GLENN

Glenn Talks With Megan Phelps-Roper, Former Westboro Baptist Church Member

Megan Phelps-Roper joined Glenn on radio this week for an enlightening discussion about her conversion from Westboro Baptist Church member to someone focused on understanding and inclusion. Like Glenn, Phelps-Roper is a hopeful advocate for bringing people together through honest, civil conversations --- and she's laid out a four-step plan to do just that.

RELATED: 4 Steps to Break Down Walls From a Former Westboro Baptist Church Member

Enjoy the complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

Welcome to the program, Megan, how are you?

MEGAN: I'm wonderful. How are you?

GLENN: I'm good. It's really an honor to talk to you. We're big fans of what you said in your TED talk, especially from where you started, you know, in a church that is more than a little tough.

MEGAN: Yes. Absolutely.

I grew up at the Westboro Baptist Church. And my family -- the church is almost entirely my family. So around 80 percent -- there's only 80 or so people in the church. And about 80 percent are people -- my grandfather is the one who founded the church. And my mother was the de facto spokesperson for a long time. So, yeah, I grew up on the picket line.

PAT: Yeah, you actually held those hate-filled signs at funerals and other places, right?

GLENN: When you were a kid.

MEGAN: Yes. Absolutely.

PAT: Yeah.

MEGAN: It started out as a protest at a local park, and it sort of really expanded from there. As soon as, you know -- my grandfather was very aggressive, kind of hostile personality. So when people started to come out to counterprotest, everybody who was against us became a target. And eventually -- what started out as it being a protest against gay people, became, you know, we were protesting against other Christians and Jews. It expanded rapidly, until literally everyone outside of our church became a target. And so it was basically a -- you know, I was marinating in this idealogy of everybody is against us. We are against everybody because they're all against the Scriptures. You know, memorizing chapter and verse why they're wrong and why they're headed for hell. And it's our duty to go out and warn them.

STU: I'm fascinated, Megan, because I think to my childhood, and I remember fun picnics and fun trips to amusement parks and things like that. Do you have those types of memories, or is it just -- is there a competition between that and you carrying some awful sign around during a protest?

MEGAN: No. I absolutely have those memories. My -- a lot of people have a hard time understanding that they -- other than these protests and that worldview, they're -- we were a very normal -- obviously there's a lot of kids in our family. There's 11 kids in my family. And -- but we played video games and read books. And we went to public school. And, yeah, we went to amusement parks. We did all of those things, but we also -- that was all sort of organized around this nationwide picketing campaign.

So I have -- I absolutely have both, but that -- that loving family -- the nature of that is part of what makes it so, so, so hard to leave or to even consider leaving. The idea of giving it all up.

GLENN: So I just had a guy in who we're going to interview on a program that I'm working on. He was a member of the Hitler Youth. Now, he's in his 80s now. But he came of age in the Hitler Youth, until I think World War II ended, when he was 20. And he still had -- he sees the world very differently. He thinks that Churchill is a war -- should be held for war crimes. A war criminal.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: And he doesn't agree with Hitler. But he said, I never saw -- we never saw any of that. At least he said, I didn't. I was in the front row of the 36 Olympics. You know, I -- I saw all the good stuff. And the bad stuff that was thrown up, you just dismissed it because you thought it was somebody that was trying to tear us down. Is that kind of the way your childhood was in a way?

MEGAN: Well, I mean, I know -- I knew at the time -- so, for instance, the funeral picketing, I knew at the time that it was hurtful. But the way that it was framed in our church was, you know, these people don't understand that they're headed for hell, for eternal destruction. And it's a loving thing to go and warn them.

And so I saw it as a necessary evil, like we had to go do this because this was the truth and the only thing that mattered, more than anything else was the truth. And it didn't matter how we said it, where we said, or in what context, it was always a good thing. And -- and it was a point of pride for us not to consider people's feelings.

GLENN: And the people -- and the people that were coming against you, because they were screaming back in your face, it only reinforced that these are bad people.

MEGAN: Absolutely. Especially because -- I mean, there's all these passages. So, for instance, Jesus talks about blessed are ye when men shall hate you and revile you and persecute you, for my name sake. So for us, like we wanted that. It was -- we expected it. It was confirmation that we were doing the Lord's work.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: Now, take us to how someone finally broke through.

MEGAN: So Twitter -- Twitter was -- and I didn't realize it at first. I didn't realize that it was happening exactly. But Twitter was an empathy machine for me.

I really hate how it's gotten such a bad rap because that platform has done more to teach me good communication and how to engage with people than almost anything else in my life.

So on Twitter, people would -- would come at me with the same kind of, you know, hateful rhetoric and loud, you know, accusations and just very bitter. And, again, I expected it.

And I would respond, you know, in kind. And -- but then some people -- and I don't know exactly why or what motivated them. I think they -- they saw -- they say that they saw something in me that maybe I would listen or something. But in any case, they stopped yelling and stopped, you know, insulting me and started to ask questions. And they were like -- they seemed like they were actually listening to me.

GLENN: They were honest questions. They were honest questions.

PAT: Yes.

GLENN: They weren't questions of setup.

MEGAN: Right. Exactly.

And it made me feel -- and because, again, I thought I was doing a good thing. I thought that those words that we were preaching, I thought that was the absolute, unquestionable truth. So I wanted to share it with them. That's why I was on social media.

And so I would, you know, answer their questions and sort of -- we had these back-and-forths. But then because of Twitter, I'm also seeing the photos they post of their children and their friends. And it just became this -- this way for me to see people as human beings. And it was because of the way -- because of the fact that they stopped -- the way they engaged me.

STU: That's incredible, that that came from Twitter too. Someone tweeted the other day, Instagram, my life is a party. Snapchat, my life is a quirky TV show. Facebook, my life turned out great. Twitter, we're all going to die. When I go on Twitter, man, I just get so depressed. But it's amazing you were able to take that out of this.

MEGAN: Yeah. I know. But there's a couple of things about Twitter that were really helpful to me. So like, for instance, the character limit, it first made me give up insults. Because at Westboro, we would include these elaborate insults when we responded to questions that people sent us by email. But on Twitter, there just wasn't space for it.

And also, Twitter was just this immediate feedback loop. If I did insult somebody, I could watch the conversation just derail in realtime. I could see that I wasn't getting my point across because I was too busy indulging that vengeful little voice in my head that wanted to call people names. I mean, we all have this feedback loop.

GLENN: Megan, I will tell you, I've been doing these kinds of experiments myself over the last couple of years, where I've gotten in -- because I just stopped engaging for a while. About years ago, I decided, you know what, I'm just going to answer everybody and assume the best. And just answer the -- the worst with something kind and try to be humble and kind and nice to everybody. Really hard to do.

And it's amazing the results. It's truly remarkable. It doesn't cure everybody by any stretch. But it's remarkable.

And I've talked about it on the air. And so many people say, it's not going to make a difference. You can't engage with them. They're all crazy. They're all whatever. What would you say to that?

MEGAN: Man, I just disagree so -- so much with the idea of hopelessness when it comes to talking to people.

I had -- I had grown up, you know, being -- basically cultivating this mindset of us versus them, being wary -- like specifically being wary of people's kindness. And even though I consciously was aware and trying not to be persuaded by kindness, it was still a powerful thing.

It's really interesting because over the past few years, I've been thinking about this a lot obviously. Because it's only been four years since I left. So it's kind of been just this huge -- you know, huge event in my life. And what you're describing there, about, you know, assuming the best and, you know, changing the way you respond. So if somebody comes at you angry and you respond in kindness and angry, that's called like, non-complimentary behavior. And we as human beings are wired to respond in kind.

But like you said, it's incredibly difficult to do. But we can cultivate a more useful mindset. Like one thing you said -- well, my mom used to tell me, to make sure my behavior was appropriate, I should add the word "judge" on to the end of my sentence, as in, "Here's why I did it, Judge." And I still use that trick, except now I add the word "friend." If someone attacks me and I start to get riled up, I try to pause for a beat and add friend, as if I'm disagreeing with someone I love. And I don't do it to be a goody two-shoes. I do it because it works. It's just so much more effective than anger or insults or hostility.

GLENN: All right. I want to get to -- you say there are four steps. And I want to get to those here in a second. Let me just ask you one more question, and then I have to take a quick break.

Do you -- are you well aware of how appropriately timed your discovery and your story is for the rest of the world?

MEGAN: I -- I just -- I hope that -- I hope that I can be a voice or that the story can be something that will help other people see the value in engaging. Because honestly, my experience has -- has given me so much hope. I never thought I would leave. And at first, when I first left, I thought that my family, there was no hope for most of my family. I don't believe that anymore. And I'm still reaching out to them. I'm still trying to convince them to see things other ways. And if there's hope for me, if I changed, I think that there's a lot of hope.

You know, I know that the political climate is so polarized right now, but I can't help but feel so hopeful.

GLENN: Megan Phelps-Roper. She'll continue with us here in just a second. You need to hear what her solution is. It's really a four-step process. And it's really pretty easy. Left the Westboro Baptist Church because of kindness. You want to hear her whole story. Watch the TED video because it's quite amazing.

[break]

Megan Phelps-Roper is a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church, where people were kind to her and started to talk to her. And she says, this really works. And, you know, you could be in the cult of a political part. And I think this works. I think we need this across all lines in the world right now.

Megan, you did a TED talk. You said there are four tips on how to talk to people who you disagree with.

MEGAN: Yes. Exactly.

You want me to tell them to you?

GLENN: Yeah. Sure.

MEGAN: So the first one is -- I think it's really important -- don't assume bad intent. It's so easy to look at -- I mean, Westboro is such an easy example. They've got these neon signs. It was so clearly obvious to everyone that we were hateful and evil and awful people.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

MEGAN: But underneath it was well-intentioned people trying to do what they believed was right. So it's really easy to look at the surface and assume the worst of people, assume you understand where they're coming from. But that almost immediately cuts you off from really understanding what they're about.

GLENN: It's one of the reasons why -- I've tried to cut the word evil out of my lexicon because we use that to -- too often. And we use it about people. And I really think most people have great intent. You know, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, you can disagree with either one of them, but neither one of them think they're doing evil. They think they're doing the right thing. You just don't see it that way.

MEGAN: Exactly. I think very few -- maybe sociopaths or psychopaths. And even then --

GLENN: Right.

MEGAN: People who are deliberately doing wrong, I think they're very, very, very few and far between.

GLENN: Yes. Right. And that doesn't mean you have to go along with it, but if you say to them or their followers, you know, your guy is evil, they stop listening to you.

MEGAN: Right. Exactly. And you stop asking questions to get to the bottom of it, which is the second point. Asking questions helps you bridge the gap between your point of view and theirs. It helps you understand where they're coming from actually. And it also signals to the people that you're talking to, that you're actually listening to them.

And that is a huge benefit to the dialogue because they -- they no longer -- they don't want to yell at you. They see that you want to understand. So they're much more willing to engage. So the second point is ask questions.

GLENN: And it matters that they're honest questions, not setup questions. Not a question where I know you're going to say one thing so I can give you the Scripture quote or whatever to beat you.

MEGAN: Exactly.

GLENN: It has to be a question that's not designed for me to win. We're going to take a quick break. Come back with the last two with Megan Phelps-Roper, when we come back.

(OUT AT 10:32AM)

GLENN: Megan Phelps-Roper, somebody that we saw on TED talk, giving a great TED talk on how to bring people together. She was in the -- she's a Phelps. So she's part of the founding family of the Westboro Baptist Church. And she got online and started making friends with people who were friendly to her, not just yelling at her all the time. And she said there are four things that if you really want to change people's minds, four ways of engaging people so that real conversations can take place. The first one is don't assume bad intent. Instead, assume good or neutral intent. The second, ask questions, as opposed to accusing. Ask honest questions. It will help people let them know they've been heard. And quite often, this is all that people want.

The third is stay calm. Welcome back to the program, Megan. Explain stay calm.

MEGAN: So this one is really difficult because the natural inclination is always to respond the way that somebody is -- is speaking to you. So when somebody comes at you with hostility, the instinct is to be defensive and to respond with hostility. But that just brings the conversation to an end quickly. But if you can learn to step back, calm down and -- and try to diffuse the anger -- and you can do it in a few ways.

So, for instance, I actually ended up marrying -- my husband was one of these Twitter friends who started out as this angry, sort of insulting --

GLENN: Wow.

MEGAN: We just got married seven months ago.

GLENN: Congratulations.

MEGAN: Thank you. So what he would do, for instance, he would tell a joke or recommend a book or start talking about music. He would sort of turn away from the hostility for a minute and then come back to it -- come back to it later.

You don't necessarily -- I mean, that's -- that can be a last resort. A lot of times just staying calm and speaking as if you were addressing a friend and not somebody that you hate and that you despise that you can't -- you can't stand to hear their words. It helps so much to keep the conversation going.

GLENN: Step four.

MEGAN: Step four is make the argument.

And this one -- this one seems obvious. But there's this argument that seems to have taken hold on both the left and the right. And I think it stems from the hopelessness you mentioned earlier. Oh, they're just too far gone. They can't be reasoned with. But where does that lead us?

It leaves us at loggerheads. Deadlocked. And no one wants to be there. So you make the argument because they don't understand -- your opponent doesn't necessarily understand your thinking and the way that you're approaching the problem. And by making the argument -- if you fail to do that, you're definitely not going to change someone's mind. You actually have to articulate the reasoning and the thought process behind your position.

And there's actually a fifth point that I would have included if I had enough time -- should I tell you now?

GLENN: Yeah, go ahead.

STU: We're breaking news here. The fifth point in Megan Phelps' TED talk.

GLENN: Go ahead.

(chuckling)

MEGAN: It's take heart. Changing hearts and minds is incremental work, and it takes patience and persistence. And you're not going to see results necessarily immediately, not right away, but we can't give up. You know, and you might not be the person to persuade somebody else to turn away from a bad position, but every interaction is an opportunity to help turn the tide. So stay the course, trust the process, and take heart.

GLENN: How many people -- how many people were like this to you?

MEGAN: Well, the ones who had the biggest impact -- I mean, a handful who were engaging me continually over the course of a couple of years, considering I had been in the church. I had been raised in this. And I was 24 when I got on Twitter. So I was, again, marinating in this ideology and this way of thinking. So the fact that it only took a couple of years to really affect me and how I saw things, I think that's pretty remarkable.

GLENN: So did your husband -- was there a time when your husband -- is now your husband --

MEGAN: Yeah.

GLENN: Was he falling in love with you at the time? Did that happen later? Did he say, I can't believe I'm saying this to you -- I mean, how did that happen?

MEGAN: Well, it's a -- it's a really strange -- it was a really strange dynamic because obviously I was at the church. And at Westboro, you could only marry somebody who was in the church. So we were having these discussions, and there was nothing -- it was like a Jane Austen novel, like nothing overt. Like we couldn't say how we were feeling to each other because it just wasn't acceptable. And he sensed that.

And -- but he also, again, saw that I was a human being. And he came to believe that I had a good heart.

GLENN: So would this have worked -- would this have worked without love?

MEGAN: Well, I think -- well, so here's the thing. I -- yes, I believe so. And the reason is that the very first interaction was with a friend. I mentioned him in the talk too. Jewlicious. His name is David Abitbol.

And so it was -- I think I was talking with him for a little over a year. And, again, he's asking these questions. And in the course of asking these questions, he was the one who found the first -- the first bit of internal inconsistency in Westboro's doctrines. And when I look back at how I responded to that -- so my husband -- I didn't actually start speaking to him until months after that. But when I think about how I responded to that first bit of internal inconsistency, that was when I first started to challenge, in my own mind, Westboro's doctrines.

GLENN: And you didn't let him know that.

MEGAN: No. For sure. As soon as he had made that point, I was actually terrified to speak to him again. I didn't even let on that I recognized that he was right. I just stopped speaking to him.

GLENN: Wow. What was the point, if you don't mind me asking?

MEGAN: Oh, yeah, no, not at all.

It was a sign that said "death penalty for fags."

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

MEGAN: Yeah. So, of course -- we used, you know, the verses in Leviticus and also in Romans 1 that talk about how, you know, gays are worthy of death. And he brought up -- so he's Jewish. I was really surprised that he brought up Jesus, saying, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

And I didn't -- I just had never connected that that was talking about the death penalty. And we thought, we're not -- we're not casting stones. We're just preaching words.

And David said, "Yeah, but you're advocating that the government cast stones."

And so that -- when I brought that point to other members of the church, the response was just to double down. They never addressed the passage that -- you know, that contradicted us. They just reiterated the passages that supported us. And so that was the first time that -- and the way that I reconciled it in my own mind was I just stopped holding the sign because I didn't know how to defend it anymore. And I didn't believe in it.

GLENN: Did they tell you to stop talking to these people?

MEGAN: I don't think -- I don't think people quite realized how much -- I mean, they knew I was very active on Twitter, but I don't think they realized how much it was affecting the way that I was thinking. I honestly didn't -- didn't understand it either.

Because in my mind -- I think I was in denial about it because -- you are not supposed to be impacted by other people. You are not supposed to be anything, but preaching to them. You're not supposed to really, you know, care -- I was going to say care about them. It was a very strange dynamic. But I was in denial about it. And I think that definitely helped it seem to others as if it wasn't really having an impact on me also.

PAT: Is anybody in your family speaking with you? Do you have a relationship with anybody anymore in the family?

MEGAN: Not anybody in the church, no. But there has been over the last decade or so, about 20 or so people who have either left or have been kicked out of Westboro. And my brother actually, the morning of my high school graduation -- he's a year and a half older than me. We woke up and went downstairs, and all of his stuff was gone. And so I have -- I didn't get to speak with him for the eight and half years between when he left and when I left. But now we're really good friends. And he's wonderful.

PAT: What was he thrown out for?

MEGAN: No, he left actually.

PAT: Oh, he left on his own.

MEGAN: He left at 19. Yeah, he also had Scriptural objections to some things. And also the extreme -- he objected to the extreme level of control because everybody in the church -- we all lived within two blocks or so of one another and did everything together and were obviously not developing relationships with people outside. But the level of control is -- is really -- really, really extreme.

GLENN: Do they -- do you think this will just die out as the family dies out, or?

MEGAN: Actually, I thought about this. My sister and I would talk about this about how could the church end in a way that just wouldn't destroy everybody on the inside?

There's still about the same level of membership as there has been. Because a few people -- a few new converts have joined. And then, of course, my generation has now -- they're having kids. But there's not many.

GLENN: What kind of people would join -- what kind of people join this? They really believe -- the newcomers that come in --

STU: It's one thing to be raised in it, but to be converted as an adult.

GLENN: Decent people. Yeah.

MEGAN: So honestly, I've speculated about this too. So, for instance, my dad -- my dad joined the church long before the picketing started. He was only 16 at the time. And, you know, his family wasn't -- I mean, his mom had been divorced. I don't think he -- he was attracted to the love and unity and connection I think in my family. In the Phelps family, I think. And I think that's a draw for some people. And it really lends credence to the idea that they're doing what they're doing out of love, out of good intentions.

And, again, some people just, I think are drawn to that defense of the idea of having all the answers and knowing for sure what you believe and how you're supposed to live. Like, it's -- that was such a powerful thing. When I left and realized like, I don't -- I don't have that anymore. I don't have that sense of -- it's a very comforting sense of certainty. And, you know, nuance and questions and uncertainty are a lot more difficult to deal with. I think some people are attracted to that part of the church.

GLENN: Next time they're out protesting, what should people do?

MEGAN: I think engaging at protests is actually not a very effective thing because they're -- on picket lines, they're already in these attack/defend mindsets. I think the internet is a much -- you know, Twitter. There's a lot of them on Twitter now. I think that's a more effective way of engaging. But if you -- if you do see them and if you are moved to go and speak to them, just remember that -- that responding with, you know, yelling and name-calling, all those things, it just reinforces what they already believe. It's adding to, you know, their certainty that they're doing the right thing.

GLENN: It is really -- it's really great to talk to you. Megan Phelps-Roper. You can find her @MeganPhelps. That's her Twitter handle. @MeganPhelps.

Really great to talk to you. And thank you for sharing this. And I think you have an important voice that needs to be heard.

STU: And I will say, Megan, will you confirm this, because we got the fifth point out of you, we are 25 percent better than your TED talk.

MEGAN: Yeah, for sure.

GLENN: Megan, can we pay you an off-handed compliment. Stu wanted to say this, we said it during the break. And it's weird because it's exactly what we're talking about. We don't know each other. We don't talk to each other.

We look at people in the Westboro Baptist Church and think that their kids just must be dumb as a box of rocks. And just, oatmeal! Every answer is, oatmeal! (chuckling) And you're so articulate. I mean, it's amazing just to have that view shattered.

MEGAN: Thank you.

I will say -- I mean, another thing that's not so well-known about the church, education was really important in my family. Most of the people there -- many lawyers, people who work in health care, and IT. And they're very well educated.

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: Wow.

MEGAN: Which is partly I think what makes it so much more difficult for them to see outside of it. This is like a psychological thing where, by -- by having these very strong mostly internally consistent arguments, they -- they think they're so certain that they don't even question the -- they don't even question it.

GLENN: Amazing.

MEGAN: But, yeah, anyway...

GLENN: Thank you so much. @MeganPhelps. Thank you so much, Megan. Appreciate it.

MEGAN: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

GLENN: You bet.

RADIO

WARNING: Digital slavery is HERE | Whitney Webb sounds the alarm

Artificial intelligence is being sold as the ultimate tool for progress and convenience, but at what cost? Glenn Beck sits down with investigative journalist Whitney Webb to uncover how Big Tech and government powers are quietly constructing a “digital prison” that feeds on human data, erodes individual freedom, and conditions society into passive dependence. Webb exposes how the seductive promise of comfort and automation masks a deeper agenda: cognitive manipulation, emotional engineering, and a move toward a post-human future.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with Whitney Webb HERE

RADIO

Glenn Beck's eye-opening findings on AIPAC and US laws

Glenn Beck was recently asked a question during his TPUSA speech at the University of North Dakota: Is the fact that AIPAC doesn’t have to register as a foreign agent under FARA evidence that Israel has unprecedented control over the United States? Glenn did his homework and presents his findings: It looks like the real issue is our own laws…

Watch Glenn's TPUSA speech HERE

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: There is a -- a phrase that is carved into the marble at the Supreme Court, and it says "equal justice under the law." Equal justice under the law.

That is the one thing that we've really forgotten about here in America it seems. You want special justice. You want justice for this group or that group. But, no, I want equal justice. It's why justice is blindfolded. Justice should never see who is at the bench.

They should see, what are the facts of the case? And who is at the bench should not make a difference. I don't care if you're rich or you're poor, you're homeless, or you're Bill Gates. I don't really care. I want to know the facts. And then we judge that, not looking at the person.

That's the closest we can come to perfect justice. And the farther -- the more we take that blindfold off of justice, the more corrupt justice becomes, and we know this. Because that's why if you were black back in the day, you couldn't get a fair hearing. A fair trial. Because justice wasn't blindfolded, okay? That's why it's up on the Supreme Court.

Equal justice under the law. And it's not a suggestion. It's not a slogan. It is the beating heart of the American experiment. You know, no man. No movement. No institution. No creed stands above the law!

Now, the reason why I bring this up, is because last week I was in a turning point event in North Dakota, and I said all the way through, "I hate these question and answer things."

Because I don't believe -- hate conflict. And I also don't believe anybody is doing anything other than trying to win. When you're in a crowd, somebody is trying to win. I don't play that game. I don't like that game.

I like honest questioning. And you also have to have a debate, where you can talk about -- you can talk about subtle things. You know, you can -- you have to be able to look at things, not everything is black and white.

There is right and wrong, yes. But now, how do we get there?

For instance, last week -- yesterday, I talked to you about AI. Earlier, this seems like last week already. Earlier in hour number one, in the podcast. I was talking to you about AI.

And I don't know the right answer on that yet. We have to have that debate.

But an honest debate on things. So last week, I started taking questions, and, boy, did they take these and selectively edit. Interesting.

But I was asked, you know, Glenn, how come AIPAC -- that's the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee -- how come they don't register as a foreign agent under FARA, the Foreign Agents Registration Act? Well, I know that Hunter Biden was supposed to register under that. Or was he?

Now, I said at the time, I don't know anything about it. I haven't looked into that. But I will do my homework on it. Because I want to know. And my guess is: If they don't, then there's something wrong with our law! Okay?

Either they're giving special favors that they shouldn't, or many people are getting special favors, and they shouldn't. Everyone should have to obey the law. And equal treatment.

Justice is blind. Okay. So let me tell you now.

I went home. I did my homework. Let me tell you what I found on AIPAC. First of all, it is bigger than AIPAC. Much bigger. It is a mirror held up to an uneven application of American law. Let me tell you what FARA is supposed to do. It was passed in 1948, to stop the Nazi propaganda. People were -- there were lots of Nazis here in America. And it requires anyone that is working on behalf of a foreign government, to register as a foreign agent.

Seems simple.

But is it?

It requires transparency and accountability. But here's where it gets murky in the law: AIPAC is an American lobbying organization, registered under the lobbying disclosure act, not FARA.

Because it's funded and run by American citizens, not a foreign government. Now, that's the legal line. Now, I don't agree with this. But that's the legal line.

But AIPAC is not the only one running this. So why are we only hearing about the Jews controlling the government, when -- and AIPAC doing it, when they're not the only one.

Did you know the National Iranian-American Council, the Armenian Assembly of America, the Turkish Heritage Organization, even Saudi Arabia's ARAMCO, their subsidiary, Motiva operate under exactly the same -- you want Saudi Arabia and ARAMCO?

Why are they not paying it? Why are they not registered under FARA? Now, some people will defend this. Because they say, these are groups of diaspora. They are US-based subsidiaries. They have domestic roots, et cetera. I don't buy any of that bullcrap. I mean, that's me. I mean, we can argue it, but I don't agree with that. Because I think it's a really dangerous loophole that allows quiet foreign money to come in and influence and hide behind a US address.

But here's where it gets serious. This is not just a legal issue. This is about truth.

When you and I or anyone else, begin selecting only the facts that make our point, while ignoring those that don't, we stop doing research, and we start doing propaganda.

If you've listened to voices that pick and choose data, to inflame your anger, you have to start asking yourself this question. Is my source being honest.

I ask you all the time, do your own homework.

I'm the guy who I think popularized that with the youth now.

Do your own homework.

Don't take my word for it. Do your own homework.

But that requires that you do homework on all fronts. You ask honest questions. Am I wrong?

Is this wrong?

I want to read the opposite side. And I want to see what's credible on both sides and bring it together.

Example, once you learn that the Iranians, Cubans, Saudis, Armenians, and Turks all have the same objection, yet it's only the Jewish organization that is accused of secretly controlling Washington, do you see -- a disturbing pattern here.

Because the -- the argument starts to sound less like a legal concern, and more like something far older and darker. And that was my point. I said, look, you don't to have agree with Israel.

I don't want to fight their wars. I don't want to do anything. I support them in their right to defend themselves as they see fit.

I don't support anything like genocide. I don't believe they're doing genocide.

I do believe Hamas is. And I do believe you can make a very, very clear case, that Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran are evil.

And I said, look, you don't have to accept Israel. And you don't -- you don't have to accept Hamas. You can say nobody is a good guy in this. But when you look at things like AIPAC. If there's more, and this is what I said, if it's about something legal, then we have to correct that. And the argument would be over.

I could say what I'm saying today, and say, look, we should have listened to Tom Cotton. He introduced legislation on this. All of this has to stop.

So let's do that. Why are we dividing ourself on an ancient Jews control the world thing, when that's not even true about AIPAC, okay?

Because everybody else is doing that too. The problem isn't Judaism. It's not Islam. It's not any one nation. Quite honestly, if you want to be honest, the problem is our laws and our politicians.

Equal justice under the law. It must be our demand every day. Jew, Muslim. Gentile.

Hunter Biden. Everyone -- everyone should be the same under the law. What's happened instead, is that this loophole has become a weapon.

And people twist it, to their own, you know. Their own the light.

To suggest that AIPAC, you know, runs the US government and the Pentagon and the president, which is laughable, especially this week. That is laughable.

Just look at the events of the last few days. Do you really think that Donald Trump is being controlled by Israel?

Have you heard what he has said to Benjamin Netanyahu?

Have you seen all of the Egyptians and the Saudis and everybody else and the Arab world, all now lining up for this peace?

When he bombed -- when he bombed Iran, he's not fighting Israel's war.

When he bombed Iran, it wasn't for Israel. Any more than it was for I didn't want and Saudi Arabia. You found out yesterday, that the one thing they all unite on, is that Iran is the real problem there.

And what he did was a -- a show of peace through strength. The same principle, that ended the decades of stalemate between Arab nations, and Israel.

And here's another thing. When you stop sending pallets of cash, to your enemies, and you start saying, don't do that anymore!

And I'm serious. They tend to listen.

And what was the result?

You could speculate, and I worried at the time.

I said it, on the air. I'm worried that this could slate things.

But it didn't. So what is the result?

The result was not an endless war where we're over fighting in the Middle East. I don't want that. And neither do you.

The result was true Arab Israeli peace. The first chance of true peace in -- in a millennia.

And now, he's taken that credibility of saying, look, I'll be tough on the Arabs. I'll be tough on the Iranians. I'll be tough on the Jews. I'll be tough on Hamas.

However, I will say, Hamas, you do these things.

And I'm with you. He yesterday invited Iran into the League of Nations.

Look, just because we bombed you, it doesn't mean we hate you. We want you to have peace.

So come on in. Now he's taken that same credibility, and now he's turning it towards Russia and Ukraine. And he's doing that.

He's meeting with the leadership of Ukraine, on Friday.

And he's going to apply the same exact principle.

And here's what's going to happen.

The same people who said he was once a Russian puppet, will now accuse him of getting us into a war with Russia, and do Ukraine's bidding.

Which one is it?

Which one is it?

May I suggest a third reason? Maybe, just maybe, for the first time I believe in my lifetime, we are seeing America -- an American president doing America's bidding.

Trying to broker peace. Trying to keep us out of these endless wars.

Because honestly, isn't that what all of us want. I don't care who you voted for. Do you want more foreign wars?

Because I don't.

I'm tired of it.

Do you want to see more blood and treasure spilled in some unknown country?

Wants that -- isn't that what we all want is an end to these wars. No more young Americans spilling their blood in distant deserts or frozen tundras, for somebody else's freedom, who I don't even know if they really want freedom?

I want freedom here.

I want to -- I want to able to show the world, what people who actually understand what freedom is.

Know what the high price is, that we have to pay for our own freedom. Not your freedom.

Our freedom. What we can do in that freedom.

We want to be a shining city on the hill.

That everyone can look at, and go, look at those guys. I want to be more like them.
Not going over to other countries and jamming it down their throat. I want peace, but peace grounded in strength and honesty.

And the unbreakable, carved in stone, promise of equal justice under the law.

That's what we have to do, to restore faith in the republic.

We have to stop taking little bits and pieces. Look at the whole thing and say, what's corrupt? Well, what's corrupt here might have started as a good thing. But it's no longer a good thing.

We have to change the law. Equal justice under the law.

I'm sorry. If you are doing the bidding, Hunter Biden or AIPAC. Or the Iranian Council or Armenian Council, or whatever. I'm sorry.

We have to tighten this down. Because money has changed. It's changed!

Things that were happening in 1945, 1955. '85. '95. So that I have.

It's changed, and I don't want any foreign influence coming into this country, unless we know exactly you're -- you're influencing for a foreign country.

Because this is what makes us different than every other country that has come before. And that's not ideology. That's not party. That's not tribe.

That's how we have to define America again. If we're going to survive.

So you may not like it. I'm sorry.

But you asked me to do my own homework on AIPAC. There it is!

RADIO

China vs. US: The battle for rare earth minerals and AI dominance

There is a quiet war brewing between China and the US over rare earth minerals and AI. We CANNOT lose this war, Glenn Beck warns. But can we win it without destroying ourselves in the process? Glenn Beck explains why we must have this conversation and connects 4 stories from around the world that reveal what’s coming…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. I told you about gold here. Record highs.

And it is telling us something. Usually, it would tell us if the dollar is in real, real trouble. I think, and I am guessing at this now.

But I think what this is telling us, is that the whole world, the system is in trouble. And let me give you an example. I'm going to talk to you about something to try to make sense of it here. But I do have a good answer. Because we're not having these conversations. I have told you for almost 20 years, when it comes to AI. We must have these conversations now, because the world is going to change overnight. And we are at that point! We are at the point of singularity. Where there is no turning back. And we haven't had these conversations. Do you want to win the AI war?

I will tell you, we cannot lose it. But to win it, we may have to sacrifice so much on the altar of liberty, that I don't want to fight it!

So what do we do?

Let me explain. Something has shifted in the world. And most people cannot feel it yet.

But if you're paying attention, you understand, there is something on the horizon. One day soon, we're going to wake up, and we're going to realize, uh-oh. I think we crossed the line here. Quietly, silently. While no one was paying attention, everything changed.

Over the past few days, while the world was paying attention on what's going on in Israel and the Middle East. There's a couple of other really important headlines that caught my attention.

And at first, they all seemed unrelated. Just random stories from around the world. But when you look closer. And this is what I think I do best.

I take things that are seemingly unrelated. And say, wait a minute. Wait a minute.

I think they all fit into this category.

So let me give you some threads here.

First thread is China. Beijing just tightened its grip on rare earth elements. These are the minerals that make absolutely everything possible. Your smartphone. Your electric car. Your missile defense system. Your refrigerator. Everything depends on these rare earth minerals. China, because of our inaction and stupid policies over the last couple of decades, control now, 80 percent of the world's supply chain. That cannot stand. Now, what they're doing, is they're choking it off! They're now closing it up, and they are threatening the West. No more rare earth -- rare earth minerals. If that happens, we cannot defend ourself.

Do we have rare earth minerals? Yeah. We have lots of them. But we're not mining them.

It will take a decade to start mining them, up in Alaska. Where they mainly are.

That's why Donald Trump was saying, we need Greenland!

That's what he was saying. Rare earth minerals. Because they're already mining them there. And we cannot lose them!

Now, they're choking it off, and rare earth stocks exploded overnight.

Because whoever controls those minerals, controls the future. Now, here's the second threat, the Pentagon.

Out of nowhere, they made a billion dollar emergency order for those same rare earth minerals. That's not normal. That's not paperwork. That is the sound of the military quietly preparing for something, a shortage. Possibly in a storm. Like I said, we are -- because of what Biden did in Ukraine, we are -- are wholly unprepared for any kind of military action. We don't have the materials.

And at the same time, everything is changing to high-tech. We don't have the rare earth minerals, and the chips now, to make our guided missile systems.

The third threat, JP Morgan Chase. One of the most powerful institutions on the planet, just announced this week, a $1.5 trillion investment plan. In what they call security and resilience.

That's not going to mom and pop shops. That's not going to community loans. That money is being funneled straight into AI, defense manufacturing, and critical minerals.

It's as if the Pentagon and Wall Street just linked arms and decided to build a fortress economy together.

Then came the fourth threat. Nobody paid attention to this one. In Europe, the Dutch government just seized control of the Chinese-owned chip maker on their own soil.

They invoked emergency powers and nationalized the company to stop the Chinese influence over the semiconductor industry. That's not good. Four stories, four continents, four quiet tremors in the ground. When you weave them all together, that's when you begin to understand what all of this means. So let me try to do that.

The old world, as we know it is dying! Pragmatism the world of free markets. The world of open trade. Individual enterprise.

The world that lifted billions out of poverty, is being replaced now, slowly, but surely by something new.

And this one is being done in the name of security.

And I don't have an answer for this. This is why we must pay attention, and talk about it now!

Corporations now are aligning with state power. Before, we had the tech industry, aligning itself with the government to control speech.

This is the government aligning themselves with tech rare earth minerals, et cetera, et cetera. To be able to win the AI war.

This -- this -- all of this is a single unspoken motive. And that is, the race to dominate artificial intelligence. This is the new arms race. This is the nigh Manhattan Project. The new nuclear weapon. Except, this is a million the times more enslaving than nuclear weapons could ever hope to be.

Whoever masters this first, whoever gets to AI and AGI first will control the economies, the information, even your thought itself.

Every rare earth mineral, every chip, every line of code, they're all ingredients in that same contest. And the nations are moving fast. They're hoarding materials now.

They're beginning to seize companies.

They're building walled off supply chains. This is happening on their side. And on our side.

And the free market in this particular place, is no longer free. It's being drafted into a digital Cold War. Now, that sounds bad, but now let me tell you the danger that nobody seems to get.

When nations go to war, even an economic war, freedom always becomes a casualty. We tell -- we tell ourselves, we're fighting for liberty. And we are!

Because we don't want to live if had a society like China, right?

I don't!

But when survival is on the line, governments tighten control for our own good. They regulate. They ration. They censor. And one day, you look up, and you realize, the line between democracy and technocracy is gone. If the -- if the West wants to win this AI war and we must, then we have to have a conversation.

Why are we even fighting this war?

Because if in winning it, we become China. Why not let China just win?

If we adopt the same top-down control. The same surveillance. The same emergence of government and corporate power. Then what did we actually win?

Didn't we just trade one master for another?

The old global system, free enterprise, open markets, individual liberty.

It is being rewritten in real time.

And the threads are now all coming together. And they are -- they are weaving a new tapestry.

I don't know what the tapestry looks like. I can guess what that tapestry looks like.

And I don't like it.

Will it be woven, from freedom, or will it be woven from fear?

If we lose sight of who we are -- look, our global leadership, it's already lost sight for who we are. They don't care. They don't care.

None of them care. They'll get to this global dominance over the individual, one way or another, in their book. You must care. You must stand for freedom. You must be at the head of having this conversation. Because if we lose sight of who we are, it -- this tapestry is going to be strong, efficient, and unbreakable.

But it will not be free. Some take can, historians will look back at this moment, and they will go, what happened?

They're going to see these quiet headlines. These invisible decisions that are being made right now. And they will realize, this is when the new world began. They will be able to look at this point and say, this was it!

Why didn't people see it?

Hmm.

The answer to that is office.

We have -- we're overwhelmed with everything that we have to do. Everything we're looking at.

This has been a very well-planned takeover of freedom.

You have to ask yourself: When the weaving is done, whose pattern will we be living in? Because that is what is coming.

There's a story in the show prep today, that I really want I to live. I will talk to you about it in a second. Western executives who visit China are coming back terrified. You don't have any idea how far China is ahead of us.

And you can say, well, I don't want to be China. Well, you will be China, and China will be controlling you, if we don't push back.

But how do we push back, without becoming China.

Listen to this next story.

You can find it in our headlines. If you just go get the free email newsletter, at GlennBeck.com.

Western executives are visit China are coming back terrified.

I will explain it to you, coming up in a second. First, our sponsor this half-hour, it's JASE Medical. Headlines, this week. Have been a mix of relief and reality. Good news, in some places, in chaos and uncertainty, still just one turn away.

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Ten-second station ID.
(music)
I am in Washington, DC. I'm actually at the Rush Limbaugh studios at the Heritage Foundation. I can't help them enough for the short notice, I was invited at the White House, over the weekend, to join the president and -- in honoring Charlie Kirk on his 32nd birthday today.

My receiving the freedom medal, and I'll be there along with a lot of other people. And I really can't wait to experience that. And hope to have some time with the president later today, and talk about some other things.

There's a lot of things going on. By the way, you can watch this ceremony, at TP USA. Turning Point USA YouTube. And the channels at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

And I hope to see you there. And I'll be back in the studios in Dallas tomorrow, to give you more about that, as we -- as we continue.

Okay. So let me give you this story. Western executive visit China, who are coming back. Quote, it's the most humbling thing I've ever seen, said Ford's chief executive about his recent trip to China. After visiting a string of factories, Jim Farley was left astonished by technical innovations being packed into Chinese cars from self-driving software to facial recognition.

The cost and quality of their vehicles is far superior to that on which I see in the West. We are in a global competition with China, and it's not just EVs. If we lose this, listen carefully, there is no future at Ford! If we lose this, there is no future at Ford.

Another executive: This one from the EU says, I can take you to factories in China now, where you'll basically be alongside a big conveyor belt, and the machines come out on the floor and begin to assemble parts. You're walking alongside this conveyor, and after about 800 meters, a truck drives out, and there are no people involved.

Other executives describe a vast dark factory, where robots do so much of the work alone, that there's no need to even turn on lights for humans.

We visited a dark factory, producing some astronomical numbers of cell phones.

The process is so heavily automated, that there were no workers on the manufacturing side, just a small number who are there to make sure a plant was working.

You get this sense of change, where China's competitive has gone from government subsidies and low wages, to a tremendous number of highly skilled, educated engineers, who are innovating like mad. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of industrial robots deployed in the country, rocketed from 189,000 to more than 2 million. It is -- just give you -- just let me give you this. Last year, China added 295,000 robots. Germany added 27,000.

The US 34,000. The UK, 2500.

The UK is over. I mean, it's just absolutely over. It boasts 567 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers. 449 in Germany for every 10,000. And 307 for the US.

So this is not -- this is -- I'm not preaching this because this is, you know, good for the country. It's bad for workers. It's bad for workers.

But China is doing it for a couple of -- a couple of things. First of all, their policy is known. I can't pronounce it in Chinese. But it translates to replacing humans with machines.

In China, they don't need to have a Patriot Act.

A really, super great thing for auto workers. No.

Replacing humans with machines, is the name of the policy.

Okay.

And it is -- it's happening everywhere. Everywhere. They can develop and execute models in probably half the time, that most European car makers can make.

And they're doing it, partially because they're seeing the decline in their birthrates. And they know, we're not going to have the workers to be able to do this.

But what's disturbing is. All of these robotics, are needing power.

They also need AI.

So they are building these gigantic server farms, which we are still breaking ground on. They're building them. They're building new power plants. One power plant, coal-fired power plant every week. And I think 40 -- can you look this up, Stu?

I think it's 40 nuclear power plants a year.

We're not building anything!

We're not building anything.

We're breaking ground on it.

Trump has already said, he's cutting all of the regulations.

But we're still far, far behind.

And we are getting close to the point where they win, we lose.

Again, I don't know what to do about it. Except, have a conversation about it. Because I've read the conversations from the left. I've read the conversations from World Economic Forum. And they don't care. They will take you and literally put you in a drug -- a drugged state, and put you online, and you're just going to play video games, your whole life. That is honestly their plan for a large number of people in the West, that will be just no longer usable. Undesirables. Well, I don't like those labels.

RADIO

FBI investigates Glenn's expose on Antifa network

The FBI showed up to Glenn's house to discuss his TV show exposing Antifa's network. Glenn shares what he learned from his "surreal" meeting and warns any member or funder of Antifa: you should be a little concerned because the FBI is SERIOUS about investigating you.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Let me tell you something else that's changed.

Let me start with this. Cut five here.

Here are the new talking points for the media on Antifa.

Listen to this.

VOICE: This is an entirely imaginary organization. There's not an Antifa.

VOICE: Look, I don't even know what Antifa is.
VOICE: There is no growth.

VOICE: It's not even like far right groups, like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, compared to right-wing extremists, Antifa-linked violence is rare and limited.

VOICE: It is an organization.
It is -- it is in many ways mythology.

VOICE: It's not like the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers. You know, they're defined terrorist organizations, the leadership that led -- that, you know, leads violence.

VOICE: It's not a highly organized movement. It's a moniker. It's not even a group like the Proud Boys are.

Things like Antifa are things that are thought up.

VOICE: These guys are going after Antifa, which is nothing. There's no organization called Antifa.

VOICE: Nobody is a member of Antifa because it doesn't exist! They are just claiming existence to something that doesn't exist.

VOICE: There is no Antifa organization, so maybe that's good for social media.

But it really has -- is nonexistent.

VOICE: They exist on the internet and chat rooms.

And in 4chan.

GLENN: Okay.

VOICE: And places like that. Where they run discussion boards. Trade tactics.

Documents. Things like that.

But none of them are called Antifa.

STU: What!

GLENN: I don't even know what they're talking about.

You want to talk about living in a different world.

But that's what's going around.

Now, let me just tell you this: Last week, I did a TV show that apparently got the FBI's attention.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: The topic was -- was initial investigation. A jumping off point, shattering the myth that Antifa just -- oh, it's -- it's just leaderless. And decentralized. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

We thought, no. It's really not. So we dove in. Head first.

And we analyzed the Antifa network. And we went from the street thugs, to the support groups, eventually, to the funding.

Okay?

To say the FBI was interested in this might be an understatement.

Let's just say, the FBI is turning over every single stone.

It is so clear to me, that they are exploring all angles of this. And they are talking to anyone and everyone that can give them think kind of information.

How do I know?

Saturday, I get a phone call.

The director would like to send over some agents to speak to you, Glenn.

And I'm like, the director?

The FBI agents?

Yes, you said, some things that they need to talk to you about.

Well, good things or bad things? "They'll be over."

Three agents sat in my living room on Saturday afternoon for almost two hours. And I immediately called Jason. I'm like, Jason, you're the researcher. It's your fault. I'm going to throw you under the bus. You better get your butt over here.

So Jason was there. My wife and I sat there, and it was surreal at one point. I talked to them for about 15 minutes just going over the Tides Foundation. And saying, if you understand Tides, you'll understand how difficult your job is going to be. And this is information that I first gave on Fox years ago.

Let me just say this: Finally, we have an administration and an FBI director, that is willing to go in deep. Not surface. But deep!

I could only imagine what we could have avoided, if anyone in an administration, would have done this, in 2011.

But if I were in that, imaginary group, of Antifa, which, by the way, has imaginary leaders. Leaving the country to go maybe to imaginary countries outside of the US right now. I would be very concerned. If I were a part of anything that was sending money their way or assistance their way.

I don't know!

I might be a little concerned, because the FBI is deadass serious.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Donald Trump, Kash Patel, and all of the agents at the FBI.

GLENN: We're covering from Allie Beth Stucky's big event, six or 7,000 women showed up this weekend for a weekend conference. It was -- it was unbelievable.

STU: Really, I saw the crowds. It was incredible.

GLENN: Yeah. She did a great, great job. I'm so proud of her. She's just killing it. But we will try to get to some of those clips because they're really, really good. We'll get to those later on in the program. You know, Stu and I were talking about how Antifa doesn't exist. And, you know, that's like saying -- it's like saying Al-Qaeda doesn't exist. Well, you're right.

There is no way, you know, 501 Broadway, you know, where you go to al-Qaeda's office. That doesn't happen, but it does exist, and it's an ideology.

And while they may not -- they may not take their direction from the same person at the office, I don't know. There's no HR. So they don't exist. They exist!

They exist. And they're loosely affiliated. And sometimes, they are getting money. You know.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And for the press and everybody else to say -- when you're watching them all over the country, and they're doing exactly the same thing, same tactics. Every -- everywhere.

You know, to say, they don't exist is just infantile.

STU: Yeah. It's like a -- it's -- I don't know what the word -- there should be a word for this, if there isn't.

But there's a real point used in an intentionally dumb way to mislead.

Is that malinformation? Is that what that is?

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

STU: It really is. There's a real point to it. They're disengaged from a centralized thing. This makes them more dangerous. This is how you had to deal with terrorist cells back in the day. However, they're using it in a way that makes it seem like it's not a threat, which is not accurate. And they know it's not accurate. And they're trying to mislead people with a piece of --

GLENN: Why would you -- why would you support -- why would you try to brush Antifa under the rug? I mean, it's just perplexing.