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Cassie, am I back in Memphis? I've. I'm not quite sure what city I'm in right now. This is terrible. Get turned around?
Yeah, no, no, look, I was my lovely aunt Norma Sue, Norma Sue Stearns, for all you folks who went to Whitehaven High School back in the day, she turned 90 years old, and of course, she lives in Atlanta. She lives in Atlanta.
So yesterday morning, hopped on a flight to Atlanta. We had the birthday celebration, then hopped back on a flight back to Memphis last night.
So I'm not sure. I'm glad I made it back. But it was a bit of a road trip over the weekend. Wow. And 90 years old.
90 years old, and she's probably going to live to be about 120. She just, she is a Spitfire. Of course, she was one of the Miss Queen Cottons in the Miss Queen Cotton pageant back in the day. Wow. She was one of the music performers back on WMC, back when it was first radio and then TV.
So, yeah, so she was a local celebrity back in the day, Norma Sue Starrings, if anybody remembers. You know, I actually ran into a guy in Germantown, at Germantown Baptist Church, and this guy came up and said, I used to work for your grandfather at the tower at Memphis Airport back in the day, which was back in the early 1970s, you know, late 1960s. You never know who you're going to run into. Dates are going way over my head, Todd. I know.
I know. What's her secret to living a long life? Is it the diet Coke? No, she drinks root beer. Oh, she loves root beer.
You could add that into your routine.
So we went to this Brazilian. She's a big foodie, too.
So we went to this Brazilian stankhouse. You know, the kind where they bring out the slabs of beef? Oh, yeah. And you just shave off what you want. Yeah, that's what you want.
And you just say when. You just keep going until they say when. I don't think we heard that word at our table.
So anyway, we had about 20 of us sterns as we had there.
So another caravan drove.
So anyway, all that to say it was a busy weekend. And I, you know, it was a great weekend here, ladies and gentlemen. We launched Joe Garner's big show, the Real Estate Mortgage Shop. And what a fun, fun weekend. And folks are here decorating the building for Christmas.
I know a lot of you are decorating as well. All right, we've got a lot of stuff going on today. And I do have to apologize. I inadvertently. Caused a kerfuffle over the weekend, and I did not mean to.
This was a genuine thing, and it was a genuine question.
So I simply pointed out. That Germantown was hosting its annual holiday parade. And I asked what I thought was a very simple question: exactly which holiday are we celebrating? You know, because there are a lot of them. I mean, is it Arbor Day?
Is it National Longshoremen's Day? What exactly are we celebrating? In Germantown. And a lot of the leftists became very upset, and they say that we should not be just celebrating Christmas. There are plenty of other things happening, so therefore we have to use the all-inclusive term holiday.
But the reality is the holiday that we all celebrate is called Christmas.
So again, why would you just use a generic term? For example, when everybody gets a day off, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday. You don't say happy holiday. You say happy MLK Day.
Right? I mean, there's a specific name for the holiday. That was my point.
So, anyway, my hat is off, though, to the good people in the city of Bartlett because they're actually celebrating Christmas. That's what they call it, Christmas. I mean, it's and again, it could be Germantown could be celebrating Arbor Day. National Horse Hoof Day. I don't know what they're celebrating.
And that was the whole point: to simply just ask an innocent question. Is that a big deal for you? Does it matter if we actually say what this season is? Our telephone number this morning is 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926.
So last week on Newsmax, we had a guest on from Rhodes College.
Now, this young man started the Young Americas chapter on campus. And before we jump into this, I'm just going to say that I am genuinely stunned. By the hatred that's being directed at these college kids. Genu genuinely stunned.
Now let me explain what happened.
So the Rhodes College student And by the way, he's an athlete, cross-country runner, very gifted student. And he wanted to start a Young America's Foundation chapter, a YAF chapter. Also, at the same time, all three of these things are happening at the same time. You had kids wanting to start a college Republican group, and another group wanting to start a Turning Point USA chapter. And so, apparently, a lot of the leftists who are connected to Rhodes have gone on a rampage.
And there are social media platforms that you and I do not have access to. They're for college students predominantly. And they're doxing the information. Of these conservative kids, and they're going after them. And I want to play for you what set off.
These kids. This is Jack Herman. On my Newsmax show just a few days ago, explaining the process of opening the YAF chapter at Rhodes College. Cut number five, please. It was definitely a difficult process.
When I went through the student allocations committee, I was asked some ridiculous questions. In the Sharon statement of YAF, it says that communism is the biggest threat to democracy. And I was told that that is not inclusive of some of our students on campus. And I think that it. Just some of it trying to spread communist ideals is just ridiculous.
And this kind of misinformation is just going rampant around college campuses.
So he goes on. And again, this was sort of bizarre because YAF was started back in the nineteen sixties by William F. Buckley, Jr., and the whole point was to fight the Communists. And William F. Buckley, Jr.
and Ronald Reagan, they understood that the greatest threat to the country were the Communists And one of the reasons why is because it's a battle of good versus evil. And that's why that university organization was actually created.
Well, at Rhodes, apparently, they got. They've got communist. On campus, and the university, for whatever reason, was concerned that the communists might not feel welcome in a club that is fighting against communism.
So, anyway, the kid goes on to explain why it's important. Jack goes on to explain why it's important for conservatives to have a voice at Rhodes. Cut number six. Yeah, you know, I felt like especially after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there was just a lot of misinformation being spread around campus, and there was no voice for conservatives. A lot of frats had, you know, posted signs with Rest in Peace Charlie Kirk, and they were torn down, and nothing was done by the university, and it was time that we got our voice out there.
Yeah, I love this. Oh, oh, here's the one about communists on campus, cut number eight. I guess so. Apparently, I I was asked how we are inclusive of those students, and frankly, I just said that you know, we probably should not be supporting communism on our campus.
Well, okay. Again, this is Rhodes College.
So while all that's happening, I get another message. And I'm not going to tell you the person's name. I don't want to share that.
So, anyway, before I get to that, though, so Jack sends me all these screenshots, and they're coming after the conservative kids, trying to dox them, threatening them. Is it Rhodes College? for for crying out loud.
So then I get another message late last night from a student and says, I'm a sophomore at Rhodes College. I hung posters in memory of Charlie Kirk on our campus. When the signs were turned di were torn down, The school turned a blind eye to the situation, letting the girl who threw my sign away get off the hook completely. While they har they accused me of harassment. I will bet you supper at Dale's.
That the girl had a septum ring. I will bet you. Uh A country fried steak dinner at Dale's.
So he goes on to say, by the way, this is another student athlete. This was a completely baseless claim that was fabricated to shift the focus away from what had truly happened. I'd love for you to share my story. I believe it could be a major story with many shocking details of how corrupt the liberal system at Rhodes College is. And so we're going to be reaching out to this student.
But this is insane that this level of hatred is even happening at a place like Rhodes College. Yet another reason why this radio station is so important because, number one, it gives people of all backgrounds a voice, but when you try to silence students, we go to war. And that's what we're going to do. All right, we've got a great show for you. We have a major breaking news announcement coming up after the break.
Also, Monty Fritz is going to be joining us. He's got some events here in the Mid-South. And Monty, of course, running for governor. You may have some questions for Monty, and we're going to let you ask those questions on air. Write down our telephone number: 901-260-5926.
Again, that's 901-260-5926. Before we go to break, we have to give a huge shout-out to a bunch of kids across Collierville. They were award winners, and get this. They brought home seven of the 14 state awards in the 2025 Tennessee State Fire Marshals Office Fire Prevention Poster Contest. It is the most winners Collierville has ever had in a single year.
So these are wonderful artists, and we're just so excited for all of the winners. We're not going to be able to get through all of the names here. But anyway, kindergarten through eighth grade. And these kids won seven of the 14 state awards.
Well done, all you great, very talented kids in Collierville. All right, hang tight, everybody. Got to take a break. We are broadcasting from the principal Toyota Memphis studio. I'm Todd Stearns.
Tired of giving away all your rental profits to a property manager? You don't have to. Over 800,000 landlords use TurboTenant to find and manage tenants. Keep your 10% and sign up for free at turbotenent.com. Um By the way, I want to give a shout out to the folks over at Delta Airlines here at Memphis.
A lot of them big fans of K-Wham and the Todd Stern Show. And we really appreciate those great folks and the great work they're doing over at Memphis International. By the way, 48 degrees and Laura Huckabee already preparing you. We've got a chance of rain later on this afternoon moving in, so you might want to pack an umbrella. All right, again, our telephone number, 901-260-5926.
If you want to ask Monty Fritz a question, he'll be here at the bottom of the hour.
So we have some breaking news to share with you, and it's some exciting news for those of us here at K-Wham. The gosh, it was a couple of months ago back when President Trump first announced that he was sending the National Guard and he was sending federal agents to our city, this Memphis, the Memphis Safe Task Force. And I called up to the White House and said, Hey, look, we're sure these guys and gals, they're going to be hungry and we would love to be able to feed the crew here. And so, anyway, gosh, I think Monday or Tuesday of last week, we got a call from the White House and they said, Hey, look, does the offer still stand? And I said, Absolutely.
And they said, Great. And so they called back a few days later. This would have been, I think, Wednesday. And they said, Hey, can you feed a thousand agents? And we're like, Sure, no problem, absolutely.
And so then they came back to us the following day. This was on Thursday, and they said, Can you do it on Monday? And we're like, We will be there. We will drop everything and we'll be there.
So later this afternoon, we're going to be not only feeding about a thousand members of the Memphis Safe Task Force, we're also going to be feeding and serving alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi and HUD Secretary Scott Turner. And we understand the governor is going to be here, as well as our two senators, Marsha Blackburn and Bill Haggerty. And so, anyway, we're very excited about that. And it's just a very simple way to say thank you for being here and thank you for being away from your families, especially during Thanksgiving.
Now, I'm just going to say that Cassie. I'm very disappointed in Cassie. And turn on your microphone, Cassie. I'm very disappointed in you. And the reason why is I say, Cassie, we need meatballs for a thousand people.
I got enough for like maybe three. Yeah, that's not good. How many?
So three times, let's see, how many, and you know, those are hungry folks. They're not going to be able to scarf down three meatballs. You know, it's no, no, no. They're going to need like five or six. They're going to need the olive garden.
Hey. The olive garden. I'm Italian. And then Dylan said, I can bring the ketchup.
Okay, well, that's. Ketchup on meatballs. That's psychotic behavior.
So we reached out to some of our friends, and we have some great sponsors. That put all this together for us, and we're so thankful for them. And I want to give them a shout-out. First and foremost, State Senator Brent Taylor is making this happen, and we certainly appreciate his just really incredible generosity. And this guy is the real deal.
I mean, he's out there on the front lines, and he's just crushing it every single day.
So, we want to thank Senator, we want to thank Senator Brent Taylor for his incredible generosity. Also, Rachel Bells, you might know the Bells family name if you've been to the Peabody Hotel. We want to thank Rachel for her incredible generosity as well. And Paul Boyle, we thank you, Paul, for your great donation. And the guy who's cooking all this food, Jim Les or yeah, Jim Lesapio.
Jim is, we're going to have a good old-fashioned southern home-cooked meal for these guys. We've been, they've been getting a lot of barbecue, so we. Thought, you know what? It's Thanksgiving week. We got to do some chicken and dressing.
And so Jim and his team are working right now, cooking up just tons of food for a thousand people. And later this afternoon, we're going to be honored to be able to serve. And the Attorney General is going to say a few words. I'll say a few words. And then we're just going to lavish as much Memphis hospitality as we can on these men and women.
And most importantly, we wouldn't be able to do what we do without you guys. And we thank you for supporting K-Wham. Thank you for getting behind the mission of K-Wham. And we're excited to share that with the task force members a little bit later this evening.
So it's going to be a lot of fun.
Some bad news on the Democrat side of the aisle here in Memphis. Congressman Steve Cohen is in great distress right now. As a matter of fact, he says what is happening to him is like what happened to the people At Pearl Harbor when the Japanese launched a surprise attack.
So. He's very concerned and upset about State Representative Justin Pearson. Of course, Pearson is basically Jasmine Crockett with a power throw and Pearson has decided to challenge Congressman Cohen in the Democrat primary. And it's gonna be deliciously ugly. Here is Here is Congressman Cohen explaining why Justin Pearson is not ready for Congress.
Cut number four. To folks who say, Steve Goin, you need to get out of the way and hand it over to someone young. There'll be a time for that. He's not ready. He's only served three years in the General Assembly.
He hadn't passed a bill. I don't think he's passed a resolution. And his attendance record was the worst of any member of the General Assembly. If you don't take your attendance as your responsibility, and I know he had a brother who committed suicide and he had some problems, and he said that's what he was dealing with.
So I don't think he's ready. And he could have waited two years. He could have waited four years. He could have talked to me. He was an intern for me when he was in high school.
And he never talked to me about running for office. It was kind of like Pearl Harbor. That's not the way you do it, and you work with people, and it's just not time. And I've got more to do, and I've got experience, and I've got the opportunity. I'll be a committee chairman when I go up there.
The lowest thing in the world is a freshman in the minority party. Regardless of how much national attention you have? Right, exactly.
So why would you trade in a 20-year veteran who's got the choice of chairman of the ranking member, whichever it becomes with our Georgia minority party of the aviation subcommittee or Committee at Spot on Judiciary and Intelligence Committee for a freshman who will get what's left over.
Some people have come to me and said they have a problem and their friends have a problem. They don't want to be against me and they don't want to be against my opponent. And I think, well, the problem was caused by my opponent by running. He waited a couple of years.
So it's not my problem.
Some people have said, oh, you need to mentor him. I don't think he's mentorable, to be honest. And a lot of older people, particularly African-American women, support me and want me to retire when I want to retire, not because some people want some new guy who's going to have his time. He will get an office at some point or another, but it's not going to be in 2026. Wow.
So there's a lot of ugliness right now over on the Democrat side of the aisle, which is fantastic. I'm wondering if the Republicans or maybe an Independent can take advantage of that and try to sneak in and maybe steal a seat away from the Dems. But there is a lot of infighting right now within the Republican Party or Democrat Party, rather. My apologies.
Well, we'll get to that on another day. But on the Democrat side of the aisle, it is UGLY. Ain't got no alibi ugly. All right, hang tight, everybody. Got to take a break.
Monty Fritz coming up along with your calls. This is Wake Up Memphis. Tired of giving away all your rental profits to a property manager? You don't have to. Over 800,000 landlords use TurboTenant to find and manage tenants.
Keep your 10% and sign up for free at turbotenent.com. Okay.
So, I was doing some shopping over the weekend. I stopped over at Novel Memphis, had to get a book, and ran into a great lady, Miss Sandy, and she had set up a little table there and she's selling her homemade pumpkin bread. She used to teach, she's a retired English teacher. We actually chatted for a while. She's a retired English teacher at White Station High School, and people love her pumpkin bread.
So, we loaded up ladies, talking about Miss Cassie and Miss Ellen. We loaded up on Miss Sandy's gluten-free pumpkin bread. And it's pretty darn good. I'm just going to tell you.
So, we have that down in the break room. And if you want to try some, it's really good. You can head over to Novel Memphis and get yourself some of the great pumpkin bread. All right. Welcome back, everybody.
It is now 35 minutes past the hour, 49 degrees here in East Memphis, and we are excited. To have our good friend Monty Fritz joining us, running for governor of the great state of Tennessee. Are you a big pumpkin bread guy, Monty? I'm an any kind of bread guy, Todd. I'm an any kind of pumpkin guy.
I have to be careful about it, though. Yeah, no, not at Thanksgiving, you don't. You just forget about everything at Thanksgiving. Is this a no-carb zone? No-carb zone for the next for at least for the next week.
So now, you guys do a Thanksgiving at the Fritz household. What does that look like? This year it'll look like at my son's house, I think. We're going to do that Friday at his house. That's uh They do really well for granny and papa, my wife, Denise, and I, and they do most of the cooking, and we show up and play with grandkids.
See, that's the way you do it. I mean, in all honesty, that's the best part. Yes, sir, it is. And happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and the folks here in Memphis. We have.
Much to be thankful for here in America, but especially in Tennessee.
So you're running for governor, and there's just a lot out there. We've got a long way to go, but it's going to move quickly, I think, after the first of the year. What is it that sets you apart from Congressman John Rose and Senator Marcia Blackburn? I would offer just a couple things, Todd. First, I'm the Liberty Unless government candidate.
I have demonstrated that I'm focused on our Liberty, that God-given 2 Corinthians 3.17, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's Liberty candidate. and less government. Our budget has grown by 59% in the last six years. That's unacceptable. It's actually outpassed.
Our budget growth has outpassed the Federal deficit growth, which is scary to me. I would also offer that if you look at constitutional adherence and small government, I scored 100 last year with the Freedom Index. dot org and uh Congressman Rose and Senator Blackburn scored in the sixties. Again, Monty Fritz joining us running for governor here in the volunteer state. And there's certainly a lot of noise out there.
You know, in our state, we're super majority Republicans.
So a lot of folks think, let's kick back, sit on the front porch, grab some iced tea, and just enjoy things. But we've seen some things happening, whether it be on school choice, Second Amendment, where some of our fellow Republicans got a little squirrely. Absolutely, Todd. And I'll tell you, I think that's we better course correct on that. I think we really have to differentiate ourselves.
You know, our Tennessee Republican Party guiding principles. Life begins at conception. Our rights come from God. We've kind of backed away from those. I think that, you know, I voted against the.
The school vouchers that Governor Lee pushed. But that was a really unpopular thing all across the state. I haven't entered many places where they were all in favor of the school vouchers. And I think. Our Republican candidates have hurt them some with that.
I'm hoping they'll repent. It's a season of repentance and Thanksgiving and stick to our conservative Tennessee values. All right, Monty, and by the way, folks, we are taking questions.
So if you've got a question for Monty Fritz this morning, give us a call, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926.
And we're working on our digital video there on Facebook.
So bear with us, ladies and gentlemen, as we get that fixed up. I want to play some audio. This is from a woman by the name of Afton Bain. She is a loony gene. We call her AOC with blonde hair.
She hates Nashville. Yes. And she wants to represent Nashville in Congress. Yes, poor Afton. Bless her heart, as we say here in the South.
I don't know what the folks, the Democrats are thinking that would put that type candidate forward. She hates life. She's a radical abortionist. The Republicans have to get out and vote. Matt needs their votes.
They better not be complacent.
So I will just say this, and we don't work off talking points on this program, and it angers a lot of folks, and especially Republicans. But I'm just going to say this. Up until a couple of days ago, we have been trying for weeks to get Mad Fan Epps on our national show, which airs across the entire state. We tried to get him on Newsmax show, nothing, radio silence, until last week. And based on the number of interviews that this guy is doing, it tells me that they're concerned.
that the numbers are a little bit too close. And I'm just wondering why that is, because that is a district that went 20 points for Mark Greene, 20 points for Donald Trump in the last election. Yeah, I think some of it's what you alluded to first, Todd. I think This past year, the Tennessee General Assembly followed Governor Lee off the Constitutional Cliff. School vouchers, the farmland bill, big spending, the budget.
Overreach of government, state government that doesn't feel like they have to work for the people or under the authority of the Constitution. And I think lots of people are disappointed. I hear all across the state folks saying, I like these people to do this, and they get in office and they forget about me. And so I know Matt, I've gotten to know him, like him, pulling for him. He's got to get out with a resounding, solid constitutional message.
No, you're right about that. And here's the deal, and I'm glad to hear you say that, because we have an issue, and I would call it, I don't even know what to call that wing of the America First. There's this mentality, it's my way. And if you're not 1,000% with me, then you're a radical leftist. People literally call me anti-Trump.
You know, I'm the guy that's that Trump comes on this program every couple of months. But because I disagree, oh, well, you're really not a true conservative. That kind of stuff has to stop once the nomination happens, and you got to get behind your candidate. That's right. And I'll tell you, Todd, I think some of that's intellectual laziness.
I get that from some of my colleagues in the General Assembly because I voted against the budget this past year because it had. bloated and full of corporate welfare. Because I voted against the vouchers, our Constitution does not instruct us to just line up and do what the executive department or executive branch says to do. We need a little tension between the two. It's healthy.
Our founders understood that. And liberty requires it. And so. I think Matt's got the leadership skills to do this. He was an Army pilot.
Um And I just, I would encourage him, charge forward hard. As a cavalry soldier, I would say charge hard forward on a constitutional conservative agenda. All right. So call in, folks, and we will put you on the air so you can ask your question to Monty Fritz. He's the only candidate that has been willing to do.
You're the only one that's done this.
So a feather in your cap. John from Memphis just called in. And by the way, our number 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926.
John from Memphis wants you to go over where you're from in Tennessee and your education a little bit, a little bit about your background, which we covered the last time you were on. Yes, sir. I am Monty Fritz. I'm from Kingston, Tennessee. Grew up in Rome County.
Other than the military and a little bit of work outside the state over the years, I've lived in East Tennessee my entire life. I was a late bloomer in college. I joined the Army out of high school. I didn't intend to do college. I later started at Roan State.
I love our community college, Roan State, and our system. Did my chemistry there, finished a bachelor's degree at Liberty University. A little bit later on, went back and did an MBA with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, one of the executive programs. I have a Master's of Arts in Theological Studies at Liberty University. And the one I have the most fun with is I have a certificate in operational excellence from leading operational excellence from MIT.
And most people think with my accent you can't do that, but it was something when I ran operations up at nuclear fuels, it was a required course, great learning course.
So you know how to work a calculator is what you're saying. I do. I actually can still work the pencil and paper a little bit, but it's less legible now as I get older. But I use calculators quite a bit, yes, sir. Fritz4, the number4tn.com is the website.
Is that right? It is, yes, sir. All right. And you'll be able to get all sorts of great information about Monty, his platform, who he is, his family. And that's an important thing.
You know, I mean, you're running for governor, but people need to be able to know, okay, this is a good person.
Well, and I'll tell you, Todd, your statement that I'm the only one of the governor candidates that have come on, that's disappointing. I think Senator Blackburn's trying to run the Biden basement campaign, to be honest with you. And Congressman Rose is sending out lots of mailers trying to convince everybody he's not a career politician. I'm not sure what that says. But they should make themselves more accessible to the people.
We had a debate scheduled in Washington County on December 5th, and both of them backed out. Is that right? Yes, sir. Now, I want to qualify. They come on, but they don't take questions from callers.
Oh, and so that's but still, I'm a big proponent of debates. I think if you're running for office, I don't care who you are, how long you've been in office, I still think you ought to sit down and be able to debate.
Well, I'll tell you, Todd, I think they're relying on the fact that they can spend $25, $30 million on this campaign, and I often hear Fritz can't do it. I would offer first two words, but God. And then I would also offer that I think that there's many of us conservative-thinking Tennesseans that are sick of the DC politics and the throwing profane amounts of money at campaigns, and they want to hear from the candidate. They want to hear straightforward answers, not ethereal thoughts. And they want someone to commit that, you know, we're going to reduce the budget and we're going to force the.
The folks in Nashville to understand and abide by the Constitution. If they can't, we're going to fire them. Can you stick around for a few more minutes? Absolutely. All right, we've got Monty Fritz with us.
He is running to be your governor in the Republican primary. Fritz4TN.com is the website. He's going to be participating in an event tomorrow morning, and we'll tell you more about that coming up after the break. Right now, we need to check in with Parker May standing by in the Mighty 990 sports room with a look at what happened over the weekend in the world of sports. Tired of giving away all your rental profits to a property manager?
You don't have to. Over 800,000 landlords use TurboTenant to find and manage tenants. Keep your 10% and sign up for free at turbotenent.com. All right. Right.
Gonna be a busy day here at the station, but we are so excited to have Monty Fritz joining us in the studio. This guy from Kingston, Tennessee, drove over to me on the show this morning. We should have at least bought you breakfast. We should have had some sunrise for you this morning. I've had plenty of coffee and way too many carbs this morning, Todd.
So thanks. I understand. Monty is doing something that is very unusual in politics. He's actually taking questions from constituents, and we appreciate that. Before we get to the phones, and by the way, our number 901-260-5926, if you want to ask Monty a question, let's go to Dean first in East Memphis.
Dean, what is your question for Monty Fritz? Good morning, Todd. Good morning, Monty. All right, let's put oh, Bonnie. Yep, Bonnie's got to put his headphones on.
All right, what's your question, Dean? Kristen Hicks had a question. She posted it on the live feed, and it was what is what is does Moni have concern? Do you have concern About Matt Van Epps being affectionately known in Tennessee as. the Fauci of Tennessee.
I do. I think he's got to recover from that. I think he's got to distance himself from the weak leadership of Bill Lee. I think the buck stops on Bill Lee's desk on all the COVID mess that took place a few years ago and the fact that we were forcing our Tennessee National Guardsmen to take an unlawful order jab. I think that There needs to be a reconciliation of that.
I think he's still the man for the job, but I think he really needs to come out strong on that. I think the people would appreciate a really sincere, you know, I've messed some things up, and here's what I plan to do to correct that. I think that would be tremendous for Matt. And I gave him that opportunity on Newsmax this past, and we had him on Friday, and he took a pass on that. He did not want to back down from that and really actually use that incident as a way to affirm his leadership by sometimes you have to make the tough decision.
It seems to me, guys, the proper response would have been to resign your commission in protest and refuse to do the order.
So I know some good men like Brad Miller, who was a lieutenant colonel in the Army that did just that during those unlawful orders. I think we still have some repentance to do at the federal level and the state level. I know guardsmen in the state of Tennessee that were told that they were not going to be allowed to retire unless they took the jab, and they were six months from retirement. That's crazy. It's unacceptable.
I saw letters coming from the state headquarters, and I will fix that as governor. I promise you, I will yank a knot in the leadership that allowed that to happen in Nashville, Tennessee. Dean, does that answer your question? Yes, sir. I appreciate you.
All right. Thanks. See you tomorrow morning, Monty. Thank you, sir. All right.
Thanks, Dean. And, real quick, where are you going to be tomorrow morning? There's a big event. Awaken Memphis is the name of the ministry. Awaken Memphis is a great thing, Todd.
I've been there and spoke once. I'm bringing a message tomorrow. It's either going to be on Jonah or Nehemiah. I haven't decided for sure yet. But at 6:15 in the morning, you have folks gathering in this really nice garage.
and praising Jesus. And studying and praying for Memphis, Tennessee, and the state and our nation, it is a beauty, it is that. that is going to restore our nation. It is not some charismatic person. It is that.
We're going to have to hit our knees. As Lincoln said in 1863, I was reading in your book this morning. We've got to turn back to God in repentance. We've left him out of everything, and it's high time we fixed that.
Well, and I've spoken to that garage. That garage is nicer than some homes in East Memphis. It is. It is. You know, we wrote to prayer resolution in 24, and then again in 25, making it every year.
Every July is a month of prayer and fasting in Tennessee. And I get some flack from the Libs about that. And a few of the Republicans, they're like, he's just doing it for notoriety.
Well, those people aren't paying attention. We tried to follow something in the footsteps of Adams or Washington or even Lincoln in calling our state to a time of repentance, of prayer and fasting, of humiliation, seeking God's blessing. And all these mistakes, we all make mistakes. We were talking about Matt's mistakes a few moments ago, and I can talk all day about Governor Lee's mistakes. Want to add this question.
Freddie from East Memphis texted in. What would Monty Fritz, what is Monty Fritz doing to make Memphis the safest city in America? Yeah, I think the number one thing we've got to do is stop trying to infringe upon people's rights to keep and bear arms. What this administration has done, the whole Hughes v. Lee appeal is an apostate thing to do.
Shame on those men who have not stood up against that. I think that, number one, the disarmed public is an opportunity for the predatory criminal, and we must stop behaving in Nashville as we're going to relieve you from your God-given right, Todd. All right, let's go back to the phones. Nelson in East Memphis. Nelson, what is your question for Monty Fritz this morning?
Sir, did you say you voted against the school vouchers? Good morning, Nelson. Yes, sir, I did. I did because Article 11, Section 12 of the Tennessee Constitution, 2nd Senate, says General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, comma, support, and eligibility standards for a system of free public schools. I think that it is constitutionally or wrong thing to do.
I think it was fiscally wrong. I think we're going to spend up to a billion dollars on 20,000 youth over a period of five years. And I think the way it was proposed, holding hostage our neighbors in East Tennessee who suffered from Helene in order to get that passed, I think everything about it was wrong. But first and foremost, it was unconstitutional. I would end it as governor.
How much do you take for the teachers' union? How much are you getting paid? None at all, sir. I don't I haven't taken any pack money at all. Whatever.
You're a big pony. You're not the one.
Well, hold on. I love you, Nelson. Hold on, Nelson. Yeah, so again, I mean, you're either telling the truth or you're not, and that's a very provable thing. Yes, sir, it is.
I haven't taken any PAC money. I actually think that PACs are some of the problem we have today. Too many of these politicians accept PAC money. I would offer to Nelson if he would go look. That most of those people that voted for it after they told their constituents they wouldn't and didn't have the resolve to go look at the Constitution, they probably took money from AFP or somebody like that.
All right. And again, folks, if you're calling in, I mean, we're going to, you know, if you agree or disagree, we're going to take your questions. But, you know, be polite. I mean, Nelson sort of went off on you, called you a big phony. It's okay.
Happy Thanksgiving, Nelson. He may be getting, you know, vegan or maybe gluten-free. I don't know. Eat more turkey, Nelson. All right, we got to leave it there.
Monty, can we get you back one of these days? We'd love to just open up the phone lines. I'd love to. Yes, sir. Thanks for that.
I love this. All right, folks, the conversation continues. 11 o'clock, the Todd Stern show, right here on the Mighty 990, here at the Principal Toyota Memphis Studio. All right, get out there. Have a great one, everybody.
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