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Why NOT destroying China’s spy balloon may be a BIG MISTAKE

A Chinese balloon was spotted over the northern United States earlier this week, with sightings most recently in Billings, Montana. China has since confirmed the suspected spy balloon is their’s, though stopped short of admitting it’s being used for surveillance (like many in the U.S. suspect). According to CNN, military officials advised President Joe Biden NOT to destroy the balloon, ‘due to fear the debris could pose a safety threat to people on the ground.’ But in this clip, Glenn explains why NOT destroying this 'spy balloon' could be a very BIG mistake…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Let me talk to you about the spy balloon. Stu, what do you know about the spy balloon?

STU: Well, apparently, the spy balloon, flying from a product of China. Flying from our western United States.

GLENN: Yeah. It's over Wyoming.

STU: Alaska. Wyoming now.

GLENN: Yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

STU: I did have a question of, when we have satellites and TikTok, why would we need a balloon? I don't know.

GLENN: It does seem to be a little old-timey, you know.

And at first when I heard that, I thought, they're down to hot air balloons. That's good. You know, that's good. But it's not good.

And here's why: And I'm not hearing anybody talk about this. First of all, the -- the balloon's current path, it carries -- it carries this balloon over a number of sensitive military sites. And they also say -- the United States says, they don't want to shoot it out of the sky because of falling debris. Really?

We don't have anything that would just obliterate that thing in the sky. Really? So, anyway, it was over Canada. And then it flies into the United States. And it's flying over sensitive military nuclear sites.

And the Chinese foreign ministry said, you know, relax, America.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'm -- China should be happy that we don't have a female for president. Because females don't really like it when males say, okay. Sweetheart, relax.

And I think that's kind of what China just said to us, in a very condescending tone. Oh, please, relax. It's just a spy balloon. What are we going to get?

Well, here's the one thing that -- one thing that I -- that I wanted to check, when I saw this.

The -- the balloon, they think, is in an altitude between 80, and 120,000 feet. Now, I'm not saying, that this is what it is.

But I am saying, if we don't shoot it down, and make sure that our own airspace remains sacred, we're out of our minds. Can you imagine Russia. If we had a spy balloon, ask we told Russia or China, ah, relax.

The balloon is at an altitude, they believe between 80 and 120,000 feet. The minimum altitude for an airborne EMP is 94 or 95,000 feet. So that's right in that range. I just want to throw that out there.

I don't think it's an EMP. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's not an EMP. However, if they can fly things over our country. And we do nothing about it.

And they're flying them over our nuclear sites. I think that's a problem.

I don't know about anybody else.

But I'm not really relaxed about it. How about you? Hmm?

STU: Sounds like a big problem. And, you know, certainly, I think, they will learn, that they can do this, if they want to do it. Right?

GLENN: Yeah. Absolutely.

STU: Take a lesson from this.

GLENN: That's the intelligence that they're gathering.

I really believe, they are gathering the intelligence of, will America even respond?

I don't think they will. No. Of course, they will. No. I don't think they will.

Let's fly it over. Fly it into US airspace. And fly it spew their really sensitive military sites. And see if they say a word. No!

That's the intelligence they're gathering.

STU: That's all we do, though. Is we say the word. They're talking about how they're going to make a very uncomfortable meeting, I guess when I guess Blinken meets with them.

GLENN: Oh, very uncomfortable.

We might send them a sternly worded letter. Why not blow it out of the sky? Sincerely. Why not blow it out of the sky.

Just saying.

If it's a balloon, I'm not so worried about shrapnel coming down. Are you?

STU: Well, looking it though, the pictures that are seemingly of this balloon. It doesn't look like a balloon. Like you would think of a balloon.

It looks like there's a decent amount of equipment on it. How would you describe this picture? It looks almost like a satellite.

GLENN: Almost like Sputnik.
(laughter)
Yeah. So it looks kind of like a satellite. I wonder what equipment might be on it. And honestly, there is nothing that a balloon can gather, that I'm aware of. And I talked to some expert about this. There's nothing I'm aware of, that they can't gather very satellite. They can watch us via satellite, they have that technology. So why launch a balloon?

The only answer I and others can come up, that I've talked to. Is they're just testing, whether or not they can invade our airspace. And we do anything. Now, why would they want to know that? This is not good. It's not good.

GLENN: Just saying. Leave it at that.

STU: Your summary of it, do we get a headline out of it? Is that a clickbait-y headline that we can get?

GLENN: Yeah. China flying mysterious balloons with equipment on it, over sensitive US air -- US sites. Suboptimal.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Suboptimal. I'm just saying.

STU: Suboptimal.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: Emphasis on the sub.

GLENN: Yeah. Which they can launch a lot of things.

Anyway, there is a new poll out, and it's a record-setting poll. And I think this is exciting. Only about a third. 36 percent of Americans, say they are satisfied now, with a set of policy issues spanning all aspects of government.

Among the lowest rated issues was the state of the economy. Which our president said, is fixed right? I mean, it's booming.

STU: It's strong as hell, Glenn.

GLENN: Strong as hell. No joke, people. I'm not joking. I'm telling you the truth. I'm shooting straight.

It's strong as hell. A quarter of Americans say, yeah. I'm satisfied with it.

It had the largest year over year decline, dropping eight percentage points.

Satisfaction with gun laws, also dropped sharply this year, to a record low of 34 percent.

Now, this one, I would like you to look into, Stu. I would like you to know. Is that like, yeah. Our gun laws aren't strong enough.

You know, we have to be more like California. Which, well, don't think about the stats on that one, too much.

Because we already have the toughest gun laws in California. But that's because of other states, that we're having all these problems.

Uh-huh. So the satisfaction of gun laws dropped sharply to a record low. Policies on abortion. Efforts to control crime.

Quality of public education. And efforts to combat poverty and homelessness, also remain at near all-time low points.

So we're not in a good mood. Now, they say, there are things we can build on.

Sure, there's a rise of polarization. And a decline in national harmony.

You know, we've always had a baseline, where, you know, people were generally content with America.

And now, people are not. I wonder what could have changed that.

So the perception of overall quality of life in the US has dropped to a record low this year.

As did perceptions of wealth inequality. Less than a quarter of adults now say that they are satisfied the way income and wealth is distributed in the US.

Less than a quarter of adults. So does that mean only a quarter of us believe in the free market?


STU: Is it that high?

GLENN: Is it that high?

STU: I mean, think about that, you are constantly beaten over the head, with how much this country sucks. How terrible it's been. How everything it does is wrong. How every police officer is out to kill minorities. I mean, it's on and on and on.

How every rich person is trying to kill poor people for profit. Every company is out to get you.

You think about how that has to wash over a population over multiple decades, and what other ending can you come to?

Only if people are hard-core their principles.

GLENN: Yeah, they know that. They hard-core know that. And just when you think that things are horrible, the groundhog dies, on Groundhog Day.

It's suboptimal. I'm going to leave it at that.

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The Glenn Beck Program Honors Charlie Kirk

Join Glenn as he goes live to honor the memory of Charlie Kirk. A time of prayer, grieving, and remembrance for a husband, father, and patriot.

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Glenn joins Megyn Kelly live to discuss Charlie Kirk shooting

Covering the breaking news of Charlie Kirk at shot at Turning Point USA event.

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Please pray for my friend Charlie.

Please pray for Charlie Kirk.

Please pray for our Republic.

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Exclusive new poll reveals why Gen Z wants to BURN the system down

A shocking number of young Americans support BOTH President Trump and democratic socialism, a new poll has found, and they're willing to make major changes to the American system to get what they feel they deserve. Justin Haskins, who conducted the poll with Rasmussen, joins Glenn Beck to break down the unexpected findings…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Justin Haskins. He's the president of our republic. StoppingSocialism.com. He's editor-in-chief. And also the coauthor of several books, with me. Welcome to the program, Justin.

How are you?

JUSTIN: I'm doing well, Glenn. How are you?

STU: Well, I was well, until you contacted me on vacation, and sent me this disturbing poll.

I am in bed at night.

And I'm reading this. I'm like, oh, dear.

What? My wife is like, I told you to not check this email. I'm like, I didn't know Justin was going to write to me.

Justin, tell me, first of all, before we get into it, how secure is the sample size on this poll?

JUSTIN: It's a very good sample size. 1200 people nationally.

Only 18 to 39-year-olds. And we did that deliberately, so that we could get a sample size large enough so we could pull out valid responses, just from younger people.

So the whole purpose of this poll was to find out what younger people, 18 to 39 think, voters only. And people who say that they're likely to vote. So we're not talking about just people out in the public. We're not talking about registered voters.

We're talking about people who are registered to vote. And say they're likely to vote.

GLENN: So let's go over some of the things that you have already released to the press.

And that is, in the survey, 18 to 39-year-olds, likely voters.

The Trump approval rating is a lot higher than you thought it would be. Right?

JUSTIN: Yeah. Yeah. Forty-eight percent positive approval rating of Donald Trump, which for young people, is very high.

So that's -- that's the good news.

That's the only good news we're going to talk about.

GLENN: We might have to come back to that first question several times.

Do you believe the United States is a fundamentally good, evil, or morally mixed country?

JUSTIN: Yep. This one is not too bad.

It's not great. But fundamentally good was 28 percent.

Which is low. But mixed was 50 percent.

And fundamentally evil was 17 percent.

And I think mixed at 50 percent is not an unreasonable, crazy response.

I -- I can see why all sorts of people might choose that.

So I don't think there's anything terrible here. It depends on what you mean by mixed. Fundamentally good at 28 percent. It's a little low. Fundamentally evil at 17 percent, it's a little disturbing. But it's not -- it's not insane. The insane stuff comes a little bit later.

GLENN: Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Major industries talk about the crazy stuff coming later, here it is.

Major industries like health care, energy, and big tech should be nationalized and give more control and equity to the people.

JUSTIN: Yeah. This was -- this was -- this one floored me. If I look at strongly agree. Somewhat agree for that statement you just read. It's over 70 percent of young people, including -- including the vast majority of Republicans. Young Republicans. And people who identify as conservatives.

It was pretty similar, in fact, how young people responded compared to liberals and independents.

And Democrats.

They all pretty much agreed that, yes. The government. The federal government should be nationalizing whole industries to make things more equitable for people.

GLENN: As the guy who is the chief -- editor-in-chief of stopping socialism. What's the problem with nationalizing energy, and health care?

JUSTIN: Well --

GLENN: What happens, typically.

JUSTIN: Well, usually, there's blood in the streets, when you do too much of that.

You know, socialism, communism have been spectacularly horrible, throughout the course of human history. Across every society, culture, religion.

It doesn't matter when or what kind of technological advancements you have. The more you collect vies a society. The more authoritarian that society gets. The less you have individual freedom. And the worst the economy usually is for regular people. So it's been a catastrophe across-the-board. Everyone listening to this audience, probably knows that.

And so the idea that you would have three-quarters of young voters. So remember, these people will be the primary voters in ten to 20 years.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

JUSTIN: Saying, yeah. We should be nationalizing whole industries. Whole industries, is so disturbing.

And I don't think that conservatives are -- understand how deeply rooted some of these ideas are with younger people.

GLENN: No. No.

And I will tell you, I think some conservatives are walking a very dangerous line. And, you know, coming up with a little mix of everything.

And -- and I think we have to be very careful on -- on what is being said. And who are WHO our friends and allies are.

By the way, that number again is 39 percent strongly agree.

37 percent somewhat agree.

Somewhat disagree, 12 percent. Strongly disagree, 5 percent.

That is disastrous. Now, try this one on. These are the ones that have been -- we have new ones.

These are just a few of the ones that were released late last week. The next presidential election is in 2028. Would you like to see a democratic socialist candidate win the 2028 presidential election?

JUSTIN: Yep, 53 percent said yes.

Fifty-three percent of all voters said yes. And the most shocking thing, was that 35 percent of those who we poll, who said they voted for Donald Trump, in 2024, said that that they want to see a socialist win in 2028. And so about a third of Republicans, 35 percent of Trump voters, 43 percent of people who call themselves conservatives, so even on the right, among younger people. There is a large group that want a socialist president, in 2028.

GLENN: And the reason -- the reason is, it -- it tied into the next few questions. Okay.

So here's question five. Among the following options, which best describes your biggest reason, you would like to see a democratic socialist candidate. Thirty-one percent said housing costs are too high. Twelve percent, taxes are too low for corporations. Eleven percent, taxes are too low for wealthy have I seen.

Eight percent want single payer health care systems. Seventeen say the economy unfairly benefits older, wealthier Americans.

Fifteen percent say the economy unfairly benefits larger corporations. 5 percent, some other reason.

And 2 percent, unsure. Now, let's get into the new polls that were breaking today.

Question six.

How would you describe your current financial situation?

JUSTIN: Yeah. Only 24 percent said that they're doing well. Thirty-four -- 38 percent said getting by. Struggling 29 percent. Seven percent said in crisis. So if you add up just getting by, struggling, and in crisis, that's 74 percent said that they're just barely getting by, at best.

And I think that explains a lot of the other negative responses we've seen so far.

GLENN: That's not good.

JUSTIN: In this poll. And the ones that are going to come pretty soon here.

GLENN: Seven. Which best describes your personal life situation?

You are thriving, you're doing well with a few ups and downs. You feel stuck and uncertain. You feel lonely, disconnected, or emotionally drained. You're in a crisis and feel most negative about your personal life.

JUSTIN: Yeah. Yeah. About a third said that they feel stuck or uncertain. Lonely. Or that they're in a crisis.

That's a third of young people. Say that.

I mean, that's -- that's not great. Only 19 percent said thriving.

46 percent said, they have ups and downs. Which I think is not. Too shocking.

But the idea that there's a third of American voters out there, who feel like, they can't buy a home. And they feel like they are lonely. And that they're in crisis. And that life is not just going well at all for them.

Again, I think that's -- that's driving a lot of the support for socialism. When you have 53 percent of these people saying, yeah. I want a socialist president in 2028.

GLENN: So socialism is not the answer. It is the symptom. It is the symptom of what people are feeling right now.

And they -- they don't know any other -- they don't -- nobody is presenting them with anything other than, you know, Republican/Democrat bullcrap. And socialists are coming at it from a completely nigh angle. Or so the youth think it's the oldest and most failed system of all time.

But they're seeing this as a solution that is different than what the party -- the Republican/Democrats are offering. Even though the Democrats are offering the socialism thing.

Number eight, do you think the American economy is unfair to young people?

Sixty-two percent say yes.

JUSTIN: Yeah, and 27 percent said no.
And I think that this really gets at the heart of what the issue is here.

When you look at the reasons. When you look at the detailed things of the poll.

What -- to try to find out if there's an association between some kind of demographic or response question about people's lives and their support for socialism, to see if there's a correlation there between something that is happening. And whether someone is a socialist or not.

One of the top correlations, connections, is, if people think the economy is unfair.

And if they're having trouble buying a home. Or they don't think they can buy a home. Or that's one of their reasons for supporting socialism.

So, in other words, there's this fairness issue. And it's not even about inequality.

It's not about, well, they have too much -- well, if they feel like the -- to use a Trump term. Rigged.

And throughout the data. That's what we see over and over and over again. Is lots of people say, the economy is rigged. For older people. For wealthier people, for corporations. It's rigged. And if they say, yeah. I think it's rigged, you know, then they're more likely to say, yeah. I want a socialist.

And I also think the same group has a relatively high approval rating of Donald Trump.

It's because the reason that a lot of young people like Trump in the poll, is that he's not part of the establishment.

And I think -- I don't think they -- I think a lot of young people who voted for Trump and who liked Trump, they didn't do it, because they liked free market, pro-liberty policies. And that's not a good thing.

But I don't think that's why they did it. I think a lot of them voted for Trump and supported him, because he's not the establishment. And that's what they don't like. They want to blow the establishment up.

JUSTIN: So my -- Justin, my sample size is my two young adults. My two children.

And they're like, talking to me, and saying, Dad. I will never be able to own a home, looking at the prices, looking at interest rates. They're like, I can't even afford to pay rent at an apartment. And they don't know what to do.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

JASON: And so they're looking at -- on, like, TikTok. And they're like, who is this Mamdani guy? This sounds interesting. They bring this to me. They grew up listening to me indoctrinating them their entire lives. They're looking at other voices like on TikTok. Are we just not being loud enough?

GLENN: No. We're not -- we're not connecting with them. We're not -- I feel like they don't feel they're being heard.

And we are speaking to them in red, white and be blue.

And that means nothing. The Statue of Liberty means nothing to them. Ellis Island means nothing to them. The flag means nothing to them.

It's all partisan politics.

They're all symbols of really, the two parties.

You know, and an America, they don't relate to at all.

I think that's -- that's our biggest problem, and not being able to break through. To your point, question nine. How confident are you that you will own a home at some point, in the next ten years?

29 percent say, they already own a home. Which I found interesting. That's -- I think a pretty high number for somebody who is 18 to 34 years old.

JUSTIN: Thirty-nine.

GLENN: Thirty-nine.

JUSTIN: Yeah.

GLENN: There's a lot of 18 to 30. That I didn't own home when I was, you know, 30. Just got a home when I was 30. But go ahead. Go ahead with the rest of that poll.

JUSTIN: Yeah. So then 21 percent said discouraged, but somewhat hopeful. 12 percent said, not confident. 10 percent said, you are convinced you will never own a home. 3 percent not sure.

So if you add up the negative responses, it's around 43 percent that gave that response.

GLENN: Right. But, again, 29 percent, you already own a home. And 25 percent you are confident you will own a home, is still good. It just -- these -- these other numbers, have, you know, discouraged, but hopefully you will own a home. Who is discouraging that? And how is that being discouraged?

You know, only 12 -- let's see 12. Twenty-two. 25 percent are not sure they will ever own a home. That's too high of a number.

But I -- I don't think that's completely dismal. Now, a completely dismal answer, to the question, would you support a law that would confiscate America's excess wealth?

Including things like second homes. Luxury cars, and private boats, in order to help young people buy a home for the first time?

Are you for or against that? We'll give you that number here in just a second.

GLENN: There are some disturbing results, that get very disturbing, going from here on.

We've got two of these today, and then more tomorrow.

We'll spend more time with you tomorrow, Justin.

But would you support a law that would confiscate American's excess wealth, including things like second home, luxury cars, and private boats in order to help young people buy a home for the first time? Get the results.

JUSTIN: Yeah, 25 percent strongly support that, 30 percent somewhat support it, 55 percent in total for support. Only 38 percent strongly or somewhat oppose, with just 20 percent saying strongly oppose. So the vast majority now is -- is supporting this Communistic policy to confiscate people's wealth in order to help people. Younger people buy homes, which is in line with that question, we talked about earlier. Where it said, you know, three-quarters of these respondents wanted to nationalize whole industries to make things fairer. So it's all about -- it's all about this sense of unfairness that exists.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

JUSTIN: And they feel like. Young people feel like the system is rigged. They feel like neither party is on their side, and they want to blow the whole thing up, by just taking wealth away from people, nationalizing whole industries, and redistributing it all.

And guess what, that's basically the democratic socialist platform. So it's not a surprise that that's -- that's becoming increasingly more popular with these young people.

And I don't think that free market, pro-liberty people are dealing with -- with this.

GLENN: No.

JUSTIN: In a real way.

In fact, I think a lot of us have believed recently that the wind is at our backs, and we're actually winning more and more young people over.
And that isn't what's happening according to the poll results.

GLENN: It explains why the Democrats have not moved their position off of the socialism stuff.

Doesn't it?

We keep saying, why? It's not working with anybody.

It is working. It is working with people under 39.

18 to 39-year-olds are hearing this message, and are embracing this message.