RADIOJune 10, 2024

Alex Jones & Glenn Beck WARN: Trump is the Next Lawfare Target

In a surprise move, Alex Jones has agreed to liquidate his ownership of Infowars. He joins as a guest on the Glenn Beck Program for the first time to explain why: Just a few days ago, according to Alex, the chief restructuring officer overseeing Infowars after his $1.5 billion Sandy Hook case “got so desperate” that he tried to go around the court and seize Infowars. But this is just the latest stage in a massive series of lawfare attacks against him, Glenn and Alex believe, which also included an attempt to get Alex to “sell out” and let a board control Infowars. So, why are they trying to destroy him? Glenn argues that Alex was the guinea pig for the Left’s lawfare machine that it’s now turning against former president Donald Trump...and then, against the American people. So, what’s next for Infowars? Why did they try to silence him NOW? And is the Left now beta-testing a new kind of attack that’s “outside the law?”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: This weekend, I read that Alex Jones is having to divest himself of Infowars, released his share in it.

I don't know what that exactly means. He also said that the feds were going to seize it, if he didn't do something.

I read that yesterday.

We wanted to have Alex Jones on.

We have a podcast planned in September. So I want to kind of keep this narrow here, on what's going on, with him. Because I think this is -- I think this is -- he was the guy, the left tried law fare out on.

You know, the -- the early days of boycott, Sharyl Attkisson said, that trying to get somebody off a network and mainstream media. They tried to perfect that on me.

I was their -- their first real to guinea pig.

I think Alex Jones was the first guinea pig in lawfare. And it's exactly the same thing that's happening to Donald Trump now.

This is -- this is the way they're going to fight in the future.

And if anybody thinks.

You know, whatever you think of Alex Jones. What he said. He's apologized for.

And he said, he shouldn't do it. Their damages. I don't know.

But certainly, not 1.5 billion. What is Dr. Evil.

Was he in the jury box.

What the hell was that?

$1.5 billion. We talk to Alex Jones.

So, Alex. What -- what is going to happen now?

Because I read you are going to sale your assets. But if you sell. There's nothing left.

And, you know, who is going to -- honestly, Infowars without you, is nothing.

You are the asset of Infowars. So what -- what do you have -- are they forcing you to sell all of this stuff?

ALEX: Yes. And thanks for letting me give you the backstory so it makes sense.

So I told you exactly what is happening. Okay. I'm an LLC sole proprietorship. And so I own 100 percent of the shares of the company. That's why under law, the CRO cannot just shut this place down.

That's illegal. And so that's what my lawyers have told them. So I agree to pay 55 million over ten years. Which is protected. What extra revenue there would be. They said, no.

We want a board. We want to control what he says.

This is in meetings he had. But I couldn't talk about it, until outside of me, they now told my lawyers, a few weeks ago.

Right to their faces. My lawyers said, you can talk about it now. We can't believe it. They want you to start by talking about the Second Amendment.

They wanted me to he sell out.

So they told lawyers. They told Reuters, the most accurate story out there.

Some of it is wrong. It's still pretty much true.

The headline is: Sandy Hook families agree to Alex Jones' bankruptcy liquidation. Well, they had already filed for that.

And then in the article, they say, while liquidation will yield only a fraction of the money he owes the families. They have objected to his proposal, because it would have kept him in control of both Infowars and his wealth for years.

While also tapping the total amount to be paid towards the defamation claim. So they refused. And it goes on, that they wanted to have a board control this place. That they appointed, where I would work with them.

And, of course, if I would play ball. Then, of course, I can make money.

So my operation has been taken over. For whatever reason, they decided to try to shut it down eight days ago, outside of court. Which is totally insane. Because they feel like, well, this guy is a target. And we can do what we want.

And now they're so panicked to get me off the air, for whatever is coming for the rest of the country. So that's what's happening. So what's going to go down is, the judge will either give it back to me on Friday.

And it will just come to the state and shut it down, in a week or quicker. Because Austin is as bad as New York or DC. One of the worst in the country. I'm going to move out of here. Even though my family is from here.

GLENN: Austin is awful.

ALEX: It is. It is. It's all woke. Soros controls the DA on record --

GLENN: Yeah, it's awful.

ALEX: It's totally controlled.

So Infowars will --

GLENN: So hold on. Hold on just a second. I'm sorry to do this to you, Alex. I have to take another network break. Back with Alex Jones to see where he's headed they can say. What his options are.

And where the country is headed. Because of all of this.

Make no mistake. What they did to Trump, they first tried on Alex Jones.

And they will do anything to silence anyone that has impact.

For the first time, I've asked Alex Jones to come on the program.

I know Stu heard inklings of this last week, and did probably about 20 minutes of tremendous defense of -- of you, Alex. On this whole case.

Being just nothing, but -- just a show trial. That's all it is.

What they did to Donald Trump. They first tried out on you. And they're still going for it.

So I don't understand how a judge could suggest that we violate your First Amendment right, by forcing you to not talk about the Second Amendment. I don't know how that's even possible.

But is this something that they suggested, will stop demanding the billion dollars, billion and a half dollars, if you let us control what you say and don't say?

ALEX: Yes. Before I got sued, now six years ago, I was in DC for meetings. And I had meetings with some of the Bilderberg members. Some major billionaires. I'm sure you got reached out to by as well, when you were exposing Soros and trailblazing on Fox, before they targeted you. And they literally would beat around the bush. And say, well, this major billionaire, richest man at the world around the time, he wants to give you $50 million a year for a free speech foundation. And you can still do your show, if you just talk to us about, you know, cleaning up what you do. And so it was all thinly veiled payoffs.

And then when I wouldn't do it, that's when they cooked all this up. And the project veritas spin-off group. FBI. CIA agents all admitted, bragging how they engineered all this.

And then, again, even in the Sandy Hook show trial case, they got the FBI agent up, won $95 million from me. I never said his name. Didn't knew who he was, until he sued me.

And he said, the reason he was suing, was one person called him office, that was real one time. But he admitted that he basically helped organize, organize all of this. So as we said before on the break. This is all about targeting the American people.

But even in Connecticut and Texas. This is all on TV. This is all on the record.

The lawyers for the case, this all worked for high-powered Democratic law firms. The same ones suing you on Musk right now.

They went on TV at press conferences when they won. Because the judge already said they won.

But definitely on our show trial.

Never sent Alex Jones money. Don't buy his products. We don't want money. We want to shut him down.

And so they make good on this. The judge is appointed by Trump.

He's just following the law. They won't settle.

So they have this judgment.

And so he said, he was just kicking back in the state court.

Which they'll just instantly grab on operations. Or they have to settle. And they just admitted in the newspapers, they don't want money.

He's a bad person. We want him off-air. They're so arrogant. Just like what we see with AOC, and a bunch of other Democrats last month. Say, we have to keep Trump in court, so he can't campaign.

And said, it's an ankle bracelet. So they're so pained. But also a mix of hubris at the same time. They're admitting what they're doing.

That's what -- what -- is so crazy.

STU: But, Alex, they can't -- I mean, maybe they can.

They can't hold a judgment, that you have no way to ever pay. Nobody -- no individual -- you know, unless you're Bill Gates.

Is paying $1.5 billion in a judgment.

Especially this one.

And I contend. No matter what, Bill Gates could have been on pedophile island, on TV. Doing whatever he was doing.

And he still wouldn't have to pay 1.5 billion, for that.

And I'm obviously not saying he was doing anything on pedophile island.

I'm just making that as an example.

Anyway, so they can't keep -- they can't force you to not make any money at what you do for a living. Can they? For the rest of your life?

JULIO: No, you're totally right. They're showing they don't want money.

But let me just explain this quickly. One week after they won the fake show trial, where the judge already said I was guilty. She issued an order, to seize all my assets. Even stuff under the Texas Constitution on my house. That was protected. And immediately ordered me to, quote, bring all my property and my keys to Connecticut or face imprisonment. That's why I had to file bankruptcy, hoping the federal courts would be better. So the last two years, I've been battling there. Then they got so desperate eight, nine days ago. Two Fridays ago, to literally have the federally appointed COO close the and building kick me out. So that's the level of this.

And that's why I go back to this, Glenn. This is totally desperate. You're absolutely right. They beta tested getting people off networks with you. They bragged about it.

They made a test against the law fare against me for Trump. Now they're beta testing, just grabbing stuff outside of law. That's -- this is just -- it's probably said a thousand times.

They're not trying to get me. They're trying to get through me, to get to you.

And that's why -- I'm a canary in the coal mine. They take me in the big audience. I'm also flamboyant. I've been on here thirty years, and you can dredge up some stuff and make me look nuts.

Because I have said I wasn't joking around or whatever, being a jerk. That I'm a different guy.

That's taught me a lot. Before this, I was already cleaning up my act. But now, I'm like a totally different gray-haired attitude, who just tries to do a professional show.

And these people are so wild-eyed they don't care. So I appreciate you standing up for the first Amendment. I don't know where I'll be. I haven't entertained other jobs.

I've tried to save this. I feel like I have a family member that's on death's bed. People can find me @RealAlexJones on X.

And, you know, they've said they will hunt me down, and try to shut me down. No matter where I go.

But the law is very clear in Texas, and federally.

I will be able to work for somebody in the future. Glenn, with this billion and a half dollar fake judgment, I won't be able to ever own the company, which is fine with me.

But here's the larger issue. We still have appeals at the state of Texas and Connecticut. And even part of the judge's ruling, taking the law license of my lawyer, who did a good job, as a criminal lawyer. The Supreme Court of appeals, overturned, her -- her suspension of his law license.

So people are starting to wake up. Mark Twain said a lie goes halfway around the world, before the truth puts its pants on.

But once the truth puts its pants on, it tends to win, and catch up. So people are getting this danger now. And if we can just get Trump in, if we can just not let them stage a race war and all this stuff, that they're trying to cook up.

And conservatives. You just pray, and be focused and be vocal. And just move forward and stay non-violent in the face of a mostly peaceful summer. That we know is coming. We're going to take this country back if we have to.

GLENN: Yes. Yes. It's already happening in Europe.

Alex, one thing. I want you to look -- have your lawyer look into a case. Disney against digital -- not Digital Angel. It was. It became Angel Studios. What was that thing called Stu?

STU: VidAngel.

GLENN: Look for a court case against VidAngel and Disney. They said that they were going after VidAngel over copyright, but they weren't.

They were going after them. It was a personal vendetta. A lot like this. Disney was going to put these people out of business, forever.

And the court appointed a restructuring. Because Disney won.

And the guy who came in said, one of you is lying.

Either Disney is lying. And they just want to put you out of business. And they just want total control.

Or you're lying. But when I find out which one it is. I'm going back to the judge.

And the judge ruled against Disney, and changed everything. Okay?

You -- you could prove.

Just look at that case.

Because I think if you have somebody who is intent as you're restructuring. Their job is to not put you out of business.

Their job is to restructure and get their clients, or their people they're supposed to be working for, money.

If this -- if their intent is to shut you up. I bet you, the Disney versus VidAngel court case, may help you.

ALEX: That's why I love listening to your show. And that's why I love being here. Because, Glenn, I would have never thought of that. One of my lawyers did -- did basically file something a year and a half ago to the judge.

Saying, look, here's the video. Here's the links where they say they don't want money. They're here to shut him down.

And then the judge said, I'll hear that later. But I think it's time to add Disney versus VidAngel with that. We have them saying. We have like 20 minutes of them saying in the courthouse, in front of a huge --

GLENN: They can't do that.

ALEX: Saying, this is not about money. We want him off the air. Boom. There you go. That's genius. Thank you so much, Glenn.

GLENN: Yeah. Thank you, Alex. And we will sit down for a longer conversation. When I get back to Texas in September. So I appreciate it.

Thank you so much. God bless.

ALEX: Thank you so much, Glenn. God bless you.

GLENN: By the way, I would -- look, I stood for Bill Maher, when he was fired in ABC, and what I said at the time was, what part of politically incorrect ABC do you not understand?

They fired him because he said something politically incorrect. I took a lot of heat.

It was new in my career, and people didn't trust me as a conservative then.

And I started sticking up for Bill Maher.

And I took a lot of heat. But it was right, because it was about the First Amendment.

I did the same thing for Roseanne Barr. I did the same thing for, what was his name? James Gunn. The guy who was the writer/director of Guardians of the Galaxy. You cannot only stand up for the people you agree with.

You must stand up for those people you disagree with.

Otherwise, the First Amendment, second. All of the amendments, mean nothing.

I -- I don't care what you think of Alex Jones. And I say this to every conservative outlet.

You should stand by the case of Alex Jones.

To make sure this injustice. Because this is law fare. And if you think they won't do it to you.

You are sadly mistaken. And unless, each one of us, at each of our own locations, stand up, and say, this is an injustice!

This is wrong. They'll put each one of us out of business. And silence us.

And it will happen faster than you can imagine.

I challenge every podcaster. Every radio broadcaster.

To stand up and defend the right for a man to be able to speak.

Glenn Beck WARNS Democrats Will Return with VENGEANCE in 2026 | Glenn TV | Ep 473

America is entering a year of historic upheaval from Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the spiritual shock that followed, to Trump’s tariff revolution, China’s rare-earth war, collapsing energy grids, AI displacement, and the looming fights over Taiwan and Venezuela. Glenn sits down with BlazeTV hosts ‪@deaceshow‬ and ‪@lizwheeler‬ along with his head researcher Jason Buttrill, to break down the biggest stories of 2025. Plus, they each give their most explosive prediction for 2026 that could shape our politics, economy, national security, and civil rights in ways Americans have never experienced before.

Trump Just SHATTERED the “Expert Class” - And the Deep State is in Total Panic

For nearly a century, Washington DC has been ruled by an unelected “expert class” operating as an unconstitutional fourth branch of government — accountable to no one, removable by no president, and shielded from all consequences. Glenn breaks down why Trump’s firing of the Federal Trade Commissioner could finally dismantle the 1935 precedent that empowered technocrats, how Ketanji Brown Jackson exposed the Supreme Court’s embrace of expert rule, and why America cannot survive a government run by people who never face the voters and never pay for their failures.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Okay. So President Donald Trump fired the federal trade commissioner Rebecca Slaughter. Federal Trade Commission is an administrative position. I mean, this is under -- the head of the federal trade commission is a cabinet member.

And if the justices uphold Trump's firing of Slaughter, that will overturn a precedent that was horrible, that was set in 1935. Remember, 1935, we're flirting with fascism. You know, everybody thinks. Because they haven't seen the horrors of fascism yet.

Everybody thinks fascism is neat, blah, blah. So what they do is they say that this is an independent person. And the president can't fire them. Because they're, you know, an independent agency.

Well, wait. That would make a fourth branch of government. Our Constitution is really clear.

There is no such thing as a fourth branch of government. Right?

So that's what they're deciding. Now, here is Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is talking about how we really need to listen to the experts. Cut four.

VOICE: Because presidents have accepted that there could be both an understanding of Congress and the presidency. That it is in the best interest of the American people to have certain kinds of issues, handled by experts. Who, and I think you -- in your colloquy, Justice Kagan, have identified the fact that these boards are not only experts, but they're also nonpartisan. So the -- the seats are actually distributed in such a way, that we are presumably eliminating political influence because we're trying to get to science and data and actual facts, related to how these decisions are made.

And so the real risk, I think, of allowing non- -- of allowing these kinds of decisions to be made by the president, of saying, everybody can just be removed when I come in, is that we will get away from those very important policy considerations.

VOICE: We will get away from US policy considerations, and it will create opportunities for all kinds of problems that Congress and prior presidents wanted to avoid, risks that flow inevitably, just given human nature, the realities of the world that we live in.

GLENN: Okay.

Now, remember, what she's saying here is, we have to have experts.

We have to have experts. We have to have experts that don't really answer to anybody. Okay?

They're appointed. And then they're just there. This from a, quote, judicial expert, who cannot define a woman, because she's not a doctor.
She's not a scientist.

She needs an expert to define a woman.
That's how insane her thinking is. Okay?

Now, I would just like to ask the Supreme Court, when you want things run by experts, do you mean things like the State Department, or the counsel of foreign relations, that have gotten us into these endless war wars for 100 years?

Because these are the things that Woodrow Wilson wanted. He wanted the country run by experts.

Okay. So is it like the Council of Foreign Relations, that keep getting us into these endless wars.

Or is it more like the Fed, that directs our fiscal policy, that has driven us into $38 trillion of at the time. We have all powerful banks. That strangely all belong to the fed. And endless bailouts for those banks. Are those the experts that you're talking about?

Or are you talking about the experts that are doctors, that gave the country sterilizations, lobotomies, transgender surgeries. You know, or should we listen to the experts, like the ones that are now speaking in Illinois, to get us death on demand like Canada has, with their MAID assisted suicide, which is now the third largest killer in Canada. MAID, assisted suicide, third largest killer in Canada. Experts are saying, we now need it here, and they're pushing for it in Illinois. Or should we listen to the experts? And I think many of them are the same experts strangely, that brought us COVID. Yeah. That was an expert thing. They were trying to protect us. Because they need to do this for our protection. So direct from the labs in China with the help of the American experts like Fauci. We almost put the world out.

Should we listen to those guys?

Or the experts that brought us masking, and Home Depot is absolutely safe. But Ace Hardware wants to kill grandma. Which are the experts that we want? That we want to make sure that we have in our lives? That they don't answer, or can't be fired by anybody. Because I'm pretty full up on the experts, myself. I don't know.

But you're right. These experts would keep the president in check, and they would keep Congress in check. And you in check!

And the Supreme Court, which would be really great. You know, and you know who else they would keep in check? The people.

So, wow, it seems like we would just be a nation run by experts, and our Constitution would be out the window, because that's a fourth branch!

And if you don't believe me, that, you know, these experts never pay a price. Can you name a single expert?

Give me a name of an expert, that gave us any of the things that I just told you about.

Give me the name. I mean, give me the name of one of them. Give me the name of one of them that went to jail. Give me the name of one expert that has been discredited.

You know, where your name will be mud in this town. Do you know where that came from?

Your name is going to be mud. It's not M-U-D. It's M-U-D-D, that comes from Dr. Samuel Mudd. Okay? He was a docks man. He was an expert. He was that set John Wilkes Booth' broken leg. He made crutches. He let him stay there for a while. He claimed he didn't know him, but he did know him.

In fact, one of the reasons they proved it.

Is because when he pulled the boots off -- when he pulled both of his boots off, right there, in the back, you couldn't have missed it. It said "John Wilkes Booth."

He's like, I have no idea who he was.

Yeah. Well, you knew him in advance. This was a predetermined outpost where he could stay. It's clear you could know him.

The guy was still discredited, we still use his name today. Your name will be mud in this town.

And we think that it's like dirt, mixed with water kind of mud. No, it's M-U-D-D, Dr. Mudd. The expert that was so discredited, went to jail, paid for his part of the assassination of -- of Lincoln.

Give me the name of one of the experts in the last 100 years, that has brought us any of the trials and the tribulations. The things that have almost brought us to our knees. Give me the name of one of them. Can't!

Because once an expert class, they don't answer to anyone. So they never go to jail.

Wow! Doesn't that sound familiar. People never going to jail!

There's a rant that's going around right now, that I did in 2020. And everybody is like, see. He's talking about Pam Bondi.

No, no. I got to play this for you, a little later on in the program. But I want to get to the experts and what the Constitution actually says about that. Because you don't need my opinion. What you need are the actual facts. So you can stand up and say, yeah. I think Ketanji Brown Jackson is an idiot. Okay?

And she's really not an expert on anything. Especially the Constitution. You need the facts, on what the Founders said. Because the Founders would be absolutely against what they did in 1935.

Because that just -- what does it do?

It just sets up a fourth branch of government.

EXPLAINED: Why the Warner-Netflix/Paramount Merger is DANGEROUS for All of Us

The biggest media merger in modern history is unfolding, and Glenn Beck warns it’s the most dangerous consolidation of power America has faced in decades. With six corporations already controlling 90% of the nation’s news and entertainment, a Warner-Netflix or Warner-Paramount megacorporation would create an unstoppable information cartel. Glenn exposes how “too big to fail” thinking is repeating itself, how global elites and “experts” are tightening their grip, and why handing our entire cultural narrative to a handful of companies is a direct threat to freedom. The hour is late — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: By the way, it's never good when you consolidate power. It's never good.

And what is going on now, with this Netflix Warner Brothers paramount stuff, I don't care if Larry Ellison is a conservative or not.

No one should have that much power.

I did a show, gosh, four years ago. I don't even remember when I did it.

We looked it up. In the 1980s. 19 percent of American media was owned by over 50 companies.

Forty years later, 90 percent of the media is watched and controlled by six companies.

National Amusements, the Red Stone Family controls CBS, CMT, MTV, Nickelodeon, gaming and internet. Simon & Schuster Books. That's all one.

Disney, ABC, ESPN, History Channel, Marvel, Star Wars, video games and print.

TimeWarner controls CNN, Warner Brothers, HBO, Turner, video games, internet, and print media like TIME. Comcast, MSNBC, NBC.

CNBC, Telemundo, the Internet.

New Corp. Fox. National Geographic. Ton of others. Sony, with a ton of movies, music and more. The big six. They're valued at nearly $500 billion.

Now, this is something I put together five years ago. So I don't even know. This is probably not even valid even today.

And now we're talking about Netflix, Warner Brothers. Paramount, into all of these one giant corporation. It's wrong! It's wrong!

We can't keep putting all -- everything into the hands of just a few! It's what's killing us!

We've got to spread this around. We can't -- the government cannot okay mergers like this.

They're big enough he has

What happened -- what happened when the banks went under, or almost went under in '08. What did they say the problem was?

They said the banks are too big to fail.

Too big to fail.

Because they were providing all of the services, everybody needs. All the time. And there's only a handful of them.

So if they fall, then everything falls.

Right?

That was the problem. So what did we do to fix it?

We made them bigger!

We let them merge with other banks, and gobble up other things!

And started taking on the local banks.

And so now, your banks that were too big to fail. Are now even bigger. And their failure would be even worse!

What is wrong with us?

Seriously, we're not this stupid.

We're not this stupid.

I think we're just this comfortable.

We just think the experts have a plan. No. The experts don't have a plan.

Their plan is stupid. Their plan is to make it bigger.

Every time it fails. Make it bigger. Push it up.

Make it more global.

No. Haven't you seen what the entire world is like?

The entire world is over-leveraged. The entire world is on the edge.

The entire world is being redesigned.
So what do we do? We don't allow them to make things bigger! We need to start taking more individual and local control of things. They're making it bigger. Which will make the problem bigger. And make the problem so big, you won't be able to do anything about it, because all the experts. All of the heads. They'll all -- there will be six of them. And they will all be sitting in one room.

And they will all be making the instigations. And with them, making those decisions will be all the heads of all the countries around the world, that you're not going to have a say in any of that. They're already trying to do it with the WEF.

But if -- if the Supreme Court says, no, experts matter. And the president can't fire them. You will not have any control over anything!

We're at this place, where we can back out. We can turn around.

We can do it.

It's not too late. But the hour is growing very late.

I don't know about you, I don't like being this.

Up to the edge, you know what I mean?

I would rather have lots of breathing room, between me and the edge of the cliff.

But we don't have that anymore.

Everything has to be done right.

And we have to pay attention.

And the worst thing we can do is make things bigger.

Dream big, think small.

"Rama-Hanu-Kwanz-Mas" - Glenn Beck's HILARIOUS Christmas Song that Triggered the Woke Left

For over two decades, the cultural battles surrounding Christmas have revealed a deeper transformation happening inside American life. What began as political correctness has evolved into a fractured culture where speech is policed, reactions explode into extremes, and sacred traditions are pushed to the margins. From the early warnings mocked in parody songs, to today’s chaotic backlash and misuse of “cancel culture,” the shift is unmistakable. Even the quiet beauty of A Charlie Brown Christmas—once a staple of American childhood—now feels radical, a reminder of the faith, truth, and simplicity our society has forgotten. This episode traces the long arc of how Christmas became a battleground in the modern culture war—and what that reveals about the country’s soul.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So something I worked on this weekend from Glenn AI. It is our first -- our first -- I don't know if I should even announce it. I'm sure, I will not be proud of it soon. But our first offering from Glenn AI. And you'll be able to get it tomorrow.

You know, I thought -- I was thinking about a song we did years ago. Called Ramahanukwanzmas.

And I was thinking, in the time that we did that -- Stu, do you remember the year?

Sara, is it marked on the recording? What year -- it's not? It happened in 2003, Stu, do you know?

STU: I have to look it up. I probably have some record of it.
GLENN: Yeah, really early. Yeah, really early on.

And it was -- it was just as this, you know, war on Christmas thing was happening. And we were making fun of political correctness. And, you know. I was listening to it.

And I thought, oh, my gosh. This is so early on, that we were using words that you just wouldn't even use now.

You know, we were mocking this -- this coming political correctness.

Not knowing how bad it was really going to get. So I wrote putting Christ back in Christmas.

Kind of like, you know, enough. Enough. Enough. We're putting the Christ back in Christmas because we don't care.

That era is over. It's over. But here's where it began. Twenty-five, 27 years ago. Listen to this.
(music)

GLENN: Wow. I mean, did I hear the word "queer" in there? Not in the way that you would you use it today. What were we thinking?

STU: That's the technical definition of the word, at least one of them.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: We think we used it appropriately. But, you know, I don't know. That was pretty -- like, I was looking quickly, like the YouTube there is a version of this, that if you remembered. When that song came out, we -- it played for a few years. And then some listener made an animation of the song.

And then it -- that animation was uploaded to YouTube, 17 years ago. And they called it a classic. Like, this is an animation of Glenn Beck's classic Christmas song.

So it's been a long time.

I don't know exactly how many years, but a lot of them.

It was before even the woke thing was a thing. What we were talking about was the precursor to the woke thing.

Which has now gone through so many different variations.

Where you had -- gosh, we must want to be politically correct. We should be able to say whatever we want.

And then you weren't able to say anything. And then you had, like, the George Floyd era, where you went to prison if you said anything then.

GLENN: I know. I know.

STU: Now we're on the other side of that.

And it's like, now everyone is saying everything sometimes to an extent that isn't necessarily -- necessarily appropriate.

Example of that, from over the weekend, was the Cinnabon story. Did you see this at all, Glenn?
GLENN: No, I didn't.

STU: The -- the woman working at Cinnabon, apparently has -- I think maybe Somalis come into the Cinnabon. I don't know. They get into some sort of argument. The phone turns on. They're filming her, as she tells them that she -- she calls him the N-word multiple times. And says that she's proud of being a racist.

And, you know, you might not be the shocked to hear that Cinnabon fired her for that. But see, I don't think that's cancel culture. Just so we can be clear.

GLENN: No. That's not cancel culture. No.

STU: No, I'm pretty sure it's difficult to employ someone calling customers of the store the N-word repeatedly, while working at the store.

GLENN: Right. And proud to be a racist. No. No, I don't.

STU: That's different. We lose track of these terms sometimes.

Now she's gone on to -- you know, one of these sites. I don't know if it's GoFundMe. But it's one of them, and people have put up, like, oh, gosh. She's been cancelled. Please help her.

And she's raised $100,000. It's like, you should not be rewarded for $100,000 for saying the N-word at Cinnabon.

GLENN: No, you should give that to rappers.

STU: Yes, somewhere again --

GLENN: Theater ones who should get the money for using the N-word.

STU: Yes, exactly.

GLENN: We've learned that how many times.

STU: I feel like we -- sometimes, when society makes a really bad call over a long period of time, people get angry and want to push back against that appropriately.

And that keeps extending itself until it's no longer an appropriate pushback against that bad thing.

It's just its own bad thing.

And I don't know. Maybe we should realize that.

GLENN: So when was the last time you watched a Charlie brown Christmas?

STU: It's a great question.

Probably last year. Or the year before.

I haven't watched it this year, yet.

GLENN: Yeah. I watched it last night. With my eldest daughter Mary.

And we watched it. And we've been talking about watching it for a while. We watched it last night. The night before dinner.

And you think that, oh. Simpler times.

Simpler times.

Look at, the gospel of Luke is in that.

Right?

Doesn't anyone know the real meaning of Christmas?
I do, Charlie Brown. That was not -- nobody thought that that special was going to work. Did you know this? The Charlie Brown Christmas. They thought was slow, boring, and way too sad.

And no child was going to -- was going to embrace it.

Coca-Cola went to CBS and said, I -- you want to talk about, it's all a giant syndicate, you know.

Coca-Cola went to CBS and said, we want a Christmas special to advertise in.

And so they went to this guy, Lee Mendelson, who had just done a documentary on Charles Schultz. And they had become friends with Charles Schultz.

And he said, you know. Would you do a Christmas thing?

And he said, I don't know.

I'll do it.

And so they went back and forth.

And the animator said that we have to have real children voices.

And I want to use a really sparse soundtrack. I just want to -- I mean, want to make the music really important.

So we went to the -- the jazz band, to do the Charlie Brown Christmas stuff.

And Charles Schultz said, I'll only do it if we include the gospel of you Luke. And CBS said, we can't put the gospel of Luke in there.

I mean, that's -- that's a bridge too far. Back in, what? 1964 or '65.

So the year -- I think it's the year after I'm born, it airs. So they're making this, while my mom is pushing me out. They're making the Charlie Brown Christmas. Okay?

And it was controversial back then, to put the Christmas story in.

They finish it. They expect it to last one year. Everybody at CBS is like, just don't tell Coca-Cola. Nobody is going to watch this thing. And it turned out to be, you know, a huge, huge blockbuster.

It ran for I think 35 years. Every single year. They only played it once. I remember as a kid, tonight is Charlie Brown.

Tonight is Charlie Brown. Don't forget. Tonight is Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. And Frosty the Snowman. As a kid, it was the -- that's all you talked about on those days, on Christmas.

In the Christmas season. You would say, how many days until Charlie Brown. Don't forget. Watch it tonight. And we watched it for 35 years. On CBS.

Then it -- in 2001, it moved to ABC. And now it's on Apple TV. And they have all the peanut stuff.

But I was thinking as I watched last night, how much money has this made?

And who has you all that money?

Who got you all that money?

Who are still paying for these? It had to be a fortune. A fortune.

STU: Worth every penny.

Think about that. The exposure to -- like, you're rooting for the kid, talking about God!

Like what is that -- what an incredible dynamic, that played out.

It is unbelievable watching it. And how out of place that particular thing feels, in a way.

Because, you know, as you note, the sort of sparseness of the production of it.

The whole thing just stops. And there's that long walk to the stage, before he goes into the speech. It is really -- it totally draws can't attention.

GLENN: It was slowly in the 1960s. They say it was too slow in the 1960s.

So imagine -- I mean, that's why we feel it today. Imagine what our kids think about this. Oh, God. I watched three TikTok videos by the time Linus said there was something. And he said, turn on the lights!

It was like, it's crazy. It's crazy.

STU: It really is an amazing thing. And it has a way of drawing your attention in.

It's so sparse. And reasonable medical probability like, the pacing of it is so awkward. And especially in that moment. You can't help, but kind of lean in.

You know, you're like, wait. What's he about to say? Then he just goes into like, reading the Bible. It is -- it is an amazing moment in American television history. And thank God it exists! I mean, it is something that probably is introduced, you know. A ton of kids to this stuff for the first time.