Dear Media, You Have a Golden Opportunity to Do the Right Thing

January 05, 2017

WRITER

Following the arrest of four people who allegedly kidnapped and tortured a special needs man for being a Trump supporter, the media are reporting that, according to Chicago police, the alleged crime was not racially or politically motivated.

"Jeff, despite all of that racial and hateful rhetoric that you heard in those videos, the Chicago police superintendent says he does not believe these videos were politically motivated," said Sylvia Perez, a local reporter in the Chicago area.

CNN anchor Don Lemon downplayed the actions of the four people shown in the video, saying I don't think it was evil...just bad home training.

Given the media's current concern with lies and fake news, Glenn issued a challenge.

"Media, you have a golden opportunity right now to reset things and to show that you have learned something. Please, take this opportunity," Glenn said.

Read below or listen to the full segment from Hour 2 for answers to these questions:

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

GLENN: How dare they do that.

PAT: How dare they say that!

GLENN: How dare they say that.

PAT: How dare you.

GLENN: You will not believe what is being said about Dolce & Gabbana now and what they're being told, "You better fall in line."

JEFFY: Oh, my gosh.

GLENN: I want to continue our conversation with the left and just point out some things that, please, stop doing this. It's not going to make things better. I have not heard -- I keep hearing, you know, the different reasons why Hillary Clinton lost. Hillary Clinton lost because nobody even on your side actually believed her. Nobody believed her. That's why she lost.

It wasn't Russia. It wasn't racism. It's because she was a dishonest individual. Period.

I don't know how you missed that one. And now the left and the media is accusing the right of-haired and vitriol. But we're missing a pretty big trend. We're missing Black Lives Matter. And where was that anger and vitriol? And where were you coming out against that? And what does that influence?

A story in Chicago that will chill you to the bone. We begin there, right now.

(music)

GLENN: I contend that we are -- we're not as bad as everyone is saying we are, including those on the right. We are not as bad. We're just seeing -- I think these -- these people like the three I'm going to introduce you to, I think these kinds of people have been here forever. We just didn't see them because they didn't have a camera in their possession. They didn't have a network in their shirt pocket. Now they do. It's called Facebook.

Four people are under arrest. They're four black apparently teens. Under arrest. In Chicago. For taking, apparently, a handicapped man, a man who has some mental deficiencies, kidnapping him, bringing them to their house, taping his mouth, torturing him, and beating him, all live on Facebook.

PAT: And all because he was a supporter apparently of Donald Trump.

GLENN: Whether that is even true or not, we don't know. Here's some of the video.

VOICE: What (bleep).

VOICE: Donald Trump.

VOICE: What (bleep). (bleep) (bleep)

VOICE: Goof. My sister --

VOICE: Yeah, nigger.

VOICE: My sister said this is not funny, y'all.

VOICE: It's funny to me.

PAT: So they're --

GLENN: So somebody on my thread -- who was it? My mother?

PAT: My sister said, "This isn't funny."

GLENN: My sister said, "This isn't funny, y'all." This isn't funny? You've taken a handicapped individual and you're beating him and torturing him in the name of Donald Trump. But not in the way the media is always spinning this. Violence and-haired.

Now, where does this come from? I read a story last night -- and I have to say, "Jeffy, did you check and find the story that had this?"

JEFFY: Well, your story that you tweeted last night.

GLENN: Yes.

JEFFY: You didn't even mention -- you said, if this story is true, this must stop. I mean, it doesn't --

GLENN: That's all I said?

JEFFY: "Please, media, you're blindly encouraging -- more on the radio tomorrow." There's nothing about Black Lives Matter.

GLENN: Nothing about it. What's the story that I tweeted?

JEFFY: No.

You tweeted TheBlaze's story.

GLENN: Okay. And what does TheBlaze's story say?

JEFFY: It doesn't mention Black Lives Matter.

GLENN: What?

JEFFY: It doesn't. And then I saw -- I found other stories where they're raging about you --

GLENN: Claiming that --

JEFFY: -- claiming it was Black Lives Matter.

GLENN: Right. I'm pretty sure I wrote something about --

JEFFY: I didn't look at Facebook yet. So...

GLENN: I don't think I did anything on Facebook. But look in that story because somewhere I think I did say --

PAT: Here's what they say in the -- this is amazing. Here's what it says in this story.

GLENN: Okay. Wait. Wait. Wait. So people know, the topic of conversation apparently on CNN this morning was, how dare Glenn Beck say this is about Black Lives Matter.

Well, I was -- and I don't even remember where I said it or -- I thought it was on my tweet. But I said, "If this story is true, if this story is true," I didn't even know if this was true. I saw it on video, but I don't want to spread false news.

If it is true -- and the story that I read had tied in Black Lives Matter -- if it's true, it's got to stop.

Well, we know now that it is true. But we don't know what their motivation was. But I will tell you that it was all about anti-white and Donald Trump.

Well, Black Lives Matter cannot be held innocent. If I am to blame for every coarse word said in society against Barack Obama, well, then we have to assign some blame to the leadership of Black Lives Matter, who are saying these things, who are saying, "Death to whitey," who are talking about all of this. You have to assign something to the bleed over in culture, if you're going to do that to the Tea Party or me. You have to.

PAT: Well, look what the Hollywood lefties in that video assigned to Donald Trump because of his rhetoric during the campaign.

GLENN: Correct.

PAT: They're holding him responsible for supposed atrocities that are happening in the country.

GLENN: That we can find no evidence of.

JEFFY: That we can find no evidence of.

GLENN: Right. So they're saying that Donald Trump is responsible. But then how dare Glenn Beck say this about Black Lives Matter. Well, wait a minute. Hang on just a second. Just a few months ago, you were wrongly and giving fake news saying that I support Black Lives Matter. No.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: I support listening to the people, not the organization, because the organization itself has put a manifesto out. And anyone who would read that manifesto would see the hatred and the vitriol in it. I want nothing to do with that.

But the people who are just following, saying, "My community is not being listened to," boy, can I relate to that. I can relate to that.

And here's the one piece that the left cannot relate to: You had the day after election, you had psychiatrists on. You had family therapists on television, telling America how they should deal with their grief. That's what you woke up to on The Today Show or Good Morning America or something on CNN. You woke up the next day to a friendly counselor saying, "I know how you feel, and it's not unusual to feel this way. And it's valid to feel this way." We woke up to, "These people are crazy. They just hate the president."

So you're still getting a plush life.

(chuckling)

And I at least am coming out and saying, "I understand you. And I understand how frightened you are. I've been there. And I also understand how angry you are." But this will never work, unless -- I mean, thank God for people like Samantha Bee. I mean, we were so skeptical of Samantha Bee because we watch her show. We know what she does. We know her history. And she is an outspoken -- I don't even know if she would call herself a progressive. But she's an outspoken liberal and does not like, generally speaking, people like me, or didn't think she did.

She came down. I don't know if anybody see it -- Pat saw it yesterday for the first time. Did you see it, Jeffy?

JEFFY: Yeah. That was really good.

GLENN: That was unbelievable. That was the most honorable interview I've ever been a part of.

PAT: Because all of these -- all of these progressives who want to interview you say, "Oh, I'm not out to get you in any way. This is not going to be a hit piece. Don't worry about that. I've got nothing but good intentions. I just want to find out who you really are. I just -- I've been watching you lately, and I want to find out who you really are." Like Rolling Stone did, and then they turn around and stab you in the back when the story comes out. Like Rolling Stone did.

GLENN: Yeah.

PAT: And so it was amazing to us that Samantha Bee did what she said she was going to do.

JEFFY: Yeah, she did.

GLENN: Yeah, she did.

PAT: Because that never happens!

JEFFY: She did do exactly what she said.

GLENN: And the way it was edited was very interesting to me. Because that was an hour and a half interview compiled into seven minutes. She could have made that look any way she wanted.

PAT: Yeah, that's hard to do. She could have made it look really bad.

JEFFY: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: And they didn't. And halfway through -- or, the first third of the interview, I say to her: Let me turn this around to you, why did you invite me here?

Well, that happened about halfway through the interview.

And I said to her, "Samantha, you've got a show face on." And said, "No, I don't have a show face." I said, "You do. You have the snarky little -- I'm holier than thou." I said, "I get it. I watch you." That's your shtick.

JEFFY: That's her deal.

GLENN: And she said, "Well, then what are we doing? What would work?"

And I said, "Well, let me turn this around: Why would you have me on?" And that's when she really got real, and she said, "Because I think we're in trouble. I think we're in trouble. And we all need to stand against Trumpism."

Now, I know -- I think -- what she means by that. She is interpreting this poison vitriolic atmosphere that we're living where facts don't matter as Trumpism. I gave her that. But that's not Trumpism. That's not how I would describe what she's talking about. It's not Trumpism. It's lies. It's deceit. It's vitriol. It's anger. It's vengeance.

That's not Trumpism. That's humanism. That's humanism. We all feel that way. I felt that way eight years ago. I don't want to feel that way anymore.

And I think there's millions of Americans on both sides of the aisle that don't want to feel this way anymore.

PAT: And we're trying to extend our experience to them on the left a little bit by saying, "You know, as worried as we were about the country when Obama took over, we made it." We got through.

GLENN: We made it.

PAT: We didn't think we would. Quite honestly, we didn't think we would.

GLENN: No.

I said to her -- and I think they left this in the interview. I said, "You know, you're starting to sound like me."

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Do you think that the president might become a dictator?

Yes.

Well, I did too.

Do you think that he could make a wrong move and we could go into economic destruction?

Yes.

Well, you're me. You're me.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Eight years ago, you're me.

PAT: And who is more likely to turn into the dictator? The guy who is a capitalist who grew up and became successful in America, or the guy whose mentor was a hard-core communist?

GLENN: Right.

PAT: A card-carrying communist.

GLENN: Now --

PAT: I don't know. Let's see.

GLENN: So -- you know, you could make a case either way. And neither of them are insane. Hopefully, they don't happen. But neither of those came out of nowhere. It's not like we had Abraham Lincoln.

And, by the way, people claim, still today, that Abraham Lincoln was a dictator.

PAT: Oh, I got to show you the emails I get every time his name comes up.

GLENN: I know. Every time his name comes up. "I can't believe you love that dictator, Abraham Lincoln," Oh, stop it.

PAT: Oh, jeez.

(laughter)

I'm going to get another one in about two minutes.

GLENN: All right. Oh, I know. They're already piling into my email box. I know.

So here's the thing: This won't work. This won't work. If CNN goes on the day and makes this about me saying, "How dare Glenn Beck make this about Black Lives Matter" -- first of all, if it's true -- if it's true that they were involved and that's who they were -- that's why I put "if" in this -- it was reported. Was it fake? "If it's true." I don't know.

But, you know, jumping to conclusions -- "how dare you jump to conclusions" -- I don't know. The guy who was stabbing people recently that you immediately started calling for gun control. Please don't call me somebody who jumps to conclusions, when you jump to conclusions too.

It's what we do. We're commentators. And I think any commentator -- I can say to you, "I see why you thought somebody with a knife might have gone in and shot a bunch of people." That's logical. You say, "Okay. What are we going to do about guns? Because here we have another one."

I can see why you jump to that. I also can understand your agenda. I don't have an agenda. My agenda is call them as I see them. My agenda is Black Lives Matter, the manifesto is poison. Black Lives Matter, generally the people who are following in the streets, the ones that I have met, are not poison. They're frustrated. That nobody is listening to them.

And there is a third of the country that now feels disenfranchised, that nobody is listening to them, because their person didn't win. Another third that is saying, "I'm not going to listen to you because you didn't listen to me."

I'm hoping that there is a third of Americans that say, "Oh, my gosh, are we all four years old? Aren't we better than this? Can't we rise above this?" Yes. We can.

Calling all people that want to live in a world of common sense. Don't go over the cliff with everyone else. We're going to disagree on policies. Major policies. But principles. Principles. You're talking about fake news right now. Why?

Because you don't want to face the facts that your candidate, Hillary Clinton, was corrupt. That's what the average person saw that didn't vote for Hillary Clinton: She's corrupt. It's not a conspiracy. It's corruption.

Why your side voted for Barack Obama, because they wanted transparency. People are tired of corruption in Washington.

But I fear the fake news talk has another agenda: to shut dissenting voices up. Now, you're currently worried about a dictator. Well, I was worried about a dictator with your guy. What do you say we restore the constitutional powers and principles to our nation? Once we do that, neither one of us will be afraid of being silenced by a dictator.

If someone stands to silence you, I will stand with you. If someone comes to silence me, will you stand with me?

We are one, even though we come from many.

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[break]

GLENN: We have some amazing audio out of Boston. And a cry out for common sense and some decency here. Let me just give you an update. CNN made a story about how dare Glenn Beck blame what happened in Chicago on Black Lives Matter. I wrote that in an answer to a tweet. I knew I had tweeted --

JEFFY: Yeah, you answered -- you replied to a tweet. And your tweet was, you're right. You are right. Stand up with me and demand justice in Chicago for the beating of a disabled Trump supporter by BLM. That was about ten hours ago.

GLENN: Yeah, what did they say? What did I retweet?

JEFFY: It was a thread under Dinesh D'souza. And it was -- it's not about seeing him fail. It's about the hate he promotes. Racism is not kind of, sort of okay, even if it benefits you.

GLENN: Right. So my point on that -- that was, what? Ten hours ago?

JEFFY: So that was ten hours ago. And in that time frame of 16 to 10 hours ago, there were headlines and stories claiming that this group was Black Lives Matter.

GLENN: I know that I read it that it was a possible connection to BLM. But it doesn't even have to be that. There were five police officers that were killed at a BLM rally here in Dallas. They have a history of promoting death to the police. That's what I was saying to this person. Stand up. You're right. But it's not just Donald Trump, if that's what you believe. It's the other side too. We have to call it evenly.

[break]

GLENN: By the way, happy anniversary to anybody here at the Mercury studios that was with us on the first day of broadcast for radio.

PAT: Thank you.

GLENN: Five years ago today, we started in a little teeny closet room that now has been blown out. And we just -- we transferred all master control for radio operations into that area.

PAT: Took five years to do that. Wow.

GLENN: Took five years to do that. No, actually it took about six weeks --

PAT: Once it actually happened.

GLENN: Yeah. But they've been working so hard.

PAT: Can you believe it's been five years that we've moved to Texas?

GLENN: Five years.

JEFFY: I know.

PAT: Five years.

GLENN: Crazy.

PAT: So we've been here -- well, certainly longer than I was in New York. I was only in New York for three. Were you there for five? So I think we were in Dallas for as long as you were in New York.

GLENN: Pretty amazing.

PAT: It's incredible.

JEFFY: Wow.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: New York took ten years off my life. I'm convinced of it.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: I think it took ten years off my life.

JEFFY: It does that.

GLENN: It does.

JEFFY: The city does want to wear you down.

GLENN: It does. It just -- it wears you out.

The only thing that does -- there's no other city that's like it for this one reason: You walk everywhere, and that keeps you healthy.

JEFFY: Yeah, it does. But I just remember it felt nice -- because we lived in Pennsylvania. So I took the train in and out of Manhattan, and it felt nice to be out of the city. But that one summer I spent right across the river, so I never left the city.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

JEFFY: And it's like -- just --

GLENN: Oh, I didn't leave the island of Manhattan for a year, and I went --

JEFFY: It just drains you.

PAT: When you had your apartment?

GLENN: Yeah.

PAT: When you live in Connecticut, it's not as bad, although the commute kills you. The commute sucks.

GLENN: I will tell you that I went on a tour where I was doing radio in the morning, television in the afternoon, and a stage show at night --

PAT: Oh, my gosh. Those were brutal days.

GLENN: With book stops. Remember? With book stops.

PAT: Right. Yes.

JEFFY: Yeah.

GLENN: And I remember thinking, "I am going to die." Four days into it, I thought to myself and said to the staff, "I am more relaxed now than I am when I'm in the city."

The city just makes you -- like, we're awake! We're awake! You're awake! And it's like, oh, my gosh. You just don't understand the grind of 16 million people living on top of each other. It's pretty intense.

JEFFY: Right.

PAT: Yeah, it is.

GLENN: It's pretty intense. A little Blade Runner-ish, but nice at the right times of the year.

Let me go to Rob in Indiana. Hello, Rob.

CALLER: Good morning, Glenn.

GLENN: How are you, sir?

CALLER: Very good. Working last night, there was the National News Network, I believe the one that's celebrating 25 years. And as disgusting with what has happened with this, if this turns out to be true, this victim in this video, I thought it's obvious, a left-wing production of this -- of this -- beginning of the video shows a Chicago police detective badge like, you know, enlarged right next to a still shot with that victim's face blurred out. And right underneath, it says "torture video." So the actual words on the screen are Chicago, police, detective, torture video.

And it just -- the image of it when I saw -- and they didn't play it every cycle. It repeated several times during the night. But I'm in law enforcement. And just, to me, it's like, here's another attack tied to law enforcement, just to put it out there.

GLENN: So wait. Wait. Wait. So they were -- they were playing the same thing, but the -- what's called a chyron. The script down at the bottom of the screen, they had superimposed a Chicago police badge so it looked like this was a torture -- instead of saying, "Here's a torture video that was released by police, they said, "Chicago police, colon, torture video?"

CALLER: The badge is blown up enough to see Chicago police, detective -- not just the police, but Chicago police detective. Then one of those still shots with their face blurred out. And underneath that video was torture video.

And I'm looking -- I'm like, this is -- if somebody just glances at that --

PAT: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

CALLER: -- it's spreading a false narrative. And people are going to see that and just tie it to it. And it's like, "No, the Chicago police are not the ones involved in it. They're the ones investigating it." It was on a major network news. I believe it's the one that's celebrating 25 years.

GLENN: Was it MSNBC? I don't know which one.

Which one is that? Fox? NBC? I don't know.

CALLER: I think it's ABC. ABC. It's through the South Bend area. I think it's Channel 57.

GLENN: Okay.

JEFFY: Oh, that's Chicago.

GLENN: Oh, Chicago.

CALLER: And they didn't play that same image every time. Because it was like whoever the local reporter was, they show his image, but you can't hear what he's saying. And then they have still shot, and then they go in to talk about. But every time I saw that, they did put it up there. I said, "This is just disgusting." They're taking advantage just to turn it and spin it their own way.

GLENN: Rob, thank you very much.

I will tell you this: On both the good and the bad, we're no different than any other media source on this. We'll get blamed for things we never did. And we'll get praised for things we never thought of. You know what I mean?

People are like, "I know what you were saying during that." We're like, "Yeah. Yeah, that was pretty brilliant of us."

That was not our intent. So when you look at that, it may not have even occurred to the person who was doing it, but we look at that, because it's on television -- you don't understand the grind. People just think that television and radio and everything else, it's just on and -- no, we're -- this is just glorified Facebook. You know, the -- the media -- we've gone into this unbelievably great revolutionary period.

And here's the revolution that I don't think any of our Founders could have ever seen coming. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, in some of the worst parts of the world and the deepest darkest jungles or the jungle of the city.

You have the power of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, in your hand, in your pocket. If you have something to say and can say it in such a way that people want to watch it, your voice, your face, your message can be heard all around the world. That is an amazing power. We've never had that as human beings before. Now, there are going to be those that are going to claim that we need to somehow or another curtail that, to license that, to monitor that, to gatekeeper that.

No. No. The question is: Do people realize the power that they have? Or do they just see what everybody else is doing? This is why everybody hates -- Glenn, stop apologizing.

It's important. It's important. It's important that we say, "You know what, I played a role in this. I don't even know to what degree."

But everyone needs to look at what they do on Facebook, on Twitter, and say, "Have I played a role?"

Well, no, not me because I don't really have a voice.

Yeah, you do. You do.

For the first time in my history of doing any kind of media, I would have to meet you or get you on the phone to be able to have a conversation with you.

I can respond to you now on Facebook. I can read your words on Facebook and on Twitter. And I can respond directly to you. Meaning, you are parallel to me.

We have a voice here, but you have a voice that just reached my voice. Your voice is just as loud as mine is.

Now, can we handle that power? Progressives and people who don't believe in the people will always say no. But we've always -- could we handle the power of the Bible?

There were people who said, "You can't give them the power. You can't read that." When the printing press -- you can't just give people an education.

Yeah, it caused upheaval. But in the long-run, it was good for society. In the long-run, it meant that the feudal system went away. In the long-run, this will set us free, should we choose, because this is massively exciting and revolutionary in its tone.

Somebody asked me yesterday in an interview what role did -- who role did the media -- did social media play in this election?

I said the -- the only role that really mattered. I honestly think if it wasn't for CNN and MSNBC and ABC, NBC, and CBS, I think Hillary might have had a better chance. Because the traditional media was so dismissed and so in the bag for Hillary Clinton, that they were like -- they were dismissed. Completely dismissed. And it added to the claim, "I'm not running against Hillary, I'm running against the corrupt media." Your voice -- this is the first election where social media actually, I think, called the election.

This is the one that made the president the president.

PAT: Probably safe to say.

JEFFY: Yeah.

GLENN: I think it is. I think it is.

PAT: Made me realize how much I had missed the feudal system too.

GLENN: Sorry for that.

PAT: Boy, those days.

GLENN: They don't come back.

PAT: They don't come back.

GLENN: They don't come back.

PAT: The feudal system just doesn't come back.

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PAT: Ugh.

GLENN: Thank you, Pat.

PAT: That wasn't me.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

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PAT: Go ahead, Jeffy. Finish.

GLENN: Finish, Jeffy. He doesn't have it.

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PAT: Wow.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. He is -- wow, he really is (sound effect).

PAT: (sound effect)

JEFFY: I don't have it in front of me.

PAT: We talked about it. You wonder why. Well, there you go.

JEFFY: I know we did. I know we talked about it.

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GLENN: Wow.

PAT: And there you have it. That's why.

GLENN: This is how good he is after the resolutions to be a better man and a better broadcaster.

JEFFY: Thank you.

Oh, not once did I ever resolve to be a better man.

PAT: Oh, please.

I believe that.

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[break]

GLENN: So we just got a new report out. Is this from Chicago?

JEFFY: Yeah, this was from last night. It was just a report from one of the stations, yes.

GLENN: Oh, I thought it was this morning. Because in this report they're now saying that the Chicago incident was not racially motivated.

JEFFY: Yeah, they were quoting the police department.

GLENN: How is that possible? They were talking about white people, weren't they?

PAT: Yes.

JEFFY: Yeah, the end of her report was that the police said that -- they believe it wasn't --

GLENN: Listen how bad this is -- listen how bad this is.

VOICE: Yeah. Smack --

VOICE: No. I don't want to send this (bleep) over my connection, man.

VOICE: It is a story we first broke here on Fox 32 News. And tonight, there is breaking information on the victim of a torture case broadcast live on Facebook.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Sylvia Perez in for Don Hansboro (phonetic).

VOICE: And I'm Jeff Herdin (phonetic). We've learned tonight that the victim in this case was mentally disabled and knew at least one of his captors. Lisa Chavaria (phonetic) is live now with breaking details. Lisa.

GLENN: Horrible.

VOICE: Well, Jeff, tonight, Chicago police have all four suspects in custody.

PAT: Good.

VOICE: Detectives are speaking with the victim who they say is special needs. Now, police believe he was held captive and tortured for almost up to 48 hours.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

JEFFY: I know.

VOICE: And all of it was posted to Facebook Live. We want to warn you that the video you're about to see is considered very disturbing.

VOICE: (bleep) Donald Trump.

VOICE: (bleep) white people, boy.

PAT: F white people. But that's not racial?

VOICE: Police say he has a mental disability. Investigators say he was a classmate of one of the suspects.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

VOICE: Apparently, they met out in the suburbs. The subjects then stole a van out in the suburbs and brought him into Chicago.

VOICE: Police believe he went willingly initially, but that is clearly not the case based on three videos posted to social media. What you are about to see is disturbing. At one point, the victim is held at knife point and told to curse President-elect Donald Trump. The men can be heard saying they want this to go viral.

Another video shows the group forcing the victim to drink water from a toilet.

PAT: Hmm.

VOICE: Throughout these videos, the victim is kicked, hit, and cut. Police believe he was released after being held anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.

Officers found him walking along Lexington and Homan on the west side. They linked a separate call to the scene featured in these videos and were able to find the two women and two men allegedly involved. Many people took to Facebook, outraged, wondering whether this will be considered a hate crime.

VOICE: I think some of it is just stupidity. You know, people just ranting about something that they think might make a headline.

PAT: Oh, my gosh.

VOICE: I don't think that -- at this point --

GLENN: I can't believe it. I mean, I can't --

VOICE: -- we don't have anything concrete to really point us in that direction. But we'll keep investigating.

PAT: Are you serious!

GLENN: They said they hate white guys. They said F white people.

PAT: And then at the end she says...

VOICE: The Cook County state's attorneys office is now looking at this case. Officials say that they expect charges in the next 24 hours.

And, Jeff, despite all of that racial and hateful rhetoric that you heard in those videos, the Chicago police superintendent says he does not believe these videos were politically motivated.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Are politically motivated. Are --

PAT: What?

GLENN: Denounce Donald Trump.

PAT: Oh, man.

GLENN: Media --

PAT: Not political. Not a hate crime.

GLENN: Media, you have a golden opportunity right now to reset things and to show that you have learned something. Please, take this opportunity.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

NICHOLAS KAMM / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

Fiona Goodall / Stringer | Getty Images

Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity

David McNew / Staff | Getty Images

Dependable, affordable electricity has been a staple of American life for decades, but that might all be coming to an end. Glenn has discussed recent actions taken by Biden, like orders to halt new oil and gas production and efforts to switch to less efficient sources of power, like wind or solar, the price of electricity is only going to go up. This, alongside his efforts to limit air conditioning and ban gas stoves, it almost seems Biden is attempting to send us back to the Stone Age.

4 signs that PROVE Americans are hitting rock bottom

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

As we approach the presidential election in November, many Americans are facing dire economic straits.

Glenn has shown time and time again that Bidenomics is a sham, and more Americans than ever are suffering as a result. Still, Biden and his cronies continue to insist that the economy is booming despite the mounting evidence to the contrary. But who is Biden fooling? Since the beginning of the year, gas has gone up an average of 40 cents a gallon nationwide, with some states seeing as much as a 60-cent per gallon increase. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are on the rise, evictions are surging, and America is experiencing a record amount of homelessness. We can't survive another Biden term.

Americans across the country are hitting rock bottom, and here are four stats that PROVE it:

Evictions

John Moore / Staff | Getty Images

Across the country, people are being evicted from their homes and apartments. Between 2021 and 2023, evictions increased by 78.6 percent. With inflation driving up prices and employers struggling to raise wages to compensate, rent is taking up an increasingly larger percentage of people's paychecks. Many Americans are having to choose between buying groceries and paying rent.

Foreclosures

Justin Sullivan / Staff | Getty Images

Renters aren't the only ones struggling to make their monthly payments, foreclosures are on the rise. This February saw a 5 percent increase in foreclosures from last year and a 10 percent increase from January. More and more Americans are losing their homes and businesses.

Bankruptcies

Chris Hondros / Staff | Getty Images

High interest rates and inflation have driven bankruptcies through the roof. Total filings have risen 13 percent and business bankruptcies rose 30 percent in 2023. It's getting harder and harder for businesses to stay afloat, and with California's new law requiring most restaurants to pay all employees a minimum of $20 an hour, you can expect that number to keep climbing.

Homelessness

FREDERIC J. BROWN / Contributor | Getty Images

The result of all of these issues is that it is getting harder and harder for Americans to afford the basic necessities. January of 2023 saw a record-breaking 650,000+ homeless Americans, a 12 percent jump from the previous year. More Americans have hit rock bottom than ever before.

Stop blaming Gen Z for the problems WE created

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

I want to talk to Generation Z. I’ve seen some clips of you complaining about your 9-to-5 jobs on social media and how life is really hard right now. To be honest, my first reaction was, “Suck it up, buttercup. This is what life is really like.” In a sense, that’s true. But in another sense, I think you’re getting a bad rap. You are facing unique problems that my generation didn’t face — problems that my generation had a hand in creating.

But I also think you don’t understand the cause of these problems.

I would hate to be in your position. When I was your age, we didn’t have to deal with any of the challenges you’re facing. In one sense, your life has been tough. At the same time, compared to previous generations, your life has been very easy. Everybody was rushing to save you, to protect you. You were coddled, which makes your life harder now.

You’ve grown up with social media and the definition of narcissism: somebody gazing into the pond looking at themselves all the time. I don't mean this as an offense, and I am not just including you in this. We’ve become a culture of narcissists. It’s all about “me, me, me, me.”

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

You’ve been in territory that my generation never had to enter. You’ve already navigated a landscape that we didn't have to, where nothing is true, and you can’t trust anybody. I wouldn’t trust anybody either if I were in your position. But I do know a few things to be true and a couple of things I can trust.

First, life is worth it. Life is tough, but it is worth it in the end.

Second, life is not about stuff. As a guy who is kind of a pack rat, I can tell you that none of that stuff will create happiness in your life. In fact, I think your generation has a better handle on happiness in some ways than anybody in mine. You’re starting to realize that pharmaceuticals may not be as good as natural solutions in a lot of situations, that the huge house may not be as satisfying as just having a smaller house, that living your life instead of having to work all the time may be a better way to live.

I want to talk to those of you who feel like it’s not worth even trying to go to work because you’ll never get anywhere. You work 40 hours a week or more, and you still can't afford a place to live. You’re still living with your parents. You can’t afford food. I think you're right to feel frustrated because the problems you're facing weren't always the case.

I blame a lot of the current problems we’re facing today on the hippies. That may be wrong, but I hate hippies. Hippies have been screwing things up since the 1960s. While on their socialist march, they have become everything that they said they were against: lying, greedy politicians. They just won’t let go of their power even though their time has passed.

These are the people who have come up with policies that make you feel like this is the way the world is. I hope I can convince you that it doesn’t have to be this way. This isn’t the way our country has always been. We don’t have to keep these people in power. Actions have consequences. Votes have consequences. These people allow crime, looters, squatters, riots, and somebody needs to pay for that.

You say you can’t afford health care. I understand. Since Obamacare passed, the cost of individual health insurance has doubled. You need to remember that politicians promised that if we passed this massive health care overhaul, it would mean a savings of $2,500 per family. You're in school. You must know that $2,500 savings is not the same as an 80% increase. Moreover, the cost of hospital stays is up 210%. I understand when you say you can't afford health care at these costs. Who could afford health care? Who could afford insurance?

The generation coming of age is right to feel frustrated.This mess — with high costs and a massive debt burden — was not of their making.

Iwant to talk to Generation Z. I’ve seen some clips of you complaining about your 9-to-5 jobs on social media and how life is really hard right now. To be honest, my first reaction was, “Suck it up, buttercup. This is what life is really like.” In a sense, that’s true. But in another sense, I think you’re getting a bad rap. You are facing unique problems that my generation didn’t face — problems that my generation had a hand in creating.

But I also think you don’t understand the cause of these problems.

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

I would hate to be in your position. When I was your age, we didn’t have to deal with any of the challenges you’re facing. In one sense, your life has been tough. At the same time, compared to previous generations, your life has been very easy. Everybody was rushing to save you, to protect you. You were coddled, which makes your life harder now.

First, life is worth it. ≈

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

You are also starting your life with thousands of dollars in debt. Your parents didn't have that burden. People used to be able to work their way through college and graduate debt-free. Others were able to get jobs that quickly paid off their debt. You can't do that now. Once the government said that they were going to guarantee all student loans, university costs skyrocketed, and it hasn't stopped. You can thank the progressive President Lyndon B. Johnson for that.

The people who created this mess cannot fix it. But it can be fixed.

Once the government said that they were going to guarantee everybody’s college tuition, universities found out that they could just charge more because the government would give you virtually any amount in your loan. And they have been charging more and more ever since. In 1965, the average college tuition was $450 a year. Adjusted to inflation, that's $4,000 a year. You're currently paying an average of $26,000 a year as opposed to the inflation-adjusted $4,000.

What happened? The answer is always the same: government regulations. Gas is up. Why? Government regulations. Can't afford a house? Well, that's due to several things. Many of them revolve around the fed and our national debt. But the simple answer is the same: government regulations.

Moreover, the U.S. government has run a staggering national debt. We have been concerned about it forever, but the people in power haven't been listening to your mom and dad and people like me. A lot of other people just thought, "Oh, well. We could get away with it. We're the United States of America, after all. Somehow or another, it will all work out."

People like me have been saying, "No. We can't pass this on to our children." You're now seeing what we have passed on. When you say that the adults are responsible for creating this world of problems, in some ways, you’re right. We were lied to, and as many people do, they want to believe the lie because it makes them feel better.

There are big lies being pushed in your generation as well. You're being told that a man is a woman and a woman is a man. At the same time, you’re being told that gender doesn't even exist at all. It makes us feel better to go along with the lie because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

My generation believed the same kind of lie about our national debt. We were told that we could spend all this money on subsidized programs because it would provide you, our children, with a better life. Some people warned, "Wait, how will they pay this off? This will cost them." We didn't want to believe them. The lie sounded better, and it was easier to believe that than the truth. We never saw the consequences, and even if we did, they were always way out in the future. Nobody wanted to listen to the doomsday people saying, "No. It's going to come faster than you think."

And that time is right now. Our government now is printing $1 trillion every 100 days. That's never been done before. We have more debt than any country has ever had in the history of the world. But we’re not alone. Every country is doing this. They’re going into debt like we’ve never seen before, and we’re all about to pay for that. It’s going to make your life even harder.

There are Democrats and Republicans who still believe in spending all kinds of money and getting us involved in every global conflict. Then there are constitutional conservatives who believe that we should conserve the things that have worked and throw out the things that don’t and follow our Constitution and Bill of Rights. You haven't really learned about those most likely. But you should. All of our problems are caused by the government and the people who feel they can bypass the Constitution. That's what this election is really all about.

You might say, “I don’t really care. I don’t like either of the political parties.” I know a lot of people who don’t like either of them, but one is going to try to cut the size of this government and one is going to spend us into collapse.

The people who created this mess cannot fix it. But it can be fixed. You need to learn enough about the truth, about why this has happened to us, and about how our Constitution lasted longer than any other Constitution in the world. The average is 17 years. This thing has lasted hundreds of years. Why? How? And why is it falling apart today? That's what you should dedicate some of your time to figuring out today.

You can complain about the way things are. I complain. Everybody complains. But don't wallow there. Learn what caused this. And if you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework. They always end the same way, and that's exactly where we're headed right now. We can either repeat the dreadful past of nations that have tried it before us, or we can choose freedom, liberty, and prosperity. The ball is in our court.

Government's SECRET crackdown on preppers threatens YOUR right to grow food

Glenn recently had Representative Thomas Massie on his show to sound the alarm about an important yet often overlooked issue affecting what we eat. Whether you're trying to be prepared to weather a catastrophe or just trying to keep food on the table without resorting to eating bugs, it's more important now than ever to source local food. Unnoticed by most, our right to eat home-grown or locally-sourced foods is under attack. The government doesn't just want a say in what you eat; they want you vulnerable and dependent on their system, and they are massively overstepping their bounds to ensure your compliance with their goals.

How did the attack on your food begin?

Government overreach on food can be traced back to 1938 under the autocratic eye of FDR with the Supreme Court case "Wickard v. Filburn." The case was pretty straightforward, but the results were devastating. The case began with the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, which sought to control national food prices by placing limitations on how many crops farmers could grow in a season.

Filburn was one such farmer, who was allotted 11.1 acres of wheat to plant and harvest annually. Filburn planted and harvested 23 acres, arguing that the extra acres were not headed for the market, but were used for personal consumption. After being penalized for over-harvesting, he fought his case all the way up to the Supreme Court, arguing that Congress did not have the authority to regulate crops that never left his farm.

Unfortunately for Filburn (and the rest of us), the Supreme Court didn't agree. They ruled that the mere existence of that extra wheat—whether it left Filburn's farm or not—had an effect on the national value of wheat. Congress assumed the power to regulate just about anything that could be roped under the umbrella of "interstate commerce."

Under the precedent set by Wickard v. Filburn, Congress might bar you from growing tomatoes in your backyard, because it could affect national tomato prices. This was a major blow to our right to feed ourselves, and that right has been eroding ever since.

How is our right to feed ourselves under attack today?

Last June, the Virginia Department of Agriculture shut down Golden Valley Farms, a small Amish farm owned and operated by Samuel B. Fisher in Farmville, Virginia. Golden Valley Farms had started out selling dairy products, primarily, and processed some meat for personal consumption. However, by popular demand, Fisher began selling meat.

Fisher initially hauled his animals to a USDA processing plant, paid to have them processed, and then hauled them back. This process was time-consuming and costly, and Fisher's customers didn't want the meat processed by the plant. A survey done on Golden Valley Farms customers found that an overwhelming 92 percent preferred meat processed by Fisher. So naturally, Fisher began to process more and more meat for his customers.

Moreover, COVID shut down the USDA plant, which made it impossible for Fisher to process the animals by the USDA anyway, though the demand for meat was greater than ever. Fisher made the call to process 100 percent of his animals himself and didn't look back. That was until June when the Virginia Department of Agriculture caught wind of Fisher's operation and shut it down. The VDA seized all of Fisher's products, and he wasn't allowed to process, sell, or even eat his meat. Then they loaded it up in a truck and left it at the dump to rot.

Nobody ever got sick from eating meat from Golden Valley Farms. This was NOT about "health and safety." This was about control. The fact is that informed adults were not allowed to make a simple transaction without the government sticking its slimy fingers into Fisher's business and claiming it was somehow for "our benefit." But it's not for "our benefit." It's so they can regulate and control what we buy and what we eat, and they cannot stand it when we operate outside of their influence.

What comes next?

Where does this end? With so much of our ability to feed ourselves already eroded, is it too late? Is it going to get worse? Before long, will it be illegal to eat eggs from your chickens or pick vegetables from your garden without getting government clearance first? Fortunately, a solution is already in the works.

Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie recently told Glenn about a new constitutional amendment designed to limit government overreach regarding food production. The proposed amendment reads as follows:

And Congress shall make no law, regulating the production and distribution of food products, which do not move across state lines.

The amendment is still on the drawing board and has not been formally introduced to Congress yet. But this is where you come in. Call your representative and tell them to support Massie's amendment and take a stand for your right to provide sustenance for you and your family.

Glenn's Show Prep

Dear Media, You Have a Golden Opportunity to Do the Right Thing

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

Food

Water

Electricity

4 signs that PROVE Americans are hitting rock bottom

Evictions

Foreclosures

Bankruptcies

Homelessness

Stop blaming Gen Z for the problems WE created

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

The generation coming of age is right to feel frustrated.This mess — with high costs and a massive debt burden — was not of their making.

If you end up thinking more collectivism is the solution, then you haven't done enough homework.

Government's SECRET crackdown on preppers threatens YOUR right to grow food

How did the attack on your food begin?

How is our right to feed ourselves under attack today?

What comes next?