Jenna Ellis: Rights that our founders recognize come from God, not government
: 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.
Jim Nels: Republicans will have difficulty convincing voters that economy has improved
Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Tuesday, April 21, and the Strait of Hormuz is open again. Or maybe it isn't. Or maybe it is. it's, it's Groundhog Day, with the Strait of Hormuz. And I've seen some of the memes are just hilarious. one that was posted was the Google Maps, times of opening and closing for the Strait of Hormuz. and that one was really funny. But, are oil prices actually coming down? or is that something that is just a myth that is being perpetuated by the GOP because of what one, ah, writer is calling Donald Trump's economic reckoning? So this is a piece in the National Interest, and, it says by the time of the midterms, Republicans will have difficulty convincing U.S. voters that the economy has improved. So much for President Trump's promise of the, quote, unquote, golden economic age of rapid growth, low inflation, soaring manufacturing output, and balanced trade. Fifteen months into his second term, it appears that the US Economy is growing no faster than it did under the Biden administration, despite the tailwinds from the artificial intelligence revolution, which is an interesting perspective, actually. And indeed, the US economy is estimated to have grown a little over 2% in 2025. And the IMF forecasts that it will grow at a similar rate this year. So different in terms of the economy and the domestic home front. Then Trump's first term, which was all about, you know, manufacturing, job growth, a soaring economy that, of course, came screeching to a grinding halt with the whole Covid era, which, you know, led then to everything that was disastrous under Joe Biden. But, by the time of the midterms, what will voters think about the economy? Well, let's welcome in Jim Nels, who is a supply chain economist and also a writer in, publications that you will have read, including Daily Wire and others.
Jim Shapiro: Republicans need to learn how to communicate on economic issues
So, Jim, good morning. And, what is the forecast for the economy?
Jim Nelles: Good morning, John. It's great to be with you and your audience today. You know, I think the Republicans just need to go Back to school to learn how to communicate. Because if you look at what's going on in the economy right now, it's actually pretty darn good. Even in the middle of a war with Iran. And the straight or moves, being open and closed. It's like a revolving door like you
Paul Teller: were talking about earlier.
Jim Nelles: The price of gas is a dollar less than it was at its high point under Joe Biden. Oil is down. Stock market futures are up right now. if you look at the, at the grocery store, eggs, milk, butter, vegetable oils and some poultry is down significantly. We've had issues with beef, but that's more related to some illnesses that we've seen with some of the cows and actually some of the hangover from the Greene NewSong Deal. Crazy people because they wanted to have fewer cows in the country, that will recover. But what we really need to be doing is telling people that, you know, the economy is doing great, people are spending money, we, just need to end this war as quickly as possible and let the president and his people get out there and start having the conversation with the American voter.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, and that's what I think isn't happening, quite to the extent that it probably should, is the conversation. Because right now, if you look at the, the national perception, regardless of the mainstream media and how, you know, CNN and others are trying to, manipulate it, of course, and they always do against President Trump, most people don't feel like the economy is thriving. I mean, they go to the gas pump, they go to the grocery store. They don't really feel like this is the era of economic prosperity. And so, if it's true that the economy is soaring, most people don't feel like it, and they certainly don't have that perception. So what is the White House, maybe not doing that. It should.
Jim Nelles: So like you and I have talked about in the past, the Democrats are very, very good at messaging. They get their entire side of the aisle focused on the same message, and they repeat it over and over and over again. And it's usually nothing more than five to seven words that it makes a really nice sound bite on tv. Republicans, for some reason, can't hire the right communications directors to do that. They need a consistent message. They can't afford to do what Biden. The mistake Biden made, which was telling people, life is great, you just aren't smart enough to know it. But they need to come out and show the facts. Gas is down from it was where it was under Joe Biden. The price of eggs is down, etcetera, etcetera. Once this war is over, here's how we're going to drive down the cost of gas at the pump even further. before the war started, when it was adjusted for inflation, gas was at its lowest rate in 25 years. so it was actually doing pretty well. The messaging is just absolutely horrible, and it's something that the Republicans have struggled with for generations.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, I don't disagree. I mean, the messaging, I think from his first term was overall, ah, remarkably better. And, you know, a lot of the press conferences and things that, he held and, you know, he would go places like Michigan, you know, and stand in the middle of the factory floor and talk about, you know, the economic prosperity and bringing manufacturing back to America. And a lot of these visuals were, were really appealing, I think, to the American people. And so it seems like in the second term he's almost playing more defense than offense. And I wonder if that is, specifically a choice or whether this conflict in Iran and the, ah, tangential consequences of it, you know, which include some of the, at least the perception, if not the reality on the economic consequences play into that and if it would be a better strategy to, look at going more on offense instead of defense, but not in a way that, you know, he's done on Truth Social. You know, some of the bombastic, posts I'm not really sure are helpful.
Jim Nelles: You know, it's funny, I quote my friend Ben Shapiro all the time saying that if someone could just take his phone away from him for five days, the entire perception of America would change. But, you know, in all seriousness, if I was advising Trump on his strategy from now until the midterms, he needs to be back out on the road. He needs to be wearing that reflective vest, riding around in a dump truck, a garbage truck. He needs to be serving pizzas and serving hamburgers at different, locations. He needs to go to traditionally Democratic strongholds, like black and brown neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago, and talk to them about how crime is at its lowest rate in America in a long, long time and how that means that they don't have to spend as much time worrying about their children being shot on the way home from school. And then I think the other thing he needs to do is start pointing out the craziness of the Democrat Party. Look at what these people are electing now. You've got the Zohan in NewSong York City, you've got this crazy woman that they just elected in NewSong Jersey, and it looks like they're going to send a senator from Michigan. Makes both of them look like they're rational human beings. We need to be pointing this stuff out to the people saying, is this really what you want? You know, the good news is that, while these super leftist Democrats win at the local and state level, none of them, thank God, have been able to pull through and break through at the national level. I don't think they will. Think about it. America is a pretty centrist country, right? We're plus or minus 3 degrees from center for 90 to 95% of the population. People don't want crazy, and we need to be pointing out the crazy of the other side to make that a talking point, along with how well the economy is doing, jobs are doing, crime is doing, etc.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, well, you and Ben Shapiro are not the first to suggest that someone should take away his phone. But, believe me, we tried in the first administration. Nobody can do it, or at least nobody's been successful yet.
Jim Nelles: I would not want that job. Not, not for a million dollars, love or money.
Jenna Ellis: Oh, oh, I know. I mean, a friend of mine and I, who, who worked together on, you know, in his first term now say, wow. You know, we look at some of the, the comms and just say, wow, hallelujah. Not our problem. You know, we can talk about it from just a rational perspective, not a, you know, necessarily White House centric defending the president standpoint. And that's, that's a much better position to be in, for sure. but when it comes to, you know, of the Democrat Party, I think you're absolutely spot on, Jim Nels, because, you know, most people, at the end of the day, while they care about politics and the kind of media propaganda cycle wants us to be sucked in to these different personalities and, you know, some of these petty fights in Congress and, you know, all of this stuff, at the end of the day, what people really just want is to be able to live their lives in peace, be able to afford a home, be able to afford gas and groceries, make decisions for themselves and their families and, you know, literally, just live out the American dream. And then when you have people like, for example, James Talarico out of Texas who just, I mean, clip after clip is just wild, absurd nonsense, you know, it makes you wonder how somebody like that actually rose to prominence, prominence, and now has, the nomination of the Democrat Party in Texas for the Senate. And you're thinking, you know, why. Why aren't more Republicans pointing this out and saying, man, you know, you think that AOC has been crazy. You don't want a James Talarico in, in the Senate and pointing that out more. It seems like the, the Republicans are again, are always playing defense instead of offense. And I'm not sure that's a good strategy for the midterms especially.
Jim Nelles: No, it's not offense. Offense is going to be defense every day of the week. I mean, I look at the craziness that's happening in my hometown of Chicago right now. They want to close the schools on, May 1st to teach the students how to go protest. They want to do a day of social justice in schools leading up to May 1st where we'll be teaching kids as young as preschool about gender affirming care, quote, unquote.
Paul Teller: Right.
Jim Nelles: Which I call childhood mutilation. It was the parents in the poor neighborhoods that were like, what the heck are you guys doing? Our kids can't read and write at grade level. And you want to go teach them how to protest and not teach them how to do basic math?
Rep Jim Jordan: No.
Jim Nelles: And the parents fought back.
Republicans need a better marketing strategy heading into the midterms
You know what I think we're seeing with a lot of the crazy is that we have one or two generations of, voters who were indoctrinated in these left wing universities and they believe that socialism is great. They believe that, ah, taxing the quote unquote rich just for the sake of taxing the quote unquote rich is a great idea because where's my money?
: Right?
Jim Nelles: Why do we know? And you know, you see the Zohan in NewSong York City doxing the private residence of a multibillionaire because he thinks he should pay more in taxes. That's completely insane. And those things need to be pointed out. These commercials write themselves if they just take the time to stop fighting amongst themselves, stop some of the circular firing squads that we're seeing on the, on the right now and focus on the message of the left is crazy. Life is actually pretty darn good. Do you want to go and become Venezuela? It's a, it's a 20 second ad that could be really, really easy to do.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, yeah, I agree. And I think the Republicans overall, not even just specific candidates, but the White House in general, is going to have to have a better, marketing comm. Strategy heading into the midterms. And you know, we're already at late April. I mean, this is to going, getting into the thick of it as well.
Jim Nells: I think President Trump needs to focus more on economy
And so in just the last few minutes I have with you, Jim Nells, you know, going Back just to the economy as well, not just the messaging. Is there a long term economic doctrine here or. I mean, because I think we saw more cohesion in Trump's first term as well than we're seeing now, at least from the perception of, of his transactional, brokering. And so are we seeing a continuation, do you think, from the first term? Or, is this a little bit different when it's an approach to the economy?
Jim Nelles: I think it's a bit different. And you know, you've known President Trump m. For a long time. He's on most issues, he's a pragmatist, right? He, he has an opinion, he floats some ideas, he sees what people think, he listens to input, and then he's very happy to change his mind with some of the things he's done in his second term. He has been a, you know, adamant about it. Look at, look at the tariffs. now I kind of agree that the tariffs had to be done. I don't like the way in which they were done and I don't like the back and forth because it created uncertainty and uncertainty allowed the supply base in places like Asia to say, I'm not going to lower my prices to you because next week it's going to be different. But, you know, that's something that I think caused a lot of, uncertainty in the, in the U.S. and that hurts with manufacturing. I actually think that it was a bit of a mistake to try to make America into a manufacturing powerhouse. We never were. If you look at the history of the United states, our highest percent of GDP that came from a domestic manufacturing was right around 22, 23% in 1979. We've always been an agricultural and then a service economy. And I think, you know, Trump's embracement of the way he embraces AI has been fantastic. I think that's going to drive a lot of these, a lot of growth and a lot of jobs. But if you look at what the crazies in the, in the, in the Congress are doing, the, the, the squad and Bernie Sanders, they're putting forward bills to stop the building of any new data centers because they don't want A.I. you know, they're convinced that A.I. is going to become this Terminator type thing that's going to haunt us all and kill us all. If you look historically, again, technology has always created more jobs than it's ever killed. We need to embrace that. I think Trump's messaging on that is very good, but he just needs to get back to Jobs, jobs, jobs, energy independence. Those things will drive down costs and that will make the American people happy. I think we still have time. you know, we have, plenty of time until the midterms. I don't remember what I was doing six months ago, but, I guarantee you people won't remember much of what happened in April of 2026 when they go to vote in November. As long as this war is behind us and the price of oil is in the low 70s, we'll be okay.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, I agree with you there. wise words. Jim Nels, we've got to take a break here, but, you know, there is a lot of time in the news cycle. I mean, even a couple of weeks in this 24 hour news cycle, a lot can shift in terms of public perception. And, yet the White House and Republicans overall, if they want to keep, the trifecta, are going to have to capitalize on that and have some kind of a coherent strategy. And it just really doesn't seem like they are focused on that or focused, you know, at all on legislation that the American people want. at least President Trump is focused on the economy and America first and fulfilling the agenda, that he genuinely believes will bring about the golden age. So I have a lot more confidence in President Trump than Congress, but, we need both, especially Congress to do their job. So, you can follow Jim Nels on X and we will be right back with more.
Paul Teller says Republicans need to focus on economy ahead of midterms
: welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, talking about, the economy and also where Congress is in all this, the messaging of the gop, the messaging of the Democrat Party, because obviously both sides want to prevail in the midterms. The Democrats want to prevail so that they can just make trouble and probably a lot of impeachments for Trump and his associates, in the administration, after the midterms. And then of course, Republicans hopefully actually want to, prevail in keeping power so that they can get things done. Although I don't know that that's really the top of their agenda. But, one of the things that they really need to do is talk about the one big beautiful bill. I mean, that's been really the only major signature piece of legislation that expressly deals with the economy, coming out of this Congress. So why aren't we hearing more about that? Well, let's welcome in Paul Teller, who's the president of T. Teller Strategies and one of the foremost intellectuals in D.C. i've been privileged to know him for quite a long time and always has really excellent advice. And so Paul, you know, what's, what's your view on where we're at in the economy and why the, the Republicans. It seems like the GOP is not really talking about the one big beautiful bill as it relates to the necessity of winning the midterms.
Paul Teller: Well, first of all, good morning. Thanks. It's always great to be with you. And I don't know what I owe that great compliment you just gave me too, but you know, I'll take it. Thank you so much. Great to be with you.
Jenna Ellis: That's true.
Paul Teller: you know, I thank you again. And just, in terms of why Republicans, seem to not be talking about one big beautiful bill, I think some of it is, I hate to say it because, you know, they were trying here, but they were trying to rebrand the law. Right? Everyone knows it is a one big beautiful bill. And they decided that for some reason that branding is not sufficient.
: Not great.
Paul Teller: I don't know what, what. It doesn't convey anything in the exact title. So they rebranded it as the Working Families Tax Cut Act. And I just think that that has totally confused folks. It's confused probably themselves. It certainly confused the general public. And it's like, wait, that's the same as the one big beautiful bill? Is it different also? Like, I don't know about you, but working families tax cuts, it's so boring branding. And I don't mean any insult to anyone who came up. It's like straight out of 1985 and it just, I don't know, I was very confused why Republicans would give up on a really funny like ear catching brand. One big beautiful bill, right? President Trump did a beautiful job in naming that. And why run away from that now? The thing is, maybe part of it also is that it is a complex law. Right. There's a lot in there. And so, maybe just members don't comfortable talking about it because they don't exactly, you know, what they voted for, you know, to enact. The one thing that I would point to is a group that I'm doing some work with and that I helped build up for many years Advancing American Freedom. That's the Mike Pence issue advocacy group. They actually recently put out a booklet highlighting 660 of the top provisions in that law. And you may say, oh my God, that's so many things. But here's the thing, they did it. They broke it down into one page per provision. So you could just focus in on the one thing you need to talk about, maybe on. On a radio show or on a town hall with your friends, with your angry liberal relatives, whatever it is. You could grab a one page at a time and just focus in easily on. On a single provision and do, of course, you know, over and over, you, know, depending on how many provisions you need to focus on. But it's really useful. They call it the one big beautiful
: booklet because, again, that's amazing.
Paul Teller: You could use it in its entirety, all 60 things put together. Or just, you know, grab one page, two pages, three, just. Just highlight some of the things that. That speak to you in, in your immediate needs.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, and that makes sense to break it down that way. And especially with the data tools that we have, like, you know, a lot of this AI, that will. That will break it down and say, okay, here are some of the key provisions. I mean, that's basically what this booklet has done. It seems like it would have been strategic, starting this year for, the, The Republicans and the GOP to basically take like, you know, one topic per week. And then they couldn't even get through, you know, 60 of them before the midterms and focus on that in terms of media and have, you know, some coordinated messaging. I mean, this really isn't that complicated. And you're absolutely right. I mean, President Trump, he can. He names everything so well and is, you know, one of the best comm, strategists, or if not the best, in D.C. and in the business. And so everybody knows one big beautiful bill. But if they talk about, you know, working families, tax cuts, and it's like, well, I'm not feeling it, or, you know, maybe, well, I'm, you know, not. I'm not a family yet, or, you know, that. Does this apply to me? Or, you know, that's not really relatable. And so when it comes to things like the economy and, you know, where we're at with gas prices, where we're at with food prices, where we're at with tax cuts, maybe we just, I don't think celebrated is the right word. Tax day. went through begrudgingly taxes.
Paul Teller: Right.
Jenna Ellis: Endured. Yeah. that would have been a great moment to talk more about, you know, is President Trump actually going to. And Congress actually going to reduce taxes? We haven't heard anything about that since last year. I mean, why not?
Paul Teller: Yeah.
: And you know what?
Paul Teller: And to her credit, by the way, Congresswoman, Lisa McLean out of Michigan. She's the, House Republican Conference chairwoman. She really is trying to get this messaging out. In fact, she's called in, you know, conservative leaders and activists, and I know her fellow members of Congress to say, okay, here's messaging on the one big beautiful bill. here, you know, here are some ways to break down. So she is absolutely trying. Full credit to her. I think what's.
It's hard to break through with one big beautiful bill with mixed message
What again, has been tough is that mixed message with one big beautiful bill. Working families tax cut, that's one thing, but two, and let's face it, this is not her fault or really anyone's fault, but there's just so much going on in the news at any given week, right? Whether it's the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, TSA agents not getting paid, the Iran war, you name it, reconciliation, all of that. I'm sure we'll talk about, it's probably as hard to break through talking about a law that's a year old or almost a year old at that point. And so I give them some grace that it is hard to break through. But having said that, again, coming back to that one big, beautiful booklet that Advancing American Freedom put out, that's why they broke it down into one pagers, because you don't have to explain the whole law at once. Pick one provision and talk about it with every speech you give or every radio hit you do, every TV hit you do, grab a one pager out of the booklet, you can even physically or rip it out, because they have physical copies too, you know, and bring it up to the podium or wherever you're going and tout even just one provision each time, because I think right now members are familiar, comfortable saying, well, no tax on tips. That was in there. True. But let's face it, most Americans are not earning tips, you know, so that doesn't speak to a lot of Americans. So it, There's got to be more that they. That they talk about than just no tax on tips.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, they got to take this kind of esoteric concept of the one big beautiful bill and then distill it down to say, this is actually the application that benefits you and this particular segment or demographic, that they're speaking to. And that would be really helpful, but, you know, that would actually require them to do their homework and maybe stop, you know, fighting on social media and actually have get business done. But you mentioned. Right, yeah, not likely to happen.
The Senate is expected to vote on a second reconciliation bill this week
But you mentioned, reconciliation. And that was exactly where I was going next, because, the Hill, the publication the Hill is, their headline is the Senate Takes first step on reconciliation 2.0. So the Senate is expected to vote as early as this week on a budget blueprint for a second reconciliation bill that includes funding for ICE and Border Patrol. But, Senate Majority Leader John Thune will likely have to appease hardline conservatives in his caucus who demand that the bill be broader than the, quote, unquote, skinny package he's pushing for. So, where is Congress at with, with reconciliation?
Paul Teller: No, you're exactly right. And, you know, again, for your listeners, they're. They're very well educated. But just in case, just to remind folks. So reconciliation is just that fancy Washington word for how to get something through the Senate fast. You know, expedited procedures. It only needs 51 votes instead of 60. There's no filibuster, all that kind of stuff. And there's all kinds of fancy rules that go along with it. So it's not like you could just stuff anything into reconciliation that you want and pass it with 51 votes, you know, certain types of things. And so that's what, especially House conservatives, some Senate conservatives, but, you know, conservatives in general in Congress are saying they're like, well, I don't know if we could fund what they want to fund, you know, regarding immigration enforcement using this reconciliation procedure. It opens up, without getting into the gory details, it opens up and sets a precedent that could be used against conservatives in the future where when liberals control the Congress, maybe one day they could use it to stick their priorities into this expedited procedure. So it's a little questionable. there's also this whole thing of the parliamentarian, who is kind of the rule referee, if you will, in the Senate, and sometimes she will knock certain things out and say, nope, that can't go in there. Nope, that's not allowed to be in there. And it's not always certain what she's going to knock out and what she's going to keep in. And so some conservatives are saying that Republican leaders want to include things that are likely to be knocked out. That's not great, you know, and then on top of that, because, you know, it's probably. This is the only bullet in the gun to fire this year. Meaning, like, this is the one last chance Congress will get to do a reconciliation bill, you know, expedited procedures bill. Why should we just have it be skinny and just have a couple little provisions, get a lot of good things in there to further cut taxes, further cut spending, and you're ready for this one. This is the one that really kills me as a pro lifer. there is a current law provision defunding Planned Parenthood. It actually was in the one big beautiful bell, believe it or not, that expires on Independence Day on July 4th. So as of July 5th of this year, Planned Parenthood will get a new wave of taxpayer funding right now under the Republican Congress unless they stop it. And they can stop it using this record reconciliation procedure. So conservatives are saying, put that in there, too. You know, why have it just be a small, narrow bill when we can get lots of priorities in there? That's the, that's kind of the fight right now in Congress.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. Which makes sense. I mean, and that's exactly what they did with the one big beautiful bill. It's like, if we're going to pass one major piece of legislation, let's put everything in there that we need and that we want. so it doesn't really make sense, in my opinion, for pushing, for Leader Thune to be pushing for the skinny package rather than, senators like Ted Cruz that are. And others that are hoping to tack on, you know, defense, funding, some of the funding to cover ICE and Border Patrol, you know, some of these other things. But as you mentioned critically, the Planned Parenthood defunding. And is. Is that being seriously contemplated, or is that something that just conservatives are hoping for but not really on the table?
Paul Teller: You know, it's a good question. Let's put it say we think it's still on the table. I mean, some, Republican leaders have said, hey, guys, I don't think we can get this in there. You know, it's got opposition, not sure I have the votes, blah, blah, blah, blah. But our feeling is, you know, let's at least give it a shot. We have to fight. because just what a bad thing it would send, what a bad signal it would send.
: Right.
Paul Teller: To pro life activists across the nation right in the middle of an election year, you know, primaries still going on and everything, that, hey, we're good. Republicans will be okay with kind of an additional funding to Planned Parenthood right in the middle of the election year. I mean, it's just that just would seem like a real, a real downer, if you will. So our, our view is at least give it a shot. Put it in there. And if somehow, folks like, fight to pull it out or vote it down or whatever, we could talk about that later, but at least give it a shot. And that's it seems very reasonable.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And why is it that the default position is having to re up defunding instead of a default position that Congress would have to vote for funding?
Paul Teller: Yeah, exactly. Right. It's a good question. In fact, during the one big beautiful bill last year, again, I don't understand why, but Republican leaders really only asked for a one year defund of Planned Parenthood. They claim that's all they could pass and that anything longer than that wouldn't have passed. I don't know. that seems hard to believe, right? If one year passes, why doesn't two years pass or more? right. And again, it goes back to let's give it a shot. They never really tried, as far as we can tell. which I know is, you know, sometimes difficult, Right. As leaders, you got to know where the votes are. I get that. But, man, let's, let's wage a fight, let's push it, and if we have to, you know, retreat a little bit, okay? That's how it goes. How, how negotiations goes. When you go to a car dealer, right, you walk in and you, you ask for the sunroof and you ask for 0% financing and everything like that. And if the dealer says, I can give you 0% financing but not the sunroof, okay, you backtrack and you see what you can get. Same thing here.
Jenna Ellis: You got more than, than if you didn't ask at all.
Paul Teller: Yeah, that's right. That's right. But a lot of times our own Republican leaders don't really start with a maximum ask. They kind of self negotiate themselves down to a lower ask to begin with. And then of course, the Democrats negotiate them even further away. So, I mean, it's not a great tactic.
Jenna Ellis: No, it's, it's, it's pathetic. And you know, we were sold initially on only one year of the defunding because we were promised that Congress would use that year and Republicans would, use that year to come back and push for more defunding for a longer term. Because, you know, one year, okay, great. But if they didn't follow up on that and then, the leadership isn't even pushing for this, then the one year really was just a drop in the bucket.
Is Mike Johnson at least on the House side pushing for this
But, is Mike Johnson at least on the House side pushing for this, even if Leader Thune is not?
Paul Teller: You know, I think, I think they're actually both in similar places that in their heart of hearts, I believe they would want to do this. You know, so that's, that's not the question. It's just a matter of where they feel the votes are, where the pressure points should be, where the efforts should be. And from what I've seen thus far, Speaker Johnson is not putting a lot of gusto into trying to keep that, that provision in for Planned Parenthood defunding. So I hate to say it because we know he's a pro lifer and it's hard, but not using that, Those beliefs to push this fight in this moment, or so it seems. So that's why we're hoping pro, life groups and other activists will. Will speak up. Speak up and convey that to Speaker Johnson, Leader Thune and others in Congress.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, well, and I appreciate you bringing this to our listeners attention because that's something that, we can all do, you know, is call Speaker Johnson's office, call Leader Thune' office, ask them about these provisions, and specifically push that from just a constituency standpoint.
Paul Teller: July 4th is the only real deadline on reconciliation
So that's the action item for listeners today. because I know our audience is absolutely, one of the key and core issues, for AFA family is pro life. And so what's the, time frame on, reconciliation and how long would they have to potentially add this provision if they're going to.
: Yeah, absolutely.
Paul Teller: I guess really the only deadline at this exact Moment is that July 4th deadline when the defunding of Planned Parenthood expires, where, you know, Planned Parenthood will get an infusion of new cash literally on Independence Day. I mean, the irony of all ironies there.
: Right?
Paul Teller: So that's the only real deadline other than that, you know, Congress has to first go through some procedural hoops, jump through some hoops to get this reconciliation provision going. They have to pass a budget resolution, for example, give instructions to certain committees of what to do. And it's all the Washington mumbo jumbo, but that is how the procedure works and stuff like that. And so because there's certain hurdles and hoops jump through, you kind of gotta get going. You know, these things take longer than you might think. So while there's not an urgency to do it, let's say today or anything like that, you know, we gotta, we gotta really keep moving because we're. We're coming up on. We're coming up on May. As soon as you look at holidays that are already built in, like Memorial Day week, and of course the July 4th week, that deadline is going to come up real fast. So that's a long way of saying we got to get going real soon.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. So that's the action Item is, you know, to call our leaders and tell them that we want, this pro life provision and the defunding of Planned Parenthood and we can use, our voices and. Because that's what the Democrats love to do, is just run out the clock. And so when we're in a situation where Congress, has to act in order to, to prevent funding, rather than act in order to get funding. I mean, if that were the case, then, you know, Democrats would be pushing this, of course, daily. But we really need to to force the Republicans to actually vote the way that they promise because we're supposed to be, the conservative, you know, pro life agenda party. And they need to go along with that. So Paul Teller, really appreciate it. You can follow him on X at P. Teller and we will be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
House Judiciary Committee investigating alleged fraud at Democratic donation platform ActBlue
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the
: Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, there's a new report out from the House Judiciary GOP dealing with potential fraud at ActBlue, which is the Democrats, primary fundraising platform similar, to win read on the Republican side. And according to the House GOP, this, new report says that ActBlue employees took the fifth when asked about foreign fraud and whistleblower retaliation at the Democrat donation platform. So the House GOP and the GOP oversight committees, have been investigating fraud on Act Blue and the potential for foreign interference in our elections. Last year they say we found that Act Blue, the less leading online fundraising platform, weakened its fraud prevention standards ahead of the 2024 election, even as the company knew about significant attempted fraud on the platform. So let's welcome in Congressman Jim Jordan, who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. And, and it just seems like Democrats are totally okay with fraud implicit in literally everything that they do. This is so unacceptable.
Rep Jim Jordan: Well, I think the irony is not lost on anyone either that you know, they've been saying for years, President Trump and Russian collusion and election interfered with the election, which is all B.S. but here, it looks like, they were the ones, potentially taking, taking foreign donations. So, I mean, remember a couple key facts here, Jenna. First of all, ActBlue is the money machine behind the Democrat Party. They raised billions every election cycle. after the 24 election cycle, four of their top people, their top people in the fraud division, resigned and then their general counsel was fired. The general counsel was given a big severance package, but had to sign some agreement saying anything you say publicly or to anyone first has to be okayed by ActBlue. So those five individuals were the five that we brought in for depositions, and they all took the fifth. They would not answer key questions, about foreign, contributions and about what was going on at ActBlue. So, you take all that information, and then you add to it the final step, which is, we now just learned that a letter that was sent by Chairman Style Brian Stile, the House Administration Committee, a few years ago, the response that was given back from ActBlue to Congress, looks like they weren't telling the truth. And we know that because, one of their lawyers had sent a letter to ActBlue saying, hey, we don't think what you wrote, what you responded, how you responded to the Congress, was accurate, which is a nice way of saying you lied to Congress, which you're not allowed to do. And by the way, that law firm and that lawyer. That law firm was Covington. the lawyer was Dannah Remus. Dannah Remus was not just any old lawyer. She was the former White House counsel for President Biden. So they had a Democrat lawyer who told them, we don't think you were honest with Congress. So that's the situation, and that's why we're continuing to dig into this and find out, what we can.
Jenna Ellis: Wow. And so the reporting is confirming that ActBlue accepts illegal foreign donations en masse. And then they tried to cover this up by misleading and withholding documents from Congress or outright lying and then also refusing to testify. So where's the accountability?
: Well, the Justice Department's looking into this.
Rep Jim Jordan: you know, all we can do is oversight. we can get the facts, do oversight. You know, I get. I get this question all the time when I'm traveling around the country. you know, you were. You were polite or a little more polite when you asked the question. Because sometimes I'll be out and about and people will say to me, hey, Jordan, when someone going to jail, we're tired of all the investigations, no one being held accountable. So I get that. But only the Justice Department can indict someone. and they are looking at this situation, we're going to continue to dig into it and find out what we can and make, that news available. and then if we need to do some reform in the law, of course that's where the legislative branch comes in. We can propose new legislation, but, the Justice Department is looking into the situation as well.
James Brennan: Congress needs to pass legislation to curb lawfare
Jenna Ellis: Okay, and what's your view of, Todd Blanche, who's now, you know, the, the acting, ag And a lot of people are concerned. You know, he's formerly a Democrat. I'm not super concerned about that. I think he's a great lawyer, but a lot of people aren't as aware of him and his background than someone like a Pam Bondi, for example.
Rep Jim Jordan: I think Todd's a tremendous, doing a tremendous job. I've gotten to know him over the last year and have been very impressed. he was Deputy Attorney General doing a great job, running the agency and running the Justice Department. And now as ag, I think he'll continue to do outstanding work. And so, what I do know too is the difference between dealing with the Garland Justice Department and dealing with Blanche and the Bondi Justice Department has been just night and day. we have questions, we have information we need to get to them or questions we have or information we want from them. Them. It's been so, so good to work with, with, them. but Todd's doing a great job and I think he'll, he'll be an outstanding Attorney General.
Jenna Ellis: That's great and that's, that's good to hear. And I hope that the DOJ will confront some of this accountability that's necessary and that the American people frankly voted for, in, in re electing President Trump. I mean that lawfare has been a huge topic, for all of the Republican base. And and to your point about Congress being able just to legislate, have there been any advances on, at least trying to curtail some of this lawfare? Because my concern is, you know, somebody who was targeted, I mean you've been targeted by you know, various aspects of lawfare as well, that if the Democrats get back into power, that's going to be their agenda, is that they're going to want to come after every conservative they possibly can, with Lawfare. And that needs to be cut off, not just through going to the Supreme Court and basically begging for the right outcome.
Rep Jim Jordan: Yeah, one of the pieces of legislation we've passed out of our committee now we need to get this passed on the floor. But this is this non disclosure fairness issue. And if you remember, the Arctic Frost investigation and the special counsel went and got a bunch of us, members of Congress went and got, our cell records, our cell phone calls and you know, who we called when we called them, how long the call lasted, all that information, which was they didn't, they did for me for two and a half years. so one of the things We've said is in the future, if you're going to go get people's information and you go to the judge and say, you know, judge, you can't, you can't, you get the judge to tell the carrier at and T Verizon that you can't notify your customer that the government just went and got their record. We've said in legislation we want that non disclosure, we want that to be reasonable. it can't go on for years like they did to members of Congress. And our bill doesn't just talk about members of Congress, it talks about all Americans, which is how I think obviously we should make laws, of course, not just for some special group, but for all Americans. It says, A, there's a higher standard for getting a non disclosure, forgetting the records, and then B, you can't go for months and months and months and months and not tell the customer, not tell the American that the government has went to your carrier and got your phone logged. So, that's a good deal. We think it protects people. So that's one of the things we're doing to help deal with this. But ideally the best way to stop this is to highlight it and show that what took place and hopefully and people who've done wrong, hold them accountable. I do think John Brennan's on. I think the Justice Department is getting ready to indict John Brennan in the Southern District of Florida for his role in this, what I would call conspiracy to go after the president clear back 10 years ago when this all started. So, that's how you, I think, change it. And those things are, those things are happening.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And there was also, you were on Newsmax recently, talking about DNI Gabbard is sending some criminal referrals to the DOJ as well. And it looks like that included, James Comey potentially for you know, some of the, the other issues that he was involved in and maybe some others. So, you know, hopefully these criminal referrals will be acted upon by the doj, but it really comes down to accountability, and whether this DOJ will actually follow through. And obviously, you know, I've been a staunch advocate that this isn't just kind of a, an eye for an eye, like go after them because they came after us. I mean you have to have, have a legal basis and, and substantially not just this pretext, like they came after all conservatives, but there's plenty there. I mean, that's the difference is that the, the Democrats and some of these Bad actors. You going back, like you said 10 years ago, I mean, clearly we're targeting President Trump, committed, illegal activities, and they seem to be just fine. And I think that's where the American people have a problem with it, because it's not just we want to go after them because they're Democrats. It's that we genuinely want them to pay for their actions.
Rep Jim Jordan: That's why this. That's why this investigation, into the conspiracy that took place 10 years ago, in my judgment, and the possible indictments of these folks in the Southern District of Florida, I think is so important. we don't do many criminal referrals from the Judiciary Committee. We only do it if the facts are there. And we did one for John Brennan, because we know he lied to us. And we know he lied to us because last summer, been multiple times, where Tulsi Gabbard and Director Rackliff have declassified and released information. Last summer they did. And that information clearly showed that what John Britton told us about the dossier and things relative to 2016 and 2017 were not accurate. So we sent a referral to the Justice Department, and as I said before, I think they're going after him, understand what took place. And I think this is so important because this is when it starts. After President Trump gets elected in 2016, there's an intelligence community assessment. It's a report, and it talked about Russia and the election. And that report said Russia didn't really care which who won the election. They were just doing the normal stuff they always do, trying to tinker around with elections. John Brennan, after a meeting in the White House, John Brennan is the key player in changing that report. So from what it says In December of 2016, January 2017, it says something different. And it says, no, Russia wanted Trump to win, and they were working to help that happen, which the case. So. And they used the dossier as part of the key basis for changing the report, even though they had people in the intelligence community tell them the dossier is garbage. It's baloney. And there was one document we got where it's related that one of the key people in the intelligence community told Director, Brennan, they said, you can't use the dossier. It just doesn't hold up. And Brennan's response was, yeah, but doesn't it ring true, demonstrating his bias that he was out to get the president? I don't care what the facts are, we're going to go after the president. We're going to use the dossier. As the basis to change the report. And that became the predicate for the whole Mueller investigation. So that's when it started. And that's why this guy needs to be held accountable.
Jenna Ellis: M. Well, thank you very much, for that criminal referral, and for your committee at least having the, the principles to go after that. And even though it is a rare instance, it clearly is warranted in this case. And so, you know, thank you for that. And hopefully, the DOJ will follow up on that. And in just the last few minutes I have with you Congressman Jim, Jordan and everyone should follow him on X and also the House Judiciary GOP page so that you can get a lot of this information and alerts that, you know, the mainstream media, at least, least the leftist side of course, is not going to cover, things like the act, blue employees and foreign fraud.
Jim Jordan: People want safe and secure elections and this is necessary
but where are we at with the Save America Act? Because, this is I think, a signature piece of legislation that again was part of the Trump mandate. people want safe and secure elections and this is something that is necessary, especially in the outflow of what we've seen throughout the course of Democrats targeting President Trump and elections.
Rep Jim Jordan: Yeah, I agree with you. It's, it's just one more example of, you know, the old line that the Democrats are, it's normal versus crazy. It's common sense versus crazy. It's crazy not to be, you know, not to show your ID when you, when you go to vote. One of the many, many positions that Democrats take that just don't make any sense. So I couldn't agree more. It'd be nice if we could get this into law. I. The Senate is dealing with multiple things now. We'll see if they come back to this, this whole, talking filibuster that's been, discussed. We'll see if they do that. But yeah, this is so common sense. And what is it like 90 some percent of the country thinks you should have to show an ID if you're going to, when you, when you show up to vote. So, we'll just have to see. Hopefully we can get it, we can get it done and maybe we can look to put it on some must, you know, some other bill and have it right along on some must pass piece of legislation. So we're looking at all those things.
Jenna Ellis: All right, well, thank you so much, Congressman Jim Jordan, for your consistent, push for conservative principles, values, accountability and all of the work that you do. Always appreciate you dropping by to give us an update and as always, you can reach me and my team, Jenna fr.net. It.
