RADIOApril 04, 2024

Has the PERSECUTION of Christians Begun in America?

Christianity is no longer the dominant religion in America, “Pagan America” author John Daniel Davidson argues. Instead, we have started down the dark path of paganism. So, what will this “post-Christian era” look like? How long until Christians are persecuted in America? Has that already begun? And what can we do to turn this around? John Daniel Davidson joins Glenn to break it all down. Plus, he explains why “the idea that the future will be this secular, woke utopia is totally wrong.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

John Daniel Davidson, pagan America, the decline of Christianity and the dark age to come.

Let me just tell you, there's a couple of signs of hope, and I would like John to address some of this as we go along. First of all, here's Donald Trump two days ago. Cut six.

DONALD: And what the hell was Biden thinking, when he declared Easter Sunday to be Trans Visibility Day? Such total disrespect to Christians.

And November 5th is going to be called something else. You know what it's going to be called?

Christian visibility day, when Christians turn out in numbers, that nobody has ever seen before.

GLENN: Then we also had this come out over the weekend.

Here's Richard Dawkins.

Very famous atheist.

An entrepreneur claiming Christianity, as his belief.

But listen to what he says.

VOICE: I do think, culturally, we are a Christian country. I call myself a Christian. I'm not a believer, but there's a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian. And so, you know, I love hymns and Christmas carols. And I -- I sort of feel at home, in the Christian ethos.

If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I choose Christianity, every single time.

I mean, it seems to me, to be a fundamentally decent religion.

In a way that I think Islam is not.

GLENN: Okay. Forget about the Islam part.

The culture of our country is based on Christianity.

So let's bring John in, about pagan America. We are a Christian nation. You believe that.

JOHN: I believe we were. I don't think we are now. I think we're entering a post-Christian era for America and for the West.

GLENN: So that kind of sounds bad. If you listen to Richard Dawkins.

JOHN: Yeah. Absolutely. Richard Dawkins should know better. You can't have the culture without the cult.

You can't have Christianity, as a cultural force. As a force that shapes the public square. And forms the character of the people. Without the actual religion behind it.

People who believe elsewhere, in that clip that you played.

He said, now, I understand that the number that believe in Christians are going down in this country, and I think that's a good thing.

What does he think will happen to all the cathedrals? And all the parish churches. They will turn into mosques. In the case of Britain, or apartments, or nightclubs.

GLENN: So what happens to us?

JOHN: We became pagan. And part of the claim of the book, is that there is really only one alternative to Christianity. Which is paganism.

Now, I don't mean that we will have temples to Zeus and Appollo popping up in Times Square, or a surge of witchcraft, although we are seeing that surge.

What I mean is that our public life, our communal life as a nation and a people is going to be defined by the pagan ethos, not the Christian ethos.

GLENN: Which, the pagan ethos, is what?

JOHN: Nothing is true. Everything is permitted. A radical subjectivity about man, about God. About our natures. About what we can become and what we can do.

And so what determines what public policy should be, or what determines what is right, isn't based on any universal claims about human nature.

Or the image of God. Man being created in the image of God.

It's based on force and coercion.

And that's how pagan societies have always been. That's why they're slave societies.

GLENN: So pagan societies in the 20th century.

Soviet Union. Germany.

JOHN: Post Christian. Yes. Yes. Exactly. Exactly.

And what were they characterized by?

Force. Coercion. A rejection of human nature. Rejection of the idea of human rights.

GLENN: So you're seeing that everywhere.

And this is what led you to the -- the idea that we're -- we're post-Christian.

Is there any way to turn it around?

JOHN: I don't think there's a way to turn it around in our lifetimes. Let's put it that way.

So I don't think that Christianity will be defeated in the end.

I'm a Roman Catholic, myself.

And so I believe in the permanency, of the church.

And of the Christian faith. And victory if the end.

But this is a general racial struggle.

It's been centuries now, that Christianity has been declining in the West, has really accelerated since the middle of the last century. And I don't think it will be turned around in our lifetimes. And maybe not in our children's lifetimes. But there are things that we can do to sort of preserve the flame, and rebuild amid the ruins.

GLENN: Like, what?

JOHN: Transmit the faith to our children, carve out spaces for our churches and communities.

And this is the important part. We don't retreat into those communities.

We find and fight on ground we can win.

That may mean moving out of large cities that are lost. And it also may mean getting involved at the local level to take back your school district.
Take back your library. Take back your city council. And, you know, bring the faith.

The Christian faith, back into the public square. Where it was for most of our history in the country.

GLENN: You know, I've been saying for a long time now.

I think it's really important that -- and I don't like this. Because I don't want to segregate us.

I don't want, you know, two separate Americas. But I think because of the battle that we're in right now, I think it's important to be in like-minded communities, especially religiously speaking. And I don't mean all of the same religion.

I mean, that they are Judeo-Christian, value-driven communities.

Because we -- we -- if you're not in that community, and you are not surrounded by the people with the same kind of ethics and ethos, you could very well be into a community, that goes wrong on either side. On either right or left.

And goes into darkness quickly. Do you agree with that?

GLENN: You also get lulled into a place of complacency. Right? Things are okay. It's not as bad as it seems.

You know, part of the arresting title and subtitle in the cover of the book, which has a burning church on it is to wake people up, to get people to accept, that this is happening. We're living in a post-Christian society.

Christianity is not going to be the dominant force in the public life of America, moving forward.

As it has been, as I said, for most of our history. We're going to become a pagan country. And that means the Christians are going to become a persecuted minority, as they always have been in pagan societies.

GLENN: Well, wouldn't you say we're already really kind of there.

It's not as bad, as it probably will be.

But we're already there. Look, if you're pro-life, you're toast. You know.

JOHN: Yeah. The number of things that you can't publicly disagree with or dispute is growing, seemingly by the week. Right?

You have to accept that Easter is really Trans Day of Visibility. You have to accept that abortion is a positive good, not just safe, legal, and rare. But it's a positive good. It's necessary to vindicate the rights of women.

You can't question gay marriage anymore. That ship sailed a long time ago. So these are things that are part of what I call the pagan morality, or the state morality of the new pagan regime.

And you're -- there is no dissent allowed on these things. Because dissent, tolerance in the public square, freedom of speech. That's a Christian virtue. That's a luxury that only a Christian society can afford.

GLENN: Has there been any pagan countries, that have lasted?

I mean, I know that Soviet Union, 80 years. But has there been any modern pagan, that just don't eat themselves.

JOHN: Well, no. And the thing that always happens to pagan societies, when they encounter Christianity, going back through history. Christianity is the only thing that breaks the pagan stranglehold on a people, across geography, across time, across cultures.

It was the encounter with Christianity, that broke these pagan societies. Because it proposed a radically new way of conceiving of man, and our relationship to God.

And one another. And how we should organize society.

And as Christianity retreats, that paganism. That pagan ethos, that is simmering, just below the surface. Is going to come back in modern forms. In modern iterations. As it did in Nazi Germany.

In the Soviet Union. And there were periods, where there was this illusion of like atheism and of secularism.

We're shedding that pretty quickly. The idea that the future is going to be the secular liberal utopia is totally wrong.

GLENN: I think wokism is a religion.

JOHN: Yes. It's a form of paganism.

GLENN: Yeah, it has its high priests.

You can easily be excommunicated. It has its rituals. It has things you must do and must never do. It's the opposite of Christianity. There is no forgiveness. Even the high priests can't forgive you, unless you bow down to them.

JOHN: And then only maybe.

GLENN: Then only maybe, depending on who you are. It's so clearly a religion.

Why -- why call it paganism instead of wokism?

JOHN: Because I think wokism, just like atheism, or communism, is a species of paganism.

And that when you really dig into what paganism is. And how it works. What we're seeing is a resurgence of paganism in a modern context.

Part of it is a vocabulary problem. We're not going to talk about the dogs in the same that ancient pre-Christian peoples talked about the gods.

But we are seeing a growing acceptance in the idea of spiritual forces.

A movement away from pure materialist secular scientistic kind of thinking, that denies all supernatural reality. That denies all spiritual reality, especially among young people right now.

This admixture of being secular on the one hand, in rejecting organized religion, but being open to spiritual forces. And things like identity that are really beyond reason. Or I would say, a disfigurement of reason.

Which is another hallmark of a pagan society, and we see that everywhere now.

GLENN: So you -- you saying these things. It would be really easy for the left to say, ah! You want -- you're a Christian nationalist.

You want a Christian country, that is run by the church. How do you respond to Christian nationalism?

JOHN: Well, it would be great if it were true. The funny thing about the Christian nationalist debate. As I sort of -- the argument in my book, kind of lays out, is that it's the opposite of the case. We're not becoming a Christian nationalist country.

I don't even know what that he's not.

I think what they mean by that. They don't want Christianity to have any influence on our national life and on the public square, as was the case for our entire history up until the middle of the last century.

But the idea that Christian nationalists are somehow ascendent, or the Christians are somehow gaining power and influence in the United States is a joke.

And when you look at the demographic data and you look at the decline in church affiliation and church attendance, you look at how --

GLENN: It's plummeting.

JOHN: Yeah, on every metric across the board, so it's a weird argument to make when Christianity has never been weaker in the United States.

GLENN: But there is. There are those that do want. I mean, they're very fringe, fringe, fringe.

But they do want a religious state.

And that -- I don't think that's what you would want, when you said, it would be great, if it were true.

I don't think it would be great, if it were true.

I want the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But I want the people to -- to regulate themselves, and, you know, as -- as Franklin and Jefferson said, the -- the best way to regulate yourself is through religion. Through Christianity.

JOHN: Yeah. Well, you have John Adams' famous line that our Constitution was meant for only a moral and religious people. It's unfit for any other.

But, you know, it really is true, that, you know, Remi Brague, the French philosopher said in the 1990s, talking about Europe.

The European civilization is, you know, a product, not of calculation, but of faith. So you need actual Christian belief.

You know, contra Richard Dawkins. You can't just have the principles.

They rely as their source of vitality on an act of faith among the people. So if we actually had a critical mass of believing, practicing Christians in this country, we would have things like free speech, tolerance, an open public square, human rights, and respect for everybody.

The things that are disappearing right now, under an ascendant and emerging pagan regime.

GLENN: The name of the book is Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and The Dark Age to Come.

I just want to hold you over for a second longer because it's a little dark.

And I would like to see the hope in all of it. We'll that do in just a second. Let's say you had to spend 1 dollar every second of every hour, day after day, month after month, year after year.

How long would it be, before you could spend a trillion dollars? 36 thousand years!

We're spending and borrowing and printing $1 trillion every 100 days. That is an art form in and of itself for a country to be able to spend that kind of money. My gosh.

What are we buying?

I hope we all get yachts!

It is not hard to see, where we are headed with our economy and the US dollar. Please, don't have all of your money in US dollars. Please, land.

Anything of -- of real, intrinsic value.

Food. Gold. Silver. I have some of my money in gold and silver. Well, I did, until I lost it in that boating accident. But over $3 billion in trusted transaction. Has happened with Lear Capital.

They have thousands of five-star reviews.

24-hour risk-free purchase guarantee.

Here's what I'm asking you to do.

Not asking you to buy anything from them.

I want you to just get their wealth protection guide.

Hear their case on why you should have gold or silver. You have to make the decision. You're smart enough to figure it out. Read it. Study it.

Pray on it. And then make your decision. If you decide to go with gold or silver. Lear will give you $250 towards your purchase in your account. Call them today. 800-957-GOLD. 800-957-GOLD.

Call them, get can't free wealth protection guide. 800-957-GOLD. Ten-second station ID.
(music)

GLENN: You know, I hear from people all the time, well, it's never going to get that bad.
It's never been like that. It's never going to get that bad.

Clearly, not true, John.

We're in a different place than we have ever been before. So give me some hope. What can be done?

JOHN: The last chapter of the book, is titled the Boniface Option, and it's a loving dig at Rogers. The Benedict Option, which came out in 2016.

And one of the things that they argued for, was to build up your local communities, your local churches, your home schools, your family communities.

And sort of build an ark to survive the storms to come. And one of the things I push back on a little bit with is the idea that we can just build arks and kind of hunker down and survive.

We have to push forward. And we have to push Christianity out back into the public square, where it was.

And where it belongs. As a testament to the faith.

I think there's hope in this sense.

As people she had their sort of strict material worldview. And are open to the idea of spiritual forces.

There's an opportunity for Christians to proclaim their faith, publicly again. And proclaim it to a people who maybe are more open, than they were a generation ago.

When secular liberalism seemed triumphant.

And it seemed like the future was going to be this atheist, cold, rationalistic world.

That's not the world that is emerging right now.

And so there's real -- there's real battles to fight. With real spiritual forces. And Christians need to sort of put on their armor, and get ready to fight with their faith. By like I said earlier, taking back your schools. Taking back your city halls. Taking back your towns.

But also being able to proclaim the faith, publicly. And pay a cost for it. Right?

There's a long period in this country, where Christians and the state were kind of on the same side. And Christians enjoyed a kind of deference and privilege that they didn't through much of our history.

That's coming to an end, and we need to wrap our minds around it. We need to steel our nerves, and we need to take heart in the truth of our faith and the succor and the strength that it gives us.

GLENN: And that only begets stronger Christians.

Stronger people of faith. When they really have to struggle. That's our problem. We haven't had to struggle with our faith for so long.

Yeah. Sure. I believe in God. You wouldn't say it, out loud, many times.

But now that you're starting to be pushed, you're seeing more and more people, talk about it, openly.

Thank you so much for being in here. It's pagan America. The decline of Christianity, and the dark age to come. John Daniel Davidson

How Corrupt Democrats & Media COLLUDE to Lie | Former AG Bill Barr

Why have the American people lost so much trust in the country's major institutions? Former Attorney General Bill Barr joins Glenn Beck to explain how the Democrats' "totalitarian state of mind" has created a corrupt spiral in which power rules over truth and reality in far too many realms. Barr also discusses the Russiagate Hoax and how it ties in to the Democrats and Liberal Media's willingness to lie to create false narratives.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with Former Attorney General Bill Barr HERE

This new bill should TERRIFY anyone with kids in California

Calvary Chapel Chino Hills founding and senior Pastor Jack Hibbs is sounding the alarms. Do you have children in the state of California? If you do, this is your warning: if California passes AB 495, you need to move out IMMEDIATELY. Pastor Hibbs joined Glenn to discuss the controversial bill, which Hibbs argues might be the "worst, most dangerous legislation that has ever come out of California." Hibbs breaks down what the bill says, or more importantly, what the bill DOESN'T say, and how the bills vagueness could be twisted in a way that can cause serious harm to your children. If you've been looking for a sign to move your family out of California, this may be it.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Anyway, Jack Hibbs is with us. He's from Calgary Chapel, Chino Hills. He's the founding senior pastor. Author of Call to Take a Bold Stand.

And he's been doing that for a while now. He's really been doing that. The book comes out next -- next month, September 16th.

Welcome to the program, Jack, how are you?

JACK: Glenn, thank you.

And thanks for the plug regarding the book. I just didn't have any idea that Gavin Newsom would help me get this book to the front of the line with all the antics in Sacramento.

GLENN: I know. It is. It is crazy. You have been -- you know, we were just talking to Chip Roy, who is now running for Texas Attorney General. He was in Congress during COVID, and the guy was a pit bull.

And Stu and I were saying, you know, imagine if he would have been governor.

When -- when this was going on, you know, in California with COVID, you were probably the -- one of the major people standing, that really made a difference. I mean, that -- that power didn't scare you at all.

JACK: Yeah, no. Listen. I mean, we had to stand, Glenn.

And you know this. Jesus said, I set before you an open door that no man can shut. He spoke that to the churches in the Book of Revelation. And, frankly, I have no authority to shut the doors.
It's his church, and so we kept -- we kept preaching. We kept teaching. And lo and behold, for well over two years, we were the -- the most populated church for a two-year period of time.

Glenn, we were seeing anywhere from 13 to 15,000 adults on a Sunday morning because people didn't have churches open. So they came to our church. And we were grateful to teach them.

GLENN: All right.

You're on today. Because you said something yesterday, that I found astounding.

It's about something called AB495. I will have to have you explain it here in a second.

But you went online. And you said, if this passes and he signs it in, you, as a Californian -- you have to take your kids and move out of the state.
That's quite a statement.

JACK: Yeah. Listen. It made me sick to say it. It's 100 percent true.

It's the last thing a pastor wants to say to his congregation.

It's that bad. As I explained in a moment to you, it's that bad.

And it's not my opinion. I've been counseled by legal on how bad it is.

And so when I said to the congregation.

Yeah. If you have a kid in school, you have to get out.

If Newsom does not veto this bill, you have to go to your kid out of California for their own safety. It's that bad.

GLENN: Okay. So the -- the left, the media is saying, now, he's making all this up.

Explain what's in the bill.

And let me play pushback on a couple of places.

CHIP: Yeah. Absolutely.

So the assembly bill, 495.

And here's the deal. It's known as the compassion bill. It's a bill that Rodriguez and the entire Democrat legislature of California crafted, and now these are my words. These words are my own, Beck. The next words.

It's a bill designed to stop the bad orange man, because it's all about ICE and its operations in California. And here it is: If an illegal alien is -- is abducted by ICE, and their child is in -- in a state school, or a private school.

Or even a -- a day care center, then this bill would allow an individual -- listen, any individual can go to the website, print out the affidavit from their home. They're going to be asked a question: Did you attempt to reach the parents or the custodians or guardians of this child?

Yes or no. Whatever they checked, then they sign their name.

They write their name. No address is required.

There's no driver's license required. There is no Social Security number required. There's no -- there's no phone number required. The person checks the box. Signs the name. And then writes downtown child's name that they are withdrawing from the school. For the child's own safety, under the whole ruse that their parents or parent was captured by ICE.

Here's the crazy thing, Beck. Glenn.

Is that in California, the -- the California education code. We already have this.

It's California's education code. 234.7: In the event of a child not being able to be picked up or taken in fear of a family member, being by accident, by death, whatever.

We already hit this block.

So the reasons we are freaking out about this law, and making it loud, is the fact that, who is that person that downloads and prints out that affidavit?

It can be anybody. The bill literally states, they don't have to be a relation. It can be anyone who is possessing this affidavit, that is downloadable and printable at your own home.

So theoretically, Glenn, somebody could be down the street from your grandkids or your grandchildren. And they can see you go to work at a certain time of day. They know your kid goes to a certain school.

They can go to that school with that affidavit. Extract your child out.

Here's the punch line.

Because it's an affidavit, the school cannot refuse the requester of that child.

When you, Glenn, go back to pick up your child at the end of the day. The school is under no obligation to tell you, who it was. Or where they went.

And that's why we've got -- and I'm not going to name the names yet. But we've got great legal minds. That are nationally recognized, that have reviewed this bill.

And, Glenn, they said this is so important.

In almost everything we do, the devil is in the details. President fine print. They said, not this point.

This -- this bill is so vague, that it would be hard to defend a parent trying to get their child or find their child. Because it is so loosely and so broadly written. So vague. And, Glenn, we have been told that's the worst thing that you could have happen in California's government. Because our legal systems, the judges. You name it. It is a dangerous bill, Assembly Bill 495.

GLENN: How well do people in California know this bill?

JACK: Well, I've got to tell you, on Tuesday, we called an impromptu rally at the state Capitol, and we had 6500-plus people show up.

So the sergeant-of-arms told us, that it was the largest gathering regarding legislation concern in 30 years. So, yeah. Good question, Glenn.

I'm grateful to -- to agencies like NewsMax and Fox, and KFI radio here in Los Angeles.

Was CBS there? Was NBC there?

No. So it's grassroots.

When people are finding out about it. And reading about it. They're -- I mean, they are getting involved.

Here's the cool thing, Glenn: People showed up. They were respectful, but they were loud.

They were smiling. But they made their point.

We had a series of speakers. Attorneys and lawmakers. And bottom line is this: The bill has now been placed in suspension. Which means, they -- they pulled it from its progress.

They are going to reconsider the bill.

It doesn't mean they're stopping it. They're reconsidering the bill. They're going to review the bill. It can either die of suspension. It -- by August 29th, it will either die in suspension, or they will advance it to the Senate.

And then the Senate will rubber stamp it.
Because they're all Democrats. I'm sorry if I'm offending any of your listeners right now: California is a Democrat stronghold.

They have a super majority. They don't even put things to our vote anymore. It's no longer we, the people, in California.

They rubber stamp things through. They get it to Newsom. And here's what I'm concerned about.
I was indicted in suspension, Glenn, for this reason.
They're getting so much heat. We've had four Democrat senators tell us, this publicity -- that on Tuesday is killing us. Hey, that's good news. But I don't want it to go to Newsom's desk, because you know what that sly dog will do? He may veto it and then come out and say, see, how moderate I am?

I put this bill away, so vote for me in 2028. Glenn, we're going to make sure that the Democrats in California. And Newsom at the front of the line wears the scarlet letter of AB-495.

GLENN: What are your plans now, the next two weeks?

JACK: Next two weeks, we have people praying. We have a website called realimpact.us. Please, everybody go to it. You can get your marching orders there. Realimpact.us.

It will show you the progress of the bill.
It's going to show you who to call. What state senator is your state senator. Give them a call. Tell them. Oppose it. Kill it. We are -- Glenn, we gave people, that day, after the public speakers. We then immediately held a 30-minute class at the -- at the State Capitol steps.

This is where you go to your legislator. This is how you lobby them. And let's go!

And hundreds and hundreds of people went to their state legislator on Tuesday and demanded, that their senator and their assembly person speak up against the bill. It was absolutely epic.

Again, the largest crowd in 30 years at the California State Capitol.
(music)

GLENN: Well, Jack, thank you for everything that you're doing. I -- I can't imagine what it's like to live in California, where it seems like every day, they're doing something else to injure the people and the families of California.

That's why I live in Texas. That's why I'm moving to Florida. I would live in either one of those states. But, man, I could never live in California. And I've always wanted to live in California. It was a beautiful, beautiful state.
Now, it's an insane asylum.

MARCUS: Yeah. Glenn, it is. Just flying up there. You know the state well.

Flying up there. So we left John Wayne Airport, absolutely gorgeous. We flew up the Central Alley, incredible crop fields growing, beautiful. I could see Half Dome to my right. We could see the fog along the California coastline to the left.

Come into Sacramento. Again, everything is beautiful. Growing fantastic. Until you get close enough to the ground, to see the devastation, that Newsom has allowed to happen to our cities, to our towns.

And even though we're still growing crops in California, that is in spite of his wickedness to cut off water to our growers.

To make life here as miserable as possible.

And this guy wants to run for president?

People need to wake up, Glenn, nationally.

And rally with us.

Because if you don't like California, people.

You need to help us. Because Newsom is coming for America.

And he's in the worst possible -- Glenn, I'm concerned.

Because he's tall, dark, and handsome, so to speak. He's got the hair. He's got the voice.

He looks like Batman. He's cool looking. Until you listen to his policies. The guy is diabolical, and we must stop this advancement of wickedness.

GLENN: I will tell you, I don't think the rest of America is falling for it. But then again -- then again, I didn't think that you could have a socialist and Islamist run and win in New York.

So what do I know?

Jack, thank you so much. Everything that you do.

You can go to JackHibbs.com. What is the -- what is the other website you just gave me?

JACK: Yeah. Real impact.

Like real. Reality. Real impact, like a punch. Impact. Realimpact.us.

GLENN: Thank you very much, Jack.

Bed Bath & Beyond Boss CALLS OUT Gavin Newsom for WRECKING business

Bed, Bath, & Beyond Executive Chairman Marcus Lemonis sparked a firestorm in Gavin Newsom's Press Office yesterday when he announced that Bed Bath & Beyond, which is coming back from bankruptcy, would NOT be opening locations in the state of California due to the high costs of doing business in the state. Gavin Newsom launched an attack on Lemonis, but he joined Glenn to share that he's not backing down, and many CEO's in the industry may be on Bed, Bath & Beyond's side here...

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Marcus Lemonis is joining us next, the chairman of Bed, Bath & Beyond. Let me tell you about Tunnel2Towers. Imagine being told that your husband or your wife, the love of your life is not coming home tonight. Or ever again.

That they gave their last full measure of devotion as a first responder or a soldier or police officer in the line of defense. You don't just lose your partner. You could lose the roof over your head now. Your kids, not just losing their family or their father or their mother. But also, the house they grew up in.

Lose the future, the security of your family, you know, needs.

You're having to worry now about grieving while worrying about, what is going to pay the bills next month?

Not on our watch!

That is the movement of Tunnel2Towers. Tunnel2Towers is a fantastic charity. It's a national promise, that the cost of freedom and safety will never be carried by these families alone. They pay off the mortgage. They take care of these families. And he this never forget the sacrifices of our country's grates heroes. Donate, while the rest of the world is saying, you know. Cops and soldiers, and everything else. Screw off.

They're asking to you donate $11 a month, to care for these heroes. T2T.org. That's T2T.org.
(OUT AT 8:29 AM)

GLENN: Marcus Lemonis. He's the executive chairman of Bed, Bath & Beyond, and he's currently in a -- some sort of a fight, if you will. I don't think he's fighting it. I think he's reacting like a gentleman and a businessman, with his responses to Governor Newsom, but he's in this argument with Governor Newsom. Because he said, yesterday, Bed, Bath & Beyond just cannot do business in California anymore. It's just too expensive. It's just too overregulated. It no longer makes sense for Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Welcome to the program, Marcus.

MARCUS: Good morning, how are you?

GLENN: I'm very good. I'm very good. I just want to point out before we go. Because I think this is important to say.

Because you started yesterday saying, this is not about politics. And I just want to point out, that you're not a Trump supporter. You know, in 2017, you came out. And I'm not going to go through it because you went back and forth and corrected and everything else.

But, you know, you criticized what Donald Trump said in Charlottesville, when it was thought that he had said, you know, hey, and the Nazis are pretty good too.

Which we all know because the full audio and video is out. And we can show that's not what he was talking about at all.

But you came out, as did a whole buttload of other CEOs.

And said, you know, if that's what you believe. Then, you know, please.

We tonight necessarily want you shopping here.

So it's not that you are doing this because you're a big Trump supporter. I -- when I saw your name attached to this. I thought, no, no, no. This is about business.

Because he's not on either side on this.

MARCUS: Yeah. I'm not on either side --

GLENN: Is that accurate?

MARCUS: Yeah. It's kind of accurate from a historical standpoint. It's not accurate from a modern standpoint.

I think as time has gone and the facts have been revealed, and things have played out and moves have been made by this administration. That I think advanced business. And advanced the American, you know, citizen. In a way that I think, it puts us back on track.

I would say that I feel very differently today, than I used to. And that's really not an emotional reaction. That's an intelligent reaction, and just looking at what the administration is doing to try to deregulate business.

Not to the advantage of -- of a worker. And not to the disadvantage of anybody. But to the training of capitalism in our country.

And to the advantage of investing in American business. And, you know, just as a reminder, Glenn. You and I met a long, long time ago when I had the profit at CNBC. That, you know, can't be -- and I've been through hell and back, trying to defend the flag from the same kind of ideology that I'm seeing out of California.

Which is, your flags are too big. They're not approved. And everybody does a little research. They'll see, that cities have sued me.

Cities have threatened to take me to jail. And the flag still hasn't been taken down. What you'll find with me is I'm trying to be really pragmatic. I also happen to be a resident of Chicago. And if anybody wants a preview to the movie of what's going to happen in New York City, come to my apartment on Michigan Avenue. And I'll give you a preview of what's happened and how socialism is just crushing not only my personal property, but other businesses around.

So I would say, as one gets smarter, one gets older. One learns more. One listens. But, you know, you evolve as a human. And I want to make sure that we're clear about that.

GLENN: I have to tell you, I -- it doesn't change my point of view that this is about business.

But I'm so glad that you cleared that up. Because, you know, that's all people should be striving for. Is when there are new facts available, you will actually say, oh, wait a minute.

I didn't see that.

I didn't know that.

MARCUS: I was wrong. I was wrong.

GLENN: And that's so rare.

So thank you for that.

MARCUS: Yeah. Yeah.

GLENN: So, you know, let me give you -- let me give you another slam from the left, or from, you know, the people on Twitter.

And even Gavin Newsom.

Oh, you were out of business. And this is just a business move to get your name out there. That's the only reason why you're taking California on.

MARCUS: Yeah. Well, let's talk about that. Number one, you know, I took over, a company called Overstock about a year and a half ago. And Overstock was a business that had been out there a long time, and they bought the intellectual property in the fall of '23 from the bankrupted state of Bed, Bath & Beyond.

And the reason that I took it over, is because the company had lost its way, was losing a lot of money. And I recommended to the shareholders, that we would get back to profitability. And as part of that, Bed, Bath & Beyond is a significant underpinning of that. And so I needed to remind both Governor Newsom and other folks, who, you know, were celebrating the fact that Bed, Bath & Beyond had gone out of business, were celebrating that Bed, Bath & Beyond had filed bankruptcy. And it's true. It's a fact. As I told Hannity last night, it happened.

The reality of it is that American is built on the modern day comeback, and we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Bed Bath. We run a billion-dollar online business. We bought a business called Kirklands, that is out of Jackson, Tennessee.

A family business, and we're using those 300 stores to convert. Fourteen of them are in California.

I was disappointed to see Governor Newsom, in my opinion, just the kind of level of professionalism. Instead of saying, you know what, I don't agree with your points.

And I think you're doing this for the wrong reasons, or whatever he wanted to say. However, comma, I would love to figure out how you and a bunch of other business leaders can tell me, as the governor of the fourth largest economy in the world, as he likes to remind us every single day, how to make it the third largest economy. And what I could do, what -- what things are out there, that I'm willing to comprise under, that I'm willing to help understand, that will drive investment back into my state. That will drive capital back into my state.

That will fill commercial real estate, back into my state, to appreciate commercial properties. Residential properties and be to drive value.

Because as the governor of the state. My job is to protect my people.

I get it. Fine.

But also to create positive cash flow for my state.

Which means I generate more than I spend.

But I don't want to do it on the backs of creating another nonsensical tax.

I didn't get that.

And that's really what has made me convinced, that Governor Newsom is not doing things for the benefit of California. He's doing things because he thinks that his so-called base is going to rally around his nonsense.

GLENN: So can you -- have you heard from other CEOs? In the last 24 hours?

Have you heard from anybody else in California.

You don't have to name names. Say the same thing?

MARCUS: Yeah. I won't. I've heard from very, very significant tech leaders in the state of California.

Asking if there's a way for them to set up with a meeting with Governor Newsom and myself.

Of course the answer is yes.

But they all acknowledge the silliness behind appointing capitalism and rejecting capitalism. And essentially, it's this dirty word.

And everybody who wants to make money or experience success is a bad person.

And that seems to be the theme that's coming out of the governor's office. Particularly with his -- I guess it's his intern-run pressroom Twitter account. Or whatever it's called these days.

GLENN: So this is not a final decision with you.

He could do something to change your mind?

MARCUS: I think if Governor Newsom was -- was really thinking about the political run and running a state that he believes -- is a super state in the country.

He would invite myself.

Maybe not me.

Maybe I'm not qualified to be in a room with him.

But other CEOs to say. Hey. I'm hearing this.

And I want to learn. I want to change.

Much like I said to you at the beginning of the conversation. What facts too I not have?

And how can you convince me, how I can do better? How I could learn more. That's the sign of a good leader. That's a leader I want to follow.

And that's I think, even, if you take a look at our current president's -- I think he's got a different tone in the second term than his second term.

And I couldn't be convinced otherwise. It feels far more collaborative. And that's what I'm looking for.

GLENN: Yeah. The -- let me play the opposite side here for a second. And to say what Trump is doing. I -- I see the regulation.

I see what's -- what -- he's doing to business. And thank God, it's a -- I can finally breathe again, as a businessman.

However, if I'm in your business. I would assume, you get a lot of material. A lot of -- a lot of your products from China. How -- how are the tariffs affecting you?

MARCUS: Oh, we've diversified our products. And the one thing that when I came in made it a bit of a mandate. And it's a balance between providing value to our shareholders and doing what I think is right.

You know, I come from the RV world, where we make everything in Indiana. We have employ tens of thousands of people, that make products in this country.

But there are parts and pieces that come from overseas. And the reality of it is, that until manufacturing in the US is -- is set up and can handle the capacity, in the short-term, there is an alternative sourcing.

And that applies to furniture and lighting.

And certainly tech styles coming from around the world.

And the tariffs aren't great. And I don't think Trump would even try to defend they're great.

It's a rebalancing act. Here's the thing I mentioned, big money the other day. If you're really thinking about the triangulation of how Trump is approaching, rebalancing everything.

Whether it's using energy as the leverage to bring Ukraine and -- and Russia to the table.

Or using tariffs to bring other world leaders to the table.

It's all really -- being done, in my opinion, to recalibrate America's position, both politically, and financially, in a way that -- that may change our dominance.

GLENN: It is. You know, I think that is -- I think you were spot-on. And you were seeing that with the way he handled Ukraine.

You know, he went in tough with the tariffs over in Europe.

And with NATO. He was tough with them.

And then he then said, you want to support Ukraine?

You can buy the stuff from us.

But you have to do it. But we'll provide it to you.

And now look at all the world leaders are at the table.

America is leading again. Just not spending all the money and doing all the work.

We are in the actual leadership position, which is remarkable. And I think he's doing that in every -- in every category.

MARCUS: Yes. And I think -- I think the one thing that this administration can knowledge is that the national debt is at a level that nobody believes it should be at. And the deficit is at a level that nobody believes it should be at. And it's a very complicated, but not overall complicated math equation. We have a certain amount of money leaving.

And we have not enough money coming in.

And the way you rejigger that is to find the balance.

And nobody I know, including myself. Will argue that the tariff execution in the last six months has been perfect.

I don't even think this administration would argue it's been perfect.

It's been herky-jerky on the market, Herky-jerky for business leaders. And at some point, we all pray that it finds its footing, at some point.

And nobody should try to convince anybody, that the consumer isn't going to be slightly pissed.

But the balancing act of being slightly fixed on the tariff's side, is what sort of relief could happen on the variable interest rate side. And that's why you see this other piece being triangulated around.

Where is the monetary policy? And how can that be modified to provide the relief to offset?

GLENN: Let me ask you: Are you as a pretty influential business leader.

Are you -- what's your outlook look like for the first half of next year. People are kind of holding back. Holding their breath. Not sure what to do.

Are we headed towards better times?

Or same kind of times. Or worse times, do you think?

MARCUS: I think we're headed towards unfortunately, probably, a little bit more of the same, of what may be extracted from that is a little bit of the volatility.

The consumer does have, you know, a significant amount of debt.

And they do have a significant amount of pressure because of the interest rates. The balance on the interest rates are, you can't just rip them down by two points tomorrow. That's going to create chaos.

You have to stair step it down. And like in retail or any other business, you test, then you measure, then you test, and you measure.

And I think what Trump has been saying and what Bessent has been saying, is we just got to get some relief for consumers. One point, Glenn, that I want to make. And inflation during the COVID period was a function of too much money in the system.

Too much free money in the system, and demand outpacing supply. In this particular instance, we don't have a demand outpacing supply problem. We have a reset of the cost of goods problem. And it's a different type of inflation.

And some people have said to me, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

There's only one type of inflation.

And the truth is, that's not right. Inflation driven by demand, outpacing supply, is a runaway train.

Inflation, because you're resetting and recalibrating prices. When supply and demand are irrelevantly tight in nature, is an adjustment period.

It's transitory.

And you have to really look at the difference between the two. And I think the fed needs to understand the difference between two of those.

Again, that's why business leaders should be far more involved.

GLENN: Marcus, it's great to talk to you again.

And I have to tell you, I think that's the first time anybody said, this inflation is transitory, that I have agreed with.

Really great analysis on that.

Thank you so much. Marcus Lemonis from Bed, Bath & Beyond.

The SHOCKING Truth Behind Airline Disasters and What NEEDS to Change

Flying has never felt less safe. Glenn Beck sits down with aviation expert Mike Boyd to uncover the shocking problems plaguing America’s airline system. From pilots openly questioning the safety of their own planes, to outdated air traffic control technology that’s still running on paper notes, to chaotic airports that can’t keep up with demand — it’s a recipe for disaster. Boyd reveals why American Airlines is struggling, how the FAA has failed for decades, and what it will take to stop the next aviation catastrophe before it happens. If you’ve felt like flying has gotten worse — you’re not wrong. This conversation exposes the truth the airlines don’t want you to hear.