RADIOJuly 21, 2022

How BlackRock uses YOUR MONEY to push ESG & far-left plans

BlackRock — the largest asset manager in the WORLD — lost an unprecedented 17 BILLION DOLLARS over the last 6 months. BlackRock’s losses are in part due to the overall market downturn, Vivek Ramaswamy tells Glenn. BUT the policies BlackRock continues to push, like ESG, are responsible for today's struggling market. Ramaswamy, author of ‘Nation of Victims,’ describes just how toxic ESG policies are to America, to our economy, and most recently, to energy companies and oil supplies around the WORLD. And, thanks to BlackRock, it’s only getting worse. Plus, he explains how YOUR money could be helping BlackRock push ESG and other far-left initiatives and plans…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Vivek, my friend, how are you, sir?

VIVEK: Good to talk to you, Glenn. How are you?

GLENN: Very, very good. You are a guy, who I think -- one of the few that actually really gets ESG and the Great Reset. Believes and understands how dangerous it is, and is working to educate people, and also help us beat it. Let me -- let me start with what's happening with ESG and BlackRock.

Is -- is BlackRock's downturn in their profits, is this something that is caused by ESG? Or is this just the downturn of the market, that everybody is feeling?

VIVEK: Well, the answer to that question, Glenn, is it is both of those things. In part, because BlackRock is contributing to the downturn in the market that everyone is feeling because of ESG.

So I'll explain to you how that works. Where, this is the largest asset manager in the world, managing over $10 trillion. $10 trillion.

About half the U.S. GDP in the hands of one firm. And if you add Vanguard and State Street to the list, the top three, they manage more than the U.S. do. And what they do, they're aggregating the money of everyday citizens -- probably most people listening to this program, actually. Probably you and me included. Which, we don't know it, through our 401(k) accounts, through pension fund accounts, et cetera. And what they do, is they use that money to advocate for these ESG policies in corporate America. Climate change plans. Emissions caps. Diversity, equity, inclusion quota systems for race and gender on board, et cetera. They use our money to advocate for those principles in corporate America, that makes companies less successful. And as we've seen this year, has actually contributed to stock market declines, as well, in my opinion. And the ESG specific funds, this year, Glenn. Have underperformed the broader market as a whole. Even though the broader market as a whole, have done badly enough. And I think a big reason why the broader market has done badly. Is because of these demands of these ESG-linked asset managers. But the ESG-specific funds have done even worse. So the answer to your question, is there a downturn because of the broader market? Or is it because of the failures of ESG?

The answer is both. Because part of the reason the broader market is turning down, is exactly because of some of these toxic policies, that cause companies to focus on these social agendas.

GLENN: So let me ask you if -- because this -- I'm -- I'm not an investor guy. I really -- I mean, I should never be around money. I'm horrible at investing. However, it's -- it would be my feeling, that if you are in a place, to where oil is as scarce as it is, if we didn't have ESG, wouldn't the -- the energy market be the place to put your money, or is that just a Glenn Beck, you know, thought?

VIVEK: You know what, it's not just Glenn Beck. It's Warren Buffett, quietly starting to behave this way too, Glenn. So you might give yourself a little bit more credit, than you just did.

But actually, if you think about it, you know, this is -- the potential moment for U.S. energy to really shine, and rise to the occasion. Not just as an investment proposition. But as a proposition to meet the needs of Americans, at a time when there's a massive supply/demand imbalance, right? You remember, as recently as 2018, the U.S. was the world's largest producer of energy. How quickly things have changed now, with the U.S. president groveling in front of foreign dictators around the world, begging them to produce more oil, that the U.S. could be producing instead.

And now, I know the Biden administration is trying to walk this back. I think a lot of ESG managers like BlackRock are trying to walk this back, and say, well, we didn't really want to end fossil fuel production. Actually, he's making good on a campaign promise. In September of 2019, on the campaign trail, I'm quoting him exactly. Here's what President Biden. Then candidate Biden said, I guarantee you, we're going to end fossil fuels, end quote.

That was a campaign promise, that he's now delivering on. But he has multiple tools to deliver on it. Because normally the way constitutionally, you would deliver on that campaign projects. You would get a law passed through Congress. Well, he doesn't have the political support to do that.

American people haven't given Congress the political support to do that. Joe Manchin won't even stand in the way of doing -- won't even allow that to happen. And so what are they doing now?

They're resorting to other means, like executive action. Through the climate change emergency. We'll see -- we'll hear more about what that means. They're doing it through the private sector.

Deputizing the cronies like BlackRock, many of whose alumni, by the way, work in the Biden administration. But large private sector actors, they do favors for them, in return for those private actors, doing it through the back door, what government could not get done through the front door through Congress, the constitutionally ordained way for actually passing laws.

So he's delivering on that campaign promise, but doing it through the back door in ways that I think will make our Founding Fathers shun her, if they actually knew the way the government was -- was treating big -- private sector and using the invisible fist of government, instead of the invisible hand of the market to actually reach these outcomes.

GLENN: So one more -- one more question on -- on food now. Would food be the same thing? Because we have -- we have the ability. We have the property. The land. We have the farmers. We have the history of being the world's breadbasket. If it wasn't for ESG, wouldn't this be the time that farming would be the best kind of investment, where you would -- we would be selling our wheat and our food, all over the world. We would literally be feeding the world. If it wasn't for ESG. Am I wrong on that?

VIVEK: And at a time when there's real demand and need for it as well.

GLENN: Correct.

VIVEK: So, Glenn, these are all part of the same categories. Because energy is upstream of food production as well. Right?

It takes energy to transport food, to be able to export food, to be able to produce food, to be able to put the ingredients together. So I agree with you. I kind of look at energy as even more fundamental. Because it's upstream of nearly every other sector and nearly every other production means. But the thing for people to understand here, is that this is -- this is damage that's been done in the last few years, by the merger of public power and private power. So that's what makes it so hard to find the source. Because the one hand, Biden can say, this is not my fault. This is just the decisions of the private sector, that stop drilling for oil. That stop fracking for a natural gas. We didn't do that. There's no policy that you could point to. But, actually, the reason why they're doing it is because of the ESG movement in the private sector, that this administration, and the modern left, supports through the back door.

So that's kind of how they're able to really trick the public, through this Jiu Jitsu move, saying that, oh, this isn't the private -- this isn't us passing laws to do this. We're just seeing the private sector under investigation. Oil and gas. That's why they feel gas prices are high. When, in fact, they're responsible for causing it. And that's what people need to wake up to.

GLENN: Okay. So they are -- they are not talking to the American people about this. They're blaming the private sector. And that usually means the investors and the companies. But the investors are not necessarily a part of this. A lot of us are invested in these companies. Through our 401(k) et cetera, et cetera.

And we're not telling the companies to do this. Do the companies want to do this, or is it based just on the pressure from places like BlackRock who have a lot of those shares, because we've -- we run our money through BlackRock for our 401(k)s.

VIVEK: It's really the latter, Glenn. So the U.S. energy sector. The potential of U.S. energy to be able to supply not only America's needs, but the global needs is staggering. And this isn't just a policy failure. It's an American travesty, when those same countries have been hamstrung from being able to do their jobs. Now, most people choose -- choose (cut out). Production. This is the travesty, and then. It's the fraud of our time. When Americans are paying for $5 a gallon at the pump on the one hand. Want knowing that their own 401(k) accounts, and brokerage accounts are actually subsidizing the very ESG agenda that gives them 5-dollar gas in the first place. And I think that once people start to see that with clear eyes, the good news, is we find our way to a better way forward. To say, we're not going to let somebody else abuse my money. Abuse my savings. To be able to send messages to the U.S. energy industry, that I absolutely don't want to be delivering to the U.S. energy industry. I want them to make great products.
That's actually what I think accepting this battle looks like.

GLENN: Well, we have a ton of states now, that are looking to move their money. And, you know, all of the pension funds and everything else.

We have a lot of states that want to do that. We have a lot of people that want to do that. But I'm assuming, this is what you're working on. You -- I think you told us, last time you were on. That you were going to start something, and go right after BlackRock. And is that -- is that happening?

VIVEK: I started to strive earlier this year. Creating a firm. To compete head-on versus BlackRock. These are problems, Glenn, created in the market, that need to be solved through the market. So that's where I started to strive. And we'll take these guys. And I've learned a lot over the last few months, even. About how broken that pension fund system, at the state level really is.

And this isn't even a Republican or a Democrat issue. You know, we talk about -- you want to talk about the Deep State and the federal government. I think it exists at the state level. I think it exists at the corporate level.

These are institutionalized, bureaucratized actors. That you know BlackRock and State Street and Vanguard, they've mastered this system over the last ten to 20 years. And it's an ossified system, that in absence of everyday citizens speaking up and demanding change. You'll have a mid-level bureaucrat, who will happily sit and collect his paycheck, without wanting to be board. That's going to say, well, this is what I've done. And I'm not going to pay any more if I serve my citizens or not, so leave me alone. You know, I'm overstating the case. But only by a little bit. Which is exactly how many of these mid-level bureaucrats at the state level think, or even communicate. And I think at the end of the day, the right answer is going to come from everyday citizens demanding change. Kind of what you saw on a small scale, the school boards last year. Parents taking educational control back into their own hands, not leaving it to some sort of bureaucratized school board and saying, that it's your job to educate my children. No, they're my children. And I have a say in how do you they're educated. It's the equivalent. I think bottom-up. You know, sort of a positive revolution of sorts, that we need to see.

GLENN: Yeah.

VIVEK: To say, this is my hard-earned savings. I want to take control. Just like, it's my kids, it's my money. It's not your money. It's definitely not your money, BlackRock. That's what we're going to need to say.

GLENN: Yeah. I -- I -- I think the same thing could be said, for what we saw with Afghanistan.

I mean, just this audience, raised almost $50 million, in -- in like three weeks. To go and save and rescue people. From the Afghanistan debacle.

We flew the last plane. This was the deal we had to make with the State Department. That we could get our people out, if our first plane, that flew out, would carry our special forces. We're the ones that paid for that.

I mean, it's incredible. But it's also a great -- a great example of what a group of people can do, if they really set their mind for it.

Vivek, hang on just for one minute, I have one more question for you. But first I have to tell you about the Tuttle Twins. They have a powerful, powerful new book. It's called American history. 1215 to 1776. It is a history book. It's a storybook. It's not about the dates and the -- and the memorization of names. It's about the ideas.

Because that's what history is supposed to teach us. What idea replaced the old idea? And how did we get there? And what did we learn from it? If you learn from history, and not the names and the dates, if you learn from the story, you'll be able to apply that to our future. And that's what's missing right now. We don't know our own history. We're not teaching why fascism. How it came about. Why it happened. And how bad it was. We're not teaching -- we're teaching more that than of communism.

We're not even teaching what worked here in America. And what set us apart. The Tuttle Twins book, does it. They have an amazing deal right now. They're throwing in 200 pages of companion curriculum, and activities. An audiobook version. Videos to help the lessons from the book to come alive. It's like 250 pages itself. Your kids will love it. You will love it. I think every American home, needs to have a copy of American history. By the Tuttle Twins, in their home. TuttleTwinsBeck.com. TuttleTwinsBeck.com. You can preview a free sample of the chapter, and you can see for yourself, why it's, I think crucial to own. It's TuttleTwinsBeck.com. Ten-second station ID.
(music)
Vivek, earlier this week, I came back from vacation, and I -- I said, the most important story, since I've been gone, was the Sri Lanka, overthrow of the government. And kicking out of the president. Because, the World Economic Forum said, this is the motto. And there was a story up at WEF.org. That said, the headline was, how we're going to make Sri Lanka rich by 2025. So they implemented all of this stuff. They did everything the World Economic Forum said to do. And I talked about it, and read that story, on the air. By the time I got off the air, the World Economic Forum had taken that story off of their website.

But do you agree that Sri Lanka is the example that we should all be looking at, saying, they're the ones who did it. And look how it turned out.

VIVEK: I think it's a great example, unfortunately, Glenn, I would like to see it is the example. Unfortunately, we're seeing more and more examples by the day. Look at what's happening in Ghana. Look at what's happening in the Netherlands. Look at what's happening in the United States and Canada, at a smaller scale.

We have an energy supply shortage that we just talked about in this country. But you're right, Sri Lanka is a great example, to see what happens when these toxic philosophies are taken to their logical extent.

And, you know, I think this is a trans national issue, Glenn. It's a trans partisan issue. Goes beyond partisan boundaries, national boundaries. It is a global monarchy. And it's going to take a revolution to fight it.

GLENN: I agree. I agree. You're exactly right. Vivek, thank you so much. Be a part of that revolution. Because we're in one, whether you like it or not. And we don't need to pick up our guns. We need to inform ourselves and inform our neighbors. Knowledge, knowledge is power.

Could this EVIL bill turn New York into a culture of DEATH?

"Are you part of a culture of death, or a culture of life?" Glenn Beck exposes a new lawmaker-approved bill in New York that puts death over life in the name of "compassion" amid the loneliness epidemic.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: When you look at everything that is going on. The choice in front of us is so clear. And it is so easy to make.

It's just, which do you just, life or death? Life or death? Are you part of a culture of death or life?

Are you fighting for life in all of its forms? Or are you fighting for death in all of its forms?

And it's really clear to see which side is which. It really is.

You know, isn't that what God said, when the Israelites went into the Promised Land.

Choose life!

Isn't that what lakai (phonetic) means? Delight, delight. I think it is. Choose life. I don't know. Everything I learned about Hebrew, I learned from fiddler on the roof.

But that's a different story. Not exactly true, but almost true.

True in this case! Anyway, you have to choose life!

And the left is becoming more and more about death! In every way. Today, the more enlightened left. I mean, the more enlightened they become, the more left the doctrine. The more barbaric it actually becomes.

We've seen it on the streets of LA, right?

Look at that. That's not about life. That's about destruction of everything. According to their doctrine, the left believes that the only -- you know, that -- that not doing a thing to police, illegal immigration.

Is the only solution to compassionate, you know, service.

You know, you just can't do anything about it. That way, we're compassionate. And we're loving. And we're handling the situation. Okay?

And you can't do anything about it. And if not, well, we're going to prove how compassionate and loving we are, through mob violence. And arson and theft. And assaulting officers. It doesn't make any sense. Let alone standing up for the people who have -- who have horribly raped 14-year-old children.

I don't understand. How are you doing that?

How is that choosing life at all?

Now, in New York, things are even worse. In the legislature, where the people's representatives have passed a bill to make it easier for people to kill themselves.

The US Surgeon General's office calls loneliness and isolation in America an epidemic. How many people do you know that have either killed themselves or have had their children almost kill themselves?

I don't think I can count them on two hands. My mother killed herself when I was a child, and she was the only one I had ever heard of doing that except at TV shows and movies.

Now it's an epidemic. Yet, New York is choosing to declare open season on anybody vulnerable.

This bill is assisted suicide. And it is dressed up as always, as compassion.

But it's not mercy. It is absolute madness.

It's now sitting on the governor's desk of New York. Kathy Hochul. Waiting for her signature to make it law. But this bill is an absolute nightmare.

It requires no waiting period, after the first -- after the person's first request to die.

So, in other words, hey, I've got some bad news for you. You have cancer. Oh, and it's probably untreatable. Oh. I just -- I just want to die. Okay.

No waiting period. Nurse, can we bring that in?

No waiting period. Somebody who has a term I believe diagnosis, one day, can be handed the lethal cocktail the very next day.

Unlike -- unlike other states that are at least nodding to some other health evaluations, you know. No. New York will just check, make sure that it's an informed decision. What you know they're saying? Right? You want to kill yourself? Yeah, I do.

Okay. Good. You're informed.

I mean, when people are staring death and depression in the face, despair and depression clouds everything. You don't make a decision, when you're like that. And as somebody who has had major depression when I was young, you -- it is insane!

It's insanity.

And as somebody who was older, who has -- I mean, this week, my back has been so bad.

I went to my doctor, and I said, I can't live this way. I just -- I can't walk.

I can barely breathe. I just can't live this way. And I didn't mean I want to kill myself.

But I understand how people can get there. I get that. But is that who we are? Is that as a society, is that who we are?

I mean, it's crazy. You know, since when is the left concerned about patience being informed.

They don't want a woman who is considering an abortion to see an ultrasound of their baby.

I don't know.

Is that informed consent?

One guy, he's a bio ethicist from Washington State.

He's tracked these laws down for 40 years.

New York bill.

The bill in New York.

It's probably the worst law of its kind in the US.

What a surprise, their last governor, was killing people in nursing homes.
The language that is in this bill. The lies are disgusting.

They call prescribing poison, a quote, medical practice.

And the poison is medication.

Now, listen to this: It also prohibits referring to this practice, as suicide.

Hmm!

In the worst part of this bill, and remember, we're talking about killing people.

This shows you how they know they're lying.

Even when I write out the death certificate of a person who dies, through assisted suicide, you were only allowed to list the person's underlying condition or illness as the official cause of death. You cannot say it had anything to do with suicide or any medical aid in dying.

So if I have cancer, and I'm not going to treat it, and I just want to die.

If I have depression, I just want to die. I would die of depression or cancer.

You know what that does?

That hides the actual stats. It hides the crime. You won't be able to track, how bad is this getting?

They're trying to memory hole suicide. Making doctors lie about it. No!

Helping doctors lie about it.

I'm sorry. If you're a doctor. And you are going along with this. And you're not standing up. Where is your Hippocratic oath?

First, do no harm.

Are you kidding me?

Abortion, you excuse that. Now we're going to get on the other side and excuse that. And you don't even have to medically evaluate the person.

And then you cover it up. Wow!

New York State has been, you know, developing this culture of death, since 1970.

Three years before Roe vs. Wade they were doing it. More than half a century of month pro--choice messaging.

It greased the slippery slope. And we're now at the bottom of it.

According to the left, the compassionate thing, toward a pregnant woman is to allow her to kill her unborn child, that's just the short jump to assisted suicide being considered the compassionate way out for the terminally ill or mentally ill. After all, it's my body, my choice.

Right?

Dr. Lydia Dugdale, she's from the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, New York City. She wrote an op-ed last month. And she said, this is not compassionate policy.

Instead of investing in the infrastructure of support for the lonely, the depressed, the disabled, and the poor. We just offered them a prescription for death. And we call it autonomy. But it's nothing, but abandonment. The art of dying well cannot be severed from the art of living well.

And that includes caring for one another, especially when it's hard, when it's inconvenient or costly. It's not enough to offer the dying control. We have to offer them dignity.

And not by affirming their despair. But by affirming their worth!

Life is worth it!

She went on to say, even when they're suffering.

Even when they're vulnerable. Even when they are in worldly terms, a burden, to anyone who has common sense, left in New York. And California.

I mean, you seemed to be outnumbered by barbarians. It must be an awfully hopeless feeling. I'm glad we can be there for so many of you today.

Just don't give up.

Don't give up.

You are not without hope.

As long as you're still in the fight.

So I live in New York. Call your governor's office.

Urge her to veto this evil bill of death.

Choose life! Do not give up on trying to salvage a culture of life. Because once you do, we're completely done. Choose life!

The REAL reason Democrats FUMED over Sen. Padilla arrest

Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was arrested after heckling DHS Secretary Kristi Noem during a press briefing, and his fellow Democrats are furious! But is this more “theatre” than anything? Glenn Beck breaks down the hysteria.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, every show today, can talk about the theatrics of Senator Padilla. And senator Warren yesterday. But it takes the special podcast to introduce to masterpiece theater! Tonight, we present a spectacle so sublime, so stupendous, it shall sear itself into the annals of human history. Behold, America's greatest thespians. Nay! Titans of the stage. Senator Alex Padilla, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senator Cory Booker. Prepare yourself for a torrent of theater, a deluge of tears, a veritable hurricane of histrionics.

First, witness Senator Alex Padilla as the poor, downtrodden, utterly helpless, yet inexplicably powerful senator from California. See him bum-rush the stage in a mostly peaceful, chaotic sort of way.

Then Senator Elizabeth Warren takes the stage, with her heart-wrenching monologue, which we've dubbed the trail of tears.

Watch as she channels the anguish of a thousand ancestors. Her voice trembling with the weight of a nation's sorrow.

Or possibly just a really bad day at the Capitol cafeteria. And finally, Senator Cory Booker unleashes the full outrage in our climactic opus, the Coming of a Tyrant. Feel the earthquake beneath his righteous fury.

Marvel as he roars defiance. His every move to the heart of despotism.

Or at least, the heart of anyone who forgets to mute a Zoom call. So dear audience, gird your loins. For an evening and episode of passion, pathos, and possibly a few pulled hamstrings. Because this is masterpiece theater! We join the action now in California, at a Kristi Noem press conference, and in the room, somewhere in the back, Senator Alex Padilla. Let's listen in!

VOICE: -- the burdensome leadership, that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country, and what they have tried to insert into the city. So I want to say, thank you to every single person that has been able to do this.

VOICE: Senator Padilla.

I have questions for the Secretary.

Because the fact of the matter is, half the dozens -- that was on your -- on your --

GLENN: Okay. How dare them -- how dare them, indeed!

Okay. So here he is. He's identified himself after he bum-rushes the podium for a live press conference. He comes in, bum-rushes. He is not wearing his Senate pin which would identify him. They have no idea if he's a senator or not.

I've never even heard of this clown. Certainly would not have recognized him.

He looks like someone you would find I don't know, sitting in the center of a Wendy's, you know, for a lunch. I don't know who this guy is.

And so they get him out of there, as they should.

I don't know if you know this. But this was his big stage debut. This was his moment!

But before Israel could strike in those waning moments of his fame, Elizabeth Warren takes the stage.

And here, in the episode, we call the Trail of Tears, she says this.

VOICE: When Senator Padilla had pushed, shoved, thrown to the -- handcuffed. Because he is asking questions, because he is engaging. In the very oversight that senators are supposed to engage in. Then what we're really talking about here is a Trump administration that just wants to shut down the ordinary functions of government.

VOICE: We went there to observe and ask questions.

GLENN: Oh, here's a bonus.

VOICE: And I watched with horror, on this video, seeing these agents grab my colleague, my fellow senator from California. Grab him.

GLENN: Oh.

VOICE: Push him out of the hearing. And I am -- I am shocked.

GLENN: Shocked!

VOICE: By far how we have descended in the first 140 days of this administration.

GLENN: Oh. Oh, my goodness. He's never seen this.

VOICE: House Padilla forcibly --

GLENN: Now Cory Booker.

VOICE: Before his executive. When does it stop?

GLENN: When! When, dare I ask!

VOICE: Attempt to kneel to his knees, violently. When does it stop!

GLENN: When!
(laughter)

VOICE: This is a crossroads.

GLENN: This is it.

VOICE: This is a day in which the character of his body will be defined.

GLENN: I say, dare I say a day which will live in infamy. I shall not boy, or even introduce myself. Or, you know, just I'll crash the press conference, and then just try to hijack it. That's you all I'm going to do. That's all I'm going to do.

How dare you stop me!

When did the Senate lose its decorum?

May I expect this now from the Congress?

Generally, we've always known there are a few clowns in Congress, but now the senators are all doing it.

STU: I mean, there's nobody better at it than Cory Booker though. You want to talk --

GLENN: He is good. He is good.

STU: Pathetic, in every single way. I love it.

GLENN: A titan of the stage.
(laughter)

STU: Glenn, now, you're -- you're a bit of a historian. You own a museum. Right?

You've been looking back at our history and throughout it. At any point in the Federalist Papers, or in our founding doctors, was there a path created for a senator to talk to a government official, other than interrupting a press conference?

Has anyone ever thought of a way for them to meet and discuss an issue of importance?

GLENN: No. No. No. It's in section two, subsection three.

STU: Okay.

GLENN: Of the Constitution.

STU: Right. From the back.

GLENN: Where they say, you've got questions. You've got questions.

You've got to storm the room.

You've just got to storm the room.

STU: Don't tell anyone you're coming. Don't announce yourself in advance.

Don't talk to security.

Hey. I have to talk to --

GLENN: Or if -- if you did say that.

And they said, sir, this is a closed press conference. She's not taking any questions. This is just a live broadcast.

You can wait for it. She will talk to you after.

And then you say, I have the right to storm the room!

STU: Now, I --

GLENN: How pathetic is it, that they only have this little -- they have this pathetic little 20-minute period, and now nobody is talking about it.

STU: Oh, I will say, the greatest party heard by the -- Israel's actions overnight, was not Iran.

But it was Alex Padilla's fundraising.

Because this was his big plan. This was his big moment in the sun.

He will take in millions of dollars, and get all this attention, and get all these MSNBC hits. And all the things that every senator seems to go to Washington for these days. Certainly, it's not making laws. And he was going to have this wonderful wave of attention. Instead, he remained the giant zilch, he remained yesterday.

He will remain a giant, pathetic, empty nothing of a senator. That I might note, you as a Radio Hall of Fame member and a person who follows this every day, did not even know who this was.

GLENN: I mean, it was kind of like, you know, this guy named Alex Padilla. Maybe. I don't know.

STU: Heard the name.

GLENN: He's a senator!

GLENN: Is that the --

STU: From where?

GLENN: Is that the ball club in Washington, DC?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: No!
(laughter)

STU: It's incredible.

And that's who he is.

And it's funny. The successful version, I suppose all of this. Is Cory Booker.

Like he did this -- he did this, you know, big speech, a few months ago.

That, you know, everybody was -- was talking about.

GLENN: Oh, everybody.

STU: And, you know, it's on the heels of his 2 percent presidential run.

Effort. Which was impressive as well.

Back in the day. I think he has a huge future, as well.

Elizabeth Warren. Kind of a trail of tears, that we saw there.
(laughter)

GLENN: There's no acting involved in that.

STU: I know.

GLENN: She was just going into her kitchen, to grab herself a beer. And her husband will pop in.

Unexpectedly.

Hey. Whoa, whoa. Hey, husband.

You want a brew? (

STU: The fascinating part of this, obviously, they're bad at governance. But they're also bad at this.

Is there not convincing people, that anyone could take seriously, even if they tried?

GLENN: Well, they are -- all they are, now, is just story line.

They are just telling a story. You're watching a play.

When you're watching the Democrats and the left now. It is nothing, but a play.

What are they doing?

They're getting rid for the big no kings thing on -- on Saturday.

Right? All over the country. No kings.
He's a tyrant. He's a king. So they've been planning this one for a while.

So what do they do this week?

They make sure he's acting like a tyrant in Los Angeles.

Then they say, he's acting like a tyrant. Because he's scooping people in the middle of the night.

Then he's acting like a tyrant, because he has a giant missile parade, and nobody does that.

Nothing.

Nobody, but North Korea does that. And then this. They storm in. They know that they're going to be pushed back. They're hoping to be pushed back. And why?

What do they get out of it?

They all run to the -- run to the social media boxes. But, oh, my God.

He's a tyrant. He's a tyrant. That's all they're doing.

Is they're setting this up for him to be a tyrant. It's not working.

I mean, I'm not buying it.

There's really stupid people in the country, that look at that and go, I think those are real tears, coming from that squaw.

I think those are real squaw-like tears. By the way, I heard the New York Times, the Daily, with Michael Barbaro, wow!

They did the whole thing on the missile parade. Stu, you've got to listen to this. It will drive you out of your mind!
(laughter)
So this is what they said. They said, first, it was a bad idea. Why did he do this?
We're talking to expert on parades, on the missile parade. Why would he do this?

GLENN: Well, a lot of people are upset. Because no democracy does this. Only dictators. Well, actually, I will get to that here in a second. But we don't do these things.

And except -- except for Wilson, FDR, Eisenhower, JFK's inauguration, none during Vietnam, and then after the Gulf War with George W. Bush.

But we haven't done these things. We just don't do them. We never had.

Also, I would like to point out, the VFW and the foreign legion every year, and thousands of parades all around the country. But they don't usually have tanks.

But it's a really bad idea, because it's also Trump's birthday. You know, now it takes them almost eight minutes, before they also say, and it's the army's 250th birthday.

They never say, and, by the way, we're going into the 250th anniversary.

Of America. But it's just Trump's birthday. And then they say, it's a bad idea.

Because Washington, DC, is a dangerous place.

And people could get hurt.

Dangerous?

Since when is Washington, DC, dangerous to the New York Times?

Are you racist? My gosh, it's safe. And the new socialist mayor, who defunded the police and painted BLM on the streets has that city running like a top.

It's completely safe.

But then, it was too expensive.

You can't do that military parade. Because it's too expensive

Yeah. $45 million, it is.

My problem is, you won't cut anything from the budget.

Even the corruption. So how am I going to take you seriously about the budget?

And then my favorite, which is what they started with.

They said, Trump got this idea.

Because he was over in France. I can't explain France.

But no democracy does this.

This is just dictators.

We don't ever do this.

You know, Republicans, sorry.

Republics, or democracies.

You know, they don't have these military.

And they went on and on and on.

About how it doesn't happen. Except for our closest cousin. England.

Every year. I know because I got caught in it, last year.

Oh, jeez.

They have something called trooping the color.

And that's it official birthday celebration of the king or the queen.

And one of the oldest military traditions in the UK.

And they -- they have all these guys. Military.

And they do all these drills. And they march out into -- it's not even on his birthday. His birthday is, I don't even know.

In the fall. Is in a complete sham.

They don't have any missiles.

They have been dragging the troops out there. So prince Charles can stand there all day. And look at them and go, yep. Those are my boys!

Okay. So you do it in England. Then you also do it in France. They have been doing it. Bastille day.

Military parade.

Then you also do it in India. Didn't know that. Did you know that? They do it in India.

And they also do it in another democracy as well. I'm trying to remember which one it is.

So it doesn't just happen in North Korea. Uh-huh.

Shoot!

I guess they were wrong on all fronts, New York Times.

Former IDF spox TELLS ALL about the Iran strikes

Former IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus joins Glenn Beck with the latest information about Israel’s strikes on Iran. Lt. Col. Conricus reveals how many Iranian leaders were taken out, what the tipping point for the strike was, and whether he believes President Trump deceived Iran.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Friend of the program, and friend, lieutenant Colonel retired Jonathan Conricus.

John, how are you today?

JONATHAN: So far, so good. Thankful of everything happening. And happy to be on your show. And discussing about what we are about to discuss, Glenn.

GLENN: A lot of people were praying for you last night. A lot of Americans are a little freaked out. I kind of -- I'm not freaked out, but I'm very concerned.

You know, one of the things the president -- one of the things he really ran and won on is, we will stop all these endless wars.

And we don't have an end in sight for Russia and Ukraine. And this one, while this is your battle and a very important one, it is going to affect the entire world, what happened.

How -- what was the convincing evidence, if you can tell us, how close were they, to a bomb?

JONATHAN: Yeah. I think you're right. And I think the concerns of the Americans that you refer to, they are very valid. That this will affect other people in the world.

I think what Israel did had the potential to affect significant positive change in the region.

And currently, the ball is in the Iranian hands. They have now the option to choose how to respond, to what you incorrectly described as quite a magnificent and unprecedented military strike, surprise against Iran.

Taking out more than 20 of their senior leaders, conducting hundreds of strikes in -- all across Iran.

About eight, 900, a thousand miles away from Israel, we struck. And all of our pilots have come home safely, and there's many months of preparations.

And many years of collecting intelligence. Mossad. And Israeli Air Force cooperating together here.

Maybe also Special Forces on the ground.

But bottom line, this is really, I think a historic operation. That we will be studying by military experts.

But we will leave that side for a second, and address the concerns of the people. Now the Iranians have to decide, what are they going to do?
How are they going to respond? They have tried to respond by sending about 100 drones.

They have been intercepted. And we will see how the Iranians will respond. And the president correctly telling them, well, you have the options of going and making a teal. Because you the Iranians will not have a nuclear bomb.

And if you continue going downtown path of violence, then this will end badly for you.

That's what the US president is saying. Now, in terms of what the tipping point was Iran has been dark for the bomb for a long period of time.

I think the atomic agency report that verified that Iran is not only enriching uranium to weapon's grade.

And has enough material for at least ten bombs. But Iran is also in noncompliance when it comes to their obligations, to allow international supervision of their sites.

And I think that, and a lot of intelligence that I think we will have declassified in the future, was the tipping point, and at the end of the day, this has been, you know, months if not years in the making.

Iran has an open goal to annihilate the state of Israel.

They say clearly in Farsi. In their language. We know that they mean business.

And we also know that if we allow them to develop the tools to do so. They might be tempted to use them.

That's what Israel has today, started town ravel in terms of those Iranian capabilities.

GLENN: So I was a little disappointed today. Two Israeli officials. That's all it said. Axios article. That they said, President Trump was instrumental in all of this et cetera, et cetera.

But he and Benjamin Netanyahu were engaged in deception.

And I -- I read this as, I don't think Israel would have done something this massive without the United States, you know, in their corner.

But I don't think it's deceptive when the president says, you have 60 days to negotiate. And you don't want to see what happens on day 61.

I don't think that's deceptive to make plans, to go in, on day 61.

He kept giving them the same warning over and over again. Do you read that as deception? Or a negotiator that is telling you the truth?

JONATHAN: I think actually it's both.

It's deception in the good way of how to wage war. And how to capture enemy unaware of his.

And unprepared. And that is what Israel did.

Has the US president been deceptive?

No, I don't think so.

I think he's been very straightforward. Telling the Iranians time and time again, this is the best deal you can get.

You should relinquish all attempts to enrich material in Iran, and you should allow full comprehensive inspection of all of your sites, nuclear as well as weapons development.

And if you do that, nothing bad is going to happen. And we will probably free sanctions, and good things will happen to Iran. The Iranian dealership heard that, but didn't do it. And as you said, correctly, we are today on Day 61 of the presidential ultimatum, and this is what happens.

GLENN: Right. Yes. The president draws a red line and then actually meets it.

Ben Rhodes came out today and said, war is breaking out. Because Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran deal and got humiliated by Netanyahu while trying to negotiate his own.

And he will have a military parade for his birthday. This is the weakest strong man ever. Is that why this happened? Because Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran Deal?

JONATHAN: I think that sounds like a very bitter former personal influence, who, you know, was part in devising a lousy deal for America, a lousy deal for the world.

And he's bitter because the other perspective and the other line of thought is prevailing.

And I think that if we look at the current situation in the Middle East. The biggest destabilizing and terror-supporting country in the region.

That has its tentacles. Or had its tentacles in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Iraq, Syria. And, of course, trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran is now being right-sized, and put in a tight spot.

Maybe Mr. Rhodes has sympathy for the Iranian regime.

I do not.

I do not wish to see what happens if that regime is allowed to develop. Because I know that they are a genocidal and absolutely crazy regime that might do the most horrible things.

And then, of course, Mr. Rhodes probably doesn't assess it like that, because he lives far away and he isn't an Israeli. But for us, Israelis, it's as tangible, and as existential as it gets. And so to the contrary. I think just one thing.

You know, President Trump in his first presidency, he gave the brave and correct order to take out Qasem Soleimani, the very important Iranian general at the time there was an entire chorus around the world American media, blaming President Trump for escalating. Opening World War III. And all matter of all other fabricated nonsense. None of that happened.

And what President Trump did, what he ordered. And what US troops did, was to take out the most important mastermind of Iranian expansionism.
And I think today, that is also important.

Because had he been around Soleimani. I'm pretty sure the Iranians would have fared better since October 7th, and we would have a more difficult situation.

He is not around, and I give credit for President Trump for doing that. And I give credit to President Trump for supporting Israel and for working together with Israel.

Of course, keeping America's interests first and Israel's interest second. That's what the US president should be doing.

But the interest here, they are aligning. And I think we are in a very good situation. I hope good things will come. I hope prosperity. I hope freedom for the Iranian people is just around the corner.

And I hope prosperity for all the people in the Middle East is around the corner.

It can happen, because the Iranian regime was standing in between that progress.

And now, there's a different time for the Iranian regime.

GLENN: It would be amazing, if we saw the regime actually topple and the people were free.

Because the Persian people are wonderful.

Let me ask you. You know, we're seeing -- we're seeing riots on our streets. We're seeing it in Europe. It always has a communist, socialist, anarchist. And an Islamist tit to them.

The Palestinian protests are growing everywhere.

And I just look at this and say, this is our future for the entire Western world.

Should we be concerned that this activity now, green lights will be given to let's say the 8,000 terrorists that we know are here in America. Let alone all over Europe.

JONATHAN: Yeah. I think that the West, Europe to a more severe extent, and the US to a certain extent. In certain states and certain cities, mostly along the coasts, unless inside the country, perhaps barring Chicago and the few areas of the Great Lakes.

But by and large, there's a significant threat to the Western-based system of democracy, civil liberties, law and order, and it is being implemented on the ground and carried and pushed forward, by many rogue elements.

One of them being Islamists that are espousing terrorist ideologies. And that deep down, do not agree with the Judeo Christian values.

That are today governing the world. And led by free democracies.

And they are trying to import their failed system of governance. And their outlook on life. Which they brought from the Middle East. And from other places. And enforce that on free democratic societies.

And they're abusing the system. The liberties.

The freedoms, and the rights that democracies like the US and in Europe, avail people. They're marching on the streets.

Under the guise of free speech.

They are advocating violence. They are trying to undermine the social fabric of society.

They are e- spousing terrorism.

They are glorifying violence. And, of course, anti-Semitism is also in that bag of negative things.

And I think it is high time, that there's a serious debate in the US. And in the west.

I think the situation in Europe is far worse than it is in the US.

I think Americans can look at the streets of London and Paris.

And heed warning.

And say, if we want to reach a situation where the streets are dominated by the Islamists. And an order white Christian or Jew or someone who isn't a Muslim extremist.

Can't walk the streets safely, in the streets of their own country, then we better look at what's happening in Europe.

And take action before.

Now, to be clear. I am not branding all Muslims as terror supporters.

There are many great Americans who are Muslim heritage. Who are local American citizens.

Who are not e- spousing terror pessimism.

But who those do. Those who seek to undermine western democracy.

Who those seek to undermine law and order.

And a free and bright based society.

And to import dark worldviews from the Middle East.

Based on all kind of extremist ideologies, they should be met with a firm response.

And in most cases, they are not met with firm responses. And then they expand.

GLENN: Lieutenant colonel. I know you have to run.

You have to a busy day. Thank you for spending time.

Is this over now?

Or is there more to come?

JONATHAN: No. No. This is not even the end of the beginning.

GLENN: Okay. Lieutenant colonel, thank you, so much.

God bless.