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TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

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Glenn's Show Prep

Rumors Fly Following Sudden Departure of Two Trump Team Members

December 27, 2016
Staff

WRITER

Filling in for Glenn on radio, former New York City police officer John Cardillo offered his commentary on the controvertial departure of two Trump transition team members A.J. Delgado and Jason Miller.

"This situation seems to have sorted itself out the way it ought to have sorted itself out," Cardillo said. "It's going to be very, very interesting to see how this plays out."

Listen to the segment or read the transcript below.

JOHN: Good morning. Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program. I'm John Cardillo. Sitting in for Glenn Beck while he's on a well deserved vacation. And if you're just tuning in, I'll tell you a little bit about myself. So I got my start in media with Glenn. But I am not a media guy by training. I was a New York City cop, and I was an entrepreneur. Started a company where we provided security services to large online communities and wound up spending more time in the legislative arena and really got a front row seat at how law enforcement and our legislative process worked and realized our country was kind of a mess.

And so when I was in a position to do so, needed to expand my platform -- decided to expand my platform so I could get some of this information out to you.

And, luckily, Glenn Beck found me about three -- three and a half years ago. I was like a little shelter dog, but Glenn found me. We had a great conversation on air. We did a segment -- we did a political analysis segment.

We went on to profile some of the radical groups in the US and created a very nice relationship. And I went on to host my own show, down here in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and was so flattered, when I was asked to stand in for Glenn today and tomorrow on the Glenn Beck Show.

And being a guy who was pro-Trump -- and Glenn was so anti-Trump. It was even better. It was even better. Because it proved to me there are still some great people in this industry who want their audiences to hear all sides. And it also showed me how we can be friends and disagree on an issue. Isn't that a novel concept?

We don't have to get into these knockdown drag-out grudge matches where we lose friendships over political candidates. We lose colleagues. We lose professional relationships. It's silly. Don't do it. Don't do it.

But there is a bit of turmoil in the Trump campaign right now. I don't know if you've seen the stories on this. But a couple of days ago, the Trump communication director Jason Miller resigned to spend more time with family.

Now, I've got an unfair advantage on this one because one of the players in this little drama is A.J. Delgado -- and you've probably seen A.J. out there. She's -- she was a South Florida -- and then a national surrogate for the Trump campaign.

And prior to that, A.J. was a conservative pundit. You would see her frequently on Fox News, many, many radio and television programs. And she wrote a column.

But I had a front row seat to many of the goings on with the Trump campaign in South Florida, as a member of the media. I was at every rally. And what this is shaking out to be -- and I've got impeccable sources still inside the transition.

And what's happening here -- and you're getting pieces of this in the print media. But I was on the phone all last night, and this might be the first place right here on the Glenn Beck Program that you're going to hear what's really happening from sources inside the transition.

It looks as if -- and now what it's shaking out to be that A.J. Delgado and comes director Jason Miller were having an affair. And it makes it all the more troubling in that Miller is married with children, a child or children. And I believe his wife is also expecting.

Now, I will tell you, from personal experience, I had been at two rallies where A.J. Delgado was present. And I am not a moralist. I'm not a moral cop. I really don't care. But I go to political rallies. I go to events. I don't care who the candidate is. I go to business functions. There's an appropriate way to look, act, and dress. And I will say, that A.J. Delgado was dressed, in my opinion, highly inappropriately for these events. It was a skin, skin, skintight dresses, six-inch heels.

No other women, even the young attractive women were not dressed the same way. But even worse, it was -- and I was with an adviser, very close adviser to the Trump campaign. He was a friend of mine. And he and I were sitting during one of the rallies -- the rally in Miami, down in the Brickell area of Miami at the night center.

I think it was the last rally that Donald Trump held in South Florida before the election. And he and I were sitting there. And people were leaving the VIP, the closed area where the candidate was, where Donald Trump was.

And about 15 people who had come out complained about the way A.J. Delgado was acting. And no one understood why. No one understood how this girl who was picked up as a surrogate and was supposed to just be out there, doing her part in the media, when -- when she was asked to, was all of a sudden acting like she was senior campaign staff.

And I saw it, as an on-air guy down in South Florida and as somebody that was working with the RNC coms people and the Trump coms people, as a conservative radio host, I could not guests booked. We couldn't get guests booked. When Miller was running coms, it became nearly impossible.

Now, the people that were running coms prior to Miller and that team, it was very easy to get good guests booked. So I started seeing a difficulty in getting guests booked.

And then every time I turned on the television, turned on radio, or read something in print, A.J. Delgado had apparently replaced everyone else on the campaign as the premier spokesperson, spokeswoman. It was very weird to me.

Quite candidly, I never saw this coming. We thought maybe she had a relationship with one of the daughters or one of the daughters-in-law, or maybe she had done some legal work for some people previously or she had a patron that was a donor.

But what really crystallized for me that there was something else going on, was when she became the representative to the Cuban American community, which is a very important, very significant voting bloc in South Florida.

And when I was interfacing with some of the old guard -- and these were the solid conservatives. They go to Versailles Restaurant, and they hold court there. And if you don't know what Versailles is -- if you're ever in Miami and you watch any political campaign, whether it be presidential, gubinatorial, congressional, senatorial -- when you want the Cuban vote -- and believe me, you need it if you're going to win Florida. You go to Versailles. It's a restaurant down in Little Havana. That really is the kingdom. That's where you need to hold court and meet with the old guard.

And when I started talking to those guys and those women, they didn't know who she was. They said, who? Huh?

There were so many prominent Cuban Americans that should have had that role, and many of them were dismayed that A.J. Delgado, a young girl in her 30s, who really came out of nowhere, who was a columnist and, you know, commentator, pundit about the media, took a role that many, many other people were better suited for. Well, now it all makes sense.

Now, look, I'm not the moral police. So I'm not here to judge anybody. But campaign affairs happen. And people who work on campaigns know they happen. And typically, both sides are smart enough to know that that affair ends when the campaign is over. People go back to their life.

They take jobs in the administration. There's more -- there's more scrutiny on the players at that point, on the ancillary staff. During the campaign, it's all on the candidates. There's limited airtime. The candidates are dueling it out. They're duking it out. But when the campaign is over, they start looking at staff, right?

Because if you're the left-wing media and you want to hurt a candidate, well, you have vetted that candidate to hell and back during the campaign. So barring them doing something really stupid or really egregious, there's not much more to report, other than your normal hit pieces and attacking their policy positions. And in the case -- Donald Trump, they beat him up on his tweets, which I happened to like, but I'll tell you why later.

But you look at the staff. And so Miller was a smart enough guy to realize, "Hey, they're going to be looking at me. This was a fun fling. Now it's time for real work. Now we are the candidate. Now we've got to go govern. Okay. Playtime is over. Let's get back to work."

Well, apparently this didn't set too well with Ms. Delgado. Now, what I've been told is an email went out to all of the major players on the transition team, depicting and detailing the affair.

Hell hath no fury like a Cubana scorned. I mean, from what I'm hearing, it was pretty bad.

She then took to Twitter with a series of tweets. And one of them referenced a -- and it's almost embarrassing for me, as a grown man, to say this on air, a baby daddy, which seemed to imply there was a little more to this affair and she had directed this at Jason Miller.

Well, her whole Twitter feed gets deleted. And I was told yesterday that both she and Miller were fired. Miller was allowed to quietly resign and save face. And A.J.'s face was quietly killed and she was made a pariah. And I was told she is on the, quote, unquote, warpath by someone very senior on the campaign.

But my point of bringing this to light, we have a duty -- right? Whether we're in the conservative media, the liberal media, when we get information like this, we've got a duty to let you know who the players are.

And I think -- I personally -- Donald Trump is going to be a very good president. And I'm going to tell you why in the next hour. I'm going to explain to you why his rhetoric and his style never scared me. It didn't bother me, as much as it did to other people. But I'll explain why I understand that it did bother and offend and scare some people.

But when -- when I looked at people that worked around this campaign -- and let me tell you, there was some of the hardest working, most honest, most diligent people, working on this campaign. And I knew them. And in the south Florida region -- and Florida on the whole, many of them were friends of mine.

It was very disappointing to me to see people taking the limelight. A.J. Delgado was one of those people. And A.J. Delgado and I haven't -- don't really know each other. She blocked me on Twitter a couple of years ago. I think I disagreed with her on -- she was pro Common Core, because she was a moderate. A center moderate. Quote, unquote, conservative. And then she became this newly minted conservative. I just think it was -- she's replaced Chuck Schumer as the person that is most dangerous between them and a camera.

But I -- I need to bring this out because a lot of good people were hurt by these grandstanders. Hard-working people. And I don't care where you stand politically. People that do work, people that are the grinders that have the ethic, that are doing the work and that don't want the thanks shouldn't be treated poorly by those who seek glory.

And karma is an interesting thing. Divine intervention is a really interesting thing. And all I'll say -- and I'll leave you with, this situation seems to have sorted itself out the way it ought to have sorted itself out. It -- it's going to be very, very interesting to see how this plays out.

But progressives also don't live by this standard. They think they're impervious to any critique. To all the rules. And can act in any way they want. And that was really -- really made evident when two gay men attacked a mom and her children on a JetBlue flight a couple of days before Christmas.

Featured Image: Julie Dermansky/Getty Images

Why do Americans feel so empty?

Mario Tama / Staff | Getty Images

Anxiety, anger, and chronic dissatisfaction signal a country searching for meaning. Without truth and purpose, politics becomes a dangerous substitute for identity.

We have built a world overflowing with noise, convenience, and endless choice, yet something essential has slipped out of reach. You can sense it in the restless mood of the country, the anxiety among young people who cannot explain why they feel empty, in the angry confusion that dominates our politics.

We have more wealth than any nation in history, but the heart of the culture feels strangely malnourished. Before we can debate debt or elections, we must confront the reality that we created a world of things, but not a world of purpose.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

What we are living through is not just economic or political dysfunction. It is the vacuum that appears when a civilization mistakes abundance for meaning.

Modern life is stuffed with everything except what the human soul actually needs. We built systems to make life faster, easier, and more efficient — and then wondered why those systems cannot teach our children who they are, why they matter, or what is worth living for.

We tell the next generation to chase success, influence, and wealth, turning childhood into branding. We ask kids what they want to do, not who they want to be. We build a world wired for dopamine rather than dignity, and then we wonder why so many people feel unmoored.

When everything is curated, optimized, and delivered at the push of a button, the question “what is my life for?” gets lost in the static.

The crisis beneath the headlines

It is not just the young who feel this crisis. Every part of our society is straining under the weight of meaninglessness.

Look at the debt cycle — the mathematical fate no civilization has ever escaped once it crosses a threshold that we seem to have already blown by. While ordinary families feel the pressure, our leaders respond with distraction, with denial, or by rewriting the very history that could have warned us.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

We have entered a cultural moment where the noise is so loud that it drowns out the simplest truths. We are living in a country that no longer knows how to hear itself think.

So people go searching. Some drift toward the false promise of socialism, some toward the empty thrill of rebellion. Some simply check out. When a culture forgets what gives life meaning, it becomes vulnerable to every ideology that offers a quick answer.

The quiet return of meaning

And yet, quietly, something else is happening. Beneath the frustration and cynicism, many Americans are recognizing that meaning does not come from what we own, but from what we honor. It does not rise from success, but from virtue. It does not emerge from noise, but from the small, sacred things that modern life has pushed to the margins — the home, the table, the duty you fulfill, the person you help when no one is watching.

The danger is assuming that this rediscovery happens on its own. It does not.

Reorientation requires intention. It requires rebuilding the habits and virtues that once held us together. It requires telling the truth about our history instead of rewriting it to fit today’s narratives. And it requires acknowledging what has been erased: that meaning is inseparable from God’s presence in a nation’s life.

Harold M. Lambert / Contributor | Getty Images

Where renewal begins

We have built a world without stillness, and then we wondered why no one can hear the questions that matter. Those questions remain, whether we acknowledge them or not. They do not disappear just because we drown them in entertainment or noise. They wait for us, and the longer we ignore them, the more disoriented we become.

Meaning is still available. It is found in rebuilding the smallest, most human spaces — the places that cannot be digitized, globalized, or automated. The home. The family. The community.

These are the daily virtues that do not trend on social media, but that hold a civilization upright. If we want to repair this country, we begin there, exactly where every durable civilization has always begun: one virtue at a time, one tradition at a time, one generation at a time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The Bubba Effect erupts as America’s power brokers go rogue

Gary Hershorn / Contributor | Getty Images

When institutions betray the public’s trust, the country splits, and the spiral is hard to stop.

Something drastic is happening in American life. Headlines that should leave us stunned barely register anymore. Stories that once would have united the country instead dissolve into silence or shrugs.

It is not apathy exactly. It is something deeper — a growing belief that the people in charge either cannot or will not fix what is broken.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf.

I call this response the Bubba effect. It describes what happens when institutions lose so much public trust that “Bubba,” the average American minding his own business, finally throws his hands up and says, “Fine. I will handle it myself.” Not because he wants to, but because the system that was supposed to protect him now feels indifferent, corrupt, or openly hostile.

The Bubba effect is not a political movement. It is a survival instinct.

What triggers the Bubba effect

We are watching the triggers unfold in real time. When members of Congress publicly encourage active duty troops to disregard orders from the commander in chief, that is not a political squabble. When a federal judge quietly rewrites the rules so one branch of government can secretly surveil another, that is not normal. That is how republics fall. Yet these stories glided across the news cycle without urgency, without consequence, without explanation.

When the American people see the leadership class shrug, they conclude — correctly — that no one is steering the ship.

This is how the Bubba effect spreads. It is not just individuals resisting authority. It is sheriffs refusing to enforce new policies, school boards ignoring state mandates, entire communities saying, “We do not believe you anymore.” It becomes institutional, cultural, national.

A country cracking from the inside

This effect can be seen in Dearborn, Michigan. In the rise of fringe voices like Nick Fuentes. In the Epstein scandal, where powerful people could not seem to locate a single accountable adult. These stories are different in content but identical in message: The system protects itself, not you.

When people feel ignored or betrayed, they will align with anyone who appears willing to fight on their behalf. That does not mean they suddenly agree with everything that person says. It means they feel abandoned by the institutions that were supposed to be trustworthy.

The Bubba effect is what fills that vacuum.

The dangers of a faithless system

A republic cannot survive without credibility. Congress cannot oversee intelligence agencies if it refuses to discipline its own members. The military cannot remain apolitical if its chain of command becomes optional. The judiciary cannot defend the Constitution while inventing loopholes that erase the separation of powers.

History shows that once a nation militarizes politics, normalizes constitutional shortcuts, or allows government agencies to operate without scrutiny, it does not return to equilibrium peacefully. Something will give.

The question is what — and when.

The responsibility now belongs to us

In a healthy country, this is where the media steps in. This is where universities, pastors, journalists, and cultural leaders pause the outrage machine and explain what is at stake. But today, too many see themselves not as guardians of the republic, but of ideology. Their first loyalty is to narrative, not truth.

The founders never trusted the press more than the public. They trusted citizens who understood their rights, lived their responsibilities, and demanded accountability. That is the antidote to the Bubba effect — not rage, but citizenship.

How to respond without breaking ourselves

Do not riot. Do not withdraw. Do not cheer on destruction just because you dislike the target. That is how nations lose themselves. Instead, demand transparency. Call your representatives. Insist on consequences. Refuse to normalize constitutional violations simply because “everyone does it.” If you expect nothing, you will get nothing.

Do not hand your voice to the loudest warrior simply because he is swinging a bat at the establishment. You do not beat corruption by joining a different version of it. You beat it by modeling the country you want to preserve: principled, accountable, rooted in truth.

Adam Gray / Stringer | Getty Images

Every republic reaches a moment when historians will later say, “That was the warning.” We are living in ours. But warnings are gifts if they are recognized. Institutions bend. People fail. The Constitution can recover — if enough Americans still know and cherish it.

It does not take a majority. Twenty percent of the country — awake, educated, and courageous — can reset the system. It has happened before. It can happen again.

Wake up. Stand up. Demand integrity — from leaders, from institutions, and from yourself. Because the Bubba effect will not end until Americans reclaim the duty that has always belonged to them: preserving the republic for the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Grim warning: Bad-faith Israel critics duck REAL questions

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Bad-faith attacks on Israel and AIPAC warp every debate. Real answers emerge only when people set aside scripts and ask what serves America’s long-term interests.

The search for truth has always required something very much in short supply these days: honesty. Not performative questions, not scripted outrage, not whatever happens to be trending on TikTok, but real curiosity.

Some issues, often focused on foreign aid, AIPAC, or Israel, have become hotbeds of debate and disagreement. Before we jump into those debates, however, we must return to a simpler, more important issue: honest questioning. Without it, nothing in these debates matters.

Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

The phrase “just asking questions” has re-entered the zeitgeist, and that’s fine. We should always question power. But too many of those questions feel preloaded with someone else’s answer. If the goal is truth, then the questions should come from a sincere desire to understand, not from a hunt for a villain.

Honest desire for truth is the only foundation that can support a real conversation about these issues.

Truth-seeking is real work

Right now, plenty of people are not seeking the truth at all. They are repeating something they heard from a politician on cable news or from a stranger on TikTok who has never opened a history book. That is not a search for answers. That is simply outsourcing your own thought.

If you want the truth, you need to work for it. You cannot treat the world like a Marvel movie where the good guy appears in a cape and the villain hisses on command. Real life does not give you a neat script with the moral wrapped up in two hours.

But that is how people are approaching politics now. They want the oppressed and the oppressor, the heroic underdog and the cartoon villain. They embrace this fantastical framing because it is easier than wrestling with reality.

This framing took root in the 1960s when the left rebuilt its worldview around colonizers and the colonized. Overnight, Zionism was recast as imperialism. Suddenly, every conflict had to fit the same script. Today’s young activists are just recycling the same narrative with updated graphics. Everything becomes a morality play. No nuance, no context, just the comforting clarity of heroes and villains.

Bad-faith questions

This same mindset is fueling the sudden obsession with Israel, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in particular. You hear it from members of Congress and activists alike: AIPAC pulls the strings, AIPAC controls the government, AIPAC should register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The questions are dramatic, but are they being asked in good faith?

FARA is clear. The standard is whether an individual or group acts under the direction or control of a foreign government. AIPAC simply does not qualify.

Here is a detail conveniently left out of these arguments: Dozens of domestic organizations — Armenian, Cuban, Irish, Turkish — lobby Congress on behalf of other countries. None of them registers under FARA because — like AIPAC — they are independent, domestic organizations.

If someone has a sincere problem with the structure of foreign lobbying, fair enough. Let us have that conversation. But singling out AIPAC alone is not a search for truth. It is bias dressed up as bravery.

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

If someone wants to question foreign aid to Israel, fine. Let’s have that debate. But let’s ask the right questions. The issue is not the size of the package but whether the aid advances our interests. What does the United States gain? Does the investment strengthen our position in the region? How does it compare to what we give other nations? And do we examine those countries with the same intensity?

The real target

These questions reflect good-faith scrutiny. But narrowing the entire argument to one country or one dollar amount misses the larger problem. If someone objects to the way America handles foreign aid, the target is not Israel. The target is the system itself — an entrenched bureaucracy, poor transparency, and decades-old commitments that have never been re-examined. Those problems run through programs around the world.

If you want answers, you need to broaden the lens. You have to be willing to put aside the movie script and confront reality. You have to hold yourself to a simple rule: Ask questions because you want the truth, not because you want a target.

That is the only way this country ever gets clarity on foreign aid, influence, alliances, and our place in the world. Questioning is not just allowed. It is essential. But only if it is honest.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

The melting pot fails when we stop agreeing to melt

Spencer Platt / Staff | Getty Images

Texas now hosts Quran-first academies, Sharia-compliant housing schemes, and rapidly multiplying mosques — all part of a movement building a self-contained society apart from the country around it.

It is time to talk honestly about what is happening inside America’s rapidly growing Muslim communities. In city after city, large pockets of newcomers are choosing to build insulated enclaves rather than enter the broader American culture.

That trend is accelerating, and the longer we ignore it, the harder it becomes to address.

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world.

America has always welcomed people of every faith and people from every corner of the world, but the deal has never changed: You come here and you join the American family. You are free to honor your traditions, keep your faith, but you must embrace the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. You melt into the shared culture that allows all of us to live side by side.

Across the country, this bargain is being rejected by Islamist communities that insist on building a parallel society with its own rules, its own boundaries, and its own vision for how life should be lived.

Texas illustrates the trend. The state now has roughly 330 mosques. At least 48 of them were built in just the last 24 months. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex alone has around 200 Islamic centers. Houston has another hundred or so. Many of these communities have no interest in blending into American life.

This is not the same as past waves of immigration. Irish, Italian, Korean, Mexican, and every other group arrived with pride in their heritage. Still, they also raised American flags and wanted their children to be part of the country’s future. They became doctors, small-business owners, teachers, and soldiers. They wanted to be Americans.

What we are watching now is not the melting pot. It is isolation by design.

Parallel societies do not end well

More than 300 fundamentalist Islamic schools now operate full-time across the country. Many use Quran-first curricula that require students to spend hours memorizing religious texts before they ever reach math or science. In Dallas, Brighter Horizons Academy enrolls more than 1,700 students and draws federal support while operating on a social model that keeps children culturally isolated.

Then there is the Epic City project in Collin and Hunt counties — 402 acres originally designated only for Muslim buyers, with Sharia-compliant financing and a mega-mosque at the center. After public outcry and state investigations, the developers renamed it “The Meadows,” but a new sign does not erase the original intent. It is not a neighborhood. It is a parallel society.

Americans should not hesitate to say that parallel societies are dangerous. Europe tried this experiment, and the results could not be clearer. In Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, entire neighborhoods now operate under their own cultural rules, some openly hostile to Western norms. When citizens speak up, they are branded bigots for asserting a basic right: the ability to live safely in their own communities.

A crisis of confidence

While this separation widens, another crisis is unfolding at home. A recent Gallup survey shows that about 40% of American women ages 18 to 39 would leave the country permanently if given the chance. Nearly half of a rising generation — daughters, sisters, soon-to-be mothers — no longer believe this nation is worth building a future in.

And who shapes the worldview of young boys? Their mothers. If a mother no longer believes America is home, why would her child grow up ready to defend it?

As Texas goes, so goes America. And as America goes, so goes the free world. If we lose confidence in our own national identity at the same time that we allow separatist enclaves to spread unchecked, the outcome is predictable. Europe is already showing us what comes next: cultural fracture, political radicalization, and the slow death of national unity.

Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

Stand up and tell the truth

America welcomes Muslims. America defends their right to worship freely. A Muslim who loves the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and wants to raise a family in peace is more than welcome in America.

But an Islamist movement that rejects assimilation, builds enclaves governed by its own religious framework, and treats American law as optional is not simply another participant in our melting pot. It is a direct challenge to it. If we refuse to call this problem out out of fear of being called names, we will bear the consequences.

Europe is already feeling those consequences — rising conflict and a political class too paralyzed to admit the obvious. When people feel their culture, safety, and freedoms slipping away, they will follow anyone who promises to defend them. History has shown that over and over again.

Stand up. Speak plainly. Be unafraid. You can practice any faith in this country, but the supremacy of the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian moral framework that shaped it is non-negotiable. It is what guarantees your freedom in the first place.

If you come here and honor that foundation, welcome. If you come here to undermine it, you do not belong here.

Wake up to what is unfolding before the consequences arrive. Because when a nation refuses to say what is true, the truth eventually forces its way in — and by then, it is always too late.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.