Trump Remains Firmly In Their Heads

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That's legacypminvestments.com. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite cunt totem Bible clinging deplorable American. That's right. I love this American. Todd Starn.

Oh yeah. Wherever you're listening across this, the greatest nation God ever blessed, welcome to a Friday edition of the Todd Starnes Show on more than 100 outstanding radio stations coast to coast and streaming live at ToddStarns.com. Hello, fellow Patriots. I'm Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd One More Day. Todd will be back in the air chair on Tuesday with a very special guest list for you.

And I know I talked to him on the phone yesterday, and he's eager to return, taking care of his other projects, writing books, etc. And he'll be back with you on Tuesday after the legal holiday on Monday. By the way, the reason he actually called, it's performance review time for the staff at the Todd Starn show, so he wanted my feedback. And I told him I would wait until after today's program to weigh in.

So if that gives the staff in Memphis any additional incentive to, I don't know, shower me with gifts, I'm very happy to receive it. I don't expect that, but what I do expect is that you folks will be kind enough to weigh in on the news of the day by joining us here in the Liberty University studio. Use the phone number, 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-8868. Grace will take the call and we'll get you on the air.

We have plenty of time for callers in this hour. And one of the things that I really enjoy about doing this radio program, it's a great privilege, and it also gives me the opportunity to talk to folks, the programs I do at my home station. News Talk. 1540 KXEL in Iowa and my syndicated programs. I do interviews, I do commentary, but I don't actually get to talk to callers.

And it's a great deal of fun.

So please do weigh in by calling 844-747-8868. Coming up on this program today in our next hour, a couple of individuals that I've had the great privilege of speaking with before on the radio, and I know they are favorites of yours. Steve Dace of Blaze TV will join us an hour from now. At the bottom of our number two, Martin Dugard. He is a well-known author.

Sure, you may know the books he's co-authored with Bill O'Reilly, The Killing Series. But Mr. Dugard has his own trio of books that he is in the process of publishing on the end of World War II. And the brand new one is Taking Berlin, number two in the trilogy. And we'll talk with Martin Dugard coming up in about 90 minutes.

Our number three today will talk with the Founder of a group called Pastors for Trump. He's Pastor Jackson Lawmeyer of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He ran for the U.S. Senate, by the way, last year, or this year, still 2022 as well. And now he has founded this group, Pastors for Trump, and he's taken some backlash from the formerly mainstream media.

Pretty predictable, but he'll talk about it. That's in hour number three. And we will also speak with Arielle Del Turco of the Center for Religious Liberty in hour number three as well.

Well, they just couldn't help themselves, folks. You knew it was going to happen. They promised to do it. They threatened to do it. And on the last business day, before this wretched Congress is finally done.

Democrats release Donald Trump's personal Tax records. Not just one year, not just two years, no, of course, six years. of taxes released. This was the House Ways and Means Committee that did this, and they did it in a. terribly sneaky fashion.

Never mind they'd already leaked the things some time ago. But they had it published in the Congressional Record. That's how they released the information. It is now forever a part of the congressional record.

Now, some might say, well, that's going to keep it buried because nobody really reads that. But of course, by announcing that they were doing this, everybody pulled the information. You can read Mr. Trump's tax returns online if you like. That's nice.

But once again it served no purpose Except to try to punish him, harm him, embarrass him, something. In terms of the material in the tax returns, actually, having any bearing on governance. on influence, on anything nefarious, Not a bit. Not a bit of it, and I could have told you that going in, and here's why. In addition to talking into a microphone for a living, I am a lawyer.

and I used to do people's tax returns. Still do my own and maybe a few others, but I know a little bit about tax returns. But you don't have to be a lawyer. To know that releasing someone's tax returns like this. Is not going to gain people any relevant information.

Think of your own tax return. All right, let's say that you work at a job. You don't have any outside income, any side businesses. You work at a job, and they send you your W-2 form. On your tax return, The amount of money you made is listed.

Right there on page one. But the source of the money, the source of the income is not on the tax return. It used to be in the old days you'd take your 1099 if you were an independent contractor or your W-2 form if you were an employee and you'd staple it to the tax return.

Well, now everything's electronic, and so you don't even submit those documents with your tax return.

So, if you look at your own personal income tax return, it shows how much money you made in income, but it gives us no idea who gave it to you. Even if you are running a business of some kind. I have an LLC that I use for my syndicated programming and books and other projects I have. It comes out on the tax return as a Schedule C small business. It's just another listing.

So on the first page of the tax return, it shows how much I made inside income, net, but then on that Schedule C as it's called, I list the income and then expenses, and that's how I get to my net. But nowhere on there does it show the source of the income. It doesn't tell anyone how much money I made from hosting a certain syndicated radio show. It doesn't tell anyone how much I may have made in book royalties. None of that shows up.

that level of granular detail does not show up. You know this if you look at your own tax return. Mine's nothing special. I work for a radio station and I have a side business. It's like a lot of people out there.

But again, there's no way you would know by looking at my tax return where the money came from. But remember when these Democrats were pounding the table saying how much they needed to have Donald Trump's tax returns? Because then we'd be able to see if he was an agent of the Russian government. We will see if he is Putin's puppet. Oh, it's wonderful.

Verbal Um Tossing of phrases and such things. All false. And all completely meaningless, other than to try to punish this president. He did not want to release his tax returns, so he did not release them. There is no law that says a president has to release his tax returns.

And so Trump said. When he was running for president, I'm not releasing the returns. If you think about it, it was vintage trump. Right? Because when folks would say, Well, but Mr.

Trump, people have always done it this way, that's enough reason for him to say, Really?

Well, then I'm not going to. Because if you think about it, we have a broken political system here comes a guy from the outside trying to fix it. Why in the world would you think he would bow to convention on things like that? You wouldn't have voted for him if he did.

So the bottom line is he has these tax returns. He refused to just go along and release them. And lo and behold, by gosh, there must be something to hide. We have to get these. Because we have to get him.

And don't forget, every time they're getting him, They're getting you. They're getting us. because of the disdain the ruling elite has for all of us. And that's Republicans and Democrats. Thank you.

A lot has been made about the numbers in Mr. Trump's tax returns. I see no reason to really go over any of it because it shows a guy who sometimes made money and sometimes lost money. And again, he's getting money from his businesses. The source of the money is not shown, even if it was given to one of his businesses.

I hesitate. I'm not even going to use Trump as an example because someone will quote this out of context and it'll be on the socials. Let's say, well, I know this will never get reported.

So let's say Joe Biden. All right, was receiving a lot of money. From Foreign governments maybe funneled through his son. Let's just say that hypothetically. He's not going to have that on his tax returns.

We're not going to see that on his tax returns. If you now go out and say, I want to see all of Joe Biden's tax returns, even beyond what he may have released voluntarily, that's not going to be where you'll find the smoking gun about the Biden crime family and the money they received. It's just not. When Mr. Trump was getting a payment from one of his businesses, the salary that he got paid for working for the Trump organization, et cetera.

There's no level of specificity in these tax returns. And there isn't in anyone's. That's the whole point. This has been a bogus issue from day one. Designed to just satisfy morbid curiosity.

Now, you know, they're making a big deal about.

Well, there are years that he didn't pay any taxes. That's terrible. That's not an indictment of the person who didn't pay taxes. That's an indictment of the system, perhaps. It's not an indictment of the person.

Who use the current laws. Legally to their own financial advantage. Show of hands out there, Starnes Nation. How many of you would love to pay more tax? I don't see anybody's hand go up.

You are going to use every advantage you can, and by the way. It's legal. And by the way, How many of these Democrats who talk about all of these tax loopholes and how it's so bad? They use the laws to their advantage. I'm old enough to remember when Joe Biden ran for president in 2020.

And they were releasing tax returns, and lo and behold, he made a ton of money. Above the table, even. That's the the rare part. He made money above the table. And for speaking gigs, or whatever, whatever people were trying to they wanted to buy influence, but they wanted to make it look good, so they laundered it through something like come speak for 10 minutes, or whatever it is.

he set up a company to receive all that revenue, Because it was advantageous for tax purposes to do it. If he had simply taken the money in a check, that was made out to Joe Biden as opposed to this little bogus company. And by the way, it's all legal, all right? But if he had taken the check straight up, He'd have had to pay a lot more taxes.

So, all of this stuff about Republicans and rich people try to avoid skirt the law and they try to avoid paying taxes. Where is it my patriotic duty to pay more taxes? Frankly, especially to a government that wastes it. That's a whole different issue. Mr.

Biden didn't Nothing illegal with regard to what I just talked about, namely having payments made to a company and then he would be taxed ultimately at a lower rate. But if Trump had tried to do that? I mean, they already suspect that his tax returns Lead directly to Vladimir Putin's checkbook. They never would Because that's not what's in the tax return. but they knew it was something that would appeal to the public.

There's nothing there. truly is no there there. Here's the problem. For Democrats. And Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas has made this clear.

He's the ranking Republican on ways and means. Uh This is now a precedent, isn't it? Let's seek the tax returns of political opponents. And then release them into the congressional record under the guise. of good government.

This is one of these things where Republicans can look at these sanctimonious Democrats and say, you started it. And no one, certainly not any of us. will benefit. 844-747-8868. Let us know what you think of that.

We're here in the Liberty University studio, and we'll take your calls when we come back. Jeff Stein, grateful to be along with you. Grateful that you're along with us on the Todd Starn Show. I've noticed that when I go to the shopping mall and buy one of the towels, they just don't seem to work very well. They feel too soft and too lotion-y.

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I had a lot of work to do after I got home last night, not only doing my work for my radio station and my syndicated programming, doing prep for this show, etc. And so I was actually up until about midnight, and I usually start the day at 5, and that's a pretty short night for me. I feel great today. And that's because, for a number of years, I have used a pillow from Mike Lindell.

well, I don't know that he packed it or sent it to me, but I used to have a horrible time sleeping. Could not sleep. I'd use big pillows, small pillows, two pillows, double them up, and it just, you know, my neck would hurt. I did not have good rest. And finally my wife said, Why don't you get one of those pillows that Imus is always talking about?

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So she bought some. And I'm not kidding, and I'm not being compensated to say this. Immediate change. slept and had no problems that night, and I can tell the difference. I did some speaking engagements earlier this year, which meant I was on the road a few days, and I did not take the pillow with me, and that was a big mistake, and I'll never do that again because my pillow makes a huge, huge difference.

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I'm Jeff Stein, in for Todd on the Todd Starnes Show. With everything you have on your plate, earning your degree online seems impossible. But at Grand Canyon University, we specialize in helping you fit a master's degree in business into your busy day. Your graduation team, led by your own GCU counselor, provides you with the personal support you need to succeed. Achieve your goals with a plan and team behind you.

Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University. Visit gcu.edu. Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show, folks. Jeff Stein filling in. On this Friday at the Liberty University Studio.

Call us at 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-8868. If you've been following today's news, you know that there has been an arrest made. In association with the murders last month of four University of Idaho students, a twenty eight-year-old male was taken into custody by police and the FBI at three o'clock this morning in Pennsylvania.

Okay. and there will be more information coming out in news conferences afterwards. Yeah. To show you how the formerly mainstream media's minds work. I will pretend that this happened to someone else.

the scenario I'm about to set up. Donald Trump has a home at a golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, I believe.

So, what do you want to bet that any time there is anything bad with a dateline of Bedminster, New Jersey, they would say, Somehow they they'd mention Trump. You know, like a mass murderer arrested in Bedminster, New Jersey, comma, not far from a private golf club owned by Donald Trump.

Well, let me do the same thing here, then. Brian Koberger was taken into custody by local police and the FBI at 3 a.m. in Scram Scranton, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of President Joe Biden.

Now the Media did not put that Scranton was Biden's birthplace. But when something bad happens in any locality tied to anything with Trump, you're going to hear his name mentioned. All right, so here you go. The guy was hiding out in Biden's hometown before he was arrested on suspicion of four counts of murder. See how the game is played?

Yeah. It is so insidious. I've mentioned this before, but I have plenty of examples of the Associated Press. Which I used to trust, and now I have a very hard time even using any of their material. But they will talk, if Republicans have a majority in one of the Houses at a state legislature or Congress, they will talk about it being a Republican-controlled house.

But if Democrats have the majority, it's the Democrat-led. Senate You see the difference? If Republicans have the majority, they are controlling things. But Democrats are leading. It is so insidious I don't even think some of them know it.

Which is why they sort of need to be called out.

Well, not sort of, they have to be called out on it. at all times. There's a new book that is coming out. and it is written by Chris Whipple, I think I've heard the name. I don't really know his work, but it's called The Fight of His Life Inside Joe Biden's White House.

And it is coming out in just a couple, three weeks. It is getting attention because of some excerpts that have been given to the Independent. And um Basically it comes down to the fact that Joe Biden does not trust the Secret Service. Told a friend that he thought a Secret Service agent lied about being bitten on the leg last year. By the Biden Dog.

He doesn't believe that the Secret Service told the truth about the fact. That the dog bit agents eight days in a row in March of twenty twenty one. I love animals. This is not the point. This is not about the animal.

This is about the fact. That Biden believes somebody was lying about the dogbite situation. Then. He has expressed, supposedly, according to this book. He's expressed concern that Maga's sympathizers had become embedded in the ranks of the Secret Service.

Biden thinks the agency, the Secret Service, was, and this is from the book, full of white ex-cops from the South who tend to be deeply conservative.

So the President does not feel he can speak freely in the presence of Secret Service agents. This is again according to the book by Chris Whipple called The Fight of His Life Inside the Biden White House. Look, parents are protective of their children, and they never want to think that their children do anything wrong. You know, their kids and grandkids are the best and brightest and smartest. We didn't used to have that.

I can tell you that if a principal called my house, Or somebody from the school when I was growing up and said that I had done something wrong. My parents would have been open-minded, but they would have been predisposed to believe the school. They would not threaten to sue the school for claiming. that I was a bad actor in some way. Even if it was my fault.

So we've gotten to the point where parents are blind with regard to their children. In terms of the things they do. And you can see it with regard to this President and his son, Hunter. Hunter's the smartest guy that Biden knows. My response, with all due respect, sir, is aim higher.

Here's Biden as the overprotective parent. Can't believe his dog would bite anyone.

sort of a denial of reality. If you will. I suggested earlier this week that much of the problem with regard to Mr. Biden and information that he has is he's kept from a lot of information. They're very careful about what he gets.

And so that's why, if he's asked by a reporter about a negative poll, he says, oh, you must need to read the polls, Jack. because they're they're keeping the negative ones from him. I mean, they're okay, fine. But now he believes the Secret Service can't be trusted. There's a paranoia there.

On top of everything else, that is readily apparent to any of us who have had elder relatives. and had to help them through a decline at the end of life. You can see this and identify it. You don't have to have a medical degree.

So now it's overly defensive paranoia. That's the guy with the codes. That's the guy with his finger on the button. Yeah. Oh, by the way, uh Hunter?

Hunter's in the news again. Hunter has a four-year-old daughter that apparently he's never met. He fathered this child with a woman named London Roberts, who is termed a former exotic dancer. I'm not really sure her her occupation is relevant.

Well Hunter went to court to get his child support lowered. Seriously. The guy who is the bag man for the big guy? And he's going to court to have his child support payments lowered. on the child he fathered out of wedlock.

So, what did the mother of the child do? This is tremendous. She has countersuit. He started it, right? He filed the lawsuit.

I can't pay this much child support for my child that I've never seen.

Okay. Her response is, Oh, I since we have a court Proceeding going, however. How about uh we do a name change? The child's first name is Navy. I don't know that I understand that, but all right.

Wants to change the child's last name to Biden. The child did not have the Biden name before. And so The mother of Hunter Biden's child. wants to change the child's last name to Biden.

So that she may undeniably be so that she may undeniably be known to the world as the child of the defendant and member of the prestigious Biden family. Literally, she is saying it's time to change the child's name to Biden, quote, so she can benefit from carrying the Biden family name. All right. If you find that to be a benefit after the House committees start investigating starting January 3rd, well, I guess. Good for you.

We have a couple of minutes before our next break, and so it's a good time to go to the phones and take a phone call from Janice in New Orleans. Janice, thank you for calling in. I've only got a few minutes. I am tremendous. It's good to hear your voice again, but again, I only have a few minutes.

So tell me what's on your mind, please. Hello? Yes, Janice, are you there? Hello.

Okay, I guess we're going to have to take her down because she's either listening on the radio or she's not able to hear me. But she wanted to talk about a book.

So if she comes back, we can take that call. 844-747-8868 is how you can reach us in the Liberty University studio. 844-747-8868. Why don't we take that promised break now? Your calls on the other side.

And coming up in our number two, Steve Dace and Martin Dugard, and much more. I'm Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd, and this is the Todd Star and Show. U Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein in the Liberty University studio. Todd is back on Tuesday.

Give us a call at 844-747-8868. I mentioned just before the break that in our next hour we will hear from both Steve Dace and Martin Dugard. They will be calling in on the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line. And Patriot Mobile, their slogan is mobilizing freedom. And they mean that at a variety of levels because now more than ever, it is so important that we support companies and organizations that share our values.

And Patriot Mobile is America's only Christian conservative wireless carrier. They share our beliefs and they do something about it. For example, Patriot Mobile donates a portion of every dollar to organizations that fight for causes you care about. You're not giving your money to some woke folks who are then going to, in essence, fight against you and fight against their culture. Here's an incentive for you to do the right thing and switch to Patriot Mobile.

If you use promo code TOD, you'll get free activation and and, he said, a free gift. Patriot Mobile has the broadest nationwide coverage. They use the same towers other carriers use, and this is the thing any more The towers are there, and all of these different carriers are using the same thing. It's not like the old days where you wanted to go with a certain company because they had better coverage, et cetera. This is almost 2023, right?

So you can go with Patriot Mobile, you get the coverage you need and the plans that fit your budget. They have great discounts for first responders, our heroes who are veterans, multi-line users, the whole bit. You want to switch?

Well, they'll make it as easy as possible. Just go to patriotmobile.com/slash Todd or call their U.S.-based customer service team at 972 Patriot. You'll get your special discount, you'll get your free premiere activation, but only by using promo code TOD. Get the details at patriotmobile.com/slash Todd, PatriotMobile.com/slash Todd, or call 972 Patriot. That's 972 Patriot, guests of the Todd Starnes program.

Appear via the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. 844-747-8868 is the number you can use to connect with us. Janice, are you still there in New Orleans, dear? Yes, can you hear me now? I can hear you.

A happy new year to you. You still there? Hello? Oh, I don't think she can hear me still. We started off so strong, but now I don't hear Janice.

All right, well, I'm sorry, Janice. I wanted to talk to you. You got a lot of rain down there in New Orleans, and moving into Mississippi, it would appear as well.

Some severe weather and some severe weather in that part of the world for next week.

So stay safe as you begin the new year, Janice. I started filling in for Todd. There's a little bit of history here. I think it was 20. sixteen.

Todd came to Iowa to speak to a group of journalists for a group that I was in charge of at the time. And my radio station, being a Fox affiliate, I contacted them and I said, Do you have someone you could send out to be a speaker to a group of journalists? And they said, Oh, we've got this guy who's been a great reporter, award-winning.

Now he's doing commentaries, and he's about to do a national radio show. And I said, That'd be perfect. And he came out and he was just a delight, interacted with everybody, was curious about things, and delivered a stem winder of a speech that some of the more liberal members of the audience, shall we say, may not have liked, but it was vintage starns. And soon after, we started carrying the material here on the station. And soon after, he asked if I would be in the rotation to fill in.

And so when he was at the Fox News Corner of the World, as he called it, I would fill in from my studios here in Iowa. And that carried on when he took the show into his own company. And wound up buying the Mighty 990 in Memphis.

Now, I tell you all that to tell you that this is not the first interaction that he and I have had. And in fact, when he took the show, uh within his own company. This is a small business that he owns, not only the radio station, but then this radio program. And uh Shortly after he did that, He went to Israel, led a tour to Israel. And asked me to fill in.

So I filled in for a week while he was in Israel, and I think he called back a couple of times. And I said, Would you do me a favor, Todd, while you're in Israel? I had a cousin 35 or 40 years ago who planted a tree in my name in the John Kennedy Memorial Forest in Israel. This was a big deal in the 60s. You have to keep in mind the state of Israel, as currently constituted, was founded in, what, 1948.

And so they engaged in various. Projects to connect Americans there. And one of the things they did, and I had relatives in the New England area, Boston area. And so my cousin, who probably was maybe 10 years old at the time, he had saved up money and whatnot. And so I have a brother, and so they made a donation to this entity.

And the idea was that they would plant a tree in your name in this forest to help beautify this new nation of Israel. And I still have a certificate. saying that a tree was planted in my name, and I asked Todd if he could go see how the tree is doing. Since he was on a tour of the Holy Land, he was going to be in Israel for an extended period of time. What the heck?

Go find my tree. Do you think My dear friend Todd took enough time to go find the tree. If he did, I haven't heard yet, and it's been five years.

So maybe in 2023. When one of you out there joins Todd on the Starrens Holy Land Tour that is taking place next November before Thanksgiving, it's actually November twelfth to the nineteenth. Maybe one of you good listeners who goes with Todd on the Holy Land tour. Can find the tree that was planted in my name in Israel. It's been, you know, 50 years, 40 years, well, 50 years.

So it should be of reasonable size. It's not like you're going to have to, you know, go hunting for it. Should be right there. If you're interested in the Todd Starnes Holy Land Tour in November of 2023, there are a few ways you can get information. The first is to go to ToddStarnes.com because right there on the main page, there's a place where you can click and get more information, including how you can book the trip.

It's got the itinerary, it's got the prices, how you can get there, all of that.

So you can just go to toddstarnes.com and click on the link on the main page. Or you can use the same phone number we've been giving you: 844-747-8868, and Grace will talk to you one-on-one on the phone and get you the information you need so that you can make a good decision. And book now, save the money up, make plans to go to the Holy Land with Todd Starnes in November of 2023. That's less than a year away. All the information you need is at ToddStarnes.com or call Grace at 844-747-8868, and she will get you hooked up with the people who handle such things.

and go find my tree. That's not too much to ask, I don't think. Stick around, Steve Day's Martin Dugard to come. This is the Todd Starn Show. Start a journey, not a fab.

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See additional terms at onepeloton.com. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's conservative blowtorch. That's right. I love this American rap on stars. Wherever you're listening across this, the greatest nation God ever blessed, welcome to hour two of a Friday edition of the Todd Starns program, coast to coast on more than 100 outstanding radio stations and streaming live at ToddStarnes.com, as well as Getter and Rumble and the Facebook, and well, you know, the drill.

Hello, fellow Patriots. I'm Jeff Stein, filling in one more day for Todd. It has been a real privilege to be with you all this week to Roundout 2022. I'm coming to you from my home base at News Talk 1540 KXEL in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, Iowa. The 50,000-watt belowtorch scorching Middle America with accurate news and reasonable views.

And it is the place in Iowa where people hear the Todd Starn Show as well as Todd's. Commentaries three times a day. Great to be with you from the Liberty University studio. This is the phone number to use to connect with us. You probably already have it programmed into your phone or written down there by the phone if you're like me and like to use a landline for such things.

It's 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-8868. If you were with us in the last hour, you know we were having some phone problems, and the folks in Memphis are still putting that all together.

So I'm going to tell you just to hold off for a moment on the call because I can't talk to you. I mean, I can hear you, you can't hear me, and that makes for a one-sided conversation. But when a radio station has problems with the phones and putting people on the air, that means it's hard to talk to a guest as well.

So we're shifting things around here, and I'm sure the team will get that remedied pretty quickly. But it does allow me the opportunity to talk about a couple of other things. I started the program by talking. talking about the Donald Trump tax returns being released today. put in the Congressional record by the House Ways and Means Committee.

They are of no relevance to any bit of public policy whatsoever. There is not a cintella of evidence of wrongdoing. or anything. It's just a matter of them trying to push him around. He did not want to conform to the swamp monster's request to release his returns when he was running for president either of the first two times.

They said, Bar, God will show him. and they did it on their way out the door. And good riddance to those folks.

Well, if you go to ToddStarns.com, which you should do on a regular basis, I learned this because I get the email alerts when new stuff is posted at ToddStarns.com by the excellent team there. Headquartered at the Mighty 990 in Memphis, you get an email that says, Oh, here's some breaking news. And that is how I, sitting here in Iowa, learned of a post at ToddStarns.com that says Trump warns Democrats for releasing his taxes. calling it a dangerous two-way street.

Okay. Here's the story. Former President Donald Trump has now issued a statement in response to the Democrats releasing six years of his tax returns. He says it's serving only to again show how proudly successful I have been. I will tell you the guy's making money on his tax return.

I mean, he's showing money. Yes, there have been some years where there was a loss, but when you're involved in multiple businesses, that is kind of how the thing works.

So Trump, rather than trying to suggest anything about it, just simply says, it shows how proudly successful I have been. But at the same time he warned Democrats that the move is a dangerous two-way street. I read from the former President's statement. Quoting Donald Trump now, the Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it's going to lead to horrible things for so many people. Donald Trump said as follows in addition The great USA divide will now grow far worse.

The radical left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember that is a dangerous two way street. The Trump tax returns once again show how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions as an incentive for creating thousands of jobs. and magnificent structures and enterprises. Talk about taking the high ground on it. That's pretty good.

And here's the point. As I mentioned before, and as I think you all know, tax returns are more nuanced. Than the Democrats and their cohorts in the formerly mainstream media want to suggest. You can show a loss on your tax return because you had spent money on equipment at one point. And then you depreciate it out.

In other words, If your business is so big, you can't just pay for something and deduct it in the same year. Part of the tax reform efforts of the last decade allowed you, especially if you're a smaller business, to either depreciated over the course of years or deducted in the year of purchase. I'm not trying to give tax advice here. I'm just telling you, this is how it is. And so.

you might depreciate things out. And it will show that you have a loss for the year. There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing illegal about it. There's nothing shady about it.

It's just the rules that are set up.

So, again, if you don't like the fact. That in 2020, for example, I think it was, I didn't look at them, that Mr. Trump paid no taxes.

Well, keep in mind. He was President at the time. He wasn't a businessman at that point. And this is the other thing that just absolutely drives the Democrats crazy. I think the President now makes $400,000 a year.

Something like that. It's uh it's not Anywhere near the kind of money I make, I'm far lower than that. $400,000 a year, that's Todd Starnes' money. That's walking around money for somebody like Starnes, but that's what we pay the president. Do you remember what Donald Trump did?

Each of the four years Four hundred thousand a year, four years, that's one point six million by my public school education. He donated it to charity. He turned it back.

So in other words, He didn't take an income.

So, if he didn't take an income from a 24-7, 365 job, Why would you think he'd be paying taxes? He donated the money. Are you kidding me? But no, no, on the last thing that the Democrats can do, by gosh, they are going to go out and they are going to show Donald Trump who's boss. All right.

You go ahead. But I have to tell you It does set a bad precedent. And it exposes the Democrats for being the small people that they are. On this issue. And this is why I said early on.

And why the live show blog title today is talking about how Trump remains firmly in their heads. There are some people. And frankly, there are plenty of Republicans.

So called Republicans in this camp as well. If you just Walk up to one of them. Look them in the eye and say, Donald Trump The eyes will start twitching. their lower lip will quiver, their fists will clench, It's an involuntary response. It doesn't matter what he does.

He's in their heads. He's dominating the conversation. And what little, small measures they can take.

Well, we're going to refer criminal prosecution. Oh, shut up. We'll show you, we're going to release your tax returns, which show nothing. Continue shutting up.

Now, the problem is that they have poisoned the well so much. That the trick, and I talked about this a little yesterday: the trick is going to be for Republicans. To Not go too far. Resist the temptation. There should be great oversight.

There's no doubt about that. There should be. Investigations where necessary, no doubt about that. But they cannot focus solely on that. because the American people are tired of the infighting in Washington.

I'm not saying avoid meritorious investigations, quite the contrary. As opposed to the investigations during the Trump era, which were without merit, It would be nice to actually see something there. And heaven knows the Biden crime family has a record that if anyone just looks at it in a neutral fashion, You'll find plenty of stuff to keep you busy. But let's hope that the focus is on how to move the country forward, how to benefit the American people, because if it is nothing but partisan bickering, the public will turn on whoever is in power at the time. In this case it'd be Republicans in the House.

They've got to move the ball down the field with a positive agenda for citizens. If they do that, they'll be rewarded at the ballot box in twenty twenty four. And then maybe the Senate can flip. But it all starts with the proper balance. 8447-47-8868.

That's how you reach us at the Liberty University Studio. We'll take a short break now. Back after this. I'm Jeff Stein in for Todd. Thanks for being along on the Todd Starne Show.

Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in from the Liberty University studio. And the phones are working at 844-747-8868. We know they're working because Dan used that number to call in from Statesville, North Carolina, where he listens on Starnes affiliate WSIC. Dan, thanks so much for calling the show.

What's on your mind this Friday? Uh hey Um deaf. I understand. you make some good points there, filling in for Todd there. But I think We need to investigate like a bomb going off in DC.

Because you have to remember, the whole time Trump was in there, that's all they did. They investigated without merit.

So we should investigate with merit, realizing that the So like the Democrats. The more roadblocks you throw in front of their administration, the more it can slow them down and stop them. And that is the best thing for the American people is just purely to stop democratic agenda. 100% agree. 100% agree.

The only thing that concerned Go ahead.

So investigate, investigate, investigate, and you know, hey, even throw in a few things that maybe don't have merit because that's what the Democrats did, and that's what we have to do to stop them. If you're serious about stopping them, Republicans. you need to investigate them because And all this what all this leads to is the sooner you realize That our federal government is a complete waste of time and money, the better off you're going to be. All we do is pay them to fight, so let them fight.

Well, I completely agree you need to investigate. There's absolutely no doubt, but this is the only caution I give. The only caution. We have such a huge wedge of non-affiliated or independent voters. That are fed up with both of the major political parties.

And that's why you get these wild swings in voting because they don't have partisan allegiance. My only fear. And this is the only problem I have with it, Dan, is I just don't want them to be perceived as going overboard without at the same time taking care of business.

Now I think they can walk and chew gum at the same time. I think they can do both. But I just want to make sure that they have a positive agenda to help Americans. Without spending $1.7 trillion on Christmas Eve. I think we probably agree on that, don't we?

Oh, absolutely. That was a Chuck Schumer classic play. Drop it in the middle of the night, going into Christmas. Everybody wants to go home. Hey, we got to pass it.

Nobody read it. I mean, right down the middle. You know, look what happened. The Democrats gained 10 yards on that play.

So, what do you think is going to happen in the future? They'll run it again. And the Republicans Do not have the kahunas to stop them. Dan, you're exactly right. I appreciate the comments.

I appreciate the call. Have a happy new year, sir. I want to have time to get Bob in from Georgia. He listens on the Great Starns affiliate WDUN. Thanks for calling in.

Got just a couple of minutes for the bottom of the hour. What's on your mind, Bob? Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to talk to you. Um Donald Trump said if he won the election business in sixteen, that he would release his taxes.

Yeah. And he said. I heard it most tim he said he would not be playing golf because It'd be too busy. We're in the country. That's all he did was play golf.

Well, you know, at least he owned the course. I mean, there is something to that. But you're concerned about the fact that he talked about that he would release the returns, then he didn't. Then he said he was under audit. And if you believe the Democrats, and I don't know that I do, maybe there wasn't an audit.

Why do you suppose if in fact he had nothing to hide, why did he withhold the taxes or not approve their release? Meets me. To me, that's a lie. And playing golf all the time was a lie because he said he wouldn't go into it, he'd be too busy. Yeah.

No, I I agree with you. Bob, thanks for calling in from Georgia and have a happy start to your new year. Have a happy whole whole new year. But I was just going to keep it simple to this start of the weekend.

Well, the thing with the Trump and the tax returns, okay? You don't tell Trump what to do. That's really what a big part of it is. And I think, you know, Bob makes some very good points there, but I think ultimately. He knew that they would be misinterpreted.

Because again, all that I've seen leaked before the actual release today, I would see just end result numbers. Paid this much tax, had this much loss. That doesn't really tell you the depth of the business. And it certainly doesn't tell you whether he was a Russian agent, which is what they all claimed. Oh, this is how we need to know the source of his income.

I I think he knew it was a distraction, but I also think that he doesn't like being told what to do. Even if the advice is good, that's a bit of a flaw perhaps that President 45 and perhaps President 47 that he has. And if the conventional norm is to release your tax returns, well, he's running an unconventional campaign in an unconventional presidency. Jerry, you're calling from Memphis. I got 90 seconds.

Talk to me, please. In nine seconds? I got about a minute and a half. All right, look, Presidential Records Act, that's all you need to tell your viewers about Mar-a-Lago, okay? It's the law.

Every president, no, he can't keep any records at all. For example, the Kim Joon-young. A love letter. That by law does not belong to the president, it belongs to the National Archives. Therefore, all this stuff about the stuff that they found, that was whether it's classified or highly classified, whatever, the point is he never showed it.

Should have taken it. His counsel told him not to take it. The National Archives worked with him for a year patiently trying to get it back. And finally, they had to have a federal judge issue a search warrant. That's all that needs to be said about this.

The Presidential Records Act. Forbade all of this. Are you following me? No, I'm totally with you. And now I understand.

I had said 90 seconds, meaning a minute and a half, and you took care of business, Jerry. And I appreciate that you called in. I'm going to wrap this up because we do have a hard break at the bottom of the hour. Jerry was listening, of course, in Memphis on the flagship, the Mighty 990, KWAM. Here's the thing with the Presidential Records Act.

Even if everything Jerry just said was true, what about all of these other folks? Prior to Donald Trump being president, who had stuff of their own. I would suggest Trump knows there's a double standard, and maybe he needs to be higher than that because he knows he's not going to be treated fairly. Martin Dugard scheduled to join us after a break on the Todd Starn Show. Oh, oh, oh, oh, Riley!

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Visit O'Reilly Auto Parts today. Oh, all right, me. Auto parts Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. Jeff Stein filling in from News Talk 1540, KXEL, in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, Iowa. It's been a privilege to be with you this week from the Liberty University studio.

Line up. We'll take your calls in our next segment at 844-747-8868. But now we go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line, and I'm pleased to engage in conversation with Martin Dugard. He is a tremendous author, not just in terms of the volume of books he's created, but also their quality. You're familiar, of course, with the Killing series.

He is the co-author with Bill O'Reilly of that series. But he is also the author of a book released last year called Taking Paris: The Epic Battle for the City of Lights, released just a couple of months ago, the second. In this three-book series called Taking Berlin: The Bloody Race to Defeat the Third Reich. Martin Dugard, Jeff Stein here on the Todd Starn Show. How are you, sir?

Jeff, I'm doing great today. Thanks for having me on. Tell us about how this three book series, Taking Paris, taking Berlin, and then I believe it's taking London is the future book. Tell me how this came to be, please. Uh Okay.

As with all books, it basically depend depends upon where in the world I want to travel. Um So we began with Paris, but I hadn't written about World War II for a while, and I wanted to go back and Tell the story of um The following terrorists occupation of Paris and the eventual liberation of Paris. And You know, and that book ends on August 26, 1944, with the Liberation. But as I got done. It was supposed to be just a a one book Thing, but when I got done, I realized there was still a lot that you know, the war wasn't over, so I wanted to go on to Berlin and Yeah, to go I kinda had to backtrack.

So taking Berlin. we go back to D Day, January I'm sorry, june sixth, nineteen forty four, And we go into into Europe, we go across trends and it eventually then there's that race between the Russians and the Americans to be the first and the Allies, I should say, to be the first into Berlin. You know, I I tried to write something that was Very deeply researched, very fast paced, like the killing books.

something that people k you know, where people feel like they learned something, but at the same time they read very fast-paced thriller. That told a great story. Martin Dugard is our guest. Martindugard.com is the website, and the most recent book is Taking Berlin. As you marshalled the information and started conjuring up what the story is, when I say conjure up, just assembling it, creating it, figuring out the narrative, were there some points as you were going along where you said, This is really interesting.

I don't think I've seen this particular fact or story before. Yeah, there were a lot of stuff like that. You know, like I said, I originally wanted to start the book. with the liberation of Paris in the end.

So Uh the first chapter I wrote was about the American Army entering Paris and walking none down to Champsy Le Say. And they literally walked straight out of Paris and went right back into combat. But when I realized that Um But that really didn't give context. to the whole Berlin Pursuit. I realized that's when I realized I had to go back to D-Day.

And when I went back to D-Day, all of a sudden I found. These really interesting characters. You know, I knew I And who I wanted to be like George Patton and Reno Bob Montgomery because he'll use big personalities. And I wanted to put um James Gavin in there, he's a thirty seven year old two-star general who led the eighty second Airborne. And I was going to put Hemingway in there too as my fourth.

Main character. But then I found um And anyway, yeah, he was there, but he wasn't really doing much more than having a good party. Whereas The woman who was his third wife, who he he was in the process of of leaving, was instead doing some of the greatest war reporting. At that time, and she was, you know, as a woman, you know, she'd be all over the combat zone. She did some audacious things.

You know, she stowed away in a hospital ship. to cover the D-Day landing, see. She made her way all the way to the front. on the German border during the Market Garden campaign.

So you know, it was it's weird to write a World War two book with a woman as one of your top four characters, but I I really like the way she rounded out that stuff and and offers her own insights because she was everywhere the action was. Martin Dugard is the author of so many books that we've enjoyed. Taking Paris, Now Taking Berlin, The Future Volume, Taking London. He joins us on the Todd Starn show, Jeff Stein filling in for Todd Today. I remember when you were kind enough to come on my program in Iowa shortly before Taking Berlin was released.

You were doing research for the London book, the third book. At the time of the Queen's passing, that had to be a tremendously interesting experience and just able to be a part of history because you were there at the time. It was actually completely accidental. And by the way, I remember that interview. We had a really good talk that morning.

That was fantastic. Yes, sir. I I was uh I was actually On my way. To London to do some work. I was actually going to fly in a Spitfire, which, because I'm covering the Battle of Britain, I had to know what it was like to be in an aircraft like that.

So that was pretty cool. But just very incidentally, The Queen died gosh, a day before my flight and you know, and we got there and All you you heard on the the television, on the BBC was about how long the lines were going to be to what's the queen lying in state. And I remember that day I'd spent the morning researching um in the Houses of Parliament And then I had I'd done a couple of other things and I connected with my wife and we were going to go to dinner. And she said, why don't we just get in line? And at the time, the line was uh six miles long and And we waited, we know we met these wonderful people who are all waiting to see the Queen and You know, it's we were there eight hours.

It was midnight, but by the time we We got there and you know, my feet were sore and I was hungry and I was kind of getting cranky. And then, you know, you go through this big thing of security and you walk into this amazing Westminster Hall and you see the beefeater surrounding the catafalc. And you're in this line, and it is you see the the orb and the scepter, you know, the diamonds glittering off the top of the casket. And it is it was an amazing moment in Uh My wife curtsied to the queen. I I bowed to the queen and We went out and the postscript of that story was they had the whole thing being broadcast in the BBC.

we walk back to our hotel. By that time, it's almost two o'clock in the morning. We turned on the television And because of tape delay, we actually we were on T V. There was we could see ourselves walking past uh the Queen and I I wish I'd taken a picture of it because it was a very powerful moment.

Well, that's fantastic. You not only experienced the moment, you then just happened upon yourself on television as the world watched as well. That's tremendous. Martin Dugard is our guest. mister DeGard is the author of many books.

The most recent is Taking Berlin, and he joins us on the Todd Starnes program. This is a question born out of my fondness for books, my interests in how authors do things, having written books myself. I have a hard time. Shall we say, splitting where my mind is at. In other words, I really need a focus.

Maybe I'm not a good walk and chew gum at the same time kind of person, but. You have been re writing these books with Mr. O'Reilly. You're writing these additional books. It seems to me that you may be writing one book while you're doing research for another.

I mean, it's not as linear, is it, as some may expect? Uh it's not linear. It's not even Lo for instance, the other most recent killing book is Taking the Legends. And that came out, I think, in September um you know, and taking Berlin came out in November and They both had very similar deadlines.

So I literally wrote Both of them at the same time.

So I spent the morning. with with my own book and I would take a break, I'd go to a workout, or I'd you know, just go walk around or something like that. Then I'd come back in the morning and I would go So I go uh in the morning and be you know, focused on George S. Patton, General Georgi Zukov, Stalin, Churchill. and take that little break and come back and focus on Elvis Presley and Mohammed Ali.

So, um It's pretty intense. It's just a kind of hyper-focus. That's why there are no windows in my office. Shut myself in. close out the world.

and I sit my butt in the seat and start doing the research. I find there's too many distractions when I just am at a certain office that has multiple purposes. I almost need to go to a different place just to focus on my writing or focus on some of the radio work that I do because I kind of need the setting. To be consistent. And so you're a far better man than I am.

But I agree with the lack of window. You can lose a lot of time staring out an open window, to be sure. Martin Dugard is our guest, and martinugard.com is the website. Taking Berlin, the second in a three-part series of books, and of course, the killing series, Killing the Legends, the most recent one. What is there about the World War II era that interests you to the point that, as you said, you had written some previously and then took up the first the Paris book and then ultimately this three-volume series because you said you hadn't written about World War II in a while.

What is it about that era that either fascinates you, interests you, maybe is a better way to phrase it, and what can we take away from it as we start the year 2023? Oh, that's a great question. First of all, kind of unpack that a little bit. One of the reasons I like to read about World War two. First of all, it's You know it's it's one of the last I call it the biblical wars, where you win the war by conquering your your enemies.

Capital and And you take the you take the enemy leader hostage or you kill them or do whatever happens to them. And then the war's over. Instead of like with the with the Iraq war, we take Baghdad and then the war dragged on. It was it was different. War was waged differently back then.

There were no drones. Special forces were a much more limited role.

So That was different, but uh also too, you know, from uh from a research point of view, One more two. was the first war where you had kind of everything. You had you had video, you had radio, all these things you can access now. Photography was much more predominant. You had correspondents, many more correspondents on the front with their first person descriptions.

And As with James Gavin, he just I just got a chance to crack open his journal, which had never before been released. which gave me very specific times and dates. for a lot of the characters in my book, which I've never been able to prove before. Good. But kind of to the last part of your question, Uh you know, I I posted especially.

Everything that has happened in the world since 1945 1945 has impacted everything that has happened in the world since. And I can I can trace, you know Everything from a man on the moon to modern feminism to that last year, 1944, 1945. all the changes that took place in the world. And where we're seeing it right now is is uh Putin in in Ukraine. He's doing a something straight out of the Joseph Stalin playbook trying to rebuild the old Soviet Empire.

And um in a very you know, typically Stalinist brutal away. And um How that plays out is going to be very interesting, but at the same time, these troubles in China that are a completely different kind of warfare.

So it'll be interesting to see. Which kind of what transpires next on this world stage. But that really is the point of history, is it not, finally, to ask. The lessons that can be learned from what happened in the past can help us understand what may be happening now to prevent atrocities potentially, but to certainly advance the human society. Yeah.

I agree and Yeah, if it's uh Recently, on December 7th, 19 2022, so we all know that's Pearl Harbor Day. A very prominent individual. Of somebody who Who you might think would have known better. Yeah. This is he called it D-Day.

This is D-Day. We we need to remember this. Yeah. this moment in history. And obviously december seventh is Pearl Harbor.

It's not D-Day, which is june sixth. But it goes back to when I was researching a book a long time ago, for the killing series, and I went to the Japanese Imperial War Museum. Yeah. When you walk inside the museum They don't re refer to that as World War two. They Uh there's another term for it, but basically talk in a And they talk about uh Pearl Harbor Day as is a day of doing something to protect themselves as as opposed to something That was destructive.

And then as you walk through the rest of the museum, The whole every exhibit is framed in a way that makes it sound like the United States was the aggressor and the Japanese were just trying to protect their homeland the entire time, you know, even before the Pearl Harbor attacks. which is a very skewed version of My point being Uh This generation When someone's confusing D-Day with Pearl Harbor Day, which tells people that already a generation later, we're already starting to kind of blur the lines.

So A generation from now, two generations from now, when when the people who are the participants in all this are gone. There will be no need to say To correct the record.

So the historical record from that point on is going to be how people portray it in museums now, whether That's right or wrong. It's It's one of those things we're doomed to repeat history if we forget about it, but at the same time, We also have to be careful about the interpretation of history by people who have their own agenda. What a fantastic way to end the conversation. mister Dugard, a big fan of your work. I appreciate these radio conversations and continued success with the latest book, Taking Berlin.

Hope we talk again soon, sir. Any thanks, I really enjoy your talk. Thank you very much. Martin Dugard. Mr.

Dugard is the author of so many books, including his latest, Taking Berlin, and his latest with Bill O'Reilly, Killing the Legends, and he's online at martindugard.com. He joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd. Take your calls on the other side on this Friday edition of the Todd Starnes Show. I'm not sure if I can do it.

Welcome back to the Todd Starnes Show, Jeff Stein filling in for Todd on this last workday of the year 2022. And we're going to go out in this last hour with a bang. It's Guest Arama. We have Pastor Jackson Lawmeyer. He is the founder of Pastors for Trump.

That'll be just after the top of the hour. Steve Dace of Blaze TV and the author of so many books that I know you've appreciated. He'll join us in the next hour. And we'll also hear from Ariel Del Turco of the Center for Religious Liberty. All of that just in the next hour alone here on the Todd Starnes program.

We've been talking about Kevin McCarthy, who wants to be the Speaker of the House. We all know that. And I put a poll question up on my radio station website yesterday and invited you to weigh in as well. And I'm going to keep that up through the program, and then I'll post on the social media afterwards what the results turned out to be. But the question was pretty simple: who should be the next Speaker of the House?

If you go to Todd Starnes. And click on the live show blog. Grace has been kind enough to put a link there. And all you have to do is just weigh in and let us know your thoughts. And I'll tell you right now, it's neck and neck between Jim Jordan and Kevin McCarthy.

I think we've got eight or nine names on there. Um Roy is on there, Biggs is on there, et cetera, et cetera.

So you can go to ToddStarnes.com, click on the live show blog, and weigh in on that poll question of who should be the next speaker of the house, or if you'd rather just go to my website, my station website, it's kxel.com, and you can click on the poll question there at kxel.com. It's interesting, yesterday on this program we had former Congressman Steve King. float an idea that Kevin McCarthy might make a deal with Democrats to not show up for the speaker vote on Tuesday, thereby reducing the total number of members in the chamber, thereby reducing the number of votes he needs to win. I find that to be a fascinating scenario. In other words, instead of 435 members and you need 218 as the majority.

Can he buy off enough Democrats to just sit in the hallway or go to the smoking lounge? If they still have such things, so that then he does not need as many? Because he only needs 50% plus one of those who are in attendance. And now McCarthy is spending the New Year's weekend trying to get conservatives. to come along.

He's he's going to agree to some of these rule changes. It's desperation time, friends. We're not desperate, we're just asking you to come back for hour number three. Jeff Stein here for Todd, and this is the Todd Starn Show. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starnes.

That's right. I love this American Ride. Wherever you're listening across this, the greatest nation God ever blessed, welcome to hour three of a Friday edition of the Todd Starnes Show, coast to coast on more than 100 outstanding radio stations and streaming live at ToddStarnes.com. Hello, fellow Patriots, Jeff Stein from News Talk 1540, KXEL, in the free state of Iowa. Final hour of my time this week, and I appreciate you being along.

Todd will be back on Tuesday, a best of starnes on the official holiday on Monday, January 2nd. Todd is back in the chair on Tuesday. Never liked to jinx anything, but he's got a lot to say, I'm sure, having been off for 10 days and a pretty big guest list for the program on Tuesday as well.

So you're going to want to be a part of that. Joining us now on the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line is Pastor Jackson Lawmeyer. He is the The founder of a group called Pastors for Trump, and they are online at pastorsfortrump.com. Use the number four on that URL, pastorsfortrump.com. Pastor Lawmeyer, Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd Starnes.

Thanks for being along with us today, sir. Oh, absolutely. Always an honor to be on with you, Jeff. Thank you. Tell me how you came up with this idea for a group called Pastors for Trump.

What's the purpose behind it and what was the genesis?

Well, the Genesis was actually a story from the Washington Post about evangelical leaders after President Trump's announcement that he would seek the Presidency in twenty twenty four backing off from him. And so I recognized that and I said, what's happening right now? Are these Christian leaders suffering from short term memory loss? President Trump has been the most pro-Christian president. In my lifetime, I You got to realize what the President did.

People will say, well, he has said this or he said that, but actions speak louder than words. And uh President Trump Not only did he strike the Abraham Accords, but he did something every single one of his predecessors promised to do, which was move the embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He actually did it. And then we obviously recognize it was through President Trump That the Supreme Court justices were appointed, that shortly thereafter his leaving office. reversed Roe v.

Wade, sent it back to the state. And so my state here in Oklahoma is now an abortion free state, and that's thanks to President Trump.

So we've been rallying pastors. But it pastors for Trump is not just for pastors. We have monthly prayer calls where anybody who is listening right now can join those prayer calls. They just go to pastorsfortrump.com. They can sign up.

They can register. And we believe that in order to make America great again, we first begin by making America godly again, and we do that through prayer. Pastorsfortrump. com is the website. Pastor Jackson Lawmeyer joining us on the Todd Starnes program.

You ran for public office yourself. You're becoming more politically involved, and I just wonder what the members of Sheridan Church and Tulsa think about what their pastor is doing these days. They love it. You know, our church has grown so much. It's an incredible thing to see.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen when I decided to run for the U.S. Senate. General Michael Flynn called me, said, You're going to run for the U.S. Sentinel, Oklahoma. I had no desire to do it, but we did it and it was a blast.

I had the time of my life. But I was afraid what was going to happen to the church. I wasn't sure how they were going to respond. And they responded so well We've grown by leaps and bounds, and we're continuing to grow. We believe that we have the responsibility to engage in our culture.

Our nation's in a lot of trouble right now. You see the drag queen shows with children there. Our nation is in trouble. And so, pastors and Christians have to engage. The Bible tells us that when the wicked are in authority, the people groan.

But when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice. Right now, America's groaning because who's in leadership? And so we have to engage, we have to get involved. And that's what we're doing with Pastors for Trump. You were talking about how this came about, where you were seeing.

Supposed leaders of various faiths backing away from a Trump 24 candidacy. These were probably, maybe not, but it seems to me these were probably the same ones who said that he was not worthy in 2016, who ultimately came around because, again, actions speak louder than words. Why do you suppose so many individuals, so many Clergy members were trying to distance themselves from mister Trump this time.

Well, like I said, I think some of them are probably suffering from short-term memory loss. I mean, you just have to remember what President Trump did. during those four years, he gave Christian leaders a seat at the table, which is an incredible thing. I can promise you, Joe Biden's not given us a seat at the table, but President Trump is, and he did. And so I think part of it is There's always this narrative against Trump.

I mean, think about it. Every time they've got him, well, they just backed off on the subpoena from the January 6th Commission. I thought that was supposed to be the end-all for Trump.

Well, obviously not. They continue to go after him. And unfortunately, some of these evangelical leaders have drank the Kool-Aid. But to your point, when President Trump wins the nomination for the Republican Party 2024, they'll come right back around. Pastorsfortrump.com is the website.

Use the number 4, pastorsfortrump.com. You can click a button to join their regular prayer call, donate if you feel so inclined as well. This effort You started this, you're growing it to all 50 states, et cetera. But by being the person out in front of it, you've taken a few slings and arrows, have you not?

Well, you know, the Rolling Stone, which is a lot like the Washington Post, which is total trash. The Rolling Stone should stick to covering music, not religion and politics. They just released a. Pretty lengthy hit piece on me. But you know, I say they kind of included some of my best hits.

And uh but it has intensified the fire of the trolls on Twitter coming after me. Obviously, uh it's a badge of honor to some degree. If you've got the counterculture, shall we say, saying you're doing something wrong, that ought to reinforce uh a lot of people's uh mind uh that that the mission is correct, huh? I I think we're over the target. Here's what the liberal media knows.

Here's what they know. Yeah. The largest voting block in the United States of America is the Christian vote. If we can turn out the Christian vote for Donald Trump in twenty twenty four, He will win the White House once again. How do we turn out the Christian vote in 2024?

We mobilize pastors. And by mobilizing pastors, we will mobilize the Christian vote.

So that's why the Liberal media is coming after me so strongly, coming after pastors for Trump, because they do recognize the largest voting bloc in this country is Christians. And we're going to mobilize pastors. We're going to mobilize Christians to get out and vote. And to vote for life, to vote for liberty, and that is represented in the candidacy of Donald J. Trump.

Yeah. What is the word, if any, from Team Trump about your work organizing this group, Pastors for Trump? The President is very thankful. He sent me a message thanking me. He truthed out he doesn't tweet out, he truths out our organization in an article about us in the Gateway Pundit.

And so the President is very thankful because he also recognizes, just as the Rolling Stone or the Washington Post recognizes the importance of the Christian vote, President Trump recognizes that as well. He will not win the White House without the backing of the Christian majority in this country. And I just think we need to remember what he has done. Actions speak louder than words. Remember what President Trump has done.

We need to rally behind him. We need to unify behind him right now. And we need to pray for him. He needs wisdom. He needs discernment.

So that's why we're having these monthly prayer calls that anybody, you don't have to be a pastor, you don't have to be a ministry leader to join. Anybody can join us by going to pastorsforTrump.com and registering. And that's the number four, pastorsfortrump.com. And very easy to navigate with those buttons so that you can select whatever interests you, whether it's the prayer call, donation, or just learning more. Pastor Jackson Lawmeyer, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us on the Todd Starnes program.

Best wishes for the new year, and we'll connect again as this effort moves forward, sir. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on. God bless you guys. And then the same to you, sir.

Pastor Jackson Lawmeyer of Pastors for Trump, pastorsfortrump.com. And he joined us on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. We're broadcasting from the Liberty University studio. We'll take a break now when we come back from Blaze TV and all manner of very popular books. Steve Dace will be our guest.

I'm Jeff Stein, filling in for Todd. Thank you for being along on this edition of the Todd Starn Show. Welcome back to the Todd Starnes Radio Show coming to you from the Liberty University studio. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd on this Friday, joining us on the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line. A man who apparently has figured out how to fit 40 hours into each 24-hour day because of all the material he produces.

He has the weekday program on Blaze TV. A year ago, co-author of the book Faucian Bargain, followed up by Faucian Booster. Do what you believe, or you won't be free to believe it much longer, is a book that was released a little more than a year ago. He then had a children's book about Thanksgiving. One of his other books is about to become a motion picture.

He has an Amazon best-selling book coming out in a couple of months, and on top of it, His daughter got married in the past year. Steve Dace, thank you so much, sir, for taking the time. I have a feeling of everything I just mentioned, that last one was most important. It was, but it actually comes across as much more impressive when you lay it out like that than it is when you're living through it every day, brother. I appreciate it.

Thank you. Rise of the Fourth Reich is the book that comes out in February, co-authored by Steve Dace and Daniel Horowitz. Remind folks, because I think we talked about it on this program when the book came, or when the pre-sale was last year, but remind people of this forthcoming book and tell us about why perhaps it's even more important that folks get a copy of this now as we see Dr. Fauci retire.

Well, I think the subtitle just says it all, Confronting COVID Fascism with a New Nuremberg Trial, so that this never happens again. And we structured Daniel and I structured this book Like a trial. It has a witness docket. It doesn't have a table of contents. It has an opening statement where we lay out the totality of our case.

against what we call COVID stand in the book. And then it has a closing argument where we lay out why the appropriate punishments need to be given to those involved. and how we can never allow this to happen again. And the appendix even includes several policy initiatives that you could specifically take to your state legislature where you live everywhere around the country. to stop them from ever doing masking our children again, from ever forcibly injecting us with experimental products ever again, from ever locking down our businesses and declaring what is or isn't essential ever again, this psyop that we have lived through for the last few years.

So I really think this is the most important book I've ever written. might end up being the most important book in my life I'll ever write. And you can read the opening argument right now for free. If you go to this website, Trials and Execution, We put that out there last summer when you and I last chatted, but that link is still live. You can still go there.

If you haven't read the opening statement yet or you want to read it again, you can go to trials and execution dot com and read it there. But I'm going to warn you, This ain't a reader's digest. This is in the Cliff's notes. I mean, this is going to be a nearly 400-page book. Much of it will be witness interviews, people whose loved ones were medically kidnapped.

were killed in hospitals because they were denied effective early treatments. people who were paralyzed by the jab or had loved ones who were killed by it. and they couldn't get any remediation whatsoever. Whistleblowers from the Department of Defense, from within the healthcare industry. By the time you're done reading this book, you're going to be very Angry.

And if you think you're angry now, you will get even angrier, I promise. What is the response to those, and you've heard them, who say, well, they were just doing the best that they knew how to do at the time, and it never will happen again? I mean, these are centuries apart, these kinds of public health scares. What's the response from Steve Dace to that? This morning, my old home state of Michigan is trying to get five counties to remask school children this morning.

That alert was given this morning. And what we address this in Rise of the Fourth Reich, Jeff. And one of the things that we point out is a simple yet profound point. Throughout this entire course of events, name one time that they came to us and said, you know what, We overreacted there. We weren't sure what we were dealing with.

We have a virus of unknown to malicious origin. We're not sure what natural laws of virology, immunology, and biology it applies to.

So we're reacting accordingly. And you know what? Turns out that didn't work, or it turns out that went too far, and so we're pulling that back. Name one time. Since March 16th of 2020, when this Truly began when the lockdowns began.

Jeff, name one time where that level of self-awareness or humility was practiced by anyone in power. Go. You cannot. You cannot, and therefore that's your answer right there. Absolutely.

That's your answer right there. If it was, they just went too far, we would have seen things like that. But we didn't, right? We still have a lot of our pow the powers that be still trying to hold on to the canard and lie of a natural origin for this thing. All right, still still running commercials last week before I left for vacation.

or two weeks ago before I left for vacation for the holidays, the White House held a briefing where they still lied to people that if you get these jabs, you won't spread the virus. They're still lying. And the only reason it's not as punitive as it was before, a couple of things have happened. One, a group of people like myself and others around the country successfully deconstructed this narrative. And now the guy who owns the most powerful and potent media platform in America, where more media narratives than anywhere else get determined and driven and distributed, Twitter, He's a guy out there tweeting, gain of function is bio is means bioweapon and arrest Fauci.

So they have nowhere to go to mass lie to people anymore. And then enough people got damaged or killed tragically by these so called policies. That they just can't enforce them on wide swaths of people anymore. But make no mistake, I mean, over at the Blaze yesterday, Jeff, we ran an article. Overwhelming majority of Democrats still in favor of masking toddlers.

Now they're still in favor of murdering school their own children as well. But there is an element of our culture here. that clearly showed it has been conditioned Comp for complete and total statist Control. And so this isn't over, and it's particularly embodied and embedded in one of the major political parties. And then the other one just is too gutless in most cases to take it on.

In our remaining sixty seconds with Steve Dace before our hard break at the bottom of the hour, do you have any confidence that Republicans have what it takes with control majority, I should say, in the House to have this all make a difference? I have confidence the governor of Florida with a convened grand jury has the testicular fortitude. And I also wonder this, Jeff, how many people knowing they took a poison Less than fifteen percent of American adults didn't take any of this gene juice. How many Americans want to be honest with themselves about what they injected into their body? I think that's a bigger challenge than even the Republicans.

Rise of the Fourth Reich, confronting COVID-fascism with a new Nuremberg trial. Good thing I talk for a living.

So this never happens again. The book, Steve Days, and Daniel Horowitz. You can get it now wherever you get your good books, and it comes out, what, around the third week of February, sir? We're shooting for Valentine's Day, but you know, because of Let's Go Brandon, supply chains are a mess right now, but that's what we're shooting for, right around that. Why do I have a feeling that they're saying if Dace needs paper to print his book, they're going to, you know.

Poke a hole in the wheels of the semi. Yeah. Because you've been paying attention for the last few years, brother. That's why you're not woke, but you're awake. That's why.

You're a patriot. You are a moral patriot, Steve Dace. Thank you so much for taking the time and for continuing to speak out. Happy New Year to you and yours, and I look forward to when we can talk again. You, Bad Brother, same to you and yours as well.

Thank you. God bless. Steve Dace of Blaze TV and the forthcoming book with Daniel Horowitz Rise of the Fourth Reich. Final half hour of this Friday edition of the Todd Starn Show is coming up. I'm Jeff Stein in for Todd.

Hope you'll stay along. Here on the Starnes Media Group, Network of Stations. Welcome back to the Todd Starnes Show. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd this week. It's been a great time, and I'm so glad that you've been along.

Best of Starnes on Monday. Todd is back in the air chair on Tuesday as we continue from the Liberty University studio. Joining us now on the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line is Arielle Del Turco. She is Assistant Director of the Center for Religious Liberty. This is within FRC, the Family Research Council, and she is the author of a fascinating new report.

Thank you, first of all, for joining us on the program. Jeff Stein filling in for Todd today. How are you, ma'am? Thank you for having me. This report is entitled Well, the headline on the post on the website, hostility against churches is on the rise in the United States.

First of all, tell us why this was a topic that you found worthy of study, and then give us the headline that, frankly, is staggering to me. Yeah, so going into this research, I really wanted to explore whether the perception that I was having that I was hearing more and more about incidents of vandalism against churches and other threats against churches, if that was actually on the rise. And we found out that it was.

So over the last five years, we looked at 2018 all the way through September of 2022 of this year, which is our reporting period, we identified 420 publicly documented incidents of what we call acts of hostility against churches.

So we're talking about vandalism, arson attacks and attempts, throwing rocks through buildings, interrupting of worship services. This is serious stuff, and we found that it's on the rise at least over the last five years. And what is especially sad, if you will, to me, tragic, is that when you are expressing your faith, when you are in a house of worship, it is the place where you feel most secure. You should feel most secure. You may be most vulnerable.

You are expressing faith. And to have these violent. Outbursts take place, even the threat of such a thing. And it's most disturbing that it is getting worse over this reporting period as opposed to tapering off, correct? Yeah, you're absolutely right.

So in 2018, we identified 50 incidents. Just from January to September of this year, we identified 137, so basically on track to triple what it was five years ago. That's a massive increase, and it's not something we should take lightly. And I think it represents, as you indicated, a growing intolerance towards Christian beliefs and Christian practice in America. Arielle Del Turco is our guest, Family Research Council.

And the study is hostility against churches is on the rise in the United States. And this is no small little report. The PDF of this that people can download or read for themselves, it's 85 pages. This is extensively researched. Is there an area of the country that perhaps is more prone to this than another?

You know, what is almost more concerning than any regional findings we had was the fact that it was so widespread. We found incidents across 45 states plus Washington, DC, and it tended to fluctuate with population, so in the larger states. Both red states and blue states, so California and Texas and Florida and New York, all had the most incidents, I think, just because there's more people in those states.

So I think even more than a regional problem, it seems to be, to me at least, a cultural problem in America, where Americans feel more comfortable attacking and lashing out at churches maybe than they did even several decades ago. I think to some extent it reflects a lack of reverence and respect. For churches that I think would have been more prominent not too long ago in America. There's a map that you've included in this excellent report, and that's what led me to ask the question because I see that more incidents happened in states like. California, Texas, and New York.

Well, these are populous states, so I would assume there'd be more incidents. But to your point, the level of Of how widespread this is. That is especially disturbing, and do we get a sense? That there is any other theme to it. In other words, that it has to do with topic, if that can be addressed other than just a general protest or topic.

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Excludes Bike, Bike Plus, and Tret Basics. See additional terms at onepeloton.com. Tied to specific incidents in the news, perhaps.

Well, one of the findings in our report that I was particularly disturbed about was the connection we found between times of heightened political tension in the U.S. and a greater attacks on churches.

So I think this was most prominent this summer, around the time that the Supreme Court issued the Dobbs decision. We identified fifty seven Specifically, pro-abortion, acts of hostility against churches within those few months in the summer around the time that that happened. Really, people lashing out at churches, saying, leaving incredibly mean and vile and threatening messages via vandalism, even interrupting church services with grotesque protests. Over the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and would have helped institute some pro-life protections on states that chose to do so.

So we saw that, that political loss. made the left really angry, and they went out and lashed out at churches, which I think is a really, really damaging sign for our democracy. The individuals who are associated closely with the churches, the pastors, etc., the elders of various churches. Have they indicated In the research you did, that this is having an effect to diminish. The parishioners' attendance.

In other words, is this scaring people off? I didn't want to be so crass as to say, is this scaring people off from going to church? But is this a factor that we can document?

Well, I think it's certainly the intent of some of the acts of hostility. It's to intimidate, it's to threaten, it's really just to make a church or a congregation feel unwelcome in their community. And to some community members, clearly they are unwelcome. Have I I don't know that it's a decreased church attendance.

However, for the churches that are dealing with this, especially the churches that are dealing with repeat vandalisms and repeat acts of church destruction, it's incredibly discouraging. Do you think that by, and I pause because I want to frame this respectfully, do you think that by bringing attention to this?

Okay. It may help effect some sort of change, because it seems to me that those who have the ability to aggressively prosecute such wrongdoing are turning a blind eye to it. Do you think that bringing this to the light of day may help shame some of these individuals into actually aggressively prosecuting? protecting The faithful. Or is it perhaps potentially just going to embolden wrongdoers to figure they can get away with anything?

Well, I certainly hope that this report and the raising of awareness that we're doing with this topic is going to be helpful. I think it's important for even Americans and your listeners to hear that religious freedom doesn't just require legal protection, it also requires cultural support.

So that means all of us are going to be a part of the solution. That means American citizens should be condemning acts of violence or hostility against churches whenever they occur. You can go out and help clean up vandalism or help repair a church locally in your area that you hear about experiencing one of these. But also we should be demanding that our politicians do the same, that they also condemn these acts and reaffirm a support for this fundamental American value, religious freedom. And at its core, religious freedom absolutely, just at a basic level, includes the ability to go to church and worship freely.

And I did not mean to suggest in the question that government is the answer. Heaven knows. The only way you're going to get change is to, as you're doing, shine the light of day on it, but then to have people in the community stand up and say, this will not stand. We will not stand for this in our community. And from some of the stories in the report that you list, people have risen up rather nicely, haven't they, in support of what is important to them.

Yeah, I agree with you. And we've had a really positive response from this report. Everyone that's been exposed to this data has been deeply impacted. And a lot of people just didn't realize how widespread this was becoming and especially the level of increase that's happened over the last five years. I think it's a widespread issue, and so the call to action is similarly widespread.

It's going to take all of us to address it. Ms. Del Turco, thank you so much for this excellent work. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us about it today, and a happy new year to you and yours. Thank you.

You as well. Arielle Del Turco is Assistant Director of the Center for Religious Liberty. It's affiliated with the Family Research Council. FRC.org, of course, is their excellent website. And right there on the main page, there's the article Hostility Against Churches is on the rise in the United States.

That full publication I mentioned was extensive at 85 pages, but don't be deterred. Much of it is the wonderful footnoted information so that nobody can say they're making stuff up. And it's a recitation of every one of these acts. at least four hundred twenty. in four and a half years.

and getting worse as time goes on. It's an important topic that I'm glad was brought to your attention on this edition of the Todd Starn Show from the Liberty University studio. All guests on the program appear via the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. 844-747-8868. We have another segment, another chance for you to weigh in before the end of this calendar year.

And I hope you'll do so. 844-747-8868. Jeff Stein in for Todd, and this is the Todd Starn Show. Start a journey, not a fab. Kick off your fitness journey with up to $500 off Peloton Bike, Bike Plus, or Treb packages.

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Um Welcome back to the Todd Starn Show. From the Liberty University studio, I'm Jeff Stein, wrapping up a week in the air chair. Again, best of starnes for you all on Monday. Todd is back on Tuesday, and an awful lot of things have happened in the news. And given the fact that Tuesday is the day the new Republican majority takes their seat in the U.S.

House, plenty to talk about and some special guests on the list already. I don't want to jinx it, but you're going to want to be here. You're going to be here every day. But ToddStarnes.com, also where you go to get all manner of good information. Sign up for the newsletter.

I have it show up in my email box shortly after this show airs, so it catches me up on everything. That's at ToddStarnes.com. If you're interested, and some of you have reached out through the socials, so I'll be happy to tell you. You can go to totallyiowa.com. That's totallyiowa.com.

That's my website where my various books and CDs and DVDs are. And it also has links to the podcasts that I do. every day as part of my work uh for uh Well, I work here at KXEL Radio, and I have these syndicated programs. You can listen to the podcast by going to totallyiowa.com and follow me on the socials: Twitter, Getter, Parlor, Instagram, and Truth Social at Iowa Politics at IOWA Politics. I am really I want to share something with you just simply because if you're listening to this program, it's because you have a certain world view and you have a host in Todd Starns who is there to bring you the information you need.

Make you laugh just a few times because the world is too serious a place. And what I found, and this was triggered by an email that I got from one of our listeners. Who mentioned how they really enjoyed listening to Todd, and then they said something about some of the other national hosts that we have on my station here in Iowa. And The gist of the comment by this listener was: I just can't really tell how much of it is show. with these other hosts.

How much of it is is Do they really believe? And it got me to thinking. Because the late, great Rush Limbaugh, who invented this medium. In the modern era, no question about it. And anyone who talks into a microphone like this.

owes Mr. Limbaugh the biggest debt of gratitude. But he would tell the story about how People would come up to him, journalists or just people he would meet, and they'd say, You don't really believe everything that you say, do you? as if the whole thing was just an act. And his answer uniformly was Well, absolutely.

I believe everything I say. How could I possibly say it? And how could I keep what I'm saying straight if I'm trying to cater to this audience or this audience? If you hear me say it, it's because I believe it. That was the Limbaugh philosophy.

It is also the Starnes philosophy because I know when I hear Todd say something, it's because he believes it, not because he's looked at some public opinion survey to see what will get him more listeners or might curry favor with an elite ruling class in Washington. I can tell you, you could just put it on paper, take it to the bank, that if you hear the host of this program say something, it's because he believes it. As opposed to and and I have to tell you, I'm the same way as that listener to my station who emailed. There are sometimes I hear these hosts go on about things and I just think it's far too convenient, shall we say. And I think Todd made mention of it in a commentary, or perhaps at ToddStarnes.com, that there is a well-known national host.

I won't go into who, but essentially it came out that he testified under oath in one of these election lawsuits that he never really did believe The election was rigged in 2020, even though he was on the air, on radio and television, saying it over and over and over. But when then, actually, under oath, in a lawsuit, said, nah, I didn't really believe it. I don't know how you can do that. and have any credibility with an audience. Because one of the things that is so special and so unique about radio, and you all listening know this is.

Even if you don't call in, and we love it when you do. There's a connection. Because radio goes with you, right? It can go with you in the car, it's on in the kitchen or the bathroom as you're getting ready in the morning or whatever. It's like a conversation.

Much different than television, much different than even just a little app on your phone. I mean radio is the personal medium. Where we're able to have this conversation, and where you're able to call in and talk to the host coast to coast. And where you're invited to share a different viewpoint as people have today, and that's tremendous. It's a very unique relationship, and I cannot imagine.

Being disingenuous. I cannot imagine saying one thing but believing something else. Because, and again, I cite Mr. Limbaugh: you can't be on the radio, coast to coast, 15 hours a week, three hours a day, five days a week. and be a phony.

Because the audience will figure it out. And that is why I am. Absolutely. Absolutely. Thrilled to be asked to host this program on occasion.

Because I know the audience and the host have a bond. because you trust him, you believe in what he says, and you should. And it's a true honor and a pleasure to talk to you all and to be in this chair. And. I believe in loyalty as well.

And there have been, I've had some folks who say, hey, could you fill in on this show or that show, whatever? Big shows. And I say, no. Because Todd has asked me to fill in for him, and it's been that way for years, and I feel very comfortable with all of you, and especially with the great team there at the Mighty 990 in Memphis. Kyle's been at the controls of the Mighty Wurlitzer earlier in the week.

Josh has been handling things tremendously today. As always, Grace is the steady presence that keeps Mr. Starnes in line and keeps the program on the air. And it's a real pleasure to work with them.

So thanks to them. Thank you, Todd, for your friendship and your confidence in letting me drive the ship of state, as it were, from the Liberty University studio. Happy New Year, everyone. Thank you for being along this week. Jeff Stein in for Todd on the Todd Starn Show.