Numbers You Can Trust

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That's right. I love this American. Hello, fellow Patriots. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd again today. He's making his way back from that great book signing event in Houston last evening.

I've got details to share with you a little later this hour about it. But I am so pleased to be with you once again today from the Liberty University studio nine zero one two six zero five nine two six. That's how you can join our coast to coast conversation. Plenty of time for your calls a little later in the hour, so you may as well call in and get in line right now. But we want to begin this program by going immediately to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line.

The state of Iowa currently has two Republican senators. One of those seats is an open seat in twenty twenty six due to retirement, and it is a key race to watch. One of the top six or eight to watch across the country. Joining us now on that Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in the great state of Iowa, current U.S.

Congresswoman Ashley Hinson. Congresswoman, thanks for taking the time. Of course, Jeff. Great to be with you. I'm out on my fighting for Iowa tour.

Out on the tour bus, so we're making our way around the state. As you talk to Iowans, what do you hear them express concern about most frequently?

Well, I think it's exactly what we've been talking about. It's about lowering the cost of gas and groceries, making sure we're lowering the cost of healthcare, and pushing back against corruption in Washington D.C. And that's exactly what my fighting for Iowa tour is all about, Jeff. And I'm hearing about how many Iowans feel like they have been priced out of the American dream, and I really think it's because for too long there's been too many politicians in D.C. that have really forgotten about the people, like the people of Iowa, who are working hard for for a living every single day, and so that's what I'm fighting to change.

And as I was next U.S. senator, I think it's about immediate relief and long term certainty, and and that's what I'm going to be focused on. Iowa is a unique state. We have many more Republicans registered than Democrats, but there are. Many, many more independents than even Democrats.

Democrats are in third place, and so this this is a tricky kind of a race to run because you not only need Republicans, you not only need the Trump base, you also need an awful lot of independents. How are you positioning your message so that those folks know that you are the better choice as opposed to either your Democrat opponent or your Libertarian opponent? Right.

Well, I think my focus has always been on delivering for Iowans because they expect results. They don't like empty rhetoric. They like it when you get things done for them. And I served under President Biden and Nancy Pelosi was the speaker. And I like to tell people if I can get.

Policies passed into law under those two. Where we don't agree on much, then I can work with anyone. And I think you look at the politicians in D.C. that are focused more on fighting with each other and scoring political points for headlines. That's not me.

I am focused on making life affordable for Iowans. I don't give a rip who gets credit for it. If it's a good policy for Iowa, I will work with anyone, any party, to get it done. Ashley Hinson is our guest, currently Congresswoman from Northeast Iowa, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

AshleyHinson dot com is the website. She joins us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line on the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today. Your Democrat opponent is running a much different message now in the general election than he did in the primary election, and he's taken some shots at you and your family. You and I have talked about this on my television program, but share with the national audience if you would the kind of attacks that these far-left Democrats are willing to make just to get power.

Yeah, and I think it just shows exactly what you said, Jeff. They're willing to say or do anything to get elected. And I say this all the time out on the trail. My opponent is a big liberal. He votes like an East Coast liberal, but he's an even bigger liar.

And he's been out there lying about my family, my husband's success. We actually made the decision in 2021 to sell all of our publicly traded stocks. I don't trade stocks. I didn't get rich in Congress. My husband built and sold a business in 2021, and you know he's out there saying my husband's my husband's a shadow lobbyist.

That is nonsense. Meant to distract from Josh Turek's liberal record, and I would be running from my record too if I had his voting record. First of all, he barely showed up to the Capitol this year. Jeff, forty-two percent of the time he was showing up to work, and I think Iowans and Americans know the value of hard work. And if you're not showing up, but two out of every five days, you're getting fired.

You're not getting a promotion. But his his record is liberal, whether it's on illegal immigration and allowing them to get taxpayer funded. Benefits or allowing taxpayers to have to pay for gender transition surgeries, or letting kids change their gender pronouns at school and not tell the parents about it—that is his liberal record that he doesn't want to talk about. And it proves to me that he would be a reliable vote. For Chuck Schumer when he would get to Washington D.C.

as a U.S. senator, so we cannot let that happen in Iowa. And the balance of power rides on the turnout of this election in Iowa. AshleyHinson.com is the website. There's a nice subtle contribute button.

You folks across the country, if you like what you hear and you have the means to do so and would like to support her cause, that's one way to do it.

Something that we mentioned on this program yesterday, Congresswoman, and as you note, your Democrat opponent won the primary. Thanks to Chuck Schumer, he was the favorite candidate, and they cleared much of the rest of the field so that he could get there.

Now you've got certain political action committees that are funding third-party candidates, including in your race the Libertarian. But the money's coming from the Democrat side of the ledger, so in essence, the Democrats are putting money on two of the horses in the race. Oh, absolutely! They are totally trying to play that game. They're doing it in Iowa.

They're doing it in Nebraska. They're doing it all over the country where they are trying to meddle and elevate these candidates who otherwise would not be resonating with voters. And what I'm telling everyone is, I am traveling the entire state, delivering my common sense conservative message. I'm going to push back on the lies coming from my opponent, Josh Chirik, and I think Iowans need to know that these outside forces are trying to meddle in our elections. Chuck Schumer spent ten million dollars to get Josh Turk through the primary, and you know he'll spend whatever it takes to get him through the general election, so he can have that reliable vote.

But it's funny to me because he was trashing the president every which way during the primary, and now it's a different tune. It's not like he had some crazy policy epiphany and he's decided he wants to work with President Trump. He just has realized no, his ideas don't sell in Iowa. And that is really what voters need to hear. If you want common sense conservatism, someone who's going to stand up for taxpayers, for rural America, and for safety and security in our country, then I'm your girl.

If you want those left leaning values that are better served in New York or California, Josh Turk's your candidate. Ashley Hinson, Republican candidate U.S. Senate in Iowa, current Congresswoman, for a few more minutes with us here on the Todd Starn Show on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. As I look at this race in particular, again, record speaks volumes, and the things that people say they will do, there needs to be a level of consistency. And as as you've suggested, the TV ads for Your Democrat opponent during the primary looked nothing like the ads that he's running now.

I guess the lesson for everyone is: don't be hoodwinked by a 60-second slick TV spot. Do some research. Yeah, well, it's a tale of two Tureks, and I think that was on display. We had our debates the last couple of weeks, and I was sure to draw that contrast out because I think Iowans need to know again who their who their candidates really are. I will fund law enforcement and border security.

Josh Turek would defund it. He said that at our debate a couple of weeks ago.

So think about that. He is honest about siding with Chuck Schumer and the Washington liberals who shut down our government and shut down our border. Over the men and women who are actually protecting our border, so he will put their liberal agenda ahead of the safety of Iowa families. And I would say, tell that to an Iowa mom named Michelle Root. Her daughter Sarah Root was actually killed by an illegal immigrant driving drunk here in Iowa.

You tell that to the families of Lake and Riley. You know, she was murdered by criminal illegal alien.

So I refuse to let that happen to another family. And Josh Turek's liberal record is. Even worse, if you really, really dig into it, again, the taxpayer-funded benefits to illegals. He voted to make it harder for law enforcement to actually work with immigration enforcement, and then used his newsletter to tell illegal immigrants how to avoid immigration enforcement.

So that's what we're seeing happen. He's siding with criminal illegals over Iowans, and he is too liberal for Iowa. This is an election where I've heard a lot of people. It's been mentioned when Todd is here. It's been mentioned when I'm here.

There are a lot of folks who have voted Republican who say, "Well, you know, I'm not as happy as I wanted to be. I need to send a message, etc." This is really the time, though, for folks to, if you will, come home. Your primary opponent even came out and very strongly endorsed you in the last few weeks because, again, of the overall electoral picture. What can you say to folks across the country, certainly in your race, if they are thinking, "Well, I'm going to send a message this election season, and I'm going to either stay home or I'm going to vote, make a protest vote, etc." What do you say to them? Yeah, I would say don't trust the arsonist to put out the fire.

And rewind to two years ago, and if you look at where our country was with rampant illegal immigration, DEI ruling every boardroom in every company and every educational entity. Again, gender transition surgeries happening. You know that's where the country will go again if you elect these Democrats to these offices. It's a six-year Senate term, and yes, I know there is more to do, and I have. Heard from Iowans who are being squeezed, and I am committed to lowering prices and making life more affordable.

And that's what I'm going to do. And we will get through this challenging time for our country. And who do you want on the other side of that? Common sense, conservative leadership to move our country forward and fix the problems we're facing, or do you want to go back to the way things were two years ago when our country was on a path toward the bottom?

So that's my pitch to voters. I will continue to deliver for Iowa, working. Families and our our farmers and our veterans. That's what I signed up to do, and that's what I will deliver as Iowa's next U.S. senator.

Finally, would you mind sharing with the national audience the analogy you have drawn with regard to Democrats in Congress that you've had to work with, and teenagers? Yes, I think nothing prepares you better for serving in Congress, or in this case, for the United States Senate, than being a teenage boy mom. I am a lucky mother to two teenage boys, Max and Jack, fifteen and thirteen, and I will say this: the parallel is that you are constantly negotiating with unreasonable people, and their hygiene is questionable to boot.

So, I am ready to go on day one to serve Iowans and our country in the U.S. Senate, and look forward to earning your support and. Jeff, I know you gave out my website, but AshleyHinson.com. We'd love to have you join our team, help us get across the finish line in these next thirteen days as we close out this great campaign in Iowa. AshleyHinson.com, Congresswoman.

Thank you so much. Good luck on November third. Appreciate the time today. Of course, Jeff. We'll see you back in Iowa.

Thank you. Take good care. And Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Iowa's second congressional district joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. She is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

This is one of the six, seven, eight key races that are very close. And once again, as I have said to folks across the country. If you know somebody in a state like Iowa or one of these other key states. Give him a call, send him a text. Make sure they're going to do the right thing.

And again, her website. If you have financial resources that you'd like to contribute, or would just like to learn more, it's Ashley Hinson, H-I-N-S-O-N, AshleyHinson dot com. And again, she joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line nine zero one two six zero five nine two six. Your calls after this short break. Jeff Stein in for Todd.

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Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

Now, normally the program begins. We have conversation. Todd talks to you about things in the news. Sets up what's going to be on the program. I try to follow that because, again, this is his show.

I'm I'm just borrowing the car for the day, right? I'm borrowing Dad's car. I don't want to ding it. Up at all, but I I needed to start right out of the gate with Congresswoman Hinson because this is how important this all is, and I think you know it, but I think we can't take anything for granted, so it just needs to be repeated. We're 13 days away.

That race in Iowa is huge, just like the race in Kansas and Texas and Maine and and all of these others, and the shenanigans that the Democrats are pulling. In my state of Iowa, we run elections very fairly. And coming up in just a little more than an hour, we're going to speak with Republican Election Attorney Ben Ginsburg live on the program, and so we'll get more into that. But even the Democrats who are running for state office, the Secretary of State's office handles elections, and even the Democrat challenging the incumbent had to concede. On my television program, we did the extended interview.

They had to concede that no, we don't have any concerns with how votes are counted. We don't have any concerns about the accuracy of the election. They just want the power, and they want to loosen up early voting, etc.

So, in other words, in my state, we we do it right. That all being said, however. You've got this huge slice of independence.

So while in some states you have to worry about truckloads of fake ballots coming in last minute, we don't have that same issue here in my state. But what we do have the shenanigans of Democrats reinventing themselves.

So again, here is the Democrat. His name is Josh Chork. He is a Paralympian. He has used a wheelchair since birth. His father was part of Agent Orange, and that affected, of course, the children of those who served in Vietnam.

So he has an impressive record of overcoming adversities. Won two gold medals at the Paralympics.

Okay, that's all fine, right? You know, much respect for that. But the reinvention that you see, doing a TV commercial at the U.S.-Mexico border, which now is secure thanks to President Trump and saying, "I'll I'll fight to secure borders," when your votes in the state legislature, when you bothered to show up, did the exact opposite. When we did the pre-primary interview with that gentleman, he kept referring to himself as a prairie populist. I have no idea what that means, prairie populist, and he said it so many times it was almost like a drinking game, where our bell should have gone off every time.

Prairie populist, prairie pop. What in the blazes does that mean?

Well, it sounds neutral, doesn't it? It doesn't tell you a thing about what the person would do in office. This is the kind of stuff that we're seeing. the The people who appear to be these neutral. Friendly sorts, in other words, the old-time Democrats.

Right? Used to be that the Republicans and Democrats disagreed on policy, but at least you knew that they both wanted to see the representative democracy prevail.

Well, you can't say that anymore. And so that's one of the real problems with regard to stealing the election. You know, in the past, we worried about extra ballots and that kind of stuff.

Now we have to worry about them stealing it through false advertising, and not just because they're they're tainting the opponent. They come out and say who they are, and it's nothing close to what they'll do. Nothing close. And so, this really requires all of us to pay very close attention. To all of these ads and these claims, and especially to come home.

Not the time for sending messages. That was the primary. Here's the message to send: that we believe in the president and his agenda, and we're going to elect the folks who will push that across the finish line. That's what happens in 13 days. Your calls after this break.

Jeff Stein in for Todd on the Todd Stern Show. You earned every bit of the life you built. Don't leave it unprotected. SelectQuote locks in affordable coverage to secure your family's future. SelectQuotes licensed agents shop over 100 life insurance products to find the best rate for your family, completely free.

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Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today. Todd will be back behind this microphone tomorrow, making his way back to home base in Memphis after a big trip to Houston. And Todd and I exchanged a few texts. I saw some of the pictures on social media. The book event, and all of this was sponsored by the great Starns affiliate, Patriot Talk nine hundred and twenty in Houston.

The station built on American values and the foundation of our country as a Christian nation. And every Tuesday, they have a two a Tuesday event at Collectors Firearms, and. Who has it better than Todd Starnes?

Well, not me. I'll tell you what. Here's a picture of him standing outside a military vehicle, parked outside Collectors Firearms, for the book signing for his book, The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America.

So, on Todd's behalf, he'll have many more stories to tell tomorrow. But he wanted me to make sure that I let everybody in Houston know what a great time he had and how appreciative he was for. The the huge crowd, Patriot Talk nine twenty a.m. in Houston and Collectors Firearms. They were the host for it.

If you're in that area, support that radio station. Support that great business. It's one of the largest gun stores in America. And Starnes was there last night. And man, you can always tell when things are going well when you see a big smile on the person's face.

And it's not one of those. Oh yeah, I got to take a picture. Smiles. I mean, I I don't know if he got behind the wheel of that military vehicle and made his way through the parking lot or not, but he sure looked like he could have.

So again, Todd is back here tomorrow, and it's my privilege to be with you until then.

So thank you, Houston, for treating our man so well. Yesterday on this program, if you were with us. And if not, you can listen to the podcast. Podcast. Go to toddstarnes dot com.

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I don't know how this stuff works.

Okay. I produce podcasts, but I don't know what happens after I send them off into the atmosphere.

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Well, we were talking with Mark Meckler of Convention of States Action and talking about polling, and his comment was: "There's one word to describe polling in America these days." And the word is garbage.

Now he's right because the science has not kept up with how we all live. Remember the old days of polling. You do telephone surveys and you grab somebody's landline.

Now there was a problem because if they're at work during the day, they might not be surveyed, and so you'd call at night, etc. But you just called people because, quote, pretty much everybody had a phone.

Well, what happens when we've moved to cell phones? You're going to have the same cell phone number, arguably your entire life, but the area code matches where you got the phone. It may bear no relationship to where you live, and so you can't do polling that way. And now we've got the online stuff. The folks who do polling tell you that they've got this all figured out.

I understand why they tell us that, but it underreports Republicans by three to five percent easily every single cycle in the Trump era.

So we've had concerns about the polling.

Now we have further evidence of how it's not just fake news, as the president says, but it's actually fake. This is a story that broke yesterday. I'm looking at it on Mediate, which I don't know that I would trust a lot, except I've I've seen this other places. Here's the story: a national polling company cited in numerous outlets, including the New York Times and MS Now, formerly MS NBC. That polling company has revealed it simply made up its data, and said doing so was, in their words, far too easy.

Wedgwood Polls is the name of this organization. They had a logo, letterhead. It says "Your Voice, Our Mission." They're on the Twitter X machine. I mean, it looks for all the world like it's legitimate. But they posted last night on Twitter X the following Wedgewood Polling public statement: Wedgewood Polling, an experimental project.

To demonstrate the vulnerabilities, lack of oversight, and overall low barrier to entry in the modern political polling industry, makes this public statement. Having previously worked in the polling and research sector, we watched as the public's trust in polling eroded alongside a rise in unverified, low-quality methodology. We wanted to test a simple hypothesis. How easy is it for an entirely fabricated polling firm to gain traction, be taken seriously, and expose how little scrutinization exists in media and public commentary? The short answer: far too easy.

Now, again, this is an entity, a fake entity, Wedgwood Polls. And what they're basically doing now is coming clean and saying, "Yeah, we made all this stuff up, and you folks ran with it without checking who in the world we are, because you liked what it was we were saying." For example, MS now just you know got all excited when there was a poll in the Michigan race for governor. Showing the Democrat with a ten-point lead, oh, they put that on a darn near a full screen because it fit their narrative. Wedgewood poll statement continues. Despite having no history, formal credentials, or real data, behind the vast majority of our releases, Wedgwood Polling was added to major polling aggregators, including the New York Times, Fifty Plus One, and Vote Hub, and repeatedly treated as a legitimate data source.

All they did was put their name out there and say we have a poll, and these supposedly trustworthy. Journalism outlets that gather a bunch of polls and then average them out. They said, "Oh, this looks good. We'll take this." Their statement continues: Our fabricated numbers were given instant credibility across national media platforms, including being cited on air and in reporting by outlets such as MSNBC. The ease with which unverified figures were absorbed into mainstream political narratives.

Highlights a systemic breakdown in media vetting and data aggregation. They say most of this was generated to test whether media outlets will report on data without verifying the source, or the methodology, or the legitimacy of the firm.

Now, then they said, out of curiosity and for our own internal baseline, we did conduct one fully legitimate, crowd-funded Nebraska poll during this run.

Well, that's nice.

Now they say, Wedgwood polling was never intended to sway an election or permanently mislead the public. It was designed as a wake-up call.

Now this is the key point, as you evaluate the information you consume, upon which you make major life decisions like voting. The fake polling company, as they come clean, says if a fictional entity run by a small group of industry veterans can be integrated into major polling averages and cited by major news organizations. Then the standards for how polling data is vetted, aggregated, and reported must change. And they close by saying they hope this sparks a conversation about integrity, etc. Oh gosh!

New York Times has now removed Wedgwood polls from their tracking project. This is the second. Polling company of late to admit its findings were flat out made up.

Now these folks at Wedgewood say we made the stuff up, but we were just trying to see, you know, if we could get in, and they did. They snuck right past the goalie. You might remember in August something called median polling strategies. Reported that the Democrat Socialist Francesca Hong held a commanding lead over incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in the LA Mayor's race. After Hong was handily defeated, Median shut down when confronted about its data by the Los Angeles Times.

In other words, some of these news organizations finally figure it out. By the way, fifty plus one is a polling site they were using Wedgewood, the fake data. And then they started having questions, so they asked Wedgwood, "Where did you get this? How are you getting this stuff? Who are you people?" Now this is after they'd already used it, but at least they started saying, "Wait a minute, this is a little too crazy," and that's what led to Wedgwood Polls releasing the statement last night.

There are, as Mark Twain once famously said. Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

Well, there are some numbers that lie. We've heard that, right? People say, "Well, numbers don't lie." Sure, they do. When you make them up. How many other polls are fake?

I don't know, but this calls everything into question, doesn't it? Whenever you see a poll, you really need to find out what the margin of error is. First of all. Because that makes a difference, and it's plus or minus, meaning both numbers can move. You want to know how many people were surveyed.

The more people surveyed, in theory, the more accurate the poll. You also want to know who funded it. I'm so tired of getting news releases from polling entities that tell me one candidate is way ahead of another. And they are a Democrat polling firm or a Republican polling firm. Realistically, if you're a polling firm, you're supposed to be looking at numbers.

And in fact, the data that they share may be accurate. In terms of numbers, but you then have to look at the way the questions were phrased. Were they phrased in a way that was not neutral? In other words, a way that would lead a respondent to more likely give a certain response. The whole polling system, in other words, cannot be trusted.

What we do know, however, is this is an election that is only, only going to Be impacted if you show up. The polls mean nothing. The polls, now we know some are fake, by their own admission. The polls mean nothing. What matters is if you show up, and how you show up.

That's it. That's what matters. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

We'll take your calls in the next segment.

So there are some numbers that are fake, like those polls. There are some other numbers that are absolutely genuine, and I'll share some of those with you as we move along. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd from the Liberty University studio on the Todd Starn Show. Welcome back to the Liberty University Studio, and this Wednesday edition of the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today.

Todd is back from the book signing event in Houston tomorrow on this program, and we look forward to that.

So, in the last segment, I talked about this fake company that admitted they hoodwinked. Supposedly reputable news outlets. Notice I said supposedly. We're talking about New York Times and MSN, et cetera. Total fake polling.

They just made it up. And the lapdogs who liked it liked the result because it fit their narrative. They just they just took a big old drink out of that glass.

Well, there are some numbers you can trust, and they come from the administration. And I want to share those with you just after the top of the hour because there are some really interesting immigration numbers that the administration is. Releasing, and I want to have plenty of time to get into that, so we'll do that just after the top of the hour. But I have time right now for another story that talks about corruption of formerly mainstream media. Maryland has become the latest state to take steps to help promote local news coverage on radio stations and other media outlets.

Governor Wes Moore in Maryland. No, he doesn't have national aspirations, does he? Governor Wes Moore has signed an executive order directing state agencies to prioritize Maryland news outlets in their advertising spending, and it sets an aspirational goal to spend 50 percent of agency ad contracts with Maryland news organizations.

So, in other words, the state spends money on advertising. That's not a surprise that that happens. But they want to make sure that 50% of it goes to Maryland news organizations. The initiative could create a new source of advertising revenue for local radio stations, newspapers, TV broadcasters, digital news outlets. The Maryland Board of Public Works approved 268 million dollars.

In marketing and advertising contracts, four state agencies, last year, quarter of a billion dollars, of tax money, going for marketing and advertising contracts. That's sizable. And even if they dedicate a large slice toward local broadcasters, just a large slice of it, that's going to have a big impact. In fact, the Maryland Delaware D.C. Press Association did not know there was such a thing, but their executive director is a woman named Rebecca Snyder, and she says this executive order directing taxpayer money to news organizations through the state.

This executive order reflects a practical shift in how we support local news. By directing existing resources more intentionally, Maryland is strengthening the systems people rely on for timely, fact-based information.

Now, I work in radio. I love it when people spend money to get messages out on radio, because we know radio works. You're a wonderful audience. You listen. These messages—they're proven to work.

They're highly effective. But here's the problem. The state is writing a check to the news organization. Does the news organization now that they're getting that money from the state do they feel compelled to report on the state in a way that is more favorable than might have been the case otherwise? New York City did this.

Directing seventy-two million dollars to community media, quote unquote. I think you know what that means. That's code for liberal. Over five years, San Francisco, Chicago have done similar things. New Jersey legislators want to put it in law.

You know, if if a car dealer buys advertising on the radio station, if a furniture store buys advertising on the radio station. You have to put up a firewall to make sure that that does not influence news coverage. I used to lead seminars for journalists on ethics all the time, and it's like, okay, what if, you know, the son of your big advertiser gets picked up for drunken driving? Do you report it? Do you not report it?

Etc. Because there's pressure, right? When the state is directing money to broadcast and print outlets. Is there a quid pro quo? Is there another shoe to drop?

Does the state expect something? Just something to consider, because again, you have to evaluate the quality of the coverage you consume. You consume great coverage at ToddStarns.com, of course. Second hour coming up. Jeff Stein in for Todd.

Thanks for being here on the Todd Starn Show. Broadcasting coast to coast and border to border from Memphis, Tennessee. That's love. That's right. Our love is American.

Ride. Time. Star. Hello, fellow Patriots. Jeff Stein filling in again this hour for Todd Starnes, who's making his way back from a huge crowd that greeted him in Houston last night for a book signing for the great book, "The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America." It's been out a couple of months, still in the top ten in a number of categories at Amazon.com.

Get your copy today. Get a second, third, or tenth for friends and relatives. Beat the Christmas rush. Get there and order it now. The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America.

Do it quickly and hand it to somebody who needs to find the political religion before the November third election. Todd Star is back here where he belongs behind his microphone tomorrow. My pleasure be with you from the Liberty University studio again today. Coming up at the bottom of the hour, we will speak with Republican election attorney Ben Ginsberg about some of the things that they're watching for to try to prevent shenanigans. I say shenanigans, and I people say to me, "Well, that that sounds innocuous.

You know, that's just like you know, fun and games." I can't on the radio say what it really is, so we're going to call all of this illegal activity shenanigans, and we'll see. The last time I was here a few weeks ago, we talked with Eagle Ed Martin about similar things. Just getting ready, being in position across the country.

So Ben Ginsburg joins us just after the bottom of the hour. Your calls are welcome. Fire up that line and let me know what you think. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

That's nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

So in the last segment, we talked about some fake polling that was done. Literally fake. The people have owned up to the fact that they did it on purpose, just to mess with formerly mainstream media.

So there are some numbers you cannot trust. You always have to check the source. Here are some numbers you can trust. These are numbers that were actually put forth by the Trump administration through a news release yesterday, and you know that it's true. Because the liberal left did not point to any of them and complain that they're wrong, you know everything that comes out of that White House is scrutinized by all sorts of trolls sitting in the dark in their parents' basement.

You know these are the people who get paid to show up and disrupt rallies and and then go back home to their parents who voted for Trump. You know how that goes, right?

Well, in any case, they would laser in on any data that would be wrong. They said nothing; they ignored this entire batch of data because they don't want to draw attention to it because they can't dispute it. This has to do with immigration. And reversing open border policies. The headline is: The Trump administration reversed years of open border policies and produced the largest sustained drop in the illegal alien population in modern American history.

Now for the data: the illegal alien population. And let me just stop there for a second. There are some folks who like to blow on about.

Well, no human is illegal. All right, children of God, totally with you. But if they are in this country without the benefit of status, paperwork, process, procedure, etc., what do you call them? Because if they're here without benefit of law, they're all right. I'll use it.

Criminals.

So if you don't like illegal alien population, how about criminals? You know when when I this this just drives me crazy when we hear people say, um. That you know we shouldn't deport these folks because they're they're you know they haven't committed a crime.

Well, actually, they did commit a crime by being here illegally.

So yes, they are illegal aliens. And if you'd rather I call them criminals because they are here illegally, I'll do that. But there are some really good numbers here, and I want to share them with you. But first, I want to go to the the line nine zero one two six zero five nine two six. Brian is calling in from Winchester, Virginia.

He listens on the Great Affiliate WYNC. Brian, thanks so much for joining the conversation. What do you think about these polls we've been talking about?

Well, Jeff, it's great to hear your voice. I'm a great fan of. Mr. Stearns, and also of you, and it's nice to be able to talk to you. It's the very first time I've ever called.

I have talked to Mr. Stearns before, but my perspective on the way these polls are skewed—it's because I come home to my house. I live in rural Virginia, like the Winchester area, and I come home, and I still have a landline and answer machines. These pollsters, well, I happen to be at work when they're calling. Yes, so I'm not able to engage with my opinions.

So as far as I'm concerned, they're not talking to me. They're consider me as a hangup, and it's a no vote. But I am voting, and I'm definitely a conservative. I'm a Republican. I'm a Christian.

I'm a Scout Master. I've got three sons that are serving in the military right now. Oh God! We're all over in the street right now. Two Marines, one Navy.

Wow! And you know, we, you know, I got two flagpoles in my front yard. The highest one flies the American flag. Yes, sir. The other two.

Flags that fly on the second pole are United States Navy because I was Navy, and my oldest son is Navy, and under that one is the Marine Corps flag. We're Americans; we love this country, and dag on it if they're going to take it away from us with this deceit and lies and misrepresenting. Who we actually are—we are benevolent. We are God-fearing. We love our country.

Leave us alone. Is and I'm not. I have been to 19 different countries, and I've never seen a more graceful and peaceful country than. What I live in, and we are—we should not be the world's policemen. But that is the role that God gave us.

And if we have step in, we don't want to step in. But dag on, we're gonna, you know. I always had a saying. You know, you get into a argument, and it's like you know, you can throw the first punch. I'll throw the last one.

No, I'm going to take the first punch. Why? Why take a punch?

Well, it's like they they used to say, somebody else may start it, but by gum, I'm going to finish it. Yeah, but why not? Why wait for it to start? You go and start it, right? That's why you know.

You know, hey, we got. You know, we could have knocked out Iran on you know February eighth. You know, yeah. It would have been a one a one day war. And now we're eight months into it, but you know, and but that's also—is it not?

And again, thank you for your service. Thank you for your boys wearing the uniform, so that somebody like me didn't have to. I have much respect for that. But you know, yes, we could have wiped them out on day one, but that includes a lot of collateral damage, and we're better than that, right? I mean, we're we're trying to minimize this.

Yeah, absolutely. That's the restraint and that character. That is what our country is built on. We stand above, you know, the whole, you know, that nonsense from the liberal parties, you know, saying when you know they go high, we go low. Yeah, they do, and we don't go low.

Not in my world. No, you know, and that's the that's the United States military. It doesn't matter if you're a coastie. A cake eater, Air Force. We always respect those dudes because they're better cow than us.

You know, if you're a swabby, if you're a sewer pipe sailor, it's in a submarine. If you're a mud hen, you know, a jarhead, a leatherneck, or if you're in the rear with the gear, it don't matter. On you know, as soon as the first bullet flies, everybody's on the same team, you know, because we all bleed red. We're you know white is our peace, and we're blue collar. And tell me, Brian, I'm college educated.

You know, I speak like a redneck because I am. You know, and it's rural dialect. There's nothing wrong with that, sir. Yeah, yeah. But it is a pleasure to speak with you, and I won't waste any more of your time.

Well, it's not a waste. I appreciate the call, but I have to ask, what do you do for a living? Because you've made an excellent point. The pollsters call when folks are working. The folks who are freeloading, not working, they're the ones who answer and respond to polls.

What do you do for a living? I'm a maintenance engineer. My degrees in engineering.

Okay, and I'm a maintenance engineer. I'm a set up tool and die guy. I was a machinist mate in the Navy.

Okay, and I was also UDT underwater demolition team. Ooh, I was a UDT. Served with UDT four, which I wasn't old enough. It's the feeder program to be a Navy SEAL.

Okay, you go through the same training, and yeah, I got you know the same SEAL training, but I aged out.

Well, I didn't age out; I ended up getting married. That was a good choice, though. That was a good choice. Yeah, yeah, made three three boys. And three wonderful, you know, patriotic boys.

They're all Eagle Scouts. I was also an Eagle, and we did it back when it meant something. You know, wasn't all inclusive, and you know, we, you know, I was a Scoutmaster for a number of years. And you take these young boys out, and everybody, every kid wants to learn how to start a fire and how to use a pocket knife. And the first thing you have to teach them is how to put out a fire.

Yes, you don't teach them how to build a fire until you put out the fire. And you hand them a plastic butter knife with a stick of butter, and that's your, you know, very first. Experience with a knife, and you let them carve some canoe or something out of a stick of butter. Yeah, yeah. But that's you know, but that's doing it right.

That's the key. Yes, that's doing it right. You know, yeah. That's when you get into the metal knives and tomahawk and and all the good stuff, but. You know, in sleeping, you know, in the woods, and you know, these little kids go bang on your tent middle of night, Mister Muds.

I'm scared, you know.

Well, Brian, I tell you now, you know this. Speaking of work and business, we got bills to pay, so I'm going to have to leave it there. But I cannot tell you how glad I am that you called. I hope you call back to this program, whether I'm here or not. Talk to Todd anytime.

God bless you and your family for doing it right and for reminding us all how most of America lives. Thank you, kindly, sir. I appreciate it. I had a great time talking with you. Wonderful speaking to you, also, sir.

Thank you so much. All right, take good care, Brian. Calling in from Virginia, listening to WINC. This is what I love about this program. America calls in, and you get to remember what America is like, and we'll do more of it.

Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

Short break now. Back on the other side from the Liberty University studio. Jeff Stein in for Todd. This is the Todd Starn Show. Welcome back to the Liberty University studio in the Todd Starn Show.

Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

That's the number that Arnez used to call in from Memphis. Listening to the flagship, the mighty nine ninety. Arnez, thanks so much for taking the time. You've been paying attention to what's going on in Ohio. Tell me about it.

Yeah. First of all, thanks for taking my call. Sure. It look politics is nasty. We know this.

Yeah. It can get low on both sides. We we know this. We if you watch. Politics at any length of time.

This is not this is not news, right? But yet, but the yesterday was a little different. With Vivek Ramaswamy is running for governor in Ohio, and Amy, and he's running against Amy Act, right? Yep. And he put out a commercial, or I can't say if he put it out or endorsed whatever, but.

It basically had Amy acting's mother basically saying that she can't be trusted. She's untrustworthy. This, that, and the third. Right? Yep.

Any other day, I would be like, okay, wow, that's a big deal because you got somebody's parents coming out saying they're untrustworthy. But when you when you dive into the story, you realize that her mother, like she she hasn't had contact or has had any relationship with her mother, and almost in Fifty, you know, almost fifty years, because her stepfather sexually assaulted or sexually abused her and her brother, and her mother actually took the side of her stepfather and stayed with him until he passed away. Yes, and the fact that to use to use that as a political to to use that as a political ad. Whether Ramaswamy knew the context of it or not, that to me that that that angle I can't say that's a new low, but that's pretty low.

Now, the information I have, Arnez, is that it was the official Ramaswamy campaign for governor that put the ad out, and that they're spending four million dollars to do it. And I saw one analyst say, "Oh, this is kind of a low ad." But you know, this is the kind of stuff you wait for the weekend before the election.

Well, early voting is started. I mean, we don't just have the weekend before the election; we have so much more time. I've only got thirty seconds. Tell me what really offended you about that ad, please. It's the fact.

To me, what bothered me was just the fact that if you really took the time to understand why. You know why his mother, why her mother said what he said. He probably wouldn't put that ad out, and that's and that's part part of the reason why he's doing damage control in Ohio right now, because it's it's going to be a close race regardless, but. This one, but that ad did not do him any favors whatsoever. Yes, could backfire very much.

So, Arnez, thanks for calling in and listening to the Mighty Nine Ninety in in Memphis. I'll have more to say on that later this hour.

Now that the topic has come up, Election Attorney Ben Ginsburg, though, after this break on the Todd Starn Show. Welcome back to the Liberty University Studio and the Todd Stern Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. He is back tomorrow from the book tour in Houston, and we'll be behind this microphone then. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

If you'd like to join this coast to coast conversation, we'll take your calls in just a few moments. But first, I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line, and welcome Ben Ginsburg. Mr. Ginsburg is one of the most well-known Republican election lawyers in the country these days, affiliated with the Principled Leadership Project online, principledleadershipproject dot org. Ben Ginsburg, Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd Starnes today.

Thanks for joining the program. How are you? I'm good. Thanks for having me, Jeff. Tell us about Principled Leadership Project.

What is this sort of thing, and how did you become involved?

Well, I became involved because I've been doing election law for forty years, and worked a lot with Republican candidates and with election officials as well. And so there is obviously a lot of a lot of discussion, shall we say, about the upcoming election, and this is. An attempt to sort of take what forty years teaches you and talk about the reliability of elections.

Now I'm coming to you from the state of Iowa, and I've mentioned to this audience here on the national show before. Even we have a Republican Secretary of State. Even the Democrats seeking the job admit they have no concern about. The accuracy of the vote or the integrity of the vote process.

So that's a pretty good thing. But there are folks who have concerns. What are some of the things that you hear people are concerned about, and are the concerns valid?

Well, you know, we we have ten thousand election jurisdictions in this country, and so that means it's a very very local process, run at your community level. With some overlay from the states and a little bit from the federal government.

So, what people are concerned about is that the voter rolls in their states are accurate and kept up to date, and there are no illegal illegal voters casting ballots. I think people have concerns about the accuracy of voting machines because that's a little bit of a black box that can't be understood. I think the actual casting and counting of votes in their own communities, people have a lot of faith in, but they're not so sure about other communities in their states that they're not as familiar with.

So you've got you've got a little bit of a of a big sprawling system that people don't don't always have the ability to to pop up the hood and really inspect its underneath. And that's an interesting point because we have seen it for decades in public opinion polling, where people will say they hate Congress but they like their member of Congress. Right? It's the it's the thing that's the distant object that's bad as an entity broadly, but they like their own. You're suggesting it's somewhat similar, where they believe in their local area, but Geez, I don't know about these other folks.

Yeah, there's a little bit of of natural doubt about it that I think fuels the concerns about elections.

Now, for for better or worse, I have spent a few decades going around and looking for mistakes in the election system and looking for problems. I've done recounts and contests in almost every state in the country. And so that's a chance to to really do some inspecting, and I think you have to be be honest about the evidence that's been produced. And the truth is, I think our election systems are reliable and accurate because I haven't seen any proof to the contrary that there's some sort of systemic problem with it. Again, ten thousand jurisdictions.

So there are going to be mistakes. It's a very human process. We want to do this in our local communities, but it means there there is some lack of consistency among jurisdictions, and mistakes do happen. But the overall results are reliable. And if people don't think a particular election is reliable, they have the opportunity to seek a recount, or do an election contest, or go to court.

To be able to deal with those issues, Ben Ginsburg is our guest, GOP election lawyer, principledleadershipproject dot org. He joins us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. Jeff Stein in for Todd Starns on the Starn Show today. Election certification. Explain what that is and why that's something that you feel is important that people understand fully.

Sure. Well, the the process itself differs from state to state, but but the basic components are the same. All the totals on election night are sent to the county level. The county then counts up all the votes from its jurisdictions, sends those results to the state for the certification process. That occurs again, depending on the state.

Somewhere between a week and five weeks after the election, and all the races in a jurisdiction are tallied up, and a certificate of election is signed by the appropriate state authority, usually a governor, sometimes the secretary of state, sometimes both, sometimes somebody else in other jurisdictions, and that that certification is the evidence. That a particular person has been elected to office.

So, for Congress, for example, the certificates of election from the Iowa Secretary of State's office would be sent to the Clerk of the House of Representatives this year, and that would determine who gets seated in the results. Similar for the state legislature for all the statewide officeholders. And so that certificate is the the proof of who won the election is determined by the state authority.

Now, as you look at things, and you've mentioned there are people who have concerns in a jurisdiction or another. But as anyone listening to this national radio program today, if they're thinking about the upcoming election and they have just concerns, maybe it's curiosity; they don't know enough about the process. What should they be looking for in order to give them peace of mind that it's a fair fight? Shall we say?

Well, the the single best thing you can do is to ask your questions of the relevant election authority, the election official in the jurisdiction you have questions about. I found that election officials are More than willing to answer questions. They're very transparent. I think the single best thing that somebody who has questions about the process it can do is to actually go and volunteer.

Sometimes they're even paid positions for the government for the entity that's putting on the elections and volunteer and see it from the inside.

So before the election, you can kick the tires by asking the relevant election official, and then on election day, you can become an election worker and see from the inside what's actually happening in the polling place and the counting house. People talk a lot about. Elections and being able to trust it, and with social media, you get all manner of frenzy, shall we say, getting whipped up. And in this era where people can doctor videos, you have no idea what you are really looking at. Let's close with something perhaps positive.

I mean, what's what's the takeaway to secure in people's minds the fact that that. We always need to be vigilant. We need to participate. We need to really be paying attention. But the house is not on fire.

Well, you know the the real key again is to recognize that social media and even cable television is all going to come at you from a particular attempt to get more eyeballs on it. May not be completely accurate.

So, like anything else, being an eyewitness to the process is is the single best thing you can do. And to remember that when you talk about elections, they really are conducted. People who sign in voters and who count the ballots are all local folks from that community. Number one, and number two, is that in every state there is a procedure for allowing observers to look at the elections, and so every candidate and every political party is eligible to send people to the exact places where ballots are being cast, and then later where they're being counted, and to observe the process.

So again. The firsthand experience is most important, and most election jurisdictions today have live streaming of what's going on in their counting houses. And so, on election night, if you're worried about the way it's being done, there is a way in most. Jurisdictions, especially the larger jurisdictions where people are most susceptible or suspicious, that they can actually look at what's happening there. GOP election attorney Ben Ginsberg, principledleadershipproject dot org.

Thanks so much for taking the time to join us and bring some light to the topic. I appreciate it. Well, thank you, Jeff. Thanks for having me. Take good care, sir.

And Mr. Ginsburg joined us live on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

If you'd like to weigh in on that, or any of the topics, or bring up one of your own, we'll continue from the Liberty University studio in a moment. I want to go back to something that our caller from Memphis, Arnez, brought up before the break, and this had to do with that political ad in Ohio in the race for governor. And I have some thoughts on it that I'll share with you after we take the break. Jeff Stein, in for Todd. Thanks for being along on the Todd Starn Show.

Welcome back to the Liberty University Studio, and this Wednesday edition of the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. He's making his way back to the home base in Memphis after a fantastic book signing event yesterday in Houston. He'll be back with you right here. On the radio tomorrow, nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

Let's go to that line. Barry calling in from Fort Myers, Florida, listening on the website of the home, the mothership, the home base, mighty nine ninety dot com. Barry, thanks so much for calling in. What's on your mind about voting? Yeah, well, yeah.

I mean, I gotta tell you, I I was in systems and for I ran the systems and programming department. I'm an engineer myself, actually, electrical engineer. And I will tell you when they when they switched over to computer counting, I knew it was no good. There was a real problem there. You could bury code inside there, and that's when when coding was static.

Now it's all dynamic, so you can even run a test on the code and then change it on the fly today. It is so dangerous. It's not even funny. And I, I'm, I'm in the from the old school where I believe you know, keep it simple, stupid. Yeah.

I mean, quite frankly, the more complicated we make this, I know it's easier to count and it's easier to do stuff, but it's easier to cheat as well when you're using computers. Very easy. It's easy to bury codes in there. Then we've got dead people voting all over the place. We've got mail-in ballots that are we just set up the chief.

Literally, we set up the chief, and they use the. You know, the only thing on a mail-in ballot is on the outside envelope has someone's signature. Once you get into, you take it out of the envelope. You can keep putting it into that machine. There's no name on it.

And if it's the Democrats, which tend to be the case, you could keep adding Democratic votes to people continuously by just running it through their machine. I mean, this is not this is talk about not. I wouldn't trust it. I wouldn't invest in it if it was an investment because I know it's crooked.

Well, there's no doubt about it, and I how crooked depends on where you are. I guess. Not every state is crooked, but I but I would say that it's very dangerous the situation we have now. To keep it honest, even with good auditing, it would be very difficult to keep it honest. I'm sorry for interrupting you, Barry.

I didn't mean to do that, but you know what system is safer? For example, now here's why I ask the question because. You folks listening at home, you should know how your state and your municipality handle things. If the machines are not independently at polling places hooked up to the internet, does that give you an added level of security? In other words, Barry, what I'm trying to do is draw on your expertise.

Where's the trouble spot? Is it these machines that are all interconnected because we think it's cool, as opposed to just Taking a pile of ballots to the courthouse and counting them like we always used to. I mean, the problem is in a lot of places. And first of all, it could be in the code. All you got to do is change five percent of the vote.

That's all you got to do, and you could bury that in the code, and no one would even know. And all you would now you would get another candidate because elections are about five percent difference in many times. That's all you need to change it, and and and nobody would know it. Buried right in the code, in the mail-in ballots. Like I said, you can take a whole bunch of ballots processed already, select out the candidates you want on those ballots, the ones that voted for them, and resubmit those same ballots.

Yeah, I mean, we know in the 2020 election there were more people voting than there were people. Yes, so it was it was ridiculous. We had the highest number of voting, way more than any other election. That doesn't make sense. I mean, you when you really think about it, that that didn't make a lot of sense.

We got illegal voting, and we have. I mean, we're like I said, the mail-in ballots were set up to cheat. No offense, and bust about it. And as far as them talking about having an ID, my God, you need an ID to go on a plane. You need an ID to go into the bank and cash your check.

Don't tell me no people don't have IDs. That's ridiculous. I again, I like to keep it simple. Just go in with your ID, like I do, and you just show your ID. They have me in the book.

They they sign me in, and I go and I vote, and it's a one time thing. Everything else, you could cheat easily on it. Believe me, and they people have shown that they're experts and really experts in cheating, and and it's very dangerous for the you know democracy, a country like ours. You know when the people aren't getting the the the people they're voting for, they don't get. They're not too happy about it.

I'll tell you that. When they find out, they're not going to be too happy about it. I just think it's a dangerous situation. We should never be using computers. It's too easy to cheat on a computer.

I know it simplifies things, accounting, but it really makes it very difficult to keep it honest. Oh, you are so right, Barry. What a smart call! Thanks so much for listening on the Mighty Nine Ninety dot com and calling in from Fort Myers. I hope you have an excellent day.

That was such a smart call that Barry made because because with computers, right? When they're interconnected, don't we worry about viruses? I mean, you at home, don't you worry about a virus on your computer? Don't you worry about a computer meltdown? I mean, I worry about the computer.

I was doing editing of audio at home the other night, and as I'm editing the audio, all of a sudden I hear like this, you know, clicking sound, and I got the blue screen of death on the computer. With the little frowny face that says "Please stand by," we're we're we're getting information, and I thought, "Oh, this is not going to be a good night." Well, the bottom line was the computer crashed, but it came right back, and everything was fine. But that's not always the case. And what we have found is when you have these voting machines, to Barry's point, for convenience, yeah, we'll hook up to the internet and they'll just get the total right away. You introduce problems you didn't need to introduce.

Now I will tell you: in my state, we fill out the little circles on the scantron, put it through the voting machine, and then they take the ballots and that non-internet connected drive with a police escort to the courthouse to count it.

Now that works here; may not work everywhere. We need to figure this out without any question.

Well, it's a good way to end our number two, third hour coming up. Your calls as well. Jeff Stein in for Todd. I appreciate greatly that you're along with us on this Wednesday edition of the Todd Stern Show. From Memphis, Tennessee, it's Common Sense Conservative Commentary from Todd Star.

Shut up! That's right. I love. American ride. Welcome back, Liberty University Studio, the Todd Starn Show.

It's hour number three. Hello, fellow Patriots. Jeff Stein filling in one more hour for Todd as he's returning to the home base from that great event that they hosted in Houston. The good folks at Patriot Talk nine ninety a.m. Hosting the Two A Tuesday event and book signing for Todd at Collectors Firearms, one of the nation's largest gun stores.

Great photos on Todd's social media from that. Huge crowd, he says.

So, on behalf of Todd, who will have many stories tomorrow, no doubt, when he returns. Thanks to the folks at Collectors Firearms for being such a great business and for supporting Mr. Starnes, and of course, Patriot Talk 9:20 A.M. The fantastic. Affiliate of this radio program in Houston.

I am jealous. It looked like y'all were having a great time. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six is how you can connect with us and continue this coast to coast conversation. I don't have any guests scheduled. Nothing but your calls this hour.

So please feel free to join the excellent conversation we started by phone last hour. Oh, and by the way, why were they having this book signing party? Did you know Todd wrote a book? It's still in the top ten in multiple categories on Amazon two months after release. It's called The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America.

I have read it. I absolutely heartily endorse it. And as I've said previously, if you're buying a copy of a Todd Starnes book, buy two. The reason is you don't want to let loose of yours because if you loan it to somebody, they won't give it back. I had that happen.

I loaned somebody one of my Todd Starnes books, and and I've never gotten it back because they're valuable.

So buy a couple, buy six, go for the bulk discount. Take care of your Christmas shopping right now. ToddStarns dot com, Amazon dot com, The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America, the book by your host Todd Starnes. All right, I want to clean up some tie up some loose ends from the last hour. We had a caller talking about the political advertising in Ohio, and I want to set that up in case you missed that conversation.

And don't forget, you can always listen to the whole show, the podcast podcast at toddstarns dot com. It's part of the Salem Podcast Network.

So Vivek Ramaswamy is the Republican running for governor against Amy Acton. It's a tight race, and Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign issued an ad. They produced it, and they're spending four million dollars to run it. And it features Amy Acton's mother, who says, "Don't vote for my daughter." That's the short of it, all right. And as I mentioned last hour, there were some analysts who said, "Boy, that's a devastating ad." But you wait until the last few days, so there's not time for backlash.

Well, here's the problem: that's kind of old school thinking because if y'all go to vote on November 3rd and we all do the same thing—I mean, that's what I do—I go on November 3rd, whenever Election Day is, and I vote in person. But a lot of people vote earlier, and so you have to roll out some of these things. You can't just do a last weekend ad, because there is no last weekend anymore.

Well, this ad has t here is been some problems because the Democrat candidate Amy Act and her mother is the one in the ad saying, "Don't vote for my daughter." Well. The Democrat candidate was apparently a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather, and her mother, the one in the ad, chose the stepfather, took his side, and they've been estranged for decades. All right, it's a messy family situation.

Now, here's I saw the ad, and. The mother is a troubled person. That doesn't mean that what she's saying is wrong. I'm just saying she she appears to be troubled, perhaps tormented.

Now, here's the thing. One of the things I had the privilege of doing, and I've been blessed in so many ways, but I have had the ability to do many things, and as a licensed attorney. I worked with the state attorney general's office, developing protocols for prosecution of domestic abusers. And as part of that, I learned that those primarily, but not exclusively, women who are the victims of domestic violence, or that sort of a relationship, they. Will do things like this, where they side with their abuser at the expense of their children.

It's part of the dynamic, the fear, the codependency. It is much longer than than I have time to get into. But the bottom line is that there is a lot going on beyond a thirty or sixty second political ad. There's a lot of family dynamic here, that's at work, and it's tough stuff. And I don't know that that is the most credible source to bring out to say, "Don't vote for this woman in a campaign." I don't know.

Now, I have met Mr. Ramaswamy on four occasions when he was running for president. I mean, I'm in Iowa. I see him, right? I mean, that's part of the deal.

We did two TV shows with him, had him in the studio for a radio interview, had him for a listener event with other presidential candidates.

So we we were familiar at one time. I like to think that he's a decent person.

However, I also think he plays to win. And so they pulled this ad, and you know, out of the out of the library, and put it out there. It's you go this hard, there could be the chance for backfiring. And literally, after our caller from Memphis last hour brought this up, my radio station email—I get all manner of emails from candidates and campaigns. I got an email from whatever mailing list handles Amy Acton's campaign fundraising.

It's a fundraising email. She's now fundraising based upon the ad.

So, a does the ad really hit? I don't know. B, she's now turning it to her advantage through fundraising, and C by saying double victimization. I don't know. I don't know what to think of it.

I can tell you, it is a Ramaswamy campaign ad, and they have taken ownership of it. The problem. To me, in some of these very close races, that doesn't tell us anything about what you're going to do in office. And I understand policy can be boring at times, but all of this stuff tell you know we this is how we figure out how you're going to do once you're in office.

So I'm not going to pile on and be one of those who says that ad was terrible. I I can't say that. I can say that the person that they have as the spokesperson, the mother of the Democrat candidate, I think there were some cycles in there with regard to domestic relationships. I don't know that it was necessary to go there, but I know it's being talked about, and maybe not for the right reasons. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

I also wanted to talk to you about some of these immigration numbers, and I'll mention just two before we go to the break. The illegal alien population has been reduced by at least 2.3 million. That's just the illegal part. More than three million migrants have left the country during President Trump's second term. That's roughly a year and a half.

That is the largest reduction in illegal immigration in modern history. At least 2.3 million illegals have been shown the door, making it the largest reduction in history. 1.2 million illegal aliens have been deported or removed. Nearly 1.3 million illegal alien arrests have been carried out. And the U.S.

recorded negative net migration, negative net migration last year for the first time in at least fifty years. There's more on that that I'll share in a moment, but. Look at what's happening in Europe. Look at what's happening in a place like Michigan. Look at what's happening in pockets around the country.

Todd has talked to you about this. You let people in who want to do you harm. You know what they're going to do? They're going to do you harm. And if you can get rid of the people who want to do you harm, okay, that's the right direction to go.

So we have a lot of fake numbers out there. These are numbers you can trust, and I'll have more of them. Here's another number you can trust: nine zero one two six zero five nine two six. Call it and weigh in. Your calls after this short break.

Back on the other side from the Liberty University studio, it's Jeff Stein filling in for Todd Starnes.

So glad you're with us on this edition of the Todd Starnes Show. And we continue from the Liberty University studio this third hour of a Wednesday edition of the Todd Stern Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today. He makes his way back from a huge crowd that greeted him in Houston yesterday. He'll be back behind this microphone tomorrow.

Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six to continue the coast to coast conversation. If you'd like.

So this is kind of frightening. I am going to be on Newsmax tomorrow. Nobody needs that, quite honestly. Nobody needs that. President Trump will be doing a campaign rally in Western Iowa tomorrow, late afternoon, early evening, and so against their better judgment, or maybe they thought they were getting somebody else.

But the folks at Newsmax have asked me to join Wake Up America tomorrow at eight thirty Eastern, seven thirty Central, and then I guess I am moving over to the Deuce. Newsmax two for the News Now program just after nine o'clock Eastern, eight o'clock Central.

So you've been warned. You can't say I didn't warn you. You can't say, "Oh my gosh, look at that hideous figure on television talking about politics in Iowa." I told you I'd be there. We'll see. We've got some.

I mean, TV's fine. I like radio, but TV's fine.

So we've been going through here today, fake numbers, real numbers. We now know that some of the polling is exposed as deliberately being fake to prove a point. I don't know what's the point. Election interference.

Well, here are numbers that came from the administration yesterday on immigration, and they are solid numbers. Catch and release was ended. Seventeen straight months of zero releases at the border. Fiscal year 2026 was the first year in U.S. history with that result.

In Trump 2.0, illegal southern border crossings were cut by 95 percent from the Biden era levels—the lowest number of illegal border crossings in American history, thanks to Donald J. Trump. Entries by asylum seekers at U.S.-Mexico entry points in Trump 2.0 have been slashed by 99.9%.

Well, no one's perfect. In the Biden administration, more than 50% of those seeking asylum got it. It was a rubber stamp or an auto pen. Asylum still granted, but just in 7% of cases, the ones where it actually applies. The immigration court backlog has been reduced from more than 4.18 million cases to under 3.09 million.

That's the sharpest decrease in history. More than 12,100 gang members have been arrested. That includes more than 1,500 Trenday Aragua, nearly 2,000 MS-13. How about drugs? Again, this is the success list of the Trump administration, and these are verifiable numbers.

Nearly one million pounds of narcotics have been seized through Customs and Border Protection in the last fiscal year. That's sixty-three percent above the prior four-year average. In other words, sixty-three percent above the Biden years. More than six hundred twenty-four thousand pounds interdicted by the Coast Guard. That's more than a quarter million pounds of cocaine included in that amount.

Fentanyl trafficking at the southern border has dropped by fifty-six percent, and as a result, fentanyl-linked deaths in our country dropped twenty-two percent in a single year. Forget promises made, promises kept. How about safety for citizens? Fentanyl-linked deaths in this country dropped 22 percent in a single year. Drug overdoses broadly have fallen by more than 40 percent from the peak during the Biden era.

America record. This is a really fascinating statistic. America recorded its lowest overall death rate ever. In 2025, driven in large part by sharp declines in drug fatalities, this next statistic is really important given what's going on in the world. In Europe, Europe on fire.

Migration from majority Muslim countries has been cut by 96 percent since 2024. Overall migration cut in half. Visa issuance is down 89 for those from Africa, down 81 for those from the Middle East. That's part of America first. Take care of our people first.

Protect our people first. The safety of our people first. Border-related deaths dropped nearly 80 percent in the last fiscal year compared to the time of the Biden administration. More than three hundred thousand visas have been revoked, and that includes at least four thousand tied to birth tourism, six thousand from foreign students who committed crimes, or tied to terrorism. Yeah, come on over to our country so we can educate you, and you can do us harm.

What a brilliant idea!

Well, they've stopped that, and those people are leaving. More than one hundred fifty-seven thousand unaccompanied alien children who were lost under the Biden administration have been found. Used to hear that a lot that the the Trump administration was separating families. And okay, I am just going to read this again because it's verifiable statistical information. More than one hundred fifty-seven thousand unaccompanied alien children.

Who were lost under the Biden administration, many lost to sex trafficking, forced labor, and other atrocities.

Well, they've been found in the Trump administration. This is historic progress, and it is absolutely necessary to preserve our safety. This is not political. This has to do with our. Safety.

So while you may hear random companies claim to do a poll, we now know that many of them, at least two that have been discovered, flat out make up numbers for fun, as part of a project or an experiment or sport. Forget that kind of stuff. These are the numbers to go by. As you make a decision on November third, or whenever you decide to vote, these are the numbers. This is the platform.

This is what you voted for two years ago, and this is what you can vote for again. Mr. Trump's name's not on the ticket, but his policies sure are. And do you think electing Democratic socialists, you're going to get this kind of results? No, sir.

No, ma'am. You are not. Back on the other side. Short break now. Jeff Stein in for Todd from the Liberty University studio.

This is the Todd Starn Show. Final half hour of a Wednesday edition of the Todd Starn Show from the Liberty University studio. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today. Big event last night in Houston. Thanks to Patriot Talk nine ninety and or nine twenty.

I keep saying nine ninety. That's that's Memphis. I'm sorry. Patriot Talk nine twenty in Houston and. Great book signing for "The Golden Age: How Trump Saved America," and Todd will be back here tomorrow, where he belongs.

Now we've been talking a lot, and you've heard others talk about it on this program. That this is not the time for a big old civil war in the Republican Party. That's what primaries are for. Right now, it's time to marshal all the resources, get out the vote. And get this president's agenda accomplished, and you have a far better chance of doing that with a Republican in the seat as opposed to anyone else.

Now, I don't normally read verses from the Bible on the radio. That's not. My brand, as they say, that's not a comfort area. Religion to me is deeply personal. Faith is deeply personal.

But I came across this in a reading the other day, and I wanted to share it with you because it was in a different context. But then I thought about this election and how you have.

Some folks on the MAGA side saying, "I can't vote for that Rhino Republican. I'll vote for a third party, or I'll stay home, or whatever." And I'm telling you not to do that, not to stay home. Hold your nose if you have to. But vote for the person on the ballot who has the best chance of helping the Trump agenda. It's Mark three twenty-four and twenty-five.

A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart.

Now, how does that play in?

Well, it's pretty obvious. If the Republican coalition—the folks who support Trump, the Trumpicans, the regular garden variety Republicans— And common sense independence—they all need to get together. That's the coalition for victory, and there are subsets within that. Yes, the Hispanic vote in the same number as two years ago, etc. But if the Republican family feud plays out on Election Day, you ain't seen nothing yet, and you're not going to like what you see.

Now I'm, as they say, preaching to the choir here. I would assume, but again, as I've mentioned to you all before on this program, when Todd has been kind enough to allow me to be here, it's kind of like the buddy system, right? Don't go swimming alone. Take a buddy.

Okay, don't vote alone. Take a buddy.

You heard me talk earlier with a candidate for the U.S. Senate from Iowa. If you're listening half a continent away and you know people in Iowa, how about you remind them to do the right thing when it comes to the election? How about looking around your neighborhood to make sure that people actually show up? I did mention this yesterday.

Farmers, it's a late harvest in many parts of the country. This could be a problem on election day. And so you've got to make a plan to vote. Maybe it's going early. Maybe it's doing the absentee if there's still time to get the ballot.

Depends. Every state has different rules. But the bottom line is, don't be so busy you can't get out, and don't have your nose out of joint because of some slight and lose everything. Come together. That is the best way to do it, because once again, the kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.

The family splintered by feuding will fall apart. Do not let that happen. It's plenty of time for healing the wounds, but don't take it out on the ballot. That's the problem. Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

If you'd like to contribute to the conversation, Donald Trump is coming to my state of Iowa tomorrow, and as mentioned, the folks at Newsmax are kind enough to have asked me to join it. I guess eight thirty in the morning on Newsmax and nine in the morning on Newsmax two. Those are Eastern times. Why is the president out there?

Well, I thought of this, and I shared this with my audience here on the home station last week. I got to see Michael Jordan play basketball once, and it was sort of before he became Michael Jordan. He was still pretty good. It was 1984. And I was in Iowa City, and the U.S.

Olympic team had a scrimmage or an exhibition or whatever you call it at the at the college basketball arena there. And that's the first time I really—I don't know—he made the Olympic team, got the gold medals as well as when he was at North Carolina. And I, you know, was just a casual observer. I go to the event, and it's like, who in the blazes is that guy? He's really good.

Well, there is a story. I don't know if it's true, but it floated around at various times that prior to the last play of a game, okay, Jordan's team, whatever team it was, could have been high school, college—I don't remember. Story may not even be true, but they drew up the play for the last shot, and somebody else was going to take the shot. And Michael Jordan said, "Yeah, I really think I should, I should take the shot." And the coach supposedly said, "Michael, there is no 'I' in team." To which Jordan supposedly replied, "But there is in win.

So gimme the darn ball." Now again, I don't know if that's a true story, but I like it. I like the attitude. The attitude is. You give me the ball, I'll bring home the win, and that brings us to the Donald Trump cross-country, day-night, multiple events that are multiple hours long in a single day. Because you see, Michael Jordan always wanted the ball.

There are some people who are like, maybe he should do it. I don't want to step up. I don't want the pressure. They don't have the confidence. Jordan always wanted the ball.

Donald Trump always wants the ball. Donald Trump believes that he can put himself through force of will on the ballot because he knows that his base turns out for him, but not as much in other years when other people aren't on there. That's why he's going around the country saying, "Pretend I'm on there. It's that important." He wants the ball. It'll help in some areas for turnout, without question, and it's going to be necessary.

In other words, in order for the Republicans to win, the Trump coalition from two years ago, the Trump voters, they have to show up, even though he's not literally on the ballot, and they have to vote as if he were, because. This is, for good or bad, a referendum. Not a time for message sending internally. Trump wants the darn ball, and that's why he's doing it. And that's why you have such transformational leadership with this White House, because you got a guy in charge who wants the ball, not one who can't find his way off the stage.

Nine zero one two six zero five nine two six.

We have another segment, and we've been talking about heavy stuff the last couple of days. And I want to talk about something a little more fun. And we'll do it when we come back from the Liberty University studio after a short break. This is Jeff Stein filling in for Todd on the Todd Stern Show. We continue from the Liberty University studio, final segment of a Wednesday edition of the Todd Starin Show.

Jeff Stein filling in for Todd. Todd is back tomorrow from the two-day trip to Houston, the great event thanks to the folks at Patriot Talk nine twenty. And so Todd's back tomorrow, and it's always a privilege when I get the call from the bullpen. Thanks to Dylan and Helen and everybody at Team Todd for. Making it such a great experience.

My day gig is at News Talk fifteen forty KXEL, the fifty thousand watt blowtorch in Iowa. The program airs from eight until eleven in the morning Central Time. Podcasts of interviews at KXEL dot com. We do a poll question every day, and I want to invite all of you to join us in this. Will you be leaving any races blank?

In other words, voting for no candidate in the November general election? When you go into vote, you're going to skip certain races. Yes, no, or maybe. Go to kxel dot com slash poll. Let the national audience weigh in on my station's question.

Kxel dot com slash poll. You can follow me on social media: Twitter X, not Facebook. You got to draw a line somewhere. But Instagram and Getter and Thread. And Truth Social and Blue Sky.

It's all at Iowa Politics. That's I O W A at Iowa Politics. And I'll be on Newsmax apparently tomorrow on the original Newsmax at eight thirty in the morning Eastern, and on the Deuce Newsmax too, just after nine o'clock, talking about President Trump's trip to Iowa tomorrow. All right, we've got. We've had a lot of heavy topics.

This is a heavy time, thirteen days before the election, but we need to keep ourselves fortified. And I wanted to ask Dylan to join me for this. Are you a snack food guy? I do enjoy goldfish occasionally.

So yeah. How about chips? Do you sit there with a bag of chips and watch sports or anything? Yeah, sometimes. If I am, you know, if I am really feeling down on myself, I'll sit there and eat an entire family size bag.

But it never really gets that bad. Oh, I am so glad you mentioned that because they've they've downsized the size of things, and so what used to be a party size, it's like it's a pretty pathetic party if that's going to serve everybody. But. Lay's potato chips, right? It's a great brand that we all well know.

I think they've gone too far, Dylan. I think they've gone too far with their holiday Lay's lineup. They have special flavored chips for the holidays. Oh my gosh! Yeah, this is not going to end well.

First of all, who came up with this dill pickle? Yeah, that everything has to be pickle flavored. No, thank you. Yeah, I I read that my generation Gen Z is obsessed with that taste, and I don't really. I'm not part of it, and I can't.

I can't get behind that. I mean, you give me a little sour cream and onion, you know, Ruffles or Lay's.

Okay, I'll play. Yeah, but you know, just give me the original and a big tub of dip. But anyway, now I've distracted myself on the twenty fifth. Of October, what is that Sunday? If you go to the grocery store Sunday, there are two new holiday flavors of Lay's.

One, cheddar scallop style potatoes flavor.

Now, really, that's just that's just cheddar. That's so specific, too. I don't what cheddar scallop style potatoes.

Okay, here's the one that I. This I apologize to the audience in advance. There will be a new flavor of Lay's potato chip called Holiday Turkey flavor. Oh no, they didn't. Oh, I think they did.

Why? Holiday? Thank you. Why? Now see, here's the problem.

There's some people listening who'll see this and they'll go, "Oh, I wonder what that's like." It's horrible, people. I'll just tell you from the outset. If you go to the Kroger, skip the holiday turkey flavored Lay's.

Well, you know, I guess if times are tough, you can't you can't get that turkey this year. You know, you set up the Lay's chips, and maybe that's all you need. I don't know. No, I don't. Turkey's fine.

I like turkey, but am I wrong? It really has no taste, does it?

Now you got to season that thing up. See, okay, you got to either drown it in gravy or season it up.

So when you tell me it's a turkey flavored potato chip, it's like bland. There's there's no flavor to turkey. Yeah, all right.

Well, you know, Lay's Lay's has been doing that, right? They've been doing those special flavors because in America there's only a limited amount of flavors. But I know that overseas, like in China, I think there's several different kinds of like ketchup flavored. Mustard flavored Lay's chips. Maybe it's because they don't do those sauces over there that well.

But like, I don't get it. Ugh.

Okay. Yeah. Cheddar scallop style potatoes and holiday turkey. That's on Sunday. But they have not stopped there, my friend.

Wow. On November eighth, as we've gotten through the election, Lay's will introduce maple bacon chips.

Okay, I I don't know if we're getting better or worse. Oh, it's not better.

Well, but this this is how how can you fight this description? This is the news release. It's the perfect balance of sweet maple flavor and smoky bacon taste in every crunchy bite. No, no, stop, no, stop again. Yeah, that's breakfast.

That's yeah, that's breakfast food. I'm not replacing my pancakes with a Lay's chip.

Sorry, just give me the bacon. Yes, I know it's a commitment for the for the pig, but give me the bacon. That's all there is to it. All right, so there's a contest also on this where you can win. A sweater.

What would the sweater look like? I didn't want to know. Prizes on this contest include a chip bowls, a sweater, a multi cooker, an oval casserole, a charcuterie set. I'm sorry, we call those meat and cheese trays where I come from. But here's here's here's where we really we're gonna we're gonna crash this starship Starns with this one.

Starting in December, because holiday turkey flavored Lay's and maple bacon flavored Lay's will be such a success. Starting in December, you can get Lay's wavy milk chocolate chips and Lay's wavy Dubai style dark chocolate potato chips. Are you in? I don't know. Like I, I so when I eat chips, sometimes I will want the savory, like the sweet, the salty.

I just don't know if that goes well with it. I've heard of like the chocolate covered chips before. Those aren't the worst thing ever.

So this is probably the the best one out of those like holiday and then the bacon one. That this is probably the best one, but still probably no. See, I think it's a flavoring as opposed to like covered. Yeah, no, but but it's like okay, so I'm going to pick up my Lay's wavy potato chip, and it's going to taste like chocolate. Yeah, it's going to look like a chip, but taste like chocolate.

That's yeah, that's no, no. That's going to mess my brain up. Really? Yeah, seriously. Because I have a hard enough time just getting through my day, but it's it's it's milk chocolate, and if you're really you know into it, the Dubai style.

Dark chocolate, I I don't know what that is, but it sounds sounds snooty. Again, it's so specific, like the maple and the bacon and the Dubai chocolate. Like, who's the testing group for this? For like, how many different flavors did they have to try out before someone concluded on Yeah, Dubai's the best one out of these." That is such an excellent point. Who came up with the ideas that didn't make the cut?

And how hideous are those? Oh my gosh! Okay, so I'm going to put you as a no on turkey flavored potato chips. Yeah, that's fair. Yeah, please.

What you might want to do because the election's stressful for all of us. When Todd gets back, on you know. After the election, when he comes into work, he's not going to be gone. When he comes back in, just why don't you put one of these bags of maple bacon chips on his desk and see how that goes? I'll see if I still have a job after that.

Well, it's been nice working with you. Thank you, sir.

Okay, lays. God bless you. I'm not doing it. I'm going. I'm going for the straight flavor and the French onion dip, and that's as close to France as I intend to get.

Thanks to everybody at Team Todd. Thanks to all of you. You're the absolute best. Liberty University Studio. Jeff Stein signing off.

Thanks for listening to the Todd Starn Show.