Glenn Gets in Heated Debate With Bill O'Reilly Over Trump Dissolving White House Jobs Council

August 17, 2017

WRITER

Two business groups advising the Trump administration have dissolved in the wake of President Donald Trump’s third round of comments on last weekend’s white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.

Trump failed to unequivocally condemn the Nazis who marched in Charlottesville and several days later made startling comments that were perceived as making excuses for the white nationalists. A woman died on Saturday after a white supremacist allegedly drove deliberately into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others.

In response, business leaders withdrew their companies from two major advisory groups, the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative and the Strategy & Policy Forum. Trump has claimed that he wanted to close the two advisory councils himself.

Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017

“Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville,” Campbell Soup chief executive Denise Morrison, who was part of the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative, said on Wednesday.

If Trump had refrained from making his follow-up comments earlier this week, the jobs advisory councils probably would have stayed intact.

“That’s the problem that Donald Trump has, that he can’t constrain himself,” Bill O’Reilly said on radio Thursday.

O’Reilly and Glenn had a heated debate over the reasoning behind the business leaders’ decisions to leave the jobs council.

“If you walk away because far-left groups say to you, ‘If you don’t, we’re going to organize a boycott against your company’ … our democracy is shot,” O’Reilly asserted, saying that companies who crumble under the pressure are in the wrong.

“I agree with that; however, that’s not the world we currently live in,” Glenn objected, explaining why business leaders have no incentive to stand with Trump when it damages their company.

GLENN: Bill O'Reilly has come out with an opinion piece on Charlottesville. And I want to just read one thing: America, there is indeed a civil war underway. And the president along with his supporters will lose that war, unless they fight it smarter. Any time Nazis are involved, you condemn them and walk away. That's all.

There will be time to expose the hard left fanatics down the road. It's about picking your spots. It's about an effective wartime strategy.

Bill O'Reilly, welcome to the program. Could not agree with you more, Bill. But I don't think the president -- you asked me this on your podcast two days ago, and I gave you a different answer.

When I saw what happened with Bannon yesterday, I think the president is unfortunately done. I don't know if he recovers from this.

BILL: I don't see it that way. When you are president of the United States, even if your opinion polling is low, you still have an enormous amount of power. And he has the ability -- Trump does -- to kind of isolate Bannon. And Bannon doesn't really have anything other than the court of public opinion to fight back with.

GLENN: Okay. So hang on just a second. But Bannon came out yesterday and pretty much announced, "Hey, I'm the leaker," talking to not only the New York Times, but the Prospect. What he said to the Prospect and the New York Times, stunning. He's --

BILL: Well, give me an example of what stunned you in what he said.

GLENN: Let me see here: First of all, in Kim, Trump has met his match. The risk of two arrogant -- no, no, no, sorry. That's not it.

STU: No. Yeah, he said, "They've got us." He said, "North Korea has got us."

GLENN: Yeah. "They've got us." He said -- he said, "There is no military solution to North Korea's nuclear threats. Forget it. Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don't die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don't even know what you're talking about. There's no military solution. They've got us."

Not something the president would approve of. Then he goes in to say, "I'm changing out people in East Asian defense. I'm getting hawks in. I'm getting Susan Thornton out at state. That's a fight I have every day. And then I'm going to take on the Treasury with Cohn and the Goldman Sachs lobbying." So he is saying basically, "Here's my agenda, and I'm going to do these things," while he's saying, "The president was bluffing. We don't have -- there's no way to win a war with North Korea, which we all know." But you don't say that if you're in the White House.

BILL: All right. So you have a guy who is sending a signal because he believes he will be fired, that, you know, he's powerful. And if you fire me, bad things are going to happen. That's my assessment of the bluster that is --

GLENN: Yes.

BILL: And you agree with that, right?

GLENN: Yes, yes.

BILL: So okay. Trump's got to make a decision. And the decision most likely will be that Bannon will be fired. And that will I think come probably next week. Because Trump can't back down. He's not that kind of guy anyway.

GLENN: Yeah.

BILL: So Bannon leaves. And then Bannon basically tries to rally through Breitbart and other, you know, conservative places. Tries to rally that Trump has lost his mojo. And it's all over.

So what? I mean, the American people aren't going to listen to Steve Bannon, en masse. They're not. And all Trump has to do is basically do it quickly and not say anything, not comment to what Bannon does. And then in a month, it will all be gone.

GLENN: Okay. That assumes a couple of things: One, that Donald Trump can fire somebody and then not say anything about it.

BILL: All right. But Kelly will fire him. And I'm sure that Kelly and Trump will basically have a strategy going forward. But you might be right. Trump might make a bigger deal out of it than he should, which is what happened in Charlottesville.

GLENN: So here's the thing: As I've been watching the Charlottesville thing, as you said in your op-ed, you know, you got to -- for the love of Pete, you're -- the Nazis, good or bad? They're bad. White supremacists, they're bad.

(chuckling)

BILL: But there was never a time when Trump said they weren't bad. That's just propaganda crap.

GLENN: No, I know that -- but wait a minute, Bill. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Out of dead sleep, you're the president of the United States, you know you take a hard-line stance because that's what we all believe.

BILL: Right. Right.

GLENN: And then he says, "Well, I wanted a couple of days to figure it all out." He comes out with a statement that he's reading. And everybody knows, those aren't his words. I'm not saying he supports the Nazis or white supremacists. But then he comes out and says it. And then he won't leave it alone. And then the next day, he comes out and he undoes everything.

BILL: Well, that's -- that's the key: Leave it alone.

GLENN: Correct.

BILL: He doesn't have the discipline to walk away from provocations on the far left.

Look, that's -- and that's what I say in the column.

And, by the way, if folks want to read it, they can go to Bill O'Reilly and read it. It was also originally printed in the Hill.

But that's the problem that Donald Trump has, is that he can't constrain himself. All right?

GLENN: Correct.

BILL: His hatred or his annoyance, whatever word you want to put, is valid. I mean, the far left is trying to overthrow, not only his election, but the entire country as we discussed.

GLENN: Oh, I -- I agree with you.

BILL: But you don't bring it in when you're talking about Nazis.

GLENN: So here's the -- so help me out with this. Because there are many things. The -- the left is beyond reason with hatred of Donald Trump. And it's never going to stop. And the press is never going to stop. I got it. I got it.

BILL: Good.

GLENN: And I think everybody knew that going in, and that's fine. But if you're in a war like that --

BILL: Yes.

GLENN: -- you have to play your cards right.

So here's the jobs council: Merck, Under Armour, Johnson & Johnson, United Tech, Corning, GE, Intel, Campbell's Soup -- these guys -- all these guys didn't like Donald Trump. But they have fiduciary responsibility. They all walk out this week. So the president has now --

BILL: Do you know why they walked out?

GLENN: Yeah, pressure. Pressure.

BILL: From?

GLENN: The far left.

BILL: Yes, Glenn Beck. Good.

GLENN: They have a fiduciary responsibility. They cannot have their companies -- they would all be sued by their shareholders. And so I want you to know, I'm not --

BILL: Whoa, whoa, whoa. You nailed the reason, but the fiduciary responsibility comes in operating your corporation honestly. So to say that, "Oh, well, I disagreed with Trump's analysis of Charlottesville, so I'm quitting. That's not why they quit."

GLENN: No. No. No. Perception is reality, Bill.

BILL: No, no, no. But you have to look -- you have to understand your audience and then focus on how dangerous this is.

GLENN: Perception is reality. You're fighting -- your argument is, so you stood with the guy -- perception is reality. That's -- I'm not saying this is what happened. I'm saying this is what everyone will believe and the case that will be made. And it will be swept --

BILL: No, they won't. Look, there's a poll out today that say 67 percent of Republicans have no problem with Trump's analysis of Charlottesville. All right?

So you're a CEO. You're on the economic council.

It's an economic council. It's not a council on racism or Nazis or anything else. All right?

So you choose to walk away because your belief system is opposed to Donald Trump. I don't have any problem with that. Okay? I don't have any problem with that.

But if you walk away because far left groups say to you, "If you don't, we're going to organize a boycott against your company," if you walk away because of that reason, our democracy is shot. That's what it means to me. That's what it means to you.

GLENN: You're living in a dream world. You know corporations settle litigation all the time even though they're in the right, and it is destroying our system.

BILL: But this is far beyond that.

GLENN: I know that.

BILL: This is extortion. And if American corporations are going to allow themselves to be extorted --

GLENN: Of course, they are. Tell me what --

BILL: Well, this has to be exposed.

GLENN: To what end?

BILL: Look, then every single commentator on every single television, radio, or internet program, all right? Will go out of business because nobody will sponsor them when threatened with boycotts by the far left.

GLENN: And that's what's happening. That's what's happening.

BILL: I know!

GLENN: So, Bill --

STU: Loud agreement right now.

GLENN: Okay. So wait a minute. So, Bill, hear me out here.

BILL: Yeah.

GLENN: You're talking about right and wrong.

BILL: No, I'm talking about --

GLENN: Doing the right thing.

BILL: -- doing the best for the country. Doing the best for the country.

GLENN: Correct. Correct. I agree with that. However, that is not the world we currently live in. And just hear this one thing out: You have the jobs council walking away. You have Steve Bannon threatening. You have the media just ripping him to shreds. And you have the G.O.P. quietly canceling all of their appearances everywhere because nobody in the G.O.P. wants to stand next to Donald Trump. He has isolated himself. And he doesn't have the ability or the strength to be able to hold the line and to make this moral case.

I would love a president -- and Ronald Reagan could have made this case. I don't see Donald Trump having the discipline, the -- the acumen to be able to make this case and withstand this storm -- this ongoing storm, much of it of his own creation because of sloppiness and no discipline. How does he survive?

BILL: Well, I'm not going to disagree. But it's speculation. All right? You're speculating that he doesn't have the resources or the discipline to overcome what's befallen him. You might be right. But that's not my job -- you know, your job is different than mine.

GLENN: I don't understand this.

BILL: But my job is to basically say to the American people, "This is what's actually happening." Okay? This is what's happening.

So Trump goes out and he basically makes a big mistake by not just condemning Nazis and walking away, he brings in other matters.

GLENN: Yep.

BILL: And then the press takes that and says, "He's a Nazi sympathizer." And they run wild.

GLENN: Yep. Yep. And he is not --

BILL: No sane person believes Donald Trump is a Nazi sympathizer.

GLENN: And I don't believe that even Steve Bannon, who I despise, is a Nazi sympathizer.

BILL: I don't even care about Bannon. You care far more about him than I do.

GLENN: Because he's a powerful player. Not only in the White House, but in conservative media --

BILL: I think if Trump fires him, which is likely, then in a month, that most people will even forget him.

But, look --

GLENN: That's what they said about Van Jones. He's now at CNN.

BILL: All right. That's probably -- Bannon will probably wind up somewhere.

(chuckling)

Anyway, you're speculating that Trump cannot overcome it. You might be right. You might be right.

But in the meantime, the American people should get the truth, that this walkout of this economic council was not driven by moral outrage. It was driven by fear.

GLENN: Yeah.

BILL: Fear of economic damage caused by far left boycotts.

GLENN: Exactly right. You and I have no disagreement on that. None.

BILL: Good. Good.

GLENN: But what you're saying is, you deal in reality. No, no, no, Bill, I deal with reality. That's the reality. There isn't a CEO -- you show me the people who actually have a spine to stand up. So I would like people to have a spine. I try to have a spine. You try to have a spine. But none of those people have a spine.

BILL: Well, the only solution to that is transparency. Is to get out what the forces of darkness are doing. Make it easier for these CEOs not to fold. But right now, people don't understand what the boycott situation is. Why sponsors were pulled from the O'Reilly Factor because Media Matters threatened the sponsors. They don't understand it.

So once it's exposed -- and, of course, the New York Times is not going to expose it. They're in on it!

GLENN: No. Yeah.

BILL: All right. But the threat to our freedom --

GLENN: I know.

BILL: -- by this kind of behavior is off the charts.

GLENN: I know. I know. I agree with you.

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

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

"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

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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