>> Walker Wildmon: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection and the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without your help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound250 and say the key word baby or visit preborn.com af. We inform Religious freedom is about people of faith being able to live out their faith, live out their convictions no matter where they are. We equip
>> Rick Green: Sacred honor is the courage to speak truth, to live out your free speech.
>> Don Wildmon: We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character hope.
>> Jeff Chamblee: This is At The Core on American Family Radio.
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome to The Core here on American Family Radio. Glad to have you with us on this new edition of the program. You can subscribe to the podcast over@afr.net afr.net and you can find the podcast as well on all the major podcast platforms wherever you listen to podcast. And the American Family Radio app is available for you as well. So a lot of different ways to listen to the program, many ways to keep up with American Family Radio and to get the content, uh, directly, uh, to your device or in your vehicle. We also offer CarPlay and Android Auto integrations. So if you have one of those fancy new screens in your car with CarPlay, with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, you can have the afr, uh, app live there on your dashboard where you can listen to live and past episodes right there in your vehicle. So a lot of different ways to listen to American Family Radio. Let's turn our attention to the scripture, Acts chapter three, looking at, uh, verses 19 and 20. Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before. That's verses 19 and 20 in Acts chapter three. Well, uh, turning our attention to the news and getting into some of the, um, items that I wanted to cover today. This was a report, uh, from last week that I wanted to get on the program, but I just haven't had time thus far. And that is a congressional, uh, hearing. And I did mention this in passing, but I didn't play this clip. There was a congressional hearing on the Face act and how the Biden Department of Justice weaponized this Face act to prosecute and harass pro lifers. And part of this hearing was um, each, each side if you will, each party and each member gets to invite witnesses to this hearing to testify. Well, one of these witnesses was brought to you by the Democrats. And um, her name is Dr. Waters. I'll um, get her full title after this clip. But uh, nonetheless, this um, witness was interacting with Representative Brandon Gill out of Texas. And they were going back and forth and of course the Representative Brandon Gill was trying to get to the point of, you know, what exactly is abortion and you know, trying to expose the truth that is the gravity of abortion and the travesty of abortion. So this clip you're going to hear, uh, the female here testifying is Jessica Waters. She's a senior scholar at American University's School of Public affairs and she focuses on ah, abortion and abortion law. So she was the Democrats witness at this hearing. And let's listen to Representative Brandon Gill and Ms. Jessica, uh, Waters interacting and trying to explain away the gruesomeness of abortion. Let's listen.
>> Rep Brandon Gill: Do you support any limits on abortion?
>> Dr. Waters: Um, you know, I think this is a place where, um, I suspect you and I will fundamentally disagree. Um, you know, what I believe is that the abortion decision should fundamentally, because it is medical care.
>> Rep Brandon Gill: Do you support any limits at all? It's just yes or no.
>> Dr. Waters: You would let me finish my.
>> Rep Brandon Gill: It's just a yes or no. Do you think that there should be any limits on abortion?
>> Dr. Waters: You know, I came here, um, with the goal of providing truthful and accurate testimony. And so in order to um, truthfully and accurately answer your question, what I would say is I fundamentally believe that the question of abortion should be left to a patient and their doctor and their family. Um, I don't want to interfere in medical decisions.
>> Rep Brandon Gill: Okay, so I'll take that as a no. Is that a good summary of your testimony?
>> Dr. Waters: I think I answered your question.
>> Walker Wildmon: Okay, I think that that's a no then. I don't uh, from a. Obviously I know practically and politically speaking why the Democrats don't want to answer this honestly and these pro abortion advocates. But on the other hand, I don't understand it. So I'm back and forth, I'm divided on this because if the Democrats truly believed in their heart of hearts that abortion wasn't murder, that it was just this quote unquote clump of cells, which we know it's not, we know it's human life. But assuming that they're committed to their, their, their own deception and their own lies, then, then logically speaking, you would just say, yeah, I have no reason that I would put any limits on abortion. I mean why would I, right? Abortion is quote healthcare, abortion is reproductive rights. So the fact that the Democrats and these pro abortion advocates actually struggle over this question is proof in and of itself that they don't believe their own position. Because if abortion is this no problem and it's not the taking of innocent life, then why even trip over this question? But of course we all know that's not true. And we all know, even the people talking know in their mind that abortion is the taking of a baby, the taking of the life of a child in the womb. At this juncture in human civilization, for anyone to claim otherwise is just outright disingenuous and outright lying to themselves. No one, and I repeat, no one with a straight faced and with an honest conscience can state, especially people like adults that have been in science class in biology know that this is a human life here. And so it's all lies, it's all deception, it's all a word game. And but the point of the moral of the story is that people who are in favor of abortion, they don't care about limits. This is why they want to answer the question. They don't care about limits. And the ones who actually are honest are the ones like the former governor out of Virginia, which M was, which notoriously stated on camera on a radio show by the way, that um, he thinks abortion should be allowed up until even after birth and that the parent and the mother and the doctor can have a conversation to decide what to do. This stuff is so wicked. This is so wicked. And it's documented, it's on the record. But here we have it. A pro abortion Democrat witness in Congress, congressional testimony on the record, uh, admits that she has no limit to abortion. And folks, this is the Democrat party of 2026 and the, the, the, the, the people act surprised when there are statements that you can't be a Christian and a Democrat at the same time. Um, you can't be a Christian in good standing with the Lord and vote Democrat. And people are shocked at that. How dare you make such an assertion. How dare you be so judgmental and put such an black and white you assessment on it. But then you look at the positions that the Democrats have on the record and it's like this is not controversial stuff. These are people who are in favor of baby murder. And we're just simply making an assessment that one can't be in good standing with the Lord and have the holy Spirit indwelling them then at the same time be cheerleading for baby murder. Those two things don't go together under any circumstance. And so this party has become the godless party. And it's a very wicked thing. It's a very wicked thing. And this is why, um, judgment. God brings about judgment on people and nations throughout history. And um, this is what should. Should humble and strike fear in all of us, even those of us that are born again, because we're presiding and we're sharing a country with people. And a large majority of them that are actually in positions of power and authority that are, um, they're not just quote, bad people. These are people that are lobbying and pushing and cheerleading very harmful, evil and wicked things. Things such as the killing of an innocent child in the womb and having completely no regard for it, no concern for it, no reservation over it. And that's even, uh, to such an extent that they're doing so, uh, in live, on the record, sworn testimony, uh, before Congress. But this is the Democrat party of 2026. And the, um, Republicans. You know, I always give this caveat. Republicans are no saints. I've got my problems with the Republican Party. Um, I think they've. They've been weak on some issues, particularly marriage and family. And even in some instances, some of the Republican people running for office or representatives or lawmakers, they've gone soft on the abortion issue in some regards. And so they've got their problems as well. But we're going to have to, um, have people in office that are, um, that have a godly standard of righteousness. And this is why we, we talk about I Voter guide, we talk about elections and talk about getting Christians registered to vote. Because at the end of the day, the main way to fix these problems, which are displaying themselves as political problems, but ultimately their cultural problems and then below that, um, their spiritual problems. But we're just going to have to continue fighting to elect people that fear the Lord, that fear God for public office. Whether we're talking mayor, city council, county commissioner, state positions, state lawmakers, governor, up and down, up and down. This is not just a Washington D.C. problem, but I'm talking state capitols, I'm talking city hall, um, we have to, just as Christians continue, um, not only recruiting Christians to run for public office, um, but also making sure that we're registered to vote and that we're voting for people that share our values so that we can take over these positions of power and authority that are currently occupied by people promoting very unrighteous, very evil things in Our country. That's the ultimate fix here. That's the ultimate fix here. And it takes civic engagement. We can't be afraid of being civically engaged, of being engaged civically. Um, because this is the blessing and the opportunity that, that God has given us as Christians, as born again believers living at this time in this place is we actually do have the opportunity to choose our leaders. This isn't a monarchy, this isn't a kingdom, this isn't a dictatorship. Despite what the left says and the no kings riots, we live in a representative democracy, a constitutional republic. And you and I get to vote and we get to choose our leaders. And so this is all on us. And this, this is where the finger pointing, you know, we started out, I uh, started out throwing the Democrats under the bus. But here the finger comes right back at us choosing our leaders. This is on us. When you look at the number of people who profess Christianity, who profess to be born again believers, even on the low side of these, of these surveys and these estimates and this, this research, even on the low side of people who are born again believers, or at least profess to be Christians, um, a large majority of them don't, um, even vote. Some of them aren't even registered to vote. And we've had Debbie Weth. Now we talk about the numbers, but, um, this is on the citizens of this country. The citizens of America and the voters of this country have, um, in large part been sitting on the sidelines. And we've allowed people such as, um, the Democrats that promote these radical abortion positions, we've allowed them to get to positions of power and authority. And so this is a wake up call to all Christians in the country to be registered to vote and to vote. And if we just increase our turnout in our engagement by 5, 10, 15%, we're talking about changing the entire outcome of elections. We'll be back in a few. Right now, the voices in our culture are loud. But truth is often silent. And today preborns need you to help speak that truth. Truth. Women facing unplanned pregnancies are often pressured to act quickly before they have time to pause, breathe, or hear the truth about life, dignity and hope. But I refuse to be silent. And I'm asking you to join me. At preborn network clinics, a woman is welcomed with compassion and given a free ultrasound. She sees the life growing inside her, often for the very first time. And in that sacred moment, fear gives way to clarity. And she's offered something abortion industry will never provide. The hope of Jesus Christ. This April, our goal is to have 11,000 gospel conversations in PreBorn network clinics, trusting God to bring the increase as we remain faithful to speak. You can help make that possible by sponsoring ultrasounds. Just $28 provides one ultrasound and $140 provides five free ultrasounds for mothers in crisis. Every dollar helps save babies and share the hope of the gospel. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 and say the keyword baby dot or visit preborn.com afr that's preborn.com afr
>> Jeff Chamblee: At The Core podcast are available@afr.net now back to At The Core on American Family Radio.
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the program here on American Family Radio. I'm Walker Wildmon. As a reminder, our Activate Summit is coming up this summer, July 16th through the 18th, and we would love for you to join us here at, uh, our national headquarters in Tupelo, Mississippi for that Summit, activate Summit 2026. You can go over to afa.net/summit afa.net/summit to register for that. And registration closes on May 22nd. So just about two weeks out on May 22nd, registration will close. Some of the speakers, Brother Bert Harper, Jeff Schrieve, Dr. Jessica Peck, and Katy Faust, amongst others, that will be at our Activate Summit. Well, moving to our next guest on the program, this segment or this, ah, segment rather, is Texas State Senator Mays Middleton. He represents District 11 there in the state of Texas, and he's on to talk about some of the legislation he's been working on this, uh, session and previous sessions as well. Senator Middleton, welcome to the program.
>> Texas Senator Mayes Middleton: Hey, thank you for having me on here today.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, glad to have you on. We like to highlight various lawmakers, whether at the state or federal level, that are working on things that we share values in. And, uh, you're doing that in the state of Texas. Before we jump into some of these bills you've been working on and getting passed into law and signed by the governor, tell us a little bit about your background and how long you've been in the state senate there.
>> Texas Senator Mayes Middleton: So look, for me, this is a calling. This is not a job. You know, like our president, I give away the salary, the pension, the health care, the state license plate. I don't take the lobbyist NFL tickets or lobbyist ski trips. I am only here to serve and fight for the conservative values that we believe in can't be bought or rented and the Austin Swamp cannot get to me. And look, we've got to be bold in our faith here, because we are a Christian nation, we are a Christian state. The Texas Constitution begins with this in the preamble, humbly invoking the blessings of Almighty God. Right? That's a prayer. Begins with the prayer. And so what matters the most in this? Of course, we want to elect Christian Services to office, right? We've got to elect good Christians, uh, to all levels of government. But not only that, we've got to defeat the left. So it matters more than anything because it is this battle of good versus evil. We are the light up against the dark. We saw what they did to Charlie Kirk. They've tried to kill President Trump multiple times. And this is also. Show me, don't tell me business, right? You got to show the results. I was in the House for four years, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, now in the Senate, always in the top one or two most conservative members. But I can show you those conservative results. I took on the woke left's radical gender ideology and won. I authored and passed the Save Women's Sports law and the strongest women's privacy law in America, which kicks perverted men out of women's restrooms and locker rooms and showers. This is common sense stuff, right? I took on the atheists and defeated them and got prayer and the Ten Commandments back into our classrooms and also took on our foreign adversaries in Austin and stopped China from buying our land. Also, these radical Muslim groups like CAIR and Muslim Brotherhood, stop them from buying any property in Texas. Now, taking on one of our biggest threats, one of most growing threats, which is Sharia law and Islamification, because they don't think we deserve the right to exist, not just as Americans, but as Christians. And it is a tough fight.
>> Walker Wildmon: Let me ask you this, Senator Middleton, about the only illegal immigration front, um, which is obviously a very important topic. President Trump's been working on this going back to his first term. Talk about some of the bills you've worked on, and a couple of them have become state law in, uh, Texas, specifically SB4 going back goes back to 2023, um, that special session there. But talk about those bills, because some of those things are enabling the state government to take action against illegal immigrants, which traditionally has been deferred, uh, and delegated off to the federal government. But what you've done in the legislature is enable the state of Texas to take action against people who are crossing our southern border illegally.
>> Texas Senator Mayes Middleton: Right. And, you know, obviously, I'm running for attorney general, and this is really simple here. If you treat our laws and our Constitution, as a suggestion, which the left always does, then you have violated your oath of office, and you need to be removed from office. And border security is national security. We saw in those four years Biden was there, he prioritized illegal immigrants above those of the rights of citizens. Right. We were under an invasion. It's very clear. So what did I do? I fought to change the law to allow the state of Texas to charge illegal immigrants with illegal entry and then return them to country of origin. It was matching essentially what the federal government was supposed to be doing while Biden was there. That's a 10th Amendment issue. That's a states rights issue, but it's got to be enforced. We won that before the fifth Circuit the other day. Of course, the left challenged it. But not only that, you know, you're seeing what's happening in Minnesota, right? In Minneapolis, where they're blocking ice, they're blocking President Trump's ability to deport illegal immigrants. We have a very powerful tool in Texas. It was a Freedom Caucus priority. It's called the ban on sanctuary cities. So what will we do? What would I do as AG if they get in the way? Local government, liberal local government gets in the way of President Trump and his border security and deportation agenda. There are three tools. Number one, sue for civil penalties. Number two, criminal penalties. And number three, this is the strongest tool, removal from office. You get in the way of ice, you get removed from office. It is that simple, because this is how we keep our families safe. This is how we keep Texas safe. It's how we keep our community safe.
>> Walker Wildmon: The, um, the other, uh, piece of legislation I wanted you to touch base on, I know we're going, uh, uh, bouncing over a little bit on a couple of different bills here. Some of these are different legislation that have been passed, but nonetheless, one of the more recent ones, uh, was this annual report, the fiscal cost of illegal immigration. The reason this is important is because a lot of states have a hard time tracking and knowing the exact cost on the system and the cost on taxpayers that illegal immigration is causing. So talk about the importance of that bill, um, and getting that transparency out there so taxpayers can see what illegal immigration is costing the state.
>> Texas Senator Mayes Middleton: Well, exactly right. Uh, Governor Abbott was already collecting data on this. With our healthcare system, we know it's in the billions of dollars. Uh, one of the other things that we've got to do is Plyler versus Doe. Right? That was the Supreme Court case that requires taxpayers to subsidize, you know, these public services for illegal immigrants. It's wrong. It's one of my top priorities to challenge that and overturn that. I'm tired of Texas taxpayers having to shoulder the burden of the consequences of an open border, whether that's in the education system or the healthcare system or anything else. And that is why I fought to stop in state tuition for illegal immigrants. That was, uh, something that occurred in Texas. It was an old law. It was wrong. And what it did is it required our taxpayers to pay for subsidized tuition. So lower cost, higher ed tuition for illegal immigrants, and it discriminated against citizens. Right. Someone comes here from Louisiana, they pay out, uh, of state tuition. Someone breaks the law and crosses the border, they pay in state tuition. That is wrong. We got to turn off the magnets as well. And you know, that includes birthright citizenship that's been abused. That's another magnet why people are coming here. And it's not just, you know, illegal immigration from our southern border.
>> Walker Wildmon: Right.
>> Texas Senator Mayes Middleton: We saw something in the news the other day where communist Chinese citizens are recruiting Texas women to be surrogates, having babies, getting dual citizenship, sending the children back to China. Is that in our favor? I don't think so. When are they going to show back up? Right. So that's when we another reason why we need to ban birthright citizenship and end it once and for all. And I hope that that happens exactly like that in our U.S. supreme Court. Very important case to put America first and put Texas first.
>> Walker Wildmon: We've been talking to Texas State Senator Maze Middleton, uh, serving District 11, also running for the Attorney General's position there in the state of Tex. Uh, Senator Middleton, tell our folks where they can read more about your work and, uh, check out, uh, more about the things that you're working on.
>> Texas Senator Mayes Middleton: So go to maysmiddleton.com m a y-e s m I d d l e t o n dot com and I'm of course on, you know, Facebook and Instagram and Twitter as well. But look, ah, my wife and I were blessed to have four little ones at home. That's my daily reminder of what we're fighting for here. And the reason why it's so important is we don't have another Texas to move to. And I'll tell you, I'm the only one in this AG's race that's been protested at the Texas Capitol during this campaign. They had these big ugly green signs with my face on it, and they called me the bathroom bigot. Why? Because I don't want men in my little girl's restroom or locker room or shower. That shows you the evil we're up against here. Or even James Talarico, who's running for US Senate and he said it's unchristian and un American to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Right. So what do you do? You got to bring the fight to the left. So I donated Ten Commandments posters to all the schools in James Talarico's district in his honor. He didn't like that very much. But that's what we got to do to take this country back.
>> Walker Wildmon: Amen. Hey, thanks so much, Senator, uh, Middleton. Glad to have you on.
>> Texas Senator Mayes Middleton: Hey, I appreciate you having me on today.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yep, absolutely appreciate that. That's Senator, uh, Middleton there from the state of Texas serving District 11 and also running for the AG's office there in uh, the uh, most recent statewide election. Uh, also the um, we're going to attempt to have on Chip, uh, Roy, Congressman Chip Roy, who's also running for that position there in the state of Texas for Attorney General. Uh, moving on to a few other topics I want to get to this segment before we wrap it up is what's going on in the Strait of Hormuz. The um, this is a pretty, pretty lengthy about two and a half minute Fox report on this Project Freedom that the White House and President Trump announced over the weekend to attempt to open the Strait of Hormuz. So let's listen to this report. This is going to be clip three.
>> Harris Faulkner: Central Command says U.S. forces in the waters off of Iran have now been working to restore safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz. They are implementing the humanitarian project which President Trump now called Project Freedom. He announced it yesterday. CENTCOM posted this today as a first step. Two US Flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are safely headed on their journey. Iran's state run media this morning claimed the Revolutionary guard hit a U.S. warship with two missiles. Centcom said no, that did not happen. Iran then said it had fired warning shots. Meanwhile, back to the truth. The Defense Ministry of the UAE says Iran did shoot down, or it had to shoot down three missiles offshore as a fourth splashed into the water. We understand those may have come from Iran. Brian Yenis is live for us in Tel Aviv, Israel with the latest. So Brian, some breaking news last hour. A lot going on where you are today.
>> Brian Yenis: No doubt about it, Harris. And so for the first time since this US Iran cease fire was brokered four weeks ago, Iran is under, is actually initiating attacks right now. We know that the United Arab Emirates missile defense system is activated. Four missiles were fired from Iran to the uae. Three were shot out of the air, intercepted over the sea. The other fourth fell into the water. We also know that Iran has launched drones against the United Arab Emirates. One hitting an oil facility in Fajara, sparking a fire there. Two other Iranian drones hit, hit an empty oil tanker as it made its way through the Strait of Hormuz. And at this hour, right now, actually, CENTCOM Navy Admiral Brad Cooper is updating reporters on Project Freedom, the humanitarian effort right now to safely guide an estimated 800 cargo ships and tankers and 20,000 crew members out of the strait. Admiral Cooper says that CENTCOM has defeated multiple Iranian ballistic missile launches, drones and has sunk six Iranian small boats. This morning, CENTCOM is strongly advising Iranian forces to stay away as it guides ships through what the US Is calling an enhanced security area along Oman's territorial waters. So far, at least two US Flagged merchant ships have successfully crossed through the strait. Iranian state media, by the way, is now claiming that Iran fired warning shots at US Destroyers in the strait. It says that the Strait of Hormuz is its territory and is warning that any American interference will be considered a violation of the ceasefire.
>> Walker Wildmon: All right, well, there you have it. That's a. That's a Fox report giving you the background to hear on this Project Freedom that President Trump announced over this past weekend. Here's where we are. Just to keep things simple and let you know where we are. Um, the kinetic warfare. The bombing of Iran has ceased, and it has been for a couple weeks now. Since the ceasefire was announced several weeks ago. The Strait of Hormuz is still locked, as locked as it's ever been closed as it's ever been. Despite what Iran says, despite what President Trump says, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed. We're at. Instead of 130 to 150 ships passing through the strait on a daily basis, you're at single digits. Most of those approved by Iran because of their relationship with the host country or the flag country. What President Trump announced over the weekend was this Project Freedom where the US Military would escort these commercial, uh, shipping vessels, uh, these commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz to unclog the jam, so to speak. Well, the US Military did that on, I think it was either Sunday or Monday. They did that within hours of President Trump announcing this. And two US Flag container ships successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz. But then on, um, Tuesday of this week, yesterday, President Trump put out this statement based on the request of Pakistan and other countries. The tremendous military success that we have had during the campaign against the country of Iran, additionally the fact that great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran. We have mutually agreed that while the blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not an agreement can be finalized and signed. So I know it's hard to keep up here. Over the weekend, President Trump says Project Freedom, we're about to unclog the shred of Harmuz. We're going to open it up, ships are going to be flowing. And then 48 hours later, President Trump says we're putting the whole thing on pause. We're pausing the whole thing. We're not doing Project Freedom right now. No ships are going to go through the straight of Harmuths. So I don't know what's going on. I would love to be optimistic and think there's some grand strategy here, but being multiple months into this and this daily back and forth on what we're doing and what we're not doing and we're going to do this and we're not going to do that, I actually don't know what to believe and I actually don't know how this is going to end. I don't have a crystal ball. We'll be back in a few.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Tune in Saturdays at 1:30 Central for the Compass with host Rick Beggs and I, Voter Guide President Debbie Wuthnau. Each weekend, the Compass will seek to navigate the public square with faith, truth and conviction. Rick and Debbie will keep tabs on upcoming elections and remind us of the importance of our participation in them. The Compass reminds us that God is our true north. Be listening for the Compass Saturday afternoons at 1:30 Central on American Family Radio. The American Family Association's mission is to inform, equip and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of our culture. We also support the church. Our goal is to be a leading organization in biblical worldview training for cultural transformation. AFA aims to evangelize the lost and disciple the believer. We aim to strengthen biblical marriages and equip parents to raise godly children.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Thank you for standing with the American Family Association. This is At The Core on American Family Radio with your host, Walker Wildmon.
>> Walker Wildmon: Welcome back to the program here on American Family Radio. Um, you know the, the last segment, I ended up with the Fox Report on what's going on in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz and that, uh, for those who don't know and haven't necessarily kept up with this in detail, other than the, the headlines, the Strait of Hormuz is an important global shipping lane, and it's more important for other countries in Asia and Europe than it is for the United States. That's true. But still, it's generally, um, a very important international shipping lane. And there are thousands, thousands or at least a thousand plus vessels that are at a standstill in, uh, the Persian Gulf, unable to transit out of that, uh, Gulf into, uh, international waters and through the Strait of Hormuz. And there's. There, there are thousands of personnel, up to 20,000 on those vessels that have been eating, sleeping, and living on the vessels for two months now. So that, that's what's going on. That's the importance of getting that straight of Hormuz reopened. And, um, right now it's not. And there's no sign of it being reopened. And in fact, this is looking like Iran actually does have some pretty serious leverage here. The fact that they've been able to keep it closed through military force and through threat for this long actually shows that for all intents and purposes, Iran actually does have a lot of control over that Strait of Hormuz, more than we're giving them credit for. Uh, nonetheless, let's jump to our next guest. Representative Brice Wiggins is with us. He represents District 52 here in the state of Mississippi, and he's on to talk about some of the legislation he has worked on this past session and soon to be special session in Mississippi. Uh, Representative Wiggins, glad to have you back.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: Thanks, uh, for having me. It's Senator Wiggins, uh, but I work, I work closely with our friends in the house over there.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. So it's great to be here. Sorry about that. I do have you as Senator Wiggins, but I've, um. I'm juggling. Juggling a couple things here. Um.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: Oh, I believe I under. I understand.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah. Well, glad to have you on, Senator Wiggins. Um, you represent District 52. For those who are from Mississippi familiar with this area, uh, tell us a couple of the counties that you're representing there in District 52.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: Yeah, so I call it representing, uh, South Jackson county, which, um, uh, that is all of Jackson county, but is the cities of Pascagoula, Gosher, Ocean Springs, uh, and parts of the county. But it's where Ingle Shipbuilding, um, which makes, you know, 70% of the US Navy, has uh, its, uh, big, big, uh, shipbuilding facility, got Chevron here, um, and it's Actually for those that find it intriguing, it's where former US Majority Trent Lott is from. So, ah, good legacy here. I appreciate it.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, absolutely. Well, uh, Senator Wiggins, tell us about this Keeping kids safe online. This has been signed by the governor. It's a very important bill that you worked on with Representative, uh, Hood over in the House. Tell, um, us a ah, little bit about this bill and some background.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: Yeah, so, uh, just for your, for your listeners, my background, I was a prosecutor for almost a decade where I prosecuted cases, uh, that involved uh, child abuse crimes, uh, against children, things like that. So, uh, trading on that, I kind of uh, have taken that over into the legislature. Uh, and uh, yes, this bill, uh, uh, it started out one way and uh, it ended up another way. But the bottom line is that it, it has provided an, a pathway for parents in particular to hold
>> Joseph Parker: social, um,
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: media companies accountable for their products and their social media apps. And um, I probably don't need to tell your listeners kind of the things that we've been having to deal with in our society with the um, I guess dangers of social media. Um, and so, you know, people that I've heard from, uh, parents, they're looking for something. Now I am chairman of the Judiciary, a committee in the Senate. Uh, my colleague Rep. Uh, Chairman Joey Hood is in the House. And uh, the bill started out one way and what happens is you get involved in First Amendment issues and things like that, but working together, we wanted to find a way that we could allow the bill to go and work to have the parents have a say in protecting their children. And I'll get into kind of the specifics if you want me to, but that's how the gist of it came about.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, well, the civil route is a relatively new development when we're talking about uh, these online platforms and the harm that is being done to children. And the reason I mentioned that is because these major technology platforms and companies have been relatively shielded, um, through section 230 and other statutes as well that give them this liability protections where they claim we don't control this, this is just a platform. Um, but it's so much more than that. And they do actually, um, exercise way more control than they claim to have. They've got entire moderation teams, entire moderation algorithms. These platforms fully know what's going on on their platforms. To act as if they don't is just to be completely lying. And so with all of that being said and the, and the technology there today to be able to properly moderate the platforms and protect children, um, and the fact that other companies that are not technology companies have to fall under various, uh, regulations and liability because you can't provide a good or a service that, you know, is harming someone and then just act like, you know, oh, I can't be held accountable. So basically what we're doing here is making technology companies follow the same rules and liability procedures as everybody else does in the business world. And so, but this is refreshing that we're opening the door for Big Tech to be held accountable because for so long, last 15 to 20 years, they just haven't been from a civil standpoint.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: Yeah, you, you summed it up well. And just to kind of get into the logistics of the bill, um, it did two. It has done two things and it'll go into effect July 1st. And that is, number one, it requires the, uh, schools in our state and with the Department of Education to, uh, put out, um, information informing parents and children about the harms of technology, of social media platforms and the things that go along with that and also the good and the bad. But specifically that. And then the, the other thing it does is to your, to your big point is, uh, it allows for a cause of action to be filed by the attorney general in the state of Mississippi where the social media platforms, uh, are, uh, seen to, where they intentionally know that they could do harm to the children, uh, and to others, uh, that get addicted. Okay. And then, number three, it does allow for a, what we call an individual, um, cause, uh, of action by anybody, by parents, if the platforms are, uh, knowingly sharing pornography. Uh, and what, to your point, um, this is actually borrowing from what we call, uh, our normal products liability laws. It goes back to what you were saying earlier. I mean, the reality is you can't put a product out into the marketplace and know that it's going to cause danger or injuries to people. If you do, then you have a right to sue them. Be it through the, you know, through the government or through yourself. You have a right to sue them. And yes, that does hold them accountable. Because on a certain level, you know, if, if it gets, if it continues, you know, in some ways, it may put them out of the, out of business. But to your point, there's been some shielding. Yes, there's been a lot of shielding. They haven't had to live up to that. Um, and because of the stuff that hasn't happened in Congress on that, uh, the states are picking up the, um, the mantle and trying to stand up for parents and families and we did that in the state of Mississippi, uh, a couple years ago with the Walker Montgomery act, which was where a child, a teenager, uh, committed suicide, got addicted or uh, to the social media platforms. We pass an act on that. Uh, I see this act as the next step where parents can again, uh, uh, file lawsuits against the social media company. And, and the, and here's, and here's how that's important. Look, these things get to be brought out in court, okay? As you probably know, they're. During this spring there were two verdicts, one in California and I think one in NewSong Mexico against this, uh, Meta and the other social media platforms. And a few of those actually settled. Well, these companies don't want that to come out in, in public, if you will, because trials are public or they want an accountability. And the one in California, the jury returned a verdict against them. So this provides that accountability on a state by state basis. Now I fully support companies and corporations and I am a free market guy, but uh, there's a give and take here and the field needed to be leveled a little bit.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, or a lot actually. Absolutely. The comparison that Jamison Taylor and others use, and I'm sure you've used this before, is with the tobacco industry and now with all the litigation, the big tobacco litigation. Now you go into a convenience store and I mean in big bold letters, um, by the tobacco booth, there's, it basically tells you how this can kill you in legalese, that's what it says, cancer, etc. Um, and so, but then you still have the law that only adults can purchase the tobacco assuming they know the risk involved with the disclaimers. Uh, but here we're talking about similar harm while it takes shape in a whole different form. But there's a lot of studies, a lot of sociology and psychology behind how these platforms are built, how the algorithms really prey on your endorphins and everything that gets released. Um, but we're talking about minors here. So this isn't like we're trying to prevent a 27 year old adult from being able to use social media, even though I still think there should be disclaimers. But we're talking about minors here, we're talking about children, uh, that are being victimized by the platforms and by the bad actors on the platforms. And so that just gives people a little bit of a comparison, um, as far as what, what's going on here
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: and, and to your, to your comparison point in the big, to, in the tobacco stuff. And by the way, I, I kind of got started My law career got started when the whole tobacco stuff was at its peak. I was uh, I just come out of law school. But part of that was that the tobacco companies marketed to the youth. They actually, if you go look at what they did through the, I remember the, the Camel package, uh, that was Camel cigarettes and, and Joe Cool and all that. That was from stuff I saw that was geared towards youth and children, uh, for the psychological, in my opinion, for the psychological reasons to get people and you build that for, to make them long term customers and stuff. So it's the same sort of thing on that. And also both from a legal perspective and a legislative perspective, there has always been a difference drawn between minors and adults. And generally speaking, that's 18. And that's what this does, is protecting the kids, uh, from such things as their minors. And to your point, um, the reality is if you're an adult, you can make your own decisions and all that. You may. And guess what? Being a part of America and a private society, you can as an adult, you get to make decisions that actually are against you. But we're talking about children here. And that's been the uh, line that has been in place. And that's what was drawn, I guess, uh, not. I guess that was the line that was drawn kind of borrowing from that, uh, in the past.
>> Walker Wildmon: Yeah, yeah. And it's a very, it's a very consensus building line. I mean when you poll the public, um, ever who's against protecting children, I mean you're talking about a small fraction of people and most of those are probably criminals anyway. Um, but the, but most people are in favor of protecting children. And that's what this legislation does and it sends a signal even to adults that, hey, you need to be careful on these platforms. There's some harm in that can be done on these platforms. Senator, uh, Brice Wiggins, thanks so much for coming on. Appreciate your work and tell our folks where they can find out more about you.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: Yeah, so appreciate it. Um, if they want to find me on. Speaking of, I am on the social, social, uh, apps Face, Facebook and uh, X and uh, uh, Instagram. So I am there. Uh, and then I uh, have brycewiggins.com you can find me there. Um, or you can just Google Brice Wiggins, uh, Mississippi State Senator and things should pop up on that. And look, it's a, it's a privilege to be with y'.
>> Walker Wildmon: All.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: I appreciate uh, the mission that uh, that you're working on and that you've been doing and you know, I've standing up for parents and children has really been the focus of both my prosecutorial career and my legislative career. So appreciate y' all allowing me to to come on.
>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely. Appreciate your work. Appreciate your partnership.
>> MS Senator Brice Wiggins: Yeah, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
>> Walker Wildmon: Absolutely. That's a, uh, Senator Brice Wiggins from the state of Mississippi, representing District 52 there, and glad to have him on. He's been very key in a lot of legislation over the years, and specifically this past session. Very, very critical to getting some of these good pieces of legislation through the finish line. So we appreciate him coming on. Thanks for joining us, folks. AFR.net find out more m information about our programs. And don't forget, you can subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to podcast.
>> Jeff Chamblee: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
