For the second time in recent days, Reverend Franklin Graham has issued a stark warning to Christians.

Last week, Graham warned graduates at Liberty University that America is stuck “in a downward spiral” and that we now live in a “culture of confusion and lies.”

This week, Graham warned the National Religious Broadcasters that a storm is coming, that dark times are coming to America. “The world has deteriorated so quickly,” Graham said. “We cannot be deceived, and we can’t be fooled.”

Graham added that “cancel culture,” which is pushed by the intolerant left, “wants to destroy Christian organizations,” adding, “They want to shut our mouths. They don’t want to hear from us.”

Graham is looking around and seeing what many of us also see — a growing darkness is covering our land.

The sanctity of life is under siege. Marriage has been redefined. And now we can’t even agree on what a woman is.

Satanic clubs are in our schools. Major retailers are embracing satanism to sell clothes. Major sports teams openly mock Christianity.

The left demands tolerance for everything. But it has no tolerance for our values. If you won’t bow to the radical demands of the militant LGBTQ agenda or the extreme pro-abortion movement, then you must be crushed.

Freedom of speech is essential to religious liberty, which is why the left pushes “cancel culture,” speech codes and the idea that “hate speech,” which only the left gets to define, should be banned.

Everywhere the left advances, religious liberty slowly dies. It’s no coincidence that the most far-left politicians were so eager to close our churches during COVID while allowing abortion clinics to remain open.

Yet what I most appreciated about Graham’s warning was not his clear diagnosis of the problem, but rather his marching orders to men and women of faith.

Graham said, “We cannot back up. We can’t retreat. Don’t apologize for the Gospel — just declare it, just preach it!”

In other words, he urged Christians not to disconnect and hide in their churches, but to run to the front lines of the culture war, and to be fully engaged in this battle for the heart and soul of America and for our children’s future.

McCarthy’s Message

Speaker Kevin McCarthy was grilled by reporters yesterday on the status of the debt limit negotiations with the Biden White House. Every day we’re told that the talks are “productive,” yet a deal remains elusive and time is running out.

Let me remind you that the main reason we’re in this mess is because Joe Biden spent months refusing to negotiate at all. So much for his overhyped promise to “bring everyone together.” That’s exactly what he was refusing to do!

In the meantime, House Republicans passed a bill last month that raises the debt limit but also responsibly limits 2024 spending to 2022 levels ($6.3 trillion) and caps future spending at 1%. Contrary to the left’s spin, there are no “draconian cuts” — merely limits on the future increases.

And keep in mind that 2022 spending levels were dramatically inflated by emergency pandemic spending. It’s not like Republicans are trying to turn back the clock to 2019 when we spent “only” $4.5 trillion!

But the leftist reporters demanded to know why McCarthy was refusing to compromise with President Biden. As usual, they have it exactly backwards. And I’m pleased to report that Speaker McCarthy aggressively pushed back, saying:

“If AOC and Bernie Sanders run the Democrat Party, it’s not my fault… It’s not my fault that Democrats cannot give up on their spending… It’s not a revenue problem. It’s a spending problem…

"Sixty percent of Americans believe that the debt ceiling should only be raised after you’ve found savings. So, we’re representing the American public and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

Ron Is Running

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launched his presidential campaign yesterday in a discussion with Elon Musk on Twitter. A more formal announcement is expected to take place in Florida next week.

It’s not entirely clear why, but Gov. DeSantis has been losing ground in the polls lately. He’s down ten points since the end of March.

Not surprisingly, the DeSantis announcement dominated the discussion on Fox News yesterday morning. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said that as of now Donald Trump has an overwhelming lead and is the prohibitive favorite in the Republican primary contest.

Huckabee then noted that many pundits still underestimate the extent to which conservative voters are loyal to Donald Trump. “People are so angry that Donald Trump has been treated differently than any person who ever ran for president, and certainly any person who was president,” he said.

Regardless of how one feels about Gov. DeSantis, when it comes to the conservative base, I think Huckabee’s analysis is spot on.

But 20 minutes later, the Fox & Friends hosts, and especially Steve Doocy, were highlighting Trump’s legal troubles and suggesting that Republican voters will have to decide if they really want to nominate someone who is under such intense scrutiny.

So, they took Huckabee’s accurate description of why there is such loyalty for Trump and turned it on its head.

Whether Steve Doocy realizes or not, he’s telling the radical left that all it needs to do to destroy Republicans is to criminalize conservatism and a big chunk of the party will run for cover.

He’s totally ignoring the entire history of why Trump might be indicted and why he’s facing a trial in March — because the left has politicized the criminal justice system, and it is having the desired effect. It’s causing weak-kneed Republicans to run for the tall grass.

But if they don’t aggressively fight the rogue Deep State, they will not only lose Trump’s base, they will lose the entire country.

As Franklin Graham has reminded us, the desire to criminalize conservatism, Christianity and populism is not Trump-specific. It is aimed at all of us. To prove the point, just look at how the left is reacting to Ron DeSantis and even Tim Scott.

I often say that Trump’s greatest accomplishment was his three Supreme Court appointments and boldly declaring that it’s okay to put America first.

But he also succeeded in pulling the curtain back and exposing the corruption in the Washington Swamp.

My friends, we are losing our freedom. Our government has been transitioning from the constitutional Republic that it was born as into a totalitarian neo-Marxist state. That’s why the left hates Donald Trump.

The left thought Hillary Clinton was going to finish Obama’s “fundamental transformation of America.” If she had made three Supreme Court appointments, instead of Donald Trump, she would have “finished the job,” as Joe Biden likes to put it.

Trump not only stopped Hillary, he ignited the MAGA movement. He rekindled the Reagan Revolution and began a movement that has the power to take America back from the radical left.

That’s why they fear him. That’s why they are so determined to destroy him.

Missing The Mark

As we noted yesterday, Target is scrambling to “avoid a Bud Light situation.” After going all out to embrace transgenderism and even satanism, it’s clear that Target has totally missed the mark. Insiders say the panic among managers and executives is palpable.

Now Target is trying to lower the profile of its satanic transgender clothing line. But like all woke entities who get caught with their pants down, Target added insult to injury by explaining that it is taking this corrective action due to concerns for the safety of Target’s staff members.

Well, I remember that a few years ago, Target announced that “all women” could use women’s changing rooms and bathrooms at Target stores, including men who pretend to be women. Clearly, Target wasn’t worried about the safety of its female customers then.

Yet, now Target rolls out the “safety” canard, claiming that people like you and me are “causing violence” and “threatening the safety of their employees.” It’s ludicrous and outrageous!

ACTION ITEM: Click here for phone and email contact information for Target. Firmly, but politely, tell Target that you strongly disagree with the store’s decision to aggressively market LGTBQ and satanic products, especially to children. Tell them you are boycotting Target stores and taking your business elsewhere.