RADIOMarch 01, 2023

Ron DeSantis: How COURAGE made Florida America's red state

When Ron DeSantis came into office in 2018, people advised him to ‘not make waves.’ But ‘I rejected that advice,’ Governor DeSantis tells Glenn. And because he decided to unwaveringly stand for the freedom of his people, DeSantis successfully transformed Florida from a swing state in ‘the leading red state in America.’ Governor DeSantis joins Glenn to discuss how he found the courage to take the actions necessary to do just that.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Hello, governor. How are you, sir?

RON: I'm doing great, thanks for having me.

GLENN: How is your wife and children?

RON: Excellent. Thanks for asking.

GLENN: Good. Good.

All right. I want to talk to you a little bit about your book. Which is not really kind of angst-driven. It's not personal reflections on your childhood, and, oh, my gosh, I had this.

This is really just about the blueprint, and how you did the things that you did. Correct?

RON: Yeah. I mean, look, Glenn, I came into office in 2018, having won by 32,000 votes. Pass a percentage point. And people told me, hey. You're in the typical -- the perennial swing state, you barely got in. Don't make waves.

Trim your sails a little bit. And I rejected that advice.

And my view was, I may have gotten 50 percent of the vote, but I earned 100 percent of the executive power. And I am going to use that, to advance an agenda that's in the best interest in the state of Florida.

And I talk about how I did in different ways. But the end result was, four years later, I won reelection by 1.5 million votes.

And we've now turned Florida, into really the leading red state in America.

GLENN: Oh.

RON: And people don't talk about Florida as a swing state. So the lesson for other governors, other states is boldness is your friend.

If you lead, and you're doing what the people want you to do. It doesn't matter what the media says about you. It doesn't matter what the left says about you. People see the result. And they respond.

It wasn't just Republicans that voted for us in 2022. We had independents, Democrats, and built a huge coalition. I think that's replicable in these other states.

GLENN: Well, I personally, I have one complaint with you, and that is you have wrecked the home prices in Florida for everybody who is outside trying to buy one.

So, anyway, the -- when you say, you know, I have institutional power. I have power of -- of the CEO, if you will, of the state.

But the thing I like about you.

And I would like you to talk about it. I know you talk about it in the book.

You're not being a dictator. You're getting these things passed. So you're changing laws. How did you get the -- the House and the Senate to work with you, instead of just being a cowboy just blazing a trail and no followers?

RON: Well, I point out. I get into office. I'm the youngest governor in the country, 40 years old. I had military background.

But I was a junior officer. It's not like I commanded a lot of things, but I learned from that structure. You know, I was never like a business executive. But I think what I brought to the table, was I had an understanding of the pressure points in a constitutional system. It's just things I had studied, I had written about. And, of course, I had been in the legislative branch, at the federal level.

So I knew there were certain things I could do myself. I knew there were certain things that I may need the legislative concurrence for, but they likely would have to give it, based on what I was doing.

Then there were things I had to get the legislature to really get my team for.

Also, how do you relate to local government?

One of the first things I did in Florida, when I became governor was change the election supervisors in South Florida, got rid of the sheriff of Broward County, who bungled the Parkland. And then later I fired George Soros back -- prosecutor in Tampa. And so you have a sense of kind of where you can go.

So there are things you can do to leverage your institutional power, to make it easier to be able to work for the legislators.

Just, for example, we in Florida have a line item detail. President of the United States does not have that.

We're in a legislative session. These guys may have some projects, they want in the budget. Well, look, I have discretion whether I approve or veto them, and you're much more likely to get your projects approved, if you've been on the team and you're helping us fulfill our agenda.

So that's just one example where you have some ability to shape the battlefield in your favor.

GLENN: Your book is called the courage to be free. And I remember when you started walking out on COVID. That had to be terrifying. And everybody had to be around you, going. Don't do it. You don't know how this will work out.

Bought you did it. Where does the courage come from?

And how can others learn to have that kind of courage?

RON: Well, in a situation like COVID, it's mass hysteria. But I said, look, I'm the decider. They elected me. They didn't elect some health bureaucrat to run the state of Florida. I have to make these decisions. And I had to familiarize myself with the data. And it was clear to me, pretty early on, that, you know what, this Fauciism is not right. It's not working.

It's destructive. And there's a better path. And I did not know how it was going to work out for me politically, Glenn. In fact, a lot of my supporters were very concerned.

I would get phone calls about, why aren't you imposing mass? Or why are you letting people go to theme parks and all this other stuff?

But I just told myself, look, my job is to protect the people that elected me. Not to look out for my own. And if it doesn't work out for me, so be it. But I will be able to look in that mirror and say, you know what, when it was hot in the kitchen, I stood in there, and I did what was right for the people of Florida.

Now, it turned out that people respected that I stood up for them. Because they didn't have a voice really anywhere else. And they ended up rewarding me. But certainly in those early weeks or months, I was getting fileted more than any other governor in the country. I was very popular going into COVID. I mean, I don't do polls.

But everyone said, my popularity plummeted. And that's just the way it is. But when you're in these things, the daily kind of back and forth. There are ups and downs.

But the question is: Where is true north? And are you going to be able to get to true North?

I had to just block all that out, and do what I thought was right.

GLENN: So what is your true north?

RON: Well, I think in this case, the True North was, I could not allow our society in Florida, to collapse under the weight of Fauciism.
I mean, we have a tourism-based economy.

We have so many people that depended on this state being vibrant. I also had a lot of elderly people that we were really concerned about. And we did a lot to target whatever support they needed. Such as treatment and the like, to do that.

But we had to keep things going. I understood that, instinctively. And we had to navigate very treacherous waters, to be able to get that done.

Beyond that, what is true north?

When I talk about the courage to be free. What I'm recognizing, is, the threats to our freedom are not just from bad government policy. Yes. At the state level. We are doing good policy. We're protecting your freedom from the government of Florida. That's important. We're fighting back against Biden.

And we're dealing with logical governments, when they get out of control. Very important. But there's a lot of power building exercised in an ideological way. By corporate America. By big tech. By all these other institutions. So when you recognize that, and you stand up to fight against it, they are not going down without a fight. They come at you. Leadership is not cost-free.

So you just have to understand that, when you're going in, that these are not easy fights. That you are going to face blowback, you are going to face smears. But if you stand in there, and you don't give an inch. And you just keep speaking the truth. People will respond. And they will have your back. And that's what happened in the state of Florida. You know, the media could say. By the time I came up for reelection. The media could say whatever they wanted about me. And our supporters did not believe a word of it. They had my back. And they made sure we won a historic victory.

GLENN: Let me ask you. In politics, people care much less about the individual than they do the giant corporations. Because it's easier to raise money.

And you need those guys on -- on board. You have taken all of the sacred cows. And gone after them.

And you have also just -- you have the best legislation.

I wish -- I wish every state in the union, would pass your legislation on ESG.

It is the best.

And you've taken this on.

You've taken Disney on.

Where do you get your support just from the people, or do you have institutional support?

Are there people inside these institutions, that are saying, oh, thank God?
(laughter)

RON: Yeah. Look, I think when we're talking about things like ESG. We are also in this legislative session, we will eliminate the DEI bureaucracies and all of our state universities.

And there's a lot of Democrats, Glenn. They can't say it, but they don't like some of this stuff, that's coming down the pike.

They don't want their kids to have to potentially suffer negative consequences based on the color of their skin. So there is some quiet support.

GLENN: Correct.

RON: But you know what I found in terms of like standing up to the big interests is, at the end of -- because some politicians are like, oh, man, I need to raise money from them. They're going to come after me. All this stuff. At the end of the day, doing the good policy, exercising the leadership, and delivering the results, that is more important than any campaign, financial support, or any of that.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

RON: So sometimes these elected officials, they think like, okay. I get in office, and I need to raise money so I stay in office.

You don't never to do that, if you're doing a good job. Then when the money comes in against you, it doesn't work. Because people see the results. And, oh, by the way, even though I came into office standing against big sugar, which is a massively powerful interest in Florida. We fought Disney. We fought the pharmaceuticals. We fought across-the-board. I still raised more money than any governor candidate in the history of Florida. Part of it, we have a lot of grassroots. Part of it, we have a lot of wealth moving into Florida. Who basically said, I need DeSantis to be governor. Because if I just left New York or Illinois, I don't want to see Florida turn into that, so there was a reason why they did it.

But then, Glenn, what happened was, I flipped it around. We run the show. We run the agenda.

Some of these businesses and stuff, they just want to -- they want to help me out. Because they don't want to be the next Disney.

And so I think we have it going in a good direction. That's the way it should be.

Don't be subservient to the chamber of commerce. They should be coming to you, asking how they can help you, not the other way around.

GLENN: I'm not saying that you are running for president.

But I'm not not saying that artery.

If someone like you were to run for president, could this be done on a national level?

RON: So I think all the ideas that we talk about in the book, and the successes we have, I do think there's a majority of the American people that would support it. If you think about it, Florida has been a microcosm of the country for a long time.

You know, if we're winning places like Miami-Dade County, you know, that's going to bode well for other parts of the country. Now, if you talk about at the federal level, there are certain things that may be easier, actually to do. Because I think that with the vast administrative state. If you have a determined executive, who knows how to use those levers of power, I think you could do a complete upheaval of the Deep State. I think there's a lot of things you can do from executive and administratively, that will really get our country on a good footing.

Now, dealing with the Congress, is a little bit different than dealing with the state legislature. I mean, most of the citizens of Florida, don't know their legislatures that much.

They know. So what they want, the Republican governors, you better be supporting the governor. As you get into Washington, some of these guys, you know, have their own brands and all that.

And I'm not saying it can't be done. But you have to go into that with the right frame of mind. And say, okay.

How do you corral these guys to be able to land really important legislative -- but you have to do both.

You can't just be successful on executive action and ignore the legislative. And if you're successful in legislative, you can't be somebody that is not willing to really go in and upend this entrenched, highly politicized bureaucracy that's developed.
GLENN: Governor Ron DeSantis, the name of the book. It came out yesterday. Already number one. The Courage to be Free. Authored, and this is very rare. Authored by him. Every word. Authored by him.

And we will see you Saturday, sir. I have a lot more to -- a lot more to talk to you about. And we'll that do podcast on Saturday. We'll see you then.

RON: Okay. Godspeed. God bless.

GLENN: Courage to be free.

STU: By the way, the podcast comes out I guess the week of March 13th.

GLENN: March 13th. Yeah.

For a Night, We Were Human | The Christmas Truce Music Video

In the frozen trenches of World War I along the Lys River in 1914, amidst the relentless thunder of artillery, a miraculous unofficial truce unfolded on Christmas Day. British and German soldiers, weary enemies, emerged from the mud and wire to share gifts, songs, and stories of home together in the ruins. Produced by Glenn Beck in collaboration with AI, this poignant music video and original song recapture the true story of the Christmas Truce, reminding us that even in the darkest times, a single brave act or small light can awaken our shared humanity, allowing soldiers to lay down their weapons and remember they are human... just for a night.

Stay tuned at GlennBeck.com for more musical storytelling inspired by Glenn’s artifacts next year on Torch.

The HIDDEN history behind Trump’s controversial Rob Reiner comments

President Trump recently received heat from his own party over his comments about the allegedly murdered actor Rob Reiner. Glenn Beck explains why he believes Trump’s comments were not a good move, but also tells of a meeting he had with Trump that he believes explains why Trump hates TDS so much…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I don't -- I don't -- I don't want to get into -- into the mix with everybody and personalities. I like -- my goal is to make things about right and wrong, and not about personalities.

But I do want to spend just a second on President Trump's post yesterday about Rob Reiner. It made me sad. It made me really sad. Because I like the president.

And -- and he doesn't help himself when he does things like this. But I think I understand this in a different way.

You know, the President has said, you know, all kinds of things about me at times when I disagree with him. He'll say, "Oh, he's just a failing fat blob," or whatever. And that's just him. That's just the way -- when he's in a fight, he is a -- he's a knife fighter. And I get it. I don't like it. But I get it. This was different. This was different.
And this was -- you know, you can say a lot of stuff politically about Rob Reiner. But politics didn't matter yesterday. We weren't -- I mean, that's not -- it just didn't matter. It didn't matter.

But I think to the President, it does. I saw a change in the President -- I've seen two changes in the President. I've seen a change in him when they started going after him and his family. After 2020. And they really started going after his family. And we know this because we showed you the documents. What they -- they had a plan. Take him down.

Take his family down to stop MAGA at all costs. Put them in jail. I mean, those are their words.

And it's -- it was frightening to read.

And I talked to the president, I don't know. Maybe six months after, you know, we were in 2021. Maybe six months. Eight months.

And I said, how are you holding up?

And he had talked a little about how he felt. He had really let people down because he had things going in the right direction. And now, look at it, and look how screwed up things are going to get. And how the economy is going to be damn near impossible to fix. It will take us time. But we can't fix it. Pragmatism, but they've just destroyed it. And I said, how are you personally.

How are you holding up?

And this is the first change I saw. He -- his body changed. And he said, they're going after my damn children!

And it was this Dad. All of a sudden, he wasn't the president or former president, he wasn't Donald Trump. He was a Dad. And it was every Dad response in him. And he said, "You don't go after our children."

And I saw him really, truly mad for the very first time, and it was righteous indignation.

Then after he was shot, I saw another change. I saw him recognize that God existed. I mean, I know he believed that in God. I don't know that he believed that God was actually part of, you know, the story. The everyday story. You know, I don't know how he views God in that way.

But I know that he recognized that God was in his -- in the story of America now.

Firsthand, he witnessed it. The reason why I said this made me sad yesterday, is because -- I don't agree with what he said. I feel -- it was -- it was sad.

Because he is -- he has been kicked in the head over and over and over again by some of these people, that he -- Christmas is about the baby Jesus coming again.

And what he can do in your life. And the biggest thing that he taught was, love your enemies. Don't hate them. But that's really, really hard to do. And the President isn't there yet. On this. And it -- it made me sad. How did you feel about it, Stu?

STU: I didn't like it at all. I think maybe the same as you. You know, one of the things that bothered me about it.

Because you hit many of the points that I had on it without the personal insight that is illustrative of -- of -- of what he's going through. I think there is something to understand there. You know, obviously I --

GLENN: Big time.

STU: One of the things that is difficult about life in your attempt to master it is to try to act the right way, even when you're faced with circumstances like that. And, you know, I get it. I get why he's angry and doesn't like the guy. The man -- you used a phrase, I think in there, where you said, he's a knife fighter. This guy was actually just in a legitimate knife fight and was murdered. It was a -- it was -- this actually really happened.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

STU: And, look, my honest opinion is, it's indefensible. You know, I like President Trump. I think he does a lot of great things for the country. We've defended him on a lot of different things. A lot of times when he's being attacked, I think he deserves defense. In this case, you know, it is -- you know, it is what it is.

It is priced in to everyone's understanding of who Donald Trump is. And everything I heard about him in personal situations where he cares about the person. Is that he's very generous. He's very likable.

He's very -- he's one of those people that you like being around. You know, that is something that I've heard from tons of people. This part of him is really hard for me to square with what I've heard from -- from other -- from everybody that I've talked to, and has been on the inside with him.

And so I don't -- I don't have a defense for it. I think it's really bad. And I will say one more thing on this real quickly, Glenn.

I know a part of this that I think is difficult. In that, one of the things I took from the aftermath of that immediately was -- I don't know if pride is the right word. But like, I really liked the way conservatives responded to it.

We didn't do what they did, after Charlie Kirk.

We didn't do what they did after they shot the president. Right?

Like we -- they celebrated it. They -- they were horrible human beings, and I enjoyed the high ground, that we had there.

GLENN: Yeah. Me too.

STU: And it's difficult to make the argument that we have the high ground. When, you know, the President of the Republican Party. The Republican President of the United States, the most high profile person on, quote, unquote, our side, whatever that means these days, is a guy who, you know, kind of did some of the things that they did.

You know, so I don't -- I don't like that. I understand as part of Donald Trump. And I think if we're all adults here, we're able to kind of price that in and judge him on everything that he's doing. And when I mean pricing in. I think that's a negative part of him. Overall, you have to take everything into context.

GLENN: Right. And if we're all adults here, you know, we should be able to say, to those we love and respect, bad move. I didn't like that. Don't do that.

And I think, you know, I think because the left always says, well, you never take on your own.

Yes, we do. We take on our own, all the time. All the time. And I think it's important that we say, didn't like that. Thought that was a bad move. It didn't look good. It just wasn't right.

He's -- I wish -- and, again, though, I -- I'm not excusing it, but I am tempering it with none of us have gone through what he has gone through.

STU: So true.

GLENN: His family, somebody is shooting at him. He's being called fascist Hitler all the time. I mean, that wears on you and changes you.

And, you know, he's having a hard time forgiving that. And I kind of understand that. I wish he would take that on and take on the forgiveness, so he could be more a peacemaker in all of those things. But that is his own personal journey.

But --

STU: Yeah. And I think when we talk about like a terrible crime that's occurred.

GLENN: Sad.

STU: Like, I don't know. If there was -- think about some awful situation and at times you'll see -- he'll hear family members say the worst possible thing.

You know, if your kid is murdered. And by some -- somewhat of a particular area or group or whatever.

And they might react with just an awful thing about that group or area.

And you just. We all have a bit of understanding. Right?

A person going through a massively emotional thing.

And lashing out.

You want -- you know, the example you bring up all the time, Glenn.

Of the maybe -- the ultimate example of being able to have restraint was the Amish situation from years ago. Where, you know, you were talking about mass murder. And they were to the family's house that night, right?

And saying, we --

GLENN: Not that night. That afternoon.

I mean, within an hour. The kids were not even out of the schools yet. Their bodies were still laying in the school. And the Amish went, oh, my gosh. The killer is dead too.

He was a member of our community. His wife lives here.

What is she feeling? She's feeling completely alone. My gosh. What an example. I couldn't do that.

STU: Right. I don't even think I come close to that standard in that moment.

GLENN: No. But I would like to.

STU: That's the range. Some people act -- react really well. Some people react really poorly.

And I think we all understand the emotion and everything that takes over in a situation like that. And that has to be factored in, I think, to Trump. Of course, Rob Reiner wasn't responsible to the shooting. He was just a liberal who said bad things about Trump. And look, he's a very unique person. And a very unique situation, that I don't think anyone in the world has ever experienced.

You know, what happened with him over his life.

But may I just say, you still haven't forgiven RFK Jr for what he said about me.
(laughter)
Okay?

STU: As I said, I'm not Amish. You know, I like technology. I don't have any wagons. I didn't say I'm perfect.

GLENN: Right.

STU: No. I have -- I have -- I have absolutely forgiven RFK Jr for what he said. And if you didn't know, he accused Glenn of being a traitor. He said, he should be charged with treason. The penalty of which is death.

So, you know, I don't like that. And RFK Jr. I don't like for a lot of his policies. Some of them, by the way, I do really like. Some of them, I think are really positive. I could give you a list of some of the negative things he's done as well.

GLENN: I can too.

STU: That doesn't mean -- I certainly was find that to be an appropriate context, when the embrace of RFK Jr is occurring.

I think we need to understand what people are, and what they're doing. If he's apologetic about that, I do forgive him in that sense. Do I want him on the show and promoting all his books and his candidacy?

No. I did not -- I did not like that. But, you know, a lot of people do. I will say is, you're right, though.

We all have our hang-ups.

GLENN: I do. I certainly was.

STU: I will say this, though.

And, you know, again, all the context here. I know people are really defensive of Donald Trump, appropriately.

Because of the fact that he's targeted unfairly. I understand why people are defensive of him. I can tell you this. I really don't like RFK Jr.

He's one of my least favorite people in politics. I'm just not a fan. I could give you other names of people. Most of them revolve around Olivia Nuzzi, who whatever. I don't have feelings about her. But the story was packed with people.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: Cuomos for sure.
GLENN: Yeah.

STU: God forbid, one of these people that I really don't like, was murdered and his family and his spouse.

I can promise you. I can promise you, I will not be tweeting anything like what Donald Trump tweeted.

That is just a -- is a -- is a situation where I understand -- I understand the context around it, that we just discussed.

I don't think there's a defense to it. I think there's something, I really hope he has an awakening to at some point.

GLENN: I think that is enough to be said on that.

Now maybe we should examine ourselves, and say, where do we have that hardness in our heart that we should learn from and remove this holiday season?

Why America's "Surveillance State" Has Proven to be a TOTAL Failure

America is facing a shocking security breakdown—from a mass shooting at one of the most heavily surveilled campuses in the United States to a deadly ISIS attack in Syria that exposes the cracks in U.S. intelligence and foreign-policy strategy. As surveillance systems fail, former extremists gain power abroad, and radical Islamist networks globalize their reach, the West is confronting a threat both inside and outside its borders. This episode uncovers the uncomfortable truth behind Brown University’s unanswered questions, Syria’s escalating instability, and why the West may be running out of time to get its own house in order.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I wanted to bring Jason in -- I wanted to bring Jason in because the news that we talked about a minute ago in Australia, then Brown.

There's some weird stuff happening with the Brown shooting. And we -- we don't know much about that. And also, Syria. So let me start with Brown University, Jason. Why is this one weird, as our chief researcher, why is this one weird?

JASON: Well, there comes a point where, you know, as a society, we just end up getting used to the massive surveillance state we live in. And I think we're just like, okay. Fine.

We're never not going to be surveilled 24/7. Maybe there's some benefits to it.

Well, no!

It doesn't seem that way. Because the people were asking the people at Brown. Like, how is it that you have not fully identified the shooter yet? And that's a very good question. Because if you go back to around 2021, there were people writing about how Brown University was one of the most surveilled campuses of the United States.

GLENN: How is it we only have one picture of this guy from the back?

JASON: Right!

GLENN: Apparently the one thing that will help you get away with any crime is a hoodie.

JASON: Yeah. Wear something over your head and a coat.

Apparently, that foils the entire surveillance state. Also, we have nothing to worry about with surveillance. I don't know.

GLENN: Yeah. Right. Right.

JASON: And on top of that, Kash Patel, the FBI director said that they sprung into action. And they activated their cellular monitoring system to help identify the person that has now been let go. Again, that's another layer of this surveillance state that I think a lot of us have been worried about.

And that didn't do anything either. That helped give us the wrong suspect? What is all this stuff for?

It's not keeping us safe, that's for sure.

GLENN: Hmm. I don't want to jump to any conclusions on, you know, what we have, what we don't have. I'm assuming that they have more. They just haven't shown it.

I would like to -- you know, we could help. You show us some pictures.

I think it's odd.

What happened in Syria over the weekend with al-Qaeda.

JASON: Yeah. In Syria.

There's a ton of news, especially involving ISIS, who is very much active and still very much planning attacks.

GLENN: So wait. Wait. Wait. Was this ISIS, or was this al-Qaeda?

JASON: This is ISIS. That's what they're saying. They're saying it's a lone ISIS perpetrator. The location was symbolic as well. The location as in or around Palmyra. Which, I don't know if you remember, that was a scene of a gruesome ISIS video back at the height of their caliphate, where they behead a lot of people in that area.

GLENN: Right. Right. Yes. That's where they lined them up in the orange jumpsuits. Remember everybody was kneeling down in the sand. And they started beheading people. Yes, I remember.

JASON: It was one of those UNESCO sites with ruins all around. And it was very crazy. Brutal video. But another brutal attack. I believe it was three US service members that were killed in this attack. There's a lot of speculation about to go, on if this person was working. I think he was actually at a time working with the security services that are in Syria right now, under the new president. He -- he could have been, you know, a sleeper in that organization. Who knows? But for -- the one thing I do know. And I don't understand the direction we're moving in Syria. I don't understand how a former al-Qaeda guy suddenly is an all right guy because he puts a suit on. And now he's the president of Syria. And he's our ally.

I don't understand that. The Trump administration, maybe they have more information, that I don't know.

I would love to get more of an explanation on this.

As of now, I don't see this going any direction other than a whole lot worse.

You look around that entire area. You have a former al-Qaeda guy now the president of Syria.

You have the rest of Syria, an absolute Dumpster fire. You have Iraq. I hesitate to call these countries.

They're so far down the sectarian, you know, spiral that this is.

But I don't see how this is going to go anywhere, but south, from here on out.

We're in an absolute war with these radical Islamists. And it's not just in the Middle East. It's globalize the intifada has landed on shores all over the world. And while there are politicians that will not denounce that. That is exactly what's happening. Sorry!

GLENN: So I think that's where -- I think that's what -- that explains Trump's thinking. That Trump does not want these everlasting wars to go on.

He does not want to be fighting in the Middle East. He doesn't want to really be fighting anywhere. He will, if he has to. But he's focused more on the American homeland. And the American hemisphere.

And so I think he is -- I think he's letting the Middle East take care of itself.

And as long as they can all get along with each other and Israel.

And recognize that, you know, Iran and the -- the -- the al-Qaeda, the, you know, Muslim Brotherhood. Et cetera, et cetera.

Trying to coax them all into. Hey. These are kind of your enemies here.

You know, ISIS is a big enemy to us and to peace.

And I think he's hoping that they will start to take care of themselves. Whether they will or not, I don't know. You know, it's never happened were. But it's worth trying. We've been playing this other game of us getting involved in everything for 100 years. We know that doesn't work.

So I'm guessing what Trump is thinking is, we know that doesn't work. We're not going to do that. Let's try to give peace a chance, and help them stomp this out, because it will be prosperous for all of them and plant those seeds as deeply as you can to see what happens. But we're not getting involved in any of that. I have a feeling, but there will be a military response to this, I'm sure. Won't you agree?

JASON: Oh, one hundred percent, and to tack on to what you're saying, I would hope that the President would go with his gut on this.

Because the previous ways this has been handled with Islamists, especially in this area. They've screwed it up.

They don't know what they're doing. Although, they think they know what they're doing. I'll go back to history. The Iran and Iraq War. We supported both size on that. In a similar -- in a similar strategy. So we're like, okay. We don't like either one of these groups. Sectarian groups to get too large. Let's fund this country at the same time we fund this country. We'll arm them. They'll fight each other, and they'll be fine. We do that all the time.

So now, the only thing I can think of is that's what they're thinking with the Syria president, this former al-Qaeda guy. Okay. Well, fine. They'll be anti-Iran, so they can counter Iran.

It's literally the same exact strategy, that they're going for. And I get it. That means that we don't have to get involved. I guess in the initial point.

But we always end up having to get involved after the fire erupts and --

GLENN: We know -- look, I think he's trying to buy time, quite honestly. Get us out of that.

Let us recover, and hopefully not go back to it. Try to buy hopefully some real peace.

But we all know how this will end. It's never going to work in the long-term. Because we as the West have to concentrate on our own homelands. You're seeing that with what happened in Australia. We have let the barbarian into the gates. And we've got to focus on that. We've got to get this cancer, cut out of our own societies. Because it's not good.

'Life is FAR Bigger Than Politics' - Glenn Beck's Spot-On Reaction to Rob Reiner's Death

Hollywood is mourning after the shocking and heartbreaking deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife—an iconic creative force whose films shaped generations. Glenn Beck reflects on Reiner’s extraordinary legacy, the tragedy surrounding his final moments, and the humanity he showed even toward those he disagreed with politically. This emotional tribute explores Reiner’s impact, the devastating circumstances of his passing, and why his work—and his character—left a mark far beyond Hollywood.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: it's so sad that Rob Reiner thing is so sad.

I mean, I don't -- I think -- Stu, correct me if I'm wrong. If he hadn't have done This Is Spinal Tap -- A Mighty Wind, Best of Show, for your consideration, any of those would have been able to have even been made. Because this is Spinal Tap. Rob Reiner directed, but it was still Christopher Guest. I think it was Harry Shearer that wrote it.

STU: And Michael McKean, yeah. Yeah, so theoretically, those movies could have been made, but I don't think any of them get made without Spinal Tap. And I don't think Spinal Tap gets made without Rob Reiner. Because they needed somebody attached to it that would be able to bring that to life.

GLENN: I mean, what a legacy he and his father brought to television.

I mean, think, Carl Reiner did your show of shows, which was Mel Brooks and Woody Allen with Carl Reiner writing that. Imagine That. Then he bought the Dick Van Dyke show and a million -- a million other TV shows and movies he was responsible for. And then his son starts with All In the family, and brings us all these classic movies, and the way they died this weekend, is just horribly, horribly tragic. Horribly tragic.

STU: Yeah. And it's not just Spinal Tap, which is a big one. Princes Bride.

GLENN: Oh, I know.

STU: Some of the movies --

GLENN: Harry Met Sally. Gosh, so good. So good.
STU: So many things.
GLENN: Stand By Me. One of my favorite movies.
STU: Oh, yeah. Jeez.
GLENN: Just great moves. Just great movies.

GLENN: So Rob Reiner met his wife in 1989. They have been together ever since. They live in Brentwood, which is a suburb of Los Angeles. It's -- their house is 2 miles away from where Nicole Simpson Brown was -- was discovered and killed.

Officers were called to Brentwood, to their home. All they said at first was, a man and a woman found with stab wounds. That's what came out over the radio. They were dead. And then friends started to show up. Billy Crystal was there. He came into the house. Reporters say he left looking horribly shaken. Larry David, who is a neighbor, he came in. Same story. It was confirmed that Rob Reiner and his wife were killed and brutally murdered: stab wounds.

We knew early this morning that the guy who might have done it is their 32-year-old son. His name is Nick Reiner. He's a screenwriter and also -- he's a guy who has battled drugs and alcohol and homelessness. He said at one point, I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas. I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street, and it wasn't fun. That's what he said to People magazine in 2016. I don't know the latest on him.

But he has been just arrested for the murder of his mother and father. Just horrible!

Just horrible. I mean, Rob Reiner was one of those guys that I was always sad that, you know, we disagreed. And -- I'll be kind to him here.

Neither of us could ever find our way to talk to one another.

Because I really admired him.

I really liked him.

I didn't like him politically.

That's such a small part of life. I mean, gosh. He did When Harry Met Sally. He did the Princess Bride. This is Spinal Tap. He did A Few Good Men.

Stu, look up -- look up his work. He's responsible for some of the best movies ever. His father was a genius. It is so sad that Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, and then now that is broken by the third generation. The son!

And it ends this way. He brought so much joy -- to just me. I'll speak for me. His movies have brought me so much joy, just the Princess Bride alone. But so sad. So incredibly sad.

And to be killed by your -- it's one thing I guess to be killed by your stranger, and that's bad. But to be killed by your own son. Oh!

STU: Glenn, listen to this -- late '80s. Early '90s. Quickly.

1984, this is Spinal Tap. '85, The Sure Thing. '86, Stand By Me. '87, The Princess Bride. '89, When Harry Met Sally. 1990, Misery. 1992, A Few Good Men. I mean, that is -- that is a run!

GLENN: Wow! Wow! Just -- just brilliant, brilliant guy from a brilliant family.

I'm glad his father isn't here. I mean, his father just died, what?

A year ago. Two years ago.

Mel Brooks is still alive, which this has just got to kill Mel Brooks.

Gosh, poor Mel Brooks. The tragedy.
By the way, I want to show you how Rob Reiner for as politically different as we were, and we were extraordinarily politically different. I want you to listen to how he handled the death of Charlie Kirk.

VOICE: When you first heard about the murder of Charlie Kirk, what was your immediate gut reaction to it?

VOICE: Well, horror, absolute horror.

And I unfortunately saw the video of it. And it's -- it's -- it's beyond belief. The -- what happened to him, and that should never happen to anybody.

I don't care what your political beliefs are. That's not acceptable! That's not a solution to solving problems. And I felt like what his wife said at the service -- at the memorial they had. Was exactly right.

And totally, I believe, you know, I'm Jewish. But I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe in do unto others. And I believe in forgiveness. And what she said was beautiful. And absolutely -- she -- she forgave his -- his assassin.
And I think that -- that is admirable.

GLENN: I mean, how many -- how many other people did that? Especially for as vehemently as he disagrees with the right.

He was a human being. And I think that's why his -- I think that's why his films lasted and connected with us. You know, I mean, in a lot of ways, his films were a little like John Hughes' movies.

John Hughes was -- I mean, he was lightning in a bottle.

And there was something. And I think that something in many ways, was John Candy.

But there was something about the John Hughes movie, that connected to us on a basic level.

You know. That -- that spoke to us, deeper than just a movie! Or a script.

You know, it -- it came from a place that was real.

And I -- I think of Peter fall. And

What's his name?

I can't remember. He used to be in the wonder years. It was the little kid on Princess Bride, that -- that just those scenes alone -- just those scenes alone were so real! So real. When Peter Falk turns around and says, as you wish. It -- by the end of the movie, you felt that deeply.