In today’s episode of Washington Watch, we delve into the 35th day of the most severe government shutdown in U.S. history, bringing to light critical insights and perspectives on its political and societal implications. Join Tony Perkins as he discusses with key figures like Senate Majority Leader John Boone and Senator James Lankford on what the shutdown means for the American people and the potential paths forward.
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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.
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We are now in the 35th day of the shutdown, the longest shutdown on record and the most severe shutdown on record, something that was totally unnecessary in the first place.
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That was Senate Majority Leader John Boone earlier today, following the 14th vote to fund the government, which Senate Democrats once again voted against. Senator Boone hopes that Democrats will use today’s gubernatorial elections as an off-ramp to their shutdown and reopen the government. Welcome to this November 4th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Bergen. Thanks so much for tuning in. Well, coming up on today’s program, Muslim clerics are urging the Nigerian government to cut ties with the U.S. after President Trump placed that country on the countries of particular concern list, CTC list, over their egregious and ongoing systematic violence and murder of Christians. What actions can the U.S. take that will impact the Nigerian government and bring safety to Christians? Congressman Marlon Stutzman will join me a little bit later. Also, Oklahoma Senator James Lankford will join us with the latest on what has become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. Well, voting is still underway in Virginia, New Jersey, California, New York, and elsewhere, where the outcomes could have national implications. Joining me now is Washington State reporter Casey Harper, who has been following today’s main stories. Casey, what are the key highlights so far from today’s election?
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Well, Tony, all eyes, as you know, are on New York City in particular, where voters are deciding between Democratic, Socialist, or Leader Donnie. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Now, 34-year-old Donnie, a young guy, he could become the city’s first Muslim mayor, first Indian descent, And maybe the first to support policies that critics say threaten capitalism, private property, and the constitutional guarantee of a Republican government. Now, on the West Coast of California, voters are weighing the Democratic-backed congressional redistricting map. This is a big one because this map could actually flip a five-house meeting from Republicans to Democrats. But even more could escalate with this partisan gerrymandering war going into the 2012-2016 midterms. Meanwhile, Sinema Democrats voted today, once again, against an opening government. Sinema majority leader John Furrier had this to say after the failed vote.
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I’m hopeful again that this is the week in which Democrats will conclude that this is not a good thing. And while they may believe politically that it’s in their best interest, and obviously we’ve seen lots of statements that suggest that, it’s certainly not in the best interest of the American people.
SPEAKER 12 :
I think you’re right, Tony, that many hope today’s elections will finally be an off-brand for Senate Democrats to re-open government. Casey, in other news, Americans United for Life has released its 2026 Life List ranking states by how strongly they protect Life from conception to natural death.
SPEAKER 10 :
What details can you share from this report? This is an interesting report, Tony. The report ranks all 50 states on laws protecting not just abortion, but even things like assisted suicide. So in that ranking, Arkansas takes the top spot for the sixth year in a row, followed by your home state, Louisiana, and Indiana. While Oregon ranks dead last. How do these states get these good ranks? Well, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, she pointed to Arkansas’ strict abortion laws. They have bans on race-based abortion. They have also funding for maternal health, foster care, and adoption programs. But pro-life leaders, Tony, say the focus has to be on abortion.
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We have to protect life at every stage.
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Not just the unborn, but also the elderly and the determined ill. I think that’s absolutely right.
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But I think at the core of it, how you treat unborn children is vulnerable. It says a lot about shaping your policy and determining how you protect other life. This is good. I’m certainly not surprised, Casey, that Louisiana is at the top of the list. We are a pro-life state and getting more pro-life. Let’s turn to another issue, important religious freedom issues, yesterday on our program.
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We mentioned that President Trump placed Nigeria back on the U.S. countries of particular concern with citing the atrocities toward Christians. Now, some Muslim clerics in that country are calling on the Nigerian government to cut ties with the U.S. What’s your latest on this situation? Right, Tony. So in northern Nigeria, which is really the Muslim half of the country, this Muslim area, Ahmad Numi publicly urged the Nigerian government to cut ties, as he said, with the U.S. Well, where did this come from? Well, it’s in response to President Trump warning that he could cut USA to Nigeria and even deploy more terrorists as he wiped out Islam on the terrorists if we keep seeing these attacks on Christians. Now, Nigeria’s government has responded, and they say, hey, we welcome U.S. support against these armed groups, but they have insisted on respect and sovereignty. When I met with Foreign Minister Yusuf Tugar while speaking in Berlin, he argued that the country’s Constitution does not allow religious persecutions.
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This is what guides us and this is what shows that it’s impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape or form by the government of Nigeria at any level.
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I’m glad to hear that’s in the Nigerian constitution, but we know from reports, Tony, that on the ground, that government and religious leaders are ignoring the killing of thousands of Christians, and actually hundreds of thousands of Nigerians have fled. So whether local leaders want to admit it or not, Nigeria has sadly become a hot spot for Christian persecution. Thank you, Casey. The constitution may not allow it, but the facts… say the government is tolerated.
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And of course the Family Research Council will continue to shine a light on the persecution of Christians there in Nigeria, here in the United States, anywhere in the world where they’re being persecuted. We cannot be silent while our brothers and sisters suffer for their faith in Jesus Christ.
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And we encourage you to pray for the persecution to take place literally around the world right now.
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All right, I want to continue discussing the latest on the government shutdown from the perspective of the United States Senate. Joining me now to talk about this and more is Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. He serves on several Senate committees, including the Finance Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. Senator Lankford, welcome back to Washington Watch.
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Good to see you.
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Well, thank you. Let me ask you this. Does it look like there’s an agreement coming to reopen the government this week?
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We are inching our way closer to this. There’s a group of Democrats that have come forward and said that they want to be able to talk about how to be able to reopen the government and try to get out of this. They put themselves in this box by their demand being a government shutdown, not a demand for anything else other than a shutdown. They’ve now prolonged it until they get past the elections in New York City. And my hope now is that we can actually get the government open. They’ll actually come to the table and just vote to reopen it. All we’ve looked for all along was just a street Now, they continue to say that this is about health care, the rising cost of health care, and that in order to address that, we have to have these premium subsidies extinctions. They continue to say that, but some say it’s one year they want, some say they want improvement, some say they want changes.
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They’ve not been able to agree with what they’re looking for.
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So it’s been this odd situation where Republicans are saying, let’s just open the government, this is what we’re proposing, and you ask Democrats what they want, and it’s all over the map what they want. But those that are wanting just an extension of the previous rules for Obamacare, everybody’s got to remember, this is above and beyond the Obamacare supports. This is the Biden COVID bonus that they put in place that was above and beyond Obamacare. They intentionally designed it to go around, hide protections, so they could issue money to big insurance companies and still fund abortions, elective abortions. So there’s absolutely no way we’re going to support that. They also closed it out for people, unlimited amounts. They gave no premiums to folks that are on the lower end. So you’ve got a ton of fraud that’s built into the system. And in my home state of Oklahoma, the Obamacare exchange is, the cost for the consumer and for the actual price itself has gone up 200%, and at the same time it’s gone up 29% in the commercial market. So there’s clear problems with not only fraud, but abuses. And the Democrats are saying, just send more money to it, just send more money to it. And Republicans have said, absolutely not. We’re not going to do that. And so that’s the big focus right now. So for us, it’s open to government. We’ll tell you all the problems of this, but we’re not going to have a protracted conversation about health care and about how bad Obamacare is.
SPEAKER 12 :
And everyone knows, while the government suggests that they are coming to their senses on this, I mean, last week we had— I mean, Republicans have never voted for the subsidies.
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In fact, they’ve never voted for the underlying—
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ACA, Affordable Care Act, that was passed with some of the Democratic votes. But it does not address, as you pointed out, the systemic problems in health care. I think everybody wants to have a conversation about how do we get health care costs down? And it’s hurting everyone. But putting more money, more government money into a failed system doesn’t do it. I want to get your response to the president and his declaration. This is something many of us have been advocating for ourselves included. Nigeria is a country of particular concern. He put it, his administration in 2020, December of 2020, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Nigeria is a country of particular concern. The Biden administration took it off.
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Now it’s back off. Okay. That’s good. There’s a problem. We’re either going to fix it or we’re going to help fix it.
SPEAKER 12 :
Long overdue. The most populous country in Africa and the most dangerous place for issues anywhere in the world. Senator, I want to switch gears a little bit. Domestic issue. In fact, it’s right there in your own house in the Senate. Talk about the filibuster, legislative filibuster. The president is saying, get rid of that.
SPEAKER 14 :
That could be extremely dangerous. I don’t know what Joe Biden would have done if there was no filibuster in the world four years ago. HE WOULD HAVE ADDED ADDITIONAL PEOPLE IN THE SUPREME COURT. HE WOULD HAVE ADDED PUERTO RICO AND WASHINGTON, D.C. AS STATE STAFF FORWARD TO DEMOCRAT SENATORS. AND HE WOULD HAVE TAKEN AWAY RIGHT TO WORK.
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JUST A LITTLE OVER A MINUTE.
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All the things he would have done, but we stopped him from doing all of those things because we still have those administrations where a culture will depend on where you’re coming from. And that requires countries to be able to move into things.
SPEAKER 01 :
So I know what Joe Biden would have done with just four years ago.
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I never, ever, ever want to see that happen in the United States in the future, whether that’s five years from now or 10 years from now. The way to protect that is to make sure both sides are always heard in the United States Senate.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, I think it’s also important to note that over the last 100 years, 72 of those 100 years, the Democrats have had the majority in the United States Senate. So 72% of the time in the last 100 years, the Democrats have been in the majority. And as you pointed out, they would have passed a lot of bad stuff. But it’s also important to know that even if you could pass all the good stuff right now, it could be undone with the simple majority vote. Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.
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In fact, Nigeria is the most dangerous place in the entire world. I’d say when you’re in the majority, it’s really annoying. When you’re in the minority, it’s very annoying. It’s a safety valve.
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It is a safety valve. All right, Senator, we’re out of time, but always great to talk with you. Thanks so much for taking the time to join us. Senator James Langford of Oklahoma Financial. All right, don’t go away because we have one more.
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How are you handling the pressure of life? The Apostle Paul knew what it meant to face pressure. He wrote some of the most powerful letters of the Bible from prison. Yet those letters overflow with joy, courage, and unshakable freedom in Christ. Paul’s Prison Letters is Family Research Council’s 14-day Stand on the Word study guide that takes you deeper into these life-giving truths, calling you to stand firm, rejoice in every season, exalt Christ above all, and extend forgiveness that sets others free. We just started our 14-day journey, so join us as we read God’s word, reflect on God’s word, and apply God’s word to our lives. Order your study guide now at frc.org slash prison epistles or text letters to 67742. Join us and discover where true freedom is found.
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For over 4,000 years, Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It’s the center of their ancestral homeland where nearly 80% of the Bible’s events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem, Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal, and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth. Judea and Samaria is nearly a quarter of Israel’s current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation’s identity. The October 7th massacre, launched from Gaza, shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a two-state solution, became a launchpad for terror. Today, only 21% of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a two-state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran’s grip is weakening. New alliances are forming. But Western countries and some U.S. officials still chase the mirage of a two-state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the U.S., led not to peace but to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza, deeply woven into Israel’s geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace. It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel’s rightful claim to sovereignty. It’s time for America to do the same. For history, for justice, and for lasting security. Amen. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. All right, following President Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a country of particular concern, the Nigerian government says it would welcome U.S. support in curtailing and destroying Boko Haram and other terrorist groups. who have been brutally killing thousands in the West African country.
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But they continue to maintain that there is no Christian genocide in Nigeria, and states support a religious persecution that has been impossible.
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It’s impossible for there to be a religious persecution that can be supported in any way, shape, or form by the
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government organization at any level, be it federal, be it regional, be it local.
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It’s impossible.
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That was Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dugard. Well, I have to say, those who have been monitoring the situation in Nigeria would strongly disagree with his take. Joining me now to discuss this is Congressman Lawrence Dugard. who last month introduced the Nigerian Religious Freedom Accountability Act of 2025. He represents the third congressional district of Indiana. Congressman Stutzman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us today.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you, Joe.
SPEAKER 12 :
Great to be with you this afternoon. All right, so the Nigerian government wants us to believe that they have no part in the violence against Christians. Now, I will say this. From what I, when I was chairman of USURP, I tracked very closely. We did a lot of investigation in Nigeria. I wouldn’t say that the government’s pulling the trigger, but they’re not stopping it.
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Right.
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Yeah, no, that’s exactly the way I would see it as well.
SPEAKER 16 :
And, you know, I think what’s happening is President Trump’s international policy is definitely working in parts that were focused, of course, on Iran, the Middle East, you know, with what’s happening supporting Israel. standing with Israel in the Middle East. Of course, the conclusion of the, or the conclusion here to the war returned to the attack on Israel from Gaza. The piece that you just read a little bit ago said it so well about the fact that, you know, Judea and Samaria should be protected so that, you know, there aren’t going to be further interest after that region that we’re seeing you know jihadists moving uh now to africa uh and i think if there’s anything that this issue ever be able to do is to stand with the vulnerable, to stand those who are standing for life and are pro-life. And here we have Christians asking for help. And so we have filed a bill to bring those leaders accountable. And if this genocide continues, the leader there from Nigeria that says there is no genocide is going to see some There’s a number of reasons the United States has an interest here. First off, it’s the human rights issue.
SPEAKER 12 :
This is the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. It’s a country that’s pretty much equally divided between Christians and Muslims, but it’s the most populous country in Africa on the continent. The destabilization of Nigeria is going to have ripple effects across the entire continent, even into Europe. So this is something everyone should be concerned about, and you’re absolutely right. What we’ve seen is these jihadists have moved into Africa. opposition to them, and they’re taking over and they’re terrorizing. And in this particular case, the government, much like India, quite frankly, what’s happening in India is a kind of different set of people turning a blind eye to the persecution of minorities. And this is a significant… That’s exactly right. We see the same thing in Afghanistan with the Taliban.
SPEAKER 16 :
We saw the same thing even pre-9-11 in Saudi Arabia where they were turning a blind eye to the jihadist train camps. It’s And, you know, that’s why it’s important, you know, in order to protect America, I’m a full supporter of America’s first agenda. We can also, you know, walk and chew gum at the same time and make sure that we stand on our allies and don’t just want the same, you know, peace and prosperity that we want here in America and in other parts of the world. And it’s just… There are people out there that take advantage of innocent people every day in countries like this, and I think that there’s so much potential in Africa. But they see this as an opportunity to wipe out any opposition, to, of course, take out Christians who would disagree with them in those particular countries. But I applaud President Trump for let’s talk about syria you were there you visited there shortly after the regime changed
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That de facto leader, Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed Asharar, will actually be meeting with President Trump on Friday. This is kind of shocking, quite frankly, because there are religious minorities being, again, we don’t know that they’re being targeted by the government, but the government’s not helping them there. What should the president be saying to him this week when they meet?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, I hope that that’s part of the conversation that, you know, look, I mean, you know, the sanctions on Syria have already been voted on in the Senate to be lifted. And I know that I might well think there’s a lot of other House members, we want to help the Syrian people come out of the oppression that they have been under over the past several decades. But we don’t want to go from one regime who said, oh, we’re going to respect religious rights and religious freedom to a regime that doesn’t. And that’s why I visited with Alistair. Everything that he said is great to hear, but his actions obviously speak louder than words. It’s like the fact that he’s visiting with Trump and President Trump is a strong negotiator. that uh hopefully this is a sign that we’re going to make sure the syrian government is watching out for every person in syria and that the people are any sort of killing down in the syria and president trump and that president trump i think that’s the ability to do that congressman just about 45 seconds left will you and some of your colleagues in the house six months uh block the lifting of those sanctions if there’s not some guarantee on their best behavior but then we would have to vote to do that. But we’re definitely, of course, talking to Speaker Mike Johnson, who’s very sensitive to that situation.
SPEAKER 01 :
Of course, he’s been in that region. He knows it as well.
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It’s already passed the Senate. With the shutdown, we haven’t had those conversations up close. But I think that’s why this visit with President Trump and us bringing awareness to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others, we were able to get an 80-package All right, folks, stick with us. We’re back.
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Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple. The abortion drug. Today, over 60% of U.S. abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone. Unborn lives will remain in grave danger, and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. Let me encourage you to get the Stanford app. That way you’ll have access to Washington Watch no matter where you go. You will also have access to FRC’s news and commentary from a biblical perspective on issues that we’re talking about even today. It comes out in real time. You can get it throughout the day if you’re on the app. That is the Washington stand. So go to the app store and get the stand. Well, speaking in fact, on that, you have access to election tools, tools to be an effective and engaged citizen. You need those today if you’re living in one of the states where we have elections. And you know what happens when Christians don’t vote. We get government officials, like one in the town of Kinnebunk, Maine, that recently drew attention for accusing parents at a school board. Their obsession with genitalia points not to caring for the students in this district, but perhaps toward an underlying guilt for their own pedophilic tendencies.
SPEAKER 15 :
There is a registry for that. That was a member of the school board.
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Joining me now to discuss this and more for our weekly Standing Together segment is Richard Harris, Executive Director of Truth and Liberty, which educates, unifies, and mobilizes Christians to stand for biblical truth in all spheres of cultural inclusion. Richard, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 15 :
Hey, Tony, thanks for having me on. It’s good to be with you.
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Also, let me thank you for joining us last month at the PrayVote Stand Summit. We appreciate the partnership of the ministry and helping us get the word out.
SPEAKER 15 :
You know there are unfortunately some who think
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You know, it’s really not that important to be involved in elections, but speak about the Christian duty to engage in the election process, engage as citizens in the country which we live in.
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And frankly, just across the country, he’s been leading to the reasons for a while that this isn’t our obvious example, but we wouldn’t even have a conclusion. The United States of America would not exist if it weren’t for Christians rising up, taking a stand for what they believe to be true according to the Bible. What do we know from the first great awakening? George Woodfield going up and down the coast preaching to millions of Americans.
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This has been documented historically. Those famous words from the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That comes from the Bible.
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It comes from the image of God and the teachings of God through the gospel and everything else. Something has crept into the church, an idea. that we shouldn’t have anything to do with politics, that it’s morally unclean, and so forth. And what I say to people is, yeah, it is unclean, it is a dirty business, and it’s dirty because you’re not there.
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We are called to fall to life.
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After Chapter 5, Jesus said, you should fall to the earth, fly to the world, let men see your good works, and what better place to do good works than tomorrow?
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I mean, I ask people, is the U.S.
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Constitution a good work?
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How can folks get information that are in these areas that are going to be voting tomorrow?
SPEAKER 15 :
What resources does FRC actually have? This secularization is the problem. It’s actually what I talked about at the workshop, at your conference. And it is, I think, one of the most fundamental problems we face as we’re trying to change our nation is to eliminate that mindset of secularization from the church so that believers will stand up and take our place as salt and light in the culture and the government.
SPEAKER 12 :
If we disengage, if we’re on the sidelines, we don’t have to… We just look at the last administration and the types of policies that have been thrust upon this nation. There’s all this gender confusion, forcing girls and boys into the same locker room. Those are policy decisions made by people who were elected in large part because many Christians didn’t vote.
SPEAKER 15 :
That’s absolutely right. I think some of the most recent data is about 25 to 40 million American Christians don’t vote. And imagine if we could increase our turnout at the polls, vote according to biblical values, by even half that. That would cover the margin of every election by far. That woman has the main school board election. The reason she’s able to have that position is because the church is not doing its job of stewarding the culture and participating in the free creation that God has given us.
SPEAKER 12 :
Richard, you just have about a little over a minute left.
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Share a little bit about what Truth and Liberty does and how folks can connect with it. Oh, thank you, Tony.
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 15 :
So as you said, we are working to educate, unify, and mobilize Christians to stand for truth. We do that through, we have a twice a week show called the Truth and Liberty Show. General Boykin was just on with me today recording this episode. But we’ve also got our website with a resources center that has hundreds of links where people can find out about everything from our founding documents to how to run for office and how to stand against the LGBT and the tools and many, many more things. We’re going to have the Voters Guide and our conference every year and many other events. So check us out on the web at freedomliberty.net and you can find out more.
SPEAKER 12 :
Folks, it’s a great resource, so I do encourage you to check it out. Richard, thanks so much for joining us. And again, thanks for partnering with us for the parade. It’s always great to have Truth and Liberty there on the scene. If the Republicans prevail in any of these races, it’ll just kind of be pushed. All right, and be sure to check it out. You know, the more people working on these issues, the lighter it will be. All right, when we come back, we’re going to take a closer look at Election Day and what the exit polls are telling us so far. We’ll be right back. Our founding scripture for this is Ephesians 6, verse 13. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, stand therefore.
SPEAKER 07 :
Family Research Council’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit 2025 brought together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action.
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We are equipping the body of Christ to understand that what is happening around us is not just political. It’s not just cultural. At its heart, it is spiritual.
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We gather in a nation that has torn the foundation apart, and we have separated our governing documents from our divine source, Jesus Christ. We need truth now more than ever to guide us.
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I’m believing, God, let this be a testimony of the American church, that we become so full of the fire of the word of God that we cannot contain it. We have to tell people about it. We have to make disciples.
SPEAKER 05 :
The idea of America was the idea that our rights don’t come from government. They come from our divine creator, right? Government’s main job is to protect those rights. And because that was the foundation of America, we We’ve enjoyed over the last 250 years more freedom, more prosperity, more stability than any other nation anywhere in the world, and that should be celebrated.
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We are living in a moment. What’s that moment? It’s a prophetic moment on God’s timeline. And so he needs the church more than ever to act biblically for the blessing of our political leaders and of our nation.
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The number one issue facing America domestically, which is the epidemic of fatherlessness. 40% of all American children today enter the world without a father in the home married to the mother.
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We cannot win the pro-life fight without acknowledging that this is the pro-family fight. That this is the pro-marriage fight. We’re never going to end abortion if we do not secure and shore up marriage.
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We pray that this would be an opportunity, Lord God, for you to use us mere little mortals, but we possess the name of Jesus. God, use us mightily. We pray in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, amen.
SPEAKER 18 :
Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to the Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at the Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
SPEAKER 12 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 01 :
Thanks for staying with us today.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right. Just wanted a couple of items. The Syrian president, Al-Sharrar, will actually meet with President Trump on Monday, not Friday, as I said. In fact, I announced this afternoon that it will be on Monday. Now, this is the first time in 80 years.
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that a Syrian president has met with the men in the White House.
SPEAKER 12 :
So be praying for that. That’s one of the things to pray about because that is a serious issue there, at least in what’s happening to the religious minorities. This guy, we talked about his former… Right, our word for today comes from Ephesians chapter 3. For this reason, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints What is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ who has passed His knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God? Wow. Paul reveals the purposes of his prayer and his prayer that believers would experience the fullness of God, not just know about Him, but be filled with His presence. A.W. Tozer wrote this, we must be illuminated by the Holy Spirit which invades the human intellect. You’re never the same after you’ve encountered the presence of God. To impact the world with the power of God, you must go beyond your intellectual understanding. It is the overflow of personal encounter with Christ that makes his presence known through us. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. Well, as we’ve already mentioned several times, it’s election day and the polls are still open. They’ll be closing in the next few hours. So if you haven’t gone out to vote yet, be sure to do so if you live where there is an election. Now, tomorrow we’re going to have full analysis of the election results, but right now. We want to get a pulse on the voters who have cast their ballots so far. There is some early exit polling information that’s out. And we want to take a look at it. So join me now to share what we know so far. John McLaughlin, CEO and partner at the survey research firm McLaughlin & Associates. John, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you for having me. And one thing to caution you about exit polls. I’ve, you know, a lot of times the media, like I can go back to 2016 election night. I was like telling President Trump, go to the polls and tell him that. Steve Bannon and others in the Trump campaign, because we had our own Trump polls, and the D.A. polls came out, and remember, there’s a 71% chance of it. And the D.A. polls came out, and we said, you just got to ignore them. They’re bad. We count votes. When we counted the votes, the president won and won for a victory. And certainly, you know, it’s like a year ago. I spent the weekend before the… The election discounted the Des Moines Register poll that had us lose in Iowa by 3%, and we ended up winning by 13%. So fortunately, we have our own poll to pay attention to. And tonight, I’ll actually go out to Nassau County, New York. We wish the county executive Bruce Blakeman and the Nassau County Republicans out there, they’ve run an aggressive offensive campaign. I think it’s going to pay off because even though it’s an 8% more Democrat than the Republican-registered county, we delivered the President Trump election by 30,000 votes. And we run on issues like opposing cashless bail and opposing higher taxes. And I can tell you, Zora Mondami in New York has a 69% unfavorable rating, and Governor Hochul’s got a 61% disavowable rating. And most of them are real. So when we look at what’s going on in New Jersey in the exit polls, You know, right now they’re saying immediately in New Jersey and Virginia, they’re saying that most of the voters disapprove of President Trump. We’ve got polls over the weekend that we released a poll on Friday. It’s on our website, blog.online.com. It’s modeled after the actual turnout. We have President Trump nationwide with a 51-job approval, 46 disapproved. And Republicans win in Congress by two points. And we were pretty accurate with that methodology. All in 2013, the briars, and in 2014. And now you’ve got a two-year result. And they only have 34% Trump voters, and they weighted it down to 30%. And we got 50% less stuff than in the election. So there’s a 20-point bias that they’re trying to run the president’s disapproval down. And you have the same thing from NBC News. NBC, which was registered, was done by a Republican and Democrat firm. Neither one was President Trump, that’s for sure. And they only had 41% Trump voters, again, which is 9% shorter than what we got in the election. So what today is about is did Trump voters come back out? Let’s talk a little bit about how this is going to set the stage.
SPEAKER 12 :
for the midterm election. That’s what everybody’s looking at. Now, if the Republicans somehow pull off these victories, it’s going to be dismissed, by the way. They won’t pay much attention to it. But if, you know, Mandami and others, you know, prevail, well, that’s going to be, you know, a harbinger of things to come. I mean, the media is so into promoting the leftist agenda in this country.
SPEAKER 08 :
I mean, you can’t take anything you see in the media for real.
SPEAKER 12 :
No, and that’s what I was pointing out, what I was telling you.
SPEAKER 09 :
These polls, you know, over the weekend, you’re getting the fake polls again that are trying to run down the presence of Google, where they’re trying to blame the Republicans for the shutdown. I mean, most people outside the Beltway don’t care about the shutdown. We do care about it, but the military is not going to be able to.
SPEAKER 17 :
The border patrol and law enforcement are not getting paid.
SPEAKER 09 :
Air traffic patrols are not getting paid. Chuck Schumer is taking a paycheck call. And the president, by the way, doesn’t get paid at all. He donates his salary. So he hasn’t been paid in the first term, second term. But the Democrats are still getting paid and won’t do their job and won’t open up their government. But the media carries the order. And they not only run fake news, but they run fake polls. And it’s all about… depressing Republican Trump voters from coming in. And they really want to suppress us. They certainly want to suppress Christian voters and religious voters. It’s unbelievable what they do. Yeah, I mean, it’s the same game play they run every time.
SPEAKER 12 :
So we’ll look to see what the results say. But, you know, elections, quite frankly, in politics, especially these days, it’s like a lifetime, a lifetime. There’s so much space between now and the midterm elections that will change things. So I don’t think the results of the elections tonight, I don’t think they’re going to have much influence over the midterm elections. I want to shift gears. I want to go to a poll that you recently did, a survey, because this is near and dear to us here at the Family Resource Council, something we’ve been working on all the way back to the Republican Convention. And that is the issue of the abortion drug mental pressure. What has happened since the overturn of Roe, where Dobbs recognized the right of the states to protect the unborn. The states began to do that. We have like 40 states that have laws to different degrees to protect the unborn. The Biden administration changed the policy on the threshold, allowing it to be sent through the mail without an in-person consultation with the medical personnel. And they changed the policies of the DOJ not to enforce the law that says it’s illegal to mail. The American people, they see through this. They understand that there is a problem with this. And you found that out in your survey. Right.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, they want it to be regular. And even though you have a lot of… I mean, the American people want this. I mean, the irony for the poll was 59% actually had a deal because it’s their brain. I think sort of what you’re saying here is the division and the government is down to the state of the division. But on the other hand, you had 7 out of 10 voters basically want that drug to be regulated. The states need regulation. The federal government has to deal with it. So they don’t want it. Like I said, they want stricter health and safety standards. So 64% want to reduce availability. So you have the majority of Americans taking a reasonable look at this, where they don’t agree with what Joe Biden did, what Senator Clinton once done. And so as far as the average person in America, they take a much more skeptical attitude towards what the West is trying to do.
SPEAKER 12 :
I mean, this is—you tell me. You’re a pollster. You check these things. I mean, these numbers would suggest that this isn’t even close in today’s world where everything is so narrowly divided in our country. This looks pretty strong that people want this regulated. Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER 17 :
The left tries to create an exemption for themselves.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s similar to they don’t want minor teenage children to have to get parental approval for abortion. They fight parental consent. They fight parental information. You know, you see it with the transgender boxes where if you’re a high school child, there’s a school that tells the counselor that a lot of states tell the counselor that they think they’re transgender. They don’t notify the parents. And then all of a sudden they start counseling the kid. And that’s almost an 80% issue with America. I mean, I’ve been hearing that. Last year in the Trump campaign, I was 20 years ago. about paying for transgender operations for prisoners. They had to run on their own video. Her own voice and her own video. They had to run that so people would believe it, so they wouldn’t believe the fake media. But that was the elimination of the legislative media.
SPEAKER 12 :
So that said, John, when you look at this data, again, it’s overwhelming in today’s society. The Trump administration has yet to reverse those policies in the Biden administration. Why would the Trump administration not go back to the pre-existing policies that require oversight? It seems like a no-brainer.
SPEAKER 09 :
I’m not in the government. Certainly. The president and his team have taken on a lot of issues within a matter of a few months. This is probably on the agenda, but they’ve done so much that sometimes the amount of accomplishment and the amount of issues that they’ve taken on and the lack of like A concentrated focus is probably hurt them to some extent. People are missing everything that they’re doing.
SPEAKER 17 :
Have you shared this information with them?
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, it’s public, so they have it. I haven’t personally spoken with them.
SPEAKER 12 :
I mean, this is pretty strong stuff. It shows that even those who… align with the other side on this issue, recognize that this is a dangerous drug and needs to be regulated.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. And I’m sure, I’m sure as they, the health issues take a little longer to hurt Hillary and Washington. I mean, the tax cuts were hard enough to get passed. But this one, you know, you’re going to get more resistance inside the building. Certainly there’s plenty of pro-family people in the Trump administration that have seen this, and we’ll see what they can do as far as to affect policy or what’s going on from Washington.
SPEAKER 12 :
All right, well, John is very insightful, and I appreciate you joining us to share it with us.
SPEAKER 09 :
Tony, thank you very much. Thank you for the opportunity. Keep up the good coverage. If more people watch you and don’t pay attention to the mainstream press, that’s good. It is. They’ll get the truth.
SPEAKER 11 :
All right, John, have a great evening. Thank you. So, folks, this is another prayer matter.
SPEAKER 12 :
In fact, it’s not only a matter of prayer, it’s a matter of action. Remember, our republic is not made for spectators. It is made for those who will engage in the process. So this is, I wouldn’t say it’s the last piece of the puzzle, but it is certainly a big piece of the puzzle. There’s no reason for the Trump administration to go ahead and put back in place basic oversight of this deadly drug. We’ve covered this extensively. There’s been one out of every ten women that have taken this pill are going to have adverse health effects, possibly leading up to emergency room.
SPEAKER 10 :
It is being sent and used surreptitiously. It’s being used to boyfriends. He thinks his husbands have gotten this drug. They’re going to take your daughter. It’s being used by human traffickers. It needs to stop. And you can help. Text the word LIFE to 67742. That’s right, LIFE to 67742.
SPEAKER 12 :
And sign the petition that’s going to be delivered to the Trump administration to restore and strengthen the FDA safety standards from what the press dealt with and to direct the Department of Justice to enforce the federal law. So text LIFE to 67742. LIFE to 67742. I mean, again, the public is in overwhelming support of these steps. And it doesn’t even get into the issue that is undermining the state laws, the state code of life laws of the past. recognize that it’s the job of a decision.
SPEAKER 24 :
So text LIFE to 67742 and be sure and pray about this as well.
SPEAKER 12 :
Our prayers can change this. They can make a difference. And we need to be praying for our leaders that they would make the right decisions that allow us to live in peace with the blessing of God upon the nation. And nothing is more important than protecting the lives of the unborn. So text LIFE to 67742. All right, we’re out of time for today, but I want to thank you for joining us once again. I encourage you to download the Stand Firm app, where you can have access to all of the resources that FRC has to provide. Go to the App Store and get the Stand Firm app. Until next time, I leave you with the encouraging words the Apostle Paul found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, pray, when you’ve prepared, and when you’ve taken a stand, my all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 23 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
