Sponsor Message and Introduction to Biblical Worldview in Governance and Life's Purpose
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Jenna Ellis 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.
Guest Host Introduction and Setting the Date for the Show
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.
Jenna Ellis This is Jenna Ellison, the morning.
Weekend Developments and the Importance of Faith, Prayer, and God's Will
Ryan Helfenbein Well, good morning. It's Monday, November 9, 2026. This is the Jenna Ellis Show. I'm your guest host, Rhyen Helenbein. Jenna is on vacation today. We have a fully packed show and there were lots of developments over the weekend and even on Friday following the Republican midterm election defeats. And I'm going to get to that here in just a moment. But first, I want to start out the week right. I hope you had a chance to stop over the weekend and reset, hopefully spending time in prayer, opening God's word, spending time in church. My family did that. that's what we do every Sunday. And this week, man, we needed it more than ever. It's always a good reminder that God's will is not accomplished just some of the time. God's will is not accomplished most of the time. God's will is accomplished all of the time.
Reflections on God's Control, Human Responsibility, and Contentment Through Faith
And, something that we need to be reminded of this morning is that God is always in control. That doesn't absolve man of our responsibility. We have a responsibility and duty before God. My pastor, Jonathan Falwell preached from Ecclesiastes chapter four on Sunday. I just want to share this with you. This is verses 4 through 6. It says this and I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person's envy of another. This too, is meaningless at, chasing after the wind. Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. Better to have one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. That passage warns us against both extremes. Exhausting ourselves through envy and ambition or throwing up our hands and doing Absolutely nothing. Nothing. We're called to be faithful with our work, and that work also is supposed to bring about contentment before the Lord, remembering that our peace and our rest ultimately comes from trusting in God, not from controlling every single outcome in life. And certainly that is not something that we can control fully when it comes to politics.
White House Staff Changes Amidst Allegations of Political and Donor Influence
We have to remember that. Now to the news. On Friday, President Trump selected Steven Miller as his new chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. Miller begins his new role today. Wiles described serving the president as the honor of a lifetime. Miller said he was honored beyond words to take the job. The president also announced that Wiles would move to his political operations. So this is a departure from the, chief of staff office, but not a complete departure from Trump's team. But the change comes amid serious questions about whether people inside the administration were advancing the president's agenda or allowing special interest and donor interest to get in the way. On Friday, the Joe Rogan podcast had hosted Cali Means, former advisor of the health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And he had alleged that Wiles and other senior officials had obstructed parts of the Maha agenda because of fundraising and industry influence. One example was, of course, Bayer, the company behind Roundup. Means alleged that the administration officials helped advance their position in a Supreme Court dispute over liability for the weed killer, despite opposition from the Maha movement. The White House, of course, disputed this characterization of how that legal position was developed. But there's also tobacco money. According to a federal campaign record, Reynolds American affiliate gave $5 million to Maha M Inc. Pacific on April 30, shortly before the administration introduced a new tobacco policy. And that timing raises many questions about the influence on HHS and the suspension of the Maha agenda. Means also alleged that companies hiring Susie Wiles daughter Katy Wiles, a partner of Continental Strategy, received preferential treatment. Here's the distinction. CBS reports that Continental Strategy's annual lobbying revenue rose from $1.8 million in 2024 to $27.3 million in 2025. Those are the firm's revenues, but that is not necessarily earnings.
Rejection of Allegations and White House Policy Accomplishments Highlighted
By Katy Wiles Continental Strategies, speaking for Wiles, rejected Means allegations and said it had never lobbied on Bayer glyphate or any of these other policies. But those are serious allegations that are coming from Means. The White House responded by pointing to what it described as a health policy accomplishment of, dietary guidelines, efforts to remove artificial ingredients from foods, and investments in regenerative farm.
President Trump's Stance on Election Losses, Immigration, and Potential Deal with Democrats
The question though, and this is my question, is will this personnel change with Steven Miller help the president deliver on commitments voters elected him to fulfill. And, of course, those. Those concerns are what's going to happen in Iran, what is the current state of US Relations with Israel, and then also, when you're considering immigration and immigration policy. In his interview with Ross Douthit that aired On Sunday on 60 Minutes, President Trump blamed the election losses partly on the Iran war and higher gasoline prices. He defended his economic record, acknowledged that his messaging might have fallen short, and he said he would be willing to work with Democrats on immigration. Let's listen to the president. Go ahead and play the clip.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) You came out after the midterms. You congratulated the Democrats. You said that you were open to working with them. True. What is one thing you would like to work with a Democratic majority on? I'd
Donald Trump love to do something on immigration.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) What?
Donald Trump Because. Well, So
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) do you think immigration hurt you in the midterms? do you think the crackdown hurt you? I think it
Donald Trump bothers, helped and hurt. I think I got an A plus for closing up the border. I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out. But I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs that created one violation or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally. Now, there is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out, and there's a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they're good people working in a landscaping company or working in a hotel or doing something. Right. And in some cases, paying taxes. And there's a large group of people think that they should be allowed to stay.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) So you think your deportation policy went too far? It was too tough.
Donald Trump I think it might be too tough, yeah. What
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) would happen? What does the deal look like with the Democrats, ultimately,
Donald Trump that hurt me. Well, the deal would be we would work something out. And I think it's something. I think that's something that's actually doable.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) Doable to create some kind of legal status, for the landscapers and the.
The Difficulties and Nuances of Immigration Policy and Potential Political Agreements
Donald Trump When you go into a hotel and you have a woman that's worked there as a, you know, as a maid, as a cleaner, as a this, as a that, as a waitress. A lot of good things, great jobs, and all of a sudden, they're being taken out of the country, it's tough. It's a tough thing. But there's a group of people that I would say on the sort of pretty far right that would like everybody taken out. Do some of those
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) do any of those people work in your administration? Are they in the building with us right now?
Donald Trump No. No. Well, there are a lot of those people. Then there's also people that are more modified on that. In other words, get the killers out, get all the rough ones out, get the drug dealers out, but let the people that are here, and in some cases here for 10 and 15 years work a deal for
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) them. You think the Democratic Party right now has people in it who would be interested in this kind of deal?
Donald Trump I think so, yeah. People have already called me.
Ryan Helfenbein Wow, there's a lot to unpack here. For a response, I want to welcome in my friend Steve Dase, host of the Steve Dase Show. Steve, your thoughts?
Steve Deace Well, we just had a midterm, Rhyen, that, was very emblematic.
Historical Midterm Election Patterns and the Consequences of Broken Political Promises
1994 and, 1990. And what you saw in those two midterms is you saw the party in power in the White House ran on fundamental things and promises and then didn't deliver them. And because of that, they got annihilated. In Those midterms in 1988, George H.W. bush ran on Read My lips, no new Taxes. I mean, I was just getting into my teenage years then. Before we knew what viral was, before there was social media everywhere, kids were saying, read my lips. I just dunked on you. Read my lips. I stole your girlfriend. It was a catchphrase. It went national, right? And two years later, President, Bush signed the largest tax increase in American, history into law. And it launched the, Trent Lott, and Vin Weber and Newt Gingrich conservative insurgency against the Republican establishment. It split the party, that you broke covenant with your own base there. I mean, if you can't trust a Bush not raise taxes, then why do we need any Bushes? You know, I mean, that's just kind of a fundamental thing. And that led to a Ross Perot, and the Clinton presidency. But Bill Clinton, in the next cycle, he ran on I'm a NewSong Democrat and Al Gore was still pro life. And we're going to get two white Southern Democrats and we're going to sister soldier Jesse Jackson and show we're not going to go far left on race relations and play games with the new gangster rap, phenomenon sweeping the country. We're not entertaining that. it's just the economy, stupid. It's not about the culture war. Then they get into office, and the first thing they do is raise taxes. They then pass a massive. At the time, Rush called it a portculous package, which was just Nothing but a payout to hard left groups at the time. And then they went to hardcore socialism via Hillary care. And in 1994, and this midterm reminds me a lot of 94, where a particular president and political brand was just devastated historically and lost in places it had not lost in for over a generation. And the losses were that deep. and that's exactly what just happened here last Tuesday.
Presidential Reinvention and the Critical Choices Facing Donald Trump Post-Midterms
Now, what happened to Bush in 1990 is even after successfully winning a war, he could not reinvent himself, and could not get out ahead of the economy, and, could never overcome that violation of promise. And he lost in 92. And so 1990 spilled over to 1992, 2006, his son, after that midterm, also could not reinvent himself. And that loss spilled over into 2008. Now, in 1994, after 1994, Bill Clinton did reinvent himself. He came out, his first major speech was the State of the Union. he opened it up that year with the era of big government is over. He, passed balanced budgets back here. The last president that did, he signed the Defense of Marriage act into law. he signed the three strikes in your outlaw, the crime bill, which was a truly great piece of bipartisan legislation, the Welfare Reform act, and he left, very popular as a president. the two Bushes did not. one's popularity was in the low 30s, the other was in the mid-20s. This is the historic choice in front of Trump right now, is he's going to have to try to reinvent himself. And because if he doesn't, here's the reality, if his approval rating is Not Rhyen at 45 or higher by this time in next July, and all the guys that were, that you and our friends are all going to argue about and split each other's spleens over about who should be the nominee. None of them should run because they're going to lose and you're going to get President aoc, and this is going to spill over into the next cycle.
Stephen Miller's Role in Trump's Base and the Centrality of Immigration Policy
Now, it's not just reinventing himself, but how he chooses to do that. And this is where the selection of Steven Miller is so key, because he's essentially the heartbeat of Trump's base. I mean, he is the OG of many of the issues that, the intellectual OG of many of the issues that brought Trump, you know, the political coalition he had and the power he's enjoyed and wielded for the last decade. So that clip on immigration there that you, that you played, I'm going to Make a little prediction to you how that plays out. It's good. You and I could sit down whether you're filling in for Jenna in two years or there at Liberty. All right, you and I sit down in two years, and we're going to go back and look at that clip and we're going to deter, and that's going to tell us whether we won in 28 or not. And here's how. Because if he's serious about making a deal that will split his base, we will not recover. It is the fundamental issue of the Republican base, is immigration, the loss of a heritage, the loss of a culture, that these are jobs.
Musical Interlude and Identification of the Program and Host
Ryan Helfenbein Yes. You had a break. Yes. This is great. Listen. You're listening to the Jenna Ellis Show. I'm Rhyen Helenbein. We'll be right back after this break.
Listener Support Appeal and Welcome Back to the Show
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Jenna Ellis welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
The Critical Test for President Trump: Affordability, Gas Prices, Iran, Israel, and Immigration
Ryan Helfenbein Welcome back to the Jenna Ellis Show. I'm Rhyen Helfenbein filling in for Jenna while she's on vacation. I just want to go back to something that Steve Dase was talking about before the break and we just ran out of time. This is a huge test for President Trump, even with his pick with Steven Miller. This is all about affordability, gas prices, Iran, Israel, and of course, immigration. And the question still remains whether or not if, if, according to the interview on 60 Minutes, with Ross Douthat just yesterday, if the president cuts a deal with Democrats, will it actually do enough to change, the president's approval rating before the next election? And many people are upset about this prospect. And I just want to clarify, the president did not say amnesty, but that is a big concern because if there is any kind of amnesty deal, this is going to be a great betrayal for conservatives and for a big part of, President Trump's base. and so we'll be watching that and even praying, that the president has wisdom on this. There can be no amnesty.
The Pervasive Issue of Political Violence and Rhetoric on the Left
one of the consistent themes that, has come up time and time again, even as we look at this election cycle is violence and violent rhetoric on the political left. And that is not something that is new we've seen that time and time again. You go back to 2017. Kathi Grifenhagen, the comedian, had a disgusting post where she held a prop of President Donald Trump's severed head. And, she was using that as a joke. She had to later apologize for that. It was completely disgusting and reckless. You go back during that time in President Trump's first term, there was a Democratic senator from the state of Missouri, Maria Chappelle Nadal, who said, I hope Trump is assassinated that same year. Maxine Waters says, I will go and take Trump out tonight. she later said she was referring to impeaching him. But this language, this kind of rhetoric, only continues on the left. In July 2024, Joe Biden told donors it's time to put Trump in the bullseye. That was after the assassination attempt, just days later, in what happened, in July of 2024. But Biden acknowledged that the wording was a mistake. But even still, it's very clear what the left is doing in January 2025. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says, we're gonna fight it legislatively, we're gonna fight it in the courts, and we're gonna fight in the streets here in my home state of Virginia. Jay Jones, our Attorney General, said in a 2022 text, he imagined putting two bullets to the head of Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert. he also later said in a text message, this was to Delegate Kerry Coiner, that he had wished harm upon Gilbert's children. Jones apologized after the remarks were made, but they were public. And guess what? He was elected in. Anyway, these, were not just anonymous accounts on the Internet. we also clearly witnessed several attempts, assassination attempts on President Trump's life course in Butler, Pennsylvania. then in September, he was targeted again, in 2024 at West Palm beach at a golf course. And then, of course, my friend Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10th of 2025, speaking at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson, of course, charged as the alleged murderer. and he's right now entering a plea of not guilty. but here's the deal. this violent rhetoric that you're seeing, being put out there by Democratic politicians is having an impact on the larger culture. And, of course, the larger culture is only fueling and flaming this, kind of response over the weekend.
Humorous and Disgusting Reactions to Political Violence and Its Worldview Roots
Dave Chappelle, had basically joked about this, and I wanna play this clip. Jennifer Welch on her podcast is also joking about this. Go ahead and roll the clip.
Dave Chappelle I feel saying this, it's scary being A public speaker. And I, I mean, look, ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered. And I, I shouldn't say this publicly, but I feel better. Dad, Moreau says we're digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again. I'm zooming into the Fox. No comment. No comment. No comment on that. other than he was shot by somebody. That was super MAGA family. He was shot by a maga person. Right. So. Right. Do that with what you will. White person, white MAGA family.
Ryan Helfenbein That's simply disgusting. And it's, it's completely inexcusable. but this is being used as humor. And we wonder why there is so much violence, in the public eye and in the streets. it is, there's no question given, the tone that you're hearing right now and all the epithets that are being used. Pastor Josh Howerton wrote something that gets to the worldview behind this. Here's what he said in a post, last year on X. He said political violence is a feature, not a bug, of progressivism. Because progressivism is built on top of a critical theory lens that sees the world through the oppressed versus oppressor categories, rather than a Christian theology lens of right versus wrong. It trains people to see opponents not as mistaken, but as evil oppressors.
The Stark Contrast Between Left and Right Worldviews and Media Portrayals
If you believe someone is mistaken, you try to persuade them that's exactly what Charlie Kirk did. If you believe someone is an evil oppressor, literally Hitler, a fascist, existential threat to democracy, virtually everything and everyone is a racist, you will feel a moral obligation to stop them. This is why there is a radically disproportionate violence emerging on the left. And let me just tell you, for my part in all of this, I was friends with Charlie Kirk. I am still friends with Erica Kirk to this day. I was able to be invited to sit with a family at the preliminary hearings, in Utah, during the Tyler Robinson trial. It is absolutely disgusting what this country has come to. when you look at the left versus the right, it could not be, more at odds with one another. And it comes down to worldview. Worldview makes the difference.
Introduction of Gen Z Commentator and Discussion on Left-Wing Violence and Media
There is no equivocation on this. There are moments in which the media wants to find, they try hard to find it, somebody that they can peg as a right wing conspirator who uses violence. And seldom does that happen. And oftentimes when they go out there with a news story, it ends up being false. Many of these are Democratic voters. We have to be honest about that. And in many Ways the media is completely dishonest. I want to welcome in a Gen Z cultural and political commentator from the Standing for Freedom Center, Grant May. Grant, welcome. What are your thoughts about all of this?
Critique of Modern Comedy and the Problem of Left-Wing Violence
Ryan Helfenbein Ryan? Thanks for having me on. You know, listening, to those, clips are obviously sickening, but I think I missed where the punchline was. you know, back in the day it seemed like comedy was funny and that there were punchlines, but, these were just morally degrading. it was humiliating to listen to. You know, Dave Chappelle just gets up there and he rants about, how he feels better that Charlie Kirk was gone. Where's the punchline in that? It's nowhere to be found. And you're spot on. There is a left wing violence problem in this country.
Hypocrisy in Political Response to Violence and Media Scrutiny
And I'm old enough to know that if for a second roles had been reversed, if a young right wing man had taken out the top rising Democrat leader, I know we would have, you know, public trial, subpoena after subpoena, going after anyone that could possibly be related to this. whereas now, what have we seen in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, there's been very little, crackdown on the trans activists, the discord servers that Tyler Robinson was, invested in. Have there been investigations into those that may have radicalized him? Because we know right away that if the right had done this to the left, it would be very clear that there would be a crackdown on the political right like we've never seen before.
Ryan Helfenbein Absolutely. I wanna remind everyone Too that in 2022, Charlie actually put a post out there, this was on X, where he basically defended Dave Chappelle and his right to free speech. He was very critical of Joe Biden. he was confronted, there was an attack on stage and Charlie was, very vehement, that the person that attacked Chappelle should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Instead it was a misdemeanor. Dave Chappelle seems to have forgotten that moment. Charlie defended him and Chappelle basically says that he's relieved that he's dead. This is disgusting. it shows that there's a cowardice, and it shows that there is an inordinate focus on the right when in fact so much of this is being promoted on the left. Grant, as a Gen Z, generational leader, you're looking at all of these things. you're the youngest generation.
Gen Z's Perspective on Political Strategy and the Desire to Win
how are they processing this?
Ryan Helfenbein You know, young people are looking for an answer. And unfortunately I think they're looking to the side that is most dedicated to winning. You look at the left, they, they have no qualms with using power and utilizing it to their advantage. And a lot of people are attracted to that. They want to be winners. and if they see the right and the right looks weak, they don't enjoy that projection. They don't enjoy the Mitt Romney party, the party of Jon McCain. they want to win. So they're looking for the side that will help them win.
The Need for a Christian Worldview and Strong Leadership on the Right
we need to win with a Christian worldview. the right needs to step up and provide answers to so many of these existential problems they're facing. But like, look, Steven Miller at Charlie's memorial, he provided a clear template. He laid out the two sides. There was the left and the right. And to the left he said, you are nothing, you can produce nothing. You are envy, you are jealousy, you are hatred. And that's, that's ultimately what you see metastasizing on the political left. It's where it's one side that will mock a man being killed just for wanting to have a conversation with college students about ideas. and so the right needs to step up, they need to bring these prosecutions against people who may have encouraged or been an accessory to Tyler Robinson, after Tyler Robinson is hopefully convicted.
The Role of Socialist Agitators and the Need for Proactive Political Action
but at the end of the day the right needs to step up and play like, you know, we're not playing with house money because we aren't.
Ryan Helfenbein You know. I'm reminded of, you know, the fact that this is continuing to be fomented. Democratic Socialists of America. You have the likes of basically a bourgeoisie commentator. He is not down with the people. Hasan Piker, is a multimillionaire. He makes millions of dollars fomenting this kind of division and hatred. He promotes a socialist agenda. He certainly doesn't live by it. but he basically wants to have a smash mouth fight with conservatives, basically antagonizing his base to go after conservatives. he wants to use lawfare. He's encouraging politicians, especially when you think about the midterm elections and the wins that the Democrats have racked up. He's encouraging to go max on all of this. so there is a fight.
Gen Z Voter Behavior, Trump's Agenda, and the Importance of Aggressive Policy
And I think it's interesting, there is a characteristic of Gen Z and I think a lot of the older generation is not quite understanding Gen Z. There's not as much loyalty when it comes to Gen Z voters. They were probably the biggest swing, in this midterm election, there's, there's basically indicators from exit polling that many of them voted for Donald Trump in 2024, I think with an expectation that he was going to be aggressive when it came to a lot of the things you just named. And, there was a stall in that agenda. After the first 100 days, it seemed like the Trump, that the Trump administration got a lot of, a lot done mainly by executive authority. when you think about anti Christian bias in the government, you think about the jailing of 80 year old women praying on the sidewalk outside of an abortion clinic, pro life advocates being arrested. there were many things that were going on and of course the reversal of the transgender policy, in government, President Trump was cooking. I mean, he was running on all eight cylinders. and then there was a lull afterwards. What's your take on that? And how is the youngest generation viewing that?
Ryan Helfenbein Yeah, I mean, you're spot on. The left is playing for keeps and at times it feels like the right is just trying to revert back to 20 years ago and saying, hey, guys, can't we all be friends? Well, the more powerful side is going to win. and so at the end of the day, Steven Miller's appointment is huge for, ah, Gen Z Men. You're spot on. Gen Z Men specifically, specifically Gen Z white men swung left in the biggest swing, of any group during this midterm election. And part of the reason for that, I think, is they feel somewhat betrayed. they thought that, there were campaign promises that may have been broken. Even though his first 100 days were phenomenal, there's a focus, whether that be on the ballroom or whether that be on different parts of cementing, Donald Trump's personal legacy that he feels he, can neglect. the policy aspect,
Ryan Helenbein making America great again.
Ryan Helfenbein Great Grant. Thank you so much. You're listening to Jen and Ellis Show. I'm Rhyen Helfenbein. We'll be right back after this break.
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Jenna Ellis welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Reiteration of Disgust Regarding Political Violence and Rhetoric from the Left
Ryan Helfenbein Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning. I'm Rhyen Health and Vine, filling in for Jenna while she's on vacation. we just heard about political violence on the left. It's in their rhetoric, it's in their jokes. It's simply disgusting.
The Growing Appeal of Socialism and Its Favorable View Among Younger Voters
I want to give thanks so much to Grant May for jumping on, true credit to Liberty University, of course, the standing for Freedom Center. But let's talk about socialism. Okay? There's an appeal of socialism and that continues to grow. When you think about all of the races that were lost, many of the seats in the Senate, pretty much all of the toss up, seats, politics, plus several additional won by Democrats. And you think about what happened in Michigan with Abdul Said. You think about James Tallarico in Texas. It's unconscionable. Many of them, were running on a socialist agenda. And, when the exit polling went through, in this last election, according to a cnbc survey, roughly 80,000 voters in the election last week, 33% viewed socialism favorably compared to 53% who viewed it unfavorably.
Critique of Socialist Promises Versus Economic Realities and Government Spending
But according to an NBC exit poll, among younger voters under 30, 47% were for socialism compared to 37% for capitalism. That should get all of our attention. How do we answer the appeal of politicians promising that government will make everything affordable when at the same time they're continuing to inflate the dollar? Do deficit spending never have a balanced budget? Continuing to raise taxes? It's simply ridiculous. I mean, these are basic questions. Who pays? Who produces? Who ultimately decides, in the grand scheme of things? And what happens when people expect everything to be given to them? Who foots the bill? It's not the government. It's the taxpayer. It's we the people.
The Crisis of Civic and Financial Literacy Among American Adults and Young People
It comes from all of us. And this is a problem in politics because the general electorate doesn't actually have basic civic Knowledge, financial literacy. when you, when you think about the graduation rates, in most public and even private schools in the country, most do not achieve basic proficiency when it comes to reading and writing, when it comes to civics, and even when it comes to math, let alone having a basic knowledge of economics. there was a survey recently that found that 35% of American adults could not name all three branches of government. Only 9% could name all five freedoms protected by the First Amendment.
Socialist Mayor's Unfulfilled Promises and the Challenges of Governing New York City
24% could not name a single one. on a 2024 nations report card, just 35% of high school seniors reached the assessment's proficient level in reading, and only 22% reached it in mathematics. You think about all of this. What does this spell out? It spells out disaster when it comes to the electorate, of course. In NewSong York City, they elected a socialist as the mayor in Zoram Mamdani, the first, in a major way, public official to be sworn in on the Koran. yesterday Mamdani sat down with Shannon Bream on Fox News, and she pressed him about his campaign promises. And many of them, surprisingly, have not come to fruition. Go ahead and play the clip. You talk about action
Shannon Bream and, Democrats, just like Republicans, it's easy to make promises when you're campaigning. number that you are still working on have not come to fruition. $30 an hour for minimum wage, free buses for everybody. That's the one that everyone, When I said I was going to talk to you, they like, ask him about my free bus. arresting Bibi Netanyahu, disbanding parts of the nypd. Those things haven't happened. So do you run up against the reality of actually governing a city like this? What's your caution to Democrats who now head to Capitol
Shannon Bream Hill with some pretty sweeping promises? Well,
Fulfilling Campaign Promises Amidst Governing Realities and Delivering Services
Zohran Mamdani I would say is now is the time to fulfill those promises, because in the same 10 months that we've. Not easy
Shannon Bream to do, as you found out,
Zohran Mamdani it's difficult, but that doesn't mean you shirk away from it. And in these same 10 months, what we have done is deliver on universal childcare. We have done. So
Shannon Bream wait a minute. For 2K, but not infant to 5. That's a huge promise. We've
Zohran Mamdani done 5, we've done 4, we've done 3. And now we're doing 2 for the first time
Shannon Bream in part. There are slots.
Zohran Mamdani There's two. I mean, that's moving. But after getting $1.2 billion next year, it's 12,000. And the governor has said herself, we're going to expand this program. And that to me is you have 10 months in a four year term. You got to move as quick as the city does. And when you get $1.2 billion on your eighth day in office, you use that to actually make what was $20,000 a year into something that's now free for thousands of NewSong Yorkers. And you do these things while also doing the basics. You pave 220,000 potholes in this city, you deliver the largest labor enforcement action in NewSong York City history, $130 million from DoorDash back to 260,000 NewSong Yorkers. And then you keep working on everything else. Because a promise isn't something to intimidate you. A ah, promise is something that you should meet. Some promises you do day one, some of them day three, six, five, some of them year three, you keep going.
The Disconnect Between Socialist Campaign Promises and Governing Realities
Ryan Helfenbein Making promises on a campaign trail when it comes to socialism is one thing, but finding the money, securing the authority and dealing with the consequences and fallout is entirely another. Margaret Thatcher famously said that when socialists run government, they always run out of other people's money. Joining me now is pastor David Mitchell of Meadows Baptist church. He's the founder and president of tradeway co, founder and president of excess exos aerospace, and owner of E G Hall oil company in Texas. Pastor David, welcome and give me your thoughts.
Biblical Principles of Economics and Finance Versus Modern Socialist Ideologies
David Mitchell Well, good morning. Thank you for having me on today.
Ryan Helfenbein Good morning. Well,
David Mitchell you know, you know, I would sort of echo what Mike Huckabee said, you know, about the lack of support for Israel. He says it's due to biblical illiteracy. And that's the same thing. That's true. You know, when you want to deal with economics, a lot of people don't realize if you look at all of the great colleges on the east coast, Harvard, Yale, William and Mary Brown, you could just, you could go on and on. They were all founded as preacher schools, but they didn't just educate ministers, they also taught medicine. They also taught economics in those economics books. The earliest textbooks had principles from the Bible for economics and finance. And I traveled across America and taught thousands of people how to trade in the stock market. And one thing I'll always ask with a new crowd, and usually it's Christian people, that's who we market to. I'll ask them what's the oldest book in the world that contains economic, authoritative economic and financial principles. And they, oddly they don't get the answer usually, but the answer is the Bible. And so what people need to understand, and I've taught this to our people for many, many years, is that I believe Bible methodology is just as important as Bible doctrine. And that, and by that I mean this. If God tells us how to do something and we choose to do it our own way rather than his way, there's no guarantee we're going to, in fact, we're probably going to fail. you could use, the Ark of the Covenant as an example where God said they were supposed to carry it on staves and they decided to put it on a cart and people died because of that.
The Failure of Socialism and the Dumbing Down of Economic Education
And that's just an example. But when you look at what God teaches about economics and finance and the family business and wealth creation, all those things that are taught in the Bible and we decide to go against it, there's no guarantee we're going to succeed. In fact, we're going to fail. And the Bible nowhere teaches communism or socialism. and it everywhere teaches all the components of capitalism, such as free markets, supply and demand, risk, return, trade off is in the Bible. Asset diversification is in the Bible. Buying at wholesale, marking up, selling at retail and bringing the profits home to your family, all of that's in the Bible. And people don't realize that because preachers don't preach about it on Sunday morning. Neither do I on Sunday morning. But, but there are other times we should talk about it. And so now we have our nation so under educated on scripture and let alone do, they know anything about economics, really most people who vote don't know anything about economics. And so when you, when you go towards socialism, all you do is you get higher and higher prices. Every nation that's tried it is proof of that. And yet somehow our great universities have dumbed down all of our young people and not taught them the truth about all these things. So that's where we are now.
The Consequences of a Lack of Knowledge and the Biblical View on Economics
We're going to reap what we've sown for 60, 65 years of teaching our young people the wrong things.
Ryan Helfenbein 100% right, Pastor. And I think about, I was an economics major, that was my undergrad, and then I did a Master's of divinity, in theology. And one of the things that I can tell you is from all of my research, in fact, if you look at all the real life applications, you think about the parables of Jesus, you think about even what the Apostle Paul said, that those who do not work, this was to Thessalonica, the Church of Thessalonica. If you don't work, you shall not eat one of those early in the early American settlements, this is after the pilgrims actually tried a form of socialism where they shared everything in common. They almost starved to death and all died, wiping out their entire, colony. it's interesting how the Bible continues to talk about our responsibility, human responsibility. If you don't provide for your family, you're worse than an unbeliever. You look at the Ten Commandments, you shall not steal. don't covet or have envy, over what is your neighbors that doesn't belong to you. I mean, literally, socialism, communism. By the way, according to Karl Marx, socialism was the first phase of communism. And so I think it's really. Yes. And so it's basically, a trajectory.
The Slippery Slope of Socialism and Its Failure in Other Nations
It's a slippery slope. And this is the direction we're headed. Other nations that have tried this, every nation that has tried this, has failed in the process. So what are you doing to educate? I mean, you talk about educating investors all across the country, Christian families, to understand this better.
David Mitchell Well, you know, after the election on Tuesdays, my sermon yesterday was pretty grim. It was, you know, out of Hosea, chapter, four, and a little bit out of chapter five, which God has, you know, written the Bible in such a way that it, applies to every generation. And you look at that, it's like you're looking at America. It talked about how they're going to be destroyed for lack of knowledge, and it blamed the priests, you know, and the people. And it was a very somber day yesterday for me. But when I look, I'm going to give you an example in the book of Acts, chapter four, where the, the apostles were told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. And they said, well, you tell me, what should we do? Obey God or obey you? That was an amazing answer. And they went on the next day and just preached Jesus on the streets again. Right. Well, they began to be threatened and persecuted for this. And all this is one of the passages that people try to use to teach that the Bible teaches communism, which is in Acts, chapter 4, verses 32 through 35, where it says they shared all things, all their possessions. But what they don't tell you is it says that what they did was they sold their possessions, their land and so forth, and brought money to help those who were in need. And when you're under communism, no one owns any land. You don't own anything. I was in Switzerland just a couple of three years ago and talked with a man who lived there. He said, you know, we don't own Anything. The government and the, the banks own everything. And that's a socialist country.
Reagan's Warning About Socialism and the Importance of Parental Education
All of Europe is gone now because of that. President Obama wanted America to be more like Europe. I guess he's never been to Europe, but, but you don't want that. So, Ronald Reagan gave a speech years ago in the little town where our ranch is, close to Mehea, Texas. He gave a speech there. My parents heard it. And he said, if you don't teach your children how terrible socialism and communism is, you will put them in a thousand years of darkness. Now that, that's pretty sombering. So what the people did there was they, you know, they were involved with capitalism. They were buying and selling and making money, and they owned land and so forth, so they actually had money to give the poor.
Financial Leverage as a Biblical Method for Wealth Creation Through Stock Markets
But nowhere in that passage is the government making them do it. They were doing it from their hearts because the Lord was leading them to do it. And that's, that's the right way to do it. So at Tradeway, we have this thing called the Unlock the Stock Market Challenge. In fact, it's starting today. We do it every couple of weeks or so. There's one starting today, just, about 10:00, clock central time. You can still get involved with it, but what we teach people is how to go into the stock market and the options market and gain what we call financial leverage. Now, if we had time on another show, I could talk to you about that, because the Bible teaches that that is the one method that God put in the universe for wealth creation. It's called financial leverage. You find it in the parable of the talents. But what you have to do is earn off the efforts of others. So we teach people to earn off the efforts of the smartest people about money in the world. And that's the Wallnua street people. How to earn off their mind, their brains, their money, the things they've invented, and how to help your family with that knowledge. And so most people think you got to be rocket scientists, but it's not true. It's just skill sets. You're. We teach you how to get the probability math on your side. That's what we do.
Stock Market Education Programs and Expert Financial Guidance
That's what it takes to do it. So thank you. We've got, you know, you can get involved for like 97 bucks. And it's a five day, five and a half day program. You got homework, you do. There's a full money back guarantee.
Ryan Helfenbein Pastor David, thank you so much. We are out of time. folks, you're listening to Jenna Ellis in the morning. Thank you so much to all our guests today.
Sign-off and Preview of the Next Broadcast
We'll see you back tomorrow on JENNA Ellis in the morning.
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Sponsor Message and Introduction to Biblical Worldview in Governance and Life's Purpose
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Jenna Ellis 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.
Guest Host Introduction and Setting the Date for the Show
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.
Jenna Ellis This is Jenna Ellison, the morning.
Weekend Developments and the Importance of Faith, Prayer, and God's Will
Ryan Helfenbein Well, good morning. It's Monday, November 9, 2026. This is the Jenna Ellis Show. I'm your guest host, Rhyen Helenbein. Jenna is on vacation today. We have a fully packed show and there were lots of developments over the weekend and even on Friday following the Republican midterm election defeats. And I'm going to get to that here in just a moment. But first, I want to start out the week right. I hope you had a chance to stop over the weekend and reset, hopefully spending time in prayer, opening God's word, spending time in church. My family did that. that's what we do every Sunday. And this week, man, we needed it more than ever. It's always a good reminder that God's will is not accomplished just some of the time. God's will is not accomplished most of the time. God's will is accomplished all of the time.
Reflections on God's Control, Human Responsibility, and Contentment Through Faith
And, something that we need to be reminded of this morning is that God is always in control. That doesn't absolve man of our responsibility. We have a responsibility and duty before God. My pastor, Jonathan Falwell preached from Ecclesiastes chapter four on Sunday. I just want to share this with you. This is verses 4 through 6. It says this and I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person's envy of another. This too, is meaningless at, chasing after the wind. Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. Better to have one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. That passage warns us against both extremes. Exhausting ourselves through envy and ambition or throwing up our hands and doing Absolutely nothing. Nothing. We're called to be faithful with our work, and that work also is supposed to bring about contentment before the Lord, remembering that our peace and our rest ultimately comes from trusting in God, not from controlling every single outcome in life. And certainly that is not something that we can control fully when it comes to politics.
White House Staff Changes Amidst Allegations of Political and Donor Influence
We have to remember that. Now to the news. On Friday, President Trump selected Steven Miller as his new chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. Miller begins his new role today. Wiles described serving the president as the honor of a lifetime. Miller said he was honored beyond words to take the job. The president also announced that Wiles would move to his political operations. So this is a departure from the, chief of staff office, but not a complete departure from Trump's team. But the change comes amid serious questions about whether people inside the administration were advancing the president's agenda or allowing special interest and donor interest to get in the way. On Friday, the Joe Rogan podcast had hosted Cali Means, former advisor of the health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And he had alleged that Wiles and other senior officials had obstructed parts of the Maha agenda because of fundraising and industry influence. One example was, of course, Bayer, the company behind Roundup. Means alleged that the administration officials helped advance their position in a Supreme Court dispute over liability for the weed killer, despite opposition from the Maha movement. The White House, of course, disputed this characterization of how that legal position was developed. But there's also tobacco money. According to a federal campaign record, Reynolds American affiliate gave $5 million to Maha M Inc. Pacific on April 30, shortly before the administration introduced a new tobacco policy. And that timing raises many questions about the influence on HHS and the suspension of the Maha agenda. Means also alleged that companies hiring Susie Wiles daughter Katy Wiles, a partner of Continental Strategy, received preferential treatment. Here's the distinction. CBS reports that Continental Strategy's annual lobbying revenue rose from $1.8 million in 2024 to $27.3 million in 2025. Those are the firm's revenues, but that is not necessarily earnings.
Rejection of Allegations and White House Policy Accomplishments Highlighted
By Katy Wiles Continental Strategies, speaking for Wiles, rejected Means allegations and said it had never lobbied on Bayer glyphate or any of these other policies. But those are serious allegations that are coming from Means. The White House responded by pointing to what it described as a health policy accomplishment of, dietary guidelines, efforts to remove artificial ingredients from foods, and investments in regenerative farm.
President Trump's Stance on Election Losses, Immigration, and Potential Deal with Democrats
The question though, and this is my question, is will this personnel change with Steven Miller help the president deliver on commitments voters elected him to fulfill. And, of course, those. Those concerns are what's going to happen in Iran, what is the current state of US Relations with Israel, and then also, when you're considering immigration and immigration policy. In his interview with Ross Douthit that aired On Sunday on 60 Minutes, President Trump blamed the election losses partly on the Iran war and higher gasoline prices. He defended his economic record, acknowledged that his messaging might have fallen short, and he said he would be willing to work with Democrats on immigration. Let's listen to the president. Go ahead and play the clip.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) You came out after the midterms. You congratulated the Democrats. You said that you were open to working with them. True. What is one thing you would like to work with a Democratic majority on? I'd
Donald Trump love to do something on immigration.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) What?
Donald Trump Because. Well, So
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) do you think immigration hurt you in the midterms? do you think the crackdown hurt you? I think it
Donald Trump bothers, helped and hurt. I think I got an A plus for closing up the border. I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out. But I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs that created one violation or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally. Now, there is a large part of the country that think that they should be put out, and there's a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they're good people working in a landscaping company or working in a hotel or doing something. Right. And in some cases, paying taxes. And there's a large group of people think that they should be allowed to stay.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) So you think your deportation policy went too far? It was too tough.
Donald Trump I think it might be too tough, yeah. What
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) would happen? What does the deal look like with the Democrats, ultimately,
Donald Trump that hurt me. Well, the deal would be we would work something out. And I think it's something. I think that's something that's actually doable.
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) Doable to create some kind of legal status, for the landscapers and the.
The Difficulties and Nuances of Immigration Policy and Potential Political Agreements
Donald Trump When you go into a hotel and you have a woman that's worked there as a, you know, as a maid, as a cleaner, as a this, as a that, as a waitress. A lot of good things, great jobs, and all of a sudden, they're being taken out of the country, it's tough. It's a tough thing. But there's a group of people that I would say on the sort of pretty far right that would like everybody taken out. Do some of those
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) do any of those people work in your administration? Are they in the building with us right now?
Donald Trump No. No. Well, there are a lot of those people. Then there's also people that are more modified on that. In other words, get the killers out, get all the rough ones out, get the drug dealers out, but let the people that are here, and in some cases here for 10 and 15 years work a deal for
60 Minutes interviewer (unidentified) them. You think the Democratic Party right now has people in it who would be interested in this kind of deal?
Donald Trump I think so, yeah. People have already called me.
Ryan Helfenbein Wow, there's a lot to unpack here. For a response, I want to welcome in my friend Steve Dase, host of the Steve Dase Show. Steve, your thoughts?
Steve Deace Well, we just had a midterm, Rhyen, that, was very emblematic.
Historical Midterm Election Patterns and the Consequences of Broken Political Promises
1994 and, 1990. And what you saw in those two midterms is you saw the party in power in the White House ran on fundamental things and promises and then didn't deliver them. And because of that, they got annihilated. In Those midterms in 1988, George H.W. bush ran on Read My lips, no new Taxes. I mean, I was just getting into my teenage years then. Before we knew what viral was, before there was social media everywhere, kids were saying, read my lips. I just dunked on you. Read my lips. I stole your girlfriend. It was a catchphrase. It went national, right? And two years later, President, Bush signed the largest tax increase in American, history into law. And it launched the, Trent Lott, and Vin Weber and Newt Gingrich conservative insurgency against the Republican establishment. It split the party, that you broke covenant with your own base there. I mean, if you can't trust a Bush not raise taxes, then why do we need any Bushes? You know, I mean, that's just kind of a fundamental thing. And that led to a Ross Perot, and the Clinton presidency. But Bill Clinton, in the next cycle, he ran on I'm a NewSong Democrat and Al Gore was still pro life. And we're going to get two white Southern Democrats and we're going to sister soldier Jesse Jackson and show we're not going to go far left on race relations and play games with the new gangster rap, phenomenon sweeping the country. We're not entertaining that. it's just the economy, stupid. It's not about the culture war. Then they get into office, and the first thing they do is raise taxes. They then pass a massive. At the time, Rush called it a portculous package, which was just Nothing but a payout to hard left groups at the time. And then they went to hardcore socialism via Hillary care. And in 1994, and this midterm reminds me a lot of 94, where a particular president and political brand was just devastated historically and lost in places it had not lost in for over a generation. And the losses were that deep. and that's exactly what just happened here last Tuesday.
Presidential Reinvention and the Critical Choices Facing Donald Trump Post-Midterms
Now, what happened to Bush in 1990 is even after successfully winning a war, he could not reinvent himself, and could not get out ahead of the economy, and, could never overcome that violation of promise. And he lost in 92. And so 1990 spilled over to 1992, 2006, his son, after that midterm, also could not reinvent himself. And that loss spilled over into 2008. Now, in 1994, after 1994, Bill Clinton did reinvent himself. He came out, his first major speech was the State of the Union. he opened it up that year with the era of big government is over. He, passed balanced budgets back here. The last president that did, he signed the Defense of Marriage act into law. he signed the three strikes in your outlaw, the crime bill, which was a truly great piece of bipartisan legislation, the Welfare Reform act, and he left, very popular as a president. the two Bushes did not. one's popularity was in the low 30s, the other was in the mid-20s. This is the historic choice in front of Trump right now, is he's going to have to try to reinvent himself. And because if he doesn't, here's the reality, if his approval rating is Not Rhyen at 45 or higher by this time in next July, and all the guys that were, that you and our friends are all going to argue about and split each other's spleens over about who should be the nominee. None of them should run because they're going to lose and you're going to get President aoc, and this is going to spill over into the next cycle.
Stephen Miller's Role in Trump's Base and the Centrality of Immigration Policy
Now, it's not just reinventing himself, but how he chooses to do that. And this is where the selection of Steven Miller is so key, because he's essentially the heartbeat of Trump's base. I mean, he is the OG of many of the issues that, the intellectual OG of many of the issues that brought Trump, you know, the political coalition he had and the power he's enjoyed and wielded for the last decade. So that clip on immigration there that you, that you played, I'm going to Make a little prediction to you how that plays out. It's good. You and I could sit down whether you're filling in for Jenna in two years or there at Liberty. All right, you and I sit down in two years, and we're going to go back and look at that clip and we're going to deter, and that's going to tell us whether we won in 28 or not. And here's how. Because if he's serious about making a deal that will split his base, we will not recover. It is the fundamental issue of the Republican base, is immigration, the loss of a heritage, the loss of a culture, that these are jobs.
Musical Interlude and Identification of the Program and Host
Ryan Helfenbein Yes. You had a break. Yes. This is great. Listen. You're listening to the Jenna Ellis Show. I'm Rhyen Helenbein. We'll be right back after this break.
Listener Support Appeal and Welcome Back to the Show
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Jenna Ellis welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
The Critical Test for President Trump: Affordability, Gas Prices, Iran, Israel, and Immigration
Ryan Helfenbein Welcome back to the Jenna Ellis Show. I'm Rhyen Helfenbein filling in for Jenna while she's on vacation. I just want to go back to something that Steve Dase was talking about before the break and we just ran out of time. This is a huge test for President Trump, even with his pick with Steven Miller. This is all about affordability, gas prices, Iran, Israel, and of course, immigration. And the question still remains whether or not if, if, according to the interview on 60 Minutes, with Ross Douthat just yesterday, if the president cuts a deal with Democrats, will it actually do enough to change, the president's approval rating before the next election? And many people are upset about this prospect. And I just want to clarify, the president did not say amnesty, but that is a big concern because if there is any kind of amnesty deal, this is going to be a great betrayal for conservatives and for a big part of, President Trump's base. and so we'll be watching that and even praying, that the president has wisdom on this. There can be no amnesty.
The Pervasive Issue of Political Violence and Rhetoric on the Left
one of the consistent themes that, has come up time and time again, even as we look at this election cycle is violence and violent rhetoric on the political left. And that is not something that is new we've seen that time and time again. You go back to 2017. Kathi Grifenhagen, the comedian, had a disgusting post where she held a prop of President Donald Trump's severed head. And, she was using that as a joke. She had to later apologize for that. It was completely disgusting and reckless. You go back during that time in President Trump's first term, there was a Democratic senator from the state of Missouri, Maria Chappelle Nadal, who said, I hope Trump is assassinated that same year. Maxine Waters says, I will go and take Trump out tonight. she later said she was referring to impeaching him. But this language, this kind of rhetoric, only continues on the left. In July 2024, Joe Biden told donors it's time to put Trump in the bullseye. That was after the assassination attempt, just days later, in what happened, in July of 2024. But Biden acknowledged that the wording was a mistake. But even still, it's very clear what the left is doing in January 2025. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says, we're gonna fight it legislatively, we're gonna fight it in the courts, and we're gonna fight in the streets here in my home state of Virginia. Jay Jones, our Attorney General, said in a 2022 text, he imagined putting two bullets to the head of Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert. he also later said in a text message, this was to Delegate Kerry Coiner, that he had wished harm upon Gilbert's children. Jones apologized after the remarks were made, but they were public. And guess what? He was elected in. Anyway, these, were not just anonymous accounts on the Internet. we also clearly witnessed several attempts, assassination attempts on President Trump's life course in Butler, Pennsylvania. then in September, he was targeted again, in 2024 at West Palm beach at a golf course. And then, of course, my friend Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10th of 2025, speaking at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson, of course, charged as the alleged murderer. and he's right now entering a plea of not guilty. but here's the deal. this violent rhetoric that you're seeing, being put out there by Democratic politicians is having an impact on the larger culture. And, of course, the larger culture is only fueling and flaming this, kind of response over the weekend.
Humorous and Disgusting Reactions to Political Violence and Its Worldview Roots
Dave Chappelle, had basically joked about this, and I wanna play this clip. Jennifer Welch on her podcast is also joking about this. Go ahead and roll the clip.
Dave Chappelle I feel saying this, it's scary being A public speaker. And I, I mean, look, ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered. And I, I shouldn't say this publicly, but I feel better. Dad, Moreau says we're digging up Charlie Kirk and doing it again. I'm zooming into the Fox. No comment. No comment. No comment on that. other than he was shot by somebody. That was super MAGA family. He was shot by a maga person. Right. So. Right. Do that with what you will. White person, white MAGA family.
Ryan Helfenbein That's simply disgusting. And it's, it's completely inexcusable. but this is being used as humor. And we wonder why there is so much violence, in the public eye and in the streets. it is, there's no question given, the tone that you're hearing right now and all the epithets that are being used. Pastor Josh Howerton wrote something that gets to the worldview behind this. Here's what he said in a post, last year on X. He said political violence is a feature, not a bug, of progressivism. Because progressivism is built on top of a critical theory lens that sees the world through the oppressed versus oppressor categories, rather than a Christian theology lens of right versus wrong. It trains people to see opponents not as mistaken, but as evil oppressors.
The Stark Contrast Between Left and Right Worldviews and Media Portrayals
If you believe someone is mistaken, you try to persuade them that's exactly what Charlie Kirk did. If you believe someone is an evil oppressor, literally Hitler, a fascist, existential threat to democracy, virtually everything and everyone is a racist, you will feel a moral obligation to stop them. This is why there is a radically disproportionate violence emerging on the left. And let me just tell you, for my part in all of this, I was friends with Charlie Kirk. I am still friends with Erica Kirk to this day. I was able to be invited to sit with a family at the preliminary hearings, in Utah, during the Tyler Robinson trial. It is absolutely disgusting what this country has come to. when you look at the left versus the right, it could not be, more at odds with one another. And it comes down to worldview. Worldview makes the difference.
Introduction of Gen Z Commentator and Discussion on Left-Wing Violence and Media
There is no equivocation on this. There are moments in which the media wants to find, they try hard to find it, somebody that they can peg as a right wing conspirator who uses violence. And seldom does that happen. And oftentimes when they go out there with a news story, it ends up being false. Many of these are Democratic voters. We have to be honest about that. And in many Ways the media is completely dishonest. I want to welcome in a Gen Z cultural and political commentator from the Standing for Freedom Center, Grant May. Grant, welcome. What are your thoughts about all of this?
Critique of Modern Comedy and the Problem of Left-Wing Violence
Ryan Helfenbein Ryan? Thanks for having me on. You know, listening, to those, clips are obviously sickening, but I think I missed where the punchline was. you know, back in the day it seemed like comedy was funny and that there were punchlines, but, these were just morally degrading. it was humiliating to listen to. You know, Dave Chappelle just gets up there and he rants about, how he feels better that Charlie Kirk was gone. Where's the punchline in that? It's nowhere to be found. And you're spot on. There is a left wing violence problem in this country.
Hypocrisy in Political Response to Violence and Media Scrutiny
And I'm old enough to know that if for a second roles had been reversed, if a young right wing man had taken out the top rising Democrat leader, I know we would have, you know, public trial, subpoena after subpoena, going after anyone that could possibly be related to this. whereas now, what have we seen in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, there's been very little, crackdown on the trans activists, the discord servers that Tyler Robinson was, invested in. Have there been investigations into those that may have radicalized him? Because we know right away that if the right had done this to the left, it would be very clear that there would be a crackdown on the political right like we've never seen before.
Ryan Helfenbein Absolutely. I wanna remind everyone Too that in 2022, Charlie actually put a post out there, this was on X, where he basically defended Dave Chappelle and his right to free speech. He was very critical of Joe Biden. he was confronted, there was an attack on stage and Charlie was, very vehement, that the person that attacked Chappelle should have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Instead it was a misdemeanor. Dave Chappelle seems to have forgotten that moment. Charlie defended him and Chappelle basically says that he's relieved that he's dead. This is disgusting. it shows that there's a cowardice, and it shows that there is an inordinate focus on the right when in fact so much of this is being promoted on the left. Grant, as a Gen Z, generational leader, you're looking at all of these things. you're the youngest generation.
Gen Z's Perspective on Political Strategy and the Desire to Win
how are they processing this?
Ryan Helfenbein You know, young people are looking for an answer. And unfortunately I think they're looking to the side that is most dedicated to winning. You look at the left, they, they have no qualms with using power and utilizing it to their advantage. And a lot of people are attracted to that. They want to be winners. and if they see the right and the right looks weak, they don't enjoy that projection. They don't enjoy the Mitt Romney party, the party of Jon McCain. they want to win. So they're looking for the side that will help them win.
The Need for a Christian Worldview and Strong Leadership on the Right
we need to win with a Christian worldview. the right needs to step up and provide answers to so many of these existential problems they're facing. But like, look, Steven Miller at Charlie's memorial, he provided a clear template. He laid out the two sides. There was the left and the right. And to the left he said, you are nothing, you can produce nothing. You are envy, you are jealousy, you are hatred. And that's, that's ultimately what you see metastasizing on the political left. It's where it's one side that will mock a man being killed just for wanting to have a conversation with college students about ideas. and so the right needs to step up, they need to bring these prosecutions against people who may have encouraged or been an accessory to Tyler Robinson, after Tyler Robinson is hopefully convicted.
The Role of Socialist Agitators and the Need for Proactive Political Action
but at the end of the day the right needs to step up and play like, you know, we're not playing with house money because we aren't.
Ryan Helfenbein You know. I'm reminded of, you know, the fact that this is continuing to be fomented. Democratic Socialists of America. You have the likes of basically a bourgeoisie commentator. He is not down with the people. Hasan Piker, is a multimillionaire. He makes millions of dollars fomenting this kind of division and hatred. He promotes a socialist agenda. He certainly doesn't live by it. but he basically wants to have a smash mouth fight with conservatives, basically antagonizing his base to go after conservatives. he wants to use lawfare. He's encouraging politicians, especially when you think about the midterm elections and the wins that the Democrats have racked up. He's encouraging to go max on all of this. so there is a fight.
Gen Z Voter Behavior, Trump's Agenda, and the Importance of Aggressive Policy
And I think it's interesting, there is a characteristic of Gen Z and I think a lot of the older generation is not quite understanding Gen Z. There's not as much loyalty when it comes to Gen Z voters. They were probably the biggest swing, in this midterm election, there's, there's basically indicators from exit polling that many of them voted for Donald Trump in 2024, I think with an expectation that he was going to be aggressive when it came to a lot of the things you just named. And, there was a stall in that agenda. After the first 100 days, it seemed like the Trump, that the Trump administration got a lot of, a lot done mainly by executive authority. when you think about anti Christian bias in the government, you think about the jailing of 80 year old women praying on the sidewalk outside of an abortion clinic, pro life advocates being arrested. there were many things that were going on and of course the reversal of the transgender policy, in government, President Trump was cooking. I mean, he was running on all eight cylinders. and then there was a lull afterwards. What's your take on that? And how is the youngest generation viewing that?
Ryan Helfenbein Yeah, I mean, you're spot on. The left is playing for keeps and at times it feels like the right is just trying to revert back to 20 years ago and saying, hey, guys, can't we all be friends? Well, the more powerful side is going to win. and so at the end of the day, Steven Miller's appointment is huge for, ah, Gen Z Men. You're spot on. Gen Z Men specifically, specifically Gen Z white men swung left in the biggest swing, of any group during this midterm election. And part of the reason for that, I think, is they feel somewhat betrayed. they thought that, there were campaign promises that may have been broken. Even though his first 100 days were phenomenal, there's a focus, whether that be on the ballroom or whether that be on different parts of cementing, Donald Trump's personal legacy that he feels he, can neglect. the policy aspect,
Ryan Helenbein making America great again.
Ryan Helfenbein Great Grant. Thank you so much. You're listening to Jen and Ellis Show. I'm Rhyen Helfenbein. We'll be right back after this break.
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Jenna Ellis welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Reiteration of Disgust Regarding Political Violence and Rhetoric from the Left
Ryan Helfenbein Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning. I'm Rhyen Health and Vine, filling in for Jenna while she's on vacation. we just heard about political violence on the left. It's in their rhetoric, it's in their jokes. It's simply disgusting.
The Growing Appeal of Socialism and Its Favorable View Among Younger Voters
I want to give thanks so much to Grant May for jumping on, true credit to Liberty University, of course, the standing for Freedom Center. But let's talk about socialism. Okay? There's an appeal of socialism and that continues to grow. When you think about all of the races that were lost, many of the seats in the Senate, pretty much all of the toss up, seats, politics, plus several additional won by Democrats. And you think about what happened in Michigan with Abdul Said. You think about James Tallarico in Texas. It's unconscionable. Many of them, were running on a socialist agenda. And, when the exit polling went through, in this last election, according to a cnbc survey, roughly 80,000 voters in the election last week, 33% viewed socialism favorably compared to 53% who viewed it unfavorably.
Critique of Socialist Promises Versus Economic Realities and Government Spending
But according to an NBC exit poll, among younger voters under 30, 47% were for socialism compared to 37% for capitalism. That should get all of our attention. How do we answer the appeal of politicians promising that government will make everything affordable when at the same time they're continuing to inflate the dollar? Do deficit spending never have a balanced budget? Continuing to raise taxes? It's simply ridiculous. I mean, these are basic questions. Who pays? Who produces? Who ultimately decides, in the grand scheme of things? And what happens when people expect everything to be given to them? Who foots the bill? It's not the government. It's the taxpayer. It's we the people.
The Crisis of Civic and Financial Literacy Among American Adults and Young People
It comes from all of us. And this is a problem in politics because the general electorate doesn't actually have basic civic Knowledge, financial literacy. when you, when you think about the graduation rates, in most public and even private schools in the country, most do not achieve basic proficiency when it comes to reading and writing, when it comes to civics, and even when it comes to math, let alone having a basic knowledge of economics. there was a survey recently that found that 35% of American adults could not name all three branches of government. Only 9% could name all five freedoms protected by the First Amendment.
Socialist Mayor's Unfulfilled Promises and the Challenges of Governing New York City
24% could not name a single one. on a 2024 nations report card, just 35% of high school seniors reached the assessment's proficient level in reading, and only 22% reached it in mathematics. You think about all of this. What does this spell out? It spells out disaster when it comes to the electorate, of course. In NewSong York City, they elected a socialist as the mayor in Zoram Mamdani, the first, in a major way, public official to be sworn in on the Koran. yesterday Mamdani sat down with Shannon Bream on Fox News, and she pressed him about his campaign promises. And many of them, surprisingly, have not come to fruition. Go ahead and play the clip. You talk about action
Shannon Bream and, Democrats, just like Republicans, it's easy to make promises when you're campaigning. number that you are still working on have not come to fruition. $30 an hour for minimum wage, free buses for everybody. That's the one that everyone, When I said I was going to talk to you, they like, ask him about my free bus. arresting Bibi Netanyahu, disbanding parts of the nypd. Those things haven't happened. So do you run up against the reality of actually governing a city like this? What's your caution to Democrats who now head to Capitol
Shannon Bream Hill with some pretty sweeping promises? Well,
Fulfilling Campaign Promises Amidst Governing Realities and Delivering Services
Zohran Mamdani I would say is now is the time to fulfill those promises, because in the same 10 months that we've. Not easy
Shannon Bream to do, as you found out,
Zohran Mamdani it's difficult, but that doesn't mean you shirk away from it. And in these same 10 months, what we have done is deliver on universal childcare. We have done. So
Shannon Bream wait a minute. For 2K, but not infant to 5. That's a huge promise. We've
Zohran Mamdani done 5, we've done 4, we've done 3. And now we're doing 2 for the first time
Shannon Bream in part. There are slots.
Zohran Mamdani There's two. I mean, that's moving. But after getting $1.2 billion next year, it's 12,000. And the governor has said herself, we're going to expand this program. And that to me is you have 10 months in a four year term. You got to move as quick as the city does. And when you get $1.2 billion on your eighth day in office, you use that to actually make what was $20,000 a year into something that's now free for thousands of NewSong Yorkers. And you do these things while also doing the basics. You pave 220,000 potholes in this city, you deliver the largest labor enforcement action in NewSong York City history, $130 million from DoorDash back to 260,000 NewSong Yorkers. And then you keep working on everything else. Because a promise isn't something to intimidate you. A ah, promise is something that you should meet. Some promises you do day one, some of them day three, six, five, some of them year three, you keep going.
The Disconnect Between Socialist Campaign Promises and Governing Realities
Ryan Helfenbein Making promises on a campaign trail when it comes to socialism is one thing, but finding the money, securing the authority and dealing with the consequences and fallout is entirely another. Margaret Thatcher famously said that when socialists run government, they always run out of other people's money. Joining me now is pastor David Mitchell of Meadows Baptist church. He's the founder and president of tradeway co, founder and president of excess exos aerospace, and owner of E G Hall oil company in Texas. Pastor David, welcome and give me your thoughts.
Biblical Principles of Economics and Finance Versus Modern Socialist Ideologies
David Mitchell Well, good morning. Thank you for having me on today.
Ryan Helfenbein Good morning. Well,
David Mitchell you know, you know, I would sort of echo what Mike Huckabee said, you know, about the lack of support for Israel. He says it's due to biblical illiteracy. And that's the same thing. That's true. You know, when you want to deal with economics, a lot of people don't realize if you look at all of the great colleges on the east coast, Harvard, Yale, William and Mary Brown, you could just, you could go on and on. They were all founded as preacher schools, but they didn't just educate ministers, they also taught medicine. They also taught economics in those economics books. The earliest textbooks had principles from the Bible for economics and finance. And I traveled across America and taught thousands of people how to trade in the stock market. And one thing I'll always ask with a new crowd, and usually it's Christian people, that's who we market to. I'll ask them what's the oldest book in the world that contains economic, authoritative economic and financial principles. And they, oddly they don't get the answer usually, but the answer is the Bible. And so what people need to understand, and I've taught this to our people for many, many years, is that I believe Bible methodology is just as important as Bible doctrine. And that, and by that I mean this. If God tells us how to do something and we choose to do it our own way rather than his way, there's no guarantee we're going to, in fact, we're probably going to fail. you could use, the Ark of the Covenant as an example where God said they were supposed to carry it on staves and they decided to put it on a cart and people died because of that.
The Failure of Socialism and the Dumbing Down of Economic Education
And that's just an example. But when you look at what God teaches about economics and finance and the family business and wealth creation, all those things that are taught in the Bible and we decide to go against it, there's no guarantee we're going to succeed. In fact, we're going to fail. And the Bible nowhere teaches communism or socialism. and it everywhere teaches all the components of capitalism, such as free markets, supply and demand, risk, return, trade off is in the Bible. Asset diversification is in the Bible. Buying at wholesale, marking up, selling at retail and bringing the profits home to your family, all of that's in the Bible. And people don't realize that because preachers don't preach about it on Sunday morning. Neither do I on Sunday morning. But, but there are other times we should talk about it. And so now we have our nation so under educated on scripture and let alone do, they know anything about economics, really most people who vote don't know anything about economics. And so when you, when you go towards socialism, all you do is you get higher and higher prices. Every nation that's tried it is proof of that. And yet somehow our great universities have dumbed down all of our young people and not taught them the truth about all these things. So that's where we are now.
The Consequences of a Lack of Knowledge and the Biblical View on Economics
We're going to reap what we've sown for 60, 65 years of teaching our young people the wrong things.
Ryan Helfenbein 100% right, Pastor. And I think about, I was an economics major, that was my undergrad, and then I did a Master's of divinity, in theology. And one of the things that I can tell you is from all of my research, in fact, if you look at all the real life applications, you think about the parables of Jesus, you think about even what the Apostle Paul said, that those who do not work, this was to Thessalonica, the Church of Thessalonica. If you don't work, you shall not eat one of those early in the early American settlements, this is after the pilgrims actually tried a form of socialism where they shared everything in common. They almost starved to death and all died, wiping out their entire, colony. it's interesting how the Bible continues to talk about our responsibility, human responsibility. If you don't provide for your family, you're worse than an unbeliever. You look at the Ten Commandments, you shall not steal. don't covet or have envy, over what is your neighbors that doesn't belong to you. I mean, literally, socialism, communism. By the way, according to Karl Marx, socialism was the first phase of communism. And so I think it's really. Yes. And so it's basically, a trajectory.
The Slippery Slope of Socialism and Its Failure in Other Nations
It's a slippery slope. And this is the direction we're headed. Other nations that have tried this, every nation that has tried this, has failed in the process. So what are you doing to educate? I mean, you talk about educating investors all across the country, Christian families, to understand this better.
David Mitchell Well, you know, after the election on Tuesdays, my sermon yesterday was pretty grim. It was, you know, out of Hosea, chapter, four, and a little bit out of chapter five, which God has, you know, written the Bible in such a way that it, applies to every generation. And you look at that, it's like you're looking at America. It talked about how they're going to be destroyed for lack of knowledge, and it blamed the priests, you know, and the people. And it was a very somber day yesterday for me. But when I look, I'm going to give you an example in the book of Acts, chapter four, where the, the apostles were told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. And they said, well, you tell me, what should we do? Obey God or obey you? That was an amazing answer. And they went on the next day and just preached Jesus on the streets again. Right. Well, they began to be threatened and persecuted for this. And all this is one of the passages that people try to use to teach that the Bible teaches communism, which is in Acts, chapter 4, verses 32 through 35, where it says they shared all things, all their possessions. But what they don't tell you is it says that what they did was they sold their possessions, their land and so forth, and brought money to help those who were in need. And when you're under communism, no one owns any land. You don't own anything. I was in Switzerland just a couple of three years ago and talked with a man who lived there. He said, you know, we don't own Anything. The government and the, the banks own everything. And that's a socialist country.
Reagan's Warning About Socialism and the Importance of Parental Education
All of Europe is gone now because of that. President Obama wanted America to be more like Europe. I guess he's never been to Europe, but, but you don't want that. So, Ronald Reagan gave a speech years ago in the little town where our ranch is, close to Mehea, Texas. He gave a speech there. My parents heard it. And he said, if you don't teach your children how terrible socialism and communism is, you will put them in a thousand years of darkness. Now that, that's pretty sombering. So what the people did there was they, you know, they were involved with capitalism. They were buying and selling and making money, and they owned land and so forth, so they actually had money to give the poor.
Financial Leverage as a Biblical Method for Wealth Creation Through Stock Markets
But nowhere in that passage is the government making them do it. They were doing it from their hearts because the Lord was leading them to do it. And that's, that's the right way to do it. So at Tradeway, we have this thing called the Unlock the Stock Market Challenge. In fact, it's starting today. We do it every couple of weeks or so. There's one starting today, just, about 10:00, clock central time. You can still get involved with it, but what we teach people is how to go into the stock market and the options market and gain what we call financial leverage. Now, if we had time on another show, I could talk to you about that, because the Bible teaches that that is the one method that God put in the universe for wealth creation. It's called financial leverage. You find it in the parable of the talents. But what you have to do is earn off the efforts of others. So we teach people to earn off the efforts of the smartest people about money in the world. And that's the Wallnua street people. How to earn off their mind, their brains, their money, the things they've invented, and how to help your family with that knowledge. And so most people think you got to be rocket scientists, but it's not true. It's just skill sets. You're. We teach you how to get the probability math on your side. That's what we do.
Stock Market Education Programs and Expert Financial Guidance
That's what it takes to do it. So thank you. We've got, you know, you can get involved for like 97 bucks. And it's a five day, five and a half day program. You got homework, you do. There's a full money back guarantee.
Ryan Helfenbein Pastor David, thank you so much. We are out of time. folks, you're listening to Jenna Ellis in the morning. Thank you so much to all our guests today.
Sign-off and Preview of the Next Broadcast
We'll see you back tomorrow on JENNA Ellis in the morning.
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Guest host Ryan Helfenbein fills in for Jenna Ellis to unpack a consequential week in American politics, beginning with a reminder that faithfulness and trust in God matter even when political outcomes feel beyond our control. Drawing on Ecclesiastes, Ryan reflects on the balance between working diligently and finding contentment rather than becoming consumed by ambition or despair.Then, Ryan and Steve Deace examine President Donald Trump’s post-election challenges, including his choice of Steven Miller for chief of staff, allegations of outside influence within the administration, and Trump’s suggestion that he could work with Democrats on immigration. They discuss how broken promises can reshape a political coalition—and why the president’s next decisions may define the road to 2028.The conversation turns to political violence and rhetoric, with Gen Z commentator Grant May discussing the reaction to Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the role of worldview in political conflict, and what younger voters want from conservative leaders. Ryan also explores the growing appeal of socialism among young voters, the importance of civic and economic literacy, and the biblical principles of work, ownership, generosity, and wealth creation with Pastor David Mitchell.
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