Jenna Ellis: Rights that our founders recognize come from God, not government
: Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
: 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.
Ryan helenbein is guest host on American Family Radio
Ryan Helenbein: Welcome to Jenna Ellis in the Morning. I am, not Jenna Ellis. I'm Ryan helenbein. I'm vice President of Communications and Public engagement at Liberty University. I'm also the founding executive director of the Standing for Freedom center, also at the same institution. And, I am actually going to be your guest host today on American Family Radio. And Jenna Ellis in the morning. And. And, what a night it was for our nation.
Q: Did you watch last night's State of the Union
many of you, you might be wondering, some of you might be wondering, what am I talking about? Did you watch the State of the Union? I know my family did. I did. we do not miss it. It's an educational opportunity, but we had the opportunity to hear yet again from our President, 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. And, giving direct address, this would have been, I guess, for the seventh time, or sixth time, rather, that he would present a State of the Union, but he, has given many direct arrests before. And, last night's speech certainly had plenty of things to talk about. And we're going to spend this, segment and the next segment talking about last night's State of the Union. I'm just reminded in just a very, very short time how much things can change, in the United States of America. It's hard to believe it has already been one year since he has taken the oath of office. It's hard to believe that, we had four years of Joe Biden. But, when you think about all of the things that needed to transpire, economic policy, border security, foreign policy, tariffs, all of those questions, that, certainly need to be addressed, and certainly would make, a difference in terms of the prosperity of a nation and the security of the nation, we have to recognize, too, that God is at work when it comes to the affairs of men, when it comes to human affairs. And I'm reminded of that, Proverbs. Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 34. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. And so when we get to the State of the union. Of course, it doesn't matter who the leader of the party is. you know, we, we listen to the President of the United States. We have to recognize too, that that president enacts certain policies, executive orders, puts things into play and sets an agenda before the people. And, certainly when it comes to righteousness, this is always top of mind for me. But it's the issue of the unborn, it's the issue of the sanctity of human life. It's the issue of marriage and family. All of those things matter. and certainly there has been a major pivot from this presidential administration with regard to various policies, defense of life and certainly a family and children, than in the previous generation. And so lots of things came up last night, lots that was on the agenda, lots of things that were discussed, not, the least of which was, the economic turnaround, all the things that were being done about inflation, tax policies, the tax cut, largest one in U.S. history for American working families, no taxes on tip, no taxes on overtime, putting more money back in American pockets. that is huge. And then you think about where we were just a few short years ago with Biden inflation. Biden inflation was huge. this is while he wanted to continue in 2021, the lockdowns. And the lockdowns was, a huge, depressor to our, international supply chains. And you think about the fact that, many American workers were furloughed, many factories were, shut down. You think about also, the fact that, internationally, there was not a whole lot of things that were going on. most of our protection equipment was coming from China at the time. They printed somewhere between 8 and 10 trillion dollars in cash money. And, of course that led to a huge, inflation when it comes to our bottom line. The price of gasoline, the price of food, the price of medicine, all these things started to go up, during the Biden era. And, that impacted everyone. And then you mentioned, if we were to go back and look at what happened just a few short years ago, the number of people that had to get the jab or to lose their job, all of that had a huge impact on the economy. And so the question is, you know, where are we now? you know, we still have Americans who live on food stamps, but far less. We still have higher prices, but those prices have come down and they're largely been. They've been stabilized Inflation in the last part of, Q4 of 2025 was at 1.7%. And so there's been a stabilizing factor with Trump policies and the Trump administration. obviously the low tax is going to be a huge impact in the middle of this second quarter. I think many Americans are going to feel that when they get a refund back and recognize, okay, there is a little bit more money to go around this year but wages will still have to catch up and that's going to take a little bit longer time.
One of the things that I was so looking forward to, to uh, seeing was affordable housing
One of the things that I was so looking forward to, to seeing and hearing was just the re, the policies regarding FHA and affordable housing. And when you think about over the past decade or so or more, there have been a lot of foreign entities that have come into the United States and they've purchased homes. There have been large REITs that have purchased homes, real estate trusts that have gone in and have made renters out of many single family, single occupancy homes across the country. Certain places are certainly bigger than others. You think about Houston, Texas or Phoenix, Arizona. there's parts of Florida that are covered. the map is saturated with multiple occupancy homes or homes that were ultimately designed to be sold but but instead have become either owned by American banks or even by foreign entities. China owns millions of homes in the United States or in the hundreds of thousands I should say at least. but they own billions of dollars of American real estate and have turned single family homes into rental properties. and the question is, is why is there so much inflation when it comes to housing? It's more than double the inflation of everything else and it is more than doubled, the rise in wages going all the way back to 1981. this was when President Reagan was in office. The average homeowner, the first time homeowner, was just 29 years of age and the average home buyer was 31 years of age. You fast forward to today and the average home buyer today is in their mid-50s, a Gen Xer. And the average first time homeowner in the United States right now is someone in their early 40s. That would be somebody who might be a Zennial or an older millennial, but certainly not a Gen Z. Er, and so we look at that and say, wow, something has to be done. Of course the President did do an eo, just not that long ago, several weeks ago. we've covered this at the Freedom Center And Jenna's covered this on her show as well. but regarding foreign, or rather regarding real estate, trusts, REITs, who have come in and have used cash to buy homes. Oftentimes they're able to circumvent a process that a regular person like me or you would have to go through, to go to a bank to get a loan fully privatized and then to go and to, bid on a home. Ah, a lot of these corporations, can come in and they can come in with cash money. They could put an offer on a home and snag a home up from a regular average Joe buyer. those types of questions and more were the subject of last night's State, of the Union.
Jenna Ellis: Violent crime is down in many cities across the country
And of course, when it comes to the reduction of violent crime, and this is probably one of the most startling numbers that the President revealed, last night, violent crime and murders are at the lowest in the United States in 125 years. And that is thanks largely to, yes, CBP and, ICE. Absolutely. when it comes to policing and then also the deployment of the National Guard to many of our cities across the country. I live just a few short hours away from Washington D.C. and I can tell you that as for me and my family, yes, it is noticeably safer when you drive into Washington D.C. it is noticeably safer when you are finding a parking spot and you think, should I leave my vehicle in this neighborhood? Should I park it in this parking garage? Do I feel safe walking out on the street? I'm a father, I have three daughters. Let me just say this, I think about my girls. Is this a safe place for them to go walking around in? And I can say there is a huge difference, in the way DC looks today versus the way it looked just about a year ago. So, yes, crime is down. It's down in many cities across the country. It's a good reminder that, yes, crime is a choice. It's a choice when it comes to policy and, whether or not crimes, are going to be punishable and punishable by the fullest extent of the law, not just allowing people to do whatever they want in the streets. Now, this is the kind of stuff that, leadership, demands. And this is the kind of thing that leadership influences and changes. That, verse again is Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 34. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. It does matter who the President of the United States is. It does matter what policies are enacted. And there is Cause and effect. There are results, from enacting crime policies. If you tolerate crime, crime is going to come to your city. If there is no punishment for crime, if there's cashless bail, then we have the tragedies of Irina Zarutska and many other young girls whose lives have been taken from them mercilessly by ruthless thugs and killers. So crime does matter. It does matter what policies are enacted. And I, think that one of the things that the Trump administration has done rather brilliantly is by deploying the, declaring a certain emergency and deploying National Guard. it has forced the issue, and then, of course, it has given local law enforcement the support that they need and the stabilizing effect they need in order to do their job. Certainly National Guard doesn't need to be making arrests, but local police do. And, to have that kind of backup and that kind of presence certainly communicates to the American people the seriousness of all of this. There's so much more to discuss, and we will on the show today, things that were discussed last night, for many people, I think I was really watching because I wanted to see the Olympic men's hockey team come up. We will talk about that in the next segment. But what an incredible opportunity for the nation once again to be reoriented with the policies of this president and to recognize where we're going. We'll, stick around, folks, and we'll be right back in the next segment. Thank you for listening to Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Ryan Helfenbein: Many heroes were honored last night
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Ryan Helenbein: Welcome back to Jen Ellis in the Morning. This is Ryan Helfenbein. I'm guest host today, Vice President of Communications and Public engagement at Liberty University. And, on this next segment, we're going to be continuing our conversation about the State of the Union. Many heroes were honored last night. And I, was teary eyed. I know my family, as we were watching. This is one of the things that we love to see. Let me just say this. I have been, to the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum. It's actually in Dallas, Fort Worth. you need to go with a box of tissue if you ever get to go there. what an incredible place. It's not too far from the Cowboy Stadium. It's not too far from the airport you're ever passing through. It is worth the time. Time. And, there were two last night Medal of Honor recipients, Navy Captain E. Royce Williams and Army Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slaver. Eric, of course, was shot. just very, very Close range. and he was wounded and he was able to survive that. But what an, what an incredible, story of heroism, of bravery of both of them. And if your heart doesn't melt when you see a hundred year old man, a, hero of the Korean War, receiving the Medal of Honor, having it wrapped around his neck by the First Lady, I tell you, you don't have a heart. that was just incredible. And so I was brought to tears.
Ryan Grimaldi: Andrew Wolf received a Purple Heart last night
but there was a lot of other celebrating and many other heroes last night who received recognition. Andrew, Wolf got a Purple Heart and he of course was someone that was shot in the head. this was just a few weeks ago and while he was on duty. and it was an act of, it was an act of terror. And he received a Purple Heart last night. I want to welcome, into the room a, guest, who is an alum actually of Liberty University and of the Standing for Freedom center and is currently a contributor over at the Daily Wire, and that is Allen Morrow. Good morning, Allen. Welcome.
Allen Moro: Good morning, Ryan. It's so great to be with you.
Did you watch the US Men's hockey team stand up during State of Union
Ryan Helenbein: Hey, I, I think you were probably pretty excited last night, to watch the State of the Union. I have to ask what everybody's probably thinking. Did you, did you watch the US Men's hockey team stand up, get a standing ovation, from the crowd? By the way, some of the Democrats actually stood up and clapped for them.
Allen Moro: Yes. That was such a fun moment. You know, usually the State of the Union has a lot of important topics. There's a lot of controversial things that go on. You don't usually get to see, like, this championship hockey team come in and show off their medals. And it was like one time where the whole room, for the most part, seemed to be on the same page. And then President Trump threw that little jab, over to the, Democrats in the room and said, wow, this is the first time I've seen you guys get up. Overall, I thought it was actually a really neat and unifying moment and I'm so glad the guys got to come and be there for the State of the Union.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes, absolutely.
Did you catch any of the Olympics this year
Tell me this, did you get to catch any of the Olympics this year? Did you watch the US Men's hockey team or did you see highlights of it?
Allen Moro: I did see highlights, but to be honest with you, I am not a great American in that regard. I, look for the highlights and then I go over to Daily Wire and I'll, you know, report on what happened or after the, after the hockey team won. You know, we were all excited and putting out a lot of content, but to be honest with you, I was watching. Watching, the score updates, on Twitter.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes. Yeah, I think that's. That's me. That's a lot of people. You know, we find out what the important stories are, and then we watch and track with them as they develop. I would love to. When I was a kid, I used to watch the Olympics all the time. I never missed. And, the older I get, the more scarce my time is. My girls. Okay, so I have a son and I have three daughters. They love watching the bobsled, and they also like watching the figure skating. And I'll leave you to guess which. The boy or the girls. Which one likes to actually see the bobsledding versus the figure skating? But there you go.
Alan King: President Trump honored many American heroes last night
so watching last night, Allen, of course, there were many heroes, that were championed and lionized. you know, the American heroes that were up in the gallery. And then, of course, we were rooting on the men's team. There was also the story of Sage Blair. and Sage, that was the one that was, here in Virginia. She was the girl through Appomattox County High School in Virginia. She began, at age 14, identifying, as a male. And that school, encouraged her. School counselor actually encouraged her to transition. New name, dad naming her old name. Didn't you know? In doing all of this, of course, without notifying her parents and legal guardians, without notifying her mother, Myshel, they encouraged her to do this. And then, she, of course, experienced all kinds of harassment, all kinds of assault, threats. and this. This went on as she was using the boy's bathroom. and then she. This. This ultimately led to her fleeing and trying to run away. And then, she was also abducted by sex traffickers. Her story is quite harrowing. It's incredible. she escaped. She was reunited with her family. the family then sued the school board. and so Trump is recognizing her last night. And then he gives honor, gives credit to even not only to, Sage and Myshel, her mother, but then says, yeah, and she's going to be receiving. She's receiving a scholarship to attend Liberty University. You're a Liberty alum. what are your thoughts? Just as you, not only give appraisal to that, but then also just the fact that she's coming to Liberty University.
Allen Moro: Well, at first, when I heard, President Trump say Liberty University, I was like what? Like, I was unfamiliar with the story. I was unfamiliar, with Sage's experience. And I was so proud in that moment. And, you know, we were all at work, and as Liberty got mentioned, everyone around me looked at me, and it was a moment where it was like, wow, I'm really proud to, even though I'm not at Liberty anymore, be a part of the broader mission of Liberty University. As someone who was trained there and is now using the education I got there in an effort to, you know, fulfill Liberty's mission.
Ryan Helenbein: absolutely. What is that mission, by the way?
Allen Moro: Training champions for Christ.
Ryan Helenbein: Amen.
Allen Moro: And, going out into the world and, you know, fulfilling the Great Commission in every, sphere of life. with excellence.
Ryan Helenbein: Absolutely. Trump says this last night. He says, surely we can all agree that no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents will. We must ban it and we must ban it immediately. And that's when he pointed out that, and this is sickening, but this is the state of our politics. And as I said in the first segment, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns a nation. No Democrat applauded that line. No Democrat was standing up, for the defense of children and for the defense of their parents and parental rights. No Democrat wanted to stand up for that. What are your thoughts there,
Allen Moro: Ryan? I think we saw two different opposing views of America on display in their fullness. you saw President Trump not only recognizing world, war heroes and, athletic heroes in the Olympics, but, but also people whose stories directly explain why the left's view of immigration policy and of gender, all of these things are causing this direct harm. And watching the Democrats, you know, even refuse to stand when President Trump said, can you stand if you believe that it's the first duty of the American government to protect American citizens and not illegal aliens. I think that, in so many ways, this was a defining speech, mainly because of what the Democrats refused to stand for. And I think that the American people, if they were watching the heroes being recognized and all of the things that exemplify the best of what it means to be an American portrayed by one side and then the other side with profanity on their pins, screaming at the president and refusing to stand for things to all Americans should stand for, I think it sent a pretty clear message. And I think that we're going to be seeing a lot of references to last night, in campaign messaging in 2026 and even 2028.
Ryan Helenbein: Okay? So very important. Right. Because this is the leading edge of a year, and this is really the start. You know, the campaign season is well underway. Many primaries are happening soon. I know on March 3rd, California, Texas, numerous other states are going to have their primary. The questions regarding, those are going to be surrounding Sharia law and, whether it's. Whether Sharia law should be constitutional in the state of Texas. spoiler alert. It's not. and, there are going to be all kinds of other issues. And of course, the State of the Union last night helped to kick that off. I love what you said, though, that this is a contrast between two visions in America, two entirely different identities. And, I'll say there's probably a lot of people this morning that are praying that the greater vision is a vision of life. The greater vision is the one of freedom, of liberty. The greater vision is the one of the pursuit of happiness, that in the 250th year of our country, we're celebrating the kind of America that we want to leave on to our children, and to the next generation. so take us home with this.
What are some of the big campaign issues, uh, in 2026
What are some of the things that are going to be big campaign issues, in 2026 that are going to have impact on the midterms? We have a split, pretty much a split House with the Republican majority of, we've got a few extra Senate seats. What is that for Republicans? What is that looking like, though, when it comes to policies that should be campaigned on this year?
Allen Moro: Absolutely. I think that obviously, number one, going into 2026 specifically is going to be, this issue of economics and affordability. I think that in a lot of ways we can see that, President Trump inherited a really bad economy with really bad inflation and a lot of the deregulatory actions, and the policies of this administration are helping to remedy that. It takes some time. And the President and the Republicans, I think, have to message on that in a way that, doesn't make it feel like people are being ignored or like that this issue doesn't matter to the administration. It does. And I think that that messaging can be tightened up. And again, I think that, you know, in a lot of ways, we've won the war on Woke. It's not 2020 anymore. But, you know, there's still headlines about, men and women's sports in, like, high schools. There's still these issues, like you mentioned Sharia law in Texas, of all places. there's. I think that the social issues, the issues that a Lot of us are really like, the reason we're in this fight, the reason I'm in this fight isn't necessarily because of economic policy. It's the social issues that got me here and now. I obviously believe in the importance of economic policy, but I don't think it's time to discount the social issues. I think that stories like Sages and then, of course, immigration, deportations, I think that, the American people in 2024 sent a clear message that we don't want illegal aliens and especially illegal alien criminals here. And I think that if Republicans can get on board with those issues and that they can message effectively and show how they are trying to remedy these things, that, 2026 and 2028 can be, successful for the GOP.
Ryan Helenbein: Let me. Let me ask you this. I wholeheartedly agree. everything you just said there. It's been a tendency in the past, in previous generations, for Republicans to peel off of social issues. this is. You know, this was. You're too young to know this, Allen, but this was the tax enough already kind of era. we just talk about fiscal policy. Hey, if I don't have to pay for it, leave me alone. I don't want to pay for it. I don't care about what's going on in that guy's bedroom or that person's bedroom, as long as I don't have to pay for it. Right. That was kind of like the mantra, and that kind of defined boomer conservatism for a period of time, because it felt like, man, we were really losing on these social issues. And, so people didn't want to talk about it. Don't campaign on it. Just talk about economics. Don't talk about social, policy. But you can't run and hide from them, as we've learned. And, the LGBT movement doesn't just have plans to hold hands at Disney World. you know, the LGBT movement actually has plans to tell your guidance counsel what to tell your daughter, when it comes to dysphoria. Right. and is going to force parents to abide by it. That's really the aim of the movement. It's not skipping through Disneyland. it's actually far more, malicious than that. So why is it so important? We just got about a minute left here. why is it so important that Republicans continue to show that these solutions work? They're actually addressing problems that most average Americans do, in fact, care about.
Allen Moro: You know, there's a popular, phrase, Ryan, and it's usually applied to people's personal spiritual lives. But it says that sin keeps, you longer than you wanted to stay and it takes you further than you wanted to go. And I think that in so many ways that applies to our broader context in American policy on social issues. We give in, we allow, you know, the nation allows, gay marriage and in Alberta fell. And then 10 years later, less than 10 years later, you know, they're transitioning kids, these issues, One, they're all slippery slopes. And two, the role of government is not just to be an economic, you know, supervisor. government has a specific role outlined by scripture and a lot of.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes.
Allen Moro: Crushing evil and promoting the good.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes, yes, absolutely, Allen. Well said, brother. And, a graduate of Liberty University and course over at Daily Wire, thank you so much for joining Jen Ellis in the Morning and for sharing your thoughts, brother. Really appreciate that. But it all matters, matters, folks. in this final segment, we're gonna wrap up State, of the Union, and I have another guest to bring on as well. Stick around folks. We'll be right back.
Jen Ellis: We're going to talk about the issue at the border
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Ryan Helenbein: And welcome back. This is Ryan Helenbein, vice president of communications and public engagement at Liberty University, guest hosting today on Jen Ellis in the Morning. And so if you've been listening, you know, we've been talking about the State of the Union and last night there was a lot to, discuss, lot to view and a lot to be encouraged by and then of course to be disgusted by when you saw how many times the Democrats did just not, in fact stand. And in this final segment, we're going to talk, a lot about the issue at the border, the issue, the crisis of immigration. Of course there are all kinds of estimates of how many illegal crossings were happening under the watch of, or the lack thereof of President Joe Biden. millions. the conservative estimates are anywhere between 12 and 15. there's other estimates and then these might be far more realistic. 20 million or more, that poured over the southern border into the United States. And these are all kinds of human traffickers, drug traffickers, military age men, they're Chinese spies. there are people from various, international, terrorist groups, that have no doubt, come into the United States during that period of time. It was very porous. And this of course was by design. When you think about the number of CDLs and driver's licenses that have been issued in states across the country and then you think about. There is no mechanism in states like California and others to regulate who in fact actually votes to verify their identification and who they are. You can't buy spray paint at a convenience store, at a, at a hardware store in the United States without showing photo id. you shouldn't be able to collect food stamps without photo id. There's of course we've been told for many years that illegal immigrants are not taking advantage of the welfare in this country. But that of course has been proven not to be true. Billions of dollars have funneled into these various programs, American taxpayer funded and have been taken full advantage of by illegal immigrants. And I'm not just saying so they can eat. Also to barter and trade and to buy drugs and to do other things with. Let's not be naive. This is how lawlessness works. in this segment I've actually invited on, ah, another guest, and somebody, who is very instrumental at the Freedom center at Liberty University. This is Grant May, and he actually is in the position that Allen Morrow, who just graduated and moved on, the role that that Allen is performing. Grant, good morning. Great to hear you buddy. Welcome, to AFR Radio.
Grant May: Good morning, Ryan. Thank you so much.
Ryan Goodman: I think Trump taught Congressional Republicans a lesson on illegal immigration
Ryan Helenbein: Well, I, I wanted to talk about something that I know you pay close attention to and that is the issue of illegal immigration. And in the gallery of course last night we had Allison Phillips, mother of Lake and Wriley. We had Steve Runneback, father of Grant Runneback. this was the, the 21 year old convenience store clerk that was killed in Arizona, fatally shot, killed in 2015 by an illegal immigrant from Mexico. And of course Lake and story everyone, very familiar. 22 year old Georgia nursing student was brutally murdered on February 22, 2024 while jogging by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan illegal immigrant. And the Venezuelans, of course their prisons were emptied out. This is this is a known fact. they were emptied out and many of them were transported into the United States. Just your thoughts on the cinema of all of that. The drama that was being sort of played out last night with Trump's speech, the audience that was there and then of course the folks that were in the gallery.
Grant May: Well Ryan, I think Trump once again kind of taught Congressional Republicans a lesson. I mean it was a masterclass in how politics, politics is actually done. He brought these stories before the entire nation. he told them, he retold them. I mean you even think about Irina Zarudsky's story, with her mother there and Then he showed them and he called them out for their refusal to clap for, these stories to support the Americans. I mean, the moment that stole the show. And I think there's lots of moments from State of the Unions that lots of State of the Unions get disturbed, build into one defining moment, whether that be in 2019 when Pelosi ripped up Trump's speech, or any of the other, like one big defining moments. Trump straight up called out these Democrat legislators last night and said, hey, do you believe. Do you agree with the fundamental principle that you have a higher allegiance to the American citizen, or do you have a higher allegiance to an illegal immigrant? And all the Democrats this decided to side, save one. I think maybe Fetterman stood and clapped, but all of the Democrats sided with the illegal immigrants. And I think that's very telling. I think Congressional Republicans should be cutting ads and running this nationwide before midterms. but you're exactly right. We've. We've been invaded. We were legally invaded and illegally, over the course of the Biden administration. You look at some of the Somali fraud that was exposed, exposed in Minneapolis, Lots of these people are also here legally because our system was just allowed to be overrun. And the reason it was was because of total electoral victory for Democrats. They understand that these are their primary voters. it's part of the reason why they refused to clap for voter ID laws last night. And, I think it was just really indicting on the Democrats and telling. And hopefully congressional Republicans take a note from Trump's playbook and, get more messaging on this out there for the American people to see.
Crime down at historic low, lowest in 125 years thanks to National Guard deployment
Ryan Helenbein: I think one of the biggest highlights, and we began the show talking about this, but crime down at a historic low, lowest in 125 years. And that has been fact checked numerous times. But this is, of course, the deployment of the National Guard. This is, you know, ah, cbp, this is ice, this is police, who are being now encouraged in their cities to actually just do their job. And, ah, you know, they have the support that they need from the White House directly in those localities, but lowest in 125 years. And of course, fentanyl is, in terms of what's being trafficked, it's greater than 50% that it's down. in terms of the reporting at the border, it used to be that you would have 1800 getaways or gotaways a day. Ah, those are those who were arrested and detained, and then they just got away. And that's all the way down to, I think 38 is the new number. So from 1800 to 38, that sounds like such a random number. You can't make that one up. it looks like you can just enforce the border. You can just punish crime. You can just shut things down when they're not going right.
Grant May: Exactly. I mean, American cities can be livable. Again, we, for some reason operated under this pretense that, oh, you know, the inner city is just beyond livable. And it's like, no, actually, when you, when you enforce, the laws that are already on the books, when you bring in the support that law enforcement needs, America can actually be a paradise. you can look at some of these videos from the 1970s of American cities, 1960s American cities. And they look like these almost utopian societies where everything was clean. There weren't, you know, drugged up homeless people on the sides of the street. Everyone presented themselves nicely. And if you were to show those people a video of today's, inner cities, specifically, like, rewind the clock to two, three years ago, they would think America in the future was a dystopian reality. I think it was masterful what Trump did, how he brought the message back to law and order, how border crossings are illegal. Border crossings are at an all time low. The murder rate is way down, lowest since the year 1900, which I'm not sure what sort of stats they keep, pre1900. But it's safe to say that, this is an incredible record for a law and order president. And, we want to keep this up. And I think it's also very telling that there's lots of people that like to complain about Trump's, deportation numbers, that he's not doing as many as, they want him to, or how many they think mass deportations are. And they like to compare it to Obama's deportation numbers. But there's a really disingenuous thing they do there because Obama counted, anybody that was turned away at the border, who was trying to cross illegally, but they stopped them and sent, say, go back, go home, they counted those as deportations. What Trump is having to do is he's having to round up people who have been living in the country who are committing crimes, who are raping people, who are murdering people, and send them back. and so I just think it was a masterclass by Trump.
Ryan Helenbein: That's so well said and very important. By the way, that's why you do research at the Standing for Freedom Center. And I'm so glad you just said that. A lot of people, recognize how these numbers are in fact being counted. And when you consider the fact that those numbers by President, Obama were being inflated, hyperinflated to include those that were turned away at the border, and then you also count for the fact that every single arrest, every single person detained now by ICE or by cbp, it is an operation. I mean, you're putting together, squad cars, you're having a, basically like a SWAT operation, go into a hostile neighborhood or an apartment complex. I think about the one in Aurora, Colorado that was overrun by Ms. 13 gang members. it cost roughly $50,000 per arrest. And some people. Why is it so high? Well, part of the reason it's so high is because this is Kevlar. I mean, you're having to go in with armored vehicles and with Kevlar. These are ruthless people. These are people that will kill you. you can't go in there, like a Boy Scout. You have to go in there like a commando, and make an arrest and at the same time not get you or your, or your companions killed, in these operations. And so that's exactly what they're trying to do. It is very expensive to equip and to fund it, but it's very costly when it comes to human capital.
Grant Ellis: Christians are called to love our neighbor as ourselves
Grant May: You know, there's a lot of people that have been talking about how inhumane deportations are. It's the most cruel policy ever. Well, they forget that the Trump administration is literally offering money for people to self deport. They're offering to pay to buy their plane ticket and then give them an additional check of $2,600 per illegal immigrant. So we're literally bribing people with a free plane ticket and $2,600 in their pocket just for them to return to their home so we don't have to round them up and we don't have to process them and do all the shock and awe that's come with some of these ICE deportations in places like, Minneapolis. it really is crazy to see it be twisted into this super inhumane policy when all we're really asking them to do is just go home and come the legal way.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes. And that's, and that is what we've always been about as a country where we are a nation of laws. And by the way, America, is one of the most generous, kind, open, warm, compassionate, forgiving, generous people in the world. And no one gives, no, no single nation gives more to charity. No Single nation, gives more to global missions. no, no single nation does more to spread the name and the fame of Jesus Christ than the United States of America. And so as we kind of help me to sort of bring this home, and I think this is one of those things, Grant, for Christians in particular, we care about compassion. I just want to say this. We do care. We understand every single man, woman and child, regardless of their nation of origin, is made in the image of God. there were folks there like Elon Omar last night, Norma Torres, others who had their guests in the gallery. People, that they were saying were being impacted by ice that was sort of their counter signaling or counter protesting. But we need to recognize as Christians, we cannot be, hijacked by compassion and empathy. We need truth. We need to recognize truth in all of this and the people that have been harmed, like Lake and Wriley, so many others whose lives have been taken from them. Bring it on home, though. Biblical justice when it comes to borders. How do we do that? Right?
Grant May: So I think that's, that's an excellent question, and it's something every Christian must answer. and they must force themselves to answer it. I think Allie Beth Stuckey and Joel Rigney have done an excellent job writing about the weaponization of empathy. But at the end of the day, look, as Christians, we are called to properly order our affections. This is a long standing tradition within, the Christian faith. Multiple church fathers have written about it all. Up until around, say, 1950. We decided to turn this, sort of ordering of affections off. Right? We, as Christians are called to, number one, love God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind. and then, number two, we're called to love our neighbor as ourselves. There's different levels of this love. It's kind of like the line from the Incredibles, the Disney show, the Incredibles, when everyone's super nobody super. If you love everyone equally, you actually truly love no one. Paul writes to Timothy that, fathers who do not provide for their children are worse than an unbeliever. This isn't to say that you shouldn't care for your neighbor's children, but it is to say that you have a proper, higher allegiance to your children than you do the neighbor's children. You're supposed to love your wife more than you love the neighbor's wife. If you don't, that would be pretty messed up. so as Christians, we must grapple with the fact that we actually do owe things to, individuals at different levels and you care for your countrymen over, the global.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes. Thank you so much, Grant. The Ordo Amorous is undefeated, and that is certainly where we need to think about when it comes to our affections. We have to have them, correctly and, rightly ordered. Thank you so much, folks, for tuning in to Jenna Ellis in the morning. We'll be back tomorrow with more commentary and more news.
Jenna Ellis: Rights that our founders recognize come from God, not government
: Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
: 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.
Ryan helenbein is guest host on American Family Radio
Ryan Helenbein: Welcome to Jenna Ellis in the Morning. I am, not Jenna Ellis. I'm Ryan helenbein. I'm vice President of Communications and Public engagement at Liberty University. I'm also the founding executive director of the Standing for Freedom center, also at the same institution. And, I am actually going to be your guest host today on American Family Radio. And Jenna Ellis in the morning. And. And, what a night it was for our nation.
Q: Did you watch last night's State of the Union
many of you, you might be wondering, some of you might be wondering, what am I talking about? Did you watch the State of the Union? I know my family did. I did. we do not miss it. It's an educational opportunity, but we had the opportunity to hear yet again from our President, 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. And, giving direct address, this would have been, I guess, for the seventh time, or sixth time, rather, that he would present a State of the Union, but he, has given many direct arrests before. And, last night's speech certainly had plenty of things to talk about. And we're going to spend this, segment and the next segment talking about last night's State of the Union. I'm just reminded in just a very, very short time how much things can change, in the United States of America. It's hard to believe it has already been one year since he has taken the oath of office. It's hard to believe that, we had four years of Joe Biden. But, when you think about all of the things that needed to transpire, economic policy, border security, foreign policy, tariffs, all of those questions, that, certainly need to be addressed, and certainly would make, a difference in terms of the prosperity of a nation and the security of the nation, we have to recognize, too, that God is at work when it comes to the affairs of men, when it comes to human affairs. And I'm reminded of that, Proverbs. Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 34. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. And so when we get to the State of the union. Of course, it doesn't matter who the leader of the party is. you know, we, we listen to the President of the United States. We have to recognize too, that that president enacts certain policies, executive orders, puts things into play and sets an agenda before the people. And, certainly when it comes to righteousness, this is always top of mind for me. But it's the issue of the unborn, it's the issue of the sanctity of human life. It's the issue of marriage and family. All of those things matter. and certainly there has been a major pivot from this presidential administration with regard to various policies, defense of life and certainly a family and children, than in the previous generation. And so lots of things came up last night, lots that was on the agenda, lots of things that were discussed, not, the least of which was, the economic turnaround, all the things that were being done about inflation, tax policies, the tax cut, largest one in U.S. history for American working families, no taxes on tip, no taxes on overtime, putting more money back in American pockets. that is huge. And then you think about where we were just a few short years ago with Biden inflation. Biden inflation was huge. this is while he wanted to continue in 2021, the lockdowns. And the lockdowns was, a huge, depressor to our, international supply chains. And you think about the fact that, many American workers were furloughed, many factories were, shut down. You think about also, the fact that, internationally, there was not a whole lot of things that were going on. most of our protection equipment was coming from China at the time. They printed somewhere between 8 and 10 trillion dollars in cash money. And, of course that led to a huge, inflation when it comes to our bottom line. The price of gasoline, the price of food, the price of medicine, all these things started to go up, during the Biden era. And, that impacted everyone. And then you mentioned, if we were to go back and look at what happened just a few short years ago, the number of people that had to get the jab or to lose their job, all of that had a huge impact on the economy. And so the question is, you know, where are we now? you know, we still have Americans who live on food stamps, but far less. We still have higher prices, but those prices have come down and they're largely been. They've been stabilized Inflation in the last part of, Q4 of 2025 was at 1.7%. And so there's been a stabilizing factor with Trump policies and the Trump administration. obviously the low tax is going to be a huge impact in the middle of this second quarter. I think many Americans are going to feel that when they get a refund back and recognize, okay, there is a little bit more money to go around this year but wages will still have to catch up and that's going to take a little bit longer time.
One of the things that I was so looking forward to, to uh, seeing was affordable housing
One of the things that I was so looking forward to, to seeing and hearing was just the re, the policies regarding FHA and affordable housing. And when you think about over the past decade or so or more, there have been a lot of foreign entities that have come into the United States and they've purchased homes. There have been large REITs that have purchased homes, real estate trusts that have gone in and have made renters out of many single family, single occupancy homes across the country. Certain places are certainly bigger than others. You think about Houston, Texas or Phoenix, Arizona. there's parts of Florida that are covered. the map is saturated with multiple occupancy homes or homes that were ultimately designed to be sold but but instead have become either owned by American banks or even by foreign entities. China owns millions of homes in the United States or in the hundreds of thousands I should say at least. but they own billions of dollars of American real estate and have turned single family homes into rental properties. and the question is, is why is there so much inflation when it comes to housing? It's more than double the inflation of everything else and it is more than doubled, the rise in wages going all the way back to 1981. this was when President Reagan was in office. The average homeowner, the first time homeowner, was just 29 years of age and the average home buyer was 31 years of age. You fast forward to today and the average home buyer today is in their mid-50s, a Gen Xer. And the average first time homeowner in the United States right now is someone in their early 40s. That would be somebody who might be a Zennial or an older millennial, but certainly not a Gen Z. Er, and so we look at that and say, wow, something has to be done. Of course the President did do an eo, just not that long ago, several weeks ago. we've covered this at the Freedom Center And Jenna's covered this on her show as well. but regarding foreign, or rather regarding real estate, trusts, REITs, who have come in and have used cash to buy homes. Oftentimes they're able to circumvent a process that a regular person like me or you would have to go through, to go to a bank to get a loan fully privatized and then to go and to, bid on a home. Ah, a lot of these corporations, can come in and they can come in with cash money. They could put an offer on a home and snag a home up from a regular average Joe buyer. those types of questions and more were the subject of last night's State, of the Union.
Jenna Ellis: Violent crime is down in many cities across the country
And of course, when it comes to the reduction of violent crime, and this is probably one of the most startling numbers that the President revealed, last night, violent crime and murders are at the lowest in the United States in 125 years. And that is thanks largely to, yes, CBP and, ICE. Absolutely. when it comes to policing and then also the deployment of the National Guard to many of our cities across the country. I live just a few short hours away from Washington D.C. and I can tell you that as for me and my family, yes, it is noticeably safer when you drive into Washington D.C. it is noticeably safer when you are finding a parking spot and you think, should I leave my vehicle in this neighborhood? Should I park it in this parking garage? Do I feel safe walking out on the street? I'm a father, I have three daughters. Let me just say this, I think about my girls. Is this a safe place for them to go walking around in? And I can say there is a huge difference, in the way DC looks today versus the way it looked just about a year ago. So, yes, crime is down. It's down in many cities across the country. It's a good reminder that, yes, crime is a choice. It's a choice when it comes to policy and, whether or not crimes, are going to be punishable and punishable by the fullest extent of the law, not just allowing people to do whatever they want in the streets. Now, this is the kind of stuff that, leadership, demands. And this is the kind of thing that leadership influences and changes. That, verse again is Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 34. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people. It does matter who the President of the United States is. It does matter what policies are enacted. And there is Cause and effect. There are results, from enacting crime policies. If you tolerate crime, crime is going to come to your city. If there is no punishment for crime, if there's cashless bail, then we have the tragedies of Irina Zarutska and many other young girls whose lives have been taken from them mercilessly by ruthless thugs and killers. So crime does matter. It does matter what policies are enacted. And I, think that one of the things that the Trump administration has done rather brilliantly is by deploying the, declaring a certain emergency and deploying National Guard. it has forced the issue, and then, of course, it has given local law enforcement the support that they need and the stabilizing effect they need in order to do their job. Certainly National Guard doesn't need to be making arrests, but local police do. And, to have that kind of backup and that kind of presence certainly communicates to the American people the seriousness of all of this. There's so much more to discuss, and we will on the show today, things that were discussed last night, for many people, I think I was really watching because I wanted to see the Olympic men's hockey team come up. We will talk about that in the next segment. But what an incredible opportunity for the nation once again to be reoriented with the policies of this president and to recognize where we're going. We'll, stick around, folks, and we'll be right back in the next segment. Thank you for listening to Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Ryan Helfenbein: Many heroes were honored last night
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Ryan Helenbein: Welcome back to Jen Ellis in the Morning. This is Ryan Helfenbein. I'm guest host today, Vice President of Communications and Public engagement at Liberty University. And, on this next segment, we're going to be continuing our conversation about the State of the Union. Many heroes were honored last night. And I, was teary eyed. I know my family, as we were watching. This is one of the things that we love to see. Let me just say this. I have been, to the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum. It's actually in Dallas, Fort Worth. you need to go with a box of tissue if you ever get to go there. what an incredible place. It's not too far from the Cowboy Stadium. It's not too far from the airport you're ever passing through. It is worth the time. Time. And, there were two last night Medal of Honor recipients, Navy Captain E. Royce Williams and Army Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slaver. Eric, of course, was shot. just very, very Close range. and he was wounded and he was able to survive that. But what an, what an incredible, story of heroism, of bravery of both of them. And if your heart doesn't melt when you see a hundred year old man, a, hero of the Korean War, receiving the Medal of Honor, having it wrapped around his neck by the First Lady, I tell you, you don't have a heart. that was just incredible. And so I was brought to tears.
Ryan Grimaldi: Andrew Wolf received a Purple Heart last night
but there was a lot of other celebrating and many other heroes last night who received recognition. Andrew, Wolf got a Purple Heart and he of course was someone that was shot in the head. this was just a few weeks ago and while he was on duty. and it was an act of, it was an act of terror. And he received a Purple Heart last night. I want to welcome, into the room a, guest, who is an alum actually of Liberty University and of the Standing for Freedom center and is currently a contributor over at the Daily Wire, and that is Allen Morrow. Good morning, Allen. Welcome.
Allen Moro: Good morning, Ryan. It's so great to be with you.
Did you watch the US Men's hockey team stand up during State of Union
Ryan Helenbein: Hey, I, I think you were probably pretty excited last night, to watch the State of the Union. I have to ask what everybody's probably thinking. Did you, did you watch the US Men's hockey team stand up, get a standing ovation, from the crowd? By the way, some of the Democrats actually stood up and clapped for them.
Allen Moro: Yes. That was such a fun moment. You know, usually the State of the Union has a lot of important topics. There's a lot of controversial things that go on. You don't usually get to see, like, this championship hockey team come in and show off their medals. And it was like one time where the whole room, for the most part, seemed to be on the same page. And then President Trump threw that little jab, over to the, Democrats in the room and said, wow, this is the first time I've seen you guys get up. Overall, I thought it was actually a really neat and unifying moment and I'm so glad the guys got to come and be there for the State of the Union.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes, absolutely.
Did you catch any of the Olympics this year
Tell me this, did you get to catch any of the Olympics this year? Did you watch the US Men's hockey team or did you see highlights of it?
Allen Moro: I did see highlights, but to be honest with you, I am not a great American in that regard. I, look for the highlights and then I go over to Daily Wire and I'll, you know, report on what happened or after the, after the hockey team won. You know, we were all excited and putting out a lot of content, but to be honest with you, I was watching. Watching, the score updates, on Twitter.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes. Yeah, I think that's. That's me. That's a lot of people. You know, we find out what the important stories are, and then we watch and track with them as they develop. I would love to. When I was a kid, I used to watch the Olympics all the time. I never missed. And, the older I get, the more scarce my time is. My girls. Okay, so I have a son and I have three daughters. They love watching the bobsled, and they also like watching the figure skating. And I'll leave you to guess which. The boy or the girls. Which one likes to actually see the bobsledding versus the figure skating? But there you go.
Alan King: President Trump honored many American heroes last night
so watching last night, Allen, of course, there were many heroes, that were championed and lionized. you know, the American heroes that were up in the gallery. And then, of course, we were rooting on the men's team. There was also the story of Sage Blair. and Sage, that was the one that was, here in Virginia. She was the girl through Appomattox County High School in Virginia. She began, at age 14, identifying, as a male. And that school, encouraged her. School counselor actually encouraged her to transition. New name, dad naming her old name. Didn't you know? In doing all of this, of course, without notifying her parents and legal guardians, without notifying her mother, Myshel, they encouraged her to do this. And then, she, of course, experienced all kinds of harassment, all kinds of assault, threats. and this. This went on as she was using the boy's bathroom. and then she. This. This ultimately led to her fleeing and trying to run away. And then, she was also abducted by sex traffickers. Her story is quite harrowing. It's incredible. she escaped. She was reunited with her family. the family then sued the school board. and so Trump is recognizing her last night. And then he gives honor, gives credit to even not only to, Sage and Myshel, her mother, but then says, yeah, and she's going to be receiving. She's receiving a scholarship to attend Liberty University. You're a Liberty alum. what are your thoughts? Just as you, not only give appraisal to that, but then also just the fact that she's coming to Liberty University.
Allen Moro: Well, at first, when I heard, President Trump say Liberty University, I was like what? Like, I was unfamiliar with the story. I was unfamiliar, with Sage's experience. And I was so proud in that moment. And, you know, we were all at work, and as Liberty got mentioned, everyone around me looked at me, and it was a moment where it was like, wow, I'm really proud to, even though I'm not at Liberty anymore, be a part of the broader mission of Liberty University. As someone who was trained there and is now using the education I got there in an effort to, you know, fulfill Liberty's mission.
Ryan Helenbein: absolutely. What is that mission, by the way?
Allen Moro: Training champions for Christ.
Ryan Helenbein: Amen.
Allen Moro: And, going out into the world and, you know, fulfilling the Great Commission in every, sphere of life. with excellence.
Ryan Helenbein: Absolutely. Trump says this last night. He says, surely we can all agree that no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents will. We must ban it and we must ban it immediately. And that's when he pointed out that, and this is sickening, but this is the state of our politics. And as I said in the first segment, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns a nation. No Democrat applauded that line. No Democrat was standing up, for the defense of children and for the defense of their parents and parental rights. No Democrat wanted to stand up for that. What are your thoughts there,
Allen Moro: Ryan? I think we saw two different opposing views of America on display in their fullness. you saw President Trump not only recognizing world, war heroes and, athletic heroes in the Olympics, but, but also people whose stories directly explain why the left's view of immigration policy and of gender, all of these things are causing this direct harm. And watching the Democrats, you know, even refuse to stand when President Trump said, can you stand if you believe that it's the first duty of the American government to protect American citizens and not illegal aliens. I think that, in so many ways, this was a defining speech, mainly because of what the Democrats refused to stand for. And I think that the American people, if they were watching the heroes being recognized and all of the things that exemplify the best of what it means to be an American portrayed by one side and then the other side with profanity on their pins, screaming at the president and refusing to stand for things to all Americans should stand for, I think it sent a pretty clear message. And I think that we're going to be seeing a lot of references to last night, in campaign messaging in 2026 and even 2028.
Ryan Helenbein: Okay? So very important. Right. Because this is the leading edge of a year, and this is really the start. You know, the campaign season is well underway. Many primaries are happening soon. I know on March 3rd, California, Texas, numerous other states are going to have their primary. The questions regarding, those are going to be surrounding Sharia law and, whether it's. Whether Sharia law should be constitutional in the state of Texas. spoiler alert. It's not. and, there are going to be all kinds of other issues. And of course, the State of the Union last night helped to kick that off. I love what you said, though, that this is a contrast between two visions in America, two entirely different identities. And, I'll say there's probably a lot of people this morning that are praying that the greater vision is a vision of life. The greater vision is the one of freedom, of liberty. The greater vision is the one of the pursuit of happiness, that in the 250th year of our country, we're celebrating the kind of America that we want to leave on to our children, and to the next generation. so take us home with this.
What are some of the big campaign issues, uh, in 2026
What are some of the things that are going to be big campaign issues, in 2026 that are going to have impact on the midterms? We have a split, pretty much a split House with the Republican majority of, we've got a few extra Senate seats. What is that for Republicans? What is that looking like, though, when it comes to policies that should be campaigned on this year?
Allen Moro: Absolutely. I think that obviously, number one, going into 2026 specifically is going to be, this issue of economics and affordability. I think that in a lot of ways we can see that, President Trump inherited a really bad economy with really bad inflation and a lot of the deregulatory actions, and the policies of this administration are helping to remedy that. It takes some time. And the President and the Republicans, I think, have to message on that in a way that, doesn't make it feel like people are being ignored or like that this issue doesn't matter to the administration. It does. And I think that that messaging can be tightened up. And again, I think that, you know, in a lot of ways, we've won the war on Woke. It's not 2020 anymore. But, you know, there's still headlines about, men and women's sports in, like, high schools. There's still these issues, like you mentioned Sharia law in Texas, of all places. there's. I think that the social issues, the issues that a Lot of us are really like, the reason we're in this fight, the reason I'm in this fight isn't necessarily because of economic policy. It's the social issues that got me here and now. I obviously believe in the importance of economic policy, but I don't think it's time to discount the social issues. I think that stories like Sages and then, of course, immigration, deportations, I think that, the American people in 2024 sent a clear message that we don't want illegal aliens and especially illegal alien criminals here. And I think that if Republicans can get on board with those issues and that they can message effectively and show how they are trying to remedy these things, that, 2026 and 2028 can be, successful for the GOP.
Ryan Helenbein: Let me. Let me ask you this. I wholeheartedly agree. everything you just said there. It's been a tendency in the past, in previous generations, for Republicans to peel off of social issues. this is. You know, this was. You're too young to know this, Allen, but this was the tax enough already kind of era. we just talk about fiscal policy. Hey, if I don't have to pay for it, leave me alone. I don't want to pay for it. I don't care about what's going on in that guy's bedroom or that person's bedroom, as long as I don't have to pay for it. Right. That was kind of like the mantra, and that kind of defined boomer conservatism for a period of time, because it felt like, man, we were really losing on these social issues. And, so people didn't want to talk about it. Don't campaign on it. Just talk about economics. Don't talk about social, policy. But you can't run and hide from them, as we've learned. And, the LGBT movement doesn't just have plans to hold hands at Disney World. you know, the LGBT movement actually has plans to tell your guidance counsel what to tell your daughter, when it comes to dysphoria. Right. and is going to force parents to abide by it. That's really the aim of the movement. It's not skipping through Disneyland. it's actually far more, malicious than that. So why is it so important? We just got about a minute left here. why is it so important that Republicans continue to show that these solutions work? They're actually addressing problems that most average Americans do, in fact, care about.
Allen Moro: You know, there's a popular, phrase, Ryan, and it's usually applied to people's personal spiritual lives. But it says that sin keeps, you longer than you wanted to stay and it takes you further than you wanted to go. And I think that in so many ways that applies to our broader context in American policy on social issues. We give in, we allow, you know, the nation allows, gay marriage and in Alberta fell. And then 10 years later, less than 10 years later, you know, they're transitioning kids, these issues, One, they're all slippery slopes. And two, the role of government is not just to be an economic, you know, supervisor. government has a specific role outlined by scripture and a lot of.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes.
Allen Moro: Crushing evil and promoting the good.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes, yes, absolutely, Allen. Well said, brother. And, a graduate of Liberty University and course over at Daily Wire, thank you so much for joining Jen Ellis in the Morning and for sharing your thoughts, brother. Really appreciate that. But it all matters, matters, folks. in this final segment, we're gonna wrap up State, of the Union, and I have another guest to bring on as well. Stick around folks. We'll be right back.
Jen Ellis: We're going to talk about the issue at the border
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Ryan Helenbein: And welcome back. This is Ryan Helenbein, vice president of communications and public engagement at Liberty University, guest hosting today on Jen Ellis in the Morning. And so if you've been listening, you know, we've been talking about the State of the Union and last night there was a lot to, discuss, lot to view and a lot to be encouraged by and then of course to be disgusted by when you saw how many times the Democrats did just not, in fact stand. And in this final segment, we're going to talk, a lot about the issue at the border, the issue, the crisis of immigration. Of course there are all kinds of estimates of how many illegal crossings were happening under the watch of, or the lack thereof of President Joe Biden. millions. the conservative estimates are anywhere between 12 and 15. there's other estimates and then these might be far more realistic. 20 million or more, that poured over the southern border into the United States. And these are all kinds of human traffickers, drug traffickers, military age men, they're Chinese spies. there are people from various, international, terrorist groups, that have no doubt, come into the United States during that period of time. It was very porous. And this of course was by design. When you think about the number of CDLs and driver's licenses that have been issued in states across the country and then you think about. There is no mechanism in states like California and others to regulate who in fact actually votes to verify their identification and who they are. You can't buy spray paint at a convenience store, at a, at a hardware store in the United States without showing photo id. you shouldn't be able to collect food stamps without photo id. There's of course we've been told for many years that illegal immigrants are not taking advantage of the welfare in this country. But that of course has been proven not to be true. Billions of dollars have funneled into these various programs, American taxpayer funded and have been taken full advantage of by illegal immigrants. And I'm not just saying so they can eat. Also to barter and trade and to buy drugs and to do other things with. Let's not be naive. This is how lawlessness works. in this segment I've actually invited on, ah, another guest, and somebody, who is very instrumental at the Freedom center at Liberty University. This is Grant May, and he actually is in the position that Allen Morrow, who just graduated and moved on, the role that that Allen is performing. Grant, good morning. Great to hear you buddy. Welcome, to AFR Radio.
Grant May: Good morning, Ryan. Thank you so much.
Ryan Goodman: I think Trump taught Congressional Republicans a lesson on illegal immigration
Ryan Helenbein: Well, I, I wanted to talk about something that I know you pay close attention to and that is the issue of illegal immigration. And in the gallery of course last night we had Allison Phillips, mother of Lake and Wriley. We had Steve Runneback, father of Grant Runneback. this was the, the 21 year old convenience store clerk that was killed in Arizona, fatally shot, killed in 2015 by an illegal immigrant from Mexico. And of course Lake and story everyone, very familiar. 22 year old Georgia nursing student was brutally murdered on February 22, 2024 while jogging by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan illegal immigrant. And the Venezuelans, of course their prisons were emptied out. This is this is a known fact. they were emptied out and many of them were transported into the United States. Just your thoughts on the cinema of all of that. The drama that was being sort of played out last night with Trump's speech, the audience that was there and then of course the folks that were in the gallery.
Grant May: Well Ryan, I think Trump once again kind of taught Congressional Republicans a lesson. I mean it was a masterclass in how politics, politics is actually done. He brought these stories before the entire nation. he told them, he retold them. I mean you even think about Irina Zarudsky's story, with her mother there and Then he showed them and he called them out for their refusal to clap for, these stories to support the Americans. I mean, the moment that stole the show. And I think there's lots of moments from State of the Unions that lots of State of the Unions get disturbed, build into one defining moment, whether that be in 2019 when Pelosi ripped up Trump's speech, or any of the other, like one big defining moments. Trump straight up called out these Democrat legislators last night and said, hey, do you believe. Do you agree with the fundamental principle that you have a higher allegiance to the American citizen, or do you have a higher allegiance to an illegal immigrant? And all the Democrats this decided to side, save one. I think maybe Fetterman stood and clapped, but all of the Democrats sided with the illegal immigrants. And I think that's very telling. I think Congressional Republicans should be cutting ads and running this nationwide before midterms. but you're exactly right. We've. We've been invaded. We were legally invaded and illegally, over the course of the Biden administration. You look at some of the Somali fraud that was exposed, exposed in Minneapolis, Lots of these people are also here legally because our system was just allowed to be overrun. And the reason it was was because of total electoral victory for Democrats. They understand that these are their primary voters. it's part of the reason why they refused to clap for voter ID laws last night. And, I think it was just really indicting on the Democrats and telling. And hopefully congressional Republicans take a note from Trump's playbook and, get more messaging on this out there for the American people to see.
Crime down at historic low, lowest in 125 years thanks to National Guard deployment
Ryan Helenbein: I think one of the biggest highlights, and we began the show talking about this, but crime down at a historic low, lowest in 125 years. And that has been fact checked numerous times. But this is, of course, the deployment of the National Guard. This is, you know, ah, cbp, this is ice, this is police, who are being now encouraged in their cities to actually just do their job. And, ah, you know, they have the support that they need from the White House directly in those localities, but lowest in 125 years. And of course, fentanyl is, in terms of what's being trafficked, it's greater than 50% that it's down. in terms of the reporting at the border, it used to be that you would have 1800 getaways or gotaways a day. Ah, those are those who were arrested and detained, and then they just got away. And that's all the way down to, I think 38 is the new number. So from 1800 to 38, that sounds like such a random number. You can't make that one up. it looks like you can just enforce the border. You can just punish crime. You can just shut things down when they're not going right.
Grant May: Exactly. I mean, American cities can be livable. Again, we, for some reason operated under this pretense that, oh, you know, the inner city is just beyond livable. And it's like, no, actually, when you, when you enforce, the laws that are already on the books, when you bring in the support that law enforcement needs, America can actually be a paradise. you can look at some of these videos from the 1970s of American cities, 1960s American cities. And they look like these almost utopian societies where everything was clean. There weren't, you know, drugged up homeless people on the sides of the street. Everyone presented themselves nicely. And if you were to show those people a video of today's, inner cities, specifically, like, rewind the clock to two, three years ago, they would think America in the future was a dystopian reality. I think it was masterful what Trump did, how he brought the message back to law and order, how border crossings are illegal. Border crossings are at an all time low. The murder rate is way down, lowest since the year 1900, which I'm not sure what sort of stats they keep, pre1900. But it's safe to say that, this is an incredible record for a law and order president. And, we want to keep this up. And I think it's also very telling that there's lots of people that like to complain about Trump's, deportation numbers, that he's not doing as many as, they want him to, or how many they think mass deportations are. And they like to compare it to Obama's deportation numbers. But there's a really disingenuous thing they do there because Obama counted, anybody that was turned away at the border, who was trying to cross illegally, but they stopped them and sent, say, go back, go home, they counted those as deportations. What Trump is having to do is he's having to round up people who have been living in the country who are committing crimes, who are raping people, who are murdering people, and send them back. and so I just think it was a masterclass by Trump.
Ryan Helenbein: That's so well said and very important. By the way, that's why you do research at the Standing for Freedom Center. And I'm so glad you just said that. A lot of people, recognize how these numbers are in fact being counted. And when you consider the fact that those numbers by President, Obama were being inflated, hyperinflated to include those that were turned away at the border, and then you also count for the fact that every single arrest, every single person detained now by ICE or by cbp, it is an operation. I mean, you're putting together, squad cars, you're having a, basically like a SWAT operation, go into a hostile neighborhood or an apartment complex. I think about the one in Aurora, Colorado that was overrun by Ms. 13 gang members. it cost roughly $50,000 per arrest. And some people. Why is it so high? Well, part of the reason it's so high is because this is Kevlar. I mean, you're having to go in with armored vehicles and with Kevlar. These are ruthless people. These are people that will kill you. you can't go in there, like a Boy Scout. You have to go in there like a commando, and make an arrest and at the same time not get you or your, or your companions killed, in these operations. And so that's exactly what they're trying to do. It is very expensive to equip and to fund it, but it's very costly when it comes to human capital.
Grant Ellis: Christians are called to love our neighbor as ourselves
Grant May: You know, there's a lot of people that have been talking about how inhumane deportations are. It's the most cruel policy ever. Well, they forget that the Trump administration is literally offering money for people to self deport. They're offering to pay to buy their plane ticket and then give them an additional check of $2,600 per illegal immigrant. So we're literally bribing people with a free plane ticket and $2,600 in their pocket just for them to return to their home so we don't have to round them up and we don't have to process them and do all the shock and awe that's come with some of these ICE deportations in places like, Minneapolis. it really is crazy to see it be twisted into this super inhumane policy when all we're really asking them to do is just go home and come the legal way.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes. And that's, and that is what we've always been about as a country where we are a nation of laws. And by the way, America, is one of the most generous, kind, open, warm, compassionate, forgiving, generous people in the world. And no one gives, no, no single nation gives more to charity. No Single nation, gives more to global missions. no, no single nation does more to spread the name and the fame of Jesus Christ than the United States of America. And so as we kind of help me to sort of bring this home, and I think this is one of those things, Grant, for Christians in particular, we care about compassion. I just want to say this. We do care. We understand every single man, woman and child, regardless of their nation of origin, is made in the image of God. there were folks there like Elon Omar last night, Norma Torres, others who had their guests in the gallery. People, that they were saying were being impacted by ice that was sort of their counter signaling or counter protesting. But we need to recognize as Christians, we cannot be, hijacked by compassion and empathy. We need truth. We need to recognize truth in all of this and the people that have been harmed, like Lake and Wriley, so many others whose lives have been taken from them. Bring it on home, though. Biblical justice when it comes to borders. How do we do that? Right?
Grant May: So I think that's, that's an excellent question, and it's something every Christian must answer. and they must force themselves to answer it. I think Allie Beth Stuckey and Joel Rigney have done an excellent job writing about the weaponization of empathy. But at the end of the day, look, as Christians, we are called to properly order our affections. This is a long standing tradition within, the Christian faith. Multiple church fathers have written about it all. Up until around, say, 1950. We decided to turn this, sort of ordering of affections off. Right? We, as Christians are called to, number one, love God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind. and then, number two, we're called to love our neighbor as ourselves. There's different levels of this love. It's kind of like the line from the Incredibles, the Disney show, the Incredibles, when everyone's super nobody super. If you love everyone equally, you actually truly love no one. Paul writes to Timothy that, fathers who do not provide for their children are worse than an unbeliever. This isn't to say that you shouldn't care for your neighbor's children, but it is to say that you have a proper, higher allegiance to your children than you do the neighbor's children. You're supposed to love your wife more than you love the neighbor's wife. If you don't, that would be pretty messed up. so as Christians, we must grapple with the fact that we actually do owe things to, individuals at different levels and you care for your countrymen over, the global.
Ryan Helenbein: Yes. Thank you so much, Grant. The Ordo Amorous is undefeated, and that is certainly where we need to think about when it comes to our affections. We have to have them, correctly and, rightly ordered. Thank you so much, folks, for tuning in to Jenna Ellis in the morning. We'll be back tomorrow with more commentary and more news.
Ryan reflects on the significant changes in the U.S. over the past year, touching on crucial topics such as economic policy, border security, and the sanctity of human life.
Ryan is joined by Allen Moro, a Liberty alum and contributor at the Daily Wire, to discuss the unifying moments of the address, including the recognition of American heroes and the contrasting responses from Democrats.
Ryan invites Grant May from the Standing for Freedom Center to share insights on the border crisis and the impact of illegal immigration on American communities.
Live
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