Moderate Republicans Threaten to Hand Over House to Dems

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Excludes Bike, Bike Plus, and Tread Basics. See additional terms at onepeloton.com. Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite cunt totem Bible clinging deplorable American. That's it. That's right.

I love this American ride. Todd Starn.

Sorry.

So John Wayne The Great American One of our best John Wayne the Duke. Said you gotta know when to fight. You gotta know when to fight. It's always better to solve your problems with words, avoid unnecessary violence. But sometimes when a fella can't be reasoned with, um Sometimes it just might be what the doctor ordered.

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Todd Stearns Radio Program. I'm very happy to have you with us today. And we got a lot going on. We still do not have a Speaker of the House.

There is still gridlock. And there's a lot of stuff out there. People saying, well, they've reached a deal. But we don't believe that to be the case just yet.

Now, there are many people out there who are getting exhausted. I'm not one of them. As a matter of fact, I'm rather enjoying all of this because this is how democracy is supposed to work in a constitutional republic. This is part of. Part of the process.

When you look at how Parliament in the UK operates, there's a lot of screaming, there's a lot of shouting, there's a lot of arguing, there's a lot of fighting, and there's nothing wrong with that. But right now, what we're being exposed to is how things ought to be. And I'm glad that these elected lawmakers who make on average one hundred seventy four thousand dollars a year are being forced to sit their butts in those seats and actually do the business of We the People.

Now, look, today we're going to be going through a lot of stuff. We're going to be taking your calls, and we're also going to be talking to some of the people that Fox News Channel is now calling insurrectionist. Brian Kilmead from Fox News Channel actually called the people who are standing in opposition, the people that we call the House 20, calling them insurrectionist. They could discuss ways to get around this and try to come together today at noon. Right, but here's the thing: if you pick Jim, just so insincere the insurrectionists are, I probably shouldn't use that word, the people that don't want to vote for Kevin Roberts.

They would disagree with it. I'm just curious: why are you people still watching Fox News? Why are you listening to Fox News Radio? These people really don't like you. They make millions of dollars because of you, but they really don't like you.

Fox News channel has become the propaganda voice and really the megaphone for Kevin McCarthy and the establishment Republicans. They have been called, these House 20 have been called every name in the book. You've got, and we're going to play a lot of this audio, but you've got folks like Newt Gingrich out there saying the House 20 have psychological problems, that they're blackmailing. You've got Dan Crenshaw, John McCain with an eye patch, saying that these people are terrorists, comparing them to the Islamic radicals who flew jetliners into the buildings on 9-11, killing thousands of Americans. There is a lot of hate and a lot of vitriol being directed at the House 20.

But I don't see them doing the same thing to Kevin McCarthy. As a matter of fact, I don't even see him doing that to, by the way, Don Bacon, the congressman from Nebraska who actually wants to work with Democrats and hand control of the House of Representatives over to the Democrats. Where's Fox News calling that guy an insurrectionist? Where's Fox News calling that guy a terrorist? But no, no, no, because he's a voice of reason, according to Fox News channel.

So we're going to be going through and playing a lot of audio as we begin vote number twelve.

So now we've already surpassed the the we've already surpassed the nineteen twenty three vote, which was nine.

Now we have to go all the way back to the Civil War era. This thing could go on for a couple of months. I don't think it's going to. I think sooner or later somebody's going to have to go to McCarthy, unless, by the way, a deal is reached. But my sources are telling me that the deal may not have been reached.

So, sooner or later, somebody's going to have to go to McCarthy and say, you know what? Yeah, this is not going to work. We got to come up with a plan B.

Now, I want to ask the House 20 something. What is Plan B? What is their plan? Is it Donald Trump? By the way, did you see the picture that Donald Trump posted?

Donald Trump, and we've got this up on our website, Trump posted a little photo, it's kind of photoshopped, of Biden speaking before Congress, and Trump is seated where the Speaker of the House would be seated.

So here's the question, and we're going to take an early break. We're expecting one of the House 20 to join us, Congressman Ralph Norman. And so we will take an early break so we can accommodate this conversation. And we'll ask Congressman Norman what is Plan B here? All right, we're going to do that.

But we want to hear from you. Is it time for Kevin McCarthy to step aside, or is it time for the House 20 to stand down? Have they made their point? And also, who would you like to see? If it's not going to be Kevin McCarthy, do you really believe that Donald Trump could be the guy that could bring order to the House of Representatives?

844-747-8868. That is our toll-free telephone number. That's 844-747-8868. We also have lots of new material up on our website. Caleb Park, our managing editor, just doing an amazing job.

Our great team of writers, check that information out as well. We'll be right back.

Now from the hit show, Let McConnell Make a Deal comes the new sitcom the whole country's talking about. Everybody still hates Kevin. Since the premiere on January 2nd, 20 conservative Republicans have consistently voted for anyone except Kevin McCarthy. I nominate Donald Doug.

So when will the gang of 20 be willing to trust, respect, or even sort of tolerate McCarthy as Speaker of the House? Everybody still hates him. Come on, guys. I just want to be the Speaker of the House. I nominate...

Oh, hand me the phone, boy. Watch Everybody Still Hates Kevin today at Noon Eastern or catch it next week in reruns. Uh The conference understands this is a core decision. Do the 202 win or do the 20 win? And in a free society, You cannot, just as you can't give in to terrorists and you can't give in to hostage takers, you can't allow them to take the conference hostage and win.

Are you disappointed with Newt Gingrich? I mean, I don't know what's happening to Newton. By the way, he needs to get that cough checked out. Every time he's on Fox News channel, they ask him to speak, he coughs before that's that can't be healthy.

So again, Newt Gingrich calling them deranged psychos, said that now he's calling them terrorists. The name calling is just beyond the pale. But here's what gets me: they've still got to work with these guys. Right? And here they are out there calling them every name under the book.

January sixth of all times to be calling these House Twenty insurrectionists.

Well, let's go to the phones here, eight four four seven four seven eighty eight sixty eight. Jerry, listening to us on KWAM, our flagship station. Jerry, what's on your mind? Hi, thanks for taking my call. Um I just want to let people know that uh I spent just a couple of minutes, honestly, contacting uh the vast majority of all of the representatives from Tennessee.

Tennessee has got nine representatives in total Ain't a Republican. One of those eight Andy Ogles is actually four Anybody but Kevin, and I shouldn't say anybody but Kevin, but he's part of the group that's. standing firm, standing tall and digging their heels in for America. And I just wanted to let people know that it doesn't take that long I have a website I can direct people to to find phone numbers really easy, but I contacted Harshbroger's office, Broch's office, Fleischman's office, DeGyrus' office, it's Green's office, Custoff's office. and left the message real polite, just to ask them to reconsider.

And I went through a lot of the things about McCallfee as far as the way he rolled over for Pelosi on the january sixth committee and how he let Pelosi kick off banks and Jordan. and how he let Chaney and uh the other one, the Fry Baby, on a Kinsinger, okay? and how he let nine representatives Vote for the omnibus bill and how his and you and I talked about this on air, that contract of America and how lackluster that thing was. And now he pulled funding from other campaigns That he didn't like those people. And I listed those things to the people that answered the phone.

I was polite. They were polite. And I think those messages, if we can get. 40, 50, 80, 100, 150 people to call these places. And again, I can give you a number or a website that makes it really easy to get their numbers.

They don't have to be your reps. Jerry, let me jump in here, Jerry. Let me jump in here. By the way, Andy Ogles is going to be on the program today in the next hour.

So you're going to want to stick around and listen to that interview. And we're expecting Ralph Norman to call this hour of the program. We do have a link on our live show blog to the Capitol Hill switchboard, which makes it easy for people to call, and they'll connect you directly to your congressperson. And, Jerry, I think you're right. There's no need to be mean or nasty about it.

Just tell them: you know, this is what you want them to do. You are a constituent, and you have that right. And I believe that as Republicans, we have a right to demand excellence. We have a right to demand not second best or just, okay, yeah, we don't yet, we get it. He's not the best.

Why can't we have the best? Why can't we have a fighter in the speaker chair? Why can't we get somebody like a Nancy Pelosi who's going to actually stand up for the values and the Principles of her party. Why can't Republicans have that kind of a person? And I hate to say it, but Kevin McCarthy's not that guy.

He's just not. Jerry, appreciate the call. 844-747-8868. Let's go to Tim in Georgia, listening to us on WDUN. Hi, Tim.

What's on your mind? I just got a quick question for you. Yes, sir. I heard this morning coming into work. that since there was no Speaker elected that the clerk of the House of Representatives would be in charge.

still one was elected. And this is a black lady that Nancy Pelosi put in that position. My question is If something, God forbid, something happened, but if something, while she was in charge, something happened to the President, the Vice President. Would she become pregnant? No, she would not, Tim.

And let me explain the reason why. When you're looking at the presidential line of secession, and it really doesn't matter what the skin color is at all, it goes from the, of course, you're the president, next in line, the vice president, as you correctly pointed out, the speaker of the house. But if there is no speaker of the house, it would go to the next person or the next position, which would be the president pro tem of the senate and then the secretary of state.

So that's and then it goes, and then you start going through the cabinet members.

So, no, and I've heard a lot of people concerned about that.

Now, the house clerk is in charge of the house until they get all this squared away, but no decision-making procedures, no, you can't make appointments to committees or anything like that. Just wondering because I didn't know how it stacked up if she was. Yeah, this is the first time that a Black lady has been in charge of The Of Representatives, ever in the history of this country. Why does that matter?

Well, I mean, it doesn't, but I mean, this person was making a big deal of it. I forget who it was.

Okay. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, I got you. You know, I'm just saying for history violence, I didn't know. how it would fall if that would if something wants to happen.

Since she was, quote, the in charge of the House, but she's not the speaker. No, white, black, Hispanic, Asian. Nope. They have no, it goes right. They would just go down the list, and uh, House Clerk, I think, would be way down that list.

So you're good.

Okay. Tim, appreciate the call. I get that. And again, folks, the issue there is that people are making a big deal about that. And, you know, it's, I mean, we don't care about skin color.

We care about competence on this radio program. I just want to remind you of that. Let's go to Tom in Commerce, Georgia, which, by the way, the last time I was in Commerce, Tom, speaking at that big Trump rally, and it was like three degrees and 90 mile-an-hour winds. Maybe a slight exaggeration. Yeah, the wind chill is about the same as we had a week or so ago here.

What's cold? What's going on, Tom?

Okay, so we get all the shenanigans and the machinations and everything, but two things. First, What I want to know, Todd, other than what you just delineated about You know, McCarthy caving in on this, that, and the other with, you know, the January sixth committee people and all that. to Pelosi. What are Are these twenty wanting. I understand that part of it is they want to restore the house rules so that they're back to where they were before Pelosi made him like her little fiefdom tyranny.

And you know, so can you delineate for me and for the audience What concessions they have been Given by McCarthy. And you know, I you know, that was in the details.

So, all of this. the personality stuff and people calling names and all that, that doesn't really end up Making a difference in the six months from now. What I want to know is what is it that they've gotten back Come on back. that they or that they were so determined that they weren't going to vote for uh McCarthy before Before they voted, they're withholding their votes until they get what they want. The other thing is.

What? Back to the Pelosi tyranny, I've heard her lauded for keeping the Democrats in line. Oh, well, let's laud Mal, too. Or, you know, I've Whatever his name is, Xi Jinping. Oh, yeah, he's got his people in line, too.

Oh, isn't that wonderful? No, I'd much rather hear the debate, Todd, even if it's raucous and not so friendly. I'd much rather hear the debate, like the founders. Yeah, I'm with you. And again, look at what just happened in the U.S.

Senate, where the vote was done in secret, and your senator was not obligated to tell you if they voted for McConnell or not. McConnell turns around and screws the American people going along with this massive omnibus. And what does he do? To celebrate, he invites Joe Biden to take a road trip down to Kentucky. That.

Look, that's why we're trying to stop that from happening in the House of Representatives. And the problem with Kevin McCarthy, he's been in Congress since 2007, Tom, and he has earned a reputation as a political agnostic. He will wheel and deal. He has no rock-solid foundational political ideology. And that is a frightening thing.

So, what the House 20 guys are trying to do, and gals are trying to do, they're trying to get things in writing so that there can be a structure in place that if McCarthy decides he's going to wheel and deal with Democrats, they can take him out of power. But McCarthy also has been walking lockstep with Joe Biden and the Democrats on all of these massive spending pills. And that's another issue. And there are several, and we'll talk to Congressman Norman about it, and we'll ask him the question you just asked, Tom. But by and large, they want less government spending and they want to take away power.

From the speakership. That's at the end of the day what they're trying to do. Thank you, Todd. Hey, Tom, appreciate it, and appreciate you listening to us. And folks, look, we've got a lot of ground to cover today, and we may or may not get a we may or may not get a speaker.

At this moment. But the reality is somebody's going to have to blink. But right now, nobody's willing to blink. And McCarthy believes he's got the high ground here. 844-747-8868.

That's our toll-free telephone number. That's 844-747-8868. Coming up a little bit later, we are going to be speaking with Congressman Andy Ogles. He is a brand new congressman from Nashville, the Nashville area, the 5th congressional district. And man, have they been on him like a pit bull on a pork chop, folks?

Ogles standing up to McCarthy. And by the way, one of the things that upset Ogles is that McCarthy. was spending money To make sure that he didn't get elected.

So, maybe there's a little bit of a personal animosity there. Hey, got to take a break here: 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Stern 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 lotiony.

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All right, welcome back to the Concerns Radio Show. By the way, we are very excited about what's happening in November. I'm taking 100, yes, 100 of our listeners from all over America on a seven-day first-class trip to Israel. It's our Stand With Israel tour, and we're going to be taking you to some incredible places in the Holy Land. You're also going to be getting private meetings in the Knesset.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the new prime minister, we're going to be speaking to members of their political party. It's really going to be a wonderful fusion of the Holy Land experience along with the geopolitical experience of standing with Israel in the Middle East. And we would love for you to be a part of that.

Now, there are two ways for you to get information. You can go to our website, ToddSterns.com, and you'll see the banner at the top of the page. You can click on that, and all the information is there. A lot of people said, Well, Todd, do you have to pay for it all up front? No, you don't.

As a matter of fact, we have the great installment plan worked out to really make it affordable. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for you. You can also call and leave us your name and telephone number. Josh is manning the phones today, and he'll be more than happy to get your information. Go ahead and call now, 844-747-8868.

That's 844-747-8868. If you would like information. On being a part of our journey to the Holy Land in November. As a matter of fact, I may even be doing a couple of shows, national shows, while we're out there in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. All right.

Welcome back to the Todd Stearns Radio Program, everybody. We are now voting officially. This is ballot number 12, and we will keep you updated. We're anticipating Congressman Ralph Norman joining us, but he has to vote first, and he's the letter in.

So this may or may not happen this hour of the program.

So bear with us. I do want to get to the phones here in just a moment, but before you know what? Let's go ahead and do that now. Let's go to the phones: 844-747-8868-John in North Carolina, WSIC, our great station. John, what's on your mind?

Yeah, thank you for taking my call, Todd. I'm hanging around here with a bunch of friends of mine. We work together every day. And uh I love America and I love American people. and I think we're very smart.

But I'm going to tell you the truth, I'm not sure that everybody knows what a speaker's job is and why this is so important. And I wondered if you could take a couple of moments to explain just what a speaker does and why all this poop law. Happy to do it, John. And here's the challenge with answering your question. It has changed over the years, and it will change again depending on who the next Speaker of the House is.

But it really was not meant to be an overtly. Are you there, John? Are you there, John? All right, let's put John. Yeah, let's put John on.

Hold for a second, I'll answer his question.

So. Back when the speakership was first created, it was not meant to be a partisan position. But over the years, it became partisan. Whoever had the most members in Congress, they're the ones that elected a member of their party to represent them as Speaker of the House.

So let's just, for the sake of argument, let's say McCarthy's your speaker. He's not just the speaker for the Republicans, he's the Speaker of the House. That's everybody. Everybody. But it really wasn't until Neil Gingrich.

Well, let me back up here. It was really Tip O'Neill who turned it into a more partisan Role. At that time in Congress, and Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan had these fierce battles back and forth, Tip O'Neill, the Democrat from Massachusetts, the subcommittees actually wielded more power than the Speaker of the House did, and it created a lot of problems.

So there was a lot of debate, there was a lot of reform that went underway in the House of Representatives back in the 70s and 80s. And as a result, the Speaker became a very powerful individual. Newt Gingrich comes onto the scene after the 1994 elections, John, and he goes full-blown steroids on power. And that's the result. What we're seeing today is the result of Gingrich really solidifying the overtly partisan role of the Speakership.

And I'm not saying there's a problem with that. I'm just saying that's the reality of where we are right now.

So most of what the Speaker does is They're driving the ship. That's what they do. They're making sure the, and to borrow another phrase, they're making sure the trains run on time. It's very procedural what the speaker does. That's what it used to be, and it still is, but by and large, now this is about advancing a particular party's political agenda, if that makes sense.

It makes perfect sense. To me, I don't know about the rest of the guys in here. You know, they're a little slow, but. Thank you so much, Doc. All right, now, do you guys get together?

Now, John, there's a group of guys in Gainesville, Georgia, and they meet at the Long Street Cafe. They call it the Liars Club. And they all get around at lunchtime and they listen to the show. I think I'm an honorary member over there.

So it sounds like you guys are having fun over there in North Carolina. We are. There are about eighteen of us, and we we listen to you every day and I've just I'm not sure that we're the only ones that didn't understand that. I think across the country, maybe a lot of people don't. It's a good point.

I pretty much live my life with the good book and another book called Everything I Need to Know I Learned from John Wayne. And even that's not in that book, John.

So I understand. I get it. Yeah. Well, I thank you for your time, Todd. You've been helpful, and I appreciate it.

All right, John, make sure those guys buy your lunch today now. I certainly will. All right. Thanks, John. All right.

Good stuff. 844-747-8868. Should have asked what was on the lunch menu. I love every time I'm in Gainesville, I try to head over to Long Street Cafe. They have a great lunch, a good old meet and three, as we call them in the southern states.

All right. Let's. Let's go to Russell, North Carolina, also listening to us on WSIC. Russell, you're not eating lunch with John and his buddies, are you? No, but I wish I was.

I know, I tell you. All right. What's going on, Russell? How can I help you?

Well, what I don't understand is what nobody has made any reference whatsoever about Kevin McCarthy getting public. publicly out there and saying that They ask him on some interview, I don't remember whose. about impeachment. Joe Biden. And he said I don't see anything he has done that would rise to that.

Series and offense. that would require or would be anything that had to do with impeachment. Russell, this is, I have to stop you for just a moment. This is why we have a, I don't know, we're known in the industry for having some of the best callers in all of talk radio. And it's because of what you just said, Russell.

I completely forgot about that, but you're absolutely right. This is a huge thing here that McCarthy actually went out on the record and said he sees nothing that Biden has done that would warrant impeachment. Exactly. It's a valid point. I thought everything most of us think that everything he has done would warrant impeachment practically.

Yeah, I would agree with you on that, Russell. And I appreciate you reminding our listeners. Again, Kevin McCarthy, a political agnostic, he's one of these guys that wants to go along to get along. And the reason why he hasn't surrendered is because he wants power. And I'm telling you right now, folks, the way Kevin McCarthy has conducted himself over the past several days is.

Is an alarm, and you should be very, very wary. Of Kevin McCarthy. The guy wants it too much.

Something's not right there. Russell, appreciate the call. 844-747-8868 is our toll-free telephone number. That's 844-747-8868. Here is Congressman Don Bacon.

Yeah. From Nebraska, talking about working with the Democrats. There are several Republicans that are considering a plan. To To work with the Democrats on what would become a coalition government. Take a listen to cut number two.

But people got to tell their congressman, if they're one of those twenty, that the House is shut down. We're not working on the issues that we campaigned on, like lowering inflation. Securing the border, supporting our law enforcement, standing up to China. None of this is happening. All our committees are now shut down, and it's on these 20 people.

They're embarrassing the House, they're embarrassing the Republicans, they're embarrassing our country.

So I think over time, with focus, we'll get some of these over. But we also have to be willing to consider. Working with the Democrats at some point to get some constitutions to get some support there if these 20 refuse to budge. All right, there you go. That's Congressman Don Bacon, our good friend Grace Baker, alerting us to some developments in the voting.

We are now on the C's, and we do have a bit of breaking news. Looks like Congressman Michael Cloud, who was not a McCarthy supporter, has now voted for McCarthy. Also, it looks like Congressman Clyde out of Georgia is voting for McCarthy as well.

So we are starting to see some movement now. And last night, Club for Growth said that there had been some sort of a deal reached, but we don't know if that deal Meant all of the Republicans. Right now, three people have voted against McCarthy.

So we will see how this plays out. But there has been some movement now with Andrew Clyde and Michael Cloud now voting for McCarthy. 844-747-8868, toll-free telephone number. That's 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Stern Show.

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Excludes Bike, Bike Plus, and Tread Basics. See additional terms at onepeloton.com. Um Mm-hmm. Um All right, this is the headline from Fox News: McCarthy flips some GOP hardliners. Remember, the number was 21, but now I want to go through the list of your congressmen who have flipped their votes, including Brisheen, Bishop, Cloud, Clyde from Georgia, that's you WDUN folks, and Byron Donalds from Florida, who had actually been nominated to be Speaker yesterday.

So here we are. Still a lot of movement right now. We understand Congressman Matt Gates is on the phone on the House floor right now. That's from the reporting of Jake Sherman over at Punchbowl. News.

So, six votes, by the way, against McCarthy. But our understanding is, and the reporting we're getting, is that there are some Republicans who are not in the House chamber. In other words, the vote numbers that McCarthy has to get may, in fact, fluctuate.

So, we're going to keep you updated on that. All right. Let's go to the phones here. Jack, North Carolina, WSIC. Hey, Jack, what's on your mind?

Well this boat on my mind. Uh you are putting out the impression that you are not foretelling. You picked up on that, did you, Jack? Yeah, I did. Who are you going to put in if you're not going to put Kevin in?

Well, I'm not a supporter of Kevin McCarthy. No doubt about that. I've been pretty direct and deliberate about that, Jack, for more than just a couple of weeks now, really for a couple of months since the midterm elections. I was a big supporter of Andy Biggs. I like Jim Jordan.

Lee Zeldon, I think, would be a good pick. But quite frankly, Jack, the person that I believe we need in that position is Donald Trump. Because he's the only one who's been able to effectively drain the swamp in Washington. I g I'll go along with that, but uh Uh Andy Biggs is probably more than more liberal than anybody else up there. Y'all you you know, you pulling his chain, but No, but he's how is he liberal, Jack?

I'm curious. it's it's just the things that he's done to over the time. He is a staunch. Go ahead. I am very disappointed in him because.

He is just tur a turned coke because I pulled for him when he was having his problems. And uh I don't see Yeah.

Some of these guys are just determined like you said, the guy from Tennessee that that Kevin took the money away from. I understand him being angry at him. But, uh, hey, We voted them in to get this mess going.

So, who do you like, Jack? Do you like are you a McCarthy guy? Oh, I like Kevin okay and and but uh uh what's his name uh from Ohio, Georgia. But he don't want it. He wants to run the show that to do all this investigating, and we need him There.

We don't need him as a speaker. We need to get started on all these investigations and get them to go.

Well, I hear you on the investigations, and yeah, we need to have them. But the last time the Republicans were in charge of the Senate and the House, they had all these investigations, and we got nowhere fast.

So I really do hope they're able to deliver. Otherwise, it's just a waste of time, and more importantly, it's a waste of my tax money. Jack, appreciate that call. Let's go to Jerry in Milwaukee. Hey, Jerry.

So, what's your take on all of this? Yeah. Um I'm kind of happy that McCarthy is not I'm kinda enjoying. McCarthy not getting the speakership and losing, and again, again, probably for different reasons. Why, like a lot of people.

of your listeners are doing.

So for me, it's that McCarthy rightly pointed out that Trump bear ultimate responsibility for the january sixth. A coup or a riot or whatever you w you want to call it, and then right away.

Soon after, he went down and kissed Trump's ring for one of a better term.

So even if someone likes Trump or not, you look at McCarthy and he has no principles whatsoever. He's like Lindsey Graham, who criticized Trump before the election of Trump in twenty sixteen, but then You know, became the biggest butt kisser to Trump. It's the exact same thing. And so I get a lot of joy in seeing that he can get speakership, at least at the moment. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Well, look, Jerry, I know you're on the other side of the political aisle here, but the reality is you never know where Kevin McCarthy's coming from.

And he's a political agnostic. That's a great term coined by Tucker Carlson. But the guy really doesn't have a political soul. And that concerns me. Yeah, yeah, I I I don't I mean, I disagree with you, but you at least have some principles, at least you have some values that.

You know, a lot of I disagree. Maybe some of that. Thank you for that, Jerry. That's very kind of you to say. Sure.

Bud McCarthy, no. He's just basically for the power. That's all power and money. Power and money, Jerry. All right.

We got to let you go. Jerry, good hearing from you. Our friend Jerry the Liberal from Milwaukee, ladies and gentlemen. I don't know. Jerry's getting a little soft.

I mean, for him to compliment me like that, that's very kind of him. All right, coming up in the next hour, we're going to be checking in with Hogan Gidley from Newsmax TV. Also, there is a big dust-up with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who took his husband on an official government trip. And now people are very upset. And Buttige says that the reason why people are upset.

Is because of homophobia. That if that if He had married a woman, this would not be an issue.

Well, we've got the full story and one that you're not going to hear anywhere else. And we're going to play that audio. We'll dig into that as well. Also, we are anticipating Ralph Norman to phone in, Andy Ogles from Tennessee also coming up. And the vote looks like right now, six, that's right, six Republicans have voted against McCarthy.

So we'll see how this 12th ballot goes. We'll give you an update. First, got to take a break, though. And our telephone number, 844-747-8868. Do you think this damages America?

We'll be right back.

Live from the Liberty University Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's conservative blowtorch. That's it! That's right. I love this American. All right, well, hello everybody.

Welcome to hour two of the big show: border to border, coast to coast, across the fruited plain. I want to say a very special hello to some of our new listeners in Collierville, Tennessee, on our great flagship station, KWAM. The good folks over at Tactical Guns and Gear, and Lord knows you need guns and gear in Memphis, Tennessee these days. A good family-owned company over there in Collierville.

So thank you guys for listening to the program today. During the commercial break, ladies and gentlemen, some breaking news. More, more Republicans in that House, 20 have flipped to vote for McCarthy, including the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus himself, Scott Perry.

So we're going to keep you updated. The working total now, six Republicans still standing in opposition to Kevin McCarthy. I want to go right now to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line from Newsmax TV, our good friend Hogan Giddley. Hogan, a happy new year to you, and what a year it is in politics. Happy New Year to you, Todd.

You know, you look back and think last year was difficult.

Now we start off. With this whole deal over in Washington, D.C., and you wonder where. Quick with a start like this, how's twenty twenty three going to finish? It's unbelievable. Hogan, if you could take us through where we are now, we understand that a lot of these people are flipping, so what's going on?

Well, it looks like some of the deals that were made behind closed doors are are coming to fruition in that You give me what I want and I'll give you what you want, which is the vote. And look, I think there have been a lot of conflicting reports, a lot of leaking that goes on, because a lot of people just want to be relevant and they go out and tell the news. Cameras, exactly what happened behind the scenes, which is not how this is supposed to work. You can do that. But you lose a lot of your negotiating power, you lose a lot of your clout and credibility when you.

tell someone something behind closed doors and then do something completely different out in the open. I don't know where this is going. It looks like the GOP continues to stand up and clap for people. Which indicates to me, as I'm talking to you, I'm watching this in real time, it looks like some more people are beginning to flip and break for McCarthy. Look, I would just say it this way.

This is how democracy works. And for people to be flipping out about this here at DC, I understand it because the consultant class, the media, the Pundit. The elites inside the beltway. This is what they live. and and breathe.

But people out in real America, they may care about the speakers. But what they really care about Is getting something done on their behalf and/or stopping a radical leftist agenda that Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi were pushing. And we want these folks that we sent to Washington, D.C. to begin to do what they said they would do. We want investigation.

On Hunter Biden in Afghanistan. Even Nancy Pelosi in January 6th, where she refused to allow the National Guard to be put in place. Those are the things we want to see, not to mention. Coalescing behind leadership that protects the American people by putting forward America first policies and stopping the policies. that leave our borders wide open, that continue to raise our taxes, that allow crime to run rampant in our cities.

and they continue to spawn record setting inflation as well. You know what I find interesting about all this, Hogan, is I see the Republicans are standing up and cheering every time one of the and I'm just going to use their language, one of the terrorists and one of the insurrectionists changes their vote to Kevin McCarthy.

Some of the language, the hate and the vitriol that's been directed at the House 20 or the House 21, that really bothers me because they haven't even gone at and again, they leave people like Don Bacon, who is willing to go and work with the Democrats. Yeah, they leave him alone. He's hands off. But if you stand against McCarthy and you're a conservative, well, all of a sudden you're becoming, what, someone with psychological problems, as Newt Gingrich said. Yeah, I don't like that language at all for obvious reasons.

It's not true. These people aren't terrorists. They're patriots who care about their constituents. And a lot of these folks. Back in their districts, they faced scrutiny and faced concern by the people that voted for them that said, We don't want Kevin McCarthy in leadership.

And if you're going to vote for someone like Kevin McCarthy, you're going to have to go back to your districts and say, Here's why I did it, here's what I got in exchange. And because we stood up to the principles we held dear, now we're able to do certain things on the House where we wouldn't have been able to do before. They're the ones who have to answer to voters here. I hate that kind of language. And look, if Republicans fought this hard against Democrats, you know, as they do against themselves, we wouldn't have this This omnibus Monstrosity.

We wouldn't have a lot of the policies that we've seen pushed through in the last couple of years. that that really isn't conservative in any form or fashion. And you know, look, Say what you want about the twenty. I'll call them the Raucus Caucus at this point. You want to stand up and say no to something, that's great.

I would have liked to have heard an articulation. From a majority of them, not just a handful, of exactly what they wanted in exchange, but in their defense. These are the same folks. That watch their leadership Govern them up to the edge of a cliff and in the 11th hour try and force them to vote for things they don't like, that their constituents don't like, all because the leadership didn't have the guts or the power or the ability To articulate a message or a vision on a particular piece of legislation, and instead, Held them over a barrel at the last minute, and at this point, they're saying, look, We're not doing that anymore. We're telling you right now.

You try to do that to us, we're going to burn this place to the ground. And I mean metaphorically, not literally. But I mean I got some respect for that. I think a lot of people are sick and tired of business as usual in Washington, D.C. A lot of these folks are saying, you're not going to hold us.

Hostage anymore. to the last minute, you know. screw ups, forgive me for saying that. that you guys couldn't make the deal happen.

Now we've got to jettison our principles and our morals to vote for a bill we know is bad just because you couldn't get it done in a reasonable amount of time. No, I I get both sides of this argument, both on the McCarthy side and the Never McCarthy side as well. Yeah, and again, when you see what Mitch McConnell has done in the U.S. Senate and really sticking it to the American people, not just Republicans, but all of us, people are very concerned about that. And it's interesting, Hogan, I've actually had McCarthy supporters on the radio show, and not a one is actually convinced that McCarthy is going to defend the America First agenda.

He just happens to be the next in line, and that's how it is with the Republicans.

So I hope it works out. You know, if McCarthy is the speaker, and I hope he delivers on some of these promises, but even his supporters are not even hopeful of that. No, you're absolutely right. And I think they know They get the gain here at this point. McCarthy's been doing this for a long time.

Remember, he ran in twenty fifteen, didn't have the votes then either, and then stepped down.

So this isn't anything new necessarily for McCarthy. It's just in this particular time and place, He's got a lot more clout and a lot more sway within his caucus because he has been on the campaign trail. He has been raising money. He's helped get a lot of these folks elected.

So it makes sense. Look, I think the next in line mentality isn't necessarily best All the time. And I'm not saying McCarthy's just next in line. He does understand the chamber. He does understand how to make it work.

I will tell you, in the minority, it's a whole lot easier to act to coalesce around the word no, because all you're trying to do is stop things. But now we've got a different and interesting situation in that we have razor thin majorities in the House of Representatives. We have to gavel, can we govern?

Now the answer to that is most likely no, not because of any failure in the Republican Party tie. But it's because the political reality that exists of having a Democrat controlled Senate and a Democrat controlled White House.

So, while we were able to coalesce around the word no in the minority, we better coalesce around the word no in the majority, too.

So that we do have good policies, or we prevent bad ones from getting through, like open borders, like omnibus packages that fund billions of dollars for crazy projects and things like that. I don't know. whoever the speaker is, and I would argue most likely McCarthy, it's going to be a whole lot of pushing people to know, and I think that's a good place For him to be because they got elected to stop the radical agenda of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, and they better do it. All right, Hogan, we're going to leave it there. Appreciate the good word, and I know you've got a busy day over at Newsmax.

We'll be watching all of the live reports throughout the day. Appreciate you. Thanks so much, Todd. You'll have a great one. All right.

Um wow. By the way, we're going to pull this audio, Matt Rosendale causing problems on the floor of the house. This is going to be pretty funny. We'll get that audio for you in just a little bit.

So here's where we are. Looks like a lot of the House 20 have decided to flip their votes for McCarthy. Clearly, there were deals being made last night. We don't have the details of those deals because they're not sharing that information. It would be nice to have a little bit of transparency.

We've been waiting on Congressman Ralph Norman to join us. By the way, Congressman Norman has voted for Kevin McCarthy.

So we look forward to talking to him and finding out why he flipped his vote. But right now, the vote stands: McCarthy 207, Jeffries 205, others 7. Your thoughts on this here, folks. Is it time to wave the white flag and surrender to Kevin McCarthy? 844-747-8868.

That's 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Stern Show. All right. Folks. Very rarely.

Do I get righteously indignant on this program? Like we're about to.

So we were we did a pretape interview with a guy named Andy Ogles. He's the new conservative congressman from the fifth congressional district in Tennessee. He's been all over the place. A lot of accusations that he actually Um betrayed Kevin McCarthy.

So McCarthy came down, campaigned for him. He gave his word to McCarthy that he was going to have his support. And then he broke that promise and partnered with the with the House with the House Republicans. with the Freedom Caucus.

So we did a pretape. And again, it's hard. These lawmakers, they want to come on. They can't because of the votes. And when their letter is called, they've got to be there.

So we get it.

So we did a pre-tape just a few minutes before this program. This is a ten-minute interview. Yeah. And He gave us no indication, Andy Ogles did, that he was going to flip his vote.

So he did a 10-minute interview with us knowing that he was about to flip his vote. Didn't say anything about that, still trashing McCarthy. And I'm torn here. Should we play that interview? I wonder if we should play that interview for people, ladies and gentlemen, so you can hear really.

So the allegation now is that Andy Ogles, this Republican congressman, is two-faced. Because when you hear what Andy Ogles had to say just minutes ago about Kevin McCarthy, it makes you wonder how in the world was this guy able to then turn around and cast his vote, flip his vote for Kevin McCarthy. Yeah. So, you know what? We'll take a poll.

Do you think, give us a call if you think that we ought to play this interview at the bottom of the hour? Because I want you to hear how some of these people, and I hate this, I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat, be a man or be a woman of your word. Let's go to Luke, Statesville, North Carolina. WSIC, our great station there. Luke, what's on your mind?

Hey, Todd, how are you doing? I was just calling. I'm going to keep up with you. I'm a little upset right now, Luke, to be honest with you. I'm a little fired up.

I don't like people being jerk faces on this radio program and screwing around with our audience. My apologies. I agree. My apologies. Go ahead, Luke.

No, my question was this McCarthy and this Jeffries, Hakeem Jeffries, he's obviously a Democrat. Uh my deal is Who would we want in there? Do we want the Rhino Republican or do we want another Democrat like Nessie Pelosi? Like that's, I guess, where I'm at. Luke, it's a great question you raise, and it's an important question.

Part of me believes that we would be better off with the Democrat, and here's the reason why: because they're more trustworthy. We know where they're going to go, we know what they're going to do, but you don't have any idea where the rhino is going to take us.

So, at least from a trust factor, I'd rather trust the Democrat. I may not like any of their policies, but at least you've got a Republican majority so you can stop something. But with a rhino, Luke, you have no idea if they're going to be with you or against you. And that's the big rub that people have with the Republican Party right now. Makes sense.

Yes, that was my question. I was just I talked to my dad about it a little bit and I was just I was like, well, surely I want McCarthy in there over this Hakeem Jeffries, but at the same time, I want somebody in there that's going to stop this money going to Ukraine, all this way too much money and and the people that's gonna really fight for the Constitution, you know, and We just need somebody in there that has good conservative Christian values, and it just seems hard to find right now. And the backbone. And, Luke, I will tell you this: there's a photograph circulating of Kevin McCarthy wearing a suit, and he's literally got Ukraine in his pocket. The pocket square is the color of the Ukrainian flag.

There you go. There you go. All right, Luke. Appreciate the call. You see, folks, you see how fired up I have poor Luke?

He called in, wanting to have a good, pleasant conversation. I'm just fired up over this. It angers me when people like Andy Ogles do what they just did. Angers me. Yeah.

By the way, do we have a final vote now? I don't think McCarthy's got it on vote number 12, on ballot number 12. We had 14 GOP House members flip and vote for McCarthy. The vote as it stands now, 213 to 11.

So he needs 218. 218 is the magic number. Still doesn't have that magic number. All right, let's go to Patty in North Carolina. I think the entire state of North Carolina is listening today.

We love all of you. Hi, Patty. What's up? You better calm down there. Yeah.

Patty. I'm down, you know what? Who I was gonna vote for? Who's that, Patty? Molly McCarthy.

Yeah. Yeah. Charlie McCarthy. I mean it could Getting any worse. God Kevin.

All right. You know why? Calm down, Todd. You're getting all crazy here. You know what?

He's going to get the votes. He's up to two hundred thirteen. He's he needs four more votes. No, he does. And look, I suspect you're correct that McCarthy is eventually going to be the winner here.

But I sure hope that these House Freedom Caucus folks got what they wanted, and they have it in writing and on tape, because I don't trust Kevin McCarthy to do the honest thing here. I don't think he's an honest man.

Well, I always From the beginning. He talks in both sides of his mouth. And I never liked him from the beginning. I have friends from Pennsylvania, from Jersey, nobody wants him in there. Bite.

They're sick and tired of this. They don't care at this point if Nikki Mouse got in there at this point. They don't care. But you know what? They're sick and tired.

Higher Of um McCarthy, you know, with the January sixth committee, he kneeled down to Pelosi. Nobody was on the committee from the Republican side, conservative side. He, um I don't know. He just uh the gentleman before. Yes.

He won't impeach uh A Biden? Biden has done everything to be impeachable. I mean Oh my God. Stay in peace. Donald Trump over a phone call.

Of course they did. Joe Biden did 20 million times. Worse than Donald Trump. But again, to show you the politics here, Patty, all these people standing up and cheering when one of the Freedom Caucus guys flips, just a few hours ago, they were calling them all a bunch of psychological whack job, a domestic terrorist. Yeah.

So now you're going to go up and give him a hug and go out to lunch at the Chick-fil-A? I don't think so. I don't think so. Patty, you got me fired up again. You were supposed to talk me down off of this, Patty.

No, my God. You know what? Let me tell you something. Let me, before you go, before you go. No, they're going to cut us off, Patty.

The computer does it. Give us a holler back. She's Lou America. We'll be right back.

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Offer ends January 8th, 2023. Excludes Tread Basics Package. See additional terms at 1Peloton.com. I'm angry, America. I'm angry.

I have livid, righteous indignation. But this bumper music's making me feel a little bit calmer now. It's sort of calming me down. It's good music. Where's Kyle?

Kyle, turn to your microphone. What? You're the resident DJ of the program. Who are we talking about here? Who's the new band we're playing?

Marshall Tucker Band. Marshall Tucker Band. All right. Very good. Greatest of all time.

It has a soothing effect on me. That was called The Last of the Singing Cowboys. Oh, really?

Well, that may be very appropriate for what's happening on Capitol Hill right now. All right, I want to play some more of that later on in the show. Can we do that? We can absolutely do that. All right, that's great.

I love it. All right. Thank you, Kyle. Let's go to Phil in Alabama. Phil, we're trying to figure out: do we play this Andy Ogles interview that he did?

You know, the guy was bashing Kevin McCarthy, and then 30 minutes after we record, he flips his vote for Kevin McCarthy. What do you think we ought to do here, Phil? Listen, Todd, keep up the good work and stay fired up. Don't let that music calm you down. We need to stay fired.

Play that doggone thing. All right, Phil. Fine. All right. No more Marshall Tucker, man.

I need to get riled up. Play something from Josh Groban. That really angers me.

So, Phil, you think we ought to play this interview? Absolutely. All right, then. All right. Well, hang tight, Phil.

All right. Appreciate the call. I want to go to the Patriot Mobile newsmaker line, good friend of this program from Nashville. He's one of the top political analysts in America, our good friend Steve Gill. And, Steve, I know you and I have been texting back and forth.

I am really fired up over what Andy Ogles just pulled.

Well, first of all, I think you should play it and post it. And second, I think the music as we end this segment should be I Warren Devon send lawyers, guns and money. because I think that this is just the beginning of the chaos in the House. McCarthy, right now it looks like, doesn't quite have the votes. I think they're going to get them.

But he is going to be such an emasculated Handcuffed speaker with such a narrow margin that the ability to cobble together success with the retribution that's going to be hanging over the heads of the pro-McCarthy and anti-McCarthy people, I don't think folks like Andy Ogles realize that they have written checks that their nascent career can't cash And that there are going to be some long knives sitting in the wings waiting to dig it into him at some point. Because there's going to be a lot of animosity on both sides going forward. And being speaker, having to deal with this, while you also got the Democrats messing with you, this is not the end of the chaos. No, it's not. And Steve, so here's what we're going to do.

I want you to hang with us, Steve. We're going to play the interview. It's a long interview, but we're not going to play the whole thing. I just want people to understand this guy literally. 30 minutes before we actually did the show, we recorded this interview, and then the guy completely flipped.

So, Kyle, let's go ahead and play. You had two of his fellow congressmembers from Tennessee, Scott DeJarlay in Middle Tennessee and John Rose in Middle Tennessee. Literally, their districts wrap around Andy's district. They were on the air on other radio shows in the last twenty four hours, pointing out that when Andy Ogles is saying he had made no promise to McCarthy to support him and that there were it was a promise, but it was with conditions John Rose called him out and used the liar. Word saying I was in the room when he made the commitment and accepted the PAC money from.

From McCarthy, there were no conditions. And then this morning. Scott Desarlay, again, congressman from Middle Tennessee, called Andy Ogles out by name and said that there are some who've been negotiating in good faith. There are others who've been going through the motions trying to benefit themselves personally, but I'm not going to call Andy Ogles out by name. I mean, the rarity of members of Congress in the same state delegation.

Calling each other out this harshly, I think, contributed to Andy flipping at the end. And keep in mind, he hid off the floor till it looked like the votes were in, then comes in and makes this self-aggrandizing statement about the folks who've been negotiating in good faith. And, Steve, we were following this in real time. And, you know, as soon as I, you know, I've been asking our staff, they've been monitoring this, the great Grace Baker, and Grace said, we don't know what happened. We don't know where Ogles is.

And then he came back in and cast his ballot. After after the first round. Yeah. Unbelievable. All right, so Steve, we're going to play this, and I want you to listen.

We're going to keep you, let's keep Steve on the line here. But here is the interview we did just about 30 minutes before the show started. Let's go right now to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. A very honored to have with us from the 5th Congressional District of Tennessee, one of the House 20, as we have called them, Congressman Andy Ogles. Congressman, happy to have you with us today.

Well, you know, I'm glad to be on the show. You know, I get called a lot of things, but I'm proud to be part of the House Joint. Yeah, Congressman, and this is again, you are a freshman and you are right in the thick of things. There was a lot of talk and speculation about some video of Kevin McCarthy and you on the the House floor, a pretty animated conversation. Care to share the details of what that was all about?

Well, you know, it's one of those situations where we are.

So let me rewind just a little bit.

So these negotiations have been going on for months on what the rules package would be. And that's significant.

So, if you think about a game of Monopoly or a red light, green light, the rules. Set how the game is played. The rules can favor a person, the rules can actually determine an outcome, right? And so it matters how Congress is run. And so when I was elected in November, and became a member of the Freedom Caucus or will be a member of the Freedom Caucus, I became a part of those conversations.

And so we've been holding the line. That power and authority shouldn't be held just with leadership, that it should be pushed down to the normal, the rank and file member of Congress, because Our founding fathers intended That the House of Representatives was the people's house, and right now the rules restrict me and other congressmen from being able to do their jobs. That was a discussion. And part of it, too, was I had some billionaire from out of state that I've never met. called me or actually texted me on the phone and threatened me that if that if I didn't vote for Kevin, that there was going to be some sort of reprisal against me.

And so I immediately reached out to McCarthy. I called him out on it and he came over at first. He was apologizing. There was this back and forth of, hey, look, man, I don't know how this guy got my number, but he didn't just find it in the phone book, right? And so that's kind of what you saw there.

And then obviously we got into some of the details of the rules and then he moved on. And we've continued to work on this rules package because that's my focus. It's not about Kevin. But look, Congressman Greene, who is from Tennessee, is a friend of mine. And if he were going to be Speaker of the House, and I'm not nominating him, so don't I don't want to put him in a bad spot.

But the point is, is I would want the same rules Whether it's Jim Jordan. Whether it's Mark Greene, whether it's Kevin McCarthy, whether it's Steve Scalise, or whether it's you. Right, because that that says How we govern, and the American people deserve the House of Representatives to start cut spending. Congressman, I want to go back to this billionaire. Can you tell us who it was and what was the threat?

Well, again, it was this idea that there's these big donors out there that would have to be. Can we press pause here? Steve?

Now, he made the accusation.

So he's saying, basically, and he goes on later in the interview, and we'll hear him say that he believes McCarthy put this billionaire up to calling him and threatening him, this billionaire who did not have his phone number. And when we asked him for details, you saw how he started to him and Hall. Yes, I'm not sure that I'd buy that story at all. More importantly, he's saying or was saying that this is about the rules, not about the person. It would be the same thing they'd be doing.

Well, others of the two hundred and twenty, in fact, leaders of the twenty members that have been Been holding up, have said, oh, if it was somebody other than McCarthy, we'd still stick with the five members could call for a new speaker. It is about McCarthy. And again, I think when you're dissembling and you're being dishonest about these things, That costs you your credibility on everything else you're saying, including these mysterious billionaires. It has been clear from members that are leaders of the twenty or were until people started flipping, That they were saying if it was not Kevin McCarthy, they would have different rules that they would want in place, but they just don't trust McCarthy.

Now, I don't blame them. I think there's reasons to not trust Kevin McCarthy. But don't tell us then that you would be doing the exact same thing if it was somebody else. That's just not true. It gets juicier.

All right, let's go back and let's listen in. Let's go right now to the Patriot mobile news website. I'm honored to have with us from the 5th Congressional. All right, let's stop there. Stop, stop, stop.

All right, we'll figure all that out. But, Steve, he goes on to make the allegation that while he does not have proof, Andy Ogles said that Kevin McCarthy was spending money in the district, the 5th congressional district, to have him defeated in the Republican primary. But I'm not believing that either. I mean, keep in mind, Kevin McCarthy gave a million dollars. From his pack to the 20 insurgents or rebels or whatever people were calling them.

Basically, I'm just calling them the 20 that is now pared down to, I think, 14. But the bottom line is, he gave a million dollars from this pack that he had. And one of the things that Matt Gates and others have been screaming is that they're upset with McCarthy because of this PAC and his using his donations.

Well, have a million dollars in donations from the twenty been returned? Are they pledging not to accept PAC money if it's so evil? That's the problem I have, is that they're hypocrites and speaking out of both sides of their mouth. Yeah, and I've got a problem with that too. And again, if they are out there and they're voting against McCarthy, meanwhile, McCarthy has been giving them money to help them get reelected, that doesn't say a lot about those congresspeople.

I mean, I would much rather have somebody say, you know what, McCarthy offered me this money, I refused it because I don't agree with his policies. I think you can accept the money, but still disagree on various policy issues from here. Yeah. But when you've basically made the contract of thank you for your money, thanks for coming in and campaigning for me, thanks for backing me, I'm going to back you for speaker, and then to recant afterwards after you've gotten the money, that seems to be a breach and dishonesty. And by the way, Todd, like you, I don't think anybody can really question my conservative credentials or yours.

And yet, if you're saying, look, the reality is that nobody can get to 218 or whatever it's going to take if a few members are missing. Other than McCarthy. And if you put up a conservative that you or I would prefer as Speaker, that'd be great. But this is not a conservative caucus of the House. There is a majority of rhinos.

So until we win more congressional districts with actual conservatives rather than rhinos, you can't get a conservative speaker. And frankly, there are at least 50 McCarthy supporters that will be just as adamant, just as stubborn to say, fine, you put up a conservative. We won't back them. We'll hold everybody hostage, just like the 20 have done. All right, let's let's I think we've got the audio situation worked out.

Let's get back to that interview with the Ogles.

Well, again, it was this idea that there's these big donors out there that would withhold funds and presumably spend funds against me. And I actually texted this individual. I'm not going to name their name and said, I thank you for reaching out. We are in active negotiations with a brief description of what that meant. And I look forward to meeting you.

But My motto is to do the right thing for the right reasons, and then I will stand there and take the consequences. And if that means that this guy or other people come after me, then so be it. I was elected this position because I'm a fighter. During COVID, I refused to comply, and I kept my county and subsequently, the state of Tennessee open. I refuse to comply with the nonsense.

I'm not saying COVID wasn't real, but what I'm saying is the government did not have the right to shut us down. People sent me up here because they know that I'm not going to back down when I'm attacked. And that's what I'm doing right now.

So he just said 30 minutes ago he's not going to back down, Steve Gill.

Well, that was then, this is now. I think that he was getting heat. I don't think it was just from big donors, although I'm sorry, that's the primary process. You go up there, you show how you actually serve, not how you talk, And then people are going to make their decisions. I think he's going to be actively primaried in less than two years.

I think what the primaries start in about 14 months, I think a lot of these guys are going to pay a price for how they behave. during this process. And again, you have other members of the Tennessee delegation. Scott Desjarlay has been there a long time and has actually served in Congress before, unlike Andy Ogles. You have John Rose, who's actually served in Congress before, unlike Andy Ogles, who have called him out by name for not being honest and for looking to pad his own situation by getting on key committees, financial services, and judiciary.

By the way, Andy Ogles is not. A lawyer. I mean, you've got Harriet Hageman, who defeated Liz Cheney. She ought to be on the Judiciary Committee. You have Congressman Bishop from North Carolina, who also flipped in support of McCarthy.

He was one of the 20. He's a lawyer and a great lawyer from North Carolina. Those are the people that ought to be on judiciary, not Andy Ogle, simply because he wants the limelight of being able to be a part of insurrection hearings and whether there was an insurrection on January 6th. And I want Jim Jordan heading that committee about the politicization of the FBI and our intelligence agencies and the whole COVID debacle. Those are the guys that should be on judiciary, not Andy wanting to try and get a better committee so he can raise money when he's shown he's not been very effective at raising money.

And then he wants to be on financial services because the PACs roll a ton of money into congressmen who are on that committee. You don't have to work hard to raise money. They throw it at you.

So if PACs are so bad, as Matt Gates and the 20 were saying, then is Andy wanting to get on a committee so he can get easy PAC money?

Well, it's a good question. And, Steve, we're up against a hard break here, but I appreciate your insight. I know you've been covering that particular race, and we're pretty, you were in the I appreciate you being in the weeds on it so you can let us know what's going on here with Andy Ogles. I think you're right. He is going to be primary.

He's a friend of mine, and I hope he'll be a great congressman, but he's going to have to step up now and prove it. Yeah, and he needs to learn how to play the game. He needs to learn how to do this the right way, too. I think trading a vote to get a committee is exactly how they've been playing the game before. That's not changing the status quo.

No, sir, it is not. All right, Steve Gill, ladies and gentlemen. From the great city of Nashville, Tennessee. We've got to take a break here. Polls, by the way, showing a very tight race still between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, and that's going to be shaping up to what could be a very big political battle.

Our friends over at Newsmax want to know what you think. They're conducting an urgent poll. They want to know: should President Trump continue his run for the White House or is DeSantis the better pick? You can vote right now in the Newsmax poll. Text the word skip to 39747.

That skip to 39747 will let your voice be heard. Newsmax, look, I'm on every Thursday on the Chris Salcedo show and really appreciate the great work they're doing over there.

So be sure to vote in the poll. Text skip to 39747. We'll be right back.

Uh All right, folks, welcome back to the Todd Starns Radio Program. Happy to have you with us. Let's get to the phones: 844-747-8868. Let's go to Iowa. Eat is on the line, watching us on our getter video stream.

Hi, Eat. What's on your mind? Hey, it's Happy New Year. Glad you came home or came back from that break. Thank you.

Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, we have to take a break every now and again, and that's normally when we do it.

So my comment is There's a gigantic Horculus Hog Trough in DC. And they're feeding at it. And that's what's gonna happen. Is they've got to come over, they roll over because they want the pork, they want the hog trough. This is sort of like All Star Wrestling.

R doubt. Harlem Globetters and the Washington Generals, it's just show because Here's here's the I guess the backside or something that really doesn't matter. The voucher. is that as soon as McCarthy, if he gets speaker, He'll do some kind of correlation with all the moderate. You know, Republicans.

And then the Democrats, they've already said that the Democrats will work to get McCarthy elected. And then They'll s you know, say hack with the Republicans They'll get You know, ninety, a hundred Republicans, and then they'll get. 90 or 100 Democrats. In other words, it's a sham. It's a sham, Eat.

That's what you're saying. And I agree with you there. Eat, I hate to do this, but the computer is going to cut us off. But thank you for watching us on Getter. Thank you, folks, for listening to us on your local radio stations.

Hang tight, hour three coming up. We're going to be taking your calls: 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Starns Radio Show. The Venture X card from Capital One gives you premium travel benefits. Perfect for seeing Taylor Swift the Heiress Tour, presented by Capital One.

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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. Well, now this is this is interesting, and the thought has crossed my mind. It was a fleeting thought, but I I'm sort of torn about it, but Brandon from Memphis, Tennessee, listening to us on KWAM.

Says What they ought to do is name Todd Starnes as the next Speaker of the House.

Now, Brandon, first of all, thank you. I'm very flattered by the recommendation. I have not really thought about seeking an office. That's really not in my wheelhouse. I prefer to sit behind this big, beautiful, huge microphone.

We have a vast audience from border to border, coast to coast, across the fruited plain. We don't have a golden EIB microphone like Russia had, but I think we're working our way up to silver.

So we're headed in the right direction. But really, I don't think I would be a good speaker, and I want to explain why, because I just don't put up with any nonsense. And I'm afraid I would be wielding the gavel in ways one should not wield a gavel. Not only that, I'm not sure they would give me the time off to do the show. And again, it's a three-hour show, but it takes about 10 hours of prep time to do this three-hour radio program.

So I'm probably not going to be the guy. But, Brandon, I appreciate the kind words and the thoughts. And I have no doubt that I could get these morons in order. Because this house is not in order. This house is in disarray.

So, right now, let me explain what's happening. If you have just joined us on your lunch break, the House is now voting for the 13th time. We've had a number of Freedom Caucus defectors, including the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus himself, Scott Perry. They're all now voting for McCarthy, but McCarthy still does not have the votes.

So, the chaos, and it's really not even chaos. The process continues on Capitol Hill.

Now, in the last hour, there was a bit of hullabaloo because a freshman congressman from the state of Tennessee, his name Andy Ogles, did an interview with us saying that he was not going to back down. He was going to fight till the end.

Well, it turns out, just mere moments after that interview, he turned around and betrayed conservative voters and cast his vote for Kevin McCarthy. There you go. And we're not going to allow, and I just want you to understand this: we don't play by anybody's talking points on this radio program. There are a lot of Republicans upset with me because I'm not supporting Ron and McDaniel right now. But I don't believe that she's the person that can lead the Republican Party to great victories.

That doesn't mean I'm a liberal. It doesn't mean I'm a rhino. It just means that I. And I am sticking by my Conservative principles, and you should too. You should too.

So, we're going to play a lot of audio this hour of the show. Also, Pete Buttigedge facing a lot of trouble, and we're going to get into that just momentarily. But we do have folks on the lines that held over during the news break, and I want to get to those calls. 844-747-8868, toll-free telephone number. Let's go to James and Arkansas, listening to us on KWAM.

Hi, James. What's on your mind? Well, you know, Todd, I I had a Dear friend of mine that has since passed away that told me years ago. that what has what is right has become wrong and what is wrong has become right. And that's basically what's going on in America right now.

And these politicians up there should quit worrying about their legacy, how they're going to be viewed in history, how they'll be judged later on down the road or what job they'll get at CNN or FOX or whatever. and represent the people of the state. And you know what? I don't even have to look and see if French Hill voted for him, because I know he did. 'Cause that's French Hill.

And French Hill, you're a congressman there in the state of Arkansas who has always sided against the conservatives. And I'm not surprised that that happened again, James. But you're right, the whole thing is crazy. And it's funny you mentioned that because I wrote a book called Godless America several years back. And that was the opening line of the book.

You know, we live in a place now where right is right, wrong is wrong, our values, what we believe has been literally turned upside down. And people are sick and tired of it. I know I am. You know, I mean, you know, I know you're a Christian and. You know, I just How much longer before God just says that's enough?

Yeah, he's got to be reaching for the BC powder right about now, if I'm being honest with you, James. I'm just saying. It's a mess. It's a mess. Well, James, the good news is we have talk radio where we can work all of this out, we can talk our way through it, and you can know that you're not alone.

And there are a lot of other people that are frustrated. I mean, when you look at the polling data, most Americans, Republican voters especially, do not want Kevin McCarthy as the next Speaker of the House. But you know what? It's just like Rona McDaniel. They don't care what we think.

All they care about are those committee members. All they care about are the people elected to Congress. Those are the only people's voices that matter. And we don't. And I think there is going to be a massive revolt.

And I will say this, James: that if McCarthy does, in fact, become Speaker of the House and McCarthy does not defend the America First agenda. Then I believe the people that should be punished are not Kevin McCarthy, but every House member who voted for his speakership. And they should be voted out of office. Absolutely. I agree.

All right, James, appreciate that call. You hang in there. And I'll say one other thing. Should, heaven forbid, there be any skeletons in mister McCarthy's closet that could possibly come out of that closet in the next, I don't know, thirty days by Democrats, which is what we're hearing, then every single Republican who voted for this man should be voted out of office, every single one of them. Yeah.

All right, let's go to Statesville, North Carolina. Robert on the line. WSIC, our great station there. Robert, what say you? Hey, Todd.

Thanks for taking the call. I'm seventy two years old. Uh Christian retired veteran. And I'd just like to say, I despise politics. I understand.

government's a necessary evil. By by the time all the uh Politicians get through calling each other liars and thieves and everything else you can imagine. You don't want to vote for any of them.

So, how are we supposed to figure out? who we can really vote for. that will do what's necessary. It's a good question, Robert. And unfortunately, some of these people that are out there campaigning that they're conservative are just pretenders.

They're wannabes.

Well, they're not even wannabes. They believe they can pull one over on the American people and the American voters.

So we're going to have to just keep doing our homework when it comes to supporting these kinds of candidates. I'm with you. It's really despicable. And you got a chance to see that in real time, where an hour ago you had someone like Andy Ogles, the congressman from Tennessee, talking about how bad Kevin McCarthy was, and then he turns around, flips his vote, because clearly he got something from McCarthy, or McCarthy, quite frankly, may have something on Mr. Ogles.

So that could be the other way this goes down. Robert, appreciate the call. Again, 844-747-8868, our toll-free telephone number. And meanwhile, while all this is going, and we're watching the 13th ballot, they're starting to cast their vote. Right now.

While that's happening, every one of those people who flipped have been cheered and saluted in the House chamber. These are the same people that were calling these individuals insurrectionist, terrorist, psychological nutjobs, fools, idiots, terrorists. And now, all of a sudden, they're embracing them. And what is this? All is forgiven.

Oh, we were this kid. We didn't mean to call you an Islamic radical. It's just a good old joke. Really? Is is it a joke?

And what about Fox News Channel? Are you disappointed? And what Fox News has done here? Are you angry at Fox News? Have you turned off Fox News?

844-747-8868. This is the Todd Starn Show. Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen across America, we have breaking news. Breaking news from the New York Times. And you know it's important because I have my breaking news anchor voice on.

From the New York Times. The T V is on in the House cafeteria, live streaming the session a couple of floors above, but hardly any lunch goers were watching as Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat nominated Hakeem Jefferies. Others were enjoying their soups and salads while chatting with colleagues or looking at their phones. And that is the breaking news from the New York Simes, ladies and gentlemen. All right, so here's where we're at.

The vote number thirteen is underway. Right now, three people voting against McCarthy, and we will see how this plays out. And see if anybody flips again or flips back. We could have some flip-floppers. You just never know.

In the meantime, let's go to the phones. Terry in North Carolina has a question to ask. Hi, Terry. What's your question? Actually, I didn't have a question.

What I was going to respond to is Robert ahead of you. He was talking about. or ahead of me who was talking about getting other people in there. Part of the problem, and I've seen it happen here in my congressional district, in North Carolina is money. It's always about the money.

We had a couple candidates run against Uh congressman who is now getting ready to do twenty years in Congress. And the bottom line is, all through the primary, you never heard nothing from our congressman. You had a couple of good candidates out there running from county to county, trying to meet people, trying to campaign. But at the end of the day, when it come right before the election, our congressman spent one point five million dollars and flooded the airways with his name, and people went out and voted for the name they've heard. The most.

And that's the problem with our Congress and our government: it's controlled by money, and you can't get good people in. Because the ones who are already there have got this kind of money to go out and spend to get reelected. And people don't realize you can go see who's buying your congressman because that's public. Information, you can look it up, and our congressman. Is pretty much everything he's got to spend is coming from big pharmaceutical insurance industries or financial industries.

Uh so It's not coming from the people he's bought and paid for. And Terry, again, when you look at the makeup of Congress, by and large, multimillionaires, nearly all of them, are multimillionaires.

So they're on a different thinking level. They have more things that they care about than taking care of their constituents. They're caring about their bank accounts. They are worried about the lobbyist. They want to line their pocketbooks, and they're using those congressional seats to increase their checking accounts.

Absolutely. I've been in several meetings because I do a lot of work with the Republican Party here, and I've been in several meetings with our congressmen. And he is not representing the people, he's representing his own interests because I've heard him answer questions asked in these meetings. And he'll tell you he don't even lie, he tells you where he stands. And he's not representing the people, but you can't get rid of him because of the money.

Terry, appreciate that call. And by the way, folks, while we were chatting with Terry, Matt Gates cast his vote for Jim Jordan, and Congressman Goode of Virginia just now casting his vote for Jim Jordan.

So now you have five people voting against McCarthy. And we'll keep you updated as we go through ballot number 13. Paul Gosar is a McCarthy vote now.

So he's one of those who flip-flopped. Let's go to Angie in South Carolina. Hi, Angie. What's on your mind? Hi, Tad.

Um, I can just Uh I think it's like there. Killing the horse over and over. I mean, this guy does they just don't want him in there. And He just won't stay dead like a horse keeps coming back alive. And I'm just wondering if maybe they should just.

Start rallying around a different person and nominate him. Is that a possibility? Or do they have to kill the horse over and over? It could Could be, but I don't think they're going to do that, Angie. I think that Kevin McCarthy wields a lot of power, and there are people in.

You know, in the house that are scared of McCarthy and they're afraid. You know, these guys, they collect all the dirt on people. And I don't know if you ever saw the TV show on Netflix, House of Cards. You know, what makes that show so interesting is that there really is a lot of that going on behind the scenes. I mean, it's pretty cutthroat up on Capitol Hill.

So, you know, McCarthy may have the goods on a lot of people, and they just don't want to upset that Apple cart. Yeah. Well I mean What? Of these are new, are freshmen. I mean, are they not?

They're new to the Congress.

So, I mean, to the representative.

So how is it that they he would have any dope on them? That's a good question. For example, Andy Ogles, who is the new freshman congressman from Tennessee, he was one of those of the original House 21. And we don't know. We don't know what McCarthy had on him, but whatever it was, it was big enough for him to switch his vote just 30 minutes before telling us that he was against McCarthy.

So there was something, he's got something on Ogles. This is just so crazy. I mean, when they do have the FBI tracking these people, they can.

Well, it's not like they haven't done that before, Angie.

So, I mean, you never know. I mean, look, McCarthy is part of the deep state. And the problem is, he is just like Mitch McConnell and Ronna McDaniel. Yeah, yeah. Mac leadership.

Yeah, it's scary, isn't it? Indeed, it is. Indeed, it is. All right, Angie, appreciate that call. We've got to skedaddle, but God bless you.

Give us a call back. Yeah. Right now, the vote 85 for McCarthy, 84 for Jeffries, and five people right now voting against McCarthy. We will continue to follow that vote in round 13. What is it they say?

The definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting different results? Yeah, that's what that means. All right, coming up, I've got to play some audio from P. Putajej.

He is the Transportation Secretary. Yeah. went over to the Invectus Games in the Netherlands, which, by the way, is a noble cause. They these are games. They and the the athletes are all military veterans, wounded warriors.

It's a noble effort.

So they sent Peeputo Judge over there. And Buddha Jej flew out there on a private military jet, and he brought along the the dude, the husband. What's the guy's name? Is it chastity? No, chast not no, it's not chastity.

Cha oh, chaston.

So anyway, Pete and Chaston were um on a flight. Government expense flying over there, and people are really upset about this and raising a lot of concerns and saying, Hey, look, what's up with the tax dollars that are being used to fly you all over the place? Since Budajej took office, he's been using private jets at least 18 different times. And so, anyway, people are saying, Wait a second, this is the same guy that's out there arguing that we've got to get rid of airplanes, we've got to get rid of cars because of carbon emissions.

Meanwhile, he's flying all over the globe on one of the worst possible violators of carbon emissions, talking about those private jets. But at the same time, there is a lot of hypocrisy because Because again, Pete Buttigieg is out there doing this while ignoring his day job. Yeah. Now, I appreciate the fact that he's representing America at the Invectus Games. Wasn't there somebody else?

Because we've got a lot of problems here in the transportation world. And a lot of you are still stuck at airports trying to get home from Christmas.

So, anyway, Buddha Judge has a theory about why you people are upset with him, and we'll play that audio coming up. 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Starns Radio Show. Why do dry January when you could do sweaty January? Right now, get up to $500 off Peloton Shred Packages.

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See additional terms at 1Peloton.com. All right, good to have you back with us.

So Pete Buddha Jej is really upset with all you people. How dare you, how dare you criticize me for using government-funded resources to fly all over the world? Who do you think you are? Yeah. I'm doing the work of Joe Biden.

So who do you think you are to criticize me? How dare you So anyway, he was on Brett Baer's show. Over on Fox, and Brad Baer asked him about: hey, what's the deal here? Because people are really upset. You're flying all over the world on the taxpayer dime.

Why aren't you on JetBlue or Spirit Airlines? What's wrong with you? Take a listen. You also brought your husband Chaston on a military aircraft to attend a sporting event in the Netherlands. Was that reimbursement?

No, no, no. But was that reimbursed? Because that was one of the controversies for the price. I led a presidential delegation to support American wounded warriors and injured service members, the Invictus Games, as has been tradition for many years. I led the American delegation.

It was one of the great honors of my time in this job. And the diplomatic protocol on a presidential delegation is that the principal is often accompanied by their spouse. It was a great trip. It was incredible. It was also a few weeks into the Ukraine war.

So we had a chance at the U.S. Embassy to engage with the Ukrainian competitors, also wounded service members.

Some of them went from the games back to the battlefield to fight for their country. I also took the opportunity to sit with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands to look at port infrastructure, Dutch port infrastructure. But here's what I want you to understand. Before me, it was the Secretary of the Army under President Trump who took that trip with his wife. Before that, it was Mrs.

Trump as first lady who went to the Invictus Games. Before that, Mrs. Obama did the same thing. And I guess the question on my mind is: if no one's raising questions about why Secretary Esper and his wife. Led that delegation.

And as well, they should have, then why is it any different when it's me and my husband? Understood.

So so Buddha Jej is saying is in essence, he's saying, you people are just homophobes. You're only outraged because I'm a gay man and I'm married to another man. How dare you? How dare you? How dare you?

I'm just saying that's what he said.

So again, Pete Putajej thinks you people are homophobes, and that's the reason why you're complaining that he's out there using government funded airplanes to vacation all over the world. Yeah. But I got to be honest with you here, folks. I had no idea that Mrs. Buddha Jej was actually on the journey.

Mr. Buddha Judge, my apologies. I had no idea that he brought along the Mr. Because my original complaint is that he is using our taxpayer money and he's squandering it. It's frivolous.

Yeah. So Buddha judge is out there saying, well, He's wrapping himself in his nation's flag, the rainbow flag. And he's taking a stand. And all of the uh the gay media outlets are going bonkers over this. And they're acting like this is some sort of a J six insurrection kind of a thing.

But it's not. And I want to explain why. And here's the reason why. He's spending millions of dollars, millions of dollars flying all over the world. He's the freaking transportation secretary.

His butt needs to be on American soil. How many times, how many times has there been some sort of a crisis around Buddha Judge? And where has he been? He's been on vacation. He's been on maternity leave.

He's been nursing his children. He hasn't been at the office doing his day job. But there's more to it than that. You got to go back to 2017. This turned out to be a pretty big scandal in the.

Trump administration, when the Health and Human Services Secretary, a guy by the name of Tom Price, Resigned. And why did Tom Price have to resign? Because he racked up more than a million dollars using government-funded airplanes and military jets. Had to get out of there. By the way, Price also had to reimburse the government because guess what?

He brought along the missus.

So it's It's pretty fair to ask at this point, all right, Mr. Buddhajej, did Mr. Mr. Buddhajej? Mr.

It's very confusing. Did your husband Yeah. Did he pay his own way? Or did you expect for the government to pick up the tap? And what was it that Buddha Jet says?

Well, nobody complained when Melania Trump went over there. Nobody complained when Michelle Obama went over there. Yes, there's a reason why. Petey, it's because they're the first ladies. Your husband is the husband of the Transportation Department.

Cabinet secretaries are not first ladies. Pv Just want to point that out.

So, it has nothing to do with homophobia. It has everything to do with hypocrisy. But as it goes with P. Putigens, the guy is clearly, clearly. Not qualified to be the Transportation Secretary.

They're trying to position him in the administration to be a stepping stone to run for the White House. But this guy couldn't even fill potholes back in South Pitt, Indiana, when he was the mayor. Let's go to Keith in North Carolina on the talk station. Keith, what say you? It is kind of interesting that our Transportation Secretary is doing something that If anybody ought to be doing it.

It should be a military person or the ambassador or something of that nature. Not him.

Now that's one thing, but that's not why I call. There is a problem whenever we have the people who receive our funds are the ones who help make the decisions on how our money is being spent. Those people should have absolutely no say. and how our government money is spent. That's up to the to the people that's supposed to represent us.

And that money should be spent in one way and one way only. That's on behalf of the people of the state of the United States. not on behalf of these corporations. That's one of the main problems we have. In this country.

You know, Keith, it's an interesting point because you're right. Why was P. Putigej the guy? Why not somebody in our military or maybe a military hero, a war veteran, a war hero? Why were they not representing the United States instead of P.

Putigej and Mr. Butige? I won't get into that. I know, I know. It's Friday, we know.

Well, men can't have husbands. And why and women can't have why?

Well, the Supreme Court says they can.

Well, the Supreme Court is confused. Read the Bible. All right. But that's it. Have a great weekend.

By the way, great program. Yeah. Thank you, Keith. Appreciate that. You're very kind to say that.

Keith's getting me in trouble on a Friday. This news coming from the world of comic books, The Joker is pregnant. Yeah. Oh, my word. Oh, no, before we get to the Joker, Don Lemon, who happens to be a Joker, Don Lemon from CNN, the most profane name in news.

Ryan Negro Network. Thanks, Judge Joe Brown, always there with a retort. Dan Lemon. Who allegedly? I'm not going to go down that path.

Just be careful around Don Lamond if you're in a Murphs bar down in the Hampton Islands. Don Lemon said that he believes that Michelle Obama is more attractive. The Melania Trump. Yeah. Mm.

No, it's true. Don Lamont was weighing in on this over on CNN the other day, and he believes that Michelle Obama when it comes to classic American beauty, Don Lamont says that Michelle Obama is a better looking woman than Melania Trump. Come on. I just I don't I you know I I wonder, though, if Don Lamond thinks P. Butigej is more attractive than Michelle Obama.

Maybe that's the question we ought to be asking. 844-747-8868. That's our toll-free telephone number, 844-747-8868.

So DC Comics, um, They're having a big problem over there. It's woke USA. And it's not just DC, it's Marvel Comics. You know, I was talking to a guy who owns a comic book shop here in the Memphis area, and I collect. That's just one of the things I like to do, one of the hobbies.

And the guy was saying, you know, it's really tough because people are just not buying these woke versions of these beloved characters. What is it, the latest, a Superman, Wentgay? And they're saying nobody's buying. Nobody wants their characters to be transformed by this woke agenda. And a lot of comic book stores around the country are really struggling now because people are not buying what these comic book companies are putting out.

So anyway, DC Comics released an issue featuring a pregnant joker who gives birth to a son. We're talking about a transgender joker. Unbelievable. So anyway, comic book fans are really getting frustrated and they don't by and large, I don't think comic book fans are all that political. You know, they're sort of apolitical.

I mean, there may be some, but you know, Ted Cruz is a big comic books fan. Big time. But by and large, people are these are young people, they've got plenty of other things to focus on, and they're just really they just don't care about politics all that much. But now even these people Are beginning to wake up and they're realizing, holy cow, these woke people are literally destroying the comic book industry. Comic review site Batman News characterized the latest edition as, quote, probably the worst story read by them, and not just for the Joker impregnation bit.

The critic Teresa Campania noted that the Joker has never been a character obsessed with chasing after women and surmised that the writer, Matthew Rosenberg, must have been influenced by marijuana. Are there really a lot of marijuana smokers or users in the comic book world? I don't know. Maybe, I don't know. I don't want to stereotype or paint with a broad brush.

DC Comics has, I'm reading from the Daily Wire, DC Comics has incorporated a social justice spin on its classic characters over the past few years, progressing these narratives despite a steep, steady decline in sales. One of the woke comic books failed more recently with Superman Son of Cal El, in which Clark Kent's son, Jonathan Kent, was revealed to be bisexual. Oh, I thought he was gay. He's just bisexual? I'm very confused.

Anyway, um, bisexual, DC Comics had incorporated this new version of Superman into their DC Pride anthology, giving him a makeover with a Rainbow Pride flag cape. Yeah. After initial interest from fans, the series quickly dropped out of the top ratings within a month. DC Comics released another comic book rebuking former President Trump's decision to shut down the border. The comic book depicted Superman rescuing a group of illegals from a white man wearing an American flag bandanna and wielding a machine gun.

The assailant was angry that the group had stolen jobs from him. Uh This is what the comic book world looks like. Everything the woke people touch. Is destroyed. Everything, everything.

And I hate it for kids because a lot of us grew up riding our bicycles, used to get on the Huffy or the Schwinn, and you ride down to the Rexall drugstore, which is what I did back in South Haven, Mississippi, right next to the big star. And you would go in there and you would sit down on the floor of the drugstore and you'd read comic books. But unfortunately, a generation of American kids, they're not going to be able to enjoy that because nobody wants to read this crap. All right, 844-747-8868. That's our toll-free telephone number.

That's 844-747-8888. 8868. I want to tell you about our friends over at patriotmobile.com. America's only Christian Conservative wireless carrier, and they've been longtime sponsors of our program. And I love these guys.

And here's the reason why. They put their money where their mouth is. They're actually supporting causes that we care about, the First Amendment, religious liberty. And they also have a great product. You say, well, Todd, what about the coverage?

Very simple. Go to patriotmobile.com slash Todd, and you'll be able to check the coverage in your area. And if you've got great coverage, which they have great coverage all over the country, then I would encourage you to make the switch right now. They're going to give you some great discounts. Also, if you're a veteran, if you're a first responder, they're going to give you even bigger discounts.

PatriotMobile.com slash Todd or call 972Patriot. That's 972Patriot.

Now be sure to use my discount code and they're going to give you more discounts. And that discount code, my first name Todd. We'll be right back, America. Yeah. All right, really excited about the response so far to our big trip to Israel coming up in November of this year, 2023.

It's a little pricey, but again, you're spending seven days, seven nights in Israel, and it is going to be a first-class visit. You're going to love this, folks. Stand with Israel. We've got all the information on our website over at ToddSterns.com.

Now, I'm going to have some special guests that will be coming along, including a very well-known contemporary Christian artist, and we're going to be making those announcements as we move forward. A lot of people have been asking: okay, do we have to pay the full price up front? No, you do not.

So you can pay it in installments, and that's what I would encourage you to do at least.

So, again, ToddSterns.com. If you would like information, you can also give us a call here, and we'll get your information and make sure that you have all the info you need on the trip. It is Stand with Israel, and we'll be leaving in November for seven days. We're visiting the Holy Land, and also we're going to be meeting with government leaders there in the Knesset. Again, our telephone number, if you would like information, give us a call: 844-747-8868.

That's 844-747-8868, and we would love to be able to share that information with you. The vote This is number 13, number 14. I've lost track. Anyway, McCarthy 214, Jeffries 212, six people voting others. Andy Harris is the latest Republican to switch and to flip over to McCarthy.

So the numbers are dwindling.

So the question now is: do the Freedom Caucus holdouts? What are they now? The Freedom Caucus Six? Do they hold out or should they go ahead and throw in the towel? What do you think here, folks?

844-747-8868. That's our toll-free telephone number. That's 844-747-887. This story from Rutgers University. Which is a government-funded institution.

The headline from WorldNet Daily: a black records professor says that whiteness is going to have an end date. The Professor Telling an audience his name, by the way, or rather the professor. Brittany Cooper. Yeah. Says that whiteness is going to have an end date and that white people are committed to being villains.

Yeah. The professor, Professor Cooper, is a critical race theory prof. That's the garbage she spews. courtesy of your tax dollars. She says white people are the cause of dysfunction in the world, as black and brown people were able to travel the oceans and share friendship and prosperity.

Really? Really? Yeah. Might be interesting to go back in history and find out who sold people into slavery in the first place. White human beings thought there is a world here, and we own it.

Prior to them, black and brown people have been sailing across the oceans, interacting with each other for centuries without total subjugation, domination, and colonialism. Really? Re really? Apparently, the professor is not keen on learning about African history. She goes on to say, we've got to take these MFers out.

That would be all you honkies out there. All right, well, there you go. My advice, I would not even audit that class, America. All right, folks, ToddStarnes.com. We're going to keep you updated on the speaker vote.

Want to thank Kyle, Josh, Grace, our great team here. In the meantime, you get out there, have a great Friday, and be sure to go to church this weekend, America. Lord knows we need it. Yeah.