SEKULOW

Logan Sekulow: Welcome to Sekulow. Halfway through the week, Wednesday, May 27th. Welcome to the show. Will Haynes joining me in studio. Later on, we have C.C. Heil joining us. She's got a pretty great announcement you want to stay tuned for. Those who are longtime supporters of the ACLJ are going to like what she has to say. A little bit later, Jeff Ballabon, ACLJ Jerusalem, is going to be joining us as well.

It is going to be packed, as well as your phone calls. I want to hear from you because we have two central guests on the show today. We're going to have less time for calls. If you want to call in, now is the time to do it. 1-800-684-3110. President Trump is holding a cabinet meeting right now, so we are making sure to monitor that. If there's anything worth breaking into, we will.

We all want to cover what was going on in these midterm primaries and everything that happened last night out of Texas. This includes some heavy hitters being removed from office, as well as some expected wins and some expected losses. This includes the candidate who was leading at the time saying maybe we need a roundup of all the Zionists and put them in what were former ICE detention facilities and turn them into concentration camps.

I'm taking a little bit of liberties with her words, but not many. Thankfully, Texas did the right thing, even the Texas Democrats, and decided not to move forward with her. But there are other big ones that came out last night, Will.

Will Haynes: That's right. One of the major ones was the Ken Paxton versus John Cornyn Republican primary for Senate. This is with what many would refer to as an establishment Republican, John Cornyn, who had been in the Senate since 2002. Twenty-four years ago, he was first elected to the Senate.

This was a race that saw some jaw-dropping numbers spent. $130 million was spent on this primary, with $92 million of that being for Senator Cornyn. With a late endorsement by the President, Ken Paxton had an overwhelming victory in the primary. 63.8% to 36.2%. Almost 400,000 votes separated them.

Logan Sekulow: That is a ton in a primary. Also, it's not easy at any time to unseat a long-term representative. When you're talking about not only unseating an incumbent, but unseating an incumbent in the primary, we've had people come up to us often and talk about running. We usually say you have to have the real money and you likely are going to lose. It is not a good thing typically to try to primary a long-term incumbent.

We have seen different things happen over the last couple of years, and clearly, President Trump's endorsement pushed it over the edge. Now, we've had a good relationship with Senator Cornyn over the years, so I don't want to say anything negative in that sense. He has been supportive of a lot of the work we do here, so all the best for him in the future. But it does show you the President still actually holds a pretty good amount of leverage. This also comes out of multiple times where President Trump has made these predictions or made an endorsement, and it seems to have still made a pretty big impact.

Will Haynes: That’s right. You saw Senator Cassidy lose his primary in Louisiana. You saw Thomas Massie lose his primary in Kentucky. We have seen race after race where someone had gone against the President or pushed back within his own party. The President supported their opponent, and they lost their primary race.

Logan Sekulow: Here we are. Phonelines are open for you. What do you think this looks like for the future when you see Texas like this? You also see another rejection of the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist crowd when the leading candidate went so far that even her own voting base turned against her. I want to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110.

I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ. When you hear about what the ACLJ is doing in the next couple of segments, you're going to want to get involved. Become a champion today at ACLJ.org.

Logan Sekulow: The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice.

For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedom, defending your rights in court, in Congress, and in the public arena. We have an exceptional track record of success, but here's the bottom line: we could not do our work without your support.

We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. If you're not, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today at ACLJ.org.

Logan Sekulow: Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight Big Tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action, make a difference, and support the causes you care about with just one tap.

Be the first to know with breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed, stay empowered. Download today.

We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand-new app, completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's app store, search ACLJ, and click install. It's that simple.

Logan Sekulow: Another one that we didn't even address was James Talarico taking the win. This was not unexpected, but he is a player now on the national stage, well beyond Texas. Now we will get to a general election, and we'll see how Texas decides to go. I think largely people still believe Texas is still a soft Republican area, but it looks like he may certainly make more headway than previous candidates for sure and is making a lot of waves nationwide.

Will Haynes: Once again, that's a candidate that is using a different playbook than Democrats have over the past few years. He is someone who is embracing what he says is his faith. He talks about it all the time, but he's using what he calls his faith to prop up only his progressive ideas. You hear him go through the litany of Democrat talking points, but then he's using and almost contorting scripture to fit his political agenda.

We saw even last week he came out and explained his views on abortion, saying that he believes it is up to the doctor and the mother. This is the same talking point that the left, especially moderate Democrats, have used. Then he went further and started to bring the faith angle to it.

Instead of saying that the sanctity of life is paramount, he pointed to portions of scripture that specifically talk about pre-birth life. That's where we derive a lot of our support for the pro-life movement within our faith, as well as things like "thou shalt not murder." He goes on and says the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion and Jesus never talked about abortion, as if that's a term that would have been in Hebrew thousands of years ago.

Logan Sekulow: I never want to question someone's faith. If someone claims to be a Christian and they seem to be out there speaking about it, it's not for me to decide whether I believe you are a Christian or not. I think what is different, though, between this and even the pastor you decide to go to or even a musician you decide to listen to, is whether you agree with their politics or not.

This is someone who is running for elected office and is going to be able to make some of those decisions, or at least be able to influence some of those decisions. It's a little even different than your spiritual leader holding these views. You have to ask if this is who you are comfortable voting for.

There's always been that discussion of whether you are voting for a pastor, a president, a theologian, or a congressman. Does it really matter if they follow your certain beliefs? I think there is a gray area there of saying they're going to need to support at least the issues that I care about because I am voting for someone who I believe should be representing me, my district, and my country. I'm not going to question James Talarico's religious beliefs, but I will say they probably don't line up with what a lot of us feel like our religious beliefs dictate.

Will Haynes: Once again, it is interesting that he is now the chosen candidate of the people of Texas because his entire way he's campaigning using his faith very openly is contrary to how the left has campaigned.

Logan Sekulow: He's marketing to Texas, and it's been effective. He is now going to be put in the place of this nominee on the Democrat side. I feel like it has been something that Democrats have chased for a while with the multiple failed campaigns of Beto O'Rourke trying to run for governor or senator. However, they still feel like they're on the cusp and they feel like they can get it to be a swing state.

The criticism I have of even the way that James Talarico is using his faith is that I don't think it lines up with scripture. I think what he is saying in the way he is trying to use it to prop up all of his left ideas is not what scripture says. Beyond that, it is interesting how he will be accepted if he were to win or even if he remains a figure within the party. It is opposite of even groups like Americans United for Separation of Church and State or the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Can they accept someone that does it this way?

I think what you're going to see is a national story that locally is going to have minimal impact. Are you going to see James Talarico taken down pretty easily in the election by the voters? I'm very well aware that this is Texas. When you become a national figure, that doesn't necessarily mean your district and your area are excited. James Talarico showed up on Colbert, which is a nationwide television show with tons of views on YouTube. Sure, Texas is big with a lot of voters, but that doesn't represent necessarily his actual voting base.

Let's go ahead and take a phone call about the elections last night. We'll go to Martin, who's an ACLJ champion. Martin, you're on the air.

Martin: Thank you. Hope I can make this understandable. I had told the screener that I had heard something not that long ago and I had to think about it for a second. When Donald Trump made the moniker MAGA, Make America Great Again, it wasn't about Trump. It's about the American people. People associate MAGA with Donald Trump too much instead of the fact that the American people have a will. We showed that in the last election. When these senators and congressmen go against Trump, it's not an indictment, but we want people in office that are going to make America great again. And the only way you can do that is to get them in office.

Logan Sekulow: I think I understand that. You could say MAGA was a natural progression from the Tea Party movement, which didn't have necessarily that centralized figure.

Will Haynes: The President himself, though, is the one that says, "I am MAGA." He does say "I own it," and he isn't wrong in saying that. He was the one that was the central figure. It was born out of this unsettled push against the establishment within conservative politics and the Tea Party movement, but it got much more populist as well, in some ways away from some of the traditional conservative platform type things. When people also try to take that away from the President, he is going to go after you and say, "No, this is mine."

Logan Sekulow: Phone lines are still open for you. We are going to have some guests coming up. C.C. Heil, ACLJ attorney, has a big announcement. If you'd like to become an ACLJ champion today, I'd love for you to become one of the steady supporters of the ACLJ. It's the only way we can take some of the big cases we have or know that we can move forward. Those who stand with us month after month through these recurring gifts are the backbone of the effort of the ACLJ. Join the fight by becoming a champion today at ACLJ.org/champions.

Logan Sekulow: Welcome back to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. Senior Counsel here at the ACLJ, C.C. Heil, is joining us right now. Like I said, we have a big announcement. I didn't want to scare anyone, Will. Will said that it made it seem like I was saying that C.C. is going somewhere. Well, he said what's next for her.

This is a big deal and everyone should be celebrating this big moment. When you support the work of the ACLJ, you support our team members who do some amazing things. I'm going to read specifically what this is by name because I have it right in front of me. CC, you've been appointed now as a commissioner to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Congratulations. This is a big deal. It just went up publicly in the last day or so. Explain to our audience what this means.

C.C. Heil: I'm very excited and honored about it. As all of our listeners should know, the US has made international religious freedom really a big prong of foreign relations. In 1998, the International Religious Freedom Act actually created this United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, or what we call USCIRF, and put commissioners on.

What the commissioners do is basically what I do here at the ACLJ. We monitor religious freedom around the world and then report regularly to the executive branch and to Congress and update them on what the issues are in the surrounding countries.

On top of the regular meetings and updating, there is an annual report that USCIRF puts together. That's the report when we've talked a lot about Nigeria being put on the Countries of Particular Concern list. It is the USCIRF commissioners that put together that report that actually recommend which countries and why they should be on the Countries of Particular Concern list, or the Special Watch List, or the Entities of Particular Concern. That would be like the Fulani herdsmen or the Taliban. There are actually entities that we can put on those lists and then request that there are sanctions and things that happen to those countries because there have to be consequences for violations of religious freedom.

Will Haynes: C.C., you were actually appointed by the Majority Leader, Senator John Thune. There are people that are appointed by the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. His have not been appointed yet. They're still putting together this new commission. We have some that are appointed by Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, and the President to make up this commission.

This is a new position for you, being an actual commissioner, but you have worked with this commission for a long time. This is a part of what you do here as our director of our international legal work. This is going to work hand in hand with what you do here at the ACLJ. Your knowledge of the commission from working with them for decades and now being an actual commissioner will complement each other going forward.

C.C. Heil: As you know, we do reports at the United Nations on every single one of the 193 member states. We have been doing this for decades. It's the same kind of thing of reporting on human rights abuses, specifically religious liberty abuses. What's good about being on the commission is that, as the ACLJ, we will send letters to the State Department or the President. But here as a commissioner, I actually get to have those meetings regularly because that is part of the job is to update them on what is going on and what are the suggestions of how to handle it.

Logan Sekulow: It's a great influence for our organization, but great influence also because this is a bipartisan thing. There are people on all sides on this committee.

C.C. Heil: I grew up in a political family, and so I actually already know one of the commissioners who's a Democrat and we have a very good relationship. Religious freedom is something that everybody can gather around and everybody should be able to practice their religion free from any fear or restriction. I think that is something that is a bipartisan issue. I'm really looking forward to it. It's a two-year appointment, and so I'm looking forward to what we can accomplish the next two years.

Logan Sekulow: I know I'm thrilled that the ACLJ gets the recognition that we are the leading organization that can bring information to a commission like this. If you want to call in, you've got questions at 1-800-684-3110. This will wrap up our first half hour, but we have a second half hour coming up. If you don't get us on your station, move on over to ACLJ.org. You can find all the great information on the website. Sign the petitions, become an ACLJ champion, and get involved in many different ways.

Phone lines are open. We're going to have Jeff Ballabon from ACLJ Jerusalem a little later on. Of course, our work in Israel continues and it could not be a more important time for that. I'll take your calls coming up here shortly. 1-800-684-3110. Always join us if you can for the full hour live, 12:00 to 1:00 PM Eastern Time on ACLJ.org. We'll be right back.

Logan Sekulow: For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedom, defending your rights in court, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today at ACLJ.org.