RADIOFebruary 18, 2025

The INCREDIBLE Story of How Biden Gave Trump the “Gift” of Mass Firings

Every government official who is fired by President Trump should blame Joe Biden, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tells Glenn. Spicer tells the incredible story of how Biden's "pettiness" led Spicer and Russ Vought to sue him in a case they didn't think they'd win. But they DID - and now, it has set the precedent that allows President Trump to fire anyone in his administration! This has since led to the reformation of the Kennedy Center and will allow Trump to make many of DOGE's recommendations a reality.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: My friend Sean Spicer, how are you, sir?

SEAN: I'm fantastic. How are you?

GLENN: So good. So good. I don't want you to tell the end of the story yet. I want you for start at the beginning.

SEAN: No, no, no.

GLENN: What happened when you left the White House, and Biden took over as president?

SEAN: I'll take you one step further. So I stepped out as White House Press Secretary, and the president has always been kind and offered to appoint me to a couple of boards.

He appointed me to two of them!

One of them was the White House Commission by the Commissioner there. And then he also was kind enough to make me one of the -- his appointees to the board of visitors in the US Naval Academy.

So I was sworn into office. Joe Biden came into office. And so January 20th, myself and all of the White House commissioners at the -- resigned. And because it's a White House commission, and the new president has a right to have people for White House commissions. Fair enough.

GLENN: Sure.

SEAN: Well, September 1st, I get an email 2021, and it says, Spicer, thank you for your service on the US Naval Academy of visitors. By 6 o'clock tonight, will you submit your resignation, or will you be fired? And I thought, whoa. What?

Just for context. Remember, Glenn. September 1st, my term ended November 1st. Sixty days later. I was like, you couldn't wait 60 days, just to have it for free?

GLENN: Wow.

SEAN: So I was like, I've been sworn into office. My term was ended at that time. I wasn't going to get reappointed. Biden had his right to appoint his people, great.

So it turns out he fired everybody. Myself, from the Naval Academy board. Russ Vought from the Naval Academy board. And then a guy named McMaster from the West Point Board.

Who, by the way, H.R. McMaster, you remember, was the national security adviser to Trump.

Three-star Army general, who was a graduate at West Point as a distinguished professor at West Point.

And the Friday after that Tuesday email, was going to be honored at West Point as a distinguished alumni in their awards ceremony. So, anyway, he fires us September 1st. I don't resign. I said, I'm not resigning. You can fire me if you want. And then Steven Miller and America First came to me and said, we have an idea. I said, okay. What's the idea? We want to sue Biden. Now, Glenn, I'm not a lawyer. I said, guys, I watch a lot of Law and Order. How in God's earth if we sue the guy in September?

I mean, my term ends November 1st, we're never going to get back on the board. And they said, no, no, no. Let's go to court and make Joe Biden argue that he has the absolute authority to fire anybody. And because we're not going to win the case. They'll rule against this. And I thought, oh, this is brilliant.

So the only people. But here's the kicker. The only people who were running willing to put their name on that lawsuit performance myself. And Russ Vought. Of all the people who were so honored that President Trump had appointed them. And they went and they said, aw, thanks, we're busy.

So they became Spicer et al. It goes up to the court. The court says, the president has the absolute authority to that. We appeal the decision. It goes to the appeals level. And the court again, reaffirms the decision that Joe Biden and the president of the United States have the absolute authority to fire everyone. And the media started calling, Glenn, and said, you lost the case. And I said at the time, did I?

So Donald Trump gets elected, and this is where it gets really fun. You'll love this.

GLENN: Yes. And now you know the rest of the story.

SEAN: Yes. Thank you, Paul Harvey. So I read this story in the op-ed in the New York Post. Saying, hey, guess what? Spicer, Joe Biden has given President Trump the authority to fire anyone he wants. I hope that President Trump executes it, and the White House is tweeting, you know, sending me messages back after we just fired him, and I'm living this. Well, I write this piece for the New York Post. Explaining, hey. Here's what we did. Here's the legal basis. All these people who are about to get fired by Trump should thank President Biden for this.

Now, here's where it gets fun: The New York Post in the editing process says to me. Okay. Well, was it just the service academy?

They said, no, they had the right to fire them. They said, well, give us some examples. And so I got the list of commissions that the president can appoint too. There's like a couple hundred. And I start reading one of the editors.

I said, they can fire -- there's the battlefield commission. There's the Truman scholarship. There's the Kennedy senators.

Put that in the op-ed. People will identify with that. We went. We added a couple other examples to the op-ed.

So the op-ed gets published in the New York Post.

And it gets a lot of coverage. Whatever. And President Trump continues to fire people. And when they fire the board of the Kennedy center, the Washington Post calls -- you know, the spokesman for the Kennedy Center. And he says, are you going to be opposing President Trump firing you?

And on the record, the spokesman for the Kennedy Center says, we can't. Spicer v Biden sets the precedent for this. It gives the president the authority to do this.

Now, the here's the kicker. The Washington Post calls me. And says, what do you think about what the Kennedy Center thinks? Now, I have a hard enough time keeping up with President Trump.

I don't focus on what the Kennedy Center is saying.

I'm sorry. That's really not my thing. So I said, I don't know. And they go, are you serious?

You don't know that they just cited your case as the reason that they can't oppose or -- or object to what President Trump just did. I said, oh, my God. I'm glad to have played a small part in it. Later, the reporter calls me back and says, I went and read all of the court documents, and you're right.

And, of course, I'm -- yeah. I wasn't lying to you. And he said, I've got to write this big story. And I said, to my team at the time. My family. I was like, oh, my God.

This isn't going to go well. The Washington Post wants to write a story about Spicer v Biden, and why it's giving the president the authority.

And then I get a text. And it says, hey, we're putting the story up.

And I go, oh. These things don't end well for people like me and people like you. It's like getting a call from the IRS. It doesn't go well. Hey, I'm from the Washington Post, and I'm writing a story about Glenn Beck. Yeah, thank you.

GLENN: Yeah.

SEAN: So I click on the story. And I'm reading it, and I'm like, okay. Okay. Okay.

Like, when is the bad part coming? And the only part is -- I normally. You know, there's that phrase, Glenn. Where people say, they hate watch MSNBC or something. And I hate the comments. I had to do it. I had to do it.

I will not -- I will not read the Twitter replies or whatever. But I read the comments. And these snowflakes, they're so offended. They're like, Sean Spicer is an evil person for suing the president. I'm like, wait a second. You have to understand the context. Never in the history of the United States has any president ever removed somebody from a service academy board, prior to their term being done for anything less than malfeasance. And even that, we can't find an example. Never!

Joe Biden was so petty. And the point is, they're mad at me?

The comments, there's like thousands of comments when you click on the Washington Post story. I posted it on my social media story if someone wants to go read it. And I'm like, wait a second. You're mad at me.

They're like, I can't believe you did this. Wait. Wait. I did nothing. I literally had 60 days to go. Sure, I would have gotten some medallion from the Naval Academy.

Thanks for your service be on your way. And yet, here they are, like all these snowflakes putting comments in the Washington Post that like I'm the bad guy. Because why?

Because I stood up and said, hey. You want to argue that you have to do this?

Then give the future Republican president.

Now, at the time, myself and Russ Vought had no idea. President Trump hadn't even been declared for reelection yet.

But we thought to ourselves, hey. You know what. We'll stand up. I watch a lot of Law and Order. But that's my legal prowess here.

So the idea that this case now, which we fought at the time, hey, let's try it.

Has now become the basis for which President Trump can run around and say, hey, you're fired. Legit is amazing.

And the Post wrote in the story, that I was giddy. I think that's an understatement. I'm so ecstatic. Not just that President Trump can execute on this tragedy, and that it was Joe Biden that set the precedent and gave us this 50 was such, sweet, poetic justice.

GLENN: You know, whenever somebody tries to force their way. It never ends well.

SEAN: Think about this. They tried to deplatform Trump. They did it civilly and criminally. It backfired. Backfired.

Learn your lesson, folks. Like, to me, I get such a kick out of this because the dumdums keep thinking, if we just go after it one more time, and it works. And it doesn't.

GLENN: So what is the strategy now?
Do you think they have? What -- I mean, because none of this is working.

SEAN: No, I hope it continues. I mean, I just love the fact that it -- they double down on stupid. And they're like, what if we just try it one more time?

And I'm like, God bless you. But the idea that at some point, you know, you take -- I was -- you take the loss. And just say, let's regroup.

Let's retreat. He's not running again. Maybe we stop making it about him, and we think about what we're for.

I don't intend to give advice to the Democratic Party. But at some point, recognize that for ten years, you try to say that Donald Trump is the problem. We are going to come up against them, and it hasn't worked.

So maybe, just maybe you try to rethink this whole strategy. Look, I don't really care.
That's their problem. Not mine.

GLENN: I -- you know, I performed at the Kennedy center ten, 12, 15 years ago.

And it was like -- it almost took an act of Congress to make that happen. You can rent out the Kennedy Center and do whatever you want on there.

Well, they had a problem with me.

And they told me at the time, I was the first show ever done at the Kennedy Center that displayed the American flag on stage.

I found that incredible.

But I don't care what happens at the Kennedy Center. It doesn't matter to me.

But the left is freaking out. They're just freaking out!

SEAN: See, here's the thing. There's a bigger arc, that I think is taking place. In the first term, we were somewhat apologetic. Remember, just think about this. And remember, the Kennedy Center is just one thing. So the president can keep firing everybody. But in 2017, we came into office. The Kennedy Center honors, right? Which was supposed to be this annual thing. And they celebrate each other. They said, we won't come if Trump shows up.

So Trump was actually magnanimous. And said, you know what, you guys go on. Have your event, I won't go. And I think there was a lot of feeling around. And trying to understand.

And like I said, it was -- it was just -- it was new. What do we do?

How do we approach this? This term, he says, screw it. You're all fired.

I'm taking over the board. I'm in charge.

And I love this.

This idea that we have learned. And this what I mean about the arc. it means, don't be afraid. Don't be apologetic. Fight! Go out there. Why are we ceding ground and pretending to be better? Why is it that Glenn beck is the only person that puts an American flag on it?

Why aren't we saying, you know what, let's bring in more people that do that. Let's be proud. Let's be patriotic.

Let's use this institution to celebrate America.

What I don't understand.

Like, the mentality is so different now.

Let's fight. Let's do this.

GLENN: I think it's -- I think it's absolutely fantastic. I thank you for what you did. And, you know, the only thing that would make it better is if you or I were on the board of the Kennedy Center and we could announce that Lee Greenwood's residency was taking place at the Kennedy Center.

SEAN: Now that you know, that definitely won't be the last time we hear that.

We may be meeting for presidency, of like several other country artists.

GLENN: It would be fantastic.

Thank you so much, I appreciate it. Sean Spicer.

Could passengers have SAVED Iryna Zarutska?

Surveillance footage of the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, reveals that the other passengers on the train took a long time to help her. Glenn, Stu, and Jason debate whether they were right or wrong to do so.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I'm -- I'm torn on how I feel about the people on the train.

Because my first instinct is, they did nothing! They did nothing! Then my -- well, sit down and, you know -- you know, you're going to be judged. So be careful on judging others.

What would I have done? What would I want my wife to do in that situation?

STU: Yeah. Are those two different questions, by the way.

GLENN: Yeah, they are.

STU: I think they go far apart from each other. What would I want myself to do. I mean, it's tough to put yourself in a situation. It's very easy to watch a video on the internet and talk about your heroism. Everybody can do that very easily on Twitter. And everybody is.

You know, when you're in a vehicle that doesn't have an exit with a guy who just murdered somebody in front of you, and has a dripping blood off of a knife that's standing 10 feet away from you, 15 feet away from you.

There's probably a different standard there, that we should all kind of consider. And maybe give a little grace to what I saw at least was a woman, sitting across the -- the -- the aisle.

I think there is a difference there. But when you talk about that question. Those two questions are definitive.

You know, I know what I would want myself to do. I would hope I would act in a way that didn't completely embarrass myself afterward.

But I also think, when I'm thinking of my wife. My advice to my wife would not be to jump into the middle of that situation at all costs. She might do that anyway. She actually is a heck of a lot stronger than I am.

But she might do it anyway.

GLENN: How pathetic, but how true.

STU: Yes. But that would not be my advice to her.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

STU: Now, maybe once the guy has certainly -- is out of the area. And you don't think the moment you step into that situation. He will turn around and kill you too. Then, of course, obviously. Anything you can do to step in.

Not that there was much anyone on the train could do.

I mean, I don't think there was an outcome change, no matter what anyone on that train did.

Unfortunately.

But would I want her to step in?

Of course. If she felt she was safe, yes.

Think about, you said, your wife. Think about your daughter. Your daughter is on that train, just watching someone else getting murdered like that. Would you advise your daughter to jump into a situation like that?

That girl sitting across the aisle was somebody's daughter. I don't know, man.

JASON: I would. You know, as a dad, would I advise.

Hmm. No.

As a human being, would I hope that my daughter or my wife or that I would get up and at least comfort that woman while she's dying on the floor of a train?

Yeah.

I would hope that my daughter, my son, that I would -- and, you know, I have more confidence in my son or daughter or my wife doing something courageous more than I would.

But, you know, I think I have a more realistic picture of myself than anybody else.

And I'm not sure that -- I'm not sure what I would do in that situation. I know what I would hope I would do. But I also know what I fear I would do. But I would have hoped that I would have gotten up and at least tried to help her. You know, help her up off the floor. At least be there with her, as she's seeing her life, you know, spill out in under a minute.

And that's it other thing we have to keep in mind. This all happened so rapidly.

A minute is -- will seem like a very long period of time in that situation. But it's a very short period of time in real life.

STU: Yeah. You watch the video, Glenn. You know, I don't need the video to -- to change my -- my position on this.

But at his seem like there was a -- someone who did get there, eventually, to help, right? I saw someone seemingly trying to put pressure on her neck.

GLENN: Yeah. And tried to give her CPR.

STU: You know, no hope at that point. How long of a time period would you say that was?

Do you know off the top of your head?

GLENN: I don't know. I don't know. I know that we watched the video that I saw. I haven't seen past 30 seconds after she --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: -- is down. And, you know, for 30 seconds nothing is happening. You know, that is -- that is not a very long period of time.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In reality.

STU: And especially, I saw the pace he was walking. He certainly can't be -- you know, he may have left the actual train car by 30 seconds to a minute. But he wasn't that far away. Like he was still in visual.

He could still turn around and look and see what's going on at that point. So certainly still a threat is my point. He has not, like, left the area. This is not that type of situation.

You know, I -- look, as you point out, I think if I could be super duper sexist for a moment here, sort of my dividing line might just be men and women.

You know, I don't know if it's that a -- you're not supposed to say that, I suppose these days. But, like, there is a difference there. If I'm a man, you know, I would be -- I would want my son to jump in on that, I suppose. I don't know if he could do anything about it. But you would expect at least a grown man to be able to go in there and do something about it. A woman, you know, I don't know.

Maybe I'm -- I hope --

GLENN: Here's the thing I -- here's the thing that I -- that causes me to say, no. You should have jumped in.

And that is, you know, you've already killed one person on the train. So you've proven that you're a killer. And anybody who would have screamed and got up and was with her, she's dying. She's dying. Get him. Get him.

Then the whole train is responsible for stopping that guy. You know. And if you don't stop him, after he's killed one person, if you're not all as members of that train, if you're not stopping him, you know, the person at the side of that girl would be the least likely to be killed. It would be the ones that are standing you up and trying to stop him from getting back to your daughter or your wife or you.

JASON: There was a -- speaking of men and women and their roles in this. There was a video circling social media yesterday. In Sweden. There was a group of officials up on a stage. And one of the main. I think it was health official woman collapses on stage. Completely passes out.

All the men kind of look away. Or I don't know if they're looking away. Or pretending that they didn't know what was going on. There was another woman standing directly behind the woman passed out.

Immediately springs into action. Jumps on top. Grabs her pant leg. Grabs her shoulder. Spins her over and starts providing care.

What did she have that the other guys did not? Or women?

She was a sheepdog. There is a -- this is my issue. And I completely agree with Stu. I completely agree with you. There's some people that do not respond this way. My issue is the proportion of sheepdogs versus people that don't really know how to act. That is diminishing in western society. And American society.

We see it all the time in these critical actions. I mean, circumstances.

There are men and women, and it's actually a meme. That fantasize about hoards of people coming to attack their home and family. And they sit there and say, I've got it. You guys go. I'm staying behind, while I smoke my cigarette and wait for the hoards to come, because I will sacrifice myself. There are men and women that fantasize of block my highway. Go ahead. Block my highway. I'm going to do something about it. They fantasize about someone holding up -- not a liquor store. A convenience store or something. Because they will step in and do something. My issue now is that proportion of sheepdogs in society is disappearing. Just on statistical fact, there should be one within that train car, and there were none.

STU: Yeah. I mean --

JASON: They did not respond.

STU: We see what happens when they do, with Daniel Penny. Our society tries to vilify them and crush their existence. Now, there weren't that many people on that train. Right?

At least on that car. At least it's limited. I only saw three or four people there, there may have been more. I agree with you, though. Like, you see what happens when we actually do have a really recent example of someone doing exactly what Jason wants and what I would want a guy to do. Especially a marine to step up and stop this from happening. And the man was dragged by our legal system to a position where he nearly had to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I mean, I -- it's insanity. Thankfully, they came to their senses on that one.

GLENN: Well, the difference between that one and this one though is that the guy was threatening. This one, he killed somebody.

STU: Yeah. Right. Well, but -- I think -- but it's the opposite way. The debate with Penny, was should he have recognize that had this person might have just been crazy and not done anything?

Maybe. He hadn't actually acted yet. He was just saying things.

GLENN: Yeah. Well --

STU: He didn't wind up stabbing someone. This is a situation where these people have already seen what this man will do to you, even when you don't do anything to try to stop him. So if this woman, who is, again, looks to be an average American woman.

Across the aisle. Steps in and tries to do something. This guy could easily turn around and just make another pile of dead bodies next to the one that already exists.

And, you know, whether that is an optimal solution for our society, I don't know that that's helpful.

In that situation.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times | The Glenn Beck Podcast | Ep 266

Disclaimer: This episode was filmed prior to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But Glenn believes Max's message is needed now more than ever.
The political world is divided, constantly at war with itself. In many ways, our own lives are not much different. Why do we constantly focus on the negative? Why are we in pain? Where is God amid our anxiety and fear? Why can’t we ever seem to change? Pastor Max Lucado has found the solution: Stop thinking like that! It may seem easier said than done, but Max joins Glenn Beck to unpack the three tools he describes in his new book, “Tame Your Thoughts,” that make it easy for us to reset the way we think back to God’s factory settings. In this much-needed conversation, Max and Glenn tackle everything from feeling doubt as a parent to facing unfair hardships to ... UFOs?! Plus, Max shares what he recently got tattooed on his arm.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Demonic Forces to Blame for Charlie Kirk, Minnesota & Charlotte Killings?

This week has seen some of the most heinous actions in recent memory. Glenn has been discussing the growth of evil in our society, and with the assassination of civil rights leader Charlie Kirk, the recent transgender shooter who took the lives of two children at a Catholic school, and the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, how can we make sense of all this evil? On today's Friday Exclusive, Glenn speaks with BlazeTV host of "Strange Encounters" Rick Burgess to discuss the demon-possessed transgender shooter and the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk. Rick breaks down the reality of demon possession and how individuals wind up possessed. Rick and Glenn also discuss the dangers of the grotesque things we see online and in movies, TV shows, and video games on a daily basis. Rick warns that when we allow our minds to be altered by substances like drugs or alcohol, it opens a door for the enemy to take control. A supernatural war is waging in our society, and it’s a Christian’s job to fight this war. Glenn and Rick remind Christians of what their first citizenship is.