RADIOJune 28, 2024

Post-Debate Reaction: The Most TERRIFYING Part of the CNN Presidential Debate

Glenn is furious after watching the CNN Presidential Debate between President Biden and former President Donald Trump. But it’s not for the reason you may think. President Biden’s performance was terrifying – he looked and sounded old, seemed to lose track of his sentences, and lied all over the place – and even the mainstream media is panicking. But while they all talk politics, Glenn says they should be talking about the COUNTRY: “How do we get this man away from the nuclear football?!”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Wow! Wow! Last night, I watched something I've never seen before.

This country just continues to get more and more bizarre.

When the president -- I'm going to spend some time here talking as if you've watched the debate last night.

Because we have so much to cover. But I will tell you -- let me just play the first thing that came out of Joe Biden's mouth last night. Do we have the first cut with his opening statement, please? Let me look for the number, I'm sorry. It's cut six.

JAKE: President Biden, inflation has slowed, but prices remain high. Since you took office, the price of essentials has increased. For example, a basket of groceries that cost $100 then, now costs more than $120.

And typical home prices have jumped more than 30 percent.

What do you say to voters who feel they are worse off under your presidency, than they were under President Trump.

BIDEN: You're going to take a look at what I was left with when I became president. What Mr. Trump left me.

GLENN: Okay. Stop.

When he walked out first, he looked like The Walking Dead. And I think you're going to be surprised at some of the things I say today because I'm not playing politics. And I'm hearing everyone else play politics.

He looked really bad. Really bad. And then when he opened up his mouth and that came out. Well, I just -- it was breathtaking. Breathtaking. Just his presentation. Continue, please.

JAKE: President Trump.

BIDEN: We're going to take a look at what I was left with when I became president. What Mr. Trump left me.

We had an economy that was in freefall. The pandemic was so badly handled. Many people were dying. All he said was it's not that serious. Just inject a little bleach into your arm, you'll be all right. The economy collapsed. There were no jobs. The unemployment rate rose to 15 percent. It was terrible. And so what we had to do was try to put things back together again, and that's exactly what we had to do.

GLENN: Okay. That's probably the clearest he was all night. Let me give you -- cut 14, please. Biden on the border.

JAKE: -- given that, why should voters trust you to solve this crisis?

BIDEN: Because we worked very hard to get a bipartisan agreement, that not only changed all of that, that made sure we were never in a situation where you had no circumstance, where they could come across the border with the number -- purported -- right now. We significantly increased the number of asylum officers -- significantly -- by the way, the Border Patrolmen endorsed me. Endorsed my position. In addition to that, we found ourself in the situation where, when he was president, he was taking -- separating babies from their mothers. Putting them in cages. Making sure the families were separated. That's not the right way to go.

What I've done, since I've changed the law. What's happened? I've changed it in a way that now, you're in a situation where, 40 percent fewer are coming across the border illegally. It's better than when he left office, and I'm going to continue to move until we get the total ban. The -- the -- the total initiative, relative to what we can do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers.

JAKE: President Trump.

DONALD: I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either.

GLENN: Stop. Cut 11. Here's Joe Biden on Medicare.

BIDEN: We would be able to worry about his debt, we would be able to make sure that all those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure we continue to strengthen our health care system. Making sure we're able to make every, single, solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the -- with the COVID. Excuse me. Dealing with everything we have to do with -- look, if -- we finally beat Medicare.

JAKE: Thank you, President Biden. President Trump.

DONALD: Boy, he's right. He did beat Medicaid. He beat it to death, and he's destroying it again.

GLENN: Okay. Stop. That is one of the first fumbles that Biden made. And notice, Donald Trump did not take a swing at him. He said, yeah. He did. He did hit Medicare. And he damn near destroyed it.

He's not making fun of his age. It's the most restrained I have ever seen Donald Trump.

And we'll get into the strategy, which I believe was the strategy of the night for Biden. Which was a complete and total disaster. Let me -- gosh.

STU: Stunning.

GLENN: It's like Sophie's Choice here. I've got so much that I have to get on the show today. And I just don't -- I'm just -- I'm going to just have to assume, that you knew what happened or that was enough information.

It was something I have never, ever seen before. It was terrifying. Terrifying.

If I'm Putin, I am -- I am storming Europe. If I am China, I am going in to Taiwan, right now. It -- this is the weakest our president has ever appeared. Okay.

Never before in my lifetime. I remember -- I wasn't around for Kennedy. But I remember when Reagan was in the hospital after being shot. And that was a very nerve-wracking time. Because he's not in charge, and he transferred the powers to the vice president, while he was in the hospital right at the beginning. It was terrifying! Because you knew the world was watching. Now, here's -- there are -- there were three things that happened last night. Or a few categories.

One, those who knew -- those who knew that Joe Biden was like this, should be the most freaked out. And I'll explain in a minute.

Those who believed in the media and all of this garbage that, no, this is just Republican, you know, a cheap fake.

He's never been more sharp. He's never been better than he is right now.

He's so sharp and nimble.

Anybody who believed that, and you saw this performance last night.

You were probably in shock.

And you're lost today. You don't know what to think today.

But here's what those people who believed the media and were shocked last night. Here's what you should be thinking today: I cannot trust any of my trusted sources.

Because they all lied to me. And I'll get to it in a second, on why this is so important. Then there were those who -- who ran this con.

And who participated in this con, and I include every member of the press corps.

Anybody who has talked to him, anybody who has seen him, anybody who has seen him up close and personal, has had conversations as the press.

You knew it. You knew it. Also, those who ran the con in the White House and the Democratic Party. Shame on you!

We need -- we do need a list of the people who ran this con.

And covered for him.

And I'll explain why, again, in a second. And then there are those, and they can fit in the last three categories, but the last -- definitely the last two.

Those who are today responding by saying, the democratic party is in trouble. That what are we going to do for the election? Can we get him to step down, before the convention? If we do, how do we pick -- are you out of your mind?

We are now facing nuclear threats that we haven't faced since the 1960s. But in the 1960s, we had a jackass of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev. But he was at least aware.

We had Jack Kennedy, who was in so much pain, not unbeknownst to you.

The doctors were jacking him up on drugs, but at least he was sane and all there!

We have a president, that will have seven minutes to decide. Seven minutes.

You know, I don't know if you know what it is like. If there is a launch of a nuclear weapon, or even one that we think has a nuclear bomb in it.

If North Korea would launch a hypersonic weapon at us, we would have less time than seven minutes.

We wouldn't be able to verify if that was a nuke or not.

The president has seven minutes to decide. And what happens? They open up the football. And they take out what's called the black book of death. That's how serious this is!

It's called the black book of death! They open it up. And it is like a -- it's a -- it's a Cheesecake Factory memo.

Menu.

And the president has to look through it. And say, okay.

This city, this system, these ships. These silos.

And then the guy who is with the football is kind of like an actuary.

He then has to look at you all of those. And take each selection.

And then go back to the president and say, within seven minutes, okay. Mr. President, this is going to result in this many Ted. Your target is North Korea.

But the -- the selections that you made, some of those cities are up against the border of China. The radiation will blow into China, and you'll kill an additional 250,000 Chinese.

The Chinese will look at that as aggression against them, and they may launch against you. You may now include the Chinese. Also, up north, you're up towards Russia. You're going to kill citizens, in Russia as well.

Is this your selection, sir?

I am so angry today, that I haven't heard one single person on television or in the political realm, talk about the country! They're all talking about an election. How do we replace him before the convention? How do we get him off of the ticket?

How do we get this man away from the football! Do you know what our enemies were thinking last night?

This country is in more danger. Clear and present danger, than we have been, I believe, possibly in my lifetime.

We are weak! The world knows it. We have enemies, everywhere. They know it.

They are threatening nuclear weapons!

We cannot have this man with the black book of death and the button!

Does anyone understand, what you actually saw?

You didn't see a presidential candidate. You saw the president of the United States!

Where is anyone?

If you were celebrating, because you were like, oh, this is going to be great for Trump. A, be careful what you wish for. But, B, more than self, their country loved.
If you are somebody, who is on the left, thinking, oh, well, this just played into the, quote, caricature that the right was trying to build about him. We weren't trying to build that. Do you think we want our country to be destroyed? Does any American want our president to look like that?

Any American? What the hell is wrong with us?

I -- I -- I -- we're in more trouble, not because of -- not because of Joe Biden.

We're in more trouble, because people are not recognizing the danger, that is right in front of us!

You know, I've been saying a lot lately. May God save the republic. He cannot. He cannot do what we won't participate in.

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.