As the Election Turns: Our Real Life Soap Opera

September 29, 2016

Writer

A presidential election, murder, an international beauty contest --- it's the stuff of daytime TV. Yet, it's all happening right before our eyes. Are we living in a real life soap opera?

Who better to weigh in than a real soap opera writer?

"In fact, we have a soap opera writer --- Ellen," Glenn said Thursday on his radio program.

Ellen Wheeler, Head of Content at Mercury Radio Arts, also happens to be an Emmy-award-winning actress and former writer for Guiding Light.

"Imagine if I come to you and I say, Okay, all right, so far we've done all the things that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have done. These are the characters. Now, we're going to have her bring up a Miss Universe that he called Miss Piggy, and we're going to smear her. But what they don't know is that in Venezuela she drove the getaway car in a murder," Glenn said.

With experience on two major daytime TV shows that included playing evil twins, Ellen shared her unique perspective.

"It's always been one of my favorite things when real life trumps -- ha ha -- trumps what you could write in a soap opera, and people would say, You can't write that story line. That is too outrageous," she said.

Could Ellen have gotten away with writing the storyline in As the Election Turns?

"People would have beat me up for writing a story like that," she admitted.

Read below or watch the clip for answers to these overly dramatic questions:

• Did Anderson Cooper get Alicia Machado to admit to being accessory to murder?

• How proficient is Alicia Machado's English?

• How famous is Alicia Machado in Venezuela and Mexico?

• Does Alicia Machado have a past?

• Does anyone really care about this?

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: Here's the problem: Is there anyone in this story -- when I heard the Anderson Cooper interview with Miss Universe, honestly, you could -- soap opera writers would look at what's happening, and they would mock this. They would say, "Okay. Come on."

In fact, we have a soap opera writer, Ellen, is this -- is this soap opera of the last year and all of the things that are going on -- imagine if I come to you and I say, "Okay. All right. So far we've done all the things that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have done. Okay. These are the characters. Now, we're going to have her bring up a Miss Universe that he called Miss Piggy, and we're going to smear her. But what they don't know is that in Venezuela she drove the getaway car in a murder."

ELLEN: It's always been one of my favorite things when real life trumps -- ha ha -- trumps what you could write in a soap opera, and people would say, "You can't write that story line. That is too outrageous."

GLENN: So you know, Ellen is an Emmy-award-winning actress. And wrote -- did you just write Guiding Light?

ELLEN: Guiding Light.

GLENN: Okay. And she was on -- I know just.

She wrote every episode of like -- for three years. And she was on Bold & Beautiful and everything else.

ELLEN: So there's no story I can't make up.

GLENN: And you played an evil twin.

ELLEN: I've played an evil twin twice. Three times, if you count real life, right? Three times if you count my own marriage.

But --

GLENN: Wait. There might be something to delve into on some point on that.

ELLEN: But I do think it's fun when life is bigger than the weird art that you could create. And people would have beat me up for writing a story like that.

GLENN: Right. They would say no way anybody would believe this.

ELLEN: Yeah.

GLENN: No way. The only thing that we haven't seen so far is an evil twin. That's the only thing. Or -- oh, my gosh. Oh, maybe, wait, wait, wait. Maybe Zuckerberg is right. We're in the Matrix. Oh, please let this be a dream. Please let me wake up in the shower. Please let this be a dream, like it was in Dallas.

JEFFY: But we have kind of seen the twin, right? With the Hillary double.

PAT: Yes. We kind of have.

GLENN: Yes, we have. So we only have the dream sequence left. And that ends happy.

PAT: So this was Miss Universe. Which that is a little bit presumptuous of us, right?

GLENN: Can we downgrade her to at least Miss Galaxy?

PAT: At least Solar System. We know she's maybe the most beautiful in the solar system. We have no idea about galaxy or solar system.

GLENN: Right. Right. And who are we to judge?

PAT: But here's the Anderson Cooper clip.

ANDERSON: You said that, you know, the Trump campaign will try to discredit you. There are reports that Trump surrogates tonight have been referencing and pointing to on CNN and elsewhere about an incident in 1998 in Venezuela where you were accused of driving a getaway car from a murder scene. You were never charged with this. The judge in this case also said you had threatened to kill him after he indicted your boyfriend for the attempted murder. I just want to give you a chance to address these reporters that the Trump surrogates are talked about.

GLENN: Okay. Stop. Now, you're watching this, and you're thinking to yourself, there's no way this can be true.

PAT: Right. You're thinking, she's going to say, "Absolutely not."

GLENN: Right. There's no way this can be true.

PAT: The Trump people are making that up.

GLENN: Because Hillary would never pin her hopes on a Miss Universe thing who, oh, by the way, also assisted in a murder. Right?

PAT: Right.

GLENN: Here's her answer.

ALICIA: He can say whatever he wants to say. I don't care. You know, I have my past. Of course, everybody has --

PAT: You have a past.

ALICIA: Everybody have a past.

PAT: Oh. Yeah, but not everybody has participated in a murder for a past.

GLENN: No, wait. Wait. Wait. And so far, I'm still believing her. When I'm watching this, I'm still going, okay. Maybe she's just saying -- he's just --

PAT: I'm not. At that point?

GLENN: I'm thinking, he can say whatever he wants. He's just making this up. She's going to come back and say, "That's ridiculous." But you know Donald, he says whatever he wants to. He believed the National Enquirer. I thought that's where she was going at this point.

ALICIA: I'm no saint girl.

PAT: She's not a saint girl.

GLENN: Saint girl.

PAT: I'm not a saint girl.

GLENN: So when I heard that I thought, "Well, let's see, Mother Teresa is technically a saint, and she didn't murder anyone, that we know of."

PAT: She set the bar way too high.

GLENN: Right.

PAT: By not murdering somebody. Come on, we can't all do that. We can't all do that.

(laughter)

GLENN: I'm not a saint. No, I think you understand the definition of the word "saint."

STU: I mean, I think obviously this plays to whether this is going to be an effective campaign for Hillary Clinton.

PAT: It's not.

STU: Does anyone think -- does it make it okay to call a Venezuelan woman Miss Housekeeping because, in the future, she might commit a crime, or she might do porn in the future, after the incident where you call her Miss Housekeeping?

GLENN: Yeah, no. So here's the thing: The trouble with this is there's no good guys in this soap opera. There's nobody. I mean, no soap opera lasts when you don't have somebody that you're rooting for, somebody that you like. Where the best character in this is a Tony Soprano.

JEFFY: Yeah, maybe.

GLENN: So you kind of -- after you kind of feel dirty. When you're like, I'm not entirely comfortable with rooting for Tony Soprano. Oh, yeah, but it's fun.

This eventually isn't fun. And you're just left with that dirty feeling of rooting for Tony Soprano. At some point -- I mean, honestly, think of all the people surrounding both Trump and Clinton.

Do you have friends like those guys do?

You know, yeah, I want you to meet Sandy. He went into the national archives and was smuggling things out of his underpants, but he's cool. Oh, this is Miss Universe. And Donald Trump was calling her Miss Piggy, and she assisted in a murder. But she's great. You don't have these kinds of friends on either side.

Oh, this is -- I want you to meet my -- my new CEO. He -- he's a big fan of, you know, the neo-Nazi movement. He's helping rebrand that whole thing right now.

(laughter)

PAT: Well, if there's anybody who needs re-branding, it's the neo-Nazis.

GLENN: The Neo-Nazis. Skinheads.

PAT: They don't have a good PR firm.

GLENN: Yes, they do. It's called Breitbart.

(laughter)

JEFFY: Chelsea opened the door for Trump to be able to respond next time though, right? I mean, because she responded saying that, "Oh, it's just a distraction from his inability to talk about what's actually at stake in this election."

PAT: Oh, that's --

JEFFY: So now Donald can say, "I'm fighting back. I'm punching back."

ANDERSON: You said that, you know, the Trump campaign will try to discredit you. There are reports that Trump surrogates tonight have been referencing and pointing to on CNN and elsewhere about an incident in 1998 in Venezuela where you were accused of driving a getaway car from a murder scene. You were never charged with this. The judge in the case also said you had threatened to kill him after he indicted your boyfriend for the attempted murder. I just want to give you a chance to address these reports that the Trump surrogates are talking about.

ALICIA: He can say whatever he wants to say. I don't care. You know, I have my past. Of course, everybody has. Everybody have a past.

GLENN: Murder and threatening judges.

ALICIA: And I'm -- a saint girl.

GLENN: You're no saint girl?

ALICIA: But that is not the point now.

PAT: Hmm. Uh-huh.

ALICIA: That moment in Venezuela --

GLENN: Uh-huh.

ALICIA: -- was wrong.

GLENN: Wrong.

ALICIA: Was another speculation about my life.

GLENN: Hold it.

ALICIA: Because I'm a really famous person in my country.

GLENN: Wait. Stop. Stop. She is denying it

PAT: She's essentially admitting it.

JEFFY: No, I think it's the other way.

STU: She's saying that moment was wrong. There was a lot of speculation.

PAT: It sounds like she's saying it was wrong of her to do that.

STU: I think she has a tenuous grasp on the English language.

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: Well, that's clear.

STU: She says that moment -- that was wrong, and there was a lot of speculation.

GLENN: Okay. I thought she was saying that moment, like me driving the getaway car.

PAT: That's what I thought she was saying.

GLENN: Oh, okay.

STU: Right. Right.

ALICIA: Because I'm an actress there and in Mexico too.

JEFFY: Wait. What?

GLENN: I'm an actress.

JEFFY: Yeah, I haven't seen those videos.

ALICIA: He can use whatever he wants to use.

The point is, that happened 20 years ago.

GLENN: Stop.

STU: They're not real though.

PAT: She's admitting it. That happened 20 years ago.

GLENN: That happened 20 years ago.

PAT: Something happened, and she was a part of it.

STU: By the way, so is the reason you're on Anderson Cooper. That also happened 20 years ago.

GLENN: Yeah, I know.

STU: Is a little less important than a murder investigation.

GLENN: Murder. Yeah.

Wait. Wait. Wait. So she's accused of driving the getaway car for her boyfriend who murdered somebody, and then threatening the judge that I'm going to kill you. I think that's kind of an important thing to decide whether -- I mean, it has nothing to do with Donald Trump calling her Miss Piggy. And Miss Housekeeper, Housekeeping is worse.

STU: But isn't this --

GLENN: Maybe, maybe, I don't know.

STU: Isn't this Hillary Clinton just using a play from Donald Trump's playbook?

You can call Ted Cruz's dad the murderer of JFK. Everyone starts talking about it. You direct the conversation to that for a few days. And the fact that in the end, that you're completely wrong, what does that even matter? The point is, she got 84 million people to hear him calling a woman -- a Venezuelan, Miss Housekeeping. The fact that she has issues later on -- two and three days later -- when they fact-check it on Anderson Cooper is meaningless. I mean, this is the same tactic he's been using the entire campaign. And she's using it too. That's where we are in 2016.

GLENN: We are as what's his name, Yiannopoulos, or whatever his name is -- we are in a post-fact period.

Featured Image: Actress Alicia Machado speaks onstage during the NALIP 2016 Latino Media Awards at Dolby Theatre on June 25, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for NALIP)

Breaking point: Will America stand up to the mob?

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.

Glenn's Show Prep

As the Election Turns: Our Real Life Soap Opera

Breaking point: Will America stand up to the mob?

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.

Antifa is organized, funded, and emboldened.

A history of violence

Dismember the dragon

URGENT: Supreme Court case could redefine religious liberty

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

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

One‑sided freedom

Censored belief

Faith on trial

The real test

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

What our response to Israel reveals about us

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

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.

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

But that’s not what we hear.