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>>  : This is at the The Core on American Family Radio.

>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome to The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us on this edition of at The Core with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green. We're your host each week on the program. I'm with you most Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Rick's with you on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And we've got a fresh show full of content, news and commentary for you today.

Acts Chapter 14 is where we have been this week

let's turn our attention to the scripture. Acts, chapter 14 is where we have been this week. Acts, chapter 14, looking at verses one through seven. Now, it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude of both the Jews and the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city divided was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles. And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Laconia, and to the surrounding region. And they were preaching the Gospel there. So what I've been pointing out this week, and as with many passages you can point out and teach on them and highlight things for a long time. But for the sake of time, what I've been pointing out this week is that the apostles, while they did flee because their lives were threatened, they were undeterred from the preaching of the gospel. And so they were found in their new city, Laconia, preaching the gospel. And that is what we should learn is that we should, should also be undeterred of the teaching of the gospel and the proclamation of the gospel. That's Acts, chapter 14, verses one through seven.

Questions now being raised about possible contempt charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci

Well, this segment we're gonna do somewhat of a wrap up of the Anthony Fauci testimony or lack thereof, before the U.S. senate. Dr. Fauci pled the Fifth Amendment on 111 occasions during this hearing. That wasn't much of a hearing. And it has caused quite the stir. And there's questions now being raised about possibly contempt charges before Congress and referring those over to the doj. And we'll see where that goes. Senator, Ted Cruz has a pretty strong opinion that Anthony Fauci could be charged with contempt of Congress because of his refusal to answer questions, especially questions that aren't related to any criminal prosecution or allegation. And that's what the Fifth Amendment was intended for. And as written, it is intended to avoid self incrimination or answering questions about criminal activity or charges, by force. And so. But when Anthony Fauci is questioned by Senator Josh Hawley about what color the carpet is or what day of the week it is, and Anthony Fauci pleads the Fifth, my friends, that is not what the Fifth Amendment was written for. That is not what the Fifth Amendment is to be properly used for. But as we saw with Lois Lerner and the IRS under President Obama and as we see with Anthony Fauci now, these are people who are wanting to avoid accountability and avoid answering for their actions. So what do they do? They improperly plead the Fifth and in Lois Lerner's case they refuse to prosecute her and she gets away with it. And so we'll see what happens with Dr. Fauci. Nonetheless, let's go back in history. Let's play a couple clips, whether it be from the COVID pandemic or even from this week with Dr. Deborah Birx. the first clip I want to play here is it's a montage to set the stage of how the media was talking about you and me, how the media personalities were talking about people who were, quote, unquote, unvaccinated, refusing to wear their mask, casting doubt on the six foot social distancing, distancing hoax, which now we know is unscientific. And let's play this clip of this is just a brief, glimpse into the, into the, into the time period during COVID where people who were Skeptical of the response were being demonized day in, day out. Clip two. We've been patient, but our patience is wearing thin. And your refusal has cost all of

>> Montage: us people who are incubators, for every variant to come walking around lawfully unvaccinated, that's psychotic. For the unvaccinated, you're looking at a winter of severe illness and death for yourselves, your families, and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm. in a world of threats and tyrants and terror, you know what our biggest enemy is in America? Our fellow Americans, they are the ones that are propagating this outbreak. Being frustrated that there is still a percentage of the population who are not vaccinated. I wish that he would go further to restrict the activities of the unvaccinated vaccinated person. Having a heart attack. Yes, come right on and we'll take care of you. Unvaccinated guy who gobbled horse goo. Rest in peace, wheezy. You're. That's 25%. Can cause a lot of damage. And they are. If you're willing to walk among us unvaccinated, you are an enemy.

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, there you have it. Those are their quotes, not mine. No conspiracy theories, no putting words in people's mouths. And that clip could have went on, by the way, for minutes longer, of the montage of well known politicians and media heads, demonizing you and I for not wanting to participate in this grand experiment called the MRNA vaccine. And, you know, it's one thing if there was nothing on the record indicating the fact that these folks knew better, but when it comes to Anthony Fauci and others, they knew better. How do we know that they knew better? because their very own research and data suggested otherwise. For example, there had been numerous studies on the impact, or the lack thereof, on social distancing. Six feet, 12ft, 100ft, whatever. And what Dr. Fauci ended up admitting on national television is that there was no study that said six foot is the magic number. There was no study backing up this six foot social distancing. Instead, Fauci admitted that they pulled it out of thin air. So we were lectured about the six foot social distancing gospel, where we all stand on our little bubble in the checkout line and act like we're being virtuous, when in reality, that meant absolutely nothing. Zero. Science was used to back up six foot social distancing. They literally pulled it out of their pocket. That was a confession. all of the other pandemic response about, isolating and locking down Healthy people who are not sick is never backed up by the data. That has never been a scientific approach to a pandemic response. Locking down healthy people, never. And Dr. Birx here actually comes clean and says that the Democrat states actually overreacted. And she even alludes to the fact that if we could go back, locking down healthy people doesn't make any sense. This is clip three. It's interesting, by the way, we're starting to hear from other people that were on his writing a book. Right.

>> Walker Wildmon: Deborah Birx, who at one point led the coronavirus task force, weighed in yesterday.

>>  : Here's what she said.

>> Dr Birx: If you get on test, instead of quarantine people who are exposed, you just only tell the people who are infected to stay home. That is a very different approach. It worked fabulously in universities. It's why we were able to keep them open. And Secretary DeVos was working on keeping K12 open. There were solutions, but it became very political. And we all have to be aware because it was a presidential election year, it was really important for blue states to show that they were taking it very seriously and they over closed. And we just have to be honest that that happened. And that's why that discussion from both sides of the aisle and a resolution and a way to go forward is critical so that we can do this right in the future.

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, that's, that's. It could have been her response. Could have been worse. That's her reaction this week, by the way. number one, I don't want to do this in the future. I don't want to do anything like this in the future. So no thanks on that. but she's admitting there that, hey, we overreacted. And I would rather her say we overreacted than be like Anthony Fauci. And I plead the 5th. I'll plead the 5th. I'll Plead the 5th. So I think Deborah Burks has an ounce of humility that Anthony Fauci doesn't. So I appreciate that. Don't want to throw too much shade on that. But nonetheless, she was right there along with him. I mean, she was right there by the podium cheering him on. And, the fact about isolating healthy people is absolutely dumb. There's nothing in the science, nothing in the data, nothing in the pandemic studies that suggest it's a good idea to quarantine healthy people. That never made sense. But we did it. We quarantined the whole country. And they said, you may be a silent spreader.

Let's treat this like an influenza outbreak

Remember the silent spreader hoax? You may be a silent spreader. Well, I could be the case about anything. I could have the measles. I could have, anything under the sun and be a silent spreader. So let's lock everybody down. Let's destroy everyone's lives. But sometimes, the way we've done things in the past, there's some wisdom to it, and the wisdom of simply, if you're sick, stay home until you're better. That's all we had to do. Going back, all we had to do is treat this like an influenza outbreak, which a lot of the data suggests the influenza is actually more fatal than Covid. But nonetheless, all we had to do is say, if you're sick, stay home till you're better. But instead, we locked the whole country down, destroyed the economy, and brought the consequences of what we're dealing with today in inflation, lives being destroyed, marriages being destroyed, people that were killed during the pandemic, because of these terrible policies. And all of that was brought to you by Anthony Fauci and the Trump White House for months and months and months. And, you know, President Trump is distancing himself from Fauci now. you know, I appreciate that, but he's not fully exonerated. Look, President Trump, Vice President Pence, you know, they platformed Fauci for months. and until they straight up apologize about that and say they shouldn't have, they're not getting off the hook that easy. It's just not that easy to get off the hook, by just saying, I don't agree with him, and he did a bad job. Well, okay, he worked for you for a long, long time. somebody who had more wisdom than I did and quicker than I did was this gentleman, in the Washington, D.C. area. Anthony Fauci and others were walking the streets trying to doorknock and convince people to get the COVID shot during the pandemic. And this fellow right here, he wasn't having it. This is, we'll see how much we can play of this.

>> Man In the Street Surveyed for Vaxx: Clip one, the people in America are, not settled with the information that's been given to us right now. So I'm not going to be lining up taking a shot on a vaccination nation for something that wasn't clear in the first place. And then you all create a shot and, miraculous time. It takes years to create vaccination.

>> Anthony Fauci: Well, it used to take years. Okay?

>> Speaker F: It used to.

>> Anthony Fauci: You know how. You know how many years were invested in this, in this approach? About 20 years of science to get us to be.

>> Speaker F: 20 years is not enough and nine months is definitely not enough for nobody to be taking. No vaccination nation that you all came up with.

>> Anthony Fauci: The only reason I'm talking to you right now, as close as we are, is that I've been vaccinated.

>> Speaker F: Right.

>> Anthony Fauci: But if allowed, thousands of people like you don't get vaccinated. You're going to let this virus continue to percolate in this country and in this world.

>> Speaker F: Something like the common flu then, right?

>> Anthony Fauci: It's much more serious than the flu.

>> Speaker F: Well, the flu kills a lot of people.

>> Anthony Fauci: You know how many people died of the flu the last year? I mean not this year, virtually none. But the previous year, about 20 to 30,000. You know how many people have died from Cove 19 in the United States. 600,000Americans.

>> Speaker F: Well, well that, well, the number that you all given that died, that's, that's once again, that's you all's number you going past. Yeah, definitely. When you start talking about.

>> Walker Wildmon: There we have it. He says, ah, yep, I'm going to pass on this shot that you guys just launched in a matter of months and it's got billions of dollars in conflicts of interest tied up in it. Yep, I'm going to pass. And you know who's still alive today? That gentleman still alive. No Covid shot, no mask, no quarantine. And a lot of lessons learned over the past five to six years. We'll be back.

>>  : America's 250th birthday. It's a great excuse to have some extra cake and ice cream, but we can help your celebration go well beyond that. Show your patriotism with America 250 apparel that will become a memento of this special year. We also have special episodes on AFA Stream to help underscore that America is a Christian nation and help you find God in the Constitution. Find all of this and more in one place. Afa.net topics 250 at the The Core podcast are [email protected] now back to at the The Core on American Family Radio.

American Family Radio podcast features Chad Ennis talking about election integrity

>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us on the program. As a brief reminder, you can subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcast. Just type in the name of the program at the The Core with Walker Wildmon and Rick Green or any of those keywords at the core or our names. And the podcast will queue up in your library and you can click the subscribe or the follow button. Well, this segment we're Going to talk about election integrity, the SAVE act and why states, and the federal government, government need to clean up how these elections are run. Chad Ennis is with us. He's a vice president at Honest Elections Project and also works with Honest Election Project Project action. They're a, C4 and he's with us now. Chad, welcome to the program.

>> Chad Ennis: Hey, great to be here. Thanks for having me.

Honest Elections Project focuses on helping states improve their elections

>> Walker Wildmon: Well Chad, before we jump into the SAVE act and talk about what these states are doing and not doing when it comes to shoring up America's elections, tell us about the work of Honest Elections Project and give us a little background on what you guys do.

>> Chad Ennis: Yeah, we're like you said, a C3 and C4, want to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. and we support any policies that do that, making sure we account for both sides of that equation. Easy to vote and hard to cheat. Some of our friends like to forget about one side or the other. So we focus on that. We work in all, not all 50 states because some of them, you know, we can't get a lot done in, but any state we can get stuff done in to help, we're there.

>> Walker Wildmon: M. So let's start with let's start at the state level and then we'll work our way up to the SAVE act, which, who knows if that's going to pass and what version of it. We'll see, we'll talk about that. but primarily states, the Constitution and federal statute primarily delegates a lot of election code and election process to the state, legislature and state officials to regulate kind of the nuts and bolts in the daily operation of elections. And, and then obviously, you know, Congress can step in on federal elections and do whatever type of regulations they want there. but talk about some of these top problem areas, these sore spots that, that are happening at the state level that are like blatant problems need to be fixed but states just don't want to fix it. It's mostly Democrat states, but talk about some of these major like bipartisan problems that are going on at the state level.

>> Chad Ennis: The big thing right now, I think the biggest thing is list maintenance. We've got bloated roles. the blue states are very bloated. The red states are a little bloated. at least the red states are trying, you see this all over the place. we've had a great example, last week in New  Jersey where there were 6,600 non citizens registered to vote, and don't worry though, their press release said a little less than 400 actually voted, which is a problem. especially when you look back, over New  Jersey over the last year they had three elections that were either tied or within one vote. so 400 votes is 400 voters. That's a big deal. so these extra slots on our voter rolls, it's a problem. And it's not just New  Jersey, it's all over.

>> Walker Wildmon: So I can see as someone who's worked in business, in an organization, with data, lots of data, I can see the problem here. And that is to your point, we call it list hygiene in the IT world, list health, you know, data quality, all of those words that people would associate with. and that if you don't have a built in recurring process to handle the data properly, then to your point, these lists get just bloated. And you've got people who haven't lived in your state in years, you've got people who are dead on the voting rolls. and the Democrats are by default are incompetent on how they run things. That's why they run things into the ground. Republicans typically are more business minded and come from a business background and more conservative, so they at least try to do better on managing things. But, are these states, do they have any statutes? I'm, talking broadly here and you can give me some examples, but do these states just not have statutes on how the Secretary of State should handle this? Or is it open ended or they're just not doing it? What's the most common occurrence here?

>> Chad Ennis: I mean, I think mostly it's not doing it. voterless maintenance is about willpower. And as you said in private business you have bad data, what do you do? You fix it. And too many of these cases we've got bad data and what do we do? Ignore it. And it just gets worse and it snowballs. I, mean if you look at most states laws, you put your, you know, you put your head down and look at their law, you're like, okay, that should work, but you got to have someone who wants to do it. And a lot of these secretaries of states in blue states just don't have the desire to do it. good example, our friends in Kentucky, the preview, the previous Secretary of state, didn't do any list maintenance and now the current one is he's removed 750,000 voters from their roles in his, I think four years. it's about a third of their roles in Kentucky that he's cleaned. I mean, that is insane. And that is because one Secretary of state before him decided the list maintenance wasn't important and didn't do it.

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, the, the. Yeah, this is, once again, we're talking to chattiness with the Honest Elections Project. this is not hard stuff in 2026. And, and you guys know this. Y' all do it every day. But as far as recommending processes to clean this election data up, we're in 2026 with AI and, and servers that can spin faster than I can analyze data in seconds. And this can be done and very affordably, to your point, with the willpower. So, you know, there's just no excuse now, to not do this. It's an absolute no brainer.

Mike Johnson: President Trump is relentlessly pounding the SAVE act

Let's pivot to the SAVE Act. President Trump is just relentlessly pounding the SAVE act, and I got to give him credit for that, that he's sticking to it. Mike Johnson, the Speaker's done, his best he can to get it put in different legislation multiple times. Like five or seven times it's passed the House. Jon Thune's just, you know, he can't get people on board. And I get people's frustration at Senator Th, but there's multiple Republican senators, like more than a dozen, that just are not really conservative, and they don't, they don't agree with the SAVE Act. That's just a fact. So Senator Thune's having to deal with that. but what's your thoughts on the SAVE act and the process and whether you think we'll get any of that into statute?

>> Chad Ennis: I mean, this, the SAVE act is, is a good thing. We need to do it. as you said, I think, I think Senator TH is dealing with, you know, a caucus who doesn't really want to do it. Ah, so that, that's what he's. He's dealing with. I think he's doing the best he can. It sounds like they're, they're going to really try to push it into the reconciliation bill and, you know, use the old carrot with, with money to try to try to get blue states on board. we'll see if they can get past the Senate parliamentarian. That's always a challenge. but, I hope they do. I think they've got a lot of good ideas out there on how to do this with money. so we'll see. I'm hopeful. Hopeful but not optimistic. How's that?

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, I think the block grant type program through reconciliation is honestly the best thing we could probably get at this point. And I know that, you know, President Trump's frustrated with th. And I'm not saying th's like a, like a shining, you know, angel or something, but, he. The fact of the matter is, is that there, there are just multiple Republican senators like Susan Collins and Murkowski and even McConnell that just are not ideologically that conservative. I mean, they're moderate at best, and they're not about doing anything monumental, you know, that is, that is going to revolutionary change America in a good way. And so when you've got a bunch of milquetoast Republican senators and thunes counting votes, they're just not there. So, you know, can he do more? Maybe. But, but, but the caucus, the, the majority's number. Slim. Slim. And when you've got multiple that don't want to do it, you just, you hit a dead end road. what do you think about. How do you feel about where we're going here? Because Covid was an unmitigated disaster and the cheating and the harvesting and all that. You guys have been working on this obviously for a long time. Do you feel like we're moving in the right direction at the state level and at the federal level? What's your vibe right now on this?

>> Chad Ennis: I mean, I, at the state level, I think, you know, I hate to say it, the red states are doing a really good job. They've tightened things up tremendously, since 2020, and that's bar none. the blue states are just kind of sitting there. you know, I think in California, as bad as their last election was taking three weeks to get results, the only glimmer of hope I saw in that was I did see a few Democrats come out and go, this ain't good. so maybe they're learning their lessons and, but it's a long time to teach them.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And to your point, when the Democrats experience their own shenanigans in these primaries is when their attention is gotten. So. For lack of a better word. But, yeah, they don't like it when these incumbents, for example, get primaried and there's these ballots that show up at midnight. All of a sudden they're all about election integrity, but it's about a minute too late. so, but we, we've heard the clips, you know, for decades of Democrats being in favor of election integrity. And then President Trump comes around and, and they're totally anti election integrity. but I appreciate.

>> Chad Ennis: Well, you're. You're seeing it. You're seeing it on the voter ID stuff, right?

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chad Ennis: You've seen them say, we're for voter id, we're for voter id. Well, here's the bill to vote for voter id. Maybe I'm not.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. so, yeah, and their. Their excuse is lousy. You know, basically, they think minorities can't go to the DMV and get a driver's license, which is like. I mean, are we. Yeah. Are we that belittling of minorities, that they can't be adults and go get a driver's license? Like, is that what we think of them? It's just insane. if any Republican or conservative were to insinuate that minorities can't do adult things, we would be called racist day in and day out. hey, we've been talking to Chad Enos with, Honest Elections Project, or Annis, depending on, whether you're from Mississippi or not. but, hey, Chad, tell our folks, your website, how they can find out more about your work.

>> Chad Ennis: Yeah, honest elections.org, pretty easy. Honest elections.org you can take a look there. You can see our model policies, our. Our lists of, you know, good election policies and kind of propositions. so, yeah, head there and hope to see you out there in the. In the states.

>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely.

You guys are litigating in various precincts where you see election shenanigans

Hey, one more question. You guys are litigating as well. I see on your website you've got, you litigate in various precincts, and counties where you see shenanigans going on, right? Yeah, we've done a little bit of

>> Chad Ennis: that over the years. Would, you know, if we see a hole, we're not going to let the hole sit there. We're going to try to plug it. so we've done that over the years. We've been doing quite a bit of, amicus support at the Supreme Court and at the court's appeals, trying to make sure that the. That our voice is heard. And the folks interested in election integrity, their voices are heard as well.

>> Walker Wildmon: Excellent. Excellent. Yeah, you guys got a lot of good resources on your site for state lawmakers and policy folks at the state level to utilize. Hey, Chad, thanks so much for coming on the program and keep up the good work.

>> Chad Ennis: Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

Chad Ennis: We need to clean up America's voter rolls

>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely. That's Chad Ennis with, Honest Elections Project and Honest Election Project Action, and, he's the vice president there. We appreciate him coming on. They're working at the state and the federal level on election safeguards and, folks, this, this used to be a bipartisan issue, but the left has totally politicized it. And now, you've got Democrats, against voter id, even though we've got clips and clips and clips of them saying they're in favor of voter id. and, and, and to Chad's point, you know, maybe it takes a couple of Democrats having their election stolen from them in a primary, to get on board with election integrity. However, we got to get there. we've got to get there for the sake of our nation's future. And, you know, states like, if we can just chip away states like Kentucky, 700,000 records cleaned up, that's just absolutely phenomenal. if we can chip away one state at a time in that manner, a, lot of positive can take place. And this, this highlights, this is one of the instances that highlights the, importance of statewide office and holding these Secretary of State or Secretaries of State positions, the governorship, the, Attorney General's position, Attorney's general position, all of these, the statewide offices oversee very critical components of how the state operates. And when it comes to elections, you get one good Secretary of State in. In one of these Democrat states like Minnesota, Michigan, etcetera, You, can really change the outcome of elections just by cleaning up the voter rolls and ensuring that things are run properly. And we, saw that over the last few years, and the importance of Secretaries of State at the state level cleaning up America's voter rolls. So we'll keep tracking that. And, you know, it is a shame that we can't get the SAVE act, and we're probably going to get some version of it in this reconciliation package, but it's not going to be the full thing. It's going to be a block grant program, our grant program that, basically incentivizes states with money to implement measures within the SAVE Act. Now, how many Democrat states will, you know, sign up for the program to get this grant money? I don't know. We'll just have to see. I could see some of them, some, of these states implementing the programs just so they could get the money. But we'll see where that goes. and the midterms are going to be a pretty good kind of indicator of how we're going in this arena. Are we making progress? Are we not? How is this going? But I'll tell you one thing. Chad mentioned California. That mayoral race was, Was a disaster. That was a fiasco. And you had Karen Bass losing and, rather you had Spencer Pratt running neck and neck with Karen Bass going into a runoff. And then, and then they take weeks, three weeks to count ballots in a, in a municipality. This is not, and this wasn't the greater Los Angeles. This was Los Angeles proper. Granted, obviously it's a large city, but still Florida, I think now the third largest state in the union. Third or fourth. Florida counts votes. Day of, Florida, let's see, flautist population, over 20 million, in the state of Florida. I'm pulling up the exact number now. Nonetheless, Florida's okay. 23 million in the state of Florida. And they count all of their votes on election Day. And by roughly 9 to 10pm East coast time, all the results are in and everybody knows who the winner is. But Los Angeles proper can't count their votes. And three weeks, an absolute embarrassment. We'll be back in a few.

>>  : At the The Core podcast are [email protected] now back to at the The Core on American Family Radio.

American Family Radio welcomes back Chris Woodward for last segment

>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to The Core here on American Family Radio. Last segment now underway. Hey, we're going to be going to Greece on the Footsteps of Paul coming up in March of 2027. I can't believe I'm already saying 2027. And my, parents are going to be going to Italy in March as well of 2027. Those are going to be back to back trips. If you want to do one or both, you're welcome to do so. You can Simply go to tours.afa.nettours.afa.net to check out those dates and information. Chris Woodward is back with us. Chris welcome back.

>> Chris Woodward: Thank you very much.

Kevin Warsh left interest rates unchanged at Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting

>> Walker Wildmon: Well, Chris Kevan Warsh, this was, would have been his second meeting to, preside over as Fed chairman. Tell us what he did and didn't do.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, the big takeaway is the, the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates right where they are. so they're not going to bring him down like President, Trump and other people might want him to do. they're not going to go up, which is a good thing. there were actually three officials that voted to raise rates, arguing that inflation or the rising cost of everyday things is still too high. What was interesting was Fed Chair Warsh, welcomed the heated debate, calling it a good family fight. I don't often envision, a Fed meeting as, like a family reunion, where somebody argues over politics. But that's, that's how he described it. It is, a different era that we're in, though. He doesn't go out there and just drag on and on and on. and, to speak as if people are hanging on his every word. And they are going to be out there again. They have, decided to, look into this maybe again in September. We'll see what happens between now and then.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, I do appreciate his bluntness and his kind of no nonsense approach. and he was just like, you know, we're going to let the markets do what the markets want to do. We're not going to try to, you know, drop in these buzzwords that either bring down the market or prop it up or try to forecast, you know. He said, we'll let the private sector and traders and buyers and sellers handle this. And, it is what it is. But, of course, the knives are out for Warsh already.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes.

>> Walker Wildmon: Here's this on CNBC analysis. Fed Chairman Warsh's credibility in question after leaving interest rates unchanged. Chris guys, less than 60 days in credibility in question.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes. If he had come out and said, we're going to lower them, then the headline would be the Fed Chairman Warshes. Trump's yes, man.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, exactly. you can't win for losing. We cannot. Here's a cold, hard fact. We cannot afford a rate hike. We just cannot. Not only from a government, rate deficit standpoint, as far as the interest rate that the government's paying on refinance debt, not only from that vantage point.

>> Walker Wildmon: But also from a consumer standpoint. I mean, the consumer has absolutely been stretched thin from inflation. granted, President Trump has done his best to bring about some recovery and relief, but the consumer is still stretched. And you cannot, And the Iran, unfortunately, the Iran war, for better or worse, has served as somewhat of a detour, away from the Trump, economic recovery. And so I think on the other side of this, we'll be in a pretty good shape. But we are where we are. And, raising rates is just not appetizing right now.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, you mentioned the consumer.

Chris Bell: Fed rate hikes will do nothing to lower inflation

One of the things that I want to start doing for like a Monday, at some point throughout the day is to give our anchors a story where I take an issue and I try to get people to explain it to all of us, myself included, like we're kids. okay, so Fed interest rates, what does this mean for you? I did something similar a few days ago with mortgage rates. It impacts everybody. but when it comes to, interest rates, because they're not going down, that basically means that credit cards and loans, they're going to remain expensive for the time being, everyday prices are not going to drop. they're still going to remain expensive, not just for energy, but goods and services which are impacted by energy. And what could happen between now and September is some sort of a positive resolution to the war in Iran.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yes.

>> Chris Woodward: And gas prices and oil prices, falling, before they have that next meeting in September.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. yeah. I think I've have never been a true believer that the Fed's rate is directly correlated and caused there's a causation effect with inflation. I'm not saying it's not connected at all. But Chris to your point, when you have energy costs that haven't been apocalyptic, but they've been elevated, when you have energy levels that are elevated over the last six months, that is the driver of inflation. I mean, that's all there is to it. if the rate, if the Fed does a quarter point hike, that is going to effectively do nothing to inflation, when you've got the Iran war lingering, so they need to leave it alone. And the rates right now, honestly historically are not bad. You know, a 6 to 7% mortgage rate and the youth are right now going 6, 7 with their hands, I can see it. But a 7% mortgage rate, you know, is just historically not bad and it's manageable. But you start, you, you, you tell the American people, that we're back on the rate hike, horse train. It's like, what are you guys doing? Because in order that further delays any recovery that we're going to have. Because right now you leave rates unchanged, the Iran war is resolved, trade levels resume, energy goes back down and then boom, you get back on the rate cut, trajectory. But a rate hike, absolutely no go.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: Sometimes when we talk about, you know, a rate being like 6, 7%, I imagine there being a boomer, or like an older Gen Xer that's like yelling at the radio.

>> Walker Wildmon: They're rolling their eyes.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes. Let me tell you what I paid back in 90 something.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: When I bought a house. you know, now granted, you paid a lot less for that house, than what people are in 2026 are paying at a smaller rate than you had.

>> Walker Wildmon: Sure.

>> Chris Woodward: back in the day. But still, you know, it's a big concern. and we've, we've talked about this before because people aren't buying, in this case a house, another house is not being built and then this guy's not getting paid to build that house. Tools, but not being manufactured with that

>> Walker Wildmon: construction I will tell you, Chris this is anecdotal, but, but the housing market supply is going up. I just noticed looking around locally, there is houses all over the place. and that, that's gonna, that's gonna drive down prices.

>> Chris Woodward: yeah, I actually, I have a neighbor, that, bless her heart, in a good way. she sold her house, had it for sale for, like, ever. and you know, she has just, recently, found a buyer for it. they're supposed to move in at some point. But you're right, there's a lot of houses, in my neighborhood. I live outside of the city limits here. I, have a little bit of a drive in, but I drive past a lot.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. So that's going to help as far as home buyers go, especially first time get in at a decent price.

Chris Woodward: The economy grew a sluggish 1.5% in the second quarter

Chris what else has been going on with the economy?

>> Chris Woodward: Well, we mentioned how, the price of energy is to blame or being blamed for all kinds of things in another story here. This is from the Associated press. the US economy grows sluggish 1.5% in the second quarter. it's a not very good GDP number. 1.5% is not good at all. and the reason I say that, is because of two things. the bigger the number, the better the economy. So if it's 2, 3, 4%, that, hey, things are going great, we are in the golden era of America, that kind of thing. the fact that it's 1.5% is disappointing. And it's really disappointing because this was the second quarter. It's April, May and June. This is when the weather starts turning nice. Millions of more Americans start getting out to, do all kinds of things, buy things, maybe go on trips and all these things. the fact that the economy was growing a terrible 1.5% in that time of year is not good. And it really doesn't bode well for the third quarter, which we're going to see numbers, on months from now, these numbers will be revised. hopefully they'll be revised upward. and talking about, you know, the criticism of war.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: If, if, if this was a Harris or Walz administration and the GDP number was 1.5%, we'd be having a different conversation.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: right now.

>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely. Chris the gdp, that's, that's, that's a low gdp. I think the, I just think the Iran war. I know you can. People are saying, oh, you just blame everything on the Iran war. Well, it's kind of a big deal. You know, I think obviously the fuel prices is a factor. Although, although I don't think it's, it's quite, maybe the level, some project as far as the, the impact it's having on consumers and stuff. But still, Chris a lot of this is psychological and people coming, people who live through Covid, which wasn't that long ago, remember, these kind of shock events like a Covid, that gets people's attention and disrupts the economy. And I think people view the Iran situation as a potential major disruptor in the economy. And it hasn't been that really, it hasn't been that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. But still a lot of that psychological. And so I could definitely see from a consumer standpoint, from a business standpoint, part of that 1.5 GDP is a consumer pullback, a consumer kind of check on. Let's see how this thing plays out.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. the best way that I can like, get an idea of the best way I can explain what the war or conflict in Iran has done. Imagine you're going down the highway, and it's smooth and you're just flying down the highway. Right. And then you know how when you drive a little bit and you, you go to the right and then you get into that like run trip where they purposely make it kind of rough

>> Walker Wildmon: to wake you up.

>> Chris Woodward: That's what Iran, that's what the situation in Iran is doing to us at the moment.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: It's not the end of the, you

>> Walker Wildmon: know, we were cruising.

>> Chris Woodward: We're still moving down the road.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Anthony Fauci: Okay.

>> Chris Woodward: But it's really bumpy.

>> Walker Wildmon: Okay.

>> Chris Woodward: It's not like we've gone off the cliff. It's not like the car has broken down and we're to trying, trying to get a signal to call aaa.

>> Walker Wildmon: But he's gonna be right. You know, Chris I don't know what President Trump does here to quote, get onto the other side of this because I think he wants on the other side of this. I mean this is the longest conflict he's been engaged in. Everything else is a, is a 30 day ordeal.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Walker Wildmon: And then we move on.

Chris Woodward: This whole Iran deal has gotten way out of control

Venezuela was a 24 hour ordeal. And but, but I don't know that it's that easy. I mean, I thought it would be that easy. And we were all in the markets were like, yeah, you know, we'll be in and out of this in 30 days. And you know, once we get through the spring, we'll be, we'll Have a deal. But this thing is dragging out, Chris And you would think if the president has the ability to end it, he would end it.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. We really need to pray for him to have good advisors and to make smart and wise decisions. No one. I'm not saying we should just walk away and go, well, it is what it is. But, every day that you wait, every day that this carries out, you are impacting, not only your party's chances of winning this November, but you're impacting the 28. whether it's JD, Marco Rubio.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And, and, and, and he. And I'm. The team at the White House, is probably working on this. But at this point, Chris we're in it. So whatever we're going to do to get out of it, we just need to do it.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Walker Wildmon: And I hate to say boots on the ground, but if it's boots on the ground to reopen the straight, get the enriched uranium, whatever that looks like, on a temporary basis, to get in and out, to get this thing wrapped up, we just need to do it. This, this fantasy land. Talk about a deal, about coming to the table. Give me a break. We are at six months of firing ballistic missiles at each other. There ain't gonna be a deal. To use, you know, Mississippi slang. There. There is not going to be a deal. There's nobody to deal with. They're all dead. So, we don't even know where the ayatollah is. The CIA is having trouble figuring out where he is. So there's not going to be a deal. We don't know who we're negotiating with. They say one thing, they do another. So whatever we have to do to reopen the strait and get the nuclear weapons, let's do it.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. I would say Trump, it's fair to say that he has given them opportunity after opportunity to just come to the table. I don't know who we're talking to. and he's been very vague in terms of who he says wants a deal and all these things. He's certainly given them time to, come to the table and just agree to do this or that or whatever. And, you know, if it comes to. Listen, I don't want to put boots on the ground, but we have no other choice because the world needs to be free of a nuclear Iran. Come out to the American public on a televised address, an actual televised address, where you're looking dead into the camera and you're not reading the prompter.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: and you tell people I have given them time after time after time to come to the table and make a decision that benefits everybody, including them.

>> Walker Wildmon: But they're not going to do.

>> Chris Woodward: And they're not going to do that anymore. So here's what we're going to do to bring it into this to make your life better.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. And I have effectively, at this point, zero sympathy or hesitancy on bombing anything and everything in Iran. because these people, these, these idiots in Iran are sinking. They're sinking civilian container vessels in the Strait. and then obviously they're attacking our military. But this thing has gone on way too long. It's gotten way out of control. And so at this point, I'm going to lose effectively 0 minutes of sleep if we bomb them into the stone ages until they cannot fire one drone or ballistic missile at us.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, yeah. you know, there. And he has said as much, in recent days. He told him we were going to hit them hard after they're, our

>> Walker Wildmon: bases, and they have, in the last

>> Chris Woodward: 12 to 24 hours, obliterated, would be a good word to use. And to be honest with you, like, we could do even more.

>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: And again, I think he's given them, he's. He's given them time to really think about it. But the thing is, I don't know that you can logically have a conversation with somebody who is acting illogically or.

>> Walker Wildmon: No, yeah, they're totally ir.

>> Chris Woodward: They're driven by, hate and, all kinds of things. So they're, they're clearly not, sane to make a decision. I don't even know how they're, like, affording to. How they're eating over there.

>> Walker Wildmon: It's a pretty bad situation. It's going. And that's the, that, that's the one thing that causes me hesitation on bombing anything and everything is the humanitarian crisis,

>> Chris Woodward: because you're going to impact a lot more than.

>> Walker Wildmon: We don't need a regional humanitarian crisis on our hands that we're going to have to jump in and fix. so, but, you know, we can't tolerate them continuing to bomb everything in the region either. So who, knows how this ends, but, this fantasy land of an Irand deal, that ship sailed about six months ago. All right, Chris Appreciate it, brother.

>> Chris Woodward: Thank you.

>> Walker Wildmon: All right, folks, there you have it. Make sure you subscribe to the program on your podcast store. We'll see you next time.

Preborn network clinics offer free ultrasounds to women facing unplanned pregnancies

Right now, the voices in our culture are loud, but truth is often silent. And today, preborns need you to help speak that truth. Women facing unplanned pregnancies are often pressured to act quickly before they have time to pause, breathe or, hear the truth about life, dignity and hope. But I refuse to be silent, and I'm asking you to join me. At preborn network clinics, a woman is welcomed with compassion and given a free ultrasound. She sees the life growing inside her, often for the very first time. And in that sacred moment, fear gives way to clarity. And she's offered something abortion industry will never provide the hope of Jesus Christ. This April, our goal is to have 11,000 gospel conversations in preborn network clinics, trusting God to bring the increase as we remain faithful to speak. You can help make that possible by sponsoring ultrasounds. Just $28 provides one ultrasound and $140 provides five free ultrasounds for mothers in crisis. Every dollar helps save babies and share the hope of the gospel. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 and say the keyword baby dot or visit preborn.com afr that's preborn.com afr the views and opinions expressed

>>  : in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

💬 Show Notes

In this episode of At the Core, host Walker Wildmon dives into pressing issues surrounding religious freedom, the integrity of elections, and the recent testimony of Dr. Anthony Fauci. The conversation begins with a heartfelt thank you to their sponsor, PreBorn, highlighting the vital role of ultrasounds in helping mothers choose life.

As they transition into the scripture from Acts 14, the hosts emphasize the importance of perseverance in sharing the Gospel, regardless of challenges faced.

The episode then tackles the controversial testimony of Dr. Fauci, who infamously invoked the Fifth Amendment multiple times during a recent Senate hearing. Walker discusses the implications of this refusal to answer questions and draws parallels to past instances of accountability evasion in government.

 They also reflect on the media's treatment of the unvaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing a montage of clips that illustrate the harsh rhetoric directed at those who questioned the official narrative.

As the discussion shifts to election integrity, Chad Ennis from the Honest Elections Project joins to shed light on the SAVE Act and the ongoing challenges states face in maintaining clean voter rolls. Walker explores the stark differences in election management between red and blue states, emphasizing the need for accountability and reform. List maintenance, voter ID laws, and the political landscape are all examined as they consider the future of fair elections in America.

Finally, the episode wraps with a look at the current state of the economy, touching on the Federal Reserve's decisions and the impact of rising interest rates on consumers. The host reflects on the broader implications of economic policy and the ongoing situation in Iran, urging listeners to stay informed and engaged with the issues that matter most.

(00:00 )  American Family Radio thanks its sponsor, Preborn
(01:29)   Acts Chapter 14 is where we have been this week
(03:04)  Questions now being raised about possible contempt charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci
(11:10)  Let's treat this like an influenza outbreak
(16:08)  American Family Radio podcast features Chad Ennis talking about election integrity
(16:59)  Honest Elections Project focuses on helping states improve their elections
(22:31)  Mike Johnson: President Trump is relentlessly pounding the SAVE act
(27:54)  You guys are litigating in various precincts where you see election shenanigans
(28:39)  Chad Ennis: We need to clean up America's voter rolls
(33:10)  American Family Radio welcomes back Chris Woodward for last segment
(33:44)  Kevin Warsh left interest rates unchanged at Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting
(36:43)  Chris Woodward: Fed rate hikes will do nothing to lower inflation
(40:30)  Chris Woodward: The economy grew a sluggish 1.5% in the second quarter
(44:03)  Chris Woodward: This whole Iran deal has gotten way out of control
(49:09)  Preborn network clinics offer free ultrasounds to women facing unplanned pregnancies

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