GLENNFebruary 22, 2017

Weird Groupthink: Tribal Instinct Explains Milo Yiannopoulos

According to Psychology Today, the phenomenon known as groupthink "occurs when a group values harmony and coherence over accurate analysis and critical evaluation. It causes individual members of the group to unquestioningly follow the word of the leader and it strongly discourages any disagreement with the consensus."

The decision to rescind Yiannopulos' invitation to speak at CPAC was prompted by videos in which he praised pederasty, the act of grown men having sex with post-pubescent boys. However, those videos had long been available on the internet. Why did they make a difference now?

Jonah Goldberg, conservative thought leader and senior editor at National Review, recently published an opinion editorial in The LA Times, diving deep into how the invitation was extended in the first place:

From the outset, many on the right who do not consider themselves part of the Cult of Milo opposed his invitation. The disturbing thing is that, absent these videos, we would have lost the fight.
Even now, Schlapp defends the initial decision to invite Yiannopoulos. On Monday’s ”Morning Joe,” he insisted: “The fact is, he’s got a voice that a lot of young people listen to.” A lot of young conservative people, he should have added, precisely because he enrages so many young liberals.
And that’s part of the problem. We are in a particularly tribal moment in American politics in which “the enemy of my enemy is my ally” is the most powerful argument around.

"This is fascinating," Glenn said Wednesday on radio.

Glenn made the case that what happened to moderate Democrats under Barack Obama is now happening with Republicans under Donald Trump.

"Now that Barack Obama is gone, it's left a vacuum of just who was around him. Hillary Clinton and the Blue Dog Democrat are gone. The Blue Dog Democrat no longer exists. The Hillary Clintons no longer exist. So who are you left with? You're left with Marxists and radicals. And now the Democratic Party is saying, "Oh, man, this is . . . wait. Hold it." And they're seeing --- not all of them --- but enough are seeing what we saw," Glenn said. "The same thing is going to happen with the Republican Party."

Enjoy the complimentary clip above or read the transcript below for details.

GLENN: I want to -- I want to tell you the story about this New Yorker who is becoming a conservative now. And I think these people existed under Obama, but they were -- they were willing to accept more -- let me see if I can find this. From -- yeah --

PAT: You think there were Democrats that were shocked by the radicalism of Obama?

GLENN: Yeah, yeah.

PAT: I mean, his radical ideology where he virtually has Marxist policies. Because we never heard from them.

GLENN: Because I think the same way we're not hearing from conservatives who are shocked by Donald Trump and some of the things that he does and the radicals he has around him. Nobody is saying anything about that.

And it's because you're going to get shouted down, and a lot of people are like, "Well, but I like kind of the stuff -- I like the direction he's headed. So just don't say anything." Okay?

PAT: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

GLENN: And they don't see that -- like they're seeing right now in the Democrats, once you lose, who really is in charge? And so the Democrats -- when I read this thing from the Democrats, it will blow your mind.

But here's what is happening. Here's what happened to the Democrats. And we're at the beginning of it. This comes from Jonah Goldberg. Now, this is just about what happened with Milo and CPAC. The decision to rescind the invitation was prompted by a surfacing of videos, available long on the internet, which Milo praised -- how do you say it? Pederasty? Pederasty. Sex between an older man and prepubescent boys as young as 13. From the outside, many on the right who do not consider themselves part of --

PAT: Had you even heard of such thing?

GLENN: No.

PAT: The reason we don't know how to pronounce a word is because I've never heard of it.

GLENN: I've never heard of it.

PAT: It's the distinction. It's supposed to be post-pubescent. Right? So pedophilia is prepubescent. And after is post.

GLENN: And this is post.

Those who consider themselves part of the cult of -- opposed his invitation. The disturbing thing is, absent these videos, we would have lost the fight, said Jonah Goldberg.

Even now, Schlapp defends the initial decision to invite Yiannopoulos. On Monday's Morning Joe, he insisted, the fact is, he's got a voice that a lot of young people listen to, a lot of young conservative people.

And Jonah says, we should be asking the question: Why are so many young conservatives?

Precisely because he enrages so many young liberals, and that's part of the problem. We're in a particularly tribal moment in American politics, which the enemy of my enemy is my ally. It's the most powerful argument around.

John Tubey, the evolutionary psychologist recently wrote that if he could explain one scientific concept to the public, it would be the coalitional instinct. In our natural habitat, to be alone was to be vulnerable. If you had no coalition, you were nakedly and at the mercy of everyone else, so the instinct to belong to a coalition has urgency preexisting and superseding any policy-driven basis for membership.

This is why group belief is free to be so weird. We overlook the hypocrisies and the shortcomings within our own coalition out of a desire to protect ourselves from our enemies.

This is fascinating. We'll come back to it in a second.

[break]

GLENN: So going over Jonah Goldberg's editorial yesterday in the LA Times. And he's talking about how we are overlooking hypocrisies on our own side. And I contend -- I want to share this with you because I believe this is what happened to the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is in worse shape than the Republicans are, by far. They are now fighting for the soul of the party. Are they going to be this Marxist radical party, or are they going to come back to the center?

And I think that Barack Obama gave them -- was such a distraction that nobody cared about who was -- except for us, who was advising him. You know, who were the guys that were really -- that influenced his life and shaped him? And who were the people -- the Bill Ayers and the Bernardine Dohrn and all those people that were in and around this White House? And it gave us, I believe, a false belief on who the average Democrat is.

And that's because I think the average Democrat looked at Barack Obama the way many Republicans are looking at Donald Trump. They may not like him. They may not like all of those -- but they're not -- they're not concerned about Steve Bannon. They're not concerned. They think he's going to be held in place. This is America. We're not going to go against Europe and NATO. That's just not going to happen. And we're going to be fine.

And he's moving the ball in our direction. I think that's the way most Republicans look at him. And they're like, "You know, tell me the things -- yes, he's done some things I don't like, but he's moving the ball in our direction, and we're winning, generally, on the things that we want." Right? Would you agree with that?

I think that's the way many Democrats felt under Barack Obama, except Barack Obama did not have the harsh edges that Donald Trump does. Barack Obama didn't make the average Democrat feel uncomfortable. He was -- he was super slick.

If you would have seen the people -- it's why they brought Michelle Obama at the very beginning back into the White House. You can't talk because she was making average Democrat feel uncomfortable. Her last speech on the campaign trail, the first time around, was the speech where she said, "You know, we're going to have to change our tradition, we're going to have to change our thinking, our history. We're going to have to change everything." And they're like, "No, no, no, that's making Democrats worried."

So they didn't see the Marxist radical rot until now. And now they're being shouted down if they disagree with things like Keith Ellison. And they're saying, "Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I was really kind of more of a Hillary mainstream supporter, if you will." I think those Reagan Democrats who still voted for Democrat are really in search of a place to go.

Let me explain what happened to the Democrats by using Jonah Goldberg's words on what's happening to us right now. Today, the right sees the left as enemies. And I should say vice-versa.

Milo Yiannopoulos is a hero for many because he fights political correctness and is transgressive.

STU: This is a note, I have no idea really who this person is, and certainly no idea how to pronounce his name. But we should probably settle on one.

GLENN: I like Yiannopoulos.

STU: I don't know if that's it. But I'm fine --

GLENN: It's Yiannopoulos, right?

JEFFY: But we're settling with Yiannopoulos?

GLENN: Yiannopoulos. Yeah.

A flamboyant provocateur, who wears his homosexuality on his sleeve and acts very much like a left-wing performance artist. He gives the right an edgy cultural avatar to pit against the left. At a time when entertainment and celebrity matter more than facts and arguments, he is an entertaining celebrity.

Until recently, he was also a self-described fellow traveler of the racist and anti-Semitic alt-right. He advanced their worldview primarily from his perch as a senior editor of Breitbart News, the website formerly run by Steve Bannon, a senior adviser to President Trump, who also sought to make Breitbart the platform for the alt-right.

STU: Formerly.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: Formerly. Yeah. Formerly. Sure. Formerly.

GLENN: Last year, alt-righters got attention for hurling bigotry at Trump's skeptical journalist on social media. For instance, my National Review colleague David French was subjected to almost daily pictures of his adopted black daughter Photoshopped in a gas chamber with a Nazi uniform-clad Donald Trump poised to push the button.

It was horrible stuff that happened to David French's family.

Yiannopoulos's defense of all of this was that it was funny and rebellious. Quote: Just as the kids of the '60s shocked their parents with promiscuity, long hair, and rock 'n' roll, so too do the alt-right youngs' meme brigades shock older generations with Holocaust jokes and Klan humor.

It was a way for he and his colleague -- it was, he and a colleague wrote for Breitbart, undeniably hysterical.

Well, writes Jonah Goldberg, I can deny that. Countless conservatives defend Milo who admits he's not a conservative, in much the same way Democrats defended the anti-Semitic radio priest Charles Coughlin, as long as he supported the New Deal as Christ's deal.

Conservatives cling to rationalizations to defend their champion. They say he distanced himself from the alt-right. He did cynically, only after "Daddy" -- his term for Donald Trump -- was elected. They credit his claim that he can say anti-Semitic things because his grandmother was allegedly Jewish, and he can say racist things because he sleeps with black men.

These are the kinds of arguments a coalition accepts when it has lost its moral moorings and cares only about winning. Free expression was never the issue. If it were, he would -- he'd be at CPAC and Breitbart expressing the case for ephebophilia. I don't even know what that is. Apparently, conservatives still draw the line there, but not at anti-Semitism or racism. The tent, sad to say, is still big enough for that.

That's Jonah Goldberg yesterday.

My thesis here is that there are a lot of conservatives right now, at least, who are looking at Donald Trump and saying, "I -- I'm -- I'm pretty okay with the direction of where he's going." Nothing bad has happened. Would you agree? We disagree with some of his appointments, but so far, okay. Right?

STU: There's been some good. Been some bad.

GLENN: Yeah, there's been some good. There's been some bad. And I think the average person feels that way on the left. Because we are falling to deaf ears on the thing -- the only thing that the left is hearing. And the left is hearing racist anti-Semitic -- they're looking at the people surrounding Donald Trump.

Basically, the same thing that we did when we were at Fox. We were looking at Van Jones. We weren't looking at President Obama. We were looking at Van Jones. We were looking at George Soros. We were looking at the people behind the man. Now, that was important for us back then because it's who you put in the office around you. And there were some mainstream people around Donald Trump -- I mean, around Barack Obama, that would -- that, of course, the left would say, "They're not all radicals." And they did a good job of washing those radicals clean like Van Jones.

No, he was a former communist. He's not really a communist. He never went to prison. He went to jail. Okay?

They did everything they could to whitewash him, to make their own constituency feel good because Barack Obama was doing the things that were making them happy. But we were saying at the time, guys, you can't give him this much power. You can't do this. Don't turn a blind eye.

Now that Barack Obama is gone, it's left a vacuum of just who was around him. Hillary Clinton and the Blue Dog Democrat is gone. The Blue Dog Democrat no longer exists. The Hillary Clintons no longer exist. So who are you left with?

You're left with Marxists and radicals. And now the Democratic Party is seeing, "Oh, man, this is -- wait. Hold it." And they're seeing -- not all of them -- but enough are seeing what we saw.

The same thing is going to happen with the Republican Party. And I think there's going to be a -- a pull from both of those parties. And what happened in 1854 is going to happen again. And it's going to be a party of common sense and common values, traditional values.

Let me say it that way. But I want you to understand, traditional values, not in the way conservatives view them.

I believe traditional values meaning the American values, which is the Bill of Rights. The people who actually on both sides say, "No, we don't want to spy on our neighbors." No, you don't have a right to spy on me. No, stay out of my bedroom. Stay out of my -- stay out of my pants and my bathroom stall. Stay out of my life. You don't have a right to tell me who I can marry, and you don't have a right to tell me what my priest or my pastor can say from the pulpit. You don't have a right to do that. Leave us alone.

Those traditional values that are enshrined in the Bill of Rights. I think -- and I could be wrong -- I may be being too optimistic. But I think that there is a coming movement of the Bill of Rights. And it's not going to be taken by the Libertarians. Because the Libertarians -- the Libertarians don't do enough for this moral foundation theory that we talked about. I'd like to take you guys -- you guys have to take this test. This moral foundations theory that we talked about, was it last week or this week?

STU: Last week.

GLENN: Last week. Last week, we had Jonathan Haidt on. He's a professor at NYU. Thought he was liberal. Started doing research and realized, "Holy cow, I'm conservative." And I think that is exactly the point.

When you start actually looking beyond the labels -- and he has devised the way to look beyond the labels. And it's called the moral foundation theory. And when you see that, the average conservative actually has five moral foundations.

But we only concentrate on three. Well, the left only has two. And they only concentrate on those two. And unfortunately, the three we concentrate on don't include those two.

And if we would concentrate on those two, we could bring them along. And because Libertarians don't have that moral foundation theory. They don't have any really of those five -- and I'm talking about as a party -- that's why they fell on deaf ears. That's why they couldn't get anybody from the right, and they couldn't get anybody from the left. Because they're speaking to an empty space, an empty auditorium where there's just not enough people.

What they have is the Bill of Rights. They don't have the moral foundations. And believe it or not, a different -- I can't even say that. Not what we claim as a -- as a morality party today. If I said that, you would think, "Well, that's a church-going, God-fearing, red, white, and blue, you know, served in the military -- not that. Not that. Think bigger foundational morals. Think of the Bill of Rights. Think of compassion. Those underscored by common sense are going to become fashionable again. I'm convinced of it.

RADIO

Laken Riley trial PROVES Americans are DONE With Open Border LIES

The illegal immigrant who murdered Laken Riley has been found guilty on all counts. It was an emotional moment for many, including Glenn, who is sick and tired of justice being subverted by the current regime. Not only did the Biden administration catch and release this murderer. It gave him a free flight to Georgia, which ended up costing Laken her life. “We’re not going to take it anymore,” Glenn declares. “Justice is BACK.” But it shouldn’t stop there. Glenn reviews some other stories that Americans must not put up with anymore, including how a paper shredding truck was spotted outside the DOJ.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Okay. So yesterday, the judge found -- found Laken Riley's murderer guilty on all charges. Now, listen to this.

But I want you to listen to this, and notice your reaction to it. Maybe it's just me. I don't know.

But listen to this. And notice can't reaction to it, go ahead.

VOICE: One count of murder, found the defendant guilty. Count two, felony murder, I found the defendant guilty. Count three felony murder, I found the defendant guilty. Count four, felony murder, I found the defendant guilty.

Count five, kidnapping with bodily injury. I find the defendant guilty.

Count six, aggravated assault and attempt to rape. I find the defendant guilty.

Count seven, aggravated battery, I find the defendant guilty.

Count eight, obstructing or hindering a 911 call. I find the defendant guilty.

Count nine, tampering with evidence, I find the defendant guilty.

Count ten, peeping Tom, I find the defendant guilty.

GLENN: What are you feeling? It could just be me. What are you feeling?

STU: What am I feeling? Am I hearing that? I mean, I'm happy that justice is at some level hitting this guy. But more anger of how unnecessary it was.

The fact that on a free flight to go to Georgia in the first place.

GLENN: Yeah. I know. The Biden administration put him on one of those ghost flights in the middle of the night. So he could live in Georgia. Yeah.

STU: It cost this poor woman her life.

And, you know, she's just one prominent example. This story has been told way too many times.

GLENN: Here's what I feel.

First emotional because you can hear the parents gasp and cry in the back.

And happy for them, sad at the waste. But also, we are not going to take it any more!

Justice is back. That makes me feel good. All this bullcrap of, oh, these poor immigrants that have come in. They're not all bad. This guy was in the Venezuelan gang. And so was his brother. And you know how he tried to get off? He said, it was my brother, not me. No, it wasn't me. It was my brother.

STU: It was basically, you know, a version of the O.J. defense. DNA can't really tell between me and my brother.

GLENN: My brother, right.

And the reason why they had DNA because it was under her fingernails, as she scraped his arms, his face, and his back. And they had pictures of the claw marks that she left on him.

So justice is served.

Now, here's the other thing: He's not going to get the death penalty. Maybe life in prison. No chance of parole. But I don't trust that stuff. He's not going to get the death penalty. Why? Because a prosecutor, who is a Soros prosecutor said, that's not real justice.

Now, they're talking about reversing that. This new prosecutor. Because I don't know if you know this. That prosecutor lost, I think by 17 points.

It's over!

It's over. Now, there are some states now, that are saying, you know what, this drives me out of my mind. These people are so lacked of any kind of principles.

They change with the wind. There are no principles.

Just a few -- what? A month ago. Two months ago. All of the cities. All of the people in the cities. From San Francisco, to New York.

Were saying, this is going to collapse our city. We can't handle all of these people that have come across the border. Where -- they were sending them to Texas.

New York was taking people and sending them from New York, to Texas. Because they just couldn't handle it. Like Texas could.

Okay.

Now they're all -- they've all changed overnight.

Now, oh. We're going to protect these people. How dare the big, bad government come in and try to take.

We're just going to cuddle these people.

It's over, gang. It's over. And I hope, that the president finds the constitutionally legal way to cut you off from every funding.

You want to play that game?

Fine. Then your city doesn't get any federal dollars. You want tolerance that. That's fine.

Because you're costing all of us, you're costing us money.

Because you're going to ask for a federal bailout.

And the other part of that should be, you're not getting one.

California, you want to play this game. We're not going to pay for it.

I love California.

I think California is the most beautiful state in the -- in the union. I've always -- since a kid, I've always wanted to live in California.

The reason why I don't, is because they're insane!

They're insane!

I don't want to live with the insanity.

And I know that I'll be impoverished in the end by it. And so will all of my neighbors.

I don't want to live in that!

So I don't live in California, because you want correct California. I live in Texas.

Because I would like to be -- have California more like Texas.

But it's not.

So I live in Texas.

Because I know the state won't impoverish me. I know the state won't take all of my rights away from -- I know they won't coddle criminals. So I live in Texas. Don't you dare come for a handout from me.

You made your bed. You pay for it. And if you want to keep criminals in your state, if you want to coddle those people, that's totally fine with me.

But I honestly believe maybe we should check your passports, when you come across the border of California and New York.

Are you here legally?

Because if they leave those states, they should be arrested and deported.

And I don't want any of them moving into my city or my state. Pragmatism, but they're going to eventually. And your people eventually will move to my state.

And they will vote for the same damn things. Because they're too stupid to understand what caused their state to become like that. I've got to get to Florida.

Oh. Why are there no progressives we can vote for?

Because you haven't wrecked it yet.

STU: I think too.

I know you say this. You want to deal with these people, fine.

In reality, of course, I know.

GLENN: We have to.

STU: It is a federal issue.

This was the left that prevented states like Arizona from implementing and enforcing immigration law. Because this has to be done at the federal level.

Well, hopefully Trump is about to show you, what that looks like. And it should be done at the federal level.

So he will -- I think overrule and overrun some of these people who are trying to avoid the law, in their local jurisdictions. And he should do that.

You know, Glenn, one of the most frustrating things about the Laken Riley.

We talk about the borders being open.

People flowing over all the time.

That is awful.

Obviously, borders are till to protect completely.

People are going to get across it, at some level.

But we caught this guy. This isn't an example of a guy sneaked across the border.

Then released you him into the country.

He got arrested multiple more times while he was here.

We still give him a free flight.

We still put him up in the Roosevelt hotel. With free lodging.

Then we sent him to Georgia with a free flight.

He got arrested there with his brother. We still kept releasing him. And then, after all of that, he murdered this poor woman.

It's -- it's not even a case where like, okay. This is difficult. I get that. That can happen.

GLENN: This one is not.

STU: This is not what that is. And it happens over and over and over again.

God, if we could just stop some of those.

Talking about standing up. They could at least stop some of those.

GLENN: We are going to. We are going to.

That's what we voted for. We voted for an end of all of this.

By the way, have you heard that the DOJ has just put a paper shredder truck outside of the FBI office.

I swear to you, if they shred anything that we need. And they're like, we lost it. We shredded it. We don't know what happened to it.

Put them in jail. Don't fire them.

Put them in jail. It is time that we say to this government, enough is enough.

We're going to live by the laws of the land.

And that includes all of this red tape bullcrap.

All of it!

You want that law? Pass it through Congress. Not through some bureaucrat. That we don't even know who they are. We never voted for them.

Why do they rule over our life?

By the way, the House ethics committee has decided not to release the Gaetz investigation. Okay. At least temporarily, they're not sure. Because it's not finished. Now, the DOJ finished it, over two years ago.

Okay? This has got to stop. I don't know if Matt Gaetz is guilty or innocent of what they accuse him of. I have no idea. But just like Brett Kavanaugh, this smearing of people, has got to stop!

If he's guilty, charge him.

Make sure he has a fair trial.

And let the chips fall where they may.

But they won't charge!

They're not charging. Because they know that the people who are including the women, they know that they are not trustworthy.

The DOJ -- this is the guy. The biggest opponent of the DOJ. He's got real teeth on the DOJ.

So all of a sudden, the DOJ finds these accusations. Okay. All right.

Maybe he did them.

Then investigate.

And if you don't have enough to charge him.

Then you shut your mouth.

Now, you might continue to investigate. But you shut your mouth.

When you have enough to charge, then charge!

We're not a country that should allow for another take, the smearing of individuals based on stuff that is not chargeable.

They've made this guy practically into a pedophile!

What? What? What did -- where do you go to get your reputation back?

Because if they can do it to him. They'll do it to you.

Now, he may not be -- I don't think he's a saint. I think he's a long way away from a saint.

But I don't know who to believe.

That's for a area to decide. But once somebody is charged.

Not investigated.

Charged! If this -- the Democrats or some of the sleazy Republicans decide to release this, all of those people should either be impeached, or we should primary them.

Because this kind of stuff has got to stop!

Does it mean we let some bad guys get away?

Yes!

But wouldn't you rather have one bad guy get away, than one good person, get smeared. And their life destroyed?

That is justice!

RADIO

Why Oklahoma RETURNED the Bible to schools

Oklahoma has become the first state to put the Bible back into classrooms. Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters joins Glenn to explain why and respond to critics who yell “separation of church and state” at the top of their lungs. Why wouldn’t the Bible be in schools, Walters argues. It’s the most popular book in history and the key to understanding our founding. So, instead of lying to our kids, he’s giving them access to the primary sources. Walters also gives his take on Trump’s promise to dismantle the Department of Education and his pick of Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So why do we believe in the underdog? To have

We always root for the little guy. Never count the little guy out. What does it mean? We're battling the giants.

It comes from tasted and Goliath. That is part of our culture. You don't have to believe there was an actual giant, and tasted defeated the giant with one rock.

I happened to believe that story. But you don't have to. But if you don't know that story, you don't really understand the West.

And the Bible is littered with those stories. Almost every phrase, famous phrase that we've ever spilled out of our mouth, over and over again, comes from the Scriptures.

And their famous phrase is because everybody used to know them. Everybody knew the Scriptures.

Well, now nobody does. So you don't really understand the giant. You don't understand the little guy going up against the giant.

You don't understand the reference of, wow, that's a tasted versus Goliath thing there.

They don't know what that means. The Bible is important, even if you don't believe it to be a miraculous book. If you just look at it as the world's first history book, even if you look at it as the world's first history book, as man understood and could explain history at the time.

You can't understand Macbeth. You can't understand Shakespeare. You can't understand our Declaration of Independence if you don't understand the Bible.

And dismiss it. So now Oklahoma schools, the head guy. The superintendent, Ryan Walters, who has been on this program before, has now just dedicated all kinds of money to put a Bible in every school. What does this mean?

You're going to hear all kinds of distortion on this. But we will talk to -- we're going to talk to Ryan right now. And get his take on it.

Hello, Ryan. How are you?

RYAN: I'm great. Thank you for having me on, Glenn.

GLENN: Great. So I want to talk to you about the Department of Ed. In a second. But first, let's talk about what you're doing with Bibles in schools. Why are you doing this? And what does it actually mean?

RYAN: Yeah. Look, the left. I'll give them credit. They've been a tremendous force for the last 40 or 50 years. And, frankly, broader society to believe that somehow our Founding Fathers believed there shouldn't be a Bible in the schoolhouse or there shouldn't be prayer in the school.

But look it's not my fault the Supreme Court in the 1960s misinterpreted the establishment clause. The reality is, absolutely you can have a Bible in school. You should! The Bible is the most read, the most purchased book in American history.

It's more cited in any other book, since the 18th century. How in the world do you teach American history without the Bible.

How do you explain the Pilgrims? How do you explain the idea where the rights came from God? How do you explain Martin Luther King Jr. is a letter from a Birmingham jail.

Where you reference Daniel, Shadrack, Michadrack, and Bendigo.

How do you understand this? And, again, what the left has been able to do is create state-sponsored atheist centers by saying, no.

No mention of God. We're going to distort American history. And tell kids, this country is an evil, racist place.

The state played no role. And so we're bringing the Bible back. We're very excited to put the Bible first in every classroom. It will be understood. And it's a historical context.

To your point, what leftist. You don't have to agree with the Bible. You can be offended. That's all well and good. And that's fine.

But you can't lie to our kids about our history and the influence that the Bible and Christianity played.

GLENN: Right.

And, you know, I can't remember the name of the big atheist. He was one of the biggest atheists around. He said, you will not understand western culture.

He was not a Bible thumper by any stretch.

He was a die hard atheist. And said, the Bible needs to be taught, or you don't understand Western culture.

That's pretty clear.

MATT: That's exactly right. And that's where I challenged, you know, the left on that. Where, okay. Guys, explain the Pilgrims. If you can't mention the Bible and Christianity. Think of how quickly that morphs into a bizarre argument. And like you said, look, again, you have to understand our history, in order for us to continue as a civilization.

Here's the reality. We know what happens as a civilization. When you teach the next generation.

To hate and reject that civilizational value.

It doesn't continue.

Our young people have to understand, this is where we came from.

This is history. This is how we got to where we are.

This is how we became the greatest country in the history of the world. Again, leave it up to individuals to make their own determinations on what they believe, on what they believe the fast forward is.

But you can't even have a conversation about the path forward. If you don't understand the path.

Look, we have allowed the left to dominate and control education. We've got to fight back against that. Look, the key way to do that.

By the way, you can notice it by their reaction. They don't want the Bible in school. They don't want the Constitution.

Of course, the Federalist Papers. They want people reading about them, not reading them.

So they just want to critique from the 1960s about them. We want all those primary sources in the classroom.

Let the kids read it. Let them understand it. Let them come to their own conclusion. But put those great works in front of our kids.

GLENN: So how is this going to go with teachers? Teaching this.

Because I don't want somebody's view of the Bible, one way or another.

I do want it taught, as history. You know, I don't mind praying in school. I don't mind. You know, whatever.

But I -- I don't want us to go the opposite direction, and say, if you don't believe the Bible is the Word of God, then you are just a Neanderthal.

And I don't have any faith in the teacher's unions being able to teach it, without disdain.

MATT: And look, here's the reality with that.

We have to do this the right way. We've already put out guidance that said, listen, you're not to come out here and push your view of religion on to the kids.

Okay? This is a history lesson. This is understanding as a historical context.

Again, we give these examples as our guidance.

And said, listen, you are to teach it in its historical context, in these specific standards. So we've laid out, this is how you teach it. This is where it is. This is the historical context around it.

Again, if we have somebody in there, attacking religion, trying to push that view on kids, they're not going to teach in the state of Oklahoma.
We're not going to tolerate that. You've seen these leftist activists. We've been crystal clear.

You have educational standards. You will educate, not indoctrinate. And if you cross that line, you will have to find another profession.

GLENN: All right.

Can we talk a little bit about what your thoughts are on the Department of Education, and getting rid of that?

How real do you think this is?

MATT: Oh, I think it's very real. I have several conversations with President Trump about it. And I think he's been crystal clear. It's going to be gone. He wants the plan. He wants the road map for it.

Like Linda McMahon is a great choice, the Department of Ed. She has taken on huge endeavors like this before, head-on.

And look, I think what you do, is you eliminate that agency.

It's got to be a top priority from day one. You walk in. You decimate the -- all the jobs programs out of it.

You get ready to fire a bunch of personnel. They would be packing their bags right now. Then we go into Congress, and we don't need this. Why in the world are we doing this?

And if you want to continue some of those programs, you walk around the state to let them have full authority, on how to spend the money.

But no longer do you go to 5,000 nearly employees in DC and let them attach all these strains. All this indoctrination, all of their woke agenda on to our educational systems. It's up to the state.

So, again, there's some ways to do this. They have some options.

One is a block grant. One is to return it to the state. And say, look, you guys make the decisions of where your money goes.

Solve your own problems. It's amazing to me, Glenn. To listen to the weeping and gnashing of teeth from the left.

I'm like, guys, for over 200 years, we didn't have a Department of Education.

We developed the greatest country in the history of the world. Some of the greatest minds were forged in just a one-room schoolhouse, focused on the basics. Right?

So, look, this is a deviation from American history.

The last 40 years from the Department of Ed, and everything has gotten worse.

So their scare tactics are not going to work. I think President Trump has a clear mandate. I think he's focused to dismantle it. Not to play around the edges, but for Ed to be gone. States have the power, and then we will push states to give the power back to parents like we do in Oklahoma. That's where power rests. That's where God intended it, and that's where we will put it.

GLENN: And how fast do you think -- I mean, President Trump told me, if it doesn't happen in the first 100 days, I'm going to have a hard time getting it through.

You know, I got the impression when Linda McMahon goes in. She's for school choice, blah, blah, blah. But do you get the impression from the president, that this is -- shut this thing down, beginning day one?

MATT: Yes, sir. He's been crystal clear, both publicly and privately. I want it gone.

I have laid a marker down, that agency represents -- it's the belly of the beast. It really is.

This is the training ground for the Deep State, right? So no. Get rid of it in its entirety.

I want the thing to shut down. I want the building bulldozed. Like I want it gone.

I don't want any remnant of a Department of Education.

I think Linda McMahon is there to do just that. I think they've been absolutely working for it. It has to happen fast.

President Trump won a crystal clear mandate in this election. And, Glenn, he laid out. I mean, how clear can he be?

That agency is gone. He wasn't like, hey, we're going to do some things. Congressmen will get on board with that. The American people are sick of watching our kids having a woke agenda pushed on them from Washington, DC.

Our Founders would be rolling over in their grave, if they knew that DC was dictating over the summer.

Hey, all states. You have to allow boys and girls sports. Boys and girls bathrooms.

I mean, I couldn't even imagine explaining that to a George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. Yeah, someone in DC made that decision one morning, and tried to tell us to do it.

I mean, it's just -- the American people are fed up, and they've elected Donald Trump to do that. I think he will absolutely fulfill his promises, as what we saw in the first term. I think that agency is gone.

GLENN: When do these Bibles start to go into schools in Oklahoma.

MATT: Today actually. Actually today. We got the Bibles yesterday. We will start moving them into districts today. We are very excited.

And, again, we're going to make sure our kids understand the role the Bible played in American history, as you pointed out. I don't know how you know American history without the Bible.

You can't. So we're very excited. We want our kids to understand the nation's history. And we want them to be patriotic.

We are unapologetic about that, Glenn. In Oklahoma, we want patriotic opportunities. We want them to love this country. We want them to move forward in the understanding that this country will cease to be great, if the citizens don't understand his principles and advocate for those moving forward.

We're unapologetic about that here.

GLENN: You are also, I believe. The reddest of red states now.

Correct?

MATT: We are. We are. All seven counties went for President Trump here. We love President Trump here in Oklahoma.

GLENN: So what has the push back been like, and what are you expecting coming your way?

MATT: So the unions are just losing their mind, of course. You know, and the Democrats are losing their mind. But listen, hey. We have some week-kneed Republicans up here, and I've just been crystal clear with them. We're moving forward. This is a clear agenda that has been mandated by the people. They want the Bible back in schools. They want their schools back to parents. And back teaching patriotism and love of country.

We're going to do it. So weak-kneed Republicans, you better get out of the way.

Because the reality is -- here in Oklahoma. All 77 counties voted for President Trump.

It is America First agenda here. We are full steam ahead. We will be tip of the spear for President Trump and his education agenda. And, Glenn, he's done laying out the most aggressive education agenda in this country's history. Universal school choice nationwide, to a tax credit.

Patriotic education, and no Department of Education, and prayer back in schools?

I mean, this is exactly the plan to move education back to allowing America to continue to be that greatest country in the history of the world.

President Trump laid it out there. We will absolutely be the tip of the spear in making sure all of those things happen. And, again, RINO Republicans move out of the way. The people are so tired of winning elections. And let's play around the edges.

This is a mandate. This is not -- by the way, Glenn, I've told our folks in Oklahoma. This is not a bipartisan mandate. I don't know where this comes from.

All right. Let's go cut a deal. No, no, no, no. It's full steam ahead.

The American people voted for a clear agenda of America. We're enacting it. This is not a bipartisan mandate. It's a President Trump. America first mandates. We are moving forward. Full steam ahead.

GLENN: Are you being considered at all, for any role in the -- in the end of the Department of Education? Because you've done a tremendous job, in Oklahoma.

MATT: Well, I appreciate that. We've gotten to have some great conversations with President Trump's team. Look, I think they did a great job with Linda McMahon. I think she will be incredibly dialed in.

I think she will absolutely lead the charge to get rid of that agency. I think they've cut a tremendous -- every day, you wake up, and see President Trump's appointees. And think, wow, this is fantastic.

GLENN: I know. And the one thing about it is whether you like it or not. They are all revolutionaries.

They are all -- none of them are like -- no. Let's sit down and talk about this.

I mean, they're clear on what they're going to do. And he's putting the fiercest fighters of the big state. Or Deep State in every single appointment.

MATT: Could be more.

Listen, fundamentalist hear it from the president's own mouth. You're hearing it from his personnel decisions. He's absolutely dead serious.

This agenda that he ran on. That he was crystal clear with the American people on.

The American people overwhelmingly voted for.

It's going to get done. He is clear. These things are going to happen.

I believe Linda McMahon was exactly the right choice to come here.

She's only gotten done everything she's ever done in her life.

I mean, she just literally -- hey, what's in front of me? Got it. And just does it.

So it's going to be done.

And again, you've got to have states step up. And that's what we -- we are so excited to work with President Trump and his team. We told him. In Oklahoma, it's going to get done. Prayer will be back in school. The Bible will be back in school.

We will teach patriotism. We will continue to be the tip of the spear on school choice.

Every state has to have school choice. We have to continue to take on the woke left, with an offensive game plan.

We don't play defense anymore. Okay?

For those Republicans that didn't get the memo. We got it in the last election.

If you need it any louder, the American people want action on a true conservative America first agenda. Let's act. The states enact President Trump's agenda. Let's move the country forward.

And show them what conservative principles look like in action. Here's the reality, Glenn. And we know this. They work.

That's where it's full steam ahead, guys. Get these principles in action. Let's get the policies enacted.

Because the people of Oklahoma will see it, and improve their lives. They will see a better school. They will see a better education system, which will lead to a better society.

Which leads to a stronger state and stronger economy.

Oh, you have to do the thing. You can't just talk about -- President Trump is clearly a man of action. He's the man for the times. Look, I think he's very Churchillian. You look at a guy who is doing it alone. He was standing up against these threats. And you have Republicans going, oh, he's too much. You're going, oh, he's not. He recognizes the threats that the left represents. And now the American people have turned to President Trump. He's the man for the hour.

I couldn't be excited.

GLENN: I think you made a great case on Churchill.

Ryan, thank you so much.

This is Ryan Walters. He is the Oklahoma state superintendent of schools, and Oklahoma is putting Bibles back into schools today. Thank you, Ryan, appreciate it.

RADIO

Democrats STILL don't understand why they lost. Glenn gives 8 reasons

Many Democrats are still not sure why they lost the 2024 election to Donald Trump. Glenn gives them 8 reasons why. But these aren’t stories from the campaign season. These are CURRENT things that the Left is STILL doing! The transgender bathroom fight in Congress between Representative Nancy Mace and Representative-Elect Sarah McBride is a perfect example. As is the sudden defense of illegal immigrants by sanctuary cities, the case against a Christian graphic designer who refused to make a website for a gay wedding, and Jaguar’s new ad.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. So I find this incredible. This is from Yahoo News. Kamala Harris is the top choice of Democrat voters to be the party's nominee for the 2028 presidential election according to a new poll. What!

What?

STU: Do it. Do it.

GLENN: You're right. You're right.

STU: Run it back.

GLENN: Kamala Harris was significantly ahead of Josh Shapiro and Pete Buttigieg.

By the way, can I just say, you know, these -- these people are so unqualified to run any of these departments, that Donald Trump is nominating. Pete Buttigieg, okay?

STU: A person they mocked. The Biden campaign mocked for having no qualifications, then they gave him the transportation secretary. And he became the worse one we ever had.

GLENN: HHS secretary. Who do we get? A guy thinks he's a woman. Come on, guys. Come on, guys.

So they don't know who they lost. And they're now saying -- this is a poll. The majority of Democrats think, they go this way again.

STU: Do it. Do it.

GLENN: Please.

So Katie Couric was on with, oh, what's her name?

From MSNBC. She used to be Jen Saki. She used to be with the White House, and they were talking. They were like, I don't know what happened. I'm so frustrated.

What happened? And Couric said, I think it was her word salads. She just didn't answer any questions.

Well, that's part of it. But could I -- could I just try to boil it down for the Democrats, one last time?

Okay? Let me give you some two-day scenarios. Not in the past. Things that are happening today, that are making you the party of the wigs.

Here we are.

House Democrats are rebuking a proposal for a ban for an incoming transgender lawmaker from using female bathrooms at the Capitol. Calling an effort a distraction from the real work people want to see done. Democrats were quick to blast Nancy Mace, a rape victim.

For her bill that dropped on Monday, which targeted Representative Elect Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware, the first transgender member of Congress.

However, despite outraged posts on social media calling the G.O.P. proposals bullying, several Democratic members are saying that they are better to do things with their time than to respond to a petty move.

They are wanting this guy, who claims to be a woman, to be able to use the congressional women's bathroom. Now, this guy has his own potty, in his office.

So does Nancy mace. So it's not really even a problem. Unless Nancy mace wants to go in, you know, with everybody else. And not use the one in her office. Sometimes that happens, you know.

She doesn't want a guy in there. She's been raped.

But beyond that, this is not what the American people want to talk about. Okay?

They don't -- they care now. Where they didn't care before. About transgenderism, and all this stuff.

Once you started mutilating our children, once you started forcing people to say, not only is that a woman, but my gosh, one of the most beautiful women.

Have you seen Rachel Levine?

Oh, my gosh, she should be on the cover of Vogue. I look at Melania Trump.

STU: Have you seen Rachel Levine? Every time in my bedroom, there's a poster hanging up over the bed. Of course.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. I don't even look at my wife. I close my eyes and think of Rachel Levine.

Okay. So there's one.

Here's the other one: The woman who was an original founder of La Leche (phonetic). Now, what is La Leche all about? La Leche is all about mothers' breast milk.

That's what they fight for. Mothers' breast milk. Now they've decided to include men as chest feeders.

Well, when guys can start to make mothers' breast milk, let me know.

But what the whole organization is about.

Mothers' milk.

And you're including chest feeders.

Men. Okay. I wonder what happened. How did he win? What happened? How did we lose America.

Example number two.

Chest feeders. Here's another one.

What city can withstand all of the illegals that have come across the border?

Which one can afford it?

Which one is rolling in the dough?

And they're like, you know what, we have so much money. And we're so open hearted, we just want all of them up here. And we're not going to put any of them in jail, ever. Okay.

Which city?

Is it Chicago. I know Chicago. The minorities are now standing up, going, wait a minute. You're giving all these people all this stuff. You never did jack for us, and we're citizens. Okay!

It's not working out, Chicago. And yet you're doubling down now.

After the election. Before the election, we were like, we're going to collapse if this continues to go.

We need Biden to do some common sense -- and that's why we're for him closing the borders. You know, he has less people coming over right now than Donald Trump did.

All right. And they were all for that! Now Donald Trump gets in. And they are -- we're going to -- there's not a policeman in this town.

Because we're all for it.

Are you now! Are you?

Here's what I'm for. If you want to violate federal law. Common sense federal law.

This is not something that's controversial.

What is it? Seventy, 80 percent say, hey. We can't live this way.

Your own people are crying out, for an end to the crime, and to illegal immigration. And to the tax dollars that you are spending.

I say, if you want to go there. Fine. You do whatever you want. You be you, boo. California, Illinois, you keep going. Oh, I'm so proud of you. You're so cute. We know how that's going to end.

Your own people know how that is going to end. But you want to do that, that's fine. I just suggest that you don't get a federal dollar for anything.

You can't do that. I hate that. Really?

Aren't you the same people that were preaching the 55 mile an hour speed limit forever. You're not going to get a dollar of federal funding, unless it's 55 miles an hour. So don't -- that was Jimmy Carter. Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me.

Talk to the hand.

And that's what you are saying to your common sense voters.

Los Angeles. New York.

New York, the -- the mayor of New York was saying, we're going to collapse.

Now, we're not letting a single person -- we love them. Come on over here, I always wanted to give you a big squeeze.

Uh-huh. What else? What else? Now, these are not. I'm not going back to the past.

I'm going to the things that are happening right now.

The public school district in Cherry Hill New Jersey said it mistakenly released the names of close to 100 elementary schools, whose families opted them out of the controversial sex education program last year.

Oopsy. Oopsy. Did we dox them?

We didn't mean to. We keep that file in a super, super-secret place. We keep it over -- it's locked -- nobody is ever going to know. That's going to be super-secret. Did we just release those names? Oh, my gosh.

And I am shocked. I am shocked, that somebody hacked in to the Congress and got those facts on Matt Gaetz.

And now Matt Gaetz is going to be exposed. I am shocked and horrified. Uh-huh.

Are you? So another reason? You weaponized the federal government. You weaponized it.

And every time something happened, you were like, oh, that was a mistake.

Then if you didn't weaponize it, if it's all mistakes, you are the worst!

We cannot stand another day of people running the country that make this many mistakes. Because they're kind of important ones.

Okay. So what else?

Why else it you lose?

Well, I want to tell you about the super hot sexy jaguar. Here is the latest ad for jaguar.

It's in an elevator full of a guy with a tutu on.

And a guy who looks like he's got breasts. Now he's wearing -- live vivid. Delete ordinary.

Is that male or female?

Is that a male or a female? Or is that the one that used to run our --

STU: That's the luggage dealer.

GLENN: Okay. Okay. Copy nothing.

So so far, we didn't see a car. And that's the end.

And there is no car in the ad. I don't know what they're selling. But it's not a car.

STU: Shockingly, they would do that today.

Three years ago. Maybe I could have seen that.

The fact that they're doing that in 2025.

GLENN: Blue Home Jaguar.

STU: That's a good question, I don't know.

GLENN: I think it's still Ford, isn't it?

Or whoever owns Ford now. It's the same company as Ford. So I don't know. What are you selling?

I thought you were selling cars. When you sell a car --

STU: It's Tata. Or Tata Motors. An Indian automotive manufacturing company that acquired Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in 2008.

GLENN: Oh, okay. All right.

So it's Tatas.

STU: Tatas. You know, watching that, I can understand. Tatas seems like --

GLENN: Yeah, but they're strangely sewn on men, those tatas.

So when you're selling a Jaguar, you're selling it to guys. And you're selling that car based on sex appeal. All right?

Guys, when they can afford a nice jaguar, they're usually having a mid-life crisis.

And they're like, I have to have something sexy that makes me feel young.

And a guy in a dress, doesn't make a guy feel young and hot.

GLENN: Well, a certainly type of guy probably is it.

And I guess that's who they're trying to appeal to. No longer the James Bond type. That's with every spot.

GLENN: Right. Because the majority of people that are buying Jaguars are transgender.

STU: Yes, 85 percent.

GLENN: Yeah. 85 percent. That is -- why are you losing? Because you don't know who your customer is! You have no idea. You are denying who your customer is.

And your customer is like, wait. But I'm -- I thought I was voting for these people that were against these never-ending wars. What?

No. You have completely forgotten who your customer is.

Now, let's go another one.

Colorado has paid now $1.5 million for violating an artist's First Amendment rights, after the SCOTUS case, that just came down.

There was a website design.

And they had to pay this person, $1.5 million. Because they violated the First Amendment rights. Graphic designer.

She was asked to -- as a Christian, major is supposed to be between male and female.

And they wanted, you know, to do a same-sex wedding website. And she said, no.

They targeted her. And then dragged this person through the court, and tried to destroy his life.

So this goes to the weaponization of our justice system.

You're destroying people. Now, I don't know about you. But I know a lot of gay people who are just like, I've had it up to here.

Okay? This is not my agenda. I just want to get along. Just leave me alone!

You know, I'm a normal human being. I'm not for this. And, by the way, let me ask you, who wants somebody to make something for you, that just doesn't have their heart into it.

Doesn't hate you. Just doesn't have their heart into it. You know what that ends up looking like?

That ends up looking like a Jaguar ad. Where, I don't even -- I did this at CNN. I asked somebody at CNN, to write a -- a piece on the strength of Ronald Reagan. It was the week he died.

And I got it. And it was the worst piece of crap. And it was one of our best writers. The worst -- and I called him up, and said, Hal, what the hell happened? Did you just phone one in? He said, Glenn, I worked harder on that one, than I ever have.

He said, I don't like Ronald Reagan. I don't understand why everybody loves him.

I did the best I could.

And I saw -- he really did.

He did. I couldn't be mad at him. He didn't get it.

Why would you want somebody, to make a website for you, that really, truly doesn't get it!

Doesn't get your point of view.

STU: And, of course, that's not what they wanted.

GLENN: No.

STU: They wanted --

GLENN: They wanted everybody to bow down.

STU: Bow down. Get a Lithuania. Whatever it was.

GLENN: Yeah. I'm just going over the things that happened today. Not in the past.

Katie Couric, I don't understand.

Well, give me five more minutes, Katie. And if you don't get it after 5 more minutes, it's because you don't want to get it.

Wow. I haven't even considered that.

You just want to say that you're stupid, and you're brilliant. And you don't really want to find a real answer. It's not an honest search.

That can't be Katie Couric.

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Democrats STILL don't understand why they lost. Glenn gives 8 reasons

Transcript