Kayleigh McEnany and The Chosen - December 24th, Hour 1
Best of Sean Hannity:Kayleigh McEnany, Fox News Contributor and former White House Press Secretary, is here to discuss her new book, For Such a Time as This: My Faith Journey through the White House and Beyond, out tomorrow.Dallas Jenkins is the creator of the streaming TV show The Chosen, a new streaming TV drama about the life of Christ, now viewed over 374 Million times worldwide. Jenkins now has a Christmas special coming out that is going to be in theaters December 1-2, Christmas with the Chosen - The Messengers, and in their initial launch they sold out nearly every theater they had booked in the US and did over $1M in the box office in 12 hours. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media, and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday.
Normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes, inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
This is a special edition of the Sean Hannity Show.
Your call's coming up 800-941 Sean.
you want to be a part of the program.
Uh, one job I don't think anybody would ever want in the white house is being the press secretary.
And, and we happen to be friends with a number of ex press secretaries, uh, Ari Fleischer, for example, Sarah Sanders, our friend, Kaylee McEnany is going to join us in a minute.
You know, look at Jen Saki.
The difference is if you're representing somebody like President Trump or George Bush, you know, you're getting the living crapbeat out of you every day.
But you know, if you represent a liberal democrat, somebody like Joe Biden, except if you're la if your name is Peter Ducy, you're not going to get a tough question.
It's just how sycophantic the media mob is.
First, they allowed Joe to hide in his basement bunker throughout the entire campaign without asking questions.
Joe hid.
They helped him hide.
And then of course, now it's the presidential protection program.
And he rarely talks to anybody.
And when he does does, he mumbles and stumbles and is an incoherent mess and a and a cognitive, you know, struggling, weak, frail president.
That's an embarrassment.
Uh anyway, here's Jen Saki.
She has to clean up the mess of Joe Biden, and she's also told a number of whoppers herself she couldn't get out of the mess last week when Peter Ducey said, Well, this is what Joe Biden said in the debate.
If 220,000 Americans die from COVID, they they have to no longer be president.
Well, since Joe's been president, 355,000 Americans have died of COVID.
We have more people dead from COVID this year, 2021 than last year, election year 2020.
It's pretty sad and unbelievable.
Of course, then she'll lie and she'll say stuff like, Well, we don't need to test the illegal immigrants.
They get preferential treatment, no vaccine mandates for them because they're not going to be here very long.
We know that's a lie too.
And she spins and the media gives her a pass.
Anyway, here is uh Jen Sockey, and just I mean, it's laughable.
Listen.
There certainly is not an open border as individuals, as individuals come across the border.
Uh, and uh they are uh both assessed for whether they have uh any symptoms.
If they have symptoms, they are the intention is for them to be quarantined.
That is our process.
They're not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time.
I don't think it's the same thing.
It's not the same thing.
President, I still believe that Build Back Better will not add a dime to the national Correct, it won't.
Go ahead.
What if taxes that he says you want to get more factors in?
What is that?
What if the economy goes slower?
A lot of things can happen.
What are you you're gonna tell from up there future generations?
Not even born yet, that they're not on the hook for this.
Is that right?
That's right.
Okay, following up on something else the president said last night.
Why did President Biden say he has been to the border?
Well, Peter, uh, as you may have seen, there's been uh reporting that he uh did drive through the border when he was on the campaign trail in 2008.
It was crystal clear that things were not improving on supply chain.
People couldn't get dishwashers and furniture and treadmills delivered on time, not to mention all sorts of other things.
So why is the tragedy of the short the treadmill that's delayed?
The tragedy of the treadmill.
You know, Santa Claus, well, you should have bought your Christmas gifts uh by Halloween.
If you didn't, it's your fault.
When your kids are crying Christmas morning that their favorite toys not under the tree and Santa disappointed them, blame Santa.
Blame the UPS, blame FedEx, bring the blame the Postal Service, blame Donald Trump.
Uh Kaylee McEnani has a brand new book out uh today, and uh I've gotten an early copy of it and I've read it, and it's a phenomenal book.
It's on Hannity.com, Amazon Book.com and in bookstores everywhere.
Anyway, for such a time as this, my faith journey through the White House and beyond.
Uh Kaylee, uh you had a rough time in the White House.
I mean, think about it.
There you are at the podium.
You're communicating with the American people.
You know, we have the worst pandemic since 1917 and 18.
Not an easy assignment.
No, not an easy assignment.
Uh not made any easier by a lying press corps.
Um, and I don't say that lightheartedly.
I went into the job wanting to have a good relationship with the press, but knowing as any conservative does, that that would likely be impossible, and that proved to be the case.
I mean, John, I do a whole chapter called Vindication.
All the fake news headlines that have been disproven that, you know, Trump ignored bounties on the heads of American troops in Afghanistan.
That was a lie.
Trump gassed and pummeled protesters to take a photo at a church, St. John's church.
That was a lie.
The inspector general found that out.
Uh you know, Trump saying that COVID might have originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which now looks likely, but we were told that was just an outright lie from Trump.
It was not, it was actually probably where it originated from.
I mean, narrative after narrative.
I would tell reporters this isn't true, but they write the story anyway, Sean.
Surprise, surprise.
You know what some people may not know about you.
Uh one thing we do have in common is I've had 12 years of a Catholic school education.
Uh you went to a a Catholic all-girls high school.
I went to a Catholic all-boys high school.
Uh the one of the big differences is you won ended up at Harvard Medical School, and I ended up in front of a microphone, so I'm not sure who did better.
Um, but um, I mean, it's a very impressive background.
And, you know, the your book is, you know, my faith journey through the White House and beyond.
Uh, one of the things I noticed that you would do is you'd go into that briefing room every day armed with a binder full of facts and on every single topic imaginable, and I can only imagine the work that went behind that.
Yeah, a lot of work.
I mean, look, my time at Harvard Law and Oxford in Georgetown definitely prepared me to, you know, have that binder chock full, where by the way, reporters there there was a camera behind me.
The camera would take pictures of my binder, and CNN literally put out a headline decoding the mysteries of Kaylee McEnney's binder, and they tried to discern what the tabs were.
Um I wish we would have done a head fake and made the tab instead of like COVID and therapeutic, you know, John Carl, uh Caitlin Collins.
It would have been uh a funny head fake for the press.
But look, when I stood at that podium, if you saw any sort of peace, serenity, confidence in me, uh, it did not come from my preparation at all the universities.
It came from faith in Christ.
Uh we prayed every time before I went to the podium.
It's the last thing I did.
Um, and and look, it took everything within me not to lash out at the press at times, and the only reason I was able to stand there is because uh a lot of Christians across the country praying.
You know, it's interesting.
I've said this to Arya, I've said it to Sarah Sanders, I said it to you.
Uh I could not do that job because I can't stand those people.
In all the years I've been at Fox, now in my 26th year, believe it or not, um, and all the years I've been on radio, 33 years now.
I've never been to a White House correspondence dinner.
And people ask me, why haven't you ever gone?
I'm like, because I don't like them.
Uh and they don't like me.
So let you know, let's get rid of all the pretense here.
Um and when you're dealing with somebody like President Trump, it's a more difficult task, and as much as he's not the easiest guy to speak for, because he's so outspoken himself and spent more time with the press than I think any president in the modern era.
Yeah, but the one thing with President Trump is he was authentic, and I talk about in the book uh being in a meeting where everyone in the meeting, or at least half of the folks in there, Kellyanne included, myself included, Bill Barr included, said, you know, Mr. President, maybe you want to get out of this Obamacare lawsuit.
It's timed around the election.
This isn't the best thing to be doing in the middle of COVID-19.
And the president looked at me, and I'll never forget him looking straight at me and saying, Kaylee, I stand with my base, and I always will, and I'll stand by the promises I made on the campaign trail.
So while yes, he would throw a curveball here and there, I always knew where he stood, and it was right exactly where he was on the campaign trail.
And I think he's one of our first Republican presidents that's really been that way.
So it was an honor to work for him.
See, I think that's what defined the Trump presidency.
Uh Let's go through the issues.
He gave us a list of of Supreme Court justices he'd choose from.
He stuck to that list.
He said he'd cut taxes.
He did.
He said he would eliminate uh burdensome bureaucracy.
He did.
Yeah, he said that he would bring us energy independence.
He accomplished that, a massive accomplishment.
Uh he said he would get control of the borders.
He he built 500 plus miles of border wall.
He wanted freer, fairer trade deals, he got them.
Uh he wanted us out of foreign conflicts, and he was in the process of doing it safely and in a smart way with the threat of obliterating the Taliban until Joe Biden botched it.
So he really did keep his promises, but I don't think there's ever been a president in my lifetime that I can think of that's been as hated by the media as this one.
Yeah, because he held him accountable.
I mean, that's that's with a capital A, you know, he wasn't afraid to fight back against them.
Most Republican presidents, the MO is to go in, be silent, take the hits, take the jabs, don't fight back.
This president did fight back.
And as you know, Sean, you know, you get to swampy DC and the establishment, the foreign policy establishment, uh, the academics say you can't do this, you can't get out of the Paris Climate Accord, you can't get out of the Iran nuclear deal.
They did that with President Trump, and every time he looked them dead in the eye and said, Watch me.
And he did it.
And it's why I think he's the most success successful president in my lifetime.
We'll see what happens in 2024.
Do you have a gut feeling sense?
You know him as well as anybody that he runs again.
I if I had to guess, I would say yes, Sean.
You know, he says you're going to be very happy with my decision, and I can't believe by that he means happy with the decision for him not to run.
So I I think he'll be out there, but we'll see.
He's coming quick.
You know, it really is.
Um tell us more about your background that gave you the strength to go through all of this.
And faith is obviously a big part of your journey and a big part of your life.
As I get older, my faith is more important than it's ever been.
Um, I know that there is a a God, a creator.
You can't look at the majesty of creation and universes within universes within universes in my mind, and then determine anything other than that there is, you know, something far greater, more more powerful than than us, uh, that is the creator of all things, and I believe that.
I believe in heaven, I believe in hell, and I believe, you know, those things I did learn in Catholic school.
Uh, and they mean more to me today than ever.
Tell us about, you know, you're young and you've embraced this faith from a pretty young age.
That's in other words, I got in a lot more trouble when I was younger than you did.
I doubt that, Sean.
I'm sure you were a choir boy.
But um, no, you know, I'm not Kaylee, I can promise you I was not a choir boy.
I don't believe it for a second, Sean, but I'll take you at your word.
Um, but look, I grew up in a Southern Baptist church.
As you noted, I went to an all girls' Catholic school.
And, you know, your parents tell you to believe something or want you to believe something, but I discovered it for myself out in the real world.
When the going got tough, it's funny how Jesus Christ speaks.
Um, if you speak for him, he will answer you.
And for me, that was taking a job as press secretary.
I was nervous, I was petrified.
Um my dad texted me, maybe you were made for such a time as this.
That's uh words from the book of Esther.
And separately and apart from that a few weeks later, a Democrat commentator uh by the name of Van Jones, who you may know, texted me, Cayley.
Maybe you were made for such a time as this.
And it's happened to me oftentimes in life, and oftentimes in the hardest parts of life that God will send me a message twice through two different ways through two different people, uh, but the exact same message.
And and I know he's real, I know he's out there.
I believe uh more than the sky is blue and the grass is green, that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior.
And if you read this book, you'll see how he's worked through my life.
I'll never forget watching you and poor Jeff Lord, another friend of the program being tortured at times nine against one on these fake news CNN panels, and and I just couldn't believe it.
That's an interesting tour story, though, about for such a time as this and and the title and where it came from and what it means to you.
Uh, these are troubled times, but I sense that you know, Joe Biden in 11 months has proven to the world he's not up to this job.
And I think I never I n I wrote a book last year, warning people live free or die, America and the world on the brink.
We're now on the brink.
I wish we weren't, but we are.
We are on the brink On every single front.
It's terrifying.
And you know, we don't often talk about foreign policy, but when you look at Russia on the border of Ukraine and China and uh researching, investing in hypersonic missiles in North Korea all of a sudden firing off rockets themselves.
I mean, we're in a very dangerous, very scary place.
Um, and and what's the Biden administration doing?
You know, President Biden's going to get accolades at Kennedy Center, a standing ovation.
He's going to his billionaire friend's house for Thanksgiving as the world is crumbling.
I mean, it's totally sick in the head, and it's chief of staff is sitting there complaining, saying that Donald Trump got better media coverage than we did.
What a joke, what a fart.
What an absolutely pathetic way to be, particularly as Americans can't even afford gas.
Um, many Americans and Christmas presents for their kids, and and uh they're out there partying, it seems and totally ignoring the plight of the American people.
Couple of unknown facts about Kaylee McEnaney.
One is you once interned at the Fox News channel, uh, and you worked on a particular program there known as Hannity.
I did.
That was my first internship at Fox.
I remember you were so nice to me, Sean.
Um, you even threw me a little party before I left.
I'll never forget that.
I was just mesmerized by you and and Alan Combs at the time of Kennedy and Combs.
Now, of course, just Kennedy.
But um, yeah, it was my first internship, and you even signed a coffee mug for me on on my way out.
I have it displayed here at my house in a curio case.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe that's still in existence.
Another uh unknown fact is your husband's a professional baseball player.
That's right.
And President Trump loved that.
He would always bring it up to me.
And one time he even told me as we were landing on Marine One on the White House Law, and he said, Go into my private dining room in my Oval Office and go watch your husband pitch.
And by the way, never miss another one of his baseball games.
So that's exactly right.
My husband pitched with the Mets in the World Series and had a great career, and it's been awesome to be a part of.
Well, amazing.
Uh the book is phenomenal as well.
And for such a time as this, and at this time of the year in particular, it makes a great gift and and also gives great wisdom.
Uh, my faith journey through the White House and beyond uh now at Hannity.com, Amazon.com, bookstores everywhere.
Haley, we're uh proud to have you at Fox.
Uh, we wish you all the best with the book, and we love having you on the show as often as you come.
And uh uh we'll be talking hopefully after the new year and have a Merry Christmas and a great new year.
Thanks so much for all your support, John.
When news broke earlier this year that Baby KJ, a newborn in Philadelphia, had successfully received the world's first personalized gene editing treatment.
It represented a milestone for both researchers and patients.
But there's a gripping tale of discovery behind this accomplishment and its creators.
I'm Evan Ratliff, and together with biographer Walter Isaacson, we're delving into the story of Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Dowdna, the woman who's helped change the trajectory of humanity.
Listen to Aunt Crisper, the story of Jennifer Dowdna with Walter Isaacson on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Hey there.
I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
We've been in political media for a long time.
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
That's why we started normally a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass.
You're our kind of people.
Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday and Thursday.
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week, we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So Down, verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
800 941 Sean, if you want to be a part of the program.
So The Chosen is like the hottest series on television and you know, the most streamed actually in the entire country right now.
And and if you haven't found it, uh, especially if you believe in faith and God and and the things that really matter in life, even more than politics, Way more.
Um, everybody's flocking to it.
The amazing thing is Hollywood is always played to the lowest common denominator.
They've always played to violence and sex and you know, just just or just mindless entertainment.
And whenever a good product comes out, it is amazing how people find it, they share it with their friends, and they flock to it.
And anyway, so it is uh become a big hit.
Now for the second time now, uh they have come out with Christmas with the chosen, and it's about a well, let me just play the the trailer.
Do you know what Luke is?
I didn't tell him everything.
Yeah, so six keep looking.
He's coming.
What are you saying?
It's time.
Oh, Jelena, I'll take it.
I saw a magnify some what I spit rejoices and content savior.
Remember what your messenger said.
the first thing.
Don't be afraid.
That Jesus Christ is People must know.
Here's the amazing thing.
The TV show, The Chosen, is now it's a new streaming TV drama.
I just found out about it recently.
I'm just starting to watch it.
And it is amazing.
And I don't say that about many things, especially when it comes to entertainment.
Um it touches you in ways you won't even imagine.
And get this.
It's now viewed over 374 million times worldwide.
That's how viral this has become.
Now you have the chosen for Christmas, or Christmas with the chosen to be more official.
Uh it is now sec setting uh Fathom uh event records in the first 12 hours.
And anyway, Dallas Jenkins is the creator of all of this.
He's a genius and uh joins us uh to tell us about it.
How are you, sir?
Um so glad to be here, Sean.
Thanks so much for having me.
Tell me where'd you get this this skill set that you have that just you you have this ability to break through where so many do not, and you go a whole different path.
You don't follow the crowd, and it seems to be paying off big time for you.
Well, I think that applies to every part of this show.
So the content itself is unique, and the fact that I happen to be a strong believer.
Uh I love the Bible, I believe it's God's words, and the st the story of Jesus uh of course changed my life, and I'm passionate about it.
And yet, when it comes to the show, and I'm capturing the stories of Jesus, I'm trying to do it in a way that I haven't seen before, which is really explore the humanity of Jesus and the disciples and even his enemies.
The authenticity of the stories is huge.
And I think you would probably agree with this when you watch the show.
Uh we we really try to put you there.
It feels like you're in the first century, and you can identify with their problems and identify with their questions, and then hopefully ultimately identify with the solution to those questions and problems.
When it comes to the release of the show, this is where we've just done it completely outside the system.
The show is completely free.
You can watch it, you can choose to pay for it if you want.
Um we are on our own app.
Uh we are not on a popular streaming platform or on a on a broadcast network.
We've done this completely outside the system.
We're completely crowdfunded.
We do it ourselves, and that's allowed us to keep control of the content and then also keep control of how people watch it.
Explain that to to most people because most people think streaming, they think about Netflix and the Hulu and Prime Video and et cetera, et cetera.
And again, 374 million times it's now been viewed worldwide.
Um how do people find it?
Because when it comes to technology, I'm probably the biggest idiot you've ever talked to.
Um I might compete with you on that.
I'm actually not a big tech guy myself, but uh, we've actually made this really easy.
So you just go uh on your phone, you look up the chosen, and we're easy to find.
Uh it's it's a we're our own app.
Now, You might be thinking, I don't want to watch a f uh a Jesus show on my phone.
Well, we've made it so that you can connect it directly free and easy to your streaming platform.
So I could go to your house, and if you've got a Roku or Apple TV or Fire Stick, I don't you don't even need a subscription, you don't need your email address or anything.
It casts directly from your phone to the streaming device.
It's also on a website, the chosen dot TV, www.thechosen.tv.
Oh, you can just look it up and you find it.
But that's where people can actually watch the episodes again, free and easy.
You don't even have to sign up for anything.
We've just tried to make this as accessible as possible.
I believe the gospel is free, so we made the show free, and people can pay for it if they want.
And because they're so passionate about it, they are paying for it.
Some people are, people who can't afford it don't have to, but those who are have generated you know over a hundred million dollars in gross revenue this year alone, just so that we can continue to do more episodes and seasons.
I mean, it's just an incredible story.
And you don't hear about this ever in media, movies, entertainment.
It just doesn't happen like this.
Tell us specifically why you went with a second year, Christmas with the chosen, what that means and what people can expect.
Yeah, thank you for asking that.
Yeah.
Uh be we're in between seasons two and three right now.
So we just released season two a couple months ago.
I'm writing season three with my co-writers.
Well, the fans are so rabid and they're so eager for more.
And we thought, you know what?
In between these seasons, wouldn't it be fun to do a brand new episode and tell the story of the birth of Christ from the perspective of Mary and Joseph and really explore this in a way that hasn't been done before.
There's one image in the episode that I think stands out to me as we were making it was it shows Joseph scooping up a pile of manure in the stable to make room for Mary to give birth.
Uh that image alone really moved me, that thought of of the the birth of the Christ child coming in the midst of the you you you just would never expect the Messiah to come to earth in this way and in this setting.
And so that would just really was passionate uh uh tip for me.
I really wanted to capture that in a way that hadn't been done before.
And then we've got these extraordinary musicians, so you got Forking in Country and Phil Wickham and Maverick City Music and some of these great musicians who did Christmas songs on the set of the chosen.
So we gathered a dozen of those artists, we gathered this brand new episode, and uh we're releasing it in theaters uh in December.
But it just felt like a great opportunity for this Christmas season to get people out to theaters again, even though Hollywood has been really concerned that people wouldn't come to theaters unless it was a big Marvel movie or a horror film.
We're like, well, let's maybe see if we can pull this off.
And so uh it's been it's been shattering records and it's been really fun.
It just shows how hungry people are for the right content.
It's amazing.
Uh that's exactly the description.
Hungry for content and good content.
And now you're in a hundred and ninety uh plus countries.
You know, it there's two things that I do like to do when I'm not talking politics is my faith is very important to me.
I'm I'm a non-denominational Christian.
And by the way, I'm one of the Christians that needs the saving kind of Christian.
I'm not the perfect Christian person.
And and I say that because I think Christians are often misunderstood.
Um you know, for example, uh in pop culture, it seems that if there's a prominent Christian and they fall from grace or have some public uh scandal of some kind.
You you you watch this group of people, you know, almost gleeful about it, but that's not my understanding of Christianity.
And I did go to Catholic schools for twelve years of my life.
My understanding is to be a Christian, it's simple is that you acknowledge your you have failed.
You have a desire to change your heart.
The Latin for repentance is to change one's heart, and that you you seek redemption through Jesus Christ and reconciliation with God the Father.
Um I think Christians are very misunderstood.
Am I wrong?
You are not wrong, and I I think that's a great way to put it.
You know, when you said I'm not a perfect Christian, uh no one is.
Uh I I like to say I'm I'm a bad Christian, which is why I'm a Christian.
Uh the fact that we need the Savior is not something that we learn early on in life and then we forget about it.
It's a daily thing.
It's a daily reminder.
And that's actually what the chosen I I believe does for people, is Jesus came to Earth to remind us of that.
And has he he had both bad news and good news.
The bad news was you're never gonna get this right, you're never gonna be perfect.
Uh you you even even those of you, you religious leaders, he had the most to say to them.
You religious leaders who think that you've got it together Because you are religious.
Uh you're just as bad, if not worse, than others because you're hypocrites.
So here's the good news, though.
I am perfect, and I will make you uh uh a surrendered and broken person, and if you surrender your life to me, you can have access to salvation that you wouldn't if you don't if and all you have to do is just acknowledge that.
And so the show is showing you that these we're putting you, we're putting Jesus into this situation where the people were trying so hard to be good, and he's like, Don't worry about that.
You'll you'll do that as a result of my salvation, but that's not what's going to get you there.
And the show is a great reminder of that, I believe, and it's where I'm my heart is, and that's what I think people are resonating with okay, these people in first century that we've seen in stained glass windows and as statues, uh, they're you know, we've called them saints.
They were actually just like us.
And he actually picked people who you wouldn't have otherwise.
Well, he picked up he picked twelve guys that were fishermen.
And I don't know.
I'm just assuming because I like to watch Deadliest Catch.
I don't know if you ever watched that.
It's one of my favorite shows.
Yeah.
And uh fishermen, I imagine back in Jesus' time, probably cursed, probably noticed pretty women, and probably uh were not perfect either.
The you know, kind of like when I worked in construction, we were construction guys.
And uh I I think the biggest untold part of Christianity is that you know, here we have, and I love to debate atheists over this, not agnostics, atheists.
And people um and I'll ask them so you really believe that all of these this energy somehow collided and it formed uh a big bang that created universes within universes, within universes, and the stars and gravity and the sun and and the moon and the planets and and mankind and the animal world kingdom, etc.
etc.
And that just happened because I I don't believe that.
That would be a far bigger miracle than the idea that there is something much more powerful and greater than us that is a creator, and our job and um I think part of the mystery of life is finding that missing part and seeking, finding, you know, knocking and the door getting open.
Um and I think that a lot of people don't even see the majestic, the majesty, if you will, of creation.
Well, that's the beauty of of the story is that the there is, as you said, the majesty and beauty and epicness of creation, and yet the creator of the universe was one of us.
He actually came to Earth, and that's what the Christmas with the chosen is about.
This story is he came to Earth in a barn and to a scared teenager.
And all of that piece of it, and then the ch the chosen in general, showing that Jesus came among uh a time of oppression.
And you mentioned earlier, you know, he called fisherman, he also actually called a tax collector, which uh not only back then was uh was uh rare and uh he was hated, uh as you know you and I probably hate tax collectors as much as anybody, as who Jesus actually called and said, I want to make you one of mine.
And uh that whole piece of it, the fact that he reached down and reached to us, that we don't actually have to fight to get to him, is the most extraordinary event in human history.
Well, I wish you all the best with this.
It's now uh when does it start its run in theaters?
December first?
Yeah, so the show is out now, of course, but the the theatrical piece is December 1st through the 10th uh in theaters.
You just look it up online, you look up the chosen in theaters, you'll find it.
And uh that we've sha I mean we've literally shattered records, doubled the record for pre-sales uh that we sold out in two days, so they added eight more days in theaters and are really kind of upsetting the apple cart for what people are expecting.
So make sure you go get the tickets now.
I'm not saying that as a salesman, I'm saying because they are literally selling out as we speak.
It's pretty amazing.
It's a great success story, and it also shows that when you produce quality, a quality product like you have produced with the chosen, uh, that people will flock to it.
I mean, it's it's an amazing success story, and it's also enlightening, and I think it's it's the kind of movie that touches people's souls, and there's not enough of those movies that do that.
I'm I'm all for entertaining movies, but I also like movies that make me think touch my soul, move me to even one wanting to be a better person.
It's really nice to talk to you, Dallas Jenkins.
Uh, we'll put a link on Hannity.com.
And you want to find out, it opens in theaters on December 1st.
They've added Eight days.
If you want to be a part of this Fathom event, you can do it.
And uh thank you, sir.
Continued success.
Thanks for being with us.
Thanks so much.
Appreciate it.
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns?
We got you.
And I'm Carol Markowitz.
And I'm Mary Catherine Hamm.
We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Normally is about real conversations.
Thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday.
Normally on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm Ben Ferguson.
And I'm Ted Cruz.
Three times a week we do our podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz.
Nationwide, we have millions of listeners.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we break down the news and bring you behind the scenes inside the White House, inside the Senate, inside the United States Supreme Court.
And we cover the stories that you're not getting anywhere else.
We arm you with the facts to be able to know and advocate for the truth with your friends and family.
So down a verdict with Ted Cruz now, wherever you get your podcasts.
