Transcript

AFA Action takes attacks on the family seriously. The enemies of the family constantly employ new tactics

>> Ed Vitagliano: AFA Action takes attacks on the family seriously. The enemies of the family constantly employ new tactics to try to sneak past our radar. They know if we stand together, their evil plans will fail. Your gift to AFA Action allows us to stay vigilant against their onslaught. And if you give this month, you'll receive access to the Cultural Institute video, when youn Faith Is Illegal by Frank harbor on AFA Stream. As our thanks, you can make your gift [email protected].

Tim Wildman: American Family Radio Network offers Christian response to issues

Welcome to today's issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues here on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. Today is Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025. and I'm Tim Wildmon with Ed Vitagliano. Good morning, Ed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Good morning, Tim.

>> Tim Wildmon: Wesley Wildmon.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning.

>> Tim Wildmon: And Fred Jackson.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you.

>> Tim Wildmon: We all four be in studio, today. You judging me on my English? No, you're smart. When I said we be I smart.

>> Ed Vitagliano: just call me Mr. Smirk.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It did come off as one word, though, because you're from Mississippi. 4B. So all I heard 4B.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We all be in studio.

>> Tim Wildmon: We all be in studio. I just don't. I don't like the judgment I'm feeling right now. I wanted to go with whatever I wanted to say there.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Absolutely.

>> Tim Wildmon: So Wednesday, December 3rd. I'm saying that we all four studio today. Ray Pritchard, who's sometimes with us, is, in other parts of the country.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He's not in other parts of the country. He's in Florida. I know, enjoying the warm weather.

>> Wesley Wildmon: One part of the country.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, well, his, well, his real home back in Kansas City is snowed over, freezing. all right, so, but brother Ray will be with us tomorrow. He's with us usually on Tuesdays, Thursdays. And again, we thank you for listening. Wesley folks want to join us on what Ed calls that their Internet. How can they do that?

>> Wesley Wildmon: I would encourage people, and yes, Dad, I would encourage, encourage people to go to afr.net. that's where you can listen 24 7. Regardless of whether. How close you are to one of our tower sites. You can listen to afr.net there. You can also download our podcast. You can, you can listen live. We have actually two networks on our. On our. On afr.net, we have our music network, and then we have what you're listening to now, our talk network. So go to afr.net you can also go to Facebook. Today's issues live on Facebook, and go to our YouTube. I believe we start. Yeah, YouTube. We're not banned there. Nope. Go to YouTube. Go to today's issues live on YouTube. But again, I know we have those platforms and we use them because they're available, but going to your own streaming, AF. Stream.AFA.net is our own streaming platform. So stream.AFA.net and the Grand.

>> Tim Wildmon: The, The app.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, that's right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The app, as you say, is. Was a game changer.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So whatever kind of phone you use, you have an app store of some sort. Download the AFR app, you can listen.

>> Wesley Wildmon: We won't get anywhere.

>> Ed Vitagliano: There's a good signal.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. We won't get into which phones, are better. Right, right. I know people have their preferences, and you got two. You got Androids, you got apples, but everybody's got an app store.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, Some. There's some way to a. Access an app for your phone. Unless you've got a dumb phone.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: If you've got a dumb phone, there's nothing you can do to change that.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Change that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But for you who have a smartphone.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. You know, get your dumb phone.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's all it used to be. That's all there was.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Dumb phones.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Even when we had mobile phones.

>> Tim Wildmon: Remember the first mobile phones? I don't know if Wesley does.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I do. Do you? Well, they work before that.

They were in the car. Yeah, car phones. I remember driving for the first time with one of those in there

They were in the car. They were car phones.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, car phones. The big car phones, you know, down there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And you'd like Magnum P.I. he had one.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I remember Tom Selleck.

>> Tim Wildmon: I remember driving for the first time with one of those in there. And I just call people just for fun.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, you say, hey, can you believe we're doing this?

>> Ed Vitagliano: $5Aminute or whatever.

>> Tim Wildmon: I got a phone in my car.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You know what I used to do in this? I've embarrassed my wife so many different ways over the years. We've been married 44 years. But when, Tom Selleck, the actor, played a Magnum PI his fast, sporty car. He had a car phone.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And so I would take one of the kids. You remember the little play phone that you'd get for little kids? And I would bring. I'd bring it with us on a TR rip. It was plastic, and I would put it in between our seats, and I would every once in a while, raise that phone like Magnum PI and pretend I was talking my Wife, she would. She was constantly embarrassed by things I would do.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, your wife. What have I done?

>> Ed Vitagliano: And we'd be driving in a Subaru hatchback. Yeah. You got a, you got a car phone, dude?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Sure, we had car phones. And then they went to the, cell phones, but they were really small. Black and white screen or black and gray phones, too. Oh, yeah. Flip phones.

>> Fred Jackson: Then where the shoe phones?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yep. Shoe phones.

>> Tim Wildmon: Remember those?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yep.

>> Fred Jackson: Weighed a ton.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Oh, yeah, yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Try to miss m that on your.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Buy that much.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: those kind of shoe phones.

>> Tim Wildmon: I remember.

Republican Matt Von Epps won a special election in Tennessee yesterday

All right, Fred, what's our first news story here? We got.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, Republicans in Tennessee and in parts of Washington D.C. are celebrating a little bit today. They're celebrating, because there was a special election, in the District 7 of Tennessee yesterday for a House seat. And the, Republican Matt Von Epps, won that race. It was, it became a national story because of the Democrat who was running there, Afton Benn, quite a character. of course, Tennessee. Nashville. Nashville, the home of country music. some old audio of her came back to haunt her a little bit. She said she hated country music. Didn't like Nashville at all. But she overcame that by saying, I'm in this race really because of affordability. That is the new buzzword for the Democratic Party. But Republican Matt Vanliere Epps did, come out on top last night. Here's a little bit of what he had to say in his victory speech. Cut number one.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Tonight, you've sent a message loud and clear. The people of Middle Tennessee stand with.

>> Ed Vitagliano: President Donald J. Trump.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And stood firmly behind our campaign.

>> Frank Turek: As we look forward, I say this.

>> Wesley Wildmon: To my friends in the liberal media and to the professional panickers in my own party. Tonight we showed running from Trump is how you lose. Running with Trump is how you win.

>> Fred Jackson: so there you have it. Yes. President Trump by phone did some campaigning, for Vaneps, House speaker, Johnson, was in Tennessee to help out. There was some concern given the polls, during the campaign, had the two candidates really close, despite the fact that President, Trump in last year's election won it by 22 point, margin. It was a, A safe seat for the Republicans.

>> Tim Wildmon: First. Still is.

>> Fred Jackson: And it's, it is the ban.

>> Tim Wildmon: The, winner last night, he, he won by nine points.

>> Fred Jackson: Nine points. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: You didn't win by 22.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: But when you got. I don't, I don't know if it's. It's a little bit apples and oranges to me because Trump was Trump was facing the worst candidate in the history of presidential politics. Okay. In Harris, Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Word salad.

>> Tim Wildmon: Word salad. Harris. I mean, so, I mean you got a red district, sure. He's gonna, he's gonna blow her out of the water. This kind of situation right here, nine points is still a big win, in a now, you know, the party out of power, that is the party opposite the president, in this case a Republican. Donald Trump usually, gained seats in the midterms. Now this is not the midterms yet, that's next year, but still. So this is not unusual historically for the party out of power to show up better in the, in the in, in, in races and polls and so forth. But I don't know, it's kind of embarrassing to me for somebody to have predicted a two point win, whoever that was. I read that somewhere. And then, and then the guy wins by nine again. It's not 22, but that's a safe margin victory. You have any comments on this, Ed?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I would, I would say this. Everything you said is true about the the off year election. and that is going to lower the margin of victory somewhat that it's not a presidential year. However, I would, I would say that I would caution.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, I'm gonna help you out there. You caution us, Ed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think affordability is a potentially winning, argument on the part of the Democrats.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: because here with Trump, basically all Democrats have had to run on is we're not Trump, we don't like Trump, we hate Trump. Come on out and vote for a Democrat. Okay? That's not much of a message, but affordability, unless there is a turnaround, or a, a greater improvement in the economy, there are some, some good signs in the economy. But until people feel it kind of at the kitchen table, I, think affordability is going to be a difficult. Argument, to combat on the part of Republicans who like Matt Vanliere Epps are going to want to stay loyal to Donald Trump because he's very, still pretty, popular with the Republican base. So that, that's my only caution. like you said, they're probably going to wind up losing seats anyway because it's a midterm. but you don't want to give that argument momentum if our economy does not, it does not improve before 2028.

>> Tim Wildmon: We're seeing. Oh, so you disagree with Brother Ed?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I still think you're a good person if you do.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I agree with Brother Ed that from A strategy standpoint for the Democrats, that would be a, really good, language to use, but it would not hold up in a debate if two, if two good candidates debated it because the Democrats had four years and only made things worse. That's true economically for everybody. And so if evidence that would hurt. But because of the current situation, from a strategy standpoint, using that language does draw people to want to, want to listen to and, or do something, anything different. And we're mostly talking about mushy middles or, moderate people. You, obviously, we know those that are far left stay left. Most everybody that's on the right stays. Right. But if you're trying to persuade and get more votes out for your candidate and the left potentially, upset or win an election, it's going to come. I think that would be as bad as. Better than the other things they've been trying.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: As far as politically strategizing, saying that men should be in women's sports is.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Not working, or that we should have the border, southern border, wide open.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Because at least in this, at least in this category, they leave it up for debate on how we're going to go about it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: excellent, excellent.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It'd be socialist. Yeah, I appreciate that.

So I do agree with you. I'm still waiting for a candidate

So I do agree with you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And I agree with you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I'm still waiting. I'm, waiting for the. If I can get a candidate. Just say free stuff for Tim, you know. Yeah, I'm. Wait, I'm. I'm willing to listen to that. To that as a, as an appeal to me as a boater.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Free stuff for Tim. That. I'll listen to you. Thank you.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's. That's my point. Or one of my points.

Fred: Trump talked about affordability in his cabinet meeting yesterday

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. You're listening to today's issue. So, Fred, good news for the Republicans in Tennessee yesterday. They have a very thin margin in the House. Right. Like four or five. Six.

>> Fred Jackson: Four or five. and that's why you're seeing a lot of Republican states redistricting and, trying to pick up some, more safe Republican seats in various states. But you guys were talking about this affordability issue.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, Trump has a plan. He had a cabinet meeting yesterday, his ninth cabinet meeting since he came into office in January. I, think, Biden had not anywhere close to that over four years. Anyway, Trump made some news yesterday. By talking about affordability, he plans the American people to, give American people a whole lot of money. Cut number four.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We've only just begun striking narco boats.

>> Frank Turek: And putting narco terrorists at the bottom of the Ocean because they've been poisoning the American people.

>> Tim Wildmon: Trump's voice is changing. Yeah, Trump's voice has changed with age. Have y' all noticed this?

>> Fred Jackson: Yes, that was my mistake.

>> Wesley Wildmon: We're gonna get back.

>> Fred Jackson: That was my mistake. Let's go to cut number nine.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Trillions of dollars get paid to drug.

>> Tim Wildmon: Companies and you still have lousy health care.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Obamacare is horrible healthcare. We want it to go to the people and then let the people go out and buy their own health care and they'll do great.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, so he's talking about that. He's talking about people, getting more of their tax dollars back. he's talking about tariff, bonuses. You know, we're making, according to the president, we're making trillions of dollars on tariffs, and we're going to give the American people some of that dough.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, that's just what I said. Free stuff for Tim. I'm listening to you. Give me a tariff.

>> Fred Jackson: So they're thinking, I think, about next year, if people are getting a break in income tax. And he even hinted at there may be a day when we're not paying any income tax at all that things will be so good that American people won't have to pay income tax.

>> Tim Wildmon: What are you smoking?

>> Fred Jackson: I'm just quoting. I ain't smoking. I'm just quoting.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It sounds like we're discussing socialism and.

>> Tim Wildmon: We need to bring.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We need to bring our experts.

>> Tim Wildmon: We have a socialist. You want to introduce him?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, we are going to introduce, Dr. Frank Turek. I don't think it's fair to say he's a socialist. He is probably as much of an expert on the subject of socialism as we typically have. He's host of I Don't have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. Maybe you should call it I Don't have Enough Faith to Be a Socialist. Heard Saturdays at 9am Central Time and again Sundays at 4pm Central Time right here on American Family Radio. Frank, welcome back.

>> Frank Turek: I don't have enough faith to be an atheist or a socialist.

Ed: Frank, why are there no caravans going to Venezuela

Let me ask you a question, Ed. How many caravans are going from the United States to Venezuela?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Exactly.

>> Tim Wildmon: Mic drop.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. yeah. Or any other of the other, our company experiment.

>> Tim Wildmon: How many people are getting on boats to risk, their lives in shark and infested waters to go from Miami to Havana?

>> Frank Turek: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's not happening.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. How you doing, brother Frank?

>> Frank Turek: I'm doing all right. You know, we got Christmas coming up. That's always a good time of year.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.

>> Frank Turek: But I think I have the cure for leftism.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay?

>> Frank Turek: People were, were rational about it, all right? And one is the statement we just talked about. Why are there no caravans going to Venezuela? But secondly, I just, you know, month or so ago got back from a trip to Jordan, Israel and Egypt and Have I ever told you guys what the average monthly salary of an Egyptian worker is?

>> Tim Wildmon: What do you think it is in dollars?

>> Frank Turek: dollars.

>> Tim Wildmon: Average monthly salary of an Egyptian worker in American dollars, $600.

>> Wesley Wildmon: About $500.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, I'm going to say monthly, I'll say 100 bucks.

>> Frank Turek: I'll say, let's average it. It's $303.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: a month.

>> Ed Vitagliano: A month for a worker in Egypt.

>> Frank Turek: Average worker in Egypt, $303 per month. And the average worker in America makes almost that in a day.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, but Frank, what's the average cost of, falafel in Egypt?

>> Frank Turek: Well, actually our buying power is about six times that of the average Egyptian.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, wow. Well, that's the key. That's the key metric, isn't it?

>> Tim Wildmon: What's a new camel going to run you? That's bad. I should. I was, I was thinking about that joke. That was a bad joke, but because not all Egyptians.

>> Frank Turek: Let's get over the hump and move on to something else.

>> Tim Wildmon: But your point being?

>> Frank Turek: My point being is that if you want a cure for people who think this country is a bad country, go to some second and third world countries that do not have the same free enterprise system that we have. I mean, I had a, I enjoyed my time in Egypt. There's so many great sights to see, but economically it is a very poor country.

William Bradford: Students say they want a socialist country like Sweden

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, well, let me play devil's advocate here, okay? Not because I believe any of the garbage I'm about to say, okay? But this is what you're going to hear in America from college educated students. That's their first mistake with their IQ just continuing to soar. Okay, this is what you are going to hear from a lot of young people. Yeah. Frank, you picked Egypt as the example. I want to pick Scandinavian countries where you get all kinds of free stuff and great health care. What would you say, what would you say to people who say that's the kind of socialist country you guys always pick? Venezuela and Cuba run by wackos. I want to point to these, these kinds of socialist countries. What would you say?

>> Frank Turek: How many people do you know who go to Sweden for an operation?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't know. Yeah, I don't know any. Anybody.

>> Frank Turek: You don't okay. not only that, but Sweden is about the size of one of our states. and they don't really have to spend a lot of money on a, defense. Who does that for them?

>> Ed Vitagliano: The United States of America?

>> Frank Turek: We do. Okay. Also, Sweden does have a private economy, maybe not as robust as ours, but certainly more robust than Egypt. Okay. So there are so many differences.

>> Tim Wildmon: Also.

>> Frank Turek: They basically, until. Until immigration had a pretty homogeneous population. Now immigration is causing them trouble as well, so. And third, fourthly, they're all living off the vapor of Christianity. they are originally a Christian country, and Christianity presupposes private property. Thou shall not steal presupposes private property. Okay. do not show favoritism to the rich or the poor. Presupposes private property. so the two are not analogous. it is still a free market society in Sweden, but they have some advantages we don't have here. They don't have to pay for their own defense. They're very small. and, a country like Norway, by the way, has enormous oil resources.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Frank Turek: They don't have to do much. They can just sell their oil and have these great socialist programs that everybody thinks here we can have, when in fact we're what, $36 trillion in debt.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and none of us, President Trump.

>> Frank Turek: Ought to give any tariff money to anybody. Ought to go to pay down the national debt.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, I agree.

>> Ed Vitagliano: None of those countries, which, we call Scandinavia, Norway, Sweden, et cetera, Denmark, they don't even identify themselves as socialist countries. I remember, I don't remember the prime minister of one of those countries said, we're not a socialist country, we're capitalist. I mean, they have a lot of businesses, some corporations run out of them, that are worldwide in scope. They do have, they do tax a lot and have, programs that, is sometimes considered to be socialist. but they don't even identify as socialist countries. So when young people college, let's just say college kids say, yeah, I want a socialist country like that. They're. They don't identify as socialist. They're capitalist countries.

>> Frank Turek: Here's another question to ask people. When was the last time you washed a rental car?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, when was the last time you washed one?

>> Frank Turek: Yeah. You never wash a rental car because, it's not yours. You don't care. Right, Right. And when you don't have private property, you tend not to care about it as much. You're not as motivated to take care of something that isn't yours. This is why private housing is nearly always in better shape. Than public housing. If people have the capacity in a system to keep the fruits of their own labor, A, they're more incentivized to work harder, and B, if they have that private property, they'll take care of it more. Yeah, and you don't have that in a socialist society. I mean, socialism not only failed to produce freedom, it failed to produce food, right?

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right.

>> Frank Turek: Okay. I mean, how about William Bradford? When he came over here with the Pilgrims the first year, they tried to do a socialist kind of economy where everybody's just going to chip in and take care of the, farm together. And half of them starved.

The fastest way to get people out of poverty is with capitalism, not socialism

Then the next winter, he said, okay, every family's going to get their own plot. And then they had more food than they knew what to do with.

>> Frank Turek: Because people were motivated. Socialism misunderstands human nature. It thinks that people are going to work as hard as they can and take as little as they need. In reality, people will work as little as they can and take as much as they can get. If you have the ability, though, to work hard and keep the fruits of your own labor, you're going to do that. And that's going to benefit everybody. Because if everybody does that, then you can exchange the goods that you create and you can prosper. The fastest way to get people out of poverty is with capitalism, not socialism. Socialism never works. It misunderstands human nature.

>> Wesley Wildmon: The Pilgrims tried socialism.

>> Frank Turek: Yes. William Bradford. That's exactly right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Next year he said, we're nixing this.

>> Wesley Wildmon: We're going to do what the Bible says. If a man doesn't work, he didn't eat.

>> Frank Turek: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right, right. I think he was also noted for his comment, quit whining.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Quit whining and get to work.

>> Tim Wildmon: Bradford, can you hang on through the break for another minute or two?

>> Frank Turek: Yes, sir.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Dr. Frank Turek joining us from the Tar Heel state, the great, state of North Carolina. Fred Jackson, Tim Wildmon, Eva Tagliano, Wesley Wildmon. We'll all be back in just about three minutes or so.

Preborn Network helps women choose life through a free ultrasound

>> Ed Vitagliano: We're living in a time when truth is under attack. Lies are easy to tell, easy to spread, and easy to believe. But truth, truth is costly. And nowhere is the cost greater than for mothers in crisis. When a woman is told abortion is her only option, silence and lies surround her. But when she walks into a preborn network clinic, she's met with compassion, support, and the truth about the life growing inside her. That moment of truth happens through a free ultrasound, and it's a Game changer. When a mother sees her baby and hears that heartbeat, it literally doubles the chance she'll choose life. PreBorn Network clinics are on the front lines, meeting women in their darkest hour, loving them and helping them choose life and sharing truth. Friend this is not a time to be silent. It's a time for courage, for truth, for life. Just $28 provides one ultrasound and the opportunity for a mother to see her baby to help her choose truth and life. Donate today. Call £250 and say baby. That's £250, baby. Or give [email protected] afr that's preborn.com afr.

American Family Radio broadcasts Saturday mornings at 9:00am Central Time

>> Tim Wildmon: This is today's issues.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Email your comments to commentsfr.net past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of today's issues.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, Saturday mornings right here on American Family radio at 9:00am Central Time, we have Dr. Frank Turek's show, I Don't have Enough Faith to be an Atheist. And you, want to tune in for that. All the shows on Saturday morning are excellent, but Frank's, is quite educational and will help you in your very popular. Yes. So join Frank for I Don't have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. Right here on this station. Saturday mornings at 9 o' clock Central.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Time and it reruns Sunday at 4pm Central Time. Yes, on American Family Radio.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right now you're listening to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network with Tim, Ed Wesley and Fred.

Frank Turek says socialism is antithetical to biblical principles

Our guest is the aforementioned Frank Turek joining, us from North Carolina. You had, Fred, you had a question. We've been talking about socialism and why, socialism is antithetical to biblical principles. That's what Frank says. Frank, am I misinterpreting what you said there?

>> Frank Turek: No, that's the case. It presupposes private property. The Bible does.

There's controversy over missile fired at Venezuelan drug smuggling boat

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, now go ahead, Fred. You wanted to ask, I wanted to.

>> Fred Jackson: Ask you, Frank, a little bit about, Venezuela. And in particular over the last couple of days there's been some controversy in the media about an incident, involves the shooting at one of these drug running boats coming out of Venezuela. And the controversy has been apparently in an incident back several weeks ago, there were survivors from the first missile that hit the boat and another missile was fired to take out those survivors. Now, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was asked about this yesterday during a full cabinet meeting at the White House. And this is what he had to say. Cut number Three, Admiral Bradley made the.

>> Frank Turek: Correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat. He sunk the boat. Sunk the boat and eliminated the threat. And, he was the right call. We have his back.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I want those boats taken out. And if we have to, we'll attack on land also, just like we attack on sea. We're saving hundreds of thousands of lives.

>> Tim Wildmon: With those pinpoint attacks.

>> Fred Jackson: So the question seems to be, Frank, is this second missile taking out the survivors? Some people, some Republicans and Democrats are taking issue with that. What say you?

>> Frank Turek: yeah, well, typically you don't fire on survivors. I don't know the details of the case, but if that is indeed the case and they were survivors and they were helpless in the water, typically you don't fire on them. You rescue them and, you know, take them prisoner, you know, in a, in a conflict. But I don't know all the details of the case. Was the boat still underway and they fired a second missile to take out the boat and it took out the survivors too? I don't know.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, Fred, the picture that we're left with is the survivors that were in the water. That's the picture we're left with.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That the boat was destroyed.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Frank Turek: Okay, but was the boat destroyed by the first missile or the second missile and when they fired the second? First of all, you're probably not going to be able to fire a missile at individuals in the water. Usually they're, you know, you're targeting an object. So, unless it was laser guided and they knew where the victims were. I see. I don't know the details, but, if the, if the second missile was to take out a boat because it was still underway and that also happened to take out survivors, okay. That's different than if they're just firing on survivors.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right?

>> Fred Jackson: Okay. No, that is going to be the subject apparently of, a, hearing, because what Higson said yesterday is that he saw the first strike and then he left the room, to go to another meeting. But he trusts the judgment of the man, who was in charge, Navy Vice Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley. And he hexa says Bradley made the right call in second and sending in that second missile. That's where we are. But it's going to be the subject of a hearing.

>> Wesley Wildmon: They were also trying to destroy as much of the, drugs as possible, and there was drugs still floating. So as Frank said, as a.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Also too.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Let me just, let me just say this. I've never. The United States, any country, has the right to eliminate Terrorists that are trying to terrorize their country. I don't. I mean, I could keep going there, but I don't under. I don't understand. If there's a terrorist who's trying to terrorize your country. I don't. I don't understand.

>> Tim Wildmon: It depends on how you define terrorism.

>> Wesley Wildmon: What? Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: and I'm not saying that what President Trump and would say in his administration. Pete. Has. That we're fighting narco terrorism.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: And that's not a new word. Right? I mean, that's been used before.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, it has. Go ahead.

>> Tim Wildmon: but, let me just.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I just.

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me just. Let me just say this. It becomes a little less. It comes a little more ambiguous in my mind. The righteousness of the cause. as opposed to somebody wanting to fire a nuclear weapon at the US Maybe.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Sure.

>> Tim Wildmon: Like, Iran. Okay. Because the reason I say that again, I'm just saying it becomes a little bit cloudy in my judgment about. Okay, so we're going to use the United States military to go to war with the drug cartels. Okay.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, they already came to war to us when they killed. When the drugs from the Venice. From the. From those countries killed over 100,000Americans last year.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, and I'm not saying you're right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I know. I.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's how the people who would be. For taking. Firing missiles, at boats, eliminating the drugs.

Do you trust the Trump administration? Yes. Do you have the intel

That's what they would say. Just what you just said. And I don't know. I tend to lean in your direction, but I don't know. There's a part of me that's going. We're just. Boats are skipping across the water. We really know for sure that these are,

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes. Yes, we do.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That now. Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Do you have the intel?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, I'm certain that the Trump administration.

>> Tim Wildmon: You trust.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Not.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Trust them.

The Trump administration says they have proof these are drug, uh, traffickers

All right. All right. Anyway, anything more to discuss on this?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I do, but I'm gonna. Let's let Frank.

>> Tim Wildmon: Go ahead.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Frank, since we got him, say,

>> Frank Turek: What would be the reason the Trump administration was risking political capital on destroying, say, pleasure boats, not drug boats. coming from Venezuela, it would seem that they really believe that these are boats that are running drugs. And when they hit these things with weapons, the drugs are revealed.

>> Tim Wildmon: I got you. I'm not saying I'm opposed to it.

>> Frank Turek: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm just saying it's not the traditional way we use our military.

>> Frank Turek: No. Well, the Coast Guard. Yes. And the Navy has been involved in drug interdiction.

>> Tim Wildmon: A Coast Guard doesn't blow boats out of the water. Well, it can, it can, but it doesn't. They, they, they, they tell people to stop or they arrest them and maybe they get into a gunfight. Yeah, but we've never seen these.

>> Wesley Wildmon: But this, this eliminates the possibility. Yeah, this eliminates the possibility of losing a soldier. If you were.

>> Frank Turek: For years has, has been involved in drug interdiction, particularly in the Florida area.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It's so less efficient.

>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, go, Go ahead, Ed. What do you think?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm, I'm, I'm against it. I'm, I'm against blowing up these boats. and now listen, this is part of the discussion and Americans are having this week. You're weak to me.

>> Frank Turek: He's from Boston.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Boy, you guys just turn nasty all of a sudden. Okay, see. So let me start from the beginning, okay? Drugs are coming to this country because Americans want drugs. Okay? They're not, they're not air dropping, drugs, at schools. I'm not excusing the drug trade. I'm saying it is a criminal act for drug traffickers to provide drugs to Americans who want them or are addicted to them. Okay? So to me, this is a criminal enterprise. Until they fire on the Coast Guard or until they fire on DEA agents, this is a criminal enterprise, and we should have continued doing what we've always done, and that is arrest the people with the, coming in to try to get to the country. This is an international waters. These are people, landing their boats off the coast of Florida. This is an international waters. Yes. The Trump administration says they have proof these are drug, traffickers. Fine, then arrest them. And, now, if. If, if. And I know there are people saying they're killing. And Wesley said 100,000 people a year. Yeah, this. It is.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, that's just the beginning of it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's a disaster. But are we going to say any criminal act can be dealt with outside the judicial system with military force? And I. Yeah, go ahead.

>> Frank Turek: That all presidents who have used drones to take out people who have not yet attacked us.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, not. Not if they are. Not if they are part of enemy combatants or terrorist groups who have promised to eliminate America. I mean, I don't.

>> Frank Turek: The cartels have promised that they're going to keep bringing drugs here. is it, Is it wrong for the military to use drones to take out suspected terrorists?

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm telling you, I understand what it's. I'm kind of caught in the middle here. I'm. Wesley. What you're saying, listen, it's different. It's. Ed's talking about criminal.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, these are.

>> Tim Wildmon: Which is a. Law enforcement.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, that's what I'm saying.

>> Tim Wildmon: We don't use the Marines to enforce our laws.

Frank Fellers: I'm not in favor of invading Venezuela

Okay, so when you're talking about, taking out boats out in the middle of the Gulf. Excuse me, Gulf of America.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: And. And using the military for that reason.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Frank, let me ask you this. Human, traffickers. They're bringing girl. Let's say they're bringing girls into this country as part of this to, for. For prostitution. You think we should be able to just shoot them?

>> Frank Turek: if they're crossing the border and, illegally. if it's an invasion, there could be a case made for that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, the Gulf. That's what he's talking about.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I wouldn't say that because you don't want to kill the girls, but let's say they're cross. What I'm saying is this is the potential for ever expanding death, penalty.

>> Frank Turek: Oh, it is?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. So they're coming across you. You catch them. They've got a bunch of girls, and you say these, your. These are kids. No, we're trafficking. You shoot them.

>> Frank Turek: Well, no, no. I mean, if. If you can arrest them, you can, but it's in an apprehension. Force is authorized. Okay. If they're trying to escape. And what if these boats, suppose they get into US Waters and they. They ignore warnings, turn back or you'll be shot. And they keep coming.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's all different.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that's a warning.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Dealing with.

>> Tim Wildmon: Here. I get a warning and you're going to be arrested.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Frank Turek: Here's,

>> Tim Wildmon: Is there a warning on these boats?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, yeah. Yes, here is a warning. The warning was, about two months ago. Two months ago when the first boat came over and, the first boat got shot. That's the warning. You don't come back. You don't come back across over here, or you die. Or you die.

>> Frank Turek: I mean.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And they keep coming.

>> Tim Wildmon: I agree.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's the one.

>> Frank Turek: It is a difficult situation, but, let's suppose one of these boats is coming loaded with explosives. It's a terrorist boat. Are we obligated to allow them to get to shore?

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, that is not what I'm talking about.

>> Frank Turek: Well, I'm just.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, if you're trying to.

>> Frank Turek: What.

>> Tim Wildmon: If you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Here.

>> Frank Turek: What I'm pointing out here is that every country has a right to protect its borders.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Absolutely.

>> Frank Turek: And if there is a threat coming to the border and that threat is repeatedly warned to stop, and they don't, you have authorization to use lethal Forces.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So you're in favor of us invading Venezuela? Okay, no, listen, that's what I'm saying.

>> Tim Wildmon: Logic let.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm trying to use the same logic that I'm hearing. And by the way, I still love everybody. I just want everyone to know I still love everybody. I love you, too.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm Switzerland here. I'm neutral.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But if you're going to say you're bringing stuff, bad stuff, into our country and, it's killing Americans, therefore stop or we're going to kill you, then you have to also include the possibility that we invade Venezuela because that's where the drugs are starting to.

>> Wesley Wildmon: No.

>> Frank Turek: Invade Venezuela to stop them from sending stuff here. We can just stop sending stuff here.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But you could.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Excuse me, Fellers, cut the root out. You ever seen a dog and he has his tail behind him? and he turns around and it ain't there? And then he looks around and trying to find his tail and he flips around again and.

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, but I pay to see that.

>> Wesley Wildmon: There'S a word called we have entered.

>> Tim Wildmon: That toxic show zone.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Listen, it's called deterrence.

>> Frank Turek: Okay, Ed, we still love you, but just remember the next time the phone doesn't ring.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, thank you.

Frank Turek will discuss drug cartels on American Family Radio on Saturday

All right, Frank, what's coming up this weekend on your show here, we have.

>> Frank Turek: The great Katy Faust on, who also has a program on the American Family Radio Network. We're going to talk about us before them. Actually, it's them before us, meaning that as parents, we should put our kids before our own, our own desires, particularly when it comes to marriage. So many parents tragically get divorced and the kids have to pay the price for that. So we're going to talk about the fact that them before us is how we ought to live our lives, particularly because it also lines up with what the Bible says.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, that's coming up Saturday, people. Right here on this network, station. You're listening to rr, AFR app. It's called I Don't have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist with our guest right now, Dr. Frank Turek. So join Frank at 9:00 Central Time.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And loads of great stuff.

>> Tim Wildmon: And Sunday afternoon, as you said, at 4:00', clock, Central time, we re air Frank show. Thanks, Frank. Take care.

>> Frank Turek: Thanks, guys. See you.

>> Tim Wildmon: See you. Yes, sir.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Get one more.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, Wesley's got to get the last.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Word in the back.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's what I raised him.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Go ahead. You go ahead.

>> Wesley Wildmon: In fact, in all seriousness, I'll. I'll make this comment and then y', all, y' all can get the last word in.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Wesley Wildmon: But I would. I would say there is a case to be made, and there has been cases to be made for the m. For United States of America to use military force in other countries. Boots on the ground to take out a terrorist, Osama bin Laden.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: I agree with you.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I know. I'm gonna let you finish. Let me just finish. Then you go.

>> Tim Wildmon: Go.

>> Wesley Wildmon: But so when I would just make. The reason I made. The only reason I even made that statement is because, Ed mentioned about should then, therefore, should we then go into another country and blah, blah. Well, yeah, I think. I think there's a. There's always a case to be made to go boots on the ground to eliminate a terrorist, which I agree with the Trump administration and the White House website about this group being a narco terrorist group. Yeah, go ahead.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, the. Again, it goes back to what we define as terrorists, and really, maybe a matter of degrees.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It is.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Because I, would say this. if you're talking about, for example, Al Qaeda and bin Salman bin Laden, you're talking about people who make conscious decisions to attack Americans. We have to kill them.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's part of this.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay? But this thing down here is our, drugs. Drugs aren't personalities. You know what I'm saying? Right. And now I know you have people running the drugs, which are the people we're killing when we hit these boats. I will say this. It seems to me like if you want to have a deterrent, it's got to be going through the minds of the drug cartels, even though it's an extremely lucrative business that is getting people addicted to drugs and potentially killing them, which is evil and demonic and hellish. But, if you want to say, you know, okay, sign up for. To work for the cartels. Who wants to get on this boat? This. This boat's going to Fort Lauderdale. Then you're gonna say, well, I know what happened to the last three boats that went to, you know, Corpus Christi or NewSong Orleans or they got blown out of the water. Do I really want to risk my life?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Some. Most of them don't have choices. A lot of them don't have a choice. They're going to do it anyways. I think the bigger issues is the.

>> Tim Wildmon: Drug dealers say, I don't have a choice.

>> Wesley Wildmon: What I'm saying is the drug. The drug dealers usually, if that was the case, I don't think that's the biggest concern for the drug dealers. The biggest concern would be the money.

>> Tim Wildmon: Lost, not the guys who get on the boat.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Ah, maybe they're going to be able to start running boats, Autumn, you know, without people on them. That's coming to. Probably trying anyway.

>> Wesley Wildmon: that was fun, I will say.

>> Tim Wildmon: But I will say this. The, One of the, One of the issues that needs to be said here is we all can appreciate President Trump and his administration's desire to stop the flow of drugs that are killing our citizens coming into our country.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Absolutely.

>> Tim Wildmon: Can we all agree with that?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. It is a scourge. It is destroying lives, families, etc. And I do applaud that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.

>> Ed Vitagliano: M. Because the Biden administration sure wasn't right.

Fred: My job is just to throw an item up called a wine grenade

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, let me mention this, and then Fred, we can go into the next news story. Fred, you still with us over there?

>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm still here grinning ear to ear.

>> Fred Jackson: My job is just to throw an item up called a wine grenade.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Like.

>> Tim Wildmon: Like throwing the little. The little, food in. Watch the fish go after.

>> Fred Jackson: That's right. Can I just sit back and enjoy it?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me just say, on a positive note, on a good feeling note, we have some wonderful, historical tours scheduled for 2026.

Fred: Here are the tours that are available, and then people can research them themselves

I need to talk to you about going to Boston.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Hey, man, I won't go to Boston. Count me in.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right.

>> Fred Jackson: In the springtime in.

>> Tim Wildmon: In September. We're not going in.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, there's a song.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, oh, please come to Boston. Yeah, yeah. Please come to Boston. Yeah, I got you. I'm with you there. so, we are going here. Here are the tours that are available, and then people can go and research them themselves. If you want to go with us, we are going to, on a, trip back in time, if you will. We're going to the Historic Triangle in Virginia in, June and September. We call that. It's the Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Jamestown and Yorktown. We're going on, that's a tour that we do from Sunday to Wednesday, and then we back that up back to back with Wednesday to Sunday with, a tour of Washington D.C. our nation's capital, and George Washington's estate, Mount Vernon. So we do that. If you want to be with us the whole week, we'll take care of you the whole week. All you got to do is show up for these tours, people. If you can get there, we take. Get on the bus.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: And we take care of you wall to wall for seven days. If you want to do the tours back to back, I just mentioned we do that in June. We do that in September now you don't have to go on both tours. You can go on one or the other. We have that, that's an option too. So those tours are coming up in June and September. I'll be going on that tour. Stephen McDowell will be our wives. We just love spending time with our listeners and seeing those sites that I just mentioned. Now there's also a, an additional tour coming up in October. No, in September. Right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: It was October last year. But because of the, this year.

>> Tim Wildmon: The new date, it's better weather in September in, in Boston.

>> Wesley Wildmon: 21St, 26th.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's not terrible in October, but you're going to have warmer temperatures, more pleasant temperatures in September. So the Boston, area tour, which includes going to Plymouth, and Iraq and in tour and goes to, Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail in Boston and Lexington and Concord. So that whole area, that whole Boston area of the history there is so rich. And, we're going there. Wesley and Walker leading those tours and I, guess brother Ed here will be going. So that's a, tour coming up in September. So if you want. Do you want me to say so again? Have I used up my sews?

>> Wesley Wildmon: No, the Boston one, we filled up two buses with like three months to spare. Yeah, it fills up pretty quick.

>> Tim Wildmon: These tours I've just mentioned, they do fill up three months in advance, so. See, I said so again. I'm starting to annoy myself. That's bad.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Now that's all I'm going to be able to focus on.

>> Tim Wildmon: So, I was hearing me say so.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: glad we don't. We don't. People who drink listening to this show.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What's that?

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, take a drink every time Tim says.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Oh, you know, I get it.

>> Tim Wildmon: We don't encourage that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, we don't. We do not unless it's coffee or.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, Diet Coke or something like that. I'm not going to say so. Right. Right there. I need to say it. I'm feeling like I need to say it, but I'm not going to.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Don't do it.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not going to do it.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Refrain.

>> Tim Wildmon: So I did it again. Go to this website I'm about to give you for all the information, the dates, the itinerary, the two of, the, cost. Everything you need to know is at this website. W I L D M M O N G R O U P dot com. W I L D M M O N Group dot com and group. Yeah. Not Wild Man.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. We changed our name. My grandmother did like almost 100 years ago. So it's wildmon group dot com. Check it out for all the information there. We got about two minutes left. Fred, you got any good news for.

>> Fred Jackson: Us or good news for you?

Hillary Clinton blames TikTok for giving American college students bad information about Israel

>> Tim Wildmon: Good news.

>> Fred Jackson: Let's talk about Hillary Clinton. Non, controversial.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Awesome.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, I missed m. I missed her.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Well, here she is. She's talking yesterday to a Jewish group and she was blaming TikTok for giving American college students bad information about what happened on October 7, 2023 in Israel. And then we get a response from Lawrence Jones from Fox and friends. Cut.

>> Tim Wildmon: 11 smart, well educated young people from our own country from around the world. Where were they getting their information?

>> Frank Turek: They were getting their information from social media, particularly TikTok.

>> Tim Wildmon: That is where they were learning about what happened on October 7, what happened in the, you know, days, weeks and months, to follow. That's a serious.

>> Fred Jackson: Anyway, she was blaming TikTok for misinformation on what happened.

>> Tim Wildmon: We agree with her on this and.

>> Fred Jackson: We agree with her on that. But Lawrence Jones came back and just said, it wasn't just TikTok. It was the mainstream media. It was college professors that were polluting the minds of these college students to turn against.

>> Tim Wildmon: She's pro Israel.

>> Fred Jackson: She is. She is.

>> Tim Wildmon: she and, and she and, and former president, Clinton are. At least. They're very fair about this. They're very, they're fair. Very fair. All right, we will be back in five minutes with Steve Paisley. Jordow. We'll see you back here then. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of.

>> Frank Turek: The American Family association or American Family Radio.