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Thomas Jefferson on Healthcare, Big Government, Marriage and Christianity

January 12, 2016
Lori Hanes

Writer

Several years ago, author and historian David Barton published a book about Thomas Jefferson. For four weeks it remained on the New York Times bestseller list before being pulled by the publisher. Why? Progressive liberals who didn't want the truth revealed about Thomas Jefferson complained heartily, scaring the publisher into thinking the book was full of nonsense.

Encouraged by Glenn to address every issue raised by those skeptics, David Barton has returned with The Jefferson Lies, an historically accurate account supported by original documents. This compelling and fact-based new book gives an account of Jefferson's beliefs on a variety of issues---including healthcare, big government, marriage and Christianity.

"I went through and listed 15 specific things Democrats are doing right now that Jefferson would go through the roof over," David Barton said Tuesday on The Glenn Beck Program. "Not the least of which Jefferson had very clear opinions on healthcare and who should and shouldn't do healthcare. And the federal government was not to do it. It was to be in the states."

Jefferson's stance on the separation of church and state is also widely misused by liberals to undermine faith in public schools. Some even use it to mischaracterize Jefferson as an atheist. But his views on faith were clear:

No nation has ever yet existed or been governed without religion, nor can it be. The Christian religion is the best religion that's been given to man, and I, as chief magistrate of this nation, am bound to give it the sanction of my example.

Glenn praised Barton's new book, calling it a must-read for every American.

"The book is about Thomas Jefferson. And the book is called The Jefferson Lies. Everything the left has said about Thomas Jefferson that is an out-and-out distortion and lie, backed up with the facts," Glenn said.

David Barton will discuss The Jefferson Lies with Glenn tonight on TheBlaze TV at 5:00 ET.

Listen to a complimentary segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

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

GLENN: I want to tell you a story about how truth in America gets squashed. And somebody who comes up off the rope and says, "Oh, really?" There was a book that came out about, three years ago. And some -- some liberal wannabe geniuses got together and decided that they had a way to get this book off the New York Times list and to get the book pulled off the shelves in America.

Believe it or not, pulled -- a New York Times best-seller, pulled from the shelves. Why? Because these liberal professors got together and scared the publisher and said, "This is -- these are all -- this just isn't even true." And they scared enough people to where it was pulled off the shelves.

I happen to know the author. And I happen to know the research the author does. And I called the author while this was going on, and I said, "What the hell is happening?" And he explained it to me.

And I said, "But I know you well enough to know and I know you have the actual documents to prove this and back this up."

He said, "Yes."

I said, "You know what you should do? You should take all of their concerns, all the things they said and you should add them to this book. And you should use the original documents that shut them down and then republish."

That's exactly what this author has done, and it is even stronger than it was before. And the reason why they wanted it pulled in the first place is not because the facts aren't right, is because this gentleman that he's talking about in this book is revolutionary. This book is about, if you don't take this guy down, you can't destroy America.

The book is about Thomas Jefferson. And the book is called The Jefferson Lies. Everything the left has said about Thomas Jefferson that is an out-and-out distortion and lie, backed up with the facts. The author is David Barton. And he's with us now. Hi, David.

DAVID: Hey, Glenn.

GLENN: I can't tell you how happy I am that you've published and put this out. Do you want to get into at all what happened before and what --

DAVID: I'll go where you want to. But I want to pile on what you said. Because people have to get rid of Jefferson on the left if this is going to work. And they've done such a good job that we've been hearing recently the calls for Jefferson to be taken off Mount Rushmore, for him to be taken off the nickel, for them to tear down the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. The Democrats are saying, "No more Jefferson/Jackson HEP dinners. Jefferson has nothing to do with who we are."

GLENN: Andrew Jackson does.

DAVID: Andrew Jackson, that's a good guy to get rid of.

GLENN: Yeah, he's a good guy -- yeah, I would be for getting rid of Jackson.

DAVID: Absolutely.

GLENN: They will stand around and love Jackson, who was a horrible guy. But you got to torch Jefferson.

DAVID: Yep. You got to torch Jefferson. And, man, his ideas are so opposite to where they are today and where most folks in government are.

GLENN: When I was growing up. It was the Jefferson dinner. The Jefferson/Jackson dinner for the Democrats. And the Lincoln dinner. And they have now -- we still embrace Lincoln. But they are divorcing themselves from Jefferson. Let's go through some of the policies that you say are exactly the opposite, based on facts.

DAVID: Well, I went through and listed 15 specific things Democrats are doing right now that Jefferson would go through the roof over. Not the least of which Jefferson had very clear opinions on health care and who should and shouldn't do health care. And the federal government was not to do it. It was to be in the states. He has very clear --

GLENN: Wait. Wait. Give me some examples on that, David.

DAVID: Let me read you a quote from Jefferson.

GLENN: Because you don't think of health care as something they even debated back then, but they debated abortion back then.

DAVID: That's right. All of these issues. Nothing new. Jefferson says -- here's what he said between the role of federal and state governments on health care. He said, the federal government is to certify with exact truth for every vessel sailing from a foreign port the state of health which prevails at the place from which she sails.

So if you're coming from overseas, you have to be healthy to come to America. But the state authorities are charged with the care of the public health. So health goes to the state level. It's not a federal thing. It's not one of the 15 enumerated powers. It goes to the states. So there's a role for the feds, only with the borders. Once it's inside the borders, everything inside the borders for health care belongs the states.

GLENN: Okay. Give me the next.

DAVID: Let's take -- debt. How about debt? That's a real easy one.

You know, it's -- so many things here to deal with. But let me take debt. Or even federal growth. Listen to this. Federal growth.

I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary. There are too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. The multiplication of government offices, the increase of expense beyond income, the growth of the public debt, these are all indications that we need a pruning knife in government. Small government.

GLENN: You say that he also is dead-set against what the Democrats are doing with the LGBT.

DAVID: Right. LGBT, he came out very clearly, and he said, the law of nature. Creator. Bible. And by the way, he actually introduced a bill that said that laws should be those that are recognized by the Bible. Marriage should be based on biblical recognition. So he said marriage has to be defined by what the Bible defines it as. That's the law that he introduced.

He also said that sexual relations were designed for procreation, not for entertainment. And, therefore, in that basis, that's how you define marriage, is procreation. So sexual relations was designed by the creator, throughout a law of nature for procreation. Anything that violates that, violates the laws of nature.

And he came up also on the issue of marriage and he said, "Taking from the states the moral rule of their citizens and interrogate to the federal government would break up the foundations of the union." You love it at the states, not the feds.

GLENN: Let's go to gun control.

DAVID: Gun control. He has that going tonight in the State of the Union.

GLENN: State of the Union.

DAVID: So let me just take the gun control. Here's what he told youth, young people. See if we get this from a Democrat.

A strong body makes a strong mind. As to the best species of exercise, I advise the gun. It gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks.

GLENN: Holy cow.

(laughter)

DAVID: That's for young people.

PAT: I think Barack Obama said that, what, three times last night.

DAVID: Yeah.

GLENN: So this is not necessarily what the book is about. The book is about the lies. Let's start with -- chapter number one is about Sally Hemings.

DAVID: Right.

PAT: That's the agonizing one.

GLENN: The number one thing people use to discredit, well, he had children with a slave.

PAT: Yeah.

DAVID: Back in November of 1998, that came out in the middle of the Clinton impeachments. And I was talking to a group of law students the other day at a law school. I said, how many of you have heard that Sally Hemings -- HEP that Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings? 98 percent of them raised their hands.

And I thought, that's interesting because here we are now 20-some-odd years later still saying this thing. Why would we say it now? Why does it matter, except to trash Jefferson?

Here's the problem with that. 221 news outlets ran with that story when it came. Six weeks later, the story was retracted. Only 11 news outlets carried the retraction. Now, why would they retract the story?

We actually called and talked to the DNA researcher who did it, Dr. Eugene Foster, talked to him twice. And he said, "Actually that's not what I showed them in my research. That's not what my research said." But the guy who did it, Joseph Ellis, was a defender of Clinton. Had just helped run a full-page ad in the New York Times defending Clinton from impeachment and said, this would really help him. Because if we can say Jefferson had a sexual tryst, then we can say what's the big deal with Clinton. So he comes out and he says --

GLENN: Unbelievable.

DAVID: You know, you would think that if -- if you want to check DNA, you would want to check Jefferson's DNA. They never checked Thomas Jefferson's DNA. They checked his uncle's DNA. Field Jefferson. There were 26 Jefferson males living at the time. They never checked Thomas Jefferson's. And that's why the researcher said, I told them it wasn't Thomas Jefferson's.

GLENN: No. Told them that it wasn't for sure Thomas Jefferson's, right? It's one in like --

PAT: One in 26.

DAVID: One in 26. What they can do -- to test DNA generations later, you have to test the white chromosome which remains the same in male descendants. So you have to have a male descendant. Thomas Jefferson had a son who died when he was one. He has no male descendents. There's no way of testing his DNA. They say, "Well, the Jefferson family, all the Jeffersons in the United States maybe." So they take an uncle of Jefferson, Field Jefferson is his name, they tested him and it was all based on the first child of Sally Hemings. I actually have the newspaper over there. 200 years ago, a guy named James D. Calendar wrote an article that said, Jefferson fathered Tom through Sally Hemings. And she called him Tom because his father was Thomas Jefferson.

And so for 200 years, that's what everybody said. Tom. Well, they tested the descendents of Thomas Woodson, and there's no Jefferson genes at all. Not any at all. Not Thomas'. Not Fields'. Not any of the 26. None.

GLENN: Wait. Wait. So the guy that they said was his son --

DAVID: And they've said it for 200 years.

GLENN: And the reason why they checked the DNA.

DAVID: Is because of this guy, Thomas.

GLENN: And they've checked his DNA, his descendants --

DAVID: His descendants. And there's zero.

PAT: So he's not even one of 26.

GLENN: So where did we get the one in 26?

DAVID: Well, Sally had five children, and the fourth child is shown to have some Jefferson genes. So it could be one of the 26.

Now, historically they have always said it was Thomas Jefferson's brother Randall HEP because he lived there at HEP Monte Chello. That's what everybody still says, is there was none in what was believed to be Thomas', but Randall HEP was believed to have an affair with Sally Hemings. And there is some Jefferson DNA in that fourth child, Eston HEP Hemings. So there's absolutely nothing that points to Jefferson.

By the way, after this was done and all this scandal broke and they recalled it and nobody talked about the recall, you know, they pulled the story, they got a whole bunch of research together. All these Ph.D. guys from Harvard and Kentucky University and Indiana. And they were guys that got together and said, we think Jefferson did it. And they looked at all the historical research and unanimously came back and said, we don't think Jefferson did it. Once you look at all the history, Jefferson didn't do it. That didn't make the news either. So it really has not helped the political agenda to exonerate Jefferson from 200-year-old charges that have been out there. But that's what the evidence has been. That's a lie about Jefferson.

GLENN: What was the case when the book was pulled that they said, "Well, you didn't address this -- how did you strengthen this case even more, David?

DAVID: Well, what we did -- it's interesting that when this thing was done. Thomas Nelson had the book, and they never even talked to me about it. They just pulled the book and never even told me they pulled it. I told them ahead of time, here are the professors that are going to come after you. Because these guys on the left have been doing this for a while. Here's two cases of research documents to show you everything that I say is documented historically. And when they come after you, you'll know it. Well, they never did anything. Came after them, they pulled the book.

GLENN: Cowards.

DAVID: So in this particular book, we never had to do anything to that particular lie because the academics didn't even touch it. They left it alone. They went after all the other things we said. So the seven lies we pulled out, even the academics were scared to touch that one because it's too well-documented. They'd much rather have people think that Jefferson is morally impugned than to have him exonerated. So they never even went after that lie.

GLENN: So let's take separation of church and state. Because this is so well-documented.

DAVID: Yeah.

GLENN: So well-documented. And we always go to, name the document.

DAVID: Yeah.

GLENN: But beyond that, in his letters and the things that you outline in the book, it is crystal clear, crystal clear that's not what -- it's not what he meant the way they're using it today.

DAVID: Well, see, they use it today as saying Jefferson is a secularist. A lot of writers say he's an atheist. And so they derive that because he wanted separation of church and state. Well, let's define it the way he did. And let's also look at his actions. So when you looked at the way he defined it, he did not want a state-established government church that was telling you what denomination to belong to. And that's what he made really clear. This is a denominational issue. We don't want what we had in England. Because in his state of Virginia, the Anglican church was the state-established church, and they literally persecuted the Baptists, the Presbyterians, the Methodists. Threw them in jail. Killed them. Fined them. Whatever. He didn't like that. Was he a secularist? No. Not by a long shot.

The thing I love to point to is that when he gets -- he helps build the US capitol -- as Secretary of State under Jefferson -- under George Washington. 1795 is their building. They start having church services on the grounds of the US capitol every Sunday.

Then when he becomes vice president under John Adams, as vice president, they vote and they say, we want the largest building in the capitol, the brand-new building to be a church building. So Jefferson not only helps to enact that. He starts going to church there every Sunday. And as president for eight years, he goes to church there every Sunday. And I love the quote, let me just read you a quote that -- because somebody said, "Why do you go to the church at the capitol? Why is it that you're so faithful there?" And even his political opponents that were in the other party, talked about how that he never missed a church service at the capitol, even if it was raining, sleeting, snowing, whatever. He jumped on his horse and made it there. And asking him, "Why is it that you do this?" Here's his response.

I want to read the exact quote. Sorry here, guys.

GLENN: It's all right.

DAVID: Here's what he says. This is what he told the guy.

They were walking to the capitol church together. He says, no nation has ever yet existed or been governed without religion, nor can it be. The Christian religion is the best religion that's been given to man, and I, as chief magistrate of this nation, am bound to give it the sanction of my example.

There's no way I'm going to miss church. I have an example to show to the nation, and I'm going to make sure we have church here at the capitol. He starts church in the War Department and the Treasury Department every Sunday. So if you want to go to church in D.C., you can take the Capitol Building or the War Department or the Treasury Department.

GLENN: Jeez.

DAVID: While he's president of the United States, he sets aside on three occasions property so that it can be used to propagate the Gospel among Indians. Federal property. He approves -- I have it over here in the folder. The actual treaty with the Gascasi HEP Indians where he sends money so they can have priests, and he builds them a church in which they can worship. He directs the Secretary of War to give federal money to a religious school in Tennessee. He told a Christian school in Louisiana that it would enjoy the patronage of the government. I'm just going through the list of stuff he did.

GLENN: Jeez. At 5 o'clock today on the TV show, David is going to join me. He has all the documents.

DAVID: I have the documents.

GLENN: So he will show you. It's always great to watch David. He has the documents. How do you argue --

PAT: You can't.

GLENN: And he'll just take out the documents tonight, and he'll show them all to you. And you don't want to miss it. That's tonight, 5 o'clock. Only on TheBlaze TV. Back in just a second.

Featured Image: Screenshot from The Glenn Beck Program

RFK Jr.’s war on Big Pharma: Uncovering the truth behind rising autism and ADHD

Anna Moneymaker / Staff | Getty Images

Our children are sick, and Big Pharma claims to be the cure, but is RFK Jr. closer to proving they are the disease?

For years, neurological disorders in our children have been on the rise. One in nine children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with ADHD, and between 2016 and 2022, more than one million kids were told they suffer from the disorder. Similarly, autism diagnoses have increased by 175 percent over the past decade. RFK Jr. pledged to investigate the rising rates of neurological disorders as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and this week, he announced a major initiative.

Earlier this week, RFK Jr. announced that the HHS has embarked on a massive testing and research effort to uncover the root causes of autism and the sharp spike in recent diagnoses. The HHS Secretary vowed that the results will be available by September of this year, leaving many skeptical about the study's rigor. Conversely, some speculate that the HHS may have unpublished studies revealing critical insights into these disorders, just waiting to see the light of day.

Glenn brought up a recent article by the Daily Wire referencing a New York Times piece in which experts questioned the legitimacy of ADHD diagnoses. Glenn agreed and suggested that people are just wired differently; they learn, work, and study differently, and the cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all school system simply fails to accommodate everyone.

New York Times' ADHD Admission

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Earlier this week, the New York Times published an article that made a shocking admission: there are no concrete biological markers for ADHD. The clinical definition of ADHD is no longer supported by the evidence, and there are no physical, genetic, or chemical identifiers for the disorder, nor is there any real way to test for it. The paper also admitted that people diagnosed with ADHD would suddenly find that they no longer had any symptoms after a change of environment, profession, or field of study. This suggests that "ADHD" might simply be a matter of interests and skills, not a chronic brain sickness.

The most horrifying implication of this admission is that millions of people, including children, have been prescribed heavy mind-altering drugs for years for a disorder that lacks real evidence of its very existence. These drugs are serious business and include products such as Adderall, Ritalin, and Desoxyn. All of these drugs are considered "Schedule II," which is a drug classification that puts them on the same level as cocaine, PCP, and fentanyl. Notably, Desoxyn is chemically identical to methamphetamine, differing only in its production in regulated laboratories rather than illegal settings.

Worse yet, studies show that these medications, like Desoxyn, often provide no long-term benefits. Testing demonstrated that in the short term, there were some positive effects, but after 36 months, there was no discernible difference in symptoms between people who were medicated and those who were not. For decades, we have been giving our children hardcore drugs with no evidence of them working or even that the disorder exists.

RFK Jr's Autism Study

Alex Wong / Staff | Getty Images

Autism rates are on the rise, and RFK Jr. is going to get to the bottom of it. In the year 2000, approximately one in 150 children was diagnosed with autism, but only 20 years later, the rate had increased to one in 36. While some claim that this is simply due to more accurate testing, RFK Jr. doesn't buy it and is determined to discover what is the underlying cause. He is an outspoken critic of vaccines, asserting that the true scope of their side effects has been buried by greed and corruption to sell more vaccines.

RFK Jr. doesn't plan on stopping at vaccines. Similar to ADHD, RFK Jr. suspects other environmental factors could increase of autism or exacerbate symptoms. Factors like diet, water quality, air pollution, and parenting approaches are all under investigation. It's time to bring clarity to the neurological disorders that plague our nation, cut through the corruption, and reveal the healing truth.

Neurological Intervention

WIN MCNAMEE / Contributor | Getty Images

Big Pharma has been all too happy to sit back and watch as the rate of neurological disorders climbs, adding to the ever-growing list of permanent patients who are led to believe that their only choice is to shell out endless money for treatments, prescriptions, and doctor visits. Rather than encouraging lifestyle changes to improve our well-being, they push ongoing medication and costly treatments.

All RFK Jr. is doing is asking questions, and yet the backlash from the "experts" is so immense that one can't help but wonder what they could be hiding. Both Glenn and RFK Jr. have their suspicions of Big Pharma, and the upcoming HHS study might be one of the most important steps to making America healthy again.

Why do planes keep crashing?

STR / Contributor | Getty Images

Last week, two more serious air travel incidents occurred, adding to the mounting number of aviation disasters this year. Is flying safe?

Over the past year, the number of aviation disasters that have been blasted across the media has been steadily rising, with February alone having a half dozen incidents. It begs the question: Is air travel becoming more dangerous? Or has the media just increased its coverage of a "normal" amount of crashes?

If you look at the data, it suggests that flying has been—and remains—safe. The number of accidents and fatalities has been steadily decreasing year over year and remains a small percentage of total flights. In 2024, out of the approximate 16 million flights recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S. every year, there were 1,150 accidents resulting in 304 fatalities, meaning that the average flight in America has a 0.007% chance of an accident. In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board records a decrease in both fatal and non-fatal aviation accidents when compared to 2024. By this time last year, there were already 399 crashes and accidents, while this year has only clocked in 271.

That being said, Sean Duffy, Trump's new transportation secretary, admitted that America's air traffic control system needs an overhaul. Duffy pointed toward dated air traffic control equipment, overregulation, and radical DEI as the culprits behind many recent aviation accidents.

But what do the crashes suggest? We've gathered details about the major aviation accidents this year so you can decide for yourself why planes keep crashing:

American Airlines Blackhawk collision over D.C.

Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

In one of the deadliest U.S. aviation accidents in the last decade, an American Airlines plane collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The American Airlines flight was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport carrying 60 passengers and four crew when it collided midair with the Army helicopter, crewed by three, killing all 67 people involved.

The exact cause behind the mid-air collision is still under investigation, but it is believed that the Black Hawk was up too high and outside of its designated flight path. A report from the New York Times suggests that the air control tower at the Ronald Regan Washington Airport has suffered years of understaffing, which seems to be a result of DEI hiring practices. Investigators are piecing through the wreckage, and the exact cause of the crash is still unknown.

Medevac explosion in Philadelphia

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

On the night of Friday, March 31st, a medevac plane with six people on board crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood, killing everyone on board, along with one man on the ground. The small jet departed from Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 6 pm, and according to the FAA, it crashed less than a minute later after reaching an elevation of 1,650 feet. The ensuing explosion cast a massive fireball into the sky and wounded 19 people on the ground, killing one.

The six people on board the jet were Mexican nationals, including a mother and her sick daughter who was receiving treatment from Shriners Children’s Hospital in northeast Philadelphia. As of now, there is no official cause of the crash, but much of the plane has been recovered, and the incident is being investigated.

Alaskan flight disappearance outside of Nome

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

At approximately 3:16 pm, on Thursday, February 6th, a small commuter plane working for Bering Air, carrying 10 passengers, took off from the town of Unalakeet, Alaska, destined for the nearby town of Nome. After a few hours, Nome lost contact with the small plane as weather conditions worsened. The following day, the Coast Guard discovered the remains of the plane, all 10 occupants were dead.

The wreckage of the aircraft, along with the remains of the passengers and crew, have been recovered and are under investigation. While there has been no official explanation given for the crash, the poor weather is believed to be a major contributing factor.

Small jet collision in Scottsdale

Gabe Ginsberg / Contributor | Getty Images

The pilot of a small jet died after the aircraft crashed into a larger plane in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Monday, February 10th. The owner of the jet that crashed was Vince Neil, the frontman of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, but Neil was not on board at the time of the accident. The jet had just landed in Scottsdale, where it appeared to veer out of control and smash into a parked Gulfstream at high speed. The plane was carrying four people: two pilots and two passengers. One of the pilots was killed, and the other three were seriously injured. There was only one person aboard the Gulfstream at the time of the crash, they suffered injuries but refused treatment.

It is believed that the landing gear failed upon landing, which caused the jet to skitter out of control and smash into the parked plane.

Delta crash in Toronto

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

On Monday, February 17th, a Delta aircraft flipped while landing and slid upside down across the runway while ablaze at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Fortunately, all 80 people aboard survived, and only three people suffered critical (though not life-threatening) injuries. First responders were quickly on the scene, extinguishing the fires and assisting the grateful survivors out of the wreckage.

The crash is believed to have been caused in part by the extreme weather in Toronto, which included a powerful crosswind and potential ice on the runway. It is also suspected that the landing gear failed to deploy properly, causing the plane to flip in the severe wind.

Small plane collision north of Tucson

aviation-images.com / Contributor | Getty Images

On Wednesday, February 19th, yet another small plane crash occurred in the skies above Arizona. Two small aircraft collided midair near Tusosn, Arizona at Marana Regional Airport. There were two people in each of the small planes, two of which from the same aircraft died, while the other two managed to walk away with little injury.

Marana Regional Airport is an uncontrolled field, which means there is no active air traffic control present on site. Instead, pilots rely on communication with each other through a "Common Traffic Advisory Frequency" (CTAF) to safely take off and land.

Hudson helicopter crash

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

A helicopter tour out of New York City took a tragic turn on Thursday, April 10th, when the Bell 206 broke apart mid-flight and plunged into the Hudson River. All six people aboard perished in the crash, which included the pilot and a tourist family of five.

New York Helicopter Tours, the operator of the flight, announced it would cease operations following the accident. The decision comes amid scrutiny of the company’s safety record, which includes a prior emergency water landing and another incident where a helicopter was forced to land shortly after takeoff due to mechanical issues. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Upstate New York family tragedy

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox / Contributor | Getty Images

Days after the tragic Hudson crash, a small private plane carrying an NCAA athlete crashed in upstate New York, killing all six passengers. On Saturday, April 12, 2025, Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player and 2022 Woman of the Year, was aboard her father's Mitsubishi MU-2B with her parents, boyfriend, brother, and his partner when the plane went down in a muddy field in Copake, New York.

The aircraft was reportedly in good condition, and Michael Groff, Karenna's father, was an experienced pilot. While the official cause of the crash has not been determined, low visibility at the time of the incident is suspected to have been a contributing factor.

The recent string of aviation incidents underscores a troubling trend in air travel safety, raising urgent questions about the systems and policies governing the industry. While data suggests flying remains statistically safe, the alarming frequency of crashes, near misses, and systemic issues like outdated technology and questionable hiring practices cannot be ignored. BlazeTV's own Stu Burguiere did a deep dive into the recent crashes in the Blaze Originals documentary, Countdown to the Next Aviation Disaster, uncovering the truth behind the FAA’s shift toward DEI hiring and its impact on aviation safety. Featuring exclusive interviews with former air traffic controllers, lawyers, and Robert Poole—the inventor of TSA PreCheck—this documentary exposes how the Biden-Harris administration’s policies, under Pete Buttigieg’s leadership, have contributed to making air travel more dangerous than ever.

Did Democrats just betray fair elections? The SAVE Act controversy explained

DOMINIC GWINN / Contributor | Getty Images

One of President Trump’s key campaign promises, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, faces fierce opposition from Democrats in the Senate.

The SAVE Act recently passed Congress for the second time and is now headed to the Senate. This voter security bill mandates proof of U.S. citizenship for all federal elections. It garnered unanimous Republican support in Congress but was backed by only four Democrats, consistent with last year’s Senate rejection of the bill.

Glenn has repeatedly emphasized the urgency of securing our elections, warning that without reform in the next four years, free and fair elections may become a thing of the past. However, the SAVE Act faces significant hurdles. Republicans lack the Senate votes to overcome a filibuster, meaning the bill’s fate hinges on bipartisan support—something Democrats have been reluctant to offer.

So, what exactly does the SAVE Act do? Why are Democrats opposing it? And how can you help ensure its passage?

What the SAVE Act Entails

Stefan Zaklin / Stringer | Getty Images

The SAVE Act is straightforward: it requires voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship before casting a ballot in federal elections. This measure responds to reports of voter fraud, including allegations of noncitizens, such as illegal immigrants, voting in past presidential elections. Acceptable forms of identification include a REAL ID, U.S. passport, military ID, birth certificate, or other specified documents.

Additionally, the bill mandates that states remove noncitizens from voter rolls and lists of eligible voters. It also establishes criminal penalties for officials who fail to comply with these new guidelines.

Democrats’ Opposition to the SAVE Act

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Democrats have strongly criticized the SAVE Act, arguing it discriminates against women, transgender individuals, and minorities. They claim that people who have changed their names—such as women after marriage or transgender individuals—may struggle to vote if their current ID doesn’t match their birth certificate. However, the bill allows multiple forms of identification beyond birth certificates, meaning affected individuals can use updated IDs like a REAL ID or passport.

The argument that minorities are disproportionately harmed is slightly more substantiated. A recent survey showed that 93 percent of voting-age Black Americans, 94 percent of voting-age Hispanics, and 95 percent of voting-age Native Americans have valid photo IDs, compared to 97% of voting-age whites and 98 percent of voting-age Asians. However, in 2024, only about 58 percent of the voting-age population cast ballots—a trend that has been consistent for decades. There’s little evidence that Americans are prevented from voting due to a lack of ID. Instead of opposing the bill, a more constructive approach would be to assist the small percentage of Americans without IDs in obtaining proper documentation.

How You Can Make a Difference

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The stakes couldn’t be higher—free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy. Conservatives must rally to ensure the SAVE Act becomes law. Contact your Senators to express your support for the bill and highlight its importance in safeguarding electoral integrity. Grassroots efforts, such as sharing accurate information about the SAVE Act on social media or discussing it with friends and family, can amplify its visibility. Local advocacy groups may also offer opportunities to organize or participate in campaigns that pressure lawmakers to act. Every voice counts, and collective action could tip the scales in favor of this critical legislation.

Glenn unveils CIA’s grim Dire Wolf conspiracy

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."

-Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park

The monstrous Dire Wolf, extinct for 10,000 years, has returned. This larger, ancient wolf species—popularized by HBO’s Game of Thrones—was resurrected by Colossal Laboratories, a Dallas-based bioscience company. Colossal utilized both preserved ancient Dire Wolf DNA and modern gray wolf DNA combined with some clever gene-crafting and a healthy pinch of hubris to create three approximations of the ancient canine.

While the wolves posed for a photoshoot alongside Game of Thrones props and its creator, Colossal’s broader plans remain unclear. However, what Glenn recently uncovered about the company is far more monstrous than the wolves will ever be. Glenn revealed that the CIA, through a nonprofit group known as In-Q-Tel, is funding Colossal's endeavors to bring back all sorts of extinct beasts. With the recently released JFK Files exposing the CIA’s unchecked power, Glenn warns of the dangerous potential behind this genetic manipulation—and the rogue agency’s possible motives.

Here are the top three most horrifying uses the CIA could have for this technology:

Dual-Use Technology

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Colossal and other biotech firms advertise a variety of "civilian" uses for bioengineered beasts, including research subjects, exotic zoos, and even climate restoration. As dubious as those uses are, Glenn revealed that the CIA could be cooking up something much worse. Gene-editing tools like CRISPR are inherently dual-purpose and easily adaptable for military use. As one of Colossal’s major investors, the CIA gains prime access to cutting-edge biotech, likely eyeing its potential for warfare.

Frankenstein’s Spy Lab

Like AI, one can only guess at the maximum capabilities of this gene-editing technology. On air, Glenn speculated about bioengineered resilient organisms, animals with tweaked senses designed for espionage or combat in areas inaccessible to drones or humans. Playing God to create new weapons of war sounds right up the CIA's alley.

Even worse than man-made mutant mutts, Glenn pointed out that these augmentations are by no means limited to animals. We could see (or rather, hear unverified rumors of) the rise of the next generation of super soldier projects. Human experimentation is not outside of the CIA's scope (think MKUltra), and genetically or chemically augmented humans have been a pipe dream for many a clandestine organization for decades. Is there anything more horrifying than an agency with as little oversight as the CIA in control of something as powerful and potentially devastating as gene-augmentation?

Eco-Warfare Unleashed

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Why attack a single target when you could attack an entire ecosystem instead?

Anyone who has had to deal with the destructive effects of fire ants knows how dangerous an invasive species can be to the human, plant, and animal inhabitants of any given region. Now imagine genetically engineered Dire Wolves or Woolly Mammoths unleashed by the CIA to cripple an enemy’s agriculture or environment. Such a weapon could inflict irreparable damage from a distance. Even the mere threat of eco-warfare might serve as a deterrent, though its unpredictability could reshape the world in ways we can’t control or repair.