Sesame Street Teaches Kids to Speak Arabic

Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite gun totem, Bible-clinging, deplorable America. RAAAAAAAAAAAAA I love Love is American. Touch start. Yeah, well, hello, everybody. Happy Friday to you, America.

This is the Todd Stearns Radio Show. We are broadcasting border to border, coast to coast, across The fruited plane. A lot happening today. President Trump is on his way to Arizona, and he's going to be speaking at a TPUSA event. That is at the Dream Center Church.

Coming up a little bit later on, we're going to be broadcasting that live on Newsmax.

So if you want to watch it, you can just tune in and hang out with us. By the way, it is Open Line Friday. Our telephone number, 901-260-5926. Again, that telephone number, 901-260-5926.

So, a lot of just weird things happening in the news. And I know there's. There's a lot of outrage around the nation right now at President Trump and the Pope and all of that nonsense.

So. Just a couple of things. If you are a longtime listener of this radio program, you know that in many of these cases, we are ahead of the curve.

So we're going to be talking about issues that. You may not have heard about it in the media, but you will hear about it in the days after we first. Talk about the issue. and in particular with the Pope. We were out there from day one, and I tried to explain to everybody as best I could that Pope Leo was, in fact, woke.

We call him Pope Leo the Woke. This is not a slam against the Catholic faith. As a matter of fact, we have been incredibly supportive of rank-and-file Catholics. And as I said earlier in the week, that rank-and-file Catholics are far more conservative than their leadership at the Vatican. And if you agree or disagree, you can agree or disagree on the radio.

You can pick up the phone and give me a call. But the reality is, nobody was talking about that, and I was being called all sorts of anti-Catholic names. I'm the antichrist, the Holdine Yards, all sorts of names this week. And that's fine. I'm perfectly okay with that.

But the reality is now, and I tried to explain that, you know, when $11 million was going to Catholic charities, and Trump, all of the things that Trump was saying about the Pope. were a thousand percent accurate. And the President has a pretty good read on everybody, including Pope Leo the Woke.

So, when the president's going out there and he's eliminating the $11 million in funding to the Catholic charities of Miami, you know, a lot of people got butt heard about that. Oh, my word, he's going to starve the children. The children, the illegal alien children, are going to be on the streets of Miami. They're going to have no food. No, that's simply not true.

Now, again, as the President rightly pointed out, this was $11 million of your tax money. And I just want to ask you, ladies and gentlemen, all of you Lutherans out there, did you sign up for that? Do you mind that your tax money is going to support the Catholic Church? Are you okay with that? I can tell you, as a Baptist, I'm not okay with that.

And I would also, if I were a Catholic and Trump was giving money to the Baptist, I would have a problem with that. But it wasn't just $11 million. It was $1.2 billion at the very least. That's what we've been giving the Catholic Church. And by we, I mean the hardworking taxpayers of America.

And it's just simply not right. And again, if a church wants to engage in charity, which I believe they should, and I believe we all should, well, that's up to the individual, and that is up to the church. That is not up. The federal government has no right to take our tax money and give it to any religious organization, period. They just simply do not have that right.

So, anyway, I'm talking about all this stuff on Monday and Tuesday, whenever it was coming out. And of course, everybody's attacking us, but now everybody finally. Has done their homework. They've looked up all the information we've shared on this program, and they have come to the conclusion that it turns out Todd Starnes was right after all. Even Sean Hannity last night going out on Fox News and saying, you know what, President Trump was right about the Pope after all.

And we're happy to provide that service to our fellow conservatives in the media sphere. But we're always, if you listen to this program, you are going to be a few days ahead of the news curve now that everybody is catching up on all of this. But the reality is, you've got a lot of really woke individuals within that Catholic Church. And we've been talking about that for a long time because the Southern Baptists have the same problem: the two largest religious groups in the country, and they have been infested with liberalism. And as a result of that, they've become marginalized in the culture.

But now there's a lot of pushback. And interestingly enough, the pushback is predominantly coming from young Generation Z. Catholics Who are flooding back into the churches? And these young people, these 17, 18, 19-year-old kids are actually. Far more conservative than their moms and dads and even their grandparents.

I mean, this is, it's really remarkable when you look at where. where the culture is going, especially with these young kids. And it does appear that, at least within the Catholic world, the younger kids, I would say, are radically more conservative. than the folks that are That are running the Vatican. That would be Pope Leo the Woke and his merry band of cardinals.

Well, no, it's not a crime. No, I'm not mocking them. I'm just saying that's. That's who he is, Pope Leo the Woke. What do you want me to what do you want me to do?

So anyway, there's new polling data out there. Saying that, you know what, this is true, that Generation Z is far more conservative than the other generations. Where is that audio? I'm looking for it here. Oh, here we go.

Cut number 51, please. NZ men are putting down their phones and picking up a Bible. A news poll showing a growing number of young men ages 18 to 29 are embracing faith. 42% say religion is very important in their lives. That is a 14% increase from just the previous year.

And I saw it firsthand while visiting St. Joe's Church here in New York City. Wow, St. Joe's a Catholic church. Are you guys noticing that trend in your local congregations and your local Catholic parishes?

Are you noticing an increase in the number of young people that are coming back to church? If so, I would love to hear from you. I don't believe it's an anomaly. I believe this is truly happening all across the country. 901-260-5926 is our telephone number.

That's 901-260-5926. At the same time, Dylan, There is an interesting report out. And it scared me. You know what I'm about to talk about. As much as Gen Z is embracing Jesus, man, they got some freaky stuff going down.

So there's a guy by the name, he goes by clavicular, right? And so he's a young kid. Yeah, he's in his 20s. He's in his 20s. And he's all about, it's called look, look smacksing.

Yes.

So that's basically, you want to be well groomed. I mean, that's basically what it used to be, right? You wanted to be well groomed. Yeah, it's more about your physical attributes, not even like what you're wearing. It's literally about your face and your body, like trying to look the best.

Version of yourself. And a lot of these people, and we, by the way, a couple of the guys that we have at our Newsmax TV show. On a regular basis, they are into this whole looks maxing thing. And we're gonna have them on next week to find out if they're doing what we're about to tell you they're doing. And again, these are super conservative guys, right?

So these are not like the Hollywood wackadoodles. These are super conservative guys, they're very deeply religious. And they're all about like traditional versions of manhood. And part of that is like looking good and they're this is insane. But there is a report out, and doctors are very concerned about this.

And listen up, moms, and dads and grandmas and grandpas, because your sons and grandsons could be doing this. It's uh a They're using hammers. And they're smashing their faces. to make them look better. I kid you not take a listen.

It's a disturbing new trend. Guys hitting themselves deliberately on the face with hammers and other objects. Why? They think it will give them a more chiseled, handsome look. But as Jim Murray reports, doctors are sounding the alarm.

It's a bizarre trend that's hard to believe. These young men are hitting themselves in the face with hammers, even saucepans. Get this, they think it will improve their looks. It's called looks maxing, and it's being promoted on social media by 20-year-old Braden Peters, a controversial influencer who calls himself Clavicular and has 800,000 followers. You gotta hit the chin hard.

He spoke his off-the-wall message on 60 Minutes Australia. When you break down a bone, it grows back stronger.

So you're intentionally creating these traumas typically on your cheekbones, your chin. But he walked out of that interview moments after he was asked about links between looks maxing and incels, guys who hate women. How do you feel about being linked?

So that girl. Thanks for the time. Appreciate the interview. I spoke with Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Zarabi.

What do you make of this trend of looks maxing and taking a hammer to your own face? You can damage muscles and cause permanent muscle injury. You can even damage nerves that can result in facial weakness or even areas of numbness. And in extreme examples, you can even damage the brain and cause, for example, a concussion.

So it's absolutely not the right thing to do. Listen to what this plastic surgeon says happened to one guy who tried looks maxing. A patient took a hammer, hammered it to the face, broke the bone, and the bone on the bottom of the eyeball flipped up and popped the eye, and he went blind. Oh my gosh. He was carried out and taken to the hospital.

This morning, he posted, just got home. That was brutal. You should not be following someone like clavicular and getting medical and health advice. Mental health experts worry this trend will lead to more cases of body dysmorphia among young men, which is already a growing problem. I really don't know what to say about this.

So they're smashing their faces with hammers. Dylan, have you heard of this? Oh, yeah, this has been trending more and more. I keep seeing this guy on my TikToks. Every single day now at this point, he just keeps popping up because he's doing He's doing like big interviews with people, but he's being a jerk and he's like.

not really answering the questions. He just wants to talk about How to make your face look better. But unfortunately, you have to hit your face with a hammer. Want to do that? I saw the video, it shows them like even hitting their cheekbones, which has to be incredibly painful.

Yeah.

So they laid it out pretty well. I mean, it's a mental thing. It's going to give you some problems. You're going to. Try to look your best, but you're going to hurt yourself mentally and physically.

I'm wondering where and w we're sort of in the primordial ooze phase of this weird trend, but I am wondering, is it coming from this one guy, this clavicular? This guy's in his twenties and he what he just overdosed. Yeah.

On live on live video. Yeah.

This is the main guy that's been doing it. Other people have now started to become influencers in this. They will do this solely on their live streams. And he's on so much medication. He's on, like, I don't even know how much medication he's on, but I've heard him talk about it.

It's not good for your body overall, like even is like heart health, all those different types of things.

So His sole focus is just to look better. For to get women and I don't know, but he doesn't like being he doesn't like being uh referenced to the end suburbs. Wow, that's crazy.

So it's, I mean, and it's a hammer, not pliers or, you know, screwdrivers, but a hammer. Yeah.

Wow.

Okay. That's weird. But again, why would you do that? That's what gets. I don't understand that.

And the eyeball popping out? Yeah.

Oh, geez. Mm-mm. No, I don't think so. I'm happy. I'm happy with the way God made me.

Jeez Lou.

So you do wonder now, like hardware stores, are sales of hammers Going up. They gotta be. They're probably sold out worldwide. Wow, this is. MC Hammer was right.

It's hammer time. Here's something most people don't know. When Warren Buffett was just 13 years old, he didn't put his money into a savings account. While other kids were earning next to nothing at local banks, Buffett put $114 into a little-known investment. Today, that $114 would be worth over $15 million.

And it wasn't a risky trade, it wasn't even insider knowledge. It was an account that's been around since 1888, and over the last 25 years, it's averaged 29% a year. That's what happens when your money is allowed to compound. Compare that to today's savings accounts, paying less than half a percent, while inflation quietly eats away at your buying power. Buffett understood early: banks are great businesses, just not for savers.

If you'd like to see what some investors call the 29% account, go now to secretaccount29.com. That's secret accounttheumbers29.com. Secret Account. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, good news for the first time.

Those of you very concerned about what's been happening in Iran, we understand now the Strait of Hormuz, the President announced today, is completely open. The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports continues. And the president says they're now ready for business and. Full passage.

Uh the President also Now and so now NATO comes along and says Oh, cello. Um uh might we be of assistance, please? And the president told them to take a flying flip. Uh the president said NATO has been useless. He says now that the Strait of Hormuz situation is over, he actually got a call from NATO asking if we could use some help.

And the president said I told him to stay away unless they just want to load up their ships with oil. They were useless when needed, a paper tiger. And I completely agree with the President here.

So the way it's looking, and by the way, we also got word, Israel is now engaged in a ceasefire with Lebanon. There will be no more bombing. And it certainly appears that the war is coming to a conclusion. The President, by the way, giving praise not to NATO, but to Pakistan. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The president says that Pakistan played a key role in peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. And the president also says that Iran agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again. The President says it will no longer be used as a weapon against the world. And the President says Friday is turning out to be a great and brilliant day for the world.

So there you go. Oh, by the way, Iran is also removing all of their. Their sea mines, you know, they mined up the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is now has agreed to remove all the sea mines. And the U.S.

is lending a helping hand there. I love to hear that. The President also said no money is going to exchange hands in any way, shape or form talking about the aftermath of the U. S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

That was all going all the way back to last year, Operation Midnight Hammer. And now guess what's happening? Oil prices are plunging. After Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is open for commercial shipping traffic.

So it appears. At this juncture, all's well that ends well. And ladies and gentlemen, I would not be terribly surprised if we see U.S. troops maybe, possibly, Coming back home.

So if If the war is is done here. No, don't ask me that question. I'm trying to be positive here.

So, if this looks like everything is wrapping up, I'm not sure. What the end game here was, but it looks like we were at the end game.

So are you guys good with that now? Perhaps we can focus on the midterm elections and continued deportations and getting back to the domestic policy agenda that has made this President so wonderfully successful.

So we'll be taking your calls on that. Open line Friday. Our telephone number, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Coming up, we're taking you to the National Rifle Association, a live report, boots on the ground.

Matt Velasquez from Patriot Talk 920 will join us. Also, Joe Messina is here, and Elaine Beck, the owner of Proverbs Media Group. It's going to be a great conversation. Stick around for this Friday edition of the Tom Stern Show. Here's something most people don't know.

When Warren Buffett was just 13 years old, he didn't put his money into a savings account. While other kids were earning next to nothing at local banks, Buffett put $114 into a little-known investment. Today, that $114 would be worth over $15 million. And it wasn't a risky trade, it wasn't even insider knowledge. It was an account that's been around since 1888, and over the last 25 years, it's averaged 29% a year.

That's what happens when your money is allowed to compound. Compare that to today's savings accounts, paying less than half a percent, while inflation quietly eats away at your buying power. Buffett understood early: banks are great businesses, just not for savers. If you'd like to see what some investors call the 29% account, go now to secretaccount29.com. That's secret accounttheumbers29.com.

SecretAccount29.com. Bye. All right, welcome back, everybody. This is the Todd Sterns Radio Show. Great to have you with us today.

So again, another situation. This time in New Jersey, there was a special election, and it turns out that Republican voters just decided to stay home, and the Republicans got crushed in this special election by nearly 20 points. Take a listen to cut 53. We resist. We will not allow it to continue.

This system is broken, but guess what? We are the blue.

So she's looking for the attention and she's got it now. Brian Yannis has the fallout today. Brian, hello. Bill, good morning.

Well, NJ11 is a blue district, and progressive activist Anna Lilia Mejia defeated Republican Joe Hathaway last night by nearly 20 points.

Now, this is the seventh special election since President Trump took office nationwide, and Democrats have done better than their 2024 presidential results in each of those seven races. It is notable, though, that NJ11 featured the most progressive Democrat and saw the smallest shift toward Democrats than any other special election.

Now, the AOC Bernie Sanders-backed Mejia wants to abolish ICE, universal health care, and child care, and she wants to use taxpayer funds to cancel all student loan debt.

Now, last night she made the case, her win proves. She is not a radical. It is not radical to say that a worker who toils every day cannot make ends meet, that they deserve justice, that they deserve higher wages. That is not radical. That is good conscience.

That is a good economy. All right, there you go. The turnout, by the way, this is coming from the New Jersey Globe. The turnout, Democrats had a significant edge, 62.1% compared to 24.3% from Republicans.

So, for whatever reason, and I am curious to hear from you on this, because election after election after election after election that we've had since Donald Trump won the presidency, Republicans have not been showing up to vote. And I'm just curious to find out why. Why is it that Republicans are not going to the polls, but Democrats are turning out en masse? 901-260-5926 is our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926.

Well, yesterday we had some interesting guests on the Todd Stearns show on Newsmax. There is a situation over in Southern California in San Diego. There is a There's a gay bar down there, and they were having the big Republican California Republican convention. And the log cabin Republicans had rented a room to have a luncheon. And so people showed up, and a couple of guys wearing MAGA hats were ordered to leave the premises.

And then the owner of the bar told the Republicans they all had to leave because they were triggering. To the rest of the patrons.

So, we had one of the individuals who is a leader of the group, Paul Ramirez, along with Amy Reichert, who is an investigative journalist from down in those parts. And I want you to hear their conversation. All right, Paul, take us through the story. What happened here?

Well, it's not the first time it's happened, and thank you again so much for having me on, Todd. You know, Gay Inc., what we call groups, NGOs like NRC or. Others will have created a successful narrative of painting Trump as the bad guy. And we all know he isn't. Lock Capital Republicans happen to be in San Diego for the GOP State Convention.

The Sandy chapter of Log Cabins invited us to a reception at Urban Mo's. And apparently, they've held multiple receptions there in the past and events. But our MAGA hats, my husband and I are both wearing them. We were too much for them.

So they asked us to move to an upstairs area away from the population of the bar. And then, when I put my hat back on to do a video, they kicked us all out. But not before we got assaulted with food, and a beer got thrown on my husband. when we asked the bar manager why that happened, he said you deserved it because you voted for a piece of You can only imagine.

So we are exited out. Amy, this is just insane. And God bless you because you actually brought it to the nation's attention, your story going viral on social media. Were you surprised to hear how these gay Republicans were treated in a place that's supposed to be tolerant? Not at all.

I'm a Republican in California, and this is exactly the kind of way that we are treated by the woke. They are tolerant and inclusive for themselves, and they are completely intolerant and exclusive when it comes to people like us who have a different political opinion and voted for Donald Trump. You know, again, Paul, when you see what happened here with you and the log cabin Republicans, what does that really tell you about the divide in this country, and especially when it comes to gay Republicans who are you guys are getting it from everybody?

Well, I can't tell you how many gay Republicans have come to me and thanked me for wearing a MAGA hat. My politics because they're afraid to come out. They say it's harder to come out as a gay Republican than it was originally to come out gay.

Now as I've said before in other interviews, a sandwich or a beer isn't lethal. But what's next? And we all saw what happened to Donald Trump twice. Uh yeah With Charlie Kirk.

So, this left-wing ideology creates a very dangerous narrative, and it makes What Urban Most called a safe space, a very dangerous spot for conservatives. You know, it's a great point you raised. And Amy, again, not too long ago, I think last month, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a restaurant in the Little Rock area. Again, simply because she is a Republican. If it had been a Democrat or maybe a minority group, this would be wall-to-wall national news coverage.

But apparently, it's open season on gay Republicans. We Republicans believe in the Constitution, the first, the second, the third, all the amendments. It's the Democrats who don't believe in the Constitution and the freedom to be who you are in this country. And so it just really shows you when Sarah Huckabee can't even dine in a restaurant and Paul, MAGA Daddy, gets a sandwich thrown at him. It just shows you where the Democrats are right now.

Paul, I'm curious about President Trump. Yeah, go right ahead. Go ahead. I just wanted to say one thing. I've been to Urban Mo's many times, and they've always treated us well.

I've always gone in with a MAGA hat and never had an issue.

So I really don't want to label the whole bar as, you know, frame it negatively because it impacts a lot of individuals who work there, the owners, etc. I'm hoping they will reach out to us with a statement, but I'm not a cancel culture person. I'm not a boycott person. And the sins of one person should not affect that entire community of employees there. Yeah, that's fair enough.

But you shouldn't have to dodge a pastrame on rye being thrown at you either, Paul.

So hopefully they will get in touch with you. But I want to go back to my question about President Trump here. He catches a lot of hell from just about everybody, but the reality is he's probably the most pro-gay president we have had. He certainly is. And I will tell you, coming out of the California State Convention, the Republican Party treated Log Cabin, myself included, everyone, with such great respect.

Mm-hmm. Chad Bianco came to our party. Steve Hilton came to our reception. This narrative that Republicans hate gays is completely false. They've treated us with the utmost respect and dignity.

Let me tell you something. You know, when it comes to Democrats. If you are a black person, if you are Hispanic, or if you are gay, and you abandon the Democrat Party plantation, they will destroy you. I've never seen. anything like it.

But that's that's how things operate in in the Democrat Party these days. And I appreciate the fact that President Trump put together this this big tent party.

So There you go. All right. Guys, we've got to take a break here. 901-260-5926 is our telephone number. That's 901-260-5926.

Now, this segment of the Todd Stern Show is brought to you by our good friends at Newsmax TV. 70 million Americans collect social security benefits, and more are going to be joining very soon. A new study, though, finds 70% of Americans are not getting the full benefits they deserve.

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So get them a call, 800-999-9690. That's 800-999-9690. Text and data rates may apply. All right, welcome back everybody. This is the Todd Sterns radio show.

You know, it's interesting. I was, um, I was. I got a message last night that says, Starnes, have you heard about Sesame Street? And you know, I haven't watched Sesame Street in a long time. Like, I don't know.

56 to 57 years. It's been a long time. But every now and again, we get these notes about how woke. Sesame Street has gone. Dylan, I mean, you're closer to that age.

You still watch Sesame Street? Dodd, I recently found out I was 10 years older than intern Ian.

So I'm actually not. Even close. Wow, you're old. I I think it was probably 20 or so years ago that I've seen Sesame Street.

So, so anyway, but back in the day, did you? I mean, there really wasn't politics. No. And if there was, you know, you couldn't figure it out. No, it was like a fun kid show, keeps you engaged.

So, what I mean, you learned your what ABCs? Yeah.

And you learned how to count. You know, big bird sometimes, yeah, and play nice with people.

So you had conflict resolution, yes, and then you had the homeless guy in the garbage can. Oscar, I think. And then Cookie Monster. Cookie Monster was my favorite. I had a cookie.

I want cookies. I love cookies. Anyway, things have changed a little bit on Sesame Street. And of course, now, you know, they've embraced the whole, I don't know, the LGBT stuff, and they got the rainbow flags and all. All of that, you know, there used to be a show.

Anybody remember this? The Rainbow Connection? That means something completely different now than it did back when I was growing up. Of course, that was in the era of the AIDS candy, too, so you know, things change.

So, anyway, someone sent me this. I said, Sarge, you're not going to believe this. Sesame Street is teaching kids how to speak Arabic. Take a listen. Yeah.

Assalamu alaikum everyone, I'm Rami Yusuf. Mr. Brownie, what are you doing? What does salaam alaikum mean?

Well, salaam means peace, and it's a way to say hello in Arabic. Oh, salaamu alaikum. Minnie body. Elmo and I are here to wish all of you a happy Arab American Heritage Month. Yeah, happy Arab American Heritage Month.

I'm so proud of my Arab heritage, and I'm so happy to share this month with my fellow Arabs and Elmo.

So, thanks, Habibi. Wait a minute, what's a baby? Oh, it's an Arabic word for a special friend. Ah well, happy Arab American Heritage Month, happy baby. We love you.

I want to see the scene where somebody on Sesame Street yells a la Akbar and the elbow tears off. You know what I'm saying, Dylan? No, no, no.

Okay. That's not Oscar the Grouch, that's an IET or not. Yeah.

All right, kids, let's practice. Sesame Street is gone. Run away, run away. Sesame Street is gone. This is terrible.

Terrible. But again, why aren't we teaching the kids how to speak English? You know, it's bad enough they don't know their pronouns anymore. But why? Why Arabic?

Why are we teaching the children how to speak Arabic? All right, let's go to the phone lines here on this open line Friday, 901-260-5926. Don in Texas, listening to us on Patriot Talk 920. Hi, Don. What's what's on your mind today?

Well, you ask a question about the Republicans. And I think this is just a personal opinion. I think that they are failing to come out to vote. Because just like me, We're very disgusted in the results that we're getting from our Republican Party. They're not standing up and doing the things that we voted them in for.

They're not persecuting or prosecuting anybody. They they ga they have finished hearing, nothing happens. You can commit perjury, nothing happens. You can lie, steal, cheat, nothing happens.

Somebody says, Oh, well, they did this, they did that. But at the end, nobody goes to jail. Nobody even gets. given a suspended tenant. They don't do anything.

They just talk. And I'm getting sick and tired of it. I am tired of the Republican Party not doing what they were voted in to do. If we're going to try and change the United States, and make it America great again.

Somebody's gotta pay a penalty for the crimes they've committed. And nobody dared it. And I'm disgusted. I don't know about the rest of the people, but I've given up, or just about given up, on the Republican Party. I'm still not going to vote for the Democrats.

Because that's the leather of two evils. But I don't want to vote for evil, period. What? Whether it's the lesser or the greater. I don't care.

Yeah, I look I I understand exactly. Exactly what you are saying here, Don. And it's it's look, it's a fair criticism of the Republicans. They just haven't really done a lot. And we really expect I think this go around, we really expected for the Republicans to do something.

And especially I do believe that younger generation voters are getting disenfranchised very quickly and demoralized. And that's one of the reasons why we saw such a small turnout at the J.D. Vance event. And I know they're making all sorts of excuses, but at the end of the day, I just think that the Republicans and their lack of action here. It um I think it's really going to have problems and we're going to have blowback in the midterms.

I'm with you. I hope that's not the case. And even if we do, though, I still think we're going to be able to win. There's so much polling data out there. And again, it sort of goes with the wind, you know, which way the wind is blowing.

But you can still feel it. And I see it here. I'll give you an example: Memphis, Tennessee. We had early voting start this week, Don. 3,000 over about 3,000 Democrats came out, about 600 Republicans came out.

So it tells you there is an enthusiasm gap, no doubt about that. The question is, will the enthusiasm gap hurt us in the midterm elections?

Well, if something doesn't change, it will. If they don't get off their rear end and start doing something rather than giving us a bunch of verbal crap. Then that's what's going to happen. Yep. Don, you are a wise man, and I hope that the Republicans listen to you.

By the way, Don, to your point, real quick, in your neck of the woods, when you look at the amount of fundraising dollars in the Senate campaign, That Tallarico guy is cleaning the Republicans' clocks. That's insane. I know.

Well You know, if If you've got momentum, and believe me, the Democrats have got momentum because of the lack of enthusiasm. From our Republican people. And the reason we have no enthusiasm is because. We came out, we voted, we turned out. We got people in there that we thought would do something, and nothing happened.

$27 million. And Don, thank you for calling in. $27 million. That's Tallarico has outraised. Both of his Republican opponents combined, John Cornyn and Ken Paxton, $27 million.

Ken Paxton, $1.9 million. And Cornyn's Group just about $10 million.

So there you go. That's jaw-dropping. All right, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Star Show.

Na na na na na na na na na. Live. From the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. It's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starr. Shutters, that's right.

I love Love is American.

Well, hello everybody. Welcome to the Todd Stearns Radio Show.

So happy to have you with us today. By the way, our telephone number, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Today is Open Line Friday. Whatever you want to talk about.

Well, we're going to let you talk about it today. We have some great guests coming up. Joe Messina joins us here in just a little while to give us a rundown of what's been happening in the California gubernatorial race. Also, a number of California cities are now surrendering to the radical treehuggers, and they are canceling America 250 Fourth of July celebrations.

So they're getting rid of the fireworks displays, and there will no longer be fireworks in many major cities across California to celebrate our great nation's 250th anniversary. By the way, Congressman Jim Jordan was on CNBC. Yesterday, going back and forth with the host over some reporting out there that Democrats could win back the House. Here is that conversation. Cut 52, please.

I've seen estimates, I don't know if they're the most official, whatever, that Democrats could have. could get something like 40 house seats in the midterms later this year.

So could you just comment on that? What if that's the case? What's the plan? What do you think their plans are? This is coming into the timeline now that the markets have to think about it.

No, I mean, I think we're going to win. I think we're going to win because the left, every position they take, is crazy. You know, I don't know if I said this on your show a few weeks ago, but I was doing some interview and I said, I think this election is really going to come down to a couple sentences. They're crazy, we're not. And you can look at every policy they have.

We just talked about sanctuary jurisdiction policy. That's crazy. It makes no absolute no sense. This idea that, oh, we're going to defund ICE makes no sense. We're going to defund the police.

That's crazy. We're going to have men compete against women in sports. That's crazy. We're going to shut down the government for 42 days in the fall, 50-some days here in the spring. All those things are crazy.

So I do think we have to remind the voters that the left is crazy. And I think we can win this midterm election and sort of defy the trend that's been there when it comes to the midterm elections. And then also remind the voters that we did what we said. We cut taxes and secured the border and everything else. There's people who would use the slogan, I think, right back against you and say, you know, all this stuff is, what they're doing is crazy.

And so I don't know if that plays to people who just feel, look what we've pointed this out, the campaign that Tom Steyer is running for governor of California is not one where he's shying away or following the playbook of moving back to the quote unquote middle at all. And maybe that's just California, but there's been certain elections and districts that tells you the electorate is in the mood to hear something with whether it's Momdani or Steyer that's not necessarily coming back to the middle.

So I just wonder what policy moves we could potentially be bracing for.

Well, I think we remind the voters of what I said. We did what we were told them we were going to do. We cut their taxes, let them keep more of their money for, you know, go after their goals and dreams. We secured the border like we said we were going to do. We are stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

The president was clear about that in the campaign. I think we remind them of all that. And then frankly, I think this other, and Joe just mentioned this, this whole fraud that's going on, what we uncovered in Minnesota. And now the same thing is happening in California. I think that's an important issue and we have to talk about that as well and how we're dealing with that and protecting taxpayer dollars.

All right, there you go. You heard Jim Jordan making the case, and he says that the American people know at the end of the day that the Republicans have lived up to their campaign promises. Is that true? You just heard Don call in from Texas and saying, It's not true that the Republicans have failed miserably on a lot of things. And the argument is, and by the way, the Republicans did this the last time and they got their butts handed to them.

So I'm advising them not to do this, but they're coming out there and saying, well, we really need another two more years to get everything accomplished, and we need more Republicans on Capitol Hill. I don't think that dog's going to hunt.

Now, I want to go back before we go to the phone lines here. I want to share this information out of Texas, and I am personally shocked by these numbers here. But according to the latest campaign data, the fundraising edge. in Texas right now is going to the Democrats. Senator John Cornyn holds a big fundraising edge over Ken Paxton, but both Republicans fell far short of the campaign cash amassed this year by James Tallarico.

This is in a New York Times story by Lauren McGaughy. Since the primary election and all of this, by the way, all of this data is verified through the Federal Election Commission data, which was all filed on Wednesday of this week.

So this is fresh material. Since the primary election last month, John Cornyn, the incumbent senator, has raised more than $6.5 million. mister Paxton brought in more than $1.9 million in that same time frame. During that period, mister Tallarico appears to have done far better. His campaign and his action committee raised more than five point eight million dollars from donors, giving at least two hundred dollars Tallarico's campaign said his total fundraising since the primary has reached more than $10 million.

The two Republican candidates got just over $400,000 in smaller donations.

So what is that? What does that tell you? Again, it goes back to the momentum. The big mo. And right now, the Democrats seem to, at least the Democrat candidates in some of these states, do appear to have momentum.

The question is, will that last? I mean, ultimately, at the end of the day, Republican voters are going to have to wake up and go vote sometime. And I'm not buying this argument that they're just, well, you know, we'll show up when the votes really matter.

Well, how'd that work out for you guys in Virginia?

So if you do stay home and you don't vote, well, the Democrats are going to win because they are motivated. They are motivated. And that's why we've got to fix this. And look, I do think if what Trump is telling us is accurate and the war is over, then let's get our troops home and let's completely focus on domestic issues. And I think if we do that, if we focus entirely on domestic issues, I think the President is going to be very pleased with the outcome of the midterm elections.

901-260-5926 is our telephone number. Let's go to the phone lines. Charles in Georgia. Hey, Charles, what's on your mind? Hey, Todd, you're in a much better mood this week than you were last week.

Well, what we talked about, Charles, I We all have our days. We all have our moments. Oh, yes, we do. We do. We do.

But hey, I wanted to touch on a couple of things and and There were I didn't get a chance to call in. I think it was Wednesday when you were talking about the The Iranian war And I think if people would just pay attention to the details Of what? Our AN was doing and what their capabilities were, and what the potentials were. For example. I bet you nobody, hardly anybody, knows that Iran.

has actually sent rockets to space and put satellites up. You don't hear anything about that. Um They lied about the long range missiles. They proved they showed that. think it uh That could hit Europe.

They could very easily could have done something from Venezuela. They could do something from a A cargo ship. And they don't have to have technically a nuclear bomb that's going to go off. They can just do nuclear material, which in the the first negotiations that they had, they disclosed how much material they had. Um And then in addition to that, you're saying that who was getting a lot of their energy From Iran.

It's China. And China was helping feed the war with weapons and So now try you know it it that Trump and his five D chest, you might say, is now diverted all Sales to the US Blessed. I think, like you were just hitting on, if we c if they truly can put this war to bed, and start focusing on domestic issues, I think people I hope that people will begin to start to show up. Charles, let me ask you a question here. There are a couple of things I wanted to point out, and I'll let you finish your thought here.

But I want to go back to what you said about Iran having a space program. And they have a very successful space program. And you're right. We don't hear a lot about that. But they have launched a number of military satellites into space.

They have been sending rockets up. And I believe they actually utilize Russia's rockets, the Suyaz rockets, to launch satellites.

So that's been going on as late as December of 2025. But we don't hear a lot about that. And the reason why that is important is because of the ballistic missile technology. And we've talked about this on the show. And I believe we had General John Tykert on, who retired.

He was the base commander at Andrews and at Edwards. And he said, hitting a ballistic missile, it's. It is doable, but it's like hitting a bullet with a bullet, and it is not very successful.

So, if Iran were to launch something at the United States or Israel, there's a chance that we could not bring down that weapon. And so, we, again, we don't know the kind of intel that President Trump was getting, but whatever it was, it was bad enough for the president to risk. everything by going in and taking out the Iranian leadership. Yeah, absolutely. And And my other thought was On getting people to show up to vote, I think The job market is is really bad.

And as you as you know, I've been out for a while now going on a year and a half. And There's a lot of people within my circle That have been out for a very long time, some people greater than two years, and it's that they're seasoned you know, well educated, well experienced people That are not finding jobs. They finish up their unemployment and then they are no longer counted.

So you're just thrown off in a basket of Oh We don't know you exist anymore. And then you've got on the other end of that is the. New graduates. I I've met Several graduates. uh from North Georgia College up here in Dahlonaga.

Yeah.

have degrees in computer science, cybersecurity, that they're working at Walmart 'cause they can't find a job. And, you know, they're very uh well educated. And um So I think Trump has got to So pay attention to that. And And then he also has got to quit talking about We need H one D visas. We need to put a hiatus on that, and we also need to.

He said this the other day that we needed to give Graduates green cards. No, we don't. Those kids that are graduating are taking you know, red-blooded Americans jobs that are natural born citizens. They're taking the jobs. And so I think he needs to really focus on that.

Maybe that'll begin uh the you the younger people will begin to wake up. And for people like myself, I'm big MAGA. I'll vote for Republicans and hold my nose, but I, you know. And that's the thing, and people will do that. Look, I did that just a few days ago, and it was so disappointing.

You know, most of the seats, we didn't even have a Republican running. And it's like, well, what's the and I get the why Republicans are demoralized right now. I really do. But to your point, Charles, I think the president is going to have to focus on the domestic issues. Going back to Iran, and Charles, thank you for that call.

Going back to Iran for just a moment. And it's the communication part of all of this. That's the problem. The way the White House was communicating why we had to do what we did in Iran was not good. And if you asked me right now, why were we over there?

I can't tell you. I don't know what our end game was. I I I do not know. And again, that goes back to the communication part of it. Do I believe that the president was given intel that was.

truly showed that Iran was a clear and present danger? Absolutely. Otherwise, I don't think the President would have done what he did. But I think those issues needed to be conveyed because right now the base of the party is skeptical about Iran. I mean, that's just the reality of it.

So it's just a matter of really communications. I mean, that's for the White House, that's an easy fix. But we've got to stay focused here on what is it that put Donald Trump in the White House? What is it that put the Republicans in charge of Congress? And it was domestic policy.

And you just heard from Charles And he's telling us that things are not good out there in the job market. And we've got to take a long, hard look at that. All right, we got to take a break here. 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926.

This segment of the program brought to you by our good friends Mike Lindell and My Pello. And they want to thank all of you guys for your great support this year. And they have some wonderful deals for you. By the way, free shipping on your entire order at wholesale pricing. That means the MyPellows, normally $49.98, now marked down to $14.98.

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Be sure to use promo code STARNS. Uh Sweet mother of Thor. Dylan, do we have the breaking news alert? Breaking news now on the Todd Starn Show. If you are listening to this program in Knoxville, Tennessee, take immediate cover wherever you are.

This is terrible. Dylan, there's been an accident on Interstate 40. According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. A giant truck filled with bees. Has crashed and the truck has been destroyed.

And now there are more than one million bees that are swarming the interstate. That is my worst nightmare of all time. This is shocking. They've completely shut down interstate traffic. The driver of the truck I'm reading from the Tennessee Department of Transportation here.

They're telling people, don't get out of your cars unless you are wearing. Full, like head-to-toe B, like, I don't know, a B uniform. What do they call those things? Yeah, you know, just those things you're casually carrying around. Yeah.

You know, with the headgear, they're astronauts, a bee suit. Thank you. I thought we were going to have the zombie apocalypse first. This is worse because those things hurt. I mean, with the zombies, one bite and you're dead.

That's true. But you're also a zombie now. But the B thing, it lingers. It does.

So they say, unless you are dressed in this outfit, please stay in your vehicles. Oh my gosh. Hashtag sting, hashtag stung. That's terrible. Oh, wow.

So again, the concern here is they're going to have to unload whatever is left on the truck. And they've got to get the the bees out of the traffic.

Now, I'm not sure how you do that, but here's what the Tennessee Department of Transportation is saying. These people clearly have either no idea what they're talking about. Or it could be that this is what they really have to do. But they're trying to. The drivers of the truck and beekeepers are trying to corral the bees at this time.

How do you corral a bee? Bouquet of flowers, maybe. Hear me, hear me. How do you do that? One million bees.

All right. We'll be right back. Be safe, Knoxville. Knoxville strong. All right, welcome back to the Tonstearns Radio Show.

By the way, thousands of people in line in Phoenix, Arizona, right now to hear President Trump. He's not going to speak until 5 o'clock Eastern. And Phoenix, Arizona. That's really warm over there. Anyway, great turnout.

And there are now reports of people, mobs of people that are jumping into the streets. They're writing down the license plates of people that are attending the Trump event. I guess they're going to dox them. I do not know. I do not know.

I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line, say hello to our good friend, nationally syndicated radio host, Joe Messina, out in Santa Clarita, California. Joe, hope you're doing well today. I am t we've got some beautiful weather going, which is why people want to stay here. Although you can't drive anywhere because it costs too much. But other than that, we're doing fine.

Yeah, what are the gas you've been sending me these screenshots and I'm like, thank God I don't live where you live. No, six six fifty. is the price I saw on the way home this morning. At my local gas station. Excuse me, $649.99, nine-tenths, whatever that is.

So a lot of people, next week we're going to have a guy on from the oil industry, and he's going to explain why gas prices are not going down quickly. But in California, there's another issue. You guys are just what taxed out the wazoo when it comes to gas. Yeah, they you know what they just did a study and it showed that there's actually more taxes on gas per gallon in California than there is profit. going to the oil companies.

And on top of that, we have in California the thing called a Summer Blend, which is a different blend and it usually raises the price of gas between like thirty five and forty two cents a gallon.

So we're about to get hit again.

Well, this is cr is this true that they're saying that the average taxes and fees that you guys have to pay per gallon of gas is like a buck twenty to a buck thirty a gallon.

So even if it's like three bucks a gallon, well, that's $4.30 a gallon. Yeah, I will tell you that I've seen numbers as high as $1.61 just a couple of weeks ago. I just do not understand for the life of me why. Republicans in California do not campaign on that one issue alone. You know, I gotta tell you, we we they do to a degree, but You know, when when Gavinusa was being recalled, And he won big numbers, you know.

He beat that recall when they did the exit polls. People are so afraid of Republicans taking power that it doesn't matter what we say anymore.

So, I'm hoping this whole thing with the governor's race kind of flips that a little bit. And I will tell you that. They're still going to vote in a boatload of uh Democrats. They just They they're they're almost like Borg drones. They just keep doing the same thing.

Joe, I want to play, and we had Chad Bianco on the show yesterday, the Sheriff Riverside County running for governor. Today, 5 o'clock on the Taunton Starring Show, we're going to have Steve Hilton responding to what Bianco had to say yesterday. But I want to play this for you. And again, this is Sheriff Chad Bianco. The Emerson College poll out today.

You've got to be feeling pretty good, showing Steve Hilton leading the field at 17%. You, sir, tied with Democrat Tom Steyer in second place with a 14%. What does the path to victory look like for you? The path to victory has been relatively what we've seen for the last year, and it looks very good in our favor. We're very confident that we're going to be successful not only in June and November, but I think that this information that's come out now, the disaster around Suawell, is actually going to help both of the Republican candidates get to November.

You know, President Trump endorsing Steve Hilton earlier last week. What do you make of the President's endorsement there? Yeah, I'm not sure. It certainly is not something that we're worrying about. It seems to be working in our favor, especially in California.

We know that it will. More than likely, help in my campaign in November. And it could help Steve, particularly now with this poll raising him up, that what internally polling shows that this last one is a little bit high for him, but it could be because of the president's endorsement.

So hopefully it gets both of us to the November election. You know, immigration is certainly a top issue for voters across the nation. Overwhelming numbers of Republicans and Democrats are wanting mass deportation. New York Times poll, among others.

Now, your opponent accuses you of being pro-amnesty and open borders. How do you respond to those allegations? Yeah, my opponent knows that he has absolutely no ability to beat me in California, and he has no ability to present himself as anyone that can run anything. And when it comes up against me as a proven leader, 32 years of public service, irrefutable. Honesty, integrity, and leadership ability, he has to attack that.

So we really are not concerning ourselves with the dishonest smear campaign that he's pushing out here trying to elevate himself. We're just going to keep running for Californians. We know we're in the lead in this race, and we're going to have good success in June and November. And Sheriff, you're also taking a little fire over an image, and you've seen it taking a knee with many others during the Black Lives Matter protest. And I wanted to give you a chance to explain to the voters of California, what were you doing there?

Yeah, you have to realize context is everything. We prayed. They asked us to pray for the safety of our deputies right after I told them we were going to forcibly remove them. They knew it was going to be violent. We had already told them how it was going to end.

And when we gave that order to disperse, those organizers thanked us for the professionalism throughout the day. They knew it was going to be ugly. They asked if they could pray for the safety of our deputies. We prayed. And 20 minutes later, I physically removed them from Riverside County.

They've never come back. The 1,200 deputies there know exactly what happened. Law enforcement knows what happened. We're not going to listen to Steve Hilton. All right, Joe Bessina.

Yeah, you heard his. You know, that's look, and these folks, they get a little upset with us, but on my show, we ask the questions. Yeah.

No, no. I had both of them on my show months ago, and I asked him the same question. I said, you've got a problem with the hardcore Republican conservatives. You know, you're taking a knee. He did not mention prayer on my show at the time.

I'm just telling you the truth. One of the things was a way to de-escalate the situation. If he was truly praying, If it was truly just for prayer, then why was the Person that was interviewing him, why was he still on a knee? And that person had to get down on her knee to interview him. If the prayer is over, stand up.

You know, I mean, seriously, you and I believe the same way, and I bow my knee to one and only one.

So I I think he's I think he's got a problem. He's gonna have a problem with the with the with the real right wing conservative Christian base. He and it doesn't matter what Hilton says. Hilton I think his only negative is going to be the fact that he was a commentator on Fox. And he still has some pretty decent conservative values, but he is a little more liberal on some social issues.

So I think that that will help with California voters. I will say that if Bianco thinks that he got a real bump. From the Trump thing. I don't think so. And Swalwell leaving, think about this.

All it did was move Steyer. Up above Katie and pretty much tied with Bianco.

So I I think there's a little more I think there's a little more here than than he's willing to admit to. And as far as uh Hilton goes, He's got to fight in front of him too, because even if those Republicans for Bianco and Hilton get together and vote. They're going to have a hard time. Look at the rest of the numbers that are hanging out there. They're pretty much all in a dead heat.

It's a fair point. And again, that Emerson College poll, which is the most recent polling data that came out, had Steyer actually tied with. Bianco for second place. I do wonder if that early Trump endorsement might have actually hurt the Republicans here because, again, I think Trump should have stayed out of this and let this play out. Because to your point, it's the top two vote-getters that advanced to the general.

No, you're 100% on. I agree with you. Trump should have just stayed out of it and said, we'll let the Republicans, conservatives, people decide out there what they want to do. And these are the things that drives me crazy about him sometimes. It's like, leave us alone.

We got it covered. Hey, I'm curious about Swalwell.

Now, Nancy Pelosi is like, well, we had no idea. We had no idea this man was a parvart.

Well, she could have stopped that. I have no idea. I mean, that would have been probably the most truthful statement she could have made. But, no, you know as well as I do. These people know what's going on within their circle, within their clan.

They knew exactly what was happening with him and a few others. I'm hoping, you know what, Todd? I'm praying and hoping that God will start cracking this thing wide open and these people will have to come forward. They'll have to resign or they'll have to be removed from office. It's going to be a massive battle.

Okay. Joe, you would have loved the story we had on yesterday Newsmax, this crazy story to have San Diego, where they, I guess, the California Republicans were meeting down there at their big gathering. The log cabin Republicans wanted to hang out at this bar. I guess they were going to have a lunch or whatever at this gay bar. And so they were ordered to leave because the bar advertises itself as a safe space where all are welcome.

And yet they said the MAGA hats were triggering the patrons. And I guarantee you it was the Subaru drivers. And they made them all leave. And they were pelted with food and beverages as they were leaving the restaurant.

So we had them on the Newsmax show yesterday, and one of the guys. One of the guys is one of the leaders, and he said, Oh, he says, I called him by his formal name. He says, Oh, you can call me MAGA Daddy. And I'm like, Yeah, I'm good. I'm good.

Thank you, though. Appreciate that.

Okay. Great. No, we know that they're not telling the truth. We know that when they say all are welcome or this is a safe space for all, that's not what they mean at all. It's really interesting.

The party of tolerance, and you've heard this a million times, not very tolerant. No, you know, they're really not. And again, it's the weird thing about Trump. You know, he embraces the evangelicals and he embraces the gay community. And I said on the show last night, you know, I don't think there's ever been, they call Trump anti-gay.

And I'm like, that makes absolutely no sense. I mean, you look at some of, you've got Scott Besant, you've got Rick Rinnell.

So this guy is a friend of the gay community.

So anyway, it's just, I find that to be fascinating that they try to make those arguments. They use a different dictionary of thesaurus than we do, apparently, because you're right. I can't make it out either. Yeah, go figure. Go figure.

All right, Joe Messina.

So, you got big plans for the weekend? No, I want to relax once in a while. I might be able to pull it off this weekend. I might. All right.

Well, good stuff.

Well, I'll head over to the beach or whatever, you know, and Do it. Yeah, maybe. We'll see. The beach, you've been to our beaches in California? Yeah.

Can I just say, I'm not a big fan of California beaches. It's not like the Gulf of America, where, you know, the ship. Have you been to the Gulf of America, Joe Messina? I have not, not for eons. All right, I'm going to tell you what you need to do.

You need to get the wife, get Mrs. Joe, and you guys need to go down to Orange Beach. I think that's a good place. It's in Alabama. You can fly down, and we got all sorts of great airports.

And I'm just telling you, the beaches, the water is just blue. As blue can be, and the beaches are like Dixie sugar crystals. Such Dixie. All right, I'll have to look that one up. It's white as pure.

You would know what it is. Beautiful. Dixie shit. But the thing is, in California, the water is always super cold, and you've got all the seaweed and the gum. Oh, yeah.

I don't. Yeah, and they can't clean the beaches because you're not allowed to move certain people that live on the beach. Oh, well, that's a problem. You're not going to have that problem down in the Gulf of America.

Okay. You know what, Joe? I can promise you, some of our listeners will call in and they will give you the best. Joe Messina Gulf of America vacation package. What you need to do, where you need to go.

I would love that. I really would. I got to get away with her one of these days, as soon as I straighten out California. We call it the Redneck Riviera. It's a beautiful place.

Yeah.

You're not trapping me in this. No. Bad enough, I'm a Yankee and I get all kinds of nice mail. Just keep the Jaguar at speed limit going through Alabama. You'll be fine.

You don't want to be stopped and dragged into court like Joe Pesci. Oh, yeah. Oh, that was a great movie. It was a great movie. It was a great movie.

My cousin Vinny. All right, Joe Messina.

Good hearing from you, my friend. You too. God bless, Tom. All right, JoeMessina.com, ladies and gentlemen. JoeMessina.com, if you want to catch his show, his podcast, just a great guy, is one of the loveliest ladies, his wife, and just a sweet thing.

And Joe drives a Jaguar like nobody's business. I always love it. Whenever I'm heading to California, I'm like, Messina, I need a ride. And there he goes. I don't know how he does it either, Dylan, but man, that guy can whip through traffic.

It sounds like a cool ride, actually. Is it a convertible? No. Okay. I don't think that's fine.

That's fine. I don't think it is a convertible. That's fine. Yeah.

It's still cool. He's got good hair, though. You don't want to get the hair much. He's got great hair. All right.

901-260-5926. And if you do have a favorite spot on the Redneck Riviera, the Gulf of America, let us know. 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show. All right, President Obama now jumping into the situation in Virginia next week, that big election on redistricting.

And we brought in Josh Jones to talk about that on the Newsmax show and go through the very, very latest. Let's check in with Josh. Got to tell you, our founding fathers must be turning over in their graves right now to see what's happening in Virginia. It's so sad, Todd. I mean, and this just speaks to what the Democrats' priorities, particularly in Virginia, are.

They're not focused on cost of living. They're not focused on affordability. It's a shameless power grab for redistricting or trying to redistrict Virginia to draw out four Republican seats and essentially eradicating Republican representation from the state, even though we're a swing state that's almost split down the middle. To now, this, where we're awarding our electoral college votes to California and New York.

So it's sad to see that Virginia has gone down this path. And of course, the other big story facing Virginia is possibly going to impact who controls the House of Representatives in the fall. That's all about redistricting, early voting off to a pretty slow start. There is a group called State Navigate Polls, and they indicate Virginians are actually divided on Governor Spanberger and the redistricting referendum. Yes, leading by five points, 50.7%.

No accounts for 45.4%. Josh, I'm wondering. If this is even fair to poll because the question is so darn confusing. You're right, Todd. The question, as it appears on the ballot, is the most egregious, most misleading thing I've seen in politics in a very long time.

If you were an average voter walking into the polling booth and you weren't necessarily following the behind the scenes of this, you would think this is a good thing about establishing some kind of fair districts in Virginia.

Well, news flash, we did that in 2020 when we passed the constitutional amendment. Mind you, that was supported by then Congresswoman Spanberger, establishing a nonpartisan commission to draw fair maps in Virginia. We have some of the fairest in the country as of right now. And Governor Spanberger, when she was a candidate, echoed those positions of not wanting to redraw the lines. Guess what happens when she becomes governor, just like every other Democrat?

They run to the left and just cater to the leftist base that the Democratic parties became. And it's so sad. And that's why her polling numbers are the lowest they've ever been of any Virginia governor at this point in their term. I know, Josh, that you are a gun-totin patriot, and the governor is signing his. Series of gun control bills on Tuesday, sparking a lot of outrage from gun owners of America.

This is what they wrote on X: These bills are a slap in the face to law-abiding Virginia gun owners. They also urge Virginians to take action and contact their state legislature. What are you hearing from conservatives there in your home state? Look, I'm from a very rural part of the state at that. And everybody I know, law-abiding Second Amendment supporting citizens.

So this is, we saw this happen over under Governor Northam a couple years ago where they went after the Second Amendment. And Virginians, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents rose up to stop them.

So we need to see the same thing here. We need people to reach out. out to their representatives in Virginia and tell them don't support this legislation. Granted, it's already gone through the General Assembly. The governor is likely to amend it and that's their chance to stop it the second go around.

All right, there you have it. And again, next week, that big election, we're going to be all over that. That very well could determine who is in control of the House of Representatives based on what happens with redistricting in Virginia. Again, Democrats want to pretty much erase all of the Republican seats except for one. All right, hang tight, everybody.

Hour three of the big show coming up. We take you live to the NRA. We'll be right back. Live. From the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

It's America's conservative blowtorch. I know.

Love is American. Yeah.

Time. Stars.

Well, hello, everybody. Happy Friday to you, America. This is the Todd Stearns Radio Show. And of course, today is Open Line Friday. That's the one day you get to call in and talk about whatever is on your mind.

I want you to write down our telephone number. It's 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Well, thousands of people are in Houston for the annual National Rifle Association convention and gathering. Huge, huge numbers expected there in Houston.

And right in the middle of it all is our good friend. He is the owner of Patriot Talk 920, our terrific affiliate in Houston, Matt Velasquez. Matt, first of all, you have to feel pretty good that you didn't have to travel very far to get to the convention. You know, it's nice I didn't have to jump on an airplane to actually get to a gun convention this time. I just had to drive the one-hour in Houston traffic to get here.

But I'll take that any day.

Well, there you go. Matt, I want you to set the scene for us. What's it been like? How are the crowds? And what's the mood of the people?

Well, huge is an understatement.

So The big convention center we have here in Houston is the George R. Brown Convention Center. A traditional show that goes on here, it breaks down into several different halls. This entire convention center is nothing but gun owners and gun-related items.

So it's a huge event. just started today. It's going to run Saturday and Sunday as well. And we're right here in the middle of it being Houston's radio station for gun owners. You know, I want to get to that in just a minute because I'm fascinated with the branding of the station.

You know, again, these conventions, you know, sometimes, you know, especially when it comes to political season, you know, you see a lot of people turn out, but this is the 155th year they've been holding a National Rifle Association convention. What is the main focus? And when people go, what do they do?

So it's one thing where it's all your two-way levers that are kind of ganged together. It's kind of like just a retreat for gun owners is the way I kind of look at it. And then you have the leaders in different fire manufacturers here showcasing sometimes its products haven't changed in decades, sometimes they're coming out with something new. And so it's basically just saying in the boots on the ground with your your um your base. And so You have different vendors from your large companies all the way down to your small mom and pop stores.

They're all coming together. And so it's nice that. you can see a big firearm manufacturer that you would normally see. But then there's a guy that's manufacturing his own T shirts here. There's someone that's getting into three D printing firearms.

So it's quite a diverse group this year, and we really enjoy being a part of it and getting good, talk to everyone, get them on the air, expose everybody to our crowd. I I love this.

Now are you guys based so if any of the Patriot talk listeners or any of our national audience, if they're at the NRA, can they come by and say say hello? They can come by and say hello. I'm actually doing this call right from our booth.

So we're right here in the Voices of the Second Amendment section of the NRA.

So you'll see a big banner at several of the big podcasters, radio shows that you know from across the country are here. We're the only local radio station here because, again, we are the ones that actually support the Second Amendment. But we're right across from our good mutual friend Tom Grisham.

So he's here. He's going to be on this afternoon with us as well. And Yeah, we're here to shake hands and say hi to our listeners and Get a few new followers as well. All right. So, are you Tom there?

Do you have eyes on Tom Gresham? I don't know if Tom is still there. It looks like he stepped away for a second, but Tom was hanging out with us for a while this morning because, of course, we have to talk shop and talk radio.

Well, you know, Tom's a very dear friend, and we actually carry his show here, a gun talk, on KWAM, the station I own in Memphis. You got to tell Tom, I said hello. He's a great American patriot. I had no idea that he was at the convention. Yeah, him and his son Ryan, Gun Talk is right across from us.

And so this afternoon, we're actually going to do a special broadcast with Michael Wilson from 4 to 6 p.m. local. And Tom and his son Ryan are going to be on with us to kick off the broadcast.

Well, I just think that's terrific. I want to go back to something you said, though, about the radio station. And, Matt, we're just so honored to be a part of the lineup there. You guys are broadcasting us live 11 to 3 Eastern on Patriot Talk. But I want you to tell our listeners a little bit about the radio station.

It's a family-owned radio station, and tell us a little bit about the history. Yeah, so it's very interesting because my father started this radio station back in 1983 as a Spanish radio station. And so He purchased the radio station then. We were the very first Tehano radio station in Houston. And for 40 years we operated as a Spanish-based radio station in kind of different formats, getting into talk.

But in 2022, my father passed away, and so I took over ownership of the company. And I decided, you know what, I was kind of tired of my Christian faith and my patriotism under attack.

So I said, you know what, let's make a change here. And in twenty twenty four, we flipped back to an English format, started Patriot Talk. Is the most patriotic radio station, constitutional radio station that you're going to find. And so We launched then and we quickly found that, hey, you know what? being family owned, being family operated, being independent in the Houston area, there's a lot of things that I could do that the big corporate stations couldn't do.

And one of those things Was be very vocal in our support for the Second Amendment. And so we're huge gun supporters here. We support organizations like Gun Owners of America, and we are in the fight to save our Second Amendment. And it has been the greatest thing that we could do to just be a part of this community. They're so welcoming.

That's why we love to be here live and in person. I love that. And every weekend, you guys are out there, you're at the gun shows, you're in the community, and you're shaking hands with folks who have become listeners over the past couple of years. Yes, I got to tell you, something actually just happened about ten minutes ago.

So in 2025, we were at 56 gun shows just in the Houston area.

So more than one a week because we have multiple going on the same weekend. And one of my favorite listeners that comes by our booth every time. He's an elderly veteran that's in his his motor scooter. every gun show I see him. He comes up, shakes my hand.

I always give him a free T shirt or something I have.

Well, I just ran into him here around the corner. And of course, it's so good to see people like that and to be able to just shake someone's hand and tell them, thank you for being a part of our radio station, for helping our growth and for letting us be a part of their daily life, coming into their radio and being able to support their fight for their their gun ownership rights. Matt Velasquez is with us. He's the owner of Patriot Talk 920 in Houston, our affiliate there in Texas. And, Matt, when you look at the radio station and the importance of having a locally owned radio station, no matter how big or how small the town may be, you guys are able to do things that the corporate giants just are not able to or simply will not even touch.

Yes, I was actually talking to Michael Wilson earlier about how We're able to read and react to what's going on in our community because we are boots in the ground. I grew up in Houston, I'm a born and raised native Houstonian. I know my city, I know how it's changed over the last few decades and We can react to that.

So it's not just. Creating a format because we think, hey, it could be profitable here, profitable there. It's no, this is my hometown, and I want to save my hometown from the woke movement that's been going on. The anti-patriotism that's happening in our mainstream media.

So the fact that I know our city, we know our city, and I'm in the fight to save this city and to save the state of Texas because we want to save Texas so we can save the country. You know, we were talking earlier about the Senate race there where the Democrat Tallarico, who's a woke radical leftist who says the Bible supports abortion, that guy's what raked in $27 million. Corny and Paxton going at it. How do you guys feel about the race? What are you hearing there?

I feel confident in our race right now now. Patriot Talk 920 AM does not endorse candidates up until the general election, but We do highly support the gun owners candidate. And there's one candidate that is not the Rhino candidate right now. We know our base and we know who they're supporting. Um Tallarico is obviously selling snake oil right now.

He's going to sell to his base. But I think Once we get past this primary runoff, I think we're going to be in for a good fight to really put Tallarico back into play. All right. Well, Matt Velasquez, have fun. A lot of good food there as well.

They feed you guys. At the audience. Our mutual friend Lee actually took us out to dinner the other day. And so. uh we're eating very well over here.

So uh My uh my uh gut uh is not looking too slim these days.

Well, by the way, I have to tell you though, man, we had such a great time. Uh we were out there for an event uh with the Village Republican women, and uh you took me over to this great uh Tex-Mex place, and uh the Vajitas off the charts delicious. Oh, yeah. No, that was great. And I got about a billion more restaurants here to take you to every time you come in here.

I love it. All right. We'll make that happen. All right. Man Pelasquez, keep Michael Wilson in line if you can.

I'm going to try to. All right. Well, all right. Good hearing from you, my friend. All right, same here, Todd.

God bless. All right, Matt Velasquez from Patriot Talk 920. And I'm not kidding, you folks. They are the gun owners station in Houston, and they're at all of the gun shows. And, well, you know, we hear from a lot of you folks, a lot of you Patriot Talk listeners out there.

And Matt and his team are just the real deal. And I know you guys can attest to that. All right, we've got to take a quick break here: 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. This is the Todd Stern Show.

All right, welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. This is the Todd Sterns radio show. So there has been a lot of chatter about President Trump and Pope Leo. By the way, Paula White, who is the president's spiritual advisor. uh says that uh President Trump is a very religious man.

And uh she was on Real America's Voice earlier today. and says that President Trump can even quote some sermons from memory.

So, anyway, we had some pastors on to talk about all of this and to talk about whether or not this is a big issue for voters. I don't think it is. I think conservative Catholics, or rather, Catholics are more conservative than their Vatican leaders. We had Father Frank Pavone and Pastor Keith Norman from Memphis, Tennessee, on the show to talk about that. I'm going to start with you, Pastor.

Did the Pope have it coming? Good to see you. No, the Pope didn't have it coming. The Pope will always and should always weigh in on the moral issues that are going on in the world. And so the Pope did what his responsibilities call him to do, what Christ calls him to do, and what the witness, the public witness of faith calls us all to do, to speak truth to power and to keep our congregants and those who look to us for leadership informed about what's going on.

This is a war that's taking the lives of innocent people. It is also having an impact on many aspects of American life. And so therefore, the Pope was right on point. We are never going to be out of politics. We're always going to shed light on the moral issues of the world.

War, life, death, crime. You name it, and especially when genocide is being mentioned. All right. Now, Father Frank, Dr. Norman and I, we're both the Baptists here on this panel, and the Pope's your guy.

He's one of your people. What do you say about this, Pope?

Well, you know, the Pope and the President agree on something.

Well, they agree on a number of things very clearly. Number one, Pastor, what you just said, which I agree with wholeheartedly too, the clergy have to be free to speak. And President Trump has been a key proponent of that. Just yesterday, I was at his Religious Liberty Commission hearing once again, and I mean, he's done so much for the freedom of the church to speak out on issues. He welcomes the voice of the clergy.

But I think where this has broken down is the following. You know, the Pope said clearly, you know, I don't want to be a politician. I don't want to set foreign policy. When the Pope speaks, and the bishops and any religious leaders, you know, we should welcome their opinions about specific public policies. But they have to make a distinction.

When they're articulating what they believe are the moral principles of the gospel, let them articulate those clearly. But then when you get into the weeds and you say, well, how should those principles be applied? That's where people who are equally committed to the principles might differ in practice.

So you can say, for example, well, nations should be generous in welcoming immigrants. President Trump agrees with that. But there's no Catholic policy on how many deportations you should do or how ICE should function. There's no Catholic policy. Teaching on that.

The Catholic teaching is: let's be generous, let's set norms that the nation believes is helpful to it. But then you have to leave it to the politicians to work out those practical details. You have an opinion? Fine, express it. But make it clear that believers are free also to disagree with it.

All right, I've got to move on here. Dr. Norman, President Trump says he was actually surprised by the backlash he got from Christian conservatives over this now deleted Truth Social post saying yesterday, quote, I thought it was me as a doctor. They thought he was portraying Jesus. The vice president said the president took down the post because, quote, people were not understanding his humor.

What do you make of that post?

Well, first of all, it was sacrilege in my opinion. What I saw in that particular post, first of all, he did not originally think that he was being depicted as a doctor. He did not originally say that it was humor. He said, hey, I thought they were depicting me as a doctor.

So he thought that was acceptable.

Well, he's not a doctor.

So that's not good either. He owns this space. And I want to be clear that there's no blame towards his base for this kind of action. Oftentimes, people will. say, well, you know, people have empowered him to do this kind of thing.

It was his base that launched out and lashed out to say, we don't like this. And I really commend them for doing it. And I commend those who have even supported him on past initiatives, whether I agree with them or not. I commend them for having a voice when it comes to their faith. We got into an area where political loyalty was crossing into theological space.

And so the president was, I believe, wrong in his action to do this. And I believe he has to own the backlash. And just because he took it down doesn't mean that people won't have these opinions continually. All right, Father Frank, what's your take on that post? Did the President cross a line?

The president is um The closest to a miracle worker that we've seen in public life. What I mean is, you look at the actual problems he has solved and courageous actions he's taken that other presidents have only wished to or hoped that they could do.

So The point, I think, that, you know, and I understand completely the reaction of the base to this, as was just said. But I think we have to be careful, and I think we're subject to this in a social media world, where we're getting more worked up about a particular post that the president didn't mean any disrespect to religion, than we are in paying attention to the unbelievable things that are happening, wars that are being ended all over the world, the lowest murder rate in America since 1900, the numbers of people being lifted out of poverty, the religious freedom that is flourishing thanks to his actions, the things that are being accomplished. You know, many people and believers do look at this and say, my goodness, this is like an intervention of God in so many of these arenas. Not to be, you know, President Trump has said publicly many, many times, America only has one safe. It's Jesus Christ.

He says, It's not me. This is not about personality cult. It should never be. But he acknowledges that. But I think we also have to focus on the works and the results and the amazing things that have been accomplished.

All right, gentlemen, we have to leave us here.

Okay. You better notice and you're very proud of your words. Thank you. Gentlemen, we're going to have to leave it there, fellas. I think we can all agree.

Maybe we need an 11th commandment: thou shalt not meme. All right, welcome back, everybody, to the Todd Sterns Radio Show. Great to have you with us. Don't forget 5 o'clock tonight, the Todd Stern Show on Newsmax, and we'll be going live to President Trump's big event in Phoenix at the Dream Center a little bit later on this afternoon. Also, I want to remind you that now is a great opportunity to pre-order a copy of my brand new book.

It's coming out in May. It's called The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America. And you can get a copy at Barnes Noble, Books a Million, Amazon, wherever you buy your books. You can pre-order a copy. We're encouraging everybody to do that.

Of course, Speaker Mike Johnson, the president himself, and many other lawmakers up on Capitol Hill have already endorsed the project. And, well, we'd just love for you to get a copy of it. I am so excited to introduce you to our. Our next guest. She was just on the Newsmax show this week.

Her name is Elaine Beck. She is the owner and chief executive officer of Proverbs Media Group, and she is a great American patriot. Elaine, good to have you on the radio today. Hope you're doing well. Oh, I'm doing wonderful today, Todd.

Thank you for having me again. It's really a joy getting to know you and actually talk to you. It's one of the privileges of someone who gets to speak on the radio gets to meet the people that they have heard for years. You know, Elaine, one of the things I love about radio, and I have fun doing TV, but my passion is really radio. And the reason why is it's so conversational.

We get to kick back. We can talk long form about some of the big issues of the day and just hang out. And we love having those kinds of conversations on the radio. Yeah, it really makes it nice. I, you know, always think of it.

as just having a conversation with your best friend. Which makes it really nice. You can say whatever you want to your best friend, right? That's pretty much it, right? Yeah, I think you're right.

As long as we don't use any of the FCC forbidden words, Elaine, I think we're pretty good. I don't think we have to worry about that in this company, present company. This is true. I will say, we almost had to use our delay button on the President of the United States once. He got a little carried away.

Yeah, well, you know, he's been known for that, but I think it's one of the things that. I really admire about him is he's so off the cuff. He's so human. He's so down to earth and just. Open about everything, and I don't think enough people appreciate that about him.

Now, Elaine, we were telling people earlier in the show that the President's going to be speaking a little bit later on in the Phoenix area, and thousands of folks have been lined up for hours waiting to get inside, which is quite something with the heat in Arizona. But what does it tell you about the support this President still has?

Well, I'll tell you what, this is an amazing day to start with. But going personally to that event right now, it's an amazing thing to see how. People love him so much, they'll do anything to get there. I literally. Have been so blessed because I've been to see him many times.

I know him personally and I've taken people with me because nobody loves anything much more than getting to talk to the man that they look up to, that they rely on. that they respect. And there's so much respect there for him. And that's why people, you can't get close enough to somebody that you care about and that you know is fighting for you. And that's what he does.

Elaine, it really is amazing just to be able to spend time with him one-on-one, and you just get to see the president for who he really is. And, you know, I've been down to Mar-a-Lago. I know you've been there. And just the idea that here's the guy, one of the wealthiest men, one of the most powerful men in the world, and yet on the menu at Mar-a-Lago, one of the wealthiest, toniest clubs out there, he's got his mother's meatloaf on the menu.

So he's still one of these down-to-earth kind of guys who, whether he's palling around with the rich and famous or a bunch of construction workers. This is true. You know, I've always said the greatest compliment anybody can give you is to say that you're genuine. And that's how I see President Trump. He's so genuine.

He's like, You know, he's as down home as apple pie, and yet at the same time, he's not afraid to speak up. And say what's on his mind and to protect. He's a real man. You know, my father, I always said, was a real man. A real man is not these phony ones that we have nowadays that.

You know, they are out there trying to get attention for themselves, calling themselves tough guys and standing up to everybody and cursing and yelling. A real man condones respect by their actions. They condone respect by their being able to be themselves and stand up. And people look up to them because of how they react to things and what they're. their lifestyle is.

And that's how I see President Trump. I really do. You know, Elena, I don't know if you heard what he said yesterday. He was in Vegas and he said, you know, he goes, I love the seniors and the seniors love me, but I'm not a senior. He says, I'm not a senior, but I I love him.

He has such a great wit about him, and a lot of that just gets lost on people. And I find that really sad because he's a funny guy, too.

Well, you know, I think that's amusing because he and I think very much alike on that. I live in Tucson, Arizona, where there's a lot of seniors. And I'm always joking around about how the old people are in my way. And I'm not, I'm not. his age, but I'm not that far behind him.

And I think it's all about our perspective again and our genuineness and who we really are. He's got such a good, soft heart in reality. And yet God gave him abilities to be able to see reality so he can do what he's doing. Elaine Beck is joining us on our Patriot mobile newsmaker line today. Her website, by the way, Elainebeck.com.

That's Elainebeck.com. And I know so many of our folks have seen you at CPAC and many of the big conservative gatherings, Elaine. But I'd love for you to share with our crew, our audience, about Proverbs Media Group and the great ministry that you have.

Well, Proverbs Media Group started out by God giving me a vision almost eight years ago now. And he asked me to bring the Christians together in the nation. Not a small task, but he also reassured me that he'd give us the right people at the right place at the right time. And that's where we are right now. We have a voice that we're trying to put out there to share.

not only what's happening in the country, because that is important, and that politics and religion are and do have to be hand in hand in reality. although it was denied for so many years.

So we have an opportunity to bring the people out. That are in high places, including clear up into the president of the United States. And give them a voice to speak out about the good things that God does every day, not just the bad things that we must face daily. That's basically who we are. I was at Fox News for about 15 years and then moved back to my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, which is where we base all of our national operations.

I just had to be closer to sweet tea and good barbecue, Elaine. It is what it is. But, you know, one of the things that we really have a passion about here is fixing what is broken in the media, especially, because that is such, you know, our founding fathers understood the importance of having that fourth estate, you know, having a media that really was fair and balanced. And we're a long way from what I think our founding fathers envisioned. But I think that's so vitally important because, again, without it, I think it just adds to the chaos in the culture.

What say you? Oh, I totally agree. I love that. You know, We live in a world and a time such as this where we can reach every human being on earth in one form or another. And because of that, it's a privilege.

And we should treat it as such. It's a privilege to be able to speak the truth. And it's a privilege to be able to honor God in what we do. And it's a privilege to work with people like yourself and others that I work with all the time in sharing what we should do and what's right and wrong in this country and in our world.

So I agree with you. I think it's a great thing, and I think it's a must.

So, Elaine, are you going to the event today? Are you going to be able to see? I don't know how far Tucson is from Phoenix, but are you going to be able to get over there?

Well, it's about a two-hour drive, and I wasn't planning on it. Because I had this really great guy. I think his name's Todd Stearns to do a show with today. Wait, so you're blaming me for not seeing the president in Hawaii. Great.

No, the thing is, I see him often, and those big gatherings and things like that. Um You know, I'm privileged, and I admit it, that I don't have to do those to go see them. And I want to give others the opportunity. To get to know him and be close to him like I have. And I think that's great.

One of the things, you know, gosh, about six or seven months ago, he was on the show, and I told him, you know, he had already dispatched the National Guard to Washington. And I said, well, Mr. President, if you don't mind, send some of those National Guard troops to Memphis because, you know, we've really been hit hard by crime. And he said he promised he would look into it. And a couple of weeks later, I get a call from the White House and they're like, hey, the president wants you up here because we're going to be sending in the National Guard.

And he's just one of those guys, you know, he really is a man of his word and he does what he says he's going to do. And I know there are a lot of people here in the Memphis area and the Mid-South that are just so thankful that this president, you know, took care of things and cleaned up the streets of Memphis. Yeah, and I'm looking forward to seeing that continue on. I know.

that President Trump has been doing great things. I know that today that the You know, the the uh What is it? Hormuth opened up. I know that the oil prices and the Everything's just blowing up today. It's wonderful news.

I know that he's dealing with a lot of things, but I know too that if we look into the future, we're gonna see a safer, happier, more free country again. And that delights me in what he's doing. And so I really appreciate. Everything so much. It is, it's going to be an amazing thing, and it has been a great day.

Of course, the president and Iran both announcing the Strait of Hormuz is now open. And it's going to be a good day. I think we're going to see the war come to a quick conclusion and we can get back to what's happening here in this country. Before I let you go, Elaine, we were talking about Tucson yesterday on the show. We have a weird show.

One minute we're talking to the president, and the next we're talking about the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile coming to town.

So it's a little odd. But you guys have something in Tucson called a Sonora dog, which apparently is one of the best hot dogs. I guess you guys wrap it in bacon or something. Is that true? Oh, it's got everything on it but the kitchen sink, as they say.

Yeah, we, we, I myself personally love hot dogs, okay? And everybody around here does. And the Sonoran dog is something that it's actually a feat. be able to eat it. because there's so much on it and and uh Actually, I think some might say that it's hard to taste the hot dog for the other things, but It's well worth the try.

I welcome everybody to come to Tucson and have one. All right, Elaine, I'm coming to Tucson, and you'll have to take me to the best hot dog joint there in Tucson, Arizona. You got it. Anytime you're ready, just let me know. All right.

Well, by the way, we've got to take a break here, Elaine, but God bless you. And we're going to get you back on to talk about big issues of the day. And, folks, you can check out Elaine at her website, Elainebeck.com. Elaine, have a great blessed weekend. You too.

God bless you, my friend. All right. We've got to take a quick break, folks. We'll be right back. Yeah.

All right. Always fun. You know, she was such a very lovely lady, and I thought, you know, we got to get Elaine on the radio show. We love having those conversations. I love the fact that Elaine hanging out with Donald Trump all the time, but she's a big fan of the snoring dog.

So there you go. She's good people. Let's go to the phone lines. John in Georgia, W-D-U-N, our great affiliate there. Hi, John.

What's on your mind? Todd, you're a great American.

Well, thank you, John. Appreciate that.

Um First I'd like to say I don't. agree with government regulations? But They don't have to re uh Rein in the oil companies and the pharmaceutical companies.

Something's got to be done about those. Uh They're just killing America. And I heard that you, I heard you mention earlier in your program that you were going to be interviewing.

someone from an oil company And I wanted to tell you a quick story. My father owned the Gat of full service gas station and wholesale oil company. Back in the seventies during the gas shortage, when there were gas lines and everything. And I was working there. on and off.

And I was there one day. I happened to be there one day with some It was a Phoenix station and there was some company representatives came in to talk to my dad about the company and the future of the company and stuff like that. Anyway, I'm sitting there listening to him. And my dad said something about the gas shortage. And that company representative told him there wasn't any gas shortage.

He said our gas tanks are overflowing. He said there's not a gas shortage.

So Whatever the oil companies tell you when you interview them, it's probably not going to be true.

Well, it's not the oil company, John. This is the head honcho at the Oil and Gas Workers Association. And they're fighting to save American oil and gas jobs. Right, right.

So I think we're going to get a different perspective from, but I hear what you're saying. John, that must have been, you know, I miss those. I remember as a kid, we went to one of those full-service, you know, family-owned gas stations. I sure do miss those. I tell you, it was great.

We we did everything. We did We washed cars, we did oil changes, and Tires and uh Um Whenever you came in for gas, we washed your windshield, checked your oil, checked your tires. You know, the whole works. It was really great. And I don't know if your family filling station had like one of the old school Coca-Cola machines where you had the glass bottles.

Or you could pull out a fan tub, an orange, orange fan tub. Mm. The last, the oldest one I remember, I was about six years old. It was the kind you had to lift the top. And you had to Run the it was the small coke balls, you had to run them.

Around these rails. And then you put in a nickel. And then you pulled it out. Oh, I love that. They didn't have candy machines.

They had jars up on the counter They had jars with like peanuts and different things. There wasn't any such thing as a candy machine. Or, if you're old school South, a big old genre of pickled pig something and others. I was always afraid to ask. We never had those.

Well, there's this great little place John, there's a great little place. And Dylan, you may know exactly where this is, a fill-in station out near Briarcrest High School. You know, Briarcrest School. It's kind of out in the country. And it's just a little hole-in-the-wall place, but they sell the best barbecued ham.

I do know about this. You know exactly where I'm talking about. I do. I pass it by very frequently. Yeah, just the best barbecued ham in America.

I will fight people on that.

So anyway, John, thank you for taking us down memory lane. There was another time, you know, you know, it's a really good filling station out in the country when you want baloney, and they're like, how thick do you want it?

So they got it. I mean, it's not like you. You know, Oscar Meyer, this is like the real deal. I remember one time we were out near Franklin, Tennessee. Had a fresh bologna sandwich on white bread with a little bit of Duke's mayonnaise and a fresh tomato.

Man, that's a sermon that'll preach and eat. All right, that's going to do it for us here, folks. President Trump, five o'clock. Live from Phoenix. We'll be covering that.

ToddSterns.com. Don't forget, go pre-order a copy of my book, The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America. Get out there. Have a great Friday, everybody, and be sure to go to church this weekend.