In this episode of Washington Watch, guest host Jody Heiss provides an in-depth look at Operation Epic Fury and its success in curbing Iran’s missile capabilities. A special feature from the White House Press Secretary reveals a significant decrease in Iran’s military activity. The show brings to light domestic security risks posed by recent attacks in New York and explores the ongoing battle over funding for Homeland Security.
SPEAKER 29 :
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. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 02 :
United States military is making tremendous strides towards achieving our military objectives for Operation Epic Fury. Ten days in, this campaign has been a resounding success thus far, and America’s warriors are winning this important fight at an even faster pace than we anticipated. Iran’s ballistic missile attacks are down more than 90 percent, and their drone attacks are down by approximately 85 percent since the start of Operation Epic Fury.
SPEAKER 22 :
Well, that was White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt earlier this afternoon giving an update on Operation Epic Fury. Welcome to this March 10th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your guest host today, Jody Heiss. Filling in for Tony Perkins, thank you so much for joining us. All right, coming up today, the strikes against Iran continue and recent attacks in New York certainly highlight domestic security risks. All this while Democrats continue to block funding for Homeland Security. Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma will join us to break down what’s happening in Iran and the impact of the DHS funding battle. We’ll also be joined a little bit later by former U.S. Energy Secretary to get his take on the impact of the Iran conflict, specifically on oil prices and energy security. Plus, Jerry Boyer of Boyer Research will be joining us to discuss the growing rollback of woke DEI policies in corporate America, with Truist Bank being the latest example. So all this and more is straight ahead. All right, Iran is fighting back, but certainly they’re not as tough as the U.S. military expected before the strikes on Iran started. That was the message earlier today from General Dan Cain to reporters who spoke alongside Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. And joining me now is Washington’s stand reporter Casey Harper. All right, Casey, what’s the latest in this Iranian conflict and specifically what unfolded at the press briefing earlier today?
SPEAKER 07 :
Sure, Jody. So the war is continuing, and on the U.S. side, it’s intensifying as those strikes do. But as you mentioned in the press briefing, that Iran is firing far less, about 10 percent of what they were firing at the beginning of the war. And that’s almost certainly because we have taken out – U.S. and Israel have taken out hundreds of their missile launchers, and that work continued today. Iran was pounded with strikes from the U.S. and Israel, and it – actually, Pete Hegseth said it was the heaviest strike since the conflict began. In fact, we have a clip of Hegseth promising that this conflict is only going to end on America’s terms.
SPEAKER 05 :
As President Trump declared yesterday, we’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated. But we do so. We do so on our timeline and at our choosing.
SPEAKER 07 :
Now, Hexeth also echoed President Trump’s threats of heavy strikes on Iran if they shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which has really become a focal point here. Iran has threatened to do it, and it would be a big impact on the economy because 20% of the world’s oil flows through that strait. Now, here we have another clip of President Trump yesterday on a timeline of when he thinks these strikes could actually come to an end.
SPEAKER 24 :
Are you thinking this week it will be over?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, but soon. Are you talking about days? I think soon.
SPEAKER 24 :
Okay, and with respect to… Very soon.
SPEAKER 03 :
Look… Everything they have is gone, including their leadership. In fact, they have two levels of leadership, and even actually, as it turns out, more than that. But two levels of leadership are gone. Most people have never even heard about the leaders that they’re talking about. So it’s obviously been very, very powerful, very effective.
SPEAKER 07 :
Now, a few fast numbers here for you, Jody. Nearly 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the strike started 11 days ago, with hundreds also killed across the Middle East. And so far, seven US service members have died, with about 140 that have also been injured from Iranian attacks. And as part of the fallout from this conflict in Iran, we’re also seeing concerns not just in the Middle East about security. In fact, shots were fired at a US consulate in Toronto today. In Canada, they’re increasing their security around U.S. and Israeli diplomatic buildings after this shooting, naturally, but it’s being looked into, and no details have been provided, no suspect, but it’s definitely a troubling story, Jodi.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yes, it is. Well, thank you for that report. On the domestic side of things, I know I’ve personally been to many of these retreats in the past, but Republicans have now come together in Florida. They’re in day two of their annual policy retreat. And of course, they’re facing a growing list of economic as well as some political hurdles. Do you have any update to tell us about what’s unfolding there at that retreat?
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, Jody, I mean, I would love to hear your take on this, but just some overview of some of the things we’re seeing coming out of the retreat. They gathered to plan their legislative priorities for the rest of 2026, which is, of course, overshadowed by the upcoming midterm elections. Now, they have a few big challenges facing them this year. They’ve got the major conflict in the Middle East. They’ve got the economic fallout. of that conflict, which means like rising gas prices. And oh, by the way, in case we forget, the government is still partially shut down, Jody. But despite the challenges, Republicans are working on a plan. We have a clip here from House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier today.
SPEAKER 14 :
We’re finalizing the plans. I use football metaphors a lot. As you know, I’m an LSU guy and we have a big playbook of plays. And as a team, we are corralling together for the next couple of days to try to make the final plan on which plays we’re actually gonna run in the remaining quarters of this game.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, it’s going to take quite a play to get this government open with the way that Democrats have a goal line defense. And I can continue the metaphor, Jody. But I want to give you one more clip where President Trump made an appearance and he told House Republicans that until the Senate passes the Save America Act, which would mandate showing photo IDs at the polling station, he’s not going to be signing any legislation. Actually, I don’t have a clip, but those are his comments, Jody. And he made it clear it’s the Save Act or bust, Jody.
SPEAKER 22 :
Well, Casey, thanks so much. Always wonderful to have you give us the highlights of what’s happening. We appreciate it very much. All right. I want to turn our attention back to the conflict with Iran. Earlier today, the U.S. and Israel launched the heaviest airstrikes yet on Iran. And we are certainly now in day 11 of all of this. And it’s coming after President Trump said the conflict could end very soon. So where is all of this headed, and are we potentially close to seeing this conflict wrapped up? Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. He serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as well as the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Senator Lankford, always great to see you. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks, Jody.
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, thanks, Jody, very much.
SPEAKER 22 :
All right. So what do you make of the latest developments in this what seems to be an escalating conflict where we have the most serious attacks that we’ve put forth so far in spite of President Trump saying we could be near the end? What do you make of it all?
SPEAKER 16 :
Well, he’s trying to be able to move at a faster pace now that we have air superiority over all of Iran and we can fly basically unfettered. We’ve taken out all the air defenses. We’ve taken out their ability to be able to stop us from flying over them. That actually picks up the pace significantly. So we’re not just using long-range missiles, which we’ve got to be able to make sure that we’re protecting the supply on. At this point, we can actually fly right over the top of them, use gravity laser-guided bombs to be able to hit specific targets in specific places. So that’s why you’re seeing the speed pick up. The president’s been very focused on ending an endless war. We’ve been basically at war for 47 years with Iran. We’ve just not pushed back. They’ve been attacking us relentlessly over and over in Beirut and taking hostages, attacking our embassies. We had 180 attacks from Iran just in the past three years on Americans. It just becomes so common that, yes, Iran and its proxies are attacking America. Again, it doesn’t even make news in the United States. So the president’s determined to end their ability to just attack us on a weekly basis over and over again and to be able to stop that, stop their Navy, stop their nuclear weapons program, obviously, stop their funding of their terrorist proxies. So that’s the focus at this point, and it’s moving really rapidly.
SPEAKER 22 :
rapidly with an exclamation point. It’s really stunning what’s taking place. We’re seeing some reports now, Senator, that Iran may be considering mining the Strait of Hormuz. And of course, President Trump is warned against any such thing. But how concerned do you think we should be about that potential escalation?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, that’s been an issue from the very beginning. Iran had always threatened to be able to mine or attack vessels as they’re moving through the Strait of Hormuz. That’s why we’ve already sunk 20 of their naval vessels. But literally for them to be able to lay mines, all they have to do is get a large fishing boat out there to be able to put down a buoyed mine anywhere they want to be able to put it. And so that is always a threat because it’s fairly easy for them to be able to do. The Strait of Hormuz and their shipping lanes are only about 20 miles wide. So it’s not a large area for them to be able to get to. And they don’t have to have a large naval vessel to be able to lay a mine. So that is always a threat. It’s something Iran has threatened to do over and over again. It’s not difficult for them to be able to do physically. The challenge will be is getting our American mine sweepers in there to be able to clear that out. to be able to reopen those lanes and to be able to stop them from doing it again if they choose to do it.
SPEAKER 22 :
Well, and of course, at the same time that all of this is continuing in Iran and attempts like what you just described of escalation there, we have issues right here in our own home turf with what happened in New York over the weekend. And those involved allegedly were inspired by ISIS. So with all the tensions rising in Iran and incidents like this happening here at home, Your opinion, are we facing a serious heightened security threat here in the United States?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, Jody, we are already in a heightened security issue. Every local law enforcement, state law enforcement, obviously federal law enforcement is in a very different posture. I would say a couple of things with this. One is we need to actually fund our federal law enforcement. Right now, Democrats are blocking all funding from going to our Department of Homeland Security, which they seem to be screaming over and over again. They’re going to defund ICE. They’re going to defund ICE. But they’re not just trying to defund ICE. They’re defunding ICE. They’re defunding our Border Patrol. They’re wanting open borders. And no deportations. That’s their goal on this. And they’ve been very, very clear on defunding Customs and Border Protection, defunding ICE. But that’s also defunding the federal law enforcement that goes after human trafficking on our border. That’s defunding the folks that are actually stopping the flow of fentanyl into our country. It’s just not rational. So their far left base is consumed with just defunding ICE, defunding ICE so much so they’re taking on our national security. They’ve also defunded Coast Guard. They defunded what’s called HSI, Homeland Security Investigators. They defunded FEMA. They defunded TSA. They defunded Secret Service. They defunded the office that handles weapons of mass destruction. That’s what they’re holding back funding for. So we are aggressively trying to be able to get them to just open up funding because we all know we face a threat right now from a regime that is consumed with funding acts of terrorism as they have all over the world. So we’ve got to pay attention to one or two people. It’s not just a plane or a missile flying in the United States. They’re focused on trying to be able to find a way to attack us any way they possibly can.
SPEAKER 22 :
Wow. All right. Only 30 seconds or so left. But of course, there’s been a shift in leadership at DHS, tapping Senator Mark Wayne Mullins. Your thoughts on that move?
SPEAKER 16 :
Yeah, he’s going to do great. That is my colleague from Oklahoma, actually. And he will do very, very well. He’s inheriting a very secure border. That’s very helpful to be able to maintain that good leadership in all areas around our border leadership at this point. So that’s very good. We still got to deal with FEMA. That’s going to be really important. That’s going to be the next major project. And unfortunately, those of us in Oklahoma know a thing or two about natural disasters. So he’s got some good experience there.
SPEAKER 22 :
Senator James Lankford, Oklahoma, we all love and appreciate you a great deal. Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 16 :
Thanks, Jody. Keep praying for the nation.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yes, absolutely. All right, friends, you can help us text DHS to 67742 if you want to encourage the Democrats to fund DHS. That’s DHS 67742. All right. Coming up next, we’ve got high oil prices and we’re going to discuss it. So don’t go away. We’ll be back in just a moment.
SPEAKER 19 :
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal That they’re endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th birthday, America. May God bless America.
SPEAKER 18 :
You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose, and that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor him, and to live as a people under his authority.
SPEAKER 28 :
At the 2026 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance in Washington, D.C., members of Congress, state leaders, evangelical leaders, and intercessors from across the nation united as one voice in prayer.
SPEAKER 14 :
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this gathering. We do repent. And we ask for your continued favor and blessing over our nation, even when we don’t deserve it.
SPEAKER 09 :
I thank you that because of the shed blood and the glorious righteousness of your son, Jesus Christ, a sinner such as myself can boldly approach your throne. You said that you helped to humble, and we’re asking just now that you would help us, Lord.
SPEAKER 29 :
While our God is marching on. Glory, glory.
SPEAKER 06 :
We pray that you humble us, help us to follow after you with all our hearts so that we can see righteousness exalted in this nation and this nation restored to you. We know that it’s not by our power, it’s not by our might, but it’s by your spirit.
SPEAKER 18 :
Freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. We pray that we would return to that purpose. Amen.
SPEAKER 22 :
Hope you’re having a great afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us. I’m Jody Heiss, an honor to be filling in today for Tony. All right, the U.S. military operation in Iran has certainly stoked fears of major disruptions to global supplies. i mean just today we saw a steep drop in oil prices following president trump’s statement yesterday about the operation potentially ending very soon but then we saw the prices go right back up so it’s all over the place so given how operation epic fury is going so far what can we expect when it comes to energy security in the coming days and potentially coming weeks Well, joining us now to discuss this is former U.S. Energy Secretary and former governor of Texas, Rick Perry, who is now the co-founder and director of Fermi America, which exists to ensure America’s global energy and AI dominance. Secretary Perry, welcome to Washington Watch. Always an honor to speak with you, sir.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you, Jody. It’s a great privilege to be with you today. Thanks.
SPEAKER 22 :
All right. So for those who are watching or listening right now who may not be tracking all of this very closely, what can you tell us about the effect of this operation taking place in Iran as it relates to energy? What kind of impact is it having and will it have?
SPEAKER 21 :
If I may, just a little personal privilege here. I had the opportunity to live in that part of the world 50 years ago. As a matter of fact, I was stationed in 1976 in Tehran, Saudi Arabia. We were flying in that part of the world. Iran was our partner. That was a relatively peaceful part of the world. And now, half a century later, with 47 of those years being impacted by the radical Islamists that had control of Iran until just recently. And now we have that opportunity to really change the dynamic, if you will. And I think, yes, there’s a disruption right now. That is an obvious phenomenon. uh impact of of this war but it’s going to be a short time of an impact i will suggest to you the u.s and our military engagement has just been stunningly powerful so um yeah prices are going to go up uh when the markets get uh You know, impacted like this is impacting the market. But I think very quickly you will get back to some sense of normalcy and more importantly than just gasoline prices. And I get it. Gasoline prices affect everything out there. But bringing a lasting peace to the Middle East that has been embroiled with this radical Islamist regime in Iran for 47 years, this is an aside. Jodi, think about the photos that you’ve just seen in the last 24 to 48 hours of a young women’s soccer team from Iran that’s fearful to go back to their own home because of the way that they’re treated there, because they didn’t sing the national anthem properly. I mean, to get rid of that, to give them their freedom back, to give them justice in the face of all of this, that’s what president trump is doing it’s not just about uh dealing with you know these people that will use oil as a as a tool against us this is about truly delivering back to that part of the world justice and freedom and i think sending a message all across the middle east that you know this is how you need to be able to live and the united states and israel are both going to be your partners in that and giving you a substantially better way of life and in doing that also stop this regime from using those natural resources in this case the fossil fuels against freedom-loving people all around the globe
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah, absolutely. Great perspective there. Let me ask you this kind of a before, present and future perspective. Before this operation with Iran, how would you describe the state of energy security in America? How would you describe it now? And how would you describe it going forward?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, I’m going to be just a little bit partisan here, but for eight years you had the Obama administration that was very much anti-fossil fuel. You saw all of this, you know, if we’ll just go to solar, if we’ll just go to wind energy, we’ll all live happily ever after in the radical left. They were the ones that were driving that agenda. My friend Alex Epstein, who I happen to think is one of the brightest young faces out there in the philosophical world, if you will, but he’s really got a focus on fossil fuels, and he understands with great clarity that to see human flourishing, All around the world, you know, particularly in the African continent, you’ve got to have access to fossil fuels and nuclear power, but fossil fuels in particular. And that, I think, is a very, very powerful message out there that if you want to see the human race flourish. If you want to be able to send the message to people that your children are going to have a better future than you have, then you’ve got to support fossil fuels and to bring that energy into those communities. Most people have no understanding about what it’s like to live in an African community that may not have access to power at all, to have a single light bulb. to open up the night to light instead of darkness. I mean, that’s a powerful message out there. And it’s the message that the Trump administration came forward with in 2017. And Donald Trump said, we’re going to drill, baby, drill. We’re going to support the fossil fuel industry in this country. We’re going to give, I think, incentives to the nuclear energy industry. We opened up the Vogel plant, I think, in 2019 under President Trump’s administration and his leadership. And then four years of the Biden administration, and they doubled down on all of this renewable energy and the green revolution to great detriment and great cost not just to Americans in the world. When you couple that with what’s happening in California and the continuation of an attack on fossil fuels and seeing gasoline prices maybe over $6 today in California, I don’t know, but it’s just crazy what the regulations and the taxation costs are coming out of the mansion in Sacramento. So the point is, What Donald Trump is doing in a focus on expanding fossil fuels, expanding nuclear energy, is nothing but delivering freedom and liberty, not just to the United States, but around the world.
SPEAKER 22 :
Thank you so much, former U.S. Energy Secretary and Texas Governor Rick Perry. We are grateful for you joining us today on Washington Watch. God bless you as well, my friend. All right, stay tuned. Coming up, we’ll discuss the latest battle over the abortion drug Mifepristone. So stay with us. Much more coming your way right after the break.
SPEAKER 23 :
I think all people really need to have this type of education.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I can tell you that it’s been an amazing course, period.
SPEAKER 12 :
I think this course is a reminder that a biblical worldview should really impact everything. It impacts our government from the federal to the state to the local. It should impact what we’re doing with our families and with our work.
SPEAKER 17 :
God and Government is a video-driven, Bible-based training course from Family Research Council that explores the connection between biblical principles and American government. In this six-session video series, FRC President Tony Perkins equips participants with a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 08 :
I would encourage all people to take it. I almost wish I would have took it earlier that I could have taught my kids this.
SPEAKER 23 :
I wish I had known these things when we were homeschooling because I think children and my adults now would just greatly be influenced by that information.
SPEAKER 27 :
So I’m an attorney, and for me, it gives me some direct practical knowledge of what I can do to try to impact my legal community, to make better legislation, to try to encourage legislators to make choices that have a biblical worldview, which is what we really want.
SPEAKER 13 :
Any pastor would benefit from taking this course because we are dual citizens, right? We are citizens of the kingdom of God, but we’re also citizens of this great land, and that comes with responsibility.
SPEAKER 12 :
Even as someone who has been involved in these types of issues for a while, you’re learning little bits and pieces of new stuff all the time. But it’s also approachable enough that newer people, younger people, high school, college students, they can really glean something from this. So… I would encourage everybody to take this course, whether it’s the videos, whether it’s doing it in person, bring your Bible study group through it, bring your homeschool group through it, and equip yourself for these challenging days ahead.
SPEAKER 17 :
View the course at frc.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
SPEAKER 22 :
Thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony. All right. The fight over the abortion drugs continued to rage. And on Friday, for example, the Department of Justice moved to block Missouri’s legal effort to end the FDA’s policy that allows a dangerous high risk chemical abortion drugs to flood the country through mail order distribution. They attempted to block that. Well, the DOJ had made a similar move against a lawsuit from the state of Louisiana, which that one is now currently in the courts. While the DOJ has stated that they are all in favor of protecting the health and safety of pregnant women, And they say that that’s of paramount importance. The question is whether or not their actions and or inactions of this administration really reflect that perspective. Well, joining us now to discuss this and more is Thomas Jacobson. He’s the founder and executive director of Global Life Campaign. He’s also the co-author of the Abortion Worldwide Report, which is the most comprehensive report ever published. on abortion worldwide with a compilation of the history and policies of some 196 different nations. Thomas, we welcome you. Glad to have you join us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 26 :
Thank you, Jody. Great to be on with you.
SPEAKER 22 :
All right. So what do you make of these lawsuits from pro-life states and how the Trump administration has been responding to them?
SPEAKER 26 :
Well, I think it’s been a good thing that they’re issuing the lawsuits in order to enact the law. There’s the Comstock Act from, what, 1874? that prohibited the mailing of such things in the mail as abortion or any type of chemical or pill or whatever that could cause an abortion. And as we know, that was withdrawn or not enforced during the Biden administration. So it’s really a state authority and the state right A first responsibility to protect life. That’s a core foundation of our governments and our government systems from the beginning. And then so for the DOJ at this point to be thwarting those efforts to enforce, to allow states to enforce their laws. is really incomprehensible to me. I know that they’re saying that it’s going to compromise the FDA from doing their study, but I really don’t understand how that could thwart that capacity. The FDA’s had a lot of time to do that study. They’ve had sufficient time and they could look at the other studies that are already out there that are showing 10-11 percent of women are deeply affected by using the abortion and some of them ending. Well, that’s the percentage ending up in hospitals. But of course, in every case there’s a dead baby that results and we gotta deal with that.
SPEAKER 22 :
Right. Yeah. And what’s really being thwarted in addition to all of that is the state’s rights, as you initially brought up, and particularly these red states that have strong pro-life protections. And all of that is being undermined as these abortion drugs just continue flooding into even red states. So we’ve seen an increase. of the abortion drug. In fact, it’s growing exponentially. So what does that in itself tell you as to what the real situation is like?
SPEAKER 26 :
Well, I think the Lord gave us an opportunity with the Dobbs decision to change the course of our history. And but this is really brought out what’s in the hearts of many Americans in both ways. So there are many of us, millions of us, who are fighting for life and to protect life, and yet there’s enormous efforts to unleash the abortion pill upon our nation. And without thinking, without really dealing with the consequences, like as I’m reading through these different articles and watching what’s going on, there’s a few words that come to my mind. One is deception. You know, you have health care workers and women you know, thinking that they’re doing a good thing, but not really realizing they’re killing a baby. Then you’ve got lawlessness going on. I mean, this rebellion against the good sound laws is fomenting lawlessness in our land, which is very, very, very dangerous for the future of our nation and the ability for us to maintain peace and order within our own borders here. But also I would just comment that I think some of the impacts that get lost is the impacts on the women who are pregnant, their mothers and the dads of those babies, the universities like in Oregon that’s going on and they’re authorizing the abortion pill there now, or in Washington State. And these are places that I used to live, and so I have a deep concern for them. but the impacts upon them when they do this and one day will wake up and realize what they’ve done. And then the other aspect I want to just comment on is complicity that we seem to forget about. But a nurse or a health professional, a father of a child that wants to eliminate the child, the mother of the child, the government who made the policies, they’re all complicit in the murder of that child.
SPEAKER 22 :
Absolutely.
SPEAKER 26 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 22 :
Yeah. And this is just becoming more and more and more of a major issue that has to be dealt with. And DOJ, the FDA, Trump administration need to step up and deal with this situation. I want to say thank you, Thomas Jacobson, founder of Global Life Campaign, for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 26 :
Well, you’re welcome, Jody. Thank you for having me on.
SPEAKER 22 :
All right. Coming up, we’re going to transition a little bit and discuss the corporate retreat from wokeness. Is it a permanent exodus guided by solid commitment or is this swayed by cultural winds? Well, we’ll discuss it next. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 18 :
We have state leaders that want to keep the deadly drugs out of their states. Maybe if these abortion pills were coming by boat, the administration would change its tactics. It’s time to respect the rights of the states, and it’s time to end death by mail.
SPEAKER 24 :
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, alongside Senator Lindsey Graham, led a press conference on Capitol Hill, urging the Trump administration to end the Biden-era policies that have allowed dangerous abortion drugs to be shipped across state lines. They were joined by state attorneys general, pro-life advocates, and multiple Republican congressmen.
SPEAKER 11 :
There are more abortions today in the United States than when Roe versus Wade was the law of the land. And why is that? It’s because of the chemical abortion drug Mifeprestone. Nearly 70% of the abortions that are committed in the United States today are committed because of Mifeprestone.
SPEAKER 10 :
The federal government is allowing a chemical abortion pill to be sent through the mail that wipes out every state
SPEAKER 16 :
unborn protection law in the land it’s harder to ship alcohol in this country than it is to ship the abortion pill and that should never be the case this is a drug that takes the life of every child so there is always a death that’s involved in this drug but is also incredibly dangerous for the mom as well we think that we should require a doctor to be able to get access to this drug
SPEAKER 25 :
As a doctor, I think it’s essential that there be human contact before the pill is prescribed.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s not about a national abortion ban. It’s about validating Dobbs and preventing other states from nullifying the legislative policy choices that have been made by our states and facilitating the illegal, unethical, and dangerous drug trafficking of abortion pills into our states without any medical oversight whatsoever.
SPEAKER 10 :
We can simply fix this if we have the courage to do it. So what are all of us telling the administration? You’ve been a great pro-life president, Mr. President. It’s now time to deal with this issue.
SPEAKER 11 :
We want to protect life, and we want to give voice to the American people and their right to protect life state by state, city by city, and yes, here in the United States Congress. That’s what this fight is about.
SPEAKER 24 :
Let your voice be heard. Text LIFE to 67742. Sign the petition. Tell the Trump administration to act.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 22 :
Thank you for tuning in today to Washington Watch. I’m your guest host today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony. As always, that is a great honor. All right, before we get to our next guest and final segment here, I want to encourage you to join us here at FRC in urging congressional Democratic leaders to restore funding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Look, we all know that we have military operations underway right now in Iran. But also right here at home, there have been some major concerns that have come about, possible terror sleeper cells associated with Iran and its proxies. They certainly are poised for retaliation on our soil. There’s lone wolf attacks that are also a very real threat. And the bottom line, we simply cannot afford to leave unfunded the federal agencies whose responsibility it is to safeguard our homeland. And so we’re urging them to fund the Department of Homeland Security. And you can help us simply by texting DHS, DHS to 67742. Help us out. We need to be sure we protect the homeland right now more than ever. okay since president trump’s return to the white house last year no question that we have been seeing across the board a growing abandonment of woke dei policies that’s diversity equity and inclusion and this Exodus, if you will, from the corporate world is certainly a notable thing. We have many of them that have been dropping out of the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. Many of them have been cutting ties with the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center. But are these corporations really committed to staying out of the cultural wars, or are they simply moving with the cultural winds of the day? Well, joining us now to discuss this Jerry Boyer, he’s a CEO of Boyer Research, which is engaged with publicly traded companies, consulting on proxy votes at over 2,000 annual meetings and on roughly 20,000 proposals per year. Jerry, welcome back to Washington Watch. Honored to have you.
SPEAKER 15 :
Thank you, Jody. Great to be with you again.
SPEAKER 22 :
All right, so let’s start with one of the most recent corporations to drop their affiliation with the human rights campaign. That is the Truist Bank. Tell us what’s happening there.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, as one of many, as a matter of fact. We’ve been dealing with a lot of companies. I don’t know if you saw, there was an article a couple of weeks ago where two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are no longer participating with the Human Rights Campaign. We’ve seen that from a lot of the regional banks. We’ve seen that even from tech companies and consumer companies. So this is really astonishing because the Human Rights Campaign, this is the major LGBTQ++ advocacy activist group was an astonishing success. I mean, the way that it was able to get hundreds and hundreds, it became almost something that every Fortune 500 and every Fortune 1000 company signed up for. They would fill out an annual survey in order to get a 100% on this survey, this Corporate Equality Index, because they said, well, we won’t discriminate against gay people. That’s where it starts. But little by little, they moved the goalpost until finally it was bathroom wars, Bud Light, branding and puberty blockers for the children of employees. and and that’s how powerful it had become um and yet we’re seeing that reverse across the board where two-thirds of the fortune 500 companies really two-thirds of the fortune 1000 companies have dropped out and we see it one at a time as we talk to these companies and we say we understand that hrc that this score of 100 seemed to you like it was an a plus but for half of america it’s an f minus Why don’t you just stop participating altogether? You don’t have to have these outside groups who are determining your policies, who are pressuring you. Just focus on being a bank, Truist or Bank of America or M&T or you know, fill in the blank, any of them, JP Morgan, Chase, et cetera, focus on being a bank, focus on being a tech company, focus on being an AMX, focus on being a credit card company. And a lot of them are saying, okay, that’s what we’re going to do. Because frankly, I’m not sure they all realize what they were signing up for. I think that they just thought this was going to be easy and we’re going to say, we’re not going to discriminate against gay employees. Great. No one should. And then they find themselves pulled into the bathroom wars and the Bud Light stuff and all this really extreme. And it was sold to them as a way to decrease controversy. And what it became was a huge magnet for controversy. Once they saw that, they’re getting out of it.
SPEAKER 22 :
Very interesting. So is that basically your message to shareholders? I mean, that’s pretty straightforward in its approach. Is that basically what you’re saying to these shareholders and thereby producing a change?
SPEAKER 15 :
not well yes it’s what we’re saying but we’re not saying it to shareholders to shareholders already know it we’re saying it on behalf of shareholders to the company’s so we’re the people who work for the shareholders our clients are shareholders and they say i own shares in this company and i don’t know what’s going wrong with disney or target uh… more in that that’s by the light i what are we think they’re doing things that are risky we think that visa should not be processing payments for deep fake child poor And we think that MasterCard should not be processing payments for deep fake child porn. Hey, Jerry, go talk to them on our behalf. And we do a proposal. We use the proposal system and we talk to them. So we are representing the interest of shareholders against companies who’ve been led around by the nose by activist groups. And that’s the message.
SPEAKER 22 :
That’s fantastic. Back to neutral. That’s fantastic. So tell me, how different would you describe the interactions that you’re having now compared to the interactions, say, a couple of years ago that you were having with these corporations?
SPEAKER 15 :
So let’s go back maybe five years ago when we started. We got a lot of eye rolling, scoffing, open laughter, interruptions, essentially rude treatment. They didn’t know how to talk to us, or sometimes they would treat us like left-wing activists. I remember the first company I engaged with, a glass company from upstate New York, and I said, what about viewpoint diversity? different political views and religious views. And the investor relations person said, oh, we’ve got diversity. We’ve got all the kinds of diversity. I said, what kind do you have? She said, we have all the letters. L, G, B, and then she kind of stops. I’m hitting all the letters. I don’t want to miss any. I don’t want to get fired. And I said, what about C? And she said, what’s C? I said, Christian. you don’t have any christian employee resource groups in a pride employee resource group you don’t have christians these companies discriminate against churches in their employee match uh… and so five years ago we we were treated like it like yeah i don’t know but moral troglodytes like who are these awful people who don’t believe in the human rights campaign now there’s a five shift by the way it started before the election of trump I don’t think Trump causes it. I think Trump and this five-ship are basically the same route. The American people are pushing back. Now it’s very different. Now, Starbucks is still gonna be Starbucks. Disney’s gonna be, Amazon, I mean, they didn’t really wanna talk and they didn’t change anything. But that’s maybe three or four out of a hundred companies we’ve engaged with, most of which have been extremely productive engagements. There’s a thing going on right now that nobody knows about, which is the biggest reverse march to the institutions I’ve ever seen in my life, as the ESG and DEI bubble is just collapsing before our eyes.
SPEAKER 22 :
So that’s just fascinating to me and the impact that you’re able to have. Tell me about, I know you’ve had some resistance on charitable matching criteria and that type of thing. Tell us a little bit more about that.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, a lot of companies have a charitable match program. They tell their employees, we want you to be charitable. We want you to give to 501c3 charities. And that’s great. We think that’s a wonderful thing. That’s social capital. But a number of them had Southern Poverty Law Center hate group screens on that. So someone tries to give to Turning Point or Family Research Council or Focus on the Family or Alliance Defending Freedom, Turning Point, et cetera, and they find out that they’re banned from giving to that. um or in many cases they’re banned from simply giving to a church or synagogue you can give to freedom from religious religion foundation or human rights campaign or the aclu but you can’t give the family research council because that was on the hate group list what we’re finding is most of the companies didn’t even know that hate group list was functioning in their charitable match program there’s an outside company named benevity that runs most of the charitable match programs for the companies companies don’t run this themselves they use this outside vendor and they have this hate group listing which isn’t targeting hate groups no one’s trying to give to the k k k it’s targeting mainstream conservative institutions but the amazing thing is when we point that out to companies almost all of them sorry starbucks you didn’t do the right thing but everybody else said all we don’t want that And our message to them is, as long as you’re deciding which charities are worthy and which ones aren’t, no one’s ever going to be happy. You’re in a punishment seat. But if you just say, if the IRS says this is a charity, we’re going to match to it, now all of a sudden, who’s going to argue with that? Then you’re neutral. You’re going to get a lot less pushback from the left and the right.
SPEAKER 22 :
Wow. Interesting. So you’ve got out there, obviously, a lot of Christian organizations that and I want to get your take on this. They’re worried that any progress that has taken place in recent years or that is currently taking place could potentially disappear under a future Democratic administration. Are those legitimate concerns, you think?
SPEAKER 15 :
No, I don’t think they are because the shift started before the election of Trump. I’m going to be a little tough love here for Christian ministries, conservative organizations. The problem wasn’t the Biden administration. The problem is you weren’t showing up. How many church and denominational pension funds are paying any attention to how they’re voting on these proxy statements? Almost none of them. How many ministries that have these foundations are paying any attention? almost none of them red states are not paying any attention our absence is the main problem if we’re showing up we’re more important than the biden administration or whatever is coming next kamala i you know i would not prefer it if we’re showing up and engaging Boyer Research is showing up and engaging on behalf of a few ministries, and with 2% vote counts, we’re still moving people. But the vast majority of conservative organizations, ministries, churches, Christian voters have no idea how they’re voting on these. The financial advisors have no idea. We’re not showing up. We complain about a process of woke capitalism that we helped create with our absence and neglect.
SPEAKER 22 :
Amazing what can happen when we show up to the game. That’s it. Do you have any insight as to how some of these groups, HRC or SPLC or who knows what other groups, how are they responding to the exodus of corporations, specifically corporations that literally want you to bow down to them?
SPEAKER 15 :
i hope that they’re expanding couple ways number one layoffs uh… because their revenues are getting cut off because these companies the company basically it’s a protection racket let’s be clear you give to h r c in that counts on whether you’re getting a one hundred score but the company doesn’t care whether the getting a one hundred score then who cares about buying them off so that’s a that’s a big part of it i think the other thing is one of the things that we’ve seen was really amazing from human rights campaign is companies would stop participating in h r c would not update their website Almost as if, I can’t know what’s going on in their minds, but it seemed almost like they wanted to hide the exodus. They wanted to give the impression that we’re still really important. So what happened as Fortune 500 companies were leaving, they weren’t all necessarily updating the website. They’ve made it very difficult to search the website to find out who’s going away. And then they’ve added a lot of small left-wing municipalities and really small law firms that aren’t public. So they’re losing Fortune 500 companies, but they’re gaining some left-wing municipality as a member of HRC. So they’re trying to hide the exodus, but it’s undeniable now.
SPEAKER 22 :
So you have, obviously, and you’ve described it so effectively, a number of these corporations and so forth have certainly slowed down and reversed course. You’ve got some of these organizations that have been pressing for all of this. Some of them have slowed down. But then you have organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center. They seem to have gone the opposite direction and literally stepping up their pressure on Christian organizations, just how significant are they? How much are they themselves driving this woke culture?
SPEAKER 15 :
They were doing it before, but I think the magic spell is broken when it comes to the Southern Poverty Law Center. And it was broken the moment that Charlie Kirk was murdered. When that happened, that was now three acts of political violence, two of which were unsuccessful. Well, the attack on Family Research Council, where the man survived, the attack on Steve Scalise, the congressman, where he survived, but Charlie Kirk didn’t survive. And all of a sudden, the Southern Poverty Law Center hate list started to look like a hit list. And companies, even if they’re woke, they don’t want anything to do with that kind of thing. They don’t want to have anything to do with political violence. So I think that’s really when the spell of Southern Poverty Law Center was broken.
SPEAKER 22 :
So where do you see all this going? What you’re sharing is fascinating news. It seems deep down a very positive trend in a right direction. Is that what you see?
SPEAKER 15 :
Yes. But to quote Churchill, it’s not the end. It’s not the beginning of the end, but it just might be the end of the beginning. A lot of companies are still in HRC. Most of these companies still have DEI departments, which is basically a paid activist phalanx inside the company. They still have sustainability committees, which are essentially, again, they have a a certain left-wing tilt to them. So, you know, we kick it out and then it comes out and finds seven worse than itself and brings back and finds the house cleaned. Christians need to get in the game. I’m just, I’m begging you. A few ministries are doing it, but every church, every ministry, you all own shares, you all have a 401k plan or a 403b plan. You are voting. You’re probably voting for what you hate. Start voting for what you love. We can help you. i i think that is fantastic you say you can help tell people how they can get in touch with you i’m really easy i’m all over social media boyer is b-o-w-y-e-r jerry lee boyer on x or just jerry boyer b-o-w-y-e-r on linkedin and facebook i especially like to talk to financial advisors because they’re the advisors for everybody christian financial advisors are for the most part not paying attention to this your clients want you to pay attention to it and eventually they’re going to find out whether you were or not
SPEAKER 22 :
Jerry Boyer, CEO of Boyer Research, thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 15 :
My pleasure, Jody.
SPEAKER 22 :
All right, friends, that wraps up yet another edition of Washington Watch. Thank you so much for entrusting this past hour of your time with us. Hope you have a fantastic remainder of the day, and Tony will be back tomorrow right here on Washington Watch. Have a good evening.
SPEAKER 29 :
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.
