2016 hopeful Governor Bobby Jindal joins Glenn

October 09, 2015

WRITER

Joining Glenn on radio for a full hour Friday, Governor Bobby Jindal delved into a variety of issues he hopes to address in a dramatic way as President of the United States. From major tax reform to dealing with Islamic terrorism, Jindal shared his plans on how to address some of the most important issues facing our nation.

By way of introduction, Glenn told his audience, "I don't think you'll disagree with very much that he has to say."

Listen to the conversation or read the transcript below.

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

GLENN: Bobby Jindal, I'll be spending an hour with him on Monday's television show. Then we'll have some more of that on Tuesday as well. So you can really get to know him and hear his policies. But he joins us today on the program.

BOBBY: Glenn, thank you for having me. Look, you and I, we go way back. You're a long-time friend. I'm a big fan of yours. What you're doing to fight for the conservative cause.

For your listeners out at home, I've always done the show, remotely, calling in. This is my first time to physically come into your studios since y'all have modernized, and this is a beautiful, beautiful space.

For the folks that only get to see it on the podcast from TV or hear about it, let me tell you, Glenn has done a great, great job here with this space.

GLENN: Thank you. It's nice to have you here.

BOBBY: Thank you for having me.

GLENN: How is the family, first of all?

BOBBY: Doing well. You can relate. I know you've got -- we've talked about our kids before. My oldest, 13-year-old girl, she just went to her first boy/girl dance a couple of weeks ago. I'm completely against this. I think that's enough to convince every father to be for the Second Amendment.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

BOBBY: I offered to send the S.W.A.T. team with her. She did not want that. My wife offered to chaperone. She didn't want that either.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: My daughter when she started dating, I about put the kid into just a coma because I brought my security to sit down and meet him. And I just told the security, just play along. Sit at the other table. If I look over to you, just look at me. Look at your phone and then shake your head yes. And I had this kid so spooked that I knew all about him. If you need any tips, as she gets a little older, you call me. I have some good ones.

BOBBY: Out of all the fathers, I have to imagine, dating Glenn Beck's daughter has got to be pretty darn intimidating. Any boy that was brave enough to go through that gauntlet earns points for showing up.

GLENN: Oh, this kid -- the father the next day because I actually -- I ended the conversation. I put a plastic bag in my suit pocket. And we were just having pizza. And he had a Coke, and he drank the Coke. And at the end of the meeting, I said, are you done with that? And he said, yeah. And I took the plastic bag out, and I put his Coke can like I wasn't touching it and I was going to dust it for prints.

And he said, "Are you dusting -- I said, "I just -- hey, no big deal." The father called me the next day. And he said, "Mr. Beck." And I said, "Yes." He said, "Did you dust my son's Coke can for prints?" He was pissed. And I was going to say, well, not really. It was just -- and I said, well, yeah. And he said, you, sir, are a genius. I have daughters. I am doing it to them.

BOBBY: Let's not give away all of our secrets. I don't want our daughters listening to this thinking, oh, they were bluffing. Uncertainty is a good thing.

GLENN: Oh, I have more for you, Bobby. So you have a family. You know what this is -- is going to be like. You know what it's going to be like for them. You know that they're going to tear you apart. The next president, no matter who he is, is going to face Abraham Lincoln-style problems. Why would you want this job?

BOBBY: That's a great question. And look, I think it's the same reason you continue to speak out. Look, you could just easily say, I'm going to stay at home and be quiet. Because you know when you speak out, people come after you. If the next president is going to do what needs to be done, we're going to have to upset a lot of people. We're not talking about incremental change.

That's why I've said it's not enough to elect just any Republican. Folks are running because they want fame or they want glory, they're misguided. The only reason to do this, the idea of America is slipping away from us.

Now, look, every politician will tell you this election is the most important one. This one really is. If we don't change direction dramatically, I don't mean gradually or incrementally, I think we're done.

GLENN: So tell me the most dramatic thing that you think -- because this is -- we were talking about this yesterday.

I want tax plans that say, "We're shutting down the IRS. We're going a completely different way." I want to hear big Silicon Valley-type thinking.

PAT: Bold ideas.

GLENN: Really bold idea. Because that's what will captivate the imagination. And, quite honestly, that's the only thing that will heal us. So tell me -- give me some Bobby Jindal Silicon Valley --

BOBBY: Well, and look, we can start with tax plans. Domestically, we have got to shrink the size of the federal government. Not just slow its growth rate. I'm the only candidate who has done that. We cut our state budget 26 percent. 30,000 fewer state bureaucrats.

All these other candidates talk about shrinking government. They've never done that. So my tax plan, every Republican has a tax plan with lower rates. And we've got that. You know, 25 percent, 10 percent, 2 percent.

Three things that are radically different about my tax plan. So a bunch of these Republicans say -- you know, Trump and Jeb have said, we're going to have half of Americans pay no income tax.

GLENN: That's crazy.

BOBBY: I think that's crazy. I think everybody should pay something.

GLENN: Yes.

BOBBY: So our plan has a 2 percent rate. It's not about how much money we raise, but it's the most important 2 percent rate. We're all in this together. If we want government to stop wasting money, we have to care about it. It has to be our money. It's too easy to think, well, that money grows on trees, if we're not paying something.

PAT: So you have a 2 percent rate up to what?

BOBBY: So up to $10,000 for a single filer. $20,000 for a married filer.

The next level is 90,000 for single. 180,000 for married when you get up to 10 percent. So a middle class family, teacher, police officer married today making 150, they're paying 25 percent today. They would pay 10 percent under my plan. It does two other things that are dramatic. Number one, it also eliminates the corporate tax. Not reduces it. Just gets rid of it.

PAT: Oh, wow.

BOBBY: These guys play games. They hire accountants and lobbyists. They don't pay these taxes. Make the CEOs pay. We get rid of a whole bunch of the deductions and all the loopholes. We preserve five. But we get rid of all the other nonsense they put in the tax code. Here's the thing where the left -- they will attack me on this, but I'm actually proud of this. We shrink how much money -- we dramatically -- we cut 22 percent of the revenues going to the federal government over the next ten years. Now, the left is going to hate it. They're going to say, you can't do that. Well, if we don't do that, we're done.

If we elect a Republican president -- before, we've had Republican majorities, Republican presidents, they slow the growth rate. Nothing changes. We got $18 trillion of debt. We're drowning in debt. Now, this tax plan grows the economy. All kinds of numbers. 14 percent GDP growth. 6 million jobs. You know, 9 percent. Over eight to 9 percent wage growth. But here's the fundamental thing.

Here's the most important thing we have to do domestically. And then one other thing internationally. Domestically, this president has done a great job changing the American dream to be all about the government taking care of us. That's what he's tried to do.

We're on the path towards socialism. Let's just be honest about it. Bernie Sanders calls himself a socialist. Hillary Clinton is no better. Obama is no better. And there are a bunch of Republicans that aren't a whole lot better. They want to be Obamacare-lite. They want to be -- look, if this election is about who can give away the most stuff from the government, we're done. We never win that fight. It's not a fight worth having.

We have to look the American people in the eye and be honest with them and say, what makes the government great is not the government gives you stuff. It's that you have freedom in this country. We have to fight to get that freedom back. Shrinking the government is not just about growing the economy, it's getting our freedoms back. But secondly, internationally, this country better be serious -- and I know you've written about this. I know you feel strongly about this as well. We better feel seriously about the threat of radical Islamic terrorism.

GLENN: So tell me about ISIS. Let's start more basic than that. Tell me about Islam.

BOBBY: The reality is, Islam has a problem. And, you know, nobody on this stage is politically correct. But let's just be honest. I know we'll get a bunch of folks, you're anti-Muslim. You're racist. That's nonsense. This is just true. Islam has a problem. And that's radical Islam. And what we need our president to say to Muslim clerics and leaders, they've got to do two things. At least one, they have to explicitly say, they have to condemn by name these individual -- these terrorists. These murderers. Let's call them what they are.

You can't just condemn a generic act of violence. You can't just say, oh, well, we're against -- no, you have to say, these individuals are not martyrs. They're not going to enjoy a reward in the afterlife. They're going to straight to hell, where they belong.

Then, secondly, they have to explicitly say, we fully embrace religious liberty and all the freedoms for people that have different religious beliefs that we want for ourself. It can't be that we want freedoms for us, but we don't other people to have those same freedoms.

When it comes to ISIS, when it comes to Islam, we have a president who went to the Pentagon a few weeks ago, and said this is a generational conflict. We have to change hearts and minds.

Glenn, they are burning people leave alive. Raping. Crucifying. Torturing. Killing Christians. Other Muslims. Other religious minorities. He wants to negotiate with them? We have to hunt them down and kill them.

He calls Fort Hood an incidence of workplace violence. If we won't name -- Secretary Kerry wants to allow many more Syrian refugees in our countries. We know ISIS wants to send terrorists into Europe and into America. Why are we letting them in? They don't even have to sneak in. If we're going to let them in the front door, why would we do that?

GLENN: Well, we're accepting 15,000 in the next year. They're all being vetted by the United Nations. That's insane. But how do we -- you know, we've just raised -- I just got a note this morning. We have broken the 10 million-dollar mark in what has it been, six weeks? All coming in, in hundred-dollar checks, trying to raise money to save the Christians in the Middle East, the Nazarene fund. $10 million. So that tells me, at least this audience is very well aware of what's going on. That we are now facing the St. Louis, the ship that we turned in the 1930s. That we're facing the same thing that the world faced before. An extermination of a race of people based on their religion.

And I get a lot of heat from people, even in this audience, saying, "You can't bring any of them here." My answer to that is, A, our vetting is far superior than anything the United States is going to do. Second of all, how many members of ISIS are Christian? Zero.

How do you deal with the crisis of not the war refugees because if you're Muslim, as far as I'm concerned, Saudi Arabia has lots of room. Jordan has lots of room. They know the difference between the bad guys and the good guys. The West won't admit it. So they can do that. How do you deal with the Christians and this open door in Europe that's going to crush Europe?

BOBBY: Well, you're exactly right. What I worry about is those folks going to Europe have a much easier time than coming to the United States, where they can do us harm.

GLENN: Yes.

BOBBY: But the vetting is so important. And I applaud the generosity of your audience. Let's get to the root cause of this. This administration wants to talk bandaids. This didn't happen by accident. You have millions of refugees there because of this president's failed foreign policy. Let's for a moment step back and think about what we're seeing today.

So you have Assad and Putin and Iran and Hezbollah working together. I mean, can you imagine -- this all happened because this president, he created a void. He said there would be a red line. He said if Assad crossed that red line and used chemical weapons, there would be consequences. It has been his official policy that Assad has to go, but he's done nothing to accomplish that. He has said his official policy is, we'll hunt down and kill ISIS. He's done not enough to accomplish that. Glenn, we have to take the handcuffs off the military. You've had General Petraeus come to the Congress and offer ideas. You have other military, current and foreign military leaders saying what we should be doing. Why aren't we arming and training the Kurds directly?

GLENN: Amen.

BOBBY: I mean, we're going through Baghdad. The Kurds have been the effective force on the ground. Turkey is willing to help us to go in -- and other Sunni allies are willing to go after ISIS. What they don't want to do is to go after ISIS if it leaves Assad in power. What they don't want to do is prop up Iran, a Shia power. They're not convinced America is in this to win this. So now we're in a position where our friends don't trust us. Our enemies don't fear and respect us. Look, Putin went into the Ukraine and Crimea because he didn't respect the White House. Nothing -- nothing of consequence happened to him, so now he's going into Syria. China is testing us in the South China Sea. Let's be clear about what's going on. These are big adversaries. They respect the Turks. They don't want a conflict with the United States. If they feel like there's no strong pushback, they'll keep doing this.

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.

America’s moral erosion: How we were conditioned to accept the unthinkable

MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND / Contributor | Getty Images

Every time we look away from lawlessness, we tell the next mob it can go a little further.

Chicago, Portland, and other American cities are showing us what happens when the rule of law breaks down. These cities have become openly lawless — and that’s not hyperbole.

When a governor declares she doesn’t believe federal agents about a credible threat to their lives, when Chicago orders its police not to assist federal officers, and when cartels print wanted posters offering bounties for the deaths of U.S. immigration agents, you’re looking at a country flirting with anarchy.

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic.

This isn’t a matter of partisan politics. The struggle we’re watching now is not between Democrats and Republicans. It’s between good and evil, right and wrong, self‑government and chaos.

Moral erosion

For generations, Americans have inherited a republic based on law, liberty, and moral responsibility. That legacy is now under assault by extremists who openly seek to collapse the system and replace it with something darker.

Antifa, well‑financed by the left, isn’t an isolated fringe any more than Occupy Wall Street was. As with Occupy, big money and global interests are quietly aligned with “anti‑establishment” radicals. The goal is disruption, not reform.

And they’ve learned how to condition us. Twenty‑five years ago, few Americans would have supported drag shows in elementary schools, biological males in women’s sports, forced vaccinations, or government partnerships with mega‑corporations to decide which businesses live or die. Few would have tolerated cartels threatening federal agents or tolerated mobs doxxing political opponents. Yet today, many shrug — or cheer.

How did we get here? What evidence convinced so many people to reverse themselves on fundamental questions of morality, liberty, and law? Those long laboring to disrupt our republic have sought to condition people to believe that the ends justify the means.

Promoting “tolerance” justifies women losing to biological men in sports. “Compassion” justifies harboring illegal immigrants, even violent criminals. Whatever deluded ideals Antifa espouses is supposed to somehow justify targeting federal agents and overturning the rule of law. Our culture has been conditioned for this moment.

The buck stops with us

That’s why the debate over using troops to restore order in American cities matters so much. I’ve never supported soldiers executing civilian law, and I still don’t. But we need to speak honestly about what the Constitution allows and why. The Posse Comitatus Act sharply limits the use of the military for domestic policing. The Insurrection Act, however, exists for rare emergencies — when federal law truly can’t be enforced by ordinary means and when mobs, cartels, or coordinated violence block the courts.

Even then, the Constitution demands limits: a public proclamation ordering offenders to disperse, transparency about the mission, a narrow scope, temporary duration, and judicial oversight.

Soldiers fight wars. Cops enforce laws. We blur that line at our peril.

But we also cannot allow intimidation of federal officers or tolerate local officials who openly obstruct federal enforcement. Both extremes — lawlessness on one side and militarization on the other — endanger the republic.

The only way out is the Constitution itself. Protect civil liberty. Enforce the rule of law. Demand transparency. Reject the temptation to justify any tactic because “our side” is winning. We’ve already seen how fear after 9/11 led to the Patriot Act and years of surveillance.

KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Contributor | Getty Images

Two dangers face us now: the intimidation of federal officers and the normalization of soldiers as street police. Accept either, and we lose the republic. The left cannot be allowed to shut down enforcement, and the right cannot be allowed to abandon constitutional restraint.

The real threat to the republic isn’t just the mobs or the cartels. It’s us — citizens who stop caring about truth and constitutional limits. Anything can be justified when fear takes over. Everything collapses when enough people decide “the ends justify the means.”

We must choose differently. Uphold the rule of law. Guard civil liberties. And remember that the only way to preserve a government of, by, and for the people is to act like the people still want it.