Did DeSantis Make a Mistake by Not Attending CPAC?

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Broadcasting live from CPAC. It's America's favorite gun-totant Bible-clinging deplorable American. That's right. I love this American ride. Don't start.

Sorry. And hello, America. Welcome to the Todd Stearns Radio Program, day two, live on Radio Row here at CPAC in Washington, D.C. And man, do we have a great show lined up for you? A cavalcade of conservative stars coming onto the program today.

In just a few moments, you're going to be hearing from former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also coming up this hour, we are expecting Congressman James Comer to drop by and our good friend Hogan Gidley from Newsmax TV. And of course, today also is Open Line Friday.

So whatever you want to talk about, we're going to talk about even at CPAC because, well, that's what we do on this program. Go ahead and write down our telephone number. You will need this if you plan on calling in. That number is 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-8868.

Now, there's been a lot of conversation in The hallways here at CPAC, and I want to try to set the stage for you because there is excitement here, but the reality is there are not massive crowds of people as in years past. And there are a couple of theories, people are certainly talking about that, and we've spoken to a number of folks who've made similar observations that. There does seem to be excitement, but it seems to be a bit tepid. And it could be that this is the off-year election, so there's people maybe are a little tired of politics. Maybe they're taking a break.

But there's also a lack of young people here. It is a predominantly older crowd, and typically in years past, there have been a lot of young conservatives walking the hallways, and we just haven't seen that this year. And again, there could be a million reasons for that. But one possible theory is that young people are now migrating to organizations like Turning Point USA, and maybe they are stepping in and consolidating their power among those conservative young people. But regardless, there is a divide.

And at this moment, you have the Trump supporters, who are by and large the overwhelming force here at CPAC in Washington, D.C. And then you have the Club for Growth, which is another organization which, by the way, is trade-friendly with China, a big supporter of the Bushes and the Cheneys. They are meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, and that's where a good many Republican leaders are.

Now, Fox News Channel is not here. They are, by all intent, they are boycotting CPAC, which has been odd. I think for the, I've been coming here well over a decade, and it's very unusual not to see Fox News Channel people wandering the hallways. News Maxo is here, and by the way, had a great segment yesterday with Chris Alcedo on his program in the hallway here at CPAC at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort.

So let's talk about who is and who is not here. Former Vice President Pence is a no-show. He will be down in Florida with Governor Ron DeSantis. And both men are expected to talk to the Club for Growth.

Now, look, this is a super exclusive retreat for their donors in Palm Beach, Florida.

So this is a very wealthy class of folks. He's also scheduled to speak at the same time that President Trump is greeting CPAC attendees here in person.

So I don't believe in coincidences.

So this is all set up.

Now, this is going to be red meat for Donald Trump. No doubt about it. and he is leading DeSantis in every poll out there. by double digits, leading everybody else to.

So the CPAC snub Is a problem for Team DeSantis.

Now, I want to say this because we have a lot of DeSantis listeners in our audience, and I like DeSantis. I really like DeSantis. I want Ron DeSantis to succeed. I believe that Ron DeSantis would make a great president. The question is: the timing: is this the time for DeSantis to make his move?

Well, his team is making some missteps, and these missteps need to be corrected. And I want to go through this, and then we're going to play this interview with. With Mike Pompeo. But one of the issues with DeSantis, his team is keeping him cloistered. They don't want him out.

They don't want him doing meet and greets with the rank and file. Big dollar donors, no problem. Fox News Channel interviews, that's great. But by and large, his team has kept him isolated from conservative media platforms, and it's a very odd decision. But they are holding all of the conservative journalists at arm's length, and quite frankly, it's very condescending.

Now, again, I think that's a good idea. I want to stress this. I like DeSantis, and I'm just offering some free advice here, but he needs to loosen up and he needs to stop reading his own headlines. That's what he's got to do.

Now there's no doubt, no doubt that DeSantis I get it. Those big dollar donors from Club for Growth very tempting. And there's no doubt that it's very flattering to be wined and dined by the party elders and the bright lights of Fox News Channel. No doubt intoxicating. But if Ron DeSantis really wants to win hearts and minds of conservatives, then he needs to be walking the halls of CPAC and not sipping the fruity drinks on the beach with Jeb Bush.

And again, I like the guy. I really do. But he had a choice to make, and he chose to hang out with the caviar crowd instead of the meatloaf crowd. And I think it was the wrong decision to make.

So, look, here's where we need to go from here, and this is my takeaway from CPAC and where we are. There's no reason we shouldn't have thousands and thousands of people here, but we don't. That tells me that we may have an issue here. There are fissures. growing within the Republican Party.

Now I believe that we ought to have a very vigorous debate. I believe we ought to have a very vigorous Campaign season. And if there are 13 people running for the White House and the Republican nomination, then so be it. May the best person win the day. But that person has to be the best person, and the person who's going to represent the base of the party, who's going to represent the party platform.

And whoever that person is. Everybody has to agree to get behind that individual. Gotta do it. And if we don't, we're going to fight, we're going to stay divided, and we will lose in the general election. It's really that simple, ladies and gentlemen.

All right, as you know what we're going to do, we're going to take a break. When we come back, we're going to dip into this interview we did yesterday with Senator Mike with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. We're going to be taking your calls as well. Or do you believe the Republican Party is divided? And if so, how do we fix it?

How do we fix the Republican Party? 844-747-8868 is our toll-free telephone number. That's 844-747-8868.

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Mary Walters is stalking us again. We'll get her on the program here shortly. Welcome back, everybody. This is fun. Eric Bowling from Newsmax just dropped by, and Mike Lindell was here a little while ago.

So it's sort of a who's who, and it's a lot of fun. And I have to tell you, everybody's coming up and visiting Grace Baker, so we may have to make her the official co-host of the program before it's all said and done.

So, look, as promised, I want to go to this interview we did with Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State. You know, it's interesting, very soft-spoken. We were in a private room here at CPAC and spent about 15 minutes together. The guy was down in the Diet Coke. You know, he's on this big weight loss kick and down in the Diet Coax, but had a really interesting conversation.

Let's listen in to Mike Pompeo. Mr. Secretary, what is the message that you're bringing people here at CPAC? A return to basic conservative principles will work. You know, we've lost a lot of elections.

We haven't had the success that we all believe is good for America, not just our party, but for America. And a return to the central founding principles of our country: deterrence abroad, taking care of American families at home, respecting parents' rights to teach their kids the things they want to teach. And if we return to those foundational ideas, then we can, in fact, make this country exceptional for another 250 great years. You know, they say this is sort of the Super Bowl for conservatives. How important is it for a person that's even thinking about running for higher office to be here and to be in person boots on the ground with these folks?

How important? You know, it's just lovely. It's wonderful for me. It's energizing to be with these people who come from all across America to come be in fellowship with their fellow conservative brothers and sisters. And so, you know, I don't know how politically important it is.

I don't think about it that way. I do think that having this opportunity to share with them this message that, as tough as it is out there, as As much as people are struggling today, we're going to be okay if we're prepared to work and return to the basic ideas that got us to where this has been such a great country. I think back to some of the things that you really wanted us to focus on as a nation, as Secretary of State. You were warning us about the dangers lurking out there on the foreign level, China, looking at what's happening with Russia right now. You predicted this, and I'm curious to get your take on how the Biden administration has been handling the crises.

Well I think it's pretty clear that We're more at risk today than we were two years ago, almost exactly two years ago when I left as Secretary of State. Vladimir Putin has now invaded Europe. Xi Jinping is moving about the cabin in ways that are deeply dangerous for American families right here at home. They flew a balloon over our country, for goodness sake, for five days, and we did nothing here. Those are not things that we would have allowed to happen on our watch.

And so I'm not rooting, when I do foreign policy stuff, I'm not rooting against this president, but I watch him create risk for American families, and that is not a healthy place. And we know how to fix it. We know how to secure our southern border. We know how to deter Vladimir Putin, and we know how to push back against the Chinese Communist Party. I wish that he would do that.

And you talk about the military. There have been a lot of concerns that military preparedness and readiness, the focus on these woke issues, critical race theory, things of that nature. What are you hearing from your friends in the military? And is that something that the American people should be concerned about? Todd, they're worried that it's losing its mission focus.

If there's one institution in America that has to be focused on the singular idea of excellence and merit and being prepared to fight, If called upon, that's how you get the deterrence that I was talking about earlier. When you instead train on DEI, when you instead tell folks, goodness gracious, we're going to promote based on something not related to merit, you put the cohesion of the military at risk. I don't think it's any surprise that young people aren't going to recruiting stations, right, where they're failing to meet recruiting goals because if you're a Marine. If you think, I want to be a Marine, you are not looking for a safe space. You're looking for a place that's going to reward you for hard work and excellence and patriotism.

And I'm afraid our political leadership, both civilian and military, has lost that mission focus. It is really dangerous for the country. You know, you check off a lot of those boxes. You know, you are pro-military. You have had great service to this country, both in Congress and in the State Department.

And I think a lot of people are looking at what's happening in this country right now, and they realize that maybe the greater threat might be the division between our people. I'm wondering, do you see that and what's the fix? Is there even a quick fix to what's broken in America right now? I do see that. But America has a long history of being a pretty rambunctious place.

If you go back and read the Federal papers, there were big fights about what's the right way to move forward. I do hope that our leaders across the prospectum will spend less time trying to own the libs on Twitter, more time thoughtfully making the case to the American people about why these conservative ideas improve their lives. I don't view this as partisan. I view this as fundamental. It is neither conservative nor liberal to say, God, that Constitution really matters.

If somebody breaks into Walgreens and steals $900 worth of stuff, we should prosecute that. These are central core ideas, and we need leaders that are serious and thoughtful and organized and prepared to actually deliver those for the American people. And when we do, we'll clean up the problems at the FBI and the Justice Department. We will get rid of the Department of Education entirely, or we will bring parents back into the center of their children's educational lives. And when we do, great things will happen.

And I think that will bring America back together because, in the end, everyone's looking for the same set of outcomes. You want to be president one day? goodness, I don't know the answer to that. Susan and I are thinking hard about whether we're going to run. We'll make a decision in the next handful of weeks.

And then we'll go if we do, we'll go make our case to the people of America about why it is I ought to be the next Commander in Chief. What would that commander-in-chief look like? What would a president look like for someone like that? Oh, goodness. I've been talking about it.

It's pretty straightforward. Ronald Reagan had it mostly right in the sense that he understood that an American leadership abroad delivered good outcomes for the American people at home. He also understood that a smaller government was a better, more effective way to run the railroad. Even in the Trump administration, my goodness, we spent money ridiculous amounts as well. That can't go on.

No conservative president should allow the deficit to increase like it did for the last 20 years, including those four years as well. It'll also, I hope, look like a presidency that speaks about America from the heart and with decency. Not crazy stuff, not ever apologizing for our country, speaking about the things that have made America so unique and so exceptional. And when a president does that, then most of the good things that happen that happen in our little places all across America, they'll be free to go do those. As a party, you know, the Republican Party has some work to do.

We've got to be that big tent party, I think, and we have to hold on to the fundamentals, but maybe agree to disagree on some of the stuff. Oh, my gosh. We're always going to look. Even today, we see divides in our party about how to prosecute the war in Europe, how to assist the Ukrainians.

So we've always had that strand, the Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, Rand Paul strand of our party. Those are valid discussions. We ought to thrash it all out. But in the end, I pray that we'll all come together because I do believe that the conservative view that I have held since I was a teenager delivers the best outcomes for every American. Heartland values.

Yeah, Heartland values and values that our founders, and by the way, while they fought, they didn't fight about these central ideas of protection of basic property rights, human dignity, the capacity to contract opportunity for everyone based on merit and equality, not on some ideas. Of equity or division by group. Those were ideas that were consensus ideas. And I think the next set of leaders, whether they be mayors or county commissioners, needs to just drive those. And when they do, I think we'll have successful elections, too.

All right, Mr. Secretary, thank you very much for your time. Appreciate it. Bless you, Todd. Thank you.

And there you go, folks. That was our interview with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A little low energy, but it's some good content. And this guy, I mean, he checks off a lot of the boxes. No doubt about it.

So we're going to be giving you and providing you these interviews as we move into the election cycle so you can get a good feel for who these candidates are and where they stand on a lot of the conservative issues of the day.

Well, we do have a lot of information coming your way. We're expecting Congressman James Comber to drop by momentarily, Hogan Gidley. Also, Sean Spicer is going to be here. Chicks on the right, good friends of mine. And also, Carrie Lake, we are anticipating will drop by in the third hour of the program.

Also, want to direct your attention to our website, ToddStarnes.com. By the way, our team posting all sorts of great pictures here. We have our managing editor, Caleb Park, writing stories. Alan Morrow, one of our great staff. Writers and of course, Grace Baker, the executive producer.

All sorts of great information for you at ToddSterns.com and also information on our upcoming trip to Israel. You can go to our website, all the information you need on our upcoming trip. We would love for you and your family to join us. Open line Friday. Whatever you want to ask, whatever you want to talk about, we're going to talk about today.

844-747-8868. Again, that's a toll-free telephone number. 844-747-8868. Live from CPAC. This is the Todd Stern Show.

And welcome back to the Todd Stearns Radio Program. We are live from Radio Row here at CPAC. It has been a wild two days already. A lot of folks coming by. And by the way, if you missed the interview with Secretary Pompeo, you'll be able to listen to that on our live show blog.

You can go over and download our podcast at ToddSterns.com. Very excited to have our next guest joining us here. Just dropped by, our good friend from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Congressman James Comer. Congressman, how's it going? It's going great.

Great to be here with so much energy. And a lot of great conservatives, too. That's got to make you feel pretty good. It does, having to fight the swamp every day in Washington and the terrible media just to see these people who care about what we're doing and are passionate about the future of America. It's very encouraging.

It's always good to trigger the leftist here. You know, there's a disturbance in the force inside the beltway when the conservatives show up in mass. That's right. Congressman, I want to talk about some of the big investigations. You're the chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

And a couple of days ago, you were on Hannity's show, and you were hinting that there could be a connection between the Biden crime family and the response to COVID and the big cover-up.

Well, all I can say is that The more that we have presented to us in the form of And I don't want to say whistleblowers. I think most people know who the people that were involved in the Biden influence peddling. The more that comes forward, the more concerning it is. I mean, we knew this was a problem going into this, but the amount of influence peddling and the potential harm to our national security is breathtaking from the Biden family. And I know that there are so many investigations going on.

Is it too soon to even ask the question about this China spy balloon and the reasons why the Biden administration didn't shoot it down? Do you think there might even be a connection somewhere down the line? I don't know. I've talked to experts on our side, conservative experts in the intelligence community. They're kind of split on this.

But certainly wasn't a good look for the United States of America. And I think we're going to see more of that to come. You know, I told some people, I said, you know, ever since we've shut down the Biden crime family influence peddling, they've had to resort to spy balloons now to figure out what's going on in the United States. But hopefully we'll get some answers to that. For a time, they were shooting down those hot air balloons like it was duck.

Season. I know, it's a very good thing. Unbelievable. You know, but looking through all of the things, going back to the China virus and people that were asking legitimate questions about the origins of this virus, and they were not just dismissed, I think careers were ruined over this. Are people going to pay a price for the lies that came out of this administration?

Yes, I think the administration thinks that just because they've admitted that COVID came from Wuhan, it's all going to end, and it's not going to end because people need to be held accountable. Everybody says, Yeah, we need to hold China accountable. I agree, and I want to hold China accountable, but we need to hold people within our government accountable because there was never any doubt that this came from the Wuhan lab. I mean, that's what they were doing, researching and playing with COVID viruses there. Unfortunately, our tax dollars were going there too.

So, what we did early on was identify 40 employees that had anything to do with the Wuhan lab, either funding the gain of function research or had inside knowledge of what was going on at the Wuhan lab. These were lower-level employees. We sent letters to them right after the midterm elections saying we expect you to come into the House Oversight Committee and talk. And I think that's what triggered the Department of Energy and the FBI director to finally say, yeah, you know what? We've discerned it did come from the Wuhan Lab.

And they're really acting as if this is not a big deal or it's not some sort of a new revelation. It's really unbelievable the contempt they hold for the American people. It is. And look, the email show early on, Dr. Fauci and Dr.

Collins were concerned about people insinuating that it came from the Wuhan Lab. They're saying that's a conspiracy theory. Look at what information was lost. Maybe we could have gotten a vaccine quicker. Maybe we could have held China accountable easier if we had known for certain that that came from the Wuhan Lab.

But yet, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Collins were blocking everyone calling anyone a racist or a conspiracy theorist who would suggest that. You see, and that's my problem here, Congressman, because if in fact this was leaked, what was the original intent of this? Was China trying to do harm to the United States?

Yeah, that's a great question. Was this a bioweapon or was this just a mad science experiment project? Either way, it's no good. But we need to hold people accountable who had any part. In this.

So, when right before the midterms, you were on our show and you said these investigations are going to happen.

Now that you are in the majority, any surprises? Are you surprised at the level of corruption and crime that you're seeing? No, we knew it was there all along. What I think I am surprised at is how biased many in the liberal media are. I mean, they're attacking me for having the audacity to get answers on where tax dollars went, on whether or not the government covered up one of the biggest stories that will happen in my lifetime: the COVID pandemic and all the money that was wasted, all the lives that were ruined, all the kids that are behind in education, the businesses that shut down that never reopened.

That the media acts like we have the audacity to waste time looking into that. It's crazy.

So, the last go-around when Republicans controlled the House during Paul Ryan's speakership. We had a lot of folks on saying, We promise we're going to investigate, we're going to get to the bottom of this, people are going to pay a price, and we're still waiting for those people to pay a price. What do you tell the faithful out there? Because they're really wanting to hope, and I mean, you're bulldogging it here, but will we get results here? My message today to the CPAC crowd was that Jim Jordan and I are not going to back down no matter how many obstacles are thrown in our way, no matter how many bad stories come out of MSNBC, no matter how many liberal dark money groups come out and attack us.

We are going to continue to move forward and make progress to determine the truth. The American people deserve the truth. Once the truth comes out there, then we have to hold people accountable. And that's our goal. And I think we're making progress every day.

So, the speaker, is he letting you do what you need to do as a committee chair?

So far, he has. And I know I talked to Devin Nunes yesterday. I always consult with him, and he was telling me some of the problems he had in his investigations when Paul Ryan was speaking. I haven't had that problem yet. We're still new into the game.

I think McCarthy knows that our conference demands that Jim Jordan and I have access to all the tools and all the assets that we need to get to the bottom of this. It's amazing how powerful that number 20 is now. That's right, right? That's right. I mean, it really is.

Folks, we have Congressman James Comey here with us and Chairman of House Oversight. Congressman, we hear the term high crimes and misdemeanors. Anything you have seen so far that would give evidence that there were high crimes and misdemeanors here?

Well, I'll tell you, it's very concerning. It's very concerning, I fear, for our national security. Just from what I've seen with respect to what bank transfers I already have access to, about the amount of money that went into the Biden family. All I do is investigate, and I'll let the rest of Congress determine whether or not to impeach and go from there. But I will tell you this without hesitation: it's very concerning what we're learning.

All right.

Well, Congressman, we're going to leave it there. We really appreciate you dropping by Radio Row. Yep, thanks for having me. All right, Congressman James Comer, everybody, here on Radio Row at CPAC. And we appreciate the great work that the House Freedom Caucus men and women are doing.

All right, we're going to take a quick break here. When we come back, Hogan Gidley from Newsmax is going to drop by. Also, we have Jim from North Carolina wanting to weigh in. We're going to get to those calls: 844-747-8868. This is Open Line Friday, live at CPAC.

We'll be right back. All right, Mary Walter's dropping by again. She keeps dropping in, and it's like dropping bombs. All right, we'll get Mary in here shortly. Welcome back, everybody.

This is the Todd Stars Radio Show. Wait a second, bring Mary Walter over for just a moment. All right, Walter, what's the deal here?

So you're asking me if I've been sick. Are you contagious or something? What's going on here? Everybody, after CPAC, you get the CPAC plague. Everybody's had it.

It's every year, CPAC plague, every year. One year when I was still on my radio station, which is right down there, everybody was sick. The Aerostep, everyone who comes to CPAC gets sick. Mary Walter, who, by the way, has had photographs with every male celebrity conservative wants to get a picture with Mary Walter. You know what?

The women are just blowing me off.

So, you know, at least the men will take a picture.

So it's not a gender. I'm not being discriminatory.

Well, I will say this, and I have to apologize to you and Grace Baker because I put a photo of you two on Instagram, and I'm horrible. I'm the worst Instagrammer, and so I did not get anything from the neck up. My apologies. I did delete it, though.

So there you go. Getting out of the seat. All right, Barry Walter, ladies and gentlemen. And you know what? We're going to check in right now with Jim in North Carolina, WSIC, our great affiliate.

Jim, what's your question? Hello. Hi, Jim. You're on the air.

Okay. Yeah. All right, you know what? We're going to put Jim on hold, guys, and we'll get that figured out. In the meantime, Hogan Giddley just dropped by, the star of Newsmax.

I don't care what Sean Spicer says. Giddley, how's it going, man? Going really well. Thanks so much, man. Fellow Mississippian.

That's right. As a matter of fact, our staff, though, they're big Memphis Tigers, so they were down in the bar last night, I think, watching the Big Memphis Tigers basketball game. They're really good. Even at CPAC, you've got to take care of business. I understand.

You know, I try to gravitate toward those like yourself who don't really have an accent, that talk normal. There's so many people here who have that Midwestern, Northern accent. No, that's no good. Got to have that little twang. Got to have a little bit.

We like to savor the vowels, as they say. That's right. Hogan, what's the mood here at CPAC this year? Very upbeat, very excited about the future. And regardless of the last two years of failure after failure and problem after problem, people are looking at this as they always do, which is a chance to kind of reach.

Reset, hear people who they have elected to office, hear people who they have want to run and get in office, and find out what their vision is for the future of the country. Remember, this conference is so important and impactful to elections because these are the folks who do the blocking and tackling that get you elected in all of these states, not to mention early primary states.

So they want to hear from folks, they're excited because they know if we return to those America First policies, this country is going to be off on the right foot. Do you think it was a mistake for DeSantis not to be here this weekend?

Well, look, I understand two sides of this. One is when Donald Trump's part of anything, and someone just told me it's not CPAC anymore, it's TPAC. And I said, I understand that. He sucks the oxygen out of everything because of his personality, but also now he has a record to stand on.

So why would you want to come into an arena where you're kind of second fiddle, third fiddle, fourth fiddle, whatever you may be? But at the same time, you miss an opportunity to see all the people, as I mentioned, who will be responsible for getting you elected should you become the nominee. And so I understand on both sides, but look, there's plenty of time.

Next year, CPAC's going to be rocking. It's going to be full-swing election year, and we'll have to see what happens then. Any impressions, anything that really stands out so far? Because this is sort of that off-year, off-season, and still big crowds. Very big crowds.

It just seems like every year it gets bigger and bigger, and more excitement and more excitement. The Schlaps have done a great job. Obviously, I worked with Mercy. We shared a wall actually in the White House and worked with Matt for years, and they've helped build something on the backs of the people out there who really were looking to go in a direction to put the America first policies back in place that improve their lives. We've seen that in the last several years.

You don't have to point all the way back to Reagan anymore. You can just say, two years ago, we had all these successes. And so I think the people here are excited. It always blows my mind how engaged they are. They know the issues, and they're ready to see what happens to the future of this country.

Some of the rock stars, as far as crowds go, Sarah Palin here getting huge crowds. Also, Don Jr., Kimberly. And MTG came by, and it looked like, I mean, I've never seen so many people.

So these are the fighters, the folks that are out there, and I think it's nice for them to be able to come here so people can say, thanks, thanks for fighting for us. Sure. Like me, you see all the crowds around me, the throngs of the people. We've got our people keeping them back. That's right.

It's extra security you have to have. No.

Well, when I was in the White House, it was a little bit different, of course. But look, I think the people who have been the fighters, who have been on the front lines, they do appreciate those here because we get kicked in the teeth all the time by the mainstream media about what we do and don't do. And so for these folks to come up and say, hey, thanks for what you did, representing our message and our vision, it really does make you feel pretty good. And in the meantime, you've got the Democrats who are in a fierce fight as well. I mean, this is, it's ugly.

People are enraged at Biden, the base of the party, progressive leftist, and there very well could be a big fight for the Democrat side of this thing as well. There could be, but if there's one thing we have on our side, they don't, it's obviously a common. Accomplished, skilled politicians. That's it. They don't have it.

They got Pothole Pete and Kaklin Kamala, and that's all they got. And neither one of those are great. The American people don't like them, they don't like Joe Biden. Half of them don't want Biden to run, the other half don't want Kamala to run.

So they got a rocky road ahead. Thankfully, for us, we have a wealth of riches, and that's a good place for us to be in. Newsmax, of course, the big censorship battle, it's got to feel good that you've got so many people up on Capitol Hill fighting for Newsmax and saying, hey, look, we're not going to let them get away with this. Absolutely. You know, I speak all over the country.

I was just in North Carolina, Gaston County, speaking to 500 people. I was in Pennsylvania, a Tea Party group of 350 people. Every single person I went up to, or came up to me and said hello, said, We love you on Newsmax. I can't believe we're looking for new avenues now. What they did to Newsmax is unconscionable.

We're going to focus on trying to fix it so we can watch you in other platforms. People are furious out there. It's another form of censorship. Twitter did it behind our back, at least. These people are doing it right into your face.

Absolutely, and thank goodness for Newsmax, at least being here. And reporting on what's happening here. And look, I think there's going to be a big fight in conservative media, too. They have to decide: are they going to cover the movement or not? And we're glad to see that Newsmax is here covering the movement.

Absolutely, and they know where the people are. That's the whole thing. I used to be in comms and press in Arkansas as an anchor and reporter. Even did some weather. There was no YouTube then, so I was going to look it up.

I didn't know this. I did, I was an anchor and reporter. I sure was. There's no YouTube, thankfully, as I said. I don't want that to be out and about.

So I have that background, but getting out and talking to real people always is the best thing to do. And Newsmax does that. They hear from real folks out there. They're talking about stories we all care about. It's none of this elitist, globalist, nonsense, this beltway bureaucrat stuff that so many of these other networks focus on.

And so, you know, I think it's only going to be a bright future for the folks over at Newsmax. All right, Hogan. I'm happy to be a small part of it. Oh, you're a huge part of it. And Hogan, we appreciate you dropping by, and always good seeing you.

Anytime, Todd. Thanks. All right, Hogan Gidley, everybody, here on Radio Row at CPAC. Again, our telephone number: 844-747-8868. Let's go to the state of Maine, Alan, listening to us on W-L-O-B.

Alan, what's on your mind? Hello? Hi, Alan. You're on the air.

Okay, guys, let's figure out our phone situation here. And as soon as we can figure that out, my apologies, folks, but I know they're having some pretty significant weather there in the Memphis area. All right, again, our telephone number here: 844-747-8868. Toll-free telephone number, that's 844-747-8868. Speaking of newsmax, our good friend David Horowitz, who is an incredible author, great conservative thinker, posted a YouTube video talking about voting irregularities in the 2020 presidential election.

His video banned on YouTube.

Now, his new bestseller, The Final Battle, David is warning America that big tech and their social media platforms are destroying America and threatening our freedoms. Horowitz says that companies like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and YouTube literally control the information flow and they are censoring your news.

Well, in the book, The Final Battle, Horowitz also warns they. Secret group of players are working to change America. Mike Huckabee says, got to get this book. Newsmax says it is the book of the year. And you can get Final Battle in bookstores or check out my free offer.

And you're going to be able to save $28. It's a pretty good deal. Take that $28 and go down to Whataburger. Call 800 Newsmax. That's 1-800 Newsmax.

Or go to finalbattle611.com. That's finalbattle611.com and get your free copy today. All right, folks, coming up, we have some great guests. Glenn Story from Patriot Mobile, America's only Christian conservative wireless carrier. Glenn's going to drop by.

A good friend from my Fox News Days. Dr. Keith Abelow is going to be here. Sean Spicer from Newsmax. And our good friends, Chicks on the right.

Have not seen Mach and Daisy in a long time. Great ladies, you're going to love them. And a little bit later on, Carrie Lake is going to be here. All right, folks, again, our coverage live from CPAC. You can find that information on ToddSterns.com.

Again, that's ToddSterns.com. Broadcasting live from CPAC, it's America's conservative blowtorch. That's it. That's right. I love this American ride on storms.

All right.

Well, hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Todd Starns Radio Program.

So happy to have you with us today. This is hour two of the big show, broadcasting from Radio Row in Washington, D.C. We have a lot of stuff going on this hour of the program, and we're waiting for Glenn Story and several other guests to drop by, and we'll be going to those interviews just momentarily. What I find interesting is a story that we have up on our website here, and we're going to get to your calls, by the way, Open Line Fridays, 844-747-8868. Bear with us, our studios back in Memphis, we're dealing with some pretty bad weather there, but the phone lines are up for the moment at 844-747-8868.

Again, that number 844-747-8868.

Now I have been covering this chaos in the classroom for a very long time. But this story out of Ohio. Has me stunned. Stunned.

Someone alerted me to this story several days ago, but here's the, and it was just so unbelievable. I actually had to wait, and I wanted to wait until we could get some official confirmation from the police that this actually happened because it's such an explosive story. Quite frankly, this story ought to be on every major news channel in America. But aside from this show and the New York Post, no one's talking about this story.

Now, the incident happened in a town called Springfield, Ohio. The school Kinwood Elementary. And we have video up on our website. I would encourage you to go to our website right now and see this video for yourself, ToddSterns.com. Black children We're on the playground.

And they were ordering white children. To get down on their knees and say Black Lives Matter. Any child who refused to do as they were ordered to do, they were dragged across the playground, they were beaten, they were kicked, they were pummeled. According to the police department, multiple white children. were assaulted.

Let me say this again. Blank children. We're ordering white children on the playground to kneel down. and to say black lives matter. One gentleman by the name of Ryan Springer told television station WHIO that his 12-year-old son was one of those people targeted.

Quote: They basically told him to get down on his knees and say Black Lives Matter, and if he didn't, they were going to beat him up. Another woman said her son is terrified to go back to school. We understand most of those that were targeted were, in fact, sixth graders.

Now The police department is investigating, and they say these crimes occurred. We have the video footage. You can see it for yourself. It's not the best video, but you can certainly see that these kids were literally being dragged across this playground. Where were the teachers?

This was going on for 17, 18 minutes. Where were the teachers? Where were the security guards? Why did they allow this to happen?

So, the New York Post and one of the other television stations here in Ohio reached out to the local chapter of the NAACP. And the leader of the local NAACP said, Well, we're just horrified about this. And she said that it's just unacceptable that anybody was beat up, but. We don't believe any of these children should be arrested. We don't believe they should face any sort of penalty under the law.

The NAACP. Spokesperson, the President. Said, quote, This is a teachable moment. We need to educate the school and the parents.

Well, I completely agree. It is absolutely a teachable moment. We need to teach this nation that racism is wrong, no matter the skin color. We need to teach these boys and girls That all people are created equal. All people.

And that all lives matter. But what happened on that playground, ladies and gentlemen, at least to me. is an example of critical race theory and practice. Critical race theory, this idea that you have one group of people who are oppressed and another group who are the oppressors.

Well, who do you think the oppressors were on that playground at Kenwood Elementary School? But critical race theory and practice is ugly, it is brutal, it is violent, it is dangerous. And by the way, let's get real can we just get real for just a moment? Had the white kids been dragging the black kids through the playground and kicking them and beating them? Had that been going on, the NAACP would have marched on the school board office demanding jail time.

You would have had the Justice Department, you would have had ATF, you would have had every Biden administration official. Known to mankind in Ohio, Springfield, Ohio, holding press conferences and condemning this as an act of white supremacy. You know that's what would have happened. But that's not what happened here. Aside from the local TV station, aside from the New York Post, aside from this radio program, nobody's talking about this.

The police department says That they are investigating, but they cannot comment on what sort of punishments were meted out. But here's what needs to happen. I mean, again, we're going to play by their rules. They set the ground rules for all of this. I believe that all of us should be treated equally under the law.

But the reality is, there's one sort of rules governing one class and another set governing another. But here's what needs to happen. Every single one of those children. should be arrested. They should be charged with felonies.

and they should be charged with hate crimes. Every single one of them. Every single one. Any teacher? Who was on that playground?

It was their duty, their responsibility, to make sure that there was peace, that something like this did not happen. But if you've got kids for 17 minutes that are literally dragging the white children out. Holding them hostage. And assaulting them? They need to be going to jail too.

It is time to play hardball. What you saw happen on that playground was nothing more than racism. And again, ladies and gentlemen, this is what happens. when all lives don't matter.

So we're going to be taking your calls on this as we broadcast from CPAC today. Do you believe those children, those black boys and girls, Who beat the white children? held them hostage, ordered them to take a knee. And pledge their allegiance to Black Lives Matter should they face federal hate crime charges. 844-747-8868, that's our toll-free telephone number.

That's 844-747-8868.

We're going to take a break when we come back. We're going to be talking with our good friend Dr. Keith Abelow, Sean Spicer on the way, also Carrie Lake on deck, and our good friend Jeremiah Poff, who is with the Washington Examiner. This is the Todd Starns Radio Show. Ah!

All right, folks, welcome back to Radio Row. Wow, it's kind of bustling out here. I think people are going out to get the sandwiches at lunchtime. Welcome back, everybody. Hey, a good friend of mine from our Fox News days, Dr.

Keith Abelow. Doc, we're the only Fox people here are the former Fox people. Yeah, exactly. I think that's true. Kelly Wright dropped by, Eric Bowling just a few minutes ago.

Now at Newsmax, Caleb Park is sitting next to me here.

So we're all in good company, I would say. It's like a reunion. It is a reunion, absolutely. KeithAbelo.com, ladies and gentlemen, great website for all sorts of great information. Dr.

Abelow, one of our favorites back in the Fox News days and today, there was a great headline about you on one of the leftist news publications. Several years back saying Fox News's Keith Ablo is reckless gun ideologue. And I'm like, eh, I like that guy. Exactly right.

Well, you know, they want your guns, right? And I don't know why we can't learn from history, but when they want your guns, they want everything from you, all autonomy. The idea, I guess, of the Second Amendment is protects the First Amendment.

So, I mean, in all honesty, I mean, that's what it's really all about. That's what it's really all about, and it's no surprise that therefore government would be out to, at least progressive government out to deprive you of both and leave you defenseless, but also with nothing to defend, because there's so much in the way of intrusion on your autonomy and your thinking and your connection with God.

So much that's eroding that for people that what do you have left to defend? One might ask oneself. Look, it's a great question, and one that we need to be talking about, and especially Republicans and leadership, because there's this, I know, this mentality in the political world where we always need more laws in the books. I just say, fewer laws, let's just enforce the ones we've already got. Fewer laws, let's enforce the ones we've got.

And, you know, it's an awfully, in a way, true. Transparent agenda. When you say to people, don't speak your mind, don't go to work, by the way, we'll give you a little money to stay at home. That should be fun as an echo chamber so you don't feel connected to your fellow man. Also, don't worship because that's contagious and that could be bad for you.

But what we'll do is we'll open up the border to lots of drugs. And so we'll disempower you through easy access to drugs. We'll roll things out like chat GPT with a bit of a liberal bias, and we'll take your writing ability away from you because you seed it to a computer. And now all of a sudden you realize: wait, I'm empty. I got emptied out.

How did that happen? Dr. Keith Ambolo joining us here on Radio Row at CPAC. Dr. Amblo, we just shared a story coming out of Ohio where a bunch of black students captured on video, ordered a bunch of white kids at an elementary school, they dragged them out of the playground, ordered them to take a knee.

And say Black Lives Matter. Any child who did not was beaten. Police department confirms all of this happened, the video shows it happening. The level of violence, though, on these public school campuses, and the level of violence, especially among young people post-COVID, are you seeing that? Absolutely, there's absolutely no question.

And what dies first when you sever people's connection with themselves and also with God? Empathy. Right, empathy goes away because you need to be connected to something bigger than yourself and to yourself in order to honor another person. Without that, without human empathy, you're quote, empowered to do very bad things because you don't feel for the other person. And in some ways, being rageful and violent simply reminds you that you're alive and you're human in times when robots, self-automated checkout, Chat GPT and everything else would suggest, well, maybe I'm not.

And you want to be in your body, and so you get angry, rageful, and violent. I want to get to the big tech intrusions in our lives in just a minute, but I want to go back to this because I'm fascinated here. The lockdowns, kids were taken out of school, they were taken out of that environment, they were isolated at home, just like most of society. Locked in our homes, we were reliant upon the government for everything. Have we seen, have we reached the peak of the violence and I guess the mental issues that this country went through, or is it only going to get worse?

It's going to get worse before it gets better because the way people psychologically reset is generally through extreme events, you know, wars, plagues, things that bring them back to their core through pain, unfortunately. We're currently a nation drugged by its own government, right? And what's the most painful thing you can go through? And, you know, depression skyrockets and panic disorder skyrockets. If you put somebody in solitary confinement in a prison, why is that such torture?

You'd say, well, I think I'll meditate and read. No, it's torture because humans need to be connected to one another in order to feel alive. I wonder if maybe it wasn't so much the schools who were shut down, but it was our churches and that connection to God, that sense of morality.

Well, and so people now should have the evidence. It's kind of like if you're in a bad marriage. How many people?

Sorry, as I'm dropping my water here. How many clients have you? Have I had come to me, they feel depressed, they feel listless, they're without energy, they're without hope, and you talk to them and you're like, Well, what's going on at home?

Well, you find out, well, they're being disempowered, they're being gaslighted, whatever it might be. When your government's doing that, It's the same situation. The um This idea, and you talk about this on your website, this intrusion that big tech has made into our lives. Just a few days ago, on our national show, I was complaining about this device in my hand, my smartphone, and now they're able to detect whether or not I'm in a green-friendly area, which will determine how much battery recharging I'm going to be eligible for. It's like, what?

You'll have to buy some carbon tax credits or something, but it's unbelievable. The problem here is that we may have stumbled, literally, into the Achilles heel of human beings, but we have no capacity, seemingly. We've never said no to a new technology, ever, right? Consumer technologies. Artificial intelligence, everyone is just fascinated by it, drawn in by it.

Nobody's saying no. I'm not doing that. It's going to empty me out somehow. I won't be able to think clearly. GPS, you know, you try to give someone directions the old-fashioned way now.

They're like, look, I'll just put it in the GPS. What are you talking about? Not all about you, but when I was a kid, driving around in the Oldsmobile with dad in the 70s, I got the big Rand McNally fold-out map. Absolutely. You did that, and since I had no pride, I was stopping every three gas stations.

Am I in the right direction? Where's the exit? That interaction, I went into CVS the other day, right? It's depressing. Yeah, I mean, I hope they don't advertise on your show or whatever, but it's okay.

They just have to reset anyhow, because there's nobody at the cash registers. It's a post-apocalyptic ghost time. It's terrible. We were talking about that on Kroger the other day, but it's just the bane of my existence as Kroger. Because you're right, there's no personal interaction.

Everybody's got their heads are down. It's depressing. It really is. Yeah. All right, gee, thanks a lot, Doc.

Usually, people come to me to feel better. I feel like there should be some follow-up here to resurrect your spirit. We've got about 60 seconds. What is the good news here? What is the solution to all of this?

The good news is the truth always wins. The trouble is, it can be very painful getting back to the truth. God always wins. But it sometimes involves extraordinary suffering. But we'll get there.

What's some of the solutions? Stay in your body. Go out for a walk. Get out into nature. Talk to people that you love.

Worship. Get a dog. Or a cat. In other words, do things that can't be scripted by artificial intelligence. Don't be artificial, and that will change your life.

It will give you like immunity to the agenda that is afoot. Love it. This great advice, except for the cat part. But yeah, it's great advice. All right, KeithAbelo.com, everybody.

KeithAbelo.com. And hanging out. You're going to be here for a while at this point. I will indeed. Yes, it's, sir.

Very good. Great to see you.

So great to see you. Doc, good to see you, too. All right.

Good man right there, folks. Dr. Keith Abelow. And again, KeithAbelo.com is his website. Great advice for all of us as we work through this crazy time in world history.

I mean, it's just absolutely insane. 844-747-8868. That's our toll-free telephone number. That's 844-747-8868 on this Open Line Friday. Live here at CPAC.

Of course, tomorrow is the big day. What is that day? President Trump is going to be here. He'll be Delivering a keynote address. And also in Palm Beach, Florida, Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, will be delivering a message as well.

Straw poll underway. Those results will be announced tomorrow. But the understanding is President Trump is probably going to be the big winner here at CPAC. Sean Spicer coming up 844-747-8868. ToddSterns.com, the website.

Mm-hmm. All right, this is this is nuts. Where is Mary Walter? She's Mary Walter. Leave Sean Spicer alone.

And Lindsay Keith. Yeah. Grace, we got to get Mary under control here. Sean Spicer tardied to the interview because of Mary Walden. You had these beautiful women hanging out with you.

Not true. I was way early. It's just that when I'm sitting around waiting for all the millions of advertisers you have.

Well, we don't have a green room like Newsman, so we don't have nuts or berries or something to drink. I don't even want to go there. Sean Spicer, one of the great stars of Newsmax TV, hanging out. How's it going, Sean? You know what?

It is, what time is it? It's 1:30 Eastern time here at CPAC. I'm exhausted. Yeah. Normally I've just gotten done with the spa treatments.

I will have my, you know, I'm CPAC, man, this is, you're going and going and going. It's sun up to sundown, and then you don't really get any kind of a break because people want to come up and say hello. They want to take a picture.

So it's really, but it's a lot of fun. It is. And a lot of great people. A lot of great people, and so exciting that Newsmax is here and such a massive presence. It's nice to see a news network actually covering a major event like this.

Oh, yeah, it's been fun. It's helpful, too, when you're trying to get work done and you're like, hey, great, we've got a huge booth and a presence and great folks here.

So yeah, that's been good for us. The conference so far, day two to President Trump coming tomorrow. What's the mood? What's the vibe? What are you hearing?

Well, I think a lot of people are excited that President Trump's going to be here. The vibe is very positive. I mean, I think people are excited in general about 2024. I think that's somewhat to do with President Trump. I think people are excited about how, because President Biden has given them something to be excited for.

They're ready to turn the corner and get focused on 2024 and get out their campaign and win again. And again, folks, we're here on Radio Row, and there are no ropes.

So people just wander by like Dave Bratt, former congressman, now dean of the Liberty University Business School. All right, Dave Bratt. You're sharing up degrees, by the way. If you want a degree from Liberty right now, a business degree. I didn't know it was you.

Yeah, so you can get one right now. Let's get Dave Brattle. Dave Bratt is selling them right now for $15. You can get a degree from Liberty. Promo code STARNS, by the way.

It's the best business school in the country, baby. Yeah, yeah. We stuck to our knitting. Yeah, Dave Brant, and we'll bring you into the conversation briefly with Sean Spicer, but again, I mean, you've been in Congress, you've been in politics. What is your takeaway so far at CPAC?

Well, I mean, it's cliché, but it the energy seems to be higher and higher and higher every single year. I don't recall a radio road this substantial last year. It looks huge, and then I got more friends somehow. I mean, everywhere I go, it's like I think the politics is turning in the right direction. Spicer and you, and I was on to War Room and epic times.

And so, I mean, it's just. The truth, I think, is finally starting to get out.

So that's what's happening. Spicer, we were talking about this just a moment ago about how important it is for Newsmax to be here, and it's very exciting to see folks going over, watching the broadcast, really having a good time. And I think we all really respect the great work that you guys are doing. Yes, they do. Everyone respects the great work I do.

Yes, they do. All right.

I do.

So, Spicer's giving me the evil eye, so he wants his time back, Dave Brant. I'll get you tomorrow. Or a free degree. I want a degree. I need a business degree.

You're coming to my CEO summit this year. All right.

October 10 to 12. October 10 to 12. Yeah. I'll give you some good airtime. All right.

In the meantime, I need to get back with you sometime because we have to figure out. I have some employee questions I need to ask you back at the company. All right, Dave Brant. When you call me, God bless you guys. Dave Brant, ladies and gentlemen, from Liberty University.

By the way, they've grown that university so big, and the presence they have here is phenomenal. It's unbelievable, and we've been great partners with those guys, and we love our friends at Liberty. Sean, I want to. To talk about this book.

Someone told me about the book yesterday, and I didn't believe it.

Well, Lindsay was telling me, and I'm like, he did not write a book like that. And look at it, isn't it amazing? The parents, go bananas. Yeah, it's a book about fake news. I told Seb Gorka, our friend, just a little while, he couldn't believe it.

He thought it was hysterical. But it's a book by Brave Books. You can get it at BraveBooks.com. You can actually get it right now for a dollar if you subscribe to the Brave Books Freedom Club. And the cool part about it, and by the way, you can't get a better deal than that at BraveBooks.com under the Biden economy.

But it teaches about the dangers of fake news for kids 4 to 12 years old. And if you know a reporter that's older than that, it could help them as well.

So many of them need the help. But look, I think I have kids, they helped me edit this book. And it's not just about, you know, we don't use the word fake news or the media, but we talk about what happens when you're falsely accused. And right now, what happens so often is kids, it's not just that they get accused of something, but that they tend to be accused of. To pile on the guy or the girl that gets accused.

And I see that with my kids: where they say, Oh, guess what?

So-and-so got accused of something. And I go, Whoa, whoa, did they do it? Aren't those good kids? And they're like, Well, everybody said they did. And well, that doesn't mean they're guilty.

And so, in the book, we deal with the two characters in here who falsely get accused of cheating. Everyone in Mushroom Village, which is where this takes place, this game of SmackBall, which is like a baseball game. And so, we teach them, hey, don't rush to judgment. And there are exercises in the back of the book that parents can do. And the great thing about partnering with Brave Books is that they make good, patriotic, Christian books.

You talk about Liberty University, great Christian books that you can read with your kids. If they're older, like my kids, 9, 10, 11, 12-year-old, they can read it on their own, but you don't have to worry about some woke agenda that they're going to have. You know, and I joined some great authors that Brave Books has put out there as well: Bethany Hamilton, The Surfer. You've got Kirk Cameron from last month who put out a book, a phenomenal book. And so, you can always assure.

That the books that Brave is going to put out are going to be ones that you, as a family or as a parent, are good for your kid. And I'm sure this was like you had the same experience growing up. My parents instilled the value of reading at an early age. We subscribed to the monthly Disney Book of the Month Club, and you'd sit there and you'd learn how to read. And there were great storybooks, but unfortunately, you cannot rely on Disney giving you good material anymore, which is why books like yours are so important.

You know, the funny thing is, like I said, I don't use the word fake news or media in this book. It's not trying to win over your kid, it's not trying to say there's this right-wing agenda. It's just saying, hey, guess what? Don't rush to judgment. That's not an agenda, that's just common sense.

And too often, the left is trying to use these books, these children's books, to indoctrinate them in an agenda. What Brave is trying to do is just teach them: slow your roll. We shouldn't be indoctrinating kids four, five, six years old. The Parents Go Bananas, it's a partnership with Sean Spicer and Brave Books, and we'll have a link on our live show blog. By the way, here's the kicker.

I'm going to tell you this is exclusively on Todd Starn's. Breaking news. Breaking news. Here's the kicker. The only reason right now that you can get it on BraveBooks.com is because Amazon is censoring the book.

We're about to put something out about this, but you can't, Amazon literally go to Sean Spicer on Amazon, go to Paris Code, you can't find it. And we've been working, we can't figure out why they're censoring the book. The publishers put out hundreds of books, and they're like, why did they choose this book to censor? Because, you know, and so we're about to go to war with Amazon on this book. This is unbelievable.

Todd Starn's getting the exclusive book. It's breaking news, and we're going to get this on the website. That's insane. Right.

So we hope to get it fixed, but it's, you know, this is a Todd Starnes exclusive. Sean, appreciate that, as always. I won't tell Ruddy over at News Max.

Well, then, well, you're going to have it before I do, because my show at Newsmax isn't until 5 o'clock.

So, Todd Starn's the exclusive. Love it. All right, Sean, great to see you. And of course, you'll be here broadcasting all day from CPAN. Yeah, we don't get a break.

This is how Chris Ruddy works us. We're going to be 24-7 for the next, you know, until it's over. That's it. All right, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you.

You got it. Sean Spicer, everybody. And again, the great book, The Parrots Go Bananas. We've got a link over the live show blog. Got to take a break.

We are live from CPAC. All right, folks, welcome back to the Todd Stearns Radio Program. Great to have you with us here at CPAC 2023 on Radio Row. Coming up in the next hour, we are expecting Carrie Lake to join us. Also, AMAC, the CEO of AMAC, our good friend Rebecca Weber, is going to be here.

Great supporters of our program. And Jeremiah Pop, who is a writer, a terrific writer for the Washington Examiner, one of our great alums. And it's always exciting when we have one of our writers that excels and is really doing well for themselves. This is an interesting story out of Breitbart. Seven in ten California voters.

Do not want to see Gavin Newsom run for president. This is according to a Quinnipioc poll. More than, moreover, 54% of Democratic voters are opposed to a run.

So there you go. A Newsom is certainly testing the waters, and we'll have to see how all of that plays out. Also, Democrats are enraged over Joe Biden.

So Biden says that he will sign a GOP proposal that overturns DC soft on crime law. One Democrat operative, this is according to Breitbart, calling it Um Well, like, I really can't say that word on the radio, but they're saying the White House blanked this up royally. This is according to thehill.com.

So, anyway, lots of folks angry at Biden. Really, not much, really, not much of a surprise there. All right, well, I want to welcome two great ladies. I've known them for a long time now, I suppose. You know them as chicks on the right, Miriam Weaver and Amy Clark.

Ladies, it's been forever. It's been forever. Everything. Oh my gosh, way too long. Way too long.

All right, so tell me, where are you guys still in? Did somebody move? Yeah. So you moved. You guys were in Indianapolis.

Yes, and I moved to Texas. Moved to Texas. All right, very nice.

So what's happening in Texas?

Well, I mean, a lot of great stuff is happening in Texas, but she's going to be moving to South Carolina soon. And so we decided, you know what? We're just going to do the podcast thing, which is what we're doing now, which has been the greatest decision ever. Ever.

So it wasn't hard to leave radio? No.

No.

Not at all. It really wasn't. I mean, we loved working in radio together, but it was a good run. And once we kind of started doing our podcasts at the same time, we did a morning little hit video on our video on our Facebook page just via video. And that started becoming really, really popular.

So we decided this should be what we do all the time. Yeah. Love it. Love it. Well, I've always admired your logo, the red stiletto heel.

I tried to emulate that, but it's not a good look for me. Really does that look? For you? No, and I'm really embarrassed. We were, I don't know why we, I sometimes say really inappropriate things during interviews.

This is why I don't like being interviewed. This is why we get along well. And so we had the Moms for Liberty, and they're wonderful ladies, very good, wholesome, Christian women. And so we're having a conversation about makeup, and I had just come off of the Newsmax it, so I had makeup on and all that kind of stuff. And I told the woman, I said, You know, I'm the only straight guy you probably know that knows his bronze number.

And she turned white as a ghost. I just felt really bad about that. We see a couple. There have been a couple guys we see walking around here with makeup on. It takes some getting used to because it's like, you know, we see a lot more of that now, like just in everyday life, in a in a different, you know, different realm, guys with makeup.

It's a little off-putting. It's a little off-putting. Well, I realized as I sat down for the TV interview, I'm like, holy crap, I've actually got eyebrows now. Where do those come from? But I tell you, look, I'm glad I met a woman.

I don't know how you ladies do it. It's just a lot of work involved that stuff. It is. That's why we like radio and not TV. Exactly.

And podcasting. And podcasting. Because we do it early in the morning and we're just like, you know what? The people that love us are going to love us no matter what, and you know, whatever. If you don't like us, whatever.

So, what I love, you know, we've been through these wars in the political realm, and yet you ladies come out, still have a great time and find stuff to laugh about and have fun about. How do you do that?

Well, I mean, some of it's really tough, but even if it's tough stuff to talk about, I think it's because we do it in such a conversational way and we're best friends. And, you know, we do. We try to just, it's not that we try to have fun with stuff that is not fun, it's just that at the end of the day, you have to have hope and you have to remember that there are good people in the world, we're all in this together, and that, you know, I mean, we're all human, right? And we like to laugh.

So if we have a choice, we're going to choose happiness every single time. And so we like to remind people that even when everything is on fire, there's still reasons to smile and to be happy. See, you guys reminded me of like, you're our conservative Kathy Leonhoda from back in the day, right? You know, drinking the wine on TV. I mean, that was really made for entertaining conversation.

But again, I think you have to, everybody has to be able to step back, have a good time, and laugh at themselves every now and then. Exactly. I think everybody wants that. Because there's a lot of really. There's a lot of ick right now in the world.

Just a lot of things to feel, a lot of dismal things in the world right now. I'm curious, though, because you have a massive audience, and by the way, chicksonthorite.com is the website and great content there always. But there really has been a war on women in America with the pronouns. How are you guys negotiating and navigating all of that? I mean, we talk about that so often on our show: the erasure of women by the trans community, essentially, by the alphabet brigade, as I like to call them.

And it's, you know, this Hershey's thing is the latest example of that.

Okay, someone sent me this, and they said Hershey's has gone nuts or something. I don't know, or not less, actually. But what's the problem with that? It's another trans, what do you think?

Well, it's a trans woman who is now the face of the Hershey bar. Yeah, and if we don't speak out against it, nobody will because it's not like feminists are going to do it. Completely silent. They don't care about girls and women anymore. It's conservative women that care.

So, as the Bible tells us, God made mounds and almond joy.

So, you, I mean, it's, you know. Exactly. I had to think about that for a second. See what I mean? It's inappropriate.

But that is why. You guys draw that out of me. That's right. We draw it out of everybody. But you know, we had a young lady on.

She was from the University of Kentucky. She was actually on a panel earlier today here at CPAC. She's the one who tied with Leah Thomas in the NCAA swimming. Riley, yeah. Yeah, Riley Gaines.

And so she's been on the show a time or two. And I really just have to admire young ladies like that who are willing to step out and take a stand. It's got to be tough. Yeah. Oh, especially because it seemed like she was the only one from the team that was really being the face of that argument.

Yeah, that strikes home to me too, Todd, because my daughter is a swimmer. She's a semi-state-level swimmer in Texas. And, you know, we just went to like semi-state finals last week. And I look at her. She's 13, just turned 13.

And I think, I mean, she practices every day. She works so hard. We sacrifice a lot as a family financially. You know, time-wise, everything. I think of Riley.

I think of her. I think, I look at my daughter and I think that she could be Riley one day and she could have opportunities taken away from her. And I think there are a lot of families that look at her and they identify with her and think, this is not okay. It's just not. More mothers need to stand up for what's going on.

We need to stand up for these girls. More family members need to stand up for these girls and not be silent because it's just going to get worse if we don't. We have about 30 seconds. Tell us about the podcast and where can people go if they want to get the podcast? We stream live on video: YouTube, Rumble, Facebook, Getter, all the places, Twitter, every weekday morning, 7:15 a.m.

Eastern to 8:15.

So people can check us out either live and participate in the conversation in real time, or after the fact, chicksonthorite.com/slash links has all of our info. I love it. You guys are still having fun.

So much. That's great. That's what it's all about. Any crazy stuff you've seen at CPAC so far? No.

Some people dress as like Ben Franklin and stuff like that. I don't think that's crazy. I've seen that guy. I've seen a couple of paramedics go by with stretchers, but that's. Are you serious?

No, I have no idea. Oh my gosh. That's what it gets really crazy. It is like thoughts and prayers. I don't know what you wanted to do.

I'm sorry. It was great to see you. It was great to see y'all, too. Congratulations. You deserve all the successes coming on this.

Thank you so much. All right, Chicks on the Right, ladies and gentlemen. ChicksonTheRight.com. That's chicksontherite.com. All sorts of great content there.

You got to go check out. Look, I check it out every day and kind of see the stiletto heel thing. Oh, I see what y'all do with the logo. That's very clever. I wear sensible shoes.

What can I say?

Okay, that's it. Folks, we got to take a break. This is the Todd Starnes Radio Program live from Radio Row in Washington. Broadcasting live from CPAC. It's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starnes.

That's right. I love this American. Welcome to the Todd Starns Radio Program.

We're happy to have you with us today, broadcasting live from CPAC. And Grace Baker, stop making me laugh. Come on. I'm sorry, Todd. What in the world?

It's too long. I got to make up for lost time. You know what? You're giddy now. We've only been two days.

We're not even two full days into CPAC coverage.

Well, I had a giant cup of coffee, so I'm just like roaring to go. I'm sorry. So, some guy just passed us on the motorized scooter, and he's got a big Impeach Biden shirt on the back. It's kind of like a billboard on the back of the scooter, the mobile scooter. That's pretty great, but it doesn't beat the poodle I saw in a stroller a little bit ago.

You saw a poodle. In a stroller. All right.

That's interesting. They're very interesting. All right.

Welcome, everybody. Hour three of the big show underway. We are expecting Carrie Lake to drop by. Also, we're going to be speaking with our friend Rebecca Weber, who is with the Association of Mature Americans. Citizens and also Jeremiah Poff is going to be here for the Washington Examiner.

It is also open line Friday, even at CPAC.

So, if you want to call in, ask me any question at all, I am happy to do that. 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-8868.

Well, here with us right now, the one and only Mary Walter, who has been causing issues throughout the entire show. Hey, I hooked Grace up with a chocolate chip cookie. She's my bestie right now. That is true. I didn't ask what was in it.

I just, maybe that's why I'm a little giddy right now. I just went down to the guys who are doing a podcast and they had chocolate chip cookies at, and they're like, oh, you want to sit down? I'm like, no. And I just took cookies and walked away. Wow.

So we have to know them. We have to step up our snack game around too. I just brought some almonds and they weren't really this. I'm chugging bottled water and I'm popping Tylenol pills here.

So that's about the extent of our snacks here at CPAC on Radio Row. We'll go get some good dinner later, though.

Okay, I want y'all to tell. Yes, we are.

So I want y'all to fill me in, ladies, on this story from the Daily Wire. I will read the headline, and it's written by my good friend and again, former Fox colleague. That seems to be like the drinking game word phrase of the day. Greg Wilson. Nuts or nutless, the Daily Wire launches Jeremy's chocolate after Hershey's trans farce insults customers.

So Hershey has apparently offended you gals. Yeah. It's called a Hershey. Her dash she in honor of women's, I guess it's women's history month. I don't know if it's got a month, whatever.

And we're celebrating women. And the spokesperson for the new her she candy bar, which is wrapped in pink, tad stereotypical, and is a dude. It's a dude. And I have no problem with you. You know, you let your freak flag fly.

I truly don't care. It doesn't bother me, right? You do, you. I'm fair. It's fine.

However, stop with the shenanigans. And the thing that really bothers me is he does his makeup better than I do.

So it's annoying. Yeah, the winged eyeliner. And he's got great skin, so it's super annoying. But he is a dude. I'm sorry.

He's a dude trying to look like a lady. Exactly. And this bothers me because if I decided that I want to be on a Hershey bar because I'm suddenly identifying as black, oh, holy hell would break loose. But it's okay for men to slap on a dress one day, throw on some blue eyeshadow, and go outside, oh, girl, I feel like a woman. No, that's not how it works.

Not Shania Twain. Yes. See what I did there? Yeah, yeah. I'm just sitting back enjoying the two of you going at it here.

Grace and I have bonded. I'm so glad I got to meet her. Yeah, well, we already knew each other just from, you know, communications. But now it's like, okay, now we get to meet him personish. Just to go back to what you just said, Todd, you and I met at Fox News, too.

Wow, we sure did. That's right. Back in the old Fox video days. Everything goes back to Fox News. All the cool people are X Fox people now.

So, yeah, so Todd, I'm thinking tomorrow you show up at Radio Row in like, you know, a nice little dress, some heels, and then you just announce that you feel like a woman, and we'll get you a candy bar. What scenery do you wear, Todd? What's that? What scenery you wear? I only wear the sensible shoes.

Or, as I say, we call them the Mexican man shoe crowd. And people, the libs go after me all the time: how dare you? How dare you say that woman's a Mexican manshoe wearing what? No, it's a line from this movie called The Help. I love that.

I read the book. The book was better. And so the mother was afraid the daughter was going, she was favoring the ladies instead of the dudes. And she was complaining that her daughter was wearing Mexican man shoes. That's where the line came from.

Well, it's a Toddism because now I find myself saying some of the things he says, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm in public. I've got to be careful. When she says, Jizalou. Yeah, Jesalo. Jizalu.

Jesalu. Which is actually a great line from Everybody Loves Royal. Raymond.

So, one of my favorite shows. Oh, okay, because it sounds like something from Ned Flanders and The Simpsons, right? Doesn't it? It does. True.

Now, you're a Jersey girl. Yes, sir. Many conservatives in your state. You know what? New Jersey, it's like so many other states that are blue is because if you look at the map of where people voted, it's Camden, like in the south, it's near outside of Philly, the suburbs of Philly in Jersey, and the same thing in New York.

Because they moved from those two places to get out of the hellhole they've created, and they move to a red state that has lower taxes, which is shocking for Jersey, you know, better schools, a better lifestyle, the whole bit, and then they vote for the same stuff that they just fled from. It's a disease. And Grace, you moved to that hellhole. I know. I was like, I know, I know.

Look, husband got a job, moved up there. And I mean, you're right, there's definitely differences in life up there. And everything's definitely a lot more expensive, including gas. Jeez, Louise. I mean, I went from like $2.80 for a gallon in Tennessee to $3.50 right away.

And I was like, oh, I'm definitely in a blue state. But was that before or after Biden, you know, drove the prices up? That's a good point. I don't know. Yeah, I'm just curious if it had anything to do with it.

But in New Jersey, he pumped my gas for me, just saying, oh, see, that's fancy. Can we talk about this, though? Why do you guys not want to pump your gas? Why do you want to pump your gas? Because you're an American.

It's autonomy. I don't want to rely on the government. No one puts a card skimmer on the pumps, so I don't have to worry about someone stealing my credit card. I can stop for gas at 2 o'clock in the morning and feel safe. Nobody carjects me at a gas station.

Nobody opens up the side door or sneaks in and steals my pocketbook. It's great.

Well, can you imagine Todd in Memphis handing someone here, like, here, pump my gas? They'd take your car, they'd take your life, they'd take your Social Security card, they'd take everything. You'd be like, thanks. And then they chewed you on the way out the parking lot. Oh, yeah, yeah.

So when I was, I've learned that if you're driving in a place where they don't pump your gas for you, which is everywhere but New Jersey, and if you get out and try to pump your gas in New Jersey, they yell at you to get back in the car. Get in our car.

So I found that what you do is I just stand there and I look at the pump because I don't know what I'm doing.

So I try to figure it out, and inevitably someone goes, All right, I saw the license plate, I'll pump it for you. I'm like, thank you. Oh, that's a clever life hack. By the way, ladies, we have a caller, and if you would like to chat with the gals of the Todd Stern Show, give us a call, 844-747-8868. Again, we have Mary Walter and Grace Baker here with us on Radio Row.

Again, our number 844-747-8868. Let's go to Ted in Georgia. Hey, Ted, how are you today? I'm good. Um if it's all uh No, no, no, no, no, no, I'm I think Yeah.

Can't hear Ted. Ted, can you speak up a little bit? That's a perfect relationship for me. He can talk as much as he wants, and I just can't hear him. I don't have to pretend.

It's being down with me. Guys, I just think we're having problems with the votes. Guys, we're sorry about there. But Ted, give us a call back, and we'll get it all figured out.

So, sorry about that.

Okay, Ted. Poor Ted. You say you were mocking Ted? No, she was saying it's the perfect relationship if you can't hear him. Oh, for heaven's sake.

Yeah, I wasn't.

So she was actually talking to me. Yes, I said, no, I don't have to pretend like I don't hear him. Oh, well, that's a good point. That's fair enough. There goes Chad Wolf.

What in the world? Oh, come on. I can't say that a lot of women think that. Chad Wolfe. Yes.

Who is Chad Wolfe? He used to serve under the Trump administration. Oh, that, yeah. But it's a perfect combination. It's brains.

And I mean, like, you rarely find the two, right? It's good.

So, Grace and I, so we're here, we're talking with you yesterday, and it's like, then all of a sudden, I see you running down the hallway here. Yes, there. And the next thing you're doing. It's Don Trump Jr. Yep.

You and Don Jr.

So. If you stalk people. Oh no. Security gets on you.

So I just went down there, and he's right down, and he was talking, he had a whole crowd around him. He's talking, I'm interviewing all these people. There was nobody there. And I was like, oh.

So he was waiting for a chance. Again, hot.

So, um,. Look, you two are appalled. Why are you appalled? I'm not appalled. That's all that's right.

All right, you guys just need to get married and leave your spouses and just get married and call it a day.

So I go down there, long story short, and I'm taking a picture of him. And he was talking to somebody, and then he's looking down at his phone, and he must have sensed someone was looking at him. As soon as he's taking a picture, I'm going, I go, I'm so sorry. Is it okay if I take your picture? Is this just creepy?

He goes, I'll tell you I'm better. And he came over, put his arm around me, and had handed my phone to one of his people, then they took a picture. It's great.

Oh, there you go. It's super nice. In the Mary Walter way. Just stalk them until they take your picture and get you to go away. You got to do it in a non-creepy way.

You can't be creepy about it. Oh, yeah. And you both know exactly what I am talking about, okay? It's true. It's true.

So you guys are here tomorrow, too, right? No, we're heading back tomorrow.

Okay, yeah. Two days of this. This is like CPAC. First of all, everyone should come. But CPAC is like raw chocolate chip cookie dough.

Like, it's great, and you're eating it. Like, this is fantastic. And then all of a sudden, you're like, oh, God, I'm sick, right? Because it's just. Too much after a while.

Too much patriotism. I don't want to talk to anybody. For the weekend, just two days. Just give me two days.

Well, we're all going to go home with the CPAC plague.

So everybody gets sick. Yeah, CPAC. Everybody gets sick after CPAC. I might be stuck here because apparently Chicago's getting six inches of snow, so I might have to sit home and she's got to eat that. I don't know.

I don't want to hear it. Don't want to hear it. You could have been in Memphis. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

Six inches. We got good pizza plates. No, you don't. All right.

Ladies, thank you. Mary Walter and Grace Baker. Oh, my gosh. Thank you, Todd. It's great to see both of y'all, and we'll be talking on the radio very soon.

Folks, we do have to take a quick break. Jeremiah Popp from the Washington Examiner is going to join us in just a few moments. This is the Todd Stern Show. All right, folks, welcome back to the Tom Cearns Radio Program here on Radio Row at CPAC. And we've just had a lot of fun on this Friday afternoon.

Good catching up with a lot of friends. And you hear people like Mary on the show quite a bit, but we really never get to see each other unless we're at events like this. And so it's always fun to catch up and visit and fellowship. And we hope you have enjoyed the coverage of CPAC over these past couple of days. Of course, tomorrow is the big day.

That's when President Trump will be addressing delegates here. Also, the straw poll results will be announced as well. Before we go to our next guest, I want to remind you of one of our great sponsors, Patriot Mobile, America's only Christian conservative wireless carrier. You know, we were talking about Newsmax getting booted off of ATT's DirecTV platform. Folks, the best way to respond to that is to drop your ATT service and actually sign up for Patriot Mobile.

And they are a great organization. If you go to patriotmobile.com/slash Todd right now, you're going to see all sorts of great information, great deals, and discounts just for our listeners. And you'll also be able to check out your area. Just type in your zip code and they'll show you what kind of coverage they have for your area. PatriotMobile.com/slash Todd.

That's patriotmobile.com/slash Todd. And be sure to use my promo code. That promo code, Todd, will get you some incredible deals and discounts.

Well, a good friend of the program, also one of our great alumni, Jeremiah Pop, wrote for us many years ago, now writing for the Washington Examiner, one of the top journalists in this country. And Jeremiah, we're so glad to run into you at CPAC. No, it's so good to be here. To see you again, and it's been wild seeing CPAC back in DC. I think people missed it.

I think they did. And it's good to see people back in the nation's capital kind of milling about. You've been covering a lot of big stories, and one of your beats, I know you cover some of the big culture issues, and you got to see Riley Gaines, of course, the swimmer from the University of Kentucky, earlier. How did that panel session go? Yeah, so Riley Gaines was on a panel earlier today with Terry Schilling from the American Principles Project and Chloe Cole, who's a detransitioner, and they kind of got into the weeds on how transgender, this transgender craze is affecting the culture and children in schools, like Chloe.

And then, in Riley's case, her swimming career. From swimming against Leah Thomas at the NCAA Championships last year, and there's a famous moment for her. She tied Leah Thomas at these NCAA championships, and they instead had one trophy for the spot, and they gave it to Leah Thomas instead of Riley. And that kind of, I think, sounds from, she'll tell you that that's how she got into promoting women's sports and protecting Title IX. It was shocking when you hear her explain and take us back to that moment when they said.

He gets to hold the trophy, he gets to take the trophy. It's just, what a slap in the face. Yeah, I think she's been a face of the anti-men and women's sports movement ever since. Uh I think she Clearly, she told me today that she thinks that the pendulum on this issue has kind of swung too far for it to be sustainable, and she thinks that people are starting to wake up. And I think you've seen in a lot of states they've passed bills protecting women's sports and preventing biological males.

So, after she did the big panel, you were able to sit down with Riley. What was she like in person? She's a lovely young lady. She's very animated about this issue, and I think it's, you know, she's very. Passionate about it and clearly has a story to tell.

It was interesting because I suspect she had another career path in mind until all of this happened, and then becoming an advocate for this issue.

Now she's married, I understand. And again, I was just impressed with her passion for this because it is, this is not for the faint of heart, Jeremiah.

Well, and she pointed out that in another event that Leah Thomas swam in, she. Yeah. There were three. uh Olympic swimmers that came in behind Thomas, who had competed as a male for three seasons before swimming as a female. And, you know, she told Riley told me today that she feels like people need to speak out more on this issue.

And, you know, it's kind of that adage: if not me, who, right?

So I think that's what she would tell you.

Well, I think it's an amazing story, and I suspect we're going to see some great things from Riley. You've written a story about her, and it's already up, so where can people go if they want to read your writing? Yeah, just go to WashingtonExaminer.com. You can check out the staff page. My name is on there, Jeremiah Poff, and you can see all my bylines there.

That's fantastic. All right.

Well, folks, again, Washington Examiner's website. Be sure to check out Jeremiah's story. What's your takeaway from CPAC, your observation as you've been here observing as a journalist? Yeah, I've talked to a lot of attendees today and yesterday, and it seems to be that there's less people than previous. Years for sure, and you know, some of the mainstay sponsors aren't quite like the Heritage Foundation usually had a big exhibit downstairs, and you're not seeing that this time.

So it seems to be a little bit of a different tone this year, but you know, we'll see if that holds for next year. Yeah, I'm with you, and I think we've sensed that. And of course, folks come in it, and it depends. They're like, it's ebbing and flowing, but in years past, there's always been this consistent energy, and I'm just not sensing that this year. Right, well, I mean, Trump will be here tomorrow, so you won't.

Well, it'll be insane. Maybe that'll drive up the energy level a little bit, but yeah, it's. To the bars, maybe they're just saving it for tomorrow. Jeremiah, we are going to have to run for a break here. Congratulations on your great success, and we look forward to hearing and reading more about you.

Thanks a lot. Or And welcome back to the Todd Cearns Radio Program.

So very happy to have you with us today as we continue broadcasting from Radio Row at CPAC. A lot of people walking by and visiting, sort of like a family reunion of sorts. And we're very excited to have with us the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Mature American Citizens, Rebecca Weber. And Rebecca, I know you've been a very busy person here at CPAC this year. Todd, thank you so much for having me on.

Yes, you're right. Very busy indeed. And you're right about calling it somewhat of a family reunion.

So many great American patriots here this year. You know, there really are. And I know there's a lot of angst and anxiety in the nation right now. But that's one of the reasons why I love AMAC and our partnership is you guys are always so upbeat. I mean, yeah, we've got some hurdles to clear in this country, but there's still hope for America, and that is certainly coming clear from AMAC and your group.

You know, there are so many reasons why we formed AMAC in 2007. We went national in 2009. Today we're over 2 million members strong. But you're right, Todd, there are so many issues plaguing America now more than ever. People have got to get involved, and you can do that by joining AMAC because we're taking your voice to Washington.

And again, AMAC, there are so many great things. I'm 55 and I'm a member, and I love all the benefits, but really, and we'll talk about those in a second, but I love the fact that you guys are out there actively lobbying on issues that I care about. And I think a lot of Americans my age and really all ages appreciate that about AMAC.

Well, thank you. And that is really where we're focused. I mean, certainly we have benefits. We're the true David versus Goliath. When you compare us against the other senior organization.

And by the way, you can be any age and join AMAC. But the beautiful thing, I think, is that our AMAC members are able to respond. Two quick stories: HR1, S1, this terrible bill that was going to be a federal takeover of our elections. We'd like to say that AMAC had a tremendous part in ensuring that that was not put into law. And secondly, Disney, AMAC members, a lot of grandparents are fed up with woke Disney and the woke culture.

We did a huge call to action after sending hundreds of thousands of emails and phone calls, Todd. Certain high-level people stepped down over at Disney.

So we continue to remain focused on the issues that matter to our membership. AMAC.us/slash Todd. If you would like information about AMAC, and again, you can be any age to join, that's AMAC.us/slash Todd. You know, the Disney thing I think really caught a lot of people off guard, but I'm kind of glad because it was an eye on. Opening event for people to realize that even wholesome Disney had been infected with this woke culture.

I couldn't agree with you more. You know, there's a little bit of a silver lining, I think, in even COVID alone because parents were able to see what was happening to their children at home. I was shocked too, not shocked, but I was a little surprised, put it that way, when our members, who are mainly seniors and average age is about 64 years old, said, Stop the indoctrination of our children in schools. It's an area that we're very focused on, and AMAC members are doing stuff. They're stepping up, they're becoming running for their school board.

This is all done through AMAC chapters, Todd, throughout the nation. We have hundreds of chapters throughout the nation. We're doing a lot on the local level as well. You see, I love this, and that's what it's really about. I've heard from so many people, and they say, Well, you know, I don't have kids in school anymore.

You know, we got grandkids.

Well, you know what? You're a taxpayer. You know, your money is being used in those school classrooms, so you've got skin in the game. We all have skin in the game. We do.

We need more people to participate, and you can do that so easy. We have so many calls to action that are happening right now. I also want to just remind people: for $16 a year, you're getting your voice heard in Washington and you're saving money because we've got great discounts. Let's talk about some of those discounts. I love the discounts.

Yeah, the discounts are great.

So, we partner with like-minded companies. We want to make sure that we're working with people who represent the views and ideals of our AMAC membership.

So, everything from cell phone discounts to hotel-motel discounts through our Travel Sherlock program, we've got a plethora of discounts. But another area that I'm so proud of is our social security advisory service. Costs nothing. We don't sell you anything. We just want to help people across America.

So, if anyone has a question about Social Security, we've got a team of people on standby ready to take your call. I think we got better answers than Social Security. Yeah, you do. You do. It's just amazing.

Amac.us/slash Todd, if you would like information. And by the way, you have great news stories as well.

So there's just so much great content for people. And of course, important issues that you guys can help folks out on. Yeah, and that's just it, Todd. Download the AMAC News app, get lots of great news on amac.us. And thank you again, Todd.

It's been so nice to be with you. Likewise, and thank you, Rebecca. We appreciate the great work you guys are doing, and more than 2 million members strong and growing. That's right. All right, Rebecca Weber, the Chief Executive Officer from AMAC, joining us here on Radio Row at CPAC.

Rebecca, thank you so much. God bless you, Todd. All right, and by the way, I'll be on with AMAC. We'll be doing something with their podcast a little bit later on, and we'll be sharing that on our social media platforms. All right, folks, we've got to take a quick break here.

And again, we will try those phone lines again: 844-747-8868, toll-free telephone number, open line Fridays, 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Stern Show. Uh All right, you know, Grace Baker, we're joking about this, but um Xbox News is our drinking game code word. You gotta go to the bottom. Brian, yeah, just ran into another colleague just a few minutes as we were coming back from Bright.

Yeah, we've got the Diet Cokes, we've got the Baptist Martinis lined up here and ready to drink. I think the running joke, though, is the size of our banner here on Radio Row. Yeah. Well, what did we say? We're making banners great again?

Thank you. Yeah, it's like a Times Square billboard. Yeah. I could not help but overhear Lauren Bobert, the great congresswoman from Colorado, yesterday. She was at a booth over, and she was trying to give us someone instructions on where she was.

And she said, I'm by the Todd Starnes show sign. Hey, it's a good marker. I'll take the compliment. It's a great marker. By the way, Grace Baker here with us, the executive producer of the show.

Also, Caleb Park joining us, the managing editor of ToddStarnes.com. And Caleb, it's pretty much been non-stop since we've been here. Yes, it has. Has and it's great to be here. And it has been crazy and fun.

The Super Bowl of conservative politics. All of the above. No doubt about that. And I know, guys, we're waiting for Carrie Lake, who may or may not be coming by, but we're still going to, we may be closing out the show here together in the next few minutes. She's a busy lady.

Yeah, it's, you know, and that's the thing. You come into an event like this, and you have something of a plan, but then getting from point A to point B, it's almost impossible.

So you never know who's going to be there or who's just going to come over and sit down and want to be interviewed.

Well, for me, it's like a giant puzzle. It's like, where do I fit this person? Oh, got to switch this person.

So it's just part of the game. It is. And you get to a point where it's like, oh, you know, gee, President Bush, yes, sorry, we can't fit you in. We'd love to be able to help. I'm like, I'm full, folks.

Sorry. Got to leave some time for room or something. We've got a lot of newsmakers walking around. We do. And Caleb, of course, your job continues because you guys are turning these interviews into stories on the website.

Tell us what we can look forward to over at ToddSterns.com. Yeah, we'll look forward to all the interviews we've been doing. We'll also be doing some interviews after the show, as we did yesterday.

So you guys can definitely keep in touch with us. Check it out at ToddStarnes.com and follow us on social media. We'll be posting those through the weekend as CPAC continues through Saturday and leading up to President Trump's big speech.

Okay, Todd, I'm going to put you on the spot. One of your, name just one moment. Maybe it's an interview, whatever, that was like, oh, that was great. One of my favorite moments. Wow, I loved hanging out with you and Mary.

I thought that was a lot of fun.

Well, thank you. I'll take the compliment. No, I mean, look, the politicians are going to politic. You're not going to get it. Even the conservatives, they're not going to get out their talking points.

It's their job. I will say, I love Kat Kamak, though. My favorite non-Mary, non-grace interview. Kat Kamak. Awesome.

And you're talking. Right there, you're talking about the conservative queens of CPAC. And they're actually biological female queens.

So we should probably quantify that. Tersheed. Shout out to Riley Gaines, who we saw earlier as well. She's walking around. She came on the show the other day.

She's great. Yeah, she's great. And I think that's really, those are the kinds of interviews. We ran into the young man who is the fired from the police department in Georgia. He was on the show a couple of weeks back, and so he's here.

So it's really kind of interesting to see these newsmakers as they're celebrated as heroes, really, Kayla, for standing up. Yeah, this is where a lot of people that get canceled or attacked by the left, and unfortunately, the mainstream media come and they get celebrated and they get to share their message with everyday average Americans that we get to talk to every day. And I think that's been really exciting to see some of the it has been, I think, less people, but it's been more exciting because you get more interaction with the stars. You know, a lot of people have been stopping Todd every, almost every person we walk past has said, hey, Todd, great speech. I read your daily devotional.

Like, it's been really cool to see that. Yeah, I mean, there's just so many people passing by, and you know, you're on air, Todd, but I'm just like, he's on air right now, but they're just like, big fan, big fan. I always try to pass it on to you. You're like head of security at these events. The bounty is a little bit more than that.

I'm going to need my heel on today. If I need to, I can take it off, use it as a weapon if needed. Look, that's what it's all about. I mean, right there. Tomorrow, President Trump is going to be here.

What's your prediction here, straw poll? Is it Trump or DeSantis? Oh, I think it's going to be Trump hardcore just because of the people that showed up and the fact that DeSantis wasn't here. Exactly. And I am interested to see how much Nikki Haley gets.

She spoke today, and I did speak to one CPAC attendee who said that she sounds presidential. She's in her prime, a little play on the age there.

So I'm interested to see. How much of an impact she has coming to CPAC, you know, as opposed to DeSantis who didn't come. I want to get some reaction here, guys. We're going to play some audio. Kyle, this is Doug Collins, former congressman, does a big Newsmax podcast.

He was on Newsmax, and he was talking about this divide within the Republican Party cut forward. That is a concern. I mean, you saw that in some of the states in 2020. You saw, you know, in some of the areas, especially in this 2022 election cycle, where folks who were supporting, quote, a Trump candidate, the Trump candidate didn't win the primary, and so they stayed away in the general. And you saw a little bit of that.

Some states more than others. Pennsylvania, I think, was one of those areas where you definitely saw a little bit of it. And maybe Arizona, Nevada, to an extent, not as much there. But these are the areas that I think at the end of the day, Republicans and conservatives have to understand one thing. The Republican nominee is going to be 500 times better than Joe Biden, period.

Independent full time.

Okay, so now we can. Here's our discussion. We can fight on social media, we can fight on news shows about what we don't like and who's better and who's more conservative this. But I guarantee you, if we don't come together to defeat the Democratic candidate in 2024, then shame on us. And I'm sick of it.

I don't want to hear us complain one bit about a Democrat getting elected if we can't come together and realize that our candidate, no matter where it comes from, our primary system, is going to be the best one. Trump has got a hard lock on a lot of these voters, and I think that's going to be understood. We'll see how that plays out. If he plays those out, then I think everybody will fall in line. Both ways is my encouragement, is Republicans.

You've got to fall in line and make sure that we support the most conservative candidate that can get elected.

Sounds like William F. Buckley, doesn't it? I mean, it does sound like William F. Buckley, and it's also Ronald Reagan. And again, guys, I think the issue here is, will Trump supporters, will DeSantis supporters back the eventual nominee?

You know, that's the big question. And if they don't, we're going to lose. Like, no doubt about it. Because if we have a divide... It's frustrating to me as a young person.

I'm just like, guys, get it together. I get that this is like politics. You kind of get on teams and you're like, oh, I really like this person. I'm on this person's team. But at the end of the day, I'm like, I want to win.

And in the end, we're all under the umbrella same team.

So just get it together. I mean, if it's DeSantis, great. If it's Trump, great. Just get it. If it's Nikki Haley, fine.

Vote for... Because the alternative is Joe Biden and the Democrats. Probably not going to be Haley. Yeah, no. And it's an addition thing.

You know, conservatives, we don't have numbers necessarily. And that's what Trump did in 2016. He added voters to the Republican Party. In record numbers. In Florida, you know, they did that, and I think that's something that we need to do across the country.

Do you think, though, that not only did Trump add voters, but those voters really became the new base of the party? And I'm wondering if the party is. I mean, I don't think this is the same party that elected even George W. Bush back in 2000. And I think that's probably some of the divide you have: a lot of people saying, you know, it's the old guard and the new guard, right?

Trump is the party of the new guard, and it's like a lot of people, our ego is getting in the way or whatever. And I think some people have to be like, okay, do I support the principles? And will I support the candidate? And I think some people are just living in the past still. Like, they have this golden image in their brain, like, oh, politics used to be so regal and wonderful and this and that, but come on.

Do we really want to go back to the fancy dinner parties? Yeah, we need to get out of the country club and start going into the community. Exactly. The inner city, and I think the places that they tell you not to go. And, you know, we're seeing one of the biggest things, Republicans need to just focus on the issue.

Of crime, border security, these are the things people care about. I mean, people want to be able to just go into the city, go out to dinner, pump their gas, whatever, and not worry about getting, you know, shot.

So just keep it simple, don't make it complicated. That's good. I remember Lee Zeldon was giving a speech a couple of weeks ago back in Memphis, and he brought this message. And yeah, he lost his governor's race, but Lee Zeldon energized the base to the point where they were able to win congressional seats and literally swing the House of Representatives.

So Lee Zeldon is really the hero of the midterm elections, even though he lost his governorship. But his message was: you've got to go into those areas. Do not pander. You've got to show people that you care and your policies are going to help them. Yeah, I mean, it was kind of like a domino effect, and we saw that.

So, to your point, I think it's a good point that even though he didn't win, what he did, just like with Donald Trump, even though he didn't win in 2020, what he did had a ripple effect across the Republican Party. We need to go top down. We need to have good leadership that goes from the presidential ticket down to every single local race. And I think that's one of the things that we have seen that's been great is all these moms and dads running for school boards and focusing on those local elections that have such a big impact. You can actually impact millions of dollars or thousands of dollars, whatever, local policies that affect your children.

Do you see, I mean, you guys are you're Gen Z, Grace, you're millennial, Caleb. How do you guys get your generations engaged in the political process? That is the million dollar question. I would say To keep Gen Z engaged. Besides, you know, I do think you have to utilize, you know, unfortunately, you got to utilize social media and such.

But I think, again, keeping it simple, you don't need to go into these convoluted, you know, yes, Hunter Biden's laptop, all that stuff. I'm not saying that's not important, it is, but just keep it simple. Like, hey, do you want to be able to go afford groceries? Do you want to be able, because people like me, you know, just out of college, you know, first job, and then you go to the grocery store and eggs are $5 or $6. And like, that does affect everybody, especially young people, because older folks, in theory, they've got some money saved up and it's not quite as big of a deal.

But the economy and really crime, just focus on those two things. That's what I personally care about more than anything. Yeah, and I think we need to get back to a party that has a vision and inspires people to be part of it. A movement that people want to be a part of. And it's, you know, a history-making party.

You know, because it's like Democrats have been like, oh, we're the first this, the first this, the first this. And it's like we need to start showing, okay, we are moving somewhere, we're going somewhere, and something that people want to join and be a part of. I think it's great, and what a great way to end our coverage this week. It has been a lot of fun and a lot of work. Grace, Caleb, Alan, thank you guys.

It's been a blast. Thank you, Todd, for letting me tag along. Absolutely. We did it. All right, folks.

Well, again, our great team, and I just so appreciate their work. We would not be able to do what we do without them. All right, folks, it's been a lot of fun from Washington live at CPAC. You guys have a great Friday. And whatever you do, be sure to go to church this weekend.

Be good, America.