The Republicans Need to Let the Government Shut Down

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I love this American ride. Todd Starks. All right. I don't know who needs to hear this, but somebody needs to remind the mainstream media, the drive by media, that Joe Biden is still president of these great United States.

Somebody needs to let them know, because right now, everyone is under this belief that Donald Trump is actually the president right now, and that Donald Trump is responsible for what's happening in Congress right now, and that is absolutely simply not true.

So somebody needs to go and stick some extra whatever it is that they've been lacing his porridge with, and they need to double or triple the dose and get Joe Biden up and let him figure all of this nonsense out. Because President Trump doesn't take the oath of office until January the 20th. Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Todd Stearns Radio Program. Very happy to have you with us today.

By the way, it is Open Line Friday. We are planning to do an entire hour of Christmas trivia. We're going to have a lot of fun today. Also, we're going to be talking with Congressman Eric Burleson, one of the Republicans who voted no on the spending bill yesterday.

Now, President Trump has vowed to primary any Republican who voted against this spending bill yesterday. And we know that 38 Republicans voted no. I have some thoughts about this. It is a great big mess right now. And I don't believe it's Donald Trump's fault.

I really don't. I place all of the blame on Republican leadership in the House and the Senate.

Now, I'm getting some intel from Capitol Hill that this has been in the works for months, that Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, you had Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, and all four of them worked together to bring us to this point where there would be no other choice but to push through some sort of a massive spending bill or this continuing resolution. And this was all coordinated. It was premeditated. And there's really nothing anybody can do about it. I don't think they anticipated Elon Musk stepping in and throwing the grenade.

And by the way, my understanding is that Trump is not bothered. You know, everybody's trying to pit, the media is trying to pit Trump against Elon Musk because they want Elon Musk gone. And they feel like if they can actually, you know, advance this narrative that Elon Musk is really running the country, it's going to irritate Trump, and Trump is going to suffer the relationship.

Now, right now, that's not working. And I don't think it will work. But I want to explain to you what this slimmed down CR would do. And certainly, kudos to whoever did this, but they dropped it from 1,500 pages all the way down to, I think, 115 pages. That's a good step in the right direction.

The challenge is, while the page count was cut down, the spending was not. And as it stood, the slimmed down CR from yesterday, last night, would have added $5 trillion to the debt and would have also increased the debt ceiling.

So there would not be a debt ceiling limit for at least two years, meaning that $5 trillion would probably turn into $10 or $15 trillion. But the Republican leadership was explaining to the American people here is that, well, we have to spend $5 trillion to reduce government spending.

Well, wait a second. If you're spending $5 trillion, how are we saving money here? and by the way let's just say let's just say whatever the whatever our budget is right now let's say it's 35 trillion i'm just making a number up here let's say it's 35 trillion and the doge committee is supposed to go and eliminate two trillion dollars in spending that completely eliminates any good that the doge committee is going to do here so you have a lot of fiscal conservatives out there. And these people understand that the Republican Party is just, it's nothing. It's absolutely nothing right now.

They don't stand for anything. As a matter of fact, on the culture war stuff, because of the party platform fights, you know, they've taken the life issue away. They've taken the marriage issue away. There's really no more culture war aside from the transgender, you know, story issue, but that will eventually go away. The only thing we had left going for us was the fact that we were trying to be fiscally conservative, but the reality is we're really not.

Now, I want to read something from MTG because people are just enraged right now at people like Chip Roy, and I get it. Chip Roy can be a jerk.

Okay, but the guy is holding on to his principles here, and so are 38 other people. Our good buddy Tim Burchett was one of the no votes, also Andy Ogles, and these are guys that were elected, and they're trying to deliver on a promise they made to their constituency that they were not going to spend more of their tax money. And I think Marjorie Taylor Greene did a pretty good job explaining the problem, but it's a problem. And here's what she wrote. I am one of the most conservative members of Congress, and last night I voted for a bill that ordinarily I would never vote for.

Period. I want to stop there. She goes on to say other stuff, but I want to stop right there. If that's the case, Congresswoman Taylor Greene, then why did you vote for it? Why did you do it?

So here we go. She's going to explain why she did it.

However, the man that took a bullet to the face and won the presidential election with 312 electoral college votes and the most votes of any Republican presidential candidate in history asked me to vote for it.

So I did gladly.

So what she is saying is that she she has her principles and she set those principles aside to do what President Trump commanded her to do. That's what she said. I mean, she's writing this, and I'm just interpreting this for you. MTG goes on. After Johnson completely failed us by not including us in the planning of this year's, of this year-end's government funding, and then dumped a 1,500-page cromnibus on us Tuesday night with a little time to read it and got caught in his, oh, this is a run-on sentence, in his scheme with Schumer, McConnell, and Hakeem by all the great American people here on X, along with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramoswamy.

It was President Trump's team, our incoming VP, J.D. Vance, and President Trump himself that dove in in the midnight hour and came up with a CR that solves the debt ceiling problem for President Trump and, even more importantly, helps hurricane victims, farmers, and will keep the government open. They shouldn't have had to do it, but they did. And, by the way, and she's right. Trump, this is not his fight.

He should not have to step in. and it angers me that we see Mike Johnson tagging on with Donald Trump everywhere when Mike Johnson is not an America first guy. Mike, I keep calling him Mike Pence. Mike Johnson is, they're one of the same. One's just got snowy white hair and the other doesn't yet.

I'm just telling you, there's really very little daylight between the two.

So again, this is not Trump's fight. This is Mike Johnson, and this is going to continue. And here's the warning. The Republicans are going to lose the majority in the midterm elections because they don't have strong leadership. They almost lost at this point.

Could you imagine? This is how insane the election was. Donald Trump wins in a landslide with the mandate, and the House Republicans have a one-seat majority. And that's because of Mike Johnson and his lack of leadership.

So here we are. And at this point, it really doesn't matter because the Democrats said no. But here's what I want you to do. I want you to understand this. You're going to hear a lot of people blaming Republicans for the government shutting down tonight at midnight.

It's not their fault. It is not their fault. And we understand that Mike Johnson is coming up with plan C. Man, he's going to have white hair by the end of the day. I mean, he is on the hot seat here because he did this.

He's responsible for this. And by the way, I know yesterday I told you that Mike Johnson's staff was to blame for all of this. But the reality is, if you're sitting down with Mitch McConnell, Senator Turtle, and you're hashing out something in secret, then that's on you.

So anyway, according to Fox, they're talking to their people up on Capitol Hill. And the Plan C would include a short-term extension of this year's federal funding levels, which, by the way, are the same.

Well, it's not the same. It's more. These are the funding levels that were put in place by Nancy Pelosi.

So we have not only reduced spending, we have grown. We're spending more. Jeez, folks, I'm telling you, if these guys can't balance a budget, what is the point of all of this? What is the point?

so anyway the new deal would include a short-term extension of this year's federal funding levels which are really nancy pelosi's funding levels disaster aid funding and ag support for farmers but it would be under three separate bills it would also involve an agreement to act on the debt limit next year as part of the republicans massive conservative policy overhaul via a process called reconciliation.

So there you have it, folks. Again, this is not Donald Trump's fault. Donald Trump is trying to fix a mess that he did not create. And I'm telling you right here and right now, unless we get rid of Mike Johnson, we're not going to be able to move anything through Congress. I'm just telling you.

And by the way, John Thune, John Thune, better pay attention. He's just a younger, more literate version of Mitch McConnell. All right, we got to take a break here again open line friday 901-260-5926 that's 901-260-5926 this is the todd stern show by pillow is excited to announce their christmas extravaganza is finally here get this season's flannel sheets for as low as 59.98 they won't last long so get them while you can their famous my slippers those haven't been on sale for over a year normally 119 dollars but for a limited time, only $59.98. And their six-piece towel sets are back in stock with extremely limited quantities, only $29.98. With hundreds of MyPillow products, there's something for everyone on your Christmas list.

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They're extending their 60-day money-back guarantee until March 1st, 2025. Plus, all orders, $75 or more, ship absolutely free. All right, you folks in Georgia, Andrew Clyde, he voted. He was one of the 38. And again, these are all rock solid House Freedom Caucus conservatives.

They're all fiscal conservatives and they are staunchly pro-Trump, except for Chip Roy, who was a big Ron DeSantis guy. But again, I don't even think that Chip Roy is trying to sabotage Donald Trump here. I think Chip Roy is trying to save President Trump from these deep swamp state critters. That's what I think is going on here. this is Congressman Chip Roy last night on Capitol Hill and he's explaining what that slimmed down spending bill was going to do take a listen I was just texting with my son back home in Austin who I haven't seen in quite a long time because I'm here trying to fight for him when I got through cancer about 12 years ago I made my promise to my kids that I would do everything I can to save this country and what we're doing right now is to continue to double down on the things that are destroying the republic.

We are going to increase the debt ceiling, not just $4 trillion. That's false. We have spent $4.7 trillion in additional debt in the last 19 months. We're going to increase the debt by $5 trillion. That's what's going to happen right here by Republicans.

Increasing the debt, $5 trillion. And what are you doing in the same bill? 110 billion dollars unpaid for because you never have any ounce of self-respect to go out and campaign saying you're going to balance the budget and then you come in here and pass 110 billion dollars unpaid for on top of the 200 billion dollars you did for wep you guys won't agree with that but the fact of the matter is 330 billion dollars congratulations you've added to to debt since you were given the majority again on november 5th it's embarrassing well it is embarrassing so my question is and again you've got america first world and they're enraged that these 38 republicans did not vote for this should these individuals lose their seats in congress as a result of that 901-260-5926 that's 901-260-5926 and i you gotta love scott jennings over at cnn because he laid it all out there reminding people once again that donald trump is is not the president this is on joe biden and where is he in all of this cut for scott jennings you hear the congresswoman you know she's putting the blame for this squarely on elon musk first and foremost and Trump after that. And that would be the timeline of how this played out. What do you say to her?

Well, she let the mask slip right at the end. She said, who's the president right now? I mean, who's the president-elect? But she asked the right question first. Who is the president right now?

Joe Biden, who we rarely hear from in the Wall Street Journal reported today, has been diminished for the last four years. And we've had unelected people running around, running the federal government, apparently.

So if that is what they're worried about, if they're worried about people who aren't Donald Trump, running the government or having influence. I wonder where they've been the last four years.

Now, this doesn't excuse anybody's behavior on Capitol Hill tonight, but I think it's pretty rich for Democrats to be worried about people who aren't Donald Trump having influence when the current president, a Democrat, is AWOL and apparently not able to execute the duties of the office. Yeah, I mean, it's a great point he raises. And the Wall Street Journal story, by the way, this is an interesting development. Last night, this did not get a lot of attention in the media. But Kamala Harris was on her way back to California to spend the holiday, whatever the holiday they celebrate, out in California.

She was literally at the airport when all of a sudden Joe Biden, who was supposed to be in Delaware, came back to the White House. And now Kamala Harris came back to the White House. This all happened late last night. There's a lot of speculation as to what's going on here. is it possible that we could be on the verge of a change in leadership in the White House we don't know but I can tell you that it's got I had a lot of folks talking yesterday on and late last night on the social medias let's go to Arlene in Georgia WDUN hi Arlene what's on your mind Hi, Todd.

What's on my mind is I don't like President Trump because it's saying to primary the congressman that voted no, because my congressman is. Andrew Clyde, and he's one of the best. And that's very upsetting that Trump would say something like, you know, get somebody else in there besides Andrew Clyde. And here's the question that, and Marjorie Taylor Greene maybe inadvertently raised the issue, is that because she's saying that, you know what, I hold firm to these beliefs, but if President tells me to violate my beliefs, I'm going to do it. Is that the right call for a person who is serving in Congress?

No, it's not. You go by your belief and your value. you stick to them and i think the question here and it's a broader question and we're going to have to come to terms with this if you find yourself one day in disagreement with president trump does that make you a bad person you know and again it's one thing to say okay um yeah i disagree with you mr president um but i'm still supporting you and and instead i mean it was pretty flat out there i mean it was a very direct threat there will be a price to pay if you stand against me now that's politics that happens all the time on the left and the right no doubt about it but i really get concerned when lawmakers announce publicly they're violating their deeply held beliefs simply because someone told them to exactly i do too all right arlene thank you for that 901-260-5926 is our number that's 901-260-5926 gotta take a break here folks by the way toddstearns.com we've got all sorts of great news and content for you there hope you go and check it out we'll be right back to america our daughter jesse loves playing detective a clue but since we discovered she has sensitive skin we've been playing detective too we thought the problem was our puppy but it was actually our old detergent uh-huh so we switched to tide free and gentle tide cleans better than the leading competitive free detergent and it doesn't leave behind irritating residues plus tide free and gentle has no dyes or perfumes so it's gentle on her skin case closed if it's got to be clean it's got to be tide free and gentle i love manheim steamroller now keep it going dylan we're just gonna blow out the rest of the show It's a Mannheim steamroller hour. You know, it's interesting. Al Rushmore, I had never heard of these guys until our good buddy and our good late friend Rush Limbaugh introduced him to us on his national radio show.

They became a mainstay of the Christmas season.

So there you go. All right. By the way, coming up on Christmas Day, a Todd Stearns radio show special. It is a three-hour Christmas show, and it's going to be a lot of fun. We have some great guests, a lot of laughter, a lot of trivia, and I hope you and your family will join us.

And I think you're going to be hearing it. A lot of stations are going to carry it on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day. All right, let's go to the phone lines here, 901-260-5926. Let's say hello to Sonny in Ocala, Florida, W-O-C-A, our great station down there. Hi, Sonny.

What's going on? All right. Hi, Todd. First, Merry Christmas to you and your staff and to everybody. Thank you.

Number one, why are we so worried about spending? The person in the White House just allocated another bunch of billions to the student loan relief after the Supreme Court told them not to. It's illegal. But yet, you know, we're going to pass another spending bill, which is the fourth one this year, to keep the government open. I think we should let the government close until these people wake up and know what to do with our money besides throwing it away at student loans, illegal aliens and and the study of uh tree frogs or something in venezuela who cares sonny that's all they could do close it down sonny this is the headline from abc news biden announces 4.2 billion billion dollars in student loan relief for 55 000 borrowers Now, Sonny, I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, we learned a very important lesson as kids growing up, is that if you incur a debt, it is your responsibility to pay it off nobody else's.

You sign your name on the dotted line. You're the person responsible for paying that money back. Oh, exactly. And I didn't come from a wealthy household. I wound up being in the Navy at 17.

and if you borrowed money, you borrowed $5, you paid back $7. And if you didn't pay back $7, you could wind up swimming with the fish. Oh, geez, you don't want to swim with the fishes. The only thing I could tell you is this is not right, and I don't care whether they're demo rats or repubble rats. They all stink.

If they can't, let the government close down, period. and let them suck their thumbs for a while.

Sonny, I like this idea, and it's a great point that Sonny raises. And Sonny, God bless you, and Merry Christmas. And Sonny, thank you also for your service to our country. President Biden announcing this $4.2 billion in student loan relief. But when you actually look at the big picture over the past four years, The Biden administration, they have forgiven the loans of nearly 5 million American students, $180 billion.

So to Sonny's point, why in the world would we want to give these people any more of our dollars to send to the Ukraine or these deadbeats? And hear me on this. If you are a person who took out a loan and you refuse to pay that money back, and a lot of these people who are taking out the loans are people who can afford to pay them back. You're nothing more than a deadbeat and a crook because that's stealing money. That's all that is.

It's stealing money. And you can say, but Todd, no, there's no buts about it. You took out the loan, you're responsible for it. And you can work out some sort of a payment program or whatever, but you are responsible for that. Why should I have to pay for all that?

By the way, why should all of these, and there are a lot of kids now that are, they've seen what the college education system is really all about. And they're saying, you know what, I don't want to get saddled with all that debt. I'd rather go and get a degree from a community college or go to a trade school or just jump right into the workforce. Why would I want to do that?

So now those people who made smart decisions, they're going to have to pay for somebody else's stupidity. Do you think that's right, ladies and gentlemen? 901-260-5926 that's 901-260-5926 i'm just telling you let's go to the phone lines little big mouth in georgia wdun hi little big mouth what's on your mind well merry christmas kind sir and despite the uh kerfuffle shall we call it what you're talking about now, may I offer the following about the election? You may indeed. On the 5th of November, with the roar of a mouse, the people took back the Senate and held on to the House.

But the biggest news of all was what news accounts wrote. Trump beat Harris as well in the popular vote. Despite a relentless negative media barrage and Joe Biden calling Trump supporters garbage, plus eight years of lawfare and attempts to kill him, the doors to the White House will soon let him in. His foes promised to leave the country and spread fear of the end of democracy. The establishment put out similar cries, but millions of Americans rejected these lies.

And on the 6th of November, real joy filled the air while the left and big media pulled out their hair. The election was over. The right side has won. Time to revive faith freedom and also have fund. Enough of us fasted.

Enough of us prayed.

So God's judgment upon us has now been delayed. We humbly thank him for this providential win. But real work confronts us.

So let us begin. And on January the 20th, pray we witness this sight, Joe Bama and Jill skulking into the night. And as America's friend, Todd Starnes likes to say, you have to join me here, Todd. Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you. Oh, wow.

Wow.

Well done. And you are our poet laureate here on the Todd Starnes radio program. little big mouth thank you kind sir oh well thank you and and merry christmas to you as well appreciate that wow how about that quite the wordsmith i thought i was going to throw in a jesus there's a lot of stuff that rhymes with jesus poo poo which is what biden has done to all of us by the way um can we talk about the nativity for just a moment we have a pretty disturbing story up on our website, toddstearns.com. This is from Walter Reed Military Medical Center. And if you walk into the lobby of this hospital, where so many members of our military, our veterans are treated every single day, they're cared for every single day.

There's a beautiful, massive nativity scene, and it's all in like porcelain white, just beautiful. display there. Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus, they had the camels. And anyway, the baby Jesus has now been booted from Walter Reed Medical Center. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a complaint after, they're saying 41 patients and staff complained about it, and they said they got triggered by the presence of the baby Jesus.

One anonymous critic wrote this in a letter to the MRFF. I was astonished and deeply disturbed by this display and its implied endorsement of the Christian faith at a Christian or at a United States government facility This apparent violation of the Establishment Clause is particularly egregious during this time of rising Christian nationalism So the founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation he a guy named Mikey Weinstein This guy is just an evil human being. There's really no other way to say it, politely.

So anyway, he fired off a letter. It was a pretty nasty, threatening letter. And he said that the nativity scene is causing an impact to good order, morale, discipline, unit cohesion, and mission accomplishment. What are they saying? Are they saying the veterans are not getting medical treatment because somebody got triggered by the Christ child?

So anyway, the director of the hospital replied and said, please forgive us. We have removed the nativity scene. And they literally loaded up these, and these are pretty large-sized pieces. They loaded them all up on a cart and shoved them into the back of the chapel at the hospital. And that's where they apparently still are.

I mean, I guess we should be grateful they didn't just throw the baby Jesus in a dumpster. But this is why Donald Trump won in November, because of stuff like this. and it's really sad but mikey weinstein has a direct line of communication to the pentagon and there is there is a fierce war being waged against christians who serve in our military and i know this guy says well um it's christians well we have lots of christians who um who support us no you don't those people aren't christians if you want to throw the baby Jesus in a garbage dumpster, you're not a Christian. You're a godless heathen. And so anyway, there is some good news that very soon Pete Hexeth is going to be the new defense secretary.

And we can only hope that this guy goes and tells Mr. Weinstein and his godless band of heathen thugs to pound sand. But someday, very soon, folks, all of these anonymous Christ-hating bigots, they're going to be calling up complaining and nobody's going to be picking up the phone. And it's time, it's time that we start standing up to these bigots. Did you ever imagine a time where you would have a United States military installation, be it a base or a hospital that said, Jesus is not welcome here.

This is America under Joe Biden and the Democrats rule. All right, we got to take a break here 901-260-5926 again our telephone number 901-260-5926 this is the Todd Stern Show Balance of Nature's fruits and veggies supplements changing the world one life at a time I love the product because I'm already here at almost 80 knocking on my door when I started taking Balance of Nature I'm telling you it wasn't a month after that maybe two months after that I started really feeling the difference. I love Balance of Nature. I will take it to the day I die. It's wonderful.

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Go to balanceofnature.com and get this special offer by using discount code balance. All right, folks, coming up at the next hour, as we await the House Republicans trying to figure I want to do, we will be doing some trivia, a full hour, a fun hour of trivia. Then a little bit later on, Congressman Eric Burleson will join us, one of the Republicans who voted no on that spending bill last night. Let's go to the phone lines. Shannon in Cordova, Tennessee, wants to weigh in on the removal of the nativity.

Hi, Shannon. What's on your mind? Hi, I have just a quick question for you. I'm just wondering at what point in time did we become a country where we're not allowed to practice our own religion? I mean, I'm not understanding.

Why are these people so offended by a theme? I mean, it's been around for centuries, correct? Yeah, absolutely, yeah. And I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm Jewish.

My husband's Catholic. But we celebrate both, not offended by anything like that. Yeah, look, all of this started really back in the, and it was probably back officially in the 1940s and 50s when we had the rise of the communist movement here in America. And one of the things that's very important about communism is that it really is a political ideology that's rooted in atheism. this idea that man is responsible and not God.

And so there's this really – the communist fight is really a religious fight at its core, which if you've read Ronald Reagan's speeches or William F. Buckley Jr., they were pretty clear that this is a fight against good versus evil.

So I think ultimately that's what this is really all about. and honestly, Shannon, they just want to destroy, they want to remove Christianity from every vestige of the public square. This is crazy. Just insane to me. I mean, why did this hospital kowtow to them?

I don't understand that either. Why didn't they just stand up and say, you know what, we're not going to remove it. If you don't like it, then please check yourself out and go check yourself back into a different hospital. I'm with you. I just can't imagine somebody coming into the hospital and they've got a severed arm and they're like, oh, my God, I've lost my arm, but there's the baby Jesus.

I got to go somewhere else. No, honestly, I don't believe a single person complained. I really don't, Shannon. I think it's all made up. i think it's crazy yes insane and i mean take for instance madison square garden the whole thing where they were saying the communist party hitler and all this stuff if it was such an offensive venue why didn't they shut it down all those years ago yes shannon yes look it is it's a fair question you raise.

But this is really a war on America and who we are. And if they are successful in neutralizing the churches in America, we've got big problems on our hands.

So that's why we've got to stand up and we have to confront this. We can do it in a winsome way. But, you know, say, you know, somebody needs to go and say, all right, you touched the baby Jesus, I'm going to jingle somebody's bells. I mean, that's really what you got to do there, Shannon, Merry Christmas to you, and thank you for calling in. We appreciate all of our listeners in the Memphis area.

All right, coming up, again, we're going to have a fun hour of trivia. Also, a little bit later on, Eric Burleson is going to drop by, and he is one of the Republicans who voted against that massive spending bill. It's just absolutely offensive what they tried to do yesterday. Will the government shut down and should the government shut down? We're going to be taking your calls and questions about that.

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So these guys know what they're talking about, and they're not going to apply the heavy pressure. They just want you to read about it and see if this is something that you might be interested in. Again, text the word GOLDEN, G-O-L-D-E-N, to 24999. All right, folks, hang tight. Hour two of the big show coming up, Open Line Friday.

ToddStarns.com is the website. Go read that crazy story about what happened at Walter Reed Medical Center. It's just, it's mind-boggling. Mind-boggling. All right, hang tight, everybody.

We'll be right back. review almost over. You don't run a daycare, you run a business.

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That's 833-880-0600 for a free consultation. Redballoon.org. Live from the Liberty University studio in Memphis, Tennessee, it's common sense conservative commentary from Todd Starr. That's us, that's right. I love this American ride.

And hello, America. Welcome to the Todd Starr's radio show. Trust you're doing well. Happy Friday to you. And we are keeping a very close eye on what's happening in Washington, D.C.

So far, no agreements have been reached. Coming up in the next hour, we're going to be checking in with Congressman Eric Burleson from Missouri, one of the Republicans who voted no on that massive spending bill.

So we're going to keep you updated on that.

Well, one of my favorite parts of the holiday season, it's trivia. And I love Christmas trivia, love Christmas music, love Christmas movies. and we're going to have a lot of fun this hour of the show. I want to welcome in our good buddy, Ben Dieter. Ben is back with us for this hour and also Aiden Pettit, who is really one of the top actors here in the Memphis area.

Oh, wow. That's generous. And also, we're going to have a lot of fun with our trivia. Dieter, this is a big deal. We have some great trivia questions.

This is where you are Santa Claus on the radio. We are. We love. This is the one time when we love to give things away. You don't have.

Well, you do have. You don't love giving things away in the summer. What is wrong with you? We're really not giving it away. People are earning a prize by getting the questions right.

And so, guys, your job here is also going to be to help out these folks who are calling in because they're going to have to answer two questions to get a prize. Oh, too. Oh, wow. This is Christmas. We're talking about the big leagues here.

We have a lot on the line. It's gift-giving season. And let me give a shout-out to the Todd Starnes Christmas crew. Our little elves. That has put together the best trivia questions in the country.

It's not easy. It's not a simple Google chat. We did research for these. Aiden, Ben really does a deep dive into this.

So it's like I showed up one day. He's dressed as an elf churning out the Christmas questions. And I'm drinking eggnog and it is spiked. Oh, geez.

Okay. I knew we should have had a breathalyzer in the... We gave this guy a microphone. It's Christmas. What can I say?

Two Baptists and Ben. Yeah. Maybe that's what we named this segment. Maybe that's what we need to do. Two Baptists and Ben.

But Cassie, Chief Elf Cassie and Dylan, well done, everybody, on the trivia questions. And we're going to throw the first one out here. What is the name of the snowman who comes to life in the classic Christmas song? There is a snowman who comes to life in a classic Christmas song. If you know the answer, give us a call, 901-260-5926.

That's 901-260-5926, and that will get the conversation going. Guys, have you finished your – you got everything ready for Christmas? I mean, your Christmas shopping is all done? or are you waiting until the last minute? I wish I could say yes.

There's a couple more things I have to get. I would say I'm probably 80, 90% done. There's a couple more things I gotta put under the tree, but for the most part, I'm done. I haven't started. Oh, wow.

I start after Christmas. Oh. Yeah. You just wrap up a bunch of IOUs? I tell them that I ordered it online and it's coming.

It's not coming at all yet because I want to get the after Christmas holiday deal. Oh. So I tell them it's coming. That's clever. I actually wrap up the product, put in an empty box.

So they're excited. And then I get the after Christmas deal. You know what I do? This is terrible. It's cash.

I just give cash, you know, but that's the most versatile. I don't think anyone's ever going to be disappointed with, oh, no, you gave me money. You know, you get a hundred bucks, you get a hundred bucks.

So you go. I mean, that's the way to do it, right? Are we talking just like $100? Is it like physical cash or gift cards?

So last year, I think everybody got more because I did the gift cards. I went over to the Hallmark store. And by the way, they don't play the Hallmark movies in the Hallmark store. Oh, interesting. What do they play?

Just Christmas movies. It was kind of a letdown, actually. But anyway, they had all these gift cards. I go, wait a second. I'm going to just do the gift cards.

And so I just pretty much cleaned them out of gift cards. And that's how I do it. All right. Wow.

We've already got a full line, full rack of calls here. Let's go to Tracy in North Carolina. Tracy, Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. All right.

Now, Tracy, we're going to help you win a prize here. You've got to answer two questions, though, all right?

So you've got to work with us. But the good news is the guys are going to be the ones who ultimately win you a prize.

So first of all, we need to know the first question here. What is the name of the snowman who comes to life in a classic Christmas song? Yeah. Wow.

Not only did you get it right, you do have a lovely singing voice.

Well done. Well done, you Tracy. Wow.

All right. So we've got one down, and now we've got to see if we can't win you that prize. And this is going to be... No, what are you doing here? Ada's trying to look at the questions.

Oh, am I supposed to help answer? Oh, yeah. You guys are playing trivia. Oh. I was wondering.

I was like, I don't have a copy of the sheet this time. That makes sense. I get it.

Well, I didn't see anything.

Okay. Here we go, gentlemen. And Tracy, you just hang tight, and you're going to have to agree or disagree with these guys. Oh, no, the pressure's on us? What kind of animal pulls the Grinch's sleigh?

What kind of an animal pulls the Grinch's sleigh? It's the dog with the antlers strapped around its head, right? Is a dog, a goat, a reindeer, or a horse? A dog. It's a dog.

It's got to be a dog. Is it named Max? I don't know. I think it's dog.

So are we united in our... I'm saying dog. Can I ask Tracy real quick? Tracy, do you know what animal pulled the Grinch's sleigh? Definitely a dog with fake reindeer antlers.

There it is. Hi. Yeah, that's right. He's all loose.

Okay, yeah. Wow.

Congratulations, Tracy. You are correct. Guys, you are correct as well.

Well done. Thank you. So 1-0. All right. Very nice.

Tracy, congratulations. Elf Cassie is going to put you on hold, and we'll get your information there. What are you laughing at? That doesn't sound Christmas at all. It sounds like something from Lord of the Rings.

Elf Cassie. Elf and Cassie. We actually have a family member, and this is kind of funny. We have a family member who's really into the Lord of the Rings kind of stuff. It's your cousin, Dylan.

And he speaks. One Christmas, he spoke Elfish to us. Yeah, that was interesting. Todd, do you wrap your own Christmas presents? or do you have someone wrap for you?

I do put it in a bag. I cannot wrap. I'm a white guy, but I also can't wrap presents. I'm not a good rapper.

Okay. You seem like the type of person that would pay for it at a shopping mall. Wow, that hurts. No, it's better than just dropping it into a bag. But it's true.

Yeah, I know. I have done that. I mean, a good Christmas bag is a very, very acceptable way to present a present. I agree. Or just a paper bag or, you know.

Wow.

Yeah. The best part is when you go to Kroger. You go Christmas shopping at Kroger. At Kroger? What is wrong with you?

I thought about you the other day. You drink the bone broth, and I was on that bone broth aisle. I think it was the soup aisle. Yeah. And I asked you.

Remember, I texted you. I said, hey, what are you? That's right. Oh, I just told you what I got you for Christmas. Stick a bow on it.

A bow on the bone broth. There you go. All right. Here is our next question, ladies and gentlemen. as we work through our trivia.

There is a Christmas song. Oh, Aiden's got to know this. You're a big singer.

Okay, well, that's a lot of pressure.

Well, hypothetically, we'll see. What is a big singer? A big singer. He's like, I mean, he should be on like American Idol or The Voice. I don't know about that.

I've seen some of the people. He's got a great voice.

Well, thank you. That's very kind. What Christmas song begins with the lyrics, City sidewalks, busy sidewalks. What Christmas song begins with the lyrics, city sidewalks, busy sidewalks? If you know the answer, give us a call, 901-260-5926.

That's 901-260-5926. Guys, back to the question, though, about when do you buy your Christmas presents. There's a survey, Coupon Birds, and they say one in three men wait until Christmas Eve to buy their wife a Christmas present. That's not shocking. Yeah, got to be honest.

Have you been into a Walmart the night on Christmas Eve? Have you seen Walmart? It sounds like a Black Friday kind of situation where it's dangerous to go shopping. The day before Christmas when everybody's scattering to get their presents in. I believe that.

No, that's when they're in the doghouse. If you are buying a Christmas gift for, even if it's a girl buying one for, if it's the night before Christmas and you're buying them a cast iron skillet, nothing's awful. It's probably not going to be something that you put a lot of thought into. Yeah. It's sort of like Valentine's Day when you get the gas station roses.

Oh, yeah. And they kind of know. It hurts, yeah. They know. They know.

That relationship is not going to go anywhere. One in three men? That's a lot of people out there. That's a lot of people. Yeah.

I'm shocked. I thought it was more than that, to be honest with you. All right. Let's go to – well, we're not going to go to the phones just right away. But again, 901-260-5926.

we've got one trivia question out there and we're going to throw another one well you know what let's take a break first all right we'll get our bearings 901-260-5926 is our telephone number that's 901-260-5926 we'll be right back balance of nature's fruits and veggies supplements changing the world one life at a time i love the product because i'm already here at almost 80 knocking on my door. When I started taking Balance of Nature, I'm telling you, it wasn't a month after that, maybe two months after that, I started really feeling the difference. I love Balance of Nature. I will take it till the day I die. It's wonderful.

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Go to balanceofnature.com and get this special offer by using discount code BALANCE. and welcome back to Christmas Trivia I'm Todd Stearns with Ben Dieter and Aiden Pettit having a good time hanging out talking Christmas let's go to the phone lines and say hello to Beth in Louisiana hi Beth how are you today I'm great how are you Todd well I'm doing well thank you for asking Beth we're going to try to win you a prize here but first you have to answer this question and then the guys are going to ultimately win you a prize here uh but we we want to know the um uh the oh geez aloo where's i lost my question ben deter and i and i almost said the answer so get to that question wow we're this is terrible all right here talk about um talk about your christmas traditions real quick why i find it real quick oh my goodness this is this is absolute insanity i've got it right here um here we go a what christmas song beth uh what christmas song begins with the lyrics city sidewalks busy sidewalks silver bells there you go wow that's well done in the city yeah so you guys uh well done we can have like a quartet here uh great singing bet all right so um that's your first question and now the guys are going to have to answer this one uh to win you the prize um here we go fellas principal jennifer sinclair of omaha nebraska became known as the grinch who stole christmas she told teachers not to celebrate the reason for the season at manchester elementary school she posted a memorandum listing all of the Christmas contraband. No Santas, no trees, no singing of Christmas carols, no ornaments, but it was a beloved sweet treat that really triggered the principal. What sweet treat did Principal Sinclair ban at the school? Was it gingerbread people, candy canes, or chocolate-covered cherries?

Oh, my goodness. I can't see it being chocolate covered cherries I feel like that's not too Christmassy No I'm going to say gingerbread man Oh I was going to say candy canes Oh I think it's because we don't know what a man is anymore and we definitely don't know what a ginger woman is Wow this conversation went south quickly There's 45 different genders according to this liberal principle I would say candy cane That's my personal opinion So Beth we've got a split decision here Ben says gingerbread people and Aiden says candy canes. Who do you want to go with? I'm going to go with Aiden and candy canes. It's a good thing you did.

There we go. I feel like, you know, it's red and white. That seems like the right answer to me. That reminds me of Christmas, you know? Good answer.

Good answer. So it turns out, guys, this is a true story. The principal said the candy cane is shaped in the form of the letter J. for Jesus, and the teachers were banned from decorating with candy canes. But they could use gingerbread people along with snow people.

They don't call them snowmen there. Snow people and Olaf from the Disney movie Frozen. Oh, God, I love Olaf. What a guy. I mean, that's stretching to find a J out of a Christmas candy cane.

I mean, it is a cane. You know, canes were a thing. You know, they're just canes. It was like a chef. My understanding is that the history of it was it was created in the form of a staff, a shepherd's staff.

Right. Oh, that would be offensive for a lot of people out there. Very offensive. Very offensive. Hey, Beth, congratulations and Merry Christmas to you.

Thank you. Thanks for all y'all do. And I still love you, Ben. Love you back, Beth. Good choice, though.

You got Todd's book. Thank you. All right. Hang tight. And we've got Cassie the Elf who's going to help you.

You're right. It does kind of sound Lord of the Ring-ish. Geez-a-loo. All right, here is the next question in our list. In a Christmas story, one of my favorite Christmas movies, what is the name of the toy Ralphie wants for Christmas?

There's a specific thing that Ralphie wanted for Christmas. Was it a train set, a toy cowboy hat, a sled, or a Red Ryder BB gun? If you know the answer, give us a call, 901-260-560. That's 901-260-5926. You know, guys, we talk about Christmas traditions.

Dieter, you're from Pennsylvania originally. Do you guys have any traditions back home? We do. We do. We go to the Christmas Carol in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Christmas Eve.

Except for this year, it's tough because Christmas Eve is on a Tuesday.

so the whole Wednesday it being Christmas day is making it a little bit difficult but yeah Christmas carol every single year so you do that every you know like Christmas morning you guys have like pancakes and breakfast and then you open the presents I sleep underneath the Christmas tree and I'm an adult that has been a tradition in our family ever since I was one years old you mean like physically sleep you sleep right there next to the presents yes staring up into the the the tree. You're looking up. You can see all the twinkling lights. It got more difficult as I got older. Actually, one year, the whole tree toppled over.

I believe it. Yeah, it was like a 17-year-old sleeping under a tree. I mean, that's a new one. I have not heard that one as far as Christmas traditions go. It's a Christmas tradition.

I will say, as we've gotten older, we've had to move to the couches in the living room. And then when my sister got married, that took one of the family, that took one of the kids away because we weren't going to allow a brother-in-law to sleep under Christmas tree with us. That would be inappropriate.

Now, what about you? Because you have brothers and sisters, but all three of you are... Same age. Yes, sir. Same age.

Triplets. We are triplets. Wow.

Triplets? Yes. Wow.

That's insane. Yes. As far as Christmas traditions, I mean, obviously we always decorate. We try to set up decorations as a family, although that was difficult this year because we were all in school, of course. But we always, Christmas morning, we read the Christmas story out of the Bible.

Nothing really unique as far as Christmas traditions go, but definitely a lot of family time. We're trying something new this year. The family has decided we're going to stage one of those creepy Christmas family portraits. Have you seen those? Yes, I have.

A lot of them were like in the church, back when the church used to have directories and used to have really weird looking.

So we going to try that this year That funny We see how it goes So you dressing up Or just looking creepy I think we kind of a little bit of both You have to dress something I think we been I was trying Dylan your mom in charge of coordinating all of this And I think we've been told to wear pajamas. Oh, funny. Yeah, that's all I know. All right, hang tight. We've got to take a break.

When we come back, we're going to get right back to trivia. Again, our telephone number, 901-260-5926. that's 901-260-5926 I'm trying to get a visual of that I don't know about that footy pajamas oh footy pajamas nice oh a onesie it's a good look for me trust me not a onesie we'll be right back are you feeling overwhelmed by the increasing cost of health insurance Have you had enough of not having control over your health care dollars? Introducing ShareRight. Health care done the right way.

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Visit joinshareright.org for health care done the right way. That's joinshareright.org. ShareRite is a program of IHS, one of the fastest growing health care sharing organizations in the country. And welcome back, everybody. Great to have you with us on Christmas Trivia.

Let's get right to the phone lines. We're going to go to Frank in Iowa. Hi, Frank. How are you today? Merry Christmas.

I'm good. Merry Christmas to you, too, Todd. All right. We're going to try to help you win a prize here. But first, you've got to answer this question.

Christmas story, what's the name of the toy Ralphie wants for Christmas? You know this one. Red Ryder BB gun. Yeah, that's it. Congratulations.

Yes. By the way, the Stearns family, we actually have the leg lamp. It works, too. That's disturbing. The thigh is very bright.

That's disturbing. That's very funny. You can see it across Lakeland. All right, Frank, I want you to turn down your radio there so we don't get too much of feedback. And now we're going to let these guys try to seal the deal for you.

Oh, dear. Gentlemen, we need to know the name of the head elf in the Santa Claus movies. Was it Elmo, Buddy, Timmy, or Bernard? The Santa Claus movies. I have never seen them.

You've never seen the movie? I have not. Is this a movie or a Netflix series? Oh, no. I think I watched this on Netflix last night.

How do you not?

So it's not going to be Elmo. That's the creepy puppy. Not Elmo. I don't think it's Buddy because I think that's Elf, obviously. All right, give me the other two options.

Bernard or Timmy? Timmy is in The Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge's guy. I'm going to go with Bernard. You ableist.

Because I can't think of anything else that Bernard is.

So you're going with Bernard. I don't. I'm going to go with Timmy on this one. Oh, man. Frank, you've got two choices, Bernard or Timmy.

Or Timmy. Bernard. Wow.

Nice. That up two for two. Good answer. Good answer. Wow.

Congratulations there, Frank. Here's the deal. Whatever Ben Dieter says, make the opposite. Go with Hayden. No, it was actually Timmy and the Netflix Santa Claus movie I watched on Netflix.

There you go. Well, Frank, congratulations. Merry Christmas. We're going to put you on hold, and Cassie will get your info. Here is the next trivia question, and this is a fun one.

What Christmas character famously said, Bah humbug? A famous Christmas character said, Bah humbug. Who was it? Give us a call, 901-260-5926. Do you know the answer?

I know this one. I know this one. Don't answer the question. They've got to answer it. 901-260-5926.

You mentioned Christmas traditions, guys. There's an interesting story out. Apparently, most Americans would rather have new Christmas traditions.

So, like, instead of turkeys, they would rather celebrate with hamburgers. That sounds very American. I will say that, but I mean, you can't replace a turkey in Christmas. Hamburgers are great for 4th of July, any time, Memorial Day, any time during the summer. But for a festive holiday, you've got to stick with a turkey or a ham, something like that.

I mean, hamburgers would be good, but that's for the rest of the year. Dieter? I don't eat on Christmas. At all? No.

What's wrong with you? It's like the only wrong answer. No, because I have eaten so many sweets, fudge, everything. Oh, fudge. I have no appetite on Christmas Day.

I've just eaten every sweet thing in the house. I really don't eat. I haven't had fun in so long. Speaking of that, so we always, it's my job to go and get the chocolate Santa or the chocolate turkey at Dinstals. And that's like our go-to place for the Stearns family here in Memphis.

One of the best chocolate shops around. Absolutely. And they have something called Cashew Crunch.

So that's a big deal. Are you a traditionalist, Todd? Yeah. Christmas traditionalist. Oh, yeah.

Except we're not, I'm not a big turkey guy. I would much rather have like roast beef or something like that or ham. See, I'm always going to go turkey over ham. I love turkey. Oh, yeah?

I think it's great. All right. I thought you would do barbecue time. No, I'm not. Barbecue Christmas?

It's such a Todd thing to do, just a pork roast or something like that. That'd be a Memphis-specific thing for Christmas, like barbecue. I could see that happening. According to their survey, the top 10 Christmas traditions American would be open to swapping. Number one, sending Christmas cards.

You guys still send Christmas cards? Absolutely. I mean, my mom's in charge of it for sure, but she's great at it. We get quite a few. Do you guys do the letter, like the family letter, where you're like, all right, so Aiden did this?

No, but we get one from family members. We do. And you know, you always get the ones from the family members who are like excelling at everything. Right. And they're quite proud to write it on paper.

And you're like, oh, man, I really suck. My mom is that mom that if my siblings or I were dating anybody, they would end up in the Christmas letter. And then there would be breakups. That's risky. And then the next year, they wouldn't be in the Christmas card or the Christmas photo or the Christmas letter.

All right. Somebody offered this as a great life hack.

So let's say you've got the girlfriends, the boyfriends over for Christmas. when you take the family picture, you want them on the outside. Yes. Like on the ends? Easy to crop.

Easy to crop. That's it. This actually literally happened. My mom sliced it up with scissors. Oh, that's funny.

Oh, my goodness. All right. Let's go to Terry in North Carolina. Hi, Terry. How are you today?

I'm doing fine. How are you doing today? Terry, we're doing well. Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas to y'all as well.

All right. So which Christmas character famously said, bah, humbug? I believe that'd be Ebenezer Scrooge. And I believe you're absolutely correct there, Terry.

Well done you.

Now let's go to another question, gentlemen, and you're going to try to win Terry a prize.

So Terry, hang tight. Guys, in Home Alone, where is the McAllister family traveling when they leave Kevin behind. You haven't seen Home Alone, have you, Ben Dieter? I haven't, but I do know Donald Trump's in it, and so I do know that. That's Home Alone 2.

Down the hall and to the left. Oh, that's great. We watched it. It was airing on television maybe three, four days ago. My whole family, we just watched it.

That's great. That's brilliant. Gosh. All right. In Home Alone, where is the McAllister family traveling when they leave Kevin behind?

Are they going to Paris? Are they going to New York? Are they going to London? all right paris new york i think london london uh okay i want to say new york i don't know all right now terry you can disagree you can disagree with both these guys and i would strongly encourage you to do so oh um so your choices are paris and the guys pick new york in london so what do you think the right answer is terry hello i'm gonna say that he's going to paris yes ben we're fired congratulations terry we're gonna put you on hold and we're gonna get you uh guys that was good job that was not a good effort you're better than us man that was rough wow that was rough Terry knows his home alone. By the way, Home Alone 2, where was, you know, Kevin, they kept leaving that poor kid behind.

I mean, how do you keep leaving your kid behind? You know, he's going to have, he probably had to have therapy growing up. This was the days before helicopter parenting. Because helicopter parenting, that would never happen now.

Now the parents are all over their kids. I don't know, because I feel like even in the movie, there are helicopter parents. They just manage to miss it every time. I think that's the funniest part. Because the first movie, they're counting and they count a different kid, right?

That's how they leave him behind. And then the second movie. Today you would be thrown in jail if you did that. I don't know. Left to get behind.

I don't know. You'd be sent to the penitentiary. I mean, it could happen.

Well, I don't know if it could. I feel like that's the whole point of the movie. I don't know. All right, guys, we're going to throw out another trivia question and go to break here. This is about holiday traditions and a delicious holiday beverage typically made with milk, cocoa, sugar, and marshmallows.

This holiday beverage made with, I think, Cassie the Elf, right? I think it's apple cider.

Okay. Wait, what? This sounds horrible. A holiday beverage made with milk, cocoa, sugar, and marshmallows. What is it?

If you know the answer, give us a call. Do we have hints at least? 901-260-5926. Are you kidding me? Cassie the elf.

Maybe this is the thing in her family. Why don't I just run another trivia question? I think he's serious. Who do we celebrate at Christmas? Wait, you know it?

Yeah, I know the answer. Ben, are you serious? You do not know what beverage he's describing? Can you agree? We got to go to break.

It's the spiked eggnog. Let me get Dr. Phil on the line. We need some therapy here. All right.

All right. One more time. What holiday beverage is typically made with milk, cocoa, sugar, and marshmallows? Milk, cocoa, sugar, marshmallows. 901-260-5926.

That's 901-260-5926. I cannot believe he's serious. We'll be right back. I don't really like working. I'm going to need a priority parking space.

I only work remotely. How are your safe spaces? Can I bring my dog to work? Will your company protect me against microaggressions? You're triggering me.

Is this interview almost over? You don't run a daycare. You run a business.

So why use high-priced recruitment agencies who charge you up to 40% of an employee's first-year salary so they're focused on getting you the costly talent, not the best fit, which means you get more of this. What's your policy on paying employees to attend protests? I demand eight weeks of vacation. I need at least 12 weeks of paid vacation. I'm going to need a lot of mental health days.

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That's 833-880-0600 for a free consultation. Redballoon.org. All right. Welcome back to the world's easiest Christmas trivia show. Not for Ben.

Let's go to the phone lines. We're going to talk to Mary Lou in North Carolina. Hi, Mary Lou. How are you today? Hey, I'm great.

Merry Christmas to you. Merry Christmas. All right, Mary Lou. You guys are fun. You know that.

You really make my day. Oh, good. We try. We try. Mary Lou.

It's like Cindy Lou. Cindy Lou. Mary Lou. it's mary lou i know i'm just trying to be festive oh all right mary lou we're going to try to win you a prize here uh first uh we need to know what holiday beverage is typically made with milk cocoa sugar and marshmallows it's got to be hot chocolate oh yeah it's got to be hot chocolate there's literally nothing There's no other option. These two aren't drinking the eggnog, Mary Lou.

There's a different. Not what he's drinking. Two Baptists and Ben. Oh, well, but there you go. Two Baptists.

Hey, come on. You need to sneak it in there when they're not looking. I know. There you go. There you go.

All right, Mary Lou, we've got to toss this question to the guys here for you to win a prize here. gentlemen let's talk let's talk about uh the um miracle on 34th street great christmas movie we need to know the name of the department store the name of the department store in miracle on 34th street was it macy's was it gimbals was it bloomingdale's or sacks fifth avenue i have not seen that movie uh uh ben i'm gonna throw it to you macy's macy's that was my guess i would say macy's macy's all right bloomingdale's is something but bloomingdale's okay that that's from somewhere i don't even know where that's from um all right mary lou uh you have ben who definitively says macy's and aden was like i have no earthly idea but bloomingdale sounds cool yeah that's about it i believe it was macy's there we go yes ben's making a comeback there Let's go. After hot chocolate, yeah. We need to go. Good.

Congratulations. Mary Lou, congratulations.

Well, thank you. Merry Christmas to you. Hang tight, and we're going to get you hooked up with a great prize, and we just wish you the very best. All right, let's throw out another trivia question for the listeners here. Let's talk about the Grinch who stole Christmas.

What is the Grinch's heart said to be? is it two sizes too small three times too cold a lump of coal or missing entirely the grinch's heart two sizes too small three times too cold a lump of coal missing entirely give us a call 901-260-5926 that's 901-260-5926 you guys have a favorite christmas movie i don't know uh home alone is definitely up there home alone and home alone too just because those are pretty entertaining just to watch i really enjoy those the polar express oh the polar express i watch it every christmas is that right i'm all over national lampoon their their christmas vacation i'm realizing how many christmas movies i haven't seen i haven't seen that one either all right the bigger question die hard is die hard a christmas movie yes or no i'm gonna go with yes because i think that's the popular and correct answer but i also have not seen it wait what i haven't seen it guys i have not seen what are they teaching you in college behind i wish i could take a class on christmas movies i feel like that'd be entertaining i'm looking at the trailer right now what you haven't seen it either this can't be a christmas movie i see but that's like the age-old question is diehard a christmas movie and i still haven't seen it so it's a fair question all right let's go to the phone lines here we've got kelly in North Carolina. Hi, Kelly. How's it going today? Merry Christmas to you.

Merry Christmas. It's so nice to be finally getting through. I've only called every single time and with and biffed it. Let's go. Let's go.

Happy you're here now. All right. Here we go, Kelly. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, what is the Grinch's heart said to be? Two sizes too small, three times too cold, a lump of coal missing entirely.

I believe it was three sizes too small. I don't think that was even awesome. Oh, oh, oh.

Well, you know what? We've got to help Kelly out. We've got to help Kelly out. I'm sorry. Kelly's been waiting.

We've got to do a do-over.

So we're going to do a do-over. All right. All right. Let's try Charlie Brown Christmas. All right.

Kelly, in a Charlie Brown Christmas, who directs the Christmas play? Is it Linus? Is it Lucy? Is it Charlie Brown or Snoopy? I believe it's Linus.

Are you? Stop. Wait, third time's a charm. Kelly, third time's a charm. I didn't know it was hot chocolate, and they were screaming at me.

So let's give her one more. Y'all should have heard us over the break. That was hilarious. Let's give her another question. All right.

No, no, we're going to stick with Charlie Brown Christmas. There's a process of elimination here. Oh. It wasn't Linus, but was it Lucy, Charlie Brown, or Snoopy?

Well, now I'm stressed. Lucy was kind of bossy. I'll say Lucy. Yes. It was Lucy.

What are you doing? Dylan! We're firing Elf Dylan. Oh, oh, oh! Oh, my God.

You gave Kelly and me a heart attack. Yeah, I felt bad. Wow.

All right. Kelly. Dylan's getting cool. That's it. All right.

Kelly, congratulations. Hang tight. Let's go to Samantha in Tennessee. Samantha, how are you today? Good.

How are you? Samantha, ask me that question after the trivia hour. But we're going to try to win you a prize here. We've got a brand new question. We want to know the very first song.

And actually, we're going to let the guys guess this. Oh, no. The very first song ever broadcast from space. Ooh. It's a Christmas song?

Clearly. Oh. This is the Christmas song. Why would they play a Christmas song? Is it Silent Night, Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, or Deck the Halls?

Guys? I don't think it's the first option. Frosty the Snowman. I'm going to go with Jingle Bells. Samantha, who would you go with?

I think I've heard this before, actually. I think it's Jingle Bells. that's good yeah jingle bells is like a universally christmas song you know it is that felt like it fit the best if a bell jingles in space can you hear it though i don't know does it ever make a sound we need to get dr phil on here that's a philosophical question uh samantha congratulations you are a winner we're gonna put you on hold and we thank you for playing christmas trivia guys Guys, this has gone by so fast. It is. Oh, are we almost?

Oh, wow. It is. We are wrapping up. We are wrapping up here, guys.

So anyway, Ben Teter, Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. I'm kidding. It's the eggnog talking. All right.

Oh, my goodness. All right. Get this, guys. All right. Aiden Pettit, Merry Christmas to you as well.

Merry Christmas to you. Yes, sir. All right, folks. We have a lot more show coming your way, so stick around. We're going to have a lot of fun as we continue to celebrate Christmas.

A lot happening in the world, but we believe that Jesus is the reason for the season on this radio program, and we celebrate accordingly. Hang tight, everybody. We'll be right back. We'll see you next time. every day.

It's a small commitment, but it can help you feel your best. Start your journey with Balance of Nature. Call 1-800-246-8751 or go to balanceofnature.com to get 35% off your first order as a preferred customer with free shipping and our money back guarantee. That's 1-800-246-8751. Go to balanceofnature.com or call 1-800-246-8751 and get this special offer by using discount code Balance.

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. Oh, yeah.

And hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Todd Starnes Radio Show. We took a brief break to have a little bit of trivia, and we may even throw out a few more questions this hour. But we want to bring you up to speed on what's happening in Washington. Also, well, this is a disappointing story.

Party City, the big party store, you know, where you go get your party supplies. Party City has announced that they are shutting down after nearly 40 years in operation. Here's the kick in the pants. They shut down the stores on the same day they made the announcement, and they didn't even tell their employees. It's going to impact about 16,300 staffers, and a lot of people are really, really disappointed.

Apparently, Party City employees, they walked into work today and were told, today is your last day of employment. Really? You see, this is, may I just say something here? I know that if, and I'm a business owner, so I think I can weigh in on this. If, in fact, you do have to make cuts, Christmas time is not the moment to make those cuts.

You can do them any other time of the year, and if it really is that dire, you can get past Christmas Day. I mean, this is really heartbreaking because a lot of these folks were probably making minimum wage hourly workers, and they're getting ready for Christmas with their families just like everybody else. They come in on the same day. You walk in, ready to work. You're clocking in, and you're told to clock out because your job is gone.

And I will tell you, there are two major corporate radio conglomerates, and they love doing that. and it's so disgusting um as a matter of fact last week one of them in nashville announced that once again they were laying people off and one guy who'd been in the business for 20 years at that same radio station was just let go because of budget cuts and it's it's you know there's i get it you know if money's tight money is tight but there's a right way to do that and there's a wrong way. And that's not right.

Meanwhile, we are dealing with whatever is about to happen in Washington, D.C. A lot of people are wondering where Joe Biden is. He's been silent. Nobody has heard from Joe Biden at all through this continuing resolution squabble. And Mike Johnson is working on a he's working on a plan c but i'm not sure the democrats are going to go along with that and one of the big concerns here is this wall street journal report that came out yesterday showing that joe biden they were quoting dozens of sources that joe biden's mental decline actually started the moment he took office and it could be that joe doesn't even know where he is right now I mean, it's really that bad.

So CBS News, and they had the White House press briefing just a few moments ago, and KJP can't even explain why President Biden is AWOL in all of this. I mean, this is absolutely insanity. Everybody's blaming Donald Trump, but he's not the president yet. There's a guy by the name of Joseph Robinette Biden, and he's the one that should be playing hard. He's the one that should be deeply involved in all of this.

So we'll get to some of that audio from the White House press briefing in just a little while. It's also open line Friday. That means you get to call in. You can talk about whatever is on your mind, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926.

should the Republicans let the government shut down.

Now, I said yesterday on my Newsmax TV show that we need to let the government shut down and keep it shut down until Donald Trump puts his hand on the Bible, takes the oath of office, and then we can reopen under new management and we can get all of this sorted out and figured out. and i i have been a my long-standing belief has always been whatever trump wants trump ought to get let's see how it works out so again open line friday 901-260-5926 is our number that's 901-260-5926 we're going to take a break this is the todd stern show and welcome back to the Todd Starnes radio show let's go to Mike in Maine listening to us on WLOB hi Mike Merry Christmas to you Merry Christmas from the great state of Maine to the home of the blues so yeah i love it i love it so it's uh yeah we haven't got any snow up here at this area yet but uh we'll get some for christmas we always do so no green christmas is allowed up here gotta be white well so you guys so do you normally have a white christmas in maine yeah most of the time we do very rare very rare year when we have a green christmas And, of course, then they legalize pot up here, so they're green Christmas all the time up here. I bet there is. They're not smoking the evergreen. That's for sure.

Mike, well, thank you for calling in, and I hope that you and your family have a terrific Christmas season. Yeah, you too. And if you hear from Grace Baker, tell her I said Merry Christmas or Merlot. I will do that, and we certainly miss Grace Baker around this place. She is just a great American, and we really enjoyed working with her over the years.

Mike, thank you again, and God bless. 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. There's an interesting story out of the Waterville School District in upstate New York where a letter was sent challenging what they say are discriminatory actions. For the past two years, Elijah Nelson, a student there, had asked his school if he could start a Bible club and wanted to connect with classmates who share his faith, and it has created all sorts of problems.

Well fortunately Elijah and his family reached out to First Liberty Institute one of the top religious liberty law firms in the country And we are honored to have on the newsmaker line Keisha Russell who is senior counsel for First Liberty Institute. Keisha, so very happy to have you with us today. Thanks for having me on. All right. So where do we stand now with this Bible club?

We understand the New York School said, no, you can't have a Bible club. Yeah, they did. And then we wrote a demands letter, did a little bit of press, and the school district relented. And I think it was just not last Friday, but Friday before the Board of Education in that school district voted to allow Elijah to go ahead and have his Bible club. But I want you to think about what would have happened had Elijah not reached out to First Liberty.

And what happens to most people in a situation like that? They just give up. you know so we're glad elijah didn't no i am too and it's really sad that you know here in america at least right now you know a poor kid had to get you know attorneys involved to be able to to practice his constitutional rights yeah for for sure and it just kind of shows you the religious hospitality is so alive and well and we have a lot of work to do in order to kind of well do what we can to educate society about what what our rights are what our constitutional rights should be and And Elisha's doing that even at 13. There is another story. You guys are involved in this case.

This is in Ohio where even the attorney general has joined your legal battle to defend a pastor and a church. What's going on with Dad's Place Church? Yeah, definitely really hot case right now. Dad's Place allows homeless people to come into the church overnight if they're looking for somewhere warm. and essentially the city has told them they can no longer do that.

They have actually accused Pastor Abel of a crime. We say they're criminalizing compassion because we had a criminal trial for him a couple weeks ago, and they're accusing him of violating the fire code. They said he cannot house people overnight if he doesn't have sprinklers, but many of the hotels and also apartment complexes are not held to that same standard.

So it's a wild case, and we're continuing to fight that one in court right now. We're at the Ohio Court of Appeals. This is just simply insane. And, again, folks, if you'd like information on these cases, FirstLiberty.org is the website, FirstLiberty.org. And, Keisha, it's just really sad that, again, here in this country, You have these attacks on people of faith, churches, that are trying to fulfill their calling with regard to the Bible.

Oh, absolutely. It's definitely Pastor Vell's religious mission. It's his conviction to help people, and he doesn't feel like it's right for him to keep his doors closed when people need a warm place to stay at night. I think when our crew from First Liberty went there, I think it was 12 degrees at the time, and that was only a couple weeks ago.

So we're talking very cold weather, and staying outside is going to be extremely hazardous to anyone. All right. Well, Keisha, we really appreciate you coming on today and alerting us to both of these cases. And again, folks, if you'd like to read up on these, you can do that by simply going to firstliberty.org. Keisha Russell, thank you so much for joining us today.

Thanks for having me on. All right. There you go. Meanwhile, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, I would love to get your thoughts on this story. A pizza parlor is now facing the wrath of an LGBT mob after the owners of the pizza parlor declined to cater a same-sex wedding ceremony.

Now, this is one of those wood-fired pizza places.

So it's not like Pizza Hut or, you know, Shakey's Pizza or something. This is like a high-end pizza joint. And it's owned by a young couple. I would say they're millennials, Justin and Amanda Joe Bennett. And the name of the pizza place is the Pizzeria Cortelli.

And we have the story up at toddstearns.com along with a link to their website. These poor people are coming under fierce attack. And here's the problem.

Somebody came to them and asked them to cater their gay wedding. And the couple declined to do so because they're Christians, and they say that this would be in violation of their religious belief.

So they didn't make a big deal about it, but guess who did? And we've seen this over and over and over again. And sometimes you just have to wonder if this LGBT mob, if they just intentionally target businesses they know are owned by Christians.

So now everybody is attacking this little pizza place. Here's one of the enraged critics. There are not two reasonable sides here. Nobody asked you to be gay or promote any kind of message. They asked for pizza, and the bigots refused.

That's the whole story. It isn't any deeper. It's black and white discrimination.

So the Bennetts, they posted a message on their Facebook page. And here's what they wrote. We made the difficult decision not to cater a wedding due to our personal beliefs. This belief comes from a place of personal conviction, one we know is not shared by everyone, and it is one we hold without judgment towards others.

So in other words, you do you, we do us. They said their decision was not intended to harm or hurt anyone, and they pointed out that they treat everybody, all of their customers, with dignity and with love. And they also hoped that the customers would give them a chance to continue showing them love. But instead, the LGBT mob declared war. One of their biggest business partners is a bookstore in town called The Book and Cover.

I've actually been to this bookstore. The Book and Cover officially severed its relationship with the pizza place. I want to read their statement. This is insane. Quote, We are committed to showing each person who visits the book and cover respecting care, and we believe affirming the love and humanity of folks is essential to ensuring that care is felt.

It is with weary and sad hearts we announce the book and cover will be ending our partnership with Pizzeria Cortelli. The bookstore went on to say they, quote, treasure and respect the queer members of our community and celebrate the rights and love that they carry. What about the Christian community? Does the book and cover care about those folk? I don't think they do.

Something tells me they don't carry my books in that bookstore.

So anyway, the poor pizza shop owners are being called bigots and homophobes. and somebody's even wanting the internal revenue service to audit the pizzeria. And I got to read this one credit. This is just rich. Are you going to start asking your patrons their sexual orientation upon entering the vicinity?

Being bisexual, am I welcome?

Well, it depends on what you are that day, I suppose. No, I'm just kidding. That's a joke. That's a joke. I'm sorry.

No, that's not what they're saying at all. They're just saying they serve everybody. They just can't take part in a ceremony that would conflict with their religious beliefs. By the way, why don't you go down to the Muslim pizza joint and pull that kind of crap? Why are you always going after the Christians?

It's always the Christian bakers and wedding planners. Kind of makes you wonder if there's some sort of a conspiracy here.

now look i um i feel bad for this couple and they're just trying to do the right thing and they look like they look just like i mean they look like millennials right they're just regular folks they're not out there trying to make some sort of a big statement and and now they're um they're all of these negative reviews are being posted i mean the chattanooga tennessee i didn't realize Chattanooga was so liberal, but it is ugly. I don't think anybody's standing up for the pizza company, but we are. We are. The reality is here, folks, that sometimes there is a price to pay for standing up for your beliefs, and in this case, for being a Christian and following the teachings of the Bible. And I got to tell you, I commend Justin and Amanda Jo for sticking by their beliefs.

And honestly, what they did was they exposed just how intolerant this LGBT group is.

So here's what I want you to do. We've got the story up on our website, toddstearns.com, and I hope you go and check it out. And you will see a link there. And I hope you leave them a message, an encouraging message. I think there's even a contact email.

Just leave them an encouraging email. These are just kids. They're probably in their late 20s, early 30s, but they're still kids. and they're just trying to live out their faith and make wood-fired pizzas. That's all they're trying to do here, and they don't deserve all of this nonsense.

They just don't. 901-260-5926. What do you think? Did the pizza place do the right thing here? Or should they have catered the gay wedding?

901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Coming up, we're going to be speaking with Congressman Eric Burleson. Things have been pretty crazy up on Capitol Hill, so we're working around interview times. He is expected to join us at the bottom of the hour, and hopefully we'll get an update on the situation in Washington.

Also, Open Line Friday, whatever you want to talk about today, guess what? We're going to talk about it, and we do it every Friday, my favorite time of the year. Again, that number, write it down, 901-260-5926. That's 901-260-5926. Don't forget, 5 o'clock tonight, Eastern, on Newsmax, the Todd Starnes Show.

We have a full lineup. My good friends from King & Country are going to be joining us tonight. Luke Smallbone is going to be with us. They've got a great big Christmas project coming up, and that's going to be a lot of fun.

So looking forward to talking with Luke Smallbone for King & Country. that's 5 o'clock Eastern on Newsmax. Hang tight, everybody. We've got to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

Ben Dieter, we just had visitors. We got the cutest listeners in the Mid-South. We have awesome listeners. And so her name is Kayla. And Drew, that's Buddy the Elf.

She brought us a painting. And if you're watching us on the Rumble channel, I'll hold this up so that you can see it. That's not me. That's skinny. That's an elf.

It's Buddy the Elf. And she said, to Ben, Aiden, and Mr. Starnes. And so anyway, the little buddy, the elf, is saying, I just love to smile. Smiling's my favorite.

So, wow, thank you so much. Sixth grade, Briarcrest Christian School. Of course. Yeah. The greatest kids.

What a great school. And a great family as well. Kayla, thank you so much. We're going to put this in a place of honor downstairs. We've got to put this on the Christmas tree.

Absolutely. All right, we're definitely doing that. All right, thank you so much.

So anyway, we love, and by the way, we want to thank Cheryl, our great advertising director. She made homemade brownies and the lemon squares. We've got like a massive spread. People are just dropping to buy stuff. Like a golden buffet downstairs, but better.

You got that right. Golden Corral.

Well, there's wontons, so maybe it is the golden buffet. Let's go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker line real quick. Our good friend, Congressman Eric Burleson. And I think, Congressman, you would rather be hanging out with us eating lemon squares than where you are right now. Oh, yeah.

I can't wait to get out of this town. I bet you can't. Congressman, give us an update here on where we are and with the status of the government. Do you think it's going to shut down this evening? I think that I'm not certain what's going to happen, but we will.

We probably will go to a vote. On a version, from what I understand, it looks like it's going to be a suspension vote, which means you'd have to have two-thirds majority. And it's going to be a version of last night's bill minus the debt ceiling increases. And so they think that they've got the votes for that. And I think that the reason is because the Democrats would probably vote for that.

Congressman, you just left the closed-door meeting. Can you tell us the mood, what was going on in that meeting? You know, I think that there's generally some frustration about the fact that we're here and the way that this kind of, you know, this all rolled out. But the mood was fairly positive. I mean, I think that there's a little bit of a kumbaya kind of consensus that we're going to do some big things under Trump and people are excited to do it.

Part of the discussions that we had after the failure of the bill last night is that we met with J.D. Vance, and he conveyed why Trump wants to clear that debt ceiling so that he's not – it's a mechanism that Chuck Schumer is going to use against Trump to get whatever spending that Chuck wants.

So if we can get that cleared, which we believe we can do in the first reconciliation bill, You know, you put that with border fixes, suddenly a fiscal conservative like me would consider voting to raise the debt ceiling, even though I have never done it before. But I would be willing to look at doing that because you're going to be fixing the border.

So if you truly are fixing the border, which has a lot of savings in and of itself, and maybe some energy policy that will grow this economy, then that'll be hard to that'll be i think you'll get even fiscal conservatives like me to vote for it congressman there's there's been a lot of blowback and i know a lot of america first conservatives are coming after you know the 38 republicans who voted against us yesterday my concern here is that you guys actually did the right thing here i mean this what was presented yesterday is not fiscally conservative at all yeah it's it's crazy i i've seen that there's people on the internet calling us 38 rhinos. I mean, come on. We are the most conservative members up here. That was the conservative move. I mean, I didn't come up here to raise the debt ceiling or to increase spending.

I came up here to do the exact opposite. That's what I campaigned on. That's what Republicans campaign on. It's just the fact that we actually are doing it is is what's the surprise and the fact that we're getting blowback. I think it's, there's just a lot of confusion right now about, about what was in that bill last night.

For example, a lot of people think that it was financially, it costs less money, but the truth is I think it costs more. There was, it was a bigger spending bill than the, than the previous one. And that was proposed. It just, but they've, but they got rid of a lot of the pages because they removed some of the of the health care policy stuff that was in it, and that was the bulwark of the bill.

So it went from like 1,500 pages down to 150 pages or something like that. But that didn't mean that it was spending less money. In fact, it was spending more. That's the great irony, a smaller page count, but there's more money, more spending tucked away. Do you anticipate the Democrats going along with whatever Plan C is today?

I don't know. I don't have a great line of communication with them, so we'll see what happens. But I'm hearing from conversations from my Republican colleagues and leadership is that they believe that the Democrats will support a clean CR. Interesting. All right.

Well, we're going to be paying very close attention to all of this. I think the thing that really bothers a lot of folks, and especially me, is that Speaker Johnson's lack of leadership here has dragged President Trump into the situation. And I just genuinely do not see, at least from my vantage point, where Speaker Johnson can continue in his speakership after the new year. What say you?

Well, that remains to be seen. I mean, I'm going to give him credit for the last 24 hours has been pretty, you know, him bringing us all into a meeting with J.D. Vance, he spent, I don't know how many hours we spent in that meeting. It was maybe a four-hour long meeting. He showed true leadership in that regard, and that's what it's going to take.

It's going to take, especially in a very slim majority, you can't do what speakers have done in the past, which is just ignore some of the members of your conference. He has to get the input from even those pesky conservatives, right?

So I think that by him taking those steps, I think we're moving in the right direction. All right. Well, Congressman, I know you've got some long hours today, and we appreciate you taking a few minutes to step out of that meeting and talk to our crew here. Anytime, Todd. All right.

There you go, folks. Congressman Eric Burleson. And again, Ben, this is the challenge here. Eric Burleson is not a rhino. Chip Roy is not a rhino.

Andy Ogles, Tim Burchett, they're not rhinos. and if this is how we're going to play this game here that is a pretty dangerous place for us to go as a party i just think we need to wait until we get a new government i every time republicans can play the or offense and make democrats play defense because let's not forget they are the current administration this is on the democrats let's wait out the clock if we have to shut down the government, don't pass something that we will regret in the new year when Trump comes into town. Because if we think it's nasty now, I mean, until it is not President-elect Trump, President Trump. It's going to be ugly. Yeah.

It's going to be ugly. All right, let's go to the phone lines here. John in Moorhead City, North Carolina. And I know you want to weigh in on this pizzeria couple. Hi, John.

Welcome to the show. Hey, Todd. Merry Christmas. And look, I've always was taught business has the right to refuse to serve. That's right.

They do. And they say no. They say no. I don't care for what reason they don't want to serve you. Shut up and go to someplace else.

You know, the bookstore in Memphis, Tennessee, Novel Memphis, they did that to me. And you know what? That's their right. they didn't want to you know carry my book host my book fine okay we'll just go someplace else and that's exactly what we did and i just don't understand though they want to destroy this this pizzeria they want to destroy them and that's where you're like wait a second what's really going on here i wish it was close enough for me to order a pizza from there just so i can say i ate a pizza i know they would appreciate it over 700 miles from here and i-40 is still messed up today that's a long way to drive for a pizza but you could shoot them over an email and i know they would love to to hear from you and i guarantee you uh they would be encouraged by that john merry christmas to you and thank you for calling in uh let's go to johnny in statesville North Carolina WSIC wants to weigh in on drones. Hey, Johnny, what you got for us?

Hey, Todd, happy weekend to you. How's it going? It's going well. Thank you for asking. Yes, sir.

You know, it occurred to me, I apologize, I've been out of town working all week and I haven't been able to listen, but if nobody else has already addressed this, has anybody noticed that they're only flying the drones over the northern blue states with a few small exceptions, but basically they're only over the blue states. I believe that is because they know better than to fly them down south. Those things would be shot down immediately, and as my wife said, not only shot down, but we'd fry them up after that. We'd try to put them in some batter and put them in that big cast iron skillet. If that doesn't work, we'll make a grill out of it.

I mean, you know, we'll make it work, but they won't last long down here. Yeah, you got that right, Johnny. I was telling somebody we had a congressman on, and again, if they're flying over Tennessee, by dinnertime, that's going to be mounted on somebody's fireplace hearth. Exactly. Exactly.

Hey, Todd, we love you, man. Have a great week. All right. Thanks. Merry Christmas, Johnny.

Thank you for that. Johnny ain't lying. Deep fried drone. That's good eating. Scrumptious.

Good eating. Wait, whatever happened to the drone? That's a great question. We blinked and it's Friday. Wait, what happened to the drones?

We got no answers. Yeah, I think the aliens saw what was going down in Washington. They said, yeah, this is not worth it. Are there still drones? They're moving on to Venus.

Okay. That's where I think they're going. Thank you, Johnny, for bookmarking that. We had to go back and talk about the drones. It's crazy.

It's true. I mean, that was a weird story. And I don't think it's over. No. I suspect and by the way the uh the government doesn't know what they are I mean at some point for the folks in Jersey and New York if your government's not listening to you at some point they'll probably mainstream just big old six foot car sized drones over their houses maybe that's why we're not hearing anything and even imagine those things are loud just very loud all right we're going to take a quick break here again folks open line Friday 901-260-5926 that's 901-260-5926 810-260-5926.

We'll be right back. And let's get right back to the phones on the Todd Starnes Radio Show. You know, it's amazing that we can get the entire jazz orchestra into the studio bandit. I don't know how we do that. They're expensive.

We're paying them a pretty penny.

Well, that's right. They better get their tubas in here. let's go to philip in gainesville georgia wants to wait on that pizzeria hi philip can you believe that no i can't believe it todd can't believe it what i was calling about the man in moorhead city north carolina gave me an idea i'm all ears so if we call the pizza place order a pizza from moorhead city or gainesville georgia or wherever else and have them just send it down to the fire department to the police department to the hospital to the soup kitchen anything like that then we can support that pizza place from 150 miles away if we if we want to what a brilliant idea phillips you're saying we can order the pizza and then just have it delivered to the police station or fire department or wherever first responders exactly exactly yeah i love that idea we could support that pizza place and uh they can stay in business and it'll it'll turn out like chick-fil-a oh i love that store i love that idea philip and and by the way folks if you're able to when if they if you can order and you can leave a tip be sure to give a generous tip as well because i can i'm i'm certain these folks are facing the wrath of the libs in chattanooga philip thank you for that great idea let's go to rick in newport north carolina hi rick what's on your mind today the exact same thing philip said i just explained the same thing to your woman on the phone i think it's a great idea yeah we should support him from 700 miles away we got to do it and that's it's a clever way and uh it's it's going to put some money in their pockets and hopefully they'll know because you know going up against a mob life at rick it can you can feel pretty lonely exactly and i think there's enough of us we can support them and like he said turn them into a chick-fil-a great idea win and we just need somewhere somebody center maybe your website somebody that can put out the places addresses we can send them well we've got the story and a link is in the story to the pizza place.

So go to ToddSterns.com, Rick, and you'll find all the information there, and we'll see what we can do to help these folks out. That's great. Wonderful. Thank you, and Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas, Rick.

Wow, what a great audience for you. I'm telling you, Ben, clever, clever. All right, well, let's go to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in the middle of the state, Richard. Hi, Richard. What's on your mind?

Hi, Todd. Merry Christmas. and I just wanted to give you an update on Tab and Fanta because when I was still living in Cordova before I moved to Murfreesboro, my girlfriend loved both of them, and there was a place I found them on the shelf. And this is the International Market on Park Avenue. It's across from Guy's Tuxedos, and there's a trailer park there i don't remember its name but at that time both of those were selling for 79 cents a bottle and wow i found out that i don't know about tab but fanta had its flavors assigned around the world geographically and the mid-east which is where this came from had the flavor orange aside to it.

Is that right?

Well, this is fascinating. I know a lot of people have been asking about TAB after the conversation we had yesterday. And I have no idea what possessed me to talk about TAB. But, yeah, so that's good to know. Richard, appreciate the intel.

You got big plans for Christmas. No, just going to my daughter's, and we're going to have a good time. and it doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks. We're going to have fun. There you go.

That's it. Richard, Merry Christmas to you and your family. Merry Christmas, Todd. All right. Folks, wow, what a crazy day.

It's been a lot of fun, and you guys just crushed it on trivia. And we're going to do some more on Monday and Tuesday. We're going to have a lot of fun. And I'm telling you, I can't wait to share our Christmas show with you. We had some incredible interviews with folks like Mike Huckabee and Robert Jeffress.

We are interviewing the folks over at Graceland, Alicia Dean. She's amazing. She's really an expert on all things Elvis. And Elvis loved Christmas, and they've given us permission to play some great Elvis music. Also, we're going to be talking to Sam Sorbo.

Her husband, Kevin, by the way, you remember Hercules. She's got a brand-new Christmas devotional out, and we have some great music. coming from our friends, the Mylon Hayes family. All that to say, it's going to be a lot of fun on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. All right, folks, don't forget, again, 5 o'clock Eastern on Newsmax.

We're going to have live wall-to-wall coverage, live reports coming from Capitol Hill as lawmakers wrangle over what to do with this continuing resolution. We're going to stay on top of that big story throughout the evening. All right, it's been a lot of fun. I want to thank all of you guys for hanging out with us. You are the best audience in all of talk radio, guaranteed.

Folks, get out there. Have a great Friday. Whatever you do, be sure to go to church this weekend, America.