Darryl Glenn, a promising new face on the national political scene, joined The Glenn Beck Program on Friday to discuss his current campaign for senator in the state of Colorado. A 21-year veteran of the U.S military with an MBA and law degree, Glenn is currently an El Paso County commissioner in Colorado Springs. Now within striking distance of defeating his Democratic opponent, Senator Michael Bennet, Glenn optimistically predicted a four-point win.
Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:
Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:
GLENN: An Air Force veteran retired in 2009 as a lieutenant colonel, he's involved in local politics and for some reason wants to commit living and working in Washington, DC, for the next six years. Good luck with that.
Darryl Glenn is joining us now from Colorado, nominee for Senate.
Hi, Darryl, how are you, sir?
DARRYL: Doing great. Thanks for having me back on.
GLENN: You bet. You have the endorsement of Ted Cruz. You have the endorsement I believe of Freedom Works. We talked to Club For Growth, and they're taking another look at you because you're now within striking distance. They said, the last time they looked at you, you were about 20 or 30 points behind. And now you're within striking distance of being the next senator in Colorado.
DARRYL: Yeah. If you believe polls, we're within seven, and closing rapidly. Our campaign has been based on faith and hard work, and we're going to win this thing by four.
GLENN: You're going to win it by four?
DARRYL: Absolutely.
GLENN: Why should -- why should the people in Colorado trust you, and what makes you not your stereotypical G.O.P. guy?
DARRYL: Well, I recognize the fact that so many people have helped me get to where I'm at.
You know, I'm a deep man of faith. Family, commitment, and making sure that we lay out a pathway to take care of that next generation. Because they're important to me. I spent 21 years serving this country. Retired as a lieutenant colonel. I've been blessed to have two adult daughters. And I'm looking at the direction that this country is going. And I'm concerned.
And enough to where you roll up your sleeves and you do something about it. So I'm grounded in making sure that we have people that will stand up for the Constitution, stand up for the founding principles that make us a great nation. And I'm going to do that.
GLENN: Darryl, what do you say to the people in Charlotte or the people in Tulsa that are rioting right now?
DARRYL: Well, what I do is tell them to take pause and allow the process to take place. We need to be calm. There needs to be clearly an investigation -- a very open and transparent investigation. But what I would caution people and really encourage them, what they need to do is this is a perfect opportunity where we need to bring people in the policy-making group, along with law enforcement, along with the community leaders, and we need to get together and start coming up with a plan on what is going on as far as making sure that we learn from the situation and learn from one another. Too often --
GLENN: In North Carolina, you've got a situation where a black officer killed a black man, and they're crying racism. How is that even possible? And how do you -- how do you solve -- better question: How do you solve a situation when the facts don't seem to matter?
Because we know there are bad cops. We know that -- there's bad people in all businesses and industries. So there's bad cops. And there's been a history of it. And we all want the bad guys out. But when -- when everyone who fires their gun are only firing their gun because they're a racist or they hate black people, you've got a real problem. How do you -- how do you come together with that?
DARRYL: Well, and that's where it takes leadership. Because a lot of the frustration that's out there, it comes from years of underlying tension, of not really recognizing and addressing issues that are within the community. And you can only do that when you bring all of the parties together and really have some substantive discussions. Because we keep talking over one another. Because like you've mentioned, good cops do not want bad cops on the street.
GLENN: No.
DARRYL: But also communities need to understand that if you are there and you're underemployed and unemployed, you need to also look at the policymakers that are in place. And what are they doing to help or hurt you? But we also must recognize that there are cultural differences. And the best way to talk about that is in a civil setting, where you get to know one another. And you also want to make sure that people understand the tactics that are being used by law enforcement so you can work together so there isn't this fear or perception that the law enforcement community is specifically targeting members of color.
So we got a lot of work to do.
GLENN: You'd be the second black senator, the first black senator was Tim Scott. A Republican. You are running for the Republican seat in Colorado. Is there anything to that for you that's special?
DARRYL: Service is special. I -- you know, this is -- and I'm very serious about this. I've been blessed to be in public office for over 13 years. And this is the only election where I've even thought about race. And that's because I believe that the current administration and the tone that's being sent out there, he ran as a great unitor, and I believe we are more racially divided today than we were back then. So now what?
GLENN: But aren't we more divided -- I mean, I don't even want to ask you about what you think about the front runner of the Republican Party because, no matter what you say, the party will split. And there is no acceptance of you one way or the other.
And aren't -- I mean, it's not just racial divides. We're doing it as conservatives. We're divided ourselves.
DARRYL: Well, I've been blessed to have started my campaign early. I've traveled around Colorado. And I am getting support from all parties, when it comes to -- when you're breaking down the Republican Party and all the internal problems that we're having, because I'm trying to stay focused on the message. The message is extremely important.
Because we're at a point in this country where this is a monumental election, where we're going to forever change -- when you start thinking about issues with regard to the Supreme Court, you need somebody to step up and lead. And that's what I'm bringing to the table. So the issues that I'm addressing are issues that resonate across this country. When you start thinking about national security issues. When you start thinking about energy independence. When you start thinking about fiscal responsibility and coming up with real solutions to deal with our debt.
It doesn't matter if you're Republican, Democrat, unaffiliated, if you're a American, if you love this country, we must buckle down and address these issues today because the next generation is going to suffer if we don't do our job.
GLENN: How do you do that with the next generation not paying attention because they don't believe in anybody? They don't believe in the parties. They don't believe in anything any politician can do. They see it as broken. They're going to pay the price. And, quite honestly, we are the -- this is the first time in my life that I have seen a culture that the facts do not matter, on either side.
DARRYL: Well, I happen to be blessed -- I have two millennials. And our campaign has been very successful being able to bring them into the fold because, one, we empower them and give them leadership positions within my organization. And we're including them in the conversation and talking with them instead of at them and showing them that if we support certain things -- that, really, when you think about the potential liberty infringements upon the millennials, they get that. They also get the importance of the debt and the fact that, guess what, they're going to be the ones that will have to deal with that.
So I'm very optimistic, at least about the millennials that we've been in contact with. And we're going to continue to work with them and empower them and invite them to be a part of our team. That's why we're telling everybody to go to ElectDarrylGlenn.com.
GLENN: So sitting Senator Michael Bennet, he's not going to debate with you. He's skipping the debate. You could look at him as the deciding vote that gave us Obamacare. He likes the Iran Nuclear Deal. He's a fan with Planned Parenthood. Seems to be okay with abortion. Even on board with population control with the United Nations.
If the good people of Colorado reelect Michael Bennet, would you say that is evidence that legalizing marijuana is a really bad thing? Maybe everyone was high.
DARRYL: Well, I think that -- well, luckily we won't have that problem because I'm going to win this race.
GLENN: How -- how is this the legalization of marijuana working out there? Has that changed anything? Go ahead.
DARRYL: It really has opened up, you know, a discussion about the pushback and whether or not we're going to stand up for the Tenth Amendment, states' rights or not. It's really opened up that discussion.
And there are some unintended consequences. And I still believe there's still more discussion that needs to occur. So you're going to continue see me to push to try to resolve that conflict. Because you either respect states' rights, or you need to do something else. And so we've got a long way to go.
GLENN: There's one more question, there's a lot of people in the Senate you could buddy up with. Who do you see in the Senate that you think, "I have to be in this group of senators. I want to be around these people?"
DARRYL: Well, I've -- believe it or not, I was just there yesterday. And I met with so many senators. And I generally get along with every single person that I've worked with or at least have talked to. And they've come out to campaign for me.
Senator Lankford is a personal hero of mine because we have a very deep connection when it comes to faith. Tim Scott has come out. Ted Cruz has come out. Mike Lee. Rand Paul. These are all guys that I really -- Ben Sasse, are all guys that I really personally see ideologically a lot alike.
GLENN: Wow. Hang on just a second, Darryl. I want everybody in this audience, if you feel small and insignificant like you haven't made a difference, remember in 2012 where we were. Could you list those senators again that you like?
DARRYL: Sure. I personally have relationships with Ben Sasse, with Ted Cruz, with Mike Lee, with Rand Paul, with Tim Scott, with -- when you start thinking about Senator Lankford, it's unbelievable. And guess what, I even shook hands with Mitch McConnell --
GLENN: Ooh. Ooh.
DARRYL: -- and he is supportive of my campaign. And so trust me, they are realizing that we need the Senate and they need Darryl Glenn in the Senate.
GLENN: Yeah.
Well, Darryl, it is great to talk to you. Elect Darryl Glenn is the website, is that right?
DARRYL: ElectDarrylGlenn.com.
GLENN: ElectDarrylGlenn.com is the website. And we think that you're somebody definitely to watch and if we were living in Colorado, we would definitely be voting for you. I should speak for myself: I would be voting for you, from what I know. And it's great to have you on the program. And best of luck to you.
DARRYL: Thank you and God bless.
GLENN: Thank you.
Look at that list. Is that -- was that not amazing?
STU: Some really good ones.
GLENN: And those were all from the Tea Party. Those were all from the Tea Party. There was a time where we couldn't name one in the Senate that we could trust.
Featured Image: Darryl Glenn arrives on stage during the evening session of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans arena in Cleveland, Ohio on July 18, 2016. The Republican Party opened its national convention Monday, kicking off a four-day political jamboree that will anoint billionaire Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee. (Photo Credit: DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/Getty Images)