Trump Honors Charlie Kirk With Presidential Medal of Freedom

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Subject to change. From the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite gun-totin, Bible-clinging, deplorable American. That's us! That's right. I love this American.

Todd starts. And welcome, everybody. You gotta get that mic on, Jeeves. Welcome, everybody. This is the Todd Starnes Radio Show.

Great to have you with us today. Uh wow, what What an exciting, what an exciting week for America. And of course, yesterday, the huge news coming out of the Middle East, President Trump bringing peace to the Middle East. And we are just so grateful for that. And the celebrations in Israel and really across the world, just truly remarkable.

And I got to tell you, hats off to Bill and Hillary Clinton and even Joe Biden because they actually gave President Trump credit and congratulated the president for his work. Truly extraordinary. By the way, have you seen the Time magazine cover? Of President Trump, we have that over on ToddSterns.com. And I want you to go over and take a look at the photo because.

Because a lot of people are upset about this, including President Trump. You know, Time magazine featuring the president on the cover. And this. It's this really odd camera angle, and it looks as if somebody was literally laying underneath the president and shot the camera upwards. And the president Is a little frustrated with the photograph on the cover of Time magazine.

And I'm just curious if you see that president the way see the photo, the way the president has seen the photo, because some are saying, well, it really represents the power and the majesty and the That's not how President Trump actually took the photo. Here's what he wrote on True Social: Time magazine wrote a relatively good story about me, but the picture may be the worst of all time. That's all caps, by the way. He wrote that in all caps. they disappeared my hair.

and then had something floating on top of my head that looked like a floating crown. But an extremely small one.

So I Yeah. His hair does sort of disappear into the whiteness of the cover. It's. It's an unusual cover, I will say that. And many people in MAGA World, my good friend Darla Shine, Writing shame on you for choosing this photo, another person saying you should be ashamed.

of using the most unflattering photo you could find, taken at an odd angle to try and humiliate President Trump. You just humiliated yourself, Time magazine, demonstrating how low you would stoop. You creeps had to use a terrible photo from a terrible angle. Petty losers. Yeah, I Others are saying, you know, it's not all that bad of him.

It's just weird. But anyway, President Trump, you know, this reminds me of. Winston Churchill. And his famous portrait. Any of you watch the Netflix series The Crown?

This was like an entire episode. of the um of the series. When Winston Churchill was honored well at least the They thought they were honoring Churchill. With this painting by the famed modernist artist Graham Sutherland. Turns out Churchill not a big fan of modernist paintings.

And as the legend goes, Churchill, they presented Churchill the painting. And it was secretly burned. By misses Churchill, Lady Churchill, Clementine. Churchill hated that portrait so much. and he thought it was an insult.

So, anyway, I couldn't help but think of that as I saw President Trump's reaction to this. Photograph and clearly an artistic photo of President Trump on the cover. I will say, though, it was, and the president was right, Time magazine actually did a pretty decent job. of of covering the covering the story so anyway uh we will No, go over and look at it and then give me a call. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.

Do you think Time magazine was intentionally trying to poke and prod President Trump? You know, we all have our good sides, right? You may not believe this, but we do. Right, whenever we're getting a picture made or something of that, we always say, Well, hey, don't shoot me from that angle, it's a bad angle. I remember whenever I was on Fox and Friends, all the time they would put me on the side of the curvy couch.

I used to hate that. It's a bad angle for me. You got to look at me straight on, and then it's okay. But you get the sine angle I get a little bit uh wobbly. Anyway, our telephone number today, by the way, 901-260-5926.

That's 901-260-5926. We'll be taking your calls on the Time Magazine. cover of President Trump.

So anyway, Charlie Kirk, continuing on, you had the incredible, incredible day yesterday. And today would have been Charlie Kirk's 32nd birthday. Of course, he was assassinated. On september the tenth, And today, he's going to be honored. At the White House, and it is going to be quite the ceremony.

You'll be able to watch it live on Newsmax 2. I'm sure your local radio station will also be providing. Coverage of this, Mrs. Kirk, Erica Kirk, is going to be accepting the award on behalf of her late husband. Still hard to.

Still hard to get my head wrapped around that, right? It's just All very strange. All very strange. But anyway, all of that happens at 4 o'clock Eastern. Yeah.

And we'll stay on top of that. Coming up a little bit later on in the program, yesterday we told you about this kid from Oklahoma State University. He was reprimanded by his teacher. For giving a speech about Charlie, we're going to talk to that student. Later on in the program.

Also, Josh Jones is going to drop by. He's got some things to say about the government shutdown. As well as the media reaction in the aftermath of the Middle East peace deal. And Congressman Mike Collins is going to be here.

So we have a lot of stuff going on, and we're excited that you have joined us for today's presentation. Program again, 901-260-5926. Go check out the photo over at ToddSterns.com.

So, there was an interesting story that came out yesterday, and this is really sort of our launching point for today's conversation. And it involves It involves the religious life of America. And you know, there was a time in this country not long ago when just about everybody went to church. As a matter of fact, during Eisenhower's administration, church attendance rose by 20% in this country. Just about everybody went to church or synagogue.

Now, that is certainly not the case. I mean, we are starting to see a resurgence among younger Americans, the so-called Gen Z crowd, and especially the younger portion of that group. They're all going back to church. But in record numbers, I mean, numbers going back to the Eisenhower years when the baby boomers were being birthed.

So that's exciting. But overall, church attendance has plummeted in America. But there's also another disturbing trend. And last night on the Newsmac show, I had a guest on from Family Research Council. Yesterday, they released a new survey, and they did a deep dive into what's going on with America and what's going on in America's church culture.

And I want you to take a listen to that conversation, cut number one.

Okay, we'll get back to that in just a moment.

So, anyway, but the Family Research Council, again, doing a survey on life and family. And one of the interesting things they found about this study is that an overwhelming number. of Christians. in this country no longer Believe in the pro-life movement. It's insane how that's.

It's just absolutely. Insane, but a majority of Christians are now pro-choice, according to the survey. And even beyond that, a majority of Americans are now against traditional family values. You're with Todd Starnes. Hi, this is Todd Starnes, and I'd like to take a moment to tell you about something I'm really excited about.

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Freedomchat.com. I want to go back to this Family Research Council study. I'm just stunned. Just stunned by this. It's just unbelievable.

According to the study, which was conducted by Family Research Council in partnership with Arizona Christian University, they surveyed regular church going adults. Over a thousand of them. And they compared these numbers with the numbers from 2023 and a study they did back then. And they found that while people are, in fact, going back to church in huge numbers, most people simply do not hold traditional values of. The faith.

And I'm talking about, for example, the idea that marriage is between one man and one woman. Most church-going Christians no longer ascribe to that. Also, the numbers of Christians who now. Believe or who now stand opposed to the pro-life movement is that there's been a 20% drop. These are staggering findings.

And so a lot of people are saying, okay, what the heck is going on here? What is going on in America? What's happening in these church houses?

Well, I. I want to posit a theory here because this is an important conversation. Because everything we do on this program is rooted on that foundation of God first, right? Religion is our first freedom, religious liberty. According to the survey.

They highlighted what is being called and referred to as confusion on abortion. Abortion being the central moral issue for the past five decades, 73% Of churchgoers now express contradictory views across six abortion. related measures. That tells me that something is going on in the pulpits of these churches. And I I want to suggest That As much as the university system has caused great chaos.

In our culture, I would suggest that the seminaries that are raising up the next generation of pastors are just as responsible for causing this chaos. And we have graduated a generation of woke pastors who are simply either not willing to address these issues or they hold opinions that are contrary to the Bible on some of the most pressing issues of the day. And I coined a term a long time ago called woke evangelicals. And these are pastors who have Who have disengaged their congregations from the culture war, which is a huge problem. You know, the Bible tells us that we're supposed to be salt and light, and unfortunately, many churches, many Christians, are on a sodium-free diet these days.

It's not a good thing at all. And as a result, the culture suffers.

So, as much as we want to blame the Democrats for all of the cultural woes and the chaos in the culture, much of the responsibility is found within our church houses. Because if our founding fathers really did mean for America to be a Christian country, if our founding fathers really meant for us to be a country that follows the teachings and the precepts of the Holy Bible. If that if that is the case Then we got problems. And I say that because. As John Adams said, and I think I've quoted him at least once a month, I share this quote with you, our Constitution wholly inadequate for anyone other than a moral and religious people.

So if that is the case, then that's why this country is off course. That's why this country right now is off kilter. Because if we're if we're not speaking truth to the culture from our pulpits. If we're allowing our churches to be guided by the culture instead of the culture being guided by the church, then yes, we are going to get chaos, and we got loads of it right now. I'll give you an example.

Just the other night, more than 500 kids, teenagers, were causing mayhem in a in a giant parking lot. And not a single person got arrested. And you had people talking to the local media saying, well, because people are like, where are the moms and the dads? And it's a great question. Where were the moms and the dads?

What kind of parents let their kids wander around the streets after dark? You've got 13, 14-year-old kids that are being just dropped off at various locations. Are you kidding me? And this is happening in every major American city out there. And it's not just major American cities.

Look at what happened over the weekend in the state of Mississippi and in South Carolina, where you had. Dozens and dozens of people that were shot. At these homecoming events. It's so bad that in Laurel, Mississippi. They just announced moments ago that there will not be any tailgating allowed at future football games, and they will not be doing a homecoming dance because they can't guarantee anyone's safety.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the chaos in the culture we're talking about. Chaos in the culture, chaos in the classroom, and we have silence from our pulpits. And I will say this as we commemorate Charlie Kirk's birthday to day. If you Attended a church. And they did not address the assassination of Charlie Kirk and what this means to the culture at large and the fact that this man was a martyr for his faith, you need to pack up your Bible and march right out of that church and find yourself another home, another church home.

That's the problem. You know, we can talk politics until we're blue in the face, but the reality is politics never fixes anything. Politics normally actually makes things worse. Our problem and the problem we are dealing with here and now is a religious problem. And until we can get that sorted out, We're never going to have peace in this country, and we are never going to get this culture back on track.

But I'm telling you right now, that is a dangerous thing when you've got. Church members that are saying that, you know what? I think I'm pro-choice. I think it's okay for a woman to abort her child to kill her baby. Um That's going to be hard to come back from.

Ladies and gentlemen.

So we've got a lot of work to do. And I think, and again, I certainly appreciate Family Research Council putting this story out and this this survey out. But as Tony Perkins said, The good news is that the Christians are looking to church leaders for guidance. The problem is. The church leaders.

And we've got a lot of preachers that don't want to offend people. And they'd rather just spend their time putting together three or four-point self-help sermons. And then tossing it over to the American Idol cover band for for worship, so people can get their worship on. All right, gotta take a break here. 901-260-5926, our telephone number.

That's 901-260-5926. Am I right or am I off the reservation on this one? We'll be right back, America. I've got something very exciting for you, the perfect way to celebrate America's 250th birthday next July 4th. It's called Young Washington, a brand new film from Angel Studios and the Wonder Project.

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Todd, another problem has been our men are to be godly leaders in their homes.

Now, we have too many homes where the father is absent.

So, when female kids become adults, they have issues with men.

Well, let's go to the phone lines here and say hello to Anna in Atlanta, listening to us on WDUN today. Hi, Anna. What's on your mind? Good morning, Mr. Starnes.

First of all, I want to thank you for taking my call. And I listen very often on WDUN here in Georgia. I called because I agree. with you about the church being a reason that our country is in the state it's in today.

However, I disagree with you about why. I believe that the church is full of hypocrites. I believe that people don't do what Jesus would do. I don't believe we love our neighbors as ourselves. The church is being used in our country to uphold slavery, civil rights.

The most segregated hour in our country is Sunday mornings now.

So I I I just believe people don't believe your account. If you're light, if you're salt. That's what people believe in. You're trying to tell the world what they should and should not do. Falls on deaf ears.

And our Jesus, my Lord and Savior, proved that throughout his ministry: that people don't listen to what you say, they watch what you do. And so I agree with you. And I'll hang up and thank you again for taking my call. Anna, let me ask you this, though. You brought up something that has always been a bee in my bonnet because I've heard this thing about Sunday, the church hour being the most segregated day.

I don't necessarily have a problem with that. I mean, if God is calling you to attend a certain church and the reality is. Churches have been segregated in our country, Mr. Thorns. I just hope you will be honest about that.

Well, why is that? Why is that, Anna? Why? I mean, our country has a history, Mr. Starnes.

You know that black people weren't allowed in public places. Our tax dollars went to funds. Public programs and governments, and you know, I don't have to go all the way back to slavery to talk about it. I can just talk about my mother who was born in 1958. That she would go to Woolworth on our Times Square and have to get food from the back with her mother.

But the good news is, those days are over, aren't they, Anna? No, those days. What's that, Anna? Bloom, but those days are still in. Yeah.

Again, do you go to a black church, Mr. Starnes? Have you ever decided to go to a black church to be a member? That's your choice, but why haven't you? Because, Anna, I'll be happy.

I'm happy to answer that question if you'd let me answer, if that's okay. Absolutely. Yeah. I go to church to worship Jesus, not a skin color. Yeah, I I That's easy to say, Mr.

Sarnes, again. Is it Anna?

Well, no, no, no. Let me ask you. Anna, you got to ask me a question, I answered, and now I get to, I need, I want to ask you a question. water charge for skin color I asked you Have you ever been a Member of a black church. What is a black church?

What is a black church? I want you to define a church. The majority of people there are black.

So, by your very definition, that would make that church racist, would it not? If all the church members are black. No, I'm not Military. Cultural churches in the area. What does that mean?

is where Jensen Franklin is the president. I would just say to the evangelical Americans out there who listen to your show. God is not interested in your color, but He watches what you do. And how you treat, and so for the evangelicals who will put a man up as our president who doesn't, who isn't who? Admitted that he ain't going to heaven.

Or ha you know, I mean that's Yeah, that's for someone to be representative of my country. Are you open? Are you in your car, Anna? Hold on. Are you in your car?

I hear a dinging in the back of it. You want to speak girl?

Sorry. Hang up. I just wanted to hear your question. No, no, no. No, well, I don't want you to hang up, Anna, because I'm curious about this.

I'm going to pull over. I'm going to. All right, yeah, don't get pulled over now. That's Nobody wants that. Right now, I'm in my town square.

As a matter of fact, I'm right in front of WDUN's office on the square about to do yoga for this afternoon.

So here's the deal: here's the deal, Anna. The answer is: I do go to a church where people of multiple skin colors worship, and it's not just black, Hispanic, Asian. One of the churches I go to a lot when I'm out on the West Coast, it is a. Majority, minority congregation. But that's not the point.

Skin color is not the point. It's where God wants you to go. And I will say this: hold on, hold, Anna. Hold on, hold on. I will say this.

Agree with you that God doesn't care about color. The point is: who do you worship with? Who do you have contacts? fact with Are you segregating? Talking about segregated, you know that black churches exist.

The United Methodist churches, a matter of fact, where I grew up existed. Because the Methodist people decided not to do that kind of thing to see it with her. Let me drop a truth bomb on you here, Anna, because I would be willing to say most majority white churches. Are more diverse and more integrated than most black churches are in America. to see your approach.

To that church.

Well, you just go, you call up any black mega church, and that's the thing: they only call out the white megachurches, they do not call out the black churches. I agree. I don't see anyone. I see, again, you've been speaking, Mr. Science.

I listen to your show every day. I know you deal in hyperbole and generalizations. What do you mean? I asked for specifics. I give me a specific.

I'll tell you, First Baptist Church Atlanta, Georgia, First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, you're going to see just as many black faces in the crowd as you will white. But again, why is that so important? Why does that matter? Why do we have to focus on skin color? Why do we have to focus on skin color?

I didn't focus on skin, so I'm not sure. You brought it up. that our country has had has had Yeah. Our country has had Christian white evangelicals is the beginning of our nation. We have and we've had blacks too.

What are you saying? I mean, Dr. Tony Evans. You know that blacks. Black congregation.

Black congregations are an offshoot. Of the majority, right? I've got a, and I've got to run. We've had your approach. Will you tell me?

Please tell me, is it not true that black congregations were started because they weren't welcomed in white churches? No, not at all. Not at all. There have always been, what do you call the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Anna? Are you kidding me?

Yeah, because they work. Allowed if you could That's not true.

Well, I don't think anybody wants to go to Episcopal church. Look, Anna, I appreciate you talking. I appreciate you taking my call. All right. Thank you, Anna.

I like Anna. I think she's coming from a good place. I think so. But the reality is, why does skin color matter where you go to church? But if you're going to have that conversation, at least be honest about it.

You have entire denominations that are specifically designed for. for a specific race of people. Do I have a problem with that? No, not at all. If that's how you want to worship, that's great.

But the reality is, I do go to church with folks from all different skin colors and persuasions. Because again, the most important thing, ladies and gentlemen. It's not the color of your skin, it's the condition of your heart. Art. All right, 901-260-5926, our telephone number.

Do you agree or disagree with Anna from Atlanta? 901-260-5926. Let's go to Jerry in Iowa. Hi, Jerry. What's going on?

Type low. Brother Todd. last call. It was so kind of you to cut. to talk with her and for her to talk with you.

She yelled at me, Jerry, but you know.

Well, I don't want to quibble with you. You bore it nobly. And so I hope she calls me. back.

So I think bass Majority of Christians of all colors don't really care. It's sort of kind of uninteresting, actually. There's so many more things we can talk about today. It's kind of like. Ancient history in many ways.

Yeah, there's a few. Mm-hmm. Still hung up on that hook. But for the most part, I think the largest. Church in the U.S.

is Lakewood. I've been there before. It is The most diverse first Asian Latino. I mean it there's Something about one of everybody. children's ministry.

So I think most Americans really I mean the issue is sort of I just Well, let me say this. The problem here, Jerry, because we got to get to move on here, and I want to get to your comment. But the reality is, a lot of black churches in the, say, Memphis area, I'll use that as an example. They're teaching black liberation theology.

So it's not about the skin color. Again, it goes back to the heart and it goes back to what your preacher is preaching. And a lot of churches are preaching hate from the pulpit and division from the pulpit. And I know that because you can see it in the culture.

Okay, that is so true. gave was that churches are not addressed It.

So it's either a Marxist impetus or they're not addressing it. There's so many wonderful churches, and Michael. Common is they're so heavenly-minded, they're no. Earthly good. About Jesus and theology.

Jesus is a great focus.

So it's encouragement. But there's no specificity on practicalities that we need. you hear about. of voting Abortion. Get on the school board.

For Israel. That's important. It's in the Bible. Horn, drugs, alcohol. Yeah.

It's just endless milk. Yeah. versus works. I mean, this is good stuff. Bad stuff.

Versus Brinkling, pre-trip versus mid-trip.

So it's these are great doctrinal issues, and I'm not saying Ignore them forever. But we need to get some applications. Applied specific specificity in the culture so irrelevant the rest of the work the rest of the week.

So uh yeah, there's the Marxist Focus in the liberal mainline churches. I loved your comment about episcopal. Ha ha ha ha ha. But uh just be they're not addressing The issues, or they're going the wrong way.

So, we need to hear about who the good candidates are. Are they moral? Are they pro-life? I'm okay with hearing that in church. We still got to focus.

on Jesus But let's get some practicality going too instead of dodgy. Yeah, thank you. All right, Jerry, well said. Thank you for that. Let's go to Lee and Bartlett, Tennessee, listening to us on KWAM.

Hi, Lee. What's on your mind? Yeah, um In regards to the church, there's that one thing caller. Uh first of all Most churches are located in certain neighborhoods in That's pretty much what your uh congregation Be if you are in an all-black neighborhood, it's going to be all-black. Why would someone from They're farmers town.

go there across town just to go to that shirt, just to please people. You're going to please God.

So you're going to go to church that's definitely closer to you. And also, I was uh, you know, I'm a Deserene for my base government. And around the city, there's some Black Nazarene churches. and some light Nazarene churches. And whenever they had uh revivals and so forth, We get to those churches and worship with them.

They come to Well the churches are heaven to be Why? Absolutely. The woman is all gone. Yeah, it's unfortunate. And I wasn't quite sure where Anna was taking the conversation.

But again, I don't think that makes her a bad person at all. But a lot of there are a lot of people that just feel just like she does. But if you're going to play that, you got to do it both ways. And I know as a Southern Baptist. Our denomination, I think we got infected by some of that George Soros woke money on the immigration and the race stuff.

And there was this effort to, you know, it's like, oh, we've got too many white people in the church.

Well, okay, who are you going to kick out? What? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. But they never go after the all his or the Spanish-speaking churches, or the we have Chinese-speaking churches, or Russian-speaking churches. You know, it's okay for all the Russians to have their church, but it's not okay for a bunch of white folks in their neighborhood to have a church.

That's that's that's ridiculous. Yeah, I agree with you. All right, Lee, we got a bad phone connection, but I think we got the gist of what you were saying. Thank you. Real quick, let's go to Salem, Oregon.

Ronnie is listening to us on KYKN. Hey, Ronnie, what's on your mind? I'm doing okay. My brother and I. No, you're not what that lady there was insulting.

First thing she needs to do is Practice what you preach. Feed the sheep, blab our sheep, protect our sheep. I mean, I'm Gillen I've been to uh black churches and when I grew up in LA. And I tell you there was some there wasn't there bad ones, apes and them bad. They want to segregate everything else.

How about standing up our children against surgical mutilation? How about Going through and coming together with God's people, just like Pastor Murillo, Pastor Gaze Cooterman, and every and uh you know, mister Wilperson, David Wilperson and others. Or even go back to Katherine Kuhlman, she used to be on Channel 11 in LA. I I like churches because they wa The ones that walk, we don't see color. We don't see how well the Ohio, how low of a food tree in New York?

You've got to be alike to others and the soul. the earth and if iron sharp iron if you surround yourself with those that walked in faith. No shape. And yet And yet I you know, she has some good points to a degree, but But the point is this. When Jesus walked on earth, did he say, I'm going to choose the Africans from Ethiopia.

Did they say I'm going to choose the Gentiles from basically Eastern Europe? No, he said These are my people. Yeah, it's that simple, Ronnie. It's that simple. Ronnie, I got to run, my friend.

I am super late for a break. All right. God bless you, brother. I just tell you, look, here's the deal. If God is telling you you got to go to that, if you're a white dude and God says you got to go to that Hispanic church and you don't, well, then you're in trouble.

All right. So you go where God wants you to go to worship. Holy smokes. I'm a Baptist because we have good church suppers on Wednesday night. And That's well, there are a few other reasons.

All right, we got to take a break. 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. This is the Tod Stern Show. He's not bitter, he's blessed.

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Happy to have you with us. This is the Todd Starnes show. Wow, that got a little rowdy in the last segment. Didn't mean for that to happen. All right, coming up, Josh Jones is going to join us.

We may be talking with some good friends over at Turning Point USA, everyone in Washington, for the big ceremony later today. You know, I'm wondering. When you look at the aftermath of the assassination and just the influx of young conservatives into the movement. Do you think this is going to have a lasting impact? And what do we need to do to make sure that the mission of Turning Point?

goes on. Because you know how this goes, and especially with young people, when you look at summertime coming around and spring break, and the further away from the assassination you get, the more people are going to be distracted into doing other things. And so I'm wondering what would it take and what is it going to take to keep the Turning Point USA movement going in the right direction and growing That's going to be the big question and the big challenge for all of us.

Some of you may have some ideas about that. I know that we have been working and trying to do our part here locally, being a support for the TPUSA chapters that are popping up at high schools and colleges here in the Memphis area where our show is based.

So, anyway, looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that. And I tell you, I do have to give just a huge shout out to our friends over in Houston at Patriot Talk 920. You know, one of the things I love about that radio station is they are so involved in the community, and especially when it comes to the Second Amendment. Anytime there is a gun show, anytime there is some sort of a firearms event, they are there and they are there and they are involved. I will say this, they are sponsoring a A youth introduction to firearms class that has already sold out.

At one of the local gun ranges there in the Houston area. This is just tremendous news and Well done to our friends over at Patriot Talk, Michael Wilson, the morning drive host, and of course, Matt Velasquez, who is the great owner of that radio station. And maybe your local radio station is doing something similar. We'd love to know about it so we can give you guys a shout out. And one of the great things about this program is that we are on a lot of mom and pop owned, independent-owned radio stations around the nation, which means we get to make.

The rules, and I love that we get to decide what we're going to support. All right, hang tight, everybody. Hour two of the big show coming up: 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show. We'll be right back, America.

From the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starr. That's right. I love this American ride. And hello, everybody. Welcome to the Todd Stearns Radio Show.

What an honor to have you with us today. This hour, we're going to be pretty busy today, everybody. A lot going on. We are also monitoring developments out of Washington. The Senate is expected to vote sometime today.

On another plan to reopen The federal government. And it's not looking good because they need five more Democrats to break ranks and join the Republicans to reopen. The government and get this continuing resolution through.

So, a couple of things. As of today, all Smithsonian museums are now closed to the public. Also, we're hearing the National Zoo is shut down, and you will not be able to go and visit any of those.

So, if you're making vacation plans, you might just want to hold up a little while until. Until they get the government reopen. By the way, Speaker Mike Johnson. This is insane.

So, Speaker Johnson's going out there and he's laying out what exactly. The Democrats are are wanting. And the Democrats are demanding that, first of all, you fund You fund health care for illegals, hundreds of millions of dollars, that you have to use your tax money to take care of the boo-boos and the sniffles of illegals. Also, the government, the Democrats refused to reopen the government until Republicans agree to fund get this $3.9 million to LGBTQIA plus democracy grants for the Balkans. They also want to spend $2.9 million in your tax money to fund desert locust reduction in Africa.

What did that? What does that mean? Just stomp on them. Or use RAID, just get giant cans of RAID and spray the locust. How difficult is that?

So, anyway, that's what the Democrats are wanting. And again, the Republicans are saying no. They say, you know what? I know that you want to get rid of the locust as much as everybody else, but we can't afford to do that right now.

So we got to shove through this clean resolution, this CR, which, by the way, Is the same CR that we've already approved with Biden-era spending levels.

So what's the big deal? And now we've got Dollar Store Obama, Hakeem Jefferies, who says he has not even spoken to Speaker Mike Johnson. How is that humanly possible? How do you your offices are like right down the right down the hallway from each other?

So, how is it that you can't walk over to the speaker's office and say, Mr. Speaker, this is Hakeem Jeffries. They call me Dollar Store Obama. Would love to be able to sit down and talk with you. But he hasn't done it.

Even CNN was dumbfounded by that. Dana Bash was like, What do you mean? I know exactly where your office is. You're just a few feet away. walk over and knock on the guy's office door.

How difficult is that?

But Democrats are sweating right now. Because they know that there's no way out of this.

So the question now becomes: which five Democrats are? Are going to be the sacrificial lambs for the party. Also, and this is really interesting. This redistricting effort, it's getting pretty interesting out there.

Now Kansas has become the latest state to try and remove their Democrat district. And I was hoping Tennessee would do it. We've got one out here. In the western part of the state, Congressman Steve Cohen, the rest of the delegation, all Republican, and I would have loved for them to do that.

So CNN is starting to run through the numbers. And if If the redistricting efforts continue, the Democrats could lose 19 seats.

So we shall see how this plays out. But, ladies and gentlemen, let me say this: if you live in a state that is controlled by Republicans. then your legislature needs to be redistricting. And the reason why is very simple, because the Democrats will do it to you. And if they will do it to you, we have to do it to them.

I mean, it really is that simple at the end of the day.

So, our telephone number, by the way, 901-260-5926. That's 901-2606. 260-5926. Coming up a little bit later, we're going to be talking to Joshua Wilson. He's a student at Oklahoma State University.

Got in trouble. For delivering a speech about Charlie Kirk.

So we're going to have a conversation with him. Congressman Mike Collins is going to drop by, and our good buddy Josh Jones, Republican strategist out of Washington, will be joining us as well. Also, I want to remind you: if you go to ToddSterns.com, you will see the photograph that's causing a lot of controversy: the photograph of President Trump on the cover of Time magazine. President says, that they disappeared his hair.

So I'm wondering about your thoughts regarding the photo. Do you believe the photo was meant to be disrespectful and intentionally unflattering of the President? You can give us a call on that. And then this story out of Pennsylvania. which we have at ToddSterns.com and I would encourage you to go over and read.

The story. This is a doozy.

So in Pennsylvania there's a college. It's a private school. It's named after Benjamin Franklin and Supreme Court Justice John Marshall. It's called Franklin and Marshall College. They have a mascot.

Two mascots. Want to take a wild guess who the mascots are?

Well, one of them is named Franklin, and the other is named Marshall. Two white dudes dressed in colonial era garb. Their school teams, their athletic teams, are called the diplomats. But in this age of diversity hires, where skin color and chromosomes seem to matter more than university namesakes. They got problems.

So now the university president, a guy by the name of Andrew Rich, has established a mascot working group. And they are compiling a list of replacement mascots that would be more gender neutral and less racist.

So the campus newspaper, which You gotta love these campus newspapers. They're all breeding grounds for these woke reporters. And so they have jumped into the fray here. And they're saying that, yes, Franklin and Marshall need to be replaced because they're old white guys. And they were both racist.

And here's what they wrote. In a time where we are surrounded by so much racism and sexism, It makes sense why we we would uh want to to break from old white guys from the 18th century. John Marshall was racist and fought to keep slavery in the United States. And while Benjamin Franklin was well known for being an abolitionist, he once owned slaves and held racist views too.

So basically, they want to cancel anybody born.

Well, let's see here. The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in. The year of our Lord, what, uh, 2023, according to BLM?

So okay, so anybody born Anybody born before the year 2000 You have to just erase from public memory. If I'm doing my DEI homework correctly, Everybody, everybody born before the year 2000. is a racist. And a sexist. All right, there we go.

Let me continue on now. As more people become aware of their racist histories, now seems like the right time for a mascot change. Frank LeMarshall founded our college, but our wonderful community can be represented by so much more than just their names. We are diplomats after all, and you don't have to be the ghost of a white man to be a diplomat.

Well, okay, but your college is named after that old white ghost.

So The student newspaper is now suggesting that they should. that they should consider a a classy cow. They believe that would be a suitable replacement.

So I have a question. No, I'm serious. That I mean, nothing generates school spirit like a bloviating bovie, right?

So I have a question here. What are they going to call the female sports teams? Will they be known there at Franklin and Marshall as the Lady Heifers? That's what I want. All right, here ki here they come down the field.

The thundering herd of lady heifers.

So I mean, look, it may be. I don't know. We're just trying to be helpful here.

So in a previous years There was even talk about renaming the college, but they shelved that idea and instead. They formed a study group to examine how slavery is represented on campus. And I would hope that slavery is not represented at all on campus. It's the twenty first century for crying out loud. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued in the year of our Lord twenty twenty three.

or thereabouts.

So we'll keep you updated on what's going to happen here, but they're definitely getting rid of Franklin and Marshall. And we have no idea what the new mascot is going to be, but they're going to announce it by wintertime. No doubt it's going to be, I don't know, one of those gender non-conforming, politically correct MOCs. No, that's mascot of color, M-O-C, mascot of color. All right.

Let's go to the phone lines here: 901-260-5926, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Dave on the line. Dave, what's going on? Todd, listening to you earlier about this shutdown thing, and remember that what they want to do right now is to get us until the twenty first of November. One of the main purposes of Congress is to create and maintain a balanced budget.

It's not about continuous resolutions. It's not about all these little They're supposed to do an annual budget, and they don't, because then they would be accountable for every dollar. You cannot funnel money to crime and illegals and everybody else if a dollar has a name.

So here's the thing. We're shut down now. This is supposed to get us through until november twenty first to begin with.

Now Within a week of Thanksgiving, I can cue the music in the background, dramatic effects. Here we go. We're gonna scurry around, and everybody's gonna say, I've got to get home for Thanksgiving. I'm doing all I can. Let's build this huge ball of money and throw everything in there, and it'll get us through till next year.

Yeah. How many times do they have to do this? We've watched it. The people hate it. It's irresponsible.

every member of Congress and every member of the Senate should be held accountable for this. because we do not have, we have not had A balanced budget forever. And if they can you know I'm out here, I'm watching all the Veterans Loose stuff. You know, well If we take If we take veterans overall, we appropriate so much money, but we only do it for a certain period of time. They're going to lose benefits.

But illegals And there is money set aside specifically for illegals. And they wanted to increase it. When they go back to when Paul Ryan and Patty Murray wanted to, they wanted to develop legislation. to take money away from Get this, retired military people. They wanted to target that small community.

and take money away from military retirees. specifically for the purpose of Funding illegals. I believe that was 2014. I'll have to look it up, but. Anyhow.

Well, Dave, here's the deal. I mean, Trump has done a great job as far as finding I think they've got about $8 billion they're pulling out of Pentagon Research and Development money, which was there and it was not being used so that they can pay the military. But I mean, you're right. We've got to make sure to keep an eye on these lawmakers because we've been there and we've been down this path with Mike Johnson as speaker where they get to the holidays, they get to the wall, and then they just say, well, you know, we really need to, we just need to go ahead and fund this and we'll deal with it later. We gotta stop kicking the can down the road.

It's going on for several administrations. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No doubt about it. Yeah.

And the thing is that. We know what the military is going to get paid for the next year. Why should they not get paid this month, no matter what else? Yeah, well said.

Well said. All right, Dave, we got to leave it there, my friend. We certainly appreciate you calling in, and we appreciate the great service of all of those fighting men and women there at Camp Lejeune. Got to leave it there and take a break here. 901-260-5926.

This is the Todd Stern Show. Can't hear the whole show? Don't worry, get the Todcast and listen on your own time at ToddStarnes.com. Today is National Dessert Day. Did you know that?

It it is. I, you know, do you have a favorite dessert? I was on with our friends at WTUN this morning. Bill Main is the morning show host. I do a segment with those guys every Tuesday.

And I think they were genuinely surprised at my answer. I am curious, ladies and gentlemen, if there is a favorite dessert. Do we have some sort of, have we, is there a consensus on favorite desserts among the Todd Stearns radio show audience? I will tell you. that I do have I have two all-time favorite desserts.

Number one is is a delicious slice, and it has to be good. It can't be too sticky. and it can't be too sweet. But I am a sucker for good old-fashioned pecan pie. I love pecan pie.

Now, if you come at me with a pecan pie or a pecan pie, I'm going to turn you away because it's a pecan pie. That is the correct pronunciation. Pecan.

Now a closed second Would be Banana puddin'. And There's really nothing better. I don't care. How hot or cold it is, but somebody brings me a big old bowl of banana pudding, then I'm going to be in heaven. And it's by the way, and that puddin cannot have a G with it.

If it's banana pudding, well, that means that it's not authentically Southern.

So, you got to have good old-fashioned banana pudding, that's P-U-D-D-I-N apostrophe. And you got to make sure you have null wafers with it. If you don't have nillow wafers, I mean, what's the point of living? You know what I mean? And though I know some people like to get fancy and they like to do the nutter butters.

No, that's not me. No, I don't want peanut butter in my banana pudding. I want bananas in my banana pudding. And you got to eat it day of, otherwise, the bananas. And a lot of people don't even put bananas in.

It's just pudding with vanilla wafers. And that's what's the point? Right?

So, you got to make sure you have some good old-fashioned bananas.

So, anyway, a very curious ladies and gentlemen, someone Wyatt Cox from the Nevada Talk Network just texted, Do we need to start sending you Jell-O again? Yeah. Not a big fan of Jell-O. Unless it's like in a congealed salad, which is kind of like a southern thing. I guess that is, is that just a southern thing?

Are the congealed salads? Does that translate outside of the southern states? I think it does. But yeah, Wyatt, appreciate the thought, but. Just give me some pecan pie or maybe some uh delicious banana pudding.

That's putting with an N. All right, 901-260-5926. Our telephone number, that's 901-260-5926. If you want to weigh in on your. Favorite Dessert on National Dessert Day.

I just want to know who comes up with the holidays, right? Does somebody just sit around and they just start making things up? And I guarantee you, they probably either work for or are invested heavily in a Hallmark gift card store. No doubt about that. All right.

Well, coming up, we're going to be talking to Josh Jones. He is going to be weighing in on the latest with the government shutdown, also, the media coverage coming out of the Coming out of the Middle Eastern peace deal, we'll also quiz Josh on his favorite dessert.

So we'll let you know what that is as well. Also, if you haven't already done so, you know, Christmas is sort of starting to kind of peek around the corner just a smidge. I wanna tell you right now, you gotta get a copy of Star Spangled Blessings, my brand new book. It is a great, great stocking stuffer. It is a small little book, so it'll fit into a stocking stuffer.

Or if you wanna use it for a wonderful gift. You can certainly do that as well. Star, Spangled Blessings, devotions for patriots. You can get a copy at your favorite bookstore. You can order one at Amazon, or you can get a signed copy.

At ToddSterns.com. Hang tight, everybody. We'll be right back. From Takona in Tulum to sushi in Tokyo. Everybody is rewarding and post-worthy with MX Gold's four times membership rewards points at restaurants worldwide.

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Terms and points cap apply. Susan's over on our live stream. Tom, I was just scrolling and So I heard The con pie, and I scrolled back up. LOL. That's very clever.

Jory says: Todd, my favorite. is homemade strawberry rhubarb pie like My grandmother used to make. Oh, that sounds Very delicious there. Um Jory, thank you for thank you for um Writing in. Also, wait a second, where's I am getting some rather unpleasant messages from some of the trolls.

Oh, here's Raymond, and I'll try to read this as Raymond intended it to be. Honey, I think you love all desserts. Just look at you Well, I I do love desserts, uh, Raymond. Yes, I'm Partial. I have a little sweet tooth.

Not a big fan of chocolate, believe it or not. I like chocolate, but I'm not a big fan of, you know, I would. Wow, I'm going to sound terrible here. I prefer not white cake, it's yellow cake. But I like the.

No, I'm not racist. I just don't like chocolate cake.

Okay, let's go to the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line. Josh Jones is, Josh, you got to help me out here. Do you have a favorite? You're a healthy guy, right? You eat salads and stuff and.

Try to be, try to be. Do you have a favorite dessert, Josh Jones? I'm not a huge dessert person, but I will say, and me and Joe Biden don't share a lot of opinions, but I think ice cream is probably my favorite overall dessert, or my go-to.

So you're an ice cream guy? Yeah, it's just it's just one of those things where it's like I know I'm always going to like it. It's consistent. And like you can get a large variety, right? You have like all these different flavors.

I'm more of a vanilla ice cream guy, but you can like mix in cookie dough or you can mix in Oreos. And kind of change it up a little bit. And the big thing for me is it's consistent, because I'm not a huge sweets person, so it's just an easy go-to for me. Um so kind of basic, but I like it. I like the, there's the almond joy.

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. You know, mounds got, no, is it almond joy? Which one has nuts? Mounds don't. Never mind.

I don't know. It's the commercial. Look, Josh, one thing that people are not doing is eating dessert in Washington. The shutdown is going on day 13 now, and all the museums are shut down within the Smithsonian. And now we understand the National Zoo is shut down, and the Democrats are not budging.

What's going on here? Look, I mean the the let's be clear from the get-go before I dive into that and this is a Democrat started shutdown. What Congress has voted on and proposed was a CR to continue operating the government under the previous CR that we had that Democrats voted for.

So they voted for this in the past, they're not voting for it this time. uh discharge square political points and holding you know federal operations hostage basically.

So I think Democrats for some reason think they're winning the messaging war on this. I don't think that's the case. Um and ultimately we'll see how long this goes on for and kind of what the The pushback from the media is, or Republicans and Democrats, depending on what the issue is. But yeah, I think Democrats think they're scoring points here. Frankly, they haven't made their demands clear.

I don't think the American people know why they shut down the government if that's their goal.

So I'm not really sure what the Democrats' angle is here. It's very strange. And again, they need five votes. And I'm wondering if there are going to be five Democrats and maybe some dicey states. They're going to have a tough reelection campaign.

And maybe they go to Schumer and say, hey, look, you got to let us take one for the team here. Right, yeah. I mean, I think you're gonna see eventually as this continues to carry off. we'll see some of the more moderate Democrats in the Senate. Throughout the waiver, a potential, I mean, already you have John Fetterman, Senator of Pennsylvania, who already voted for the bill and has worked on trying to convince his Democratic colleagues to do the same.

Because ultimately, the government shutting down doesn't help anybody here. The government needs to be open. the administration and the House and the Senate Republicans. All I said was just vote for another CR and keep the lights on. And we can have these policy battles, like we typically do, both in the public space and also on votes in Congress.

So you shouldn't be holding the federal government and the federal workers hostage during that process. And what are they saying now? It's over 4,000 workers so far that have been fired.

So they've been handed their walking papers. And the administration says more cuts are coming. And I think the majority leader, Jon Thune, said it's going to be pretty painful out there. Yeah, definitely. I mean, he's absolutely correct.

And another important angle, and kind of interesting angle on this. Is Virginia we have our governor's election and other statewide elections this fall? Virginia has the highest amount of federal workers of any state in the country due to its proximity to DC, obviously. That's going to come into play come November if the Democrats don't get the government reopened. Right now, they have the upper hand in Virginia.

I think they're selling the messaging more on this.

So if Republicans can weaponize this and be like, look, Democrats aren't fighting for you in DC and they shut down the government, that could hurt their election odds this November. That's interesting.

So you think that could be blowback against the Democrats and not the Republicans here? I mean, yeah, it all depends on how you message it and get that message out to the voters. Um so you know we'll see what happens, but Uh no, I'll say Government shutdowns have happened from both sides in the past and they've been partisan and there's been legitimate reasons. This is one of those where the Democrats have shut down the government and they haven't made any clear demands of what they're fighting for or what they're trying to do. And I don't think they're doing a particularly good job of messaging that.

And I say that as a Republican operative. But I'm trying to be objective in that, and I truly don't believe they've done a good job of messaging what they're fighting for.

So I think you could see this blow back on them in November. Josh Jones joining us on our Patriot mobile newsmaker line today. You know, Josh. Looking back at what happened yesterday, and I'm curious. I know you've been a longtime conservative, a longtime Republican.

What was going through your mind as you were watching the President striking this peace agreement in the Middle East, something no other President in modern American history has been able to do over there? Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely right. President Trump's been clear from the beginning, both during his first term and also during his second term, that he's the president of peace. And he's really trying to stop the killing and murder that is happening across the world. I mean, under Biden, it was the world was on fire.

I mean, you had Ukraine and Russia started under him. You had Israel And Palestine and Iran at each other's throats. You had tensions rising in the South China Sea. uh between Taiwan and China. The President r President Trump's royalty came in here and you know de-escalated these.

And you've seen it in a lot of figures on the left and in the media. congratulate President Trump and the administration and all the other parties, frankly, involved in this peace deal that we saw yesterday in the Middle East. Obviously, this is a good thing for Israel. All the hostages have been released, which was the number one priority both of our government and theirs.

So I mean, this is an absolute win for the administration, and I hope people are giving them credit for that. Yes, it's really remarkable. And I'm glad to see the Clintons getting out there and they gave President Trump credit. I know Hillary looked like she was being held hostage in the video, but at least she did the right thing. Right.

Yes. No. I mean, this is an objective win across the board. And I hope there's not people out there trying to weaponize it in one direction or another. This is a good thing both for the United States' national interest, but also the global peace and particularly for Israel.

Josh, I know you've been out with a lot of candidates around the nation. You're doing a lot of work down in Texas and other states. What are you sensing? What's the vibe as we start looking towards the midterm elections? I mean, look, well, everything comes.

Back to, and I forget who the quote comes from exactly, but they always say it's the economy, stupid.

So ultimately, It's going to come back to economic issues. Um so we'll see. Um no What are the narratives for both sides? But I mean, that'd be number one. It's kind of hard to tell at this point just because we're a little far out.

Let's have a couple elections this November in Virginia, New Jersey.

So that kind of be a bellwether and see how things go from there.

Well, that is a great line. And I'm going to give you a little bit of trivia. That came from James Carville. The mouth from the South who ran Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. It's the economy, stupid!

Yeah. That is exactly. I r I literally saw a tweet the other day and I was like I was like, just now I was like, okay, I can't remember who said it, but it was a good quote.

Well, you're getting old, and it happens to all of us, so. You know, what are you going to do? You know, it's interesting. James Carville is quite the character. I saw a documentary on his career and his life, and he was pretty much washed up.

He was not able to get anybody elected. He was one of the worst campaign guys out there. Hooks up with Bill Clinton, and the next thing you know, he becomes all you got to do is win the big one, and then you become the expert, I reckon. Yeah, I mean, that's it that that that's exactly it. Everybody who's uh, you know, in the political you know, operative or strategist space.

That's the eagle, right? You want the big fish, you want a presidential race, and then you're an expert.

Well, and here's where it was really funny.

So, his wife is Mary Madeline, who is a longtime Republican political consultant, and they would have a lot of fun going back and forth. They never talked politics at home, which is why they were able to have a very lasting marriage. I think. Gosh, they got married in ninety three and they are still married today. Yeah, I mean I don't think it's a surprising amount of couples like that.

know, obviously in the political space, but outside of it too.

So 'cause I mean you had Koean Conway, which obviously you know was part of Trump's first administration, and then her husband was very openly opposing the Trump agenda. It's an interesting dynamic, but I'm happy for them. Yeah, you know, there you go.

Well, you know, Kelly Ann, I think they got a divorce. Or at least separate it. Yeah, not good. Not good.

Well, when you know George, you kind of understand why.

So it's we'll just leave that there. All right, Jones, go out and grab yourself some ice cream, my friends. Thanks, Scott. Have a good one. All right.

Josh Jones, everybody, and one of our great, great political strategists, working with a lot of Republican candidates and getting them elected in this upcoming election cycle. All right, got to take a break here and pay some bills. And again, we're taking your calls on National Dessert Day. What is your favorite dessert and where can you get it? If you know a great little dessert shop, let us know.

By the way, later today, 4 o'clock Eastern, to be exact, President Trump expected to present the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the widow of Charlie Kirk. And that brings me to our friends at Newsmax. And there is a brand new book coming out called Pagan Threat, authored by Pastor Lucas Miles. Charlie wrote the forward to that book just before he was killed. In the book, Charlie said that this is the plan to stop the wokeism that's infecting America.

And readers are responding. And number one, Amazon bestseller, and Pagan Threat is available wherever books are sold. But you can also get it free of charge. And I know our audience, you guys love free.

So, you can get Pagan Threat free with a special offer from Newsmax. You're going to be able to save $30. Go to paganthreat.com. That's paganthreat.com. And you'll be able to read Charlie's final words.

Again, paganthreat.com. We'll be right back. You're with Todd Starnes. Someone just sent this to me. I've got to read this quote to you.

This is from Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who's a Democrat. And he was explaining the problem with urban cities like Memphis. And he said, quote, we cannot ask them. And by them, he's talking about the gangbangers. He says, we can't ask them to put the guns down.

Without putting something else in their hands.

So the guy's all but admitting that we've got a major problem. But he doesn't want to do anything about it. They literally believe That poverty is the reason why people are committing crimes. I would be willing to wager. When you actually do a breakdown of the the criminal thug element, That you will find many of them are not coming from impoverished homes, and I find it incredibly insulting.

When they go out there and say, well, poor people are committing the crimes. No, I don't think that's the case. I don't believe that poor people are out there committing crimes. Poor people are just hard working folks. Down on their lock.

But that doesn't mean they're gonna go out and rob the local wah wah. or the Kroger, or the Piggly Wiggly? I mean, come on. Unbelievable. These folks, but it's always that they always blame poverty.

And by the way, are you telling me? Are you telling me that these kids, these gangbangers, if they could just get a job? Down at Target, that they would put down their weapons and they would stop carjacking people? I don't think so. I really don't, ladies and gentlemen.

901-260-5926 is our telephone number. That's 901-2522. two six zero five nine two six.

So, I'm seeing a lot of ignorant trolls on our live stream, and I want to try to help educate these folks because they're saying, well, the Republicans are in charge of Congress. Why can't they get this passed through? Talking about the continuing resolution.

Well, the reason why is you need 60 votes to do that. And the Republicans, we do not have 60 Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

So we have to have Democrats join together here. And by the way, they're talking about: well, what about a compromise? How come we are compromising?

Well, there's the only people who have compromised are the Republicans. And the Republicans are saying, look, we will agree to the Biden-era spending.

So long as you don't add more spending on top of that, let's just get this done so we can get through to November. which is when we start all over again. These people, it's insane with these folks. But that's ultimately what's going on here.

Well, coming up in the next hour, we're going to be talking to Congressman Mike Collins out of Georgia. Also, Joshua Wilson, a student at Oklahoma State University. He got in trouble. because he gave a speech about Charlie Kirk. and his professor told him that he was going to have a hard time in the class as a result of that.

I mean, can you imagine you're a student and you're trying to get a good education? And You've got a professor who hates your guts. Simply because of your politics, that's absolutely insane, ladies and gentlemen. Just insane.

So we're going to be talking to Josh. And that really it's it's somewhat heartbreaking. Because you've got a lot of kids out there who are in the same boat. And their teachers, they hate them. The teachers have it out for these kids simply because of their politics.

And if that happens, the very first call you need to make is. Right here. Because we will stand up and stand alongside your kids. 901-260-5926. Our telephone number, that's 901-260-5926, Boston, Massachusetts.

had a basically a riot. pro-Palestinian rioters and they set a trap They lured law enforcement officers into what they called the gauntlet. And so far, we understand 13 people have been arrested, felony charges, four officers injured. It was just an incredibly. Violent attack there on the streets of Boston, and they were setting things on fire just.

Unbelievable. Promoting Anarchy And the four police officers were injured our good buddy Howie Carr writing about this and saying that the tide is now turning for Boston's left wing riders. And I hope that's the case.

So, people are really getting frustrated by the level of violence being committed by these anarchists, and that's really what they are. They call them antifa, these people are anarchists. According to Howie, one of the Boston police officers suffered a broken nose. The police officer now faces reconstructive surgery. He says it was disgraceful the way these rich hippies from nearly bankrupt.

Fourth rate private colleges ran colleges ran a muck downtown. But at least it was amusing how horrified the Cheech and Chong types were to finally wow, Cheech and Chong, to finally be held accountable. for their despicable crimes. Haley McIntyre wasn't the only comrade in total shock. Two gals holding hands.

Gabrielle Smith hit with a $5,000 bond.

Someone named Styx. Her first name is Styx. Who names her child after something that protrudes from a tree branch? How do you sticks? And it's S-T-Y-X, Styx Hatch, age 19.

had to pony up ten thousand dollars to pay her bail out of her trust fund. Geez a loo. The judge The judge says the non-binary sticks have been screaming vulgarities at the cops. Gee whiz. All right, hang tight, everybody.

We got to take a quick break. Catch up on your news. Pay some bills. Stick around 901-260-5926. Our telephone number.

That's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Starnes Radio Show. From the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. It's America's conservative blowtorch. Sir, that's right.

I love this American ride. Todd Starns. All right. Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to the Tom Sterns Radio Show.

Great to have you with us.

So, write down our number. You will need it if you want to call in today. 901-911. 260-5926. Again, 901.

260-5926. Now, in the last. In the last hour, we were talking about this quote from the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, who suggested that. Poor people are the ones who are committing the crime, or that kids who have nothing to do are committing crimes. Therefore, if we give the kids something to do, if we give them a job, then maybe, just maybe, they won't carjack us.

So, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on that. And I want to go to the phones because Nicole is listening to us from California. And, Nicole, we certainly appreciate you calling in today. What's on your mind? What's on your So I first want to thank you for accepting my call.

Yeah. I can say this is twofold. the situation because it does lay where it does have some fact to that. And I see it as a person who grew up in poverty. I'm a single mom myself right now.

And there's so many layers to this. And when I say layers, because I'm in my forties now. My grandparents raised me. I had irresponsible parents. But thank God I had grandparents.

However, I was in school from eight to three thirty At 3:30. My grandparents picked me up. I went home with them. You don't find that now in households. As a mother, My job may start at eight.

and my kids have to be at school. At eight. You can't drop your kids off. Before 7.30 a.m. There's no one there.

Now I work from 8 to 4.30. I have a two-hour drive. My children walk home. by themselves. They have implemented after school programs.

But Where I live at? Don't get stuck in traffic. It could take three to four hours.

Now this is where the issue comes in. When I got divorced, I went to Public Services and asked for assistance. I said I have a job. I can pay my bills. But there is a childcare issue.

I want to contribute to society. They said, We can't give you childcare. figure it out on your own. I had to leave work. come home to take care of my children and ended up on public assistance.

The only grace saving theme from that issue was They had a job training program. From that day. I went to that job training program. I got a job within county services. which made it possible for me to have the skills that I needed.

A lot of times, you find children at home without parental guidance, or somewhere in the community provide something For these children. because no situation is perfect.

So you have these children outside that are unmonitored And by the way, By the time we The children that are little aren't the problem. It's the children that are growing up. that have nothing. They take skills out of school. And that's why I truly believe.

If you take These young kids. from the time they're in high school Give them job skills. put them to work. utilize the services. I'd rather have someone that's on public assistance.

Getting a job? Learning the skills. You create a healthy workforce. Instead, what you do is you give people money. And they're sitting at home spending it.

They're not doing anything. And then you have a generation of kids that are continuing the cycle. where there is no skills given to these young kids.

So to say someone would not steal because they're in poverty is a lie. Why? Because when I was a nine-year-old child and I had to stay with a parent who was out doing drugs, guess what happened? I stole from a store just to feed myself at nine years old. Right.

But and Nicole, no, no, no. I look I I hear exactly. If you could do me a favor, turn down your radio. We're getting a little bit of feedback here. Back here.

Oh, I'm sorry. No, no, no, you're good. Because I'm on YouTube because I don't have a radio there. Oh, that may be it. We'll just hit mute for just a moment.

Um and uh and let me explain. Explain where I'm coming from here.

So I get, I understand exactly what you're saying. I do. My concern is just to blanket, deliver a statement like the mayor did, saying that poor people, you know, the reason why kids are out there carjacking folks is because they're hungry. I don't think that's the case. By and large, now, am I saying that there may be a situation where a kid goes and they shoplift something from the grocery store?

Okay. Which is wrong, but at least I understand that they're hungry and they have no food. But are there no programs that would provide food, whether it be the church or a local food bank or something of that nature? I think they're just making blanket statements that poor people are out there committing all the crime. And first of all, there's no evidence to back that up.

There's a lot of conjecture, but there's actually no evidence to say, yeah, people are going out there and carjacking and shooting people because they have no money in the bank.

Well to be honor. I hate to say it. It's true. And a lot of people have this idea that when you're in poverty, Your parents might have raised you well. But the need to have and want?

You have a generation that is not taught to work hard for what they want.

Okay. And a lot of them don't have life skills.

So, the best way to take something from someone or get what you want, it's not just in America. If you look all around the world, you see people in poverty and what happens? They're stealing, they're killing, they're fighting. Because a lot of skills aren't given. how people aren't taught to be self-sufficient anymore.

Yeah, the cold cost of people Let me jump in there. And to your point, that's the big problem with our school system right now. And there is an intentional effort to dumb down our student population so that kids are going to be forced to rely on the federal government for whatever help they need to make it in life. And I got a huge problem with that. One of the things that we talk about on this radio program all the time is the importance of those trade schools and making sure that kids who may not be on a track to college get some sort of a life skill so they can go out there and get a job after high school or even get a job while they're in high school.

But a lot of the schools, the taxpayer-funded schools are failing the kids of America. And we talk about that a lot on this program, Nicole, and it just saddens me.

Now, keep in mind, parents have a responsibility as well. And you've got to prepare your kid to get ready to go to school. But when the kid actually gets to school, and you've got young people that are graduating high school, they can't even read and write their name. That is a complete and abject failure, and it ought to be unacceptable. And if you're a voter, Whatever party's in charge, they're the ones responsible in your local community for your local schools.

You got to vote those people out and you got to get people in who are going to make a difference and care about what's happening in the schools. Nicole, I hate to do this, but I've got to run. But I thank you for calling in and thank you for sharing your story. And you sound like you're a great mom, and you're working hard to make sure your kids are going to be great, productive members of society.

So God bless you. 901-260-5926 is our phone number. Let's go to Kentucky, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, what's on your mind?

Well, hi John. I love your show. Thank you. And if it ain't broke, you're welcome. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I think people love your show because as Americans, we love to talk. But in regards to the lab caller, I'm an XX chromosomed individual, so I've got input on every subject matter that there is. And As she was saying and as you were saying, the skilled trades, it seems as though here in the United States of America, right now our public education system seems to be focused on teaching our children how to perform Pallatio. And I think we need to switch that up a little bit. But the reason for my call, there was major controversy, I'm sorry, major controversy a couple of weeks ago in regards to barbecue.

And I'm from Kentucky. I'm living in North Carolina right now. North Carolina barbecue is terrible. It's vinegary.

Now Kentucky's is kind of Tomato sweets. I don't know about Tennessee, and they say that Tennessee has some of the best barbecues ever, but I have not had any of Tennessee's barbecue. And last but not least, Uh I'm curious to know your thoughts on why would Qatar or Qatar and the United States of America why would we host them in Idaho? Why Idaho? Why not North Carolina?

Or California. I'm just curious. And that's all I've got to say about that.

Well, a lot of topics there, from fellatio to barbecue to Qatar. Let's take barbecue first. And I do have to correct you on something about Tennessee barbecue. There's really no such thing as Tennessee BBQ. It's Memphis BBQ and then everything else.

So. I am a big fan of Memphis only because of the dry rub. I'm not a big sauce guy, and I love dry rub barbecue, especially when it comes to ribs. And so for me, if you got to put sauce on it, that means the meat is not good. That's how I look at things.

So for me, that's Memphis barbecue is the jam. I love it. And then, I mean, Elizabeth, if you come to Memphis, then you've got to figure out: okay, well, one place may have great ribs, but another place may have great pulled pork. And then, if you want to get a great chopped pork sandwich, where do you go for that? I would recommend Topps BBQ, which in some places it's kind of like the Waffle House of Barbecue, which is a great meal, but you probably need to carry a gun with you.

If that makes sense.

Well Again, haven't been there to do that. Yeah, so the other so anyway, so all that to say, yeah, enjoy your barbecue. I'm with you, though, on the vinegar based. I just I'll never forget the first time I had it, and it was not a good experience for me or for the person sitting across from me. Um as far as Qatar.

So there has been some, you know, the Pentagon's calling it misreporting. I think it's a misunderstanding. Of what the arrangement is, but we are not actually building an airbase for the Qataris. on American soil.

So, still a lot to understand about all of that, and I'm not sure when it was rolled out. that the administration did a good job of explaining why we are doing that. I mean, I understand that we want to be helpful to people. But again, these are individuals that were funding very bad terrorists who are trying to kill us and the Israelis.

Well, I'm curious. But And, you know, but they do give um Lots of, I'm assuming what I've heard, and we know how the news media is now, that um Qatar or Qatar, however you pronounce it, gives to contributes money to uh educational instit institutions and politicians and lawyers, et cetera, et cetera. And I've never heard anybody once say thank you. Like, I think, did we thank them for the plane that they gave us? I don't know.

But I was just curious why. Idaho. And from my understanding, yes, we're just hosting them there. Um, and we've hosted the Germans and Arkansas, I believe, and some other places. But you know, why Idaho?

You know, why not host them? Let them learn stuff from you know the fighter jet pilots here in North Carolina or other places. I'm just curious. Well, I don't, you know, it's a good question. I know that there's another, I believe Singapore actually has a fighter squadron there.

And so there are a lot of these training agreements that are in place with other countries that we may not even know about. And I don't think there's anything nefarious here, but it is unusual. And again, going back to Qatari, rather to Qatar and the Qataris and their association connections with some of these radical Islamists out there.

So it's troubling for a lot of people. I don't think it's that big of a deal. And if we're able to get a peace deal and part of the agreement is, okay, we need to learn how to fly fighter jets, I don't necessarily have a problem with that. But then again, you know, yeah, and Elizabeth, honestly, it could have been, you know, they don't eat pork, so that may be why they didn't pick North Carolina or Tennessee.

So. I'm just saying. Thank you, Todd. God bless you. All right.

God bless Elizabeth. Thank you for that. All right, 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show. Triggering microaggressions from coast to coast, you're listening to Todd Starns.

All right, welcome back to the Dodd Surge. Wow, that last call, Elizabeth, I liked that call. That was. We were. We were sort of all over the place.

So I'm glad we did settle on the barbecue conversation, though. 901-260-5926 is our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926. President Trump at the White House today with Argentina's president. He's visiting, and the president's taking some questions.

We'll keep you updated. The president did announce that we've hit another Venezuelan boat. That was filled with drug smugglers, and they've gone off to meet their maker now.

So there you go. How about that? Also, the president Weighing in again on this. He's really upset over this Time magazine photo. And the president says they disappeared my hair.

They wrote a good story about me, but the picture may be the worst of all time. The president said, I never like taking pictures from underneath. But this is a super bad picture and deserves to be called out. What are they doing and why? You know who's feeling pretty.

You know, there's probably a photographer, and the photographer was trying to. I'm just going to put my mind and it very well may be, let me preface this by saying this. It very well may be that the photographer is a leftist loser who hated Trump and wanted to take the worst photo known to mankind. That's That could very well be what this is. But it could also be that this photographer was thinking to himself or herself.

And they said, you know. We always get the it's the standard photo headshot of President Trump, and I want something different for the cover, so why don't we just do like an underneath Trump shot? First of all, I'm curious how they got that shot. And I Maybe we don't want to know. But anyway, I mean, it could be so.

If you can imagine that maybe they're Trump fans and they're like, you know, we were just trying, we were just trying to be creative and do something different.

Sometimes doing something different is never the right answer, right? You just sometimes you just take the photo and leave it be. But the President's very unhappy about this. I don't think it looks that bad. I mean, I understand why the president is upset because I've had some.

I've had some photos taken of me, and I'm like, man, that's just not good. You know, there's a reason why my face is not on the cover of my books. It's always on the back inside flap. Because I want people. I want people to buy my books.

I'm just saying, it is what it is.

So we'll keep you updated on any developments there. And Time Magazine hasn't responded one way or the other. And I do feel bad for them if, in fact, this guy was just trying to. Take a photo of President Trump from a different angle. By the way, speaking of angles, I know there are a lot of different angles when it comes to buying a cell phone.

I get that.

So many choices.

So many new companies, offers popping up every single day. But here's the deal: there's only one cell phone company that actually stands up for freedom, and that's Patriot Mobile. They've been doing this for more than 12 years now, and they have an incredible cell phone service with access to all three main networks. I want you to give them a call. Check them out, 972Patriot, or go to patriotmobile.com slash Todd.

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Now get this. Use my promo code Todd. They're going to give you a free month of service. You can keep your phone if you want it. You can upgrade.

You can also keep your number as well. 972Patriot or patriotmobile.com slash Todd. Promo code Todd for that free month of service. All right, coming up tonight on Newsmax, the Todd Stern Show, Congressman Burgess Owens joins us to weigh in on the shutdown. Also, we're going to be speaking with Eric Flores.

He is a great lawmaker, very concerned about Border Patrol and what's happening along our border. And Brad Dakis from the Pacific Justice Institute, talking about their big gala this weekend. I will be the master of ceremonies. That's being held in Anaheim. And of course, our keynote speaker for that event, the one and only Eric Trump.

So a lot happening tonight on Newsmax. Our next guest is also going to be making a television appearance tonight. His name is Josh Wilson. He is a student at Oklahoma State University. And Josh joins us on our Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line today.

And, Josh, we really appreciate you taking time away from classes to have a conversation with us.

Well, I appreciate you inviting me on.

Well, this is just a crazy story. And I understand you're in student government there at OSU. And I want you to set the stage and tell us what happened to you as you were getting up and you wanted to honor Charlie Kirk. Yeah, so You kind of understand the situation, you kind of got to understand Charlie Kirk's impact on our campus. Charlie Kirk came back in April of the spring semester.

Uh and With him, he had about a turnout of 10,000 people. Wow. That's a lot for our little campus, and people were happy to come to the front of the line to ask their. disagreements and their questions. There was a big impact on our campus before.

Uh coming out. uh from every corner of campus to discuss what was going on and then After Charlie left, that didn't really stop. students, conservative students and Democratic students were Uh Walking from debate club to the street corners. just about politics and lies. Uh so Off the day that Charlie Kirk Passed away.

Uh I thought uh The best thing to do would be to honor him and the impact he made on our campus by giving a speech. and to also bring some peace of mind to the students that were affected By his passing.

So I went to The student government, me and a buddy, gave a speech. Honoring Charlie Kirk and calling for an end to political violence. Didn't hear anything that night. In fact. Everything was followed by applause.

Most of the students and faculty seemed to appreciate the message. Until the following week, when I was called into a meeting with our faculty advisor. who told me that my hat was triggering, that I needed to talk to people that didn't look like me. And uh if I didn't agree that my Uh that I acted in a partisan manner, then the year would be difficult for me. Since then, I've kind of just been sharing the story and I appreciate the time you've allowed me to share it with you today.

So Josh, let's I have many questions. Many questions, Josh. First of all, this hat she said that was triggering could you tell us what kind of a hat you were wearing? Yeah, though it was a why. Yeah, it's a very good thing.

47 on it, but they were handed out during the event back in April. Thrown to the crowd, I was able to volunteer at that event.

So, along with the other volunteers, staff, Smith. Probably Kirk gave us a hat and a shirt to wear to help coordinate stuff that was going on that day.

So so that was the hat.

So the the the white hat with the the number forty seven was was what set off this person. And she's what d did she explain did you ask her to explain what she meant by people not like you that don't look like you? I kind of understood what she was saying. It was a clear kind of a Diagnosis of Reaching out to people that probably didn't have the same characteristics. That's what I mentioned later on in the meeting.

Which I believe the audio has been shared by OCPA, if not. Be happy to share that with you. But the I said that I've talked with people that Have different characteristics than me that look differently than me. And she's tracked along with the conversation, so it seemed to be that that was what she was talking about. I'm from the Cherokee Nation.

I'm a Cherokee Nation citizen.

So I think I've spent plenty of time talking with people that don't exactly have the same skin tone as me.

Well, that's a fair point. And I'm sure that might have triggered her as well. This individual, so you had this conversation. It certainly seemed to me, and I did listen to the recording, and it certainly sounded to me as if she was making a threat to you. Is that how you perceived it?

Is that how you took it? Uh yes. Yeah, there was There wasn't such Uh other way of I could understand to take that. After she mentioned that, I kind of said thank you for your perspective and kind of left the office. She, according to an organization called FIRE, and they're all over this story, and they've sent a letter to the university really concerned at the way you were treated.

Apparently, the student government association advisor said that she meant for the conversations with you to be teachable moments. I'm wondering what she meant by that, Josh. I don't think that I'm even aware of what she meant by that. I was going Fearful after Other parts of the conversation that that kind of Part kind of slipped past. me so You know, it's interesting because Oklahoma is the reddest state in the nation.

I mean, that's not in dispute at all. I think every single county went for President Trump in both election cycles. And I'm just wondering, their own campus, is it a fairly conservative, or at least is the campus itself friendly to conservative students? Oh, well, the campus for the most part seems to be. Many of the students are not.

I have a friend that is the president of YAF on OSU, and he says that their flyers are taking. Their flyers promoting their club or just conversation are taken down on the daily. They have to constantly print those out. Last year, They had an event where they did a showing of A video Uh and that poster that they had out was desecrated with People calling them Hitler or calling the person who had made the movie Hitler. Um there's been a lot of confrontation for Conservative students Probably from a A minority of students I thought that like the Democratic Party called Democrats that don't necessarily agree with.

All of our ideas. What do you think the the point of that meeting was? You were summoned to that meeting. It sounds to me like she was telling you, you better watch you better be quiet. You better not be talking about your politics or there's going to be a price to pay.

I think that's exactly right, which I don't understand why. In nature, student government is. Political, we're elected to the positions, and we're there to cover student concerns, whether that be something going on in the community, something that's political, or something that's apolitical.

So I didn't. I think that's it. They are concerned. I know the university released a statement and is pretty much bogus. I mean, they're saying that you were allowed to speak freely during the SGA meeting and you expressed your views without interruption.

or restriction, which is true, but the reality is you were summoned to a meeting here and that was not addressed. What would you like the university to to do here? And do how do they need to make this good?

So I think Buyer has made a good request. And there's letter they sent to the university. Um asking OSU to affirm that no illicit threats Uh will be made on constitutionally protected speech and to clarify the SGA members are able to wear expressive clothing in those spaces. That's Could be a start, and wherever they want to go after that is their prerogative, but I think that it needs to be. This type of censorship needs to stop.

No, it does. And especially in light of what you said, which was I think your remarks were quite appropriate. Nothing offensive, nothing out of bounds here. And the reality is this is a university campus, and people should be able to debate freely on a university campus and have an opposing viewpoint of whatever issue is out there. I agree.

And that's my mission in general. Like at Oklahoma State, we have what's called the debate club. Me and my buddy Jason founded it. My freshman year and the main goal of our club is to promote discussion. to issues pertinent to our time.

Uh, regardless of political or non-political college, is a place where you explore ideas and you come for knowledge and to expand your understanding of the world around you, and whenever. you have that type of speech censored uh or chilled at least. then it's hard for that uh to take place. We're speaking to Joshua Wilson. He's a junior at Oklahoma State University, Senate University Chairman.

He has been reprimanded and, quite frankly, threatened. by a staffer because of his conservative beliefs and a support for Turning Point USA. Josh, has the university reached out at all in the aftermath of all of this to try to make it all right? But No. They've reached out for the audio, which was provided to them, but besides that, they haven't.

made any statement or even reached out to me in any Body, shape, or form. Wow. So you're a junior now. What's your major? What do you want to do with yourself?

Yeah, so I'm an ag business pre-law major.

So I'd like to go into some sort of industry. Involving that, I did an internship last year. I went a vineyard in Muscogee and just had a blast.

So, maybe if I could do something in that space, maybe go into representing. ag businesses. in the future, that would be really That'd be really cool.

Well, I have no doubt you'll do a great job. We have a lot of farmers that listen to us in their tractors, so we have a great farming audience out there. And I know their ears perked up when you said that. Josh, we're going to see you tonight on the TV show. We're looking forward to that conversation.

You hang in there and you let us know what we can do to help out. All right, we'll take care. All right. There you go, folks. Josh Wilson, a junior at Oklahoma State University.

I'm telling you, these universities, shame on these people. For hiring folks that are trying to bully these conservative kids. But you heard this young guy, he's not a, you know, he seems very respectable and a good kid, and he just wanted to go out there and honor Charlie Kirk. I say they need to fire the staff advisor there of the Student Government Association. I think that might possibly send a message.

What say you, ladies and gentlemen? 901-260-5926. Good kid, though. 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show.

Sane Talk in an Insane World. Todd Starnes. All right, welcome back. I will say this. It is so encouraging, and I hope you feel encouraged to know that there are these college kids that are standing up and saying, you know what, we're going to speak out, and we're not going to go quietly.

We're not going to be bullied by our teachers, by university staff members. We're going to stand up for our rights. And I am all over that and certainly want to say. Thank you for fire. They're doing a great job of.

Getting out there and standing up and firing off a letter to the university, it's pretty much outrageous that the only thing the university asked for was the. Was the audio recording. And that makes me wonder why did they want that recording? They could hear it. It's out there.

They can listen to it if they want to. But that's just. That concerns me. They might be trying to go after Josh Wilson. Regardless, we're going to be on top of that story, and we're not going to let them bully these kids.

We're just not going to let them do it. And so, if you hear of a local school in your community and they're going after conservative kids, you pick up the phone and you call us, and we will be all over that story. Just unacceptable what they're doing. 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926.

There is a crazy story. out of Hernando, Mississippi. A This involves a former youth minister. And she's also a She worked at a church there in the area, Get Well Church. as a student and outreach coordinator.

And her name is Lindsay Whiteside. And she is in pretty hot water, folks. She was convicted of Well, she pled guilty. to sexual abusing a girl. Following the guilty plea, she was facing what up to 30 years in prison.

That's what the prosecutors, the district attorney, there, a great guy. His name is Matthew Barton. And he was seeking a 30-year prison sentence for this. this illegal criminal relationship that this woman, this woman, had with this girl. Instead, the judge sentenced her to three years of house arrest.

and seven years of probation. She also has to register as a sex offender.

Now Mr. Barton was like, What the heck is going on here? He is enraged over this and says there's a double standard to the sentencing because Whiteside is a woman. The DA said there was 64,000 pages of evidence between text messages and stationaries from the church. showing her relationship with the girl who was nine years younger than she was.

There were also a lot of letters. In support of the youth minister from local people in the community. Including, I'm not kidding you, including a school board member. And the D A wrote a a very public letter about that. Let's go to the phone lines here.

This is sort of ironic. We have Mark in Nesbitt, Mississippi, who's a reporter. Who covered the story? Mark, what's going on here? This is an insane story.

Well, good afternoon. But, Todd, you have to look at the judge, too. But, yeah, first of all, you had nine features. You had an assistant principal, and you had a school board member who all sent in letters that apparently said, oh no, she's a good person, don't be bad. And what you need to look at is the judge.

D.A. Barton said it in this case, there were two DeSoto County judges who had to recuse themselves because they knew the defendant's. family.

So the judge that they got was a liberal judge from Oxford. He basically said in open court that, oh no, jail is only for scary people and you don't scare me. gave her three years Um basically ho house arrest so she gets to go home at night and you know put on her like a district attorney you know put on her her favorite pajamas and sit in her favorite chair and go to go all the restaurants that we do. While the victim was re-victimized by people in the community at her own church. You know, siding against her.

So, but that judge actually said that in open court: Oh, you don't, you don't scare me.

So, that's why she got house arrest. I'm astounded by this, and the DA is just enraged and wrote a letter to a school board, a member of the DeSoto County School Board. And this is, he says this sort of thing is unacceptable. And he's demanding at least, what is her name? Michelle Michelle Henley.

Yeah. Demanding her resignation. Yeah. I haven't gotten any comment back yet from the superintendent or her. I've reached out to both of them.

I doubt we will. But you know, her family apparently Miss Whiteside's family was rather prominent in the education community. The gymnasium at DeSoto Central is actually named after her father. Was I believe the first basketball coach there, and of course, she coached basketball there.

So, you know, Mr. Barton said yesterday that, listen, you know, you're not going to be remembered for your family's contributions to education. You're not going to be remembered for your father's contributions to education. You're going to be remembered for exactly what you are: a child's ex predator. But my goodness.

Three years. It was horrible what she did to this girl. She basically groomed this girl. She was in charge of when they would go on church trips, you know, what rooms they stayed in, where they sat on the bus. I mean, it was just horrific what she did.

So, no, there was no justice in this case. And I've got to give a lot of credit to District Attorney Barton. This was really a fine moment for him. I think we were all pretty impressed yesterday. All right.

Well, Mark, hang tight. I want to make sure we get your contact information. And I know our folks at the Memphis radio station are probably going to want to have you on to talk about this tomorrow. But thanks for calling in. That's just insane, ladies and gentlemen.

Just absolutely insane. All right. We've got to leave it there. Folks, a lot happening this afternoon. Be sure to be listening to your local radio station for the Charlie Kirk event.

At the White House today, 4 o'clock Eastern time. President Trump, many others will be speaking. You're going to want to be a part of that. We'll see you tonight, by the way, 5 o'clock Eastern on Newsmax. Get out there.

You be good and safe, America.