Transcript

Today's Issues continues on AFR with your host, Ed Batagliano

>> Ed Vitagliano: Today's Issues continues on AFR with your host, Ed Batagliano. And welcome back, folks. Ed Battagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon all week. The boss will be back in the chair next Monday. This coming Monday, I'm joined in studio by Tony Vitagliano. Dr. Alex McFarland joins us remotely. And now we welcome Steve Paisley Jordal. But, Steve, we keep introducing you as Steve Paisley Jordal. Have you worn Paisley at all this week?

>> Steve Jordahl: Not yet.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Not yet.

>> Steve Jordahl: Am I okay? Not yet.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They're working on our, tech.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah, I have not yet worn it. I can do it tomorrow.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I like that shirt. Thank you. It's, kind of a keyboard thing going on.

>> Steve Jordahl: Kind of a keyboard thing. And I've got a choir practice or rehearsal tonight, so I'm going to and dressed for the occasion.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Listen, I. I probably should do this privately, but. Are you losing weight? You look like you've, lost some, some weight. Maybe it's just a T shirt.

>> Steve Jordahl: No, I went to the doctor, and they said I'm terminal. They've only given me 40 more years to live.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, 40. 40. How old are you?

>> Steve Jordahl: I'm, 65.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You want. You want to be alive when you're 105?

>> Steve Jordahl: I don't think you want to be that long.

Steve Osterman plays some interesting sound from around the world

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, Steve o. Get us started here.

>> Steve Jordahl: I have just some, interesting sound that I've been listening to. and I played some of these things before. these are, mostly related to what's going on in the world. the Charlie Kirk assassinations, your reactions to it in some instances. but let's just jump in. the first cut I want to play for you guys is a little bit longer. It's a lady called Batya Ungar Sargon. She is, a former Newsweek editor. She was talking on News Nation's Elizabeth Vargas reports, and she was on, a panel with, Elizabeth Vargas and Geraldo Rivera. And they got to talking about this Both Sidesism, where you, know, hey, well, you know, there's violence on both sides. Let's crisscross the aisle. Let's shake hands. Let's just, you know, tone down the rhetoric. she was having none of it.

There's a lot of calls for unity after Charlie's death

Cut eight.

>> Speaker B: There's a lot of calls for unity now. I love calls for unity. There's also people saying there are both sides are to blame. This is a problem of political violence on both sides. I want to just explain briefly why this is so offensive to people on the right to hear right now. It's because it is not true. It is asking them to bear the burden of the guilt that harmed them before Charlie's body has even been buried. They are being asked to assume half of the guilt for a crime committed against their side, the likes of which there just is no parallel from right wing violence to left. Has one Democrat come out and said, I apologize for calling Trump Hitler? Has one Democrat come out and said, I apologize for calling Charlie Kirk, you know, hateful or spreading hate speech? Has one Democrat come out and said, I regret saying that the right are all fascists and Nazis? No. So I want to take this arm that's being held out to me in unity. But, you know, you can ask for unity instead of revenge, and you should. You cannot ask for unity at the price of the truth. And I am being asked, in order to take that hand, to co sign a lie to that. There is no guilt at the upper echelons of the Democratic Party, which I.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Have never said any of those things.

>> Speaker B: Haraldo, you get the Geraldo. You can't apologize because you never said it. But what about aoc, who said it? And what about Kamala Harris, who said it? And what about Joe Biden, who said it? And what about Chris Murphy, who said it? What about Gavin Newsom, who said, we're going to punch them in the face a week ago? Where's the apology? When Donald Trump says something and it leads, God forbid, to an assassination of a huge figure, then I will apologize. Then that will be the time to ask me for the apology. But right now, the greatest avatar on the right was murdered in cold blood because he told his family the exact same things that every major Democrat says on the regular. That's where the guilt is.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, Alex, that was a little bit of a longer clip, but, that was just a brilliant defense of, of the, the fact that I don't want to be unfair here, but the violence is repeatedly being committed by members of the left. And, you know, it may seem unfair to people like Geraldo Rivera who don't use that kind of language, but overall, who, what was this lady's name again?

>> Steve Jordahl: Her name is Bhatia Ungar Sargon.

>> Ed Vitagliano: She goes down a list of people who have been saying these things. And what I, what I really appreciated was she took her stand on the truth. And that's. Truth is something that's, fluid on the left. They don't even believe there is a truth. She took her defense on what's true when it comes to the language. That's used in political discourse.

>> Alex McFarland: that was a brilliant, brilliant statement there. And so accurate. You know, I've been to a number of TPUSA events. In fact, I'll be speaking at one tonight, and I found out where it is. If I can mention that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Absolutely. Please.

>> Alex McFarland: I've got a. I've got a point, I need to make here tonight. I will be at Forward Church. This is in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on 4011 Bell Terry Boulevard. It's spelled B E L L E T E R R e. Forward Church, 6:30pm tonight. It's a TPSA faith event that I'll be speaking at. Here's my point. when BLM would come to a city, they would board up the windows because of all the expected vandalism. when a figure on the left, died, you know, there was rioting in the streets. when. When Charlie and his team came to town, no windows ever had to be boarded up. there was no looting, There was no vandalism. There were no cars set on fire. And now, as she said, the greatest avatar on the right was gunned down. And what was the result? Prayer huddles and a, renewed commitment to speak truth to our neighbors and save our nation. So she was right. I mean, it's time the left owned the. The mayhem that they have created and encouraged.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, Tony, there is clearly, and this is my opinion, I think it's shared by a lot of people. There is a revolutionary element to the Democratic Party. And what we used to just call the left used to. Used to be liberal and conservative, and within the liberal movement, and it's breaking out of that kind of traditional liberal movement, is a radical revolutionary element. You know, a lot of people, I think I'm right on this. A lot of people may not know, but I think the word vandalism was a term that came from the French Revolution. Okay? So, so when people say. Well, they're just. It's mostly peaceful protests, and yes, they. They. They're angry. So they set buildings on fire and they looted businesses. Okay, this is vandalism. we're not talking about killing people. Okay, well, first of all, vandalism comes from a revolutionary mindset. But now they are killing people.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, I am getting. I get very tired. I was tired of it before this whole situation, but, especially in light of the Charlie Kirk assassination, I'm very tired of being told, don't believe your lying eyes.

Democrats trying to play both sides on white supremacy issue is gaslighting

So, I know the word gaslighting is thrown Around. You know, everybody uses it in their almost daily vocabulary at this point, but it is. It is gaslighting at the highest level for the left to, now try and extend this olive branch and say, well, look, we just need. We all need to come to the table and. And, you know, we all need to come together and sing Kumbaya and, you know, this is a. Both sides issue. It's. It's very clearly not, if you've been paying attention over the last eight years. It is an exclusive, almost exclusive issue, on the left. I. I mean, and. And when I say gaslighting, you had the Biden administration's focus. They put out the. A strategic Manual for law enforcement in 2021 about white supremacy being the number one right threat, domestic. For domestic terrorism in the country. Nothing ever happened. The one thing they would point to which isn't even linked to white, white supremacy is January 6th. That's the only thing I could ever. And that's. That's what they'll keep on hammering until, until the end of time. But almost exclusively, every act of, you know, public mayhem or violence has been on the left. And I think I have a theory that one of the reasons why these, politicians, these Democrats, are kind of not. They obviously say the. The platitudes of, you know, this is horrible, this, you know, political violence has no place. But rather than taking ownership of the radical element within their own party, they kind of tried to say both sides and we need to come together. I think part of the reason they're doing that is because they recognize that if. If we started condemning the radical, antifa, leftist, Marxist element in our party, I could be next. They'll. They'll go to the ballot box and vote me out.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Mom.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Donnie, you know, looks, like he's on a trail to victory in New York, is a clear example of these Democrats, who may be a little more moderate, having to toe the line for their own sake or they'll get primary or they'll get primaried.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah. You're not. You're not for, you don't think what happened, was justified, you know, with the United Healthcare CEO being shot or with Charlie Kirk, well, then you're next on the chopping block. And I think that's why they're kind of trying to play both sides.

>> Alex McFarland: And, you know, Tony, the whole woke, dei, worldview and narrative they've said, and we heard this from Kamala Harris and others, America is structurally racist, constructed, intentionally Willfully built so as to suppress minorities. you know what? I think we should ask, any Democrat running for office, unequivocally yes or no. Yes or no. Do you thoroughly support the US Constitution as written? Yes or no?

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's the answer. They're going to. They'll obfuscate.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, yeah but, but I mean here's the thing. And every voter, this, this is, this is what you need to know going into the voting booth. Yes or no, will this person support the Constitution that for a quarter millennia led to the world's greatest nation, most stability, most prosperity, most liberty, most innovation? I mean seriously, second only to Israel under King Solomon. The greatest nation in history has been America when we were living by our Constitution. So you know I say I'm a single issue voter and that issue is the issue of life, legal protection for the unborn. But really every Democrat needs to be able to steer into the camera and unequivocally no vacillating yes or no, do you support the U.S. constitution? And if you hold public office with everything you've got, will you support, defend, uphold the Constitution. But see the Democrats can't do that. And this, this is like death by a thousand cuts what they're about. And folks you need to believe it. from, From Hillary Clinton to AOC to the Squad to Ilhan Omar Mamdani, the Democrats are against the United States Constitution.

>> Steve Jordahl: This is all going to play into. I know you've already talked about what we're going to talk about tomorrow. All this directly ties into what we're going to talk about tomorrow.

Tony Ball: America is a systemic, Systemically racist country

I heard someone online last night say America lost its student pastor. I thought that was an interesting way to put that. and to your guys point I want to play you a couple things. There is a young man now who has been elected the President, elected the Oxford Union, which is the debating society in Oxford, England. Oxford is of course the home of C.S. lewis and, and all these great minds and they host debates. Charlie Kirk was one of the people who went to debate there against them. And they have a new president elect. His name is George Abaronier. And he was talking to the assembled the union this week and he said some things just cannot be redeemed. Talking about a reason or an excuse for violence.

>> Speaker F: Cut 13 to effectively create change in the world we desire. Inside Prop will argue that at times there is simply nothing else that can be required other than violent retaliation. And this is a view I wholeheartedly agree with. The view that Some institutions are too broken, too aggressive, too oppressive to be reformed. Like cancers of our society, they must and they should be taken down by any means necessary.

>> Steve Jordahl: There you go.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right. So that, to me, Alex, that. That to me is the mindset of the revolutionary. Okay? And, you know, whatever form that may take, whether it's BLM and the whole DEI movement, America is a systemic, Systemically racist country. or whether. I don't care if it's white supremacy, I don't care if it's cultural Marxism, the transgender movement. I. I don't care. The idea is that you cannot redeem the system the way we're doing it. You can't vote out the problems. You just have to burn it down and start it all over again. That is the utopian mindset, of establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth without God. And it is the mindset of every revolutionary movement from, you know, the French Revolution through the communist revolution in, Russia. All those movements all say, you can't change it using the status quo. And, that's. Listen, this is why the DEI woke movement continued to say, if you're white, you're. You're not only racist, you will always be racist. You can't reform yourself. There's nothing you can do to change it. And what this gentleman, said was what they. What they think they. He said it out loud.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, yeah, and this is critical theory. I mean, one hallmark of critical theory is, you know, blame the. The one you're accusing. It's the critical theorists that, say that we conservative Christians are, quote, an existential threat, whereas they're wanting to torch and burn down the house. It's this scorched earth mentality, like that guy in that quote. It's irredeemable. Burn it down. They say that we're the fascist when it's the Democrat left that wants to squelch free speech, discourage any debate or discussion, and take away your religious freedoms. And so, you know, the average person listening might say, well, gee, I didn't wake up this morning and really want to get into a deep, philosophical, spiritual battle. But that's, You know, Benjamin Franklin said, everybody loves the fruits of freedom, but few are willing to tend the tree that bears the fruits. I'm saying this, folks, prayerfully, lovingly, vocally, for God and country. We are all conscripted into the battle.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And Tony, I'm going to get to you here in just a second, folks. The very least you can do if we're just talking about Politically, certainly, spiritually. You can pray, you can listen to American Family Radio, you can get the magazine. We are constantly pumping out information, resources that are very helpful if you want to get involved. But here's the bare minimum. Get registered to vote.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Half of Christians, my understanding, maybe this has changed a little bit over the last decade. Half of Christians aren't even registered to vote. And then another half are registered but don't bother to vote. This is a bare minimum of taking responsibility for our culture and the politics that oversee that culture and speaking your mind at the ballot box. Ballot, ballot box.

Tony Frum says radical left increasingly recruits young people for violence

Now, Tony. One of the things that's been very troubling has become very clear not just in the wake of the Charlie Kirk assassination, but over the last eight years since, since Donald Trump walked down. So I guess it's more than that. Ten years. But since Donald Trump walked down, took that elevator, the escalator to, to announce he was running for president, the left has unmasked itself. And we are discovering that an entire generation of young people has been subjected to this critical, theory that, Alex was talking about. And I don't know what the percentage is. The, the percentages I've seen about young people who believe violence is, is okay in politics and that conservatives shouldn't be even allowed to speak on college campuses. There's an alarming percentage of young people who are like this Oxford Union student president, are wanting to burn it down.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, well, they, and they've grown up not being taught anything about, what the actual founding of this nation looked like.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Tony Vitagliano: What the, where the freedoms they enjoy come from. They've been indoctrinated in college. And look, there's a reason why almost every revolutionary movement in history, and more recently, obviously, the communist, revolutions in various countries across the world, start with. They recruit young because it's just, it's easy to get young people to. They're zealous. Right. It's easy to get them worked up. It's easy for them to be passionate about something. and so.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And they can be thrown into the meat grinder.

>> Tony Vitagliano: They can be thrown into the meat grinder. So you get them to take to the street and they become your foot soldiers. And again, that example of that, man at Oxford, again, the left would, you, would listen to that and they would tell you, well, what he really means is we want to affect change nonviolently until they are using violence. And it's part and parcel for the radical left to, when they're not in power, wielding the levers of power in government to resort to violence, to disruption. When they are in power, you see things like using the state against their enemies in various ways. I think about COVID you know, shutting down church services. Well, that's wielding the power of the state to target, ah, a group of people that they feel is a threat. And that would be Christians and churches. So, yeah, absolutely. again, they want you to believe. Don't believe your lying eyes. And they want you to believe that, we don't, you know, this is not their fault. And, you know, they just want you to carry on. And both sides that, I guess.

>> Steve Jordahl: Can we change?

Joe Biden was complicit in allowing FBI to use intelligence against Donald Trump

I have a whole new topic, something I came across.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, we did the whiplash thing with Jenna. We can. We can do it. Go. Yeah.

>> Steve Jordahl: All right. You remember, the, Crossfire Hurricane, which was the, FBI's, use it for guns. Well, no, they used it to target, Donald Trump.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Steve Jordahl: This is the Joe Biden, white, House. They were complicit in allowing the FBI to the, intelligence. All the intelligence to get the, whatever there's called where you. Oh, I can't think of the name.

Chuck Grassley says another whistleblower has uncovered another FBI operation called Arctic Frost

Anyway, it's not the only one. Chuck Grassley was at a hearing yesterday and he is talking about another whistleblower that has uncovered another, operation called Arctic Frost. And he has declassified these records as of yesterday. Listen to cut 14.

>> Speaker G: Arctic frost was the FBI case opened and approved by antitrust Trump FBI agent Thibault. Arctic Frost then became Jack Smith's elector case against then Citizen Trump and now President Trump. These new records show that Arctic Frost was much broader than just an electoral matter. The case was expanded to Republican organizations. Some examples of the group that Ray FBI sought to place under political investigation included the Republican National Committee, Republican Attorney General's association, and various Trump political groups. In total, 92 Republican targets, including Republican groups and Republican linked individuals were placed under investigative scope of Arctic Frost.

>> Steve Jordahl: That includes TPUSA was one of those groups.

>> Tony Vitagliano: I think that's right. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, listen, we're just about out of time. Let me dump something on you. I want. Can we revisit this tomorrow if. I don't know if we'll have time in your segment because we're going to talk about the Ben Shapiro stuff. Yeah, tomorrow. this is Banana Republic stuff. But you know what? A lot of times we use the term Banana Republic and you think of bumbling, politicians in South America somewhere wearing a beret, and you don't take it seriously. We're talking about the federal government targeting, using federal power, law enforcement power, to target political enemies. And, my fear is that no one's going to go to prison over this. I mean, we're continually seeing the left operate beyond constitutional means and nothing happens to them. Now, folks, please understand me. I'm not talking violence here. I just want people to go to jail if they have broken the law. So, listen, I get you worked, up. I'm getting all worked up. All right, folks, we'll see you tomorrow, God willing.