared to give up U.S. pharmaceutical independence. We prefer to prop up dictators such as the Maduro regime in Venezuela. Perhaps we wish to help the Chinese government down the road. And so if you look at U.S. and Canadian policy, it is all about helping dictators. And this is exacerbated by virtue of the fact that the United States basically wants the American people to rely on unreliable, unstable sources of energy such as solar and wind. And then the United States government is prepared to send liquefied natural gas from the United States to Western Europe.

And this has even provoked the Europeans to claim what? That the United States government and the United States is profiting from the Ukrainian war because the United States is earning so much by charging relatively high prices to Europe. So if you look at the Biden administration, Biden administration, it is essentially a celebration of international incoherence. It doesn't really know what it's going to do next, except at the end of the day, in virtually each and every case, it will put the American people last.

Let's actually take a listen. This is an interesting bite because you brought up the Biden administration and the way they've kind of acted upon this. This is just from the day before the midterm election. So we're now just talking about a couple of weeks ago.

And this is President Biden responding to a protester. So let's hear that by nine. No more drilling. There is no more drilling. I haven't formed any new drilling. You really survived four years of offshore drilling. No, I- In the Atlantic or the Pacific, but in the Antarctic and all the way through Mexico. That was before I was President. We're trying to work on that, get that done. So ending anything in the United States and everything.

I mean, this person went through the whole litany of lists. They're shouting out, what about off shore? What about Alaska? And now it's like, it's wrong here, but go same ocean in a place where the oil is dirt. The process is dirtier. It's worse for the environment.

It props up an anti-American dictatorship that partners with Iran. That's not us. That's the problem.

That's the problem. And they're fine with the Treasury Department. And again, where are the climate protesters on this? You cannot support Joe Biden one day on saying ending in the US, but on the second day opening it back up in Venezuela. I think you're precisely correct, but it's an illustration of the Biden administration's incoherence. It's an illustration of the Biden administration's infirmity. So the Biden administration claims that climate change is an important initiative, but what is the Biden administration doing? It is making the environment worse.

It is perhaps actively supporting an increase in global warming if we accept the ideology. But at the end of the day, I hope the American people will see through what the Biden administration is doing. The Biden administration continues to celebrate nothing less than stupidity. You know, again, this is propping up a horrendous dictator, a place where people cannot afford basic necessities, where power is not on.

And now we're helping him provide those services to his people. So again, it's like propping up Iran, the idea that Iran is holding out to see what they can get from this administration. And it just seems to me like this is the policy of the Biden administration. We won't do it here, so it won't upset our base, but we have no problem with human rights abusers and working with them.

Absolutely. So the Biden administration consistently exhibits weakness. And in fact, the Biden administration is so weak. News reports are indicating that China is now directly engaged with the nation of Cuba, 90 miles off the U.S. shore. And if China and Cuba strengthen their relationship, we will find that there is now a threat of 60, I'm sorry, 90 to 120 miles from Miami Beach.

Not alarming at all. No, it's all policy decisions. Where we were American energy independent, we put Venezuela into a very difficult situation because we were energy independent, not relying on dictator's oil. This is why these guys play a long game thinking, you know what, they'll say no to us for a while, we'll deal with that administration. But Democrat will come in who says, we won't drill in the United States, so we'll go back and drill in that poor Latin American country that's run by a communist. And even though they're anti-American, even though they support Iran, you have safe haven to Iran. And of course, you've got the situation in Cuba. The fact that we still haven't solved that problem, and it's still an issue right on our border. We want you to support the work of the ACLJ.

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