RADIONovember 13, 2024

Could Trump BOOST the economy by raising tariffs and abolishing the income tax?

During his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Donald Trump floated the idea of abolishing the income tax. This would go hand-in-hand with his plan to raise tariffs, especially on China. Glenn, who has historically been against heavy tariffs, may have been won over by Trump’s explanation. But he wanted to speak with an economics expert to see if the math really added up. Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow Peter St. Onge joins the program to break down how tariffs work, whether Trump’s plan would boost the economy, and what he must do if he wants to raise enough support to repeal the 16th Amendment.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Hmm. Now, we've got a guy, I think he's -- I think -- I think his last name says everything.

Peter St. Onge, which I believe is French!
(music)
STU: What is happening?

GLENN: Sexy, sexy tax and tariff talk from the Heritage Foundation. A visiting fellow. We have Peter St. Onge.

How are you, Peter?

PETER: I'm great. I appreciate that. It is sexy.

GLENN: Yeah. I know. Everybody says it. Everybody says it. So without getting it too steamy in here.

Let's go over the tariffs.

Because I've always been against tariffs. However, I might be wrong.

PETER: Right.

GLENN: Donald Trump is making a good case, when he's talking about getting rid of the income tax. Because tariff -- tariffs will raise the prices of things. Especially, if he does it the way he's talking about doing it.

But if he is getting rid of, or lowering the income tax to, you know, 10 percent, it's such a boon for the economy. That we could make up that deficit, and become a very powerful nation again.

Tell many I'm wrong.

PETER: I think that's absolutely correct.

Yeah. I feel like you're absolutely right.

You know, the vast majority of economists, Glenn, they go after tariffs. And I think they're looking at the trees for the forest here, because if you replace a tariff, which is basically a sales tax. But it's one that focus on his imported goods.

If you replace that with either reducing or in our dream scenario, abolishing the entire income tax. It's absolute rocket fuel for the economy. The reason is because --

GLENN: He just said abolish the income tax. Pay attention, Sara. He just said abolish income tax. Oh, yeah.
(music)
All right. Go ahead.

PETER: Right.

The background music. So, yeah. And he actually started floated abolishing it with Joe Rogan a couple weeks ago. No tax on tips. Then no tax on overtime. No tax on first responders. No tax on Social Security. And it was kind of like he was really flirting with just breaking up with the income tax altogether.

And when he was on there with Rogan, that's exactly what he did. He said, you know, maybe we should go back to the 1800s, when, you know, it was before we had an income tax. Before we had a Fed.

And back then, the federal government had to live off tariffs. And that was the greatest period, not only of economic growth, but of cultural achievement.

It's astounding, what we -- everything Elon Musk does, was invented in the 1880s. Computers.
Rockets.

What's his -- Hyperloop. Every single thing. And it was really the golden age of humanity.

And the key there, we did not have an income tax. We did not have a regulatory state.

We did not have a Fed. So if Trump can take us back there. And all we have to do is an 8 percent sales tax on Chinese socks.

That is the deal of the century.

GLENN: Okay. Let's go over this.

Who pays the tariffs?

American companies or the foreign company?

PETER: Interestingly, during you Trump's first term. He put tariffs on China. And China actually paid up 80 percent of those. So it would issue subsidies to Chinese exporters so they could maintain market share and keep their prices low. So the Chinese government paid the tariffs.

GLENN: Hmm.

I like that.

PETER: So if he does that again, he's talking about hitting China with something like 60 percent tariffs.

And between a ten and 20 percent tariff for everyone else. Now, given Trump's style, he is not going to come and use it across the board. He is going to come and use that as a club.

Right?

So the Europeans, specifically. They act like a fortress. They are brutal to outsiders.

If you want to export something to Europe, they will put you over a barrel. You remember, a couple years ago, the first thing the European Union did was sat them down. And said, nice economy you've got here. Would be a shame if something happened to it. We're going to need a payment from you every single year.

It is literally the Mafia. They do that to Norway. It's all these countries have to fork over billions of dollars to get access to the European market. Now, imagine if we did that. Imagine if we called up Mexico or Canada. And said, hey, listen. We've got this beautiful economy. You guys are settling into it. Hey, why don't you write me a check for 50 billion to keep access? That's exactly what the Europeans do.

So the first thing Trump is probably going to do, given what he did last time. Is he'll call up Europe, and he will do the exact same thing.

You know, I have a 20 percent tariff burning a hole in my pocket. I need you to do some things for me.

But, anyway, even if he does end up applying those to all foreigners, the Europeans are not going to cover the exporters because they're in a deep fiscal hole.

They don't have the money. They're already bankrupt. They're not going to do what China did.

But a lot of those tariffs, especially the ones from China, are probably going to keep getting paid by China. Because exports to America are what they live on. If they lose that, it's game over.

GLENN: And we should not be empowering them, quite honestly.

Now, here's why. Here's why I have possibly turned around.

I'm willing to listen to tariff talk, because in my -- in my cute little head, I keep thinking that all of the -- when you have an extra 20 or $30,000, that you're pulling in, every year. Whatever it is, you are paying in income tax. And everything -- everything goes down that's made here in America.

If you're not paying that income tax. You have a lot of extra buying power, which means, most of Americans, will spend that.

And will grow our economy, which will put more taxes. Well, we don't have taxes. So that wouldn't work.

How does it work, when you don't have taxes? Go ahead.

PETER: Yeah. So just kind of running into the numbers. The first thing that happens, if you get rid of income tax altogether. So I estimate you get about a 20 percent jump in incomes in the US.

So it would be something like $15,000 for typical families. That's what you get off the bat. The typical family currently has about 18,000 in income tax, and then you knock off about 3,000 for the tariffs.

There's a variety of estimates on that. But that seems to be the cluster. So you get a 15,000 raise, because the economy is growing faster. You get an 18,000 raise because you don't have to send your income tax to the government. People don't realize how much they're paying to the government.

Right? A lot of it is tips. But, anyway, you've got -- what do they call it?

Withholding. So, anyway, that's 33. I call three for the tariffs. 30,000 dollar raise per year, 2500 a month. Now, currently, the median American take home is about 58,000.

Okay. Which is about 76, minus the income tax. So you go from taking home 58, to taking home 88. Right? That is a massive difference.

And that sort of sets the stage.
(music)

GLENN: Hold. Hold on. You go from 58 to 88. Oh, yeah.
(music)
Ding-dong. Pizza deliveryman. Anyway.

STU: Why is that the part you like so much in his movies? It's interesting what he is excited about.

GLENN: All right. Go ahead.

All right.

PETER: No. I love it. And it's true. You know, if you're making 88. You can go to Vegas. And things happen in Vegas.

GLENN: Yeah. Right. Right. Creating jobs.

PETER: Right. Yeah, well, and so that's the fun part, right? Is you mentioned earlier, that if you're not paying income tax, then production in the US is cheaper.

So instead of the Chinese socks coming in -- you know, they used to come in at $6, now they're at $9. Fine. But China is paying for that, so they're probably still coming in at six.

But, meanwhile, American factories can make socks for less, because they are not paying the income tax.

There's a very good chance that we will see a lot of that manufacturing, even if the Chinese government pays for the tariffs.

GLENN: And that means, also because the economy -- we're building factories. We're doing things ourselves, because we can.

Everybody's pay goes up. Because we need more workers. Right?

PETER: Exactly. Exactly. And then there's actually mass deportations, then the socks will actually go American.

So you've got two possibilities, right?

One of them is that China covers the tariffs. In which case, it's a free lunch for us.

China is, what?

Putting us about 500 billion -- well, their share would be -- let's say 300 billion. So that would be fantastic. Thank you very much.

Or China does not cover the tariffs, in which case China is priced out of the market. America pays no income tax, so they're cheaper. By the way, every headquarter on earth would try to move to the United States. If you're paying no income tax on the single biggest economy on earth, everybody will be trying to move here. Including the Chinese companies. The worst-case scenario, the Chinese don't cover it.

They get outcompeted. And it all comes back to America. And if it's only Americans living here, then Americans will be swimming in jobs.

GLENN: I mean, this is just -- this is big.

How -- how much --

PETER: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: He has only floated this on the Rogan show. How real do you think this is? Because I know he loves tariffs. I know he loves tariffs.

PETER: He loves tariffs. And he hates the income tax. So it's beautiful. It's like a -- it's just like the perfect Newton president.

STU: Peter, isn't the complication here, that he can essentially do what he wants with tariffs. But he can't do what he wants with the income tax. And that becomes the heavy lift here?

PETER: Right. So he would need Congress to play ball on the income tax. And Congress is very tight, as we're all discussing at the moment. There's a ton of RINOs over there.

So that's going need to the pressure and the passion that people showed during the campaign, that millions of Americans showed. We have to put that on the RINOs.

GLENN: Yeah. I think that if he did, you know, a tour even. And was just all about income tax. You just have to say to people. You go from 58 to 88 in take home pay. I think a lot of people will be like, you know what, I love that.

STU: I agree. But you're not going to get -- obviously, in theory, you could put it into a reconciliation bill. Right?

At least a massive reduction.

You couldn't -- not a constitutional amendment, unfortunately.

That's what I would prefer.

Repealing the 16th.

GLENN: Yeah. Me too.

But you could capture American's imagination with this.

STU: Yeah. I think that's pretty -- that would be pretty great.

I do think you would have issues with some of these, as you point out. RINO-type republicans, who would complain about all sorts of things.

Including deficit stuff. Right?

They would say, we're going to lose all this income.

GLENN: All right. Let me take a break, and then let's talk about the deficit, Peter. All right? Peter st. Onge. He -- hmm. I'm not going to hold it against him for being French. I mean, somewhere in his past, somebody had sex with a French person. Okay. Let's -- let's move past that. He's with the Heritage Foundation. A visiting fellow.

STU: This is definitely the weirdest interview he's ever done. And he's regretting every minute of this.

GLENN: He's like, this is the end of my career and my credibility.

GLENN: Okay. I think I've got this number from you, Peter.

But a -- tariffs would bring in about 900 billion.

Almost a trillion dollars.

But our -- we're spending now, I don't even know how much.

$4 trillion a year? Some crazy number like that.

So how do you bridge the gap?

PETER: About six and a half.

GLENN: Six and a half. Okay. Good.

STU: There's a bit of a gap.

GLENN: There's a five and a half trillion dollar gap.

PETER: So income tax itself is taking about two and a half trillion.

And then you've got -- what? You've got payroll. You've got excise. Things like gasoline and cigarettes, things like that.

You've got capital gains. Corporate income tax. Those hopefully would be folded into an income tax repeal.

You put it together. You're looking at 2.4 trillion in lost revenue. And then you've got 900 in tariffs. About 1.5.

Now, the economy grows 20 percent, then you're going to get about 500 billion more from payroll tax and from excise. So you're looking at a net loss of 1 trillion. Now, I personally would prefer to get rid of the payroll tax as well.

STU: Yes!

GLENN: Pernicious.

PETER: It's not as bad as the income tax. Because the income tax is on top of it. It also varies on how much you produce. The payroll tax is a flat tax.

So, you know, in a perfect world, we're not taxing work at all. We're taxing bad things, not good things.

In the grand scheme, you know, in the terms of incentives, get rid of income tax first. Then we can have the next conversation, which would be getting rid of the payroll tax. If you're just going to the income tax, you're talking about 2.4 net of the tariffs. Net of the economic growth. You're talking 1 trillion. So you would be cutting 1 trillion out of a budget of about six and a half.

Now, Elon is -- he's talking about his department of government efficiency.

He's floating 2 trillion.

So I haven't seen the math on those.

I don't know where it's coming from.

I agree whole-heartedly.

I'm certain we could get a lot more than that.

It's cutting out the parts of the military, that is part of our country.

Bring them home. Put them on the border. Divert the Navy that patrol our waters. Stop invading other countries.

That would be a very easy 800 billion, if we look at countries like Japan or UK, which the UK has a functioning military. It has a Coast Guard.

Although, it doesn't use it.

About the whole kit. They spend less than hundred billion.

Of course, you can cut welfare for able-bodied people.

Which the government tries very, very hard to hide how much it spends on welfare. But it's easily over a trillion.

The cost of illegals themselves, which very conservatively is about 150 billion a year. Maybe closer to 350 billion by some estimates. Because, again, they're trying to hide the costs.

Pharmaceuticals. Right?

That's going to be coming into focus with RFK here. But there is a ton of waste and corruption in pharmaceutical payments. Those are something like 20 percent of our economy.

But really, you know, if you sort of zoom out, you're very familiar with the Tenth Amendment.

There are precisely four agencies that are authorized. Right? State, justice, defense, treasury with both offices.

So strictly speaking, if we had a Supreme Court, that actually read the common sense language in the Tenth Amendment, almost the entire thing is gone. You would slash everything. Personally, I would keep Social Security and Medicare because they've already been paid for. That's a complicated issue. I think you have to make sure people are protected, because they already got ripped off on the way in. But aside from that, almost everything they do, from DEI, to just -- to the Federal Reserve, all of that is unconstitutional.

You slash that down, and you are -- gosh, you're probably more than 3 trillion down.

GLENN: So do you think we have a shot at doing that?

Is he putting the team in, around him to do something like this?

PETER: So the closest we have, I follow Polymarket very closely. They've got odds on pretty much everything out there. The sort of tip of the spear on income tax repeal is starting with tax on tips.

Right? That was the one that he most clearly promised.

And so that's kind of a proxy for whether we're going to start hacking away at the income tax. So tax on tips, is currently running 38 percent on Polymarket.

That's the number I'm watching. That's encouraging. Because it means, it's not just talk.

That people with capital, believe it's the real.

But for sure, Congress will play ball.

GLENN: Yeah. Thank you so much, Peter. We'll have you on again. Great explanation of this. Peter St. Onge. He's with the Heritage Foundation. You can follow him @PeterStOnge. Good luck spelling Onge. I mean, just saying.

How Somalis in Minnesota are FUNNELING Tax Dollars to Terror Groups

Minnesota is facing what may be the largest welfare fraud scheme in American history. Christopher Rufo joins Glenn Beck to expose how Somali-run networks siphoned hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds through fake child-care and food programs, money that federal officials say was funneled through Somalia’s Hawala system, where Al-Shabaab takes its cut. Rufo reveals how state leaders protected these networks, how political incentives and “suicidal empathy” blinded Minnesota’s institutions, and why the corruption spreading through the welfare system is far more widespread than anyone wants to admit. This is not just a crime story... It’s a warning about immigration policy, cultural incompatibility, and the collapse of accountability in modern liberal states.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So I first ran into Chris Rufo, oh, I don't even know how many lifetimes ago. He was working for the city journal. And he was starting to uncover things. And he started to do investigations on things he cared about. And all of a sudden, he's one of the best investigative reporters out there.

Extraordinarily credible.

Right almost every single time.

And he is joining us, at the Blaze. He is the host now of his own TV show. Rufo and Lomez.

And he is the guy who broke the story a couple weeks ago. About the Minnesota taxpayers who are funding a terrorist group. Al-Shabaab. I don't know. Is that a problem?

Can I ask you, am I more outraged?

And I haven't paid any Minnesota tax. Am I more outraged than the people of Minnesota?

I mean, I know there's origins up there. So Norwegians are like, yeah, sure. I mean, you know, they don't seem to get very excited about. And they're very, you know, socialized and everything else. They're very big heart. Blah, blah, blah. And they don't seem to -- you know, Swedish, Norwegian, you know. But is there any point where they're outraged? Is there any point where they're like, you know what, this socialization thing is good, but not like this? This socialized, hey, let's help everybody, but not like this. I mean, you have a billion dollars taken from the taxpayers. A billion.

Is -- and I don't hear anything from the people of -- I mean, if you're -- if you were taken for a billion dollars and your money -- you knew was being taken away from children who need food, they were faking all kinds of health issues for other children, and so taking money away from real autistic programs and then putting it in and sending it to a terror group. Wouldn't you be kind of pissed?

Because I know I would be.

Are the people in Minnesota pissed about it?

I don't know.

I mean, I don't think. If it was my state. I don't think the governor would be in the governor's office. But maybe that's just had he. Christopher Rufo joins me now.

Chris, we were just talking about -- thank you for not only this story, but all the stories and things you have exposed over the years. Thank you for doing all of the hard work, and being credible the whole time.

It doesn't -- am I more outraged by this story than the people of Minneapolis? Because they don't seem to have a problem with it. Is it just me?

JASON: It's even more bizarre, actually. You're outraged about the proper thing to be outraged about. Which is that a group that is a recent arrival was permitted, or asylum, refugee status into the United States. Has now systematically looted the Treasury of the state of Minnesota. But Minnesota politicians are also outraged, but they're outraged that we notice this.

And that we've called this out. And that we're saying, this is not okay. So you have the mayor of Minneapolis, speaking in Somali, saying that he will do whatever he can.

GLENN: Unbelievable.

CHRIS: Do whatever he can to shelter the Somali community from any criticism at all.

And, I mean, find this borderline suicidal. And the Scandinavian. Kind of the Scandinavian founding culture of Minnesota, is just being statistically exploited. And they seem to have no ability to even defend themselves against it.

GLENN: Yeah. I mean, what's happened to Sweden is happening in -- you know, in -- in Minnesota.

It's just -- they take the kindness and the socialized everything. And they just absolutely abuse it, until there is nothing left.

And, you know, I don't -- let me ask the question.

And I want to be really careful here. Because I -- and I know you're not.

Nobody is reasonably saying this. That all Somalis just want to rip us off. Not true. I think there's probably a lot of people that wanted to get away from Somalia, because it is an absolutely corrupt system.

And now, our politicians are just recreating, you know, what they had in Somalia. And I can't believe that everybody from Somalia and Minnesota is for that.

But when you -- when you look at where they came from, that is the way their government works.

It is so rife with corruption. Is this something that is being imported, or is this just a handful of bad guys?

CHRIS: Well, it's a little bit of both. And as you said, we have to be careful and precise as we think about it. What's happening, obviously, not every Somali is participating in these fraud schemes.

GLENN: Correct.

CHRIS: But it's true that many, many, many, many -- an extraordinarily high percentage of people in the Somali community were participating in these schemes, prosecutors have told me that there are dozens of these schemes that have been perpetrated. And some of them are involving dozens and in some cases hundreds of families. And so we're talking about a very high percentage of the population. But the -- the point is this: Related to immigration. We always have had an immigration system that makes group level analysis.

And so small ease, for example, for many decades, now, have been given special privileges, in America's immigration system.

You have special status for asylum, for refugee programs. And so we have rewarded Somalis on the basis of -- of a group identity.

And I think that it's totally fair to say, hey. Wait a minute.

We can't take everyone from around the world. We have to prioritize by group.

We can't judge every single human being around the world as an individual.

And the reality is that the Somali community is not coming as individuals. They're coming as a community. And so you can say, you know, there are absolutely great people. Wonderful Somalis.

The incredible Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali.
Incredible woman.

GLENN: Incredible.

CHRIS: But the fact is that they're bringing the cultural systems from Somalia to the United States, and they are just fundamentally incompatible. That's the brass tacks. The bottom line. The end of the story.

And -- and what I was looking for and hoping for, was that Somali leaders would stand up and say, what's happening in our community is wrong.
We're going to work with. We're going to work with law enforcement to stamp out this corruption within our own house. But instead, they have gone just the opposite. They are promising that members of their communities. No criticism. And should operate with impunity.

GLENN: Tim Walz and even the mayor. How do they survive this?

CHRIS: Here's -- here's the actual, sad truth. I know conservatives are waiting for the backlash to sweep away these corrupt leaders and these feckless and incompetent politicians. But there's something about liberal culture, where no amount of chaos, corruption, crime, murder, you know, theft, can dissuade them from their core beliefs that our society is bad. And as a form of penance or -- or -- or kind of self-flagellation. We have to accept any amount of crime, provided that it's committed by people who can check the identity boxes. And so I'm actually pessimistic, and skeptical of the idea that Minnesota voters are going to rise up. And command that this corruption stop.

GLENN: You know, I remember Michele Bachmann came to my apartment when I was living in New York City, probably about 2008, maybe '9. And she sat me down and she said, Glenn, you have to pay attention to what's happening to my State Department, in Minnesota.

And I said, what do you mean?

She said, they're moving whole communities into Minnesota. And she's like -- and I said, communities. What do you mean?

She said, Somalis.

And I'm like, why would they be moving to Minnesota? What?

You miss being surrounded by feet of snow for six months out of the year? And she said, no. She said, it is the State Department.

It's like they selected, you know, Minnesota, and moved people in as a communist community.

Was this -- was this done. I mean, I'm having a hard time separating.

Like USAID.

I know what that is. We all know what that is. This is corruption. And they knew exactly what they were doing.

Is this incompetence, just corruption?

Is there planning involved in this.

Is this, you know, I hate America so much.

Cloward and Piven.

What is this?

GLENN: So there are two arguments that have been floated to answer, this an attempt to answer this question.

The first argument is that the left knows how to gain power. And by importing dependent foreign groups into the -- into the populace, they have a client that can provide them with votes. In exchange for patronaging. Or in this case, corruption.

And that is a strategy to amplify their own domestic political power. The other hypothesis. And I think for me, the more persuasive hypothesis. Is that this is just simple, liberal, naivete. And a kind of suicidal empathy, where they are blind to the consequences of their own actions.

They judge on inputs rather than outputs. And for them, the measure is how compassionate they can be.

And any imposition of limits or consequences is seen as a violation of core liberal principles. You know, it might be a combination of the two. But I don't -- you know, again, barring evidence that emerges, I would assume that it's more the latter than the former.

GLENN: How do we know for sure that money went to Al-Shabaab?

CHRIS: Great question. First of all, there have been schemes over the last decade, where counterterrorism officials tell me that every time they're looking at ISIS recruiting, al-Shabaab recruiting, radical Islamist recruiting, Minneapolis always shows up. And, in fact, it's really the epicenter of foreign terror recruitment in the United States of America. But on a particular question of Al-Shabaab, there is the testimony of multiple counterterrorism officials who told us, hey. Some of this money is getting siphoned off. And essentially taxed by the Al-Shabaab terror network. Once it leaves the United States. And goes into the Somali informal banking system. But this is really not in dispute. Even a left-evening group like the foundation for domestic democracy has long noted that Al-Shabaab skins almost all remittance that travel through the country of Somalia.

And, therefore, it stands to reason, if -- if people are stealing from the Minnesota government, sending that money back to Somali, through the remittence system, and Al-Shabaab is taking their cut. We're talking about a significant amount of money, whether it's intentional or unintentional, that the end result is the same. Al-Shabaab is receiving American taxpayer dollars that were stolen and routed through their network.

STU: So how is this stopped?

Because I don't think anything in Minnesota will happen. How's this stop?

It feels honestly. Know better than I do. It feels like the tip of the iceberg. I mean, today, the story from the GAO on Obamacare. That's completely out of control. USAID. This is happening.

I mean, tip of the iceberg. How do we stop this, if our politicians won't do anything in the states?

CHRIS: Well, there's two things that we can do. I think first off, in this particular case. Federal prosecutors have done a great job, uncovering these Somali fraud rings. And implementing prosecutions. And so they really deserved enormous credit.

But the federal government should do much more.

And I would recommend that Health and Human Services. And other departments at the federal level. Start all payments to Minnesota. Until they have a third party audit. Until they get their fraud under control.

And, you know, ultimately, you have to stop giving these people money, if you want them to change their behavior. And so I think a stop payment order on all federal funding to Minnesota programs where there are suspicions of fraud. Will help clean things up fairly quickly.

The reality is, we have a system in the United States. Where it's always a third party payer.

Health insurance, welfare programs. Food stamps, autism services.

Whatever it might be. These are massive third person payer programs. The incentives are, you know, not aligned with people actually enforcing the rules. And they become easy targets for fraudsters.

And so Minnesota used to be famous for honesty, fair dealing, good government.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.
CHRIS: And in just a short number of decades, their reputation has now been completely inverted.

And it is, by all accounts. From all of the research that I've done, I think this is likely the largest statistic welfare fraud scheme, in American history.

Silenced voices: The growing concern of Islamic influence in America

America is witnessing cultural changes at a pace few expected, and even fewer are willing to talk about. Glenn Beck and Allie Beth Stuckey expose the growing concern among everyday Americans, especially mothers, as mosques replace churches, schools switch to halal-only menus, neighborhoods lose Christmas traditions, and crime spikes in communities transformed by rapid Islamic immigration. While politicians look away for the sake of power, ordinary families feel silenced, shamed, and increasingly unsafe. Glenn and Allie reveal how secularism failed to hold the line, how progressive politics weaponized empathy, and why many believe the West is approaching a cultural and spiritual breaking point.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: It's amazing to me how this -- the awareness of this Islamic takeover of the west, how quickly it is spreading, and how quickly people are waking up.

I don't know about the politicians. But the average person is really starting to wake up to this. Don't you think?

ALLIE: Absolutely. And, of course, you have been warning about this for years. But I think a lot of people are just seeing it infiltrate their neighborhoods.

There's mosques, where there used to be churches. And office buildings. There are people wearing hijabs. At their elementary schools. Middle school.

People celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah around this. And you're told that you're not allowed to notice this.

And you're certainly not allowed to care about this.

There's no such thing as American culture.

You can't care about sharing the celebrations with your neighbors.

But people do care.

It's very unsettling. And a lot of people are just finding the words and the courage to say something about it.

GLENN: You know, I don't have a problem with, you know, Halal, or kosher, or anything.

I don't have a problem.

But I do have a problem that my kid's school now has to only serve Halal food.

So wait a minute.

What. What's up with that?

And that's happening all over Texas. Where Halal is your choice now.

And I just --

ALLIE: Right. Can we have a conversation about this, please?

I think what most people just want. Can we at least have a conversation about what's happening in our country?

ALLIE: Right. You know, I asked my Instagram followers. Vast majority are women. Probably 85 percent stay-at-home moms. And when I asked this question -- my followers were about 850,000 on Instagram. And I just said. Totally open-ended. Wasn't looking for a particular answer.

Hey, what is your biggest concern with America right now?

I was just trying to come up with topics for my show. The number one answer over and over and over again was the spread of Islamic dominance, where they are living, in America, in the West. This is very destabilizing for a lot of people. And they're seeing it, not just affect people far off like we used to. But affect their own neighborhoods and their own schools. And so, you know, usually politicians kind of take a while to wake up to what the populace is really scared of.

We have seen some good action in Texas for sure. But this is a real problem. And it's not just an illegal immigration problem. That's the uncomfortable part of it. This is a cultural issue. This is an immigration issue in general.

So we need the people in Washington and in Austin, to come up with the solutions for the people who are concerned about this.

GLENN: So you said that your audience is concerned because it affects them.

How does it affect them?

ALLIE: Well, I think that they're scared of the violent crime that they've seen in places maybe in their own cities. Certainly in places where Islam has to me natured. When we look at places like Dearborn, Michigan.

When we look at our friends across the pond. That sexual crimes. Violent crimes. All increase, disproportionately when there is a large-scale importation of people from these Muslim majority countries. It doesn't mean they're all like that.

It doesn't mean that they can't be good neighbors.

But this is not only a cultural change. This is not only a shift in how their neighborhoods look and feel and the celebration and things like that.

But this also is potentially a threat to their own safety. Especially the safety of their daughters.

And people care about that.

GLENN: I was talking to somebody who was doing a posts with somebody over in London.

Yesterday. And he was talking about this. And I said, you know, I -- I -- I'm not -- you know, I don't follow the news all the time.

You know, closely like I do in America.

About, you know, the United Kingdom. But what I'm seeing coming out of Ireland. And when you think about Ireland. You think of a very Catholic country.

You know, or a Protestant. A very Christian country.

ALLIE: Right.

GLENN: And they fought wars over their own Christianity.

It is almost completely gone now.

You have to go to the way, way outskirts. You know, the northern part of the island, to find that kind of community. The Irish have almost been completely wiped out.

There's very few churches left. They're all being converted into mosques. And, you know, okay. Well, it passes. Et cetera, et cetera.

But to not notice, and not say, wait a minute.

That is the erasing of an entire people and their culture. And that culture is very important to the West.

ALLIE: Right.

GLENN: Should we not care about that?

ALLIE: Right. Well, certainly progressives care about it, when it comes to, you know, non-British. Non-British countries. Or countries that are not America.

They call that colonialism. They call that imperialism.

But apparently, when Muslims do this, it's fine. But the problem was not for Islam. The problem was secularization. The lesson there is that secularism doesn't whole. Atheism -- agnosticism don't hold.

People are looking for meaning. And eventually, ideology in one religion will win.

And right now, Islam and a lot of countries is winning.

GLENN: Yeah. You know, you wrote a book on toxic empathy.

And I think it's a mistake on this one to say, it is empathy that we have gone down the road.

I think this is -- especially if you look in Minnesota.

They turned a blind eye to what's going on in -- in Minnesota.

And I -- I'll bet you in Michigan as well.

Because if you don't have the Muslim population on your side. You're not going to be elected governor.

You're not going to be mayor. So it's not empathy. It's all politics. Which makes it even more grotesque.

But when I see us turning a blind eye to it. We're now entering the time of suicide. And those who are in power, are the -- the doctors engaging in medical assisted suicide for their country.

They know what they're doing at this point. They're just choosing their power, and hold on to their power for as long as they can.

Do you think toxic empathy at this point is still playing a role in this Islamic, you know, hostile, political takeover?

ALLIE: Yeah, I absolutely do. Now, do I think that's the case for Tim Walz or any of these? You know, probably not.

It's probably power. It's fear, as you said.

But for the average person, especially for the woman. Especially for the person who has been told that loving your neighbor means just accepting all forms of people, no matter what their behavior is.

Then, yeah. I do think people are more scared of Islamophobia. Or being called an Islamophobe. When they see the Islamification of their neighborhood. In fact, I think that they think their virtue is tied to how much they like Halal.

And how much they accept the -- the building of mosques around their neighborhood.

And so I do think people feel so strongly, that being exclusive or intolerant, in any way, is a sign of being a bad person.

That they won't speak up.

Because the media social incentives for speaking up against Islam, or against policies. Or anything.

It just, it doesn't exist.

The social incentives in the immediate is to be as progressive as possible.

People respond to incentives. So I think that's a big part of what's going on.

GLENN: Love to hear your comments on Trump over the holiday.

Tweeted out, the official United States foreign population stands at 53 million people.

Most of which are on welfare. From failed nations or from prisons. Mental institutions. Gangs or drug cartels. They and their children are supported through massive payments from patriotic American citizens who because of beautiful hearts do not want to openly complain or cause any trouble in any way, shape, or form. They have put up with what's been happening to our country. But it's eating them alive to do so.

Wow. That's not very empathetic, is it?

ALLIE: Right. That's exactly what he's talking about is toxic empathy. He's talking about our compassion as Americans being weaponized against us. The problem, I wouldn't have said it's a problem. But now it's becoming a problem. For conservatives, we're thinking individually.

We're thinking about our family. And we're thinking, okay. Whatever. Just take my taxes. Do what you have to do. I will keep my head down.

I will work hard. I will move further outside the city. I am going to homeschool.

All of this, and kind of be a recluse, as long as my family is safe. As long as I can make money. As long as things are okay here, then I'll be fine.

Well, progressives for the most part, don't think that way.

They think collectively. They are looking to build a coalition. We are just thinking about our family. And about our immediate future. In our local community.

And that's not really a fair fight, when you have someone who is thinking in the big sense of what we're thinking.

And so he's absolutely right. And that is one weakness that we Christians and conservatives have, even if we're right in thinking that way.

It's hurting us now, especially in ideology, in Islam, that means submission. They're looking to conquer. And conservatives in general, we just haven't been thinking that way.

GLENN: I was talking to Jack (inaudible) from the United Kingdom, and I said, how close are you guys to Civil War?

I mean, I see what's going on. And, you know, collapse. And it's bad.

And he said, I think it's beyond saving, except for God.

What came to mind was, yeah. I agree with that. Except, you've become a godless country. I mean, the Church of England just raised the Islamic flag over the Church of England last week.

What God is there?

He said that there was a resurgence of faith, which would be great.

But how do we fix this, Allie?

ALLIE: Gosh, I pray to the Lord, that that is true. That there is some kind of revival that we don't see. It's important to know that God works -- it's not always a headline. It doesn't always go viral.

It seems he's doing one thing. He's actually doing a million things in unseen and unsung words, such as faithful believers, that may not have radio shows, their podcasts, but they are doing God's word.

And so I pray to the Lord, that that is true. I can't imagine like a better signifier that you've been conquered than another ideology raising its flag over your territory. That is literally a sign that you have been conquered. But God. But God can do anything.

We can pray. He works through the prayer of believers.

He works through the obedience of believers. The boldness of evangelism of believers. We can't all change the world.

But we can be faithful with whatever spot of eternity God has providentially placed us in to make it for the glory of God.

To share the gospel. And to speak beauty and truth and goodness into whatever sphere we occupy. That is the responsibility of a Christian.

That is how God has moved mountains for over 2,000 years, and I think he will continue to.

GLENN: Allie Beth, thank you. God bless you.

ALLIE: Thank you very much.

GLENN: You bet.

How a Recent Conversation at Mar-a-Lago moved Glenn Beck to His Core

A deeply emotional conversation at Mar-a-Lago left Glenn Beck shaken, echoing the same chilling feeling he first experienced years ago during a private discussion with Charlie Kirk — long before Charlie’s recent assassination. As Glenn recounts his talk with Dave Rubin about danger, spiritual warfare, and the future of America, he warns that we are entering a moment where good and evil are unmistakably visible. From the overwhelming sense of divine presence at Charlie’s funeral to the rising chaos Glenn believes is driven by darker forces, this time feels less like politics and more like history unfolding in real time. The question now is simple but urgent: in a world losing its mind, which side will you choose — truth and light, or confusion and darkness?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So yesterday, I -- I -- I posted this when I got home. A picture my wife took of Dave and I.

We were kind of backstage at Mar-a-Lago. And we sat there for probably half an hour. And had a really honest conversation about what's happening in the world.

What's coming our way. And, you know, some things that are just concerning to both of us.

And I'm not going to get into all the details. Because I don't have permission to tell you everything that Dave said. I did ask him last night, if I could share some of this with you.

You know, he is -- he is Jewish. He's gay. He's married.

And he has two adopted children.

I mean, what else could -- leper? What else box could you check that would make you less popular in what the world that we're seeing come our way?

And he's a reasonable guy. He's a really reasonable guy. And, you know, when we talked years ago, when he was adopted. He was on the show. And he was like, Glenn. I've got to tell you. I've changed so much.

I don't -- I don't know how to justify -- because I know that it's best to have kids with a mom and a dad. And I believe in that. And I -- you know, I just don't know what to say. He was a guy in conflict when it happened. He's not in conflict now. He loves his children. Loves his children. And they're in a very stable home.

He would tell you not the ideal home. Because that would be a mom and a dad. But a great home.

And he said, I am finding myself in a situation to where, I mean, I just don't know what's coming.

And we talked about it. And I shared with him some things that I thought were coming.

Exactly what I did and I didn't realize it, at the time, until I walked away.

Exactly the way I did with Charlie Kirk.

When Charlie came to me in 2018, 2019, and he said, you've always been ahead of the curve. What's coming next.

And I said, well, I mean, if you just study history, Charlie. There's really two things that are left. One, is assassinations. And the second is war. And he talked about Donald Trump and that -- that they would try to assassinate. And I said, yeah. Honestly, Charlie. I think you and me are on that list too.

I said, one of us could go down in this as well.

We'll be targets as well. And we stood there. And I've told this story a million times. We stood there on the balcony of this hotel.

And we just looked over the ocean for a while. And we were both quiet.

And I think he said, one of us said, I can't believe we're having this conversation, and the other one said, I know. It's like we're in a movie, right? It's not real.

And lo and behold, just a couple years after, a few years later, Charlie is assassinated. David and I were having a conversation, and I said, Dave, I hope I'm wrong. But this is the way things could shape up.

And we talked about it for a while. And just as I was getting ready to walk away, he said, I can't believe we're having this conversation.

It's like we're in a movie. And I said, yeah. I -- I know that feeling. And then I walked away.

And when I got to my wife's side, I said, I'm sorry, I'm just really freaked out because of what Dave said to me.

Because of the last time somebody said that to me was Charlie.

We are living in extraordinary times. Extraordinary times. And we are seeing for the first time, we're seeing good and evil.

We are! We're -- we're seeing -- and in ways we've never seen before. You know, when the assassin tried to kill Charlie, he thought, there would be an equal and opposite reaction to that act.

And it would be that people would either side with him. Or they would rise up and they would start killing, you know, the left. And we would -- we would go into that Civil War thing.

But that's not what happened. An opposite action happened, as a reaction.

But it was not equal.

It was so far beyond equal.

That it was -- that it was clearly divine.

1.5 million people around the world watched. I'm sorry. 1.5 billion people watched that Charlie Kirk funeral. And that Charlie Kirk funeral happened, and if you were there, I don't know if you could feel it while watching it. I -- I imagine you could. But I'm telling you in the room, I've never felt anything like it.

You could feel the spirit there. I mean, it was like God was there. And every time somebody got up and started speaking about politics, you could feel the spirit withdraw. And then they would start talking about, you know, universal principles.

And the spirit would come back to the room.
It was amazing. And I wasn't just the only one feeling it. I had people around me. Elon Musk was two rose behind me.

Everyone around me were talking about, are you all feeling that?

This is amazing.

That was God! Showing up.

So the unequal, but opposite reaction was God working a miracle.

The only way I can understand what's happening, in our world today, where we have gone insane.

We've gone insane.

People that I know have lost their minds. We can't -- suddenly, we can't have conversations about things that have been settled for a very long time.

And suddenly, you're -- you have to be an enemy. That's why, when I talk about these things, I don't want to single out anybody. Because I'm not going to make this personal. I'm not going to make this personal.

I want to make this about the facts. Because the minute we make this personal, then we're immediately enemies of one another. And I don't -- there's one enemy, and it's the author of chaos. And that's who I fight.

God shows up. Now, what's the equal and opposite reaction? Because every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I really believe Satan showed up.

God shows up. We have this resurgence of faith, this explosion. And then Satan shows up.

And all of a sudden, we're talking about insane things. Like, all of a sudden, you know, Jews rule the world. And -- and I hate Israel. And, you know, it's insanity. Insane stuff that we've always known was insane.

We're watching for the first time. We're watching the big boys play.

And we are pawns.

You just have to -- you just have to make sure you're on the right side of the board.

You know, who -- who are you a tool?

Whose hand are you in?

You on the good side, or the dark side?

Because you have to make that decision right now. And the way to make that decision is just to remember what you've always known to be true.

What is true?

When you know those things and you stay anchored in those things, it's going to be okay.

But if it feels like we're living in a movie, in some ways, we are. It just hasn't been made yet. But believe me, there will be movies made about this time.

And about people that you may know. There will be movies made.

How that is portrayed in the end, I'm not sure. But I do know that every time in human history, every time this road has been traveled. There is a winning side.

And the other side destroys itself and its civilization.

So to me, it's pretty clear. But it's for each of us to find.

Just do it peacefully. Make no enemies. Make no enemies.

I remember one time, we were in the throes of just real attacks. On every front.

And I thought, my whole world was coming apart. And it didn't matter what I did. What I said. Where I was. It didn't matter. Just attack, attack, attack, attack.

And I asked the Lord in prayer, you know, help me.

Help me. How do I defeat these enemies?

And once in a while, once if had a great while, I'll feel like he -- that I almost hear him.

And I don't know how to describe it. It's -- it's like I hear the words. But not hear the words. You know, I just know what he's saying.

And sometimes, it's so clear. It's jaw-dropping. And I remember in prayer, and I'm talking about, how do I defeat these enemies, et cetera, et cetera?

And it was so clear. And what I heard was, firmly, stop. These are not enemies of yours. They are enemies of mine.

These are my rights.

And I will solve the problem with my enemies.

You do the right thing.

Okay.

So I don't want to make any more enemies.

Because they're not enemies of mine.

They're his -- his enemies.

Anybody who is standing against the rights of all men, anyone who is standing against the Bill of Rights, the idea that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator. They're not my enemy.

I mean, I view them that way. But they're ultimately his enemy.

I need to remain on his side. That's all I need to do. Remain on his side. And when he tells me to act and tells me what to do, I will do it. And so far, all I know, is make no more enemies.

Just speak the truth plainly. Clearly.

Just keep saying the truth. The things that you have always known that are universally true.

I'll take care of the rest.

WAKE UP: The Islamist Takeover of America Is HALFWAY Complete | Glenn TV | Ep 472

Islamism is advancing inside the U.S. through Minnesota’s massive welfare fraud tied to Al-Shabaab, Sharia-style tribunals in Texas, Muslim Brotherhood campus networks, and failed immigration vetting that led to a CIA-trained Afghan migrant killing a National Guardsman. Glenn Beck ties these stories to the Muslim Brotherhood's 100-year plan to conquer the West, which is reportedly halfway complete. Europe has already lived through this collapse. British writer and podcaster Peter McIlvenna joins to reveal the parallels between Britain and what he saw while visiting Texas, and he reacts to Gov. Greg Abbott and President Trump cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood.