On today’s program: Mark Mitchell, Rasmussen Reports Chief Pollster, breaks down the final polling ahead of the presidential election and responds to concerns over post-election violence and delay in the announcement of a winner. Chris Smith, U.S.
SPEAKER 03 : 0:00
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
SPEAKER 06 : 0:20
A whopping 74% of the country thinks that we are on the wrong track as a nation. That includes half of all Harris supporters and 98% of Trump voters. Those are the kind of numbers that are just brutal for an incumbent party.
SPEAKER 09 : 0:34
That was ABC political director Rick Klein yesterday on ABC’s This Week. Not encouraging news for the Democratic Party. Welcome to Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Close to 75 million voters have already cast their ballots. What are the issues motivating these voters in 2024? And why does 74 percent of Americans say the nation is on the wrong track? We’ll talk with Mark Mitchell, chief pollster at Rasmussen Reports, as we dig into these questions. And also, House Speaker Mike Johnson shared some optimism about recent developments.
SPEAKER 08 : 1:10
We’re very encouraged that the early voting numbers are, I think, will be historic when we count all this on the other side of the election. Republicans coming out in droves to get their votes counted early, to get the, you know, bank your vote initiative that we pushed for the last year or two. It’s all coming to fruition. And I think because of that, the Democrats are nervous and very concerned.
SPEAKER 09 : 1:32
We’ll hear more from the speaker a little later in the program. A Chinese national was caught illegally voting after he tried to retract his ballot. Legacy Media has once again gone into cleanup mode, trying to defend the Democrat’s stance against election integrity measures.
SPEAKER 02 : 1:49
I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF THAT STATE HAS ACTUALLY BROUGHT CHARGES, HAS MADE THAT PUBLIC, THAT INDIVIDUAL MAY ACTUALLY BE DEPORTED BECAUSE THERE ARE LAWS IN THIS COUNTRY THAT PUNISH PEOPLE WHEN THEY ARE ILLEGAL AND THEY TRY TO VOTE IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS. THAT 19-YEAR-OLD IS GOING TO
SPEAKER 07 : 2:14
His vote will still be counted.
SPEAKER 09 : 2:16
Okay, Margaret, I’m waiting for you to respond. That was Senator Marco Rubio on Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan. We’re going to dive into this topic with Texas Congressman Chip Roy in just a little while. And international news. Israel is following through on last week’s Knesset vote to limit cooperation with the United Nations Palestinian Relief Agency.
SPEAKER 01 : 2:39
Yesterday, the state of Israel officially notified the president of the General Assembly of the United Nations of the termination of cooperation with the agency. The state of Israel will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations, but not with organizations that promote terrorism against us.
SPEAKER 09 : 2:59
humanitarian relief for the people not for terrorist that was israeli government spokesman david mincer earlier today we’re going to talk with new jersey congressman chris smith a little bit later are yet uh… one day left tomorrow’s election day and if you’ve not voted yet if you’re not among the seventy five million i hope you are planning to go and vote tomorrow and we have a resource available for you to help you would decide which way to go i hope You understand the issues at stake. We’ve got a comparison guide between the two parties. We’ve got a voter guide on the two presidential candidates. And depending on where you live, we’ve got a personalized voter guide just using your zip code. It’ll go down to some of the state races. Text the word TOOLKIT to 67742. That’s TOOLKIT to 67742. You’ll get a link, and you’ll have access to all those resources so that you can cast an informed ballot. TOOLKIT, 67742. Also, remember, tomorrow night, beginning at 8.30 p.m. Eastern Time, PrayVote Stand Decision 2024. Pastor Jack Hibbs and I will be joined by members of Congress, along with a number of subject matter experts, to analyze the election results from a biblical perspective. You can tune in on the Stand Firm app or the Real Life Network app. That’s, again, tomorrow night at 8.30 p.m. Well, every day there’s a different poll. So, frankly, I don’t put a whole lot of confidence in the election outcome polls. But what I do find instructive is what is motivating people to vote? What are they thinking about when they go into the voting booth? And what’s motivating them to go and vote and cast a ballot? Joining me now to discuss this is Mark Mitchell. He’s chief pollster at Rasmussen Reports. Mark, welcome to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 19 : 4:46
Really happy to be here.
SPEAKER 09 : 4:47
So I know I just said I don’t put a lot of confidence in these national polls because we’re getting one like every hour. But I do want to ask you, I know you’ve been polling on this. What’s the latest and I guess what would be the final numbers you have going into Election Day?
SPEAKER 19 : 5:03
Yeah, what might be a surprise to everybody watching is that I think this race has been locked in for months. We’ve been putting out daily numbers since Kamala Harris got anointed, and it’s been week after week, just Trump plus two in the national popular vote. And it’s kind of crazy because the media tried to present this false narrative that Kamala Harris picked up all this momentum. You had some of the left-wing pollsters going all the way out to Harris plus six, but almost every single one of them has round-tripped basically to where we are. If you look at the RealClearPolitics aggregate, almost every single major pollster has the national popular vote between tied or where we’re at, Trump plus two, Trump plus three. And so really, if Trump is winning the national popular vote, that is not good for Kamala Harris’s chances in the swing states, to be honest with you. And even the swing states are almost all leaning towards Trump in the aggregate. But time after time, the polling industry has shown that it underestimates Trump’s support in the state as I think they’re still doing today, even in my polls, and as the New York Times head pollster Nate Cohn agrees with in the most recent piece he put out. So I think a safe case is Trump wins the electoral college by 287, 297, depending on how The Rust Belt breaks and he might sweep them all. And quite frankly, I polled Virginia, I polled New Hampshire, I polled Minnesota. All of those states are within the margin of error. So if Trump outperforms state polling by really kind of any margin, those states might fall too and make it a really early election night.
SPEAKER 09 : 6:36
I think you’re right. He historically under polls for whatever reason. And so if he’s popping up at 2% ahead, it could be a much bigger margin.
SPEAKER 19 : 6:50
I could list many reasons why I think Donald Trump is going to outperform even my polling. And I think we’re very accurate. We’ve been slandered as being a far-right pollster. But quite frankly, we did pretty good the last couple cycles too. It’s really tough to poll in the Trump environment. There’s a major political realignment happening. But when I polled, what I was very specifically looking for is people who changed their mind, who voted for Biden and then decided to vote Trump. And there are many of them. And I kind of forced the polls to be sensitive to that signal by waiting to the 2020 recall vote. It’s something a lot of other pollsters weren’t doing, and they were oversampling Biden supporters. But what I did not do is spend time figuring out how to find all of these low- propensity voters and first-time voters and people who are quite frankly crawling over broken glass after Biden’s administration to go vote for Trump. I think that’s what all of the early polling is showing. And I also really didn’t adjust any of my weightings to say, well, this time out, maybe the minority voters, maybe the urban voters aren’t going to show up in the same numbers. So quite frankly, what we’re seeing is that trend, and it might really put Trump in safe to comfortable leads in some of these states. I mean, the early voting Numbers look very good for Republicans, but I polled, and Republicans still say they’re going to go for Trump on Election Day. Trump leads by 8 to 12 points, depending on the swing state, in the Election Day voters. And we do not know how any of those independents are breaking. In my national numbers, independents swung massively towards Trump, and a lot of it depends on the state-to-state differences. But there is a lot of upside for Trump, and really not too much upside for Republicans. Kamala Harris at all, except for maybe, you know, hidden mail in ballots that show up at the last minute, to be honest with you.
SPEAKER 09 : 8:38
Well, as I made reference to earlier, the latest ABC News poll has Harris holding a three-point lead nationally. But they also found, of course, and that’s, I think, skewed, but they found 74 percent of the country thinks we’re on the wrong track as a nation. And that includes half of Harris supporters and 98 percent of Trump supporters. I mean, therein lies where I think the real issue is. Americans are not happy. with where America has been and where it’s going. And so why would they choose to co-pilot?
SPEAKER 19 : 9:12
A hundred percent. And our numbers confirm that. And we’ve measured it so many times. And what I appreciate seeing on your show is that it’s not just about election matchups. It’s actually about the psyche of America and how it changes the opinion being driven by the political realities. And people are hurting right now. Some of the other measures is in the swing states. We only have some of the states were as low as 22% of people thinking that today’s children will be better off than their parents. Numbers in the mid 30s for are you better off than you were four years ago? And this is the big issue one that I think is important. Some of the polls, the ones that lean left, will say abortion is the number one issue. It’s not. Most of the real pollsters will say that the number one issue is the economy. The number two issue is the border. But that doesn’t really capture the whole picture. If you talk about are you better off than you are four years ago, that’s largely an economic signal. And like I said, 35 percent of people only that low say yes. But we asked another question. Are you safer than you were four years ago? And we get numbers in the mid 20s in the battlegrounds. So really, there’s this aspect of illegal immigration, strong majority of voters in all the swing states. at least somewhat agree that the situation at the southern border is an invasion, and they all support militarizing the border. So the border, even though it comes up as a number two issue, has really been hanging over, in my opinion, this entire election because it affects people’s safety, it affects the economy, and really, quite frankly… Kamala Harris has relatively good favorability numbers if you compare them to the favorability of the federal government. And so what I really think is that people see this election as Donald Trump versus the government. And right now they’re voting for Donald Trump.
SPEAKER 09 : 10:56
What are some of the other issues driving folks, Mark? I mean, we talked about abortion, talked about the border, talked about the economy. The Republicans, you know, I’ve talked to the speaker and some of their polling, and they’re running very strongly on the issue of the transgender ideology that’s being pushed by the Democrats. That seems to be resonating with voters.
SPEAKER 19 : 11:19
It does. One of the trends that there’s been a lot of lying, a lot of gaslighting. And one of the big stories that I’ve been following is the complete and utter difference between how people consume the news and what issues are important to them. So the transgender issue, and we just pulled it, we showed that by an overwhelming majority that Americans are against gender transitioning children. By an overwhelming majority, Americans are against women competing against men in the sports arena. But it’s just one long list in a list of topics where the Democrats kind of side with Republicans, but time and time again, that’s not what their party gives them. So we asked in the swing states, really fascinating question, whose gender and sexual identity values are closer to your own? Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were roughly about tied, believe it or not. But then even Democrats strongly agree that there are only two genders. even Democrats agree overwhelmingly that they don’t want to trans the kids. So it’s really crazy how what’s driving them isn’t these issues. And I think I’ve put my finger on the pulse. One of the questions we asked is, which cable news network are you most likely to trust? And then we had another question where instead of this huge buffet of issue questions, we asked, which of the following list is the most important for the next president to solve? And we limited it to only rising prices, illegal immigration, abortion, and protecting democracy. And the number one issue for MSNBC viewers was protecting democracy, almost half. And then another quarter said abortion. So three quarters of MSNBC viewers I think that those two issues are the number one things driving this election. But for Fox News and Newsmax viewers, it’s like 80% who say the border and the economy. And Newsmax, it was like 65% the border. So there are just two totally different Americas. And I think the media has to do a lot of introspection about the effect that they’re having on the psyche of voters. Because quite frankly, protecting democracy is a fake issue.
SPEAKER 09 : 13:25
Right. And they’re spreading that fear. Mark, we’re up against a break, but you’re going to be with us tomorrow night as we do our election night coverage. We’re going to be talking with you as well. So, Mark Mitchell, appreciate you checking in today and look forward to talking to you tomorrow night.
SPEAKER 19 : 13:40
Yeah, thanks so much. Really excited for it.
SPEAKER 09 : 13:42
All right, folks, and you can be a part of that election night coverage. That is PrayVote Stand Decision 2024. Myself and Pastor Jack Hibbs with the Stand Firm app or the Real Life Network app. Don’t go away. More Washington Watch straight ahead.
SPEAKER 15 : 14:01
Election night is almost here. Join FRC and Real Life Network for exclusive live coverage from coast to coast. With host Tony Perkins and Jack Hibbs, you’ll hear from an incredible slate of guests, including members of Congress and political heavyweights from around the globe. We’ll dive into the issues that matter and give you the biblical perspective. Pray that America chooses wisely. Join us on November 5th as we watch history unfold.
SPEAKER 10 : 14:32
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.
SPEAKER 13 : 14:49
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?
SPEAKER 17 : 15:06
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.
SPEAKER 04 : 15:27
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.
SPEAKER 16 : 15:45
This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also of 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.
SPEAKER 09 : 16:07
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.
SPEAKER 15 : 16:30
Are you a Christian parent looking to raise a spiritual champion in today’s culture? Renowned author George Barna has written a new book, Raising Spiritual Champions. This book offers valuable insights based on extensive research conducted by George Barna, the Family Research Council, and Arizona Christian University. Learn how to help your children discern biblical truth and find compelling meaning and purpose. Don’t miss out on this essential resource for parents. Order your copy today.
SPEAKER 09 : 17:03
Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us. Had a good weekend. I was up in Cincinnati, Ohio at Landmark Baptist Church. A great group of folks there. Pastor Matt Holman just had a great time there. Want to invite you to join us tomorrow night for Election Returns. We’re going to be covering the election. It is Pray, Vote, Stand 2020, Decision 2024. Myself and Pastor Jack Hibbs, you can… Join us by downloading the Stand Firm app or the Real Life Network app. Israeli Foreign Ministry has informed the United Nations that the Jewish state is withdrawing from the 1967 agreement regulating the operations of UNRWA, that is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Israel. Gaza and the West Bank. Now, in a letter dated yesterday, the Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Israel will continue to work with international parties, including other UN agencies, to ensure the facilitation of humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, but they will do so in a way that does not undermine Israel’s security. Not surprisingly, the move has received criticism even from the U.S. government, the Biden administration. But should we support them in doing it? I would say yes. Joining me now to discuss this is Congressman Chris Smith, senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-chair of the Israeli Allies Caucus. He represents the 4th Congressional District of New Jersey. Congressman Smith, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 05 : 18:40
Tony, thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it. Thank you.
SPEAKER 09 : 18:43
Critics are saying that there is no alternative. In fact, the State Department released a statement this afternoon saying there’s no other, nobody else can do this. Only UNRWA can do this. But that’s not true, is it?
SPEAKER 05 : 18:55
That’s… Unmitigated nonsense. There are non-governmental organizations that could be empowered and stood up very quickly to provide humanitarian aid to those who need it. The problem with UNRWA, the UN Works Relief Agency, which has been around for decades, two decades ago, I offered an amendment to defund them because they were even then a child soldier factory where Hamas and other hate-filled organizations were teaching kids from the earliest years to hate and to loathe all Jews, and that the best Jew is a dead Jew. And that’s UNRWA, and that’s supported by our tax dollars. So when October 7th, as you know, Tony, occurred, and all the mass killing, there were some UNRWA leaders who were absolutely in the forefront of doing that. But the general proselytizing of hate has gone on for so long that you have an entire generation of children who have been turned into Jewish haters. And they don’t like the United States either. So let’s put that on the ledger as well. So we need to find alternatives. I offered a piece of legislation several months ago. It passed in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. It is ready to come to the floor of the U.S. House. I’ve asked our leadership to bring it to the floor so we could vote on it. And that would say clearly and unambiguously, no money for UNRWA and any organization that does get our funding for humanitarian purposes has to be properly vetted. So thankfully, Israel itself and the Knesset has moved to say no more UNRWA. I’ve been saying it for decades. And I’m not the only one. You’ve been saying it as well, Tony. You know, there’s a famous song in South Pacific, that great musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, where it says, you’ve got to be taught to hate. That’s what they do every single day. They ate and abet the worst of the worst terrorists. They house weapons in their homes. facilities and they provide cover again for the worst atrocities the world has ever seen.
SPEAKER 09 : 21:09
And under the Biden administration, the Biden administration has provided over a billion dollars to UNRWA. That’s not to the United Nations. That’s just to UNRWA. And as you said, they run their schools, and that’s one of the reasons they defend this. They run the schools, but they teach them to hate. I’ve seen the curriculum. You’ve seen the curriculum. I want to play a clip. I’ve had hearings on the curriculum. I want to play a clip.
SPEAKER 05 : 21:31
You raise the curriculum, and it’s filled with hatred.
SPEAKER 09 : 21:33
I want to play a clip here. This is from State Department spokesman Matthew Miller earlier today. Clip five.
SPEAKER 12 : 21:39
Right now, there is no other way to distribute aid in sufficient form. And that’s why the secretary made clear in the letter that we were opposed to the legislation because UNRWA plays a critical role.
SPEAKER 09 : 21:50
And so they’re using this to say they’re going to withhold military support munitions from Israel if they don’t allow this humanitarian aid through UNRWA. So what options can Congress take to, I know we talk about the defunding, but there are other entities that can do this. What about USAID?
SPEAKER 05 : 22:13
USAID is one alternative. There are a number of other alternatives. Even Catholic Relief Services and certainly Samaritan’s Purse and other very, very well-vetted humanitarian organizations could do the job, but where there has to be a will. And then there is a way to get this done, and they’re not doing it. Unfortunately, this is part of a narrative that I’ve heard for several decades. Like I said, 20 years ago, I wanted to defund UNRWA. I had meetings and hearings on the textbooks, which are rife with anti-Semitic hatred as well as anti-American hatred. And we wonder why. And if you ever read the Hamas charter, I know you have, it is so filled with, if you see a Jew, kill him or her. And they want the state of Israel to be eviscerated and to be banned from the face of the earth.
SPEAKER 09 : 23:02
So October 7th should not be a surprise. What happened on October 7th should not be a surprise.
SPEAKER 05 : 23:06
Not even a little bit. Because that’s what these… It was the brazenness that I think that… That’s what they teach them every day. And, you know, we even had…
SPEAKER 09 : 23:15
So we only have about—we’ve got about a minute left, Congressman Smith. So why does the Biden administration, if they truly want to get humanitarian aid to the civilians in Gaza, why not take an alternative route, unless they clearly want to support the terrorists?
SPEAKER 05 : 23:34
In my view, the more they speak and the more importantly act, the clearer it is that they are in support of Hamas. Harris is supportive of Hamas. If she were to win tomorrow, we would have a situation where Hamas would have its greatest friend. Biden at least tried to appear to be ambivalent, to be pro-Israel, but not pro-Israel. Not so with her. And there have always been people in the U.S. Department of State who had a very, very anti-Israeli bias and anti-Semitic bias. And now it’s showing in all of its ugly colors in this fight. We need, you know, to his credit, Trump cut off funding to UNRWA when he was the president. He cut it off. He said, find an alternative. Taxpayers are not going to subsidize that kind of hatred and that kind of violence.
SPEAKER 09 : 24:25
Biden reinstated it and paid back what the U.S. did not pay during that time. Chris Smith, out of time. Thank you for joining us. I look forward to talking to you later, maybe next week, on more of the funding that the Biden-Harris administration has put in for leftist social policies in their foreign spending uh we’ll have that conversation as well uh chris smith thanks for being with us thank you tony appreciate it all right after the break illegal voting by non-citizens that’s next 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
SPEAKER 18 : 25:10
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’re 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.
SPEAKER 09 : 27:03
Welcome back to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. Be sure and join us tomorrow night for PrayVote Stand Decision 2024 election night coverage. Pastor Jack Hibbs and I, you can join us either on the StandFirm app or on the Real Life Network app. A University of Michigan student from China who is not, not a United States citizen allegedly voted in this election. And he’s been charged with two crimes just days before this pivotal presidential election. The left, not surprisingly, wants to just brush this aside in some say it’s extremely rare event. To them, it’s not a problem, even though this non-citizens vote is still going to count. So every vote counts and matters, but the counting of a non-citizens vote is okay to wave off as nothing, not a big deal. We’re here now to discuss this news is Congressman Chip Roy, who has been leading the fight to protect U.S. elections. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee, the Rules Committee, and the Budget Committee. He represents the 21st Congressional District of Texas. Congressman Roy, welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 11 : 28:07
Tony, great to be on. As you can see, I’ve been out campaigning for Ted around the state of Texas, and it’s great to be on the show.
SPEAKER 09 : 28:14
So this story is more common than the left would like to admit, is it not?
SPEAKER 11 : 28:21
Well, it is. And what we’ve got is we see actual evidence where you now saw Virginia, where they cleaned off 1,500 from their rolls, and the very same leftist progressive activists that were telling us that the Dave Act was unnecessary. back in July when we passed it out of the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, Chuck Schumer is sitting on it in the Senate. To say back as a reminder, it is a requirement, a bill that I authored that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in a federal election. Democrats said, oh, you don’t need that. It’s already against the law. But then they turn around and they sue. And they sue Virginia to say, hey, you know, you guys can’t do The work that you’re doing to clean the voter rolls off. So which is it, right? I mean, the hypocrisy is palpable. It does happen, and it happens regularly. Particularly, we battle it here in Texas. The Secretary of State and I have had conversations. And here’s the dirty little secret. We can’t even go through as a state and use the right databases from the feds without having to sue to get it. The Secretary of State of Florida had to sue to get access to the database in order to try to fight to clean off the voter rolls. So this is all purposeful. It’s why they’re dumping five and a half million people into this country and endangering us in the process, Tony.
SPEAKER 09 : 29:42
Chip, I don’t know if you’ve probably not had a chance to look at the details of this. In reading the stories, what we’re seeing in the media is saying, well, he’s been charged with two crimes now, so they’re on top of this. It’s being handled by the Democratic authorities there in Michigan. But if you read the story and the details coming out of Michigan, the only reason it appears that this student was caught is that he actually went back after he voted and asked if he could somehow get his ballot back. And it’s only then that they began to make the inquiry about the fact that he voted illegally. So most likely would have never come to the surface had he not gone back and tried to retract his ballot.
SPEAKER 11 : 30:26
Well, this is one of the reasons why it’s so important that we enact the legislative changes to give more power to states and to put more requirements in place federally. Interestingly, on Fox News last week, after the state of Virginia was successful in its litigation, my friend Chuck Cooper was the lead lawyer on that, and they were successful. They won. They got the Supreme Court to stay the full-headed order by the district judge. But interestingly, the Governor Youngkin, he said on Fox, hey, we really need to pass the SAVE Act. I mean, I’m happy that we won in Virginia, but we’ve got to pass the federal legislation that is necessary in order to guarantee that not only is there a federal requirement but that states have all the tools necessary and the power necessary to clean off the voter rolls. Because even when they try now, they’re running into barriers like you just outlined, where it’s difficult to track this, it’s difficult to find it. And when you do, it’s difficult to match it against the federal databases to ensure citizenship.
SPEAKER 09 : 31:23
So what you have in this case in Michigan, this ballot will be counted. Even though it was cast illegally, there’s no way to get it back out. And so what you had proposed and what the House passed was to say you can’t register to vote. You have to prove this up front even to be registered to vote, which— It makes perfect sense. Why would you allow someone to register to vote if they weren’t a citizen and they couldn’t vote? Why not just I mean, this is like let’s just keep the alcoholics out of the bar. I mean, it makes more sense than try to take them and sober them up.
SPEAKER 11 : 32:00
Well, that’s exactly right, Tony. I mean, and look, I just want to be pretty blunt. This is all purposeful by our radical progressive Democrat colleagues. This is why they’re dumping five and a half, almost six million people in the United States, not including gotaways. That’s why that they have been, you know, opposing every effort that we’ve made to try to pass legislation to fix it. To take, for example, they obviously opposed H.R. 2, but then they opposed the Save Act. Only five Democrats voted for it. Chuck Schumer won’t move it in the Senate. They opposed our legislation to make sure that we are only having citizens counted in the census for purposes of apportionment, which you know well as a former member of Congress how important that is. And in fact, it might have a consequential impact on the election even this week in terms of having too many districts. that are weighed with the number of folks who are here illegally when we’re talking about millions of folks. So it’s all very real. It’s all a big problem. Needs to be addressed. This is why the election tomorrow matters. And unfortunately, we’re in that place where we need to win two big three tomorrow.
SPEAKER 09 : 33:03
Yeah. I mean, everybody’s got to turn out and vote. Chip Roy, great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us. And tell Ted I said hello.
SPEAKER 11 : 33:11
I will. Governor Perry said, well, good.
SPEAKER 09 : 33:14
I said, hello. All right, folks, you heard it right there. We got to vote. And if you’ve not yet voted, if you’re not among the 75 million who voted early, then you need to get your voter toolkit, text toolkit to six, seven, seven, four, two, and you’ll be prepared to vote tomorrow. All right. After the break, I’m going to share, uh, my interview that I did this weekend with house speaker, Mike Johnson. He was on the road up in New York and, um, He’s optimistic. He sees momentum as people are turning out, people are voting, and this record number of early votes is actually a pretty good sign of that enthusiasm. So get your toolkit. Text TOOLKIT to 67742. All right, don’t go away. We’re back after this.
SPEAKER 14 : 34:02
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 18 : 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 are 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 09 : 37:04
Don’t forget, tomorrow is Election Day, and this is your last chance to get your personalized voter guide. So text GUIDE to 67742. That’s GUIDE to 67742. Our word for today comes from 2 Kings chapter 14. Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king, and he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoadim of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like his father David. He did everything as his father Joash had done. However, the high places were not taken away and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. These high places were sacred cows. Most of the kings were afraid to touch them. Removing these high places was, in most cases, the distinguishing factor between an okay king and a really good king. Most did not remove them because of the fear of the people. and or a misguided notion that as long as they took care of the major things, the big things, the minor things, didn’t really matter. Not so. Jesus said a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The little areas of compromise are the stones that pave the way to destruction. For more on our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. Well, each weekend, I host a Week This Week on the Hill on the Salem Radio Network, and it’s a one-hour program, and it always includes an in-depth interview with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Well, this past weekend, I caught up with the speaker as he was in upstate New York. Among the topics he and I discussed were the Democratic Fundraising Platform Act Blue, which may have been exploited by foreign actors to channel funds illegally to Democratic candidates. And also, we discussed the enthusiasm among Republican voters. and how that’s making Democrats a bit nervous to the point where we’ve seen some desperate moves from the left. Here’s how we started that conversation. Mr. Speaker, thanks so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 08 : 38:55
Hey, Tony. Great to be with you again.
SPEAKER 09 : 38:58
So, Mr. Speaker, a lot to talk about this morning, but let’s start right here because we’re seeing fundraising reports that Democrats are outraising the Republicans, even though Republicans are setting fundraising records. Could it be connected to illegal funds coming from foreign sources?
SPEAKER 08 : 39:16
I think that the evidence shows that that is true. It’s been a frustration of ours. As you know, I’ve been out on the road nonstop, and we set fundraising records. I mean, the last quarter, the third quarter that ended October, raised more money than any Speaker of the House ever in history, both for my individual efforts and for the Speaker-supported Super PAC. You know, we’re probably close to $280 million raised now, and that would be good in a normal cycle, except that right now, This evidence is mounting that the Democrats actually are getting this ill-gotten gain. They use ActBlue, which is their online fundraising juggernaut, this website that they brag about. They’ve raised $16 billion on this site since it was created about a decade ago. In the last congressional cycle, two years ago, they raised $2.2 billion on this one website. So they claim that it’s new online low-dollar donors. Well, everyone has accepted that as fact. We’ve had sneaking suspicions something’s off there, and now I think we know that’s true because what the evidence is showing now is that people’s names and addresses have been used on this website as if they are small-dollar donors when they have no idea that their identity is being used for that purpose. How are they doing it? The evidence seems to show that they’re taking large checks from foreign nationals, adversarial nations like Russia and Venezuela and China and Iran, and they’re breaking them down into smaller-dollar donations and sending them through, and they’re capturing the names of American citizens and using them. The early evidence indicates. So there are investigations underway. The House Administration Committee is on this. The federal investigators are looking at it. There are serious questions. Subpoenas have been issued now. And the frustration we have, Tony, is that, you know, this obviously looks to be a money laundering organization operation at some level. And we don’t know how big it is yet. We don’t have all the evidence gathered, and it will take some time for the criminal justice system to play out, to adjudicate the cases. I think ultimately people are going to go to jail because this is fraud. But in the meantime, we have to contend with their avalanche of cash. Now, I’ll just say this. I’m still very bullish about the election in a handful of days here. I think we’re going to win, because at the end of the day, it’s not about the quantity of cash. It’s about the quality of the candidates, and we have better candidates. But it certainly does make the challenge a little bit greater, and we’re going to work right through that.
SPEAKER 09 : 41:42
Mr. Speaker, a couple of questions on this. Does it appear that ActBlue, this platform, is complicit, or are they being used by other actors here?
SPEAKER 08 : 41:54
That’s the big question. I have my own suspicions, but these are all allegations at this point, and so we can dig into it. What we do know is that at the very minimum, they have lax verification procedures to prove who is what and who is doing what. That is a serious problem. It’s gross negligence if it’s not criminal intent. We’ll find out. Look, I I’ve been in this game a while. I know that people cheat in politics. It’s really disgusting because there’s so much at stake, and it really is a stain on the system. But we have to stop it. We have to make sure justice is done here, and I think ultimately it will be. Right now, though, we’ve got to contend again with their cash. By the way, let me just give this website. If you go to checkmydonation.org, checkmydonation.org, you might be one of the many thousands of Americans whose own name and identification is being used in a way that you had no idea about. What you do is you go to that website. You can do an advanced search, type in your name and address or your zip code, more identifiers, whatever. How do you want to do that? And you can see if you indeed yourself are an ActBlue donor and didn’t know it.
SPEAKER 09 : 43:01
What if you do find yourself on that list as an ActBlue donor? What can you do?
SPEAKER 08 : 43:06
Well, we have many, many, many people around the country who have been shocked and surprised that their names are on there. So there’s an option on that website to click the list, and it will send your information to law enforcement. This has happened over and over and over and over. I’ve been doing this in small groups where I am. I’ve just, as an experiment, hey, everybody go to this website. And people in our Republican rallies and groups are finding their names on this website. I think this is a broad, serious problem. And so when the evidence comes in, I think it’ll be shocking.
SPEAKER 09 : 43:41
We’re up against a break here in about a minute, but what I’ve heard is that the U.S. Treasury have been getting these alerts of potential money laundering for some time now through these sources. I would assume that that triggered the Department of Justice to begin investigating, or are they slow to respond?
SPEAKER 08 : 44:04
Well, look, from my estimation, they’ve been very slow. We’re trying to find out our own evidence on that as well through our House committees investigating this whole thing. But suspicious activity reports of SARS have been issued in high volumes for quite some time. And it looks as though, I’ll just say it’s an allegation, we’re looking into it, but it looks as though it was slow walked. And this is a real concern to us. If we don’t have integrity in the election system, That’s the basis of our whole constitutional republic. We all know how much effort’s gone into election security. This is part of it, and it’s real serious.
SPEAKER 09 : 44:40
That all the more reason why turnout is so important, that people go and vote and not allow this outside, potential outside money, foreign money from foreign adversaries to influence the outcome of our elections. Mr. Speaker, you have to be encouraged, as you talk about the enthusiasm, you’ve been talking about this for weeks, early voting records have been set, even among Republicans, which are usually hesitant to vote early. What does that tell us?
SPEAKER 08 : 45:09
Well, there is a real energy out here, and everywhere we go around the country, we’ve seen it. Massive crowds, lots of enthusiasm, and new people coming to the parties. We’ve been talking about the demographic shift for weeks, and it is really coming to fruition. And we’re very encouraged that the early voting numbers are, I think, will be historic when we count all this on the other side of the election. Republicans coming out in droves to get their votes counted early, to get the, you know, bank your vote initiative that we pushed for the last year or two. It’s all coming to fruition. And I think because of that, the Democrats are nervous and very concerned. And they’re flailing in many of these campaigns. Certainly, you see the Kamala Harris campaign with its back against the ropes. And that’s why they’re so desperate and making all these crazy statements this week. This is a good sign for Republicans. And we feel that energy. And we’re going to run through the tape. We’re going to run like we’re 10 points behind. But the real clear politics average still has President Trump up in the battleground states. And if we keep that momentum through Election Day, I think we’re going to have the outcome that we’ve all been working and praying for.
SPEAKER 09 : 46:12
Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to these congressional races where in this last month, Democrats have outspent Republicans about $35 million in the top 25 or so races. The House is going to be decided. I know a lot of people focused on the presidential. I mean, that’s the big ticket. But… There are those that are living in—conservatives living in blue states who will make the difference in the outcome of control of Congress, because it’s those blue states that will actually determine victory in some of these highly contested congressional races. Am I not correct?
SPEAKER 08 : 46:48
You’re exactly right. And the outcome of those races, I mean, it comes down, Tony, as we’ve discussed, to probably about 19 races around the country, 19 House seats that will determine the fate of the republic. That is not a hyperbole, because even if President Trump wins the White House and we win the Senate for the Republican Party, if you don’t have Republican control of the House of Representatives, it’s all for naught, because there’s no question that they will impeach Donald Trump probably on his first day of office. We’ve already seen that play many times. And they will impede all the progress. everything that he and the Senate Republicans would want to do, the House is where the power begins, the power of the purse and all these other things that we need on the agenda. So we have to have the House majority. I’m convinced we can if, Tony, if everybody listening to our voices will get out and vote, especially in the blue states, as you noted, but even in the red states. In a couple of dots around the country. We’ve got really tight races in these urban areas in red states. So in Nebraska and Iowa and other places where you wouldn’t expect we’d have tight contests, we do. So we need everybody to get out. Californians, New Yorkers, you know, I’ll be this week before Election Day. I’ll be back home in Louisiana tonight and tomorrow. Then I’m back out on the road again before Tuesday. I’ll be in North Carolina and Virginia and Pennsylvania, these, you know, Wisconsin, these states that are so critical to us. You have to vote. You have to get everybody in your sphere of influence to vote because this one really matters.
SPEAKER 09 : 48:14
I just want to communicate that to those living in the blue states, you think, well, my vote’s not going to matter because it’s going to go for Harris. Our states are going to go for—these down-ballot races are critical, folks, so you have to vote. Mr. Speaker, the media, it’s so obvious that they’re in the tank for the left. After—I’m not going to play the clip again. I played it at the top of the show where— President Joe Biden called Trump supporters garbage. And here is the second paragraph of the AP report on that. It says, In a call organized by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden responded to a comic at a Trump rally who called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Biden’s initial comments were garbled. They weren’t garbled. He was very clear in calling garbage. Trump supporters, garbage. But at the same time that they’re covering and trying to do cleanup for the left, they’re taking comments from Republicans out of context, trying to create more angst among voters. One of those this week regarded—is regarding healthcare, a comment about Obamacare that has been taken out of context that you made. Can you speak to that?
SPEAKER 08 : 49:30
Yes, I was at an event in Pennsylvania. I mean, you know, I do these nonstop. I’ve done events in over 250 cities at the end of this week in 40 states. So we have large groups of people in big forums all around the country. I’ve been doing this for a year. And I’ve given similar comments before, but they’re desperate right now. So somebody asks about the reform agenda going forward in the new Congress, and somebody asked about Obamacare. And my response was literally what I said was, quote, unquote, No, Obamacare. I said the ACA is deeply ingrained in our health care system now, for better or worse. So what we have to do is continually improve, bring improvements to reduce cost of health care, expand access and the quality of health care that’s provided for all Americans. That’s something that should be on the radar of every single member of Congress and both parties all the time. That’s what I said. Well, they took the first two words, no Obamacare, and literally Kamala Harris herself press conference and said that the speaker has committed to repeal the ACA. I mean, they know that they’re lying. They just made it up. And then this is the cycle of how it works is that whatever the Democrats put out as the talking point, then the media, the mainstream media seizes upon it and they amplify it. And then it becomes this sort of part of the vernacular. They’ve been doing it to Donald Trump ever since he came down the golden escalator and they’re doing it to me as well. So I went out immediately. After that event, I was in New York, and we got a gaggle of reporters. And I went and looked right on the cameras. I said, Kamala Harris is lying. This was what desperate campaigns do. And the evidence is there. This week, they’re playing clean up on all sorts of things. Not only did Joe Biden say that everyone who supports Donald Trump is garbage, and his garbage truck motif was fantastic after that. I mean, it was epic. But then also, Mark Cuban, just a day later, he said that basically all powerful Republican women, anybody who supports Trump, are weak and unintelligent. So they don’t have anything to run on. Tony, this is the thing. From the very beginning, Kamala Harris cannot have a substantive conversation or a debate or a talking point on policy because every metric, every area of public policy is a disaster, and she’s the architect of it. So they have to engage in this. I think people are seeing through it.
SPEAKER 09 : 51:45
We’ve just got about a minute left, Mr. Speaker. One of the things the media has not pressed them on, because it’s indefensible, is their whole trans ideology agenda that is attacking children. It’s indefensible, but the media is not talking about what they’ve been doing on that front.
SPEAKER 08 : 52:02
Yeah, they’re not because it’s about a 90 percent issue across the country. Maybe more than that. When people understand the informed voters on the polls and, of course, when they when they know about this issue, it’s common sense that prevails. And we are the party that will provide common sense, restore order to this chaos. And Kamala Harris will double down on it. Don’t ever forget she is a radical San Francisco liberal. She has been from the very beginning. Her record is very clear. And that’s why they don’t want to talk about it.
SPEAKER 09 : 52:31
All right, Coach, final 30 minutes. What do you tell the team as they head to the polls on Tuesday?
SPEAKER 08 : 52:38
Leave it all on the field. That’s what President Trump is doing. He hasn’t taken a day off in over 60-something days, and we haven’t either because we have to do this. John Quincy Adams gave us the best summary quote. Duty is ours. Results are God’s. So let’s do our duty, and then we can sleep well at night knowing we left it all on the field.
SPEAKER 09 : 52:57
All right, Mr. Speaker, I should have said quarterback. I understand that Trump is the coach, you’re the quarterback. He’ll be the coach in that analogy. All right. All right, Mr. Speaker, safe travels, and we’ll talk to you next week. You got it, my friend. Well, that was my conversation with House Speaker Mike Johnson during our weekend program this week on The Hill. Well, let me remind you once again, get your voter guide and other election resources by texting TOOLKIT, TOOLKIT, that’s one word, to 67742. All right. So that is all the time we have today. Make your plans to vote tomorrow if you have not already voted. And until then, I leave you with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, where he says, you’ve done everything you could do and you’ve prayed, prepared and taken your stand. By all means, keep standing.
SPEAKER 03 : 53:44
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.
