RADIOJuly 26, 2024

Did Kamala Harris SURRENDER Her VP Pick to the Obamas?

Barack and Michelle Obama have finally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democrat Party’s 2024 presidential nominee. But what took them so long? Glenn has a theory: their endorsement wasn’t free. Did the Obamas only endorse Harris after she agreed to let THEM choose her Vice President? Glenn explains why he believes that the Obamas wanted Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, not Harris, and may force him onto the 2024 ticket.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Well, we welcome back Mr. Stu Burguiere. Who was gone this week. And conveniently showed up just in time for big Mike to endorse Kamala Harris. But if you heard the endorsement from Michelle Obama and Barack Obama, it doesn't ring true to me. Let's play that endorsement.

BARACK: Kamala Harris.

KAMALA: Hi.

MICHELLE: Hey, there.

KAMALA: Oh. Hi, you're both together. It's good to hear you both.

MICHELLE: I can't have this phone call, without saying to my girl Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.

BERNIE: We called to say, Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you, to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.

KAMALA: Oh, my goodness. Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I'm looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both. And getting out there, being on the road. But most of all, I just want to tell you, the -- the words that you have spoken and the friendship that you have given over all these years mean more than I can express. So thank you, both. It means so much.

And we're going to have some fun with this too, aren't we?

STU: I bet there's a good laugh they cut out of that one.

GLENN: Right.

STU: A good cackle.

GLENN: What did that cost her?

What did that cost her? That's a very transactional couple there.

STU: Yeah. Not nothing. I think you can be certain of that.

GLENN: Yeah. It wasn't like, yeah, you know what, Michelle. We've been thinking about it. And without any thought of calling anybody. Or making any deals. Or getting something for us, or anything that we want. You know, we just love you so much.

And we just want to give this to you, for free.

What did that cost her? My guess is, one of the pieces that it cost was Mark Kelly. Barack and Michelle want Mark Kelly. They do not want Kamala Harris. That's why he hadn't endorsed.

And he was hoping, that this would all go away, after Joe Biden endorsed Kamala.

Because I think Joe Biden did that as a slap across Michelle and Barack's face.

STU: It was also interesting.

GLENN: Because they did not want her.

STU: Not the original letter.

When I -- we were going live on YouTube. At Stu Does America. On YouTube. We've been going live on these big events. Even when I'm on vacation. When that happened, I read the letter. And the first thing I noticed was, it did not include an endorsement for Kamala Harris.

Which is odd, if you're going to do this big announcement, why wouldn't you include it in the thing that everybody was going to read?

He was, ten minutes later, 15 minutes later, he released a separate tweet that was just like, I endorsed Kamala. And it was odd the way it was rolled out. So it does sort of back maybe -- maybe they came out with this main letter for history purposes. And then, you know, he kind of just wanted to stick it to them. Because I don't think he likes the Obamas at all. I think he's very angry about this whole thing.

GLENN: Oh, no. I don't think he likes the Obamas at all. And I don't think they like him. And I think he knew the candidate they wanted was Mark Kelly. Not Kamala Harris. And I think that's why the endorsement came from a separate thing.Io, you drop out of the race, you make that very clear. Nothing else.

So he issued that letter.

And then he came out. And said, oh, and, by the way, I also endorsed Kamala.

STU: Maybe Hunter controlled the Twitter for a day.

GLENN: Maybe. And then Michelle and Barack were like, oh!

Now, listen, Michelle. I'll tell you, maybe, maybe. I mean, let's not get all bent out of shape. They're not going to jump all over that. And they jumped all over that.

And immediately, he need became rallying around Kamala Harris. And she's the one. He held back.

People wondered why. I think it's because of Mark Kelly. They wanted Mark Kelly to be the guy. Because they believe he's the winner. And I don't know. If they have a chance to turn on her and do a coup on her, they will. They will.

STU: I have so many questions.

GLENN: And Mark will be the guy.

STU: I have so many questions for you. Let me first back up what you're saying, about the Barack Obama part of this. I don't know if people really bothered to read his statement at the time.

But everyone -- this is after Biden comes out and says, I fully endorse Kamala Harris. And many of his competitors who were rumored to come after the nomination if he stepped down, had already endorsed Kamala Harris.

And this is the paragraph that Barack Obama writes. We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead, but have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party, will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.

Like, that is the farthest thing away from an endorsement of Kamala Harris you can possibly get. They did not want her.

I think it's blatantly clear. The only pushback on that, some reporting was, well, they don't want to endorse. Because they want to make it appear like it was an actual process to get to Kamala Harris. They must want to have their happened -- come on. Does anybody buy that? I guess my first question on your theory here is, why do you think Mark Kelly was such a big favorite of the Obama family?

Why would they signal him?

GLENN: Great question. Great question.

You cannot have -- as Barack Obama would say. Two exotics on the ticket. Okay?

Think of America as a husband and wife. Okay? And each party has a husband and wife element to them. So if you just listen to the husband, you would have a Ferrari and a Lambo in the garage, right? But if he's married, his wife says, you're not going to have a Ferrari and Lambo. It's not reasonable. We need -- you know, we need a Pacifica and an Accord. And he's like, good God, if I have to drive a Pacifica, I'm going to hang myself. I can't do that.

And so they'll compromise. You know, in the man's dream world, he has to pick between the Ferrari and the Lambo because they also have to have the Pacifica. Okay?

Mark Kelly is the Pacifica. She's the Ferrari. She's the one that you never know if it's going to break down. Good Lord, we don't know what it will cost us. You know what I mean?

It's not dependable. We need a Pacifica. And he is a -- he will be -- they have to have a patriot. They cannot continue to front this party with people who are known to hate America. Okay?

Can't. He's a white guy. You can't have two exotics, as Barack Obama would say. So you have a white guy who is dependable, who loves America, is super, super smart. Because you can't have two idiots on the ticket either. Well, they did that last time.

Well, maybe they've learned their lesson.

You can't have two idiots on the ticket either. Mark Kelly is the Pacifica.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Now, I think the Obamas wanted the Pacifica as the candidate. That's why he phrased what he did, in that, you know, hey. Thank you, Joe.

And, by the way, we look forward to a process, that will eliminate Kamala Harris. And give us something good.

And I think that person was Mark Kelly.

STU: That's really interesting.

Because I -- because, you know, one of the reasons why he's a Pacifica, if you will, is he's seen as a moderate Democrat. And he is moderate, in temperament. Right?

That is what he brings to the table. Very -- he feels like a moderate. The same way like, the 2020 version of Joe Biden was pitched that way. Right?

You could have a guy who was very calm. And he's a moderate. And he's just a guy from a working class community. He's served -- in Kelly's case. Served in the military. He's an astronaut. Come on. In reality, his voting record, is just as liberal as any of these other people.

And seems to have the same vision as so many other people on the left.

GLENN: So hang on just a second.

Let me explain just what you just said. Last time, the Pacifica was at the top of the ticket.

And they knew, we have to have a Lambo and a Ferrari. Something that is not necessarily dependable. But is flashy. And everybody is like, yeah!

All the dads would be -- you know what I mean?

In this car analogy. Like, we have to have one of those!

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And that was Kamala. Now, she's at the top. So the Pacifica has to be the second one.

STU: I mean, it makes perfect sense.

You know, excuse me, came to the sort of Kelly conclusion as well. Based more on, like if you look at -- I do think the white guy -- the Pacifica thing is real. This is not real from my ideas or what I think. This is real from the reporting on Barack Obama's choice for vice president.

The reason why Joe Biden was picked was because he was old and white.

That is every piece of reporting from inside of that -- the -- that decision, that was Barack Obama, and Michelle, believed America was too racist, to have two exotics on the same ticket. These were their terms.

You needed to have one white guy, that the racists could sink their teeth into. And still be okay with this guy with the crazy name at the top of the ticket.

That's the way -- that's what they thought of America.

And it's quite clear, in so many of their comments. That's exactly what they thought in their comments. If you go back to the one, what was it know.

Pennsylvania voters. You have these people. They're angry. They're bitter. Clingers to their God and their Bible.

That's what they really believed about America.

Still believe about America. And so I think that white guy. The idea that they will pick Gretchen Whitmer. Or they will pick --

GLENN: She's another exotic.

STU: Yeah. Anything that has anything outside of white guy is I think outside of the picture.

99 percent chance of that.

GLENN: And I think it's important to say now, it also has to be somebody who at least appears to love the country. I'm not saying he doesn't.

But it cannot be somebody -- it can't be a always.

STU: Right. It's got to be somebody who has --

GLENN: It has to be somebody who is like, I don't mind Antifa.

STU: It has to be someone with moderate temperament. Which Kelly has. He seems like -- military guy. Astronaut. Hero. You all these things.

And I will say, one of the other things that I think is central to this. We just had a presidential assassination attempt. Where apparently someone flung glass with from a long distance, at the President Donald Trump when he was on stage.

GLENN: The New York Times just did a piece, an analysis and said, it's definitely a bullet.

STU: Yes, they did.

GLENN: Meanwhile, Christopher Wray testifies that, well, Trump. It's really up to him to prove that he's been shot. What!

STU: That's really weird. Even the Times is dismissing that nonsense.

GLENN: Now, wait. One more thing on that. I really do think it could have been a piece of glass. Because right at that moment, Kamala broke the glass ceiling. And so maybe --

STU: Wow, that should be the center part of her convention speech, I think.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: When Donald Trump was struck by glass.

But on the Kelly part of this, the -- I mean, there is obviously a sympathy for Donald Trump.

His -- you know, his approval ratings have gone up, at some level. To the highest they have been, in some of these polls, in recorded history.

There is -- that moment was iconic. And everybody knows it.

With Mark Kelly, he's married to Gabby Giffords.

Gabby Giffords was a congresswoman who had an assassination attempt against her. Like this was their big pitch to come to the American people to bring gun violence into the picture.

Remember, they were blaming Sarah page for this. Targeting her district.

It was that shooting.

They can come back and say. Well, look, their main pitch for this. Republicans are the violent ones.

They've obviously lost ground on that one. That argument is dead after the president was almost killed on stage. So now you have a situation where this can kind of disarm the other side of that.

They can say, it's not just left and right. It's gun violence, and bring the gun violence case back in. Which I think this is absolutely the group of people, who would come to such a -- just cold, calculating decision.

To say, we'll use her, and her tragedy, to try to fend off this assassination attempt, that we now have to, quote, unquote, deal with. And not to mention, you go through, this is also a swing state.

It was one of the closest states in 2020. Even though, it's not all that close at the moment. I think -- and they have a good relationship behind the scenes.

Kamala and Kelly have had a good working relationship for a long time.

That's how I came to the conclusion. It's different how you came to it.

It's interesting. It arrived to the same place.

It's terrifying. That means we're both definitely wrong.

GLENN: He could only pray.

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.

Salena Zito reveals WHY Trump said “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“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.