Election 2016: Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum calls in to discuss the issues facing the country

The list of potential GOP nominees keeps growing, and the latest man to enter the race joined Glenn on radio this morning. When it comes to standing against radical Islam, no one speaks louder than Rick Santorum. He spoke about the threat of the Islamic State, the role of government in the gay marriage debate, the police officer in McKinney, TX, and more.

GLENN: Rick Santorum is a good friend. And a good friend of the program. And somebody that I have -- and I truly believe this -- is the closest thing to Winston Churchill that we have on the planet today. Probably next to Benjamin Netanyahu. When it comes to radical Islam. Rick and I have talked about rallied Islam before radical Islam was cool. And talked about these kinds of days and what it's going to take and the kind of enemy we would face. Unfortunately, we're seeing all of the things that when Rick was even a senator, he was talking about, we've seen them all come true. And he's a guy who has truly been raised for this time to be able to deal with things like rallied Islam. We haven't spoken about this in a while. I'd like to get his take on it. He declared his candidacy for president of the United States when we were away on Memorial Day. So we have our first chance to speak to him now. Senator, or, Mr. Presidential Candidate, Rick Santorum. How are you, Rick?

RICK: I'm doing great, Glenn. It's so great to be back on your show. Thank you for having me.

GLENN: Thank you. How is your wife? How is your daughter?

RICK: Thanks for asking. Everybody is doing just great. Thank you. Our girl just got a great clean bill of health. And life is good.

GLENN: Good. So, Rick, let's start with ISIS. The president in so many words said, I don't really have a strategy on ISIS. The strategy that we are using is obviously not working. What do we do?

RICK: Well, the strategy is not working because we haven't identified who they are, what they want to accomplish, and why they're trying to accomplish it. I mean, it's all just denial that this has anything to do with Islam or that they have any designs that are religiously motivated.

It's really clear -- Glenn, you and I talked about this years ago, when he talked about the establishment of the caliphate and what that means. And ISIS has established a caliphate. They now have legitimacy within the Islamic world, at least the radical Islamic world, to call people to jihad, not just in Iraq and Syria, but all over the world, including the United States. And they're doing that. And as long as they can maintain territorial control in an area and expand that area, I believe they will grow exponentially. Because when I say grow exponentially -- and be able to recruit jihadists. What they believe is, if they can maintain this territory and expand it, that shows that Allah is blessing them, that Allah is with them, that they're defeating the great Satan. As America tries to stop them, that they can't. This will encourage more and more people to join them. So what the president is doing is the worst of all things. He's saying that he's fighting, not committing any real resources to do so, and giving ISIS an easy victory, if you will, as he moves into Ramadi -- as they move into Ramadi and other places.

GLENN: So, Rick, you're president of the United States. What's the first thing you do?

RICK: Well, the first thing you do is -- you step up the real campaign against ISIS.

Number one, we arm the Kurds. That's the first -- that's the easiest thing to do. This is a fighting force that can fight, will fight, and can win. We have to have a real air campaign. We're flying, according to Centcom that I saw recently, something on the order of 14 HEP sordis a day against ISIS. Which, 70 percent of the airplanes aren't even dropping ordinances. So we're not -- during the Gulf War, we flew 800 to 1,000 planes a day to try to win the battle. We aren't even touching ISIS with the handful of bombs that are being dropped on them. We have a real coordinated campaign with the Kurds. With whatever Iraqi forces that are willing to fight. We have to support the Jordanians. I mean, the Jordanians are in this fight they're willing to fight. They need more resources. They need more help. We can provide it to them. The Egyptians. The kidnapping of these 88 Christian girls in Libya. And the Egyptians are willing to fight the -- the -- ISIS in Libya. But we're holding back --

GLENN: It's truly amazing. We didn't hold back supporting Mubarak, a bad guy. But a better guy than we had with the Muslim Brotherhood. Then we supported the Muslim Brotherhood. Now we get a guy who may be the best person in the presidential palace in Egypt that they have had in modern -- in modern history, and we're nowhere to be found around this guy.

RICK: Well, that's because the president supports the Muslim Brotherhood controlling Egypt. I mean, it's just almost impossible to conceive that the president is standing by this terrorist organization that was turning Egypt into a Sharia radical state, you know, sustaining the judiciary, doing all these things that were making it very clear that they were going to move away from democracy. The Egyptian people got it. They rose up along with the military and took the Muslim Brotherhood out. And our president continues to stand with them and objects to this government because they overthrew a legitimately elected government. This is the kind of -- I just -- it's almost incomprehensible how the president can look at that situation and not see who the good guys and the bad guys are.

GLENN: Okay. A couple of other things that are going on. One is, injustice on the streets. Our police now are no longer -- I mean, we have a guy in McKinney, Texas. Have you followed the McKinney, Texas, story at all?

RICK: Yeah.

GLENN: So this police officer has now retired. He quit the force. He's gone. That's insane to me. If I'm a police officer, I don't go and answer some of these calls now. And that's what's happening in some of these bigger cities. We've made our police officers guilty until proven innocent. And even when it's innocent, we don't really care. We are giving the rule of the street to thugs. In Baltimore, they were actually thanking -- the city officials were thanking the Nation of Islam and the Crips and the Bloods for holding the peace in the streets. What do you do? You're president of the United States, how do you get your arms around this one?

RICK: You know, this is a really tough one because what we've had unfortunately is a president who was in a position to actually heal a lot of racial divide in this country and he's done anything, but that. Which is unfortunate. Which makes it that much harder for the person who comes in after this president and try to repair that. The only way you do that is actually in my opinion is going after the root cause of the problems here and start talking about what's going on within the black community. Within the minority communities. And many poor communities. Not just black communities across this country. Which is the lack of opportunity. The breakdown of the family. The lack of opportunity for jobs and good-paying jobs because of a lot of other factors. Poor schools. I mean, there's just a whole series of issues here that have led to hopelessness and despair. And we -- this president simply has not addressed them.

He's promoted more government, more transfer payments, and not real opportunities, not real -- trying to heal the family and the family situations within those communities. All of those things are key. There's a big just published about six weeks ago by a guy named Robert HEP Putnam. And Robert Putnam is a liberal Harvard sociologist. And he concluded, in looking at the problems of being able to rise in America, that the number one issue was the breakdown of the family in these communities.

And we've had a president who had an opportunity to do something dramatic about that. And he's chosen not to. He's chosen to play the vice of politics. What I'm going to do, and one of the things that I pledge as president, we're going to focus on children and providing a society that will help nurture families again. That will start putting families as the number one priority for our country to try to heal those -- the wounds in these communities by restoring the building block of those communities, which is the traditional family.

GLENN: Okay. And the traditional family is usually supported by the traditional church.

RICK: Yeah.

GLENN: And I know last time -- it used to be, Rick, that they would ask people about gay marriage and everything else. And there was no reason to ask that. Nobody would change gay marriage. And nobody was trying to change the Constitution one way or the other on that. In a serious way.

Here's what's happened. The president -- now the Supreme Court is going to deal with gay marriage. And the -- we had David Barton on yesterday who showed us some things that came from the Department of Justice, their attorneys on the changes that they will inflict on churches. We will lose our -- our tax-free status.

RICK: Yeah.

GLENN: They will start telling us who we can and cannot hire. What we can say. What we cannot. Who we can marry, who we cannot. You're going to have to deal with that as president of the United States, what do you do there?

RICK: Well, this is tantamount to government establishing religion. When the United States government comes in and says, this is what you'll believe. This is how you'll practice your faith. This is a new religion. This lies, in my opinion, in the establishment clause of the Constitution that says the Congress shall make no law with respect to establishing a religion.

If the government goes around and tells churches what they have to believe in and what their doctrine is, that is something that is a violation of the First Amendment. That's why I have actually some hope that the court will not get this wrong. That they will not go as far as some are suggesting. Because there is no -- there is no way that the left will stop at just tolerance. They will demand conformity. They will demand it from the church and every institution. They will demand it from businesses. And there will be no tolerance to a different point of view on this issue. And that's why, again, I'm hopeful that the court will not do what it is -- does. But if it does, I will tell you, and I said this on Meet the Press a couple weeks ago -- that's the court's opinion. They're entitled to their opinion. But the president and the Congress have an opinion too of what the Constitution is. And if they get it wrong and the consequences are what I suspect they will be toward people of faith, then this president will fight back.

PAT: Rick, the media's tactics with you last time and now are either ignore you or attack you. And still last time you finished second. Now, the latest thing is that supposedly one person showed up in Iowa. Tell us what really happened there.

RICK: Yeah. Well, the funny thing was. The last time around, I had that happen to me once too. I went to a town hall meeting, and only one person showed up. It turned out to be in all honesty the best town meeting I ever had. The one person who showed up became my coordinator for the county. She actually became the regional coordinator. And it turned out, the fact that I had time with her to be able to talk with her, it turned out to be the greatest thing.

GLENN: Which, by the way, had you -- had you end up second place. So it's happened before.

PAT: Right.

GLENN: In a town of 300 people. So three people show up. And you're 1 percent of the town showing up. And it's happened before. But they're attacking you.

RICK: Yeah. You know, look, when I did this the last time, no one was paying any attention to me. I mean, I was going around, going to all these small towns with 2- to 300 people. And, of course, you won't get 50 people. I mean, last night, we were at a town a little larger in Iowa. And we had 50 people at a reception. They didn't cover that. We had a great town hall meeting for an hour and a half.

But when you go to a lot of small towns during the middle of the afternoon, during workdays, and people are out doing their things, you will get a smaller crowd, and that's what's expected. That's what makes this so hard because politicians are used to being cheered by big crowds and being in front of audiences. And this is all about meeting real people and the one person, by the way, who was there signed up to be a caucus chairman for us. Agreed to actually run the county for us.

GLENN: Now, I've read conflicting reports that there were more than one.

RICK: There actually was more than one. There were three or four people there.

GLENN: Okay. Doesn't make it that much better.

RICK: One person was at the bar and had a milkshake with me. I think that's what they were taking. But the point is, we don't -- to me, it's all about quality and not quantity. Particularly these little counties of just a few thousand people in the county. That's what makes it hard to do. That's why people don't want to do it because you don't want to take a hit. And from my perspective, I'll just keep chugging away. They can criticize my one or two or three people that I get to volunteer in every county. But, you know what, that's how I won Iowa last time.

GLENN: Rick, would you do me a favor? Can we sit down sometime? I want to meet you someplace. Your house. Someplace. I'll bring my cameras, and I want to put a list of, I don't even know, 25, 50 questions together. And I'll ask all the candidates that I would seriously consider voting for -- I'm not going to ask Jeb Bush or Chris Christie or some of the other clowns -- but, you know, about four guys who I would consider voting for. I'm going to ask them exactly the same questions, so there's no gotchas or anything else. Would you do that?

RICK: Yes! I will never forget, one of the first interviews you ever did with me. We did this, and I was in a parking lot in north Pennsylvania. And you said, I have 20-some questions, yes or no answers.

GLENN: That's right.

RICK: You asked me about 20-some questions, and you demanded yes or no answers. No caveats. I finished. And I'll never forget what you said as long as I live. I finished the last question, and you said, I want to kiss you in the mouth.

[laughter]

GLENN: Well, that's sick. Although, we have found out now, it's perfectly normal.

RICK: Normal. It's a natural reaction for that.

GLENN: That's right. It's a perfectly natural reaction. Rick, all the best of luck to you. And we will -- we will schedule sometime where we can really sit down and go in. Because I want to talk about the size of government and where you stand on some of the more Libertarian issues.

RICK: Love to talk about that.

GLENN: Is there a website? I'm doing Pat's job.

RICK: RickSantorum.com. Even a dollar helps us. Help us out. Join the fight and get out there and make a difference for your country.

GLENN: RickSantorum.com. Thanks a lot, Rick. I appreciate it.

RICK: Thank you.

GLENN: You bet. Buh-bye. He's a really good guy. Really, really good guy.

PAT: He is.

GLENN: Why are we not on his bandwagon?

PAT: I don't know that we're not. I mean, we're still deciding. Still deciding.

GLENN: He's probably one of the four.

PAT: He's in there. Yeah.

The West is dying—Will we let enemies write our ending?

Harvey Meston / Staff | Getty Images

The blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, and soldiers built our civilization. Their sacrifice demands courage in the present to preserve it.

Lamentations asks, “Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?”

That question has been weighing on me heavily. Not just as a broadcaster, but as a citizen, a father, a husband, a believer. It is a question that every person who cares about this nation, this culture, and this civilization must confront: Is all of this worth saving?

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

Western civilization — a project born in Judea, refined in Athens, tested in Rome, reawakened in Wittenberg, and baptized again on the shores of Plymouth Rock — is a gift. We didn’t earn it. We didn’t purchase it. We were handed it. And now, we must ask ourselves: Do we even want it?

Across Europe, streets are restless. Not merely with protests, but with ancient, festering hatred — the kind that once marched under swastikas and fueled ovens. Today, it marches under banners of peace while chanting calls for genocide. Violence and division crack societies open. Here in America, it’s left against right, flesh against spirit, neighbor against neighbor.

Truth struggles to find a home. Even the church is slumbering — or worse, collaborating.

Our society tells us that everything must be reset: tradition, marriage, gender, faith, even love. The only sin left is believing in absolute truth. Screens replace Scripture. Entertainment replaces education. Pleasure replaces purpose. Our children are confused, medicated, addicted, fatherless, suicidal. Universities mock virtue. Congress is indifferent. Media programs rather than informs. Schools recondition rather than educate.

Is this worth saving? If not, we should stop fighting and throw up our hands. But if it is, then we must act — and we must act now.

The West: An idea worth saving

What is the West? It’s not a location, race, flag, or a particular constitution. The West is an idea — an idea that man is made in the image of God, that liberty comes from responsibility, not government; that truth exists; that evil exists; and that courage is required every day. The West teaches that education, reason, and revelation walk hand in hand. Beauty matters. Kindness matters. Empathy matters. Sacrifice is holy. Justice is blind. Mercy is near.

We have squandered this inheritance. We forgot who we were — and our enemies are eager to write our ending.

If not now, when? If not us, who? If this is worth saving, we must know why. Western civilization is worth dying for, worth living for, worth defending. It was built on the blood of martyrs, prophets, poets, pilgrims, moms, dads, and soldiers. They did not die for markets, pronouns, surveillance, or currency. They died for something higher, something bigger.

MATTHIEU RONDEL/AFP via Getty Images | Getty Images

Yet hope remains. Resurrection is real — not only in the tomb outside Jerusalem, but in the bones of any individual or group that returns to truth, honor, and God. It is never too late to return to family, community, accountability, and responsibility.

Pick up your torch

We were chosen for this time. We were made for a moment like this. The events unfolding in Europe and South Korea, the unrest and moral collapse, will all come down to us. Somewhere inside, we know we were called to carry this fire.

We are not called to win. We are called to stand. To hold the torch. To ask ourselves, every day: Is it worth standing? Is it worth saving?

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Pick up your torch. If you choose to carry it, buckle up. The work is only beginning.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Stop coasting: How self-education can save America’s future

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Coasting through life is no longer an option. Charlie Kirk’s pursuit of knowledge challenges all of us to learn, act, and grow every day.

Last year, my wife and I made a commitment: to stop coasting, to learn something new every day, and to grow — not just spiritually, but intellectually. Charlie Kirk’s tragic death crystallized that resolve. It forced a hard look in the mirror, revealing how much I had coasted in both my spiritual and educational life. Coasting implies going downhill. You can’t coast uphill.

Last night, my wife and I re-engaged. We enrolled in Hillsdale College’s free online courses, inspired by the fact that Charlie had done the same. He had quietly completed around 30 courses before I even knew, mastering the classics, civics, and the foundations of liberty. Watching his relentless pursuit of knowledge reminded me that growth never stops, no matter your age.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures.

This lesson is particularly urgent for two groups: young adults stepping into the world and those who may have settled into complacency. Learning is life. Stop learning, and you start dying. To young adults, especially, the college promise has become a trap. Twelve years of K-12 education now leave graduates unprepared for life. Only 35% of seniors are proficient in reading, and just 22% in math. They are asked to bet $100,000 or more for four years of college that will often leave them underemployed and deeply indebted.

Degrees in many “new” fields now carry negative returns. Parents who have already sacrificed for public education find themselves on the hook again, paying for a system that often fails to deliver.

This is one of the reasons why Charlie often described college as a “scam.” Debt accumulates, wages are not what students were promised, doors remain closed, and many are tempted to throw more time and money after a system that won’t yield results. Graduate school, in many cases, compounds the problem. The education system has become a factory of despair, teaching cynicism rather than knowledge and virtue.

Reclaiming educational agency

Yet the solution is not radical revolt against education — it is empowerment to reclaim agency over one’s education. Independent learning, self-guided study, and disciplined curiosity are the modern “Napster moment.” Just as Napster broke the old record industry by digitizing music, the internet has placed knowledge directly in the hands of the individual. Artists like Taylor Swift now thrive outside traditional gatekeepers. Likewise, students and lifelong learners can reclaim intellectual freedom outside of the ivory towers.

Each individual possesses the ability to think, create, and act. This is the power God grants to every human being. Knowledge, faith, and personal responsibility are inseparable. Learning is not a commodity to buy with tuition; it is a birthright to claim with effort.

David Butow / Contributor | Getty Images

Charlie Kirk’s life reminds us that self-education is an act of defiance and empowerment. In his pursuit of knowledge, in his engagement with civics and philosophy, he exemplified the principle that liberty depends on informed, capable citizens. We honor him best by taking up that mantle — by learning relentlessly, thinking critically, and refusing to surrender our minds to a system that profits from ignorance.

The path forward must be reclaiming education, agency, and the power to shape our minds and futures. Every day, seek to grow, create, and act. Charlie showed the way. It is now our responsibility to follow.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck joins TPUSA tour to honor Charlie Kirk

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If they thought the murder of Charlie Kirk would scare us into silence, they were wrong!

If anything, Turning Point will hit the road louder than ever. On Monday, September 22, less than two weeks after the assassination, Charlie's friends united under the Turning Point USA banner to carry his torch and honor his legacy by doing what he did best: bringing honest and truthful debate to Universities across the nation.

Naturally, Glenn has rallied to the cause and has accepted an invitation to join the TPUSA tour at the University of North Dakota on October 9th.

Want to join Glenn at the University of North Dakota to honor Charlie Kirk and keep his mission alive? Click HERE to sign up or find more information.

Glenn's daughter honors Charlie Kirk with emotional tribute song

MELISSA MAJCHRZAK / Contributor | Getty Images

On September 17th, Glenn commemorated his late friend Charlie Kirk by hosting The Charlie Kirk Show Podcast, where he celebrated and remembered the life of a remarkable young man.

During the broadcast, Glenn shared an emotional new song performed by his daughter, Cheyenne, who was standing only feet away from Charlie when he was assassinated. The song, titled "We Are One," has been dedicated to Charlie Kirk as a tribute and was written and co-performed by David Osmond, son of Alan Osmond, founding member of The Osmonds.

Glenn first asked David Osmond to write "We Are One" in 2018, as he predicted that dark days were on the horizon, but he never imagined that it would be sung by his daughter in honor of Charlie Kirk. The Lord works in mysterious ways; could there have been a more fitting song to honor such a brave man?

"We Are One" is available for download or listening on Spotify HERE