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.
Team USA wins Olympic hockey gold in overtime thriller over Canada
Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Monday, February 23, and the United States is celebrating a fantastic victory over Canada. And the memes are flying, of course, even from the White House, which had a, an eagle clutching a goose in its talons. And, it was fantastic. And of course the left is so upset about it. but this is all over Team USA winning Olympic hockey gold in an overtime thriller over Canada. So Team USA claimed their first men's A hockey Olympic gold in 46 years, upsetting Canada two to one in the final. And, President Trump director Cash Patel, joined in the congratulations and Cash, ah, Patel even joining in the locker room party, which went viral. And you know, hey, he's at the Olympics. And I say, you know, great, well done celebrating our athletes. but that was, ah, really fantastic. And it's kind of sad that the Olympics over, especially curling, you know, that controversy still going on. We'll see how that impacts the sport.
Man unlawfully enters perimeter around President Trump's Florida home, Secret Service says
but meanwhile, an armed man was shot and killed after entering the perimeter around Trump's Florida Mar A Lago home over the weekend. So U.S. secret Service agents and Palm beach county law enforcement shot and killed an armed man who unlawfully entered the secure perimeter around President Trump's Mar A Lago estate in South Florida. On Sunday morning, the Secret Service said. This is coming from cnn. The President and First lady were, at the White house in Washington D.C. at the time of the inter incident. Trump was briefed, but a lot of the left is suggesting, of course, well, this is no big deal because he was in D.C. well, it still is kind of a big deal because, the incident comes amid a backdrop of heightened political violence in the United States. And even CNN is acknowledging that in July 2024. I, mean, this still coming from CNN. Shocking. Trump, survived an assassination attempt while campaigning for his second term in Pennsylvania. And another man who planned to assassinate the President at his Florida Golf Course, 2024, you'll recall, was sentenced, just earlier this month to life in prison. So political violence has targeted Republicans. And of course, we saw that conservative, ah, activist, Charlie Kirk was fatally shot last September. So you know, this still is a, ah, really big deal.
Gerard Felitti says rise in political violence is concerning
So let's welcome in Gerard Felitti, who is senior counsel at the Law Fair Project. And Gerard, I don't think that it's really correct for you know, some of those on social media to minimize this. And I was happy to see surprisingly, amid you know, my scrolling of all of the different news outlets that were covering this, that CNN actually fairly pointed out that there's been a rise in political violence, particularly against Republicans.
Gerard Filitti: And that's something that's very concerning. And even CNN is reporting it, you know, that there's an issue. And I think this shows how polarized we've become with the news cycle, especially on social media that is pushing people into extreme views and setting them with ideas that they can change the world through violence. And we saw that with assassination attempts. We saw that at Mar a Lago this weekend. And it's really scary how people have become so indoctrinated and radicalized.
Jenna Ellis: Absolutely. And this is where, the rhetoric from the left and how many people think that political violence and violence just for disagreement on political topics is somehow the correct response to disagreeing politically, is really concerning. And, and I hope that we are getting to a point in this country that we're willing on both sides, to call this out fairly and to say that, you know, violence is never the answer to political disagreement. But I don't think that the rhetoric honestly is going to be tamped down anytime soon.
Gerard Filitti: Unfortunately. I agree with you. I had hopes after the assassination of Tempting Butler that we would see the tamping down of the rhetoric, but only gotten worse. It's only gotten more divisive. Everything that comes, especially that comes out of the far left is put out there in such radical and extreme terms that it's really scaring people into believing that this is. There's an existential crisis of good and evil in America and they're on the side of the angels and people on the right are not. And that you can use any tools, resistance by any means, as you hear chanting at some of these pro Hamas protests that people actually believe that they should be using violence as a means to an end. And it hasn't gotten any better even. Look at this week. We're expecting to see the State of the Union address. We're going to see Democrats and people on the far left who are holding alternative rallies, who are not participating, who are not uniting, who are not coming together even to express disagreement. But looking at this as an existential crisis in America, and that type of rhetoric has become dangerous for all of us.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And, you know, and I hate to see that where members, of Congress in particular can't even go and show some basic respect for the office. And obviously, the State of the Union has kind of become a. More of a campaign speech, quite frankly, and like a rallying cry to the base of the party that the. The current president is in, rather than what it was originally intended for constitutionally, which was to actually advise Congress. but obviously with, our global 24.7news cycle, the President really doesn't need to tell Congress anything that they don't know. So it's a little bit of a formality, but, it's become kind of this spectacle. And I think you're absolutely right that instead of just showing some basic respect and decency and saying, you know, we can vehemently disagree with, someone who is in office. I mean, I vehemently disagreed with probably 98% of what Joe Biden did, if not 100%. I, can maybe think of one or two things. But, But I, at least, you know, was willing to say, you know, this is why I disagree with him and enter into that debate. Not just, you know, having the lack of respect for the office of Roe. I think he had a lack of respect for the office. And so, you know, what we're seeing with kind of this, devolving of. Of just basic respect for each other and these types of, debate. I mean, that's. That's, I think in large part why Charlie was assassinated, because he was willing to have a debate and dialogue. And he would say to people who were, you know, heckling. Maybe the person asking the question because they were co. Clearly you're asking something so far left is he'd be like, wait a minute, wait a minute, Let him talk. And was actively facilitating kind of that reason debate and was a model of that. That we're just losing in today's society so rapidly. And I think this latest headline, of this person, you know, going on. This man going on to, the. The Mar A Lago grounds is just yet another example of, how we aren't being respectful as a society.
Gerard Filitti: No, we're not. And if you look at. There's some reporting out there that this man may have been motivated by the Epstein files or concerns that the government wasn't doing enough. And when you look at that, that's showing exactly how these crises are Being manufactured and weaponized and turned political and turning people into, not listening or being able to work democratically and taking physical action. You're looking at the example of how especially the far left is weaponizing the news cycle and turning people more radical, turning people into, people who don't want to listen. The irony, by the way, as you were talking, it struck me Donald Trump invited, Mamdani to his office, and it was a sign of goodwill. And even Donald Trump said, look, I don't agree with Mandani, I don't agree with his policies, I don't agree with what he wants to do, but I think he wants to do right by NewSong York. And that's the type of listening that we're not used to anymore, especially coming from the left. They don't want to listen, they just want to act.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, that's such a great point. And unfortunately, instead of the left, saying, you know, what a great move by President Trump and kind of this show of respect of the election, and obviously, everyone on the conservative side is not happy that there's a communist in office in NewSong York City, to at least then show the respect for the fact that this guy, would be the next mayor of NewSong York City. all of the headlines were just about how was their interaction and who won and, pushing the dividend divide even more. Instead of saying, you know, look, he's being a great example of how the left, should act and how politicians should act overall. And, instead of learning something from that, the media just continued to do its thing. And, you know, this also, kind of segues into, you know, the next topic.
The Supreme Court struck down much of President Trump's reciprocal tariffs on Friday
Gerard Felitti, my special guest this morning, that the Supreme Court on Friday struck down much of President Trump's, quote, unquote, reciprocal tariffs, which were invoked based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. And immediately the left went to, saying, you know, oh, wow, this is great. And look at, you know, two out of three of Trump's, own appointed justices turned on him, as if they somehow owe anybody loyalty after they are appointed to a position. I can't stand how, all of that is always twisted because if they, if all three of them, had an opinion that was favorable toward tariffs, then the left would say, well, look, the only reason they're doing that is because Trump appointed them. No, they act completely independently. and so, you know, all of kind of this media noise is always trying to divide, the. The partisan politicking, trying to divide the party, divide Society, instead of focusing on, okay, what did this opinion really say? What does that mean in practical terms? And was this the correct opinion constitutionally? And so let's talk about that instead.
The Supreme Court ruled that the president does not have authority to impose tariffs
I mean, so tell us, in your opinion first, what this decision actually held. I don't think that we were really surprised to see, that the Supreme Court struck this down. but, you know, you had Thomas Alito and Gorsuch in the minority, which tells me that maybe, just maybe, the majority got it wrong, at least on some points of the dissent.
Gerard Filitti: Well, I think that in large part what this decision came down to was that the Supreme Court made clear that the president does not have a sort under ipa, which is an International Economic Emergency Powers act to impose tariffs. The tariffs are not specifically mentioned in that law, and therefore the President does not have the authority to use that law as a basis for tariffs. Now, what the dissent pointed out was that there are plenty of other. They really gave a roadmap. There are plenty of other laws, sections of U.S. code of the Tariff act that the president can use in different circumstances to maintain tariffs. He just didn't have power, under ipa. And I think the majority got it right. When you look, looking generally at what the Supreme Court has said, they've been keeping a very close look at what Congress actually writes, what Congress actually intends. And when language is not there in the statute, then the Court, this Supreme Court does not just give power to the branch that's, delegated. They look carefully at the language. So I think the Court got it right. It's very consistent with other rulings of this court rulings, by the way, that have been very favorable to Republicans in wielding, in removing some of the power that's been overused by the executive in regulatory actions. I think the court got it right. But the minority is pointing out that there are other valid tools that the President can use.
Jenna Ellis: Right. And so, so. And that makes sense in terms of why the, the minority and the dissent is where it is. And so then just a day later, President Trump hiked tariffs, to 15%. and he would be, he, he announced on Truth Social right after the decision, that he would be leveraging a new act, section 122, to impose, 10% tariffs. so this is globally, but then one day later, hike them to 15%. So, is this a new way that would potentially be in line with the Supreme Court's opinion? Because, you know, the left is now suggesting, just because he's proceeding with tariffs at all, that this is somehow ignoring the Supreme Court's decision.
Gerard Filitti: Well, here the left is misreading and being optimistic in what it wants rather than what the Supreme Court actually said. This ruling was limited to ipa, and it does not invalidate, by the way, some existing tariffs that were imposed under other sections of law. So right now, the President can use section 122. There are other sections that he can use as well, but all of them are much more limited than the powers under IPA that he, unfortunately did not end up having. Section 122, for example, is limited to 150 days. After 150 days, Congress has to approve any extension when there are other sections of U.S. law that could be used as well. But those have to have findings, whether it's by the, by the International Trade Commission or by the Commerce Department. There needs to be a national security finding. There needs to be regulatory process which President Trump has been averse to using. So there are other tools that he can use, but there are more hoops that he needs to jump through in order to use them.
Jenna Ellis: And that makes sense that he would want to just cut to the chase. but because, you know, this, as you rightly pointed out, this decision just concerned ieepa, then the other, ways of going about imposing tariffs are still, at least at this point in time, unless challenge and another Supreme Court decision, narrows those even further. There are other tools at his disposal. But where is Congress in all this? Because, at least for some of the members that I've even had on this program, and, you know, others that have been outspoken among the Republican majority, they have generally all been in favor of tariffs and in favor of supporting President Trump. So why not just cure the situation, period, by having Congress act?
Gerard Filitti: That's the million dollar question. And Congress should act. I mean, look, the reality is that right now that tariffs are, a tool to pursue foreign policy agenda. This is one of the most important and powerful tools that the executive branch has. But the power to tax, the power of tariffs, is something that's reserved to Congress. So they need to delegate that power through legislation. I think that what we're seeing, though, is the consequences of not having members of Congress who are ready and willing to make these decisions. We've seen Congress be inactive for far too long. And the practical real is that the Republicans have a very slim control of Congress. They may not have the votes even to put through a bill that would give the President the power that he needs. So we really need to focus on Congress and put pressure on them to finally act, as we have been talking about, on many different laws. Ultimately we have a problem because Congress has not been doing its job for a very long time.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And it's really been disappointing, the, at least the first year of Trump's term to see that. It doesn't feel like we really even have the trifecta. it seems like we have a lot of opposition in Congress to, advancing the conservative agenda. And so overall, Jared Felitti, what is really the key takeaway in terms of how this Supreme Court opinion will impact tariffs and then, overall impact the economy, moving forward? Because, you know, this is the midterm year and, the economy is already, slated to be one of the key voting issues, for how the midterms may go.
Gerard Filitti: I don't think this decision will have a negative impact on the economy precisely because the President still has plenty of tools that he could use for tariffs when needed. And we have seen that manufacturing is starting to pick up.
Gerard Filitti: We have seen improvement in job numbers, we've seen, improvement in employment, we've seen improvement in gdp, we've seen inflation pressures come down. So we have seen good effects of the economy and we can expect those to continue unless there's some other shock, God forbid. But the President just now needs to follow different set of regulations. Basically, it takes more efforts to do what he wants to do. But this is consistent with everything the Supreme Court has said for the last year. President Trump really does have the authority to do a lot of what he's doing. He just needs to do it differently and perhaps follow more regulation than he'd like to follow. But otherwise he can still pursue the same objectives. And that's an important point to make.
Jenna Ellis: It really is. And, I think that that's going to be key here. And, we've got to go to break here, Gerard Felitti, but really appreciate, your analysis of this. And you know, although President Trump may have some, a little more hoops to jump through, hopefully the, the focus will be on Congress and more and more people will, be calling their members of Congress and asking, you know, why aren't you, you pursuing some of these priorities? And, you know, for me, it's one of those things where a lot, even members who come on this show will just say, well, you know, it's really hard to get them driven. Well, yeah, and that's really not a good enough excuse. I mean, when we have, some clear objectives that the American people threw our vote in 2024, said, you know, we clearly want conservative MAGA policy, then Congress needs to do absolutely as much as it can to support that conservative policy policy, not just leave it all to jumping through the hoops of the executive. but anyway, we'll see how the next year goes. We will be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Todd Starnes: Tucker Carlson interviewed Ambassador Mike Huckabee about Israel
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, if you haven't been paying attention, there was yet another Tucker Carlsen interview about Israel. And this time though, he actually chose a worthy advocate for the biblical position on support of nation of Israel and also America's foreign policy. And of course that came in the form of Ambassador Mike Huckabee. And Tucker, flew to Israel, apparently only stayed in the airport. there were some controversy over whether or not he was actually detained. And then photos surface later of him taking pictures with some of the, some of the airport workers there in Israel. So it didn't really appear to me that that was as much of a controversy as he played. but you know that's, that's the day and age of social media where first, you know, some scandal goes very viral and then when the truth actually comes out later, or at least some mitigating factors, then it doesn't really seem to resonate as much as the original story. but in terms of talking about the interview, let's welcome in Todd Starnes, who is a radio host and also an author and has a wonderful Newsmax, show as well. And Todd, this whole interview was two and a half hours long between Tucker and Mike Huckabee. So I have not watched the entire thing. I've seen some of the clips that are surfacing. But it seems to me that at least from what has gone viral out of this, I thought overall that Ambassador Huckabee did far and away a better job of articulating the biblical position for support for Israel than Ted Cruz did. that was, I guess a little over a year ago. Your thoughts?
Todd Starnes: Yeah, look, I think clearly that Tucker Carlsen has, has changed his position on a lot of issues. I think Tucker is really, his, you know, his belief system is contrary to that of biblical teaching. And I thought it was, I thought it was a bit mean spirited on his part of the hubris, that was displayed by Tucker. It was quite breathtaking. And I think a lot of people got to see another side to Tucker Carlsen that you know, had not been, presented before. So, I've always, you know, there's always been something about Tucker that was just a little off putting for me. you know, I haven't, you know, I did not platform him, you know, during my time when I worked at Fox News Channel, nor did I afterwards, because again, there's just something that seemed a bit. A bit odd, a bit off. But, for me, it was very troubling because, of course, now Tucker and his, and his supporters are attacking Governor Huckabee, you know, accusing him of being, you know, all sorts of things. I think a Zionist is the latest, you know, you know, accusation that I've heard, when in fact, Governor Huckabee has done nothing but espouse what we all believe as fellow Christians.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, and it's so funny. I mean, being a Zionist is almost the right's new flavor of racism on the left. If I disagree with you, then you must be a racist. We've heard that since, you know, about 2015. And then that was the favorite accusation against Donald Trump. And now on the right, if they disagree with your theology or, your politics, particularly on Israel, but even on anything else, it seems like, well, you must be a Zionist. Is there, their favorite accusation? And for me, from a biblical perspective, that term has meaning, of course, but, to say that you support Israel from a biblical perspective and also a foreign policy perspective, from the United States is, of course a biblical position. And so why do you think, Todd, that, Tucker in particular has. Has changed his opinion? I think you're very correct on that. so differently than when he was at Fox News and you used to be at Fox News, and. And so, you know, the dynamic there, some have said, oh, his producers kind of reined him in. There were certain topics. He couldn't go too far down the rabbit hole. I mean, what. What do you attribute that to?
Todd Starnes: Well, you know, there was. Gosh, it was about a year or so ago or go. There was, There was an incident that Tucker talked about. And, it was really so breathtaking and bizarre. But Tucker talked about, having this fight with. With what he called demons and how he woke up and, you know, he was covered in scratches and m. You know, it was. It was really just sort of a shocking thing. And, I think a lot of people didn't know what to make of it at the time. is it possible that, you know, and again, Mike Huckley was talking about this, that this was not the same Tucker, that he once knew that something clearly had changed. Many had dismissed, you know, those accusations of, you know, fighting with the demons. I mean, is that, you know, is it remotely possible that maybe there is something to that? I don't know. But clearly something has changed, with Tucker Carlsen, and it is. I don't think it's a very good thing. I mean, we saw this, you know, and I think this is almost generational where there is this hatred of the Jews. if things are going wrong, in your life, in your career, you want to blame the Jews. we have seen that happen throughout history. So there could be some of that at play here as well. But it's very clear to me that he has changed his position on a lot of issues. And, honestly, the question is, why is he being paid by another country? there have been those accusations, levied that maybe Qatar was funding Tucker Carlsen, and therefore Tucker was doing this really for financial reasons. I don't think that's the case. But clearly something is not right.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And, that whole theory has been, as far as Qatari funding. And, you know, Tucker has even said to me personally, because we talk occasionally, offline, and I've invited him on this program, by the way, and, he's always declined to come on and talk about Israel. So it was fascinating to me that he was actually willing to sit down with somebody like Mike Huckabee that could respond to, you know, to his accusations with a truthful biblical perspective. but, you know, he's. He's denied at least being funded, by Qatar, you know, some of these other, theories that are being floated.
Todd Starnes: There seems to be a lack of theological education among Christians
But overall, I think, that you hit on something, Todd Starnes, that's very important, which is, that it seems to be, especially among younger people, this maybe lack of theological education about why supporting Israel is grounded in a comprehensive biblical worldview. And this goes, of course, to a position that the Old Testament is now irrelevant, completely post cross and, post Jesus, coming, of course. And that the Old Testament, and including the Abrahamic covenant, you know, any of the Old Testament covenants are just completely irrelevant. And all we focus on as Christians is Christ, Jesus. And then on the other hand, you have people like our good friend Dennis Prager, who, just last night actually was on Mark, Levin show on Fox, and I was watching a little bit of it, and he made, kind of an opposite argument where he suggested that the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments and the God of Abraham is the only thing that's important. And obviously as, as a non Messianic Jew, he doesn't embrace Christ as Messiah. And so he basically discounted the rest of the NewSong Testament. And he said, you know, listen, Jesus never read the Bible. He never heard the teachings of Paul thinking, but Paul derived his teachings from Jesus. That would be like saying, no pastor today is speaking truth because they came after Jesus. So you have kind of these two competing views that are both wrong, that we, we have the full counsel of God in Scripture from Genesis to revelation. and within that we have to be very careful as Christians to understand why the Old Testament is relevant. What is still, like the Abrahamic covenant that is still, part of God's covenant, to Israel today and then what was fulfilled in the law with Jesus coming. And I think that there has been a real lack of theological discernment among Christians who suggest that the Old Testament is totally irrelevant. And maybe we understand it just from a historical perspective, but as far as a theological perspective, they almost discount that completely. what do you attribute that to me? Is it just, you know, the lack of, the fullness of teaching in churches, or is there something more connected to the overall political NewSong Right movement? Because I see those two being very closely tied.
Todd Starnes: Well, I think one of the big problems that we have in the Christian movement is that we elevate people, celebrities, we put them up on pedestals. You know, they claim to have a relationship with Christ and therefore, you know, they become the latest, you know, cause du jour. I, I, you know, if, if you remember Kanye west, for example, I think is an example of that. Look at Kari Prashon, who was serving on the White House Religious Liberty Commission. and there's been a lot of hullabaloo there. I think that, that we've got to really sort of police, police ourselves as Christians. And I, think that we also need to make sure that we're not platforming folks like a Tucker Carlsen who may not necessarily have, you know, be a student of theology. I thought the hubris of Tucker to really call out Mike Huckabee, who is, you know, a seminarian. Mike Huckabee, of course, was a Southern Baptist pastor before he got into politics. I thought it was quite something that Tucker would claim to know far more about the Bible and what the Bible said about the, about the nation of Israel than a Southern Baptist pastor like Mike Hockaby. So I think that's a big problem, among people of faith.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, that's A great point. And I've been saying, for a while that, you know, the right platforming people, for who may have good ideas or good positions on perhaps conservative policy, that doesn't necessarily mean then that their theology is comprehensive or accurate. And then if they have one good idea, like for example, Candace Owens, you know, she had maybe one good thing to say, to the right, which is that, black people don't have to vote Democrat. And then the right kind of held her up as, oh, well, she's then the beacon of all conservatism and all positions without really, vetting her properly. But if we, if we were teaching more substantively theology in churches, then I think that those of us on the right, and particularly, evangelicals, which is obviously our audience here, primarily at American Family Radio Network, we would have overall more discernment to listen to people like Tucker, like Candace, and others who have political positions. But then when they get into, you know, some of these positions that, that overlap, and most do overlap theology and, and policy, because all policy should be derived from a biblical worldview, we will then have the discernment to say, okay, is that the correct position comprehensively? Not just say, well, that sounds good, or, or that's what, the MAGA movement is advancing today. And because President Trump's doing it, well, it must be correct. Right? that's the danger. And especially for the young people who have kind of grown up in the era of Trump and the era of maga, it's a danger of the overall populism that we really have separated and excised theology from our politics. And I see part of this movement, Todd, as well, this anti Zionist sort of movement, attempting on purpose to marginalize the evangelicals, like the Mic Huckabees, like you and me, out of the future of the gop and to say, well, that was an establishment position, that was a rhino position. That was something that may have worked, worked, you know, for the Reagan era, but moving forward, we are America first, meaning America only. And that really neglects the full understanding of what conservatism has always been about, literally since our founders.
Todd Starnes: Yeah, I think that's a good point. And again, this is not anything new. I think that, when you look especially at the administration and Christianity, there's no doubt that, this has been a bit of a challenge is that, you've got a lot of, a lot of people, you know, the prosperity gospel people, all of those folks that have been given a platform. And there are many, you know, there are many evangelicals who have traded in their faith for access to power. And it's, it's really troubling. you know, but look, we've been down this path many times in the, you know, in the past, and these things do have a tendency to work themselves out. And I think people, you know, understand who's authentic and who's actually using their platform or using their pulpit, using their church, to gain access to power.
Jenna: Christians have to discern between theology and policy
And that's really where I think discernment comes into play, as well. Jenna.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. And this is where we have to be vigilant as Christians, have discernment, go to churches that are teaching, not only the full truth of the gospel, but also so, bringing in news of the day and politics, into the pulpits. If we are just focused on teaching theology, but then don't take that next step and say, okay, now with the knowledge of God, how do we live today in this current society? How does that translate to our understanding of policy and how we are good citizens? I mean, it would be the same thing, Todd, as saying, okay, well, we know theology, but then we're going to go out and live our family life, you know, however we prefer. And we don't have a position on, you know, homosexual marriage or abortion or any of the things in the family, because, you know, we're taught these things. We're taught things in the church, but we don't translate that, translate them into how we live family life and policy. We have to translate those things into how we live in civil government policy, how we view, the nation of Israel, how we view American foreign policy, and,
Todd Starnes: When you're looking for a church, do your homework
So just in the last few minutes that, that we have, what would be your encouragement to, perhaps the people who are listening who are thinking, well, you know, my church doesn't necessarily go into all of those details and, and what they should be looking for in terms of teaching. Because one of the things, Todd, when I moved to Florida and was looking for a new church, I sat down with, the pastoral staff at my current church, now that, I'm a member of, and asked them, all of their positions on theological issues, what they, what they would be teaching about, you know, certain substantive topics so that I knew and, and would have a, an awareness and a comfort of saying, okay, they're. They are teaching theologically sound positions instead of just going to, well, you know, this community group looks nice, and, you know, they have the biggest building and the nicest, you know, ladies tea party or whatever. I mean, none of those things. Ultimately, they're not wrong, but they don't ultimately m. Matter in light of teaching truth and sound theology.
Todd Starnes: Well, I think it's important, you know, especially if you're, you know, looking at a church or maybe you're moving to a new church home, that you do your homework and you study, you make sure that the church you're going to is following the teachings of Scripture. I think that's, that's really incumbent upon every Christian to do that. You just can't really take anything for granted these days, and you shouldn't take anything for granted. You know, I think that's an important thing to do. Sit down and talk with the pastors and see really where, where they stand on a lot of the big issues of the day. one of the big challenges, I think, within, you know, within Christianity is that, many churches in America have been infected with this, you know, I call it wokeness. we call them woke evangelicals. in a couple of books I've written on the, on the issue where, where the seminaries have trained a generation of pastors to disengage from the culture war. and, and I think, you know, again, when you're looking at the problems facing the church, that is, that's a big one. So, again, in the process of, you know, finding churches and getting involved in a church, I think those are important questions to ask. Even where the pastors, stand on those big issues, of the day.
Jenna Ellis: So well said. And, this is why we have to have a thorough knowledge of theology and knowledge of God before we encounter the day's headlines, so that we can rightly divide truth from error. And I really appreciate your, commitment to truth and the biblical worldview. Todd Starnes. And, you can find [email protected] on all social media, obviously, Newsmax, as well as his radio program, his books. so many places to get all of the great commentary from our good friends. So thanks so much. great to hear from you today. And we will be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Jenna Ellis discusses the possibility of extraterrestrial life on American Family Radio
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And as we've been discussing, being grounded in theology first before, looking at the headlines of the day is incredibly important so that we are not either deceived or we aren't concerned that a headline, whatever it may portend, will somehow undermine the gospel and the Truth of Christ. Because, the science, of course, has always been in favor of supporting the gospel. And the more that we discover about the universe around us, and even, even world history and things that have come before in our timeline have always gone to prove that the Bible is accurate, both historically and scientifically. So, so when we talk about aliens, usually, at least lately on this program, we talk about those, who are coming into this country illegally. but I was talking with my producer Devin during the break, and he said, well, what kind of aliens are you talking about today? those from Mexico or those from Mars? Well, today we're actually talking about the potential of aliens in terms of extraterrestrial life. So President Trump last week posted on Truth Social Media, based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War and other relevant departments and agencies to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, Unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP and unidentified flying objects, UFOs, and any and all other information connected to these highly complex but extremely interesting and important matters. God bless America. So for the Christian, this has been a, you know, really fascinating subject. And for, you know, a lot of people, aliens and the possibility of extraterrestrial life is fascinating. But for some Christians, it feels threatening to say, well, if there's life on other planets, then, you know, how do we, fit that into the biblical worldview? Well, I'm going to describe to you how we respond to this because m, Whatever we discover about the universe around us and space exploration is incredibly, incredibly fascinating. And actually both my dad and my brother are literal rocket scientists. they, they do a lot of things as, ah, aerospace engineers. And so it's always fascinating to have conversations with them about, you know, time, gravity, you know, all of these different things that that go into space exploration. What can we see? How does light bend you? These things that are way above, my, my pay grade and you know, things that they don't teach you in law school. but first and foremost, when we approach this type of subject, we have to understand that the truth of the reality to which we are presented isn't just Earth. Here are terra, or why we call them extraterrestrial, meaning extra Earth or things outside of Earth. God is the creator of the entire universe. And the Bible tells us, us that he holds the whole world, which includes the entire universe, the physical universe that he has created in his hands. And that includes everything from the planets, the Stars, everything across the boundaries of the universe. And it says, in Genesis, all the way to revelation, that he rolled it out like a scroll and stretched, the skies in the heavens. And then revelation tells us that at the end of all things, he will roll up the heavens like a scroll, scroll. And it's fascinating how the more that we discover about the scientific reality and the planes, of our physical Earth, that, more and more that picture is actually really accurate of how the heavens are stretched. And so from the perspective of creation, we know that God created all things. So that includes literally whatever is in not just our physical universe, but also the spiritual realm as well. And so while there can be some interpretations of the science, like some would look at the strata of the rock layers and other things and suggest that the data points to millions and millions of years and that, there isn't a God, that, you know, everything just evolved by chance and the Big Bang and all of that. Well, that's a theory that attempts to interpret the science. And we can, for theories, either say, does that align with the truth of the gospel of Christ and what we know from creation, what we know from God's general and specific revelation, or does that theory already fall apart where we know God has told us how he created, and we also know that there is a God. So we can dismiss certain theories outright because they don't align with truth. But the actual science itself, the data and what we observe in our physical reality, none of those things have ever contravened or gone contrary to the truth of the word of God. It's only interpretations that generally some of these quote, unquote, scientists are trying to theorize and provide evidence for reality without God, our creator. And that's why a lot of these theories, theories including evolution or evolutionary biology, for example, they're theories, they're not science. And so they need to actually be relegated to the realm of a religious faith or an interpretation of a worldview, because that's. It's a worldview, it is not actually science. So first and foremost, with that baseline, we have to understand that God created. And that includes everything in our physical and our spiritual universe. And so if, alien life, then exists, there's some kind of life, whether it's just, you know, very, very small, or it's some kind of complex life form or some, you know, sentient, being. How does that then how, do we understand that in light of Christ? Well, the imago dei or the, image of God, that human beings are uniquely made and designed is the central claim of Christianity of human dignity, human sin, and then human redemption. So Starting with Genesis 1:27, human beings are made in God's image. And so the Bible does not say that the earth is the only place that God could create life, but it does say that humanity is uniquely image bearing across all of creation. So we see even in our own physical universe, like I have my two dogs, Todd and Copper, who are very much, emotionally, and intelligent and sentient beings, but they are not human. And we know that based on not only the truth of what biology and the natural universe tells us, but we know that based on God telling us that human beings out of all of creation are uniquely set apart. And so the redemption, understanding and the redemption narrative of Christ coming in the form of a human being and his redemption plan for humanity is only for humans. And now does the sin of humans impact the rest of creation? Yes, it did. And we see, the pains of death in creation across, all life in our physical universe. And that's the result of human sin. But the, the ability to be saved. And the redemption story is uniquely for human beings. And so the Incarnation is human specific. Hebrews 2:6. Christ took on human nature. So the Incarnation wasn't abstract, it was historical. And particular redemption is tied to Adam's fall. You can read the arc of Romans, Romans 1 through 5 and even further. So even if there is life somewhere else, you know, floating around Mars or whatever, that life, whatever form it is, will not be made in the image of God. We know that it will not be human. And so that doesn't negate anything about the truth of the Gospel of Christ. So we don't have to be concerned about what may or may not be out there, because just like we don't have to be concerned about what, you know, type of animal or life forming we may discover in the depths of the sea or, you know, somewhere else, in a jungle that's yet unexplored. None, of that threatens the truth of Christianity. So what about alien encounters? Well, we also know that the spiritual realm is very real. And Ephesians 6 through 12 talks about the spiritual forces of evil. And Scripture affirms that angels and demons exist and that, the supernatural, the plane actually exists. And Christians cannot be functional materialists. We have to acknowledge that the spiritual realm exists, that this is spiritual warfare. And every time an angel in Scripture appears to man and they see an angel, they always identify themselves truthfully and accurately. So don't worship me? Me, no. But I'm sent from the most high God. Alien encounters, whether we want to believe their results of psychedelic drugs or something else, a lot of those, I think, can be rationally explained as demonic encounters. Because if you have a spiritual being that is not identifying themselves properly, they're saying, you know, they're an alien. They're pushing toward things that are not scriptural, that is likely the result of demonic oppression more than interstellar tourism. So for, you. So C.S. lewis talked about all of that. But. So we want to understand that this matters theologically because the imago DEI matters to human beings. But it also matters that we look at, you know, some potential quote, unquote, alien life as the truth of the spiritual and the demonic. So how should Christians respond? Well, three principles. Don't panic, don't mock. Just think biblically. God created all things seen and unseen, and nothing in the heavens can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. So, as always, you can reach me and my team, jennafr.net, and you can also read my opinion piece on this US at AFN that is titled Aliens versus the Gospel.
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.
Team USA wins Olympic hockey gold in overtime thriller over Canada
Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Monday, February 23, and the United States is celebrating a fantastic victory over Canada. And the memes are flying, of course, even from the White House, which had a, an eagle clutching a goose in its talons. And, it was fantastic. And of course the left is so upset about it. but this is all over Team USA winning Olympic hockey gold in an overtime thriller over Canada. So Team USA claimed their first men's A hockey Olympic gold in 46 years, upsetting Canada two to one in the final. And, President Trump director Cash Patel, joined in the congratulations and Cash, ah, Patel even joining in the locker room party, which went viral. And you know, hey, he's at the Olympics. And I say, you know, great, well done celebrating our athletes. but that was, ah, really fantastic. And it's kind of sad that the Olympics over, especially curling, you know, that controversy still going on. We'll see how that impacts the sport.
Man unlawfully enters perimeter around President Trump's Florida home, Secret Service says
but meanwhile, an armed man was shot and killed after entering the perimeter around Trump's Florida Mar A Lago home over the weekend. So U.S. secret Service agents and Palm beach county law enforcement shot and killed an armed man who unlawfully entered the secure perimeter around President Trump's Mar A Lago estate in South Florida. On Sunday morning, the Secret Service said. This is coming from cnn. The President and First lady were, at the White house in Washington D.C. at the time of the inter incident. Trump was briefed, but a lot of the left is suggesting, of course, well, this is no big deal because he was in D.C. well, it still is kind of a big deal because, the incident comes amid a backdrop of heightened political violence in the United States. And even CNN is acknowledging that in July 2024. I, mean, this still coming from CNN. Shocking. Trump, survived an assassination attempt while campaigning for his second term in Pennsylvania. And another man who planned to assassinate the President at his Florida Golf Course, 2024, you'll recall, was sentenced, just earlier this month to life in prison. So political violence has targeted Republicans. And of course, we saw that conservative, ah, activist, Charlie Kirk was fatally shot last September. So you know, this still is a, ah, really big deal.
Gerard Felitti says rise in political violence is concerning
So let's welcome in Gerard Felitti, who is senior counsel at the Law Fair Project. And Gerard, I don't think that it's really correct for you know, some of those on social media to minimize this. And I was happy to see surprisingly, amid you know, my scrolling of all of the different news outlets that were covering this, that CNN actually fairly pointed out that there's been a rise in political violence, particularly against Republicans.
Gerard Filitti: And that's something that's very concerning. And even CNN is reporting it, you know, that there's an issue. And I think this shows how polarized we've become with the news cycle, especially on social media that is pushing people into extreme views and setting them with ideas that they can change the world through violence. And we saw that with assassination attempts. We saw that at Mar a Lago this weekend. And it's really scary how people have become so indoctrinated and radicalized.
Jenna Ellis: Absolutely. And this is where, the rhetoric from the left and how many people think that political violence and violence just for disagreement on political topics is somehow the correct response to disagreeing politically, is really concerning. And, and I hope that we are getting to a point in this country that we're willing on both sides, to call this out fairly and to say that, you know, violence is never the answer to political disagreement. But I don't think that the rhetoric honestly is going to be tamped down anytime soon.
Gerard Filitti: Unfortunately. I agree with you. I had hopes after the assassination of Tempting Butler that we would see the tamping down of the rhetoric, but only gotten worse. It's only gotten more divisive. Everything that comes, especially that comes out of the far left is put out there in such radical and extreme terms that it's really scaring people into believing that this is. There's an existential crisis of good and evil in America and they're on the side of the angels and people on the right are not. And that you can use any tools, resistance by any means, as you hear chanting at some of these pro Hamas protests that people actually believe that they should be using violence as a means to an end. And it hasn't gotten any better even. Look at this week. We're expecting to see the State of the Union address. We're going to see Democrats and people on the far left who are holding alternative rallies, who are not participating, who are not uniting, who are not coming together even to express disagreement. But looking at this as an existential crisis in America, and that type of rhetoric has become dangerous for all of us.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And, you know, and I hate to see that where members, of Congress in particular can't even go and show some basic respect for the office. And obviously, the State of the Union has kind of become a. More of a campaign speech, quite frankly, and like a rallying cry to the base of the party that the. The current president is in, rather than what it was originally intended for constitutionally, which was to actually advise Congress. but obviously with, our global 24.7news cycle, the President really doesn't need to tell Congress anything that they don't know. So it's a little bit of a formality, but, it's become kind of this spectacle. And I think you're absolutely right that instead of just showing some basic respect and decency and saying, you know, we can vehemently disagree with, someone who is in office. I mean, I vehemently disagreed with probably 98% of what Joe Biden did, if not 100%. I, can maybe think of one or two things. But, But I, at least, you know, was willing to say, you know, this is why I disagree with him and enter into that debate. Not just, you know, having the lack of respect for the office of Roe. I think he had a lack of respect for the office. And so, you know, what we're seeing with kind of this, devolving of. Of just basic respect for each other and these types of, debate. I mean, that's. That's, I think in large part why Charlie was assassinated, because he was willing to have a debate and dialogue. And he would say to people who were, you know, heckling. Maybe the person asking the question because they were co. Clearly you're asking something so far left is he'd be like, wait a minute, wait a minute, Let him talk. And was actively facilitating kind of that reason debate and was a model of that. That we're just losing in today's society so rapidly. And I think this latest headline, of this person, you know, going on. This man going on to, the. The Mar A Lago grounds is just yet another example of, how we aren't being respectful as a society.
Gerard Filitti: No, we're not. And if you look at. There's some reporting out there that this man may have been motivated by the Epstein files or concerns that the government wasn't doing enough. And when you look at that, that's showing exactly how these crises are Being manufactured and weaponized and turned political and turning people into, not listening or being able to work democratically and taking physical action. You're looking at the example of how especially the far left is weaponizing the news cycle and turning people more radical, turning people into, people who don't want to listen. The irony, by the way, as you were talking, it struck me Donald Trump invited, Mamdani to his office, and it was a sign of goodwill. And even Donald Trump said, look, I don't agree with Mandani, I don't agree with his policies, I don't agree with what he wants to do, but I think he wants to do right by NewSong York. And that's the type of listening that we're not used to anymore, especially coming from the left. They don't want to listen, they just want to act.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, that's such a great point. And unfortunately, instead of the left, saying, you know, what a great move by President Trump and kind of this show of respect of the election, and obviously, everyone on the conservative side is not happy that there's a communist in office in NewSong York City, to at least then show the respect for the fact that this guy, would be the next mayor of NewSong York City. all of the headlines were just about how was their interaction and who won and, pushing the dividend divide even more. Instead of saying, you know, look, he's being a great example of how the left, should act and how politicians should act overall. And, instead of learning something from that, the media just continued to do its thing. And, you know, this also, kind of segues into, you know, the next topic.
The Supreme Court struck down much of President Trump's reciprocal tariffs on Friday
Gerard Felitti, my special guest this morning, that the Supreme Court on Friday struck down much of President Trump's, quote, unquote, reciprocal tariffs, which were invoked based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. And immediately the left went to, saying, you know, oh, wow, this is great. And look at, you know, two out of three of Trump's, own appointed justices turned on him, as if they somehow owe anybody loyalty after they are appointed to a position. I can't stand how, all of that is always twisted because if they, if all three of them, had an opinion that was favorable toward tariffs, then the left would say, well, look, the only reason they're doing that is because Trump appointed them. No, they act completely independently. and so, you know, all of kind of this media noise is always trying to divide, the. The partisan politicking, trying to divide the party, divide Society, instead of focusing on, okay, what did this opinion really say? What does that mean in practical terms? And was this the correct opinion constitutionally? And so let's talk about that instead.
The Supreme Court ruled that the president does not have authority to impose tariffs
I mean, so tell us, in your opinion first, what this decision actually held. I don't think that we were really surprised to see, that the Supreme Court struck this down. but, you know, you had Thomas Alito and Gorsuch in the minority, which tells me that maybe, just maybe, the majority got it wrong, at least on some points of the dissent.
Gerard Filitti: Well, I think that in large part what this decision came down to was that the Supreme Court made clear that the president does not have a sort under ipa, which is an International Economic Emergency Powers act to impose tariffs. The tariffs are not specifically mentioned in that law, and therefore the President does not have the authority to use that law as a basis for tariffs. Now, what the dissent pointed out was that there are plenty of other. They really gave a roadmap. There are plenty of other laws, sections of U.S. code of the Tariff act that the president can use in different circumstances to maintain tariffs. He just didn't have power, under ipa. And I think the majority got it right. When you look, looking generally at what the Supreme Court has said, they've been keeping a very close look at what Congress actually writes, what Congress actually intends. And when language is not there in the statute, then the Court, this Supreme Court does not just give power to the branch that's, delegated. They look carefully at the language. So I think the Court got it right. It's very consistent with other rulings of this court rulings, by the way, that have been very favorable to Republicans in wielding, in removing some of the power that's been overused by the executive in regulatory actions. I think the court got it right. But the minority is pointing out that there are other valid tools that the President can use.
Jenna Ellis: Right. And so, so. And that makes sense in terms of why the, the minority and the dissent is where it is. And so then just a day later, President Trump hiked tariffs, to 15%. and he would be, he, he announced on Truth Social right after the decision, that he would be leveraging a new act, section 122, to impose, 10% tariffs. so this is globally, but then one day later, hike them to 15%. So, is this a new way that would potentially be in line with the Supreme Court's opinion? Because, you know, the left is now suggesting, just because he's proceeding with tariffs at all, that this is somehow ignoring the Supreme Court's decision.
Gerard Filitti: Well, here the left is misreading and being optimistic in what it wants rather than what the Supreme Court actually said. This ruling was limited to ipa, and it does not invalidate, by the way, some existing tariffs that were imposed under other sections of law. So right now, the President can use section 122. There are other sections that he can use as well, but all of them are much more limited than the powers under IPA that he, unfortunately did not end up having. Section 122, for example, is limited to 150 days. After 150 days, Congress has to approve any extension when there are other sections of U.S. law that could be used as well. But those have to have findings, whether it's by the, by the International Trade Commission or by the Commerce Department. There needs to be a national security finding. There needs to be regulatory process which President Trump has been averse to using. So there are other tools that he can use, but there are more hoops that he needs to jump through in order to use them.
Jenna Ellis: And that makes sense that he would want to just cut to the chase. but because, you know, this, as you rightly pointed out, this decision just concerned ieepa, then the other, ways of going about imposing tariffs are still, at least at this point in time, unless challenge and another Supreme Court decision, narrows those even further. There are other tools at his disposal. But where is Congress in all this? Because, at least for some of the members that I've even had on this program, and, you know, others that have been outspoken among the Republican majority, they have generally all been in favor of tariffs and in favor of supporting President Trump. So why not just cure the situation, period, by having Congress act?
Gerard Filitti: That's the million dollar question. And Congress should act. I mean, look, the reality is that right now that tariffs are, a tool to pursue foreign policy agenda. This is one of the most important and powerful tools that the executive branch has. But the power to tax, the power of tariffs, is something that's reserved to Congress. So they need to delegate that power through legislation. I think that what we're seeing, though, is the consequences of not having members of Congress who are ready and willing to make these decisions. We've seen Congress be inactive for far too long. And the practical real is that the Republicans have a very slim control of Congress. They may not have the votes even to put through a bill that would give the President the power that he needs. So we really need to focus on Congress and put pressure on them to finally act, as we have been talking about, on many different laws. Ultimately we have a problem because Congress has not been doing its job for a very long time.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And it's really been disappointing, the, at least the first year of Trump's term to see that. It doesn't feel like we really even have the trifecta. it seems like we have a lot of opposition in Congress to, advancing the conservative agenda. And so overall, Jared Felitti, what is really the key takeaway in terms of how this Supreme Court opinion will impact tariffs and then, overall impact the economy, moving forward? Because, you know, this is the midterm year and, the economy is already, slated to be one of the key voting issues, for how the midterms may go.
Gerard Filitti: I don't think this decision will have a negative impact on the economy precisely because the President still has plenty of tools that he could use for tariffs when needed. And we have seen that manufacturing is starting to pick up.
Gerard Filitti: We have seen improvement in job numbers, we've seen, improvement in employment, we've seen improvement in gdp, we've seen inflation pressures come down. So we have seen good effects of the economy and we can expect those to continue unless there's some other shock, God forbid. But the President just now needs to follow different set of regulations. Basically, it takes more efforts to do what he wants to do. But this is consistent with everything the Supreme Court has said for the last year. President Trump really does have the authority to do a lot of what he's doing. He just needs to do it differently and perhaps follow more regulation than he'd like to follow. But otherwise he can still pursue the same objectives. And that's an important point to make.
Jenna Ellis: It really is. And, I think that that's going to be key here. And, we've got to go to break here, Gerard Felitti, but really appreciate, your analysis of this. And you know, although President Trump may have some, a little more hoops to jump through, hopefully the, the focus will be on Congress and more and more people will, be calling their members of Congress and asking, you know, why aren't you, you pursuing some of these priorities? And, you know, for me, it's one of those things where a lot, even members who come on this show will just say, well, you know, it's really hard to get them driven. Well, yeah, and that's really not a good enough excuse. I mean, when we have, some clear objectives that the American people threw our vote in 2024, said, you know, we clearly want conservative MAGA policy, then Congress needs to do absolutely as much as it can to support that conservative policy policy, not just leave it all to jumping through the hoops of the executive. but anyway, we'll see how the next year goes. We will be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Todd Starnes: Tucker Carlson interviewed Ambassador Mike Huckabee about Israel
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, if you haven't been paying attention, there was yet another Tucker Carlsen interview about Israel. And this time though, he actually chose a worthy advocate for the biblical position on support of nation of Israel and also America's foreign policy. And of course that came in the form of Ambassador Mike Huckabee. And Tucker, flew to Israel, apparently only stayed in the airport. there were some controversy over whether or not he was actually detained. And then photos surface later of him taking pictures with some of the, some of the airport workers there in Israel. So it didn't really appear to me that that was as much of a controversy as he played. but you know that's, that's the day and age of social media where first, you know, some scandal goes very viral and then when the truth actually comes out later, or at least some mitigating factors, then it doesn't really seem to resonate as much as the original story. but in terms of talking about the interview, let's welcome in Todd Starnes, who is a radio host and also an author and has a wonderful Newsmax, show as well. And Todd, this whole interview was two and a half hours long between Tucker and Mike Huckabee. So I have not watched the entire thing. I've seen some of the clips that are surfacing. But it seems to me that at least from what has gone viral out of this, I thought overall that Ambassador Huckabee did far and away a better job of articulating the biblical position for support for Israel than Ted Cruz did. that was, I guess a little over a year ago. Your thoughts?
Todd Starnes: Yeah, look, I think clearly that Tucker Carlsen has, has changed his position on a lot of issues. I think Tucker is really, his, you know, his belief system is contrary to that of biblical teaching. And I thought it was, I thought it was a bit mean spirited on his part of the hubris, that was displayed by Tucker. It was quite breathtaking. And I think a lot of people got to see another side to Tucker Carlsen that you know, had not been, presented before. So, I've always, you know, there's always been something about Tucker that was just a little off putting for me. you know, I haven't, you know, I did not platform him, you know, during my time when I worked at Fox News Channel, nor did I afterwards, because again, there's just something that seemed a bit. A bit odd, a bit off. But, for me, it was very troubling because, of course, now Tucker and his, and his supporters are attacking Governor Huckabee, you know, accusing him of being, you know, all sorts of things. I think a Zionist is the latest, you know, you know, accusation that I've heard, when in fact, Governor Huckabee has done nothing but espouse what we all believe as fellow Christians.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, and it's so funny. I mean, being a Zionist is almost the right's new flavor of racism on the left. If I disagree with you, then you must be a racist. We've heard that since, you know, about 2015. And then that was the favorite accusation against Donald Trump. And now on the right, if they disagree with your theology or, your politics, particularly on Israel, but even on anything else, it seems like, well, you must be a Zionist. Is there, their favorite accusation? And for me, from a biblical perspective, that term has meaning, of course, but, to say that you support Israel from a biblical perspective and also a foreign policy perspective, from the United States is, of course a biblical position. And so why do you think, Todd, that, Tucker in particular has. Has changed his opinion? I think you're very correct on that. so differently than when he was at Fox News and you used to be at Fox News, and. And so, you know, the dynamic there, some have said, oh, his producers kind of reined him in. There were certain topics. He couldn't go too far down the rabbit hole. I mean, what. What do you attribute that to?
Todd Starnes: Well, you know, there was. Gosh, it was about a year or so ago or go. There was, There was an incident that Tucker talked about. And, it was really so breathtaking and bizarre. But Tucker talked about, having this fight with. With what he called demons and how he woke up and, you know, he was covered in scratches and m. You know, it was. It was really just sort of a shocking thing. And, I think a lot of people didn't know what to make of it at the time. is it possible that, you know, and again, Mike Huckley was talking about this, that this was not the same Tucker, that he once knew that something clearly had changed. Many had dismissed, you know, those accusations of, you know, fighting with the demons. I mean, is that, you know, is it remotely possible that maybe there is something to that? I don't know. But clearly something has changed, with Tucker Carlsen, and it is. I don't think it's a very good thing. I mean, we saw this, you know, and I think this is almost generational where there is this hatred of the Jews. if things are going wrong, in your life, in your career, you want to blame the Jews. we have seen that happen throughout history. So there could be some of that at play here as well. But it's very clear to me that he has changed his position on a lot of issues. And, honestly, the question is, why is he being paid by another country? there have been those accusations, levied that maybe Qatar was funding Tucker Carlsen, and therefore Tucker was doing this really for financial reasons. I don't think that's the case. But clearly something is not right.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And, that whole theory has been, as far as Qatari funding. And, you know, Tucker has even said to me personally, because we talk occasionally, offline, and I've invited him on this program, by the way, and, he's always declined to come on and talk about Israel. So it was fascinating to me that he was actually willing to sit down with somebody like Mike Huckabee that could respond to, you know, to his accusations with a truthful biblical perspective. but, you know, he's. He's denied at least being funded, by Qatar, you know, some of these other, theories that are being floated.
Todd Starnes: There seems to be a lack of theological education among Christians
But overall, I think, that you hit on something, Todd Starnes, that's very important, which is, that it seems to be, especially among younger people, this maybe lack of theological education about why supporting Israel is grounded in a comprehensive biblical worldview. And this goes, of course, to a position that the Old Testament is now irrelevant, completely post cross and, post Jesus, coming, of course. And that the Old Testament, and including the Abrahamic covenant, you know, any of the Old Testament covenants are just completely irrelevant. And all we focus on as Christians is Christ, Jesus. And then on the other hand, you have people like our good friend Dennis Prager, who, just last night actually was on Mark, Levin show on Fox, and I was watching a little bit of it, and he made, kind of an opposite argument where he suggested that the Old Testament and the Ten Commandments and the God of Abraham is the only thing that's important. And obviously as, as a non Messianic Jew, he doesn't embrace Christ as Messiah. And so he basically discounted the rest of the NewSong Testament. And he said, you know, listen, Jesus never read the Bible. He never heard the teachings of Paul thinking, but Paul derived his teachings from Jesus. That would be like saying, no pastor today is speaking truth because they came after Jesus. So you have kind of these two competing views that are both wrong, that we, we have the full counsel of God in Scripture from Genesis to revelation. and within that we have to be very careful as Christians to understand why the Old Testament is relevant. What is still, like the Abrahamic covenant that is still, part of God's covenant, to Israel today and then what was fulfilled in the law with Jesus coming. And I think that there has been a real lack of theological discernment among Christians who suggest that the Old Testament is totally irrelevant. And maybe we understand it just from a historical perspective, but as far as a theological perspective, they almost discount that completely. what do you attribute that to me? Is it just, you know, the lack of, the fullness of teaching in churches, or is there something more connected to the overall political NewSong Right movement? Because I see those two being very closely tied.
Todd Starnes: Well, I think one of the big problems that we have in the Christian movement is that we elevate people, celebrities, we put them up on pedestals. You know, they claim to have a relationship with Christ and therefore, you know, they become the latest, you know, cause du jour. I, I, you know, if, if you remember Kanye west, for example, I think is an example of that. Look at Kari Prashon, who was serving on the White House Religious Liberty Commission. and there's been a lot of hullabaloo there. I think that, that we've got to really sort of police, police ourselves as Christians. And I, think that we also need to make sure that we're not platforming folks like a Tucker Carlsen who may not necessarily have, you know, be a student of theology. I thought the hubris of Tucker to really call out Mike Huckabee, who is, you know, a seminarian. Mike Huckabee, of course, was a Southern Baptist pastor before he got into politics. I thought it was quite something that Tucker would claim to know far more about the Bible and what the Bible said about the, about the nation of Israel than a Southern Baptist pastor like Mike Hockaby. So I think that's a big problem, among people of faith.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, that's A great point. And I've been saying, for a while that, you know, the right platforming people, for who may have good ideas or good positions on perhaps conservative policy, that doesn't necessarily mean then that their theology is comprehensive or accurate. And then if they have one good idea, like for example, Candace Owens, you know, she had maybe one good thing to say, to the right, which is that, black people don't have to vote Democrat. And then the right kind of held her up as, oh, well, she's then the beacon of all conservatism and all positions without really, vetting her properly. But if we, if we were teaching more substantively theology in churches, then I think that those of us on the right, and particularly, evangelicals, which is obviously our audience here, primarily at American Family Radio Network, we would have overall more discernment to listen to people like Tucker, like Candace, and others who have political positions. But then when they get into, you know, some of these positions that, that overlap, and most do overlap theology and, and policy, because all policy should be derived from a biblical worldview, we will then have the discernment to say, okay, is that the correct position comprehensively? Not just say, well, that sounds good, or, or that's what, the MAGA movement is advancing today. And because President Trump's doing it, well, it must be correct. Right? that's the danger. And especially for the young people who have kind of grown up in the era of Trump and the era of maga, it's a danger of the overall populism that we really have separated and excised theology from our politics. And I see part of this movement, Todd, as well, this anti Zionist sort of movement, attempting on purpose to marginalize the evangelicals, like the Mic Huckabees, like you and me, out of the future of the gop and to say, well, that was an establishment position, that was a rhino position. That was something that may have worked, worked, you know, for the Reagan era, but moving forward, we are America first, meaning America only. And that really neglects the full understanding of what conservatism has always been about, literally since our founders.
Todd Starnes: Yeah, I think that's a good point. And again, this is not anything new. I think that, when you look especially at the administration and Christianity, there's no doubt that, this has been a bit of a challenge is that, you've got a lot of, a lot of people, you know, the prosperity gospel people, all of those folks that have been given a platform. And there are many, you know, there are many evangelicals who have traded in their faith for access to power. And it's, it's really troubling. you know, but look, we've been down this path many times in the, you know, in the past, and these things do have a tendency to work themselves out. And I think people, you know, understand who's authentic and who's actually using their platform or using their pulpit, using their church, to gain access to power.
Jenna: Christians have to discern between theology and policy
And that's really where I think discernment comes into play, as well. Jenna.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. And this is where we have to be vigilant as Christians, have discernment, go to churches that are teaching, not only the full truth of the gospel, but also so, bringing in news of the day and politics, into the pulpits. If we are just focused on teaching theology, but then don't take that next step and say, okay, now with the knowledge of God, how do we live today in this current society? How does that translate to our understanding of policy and how we are good citizens? I mean, it would be the same thing, Todd, as saying, okay, well, we know theology, but then we're going to go out and live our family life, you know, however we prefer. And we don't have a position on, you know, homosexual marriage or abortion or any of the things in the family, because, you know, we're taught these things. We're taught things in the church, but we don't translate that, translate them into how we live family life and policy. We have to translate those things into how we live in civil government policy, how we view, the nation of Israel, how we view American foreign policy, and,
Todd Starnes: When you're looking for a church, do your homework
So just in the last few minutes that, that we have, what would be your encouragement to, perhaps the people who are listening who are thinking, well, you know, my church doesn't necessarily go into all of those details and, and what they should be looking for in terms of teaching. Because one of the things, Todd, when I moved to Florida and was looking for a new church, I sat down with, the pastoral staff at my current church, now that, I'm a member of, and asked them, all of their positions on theological issues, what they, what they would be teaching about, you know, certain substantive topics so that I knew and, and would have a, an awareness and a comfort of saying, okay, they're. They are teaching theologically sound positions instead of just going to, well, you know, this community group looks nice, and, you know, they have the biggest building and the nicest, you know, ladies tea party or whatever. I mean, none of those things. Ultimately, they're not wrong, but they don't ultimately m. Matter in light of teaching truth and sound theology.
Todd Starnes: Well, I think it's important, you know, especially if you're, you know, looking at a church or maybe you're moving to a new church home, that you do your homework and you study, you make sure that the church you're going to is following the teachings of Scripture. I think that's, that's really incumbent upon every Christian to do that. You just can't really take anything for granted these days, and you shouldn't take anything for granted. You know, I think that's an important thing to do. Sit down and talk with the pastors and see really where, where they stand on a lot of the big issues of the day. one of the big challenges, I think, within, you know, within Christianity is that, many churches in America have been infected with this, you know, I call it wokeness. we call them woke evangelicals. in a couple of books I've written on the, on the issue where, where the seminaries have trained a generation of pastors to disengage from the culture war. and, and I think, you know, again, when you're looking at the problems facing the church, that is, that's a big one. So, again, in the process of, you know, finding churches and getting involved in a church, I think those are important questions to ask. Even where the pastors, stand on those big issues, of the day.
Jenna Ellis: So well said. And, this is why we have to have a thorough knowledge of theology and knowledge of God before we encounter the day's headlines, so that we can rightly divide truth from error. And I really appreciate your, commitment to truth and the biblical worldview. Todd Starnes. And, you can find [email protected] on all social media, obviously, Newsmax, as well as his radio program, his books. so many places to get all of the great commentary from our good friends. So thanks so much. great to hear from you today. And we will be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Jenna Ellis discusses the possibility of extraterrestrial life on American Family Radio
: Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And as we've been discussing, being grounded in theology first before, looking at the headlines of the day is incredibly important so that we are not either deceived or we aren't concerned that a headline, whatever it may portend, will somehow undermine the gospel and the Truth of Christ. Because, the science, of course, has always been in favor of supporting the gospel. And the more that we discover about the universe around us, and even, even world history and things that have come before in our timeline have always gone to prove that the Bible is accurate, both historically and scientifically. So, so when we talk about aliens, usually, at least lately on this program, we talk about those, who are coming into this country illegally. but I was talking with my producer Devin during the break, and he said, well, what kind of aliens are you talking about today? those from Mexico or those from Mars? Well, today we're actually talking about the potential of aliens in terms of extraterrestrial life. So President Trump last week posted on Truth Social Media, based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War and other relevant departments and agencies to begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, Unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP and unidentified flying objects, UFOs, and any and all other information connected to these highly complex but extremely interesting and important matters. God bless America. So for the Christian, this has been a, you know, really fascinating subject. And for, you know, a lot of people, aliens and the possibility of extraterrestrial life is fascinating. But for some Christians, it feels threatening to say, well, if there's life on other planets, then, you know, how do we, fit that into the biblical worldview? Well, I'm going to describe to you how we respond to this because m, Whatever we discover about the universe around us and space exploration is incredibly, incredibly fascinating. And actually both my dad and my brother are literal rocket scientists. they, they do a lot of things as, ah, aerospace engineers. And so it's always fascinating to have conversations with them about, you know, time, gravity, you know, all of these different things that that go into space exploration. What can we see? How does light bend you? These things that are way above, my, my pay grade and you know, things that they don't teach you in law school. but first and foremost, when we approach this type of subject, we have to understand that the truth of the reality to which we are presented isn't just Earth. Here are terra, or why we call them extraterrestrial, meaning extra Earth or things outside of Earth. God is the creator of the entire universe. And the Bible tells us, us that he holds the whole world, which includes the entire universe, the physical universe that he has created in his hands. And that includes everything from the planets, the Stars, everything across the boundaries of the universe. And it says, in Genesis, all the way to revelation, that he rolled it out like a scroll and stretched, the skies in the heavens. And then revelation tells us that at the end of all things, he will roll up the heavens like a scroll, scroll. And it's fascinating how the more that we discover about the scientific reality and the planes, of our physical Earth, that, more and more that picture is actually really accurate of how the heavens are stretched. And so from the perspective of creation, we know that God created all things. So that includes literally whatever is in not just our physical universe, but also the spiritual realm as well. And so while there can be some interpretations of the science, like some would look at the strata of the rock layers and other things and suggest that the data points to millions and millions of years and that, there isn't a God, that, you know, everything just evolved by chance and the Big Bang and all of that. Well, that's a theory that attempts to interpret the science. And we can, for theories, either say, does that align with the truth of the gospel of Christ and what we know from creation, what we know from God's general and specific revelation, or does that theory already fall apart where we know God has told us how he created, and we also know that there is a God. So we can dismiss certain theories outright because they don't align with truth. But the actual science itself, the data and what we observe in our physical reality, none of those things have ever contravened or gone contrary to the truth of the word of God. It's only interpretations that generally some of these quote, unquote, scientists are trying to theorize and provide evidence for reality without God, our creator. And that's why a lot of these theories, theories including evolution or evolutionary biology, for example, they're theories, they're not science. And so they need to actually be relegated to the realm of a religious faith or an interpretation of a worldview, because that's. It's a worldview, it is not actually science. So first and foremost, with that baseline, we have to understand that God created. And that includes everything in our physical and our spiritual universe. And so if, alien life, then exists, there's some kind of life, whether it's just, you know, very, very small, or it's some kind of complex life form or some, you know, sentient, being. How does that then how, do we understand that in light of Christ? Well, the imago dei or the, image of God, that human beings are uniquely made and designed is the central claim of Christianity of human dignity, human sin, and then human redemption. So Starting with Genesis 1:27, human beings are made in God's image. And so the Bible does not say that the earth is the only place that God could create life, but it does say that humanity is uniquely image bearing across all of creation. So we see even in our own physical universe, like I have my two dogs, Todd and Copper, who are very much, emotionally, and intelligent and sentient beings, but they are not human. And we know that based on not only the truth of what biology and the natural universe tells us, but we know that based on God telling us that human beings out of all of creation are uniquely set apart. And so the redemption, understanding and the redemption narrative of Christ coming in the form of a human being and his redemption plan for humanity is only for humans. And now does the sin of humans impact the rest of creation? Yes, it did. And we see, the pains of death in creation across, all life in our physical universe. And that's the result of human sin. But the, the ability to be saved. And the redemption story is uniquely for human beings. And so the Incarnation is human specific. Hebrews 2:6. Christ took on human nature. So the Incarnation wasn't abstract, it was historical. And particular redemption is tied to Adam's fall. You can read the arc of Romans, Romans 1 through 5 and even further. So even if there is life somewhere else, you know, floating around Mars or whatever, that life, whatever form it is, will not be made in the image of God. We know that it will not be human. And so that doesn't negate anything about the truth of the Gospel of Christ. So we don't have to be concerned about what may or may not be out there, because just like we don't have to be concerned about what, you know, type of animal or life forming we may discover in the depths of the sea or, you know, somewhere else, in a jungle that's yet unexplored. None, of that threatens the truth of Christianity. So what about alien encounters? Well, we also know that the spiritual realm is very real. And Ephesians 6 through 12 talks about the spiritual forces of evil. And Scripture affirms that angels and demons exist and that, the supernatural, the plane actually exists. And Christians cannot be functional materialists. We have to acknowledge that the spiritual realm exists, that this is spiritual warfare. And every time an angel in Scripture appears to man and they see an angel, they always identify themselves truthfully and accurately. So don't worship me? Me, no. But I'm sent from the most high God. Alien encounters, whether we want to believe their results of psychedelic drugs or something else, a lot of those, I think, can be rationally explained as demonic encounters. Because if you have a spiritual being that is not identifying themselves properly, they're saying, you know, they're an alien. They're pushing toward things that are not scriptural, that is likely the result of demonic oppression more than interstellar tourism. So for, you. So C.S. lewis talked about all of that. But. So we want to understand that this matters theologically because the imago DEI matters to human beings. But it also matters that we look at, you know, some potential quote, unquote, alien life as the truth of the spiritual and the demonic. So how should Christians respond? Well, three principles. Don't panic, don't mock. Just think biblically. God created all things seen and unseen, and nothing in the heavens can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. So, as always, you can reach me and my team, jennafr.net, and you can also read my opinion piece on this US at AFN that is titled Aliens versus the Gospel.
Gerard Filitti says rise in political violence is concerning
Jenna welcomes Todd Starnes to discuss the recent Tucker Carlson interview with Ambassador Mike Huckabee
Jenna Ellis discusses the possibility of extraterrestrial life
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