Rik Green

You found us at the intersection of faith and culture. It's the Wall Builders Show, taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. But, man, historical is what's happening right now as well as yesterday. We're making history right now in this country some really, really amazing things that have happened in just the last few days. We'll be talking about that, but you can learn more about us at our website, wallbuilders.com. Wallbuilders.com that's our main website, and then the radio site is wallbuilders.show and that's where you can get any of the programs you might have missed over the last few weeks or months, and at either website. We appreciate you going and sharing those links because you're a force multiplier, helping others to learn these truths as well.

I'm Rick Green, America's Constitution Coach, here with David Barton and Tim Barton, David's America's premier historian and our founder at WallBuilders. Tim's a national speaker and pastor and president of WallBuilders and I wish everybody could see David right now, because he's got a great cowboy hat on and he's there on the floor at the national convention where JD Vance and Donald Trump were nominated. And, of course, david, you've been a delegate to the convention many times and you know how all of this works. So we're going to get a little update on how the convention works. What happens next, talk a little bit about the VP choice of Donald Trump and then, of course, talk about the assassination attempt from last Saturday. So we've got a lot to cover today.

David Barton

Yeah, we do. And you know, speaking of being in conventions a while, I think the most fun I had was when I won with Moses. That was really good. When we got the Ten Commandments, that was a great convention. Okay, maybe I haven't been going that long but I've been going for a while.

Rick Green

Did I overdo it? Let's see, it does only happen every four years, so that would age you if I said you've been to 40 conventions, 160 years old.

David Barton

Yeah, that would put it in there for sure. But I've been through a bunch of presidents, that's for sure.

Tim Barton

Well you know, Dad, better that you were at the convention with Moses than staying back in the camp with Aaron, because those guys got in trouble.

That wasn't you know, at least you were on the right side of that convention.

Rick Green

Well, I'm guessing, at the convention you're at now, David, you feel like both are there. You've got a few folks who feel like you're hanging out with Moses, and then you've got some folks who feel like you're hanging out with Aaron and the rest, and we're all on the road. So our sound's a little different tonight, folks. But for our show we just had to be able to comment about the assassination attempt and, of course, the JD Vance announcement for vice president. So a lot to cover, guys. What do you want to talk about first? I guess Saturday's assassination attempt happened. first let's talk about that and then we'll come back to JDance

David Barton

yeah, and, by the way, just you know, talking about the, the um, two different kinds of conventions, that could have happened. It was funny just watching the the convention on Monday because there was live band there and national stuff and there there are folks that you know, they go back to my time, kind of stuff. But you could sure see which generation knew which band that was and which generation didn't know which band that was. So we had the old and the young in attendance at the same convention and that was a pretty easy distinguishing mark was whether they understood and knew the songs that was being played. So that was kind of fun too.

Rick Green

Okay, it's actually hilarious that you started with that, David, because I was texting with my kids while watching the convention and I don't know who the band was, but I knew all the songs and they didn't know any of the songs, was it? It wasn't just a cover band, or was this a real band that?

David Barton

no, I know they're. They're the band that that had all those number one hits and the you know 80s, that kind of stuff, oh wow. And so you know it was all live and it was them, and they're all there with their gray hair, but this kind of like rolling stones are still in the road.

Rick Green

You know, well, I'm like one of my kids actually said that I said something about who's playing and he said I don't know, dad, they look like they played in the 50s, 1950s. Yeah, yeah, I felt really old when he said that. But yeah but so, speaking of that, do you see some young faces at the convention? Is oh yeah yeah, because you don't always see that.

David Barton

No, there's lots and lots of young faces at the convention and there's a real clear generational distinguishing.

I mean there's some really old people who were there before Moses was they probably went in with the Egyptians at some point, but there's also folks who are, I'm going to say, 19, 20, 21 in that range and there's, I would say, the bulk. Maybe I'm going to say maybe 40 percent is going to be 45 and over and maybe 30 percent is between 28 and maybe 45. So it's it's not a I like it because it's a good mix of Americans and it's the next generation coming up being very involved politically and for whatever reason, that generation seems to have been told they don't need to get involved politically and stuff, and it's just good to see them. So I thought it was a real healthy mix.

Rick Green

Well, I heard that the reason the band played for so long was a teleprompter malfunction, that the reason the band played for so long was a teleprompter malfunction. So I guess all parties are subject to teleprompter malfunctions, including the Republican Party, and it was Mike Johnson, who's a fairly young guy, at the microphone whenever all that happened. Well, so what was y'all's take? Saturday? I mean obviously a major moment in American history, and potentially a lot of things changed at that moment for Donald Trump personally and spiritually, and and for our nation. This is, this is obviously very historic, and I think the whole nation paused for a moment.

Tim Barton

Well, I was in Missouri. I was speaking at a church and I am backstage getting ready to walk out Worship band they're finishing up and I get a text on my phone and someone says President Trump has just been shot. I was talking about God's providence and the miracles of the revolution, how God kept showing up in moments when it seemed like all hope was lost. There's no way. And this miracle happened. And then I would have quotes from founding fathers about how they recognize God's providence and giving full credit to providence for what had happened. And I get word that President Trump's been shot and I'm like, hang on a second. I tell him, the director backstage, like I need to look something up real quick. I mean they said, hey, you have like 45 seconds. I'm like I'm using it all right now because I want to know is he still alive? Right, because if the text said he was shot, so little context. And so is this man dead? Like? Because if so, I probably need to address that right now as I'm going out there. And so then I saw an upper force to see that he had gotten up, walked up, no power, that he had pumped his fist at the crowd, and so at least he's alive, okay, so I go out and I give this talk and come back and then when service is over and I'm on my phone and I have just dozens of texts from all kinds of people talking about it, sending videos, asking questions, and we're able to find out a little bit. Talking about it, sending videos, asking questions, and we're able to find out a little bit more. Now, of course, Saturday night there was some information, though there was a lot of questions. On Sunday, of course, we found out more and we're still finding out more. We're finding out more about some of the women that were on the Secret Service team, about the director of the Secret Service, her background, about the DEI program that is now operating in the Secret Service, and so a lot of details. And certainly we can get into even the shooter. And how are you able to get on the rooftop of the closest building with a direct line of sight to the President of the United States at a rally, when it sure seems like the security team behind President Trump? All the videos are showing they've got this guy eyes on. I mean it looks like for a minute or two, maybe more, before anything happens. And now video is coming out, people on the ground identifying there's a shooter up there, telling local law enforcement they're doing nothing.

And the most bizarre conversation over the last, I'd say probably two days at this point is asking the question at this point, do we think that the team is that incompetent Because, right, there's a lot of FBI in this?

Is it that incompetent? Or is this another one of the deep state, like you know, CIA kind of scenarios where this is intentional and guys? To me, the craziest part about this is to have an asset question. Is this a level of a topic from the government that we certainly see in some areas? Are we now seeing it in the Secret Service or do we think they're trying to take Trump out? Either way, we absolutely recognize God's providence Trump out Now either way. We absolutely recognize God's providence. In fact, I think it was Sunday morning when he put out a message about how God had protected and just giving God the credit, and certainly we hope this is something that really is a divine connecting moment for President Trump, that his faith becomes real like it's never been before. Nonetheless, to me, it's just such a bizarre thing that we have to ask the question is our government this incompetent or are they that intentional trying to take out a political candidate?

David Barton

Yeah, both are good questions. I think there's some answer that it's some of both. I mean, clearly somebody did try to take him out. And if you heard even what Jesse Waters did on his show going back and playing all the other clips of a leader saying somebody needs to shoot this guy, somebody needs to shoot Trump, somebody needs to take him out and even Biden said there needs to be a bullseye on him I mean that kind of rhetoric would never have been allowed off the other side. So there's certainly a level of political motivation there when you're using that rhetoric in a period of time where America has lost much of his moral fiber and young men like that 20-year-old clearly had no sense of any Judeo-Christian moral fiber, accountability to God kind of concept, to even attempt murder, as he was trying to attempt and did commit murder and two attempted murders, or actually three attempted murders. So I think it's some of both. But you know, what was interesting to me was when you have someone like that, like President Trump, that is somewhere between confident and arrogant depends on who you listen to when something like this happens an attempted assassination that was so close and, by the way, I'm going to do a little blurb here back in the 80s I read a book by a guy named Frank Peretti. It was called this Present Darkness. It was a terrific book. It was a novel, it was a long novel and it was based on what we get in the scriptures in Ephesians 6, that there are spiritual realities, there are principalities and powers, there are evil forces of darkness that fight, and they fight God's angels and heavenly fights, just as happened 21 days with Daniel in the book of Daniel. And so Frank did a novel, really interesting novel, and you move back and forth between what's happening down in the political realm and this town called Ashton and then you move up to what's happening in the spiritual realm with the angels and the principalities and powers. And it's just so many things happened that when you're on the ground it was, oh, that was interesting. But then when you saw it, oh, it was an angel that got involved, or angel moved something or did something.

And when you look at Trump, that it is his head turn that he did, moving to the right. It's not a characteristic head turn, he usually turns his shoulders, his body, and that guy had him lined up in the sights. That should have been a complete ear hole shot and it's like somebody hits Trump and slapped him on the side of the face and I just kept thinking you know, there's an angel up there. They just put his finger on Trump's head and just turned his head real quick, Right when that bullet was coming. The kid had no chance to adjust the shot because it happened so quickly. But I thought, all right, principalities and powers. And I just finished listening to that audio book, this Present Darkness, and it was just like, wow, this is real spiritual stuff.

Tim Barton

And Dad, I'd point out too right, you can say that you know angel turning Trump's head, but let's point out that head turned early on for the first shot.

There were multiple follow-up shots and if you're shooting an AR-15 and from a prone position, multiple follow-up shots, yeah, and if you're shooting an AR-15, and from a prone position, that is such reduced recoil that for anyone who's had any level of training first of all, I mean generally you zero your rifles around that range, right, that's not considered a super far shot and anybody that's had any level of training, those are super easy shots and especially when you're shooting a low recoil  round and you're in a prone position, a follow-up shot should be super easy. This guy had multiple shots. So I would say I mean certainly we could argue, an angel, maybe turning Trump's head. Equally, right, I mean an angel on the other side of the rooftop bumping the gun, bumping the sights. I mean, whatever it is.

We don't know exactly what that looked like and the level of spiritual involvement, specifically what it was, but certainly it's reasonable to think that there was an angel involved on some level, God's hand of protection unquestionably involved, whether it was just an initial miss, right, maybe the angel there for Trump, initial miss and then angel over on the other side keeping that gun from those sites lining up correctly. Whatever it is, I mean there's no doubt that God protected Trump and dad, as you mentioned, with it coming fresh off you listening to a book that is a novel dealing with some level of spiritual warfare. That's really.

David Barton

Yeah, it was. And so when that happened, when you got again, between either the arrogance or the confidence of Trump, however you want to call it there's a couple of reactions I would expect, and one is look at me, I'm bulletproof, nothing can take me down, and you become even more arrogant. And the other is oh my gosh, God just saved my life. This is so amazing, and what we saw in the tweet and the message he put out indicated the second and not the first, and so that was a big topic of discussion among the delegation of conventional Monday is his response, and they were really, really impressed with his response of acknowledging God. And what we learned on Monday as well was he's even rewriting his speech. He's even going the opposite direction, and so the speech he had prepared for Thursday night, when he will give his speech, is not going to be the same speech and it's a different tone and, I've got to say, even backing up more with Trump having gone through all those and he's still going through all the lawfare and all the lawsuits, and he's starting to win them now. Going through all of that, somebody asked him what are you going to do for revenge, because they have targeted you like no one's ever been targeted 70 lawsuits or whatever it was Nobody's ever- What are you going to do for revenge? He said I'm not going to do revenge. He said the best revenge is for America to succeed. That is such a mature answer that is so different from what I would have expected from him. And so the same thing now he's rewriting the speech to say America needs unity, we cannot be polarized, we've got to come together on things, we've got to stop fighting one another. And that's not what you would expect either. So that Thursday night speech is going to be a very different tone of speech and, coming from President Trump, I think that even makes it more significant.

Rick Green

Yeah, guys, it definitely may be a real opportunity for the whole nation to stop and think about God's role in American history and in these pivotal, pivotal moments. We've got to take a quick break. We'll be right back, folks. You're listening to the Wal Builder Show.

Break

Rick Green

Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. We're doing a special show today. No guest with us today. We're all three on the road all over the country. Lots of good things happening, but also some pivotal things happening. And, of course, guys, big announcement yesterday that JD Vance will be the vice-presidential nominee with Donald Trump. And of course, David, you're right there at the convention. We'll be there throughout this week. What's the temperature on the ground in response to that? And then let's talk a little bit about Senator Vance. I don't know a lot about him, to be honest. He's only been in office two years and a business man, before that an attorney just not a lot that I've interacted with him on. So I guess, first, how are people responding at the convention?

David Barton

I would say the reaction of the convention is more of your reaction. Who in the world is this guy? Now, I say that on one hand, but that's not the reaction per se. The reaction is this is who President Trump wants, that's who we want, and so they don't know much about him. I think if you ask the delegates here, maybe one out of 10 could describe JD Vance and what he is, what he does, what he believes does what he believes.

So for most it has not been that kind of a setting. It's been well, not sure who he is, but that's who president wants and that's the team we want going forward. And, by the way, this is a little different from previous conventions in that they announced that on Monday, which I think is a really good deal, because now the rest of the convention is about. Let's talk about the team and what we need to do with the team. So now your team is put together. There's no wonderment. A lot of times they'll wait till the end and that's a surprise announcement. They come out and stand with the president.

He's done it on known name. To most people he's a senator, and most people couldn't tell you who the senators from Ohio were. But what you know is he's a Marine, he's a businessman, he and his wife have done a very successful book and movie. And what we know about JD Vance I'll just kind of give some background on it. He's a traditionalist in every sense of the word. He is a traditional values guy. He's a traditional America guy. He's a traditional family guy. He's just a traditionalist. He had not been a believer, not been a Christian. He was pro-God as a traditionalist but not necessarily a Christian, and that's changed in the last year. In the last year he started wanting to get close to Christ and so he started attending church regularly, attending Catholic mass, attending Catholic services every day now wanting to really get grounded and that'll be good experience for him the basic training teaching they do in the catechisms. He's going to get grounded with basic Christian values and teachings really quick. So that's a good thing from him too.

Tim Barton

And Dad, I would say too I mean just, you know, caveat with that it depends on, as he's going to Catholic services, slash training in the day. I mean, you know, it certainly does depend. Is he going there for prayer or is it actually a catechism, because there can be different things. But all I have to say he's positioning himself where there's the opportunity for him to grow in his faith, which is significant. One of the other things that I think is interesting, kind of surrounding him after, and I do wonder, as a genuine question, if he was for sure the pick before the assassination attempt. Sincerely, because if one of the things I saw a lot of, a lot of conservative talking heads suggest is that after the assassination attempt, that Trump needs to put somebody as his vice president that has exactly the same thought, vision, mindset, so that, if God forbid, something ever happens to him, that he's got his, his mini me, his replacement, lined up, that they can fill that gap. And so then there's the question of it was JD Vance at that point, maybe a replacement from somebody else, right? Because if trump thinks, hey, I'm gonna win because there's there's the split strategy, uh, do you want a vice president like, for example, example, a Ben Carson who has no future ambitions in politics, who would be a really solid teammate, who has the right kind of values, who is a believer in the fact that our rights come from God and not government, who would probably try to minimize the role of the federal government, but he's not really going to be that leader you need as a president. So it makes me wonder if that position did change.

For President Trump to go back to Vance, and is that because he would maybe view Vance as a fighter?

Because if you have a background as a Marine, as an entrepreneur, and you have your law degree from Yale, I mean there's a lot to say about that, and I don't, as all of us.

I mean we know what we're reading about Vance.

We've seen him give some speeches.

We were very familiar with who he was, but I've seen him even go on some of the liberal outlets on the left and he has gone on absolutely to challenge some of the narrative and the fact that you're willing to go into hostile territory on some noted shows when you know they're going to attack you and you're going to defend the narrative. That does say something to me about his level of confidence and hopefully some confidence, but also some of that fighter in him, and so I'm throwing this out there for you guys, and you know what do you think on. I wonder if he could have always been the pick Trump had in mind, but I do wonder if maybe he is now the one that Trump chose because he says this is a guy that can carry a vision, and so whether he then runs for president after this, or if it tees up someone like DeSantis to come back and try again after Trump's next four years, I'm not sure, but I do wonder if the assassination attempt changed maybe who Trump was going to pick.

David Barton

Well, I can throw out that about two and a half three months ago I was told that Trump had already picked JD Vance, so that was the guy he liked most. Now, what started happening after that? And Trump was still in the primaries but there was, I think, no question he was going to win the primaries. So after those early states were done, you got into the later primaries. It was a pretty done deal and at that point I was told that he'd picked JD Vance.

Now he continued talking about six or seven or eight others Tim Scott and various people and even DeSantis he threw out for a while. And I think that's important for the political side, because now you're appealing to all those people who like those six or seven other names and so you're bringing them into the campaign. And I thought that's probably what was happening was that? And I know even this last weekend, folks inside the campaign were talking about Ben Carson to the religious leaders, the Christian leaders, and it's kind of like, you know, we want everybody to feel comfortable that Trump could have chosen a guy that you really like, a guy that you're really part of. So I think probably there's a whole lot more in common with JD Vance than with others.

For example, JD Vance is an America first guy. It's like Ukraine. Why are we spending money in Ukraine? Let's spend money in America, let's not do this kind of stuff. And so he really is an America first guy. He's also going to be a good help to Trump on the trail campaigning in particularly Midwest blue collar states. He's going to be a great-.

Rick Green

And, David, since you mentioned Ukraine, just real quick, he also pointed out I saw a speech he did where he pointed out why Ukraine was so different from Israel, that we should be supporting Israel, that we have a stake there, we have an interest there, we have a duty and responsibility there, but not to Ukraine, which is really important.

Of course. That's what we've said on the program from the beginning on that subject. 

David Barton

Yeah, and so he has so many views that Trump holds that a lot of other Republicans don't hold, and so I think there's a very common thing there. Now, I think whether I was talking about this today, I think whether he goes forward, is going to depend on a couple of things. If Trump is able to reunite the nation to some degree and I was talking to a reporter from one of the big networks and well, what would that look like?

What would happen if Trump united the nation? Well, democrats aren't going to suddenly become Republicans. It takes two, three, four cycles to happen. But what they do is they become. They'll first stop voting Democrat, then they'll become independents and then they become Republicans. It takes a several step cycle. So what would happen here is if, if Democrats, grassroots Democrats really resonate with Trump saying hey, let's get back to unity, let's quit fighting, let's quit polarizing, I don't think they're going to vote for Trump, but I think they won't vote at all, and that's a big shift if that were to happen, and then they might think about listening to other things. But if that happens, where you see a shift. I think JD Vance has got a shot at a presidency, but short of that, I think vice president is as far as you go in this day and age.

Tim Barton

Guys, I also saw yesterday that Kamala Harris has already agreed to a debate with him. I think Fox News reported that. So that will also be interesting. You know, in fairness, I feel like that probably most Americans could win a debate with Kamala Harris. Or just sit there and let her talk and you come out the winner. You know her. Her likability is so low, but that will be also very interesting to see what is.

What is it he's promoting? Dad, I think you're right. I think it's going to be a lot of the America first, a lot of those kind of values, and to see if he goes on the offense to expose so much of the nonsense of what the Biden-Harris administration have done with the open borders, with the instability around the world now, but the funding of Ukraine and the connection to the Biden family, giving money to Ukraine, the place where Hunter Biden had just been over there, et cetera, et cetera. So I don't often look forward to a vice presidential debate, but I probably will watch this one and be very curious to see what he does and how he handles it.

Rick Green

Yeah, one of the best parts about this is that Trump has put somebody on the national stage that is neither an octogenarian or mentally challenged. So Biden is both an octogenarian and mentally challenged. Kamala Harris is not an octogenarian, but definitely mentally challenged and anyway, so it's going to be great to have a 39-year-old and a military veteran. Those are all good resume things and, of course, he's been a great defender of principles and standing strong and all that. So we'll see where it all goes, guys. But, man, thanks for uh, uh, you know, doing this show from the road. David, have a great time at the convention and folks that are listening, be sure and share this. You can do that at wallbuilders.show. You've been listening to the wall builder show, thank you.