Transcript

Jenna Ellis: Rights that our founders recognize come from God our creator

 : 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.

It seems like there are a lot of fools here in politics on April 1

Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Wednesday, April 1, or, April Fool's Day, as some of us are celebrating, every day. It seems like there are a lot of fools here in, politics, especially, across the aisle in the Democrat Party, but even some, on the right as well. So, you know, it seems like April 1st, and April Fools is, Is too many days out of the year. So, I tend to not particularly celebrate that one and hope that we can get back to, you know, April Sanity Day or April, you know, actually Intelligent People, Intelligent Electorate Day. because, this was actually something yesterday that I saw on the Blaze. this was just absolutely ridiculous, where there was this interviewer that was just going to a no Kings protest and, was kind of one of those, you know, man on the street kind of interviews, and was, asking one of the protesters about the, The Strait of Hormuz, which, you know, of course is, is a big deal right now when we're talking about, you know, everything going on with the Iran conflict and, you know, whether or not that'll be reopened, all that. Well, of course, when he's asking about the straight of the Straits of Hormuz, then he said, well, what about the gaze of Hormuz? And of course, it's totally a joke, but this protester takes it seriously. Listen to this. This is cut one.

 : Isn't it a little bit homophobic that we're so focused on the Straits of Hormuz and not the Gates of Hormuz?

 : Yes, for sure.

 : Why do you think they're willing to leave the gays of Hormuz behind?

 : I think it's just, history historically. Like, you know, gays have always been very discriminated against, which is wrong on so many levels.

 : Even in war?

 : Yeah, even in war. It just takes more reform in government, obviously, and then also educating society.

 : Just feel like if we're gonna go in there, we can't leave the gay people behind. I don't think we should go in there at all. But if we're going to the Gaze of we could turn it into Fire island for sure.

Jenna Ellis: So happy April Fools everybody. Because, that was definitely an April Fool. You know, we, we need to educate society. Yes, start, start with you start with educating yourself.

Congress taking two week recess while airports still experiencing TSA delays

but turning to actual news, so this coming from NBC border, ah, Czar Thom Homan says that ICE might not leave airports once TSA officers are paid. So Thom Homan says that ICE agents would remain at their until airports can resume regular operations. So this is still, impacting a lot of airports across the country. I don't know, I mean, when I flew across the country to to Spokane, Washington last weekend, I didn't really experience any of you know, the delays or anything that people have been reporting. But you know, some other people have and the fact that Congress is not really doing anything about this, and especially the Republicans and now Lindsey Graham has been, spotted and photographed, in line with a bubble wand at Disney World. While all of this is going, I mean, of all things now, of course I'm a big Disney World fan, you all know that, I love Disney World, my family loves it, but, you know, not at the expense of actually doing your job. And it's just such blatant

 : mockery,

Jenna Ellis: of the American people and what we're going through. When Congress takes a two week recess and doesn't care to actually do their job, whatever happened to the SAVE act, by the way? And you know, they're not getting anything done. And Trump is left to sign an executive order directing, the Department of Homeland Security to actually pay TSA so that everybody can get through TSA in order to get to their flights for, you know, Easter weekend and business and you know, all kinds of regular things. And it just seems like nobody on either side of the aisle actually cares to do the business of governing. And that really seems to be the problem. They're more concerned about optics and their own power, their own positioning and their own vacations apparently than anything else. Let's welcome in Orin McIntyre, who is a host at the Blaze. And Orin, I'm just getting really tired of this. I mean it seems like, the leadership of Congress should be telling everybody, you know, you need to stay in your seat and we're not leaving for this two week recess until we actually get some things done.

 Auron MacIntyre : Yeah, I mean that's obviously true. The Republican Congress has been a disaster, just like it was last time Trump, ah, was in office. It's impossible to get anything done. It's impossible to get anything codified into law. So anything that Trump does through executive order won't be around once he's gone and won't and will be easily challenged by judges. The Congress is entirely aware of this and they're putting everything off anyway for a couple of reasons. One is they hate Trump and they don't want Trump around and they don't want Trump to be effective and they want him to be a lame duck and to not be able to hand mag off to JD Vance. That is the whole plan to return the neocons, the conning, back into power. But also because ultimately our class, our ruling class, has become decadent. These people don't care. I mean, you look at Lindsey Graham wandering around, you know, as a, as a childish, childless 70 year old in Disney while the SAVE act is unpassed, while people can't travel in the United States because we can't get the business of the country done. He doesn't worry, he doesn't think he's going to lose his position. He thinks, he becomes confident that he just is impossible for him to get unseated, no matter how bad he is at his job. Between calling for war and not getting anything else done, that's all he lives his life to do. And yet somehow he just cannot get unseated in South Carolina. And so you have a real breakdown in like trust in civic trust that at any point our Congress will do anything, especially if it's Republican, for the good of the American people.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And you know, it just seems like this loop keeps replaying over and over and over again where it's like we finally get a significant win and you know, the Trump mandate of 2024 and you know, Trump wins by a landslide and the trifecta happens and everybody thinks like this is going to finally be, you know, when the Republicans decide to govern and everybody is super excited for, you know, like five minutes and, or five months maybe, and then they kind of, you know, lapse into this, oh, maybe things aren't getting done. And then they get really frustrated and then the next election comes about and then we do the same things. We don't unseat people like Lindsey Graham, we don't choose better people in the primaries. we just, it's like we just continue to do the same thing over and over and just hope that the Republicans will somehow get it together and decide one day to wake up and govern. I mean, it's literally the definition of insanity that you do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

 Auron MacIntyre : Look, you know, There's a lot of people out there right now who are trying to say things like, well, you know, just vote for the Democrats to show the Republicans that, you know, they can't push us around, or, you know, we'll. We'll.

 Auron MacIntyre : We'll punish them so badly. And I hear that sentiment, but ultimately, the country is just in too precarious of a place. You know, you can't put Democrats who are going to open the borders up and start locking people in jail immediately into power. No matter how badly conservatives behave, no matter how badly the GOP drops the ball on the other side of this, there's only so many times you can tell the American voter, go vote Republican. It'll fix things. And then it doesn't, and then they just stop showing up. You know, you can't continue to tell people, well, you just have to vote gop, because, yeah, we know Congress isn't going to do its job, but at some point it might, and hopefully, if it ever does, they'll happen to be Republicans there instead of Democrats. This is just a demoralizing experience for the American voter, and you can't blame them if they eventually give up on the GOP or at the very least, stop showing up for the gop. And I think that's what you're going to see in these midterms. I don't think it's going to be a whole bunch of new Democrat voters. I think it's going to be a whole lot of disillusioned Republican voters, and that's going to be just as painful.

Jenna Ellis: Mm, absolutely. And, you know, and it's frustrating because, you know, networks and organizations, like the American Family association, you know, we have the I Voter Guide. We always encourage people to get out and vote. Vote your values, you know, all of those things. Participate in the process. I mean, be good citizens. All of these things that are, you know, the hallmarks of conservatism. And yet it gets really frustrating to continue to say, you know, go vote your values, when it doesn't seem like it actually translates to making a difference. And I think that that kind of disconnect, is where a lot of conservatives are incredibly frustrated, especially at this point in the Trump era, because, you know, we saw the rise of Trump in 2015, and, you know, the outsider, the whole narrative, you know, the whole first term and everything, and then, you know, the, significant, loss in terms of, you know, just losing, the next term and leaving the White House and then kind of that rebound and, that, comeback that was historic. And so, you know, it's almost like we all have whiplash here because it's like we're trying so hard to fight for a party and politicians that don't want to fight for us. And so there's a lot of, just sheer frustration. But I think, you know, and I think people are right to feel resentful and, you know, some of those, types of feelings as well. And so, you know, the solution is never, okay, well, let's just sit out, because then otherwise the decisions will be made by people who do show up. But showing up hasn't meant that we actually get people who are willing to govern in a conservative fashion. And so I think that the lack of available viable options, is what's really disillusioning, to conservatives because we're taught, and we should be, that in the United States, under our system of government, we can select and prefer our leaders. And if we participate in the process we have, you know, the moral majority, all of those things, then we will be able to affect the direction and the moral trajectory of this nation. And even though we've, we turned out in large numbers in 2024, the people we put into these position on both the federal and some state level positions even, have been huge disappointment. So, you know, so what's, what's the solution then, moving forward? I mean, it can't just be, well, fine, you know, we sit at home. That's not the solution. But it also seems like, going and voting for the best possible candidate isn't really achieving the accountability that we prefer.

 Auron MacIntyre : Right. And this is a really difficult thing, and I don't know if it's something that we can immediately solve, but it is a truth that we ultimately have to face. I wrote about this extensively in my book the Total State. But when you're in a scenario like we're in, when you have the type of government that we have, if you continue to scale up the number of voters, you're going to continue to change the way that the government works. So, for instance, you were just talking about how silly people were, how they didn't understand what, you know, the gaze of Hormuz was not a thing. Right. How can this person vote? Well, they can vote because we expanded the franchise. The founders didn't eventually actually let everyone vote. That wasn't actually the original plan. In fact, all you can find about 20 or 30 quotes right off the top of your head from the founders about how dangerous democracy is. They didn't believe in unfettered Democracy or the mass franchise. They believe that the people should be represented by a select number of voters. And also that even that democratic element should be tempered by other, safeguards, like the election of senators through a, you know, the state process as opposed to the direct election that eventually came with, I, believe it was the 17th amendment. And so you have this problem where we have fundamentally changed the way that the government works without really thinking about what the implications of that would be. So today we have a lot of very uneducated people who were never really supposed to be able to vote. I mean, at this point, even the Democrats are trying to include illegals, you know, often successfully, apparently, for voting. And those people are easily manipulated. That's why the Democrats want them involved. That's why the Democrats are always pushing for more and more people to be on the voter rolls, because those are more and more people that could be manipulated through mass media, the educational system, you know, all of these things that the Democrats tend to control Hollywood. And so they want more of these uneducated people on the rolls. They benefit from that. And so we have to think seriously about the implications of having so many people who should have never been able to vote and removing the safeguards that the founders built into the mass democratic process with things like the Senate. And until we address that stuff, we're going to continue to see the outcomes that we're seeing.

Oren McIntyre supports the Convention of States project to amend US Constitution

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, you know, and that's such a great point. And this is why, the Convention of States Project is something that I've long been, a champion and an advocate for and have endorsed, you know, that particular project, because of the specific subject matter that are on the Convention of States States, project specifically. But the idea overall that we can amend our US Constitution, obviously we've done that 27 times in our nation's history. But the idea that we need to go back and correct some of the perhaps faulty ways that we've amended our system so that we've allowed more elements of direct democracy in a republic that was designed differently, is the solution, I think, Oren. And we need to take that really serious, seriously and not just try to, continue this repetitious process that clearly doesn't work. Elections by themselves are not the only answer. We have to make sure that the process is actually designed the best way possible to protect freedom and liberty. So we'll be right back with more and Definitely follow Oren McIntyre on X as well as the Blaze.

Even some reasonable Democrats are frustrated with the trajectory of their party

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

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And the frustration over the lack of governance is actually not just being felt by those of us on the political right, but even some reasonable Democrats. And yes, there are still some of those out there. A few, but there are. And even some of the reasonable Democrats are frustrated with the trajectory of their party as well. And I was talking to my good friend Robin Biro, last night, who's a Democrat strategist and invited him on this morning, and we were talking last night just about how, you know, really in D.C. and politics in general, it. It seems like it is a uni party even More so in 2026 than, you know, at any other time. I think over the duration of kind of the Trump era, where the establishment GOP that really kind of includes, you know, Trump now, you know, he's. He's the establishment of the gop. And you know, how that actually all plays out after, he's no longer on the ticket and sort of post, his era remains to be seen. But overall, you know, the people that he's endorsing, like the Lindsey Graham's of the world. Right. And whether he endures, endorses, John Cornyn is going to be very interesting, to see. Indeed. But you know, his, his endorsements are basically all of the people who aren't governing on our side. And so. And then on the Democrat side, you know, they. They don't have really anybody that's standing up for anything reasonable. I mean, to go against the SAVE act, to to hold the the government shutdown last November over, you know, wanting to, support, illegal immigrants and you know, to have open borders and you know, all of these things that clearly just popularly the American people are against, that doesn't seem to be like a winning message for them. And then having, you know, Kamala Harris as like their potential number one candidate for 2028, that doesn't really bode well.

Robin Byro: Maybe we need to get rid of both sides

And so, so let's welcome in Robin Byro. And you know, we were talking last night, Robin, about, you know, maybe we just need to kind of like, you know, get rid of both sides and like, recreate a. An actually, you know, genuinely American party that. That can figure out how to govern. And I would love that and I would get rid of both sides in a heartbeat.

Robin Biro: Okay, it sounds like we've got a ticket. Ella. Spiro. Let's do it.

Jenna Ellis: Let's do it. Yeah. The unity ticket. All right, there we go.

Robin Biro: Unity ticket. Yeah. Oh my gosh. But seriously. And what you said about the Uni Party is so right. And. But what's driving that is that, you know, I'm sure you've seen this, too. On your side of the political aisle, there will be a candidate who aligns with you so well, you think, and so ideologically great. and, they're a man or woman of the people. and then they get in office and they cling to that power, and something changes them. And that's where the uniparty thing steps in. and, you know, it's a great argument for term limits, because power corrupts, as we've seen with Jim Clyburn on my side of the ticket, who just, at 85 years old, filed for reelection when he said that he wouldn't. And, Lindsey Graham. You mentioned Lindsey Graham. You know, I mean, I grew up in South Carolina. We're so sick of Lindsey Graham. But we keep electing him because we know that he can win. But, Or at least Republicans know that he can win. But, oh, my gosh, these guys have got to give it up, give someone else a chance.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, well, and you're so right that, you know, it seems like you're supporting some of these candidates, even newer ones, you know, that come in and they're, you know, maybe the outsiders, or they say, you know, hey, here's my life story and why I'm engaged in politics. And then. And then suddenly, you know, they get that taste of power or they get into the big leagues, and they feel like they have to play the game. I mean, that's kind of, in my view, what happened a little bit to Speaker Mike Johnson, because, you know, he. I mean, he's been on this program quite a bit and, you know, was always the beacon of, you know, constitutional freedom, had, you know, all of these things that were so lined up with conservative values. And then as soon as he gets into the speakership, it's like his priorities just completely change for the job. The job changed him instead of him changing the job. And that often happens, unfortunately, on both sides. And so I think it's frustrating for the American people who, you know, there actually are, I think, some common things that. That just regular, average Americans, whether you're Democrat or Republican or Independent, still want. I mean, and this is why, like, RFK Jr. Is doing so well in the MAHA movement as. As actually a Democrat in the Trump administration. because, you know, he's speaking to something that really isn't partisan. And we've kind of lost that, Robyn, that idea that some things Just aren't. Yeah, some things just aren't partisan and we don't have to label it, you know, blue or red.

Robin Biro: Yeah. What happened to common sense? Seriously, that's what. That's what bothers me. and, you know, I really want for my elected officials to be public servants when they get in office, they seem to lose sight of that. Something changes them, and it's just so discouraging. and, you know, I'm also seeing that somewhat, and whether you agree with it or not, that I. One thing I really liked about Donald Trump's campaign and his first term was the whole pledge for no new wars. And I'm seeing a lot of people really frustrated now that we're doing this in Iran. We're talking about conflict in Cuba. Were getting kind of on the bully pulpit with Greenland and Canada to some extent. And that's not really. You know, I really like that there were. There were things I really liked about his campaign. and that was one of them, the no wars. And I'm saying that as a combat veteran Army Ranger, you know what I mean? I went through multiple tours in Afghanistan, and I'd love to save some of my nenet, some of my brothers and sisters in arms. The trouble is just, I wish that this were more thought out to. You know what I mean? but it's something. Something's going. Just like you said. Once they get an office, something sort of changes them. They become part of the system once they've been in office for long enough. And that's frustrating.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. And, it is so frustrating. And, you know, in your experience as an Army Ranger and, you know, actually serving this country, and serving it honorably and the, Yeah, and I appreciate your service so much, and, you know, you have, a life in Georgia and a family and, you know, all of these things that are common to the American experience, that everyone, regardless of whether you're Democrat or Republican, there are certain things that people want and genuinely should expect from the American experience. And when politicians are not willing to govern to, you know, make, life actually better so that we can pursue the American dream and to pursue freedom and liberty and, you know, religious freedom. I mean, all of these things that are part and parcel to our system of government, it. It is so frustrating to see their priorities on power and partisan optics in. So instead of actually putting the legitimate view of government and actually governing first. And so, you know, so then the question, of course, becomes, okay, we saw a potential. A slight glimmer of a potential in the 2024 election, when RFK Jr. Was initially running as an independent and he actually had a ton of momentum and we thought potentially there might be an actual third party challenger that would get enough of the disaffected from both sides, because that's obviously been the problem. You know, the math is the problem. But he would be somebody that would kind of cross aisles. Do you think that there is a world in which in 2028, people are just done with both sides? They're saying, okay, both of both sides are terrible for several. For a lot of reasons we can articulate. Let's try something new and actually go with an independent candidate who comes in totally fresh and not beholden to either the RNC or the dnc. Because that, I think is the bigger problem. These private organizations.

Robin Biro: What drives it all, of course, is money.

Jenna Reynolds: Democrats and Republicans lacking cohesive message ahead of November elections

So I'd be curious. you know, usually once we get closer, I start looking at the actual dollars and cents, that the RNC has in the dnc. I would think that fundraising has got to be down right now for the dnc, because just like you said in the lead to your segment here, we're lacking a message, we're lacking any kind of cohesive message that on my side of the aisle, the Democratic Party is just become Orange man bad. and we're not offering any, any other alternatives other than Trump is bad. And that's just not going to work. That and he won't be president forever. So what will our message be when he's not president? It can't just that we're still griping about Donald Trump. and then on the Republican side, it's, you know, the party of the aggrieved. It seems to be, and, you know, that's not aspirational. People want to elect someone because for good reasons, it drives them to aspire to be something better. They don't want to hear just the aggrieved party of complaining all the time. we want aspirational politics. We want something that's going to make our lives better, that makes our children's lives better. and that's what's been missing really, from both sides of the party. I would love it, Jenna, if some viable third party would come up with a better, more motivating message. That's what's been missing. so I hope that the seeds seem to have been sown. it's up to, up to key above. Make it happen. Let's give us something that, that can motivate us and, Gives us something to look forward to.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And I'm sitting with Robin Byro is the Democrat strategist and we actually agree on the problems with both sides of the uni party here. But yes, you know, and I totally agree with what you said too that, you know, the Democrats message can't just be Will Trump bad. And on the flip side the Republicans can't just be, well, Camel is a disaster. You know, it's like I'm so tired of the personalities and it's like we're electing a prom king or queen or, you know, this, the branding and the image and all of this stuff. It's like, I would love to go back to a time where we all could just not pay attention to the people in politics because they were so effective at their job. We didn't have to, we didn't have to look at the headlines and say, you know, oh, am I going to have a four hour wait at the airport today because of whatever Lindsey Graham is doing with his bubble wand at Disney World? I mean, I would love to know, care about that. Right. So I mean, I would love to have a candidate who actually was talking about policy instead of his or her own Persona. And that seems to be the problem is that we only have politicians anymore. We don't have statesmen.

Robin Biro: That is absolutely correct. and the cult of personality has become this thing in recent years that, and I would argue honestly, and I'm saying this as Obama's former campaign director, it started with him and you know, what happened to the movements, what happened to our principals? there's absolutely a uni party. I think at this point there's no denying that because power corrupts. And I'm so tired of seeing it, it happens time and time again. you know, even. And on the Democratic side, I would say even with people like Fetterman, you know, or Kirsten Cinema, we elected somebody that aligned with our principles. But once they got in there, they became somebody they morphed into someone that was completely opposite of who they represented themselves to be. And I'm sure that happens on the right as well. and I've got to say, as a, as a son of South Carolina, it's funny to me that you brought up Lindsey Graham because that was a hilarious moment. but you know, it happens. And these people can make, fools of themselves and that we still somehow reelect them.

Jenna Ellis: It is wild to me. It is just totally wild how out of everybody in South Carolina, that's literally the best. But it is. It's because he has the machine behind him. And, you know, that's the same thing here. Yeah, exactly. And like here in Florida, you know, Byron Donald has the Trump machine. And is he the best, most principled candidate? You know, Absolutely not, in my opinion. But he's the front runner and has the most money. And, you know, people, I mean, even I was talking to a couple reporters last week that were like, oh, you know, well, he's on Fox News all the time. I thought he was great. I'm like, oh, my gosh. No, like that. That's not what makes a good candidate is just because you can go on media and get a lot of media hits. I mean, you and I know that from our Fox News circuit days, you know.

Robin Biro: Yes, exactly.

Jenna Ellis: And, and so. And so it's so frustrating, though, to see that cycle continue to repeat itself.

Robin Byro: John Ossoff's race is unique

And in just the last few minutes, I have with you in this segment, Robin, I wanted to ask you as well, though, about, two Senate seats that the GOP is targeting that are helping. Yes. In Georgia. So talk to us about that race.

Robin Biro: It's tricky. so John Ossoff's race is unique. I'm speaking. I just hosted him for a party at my home last weekend, Saturday. so, the interesting thing with his race in these last few minutes is that, you know, he did vote for the Lake and Wriley act, and that was much to the chagrin of the Democratic Party. so he was basically here to answer to that. I was grateful that he voted for that. But, you know, obviously my, My friends on the left were horrid horrified at that. but I think he's underwater, you know, that the polling doesn't look so great. and you know, the GOP is right to target some of these seats. I think they're going to be safe with the, with the Senate seats this year. I still think that the GOP ultimately will retain majority control of the Senate. The House is less certain. but, you know, it's interesting to see my party, some of the members, like John, off switching, trying to re recolor themselves as more m. Moderate. but I want to just look at them and say, maga's never going

 : to vote for you.

Robin Biro: You may vote for the Lyken Wriley act, but they'll never vote for you. It's not going to work. so

Jenna Ellis: do you think that he voted for that out of political pressure or. Because, I mean, the obvious thing is that that was the right vote to cast me again. That shouldn't have been partisan. So was this kind of a moment of sanity for him or was it more political calculated, do you think?

Robin Biro: So he got a lot of support of the Hispanic community here. and they were, they were really up in arms. I sit on a couple of boards of directors and that was the big problem after that. But I think it was, he was going with his gut and honestly I respect that. He made some votes that are, that are, you know, that do reach across the aisle. it's just that in this, in these, these times that we're in right now, people aren't really going to be looking at your voting record. It seems like they really just look to see if there's an R or a D. Yeah, see and that isn't

Jenna Ellis: that the problem is that instead of actually looking at the voting record and then allowing people, regardless of whether they're Republican, Democrat or Independent, to actually vote for whoever is the best candidate, who's going to govern the best and who actually votes the values that, that you hold. People just look for the R and the D and that's keeping the unit party active and that's totally the problem. But Robin Byro really appreciate, appreciate you dropping by. good to know that there are still, you know, a few sane Democrats left. But we'll be right back with more.

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

US Supreme Court rules against Colorado's anti-Christian child counseling laws

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, in some good news, Colorado, and the laboratory of the most progressive leftist satanic laws imaginable has put up another L in their column, thankfully courtesy of an 81 decision from the US Supreme Court yesterday. It should have been a 9 0, but of course Justice Jackson was alone, insane, you know, crazy person who ah, suggested in her dissent that there is no right to practice medicine which is not subordinate to the police power of the state states, which is a little bit scary there. But this is of course talking about Childs v. Salazar, which is the the case that concerned a Christian counselor and whether or not Christians in the state of Colorado can actually can, can actually counsel minor children on same sex attraction, on gender dysphoria and all of those things from a, from a truthful, reality based and biblical worldview perspective that men are men and women are women and from a biblical perspective. And so thankfully the Supreme Court, in the majority opinion upheld that the right of counselors, to have that viewpoint and said that of course the Constitution doesn't protect only certain viewpoints and not others. but the fact that this case even had to be argued and the fact that Colorado is consistently and persistently, over the last decade, trying intentionally to create and manufacture these laws that are so outrageous and get them passed through the US Supreme Court is really concerning as an overall trajectory. So let's welcome in Mike Donnelly, who is an attorney and, is also a professor and, you know, has taught, ah, constitutional law to, to undergrads and, has done a lot of work on, you know, a lot of different things in, in the area of constitutional law and also international law. And Mike, you know, I know that when you were with the, Homeschool Legal Defense association, you know, Colorado was one of the states that you covered. And, you know, you and I spoke frequently then when I was still living in Colorado about all the insanity there. But, you know, this is a good thing that Colorado lost, but I'm not sure that it's going to deter them from just trying again to continue these outrageous, unconstitutional, and frankly, satanic laws.

Mike Donnelly: Well, Jenna, it's great to be with you. Good morning, everyone. What a wonderful time it is, to celebrate the birth and resurrection, death and resurrection of our Savior. And this is a great, recognition of biblical truth, right, that you're talking about.

The Supreme Court rules that Colorado's anti-transgender law is viewpoint discrimination

M. Let's just talk about what the case is and what it isn't. Okay? So what the Supreme Court did here in an 8:1, decision, which is great. I was expecting it to be 6:3, because we talked about some months ago after oral arguments. you know, Kagan and Sotomayor. well, Kagan. Justice Kagan joined the majority opinion. Sotomayor did not. Kagan joined the majority opinion saying this is textbook viewpoint discrimination. What's viewpoint discrimination? I mean, it's pretty simple. you know, if you're basing a regulation because of a person's opinion or because of their particular point of view, it's viewpoint discrimination. The Supreme Court has said that is the most egregious, the most pernicious kind of anti, speech regulation. And we're not going to allow that under the first amendment of the U.S. constitution. so Kagan joined that. She said, look, this is textbook. This is classic. Sotomayor joined her opinion, didn't join the majority opinion, which I thought was kind of interesting. So it was innate one in the judgment. But, you know, of course, kbj, Justice Jackson had her own point of view, and she basically said, look, this is Colorado regulating medical standards. And, you know, we have a history of not allowing substandard care. And this speech is just incident to treatment. And the court, you know, Justice Gorsuch, who wrote the majority opinion, said, no, this is not that. And, you know, this is a, this is textbook First Amendment case. but what they did was they sent it back. So they didn't strike down the law. They just said, look, as applied to the counselor, this is likely unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. Therefore, the 10th Circuit is going to get the case back because they did not apply strict scrutiny, which is what you have to apply when you're looking at a law that regulates speech. And they, just apply what's called rational basis review. And that kind of rational basis review basically means the government wins every time. So 10th Circuit is going to get this back. I mean, they'll probably uphold what the Supreme Court said, which is this kind of law as applied. So they're not striking down the law. They're not going to strike down the law. The law is going to stand. It's just going to be as applied to people who are engaged only in the kind of talk that only counseling that, Katy Childs, engages in are going to be protected. Now, this does have ramifications across the whole country, though, because there are 23 states and most big cities and a lot of little cities, too, because the homosexual transgender lobby has been busy passing ordinances in all kinds of towns and cities all over the country to do exactly this thing. So this is. This is going to have a big impact all over the country, and it's a good thing.

Jenna Ellis: M. Well, you know, and, and speaking of impact to Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, posted on X yesterday after the decision, Colorado is for everyone, no matter who you are. Conversion therapy doesn't work, can seriously harm youth, and Coloradans should beware before turning over their hard earned money to a scam. Imagine calling Christian counseling a scam. But, I didn't see that. And he said, I am evaluating the US Supreme Court ruling and working to figure out how to better protect LGBTQ youth free speech in Colorado. We are fighting for everyone's right to be who you are in our Colorado for all. And I posted back and I said, okay, so Colorado is for everyone, including Christian counselors. I mean.

Mike Donnelly: Yeah, exactly. That's the right question.

Jenna Ellis: Right. And, and so, you know, this is. This is so frustrating that, you know, the governor has his own viewpoint and he's. He's literally going against the entire point of this case by trying to force his viewpoint on everyone else.

Mike Donnelly: Well, Kagan and Kagan's concurring opinion, she said, look, if this had been, a content based restriction only and was not obviously viewpoint discrimination. Right. Because, you know, the way the statute was drafted, it's very broad and it encompasses lots of things. Okay? And you know, it was fatal to the statute that it says, look, it's okay if you affirm a person who's going through a gender transition, but it's not okay to try to change someone's gender. Right. And so it's obvious to the court what was going on here, and that's why they sent back. But Kagan wrote, look, hey, guys, hint, hint, if you sent us something that was content neutral, whatever that might be, I can't tell you what it is, but basically saying, look, go back and try it again. To your point about Colorado and other states that are engaging this kind of insanity, you know, the battle's not over. This was a. This is definitely a win, for the truth and for free speech. and we'll see where it goes from here. This is the beginning, not the end. And I found it interesting that, Justice Gorsuch also cited to, a very old case, Buck B. Bell, you know, sort of poking at this idea of, well, we have to go with what the medical community says. Back then in the 1920s and 30s, we sterilized people who were disabled. I mean, we literally did that. And the Supreme Court upheld that practice in Buck v. Bell, later overturned. Right. So this idea that we have to go along with what the quote, unquote medical professionals say is not going to cut it with the Supreme Court, fortunately. And, you know, you can also look at the Scaremetti case in Tennessee, where the court said, look, in the same area, Tennessee said, we're not going to allow sex change operations on minors. The court said, yes, we're going to uphold that. So there's a battle going on, you know, and we're in. I'm not sure we're coming to the end of it. I think we're still in the middle of it.

Jenna Ellis: Oh, I totally agree with you. And you know, thankfully, we still have a majority of the Supreme Court that is willing to, hold against some of these absolutely insane laws. Because if the balance of the court were different, I mean, imagine how many things Colorado would be successful at, pushing through and that would impact the whole country. So, thankfully, we have that. you're absolutely right. I mean, I thought this would be a six three. I was shocked to see that it was an eight one. some. Some are Calling, you know, of course, for ah, Justice Jackson to be impeached. I mean, I think she was not qualified, to begin with. And if the house is doing its job, it would hold her accountable. But, you know, that's obviously never going to happen. But in terms of the, kind of the future landscape, you say we're right in the middle of it, and I agree with that.

Three anti-LGBT ballot initiatives in Colorado will be on November 26 ballot

are there, to your knowledge, are there test cases, further forthcoming, whether from Colorado or some other state, on some of these similarly outrageous, kinds of laws?

Mike Donnelly: Well, we've had a number of victories. recently I talked about Scarletti. the court has been in moving in the direction, saying, look, guys, we're going to look at this stuff and we're not just going to uphold, you know, the left preferred statutory implementation of sogi, sexual orientation and gender identity laws. you know, we have Mahmoud recently saying that you can't hide a gender transition from parents. and so there's a lot of cases here that the court has pronounced. And I think what we need to do as a country is we need to go back to the state legislatures and we need to go back and say, look, not okay, we need to repeal these laws or we need to challenge them more. And I'm not aware of any new ones that are percolating through the system. There may be some. I didn't, I didn't check. I'm not aware of any. but, you know, speaking of Colorado, Jenna, you know our good friend, former senator Kevan Lundberg, who you know well, is, on the board of an organization called Protect Kids Colorado. And they have successfully gotten three ballot initiatives, number 108, 109 and 110, that are going to be officially on the November 26 ballot. And these are, laws that would protect children, protecting children from sex trafficking, protecting children from irreversible sex change procedures, and protecting girls, single sex, sports and locker rooms. So they got enough signatures. They had to get hundreds of thousands of signatures. And I think the people in Colorado are waking up to what's going on. You know, I'm not sure we like this. And so we'll see what happens. I think Kevan is hopeful that this is going to result in some political change. I think people may be surprised at what happens in Colorado. I hope we'll be pleasantly surprised. there's an open governor's race there, and, you know, the left has had a dominant majority in the legislature for years. You know, when I joined, hslda, Colorado was my state, and we were always fighting stuff. And I watched Colorado go from moderate to far left. you know, the pendulum swings. So hopefully we've reached the far end and we're going to start swinging back.

Jenna Ellis: That is really encouraging. And, you know, that's props to Kevan Lundberg and his organization, for doing that. And, that is a great way to bypass a terrible legislature, that is unwilling to do things, basic things like protect girls, in women's sports and, you know, some of those other things that you mentioned. And so, for the ballot initiatives, how. How likely do they think it is that those may pass, with. With the threshold, requisite amount in Colorado on this, November ballot?

Mike Donnelly: Well, I mean, if you, if you talk to Kevan, Kevan's always optimistic. Right. He's a fighter, and, he'll never stop fighting. He's, he's an incredible. Yes. Yeah. He's, he's, He's a great statesman. I mean, he's, he's, he's, he's optimistic. They got the signatures. There's a lot of energy. and I guess the question is, who's going to come out, you know, who's going to come out and vote? That's ultimately what it's about. And when you talk, you know, we talked about this. I wasn't sure I was going to mention it. We don't have a lot of time to really get into this. But, you know, when we talk about the laboratory of Colorado being the laboratory for Satan, you're referring to the United States, 50 states being the laboratories of democracy. Right. And, you know, I just have to get in my little point about, look, you know, yes, it's an A1 decision. We like the outcome, but do we really want nine Supreme Court justices telling us what we can and can't say? Is that what it means to be in the United States of America, a constitutional republic, where the states are supposed to be.

Jenna Ellis: Because what if, you know, 10 years down the road we have a different composition of the U.S. supreme Court that holds to the contrary and overturns it? I mean, this is why we can't just rest on a, Supreme Court oligarchy. Absolutely.

Mike Donnelly: precisely. And sometimes we're going to lose.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah.

Mike Donnelly: And, you know, and in this case, it's a win. But I just have to. I have to just challenge anybody listening. Right. Look, we can be happy about the outcome and agree with the outcome, but there's a structural deficit. There's a structural issue here. The Supreme Court is pronouncing a rule for all 330 million people in this country. Are we happy about that? I think we really need to be thinking about and sometimes they're going to be cases like this where states have to be allowed to get it wrong and people can leave or they have to fight for their viewpoint and take back the legislature. And I think we have to be more comfortable with that or some of

Jenna Ellis: these ballot initiatives as well. And you know, I think I think that's an absolutely fair and great point.

Mike Donnelly supports convention of states to correct process and procedural deficits

And in just probably the last minute we have here as well. You know, this is also where the Convention of States project, we were talking about that earlier in the show. this is really important to correct some of these process and procedural deficits 100%.

Mike Donnelly: I'm a huge fan of the Convention of States. I mean, you know, my target list is the 16th and 17th amendment. An income tax was never part of the founders plan and having the senators be popularly elected was stupid. why, why are people in the 1913 did that? I really don't know. I probably should find out more. But I'm sure they thought they were doing something right. But we've seen that the impact of that is what we've gotten. We've got a huge federal government, we've got senators that don't actually represent the states and the constitutional design as it was intended has been broken down and we've got to work on that. So I support the convention of states

Jenna Ellis: 100% same I do as well. And you know, when we're talking about the frustrations that we have even in the midst of, you know, some of these wins, which is great, but the frustrations overall that conservatives have with government, I mean these are some of the long term things, not just the next election, the next election or the infighting or the party or the whatever, these are some of the long term things that we can really strive for. And if we would all raise our voices and and our time and talents and get involved, these are outcomes that we actually could achieve and that would be great. So Mike Donnelly, really appreciate it. Follow him on X at Donnelly Speaks. And as always you can reach me and my team JennaAFR.net.