RADIOJanuary 01, 2024

How Christians should respond to PERSECUTION from Biden AND their own Church

Under the Biden administration, traditionalist Catholics and conservative Christians of all kinds have increasingly become targets of the government. And some churches themselves are also starting to turn on traditionalist Christians. So, how should people of faith respond to this increase in persecution from outside AND within the Church? Glenn speaks with former presidential speechwriters Alex Torres and Joshua Charles, who have co-authored a new book, "Persecuted from Within." They argue that modern-day Christians should learn from those who came before them. And they also discuss the recent removal of Catholic Bishop Joseph Strickland by the Pope and how bizarre it is that Joe Biden — our second Catholic president — is targeting Catholics.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Well, let me say hello to a couple of people. Alec Torres. He was the former speechwriter for President Trump, and my good friend and former co-author Joshua Charles. He's also a former White House speechwriter. And he is the coauthor of Original Argument. The Federalist case for the Constitution.

Adapted for the 20th century, which is something we put out. I don't even know.

Joshua, how long was that? 2008, '9?

JOSHUA: 2011. That was over 10 years ago, Glenn. Thank you for the opportunity, did a lot of things. Thank you.

GLENN: No, you're extraordinarily talented.

So, guys, tell me. And I guess, Alec, if you want to start, tell me about Persecuted From Within.

ALEC: Persecuted From Within is a book that is really rooted in something that Josh and I were noticing. That if you are good, faithful, traditional Catholic. Just good, faithful, traditional Christians.

All around you, people are -- you're under attack.

People don't like you.

The state doesn't like you.

And, frankly, we saw in our own church. A lot of people in our own church don't like us.

And they're trying to crush us.

So we wanted to know how to respond to that. We wanted to figure out, how do you act as a Christian. A good person of faith, in response to institutions that you love, persecuting you.

And we thought of a better way to do that, than to look at great historical figures. Really, monumental Christians from the past, who had to live under pretty terrible circumstances.

Frankly, circumstances, that are oftentimes worse than our own. And learn the lesson straight from them.

GLENN: You cover one of my favorite guys.

Fulton sheen. The archbishop from New York. Who I didn't know about, growing up.

I found out about it, probably in 2008.

And I think he was one of the greatest guys ever.

I don't think of him as persecuted.

But he's a part of the book. How do you look at him?

And what did you learn from him?

ALEC: Well, he was persecuted in a way that was a little hidden. What happened with him. It was his cardinal at the time.

It was -- this is an interpersonal dispute. Bishop Sheen was in charge of distributing charity to the poor. And Stulman gave him a bunch of things from the government to distribute to the poor. And when Stulman asked Sheen to pay for it, Sheen said no.

So you think that's a small matter.

But it actually made the cardinals livid against Sheen.

And he found revenge, moved him out of his position. Cut him off from his TV program. And sent him off to work at Rochester, where he was totally ill suited for his role. He had to do it. Because it was his boss essentially.

He was under the cardinal. He looked at this great figure.

Media personalities.

Invited to these big events at New York.

And, boom, pretty much a failure, when he was sent over to Rochester.

All because he refused to take money from the poor.

And give it to his boss.

GLENN: Joshua, you're having this persecution.

A lot of people are questioning the way their churches are behaving.

Because we're in a time of great change. And I think most of our churches have gotten fat and sassy.

And are too timid to take on the real gospel truth. And how it applies to our lives.

A lot of people and a lot of faiths are having this problem.

In the Catholic Church, you just had something up heard of happen here in Texas.

Where the pope got involved, and kicked somebody out.

VOICE: Yeah. Bishop Strickland, who is a friend of mine. Right before COVID, I was able to spend some time with Bishop Strictland, in what we Catholics call a Eucharistic adoration. Where we pray for what we believe is the body, blood, and soul of our Lord, our Eucharist.

And we did that for what's called a holy hour. And I will say, the bishop is the real deal. We went from dinner.

He wears his garments everywhere he goes. He's a humble, shepherd of the Lord. And I think in his reaction to the situation, we see how many of the things that Alec and I write about in this book, reacted. And we cover about 2000 years' worth of saints.

And Bishop Strictland has asked Catholics, he's asked them to pray for Pope Francis. He's asked them to not engage in reviling. But he's also spoken the truth, about some of the issues, that are going on in the church.

And, frankly, that's the sort of behavior that many of the saints engaged in, in this book.

One that comes to mind is St. Athanasius, who was the great bishop of Alexandria. He was reviled and booted from his dioceses, multiple times. He was exiled five times through Alexandria. There was one time, some soldiers coming to pick him up, that were being sent by the emperor, who was coordinating with some Aryan bishops. And he just barely made it out.

He basically covered his face. And went through a crowd and escaped. So there were some pretty harrowing stories.

And Athanasius, the phrase was (another language), Athanasius against the world.

And he found support in Rome, and in other parts of the world, particularly in the West.

But he stood firmly for the truth, unwaveringly. But to do so, he had to experience persecution within the family, as we say.

And that's one of the great lessons of these things, is that to follow Jesus, Jesus says we must take up our cross, and the cross includes not only being on a path from external enemies -- you know, pagans and heathens, and what not. But from members of the family, so to speak, within the church as well. As Jesus himself was. From Judas, to the denial of Peter. And many of the problems the apostles addressed in the early church. There's all sorts of issues, those issues have never changed.

But many of these great saints face, as Alex mentioned, challenges that many of us couldn't even imagine. I think we're in a very trying time period, don't get me wrong.

But many of. You know, Joan of arc, for example. She's covered in this book. She was a lay woman, and she was killed.

She was unjustly brought to a trial. Her canonical rights to appeal to the Pope, for example, were denied. And as a result, she was executed. But she went to her execution, faithful, praying to God.
And she remained a Catholic.

And so, you know, that's the great story of these saints. Is that they do things that are quite literally, otherworldly.

And I think that's what is so inspiring. Either the Christianity thing is a complete fraud, or it's otherworldly.

And it actually gives its followers something that they could never give themselves. That's this peace. And the fortitude in the face of extraordinary persecution.

And the same, by engaging in this. By suffering in it.

They find the humility that ultimately takes us to heaven, frankly.

GLENN: I was just talking to Megyn Kelly.

And, you know, I don't just -- I could be wrong.

But I don't think that you guys wrote this, because of the persecution that's going on right now.

I have a feeling that you're thinking, that it's going to get much, much worse.

I could be wrong. And I would love to hear your opinion on it.

VOICE: I think so, yeah.

VOICE: Yeah, definitely.

GLENN: So Megyn and I were talking about what's coming. They put Donald Trump in Jail, or whatever.

There is a -- there is going to be a moment, where people have had enough.

And when that happens, persecution and the government will just come down hard.

So what is the -- what is the -- the things that we can pull from your book, that tells us what to do. And what not to do.

VOICE: I think in -- when we're facing -- you know, a lot of institutions turning against us, perhaps most terrifyingly our government in America. Because the amount of power it has. We've seen attacks by religious people, especially Catholics.

Even in the last few weeks, frankly.

It's holding on to truth. Especially the truth of our faith, matters more than anything else.

That gives strength, that can overcome any of these difficulties.

When other people are crumbling or being manipulated, or fallen to the wayside, it's our faith that allows us to be able to get through, even great difficulties and circumstances, we really never had to experience in our generations. And make it through in the end.

Time and time again, when it looked like their circumstance -- they themselves were imprisoned or martyred or, you know, shut up and away from the public fear. Would have their rights to speak, their liberties taken away from them.

They really did cling to their faith.

And God saw them through.

That's what is so wonderful about these stories.

You think looking at the history of persecution as great Christians would be a depressing subject.

But in a way, it's actually quite inspiring.

Seeing, their strength and how we can imitate that. And you can see how God is always with his people. When you're faithful to God, God is faithful in greater abundance, than we ever could imagine.

GLENN: What do you guys think we're facing? Especially as Catholics. You guys are -- we have a Catholic president. Only the second time in history.

The last time we had one, and the first one was JFK.

And now, we have a -- a Catholic president, who seems to be going after the Catholics. It's bizarre.

VOICE: Well, Glenn, this is a topic I've been pondering for really since COVID. I came into the Catholic Church in July 2019. And then so my first Easter was in 2020. And, you know, we -- we know that was a somewhat eventful year. And masses around the world were canceled for Easter. And what I discovered in the church fathers and in many of these great saints. Is this articulation, that I said before, that persecution comes not only from the outside, but from within.

And as we all know, those of us who have any family issues, which I'm sure all of us.

That's the hardest thing to deal with.

That's exactly what the saints dealt with. And, frankly, President Biden. I hope he repents.

I hope he comes back to a faith. He's clearly violating it.

And, frankly, we have many shepherds who aren't calling him on it.

And they will be held to a very high standard. On the day of justice.

We Catholics believe that every single one of us, wants to answer what we did, and what we failed to do, to Jesus Christ on the day of judgment.

And the people who have the highest standard for behavior, will be bishops, will be priests, and will be the pope.

And the pope has to go to confession.

The bishops have to go to confession. And to the extent, that they failed to amend their conduct before they died, they will have to answer to the biggest boss.

And so -- but what we saw with all these saints, is that the subtitle of the book is called how the saints endured crises in the church.

And I will say, that there is this idea that there's this Judas element within the church. Throughout its entire history.

Throughout its entire history.

It can't go away.

It will be resolved. But when Jesus comes back.

Jesus warned about it. The apostles warned about it.

Some have called it the antichurch.

And it's basically the dark side of the church.

And these saints exhibit an astounding level of humility, when they're faced with this kind of persecution.

So, for example, I joked with some of my White House colleagues. That the thing that sucks about being Catholic. Is we can't complain about suffering.

What I meant, there's this idea of the Catholic faith, of redemptive suffering. The idea is that through his cross. Prior to the Lord's cross and his death and resurrection. Suffering was basically meaningless. It was futile.

It was the affect of the fall. And what not. But after the cross. Every single human being, if they follow Christ, can join their suffering, and it becomes fruitful. It becomes fruitful for the salvation of others.

It becomes fruitful for the salvation of their own soul.

So it's futile and meaningless, which suffering oftentimes feels like.

Through Christ and his suffering, becomes meaningful.

And that's what so many of these things show. Stephen Colbert, I don't think he's the most -- the paradigm of the orthodox Catholic, per se.

But he has a beautiful line in an interview with Anderson Cooper, where Anderson Cooper was mentioning all these horrible tragedies that happened to him. And he basically said, how did you get through it?

And Stephen Colbert basically said, in the Catholic faith, God does it too. And that's essentially what you see in the lives of all these saints with affirmations. And St. Thomas Moore.

They were laymen. They were priests. They were bishops. They were monks and nuns.

They come from all sorts of walks of life. Sometimes they're having to criticize popes.

Sometimes they are having to be persecuted by their bishops or their cardinals, that Alex talked about.

Sometimes, they're literally being executed.

Or like Joan of Arc, or they're being exiled from diocese and on the run, like St. Appearnatius.

So they're dealing with all these things, but they know that they can join their sufferings to Christ. And these things. To say, we believe are in Heaven, praying for all of us. Reaping that the most possible fruit that human beings can ever reap, for the salvation of the world. And that's what their suffering did, by joining into Christ.

GLENN: Joshua, thank you so much.

Alex, the same.

The name of the book is Persecuted From Within. Written for Catholics. But I don't think it's probably just for Catholics.

It is for everybody. And I think we all need to look at how we are going to behave, in times of persecution.

Because I do believe it is coming. Again, persecuted from within.

Thank you so much, guys, God bless.

The Book of Enoch: Did Extraterrestrial Beings DESCEND in the Days of Noah?!

The Book of Enoch tells a story the Bible only hints at: A story of heavenly beings who descended to Earth, took human wives, created hybrid giants, and unleashed forbidden knowledge that corrupted the world before the Flood. Glenn Beck and researcher Timothy Alberino break down how the ancient Hebrew worldview explains the Watchers, the Nephilim, the origins of demigod myths, and why Peter and Jude referenced Enoch directly in the New Testament. From extraterrestrial terms in Scripture to the cosmic “family of God” and the divine rebellion that reshaped human history, this discussion reveals a forgotten narrative that once defined early Jewish and Christian theology. What really happened in the days of Noah, and why does it matter now?

Watch the FULL Interview HERE

Cracker Barrel CEO breaks silence on logo controversy in exclusive interview

Glenn Beck recently spoke with Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino about the company’s infamous attempt to change its logo, and he asked the question everyone has been wondering: Why wasn’t she fired?! Glenn previews his interview, which debuts Thursday, Nov. 20 at 6PM ET!

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I was in Tennessee this weekend, and Saturday morning, I go to -- I think store number two for Cracker Barrel. And I met with the senior vice president and the CEO of Cracker Barrel. And we sat down, and we had an interview. And Julie, who has not done an interview since Good Morning America, kind of said, okay. No more interviews, because that didn't go well.

This was her first interview since then.

And, you know, it was weird. Because I got off. I got off the plane.

And, oh. Somebody on the plane said, "What are you doing here?"

And I said, "I'm going to go interview the CEO of -- of Cracker Barrel."

And the immediate response was, "Get her!"

I was like, "Wow. Okay. All right. Thank you."

I get into the car, and the Uber driver says to me, "What are you doing here?" And I said, "I'm going to meet with the person at Cracker Barrel."

"Boy, she really screwed her up. You hold her feet to the fire."

I mean, I've never -- I've never seen anything like that. And, you know, I started the interview with her, you know, honestly. And I said, look, I -- I -- I'm not here to get you. I'm not here to do anything, but ask questions that I think everybody in America wants to know.

Like, what the hell were you thinking?

And I asked her some -- asked her all of the really pointed questions. Rikki, the TV executive producer said, "There's no way. I know you. You're going to soften. There's no way."

And when I got up afterwards, she was like, "Wow. Okay. You didn't -- you really -- you really didn't soften. You know, you asked all of those questions."

Because I thought they were fair. And I told her, "Look, I hate conflict. I'm not here for conflict. I'm not here. I don't need to make a name for myself by giving you a hard time. I don't care about any of that. I just want to do my job and ask you, 'What happened here?'"

And I said, "So I'm going to ask you really uncomfortable questions." And she was prepared. And I think I finally broke through, and got the real answer in the end. I think I got the real answer.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: And it came from one of the questions I asked was, I mean, are you surprised, you haven't been fired yet?

And her response was, all telling. All telling. It's a fascinating interview you should watch. It's going to happen, I think Thursday on the podcast.

STU: Because I'm mildly surprised that hasn't happened. You know, like just because -- not because -- I don't know. There's a lot of things she's been accused of and everything else.

But just like, when you have a situation like this, where you're trying a major change and you roll it out a specific way and it does not go well, you know, it's usually -- it's like, when you're general manager of a football team, you go through the process. You evaluate all the quarterbacks. You pick the guy.

And that guy is a total bust, like you usually don't survive it. It doesn't necessarily mean you went through the process incorrectly. But when you miss, usually something happens like that. Does she feel like she missed like that?

GLENN: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yes, she does.

She's a very bright woman. I mean, she ran Coach, you know, the purse place or whatever.
STU: The purse company.
GLENN: The Coach brand. Godiva Chocolates. Taco Bell, the whole -- global. (I mean, she's a Fortune 500 CEO. She's very, very competent. Very competent.

So how could somebody very, very competent make this mistake?

STU: Hmm. Did she walk you through that? How that happened?

GLENN: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah. She see.

And what's interesting is, they brought the senior vice president was also sitting there.

And he has been brought in since.

I mean, he had been there for 30, 35 years.

And really good guy. And he was one of the voices that was like, while that was happening, like, you guys. Hey, everybody upstairs. You shouldn't be doing this.

It's a bad idea. And so after they were like, "Hey. You know who was saying this? Let's bring him upstairs." And it was interesting to talk to him, because he's been long before she got there. So he kind of gave the view of, here's what happened before she got here! And here's where she came in.

And here's what happened.

And it's -- it's really fascinating.

I mean, if you want to hear the real story behind it.

And -- and also see somebody -- I mean, just wait until you hear her answer on -- I mean, it was so powerful and so honest. When I said, are you surprised you haven't been fired yet?

It was a fascinating answer.

STU: How many pancakes did you --

GLENN: Podcast on Thursday, I didn't eat any.

STU: You went to Cracker Barrel headquarters, and you ate zero pancakes?

GLENN: I didn't. I didn't. It was very difficult to not order the pancakes.

STU: You're the type of guy who gets pancakes by mistake. What do you mean you've got none?

GLENN: I was looking at my wife. My wife was sitting off to the side of the camera. And I'm looking at her. I'm like, she's so beautiful. And I eat pancakes, too many times.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And she's just -- she has to live with this, the pancake-wearing shoes. I'm not going to order the pancakes. The pancakes.

Democrats' latest attempt to tie Trump to Epstein scandal falls flat

Democrats are trying yet again to tie President Trump to Jeffrey Epstein’s scandals. This time, they’ve highlighted that Epstein once referred to Trump as “the dog that hasn’t barked.” Is this proof that Trump is in the Epstein Files…or is it actually evidence that he was a whistleblower against Epstein? Glenn and Stu discuss…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Now, Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news today. Could we just for the love of Pete release everything that we have, so we can move on! From the Jeffrey Epstein thing.

Here's the answer: No.

Even if we release everything that we still have, this is going to go on for the rest of our lives.

It will always -- and probably, into our children's lives.

Do you know, Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump were the reason we never went to the moon.

It's going to happen!

It's just one of these conspiracy theories, that will never, ever go away.

Why?

Because no one was honest about it in the first place. Once you start to lie, you lie once -- once! If you're a very honest person, you will lie once. And then people are like, what? What?

Why would he lie about that? What is going on?

He's not like that. But if you're the United States governor government. You already have no credibility whatsoever!

Stop lying to the American people.

Just stop it. You know, I said something a minute ago. One of the reasons why you're hearing lies is because it works to the advantage of a Colour Revolution.

You know, there are reasons why people are lying to you. Some of it, they're just dirtbags and they're liars. Some of it, they're politicians, and so they're liars.

Some of it, however, a good deal of it is, we lie, because we know it causes damage to the credibility of this entire system.

We know it does damage to the culture of America, and we are here trying to destroy the culture of America because we want to try something new. And the only -- you won't vote for it. So the only way we can get America to change and do something entirely different, that they will never vote for, is just to cause chaos and disbelief in everything!

So as I said a minute ago, you know, it's not the news. Many times, it's a reflection of a plan! And when it comes to the Epstein thing, this is absolutely a plan. The way this thing has been played out. Democrats are completely against bringing anything out against Epstein.

They don't want to do anything about it. The media. Do you remember the ABC anchor that went into a commercial break. And she was like, you know what, I've got to tell you, Epstein. You know, we had the goods on him. Dead to rights.

Clinton. All of it.

And we were told, pull it.

Remember that.

Remember that, gang?

They pulled it at ABC. I think they fired the person who tried to -- who released that video.

Or tried to fire that person. I think they were working either at CBS or whatever. That person was in trouble for releasing that behind the scenes tape.

They had no intention of it. Now, everybody wants the Epstein tapes. Wait a minute. You didn't want them when Biden went in. And you could have said something, Democrats. And you could have released it all.

And, you know, it's funny. It is just so full of stuff about Donald Trump. Then why wouldn't they release just that?

Why wouldn't have the Democrats released anything in the Epstein file?

You're telling me, we've got to find something on them. Hey. I've got the Epstein files. Yeah, yeah. We've got to find something on it.

I have got some information here about Epstein. Him and Epstein, they were fooling around. Yeah, shut up for a second. Is there anything at all, that we can construe and manufacture about his banks?

I know!

He's got a vet signal between his bank and the Russian bank. I've got stuff about the Epstein.

Come on! If they had stuff about the Epstein, they would have gone to the stuff about the Epstein files.

They don't have anything, they don't have anything.

Now, let me speak directly to conservatives. They're not going to release anything about the Democrats, because they had the Epstein files.

Do you think that -- let's just say, I'm not even going to name names. Let's just say the most powerful people on the earth. The most powerful people with powerful connections, to government.

They knew their names were, you know, there on little, you know, guest books at the island, or whatever.

You don't think they called in some favors and said, "Hey, I need that -- can you remove that?"

You don't think that there were people that were like, "Hey. You know what, we'll remove that."

"We need $100 million from you, to help out on this campaign."

I mean, whatever it is, those names are gone too! They're gone! How do I know this?

Because the government is completely dishonest! That's how I know that.

But, anyway, now, Donald Trump.

STU: You don't think anything of interest would be in these files?

I mean, I think we've already seen some stuff of interest in the emails, no?

GLENN: Yeah, I think there are stuff of interest. I don't think there's going to be anyone at a very high level that is going to get -- that's going to be like, holy cow. Look, here's pictures with him with a 14-year-old girl!

That's not going to happen.

STU: Right. Somewhere that stuff, at least at the upper levels, not there.

Now, here's what is interesting: The timing of the release of a few documents last week. The Democrats released some documents.

And they released them, and at the same time, that Johnson were saying, by the way, we are going to expedite the releasing of everything.

So there's no reason to leak anything. But the Democrats decide to leak some stuff. They like a memo. And in that, oh, my gosh.

Look at what was said. What was said in that memo. Well, it was said, you know, the only dog that hasn't barked is Trump!

Well, what -- what did he mean by that?

He's keeping it quiet. All of these things. All of these innuendos and everything. Well, now we know, from the guy who wrote the book, all the president's meeting. Donald Trump and the making of a predator, that guy came out this weekend and said, no, no. That's not what he meant.

What did he mean?

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(music)

GLENN: So Barry Levine comes on. And he's on MSNBC this wreaked.

And he's asked, so tell me, I mean, we've seen this email between you and Epstein. What did he mean that the to go that hasn't barked is Trump. What do you think he's referring to?

Okay. What was he referring to?

I think Epstein is referring to the fact that he believed that Donald Trump talked to Michael rider who was the Palm Beach police chief in 2004. And began the first investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

So, in other words, he was the whistle-blower!

Yeah. But he's got all kinds of stuff in his -- in Jeffrey Epstein's books.

He's the whistle-blower!

The one thing you don't do is blow the whistle, when you know you got fingerprints all over the dead body. And the handgun that killed him!

You know what, I think you could find that hand gun, in this alleyway. Your fingerprints are on it. Man, why would you blow the whistle?

The suspect, he said, I suspected that Jeffrey Epstein was saying, he was 75 percent there.

Believing that Trump might have been the whistle-blower at the time. He believed it's 75 percent.

Now, how do you release something.

I mean, if you think things will be released. That will get Donald Trump. Why would you release that?

Where after two days of it being out, the guy who was part of that email, who hates Donald Trump, is like, yeah.

That's not what it means. It means he was whistle blower. Jeez.

STU: That is interesting. And I will say, you know, it is -- amazing that that's what they released. And chose to release.

That's the same email, by the way, that you're mentioning. That they blacked out the name of Virginia Giuffre, which they did intentionally. Because she has said that he was nothing, but respectful. And was never with any of the girls at all.

In not only her book, but also in testimony, under oath.

And the other one, that they released, which said, Trump -- he says, of course, he knew about the girls, was the other big one that they released. Which they left the -- well, they didn't leave it out. They just hoped you didn't focus on the next part of the sentence, which he says, that of course, he knew about the girls, as he asked Ghislaine to stop. Which would indicate, even if he was aware of this, which I don't think this had anything to do with the sex stuff. I think this was about him taking them.

GLENN: No. It was about poaching his girls from Mar-a-Lago.

STU: Right.

GLENN: The employees. He knows that we're poaching these girls. It doesn't mean he knows what they're doing with them. Stop taking my employees!

Okay. Now, if you suspect he's the whistle-blower and he knew you were taking employees from him, you know, in retrospect, you know, looking at it later, you go, oh, man, he's the whistle-blower?

But he also knows about the girls.

He knows we were taking them.

Does he know what we were doing with the girls?

I mean, this does not hurt Donald Trump. It helps Donald Trump.

STU: What about the one they released from Jeffrey Epstein. Where he said, I've met some very bad people, and none are as bad as Trump.

I mean, what if they come up with bad comments from Jeffrey Dahmer about Donald Trump? What will you say then? I mean, this is so dumb.

GLENN: I've eaten some bad eggs in my life, but I would not eat Donald Trump. I'll tell you that right now.

'House of David' Star REVEALS Story Behind TV’s #1 Biblical Series

Amazon’s House of David has become the #1 show on Prime Video, and today Glenn Beck talks with Michael Iskander, the actor bringing King David to life in one of the most powerful biblical series ever produced. Michael shares how fasting, prayer, and years of preparation shaped his performance, why David’s flaws and redemption resonate so deeply with viewers, and what really happened behind the scenes with Goliath, the sheep, and the shepherd who taught him lessons he’ll never forget.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I've got somebody on, who is in just an amazing, amazing show from Amazon. House of David. If you haven't seen House of David yet, you have to. Do you remember when-like biblical movies. I mean, they were good in the '50s. And then they got really, really bad.

And then all through the '70s and '80s and 2000s. They were horrible.

And then all of a sudden, they got really, really good?

This someone amazing. This is as good as the Jesus. What is the Jesus one?

Chosen.

It's called House of David. It's on Amazon, and we have the guy who portrays David. Michael Iskander on with us.

Michael, how are you?

MICHAEL: I'm good. What an introduction. Thank you for that!

GLENN: I mean, it's really.

Come on. Was there any time, that you thought, oh, man. This might -- I hope they do it right!

And then you saw the finished product, and you were like, wow! This is good?

MICHAEL: Yeah. That was -- you know, I try to keep my head down, and, you know, it's -- it's not finished until it's finished.

And season two is coming out. You know, I'm just going to be hearing the response of how this show is really affecting people.

GLENN: So can I talk to you about Goliath?

Because Goliath is portrayed really as a giant. Not just a big guy. He's a giant.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

GLENN: Talk to me about that.

MICHAEL: Well, I'll tell you what, when I first met Martin.

He was -- I went to -- I went to the gym with him one time.

And I -- I knew, I'm going to get, you know, my stuff. So I was prepared for that.

And -- and he made me workout for two and a half hours. And I thought that the workout was done. And he was like, no. There's another half. And, man, he -- Martin is a really dedicated man. And he just -- he pushed me to the edge, when it came to working out.

And, you know, when it comes to his role with Goliath. He's someone that really just put all the effort, both physically and emotionally to really portray that part, as best as he can.

GLENN: How long did it take you to learn the slingshot?

MICHAEL: Three days. It wasn't too bad.

GLENN: Well, I heard you had problem with the sheep.

That the sheep were -- they were not helpful.

MICHAEL: The sheep -- well, the sheep were actually really interesting.

I remember when we first started filming, they -- they put me in sheep training classes.

Because when I get on tape. They have to make sure, that I'm not -- you know, I'm not going to get attacked by one of the sheep. And I'm comfortable around them.

The sheep. First day I show up to this training, and she painted me. And you would think that the guy who plays David, you know, would think of his sheep.

GLENN: No. I don't. I don't. I don't think that's natural. You're an actor. I don't know if that's -- yep, well, they picked me because I'm good with sheep.

MICHAEL: I should get classes from you.

GLENN: I don't know.

MICHAEL: But, no. I mean, it really -- spent a lot of time with the Shepherd.
And he was giving me some really amazing lessons.
He saw that I was having trouble.

And he said, you know, you should stick next to me. Because this sheep, when they see you with the shepherd, they'll know that you're with me.
So they'll never leave my side.

GLENN: It's amazing.

MICHAEL: I want you to spend a lot of time with me. And I he said, oh, okay. And he said, I want you to know another thing: A bad shepherd is a shepherd who is behind the flock. And so you, you're going to be a good shepherd. You're going to show them. You're not going to let them lead you.

You're going to lead them, and you're going to be in the front taking risks and showing them the path.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

MICHAEL: And he is saying this, I think -- I think I'm getting more than just a sheep lesson here. It really helped in terms of understanding who David was as a person. And then his relationship to Christ.

And why -- why David was chosen as king.

GLENN: Is it true that you fasted, before the audition? I mean, you're a Broadway guy.

MICHAEL: Yeah. Yeah. I sent in the first audition. I was really excited about it.

And it was a dream of mine for a long time. You know, one of these dreams, that you don't tell anyone. And you don't think it will ever happen.

GLENN: To play David specifically? Or to be --

MICHAEL: Yeah, to play David. To play David.

GLENN: Really?

MICHAEL: And because I was inspired by the Chosen.

And I wanted to maybe do flashback scenes with a young David, or something.

When I got the audition, and they originally said no. I thought, oh, that would have been a good opportunity.

GLENN: Hmm.

MICHAEL: And I got another audition. I called my mom. And I said, Mom, this doesn't happen often. Can you believe it? She said, Michael, calm down.

The one thing I need you to do. I need you to fast, and I need you to pray.

I said, yes, ma'am.

A week later, I was having lunch with Jon Erwin. And he -- it kind of took off from there.

But, yeah, fasting and prayer.

GLENN: You know, I'm friends with.
I went to school with Jim Caviezel. And I can't remember what grade he was in. Maybe fifth grade, I think. But he went into church, and all by himself.

And he prayed, and he made a pact with God. Let me -- all I want, Lord, is to play you in a movie some day, and I will live my life honorably to be able to be ready, but I want to play you.

And so he told me when Mel called, he was like, yeah, I've been waiting for the call. It's an amazing thing.

MICHAEL: Wow. I didn't know that story. That's beautiful.

GLENN: Yeah. What do you think it is about the story about -- this was the number one show -- number one series on -- on Amazon -- on Amazon Prime this year.

What is it about the series that you think is connecting?

MICHAEL: You know, I -- I think it's different for everybody.

But I'll tell you for me.

The reason why this show means a lot to me, is because, David points us to Christ.

And -- and David is -- is a person.

He to me, is the embodiment to what it means to be human.

And to make mistakes. And find forgiveness.

It's a complex, long story.

But he was a man that -- that -- he's known as the man after God's own heart.

So for people to see that example. To see, to see the man that God loved so much, that Jesus himself was -- son of David.

I think that's what -- they see the Holy Spirit in the show. I mean, that's what I see.
And that's who I do it for.

GLENN: It's -- it's -- it's amazing to me, how -- with the exception of one, the Bible -- every single hero is so deeply flawed.

And David is so good, so good, and then, you know, becomes really, really does one of the worst things I think I've ever read in the Bible. I mean, just really bad.

MICHAEL: Yeah.

GLENN: Are you going to play -- do you have any idea, assuming the ratings are there, how long of the story you're going to tell?

MICHAEL: I really don't know. I mean, we're just trying to get to season two right now in the release.

Hopefully, pray for us, that we can get to season three, and we can keep telling the story.

I don't know what Erwin and Gunn have. What they're picking up. But I pray that we tell as much of the story as possible. I think it's important to see both the good and the bad. Like you said, to see this flawed human being, to see someone make mistakes, and to see them get back up and repent.

And ask for forgiveness. And find grace in God. So we'll see!

Pray for us.

GLENN: You -- I read some place that you were a Broadway guy. And I thought, this career is not over yet.

I mean, are you prepared to always be David?

I mean, the guy who is playing Jesus now. Jim Caviezel said, it took years before he was allowed to play anything else.

And I can't remember the guy who was playing Jesus his whole life. He is Jesus to a lot of people. Are you prepared to this be you for the rest of your life now?

And not, you know, going -- going back and doing other things, if that's the way it is?

MICHAEL: You know what, God has taken me through so much in my life, that I'm sure he's going to get me through this.

And if I'm known as the guy who plays David, I think it's actually a blessing. And I don't know what God has in store, but I trust him.

GLENN: Yeah.

MICHAEL: When that time comes, I will worry about it then. But nor for now, I'm having a great time portraying one of my favorite people.

GLENN: I just have to ask you a personal question. One for me. My daughter wants to be on Broadway. Can you talk her out of it in 30 seconds, please?

MICHAEL: Oh, man, I don't know if I want to talk her out of it.

GLENN: Okay. Well, time for you to go now.
(laughter)
Michael, thank you so much, and we're looking forward -- when does it premiere? Is it this weekend? Is it out?

MICHAEL: Well, episode eight is out on Warner Project on Prime this Sunday. Yeah.

GLENN: Okay. Good. Good.

Well, we'll be watching. Thank you so much, Michael. I appreciate it.
MICHAEL: Thank you so much, Glenn. Have a good one. Take care.
GLENN: You bet. If you haven't seen the first season, you really should see it.

It's really, really good. It's one of those that I started watching, you know.

And I stopped because I was like, wait.

Tania, we should watch this together. And she came home. And so we started watching it, and I think we watched the whole season in one weekend.

It's one of those. It's really good. Season two premieres this Sunday.