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 : Ellis in the morning on American Family Radio.

Jenna Ellis: I love talking about the things of God. Because of truth and the biblical worldview, the U.S. constitution obligates our government preserve and protect the rights that our founders recognize. Come, from God our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you. And God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time.

 : This is Jenna Ellis in the morning.

Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Thursday, February 5th, and the conflict and the contrast between, ice and protecting the border and what the Democrats are trying to push in terms of the narrative, has escalated a little bit this week in terms of the appropriations and the funding that has been given to, ICE in the bill that President Trump signed earlier this week and has kind of renewed, talks on Capitol Hill about, what should happen, with ICE enforcement moving forward.

Paul Teller: Democrats are pushing affordability issues ahead of midterm elections

And so, with all of that, let's welcome in Paul Teller, who is the president of Teller Strategies and he also is a senior advisor of Advancing American Freedom. And Paul, you know, this seems to be just an ongoing, issue that Democrats seem to be pushing. I mean they're, they're in the minority. Republicans really shouldn't need them. Why do they even get a say in this whatsoever?

Paul Teller: It's a great question Morning Channel. Always great with you. Appreciate you having me on. yeah, I mean, you're exactly right. I mean they are, they have just decided. Right.

Paul Teller: I guess they're far less extreme in space. Has decided that this is like the latest fight. Right. I guess for now they've moved off those Palestinians on campus and, you know, a couple other such things. This is like the latest cause celeb, I guess is the phrase. I don't know how they get. Out of it though.

Paul Teller: That's the thing. Because there are some smart, believe it or not, that are out there, maybe quietly, but they're out there saying, oh my God, this is really bad for us for the upcoming midterm elections, even primary elections. Right.

Paul Teller: If you're just a regular kind of run of the mill liberal Democrat, you may be getting a primary election from the left, you know, in the coming months. If you're not firm enough on, you know, against ice, on the other hand, if you're too hard against ice, you just kind of lose. Regular working Joe American, who believes in law and order, wants his community safe and says that, you know what, maybe don't obstruct law enforcement and you won't get yourself hurt. So yeah, they're, they're in a pickle. But let me tell you, as always, the Democrats are bold, right? And they're listening to their local left wing minority and just pushing ahead to blockade, funding for ICE and related agencies.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, they, they somehow continue to listen to their most fringe extremist groups while Republicans can't seem to listen to like their widest base. I mean, it's remarkable how all of that is happening. And and I think, you know, I was talking to Dinesh d' Souza yesterday about the midterms and I kind of want to continue the conversation, with you because you know, he had, he had mentioned that he thinks that, some of the biggest issues heading into the midterms, are going to be border security, but also affordability. And this is really a Democrat term. I think that we've sort of co. Opted maybe strategically, maybe not. but I think people definitely, especially among gen zers and kind of the younger population, are very concerned about the cost of living. And that continues to be a main concern. But you know, overall, when, when you look at the elections and especially the primaries, let's focus on the primaries for a minute. In, in the Republican Party, it seems like when we go to the generals, people aren't, Republican voters aren't necessarily happy with some of the choices. And yet we don't turn out as much in the primaries perhaps as we should. So we're only in February of the midterm election year. What should the GOP and the Republicans focus on? First for issues and then also in terms of candidate selection in the primary.

Paul Teller: Yeah, totally. I mean it's frankly it's exactly what you just said. I really think that we need to be listening to Joe America. Right? Mr. M. Mary, what are they saying? What, what are they feeling?

Anastasios Kamoutsas: What are they hurting?

Paul Teller: What are they thinking about each day? And I would say you knew. Nailed it.

Anastasios Kamoutsas: Right?

Paul Teller: Affordability. Whether that word is. It's the right word or not, you know, inflation, cost of living, whatever. The exact phrase is a huge problem for a lot of people. Why?

Paul Teller: Because there was tremendous inflation during the Joe Biden. KAMALA HARRIS Here's 20 plus percent, something like that. And yes, inflation has calmed, but it Isn't like the prices are lower than they were suddenly before. By, in other words, like the rate of increase has slowed, but they're still increasing. So if you couldn't afford things on the last day of Joe Biden, in office, it doesn't mean you could suddenly afford things on Trump's first day in office. You know, it doesn't work that way, obviously. So people are still really hurting out there. And, and look, I know not everyone agrees with me on this, but I think also a lot of the tariffs are hurting people, right? They're increasing costs for small businesses, businesses of all sizes, where all of a sudden the inputs to your business are either less available or they're available but at a higher price. And so that's not great for affordability, for cost of living, for jobs. That's why we're seeing manufacturing jobs go away. That's not great news. So we got to turn, those trends around. And I do think some of those trends could turn around through really two things. One, the proper implementation of one beautiful bill. And what I mean by proper implementation is let it go into effect as is, because Republicans unfortunately have a history of turning off good things that are about to come to being in law. Spending cuts, tax cuts, things like that. So we're going to hope they just stay in law, don't turn them off. And then two, go further, right? Republicans should use, you know, the fancy Washington term is reconciliation. Right. But in English that just means a fast track procedure in the Senate to get things more easily through the Senate that could further cut spending, further cut taxes, help with health care costs, help with basically individual families able to save more of their own money, make more of their own choices with the hard earned resources that they make at work each day. So we focus on those things. I think we, that brings us good candidates, right, conservatives, but ones that could speak and connect with the average everyday person and his or her real fears and concerns.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah.

Paul Teller: Some candidates have risen to prominence through social media

And, and speaking of, you know, just kind of the, the speaking to the everyday average person, you know, we've seen the rise of a lot of these social, media influencers, for lack of a better term for candidates, not just, you know, some of these people that are perpetually online who maybe want to comment on the news, but actually some candidates and Mamdani, is, is one of them that just rose to prominence, basically through popularity. Trump himself really leveraged media incredibly well, but already had, he was a, a substantive candidate, not just a social media phenomenon. what do you see as the risks, perhaps, of some of these candidates that maybe have a good message online, but no real policy or background or record to actually follow it up if and when they ended up in office?

Paul Teller: Well, and that's, and that's, as usual, you're making an excellent point. because a lot of times voters can sniff that out too. Right?

Paul Teller: It's like, sure, it may, you know, sound fun and exciting for these, some of these online personalities, then they have to also be real human beings that interact in, like, 3D, right. In real space and time, too. Right.

Paul Teller: And so a lot of times that doesn't happen. In fact, we've been seeing that with name names. Maybe we can all think of some candidates who maybe hit a ceiling over the last decade or because they had trouble interacting with human beings, like, on the ground. Right.

Paul Teller: Maybe great speeches, maybe great media ads. But then when it was like, handshakes and looking people in the eye and having good conversations, there was a natural ceiling there for some folks, especially on the national stage. So I think you're right to express concerns that just because you have a great online presence doesn't translate to, like, real humans, real interaction, real, like, empathy. Right.

Paul Teller: Feeling people's, pain and concerns and addressing them instead of just, you know, putting out a press release and talking points or another social media tweet. So, yeah, that's something we have to watch for, no question.

Jenna Ellis: Well, I'm Paul Teller. I think you, you may have more faith and confidence in some of the voters than I do in terms of, sniffing out, you know, some of these people because, you know, when so much is online and, and especially for the younger generation that's looking at, you know, online Persona and to say, okay, you know, what is this person, you know, tweeting or, you know, putting out there? It's not just about, you know, maybe traditional, ads and things. And I think you're right. You know, when, when some of these candidates actually go to events, you know, can they connect with voters there? But, the connection and the charisma is certainly an aspect of it. But what about the policy itself? Because a lot of these people that I see online, you know, they're, they're talking a great game, but when it comes down to, well, how are you going to implement that? And do you actually know the powers of your office? Like, you know, I'm going to go to Washington and I'm going to change everything. It's like, yeah, you're running for one of, you know, over 400 seats, bro. Like, you're, you're, you want, you, you can make a difference, but you're not in the executive branch, you know, so, and I, and I, I don't know if maybe some of the younger voters don't actually connect those dots.

Paul Teller: Well, and also making a great point because like when, when some of these, candidates are not intellectually grounded in any way, right. They're not principled in any sort of consistent constitutional way. First of all, that's kind of dangerous for a democracy, right? Because then that leads to kind of demagoguery and you know, views changing week to week. But, you know, it also brings confusion for the voters, right. If you're just trying to make a decision, which candidate do I most agree with? But, you know, said candidate is like changing week to week and there's no discernible viewpoints of like, wait, what is he believing in? I mean, actually, a perfect example, you're seeing this. And again, we won't have to name names, but there's certain politicians, and others around the D.C. political class that on foreign policy seem to be changing week to week, right. They love, they say, you know, it's time for America to kind of get out of endless wars, pull back, retreat, you know, from the world stage. But then when President Trump initiates, a muscular foreign policy move in Iran, in Venezuela, elsewhere, they cheer it and say, that's great. Look how muscular he is. Totally confusing, right? Which is you can't, you can't have it both ways. And so that's confusing for the voters, and doesn't bode well for our, you know, for conservative or Republican electoral fortunes, you know, throughout the year.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And, you know, that's such a great point that it seems like some of, these week to week messaging, when it shifts, or a large percentage of, you know, the online sentiment shifts, given whether it's the news cycle or the popularity of a certain candidate or, you know, even Trump's positions, if they shift week to week. I mean, right now, you know, he's, he's talking about, not actually enforcing mass deportations if some of these people in blue states are, you know, ask Nicely was his latest thing on, you know, one of his interviews. And some people I think are rightly calling out, saying, well, wait a minute, that's not what we voted for. You're completely changing your position. But then other people who are just so staunchly, you know, I'm, I'm with Trump. And so literally, whatever his position is today, even if that changes tomorrow, they're with it and they move back and forth, dependent on the person, not the principal. And that becomes really, dangerous ultimately for conservatism, I think, because we are grounded and our, our, our view of government is grounded in certain principles. limited government, ensuring that we protect borders. You know, we could name all of this specific policy on any given subject matter. It's the left that does all of these flip flops, and wants to push through whatever they want just to maintain their power. They're all about power, we're all about principle. And we utilize and leverage power to get to the proper outcome. and hopefully we do that strategically. But that contrast has been present for a long time, in the differences between the, the mindsets of both parties. And we're seeing that collapse a little bit in this era of populism. Do you think there's a big danger there?

Paul Teller: Yeah, no question. You know, you've totally nailed it because, you know, I think one of the hallmarks of the conservative movement was having a bedrock of principles. Right.

Paul Teller: Setting a moral compass, you know, crafting a vision for how to advance that, that vision and you know, how to bring others into the fold, build a coalition, bring others who maybe wouldn't even call themselves conservative, but they'll suddenly agree with conservative policies and vote for them because they make sense. Right.

Paul Teller: And they speak to their lives, to their everyday problems. As soon as we start jumping all around week to week, we believe this. Next week it's that next week we're back to the first thing. Like, it's hard to again build that consensus, craft a moral vision, you know, get, get, get policy wins because you don't even know what you're trying to win. Right.

Paul Teller: If it's different this week and it'll be different next week, it's hard to bring people into that, that fight. You know, who wants to jump onto that ship when Captain of the Ship is like, you know, we'll see which way we go.

Jenna Ellis: I don't know.

Paul Teller: That's not very inspiring. So, yeah, I hope we get back to our roots and solid constitutional conservative principle of action.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And we've seen that, become kind of a major point of contention, between the conservatives that are principled and want to remain conservatives. And I would put kind of the true conservative, versus the populist mentality and that kind of,

Cliff Martin discusses the future of the Republican Party post Donald Trump

I don't like to use the term infighting, but kinda, that sort of Clash, for Cliff of the future of the Republican Party, especially post Donald Trump. And this is going to be the first, election in 2026 where, Trump has no ability to have his name on a future ballot. And so how strong do you think that fight is, is and maybe should be? To clarify what a post Trump Republican Party looks like, versus how much cachet his endorsements perhaps still carry.

Paul Teller: Right, Right, man. I guess, you know, the jury is probably still out on. On that. You know, it's going to develop throughout the year. But just my gut and how it seems right now is that President Trump, Vice President Vance will continue to have very strong influence, either directly. Right. Either if they actually jump into certain races, that kind of thing, or even indirectly, even kind of quietly. Right. Where a candidate may not have even talked to the president or Vice president, didn't get an endorsement or anything, but just kind of feels it in the air, right. In the political ether, where they feel like they can't, you know, do something that's wildly, different from Trump or Vance because either the voters would punish them, online influencers were punished them, or that could spark, you know, some anger from Washington and suddenly, you know, there's more eyeballs into a certain race than maybe a certain candidate wants. So, yeah, I think it's going to be very, very, very much Washington influenced midterms and other races, I mean, congressional races and other races, all throughout the midterms and, and maybe beyond. I mean, like, who's to say that that influence stops after the midterms? Right? I mean, it's, it seems to be strong, and I don't know about getting stronger, but at least staying strong.

Jenna Ellis: Mm. Yeah. And so what's your prediction? as we sit currently, and obviously only the beginning of February, so much can change until November. And we all know that in politics, I mean, even, you know, one week of a new cycle can change everything. So, you know, we have a lot of time, but, from where we're sitting right now, Paul Teller and, you know, and you are, a, you know, you're a fixture in Washington. You've been around, the block several times. You're part of the first, Trump administration, you know, so you have, a lot of knowledge and, you know, and history, especially with this particular president. Ah. So from where we're sitting, where do you think the midterms are. Are headed right now?

Paul Teller: Yeah. And first of all, thank you for that. I guess maybe it's a nice way of saying I'm old, you know, I get it, I get it.

Jenna Ellis: No, you're experienced and we like that.

Paul Teller: Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you, thank you. But, no, all serious, I think mixed feelings, to be honest. In one sense, I'm like, well, are the Republicans really giving America a clear, as we were just talking about a clear, consistent vision that if you vote Republican at any level of the ballot, you will get X? I don't know. Right.

Paul Teller: As of right now, not really.

Paul Teller: It's kind of confusing even for, you know, people like you and me who follow this stuff on a minute to minute basis. So that's not encouraging. On the flip side, this back to the earlier part of the conversation. Democrats are just in so many different areas, so overreaching, and they're so out of touch with Joe America. Everything from the, stuff on ice. Right. The fact they think that regular Americans appreciate obstructing law enforcement, the law enforcement who were just trying to get criminals out of their neighborhoods, really, you know, the gender stuff.

Paul Teller: You really think America's on the side of transgender folks and think that, you know, large, very masculine boys should be able to play in, in, on sports teams, you know, with females, 50 pounds lighter than them? I mean, you know, it's just like, that's just not regular America.

Paul Teller: And so if they keep leaning in on those issues, that gives me hope that Republicans, even without the crispest, clearest, most consistent vision, could still pull, you know, a victory out of the jaws of defeat, you know, to coin a phrase.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, yeah. And I think that's such a great point, Paul Teller, that when, when you used to vote Republican, it used to mean something, you know, and it used to mean like, okay, I, I at least think I, you know, I'm gonna get somebody who's solidly, you know, a fiscal conservative. They're, for pro life, they're for limited government. You know, we could, we could, tick down all of those, you know, basic categories. and, you know, and Republicans for a while haven't necessarily always voted lockstep. And that's been a kind of a consistent problem between, Republicans versus Democrats. But it's really fascinating to see how, the coalition is changing among the right. But then also, you know, how the left is just going further and further toward the most extreme of their base. And it's shocking to me that anybody would support those positions. And yet here we are still after a phenomenal, victory for conservative principles in 2024, this huge mandate. We now are still sitting here wondering, you know, will Republicans maintain control of Congress? I mean, it's, it's so fascinating, so much more we could talk about, but, already out of time. Paul Teller, really appreciate it. You can follow him on X. And we will be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.

Brandon Gill says Sharia law is incompatible with American values and should be rejected

 : Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And there is a growing sentiment, among conservatives that is a very good thing in kind of waking up to the reality that this push from the Democrat left, is pushing not just for diversity and dei, some of these things that appeared to be, some compatible terms with the US Constitution and with the west and America's way of life, which of course they aren't when you distill that. but they're more openly now pushing, things like Sharia law. And so, thankfully some in Washington are waking up, including, one of my favorites, who's, a freshman congressman, Brandon Gill from the great state of Texas. He's actually Dinesh d' Souza's son in law, for those of you who don't know that, which I just, I think is awesome. He has some great coaching, I'm sure, from Dinesh. But, he gave a great speech yesterday along with a few other members of Congress talking about how Sharia law is incompatible with American values and has no place in the United States. they have now, some members of Congress have now, formed the Sharia Free American Caucus. Here is part of what Congressman Gill had to say. This is cut three.

 : Why are we seeing terrorist attacks from radical Islam within our own borders? Where did this come from? Islam is largely alien to American history. It certainly didn't come, into the United States on the Mayflower. It's something that we deliberately imported as a matter of immigration policy into our country. And it's going to destroy us just like it's destroying Europe right now. It's our job to stand up to that, to stand up for our values and to prohibit alien cultures and alien ideologies that do not comport with our own government governing framework. And that's why I'm proud to be part of the Sharia Free America Caucus.

Jenna Ellis: And he's absolutely right. And this is something that Christians especially have to stand up for and be very, very clear about that, not only is Sharia law incompatible with the US Constitution, but we also need to have a biblical case for rejecting it. And we can go all the way back to the Old Testament and look at the history of what God told the Israelites when he gave them the land and he told them to conquer it and drive out the pagans. Joshua conquered some, but then he called it good enough and he basically quit. And those peoples were some of the ones who caused a lot of problems for the Israelites. They influenced them to serve idols, brought on God's judgment. And we have largely now in the United States done essentially the same thing, having a Christian nation. We have allowed so much of the the paganism in, into our ideology, but we've also allowed so many illegals in and we've also allowed so many ideologies in that now they are the ones that are destroying our nation. And this is absolutely incompatible with Christendom or the West. And we need to stand up and be able to explain why in particular Sharia law is incompatible with the US Constitution. So to be clear, America protects religious belief and the freedom and the right to exercise our religion, but not religious legal systems. There is a huge difference between protecting the freedom to believe and the freedom to do what we're doing right now, which is speaking together about truth and persuasion, about who is God our Creator. but we do not have parallel or competing religious legal systems. The Constitution allows people to practice Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc. But it does not allow for importing a parallel legal code that overrides our civil law. This is the distinction between the civil government sphere and institution that God ordained and the church government or sphere and institution that God has ordained. And so think about this as the difference between, in the Protestant world, our church discipline, among the ecclesia. If you go to a church that is practicing good theology, then you will be under the authority, you and your family as an individual, and then also your family will be under the authority of the church, in terms of our Christian practice. And the Bible lays out the, the steps of church discipline. And that's, you know, A whole other episode to talk about all of that. but you are under the church's authority in terms of your membership, in the church. You are under church authority in terms of, the ecclesia. In terms of the doctrine, that the church teaches, among other things. But when we. But that is different. It is a different jurisdiction and it covers different things than the civil government. And so the church, for example, does not have the authority to arrest you and put you in jail. They do have the authority, to discipline you or to to remove you from fellowship, for example, which the civil government does not have the authority to do. They can't tell me which church I can or cannot be a member of. Right. Those are separate jurisdictions, just like the family, ah, jurisdiction. And the family institution, has the authority to discipline children, to you know, create rules for our households. those. Those types of family govern, governance systems are very distinct and a separate jurisdiction from the civil government. And so when we're talking about Sharia law, so many on the left and even some Christians think that Sharia law falls under a First Amendment theory of protection because they misunderstand, a religious legal system and a civil code for a religious belief and practice. Now of course there are some areas and sometimes where it overlaps the jurisdiction where Of course, if a, If a quote unquote church or a religion has a certain practice that violates civil law, like for example, if pagans were were going and practicing child sacrifice, well, that would be illegal here in the United States. And certainly the civil government could say no, that whether or not you claim that that is a part of your religious practice that is against, the. The Civil Code of the United States. And so there have been. There's a whole line and precedent Supreme Court case law that deals with that clash and that tension of where is the line between what the civil government can enforce and what the church or any religion has the right to practice. And there is a tension between freedom, that is protected under the First Amendment and rights that come from God our Creator versus the legitimacy of the civil government. To say that is not, a religious practice that is covered under the rights that come from God our Creator. And if we are a, A If we are practicing civil government legitimacy under the authority of God our Creator, then those lines are very, very clear. And it's very easy to draw those distinctions because nothing that a true Christian church would practice in our worship and in our religion and in our belief would ever violate civil government principles. And that's why it's very easy for the Christian. If we are practicing our faith according to the word of God and civil government is being legitimate in terms of not infringing upon our God given rights, then it's very easy to live out your Christian faith and be a good citizen in civil law. It's the same, same thing. It's very easy to be a fine, upstanding member of your family as a Christian. And if your family rules and governance system is just, if it is righteous, if it goes along with God's ordinances for the family. Right. And so all of these things are supposed to be, when they operate functionally according to the word of God, then they, they are parallel and, and co, equal branches if you will. Because each individual is supposed to be part of a civil government, a church government and a family government under God's ultimate authority. And they are supposed to work in unison, and without contradicting each other. But where the tension point comes in is, and the confusion I think is where the, the left and some Christians are suggesting that Sharia law is an act of Islamic religion and their faith and therefore the civil government has, in the United States has to acquiesce to Sharia law. Because that's how in some circles they're saying this is how Muslims practice their faith is being subordinate to Sharia law. Well that Sharia law is trying to exchange one legal civil legal system for a religious legal system having parallel courts. And it, it has different criminal penalties, it has different family law rules, it has very different treatment of people based on based on sex and religion. It doesn't have what the law requires, US Law requires is equal justice under the law. there are so many different conflicts and Sharia, due process even under that legal system that is fundamentally incompatible with the U.S. constitution. And it's not the same thing as just saying, well like for the Protestant, if we're under church authority, then we can still be under our church authority and still be a good citizen. And under the civil law of the US Constitution, well nothing in for example my church's functioning discipline, system and jurisdiction is incompatible or tries to replace or override the civil government in their jurisdiction. Sharia law does that and it's completely incompatible. And so what religious freedom under the First Amendment actually means is the freedom to believe, the freedom to worship, the freedom to exercise our religion, but not the freedom to rule in a civil government context. Christians don't impose law, our church discipline law through the courts. The pastors don't go to a judge and say, you know, judge, will you as a civil magistrate affirm what, the church discipline that we've handed down. But that's what Islam does with Sharia courts. So we have to be very clear that parallel religious legal systems cannot abide with the US Constitution and its fundamentally in conflict with American law. We'll be right back with more.

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 : welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.

Florida is focusing its education on academics and not politics

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, speaking of, the institution of the civil government, it's really good when civil government leaders actually do their job and protect things like students in, state funded institutions. And that's exactly what my home state of Florida is doing with our Florida, Commissioner of education, Anastasios County Kamutsis, who I actually had the pleasure of finally meeting in person last week at the Federalist Society dinner. That was super fun. But he put out a post on social media and I'd really encourage, everyone to follow him, especially if you're in Florida. But even if you're not, it's just a great example of what your state should also be doing. And you know, you could take some of, what he's doing and go to your state's commissioner of education and some of the school boards and be like, hey, why aren't we as good as Florida. But this particular post is saying we will not tolerate educators encouraging school protests and pushing their political views onto students, especially ones that disparage law enforcement. Under the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida's education system is focused on student achievement, not ideology. Classroom instruction provides students with the academic, academic foundation they need to succeed and schools must protect that time. That is so true. And we're even seeing I saw a report yesterday about a school I think it was in it might have been in Minnesota, it may have been in a different state, but where a parent was really frustrated that one of their one of their school children m Was not looked after and actually harmed when all of these protests and kind of these walkouts were going on and the parent wasn't even notified. And so you know these are things that just shouldn't be happening. But Stasi, Kamuntas joins us now and I think this is great that Florida is focusing our, our education on academics and not politics.

Florida Commissioner of Education issues memo regarding student protests during school hours

Anastasios Kamoutsas: Well thank you for having me Jenna. It was great seeing you last week. And you know this is an important discussion this morning because you know this was flagged for me by parents, by superintendents, by members of the legislature contacting our office regarding student protest activity that was occurring during the school day. And so I want to thank all these folks who brought this matter to my attention and honestly for their leadership in elevating concerns related to student safety, instructional time and the appropriate role of public schools. We're seeing teachers in schools across the country that are actually encouraging students to protest and even celebrate harming law enforcement officers in some instances. I know I saw Libs of TikTok shared a post this week talking it seemed like it was out of the Boston area where students were holding signs chanting no Donald Trump. And these look appeared to be elementary age students. in NewSong York you saw or alleged teachers had students shovel snow and pass out signs for protesters during the school day. You heard in other parts of the country hundreds of students were congregating, blocking entrances to stores and causing disruptions throughout the area. And as these events occur across the nation we make it very clear that this will not be tolerated in Florida. And that's why I sent a memo to school district superintendents providing guidance regarding the recent protests that are occurring on these schools campuses. the memo clearly outlines the expectations for students and teachers as well as school and district based leaders. I want to be very clear though, students do not lose Their constitutional rights when they walk onto a school campus, they do retain the right to free expression, including the right to peacefully protest. However, those rights do not extend to conduct, excuse me, to conduct that disrupts, instruction. so when it enters, or if it interferes with school operations, or if it were to compromise campus safety, and so students who are choosing to violate either school or district policies or state law, they are not protected by these rights. and I want to be honest, I'm appreciative of the efforts that I'm seeing across the state, from superintendents, from school board members. Districts are really holding the line and taking the stance of not allowing students to walk out of class during school time. this aligns with district policies across our state. specifically, students are expected to remain in class and leaving the assigned area or campus without permission, including to walk out for a protest. You know, oftentimes it's going to be a violation of the student code of conduct and it could result in student discipline. so I want to thank the superintendents, I want to thank the school board members who are ensuring that our schools are focused on student learning. that is the point of public school. it exists first and foremost to provide high quality instruction in a safe and secure learning environment. I've made it very clear since I became the Commissioner of Education in June of 2025, my top two priorities are non negotiable school safety, student achievement. On these priorities, I'm not going to compromise. The safety and academic success of Florida students guides every decision that we make. Instructional time matters. And classroom learning provides students with the academic foundation they need to succeed in school and in life. And schools have to safeguard that every single day.

Jenna Ellis: So well said. And I could not agree more. I mean, those are the right priorities. And students should be going to learn, you know, instruction in spelling and math and, you know, some of the reading comprehension. They don't need to be indoctrinated or, or asked to participate in, in political demonstrations when they're at school. And a lot of these that are happening across the country, appear to be without parental notification or consent. And you know, schools should not be the breeding ground to say, you know, here you're in an elementary school, hold a sign that, you know, has some vulgarities. Ah, at ice and law enforcement. I mean, that's just teaching students then to be disrespectful toward law enforcement, toward legitimate civil government enforcement. That is, not what should be happening on school grounds. And you mentioned stasi about the, the fact, which is totally accurate, that, that students don't give up their constitutionally protected rights when they enter the door. They still have and retain certain rights. That goes for teachers as well. But but teachers should not be the ones that are promoting their own political ideologies in the classroom either.

Anastasios Kamoutsas: I agree. And we will not tolerate educators who encourage students to protest, during the school day, or quite frankly who use their position, to push a personal or political view onto students. educators who choose to share their negative opinions of law enforcement with students or if they are distributing anti law enforcement flyers while on school property, if they're encouraging students to protest or they're pushing an ideology in any way, shape or form onto students, we investigate that, it could be a violation of state law and state board of education rule. We look at these on a case by case basis. But the principles of professional conduct for the education profession, they outline the ethical principles all educators in Florida are held to. Educators who push their ideology onto students or encourage them to participate in protest, are violating these principles, particularly separating your personal views from those of a public educational institution. Or if teachers are encouraging students to protest during instructional time or are teaching about their personal views instead of Florida's state academic standards, they could be found to have reduced effectiveness in the classroom. So under Governor DeSantis leadership, instruction in Florida's classrooms, has remained very focused on education, not ideology. And we expect every teacher, administrator and district leader to uphold that standard. If there's conduct, by school or district personnel that diverts students from instruction or undermines classroom authority or even compromises student supervision, we, believe that violates the professional responsibilities and may warrant disciplinary action.

Jenna Ellis: And this just seems so basic and so obvious and yet there are so many states that it takes civil litigation or a parent or a student that is frustrated with the way that a teacher is pushing these protests or you know, something else that's going on in a public funded institution before, the state actually intervenes. And so, you know, why are some other states, education systems not concerned about the same, what it seems like basic priorities? Like folks, Florida is.

Anastasios Kamoutsas: Well, we pride ourselves on leadership here in Florida. It starts at the top. And you know, you've got the greatest executive governor, in our nation's history, in my opinion, with Governor Ron DeSantis, a man that leads with principles, conservative conviction, and he likes to get a front of these issues. And so I was fortunate. I learned from the best I saw how he governed. And quite frankly, I try to emulate that and work with our partners, our parents, our teachers, our districts, whether at the superintendent level or the school board level, to make clear guidance and expectations, laid out on the front end. I think it's important that folks understand, that we empower parents here in the state of Florida. and to that end, I do want to speak directly to the parents because my memo addressed them as well. Ah, you know, parents and families across the state of Florida, understand how critical instructional time is, and they have an expectation that classrooms remain focused on teaching and learning. and so when we sent the letter out to district superintendents, it reinforced that priority and ensured that instructional time is protected statewide. This is a direct response to the concerns expressed to us by parents. That is true parental empowerment. That is why Florida continues to rank number one in the nation across every single metric as it relates to educational freedom and parental empowerment.

Florida will opt into the federal tax credit scholarship program for school choice

I'm also been brought, you know, it's been brought to my attention by parents that there may be outside entities beyond Florida schools who are coordinating these efforts. And I can assure you we're going to be looking into that. We will get to the bottom of it. whether it's educators in the classrooms or organizations, outside the school system that are attempting to indoctrinate students here in the state of Florida, we're going to do everything we can to protect students and ensure that their school time is focused on, learning. protecting instructional time and maintaining campus safety are not optional here. They are essential responsibilities for all educators and administrators. I, you know, I've communicated, like I said, to superintendents across the state. I know that they're sharing this message with district leadership, with school administrators, with teachers and parents, and everyone is in agreement. Any violations of these policies, whether it's by students or by staff, it's going to be addressed promptly and appropriately because we have laid out that expectation from the top. and we are working with partners across the state to ensure that our student instructional time is protected.

Jenna Ellis: That's awesome. And for those who want to read that memo, it is up on X at stasi. Ah, Kamu. So again, I'd encourage you to follow him on X as well as the, Florida, Education commission and their X page. And you also talk about how there is so much, much, to celebrate for the state of Florida by, Florida's historic graduation rate, and the number one ranking for education freedom and the newsletter for January, From your desk also highlighted, and recognized America's upcoming 250th, birthday. And teachers are encouraged to share, books including what is America? And share, you know, that love of patriotism. what are you specifically doing here in the state of Florida to encourage kids to understand basic civics and kind of cultivate that patriotism, which is such a contrast to some of these other educators in other states that are encouraging the ideology of being anti law enforcement and not understanding what a legitimate civil government is here for.

Anastasios Kamoutsas: Yeah, well, major credit to Governor DeSantis because this is nothing new here in Florida. we have a renowned civics excellence field, of excellence program, that when I go speak at places across the nation, folks recognize and appreciate. There's actually a bonus for educators who go through, I think it's a 55 hour course. they receive a $3,000 bonus for completing the course and they receive an endorsement for the civic seal of excellence. And so we're training our teachers to ensure that they understand the robust, rigorous civic standards implemented here in the state. We have a civic literacy assessment by which we measure students to ensure that what the educators are, instruction, are instructing is actually, grasped by the students. And we continue to push initiatives like the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative, where I was just able to join the great debate and students were able to debate over some very important civic discussions and do it civilly and do it in a way that appreciates civil discourse and dialogue. That's what we want to foster. That's what we're going to promote here in the state of Florida. And it's the direct result of the leadership of Governor DeSantis.

Jenna Ellis: That's so awesome. And you know, speaking of fostering great debate and civic literacy, you're also championing some, you know, Florida, debates among students. that's a really great thing. And I mean you're just doing so much. And then also, national, School Choice Week that occurred in January, reminding families what's possible when they are empowered. And so, Florida will opt into the federal tax credit scholarship program. that's so encouraging and important also for ah, school choice.

Anastasios Kamoutsas: It is. And for parental empowerment. we are very proud of our school choice program here in the state. It's the number one program, the largest program the country. Again, we continue to receive rankings across every metric as the number one state for school choice and educational freedom. our families average about 8,9000. generally speaking across the board in the scholarships that they receive for their child to be able to go to a private school by opting into the federal tax credit scholarship. Now what Governor DeSantis is doing is providing additional funding for those families, the low income families in particular, who, you know, private school is, we don't want it to be limited by their income. We want them to really, expand, their horizons, to have full flexibility as it relates to the opportunities that their children can be provided. And by providing that additional funding where a school might be costing 10,000, you know, 10,500 for tuition, now that family can utilize both the state scholarship and the federal tax credit scholarship to have the child go to the private school completely paid for. And it becomes a real possibility for these low income families. And so we're happy to support them and provide additional opportunity for students to benefit from school choice.

Jenna Ellis: Amazing. Well, Florida continues to lead the way. I know everyone listening in every other state is totally jealous that I get to live in free state of Florida. So Stazi, thanks so much for dropping by. You can follow him at Stazi Kamutsis and you can also always reach me and my team. Jenna F R.net. PreBorn's whole mission is to rescue babies from abortion and lead their families to Christ. Last year PreBorn's network of clinics saw 8,900 mothers come to Christ. Please join us in this life saving mission. To donate, go to preborn.com afr.

Faith-driven analysis of politics, life issues, education reform, and defending constitutional principles in modern America.

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