WATCH: Heroes and history

Over the weekend, Glenn spoke at a GOP fundraiser in Texas where he heavily criticized the national Republican party for turing away from the uniting principles of freedom and limited government. During the speech, he used several historical items to help illustrate his point, including items from heroes like Marcus Luttrell, Sam Brown, and the fallen Chris Kyle. He brought those items back to Dallas Monday night, where he used them to discuss heroism and freedom for the TV audience.

The below is based off a transcript of Glenn's monologue from Monday's show

Now, the news always seems to zero in on the bickering and the fighting, and there is a time to focus in on that and turn the tables over, but it shouldn’t be all the time. I don’t know about you, but last night I’m watching the Super Bowl, and I actually felt good. When’s the last time you watched a mass event, and you felt good afterwards? Been a very long time because usually there’s some political thing or there’s some, you know, sexual thing, or whatever.

This time I really felt like it was great because it was uniting, and that’s what we should be looking for. What unites us? This last weekend, I went, and I spoke to the GOP here in Texas. And I think everybody in the room liked it, except for really the, you know, traditional GOP people. They didn’t like it all that much, the establishment. But it was a good group of people, and they know the GOP is in trouble because the GOP is just not offering any real fixes to the problems.

They are like every party. This is their job, get people elected, and they’re about self-preservation and scoring points. And Karl Rove, his fundraising is now down 98% as Crossroads. Think of that, you want to talk about an unmitigated disaster, down 98% in fundraising. So what has he done? He’s started a new thing, what is it, Kentuckians for Real Solutions or something like that?

And so he’s taken his name off of it, and he’s raising funds hoping that people don’t know it’s Karl Rove behind it. And he is taking on Matt Bevin and instead trying to get Mitch McConnell reelected. I mean, if you don’t need more on Mitch McConnell on why he shouldn’t be elected, because Karl Rove is behind it. Maybe that should be it.

There’s lots of things that unite us, but none of them happen with the political people. They happen with real people. And the things that unite us are true. They’re not just things that make us feel good, but they are things that are good. And you see it from heroes, and I want to show you a couple of things.

Last week we had Sam Brown on. He is running for Congress in Texas. This is his pack. And you can see how it is burned, and I can’t imagine being on fire. And he said within 30 seconds he was crying out for his God and his mother. What makes a man recover from this without bitterness? What makes a man say I still want to serve my country after this?

This is the pack from Marcus Luttrell. I want to show you this. This is the pack from Marcus Luttrell and what he was wearing. You know, we’ve seen the movie, but this is the real uniform that actually was with him. I want to show you these pants. As you can see, his pants are all cut up and not in good shape.

What most people don’t realize is that when Marcus was, you know, falling down the hill, the movie doesn’t show this because Marcus is too, I think, too modest, but he was lying on the Republic of Texas. He was lying down in those pants with this and this helmet, and he crawled for eight miles. He took his knife, and he drew a line up at his head. And he was pretty much paralyzed from the shoulders down.

So he took his knife, and he drew a line in the sand, and then he crawled across that line. And he thought when my feet cross that line, I’ll draw another line because I’m getting out of here. He did that for eight solid miles. What makes a man do that?

And then there’s this. This weekend is a very special anniversary. Joe Namath had one of these on yesterday. This is something that Taya Kyle gave me to remember her husband, Chris Kyle, who died a year ago, the greatest American sniper, the one the president still hasn’t even recognized. But this was his helmet. This was his tripod for his gun, and these were his magazines, still with the rounds in it. What makes a man do that?

That, that. Now, these two men had this instead of the American flag. Why? Well, if I may show you one more piece of history. This is an amazing letter. This is from Davy Crockett. When I have shown this before in Texas, it gets audible gasps. People are like oh my gosh. I mean, it practically has to travel around in a Brinks truck. But it’s not the actual letter.

This is so amazing because Davy Crockett was an American that I think felt an awful lot like the way people today feel, and it explains what’s at the base of Chris Kyle’s helmet. I don’t know if you can see it, but it is the Texas flag. It explains why Marcus Luttrell had that, and it’s not hubris by any stretch of the imagination. It really comes from that letter from Davy Crockett.

In that letter, Davy Crockett wrote, I’ve almost given up the ship as lost. Do you feel like that? Because I do. I’ve almost given up. Several times I’ve almost just went you know what, it’s just lost. He says I’ve gone so far to declare that if the President, Martin Van Buren, is elected, I am going to leave the United States because I’ll never live under his kingdom. See, some things never really change.

He said I will not submit to his government. I will instead go to the wilds of Texas. I will consider that government a paradise to what this is. In fact, at this time, our republican government has almost dwindled into insignificancy. Our boasted land of liberty has almost bowed to the yoke of bondage. Our happy days of Republican principles…and what are Republican principles? I don’t mean the party. What are Republican principles?

This was before the Republican Party. Small government, Libertarianism, being free to be yourself, just doing the right thing. He’s talking about a president who has just expanded the government like crazy. He said our happy days of Republican principles are near an end when a few will transfer the many. This is the Van Buren principle. There are more slaves in New York and Pennsylvania than there are in Virginia and South Carolina, and they’re the meanest kind of slaves because these slaves volunteer to be slaves.

Is that not what we’re living now? So what are the principles? What are the uniting principles? What are the things that bring us all together? I will tell you, old, old dusty words that nobody even knows what they mean anymore, we hold these truths to be self-evident, meaning I can wake you up from a dead sleep. I can ask you hey, I’m the President of the United States, should I be able to kill you without trial? No. Okay, good, go back to sleep. Right?

We hold these truths to be self-evident. You can go and ask anybody anytime, uneducated or educated, they know it’s wrong to hold somebody against their will and make them a slave. They know. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. Okay, that means that you’re not born a king. You have to earn your way to king or whatever it is. You have to earn your way, earn your keep.

You’re not just born into it. Just because you’re a Kennedy doesn’t make you any different than me. Do we still believe that? And by the way, created, all men are created equal. Well, created means, kind of lends credence to the next line, and endowed by their Creator. Creator, even Richard Dawkins, the atheist, he says it wasn’t God. It’s certainly not God. It’s probably some alien life form. I’m not kidding you, this is really what he really says, some alien life form that created man and then seeded him here. That’s what he thinks we’ll find out.

Okay, well whatever, so there is something we can agree on, we were both created. You say by a super intelligent alien life form. I say it’s by God. Either way, we were created, and we were created and given some inalienable rights, meaning nobody can change them. Except for God or the alien, nobody can change these rights because we’re all born exactly the same. We all have an equal shot.

And among these life…you can’t kill me because you’re not my creator; liberty, you can’t arrest me. You can arrest me if I’ve done something wrong, but you better tell me what the charge is, and I have a right to a speedy trial with all my other fellow beings. And I get to be able to see the evidence, and if you take my child away from me, you can’t put a gag order on me. I should be able to say hey, this is wrong.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that’s why Davy Crockett said he was going to come down to Texas. That’s why I came down to Texas. Can you still be your own man or do you have to do it somebody else’s way? You know, we’re building radio studios down here in Texas or looking to build radio studios here, and we’re also probably going to move our facilities in New York City, still in New York City unfortunately but move them, and we were talking about the expense of it today.

Here in Texas, I don’t need any special kind of light switches or anything else, but in New York, I have to, if I move into a space, I have to upgrade the entire facility, and I have to have motion light switches in every office. Well, when I asked what is this all going to cost me at the end of the day, all of these regulations, you’re almost putting me out of business. Are you free to be able to do business? Are you free to pursue your happiness?

Yes, the Internet makes it easy. I can connect with anyone in the world until they start to regulate that. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and in support of this, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. See, honor does play a role. Honor, it means that we have to be true with one another. We have to speak honestly and openly and treat one another with respect. That’s what honor means.

So to support this idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator, we have to have honor. There’s your fix. There’s your uniting principle. Forget about the Coke ad and are you a racist or not a racist, that’s it. And then coming to a place to where you say I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me.

My wife last night, oh my gosh, she was talking to me during the Super Bowl. It got into the last quarter, and she was rooting for the Broncos in the last quarter because she felt bad for them. I mean, can’t the Seahawks just – I swear to you – can’t the Seahawks just let them score? I mean, just let them score one. I feel bad. They should have at least one touchdown.

I was like do you want me to call the president and see if we could just redistribute some of these points? What are you talking about? Earn it. Earn it. That’s what it’s all about, earn it. Do I feel bad for the Broncos? Not really. They were in the Super Bowl. How many teams didn’t make it to the Super Bowl? Do I wish they would’ve? Maybe, I mean, I think it was kind of cool, just the butt kicking, but maybe that’s because I’m from Seattle originally.

Find the things that unite us, and tonight we’re going to do just that.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

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Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

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When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

POLL: Is Gen Z’s anger over housing driving them toward socialism?

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A recent poll conducted by Justin Haskins, a long-time friend of the show, has uncovered alarming trends among young Americans aged 18-39, revealing a generation grappling with deep frustrations over economic hardships, housing affordability, and a perceived rigged system that favors the wealthy, corporations, and older generations. While nearly half of these likely voters approve of President Trump, seeing him as an anti-establishment figure, over 70% support nationalizing major industries, such as healthcare, energy, and big tech, to promote "equity." Shockingly, 53% want a democratic socialist to win the 2028 presidential election, including a third of Trump voters and conservatives in this age group. Many cite skyrocketing housing costs, unfair taxation on the middle class, and a sense of being "stuck" or in crisis as driving forces, with 62% believing the economy is tilted against them and 55% backing laws to confiscate "excess wealth" like second homes or luxury items to help first-time buyers.

This blend of Trump support and socialist leanings suggests a volatile mix: admiration for disruptors who challenge the status quo, coupled with a desire for radical redistribution to address personal struggles. Yet, it raises profound questions about the roots of this discontent—Is it a failure of education on history's lessons about socialism's failures? Media indoctrination? Or genuine systemic barriers? And what does it portend for the nation’s trajectory—greater division, a shift toward authoritarian policies, or an opportunity for renewal through timeless values like hard work and individual responsibility?

Glenn wants to know what YOU think: Where do Gen Z's socialist sympathies come from? What does it mean for the future of America? Make your voice heard in the poll below:

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism comes from perceived economic frustrations like unaffordable housing and a rigged system favoring the wealthy and corporations?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism, including many Trump supporters, is due to a lack of education about the historical failures of socialist systems?

Do you think that these poll results indicate a growing generational divide that could lead to more political instability and authoritarian tendencies in America's future?

Do you think that this poll implies that America's long-term stability relies on older generations teaching Gen Z and younger to prioritize self-reliance, free-market ideals, and personal accountability?

Do you think the Gen Z support for Trump is an opportunity for conservatives to win them over with anti-establishment reforms that preserve liberty?