Trump Supporter Calls to Apologize and Forgive: 'You're My Fellow Brothers.'

November 09, 2016

Writer

Following a bloody and divisive 2016 election season, Glenn looked for ways to begin healing on Wednesday, the day after Donald Trump's historic win.

"I want to hear how you're feeling today, and if you want to gloat, it is gloat fest. If you want to gloat, feel free to call us," Glenn said, encouraging listeners to call in.

Glenn took two calls from two very different listeners.

Reese from Pennsylvania called to compliment Glenn and crew on their election night coverage.

"I think last night's room was a really great microcosm of what a lot of rooms in America were last night, that we may disagree on policy, but we agree on principle. And we can get there together," Reese said.

Nate from Virginia, a Trump supporter and previous caller, approached things from a different angle.

"I want to tell you guys, after last night and early this morning, there was a burden that's been lifted off me. I don't hate you guys anymore," Nate said.

Nate took it one step further, apologizing for his hatred and identifying how to start rebuilding the nation together.

"We're going to start with the Constitution. And I know you guys were behind that 100 percent, so let's start there," he said.

Read below or watch the clip for answers to these unifying questions:

• What did Reese praise Tomi Lahren for?

• Where can Stu and Tomi find common ground?

• How did Nate describe his last call to The Glenn Beck Program?

• Which presidency compares to the difficulty Trump will face?

• How did Glenn respond to Nate's heartfelt apology?

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: I want to take -- I want to take some of your phone calls. We want to get into his acceptance speech here in a second. But I want to hear how you're feeling today. And if you want to gloat, it is gloat fest. If you want to gloat, feel free to call us. We'll even play the song for you.

Reese in Pennsylvania. Hello, Reese. Oh, Reese is gone.

Are you there, Reese?

CALLER: I am. Can you hear me?

GLENN: Oh, hi. Yes, I can.

CALLER: First of all, thank you, guys. All of you, for everything you did last night.

I hung in there with you until about 2:30.

GLENN: Wow.

CALLER: And really appreciate everything you guys did.

PAT: Nice.

CALLER: Second of all, I wanted to give a lot of props to Tomi Lahren. It was obvious that she was sort of the odd man out in the room last night at least.

PAT: She was outnumbered. There was no question. She was outnumbered.

CALLER: At least at the beginning. And you talk about gloat fest, she had every opportunity to, "I told you so," to every person in the room, and she didn't.

You know, before this election, before last night's coverage, Tomi wasn't really on my radar. I was -- I'm 38. I'm not a millennial or at least I don't identify with millennials. And seeing her last night and keeping her poise and keeping her professionalism and moving forward -- I think last night's room was a really great microcosm of what a lot of rooms in America were last night, that we may disagree, but -- on policy, but we agree on principle. And we can get there together.

GLENN: We -- I tell you --

CALLER: So thank you for that.

GLENN: Honestly, at TheBlaze -- TheBlaze programming management, they even thought of at one point not doing election coverage because they said everybody is too divided. And our case was, "No, no, no. That's exactly what it should be. It should be --

PAT: Because the that's where America is.

GLENN: Yeah, that's where America is. A group of people coming together and saying, "We got to work this out."

CALLER: Exactly.

GLENN: At times, it was tough to do, tough to even endure. And I don't know if it was tough to watch. But it was -- it was one of the more tough things I've ever had to do.

CALLER: And I'm really glad, Glenn, that somebody at some point finally got Tomi a blanket. You could see on television how cold that poor thing was. I've been married long enough to know when it's cold --

STU: Look, Tomi and I have not agreed on everything as we go to the election obviously, but I mean, I fully agree with her opinion on how freaking cold this room is. We can unite right there.

JEFFY: Once the results came in, she seemed to be warmer.

PAT: She and Sarah Gonzalez were both just out of their minds cold last night. Sarah was like, "I can't feel my hands. I've lost all feeling in my --

CALLER: But thank you guys very much for you do.

GLENN: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

CALLER: This is where the unity begins, and you guys are doing it in true form. Thank you.

GLENN: Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Last night -- you know, what are the things we all did? And I don't know about -- well, Stu drank. You didn't play your guitar. You brought your guitar in --

PAT: It's just -- it's too loud. And so I couldn't -- I didn't know where it fit.

GLENN: Okay. I painted the night.

PAT: Painting was much quieter.

GLENN: Yeah, it was very quiet. But I have to tell you, it's what got me through. I said to everybody yesterday, whatever you have to do to relax --

JEFFY: I had to watch my porn on mute, but I made it through okay.

(laughter)

GLENN: Yeah. Right. And you were very relaxed. You didn't say anything, except, "Oh, yes," a few times, which was disturbing when we were reading the election results.

PAT: Creepy.

GLENN: But strangely, it kind of worked for a lot of people.

JEFFY: Yeah.

GLENN: Let me go to Nate in Virginia. Hello, Nate.

CALLER: Hey. Hey, how are you guys doing this morning?

PAT: Good.

CALLER: I'm listening to WLNI 105.9. They carry you guys.

GLENN: Yes. Thank you.

CALLER: Listen, can I tell you something? I'm a -- well, I was a Trump supporter. I called you maybe four months ago because you were inviting Trump supporters to call and explain themselves. And we had a long conversation.

GLENN: Yes.

CALLER: I was perhaps, if you remember, the gloomiest conversation you've probably ever heard.

STU: That's a challenge on this show.

GLENN: Yeah.

CALLER: Right. Yeah. I know.

GLENN: Those don't stand out.

CALLER: I hated you guys for a long time now.

GLENN: You hated us?

CALLER: Hated us -- hated you guys. You know, I'm a conservative person.

PAT: Because of Trump?

CALLER: Yeah, because of everything that happened.

I want to tell you guys, after last night and early this morning, there was a burden that's been lifted off me. I don't hate you guys anymore.

STU: That's awesome.

CALLER: I understand you guys. Even though I didn't want to listen to you guys, I still did, like an idiot. And that made me even angrier.

GLENN: So what happened today? What happened today?

CALLER: It was like when I got saved, to be honest with you.

PAT: Well, Trump won, right?

CALLER: Something came and took away all that hatred inside of me that I had for you guys, and it's released, and it's gone. And I don't have any other explanation for it. I know where you stand. I know everything about you guys, but you're my brothers. You're my fellow brothers. We're conservatives.

And I'm sorry. Can I apologize to the listener, to you for hating you? Because all's it did was hurt me in the end, you know what I mean?

PAT: Yeah.

STU: Wow.

GLENN: Wow. Nate, this is the nicest call --

CALLER: And I just want to let you guys know that I love you, and we're going to build this nation again.

GLENN: We are.

CALLER: And we're going to start with the Constitution. And I know you guys were behind that 100 percent, so let's start there. And let's worry about the problems when they come. This is -- I pity Donald Trump because he's got a lot on his plate and he's got to come through for us, you know. He's got to.

STU: It's a tough job.

GLENN: I will tell you, this is going to be the hardest job any president has had possibly since Abraham Lincoln.

CALLER: Yeah, no, it's going to be rough.

GLENN: This is going to be a difficult four years.

STU: That was a great call.

PAT: Yeah, thanks.

STU: That was awesome. Thank you for doing that.

GLENN: Nate, can't thank you enough. Thank you. Thank you. And apology accepted. And our apologies to you if we did anything that -- that caused you to hate. Caused you to hate. That happens.

STU: Oh, there's lots of -- people hate us all the time for real, legitimate reasons all the time.

GLENN: Yeah, I hate these people who like have seen one clip of me on YouTube and hate me.

PAT: And that's not the case here.

GLENN: He's watched me for a while. Listened to me for a while. Come up with some good reasons.

JEFFY: You can build up some serious --

GLENN: Yeah, no. You can have a really legitimate case to hate me.

STU: And, by the way, you played the clip earlier. That -- to me, that's what this means. This is -- when you have a president -- there's a lot of things we've said about Donald Trump and things I believe are real negatives. And I'm a skeptic going into this. However, with every president, left, right, Barack Obama, you get a clean slate when you go into that job. Because you're trying to analyze what a president will be, you have to look at their past and what they've done. That's how you do it. But there's no reason to look at that once they get into office. You judge them on the job they've done.

GLENN: It is a complete -- in fact, may I suggest this? Would you, in our audio archives, Pat, will you go and delete every negative thing on Donald Trump, everything that he said during the campaign --

PAT: Yeah. As soon as the show is over, I'm going to do that today.

GLENN: Yeah, delete it. Delete all. It's a clean slate. We start with the man he is today. And there's -- and I can't -- Nate, thank you for that call. It means the world to us. It really does. But let me -- let me say this, the ones we really need to reach out to are the people who are truly afraid today. They really, truly believe that Donald Trump is going to be the death of us.

Now --

PAT: And we believed that about Obama.

GLENN: Yeah. And, quite honestly --

PAT: To the very depths of our being.

GLENN: Quite honestly, if it wasn't that I have weathered Barack Obama, I would be saying the same thing today about Donald Trump.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: I -- I have my issues that everybody knows. However, clean slate. We will survive -- we'll survive anybody. We will, if we stay together.

Don't dismiss those people who are afraid. Don't allow yourself to be dragged into what we just went through. Because, listen, what did we just go through? We just went through a year where, listen to what he just said, "The only one who lost was me." In many ways, I feel the same way: The only one who lost was me. Because we couldn't even talk to each other anymore.

I want you to listen to next hour. Because I want to tell you a story about my grandmother. And I want to tell you a story about --

PAT: Plutarch?

GLENN: You're such a jerk. Somebody else's family that missed 20 years. Somebody -- Ronald Reagan.

I want to tell you a story about Ronald Reagan that you need to hear today. Because it's happened in my family with me and my grandmother, and I so regret it.

I think of my grandmother Beck, who my grandfather Beck was not a good guy. And I was not close to him at all. And I -- I was spooked by him, quite honestly. Didn't like him.

But my grandmother was sweet. And my grandmother, quite honestly, was an abused woman. And I didn't know that.

PAT: Hmm.

GLENN: And my grandmother, when she would see me -- the only real memory I have of my grandmother is, A, reading to me, which nobody used to read to me when I was a kid. My mom didn't read to me, my dad didn't read to me. My grandmother did. And only my Grandma Beck. And the other was, she had a lot of grandchildren. But I was the only one that she would bake a pie for when I would come over.

If I was coming, she would make lemon merengue pie, and it was just for me. And she made the best lemon merengue pie. My grandmother died asking, "When will Glenn come and visit me?"

I didn't because of my own stupidity and fear and history and awkwardness because it became too late and I didn't know how to say it and I didn't know what to do. And I so regret it.

Let me share a story of another broken family that you will -- we're not a country. We're family.

And I always say, "Well, it's blood. You're born into it. And you don't choose your family." Yes, you do. I chose. I chose. And I chose incorrectly.

You can stop calling your brothers and sisters and stop seeing your brothers and sisters and stop going to -- but you go usually -- you go because you know you have to. Because in the end, we're family.

We have to choose today. Are we family? Or are we people that just live in the same planet in the same space at the same time?

Let's choose family.

Featured Image: The Glenn Beck Program, November 9, 2016.

Stand with Voddie Baucham’s family in this time of loss

In the quiet aftermath of a profound loss, the Christian community mourns the unexpected passing of Dr. Voddie Baucham, a towering figure in evangelical circles. Known for his defense of biblical truth, Baucham, a pastor, author, and theologian, left a legacy on family, faith, and opposing "woke" ideologies in the church. His book Fault Lines challenged believers to prioritize Scripture over cultural trends. Glenn had Voddie on the show several times, where they discussed progressive influences in Christianity, debunked myths of “Christian nationalism,” and urged hope amid hostility.

The shock of Baucham's death has deeply affected his family. Grieving, they remain hopeful in Christ, with his wife, Bridget, now facing the task of resettling in the US without him. Their planned move from Lusaka, Zambia, was disrupted when their home sale fell through last December, resulting in temporary Airbnb accommodations, but they have since secured a new home in Cape Coral that requires renovations. To ensure Voddie's family is taken care of, a fundraiser is being held to raise $2 million, which will be invested for ongoing support, allowing Bridget to focus on her family.

We invite readers to contribute prayerfully. If you feel called to support the Bauchams in this time of need, you can click here to donate.

We grieve and pray with hope for the Bauchams.

May Voddie's example inspire us.

Overcoming loneliness: Connecting in a disconnected world

Loneliness isn’t just being alone — it’s feeling unseen, unheard, and unimportant, even amid crowds and constant digital chatter.

Loneliness has become an epidemic in America. Millions of people, even when surrounded by others, feel invisible. In tragic irony, we live in an age of unparalleled connectivity, yet too many sit in silence, unseen and unheard.

I’ve been experiencing this firsthand. My children have grown up and moved out. The house that once overflowed with life now echoes with quiet. Moments that once held laughter now hold silence. And in that silence, the mind can play cruel games. It whispers, “You’re forgotten. Your story doesn’t matter.”

We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

It’s a lie.

I’ve seen it in others. I remember sitting at Rockefeller Center one winter, watching a woman lace up her ice skates. Her clothing was worn, her bag battered. Yet on the ice, she transformed — elegant, alive, radiant.

Minutes later, she returned to her shoes, merged into the crowd, unnoticed. I’ve thought of her often. She was not alone in her experience. Millions of Americans live unseen, performing acts of quiet heroism every day.

Shared pain makes us human

Loneliness convinces us to retreat, to stay silent, to stop reaching out to others. But connection is essential. Even small gestures — a word of encouragement, a listening ear, a shared meal — are radical acts against isolation.

I’ve learned this personally. Years ago, a caller called me “Mr. Perfect.” I could have deflected, but I chose honesty. I spoke of my alcoholism, my failed marriage, my brokenness. I expected judgment. Instead, I found resonance. People whispered back, “I’m going through the same thing. Thank you for saying it.”

Our pain is universal. Everyone struggles with self-doubt and fear. Everyone feels, at times, like a fraud. We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

We were made for connection. We were built for community — for conversation, for touch, for shared purpose. Every time we reach out, every act of courage and compassion punches a hole in the wall of isolation.

You’re not alone

If you’re feeling alone, know this: You are not invisible. You are seen. You matter. And if you’re not struggling, someone you know is. It’s your responsibility to reach out.

Loneliness is not proof of brokenness. It is proof of humanity. It is a call to engage, to bear witness, to connect. The world is different because of the people who choose to act. It is brighter when we refuse to be isolated.

We cannot let silence win. We cannot allow loneliness to dictate our lives. Speak. Reach out. Connect. Share your gifts. By doing so, we remind one another: We are all alike, and yet each of us matters profoundly.

In this moment, in this country, in this world, what we do matters. Loneliness is real, but so is hope. And hope begins with connection.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Russell Vought’s secret plan to finally shrink Washington

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

Trump’s OMB chief built the plan for this moment: Starve pet programs, force reauthorization, and actually shrink Washington.

The government is shut down again, and the usual panic is back. I even had someone call my house this week to ask if it was safe to fly today. The person was half-joking, half-serious, wondering if planes would “fall out of the sky.”

For the record, the sky isn’t falling — at least not literally. But the chaos in Washington does feel like it. Once again, we’re watching the same old script: a shutdown engineered not by fiscal restraint but by political brinkmanship. And this time, the Democrats are driving the bus.

This shutdown may be inconvenient. But it’s also an opportunity — to stop funding our own destruction, to reset the table, and to remind Congress who actually pays the bills.

Democrats, among other things, are demanding that health care be extended to illegal immigrants. Democratic leadership caved to its radical base, which would rather shut down the government for such left-wing campaign points than compromise. Republicans — shockingly — said no. They refused to rubber-stamp more spending for illegal immigration. For once, they stood their ground.

But if you’ve watched Washington long enough, you know how this story usually ends: a shutdown followed by a deal that spends even more money than before — a continuing resolution kicking the can down the road. Everyone pretends to “win,” but taxpayers always lose.

The Vought effect

This time might be different. Republicans actually hold some cards. The public may blame Democrats — not the media, but the people who feel this in their wallets. Americans don’t like shutdowns, but they like runaway spending and chaos even less.

That’s why you’re hearing so much about Russell Vought, the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget and Donald Trump’s quiet architect of a strategy to use moments like this to shrink the federal bureaucracy. Vought spent four years building a plan for exactly this scenario: firing nonessential workers and forcing reauthorization of pet programs. Trump talks about draining the swamp. Vought draws up the blueprints.

The Democrats and media are threatened by Vought because he is patient, calculated, and understands how to leverage the moment to reverse decades of government bloat. If programs aren’t mandated, cut them. Make Congress fight to bring them back. That’s how you actually drain the swamp.

Predictable meltdowns

Predictably, Democrats are melting down. They’ve shifted their arguments so many times it’s dizzying. Last time, they claimed a shutdown would lead to mass firings. Now, they insist Republicans are firing everyone anyway. It’s the same playbook: Move the goalposts, reframe the narrative, accuse your opponents of cruelty.

We’ve seen this before. Remember the infamous "You lie!” moment in 2009? President Barack Obama promised during his State of the Union that Obamacare wouldn’t cover illegal immigrants. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted, “You lie!” and was condemned for breaching decorum.

Several years later, Hillary Clinton’s campaign platform openly promised health care for illegal immigrants. What was once called a “lie” became official policy. And today, Democrats are shutting down the government because they can’t get even more of it.

This is progressivism in action: Deny it, inch toward it, then demand it as a moral imperative. Anyone who resists becomes the villain.

SAUL LOEB / Contributor | Getty Images

Stand firm

This shutdown isn’t just about spending. It’s about whether we’ll keep letting progressives rewrite the rules one crisis at a time. Trump’s plan — to cut what isn’t mandated, force programs into reauthorization, and fight the battle in the courts — is the first real counterpunch to decades of this manipulation.

It’s time to stop pretending. This isn’t about compassion. It’s about control. Progressives know once they normalize government benefits for illegal immigrants, they never roll back. They know Americans forget how it started.

This shutdown may be inconvenient. But it’s also an opportunity — to stop funding our own destruction, to reset the table, and to remind Congress who actually pays the bills. If we don’t take it, we’ll be right back here again, only deeper in debt, with fewer freedoms left to defend.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

U.K. forces digital IDs on workers—Is the U.S. next in line?

OLI SCARFF / Contributor | Getty Images

From banking to health care, digital IDs touch every aspect of citizens’ lives, giving the government unprecedented control over everyday actions.

On Friday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood at the podium at the Global Progressive Action Conference in London and made an announcement that should send a chill down the spine of anyone who loves liberty. By the end of this Parliament, he promised, every worker in the U.K. will be required to hold a “free-of-charge” digital ID. Without it, Britons will not be able to work.

No digital ID, no job.

The government is introducing a system that punishes law-abiding citizens by tying their right to work to a government-issued pass.

Starmer framed this as a commonsense response to poverty, climate change, and illegal immigration. He claimed Britain cannot solve these problems without “looking upstream” and tackling root causes. But behind the rhetoric lies a policy that shifts power away from individuals and places it squarely in the hands of government.

Solving the problem they created

This is progressivism in action. Leaders open their borders, invite in mass illegal immigration, and refuse to enforce their own laws. Then, when public frustration boils over, they unveil a prepackaged “solution” — in this case, digital identity — that entrenches government control.

Britain isn’t the first to embrace this system. Switzerland recently approved a digital ID system. Australia already has one. The World Economic Forum has openly pitched digital IDs as the key to accessing everything from health care to bank accounts to travel. And once the infrastructure is in place, digital currency will follow soon after, giving governments the power to track every purchase, approve or block transactions, and dictate where and how you spend your money.

All of your data — your medical history, insurance, banking, food purchases, travel, social media engagement, tax information — would be funneled into a centralized database under government oversight.

The fiction of enforcement

Starmer says this is about cracking down on illegal work. The BBC even pressed him on the point, asking why a mandatory digital ID would stop human traffickers and rogue employers who already ignore national insurance cards. He had no answer.

Bad actors will still break the law. Bosses who pay sweatshop wages under the table will not suddenly check digital IDs. Criminals will not line up to comply. This isn’t about stopping illegal immigration. If it were, the U.K. would simply enforce existing laws, close the loopholes, and deport those working illegally.

Instead, the government is introducing a system that punishes law-abiding citizens by tying their right to work to a government-issued pass.

Control masked as compassion

This is part of an old playbook. Politicians claim their hands are tied and promise that only sweeping new powers will solve the crisis. They selectively enforce laws to maintain the problem, then use the problem to justify expanding control.

If Britain truly wanted to curb illegal immigration, it could. It is an island. The Channel Tunnel has clear entry points. Enforcement is not impossible. But a digital ID allows for something far more valuable to bureaucrats than border security: total oversight of their own citizens.

The American warning

Think digital ID can’t happen here? Think again. The same arguments are already echoing in Washington, D.C. Illegal immigration is out of control. Progressives know voters are angry. When the digital ID pitch arrives, it will be wrapped in patriotic language about fairness, security, and compassion.

But the goal isn’t compassion. It’s control of your movement, your money, your speech, your future.

We don’t need digital IDs to enforce immigration law. We need leaders with the courage to enforce existing law. Until then, digital ID schemes will keep spreading, sold as a cure for the very problems they helped create.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn's Show Prep

Trump Supporter Calls to Apologize and Forgive: 'You're My Fellow Brothers.'

Stand with Voddie Baucham’s family in this time of loss

Overcoming loneliness: Connecting in a disconnected world

Loneliness isn’t just being alone — it’s feeling unseen, unheard, and unimportant, even amid crowds and constant digital chatter.

We are unique in our gifts, but not in our humanity. Recognizing this shared struggle is how we overcome loneliness.

Shared pain makes us human

You’re not alone

Russell Vought’s secret plan to finally shrink Washington

Trump’s OMB chief built the plan for this moment: Starve pet programs, force reauthorization, and actually shrink Washington.

This shutdown may be inconvenient. But it’s also an opportunity — to stop funding our own destruction, to reset the table, and to remind Congress who actually pays the bills.

The Vought effect

Predictable meltdowns

Stand firm

U.K. forces digital IDs on workers—Is the U.S. next in line?

From banking to health care, digital IDs touch every aspect of citizens’ lives, giving the government unprecedented control over everyday actions.

The government is introducing a system that punishes law-abiding citizens by tying their right to work to a government-issued pass.

Solving the problem they created

The fiction of enforcement

Control masked as compassion

The American warning