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This is what the American people want to hear in tonight's debate

June 27, 2024
Brandon Bell / Staff. Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images
Glenn Beck

CEO/Founder

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Here's what the American people want to hear from their leaders during the presidential debate on Thursday night.

Let me start with what they don't want to hear. They don't want to hear about "Russia-gate." They don't want to hear about stolen elections, January 6, or frankly abortion in either direction. They don't need to go over the corrupt court cases of Donald Trump or the corruption of the Justice Department regarding Hunter Biden. They don't want to hear about “drag queen story hour” or about equity. They don't want to hear about global warming — that in particular is at the bottom of the list of Americans' concerns.

People want answers. They want an actual plan that they can participate in, that they can understand. They want a leader.

They don't want to hear about COVID-19, especially if it’s used as an excuse to explain away inflation and lack of jobs burdening the American people. Anyone who tries to argue that the border is secure or that our country is in good shape, that jobs are plentiful, the economy is growing like crazy, that fuel is cheap, and food is affordable will lose! Maybe not tonight, but in the fall. That message will lose.

People no longer believe in the system. They don't believe anymore that it’s geared for them. They don't believe in the politicians on either side of the aisle. And they certainly don't believe CNN’s Jake Tapper or the press generally. Full faith and trust in the American government is a thing of the distant past.

People also don't believe in the fake fearmongering anymore. Why? Because there's enough stuff out there to actually be afraid of. And Americans are afraid.

A fair deal

Here’s what Americans want to know: Who is going to keep my job secure? Who is going to make sure this insane inflation doesn't continue and actually goes down? They don't care about the Federal Reserve or what Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen thinks. They care about having to choose between food and fuel!

Americans don’t want to choose between making rent or having a car. They can't afford a new home. They can't afford a loan or the 30% interest rate on their credit cards, which are already maxed out. They care about the elites who are getting rich and the banks that are always bailed out without consequence. People want answers. They want an actual plan that they can participate in, that they can understand. They want a leader.

It seems like the average American can’t get a fair deal. Average Americans are the people who create 70% of all jobs in recessions and tough times. They're the small business owners who have always been the backbone of job creation. Yet they see their leaders bail out big corporations while hanging them out to dry. Home Depot made money and was allowed to stay open during the pandemic, but the local hardware store was considered a danger to everyone's health.

What's the game we're playing? Because the American people feel like we're on the losing end.

The American people have seen what reimagining the police looks like. What they want to know in Thursday’s debate is who will restore safety to our streets. Crime is unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime. People want safe and clean streets. Is that too much to ask of our leaders?

For the first time in my lifetime, Americans are deeply concerned about their immediate future.

The American people have seen what the reimagining of our schools has done to our children. They want schools that will help them, as parents, teach their children reading, math, science, writing, usable skills — not "March and Protest 101."

Our children need a quality education, not an indoctrination camp that labels them as gay, not gay, nonbinary, or any of the numerous other gender identities. American parents primarily worry about their children's futures. If we continue down this path, I fear for my children's prospects. This situation is dire, and people know it. They are asking, "Who will stop the insanity?"

For the love of country

Remember that Biden won the 2020 election because he said, "Isn't this crazy?” People voted for him because he campaigned as an "old, safe guy." What was he going to do?

Well, we've seen what he's done. Are our kids going to be able to afford an education? Is it worth even having an education? Will my children be able to own a house? Will my children be able to inherit my house? Will they be able to have food or even grow food?

People worry that this is the end of a country that almost all of us love and want to save. We may disagree on the problems or the solutions. But I believe most of us love America!

Americans want a solution on the border. They worry about war. Is my kid going to be sent off to fight some politician or global elite's war for something that I don't even believe in? The federal government is already spending all our children's money and can't seem to track any of it. Are we seriously talking tough when nuclear war is an option on the table for not just one country but several?

When it comes to elections, Americans have historically cared about the distant future, their children and grandchildren's futures. For the first time in my lifetime, Americans are deeply concerned about their immediate future. Are my kids going to survive school? Is my wife going to make it after going to the gas station? Am I going to have any money left? Will I be able to keep my house or my apartment?

No slogan is going to work this time to fix the ills that the American people are facing. Only leadership will do that.

For the first time in my life, we are beginning to look at our Bill of Rights differently. Take the the right to keep and bear arms. That's always been a theoretical debate in many ways. But it's not theoretical anymore. Here's how: We see on TV all the time people trapped in their cars surrounded by Antifa or Hamas lovers, and if you call 911, there's no help coming. But God forbid you should defend yourself.

Our wives, our daughters, and our sons need to get gas at night occasionally. When did it become normal to check over your shoulder to make sure you're not being cased?

The bad guys have guns, and the way they get them is not through any legitimate gun store that the government is trying to suffocate. The police are now no longer allowed to police anymore, and if they do, the DA lets the criminals go!

Have we already lost?

If our government won't stop gangs and terrorists from different countries that are known to be coming over our southern border, if the government doesn't stop dismissing rioters, firebombings, and calling a "bigot" the hardworking taxpaying American who is struggling to buy a loaf of bread, then maybe we've already lost our country.

People want to know why our veterans are on the streets and illegal aliens are in hotels. People want to know why our law enforcement officials and district attorneys won’t arrest and prosecute criminals or go after gangs and illegal guns. People want to know why they can't afford food, gas, rent, insurance, electricity, health care. No slogan is going to work this time to fix the ills that the American people are facing. Only leadership will do that.

People need to see a leader on the dais Thursday who actually sees them.

Americans don't care about their president’s personal life. They don't care about his past. They need a leader who sees what their lives are like for them. They don't need anyone to tell them how bad it is. They want to hear, "I get it. I see you. I know the problem, and I will fix it.”

Whoever steps up to the plate and becomes a leader — a true leader — of the American people will win the debate Thursday night.

Civics isn’t optional—America's survival depends on it

JEFF KOWALSKY / Contributor | Getty Images

Every vote, jury duty, and act of engagement is civics in action, not theory. The republic survives only when citizens embrace responsibility.

I slept through high school civics class. I memorized the three branches of government, promptly forgot them, and never thought of that word again. Civics seemed abstract, disconnected from real life. And yet, it is critical to maintaining our republic.

Civics is not a class. It is a responsibility. A set of habits, disciplines, and values that make a country possible. Without it, no country survives.

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Civics happens every time you speak freely, worship openly, question your government, serve on a jury, or cast a ballot. It’s not a theory or just another entry in a textbook. It’s action — the acts we perform every day to be a positive force in society.

Many of us recoil at “civic responsibility.” “I pay my taxes. I follow the law. I do my civic duty.” That’s not civics. That’s a scam, in my opinion.

Taking up the torch

The founders knew a republic could never run on autopilot. And yet, that’s exactly what we do now. We assume it will work, then complain when it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the people steering the country are driving it straight into a mountain — and they know it.

Our founders gave us tools: separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, elections. But they also warned us: It won’t work unless we are educated, engaged, and moral.

Are we educated, engaged, and moral? Most Americans cannot even define a republic, never mind “keep one,” as Benjamin Franklin urged us to do after the Constitutional Convention.

We fought and died for the republic. Gaining it was the easy part. Keeping it is hard. And keeping it is done through civics.

Start small and local

In our homes, civics means teaching our children the Constitution, our history, and that liberty is not license — it is the space to do what is right. In our communities, civics means volunteering, showing up, knowing your sheriff, attending school board meetings, and understanding the laws you live under. When necessary, it means challenging them.

How involved are you in your local community? Most people would admit: not really.

Civics is learned in practice. And it starts small. Be honest in your business dealings. Speak respectfully in disagreement. Vote in every election, not just the presidential ones. Model citizenship for your children. Liberty is passed down by teaching and example.

Samuel Corum / Stringer | Getty Images

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Start with yourself. Study the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and state laws. Study, act, serve, question, and teach. Only then can we hope to save the republic. The next election will not fix us. The nation will rise or fall based on how each of us lives civics every day.

Civics isn’t a class. It’s the way we protect freedom, empower our communities, and pass down liberty to the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

PHILL MAGAKOE / Contributor | Getty Images

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.