RADIOSeptember 21, 2023

STOP thinking about the Roman Empire. Do THIS instead

Apparently, men think about the Roman Empire a lot — often in a positive light. But that's NOT the solution, Glenn warns. We don't need a Caesar to fix our problems. We need to start standing for the Constitution again. Glenn reviews some of the insane news of the day, from Attorney General Merrick Garland's infuriating Congressional testimony to the Biden administration's decision to go after a German family who fled to America for religious freedom. "I'm not sure I know how to help anymore," Glenn says. "The hour is growing very, very late." But there is hope. Conservatives just need to get their act together.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Honest to God, America. What is wrong with you?

How is this not clearly a problem? Look at what is happening in our court system. Look at what Massey has to say yesterday to our attorney general.

You've seen this yet? Here's the first clip from Massey and our attorney general, the chief law enforcement officer of our country. Listen to this.

VOICE: That was your answer to questions made two years ago. When I said, how many agents or assets of the government were present on January 5th and January 6th, and agitating in the crowd, to go into the Capitol. And how many went into the Capitol? Can you answer that now?

VOICE: I don't know the answer to that question.

VOICE: Oh, last time, you didn't know how many there were, or there were none?

VOICE: I don't know any of those questions, if there were any. I don't know how many, or whether there are any.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

VOICE: I think you may have just purged yourself, that you don't know that there were any. You don't know that there were any?

VOICE: I have no personal knowledge on this matter.

VOICE: You've had two years to find out.

And the day -- by the way, that was in reference to Ray Epps.

And yesterday, you indicted him. Isn't that a wonderful coincidence on a misdemeanor?

Meanwhile, you're sending grandmas to prison. You're putting people away for 20 years, who weren't really filming.

Some people weren't even there. Yet, you got the guy on video. Saying, he's going into the Capitol.

Directing people into the Capitol, before the speech ends. He's at the site of the first breach. You have all the goods on him. Ten videos, and it's an indictment for a misdemeanor?

The American public isn't buying it.

GLENN: Okay. Listen, this is what he said about that question in 2021, listen.

VOICE: I was hoping today to give an opportunity to put to rest the concerns that people have, that there were federal agents, or assets of the federal government, present on January 5th, and January 6th.

You can tell us, without talking about particular incidents. Or particular videos. How many agents or assets of the federal government were present on January 6th.

Whether they agitated to go into the Capitol. And if any of them did.

VOICE: So I will not violate this norm of the rule of law.

I won't comment on an investigation that is ongoing.

GLENN: Hmm.

How do you -- how do you investigate January 6th, and you don't -- you haven't even asked, if we had any agents on the ground?

How is that even possible!

How is that possible? Is anyone else, beside people who voted differently than Joe Biden. Is anyone else saying, wait a minute.

Ray Epps, he was on the FBI's most wanted list. Then they removed his picture after a few days.

Then when people said, wait a minute. Who is this guy? Others identified him as Ray Epps.

He then becomes no big deal.

The New York Times does this love letter to Ray Epps.

He's on videotape. Saying, we have to go in there. We have to go in, tomorrow.

We go in. We have videotape of him actually looking at one guy, who is standing at the gate, who is not trying to open it up.

And he leans in, and whispers in his ear. And pretty soon, not long after the whisper in the ear, within seconds, that guy starts shoving the gate open. And letting everybody in.

And Ray Epps actually said in testimony, I was just telling him, is this isn't you. The cops are our friends. Don't do this.

Really?

Because he was peaceful before.

And this guy is now getting a misdemeanor.

He's everything. The Biden administration says, is a problem.

He's everything. All of the people, that were there, around him, when he was giving the speech, the night before. Everybody around him. Trump supporters. Real Trump supporters, were shouting, fed, fed. Fed.

Because they sensed that this was a setup.

Does anybody have a problem with that?

Does anybody have a problem with what Garland is doing, slow walking every investigation, in Washington. And then putting grandmas in jail.

Look, we don't usually prosecute people, who lie on their form.

You know, for their gun. Excuse me, what?

This administration? This one, isn't looking for every opportunity to put somebody in jail.

A white guy?

Huh. I -- I -- I'm not sure I know how to help anymore. I really don't.

I'm having a very difficult time, because the hour is growing very, very late.

And I don't see the movements. You know what, here's what I see. Here's what I see. I see people if we go to very frustrated, and they're going, you know what, get them.

I see that. I see guys apparently talking about the Roman empire all the time. I don't even know what that is.

Stu, how many times do you think of the Roman empire a day?

STU: I mean, zero. But I have read two Marcus Aurelias in the past year. So that is a -- I would like style zero. That was my initial response. But actually more than that.

GLENN: My answer is never. But I spell never N-E-5-E-R. I mean, this is ridiculous. And we need a new Caesar Day. No, we don't. No, we don't. Where are the people that are learning the Constitution? Where are the people that are standing for the Constitution?

You have brave whistle-blowers now. But nobody seems to care about what the whistle-blowers are saying. And these whistle-blowers are credible.

You know their names.

They're taking the heat.

It's not, like, when you hear what this whistle-blower. We won't tell you who it is. Even though, everybody knows who it is already. And that makes it suspect.

We're not going to tell you, that that's him. Because he has stuff, that you won't believe.

And then where is the stuff?

Just exactly what happened to Ken Paxton.

Do you know that the governor yesterday.

Well, let me just tell you this one. Let me just tell you this one. This one shows me how deep the problems are.

Do you remember talking about a couple from Germany, who had seven kids?

The Romakey family.

And they came over here. This was like 2013. And they came over here, because the state said they had to teach their kids.

I don't remember what it was. And they were like, no. That violates our religious point of view.

No. We can't do that. And so they were going to take the kids away. And so they decided to come over here.

And after a battle with the Obama administration, they were allowed to stay here in Virginia. Do you know what the Biden administration just did. After leaving these people alone, for ten years, give theming hope, that America was a place that they could actually have freedom of religion without any notice or anything.

They just called them up. And said, by the way, you have to return to Germany, or you're out.

We have two and a half to 3 million people in the last two years. Coming across our border. And yet, you have this family, in Virginia. That is peaceful, kind, productive.

All they want, is to teach their kids about God.

And our government -- this shows you, how much money and how deep this goes.

When you have time, in these days to go,, oh, you remember that family? Get them.

The governor in Pennsylvania yesterday, just signed a new order, where now you can be registered to vote with your driver's license. Okay. Except, that's not what the law says.

The governor cannot do that. The legislature has to.

And they currently have a system, where you go to get your driver's license. And you have to check a box. I want to register my vote now, or not.

All you have to do is check a box!

That's too much work. They took the box off. The government did, by himself.

Disregarding the Constitution of Pennsylvania. Don't worry. They can do it.

I -- I have got something prepared for next hour. That is the answer. But I don't -- I don't think. I'm not sure if people want the answer.

I'm not sure. I'm not sure.Ing I think so many people have buried their heads. And the people who are actually aware of it are like, what are we going to do? What are we going to do?

I'm so close to just saying, get to the mountains, gang. Get to the mountains.

Let God sort all this stuff out. It will be ugly. It will be ugly. Because we refuse to turn back to him. After September 11th, well, we learned our lesson. Oh, God, help us. Oh, God help us. And we actually meant, oh, God, help us.

Eh. We went our own way. And now look at where we are.

I pray for you every day. I ask that you would pray for me. And my staff. And for guidance. I don't even -- I'm getting to the point where, I don't know what is true anymore.

I don't know what is true. I mean, I've been duped and fooled so many times, in so many ways. That I'm like, and, you know, I believe in the best in people.

I believe in the people of America. I believe in you.

And I know we can turn this around. I mean, wonder, where the hell are our armies are?

And I mean armies of even bureaucrats.

Of think tank people. Who are actually doing something.

These people have thought this through for years.

This is not happening through happenstance. It's not because Biden sucks.

This is a plan!

Where is ours?

Where is our -- where is the group that is -- we can coalesce around?

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.

INSIDE Trump’s soul: How a bullet changed his heart forever

“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.