Explore the nuanced politics of Senate confirmations with North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer as the episode uncovers the democratic processes and government practices under the spotlight. Meanwhile, Louisiana takes a bold step in the pro-life movement, aiming to penalize out-of-state abortion drug providers. This episode challenges perceptions and spotlights the legal and ethical debates shaping our national policies today.
SPEAKER 16 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 08 :
Canada intends to recognize the state of Palestine at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025. Canada will increase its efforts in supporting strong democratic governance in Palestine and the contributions of its people to a more peaceful and hopeful future.
SPEAKER 09 :
That was Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday announcing that Canada will join France and the UK in recognizing a non-existent Palestinian state. Welcome to this July 31st edition of Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. Thanks for tuning in. Well, coming up, despite Hamas being responsible for initiating the war with Israel, much of the international pressure is falling on Israel. But earlier today, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt set the record straight.
SPEAKER 01 :
The quickest way to end this entire conflict, the humanitarian crisis that we’ve seen and the crisis in Israel that, of course, started on October 7th when Hamas brutally kidnapped and raped innocent Israelis, that terrible terrorist attack, is for Hamas to surrender, to release all of the hostages and to end this conflict. And that’s what the president wants to see. He’s made that very clear.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, he’s one of the few that is making the Hamas the focal point of the problem, which they are. North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer will join us with more in just a moment. Also, Senate Republicans are threatening to recess, potentially opening the door for President Trump to make recess appointments and break through the Democratic-driven confirmation backlog. We’ll bring you the latest on that. And earlier today, Family Research Council hosted a roundtable discussion on combating anti-Semitism, a joint effort with the Conference of Christian Presidents for Israel. Luke Moon from CCPI will join us to recap the event. We’ll also discuss how federal policy on abortion pills is undermining state pro-life laws. We’ve been talking about that and we’ll continue to talk about it and how it can be fixed. Louisiana State Representative Julie Emerson will join us with more of what Louisiana is doing. And there’s encouraging news. Would you like some encouraging news? All right. Well, here’s some encouraging news on the marriage front. A new study shows divorce rates declining and modern marriages proving stronger than those in any decade since the 1950s. Yeah, that’s right. We’ll unpack that with the Washington Stan Suzanne Bowdy and Casey Harper a little bit later here on Washington Watch. That’s what’s coming up on this Thursday edition of Washington Watch. Let me encourage you, if you have not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, go to the App Store and download the Stand Firm app. That way you’ll have access to Washington Watch. We’re grateful for the 850-plus radio stations that carry Washington Watch and the TV platforms, partners with NRB TV and others. You might not be able to get a station or you might be traveling. And so get the Stand Firm app. That way you’ll have access to Washington Watch. But more than that, you’ll also have the Washington Stand, our news and commentary from the biblical perspective. You will also have my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. And you’ll have action items. Look, our republic was not made for spectators. It was made for participants. So get the Stand Firm app and be involved. A U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Israel earlier today and met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation in Gaza. Tomorrow, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is expected to join Witkoff in inspecting the aid distribution sites in Gaza. So while other nations are slamming Israel for the situation that Hamas created, the U.S. continues not only to come alongside our closest ally in the Middle East, but also deliver aid to Gazans. Joining me now to discuss this and more is U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. Senator Cramer, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 25 :
Always my pleasure. Thank you, Tony.
SPEAKER 09 :
So in the span of a little over a week, we’ve had France, the U.K., and now Canada roll out the fossilized two-state solution.
SPEAKER 25 :
What’s going on? Well, I think what’s going on is pressure from liberals in these various countries and unfortunately a successful propaganda campaign by terrorists of all people and I’m so disappointed in our friends in Canada because They’ve got to know better than to believe the propaganda of killers like Hamas, and that’s what frustrates me to no end. Not only did they start this issue, this problem, by the October attacks a couple of years ago, doing unthinkable things, of course, but they continue to do it by using phony pictures, by using children as shields and innocent people as shields. They’re the ones, remember, that are holding the hostages not Israel. I mean, you could go on and on and on to demonstrate the obvious evidence that Hamas are the bad guys here, Israel are the good folks here. And so it’s very frustrating to me that our friends in France and UK and Canada and others probably around the world have caved, if you will, to this propaganda campaign.
SPEAKER 09 :
But to roll out once again, I mean, this has been around since the late 1940s, right after Israel became a nation, you know, the Green Line, the description of the West Bank, which we’re talking about Judea and Samaria, which is the focal point of the two-state solution, the creation of a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel. Was not October the 7th the result of a de facto two-state solution?
SPEAKER 25 :
I think that’s an absolutely perfect illustration of what we’re talking about. That’s why there’s only one way to deal with Hamas. That’s to eliminate them. And either that or for them to just surrender, throw up their arms. Because you’re right, they’ve already demonstrated what the outcome is of a two-state solution. That’s what Gaza, in many respects, was. And so I don’t know how you fix this as long as there’s Hamas around. And I don’t know how you fix Hamas as long as you have They have sympathizers in places like Canada, the UK, and other parts of Europe.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, Senator Cramer, I want to turn to some other hostages, and that is the president’s nominees that are being held hostage by Democrats there on the Senate. I mean, we’re having close to, I think, 140 or more that are being blocked. All right, what’s the latest?
SPEAKER 25 :
So what’s happening right now, of course, and make no mistake, these are the Democrats holding these nominations hostage. And we’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve seen things similar, but nothing quite like this, where literally, Tony, up to this point, six months into the administration, Democrats have allowed exactly zero Donald Trump nominees to go to confirmation with anything other than a full roll call vote through cloture and filibuster.
SPEAKER 09 :
That means that we can only— Let me just stop you right there so people understand. Oftentimes, these beyond cabinet secretaries, most of these are by consensus. We just agree that, all right, we’re just going to go ahead and have a vote. We’re not going to use up all the time that’s allowed by the rules, correct? Correct.
SPEAKER 25 :
That’s right. That’s right. But of course, Donald Trump’s different, right? Because he’s so bad and they’re so offended by him that somehow they’re just going to do everything they can to block these people, including nominees that came out of the committees with large bipartisan, by large bipartisan votes. By this point, four years ago, in Joe Biden’s first six months, Republicans had allowed 46 nominees to be confirmed by either unanimous consent or a voice vote. Democrats have allowed exactly none in this Trump term. And that’s never happened, by the way, ever in the history. And remembering, just to give some perspective too, remember there are about 1,200 nominees that require Senate confirmation. So you’re talking about- That’s a lot. And maybe that’s too many, Tony. That’s another discussion. But at the same time, the Senate prerogative has never been abused like this. So what we’re working on now is both a negotiation on the one hand with our Democratic colleagues, while at the same time our rules change. Because the reality is what’s known as cloture, what’s known as filibuster, what’s known as the executive calendar, that’s the part of our job that confirms people, our job being senators, has never really required cloture or the filibuster, allowed the filibuster before. So it may be time to just pull that bandaid off and say this isn’t working anymore. And yes, Democrats will do the same thing when they’re confronted with the opportunity, perhaps when the tables are turned. But we’ve always believed, Tony, that we as Republicans, as conservatives, that the president that wins the election is largely entitled to their government. And while we have the right and the responsibility of advising consent as senators, and we run them through the background checks and the hearings and all of that cross-examination, the key is to not abuse it just because Donald Trump’s the president or just because Bill Clinton or Barack Obama are the president. We’ve never done that before. They are now doing it. And so maybe it’s just broken. We have to do something.
SPEAKER 09 :
Senator, the confirmation is… in the process of advice and consent is to be focused on the nominee and issues that the nominee may have, not the president. The president was elected by the American people. So this is driven not by the nominees. It’s driven by the president. It doesn’t matter what the nominee is about. It’s about the president. Now, the Republicans historically have used it selectively for nominees who are way outside the mainstream, correct? That’s right.
SPEAKER 25 :
That’s right.
SPEAKER 09 :
And that’s how it’s historically been used.
SPEAKER 25 :
And that’s how it’s historically been. But just to give another historical perspective, if you go back to Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a very, at the time, controversial, confrontational nomination process who actually only was confirmed by a 52 to 48 vote in the United States Senate, was not filibustered. In other words, one Democratic senator, like, say, Joe Biden or Ted Kennedy, could have stopped that process and required 60-vote margin. They did not, because that’s just not something you did at the time. And so here we are all these years later, and they’re doing it over the associate deputy assistant secretary’s secretary. And it’s insane.
SPEAKER 09 :
We saw it with George W. Bush. They began to block many of the judicial appointments because I remember I was here. We went through a lot of that. But now it’s every nominee. I mean, the president could be choosing a dog catcher for Washington, D.C., and they would block him.
SPEAKER 25 :
That’s right. And the abuse of it, Tony, has other ramifications to your point about the really controversial ones or the ones that are so far out of the mainstream. Because what’s happened is by choosing this way of going about the process, What Democrats are doing is that they’re making it a shirts and skins game. And in a shirts and skins game, then that means that Republicans are going to support all of the nominees and the Democrats are going to oppose all of the nominees. And once the tables are turned, it’ll be the other way around. Rather than doing the type of diligence and saving your political capital, Tony, for things that matter. And that’s what I find frustrating.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, Senator also further divides the country. I mean, it’s polarizing when we see these things. So is there a chance that the Senate will go into an extended recess and allow the president to make these appointments?
SPEAKER 25 :
Well, that is one of the options, right? So when we talk about options, we could change the rules and eliminate the filibuster and culture altogether for the president. this calendar, particularly say below a cabinet secretary level. That’s a possibility. We could shorten the time from two hours to one hour. Although I think if you’re gonna change the rules, rip the bandaid off altogether and make it a simple majority and stack votes. The real key would be to find a way to get back to end block voting. So maybe put 25 or 50 of them up for a voice vote all at once and save days of time rather than every two hours having a vote. And the other way, of course, would be exactly what you’re talking about, and that is to recess. The thing about recess appointments is it’s hard to recess. It takes both chambers to do it. The House would have to come back. Again, we could do that. A recess vote is amendable. So you end up with a lot of other sort of bureaucratic, swampish stuff. But it is one of the options that are on the table, and we’re considering all of them because we have to do something. We have to fix our government and give this president the government that he deserves. He, after all, did win the election.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. Senator Kramer, always great to have you on the program. Thanks for bringing us up to date on what’s happening there on Capitol Hill in the swamp. Thank you, Tony. All right. All right, folks, stick with us. When we come back, we’re going to be talking about states trying to protect the unborn. That’s next. Don’t go away.
SPEAKER 10 :
The family is the oldest, most tested and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
SPEAKER 17 :
Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation’s capital, FRC continues to champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. FRC is one of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north.
SPEAKER 07 :
And I shudder to think, had they not been here, that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
SPEAKER 12 :
The Family Research Council is key. It’s one of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
SPEAKER 20 :
It’s just a wonderful parachurch organization that doesn’t seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the Holy Scriptures.
SPEAKER 24 :
FRC is not going to be whooped. You know, we’re going to fight. We’re going to take a stand. And again, we don’t retreat.
SPEAKER 09 :
You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent.
SPEAKER 21 :
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us and stand on the word.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us on this Thursday. And let me encourage you, once again, get the Stand Firm app. That way you can have access to all the materials and resources we have here at the Family Research Council. Now, I know I may sound like a broken record, but I believe that we cannot talk enough about this. And that is the abortion drug mifeprestone. I entered politics. a long time ago because this issue of life. It is not just another political issue. It’s a defining issue for the nation. And this abortion drug, mefeprestone, is behind about two-thirds of abortions in the U.S. today. A number which, by the way, is growing. And a lot of people are being misled by the left that somehow abortion is unaccessible and it’s declining. It’s actually risen since the Dobbs decision. What the Dobbs decision did, it put this issue out of the courts into the hands of legislators, policymakers. Well, since Dobbs, about 41 states have adopted pro-life laws to varying degrees, about 13, as we’ve talked about in this program, have laws protecting, ironclasp laws protecting the unborn. But because of the abortion pill and policies that were adopted in the Biden administration, The abortion pill no longer required the in-person consultation with a medical professional. And so these pills, and then combined with the Department of Justice not enforcing the Comstock Act, these pills are being mailed into states, states that have pro-life laws, that have laws against these abortion pills. So it is negating their laws. But lawmakers are fighting back. In fact, this week we’ve talked about this. Sixteen state attorneys general have sent a letter to the Congress asking them to act, remove these shield laws that states like New York have put in place that prohibit states like Louisiana, my home state, from going after these doctors that are violating the law and mailing these abortion documents. pills into the state. Well, joining me now to discuss this is Louisiana State Representative Julie Emerson, who has been leading an effort in the Louisiana House to penalize these abortionists in other states who are mailing in these abortion drugs into the state of Louisiana in violation of state law. Representative Emerson, thanks so much for joining me today here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, thank you, Tony. You know it’s always nice to be with a fellow Louisianian, so I appreciate you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, Louisiana, thank you. I commend you on your efforts. Louisiana has long been leading the effort on the life issue. And this is one of those areas where Louisiana was one of the first states that had a trigger law. As soon as Roe was overturned, Louisiana was rock solid on the life issue. But now it is being… completely nullified by these abortion pills. What are you doing in working with state officials to try to stop this?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, Tony, like, absolutely. Louisiana has always been a very strong pro-life state. We actually signed a trigger law into law over 20 years ago, actually. I believe Kathleen Blanco was governor when that happened. And then, of course, when Roe was overturned, we tightened that up. back in 2021 and made sure that we were ironclad and that Louisiana stood for life and to make sure that everyone knew that we wanted to shut down abortion facilities in this state. And we did that thankfully very easily because we’ve always had a pro-life legislature. And again, actually a Democrat governor ended up signing it because they know that Louisiana is a pro-life state. But unfortunately over the last couple of years since we’ve done that, We have so many out-of-state providers who have found these loopholes in our law to be able to mail these abortion drugs into Louisiana. And unfortunately, there was a case recently from a doctor in New York who actually had a telehealth call with the mother of a patient, not even the patient herself, and ended up shipping those abortion drugs into Louisiana. I’m sure you probably saw on the news, Tony, I know you were following we did try to hold her accountable, but Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, said absolutely she will not send her to Louisiana to face charges. And so unfortunately, we were not able to hold her criminally liable. And so this year, of course, we can’t make it retroactive in that situation, but this year, I worked with another representative, a freshman representative, actually. She was very bold in taking this stance. But she and I co-authored this bill to make sure that we sent a clear message to out-of-state doctors, do not send abortion pills here or you can now be held civilly liable. We were the first state in the country to pass civil penalties on those rogue doctors that were, as our attorney general described it, a drug dealer. Because frankly, you’re not able to give those pills to someone. A doctor in Louisiana cannot give those pills to a woman to have an elective abortion. Of course, you and I know that those medications are used to induce labor and they’re used safely under a doctor’s care. But when they are misused and misappropriately used to cause an abortion, you can’t have that here in Louisiana. So very proud of our legislature, very proud of our governor for putting this into law and becoming the first state to do so.
SPEAKER 09 :
So, Julie, the battle to protect the unborn continues. I mean, despite the victory in the Supreme Court over in the Dobbs case, the pro-abortion community continues to try to circumvent the laws.
SPEAKER 19 :
Absolutely. Look, I mean, obviously overturning Roe was a huge victory for us, those of us that truly believe in life and fight for life every single day. But as you said, the journey was just beginning there because, of course, now we flip the script where constantly the pro-abortionists out there are trying to add in more exceptions, erode our laws, find loopholes. And, you know, I think they did with this opening here of these out-of-state doctors being able to ship these pills into Louisiana. But thankfully, we discovered it early, worked with our attorney general’s office. I can’t say enough amazing things about her. Liz Merle has been a great attorney general fighting for life right there alongside us. And so thankfully, she joined forces with us. She came to committee to testify on this bill. And certainly, you know, we always expect when we do something like this that, The pro-abortionists out there are going to try to come say that it’s wrong or unconstitutional or something like that. But the attorney general was sitting right next to us saying, I have no problems defending this. We can absolutely defend this in court. So very thankful for her stance and her support in this as well.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, Julie, I want to thank you for your leadership there in Louisiana and helping bring attention to this nationally. And I hope many other states follow your leads. And thanks so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER 19 :
Thank you, Tony. It’s a pleasure.
SPEAKER 09 :
Julie Emerson from Louisiana. You can weigh in as well, folks. Text the word LIFE to 67742 and sign the petition to the president. He can fix this overnight. That’s LIFE to 67742. All right, don’t go away. We’re back right after this.
SPEAKER 06 :
Download the new StandFirm app for Apple and Android phones today. You can join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective. Read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events, and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family, and church members. And of course, stand firm wherever you go.
SPEAKER 15 :
At Family Research Council, defending the family isn’t just a mission, it’s our daily calling. Every team member at FRC uses their God-given talents to stand for biblical truth, protect life, and uphold religious freedom.
SPEAKER 23 :
Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
SPEAKER 13 :
I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
SPEAKER 04 :
Through my work at the Washington Stand, I passionately defend what God has defined for marriage and family. I don’t see the Washington Stand as just a place to talk about cultural events. It’s a place to share biblical truth. It’s a perfect outlet to advance and defend what God has defined as good, true, and beautiful.
SPEAKER 05 :
Because of you, we’re able to frame things in such a way that help Christians stand for truth on the things that matter most, like life, faith, family, and freedom.
SPEAKER 23 :
Thank you for standing with us. Thank you for your support. It is so critical to the work that we at Family Resource Council are doing day to day as we support and strengthen the family. So thank you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. All right. A recently released report that tracked incidents of anti-Semitism on college campuses found a tenfold increase in anti-Semitic activity during the last school year compared to the school year prior to the October 7th attack on Israel. The 2,334 incidents reported by Hillel International last week was the highest ever since the Jewish Campus Organization started tracking back in 2019. So a figure that was once in the low hundreds is now in the thousands. Now, the question is, is this the new norm? Why is it this way? What’s fueling it? And are some conservative voices and influencers now fueling this rise? Here to discuss this with me in studios, Luke Moon, executive director of the Philos Project. Luke has lived, worked, and taught in over 45 countries and has advocated on a number of human rights issues along the way, including that of Israel and the Jewish people. Luke, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining me. Thank you very much for having me. It’s an honor. And we’ve been in Israel together, traveled with you to Israel, so we know the landscape there. We do. This is a passion of yours. So let me just go put this question before you. Why the rise? What’s going on? What’s fueling this?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think it’s a lot of things. I think there is a growing sense of frustration among Gen Z, having grown up in a point where they had COVID hit them right when they’re in their very formative years, followed up by Black Lives Matter, followed by the DEI push. And in that process, there was a lot of effort like, oh, you got to
SPEAKER 09 :
You know the Jews are suffering the Jews are victims like that victim Isn’t that kind of what we saw in history with the plagues when the plagues broke out? They wanted to blame the Jewish people for it.
SPEAKER 07 :
They do but you have this there is a sense I think particularly among Gen Z of Reacting to what they see as being kind of told to care about they’re told to care about you got to care about the you know, African-Americans because they were once slaves in America, Jim Crow and all that. And then you have to care about the Jews because they had the Holocaust once upon a time. And so you have these kids who are grown up in this where other people are kind of told you got to care for this special group of people. And at the same time, they’re told to sit back, be quiet, shut up, go back to your games. What are you doing? Nobody cares about you. And so it’s this reaction to what they see. So they see that other people are spectral and they’re not. They’re not. And then they’re told. There’s an envy root here.
SPEAKER 09 :
I think it’s very… But let me specifically go, generally speaking, I think that there’s a lot of merit in that, but let’s talk specifically about Christian, evangelical kids, because there’s not a big difference in those numbers. When you look at where evangelical Gen Zers come down on the issue and millennials.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. There was just a friend of mine put out a survey recently among southern church attending men. And it was asked, should U.S. be involved with Israel in attacking Iran? And overwhelmingly, yes. The majority of people between the ages of 18 and 29 said we have no responsibility to Israel. Southern church-going Christians.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. Are those churches teaching what the Bible has to say about the Jewish people and about Israel?
SPEAKER 07 :
I doubt it. Because I tell you, one of the things that I saw over the years, I took a group of top church planters from the Southern Baptist Israel back in 2017. And I remember sitting around the table with them, and I asked them, when was the last time you taught out of the book of Revelation? And they said, almost to all of them, I don’t. Because there was a, the Left Behind series that, you know, was so popular in the aughts, created a reaction to it by people who are like, oh, I don’t agree with that’s how it plays out. It wasn’t necessarily replaced by any kind of major theology, and it was just an abdication, right? And so you have pastors who are not teaching out of the book of Revelation, which means that, which is a core part of it. They’re not unloading. They must not be teaching the Old Testament either. Well, most likely. And they’re also not offering a… a cohesive theology of which Israel and the Jewish people are still part of God’s covenantal plan for the world.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, we just have about a minute and a half left, Luke. So where are these young people listening? Who are they listening to? I mean, this used to be all coming from the left, but now we see it from the right.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I think they’re being catechized by the manosphere, which is like the Andrew Tate kind of crowd and this guy. You get Tucker Carlson. You have Theo Vaughn. You have those types of voices who are catechizing the young men and showing them how to think about the world, how to think about foreign policy, how to think about women and family and all this formation stuff. And we got to get back in that.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, so where do you suggest that people go to find out more about Israel and their role in God’s plan for them?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I started an organization called Generation Zion, actually, for that very thing, to point to why Christians should and must stand with Israel and Jewish people. It is part of God’s redemptive plan for the world. And what’s your website? gen-zion.org. And then I would also suggest they go to the Bible.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s 100% true. Because the Bible, from start to finish, talks about God’s plan for Israel, the Jewish people, and the covenant that we’re actually grafted into. We don’t replace them.
SPEAKER 07 :
We get the benefit of what God did with the Jewish people. And that’s a beautiful thing. And we should be very proud of that opportunity.
SPEAKER 09 :
And thankful, grateful. And as Paul says, we shouldn’t be arrogant about it because you know what? You know, we’re grafted in. They’re the main thing.
SPEAKER 07 :
Exactly.
SPEAKER 09 :
Luke Moon, thanks for joining us today. Of course, thanks for having me. I appreciate the work you do.
SPEAKER 07 :
Appreciate it.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, folks, check out the website. Also, check out the Bible, right? In fact, we’re going to talk about that next, so don’t go away.
SPEAKER 02 :
Family Research Council is committed to advancing faith, family, and freedom from the East Coast to the West. So FRC is going to Southern California for this year’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, October 17th and 18th at Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Join us for this powerful gathering of Christians desiring cultural renewal and spiritual revival. The Pray, Vote, Stand Summit brings together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action. Together, we will seek God’s guidance for our nation and engage in meaningful discussions on the intersection of faith, government, and culture. If the spiritual foundations and the cultural walls of our nation are to be rebuilt, we all have a role to play. May we each find our place on the wall as we build for biblical truth. Register now at PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org.
SPEAKER 11 :
Jennifer, it’s so exciting to be here with you today talking about our new book, Embracing God’s Design. Who is actually going to benefit from reading this book in your view?
SPEAKER 22 :
There’s so many different audiences that can benefit. The first one are counselors themselves, because we have some material in there where we really address the gender dysphoria diagnosis and what is wrong with it. We have information for people who are wanting to go back to embracing God’s design for their life.
SPEAKER 11 :
This is really magical to have the therapist and the individual who suffered come together and write about why this is happening and why we’re seeing this.
SPEAKER 22 :
And we brought all of that experience to the table. We want to see people walking in the fullness of who God has called them to be and not a false identity.
SPEAKER 10 :
Order today at embracethedesign.com.
SPEAKER 03 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in on this Thursday. The website tonyperkins.com. Better yet, get the Stand Firm app. That way you can have access to Washington Watch no matter where you go. You also have access to the Washington Stand. News and commentary from a biblical perspective. And you’ll have my daily devotion, Stand on the Word. All of that found at the Stand Firm app. So go to the app store, get the Stand Firm app. Speaking of the Word, our Word for today comes from Mark chapter 10. The Pharisees came and asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him? And he answered and he said to them, what did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her. Jesus answered and said to them, because of the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore… What God has joined together, let not man separate. Now, in this exchange, take note, Jesus directly affirms the biblical foundation of gender, marriage, and the permanence of the marital covenant. Now, for those who claim Jesus avoided controversial topics, well, Read again. He didn’t sidestep this one. But these are not political matters. They are divine truths. Jesus pointed his audience back to creation, reminding us that God, not man, defines marriage, gender, and the family. His design is not up for debate. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text BIBLE to 67742. All right. No doubt the Hamas terrorist group is relishing in the media’s anti-Israel coverage over the past week. Photos of malnourished children have not only prompted more government leaders to support the so-called two-state solution, they’ve also led some conservatives to take on a more critical tone against the Jewish state. And while outlets like The New York Times have been called out for misleading the public with these pictures, it can be hard to find the truth buried beneath the mountain of lies. Thankfully, we have outlets like The Washington Stand and reporters like my next two guests. With me now in studio for discussion of the headlines is Suzanne Bowdy, editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand, and Casey Harper, managing editor of the broadcast The Washington Stand. All right. Suzanne and Casey, thanks for joining me. Thanks, Tony. Okay. Let’s talk about when it comes to reporting on what’s happening in Gaza, the amount of misleading and conflicting information is only growing. I mean, let’s talk. I’m going to throw this out there. We saw this picture of supposedly a starving child that I think, prompted the United Kingdom, the prime minister there, to say that in September, if Israel hasn’t agreed to a ceasefire, which, by the way, they’re not the ones not wanting a ceasefire. It’s Hamas that’s not showing up. But that’s a point that they will demand in September at the U.N. a two state solution being imposed on Israel. So. Casey, jump in here.
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Sure. I mean, these photos are very powerful. You look at history in the Boston Massacre, a picture, the painting of it done by Paul Revere actually helped spark the revolution. It was a propaganda poster of the Boston Massacre. If you think about other wars, pictures are very powerful. We’re seeing that again here. You know, I’ve been a journalist for many years now, since before Suzanne was born. And there’s two ways to be biased.
SPEAKER 05 :
Speaking of misinformation.
SPEAKER 06 :
There’s our first, you go, boom.
SPEAKER 05 :
Set up a journalist. Set up a journalist.
SPEAKER 06 :
The first thing wasn’t untrue. So I’ve been a journalist for a long time. And there’s two ways to be misleading or inaccurate. And people always think of the first, which is to say something not true. That’s what we saw in this photo. It gave the impression that there’s someone starving. There’s more to the story, a medical condition. The other way to be biased, which is less known, is to leave details out. and to be selective in what you leave out. So you’re technically, there’s no fact check, there’s no correction you have to issue. You can’t say that you lied, you just didn’t tell the truth. Exactly, and that’s what we see most commonly. We see the leaving out of the culpability of Hamas.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, so in this particular picture, and doing a little research myself on this, the mother, who was perfectly healthy, and the child’s brother, who was also perfectly healthy, not malnourished, was cropped out of the picture. Right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, and if you see the full photo, the boy looks fine. The brother looks like a normal child.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. Yeah. So, I mean, you just don’t see the whole picture. So it is, again, they didn’t tell a lie.
SPEAKER 06 :
They just didn’t tell the truth. Exactly. And, you know, it’s… There’s not a lot of good faith on this issue left anymore because so many of those criticizing Israel just have motives that go beyond just trying to get to the truth. They’re past that point. They don’t think Israel should exist. And so while there is a conversation to be had about the humanitarian situation in Gaza that I think we can talk about, The people who are criticizing Israel, they don’t necessarily care about that. They just want to use whatever they can against Israel.
SPEAKER 09 :
I was just talking with Johnny Moore, who’s a longtime friend who’s overseeing the humanitarian relief effort the United States is doing. Tomorrow, they will hit 100 million meals delivered in two months into Gaza.
SPEAKER 05 :
And yet the people are starving.
SPEAKER 09 :
There’s only like a million people in Gaza. I know. Right. I mean, we are sending it. And he told me, he said, you know, we got in there and there were hundreds of truckloads just sitting there that was never delivered. The United Nations didn’t deliver. I mean, it’s just it is so. It’s just deceptive. It’s hypocrisy. Suzanne, I have to say, this is driven by a hatred. It’s this Jewish hatred.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, and they’re playing right into the terrorists’ hands. And you’d think after all of these misleading stories, wouldn’t the New York Times and others want to get their facts straight? Did they not want to be credible? Incredible. What is the hidden agenda here? And it’s costing lives. I mean, you’ve seen what’s happened with international policy. You put a picture of a starving child up and suddenly France, the UK, now Canada. We’ve just seen today Canada supporting a two-state solution, which is a death sentence from Israel.
SPEAKER 09 :
I mean, OK. The two-state solution, were they asleep? Have they been asleep since, are they Rip Van Winkle? Have they been asleep since October the 7th? That is the two-state solution.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, right. It doesn’t work. Imagine after 9-11 if we’d said, oh, let’s give the Taliban and al-Qaeda their own land right next to the United States. Who would have thought that was? Let’s give them Ohio. Right, hey. Well, I don’t know about Ohio. California, maybe we could agree on California.
SPEAKER 09 :
They might already be there.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, they might, but it’s absurd. what they’re proposing.
SPEAKER 09 :
But it’s not just these foreign actors like UK, Canada. Canada is really surprising. UK, France, I mean, they’re being overrun by immigration from Islamist. Okay, so I think they’re pandering. They’re trying to hold on to their power. Canada, I’m a little surprised. Well, not surprised, it’s Canada. But let’s talk about here at home. I mean, we’re seeing now divisions, Casey, within the GOP.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, well, one thing on that picture, Trump himself, he said he broke with Netanyahu about the starvation issue, and he said, quote, based on television, those children look very hungry. I mean, he said, quote, based on television. So you cannot understate the impact of this false photo, the direct impact of the president.
SPEAKER 09 :
By the way, we’re a visual people.
SPEAKER 05 :
Easy for you to say. Exactly, right.
SPEAKER 09 :
Listen to me. Don’t watch me. Listen to me. So, you know, actually, people watch TV. They don’t listen to it. Right. And people don’t read the paper anymore. So pictures are what capture people’s attention.
SPEAKER 06 :
And the president famously watches a lot of TV. He watches a lot and drinks a lot of Diet Coke. There you go. Well, hey, can’t blame him on the second. But there is a rift in the Republican Party that is growing. It’s been there, but I think this recent photo has really helped crack it wide open in a lot of ways. You have not too many lawmakers, but a lot of the most viral voices in the Republican Party and in the conservative base who have become very critical of Israel. In some cases, you know, straight out anti-Semitic. Well, there’s a few reasons. One, they’ve just become totally anti-war in pretty much all cases. And it started with a growing frustration over the Ukraine funding. an isolationist view? Yeah, they don’t like that word, but yeah, isolationist view. They got really frustrated about Ukraine funding, and then we started giving money to Israel. It felt like a betrayal. And so now they’re just biased against the whole thing and supporting Israel. And then they start drawing on history.
SPEAKER 09 :
So they see no difference between Israel and other nations?
SPEAKER 06 :
No, they don’t. They see actually Israel as parasitic. That’s the way they talk about it. The Israel that we choose. You’re talking about people on the right. Yeah, people like Tucker Carlson is a big voice. Like him or not, you cannot overstate the influence that Tucker has on the party right now. He puts something on YouTube. It’s viral every time. Yeah, it’s like a virus. Yeah, I mean, he is driving the conversation.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, you say that. I got a clip. I want to play a clip of him. This was at Charlie Kirk’s event, Turning Point USA, which Charlie Kirk gave him a platform to spew this anti-Semitic trope. Now let’s play clip number one.
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It’s extremely obvious to anyone who watches that this guy had direct connections to a foreign government. Now no one’s allowed to say that that foreign government is Israel because we have been somehow cowed- into thinking that that’s naughty, there is nothing wrong with saying that. There is nothing hateful about saying that. There’s nothing anti-Semitic about saying that. There’s nothing even anti-Israel about saying that.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, he’s talking about Jeffrey Epstein. And this has been out there, but it’s never been validated or verified by any respectable journalist that Epstein had ties to the Israeli government. CONNECTIONS, BUSINESS CONNECTIONS, BUT THERE’S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE BUSINESS CONNECTIONS WITH JEWISH PEOPLE. BUT NO, THERE ARE PEOPLE SPECULATING WHAT I THINK CARLSON WAS MAKING REFERENCE TO, THAT HE WAS CONNECTED TO THE MOSSAD. NO EVIDENCE OUT THERE.
SPEAKER 06 :
WHAT IS THIS? Well, alongside the frustration about the war, there’s a lot of frustration about the Epstein files. And I think because there hasn’t been the transparency that was asked for, when you have… So blame it on the Jews? Yeah, well, if you have hiddenness, people’s imaginations run wild.
SPEAKER 09 :
When there’s a secret, I think if there was just, like, transparency… I’m all for the Epstein files being released, but I’m not blaming the Jewish people for them not being released. That’s the Department of Justice and the Trump administration that needs to release them.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and this is really a Tucker thing. That theory was not very widespread. People have been skeptical of Epstein and want that out for a long time. But the idea that Mossad was driving it, that’s something Tucker himself has popularized.
SPEAKER 09 :
Is that the only anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli statement that Tucker’s made?
SPEAKER 06 :
I don’t know if I’m an expert on Tucker. He would totally disavow that he’s anti-Semitic. And, you know, that’s it’s hard to.
SPEAKER 09 :
So it’s kind of it was kind of going back to the pictures. It’s what you don’t say. Yeah.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah. I mean, and he he has this kind of bit where he’s like, I’m just asking questions and I’m raising these points. But look who he’s interviewed.
SPEAKER 09 :
Look who he’s interviewed on his. Dave Smith was a big one. Well, in his platform, he’s had Putin, he’s had, I think he had the… The Iranian president. Right, the Iranian president. But then when he had Ted Cruz on and Ted was defending Israel, he went after him, treated him a little bit different, did he not?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I think that’s one of the best criticisms of Tucker is that when he goes hard against someone, I think as, you know, if you say, well, you’re a journalist, I’m going to go hard against everyone, that’s respectable in a sense of if you want to go after Ted. I go easy on everybody.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, right.
SPEAKER 06 :
You know, you could say, well, I’m going hard on tech because I’m a journalist. But then when you have the president of Iran and you don’t push back very hard, I think it was kind of a – he kind of made you suspicious. Not suspicious even of his motives, but just there’s something going on in the way he’s approaching these that’s not always fair to the larger truth, maybe more to the point he’s making.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay, I got to move on here from anti-Semitic conservatives, and I want to go to some actually some good news. Yeah, shocking. Shocking, yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
To report good news here on the show.
SPEAKER 09 :
But this is something that actually really began, I began working on at the very beginning of my political career on policy. I’ve always been more focused on policy than politics, and that is the issue of marriage. We’re seeing some actually some good developments when it comes to the upcoming generation and marriage.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right. And I think it’s really interesting that we’ve been so inundated with bad news. You know, we’re seeing this transgender agenda. We’re seeing the woke agenda. And what’s happening in the background of all this is that actually marriage is getting even stronger among those who are actually taking their vows. Brad Wilcox, who’s a good friend of the show, who’s a researcher,
SPEAKER 09 :
Whose research I used almost 30 years ago to do covenant marriage.
SPEAKER 05 :
Has found that, you know, since the 70s and 80s when no fault divorce was at its highest, divorce rates have actually dropped by 10 percent, which is huge. You know, we used to hear the same mantra over and again, one out of every two marriages and the divorce. Now that’s down to about 40 percent. And we’re also seeing some really important gains in communities like the black folks. family. We’re seeing more kids who are being raised with married black parents low income families. We have a graph here actually for those who can’t see this on the show. It shows the share of first marriages that are ending in divorce which as you can see just drops and drops and drops by each subsequent decade. And I think as a product of Gen X and, you know, no-fault divorce was at its height, when I grew up, I came from a divorced home. I think those of us that experienced it are very intentional now about wanting to preserve marriage. They feel very passionately about staying married. I think they experienced it, and I think the trauma of that has really resulted in a renewed commitment to this institution.
SPEAKER 09 :
I saw that with Covenant Marriage when we did that, is that those who… You know, one generation will put something off or devalue it. The next generation rediscovers it and puts a value on it. Although our marriage rates are still low.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right.
SPEAKER 09 :
So it’s a problem. We’ve got to get those up in marriages being delayed later into life, which is also a problem. But the good news is, is those who are marrying are staying married at a higher percentage. I mean, that’s that’s good news.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it is. I mean, the marriage rate’s down something like 60% in the last 50 years. So we’ve seen a total fall off in that generational fall off that you referred to. And just, you know, from people I know that are my age, I think they’re really suspicious and skeptical of marriage and don’t, especially if they’re not religious in any way, they don’t see a need for it. So as you said, those who do see it as important take it very seriously. And what’s more common for those who aren’t getting married is just kind of a serial monogamy. So they want monogamy and they want to live together. They want to do everything pertaining to marriage, except the vows before God, basically. And I think it’s funny that people still get married in churches, even if they don’t believe.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s always been the case, because they want a sense of blessing upon that. But it’s more than the trappings of marriage that put the blessing on it. It is the covenant of marriage. It’s is that we started this segment, Jesus discussing the issue of marriage, its origins. And you know, we do so much better when we live by God’s design. Oh, that’s true.
SPEAKER 05 :
And the church could do a better job, too, in terms of just promoting marriage, de-emphasizing.
SPEAKER 09 :
There’s a fear in the church of offending people by talking about divorce because so many people in the church are divorced. And speaking of divorce doesn’t mean you’re against divorced people. Jesus spoke against divorce, but he wasn’t against divorced people. He cared deeply. And if we’re going to break these cycles, we have to teach the better way.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and also there’s stuff that goes into that, teaching more about the abstinence, premarital sex, de-emphasizing promiscuity. I mean, the church needs all of that feeds into a marriage. Why get married if you’re just living in sin?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, we’re going to have to leave it at sin because we’re out of time. Casey, Suzanne, thanks for joining us. Folks, thank you for joining us as well. Until next time, I leave you with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, who says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, prepared, and taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
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Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family, and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
