BLOG

John Kasich: Total Dork or Hip Hop Gangsta?

Yo, John Kasich is down with the kids. He's OG fly, aight? (Translation: He is an original gangster, old school-style cool, okay?) He's been friends with Bono for a long time, okay? And he knows about EVERYBODY dope on the music scene --- Lil Wayne, Kanye, Nicki Minagi, Ariana Grande. At least, that's the vibe the governor of Ohio tried to pull off on a recent stint as guest host on The View.

While interviewing the very humble (insert sarcasm) rap artist 2 Chainz, Kasich tried to connect by namedropping in what can only be called an awkward exchange.

WATCH: John Kasich Meets 2 Chainz, Acts Like a Dork

Doc Thompson, who filled in for Glenn Tuesday on The Glenn Beck Program, commiserated with his fellow Ohioans.

"Once again, people from Ohio this morning were, like, John, come on. Just stop trying to seem relevant. The only thing he didn't do there was remind you that his dad was a postal worker: 'And, by the way, when my dad was on his route, he listened to Nicki Minaj,'" Doc joked.

He ended the segment with a brilliant suggestion: Kasich Kanye 2020.

Enjoy this complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

DOC: Doc Thompson in for Glenn Beck today. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm here with Brad Staggs on The Blaze. And Brandon Morse. We're still looking at the #KidsTerrorismBooks. Get those in. Did you see John Kasich on the view? As a born and bred buckeye.

BRANDON: Uh-huh.

DOC: I am disgraced by John Kasich. He is such a disappointment that my homeland is represented by this. But he was from Pennsylvania. That one's on you, PA. What a goof.

BRANDON: Your state's fading back into the bushes like Homer Simpson.

DOC: The only people who aren't allowed to make fun of John Kasich is New Jersey because you have Chris Christie. And you can't blame them on PA, can you? Horrible. So he's on the view with 2 Chainz.

BRANDON: Oh, 2 Chainz.

DOC: You know who 2 Chainz is, right?

BRAD: Tupac's brother.

[Laughter]

DOC: You know who 2 Chainz is, right?

BRANDON: Yes. He's a rapper.

DOC: Yes, of course.

BRANDON: He does the rap songs.

DOC: You're telling me. I celebrate his entire catalog.

BRANDON: You know that song that's really good. Hang on. It's.

DOC: Rolling in my hoopidy.

BRAD: Did he do that one too?

BRANDON: Who can forget the classic? No lie explicit featuring Drake?

DOC: I remember poll cat and the chicken house, and I think he covered wonder wall, didn't he? Really, really solid stuff. So John Kasich is on the view as a guest with 2 Chainz.

BRANDON: Nice.

BRAD: Unlikely combination.

BRANDON: Yeah, this is a sitcom waiting to happen.

DOC: So somebody at The View said here's our plan for today. Some producer said let's get John Kasich and 2 Chainz.

BRANDON: And a priest all walk into a bar.

DOC: We're going to play some of it. First, 2 Chainz is talking about helping out people in poverty impoverish people, he never saw anybody helping people in his community and John Kasich jumps in.

CHAINZ: I think it's at a point where I'm selling all of this merch, I'm doing tours around the world, I'm being very successful. So, for me, it's a point where I show god that I appreciate.

[Applause]

KASICH: Wow. You know, 2 Chainz, I've been friends with Bono for a long time, and he uses his platform to do many great things around the world, so it's great to hear you do it as a rapper. Let's talk about music for a second. You work with Lil Wayne, you work with Kanye. My daughters and I really used to listen to Kanye. You work with Nicki Minaj, who seems to be working with everybody, including Ariana Grande. So, first of all, how do you pick who want to collaborate with and secondly, is it hard to get some of these folks. I mean to get Nicki Minaj, is it hard to get them to do this with you?

CHAINZ: We've been friends for probably a decade now.

DOC: Okay. Hold it right there. Hold it right there. Number one, you know, Bono.

BRAD: We go way back.

BRANDON: This is one of this classic. Hello, fellow kids. Hi, there.

BRAD: How are you all today.

BRANDON: Are we doing the trip hop today? Are we trip hopping?

DOC: The music, I'm down with it. The new dance steps and all.

BRANDON: I'm a cool kid too.

DOC: Okay.

BRAD: I like to sit around and listen to Kanye with my daughters.

[Laughter]

DOC: Trust me, if his daughters were saying let's listen to the music, dad, you've done something wrong there, just like in Ohio. Seriously. That's not normal. It's not natural if your kids are saying dad --

BRANDON: That was representative of his entire 2016 campaign too right there. That same feeling just washed over me. I remember that now. I remember it now.

DOC: It's an embarrassment for him.

BRANDON: Like, sit down, sit down, sit down. Awe.

DOC: Once again, people from Ohio this morning were, like, John, come on. Just stop trying to seem relevant. The only thing he didn't do there was remind you that his dad was a postal worker. And, by the way, when my dad was on his route, he listened to Nicki Minaj. He knew one day she would be big.

[Laughter]

Just hearing him say 2 Chainz. In fact, let's listen to this again. When he starts name dropping. Well, 2 Chainz.

CHAINZ: I'm selling merch, I'm doing tours around the world, I'm being really cancel of. So, for me, I feel I have to show God that I appreciate.

[Applause]

KASICH: Wow. You know, 2 Chainz, I've been friends with Bono for a long time, and he uses his platform to do many great things around the world, so it's great to hear you do it as a rapper. Let's talk about music for just a second. You work with Lil Wayne, you work with Kanye. My daughters and I really used to love to listen Kanye. You work with Nicki Minaj, who seems to be working with everybody, including Ariana Grande.

DOC: Okay. Okay. Yes, how about that Lil Wayne?

BRAD: Surprised he didn't bring up 2 Chainz former name. And give him the benefit of the doubt and say Tity boi. Tity boi.

DOC: Here's the question. And John Kasich, you're welcome to call in. (888) 727-Beck. I'll have you on.

BRANDON: Defend yourself, please, sir.

DOC: You're welcome on this or my morning radio program on The Blaze radio network. Please, were you the one who said, hey, girls, I've got something I would like you to hear. Let me put this on the ol' high fidelity for you there. I've got the quadriphonic sound.

BRANDON: Mr. West.

DOC: His name is Kanye. Or were they, like, hey, dad, check this out. And you're, like, wow, it has a snappy beat, and I can dance to it. Which way was it? Who unveiled Kanye to the other?

BRANDON: Because he had to do a little research before this.

DOC: Oh, yeah. You can see he was so trying to go there.

BRANDON: He was like the Kanye. This isn't stuff he talks about.

DOC: His people were, like, governor, 2 Chainz is going to be on with you. Who?

BRANDON: Both of them?

DOC: Are they twins. Don't worry. We've done some prep work for you. Because you have a briefer. Just say Lil Wayne. I'm sorry. Say little Wayne and Kanye. Just get Kanye down.

BRANDON: As soon as you say Kanye, you're solid.

DOC: You're good.

BRANDON: If he does listen to it with his fathers, that's a horrible father. We just heard a clip of 2 Chainz music earlier, and it was pretty X-rated.

BRAD: Yeah.

BRANDON: It's a little X-rated.

DOC: Yeah, he's dropping the N word and everything else, it's typical rap music. But that's not the issue. He's just sucking up to the celebrity on the show. So they have the two of them on, and starts asking 2 Chainz questions. He's interviewing him. So how does that how do they collaborate?

BRANDON: His writing partners.

DOC: Which is, like, standard question that somebody would ask if they really aren't interested. Like, somebody wrote that question for you.

BRANDON: Right.

DOC: He was not engaging in some sort of debate on Socialist views or even music. It's not, like, oh, I love that one song. It's a who do you collaborate with and how do you choose them; right?

BRANDON: I would have had so much respect for Kasich if he actually come in --

DOC: I don't know who the hell you are.

BRANDON: I don't know who you are or what you do. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

DOC: Right. That's what you do. So was he a member of the cast of the view that day?

BRANDON: I'm guessing he was if he was one of the --

DOC: They normally have one guest on.

BRANDON: Right.

DOC: So the view said, who is clearly progressive, said let's go get somebody progressive to fill in, and they went and got a male.

BRANDON: Uh-huh.

DOC: John Kasich's a male; right? He hasn't started identifying differently?

BRANDON: Yeah, I don't know what he identifies as. But from what I can understand right now --

DOC: They went and got a male who shares their views.

BRANDON: Right. Who might have something in common.

DOC: He was a Republican running for president; right? I think that sums it up right there.

BRAD: Yep.

BRANDON: But let's face facts, guys. This is good TV. This awkwardness is good TV.

DOC: Oh, it's wonderful. It's gold, trust me. The more John Kasich can be on camera, not in office, we want him on camera, the better. In fact, I hope John Kasich runs for president over and over. Not be president. Clarification. Don't want him to be president. We just want him to run for president.

BRANDON: We can make a show out of it. We can put yakety sax on whenever he starts talking about it. Dancers behind him.

DOC: This shows John Kasich's level of failure, though. They were talking about giving back to communities and helping out.

BRANDON: Like Bono.

DOC: Like Bono does and whatever. John Kasich still has that big government handout mentality. That's who he is. When he ran for president, he said over and over again how he cut taxes and all of this stuff. He did not. He cut some taxes and raised others. You don't ballet budget when you have deficits by not bringing in more money. It's impossible. It doesn't happen. And you bring in more money in government by taxes. It was a shell game. Look, we lowered taxes overhear. We raised a bunch of taxes over here. John Kasich is likely going to run again. He's probably going to do it. So the more we get that information out before next time is good. But John Kasich still as a Republican has that big government mentality, the hand out mentality. What we need to start doing is telling the world, even the progressives out there, yes, it is our responsibility to take care among us. Us as individuals. Not the government.

BRANDON: Right. Exactly.

DOC: Because the government fails as they do it, as evident the last 240 years. Do we have more or fewer people on poverty even by percentage?

BRANDON: The war on poverty only increased poverty.

DOC: Only increased it. Not effective. And finally, we're called upon as Christians to do it or other people of faith to do it ourselves, and it's better because you're able to monitor. If I give the money to the government, and they redistribute it to people around the globe or around the country, I don't know if somebody in Texas right now if the guy in Seattle is using it properly, if he really needed it. But if I lend money to my buddy Brandon, acquaintance Brandon, it's, like, hey, Brandon, you said you needed to pay rent, but you're hanging out at the Indian casino, and I noticed you bought new clothes and doing drugs and drinking. Maybe you should have put that toward your rent. And there's ways you wasted it as well.

There's ways that are more effective and that's something John Kasich and the view and 2 Chainz don't get.

BRAD: I think Duane Johnson, Tom Hanks is going to beat him.

BRANDON: Is Tom Hanks running now?

DOC: It's going to be Kanye and Kasich.

BRANDON: Trump opened the door. I can see it coming.

DOC: It is. It's west Kasich 2020.

BRANDON: West Kasich. Oh, my god.

DOC: Doc Thompson in for Glenn Beck on the Glenn Beck Program.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

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

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

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

TV

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

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

RADIO

Did CLOUD SEEDING cause the Texas floods?

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

RADIO

INSIDE Trump’s soul: How a bullet changed his heart forever

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

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

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

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

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

I just enjoy the way you tell stories.

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

It's really good.

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

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

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

Since 2006? 2005?

Like 20 years, right?

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But it did accomplish a lot of things.

Donald Trump is a result of the Tea Party.

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

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


SALENA: That's absolutely right.

So that was the inception.

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

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

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

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

It was independents. It was Democrats.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Changed the trajectory, changed the mood.

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

SALENA: Yeah.

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

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

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

I'm 4 feet away from the president.

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

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

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

As opposed to what happened.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To project that we will not be defeated.

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

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

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

And galvanized people.

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

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

I've got to get up.

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

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

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

You're not afraid. Get up.

Get up.

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

Stand up. How do you think that actually happened?

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

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

You know, he -- he thought, yes.

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

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

That our country is resolute.

And I need people to see that.

We can't go on looking like pathetic.

Right?

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

GLENN: You have been with so many presidents.

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

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

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

You know, waving out the window. Right?

After he was shot.

GLENN: At the hospital, right.

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

Because he was someone who deeply believed in American exceptionalism.

And American exceptionalism does not go lay on the ground.

GLENN: And the symbol.

Right. The symbol of the presidency.

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

GLENN: So let me go back to God.

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

He calls you up.

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

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

It's just a great part.

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

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

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

Even though, he was.

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

I became a Christian at Gettysburg.

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

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


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

GLENN: Crazy.

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

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

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

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

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

Right?

Because it went right over my head.

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

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

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

And how God was in that moment.

It --

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

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

He said, but now that this has happened.

I look back at all of the trials.

All of the tribulations. Literally, the trials.

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

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

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

To give him that space, to work it out.

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

I'm Catholic. I followed my faith.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I never turn my head away.

Why did I turn my head away?

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

Yes, sir. It was. It was God.

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

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

You see that purpose, every day.

He doesn't let up.

He continues going.

And it brings back to the beginning of the book.

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

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

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

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

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