Liberals are freaking over over Speaker Johnson’s Christianity

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Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to the Todd Starnes radio program.

So great to have you with us today. We've got a lot of ground to cover. And I want to start with what happened yesterday during this radio program.

So we now have a new speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, who is a longtime friend. Mike Johnson has been a regular on this radio program over the years, and our audience knows him very well. But I find it very interesting that a lot of the criticism coming from the social media platforms about Speaker Johnson is the fact that he's a Christian man. And a lot of these, a lot of conservatives, I call them celebrity conservatives, and they're in the talk radio world, and they've got the big followings on Twitter and whatnot. And they seem to be very concerned that this guy is going to run the show as a Christian.

And I say that is a good thing. I don't see anything wrong with that at all. As a matter of fact, Mike Johnson is not only a Christian man, he is a devout Christian. In other words, here's a man who doesn't just talk the talk, but he gets out there and he walks it. He is a faithful husband.

He has loving children. And here's a man who is really standing firm on his beliefs. And I think this country is in for a great awakening, not a rude awakening, but a great awakening. I think the Democrats are in for a rude awakening because Mike Johnson and a lot of this stuff is coming from the pro-Trump mob out there. And I don't get these folks sometimes.

I really don't. Because even Donald Trump sees that this is a this is a great move. Cut number 13. I just want to congratulate Mike Johnson. he will be a great speaker of the house and we were very happy to help I've known him for a long time he's a tremendous leader and comes from a wonderful place Louisiana he's going to make us all proud so at this time yesterday nobody was thinking of Mike and then we put out the word and now he's the speaker of the house so I want to just thank all of the supporters that I have I want to thank all of the supporters that Mike has.

Again, he'll be a great speaker. I think he's going to be very proud of him. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. All right.

Well, there you go. Thank you, Mr. President. Look, the reason why a lot of the pro-Trump crowd is upset here, and by the way, it's a weird combo platter. You've got the establishment Republicans, and they hate the guy because he's a true conservative.

And then you've got the pro-Trump crowd, and many of them are actually moderates, and they share very similar beliefs. When I say moderates, hold that thought. Don't holler just yet. When I say moderates, they are moderates on culture war issues.

Now, Mike Johnson has, in his past life, by the way, he's a constitutionalist attorney. He did a lot of work with our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom. He believes that marriage is between one man and one woman. And aha, that's it. And that's it, by the way.

That's what's driving these people nuts. By the way, I literally just got a text message from the speaker.

So anyway, I'll share that with you in just a moment. But all that to say that he's a good man and they're afraid. And this is what everybody's afraid of. They are afraid that his belief system will actually guide his path as Speaker of the House. That's ultimately what they're terrified of.

Because you see, here's the dirty little secret. May I share a dirty little secret with you? No need to get the kids out of the room. It's not that kind of dirty. But this is a dirty little secret about the conservative movement.

A lot of these people who get up there and you see, by the way, you see a lot of them on Fox News Channel, and they're sitting there on the curvy couch. And then just out of the blue. They'll be talking about the fair. You know, there's a big state fair going on in Iowa. Steve, may I just interrupt for a moment?

I just want the audience to know that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.

Now back to the state fair. You know, just weird stuff like that. Have you noticed that kind of stuff? And it's sort of off-putting. You're like, wait, what?

So these people play make-believe on TV, and these lawmakers, when they get out there, they see the Christians as easy and gullible, right? They see the Christians, the evangelical Christians. I'm telling you, this is a dirty little secret. And I shouldn't be saying this, but it needs to be said. A lot of these Republicans, a lot of them, see you evangelicals as cheap dates.

there's a term I don't want to use, but basically you're easy prey. Right? They drop a couple of those little culture war sayings in your drink and the next thing you know you're waking up the next morning going, what the heck just happened to me? I mean, that's really what they do. And it's disgusting.

That angered me more than anything else at Fox News because I got to see all of this play out. And then these people would call me and say, hey, how can I go and speak at a church?

Well, first of all, you need to get yourself saved. That's what I would tell some of these people. I mean, they're just godless heathens. But they would pretend on air, and a lot of people were very gullible, and they would buy into all of this. And so that is one of the reasons why.

Going back to George W. Bush, and I believe George W. Bush is a born-again believer, but a lot of the people in his administration were not, and they mocked people of faith. Go back to John McCain, a really evil man, God rest his soul, but a very bad evil man, said that all of you evangelicals out there, you were agents of intolerance. That's what he said, agents of intolerance.

He despised you people, and he didn't want your values influencing the Republican Party, And that is why they cannot stand Mike Johnson. Because it's not just the establishment Republicans, it's also the fake conservative Republicans. And they understand, uh-oh, this guy, when this guy says let's pray, man, he is praying. Cut number one, please. I want to tell all my colleagues here what I told the Republicans in that room last night.

I don't believe there are any coincidences in a matter like this. I believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us. And I believe that God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment in this time. This is my belief.

I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this great country, and they deserve it.

Well, there you go. So this guy is going to play hardball. By the way, he wants to secure the border, and he talked about that, as a matter of fact. Take a listen to this. We have a catastrophe at our southern border.

The Senate and the White House can no longer ignore the problem. from Texas to New York, wave after wave of illegal migrants are stressing our communities to their breaking points. We know that our streets are being flooded with fentanyl and all of our communities' children and even adults are dying from it. The status quo is unacceptable. Inaction is unacceptable.

And we must come together and address the broken border. We have to do it. And let me tell you something, and I wish the applause was just insane. None of it was coming from the Democrats. None of it.

None of it. They sat on their butts. And the reason why is the Democrats want people addicted to these drugs because they're easier to control. I mean, I don't want to get sidetracked here, but I want you to know from me that Mike Johnson is going to be a great speaker of the House. I truly believe that.

You know, in the Old Testament, and really throughout world history, there have been these moments in time that God raised up men and women for a distinct purpose. Look at Winston Churchill. Look at Ronald Reagan. Look at Donald Trump. These are for such a time as this moment.

And when you think about what just happened yesterday and the chaos that we've endured for, what, three weeks, where it appeared to be hopeless, that there appeared to be no way that the Republicans were going to be able to coalesce around anyone. And then all of a sudden you have a political backbencher, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, and he was the guy. this man is now second in line to the presidency. I believe that Mike Johnson is a for such a time as this person. And I love that in his first address to the House, he told lawmakers that God, and this is freaking people out, he said that God is the one who raises up those in authority.

And I believe that's to be true. I truly believe that. People are freaking out. Oh my, he's a theocrat. He's a Christian nationalist.

Yeah, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with being a Christian nationalist? Why is that a dirty word? He also told the story about how the words in God we trust, and we shared this photo with you on the website yesterday, in God we trust, it's emblazoned over the speaker's podium there inside the House chamber. And why is that there?

It was placed there in defiance to communism. that's why those words were emblazoned in the House chamber.

So the good news here is we actually have a bona fide believer running the House of Representatives now. And by the way, just in case you need further proof, there's another photograph, and you can check it out on our website. There's a photograph just after he was elected. He walks up onto the podium. There's the infamous speaker's gavel.

and right next to that gavel is a well-worn holy Bible. And it wasn't one of these fake Bibles that's never been opened. You could tell this was Mike Johnson's own personal study Bible because all the pages were worn, and he had little markings for Bible verses and things of that nature.

So anyway, I think, ladies and gentlemen, out of all of the chaos and the horrible news of late, we've got a reason to celebrate because now we have a Christian man running Congress. And who better to convert all of those heathens than Mike Johnson? All right, got to take a break here. 844-747-8868. That is our telephone number.

That's 844-747-8868. We've got a great show. Coming up, we've got a trio of lawmakers, Congressman Ralph Norman, Barry Moore, Greg Stubbe. They're going to be here. Also, we're going to get an update on that horrible mass shooting last night.

Our good buddy Ray Richardson from WLOB is going to join us, and we certainly want to hear from our listeners in that area if you guys are okay. What a terrible, terrible story, and the manhunt still underway at this hour. 844-747-8868. That is our telephone number. That's 844-747-8868.

One final thing here before we go to break. Folks, we are wrapping up two more days on our emergency fundraising campaign for the nation of Israel. We are raising money for the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, and we need your help. Our goal, $20,000. That's what we're trying to raise.

Israel is in crisis. They have endured the worst massacre in their history, and the fighting has intensified. We'll get into more of that a little bit later, but they need vital assistance today. And we're talking about things like food and water, medical and emergency equipment, counseling to deal with the trauma. It's unbelievable what those good, decent people have been through.

And, of course, there are more than 200,000 Israelis, and people aren't talking about this, more than 200,000 Israelis who have been displaced by the war. And that's where you and I come into the picture. Our friends at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews are raising money to help those individuals right now. I want you to go to our website, ToddStarnes.com. Go right now, click on the Israel at War banner, and you'll be able to make an emergency donation online.

Write this number down. You can also call 1-800-514-5577. That's 1-800-514-5577. and you will be able to make an emergency gift today and help save lives in Israel. We'll be right back.

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And thanks to a friend of ADF, your first gift will be matched while funds last. Visit ToddSterns.com or call 855-417-6556. That's 855-417-6556. By the way, again, just to reiterate what a greasy slimeball Kevin McCarthy is, there are some rumblings inside the Beltway already that McCarthy is unleashing his supporters to attack Speaker Johnson. This guy is the ultimate greasy sleazeball.

But again, it goes to show you just how dangerous they believe Mike Johnson is. And why is that? Because Mike Johnson is an actual, true conservative. And a guy who just doesn't talk it, he's been walking it for decades.

So when you see a lot of these conservative talking heads on social media going after Mike Johnson, understand that quietly behind the scenes, they are McCarthyites. And it's not surprising that with less than 24 hours after Speaker Johnson was elected, that McCarthy is already coming after him. The guy's a backstabbing sleaze, a backstabbing sleaze. And that's all you need to know about Mike Johnson, or rather about Kevin McCarthy. Unbelievable.

By the way, just a few moments ago, MTG introduced a resolution to censure Rashida Tlaib. Let's play a little bit of that. It's a long clip. We'll get to all of it a little bit later on. Cut number nine.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Clause 2A1 of Rule 9, I seek recognition to give notice of my intent to raise a question of the privileges of the House. The form of the resolution is as follows. A resolution censoring Representative Rashida Tlaib for anti-Semitic activity, sympathizing with terrorist organizations, and leading an insurrection at the United States Capitol complex. Whereas in May 2019, Rashida Tlaib said that she celebrated the Holocaust and felt a calming feeling when thinking about the genocide of millions of Jews.

Whereas in 2020, Rashida Tlaib retweeted an illustration with the caption, From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. And this Palestine Liberation Organization PLO slogan has been adopted by Hamas and calls for the elimination of Israel and death to all Jews. Whereas in September 2022, Rashida Tlaib, as a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, displayed her disdain for Israel, saying, You cannot claim to hold progressive values yet back Israel's apartheid government. All right, let me stop right there. And we'll play it.

There's a lot more to this. Not only should Rashida Tlaib be censured, but she ought to be removed from Congress. There should be no place for known Jew haters or Christian haters in the halls of Congress.

Now, I'm probably going to get a little blowback over this. But I also believe that if you are a refugee in this country and you actively, actively support terrorist organizations like Hamas, then you need to be expelled from the country. And I'm talking about Ilhan Omar. She needs to be gone. She needs to be censured, but she needs to be thrown out of the country.

If you're going to support terrorism and you're a refugee and you're here because of our good grace, that grace ends. We're booting you back to whatever third world hellhole you came from. All right.

Got to take a break here. 844-747-8868. Stick around. We are going live to Maine to get the very latest on this manhunt for this mentally insane killer. We'll be right back.

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What a terrible tragedy. The numbers have been all over the place.

now 13 injured 18 dead is what they're telling us and there's a manhunt underway want to go to the patriot mobile newsmaker line our good friend ray richardson morning show host at wlob in portland which is about what 30 minutes away or so uh ray good to have you with us this morning uh what's what's the latest what's going on thank you todd i appreciate your interest in this and i also personally appreciate your contact with me last night that was very kind of you thank you well i absolutely so what's going on give us the latest uh ray so you know the i mean i'll just say it i said this to you last night i believe evil came to maine last night and you know you see this all over the country and it's tragic and i'm not minimizing any loss of life but here this just doesn't happen this is a place where people leave their doors unlocked at night. They leave their keys in the car. They leave their wallets and cash in the car. We walk around here and we don't look over our shoulder. We just don't ever have this kind of thing.

And last night just shattered everyone here in Maine. Maine is a state, Todd, and you've been here. This is very personal here. It's not like a lot of places. If you don't know someone, you know somebody who knows them.

This is a very personal state. And so what's going on right now is there is a manhunt underway. They believe they have him tracked to a certain patch of land and they're trying to drive him. But as of this moment, five minutes ago, they have not captured him yet. He is dangerous.

He's very dangerous. He has a military background. He's trained people in firearm use and he has struggled heavily with mental health issues. He was in a mental health ward for two weeks this summer hearing voices and talking about shooting up installations. It's insane that this guy had access to these weapons, proving once again that we are dealing with a mental health crisis in this country, and this guy had no business having access to any of these weapons.

We understand his name is Robert Card. He is wanted on murder charges. I know the governor came out and spoke earlier this morning. um we understand that there were what two there were two shooting locations one a bar and grill and the other it was youth night at a bowling alley are we are we hearing anything about the victims here ray well we are um but i'm not comfortable releasing that information yet because some of the families are still trying to figure out whether their loved one is is dead or whether their loved one is in the hospital as you might imagine todd we're not used to this i know our law enforcement who have done a magnificent job, train, train, train. But as you know, training is one thing and reality is entirely another.

So there has been some confusion.

Some people were showing up at the hospital and they were shot and saying they were coming from different locations.

So I'm not comfortable talking about who is or who is not alive yet because we're still waiting on all the families to make sure they know what has happened to their loved ones. Do we know if any kids got shot? Yes. And how many is still their mixture of adults and kids? As you rightfully pointed out at the bowling alley, it was a teenage league night.

And why someone would go in and assault children in this manner, it's just hard to believe. Why they would assault anyone, we don't know. Why they would shoot and kill people, we don't know. But to go in and attack kids is just beyond the pale of comprehension, I think, for any reasonable person. Yeah, this is just jaw-dropping.

And of course, the numbers have been all over the place. At one point, they were saying up to 60 people.

So thank goodness that the numbers were not that high, but still just an absolutely horrible situation.

Now, my understanding, we're being told that a lot of the towns are on lockdown is that right yeah that is right todd the authorities have asked people to basically shelter in place lock their doors be prepared to defend themselves this man is very dangerous obviously with what he did last night and he's highly trained in firearms a good deal of the schools uh well beyond the region of lockdown have all shut down many businesses have. Obviously, we're in a state of shock in the state of Maine today. We don't have this kind of violence. And I don't mean to minimize any death whatsoever, Todd. But last year, as an example, in total, we had 29 homicides.

We had 18 last night. And there may be more depending on how the patients are doing. That tells you the nature, the magnitude of this. And, you know, I sat here for four hours on the air this morning and basically just encourage people to pray. And even if they weren't faith-filled people, to pray that God was listening, he would know their hearts, he would know their intentions.

I think he's really, we're going to have to turn ourselves back to him. He's the only way we're going to navigate through this, because this does happen around the country. And again, not to minimize that, but Maine is a very unique, close-knit place, and this has just shattered our state. Yeah, what is it? Lewiston is the third largest town or city in Maine, and what, barely 40,000 people.

Is that right? Yeah, I think it's around 35,000, Todd. That's right. You know, we have a big geography, but we have a very small population. We're only 1.3 million people in the whole state.

What have you got there? About 1.1 million in memphis true and we have about 20 people murdered just about every weekend it seems like around here so uh to your point yeah uh that would be a shocking i mean it is it is a shocking thing but yeah this is um i mean you just don't imagine things like this happening in in the state of maine well look my um ray we really appreciate you um coming on and i know it's been a busy day for you folks here in portland and all of our great listeners up there uh certainly our our prayers are with you guys today? Yeah, Todd, if you don't mind, I would like to ask your audience. I know you have a vast audience, and as you know, I, like you, have a deep faith in Jesus Christ. I believe one person praying is powerful, and God hears that voice just as he keeps his eye on the sparrow, but I believe God hears a chorus, and I would please invite your audience to pray for my state.

We love this place. My wife and I moved here 38 years ago. We found home here. Maine is our heart. And today our heart is broken.

Yeah. All right, Ray, we will do that. Ray Richardson, everybody, WLOB, a great radio station, great man, and very, very fine people there in the state of Maine. As a matter of fact, here is Speaker Mike Johnson just a few moments ago talking about the shooting cut 12. This is a dark time in America.

We have a lot of problems and we're really, really hopeful and prayerful. Prayer is appropriate in a time like this, that the evil can end and this senseless violence can stop. And so that's the statement this morning on behalf of the entire House of Representatives. Everyone wants this to end and I'll leave it there. All right And be sure to keep your radio turned on throughout the day for updates And of course if you watching TV be sure to turn over to Newsmax They're going to be providing coverage as well.

Speaking of Newsmax, it's just really amazing how many people have been making the switch. They've been migrating to Newsmax from Fox. And it's because Newsmax is truly real news that you can trust, which is why I watch it all the time. President Trump says he loves Newsmax, and you're going to love it as well. Give it a shot.

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Welcome back, everybody. Good to have you with us. Our telephone number is 844-747-8868. That's 844-747-8868. So here's the deal.

Well, Dylan, I want you to find some audio. The speech I gave at the Germantown School Board, if you can find that and let me know when we get it.

So apparently I have caused great angst and triggering among the liberals here in the Memphis area. And the reason why, there's twofold.

So they're very upset that Todd Stearns, your friendly neighborhood host, your affable host, was allowed to speak at a school board meeting because they believe that people like me should not be allowed to have a place in the public marketplace of ideas. No, I wish I could tell you I was joking. I am not.

So anyway, we had a big controversy here locally, and you guys were a part of this because of the Good Friday holiday. And the school district committee, they had a committee, and they recommended renaming Good Friday. This is in Germantown. Renaming Good Friday simply because it might offend people. And so a lot of folks showed up at the school board meeting, and I was one of those individuals.

I pay my taxes just like everybody else. I deserve to have a say, right? At least you would think so.

So anyway, everybody was very polite, well-mannered, well-behaved. Everybody was also bathed. And that's the nice thing about conservatives. When they show up to protest, they're a clean bunch. It's not like you've got to carry your own Febreze with you.

Look, trust me, I've been to cover these liberal protests. They practice bad hygiene. I don't know what to tell you. Use a stick of deodorant. It really is going to kill you, by the way.

A tangent here. Seriously, all you liberals, all you Democrats, you're going to go out. You're going to be in public. You're going to be around other people. Have a little bit of respect for your neighbors there, right?

go take a bath and if you can't take a bath do what the europeans do and just drench yourself in cologne a little trakar it's not going to kill you so anyway i gave a speech and they're they're enraged over the speech i've got to read to you a comment from one of the um from one of the protesters. And this guy actually ran for, he ran for school board and lost. And he and his husband, they are really involved in this whole movement where you want to make sure, oh, his name is Chipman. And this guy says that it's never okay to misgender a child.

So it's one of those, one of those guys.

So anyway, people are raging. They're all upset over what I said. And here's what this guy wrote. You're being called out because your show and social media are misrepresenting the facts. You told outright lies about me during the last election.

Okay, what lies? I don't think we've had the guy on the show, have we? We always invite people to come on, even if they're left-wing morons, including the alphabet crowd. You do nothing but sensationalize and twist reality to stir up right-wing hatred and anger towards others. And for the record, I watched the work session you referenced in its entirety.

I was in attendance at the last board meeting.

Well, that's good for you.

Some of us have to work to pay the bills in this city.

So good for you. oh the guy's a teacher whoops my bad all based on misrepresentation of the truth moms for liberty is a hate group they routinely attack members of the lgbtq community i have personally been on the receiving end of that hatred just because you say it doesn't make it true you have a platform and a responsibility to the community to seek the truth instead you're posting commentary. Gee, he's a Luke guy. He needs to really consider self-editing. Instead, your posts and commentaries are full of misrepresentation, and the comment section on your social media are a wasteland of prejudice and bigotry, often wrapped in some form of hateful Christianity that is so far from Christ it is unrecognizable.

You say the Southern Poverty Law Center is a far-left organization. Oh, yes, I do. All the while, you promote the most far-right toxicity out there. Do better! All right, calm down, calm down, Mr.

Chipman. Geez-a-loo. No need to get all riled up here. Anyway, I want to play what set this guy off. I must say that I was rather astonished to hear the concerns prompted by Senator Brent Taylor and the Shelby County Moms for Liberty chapter At first, to be honest, I thought I was being pranked a recommendation to rename Good Friday an Easter Monday.

It sounds like something that they would do in San Francisco, not here in Germantown. But then I saw the video of last week's work session and realized that the Germantown school district was heading in a very dangerous position. You have to wonder what's next, changing Christmas to winter solstice or changing the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Day because that might offend somebody. For the record, according to the state of Tennessee, there is an official holiday on the books.

It is not called Spring Holiday. It is called Good Friday.

Now, I appreciate Dr. Chatham and his common sense and gracious approach to all of this. And while I trust the board will do the right thing here, I am troubled by this committee that recommended the calendar change. Who are these individuals? Are they school district employees?

Are they students? Are they parents? What we need is some transparency. And quite frankly, we need a new calendar committee. One of the lessons that many parents learned during the China virus pandemic was that many schools had turned their classrooms into radical indoctrination centers for the far left.

We hope that's not the case here in Germantown. Many parents were stunned to discover the lessons on sex and gender and critical race theory, and many never saw the warning signs along the way.

Now, some folks might think this is a bit silly to have a conversation about the change of a holiday. But I contend this is the canary in the coal mine. And I'm concerned we're on a slippery slope. And we've been assured by the board that such problems do not exist here in Germantown. And I hope that's the case.

But the facts seem to prove otherwise. You tell us you're not advancing a gender movement and yet we have evidence to the contrary. I mean, hiding pronouns and preferred names from parents? This is Germantown, not Loudoun County, Virginia. We know our pronouns in this zip code.

So I hope you understand that we are not going to sit idly by and allow Germantown schools to be infected with this woke ideology. San Francisco values are just not welcome here in the 901. And we love our school system. We want the very best. And we appreciate your service on this board.

Thank you. All right.

Did you guys hear any hate? I mean, where's the hate? The seething rage. Did you hear any of that in my remarks? And so now there's another activist here.

And it's shocking because, I mean, I was really surprised at the number of people who agree with this guy. And so then there's this chick, and her name is Ms. Smoldas. S-M-O-L-D-A-S. Ms.

Smoldas. And she says, you are a right-wing political radio entertainer. Why would I educate myself with your nonsense? Conservatives have always had a voice and have no problem spewing hate. You need to educate yourself on who and what Moms for Liberty really is and how they're trying to ruin public education.

They're a hate group. Look it up. I, along with many others, consider them right-wing domestic terrorists.

So here you have Miss Smoldass, and I don't know if she's a Mrs. or a Ms. We'll just call her Miss Smoldass. I don't know anything about this woman except the fact that she is the one spewing hate here. I mean, calling the great moms for liberty a bunch of right-wing domestic terrorists?

The right-wing domestic, there are no such things. anyway all that to say the problem here the root of this problem in america and right here in memphis is that the liberals are horrified because they now have a voice that voice is the todd starns radio show and that voice is powered by the radio station i now own here called kwam so keep hollering miss small ass and mr chipman we'll be right back MyPillow is celebrating its 20-year anniversary with over 80 million MyPillows sold. Mike Lindell at MyPillow wants to thank each and every one of you by giving you the lowest price in the history of MyPillow. You're going to get their queen-size MyPillow for $19.98, regular price $69.98, and just $10 more, you're going to be able to get a king-size pillow. You're going to receive deep discounts on all MyPillow products like bed sheets, mattress toppers, pet beds, mattresses, MySlippers, and so much more.

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That's MyPillow.com slash Starnes. Use the promo code STARNS or call 800-839-8506, promo code STARNS. Live from the Liberty University studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's conservative blowtorch. That's us, that's right. I love this American ride.

Todd Starnes. All right.

Well, hello, everybody. Welcome to Hour 2 of the Big Show. Good to have you with us today. 844-747-8868. That is our telephone number.

That's 844-747-8868. Well, we've got a lot going on this hour of the program. Coming up in just a little while, Congressman Greg Stubbe and Barry Moore will be joining us. But right now, I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line, our good friend from South Carolina. Congressman Ralph Norman joins us.

Congressman, hope you're doing well today. Doing great, Todd. Glad to be with you.

Well, the good news is we've got a rock-solid conservative in the speaker's chair. I want to get your thoughts on the election of Mike Johnson.

Well, it's a great day for America. It's a great day for our conference, Todd. The fact that he was unanimous, he ran the tables on the votes, 220 votes, and this body is unbelievable. But he's got that kind of credibility. He's trustworthy.

He'll do what he says, and he's the right man at the right time. and I believe he's the first speaker since John Boehner to get a unanimous support from the caucus. Yeah, he really is, and look who went through the gauntlet. Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, Tom Emmer, all well-recognized and liked candidates, but people, for whatever reason, had different opinions and couldn't get there, and Mike was able to get there, but it's a testament to the man he is and the fact that he did not want this job. The longer I'm in politics, I think we need people who don't want it and aren't in it for any particular reason.

Mike Johnson fits that bill.

So the first order of business, of course, is we've got a lot of big fiscal issues. Where do you see that going? We're hearing rumblings that there may be a continuation into January. What can you tell us? Yeah, what he's doing, now we've lost three weeks, But what Mike is doing, the first order business, he knows our debt situation in this country is the cancer that's killing us, will kill us if we don't get a handle on it.

He's put the eight left appropriation bills on the docket to get them done. We're working day and night, to be honest with you, particularly the staff, to get these done. We're coming in next week. And as long as it takes to get them passed, a CR in Mike's defense is probably going to have to be the route that we take. We simply can't do it before then.

And I hear he is wanting to propose through January, and I'm fine with that. You can trust this man. And that's the linchpin, really, for any business and particularly any political situation that we're in now.

So we'll do a CR, and probably in January, February, that it'll run, too. All right, so we'll see how all that plays out. Again, anything past January, I think you guys are going to get serious blowback from the voters. I think we will, and we should. Again, we should have had this, and part of the problem with McCarthy is, you know, he promised to make this front and center stage, have the appropriation bills out June, July, and have it so we don't have to come to the last minute.

So we should. But, you know, and this is a tough sledding. This is not an easy job. To get people to cut anything in this town is like pulling teeth. But we've got to have a pulling of teeth, for lack of better words, to get this thing done.

But, you know, if not now, when? But I think we will. Congressman, you've got a bill that you're a part of. a number of other Republican lawmakers, and it would keep U.S. funds from any Palestinian-controlled areas until they agree to cease hostilities towards Israel.

Tell us about the legislation. The legislation basically stops this administration from doing anything to support the Palestinians which butchered the Israelis that they did over a week and a half ago. this administration it's not just the nine billion that they wanted to get to iran which is the main i mean they are the sponsor of terror and this bill just puts it on record puts the democrats on record that say they're pro-israel and let's put it put put let's see what they end up voting for or against and i hope they'll stick with us on this yeah this is what i don't get i mean it's like um let's say you've got a family member and they're a drug addict and they keep asking you for money for food or whatever or for rent, and they're using that money to buy drugs, sooner or later you're going to cut off the money flow. I mean, that's just common sense.

So if the administration knows that the Palestinians are taking this aid and they're using it to buy rockets or ammo and they're not using it to help the impoverished people of Gaza, at what point does somebody say, we've got to stop funding this?

Well, it's no different than this administration with buying oil from OPEC, Iran being one of them. And they're feeding the people that hate this country every day by not being self-sufficient on oil and natural gas.

So it's deeper than that. This administration has totally sold out to our enemies, allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon at this point. Who's to think that they won't use it on us? Who is naive to think that we can negotiate and be friends with a country that butchers people and is responsible for it? It doesn't make any sense.

So, you know, all we can do is put the legislation, put the resolutions up, make them vote on it, and then you'll see where they really stand. We are what we vote or don't vote for in Congress. Are you hearing any rumblings about Iran? It certainly seems like the administration is talking up a war between us and Iran. What are you guys hearing on Capitol Hill?

Well, you know, what Israel's doing is taking front and center stage, but I think Iran witnesses what every other nation witnesses that are enemies of the United States. We're weak. The Biden administration is just weak. The wokeness is in the military. That's why the recruitment is down, and they want to hit us at our weakest point, and we are very weak, and it's a dangerous time to be an American right now.

and it's not just abroad i mean look at the for the longest time we fought enemies not in our in our own country now with the sleeper cells that are coming across the border it's a known fact what's coming next and it's it's a very concerning for it ought to be a concern for every american because you can be fighting them here uh on our own ground and it's so unfair and it's all avoidable But it's, again, part of the administration is just sold out, not just to Iran, but to China as well.

Well, I'm excited about the days ahead. I've known Mike, the speaker, for a number of years, and I think that he is going to lead. He is going to be kind and fair, but he will stick to his beliefs and his values. And I think it's going to be really refreshing to have somebody like him in that position.

well and the fact that the one word that describes mike johnson not only is a christian which is the biggest thing but it's trustworthy i mean you can wonder what he tells you he's not going to make a deal in the back room to somebody else and that's cabin mccarthy's problem that's why he is out right now if he had done if he'd just been truthful uh you could have maybe not agreed with him on everything but um he just told too many things that he was not behind and didn't believe in every word that Mike Johnson speaks, he believes in. By the way, we're getting some rumblings that McCarthy's already kind of working behind the scenes and working against Johnson. Are you hearing anything like that right now? Oh, look, I witnessed it. During the, he was putting out statements that he supported Mike Johnson, and this was the day of his election.

he was, during the secret ballot, urging people to put his name on the secret ballot so that Mike would not get the majority. They went to the, I forget who it was, but they went to Mike and said, who is Other? Name the names, because he didn't want the names out. And it went from three on a secret ballot that had put McCarthy down to over 42. And once he was called out, people saw what they were dealing with.

And that's the very example that your listeners ought to understand why he's out as speaker, because you just don't do that. If he was straight up, he would say, I want to be a candidate for speaker. I will be one of the nine that are up on the stage, answer the questions, run the gauntlet, instead of doing it backhanded. And that's one example of what he did to Johnson. And to be honest with you, Todd, he did it to Scalise.

he did it to Jim Jordan and to some extent to Tom Emmer. But I know firsthand what he did to Mike Johnson because I followed it. That's just so deceiving. And you hate to say it, but the guy's a snake. I mean, it's really sad that somebody behaves like that.

But it explains why he's no longer a speaker. And it started in January. You know, the group of us had opposed him. The deal that was supposedly cut, I mean, the deal was, you know, do you back a balanced budget? Another example, he would not let the balanced budget come out.

After he got a speaker, he just stopped it. And, no, it was his time to go. And we have no issue with Mike Johnson not telling us one thing and doing another. All right.

Good to hear.

Well, Congressman, appreciate the great insight and appreciate you coming on the show today. My pleasure. Thank you. All right.

There you go, folks. Wow. Congressman Ralph Norman confirming it. He said he had firsthand evidence that Kevin McCarthy has already started trying to sabotage Speaker Johnson. I told you, folks, this guy is just a greasy sleazeball.

That's all he is. All right.

I want to go. You know what? We're going to we're going to take a break. We're going to go to the phones when we come back. A lot of folks holding 844-747-8868 is our number.

That's 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Stern Show. Cable news. Noisy. Boring.

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All right, let's go to the phones here. Ben is calling in from the great state of Maine. and Ben, tell us where you are in the state and how close are you to Lewiston? Yeah, I do say Stan or Ben. Ben.

Oh, Stan. I sound like Ben. I'm sorry. It's wonderful. Yeah, we're about 15 minutes out of 20 minutes at most, maybe out of Portland in Socko.

Ben, was your town put on lockdown last night? Not that I know of. I mean, there was a talk of this individual coming over to Saco and maybe wanting to shoot up the National Guard that we have over here. I'm assuming that's what National Guard they were talking about because that's what it sounded a little bit that I got. But, you know, I wanted to make a remark that, you know, So we've got a lot of focus now on the mental defect part of this deal with the shooter, and that very well may be.

But in this particular instance, you know, I'm curious, if he had a mental defect that was so serious, how could this idea of mens rei, this evil-mindedness that after he suddenly killed so many people, and then has the perfunction to get out of the area and to escape his punishment. I mean, I don't know if a defective person mentally would have that drive to live and yet decide to kill others and save himself. I think, for example, I think that we got the flashlight on the – that's an issue we have to handle in this country because we've let these people roam the streets. but you know i think the flashlight should be should be on the people uh the people the evil the actual bad people in this country who want to commit these kind of heinous crimes if and and the law enforcement should be focused on those people not the good citizens of of the people because you're going to hear the old thing oh never let a crisis go to waste meaning meaning that they're already out there trying to grab the good citizens' guns. And we need those guns to protect ourselves from the bad people.

If we put down our weapons today the same way if Israel put down their weapons today, Hamas would be all over them like stink on you-know-what. The same thing would happen here. If you good citizens in this country, in the state of Maine, laying down your weapons, God forgive you, because you will lose your liberty, your freedom, your self-protection, and probably your wife and your children. And Ben, to that point, you had a congresswoman on from Maine earlier today, and I think she was on CNN, talking about how, you know, well, we don't really need your thoughts and prayers, we need to get the guns. And we saw this last night, even.

I mean, they're still hunting for this guy and you've got the lawmakers out there saying well we've got to get the guns that's what joe biden said in the statement today meanwhile you actually have citizens and one of the guys was interviewed and he said yeah i'm sitting here in my house doors locked with my wife and kids and i got a gun and whatever's coming through that front door is is getting shot and and that's the whole point of this the guns run out out there shooting people the the bad guy here is not the gun. It's the guy shooting this weapon who is somewhere in the wilds of Maine right now.

So Ben, appreciate that call. And it's a great point. You take away our guns, this country will be literally overrun and it will just be a matter of days. All right, let's go to Collierville, Tennessee. Justin wants to weigh in on my infamous school board speech.

Justin, it could have been a whole lot worse. I thought I was being rather kind and generous. Yeah. So, Todd, first off, I'd like to say just thank you. You just being there just shows what we all know here of how much you a part of this community And you stand for the values that you say you believe in So everybody here in Shelby County, we're extremely appreciative.

And, yeah, so I've been to two big events where it's dealt with the whole issues along our kids. And so all the Republicans and the conservatives that have been in the audience have been very respectful We've waited our time There's been no shouting But this just shows you the fight we're in at the local level for the soul of our nation Because they're literally trying to change the whole script of what our kids believe So it takes every single one of us whether it be in Memphis or Germantown or anywhere else in the United States, we have to keep showing up at these school board meetings and voicing our concerns of what they're trying to do is reprogram our kids. That's what it is, and it's shocking that it's happening here in the southern states, but I think this is a problem, and we've heard from so many of our listeners around the country, this is happening all over the place. And so, look, you just have to be mindful of it. You have to be aware.

And when there is an issue, show up and address the issue with your elected leaders. And I thought you guys did a terrific job of doing that this week in Germantown. yeah and the last point is we can't be afraid of these people what they're trying to do is they try to shame you they try to publicly humiliate you and say that you can't have a voice and all this but this is our taxpayer dollars and this is our kids so we have every right to have a voice and our concerns and how our public tax dollars are spent and educating our kids well said justin And you must be a professional at this because the music is already coming on to wrap up this segment.

So, Justin, God bless you and thank you. Yeah, they're not going to shame us. It's not going to happen. And we're just going to get louder on the radio. That's what we're going to do.

All right, got to take a break here, folks. 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Starnes Show. When I grow up, I want to work for a woke company. Like super woke.

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Hello, people.

Sorry I got delayed. I was at the – I'm afraid that the community coffee machine here in our bunker may be on its last legs. It took like forever to get my cup of community coffee during the commercial break. Anyway, enough of my problems. Hope you're doing well today.

By the way, our telephone number is 844-747-8868. Want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line, good friend from the great state of Alabama. Congressman Barry Moore joins us. Hey, Congressman, how are you? Hey, Todd, we are doing good.

How are you doing, sir?

Well, I'm doing well.

Now, I have to say something here. Are you an Auburn or an Alabama guy?

So I'm an Auburn guy, so I graduated from Auburn in 92.

So we still go for a game occasionally. All right.

The reason I ask that, it's about your new speaker who is a good, godly Christian man, but he is an LSU fan. And I'm just wondering, are you going to have issues with that, Congressman?

Well, we can both agree on the Tigers, I'll say that. But it has to be the Auburn Tigers, not the LSU Tigers. But Mike, he is a great guy and, like you said, a good Christian man.

So we can put our football aside for a little while. All right.

Well, you see, I'm a Tennessee volunteer, so we need the Lord as best as we can get him.

So, you know, Congressman, we just had a Ralph Norman on from South Carolina, and we have been hearing these rumblings that Kevin McCarthy has already started trying to sabotage and cause some problems for the new speaker. Are you seeing that as well? Have you heard any of those rumblings? We had heard some rumblings through the process that Kevin might have been working behind the scenes. And actually, I was talking to Jim Jordan on the floor today.

he didn't feel like Kevin was necessarily working against him, but he couldn't say one way or the other, and I don't think he wanted to tell me for sure, but I did ask him point blank, but let's hope that Mike Johnson, he is such a fine man, and I tell you, Todd, I know you're a man of prayer, and just like Mike is, and in that room, it was different. I mean, there was a unanimous vote for him. It just almost, to me, it was like a move. It was like Samuel went through all the brothers and finally picked out David, and I just honestly think that Mike Johnson is a man for this time. He's so strong in his faith.

He's conservative. And listen, within the conference, we understand that America is changing in a sense of the Republicans that we are elected. Donald Trump being head of the ticket in 2016, 70 percent of our delegation is new now. And so within our conference, we had the old guard Republicans who ran up thirty three trillion in debt. They hadn't passed the probes bills like they should have in the last 26 years now.

And so that's why we have this thirty three trillion in debt. But the American people said, hey, we want to change in Washington, D.C. And so they started sending populist candidates that came in kind of after Trump, since Trump. And it's a different move within the conference.

So there was a jockey in for power position for conservatives. And I think what you saw with Mike Johnson moving to the top, if you will, is that the conference has moved to the right. And it has been a battle. The House Freedom Caucus, which I'm a member, has grown with the numbers over the last few years. And listen, I think that's a good sign for America.

It's a good sign for our conference. It's a good sign for our party and certainly for the future of the nation. I'm with you, and three weeks ago when all of this broke out, Mike's name was at the top of my list, and I love Jim Jordan. You know, Jim's a regular on the show. Mike, the speaker, was a regular on the show for years.

But Mike Johnson is an evangelical Christian.

So he is, I think that he is, as you pointed out, for such a time as this, I see where this is going to be a good, good thing for the country and especially for the House of Representatives. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. We did a prayer. We did a National Day of Prayer at the Museum of the Bible last year. And in my spirit, I kind of felt like there was a shift coming to our country.

I didn't know what that was going to look like, but I was thinking the Lord's not done with our country. And certainly, Todd, Mike Johnson, to me, within our conference, now being the speaker, that is the shift in the right direction. That's a godly direction. And I I think he's a man of prayer, like you said, and that can only bode well. His leadership style is such that he's a happy warrior.

He's a conservative. He's not mad about it. When he goes against you on policy, you don't tend to take it personal. I think that's how he was able to get across the finish line. I'm glad to hear that, and I'm excited just about the youthful energy.

I mean, when you look at the other, look at who he's going to be having to go up against. You've got Chuck Schumer in the Senate and the White House with Joe Biden, and here's a 51-year-old guy. He's going to bring a lot of fresh energy into the debate and the conversation. No doubt he's very wise. He's young.

He's full of energy. And like you said, he brings a voice to the fight that is much needed right now in America. We're tired of seeing old politicians who seem like their better days are behind them, for sure, certainly with the White House and with Schumer. And honestly, even Mitch McConnell in the Senate in some ways, we're glad Mike's a young man. He's a spiritual man.

And also, I think he's in the fight for the right reasons. He's a man of courage. He doesn't compromise his principles, but he understands how to negotiate. And so I think that, again, his energy is going to be well used and I think well versed in this environment right now. Congressman, and by the way, folks, this is Congressman Barry Moore on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line from Alabama's 2nd Congressional District.

Let's talk about the appropriations bills. Congressman Norman said just a few moments ago, more than likely going to have to kick this can down the road until at least January because of the calendar. Are you hearing those rumblings as well? Yeah, I agree. I think we've got them in the well, if you will.

We've got them moving through the system. But it's going to take a little time that delays, obviously, three weeks of lost time with the end of the calendar year coming. Yeah, I think we have to look at some options. But I think Mike's priorities will be the appropriations process and we can get away from these omnibuses. And hopefully we will have to buy a little time in between here and there to get it to the floor.

But I think we're already moving on some of that, And I think you'll see the American people for the first time in recent history can say, hey, well, Congress is actually doing their job. They're passing 12 approves, as we should, as we've agreed to do. And this is tremendous. And I think that it's really strange. I've seen a lot of the celebrity conservatives out there.

They were raising concerns about Speaker Johnson. They're like, well, we don't know this guy.

Well, you know what? He's been a guest on this program for a number of years since my days back at Fox. And he is the real deal. I'm just concerned that if we have to kick the can to January, that people don't use that as a hammer to beat up the speaker here. This is a matter of the calendar.

Absolutely. It's a matter of time, and he's late in the year getting to the office, and he's got a lot of work to do. He's got to get his team assembled.

So you can't blame Mike Johnson for the situation that we're in 11 months into the year, so to speak, because he just got the gavel. He's now going to try to do the process, but he is a consistent conservative, Todd. You look at his voting record, and he's just, like I said, he's a man of principle. He'll get the job done, maybe not as fast as some people would like, and sure, he'd probably be attacked from maybe both sides. I don't know.

But in reality, with the counter like it is, he's going to have to have a little time to get the committees back going, get their approach bills to the floor and get them passed. And we've got the process of negotiating. But the House now, we've already done about 7% of the funding for the year with the approach bills we've passed out of the House. The Senate needs to get to work, and we don't need to be looking at some kind of omnibus. We need to make sure we do it just a short-term, maybe CR or continue resolution just to get us so we can get those approach bills off the floor.

Congressman, one final question. We've been paying close attention, of course, to what's happening in Israel. The Biden administration wants to tie funding for Israel to Ukraine. How is that going to play out? Because so many people across America, they just don't think we need to be giving any more money to Ukraine.

Enough is enough. Yeah, I think those need to be separate. I don't think you can take the dead babies in Israel and hold the funding to Ukraine tied to that. I think those need to be separate funding items. We need to – Israel is our ally in the region.

They're one of our greatest allies. And certainly, you know, Genesis 12 through, if you bless Israel, you'll be blessed. And so we have to separate that process tied and go ahead and take care of Israel. The Ukraine, the appetite to keep sending billions over there with no oversight, I think that the American people are sort of tired of that right now. We've got a southern border that's wide open.

we've sent over 100 billion to ukraine and our greatest ally in the in the region in the middle east is under attack those need to be separate funding items we can get there and i think speaker johnson will understand that too but they don't need to be tied together that's just a way to cover more spending in ukraine when in reality we've spent a lot of money with a little oversight over there we need to look care look at taking care of israel up front right now i think that's the priority all right well congressman we're going to leave it there i appreciate you and I will say this, one of the coolest things I saw yesterday in all of that, when Speaker Johnson took the podium, right next to that gavel was the Bible that he brought up there with him. And it wasn't one of these, you know, brand new out of the plastic Bibles. This was a very well-worn, you could tell where he was marking the Bible verses. And that tells me a lot about how this Congress is going to be led. Amen, brother.

By the word, and like you said, you can tell by the way on the man's Bible that it's not the first time he's picked it up. That's it. All right.

Congressman, good hearing from you. Thank you, buddy. Thank you. All right.

There you go, Congressman Barry Moore. It's exciting. Can I just – just a moment of personal privilege here. And I was talking to Tony Perkins about this. I know Tony didn't want to talk about him being a Baptist, but it's true.

Congressman Johnson is a good church-going Southern Baptist. And it's exciting to see one of our people up there. You know, I mean, we got a mess of Catholics up there on the Supreme Court, but it's nice to have a Southern Baptist as Speaker of the House. And I'm looking forward to that. And Congressman Moore, he gets it.

He understands exactly where we're coming from on all this. All right, got to take a break here. 844-747-8868. That is our telephone number. That's 844-747-8868.

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Well, if you're not happy, then I want to encourage you to check out our friends over at Patriot Mobile. They're America's only Christian conservative cell phone company. And they have great, incredible coverage, 4G, 5G. and they have the same coverage that the big guys do. PatriotMobile.com slash Todd.

Use my first name and you're going to get free premier activation. That's going to save you $30 right out of the gate. And they have a plan to fit any budget, no matter how much money you want to spend, how little money you want to spend. Patriot Mobile is going to help you out. And here's the best part about this is the best part about Patriot Mobile is that when you pay your bill, they take a portion of that and they use that money to support causes that we care about.

organizations that are supporting the First and the Second Amendment, organizations that are supporting religious liberty.

So that excites me about the great work they're doing, in addition to the incredible cell phone coverage they have. PatriotMobile.com slash Todd. Be sure to check them out. All right.

Welcome back, everybody. Happy to have you with us. Wow, a lot going on today. Anyway, feeling good. And we are going to keep our eye on Kevin McCarthy.

We're not going to let him sabotage. And look, McCarthy is a card-carrying rhino. That's ultimately what he is. But the problem is he's a two-face, and those guys are even worse. All right, let's get to the phones here.

844-747-8868, our number. Let's go to Jerry in Milwaukee. Hey, Jerry, what's going on? Hey, Todd, I kind of disagree with you on the Ilman Omar. I don't think she should be removed from Congress.

That doesn't mean I agree with everything she says. I think she sometimes goes over the line. And maybe sometimes she is anti-Semitic. But just because you're critical of Israel, Israel as a foreign government, doesn't mean you're anti-Semitic. There are people in Israel who are critical of the Israeli government.

and just because you disagree with the policy ideas of some member of Congress, they should be removed. I mean, I don't like many Republican members of Congress, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jewish Space Lasers. I don't think she should be removed. The voters voted for her. They elected her.

So they have the right to have a representative in Congress, just like any other person. Jerry, what's unique, though, about Ilhan Omar is she's a refugee. We didn't have to let her into the country, but we did out of the goodness of our hearts. That's who we are as Americans, and we want to give people a safe harbor, safe refuge, but then to turn around and to hate our country, and she clearly, clearly hates America and she hates democracy. I just don't know why we should be giving cover for people like that.

Well, one, Israel, I mean, you didn't mention Israel, but people should know Israel is a separate state. You can totally be critical of Israel, and that's not anti-American at all. There's parts of Israel. I don't like some of the human rights violations in Israel. Israel isn't perfect.

I think we should support Israel, but it isn't perfect, and people should have this idea it is. But in terms of, like, hate democracy, hate America, I mean, that's nebulous. I could say that about sometimes what conservatives say. Pat Robinson said 9-11 was because of gays. You know, that's why they struck us.

I mean, isn't that like anti-American, if we're going to say that? I mean, like hating America. I mean, I could say that about many people on the right wing, but I don't want to remove it. What does it mean when, let's just take this at face. No one's bothered to ask this question of the pro-Hamas protesters out there, but when they say from the river to the sea, we want Palestine to be free or whatever they're saying, where do they want the Jews to go?

Yeah, a lot of them do want to destroy the state of Israel. I agree with that. But just because there's people like that doesn't mean that Israeli politics couldn't be improved. I mean, that's what I see. Like many times on conservative talk radio, I think we should support Israel, but there's never any criticism of any of the policies.

Well, we've had criticism on this program, Jerry. One of the big concerns I've had in recent years has been the crackdown on people being able to share their faith. You know, you're not allowed to proselytize in Israel. You know, I've got a problem with that. But the issue here is not having some sort of a political disagreement.

We're talking about Rashida Tlaib, who was defending the Hamas terrorists who were coming across the border and slaughtering Jewish families. And that's what I've got a problem. You think she ought to be censured for that? I mean, you might argue censor, but remove. If people don't like it, vote her out.

Have someone else vote her out. She's the representative of the people. Again, I don't like Marjorie Taylor Greene. I think she's horrible, but I don't want her removed from office just because I disagree with her ideas or policy. I'm not sure Marjorie Taylor Greene is defending people who slaughter and behead babies.

I think there's a distinction there. Again, she's brought up Jewish space lasers on the moon, starting wildfires in California. She wrote that before she was a member of Congress. That sounds a little anti-Semitic to me.

Well, that's just silly. I mean, that kind of a comment is just silly. It's ridiculous. But again, I'm standing with the people of Israel, and it troubles me. It troubles me what I'm seeing in this country right now, Jerry, and the level of hatred towards the Jewish people.

That ought to alarm all of us because if they can turn against the Jews, they're going to be coming after the Christians very soon. Yeah. And then again, I oppose any Semitism, but again, there's a distinction between that and opposition to the government of Israel. All right.

You got your say there, Jerry. I appreciate the call and good hearing from you. I sincerely disagree with that, folks. I say this is not a matter of Jewish space lasers. This is a matter of a human being who is elected to Congress who has no soul, a soulless human being, who cannot bring herself to condemn the Hamas terrorists for killing babies.

There's no place in Congress for people like that, in my estimation. All right.

By the way, I'm trying to balance all of this out. My publisher, they really want us to hit the pre-order books very, very early on. My new book is coming out in March. It's called Twilight's Last Gleaming, Can America Be Saved? And I'm very excited about this book, and I'm excited for you to read it.

And it is available for pre-order now. I just don't want every single – you know, sometimes you listen to a talk radio show, and it's always like, buy this, buy that. No, I don't want us to ever be like that. That being said, I need you to buy my book. I got an email from my publisher.

You've got to tell people to pre-order your book.

So, all right, I'll get a word in. And so, folks, we would love for you to go and preorder my book called Twilight's Last Gleaming, Can America Be Saved? You can get it. Amazon is a great place to preorder it. And you can also get it at Barnes & Noble, Books a Million, wherever you get your books, you can get it there.

Even Tarjay. But I don't want conservatives, you don't go to Tarjay anymore.

So you liberals, you can buy the book at Tarjay. All right, stick around, folks. We've got more coming your way. Congressman Greg Stubbe is on the way. We'll be right back.

This is the Dodd-Starring Show. Live from the Liberty University studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's America's favorite gun-toting, Bible-clinging, deplorable American. That's us, that's right I love this American ride Todd Starnes And hello everybody, welcome to the Todd Starnes radio program So very happy to have you with us today It has been an incredibly busy news day here on the program And we've got a lot to get to this hour of the show By the way, coming up in just a matter of a few moments So we're going to be speaking with Florida Congressman Greg Stubbe. He's going to be giving us an update on the very latest in Israel. Also, we're following a breaking news situation out of the state of Maine, where a national manhunt is underway right now.

We understand from our friends at Newsmax that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are now involved in this search for this madman, this mentally insane lunatic who went on a shooting spree last night. This guy shooting up a bowling alley. It was youth night. They had the youth leagues out. And unfortunately, and we heard this from our friend Ray Richardson from our affiliate in Portland, Maine, that some young people are among the victims.

And then, of course, the government left the bowling alley and went to this bar and grill where more people were shot. we understand at least 18 people now killed there in the state of Maine.

So we're going to keep you updated on that. And, of course, our friends at Newsmax are keeping us updated as well. All right, let's go right to the phone lines, 844-747-8868. A lot of folks wanting to weigh in this hour of the show. That's 844-747-8868.

Let's say hello to Mark in Florida at The Villages, America's friendliest hometown. Hey, Mark, what's going on? Hey, Todd, first I want to congratulate Mr. Johnson. Finally, we have a speaker who has morals and common sense.

Thank God for him. Hopefully, we're going to have some changes. Yeah, you know, Mark, it's interesting about Speaker Johnson, and I've known this guy for years. He is a fellow Southern Baptist, and you're right. This is a guy who literally has a moral foundation, And I think that's been lacking in our recent speakers, which is why we've seen John Boehner, you saw Paul Ryan, and you saw Kevin McCarthy go off the reservation because they did not have a solid set of moral beliefs, and therefore their opinion on something was always open to the highest bidder.

So I'm excited to see this, and I know that's going to make a lot of people mad, And you just heard Ralph Norman, the congressman, say that Kevin McCarthy is already trying to sabotage the Speaker's efforts. But we're not going to let him get away with it. That's not going to happen.

Well, maybe you and Mr. Johnson can do a book signing here in the villages. But on my second question, again, Todd, with this main issue, red flags were ignored again. He had mental health issues, even checked into a mental health facility. He has guns.

He serves in our armed forces. And now they want to take our guns again. Go after the root cause of these senseless killings, the mental health issues in this country, and find out who has these weapons and leave law-abiding citizens alone. You know, God bless those lives lost to the families that didn't deserve to have to deal with this pain, not only in Maine, but in Israel. You know, senseless, senseless killings.

It's just, especially the one in Maine, it's just unbelievable. Mark, there was a story that came out of Israel, and it didn't get a lot of publicity, but I did see it on Newsmax actually where there was one particular family and you had the terrorists going door to door and the father told his daughters, he had young daughters, told them to hide under the bed, don't worry, everything was going to be okay but there was going to be a little bit of noise. And what did the father do? The father was one of the few people in that area of Israel who was actually allowed to own a gun and when the terrorists came through that front door, the dad opened fire and took out the terrorists. That could have happened in other homes had Israel not had such strict gun control laws on the books.

So again, this goes back to not an issue of the gun, but it's the person who holds that gun. What is going on in that person's mind? And clearly, as you pointed out, there were not just red flags. The guy was hospitalized. There was absolutely no reason why this guy should have been having this weapon.

Absolutely. You hit the nail on the head, Todd. They do not deserve to have... I don't know how they're going to go after these people, but they got to get these doctors or whoever to let other people know they have to. They got to, because if you don't, this is going to continue and continue, and we're going to keep going on your show and talk about this.

How many times do we have to talk about this? Mark, look, it's a great question. and I appreciate your call. And I will say this, and we have a lot of listeners in Maine. That state is pretty darn conservative.

I know every now and again they elect a liberal lunatic to the state capitol, but by and large, Maine is a very conservative, rural state. A lot of people own weapons there. That's not something that's unusual. A lot of pickup trucks in that area. I remember my first time heading up into New Hampshire when I was back working at Fox, and they sent me up to cover a political event.

I remember flying into Boston at Logan Airport, and you have to do a car rental, and I'm driving up the interstate, and I see signs for Cracker Barrel restaurants. I see signs for a NASCAR event coming up, and lo and behold, just about everybody was driving around in a pickup truck and had a gun rack. I thought I had taken a wrong turn and ended up in, I don't know, Alabama.

So the point being is that there are a lot of people in that part of the country that would feel very much at home in the southern states.

So the idea that you're going to have elected leaders coming at them, for example, blaming Senator Susan Collins, what did she have to do with this? She wasn't out there pulling the trigger for this gun. And by the way, Susan Collins is not exactly the first person that comes to mind when I think about raging supporter of the Second Amendment.

So again, this is not a matter of getting the guns. This is a matter of enforcing the laws that are already on the books. And again, all you people out there now asking, oh, we got to get the guns, we got to take the guns. All right, what sort of legislation, what sort of gun law would have kept that gun out of the hands of that mental case? Answer that question.

844-747-8868. That is our telephone number. Nationwide border to border coast to coast If you would like to join the conversation today that 844 Meanwhile we looking at another crazy story and this one coming from New York City. And folks, I'm telling you, this Jew hatred that's out there across America, you need to be very alarmed by that. And I especially want to talk to the Christians in our audience today.

And I want you to understand something. As much as they hate the Jews, I think they hate us just as much, if not more.

So you better believe that if we do not take a stand, if we do not stand alongside our Jewish countrymen, then one day they could be coming after us and there's nobody that's going to be standing alongside us.

So we have a responsibility to stand up to these raging anti-Semites out there, these raging anti-Christian people. We need to be standing up and fighting back. But this story out of New York City, where you had a group of Jewish young people, and these are kids, 17, 18, 19 years old, and they were literally chased into the library at Cooper Union.

Now, Cooper Union is a college in New York City, in Manhattan. I walked by that area many, many times when I lived in New York City, and there was a raging mob of pro-Hamas protesters, and they were chasing these kids into the library. The librarians locked the door, and they literally told the kids, maybe you need to go hide in the attic. Hide in the attic? This is happening in the United States of America, ladies and gentlemen.

That's something that you would do in, what, Poland, when the Nazis invaded. And now they're telling Jews here in America to hide in the attic? Are you freaking kidding me? This is outrageous.

Meanwhile, the school is issuing some sort of a namby-pamby, squishy statement. Here's a thought. What about coming out and condemning these Jew-hating anti-Semites and then expelling their butts off of campus? And also, what about expelling all of the teachers and firing the teachers who told these kids to go out there and protest in the first place. What about that?

But this is absolutely obscene that this kind of thing is happening on American soil. We have the videos up at ToddStarns.com, and I would encourage you to check that out. All right, let's go right back to the phone lines. We have Sarah in Maine. Hi, Sarah.

What's on your mind today? Oh, hey, I just wanted to call in from Maine. I've been listening to you. And I just want to point out that Maine has a severe mental health crisis issue. We're having a lot of behavioral health issues with not being supported.

We're having a lot of babies die in care. The government is just not taking care of anybody, so I'm not surprised to hear that this is happening. This guy wasn't taking care of. Red flag laws weren't followed, that kind of thing. Not that we have red flag laws, but they just weren't followed.

And that's the problem here, Sarah. If you're going to have the laws and you're not going to enforce the laws on the books, you're going to have 300 gun laws on the books. It's not going to make a difference if you don't enforce those laws.

Well, I don't think we need more laws, but I think we're not. We're just no one is taking care of the Mainers, the locals here. They're just taking care of immigrants, pulling them all in and making sure that the state is overwhelmed with people that vote the way they like, which is happening a lot in this state. People are running from other states that they've ruined, so they're coming here and turning Maine blue and ruining it the way their place was, too.

So that's all I wanted to point out. Sarah, I'm curious, how close are you to Lewiston? I am 45 minutes. Were you guys placed on lockdown? I mean, were you following all the developments last night?

Yeah, I was following it because my friend's husband works at the Lewiston High School.

So she got a notice. She called me. We were talking about it. I have a very good friend that was in the Army for 23 years, and he heard about it. This guy was in the Army for 20 years.

But I'm in Portland right now driving around for work, and it's very quiet. Everyone's staying off the roads. A lot of stores are shut, which is kind of nice. But I heard now that he's actually in Saginaw County and that they're chasing him around there.

So it's getting the lockdown is spreading. And I just I don't understand how in this state when everyone is open carry if they want to, how this guy is just evading people. It's a little bit suspicious, but that's a whole nother issue.

Well, Sarah, we appreciate you calling in. And again, man, we're really praying for all of you guys there and better safe than sorry.

So, you know, follow what the local law enforcement officers are telling you. I know a lot of grocery stores, other businesses are shutting down. And again, just as a matter of precaution, because they don't know where this guy is. And clearly, he's got nothing to lose right now.

So, Sarah, thank you for that call. All right.

Got to take a break here, folks. 844-747-8868. We are monitoring the developments on Newsmax, and we'll keep you updated on any developments here out of Maine. Again, 844-747-8868. This is the Todd Starnes Show.

And welcome back to the Todd Starnes Radio Show. Good to have you with us today. It has been a busy, busy week. Coming up this weekend, heading out to Los Angeles, and very excited to be emceeing the annual Pacific Justice Institute Gala. And man, do they throw one heck of an incredible event.

If you'd like information, head over to our live show blog, and you'll be able to get all the information you want. But looking forward to seeing a lot of our listeners out in the Los Angeles area this weekend at the Pacific Justice Institute Gala. All right, let's go back to the phone lines, 844-747-8868. Let's say hello to Ron. Ron, what part of Maine are you calling from?

I live in Casco, Maine. I'm about 40 minutes away from Lewiston, actually. All right.

Well, Ron, you know, we are getting these reports.

So one guy saying that he ran home, grabbed his Glock, and locked the doors and just waiting it out, like a lot of people there in the area. It's got to be just an insane scene right now.

Well, we got a call last night at 1 o'clock in the morning from the school district saying what was going on, and then they canceled school everywhere.

Southern Maine is just closed for business. And I've got my nephew lives 10 minutes away from where it happened, and my sister lives 10 minutes away from where they found his vehicle. and everything's locked down and everybody's just holding their breath, holding and just hanging on and waiting to see if this guy gets caught and hopefully he does soon. And, you know, we're just hanging on for it. And, by the way, you were definitely right because in Maine we drive trucks.

I drive a pickup truck myself and I'm driving a tractor trailer right now. See, you know, Ron, nobody believes me when I tell them this. the only difference between you guys and all of us down in the South is you guys have accents. We don't have accents down here.

Well, that's definitely the case, too. And it's also, you know, we're very conservative up here because I'm married 17 years to the same woman and I've got six kids. Wow. That's well, you do sound Southern. Yeah.

Wow. The only thing is I don't have a drawl. If you could only deep fry your seafood, Ron, And that's my only issue with you guys. I'm not sure I get the broiling.

Well, I agree with you on that because it's kind of barbaric anyway, if you think about it. But, hey, to each their own. But I won't turn down something deep-fried, too. There you go. We like to eat.

You know, Ron, it's an interesting point. And, again, the gun issue, I have to imagine a lot of people in your state actually bear arms. And, you know, there is a lot of hunting in Maine.

So this is not something that would be unusual in your state. The only thing, I mean, if you ask anybody in Maine about this issue, most of the time, anybody that's got common sense, which probably dropped the word common nowadays, but the problem is that people don't have respect for human life. And the people that are behind the device are the people that are controlling it. Much like forks don't make you fat. Pencils don't make you fail pests.

A gun doesn't kill anybody. It's the idiot behind it that doesn't have any recognition or respect for human life. Otherwise, I mean, you look at everybody saying, you know, pro-choice, you know, is it pro-choice or is it pro-abortion? And they don't want to see convicted killers being killed, but something sweet and innocent that hasn't done anything, that's all relative.

Well, look, Ron, we've got to run for a break here, but we really appreciate you calling in. I'm glad you are safe, glad your family is safe. And certainly, folks, at this hour, this manhunt continues. I don't know where this guy is. But look, if he is a certified gun instructor, the guy's done time in the military.

One of two things has happened here. He's either hiding out somewhere in the forest or he went into the woods and shot himself. I mean, it's one of two things. But they're going to find him. Law enforcement there.

We were talking to our good buddy Ray Richardson from WLOB in Portland, Maine. That's our affiliate there. And he says law enforcement, they're the best. And they're going to get this guy one way or the other. All right, we're going to be taking your calls as well.

844-747-8868 is our telephone number. That's 844-747-8868. And, of course, we also want to hear especially today from our great listeners in the state of Maine. Many of you are under lockdown today listening to your radio for the very latest information, which is a smart thing to do. We'll be right back.

All right.

Welcome back, everybody. Good to have you with us. This is the Todd Starnes Radio Program, and we've got a lot going on this hour of the show. I know a lot of our listeners in the great state of Maine wanting to weigh in. A good chunk of the state is under lockdown right now.

We're following the breaking news developments from our friends over at Newsmax.

So hang tight if you're on the line. 844-747-8868 is our telephone number. That's 844-747-8868. Well, I want to go right now, though, to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line. Good to have with us Congressman Greg Stubbe, who represents the 17th Congressional District down in Florida.

Congressman, hope you're doing well today. Yeah, I'm doing good. Thanks for having me. Congressman, real quick, I want to get your reaction to the selection of Mike Johnson as the new Speaker of the House. Aside from being a big LSU fan, I find nothing wrong with Speaker Johnson.

Well, if you look at his voting record, especially on the core principled conservative issues, life, abortion, the border, spending, he has one of the more conservative voting records of anybody that was running for the Speaker's races.

So that's a good thing. He's very well liked within the entire conference on both the moderate side of our conference and the conservative side of our conference. I don't think, quite frankly, there's any other person that could have gotten a unanimous vote on the floor with all of the acrimony and emotionality of the last three weeks.

So I certainly support them. It's going to be a challenging as we as we walk into this appropriations process. Look in three weeks, we're looking at another CR deadline that is going to expire. We as we are speaking right now are debating things on the floor to get another appropriations bill to the Senate. But the reality of that is we've sent for three or four appropriations bills to the Senate.

Chuck Schumer isn't going to take those up because they have conservative conservative wins in them. they're going to play the shutdown game and the CR game and they'll wait to the last minute and I've been reading reports that Mitch McConnell's working with Schumer on some type of like supplemental appropriations minibus type funding thing which is basically how they funded Washington for the last you know decades that I came up here to do away with so then the question is going to be is as the new speaker how is he going to deal with that when those bills come over from the Senate. Congressman, we're also paying very close attention to what's happening in Israel right now. And of course, you spent a lot of time in the military. You were an airborne infantry officer, a member of JAG Corps.

I'm curious to get your take on what's happening now with Israel getting ready for this ground invasion. A lot of people are wondering, what's the holdup? Why is Israel waiting? Can you give us some insight into what's going on behind the scenes, the thinking here?

Well, first, we need to step back and realize that we are in the current state of affairs in the world because of the horrible foreign affairs policies of this Biden administration. They've given money to the Iranians. They've released $6 billion. We and Republicans are calling on him to refreeze those $6 billion. Even since the Obama era, the era they've been putting iran on a path to a nuclear warhead they gave in in august 320 million dollars to the palestinians well where do you think that money went uh it went to hamas uh our service members are being attacked in iraq by iranian militia shia militia militia groups and you have this presence of just tank telling the ayatollah oh well if you do that again uh there will be repercussions why aren't the repercussions right now exactly we have countries that are attacking service members We have terrorists who are killing Americans, and you have Hamas, a terrorist organization, globally recognized, by the way, that has beheaded children in Israel.

And the only thing that Joe Biden wants to do is pass a resolution that says we stand with Israel and then send money to the Palestinians that's going to further fuel this war. I 100% support what the Israelis are doing to try to push back on these terrorist attacks. they're waiting, in my opinion, just as a military guy, there's a lot of push in the world and up here in Washington with all the liberal progressives. Oh, what about all the civilian Palestinians?

So the Israelis are taking their time by dropping leaflets in the Gaza Strip, telling them, you need to get out because we are coming in to try to minimize the civilian casualties because I like right before I went on, I was watching Fox and there was a, um, there was a white house briefing from Kirby about, uh, and one of the reporters, when, you know, one of the mainstream media reporters are like, you know, what about all the civilian, uh, loss of life and the Palestinians and Hamas is saying there's been 7,000 civilians that have, that have died. Like that's their focus instead of their focus on the babies that were beheaded by a terrorist regime and all of the other things and atrocities and the Israelis, Israelis, that died at the hands of terrorists. But I think the Israelis are taking their time to try to ensure that at this point, if there are people still in the area that they've told they're coming into, those are not friendly people. Hamas is known and terrorists are known to use civilians as shields. They're probably going to continue to do that.

I'm sure there's also a lot of negotiation going on with all of the hostages that have been taken because obviously once you start moving in, those hostages, you risk the lives of those hostages. I've called on from the very beginning for us to send in our special forces guys and our Navy SEALs in to get the American hostages and just get them out of there. But of course, this administration isn't doing that. It's feckless. And I'm with you.

When the numbers came out, and what is it, 26, I believe, American soldiers that have been injured? I mean, what are we doing about that? I'm with you. The The first soldier that gets attacked or injured, that's when you respond and you lay down the law. But the administration is not doing that.

And I think it puts us in grave danger with these people.

Well, and why do you think they continue to attack us? They continue to attack us because we don't respond. If the moment that a single American soldier was injured by an Iranian proxy drone and you respond with strength and you strike the base that that came from, and you start being proactive and aggressive in the defense of the American soldier, you'd have a very different response. They wouldn't do that. They didn't do it when Trump was president, even in Afghanistan.

The Taliban wouldn't attack our troops because Trump told them, if you do it, I'm going to take you out. Strength breeds peace, and we don't have that in this administration. You don't have any repercussions for actions. That's why I'm actually very supportive of what Israel's doing, because it's making Hamas double think of the things that they're doing because they're responding with strength and they're responding in the defense of their people, and that's exactly what we should be doing. Congressman, are we prepared?

I mean, if we end up in a shooting war with the Iranians, are we prepared to fight that fight? Is the military ready? That's a great question for our Defense Department, who's busy sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the Ukrainians and sending hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinians that's been used for terrorist activity. I'm not on armed services. I'm not privy to the intel and the placement of assets.

We do have, just in general reporting, if you watch the news, there's a couple of destroyers and carriers now, two carriers off the coast in the Middle East or off the Mediterranean near Israel. We've got a destroyer in a striking position for these rockets that are coming from the Houthis in Yemen that they're trying to shoot at the Israelis. I think we have assets there. I certainly feel like we can respond to these type of attacks very succinctly. And I think if we do, the Iranians and these other terrorist organizations will back off.

All right.

Well, let's hope that's the case. Congressman, we're going to leave it there. Good intel. And we really appreciate the great work you're doing up on Capitol Hill. Yeah, thanks so much for having me on.

All right.

There you go, folks. Congressman Greg Stubbe, one of the good guys up in the Congress.

So we'll keep you updated. Look, you had John Kirby just a couple of weeks ago, John Kirby announcing from the White House that we were actually dealing with an ammo shortage, an ammo shortage. That's something you don't want to let the enemies know about. But here we are. All right.

Our telephone number is 844-747-8868. Again, going back to our phone lines here. Polly is listening to us in Cape Elizabeth, Maine on WLOB. Hi, Polly. What's going on?

What can you tell us? Well, as I said to the gentleman I spoke with, I only want to help. And I think it's very important to be aware that unlike what Camilla Harris said about this being a bad situation and gun control should be encouraged, I would much rather be in Maine with a gun murdering person at large than I would be in California. with this kind of person at large. The state is full of respectful gun owners, and the state, I know the people of Maine are watching for this fellow, and I am thinking to myself, possibly the whole tragedy could have been worse if there weren't.

Licensed to carry people out there, perhaps he saw some of them. Why did he only kill a few people at each place instead of staying? I'm thinking that there were some people that probably scared him off.

So I just wanted to say something positive about people who respect these weapons and use them to hunt, to duck hunt, other kinds of hunting. It's a different kind of respect for gun ownership here. and it's a lot safer. Yeah, Polly, I know I understand exactly what you're saying. And again, this goes back to the heart of the Second Amendment.

And the reason that we are allowed to own guns and the reason we are allowed to have these weapons in our homes is for protection, among other things, certainly for hunting and things of that nature. But ultimately, it's a matter of protection and being able to keep your family safe in the event some lunatic goes on some sort of a shooting spree or stabbing spree or whatnot.

So the good people of Maine are illustrating that this is what happens when you have gun laws on the books. You have a good number of law-abiding gun owners that are in their homes right now. Maybe they're on the job site, And they've got that weapon because they're allowed to carry that weapon and they're using that weapon to protect themselves and their families from this mentally insane nut job that is currently, Lord knows where, in the state of Maine.

So, Polly, appreciate that call and thank you for listening to us, folks. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, more of your calls and reaction from across America, 844-747-8868. That is our telephone number, 844-747-8868. By the way, Pentagon briefing is underway right now live on Newsmax.

We're going to be monitoring that for information as well. We'll be right back. All right, welcome back to the Todd Starnes Radio Show. Hope everybody's doing great out there across America. Let's go to the phone lines, 844-747-8868.

And I want to go to Portland, Maine. Dave is listening to us on WLOB. And, Dave, I understand you have some info on this shooting, this horrible shooting that happened last night in Lewiston. What's going on? Well, yeah, terrible, as you know.

The other callers calling in have pretty much laid it out. I want to start out by saying I really enjoy your show. I drive truck around here in the state of Maine. There's a bunch of good people. And we are all armed and trying to take care of business and go about our business.

We didn't ask for this, but it came to us. Last night, I was in bed when this started taking place. And my daughter, I still have one at home, finishing up college. My daughter came to me and told me that she had two friends of a good friend of hers that were missing. And that still appears to be the case at this time.

And I can't confirm anything yet, but, you know, that may not be that may not vote out to be very well for her friend.

Now, Dave, I understand. Dave, I understand Lewiston is actually a college town. You have, what, Bates College there, so a lot of college-age young people believe to be at the bar and grill and that bowling alley. Yes, that's true.

So it is a big college town, and my daughter goes to USM, which is a little further south, southern Maine. But you're saying she hasn't heard? She hasn't been able to get in touch with her friends who were there in Lewiston? Exactly, exactly. And the last conversation I had with her was that was the fear of her and a couple of her other friends.

And I don't want to, you know, be a rumor pusher until I really know, but that's the information I have right now. And when I first got word of this last night, Todd, the first thing I could think of is, you know, here we go. This is a sleeper cell, you know, and I wanted to know if this was going on in other states around us. And I guess I would just like to put the word out there that if you are a sleeper cell and you plan on coming to Maine and doing this, I don't think it's a very smart or wise thing to do. Dave, I'm with you.

I'm with you a thousand percent on that. And that was, if you were listening a couple of weeks ago, that's been my greatest concern is the sleeper cells targeting smaller towns and communities, not the big cities. And I'm with Dave. I thought the same thing you did when we got word last night about that shooting. Dave, we're going to leave it there.

God bless you, and we're going to be thinking about your daughter and her friends, and let's pray for a positive outcome there. Let's head over to Statesville, North Carolina. Chris on the line. Hi, Chris. What's going on?

Hey, Todd. I really do appreciate your show and what you're doing for the people. Thank you. I would just like to call about, and I've not heard anybody thanking Matt Gaetz or the other seven of the men and women. This happened did the right thing, and look what the outcome was, Todd.

And I think it's a really big deal. I know we're probably not going to hear it because nobody likes Matt Gaetz, but I appreciate what those folks done because that's what we wanted them to do. We never wanted McCarthy. yeah i think you're going to be hard pressed to find anybody uh chris i think you're going to be hard pressed to find anybody on capitol hill wanting to give matt gates credit for anything these days yes sir i know that but i but i appreciate the fact that he put himself out there in the others to stand up for what we wanted and i think i think the lord intervened here but somebody you got to do something you can't just put prayers you got to do something you got to have action and i appreciate what they did that's all i wanted to say all right chris well God bless you, and thanks for listening to us there in North Carolina. Let's go to Brazledon, Georgia.

Paul is listening to us on our great affiliate WDUN. Hey, Paul, what's going on? Hey, I've been listening to the program, and when he talks about putting feet to the prayers, I've been sitting in on this Celebrate Recovery thing, and I was just listening to some of the things that some of the people go through. It's amazing. I mean, it's like it's amazing they live through it.

And, you know, they come to the church to actually do that. But if the people would go out and just think about these psychological problems that these people have all around us, I mean, it's all around us. It's prevalent.

So many people. It is. It's just got so many problems. If they just rise up the church and go out and just go out to them, because a lot of them's not going to come in. They need somebody to go to them.

It might prevent a lot of this bloodshed and everything.

Well, Paul, I think there's a lot to what you said there and a lot to unpack. And no doubt the country is in a bad spot right now. I mean, a major bad spot. And one of the reasons that I believe is that we've been fighting a spiritual battle when, in fact, people in the media and people on Capitol Hill and a lot of people in our communities think this is a political battle.

So until we understand that we're fighting a much greater issue here, I'm not sure we're going to be able to get our act together. But I am hopeful. I am certainly hopeful. Paul, we've got a skedaddle. We are coming up on a break.

And folks, again, it has been a wild show. We're going to keep you updated on all the big issues of the day over at ToddStarns.com. any breaking news happens, just like last night, we had wall-to-wall coverage on toddstarns.com.

So bookmark our page. Go over there and check out all of our great free resources. The website's free. The podcast is free. Our newsletter is free.

We have great sponsors that pay our bills so that we can provide these to you free of charge. All right, folks, we've got to scoot out of here. Pray for the good people of Lewiston, Maine. We've got their back. Pray for the people of Israel, and you be good, America.