Update:
Glenn opened "The Glenn Beck Program" with some words on Andrew Breitbart's passing. You can watch those comments below:
Original Story:
The shocking news of the passing of conservative new media legend Andrew Breitbart broke this morning while Glenn was on air.
“I’m sorry, but we’re a little stunned,” Glenn said upon hearing the news.
"We pray for his family, we pray for his children, and we pray that his mission to expose those who need to be exposed continues," Glenn said later in the broadcast.
The death of Andrew Breitbart was first reported on his website,Big Government, which released a statement that said:
“Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles.
We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.
Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.”
The L.A. coroner’s office confirmed the death of the father of four who had been tweeting just hours prior. Andrew’s last tweet was an apology to someone he was going back and forth with on twitter, which he did on a regular basis.
“@AndrewBreitbart: I called you a putz cause I thought you were being intentionally disingenuous. If not I apologize.”
“That is the way to go out. 'I'm sorry I got that wrong. I apologize',” Glenn said.
Breitbart was only 43 years old, and did not have any publicly known health problems, but, like Glenn points out, when you’re in a position like he was you’re not going to go out and advertise that you have any kind of serious heart condition or other type of illness that could cause something like this.
“People try to make a big deal out of this ‘feud’ I had with Andrew. I didn’t have one with Andrew, he may have had one with me, but I didn’t have one with him. I tried to do what I felt was right, and if people disagree with me, they disagree with me,” Glenn said.
Glenn went on to recall the first time he can remember speaking to Andrew, “We had rented a small boat, and we were going -- there were six of us, Pat and Joe and me and our wives. And we were going to take the day and circle the island of Manhattan, and just kind of pray and get away from everything. I mean, at least not away from everything. It's better than being on Manhattan. Just get away from everything, and take kind of a day, and go up towards West Point and go walk through West Point and just take the day, and kind of be on the waters that the founders were on. And before I could shut my cell phone off that morning, or I think Joe, because he never shuts his cell phone off. We got a phone call. And it was from Andrew, and he said we have some video tape Glenn to do. And he said I think we have Acorn. And I said what are you talking about? He told me about James [O’Keefe].”
James O’Keefe is the investigative reporter who came onto the scene with the story Glenn is referring to. This is the story that broke the Acorn scandal, and exposed that organization to the American taxpayer.
Glenn continued his story, “he [Breitbart] said James O'Keefe has gone in, and I said 'to one Acorn office?' because it was stunning stuff. I knew how these guys thought. 'Glenn, I'm not going to give you all the details now. But it's multiple.' And I said, 'you've got to be kidding m?'. And he said 'no.' I said, 'if you have that really on tape you do have Acorn.' 'We'd like to premier it on your show.' And I said, 'cool, whatever.' I'm not a guy -- I my record will show. I think we were the last person to do an interview with the Sarah Palin. We don't break news. I don't really care about breaking the news as long as it gets out there. And so many in people they fight over that stuff, and I don't really care. 'If you need to.' 'No, no we want to break it on your show. I think that the next one will go to Hannity or something.' I said ‘whatever.’ That's the first time I spoke to him was when he told me I think we have Acorn, and he was right. He is the guy who exposed Acorn, and really made it personal to the American people. We had heard Acorn. We knew Acorn was a problem but those videotapes that he did which James O'Keefe that brought it home to people, and it was the beginning of that that I think I have this order right. I think that that's started it.”
Andrew passionately and fearlessly took on the left on daily basis was also instrumental in the "Friends of Abe" movement, an underground movement to counter this discrimination of conservatives in Hollywood named after Abraham Lincoln.
While Breitbart's "The Bigs" have been a competitor to some of Glenn's businesses, Glenn said that he hoped that the company continues. " They've broken a lot of stories. A lot of stories. We need more voices not fewer voices," he said.
