: To be more competitive and actually be. A product and an, environment that's.

 : Actually going to benefit kids. And you're also going to allow other innovative educators and people who work in the education field to start charter schools or start private schools or extracurricular activities that kids can access and supplement their education. So rather than taking funds away from the public schools, it's actually going to help public schools as well as everyone else who works in the education space. I'm Chris Woodward for American Family News. I'm Musketeer Kee. If we lose this cultural war, we're going to have a hedonistic, humanistic society. Discover the story of the Culture warrior Don Wildmon and how he went head to head with Hollywood playboy, the homosexual agenda, and the Disney empire. The movement Don started paved the way for Christians to boldly stand for truth and righteousness in a hostile culture.

Jenna Ellis: Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar running for Minnesota governor

Watch Culture Warrior today for free visit culturewarrior movie Jenna 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 to 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, January 29, and all eyes are still on Minnesota, for a variety of reasons. In fact, Tom Homan, who has, now been sent to Minnesota, he's, basically the border czar for the Trump administration, who I personally think will do a much better job than Kristi Noem, with the situation ongoing in Minnesota, is, standing by, to hold a press conference with Trump supporters there on the ground. So, we'll have an update for you if they start, that during this hour that we are live, Meanwhile, just a few minutes ago, an announcement, that Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar has launched her bid for the Minnesota governor just weeks after Tim Walls said he would not seek reelection following political fallout from the state's massive Somali daycare fraud scandal. This coming from Fox News. Klobuchar said these times call for leaders who can stand up and not be rubber stamps of this administration, but who are also willing to find common ground and fix things in our state. So my first question for Klobuchar, and, we will, of course, invite her on this program as a candidate. It will be shocking to me if she accepts. But you know, hey, we're here, we're always willing to talk. And my first question to her Will would be, well, what are you going to do about the Somali, daycare fraud scandal? Because isn't it shocking that nobody is talking about that. We are only talking about the ICE confrontations and the two individuals that were killed following those confrontations. Which in fact is the other breaking story. That new footage appears to show Alex Preddy, that individual, who was killed by ICE in that altercation, a few days ago, kicking and spitting on a federal agent's and just trying to insert himself into their business and obstructing him as as early as two weeks or about a week before the incident that led to his death. So this is why facts matter. I continue to say that we need to wait for all of the facts about a scenario to come out, context around it before we can just go, you know, on social media and trust some of these influencers that are ranting and raving about how terrible ICE is and suggesting that somehow they should withdraw from Minnesota. But that's all that you see across TikTok and Instagram. In fact, I was talking to my good friend Meg Basham M last night from Daily Wire who was saying that she's going to focus on a lot of these Instagram, particularly female influencers that are just, you know, wanting this like love and compassion sort of woke Christian nonsense that are not actually coming from a biblical worldview. And we absolutely agree, here because I am going to be launching a TikTok. In fact it is up already. You can tell your kids your grandkids to follow if they have that platform at Real Jenna Ellis, because we are going to start posting more videos on TikTok and Instagram, Facebook obviously, X. that's a little bit different of a platform on X. It's a little more politically driven. and so we're kind of targeting more of where the young people are going, on TikTok and Instagram in particular to combat this whole narrative, that is just being spewed everywhere from leftists and woke Christians with biblical truth.

American Family Radio is launching a social media campaign aimed at young people

So helping me, helping me with that is Hannah Creel. You may know her as my neighbor and Jack, Jack's mom and one of my favorite people in the world. But she also happens to be a social media expert and she is helping me with those platforms and videos. So she joins me this Morning. And good morning Hannah. And I think this is just perfect moment to launch this kind of a, of a campaign, if you will. this is a social media campaign to to really target some of these platforms and give young people a way to go and say, well, wait, if I'm looking at all these videos and I don't know what the biblical answer, the truthful answer is, now they have a place where they can come and get answers.

Hannah Creel: Hey Jenna, good morning. Thanks for having me on. But yes, you're so right. And we've been thinking about this and having these conversations for a while now. this is where the younger generation is at. They're on TikTok, they're on Instagram, and you know, even we had those thoughts of is this really the space for you to be on that you wanted to be on. But you know, the truth is those platforms, TikTok, Instagram, they're really shaping how people think every single day, especially younger generation. They have questions, they're seeing these headlines. ICE is a great example right now what's going on in Minnesota. So instead of backing away from it, we just felt like it was really important to step into it and do it well and do it truthfully, from a biblical perspective.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. And to go where the young people are is so important, because we obviously want as many people as we can listening to this program, to our other programs on afr. But you know, the reality is, a lot of young people are not necessarily aware that, that we're here yet. And so we want to to go to those platforms where the audience already is, in addition, obviously to, to having our, our great radio and podcast platforms, but then to you know, to give them those short form videos and hopefully say you know, for even more. You can come here and you can listen to some of the great pastors here that are on American Family ra. All of this content that some who might be confused about what they're seeing on those platforms, they don't have the biblical answer. Maybe their churches aren't teaching, through some of these answers and they're kind of staying away from the controversial headlines in politics. They need to have those answers.

Jenna Bash says response videos are the focus of the younger generation

So, so what's the, what's the strategy in your mind in terms of doing specifically response videos? Why is, is that medium, really where the focus is for young people right now? Because I find as a millennial, I find it fascinating that your generation actually calls people on the phone, actually listens to videos with the sound on. You know, some of those things that I actually feel really old that I don't do anymore. But, why is that the focus of the younger generation?

Hannah Creel: I mean. Yes. So response videos, for anyone who isn't familiar, it's a newer style of content where influencers, creators, just anyone on social media can take a, viral clip, a headline, a comment, a cultural moment, and directly respond to that clip or whatever someone else is talking about. Instead of asking someone to care about a new topic, you're joining an existing conversation and those response videos are directly plugging into what people are already talking about. I think a good example of this and one of our motivations to kind of get this going is I'm a little bit different. I am in the younger generation. but I view, I think I view social media content a little bit differently than a lot of people my age. but my sister is, you know, a great example. She's in her 20s, just like you said, she's not going to turn into a radio station. so she would come to you and ask all of these questions about things that are happening in the world or videos that she is seeing online and kind of just, you know, not looking for a hot take. She genuinely wanted to know what the Bible actually says about what she is seeing and hearing, whether it's from her friends or something on social, and she was listening and really taking in and trusted what you had to offer from a political, whether, you know, it's a, your political opinion and how it ties back, you know, to the Bible and what Christians as we should think. So I think that's when it really clipped for me and that's kind of our strategy moving forward is to kind of go after the people like my sister who are asking these questions. And there's a lot of young people out there doing the same thing. They want to have somewhere they can go that they can trust and, and get a good thought process of what's happening in the world.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, my, my little brother as well, who's you know, in his 20s is the same way. I mean on our family group chat, you know, he is very involved in news of the day and politics and things and and is a very solid Christian just like your sister, and wants to know, okay, I'm, I'm seeing all of this and he'll send, you know, reels from other people and say, you know, well, Jenna, what's the response to this? You know, and so we'll kind of go through it and, and so realizing these aren't just, you know, two, two people that are coming to us because, you know, we know them, Hannah, it's that, you know, they're a representative sample of so many more young people who are Christians. They're looking for truth, which I think is so amazing about this generation and such an opportunity that they're actually looking for answers and that we can influence them toward, a rational biblical perspective and give them content that can combat these narratives. Because if we don't, who else will? I mean, there are a couple of examples. in some spaces, you know, people I'm thinking like Allie Beth Stuckey, you know, good friend who has a lot of biblically driven content, especially, you know, for women and moms. you absolutely have, you know, the, the journalists like Meg Basham. but really, you know, I think we're in a unique space, to have a biblical and legal view from, you know, from my experience and background, to be able to, to do some of these videos with biblical truth and with authority based on my experience. And now taking your social media expertise of understanding these platforms that I don't as much, I, think that's going to be such a great forum to be able to offer, young people who are genuinely searching for truth. Hey, here's the biblical response.

Hannah Creel: Exactly. And what I love about this for you, Jenna, is it's not changing who you are or what you're doing day to day. You're already explaining these things clearly and, you know, biblically and truthfully. It's just putting those conversations and these topics in front of people who might not be tuning in anywhere else. And this fits so naturally with the mission of afa. The message is not changing. We're just meeting people where they are.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. And saying, you know, here, now we can have this dialogue. Because, as Proverbs says, you know, the first person to come and state their case seems like they're, they're accurate until another one comes and proves him wrong. And I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but basically you need both sides. And it's not just both sides. When you're talking about a perspective that's wrong, it's distorting, the, the Bible or it's factually wrong or legally wrong or morally wrong. so it's not, it's not both sides, as in, you know, pick your truth. It's that if you, if there's only One side out there that's claiming to come from a fact based or a moral quote unquote compassionate side or biblical truth, then, and nobody is correcting them then it's only leaving content on these platforms for for biblical Christians who are young to be influenced and maybe trust what they shouldn't. And so I'm very excited for this and I hope that all of those listening, if you have an Instagram or Facebook, please follow me on those platforms at Jenna ellis Media, the TikTok. Probably not a lot of our listeners have that, have ah, that platform but I'm sure that you know at least one or two young people that have that platform. So follow us there at ah, real Jenna Ellis. We're going to be posting those videos and, and I would invite you and we said this yesterday and I was really excited Hannah to get a lot of response actually saying give us your ideas. If your kids or grandkids or you see a Facebook reel and Instagram reel that is you know maybe well meaning or maybe is a total woke leftist that you think would be a good response video because it's gotten a lot of engagement. Send it our way jenna.fr.net and suggest some of these videos. what are some Hannah, that you know we're, we've seen lately. I know we have a couple posted already. but what, what do you look for in a response video for us to to respond to?

Hannah Creel: Yes, and I think this is where we're going to have some fun. There's really not a whole lot of boundaries because I think that there's a lot of topics out there and I think it's limited in what we can respond to. So you know some ideas, you know I think and kind of pulling from my own experiences and my sisters and you know, other people. I know. You know another topic that we talked about doing is you know with just the political climate, it's you know, how do you navigate friendships where maybe you don't always see things eye to eye? You know, is, is that okay? Where, where is the boundary with that? When is it no longer a good beneficial friendship if you have someone that just believes things and sees things a lot differently than you. So like that's one topic, we can really dive into another one. You know I sent you on this morning the Minnesota conversation is just everywhere that what's going on there, the narrative. So I, I think yeah, that'll where I would love to have you jump.

Jenna Ellis: On and yeah that's awesome. We gotta end it here, Hannah, but I so appreciate, you jumping onto this. We're gonna be so excited to see, see how it goes and I personally would love to see other AFR hosts eventually jump on this as well. And, we'll see how it goes. Follow ELGINA Ellis on TikTok. We'll be right back with more.

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Wesley Biblical Seminary trains pastors and Christian leaders through biblical education

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Christian leaders say Chick Fil A has waffled on same sex marriage

Hello Americans, I'm Todd Starnes. Stand by for news and commentary next. Christian leaders say Chick Fil A has waffled on same sex marriage. More than a decade ago, Christians around the nation rallied to defend the fast food restaurant after gay marriage activists declared war. They tried to put Chick Fil? A out of business after the son of founder Truett Kanthy said marriage is between one man and one woman. But it appears there's been a cultural shift at Chick Fil? A, A, Utah franchise posting photos on its Facebook page celebrating the marriage of two men. In recent years, Chick Fil A stopped donating to Salvation army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes after pressure from m gay rights groups. Governor Mike Huckabee said his decision to lead that nationwide campaign to support Chick Fil? A was his biggest regret. And many loyal customers are wondering if Chick Fil? A's values were simply a marketing ploy to endear themselves to Christians. Regardless, traditional values have been taken off the menu at Chick Fil? A, just like the chicken salad sandwich and the coleslaw. I'm Todd Stearns. Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.

Marco Rubio urged patience on efforts to rehabilitate Venezuela's oil industry

Welcome back.

Jenna Ellis: Well, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in the Senate yesterday talking about Venezuela. And the Hill had five main takeaways from Marco Rubio's testimony which urged patience on US Efforts to rehabilitate Venezuela's oil industry and eventually return the country to Democratic, governance. And the secretary's remarks came during, a hearing on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio's first appearance before lawmakers since the Trump administration's operations. The the Hill calls it audacious. Very interesting. And that resulted in the capture of Venezuela's President Maduro, earlier this month. So a couple of their takeaways is that Rubio doesn't take military force off the table. they said, they quote Rubio saying the president never rules out his options as commander in chief to protect the national interest of the United States. He set low expectations for a pace of change. And so obviously the timing is going to be a, little longer. And Rubio said, I can't give you a timeline of how long it takes. It can't take forever. But it's not even been four weeks. that is pretty fair. Third, Rubio says current oil scheme fix is a short term fix. Rubio corrected, one of the senators From Wyoming that U.S. was not imposing a quote, unquote, blockade on Venezuela, saying that would be an act of war, but that the US Had a quarantine in place to control oil experts. and also, both sides were frustrated with the lack of transparency, which was obvious, between the banter between, Rubio and, and Republican and Democrat lawmakers.

David Grantham: What did you make of Marco Rubio's testimony yesterday

So let's welcome in David Grantham, who is an author and former intelligence Officer, what did you make of this testimony yesterday from the Secretary of State and where things are at with Venezuela?

David Grantham: Yeah, thanks for having me. I thought, you know, my first impression, if I just get, you know, a high level view is the Trump administration and President Trump in particular benefits enormously from having Marco Rubio as the Secretary of State because he is in his, he's in his element testifying to the Senate. He knows the people, he knows the questions they're going to ask. He understands, the approach he needs to take to counter and, or weave through their different, their different comments and criticisms. So, you know, there's very few people in the administration, I think, that are, that are in a position to communicate the priorities of the Trump administration, accurately, calmly and as sophisticated as Marco Rubio. but I think his overall points were well taken and I'll just point to two of them really. I think he made the point that the senators, often want to hem in an administration by getting you know, extracting promises and he refused to do that. He said, no military options always on the table. And it comes off as some sort of maddening, phrase or interpreted in the media, something more frankly more extreme than it actually is. He's merely saying, no, we're not, you're not going to hem us in. those are options. number two, he explained precisely that Maduro had a arrest warrant out for him. So this was a legitimate operation. And to this movement from dialogue and talking to action always scares elected officials. They live in a world of issuing statements and things of the like. So to have a president that's so action oriented always startles people. And so I think Marco Rubio was able to hone in on specifics on why the action took place and exactly the benefits of that action and why we moved from talking to action and also was able to navigate and keep open the options. The administration didn't fall victim to making promises or letting them, him and the administration to their, to those senators wishes.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, and I think that was really smart of him. I mean he was forthright certainly in. And I didn't see the entire hearing, but at least from, you know, the clips and the reports that I saw, he he was very confident, very forthright, but also didn't get ahead of the President, didn't get ahead of what may need to be on the table in the coming weeks and months. I mean they obviously have a handle on the situation, but a Lot of things can change. So I agree with you that you know, he's not setting up the administration to have to answer to Congress if, their strategy changes later. And so, you know, when we're talking about a Secretary of State talking to the Senate in this type of context, what really is the purpose anyway of ah, of Rubio going and testifying to to the Senate and, and even answering their questions about what's going on in Venezuela?

David Grantham: Well, I think the administration has made, has made it their objective, from the beginning to be as transparent as possible. And I think this is just another example of them putting people out there, letting them speak to speak to the policies of the administration openly. And I think that's the overall objective of having him there. They don't have to do that, obviously, but it's in good taste. It's. The American people deserve to know the details of how those things went down. And so I think the Trump administration is sticking to its plan of.

Jenna Ellis: Transparency, which is always a great thing. We, we need more transparency in all aspects of government. And that's definitely a good thing.

The administration is trying to use oil to help stabilize the Venezuelan economy

Okay, so when, when he's talking about the oil industry, I know that that's been a huge focus, particularly on the, the foreign stage with you know, with China as well and some other countries that rely on the Venezuela's oil industry. And so what role does this play? And from what Rubio, was talking about yesterday in the US Policy strategy.

David Grantham: Yeah, the oil I think has taken. It's been used as something to bludgeon the administration and I think, frankly inappropriately. And obviously those that disagree with the policies administration are looking for any opportunity to find a reason. And I think oil has kind of become that. And there's several reasons for that. Primarily because Venezuela, it is first and foremost natural resource that funds its economy comes from oil. Now the challenge for Venezuela is it has heavy crude, which just means it's like a tar substance that has to be refined, and it also lacks storage capabilities, as Rubio pointed out. So the attempt with oil and the focus on oil within the post Maduro Venezuela is really to use it to stabilize the Venezuelan economy. And I thought Rubio articulated well how they plan to manage that resource for the Venezuelans, not for the benefit of the United States per se. And that's where I think there initially people were trying to use oil as the reason for invasion, which is it sells well publicly, but on its Face it's kind of silly. The US exports, is one of the leading exports of exporters of oil. So we don't necessarily need oil, it's more designed to help Venezuela because that is their primary resource. That's going to be really the only way to build back their economy. So Rubio explained that there will be funds that are slated specifically for rebuilding that capacity, for selling that capacity or selling the product and selling it at fair market value, not cheaply, to cronies and adversaries like China, but allow people around the world to purchase Venezuelan oil at ah, market price and have that, have the proceeds of that go back to the Venezuelan people.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, and I'm speaking with David Grantham, who is a former intelligence officer and that's a great point that, you know, a lot of people misunderstand, the us, our posture on oil and where, where that fits into the overall foreign policy, strategy. But what I've heard, and you know, from other guests on this program as well, is that it may well may not be for the US's own interest in terms of reliance ourselves on oil. Other countries like for example China, do get a lot of their their oil from Venezuela. And so is there still an element, do you think of strategy that went into this, or, or has it come out that the the strategy for the United States, I mean that may be a collateral benefit to kind of put China back on its heels. But the overall strategy was really just focused on Maduro, just focused on Venezuela and you know, some of that obviously the administration will just use as a, you know, maybe collateral or tertiary benefit.

David Grantham: No, I think you're, I think you're exactly right there. Any action the United States takes is not going to have, it's not going to have a singular benefit, an action that, to remove Maduro and then to leave in place, largely even place the people that were around him. those sorts of decisions often if not always have multiple benefits, multiple contingencies. And I think you really hit the nail on the head that the oil can be used to benefit the Venezuelan people and help rebuild the Venezuelan economy. But the collateral benefits are that it simply having US control over how it's spent and how it's developed, or at least U.S. oversight that negatively impacts China, who greatly benefits from receiving discounted oil, and others, Russia, who have been sending Venezuela different sorts of technology and oil refinery refining, material. So it certainly has collateral benefits and undermines those adversaries that need to be undermined. And it does it in a way that doesn't require boots on the ground, it doesn't require kinetic engagement with an enemy. It merely, merely undermines their economic capabilities. And that can be equal to the benefits of supporting the Venezuelan people.

Is US policy aimed at actually changing the Venezuelan government or simply changing behavior

Jenna Ellis: And when Secretary ah, of State Rubio urges patience, is this patience with reform or with regime change itself? Because, at some point patience becomes a risk of becoming a de facto acceptance of the regime currently staying in power. And do you think that the, the us, the current US Policy is aimed at actually changing the Venezuelan government or simply changing its behavior? Because I think those are two very different strategies with very different outcomes.

David Grantham: Yeah, the. Well, it's going back. The Trump administration chose this path primarily because of what we learned in the Iraq war. And I served in the Iraq war. I was an intelligence officer there. And I saw firsthand on the ground what happens when you remove a government official, even one that's not recognized, illegitimate. When you remove the head, you have to be very careful how you extract the rest of the body. And in Iraq they, as a refresher, Paul Bremer, who led the change there in Iraq, they removed all the ba'. Athist. And the challenge in the Ba'ath party was the party of Saddam. And when they did that, they said nobody who, and this is just one facet of it, but it was a significant one. They said nobody who had Ba'ath party affiliation could be part of the new government. Well, the problem with that was everybody was a Bass Party affiliate, by dumb luck or otherwise, it was a matter of self preservation to be part of the BAATH Party and some for many people. And so what that did was it cleaned house and it left a, shell of government and they didn't have anybody to run it. So Trump has said multiple times, you know, we didn't want to do that because back in Iraq all those people turned to ISIS or turned to insurgency. What we want to do, we think better is to allow all of these people are corrupt and they've worked for Maduro. We think it better to keep them in place, and manage them rather than gut the whole thing and try to rebuild it. so I don't think there is a, I don't think there is some infinite wisdom. I think they just, there's, you know, geopolitics is a world of trade offs. And the trade off was it's easier to manage the devil, you know, then, then Just then bring in the devil you don't know.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, yeah. So well said.

David Grantham: Success would be ultimately free and fair elections

And in just about the last minute we have with you, I, I really appreciate it, David Grantham, your time today. what is ultimately the end game for the US Interest and what would success actually look like there?

David Grantham: Yeah, I think success, as Marco Rubio pointed out yesterday, success would be ultimately free and fair elections. And that, that's going to be a, a tall order, for, for the administration to get there. and I think Rubio was right to, to make, sure everyone understood they need to have patience in that process. this isn't going to happen quickly, but that ultimately is going to be the end game. A stabilized, political apparatus that allows for free and fair elections. And then secondarily is going to be the free flow, of oil that there is a process for how it's sold or how it's refined, made, harvested, sold, and the funds of that brought back to Venezuela and benefit the Venezuelan people in a legitimate way.

Jenna Ellis: All right, well, David Grantham, you know, this is a really interesting, story that we're continuing to follow with everything else going on in the country. Really appreciate your time. We'll be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the morning.

Mark Gregston shares his heart encouraging couples through infertility and miscarriage

 : Hey, moms and dads, are you at your wit's end? Hi, this is Mark Gregston with Parenting Today's Teens. I'm so grateful for the partnership we have with American Family Radio. We share a common goal to bring hope to hurting families through the life changing medium of radio. Be sure to listen Saturday afternoons at 4:30 Central on American Family Radio. Find help and hope for your family with Parenting Today's Teens. Fostering and adoption is not a band aid for infertility. Like it is a calling and God can change the desire of your heart and make that so rewarding. It's the most, beautiful, selfless thing. It's pure religion, but it's not a fix to I desire biological challenge. God has to deal with that in your heart separately.

 : Hannah's heart encouraging couples through infertility and miscarriage. Saturdays, 4:00am Central on AFR or on the AFR app.

American Family Radio features the Hamilton minute from Abraham Hamilton III

Ah.

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Congressman Byron Donalds claims he was in Florida legislature when school choice passed

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, sparks are in the Florida governor's primary between two of the Republican candidates, for our Congressman Byron Donalds and former House Speaker Paul Renner. Donalds posted a video late Tuesday night claiming he was present in the Florida House legislature when universal school choice was passed, when in fact universal school choice was enacted in 2023 under Speaker Paul Renner at a time when Donald's was in Congress, not the Florida legislature. So Renner's campaign has, issued a statement and also a response video from, Renner saying that misrepresenting legislative history is misleading to voters and undermines the integrity of the public record floor. Floridians deserve honesty. We are calling on Byron Donalds to immediately delete this false video from all platforms and issue a public correction. So here are the two videos back to back. First one from Byron Donalds and then the response video from Paul Runner. This is cut three.

 Paul Renner: Hey everybody. I'm actually back in Tallahassee and I remember my time in the State House. We were arguing for universal choice and we got that passed during my time in the Florida House. It's National School Choice Week, and we want to make sure that everybody understands that our number one mission is to make sure that every child, regardless of zip code, is getting the best education possible. So it's actually kind of ironic that, I'm back here in Tallahassee, kind of where it all began to a degree. But we argue for school choice here, delivered universal school choice here. We want to see that same thing happen for every child in America.

Jenna Ellis: God bless you guys.

 Paul Renner: Take it easy, Byron. You know that's a lie. Let's have an honest campaign with voters. So I wake up this morning to see Congressman Donald's on video literally claiming that he was here in the Florida House when we passed Universal School Choice. Byron, you know that's a lie, because I passed Universal school choice in 2023. You were nowhere near Tallahassee. You passed the Hope Scholarship, HB1, which was political theater and barely moved the needle. That was not universal school choice, and you know it. I know you have a thin, thin record, both in the House and in Congress, but do me a favor and don't run on mine. Let's have an honest campaign with voters. Let's tell them about my experience in yours, my record and yours, and let them make a decision honestly.

Former House Speaker Paul Runner is running for Florida governor

Jenna Ellis: All right, you heard them both. Well, let's welcome in, former House Speaker Paul Runner, who is a gubernatorial candidate in the great state of Florida. So, so far, Paul, Byron's camp has not deleted this video.

 Paul Renner: Yeah, I mean, I. My wife passed me this video, and I had to look at it a second time because I thought I got to be hearing this wrong. He must be saying something, and there must be some ambiguity there, and he. What he meant to say. And. And, you know, there's only one universal, obviously, Jenna, which means that every kid in Florida has the right to this scholarship. And, you know, school choice started under Jeb Bush way back in the 90s, and we kept growing it. The bill Byron, was involved in, the Hope Scholarship, was for kids that claimed they'd been bullied. And I don't know what the numbers are, maybe a couple hundred students, but it didn't move the needle. Universal School Choice, in its first year, had over 120,000 new students in it, bigger than the entire state of Arizona's school choice program combined. so he was nowhere near, Tallahassee. He left in, 2020 to run for Congress. And, you know, it begs a couple questions. If he's Lying about that. What else is he hiding from us or lying about and how little record he really has that he's got to run off of Mine.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, it's a great question and I think for voters in Florida, you know as someone who is now in Florida but, but you know I remember when I was still in my former home state of Colorado just kind of you know watching things on the news and everything. Unless you're here like on the ground and involved in local and state politics. There's a lot that really doesn't get communicated just from cable news hits which seems to be Byron Donald sort of go to audience and so what in, in your knowledge and opinion of your record Byron Donald's record is really important for Florida voters to know?

 Paul Renner: Well it's you know a Grand Canyon ah gap between us. And so those two big productive years in 2022 through 2024, you know James Madison called it the session of the century. We did universal school choice, we pushed back against esg, corporate welfare. We passed the Heartbeat Protection act. We ended dei. We protected kids on social media from online pornography and addictive media platforms. You know we did constitutional carry to protect our second amendment rights. And the list goes on and on and on. And he has really no record. He spent his entire career advancing himself politically for this moment. He was telling US back in 2016 he was going to run for governor. When he was in our class he ran against me for speaker. So we were in the state House together for four years. He had an unremarkable record then. He has an unremarkable record now in Congress and is coming in to get a job promotion when he's really not shown up and delivered for the people that he represents. And so people are sick and tired of politicians who go into office and it becomes all about themselves. Whether it's self promotion on the media or it's getting rich in office or you know, other, other things that politicians do that really disgust us and has not shown up to deliver the big wins. The governor said as much on many occasions about Congressman Donalds. People who know him know that he's been someone who's been opportunistic his entire time in office from day one. ah, in comparison as a former veteran we focused on the mission. I'm not going to let ego and arrogance and all that comes with politics get in the way of delivering results for the people of Florida. We're going to lean in. We help build the state of Florida into what it is and we're going to keep it going. Nobody wants to go backwards after Ron DeSantis.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And I think that's what Florida voters really want to see is someone who will follow in the legacy of Governor DeSantis. Not to be exactly the same, but it's the same way that we want someone on the Supreme Court to replace Justice Scalia with someone just as great. Right. Instead of going backwards and saying, okay, we have this seat for conservatism, for great leadership, for the executive in particular, for governance, and we don't want to go backwards or have you know, kind of a Republican in name only or somebody who's squishy or as I have, have learned, through you know, social media and otherwise that Byron Donalds was a Democrat, in fact like right before he started to run for office. And as your social media accounts continue to push out, you know, some of his policies seem way more in line with the Democrats, Democrats than Republicans, like being soft on crime. He had a statement, that was actually pro George Floyd. I mean, you know, back in 2020 we all remember the whole Covid narrative and you know, a lot of these things that really don't add up to being a Republican, at least in the sense that Florida wants for to follow Governor DeSantis. But it seems like there is a, there's a wide gap between the perception of, of Byron Donald's versus the reality of his record.

 Paul Renner: Well, he gives a good speech, he gives a good interview. you know, he's missed a lot of votes in Congress giving interviews and not really shown up to do his own job. But you know, I think it's, it's evident if you look at times when he's dropped his guard, he has shown and even in the state House he pursued busting our truth and sentencing law. So everybody's supposed to serve 85% of their sentence. And it was a, it was a big, big reform because we had these criminals that soft on crime policies in the 70s and 80s in high crime. And this was one of the things that made Florida safe. He wanted to go back to 65%. So a guy gets a 10 year sentence, he's on the street corner in six and a half years. And then in the case of George Floyd saying that we have a problem of police brutality in America. And regardless of what you think of that one incident, are there bad people and law firms and teachers and cops? Sure, you can find a bad egg somewhere. But the idea that there's some systemic problem is what is the language of the left, that we have a problem with police that are itching to, you know, beat up somebody or kill somebody. And so he's shown himself to be weak on crime and on the wrong side of the law and law enforcement his entire career. I'm, the only prosecutor in the race and have been strong when it came to all things law enforcement as speaker, one of which was the HALO act that we passed during that time, which says you've got a 25 foot buffer. When police say stand back, I'm in the middle of an arrest or trying to do my job, you have to stand back. And if you get in their face like some of these people have done, you can be arrested. That probably would have saved a life, in Minnesota. And so we got after it. We've leaned in. It's less talk, more action for me. He's been all talk and self promotion his entire career.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And Governor DeSantis has been very clear that Byron Donald's in terms of policy is not aligned, with him. And yet he hasn't taken at least yet the step to endorsing, ah, any other candidate in this race for the primary. And, and in fact an interview dropped yesterday, from Julio, Rosas and his, his mostly peaceful media. You can see that full interview at his substack. And when he asked Governor DeSantis, about giving an endorsement, DeSantis said this, quote, I've gotten involved in some primaries, but it's usually when there's a candidate that's really speaking my language and I'm really excited to get behind. So if that happens, then people will know if I make that judgment. It's not then, you know, it's just what it is. You have to wait and see. You got to be right on policy. There are policies that get proposed even in a Republican state that are not good policies. And you've got to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff on that. And DeSantis goes on, to say that he'll look at the field around spring. this kind of flies in the face of one, of the other, ah, candidates, in this race, current Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins, who has basically been running on his appointment and almost on social media saying, you know, hey, because I was appointed Lieutenant governor, that that means that I'm running with DeSantis and almost, you know, not quite, but almost trying to parlay that into, you know, hey, so therefore I'M endorsed. what's your response to that?

 Paul Renner: Well, look, a campaign is a long, months long job interview, and we get to observe people under pressure. We get to observe and look deeply into their leadership experience and their record. And, you know, I've seen them post a lot of, videos where the governor was saying nice things that are six months old. And so, our perspective on people change, over time. And I think if you look at my record, what you'll see is someone who, at the age of 23, was on the deck of the USS McInerney in the first of two wars I served in 20 years later in Afghanistan. I've had positions of trust, leadership under pressure my entire life.

Byron Donalds is running for Florida House speaker against Congressman Donalds

I've been a consistent conservative, in my 10 years in the legislature, and especially as speaker, when I could control what bills moved and what didn't move. And I listed some of those for you earlier in the program. And so, if you want somebody who will keep the free state of Florida, I was a key architect in building it. And, you know, the speaker is next to the governor, probably the second most powerful person in Tallahassee, because you move those pieces of legislation, and the governor can only sign what's sent to him. And so all those things I listed were, things that the House of Representatives really drove. We had good partnerships with the Senate and, frankly, with, the lieutenant governor on a couple of bills that he helped with. but the point is, you've got to have somebody who has been leading, and I've had that in the military, as a prosecutor. I was picked in leadership positions, and, of course, you know, running 500 or so employees in the state House in guiding that legislation through for two years under a lot of controversy. And people ask, you know, are you going to stand up and not buckle? Well, just look at my record. I've done it over and over again, and, stood up to a lot of special interest and a lot of heat coming. And I could care less whether the media attacks me. When they attack me, I know I'm over the target.

Jenna Ellis: So do you think it sounds like, from everything that the governor said, including on my show, a couple weeks ago, I know that you've seen that clip as well. do you think the governor has leveled the playing field?

 Paul Renner: Well, sure he has. I know there's no question about it, that he's not picked anybody in this race. we know where he is on Congressman Donald's because he's been very vocal about it and said the things I'VE said today, which is there's zero leadership experience. I'm not aware of anything he's ever led. there's no record of substance either in the House or in Congress. And the governor rightly wants somebody who has been a leader. And so. But you've got to go out and raise the money. You got to get, you know, in front of the voters. You got to do all those things. And it's right for anyone in the governor's position to wait until people start paying attention more to this race. Many people, you know, probably are not focused, on the race yet. Those of us that are in politics and active in politics are. And so as that develops and we see that this is becoming a two person race between me and Congressman Donalds, which I believe it is already then at that point, you know, we hope to obviously have the governor's support and most importantly the support of true conservatives in, this state. You know, there's a difference between a campaign conservative and a true believer. And I'm a true believer.

Jenna Ellis: All right. And you can go to voterunner.com and also follow the former House speaker on X and Facebook and Instagram and also now Tick Tock. and also at Runner War Room, which has gotten a lot of attention, actually and the Floridian had a, an article out. Paul ah Renner Target spoofs Byron Donalds with unique social media strategy. there have been a lot of these viral memes that I've even heard from people in Tallahassee that are just, you know, loving it and wanting to follow this. you know, is this part of the overall strategy to show Byron's record? but kind of maybe with a little bit of, fun and humor as well?

 Paul Renner: That's exactly it. And people need to know the truth. And so we're laying out the truth. We're putting the receipts on the table, both the negative ones about him, that people need to know. They need to know what, what they're signing up for. He's hiding behind, you know, an endorsement and a bunch of money he's raised and not going to the voters, not talking candidly about those questions of leadership and results because he doesn't have any. And, and we're also telling the story about mine. And that's a positive record, a very positive record that's been consistent and somebody who's not afraid for the fight, who will take on the left, whether it was Amendment three and four and we'll go wherever we have to go because the left hasn't given up and they certainly haven't given up on Florida. You've got to have somebody who's willing to go into the fight. I've done it in the military as a prosecutor and a speaker. And, in the end, when people have a fair comparison between me and Congressman Donalds, I'll be your next governor. And Congressman Donalds will not, thankfully. And, he needs to go back to Congress around, really back home, in my opinion.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Speaker Paul Renner, for coming on the program. And I would encourage, everyone in Florida to not only plan to get out and vote in the primaries. Primaries matter. The primary In Florida is August 18th. If you're in a state where your, governor is up for a reelection, or like in Minnesota, Tim Walls is not running. While this is an opportunity for, you to change leadership. So these positions absolutely matter. Get to know all of the candidates. Follow them. Don't just follow what they say about themselves, follow them. look at their record and look at what they will actually accomplish. It's so incredibly important as much as, if not more even than, the presidency, because we still do have 50 laboratories of democracy, as it said. So as always, you can reach me and my team. Jennaafr.net.

 : The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio. Faith, Family, Freedom. American Family Radio. Teenage years can be a time of, trial. It can be really difficult, but it can also be the most fun and the best years of your parenting. Dr. Jessica Peck is a pediatric nurse practitioner as well as a professor, author and mother of four. Dr. Peck is host of the Dr. Nurse Mama show weekday at 2pm Central and find her podcast@afr.net. this is American Family Radio, a listener supported ministry of the American Family Association. American Family News. I'm Rusty Pugh.

Nearly 298,000 homes and businesses remain without power in Tennessee and Mississippi

The situation for people trapped in homes. In Tennessee and Mississippi without electricity is reaching a breaking point. Officials say it could be days before power is restored across the south and more sub freezing temperatures are expected by Friday. The growing misery and anxiety comes amid. What Mississippi officials say is the state's. Worst winter storm in more than 30 years. Roughly 298,000 homes and businesses remain without power last night. The vast majority of them are in Tennessee and Mississippi. At least 70 people have died across the US in states affected by the dangerous cold. More business leaders are contributing to so. Called Trump accounts for American newborns. Sharon Halpern has more from the White House. A provision of the major tax bill passed by Congress last year creates Trump. Accounts, giving all American babies born between. 2025 and 2028 a, ah, $1,000 investment linked to market index funds like a retirement account. Now we're doing something much better than. Giving the next generation a handout. We're giving them ownership of America's future. At a forum on Wednesday, President Trump. Urged parents to open accounts for their.

 : Families as more companies announced matching funds and contribution programs. Parents can contribute up to 25 home.

Jenna Ellis takes a deep dive into the pressing issues surrounding education reform and the cultural battles we face today.