GLENNMarch 09, 2017

4 Steps to Break Down Walls From a Former Westboro Baptist Church Member

Megan Phelps-Roper, who grew up indoctrinated with hatred in the Westboro Baptist Church, left the church in 2012 after what can only be described as an awakening.

"She left the church a while ago, and recently did a TED talk on why she left and how it happened. And it's fascinating because, I mean, there are parts of it that sounds like she's just lifting lines from Glenn Beck about how to deal with the world," Co-host Stu Burguiere said Thursday on The Glenn Beck Program.

Interestingly, Phelps-Roper's conversion began in the hateful universe of social media, where she encountered a pattern that repeated during her 144-character conversations on Twitter.

Initially, the people I encountered on the platform were just as hostile as I expected. They were the digital version of the screaming hordes I had been seeing at protests since I was a kid. But in the midst of that digital brawl, a strange pattern developed. Someone would arrive at my profile with the usual rage and scorn. I would respond with a custom mix of Bible versus, pop culture references, and smiley faces. They would be understandably confused and caught off guard. But then a conversation would ensue. And it was civil. Full of genuine curiosity on both sides.

Concerned with the current state of division in the country, Phelps-Roger has identified four steps on how to approach people with different ideas, especially on social media platforms:

1. Don't assume bad intent

2. Ask honest questions

3. Stay calm

4. Make the argument, explain

"If you want to make it happen, she's giving you the recipe. And it's Martin Luther King's recipe. Unfortunately, most of our society is siding with Malcolm X. Most of us want the anger and hate and rage. We all want it to stop, but we're all being led to believe that nothing will ever change with the other side," Glenn said. "That's a lie, and she's proof positive of that lie."

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

GLENN: I want to get to the media bias and American kids. Can they spot fake news stories? Can they spot bias? We'll give that to you here in just a second.

STU: So Megan Phelps-Roper. She was in the Westboro Baptist Church. So Phelps is the name.

GLENN: Right.

STU: Fred Phelps was the head guy.

GLENN: Is she -- is she a child of?

STU: No, I think she's married.

GLENN: Okay. So she was a child of Fred?

STU: Yeah. She grew up in -- or, it might be grandchild of Fred. Fred is -- I could be --

GLENN: Have we lost him?

STU: He's very old. I don't know if we lost him. I don't keep up with every iteration of what goes on in the Westboro Baptist Church. But I do find it a fascinating topic, in that it's -- they're just so crazy. And to see -- if you don't know who they are, they're the people that go and protest military funerals. They say God hates Jews and gays.

GLENN: All kinds of stuff. Really bad.

STU: You know, they're the worst part of every news story, basically.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: They come out -- gosh, this is a tragedy. Now it's worse. They're able to do it every single time.

GLENN: Right. Right. Right.

STU: So she grew up -- and, you know, I know we had someone who left the Westboro Baptist Church a long time ago. And I can't remember if it was her or if it was someone else because a couple people have left. But almost everybody at the Westboro Baptist Church is from the Phelps family. It's like 80 percent Phelps family members.

GLENN: Boy.

STU: So she left the church a while ago. And recently did a TED talk on why she left and how it happened. And it's fascinating because, I mean, there are parts of it that sounds like she's just lifting lines from Glenn Beck about how to deal with the world. Now, you might not want to be associated with someone who is in the Westboro Baptist Church --

GLENN: But she's out of the Westboro Baptist Church.

STU: She's out --

GLENN: She's out and she's talking about why she left. And for everybody who says, "Well, you don't -- the left won't listen." Let's listen to how the woman -- do you think the left is less extreme than the Westboro Baptist Church?

STU: If you could communicate with someone like that and break down those walls, you could do it with anybody.

GLENN: And listen to what she said. How it was done. Listen to this.

MEGAN: In 2009, that zeal brought me to Twitter. Initially, the people I encountered on the platform were just as hostile as I expected. They were the digital version of the screaming hordes I had been seeing at protests since I was a kid. But in the midst of that digital brawl, a strange pattern developed. Someone would arrive at my profile with the usual rage and scorn. I would respond with a custom mix of Bible versus, pop culture references, and smiley faces. They would be understandably confused and caught off guard. But then a conversation would ensue. And it was civil. Full of genuine curiosity on both sides.

How had the other come to such outrageous conclusions about the world?

Sometimes the conversation even bled into real life. People I had sparred with on Twitter would come out to the picket line to see me when I protested in their city.

A man named David was one such person. He ran a blog called Jewlicious. And after several months of heated, but friendly arguments online, he came out to see me at a picket in New Orleans. He brought me a Middle Eastern dessert from Jerusalem, where he lives. And I brought him kosher chocolate and held a "God hates Jews" sign. There was no confusion about our positions, but the line between friend and foe was becoming blurred. And it changed the way we spoke to one another. It took time, but eventually these conversations planted seeds of doubt in me.

GLENN: Now, imagine how many Jewish friends this guy had who said, what, are you selling out? Don't you know she's using you? Don't you know, you're being pulled in? You're a sellout. You've got to stand against.

How many people she had in her life saying the same thing. But they both were being civil to each other. And -- and probably everyone in their life said, "It's not going to change anything." And look what happened. Do you have another cut from her?

PAT: Yeah.

STU: If you can win over the Westboro Baptist Church -- and she went on later. Something you said a million times. She said, the conversations always started, and neither of us changed our positions.

GLENN: Yep.

STU: Neither of us changed our principles. It wasn't -- it was just listening. You don't have to change your ideas. It was listening and communicating like your -- your friend.

GLENN: And then start talking about families and things you have in common.

STU: Yeah. And it helped, I mean, win over a Westboro Baptist Church member. And to the extent of how crazy that would be -- because you think of these people, I mean, they're obviously crazy.

GLENN: I mean, God hates Jews. God hates gays. I mean, you can't think of people who are more off their rocker than this --

PAT: She goes into that.

STU: Yeah. And to talk about how indoctrinated she was. She talks at the very beginning of this that the first protest she went to, she was five years old, protesting gays somewhere. Holding a sign she couldn't even read.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Wow.

STU: That's how deeply she was in this. And she goes through this entire process. And through Twitter -- we think of all these good people being turned bad through Twitter. Here's someone who went through Twitter and turned her life from pure evil to something else.

MEGAN: My friends on Twitter took the time to understand Westboro's doctrines. And in doing so, they were able to find inconsistencies I had missed my entire life. Why did we advocate the death penalty for gays when Jesus said, let he who is without sin cast the first stone? How could we claim to love our neighbor, while at the same time praying for God to destroy them?

The truth is that the care shown to me by these strangers on the internet was itself a contradiction. It was growing evidence that people on the other side were not the demons I had been led to believe.

These realizations were life-altering. Once I saw that we were not the ultimate arbiters of devine truth, but flawed human beings, I couldn't pretend otherwise. I couldn't justify our actions, especially our cruel practice of protesting funerals and celebrating human tragedy.

GLENN: Okay. Stop here for a second. Let's just put this together. Both sides have this problem. Both sides in one way or another is the Westboro Baptist Church. Both left and right. We have extremists on both sides.

But let's just think of -- for this audience, let's just think of the right -- or, the left thinks they're the arbiter of everything that is true. They're the -- we're not science deniers. We're not that way. You're the science denier.

Well, you aren't educated. We are educated. We have all the universities. They believe that everything intellectually is on their side. Right? So they're morally superior. They don't see the -- the disconnect between saying, let's march for women and yesterday, while this was going on, they were advocating -- the left was advocating and going against the CDC, saying, women are protesting the CDC because you men can't tell us not to drink during our pregnancy.

Well, I agree that we can't tell you what to do. That's your decision. But that doesn't seem like something you later in life will be proud of standing and marching for.

It doesn't seem logical, to me, that when all is said and done, you'll be proud that you marched for abortion for the killing of children. That at some point in your life, you, or most, I believe, will come to the determination that, you know, that is a child. Because there's no way. Because of science. It's going to force you. I'm not the science denier. You're the one that says, I don't want a scan. I don't want an ultrasound to happen. And give the women a chance to say, oh, my gosh, it is a child. If they have that scan and they say, I don't care. Well, that's a different subject.

But you have to admit that that is a child; otherwise, why would you say no to ultrasounds?

Which one of us is in this bubble? Now, I'm only using this side because both sides are in a bubble. But anybody who says that they cannot reach the left, you're -- listen to what she just said. It was by kindness on the internet, first. Kindness of not slamming back.

Because the left does see the right as a monster, just like many on the right see the left as a monster. They're not.

We're not. We disagree on things. And we ratchet it up because we're screaming at each other. But if we'll just start talking -- and better yet, listening. Listening first. To one another. You will find what I have found, wow, we have a ton in common.

Now, it's not going to change everything overnight. People say to me all the time, yeah, well, who have you changed? Well, nobody. But I will tell you, look how many people from the left have been on this show. Just two days ago, we had somebody on the left who said, you know what, I changed my mind. I'm actually not on the left. I'm on the right. And I was die-hard on the left. And now I've changed. So while I haven't personally done it, I think it is happening.

And if you want to make it happen, she's giving you the recipe. And it's Martin Luther King's recipe. And unfortunately most of our society is siding with Malcolm X. Most of us want the anger and hate and rage. We all want it to stop. But we're all being led to be convince that had nothing will ever change with the other side.

And so it's of no use. That's a lie. And she's proof positive of that lie. At least I think so.

STU: At the most extreme level. If this isn't a proof of concept, I don't know what is.

[break]

GLENN: Craziest elections, our series continues in just a few minutes. Also, we want to talk to you a little bit about Obamacare. And Stu wants to give us the four steps that this woman from the Westboro Baptist Church said got me out of the church.

STU: Yeah, she identified these. Which I thought were interesting. One, don't assume bad intent. And that's something I like to use on social networks. Because it makes your -- it just makes your life better. You know, if you're constantly getting in fights with people, it's just annoying. And I've -- because people will insult you. Like I insult Jeffy all the time, and he knows it comes from a good place.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: But that's how I look at everybody who calls me Hitler on the internet.

PAT: They mean it in a nice way?

STU: They mean it in a joking way. And I just treat it that way. And I don't care. It makes me feel better.

GLENN: You know what, a lot of times I'll see people online. They'll say something like, you know, you're so mean to Glenn. And blah, blah. You know, the one defender. Blah, blah, blah. And they'll be like, no, I'm a big fan of the show. I was joking.

STU: Right.

GLENN: And so if you don't assume bad intent, it saves you a lot of angst.

STU: Yeah. And it also means you never get pissed off at the internet.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: So many people get obsessed in these little battles. They never bother me. I never care what you say about me. If you go with that principle, just don't assume it's bad. All these interactions wind up being better. And many times, by the way, you turn people around. There's people who are fans of the show that didn't like some things we said. They came out, they call us all sorts of names. If you respond nicely, typically they'll just turn around --

PAT: Yeah. I'm having a hard time finding the rainbow in all of that, during the election. When they were saying things like eat crap and die, I didn't think that was necessarily good-natured.

GLENN: But I will tell you -- I gave up. It was overwhelming at the time. But I will tell you, a lot of people will say, you know what, you're right. I'm sorry. I flew off the handle. I don't agree with you. But I appreciate it.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: Step two. Ask questions. So that's a great thing to do.

PAT: Even the very existence of God. For if there be a God, he must surely rather --

GLENN: Shut up.

STU: But I mean, asking questions is important. And honest ones. Right? It's not just like trying to come up with a point and just saying what you believe and pushing other people. And then asking questions that aren't honest.

GLENN: Don't ask a question that you know the answer too.

PAT: Just trying to set people up.

GLENN: And you're just trying to trap people into it.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: This one is very difficult for a lot of people. But if you do the other two, you can do this one, which is stay calm.

You know, the person who you're going up against in an argument, especially from the other side are going to say terrible things about it, why let it bother you? That's you. That's not them. That's you letting it bother you. You're making the choice to allow it to bother you. If you stay calm and don't let it bother you, you're able to kind of reason your way through the argument.

PAT: How amazing is it that this is coming from a Phelps -- the granddaughter of Fred Phelps, the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church. This is astounding.

STU: Yeah, because it worked on her to get her out.

PAT: That is really amazing. She and her sister both got out.

STU: Yeah. It might have been her sister --

PAT: It might have been her sister Grace we talked to. I think so.

STU: We should see if she'll come on too. Because it's great.

And the last one is make the argument. Which that one didn't strike me as obvious when I was listening to that list. But if you're in a battle with someone on the left or you're in a battle with someone who is nuts and you're trying to actually persuade them, a lot of times I think because we believe, for example, low taxes are the right thing to do or abortion is wrong or whatever the belief is, it's so apparent to us, we treat it as if it's doctrine to everybody. And we don't bother to walk people through the step by step argument of how you actually get there. So many people have -- they start at their arrival point. I'm young. I'm in college. I'm a liberal. I'm a leftist, I love abortion.

PAT: Uh-huh.

STU: And the process very well may not have ever happened, where they made that decision organically. Where they walked through the steps in their head.

GLENN: You know, I got to get to the survey. The survey shows that most people -- and this includes teens -- and I will narrow it down to teens. But most people get their money from a friend, or I blog. A commentator of some sort. They haven't done the thinking. They get the opinion from someone else who may or may not have done all of the thinking themselves.

STU: Take the time to actually make the argument when you're talking to someone. Calmly. Don't assume their bad intent. You follow those few steps -- you're not going to win everybody over, nor should you care --

GLENN: Isn't it interesting, you're on the bandwagon.

PAT: I've been on the band freaking wagon. I brought these clips to the show.

GLENN: Listen to him now.

STU: Stay calm! That's all I'm saying. Stay calm!

GLENN: I'm assuming bad intent.

How Mamdani's Victory & Nigeria's GENOCIDE Are WARNINGS for America | Glenn TV | Ep 466

How did New York City elect Zohran Mamdani as its first Muslim and socialist mayor?! To get the answer, Glenn Beck dives into Mamdani's controversial backers and ties them to a global propaganda campaign run by big players in political Islam. This same propaganda campaign, Glenn exposes, can also explain the rising Islamist-Marxist alliance in America and the ignoring of genocides in Nigeria and Sudan. Plus, Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, reveals how jihadist militias are systematically massacring entire Christian villages in Nigeria and attempting to build a new terror caliphate. And Glenn asks former Navy SEAL and Blackwater founder Erik Prince whether he believes Trump should attack Nigeria if it doesn't stop the slaughter.

RADIO

Chip Roy exposes the billionaire web fueling America’s collapse

Rep. Chip Roy joins Glenn Beck to expose the hidden network of NGOs, billionaires, and government grants allegedly funding the destruction of America from within. From Soros-backed district attorneys to U.N.-funded immigration pipelines, U.S. tax dollars are being weaponized against Western civilization itself. Rep. Roy breaks down why he has introduced the 'No Tax Exemptions for Terror Act' as he reveals the deep financial web connecting global elites, broken borders, and the slow dismantling of American freedom.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Let me go to Chip Roy. Chip is joining us. He is introducing a new bill called the -- what is it called? I love the name of this, Chip. What is the name of this bill?

CHIP: I don't remember what the name of it is. It's to stop CAIR from having tax exempt status, and any terrorist organization.

GLENN: Yeah, the No Tax Exemptions for Terror Act. I love that.

CHIP: That's it.

GLENN: That's the clearest a bill has ever been: The No Tax Exemptions For Terror Act. I love it.

CHIP: Yeah. So we came up with it on Friday when we were filing the bill. And we were going back and forth, and my chief of staff came up with that title, credit to her.

But, look, here's, the thing. Take one minute to pretend that I'm sitting in Glenn Beck's studio on television. And I'm going out and I'm going to do white boards. Okay?

GLENN: Uh-huh.

CHIP: So for your listeners out there, pretend I got that video capability. Imagine if you will, enormous numbers of bubbles of NGOs and all of these nonprofits that are out there under the cloak of things like Catholic charities or Jewish groups or evangelical groups or maybe secular groups.

They're doing all these nice and warm and fuzzy things. They're ail involved with moving people by you our country, right? They're all a part of the 250 organizations at the Center for Immigration Studies said were a part of the mass invasion during the Biden administration.

Now, over here, create a group of bubbles that are all of the groups that are pushing the district attorneys that are radical Marxists. The Soros-funded DAs that are putting criminals on our streets. And there's a whole cadre over there under the Ren Collective that the law enforcement legal defense fund ally. Now over here, on this board, show the bubbles, that...

GLENN: Wait. We lost you! Show the bubbles of, what?

CHIP: That want to see radical Sharia on our streets. Now on top of the board, put the Arabella Group, which are Democrat operatives, with Clinton and with Biden, you know, operatives.

And they're all in organization with, and coordinated with the bubbles above them, which are the funding streams from Bill Gates, from George Soros, from radical billionaires across the country, and taxpayer dollars, money through the United Nations, grand money from the United States, going to all of those NGOs. Remember those first bubbles that I put on the board.

And all of that money is then being coordinated in a war against you and me and freedom and Western civilization.

So, yes, I believe CAIR and every other one of these organizations that are radicalized against Americans ought to be, not just disbanded from their Sebring status, but probably broken up.

And we should go through it and look at the conspiracy that they're involved in and probably violating our laws in Rico violation. But at a minimum, we should take away their tax status, so I introduce legislation to do that as a shot across the bough. And we need to go further than that. I hope that's clear without a video board.

GLENN: Yeah. It is. I have -- made it, as you were doing it, I just -- I just kind of put it together, the way you suggested. All these little bubbles. And you can see. It's pretty bad.

And what's crazy is that we did not assume that our tax dollars were going to any of these places.

I mean, they have gotten so wicked and so smart, the way -- you know, I always knew that Soros and the Tides Foundation. And you suspect that gosh, you have all of this money. And it's all going out the door.

And nobody knows where the money is going. And we focus. When he with find out what the budget is. Wait. You're doing turtle studies on what know.

And nobody is asking, what about the other trillion that are studies that nobody is tracking. That are just going out to these NGOs. We are funding our own demise.

CHIP: A hundred percent. And that's exactly right. I'm glad you said that. Because Republicans, with all due respect with my colleagues, get distracted with shiny objects.

And go say -- and I've done it too. Because it's easy to say. And you go out there, and you say, oh, yeah, I lifted the turtle funding. Or I lifted to this waste. And people are like, oh my gosh. That's terrible. That's, like, $5 million.

The real engine is that flow of money. So that, okay. Dollars that are going, in -- you know, to organizations, that a lot of people view. And because they do some good work. They go to some organization. Take charities or take some evangelical groups or whatever, or some Jewish organizations. You're setting up money. Oh, they're doing good things, and they're helping people.

But then you start -- you feel -- and they're all a part of all of this, and the grants that flow through so that when your top herdsmen or my friends for the Center of Immigration Studies, and you're down at the Darien Gap. And you see that the United Nations money, the United States taxpayer money, grants were going to these organizations to funnel people from around the world, to come up through Mexico and into the United States or be flown by a plane into the United States. And then you wonder why we have so many Somalis and so many Muslim, Sharia adherents, that are dumped into our country. It's heavily because of what we have been funding. It's heavily because of our money that we give to the United Nations.

So we need to stop that. And we need to be -- look, what I have done with the bell is one step of a thousand we need to take. Right? The bill that I did two weeks ago, to say, let's start vetting people for adherents to Sharia law. Let's pass HR2.
Let's do a bill.

I'm going to introduce a bill this week. That says, we should freeze all immigration until we actually have a handle on all the ways it's being abused. Whether it's birthright citizenship, says we have to educate illegal children.

The Sharia adherents in making sure we're not importing people that are hostile to Western civilization. Making sure people aren't on the public dole. These are all things we need to do, Glenn.

And we're not doing it. And we're funding the demise of our own country. It needs to stop.

And Congress needs to back up President Trump with at least as aggressive as an agenda, as he's putting forward. We can't just pass the big, beautiful bill and then pat ourselves on the back and then hope we win the midterms. Let's go back to Congress. Let's pass the stock trading ban. Let's pass HR2 to secure the border.

Let's codify some of the President's executive orders. Let's pass health care freedom and dismantle the stranglehold that insurance companies and hospital corporations have over our health care. Let's go to war for the American people. And then they'll want to go support us at the ballot box.

GLENN: You know, there's this big reject AIPAC thing that is going on right now.

And look, I think, if you're going to do that. Then you've got to do the American Cubans. The Iranian American PAC. There's a ton of these. And I just want them to all play by the same rules.

Whatever those rules are. Everybody plays by the same rules. But, you know, one of the things that we don't look at is you look at AIPAC. And I think it's average, not election years. It's about 60, what? Sixty million. $60 million?

That can't be it. It's got to be billion.
Nothing ever sounds big anymore. But they're spending all this money in the United States.

And everybody says, oh, well, they're just. They're controlling the United States.

It is million. Thirty to 60 million on average, okay?

But if you look at Saudi Arabia, that state money, and they're spending $93 million.

And since 1986, 2.1 billion dollars, on our universities.

And they're not alone!

And nobody is saying anything about that!

And I wonder why. Why? Why?

CHIP: Glenn, I cannot thank you enough for bringing that up. Especially, I'm not going to get into the controversy that last week, and the controversy going on. With the Heritage Foundation and all that stuff.

Look, here's the bottom line. You nailed it, right?

There is a vast, vast amount of money, flowing into the United States, from the Middle East, and to our universities, and into political organizations.

And designed very heavily to advance a march of people who want to upend our way of life. Okay?

GLENN: China is involved in it too! Yeah.

CHIP: 100 percent. The Chi-Coms are 100 percent a part of that. And, by the way, this is why we should be banning, not just Chinese Communist Party ownership of our land. But, frankly, any foreign nationals shouldn't be owning our land.

Like, why are we letting people own Texas and buy Texas? This is one of the things, by the way, that I get a really strong reaction from people on the campaign trail. I talk about the Soros DA. I talk about the border. I talk about Islamification. But then I talk about something else. And it's related to what we're talking about. The corporatification of Texas and of our, you know, great red states.

We are allowing corporations to come in and buy up our homes. Literally!

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

CHIP: Buying up our homes. We allow them to buy up our hospitals, prevent doctors from being able to form their own hospitals. We're allowing them to buy up our land. Our cattle.
Our meat packing plants. Some foreign-owned. Some domestic. But it's major corporate, and a lot of it is foreign.

And I don't want to be governed by board rooms in New York City, any more than I want to be governed by the federal government.

I want Texas to own Texas. I want Texans to own Texas. And that's one of the principles things that I want to find out on this attorney general.

GLENN: I tell you, there's this big, beautiful hospital that was built just -- just where my home in Texas was.

And I was so excited. Had this really great hospital, that close.

And after it was built. I think it was like Texas doctor's hospital. And it was all these independent hospitals, who wanted to do a hospital, the way they wanted to do a hospital.

And I walk in. Because I didn't know they had opened.

But we had an emergency. I was like, take him to the emergency room. I think he's open.

Take him to the emergency room. The entire place is empty.

And the reason why is because these corporate hospitals said, if you do anything with that hospital, you're out of our -- of our system.

You won't be having any privileges at our hospital. And they put that hospital out of -- brand-new, beautiful hospital. Doctors wanted their own independence. And the big corporate hospital put them out of business.

It was insane.

CHIP: Yes. This is a major problem. And I know we're covering a lot of topics. But it's all related, Glenn. This is a war against our way of life.

And Republicans better get busy providing alternative solutions. Both calling out the war. So that people know it and see it.

They all feel it. But also then, provide alternatives. Look, I put out five years ago, a 50-page document called the case for health care freedom.

And five years ago, I put the case for health care freedom two years ago. And that document outlines an array of options, where we empower patients, empower doctors, expand the savings account, expand direct primary care.

Give people tools, allow them to be able to control their care. And drive prices down, free up doctors, so you're not having corporate-owned hospitals. And insurance companies making your own decisions.

That's an environment that most American would prefer.

And nobody would be left out. Prices would go down. House sharing ministries can fill the void. Meta share and a lot of other options. And we can have the Shining City on the Hill.

Let's talk about that to the American people. Let's talk about driving housing prices down by eliminating private equity and all of these big corporate ownerships of local dirt in our communities. Allow only individuals to own homes in our dirts and our communities and farms to be locally owned by Texans. We can then have cattle that you grow in Texas, slaughter in Texas, put in stores in Texas, and eat by Texans. That's the way we ought to do things. I'm all for free trade. So are you. So are most of us that log free enterprise. 100 percent.

But I want to make sure that we don't have corporate decision makers with crony capitalist doctors from government that are regulated, telling us how to live. And then wonder why the socialists are on the march and wonder why Mamdani is elected.

RADIO

Mamdani’s FURIOUS victory speech reveals NYC's DARK future

New York City has elected Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, as its next mayor. But even liberals like CNN's Van Jones quickly realized that Mamdani's victory speech was much angrier than the "warm" and "calm" persona he had on the campaign trail. Glenn reviews this sudden shift in character and warns that Mamdani may have just admitted he wants to tear down capitalism...

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I want to start with the analysis from Van Jones on the Mamdani speech last night. Listen to what he said.

VOICE: I think the Mamdani that we saw on the campaign trail who was a lot more calm, who was a lot warmer, who was a lot more embracing was not present in that speech. And I think that Mamdani is the one you hear from tonight. There are a lot of people trying to figure out, can I get on this train with him or not? Is he going to include me?

Or is he going to be more of a class warrior even in office?

I think he missed a chance tonight, to open up and bring more people into the tent.

I think his tone was sharp. I think he was using the microphone in a way that he was almost yelling. And that's not the Mamdani that we see in TikTok. The great interviews. And stuff like that.

I felt like there was a little bit of a character shift here, where the warm, open embracing guy, close to working with people, was not on stage tonight. There was some other voice on stage.

STU: Huh. Huh.

GLENN: Hmm.

GLENN: It's almost like a mask has come off. What a surprise.

STU: Yeah. Just quick recommendation for anyone in New York. If Mamdani tries to get you on a train, don't go.
(laughter)

STU: It's a terrible idea. Stay away from the train.

GLENN: Very good point, Stu.

I might have even gotten on to that train without even realizing. Very good point. Very good point.

STU: I don't think it's --

GLENN: No. No trains. No trains.

Okay. So here's Mamdani. And this is how angry. Listen to how angry he is when he's talking about Donald Trump. Listen to this.

VOICE: So, Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up!
(applauding)

GLENN: Just turn it up on the TV? Because that's something he said.

VOICE: We will hold landlords to account. Because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable, taking advantage of their tenets.
(applauding)

STU: Screaming.

VOICE: We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks.

GLENN: Corruption. Change the tax laws.

VOICE: We will stand alongside unions and expand labor protections because we know, just as Donald Trump does, that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them, become very small indeed!
(applauding)
New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants --
(applauding)

VOICE: -- worked by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant!
(applauding)

GLENN: A very angry immigrant, whose own horror says, he doesn't identify as an American. I mean, I -- can I just spend a minute on this?

Because he's absolutely right.

New York was built by immigrants. America was built by immigrants. I mean, unless you're a Native American, you're an immigrant. Okay. And I made the case, that you might have come from Asia, even if you're an American, you know, native.

You know, go back far enough, you weren't on this continent.

So -- so I agree, all built by immigrants.

But we have a difference now, of immigrants. Listen to this from Teddy Roosevelt. There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I don't refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the best Americans I've ever known were naturalized Americans. Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all.

This is just as true of a man who puts native before the hyphen. As a man who puts German or Irish or English, or French before the hyphen.
Americanism is a matter of the spirit and the soul.
Our allegiance must be purely to the United States.

We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance. Think about this. Think about this, and what's happening with the Somali communities.

Think about Minnesota. Think about Dearborn. Think about New York. Think about -- think about what's being said about -- and to immigrants, today!

If he is heartily and singly loyal to this republic, then no matter where he's born, he's just as good as an American as anyone else. The one absolute certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans, Italian-Americans.

Notice, by the way, he's not attacking people of color. These are all people from Western Europe! So this isn't something new. And it's not about racism. Scandinavian. Yeah. Boy, you must hate white people. Those are the whitest white people on the planet, for the love of Pete.

The American who do not become Americans, and nothing else, are hyphenated Americans. And there ought to be no room for them in this country.

The man who calls himself an American citizen. And shows by his action, he's primarily the citizen in the life of our body politic. He has no place here. And the sooner he returns to the land in which he feels his real heart allegiance, the better it will be for every good American. This is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American, and nothing else.

I mean, you know, when he said that, in the early 1900s, he was talking about a whole different class of immigrants, race-wise. But it doesn't matter. Hyphenated American race.

If you are an American, you don't see race. People have in the past. And it's been wrong to do it. And you know who really saw that clearer than anyone else?

The progressives! Margaret Sanger, being one of them. The progressive movement!

They're the ones, who wanted to separate races.

For the love of Pete. So he's now angry, and he's -- he's jamming a wedge between Americans and immigrant Americans.

Listen to -- listen to the next cut here.

VOICE: As so often has occurred, the billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30 an hour, that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour.

They want the people to fight --

GLENN: Okay. Stop for a second.

Stu, can you explain that?

Play that again. Explain this sentence to me.

Play it from the top.

VOICE: As has so often occurred, the billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30 an hour. That their enemies are those earning $20 an hour.

GLENN: Stop.

What does that mean? What does that mean?

STU: I mean, the case is that -- I mean, Republicans -- you know, the Republican Party, the evil, rich people.

GLENN: The billionaires.

STU: The billionaires. Are saying -- are trying to convince everybody. That the problem in our country are the poor people.

GLENN: So -- so exactly the opposite of what he's doing.

He's trying to convince the people who are 20-dollar an hour, that the 30 to billionaire class is their problem.

Is their enemy.

STU: Yeah. Very true. You might find --

GLENN: A little bit. A little bit. Go ahead. Play the rest, please.

VOICE: They want the people to fight amongst ourselves, so that we remain distracted from the work of remaking a long broken system!

We refuse to let them dictate the rules of the game anymore!

They can play by the same rules as the rest of us.
(applauding)

GLENN: Yeah. Amen. I'm all for that.

VOICE: Together, we will usher in a generation of change.

And if we embrace this brave new course, rather than fleeing from it, we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears. Not the appeasement it craves.
(applauding)

GLENN: Now, he goes on, the very next sentence, which we didn't grab: After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it's the city that gave rise to him. If there's any way to terrify a despot, it's by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power. How did Donald Trump accumulate power? How did he do that?

Capitalism. Capitalism. He accumulated power by making money. By creating businesses. By building, you know, New York. A lot of New York was built by Donald Trump. So that's how he accumulated power.

So what he's saying here, you want to talk about the mask coming off -- what he's saying here is when we to now dismantle that system of capitalism, because that's what gave him power.

One last cut, 47, please.

VOICE: After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump, how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him!
(applauding)

GLENN: Listen to this.

VOICE: If there's any way to terrify a despot, it's by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.

STU: They're so obsessed with this guy.

VOICE: This is not only how we stop Trump. It's how we stop the next one.

GLENN: It's amazing. It's going to be interesting to watch New York City over the next four years. Very, very interesting. Because he is -- he's going to be pushed by the left. They are going to demand that he does these things. And he wants to do them. So let's see what he gets done, and how many great changes are coming to that city.

RADIO

Can America survive if New York falls to Socialism?

New York City is likely to elect either Zohran Mamdani, a communist, or Andrew Cuomo, a failed governor, as mayor. Either way, it could destroy the city. So, how will this affect the rest of America? Former Trump economic advisor Stephen Moore joins Glenn to explain why he believes another mass migration out of New York is coming…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Stephen Moore is with us now. Stephen, how much time do you have with me today?

STEPHEN: As much as you want, Glenn. Great to hear your voice. Great to be with you.

I disagree with you on something you just said.

GLENN: Okay. All right. Let's start there.

STEPHEN: You know, I do think -- look, New York has lost two and a half million people on net over the last ten years, to other states. Almost two and a half million people.

Which is, what? Four congressional seats right there.

So there's a mass. The big story in America, Glenn. Right now. And people should go on our website. Vote With Your Feet. And you can see, just click on any two states. You can click on New York. And you can click on Texas. And it will show you the -- where the moving vans are going to and from. And also, how much money they're taking with them because we know the income of these people as well.

So New York has lost two and a half million people. And, by the way, half of those people came from New York City. So if -- did they elect a socialist and they raised the taxes, again, New York City already has the highest taxes in the United States in North America. So if they raise them again, on, quote, the rich, they won't be there any longer. And I'll make another prediction to you, Glenn.

Are you in Texas? Where are you now?
(laughter)

GLENN: It's like a shell game.
I never really know. I just moved last week. I left my business in Texas.

Because I am never going to sever myself from Texas. I left my business in Texas. I promised my wife about 400 years ago, that some take we would live by the beach. So we moved to Florida. Business in Texas.

STEPHEN: You moved from no income tax state. To another no income tax state.

GLENN: Yeah. Are you crazy? I'm not doing anything else?

I would have dug a canal from the Atlantic, all the way to Dallas, if they forced me to move to a tax state. Anyway...

STEPHEN: So anyway, I'm in Dallas today.

GLENN: I know.

STEPHEN: Where are you in Florida?

GLENN: I'm not saying that on the air. But I will tell you that we're going to have dinner, Stephen. When you get back into dinner, Stephen, we'll have dinner.

STEPHEN: So, anyway, now I lost my train of concentration.

GLENN: So we were talking about the people that are moving and the tax base.

STEPHEN: Yeah. So basically, that's why I believe -- look, 1 million is probably a long shot.

But I think you're going to see a lot of wealth move out of New York. Now, here's the thing. You probably are aware of this. But about two months ago, the -- Texas has their own stock exchange. So we had the New York Stock Exchange for 150 years. Now you've got the Texas Stock Exchange, which I believe is in Dallas.

GLENN: I know.

STEPHEN: I believe, if they raise these taxes again, you pay 17 percent income tax in New York City.

GLENN: Jeez.

STEPHEN: Who is going to do that?

GLENN: My gosh.

STEPHEN: After 40 percent federal tax. So people will move. And I'll give you one -- one example.

Do you know Ken Griffin? He's the billionaire who created Citadel.

GLENN: Yeah.

STEPHEN: He's a big guy. Free market guy. And he was the single, biggest charitable giving in the city of Chicago. He gave to the Art Institute. He gave to the homeless shelters. He gave to the food kitchens and the museums and so on.

I mean, he was -- he was by far the biggest donor to all of the charities.

Well, finally, they kept raising, raising taxes in Chicago. And as you probably know, he moved out of Chicago. And he moved to Palm Beach.

Florida. And so then the interesting part of this story is, it put a 50 million-dollar hold in the Illinois budget.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

STEPHEN: And all the -- there's a funny story in the Chicago business. That all of a sudden, charities like, why isn't he donating to us anymore?

Why isn't he living there anymore?

So my point is, you chase the evil rich out of your city and your state. You pay a high price for that. By the way, he took several thousand, you know, jobs with him. So when you -- when you hear stoke the rich -- you know, the rich are -- as the old saying goes, "The rich aren't rich because they're stupid."

GLENN: Right.

So let me ask you this, Stephen. Because it used to be that New York was -- I mean, was the capital of the whole world.

STEPHEN: Yeah. Yeah. Financial capital.

GLENN: And because of the stock exchange. How real is the loss of the New York Stock Exchange. As something like the Texas stock exchange?

Is that something that really could actually happen?

STEPHEN: Yeah. It could happen. And look, the truth is that the New York Stock Exchange, even today, isn't anything like it was '60s, '70s, '80s, just like I mentioned I'm from Chicago. Remember the movie Trading Places, they're trading. It doesn't really exist anymore. Because that's all done by computers and electronically. So the trading floors aren't the same as they were. So Wall Street is just a shadow of what it once was. But what I'm saying is, today in America, in Dallas, Texas, there are more financial services jobs than there are in New York City.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

STEPHEN: That's amazing!

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

So --

STEPHEN: It's happening.

GLENN: So how long -- how much more, Stephen, how much more can New York take before it's -- it's no longer the financial capital?

How much more -- how many people have to move?

What has to happen, for it to really understand, wow. We made a huge mistake here?

STEPHEN: You would think they would have gotten that message already.

GLENN: No.

STEPHEN: And one of the things that you first did your show, many, many years ago. You were in New York.

So you're familiar with New York. And when was that? In the '90s when were you --

GLENN: In the 2000 -- 2000s. Mid-2000, you know, 2005. 2010.

STEPHEN: Yeah. Because I remember when Rudy -- this is an important point because I know you have a lot of listeners all over the country in New York and New Jersey. In the New York area.

So when Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor, New York was a mess. And you could see every week, because I was working at the Wall Street Journal at the time. Every week, you could see the improvement in the city. He got rid of the crime. He got rid of the graffiti. He got rid of the drug dealers. He got rid of -- he lowered the taxes. It wasn't complicated, Glenn. I mean, this wasn't rocket surgery.

GLENN: I know.

STEPHEN: This was obvious stuff.

And New York was New York again. And it was booming. And what's sad about this election that's happening today, is if Mamdani wins, they will reverse every single thing that Rudy did. And they will be back in the ditch. How stupid would people be to fall for that!

And part of the problem, Glenn, quite frankly, something you and I have talked about for years. Is our education system. You have 24-year-olds are voting, they think socialism works. Where? Show me. Where?

GLENN: Yeah. So what happens if he is elected? I mean, how -- what does it mean to people who have never gone to New York City?

Is -- is the loss of New York City to a Mamdani, is that going to affect everybody else's life?

STEPHEN: That's a good question. you're there in Florida.

Florida has gained. I really want people to go to this website.

Because it's amazing.

So Florida, under a great, great, great governor, Ron DeSantis. And you had a great governor, Rick Scott, before him. Florida, are you ready? Are you sitting down, Glenn? Florida has imported over the ten-year period, one trillion dollars of income from people coming in from other states. $1 trillion. It's the biggest mass migration ever in the history of this country.

GLENN: Unbelievable.

STEPHEN: And, by the way, people are not just living in New York. What you know other states they're leaving?

California.

GLENN: I think New York is moving to Florida, and California is moving to Texas.

STEPHEN: Moving to Texas, exactly.

And so you're just bleeding these blue states. That's why I don't get it.

So the thing that worries me. I was thinking about this, a lot over the past couple of days. If these states vote the wrong way, the only way that New York even survives, fiscally is with another massive federal bailout.

GLENN: Bailout. I know.

STEPHEN: How are you they going to pay their bills?

GLENN: They're not. They're not. And, you know, that's -- this is what I've said for a long time.

You know, the Constitution is not a suicide PAC. And California and New York and Chicago are going to eventually need giant bailouts.

And why should I pay for that know. I didn't live in those places. I didn't live there for a reason.

STEPHEN: Right.

GLENN: Right. That's taxation without representation.

I don't want to bail them out.

It was -- it's their fault, they did this. I've always wanted to live in California.

I never have, because it was insane. I knew that it was not going to work. So why do I have to pay for it?

STEPHEN: Exactly. Bingo. And incidentally, you're right. You can understand why people might leave New York for Florida. You know, in Florida, it's beautiful weather. In Florida, and rains a lot. And probably in New York. But how do you screw up California?

I mean, California is one of the probably most idyllic places in the planet. And people are living. This is the first time in 250 years people have been -- more people are leaving California than going to California. That's never happened before!

STU: That's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

STEPHEN: Yeah.

GLENN: Okay. So can you spend some time with me --

STEPHEN: Can I make one more point about this?

GLENN: Yeah.

STEPHEN: The governor of California is now the lead candidate to run on the Democratic ticket for president: Gavin Newsom. The guy who is -- what's he going to run on? "I'll do for America what I did for California?"

GLENN: Yes.

And so many people will buy into it!

I mean, I don't know what's wrong. It's so frustrating, because you try to apply logic. And you're like, but none of this makes sense! None of it. What are you doing?

I would love to be able to sit down and have a conversation, but none of this makes sense.

Glenn's Show Prep

4 Steps to Break Down Walls From a Former Westboro Baptist Church Member

How Mamdani's Victory & Nigeria's GENOCIDE Are WARNINGS for America | Glenn TV | Ep 466

Chip Roy exposes the billionaire web fueling America’s collapse

Transcript

Mamdani’s FURIOUS victory speech reveals NYC's DARK future

Transcript

Can America survive if New York falls to Socialism?

Transcript