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--:-- 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.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: While the UK is the latest Western country to ban puberty blockers for minors, President Biden is doubling down on his support for the treatments. What they're trying to do to trans persons is immoral. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, October 25th, and this is Morning Wire. With less than three weeks until the election, exclusive polling from the Daily Wire and Trafalgar have some good news for Republicans in the key purple state of Georgia. And the test scores are in and American kids are failing. No country survives when their education system is non-existent. We look at the reasons for the decline. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: On Sunday, the UK's government-run health service announced it's curbing transgender treatments for children, maintaining that gender dysphoria is a phase that most children outgrow. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now to tell us why England's National Health Service is shifting gears and what President Biden said this past weekend.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, essentially, the NHS says that in most cases, children who think they're transgender are actually just going through a phase and they'll grow out of it. It also said that medical personnel should not encourage kids to change their names or use pronouns or do things that conflict with their biology. It's now banning puberty blockers unless they're being administered during a strict clinical trial. And it's also requiring that any gender dysphoria treatment of children be led by medical doctors, not therapists.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, it's important to note that this is coming just a few months after the NHS shut down the only transgender clinic in the country dedicated to treating minors because a review found that it was not safe. The Tavistock Clinic is also facing a barrage of lawsuits from former patients who regret making some irreversible changes to their bodies.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, this is part of a larger trend in Europe that we've covered before on this show, which is kind of the opposite of the direction that we're going here in the States. Yeah, that's exactly right. You know, Finland and Sweden were previously at the forefront of this affirmation approach. But over the course of 2021 and 2022 both countries moved to ban puberty blockers and transgender surgeries for those under 18 in most cases.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now I want to talk about President Biden. He recently sat down for an interview with a trans TikTok star to clarify his administration's position on this issue. How did that meeting transpire and what did he say?
--:-- Megan Basham: Right. So he sat down with a TikTok influencer named Dylan Mulvaney, who is a 25-year-old biological male, but who identifies as a girl. Mulvaney's TikTok account, which has 8 million followers, is titled 100 Days of Girlhood. Well, Mulvaney recently shot to fame on social media for chronicling what it feels like to now be experiencing a, quote, girl's childhood. And in September, Mulvaney was invited to speak at Forbes Power Women's Summit. and then last week the cosmetic company Ulta featured Mulvaney in a promotional interview. And in that case, the interviewer was also a trans woman.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now I know I can find love. I know I can still be a performer. I know that I can have a family. I want to be a mom one day and I absolutely can. So Mulvaney appears to have caught the attention of the White House now. President Biden gave an interview to the TikTok influencer who asked him about states that have passed measures to ban transgender procedures and medications. This was Biden's answer.
--:-- Megan Basham: I don't think any state or anybody should have the right to do that. As a moral question and as a legal question, I just think it's wrong. So these statements dovetail with an executive order Biden signed in June, and it directed the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that children are able to access transgender treatment, overriding various states' efforts to ban that practice. The order itself prohibits doctors and therapists from counseling patients against pursuing a gender change. So it's pretty much diametrically opposed to the new guidance in England.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, it's important to note that 75% of American voters with an opinion on this issue believe that the transgender movement has gone too far, that's the wording of the poll, by encouraging minors to use drugs and surgeries to change their gender.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, this is a huge culture war issue right now.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire culture reporter, Megan Basham.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: With just two weeks to go until Election Day, exclusive Daily Wire polling shows a late break for Republicans in a key battleground Senate race. Here are the latest numbers from Georgia and how record-breaking early voting is impacting the crucial race there as Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Okay, Cabot, let's look at these numbers. What are we saying?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, for the first time since September, Republican Herschel Walker is in the lead against Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock for the state's Senate seat. According to our exclusive new poll with the Trafalgar Group, Walker is sitting right now at 48.9 percent, while Warnock is down at 46.5. And one other nugget that jumped out, Walker is currently at 88% among Republicans, while Warnock barely cracked the 80% threshold. So it does seem that there could be a bit more unity among the Republican Party base compared to the Democrats.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: What driving that momentum shift Well beyond the persistent economic struggles that we all know are driving voters toward Republicans we also seen a negative news cycle for Warnock There was a story that broke recently about an apartment complex owned by the churchy pastors that was sending eviction notices to low-income tenants, some who reportedly owe just a few hundred dollars. Now, that story, along with another revelation that he'd been receiving a $7,400 a month housing stipend from his church, appear to be causing Warnock problems right now as voters are making their final decisions.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So it's bad timing for him. And there was also the recent debate. Yeah, the debate definitely played a role here as well. A lot of voters seem to be waiting to see how Walker would perform. You know, he's not really known as a polished speaker, and there was a lot of interest in how he would address those recent allegations that he had paid for an abortion for a woman back in 2009. But by most accounts, he alleviated a lot of concerns and came out with a strong performance.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: On that note, we talked to Robert Cahaley from the Trafalgar Group. Here's how he put it. The way he dealt with the pro-life question and talked about abortions in the city of Atlanta, the way he constantly tied things back to Biden. By my count, Walker referred to Biden 37 times. And, you know, tying Warnock to Biden is the way to win the election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And one more interesting stat from this poll, Walker is sitting at 23.5% among Black voters and 39.8% among Hispanic voters. Those numbers are double where Republicans have been in past elections. And if they hold on election day, it would be a massive realignment that would obviously have national implications if it extrapolates out to other races.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We also got some important insight into the governor's race with this poll. What did we find there? This one is more solidly read. Republican incumbent Brian Kemp holds a 52-45 advantage over Democrat Stacey Abrams. That 52% number is very important because in Georgia, candidates have to get a majority in order to avoid a runoff. And Kemp not only scored 92% of the Republican Party, showing that he's really unified the base, but he's also got a 14-point lead among independents. 14 points.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Like Warnock, Abrams has been hampered recently by some negative press. Tell us about that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, Politico recently broke a big story that detailed how Fair Fight Action, that is the nonprofit founded by Abrams, paid out more than $9.4 million to the law firm of Abrams' close friend and former campaign chair. That move is really drawing suspicion, not only because it was paid out by her nonprofit over just a two-year span, but also because the firm is relatively small. Now, that story has really come at the worst time for Abrams, who was already struggling to win over independence.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime. That's Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: And for those wanting more on the midterms, tune in to this Sunday's Election Wire show. The video version of the show is available on YouTube and the audio is available on the Morning Wire feed.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The nation's report cards are in and student scores are the lowest we've seen in decades. The catastrophic drop in scores is widespread, hitting elementary, middle, and high school students. Also released last week was a report from the makers of the ACT, which showed student academic performance cratering to 30-year lows. Here to give us some insight into the falling test results is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So, Charlotte, test scores for American kids are dropping. Hi, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yes. For the 2022 graduating class, the national average ACT composite score was 19.8. That average has not dipped below 20 since 1991. Now, is this primarily linked to school closures? Not completely This marks the fifth year in a row that the average scores have gone down So this started before the pandemic But other indicators suggest the lockdowns were catastrophic for learning The ACT also has benchmarks of minimum scores which predict whether students will be successful in their college freshman year. In the class of 2022, the number of seniors who didn't reach any of the benchmarks went up. 42% of the class of 2022 didn't reach any, and only 22% got all of them. And we're seeing drops in grades too. The Nation's Report Card, or the National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP, was released on Monday, showing that math grades are down among students in fourth and eighth grade. Fourth graders saw a score five points below the 2019 average, and eighth graders scored eight points lower.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The drops in NAEP scores do seem to be associated with the pandemic. So if this college test decline predates the pandemic, what's driving it? Certainly, lockdowns were a factor, especially for low-income kids who may not have had access to tutors or parents at home. But deeper issues in education policy could also be playing a part here.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: I spoke to Nicholas Giordano about this. He's a professor of political science at Suffolk Community College in New York and a higher education fellow with the Leadership Institute's campus reform. He says one of the major issues is that schools are passing students to the next grade, even if they aren't ready.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, something we've also reported before on this show is that schools are spending a lot more time on things like social emotional learning. I actually used to teach middle school math, so it's hard for me to imagine how I would squeeze in lessons about social issues. Is there any evidence that some of these trendy educational movements are having an effect on kids' achievement in the basic skills?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Right. Yeah, we've definitely seen a wave of parents making that exact argument. Speaking of unhappy parents, education turned out to be a huge factor in the Virginia governor's race last year. Do we expect that it's going to be an important factor in midterms? It could be. There's some evidence that Democrats are pivoting on educational issues, which suggests they're responding to growing pressure to support things like school choice.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For example, Democrat governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker recently said he was in favor of the state's tax credit scholarship program that gives money for kids to go to private and parochial schools. This is a major shift, especially in a deep blue state.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Just five years ago, he opposed the program and said he wouldn't support school vouchers. Professor Giordano made the prediction that Democrats are underestimating the importance of education in this election. I think there are a lot of parents that people don't realize the bitterness and resentment that they have that the schools have failed our kids. And I think they will turn out to vote.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Between the masks, the vaccines, closing schools down, distance learning has proven to be an utter and dismal failure. Parents are fed up, and I don't think they're going to take it much longer, particularly in suburban communities.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, he's not the first person to say that education could be a sleeper issue this cycle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for reporting, Charlotte.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Other stories we're tracking this week. A California judge has ruled in support of a baker who refused to make a gay wedding cake due to her religious beliefs. The suit was brought against the baker by the California State Department of Fair Housing and Employment.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Versatile actor and TV comedy standout Leslie Jordan has died. He was 67 years old. Jordan was well known for his roles on Will and Grace and American Horror Story, as well as his social media videos during the pandemic.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
