2016 hopeful Governor Bobby Jindal joins Glenn

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.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

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Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The dangerous lie: Rights as government privileges, not God-given

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When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

POLL: Is Gen Z’s anger over housing driving them toward socialism?

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A recent poll conducted by Justin Haskins, a long-time friend of the show, has uncovered alarming trends among young Americans aged 18-39, revealing a generation grappling with deep frustrations over economic hardships, housing affordability, and a perceived rigged system that favors the wealthy, corporations, and older generations. While nearly half of these likely voters approve of President Trump, seeing him as an anti-establishment figure, over 70% support nationalizing major industries, such as healthcare, energy, and big tech, to promote "equity." Shockingly, 53% want a democratic socialist to win the 2028 presidential election, including a third of Trump voters and conservatives in this age group. Many cite skyrocketing housing costs, unfair taxation on the middle class, and a sense of being "stuck" or in crisis as driving forces, with 62% believing the economy is tilted against them and 55% backing laws to confiscate "excess wealth" like second homes or luxury items to help first-time buyers.

This blend of Trump support and socialist leanings suggests a volatile mix: admiration for disruptors who challenge the status quo, coupled with a desire for radical redistribution to address personal struggles. Yet, it raises profound questions about the roots of this discontent—Is it a failure of education on history's lessons about socialism's failures? Media indoctrination? Or genuine systemic barriers? And what does it portend for the nation’s trajectory—greater division, a shift toward authoritarian policies, or an opportunity for renewal through timeless values like hard work and individual responsibility?

Glenn wants to know what YOU think: Where do Gen Z's socialist sympathies come from? What does it mean for the future of America? Make your voice heard in the poll below:

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism comes from perceived economic frustrations like unaffordable housing and a rigged system favoring the wealthy and corporations?

Do you believe the Gen Z support for socialism, including many Trump supporters, is due to a lack of education about the historical failures of socialist systems?

Do you think that these poll results indicate a growing generational divide that could lead to more political instability and authoritarian tendencies in America's future?

Do you think that this poll implies that America's long-term stability relies on older generations teaching Gen Z and younger to prioritize self-reliance, free-market ideals, and personal accountability?

Do you think the Gen Z support for Trump is an opportunity for conservatives to win them over with anti-establishment reforms that preserve liberty?