RADIOMarch 05, 2024

REALLY? Biden Creates Shrinkflation Task Force to Blame COMPANIES for HIS Failures

President Biden is launching a new shrinkflation task force to crack down on the “unfair and illegal pricing” of goods. But is Biden right to blame companies when it’s his economic policies that has caused inflation? “You Will Own Nothing” author Carol Roth joins Glenn to break down why this FTC and DOJ-led task force is actually push for price controls. Plus, Carol weighs in on New York Attorney General Letitia James’ recent attack on the beef industry and how the White House is spreading propaganda through Cookie Monster.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. We have Carol Roth with us. Carol Roth is a good friend of the program. And also the author of, you will own nothing.

Former investment banker now cares about Main Street.

Carol, how are you?

CAROL: Well, Glenn, you seem a little feisty today, and I always enjoy feisty Glenn. This should be good.

GLENN: Well, I tell you, the Cookie Monster really pissed me off today, because there's no way, that that's a coincidence. That's coordinated propaganda from the White House.

CAROL: Well, I feel like Cookie Monster is the one who got it right. Cookie Monster is not the one who blamed the corporations. I believe it was Joe Biden, right. He just said that his cookies were getting smaller because of shrinkflation.

GLENN: Right.

CAROL: And I think that makes him a better economist than anyone in the Biden administration or in the New York Times. You know, for that matter.

But the reality is that this is a Biden talking point, so they picked up on this, and they said, no, no, no. Cookie Monster, shrinkflation is happening because of the green corporations.

GLENN: So today, they're launching something. And, Carol, I want to get your read on this.

This seems a little terrifying. Joe Biden today is launching a new task force to take on unfair and illegal corporate pricing, which Biden sees as a major reason why consumers are not yet feeling the impact of a cooling inflation rate.

The task force will jointly be led by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, two agencies at the forefront of the Biden administration's aggressive regulatory agenda over the past three years.

Wow!

What are these illegal -- what did they say?

Illegal --

CAROL: Illegal and unfair. Illegal and unfair pricing. Unfair -- unfair is anything that Biden says doesn't go along with his narrative. And he's really talking out of both sides of his mouth. Or perhaps mumbling outside of both side of his mouth.

On the one hand, he's touting how much the economy is growing.

That things are going well.

That wages are increasing. If that was the case. Corporations should be doing better.

And there is no corporation, that is making any sort of outsized profits. Things like shrinkflation. And what's happening. Our downstream issues from the inflation.

That the Biden administration caused. And certainly the fed caused.

So to now say, we're going to have a task force. That is going to look up unfair and legal pricing practices.

You know, legal is one thing.

There's a certain definition at least today.

Who knows what that could be expanded to. Unfair is obviously anything that they don't happen to believe in or agree with. Or is against their policy.

One of the things we know in economics, across-the-board, price controls don't work.

That's something that creates rationing, and goods shortages.

GLENN: And a black market.

CAROL: Even Paul Krugman, who gets everything wrong. The one thing he's ever gotten right. He's against rent control. Which is one of many of price controls, even he kind of gets the fact that price controls don't work.

Everyone pretty much across-the-board agrees with that. But now they want to come in with the government, and step in. And say, oh, you're earning too much of a profit.

We don't like what you're doing.

You need to lower your prices.

Even though we're imposing this world upon you. That is a recipe of disaster. And obviously, completely the opposite of free market capitalism.

GLENN: Right. It is a fascistic move. When the government tells companies what to do, it's a move that fascists make.

I'm concerned about this, because, you know, with all the public/private partnerships. The ones that are going to get into trouble. Are not the ones doing the bidding of the American government now.

Let me give you an example. New York State attorney, Latisha James, has now filed suit, against JBS, USA food company.

This is the world's largest beef producer.

Accusing him of fraudulent and illegal business activities.

And disgorgement of all profits and ill-gotten gains.

She's using the state's apparatus, to go after beef procures.

But not for any other reason, other than they say, they are shooting for zero e- missions by 2040.

And she says that's fraud.

CAROL: Yes. She's accusing them of what's, quote, unquote, brainwashing. The state has put these different apparatus around these the different companies.

The companies as we know, leaned into those and wanted to sound like they were complying.

And so they said, oh, we're going to do all these things to help the environment. So now she's saying no, it's fraudulent. You haven't done the things that we said, or at least in the way that we said.

And, you know, with JBS. It's a little bit tough obviously. Because they're this huge corporate conglomerate. In some cases, they may have created some issues with the independent farmers. Either way, you're not rooting for the state here to come in.

And this discouragement of profits sounds, by the way, a lot what happened to Donald Trump. So this is anything that people made, we're going to confiscate it.

GLENN: First New York came for the National Rifle Association. I didn't say anything, because I didn't own a rifle. I wasn't a hunter, and I disagree with guns.

Then they came for Donald Trump, but I didn't vote for him. So it didn't matter. Now they're coming for beef.

And, you know, you could go after JBS for unfair business practices in my opinion. Because I'm a rancher.

CAROL: Sure.

GLENN: And I see these -- I believe there's absolute collusion with the three companies that are producing all of the beef in the country.

They're getting rich. The farmers are getting poorer. The ranchers are getting poorer.

So I think you can go after that. But it would have to be legitimate. I don't have the facts.

You could go after them for that. And break that monopoly up. Which I think is -- is fair. But he's not.

She's talking about the rain forest. What the hell does the rain forest have to do with New York?

CAROL: And not only that. This is very war on small business-like, right?

Because these bigger companies will have the Capitol base and the power to withstand at least the first time around, some of these tests from the state. But if you are an independent farmer. Or you are a small business, in some other arena. And they come after you. That's it. You are wiped off the map.

Which just further consolidates, those are exactly the opposite of what you just talked about. It doesn't create this more fair playing field.

It creates these tighter monopolies and do you duopolies. So this is almost like a warning sign to say, hey, maybe you want to get out of this business. Because we're coming after you.

And that seems like the plan. They want to capture and control more and more of our resources. And bring it more along with the state.

And they're finding all of these, frankly, unconstitutional ways, and banana republic sort of ways to do it, and we have to stand up.

GLENN: I have to tell you, you got to get out of New York because they're just going the wrong way. Carol -- and, Stu, I think you know a little bit about this too.

This is the future. Litigation is the way the left is moving. They're going to overwhelm the system, with lawsuits, on anything they disagree.

They're just going to take this.

Look what they're doing to Donald Trump.

That's going to happen everywhere.

STU: Yeah. Law fair is definitely the strangle, right?

They keep coming out. They push these things down the throats of everybody.

And then, what's the response?

Like the good outcome, is you spend years and years and years litigating, and spend tons and tons of money defending yourself.

You're not furthering the economy, you're not furthering your business, you're not helping anybody. You're not making products benefiting anyone. You're just in constant defense mode. And how do you advance yourself that way?

CAROL: And you have to have the capital base to be able to do that.

This is not something for the faint of heart, or if you don't have enough dollars in the bank, this is a very expensive endeavor, to be able to fight this.

So you come out the other end. And it's not guaranteed that you will get restitution for your legal fees or anything else for that matter. It's like, oh. Sorry. I guess we didn't win this particular one.

Or you send up in a corrupt area. And they do end up winning. On something that is baseless, as we saw happening in New York.

So it's very frightening. For anybody that has this.

GLENN: So let me ask you. Hochul came out last time under Trump.

Don't worry. This is Donald Trump-specific.

No. No. No. This is exactly. They are targeting a business they don't like. And theory trying to take it down, with everything the state has in its power.

When -- when does New York cross the Rubicon, and businesses just say, I am out of here?

When does New York collapse economically?

CAROL: It's a really good question. Certainly as a test run, I do think that people, particularly New York has a lot of liberal people, who believe that they -- will not happen to them.

We did see mass movement during COVID.

People who said, I've had enough of these policies.

Certainly, the cost. The crime. All those other issues.

Seen a mass exodus in the state, for places like Florida.

For people who remain, that say, no. This is my home. This is the heartbeat of my soul or whatever it is. They just aren't going to believe that it is going to happen to them, until it happens to one of them.

And then, of course, they make another set of excuses, saying, well, you know, this was different.

And I just think, that's one of the big issues with this country.

We have a lot of people, who are in conditional. And decoupled with reality.

And don't understand. And don't want to frankly understand. The reality of what is happening here, Glenn.

GLENN: Right.

So let me go back to this tribunal.

That the -- that the president is starting today. With the Department of Justice.

And the FDC.

This again, I -- I -- you know, I hate to be such a cynic.

But I -- I have no reason, not to be in this case.

They're going to target the companies that are not falling in line with them.

And how are you -- how are we going to fight this one?

What should these companies do?

And what should the average person do, to prepare? Because this is -- this is really going to go right to the heart of capitalism.

CAROL: Yeah. To think, the one piece of good news, the courts are also working. In some cases, the other way.

And there are groups like Pacific legal foundation. And others, who are these nonprofits, that will stand up, for businesses, and individual rights.

We just saw a -- at least interim win, that Corporate Transparency Act that we had talked about.
The financial crimes network, that was mass-targeting small businesses over the weekend. The Alabama courts had ruled or came out over the weekend, had ruled that it was unconstitutional.

Certainly, we imagined that the Treasury will fight that. If that holds, that shows, that there will be a win.

So there will be these marquee opportunities to push back.

Unfortunately, it's just exhausting.

Because it's like, you go and you kill the ants, and you think that you got everything done. And then the rain comes

And then you have a whole group of them coming back out.

I think we have to stay vigilant. And we have to use our voices.

Because the places where people have spoken up, and said, this is an issue, across-the-board. Whether it's to politicians.

Whether it's to Wall Street.

Wherever it is. Those are the places they backed off. And certainly, they've gone somewhere else.

But things like messing with our food supply, that is an absolute no. And something that everybody should be using their voices.

GLENN: So BlackRock says ESG advocacy say risk-factory for its bottom line.

I told you, don't believe them.

They will repackage.

Carol, I just want to hit this briefly.

Because I've got other things on the economy, I want to talk about.

BlackRock has now said, we're not doing ESG. Too many lawsuits. But we're doing transition investing.

Hmm. What's transition investing?

CAROL: They're transitioning, Glenn.

They want to transition, and they're transitioning, away from ESG.

And they're doing it in infrastructure.

And when they say infrastructure. They mean things like transportation.

Like water. Like sewage. And the like.

So instead of using their client's money to bully companies to make the changes they want. They're like, let's just use our client's money to invest directly into things that are sort of lynch pins, in making a change in their sort of energy cultism, so to speak.

So one of the things they did, they bought a private equity firm. That, actually, specialized in this. Not even just public money. But private money.

This company has about 100 billion in assets, under management. Which is -- not to say is a small amount of money. It's a huge amount of money.

But in terms of BlackRock, it's about 1 percent of their assets under management. Because remember they have about 10 trillion in assets under management.

But it gives them the vehicle to make these direct investments. And the firm they bought, owned things like big pieces of airports around the world. And water and sewage treatment and the like. And so BlackRock is going to be offering more of these investment opportunities, as well as having funds that do that in the public sector.

But the reason, they're doing it. You know, this is not just about control.

This is about following the money, Glenn.

And that is sort of the -- one of the ten polls of ESG. This is a quote from Larry Fink.

Policymakers are only just beginning to implement once in a generation financial incentives, for new infrastructure, technologies, and projects.

So this is not only about control. But this is another cash grab.

They are going to say, well, if we have our friends that we can influence in the government. And we can get them to give more incentives to the projects that we're investing in, then we are going to make more money. And we can achieve our goal. What a great win.

And another way to just completely consolidate money. Take taxpayer money. And find ways to enrich themselves while destroying our lives.

GLENN: That's fantastic.

CAROL: Yep.

GLENN: By the way, one quick thing. We have 90 seconds. We are adding 1 trillion dollars' worth of debt now, every three to four months.

CAROL: Correct. Every 100 days, $1 trillion. I said that you have that one family member in every family, who is the irresponsible one. The one who spends all their money, and then comes begging to you, and saying, they're going to be different this time.

GLENN: Right.

CAROL: The government is that drunk uncle. That is your family member. And unfortunately, there is no -- there is no stopping. But everybody knows the problem.

Like everybody has said this is a problem now. And nobody has the fortitude to do anything about it. We're talking from rating agencies. The Treasury, the Fed, the IMF. You know, major players from Jamie Dimon.

Every single person has come out now and said, this is a massive issue, and nobody is doing anything about this.

GLENN: And when you do this, and you add a trillion dollars every 100 days, to the debt.

Of course, inflation is going to go up.

And that's why you need price controls. And price controls lead to all kinds of bad things.

Don't believe what the mainstream media is telling you.

This is simple mathematics. Period.

Carol, thank you so much.

We'll talk again. God bless.

Carol Roth, the author of the book, you will own nothing.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

How to Find God in a Divided World | Max Lucado & Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck sits down with beloved pastor and author Max Lucado for a deep conversation about faith, humility, and finding unity in a divided world. Together, they reflect on the importance of principles over politics, why humility opens the door to true dialogue, and how centering life on God brings clarity and peace. Lucado shares stories of faith, the dangers of a “prosperity gospel,” and the powerful reminder that life is not about making a big deal of ourselves, but about making a big deal of God. This uplifting conversation will inspire you to re-center your life, strengthen your faith, and see how humility and love can transform even the most divided times.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with Max Lucado HERE

Confronting evil: Bill O'Reilly's insight on Charlie Kirk's enduring legacy

Bill O’Reilly joins Glenn Beck with a powerful prediction about Charlie Kirk’s legacy. Evil tried to destroy his movement, Bill says, but – as his new book, “Confronting Evil,” lays out – evil will just end up destroying itself once more…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Mr. Bill O'Reilly, welcome to the program, how are you, sir?

BILL: Good, Beck, thanks for having me back. I appreciate it. How have you been?

GLENN: Last week was really tough. I know it was tough for you and everybody else.

But, you know -- I haven't -- I haven't seen anything.

BILL: Family okay? All of that?

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. Family is okay. Family is okay.

BILL: Good question good. That's the most important thing.

GLENN: It is.

So, Bill, what do you make of this whole Charlie Kirk thing. What happened, and where are we headed?

BILL: So my analysis is different for everybody else, and those that know me for so long. About a year ago, I was looking for a topic -- it was a contract to do another book. And I said, you know what's happening in America, and around the world. Was a rise in evil. It takes a year to research and write these books.

And not since the 1930s, had I seen that happen, to this extent. And in the 1930s, of course, you would have Tojo and Hitler and Mussolini and Franco and all these guys. And it led to 100 million dead in World War II. The same thing, not to the extent.

But the same thing was --
GLENN: Yet.
BILL: -- bubbling in the world, and in the United States.

I decided to write a book. The book comes out last Tuesday. And on Wednesday, Putin lobs missiles into Poland.

Ultra dangerous.

And a few hours later, Charlie Kirk is assassinated.

And one of the interviewers said to me last week, your -- your book is haunting. Is haunting.

And I think that's extremely accurate. Because that's what evil does.

And in the United States, we have so many distractions. The social media.

People create around their own lives.

Sports. Whatever it may be. That we look away.

Now, Charlie Kirk was an interesting fellow. Because at a very young age, he was mature enough to understand that he wanted to take a stand in favor of traditional America and Judeo Christian philosophy.

He decided that he wanted to do that.

You know, and when I was 31 or whatever, I was lucky I wasn't in the penitentiary. And I believe you were in the penitentiary.
(laughter)
So he was light years ahead of us.

GLENN: Yes, he was.

BILL: And he put it into motion. All right? Now, most good people, even if you disagree with what Mr. Kirk says on occasion, you admire that. That's the spirit of America. That you have a belief system, that you go out and try to promote that belief system, for the greater good of the country. That's what it is.

That's what Charlie Kirk did.

And he lost his life.

By doing it!

So when you essentially break all of this down. You take the emotion away, all right?

Which I have to do, in my job. You see it as another victory for evil.

But it really isn't.

And this is the ongoing story.

This is the most important story. So when you read my book, Confronting Evil, you'll see that all of these heinous individuals, Putin's on the cover. Mao. Hitler.

Ayatollah Khomeini. And then there are 14 others inside the book. They all destroy themselves.

Evil always destroys itself. But it takes so many people with it. So this shooter destroyed his own family.

And -- and Donald Trump, I talked to him about it last week in Yankee stadium. And Trump is a much different guy than most people think.

GLENN: He is.

JASON: He destroyed his own mother and father and his two brothers.

That's what he did. In addition to the Kirk family!

So evil spreads. Now, if Americans pay attention and come to the conclusion that I just stated, it will be much more difficult for evil to operate openly.

And that's what I think is going to happen.

There's going to be a ferocious backlash against the progressive left in particular.

To stop it, and I believe that is what Mr. Kirk's legacy is going to be.

GLENN: I -- I agree with you on all of these fronts.

I wonder though, you know, it took three, or if you count JFK, four assassinations in the '60s, to confront the evil if you will.

Before people really woke up and said, enough is enough!

And then you have the big Jesus revolution after that.

Is -- I hate to say this. But is -- as far gone as we are, is one assassination enough to wake people up?

JOHN: Some people. Some people will never wake up.

They just don't want to live in the real world, Beck. And it's never been easier to do that with the social media and the phones and the computers.

And you're never going to get them back.

But you don't need them. So let's just be very realistic here on the Glenn Beck show.

Let's run it down.

The corporate media is finished.

In America. It's over.

And you will see that play out the next five years.

Because the corporate media invested so much of its credibility into hating Donald Trump.

And the hate is the key word.

You will find this interesting, Beck. For the first time in ten years, I've been invited to do a major thing on CBS, today.

I will do it GE today. With major Garrett.

GLENN: Wow.

BILL: Now, that only happened because Skydance bought CBS. And Skydance understands the brand CBS is over, and they will have to rehabilitate the whole thing. NBC has not come to that conclusion yet, but it will have to.

And ABC just does the weather. I mean, that's all they care about. Is it snowing in Montana? Okay? The cables are all finished. Even Fox.

Once Trump leaves the stage, there's nowhere for FNC to go. Because they've invested so much in Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump.

So the fact of the matter is, the corporate media is over in America. That takes a huge cudgel out of the hands of the progressive movement.

Because the progressive movement was dependent on the corporate media to advance its cause. That's going to end, Beck.

GLENN: Well, I would hope that you're right.

Let me ask you about --

BILL: When am I wrong?

When am I wrong?

You've known me for 55 years. When have I been wrong?

GLENN: Okay. All right. All right. We're not here to argue things like that.

So tell me about Skydance. Because isn't Skydance Chinese?

BILL: No! It's Ellison. Larry Ellison, the second richest guy in the world. He owns Lanai and Hawaii, the big tech guy and his son is running it.

GLENN: Yeah, okay.

I though Skydance. I thought that was -- you know them.

BILL: Yeah.

And they -- they're not ideological, but they were as appalled as most of us who pay attention at the deterioration of the network presentations.

So --

GLENN: You think that they could.

BILL: 60 Minutes used to be the gold standard.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

BILL: And it just -- it -- you know, you know, I don't know if you watch it anymore.

GLENN: I don't either.

So do you think they can actually turn CBS around, or is it just over?

BILL: I don't know. It's very hard to predict, because so many people now bail. I've got a daughter 26, and a son, 22.

They never, ever watched network television.

And you've got -- it's true. Right?

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

They don't watch --

BILL: They're not going to watch The Voice. The dancing with this. The juggling with that. You know, I think they could do a much better job in their news presentations.

GLENN: Yeah. Right.

BILL: Because what they did, is banish people like Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly.

Same voices, with huge followings.

Huge!

All right?

We couldn't get on there.

That's why Colbert got fired. Because Colbert wouldn't -- refused to put on any non-progressive voice, when they were talking about the country.

GLENN: I know.

BILL: Well, it's not -- I'm censoring it.

GLENN: Yeah, but it's not that he was fired because he wouldn't do that. He was fired because that led to horrible ratings. Horrible ratings.

BILL: Yes, it was his defiance.

GLENN: Yes.

BILL: Fallon has terrible ratings and so does Kimmel. But Colbert was in your face, F you, to the people who were signing his paycheck.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

BILL: Look, evil can only exist if the mechanisms of power are behind it.

And that's when you read the front -- I take them one by one. And Putin is the most important chapter by far.

GLENN: Why?

BILL: Because Putin would use nuclear weapon.

He wouldn't. He's a psychopath.

And I'm -- on Thursday night, I got a call from the president's people saying, would I meet the president at Yankee stadium for the 9/11 game?

And I said, when a president calls and asks you to meet them, sure.

GLENN: I'll be there. What time?

BILL: It will take me three days to get into Yankee stadium, on Long Island. But I'll start now.

GLENN: Especially because the president is coming. But go ahead.

BILL: Anyway, that was a very, I think that Mr. Trump values my opinion. And it was -- we did talk about Putin.

And the change in Putin. And I had warned him, that Putin had changed from the first administration, where Trump controlled Putin to some extent.

Now he's out of control. Because that's what always happens.

GLENN: Yeah.

BILL: It happened with Hitler. It happened with Mao. It happened with the ayatollah. It happened with Stalin. Right now. They get worse and worse and worse and worse. And then they blow up.

And that's where Putin is! But he couldn't do any of that, without the assent of the Russian people. They are allowing him to do this, to kill women and children. A million Russian casualties for what! For what! Okay?

So that's why this book is just in the stratosphere. And I was thinking object, oh. Because people want to understand evil, finally. Finally.

They're taking a hard look at it, and the Charlie Kirk assassination was an impetus to do that.

GLENN: Yeah. And I think it's also an impetus to look at the good side.

I mean, I think Charlie was just not a neutral -- a neutral character. He was a force for good. And for God.

And I think that -- that combination is almost the Martin Luther King combination. Where you have a guy who is speaking up for civil rights.

But then also, speaking up for God. And speaking truth, Scripturally.

And I think that combination still, strangely, I wouldn't have predicted it. But strangely still works here in America, and I think it's changed everything.

Bill, it's always food to talk to you. Thank you so much for being on. I appreciate it.

It's Bill O'Reilly. The name of the book, you don't want to miss. Is confronting evil. And he takes all of these really, really bad guys on. One by one. And shows you, what happens if you don't do something about it. Confronting evil. Bill O'Reilly.

And you can find it at BillO'Reilly.com.

Should people CELEBRATING Charlie Kirk’s death be fired?

There’s a big difference between firing someone, like a teacher, for believing children shouldn’t undergo trans surgery and firing a teacher who celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk. Glenn Beck explains why the latter is NOT “cancel culture.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I got an email from somebody that says, Glenn, in the wake of Charlie's assassination, dozens of teachers, professors and professionals are being suspended or fired for mocking, or even celebrating Charlie Kirk's death.

Critics say conservatives are now being hypocritical because you oppose cancel culture. But is this the same as rose an losing her job over a crude joke. Or is it celebrating murder, and that's something more serious?

For many, this isn't about cancellation it's about trust. If a teacher is entrusted with children or a doctor entrusted with patients, publicly celebrates political violence, have they not yet disqualified themselves from those roles? Words matter. But cheering a death is an action. Is there any consequence for this? Yes. There is.

So let's have that conversation here for a second.

Is every -- is every speech controversy the same?

The answer to that is clearly no.

I mean, we've seen teachers and pastors and doctors and ordinary citizens lose their job now, just for saying they don't believe children under 18 should undergo transgender surgeries. Okay? Lost their job. Chased out.

That opinion, whether you agree or disagree is a moral and medical judgment.

And it is a matter of policy debate. It is speech in the public square.

I have a right to say, you're mutilating children. Okay. You have a right to say, no. We're not. This is the best practices. And then we can get into the silences of it. And we don't shout down the other side.

Okay? Now, on the other hand, you have Charlie Kirk's assassination. And we've seen teachers and professors go online and be celebrate.

Not criticize. Not argue policy. But celebrate that someone was murdered.

Some have gone so far and said, it's not a tragedy. It's a victory. Somebody else, another professor said, you reap what you sow.

Well, let me ask you: Are these two categories of free speech the same?

No! They're not.

Here's the difference. To say, I believe children should not be allowed to have gender surgeries, before 18. That is an attempt, right or wrong. It doesn't matter which side you are.

That is an attempt to protect life. Protect children. And guide society.

It's entering the debate about the role of medicine. The right of parents. And the boundaries of childhood. That's what that is about. To say Charlie Kirk's assassination is a good thing, that's not a debate. That's not even an idea. That's rejoicing in violence. It's glorifying death.

There's no place in a civil society for that kind of stuff. There's not. And it's a difference that actually matters.

You know, our Founders fought for free speech because they believed as Jefferson said, that air can be tolerated where truth is left free to combat it.

So I have no problem with people disagreeing with me, at all. I don't think you do either. I hope you don't. Otherwise, you should go back to read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Error can be tolerated where truth is left to be free to combat it.

But when speech shifts from debating ideas to celebrating death, doesn't that cease to be the pursuit of truth and instead, just become a glorification of evil?

I know where I stand on that one. Where do you stand?

I mean, if you go back and you look at history, in colonial matter -- in colonial America, if you were to go against the parliament and against the king, those words were dangerous. They were called treason. But they were whys. They were arguments about liberty and taxation and the rights of man.

And the Founders risked their lives against the dictator to say those things.

Now, compare that to France in 1793.

You Thomas Paine, one of or -- one of our founder kind of. On the edges of our founders.

He thought that what was happening in France is exactly like the American Revolution.

Washington -- no. It wasn't.

There the crowds. They didn't gather to argue. Okay? They argued to cheer the guillotine they didn't want the battle of ideas.

They wanted blood. They wanted heads to roll.

And roll they did. You know, until the people who were screaming for the heads to roll, shouted for blood, found that their own heads were rolling.

Then they turned around on that one pretty quickly.

Think of Rome.

Cicero begged his countrymen to preserve the republic through reason, law, and debate. Then what happened?

The mob started cheering assassinations.

They rejoiced that enemies were slaughtered.

They were being fed to the lions.

And the republic fell into empire.

And liberty was lost!

Okay. So now let me bring this back to Charlie Kirk here for a second.

If there's a professor that says, I don't believe children should have surgeries before adulthood, is that cancel culture, when they're fired?

Yes! Yes, it is.

Because that is speech this pursuit of truth.

However imperfect, it is speech meant to protect children, not to harm them. You also cannot be fired for saying, I disagree with that.

If you are telling, I disagree with that. And I will do anything to shut you down including assassination! Well, then, that's a different story.

What I teacher says, I'm glad Charlie Kirk is dead, is that cancel culture, if they're fired?

Or is that just society saying, you know, I don't think I can trust my kid to -- to that guy.

Or that woman.

I know, that's not an enlightening mind.

Somebody who delights in political murder.

I don't want them around my children! Scripture weighs in here too.

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Matthew.

What does it reveal about the heart of a teacher who celebrates assassination?

To me, you go back to Scripture. Whoa unto them that call good evil -- evil good and good evil.

A society that will shrug on speech like this, say society that has lost its moral compass.

And I believe we still have a moral compass.

Now, our free speech law doesn't protect both. Absolutely. Under law. Absolutely.

Neither one of them should go to jail.

Neither should be silenced by the state.

But does trust survive both?

Can a parent trust their child to a teacher who is celebrating death?

I think no. I don't think a teacher can be trusted if they think that the children that it's right for children to see strippers in first grade!

I'm sorry. It's beyond reason. You should not be around my children!

But you shouldn't go to jail for that. Don't we, as a society have a right to demand virtue, in positions of authority?

Yes.

But the political class and honestly, the educational class, does everything they can to say, that doesn't matter.

But it does. And we're seeing it now. The line between cancel and culture, the -- the cancellation of people, and the accountability of people in our culture, it's not easy.

Except here. I think it is easy.

Cancel culture is about challenging the orthodoxy. Opinions about faith, morality, biology.
Accountability comes when speech reveals somebody's heart.

Accountability comes when you're like, you are a monster! You are celebrating violence. You're mocking life itself. One is an argument. The other is an abandonment of humanity. The Constitution, so you understand, protects both.

But we as a culture can decide, what kind of voices would shape our children? Heal our sick. Lead our communities?

I'm sorry, if you're in a position of trust, I think it's absolutely right for the culture to say, no!

No. You should not -- because this is not policy debate. This is celebrating death.

You know, our Founders gave us liberty.

And, you know, the big thing was, can you keep it?

Well, how do you keep it? Virtue. Virtue.

Liberty without virtue is suicide!

So if anybody is making this case to you, that this is cancel culture. I just want you to ask them this question.

Which do you want to defend?

Cancel culture that silences debate. Or a culture that still knows the difference between debating ideas and celebrating death.

Which one?

Shocking train video: Passengers wait while woman bleeds out

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.