Tim Wildman hosts Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network
>> Don Wildmon: If we lose this cultural war, we're going to have a hedonistic, humanistic society.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Discover the story of the culture warrior Don Wildmon and how he went head to head with Hollywood playboy, the homosexual agenda and the Disney empire. The movement Don started paved the way for Christians to boldly stand for truth and righteousness in a hostile culture. Watch Culture Warrior today for free visit culturewarrior movie.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Welcome to today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Huh?
>> Jeff Chamblee: Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning everybody and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. I'm Tim Wildmon. Today is Monday, January 5, 2026. Joining me in studios, Ed Battagliano. Good morning, NewSong. Happy NewSong Year.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Good morning. And happy NewSong Year to you, Tim.
>> Tim Wildmon: Fred Jackson.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes, likewise to you guys.
>> Tim Wildmon: Happy NewSong Year. It is. They did do the new year in, Canada too, right?
>> Fred Jackson: No, we're still in.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. I don't know if you ran by your own rules up there or what.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Your own calendar, bunch of radicals there.
>> Fred Jackson: separate time zone.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Still in 2025. Still in 2025 for another three weeks. Then if we feel like it, we'll move to 2026.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. All right, well, listen, thanks for joining us everybody.
Fred: We're going to return to music. No, we. Wow. Uh, not much has happened recently
because, not much has happened in the last few, days. We're going to return to music. No, we. Wow. I mean, we haven't been live on this show and I don't know how. A few days last Wednesday, I think, but since then, My word. Fred. what.
>> Fred Jackson: Let me give you the headlines.
Former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife face drug charges in New York
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, give us the headlines.
>> Fred Jackson: former, Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, one hour from now will appear in a NewSong York City courtroom to answer to charges of their drug running through the years. That's one headline. we now have Zorant, Mamdani as the mayor of NewSong York City. And if there was any doubts that he is a Marxist communist, I think we'll be able to prove that to you this morning from comments that he has made already as the new mayor there. And if that's not enough, just a few moments ago the Democrat governor of Minnesota, Tim Waltz announced he will not seek a third term. He announced four months ago he was seeking a third term, but he announced he's quitting this morning, as bid for a third term. And that's amidst of the scandal that we have talked about on this show. The, billions of dollars in taxpayers money that certain entities in Minnesota have taken advantage of since COVID really. And, many people have said that Tim Walsh was well aware of this, but kept his mouth shut because he was dependent on votes, largely from the Somali community. But 100 people have been indicted already on that, scandal, most of them from the Somali community. So that's what's happening in this first day.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm wondering if Governor Tim Waltz has announced he's not going to run for reelection in Minnesota because he wants to be the new president of Venezuela. There is an opening.
>> Fred Jackson: There's an opening.
>> Tim Wildmon: And I don't know how he would fare, there, but there is an opening.
>> Ed Vitagliano: my word, he'd be popular amongst the communists down in Venezuela. But that's a minority.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that's true. So the United States, went into, with, you know, President Trump's, authorization, went in and. And, militarily did an operation to remove, Madero. What's his first name?
>> Fred Jackson: Nicholas.
>> Tim Wildmon: Nicholas Maduro. Maduro, yes. And his wife, from their residence in Caracas, which is the capital of Venezuela. And then, they did a tour of the Caribbean before they finally arrived in NewSong York City.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think they went to a. The commandos, the unit, the U.S.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Army Delta Force.
>> Tim Wildmon: Delta Force. It's the Special forces of the Army.
>> Fred Jackson: That's correct.
>> Tim Wildmon: They went in and conducted an operation which they had been planning for months, I guess, maybe longer, who knows? And, did some bombing, and then, went in and took him and his wife. Maduro took him to a ship, out in the, Caribbean, and then from there, I think, to Guantanamo Bay, maybe.
>> Fred Jackson: And then flew them to NewSong York.
>> Tim Wildmon: To NewSong York City?
>> Fred Jackson: Yep.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. So I've described what happened, basically.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: It just happened. All went down on what, Saturday, Late Friday night?
>> Fred Jackson: Early Saturday morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Fred Jackson: and much praise is being given to our military, and rightly so. It was an incredible operation. More than 100 aircraft involved overhead, helicopters, soldiers being airlifted, in, Maduro, his home, you said, his residence, he actually lived on a military base, well guarded, but they had so much great information that they were able to get in there. there were fatalities, certainly on the Venezuelan side. We're told, actually, that Maduro had a security detail made up mostly of Cubans. And, they were eliminated in the operation. They got them out. No loss of life to the Americans. There was one aircraft. American aircraft damaged, but it made it back home with no problem at all. So it was an. The execution of the operation was absolutely incredible.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, yeah, my Understanding was that like you said, Fred, we had so much information prior to this operation that, Delta Force had actually built a replica.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes, they did.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Of the Maduro compound.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And so they, you know, they knew. No, you could take, you take a right here, not a left, that kind of thing. They had. And they trained.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: For, for this. Listen, if the United States parks a aircraft carrier task force group off your coast or in your vicinity, you better pay attention.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because we may not always use it, but it's there for a reason.
>> Fred Jackson: Well, and there were certainly lots of warnings that President Trump was not happy. We've been blowing these narcotic laden boats out of the water. More than 100 people have been killed in that. Marco Rubio, our Secretary of State, in one of the briefings since, this happened early Saturday morning, said Maduro, as late as last week, was given other options. Secretary of State. he said, very generous option. I think generous was the term that he used. Supposedly he could go to another country and he refused to do that.
>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, exile.
>> Fred Jackson: Exile, right. and, they were actually planning to do this.
>> Tim Wildmon: He should have taken that deal.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, he should. That's what, that's what Marco Rubio said. He should have taken the deal.
>> Tim Wildmon: you've chosen unwisely.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's from, Indiana.
>> Tim Wildmon: Indiana Jones.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, that's correct. That's a great quote.
President Trump said we're basically in charge of Venezuela now
>> Fred Jackson: Now, of course, the reaction to all of this somewhat, expected. Democrats are saying this is terrible. It's illegal, what the President did. And a lot of attention has been paid to what President Trump said in that briefing on Saturday morning after the exercise where he said, we're basically in charge of Venezuela now. I want to play you a little bit. And he repeated it aboard Air Force One last night. Cut number 12. Who's in charge of Venezuela right now?
>> Hakeem Jeffries: Have you spoken to the newly sworn.
>> Ed Vitagliano: In president there, Rodriguez?
>> Donald Trump: We're dealing with the people. We're dealing with the people that just got sworn in. And, don't ask me who's in charge, because I'll give you an answer and it'll be very controversial.
>> Tim Wildmon: What does that mean?
>> Donald Trump: We're in charge?
>> Ed Vitagliano: You've been spoken with her?
>> Donald Trump: No, no, I haven't, but other people have.
>> Don Wildmon: Yeah, at the right time, I will.
>> Fred Jackson: so there you have it. So what happened was at the briefing he said, we're in charge. Initially, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, kind of walked that back a little bit. No, we're not governing in Venezuela. but then, you know, in the last 12 hours or so, they've kind of gone back to this idea that the vice president down there who immediately, after this extradition, said, condemned the United States. But now she has walked that back somewhat, saying, we're going to work with the United States. So at the front end, President Trump is saying, this is about, you know, we're putting the end to the drug dealing, et cetera, et cetera. But I think there's another important factor in all of this, and Trump addressed this also. It's about the oil in Venezuela. Cut number 13.
>> Donald Trump: The country is a mess. It's been horribly run. The oil is just flowing at a very low level. We're going to have the big oil companies go in and they're going to fix the infrastructure and they're going to invest money. We're not going to invest anything. We're going to just take care of the country. We need total access. We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, venezuela in the 1950s, I looked this up to make sure my memory was serving me correctly. Venezuela was the fourth wealthiest country in the world in the 1950s. And that is because it was a petro state. Right. Its main source of income. Now, when I say fourth wealthiest, that means according to gdp, gross domestic product, it was a petro state, meaning their primary source of income was oil. My understanding, I'm not a geologist, obviously, they, the oil that is in the, in Venezuela is a, what they call a heavy crude. It's, difficult to extract. So way back when, I don't know, 30s, 40s, whenever, maybe the 50s, they asked the United States and these companies to come in to their country and build the infrastructure, and then you share the wealth. Okay. And that's how Venezuela, the people became so wealthy. and so what the communists did, Hugo Chavez first and then Maduro kept this going, is they said, guess what? All that stuff you guys built here, well, we're taking over now. And apparently, they. It was not run well like President Trump said, and the nation is now one of the poorest. And I can hear the socialists and communist sympathizers now. Well, it wasn't real communism, but this is what communism does. This is what we're going to see later on here in the program. It's probably going to happen in NewSong York City. This is what this evil ideology does, that a country goes from one of the wealthiest, one of the wealthiest, period in Central and South America, fourth wealthiest in terms of gdp, and this is what people say, oh, it's only about the oil. Well, all these companies that had put. Had built the American structure. Yeah. American companies, they had invested, and their help had made Venezuela so wealthy, the US Said, you know what? It's time for that to go back under. So that's how Venezuela can return to being a wealthy country and rebuilding the infrastructure. Whatever you think about how this got done, you know, there will be people on the left saying this is illegal, the people on the right saying this is not a good foreign policy, whatever, put that on a separate shelf for a different argument. This is good for the people of Venezuela, and unless they're communists, they know it, and they've been cheering around the world.
>> Fred Jackson: Now, as expected, many Democrats. Not all. Many Democrats are certainly condemning this. And, let's go with cut number 10.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It's a violation of the law to do what they did without getting the authorization of Congress. Clearly, this is wildly illegal. This is a president who has been operating, illegally since he was sworn into office. He's a bad guy. But we pledge an oath to the Constitution, Jackie. And the Constitution does not give the president the power to initiate military action.
>> Hakeem Jeffries: This was not simply a counternarcotics operation. It was an act of war.
>> Tim Wildmon: Now, what we heard there were voices of leading Democrats, not all of them identified there. Chuck Schumer, I recognized his voice at first, but they, So the. The leaders in the Democrat Party have come out strongly condemning President Trump for removing Maduro, Right?
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. John Fetterman, a Democrat senator from Pennsylvania, disagrees with his colleagues. Cut number five, I think.
>> Don Wildmon: I don't know why we can't just acknowledge that it's been a good thing. What's happened. I mean. I mean, I've seen the speeches from whether it's Leader Schumer or. Or kinds of past tweets from President Biden. No, we all wanted this man gone, and now he is gone. I think we should really appreciate exactly what happened here, and I think we did. Just as I've salute our military. What they've done that was really surgical and precise and very efficient. So why we can't celebrate these kinds of things, and I'm open to the good opportunities that a, better future for Venezuela after this happened.
Ed Bennett: What gives the United States the constitutional right to oust Maduro
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, let me ask you this question because, this argument needs to be, refuted, or at least there needs to be a counter argument made about what I'm about to mention. What do you say, Ed? I'LL ask you first and I know we're not constitutional attorneys here, right, but what was the case, against Maduro beyond he's a bad dictator, you know, because I don't know what a good dictator is exactly, but I mean we've, we've had dictators, we have dictators around the world. Okay? There's in a lot of the world, it's one dictator after another one. That's what I'm concerned, what will happen to Venezuela? Because usually if you don't have a constitutional process or a western style democracy, then you look around the world. It's controlled by whoever has the most guns and the police are on their side. You know, that's over and over and over again we see that happening. I mean Africa's been that way since the dawn of time, right? And you look at the Middle east, it's same thing basically. who has the guns, who has the military. They stay in power. There's no elections. If they are, they're phony or bogus. China, totalitarian government, communist dictatorship. They rule with their secret police and they rule with the military. Anyway, so that's my, But, but, but there are dictators all over the world. Why? What gives us the right, to what are the charges against Maduro that gives us the constitutional legitimate right to do what we've done here?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, so let me, let me say three things. I'm going to answer your question last. These three things. I read this article, I have it pulled up. It's from Newsweek and it is a list of. Full list. There's the title, Full list of dictators the US has ousted throughout history. Now this is mostly since the end of this list is entirely since the end of World War II. As the end of World War II pivoted, the world separated into the west against the Soviet Union. Okay, so so we have done this kind of thing before. I'm just going to mention these, just run through this list. I forgotten about some of these. I ah, remember reading stuff way back in my political science days at Boston College. Iran, 1953. That's how the Shah of Iran, came to power. Guatemala, 1954. a the Bath party was put into power in 1963.
>> Tim Wildmon: In Iran.
>> Ed Vitagliano: In Iran with the, the sea help of the CIA. We were going to topple Fidel Castro in 1961 with the Bay of Pigs fiasco. But that was our intention. In 1963 we, a military coup in South Vietnam, Grenada, Haiti, and then most recently, I think, Manuel Noriega in Panama. Oh, don't forget Saddam Hussein and then Gaddafi in Libya. So there's a long list of things in which the United States has said it is in our foreign policy interest, we're going to do this, and we're going to do this because we can. And the stakes are so high that we need to do this. Okay. Against the, against, the Soviet Union. The second thing I want to point out is in terms of what Chuck Schumer and some of these other Democratic leaders are saying, they're wrong and they know it. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers act, which gives the President the right to conduct military operations. They are supposed to inform Congress. The President is, inform, not get consent. Not get consent. That's correct. And I think President Trump wisely said no to, telling Democrats, because the Democrats would have told.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, yeah, I think they would. In a heartbeat.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They would have, they would have blown the whole thing. So in order to save and protect American lives, he did not, as far as I know, inform members of Congress. So there is a time limit on how long those operations can continue without approval from Congress. But this was a run and gun thing, and it didn't take all that long.
Nick Caruso: Venezuela was an enemy of the United States
And then the third thing, I want to mention is in answer to your question, what, what exactly is it that Maduro is going to be charged with and why did we feel the need to go into Venezuela? Well, the drugs are one thing. That's going to be the legal battle, now that he's in NewSong York, because he was under federal indictment since night, since 2020. now, of course, that doesn't mean that the government, our government, can prove that he is guilty. Ah, we were having a meeting this morning. I think Walker mentioned, we probably wouldn't have done this if the charges aren't pretty clear that Maduro is head of a narco state that is pumping drugs into our country and killing American civilians. But it had become a hub for the Chinese and the Russians, and they had drone factories in Venezuela that were pumping out drones that are used to kill Americans, for example, in the Middle east and are used around the world. Maduro had become a bad actor. Venezuela was leaning towards our enemies. And President Trump said, we've got no choice. We're not only going to take this guy out, but we're going to serve this as a warning to Cuba and to Colombia and any other bad actors in our hemisphere. If we can do this to Maduro. We can certainly do it to you. Now, whether or not the, the Trump administration, I don't know what happens if Maduro wins in court and is. And is not and found not guilty. I don't know what happens after.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, we'll have to deport him.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, I mean, but I should be.
>> Tim Wildmon: There waiting on him. We'll deport him to Caracas.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Listen, this is, this is a strange situation, but Venezuela was an enemy of the United States because of Maduro, not the Venezuelan people.
>> Tim Wildmon: Maduro get a public defendant defender.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, if he wants.
>> Fred Jackson: Initially. Initially, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: How about that guy, our girl? Lady, you know, she gets up this morning, gets a call. You know, she's used to going to court to defend, you know, just your local, local drug dealers, crime, criminals, whatever like that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Hey, admittedly, this is.
>> Tim Wildmon: You got some guy named Maduro on your. The judges assigned you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Nick.
>> Tim Wildmon: Nick something m. Like that said he's from Venezuela.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Anyway, this is, it's admittedly league, legally murky. but, I got to tell you, if you're. If you're a dictator or you're a near do well in Central or South America. South America, you're going to be looking over your shoulder. If you get. If, if the US Parks an aircraft carrier off your, right off your coast, you better head for the hills.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, thank God no American soldiers were hurt.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Amen.
>> Tim Wildmon: Or killed.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: In this operation. Because that could have very easily have happened given the, you know, circumstances on the ground there. But to what a.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And let me just toss this in. there, there had to be some, some help, on the part of the Venezuelan military, because I have to think we had low flying helicopters coming in Venezuela and Caracas, the capital. They're not defenseless. I have to think that there were, members of the Venezuelan military that thought, I'm not going to die for Nicolas Maduro because we light up a helicopter, we're going to get, we're going to get a missile right, right through the back.
>> Tim Wildmon: We had no chance.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We have no chance. I'm not dying from Maduro. I have to think there was some of that going on too.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Also I read where. Of course, you don't know. I can't. You don't. You don't know whether all this is true or not. But I did read, and I think it was a Newsweek article where, we, the United States had a, an agent, a spy, if that's what you want to call, which was a whole. Who was able to Keep tabs on where Maduro was.
>> Fred Jackson: They knew when he was gonna walk his dog.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah, they had him tracked walking your dog. Yeah. You might not want to do that. I would probably get somebody to do that for me if I was, like you said.
>> Fred Jackson: Ah.
>> Tim Wildmon: If I was on the top of the list of American. Yeah, military. But, anyway, so he's in NewSong York City and who knows what will happen in Venezuela now because there's a power vacuum seemingly. Want to talk more about that too? Because I personally knew a Venezuelan lady here in our town. And I'll tell you what she. She said a couple years ago.
Amanda Smith wanted to share something she liked with her little brother
>> Don Wildmon: It's my turn. Here is your host for my turn, Don Wilemon. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have. Those are words from the Book of Hebrews. One day, three year old Amanda Smith got to visit a local fair in London. She had a really great time. She enjoyed herself so much. The only thing she regretted was that her baby brother Georgie wasn't with her at the fair. And after thinking it over for some time and remembering how much the fair meant to her, she decided she wanted Georgie to go. So she took Georgie and set out for the fair. Several hours later, the two were found a half a mile away. Cold and hungry, but unhurt. You know, it's a tender story, if you will, but think about it. A little child found something she liked. She found something worth sharing. And she wanted to share it with her little brother because she loved him. She wanted Georgie to have a chance at something which had meant so much to her. And she was determined to make sure that he had a chance to do exactly that. Followers of the Nazarene are like little three year old Amanda. They have found something that means so much to them that they want to share it with those they love. And in order to share it with others, they are willing to sacrifice. Of course, they learned this desire from the one who gave it to them. He was so excited about the good news that he had to share it with those around him. Even when faced with danger and threat of life, he did not cease from sharing what great things he had found with those who were near him. Suppose for a moment that a doctor, having searched for many years for a cure for cancer, suddenly found that cure. Don't you think he would be so excited that he'd want to share that discovery with everyone in the world and especially with those who have cancer. Think of how much joy and happiness and pleasure it would give that doctor to see cancer patients cured of their illness because of the cure he had found. That, too, is the feeling of those who have discovered the healing power of the carpenter of Galilee. They have found a cure for the cancer of sinselfishness and prejudice and hatred and littleness and all the other things that keep men and women from living the abundant life. The followers of the Way have found something which gives their life meaning and purpose and hope. Why shouldn't they want to share it with those who are still searching? Amanda found something that meant so much to her that she wanted to share it with a loved one. Georgie. Any doctor who discovers a cure for cancer and doesn't share it with the world would be called a fool. It's just natural, then, that those who have found the Way wish to share it with others. To share our best with another is one of life's greatest privileges.
>> Tim Wildmon: This has been My Turn with Don Wildmon, a production of the American Family association.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Where he has rescued us from.
>> Fred Jackson: The dominion of darkness and brought us.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Into the kingdom of the son he loves Colossians 1:13.
>> Jeff Chamblee: American Family Radio, this is Today's Issues. Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of, Today's Issues.
Tim Ferriss: Nicolas Maduro and his wife face federal drug charges
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Tim, Ed and Fred. And we thank you for listening to AFR. Pardon me. Today is Monday, January 5th. We've been talking obviously about the, major news story, that's take that took place and is still ongoing involving Venezuelan dictator, M. Maduro. Did I get it right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Nicolas Maduro.
>> Tim Wildmon: Maduro and his wife who have been, were captured and are now in NewSong York City and they're about to be charged, if they haven't been charged already with federal, crimes, namely, running drugs. He has been under indictment since 2020 for being a major. Basically he's a dictator of Venezuela, but he's also makes, a lot of money off illegal drugs that are shipped into the United States. That's just one of the cases against him. I think that's the main one that feds are going to go to, court with. But basically he got extradited.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: compliments of the, Delta Force.
>> Ed Vitagliano: This is the four charges that Maduro faces. Narco terrorism, conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. I guess because he was head of all that was going on yeah, well.
>> Tim Wildmon: I mentioned I've only known one Venezuelan, that's a native. Well, I can't think all my years here, I've known one Venezuelan lady. She had a restaurant here in our hometown. And she was probably in her mid-40s when I knew her. She closed down a couple of years ago. But she, served, food. She, she made food from that part of the world. So I guess you could call it South American or Venezuelan food. That was the attraction. That was your restaurant. So. But she would tell us, Allison, my wife, and she would tell us stories about, you know, Venezuela and the history of it and how beautiful it was, naturally, speaking. And the people are, you know, very friendly and hard working and all the good characteristics of, her homeland. And then she would just almost, go to tears talking about how it's been under Chavez and now Maduro, because it's a brutal dictatorship. As you know, there aren't many non brutal dictatorships. Right. But I mean, they brutalize the people.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They, persecuted Christians in that country.
>> Tim Wildmon: Ran it like a gang does a neighborhood. And so, she told us one time that Venezuelan people from Venezuela who had made it to America would try to get, you know, goods, and help into their people. And so they, but their trucks would be. I don't know how all this worked, but they would try to get their trucks in to Venezuela to help their own families and such. But the Maduro soldiers would almost always intercept it and use it for themselves. Everything for their, for themselves. That's how that worked. Anyway, she was just very discouraged about the whole thing. Glad, to be in America, but wish she could go home to her land. by the way, what's, what's going to happen with the Venezuelan people who are in the U.S. we. There's a, there's half a million of them. I read.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, they were great celebrations down, in the Miami area. There's one area in particular that has a lot morale. Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Where Trump has his golf course and resort.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. They were celebrating in the streets. President, Trump kind of alluded to that. He said there are wealthy Venezuelans living now in the United States and it's his hope that once things settle down, should they hopefully will settle down in Venezuela. These people want to go back and help their country. They love their country still. Yeah, they want to get back there. So that's.
Venezuelans are rejoicing over the election of New York City mayor
I want to play, a clip of one, Venezuelan who is just, rejoicing over what happened on Saturday. His name is Luis Valdez Jimenez. He says he's been waiting for this day for a long time. Cut number six.
>> Hakeem Jeffries: This has been a dream come true. We've been dreaming and praying and hoping for this day for many years. We've been so disappointed, so several times. But finally, thank God and thank you, President Trump, this finally happened. It's really difficult to explain if you haven't had this kind of experience, but essentially we had a prosperous, thriving democracy. I remember going as a kid to Venezuela to visit my family, and it was a wealthy, prosperous country, rivaling the US Even in some respects. But then socialism took over, Chavez took over, and Maduro eventually took over, and the country eventually just collapsed. We went from one of the wealthiest countries in the world to one of the poorest countries in the world. We had a massive humanitarian crisis. Our rights were taken away, our futures were taken away. Millions of Venezuelans had to flee the country. And so it's really hard to explain all that so quickly, but this has been such a overjoyed moment for us because we finally have hope that we're going to have a better future for our country.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, we'll see, you know, what happens, in the next few weeks. Critical, I guess, down there.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes, very much so. You know, it's interesting, people like this gentleman we just heard, and the lady that you knew, when they have heard of activists in this country talking about the wonderful thing about socialism and all that they've warned, they said, this is where socialism takes you, is where Venezuela is today, or at least was, up until Saturday. That's why a lot of people, had a lot of interest in the election, campaign of a new mayor of NewSong York City. He was sworn into office, while just a few days before all of this happened in Venezuela. You know, we talked about Zoran Mamdani and as being a socialist, some people say a communist, talking about the new.
>> Tim Wildmon: Mayor of NewSong York City.
>> Fred Jackson: The new mayor of NewSong York City. And he is mayor now, in one of his speeches, when he was sworn in, there were small ceremony and a big ceremony there in NewSong York, on January 1st. I want you to have a listen to part of that speech where he Talked about individualism versus collectivism. Cut number 19.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. If our campaign demonstrated that the people of NewSong York yearn for solidarity, then let this government foster it. Because no matter what you eat, how you pray, or where you come from, the words that most define us are the two we all share. NewSong Yorkers.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, he doesn't like individualism. He celebrates collectivism. That may sound good, but, there's a whole lot of philosophy behind that. Very dangerous.
>> Ed Vitagliano: It is completely.
>> Tim Wildmon: But NewSong Yorkers want this. Well, now, not all of them, but they voted for it.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: And they went in eyes wide open. So, I don't want to go. Go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I was just going to say, and we have mentioned this, it's been a while since Mamdani was elected. But, my understanding is. Now you guys, correct me if I'm wrong. My understanding is that native born NewSong Yorkers did not vote for Mamdani. But he overwhelmingly got the votes of foreign born NewSong Yorkers. Which I take to mean that native born NewSong Yorkers didn't like this idea of communism. But foreign born might have come from countries. I can't prove that because I don't know what countries they came from. But it was kind of a mixed bag. We'll have to wait and see how NewSong Yorkers, accept. What? Maduro. Yeah, maduro.
Mamdani says New York will transition from individualism to collective ownership
It's going to be hard not to think of one when you think of the other. Mamdani. But what he said is completely antithetical to the principles that have governed this country for 250 years. And by the way, happy, birthday, America. This is the 250th anniversary, of our independence. individualism is the idea of the west, more broadly speaking, and certainly the United States. Collectivism is the idea of communism and of the state being the God that runs everything. I don't know how this, I don't know how this guy, you know, got through with media support, with the support of the governor of NewSong York and the leaders of the Democratic Party. Because this guy, this idea, he just said. And the clip we're going to play, which is mind blowing. This is no secret. He ran as a socialist, communist. And NewSong Yorkers, he says we're all NewSong Yorkers. Well, guess what, NewSong York, you're about to find out.
>> Fred Jackson: That's right. Well, the clip that you're alluding to is Mamdani's tenant director. That's her title. say Weaver is her name. If you want a demonstration of what Mamdani was talking about. Getting rid of individualism and celebrating collectivism. In other words, big government and government control. If you think we're exaggerating, folks, I want you to listen to what she has had to say. This is, say weaver cut number 18.
>> Jeff Chamblee: I think the reality is that for centuries. We've really treated, property as an individualized good and not a collective good. And we are going to, in transitioning to treating it as, a collective good and towards a model of shared equity. Will require that we think about it differently. And it will mean that, families, especially white families, but some POC families who are homeowners as well, are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have.
>> Ed Vitagliano: When we heard this this morning in our story meeting.
>> Tim Wildmon: Who is that again?
>> Fred Jackson: Say, Weaver. She is, Mamdani's tenant director.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So this is for people who, Who have a relationship with landlords. Right. And who rent property.
>> Tim Wildmon: Correct.
>> Ed Vitagliano: In NewSong York City.
>> Fred Jackson: Correct.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I was stunned by that. I was stunned by it. Not because I'm surprised that a communist would have someone like that in charge. But she just said the quiet part out loud about private property. This is communist rhetoric.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And you think you have a right to own it. When she says it's collective ownership, that means you don't own it. We own it. We own your property, and we will make sure certain people get access to it. And if you don't like it, we'll take it away. I was just stunned, by.
>> Fred Jackson: That was the part about white families that own buildings. Now, what is that?
>> Tim Wildmon: What does race have to do with anything? Well, play that again and listen to that. I don't know what. What is she. I understand she's promoting collectivism or government takeover of private property, basically is what she's talking about. In the name of the greater good for NewSong Yorkers. But I don't know where does she. She inserts white families. I'm going. Where did that come from? Listen to this.
>> Jeff Chamblee: I think the reality is, is that for centuries we've really treated, property as an individualized good and not a collective good. And we are going to. And transitioning to treating it as, a collective good. And towards a model of shared equity. Will require that we think about it differently. And it will mean that, families, especially white families, but some POC families who are homeowners as well, are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have.
>> Tim Wildmon: What does white families have to do with anything?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, again, as we said about cultural Marxism in general, but we talked a lot about this with the Mamdani campaign. But Marxists always see everything in terms of this model. You have oppressors and you have oppressed. This is how. This is how communists in this country turned immediately against Israel in the wake of the October 7th attack and began siding with the quote, unquote, Palestinians, as opposed to the people of Israel. As you. That's the way you view the world. So the ownership of property is, according to this lady, say, Weaver, you said her name was. Is a. Is a manifestation of the fact that you have oppressors and oppressed. The oppressors own the property. They charge money to the oppressed and take rent money. Most of those are white people, I assume she's saying, because white people are oppressors in her mind. But even people of color, she said, who own private property. Guess what? Some of you gonna. If you're wealthy, you may lose your property.
>> Tim Wildmon: I didn't hear the people of color. Was that something. We didn't play that she did.
>> Ed Vitagliano: No, she said POCs, people of color.
>> Tim Wildmon: We reduce people of colored. POC to be an acronym that.
Tim Mamdani: The Constitution protects private property. And the government cannot seize private property
That's very discouraging.
>> Ed Vitagliano: if you're on the inside of the cool people.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The cultural market. Yeah. You say pocket. People of color.
>> Tim Wildmon: She also said shared equity and all these buzzwords that we identify with. Just straight up socialism and communism. That's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out. Because that. That ideology she just expressed, just runs right into. To US Law.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, that is true.
>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, you can't. You cannot do what they're talking about without resistance in the courts, lawsuits. You can't take people's private property and just turn it into government unless you have a dictatorship.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: Without. Without a challenge. go ahead.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, here's. Here's where I think they're going. Okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Now, you are absolutely right. U.S. law says. And the Constitution protects private property. Protects private property. And the government cannot seize private property except for the public good. And you have to pay top. Top dollar or what the property is worth.
>> Tim Wildmon: Or if crimes have been committed. For example, if. If, you have a. Somebody, who's, doing a lot of things illegally, the government can come in and seize their.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Seize their property.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: But you have to have a judge sign off on that. And then you have to go through court hearings and all kinds.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, but here's why. Here's where I think they're going to. And here's why. I don't think they have to go before a judge necessarily. Is that we have allowed governments on all three levels. Municipal, state and the federal government. To bind us with millions of regulations that I think this woman, this, say, Weaver and other NewSong York City groups that have all sorts of regulations, they are going to regulate these owners out of business. Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Death by a thousand cuts.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Death by a thousand cuts. And then you're going to have to sell it.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And the government is going to step in. either buy it outright or have front. Front men buy it for them.
>> Fred Jackson: I think that's what's going on. Has alluded to exactly what you're talking about, Ed, because he said we have apartment buildings in our city where people have been complaining about, you know, they don't have hot water or no heat. You know, no heat, that sort of thing that gives the government, the city government leverage to do just what you're saying. Okay. Landlord, if you're not going to fix it, then the city is going to go in m and do this and you're not going to be able to buy any more property. Landlord, you're done.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Or like you said, Tim, they may just seize it altogether. They may find the owners and say, now listen, I'm sympathetic to the people who are paying rent in these buildings, and they don't have heat or water, and they've complained about cockroaches. landlords do have certain obligations. Okay, so I'm sympathetic to that problem. Okay. But if the city government's going to say, you've had time to fix this, they've filed reports or you've done nothing, where we're going to find you. Going back to the first complaint, we're going to fine you $50,000 a day. And, you can't pay it. Oh, that's too bad. We're seizing it. Yes. That goes to what you said, Tim, about seizing property. Listen, where there's a will, there's a way. And when you have people, there's a lot of NewSong York. I don't know how many NewSong Yorkers didn't vote at all during the mayoral election. Well, you're about to find out how bad it can get in your city. You have got to pay attention to what people believe. You got to take them at their word. And if you don't stand up against socialists and communists, okay, you don't stand up against Islam, Islamists in this country. Who's who are saying we're going to do this to your country and that you better be paying attention because these people could lose their property.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, he's already talked, Mamdani M Has about rent controls. He's also talked about available land in the area, about the government going in and building houses. All right, so it's all about big government and it's all about control.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And if, and if you're used to the city government regulating you to death, like you said, Tim, death by a thousand cuts. You haven't been paying attention. There are laws and regulations on the books that they could suddenly decide to enforce and then.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, what's going to happen? There's always cause and effect. Right. What's going to happen if, if what you just seemingly is where they're going to go Pretty quick, what you've talked about here, just regulating these, regulating, landowners and landlords and businesses to death, and taxing them high, sky high levels, including individuals, you know, they're going to leave. They're going to leave or they're going to close down because, they can't, they can't do what. Have they got around to raising the minimum wage yet to $25 or something? That's up next.
He's going to raise taxes on rich individuals and on corporations
>> Ed Vitagliano: Come and government run grocery stores.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's not going to work. I mean it may, it may quote, work in the sense that you may see them, but it's going to, it's going to drive private money and private businessmen and people who actually provide jobs, away. It just going to, it's just going to drive them away and so quality of life is going to deteriorate, not get better.
>> Fred Jackson: And, and if that doesn't drive them away, he's going to raise taxes on rich individuals and on corporations.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And I don't know. Have you heard about this? This happened, this is, I think this happened in California. I read about where people try to leave and because taxes went up or something like that. And then the state tries to make them pay anyway.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: They're basically, they're trying to escape and they're not going to let them escape without them paying. What was, what happened while they were citizens. Have you, have you heard of this?
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And they there's I think this has happened in, or is in the process of happening even in NewSong York because so many people are leaving. I'm not sure what the mechanisms are.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I don't know.
>> Ed Vitagliano: But they, they have some sort of. Okay. If you take a business headquarters out of NewSong York City, you have to pay taxes for another five years.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because we gave you water and electricity, all that kind of stuff. You're now going to pay for it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
Cuba depends entirely on Venezuela for its oil. That is a sad truth about that country
All right. You're listening to Today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. Tim, Ed and Fred. So, this is a ongoing story here. That'll be big headlines for the next few days. If not feet, well be headlines for the next few weeks. Anyway, this, situation, I just wonder, you know, you mentioned this kind of puts the dictator in Cuba on notice. You know who. Is that still a Castro or is that somebody else? I don't even know who it is.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's still his brother, Castro.
>> Fred Jackson: Raul.
>> Tim Wildmon: Is he still alive?
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think it's. I think he's still, leader. I'm looking up Raul.
>> Tim Wildmon: He's got to be nearing 90 himself, huh? Raul, I've heard of him, but.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, this, this says he, was in power, in sent in up to 20, 21. I'm not sure what the guy's. I'm gonna look it up.
>> Tim Wildmon: The new dictator.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Because Cuba, you know, they're looking at that going, hey, America, save us.
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah, because Cuba depends totally on Venezuelan oil.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Miguel Diaz Canel is the current leader of Cuba.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so what did you say, Fred?
>> Fred Jackson: Cuba depends entirely on Venezuela for its oil.
>> Tim Wildmon: So if it doesn't get it, those 1950s cars don't run anymore.
>> Fred Jackson: That's right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: that's, that's a sad. That is a sad truth about that country. Well, I think we've all talked to people we know who are missionaries and they, they bring back reports. It's just a. It used to be. That's another example. It used to be a fairly wealthy country. I'm sure there was poor people there, but a lot of tourism, you know.
>> Tim Wildmon: You mean prior to the coming, over 59.
>> Fred Jackson: I had a chance to visit there with Transworld Radio back several years ago. It is a beautiful country. I didn't know there were mountain ranges and all of that sort.
>> Tim Wildmon: Caribbean Island.
>> Fred Jackson: It's a gorgeous country. Beautiful sandy beaches. But you arrive in Havana and you see these old cars from the 50s. They're, on diesel engines. As soon as you leave Havana, you're out on roads that aren't kept up. We had a chance.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's a third world country.
Go down to Cuba and try to live there for a little while
>> Fred Jackson: It is. We had a chance to visit some pastors there. They live in government houses because you can't have your own house. Cinder block, government run houses. The hospitals look like they should have been shut down. We saw them from the outside. They're just in terrible, terrible shape. Most people can't afford a car. They have to drive to work on a bike. That's about it. The poverty is unbelievable. And I've always said these kids that are learning that in our universities, socialism is a Wonderful thing. Go down to Cuba and try to live there for a little while and you will see what socialism leads to.
>> Tim Wildmon: There's a reason why people get on lifeboats.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And get in to get it. Try to cross you know, the 90 miles to get from Cuba to the US and in Shark infested waters.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And you don't see anybody making the reverse trip.
>> Fred Jackson: No.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You don't see people trying to get on lifeboats and try to sneak into Cuba?
>> Fred Jackson: No.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I got.
>> Tim Wildmon: What does that tell you? Yeah, what does that tell you? Yeah, that's right. Communism. You have to build walls to keep people from leaving.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Whereas in capitalistic, countries, people are, you know, will try to risk their lives to get into. What is that?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: What does that tell you?
>> Ed Vitagliano: And yet like Fred says, all these young people in college, university campuses increasingly now and high schools and below their answer to what Fred just said, said about Cuba, well, they haven't tried real socialism.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And that lie continues to get people trapped into one experiment after another and then wind up having to learn the hard way.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know, also we can talk about this more. We come back, but living in a country that has constitutional protections for the individual and also the rule of law, is, is a blessing, a blessing to the people who live there. The United States of America. I'm thinking about Canada, other places, Western style democracies. You look around the world. Ah, probably 80% of the world lives under dictatorship.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Be back momentarily. Stay with us. M the views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
