--:-- Georgia Howe: The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- John Bickley: With just two weeks to go, Trump is barnstorming the battlegrounds, winning over massive crowds and voter praise. You made it possible for ordinary people like us to meet you. You're not ordinary. I mean, thank you so much. I can see. We pray for you. Why is the Harris campaign not loving it?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, October 22nd, and this is Morning Wire. Christian voters make up a massive percentage of the electorate. How are the two candidates courting those voters, and which candidate is winning the evangelical vote?
--:-- John Bickley: With God's help, I know there is nothing that cannot be achieved. We can achieve so much good with this country and get together and unify. And seven more lawsuits are filed against P. Diddy, and they allege other celebrities were involved. We break down the latest claims.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Secure this piece of history before Election Day. Head over to dailywire.com slash shop today.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Donald Trump has been campaigning in battleground states over the past few days where he's drawn massive crowds and some harsh criticism from his opponents. Here to talk about Trump's recent run through Pennsylvania and North Carolina is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So, Tim, first up, Trump was in North Carolina yesterday. How did that go?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah, he toured hurricane damage in the state and met with some of the victims. Here's what some of that sounded like. I will support and totally complete the rebuilding of every region and town and city that was devastated by the hurricane. And I will slash through every bureaucratic barrier that you're having already. And I will personally recruit businesses from all over the world to help restore the prosperity to the region.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And here's a North Carolina man who lost his business in the floods. No matter what gets thrown at you, you find a way to press through. And I think that'll serve as an inspiration to this community to press on and move forward.
--:-- Tim Pierce: I can't think of anything I'd rather have than a warrior leading our country, a warrior who, with the help of God and with faith and prayer, will lead these communities and this country to greatness.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, previously, he had been in Pennsylvania, possibly the most important state this election. What were some of the high points there?
--:-- Tim Pierce: He had a great reception at a couple different events. He was at the Steelers-Jets game in Pittsburgh on Sunday night. Here's how the crowd received him outside of his suite. USA! USA! USA!
--:-- Tim Pierce: Probably the biggest moment of the weekend, and some contend perhaps the biggest moment of his campaign, aside from the attempted assassination was Trump visit to a McDonald in Bucks County Trump is a natural at retail politics those up and personal interactions and his authenticity really came through here Here are some standout moments from the event
--:-- Tim Pierce: A lot of fun here, everybody. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Look at all the fake news over there. Hello, everybody. You can fake this, right? And you know this is compliments of Trump, okay? Yes, thank you. Mr. President, please don't let the United States become Brazil, my native Brazil. Oh, we'll keep it good. Please, please, please. We're going to make it better than ever, okay? Thank you so much. Thank you for taking the bullet. Thank you, Mr. President. When you think about it, I guess that's it.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, the media reaction to this is worth pointing out. MSNBC, Newsweek, The Washington Post, and other outlets called it staged. But conservatives and even left-wing critics of Trump said otherwise, including the Young Turks' Cenk Uygur, who said the campaign stop was a home run and that mainstream media's attacks causes them to lose credibility.
--:-- Tim Pierce: I like this show. I think I might come back and do it again. Thank you.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, Trump's affinity for Golden Arches cuisine is well known, but one of the reasons he picked McDonald's was to spotlight a much scrutinized claim made by Kamala Harris that she worked there in college. The New York Times put out a piece on Sunday that compared questioning Harris's claim that she worked at the fast food joint to birtherism, a conspiracy that Barack Obama was not eligible to hold the Oval Office.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That said, the Times was not able to independently confirm that Harris did actually work at McDonald's. They did track down one friend of Harris's from high school who said that Harris's mother, who died in 2009, once mentioned that the vice president had worked at McDonald's.
--:-- Tim Pierce: This friend, Wanda Kagan, by her own admission, says she lost touch with Harris after graduating high school and didn't reconnect until 2005. So the paper found just one source who heard it secondhand.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Washington Free Beacon reporter Joe Simonson and his colleagues have worked on this story for a while, noting that Harris never cited working at McDonald's in her past resumes or her autobiography.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Morning Wire talked to him about the Times piece. Here's what he told us. I was frankly flattered that the New York Times assigned six reporters to write, I guess, like an 800-word piece on calling me and my colleagues, Andrew Kerr and Chuck Ross, birthers, a reference to those who denied that former President Barack Obama was born in the United States.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So did Harris work at McDonald's? It's possible the franchise itself says it doesn't have a record of her working there, but it also didn't keep good records in the 80s. However, is it a conspiracy to suggest otherwise? No, not with the scant evidence presented so far.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, whether she did or she didn't, it was huge for Trump, at least on social media.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The big news. Good Ranchers just launched seed oil-free chicken nuggets. Head over to goodranchers.com and use code WIRE for an additional $25 off your first box and free express shipping. That's goodranchers.com, promo code WIRE.
--:-- Megan Basham: In the final days of the election, Trump and Harris are both courting religious voters, millions of whom have said they plan to stay at home on election day. This comes as viral moments from both campaigns have drawn the attention of Christians.
--:-- Megan Basham: Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now to explain. Hey, Megan. So we've discussed before that both campaigns are out trying to win the religious vote. And a recent viral moment at a campaign rally highlighted this in sort of a negative way for Harris First what happened there
--:-- Megan Basham: Well last Thursday when Harris was speaking at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse campus two pro students in the crowd denounced abortion and they shouted out Christ is Lord. And then in what seemed like a response to them, Harris quipped, you guys are at the wrong rally.
--:-- Megan Basham: A clip of that quickly racked up millions of views and comments. Now, some Harris supporters say that she was not necessarily answering them, But the students, they appeared on Fox News insisting that it was clear from her eye contact that Harris was responding directly to them. But her campaign isn't clarifying.
--:-- Megan Basham: Either way, I do think it's fair to say that it's pretty awkward timing because her camp has been working pretty hard to court that all important Christian vote.
--:-- Megan Basham: And I can tell you that when someone shouted Jesus is king at a Trump rally right after that, his running mate, J.D. Vance, was very quick to respond with this. I don't think we've I don't think that we've that's right. Jesus is king. And I don't think that we've seen.
--:-- Megan Basham: And just yesterday, after Trump visited western North Carolina to survey Hurricane Helene damage, the campaign shared a video of a Christian who lost his business and he asked to pray for Trump. Father, I thank you for this man that you have raised up in this moment, in this season for your purposes.
--:-- Megan Basham: This follows Trump repeatedly giving God credit for miraculously surviving that assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.
--:-- Megan Basham: Right now, Trump overall has much more support from Christian voters, both Catholic and Protestant. Right. Now, what about the recent survey showing millions of Christians saying they're not going to vote for either party this go-round?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, I think that could be a problem for Team Trump. So just recently, George Barna, who is one of the best known and most respected researchers in that area of religious voters. Well, he found that 41 million Christians say they are going to sit out this election, and that includes 32 million regular churchgoers.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, that's key because this is a group who are known for being especially motivated to participate in the political process. Barna said his research indicates that their enthusiasm this election is lower than usual, And he said certainly lower than in 2020, primarily because they don't like the two major party options.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, the study didn't explain why these voters don't like either candidate. But I think we can guess that abortion could very well be playing a role. A lot of Christians have expressed disappointment with Trump's rhetoric on abortion this cycle.
--:-- Megan Basham: And you do have some very influential pastors, even some who call themselves conservative, warning that Christians are too identified with politics. To give you just one example, Andy Stanley, who pastors a megachurch of around 38,000 in that swing state of Georgia, he published a popular book on politics and faith called Not In It To Win It, Why Choosing Sides Sidelines The Church.
--:-- Megan Basham: On the other side of the coin, though, you have pastors like Gary Hamrick, who leads a large church in Virginia, and he says that pastors who don't encourage their members to vote are derelict in their duties. Most Christians understand the importance of the church. They want to protect and defend the church. But when it comes to government, this other institution that God clearly ordained in the Bible, all of a sudden Christians think, well, that's dirty. I'll leave that up to other people to get involved in government.
--:-- Megan Basham: The problem with that thinking is they are allowing others who do not share their biblical values to define policies because policies emerge from the politicians that they vote for.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, like we said at the top, a crucial and massive voting block here we'll see in less than two weeks, who turns out.
--:-- Megan Basham: Thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Sean Combs, better known as P. Diddy, has been named in seven new lawsuits, including two from accusers who were minors when they say he drugged and assaulted them The new lawsuits also cite multiple unnamed celebrities and accuse them of participating in alleged assaults.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Here to discuss the latest wave of litigation against the embattled rapper is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So Amanda, what do these new lawsuits allege?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, one of the lawsuits filed by a Jane Doe says that in 2000, she was invited to an MTV video music awards after party that was hosted by Combs in New York City. She was then 13 years old. Doe, who's from Alabama, claims that she started to feel drowsy after having one drink and she looked for a place to lie down. Combs, along with an unnamed male celebrity and an unnamed female celebrity, allegedly came into the room where Jane was and the two men took turns raping her while those not participating watched.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Again, all three of those adults involved were allegedly celebrities. Another accuser claims he was just 17 when Diddy sexually assaulted him after giving him a drink and assuring him that he could, quote, make him a star.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Another lawsuit alleges that in 2022, Diddy drugged and raped a female North Carolina musician. She says she felt trapped inside her body, not participating, but not able to resist.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Five of the seven lawsuits include allegations of rape, sexual assault or harassment, battery, and false imprisonment by Combs between 2000 and 2002. The lawsuits say the crimes took place in New York, Los Angeles, or Las Vegas, and they all occurred at parties allegedly hosted by Combs.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Another lawsuit that was filed on Sunday comes from a personal trainer who was told Combs wanted to feature him in a video. He was invited to a party where he was drugged and forced into sex acts with both men and women, including an unnamed celebrity.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: How many similar suits is Diddy facing at this point?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, at this point, there are more than 100 accusers. Last week, two Houston-based attorneys announced more lawsuits against Combs. They previously said they represented at least 120 alleged victims, including at least 25 who say they were minors at the time of their allegations.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Attorney Tony Busby and his law firm said the allegations included in those lawsuits occurred between 1991 and 2024. And those are apparently just the individuals that they have vetted to some degree. He says his office was contacted by more than 3,000 individuals, meaning more lawsuits could still come.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, and those are just the lawsuits. He's also facing criminal prosecution, correct?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Right. Combs is currently in jail after his bail was denied twice. He faces multiple charges alleging he, quote, abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: What evidence do prosecutors have?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, police raided Combs' Los Angeles mansion earlier this year, and they seized items they say were used in sex parties known as freak-offs, including more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: They also apparently have a large stash of recordings and videos that were allegedly used to blackmail victims to ensure their continued obedience and silence.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Has Combs made any additional statements?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: He's pleaded not guilty and thus far denied the allegations. He did apologize after footage of him physically assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura made the rounds in the media, but has claimed that the people accusing him are either lying or trying to make money.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, I think we all want to know who those other two celebrities are at the very least.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You're welcome. Before we let you go today, we want to hear your feedback. In order to better deliver the news you need to know, please take a moment to complete our short survey. You can find the link in this episode's description.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
