RADIOMarch 31, 2025

Debating SNAP Benefits: Should Soda be Allowed?

There’s a big debate brewing: Should people be allowed to buy sugary snacks, like soda, using SNAP benefits? Glenn and Stu look at how our founders, like Benjamin Franklin, looked at poverty and social welfare. Is it a problem that the number one item purchased with SNAP benefits is soda? Should our tax dollars only help the poor buy the basics, like meat and bread?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I don't know. I mean, I don't want to turn anybody into Jeff Bezos.

But you might want to back off the sugar if you're on Snap. Oh, that's the word we're getting. No sugary treats, if you're on Snap.

And, you know, I'm torn.

If you are somebody who have got kids and you are struggling, you're not living off of the government. You're struggling.

I mean, it would be nice to have something. You know, an Oreo, to be able to have for dessert, or something.

But the argument is, and I agree with it, this is not good for you. We're going to cause more problems, if we're giving these really high sugary, high fructose corn syrup stuff to the people who can't necessarily afford the medical care and the medical treatment, and take care of yourself.

That's adding. That's just adding stupidity on stupidity.

But Stu and I are big fans of Benjamin Franklin. And how he looked at poverty.

STU: Yeah. Here it is.

I am for doing good for the poor.

But I think the best way of doing good for the poor. Is not making them easy in poverty.

But by leading or driving them out of it.

I observed, that the more public provisions were made to the poor, the less they provided for themselves. And, of course, became poorer.

On the contrary, the less that was done for them. The more they did for themselves. And became richer.

I'm a big believer in that philosophy.

GLENN: Me too. Me too. Me too.

STU: And I'm kind of like this with almost all government programs.

They should not give you some utopian life.

They should be something that you hate.

You should despise the fact that you have to stay on these rams.

And you should always desire to get off of them as soon as possible.

And this goes, when it comes to the snap benefits discussion. I don't -- it's not -- for me at least.

It's not about whether it's healthy or not.

I do -- you have a big place in my heart for your argument on -- that it's going to lead to a bunch of health expenses later on in life.

I think it's a real consideration.

It's not really that for me.

It shouldn't be things, that are like luxury items.

You shouldn't get a luxury item. Oreos, as much as I love them. And they feel like, it's part of my day-to-day necessity to live.

GLENN: Oh, it's the left hand side of my food pyramid. All the way to the top or the bottom, it's the left-hand side of that pyramid.

STU: Some would say, maybe not the best decision. But I'm with you on that. That should not mean, that the government provides those things for you. Like, I am like, I would rather go back to like government cheese.

They're delivering government cheese.

Government milk. They produce it.

It sucks! You hate it. You never want to eat it. That's what I want.

Do I want like -- if you are going to have a program like this.

The idea is to not make it a lifestyle. It might be something to get people through a really difficult situation. By the way, that is temporary.

It's supposed to be temporary.

A temporary situation, where you're struggling, and you help end meat.

But that means, you're alive! That doesn't mean, you're having the latest Mountain Dew flavor.

That's not what it -- you know the number one thing, purchased with Snap benefits is soda.

And I am the biggest soda advocate you will ever find. I constantly --

GLENN: Oh, yeah. You're 98 percent soda.

STU: I am. If anything, there was a story about conservative influencers perhaps getting payments to post in -- on behalf of big soda.

Which was really frustrating, and awful.

Because I didn't get an offer.

Like, I should be the number one --

GLENN: I know. I'm a little upset about that too.

STU: Where is my soda cash? I want it. You can pay me directly in aspartame. I'm fine with it. Deliver bags of aspartame to my front door.

GLENN: Honey, why is there a truckload of aspartame?

STU: Hold on, I need to post on X. So I -- from that perspective. Like I think there's a big hole here for considering what we do with these programs, and how we consider the relationship with the government and people who are on them.

People who are on these programs. Should desire to get off of them.

We shouldn't be. They used to have food stamps. Then they made the cards.

One of the talks. It's kind of embarrassing for these people who go and use them. Look, I'm not looking to shame people. You shouldn't have shame for going through a tough period.

But it also shouldn't be something where you're like, this is great. Hold on. Let me pay for all the food I have. So then I can use the extra money for liquor. Or I can use the extra money for an i Phone.

Or whatever else.

These should be desperation programs. The government, if it will provide these services at all.

Should be providing them to people who are desperately in need to get over a hump that is temporary. That should be the design of these programs.

GLENN: So do you know the history of that phrase, from Benjamin Franklin? Do you know what that's about?

STU: I think so. He was in Europe, right?

GLENN: He was in England. Yeah. He was traveling in England.

And somebody said, you know, you just -- you hate the poor. Because you don't. And he's like, no, no, no. I don't. I don't.

I'm watching what you're doing.

And everything that you're doing is making the situation worse for them. They're getting poorer and poorer and more reliant on you.

We found, you know, the churches should do it.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And you shouldn't just give it out. We should make people uncomfortable in their poverty, so they want to get out.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: You know, if you read Noah Gerald Harari. Anyway, that guy.

STU: Geraldo. Yes. If you read Geraldo's book, yeah.

GLENN: You read Harari's book, and he talks about, what are we going to do to this useless population?

Well, there's your first problem.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Okay. If you're looking at people as useless. Then you do have to do something with them.

But who is making them useless?

Our school system is making them useless.

They cannot read. They can't reason.

They can't think.

They can't do mathematics.

And then on top of it. You know, the elites are controlling all of our tech.

And it's going to get worse and worse and worse.

I mean, Stu. Tell the story about homework last night with your son.

STU: Oh, yeah.

So we had baseball. By the way, Zach two for two with the triple. So we get back from the game, and it's late. And he's been -- from the moment we left school, it was baseball all the way. And it's like 9:15. 9:30. He's done with the shower. He's beat. He's -- you have to run for a triple at that speed. That will do you.

So he has the homework. And he has math homework. He's in some advanced math class. Where he's now looking at -- he's to the level now in seventh grade, where he is beyond what I can actually remember and do easily.

You know, he's like, can I help me with this.

GLENN: I remember that hit me with my kids in first grade.

STU: It's some advanced graphing formula.

And I'm like, I sort of remember seeing something like this 30 years ago.

It's beyond my level.

GLENN: Right.

STU: So when these things happen.

I've been using. Like ChatGPT.

Or Grok, or whatever. To kind of reteach it to me in a brief lesson. So I can talk him through it.

It's really helpful like that. Don't let your kids get access to it.

GLENN: Right.

STU: Right.

So what I usually do, is I'll be like, hey, help me understand this and explain it to a seventh grader. And it gives you like a little outline of, like, okay. Here's a formula. This is how this works.

Then it kind of comes back to you. It's like a language you maybe learned a long time ago.

When you get kind of a couple of words, it starts piecing back together in your mind. So it's been really helpful.

But last night, I'm tired. He's tired. It's late. And I am like, I just -- even after I did that exercise, could not really remember how to do whatever he was attempting.

And so I was like, well, let me just try to type it out. And have -- graph the thing for me. Maybe it will set me up. I do that, I type in the question he's got on his paper. It does the homework and graphs it up for me. And I'm like, wow, that's amazing. But still, I'm at the point, my brain is not working, I cannot get there.

Then I wind up taking a picture of his actual question, just a picture of it. Input it into the AI, and it reads the question. It then explains it to a seventh grader step by step. And then answers it, at the bottom.

And so I have him, I'm like, you read this.

I'm legitimately not getting this. I read this. He reads the step by step. You know, how to understand what's going on. What each thing means.

And, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is easy.

Before he gets to the answer.

GLENN: You gave him the answer?

STU: I didn't give him the answer.

It was at the bottom. So I made sure to not get to the --

GLENN: All right. You just know, it's my son. He's never going to read all the way to the end.

STU: I think what you want to do.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Glenn. Because you're the AI expert here. What I should have done is say, don't give the answer at the end.

GLENN: Well, you could have, cut it off for you. So you could have it, and check his work.

STU: That's what wound up happening.
It's fascinating. And then I started thinking, I'm super restrictive on phones.
My kid doesn't have one.

Every single thing is locked down. They can't even log into their devices, where they're coming to me and make me type in or give my fingerprint to get in. I'm obsessive about this. I've read Jonathan Haidt's book.

GLENN: That is terrifying, by the way.

STU: The Anxious Generation, read it. Hopefully before they turn of the age where you might be considering giving them a phone.

GLENN: I wish I would have read that. I wish it would have been printed before I did. Because I gave my kids a phone when they got into high school.

Because the school said, they have to have one.

STU: And that's late.

You already did a great job of -- of --

GLENN: Oh, we just.

STU: It's so hard.

GLENN: I'm sure every parent feels like this.

You just feel like a failure.

Because everything is so overwhelming.

And you never dealt with any of this stuff.

It's not like our parents -- I mean, kids hadn't changed that much.

Life hadn't changed that much from the '60s to the '80s. It's totally different now.

You just feel like a bad parent at times.

STU: We were at dinner with some of his friends after baseball.

Five kids at the table. Four of them are on phones, at the table. My son is the only one without one. I'm sure this is going to lead to all positive things in the future.

GLENN: Oh, it will. It will.

STU: I do believe it will, for him. He will have some tough times.

My point there though, is that I'm obsessive about this. I lock all that stuff down as much as I can. It's still difficult.

Most of the parents I know, are like, they're going to get it anyway.

I can't sit here and obsess about freaking screen time all day.

So, you know, they're good kids.

Look, I -- I don't know -- was I a good kid? I don't know. But I will tell you, if I had access to that, I would be taking a photo of every single one of my questions and having ChatGPT or whatever answer them.

Filling it all in.

Getting on with my life. When I went to play video games.

And we're seeing it now. There was an instructor, who teaches a college course.

Been teaching it for years and years and years.

He said, all of my students seem brilliant all of a sudden. And it's funny because none of them come for help after school and office hours. None of them ever ask any questions in class. They all get incredible grades, and until we have an in-room exam! And then they all do worse, than everybody else.

From the previous years.

And he's like, what's happening?

Is -- ChatGPT. I think it's a coding thing. Their -- ChatGPT is doing all the coding for them, or AI or Grok or Gemini. Or whatever.

And they're not learning it. They don't have any of the process. They don't know how to answer the questions.

They don't know how to think through the problems. What -- what does that lead to?

GLENN: Stu, do you remember when I had Ray Kurzweil? 2008, 2009.

And he said, that this was coming.

And I said, Ray, that's going to make us incredibly lazy.

He said, no. It will give you time to think about other things.

And I thought, okay. You don't know who humans are.

I use it that way. I know people who do use it that way.

It's enhanced what they do.

And I said, oh, my gosh.

I can create so much more.

Most people are not like that. That's the spirit of the entrepreneur that is like that.

That's the discoverer in some people.

Most people are like, I just want to get by.

I just want to get by.

And I just want to do my thing for a few hours every day, just be left alone. Those are the ones that are going to be left way behind. Because they will use it to complete their work.

And not to help them learn or think.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Epstein's "Blackmail Videos" Being Used for Leverage RIGHT NOW?

What was Jeffrey Epstein's operation all about. If he was at the center of a massive blackmail operation to compromise those in positions of power, who is in possession of that information now? Glenn Beck and ATF Whistleblower John Dodson analyze the details of this situation and give their thoughts on what is the most likely reality surrounding Epstein.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with ATF Whistleblower John Dodson HERE

WARNING: How America Elects a Socialist President in 2028 | Glenn TV | Ep 444

The rise of Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old socialist who just won the Democratic primary for mayor, is not just a political earthquake shaking New York City — it’s a warning for the rest of America. Backed by Bernie Sanders, AOC, and the Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani promises free everything, to tax the rich, and to dismantle capitalism. There’s nothing new about this tired strategy, but the media is propping him up as a new political genius. And with Democrat leaders lining up behind him, it’s clear: This radicalism isn’t fringe anymore. It’s the Democratic Party’s future. Mamdani’s rise is part of a larger movement that’s rewriting America’s values. Glenn Beck explains how New York is the prototype for the Left’s socialist makeover of America. Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Standford, gives a terrifying prediction on Mamdani’s mayoral race chances and warns the revolution is coming for mainstream Democrats. He also dives into MAGA’s frustration with the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files.

INSIDE Trump’s soul: How a bullet changed his heart forever

“I have a new purpose,” then-candidate Donald Trump told reporter Salena Zito after surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Salena joins Glenn Beck to reveal what Trump told her about God, his purpose in life, and why he really said, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, as she details in her new book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland”.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Salena, congratulations on your book. It is so good.

Just started reading it. Or listening to it, last night.

And I wish you would have -- I wish you would have read it. But, you know, the lady you have reading it is really good.

I just enjoy the way you tell stories.

The writing of this is the best explanation on who Trump supporters are. That I think I've ever read, from anybody.

It's really good.

And the description of your experience there at the edge of the stage with Donald Trump is pretty remarkable as well. Welcome to the program.

SALENA: Thank you, Glenn. Thank you so much for having me.

You know, I was thinking about this, as I was ready to come on. You and I have been along for this ride forever. For what?

Since 2006? 2005?

Like 20 years, right?

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

SALENA: And I've been chronicling the American people for probably ten more years, before that. And it's really remarkable to me, as watching how this coalition has grown. Right?

And watching how people have the -- have become more aspirational.

And that's -- and that is what the conservative populist coalition is, right?

It is the aspirations of many, but the celebration of the individual.

And chronicling them, yeah. Has been -- has been, a great honor.

GLENN: You know, I was thinking about this yesterday, when -- when Elon Musk said he was starting another party.

And somebody asked me, well, isn't he doing what the Tea Party tried to do?

No. The Tea Party was not going to start a new party.

It was to -- you know, it was to coerce and convince the Republican Party to do the right thing. And it worked in many ways. It didn't accomplish what we hoped.

But it did accomplish a lot of things.

Donald Trump is a result of the Tea Party.

I truly believe that. And a lot of the people that were -- right?

Were with Donald Trump, are the people that were with the Tea Party.

SALENA: That's absolutely right.

So that was the inception.

So American politics has always had movements, that have been just outside of a party. Or within a party.

That galvanize and broaden the coalition. Right? They don't take away. Or walk away, and become another party.

If anything, if there is a third party out there, it's almost a Republican Party.

Because it has changed in so many viable and meaningful ways. And the Tea Party didn't go away. It strengthened and broadened the Republican Party. Because these weren't just Republicans that became part of this party.

It was independents. It was Democrats.

And just unhappy with the establishment Republicans. And unhappy with Democrats.

And that -- that movement is what we -- what I see today.

What I see every day. What I saw that day, in butler, when I showed I happen at that rally.

As I do, so many rallies, you know, throughout my career. And that one was riveting and changed everything.

GLENN: You made a great case in the opening chapter. You talk about how things were going for Donald Trump.

And how this moment really did change everything for Donald Trump.

Changed the trajectory, changed the mood.

I mean, Elon Musk was not on the Trump train, until this.

SALENA: Yeah.

GLENN: Moment. What do I -- what changed? How -- how did that work?

And -- and I contend, that we would have much more profound change, had the media actually done their job and reported this the way it really was. Pragmatism

SALENA: You know, and people will find this in the book. I'm laying on the ground with an agent on top of me.

I'm 4 feet away from the president.

And there's -- there's notices coming up on my phone. Saying, he was hit by broken glass.

And to this take, that remains part of this sibling culture, in American politics.

Because reporters were -- were so anxious to -- to right what they believed happened.

As opposed to what happened.

And it's been a continual frustration of mine, as a reporter, who is on the ground, all the time.

And I'll tell you, what changed in that moment.

And I say a nuance, and I believe nuance is dead in American journalism.

But it was a nuance and it was a powerful conversation, that I had with President Trump, the next day. He called me the next morning.

But it's a powerful conversation I had with him, just two weeks ago.

When he made this decision to say, fight, fight, fight.

People have put in their heads, why they think he said it. But he told me why he said that. And he said, Salena, in that moment, I was not Donald Trump the man. I was a former president. I was quite possibly going to be president again.

And I had an obligation to the country, and to the office that I have served in, to project strength. To project resolve.

To project that we will not be defeated.

And it's sort of like a symbolic eagle, that is always -- you know, that symbol that we look at, when we think about our country.

He said, that's why I said that. I didn't want the people behind me panicking. I didn't want the people watching, panicking.

I had to show strength. And it's that nuance -- that I think people really picked up on.

And galvanized people.

GLENN: So he told me, when he was laying down on the stage.

And you can hear him. Let me get up. Let me get up.

I've got to get up.

He told me, as I was laying on the stage. I asked him, what were you thinking? What was going through your head? Now, Salena, I don't know about you.

But with me. It would be like, how do I get off the stage? My first was survival.

He said, what was going on through his mind was, you're not pathetic. This is pathetic.

You're not afraid. Get up.

Get up.

And so is that what informed his fight, fight, fight, of that by the time that he's standing up, he's thinking, I'm a symbol? Or do you think he was thinking, I'm a symbol, this looks pathetic. It makes you look weak.

Stand up. How do you think that actually happened?

SALENA: He thinks, and we just talked about this weeks ago. He -- you know, and this is something that he's really thought about.

Right? You know, he's gone over and over and over. And also, purpose and God. Right? These are things that have lingered with him.

You know, he -- he thought, yes.

He did think, it was pathetic that he was on the ground. But he wasn't thinking about, I'm Donald Trump. It's pathetic.

He's thinking, my country is symbolically on the ground. I need to get up, and I need to show that my country is strong.

That our country is resolute.

And I need people to see that.

We can't go on looking like pathetic.

Right?

And I think that then goes to that image of Biden.

GLENN: You have been with so many presidents.

How many presidents do you think that you've personally been with, would have thought that and reacted that way?

SALENA: Probably only Reagan. Reagan would have. Reagan probably would have thought that.

And if you remember how he was out like standing outside.

You know, waving out the window. Right?

After he was shot.

GLENN: At the hospital, right.

SALENA: Had he not been knocked out, unconscious, you know, he probably would have done the same thing.

Because he was someone who deeply believed in American exceptionalism.

And American exceptionalism does not go lay on the ground.

GLENN: And the symbol.

Right. The symbol of the presidency.

SALENA: Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that affects him today.

GLENN: So let me go back to God.

Because you talked to him the next day. And your book Butler.

He calls you up.

I love the fact that your parents would be ashamed of you. On what you said to him.

The language you used. That you just have to read the book.

It's just a great part.

But he calls you the next morning. And wants to know if you're okay.

And you -- you then start talking to him, about God.

And I was -- I was thinking about this, as I was listening to it. You know, Lincoln said, I wasn't -- I wasn't a Christian.

Even though, he was.

I wasn't a Christian, when I was elected. I wasn't a Christian when my son died.

I became a Christian at Gettysburg.

Is -- is -- I mean, I believe Donald Trump always believes in God, et cetera, et cetera.

Do you think there was a real profound change at Butler with him?

SALENA: Absolutely. You know, he called me seven times that day. Seven times, the take after seven.

GLENN: Crazy.

SALENA: Talked about. And I think he was looking for someone that he knew, that was there. And to try to sort it out.

Right? And I let him do most of the talking. I didn't pressure him.

At all. I believed that he was having -- you know, he was struggling. And he needed to just talk. And I believed my purpose was to listen.

Right? I know other reporters would have handled it differently. And that's okay. That's not the kind of reporter that I am.

And I myself was having my own like, why didn't I die?

Right?

Because it went right over my head.

And -- and so I -- he had the conversation about God.

He's funny. I thought it was the biggest mosquito in the world that hit me.

But he had talked profoundly about purpose. You know, and God.

And how God was in that moment.

It --

GLENN: I love the way you -- in the book, I love the way you said that as he's kind of working it out in his own he head.

He was like, you know, I -- I -- I always knew that there was some sort of, you know -- that God was present.

He said, but now that this has happened.

I look back at all of the trials.

All of the tribulations. Literally, the trials.

All of the things that have happened. And he's like, I realized God was there the whole time.

SALENA: Yes. He does. And it's fascinating to have been that witness to history, to have those conversations with him. Because I'm telling you. And y'all know, I can talk. I didn't say much of anything.

I just -- I just listened. I felt that was my purpose, in that moment.

To give him that space, to work it out.

I'm someone that is, you know, believes in God.

I'm Catholic. I followed my faith.

And -- and so, I thought, well, this is why God put me here. Right?

And to -- to have that -- to hear him talk about purpose, to hear him say, Salena. Why did I put a chart down?

I'm like, sir. I don't know. I thought you were Ross Perot for a second.

He never has a chart. And he laughed. And then he said, why did I put that chart down?

By that term, I never turned my head away from people at the rally. That's true.

That relationship is very transactional. It's very -- they feed off of each other.

It's a very emotive moment when you attend a rally. Because he has a way of talking at a rally. That you believe that you are seeing.

And he said, and I never turn my head away.

I never turn my head away.

Why did I turn my head away?

I don't remember consciously thinking about turning my head away. And then he says to me, that was God, wasn't it?

Yes, sir. It was. It was God.

And he said, that's -- that's why I have a new purpose.

And so, Glenn. I think it's important, when you look at the breadth of what has happened, since he was sworn in.

You see that purpose, every day.

He doesn't let up.

He continues going.

And it brings back to the beginning of the book.

Where you find out, that there was another president that was shot at in Butler.

And that was George Washington. And how different the country would have been, had he died in that moment.

And now think about how different the country would be, had President Trump died in that moment. There would be --

GLENN: We're talking to -- we're talking to Salena Zito. About her new book called Butler. The assassination attempt on President Trump. And it is riveting.

And, you know, it is so good. I wish the press would read it. Because it really explains who we are, who Trump supporters are. Who are, you know, red staters. It is so good at that. She's the best at that.