BLOGMay 24, 2017

The Pope's Gift to President Trump Might Make Your Head Explode

When Barack Obama gave the queen a collection of his own speeches as a gift, he set the bar pretty low for future Presidents. But what do you get the guy who has everything and wants nothing? Wednesday on radio, Glenn talked about the gifts President Donald Trump and Pope Francis exchanged.

"Donald Trump gave him a case of books from Martin Luther King," Glenn said.

Now, get out the duct tape. The gift the Catholic pontiff gave President Trump might make your head explode.

"The pope gave Donald Trump a medal by a Roman artist," Glenn said. "The pope also gave him three books: the 'Topics of Family,' the 'Joy of the Gospel,' and 'On the Care for Our Common Home,' (the environment)."

Glenn's radio co-host Pat Gray nearly lost it when he heard the pope gave Trump his encyclical on climate change.

"Ugh," Pat groaned.

Author Paul Kengor joined the program to discuss the visit and compare it to Ronald Reagan's first visit with John Paul II nearly 35 years ago to the week.

Enjoy the complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: Hello, America. Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program. The president has just left the pontiff. He was in Rome. The exchange books and exchange gifts. Now, the last president we had, remember his first tour? Oh, my -- remember he gave the queen a DVD, which she couldn't use in England, of all of his greatest speeches. We all are pretty sure that Donald Trump thinks highly of himself. Even Donald Trump didn't give a gift of all of his greatest gifts. So what did he give the pope? And who did the pope give him?

Meeting with the pontiff, we begin there, right now.

(music)

GLENN: So they get together. They exchange gifts. I mean, what do you get the pope? I mean, a guy who literally has everything. Oh, you got me a nice little statue. Good. Thank you, I'll put that over in my desk, right next to the Michelangelo. I mean, what do you get that guy, who has everything, including his own face on bottle openers?

PAT: I had an idea, but I --

STU: You thought better?

PAT: Uh-huh.

STU: Yeah, okay.

GLENN: You may not think better when you hear what the pope gave to Donald Trump.

STU: Because it's not only a guy who has everything, but also a guy who is outwardly telling you that material things don't matter.

GLENN: Correct.

PAT: So where do you go?

GLENN: Correct. That's when you walk in and say, "Hey, pope, I just was thinking about you. And I thought, you know what, you don't want any material things. So I bought a little something for myself."

(laughter)

Okay. So Donald Trump gave him a case of books from Martin Luther King, and the pope gave Donald Trump a medal by Roman artist that said what that was, was an olive. I mean, when a Roman artist is making something for the president of the United States, you wonder, yeah, then how can it looks like a pile of crap? No, no. It's an olive. But he gave him an olive, a symbol of peace. And apparently the president said, "We can use peace." The pope also gave him three books: The Topics of Family, the Joy of the Gospel, and the Care of our Common Home, the environment.

JEFFY: Hmm.

GLENN: He then gave him --

PAT: Oh, man.

GLENN: And this is what is going to set Pat off. Look out, he's going to be screaming to the pope, "Get off my lawn."

He also gave him his encyclical on climate change.

PAT: Ugh.

GLENN: So hopefully -- hopefully that will help Donald Trump, you know, understand --

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: -- that you got to do something on climate change.

PAT: And not just something, we need to spend -- well, according to the Al Gore group, 50 trillion. And according to that other group, 90 trillion, was it?

STU: Just the 90 trillion.

GLENN: Yeah.

Paul Kengor is with us. He's the author of a new book called A pope and a President. A Pope and a President. It's an amazing book. If you love Ronald Reagan, you have to buy this book and read it. A Pope and a President: Ronald Reagan and His Relationship with Pope John Paul.

Paul, welcome to the program. How are you, sir?

PAUL: Hey, good, guys. Great to be with you.

GLENN: Good. So what are your thoughts on the visit with Donald Trump and the pope?

PAUL: Well, you know, I was first struck at how different this is from Ronald Reagan and John Paul II, right? You know, to have -- with those two, when they first met, which was ironically 35 years ago almost to this exact week, when the two of them met at the Vatican for the first time --

GLENN: Wow.

PAUL: Yeah. That was June 1982. And, you know, those two went in with all sorts of commonalities. I mean, they agreed with the international situation, domestic situation. They both had been, you know, shot, the year before, and both miraculously survived these assassination attempts.

GLENN: They both agreed --

PAUL: So when they came together --

GLENN: They both agreed clearly on the definition of evil as well.

PAUL: They did. And to both of them, the one clear international threat was atheistic Soviet communism. And these two, as well, with Francis and Trump -- you know, they might agree that the dominant international threat is Islam, or radical Islam. But they don't, in any way, I think, share any sort of common mission on how to respond to it.

GLENN: Do you think that the pope -- hang on, where are you getting that the pope really understands radical Islam? I mean, he -- he seems to almost be towing the same line that you would hear from CNN.

PAUL: Right. Right. Yeah, he's been very, let's say, merciful, right? Which is a common word of his, being sort of the pope of mercy. He's been very charitable, merciful toward Islam. But I think, really, if pressed -- and I think he and Trump, from what I can tell, so far and what I've read about the meeting, I think they agreed, at least on the threat of Islam in terms of religious persecution. Because that seems to be an issue that was brought up at the Vatican between the two of them. But I think the difference, Glenn, is how would they respond to it, right? You know, how would they talk about it publicly? You're never going to have Pope Francis condemning radical Islam in the way that Trump did, or the way Trump has. Or referring to it in the kind of incendiary language that Trump has. So the difference is probably not necessarily on how they recognize the threat, but how they respond to it.

GLENN: So -- we're talking to Dr. Paul Kengor. He's the author of A Pope and A President: The Meeting Between John Paul -- and the friendship between John Paul and Ronald Reagan.

Here we have the guy who is probably the biggest -- he's almost a caricature of capitalism. And to somebody like Pope Francis, who grew up in South America, who is not favorable to capitalists at all, he must view Donald Trump as -- as everything that he stands against. And I just can't imagine -- what do you think the pope was -- what do you think the pope's message to him was, privately?

PAUL: That's a good question. Yeah, I don't know if they talked about that at all. The actual statement that came out from the Vatican -- I'm looking at it right now. Boy, it's not even maybe 100 to 200 words long. So there's hardly anything to it at all. And it says that they talked really about common areas of agreements, such as -- as it says, a commitment in favor of life. That would be unborn human life, I would think. Freedom of worship. Freedom of conscience.

And it also says that areas -- I think it says that they brought up immigration. They talked about the Middle East, the protection of Christian communities.

So I don't think he brought up any of his sort of, what's seen as anti-capitalist viewpoints from Pope Francis. I doubt they really talked economics much. I doubt they talked climate change much.

But as you guys mentioned, Glenn, that encyclical, it's called Laudato si', that addresses all of those topics. When he said -- when he gave that to Trump and two other statements -- and Trump actually said, "I'll read these," which is impressive for Trump because the guy hardly reads anything, right? I mean, he said he doesn't read books. These are -- and these are -- they're not quite book length. But I think Laudato si' is maybe, off the top of my head, 50 to 70 pages. So it's a pretty in-depth read. But it talks about economics, climate change, but it also talks about family. It talks about how, if we're going to care for God's creation, we need to not just care about the environment, we need to care about God's creation of the little ones in the womb, for example.

So there's still -- I mean, there are some pretty obvious areas of disagreement. But they also have some pretty important commonalities that I don't think people are giving them credit for.

GLENN: Has Donald Trump -- does anybody know -- has Donald Trump ever met with a pope before?

PAUL: I doubt he has, yeah.

GLENN: I'm just wondering, was this something that you think was moving or special to him in any way? As a guy who has done everything he's wanted for his whole life --

PAUL: Yeah, I think it was.

In fact, the CNN headline on this was very interesting. At CNN.com, I think the title was something like, Trump tells Francis, "I won't forget what you said. I won't forget what you said." And there's something about the Vatican. You've been there.

GLENN: Yeah.

PAUL: I've been there. When you walk into St. Peter's Basilica, I mean, you can have an ego the size of Donald Trump, but all of a sudden, you're humbled by that environment. You know, you're humbled by -- by -- he apparently took a tour through the basilica, through the actual Vatican. They met, I think, in the Vatican library, which is where Reagan and John Paul II met when they met for the first time 35 years ago. And also, just simply when -- you know, I've talked to people who have met popes, who have met Pope Francis.

And when you meet with that bishop in white -- and in Francis' case, somebody with a very calm, friendly, winsome demeanor. I think it probably humbled Trump. And the pictures that I saw of him and Ivanka, you know, slightly veiled. Melania veiled. Melania even apparently -- this is according to the National Catholic Register, gave a rosary to the pope and asked him to bless it. I mean, I don't know if it's her rosary.

GLENN: Well, she came from a very Catholic company -- she came from a very Catholic country, did she not?

PAUL: Right. Well, that's true, she did. And the pope even made a couple references to different Slovenian dishes that he knew of. And Slovenia was -- I mean, that was part of the Balkans area that the Soviets and the communists were dominating from the 1940s to the 1980s.

GLENN: Right.

PAUL: So, you know, they probably -- in that respect, she surely has a respect for the Catholic church -- I mean, she noted that she was Slovak. And Pope John Paul II was the first and only Slovak pope.

GLENN: Paul, thank you for your analysis on this. Can't urge the audience enough. Please, if you like Ronald Reagan, you are going to love Paul Kengor's book. I'm still waiting for an autographed copy, Paul, but no rush.

PAUL: Oh. You got it.

GLENN: A Pope and a President. The story of John Paul and Ronald Reagan. This friendship that changed the world. It's a tremendous, tremendous read. Paul, thank you so much for being on.

PAUL: Okay. Glenn, take care.

GLENN: You got it.

STU: Noticed how you happened to make a story about the pope and the president, about you, which was an interesting trick there. Quite an achievement.

GLENN: Well, I thought it was the only way I could get an autographed copy on the air. I could write him all day, and he's not going to do it. Now he's got to. Now he's got to.

RADIO

Biden FLOODED the Government With DEI, But Trump Has ONE Way to Win

With just weeks left in office, President Biden (or whoever’s actually calling the shots) has decided to hire 1,200 DEI officials. Is this part of a plot to undermine Donald Trump’s plans and make it harder for him to rid the government of woke Deep State bureaucrats? Glenn and fellow BlazeTV host ‪@lizwheeler‬ discuss how other Democrats have recently proposed things like this, including a UK-style “shadow cabinet” that would oppose Trump. Liz also gives her advice to Trump on how to deal with these new DEI officials, who will be paid hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to focus on things like “health equity” …

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Okay. Where were we, Liz?

LIZ: The Biden administration. Although, not Biden. Because he can't tell the difference between a nickel and a dime, trying to sabotage the Trump administration.

GLENN: Yeah. So the latest on this is now Biden is hiring 1200. Biden is not doing it.

But he's hiring 1200 DEI officials, and putting them just under the appointed official. So there will be 1200.

Some of these people make almost $400,000 a year. $400,000 a year! That's your tax dollar!

Will you -- in your -- in your life, your average person, I don't know if you'll ever even -- if you'll ever even pay $400,000 in taxes?

So you could be working your whole life, for that one hire.

And he's hired 1200 of them.

And all he's trying to do is make sure the DEI positions just can't get cut.

I've got news for you.

Donald Trump is going to cut those positions.

He's going to. And it's going to get ugly.

I mean, the ACLU was all over this, saying, oh, we've got plans. We're going to -- we're going to -- this is obscene.

This is absolutely obscene. What the Democrats are trying to do. By thwarting the president.

And honestly, thwarting the will of the American people. Remember the speech that was given by I don't know, some boob from -- well, one of the Carolinas.

I don't want to besmirch the other one for electing a boob. But he was -- he was giving a speech in the well of the Senate. And he said, we need a shadow government. What?

Hold it. You mean a Deep State. Because we already have one of those. And he said. This is a quote.

One of the most obscene things I've ever heard from an elected representative. We failed to make our case. That our policies are better.

Now, in my world, growing up in America, the next sentence is: We need to sit down and talk and find out why we're out of step, with the American people.

His was, but we know we're right. So we need a shadow government, to make sure we put our policies in, anyway.

There's nothing more un-American than that.

By the way, Ted Cruz also said, he thinks there's criminal charges that could be lodged against Biden and his administration for the selling of the steel and the walls for the border.

I think so too. I think so too. He'll probably end up blanketing or pardoning everybody that has either lived by a Biden. Or a Democrat.

Worked for the administration. Everybody will get a pardon at the end.

Honestly, it's like, hey. Everybody, Oprah is here.

Look under your seats.

Because you've got a pardon. You've got a pardon. And you've got a pardon.

Ugh!

Now...

PAT: The Department of Health and Human Services on November 15th. This is posted immediately after President Trump has been reelected.

They advertised for the following position. A deputy assistant secretary for Minority Health. With a salary of up to 221 thousand dollars. This is the goal of this position.

Or this is the purpose of this position.

To, quote, promote health equity.

To promote health equity.

What does that mean?

It means racial criminalization in health care.

It means, if you are seeking, I don't know.

Think about during the pandemic. When there was limited resources. Limited beds in the emergency room.

Limited amounts of drugs and therapeutics, that people could access, in order to treat COVID when it's at its worse.

Well, now you will be screened based on the color of your skin.

That's what health equity is. Health equity is a word used to disguise the reality, that it's just -- it's socialism.

It's discrimination.

It requires, a government official to look at you, and make a decision about whether or not you are going to have access to health care that you might need, based on what you look like.

Not based on the severity of your illness. Not based on your ability to pay. Not based on your request for care. But based on the color of your skin. That's not only wrong and immoral and completely absurd, that a bureaucratic in that position would make over $221,000. That's evil. The left likes to pretend, that you're a racist. Or I'm a racist. Just for voting for Donald Trump. This is evil racism. This is the kind of stuff that we eradicated from our country.

And Biden is trying to plant the Trump administration. With these evil little minions before he leaves.

GLENN: I mean, why are we -- why are we surprised?

How many anti-slavery amendments do we have, to the Constitution.

I mean, it's amazing to me. With very few exception, after ten, most of these seem to be like, oh.

Yeah. Okay.

You're so stupid, you don't understand.

Slaves need to be free. Okay.

Then the next amendment is like, okay. All right.

Let me limp up to explain this once more.

That means, they're Americans, and can vote!

How many amendments are -- are just one after another, especially on slavery.

And, by the way, who was it that didn't understand that slaves should be freed? The Democratic Party.

It -- I swear to you, these amendments are just, God, we didn't think you would be this stupid.

It's already covered!

But let's lay it out clearly, for you.

You cannot discriminate by color! By race! By religion.

We thought that had already been covered, but apparently, not.

LIZ: What I would do if I were the Trump transition team. This is obviously a deliberate effort by the Biden administration. Because within the first ten days after the election, 33 of these jobs were posted on government websites.

So this was -- they were like, okay. Trump is coming in. Let's start ceding the deep state with these races. What I would do if I were Trump transition is I would say, we take racial equality, very seriously. We take civil rights very seriously.

In the administration, of the 47th president of the United States, and anybody who engages, especially a government official who engages in racial discrimination will be prosecuted. And prevent these people from even accepting these jobs. Because they will be threatened with legal action if they do.

GLENN: You can make a legal case. A solid, legal case, that that is exactly right. And that's what should be done.

They would be doing that to us, if we were -- if we were discriminating on race. If we were like, you know what, we're only going to hire white people.

We would go to jail.

Oh, you know what. We're just going to shuffle the deck here.

We're going to look at everybody.

But we lean towards white people.

Did you have Wheaties for breakfast?

If you had Wheaties as a childhood, you're in a different category. Okay?

I mean, we would go to jail. We would be shut down.

It's the same thing.

But don't expect the Democrats to get it.

Did you see the new -- or the DNC chair front runner?

The one they're thinking should be the head of the DNC?

He said, the problem with the election is, the convention should have featured pro-Hamas activists.

LIZ: I totally agree. That absolutely should have --
GLENN: At least they would have been honest.
LIZ: Think about how many Democrat voters, and really prominent people too.

I'm talking about Joe Rogan. I'm talking about Elon Musk. I'm talking about RFK Jr. These were fairly hard-core Democrats, who not only converted to being like, okay. We'll tolerate a Republican. Because it's not Joe Biden.

It's not Kamala Harris.

These people are the biggest supporters of President Trump right now, because of that kind of garbage. So DNC, if you are going to be radical, please be honest and tell us.

Thank you. It's just ushering new Republican voters right into our arms.

GLENN: I respect you, more than I respect people like Mike Johnson.

Mike Johnson doesn't tell me what -- he doesn't tell me what he really is.

What he really believes.

He tells me what I want to hear. I don't believe it. Then he's elected. Then he gets in.

And then he rapes you.

You know, I have much more respect for -- for people who are like, yeah. I'm pro-Hamas.

And you should elect me.

Well, I don't think I'm going to do it.

But thank you for telling me who you really are.

LIZ: Yeah. Great. Let's take all of the Democrat members of Congress. And let's Jamaal Bowman them, let's Cori Bush them.

Because as soon as they were honest about being pro-Hamas, voters were like, actually, we're good.

GLENN: Yep. Yep.

By the way, Hochul has come out. And she has now tried to stir up support to end the electoral college.

Because no offense, Wyoming, according to her words, New York voted for Kamala Harris.

You know, it is so dishonest. And this would -- this would have no space, if -- if we were actually teaching you students, what the electoral college is for.

You want to talk about fairness. Here's fairness: Should New York City dictate what all of New York does?

No!

They have representation. Of all the small towns.

All the farming towns.

Everything else.

New York City, should not be the one that tells everyone else, exactly how to live!

I think there should be electoral colleges in states now.

Because the cities are just devouring, all of the communities outside of those mega cities.

The electoral college is to make sure, that New York, California, and let me say, Texas, doesn't run over all of the other states!

And force how they're living in those cities, and those big states. In Wyoming!

Or Idaho!

Or Alabama!

Yeah. I don't have to live like you do in New York City.

I don't want to live like you do in New York City.

And we have completely different values than you do.

We should have a say, and an even, equal seat at the table.

That's why we have the electoral college. And we have the popular vote.

So you can see. And it's usually pretty close.

This time, however, Hochul, you lost the popular vote!

So you don't really have a case here, on the electoral college.

But you don't have a case.

If you're an American, you don't have a case on the electoral college anyway.

LIZ: Wait a second. Have we war gamed the scenario that you just proposed.

If there was an electoral college on the state level in California or on the state level in New York, what would the -- have we actually looked at a map here. If anybody has done this. Tag me on social media.

Because I am fascinated by this idea. I've not thought of this before. But I -- would we actually swing those states Republicans, if there was a state level?

STU: I bet we would. I bet we would.

You know, every time. Look at Wyoming.

Jackson Hole now controls Wyoming. Just controls it.

Who is -- who is so close to controlling Texas?

All the big cities.

You know, you don't have a chance. When these cities grow so large, they tip everything.

That's why we have an electoral college.

And it didn't used to be this way.

But our cities are becoming mega cities.

Almost states in and among themselves.

You -- you have to balance. Otherwise, the farmer and everybody else, that makes your life possible, in a city, gets screwed.

GLENN: And also think about cheating for a second. If you have a popular vote across the whole country, versus an electoral college system, it's a lot easier to impact the outcome of the entire presidential election because you can have one county somewhere with corrupt election officials.

And if they cheat by 10,000 votes, that could change the outcome of the election.

But if you're an electoral college, it doesn't necessarily.

RADIO

3 INFURIATING Reasons to REJECT the New Spending Bill

Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is trying to push through a “continuing resolution” bill right before Christmas. But this CR bill has grown so bloated that it’s practically an omnibus, which Speaker Mike Johnson promised he wouldn’t back. Yet here we are again … Glenn and fellow BlazeTV host‪@lizwheeler‬ review 3 of the worst things included in this bill – but just ONE of them should be enough to make every TRUE conservative in Congress vote AGAINST it. First, it includes a 1-year renewal of the Global Engagement Center, which is a State Department sub-agency that has become “the nexus of the censorship-industrial complex” against Americans. Then, there’s an expansion of the “Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness and Response Act”, which would give the government the power to conduct gain-of-function research in the case of a national emergency. And lastly, it holds hurricane relief hostage. "Does that sound like you’re negotiating with honest people?" Glenn says. Maybe we should just let the government shutdown happen. Turn it off and back on again.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So Liz Wheeler is joining me. The Liz Wheeler show. You can watch it on YouTube or on Blaze TV.

She is fabulous. And really, really smart. And actually, a conservative. I know, because early this morning, we talked about the spending bill from Mike Johnson.

It -- what part of that do you like the most, Liz?

LIZ: I like the fact that in order to print all of those pages, we had to have American workers chopping down some trees. Which helps our industry.

There is nothing else positive about this bill.

Here what I would say to Republicans in the United States Congress. Who are there, of course. To represent us.

You don't have to post on X, telling us that you spent the whole night reading this.

Don't even bother. There is one thing in this bill that should an immediate disqualifier. You don't have to read another word after you realize that included, in this 1,547-page monstrosity, there is a one-year renewal of what's called the global engagement center. It's such -- it's such a vanilla sounding name, isn't it?

GLENN: Oh, yeah, and it's not! It is not. We talked about the global engagement center on this program, over and over again.

But I'll bet you most people, even in this audience. I'll bet, don't know how dangerous that is.

And the Republicans are giving it another year's worth of funding. What to do!

LIZ: It's unacceptable. It's unacceptable. The global engagement center is a subagency of the state department. And the purpose or the stated purpose, it was conceived in 2014, 2015, 2016. That's when it kind of came into being.

Was to combat disinformation. It's a narrative setting body. It's supposed to be a fact-checking organization for hostile foreign adversaries.

That's what they told us! Which is funny, Glenn. Because right at the time that they were saying, that they -- that they conceived of this global engagement centered to combat foreign disinformation. Not here in America, they said, just abroad.

Suddenly, everything that you and I say, has been labeled as, oh, that sounds an awful lot like Russian propaganda.

That sounds an awful lot like, you know, someone being a patsy for a foreign government.

And suddenly this global government agency was aimed at us.

It is the nexus of the censorship industrial complex. Which has obviously been used against President Trump.

But think of the Hunter Biden laptop story being censor odd Facebook and on Twitter of old. This global engagement center is behind that.

And the fact that any Republican in the United States Congress could look at this bill, see a one-year renewal for the global engagement center and think, oh, I should read the rest of this bill.

Mind-blown.

GLENN: You need to say no to this bill.

LIZ: Yeah.

GLENN: You need to call your House of Representatives and say, no, no, no.

That's not what we just voted for. No.

And we will primary every single one, that votes yes.

What are they going to do? They are going to shut the government down? First of all, they will not shut the welfare system down. They're not going to shut the military down.

No. Nothing that is critical, is going to be shut down. They should shut the government off.

With everything that we have learned and known. What good are they going to be up to, while we're all thinking about Christmas and New Year's?

Shut it off!

You know what, here's -- here's where I start with DOGE.

This is my beginning place.

Hey. Can you give me a list of everybody who raised their hand and said they were an essential employee for the government.

And has been showing up to work, all through the pandemic.

And beyond. Okay? Good. Give me that list.

Everyone else, you're nonessential, by your own definition, or your boss' definition, you're fired.

That's what it should be. You're not in an essential worker?

Than what the hell are you doing? What are you doing?

Why do we need you?

This government is so bloated. It is so rife with corruption. The best thing -- here -- I've said this for years.

Can we try unplugging it. And plugging it back in?

Reset to factory settings.

If we have these non-stop continuing resolutions. You know what that means?

It means, there is no budget.

LIZ: Right.

GLENN: They're not discussing the budget. They're not saying where you're going to spend -- none of that -- none of that happens.

They just keep saying, you know the budget we had?

I believe in 2008, was the last one we passed. Do you know, Liz?

LIZ: No. It's also a betrayal, by the way.

When you talk about the budget process, it's a betrayal on the part of Speaker Johnson.

Because he specifically promised not to do this. This happens every year. We get to Christmas.

Congress knows that we're busy, taking care of our families, enjoying the holiday.

And going to church.

And they try to cram all this poison through.

Speaker Johnson, you promised not to do this. You're betraying, not only your constituents.

But the entire American public. Give us one good reason, why we should not have a vote to vacate your chair?

Why should we not do that to you? Because you have betrayed everything you've promised.

GLENN: We will probably hear that from Chip Roy in about an hour. And Thomas Massie is just blood shooting from his eyes today.

This is everything Thomas Massie said would happen. Everything we have seen over and over again.

And I want to go back to the budget.

We haven't had a passed budget, since 2008.

What's happened to our deficit since 2008?

Why is it, your family has to live on a budget? Because if you got to the end of the year and went, you know what, I don't have money for taxes.

Oh, well.

I'll just get some from the Federal Reserve.

And I'll write them an IOU.

That wouldn't happen.

That only happens in the Biden family.

Okay. Doesn't happen to you.

You have to have a budget. Your company has to have a budget.

Here's the world's largest corporation, if you will.

Employs more people than any other thing in the entire world. The history of the world!

And we don't have a budget?

How is that possible?

LIZ: Modern monetary theory.

GLENN: Yep!

LIZ: From the Obama administration.

It's the chicken -- I mean, it's coming home to roost. This is what we said would happen. If you stop. If you stop acting like your money has value.

And instead, you just printed at will, you don't have to have any -- government officials.

Congress members, specifically, don't have to have any accountability to their voters.

Because they never have to answer for the question that voters would pose to them and say, well, you passed this bill, and you're spending my money in order to fund whatever your project is. Justify that to me.

But if the Congress members aren't appropriating money, via taxes. They're just printing it. There's no accountability. It is a blank check, for their pet projects.

GLENN: You keep asking, as an individual American.

Because I know, this is the way I feel. What -- where is -- where is Joe Biden finding -- oh, I will send another $900 million to Ukraine.

A week later. I'm going to send another $500 million. Where is the debate on that?

Because if that had to go through Congress, we wouldn't be approving all of those.

He's pulling from all kinds of different budgets. He's just pooling the money. Pull from here. Pull from here. Pull from here. And he's giving it, without any debate. No congressional approval. No budget ramifications.

No one is even saying anything about it. No one is saying, the president is out of control.

They're not even saying, he can't control his bladder or his bowels, anymore.

Let alone, control himself with spending.

And live within the definition of the presidency.

LIZ: Well, here's the thing. Here's the thing. It's a hostage situation happening right now.

Joe Biden can't tell the difference between a nickel and a dime. He's not in control of what's going on. I think you know that.

GLENN: You think?

Hang on. Hang on. Hang on.

You think, or you know?

LIZ: We know. Imagine a situation. Holding up a nickel and a dime. Joe, can you tell the difference?

I don't think so. Maybe he would be like, vote for ice cream, please.

GLENN: Yeah. And also, he's not the president. He's not making these decisions.

If he is -- this is the Wilson administration!

They are -- Wilson had a stroke. He was completely incapable of running anything the last year in office.

His wife was shoving the orders underneath his hand.

Putting her hand on top of his. And then signing his name. That's what's happening here. That's what's happening. There's -- he might be able to sign his own name. But I can guarantee you, he didn't -- he didn't approve 9,000 people. Who did?

Who approved all of those pardons? Who did?

Not him. Not him.

LIZ: We're going to look at those, the signature later. When someone gets a chance to scrutinize it, and we're going to find that it's signed by Corn Pop.

All right. Let me tell you something else that's in this bill.

GLENN: Okay.

LIZ: There's an expansion of the pandemic and all hazards, preparedness with and be response act.

GLENN: Oh.

LIZ: This act. Problematic from the name itself, perhaps.

We can anticipate what's in it.

It allows the government to declare a national emergency.

You know, in the case of another COVID-19-like virus.

Enforce vaccines on us. Vaccine passports on us.

Masking. All the COVID tyranny.

This expands it, and actually gives the government power to do it.

Again, there's a lot wrong with this bill.

If this isn't a deal breaker.

Why even call yourself a Republican?

GLENN: And I do want to remind you, this is a Republican bill. This is not the Democrats -- this is the House. This is the House's bill.

It only gets worse when it goes over to the Senate.

And they're putting it -- what additional powers on -- on declaring a national emergency does our president and government need?

Haven't they --

LIZ: Well, according to this bill, it would give them additional power to conduct gain of function research, of course, just defensively.

GLENN: Wait. Wait. Wait.

I'm sorry. I've got so much blood in my eyes right now. What did you just say?

LIZ: The pandemic and all hazards, preparedness and response act, if expanded, would give the government, in the case of the president declared an emergency, if there is another COVID-19. It would give them the power to conduct gain-of-function research.

GLENN: I -- I -- I wish this wasn't FCC regulated radio. I can't think of anything that's not obscene to say after that.

GLENN: You don't usually, like at this point, Christmas music will cheer me up.

But as a dad, I'm practically vomiting blood. My daughter is on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry. I was on the airplane, and just going true my music. And I started listening to Patsy Cline. I loved Patsy Cline. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, she's going to be standing on the same stage that Patsy Cline sang these songs from.

And that's happening tonight.

So tomorrow, I will be much more relaxed. And less scattered than I am today.

But that happens tonight. By the way, name of her album is Home for Christmas. You can there it wherever you get your music.

And thank you so much. Tonight, she's on with for King & Country.

She's doing a couple of songs before they come out. And for King & Country, if you've never seen them in concert. You need to see them.

They are fantastic!

Okay. So Chip Roy, just read something from Chip Roy. He said, we get this negotiated crap, and we're forced to eat this crap switch.

Why? Because freaking Christmas is right around the corner. It's the same dang thing every year.

Legislate by crisis! Legislate by calendar! Not legislate, because it's the right thing to do. I love Chip Roy.

I do. I do.

LIZ: He's my favorite member.

GLENN: Is he? I think he's mine too. Massie is pretty great.

LIZ: He is.

He predicted this, by the way, I think it was from -- it was early in September, Massey said, I will tell you exactly what the Republicans are going to do. This is before we even knew who was going to control the House. He predicted this to a T.

GLENN: Yeah. They always do this. They always do this.

And we always give in. Because they scare us.

Stop being scared by what the government is saying!

You should be afraid of the government, on what they're not telling you.

What they're doing behind the scenes.

When they say shut down the government, you really think our missiles won't fly if North Korea, you know, pushes the button.

Do you really think we can't scramble our jets.

Do you really think, that our budget -- that this little game that we play, every time people are going to starve?

No!

It's not going to happen. This -- what happens every single time, is they scare people. And they're like, well, we can't shut down the government.

We can't shut down -- yes, we can.

You will be surprised at how much we can take care of by ourself. How sweet ass your life becomes, when the government ain't showing up!

They're holding the -- the hurricane relief hostage in this bill.

Now, does that sound like you're negotiating with honest people?

With good people?

With people that actually care about you?

They're holding hurricane relief hostage?

Hmm. Congress, don't -- do not bitch at me.

Do not bitch at me.

Oh, we can't even read -- you don't have to.

Reject this bill. There's -- there's -- we just gave you three things in the bill.

You should be like, oh, well, that's ridiculous.

By the way, very few mentions of the border in this.

Okay?

Call your Congressmen.

Hey, we're not around the tree yet.

Tube this bill!

RADIO

“for King + Country” REVEALS Mission Behind “A Drummer Boy Christmas LIVE" Tour & Movie

Christian band ‪@ForKingAndCountry‬ is now synonymous with the Christmas song "Little Drummer Boy." But it's hard to bring their incredible Christmas concert experience to everyone in America - let alone the world - when the Christmas season is so short. So this year, they've decided to create a virtual tour, called "A Drummer Boy Christmas LIVE | The Cinematic Concert Experience". Brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone join Glenn Beck to explain how the idea came about, how they pulled it off, and why Joel's wife described it to him as "better than your actual live show." Plus, they share the story of how they once worked for Glenn many years ago ...

"A Drummer Boy Christmas LIVE" is in select theaters through December 19th and is also available on DVD at https://www.ForKingAndCountry.com/

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Luke and Joel Smallbone, brothers, from the Smallbone family are with me by now.

Guys, how are you?

VOICE: Well, well, well, from the bowels of an arena in Kansas City, a month or so ago, to -- to your show today, and I want to give a spoiler to the listeners, but to the Grand Ole Opry in a couple of weeks.

GLENN: Yeah. I know. That's crazy. That's crazy.

I can't thank you guys enough for that.

It's nuts. Do you have any -- well, we'll get into it some other time on the air. Or off the air.

Tell me about the -- the film, that you guys have, out in -- in -- what do they call it?

It's not --

VOICE: Yeah, it's actually -- well, first of all, thanks for having us, and loved our time together.

GLENN: Yeah.

VOICE: It's in 1600 theaters across America. So here's the back story, Glenn. We love Christmas. We love Christmas.

It actually will become a hallmark of Luke and my band, for King & Country, particularly this song, the Little Drummer Boy.

We did sort of a very obvious version of it, with Bing Crosby or Frank Sinatra never thought of. And that is, we put loaded drums on a song, about a boy playing a drum.

And, I mean, all the TSA agents will come to me. And be like, we -- they would be like, you're part of King & Country. They would be like, you're the drummer boy, right? You know you've made it when an American TSA agent calls it. And but the trouble is, when we do these Christmas tours. You know, it's so short.

So we only did ten or 12 tours every year. So we end that when we announce it. Three-quarters of America and the rest of the world are all just really upset about it, because we can't get to them.

And so this was our attempt, you know, in a holiday, that I feel like we need to be reminded of these great hallmarks of what it means to be human joy and love and peace.

And the redemption that comes through God. We needed to be reminded of this.

So we put a film. We put it in a Toyota center, last year. And captured a cinematic experience for the whole family of our live show.

And my wife literally, Glenn. Turned to me. And he she was like, Joel, I think this is better than your actual live show.

So I was encouraged and insulted all at the same time.

GLENN: Right. I have to tell you, who is -- who is the artistic director of -- of the show?

VOICE: Well, this is Luke here. Well, this is one of the privileges of being able to do work. And I have brothers from the same mother. From the same father. And I have a privilege of working together. Is actually being able to, you know, being able to create these things together.

Our brother Daniel is actually the show designer.

We obviously, we work on this altogether.

So when it comes down to the set lists.

The visuals. The technology.

Yeah. We're involved with all of it.

Because we've actually done this since we were very young boys.

Rebecca saint James. We went on the road with her.

I think I was a lighting director at 14 or 15.

Joel was --

VOICE: That's a nice summary.

VOICE: So, you know, you throw this all together, and you create these shows.

And that's one of the things I love about what we get to do. We get to do it together.

GLENN: I have to tell you, it was -- it was awesome. It's one of the best shows I've seen. You know, I haven't seen the Christmas one, yet. I've heard, you know, the music.

I haven't seen the actual show.

But the -- the -- your music and the staging was -- I mean, I sat there with my wife.

And we were with a bunch of friends.

And I said, this is incredible!

And if you aren't a Christian, you would walk in here, and you would have really not necessarily any idea, if you hadn't really listened to the lyrics.

But you would feel what you're feeling. And it just is such a great experience.

VOICE: That's kind, man. Look, in our interpretation at least, the idea of being a Christian, of being a Jesus follower. It's an invitation, right?

And it's also a pretty enormous claim, that we are in touch with the creator of the universe.

That we're in touch with the creator of creativity. The creator of art. The creator of Sistine chapels. And so on.

And so often, in the modern context, our art feels like second fiddle to pop culture. And yet, you know this, as bit of a historian yourself.

Throughout history, the religious arts have led the way. And so, man, we take it so seriously.

Not for the sake of ego.

You know, at least -- not for the sake of -- not for the sake of self-aggrandizing. But for the sake of people looking at this and going, my goodness.

What a great God, that they must be in touch with, to put on, and to be inspired to do these types of things.

GLENN: So have you guys been tempted at all, to, you know. In the old days.

When you would go to a Christian concert, they would kind of preach at you. And, you know, try to convert.

And what I loved about it, is it was all there. But it was not in your face. It wasn't -- you weren't -- you weren't overtly saying, hey, come to Christ.

And so you -- nobody was. Nobody could possibly be offended. It was just such a great way to present the message.

And have people go, what makes them different. Have you been tempted to do -- be more obvious?

VOICE: Be more obvious. That's an interesting way of putting it. Look, I'm a big, well, I try to be a big historian.

And st. Francis at the CC, was the guy many, many years ago. He had a quote that as a young boy, really affected me.

And he says, preach the gospel. And if necessary, use word.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

VOICE: And look, I think that that statement should poke at a lot of us, as Christians.

Because our lives should be so unbelievably joyful.

Our work should be unbelievable good.

That sometimes, yeah. Sometimes words are required.

But I think that most of the time, they're not.

It's the presence that you bring, that oftentimes, people are left talking about.

So I think for us, man. We tried to take that -- take that statement literally.

You know, hopefully, you feel it.

GLENN: You do. You do.

VOICE: And you kind of know what's going on. That's our hope.

GLENN: So when I saw you in Kansas City.

I had forgotten that we -- I mean, I -- I know the name small bone, obviously.

I know your brother. He worked -- on one of my early book tours.

I've seen your movie of your family and everything else.

But I had forgotten that at one point, you two worked for me. You did a -- I have -- and you reminded me of that. And I'm like, what?

VOICE: What did you do, Luke? You were --

VOICE: Yeah. No. I'm a film director as well.

And I guess somehow we were working together, Glenn, because your team or somebody said, hey, why don't we do a day in the life of Glenn Beck?

And so we started at your house. And we like filmed you walking out. And then we filmed you, as you went to work that day.

But the funny part was, I was there to be like the sound and the audio guy. And before you came out of the door.

The loud mic, that was meant to go on to you. I dropped.

And literally broke it.

And so the rest of the day, I mean, for those of you who are listening. You see those guys are holding those massive mics above people's heads.

You get good audio.

Usually, that's the backup mic.

Well, that day, I made a mistake. So I am having to chase Glenn around all day with this massive mic.

Because I had broken the loud mic. So yes. We worked together, many, many years ago.

It's a small wall, but a crazy story.

GLENN: A crazy story, to look at where you are now. I mean, you're massive worldwide.

Congratulations.

VOICE: Thanks, man. You know this better than anyone. It's a team sport, right? This whole idea of being human. We're never meant to be an individual concept. We were meant to do this together.

And I think that's what King & Country represents, what these live shows represent.

It's collaboration. It's compromise.

It's, you know, creatively putting our minds together. And that's what the Christmas Live, you know, it really represents.

Is we took the same film crew from our movie, unsung heroes. It was released. Basically our parents' story. Our dad in the film, which I dubbed as a very expensive therapy session.

But we put the same -- we put them in that to capture this -- so what I love about this, this concert film.

And what we've gotten to do live, but also what we're getting to do cinematically now.

Is that we're getting to invite people, not only in America. But this film is going up to Canada.

It's going across to the UK. We're playing a few shows at the UK.

It's going down to Australia. It's going to New Zealand

This is the beauty. We know this with radio. Radio?

We're talking right now. There are thousands and thousands of people listening to this.

This is when art and technology come together. You're able to do something really cool.

GLENN: So we're talking to for King & Country. Their Drummer Boy Christmas live, will be available in select theaters, December 5th.

What day is it? Is that today? That's yesterday.

VOICE: Right now. Right now.

GLENN: Wow, through the 19th.

And if you've never seen them, I cannot explain how good they are.

They are really, really great. You want to get into the Christmas mood. I can guarantee, a good time. How do you get tickets?

VOICE: I think if you -- still, we can go to the local theater.

Phantom of -- kind of got all of the theaters. You know, I think if you use the ZIP code.

It would be able to direct you to the place, to kind of go see -- at your local theater.

GLENN: Great. For King&Country.com.

And you can follow them on Twitter. Four. The number four. King & Country.

God bless you, guys, we'll see you soon.
Thank you. Goodbye.

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