On today’s program: Jack Hibbs, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, reflects on how God has been at work in this election and previews what’s potentially in store for the nation. Matt Carpenter, FRC Action Director, offers a recap of the
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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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I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president. And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family, and your future.
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I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations, where the women of America have the freedom to make decisions about their own body and not have their government telling them what to do.
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That was President Donald Trump last night in his victory speech and Vice President Kamala Harris in her concession speech just a little while ago. Welcome to Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. Americans have made their choice and Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States. This provides a tremendous opportunity for believers in the country. Pastor Jack Hibbs, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, and my co-host from last night’s PrayVote Stand, Decision 2020, 2024 will join me to discuss that opportunity.
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They will now continue to retain an incredibly draconian six-week abortion ban, which is going to make it hard to persuade any large company that they should move their female staff there, let alone any of their staff that has female.
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That was MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow lamenting Florida’s pro-life victory last night, saying that it’s going to affect businesses moving to the state of Florida. Seems like they said something about that in North Carolina a few years back. And, well, North Carolina continues to be a top state for business. Well, in some parts of the country, the votes are still being tabulated, but we now have a pretty good picture of the political landscape of America. FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter will join us to provide the latest on the issues and the candidates that we have been tracking. The legacy media should not have a shred of credibility after this election based upon how they tried to shape the election, not report on it.
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Over the last several weeks, voters all across our state and across the political spectrum proudly participated in our democracy. Whether they chose to vote from home, vote early in person, or vote yesterday in their local precinct,
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That was the wrong clip. We’ll show that clip a little bit later when we talk with Mark Mitchell, Chief Pollster at Rasmussen Reports. And finally, former Georgia Congressman and now FRC Action President Jody Heiss will join me to take a look at the impact election integrity laws had on this election. We’ll also talk about FRC Action elections and the successes they had. Now, if you missed any of last night’s special election coverage, Pray, Vote, Stand, Decision 2024, and there was a lot of analysis from a biblical perspective that’s still very relevant, will help you understand the times that we’re living in, you can still watch it on the Stand Firm app. Simply text APP to 67742. That’s APP to 67742. And you’ll get a link, and you’ll be able to have access to all of last night’s broadcast. Well, as I mentioned, votes are still being counted. Alaska, Arizona and Nevada. But Donald Trump surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed to win the 2024 presidential election. Now with 292 to Kamala Harris’s 226. To say that this was a one of a kind election is not hyperbole. From assassination attempts to the 11th hour dropping out of the candidate originally at the top of the Democratic ticket, this was one for the record books. But it was also unique in the way Christians responded and rose to the occasion, both in prayer and in action. Now, the question is, what comes next? Joining me to look back and to look forward is my battle buddy on the West Coast, Pastor Jack Hibbs, Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills and Founder and President of Real Life ministries pastor jack thanks for joining me this afternoon tony uh thank you absolutely a marvelous night last night and uh and that continues well i want to thank you for partnering with family research council real life network joined with us in last night’s broadcast covering the election returns and discussing it from you know a biblical perspective it was a phenomenal evening of programming let me ask you this because we we we stopped uh about 1230 this morning. And so at least Eastern time, it was early out there your time. But the results were not all in. Anything surprise you in terms of the results?
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Well, for one thing, California, as usual, is still counting and that’s the norm. However, if we look at it closely and we’re breaking it down right now, the California vote, though it didn’t go 100% the way that we wanted, it went very strongly. to the support of the House to keep Mike Johnson employed there as Speaker of the House. We are very delighted and very satisfied with California’s response to this election. And it also gives us, Tony, a great addition to our strategy. We know when you break down the counties of California, they’re red. but it’s the inner city. And so from here on out, Tony, we are gonna be really targeting the inner city and reaching those with a logical, sensible vote. So, man, we could go on the whole day, but I’m really blown away. A comment made online on Instagram, where it was made, and I’ll repeat, We have won the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, the popular vote mandate, and the entire country that wants to clean up our borders, our election, and the deportation of those here that are illegal, and to hold corrupt politicians accountable, close quote. We are even seeing that here in California. Tony, for example, Attorney… District Attorney, the infamous George Gascon in LA, he was fired last night, and a whole host of very liberal district attorneys in California, they were fired. A lot of people were given their walking papers in our state last night, and then finally this. We had this horrible bit of legislation passed several years ago, Proposition 47, that basically let you steal and rob up to $950. You could walk free with it. And lo and behold, last night Proposition 36 was passed and it gives law enforcement uh power and it it’s going to give judges and attorneys strength to prosecute uh crime and so we’re going in the right direction in california we’re excited
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Let’s talk about the role of the church in that. Now, we talked about this last night, the Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, that in your church, California, it’s legal to do ballot collection. And so the left wanted this, and you used it, and so they’re probably going to make it illegal now, again, because it worked for—literally, I think it’s going to turn a couple of these congressional seats— But you collected nearly 20,000 ballots at your church. What motivated people to get engaged? We’re talking about sage guns, spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives. What motivated them at that level?
SPEAKER 06 : 8:14
You know, let me be clear. I can answer this to some degree, but Tony, the part that I cannot answer is that we actually also hosted drive up ballot returns, drive up. So that means there’s a bunch of ballots that came in from people who just live in the region. Right? And they brought their ballots and they put them in the secured box without even leaving their car. It is legal in California. Having said that, what motivated, you gotta remember, we’re in Southern California. We see things that a lot of the states don’t see. So people are fed up. Democrats and Republicans were fed up of the lawlessness and of the fact that we are being overrun by illegal aliens And the threatening part, Tony, is some of them are usurping their really unsanctioned authority. They’re strutting around, and they’re going into abandoned homes, and they’re basically taking over. And I got to tell you, there’s been an overwhelming response. And, you know, sin can only go so far. Sin cannot manage itself. And California has overplayed its hand in the area of That’s right.
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Sin does not know boundaries, and it continues to march forward. So let’s talk about going forward in this. The role of the church, all right? You have the Freedom From Religion Foundation and all those groups kind of breathing down your back. But we talked about this last night, about the role of the church is not to be of government, but it should be in government. We should be involved. We should have a prophetic voice. What does that look like? We were very candid about this. We weren’t. crazy about some of the positions that the Republican Party took on the life issues, kind of moving back from some of the strong language. But when you looked at the choice, it really wasn’t a choice. We had only one way to go because of the outspoken nature of Harris and the Democratic Party wanting to kill babies. So how do you navigate that? You know, some people say, well, you shouldn’t say anything bad. You just should vote and tell people to vote. I think we have to have a prophetic voice speaking into government while at the same time voting for those who are most closely aligned to that biblical truth. What do you say?
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TONY, THIS IS GOING TO SOUND MAYBE A LITTLE STRANGE FOR SOME OF YOUR VIEWERS RIGHT NOW, BUT FOR US, YOU’RE ASKING ME AND THIS MINISTRY AND THE MINISTRIES NOW OVER THE YEARS THAT WE’RE STANDING ON THE FRINGE WATCHING US AND THE WAKE OF EVERY CYCLE, REMEMBER, EVERY TWO YEARS, every four years presidential, we have been gaining so much ground that now it’s pulled in. This time in California, we saw more churches, more pastors, more Christians get involved. And so here’s what we’re going to do, Tony. We’re going to keep going exactly how we’ve been going because it is working. And I will not be surprised if California now wants to repeal their own idea of ballot harvesting, ballot collection, because it has been overwhelming. My goodness, Mike Garcia, again, these, Young Kim, Michelle Steele, Darrell Issa, and more, again, winning. And so we took a really bad idea, we circumcised it, dedicated it to the Lord. kept it extremely legal and has been a major, major impact. So, Tony, we’re going to keep going straight ahead because it’s working. We’re going to let this wave build and continue on, you know, listen, until the Lord calls me home. And then that’s to the next generation to carry on. But I tell you, we are thrilled.
SPEAKER 07 : 11:59
And what you’re describing, you’re using the process to encourage Christians to vote, but at the same time, you’re talking about the issues. You’re not pulling any punches on the issues. You’re telling them to vote biblical values. I mean, you’re calling the church, and we know that you have many candidates that have emerged from your church, to have that prophetic voice in government.
SPEAKER 06 : 12:21
It is absolutely true. And here’s the bottom line. Because God has made us the way that he has, we long for leadership and we long for the truth. God is stirring our hearts. And when a believer understands, wait a minute, this person is running for mayor. For example, the mayor goes to our church. She won last night, I think, 74 percent. that kind of stuff. When you see that happening, people want to do the right thing when the right thing’s been put in their heart. Pastors need to give the Word of God, make disciples, right? After people are saved, we don’t drop them off. That’s when we go to work to make them disciples. And being part of a disciple is not only teaching, you know, your kids the Word of God, but it’s also getting involved in this remarkable republic that the Lord has given us. And we take that very seriously here, and we are rejoicing in California that we just saw some 1,200 churches step up, do voter registration, ballot collection up and down the state of California, and it’s just beginning here.
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Before we know it, California will be a red state again.
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You watch and see.
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Pastor Jack Hibbs, always great to see you, my friend. Thanks for joining us. And again, thanks for being a part of last night’s election results coverage.
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Tony, thank you. It was a part of history that we’ll never forget. Glad to be with you.
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All right. Pastor Jack Hibbs, Senior Pastor, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills with Real Life Network. All right. When we come back, FRC Action’s Matt Carpenter will join me to recap some of the election results that we’re still tracking, including the abortion-related measures. So don’t go away. We’re back after this.
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Let’s not be discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let’s stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
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The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don’t defend it, who will?
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Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don’t say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You’re naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
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Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we’ve relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we’ve relied too little on the power of God and God’s ability to open doors that we can’t open and do things that we couldn’t even hope to begin to do.
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This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to happen.
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Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful, and that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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This Wednesday edition of Washington Watch. If you didn’t catch FRC and Real Life Network’s coverage last night of the 2024 election results, you missed out on a great night of analysis and discussion, all from a biblical worldview, but you can still watch it through FRC’s Stand Firm app. To get that app, simply text APP, that’s APP, to 67742, 67742. We had a lot of great guests as Pastor Jack and I talked to them and gave a little bit of analysis of what this means for the church going forward. But in the meantime, we’ll get you caught up and share with you right now some of the latest on the election results that we’ve been tracking throughout the day. Joining me now from our election desk is Matt Carpenter, director of FRC Action. Matt, welcome back. Thanks for having me, Tony. Did you go home at all? You’ve been there all night.
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Got a quick cat nap, changed my clothes, filled up on caffeine, and we’re back at it today. But, you know, election night’s over and we still have votes coming in, still have results that we’d like to share here.
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All right, so let’s jump right into it. Give us the big ticket results from last night.
SPEAKER 18 : 18:09
Yeah, so currently the Electoral College, we’ve got a winner. Donald Trump has won 270 electoral votes to become president. He’s currently at 294. I think everyone kind of went to bed last night knowing that was the result there. the big development in the presidential race so far since last night michigan going to president trump 15 electoral college votes and if you’ll indulge me for a second tony i just want to share with our audience kind of what’s i think what what happened in michigan really the bottom fell out for kamala harris in wayne county this was a this was a county that biden won in excess of 330 000 votes in 2020 and you can see kamala harris is really i think she’s at about 230 000 vote lead there in wayne county so her voters just they didn’t show up in detroit in michigan where she needed them to go we’re also looking at nevada and arizona these are two states where donald trump is currently leading and he got about 60 to 80 of the vote in there but let me just catch us up quick on congress i know
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Let me stop you right there. So what’s the explanation behind the poor turnout? And looking at the overall numbers, a little surprised because of the strong early vote turnout, but where actually it looks like the total vote may be slightly less than it was in 2020.
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That’s right. What we saw in the early voting, Tony, was particularly young men in urban areas, specifically non-white young men in urban areas, they weren’t returning mail-in ballots. They weren’t really going to vote early. There was not a lot of enthusiasm. And I think when that didn’t happen for Kamala Harris going into election night, I don’t think they had the election day operation to get them to the polls on election day. So they just, they didn’t, they were not able to make up the ground that they needed in early voting to catch up. But that same dynamic also played out across the rest of the states as well. You see similar result in Maricopa County, Arizona, which Biden won by 90,000 votes. This time Trump is ahead by about 30,000 votes. And similarly in Las Vegas, in Nevada, Clark County, same thing. About 80,000 votes just disappeared from Kamala Harris’s total this time around. All right, let’s look at those congressional races. Yeah. So we’re currently at 52 Republicans in the Senate. So Republicans will flip the Senate. We’ll have a Republican Senate president come next to Congress. 44 Senate Democrats. The big news since last night. Tammy Baldwin, incumbent Democrat Senator, won reelection there. And then also the open Senate seat in Michigan where Democrat Alyssa Slotkin left her House seat to run for Senate, defeated Mike Rogers. So you got some ticket splitting there in the Rust Belt states where voters voters chose democrat senate candidates but went for donald trump similar dynamic we’re also keeping an eye here tony on pennsylvania this state has gone blood red we’ve picked up two congressional seats there that were previously held by democrats on the republican side in this northeastern quadrant we mentioned that last night that’s home to a lot of ancestral democrats who are to trend heavily catholic they trend pro-life They did not respond to Kamala Harris’s candidacy positively. This was a group of voters that Joe Biden could carry. It’s cost the Democrats two House seats there, and it might cost them a Senate incumbent in Bob Casey, who’s held onto that seat for a while. We’re also tracking Nevada. Sam Brown is a surprise here. He’s ahead with 89% of the vote in. I mean, this is Nevada here, right? I wouldn’t want to roll the dice on that, but Sam Brown, that’s a surprise for sure. I don’t think anyone expected that to be that close. And then also, just to cap it off here at the Senate side, Carrie Lake, she’s trailing by about three points, 63% of the vote reporting in Arizona. There is some vote to go there. She could catch up. That’s one to keep an eye on as well. Turning our attention to the House, Pastor Jack mentioned what’s going on in California. It’s showing up big time in the competitive races. We’ve been tracking a handful of these super competitive California races. The balance for the Senate was gonna be decided by a lot of those states that were gonna be competitive at the presidential level. But when it comes down to who’s gonna control the House, You’re looking at a place like California on the West Coast where you’ve got just a number of very close races. One I want to highlight we mentioned last night, Tony, Scott Baugh in California 47. This was an open seat. Katie Porter used to hold this seat. She left to go run for Senate and lost in the primary there. So it’s an open Senate seat. Scott Baugh, he was trailing most of last night. He’s pulled ahead there. 66% of the vote is in. So we still have some miles to go there in California. But also we want to look at California 27. Mike Garcia, he’s been hanging on. This is a district that Biden won in 2020, but he won re-election there. And then also David Valadao. same story there. This is a district that biden won in 2020 by 15 points. David Valadao hung on. He’s a survivor. If you can do that again, there’s a very strong chance you get a republican house and a republican trifecta.
SPEAKER 07 : 23:42
Amazing. All right. Um, we didn’t get to the states with the ballot initiatives on abortion. We’ve got about 30 seconds. Give us the highlights on that. We may try to come back to that later in the program, but give us the give us the latest on those.
SPEAKER 18 : 23:55
Yeah, Tony, so some great news for the pro-life movement. Amendment 4 in Florida went down. That failed. That would have enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution there in the Sunshine State. Similarly in South Dakota, Amendment G failed. It would have done the same thing. It would have enshrined abortion rights in the South Dakota state constitution. and then also a pro-life ballot measure in nebraska initiative 434 succeeded this would prohibit all abortions after the first trimester just a huge win last night for the pro-life movement unfortunately in some states like colorado and nevada new york arizona missouri maryland montana those states those states did pass their their pro-abortion
SPEAKER 07 : 24:40
All right, Matt, just stand by. We might get back to you before the end of the program, but we’ve got to go up to a break, and then we’re going to come back with more post-election analysis with Rasmussen Report’s chief pollster, Mark Mitchell. He joins us next, so stay tuned for more Washington Watch.
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Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we’re less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our worldview. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They are disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release and the forest and the trees.
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Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host. Again, if you’d like to be able to view last night’s election analysis and coverage, text the word APP to 67742. Also, by the way, you’ll have access to a lot more information there in your hand right there with your smartphone if you get the StandFirm app. All right, we’re going to go back to Matt Carpenter and a wrap up there. Matt, thanks for sticking around. So I want to talk just a moment. I know you’ve got some more information to share with us, but these life amendments are actually abortion amendments that were on the ballot. With the exception of Nebraska, they did have a competing pro-life measure that did prevail. The significance here is that this is the first time since 2022 that we’ve seen these pro-abortion measures put forward by Planned Parenthood and their allies go down in defeat. It’s also, I think, significant to note that where we’ve seen success with the efforts to stop these amendments, we’ve had leaders, elected leaders that have spoken very clearly and articulated a very strong pro-life position.
SPEAKER 18 : 28:20
Yeah, absolutely, Tony. And as you played the clip earlier of Kayleigh McEnany pointing out where you got a governor like Ron DeSantis in Florida. Right. I mean, look at Florida. Right. It went 14 points to the right. There was just an enormous groundswell of support among Republican voters up and down the ballot. So when when the incumbent Republican governor comes out and makes the case to voters, we’ve got to support. life who vote against amendment four and the voters respond that way i think there’s a lesson there uh for for candidates um who want to win over the pro-life vote you’ve got to speak to these voters you’ve got to tell them where you stand if they can go out and make a decision about what’s going to go in the state constitution if it’s going to support life or it’s going to hurt life you’ve got to be clear on that you’ve got to show that contrast
SPEAKER 07 : 29:04
And this is a very complex state is also a state in which the pro-abortion crowd spent a lot of money outspending the pro-life side. I think. Well, I should probably say because I don’t recall exactly, but it was I want to say like seven to one. So it was quite significant. All right. Matt Carpenter, what else do we have from last night or I guess today as we continue to track the numbers and break them down?
SPEAKER 18 : 29:28
Yeah, a couple things I want to mention, Tony. We were tracking Scott Perry in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. This was one similar to Scott Ball in California. He had been trailing for a lot of the night. But Scott Perry is ahead now. So he’s closed the gap. He got 99% of the vote in. I anticipate that will get called today. Just a huge win and a comeback. He, again, he’s a survivor. He’s been in a tough race since he’s been in Congress almost every year. He’s often been 100% on our scorecard. It’s great to see a solid conservative pull that one out there, hopefully. So we’re keeping an eye on that one until that one’s called. But I did just kind of want to make a final point. You know, you mentioned the investment in the pro-life ballot initiatives, but the Democrats made a huge investment in turning Texas blue. I just want to make a quick point here. Texas went for Donald Trump by 14 points. There was no investment that I’m aware of in the state of New York that went to Biden by 23 points in 2020. But look at New York, 12 points. That just puts, I think, a cherry on top of really how the popular vote moved. I don’t think anyone expected New York to be redder than Texas was blue this time. So I think there’s a lot of lessons to be learned there for both parties going forward. Certainly, you know, again, I’ll just make that point one more time. Look at New Jersey. This is a state no one was really paying attention to, Tony. Five points in New Jersey. So it’s possible we’re seeing a realignment across the nation and we’ll see states in play in future elections that we didn’t even anticipate.
SPEAKER 07 : 31:03
Now, going back to what a lot of the exit polling has shown and what we’ve seen throughout, then leading the issue set was the economy. People were feeling the policies of this administration. And also, when you talk about feeling, they’re feeling scared because of the crime rates and the open borders. I mean, those two issues seem to have been the lead factors in turning many of these counties across the country red.
SPEAKER 18 : 31:29
Absolutely. NBC conducted some exit polling from Election Day, and what they found was 71% of voters reported that their attitudes about the state of the country, so kind of how everything is going, as you point out, the immigration issue, the economy, public safety, 71% of them were either dissatisfied with the state of the country or just outright angry. It’s really tough as an incumbent to face down that sort of discontent from voters and expect a good outcome.
SPEAKER 07 : 31:59
Now, we’re going to be talking with Jody Heiss, president of FRC Action and our Friday host of Washington Watch in just a moment. But I did want to give you a chance to address some of the victories that FRC Action PAC endorsed candidates had. How did the PAC do last night?
SPEAKER 18 : 32:16
Yeah, Tony woke up this morning and 100% of the races that have been called for FRC Action Pack candidates were successful. Praise God for that. You know, I don’t think we’ve had a result like that since I’ve been certainly with FRC Action, but there are still some races to go. So we’re not saying we’ve won all of them, but all the ones that have been called. We’ve been victorious there. So, and this is, you know, in the Senate where we had Senator Josh Hawley as an endorsed candidate. And then we had about 65 in the House that we endorsed as well. And we had a few first-time candidates like Marlin Stutzman in Indiana we endorsed. And of course our colleague, our former colleague, Mark Harris. So very excited about those results.
SPEAKER 07 : 32:55
So these are individuals, just so our viewers and listeners know, that those that are endorsed have to reach a certain standard of being pro-life, pro-family. They are in align with the agenda of the Family Research Council.
SPEAKER 18 : 33:08
Absolutely. Yeah. And we do make endorsements based on congressional track record. So we’re looking at the votes and we’re talking to candidates. And if they’ve got that 100 percent, you know, we’re going to back them. Unless there’s any other information that we come across that was, you know, maybe a personal reason or something like that, we wouldn’t do. But good result.
SPEAKER 07 : 33:26
All right, Matt Carpenter, thanks for bringing us up to date. Thanks, Tony. And I should say FRC action aligned candidates, not FRC. All right. When we come back, we’re going to continue our conversation in looking at last night’s election. And it’s carrying over into today as we break down the numbers and what it means and what it means going forward. So Congressman Jody High is going to be joining us in a little bit. And I think we’re going to be connecting with Mark Mitchell with Rasmussen reports as well. So don’t go away. More straight ahead.
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Jesus said in John 15, these things I’ve spoken to you, that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. In 2024, in these divided and uncertain times, how can this be possible? By abiding in him through his word. At Family Research Council, we wanna help you do that, which is the reason for the Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. In just 10 to 15 minutes each day, you will have read the entire Bible in just two years. But more importantly, you will be abiding in Him daily. Find our Bible reading plan at frc.org slash Bible. And join Tony Perkins each weekday for a 10-minute devotional inspired by the daily reading and designed to encourage you on this journey through the Bible. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. And remember, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.
SPEAKER 17 : 35:02
The world is hurting, streets are filled with crime, families are broken, sin is celebrated, and God is mocked. Everywhere we look, the wages of our sin are on full display. As Christians, we know that surrender to God’s will is the solution to our biggest problems, but not everyone agrees. Even in church, we hear people say the most important thing is to be tolerant, that we shouldn’t impose a morality on other people, and that loving our neighbor means celebrating what they do. But you can’t do that. It’s not that you don’t love your neighbor. You do. But you care about God’s opinion more than your neighbor’s opinion, and this makes you different. In fact, sometimes it makes you feel alone, like you’re the only one. But there is good news. You are not alone, not even close. Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable Word of God. But that’s not all. They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections. The problem is that a lot of them feel alone, too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost. If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage cons yourself, go to frc.org slash sagecon and take the quiz to find out. The world is hurting, and we have the solution. We can’t do it alone, but we can do it if we work together. That’s what we’re working toward every day. Join us. Go to FRC.org slash S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more. That’s S-A-G-E-C-O-N, SageCon, to learn more.
SPEAKER 07 : 37:04
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Good to have you with us. The website, TonyPerkins.com. And also, let me encourage you, if you’ve not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, lots of resources and tools there for you. And I know many of you used it for the toolkit, the voter toolkit. But special broadcasts like we had last night also appear on our app. That’s our platform. It’s our cancel resistant. We’re moving a lot of information there so that we can’t be canceled as the left continues to cancel. And I think we’ve seen a pattern that that’s going to continue, that they are going to try to continue silencing conservative voices that they disagree with, all right? Okay, so I’ve shared in the past couple of days, I don’t put much confidence in election polls, primarily coming from the legacy media, okay? And here’s one of the reasons. I want to show you just this was three different networks that had polls coming up to Election Day. Play clip nine.
SPEAKER 03 : 38:07
Our final poll before the election has a three-point lead for Kamala Harris nationally, 49 to 46. So we land on a 49-49 Harris-Trump tie in our final NBC News national poll. A new CBS 17 Emerson College poll has Vice President Harris and former President Trump tied.
SPEAKER 15 : 38:24
You can see the numbers right here, 48% both.
SPEAKER 07 : 38:27
Well, one of the few pollsters that did get it right, that showed that Trump was ahead and consistently, was Rasmussen Reports and the chief pollster there, Mark Mitchell, has been bringing us along and he’s here to discuss this and more. Mark, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 19 : 38:45
Yeah, I’m really happy you caveated that because polling can be accurate. Turns out if you don’t report up to a left-leaning managing editor. But listen, we weren’t even directionally correct. We were exactly correct. Our final call was Trump plus three. National popular vote’s at 3.3 right now. That’s way within the margin of error. It’s almost exact.
SPEAKER 07 : 39:08
So first, congratulations. All right. This is what I mean. I took statistics. I studied all that in college. It’s way beyond me. I don’t like to do all that gives me a headache, but I believe it can be done right. But here’s my point. I think legacy media and many of those pollsters are trying to determine the outcome, not report what’s happening. Am I right or wrong?
SPEAKER 19 : 39:30
Pulling this content, and when your pollsters all report up to organizations that are owned by massive corporations that have vested interests in making sure that the corporate oligarchy status quo in D.C. maintains its control, that’s what happens. They are literally mouthpieces for the government, and I’ve proven that they shill for Democrats. I know it sounds out there, but we caught them. They absolutely cooked the internals of the polls because the exit polling is showing that who turned out to vote is nothing like what was in ABC polls, NBC polls, like all Reuters episodes, not at all.
SPEAKER 07 : 40:07
So my point here is that the legacy media and their pollsters should not have a shred of credibility. I mean, we’ve seen this time and time again. This is not the first time, but you’ve just exposed it with accurate polling and the fact we can do accurate polling.
SPEAKER 19 : 40:25
Yeah, they’re exposing themselves, to be honest. With that Ann Seltzer Iowa call, that’s probably the most ridiculous thing that ever happened in the industry. She can definitely poll Iowa because she’s been doing it cycle after cycle. And she even polled it in July and had Trump up 18. Trump finished at 14, but she put up a Harris plus three result right on the weekend before Election Day. just to satiate the democrat need for some kind of good news she burned her credibility with a 17 point miss i’ll tell you what i ran our numbers in the states just did it two hours ago and it is incredible we pulled 14 states and the average of each of those states compared to the actual results the average polling error we had point eight percent. And of course, as a right wing pollster, it leaned to, oh, Harris, we were about a point two left. And if you take our one outlier there, we did a pretty bad job in Texas, underestimated the massive Republican turnout. If you take that one out, our error goes down to point two percent in the states. Eleven out of the 14 states we hit within the margin of error.
SPEAKER 07 : 41:32
All right, Mark, let’s now talk about kind of the issues. What drove voters? What do we know? Did anything surprise you last night?
SPEAKER 19 : 41:42
Not at all. Just what surprised me was seeing the exit polling absolutely validate what we’ve been saying this whole time. Most of the pollsters that showed Kamala Harris winning showed independence breaking for Democrats and threat to democracy and abortion being really high on the list of issues. And of course, I’ve never seen that. Number one issue has always been the economy in our polling and the exit polling is confirming that. And then number two is border. But it doesn’t really capture the pain that people are feeling just talking about the border. Really, America is in a much, much worse place after the Biden administration. Only 37% of voters said they’re better off than they were four years ago. Only 27% of voters in the swing states say they’re safer than they were four years ago. And I think it was 22% said that today’s children will be better off than their parents. That’s absolutely horrible. So when they talk about the border and the economy, they’re telling you stop the invasion, bring back the middle class, because the Democrats, in my opinion, killed it.
SPEAKER 07 : 42:42
Now, Mark, I may be asking you to go beyond the comfort zone in which you operate as a pollster, but based upon the shifts, the trends that you saw in this cycle compared to what we saw in 2020, are we seeing, like, fundamental shifts that could have lasting impacts on the political landscape of America?
SPEAKER 19 : 43:06
Oh, 100%. Now, I will tell you, this is all predicated on the Republican Party reforming around the MAGA agenda, because voters overwhelmingly think the Republican Party is the party of Trump and the MAGA movement. Trump can’t run again. So that has yet to be seen. But he picked up more Hispanic voters, more younger voters and more black voters than he ever has. And this is a trend we’ve been tracking all the way from 2016. So it’s not like all of a sudden they indicted him and all the people that listen to rap turned out or something like that. It’s not like that. This is people fleeing the Democrat Party. And the Republicans, the Donald Trump movement, are really starting to become the core culture, the counterculture. And I think what you’re seeing now is the mainstream media has jumped the shark, has lost its credibility, is losing its sway. And look at all the actors and actresses. authority figures that they threw as endorsements to kamala harris and none of them moved the needle because people just don’t care anymore so i think that trend is going to continue and of course there are some offsets there are the upper class uh suburban women who you know then the sort of the boomer men who watch msnbc and those people are breaking more towards harris or did But it’s just not enough. The core of their support was the black vote and the young vote, and it’s just absolutely gone. Those people went to Clinton by like 40 points.
SPEAKER 07 : 44:33
So, Mark, last question for you. What is at the heart of that? Is it the connection with Donald Trump as a personality, or is it the policy that he embraced? What is it that is creating that shift, drawing people to vote for a party they’ve not voted for in the past?
SPEAKER 19 : 44:53
I think that the MAGA tenants are very popular. Bidenomics was not popular. People want government shutdown, reduced spending. People want militarization of the border. They support deportation way more than amnesty. And so everything he’s talking about is resonating with people. But at the end of the day, during the Biden administration, they tried to force COVID authoritarianism down people’s throats. They weaponized the judicial system. They went after political opponents. People are not happy with the federal government right now. That’s ultimately what it boils down to. When you talk about favorability, Harris and Trump were actually roughly kind of equal. But then if you ask, do you trust the federal government or not, only 30 percent of people say yes. So I feel sorry for Kamala Harris in a different hand of cards. She might actually have won this thing, but she is the status quo candidate and people hate status quo.
SPEAKER 07 : 45:52
Yeah. Very interesting. We could continue the conversation, but got to move on. Mark, congratulations on the accuracy of polling this election. And we look forward to having some conversations in the future.
SPEAKER 19 : 46:05
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 07 : 46:06
Happy to come on. All right. Mark Mitchell with Rasmussen Reports. Again, I would just say the legacy media and their pollsters should not have a shred of credibility. You should just go watch them if you watch them. All right. I want to go now to Congressman Jody Heiss, now president of FRC Action, as well as the Friday host of Washington Watch. Jody, thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 04 : 46:35
Great to be with you, Tony. What an amazing day. I hope you got a little sleep last night. Not yet. Plan on getting some tonight.
SPEAKER 07 : 46:42
Yeah, I hope so. All right. Let’s talk election integrity and how significant of an issue that was in this election. This is something you’ve been working on. You, after serving in Congress for eight years, representing Georgia’s 10th congressional district, you authored the book Sacred Trust, Election Integrity and the Will of the People. How big of an issue was that yesterday?
SPEAKER 04 : 47:05
Well, it was a big issue that in many states across the country that it’s largely been resolved. And yesterday was kind of the test market to see just how much progress has been made in the area of election integrity. And, you know, there are two things, Tony, that I think really stood out to me in this regard, perhaps three. Number one, the legislators of the various states who enacted laws seem to have done a really good job. Secondly, the boots on the ground, the eyes on the ground, the people who were alert to potential problems were everywhere. we had tens and tens and tens of thousands of poll workers and poll watchers everywhere and that makes a difference when people are looking and people know they are being watched the likelihood of shenanigans taking place drastically decreases and then thirdly the republican party certainly was well prepared the rnc was extremely well prepared i had some communication with the one who was uh overseeing that aspect of the the uh the work from the seven swing states and he said look we had some issues that arose immediately we were on top of them every one of the issues were resolved in the seven swing states in a short period of time and things were able to take place so Yeah, the election integrity issue was a massive concern of people as well it should have been going into this election. But I overall was extremely well pleased with how things seem to have gone. And it appears at least we’re having very little questioning of the outcome of this, unlike the previous.
SPEAKER 07 : 48:46
Yeah, I think, as we heard going into it, too big to rig. And that’s why we encourage people to show up and vote and swamp any type of shenanigans that might be done. As you pointed out, some of the early polling, in fact, some of the polling from George Barna that was saying people, Christians didn’t want to vote because they didn’t think their vote would be counted or it would be nullified because of the illegal voting. I want to play an ad, a public service announcement type ad that was aired by Family Research Council across the country and various congressional races. I want to play that and I’m going to get you to tell us the purpose behind it. Play that clip of the ad, please.
SPEAKER 09 : 49:30
This election, here are some quick Know Before You Go tips to make your voting experience a breeze. Go online to check your registration status and voting locations. Don’t forget these important dates, including Election Day, November 5th. Remember, you must be a resident of the state, 18 years old, and a U.S. citizen to vote in federal elections. Illegal voting in a federal election can lead to serious penalties, including prison and even deportation for non-citizens. Spread the word. Let’s make sure everyone knows before they go to the polls this year.
SPEAKER 07 : 50:01
All right, Jody, that ad also appeared in different languages. And so how many ads, how many places did that air, and what was the purpose?
SPEAKER 04 : 50:12
I’m so glad you brought this up, Tony, because I am thrilled that FRC had a footprint, a significant footprint in trying to deal with the potential problem of non-citizens trying to vote, attempting to vote in this election. That ad aired in multiple places across the country. In fact, we saw over 25 million of those television ads in different places, encouraging people to get out the vote, but at the same time, in a polite sort of way, informing non-citizens that it is a federal crime to vote in a federal election and there are consequences potentially for doing so. And over 25 million of those and, Tony, what’s remarkable to me is we had over 25 million who actually viewed those ads in full. And so they saw it over and over and over again. And I guess we’ll probably never know the full extent, but I can’t help but think that that had some impact in communicating to some individuals that, look, it’s not worth the risk if I’m not a citizen to vote in this federal election. So very proud of FRC.
SPEAKER 07 : 51:20
Well, at the same time, encouraging others to turn out and vote because it is a civic duty. We touched on this with Matt Carpenter a little bit earlier, but FRC Action Pack enjoyed a pretty good night. Unbelievable.
SPEAKER 04 : 51:36
I don’t know, Tony, that I’ve ever been a part of an organization that has had the success that FRC Action had with the members and candidates that we endorsed. To this point, we have one outstanding, but apart from that one, 100%. of the individuals that FRC Action endorsed actually won. That is remarkable. And Tony, what that says to me is that the biblical values are winning issues. They’re not only the right issues, but they are winning issues. And when people stand up for those things and they do so publicly and unashamedly, There’s benefit behind it. There’s blessing behind it. And not only attracting people to vote for you, but I can’t help but believe that the favor of God is upon individuals largely in many respects as well. But we were thrilled with the stunning outcome of that 100% that FRC Action had with those whom we endorsed.
SPEAKER 07 : 52:36
Well, and you should know the impact of that because you were a FRC action endorsed candidate as well when you were in Congress because of your 100 percent record on those issues. And they are winning issues and they’re foundational issues. And I commend you and congratulate you on spearheading that effort and the success rate. Phenomenal.
SPEAKER 04 : 52:58
Well, thank you so much, Tony. What an honor. We have an incredible team, and hats off to every one of them. What a tremendous yeoman’s work that so many did.
SPEAKER 07 : 53:11
And now we roll up our sleeves and go to work. Got a lot of work ahead of us to turn this nation back to God, so we’re going to continue to advocate for those policies and principles. Jody Heiss, thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 04 : 53:23
Thank you, Tony.
SPEAKER 07 : 53:24
And folks, thank you for joining us as well. Continue to pray. We voted. All right. We have voted, but we got to keep praying and we got to keep standing for biblical truth. My commitment to you is that we will do that right here in our nation’s capital. And I ask you to join with us and keep standing.
SPEAKER 15 : 53:45
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.
