Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Today is Thursday, September the 10th, 2026. Just want to say thank you, everybody who listens to Today's Issues and to American Family Radio throughout the day. We never take our listeners for granted. Well, sometimes we do, but we don't talk about it much. No, we don't take people for granted. We don't take people for granted.
Tim Wildmon: At the time, good morning, Ed.
Ed: Good morning.
Tim Wildmon: I don't take you for granted, Ed.
Ed: Well, thank you, Tim. I appreciate you each and every day.
Tim Wildmon: I have a hard time sometimes figuring out if you're being sincere or not.
Ed: Why do I sometimes come across as insincere?
Tim Wildmon: Answer that sincerely, Ed.
Ed: Okay.
Tim Wildmon: Fred Jackson, good morning.
Fred Jackson: Good morning to you, sir.
Tim Wildmon: And Chris Woodward, good morning. Okay, Fred, let's get this out of the way. What's been banned today coming in from Canada?
Fred Jackson: Today's items and products that would no longer be available to us here in the United States include, yes, well, our listeners don't have to worry about this, we're banning booze from Canada.
Tim Wildmon: Oh well, yeah, most of our listeners aren't partaking of the Canadian booze.
Fred Jackson: However, a little bit later on, I think maple syrup is on the list.
Tim Wildmon: Maple syrup? Oh, not a fan. Yeah, well, I don't use that much unless I go to the Waffle House.
Fred Jackson: And Tim, I regret to inform you, hockey sticks are on the list too.
Tim Wildmon: No, no more hockey sticks from Canada. No, I don't know what we're going to do. Hockey sticks. Real hockey sticks are very expensive.
Fred Jackson: Oh, really?
Tim Wildmon: I used to be able to get them for 25 bucks, but now they're this material. They break easy, but they're like 400 bucks or something. I mean, seriously.
Ed: Do they manufacture most of the hockey sticks that we buy here in the U.S. from Canada, or is that?
Fred Jackson: I think there are manufacturers on this side of the border now, just because there's so many hockey teams and so many people involved with hockey. But there's certain makes, like hockey helmets, CCMs, those sort of things, you may see them on hockey helmets.
Tim Wildmon: So no more of that for a while.
Fred Jackson: No more of that for a while.
Chris Woodward: So for retail prices, I looked this up. This will be fascinating to our listeners.
Ed: I'm riveted.
Chris Woodward: Composite sticks, you're talking about, Fred.
Fred Jackson: It's composite, not just wood.
Chris Woodward: Typically start around 120 to 150. Mid-tier models, 180 to 260. Elite flagship sticks from major brands like Bauer, CCM, and Warrior generally cost between 320 and 400 bucks.
Tim Wildmon: Can you imagine if you're a mom and dad and you want your, I'll say son, involved with hockey, so you go and buy a stick like this for 300 bucks, and in the first three minutes he's on the ice, it breaks?
Fred Jackson: It breaks. Sometimes it'll break just when you're taking a shot.
Tim Wildmon: Oh, I know.
Fred Jackson: Let alone someone hammering it down with their own stick.
Tim Wildmon: Trying to whack somebody.
Fred Jackson: Yeah.
Tim Wildmon: That's all right. That never happens. Now, before we move on here, from someone who doesn't know a lot about hockey, when they get ready to duke it out, the hockey sticks are left on the ice, right?
Fred Jackson: Yes. And the gloves.
Tim Wildmon: You're not supposed to hit someone, right? Okay. So if you take your gloves off, that's when they fight? When you're punching someone, the gloves are going to be off?
Fred Jackson: Now, you will see in what's called a scrum, you know, the football scrums where people are shoving and stuff. You will get like a face wash, where you'll see someone reach over with their glove and rub it in someone's face. It's sweaty.
Tim Wildmon: Oh, man.
Fred Jackson: Yeah, that happens.
Tim Wildmon: Oh, yeah?
Fred Jackson: Yeah, that happens a lot.
Tim Wildmon: What if we did that on this show today? What if we started facewashing?
Ed: That would be, well, I'll tell you what, it probably really would be pretty entertaining for our viewers. We would increase viewership. I know that.
Tim Wildmon: Watch Fred. We'll use Chris as the guinea pig. When he walks in, we'll get him against the wall or something. It's always the little guy. All right, I'm still trying to wrap my head around, you can fight in a hockey game, but you have to take your gloves off because fighting somebody with your gloves on is against the rules.
Fred Jackson: That's, yeah. It's kind of not manly.
Tim Wildmon: Am I right? Is it really against the rules? You really get fined?
Fred Jackson: I don't know if you would get fined, but the players all look down on it. But here's another thing too. There's a practical aspect. You want to grab. You'll see them grab one handful of jersey and then fire away with the other fist. You can't do that with the gloves, too, so there's a practical element to it.
Ed: You're the hockey player, Fred. But there's practical ways to whack the other guy around.
Fred Jackson: A lot of people don't know Gordie Howe was one of the dirtiest players.
Tim Wildmon: One of the most famous hockey players. I remember his name.
Fred Jackson: Red Wings. But when he would go into the corner with his stick, he would hit a guy's ankle, and he'd just keep doing that. After a while, it really irritates the other player.
Tim Wildmon: I can imagine.
Fred Jackson: But you're sneaky about it because you're around no referee, so you just tap the guy.
Ed: That's smart. That's the equivalent of throwing the elbow to the ribs under the basket while everybody's jumping for the ball.
Fred Jackson: Exactly. Exactly.
Tim Wildmon: All right, so there you go, ladies and gentlemen. That is how to play dirty sports, provided to you by America's Family right here on Today's Issues.
Ed: Following Tariff Talk, yeah.
Tim Wildmon: Tariff, well, man, I miss Tariff Talk.
Chris Woodward: We can't back up. We do have a little Tariff Talk right here.
Tim Wildmon: I don't know. The latest item came by, maple syrup does concern me. I'm going to watch that. I'm going to watch what happens there.
Chris Woodward: Being the news guy, I find trying to do Tariff Talk to be very taxing.
Tim Wildmon: Right. How far away is your office?
Ed: The gloves have come off.
Tim Wildmon: Tariff Talk just seems like a segment on All Things Considered on National Public Radio.
Ed: This is sponsored by listeners like you. Next up, Tariff Talk. Ten dollars will give you a tote bag.
Tim Wildmon: A tote bag. A tote bag. Okay. So, Christopher, bring forth unto us the news of the day.
Chris Woodward: You know, the man largely responsible for imposing tariffs on places like Canada is President Donald Trump. Yesterday he spoke at day one of a two-day convention.
Tim Wildmon: Always making the day.
Chris Woodward: Yeah, he's scheduled to speak again today. But it's the GOP's first-ever midterm convention, happening in Dallas, Texas. The president came out and spoke. He talked about a number of the candidates that are in very close elections, and he told voters, listen, my name's not on the ballot this November. I'm not running for reelection this November. But I want you to pretend as if my name is on the ballot this November, because things that I ran on, things that you voted me into office for, all of that is out the window if Democrats regain control of the House and Senate.
Chris Woodward: Here's but a portion of the examples he gave.
Donald Trump: Because if we lose, you're going to lose your border. You're going to lose your tax cuts. You're going to lose your safety and security.
Chris Woodward: He went on from there. But he went on to basically say that, listen, if you don't show up to vote for these Republicans, everything I ran for is out the window because Democrats are not going to fund it and they're going to fight me tooth and nail for it.
Tim Wildmon: Well, and a lot of people during midterms will stay home because this is not a presidential election. Some people during presidential elections only go to vote for the top of the ticket and don't vote what's called down ballot.
Ed: Never understood that.
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I know. You're there. Why not? Why not just make an X on the party of your choice? So he is trying to drive. It's going to be very important for turnout. Turnout will probably decide things for whether or not Republicans keep a lot of these seats.
Chris Woodward: Something that may help with turnout is a promise that he made to American voters yesterday. You may want to sit down for this one. The president, the leader of the free world and the most powerful man in America, is promising Americans money if Republicans win the House and Senate. Don't take my word for it. Hear from the man himself.
Donald Trump: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend, very much like a successful company will do a cash distribution to its shareholders.
Chris Woodward: If anybody is wondering what this might cost people, the early estimates, which are usually wrong because they're the initial knee-jerk reaction estimates, we're already looking at a trillion dollars.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, just going to let me say it. You guys stand back. I'll take the incoming fire.
Ed: It depends what you're about to say.
Tim Wildmon: I'll take some of that. Incoming fire. He can't do any of that. What he just said, that's garbage. So I'm sorry. Listen, I have to say this every time because people say, Tim, why are you against Trump? I'm not against Trump. I voted for him how many times? In fact, we were just talking before the show. If he was on the ballot again against some Democrat, I'd vote for him again. So I'm not against Trump, but you have to be honest about things that he says that are outlandish or nutty.
Tim Wildmon: What he does when he does stuff like what he just did right there, he makes it very hard for other Republicans who are running to defend that kind of stuff because that's all they get asked about. You're running for House of Representatives, what do you think about Trump's $5,000 a person for bribery if you vote for Republicans? That's what it sounds like, bribery. I use that term. It's not technically bribery. But what do you call it when you say, if you vote Republican, we'll give you $5,000 for every person who does it if we win? What do you call it?
Ed: That is bribery. That is the very definition of bribery.
Tim Wildmon: The Democrats could come back and say, well, I'll tell you what, if you vote Democrat, we'll give you $10,000. You know what we'd say then? You can't do that. You can't do that.
Ed: I will deflect some of the hostility from some of our listeners who are Trump fans. Listen, I think his heart is in the right place. He knows people are suffering.
Tim Wildmon: Why? I thought we were in the best economic situation ever. You just heard him say that.
Ed: No, I know. We all know that, for most Americans, that's not true. But I think he wants to help, but he doesn't have the authority to do that. Congress is the one who has to make funding choices. They have the purse strings. You'd have to get Congress on board. Remember, he had promised a DOGE dividend when they were looking for ways to cut fraud and waste.
Chris Woodward: This is the second time, I think, that he has talked about a tariff dividend.
Tim Wildmon: Well, no, he talked about a Trump. He said he's going to call it a Trump dividend.
Chris Woodward: A $5,000 a person.
Tim Wildmon: Didn't he at one point say a tariff dividend?
Chris Woodward: He threw that idea out there as well, and some people are wondering whether or not he would use the tariff money for this dividend, should it actually become reality.
Tim Wildmon: He can't do it. Listen, we would all love to get a magical $5,000. Every one of us would.
Ed: We need some hockey sticks.
Tim Wildmon: Everyone could use an extra $5,000. But giving every adult in the country $5,000 is going to increase inflation. This is what happened with the COVID checks that came out during COVID when everything was shut down. I understand people needed to have money, but most economists say that quick infusion of cash into the economy contributed at least in part to inflation. We're talking about something that the president of the United States is talking about which is totally and completely unrealistic. I don't know who told him this is a good idea to bring up.
Tim Wildmon: This isn't a company that you invest in on the stock market and you get a dividend. Back during COVID, we, the American people, got money from the federal government because it was a time of economic crisis. I understand that, but the president of the United States alone can't issue $5,000. Where is he going to get the money from? He doesn't have the money to do that. He has to get that from Congress. Anyway, I don't know what he's doing there with that. So now, what else we got from the midterm or the convention?
Chris Woodward: The midterm convention is what it's called. At least one Democrat appeared last night at this convention, and that Democrat is Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. He appeared in a video message, but it was part of an introduction that Fetterman was giving for his Republican colleague, Dave McCormick, a man he's gotten to know a lot, and they've worked well together on a number of things. Fetterman went on to say that, hey, I continue to support my Republican colleague because we're going to work together on things like steel and jobs and whatnot.
John Fetterman: With America, I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life. Dave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done, and he's going to fight for Pennsylvania. I'm proud to count him as my friend. Right back over my shoulder, that's the iconic U.S. steel mill, and that's exactly the kind of thing that we'll work together and we'll work with President Trump to fight and defend, the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley. I have this opportunity to introduce this great American, a great senator, and yes, he's in a different party, but I'm proud to count him as my great friend. So for everybody in Dallas, I'm here to introduce Dave McCormick.
Chris Woodward: And then McCormick walks out on the stage at that point.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. There are two senators, obviously, from Pennsylvania, Fetterman being one, a Democrat, and McCormick being another, Republican. He was introducing him. I got it. Okay. Well, listen, I kind of miss some of that. I kind of miss some of that where both political parties had respect for one another. They laid down their hockey sticks.
Ed: Lay down their hockey sticks. Didn't take off their gloves too. They put their gloves on. Best for the country.
Tim Wildmon: Yeah. I do miss some of that. I don't know that we'll ever see that again in our lifetimes. Of course, me and Fred, you know, we don't have as many years left, so when I say our lifetime, that may not be that long. But maybe Brent Creeley, our producer, and Chris Woodward, maybe in their lifetime, they may see some of that.
Chris Woodward: I bet John Fetterman gets primaried.
Tim Wildmon: Well, they said yesterday in a story Fred posted on AFN that Democrats are talking about primarying him in 2028.
Ed: He'll have to swap parties.
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he won't, though. He's already said he's not going to switch parties.
Ed: I guess what about go independent?
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he's having too much fun right now with the Democrats. He really is. He's become Joe Manchin number two. I remember Joe Manchin gave them a lot of grief, the Democrats.
Chris Woodward: And he is so counter to, I mean, he's very pro-Israel, which is running counter to the anti-Semitism that you see.
Tim Wildmon: Is he Jewish? Does he have Jewish heritage?
Chris Woodward: Fetterman?
Tim Wildmon: It sounds like a Jewish name.
Chris Woodward: I don't think so.
Tim Wildmon: I'm not sure. We'll check on that.
Ed: But also I think he does wear a Jewish hoodie. I think if you look, he's a different guy. Remember when he first came on the scene with what he wears? You're talking about having the hoodie on all the time, what he wore into the Senate chamber from time to time. He's just a different guy. He's his own guy, and he's going to go according to what he believes, the principles he needs to live by.
Chris Woodward: He has never publicly identified as Jewish. Some online sources incorrectly claim that his mother was Jewish. So he's not Jewish.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right. You're listening to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. Tim, Ed, Fred, and Chris. We've been talking about what's called the midterm convention for the Republicans that's being held in Dallas yesterday and today. When is it over, tonight?
Chris Woodward: It's two days.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. Did Vice President Vance speak?
Chris Woodward: He's talked to media. He is actually going to do a big address tonight as well.
Tim Wildmon: After the midterms are over, JD Vance is probably going to be getting more attention than Donald Trump, the president, because he is the heir apparent and will most likely be the Republican nominee for president. A lot of eyes will be on him and what he says, where he goes, his policies. So that'll be interesting.
Tim Wildmon: I took a survey the other night at an event I was at, on AFA supporters. There were 60 people or so in the room, and I said, close your eyes. I said, raise your hand when I ask this question. I'm going to ask you to choose between JD Vance and Marco Rubio, who your favorite is to run for president, and it was 50-50.
Ed: Really? I can see that.
Tim Wildmon: It was 50-50. Now, any of those people in that room will go for either one, but I'm just saying it was very interesting to me that Marco Rubio, I think that speaks more to the admiration, or the favorability, I guess I should say, that Marco Rubio has developed among Republican voters, especially as he's been elevated to Secretary of State, than it does anything against JD Vance.
Ed: I agree.
Tim Wildmon: Don't you?
Ed: I agree. Marco Rubio is so blooming smart. I mean, he has tons of experience on the international stage. He is a foreign policy expert. He is a conservative. And not to take anything away from JD Vance. JD Vance is kind of the new kid on the block and has many more years ahead of him. He's a little bit more of a dynamic speaker than Marco Rubio, who can be very matter-of-fact when he speaks. But my appreciation, like you're talking about, my appreciation for Marco Rubio has grown since the Iran war started. That's when I hear him talk.
Tim Wildmon: As I mentioned here before, if you read about their relationship, Marco Rubio and JD Vance are very tight. They're very good friends. So I don't think they're going to run against each other.
Chris Woodward: In fact, Rubio has said as much, hasn't he?
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I think so. But it's an interesting place for Rubio in his career, because think about it, he's been a U.S. senator from Florida. By the way, he's a guy who ages well. He still looks very young. I, on the other hand.
Ed: We weren't going to say anything about you, Chris. Sorry. We all have our place in the world.
Chris Woodward: I don't know where I'm going with this, so I'm going to stop.
Tim Wildmon: Your brains make up for it, Chris. Don't worry about it, man. Your brains make up for the fact that you look ancient.
Chris Woodward: My brains make up for it.
Ed: Some of us age quicker than others.
Chris Woodward: That's true.
Ed: News will do that to you.
Tim Wildmon: He's 55, though. Rubio was, no, I was going to say no spring chicken. That's still young compared to a lot of politicians in D.C.
Ed: Oh yeah. Middle-aged for a politician in D.C. is 79.
Chris Woodward: Probably. You're probably right.
Tim Wildmon: That's when they enter their prime, or so they think. Well, I guess what I'm saying is, if he decides and says, no, I want to be loyal to the vice president. If he runs, I am not going to run. Maybe he becomes vice president for a presidential candidate or whatever. But if he waited eight years, he would only be 65.
Ed: I hope you're right, brother.
Tim Wildmon: Eight years?
Ed: Yeah, eight years of Vance.
Tim Wildmon: I hope you're right about that. But let me just say this. Here's the interesting place that Marco Rubio is in his career. But 55, for a politician, especially a national one, he's still young. But he's been a U.S. senator from Florida, and then he now is Secretary of State, and he's ten years older than Vance, right? Or more.
Chris Woodward: He's also national security adviser, too. Vance is a little bit younger than me, about a couple of years.
Tim Wildmon: So how old is Vance?
Chris Woodward: Early 40s.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, so here's my point. If you have a JD Vance and he's going to run for president, would you want, if you're Marco Rubio, would you really want to move from being Secretary of State, which is arguably more prestigious than even vice president, to be JD Vance's running mate and wait your eight years under the best-case scenario for Republicans? You wait eight years. You see what I'm saying? But I don't know where you go with Marco Rubio. The only place up would be, well, you could be vice president, but it would be president other than that. I thought maybe he might run for governor of Florida, but he didn't do that. So I don't know. Maybe he'll continue as Secretary of State if JD Vance is elected.
Tim Wildmon: But I do think JD Vance and Marco Rubio would be a dynamic ticket, and I think they would be hard to beat. I don't think the Democrats want to face a JD Vance-Marco Rubio ticket.
Tim Wildmon: Welcome back everybody to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. Adam, Ed, Fred, and Chris. I want to say hello to our friends in our new state of New America, and you are located between Texas and Arizona.
Chris Woodward: The president did say that. I mean, he did last night. We have the audio.
Tim Wildmon: What did he say? Do we really have the audio?
Chris Woodward: We do.
Tim Wildmon: All right, we'll save it for later. Stick around. That's what they call a deep tease. Stick around. Tell me he didn't say that. All right. Well, I mean, now you got to do it.
Chris Woodward: Now you got to me, huh?
Tim Wildmon: You got a story now?
Chris Woodward: No, we got to get Frank.
Tim Wildmon: Who cares? He lives in. All right, Frank Turek. Good morning, Frank.
Frank Turek: Good morning.
Tim Wildmon: Isn't that kind of like George Bush saying "strategery"?
Ed: Mission accomplished.
Tim Wildmon: No, I don't think so. Mispronouncing a word and renaming a state, it's not exactly on par.
Frank Turek: What state did he rename?
Tim Wildmon: Can we just play? How long do you have, Frank?
Frank Turek: Go ahead. Go ahead.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, we'll go over to the news desk. What do you got?
Chris Woodward: In addition to renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and then renaming Lake Ontario Lake America, the trade war with our neighbors to the north, now he's talking about giving a jab to Mexico by renaming the state of New Mexico New America.
Donald Trump: We think it should be called New America. New America. I'll tell you, the people love the idea. I don't know about the radical left. I'm sure they don't like it. But the people of New America, your neighbor is called New America.
Tim Wildmon: What do you think, Frank?
Frank Turek: Trump's doing what the left does, rebranding everything. You know how the left had to rename all the bases and had to tear down all the statues and had to have a man be called a woman and a woman be called a man, and had to call abortion healthcare, and also say that mutilating children's genitalia was gender-affirming care. The left is notorious for renaming things because that's the only way they can cover much of their evil. Trump is just trying to rebrand everything America because he's all about America.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, Frank. You need to work for the White House, brother.
Frank Turek: Forget it. I don't care. I'm just saying it's kind of hypocritical for the left to be all upset about this when that's all they do. They rename what they are.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, guys. We'll go with it. All right, New America. Albuquerque, New America. You're passing through there. Frank is from not-so-South North Carolina. All right, what do we got? Brother Frank, where are you today and what are you doing?
Frank Turek: I'm in Utah. This is the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk being murdered. We were here exactly one year ago at Utah Valley University. Tonight we are doing a memorial service for Charlie, celebrating his life, talking about his legacy. I'll be one of the speakers along with Glenn Beck and Michael Knowles and Mikey McCoy and several others. There will also be a worship team. People can watch it. It's going to be streamed, I believe, on the TPUSA YouTube channel at 8:30 Eastern, 7:30 Central.
Tim Wildmon: You know, it's still hard to believe it. I know, Frank, it's a totally different level for you because you were there that day that Charlie Kirk was assassinated, just feet away, and it all unfolded live before you. But it still seems surreal even today to have watched that on television and to be here. I think we were here live on the air when it happened, and we're all going, what? Assassinated?
Tim Wildmon: I just ask people to say a prayer for you and for Erika and for all those who were there that day who are sort of having to relive that in their minds, brother.
Frank Turek: Yeah, well, Erika is the one obviously that affects the most, so please continue to pray for her. She's a very strong woman. In fact, I think she's so strong that if the roles had been reversed and she had been the one that was killed, I don't even know if Charlie would have dealt with this past year as well as she has. She has faithfully looked straight ahead, concentrated on the Lord, concentrated on her kids, concentrated on leading TPUSA. She's quite inspirational. In fact, she wrote the foreword for our new book, The One Reality, and you don't even need to buy the book to read it. Just go to Amazon or Christianbook. If you go to Amazon, you'll see editorial comments there. You can read her whole foreword. It was quite profound.
Fred Jackson: Frank, it's Fred here. Are you on campus yet?
Frank Turek: I will be tonight. I'm just off campus right now.
Fred Jackson: Okay. I understand that the classes were canceled for today in honor of Charlie Kirk. There are some students planning a protest against the event where you'll be speaking tonight.
Frank Turek: That's what I've heard, and I'm sure it's in the name of inclusion, tolerance, and diversity, right? People want to protest a man's murder, or protest celebrating a man who was murdered. It reminds me of what Charlie tweeted way back in 2016. He put out a tweet that said, you can tell a lot about someone by how they react after someone dies. If you are mocking or protesting the celebration of an upright man who was simply answering questions on a college campus, if you're protesting the celebration of his life, there's something very dark in your soul.
Tim Wildmon: There are a lot of people who celebrated Charlie Kirk's assassination. I mean, that's as depraved, I think, as you get.
Chris Woodward: This is from several years ago. Now, some people view today's young people as the problem with America. Charlie saw them as the solution, and that's one of the reasons why TPUSA would go out on campuses. He would talk to students and do the Q&As like he was doing this time last year in Utah. Here is an old clip from several years ago of him on Fox News Channel explaining why it is that he and other TPUSA officials spend so much time on campuses.
Charlie Kirk: A university is supposed to be a place where disagreement, the free flow of ideas happen, where people can say, I respect your opinion, but I respectfully disagree. Universities are no longer those places. They are really islands of totalitarianism, where if you disagree with the faculty, the professors, the administration, or the left-wing students on campus, you can't respectfully disagree. You will be silenced, you will be suppressed, and you will be called a racist. And look, we as an organization are going to use every single weapon in our inventory to try to fight back against this.
Tim Wildmon: Frank, you do the same thing as Charlie did. There are others as well who go to college campuses on purpose. Speak to that a little bit about why you continue to, I don't want you to get a big head here, but a lot of times at lunch, I will watch some YouTube videos of you on college campuses to learn. Talk a little bit about that impulse to go to where these young people are. A lot of them are very confused, whether they know it or not, but they really are the future. For Christ to reach them, Christians have to reach out.
Frank Turek: Well, Charlie was right, as you could see, that they will suppress you. That's what happened one year ago today, that he was suppressed by an assassin's bullet. Now, thankfully, all the assassin did was change Charlie's address. He's absent from the body, present with the Lord. He's not with us anymore.
Frank Turek: But we have to go to college campuses because college campuses are pretty much the most anti-Christian pieces of real estate in America. They war against reality. They war against the author of reality, which is God. Now, there are exceptions. You have your Libertys, you have your Hillsdales, you have some schools out there that still teach the truth. But so many of them have been overcome by leftist Marxist ideology, where they claim they're all about inclusion, tolerance, and diversity, but they will be the first to not tolerate, not include you for holding diverse views. In some cases, as you know, it even leads to violence.
Frank Turek: In fact, there was a survey done right after Charlie was murdered and found out that 3% of very conservative people think it's okay to sometimes use violence to advance a political viewpoint, but 25% of very liberal people thought it was okay to sometimes use violence to advance a political viewpoint. Why are very liberal people more than eight times more likely to be violent to advance political viewpoints than conservatives? My theory is because they can't really debate their issues with reason, facts, logic, history. That's why they emote.
Tim Wildmon: That's true. I also think added to that is most people on the conservative side try to live up to biblical standards, which forbids violence against people and forbids murder. But you've got people on the political left, again, not all of them, as you cited, but you did say 20-something percent, there's nothing restraining them except maybe the law, because there's no God to answer to. If they kill somebody in the name of their cause, in their minds they're justified. That's why the left mocked Charlie Kirk's murder. They didn't see anything wrong with the murder.
Tim Wildmon: I was reading yesterday, you know this Pete Davidson character? He's a comedian from SNL. He's no longer on that show, but he's a comedian. He does commercials and stuff like that. After Charlie Kirk was murdered, at some event, he was making a joke about it. It was like a roast of somebody, and he was making a joke. I thought, really? You're making a joke about a man who's just been murdered?
Tim Wildmon: Anyway, I don't know if that was true of a lot of Hollywood celebrities. I know that even, who was it, Cher or somebody said, or Barbara Streisand, one of them said, you know, you shouldn't be doing that, which I commend. This was a left-winger, but it was an older person who comes from a more civilized time in our country's history. Maybe it was Jamie Lee Curtis, the actress, who was saying, this is terrible, sad. I may disagree with the guy, but this is not a moment to make light of him or make fun of him, say he deserved it.
Tim Wildmon: Anyway, Frank, your new book is out. Where can people get it?
Frank Turek: The One Reality, Christianbook.com, also Amazon.com. You can read the foreword that Erika wrote at Amazon. It just came out a couple of days ago. It's dedicated to Charlie. The first chapter is "Murder on Campus." It's all about what happened really up to that day, that awful day a year ago today, and what has happened since. Then we go through so many other issues where people are denying reality, and we're using logic, reason, scripture, to try and bring people back to reality.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right, Frank, we'll pray for you today. Have a good day. I was going to say have a good day. It's a sobering day, a somber day, but at the same time we will pray that you have a good day remembering our dear brother Charlie Kirk, and remember his wife, his widow, and the team there.
Frank Turek: Thank you, brother. Appreciate it.
Tim Wildmon: Thank you, brother. That's Frank Turek taking time out of his time there in Utah, back on campus, the very place that Charlie Kirk was killed last year.
Ed: And you can tell Frank is, that was Dr. Frank Turek, folks just tuning in. He's normally a very chipper person, but this was weighing on him. He was present, feet away. He was trying to resuscitate Charlie after the assassination.
Tim Wildmon: Got in the car to the hospital.
Ed: He got in the car to the hospital. Frank and others, including Erika Kirk, have also suffered these wild accusations about their part in it. People are just losing their minds. They're so suspicious and so given over to conspiracy theories. I don't know how people can logically think that Erika had something to do with this. So that's an additional weight upon people like Frank Turek.
Tim Wildmon: Remember, the people were asking about him in the video.
Ed: Yes. We talked to him on this very show about that. They were saying he was signaling the shooter with his hat. He was just simply adjusting his hat because it was a sunny day.
Tim Wildmon: Anyway, folks, please pray for Dr. Frank Turek and others who will be honoring Charlie Kirk. Pray for Erika and her family and TPUSA that they will continue to be able to reach young people on college campuses.
Tim Wildmon: You're listening to the radio program Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening. Tim, Ed, Fred, and Chris. Chris, what's next?
Chris Woodward: Seminary graduate and Senate candidate James Talarico is no longer of the opinion that there are six genders. I say that because Fox caught up with him yesterday in Texas to ask him about why he said that before, several times.
Tim Wildmon: He said it several times.
Chris Woodward: He said things like God is non-binary, there are six genders, all kinds of gobbledygook kind of stuff.
Tim Wildmon: He was asked about it by Fox News yesterday. For those who don't know, he's the Democratic senatorial candidate in Texas and is in a close race with Ken Paxton, the AG, who's the Republican candidate. So Talarico was asked about his comments about God, about how many genders there are, and so that's what we're about to hear.
Reporter: During the 2021 hearing, you said there are six biological sexes. Do you still believe that standing here?
James Talarico: No, I've missed the mark on some of my past statements. I will be the first to admit it. What I meant is that there are two sexes, and then there's a small percentage of people with genetic abnormalities. Obviously, I didn't say it correctly. There are not six sexes. There are two. And I think the reason that politicians in that convention center across the street want to talk about six sexes is because they don't want to talk about $6 diesel. Everywhere I go across the state of Texas, people are struggling to survive in this economy. They are struggling to afford the basics: groceries, gas, utilities, healthcare. That's what I'm going to be focused on from now until Election Day.
Tim Wildmon: I think what's very smart of the Democrats, and I'm talking about these Democrats that have these far-left extremist views like Talarico does, is they're being very shrewd to do what he just did, that is circle back, if you will, to the kitchen table economics that people do care about, and they care more about that than whether there are six sexes or two sexes. You know what I'm saying? He's very shrewd, as I use the word, these Democrats are, to get away from these far-left agenda items that you can't defend.
Ed: Yeah, and he just, I don't want to say lied, he repackaged what he said earlier. In 2021, he said six genders. When he was asked about it, he said, well, you know, I was mistaken, what I meant to say. No, he meant to say what he said, but now he knows that's not a good position. You don't want to try to defend that territory. So he did, to your point, Tim, this is absolutely politics 101. You pivot away from your mistakes and talk about the things that people care about most.
Ed: The Democrats understand they do not want to go into the midterms defending far-left socialist wackiness unless you live in New York. You want to attack the Republicans where they're most vulnerable, and they're most vulnerable, as all political parties are on either side of the aisle, when things are not going well economically. Despite what the president said last night at the midterm convention, the economy does not seem to be great for the average American. They're struggling to pay their bills, get groceries, put gas in the car.
Tim Wildmon: Six-dollar diesel, is that what he said?
Ed: Oh yeah, six-dollar diesel.
Chris Woodward: Average for diesel.
Tim Wildmon: So he knew this kind of question was coming. That's why he pivoted from six genders to six-dollar diesel. It was a smart move. The guy's a smooth operator.
Ed: Yes.
Tim Wildmon: Just like when I hear him talk. Of course, he's sort of baby-faced, right? He looks younger than, how old is he?
Chris Woodward: I'll look it up here.
Fred Jackson: He's also pivoting on remarks that he's made in the past. He was for gender mutilation, gender surgeries. He's switched also on men and girls sports.
Tim Wildmon: He switched with what?
Fred Jackson: Well, he was okay with guys playing in girls sports. Now he's moved away from that.
Tim Wildmon: Did he really move away from him?
Fred Jackson: Yes.
Chris Woodward: Here's the thing that is kind of interesting. He did this interview with Fox in the last 48 hours, shortly after the Republicans came out with an ad that tracked all of the statements that he has made in the past. He's hoping by doing this interview, I'll just erase all of those things.
Ed: It reminded me of when Rick Warren way back, when Obama.
Tim Wildmon: The pastor?
Ed: Yes. He sponsored a debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. That was in 2008 or 2012.
Tim Wildmon: 2008.
Ed: 2008, yeah. Remember Barack Obama? Boy, yeah, I'm not sure where I am with abortion, or I'd take a stand on that, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. When Barack Obama got elected, he flipped right over again.
Chris Woodward: It was on gay marriage.
Ed: Yeah, and said I'm opposed to gay marriage.
Chris Woodward: Yes, in that. But he was clearly not.
Ed: He admitted later, or it was in a book, I think, by one of his advisers, that he knew that he could not win as much support.
Tim Wildmon: Are you telling me politicians tell whoppers? Is this what you're telling me? All politicians are cooks at Burger King? Is that what you're telling me?
Ed: Cooks at Burger King?
Tim Wildmon: They have it your way.
Ed: Oh, have it your way.
Tim Wildmon: All right. Did anybody get that joke? Adam, do you get it now?
Adam: I get it now. Yes, sir. I get it now.
Tim Wildmon: Tell a whopper.
Ed: Cook a whopper.
Tim Wildmon: Cook up a whopper. Do all politicians act like cooks at Burger King? I thought that was a good joke. Of course, Trump worked at McDonald's. But if it went over the heads of some of my colleagues here and our listeners, then maybe it wasn't.
Ed: It's also got to account for the quality of intellect you have on the panel with you. You're going to have to maybe sometimes.
Tim Wildmon: I tell people there are four of us here. You've got 25% brain power coming to fulfill 100%.
Ed: The pie is filled in.
Tim Wildmon: One brain. One brain at a time. One complete brain amongst us. All right. You're listening to Today's Issues. We're just about out of time for this hour. Is there anything else? You got a one-minute story in there or no?
Chris Woodward: I will say that if you are participating in the Make America Healthy Again initiative.
Tim Wildmon: Who's doing that?
Chris Woodward: Several people.
Ed: Muppets?
Chris Woodward: Speaking of burgers, In-N-Out has announced that they're changing a lot of their ingredients, including going with sea salt now instead of the regular table salt.
Tim Wildmon: What is the deal with that? What's the difference between sea salt and regular salt?
Chris Woodward: Supposedly it's better for you. They're leaving their white buns and stuff like that.
Tim Wildmon: In-N-Out, that's not available in our region right now. There are a couple in Tennessee.
Chris Woodward: Nashville is the closest to us.
Tim Wildmon: They're a popular burger chain out west, right?
Chris Woodward: Very popular in California. That's where it got started.
Tim Wildmon: Are they in Texas now? Oklahoma and out that way?
Chris Woodward: Texas, yeah.
Tim Wildmon: I have eaten at In-N-Out Burger before on trips. We were doing a video program once. I do not know what the deal is. I don't know why people think it's so great. To me, it's a very average burger.
Ed: I hear the awkward silence here, but I've never eaten there, so I can't pass judgment. But you just did.
Chris Woodward: Ray likes the animal style.
Tim Wildmon: I think President Trump now tonight is going to promise 5,000 In-N-Out burgers for anybody who votes for Republicans in the election.
Chris Woodward: Which is interesting because he went to Whataburger the day before we bombed Iran.
Tim Wildmon: There you go. Also an average burger place. I don't know, folks, who care what I think. We're going to reset this show and be back in five minutes.
Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Today is Thursday, September the 10th, 2026. Just want to say thank you, everybody who listens to Today's Issues and to American Family Radio throughout the day. We never take our listeners for granted. Well, sometimes we do, but we don't talk about it much. No, we don't take people for granted. We don't take people for granted.
Tim Wildmon: At the time, good morning, Ed.
Ed: Good morning.
Tim Wildmon: I don't take you for granted, Ed.
Ed: Well, thank you, Tim. I appreciate you each and every day.
Tim Wildmon: I have a hard time sometimes figuring out if you're being sincere or not.
Ed: Why do I sometimes come across as insincere?
Tim Wildmon: Answer that sincerely, Ed.
Ed: Okay.
Tim Wildmon: Fred Jackson, good morning.
Fred Jackson: Good morning to you, sir.
Tim Wildmon: And Chris Woodward, good morning. Okay, Fred, let's get this out of the way. What's been banned today coming in from Canada?
Fred Jackson: Today's items and products that would no longer be available to us here in the United States include, yes, well, our listeners don't have to worry about this, we're banning booze from Canada.
Tim Wildmon: Oh well, yeah, most of our listeners aren't partaking of the Canadian booze.
Fred Jackson: However, a little bit later on, I think maple syrup is on the list.
Tim Wildmon: Maple syrup? Oh, not a fan. Yeah, well, I don't use that much unless I go to the Waffle House.
Fred Jackson: And Tim, I regret to inform you, hockey sticks are on the list too.
Tim Wildmon: No, no more hockey sticks from Canada. No, I don't know what we're going to do. Hockey sticks. Real hockey sticks are very expensive.
Fred Jackson: Oh, really?
Tim Wildmon: I used to be able to get them for 25 bucks, but now they're this material. They break easy, but they're like 400 bucks or something. I mean, seriously.
Ed: Do they manufacture most of the hockey sticks that we buy here in the U.S. from Canada, or is that?
Fred Jackson: I think there are manufacturers on this side of the border now, just because there's so many hockey teams and so many people involved with hockey. But there's certain makes, like hockey helmets, CCMs, those sort of things, you may see them on hockey helmets.
Tim Wildmon: So no more of that for a while.
Fred Jackson: No more of that for a while.
Chris Woodward: So for retail prices, I looked this up. This will be fascinating to our listeners.
Ed: I'm riveted.
Chris Woodward: Composite sticks, you're talking about, Fred.
Fred Jackson: It's composite, not just wood.
Chris Woodward: Typically start around 120 to 150. Mid-tier models, 180 to 260. Elite flagship sticks from major brands like Bauer, CCM, and Warrior generally cost between 320 and 400 bucks.
Tim Wildmon: Can you imagine if you're a mom and dad and you want your, I'll say son, involved with hockey, so you go and buy a stick like this for 300 bucks, and in the first three minutes he's on the ice, it breaks?
Fred Jackson: It breaks. Sometimes it'll break just when you're taking a shot.
Tim Wildmon: Oh, I know.
Fred Jackson: Let alone someone hammering it down with their own stick.
Tim Wildmon: Trying to whack somebody.
Fred Jackson: Yeah.
Tim Wildmon: That's all right. That never happens. Now, before we move on here, from someone who doesn't know a lot about hockey, when they get ready to duke it out, the hockey sticks are left on the ice, right?
Fred Jackson: Yes. And the gloves.
Tim Wildmon: You're not supposed to hit someone, right? Okay. So if you take your gloves off, that's when they fight? When you're punching someone, the gloves are going to be off?
Fred Jackson: Now, you will see in what's called a scrum, you know, the football scrums where people are shoving and stuff. You will get like a face wash, where you'll see someone reach over with their glove and rub it in someone's face. It's sweaty.
Tim Wildmon: Oh, man.
Fred Jackson: Yeah, that happens.
Tim Wildmon: Oh, yeah?
Fred Jackson: Yeah, that happens a lot.
Tim Wildmon: What if we did that on this show today? What if we started facewashing?
Ed: That would be, well, I'll tell you what, it probably really would be pretty entertaining for our viewers. We would increase viewership. I know that.
Tim Wildmon: Watch Fred. We'll use Chris as the guinea pig. When he walks in, we'll get him against the wall or something. It's always the little guy. All right, I'm still trying to wrap my head around, you can fight in a hockey game, but you have to take your gloves off because fighting somebody with your gloves on is against the rules.
Fred Jackson: That's, yeah. It's kind of not manly.
Tim Wildmon: Am I right? Is it really against the rules? You really get fined?
Fred Jackson: I don't know if you would get fined, but the players all look down on it. But here's another thing too. There's a practical aspect. You want to grab. You'll see them grab one handful of jersey and then fire away with the other fist. You can't do that with the gloves, too, so there's a practical element to it.
Ed: You're the hockey player, Fred. But there's practical ways to whack the other guy around.
Fred Jackson: A lot of people don't know Gordie Howe was one of the dirtiest players.
Tim Wildmon: One of the most famous hockey players. I remember his name.
Fred Jackson: Red Wings. But when he would go into the corner with his stick, he would hit a guy's ankle, and he'd just keep doing that. After a while, it really irritates the other player.
Tim Wildmon: I can imagine.
Fred Jackson: But you're sneaky about it because you're around no referee, so you just tap the guy.
Ed: That's smart. That's the equivalent of throwing the elbow to the ribs under the basket while everybody's jumping for the ball.
Fred Jackson: Exactly. Exactly.
Tim Wildmon: All right, so there you go, ladies and gentlemen. That is how to play dirty sports, provided to you by America's Family right here on Today's Issues.
Ed: Following Tariff Talk, yeah.
Tim Wildmon: Tariff, well, man, I miss Tariff Talk.
Chris Woodward: We can't back up. We do have a little Tariff Talk right here.
Tim Wildmon: I don't know. The latest item came by, maple syrup does concern me. I'm going to watch that. I'm going to watch what happens there.
Chris Woodward: Being the news guy, I find trying to do Tariff Talk to be very taxing.
Tim Wildmon: Right. How far away is your office?
Ed: The gloves have come off.
Tim Wildmon: Tariff Talk just seems like a segment on All Things Considered on National Public Radio.
Ed: This is sponsored by listeners like you. Next up, Tariff Talk. Ten dollars will give you a tote bag.
Tim Wildmon: A tote bag. A tote bag. Okay. So, Christopher, bring forth unto us the news of the day.
Chris Woodward: You know, the man largely responsible for imposing tariffs on places like Canada is President Donald Trump. Yesterday he spoke at day one of a two-day convention.
Tim Wildmon: Always making the day.
Chris Woodward: Yeah, he's scheduled to speak again today. But it's the GOP's first-ever midterm convention, happening in Dallas, Texas. The president came out and spoke. He talked about a number of the candidates that are in very close elections, and he told voters, listen, my name's not on the ballot this November. I'm not running for reelection this November. But I want you to pretend as if my name is on the ballot this November, because things that I ran on, things that you voted me into office for, all of that is out the window if Democrats regain control of the House and Senate.
Chris Woodward: Here's but a portion of the examples he gave.
Donald Trump: Because if we lose, you're going to lose your border. You're going to lose your tax cuts. You're going to lose your safety and security.
Chris Woodward: He went on from there. But he went on to basically say that, listen, if you don't show up to vote for these Republicans, everything I ran for is out the window because Democrats are not going to fund it and they're going to fight me tooth and nail for it.
Tim Wildmon: Well, and a lot of people during midterms will stay home because this is not a presidential election. Some people during presidential elections only go to vote for the top of the ticket and don't vote what's called down ballot.
Ed: Never understood that.
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I know. You're there. Why not? Why not just make an X on the party of your choice? So he is trying to drive. It's going to be very important for turnout. Turnout will probably decide things for whether or not Republicans keep a lot of these seats.
Chris Woodward: Something that may help with turnout is a promise that he made to American voters yesterday. You may want to sit down for this one. The president, the leader of the free world and the most powerful man in America, is promising Americans money if Republicans win the House and Senate. Don't take my word for it. Hear from the man himself.
Donald Trump: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend, very much like a successful company will do a cash distribution to its shareholders.
Chris Woodward: If anybody is wondering what this might cost people, the early estimates, which are usually wrong because they're the initial knee-jerk reaction estimates, we're already looking at a trillion dollars.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, just going to let me say it. You guys stand back. I'll take the incoming fire.
Ed: It depends what you're about to say.
Tim Wildmon: I'll take some of that. Incoming fire. He can't do any of that. What he just said, that's garbage. So I'm sorry. Listen, I have to say this every time because people say, Tim, why are you against Trump? I'm not against Trump. I voted for him how many times? In fact, we were just talking before the show. If he was on the ballot again against some Democrat, I'd vote for him again. So I'm not against Trump, but you have to be honest about things that he says that are outlandish or nutty.
Tim Wildmon: What he does when he does stuff like what he just did right there, he makes it very hard for other Republicans who are running to defend that kind of stuff because that's all they get asked about. You're running for House of Representatives, what do you think about Trump's $5,000 a person for bribery if you vote for Republicans? That's what it sounds like, bribery. I use that term. It's not technically bribery. But what do you call it when you say, if you vote Republican, we'll give you $5,000 for every person who does it if we win? What do you call it?
Ed: That is bribery. That is the very definition of bribery.
Tim Wildmon: The Democrats could come back and say, well, I'll tell you what, if you vote Democrat, we'll give you $10,000. You know what we'd say then? You can't do that. You can't do that.
Ed: I will deflect some of the hostility from some of our listeners who are Trump fans. Listen, I think his heart is in the right place. He knows people are suffering.
Tim Wildmon: Why? I thought we were in the best economic situation ever. You just heard him say that.
Ed: No, I know. We all know that, for most Americans, that's not true. But I think he wants to help, but he doesn't have the authority to do that. Congress is the one who has to make funding choices. They have the purse strings. You'd have to get Congress on board. Remember, he had promised a DOGE dividend when they were looking for ways to cut fraud and waste.
Chris Woodward: This is the second time, I think, that he has talked about a tariff dividend.
Tim Wildmon: Well, no, he talked about a Trump. He said he's going to call it a Trump dividend.
Chris Woodward: A $5,000 a person.
Tim Wildmon: Didn't he at one point say a tariff dividend?
Chris Woodward: He threw that idea out there as well, and some people are wondering whether or not he would use the tariff money for this dividend, should it actually become reality.
Tim Wildmon: He can't do it. Listen, we would all love to get a magical $5,000. Every one of us would.
Ed: We need some hockey sticks.
Tim Wildmon: Everyone could use an extra $5,000. But giving every adult in the country $5,000 is going to increase inflation. This is what happened with the COVID checks that came out during COVID when everything was shut down. I understand people needed to have money, but most economists say that quick infusion of cash into the economy contributed at least in part to inflation. We're talking about something that the president of the United States is talking about which is totally and completely unrealistic. I don't know who told him this is a good idea to bring up.
Tim Wildmon: This isn't a company that you invest in on the stock market and you get a dividend. Back during COVID, we, the American people, got money from the federal government because it was a time of economic crisis. I understand that, but the president of the United States alone can't issue $5,000. Where is he going to get the money from? He doesn't have the money to do that. He has to get that from Congress. Anyway, I don't know what he's doing there with that. So now, what else we got from the midterm or the convention?
Chris Woodward: The midterm convention is what it's called. At least one Democrat appeared last night at this convention, and that Democrat is Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. He appeared in a video message, but it was part of an introduction that Fetterman was giving for his Republican colleague, Dave McCormick, a man he's gotten to know a lot, and they've worked well together on a number of things. Fetterman went on to say that, hey, I continue to support my Republican colleague because we're going to work together on things like steel and jobs and whatnot.
John Fetterman: With America, I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life. Dave McCormick is the kind of senator that gets the job done, and he's going to fight for Pennsylvania. I'm proud to count him as my friend. Right back over my shoulder, that's the iconic U.S. steel mill, and that's exactly the kind of thing that we'll work together and we'll work with President Trump to fight and defend, the steel way of life right here in the Steel Valley. I have this opportunity to introduce this great American, a great senator, and yes, he's in a different party, but I'm proud to count him as my great friend. So for everybody in Dallas, I'm here to introduce Dave McCormick.
Chris Woodward: And then McCormick walks out on the stage at that point.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. There are two senators, obviously, from Pennsylvania, Fetterman being one, a Democrat, and McCormick being another, Republican. He was introducing him. I got it. Okay. Well, listen, I kind of miss some of that. I kind of miss some of that where both political parties had respect for one another. They laid down their hockey sticks.
Ed: Lay down their hockey sticks. Didn't take off their gloves too. They put their gloves on. Best for the country.
Tim Wildmon: Yeah. I do miss some of that. I don't know that we'll ever see that again in our lifetimes. Of course, me and Fred, you know, we don't have as many years left, so when I say our lifetime, that may not be that long. But maybe Brent Creeley, our producer, and Chris Woodward, maybe in their lifetime, they may see some of that.
Chris Woodward: I bet John Fetterman gets primaried.
Tim Wildmon: Well, they said yesterday in a story Fred posted on AFN that Democrats are talking about primarying him in 2028.
Ed: He'll have to swap parties.
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he won't, though. He's already said he's not going to switch parties.
Ed: I guess what about go independent?
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he's having too much fun right now with the Democrats. He really is. He's become Joe Manchin number two. I remember Joe Manchin gave them a lot of grief, the Democrats.
Chris Woodward: And he is so counter to, I mean, he's very pro-Israel, which is running counter to the anti-Semitism that you see.
Tim Wildmon: Is he Jewish? Does he have Jewish heritage?
Chris Woodward: Fetterman?
Tim Wildmon: It sounds like a Jewish name.
Chris Woodward: I don't think so.
Tim Wildmon: I'm not sure. We'll check on that.
Ed: But also I think he does wear a Jewish hoodie. I think if you look, he's a different guy. Remember when he first came on the scene with what he wears? You're talking about having the hoodie on all the time, what he wore into the Senate chamber from time to time. He's just a different guy. He's his own guy, and he's going to go according to what he believes, the principles he needs to live by.
Chris Woodward: He has never publicly identified as Jewish. Some online sources incorrectly claim that his mother was Jewish. So he's not Jewish.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right. You're listening to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. Tim, Ed, Fred, and Chris. We've been talking about what's called the midterm convention for the Republicans that's being held in Dallas yesterday and today. When is it over, tonight?
Chris Woodward: It's two days.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. Did Vice President Vance speak?
Chris Woodward: He's talked to media. He is actually going to do a big address tonight as well.
Tim Wildmon: After the midterms are over, JD Vance is probably going to be getting more attention than Donald Trump, the president, because he is the heir apparent and will most likely be the Republican nominee for president. A lot of eyes will be on him and what he says, where he goes, his policies. So that'll be interesting.
Tim Wildmon: I took a survey the other night at an event I was at, on AFA supporters. There were 60 people or so in the room, and I said, close your eyes. I said, raise your hand when I ask this question. I'm going to ask you to choose between JD Vance and Marco Rubio, who your favorite is to run for president, and it was 50-50.
Ed: Really? I can see that.
Tim Wildmon: It was 50-50. Now, any of those people in that room will go for either one, but I'm just saying it was very interesting to me that Marco Rubio, I think that speaks more to the admiration, or the favorability, I guess I should say, that Marco Rubio has developed among Republican voters, especially as he's been elevated to Secretary of State, than it does anything against JD Vance.
Ed: I agree.
Tim Wildmon: Don't you?
Ed: I agree. Marco Rubio is so blooming smart. I mean, he has tons of experience on the international stage. He is a foreign policy expert. He is a conservative. And not to take anything away from JD Vance. JD Vance is kind of the new kid on the block and has many more years ahead of him. He's a little bit more of a dynamic speaker than Marco Rubio, who can be very matter-of-fact when he speaks. But my appreciation, like you're talking about, my appreciation for Marco Rubio has grown since the Iran war started. That's when I hear him talk.
Tim Wildmon: As I mentioned here before, if you read about their relationship, Marco Rubio and JD Vance are very tight. They're very good friends. So I don't think they're going to run against each other.
Chris Woodward: In fact, Rubio has said as much, hasn't he?
Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I think so. But it's an interesting place for Rubio in his career, because think about it, he's been a U.S. senator from Florida. By the way, he's a guy who ages well. He still looks very young. I, on the other hand.
Ed: We weren't going to say anything about you, Chris. Sorry. We all have our place in the world.
Chris Woodward: I don't know where I'm going with this, so I'm going to stop.
Tim Wildmon: Your brains make up for it, Chris. Don't worry about it, man. Your brains make up for the fact that you look ancient.
Chris Woodward: My brains make up for it.
Ed: Some of us age quicker than others.
Chris Woodward: That's true.
Ed: News will do that to you.
Tim Wildmon: He's 55, though. Rubio was, no, I was going to say no spring chicken. That's still young compared to a lot of politicians in D.C.
Ed: Oh yeah. Middle-aged for a politician in D.C. is 79.
Chris Woodward: Probably. You're probably right.
Tim Wildmon: That's when they enter their prime, or so they think. Well, I guess what I'm saying is, if he decides and says, no, I want to be loyal to the vice president. If he runs, I am not going to run. Maybe he becomes vice president for a presidential candidate or whatever. But if he waited eight years, he would only be 65.
Ed: I hope you're right, brother.
Tim Wildmon: Eight years?
Ed: Yeah, eight years of Vance.
Tim Wildmon: I hope you're right about that. But let me just say this. Here's the interesting place that Marco Rubio is in his career. But 55, for a politician, especially a national one, he's still young. But he's been a U.S. senator from Florida, and then he now is Secretary of State, and he's ten years older than Vance, right? Or more.
Chris Woodward: He's also national security adviser, too. Vance is a little bit younger than me, about a couple of years.
Tim Wildmon: So how old is Vance?
Chris Woodward: Early 40s.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, so here's my point. If you have a JD Vance and he's going to run for president, would you want, if you're Marco Rubio, would you really want to move from being Secretary of State, which is arguably more prestigious than even vice president, to be JD Vance's running mate and wait your eight years under the best-case scenario for Republicans? You wait eight years. You see what I'm saying? But I don't know where you go with Marco Rubio. The only place up would be, well, you could be vice president, but it would be president other than that. I thought maybe he might run for governor of Florida, but he didn't do that. So I don't know. Maybe he'll continue as Secretary of State if JD Vance is elected.
Tim Wildmon: But I do think JD Vance and Marco Rubio would be a dynamic ticket, and I think they would be hard to beat. I don't think the Democrats want to face a JD Vance-Marco Rubio ticket.
Tim Wildmon: Welcome back everybody to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. Adam, Ed, Fred, and Chris. I want to say hello to our friends in our new state of New America, and you are located between Texas and Arizona.
Chris Woodward: The president did say that. I mean, he did last night. We have the audio.
Tim Wildmon: What did he say? Do we really have the audio?
Chris Woodward: We do.
Tim Wildmon: All right, we'll save it for later. Stick around. That's what they call a deep tease. Stick around. Tell me he didn't say that. All right. Well, I mean, now you got to do it.
Chris Woodward: Now you got to me, huh?
Tim Wildmon: You got a story now?
Chris Woodward: No, we got to get Frank.
Tim Wildmon: Who cares? He lives in. All right, Frank Turek. Good morning, Frank.
Frank Turek: Good morning.
Tim Wildmon: Isn't that kind of like George Bush saying "strategery"?
Ed: Mission accomplished.
Tim Wildmon: No, I don't think so. Mispronouncing a word and renaming a state, it's not exactly on par.
Frank Turek: What state did he rename?
Tim Wildmon: Can we just play? How long do you have, Frank?
Frank Turek: Go ahead. Go ahead.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, we'll go over to the news desk. What do you got?
Chris Woodward: In addition to renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America and then renaming Lake Ontario Lake America, the trade war with our neighbors to the north, now he's talking about giving a jab to Mexico by renaming the state of New Mexico New America.
Donald Trump: We think it should be called New America. New America. I'll tell you, the people love the idea. I don't know about the radical left. I'm sure they don't like it. But the people of New America, your neighbor is called New America.
Tim Wildmon: What do you think, Frank?
Frank Turek: Trump's doing what the left does, rebranding everything. You know how the left had to rename all the bases and had to tear down all the statues and had to have a man be called a woman and a woman be called a man, and had to call abortion healthcare, and also say that mutilating children's genitalia was gender-affirming care. The left is notorious for renaming things because that's the only way they can cover much of their evil. Trump is just trying to rebrand everything America because he's all about America.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, Frank. You need to work for the White House, brother.
Frank Turek: Forget it. I don't care. I'm just saying it's kind of hypocritical for the left to be all upset about this when that's all they do. They rename what they are.
Tim Wildmon: Okay, guys. We'll go with it. All right, New America. Albuquerque, New America. You're passing through there. Frank is from not-so-South North Carolina. All right, what do we got? Brother Frank, where are you today and what are you doing?
Frank Turek: I'm in Utah. This is the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk being murdered. We were here exactly one year ago at Utah Valley University. Tonight we are doing a memorial service for Charlie, celebrating his life, talking about his legacy. I'll be one of the speakers along with Glenn Beck and Michael Knowles and Mikey McCoy and several others. There will also be a worship team. People can watch it. It's going to be streamed, I believe, on the TPUSA YouTube channel at 8:30 Eastern, 7:30 Central.
Tim Wildmon: You know, it's still hard to believe it. I know, Frank, it's a totally different level for you because you were there that day that Charlie Kirk was assassinated, just feet away, and it all unfolded live before you. But it still seems surreal even today to have watched that on television and to be here. I think we were here live on the air when it happened, and we're all going, what? Assassinated?
Tim Wildmon: I just ask people to say a prayer for you and for Erika and for all those who were there that day who are sort of having to relive that in their minds, brother.
Frank Turek: Yeah, well, Erika is the one obviously that affects the most, so please continue to pray for her. She's a very strong woman. In fact, I think she's so strong that if the roles had been reversed and she had been the one that was killed, I don't even know if Charlie would have dealt with this past year as well as she has. She has faithfully looked straight ahead, concentrated on the Lord, concentrated on her kids, concentrated on leading TPUSA. She's quite inspirational. In fact, she wrote the foreword for our new book, The One Reality, and you don't even need to buy the book to read it. Just go to Amazon or Christianbook. If you go to Amazon, you'll see editorial comments there. You can read her whole foreword. It was quite profound.
Fred Jackson: Frank, it's Fred here. Are you on campus yet?
Frank Turek: I will be tonight. I'm just off campus right now.
Fred Jackson: Okay. I understand that the classes were canceled for today in honor of Charlie Kirk. There are some students planning a protest against the event where you'll be speaking tonight.
Frank Turek: That's what I've heard, and I'm sure it's in the name of inclusion, tolerance, and diversity, right? People want to protest a man's murder, or protest celebrating a man who was murdered. It reminds me of what Charlie tweeted way back in 2016. He put out a tweet that said, you can tell a lot about someone by how they react after someone dies. If you are mocking or protesting the celebration of an upright man who was simply answering questions on a college campus, if you're protesting the celebration of his life, there's something very dark in your soul.
Tim Wildmon: There are a lot of people who celebrated Charlie Kirk's assassination. I mean, that's as depraved, I think, as you get.
Chris Woodward: This is from several years ago. Now, some people view today's young people as the problem with America. Charlie saw them as the solution, and that's one of the reasons why TPUSA would go out on campuses. He would talk to students and do the Q&As like he was doing this time last year in Utah. Here is an old clip from several years ago of him on Fox News Channel explaining why it is that he and other TPUSA officials spend so much time on campuses.
Charlie Kirk: A university is supposed to be a place where disagreement, the free flow of ideas happen, where people can say, I respect your opinion, but I respectfully disagree. Universities are no longer those places. They are really islands of totalitarianism, where if you disagree with the faculty, the professors, the administration, or the left-wing students on campus, you can't respectfully disagree. You will be silenced, you will be suppressed, and you will be called a racist. And look, we as an organization are going to use every single weapon in our inventory to try to fight back against this.
Tim Wildmon: Frank, you do the same thing as Charlie did. There are others as well who go to college campuses on purpose. Speak to that a little bit about why you continue to, I don't want you to get a big head here, but a lot of times at lunch, I will watch some YouTube videos of you on college campuses to learn. Talk a little bit about that impulse to go to where these young people are. A lot of them are very confused, whether they know it or not, but they really are the future. For Christ to reach them, Christians have to reach out.
Frank Turek: Well, Charlie was right, as you could see, that they will suppress you. That's what happened one year ago today, that he was suppressed by an assassin's bullet. Now, thankfully, all the assassin did was change Charlie's address. He's absent from the body, present with the Lord. He's not with us anymore.
Frank Turek: But we have to go to college campuses because college campuses are pretty much the most anti-Christian pieces of real estate in America. They war against reality. They war against the author of reality, which is God. Now, there are exceptions. You have your Libertys, you have your Hillsdales, you have some schools out there that still teach the truth. But so many of them have been overcome by leftist Marxist ideology, where they claim they're all about inclusion, tolerance, and diversity, but they will be the first to not tolerate, not include you for holding diverse views. In some cases, as you know, it even leads to violence.
Frank Turek: In fact, there was a survey done right after Charlie was murdered and found out that 3% of very conservative people think it's okay to sometimes use violence to advance a political viewpoint, but 25% of very liberal people thought it was okay to sometimes use violence to advance a political viewpoint. Why are very liberal people more than eight times more likely to be violent to advance political viewpoints than conservatives? My theory is because they can't really debate their issues with reason, facts, logic, history. That's why they emote.
Tim Wildmon: That's true. I also think added to that is most people on the conservative side try to live up to biblical standards, which forbids violence against people and forbids murder. But you've got people on the political left, again, not all of them, as you cited, but you did say 20-something percent, there's nothing restraining them except maybe the law, because there's no God to answer to. If they kill somebody in the name of their cause, in their minds they're justified. That's why the left mocked Charlie Kirk's murder. They didn't see anything wrong with the murder.
Tim Wildmon: I was reading yesterday, you know this Pete Davidson character? He's a comedian from SNL. He's no longer on that show, but he's a comedian. He does commercials and stuff like that. After Charlie Kirk was murdered, at some event, he was making a joke about it. It was like a roast of somebody, and he was making a joke. I thought, really? You're making a joke about a man who's just been murdered?
Tim Wildmon: Anyway, I don't know if that was true of a lot of Hollywood celebrities. I know that even, who was it, Cher or somebody said, or Barbara Streisand, one of them said, you know, you shouldn't be doing that, which I commend. This was a left-winger, but it was an older person who comes from a more civilized time in our country's history. Maybe it was Jamie Lee Curtis, the actress, who was saying, this is terrible, sad. I may disagree with the guy, but this is not a moment to make light of him or make fun of him, say he deserved it.
Tim Wildmon: Anyway, Frank, your new book is out. Where can people get it?
Frank Turek: The One Reality, Christianbook.com, also Amazon.com. You can read the foreword that Erika wrote at Amazon. It just came out a couple of days ago. It's dedicated to Charlie. The first chapter is "Murder on Campus." It's all about what happened really up to that day, that awful day a year ago today, and what has happened since. Then we go through so many other issues where people are denying reality, and we're using logic, reason, scripture, to try and bring people back to reality.
Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right, Frank, we'll pray for you today. Have a good day. I was going to say have a good day. It's a sobering day, a somber day, but at the same time we will pray that you have a good day remembering our dear brother Charlie Kirk, and remember his wife, his widow, and the team there.
Frank Turek: Thank you, brother. Appreciate it.
Tim Wildmon: Thank you, brother. That's Frank Turek taking time out of his time there in Utah, back on campus, the very place that Charlie Kirk was killed last year.
Ed: And you can tell Frank is, that was Dr. Frank Turek, folks just tuning in. He's normally a very chipper person, but this was weighing on him. He was present, feet away. He was trying to resuscitate Charlie after the assassination.
Tim Wildmon: Got in the car to the hospital.
Ed: He got in the car to the hospital. Frank and others, including Erika Kirk, have also suffered these wild accusations about their part in it. People are just losing their minds. They're so suspicious and so given over to conspiracy theories. I don't know how people can logically think that Erika had something to do with this. So that's an additional weight upon people like Frank Turek.
Tim Wildmon: Remember, the people were asking about him in the video.
Ed: Yes. We talked to him on this very show about that. They were saying he was signaling the shooter with his hat. He was just simply adjusting his hat because it was a sunny day.
Tim Wildmon: Anyway, folks, please pray for Dr. Frank Turek and others who will be honoring Charlie Kirk. Pray for Erika and her family and TPUSA that they will continue to be able to reach young people on college campuses.
Tim Wildmon: You're listening to the radio program Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening. Tim, Ed, Fred, and Chris. Chris, what's next?
Chris Woodward: Seminary graduate and Senate candidate James Talarico is no longer of the opinion that there are six genders. I say that because Fox caught up with him yesterday in Texas to ask him about why he said that before, several times.
Tim Wildmon: He said it several times.
Chris Woodward: He said things like God is non-binary, there are six genders, all kinds of gobbledygook kind of stuff.
Tim Wildmon: He was asked about it by Fox News yesterday. For those who don't know, he's the Democratic senatorial candidate in Texas and is in a close race with Ken Paxton, the AG, who's the Republican candidate. So Talarico was asked about his comments about God, about how many genders there are, and so that's what we're about to hear.
Reporter: During the 2021 hearing, you said there are six biological sexes. Do you still believe that standing here?
James Talarico: No, I've missed the mark on some of my past statements. I will be the first to admit it. What I meant is that there are two sexes, and then there's a small percentage of people with genetic abnormalities. Obviously, I didn't say it correctly. There are not six sexes. There are two. And I think the reason that politicians in that convention center across the street want to talk about six sexes is because they don't want to talk about $6 diesel. Everywhere I go across the state of Texas, people are struggling to survive in this economy. They are struggling to afford the basics: groceries, gas, utilities, healthcare. That's what I'm going to be focused on from now until Election Day.
Tim Wildmon: I think what's very smart of the Democrats, and I'm talking about these Democrats that have these far-left extremist views like Talarico does, is they're being very shrewd to do what he just did, that is circle back, if you will, to the kitchen table economics that people do care about, and they care more about that than whether there are six sexes or two sexes. You know what I'm saying? He's very shrewd, as I use the word, these Democrats are, to get away from these far-left agenda items that you can't defend.
Ed: Yeah, and he just, I don't want to say lied, he repackaged what he said earlier. In 2021, he said six genders. When he was asked about it, he said, well, you know, I was mistaken, what I meant to say. No, he meant to say what he said, but now he knows that's not a good position. You don't want to try to defend that territory. So he did, to your point, Tim, this is absolutely politics 101. You pivot away from your mistakes and talk about the things that people care about most.
Ed: The Democrats understand they do not want to go into the midterms defending far-left socialist wackiness unless you live in New York. You want to attack the Republicans where they're most vulnerable, and they're most vulnerable, as all political parties are on either side of the aisle, when things are not going well economically. Despite what the president said last night at the midterm convention, the economy does not seem to be great for the average American. They're struggling to pay their bills, get groceries, put gas in the car.
Tim Wildmon: Six-dollar diesel, is that what he said?
Ed: Oh yeah, six-dollar diesel.
Chris Woodward: Average for diesel.
Tim Wildmon: So he knew this kind of question was coming. That's why he pivoted from six genders to six-dollar diesel. It was a smart move. The guy's a smooth operator.
Ed: Yes.
Tim Wildmon: Just like when I hear him talk. Of course, he's sort of baby-faced, right? He looks younger than, how old is he?
Chris Woodward: I'll look it up here.
Fred Jackson: He's also pivoting on remarks that he's made in the past. He was for gender mutilation, gender surgeries. He's switched also on men and girls sports.
Tim Wildmon: He switched with what?
Fred Jackson: Well, he was okay with guys playing in girls sports. Now he's moved away from that.
Tim Wildmon: Did he really move away from him?
Fred Jackson: Yes.
Chris Woodward: Here's the thing that is kind of interesting. He did this interview with Fox in the last 48 hours, shortly after the Republicans came out with an ad that tracked all of the statements that he has made in the past. He's hoping by doing this interview, I'll just erase all of those things.
Ed: It reminded me of when Rick Warren way back, when Obama.
Tim Wildmon: The pastor?
Ed: Yes. He sponsored a debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. That was in 2008 or 2012.
Tim Wildmon: 2008.
Ed: 2008, yeah. Remember Barack Obama? Boy, yeah, I'm not sure where I am with abortion, or I'd take a stand on that, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. When Barack Obama got elected, he flipped right over again.
Chris Woodward: It was on gay marriage.
Ed: Yeah, and said I'm opposed to gay marriage.
Chris Woodward: Yes, in that. But he was clearly not.
Ed: He admitted later, or it was in a book, I think, by one of his advisers, that he knew that he could not win as much support.
Tim Wildmon: Are you telling me politicians tell whoppers? Is this what you're telling me? All politicians are cooks at Burger King? Is that what you're telling me?
Ed: Cooks at Burger King?
Tim Wildmon: They have it your way.
Ed: Oh, have it your way.
Tim Wildmon: All right. Did anybody get that joke? Adam, do you get it now?
Adam: I get it now. Yes, sir. I get it now.
Tim Wildmon: Tell a whopper.
Ed: Cook a whopper.
Tim Wildmon: Cook up a whopper. Do all politicians act like cooks at Burger King? I thought that was a good joke. Of course, Trump worked at McDonald's. But if it went over the heads of some of my colleagues here and our listeners, then maybe it wasn't.
Ed: It's also got to account for the quality of intellect you have on the panel with you. You're going to have to maybe sometimes.
Tim Wildmon: I tell people there are four of us here. You've got 25% brain power coming to fulfill 100%.
Ed: The pie is filled in.
Tim Wildmon: One brain. One brain at a time. One complete brain amongst us. All right. You're listening to Today's Issues. We're just about out of time for this hour. Is there anything else? You got a one-minute story in there or no?
Chris Woodward: I will say that if you are participating in the Make America Healthy Again initiative.
Tim Wildmon: Who's doing that?
Chris Woodward: Several people.
Ed: Muppets?
Chris Woodward: Speaking of burgers, In-N-Out has announced that they're changing a lot of their ingredients, including going with sea salt now instead of the regular table salt.
Tim Wildmon: What is the deal with that? What's the difference between sea salt and regular salt?
Chris Woodward: Supposedly it's better for you. They're leaving their white buns and stuff like that.
Tim Wildmon: In-N-Out, that's not available in our region right now. There are a couple in Tennessee.
Chris Woodward: Nashville is the closest to us.
Tim Wildmon: They're a popular burger chain out west, right?
Chris Woodward: Very popular in California. That's where it got started.
Tim Wildmon: Are they in Texas now? Oklahoma and out that way?
Chris Woodward: Texas, yeah.
Tim Wildmon: I have eaten at In-N-Out Burger before on trips. We were doing a video program once. I do not know what the deal is. I don't know why people think it's so great. To me, it's a very average burger.
Ed: I hear the awkward silence here, but I've never eaten there, so I can't pass judgment. But you just did.
Chris Woodward: Ray likes the animal style.
Tim Wildmon: I think President Trump now tonight is going to promise 5,000 In-N-Out burgers for anybody who votes for Republicans in the election.
Chris Woodward: Which is interesting because he went to Whataburger the day before we bombed Iran.
Tim Wildmon: There you go. Also an average burger place. I don't know, folks, who care what I think. We're going to reset this show and be back in five minutes.
President Trump addressed the GOP's first-ever midterm convention in Dallas and promised a $5,000 dividend to every adult citizen if Republicans win the House and Senate. Host Tim Wildmon strongly challenged the proposal as unrealistic and inflationary, saying it would burden down-ballot Republican candidates. The panel also discussed Senator John Fetterman's video appearance introducing Republican colleague Dave McCormick.
Frank Turek joined the program on the one-year anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination at Utah Valley University. Turek reflected on being present during the attack, the memorial service scheduled for tonight, and his new book The One Reality. He addressed campus intolerance, a survey showing higher support for political violence among liberals than conservatives, and defended his wife Erica against conspiracy theories.
Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico told Fox News he no longer believes there are six genders, walking back his 2021 comments and pivoting to economic issues. The panel analyzed his reversal as strategic maneuvering in a tight race against Republican Ken Paxton. The hosts also discussed JD Vance's convention address, Marco Rubio's rising stature, and President Trump's comment about renaming New Mexico.
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