What Did Glenn's Listeners Think About Trump's Acceptance Speech?

July 22, 2016

Writer

Glenn mixed it up on his radio program Friday following Donald Trump's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

"We're going to try something different today because I want to know how the speech that Donald Trump did played to you, the average American in your home. I know how it played in my home . . . we want to hear from you," Glenn said.

As one might expect, many on the right heralded the speech, while those on the left lambasted it.

"What went through your mind last night? Good or bad? What did you think America?" Glenn asked.

Here's what callers had to say:

Wallace in Kansas

Well, after 76 minutes, I actually had to go back and find a hard copy because I heard the word "Constitution" one time. I never heard the word "freedom," never heard the word "liberty." What I heard was a mashing of the last year of Donald Trump's stump speeches. I wasn't inspired, you know, very much.

I will vote for Donald Trump. A vote is not an endorsement of everything he stands for; it's just Hillary Clinton scares me so bad. If Hillary gets in, here's what I know: This country has a 100 percent chance of getting shot in the head with Hillary Clinton. With Donald Trump, it's a 99 percent. I just hope I'm in the 1 percent.

Darren in Wyoming

Well, we're screwed. We got a high school bully and a crook running as our two leaders that are going to direct our country. And the difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, about 40 pounds. So they're one and the same --- more empty promises.

Derek in Utah

Going into the speech, I thought it was going to be the same thing --- build a wall, do this, do that --- coming out, the thing that really stuck in my mind was law and order, how many times he brought that up, how he was going to restore law and order. And in some ways, I believe that is good with a lot of the things that have been going on with the police forces, but at the same time, it really scares me on how he plans on accomplishing that.

I have never been a Trump supporter. Some things I can relate to 100 percent because there's so much anger, so much hate going on in America right now, and he really tapped into that. Even with his aggressive tone, with his position that he was taking there on stage, he was embodying what a lot of Americans feel right now and bringing that out. So they were able to tap into that, but it really worries me on how he's going to accomplish that. And that's the biggest thing I took away, that I'm a little bit scared about our freedoms and our liberties.

Carol in New York

My frame of mind going into it was, with our options, I was feeling desperate. I'm going to vote, but what decision am I going to make? I wanted to like him. No, I absolutely wanted to like him. The problem is that I don't, and I don't trust him. But there was something last night that changed my heart about him. I guess I'm -- I'm -- I love God, and I love our country. I run a food pantry. I've been a giver my whole life, and not because I'm a good person, but because God is good. And I believe our country needs to become stronger by uniting. If everyone would just be kinder and stronger and meet the need they see in front of them, I believe there would be no needs.

I see that people are running out of options. And he's someone, last night, that made me see that it's possible to have options again, and that gave me hope. And for the first time, I'm like, 'Okay. Alright. Now I'm going to listen.'

It was my gut feeling. I felt he was a little bit humble. I'm concerned about him not being a good guy. But I saw his family, and I'm starting to put all the pieces together. Like, well, you know, with the media the way it is, what do we really hear about anybody? You know, we just hear what they want us to hear. I'm becoming paranoid.

Brian in Oklahoma

I'll be completely honest with you, I have not been a Donald Trump supporter. I was a Ted Cruz supporter. So what I heard last night was a very strong understanding and itemization of the problems our country is having. And a lot of these problems that you listed, Obama won't even utter the words. So when I listened to him last night, he's uttering like the problem with unemployment, the problem with trade deals, the problem with illegal immigration. It's really hard to go in and give you specifics on a trade deal. You know, we're going to Page 405, Paragraph C, you know, Section whatever, and we're going to strike that line. People are most of the time not going to understand that. It's going to go over their head. But he understands that the trade deal with NAFTA and the TPP are lousy deals. It hurts our GDP. He understands that American jobs are being lost to illegal immigrants.

The main thing that I come away from this is, what gives me hope is that the guy gets it. We have a lot of problems, and he knows what they are. He's identified them. He spent 20 minutes listing them. I can't even get Obama to say the words "radical Islamic terrorism."

Shauuna in Utah

I went into it absolutely hating him. I've hated him for years. But his children impressed me so much that I'm hopeful that his love for his children will cause him to live up to the things he's promising. I think that he's promising that he'll take over the financial and pretty much leave the rest to Pence. That's what I'm thinking. He'll negotiate the deals with other countries so that we have a better balance.

I watched the whole thing. I'm a glutton for punishment.

Josh in Florida

Really, at heart, I couldn't vote for Hillary Clinton. So I have to do my citizen duty and vote. But what really stuck out to me was when he started speaking about the evangelical votes and when he said he didn't even know if he deserved it. To me, that sounded like he was trying to humble himself, for the first time really, and that's what really stuck out to me.

And my opinion is, the borders: Hillary wants them open; he wants them closed. That alone should be the deciding factor of this election because these people are trying to come in here and change the culture of America. Not even just our constitutional rights and all of that, the culture of America. So, yes, I am voting for Donald Trump.

Robin in Florida

I went into the speech with a little bit of anxiety because you've been hearing the snippets and seeing the snippets of him on TV: "I'm wealthy." "I build." "I did." "I did."

What I saw last night -- and mind you, the first time I've watched an entire acceptance speech; I've never watched the entire thing -- last night, I heard you, the citizen. This is about the people of America. I'm going to come get your back. I'm going to come watch over you. I'm going to stand between you and whatever's coming at us. It was all about us the citizens and someone coming back for us.

The other thing I've said I've seen and was reiterated last night is his family. And his family really surrounds him. And that is a building block that we are really missing now in this day.

Steve in Georgia

So I've now been watching this stuff for 25 years. And I'll tell you what, it never ceases to amaze me. What I saw last night was what I saw when Obama was giving his speeches, when Obama was running. When Obama stood behind the Greek pillars and accepted the mantel of leadership from the country, he was going to solve all of their problems. He was going to walk across water. And the people believed it because he told them what they wanted to hear. And those of us on the right, we watched this. And we watched this, and we were enamored with the ignorance of the American people. We watched this, and we were like, "How can these people believe this? How could they fall for this?"

And now, all of the people who commented on Obama are doing the same thing for Trump. He's promising that he's going to solve their problems. Yeah, it's nice to have somebody to stand up and speak what a lot of us believe to be truths. That's always great to hear, especially when political correctness has been working at removing free speech from society for the last 20 years. It's nice to hear that. It's refreshing.

However, where he loses me, do I believe that he'll do it? No, I'm not going to be one of the people in the country who is chasing a shiny object. I believe that, as you and many of your listeners do, that this country is about done. The experiment is about over. And I also believe that we had one more shot to solve the problem, and I think that we've missed it.

When anyone stands up and tells us that we have all these problems and he is the only one who can solve these problems, that's a problem. That's a problem in and of itself. And people need to wake up to that.

And, unfortunately, I've almost lost faith that the American people will wake up to it. Those of us who listen to your show, those of us who have been following this, those of us who take and have taken an objective view of politics and of the nature of what our country has become, sheer disappointment. Sheer disappointment.

Mark in Ohio

I'm a teacher in Manso, Ohio, and I live in a very economically depressed area. We used to have the GM staffing plant here, and it's gone. But, anyway, I had to defend myself quite a bit against other teachers who are Democratic supporters. And being a Republican, I had to keep coming up, what is the basis of my argument? And I kept thinking about Trump being a businessman who understands corporate taxes. And I kept hearing him say that he's going to bring back manufacturing to America. And I think that's one of the biggest areas that has concern for me, is bringing jobs to America. And giving people jobs. When he talks about understanding corporate taxes and taxes in general, I believe that's because he's a businessman. So, yes, it does strengthen my position among colleagues and friends.

Nicole in Massachusetts

I'm so pleased to speak to you. And before I start, I just want to say one thing: You've had such a profound impact in my life that I actually met my husband and happily married because of Restoring Love. I met him at Highpoint Church. So I just wanted to let you know that you had that impact on my life. And thank you so much.

So as a millennial in Massachusetts, my BS-ometer was just blowing up last night, and I believe that this man has no integrity at all, and he has proven that to me over and over and over again, throughout his campaign.

I think what the speech and what all of the speeches preceding his speech attempted to do was to make him that good guy --- and he has no integrity. So I think people really want to believe that he's a good guy, and as my mom has pointed out to me repeatedly, his family is his biggest asset because they speak so highly. And people so desperately want to cling to the idea that Donald Trump might be a good man.

I don't think we can trust anything he said last night. It was a complete overreach, to the point where he was even hitting Democratic talking points. And I understand that, you know, unity was the theme. So in that regard, his speech made sense. But he really -- I mean, it was just -- it was lies. And to me, it was so apparent, he's not a good man, he's not going to honor his word. And if we're going to fall for the, "Oh, well, his children say he's wonderful," listen, criminals are really good to their own family. So why would we think that just because he's good to his family, he won't screw us in the long run?

Ashley in Georgia

I went in feeling lost, and I came out feeling lost. I feel like he's got some really good speechwriters around him, and he's going to turn into a really good politician.

I feel like my only hope is that he'll be smart enough to put really smart people around him so he doesn't totally screw up the country if he gets in. I don't believe anything he said because of his actions in the past. Because the history of this man doing what he's done his whole entire life, why would this be any different? I don't think he will be any different. I think he will be who he is, even though he says something different, even though he said something different last night. Our words mean nothing if there's no action to support what we say.

When your actions over the years have proven you to be one way and then all of a sudden you start saying something else, I don't believe you, until your actions start following suit. In life, you can say what you want to me. You can say all the right things to me, but when you've got a history, you condition me not to believe you. I've been conditioned not to believe him because of his actions. And I think that's a big thing.

Mary in Ohio

I went into the speech last night undecided because I am definitely not a Hillary supporter, but I came out frightened because he was whipping those people into a frenzy. He was spouting and screaming nationalism, and it's what I imagined the German people were hearing in the late '20s and early '30s. I think it was the position of his head, which may sound kind of strange, but when he was waiting for a reaction, his chin went up, he was looking down. I think he looked like any dictator that I have ever seen speak, and it frightened me.

Vince in Tennessee

Going in, I did not have any expectation of voting for Donald Trump. I was actually going to be proud to, for the first time in my life, sit home and not vote because I couldn't put my name on this and go before God.

Living in Tennessee, I know how Tennessee is going to go anyways. However, shy of speaking of the Constitution, return to constitutional values, I didn't hear that last night, so I didn't have any change in my heart for Trump. The thing that did make an impact on me was when Ted Cruz said, "Please, don't stay at home." And he said, "I tell you, I'm not voting for Hillary." He didn't come out and say he's voting for Donald, but the fact that he said, "Don't stay home," that spoke to me a little bit more. And now I'm having to reenter into prayer about, "What do I do now?"

Pat in Mississippi

Well, me and my husband live in rural Mississippi. My husband stayed up. He gets up at 4:30 in the morning. He stayed up to listen to this speech. We were both big Cruz supporters. We're voting for Trump. It's a no-brainer.

Number one, the wall. The safety of our country. Number two, I work in the schools. I see the kids have no motivation because the parents either live off the government or have two low-paying jobs. They have to live in a family where the people are working and have something to look forward to. The third thing is, I believe he's going to get the right people for the job to fix this government mess. It is so bad. There are so many good people out here in this country that are well educated and can fix stuff.

Featured Image: Screenshot from The Glenn Beck Program, July 22, 2016.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

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"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

Dan Mullan / Staff | Getty Images

"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

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"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

VALERIE MACON / Contributor | Getty Images

"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

Oleg Nikishin / Stringer | Getty Images

Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

New York Daily News Archive / Contributor | Getty Images

The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

Galerie Bilderwelt / Contributor | Getty Images

Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

Nick Ut / Contributor | Getty Images

The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

Bill Hinton / Contributor | Getty Images

Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

WPA Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

NICHOLAS KAMM / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

Fiona Goodall / Stringer | Getty Images

Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity