GLENN

The Gorsuch Pick: We're Thrilled to be Wrong

Throughout the primary, Glenn and his co-hosts remained skeptical about the likelihood of Donald Trump choosing a conservative candidate for the Supreme Court. However, following President Trump's announcement Tuesday evening, it was time for a promised mea culpa.

"Let me start with this because we always say we lead with our mistakes," Glenn said Wednesday on radio. "I was completely wrong on that. I stand corrected. I apologize to Donald Trump. He said last night, I promised you that I would do that. I'm a man of my word. He was. So kudos to Donald Trump on that, and I stand corrected."

In light of Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court, Glenn and his co-hosts not only stand corrected, they're thrilled to do so.

Enjoy the complimentary video above or read the transcript below.

GLENN: Well, boys, what do you think of Gorsuch? What do you think of what happened last night with Trump's nominee?

 

STU: Well, I mean, you know, we said on the air, leading up to this, that Gorsuch was the one that we would pick of the finalists.

 

GLENN: Yeah, out of the three.

 

STU: Yeah, he was my favorite of those three. So obviously there's nothing else to say, other than, I'm very pleased by it.

 

You know, I did -- you know, we talked about this throughout the primary. One of the main reasons why I did not like Donald Trump throughout the primary -- one of them -- was I did not have any confidence of him making this pick and making it well. And I am thrilled to be wrong on that.

 

GLENN: Yep.

 

STU: Because this is a great pick. He stuck to the list. He picked one of the ones I would say in the upper echelon in that list.

 

GLENN: Yep. Yep.

 

STU: And there's a lot of really positive things to talk about with Gorsuch. And you're right, you never know. He might not get confirmed. He might be a Roberts. And the one point I would disagree with you on is it's part of his legacy. It's part of Bush's legacy. It is Bush's fault.

 

GLENN: Oh, no, no. Correct. Hang on just a second. But wait a minute. Bush had this idea. And Ted Cruz told us because he tried to talk Bush out of this. Bush had the idea of, "Let's get somebody who doesn't have a record that we can push through who tells us they're conservative, but they don't really have a record on anything."

 

STU: Uh-huh.

 

GLENN: And so I think that's why it belongs to Bush. I mean, everybody who vetted this guy, with an exception of a couple of areas, which we mentioned, but last week, this guy looks really, really good. So if he gets into office and he is not what his record holds, I think that's on Gorsuch and not on Trump.

 

STU: Well, it's mainly on Gorsuch, clearly. You know, individual responsibility.

 

GLENN: Yeah. Correct.

 

STU: However, with the amount of information that Donald Trump has about this guy that we don't, you know, you -- it is part of it. That doesn't mean. I can't -- you know, can't blame the guy. I don't even think you can blame Bush for the Obamacare ruling fully.

 

GLENN: I don't either.

 

STU: It's Roberts' choice, and he's the one who got into the Douche Hall of Fame because of it.

 

GLENN: Hang on a second. Let me start with this because we always say we lead with our mistakes.

 

One of the things that I said all the way through the primary was, "You think Donald Trump is going to put somebody, who is anti-abortion -- he's going to listen to his daughter. He's not going to listen to us. He's not going to fulfill that promise." I was completely wrong on that. I stand corrected. I apologized to Donald Trump. He said last night, "I promised you that I would do that. I'm a man of my word." He was. So kudos to Donald Trump on that. And I stand corrected.

 

STU: Yeah, and what a great way to be corrected.

 

GLENN: Yes. And we said we would do this -- nobody believes it. We said we would do this if we were wrong. We would apologize. I just did. And I'm celebrating that I'm wrong. I will stand -- I learned this from Abraham Lincoln. He said, "I will stand with any man when he is right, and I will walk away when he is wrong." That is my philosophy on Donald Trump. When he's right, I will stand with him and support him. When he is wrong, I will not stand with him, and I will fight him.

 

But that's the way -- you know, somebody wrote on Twitter last night, "All knees will bend." They were referring to Donald Trump. And they were mocking me for not supporting him. And said, "See, all knees will bend." No. All knees will not bend to the president of the United States. What is wrong with you?

 

PAT: Let's hope not. Let's hope not. Wow.

 

GLENN: What is wrong with you?

 

STU: You can keep that standard. No, thank you. Not going to participate in that one.

 

GLENN: No.

 

PAT: Isn't this the guy that Ted Cruz said he tried to talk Bush into, instead of Roberts in the beginning?

 

STU: I don't remember that. I do remember that story, but I don't remember --

 

GLENN: Yeah, we should call Ted Cruz. See if we can get him on today.

 

JEFFY: Ted Cruz and Mike Lee both --

 

STU: We're not hearing you, Jeffy. He would have been awfully young.

 

GLENN: Oh, it's a dream come true. Hang on. Take a moment and just thank the Lord. That is something we've all been praying for: We can't hear you, Jeffy. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

 

STU: This pick is better than we thought.

 

GLENN: Yes. This is a day of miracles!

 

STU: Jeffy.

 

JEFFY: Knees will bend.

 

STU: His mic is not -- can someone turn his mic on, please?

 

GLENN: No, no.

 

STU: Or, I'm sorry, keep it off.

 

GLENN: Yes, thank you. Whoever is doing that, thank you.

 

STU: By the way, Gorsuch, I would say -- one of the reasons I liked him over some of the other justices is that he has kind of a Libertarian streak. There are elements of -- you know, there's a particular stance we can go over later where he's actually better than Scalia on it. And, I mean, he might not be better than Scalia overall. That's to be seen, of course.

 

GLENN: We'll see.

 

STU: However, when you can find anything where you're better than Scalia on an issue, it's pretty freaking impressive. And this is a good pick. A smart guy. And, you know, look, I'm thrilled to have been wrong about this one.

 

GLENN: Right. Right.

 

So I will tell you this: For anybody who said all they were voting for, for Donald Trump, was SCOTUS, thank you. You were right. You got that done.

 

And -- and I am stunned by it. Just stunned by it. Let's see now what the left does.

 

I will tell you, you know, I'm trying to have quick 144-character conversations with people. Let me go through a couple of -- a couple of things.

 

There was a couple of things that came out on this yesterday that independent to go -- let's see. Obviously, listener. You're corrupt. Media is uncorrupt. Hard stance against Trump.

 

Here. Glenn, we're enemies. I think I used to watch you -- I think I used to watch you every night on Fox. I was a fool.

 

Why are we -- why are we enemies? And one of them was from a liberal who said, you know, you are -- you know, I was -- I was just starting to consider you a friend. This is why you're not my friend.

 

Well, wait a minute. You were a fool if you think that I changed my principles -- anybody on the left who thinks that I'm suddenly a progressive, you're out of your mind. I've never said that. I've made that very clear. I've said that to everybody I've met with.

 

I have changed my tone, and I want to listen to you. And I want to reach out because we have to be able to model friendship. And here's what I responded: Scalia was a good friend of Ginsburg. They respected one another. Why can't we respect one another as well? We disagree, but we're not enemies.

 

And that was one of the biggest disappointments that I had. You know, I wasn't running the Scalia funeral, obviously. But the selfish part of me wanted Ginsburg to stand up and speak. And she has spoken out about him, but I wanted it at the funeral when everybody -- when all eyes were there. I would have loved Justice Ginsburg to stand up and talk about their friendship. That was one of the things that we've all missed.

 

Here's Scalia and Ginsburg, and the supporters of Ginsburg hate Scalia. And the people who support Ginsburg -- I mean, Scalia, hate Ginsburg. Why? They don't hate each other.

 

There's a difference -- let me say this. Let me correct something that is a long-standing problem of mine.

 

I use the word "evil" too easily. There is evil. I believe there is evil. But I will use the word "evil" sometimes with people, and I can't judge if people are evil. That's wrong. And I can't -- there's -- I'm going to try to stop using that word, unless, you know, we're pretty clear.

(chuckling)

 

GLENN: And stop using that word. I want to replace that word with wrong. They're just wrong. That doesn't make them evil. They're just wrong.

 

And we have to stop literally demonizing people. And I've done that for a long time. You got to stop.

 

Ginsburg is just wrong. Now, I don't know her. But Justice Scalia sure seems like a really nice guy to me. Not to the people on the left because all they do is look at his record of how he votes, and they just assume all kinds of things about him.

 

We look at Ginsburg, and we just assume all kinds of things about her.

 

But wait a minute, Scalia -- if we're right about Scalia, how were they really, truly good, deep friends. How is that possible? If he's really a good guy, he wouldn't be hanging out with evil. He would be hanging out with somebody who he profoundly disagrees with, but he likes.

 

Why is it that this pick has to be either saintly or evil, depending on which -- he's just either right in your opinion or wrong in your opinion.

 

And one more thing on this: I would fully expect if the court -- the only real conservative left on the court was Ginsburg and there was a progressive president, I would expect the president to bring in a progressive. If half the country was a liberal, progressive -- were liberal, progressive citizens, I would not expect the Supreme Court not to represent their point of view.

 

I think -- and I don't know -- but I think I would actually be saying on the air, "Look, guys, it's Ginsburg. There's no one else on the court that represents 50 percent of the country." It's ridiculous to think that we shouldn't have one voice on the court that is actually making this case for a true constitutional conservative. If you don't -- if you can't see that as split as we are, would I love to have everybody a constitutional conservative on the Supreme Court? Yes. Do I think that's what the Founders would want? Yes.

 

But half of the country will feel completely alienated from the Supreme Court. We have to have faith in our system. You can't replace Ginsburg with Scalia. And you can't replace Scalia with a Ginsburg.

 

You have to have a real conservative replace Scalia. I think it's only right and fair.

 

We -- we -- we need to fight for our principles, but we also need to stand up for other people's points of view and let the best man win and the best idea win.

 

I have no problem fighting for my ideas. And I think -- I really think -- yesterday -- I want to tell you a story later. Yesterday, I went to a place, to a studio, and we all were driving over. And we were like, "This should be interesting." Because this individual used to be a progressive. And I mean a progressive that would make your eyes bleed, on a network that you would -- would, again, you would -- you would have no blood left on your body.

 

He invited me over to his studio and said, "I want to do a sitdown with you." And I said, "Fine." And before we started, he said, "You know, I saw the interview with you, with Tucker Carlson." And he said, "Tucker Carlson was going after you, and he didn't make any ground." And I said, "Yeah, because I really don't care anymore, so."

(laughter)

 

GLENN: And I said, "That's the secret. You know, everybody always told me, Glenn, stop caring anymore. And when you're trying to not care, it doesn't work. But when you really don't care, it's fantastic." So he said that, and I thought, "This is going to be an interesting hour. He may start to go after me."

 

He started the interview with, "Look, I used to be a progressive. I used to be a hard-core progressive. And then I noticed that during this last election that all of my friends who I thought believed in something were all switching tables and they were all starting to fight for things because the conservatives were picking things up that we believed in and the -- and the Democrats were excusing things from Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party that I'm like, wait, we're against all that stuff." He said, "So I'm finding myself now in a situation where people who are being intellectually honest on the conservative side, I'm there."

 

We had an amazing conversation. An amazing conversation. Are we going to agree on everything? No.

 

But the end of the conversation was, "So how many people in the country are actually tired of this back and forth bickering of the press that has no intellectual curiosity and no intellectual credibility or integrity?" How many people are sick of that?

 

He believes that we're in the silent majority. I think that may not be the case now, but I do think that may be the case down the road.

 

If you are intellectually honest and have integrity and you don't want to fight because it's nothing but a stupid game and you actually want to stand for things -- like Scalia and Ginsburg -- they disagreed, but they were good to each other. They liked each other. They respected each other. And they were friends.

 

Man, that's the world I want to live in. Because this one isn't working. This one is getting much, much worse.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Epstein's "Blackmail Videos" Being Used for Leverage RIGHT NOW?

What was Jeffrey Epstein's operation all about. If he was at the center of a massive blackmail operation to compromise those in positions of power, who is in possession of that information now? Glenn Beck and ATF Whistleblower John Dodson analyze the details of this situation and give their thoughts on what is the most likely reality surrounding Epstein.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with ATF Whistleblower John Dodson HERE

TV

WARNING: How America Elects a Socialist President in 2028 | Glenn TV | Ep 444

The rise of Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old socialist who just won the Democratic primary for mayor, is not just a political earthquake shaking New York City — it’s a warning for the rest of America. Backed by Bernie Sanders, AOC, and the Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani promises free everything, to tax the rich, and to dismantle capitalism. There’s nothing new about this tired strategy, but the media is propping him up as a new political genius. And with Democrat leaders lining up behind him, it’s clear: This radicalism isn’t fringe anymore. It’s the Democratic Party’s future. Mamdani’s rise is part of a larger movement that’s rewriting America’s values. Glenn Beck explains how New York is the prototype for the Left’s socialist makeover of America. Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Standford, gives a terrifying prediction on Mamdani’s mayoral race chances and warns the revolution is coming for mainstream Democrats. He also dives into MAGA’s frustration with the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files.

RADIO

Did CLOUD SEEDING cause the Texas floods?

Did cloud seeding cause the 4th of July Texas floods? Rainmaker founder and CEO Augustus Doricko, who has been blamed for the flooding, joins Glenn Beck to make the case that it’s impossible for his July 2nd operation to have caused the disaster.

RADIO

Salena Zito reveals WHY Trump said “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“I have a new purpose,” then-candidate Donald Trump told reporter Salena Zito after surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Salena joins Glenn Beck to reveal what Trump told her about God, his purpose in life, and why he really said, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, as she details in her new book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland”.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Salena, congratulations on your book. It is so good.

Just started reading it. Or listening to it, last night.

And I wish you would have -- I wish you would have read it. But, you know, the lady you have reading it is really good.

I just enjoy the way you tell stories.

The writing of this is the best explanation on who Trump supporters are. That I think I've ever read, from anybody.

It's really good.

And the description of your experience there at the edge of the stage with Donald Trump is pretty remarkable as well. Welcome to the program.

SALENA: Thank you, Glenn. Thank you so much for having me.

You know, I was thinking about this, as I was ready to come on. You and I have been along for this ride forever. For what?

Since 2006? 2005?

Like 20 years, right?

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

SALENA: And I've been chronicling the American people for probably ten more years, before that. And it's really remarkable to me, as watching how this coalition has grown. Right?

And watching how people have the -- have become more aspirational.

And that's -- and that is what the conservative populist coalition is, right?

It is the aspirations of many, but the celebration of the individual.

And chronicling them, yeah. Has been -- has been, a great honor.

GLENN: You know, I was thinking about this yesterday, when -- when Elon Musk said he was starting another party.

And somebody asked me, well, isn't he doing what the Tea Party tried to do?

No. The Tea Party was not going to start a new party.

It was to -- you know, it was to coerce and convince the Republican Party to do the right thing. And it worked in many ways. It didn't accomplish what we hoped.

But it did accomplish a lot of things.

Donald Trump is a result of the Tea Party.

I truly believe that. And a lot of the people that were -- right?

Were with Donald Trump, are the people that were with the Tea Party.


SALENA: That's absolutely right.

So that was the inception.

So American politics has always had movements, that have been just outside of a party. Or within a party.

That galvanize and broaden the coalition. Right? They don't take away. Or walk away, and become another party.

If anything, if there is a third party out there, it's almost a Republican Party.

Because it has changed in so many viable and meaningful ways. And the Tea Party didn't go away. It strengthened and broadened the Republican Party. Because these weren't just Republicans that became part of this party.

It was independents. It was Democrats.

And just unhappy with the establishment Republicans. And unhappy with Democrats.

And that -- that movement is what we -- what I see today.

What I see every day. What I saw that day, in butler, when I showed I happen at that rally.

As I do, so many rallies, you know, throughout my career. And that one was riveting and changed everything.

GLENN: You made a great case in the opening chapter. You talk about how things were going for Donald Trump.

And how this moment really did change everything for Donald Trump.

Changed the trajectory, changed the mood.

I mean, Elon Musk was not on the Trump train, until this.

SALENA: Yeah.

GLENN: Moment. What do I -- what changed? How -- how did that work?

And -- and I contend, that we would have much more profound change, had the media actually done their job and reported this the way it really was. Pragmatism

SALENA: You know, and people will find this in the book. I'm laying on the ground with an agent on top of me.

I'm 4 feet away from the president.

And there's -- there's notices coming up on my phone. Saying, he was hit by broken glass.

And to this take, that remains part of this sibling culture, in American politics.

Because reporters were -- were so anxious to -- to right what they believed happened.

As opposed to what happened.

And it's been a continual frustration of mine, as a reporter, who is on the ground, all the time.

And I'll tell you, what changed in that moment.

And I say a nuance, and I believe nuance is dead in American journalism.

But it was a nuance and it was a powerful conversation, that I had with President Trump, the next day. He called me the next morning.

But it's a powerful conversation I had with him, just two weeks ago.

When he made this decision to say, fight, fight, fight.

People have put in their heads, why they think he said it. But he told me why he said that. And he said, Salena, in that moment, I was not Donald Trump the man. I was a former president. I was quite possibly going to be president again.

And I had an obligation to the country, and to the office that I have served in, to project strength. To project resolve.

To project that we will not be defeated.

And it's sort of like a symbolic eagle, that is always -- you know, that symbol that we look at, when we think about our country.

He said, that's why I said that. I didn't want the people behind me panicking. I didn't want the people watching, panicking.

I had to show strength. And it's that nuance -- that I think people really picked up on.

And galvanized people.

GLENN: So he told me, when he was laying down on the stage.

And you can hear him. Let me get up. Let me get up.

I've got to get up.

He told me, as I was laying on the stage. I asked him, what were you thinking? What was going through your head? Now, Salena, I don't know about you.

But with me. It would be like, how do I get off the stage? My first was survival.

He said, what was going on through his mind was, you're not pathetic. This is pathetic.

You're not afraid. Get up.

Get up.

And so is that what informed his fight, fight, fight, of that by the time that he's standing up, he's thinking, I'm a symbol? Or do you think he was thinking, I'm a symbol, this looks pathetic. It makes you look weak.

Stand up. How do you think that actually happened?

SALENA: He thinks, and we just talked about this weeks ago. He -- you know, and this is something that he's really thought about.

Right? You know, he's gone over and over and over. And also, purpose and God. Right? These are things that have lingered with him.

You know, he -- he thought, yes.

He did think, it was pathetic that he was on the ground. But he wasn't thinking about, I'm Donald Trump. It's pathetic.

He's thinking, my country is symbolically on the ground. I need to get up, and I need to show that my country is strong.

That our country is resolute.

And I need people to see that.

We can't go on looking like pathetic.

Right?

And I think that then goes to that image of Biden.

GLENN: You have been with so many presidents.

How many presidents do you think that you've personally been with, would have thought that and reacted that way?

SALENA: Probably only Reagan. Reagan would have. Reagan probably would have thought that.

And if you remember how he was out like standing outside.

You know, waving out the window. Right?

After he was shot.

GLENN: At the hospital, right.

SALENA: Had he not been knocked out, unconscious, you know, he probably would have done the same thing.

Because he was someone who deeply believed in American exceptionalism.

And American exceptionalism does not go lay on the ground.

GLENN: And the symbol.

Right. The symbol of the presidency.

SALENA: Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that affects him today.

GLENN: So let me go back to God.

Because you talked to him the next day. And your book Butler.

He calls you up.

I love the fact that your parents would be ashamed of you. On what you said to him.

The language you used. That you just have to read the book.

It's just a great part.

But he calls you the next morning. And wants to know if you're okay.

And you -- you then start talking to him, about God.

And I was -- I was thinking about this, as I was listening to it. You know, Lincoln said, I wasn't -- I wasn't a Christian.

Even though, he was.

I wasn't a Christian, when I was elected. I wasn't a Christian when my son died.

I became a Christian at Gettysburg.

Is -- is -- I mean, I believe Donald Trump always believes in God, et cetera, et cetera.

Do you think there was a real profound change at Butler with him?


SALENA: Absolutely. You know, he called me seven times that day. Seven times, the take after seven.

GLENN: Crazy.

SALENA: Talked about. And I think he was looking for someone that he knew, that was there. And to try to sort it out.

Right? And I let him do most of the talking. I didn't pressure him.

At all. I believed that he was having -- you know, he was struggling. And he needed to just talk. And I believed my purpose was to listen.

Right? I know other reporters would have handled it differently. And that's okay. That's not the kind of reporter that I am.

And I myself was having my own like, why didn't I die?

Right?

Because it went right over my head.

And -- and so I -- he had the conversation about God.

He's funny. I thought it was the biggest mosquito in the world that hit me.

But he had talked profoundly about purpose. You know, and God.

And how God was in that moment.

It --

GLENN: I love the way you -- in the book, I love the way you said that as he's kind of working it out in his own he head.

He was like, you know, I -- I -- I always knew that there was some sort of, you know -- that God was present.

He said, but now that this has happened.

I look back at all of the trials.

All of the tribulations. Literally, the trials.

All of the things that have happened. And he's like, I realized God was there the whole time.

SALENA: Yes. He does. And it's fascinating to have been that witness to history, to have those conversations with him. Because I'm telling you. And y'all know, I can talk. I didn't say much of anything.

I just -- I just listened. I felt that was my purpose, in that moment.

To give him that space, to work it out.

I'm someone that is, you know, believes in God.

I'm Catholic. I followed my faith.

And -- and so, I thought, well, this is why God put me here. Right?

And to -- to have that -- to hear him talk about purpose, to hear him say, Salena. Why did I put a chart down?

I'm like, sir. I don't know. I thought you were Ross Perot for a second.

He never has a chart. And he laughed. And then he said, why did I put that chart down?

By that term, I never turned my head away from people at the rally. That's true.

That relationship is very transactional. It's very -- they feed off of each other.

It's a very emotive moment when you attend a rally. Because he has a way of talking at a rally. That you believe that you are seeing.

And he said, and I never turn my head away.

I never turn my head away.

Why did I turn my head away?

I don't remember consciously thinking about turning my head away. And then he says to me, that was God, wasn't it?

Yes, sir. It was. It was God.

And he said, that's -- that's why I have a new purpose.

And so, Glenn. I think it's important, when you look at the breadth of what has happened, since he was sworn in.

You see that purpose, every day.

He doesn't let up.

He continues going.

And it brings back to the beginning of the book.

Where you find out, that there was another president that was shot at in Butler.

And that was George Washington. And how different the country would have been, had he died in that moment.

And now think about how different the country would be, had President Trump died in that moment. There would be --

GLENN: We're talking to -- we're talking to Salena Zito. About her new book called Butler. The assassination attempt on President Trump. And it is riveting.

And, you know, it is so good. I wish the press would read it. Because it really explains who we are, who Trump supporters are. Who are, you know, red staters. It is so good at that. She's the best at that.