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 : 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 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.

Republicans want to marginalize Trump and the MAGA movement before the midterms

Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Wednesday, January 28, and it's only January. I, I this month has been so long and I've seen a lot memes across social media saying, wait a minute, has this been like 17 weeks long in January? It is only January, but thankfully that means that hopefully we can get a little bit more traction for conservatism before the midterms. But everybody is already talking about that, how this situation, ongoing in Minneapolis is going to play into all of that. I still have my view that the Republicans, and the establishment Republicans in particular, really want to lose. they want to marginalize Trump and the MAGA movement and really just sideline that effort. And they don't care if, ah, Trump and Vance and Kristi Noem and everybody else is impeached for the next two years and nothing else gets done because then they can say, haha, your candidates, for 2028 are not going to be helpful. And they can then, raise up whatever, establishment hack Romney esque that they would prefer. And meanwhile, Trump doesn't really seem to be doing a whole lot to reverse that kind of direction. yesterday when he was talking about guns, and the NRA had to even put out a statement, Gavin Newsom this morning said he's lost to the nra. I mean some of these things are just, they're just easy losses. I mean, they're, they're unforced errors that really don't need to happen. And yet here we are.

Steve Dase: I think we are at an inflection point

So, before I rant too much, let's bring on Steve Dase, who is the host of the CBD show and, my favorite ranter of all time. And Steve, I know that you are just as frustrated as I am with the state of everything. so where are we Headed, do you think, once we get past this month of January and. Good morning.

Steve Deace: Good morning. I think it is very possible that we are at an inflection point that will determine what we're talking about the rest of the year and the way that we are talking about it. I think that, there's a game plan. You know, I always like to say, Jenna, that, the. The Enemy has the greatest hits album, and he just re racks it. And sometimes it's folk music, and sometimes it's auto tune, and sometimes it's, a country song. To be honest, it's rarely a country song with the Dixie Chicks are doing it, but it's just the stylistics are different, but the structure is the same. Okay, so follow me here for a second. All right. Minneapolis is a unique situation. we have a novel, unique coronavirus. Jacob Fry and Tim Walls are elevated to status, where they are given, the proxy speaking positions for the part of America that thinks Trump is literally Hitler. Fauci and Burks. if you don't leave Minneapolis, you know, this blood will be on your hands. you just want grandma to die. Are you tracking with me here? Are you tracking with me yet? Okay. I mean, we even did the whole shut down the churches thing. They just did that, like, in the very first step.

 : Okay.

Steve Deace: you know, with the All Saints church two weeks ago. So, I mean, this is a game plan. This is now where the reasonable Republicans, Well, you know, Mr. President, we have to do lockdowns, again, I mean, we just have to accept reality here. And that's just. Listen, we got to leave Minneapolis and cut and run, and, you know, we don't really need to take on any more risk here. And so, you know, I like to say all the time to my audience, Jenna, that worldview is destiny. The president's worldview is art of the deal. And there are moments, given how craven this era is, how unprincipled much of the right and much of America is, where that has been to his tremendous benefit as a politician, and therefore, our benefit as his constituents and as Americans.

 : But.

Steve Deace: But the same thing happened in his first term, and we're at this juncture now where, he is up against forces where there is no deal to be made. There's no deal to be made. And. And I think that at that point, you have to recognize the level of conviction that you are up against means that there's no deal. And the only B word here that applies is defeats. Someone will be defeated. It's a zero sum game. There will not be a half measure, a half victory. You will walk away the winner or they will. And I think he struggled mightily with this in his first term. it's why he was so successful in the foreign theater. because he recognizes a lot of countries that, you know, that, wear the head guard and do the calls to prayer, but a lot of their leaders are more Arabic than they are Muslim, and that they want access to our only fans, girls for their harems, and they want our amusement parks. And if we can, that's. There are deals there that can be made. They're not nearly as principled as America's, elites in the Bush and Obama Clinton years, in our foreign policy infrastructure claim. And I think that he knew this, from his business dealings, and he's been remarkably generationally successful on the foreign front, and he is greatly feared. He's made examples. I'm going to come back to that in a minute, Jenna. He's made examples out of people. He dropped Moab on Assad, all right? He took out isis. he grabbed Maduro in the dead of night. Okay? He's made examples. So therefore, there are precedents set that everybody knows, like the carrier, the Lincoln that's heading to Iran as we speak. Everybody knows they're in the foreign theater. He will act if you push him too far.

There's no scalp on the domestic side, Stefan says

Okay, what's the scalp that we've claimed in the domestic side? Jenna? Who is it? What's the scalp that set an example? Who is it?

Jenna Ellis: Just give me a name on the domestic front.

Steve Deace: Yeah, there isn't one.

Jenna Ellis: There isn't one.

Steve Deace: Yeah, there is.

 : Yeah.

Steve Deace: Tim Walsh should have been arrested for fraud already. Okay? especially the day after he announced he wasn't going to run, because now they can't politicize. Well, you're just going after him because of an election. You know, like what they did with Trump m. Last. The last, couple of years. Well, now he's not running, so now it's just about. The guy's a criminal. All right? Instead. Instead he's calling Susie Wiles, taking phone calls and getting audiences with the president and essentially getting elevated as a legitimate statesman to be. To be dealt with. And so since there's no scalp on the domestic side, no one. You know, pawns do not count. Pawns don't count.

 : All right?

Steve Deace: No one at the end of a chess match sits there and counts how many pawns they have. They count whether or not they checkmated the royalty. So there's no scalp on the domestic side, Everybody's gotten away with it. Nobody's been punished for anything. they got to take over 1200 of our people and arrest them for January 6th. They got to take people like you and arrest and charge you. it's about 1400 of our people in the last four years that they've arrested or charged, and there's zero on their end. So there's no scalp. There's no reason to fear him. On the domestic side, he is. You can make deals once you've made an example, but we've made no examples. And I think that he just. And I think, the jury is still out. Tom Homan is still going to Minneapolis. Tom Holman is a serious warrior. I've met Tom Holman. I've discussed this with. I mean, I've had Tom Holman look me in the eye and tell me, listen, my family has to stay in hiding 247 because of all the death threats I've received. So Tom is well aware of what we are up against. I think it is possible some of what you're seeing in the Minneapolis front is you want to give Tom Holman a chance to get there, survey the landscape. Probably should have been deployed there from day one, frankly. and maybe you're buying yourself some time so this thing doesn't get completely George Floyd messy in the streets before Tom can take over, and then it's too late. you know, the ships left the stockyard, so, I hope that's what's going on. But ultimately, without any form of a scalp, our enemies domestically are not. They don't fear him at all. In fact, they're raising money off of him. They're elevating their own candidates off of him. They're energizing their own base off of him. And I think that, that's the reality on one side, and then the reality on the other side is absolutely, the Republican establishment would rather lose these midterms. They would much rather be in the minority. You bet. You bet they would be 100%, because they're still going to raise. They're going to. This is how they think. I'm still going to go to you gullible conservatives the next couple of years and raise oodles of money off of you. Stop. Help me stop the liberal regime. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you guys had your temporary Trump hissy fit. Now we're back in control. That's absolutely the way that they think. And so Trump is Going to have to. He has not been willing to make examples at all in Republican primaries, except for people that are personally disloyal to him. And while many of those people are the worst kinds of Republicans, sometimes they're not. They're very. Sometimes the people that are loyal to him are very liberal Republicans like Elise Stefanik. and now these establishment guys are realizing, if I just fought over Trump, I can just vote and betray his base all I want, maybe he'll still endorse me. And so we're at the juncture now that we've come to the juncture that we did in his first term, which is we're out of deals to be made. This is now a worldview steel cage match. And you're going to have to be. You're going to have to show that you're willing to either suffer for what you believe or make your enemies suffer for their beliefs. And he was unwilling to do this in his first term. And so far. And I think the hope was, you know, when they tried to put him in prison for 95 years. And that's after they stole an election from him. So they stole an election from him, they tried to put him in prison for 95 years, and then they tried to shoot him in the face. And the hope kind of was that at that point this guy would actually get that he. Absolutely. And don't use the language that I'm anointed of God because of how uniquely evil this time is and then not punch back. And I think the hope was that this time, this guy, when you get shot in the face, they try to put you in prison the rest of your life, and then they steal an election from you in broad daylight that, that, this might have been. Oh, boy. Yeah. There's no deals to be made right now.

Steve Bannon says Trump needs to pick between two wars ahead of midterm elections

Now. Now you, you have, you have, you've created the Incredible Hulk now. And what we're seeing right now, at least in terms of perception, is not that. And I think that he's going to have to pick one of these sides. Either you pick your own party in control of Congress, or you go after their people and punish them. But he's got to make. It's hard to do a two front war, you know, use Napoleon's axiom, hard to win a two front war in any parlance. But he's got to fight one of these wars. He's got to move the. He's got to force the Republican Party to move on his agenda or he's got to punish the Democratic Party. And make examples out of them so that they don't feel like they can just do a mob and act out and bring violence to the streets every time we try to do anything the American people want us to do. If he does not do that, his presidency will be essentially stillborn from this time forward. We will resoundingly lose the midterms, both chambers. It will just be impeachment palooza for the next two years. and you'll see people again start to break away and jockey for a position. He'll lose his leverage in 28. His endorsement will still be much coveted, but you're going to see a lot of more people, a lot more like you start. Listen, Steve Bannon is out there today accusing Trump of, quote, code switching on immigration. Right. Steve Bannon, whatever you think is Steve Bannon, he went to prison for Trump. That is an example of what you will see if he does not pick one of these two fights and make an example out of either his own party's establishment or the Democratic Party. Win them and then win these midterms. That's what the next two years will look like.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And, Steve, I wholeheartedly agree with you on all of that. And to just kind of distill that epic rant into one word, worldview. And absolutely worldview matters. And this is why, for the Christian, for someone who wants justice, understands how the government should work, and wants to see a leader who is willing to fight for what's right, simply because it is just that, unfortunately, has not been, and I don't think will be Donald Trump. And this is why populism will never succeed over conservatism. Because I can tell you, when I worked for Trump and every decision practically, I mean, far and wide, he is looking at the polls, he's looking at whether it's popular, and he's also looking at exactly what you said, which is the art of the deal. What do I need? Where is the leverage? And what are my political interests? He's not concerned about what is the right thing. And we saw a lot of pitfalls in his first administration because that is his worldview. Rather than simply standing up and saying, we're going to open the economy, we're going to not tell people that they have to, stay in their homes. We're not going to, shut down churches, you know, all of these. I'm not going to just take the tack that I'm going to sit back and say, well, let's let the states decide, because I don't want their responsibility if this goes wrong and I lose my popularity, that's not actually a leader. He is, in the world of, NewSong York real estate negotiation tactics, maybe a good thing, and that may get him far. But sometimes as a leader, negotiating isn't what, you're called to do. It's simply a calling to enforce justice. And that's not what we're seeing. And this is why the Democrats on the home front know that if they can simply maneuver and they can distract him and they can put him on the defensive, he will take that carrot every single time. And the establishment knows that if they just go to the park parties and they, they, they go on TV and they praise him, then they'll earn his endorsement without actually having to work for it. And then they can just talk to him and say, well, you know, we had to vote for this, and this reason, because he'll say, oh, yeah, it was a negotiation. And so this is the bottom line here, Steve, is that I think that we as Christians need to be a lot more careful in recognizing when we have a leader who is grounded in truth and is willing to fight the fights that are right just because it's right, and enact justice. A, biblical justice on behalf of the civil government versus a populist who is concerned about the polls and concerned about the negotiation and concerned about the tactics. Because if we have somebody who that, that line moves depending on the angle that he's working, we will never be assured that he's going to do the right thing in any given situation. And I think that's what we're seeing in his administration right now.

Steve Deace: Well, I just don't think there's a Christian populace capable of what you're advocating, which is why I do the kind of show that I do. I just. We just, This is why. This is why a leader like Trump was basically necessary in many people's minds for this time. I mean, he, Trump, Trump represents the pinnacle of the current American, by and large, the current American, evangelical worldview. This is the most that it is capable of, is where we currently are. this is. I mean, we skipped an entire generation of preaching, teaching manhood. and so this idea that there was just never. That was never going to come due to that God was never going to hold, make that bill be paid, and we're just such a special people and so uniquely providential that we're just going to just roll this over, you know, 90 days, same as cash, you know, and keep deferring the payments. Generation after generation. It's just simply not true. I mean, we, we are, we are where we are because of who we are. And there is just, I mean, I'll just tell you, man, listen, I host one of the largest programs in America by an American evangelical that the amount of Americans, by God's grace, that talk to more evangelicals, the Bible people, on a daily basis than this kid right here born to a 15 year old mom who nearly got aborted. It's a small handful of people who do that, who do that more than I do every single day. The worldview simply is just not there. and this is why we were going to need the appeal of the perceived strong man. And in many cases he has been that man. But we are now at the point now again where what you're up against is a demonic horde. They do not want to share this country. They will not share this country. They want to conquer this country. These blue city states is what I call them, are, they're essentially, you know, they're the new confederacy. They are attempting to implement Jim Crow from the inside out and create no go zones for Europe for the opposite belief system. They're the new Jim Crowers. It's just over a different slate of issues, but it's the same sort of philosophy. And this is going to take a level of commitment that frankly, most Americans have. I mean, Trump, listen, Trump's Trump Gates has given his life billions of dollars of his own businesses for his causes. He is, for all of his faults here, he has sacrificed way more for America than 97% of his voters have ever even considered. And that is the problem. We have an inverted paradigm. All, right. You cannot expect more out of your leaders in a government by the consent of the governed than you yourself are willing to give. This is what made our revolution so unique. The men who signed the pledge that said lives, fortunes and sacred honors weren't the pleasure. They were the elites. They were the ones. They knew that this was going to be fought, that the war they were declaring, it was going to be on their land. It was going to be their plantations that were going to be raised, it was going to be their fields that were going to burn. That's what made it so unique, is the leadership came from the top down. Trump, for all of his faults, has demonstrated way more leadership than the average American has demonstrated citizenship. And so this is the problem one, hundred percent. And this is always why we were never going to get this much further with a political movement leading this and not the Church. We have one transcendent institution that God has ever given mankind, and it is the church. And without the church.

Steve Martin: When churches get stormed, no one acts

When. When. When the church has. Gets. When churches get stormed as if they're in the heart, and they've been in the heart of Minneapolis this entire time. They've seen what's happened in this community. They've lived it. And when they get stormed, the reaction is the pastor does an interview with Don Lemon, just screams, you should be ashamed. And men get up while their wives and children are fleeing and crying and hiding in stairwells and corner. And the best they can say through a camera is, I have no comment for you. No one acts. No one acts. So, you know, I've got my differences with Trump, for sure, but he's pushed the ball way further than most of the men of this era have, even contemplated picking it up. And that's. So we have come to the end of his worldview. I agree with you. That is true, but that's the problem.

Jenna Ellis: Why are, you. Yeah, the problem is that. Is that his worldview is the worldview of most Americans instead of a biblical worldview that would give rise to a leader. Because we don't need a Christian populace. We need an actual Christian. And we need someone that will conserve truth. Go fight the fights, but because they're right. And not just advance the ball as much as Trump has, but then fall really short of exercising the legitimate civil government powers that he's vested with that our founders, created so that we could establish a more perfect union, not just a populist consensus like a lot of other countries. and so, Steve, we gotta take a break here, but always appreciate it. Look forward to continuing the conversation. Steve soon. Follow Steve on X, of course. Listen to his show, and we'll be right back with more.

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Prosecutors dropped bid to charge CNN anchor Don Lemon over Minnesota church raid

 : welcome back to Jenna Ellis in.

Gerard Filitti: The Morning on American Family Radio.

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, seeing the lack of oomph from the Justice Department and one of those appointments at least, I think Americans are very, very fed up with the DOJ and its current leader, Attorney General Pam Bondi. one of the things that, they're complaining about is this headline. DOJ abandons request for Don Lemon arrest warrant over church raid, but it could still try to bring charges is from media. They say, the Department of Justice has reportedly withdrawn its request for an arrest warrant for ex CNN anchor Don Lemon in connection with a Minnesota church protest, but he may not be out of the woods yet. Prosecutors dropped the bid to charge Lemon and four others after a judge rejected criminal complaints, for them for entering the city's church in St Paul on January 19 while the service was ongoing. So let's welcome in Gerard Felitti, who is a senior counsel at the Lawfare Project. And Gerard, you know, this, this seems to be like a judge is just dismissing this out of hand. do you think that this was one of those prosecutor or this, judges rather, who, is just looking at this from a political bias, or what's the situation as far as, you know?

Gerard Filitti: Well, when it comes to Don Lemon, I think the issue for a judge is they have this fear that if they rule the wrong way and issue an arrest warrant, they will be on the hook for violating the First Amendment in terms of his rights or purported rights as a so called reporter. and I think that really it's a matter of a judge not wanting to take that risk. So this is something that still can be done by grand jury. You can still be indicted, Don Lemon can still be indicted, and we can still, the government can still follow charges in that way. But, I think the judge was basically doing an easy thing for him, and trying to use the hook of Lemon being a so called reporter in order to avoid actually signing the warrant.

Jenna Ellis: So, if a grand jury says otherwise, I mean, do you think that that'll be the DOJ's next move? And if they brought this in a, in a Federal court, you know, in a district in Minnesota, or would they, you know, bring this in a perhaps more friendly venue?

Gerard Filitti: Well, they'd have to bring it in Minnesota. That's, that's where this, this occurred ultimately. But I think that the doj, pursuing a grand jury would answer a lot of the questions, perhaps and obviate the, the political pressure that judges are feeling. Because this would be a citizen panel, the panel of, don't peers essentially, that thinks that there's enough cause, for him to be charged. And here ultimately the issue comes down to, the question comes down to whether Lemon entered that church as a protester or is, you know, intending or knowing that his actions would obstruct religious service, or whether he was merely along for the ride and looking to see what happened in his capacity as a self styled reporter. So I think if a grand jury answers that he was really part of it, that his actions were obstructing the practice of religion, you will see that indictment.

Jenna Ellis: And that's interesting, you know, where, where's the legal line between, you know, someone who just has the pretext of being a reporter and saying, well, you know, I know that, that these people are going to go in and they're going to obstruct religious services and they're going to, you know, go into this, this church, and, or commit, you know, some other kind of illegal activity. But I want to film them doing it. And then they say they're a reporter, but they're really, you know, there to capture what's on video in order to, you know, for whatever reason to push that out on social media, obviously get attention to it. if he had, if he knew that they're going in there, which he obviously did and became a part of it, where is the line between participation and actual First Amendment cover?

Gerard Filitti: That's an excellent question. I think that's part of what we would see in this investigation and facts playing out is the extent of his knowledge, how involved he was in the planning or the preparations for this disruption, and whether he could even be called a conspirator or, was merely someone who was there along for the ride. And I think the line really is when you're reporting from the sidelines, look at what's going on with ICE actions or with any protests that you see when you're reporting from the sidelines, that's more understood as the First Amendment protective function of a reporter. But when you're on the front lines, you're one of the people engaging with, others as part of that protest, then it becomes murkier. You lose that protection. If you're the one who's hurling rocks at police. Can't just say, I'm a reporter watching what other people are doing. If you're the one who is blocking access to a religious service, then you can't just say, I'm observing what others are doing and reporting on it. You're part of the problem, and that makes you liable.

Jenna Ellis: Interesting. So it's fascinating that a judge, based on the request that the DOJ submitted, would favor not even having the argument, because obviously, if a judge signed off on it, Don Lemon could fight it. You know, they could, they could go to, you know, a lot of, pre, trial types of motions and things. And so, what did the decision for the judge turn on? And how would that actually be different if, the DOJ submitted it to a jury? Other than, obviously, regular individuals who sit on a grand jury aren't going to be as knowledgeable as a judge. But at the same time, it seems like this, this really comes down to, fact finding. And. And perhaps the judge just gave Don Lemon too much cover here.

Gerard Filitti: I think that you may be onto something that maybe the judge did give Don Lemon too much cover. If you look at the other thing the magistrate judge did is he crossed out the Face act charges and just let this go. let the arrest happen on a conspiracy against rights on the Ku Klux Klan Act. And the Face act is very important. That's freedom of access to clinic entrances. That's an act that was passed to protect abortion centers from protests. But also added in that bill, thanks to Senator Orrin Hatch, was a provision to protect churches and synagogues and religious places for being disrupted. So the judge didn't really see this as an obstruction of religious service. The judge just saw this as a conspiracy against rights. So I think the problem is, in part, maybe the government didn't do enough to explain the underlying law, But I think the judge also got it completely wrong.

Jenna Ellis: Well, and so are there any, alternatives in the federal system, including, you know, appealing that denial? OR is the DOJ's only alternative to try to seek a grand jury indictment?

Gerard Filitti: Well, you could theoretically go to the district judge, but the best course of action for the federal government, for the doj, is to seek a grand jury indictment, because that is something that is much stronger. And at that point, the government can say that they have presented evidence enough to. To. To show that probable cause, to make that arrest and to go forward with those charges. And that the government putting some of its cards on the table also plays well because the public will have a better idea of what's going on. So, really, the strongest thing the DOJ can do to make this more bulletproof is to get that indictment from a grand jury.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, that makes sense. And I think a lot of people, myself included, are sitting here kind of looking and saying, all right, this is something that is so terrible to. To go in and disrupt a church service. And, you know, we want to see accountability for this. And it does seem like, yet again, the DOJ and a lot of, Trump's other, you know, lawyers and appointees just really aren't doing a lot of, their homework, and they're not necessarily getting some, of these lawsuits in the best possible posture, and that's frustrating. So, overall, how do you rate, this current DOJ and Pam Bondi? I mean, I know across social media and obviously, you know, the non lawyers and lawyers, of course, you know, we like to categorize people into lawyers and non lawyers, and, you know, that's fine. But, it seems like the public perception overall, even among Trump's base, is that the DOJ is just not doing a great job.

Gerard Filitti: Well, you know, I think you can. There's plenty of reasons to say that the DOJ is not doing the job that a lot of people want it to be doing, but I think you also need to look at it the other way. In Minnesota, it's a state crime to disrupt the religious service. Where are the state charges? Where's the local prosecution? There isn't one. The states aren't doing anything at all to enforce the law. At least the DOJ stepped in here and tried to bring the charges, and they did successfully bring some of them. So I think we have to look at it in that, not that I want to give too much grace to the Justice Department, but they are doing a lot more than we've seen the Justice Department do. That's not politicized under other administrations. So I think that this is a step in the right direction, but it's not doing as much as we want it to be doing.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, 100%. Well, it's going to be very interesting, to see what the next steps are for the doj. And, you know, hopefully Don Lemon knows that he's not out of the woods yet, and we'll see some accountability for him as well. As, you know, obviously the other people that clearly aren't as well known, but were part of this obstruction of, churches. And meanwhile, Jared Felitti, my special guest this morning.

The families of two men killed in a US airstrike in Venezuela are suing Trump

I also want to ask you about the other lawsuit that was filed against President Trump, by the families of the Trinidadian men killed in the US Airstrike. The, headline from Fox News is that they're suing the Trump administration. And when announcing the strike last year, President Trump claimed that those killed were narco terrorists. But the families of the two men killed in that military strike near Venezuela last October have filed a federal lawsuit, against the Trump admin, saying the attack was, quote, manifestly unlawful. six of the men traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad who were killed in the strike have family members suing over the deaths of two of the victims. And they're alleging that their relatives were fishermen returning to Venezuela from Venezuela to their home in Trinidad when the boat was attacked. So the families are suing for civil damages under federal maritime law. what do you think about this?

Gerard Filitti: Well, it's interesting that they're bringing this case in the District of Massachusetts, which is much more liberal and much more against Trump and the administration. I also wonder what took them so long. I was expecting this political stunt much sooner. And that's what this is. This is more of a political stunt than a solid legal case. When you have something like this, courts should be, and normally do, defer to the executive, to the government about national security determinations. So this case, in the strict sense is not likely to go anywhere. if you look at what past decisions have been and how the courts defer to the government when it comes to military action. However, because this is Massachusetts and we have judges who hate Trump and the administration, this is going to go to, this is going to go places. This is going to be heard and appealed and will make a lot of noise in the media.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. Wow. you know, this, this is really interesting. And it just seems like, though, it seems like the left and, you know, all of these people who can possibly allege anything against Donald Trump and the Trump administration get lawsuits together so quickly. you know, do you find that there is what appears to be, sort of whether it's a coordinated effort or whether it's, you know, funding from, you know, who knows where, but that these types of lawsuit, it just seems like these are so quickly filed against Trump when, when it's the opposite and it's the Biden admin. It's like, you know, we're sometimes sitting there waiting and waiting to see, you know whether conservative groups will file anything at all.

Gerard Filitti: The people on the left who bring these actions tend to be much more proactive. They have think tanks, they have nonprofits, they are well funded from outside that. All they do is sit around and contemplate the different things that they could do to interfere with the agenda of the Trump administration or any other conservative agenda. So when you have something like this incident, this narco, ah, terrorist who were killed in an airstrike, they have a lawsuit ready to go, they have a plan ready to go, they have protests ready to go, we on the conservative side, we don't have that. We're more reactive. When we see a problem, then we scramble to address it. But the left is very well funded and they have think tanks that all they do is come up with ideas for lawsuits like this.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And that you hit on the key point. It's funding. and, you know, we, we had thought perhaps, Elon Musk would be kind of the George Soros of the right and, you know, help fund some of these things. And it's really a shame that, you know, Doge didn't go as, as, as far and, or as further as it was supposed to. And you know, I'm not really sure that we're getting the same kind of, output and engagement from Elon as conservatives, you know, really hoped at the beginning of last year with Trump's inauguration. But, you know, so much of the source funding, is just everywhere and embedded in so many things, even on the state level. I mean, this isn't just sort of the top line. You know, he's taken one target, the Trump administration and whoever, you know, is, is the leader of the Republican Party. there's so much funding that just filters, you know, throughout, really every aspect, of a lot of these issues. And it always seems like conservatives are doing the best that we can to sort of play catch up. you know, how can we try to combat that with the limited resources that we have? I mean, I know that your organization, obviously, the Lawfare Project, is doing a lot of that. And, you know, we really appreciate it as conservatives, the fight that you guys are putting up as well.

Gerard Filitti: Well, I think ultimately it is about keeping up the fight. It is about making sure that we litigate these, these issues whenever we see these, these problems. Because we want to protect our rights, we want to preserve our Democratic values, we want to preserve our country in the way our. We want to preserve a country where we can worship God and practice our religion freely and not have it be, not have things imposed on us. So ultimately it's incumbent on us to stand up for our rights. And that means in a courtroom. But that also means increasingly being aware of what's going on, being engaged at the local level, even at the school board level. We see outside groups also funded by Soros and other far left extremists who are getting lesson plans, who are indoctrinating our kids. So a lot of this is really awareness and being active and standing up for ourselves, making those objections, filing those lawsuits and being loud in our, and asserting our beliefs. Because if we don't, then if we stay the silent majority, the loud minority will trample all of our rights.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. so well said.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling on protest tactics

And before I let you go, Gerard Felitti, I also want to get your take on one last headline. and this is good news for Trump. And coming from Fox News, the Trump Admin wins court victory freeing ICE agents from Minnesota protest restrictions. So the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that blocked certain tactics against anti ace agitators in Minnesota. A, ah, ruling Monday that the, that the restriction on tactics being used by ICE agents dealing with agitators in Minnesota would put a stay that prevented the officers from arresting, detaining Pepper Spring or retaliating against protesters in Minneapolis without probable cause as ICE agitators, anti ICE agitators continue to confront authorities carrying out enforcement operations. So, you know, this seems to be like a good thing that they're not just the court now isn't hamstringing ice, agents to have to sit there and take all of this this aggression before they step in and intervene. And it seems like had, had this been in place perhaps, Alex Preddy might not have unfortunately been killed in that altercation.

Gerard Filitti: Well, I think you hit the nail on the head. This was a very important ruling not just for the Trump administration, but for the American people. Because you do want that intermediate stage where law enforcement were federalized, whether it's local or federal, can deploy strategies, can use tools other than lethal force, because if all you have are the option of standing there and doing nothing or using your service weapon, that might lead, and that does lead to more tragic situations than if you use less lethal means, to disperse a crowd for crowd control or to restrain someone. So I think this was a very correct decision that we should never have had that, that injunction in the first place.

Gerard Felitti says judicial appointments matter at every level

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, well, we got to take a break here, Gerard. Felitti senior, counsel for the Lawfare Project. And you know, so many things going on in the headlines and obviously to investigate, enforce justice in a civil society, to enforce the law, to continue to maintain order. You know, all of these things takes a judiciary that is willing to apply the law to the facts and, and apply the law without ah, prejudice, toward any side. And you know, this is why these judicial appointments matter at every single level. It's not just the Supreme Court, it's every level, throughout the federal judiciary, the federal bench especially, but also even on the state level. I mean you should be familiar with how those appointments are made in your state, whether it's governor appointment, it's judicial merit selection, you know, whatever the the retainment process is, all of that, because these things matter. We will be right back with

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American Family Radio host Jenna Ellis says worldview matters in today's news

welcome back to Jenna Ellis in.

 : The Morning on American Family Radio.

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, as we've been talking throughout this entire program and we continue to talk about regularly, of course, worldview matters. And when you see some of these headlines, you have to think through, okay, what is the posture of the individual who is making the statement or you know, going into a church or whatever it is that they're doing? Because worldview then will get you to a certain place logically if you follow that worldview that may or may not be biblical. And this is why we as Christians always need to go back and be grounded in firmly a biblical worldview that is focused on truth and ensure that everything that we think matches that truth. I mean so often, even as Christians, we can have reactions emotionally that don't actually match a, ah, reality that is truth based. and often we can you know, also be thinking of certain situations wrongfully and we always need to bring our thoughts under control and ensure that we are focused on truth. This is part of why we need to grow in the knowledge of the Lord so that we make sure that everything that we are doing is not based on emotion. It's not based on well you know my, my faith is, is just in church on Sundays. But what I think in all these other subject matters I can just do separate and apart from what the word of God says. No, we need to have a comprehensive, a worldview. Not this sort of charcuterie board of you know, just putting together, you know, whatever we think onto this, this plate and then it's not cohesive. Right. We need to have a logical comprehensive ah, worldview that actually makes sense. And so this was one of these, these posts that is just, just wild. And I I did a response video actually on my, my Instagram. And we are starting, ladies and gentlemen, we are starting a TikTok. I know but I have been convinced to start a TikTok because I've had so many young people, including a few that go to my church, who've asked questions saying you know, I'm seeing this, this video or this statement out there and and I don't know how to respond to this from. I know it's wrong but how do you respond to this from a biblical perspective or. All my friends are saying this, you know. And so we're gonna go where the young people are and give them some tools and hopefully equip them. And so that's one of the projects that I'm doing here at afa. So so stay tuned for that. But you can also follow of course my personal ex, Ealgena Ellis. You can follow on Facebook as well, Jenna Ellis Media and Instagram Jenna Ellis Media. But we're doing some of these response videos and some of what I went into on yesterday's program with the response to to the posts on Leviticus, that was one of the questions that I got from a friend's younger sister who was asking me and saying you know, I had yeah scrolling and all that I can see from even Christians is putting out this verse from Leviticus 19. What do I say to that? Right, so so we want to make sure to put out that content and make sure that we're doing more to reach people where they're hopefully bring them to afr, to to hearing our shows and to hearing you know, the long form podcast, the radio programs that turn into podcasts. But before they even sometimes know that we're here every day on radio, they, they are already on those platforms. So we're going to Meet them where they're at with truth and with a biblical worldview. So I'm really excited for that. And so if you have, you know, kids or grandkids or you know, friends of your kids and grandkids that they have some of these questions, please, send us ideas and suggestions jenna fr.net so that we can put out some of these videos. responding. This is one of the reasons that I, I'm just so, so sad that we lost Charlie Kirk's voice because he, he was prolific with going onto college campuses and just simply being there and saying, you know, hey, let's have a conversation, let's talk. And I know that he changed hearts and minds and convinced people to at least recognize where their worldview then butts up against or confronts reality. And in that moment when you're brought to the end of your worldview, then you have to make a decision. Am I going to admit that my worldview is wrong and actually come into, into in line with reality and truth, or am I going to reject truth and buy into a lie and be willing to embrace a false narrative, something that I know is false, and reject truth? I mean, that's, that's the tension point of worldview that Francis Schaeffer prolifically, talks about in his works that a lot of apologists do. So, so this was one that I saw as well. There, there are a couple and I don't know that we'll have time in the next five minutes to get to them, but, this was one that Libs of TikTok posted. meet, Eric Martindale, a registered Florida nurse. He posted this, allegedly on his social media. She shows a screenshot. Now there's a concern maybe that his account was hacked, but, you know, isn't that always what people, oh, you know, they, they don't want to pull it down themselves and admit they were wrong. So my account was hacked. So we'll see the truth of that. But it says, at least on the screenshot, I will not perform anesthesia for any surgeries or procedures for maga. It is my right, it is my ethical oath, and I stand behind my education. I own all of my businesses and I can refuse anyone. So think about what that worldview implies. That he is unwilling. And obviously this seems to not be in like an emergency room context or, you know, state funded and all of that. So there is some, you know, right to decline business on some basis of a protected class. but this isn't, this isn't denying someone because you disagree with, with the procedure. I mean, this isn't something where a doctor is asserting their right of conscience to say, I'm not going to perform, genital mutilation surgeries, I'm not going to perform abortions. Some of those things. It's saying, I disagree with you politically, so therefore I'm not going to provide you medical services. I mean, the way that we get there to that not only is through, you know, utter disdain and hatred, but it is a devaluing and dehumanization of people that disagree politically. And the way that you get there is by initially devaluing human life. And this is why the pro life issue is at the fundamental foundation of every other issue. Because once you start categorizing people and their value and worth based on either their actual gender, right, Their, the color of their skin, you know, any of these, their age, any of these immutable characteristics, or even their beliefs, whether, you know, they're Jewish or not, we see a lot of the anti semitic stuff going around right now. Then when you start dehumanizing them, it's fine to disagree with people politically, but when you dehumanize them, then you get to this point that you're willing to say, okay, we, we don't care even about life in the womb.

 : So.

Jenna Ellis: And we don't care about, you know, life of of a lot of elderly who we're going to say this is fine for physician assisted suicide, completed life bills, or, you know, we have the power of life and death in our own hands instead of trusting the Lord who numbers our days, right, Then we can get so far off into that false worldview that you get like this registered nurse who's suggesting that just because he disagrees with Maga, he's not going to perform medical services. I mean, this is dehumanization. And this is why if we have the biblical truthful perspective that all human beings are made in the image of God, have inherent dignity and worth and value, then we will love them and we will give them the same services and treatment as we would anybody else. Because we know that God loves every single human being and wants them to come into a savings knowledge of him, see the difference? And we need to be so focused on the word of God and truth that we can answer all of these from a worldview perspective. All right, as always, you can reach me and my team. Jennaafr.net. PreBorn's whole mission is to rescue babies from abortion and lead their families to Christ. Last year PreBorn's network of clinics saw 8,900 mothers come to Christ. Please join us in this life saving mission. To donate, go to preborn.com afr.