GLENNFebruary 27, 2017

Concessions of a Transgendered Wrestler

Texas high school wrestler Mack Beggs recently won the state championship --- the female state championship --- amid controversy that caused some competitors to forfeit rather than wrestle the junior from Trinity High School in Euless, Texas. Beggs, who is transitioning from a girl to a boy, has been taking regular doses of testosterone.

"Take the emotion and the politics out of the transgendered issue for a second, and we'll just talk about how ridiculous it is that a girl who is taking heavy amounts of testosterone --- for a girl, right? --- would be able to compete at all," Co-host Stu Burguiere said Monday on The Glenn Beck Program.

Many argue that the high levels of testosterone, which build strength and muscles, give Beggs an unfair advantage. Begging the question, if it's Beggs' choice to transition, shouldn't she make concessions during the interim to maintain a level playing field? Concessions like not wrestling until the transition is complete?

Enjoy the complimentary clip above or read the transcript below for details.

PAT: We've had this situation where there is a girl who is transitioning to a boy. And she's 17 years old. She's a wrestler. And so she wanted -- apparently, she wanted to wrestle in the boy's division this year, right?

JEFFY: Correct. Correct.

PAT: Because she's making that switch. So she's going from boy to girl.

STU: And the Texas rule is, you compete in the gender that you were born.

PAT: That's on your birth certificate.

STU: Yes.

PAT: Especially I guess as long as you have that genitalia, which she does. She's a girl.

STU: Yeah, I don't know -- if you've gone through the full transition, I don't know -- again, if you're talking about kids, this is a pretty new development. I don't know if they have a rule for that.

PAT: Yeah, I don't either.

STU: I think the rule is the gender you had when you were born.

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: So that's the rule in Texas because it's hateful. How can you possibly ask somebody to compete in the gender category they were born into, how can you ask that?

STU: You can't, Pat. You can't.

PAT: You can't. Because what if you feel differently? Anyway, she does.

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: But she was made to -- she was put in the girl's category for wrestling. So she just won the tournament last week.

JEFFY: Yeah, she won the championship.

PAT: She won the championship.

JEFFY: The -- one of the issues is, is that she is actually going through the transition and taking the prescribed medicine to make the change. And so it's working.

PAT: The testosterone.

STU: Right. And, by the way, this ends any argument of all time as to whether men or women are better athletes. Just -- because this whole thing of -- the old Billie Jean King thing back in the day. Let's be honest about it. You take testosterone, you become better and stronger at sports.

PAT: Right.

STU: Sorry.

PAT: Now, that is science. That is science.

JEFFY: That is science.

STU: So sorry. I guess we have to apologize for that.

PAT: Everybody knows it. Everybody knows it. You can -- I guess you can try to deny it and say that women are just as strong in every instance as men. It's just not the case.

STU: No, they're better at certain --

PAT: Yes. They're just not built the same way as we are. And that's a good thing. It was supposed to be that way. We're supposed to be different. And we are. And we are.

STU: Stunning. A stunning development that everyone knew at a level of 100 percent until very recently.

JEFFY: Right.

PAT: This is insane. And, by the way, if a man were to take testosterone in the -- in Major League Baseball or the NFL --

STU: I like how you're saying this as a crazy hypothetical.

PAT: I know.

STU: If in some circumstance somehow --

PAT: And they do.

STU: -- some at least decided to take performance enhancing drugs --

PAT: I don't remember who it was. But your testosterone as a man in the normal range is 400 to 800, maybe up to 1,000. And that's fairly normal. I can't remember who the baseball player was. It might have been A-Rod. He had a testosterone level -- and I shouldn't mention him because I don't remember who it was. But I remember their level was 4,000. So clearly they had been --

JEFFY: That's a man.

PAT: No man takes -- or has that much natural testosterone. So clearly, they had been taking testosterone, so they were better at what they were doing than they otherwise would have been. So it works on men as well as girls transitioning to men. So obviously, this girl is going to become stronger, she's going to be faster. She's going to be better able to wrestle than she was as a girl with no testosterone.

JEFFY: Right. And the argument also from the other parents that are suing the school board is that, hey, she is taking this medicine. That's making her into a boy. We don't want her wrestling.

PAT: And in Texas, you can take -- you can compete if you've been prescribed the testosterone by a doctor, and she was.

JEFFY: Correct. And there are several -- there are three or four other things on that list that the Wrestling Association says it's okay as long as it's prescribed and that would not be okay if it was not prescribed, for sure.

PAT: Wow.

STU: And the reason for that, by the way, quickly, steroids are like standard treatment for a lot of illnesses.

JEFFY: Yes.

PAT: Yes. Right.

STU: If you break out in a rash or if you have -- if you're sick in any number of ways.

PAT: Uh-huh.

STU: One of the first responses is to give you a shot of steroids because, you know, it works. It's pretty effective.

PAT: It reduces swelling, aids in healing. It just -- it calms down infection. I mean, it does a lot of different things. I've taken steroids quite a bit. Because I've been sick lately. And it helps. They help.

STU: A lot.

PAT: So it kind of makes sense that there are certain circumstances under which -- you know, because if you're taking anabolic steroids, that's one thing. But if you're taking steroids that a normal doctor would prescribe for an illness that's a different deal.

JEFFY: Which is pretty much what they were covering when they made the rules, before this.

PAT: Right. So, anyway, Stu heard this interview on the way in by Chris Cuomo. And is it the lawyer representing the other girls in the tournament?

STU: No, this is Ben Ferguson, who is a talk show host. He's a CNN contributor, so he's there to take the evil right-wing side of this argument. Chris Cuomo who purpose or it is I guess to be a journalist. I don't know that for a fact. But it seems like he wants to come off as evenhanded on the show is a straight-out activist on this show.

PAT: Yes.

STU: And the reason is because he's in the middle of his own personal issue with the transgendered argument, which is last week someone tweeted to him -- when talking about the transgendered issue, what do you tell a 12-year-old girl who doesn't want to see a man's unit in the locker room?

So a 12-year-old girl is in the locker room, someone changing next to them, takes down their pants and has a guy junk. Right? He's got guy junk.

What do you tell that 12-year-old girl? His response was, I wonder if she is the problem.

PAT: Good gosh.

STU: Or her overprotective and intolerant dad. Teach tolerance. That was his response.

PAT: That's unbelievable.

STU: Now, look, that's unbelievable, to put that on the 12-year-old girl.

PAT: Unbelievable response.

STU: A 12-year-old girl is not equipped to -- even if this were the most logical thing in the world, is not equipped to make that determination. She's going to be interested in what she's interested in at that age. That's going to be -- it's a moment -- it's an era of discovery, right. And so that is not something that you would necessarily want -- that's why they have separation.

Because honestly, with this standard, why bother with two different bathrooms? Why bother with two different locker rooms for any reason? Why bother? Why not just be tolerant of male genitalia all the time for 12-year-old girls? Why is it only when someone else outside of their decision-making process makes a decision they identify a different way. Right? Someone else has done that, that doesn't affect the 12-year-old girl in this scenario. She hasn't made any judgment, well, I identify that person as a female, therefore the junk that I'm looking at is not male. That's not her determination. It's someone else's determination. So that is -- it's an absurd argument on its face.

But he got so much heat for that tweet, blaming the 12-year-old girl and her intolerant dad of not being accepting of penises in the locker room, which is essentially what he said: You should be tolerant of the penis.

That was the word they used. He got so much heat for that. He's now in, I've locked myself in the corner, and I'm going to be defensive on this point no matter what. Which, it brings out the best in Chris Cuomo. Because he's now so desperate to prove that this wasn't a mistake, he'll say anything.

PAT: Yeah. Listen to this.

VOICE: What's your take on the tournament, my friend?

VOICE: Well, first off, I think this -- take the transgendered issue out of it for a second. If you are taking testosterone, which is a performance-enhancing drug in sports, you shouldn't be able to wrestle.

PAT: Correct. There you go.

VOICE: And this gave a completely unfair advantage to this participant. You can talk about that whether you are in your age-group or in your sex group that are associated with. If you're taking something that is performance enhancing, you're not a real champion. You cheated and you won.

Now, the state I think has some blame for this, by having it where they're even allowing these testosterones to be used if they're prescribed by a doctor. That's where I think the big fix probably needs to come.

STU: Stop for a second. Because this is -- so, first of all, this is his first response. Take the emotion and the politics out of the transgendered issue for a second. And we'll just talk about you how ridiculous it is that a girl who is taking heavy amounts of testosterone for a girl, right? Would be able to compete at all. So taking out the transgendered issue, it's still wrong. So he's already won the argument at this point, right?

JEFFY: Right. Right.

STU: But not with Chris Cuomo who can't possibly accept this.

CHRIS: If there was acceptance, we wouldn't have had this issue because this kid would be wrestling against boys.

PAT: Oh, good gosh.

STU: So here's his argument: So Chris, he falls back to --

PAT: If there were acceptance.

STU: I don't know what level we're going to fall back to on this. It's going to be hard to keep track of. But he falls back to, if there was -- if we taught acceptance, this wouldn't be an issue because she would be able to wrestle the boys like she wants to.

PAT: And in that eventuality, we wouldn't be talking about the story at all because she would have lost in the first round, and it would be over.

STU: Right. That's true.

PAT: It would be over.

STU: That's true. However -- however, we still would be talking about the issue. Why?

Because in a liberal state, let's say California, there would be a -- it would go the opposite way. You would have a boy who was transforming to be a girl and wanted to identify as a girl and then went into the girl's division and then destroyed all the girls. So the issue would still exist, it would just be in a liberal state and the opposite way. So he's completely wrong there to say the issue goes away if -- if we, quote, unquote, teach acceptance. The issue still exists, it's just on the opposite side.

VOICE: We know. And for those as you're learning about -- just so people know.

VOICE: Here's the thing.

VOICE: But hold on, Ben. Let's just clarify one thing: The science, you have to be careful about.

STU: This is argument two.

PAT: The science now.

VOICE: The amount of hormone that this kid is given is the minimum standard they can give to replicate the output of a boy.

STU: Okay. Stop. There's so much there.

JEFFY: Oh, my gosh.

PAT: Does he know the amount she's being given?

STU: First of all -- yes. So that was one of his big arguments in this. I assume he knows it because he quotes -- he kept saying, you have to look it up. You have to look it up. So, again, that's a bad assumption on my part.

PAT: Look it up, Jeffy. See how much testosterone --

STU: However, it's not the minimum amount that a girl would have, right? It's actually way more than a girl would have, which is what makes the transition happen.

PAT: Yes. Way more. It's the minimum amount for a boy.

STU: For a boy. Now, let's just say that that's true. So even if his argument is true, it's still cheating --

PAT: So even if his argument is true, it's still cheating.

STU: It still would be cheating as the girl. So his point is, well, then they should allow him -- her -- him to wrestle with the boys, right? Because he wants -- she identifies as a man. So we should think that she's a man. We should allow her to wrestle with the boys. Because she's not getting -- his point there is, he's not getting so much -- she's not getting so much more testosterone than the boy would normally have. So she's not a superhuman boy, she's just a boy, right? First of all, his wording is interesting there. The amount to replicate a boy.

If she's a boy, you do not need to replicate the boy.

If you're replicating something, you're replicating it because it's not actually happening. Therefore, your whole scientific argument is flawed. The thing that you're saying you want to happen isn't happening.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: She is not a boy. So if she was a boy, you would not need to replicate it.

PAT: Yeah, if you need to talk about science, what is she scientifically? She's a girl.

STU: She's a girl.

PAT: She's had no surgery. There's nothing been changed on her body. She's a girl. So if you want to talk science, she's a girl. And then -- so it's unfair for the girl to be getting testosterone, when the other girls aren't getting it.

STU: Right. Exactly. Now, his point seems to be, what he wants to happen is that she wrestles against the boys and then loses because she is getting only the appropriate level for a boy of testosterone.

Again, it's a ridiculous argument in and of itself. But if you're going -- even if you're going to entertain it, the point is, getting performance-enhancing drugs -- it's not to say that you let everyone come to the same level of testosterone. The point is, you don't get additional testosterone as to what you have naturally. That's the point of the rule. It's enhancing. Whether you think it's enhancing it only to equal, it's not the point. The point is, you don't enhance it to what you have naturally.

PAT: Uh-huh.

STU: She has very little naturally. And they're enhancing it to get a higher level, regardless of what level.

PAT: And all we're talking about here is -- the level of the other competitors is what we should be talking about, not the level of the boys.

STU: Yes. Right.

PAT: Because is it unfair for her to have beaten all these girls whose level of testosterone is ridiculous?

VOICE: Kids are going to be superhuman -- it's the opposite.

PAT: No, it's not the opposite.

VOICE: Scientifically, that is the outcome. If you look and do the research as I have, you'll see that.

STU: Oh, God.

PAT: What a condescending ass.

STU: Yes. Remember, this is a guy who is in full standing in the Douche Hall of Fame. And this is him showing off why he's there.

PAT: Exactly.

STU: And, by the way, on Pat and Stu today, a vote on Chris Cuomo as the Grand Nozzle after this interview. Because he deserves it from Harry Reid.

VOICE: If this state allowed this kid to wrestle against boys, which is what he wants, we wouldn't be talking about this case right now.

STU: Right. This case. You would be talking about a different case in a different state that went the opposite way. The issue would not go away at all based on that. You would just be arguing the opposite side of it.

PAT: True.

VOICE: But you also have to look at, there has to be a standard. And I think it's not insane or crazy for a state to say that you compete with the sex that's on your birth certificate. That's what I would refer to as logical. It is illogical to somehow imply that this kid is a victim because he decided to do something or change something and therefore you change the entire sport around it. That is the part that I think many people are sitting here and saying, "Hey, if you want to compete in a sport, period, then you cannot be taking performance-enhancing drugs and do it." But to say that we should change the entire way that sports is done because of one person and their decision to do something, that is unrealistic.

VOICE: Right.

But the premise is flawed. Because the logic requires --

STU: We got to come back. We're not going to have time to get it --

VOICE: I disagree. That's why we're having a discussion. That transgender doesn't count. But it does count, and that's why we're having this bigger debate about what you allow trans kids to have access to and what you don't.

PAT: He goes on to say that she identifies as a girl.

STU: Yeah, but we have to come back and play -- because that part is unbelievable as well.

PAT: Unbelievable.

STU: His scientific argument is that she identifies. Well, that's not science.

PAT: That's not science. Now you're talking feelings. You're not talking science.

STU: As you said, they're replicating it. She's identifying. You're laying it out -- subconsciously, you're saying the truth. You can't help yourself. You can't help yourself. You keep saying the truth.

PAT: I can identify as a gerbil, if I want to, but I'm not. I'm not one. And I won't fit into the little thing with the wheel that goes -- spins around and around. So...

STU: Right. And any other circumstance, this argument would be completely bizarre.

RADIO

China, ICE, and the shutdown: Everything Trump's "60 Minutes" interview revealed

President Trump gave a master class on negotiation in his recent “60 Minutes” interview with Norah O’Donnell. Glenn and Stu review Trump’s best comments on China and Taiwan, ICE raids, and the government shutdown.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

VOICE: I know you have said that Xi Jinping wouldn't dare move militarily on Taiwan while you're in office. But what if he does?
Would you order US forces to defend Taiwan?

DONALD: You'll find out if it happens. And he understands the answer to that.
VOICE: Why not say it?
DONALD: This never even came up yesterday.

STU: Why not say it? I don't know. Tough question!

DONALD: He never brought it up, because he understands it, and he understands it very well.

VOICE: Do you mind when I ask, he understands, why not communicate that publicly to the rest of us? What does he understand?

DONALD: I can't give away my secrets. I don't want to be one of these guys that tells you exactly what is going to happen, if something happens. The other side knows, but I'm not somebody that tells you everything, because you're asking me a question. But they understand what's going to happen, and he has openly said it, and his people have openly said it. He said, we will never do anything, while President Trump is president. Because they know the consequences.

GLENN: And they do.

Now, what's her name? Norah McDonald?

Or that Norah O'Donnell. I can't remember.

STU: It's Norah O'Donnell.

GLENN: One is a comedian, and one claims to be a journalist. I don't know remember the difference. But, you know, here she is. Why won't you just say it? I don't know!

Strategery!

I mean, why wouldn't you just say it?

Presidents never say that. They never say that. Can you imagine?

What a stupid question that is.

And if you think -- go ahead.

STU: I was going to say, you know, I think Trump sometimes does say stuff like that. Right? Like he does -- for example, with North Korea. Right?

He was like, hey. We're going to blow you up. And the fires of hell are going to rain down upon you.

GLENN: Because North Korea is not China.

STU: Right. He's making decisions based on strategy with different countries. And there's different decisions to make with each nation.

GLENN: Correct.

STU: And when you look at something like this.

What he's trying to, I think communicate is he has communicated to China that they will be involved.

But he does not want to escalate it publicly.

And honestly, all of that being said, I don't know what his actual answer is. My suspicion is, we won't be involved if that happens. Honestly, like I know we promised it. But my suspicion is, if China actually goes in there, there's a good chance, we are -- we come up a reason to not be involved in it.

GLENN: We can't. We can't.

We can't be involved in that.

We will be involved in covert ways.

My guess is, we blow up all those chip factories. That's my guess. And my guess is, we have given the ability to Taiwan to do that. Long ago. I don't know.

But that's what -- that's what I would do. Because we don't have -- we cannot -- we cannot support a supply line, that far away. We just tonight. We're not capable of it.

So we don't have the supply lines. We couldn't get things there, fast enough. And they're going to overwhelm with drones. That's what -- this is going to be the fastest war ever. If they go into Taiwan. It will be over, by the time we ever get a ship or an airplane there. It will be over. They will just overwhelm the island with swarms of drones, period. So here's what the president is actually doing.

He announced a deal on economic and trade relations with China.

So here's what he -- here's the Chinese actions. You ready?

Suspend new rare earth export controls. Issue general license for exports of rare earth. Listen to what he got: Take significant measures to end the flow of fentanyl to the US. Suspend all retaliatory tariffs since March 4th. Suspend all retaliatory nontariff measures since March 4th. Purchase at least 12 million metric tons of US soybeans, and we lowered our tariffs by ten points and extended the expiration of Section 301 tariff exclusions until November 2026. Do you see what we've got? See what we gave up?

Let me just say that again. Do you see what we got and what they gave up?

The president -- it's genius how he got us here. He didn't just engage with China directly. He embarked on a massive, massive campaign, securing the rare earth minerals in all of their allies. Multiple countries.

He built an -- an alternate system that cuts China out, entirely.

Then went after Venezuela, Russia, and Iran. All the three of their major allies.

This was the equivalent of the American president, putting his foot down on the neck of China and saying, you want up?

You want up?

And China blinked because at this point, they had no choice.

China is not used to being handled like this. And he just handled them.

This is a good win for America!

So when the president is has done negotiation. Why would he go on 60 Minutes?

And insult them even more.

Why would he go and say, what you know we'll do?

We'll vaporize Beijing. And I have on good authority, that's exactly what the president said. You know, you want to do that, and I'll make Beijing disappear.

And Xi laughed at first. And what? What?

The president didn't laugh and blink. And Xi left going, he might just do it!

That's how you negotiate. That's how get all of the rare earth minerals. That's how you get this giant concession with from China. The guy -- I have to tell you, I mean, we've known this forever. How long has everyone on the planet, you know, now, of course, the left won't say it. You know, the Democrats won't say it. But everybody has always said, I wish we just had a good negotiator on our side. Wouldn't it be nice if we had somebody that looked at the country like a business. And could just run it like a business. And knew how to negotiate?

We have the best negotiator, I think we've ever had.

I can't think of anybody who is better than that.

Here's what he said, yesterday on 60 Minutes on the ICE raids. Cut ten.

VOICE: More recently, Americans have been watching videos of ICE tackling a young mother, tear gas being used in a Chicago residential neighborhood. And the smashing of car windows. Have some of these raise gone too far?

DONALD: No. I don't think they've gone far enough. Because we've been held back by the judges, by the liberal judges, that were put in by Biden and by Obama.

VOICE: You're okay with those tactics?

DONALD: Yeah, because you have to get those people out. You have to look at the people. Many of them are murderers. Many of them are people that were thrown out of their countries because they were criminal.

GLENN: What do you think of that, Stu?

STU: Again, he's not going to back down from that policy, not a surprise.

GLENN: Uh-uh.

STU: Criminals, you know -- it is such a popular issue to get rid of people who are violent criminals in this country.

That he's going to lock into that, no matter what the tactics look like. As long as they don't look cruel to people who are innocent.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: Right? That's the type of stuff he would get beat up.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

STU: These are people here illegally.

And it's not -- like, you know. He's beating a mom to -- these people are beating moms to death in the streets. Of course, it's going to be something different.

What we're seeing is, what? They're getting arrested on their way to work?

I don't think that's going to be controversial at all to the American people.

GLENN: Seventy percent of the American people agree with the ICE raids.

Seventy percent. No matter what the mainstream media makes it look. That's the latest poll. Have you read another poll? Stu, you're looking at me --

STU: I have seen more negative polling on the issue, generally.

It is -- I think --

GLENN: I just saw one yesterday or today, 70 percent.

STU: I'll have to --

GLENN: Is it in the show prep today?

STU: I did see that poll somewhere.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: I wouldn't say -- his border policy is among his most popular policy. There have been some more negative reactions. Not on the right. But on the left. And the -- and the -- and independent voters, who are concerned about these tactics generally.

Now, of course, what they've received about this is basically, this is the gestapo. So you would understand, that their analysis of what they're hearing in the media, is that it's a negative.

I think though, when you look at these individual cases. People wind up realizing, okay. That's not what's actually going on.

You know, I do think that generally speaking, this is a positive issue from him.

Certainly, it's one of the issues that he cares about the most. And he's not going to back off of it. I think there's this idea that the media can try to corner him. And he will try to back down. When does this occur?

This is not -- the only time Trump has ever really backed down on anything is when, occasionally you'll get a situation where his base says no. We can remember cases of this, with the Second Amendment. He said something to the effect of, well, we'll go in there. We'll take the guns first, and then we'll have a trial. His base said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That's not the way it should work.

And he backed off of that. That does sort of happen occasionally. And you'll see occasionally, when it comes to economic consequences.

This is the -- you could argue, that, you know, he backs off on some of those stuff, when he sees the market crash or some of that sort. Really, with stuff like this. There's no sign of him backing down. He believes the policy is correct.

He believes these people should leave. And I think, at this point, most people who are border hawks, if they have any complaint about what's going on at the border, it's more than at that it's not enough. It's not been widespread enough.

It has been a situation where it's been focused on. You know, we have a lot of attention on the Maryland father who went to El Salvador.

When I think the issue is larger than a few of these cases. So that is probably the only complaint you would have from people who agree with him.

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(music)
Ten seconds, back to the show.

So let me take on now what happened with the shutdown. Here's cut 11. Trump on 60 Minutes last night.

VOICE: And the shutdown.

DONALD: Well, what we're doing is we keep voting. The Republicans are voting almost unanimously to end it. And the Democrats keep voting against any -- you know, they've never had this.

This has happened like 18 times before. The Democrats always voted for an extension.

Always saying, give us an extension. We'll work it out. They've lost their way. They've become crazed lunatics. And all they have to do, nor a,is say, let's vote!

VOICE: Senate Democrats say, they will vote to reopen the government if Republicans agree to extend subsidies for over 20 million Americans who use Obamacare for their health insurance.

DONALD: Obamacare is terrible.

It's bad health care at far too high a price.

We should fix that! We should fix it. And we can fix it with the Democrats. All they have to do is let the country open, and we will fix it. We have to let the country open, and I will sit down with the Democrats, and we'll fix it. But they have to let the country -- and you know what they have to do? All they have to do is raise five hands. We don't need all of them.

GLENN: Notice, I mean, he is pissed about this.

He wants to fix this.

He wants -- I mean, he does not like Obamacare. But he also is probably -- leans more. See if you agree with this, Stu.

Leans more towards the Democrat kind of fixing of health care than where I would lean. I would lean, shut it all off. Shut it all off. Get all of the government regulation out of insurance and everything else.

Let all of this stuff just be a free market again. And I think you would fix a lot of this.

I don't think that's Donald Trump's point of view. Do you?

STU: No. I don't think so.

Again, we talked about how the border say real passion issue for him. I don't think the health care thing is.

I just don't think that's central to his -- you know, his belief structure long-term.

You saw what happened. He tried to -- he did try, I think, at the beginning to get rid of Obamacare. I think there was a legitimate effort made. It did not work.

DONALD: Yeah. I don't think the Republicans did.

STU: Certainly, many did. Many did. Obviously, it failed. John McCain, famously.

GLENN: Yeah. Right.

STU: Although, that's a little bit blown out of proportion, as the moment where it failed. If it had actually failed before that, regardless, it was something that he promised voters that he would try to do. It didn't work. And I think he's moved on from those sorts of real solutions, that I wouldn't favor. That you would favor.

GLENN: Right. Let me play one more. Cut 12, please.

VOICE: Government shutdowns in the past. And you did it by -- members of Congress, into the White House.

DONALD: I'm not going to do it by extortion. I'm not going to do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way. There's something wrong with these people.

VOICE: So then what happens on November 5th, when the troops --

DONALD: Schumer is a basket case, and he has nothing to lose. He's become -- I just like Japan. He's become a kamikaze pilot.

VOICE: Sounds like it's not going to get solved the shutdown.

DONALD: It's going to get solved. Oh, it will get solved.

VOICE: How?

DONALD: We'll get it solved. Eventually, they will have to vote.

GLENN: How?

Because I'm on the completely reasonable side, and you seem completely unreasonable.

How? How is this ever going to stop?

Because you won't give the Democrats what they want.

She is so -- she's so mainstream old-fashioned media. Just sickening.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

The Satanic Cult Fueling Mexico’s Cartels - 'Santa Muerte' Exposed

Mexico’s cartel war isn’t just about drugs or power — it’s about evil itself. Glenn Beck sits down with former federal agent Dave Franke to expose the satanic cult of Santa Muerte, the so-called “saint of death” worshiped by cartel members across Mexico. From ritual killings and demonic symbolism to deep government corruption and spiritual decay, Glenn and Dave reveal how Mexico’s violence is being fueled by a dark, religious devotion to death. This is the story the media won’t tell — and a warning for America about what happens when faith collapses and evil fills the void.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with Dave Franke HERE

RADIO

Was THIS the most brutal book review EVER?

In what might be a first in the program’s history, Glenn reads a book review in its entirety. What review is worthy of such an accomplishment? The most brutal book review of former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's new book, 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines." Glenn reads through the scathing review written by Andrew Stiles of the Washington Free Beacon, as he and Stu look back at how bad Karine Jean-Pierre was at everything she did.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I don't think I've ever read a book review, word-for-word on the air before. And I'm not sure I've ever even read a book review on the air before, more than a paragraph. But this book review is so good. It must be read verbatim. A book so bad, it has shattered liberal's faith in DEI. It is a Free Beacon review of Independent: A Look Inside A Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines, by Karine Jean-Pierre. Are you ready?

Stu, you're going to love this. Karine Jean-Pierre cannot stop making history. Earlier this year, the former White House Press Secretary became the highest ranking openly queer French-born black woman with a hyphenated surname to publicly renounce the Democratic Party for being mean to Joe Biden. She is the only black female lesbian immigrant to publish a book about her time in the Biden administration. And it is the worst political memoir ever written in the history of the English language!
(laughter)
This is not hyperbole. It is an especially vacuous genre and highly competitive to be sure. But imagine writing a book so bad, it could shame Democrats and liberals into second-guessing their cult-like devotion to DEI.

That is exactly what Jean-Pierre has done with her book, Independent. In 2022, Jean-Pierre's promotion to White House press secretary was hailed by Democrats and journalists, where to the extent there's a difference, as a triumph for diversity and representation. She is now wildly viewed in the words of a reporter who worked with her, as the most incompetent and irrelevant White House Press Secretary ever.

Former colleagues now describe her as ineffectual, unprepared, and kind of dumb. Jean-Pierre's book tour, if you can call it that, as now been described as a car crash, a non-stop cringe. She fumbles her way through interviews, repeatedly invoking her lived experience as awe trailblazing black woman and openly gay pioneer. The same people who pioneered her historic promotion and the first to denounce her critics as bigots are rolling their eyes. Every time she falls back on identity politics instead of actually answering a question, she reinforces the worst stereotype about Democrats says a former White House colleague. Her egregious performance in an interview with the New Yorker, one democratic strategist likened it to Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson is fighting a baby.
(laughter)
Jean-Pierre told the New Yorker, the broken White House, in reference to the subtitle. Remember, it's Independent. A look inside a broken White House, outside the party lines.

Okay? So she's in the interview, with the reporter from the New Yorker. The broken White House referenced in the subtitle, she said is actually a reference to Donald Trump's White House, not the one that she was writing about, or everyone assumed she was writing about.

It's a strange thing to lie about, and a clueless person might blurt out when they get flustered. But in the author's defense, even a semi-talented communicator would struggle to defend this drivel. Readers may be surprised to learn that Jean-Pierre became a professional spokesperson, because she was even less capable in a different field.

I wish I would have known this. Did you know this? Her parents, "Oh, God, help us!"

Her parents wanted her to become a doctor.

STU: Oh, my God.

GLENN: Imagine. But she flunked the medical school entrance exam. So she switched the Ivy League to Democratic Party pipeline, where talent barely matters, when there's history to be made with every promotion.

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but Jean-Pierre implies all of her jobs since have been plagued by disloyal leagues who question her competence. Love -- I love that. I love that.

At some point, you do -- if this is your experience time after time after time, eventually, you do have to ask, maybe it's me!

And I know this from experience. Because that was my experience.

I was so egotistical and full of myself when I was in my 20s.

That I couldn't work with anybody.

Because they're all incompetent.

They're all whatever.

You know, no!

Glenn, you're an ass.

That's what I finally came to the conclusion.

Why does everybody say, I'm an ass?

Well, probably because I was an ass, that's why.

STU: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

GLENN: Independent, her book, which is both mercifully brief, 172 pages, and intolerably long.

STU: 172 pages?

GLENN: 172 pages.

STU: I had idea. That, I mean, that is a great description of it too. That is amazingly short for the -- the stuff she's talking about.

GLENN: It's like a bathroom reader. It's a bathroom reader.

STU: But I imagine reading it, it must feel eternal.

GLENN: Intolerably long.
(laughter)

I love this review.

I want to hug the person who wrote this review. Jean-Pierre claims, she never noticed Biden's cognitive decline, despite meeting with him at least once a day for two and a half years.

Her observations reflect an alarming disconnect with reality. She denounces the media for grilling the Democrats and soft-balling the Republicans.

She recounts her disbelief when days after that one, quoting, one wobbly debate, where Biden bragged about beating Medicare, blah, blah, blah.
Not a single -- I'm quoting from the book. Where Biden bragged about beating Medicare, blah, blah, blah. Not a single reporter asked a question about his landmark efforts to bring about social justice, end quote.

STU: Oh -- oh.

GLENN: Like her rambling press briefings, Jean-Pierre's proceeds is riddled with contradictions that boggle the mind. Democrats should have been more loyal to Biden.

That's why she left the party. She's an independent now, because no entity deserves blind loyalty. I want you to remember that. No entity remembers blind loyalty.

Multiple interviewers have noted the discrepancy. Pierre, who holds a Master's Degree from Columbia University doesn't follow.

STU: I mean, Columbia University has to -- is -- got to be ashamed of themselves for that.

I understand she didn't -- she just handed it to her. I get it. That is a disgrace. How could you act as if she could graduate something?

That is a completely ridiculous concept!

GLENN: Columbia university hosted Nazis, to speak the campus in the 1930s.

And then sheltered Nazis in the -- in the -- you know, in the campus.

And as teachers.

I mean, what -- if you're not embarrassed by that crap, what, you're embarrassed by her?

Not a chance. Not a chance.

For obvious reasons, she declines to note that Barack Obama was one of the party leader's most skeptical of Harris. She said, she never really believed that Kamala Harris could win, but any Democrat who argued with her or suggested Harris should compete for the nomination was insulting all black women. It's easy to see why Democrats are so annoyed. Her absurd retelling of the 2024 election, notwithstanding, Jean-Pierre has no useful suggestions to offer.

GLENN: This is her book.

Democrats should think creatively, move nimbly, and plan strategically, in pursuit of bolder solutions. Oh, my gosh.

STU: That's just nothing.

GLENN: Empathy is key.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Stop supporting the candidates who are elected, instead, backing the inspirational ones. Democrats should look -- Democrats should look to the Grammy Awards for inspiration because we all know how popular the Grammy awards are.

Watching all those Hollywood millionaires denouncing Trump reminded me that monumental change was possible. One of Jean-Pierre's boldest ideas, something Democrats should definitely consider is restarting the vigorous conversation about being antiracist.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Alas, Jean-Pierre is no longer a Democrat. Now, remember, she said, no blind loyalty, right?

She's no longer a Democrat because she does not believe in blind loyalty.

Okay. All right. She explains in -- in the pages that follow in so many words. She explains that leaving the party was a tantrum-like plea for attention. A deeply personal quest for new ways to be acknowledged. That's a quote.

Her leaving the party was a quest for new ways to be acknowledged. And it's also about self-care.

Now, she's left the party. Because nobody gets blind loyalty.

But she'll never vote for a Republican, or even a third party candidate.
(laughter)

STU: Well, then what?

GLENN: Wait.

Wait. If you'll rule those two out, I won't vote for a third party.

And I won't vote for a Republican. But I'm not going to vote.

But they don't get my blind loyalty.

STU: Gosh. She's an idiot.

GLENN: I mean, really.

STU: I would love to say, it's more complicated than that.

But she's just a vapid moron.

GLENN: No. Moron. Moron.

Jean-Pierre urges others to follow suit, to proclaim their independence and follow their own political compass. She doesn't have a political compass.

What is she saying? She's still going to vote the same way?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: It's an incredibly brave thing to do. She says.

Listen to this. It's so important to carry around the talisman to remind you of the values you hold.

Like, a biography of a poet who spoke to a better world and spoke a better world into existence.

Yeah. I'm walking around all the time, with a -- with an old book of poetry.

Or a pebble from a peach, where you once dreamed and felt free. She says, she hopes the book will provoke a more nuanced political conversation. It certainly has provoked a conversation, shockingly nuanced in its context of the Democrat Party politics. It's just not the one she was expecting. That is fantastic.

STU: It's a great review.

And I fear it's -- maybe they went a little light on her, honestly.

GLENN: It's only 172 pages.

STU: Yes. So what can you do?

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: I will say, the part that's most frustrating about it. Talking about the interviews she's done on this book tour.

Which have been, among the worst interviews I've ever seen with someone, who is supposed to have an operating brain inside their skull.

And what's frustrating about that is all of those moments were readily available to every media member, the entire time she was White House press secretary.

GLENN: Yep. Yep.

STU: If anyone of them asked her any difficult questions the entire time she worked there, they would have learned all of this stuff before.

GLENN: All of it. All of it.

STU: Now they find it okay to actually press her on these issues. Because they don't care about her book sales.

GLENN: Right. And the same thing.

Look what's happening. I mean, her and Kamala Harris are exactly the same story.

It's DEI in action. They're exactly the same story.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Both vapid. One more so than other.

One is vapid. And I believe filled with so much helium, that she could float away to the sun.

But the same kind of stuff. Is happening with -- with Kamala. Once they are asked questions, you see, they can't handle it.

Any idea what they're talking about.

STU: Yes. I think that's true.

I think there's a comparison to be made there. I do think Kamala has proven herself to be an able back room warrior.

She is in multiple ways, some of which the back room, there's a bed in it.

And then other ways, it's also, that she is legitimately good.

And I mean this sincerely.

Legitimately good, at haranguing a bunch of donors to her side in a democratic scuffle.

She is -- has done that multiple times throughout her entire career.

Behind closed doors to be able to kind of pressure and harangue people into donating into her. Into supporting her over other Democrats. She really. The way she just wrestled. I mean, Barack Obama with his 96 percent approval rating among Democrats. Came out and said, I can't wait to see what process we have. To determine what the next nominee will be.

GLENN: Oh, I know.

STU: And hours, she had the nomination. She is legitimate am good at that one thing.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: Which is unlike Karine Jean-Pierre. Who is legitimately good at nothing.

GLENN: I understand, when you're talked about the gravity or the pull, you know, of the individual, you know, in comparison to the Pluto-like gravity of Jean-Pierre, okay?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Yes. She does make, you know, Kamala Harris look like the sun. Okay?

STU: Right.

GLENN: I do understand that. But comparatively speaking, they are -- they are both in a different universe entirely.

RADIO

Urgent call to action: Help Jamaica recover from Hurricane Melissa

Hurricane Melissa has devastated Jamaica and Mercury One is on the ground to help with recovery efforts. Glenn speaks with Jack Brewer, who just returned from Jamaica. Jack describes the tragedy, which he calls “one of the worst I have seen,” and explains how people like you can help get aid to people in regions where “NO ONE” has come to help, even 6 days after the storm.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I don't know if you've been paying attention at all to what happened with Hurricane Melissa. But, you know, it's been, what? Five days since Melissa pummeled Jamaica. I mean, pummeled it.

And not a lot of people are showing up. It's -- it's -- it's really not good.

At least 28 people have died, since the hurricane hit. Monster category five. 185-mile-an-hour winds. They say, trees are just piled up everywhere. 400 people in Jamaica. 400,000 people in Jamaica have zero power. They don't have cell phone service. They don't have Wi-Fi.

They don't have water.

And they don't -- and, again, like I said, nobody is coming. Mercury One was there, over the weekend, and Jack Brewer was there. Jack is -- Jack is an amazing guy. He's a three-time NFL team captain. He was -- he is a minister. Humanitarian civil rights commissioner on the US Commission for the social status of black men and boys. Vice chair of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Advisory Board.

Leads a national advocacy for fatherhood. Criminal justice reform. A really, really good guy.

In fact, he just won Mercury One's angel Bonhoeffer award. Which is really for very, very special people. He was down with us in Jamaica, just this weekend. He just got home. I wanted to get an update on what he saw. Jack, welcome to the program.

JACK: How are you doing, Glenn? Thanks for having me.

GLENN: You bet. What did you see down in Jamaica?

JACK: It was horrific. You know, I've been doing this organization, going on our 20th year. So I've seen disasters from across Africa and throughout the Caribbean, and obviously in the US. This is one of the worst that I've seen, just in regards to the devastation. Homes completely leveled. I mean, down to the foundation.

And, you know, the entire West side of Jamaica is without water. Without electricity. And, you know, it's hard -- it's tough terrain. Because a lot of these people kind of live up in the hills and the mountainous areas. And so as these trees have fallen down, you know, the infrastructure, electricity wattage is pretty old.

And so the electric wires are just twisted all in the trees. And it's -- you know, as you're driving around, you know, you're being whipped by electric wires and just a tough terrain. And unfortunately, everywhere that we were able to get to, we were the first there.

And this is -- now we're going on six days after the storm. And these people don't have water. They don't have electricity. You see, just piles and piles of -- of humans sitting next to each other. Trying to get water. They're washing their clothes with the saltwater. And, you know, they're -- they're -- the gas pumps have run out. You know, there are fights at the gas pumps. Because people are trying to desperately get enough fuel, you know, if they do have a generator to get fuel for it. Or cars to get places.

And the most heartbreaking thing is that folks haven't found their family members.

You know, there's no communication. You know, we brought several thousand Starlinks with us, we brought battery backs and start to give them to the people. But, you know, they haven't communicated with their people. They have -- there's still so many folks. When I was there, they had just found six more bodies in the area.

And they were asking us for cadaver dogs, and asking us if we could, you know, assist with them.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

JACK: It's terrible, it really is, Glenn.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. Did you see any American forces?

I mean, did you see any -- who did you see there?

I keep hearing that nobody was there. But there has to be somebody.

JACK: Nobody. Well, I saw a couple helicopters in the air. You know, I saw a couple military helicopters in the air. But again, when you get up into these mountainous regions, the higher up you go, the worse the devastation. If you were just to go there, and you look down. Like a normal hurricane. You know, trees down. And, you know, it's a difficult place. But when you start to go up these mountains, just I'm talking about a quarter mile, everything is wiped out. Literally, Glenn, no one has come.

I went to village after village, town after town, no aid organization has come. I think they just started to try to get the West more -- because you have to take a helicopter to get in there. But if you start at Montego Bay and start to work your way down South. A small little town like Tucker, Westmoreland.

If you go down the Black River, in those areas, those areas are decimated. And so, you know, they're sleeping outside. And another thing, Glenn. That has been an issue. It hasn't stopped raining. It's been raining every day. So everything is mucky.

When we got there on Saturday, I mean, literally we had to divert from a flood. You know, the floodwaters started rising on our car. Got up to almost the window. We had to get out of there. I think, three days after the storm. And so they're still dealing with the water. And now they don't have any shelter. So we've been trying to deliver, as many tarps and tents and those type of things that we can, just for the short-term. Because obviously, they're going to start dealing with water-born diseases and mosquitoes. And so we've been trying to bring as much insect repellent for these people.

So it's a lot different. And it's a lot different in Haiti. I tell people, the people of Jamaica aren't used to this.

You know, they've lived their lives with electricity. And, you know, they're not -- they're not used to living in these type of conditions. So it's been really rough. You know, particularly on the children of those communities, and we saw households. You know, that they were -- they didn't have a place to go shelter in. You know, I talked to probably 25 different families that were inside of their homes, as they blew completely down!

I mean, all walls down, roofs, torn off their homes. And now all of their belongs are scattered around the neighborhood. It's depressing.

GLENN: I know we're trying to fill a plane. We -- we're sending a cargo plane on Wednesday, and we so desperately need your help.

One hundred percent of your donation to M1 right now, will go help the people of Jamaica. Can you compare this to what we saw in North Carolina?

JACK: No question. The difference between here and North Carolina, we have something called insurance. And we have helicopters. And, you know, we have actually -- you know, you know, our fellow Americans can get there. You know, in Jamaica, they don't have that option. And it's -- it's really depressing. Because you can tell the people were already, you know, living in poverty.

And now, you know, they're dealing with the reality.

And, I mean, but I will say one thing though, Glenn.

The love of God and the thankfulness and the -- the smiling and the worshiping, that was happening, in these towns I was in -- it motivated me. It lifted me up. It humbled me.

To see people that literally lost it all. But they were so thankful. And they said, you know what, we're living to see another take.

God has given us another chance to recover. We have our life. We have our children.

You know, many of them have lost loved ones and family members. And so they were just grateful to be alive.

And so it was a humbling experience. But, you know, to answer your question, yeah. From a destructive perspective, it's very similar to what we saw in the Carolinas.

It's just -- the -- the recovery. And the need now, where there's water and food, you know, it's -- desperate, at this time.

GLENN: Yeah. We have really good people drive from all over the country, to get there.

They just felt prompted to go do it.

And, you know, you're not driving to Jamaica.

That's really difficult.

JACK: That's right.

GLENN: Anyway, we have a cargo plane going out on Wednesday. We really need your help. You can go to MercuryOne.org and donate. We're still in North Carolina. We are rebuilding. We're still in the Texas Hill Country.

We're in Alaska, after the horrific -- the horrific typhoon that hit just a few weeks back. We're all over. And we're getting ready to go to Africa with the Nazarene Fund to rescue Christians.

We really need your help. And, again, I give you my word, 100 percent of it goes right directly to the cause. There's no funding that -- nothing comes off the top.

It will go right to the cause. So go to MercuryOne.org. And help us help people.

MercuryOne.org.

Jack, have you been over, and have you seen what's happening over in Africa?

JACK: So I've done extensive work in Africa. I have not directly in the northern portions of Nigeria. I do plan to go there very soon.

I have been -- I actually have a number of our partners there. You know, we run about 50 orphanages in Africa, so I'm used to that terrain.

But I can tell you, I've been telling a lot of folks on the ground, it's a really sad situation. You know, the people that are being persecuted, the Christians that are being persecuted are the poorest of the poor.

These people are living in conditions where, you know, they don't have running water.

Many of them. And they live in villages. You know, of little means. So these Islamic groups have really come in and taken advantage of them. And, you know, taken over their villages.

So I ask, how are you able to just take over a village?

How can you take over that many people?

How come they haven't fought back? Are these the most vulnerable people in the world. The people who Christ told us to protect as Christians. So I'm just, I'm so happy that President Trump stepped in.

GLENN: Me too.

JACK: The statement, backed up by our amazing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

But we have to do something about this.

The precedent that is set in, is one that is dangerous for the world.

You know, it's also happening in Sudan, running rampant now.

GLENN: I've -- I've heard Sudan is actually in some ways worse, and nobody is paying attention to Sudan.

I mean, barely anybody is paying attention to Nigeria.

But what I'm hearing coming out of Sudan is awful.

JACK: Yeah, it's awful. It really is awful.

And Sudan is a little bit different because you have more of a Muslim country. You know, Nigeria has had a really thriving Christian community --

GLENN: Right.

JACK: -- in the past.

And, you know, for some reason, I think this government that they have now has this Islamic influence over it that is really trying to -- and they're telling their people that it's propaganda. So if you ask a Nigerian, maybe they will tell you it's all propaganda. It's propaganda.

But, you know, the world is starting to see it. And so I think they'll have to really address these issues. And not be able to just use their media to distort the narrative for their -- for their people.

It's important for the Nigeria to (phone cuts out), I feel. And I just pray that, you know, President Trump and our administration continues to use our influence on the world, to protect our Christian brothers and sisters.

GLENN: Jack, it was good to see you the other night. Thank you so much. Appreciate all that you do.

JACK: Yeah. Thank you, Glenn. Just so you know and all your listeners, man, without Mercury One, we wouldn't be able to do any of this work. You know, the Bible tells us that we all -- we all need elders. And we need people who God has appointed to us.

I know our organization knows that God has appointed you to us. We have been able to affect the lives of so many people, man. I mean, the poorest of the poor and the forgotten because of the support of Mercury One. And I'm just humbled to be your partner and your friend and brother. And just, I pray, we will continue to lock our arms, to help those that are hurting around our world.

GLENN: You are one of the many Moses figures that we play into and hold our arms up. You're doing all the hard work, Jack. Thank you so much.

If you can help us, please, go to MercuryOne.org. That's MercuryOne.org.

You can donate. There's many things going on, our general fund will allow you -- will allow the money to go to many different things as it's needed.

But right now, we really need the help for Jamaica. We're filling a cargo plane on Wednesday to get it there. This is for the poorest of the poor. The people that are just completely left alone, as -- as Jack said. And I talked to Mercury One earlier today.

They're like, Glenn, nobody is there. Like, nobody is there.

Our governments, you know, their government. Our government failed us here.

Their government, I mean, it's just -- it's -- we have to help each other.

We have to help each other.

MercuryOne.org. That's MercuryOne.org.

Glenn's Show Prep

Concessions of a Transgendered Wrestler

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Transcript

The Satanic Cult Fueling Mexico’s Cartels - 'Santa Muerte' Exposed

Was THIS the most brutal book review EVER?

Transcript

Urgent call to action: Help Jamaica recover from Hurricane Melissa

Transcript