GLENNFebruary 01, 2017

The Gorsuch Pick: We're Thrilled to be Wrong

Throughout the primary, Glenn and his co-hosts remained skeptical about the likelihood of Donald Trump choosing a conservative candidate for the Supreme Court. However, following President Trump's announcement Tuesday evening, it was time for a promised mea culpa.

"Let me start with this because we always say we lead with our mistakes," Glenn said Wednesday on radio. "I was completely wrong on that. I stand corrected. I apologize to Donald Trump. He said last night, I promised you that I would do that. I'm a man of my word. He was. So kudos to Donald Trump on that, and I stand corrected."

In light of Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court, Glenn and his co-hosts not only stand corrected, they're thrilled to do so.

Enjoy the complimentary video above or read the transcript below.

GLENN: Well, boys, what do you think of Gorsuch? What do you think of what happened last night with Trump's nominee?

STU: Well, I mean, you know, we said on the air, leading up to this, that Gorsuch was the one that we would pick of the finalists.

GLENN: Yeah, out of the three.

STU: Yeah, he was my favorite of those three. So obviously there's nothing else to say, other than, I'm very pleased by it.

You know, I did -- you know, we talked about this throughout the primary. One of the main reasons why I did not like Donald Trump throughout the primary -- one of them -- was I did not have any confidence of him making this pick and making it well. And I am thrilled to be wrong on that.

GLENN: Yep.

STU: Because this is a great pick. He stuck to the list. He picked one of the ones I would say in the upper echelon in that list.

GLENN: Yep. Yep.

STU: And there's a lot of really positive things to talk about with Gorsuch. And you're right, you never know. He might not get confirmed. He might be a Roberts. And the one point I would disagree with you on is it's part of his legacy. It's part of Bush's legacy. It is Bush's fault.

GLENN: Oh, no, no. Correct. Hang on just a second. But wait a minute. Bush had this idea. And Ted Cruz told us because he tried to talk Bush out of this. Bush had the idea of, "Let's get somebody who doesn't have a record that we can push through who tells us they're conservative, but they don't really have a record on anything."

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And so I think that's why it belongs to Bush. I mean, everybody who vetted this guy, with an exception of a couple of areas, which we mentioned, but last week, this guy looks really, really good. So if he gets into office and he is not what his record holds, I think that's on Gorsuch and not on Trump.

STU: Well, it's mainly on Gorsuch, clearly. You know, individual responsibility.

GLENN: Yeah. Correct.

STU: However, with the amount of information that Donald Trump has about this guy that we don't, you know, you -- it is part of it. That doesn't mean. I can't -- you know, can't blame the guy. I don't even think you can blame Bush for the Obamacare ruling fully.

GLENN: I don't either.

STU: It's Roberts' choice, and he's the one who got into the Douche Hall of Fame because of it.

GLENN: Hang on a second. Let me start with this because we always say we lead with our mistakes.

One of the things that I said all the way through the primary was, "You think Donald Trump is going to put somebody, who is anti-abortion -- he's going to listen to his daughter. He's not going to listen to us. He's not going to fulfill that promise." I was completely wrong on that. I stand corrected. I apologized to Donald Trump. He said last night, "I promised you that I would do that. I'm a man of my word." He was. So kudos to Donald Trump on that. And I stand corrected.

STU: Yeah, and what a great way to be corrected.

GLENN: Yes. And we said we would do this -- nobody believes it. We said we would do this if we were wrong. We would apologize. I just did. And I'm celebrating that I'm wrong. I will stand -- I learned this from Abraham Lincoln. He said, "I will stand with any man when he is right, and I will walk away when he is wrong." That is my philosophy on Donald Trump. When he's right, I will stand with him and support him. When he is wrong, I will not stand with him, and I will fight him.

But that's the way -- you know, somebody wrote on Twitter last night, "All knees will bend." They were referring to Donald Trump. And they were mocking me for not supporting him. And said, "See, all knees will bend." No. All knees will not bend to the president of the United States. What is wrong with you?

PAT: Let's hope not. Let's hope not. Wow.

GLENN: What is wrong with you?

STU: You can keep that standard. No, thank you. Not going to participate in that one.

GLENN: No.

PAT: Isn't this the guy that Ted Cruz said he tried to talk Bush into, instead of Roberts in the beginning?

STU: I don't remember that. I do remember that story, but I don't remember --

GLENN: Yeah, we should call Ted Cruz. See if we can get him on today.

JEFFY: Ted Cruz and Mike Lee both --

STU: We're not hearing you, Jeffy. He would have been awfully young.

GLENN: Oh, it's a dream come true. Hang on. Take a moment and just thank the Lord. That is something we've all been praying for: We can't hear you, Jeffy. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

STU: This pick is better than we thought.

GLENN: Yes. This is a day of miracles!

STU: Jeffy.

JEFFY: Knees will bend.

STU: His mic is not -- can someone turn his mic on, please?

GLENN: No, no.

STU: Or, I'm sorry, keep it off.

GLENN: Yes, thank you. Whoever is doing that, thank you.

STU: By the way, Gorsuch, I would say -- one of the reasons I liked him over some of the other justices is that he has kind of a Libertarian streak. There are elements of -- you know, there's a particular stance we can go over later where he's actually better than Scalia on it. And, I mean, he might not be better than Scalia overall. That's to be seen, of course.

GLENN: We'll see.

STU: However, when you can find anything where you're better than Scalia on an issue, it's pretty freaking impressive. And this is a good pick. A smart guy. And, you know, look, I'm thrilled to have been wrong about this one.

GLENN: Right. Right.

So I will tell you this: For anybody who said all they were voting for, for Donald Trump, was SCOTUS, thank you. You were right. You got that done.

And -- and I am stunned by it. Just stunned by it. Let's see now what the left does.

I will tell you, you know, I'm trying to have quick 144-character conversations with people. Let me go through a couple of -- a couple of things.

There was a couple of things that came out on this yesterday that independent to go -- let's see. Obviously, listener. You're corrupt. Media is uncorrupt. Hard stance against Trump.

Here. Glenn, we're enemies. I think I used to watch you -- I think I used to watch you every night on Fox. I was a fool.

Why are we -- why are we enemies? And one of them was from a liberal who said, you know, you are -- you know, I was -- I was just starting to consider you a friend. This is why you're not my friend.

Well, wait a minute. You were a fool if you think that I changed my principles -- anybody on the left who thinks that I'm suddenly a progressive, you're out of your mind. I've never said that. I've made that very clear. I've said that to everybody I've met with.

I have changed my tone, and I want to listen to you. And I want to reach out because we have to be able to model friendship. And here's what I responded: Scalia was a good friend of Ginsburg. They respected one another. Why can't we respect one another as well? We disagree, but we're not enemies.

And that was one of the biggest disappointments that I had. You know, I wasn't running the Scalia funeral, obviously. But the selfish part of me wanted Ginsburg to stand up and speak. And she has spoken out about him, but I wanted it at the funeral when everybody -- when all eyes were there. I would have loved Justice Ginsburg to stand up and talk about their friendship. That was one of the things that we've all missed.

Here's Scalia and Ginsburg, and the supporters of Ginsburg hate Scalia. And the people who support Ginsburg -- I mean, Scalia, hate Ginsburg. Why? They don't hate each other.

There's a difference -- let me say this. Let me correct something that is a long-standing problem of mine.

I use the word "evil" too easily. There is evil. I believe there is evil. But I will use the word "evil" sometimes with people, and I can't judge if people are evil. That's wrong. And I can't -- there's -- I'm going to try to stop using that word, unless, you know, we're pretty clear.

(chuckling)

GLENN: And stop using that word. I want to replace that word with wrong. They're just wrong. That doesn't make them evil. They're just wrong.

And we have to stop literally demonizing people. And I've done that for a long time. You got to stop.

Ginsburg is just wrong. Now, I don't know her. But Justice Scalia sure seems like a really nice guy to me. Not to the people on the left because all they do is look at his record of how he votes, and they just assume all kinds of things about him.

We look at Ginsburg, and we just assume all kinds of things about her.

But wait a minute, Scalia -- if we're right about Scalia, how were they really, truly good, deep friends. How is that possible? If he's really a good guy, he wouldn't be hanging out with evil. He would be hanging out with somebody who he profoundly disagrees with, but he likes.

Why is it that this pick has to be either saintly or evil, depending on which -- he's just either right in your opinion or wrong in your opinion.

And one more thing on this: I would fully expect if the court -- the only real conservative left on the court was Ginsburg and there was a progressive president, I would expect the president to bring in a progressive. If half the country was a liberal, progressive -- were liberal, progressive citizens, I would not expect the Supreme Court not to represent their point of view.

I think -- and I don't know -- but I think I would actually be saying on the air, "Look, guys, it's Ginsburg. There's no one else on the court that represents 50 percent of the country." It's ridiculous to think that we shouldn't have one voice on the court that is actually making this case for a true constitutional conservative. If you don't -- if you can't see that as split as we are, would I love to have everybody a constitutional conservative on the Supreme Court? Yes. Do I think that's what the Founders would want? Yes.

But half of the country will feel completely alienated from the Supreme Court. We have to have faith in our system. You can't replace Ginsburg with Scalia. And you can't replace Scalia with a Ginsburg.

You have to have a real conservative replace Scalia. I think it's only right and fair.

We -- we -- we need to fight for our principles, but we also need to stand up for other people's points of view and let the best man win and the best idea win.

I have no problem fighting for my ideas. And I think -- I really think -- yesterday -- I want to tell you a story later. Yesterday, I went to a place, to a studio, and we all were driving over. And we were like, "This should be interesting." Because this individual used to be a progressive. And I mean a progressive that would make your eyes bleed, on a network that you would -- would, again, you would -- you would have no blood left on your body.

He invited me over to his studio and said, "I want to do a sitdown with you." And I said, "Fine." And before we started, he said, "You know, I saw the interview with you, with Tucker Carlson." And he said, "Tucker Carlson was going after you, and he didn't make any ground." And I said, "Yeah, because I really don't care anymore, so."

(laughter)

GLENN: And I said, "That's the secret. You know, everybody always told me, Glenn, stop caring anymore. And when you're trying to not care, it doesn't work. But when you really don't care, it's fantastic." So he said that, and I thought, "This is going to be an interesting hour. He may start to go after me."

He started the interview with, "Look, I used to be a progressive. I used to be a hard-core progressive. And then I noticed that during this last election that all of my friends who I thought believed in something were all switching tables and they were all starting to fight for things because the conservatives were picking things up that we believed in and the -- and the Democrats were excusing things from Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party that I'm like, wait, we're against all that stuff." He said, "So I'm finding myself now in a situation where people who are being intellectually honest on the conservative side, I'm there."

We had an amazing conversation. An amazing conversation. Are we going to agree on everything? No.

But the end of the conversation was, "So how many people in the country are actually tired of this back and forth bickering of the press that has no intellectual curiosity and no intellectual credibility or integrity?" How many people are sick of that?

He believes that we're in the silent majority. I think that may not be the case now, but I do think that may be the case down the road.

If you are intellectually honest and have integrity and you don't want to fight because it's nothing but a stupid game and you actually want to stand for things -- like Scalia and Ginsburg -- they disagreed, but they were good to each other. They liked each other. They respected each other. And they were friends.

Man, that's the world I want to live in. Because this one isn't working. This one is getting much, much worse.

RADIO

Can Elon & Vivek’s D.O.G.E. slash the federal bureaucracy in HALF?

Donald Trump has made it official: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped to run a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (or D.O.G.E.), tasked with slashing the federal bureaucracy and spending. But will it be successful? Glenn and Stu review what’s standing in the way of mass firings and Vivek’s possibly genius plan to get around these hurdles.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Hello, Stu.

STU: Hi, Glenn, how are you doing?

GLENN: I think Donald Trump is becoming the greatest president to ever live. If this stuff happens, I may put him up -- honestly I may put him up with Lincoln.

STU: Wow! Wow. Well, he's trying to do a lot. If he can accomplish this, heavy lift.

GLENN: If he can accomplish it. Yeah. Heavy, heavy lift. Oh, my gosh. He speaks my language every night. I'm like, honey, can you leave us alone? I'm just reading the news of his latest proposal. I need some alone time right now.

It is -- woo. Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, okay. This is his -- his latest. Let me see if I can give the -- let me see if I can give the actual release first of what he said. Oh, it's just -- oh. It is so sweet.

So he comes out, and he says, look, what we're going to have is this Department of Government Efficiency. You know that Musk was involved. DOGE.

And he says, it's going to run until their duty will be over, by July 4th, '26, which is the 250th anniversary of America.

So we have a lot of work to do, until then. But we're going to give back to America, the government. Give it back to the people.

And so what they're talking about doing is finding all of the ways to cut waste. And Ramaswamy has come up with this great idea of how to fire people.

Okay. We know the problem is that, you just can't fire people, because they're just going to -- they're going to take you to court, every step of the way. Everybody is going to say. You want to fire me, because I was black or white, or whatever I am.

I'm handicapped, or not handicapped. And you can't fire me. That's all that is going to happen. Then they will go to court and say, the president cannot fire all of these people. We're still going to have that one.

But how does the Supreme Court rule, that the executive is not in charge of all of his employees? Because the executive branch is in charge of the cabinet and all of the cabinet positions. And all of the agencies, under those cabinet positions.

STU: Typically how organizations work. That's why I'm so nice to you.

GLENN: Correct. Wait. What?

STU: You know, you have this power over my job. So I have to be incredibly nice to you, all the time.

GLENN: Right.

So everybody -- if you are running a -- if you're running a company, and you need to reduce the size of the company, you will have companies -- they will just cut whole divisions, because they don't want any of the lawsuits.

It has to be random. And it has to be everybody.

Right?

So what Ramaswamy has come up with. And he said, this is only a thought exercise.

But I think it's brilliant. What he's come up with is, we're going to reduce the government by half. And here's what we're going to do. We're going to say, everyone who has an odd number at the end of their Social Security number, you're fired.

STU: Well -- wait.

GLENN: Now, it's just random. Now, these are not the people that are elected. Okay?

So if you're elected into that office. You're not fired.

But everybody else, because we're reducing the size of the government by half.

STU: Well, I love the idea of reducing the size of the government by half.

GLENN: Here he comes. Here he comes. Naysayer.
STU: I love the idea of reducing the government by half.

GLENN: How did we switch roles?

STU: I don't think I'm being a naysayer.

Let me ask you this: Go back to Glenn Beck back in the day for a moment. Rewind your life a tad. And think of yourself a little patch, a little badge, given out by George Washington. What did it say?

Do you remember what it said?

GLENN: Merit.

STU: Merit! Merit has nothing tolerance with random groups of firing. You want to fire the employees that suck, not just --

GLENN: No, I know that.

But to be able to get to the place, where you have merit. You have to reduce the size of the government first.

You have -- you have bloodletting, that have to happen. Okay? You have to cut it by half.

STU: You do.

GLENN: Now, there might be some really good people that we lose. Might be. Might be. Probably will be. Oh, well.

And then you cut it another -- by half again. By saying, everyone whose Social Security number starts.

STU: Has an even number.

GLENN: -- with an even number. You're gone. So now you've cut the government by 70 percent.

I don't think the people that remain will be focused on doing a good job?

STU: Yeah. I mean, I would like -- I think though, there is just structural limitations that need to occur. Right?

You really do. You will need to fire people that are actually pretty good employees. Because of the size of the government. And because of the bloat.

GLENN: You're going to. You can apply again.

STU: I just would like to lead with the crappy employees.

GLENN: So would I. We would have to -- I mean, remember, this is exactly what Calvin Coolidge did. He cut the federal workforce by half.

And then he cut taxes by half. And when he did that, we got the roaring '20s.

Can you imagine?

Because he's also wanting to cut the federal regulations. Anything that hasn't passed by Congress. So all of these -- the administrator will decide. All of those rules and regulations, gone!
Gone! Do you realize how free this country will be, all of a sudden, overnight?

I mean, hello, sexy! I mean, I'm sorry that I am -- I mean, this is conservative porn! This is what we've always wanted!

This is that hot girl walking in going, you do have a shot with me!

Yeah! Okay.

STU: I mean, it will be fascinating to see if they can pull this off.

GLENN: Oh. If there's anybody that can do it, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

STU: They're both. I would think. Especially Elon. Vivek has pretty obvious political aspirations here. He does.

Elon doesn't. He's the richest guy in the world. The only thing he cares about is doing this job, when it comes to this. I don't think he has any other aspirations.

GLENN: No. His aspirations are, I want to go Mars. Can you make that easier for me?

STU: Right. So it will be interesting. Because he will want to come in and do these things. And he's going to, I'm sure bump into all sorts of issues he's not used to dealing with in places like Tesla. Because at Tesla, he just legitimately fires the people. Right?

Obviously, there will be lots of road blocks, put in his way.

Trump, I think will do everything he can to remove them. But there's a lot of -- there's a lot of -- there's a lot of walls there, that he has to break through. I can't wait to see him try to do it.

GLENN: Oh, I know.

You know, if you can't shut down the Department of Education. Social Security number lottery happening right now.

I mean, think of that. Think of that.

And Donald Trump has said, what I've always said what I want to hear a president say. Real estate prices are going to plunge in the DC metro area.

Yeah! Yeah!

He's going to be cutting so many jobs. So many -- I mean, this is fantastic.

STU: I hate to step in the way of your optimism. I hate it. I hate it. Because you're like a little kid.

GLENN: I'm never like this.

STU: You're never like this.

GLENN: It's been since 2005, I've been a pessimist on what's coming. This is the first real shot we have. This is the moon shot. This is the moon shot. Are we going to make it to the moon? I don't know. We might blow up several people in the attempt to get there.

But if we stay focused, we will get there.

STU: I like it. I really do hope it happens. And, I mean, I think -- I have more optimism, than I normally would have, on such a thing like this.

Normally, I would be like, okay. They say this all the time. I don't know. It just feels like, usually, there's something that gets in the way.

I was thinking about the first Trump term on the border.

The second -- they came out with pretty tough border policies.

They said they were going to implement them.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: About, I don't know. A couple weeks into this. Families are being separated.

And then they changed the policy. This is Trump. This was in the Trump era. This is not like some other, you know, Mitch McConnell, and this mysterious Mitch McConnell presidency. This was Donald Trump.

And they backed off of it, because of all the pressure. Do you think maybe it's a second term, they're like, screw this. I'm not dealing with this anymore.

GLENN: Oh, I think maybe because he was in the first term, he didn't know what he didn't know. He didn't know who to trust.

He also didn't know what was coming. He knows now, what's come.

And he knows, I can't trust any of these people. I'm not going to listen. I'm just going to do what I know is right. I'm going to hire the best people in each area.

And then we're making a plan. And we're moving forward on day one.

STU: I love this Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck is a very optimistic guy. And it's going to be so sad to watch you get crushed.

It is going to be --

GLENN: Look, I know there's going to be -- there's going to be massive pushback. This is not going to be easy.

STU: No.

GLENN: But we at least have a guy. You know, look --

STU: It feels like --

GLENN: Everybody said when Ronald Reagan said, it's an evil empire, and we need to start calling it by name. You can't defeat it, unless you know what it is. That's an evil empire, and we will defeat it, okay?

I, for one, at the time was like, okay. That's scary. But I love that. All right? Finally calling it by its name. Calling it out. Saying, it's the end of that. Everybody fought against that. Even in his own administration. They were saying, don't say that anymore. Don't say that anymore.

He was just, I'm going to say it.

It's because of that, we defeated communism, the first time.

Because he just wouldn't stop.

What do you think is going to stop Donald Trump? What do you think will stop Donald Trump at this time?

What kind of namby-pamby, wishy-washy, guys can wear skirt talk, will stop Donald Trump from doing what he believes is right. Other than the Constitution.

STU: So to reverse this, if he fails, will you accuse him of wearing a namby-pamby skirt?

GLENN: No.

STU: I didn't think so.

GLENN: No. No, no, no, no. I will say that, here are the hurdles that we have to figure out how to get over. Okay?

They threw this in the way. Great. How do we get over?

He's not going to rest. He's not going to stop. He's not going to stop.

STU: It feels that way.

I mean, I think a lot of it has to do with what his priorities are. Right?

GLENN: Hang on. Let me give you -- and let me tell you, what I think happened to him, over the summer.

Okay?

Why I say, he's -- he's --

STU: He got shot.

GLENN: He got shot.

But what did that do to him?

And what else is playing a role?

GLENN: So Donald Trump was shot. He is the kind of guy that just keeps standing up. Okay. That's his natural tendency. Oh, you're going to hit me in the face? You're going to shoot me in the head?

Really. I'm going to get back up and say, fight.

STU: I thought that was going a different direction. Holy crap.
(laughter)

GLENN: So --

STU: That was a long F for that fight there.

GLENN: So he's the kind of guy that does that just naturally. Okay?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And he's also the guy who -- he told me, after he lost the last election. In the most humble of ways. He became very, very reflective. And I said, how are you doing?

And he said, I can't believe I've let all of these people who fought for me, I let them down.

I lost the election. Remember, I told you this. I let them down.

I can't. Now we're reversing all of the things that we had made progress on.

I can't live with that. So he also really cares about you, the people.

He's the first politician, that I've seen, that I think actually thinks about you, first.

George Bush, thought about the troops. That was on his mind, all the time.

But this one, thinks about not only the troops.

But you. All the time.

He is serving you.

I truly believe that.

Now, what else happened to him? He gets up. He says, fight. Because that's who he is.

Also, he wanted to see the crowd.

You stood there, if you were in Pennsylvania, you didn't run and hide.

He knew he was part of a movement.

He also knew, this was a God thing.

So the natural thing is: Why was I saved?

He has told me, and he has told others, that he knows he was saved for a reason.

He believes that reason is to fix America. So now you have a much higher calling than, I am just me. I'm Donald Trump. I want to be whatever.

Plus, he knows that the -- the country is either sink or swim.

We're at the end of the republic. Or at the beginning.

Coincidentally, in this term, is our 250th anniversary.

It's not a coincidence that he has DOGE, the final day of their work, July 4th, '26. That's the date of the 250th anniversary. They're not going to gather information and then enact those things by July 4th, '26. He wants it done by then.

STU: That's the right approach.

GLENN: It is. And he wants to hand America back to her people and her founding principles in a year and a half. That's ripe for the economy. That's -- he believes that's his mission.

He believes that's his -- his mission, honestly from God.

I really believe that. He believes this is a nation with a purpose, a higher purpose. He believes in our founding documents.

He believes in you, the people.

He is quite possibly the refounder I have looked for, my whole life. And I can't believe it.

STU: It's an amazing.

I'm more amazed by your optimism, generally, than I am by even the giant aspirations here by the president.

But I'm excited about it. I think it's a great -- first of all, it's nice to have a little hope. Right?

GLENN: I haven't had hope since 2008.

STU: Yeah. It's nice. It's a good feeling.

GLENN: Yeah. It's really nice.

STU: Like I am super optimistic I think from my scale as to what someone like Elon Musk can accomplish. If given the sort of room he needs to operate. Look, it's all going to be tough.

When you talk about the budget and stuff, a lot of stuff comes out of these programs like Medicare, that I don't know is necessarily going to be the focus of this. Do you know?

Is it going to be looking at these generalized programs. They're not diving into Medicare. Because you can't do that without legislation.

GLENN: No. He's not doing that. He's not looking at anything that Congress has to do first.

STU: Right.

GLENN: He wants to cut the size of the federal government and regulation which will give you control of your life back.

STU: I feel like, that's too why he's not too worried about taking people out of the House for these appointments.

Because I think he knows, he's got a few months, where he will be doing executive order type stuff. Executive management, before he's looking necessarily at that first bill.

GLENN: Yeah. He has to be careful on that. He needs to make sure he keeps the House.

But, I mean, this could turn the country around economically, pretty quickly.

RADIO

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.

RADIO

Trump’s plan to ABOLISH the Department of Education CONFIRMED

Donald Trump has announced that he WILL push to abolish the Department of Education and give the power over our school system back to the states. Glenn and Stu review his plan to overhaul the entire education system, including by clearing out all the “anti-American insanity” that has taken over our colleges. But will he actually be able to make these big moves? Glenn and Stu also discuss some rumored picks for Trump’s cabinet, including Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, as well as the confirmed Trump pick, Rep. Elise Stefanik as Ambassador to the United Nations.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Well, let's say, hello to Stu Burguiere. Hello, Stu. How are you?

STU: Very well, Glenn. Exciting things happening.

GLENN: Exciting things, right?

STU: Yeah. Shutting down the Department of Education.

GLENN: You don't believe that?

STU: I don't -- I'm skeptical, whether it will actually occur.

I am excited about the prospect of a president who actually wants it to happen. I feel like it's been -- we haven't felt heard that since Reagan. But, of course, Reagan famously did not actually achieve --

GLENN: Of course. Of course. Reagan also said that he was going to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

STU: Right. Exactly.

GLENN: And he didn't do that.

STU: I will also say, one of the central parts of education policy for Republicans for as long as I've been aware of politics, have been the idea of, you know, school choice.

And nothing ever happened, until the past couple years. Right? Like now we've come further on school choice, than at any other point in my lifetime.

GLENN: Yep.

STU: I'm really excited about that. I think his appointments around this area will be really interesting.

GLENN: So here's what he has said. First, let's start with his plan to overhaul leftist colleges. Cut five.

DONALD: Tuition costs at colleges and universities have been exploding. And I mean absolutely exploding. While academics have been obsessed with indoctrinating America's youth. The time has come to reclaim our once great educational institutions from the radical left. And we will do that.

Our secret weapon will be the college accreditation system. It's called accreditation for a reason. The accreditors are supposed to ensure schools are not ripping off students and taxpayers.

But they have failed totally. When I return to the White House, I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominant by Marxists, maniacs, and lunatics.

We will then accept applications for new accreditors who will impose real standards on colleges once again and once and for all.

These standards will include defending the American tradition and Western civilization. Protecting free speech, eliminating wasteful administrative positions, that drive up costs incredibly.

Removing all Marxist, diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrats. Offering options for accelerated and low cost degrees. Providing meaningful job placement in career services.

And implementing college entrance and exit exams. To prove that students are actually learning and getting their money's worth. Furthermore, I will direct the Department of Justice to pursue federal civil rights cases against schools that continue to engage in racial discrimination.

And schools that persist in explicit, unlawful discrimination, under the guise of equity, will not only have their endowment stacks, but through budget reconciliation, I will advance a measure to have them fined up to the entire amount of their endowment.

GLENN: Oh, my.

TOM: A portion of the cease funds will then be used as restitution for victims of these illegal and unjust policies. Policies that hurt our country, so badly.

Colleges have gotten hundreds of billions of dollars from hard-working taxpayers. And now, we are going to get this anti-American insanity out of our institutions, once and for all. We are going to have real education in America.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. Again, we need some porn music for this stuff. This is just, oh, say it again, Donald.

That is very, very clear, I think.

STU: Yes.

GLENN: The clearest I have -- I have heard him, and the most passionate that I've heard him.

These are not campaign promises. He doesn't need to make these promises anymore.

These are, here's what we're doing, right now.

Included in that, that whole rant, is this. Cut four, please.

DONALD: And one other thing I will be doing very early in the administration, is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and sending all education and education working needs back to the states. We want them to run the education of our children.

Because they'll do a much better job of it.

You can't do worse. We spend more money per pupil by three times, than any other nation. And yet, we're absolutely at the bottom. We're one of the worst. So you can't do worse.

We're going to end education coming out of Washington, DC. We're going to close it up. All those buildings all over the place. And you have people in many cases, hate our children. We're going to send it all back to the states.

GLENN: Wow.

Again, oh, yeah.

STU: Love that. I think that's really exciting.

GLENN: Now, do you think he won't do it, or do you think he won't be able to do it?

STU: I mean, I hope that it would happen. But, I mean -- if you're focusing on the national levels of pessimism, that I have when it comes to anything going on in Washington.

GLENN: You are a little back rain cloud.

STU: I mean, look, I'm trying to be realistic here.

But I think that there is -- I think -- it's interesting. Because Trump, when he puts his mind to it, he can accomplish anything.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: But there are certain things that he says, that are things I think he likes and wants. But aren't central focuses of his life.

For example, we know the border is. There's no question, he will do stuff on the border.

Another example I would use, would be term limits.

He talked often, in speeches about term limits in 2016, and 2017.

GLENN: I think -- wait. Wait. Wait.

Hang on just a second. I think to compare Donald Trump's 2016 version, you're looking at a new two-point -- maybe 2.9 version of Donald Trump. Almost a 3.0.

He's not the same guy.

STU: It's true. It's not even a criticism of him though. You can only focus on so many things.

You can only get so many things done.

Typically, maybe he's going to come up with a whole new way to do it. Maybe he's putting all these people in, that will be able to kind of shepherd these things, so he doesn't have to focus on them at all.

GLENN: Now, that is --

STU: Your bully pulpit, you can really only push for one or two things at a time.

GLENN: Hmm. I don't know. I find these videos, that he's putting out, to be almost like a fireside chat.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And he's putting them out for a reason.

Have you ever seen a president do this, as president-elect.

STU: No. I like it.

GLENN: I love you this. I love this.

And he's putting this out, one after another after another after another.

Because he is preparing the Washington swamp, and America. These are massive changes coming our way.

And we're going need to your support. And he has told me, I've got to do all of this in 100 days, Glenn. I've got 100 days to do it.

STU: He's right on that. That's way he should be thinking. And it's a lot to do.

GLENN: It is.

But do you remember that first bill that Barack Obama put in, that we looked at?

It was one of the first health care bills. It was TARP. And then there was -- there was something else.

STU: It was the stimulus plan, wasn't it? $780 billion or something.

GLENN: Yeah, and it was like 2,000 pages. And we went through it, paper, I printed it. And said somebody -- I didn't know how long it was at first. Would you print this up, let me read this? And it was sitting on our kitchen table in our studios, in New York City.

Remember?

And I looked at that, and I went, this is not about stimulus. This is about fundamental transformation.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Okay? And they just loaded that bill with everything.

The reason why I bring that up. Is because that showed to me, that they did something we never did.

And that is, plot the entire course. They knew exactly what they wanted to do.

Okay. And they never told us.

Donald Trump is the first that one I'm seeing, do this.

He didn't even do this in 2016. He made promises in 2016.

And he believes in keeping promises.

But he didn't believe in getting everything done.

He has the Congress and the Senate right now.

He can make the right appointments, right now.

If he fails to make the right appointments, that's going to be a problem.

Because if he has any internal fighting, they are going to unleash, on him.

STU: Yeah. I -- I think that's true.

GLENN: And if he has anybody on his own side, fighting against him, which he did have last time.

STU: Definitely did, yes.

GLENN: He's got to -- there is a mandate here.

And the Republicans should be reminded of that.

And he should not put anybody in any position that doesn't understand MAGA.

This is where we're going.

This truly is fundamental transformation.

This is a reset back to the Constitution, in as many ways that I have ever seen. This is as impactful as what FDR did, in the opposite direction in 12 years.

STU: Hmm. That's interesting. Because part -- and let me -- I'm playing devil's advocate here.

Because I have the same level of hope here, for what might happen.

GLENN: I want you to know though.

I don't hope. I believe I know. I believe I know.

In talking to him, he's not the same guy.

STU: I'm not. And that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying he's the same guy. I'm just saying it's hard. This is a difficult thing to do. Getting rid of the Department of Education, like Ronald Reagan really believed that. He really did. That was not a fake thing.

He talked about it for decades leading up to his presidency.

GLENN: I know that. I know. I know.

STU: It wasn't even one term off and he's magnum like maybe Donald Trump has done here. This is what this man was known for, for multiple decades, and still, it was hard to do.

GLENN: Well, not Department of Education.

STU: That was central to his talks in like the '60s.

GLENN: No, it wasn't. The Department of Education was started by Jimmy Carter.

STU: Yes. Consistent policies on education. You're right. Sorry, I'm not being clear.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

STU: But regardless of that, I have hope and optimism for what he can do.

But like, when you're talking about, this is somebody who is going to do whatever MAGA thing he wants -- I mean, his appointment so far, has been pretty normal.

GLENN: I know. It makes me nervous.

STU: But Marco Rubio, secretary of state, is like --

GLENN: I know. I wanted Richard Grenell.

STU: Any Republican president, in that field, could have -- could have listed Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. It's like, I don't even think -- I'm not saying it's a bad pick.

But it's not particularly consistent with what I hear from the audience at times, about like how against Ukraine funding they are.

GLENN: How against Ukraine and the WEF and the United Nations.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: I mean, I want somebody in the UN, that wants to shut it down.

STU: I mean, and Elise Stefanik is a normie Republican pick.

GLENN: Yes. She's solid. She's solid.

STU: And I don't think that's bad. I thought she was really, really good on a lot of things.

I'm not even against any of these picks. But --

GLENN: Yeah, me too. Marco Rubio, I'm borderline on. That's a disappointment.

STU: We've had him on the show. We like Marco.

GLENN: I like Marco.

I don't want him as a Secretary of State under Donald Trump.

STU: It's interesting.

GLENN: I want Richard Grenell. I want the guy who will walk in and say, hey, by the way, just got off the phone with the president. We're going to make a deal here, or I'm going back to telling him, we don't have a deal. And instead of sending a signed deal to him, we're going to be sending aircraft your way.

You know what I mean? I want somebody who will walk into the EU saying, you are either paying your way.

What he says, he means. You're either paying your way. Or I'm done.

I want that guy. And I'm not sure that Marco Rubio is that guy. He could be. Maybe he could surprise us.

STU: Yeah. He's obviously -- he was under serious consideration for vice president, at least by all the reporting.

It's interesting.

And I think part of the things with Trump. This is, I think consistent with him.

And again, I'm not being critical here.

I'm just trying to state what I think is actually true. Which is, a lot of what Donald Trump says is a negotiation.

And we all know that, going back to the art of the deal, right?

You know that. And when he says, Kim Jong-un is my best friend. He doesn't mean it. Right? To have

He doesn't also mean, the next day, when he says we're sending -- we're going to nuke North Korea tomorrow.

He doesn't mean either of those things. They're both different pieces.

GLENN: I think this is fascinating. I want to go thew the things that he says. And I want to you point out, what you think is a negotiation.

STU: I don't always know.

I can guesstimate. We know that those two positions can't be true though. And this is the 2016, or 21st term reference here.

But like, saying you're going to, you know -- we're going to blast North Korea. Like you've never seen. And also, we're great friends. I love the guy.

Like those are two obviously --

GLENN: I know that.

But I think there's a difference. The way he deals with dictators.

STU: That's true.

GLENN: He knows. Because he's a private businessman.

Who has bullied his way in very good negotiating ways.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: He has -- he's used that as a businessman. He knows who these people are.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Okay?

So he knows, these are the things I would hate in business. And I've done them, to people who think they're all that. And I always win.

I think that's different, than what he's doing on -- for instance, the Department of Ed.

STU: But like, I think it's consistent with what you would do with Marco Rubio or Elise Stefanik. You're picking people that are maybe more hawkish than you, to send a message of being hawkish. While at the same time, maybe trying to implement a more J.D. Vance-ish type foreign policy. It could be.

GLENN: Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I will give this man the benefit of the doubt, in '16, I didn't, and I was shocked by what he got done and what he meant. And now I really think he really means every word that he says on these policies.

These are scripted.

These are not campaign promises.

These are, here's what we're going to do.

So I take them literally.

Not just seriously. But literally.

But I could be wrong.

But the only -- my only thing on some of his appointments is: What does he know, that I don't know? About Marco Rubio.

RADIO

Why Is the Pentagon already WARGAMING Trump's presidency?!

CNN has reported that Pentagon officials are already wargaming their plans for Trump’s second presidency. If Trump issues “controversial” orders, the Department of Defense may have a plan in place to thwart him. This would include the possibilities that Trump would deploy U.S. troops domestically or “fire large swaths of apolitical staffers.” Glenn points out how misleading CNN’s reporting on this is and asks, why is the Pentagon “having secret meanings wargaming what they’ll do against Donald Trump … All of those people should be fired.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So listen to this from CNN. Pentagon officials are holding informal discussions about how the Department of Defense would respond if Donald Trump issues orders to deploy active duty troops domestically. He's not going to do that. He might call out the National Guard. With the permission of the state.

The governor.

I mean, that's what he did last time.

And fire large swaths of apolitical staffers. Well, I think -- I think he could do that. I could see that happening. Trump has suggested, he would be open to using active duty forces for domestic law enforcement. He's talking in case of mass riots all over the country.

And mass deportations. Wait a minute. Why is the Pentagon involved in mass deportations. What?

Why are they discussing this? He's indicated they want to stack the federal government with loyalists and clean out the corrupt actors in the national security establishment.
(applauding)

I don't know about you, I'm for non-corrupt actors. You know, to be in our government. Corrupt actors, to be nowhere in our government. Trump in his last term, had a fraught relationship with much of his senior military leadership, including now retired General Mark Milley, who took steps to limit Trump's ability to use nuclear weapons while he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. First of all, let me just say this, if you are worried at all about Donald Trump using nuclear weapons, you haven't heard a thing he said.

Second, you need to read Nuclear War by -- what's her name, Stu?

Annie Jacobson. You need to read Nuclear War by Annie Jacobson. It is terrifying. Donald Trump has read it. Donald Trump knows it inside and out. Donald Trump has said over and over and over again.

Why is nobody talking about the use of nuclear weapons? That can never happen. There's no way to win. And it will destroy all life on the planet.

He gets the use of nuclear weapons. So why is the Pentagon trying to limit his use of nuclear weapons?

If he ever asks for the football, it is your constitutional duty to give it to him.

Now, if you think he's impaired, that's when the 25th Amendment comes in.

But no one -- this is a civilian-run military. You don't have the right to subvert the president of the United States. That's not honoring the Constitution. You have -- there's no right for you to do that.

None. None.

The cabinet can. But you can't.

In fact, in Annie Jacobson's book, it's a little terrifying, because you realize, no man can make this decision in six minutes.

And you actually have only about two, once you have all the information.

There's nobody that could -- that could make this decision, wisely and completely.

Nobody!

It should -- I mean, this is what Gorbachev and Reagan came to. They both actually looked at it.

Both talked about it and said, we'll never fight this. Because we'll both lose.

Everybody will lose.

And that's where Donald Trump is!

So thank you, Mark Milley for limit Trump's ability to use nuclear weapons.

The president-elect, meanwhile, has repeatedly called U.S. military generals woke, weak, and ineffective leader. You disagree with any of that?

Pentagon leadership: Woke, weak, and ineffective leader.

STU: Now, Glenn, I want ineffective leaders.

GLENN: Especially woke ones.

STU: I want woke -- these are things that are not always easy to figure out. But if you know who they are, you get them out of there immediately.

GLENN: It's pretty easy to figure out, with the string of successes they've given us here in the last four years.

STU: Right. He's going to find the right people to replace them. Not always easy, but certainly the goal you should be aspiring to.

GLENN: Right. And, by the way, they're saying, you can't let him do this to the military.

Excuse me? What did Biden do the first few days he got into office? He told the military to stand down, worldwide. He shut them down, so they could do a witch hunt. So they could find out, who is naughty, who is nice? Who has voted for Trump? Who says popular things for Trump? And who is on our side?

And they fired those people.

STU: There are some questions on some of this stuff, as to how far executive power reaches.

The commander-in-chief of the military indicates he has the right to do these types of things pretty clearly.

GLENN: Yes. Exactly.

And I'm sorry. The mandate that he just got, also tells us, he has the right to do this.

Now, I'm not for him getting a bunch of zombies in there.

Going, yes. Donald Trump.
That's not what he's looking for.

That's not what I'm looking for.

Remember, this is a guy who doesn't want war.

My gosh, the left should be all for this guy. Anyway.

We're all preparing and planning for the worst-case scenario. But the reality is, we don't know how this is going to play out yet.

They are war gaming the next president of the United States.

Think about that!

The Pentagon is having secret meetings, war gaming what they will do against Donald Trump.

That just in and of itself, all of those people should be fired. Troops are compelled by law, to disobey unlawful orders.

Yes! I remind the troops all the time. Every time I'm with troops. I always say, thank you for your service. Blah, blah, blah. Remember, you serve the Constitution.

Not a man. The Constitution. And I stand by that today. Even with Donald Trump getting in.

STU: Of course.

GLENN: You honor the Constitution.

Troops are compelled by law to disobey. But the question is, what happens then?

Do we see resignations from senior military leaders, or will they view that as abandoning their people?

I don't think your people -- nobody -- nobody that I know, that's down -- the fighting men and women. Nobody thinks that the people at the very top, are their people.

They just don't. Those are career -- they're politicians in military outfits. That's all they are. That's all they are. And they know it.

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