Glenn speaks to the NRA: "Yes I Will"

April 15, 2012

Writer

A chalkboard, history, unpasturized butter, and a shoe - there is only one man who could take all of these things, put them together in a speech, and get a standing ovation. That man is Glenn Beck.

Saturday night Glenn gave the keynote at the National Rifle Associations annual convention. He was introduced to the stage by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, who told the crowd that "he shoots straight and gun owners couldn't have a better fan."

Glenn kicked off the speech by clearing the air about who he is endorsing for President of the United States - his shoe.

"Anyone but Barack Obama, including my shoe," Glenn said. "He'd do better than Barack Obama, I can make the case."

Next, Glenn discussed how the tragic death of Trayvon Martin is being used to target our second Amendment rights. "This government will never let a crisis go to waste," Glenn said, describing how this particular crisis is being used to vilify gun owners.

Glenn also touched on Al Sharpton for his public role the last few weeks in the Trayvon Martin case. George Zimmerman, the shooter, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in the Florida teen’s death.

“I saw him this week actually patting himself on the back,” Beck said of Sharpton. ” ‘I was the first to say he’s guilty and should go to jail.‘ When did that become something we’re proud of? When did that become something we wear as a badge of honor, to say ‘I was the first to try a man in the media? I was the first to say oh, that pesky Constitution. The right to a jury trial. I was the first to say guilty before innocent.‘ That’s crazy. The world is absolutely upside-down.”

Glenn compared what Sharpton and others on the left are doing now to what they did when the administration tried to hold the trial of some of the worst terrorist in New York City. "It was vital to show the world how great the our justice system is. …where are they now defending that great American justice system? Nowhere - let the world see the American justice system. It works," Glenn told the crowd.

This transitioned into a discussion of the lack of truth in the mainstream media today. "The media is not telling you the truth. That's why we started GBTV," Glenn said pointing out the coverage the case in Florida is getting compared to noncontroversial stories where guns were used for self-defense. Glenn cited six stories where people were able to defend and save their own lives because of their right to bear arms:

A woman in Oklahoma who was being attacked by a man with a knife.

A college student in Philadelphia who robbers began firing shots at because he didn't have any money.

A woman in Duluth, GA who was met by a man with a knife when she stepped out of her shower.

A woman in Albany, GA who was met by a man with a butcher knife and another with a gun when she walked into her office.

A double amputee who had his home invaded by a teen who fired two shots at him.

And finally, a 110lb Florida beauty queen, who was dragged upstairs to her bedroom by an intruder, where he was met by her fiancé, giving her just enough time to grab her pink 38.

The National Academy of Science recently published a review to find out which laws are really helping out when it comes to violent crime, suicide, and accidents. "Take a guess?," Glenn asked the crowd. "Out of 253 journalists, 99 books, 43 government publications and 80 gun control schemes, the number of laws that actually help - zero. Nobody reports anywhere when someone saves a life or stops a crime, because they're a responsible citizen with a gun. But, the chance of you getting hurt or killed by a gun in the hands of a responsible citizen - one in a million."

Glenn told the crowd that the name they all need to know and learn about when it comes to regulations is Cass Sunstein, who Glenn describes as "the most dangerous man in America."

"They're not going to take your gun away from you. They're just going to make it impossible for you to buy another one, impossible for you to own a bullet, buy a bullet, shoot it anywhere," Glenn said, while giving the example of what it is like for someone to try and buy a gun in New York City.

Glenn continued to give other examples of out of control regulation. Everything from digging from arrow heads and selling sea otters to a woman who was raided by NOAA with assault rifles. NOAA …the weather people.

Glenn also told the audience about how our government spent a year undercover with the Amish. "What's their crime? Unhomogenized, unpasteurized milk," Glenn said, joking about how they were ever shipping it across state lines.

Glenn happened to have spoken in Lancaster, PA Friday night, and brought some unpasteurized butter back with him - yes, across state lines.

So, how did we get here? "We don't know our own history," Glenn said, while referencing the famous picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware.

The original was painted in Germany where it was destroyed in an airstrike in 1944. Glenn gave the history of the recreated piece of art that resides in America, featuring not just George Washington, but Madison holding the flag, a woman, a Scott, and an African American. It was recreated by a man from Berlin in 1850, just after the 'Spring of Nations', which took place on February 23, 1848. What caused this eerily familiar sounding revolution to breakout across Europe on the 23rd? Just two days prior, on February 21st, 1848, Karl Marx published the Communist Manifesto.

Glenn explained the history lesson to the crowd using his trademark tool - the chalkboard.

"How does it relate to this picture? And what does history?" Glenn asked the crowd. "What is it screaming to America? It was communism that led to the Spring of Nations that broke out all over Europe, and one man lived in America, who was a German, went back and said 'No! that's the wrong direction'."

Glenn asked the crowd why would the painter include a woman, a farmer, an African American, all together in this one painting?

"Because, the average person, when linked together, can do anything," Glenn said while being met with applause.

"America is never about the finished product," he told the crowd, "it's about the journey, the process; it's about being what we are - each of us with different skills and different backgrounds, coming together and doing the right thing."

"We are headed for another spring of nations - history is crying out everywhere - it is telling us - it aint that hard guys - the answer is not that hard."

Glenn told the crowd about what George Washington did before fighting the Revolutionary War - he called for a National Day of Prayer and Fasting on May 17th. Glenn suggested that we do the same this May 17th.

"We beg God to protect this nation and His cause. Go home and tell your preachers and your rabbis," Glenn told the cheering crowd while continuing to tell the story of the amazing Crossing of the Delaware.

"The solutions that we need are right in front of us," Glenn transitioned. "We need to find a leader. We have Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney's our guy. I haven't been a Mitt Romney fan, but let me tell you something, I've done a lot of research. I've looked into his past. I've looked into all of his policies. I've looked into everything I can possibly find on Mitt Romney to see if there is something I can really get my arms around, and say 'Yes, the American people need to know this.' Here it is: Mitt Romney is my guy, because Mitt Romney is not a communist."

Glenn emphasized to the crowd how important it is going to be for every one of them to vote in the next election, while citing that 10 to 30 percent of every conservative organization is not registered to vote. "Clean up your own house first," Glenn said.

"We need God, we need education, the third thing we need is empowerment. We need entrepreneurship," Glenn explained telling the crowd that we must not only create, but we must also elevate others.

Glenn wrapped things up by talking about what conservatives have to do if they really want small government - be charitable. "Who is going to take care of the poor? Who's going to take care of those that are unemployed? Who will take care of the elderly? If you really want small government, let's be a group of people that when the press asks, 'Who is going to take care of the poor?' We don't say we will, we say we are. Our churches our neighborhoods are organized and taking care of the poor and those who cannot work."

“Barack Obama‘s winning slogan was 'Yes we can.' That’s the dumbest damn slogan I’ve ever heard,” Glenn said. “Don’t tell me what you can do. Will you do it? Will you do it? ‘Yes we can.’ What a bunch of crap that is.”

Glenn wrote the words “Yes I will” on the chalkboard.

“Yes I will,” he said. “Are you going to vote? ‘Yeah I could do that.’ Are you going to vote? ‘Yes I will.’”

“Will you be a man or a woman of honor?” he asked. “‘Yes I will.’ Will you seek equal justice for all? ‘Yes I will.’"

"Seek the truth. Have the courage to stand." Glenn concluded. "These are not the times that try mens souls, but they will be. The great news is, we'll be ready."

Many were live tweeting during the speech, here is what a few people had to say:

‏@RJBoisvert: @GBTV @glennbeck Inspiring speech at NRA by Glenn Beck! YES I WILL!

@HeadToToeHarlen: Will you stand or not? Great speaker! Thank you Glenn Beck for coming to our NRA convention! ALL IN!

@cbrown285: Glenn Beck "Mitt Romney is my guy because he is not a communist." that is a low bar of expectations but it is better than Obama #NRA

@nlasmus: The @glennbeck speech at the #NRA Convention is so inspiring! We the ppl hold the key to restoring our nation! National Day of Prayer May 17!

@EJRWatkins: @glennbeck LOVED video of NRA speech. You're 100% right. We ARE a covenant land and people!

Of course the usual haters were one the prowl, condemning Glenn for sharing stories of men and women protecting themselves from attackers using their 2nd Amendment rights (kind of proves his point about the left and the media, doesn't it?).

@CSGV: .@glennbeck stories of "justified" homicides, celebrating the deaths, #NRA Celebrating 18 yr old mom and baby being alive - evil

@CSGV: @glennbeck has now been a headline speaker at #NRA Convention for six years in a row. #Extremism #ows #labor #WarOnWomen #immigration #p2

Antifa isn’t “leaderless” — It’s an organized machine of violence

Jeff J Mitchell / Staff | Getty Images

The mob rises where men of courage fall silent. The lesson from Portland, Chicago, and other blue cities is simple: Appeasing radicals doesn’t buy peace — it only rents humiliation.

Parts of America, like Portland and Chicago, now resemble occupied territory. Progressive city governments have surrendered control to street militias, leaving citizens, journalists, and even federal officers to face violent anarchists without protection.

Take Portland, where Antifa has terrorized the city for more than 100 consecutive nights. Federal officers trying to keep order face nightly assaults while local officials do nothing. Independent journalists, such as Nick Sortor, have even been arrested for documenting the chaos. Sortor and Blaze News reporter Julio Rosas later testified at the White House about Antifa’s violence — testimony that corporate media outlets buried.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

Chicago offers the same grim picture. Federal agents have been stalked, ambushed, and denied backup from local police while under siege from mobs. Calls for help went unanswered, putting lives in danger. This is more than disorder; it is open defiance of federal authority and a violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

A history of violence

For years, the legacy media and left-wing think tanks have portrayed Antifa as “decentralized” and “leaderless.” The opposite is true. Antifa is organized, disciplined, and well-funded. Groups like Rose City Antifa in Oregon, the Elm Fork John Brown Gun Club in Texas, and Jane’s Revenge operate as coordinated street militias. Legal fronts such as the National Lawyers Guild provide protection, while crowdfunding networks and international supporters funnel money directly to the movement.

The claim that Antifa lacks structure is a convenient myth — one that’s cost Americans dearly.

History reminds us what happens when mobs go unchecked. The French Revolution, Weimar Germany, Mao’s Red Guards — every one began with chaos on the streets. But it wasn’t random. Today’s radicals follow the same playbook: Exploit disorder, intimidate opponents, and seize moral power while the state looks away.

Dismember the dragon

The Trump administration’s decision to designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization was long overdue. The label finally acknowledged what citizens already knew: Antifa functions as a militant enterprise, recruiting and radicalizing youth for coordinated violence nationwide.

But naming the threat isn’t enough. The movement’s financiers, organizers, and enablers must also face justice. Every dollar that funds Antifa’s destruction should be traced, seized, and exposed.

AFP Contributor / Contributor | Getty Images

This fight transcends party lines. It’s not about left versus right; it’s about civilization versus anarchy. When politicians and judges excuse or ignore mob violence, they imperil the republic itself. Americans must reject silence and cowardice while street militias operate with impunity.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened. The violence in Portland and Chicago is deliberate, not spontaneous. If America fails to confront it decisively, the price won’t just be broken cities — it will be the erosion of the republic itself.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

Drew Angerer / Staff | Getty Images

The state is effectively silencing professionals who dare speak truths about gender and sexuality, redefining faith-guided speech as illegal.

This week, free speech is once again on the line before the U.S. Supreme Court. At stake is whether Americans still have the right to talk about faith, morality, and truth in their private practice without the government’s permission.

The case comes out of Colorado, where lawmakers in 2019 passed a ban on what they call “conversion therapy.” The law prohibits licensed counselors from trying to change a minor’s gender identity or sexual orientation, including their behaviors or gender expression. The law specifically targets Christian counselors who serve clients attempting to overcome gender dysphoria and not fall prey to the transgender ideology.

The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The law does include one convenient exception. Counselors are free to “assist” a person who wants to transition genders but not someone who wants to affirm their biological sex. In other words, you can help a child move in one direction — one that is in line with the state’s progressive ideology — but not the other.

Think about that for a moment. The state is saying that a counselor can’t even discuss changing behavior with a client. Isn’t that the whole point of counseling?

One‑sided freedom

Kaley Chiles, a licensed professional counselor in Colorado Springs, has been one of the victims of this blatant attack on the First Amendment. Chiles has dedicated her practice to helping clients dealing with addiction, trauma, sexuality struggles, and gender dysphoria. She’s also a Christian who serves patients seeking guidance rooted in biblical teaching.

Before 2019, she could counsel minors according to her faith. She could talk about biblical morality, identity, and the path to wholeness. When the state outlawed that speech, she stopped. She followed the law — and then she sued.

Her case, Chiles v. Salazar, is now before the Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments on Tuesday. The question: Is counseling a form of speech or merely a government‑regulated service?

If the court rules the wrong way, it won’t just silence therapists. It could muzzle pastors, teachers, parents — anyone who believes in truth grounded in something higher than the state.

Censored belief

I believe marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God. I believe that family — mother, father, child — is central to His design for humanity.

I believe that men and women are created in God’s image, with divine purpose and eternal worth. Gender isn’t an accessory; it’s part of who we are.

I believe the command to “be fruitful and multiply” still stands, that the power to create life is sacred, and that it belongs within marriage between a man and a woman.

And I believe that when we abandon these principles — when we treat sex as recreation, when we dissolve families, when we forget our vows — society fractures.

Are those statements controversial now? Maybe. But if this case goes against Chiles, those statements and others could soon be illegal to say aloud in public.

Faith on trial

In Colorado today, a counselor cannot sit down with a 15‑year‑old who’s struggling with gender identity and say, “You were made in God’s image, and He does not make mistakes.” That is now considered hate speech.

That’s the “freedom” the modern left is offering — freedom to affirm, but never to question. Freedom to comply, but never to dissent. The same movement that claims to champion tolerance now demands silence from anyone who disagrees. The root of this case isn’t about therapy. It’s about erasing a worldview.

The real test

No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we cannot stop speaking the truth. These beliefs aren’t political slogans. For me, they are the product of years of wrestling, searching, and learning through pain and grace what actually leads to peace. For us, they are the fundamental principles that lead to a flourishing life. We cannot balk at standing for truth.

Maybe that’s why God allows these moments — moments when believers are pushed to the wall. They force us to ask hard questions: What is true? What is worth standing for? What is worth dying for — and living for?

If we answer those questions honestly, we’ll find not just truth, but freedom.

The state doesn’t grant real freedom — and it certainly isn’t defined by Colorado legislators. Real freedom comes from God. And the day we forget that, the First Amendment will mean nothing at all.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins Megyn Kelly LIVE — One night ONLY in Fort Worth!

Get ready for sparks to fly. For the first time in years, Glenn will come face-to-face with Megyn Kelly — and this time, he’s the one in the hot seat. On October 25, 2025, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Glenn joins Megyn on her “Megyn Kelly Live Tour” for a no-holds-barred conversation that promises laughs, surprises, and maybe even a few uncomfortable questions.

What will happen when two of America’s sharpest voices collide under the spotlight? Will Glenn finally reveal the major announcement he’s been teasing on the radio for weeks? You’ll have to be there to find out.

This promises to be more than just an interview — it’s a live showdown packed with wit, honesty, and the kind of energy you can only feel if you are in the room. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss your chance to see Glenn like you’ve never seen him before.

Get your tickets NOW at www.MegynKelly.com before they’re gone!

What our response to Israel reveals about us

JOSEPH PREZIOSO / Contributor | Getty Images

I have been honored to receive the Defender of Israel Award from Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The Jerusalem Post recently named me one of the strongest Christian voices in support of Israel.

And yet, my support is not blind loyalty. It’s not a rubber stamp for any government or policy. I support Israel because I believe it is my duty — first as a Christian, but even if I weren’t a believer, I would still support her as a man of reason, morality, and common sense.

Because faith isn’t required to understand this: Israel’s existence is not just about one nation’s survival — it is about the survival of Western civilization itself.

It is a lone beacon of shared values in the Middle East. It is a bulwark standing against radical Islam — the same evil that seeks to dismantle our own nation from within.

And my support is not rooted in politics. It is rooted in something simpler and older than politics: a people’s moral and historical right to their homeland, and their right to live in peace.

Israel has that right — and the right to defend herself against those who openly, repeatedly vow her destruction.

Let’s make it personal: if someone told me again and again that they wanted to kill me and my entire family — and then acted on that threat — would I not defend myself? Wouldn’t you? If Hamas were Canada, and we were Israel, and they did to us what Hamas has done to them, there wouldn’t be a single building left standing north of our border. That’s not a question of morality.

That’s just the truth. All people — every people — have a God-given right to protect themselves. And Israel is doing exactly that.

My support for Israel’s right to finish the fight against Hamas comes after eighty years of rejected peace offers and failed two-state solutions. Hamas has never hidden its mission — the eradication of Israel. That’s not a political disagreement.

That’s not a land dispute. That is an annihilationist ideology. And while I do not believe this is America’s war to fight, I do believe — with every fiber of my being — that it is Israel’s right, and moral duty, to defend her people.

Criticism of military tactics is fair. That’s not antisemitism. But denying Israel’s right to exist, or excusing — even celebrating — the barbarity of Hamas? That’s something far darker.

We saw it on October 7th — the face of evil itself. Women and children slaughtered. Babies burned alive. Innocent people raped and dragged through the streets. And now, to see our own fellow citizens march in defense of that evil… that is nothing short of a moral collapse.

If the chants in our streets were, “Hamas, return the hostages — Israel, stop the bombing,” we could have a conversation.

But that’s not what we hear.

What we hear is open sympathy for genocidal hatred. And that is a chasm — not just from decency, but from humanity itself. And here lies the danger: that same hatred is taking root here — in Dearborn, in London, in Paris — not as horror, but as heroism. If we are not vigilant, the enemy Israel faces today will be the enemy the free world faces tomorrow.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about truth. It’s about the courage to call evil by its name and to say “Never again” — and mean it.

And you don’t have to open a Bible to understand this. But if you do — if you are a believer — then this issue cuts even deeper. Because the question becomes: what did God promise, and does He keep His word?

He told Abraham, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you.” He promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give him “the whole land of Canaan.” And though Abraham had other sons, God reaffirmed that promise through Isaac. And then again through Isaac’s son, Jacob — Israel — saying: “The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and to your descendants after you.”

That’s an everlasting promise.

And from those descendants came a child — born in Bethlehem — who claimed to be the Savior of the world. Jesus never rejected His title as “son of David,” the great King of Israel.

He said plainly that He came “for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” And when He returns, Scripture says He will return as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And where do you think He will go? Back to His homeland — Israel.

Tamir Kalifa / Stringer | Getty Images

And what will He find when He gets there? His brothers — or his brothers’ enemies? Will the roads where He once walked be preserved? Or will they lie in rubble, as Gaza does today? If what He finds looks like the aftermath of October 7th, then tell me — what will be my defense as a Christian?

Some Christians argue that God’s promises to Israel have been transferred exclusively to the Church. I don’t believe that. But even if you do, then ask yourself this: if we’ve inherited the promises, do we not also inherit the land? Can we claim the birthright and then, like Esau, treat it as worthless when the world tries to steal it?

So, when terrorists come to slaughter Israelis simply for living in the land promised to Abraham, will we stand by? Or will we step forward — into the line of fire — and say,

“Take me instead”?

Because this is not just about Israel’s right to exist.

It’s about whether we still know the difference between good and evil.

It’s about whether we still have the courage to stand where God stands.

And if we cannot — if we will not — then maybe the question isn’t whether Israel will survive. Maybe the question is whether we will.

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