SEKULOW

Logan Sekulow: Welcome to Sekulow. I'm back, Will.

Will: People asked where you were, Logan.

Logan Sekulow: Where did I go? I've been world-traveling to Orlando, Florida, where you get to go around the world at Epcot Center. You get to see the world.

Now, speaking of the world, we are discussing the World Cup. We are discussing the fact that President Trump has now got himself in a bit of more controversy with appealing directly to FIFA. Now, we do know President Trump is the FIFA Peace Award winner. Remember that?

Will: That's right. He did get the FIFA World Peace Prize, which everyone knows is a thing. It's a very established thing. President Trump did that.

Look, we all were watching that USA game. All of us said that should not be a red card for those of us that watch soccer regularly. For those of us that don't watch soccer regularly, we all at least said that should not be a red card with no justification or basis on any other game we've ever watched before. We all felt that way. We all feel that FIFA has a bit of a stigma to them as well, including just being known as being a corrupt organization.

Logan Sekulow: I don't necessarily agree with that or say that. I don't know enough about the facts, but you hear those kinds of conversations happening.

Will: There is documented fact surrounding that. Even the bidding process, how the Qatar World Cup was notoriously corrupt. I think people went to prison because of corruption involved with that bidding process. It's not an outlandish statement to say it's a corrupt organization. They have some concerns.

Logan Sekulow: I'm a fan. I've been watching a lot. I watched all the games yesterday. President Trump did make a call, and he just addressed this from the Oval Office. This is how far up this controversy is getting. He addressed this decision that was made to overturn the red card and let one of our top players play in today's match. Again, that's happening this evening. It's going to be a big deal whether the US can proceed into the next round. I think it would be the furthest they've made it into the World Cup or pretty close for a very long time.

So again, this happened. There was pushback. A lot of people were excited, and then they found out President Trump got involved. Of course, you have the political world going, "Oh no, what do I do here?" I want our team to win. I want our team to succeed, and I agree with this, but President Trump gets directly involved. He did talk about this from the Oval Office.

Will: That's right. This was just moments ago before we went live here on the broadcast. Here's President Trump addressing this in the Oval Office.

Donald Trump: So I saw the play, and I'm a person that loves sports and was a good athlete. I understand sports really well. That wasn't a foul. That wasn't even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other. Yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who's highly respected and, by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold.

Will: So right there, he's talking about how he made a call. He said, "I didn't tell him to overturn. I said, 'Hey, can you look at it? Could you do a review for your good buddy here in the United States?'"

The irony that we're starting to see now is one, the left. There were even headlines that said the Democrats are conflicted about US success. It says, "Democrats grapple uncomfortably with World Cup success." That is from Politico. They didn't want the US to be doing well in the first place because it's politically unsavory for them.

Logan Sekulow: It's even that whole cultural success that is happening at the World Cup. It's not even just to do with the team. The team itself is doing well. We'll see how things go. I think it's still going to be a very uphill battle.

That's kind of beside the point. The good PR that has come out of the World Cup about America has been well beyond what people expected. Because like we've told you, you go to Europe, you go to the UK, you turn on the news, guess what they're talking about? Donald Trump, just like here. Sure, they may be talking about their own world leaders as well, but Donald Trump gets front page, above the fold. They've been told how bad America is right now.

We just saw an historic 4th of July. We just saw the 250th. Hopefully, you all had a great 250 celebration. You stayed safe. Hopefully, you all still got all your fingers. Either way, even if you don't, hopefully, you had a good weekend celebrating our country and our independence. We are now seeing this celebratory nature. We've got a really special offer we're going to give you coming up in the next segment. I'm excited about it. You've been asking for something like this. We'll be right back.

Jordan Sekulow: This week, our great nation celebrated its 250th birthday. This is our Independence Week. Freedom is precious, but it is not free. It can never be taken for granted. The ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—the American Dream—can be lost in a generation if we don't fight to secure it.

Our liberty was declared 250 years ago. For more than 35 of those, the ACLJ has been here fighting against those that seek to challenge, undermine, and even strip us of our God-given rights. Freedom must be protected always. That's why we need you right now.

When you go to ACLJ.org/USA, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled to help us preserve our American freedom. But that's not all. The first 100 members to give $250 or more will receive an America 250 cooler bag and a limited edition ACLJ America 250 challenge coin. It's our thank you to you to help celebrate freedom as we fight to protect it for generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/USA.

We've witnessed monumental legal victories from defending the 14th Amendment and protecting our sacred American right to vote, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and standing up for the religious liberty of our kids and seniors. But even with the many historic wins we've achieved, the battle is far from over. The attacks on our constitutionally protected rights persist.

Countless unborn babies remain in jeopardy, and across the globe, innocent Christians are being targeted and killed. This fight isn't just the ACLJ's; it's all of ours. It belongs to every American who wants to preserve the values and beliefs on which this nation was founded. None of the victories we've won would have been possible without the unwavering support of ACLJ members and ACLJ champions. It's been an honor to fight for you all these years. Join us in fighting for freedom. Have your donation doubled at ACLJ.org/freedom.

Logan Sekulow: Welcome back to Sekulow. Look, I am also excited to share with you some pretty cool things the ACLJ has been doing for years. You've asked us to do special items, merchandise if you will, swag. I've always kind of pushed back against it. I didn't know if there was really a demand for it, but you know what? The team this time said we really want you to do something special for the month of July.

It's America's 250th. We are celebrating right now. It's a very hot summer. People need ways to enjoy the outdoors and to get out. This Independence Day was so special. Hopefully, again, you had a great one over the weekend. We had friends and family over. We were just hanging out, shooting off fireworks, enjoying each other's company, spending time. I know that some people went out to the big giant celebration. Some of you had backyard celebrations. Some of you had indoor celebrations because it was pouring rain or 150 degrees.

Look, it's quite an extraordinary accomplishment that the ACLJ is ready to celebrate. So in honor of that, we are launching ACLJ Independence Week. It is a very special week where we're focusing on our rights. We want to preserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Let's go for another 250 years. What do you think, Will? I think we can do it.

Will: I'm here for it.

Logan Sekulow: With that, of course, all your donations are doubled right now. But if you have your gift doubled and you specifically go to ACLJ.org/USA today, we have a very exclusive offer for anyone who makes a gift of $250 or more. We know that is a stretch for people, but at $250 or more, you not only will get your gift doubled, but you're going to receive an America 250 ACLJ exclusive limited edition challenge coin and a very cool ACLJ cooler bag.

We have videos you'll see about this. Again, these are very limited. We're only going to do it for the first 100 people that donate right now. I want you to be part of it. If this kind of thing works and you guys like it—again, you have to do it from that specific link, ACLJ.org/USA—if you guys like it, maybe it will inspire us to do more because I know you've always asked for something like that.

But we are still continuing our discussion about not only American patriotism, which has shown really a big spotlight on it because of the World Cup, but now there's a spotlight on the match today as President Trump has directly gotten himself involved in this, saying, "I know sports. I saw that foul, and that foul shouldn't have been a red card."

Of course, a red card, if you don't know, not only removes that player from the game and brings it down to 10 players, it also typically keeps the player from playing. They're suspended for the next game. Obviously, we are in a very highly contested World Cup here on American soil. You've been having it in Canada, the USA, and Mexico. Mexico was eliminated last night, and the USA is still in it right now.

So we're going to talk about that—whether President Trump should have gotten involved and will he get involved even more. Are you cool with that? The fact that there is this sort of connection with sports? We know President Trump—we had UFC Freedom 250 there just a few weeks ago. We know how involved he has been with the UFC and for that kind of patriotic celebration. But this is different. This is on the world stage. It's going to bring a lot more attention. I want to hear from you. Phone lines are open at 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. We also are going to be joined a little bit later by Jeff Ballabon from ACLJ Jerusalem, who's going to be joining us and giving me an update as they did a big celebration of America in Jerusalem.

Will: Well, and one other thing I want to bring up is that when you see this conversation, it's not just about President Trump deciding to make a call to FIFA and say, "Hey, can you look into this?" There wasn't actually an appeals process because of the rules of the World Cup.

Logan Sekulow: That's what makes it a little odd.

Will: Exactly. It wasn't like USA Men's Soccer could go themselves and file an appeal of this red card. But it's a broader conversation because you're starting to see the chatter around it of all the people that have been trying to put negative vibes on America, whether it be from the World Cup or for the 250th celebration.

You saw Chuck Todd saying it's just such a shame that we have to be celebrating the 250th with Trump as our President. You see all of this stuff I talked about last week with the fireworks display, with the Washington Post exclusive about pollution from the air quality and how bad it was going to be.

By the way, an update on that: CNN—they couldn't let Washington Post get all the credit—they put out on July 5th, yesterday, "Residents of Washington, DC briefly experienced the worst air quality of any major city in the world, according to a company that ranks pollution globally, as the capital reckoned with the aftermath of a massive 40-minute 4th of July fireworks show." This goes all back to that.

Logan Sekulow: It was 40 minutes?

Will: Yes.

Logan Sekulow: That is a lot of fireworks.

Will: Logan, it set the world record for the biggest pyrotechnic display in history. It topped one that happened, I believe, in Singapore with more fireworks. It was 850,000 fireworks. It was incredible.

Logan Sekulow: I was nervous about that 20-shot that my kids lit in the backyard.

Will: Well, I mean, I don't know that they are professionally trained pyrotechnic artists, so I would have been nervous for you.

Logan Sekulow: I've got all my fingers.

Will: But with all this, the fact that they're like, "Oh, it briefly experienced the worst air pollution in the world," it goes back to the conversation that we had last week of—I know we had a caller that said I was being flippant about it—we can't have nice things. It's what it feels like. Because also at the same time, they're saying DC had this pollution issue. What about marginalized communities in Lake Buena Vista, Kissimmee, Florida, that experience fireworks shows, extended ones, every single night of the year? They're not writing those stories.

Logan Sekulow: There's probably 40 minutes of collective fireworks every night.

Will: They agree with the politics of that company doing it. They're not doing those exposés. They clearly have a fireworks beat writer over at the Washington Post, but they're not getting into it. Why? Because they are being blinded by politics at a moment when the United States can look unified, can be strong together, because people are enjoying our nation as we host the World Cup.

We are seeing success in places we have not seen normally success to this level in the sporting world. People are recognizing that oh, this is a good thing. And yet you're seeing it at every turn—the people on the left and the media organizations that back them up just trying their hardest to tear it down. There was a Washington Post headline this morning as tomorrow begins the NATO summit in Turkey. It says, "As America celebrates its 250th birthday, will Trump declare independence from NATO?" Like, trying to be cute with the headlines about something that just should be a unified thing.

Logan Sekulow: The other flip side of that is there's a lot of people who think, "Well, it's about time." So it just is one of these frustrating situations where they don't want us to be happy. They don't want us to be unified. They want to say if the US continues to have success in the World Cup, there's an asterisk by it.

And by the way, again, I want to put success in the World Cup into a very different way. Is there a chance the US loses tonight? I don't want to put that out there because obviously I'm cheering for our home country here. But yeah, I mean, they're playing a very difficult team. We're in the World Cup. The US has just now started to really be one of the thriving nations for this sport.

If we get eliminated tonight, do I think that all of a sudden the goodwill that comes from the World Cup for the next two weeks is going to go away? No. Because you have all these nations flooding in and creating an atmosphere that not only is bringing international culture to us, which is great, but it's also showing the warmth that is coming out of so many areas of this country. You hear some good talk out of LA. You hear some good talk out of New York. But where you're hearing the good talk really coming from is when these people are traveling all throughout the rural areas, through the South.

Again, when you think about Europe, you're thinking about it in a way that is so small comparatively to what we have here. People kind of imagine Europe the way they even treat themselves. It's odd. I've been in London before, and people are like, "Oh, this concert is 35 minutes away. It's a whole other market. It's 20 miles away." And you're like, "Okay, well, if that was here, that would be your local hometown arena show."

But the way that it's set up is very different. So now they're traveling across this country. They're seeing the good that has come through the United States of America that doesn't meet up to the force-fed lies that have come out of their version of the mainstream media, which is largely controlled often by the same players. That has been positive. I think what they're going to see is tonight, win or lose, that good vibe continues going because you're seeing that in games that have Morocco. You're seeing it in Norway. You're seeing these sort of almost American-style party elements being successfully celebrated inside America, but on an international stage.

I think it's been nothing but positivity that has come out of this World Cup. I've been excited about it for years. Remember, the next World Cup, I believe, is also hosted in three different countries throughout Europe. Then beyond that, it's going to be hosted, I believe, in Saudi Arabia, which they're already beginning to do. So again, we're talking about 2030 is going to be a very different World Cup.

The World Cup 2030 is in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain. But then the one following that, '34—again, I think they're already prepping for it because they don't have necessarily that infrastructure ready to be at least rumored to be in Saudi Arabia. They're all looking at us. Eyes are on America right now. I want to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110. We are going to head over to ACLJ Jerusalem in a little bit.

But again, that special offer right now during one of our great months where all your donations are matched right now. So whether you can give that $250 or not, please consider giving during this week. Your donations are doubled. But right now, if you give over $250 directly at ACLJ.org/USA—you've got to go there—you're going to get that special offer. We'll dive into that when we get back.

Jordan Sekulow: This week, our great nation celebrated her 250th birthday. This is our Independence Week. Freedom is precious. Freedom must be protected always. That's why we need you right now.

When you go to ACLJ.org/USA, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled to help us preserve our American freedom, to help us celebrate freedom as we fight to protect it for generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/USA today.

Logan Sekulow: All right, we're back, everybody. Welcome back. By the way, I hope you all had a great Independence Day. I hope you had a great weekend celebrating this country. Of course today, I feel like the festivities keep going as America performs and plays in the World Cup today. Of course, it couldn't be America without a little bit of political controversy as President Trump stepped in on the infamous red card that happened during the game, which would have prevented one of our top players, Balogun, from playing in today's game.

That's how the rules are. You get suspended after a red card. We'll see what happens because President Trump stepped in. They reviewed it and said, "You know what, President Trump, we think you're right."

Now look, I think if we're all being objective, I think those of us who follow the beautiful game do go, "Yeah, I don't think that was worthy of a red card." But I think we have seen some really bad officiating throughout this entire World Cup. It feels like the officials are trying to be characters themselves within—it feels very much almost like the UFC where you can point to one individual ref. You can now point to that guy.

Will: Or it feels a lot like the SEC football. It's like you find that one guy. You find Williamson over there. He's being paid by Alabama. It's very similar.

That's the closest thing, by the way. If you've tried to picture what it's like to be playing in the World Cup or to go to a World Cup game, or go to a game even an English Premier League team, it is very similar in vibe to Southern college football where it is a community event. You are representing your area, not just a school or just an—you are a die-hard, been with it since you were a baby type of person. You know all the chants. You know all that. It has a very similar emotion, very similar fan base that is just as passionate.

So you take that and you broaden it out to the world stage. Now that's what we're seeing here. But we're also seeing this great positivity that has come from this. I have been so thrilled to see that throughout the last few weeks as the World Cup has taken shape. Now we are starting to get into the heated times, and of course it couldn't not get a little political. I want to hear from a caller. Let's go to Anne, who's calling in Pennsylvania, watching on Facebook. Anne, go ahead.

Anne: Hey guys. Oh my god, you guys are awesome. You always get me—the noodles in my brain—you get them fired up. So I just wanted to say that there is so much division going on. The media is portraying it as going on. The problem is even people, influencers on our side of the party, are getting involved in this negativity and fear-mongering. "Oh, the nation's over," and this and that.

So this, I wanted to say that this red flag should not have existed. Trump stepping in is actually a really good thing. Where was he when the Knicks played and they ended up winning the championship? What happened? This is 250 years of America celebrating her birthday, and all these amazing things. I sadly didn't really see that much coverage of the fireworks display. I know it was crappy, it was really hot. But there were a lot of fireworks displays going on.

I'm just so grateful that we have people like you guys, the ACLJ, bringing it together, talking about positive things. It's okay. Bad things are going to happen. We have to point bad things out. But as commentators, as the media, we have a duty, we have a responsibility to point them out in a realistic way, to not point at—not hyperbolically point them out, and also not lie, which is what the left-wing media does. They lie.

And they lied about America. So these people in these different countries that, like you said, came into America got to see America for what America really is. That is a blessing in disguise. Trump won a huge massive victory in '24—popular vote, Electoral College vote. But yet we the people, some certain people on the right, have to question everything that he does or doesn't do. "Oh, the timing of the war," and "What should happen," and "This shouldn't happen," and "How is he dealing with it?" and his fake war experts that come on these shows, instead of letting the President do his job, bring the country together, which is what he's doing.

God forbid people applaud all the good things. Don't we all see people for the good? We don't look at a person—the ACLJ doesn't do that. We don't look at people. I don't look at people. I look at their good points. I love you guys.

Logan Sekulow: Thank you for your call once again. Yeah, it is wonderful that also the men's soccer team is playing tonight, that almost we can continue the celebration of Independence Day. It gives us that freedom, if you will, to enjoy it.

I think when you look at what you even brought up, the people that have come here that have been like, "Oh, this is great. These people are kind." They're getting outside of the New York, Las Vegas, Disney World, LA bubble that most of European travelers are going to go to one of those spots. They're seeing the rest of America. They're not just seeing the tourist spots. And yeah, they're like, "Oh, this isn't what CNN International or the BBC tells us. This is completely different."

To them, watching those networks abroad, they may think, "Wait a second, how did that person win an election? No one likes him in the country." There's such a twisted worldview in the world when it comes to foreign media as well as American media that they aren't telling the true story. They're not telling the story of this nation.

That's why even in this Independence Week, we're going to bring up things and talk about things that make this country great, why we strive for a more perfect union. We understand that we are not perfect. We're not going to stand here and say every single thing we do is perfect. But what is it? It is striving towards a more perfect union with a foundation that is solid, that is strong. Don't let the media or the radical leftists that are now getting nominations to go serve in the House of Representatives in the greatest country on earth—they are elected officials and they're wanting to tear down the foundations of that.

We're going to get into that with video presentations this week and many ways to continue this celebration. There's no reason not to, Will, to really live in this moment, this 250th anniversary, because if you're hearing negativity, turn it off. Turn on this show, and we're going to give you some positivity at this time.

That's right. Look, the ACLJ team has put together some really great video presentations. We're going to play some of those in the back half of the show, specifically one they did with the National Archives. I think you're going to find it very interesting. I know we told you we're going to go to ACLJ Jerusalem, but as things happen, that's going to be put off for another day. We're a live show. That's what makes this show fun. But instead of that, we're going to hear from you and see some of these special videos at 1-800-684-3110.

I did want to take another minute, as we are wrapping up this first half-hour. We are just starting one of our big celebratory weeks, celebratory months, where we ask for your donation. But today, it's a little bit different. For the first 100 people that donate specifically at ACLJ.org/USA, if you give over $250 in honor of 250—come back to me. I'll show it to you. I'm going to do this Whatnot style.

Look, here's the ACLJ cooler bag. It's actually very cool, very well done, high quality. Will, I'm looking at it. Very good seams. I'm looking at the seams. They look nice. But of course, it's ACLJ America 250, very nice. And as well as the challenge coin here, which again, is a very—it's not a random, we didn't just get these overstock somewhere. These are specifically ACLJ branded. We don't do a lot of merchandise. We don't do a lot of items very much. You've asked for it for a very long time, and I've never done it.

This is the opportunity. If you give $250 or more, the first 100 people to do that—which I think we could get through today, everybody. This could end today. You get the challenge coin and you get the cooler bag, and that'll be shipped directly to you. That's at ACLJ.org/USA. I know we're having some fun with it, but like, it's the first time Will and I have had to come on here and do something like this. So give us a little grace here. ACLJ.org/USA or scan that QR code you see in front of you.

Again, one person said they think I could fit in that cooler bag. I don't know if that's a threat, but it's also not accurate. I'm just going to make sure you know. This is—you could pack a lot of hoagies. I think you could have a whole party of hoagies in there. All right, we'll be right back.

Jordan Sekulow: This week, our great nation celebrated her 250th birthday. This is our Independence Week. Freedom is precious. Freedom must be protected always. That's why we need you right now.

When you go to ACLJ.org/USA, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled to help us preserve our American freedom, to help us celebrate freedom as we fight to protect it for generations to come. Go to ACLJ.org/USA today.