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Ben Shapiro: You Can Like Trump’s Policies While Admitting He’s ‘Character-Deficient’

Good Trump vs. Bad Trump?

On today’s show, Glenn asked Ben Shapiro how conservatives can navigate the minefield of supporting President Donald Trump in the good things he does while still acknowledging when he does wrong.

We shouldn’t feel compelled to make excuses for bad behavior, and Trump doesn’t need conservative leaders to compromise their principles to cover for him.

“If we’re not willing to call out bad when we see it even from people [when] we like what we’re getting from them, then we can’t have an honest conversation,” Shapiro said. “It turns into simply fan-boying or fan-girling.”

This article provided courtesy of TheBlaze.

GLENN: Last hour, we were talking to a professor from George Mason and he was talking about how bad education is. And I was talking a little about the brainwashing that is going on and the activization of at least 10 percent of our college students that just want to be liberal activists. And who is doing that on the other side?

Who is activating today's youth to be able to get them to defend the Constitution and conservative principles? The answer is sitting in my studio right now. Ben Shapiro. How are you doing, Ben?

BEN: Hey. Doing well. How are you?

GLENN: Good. I know you had a great time in Connecticut yesterday. One hundred security officers to protect your speech and zero protesters.

BEN: Yeah. That's how it always goes. And you always think, why do we need these security officers, and half the time there's a riot.

But it was nice. I mean, it was 500 students who showed up. They closed it to the general public, which was too bad. They should have allowed another 5, 600 people in, because they had another 700 reservations, is what I heard. But in any case, it was a really nice event. Everybody enjoyed it.

GLENN: Did you anybody on the left that has -- because I have -- people who are hard on the left, who say, I'm really concerned about what's happening on college campuses?

BEN: I think that's a growing concern for a lot of people on the left. And I think anybody who is an honest person on the left, has to look at the way that they're cracking down on free speech and think to themselves, this is a problem. And it could reverse itself and bite us. This is not a single-edged blade.

GLENN: Right.

BEN: It's a serious problem, that they're allowing the hecklers veto to prevail here. That somebody from the community will threaten something, and suddenly 100 officers are necessary. And we ban everyone from the general public. They've now done this at northwestern. They did this at UC Berkeley. They just ban people from coming in entirely from the outside community. Whereas, last week, Anita Hill spoke at UConn, and it was completely open to the public. They barely needed security. It was totally fine.

GLENN: All right. So you're going to join us today for a few minutes on the television show. We'll do some stuff for subscribers only on TheBlaze. We'll talk about the future of the conservative movement. And what our principles are and how we navigate from here.

But I want to talk to you about kind of the news of the day. Get your point of view on, do we have the audio of the secret society? Or do you have the latest memo or piece?

Two days ago -- was it two days ago or yesterday, Ron Johnson comes out, and he said, and we have -- we have a source that says there was a secret society. Meetings that were going on. And we know we have this text message. And something didn't feel right.

I want everything released because if that is happening, but I also said, I think it was yesterday, that kind of sounds a little like McCarthy saying, I've got the names of 250 people right in my pocket. If you don't have it, you're going to destroy everything.

And here's what we found out yesterday, about what that -- that memo -- or that text message actually said. Here's the clip. Go ahead.

But we're going to have to decide --

GLENN: Sorry. Sarah, not that one. Go ahead.

STU: The single message -- again, the single text message sent the day after Trump was elected was from senior FBI lawyer Lisa Page to Peter Strzok, the top counterintelligence officer at the FBI and a key figure in the bureau's past investigation into Trump and Clinton.

Here's the quote: Are you even going to give out your calendars, Page asked Strzok. Seems kind of depressing. Maybe it should just be the first meeting of the secret society.

GLENN: Ben, that's not a secret society.

BEN: No. No. The way all Republicans are talking it up yesterday was like, this is going to be the view from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where he looks down and there's just a bunch of people chanting. Tearing the guy's heart out and setting it on fire.

GLENN: Big fire. Cutting him up.

BEN: And what it actually ends up being is just a bunch of nerds who sit around and have beer and talk about work. But I really -- this is my big problem, is no one is waiting for all the evidence to come out, before and their narrative conclusion is Donald Trump definitely concluded with Russia, and the FBI is in the midst of one of the greatest investigations of our time that is going to uncover the real source of Donald Trump's victory. And any questions that are asked about that are completely out of line.

And then on the right, you have this counter-narrative, that the FBI is thoroughly corrupt. It has been completely run through with people on the left who don't care about the truth and are simply out to get President Trump.

And my tendency is to think that there's a lot of in between there, and it's probably somewhere in the in between. Meaning, that there probably are people like Strzok and Page, who don't like Trump. We don't really know the impact that they've had on this particular investigation. One of the texts that people seem to be ignoring on the right is the text from Strzok to Page, saying, it's going nowhere.

STU: Right. There's no there there, right?

GLENN: No, they're actually -- yeah, the right is now starting to use that and say, look, even this guy said, there's no there there. Well, you can't have it both ways. You can't say he's an evil guy trying to take him down, oh, and he didn't want to join.

BEN: None of it makes any sense. And all of these propositions can be true. It can be true that the FBI was politicized by the Obama administration. Most clearly in the Hillary Clinton investigation. There's no question that the FBI was political in that investigation.

GLENN: Yes, correct.

BEN: It's also true there are bad apples in the FBI. It can also be true that the investigation right now is doing what it's supposed to do. It can also be true that that investigation has gone beyond its original bounds and is now moving into obstruction, which seems to me a lot more of a stretch.

Right. All these things can be true at once. But people are not waiting for all the evidence to come out, before they jump to whatever facts support the conclusion that they want. Either the FBI is thoroughly corrupt, or the FBI is thoroughly pristine.

STU: And to find the real conclusion here. Doesn't the theater hurt? This idea that everyone comes out and screams about how we know we have a security society. And we know Russia has colluded with Trump.

Doesn't that really hurt the search for the actual truth?

BEN: It does. And one of the biggest problems that I have here is that there is information that could easily be declassified and is not being declassified.

President Trump is the president of the United States. He is the chief executive. That means that he actually gets to declassify, for example, the FISA application on Carter Page. One of the big complaints from people on the right, I think quite -- quite -- quite possible this is true -- is that the FISA application on Carter Page was based on the Steele dossier, the Fusion GPS dossier that was funded by the Democrats and was essentially based on Russia disinformation.

Okay. If that's the case, then why not just release the application? Right? The FISA application, Trump can do that. He can do that right now.

And I've been told by people, well, he doesn't want to look like he's politicizing the investigation.

How does he not look like he's politicizing the investigation? I mean, the guy tweets about Jeff Sessions and Andrew McCabe and James Comey every five minutes.

All I want, you know, just as an American, all I want is more information and less conjecture. Because all I'm getting is conjecture and posturing. And now you've got -- the Democrats are putting out their memos. So now we have a memo fight. We have these secondhand memos that are not even based on the classified intel fighting with each other. It's all stupidity to me. I don't understand --

GLENN: Yeah. The classified memos -- even the people who are writing memos about them haven't seen the classified memos.

BEN: This is what the DOJ says. And if that's not true, then wouldn't you expect Devin Nunes to say, no, I have seen the classified material, and my memo was based on that classified material? But the DOJ emailed Devin Nunes, sent them a letter yesterday, and they said, listen, don't release that classified memo.

Because number one, a compromise to national security. But number two, you actually haven't seen the underlying classified materials you're talking about. So why are we reading a memo, not based on the classified materials that are actually at issue, especially when a lot of those classified materials could become declassified by the president?

All this says to me -- here's where I think this is going, based on the evidence that's on the table. Where I think this is going is I think Robert Mueller is going to try to establish a pattern of obstruction against President Trump. He's going to suggest that President Trump was trying to fire James Comey and go after his own DOJ and go after Andrew McCabe in order to stop an investigation into him. Because whether or not Trump is innocent, he thinks he's innocent. And, therefore, he was trying to, quote, unquote, obstruct the investigation. This is the problem with obstruction as a charge, there doesn't actually have to be an underlying crime in order for you to obstruct. Right? If you're obstructing an investigation, it doesn't matter whether there's actually underlying anything that went bad.

The problem is, I think we're going to get the worst-case scenario. Because I've become a pessimist, that we always get the worst-case scenario.

GLENN: Yes.

BEN: The worst-case scenario here is that, there is no actual legal obstruction. Right? Because the actual statutes and obstruction do not cover President Trump firing James Comey, or even saying to Andrew McCabe, who did you vote for? That doesn't -- obstruction is a legal charge.

As a lawyer, these charges in the US code do not apply to what President Trump has done. It doesn't matter.

The left seizes on Mueller's suggestion that there has been some sort of informal obstruction. And then they launch an impeachment push against President Trump. And then Republicans are forced into the position of having to defend some of the stupid and I think dismal things that Trump has done, from firing Comey, which I think was dumb, to demanding a loyalty oath. All these sorts of things that are not illegal, but are not smart.

And so we're sitting around, defending those. And then the Democrats are browbeating us and saying they need impeachment. It just -- it ends up being a battle over bad behavior, as opposed to a battle over criminality. And the left will charge that the right is fine with criminality. And the right will say that the right is trying to use the law in the wrong ways.

And, you know -- both will be half right, and both will be half wrong. And it will just be awful. It will be awful all the way around.

GLENN: That's good. Good. Good.

STU: That's optimism.

BEN: The good news is I honestly don't think the impeachment tribe will go anywhere. And I think people will survive.

Honestly, I don't think people care that much about this, other than the diehard political fanatics on the right who think Trump is absolutely innocent of everything and has never done anything wrong. And people on the left who think that Trump is absolutely guilty of everything and is going to be impeached. They're waiting for the deus ex machina to come in and just remove Trump from office, which is not happening.

GLENN: So I think we're in the same area. I talked about it a few weeks ago and said, I don't think anything is going to happen with the Trump information. But sadly, what I think is going to happen is we're going to miss the mark on Russia. This whole investigation --

BEN: Russia, we haven't mentioned that in 15 minutes.

GLENN: Russia. I know. This is not about -- look, I think Hillary Clinton was absolutely corrupt. And the FBI has mountains of evidence of lots of people in -- in our government in Washington, that were corrupt with Uranium One. Why haven't we seen any of that evidence? Now, whether she was personally corrupt, sure looks like it. But I don't know.

When it comes to Donald Trump, I don't like the meeting in Trump Tower, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But I don't know if there's any crime there that's been committed.

I do know this, the FBI has known things about Russia. And they have not -- they have not followed through. Why? Is there someone that is saying, you know, kind of like, what's his name that went in and took the documents out of the library of Congress, or the --

STU: Sandy Berger.

GLENN: Yeah. The national archives. Both sides were kind of like, no, that's pretty okay. I'm pretty okay with that. Because both sides are dirty with Russia. We need to know, can we trust our Justice Department? Yes or no?

Can we trust them to do independent investigations? And the second thing is, how bad are things with Russia? How could is the influence and the bribery and the scandal with his Russia? And let the chips fall where they may. I don't think it's going to happen.

BEN: I agree with a lot of this. And I also don't think it's going to happen. I think everyone -- if you're on the side of what the FBI is doing right now, then you're going to stand up for the FBI no matter what.

If you don't like what the FBI is doing right now, then you're going to suggest they're a nefarious institution in the pay of the opposite side.

GLENN: How do either of these not accomplish the goals of Vladimir Putin, of destroying our republic?

BEN: Well, I mean, I think that Putin was very smart. He realized that all he had to do was drop a hint of conspiratorialism into American politics, and everybody would jump on it with both feet.

And he was right. It's worked. We're at each other's throat over essentially -- I'm not sure there's much there there. And I think that's particularly true. If you look in another area, where Russia was supposedly nefarious, I really don't think that Russian bots were manipulating people's information hold during the last election cycle. I think people are jumping on that because they find it politically useful. So Russia interfered in the election. But I think what they've done even more -- to more success even, is they've allowed that impression that they interfered in the last election cycle to now create the basis on which everything else moves.

So, for example, the release of the memo hashtag that was trending last week, suddenly Dianne Feinstein and Adam Schiff are suggesting the reason it's trending is because of Russian bots. And they're calling on Facebook and Twitter to actually crack down on these nonexistent Russian bots that were supposedly sending this trending. Daily Beast did a report yesterday, and they said it wasn't Russian bots. That was just a bunch of Republicans who were hashtagging -- the point that Dianne Feinstein and Schiff are doing is -- what they are doing is they want Facebook and Twitter to crack down on right-wing media outlets, claiming that's a way of cracking down on fake news. So they're using the Russia bot stuff and they're using the Russia stuff as a proxy of getting to a political goal they want to get to. I swear, every day, I wake up and I think -- I'm cynical enough about politics today. And then by that night, I'm thinking, my God, I need to be twice as cynical as I was this morning. Because it just doesn't work.

GLENN: Back with more Ben Shapiro here in a second. Markets are beginning to price for potential interest rate hike in March. If you missed the show last night. I did a chalkboard. And it was really interesting.

Because I know I did this chalkboard a couple of times when I was at Fox. One that was similar. And I said, look, this is what I'm looking for. This is where we're going to start to have trouble. If these things happen.

Well, now, these things have happened. If you missed the chalkboard last night, make sure you watch it on TheBlaze.com/TV. Become a subscriber. And please, watch the first ten minutes of last night's show, because you will be prepared for what I believe is coming. And it's all due to math and history.

GLENN: Talking to Ben Shapiro, who I think is the leader of the future movement of the conservative -- of conservative thought in America.

He is everywhere on college campuses and everywhere online, where it counts with the youth.

We were -- we're in a weird situation right now, to where we have a president who is, in many ways, giving us as conservatives, things that we haven't seen since maybe Reagan. Okay? We have a great Supreme Court justice. Israel, for the love of Pete. Reagan didn't even do that.

BEN: Yep.

GLENN: So we have some great things. And then we're also in this position of having a guy who we -- is real -- lives a despicable life, if those porn star things are true. Okay? And I tend to believe they're true.

So you look at this, and for some reason, we can't say, I -- bad Trump, good Trump. Don't like that Trump. Like that one.

BEN: Yes.

GLENN: You have to buy into all of it. And I think that's killing us.

BEN: I totally agree. I mean, during the last election cycle actually coined the good Trump, bad Trump framework. I actually had sticks with faces of Trump on them. And when he would do something good, I would hold up the happy Trump. When he would do something bad, I would hold up the sad Trump.

We had -- we actually had the jingle on my podcast. Good Trump, bad Trump. Which one will it be today?

And that is -- I think the biggest problem I have right now with the way American politics are going, it really is not about Trump. It's about us. Because if we're not willing to call out bad when we see it, even from people that we like what we're getting from them, then we can't have an honest conversation.

It turns into simply, fanboying or fangirling for a particular political figure. You see this on the left too. They can't call out -- they couldn't call out Obama when Obama was engaged in obvious corruption with the IRS, for example. While saying, we like Obamacare. But we don't like what he's doing with the IRS. You see this on the right now, with regard to Trump's character.

Look, Trump is character deficient. There's just no question that the man is -- you would not have him babysit your children. Right? You have a list of people. He's near the bottom of the list in terms of people he would be responsible for like my one and a half-year-old son.

GLENN: Yes. My 13-year-old son.

BEN: May be more dangerous for the 13-year-old actually. You don't know what will pop up on the pay-per-view.

GLENN: Let's not even talk about him. People I really respect and like. Tony Perkins. What the hell was this?

STU: Interesting phrasing of that question.

GLENN: Yeah.

BEN: Yeah, so do I.

I think, again, we have to learn to live with cognitive dissonance. You can like a lot of the things he's doing. And as an evangelical Christian, or as an Orthodox Jew, as I am, I think you can stand and say, listen, this guy is standing up for religious liberty, with the judges that he's appointing. He's standing up for Israel. He's standing up for -- he spoke at the March For Life. He's standing up for a lot of religious priorities that I really like. And all of that is wonderful, and all of that is good. Also, you shouldn't have sex with porn stars while you're married and your wife just gave birth.

GLENN: If you're a religious leader, I think you should leave it at, you shouldn't have sex with porn stars, unless it's your wife.

(laughter)

Then you should talk to her about not being a porn star.

BEN: But the fact that we feel compelled to make excuses for bad behavior is something that I think leads people who are in the middle, not even on the left, people in the middle to say, well, you're not being intellectually honest about your own side. And you lose your own moral credibility in that line.

I'm not worried about Trump losing his credibility. Trump is a big boy. He can protect himself. He's shown that he's fully capable of kicking back of kicking back against people who criticize him. He does it all the time. He doesn't need people playing defense for his personal failings. And, by the way, his personal failings don't damage him politically.

I mean, I have an entire theory of what damages Trump politically. And the answer basically is what we call the -- the -- the strong efficient markets theory. Right? That when it comes to the stock market, there's a theory. That you cannot beat the stock market because everything is already priced in. Right? You have analysts who are all day sitting there and looking at companies and determining what their value is.

So unless there's a new piece of information, it's not going to change the stock price of any given stock. So you can't beat the market. I think that that holds true, particularly for Trump, even to the extent that new information doesn't change what you feel about Trump.

If you think Trump is despicable, you're still going to think Trump is despicable. If you think he's wonderful, you're still going to think he's wonderful.

Which suggests to me, that when he does something bad, we don't to have stand around and defend him. Like this is going to destroy his political career. The man won an election after being caught on tape, talking about -- bragging about grabbing women by the genitals. I don't think he requires your defense at this point. I think he'll be just fine. But I'm not sure that you will be just fine. Right? It's really about you. It's about what you are willing to say is good or bad. And what your friends think about you, and what people think of as a person, based on what you are willing to condemn and what you are willing to accept.

GLENN: But you can accept the policies and despise the actions in personal life.

BEN: 100 percent.

GLENN: And it's perfectly okay. But people aren't willing to embrace that. Tonight, 5 o'clock, Ben Shapiro will be joining us on TheBlaze.com/TV.

Does THIS prove the Left is DONE with Biden?
RADIO

Does THIS prove the Left is DONE with Biden?

President Biden's disapproval rating has hit a new record high and the media is starting to talk about it. Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump still has a comfortable lead in the Republican primary polling. Glenn reads a new opinion piece in Newsweek from a progressive who is BEGGING Biden to step out of the 2024 race. Does this prove the Left done with Biden? Will the Democrats soon replace him with someone like California Gov. Gavin Newsom or Michelle Obama? Glenn and Pat discuss.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: President Biden's disapproval rating hit the highest mark of his presidency in a new poll.

PAT: What a surprise.

GLENN: Also showed his support by essential voting blocs, is slipping. Biden's disapproval rating ticked up to 56 percent. And I am shocked that it is that low. Think of it. I mean, honestly.

PAT: With the way things are. With the way he is.

GLENN: Honestly, can you think of anything that his voting base could say, well, he did this?

PAT: Yeah, they will tell you, he has created 13 million jobs, which is BS, of course. That's what they'll tell you.

But what I'm saying, somebody -- is there any way to actually have a real --

PAT: No. Absolutely -- not unless you're a total moron. A real buffoon.

You have to be -- you would have to have all the intelligence of a bathroom bulb brush, to think this guy is doing a good job.

PAT: No.

GLENN: No. Nothing at all. Wow.

PAT: Well, that's why he trails in the Washington Post/ABC poll.

Did you see the results of that? Fifty-two, 42 percent.

Fifty-two to 42, Trump leads!

GLENN: Yeah. You think that's reliable?

PAT: It's Washington Post/ABC News. It's certainly not slanted toward Trump.

I mean, they have been wrong in the past, but all polls have been.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

So maybe this is -- let's see it happen again.

PAT: Yes.

I mean, it probably is an outlier. He's probably not up by ten.

But I think that Biden is in trouble, and that's why you're hearing the scuttlebutt in the Democrat Party.

GLENN: Right. You're also slipping with voters 18 to 24. He only has a 46 percent approval rating. Latinos, 43 percent.

Independents, who are going to decide the general election, at 36 percent.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Trump's lead in the G.O.P. primary, has surged ahead. He is now leading by 43 points.

PAT: That's incredible.

GLENN: That is incredible. Incredible.

He's the first choice among national Republican voters. At 59 percent.

So now, this is what you're starting to see, from people who love Joe Biden.

Because, you know, he was just out, the Congressional Black Caucus, which he thought he was at last week.

PAT: Yeah. He did.

GLENN: But it was the Congressional Latino caucus, right?

Hispanic Congress.

PAT: Yes, but he called them the black Congress.

GLENN: Black Congress. So I don't know if he thought he was at the Hispanic Conference this time.

But he was talking about LL Cool J.

PAT: He's brilliant. He's brilliant too. I think he will get a lot of support.

GLENN: You have heard it?

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: Oh, I haven't heard it. I just read about it.

PAT: Yes. We do have it.

It is...

BIDEN: One of the greatest artist of our time. A legacy of hip-hop in America.

LL J Cool J. By the way, that boy has got -- that man has got biceps bigger than my thighs. I think he's --

GLENN: Wait. What?

BIDEN: Both of you, thank you.

GLENN: Okay. So LL Cool J. He knows him. He loves him.

PAT: He's got all his earlier works.

GLENN: And can I ask, when he sees somebody, a man in particular.

PAT: Yes. This is the thing now.

GLENN: Does he always --

PAT: Always. Every time, he has to mention their biceps. Or feel them.

Or say, that I wish I had you as my lock for me.

Because you're really hot.
(laughter)

GLENN: Really hot. Wow. I haven't heard the really hot part.

PAT: Well, they'll find it and play it for you. Because it's incredible.

GLENN: And then, again, with the boy.

PAT: Yeah. And he does that all the time.

But he caught himself this time, did you notice that? Man.

GLENN: I'm not a racist.

PAT: Wait a minute. I just showed my racist tendencies over there.

Man, I meant -- it's amazing. It's amazing.

GLENN: Wow. Wow.

PAT: And to screw up his name, when it's in front of him, in the teleprompter.

I don't understand it.

You know they went over this. Because -- and his aides have prepared him for this stuff.

GLENN: He has AIDS?

PAT: Not that kind.

GLENN: Oh, I was like, he's more secretive than I thought.

PAT: Yeah. I know.

He does not have AIDS. So far as I know, he does not.

But then to screw up the name, what is the deal?

How big do they have to make the font for this guy?

GLENN: I mean, as a guy who screws up names all the time. But LL Cool J is not hard. Is not hard.

PAT: Not that hard.

GLENN: Well, he's in.

Anyway, there's -- there's an opinion now, from Newsweek. Mr. President, you're going to lose to Trump.

We're begging you to step down. This is Newsweek.

Listen to this. The old news about incumbents. If they're under 50 points in approval. They're toast.

President Joe Biden is under 40.

There's almost no chance, he will win. I've never heard of an incumbent polling under 40 points, who went to win the reelection. When it comes to Joe Biden. Three and six recent polls had him in the 30s.

In one recent poll, President Biden was an abysmal 32 percent.

Sorry, but that's unrecoverable. You're just telling yourself, sweet little lies, if you think he can win with those numbers.

I know what everyone in Washington is going to say next.

But that's not fair. He passed so many bills.

No one has passed this much legislation since Grover Cleveland, or something.

He passed the semi conductor bill.

I have bad news for you, if you're a Democrat. No one cares about the semi conductor bill or any of the other bills, that helped his donors so much. And coincidentally, a couple of other Americans as well.

Even if you love those bills, no American even knows about them. On the other hand, if you're a Republican, Biden is a godsend.

Especially if you're MAGA. There is no way Trump can beat anyone else. Another poll found that 59 percent of Americans, think Trump should end his campaign immediately, and quit life.

And quit life?

Or quit for life? What do you mean quit life?

PAT: Wow.

GLENN: Okay. They didn't say the last part. No. That's what they meant.

But they might have well meant. I've never seen a number that bad.

At the same poll, Trump came in at an abysmal 33 percent approval.

And how did Biden do at that poll?

Worse! At 32. MAGA should be doing everything they can, to keep Biden in the race.

He's their only hope. President Biden needs to step down immediately.

This is news weak.

Needs to step down immediately.

And give someone else a chance to do what they will.

And certainly, they will be able to accomplish a trounce of Trump in 2024.

I am a progressive. So even if I get my wish, and President Biden were to step down. I'm not overly fond of any of the corporate Democrats we have to choose from.

But if you're being honest, they would at least all beat Trump with a stick.

Not because they're so great. But because Trump is infinitely worse. And the American people know it.

Trump is also polling at 33 percent. And six out of ten Americans despise him.

And yet, Biden is still losing to him.

If you spend any time listening to people of power and media.

You'll have heard some version of the talking point, that Joe Biden is the only one that can beat Trump.

It's nonsense.

Based on what the data is.

And I don't understand how they're making this claim.

The truth is the exact opposite.

Biden is the only person who can't beat Trump. My left foot could beat Trump.

An open Dumpster fire can beat Trump.

This is when the DC establishment will handcuff. He beat him last time. Yes. Joe Biden won the electoral college by 44,000 votes in three swing states.

You know what that means? It means he almost lost to a complete buffoon who said we should inject disinfectants into our bodies to kill COVID. This is maddening.

PAT: It is.

GLENN: Biden won by the skin much his teeth to the ignoramus. And that is when he was ten to 15 points higher in approval. Let that sink in.

He was at least ten points higher, and he barely won last time. Spare me the useless talking point, of how he won by seven million votes.

That's true. But you wanted that to matter. Maybe you should have passed the freedom to vote act.

Wow.

PAT: Jeez.

GLENN: But President Biden barely tried.

His donors apparently didn't press on that one. And God help the Democrats, if the nominee isn't Donald Trump. Then Biden has mathematically, a 0 percent chance of winning. Not even close.

Not within miles of choice. Joe Biden sees the same numbers we see. His team puts out talking points about how this is the most important election of our lifetime. How ten months is on the line. They're right. Yet, Biden sees the same devastating polling results we see, and concludes -- his ego concludes that he is more important than the election. And according to his own logic, democracy itself. I'm putting forward a petition, asking Joe Biden to drop out of the race, because unlike the president, I actually do believe democracy is on the line.

I don't want to go into that fateful election with a hobbled candidate, whose chances of winning are so low.

Why would we voluntarily make that mistake?

You can hate the messenger.

And you can think that an incumbent can win, even though they're in the 30s in approval. But that isn't going to change the inevitable.

Joe Biden is going to lose this election. We need a new candidate.

STU: When are people going to understand, we're not a democracy.

GLENN: That's what you pulled out of it.

That's what you pulled out of it.

PAT: That's part of what I pulled out.

It drives me out of my mind, out of my mind.

GLENN: I know it does.

Drives me crazy too. I'm with you.

PAT: Adults should understand that. But the other thing is --

GLENN: I got it. I got it.

PAT: I think -- I think Biden is the best chance, even though he's so compromised.

I -- if -- if Gavin Newsom gets into this race, I think he is fighting more than Biden. Because you have California as an example. California. Talk about a Dumpster fire.

That's the very definition of a Dumpster fire.

Show the city. Show Los Angeles. And San Francisco. And what these cities have become under this guy.

I think a Republican crushes Gavin Newsom.

GLENN: So what do you say about Michelle Obama?

PAT: Oh, that's the one problem spot. Where, if she decides to run, she wins.

That's my fear.

And she's maybe worse than Joe Biden. Not even maybe. She is --

GLENN: Oh, no. She is.

PAT: Except for the fact, that she has a faculty.

But those faculties are frightening. Because she hates America.

GLENN: Yeah. And she's a Marxist.

PAT: For sure.

GLENN: She's much more hard-core than her husband. She's Hillary Clinton on steroids.

PAT: She's a nightmare.

Yeah, I'm very much hopeful, she still isn't interested on running for office.

GLENN: I'm with you on that hope. We can dream.

Glenn: THIS is how we SAVE our nation
RADIO

Glenn: THIS is how we SAVE our nation

We are in what is possibly the final battle for the American way of life, Glenn says. But it's by no means a physical battle. It's a spiritual battle against true evil and Glenn warns that if we don't keep it that way, it will be the death of the American experiment. But as the Left's tactics grow dirtier, we shouldn't lose hope. The forces for good are growing stronger every day. Parents are standing up, the mainstream media has some new competition, and whistleblowers are letting the truth be known.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So I have -- I had kind of a fun week, if you've been listening all week. You know I -- I have been a little -- a little on the edge. A little on the edge. To the point to where, I don't know. Maybe I want to spend my life as a dog. You know, dog's life. It's very popular, I'll show you in a few minutes.

Oh, what's happening with people who want to identify as a dog. That is finally we've gotten to the civil rights program.

Gotten to the place, where we can finally say, what needs to be said. People can choose to be dogs.

But I've been -- I watched the news. And I watched for things that the average person doesn't necessarily watch for.

If you read my daily email newsletter. Which is free every day. Give it at GlennBeck.com.

If you read that, you see things that media is not talking about. Even conservative media. Not talking about.

And when you start to piece all these puzzle pieces together. You see a pretty bleak picture.

And we're at a place, where the dye has had been cast. The Rubicon has been crossed. And we're here.

And it is a battle. We are at war. We are in a spiritual war, primarily.

And too many of us don't even know what that means anymore. But we're not fighting flesh and bone. We are fighting evil. True evil.

And the longer we wait, the stronger evil will become.

The longer we -- the longer we wait, the more chance, it comes to blows. And that will be the death of the republic. And the death of the American -- you know, the American experiment.

It will be over. And I don't know about you, but I am -- I have children. I have four.

I have grandchildren. I have two. And I'm desperate for them to live, a full, happy, comfortable life. Even if it means, I give my life, or I give up all that I have. So they can have -- and we overuse freedom and liberty. Nobody knows what that is.

So they have opportunity. Opportunity.

That's all I want them to have. Honestly, it has been a very tough battle. And I know you feel the same way.

I've at least had the luxury of -- I was going to say fame and fortune. But fame is a curse. And so is fortune, in many ways.

But it's a nice way to go. If you're going to go to hell, it's a nice way to go with fortune. But I've had a much more comfortable life. It's easier for me to think, than it is probably for many in my audience.

Because they are -- they have the daily bills bearing town on them every day.

So we all have our own things that we're carrying through.

We've all been injured.

We've all been foolish. And we've also been blessed enough to do some things that will prepare us.

I've been sued. I so far, haven't been arrested. But, you know, I don't know what will happen next.

You know, when they're arresting just anybody. When they can arrest attorneys, for giving somebody advice, that's not illegal, you know, we don't know what will happen next.

I have worked hard, to serve the Constitution. I've worked hard to serve my fellow man.

I have served my God. And I cannot even say, to the best of my ability. But I have tried.

And moment -- you know, momentarily, occasionally, once in a while, I forgive myself for being proud of what I've created. Because I didn't create it.

I was allowed an opportunity in America. God gave me certain abilities, and I'm a lucky man. I'm a blessed man.

Still, with all of that going on, we have to realize where we are right now. I always talk you to, we're on the highway, and we're passing the exit signs. And the bridge is out.

Well, we're now, you know that point in the movie, where they're on a bridge. And it's either open. Or there's no way out. And all the cars are coming up behind them.

And you will be killed by the bad guys.

And they're like, what do we do?

We're at that moment, right now.

What do we do? We are in, what possibly is the final battle for the American way, of life.

The American truth, justice, and the American way.

I don't really care if we're a poor nation. I really don't. I don't want to be a poor nation. I don't want to have poverty. But I do believe that we have been so misguided. We have lost our way, so expertly. That we have put all of our belief, that what America is, is about success, money, ease.

An abundance of food. We don't have to work hard. And that's not true. That's just not true.

As we advance as a species, are we any better than the people that came before us?

Are we any better than those who we say, we stand against their principles?

We fight with words, we fight with votes. And God bless it, with politics.

But we don't fight alone. I couldn't say this you to, three years ago, fewer years ago. Because we were still putting our faith in one man. In the office of the president of the United States.

And I think still too many people are doing that. But I know today, that I'm not fighting this alone. I'm fighting this you with.

We're fighting this battle with parents, that will stand up. So many parents won't say anything.

They'll say it privately. They'll say it to their neighbors. They'll say it to somebody else, in the school board meeting. But when it comes time to stand up. They don't want their children to have any problems at school.

They don't want to be a pariah in the neighborhood. But I'll tell you right now, I know there are standing up.

There are moms in this country. They're for liberty. They're conservative. They're independent.

Even some of them are Democrat. A lot of them are. That are seeing the insanity in our schools.

I am personally waiting for more teachers to join us.

I am -- I am -- I am waiting for the teachers, who don't believe in pedophilia and Marxism, to stand up and say, I reject my union.

We need some courage there, gang. I mean, unless you're with Marxists and pedophiles, and child mutation. You know, mutilation.

Go ahead.

But then, I oppose, what you believe. Because I am for children being children. I am for children having innocence in their childhood.

I am for children being safe from predators. And I know, we fight with doctors, by our side. There are doctors all over the country, that are -- that are against us. And standing up. And risking their license, to stand up and say, no.

No mutilation of children. No. You don't have to take the vaccine.

No. You should be able to consult with your doctor. And if you have a different treatment, that you want to try. You should be able to try.

There are doctors who know, first, do no harm. Scientists. The scientists that are standing up.

That know that science is based on provable fact. And that science is always wrong. Until new fact -- or only right until new facts come along. Which makes the old science, outdated, and wrong.

Scientists that know that the military-industrial complex wasn't all that Eisenhower warned about. He warned about the military-industrial complex, becoming so big, that it could control Congress.

That we could be in never-ending wars. But he also told us about education. Getting into bed with the government. And training a whole new generation. To be slaves of an out-of-control government.

He warned of a scientific complex, where our scientists would no longer be able to think individually, because so much of the study would be funded by the government. Which was looking for answers, that they wanted.

When we fight today, we fight with the scientists who know that. And will stand up. And say, no. This is wrong.

And there's lots of them.

Today, we fight against the mainstream media. But we're fighting in a different way. We used to have to fight them with every fact and everything else. Now with the new media. Something, when I started the Blaze 12 years ago. People said, I was insane.

This would never work. You can't get past the mainstream media and the big networks. And yet, we did it.

And look what has spawned from that. Now, we are fighting with the voice of a new media. Where soon, and I mean very soon. The mainstream media has to answer to us. We're no longer in a position to wear we have to answer to them.

We have to say what they are charging. And then, you know, prove them wrong.

Instead, they're going to be in the position, very soon. Where they have to prove us wrong.

And that has taken a toll on so many people in the media. That got out and risked everything. And came to the new media.

And they're still coming.

We're now fighting with actors and actresses. And writers. And directors. And gaffers. And cinematographers. And stage people.

That have had enough of the insanity. That are now coming to something even newer than the new media.

And that is the new Hollywood, for lack of a better term. We have seen amazing advances, from the Jesus Revolution to the Chosen.

Those are not low-quality, conservative films. That is the highest quality.

And we're now making inroads to distribution. Once we have full distribution, the whole world changes.

We fight with Mike Lee.

We fight with father and son, Rand and Ron Paul. We fight with Chip Roy and Ted Cruz. We fight with the members of the Freedom Caucus.

And there are many others in Washington. In Congress. In the Senate.

That are actually fighting. We are also fighting with others in Washington. Like whistle-blowers.

Have you noticed the number of whistle-blowers?

And we also fight with people who are silently standing in place. Not abandoning their posts. And trying to protect what they can from the inside.

We fight for the rule of law. The Constitution.

We fight for the rights have all mankind.

We fight with posts on Facebook. And X, and Instagram.

Blah, blah, blah. One hundred different places. We get to raise our flags. We fight it every day at the gun range. We fight it when we buy the hunting license at Cabela's.

In our hearts, we know we -- we don't care about the stupid bear. The black bear. The deer.

In our hearts, we actually have compassion for these animals. And we take their life to feed our families.

It's not a sport where we kill them and leave them aside, as the media would have them believe. It's not brutal and grotesque.

That's why we go to the firing range. Because we have a responsibility, if we're going to hunt, to take the animal down in one shot.

We have a responsibility to -- if we carry a gun. And we're seeing a crime. And people in danger. That we pull our gun out, and we don't get other people killed. Including ourself.

We care about being outdoors. We care about the land. We care about the timber. We care about the smell of pine. And how cold the waterfall is coming off a glacier.

We care about these things.

'The Deep State Won't Give Power Back Willingly' | Ron DeSantis | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 195
THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

'The Deep State Won't Give Power Back Willingly' | Ron DeSantis | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 195

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gained national attention when he declared war on wokeism in his state. But would his strategies be as effective if he were president? Glenn sits down with Gov. DeSantis to get the answers Americans want most about his 2024 presidential campaign. How would he handle a government shutdown debate? How would he address the border crisis? What would be his first priority on day one? Would he clean out the Deep State? What does he actually believe about the war in Ukraine? DeSantis explains how he plans to reverse the Biden administration's destructive policies and give power back to the states, especially when it comes to the border. He also responds to former President Donald Trump's criticism of Florida's heartbeat bill and clarifies his own stance on abortion. Plus, he shares the other thing he believes Biden should be impeached over. This episode of "The Glenn Beck Podcast" is part of a series leading up to the 2024 election. These interviews come with no agenda. The point is to ask all of the candidates all the questions that people need to ask.

What just passed in California is coming for ALL KIDS across the nation
RADIO

What just passed in California is coming for ALL KIDS across the nation

Parental rights are under attack like never before. Take California, which just passed a bill that would FORCE judges in child custody hearings to consider whether a parent supports a kid's "gender transition" — which is probably the most life-altering and permanent thing they can do to themselves. But what just passed in California is coming for ALL KIDS across the nation. Glenn discusses how the White House is also pushing the agenda of "affirming your child's identity," in the name of health and safety, of course. He also reviews how California's extreme progressive laws are often picked up by other states and how similar policies in Canada have led to the jailing of parents. "This new law should alarm and disgust EVERYONE in America for the way it will let the state override private parenting decisions," Glenn says. It's time to ask, who gets to raise children – you or the government?