RADIOJune 24, 2024

Why Would Biden Give Trump THIS Major Advantage in their First Debate?!

After winning a coin toss, President Biden’s campaign team had an important choice to make: They could either choose which podium Biden will stand behind or whether Biden will have the last word at his first presidential debate with Donald Trump. Glenn and Stu are shocked to find out that they chose … the podium. So, why would the Biden team allow Trump — who they call a danger to democracy — to have the last word?! Is his entire campaign team that incompetent?! Glenn and Stu discuss this, along with the other weird rules for CNN’s debate.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Donald Trump is going to be debating Dr. Death really, is what I'm calling him. He's just -- he's deadly. He will walk out on stage.

He will just wipe the floor with Donald Trump. I think that's what we should start saying. Because we're setting expectations so low for him, and so high for Donald Trump, that unless it is, you know, something where it's body blow after body blow after body blow. And it's done perfectly right after Donald Trump, he will appear to be the loser. I think people's expectations now are just, he didn't fall asleep.

He didn't fall asleep.

STU: I think it's a real worry. You know, because that is how people look at this situation, in a lot of ways. I do think though, it is hard to -- I don't know if you can blame people who are saying these things. And setting these expectations.

Because I think at the end of the take, those expectations were set by Joe Biden. When he, you know, waddles across the stage and can't get a sentence out. I don't know how you hide it.

I don't --

GLENN: Because that -- you know, look, as bad as the State of the Union Address actually was.

It looked good, because he had -- you know, he was like pounding on the desk. You know, that's got to stop. And he was awake and alert. And could form sentences for most of it!

You know, that is the expectation. And I think they -- and I have no proof of this. But it's happened before, with presidents, and you don't know about it for 20 years. Or 60 years. In FDR's case.

They juiced him up. You know, they'll go out and they will give him. Hey, is Dr. Nick around?

Make him perform. And so he looks good in -- he looks better.

STU: Right.

GLENN: Then what he really is, I think.

STU: His biggest moments have not been his best moment.

Which has been something -- I guess give them credit for whatever cocktail they've come up with.

GLENN: Right.

STU: I don't know. I will say though. What I'm saying is, I don't know if you can blame like conservatives for pointing it out.

Like, it's -- it's like, the setting of expectations, is a rhetorical device, right? You can put it out there.

And you can adjust that slightly. But I just think the American people see it. And that's what they expect. So the fact that he exceeds those expectations. I don't know if that can be manipulated on a party's messaging on the other side.

It will be interesting to watch. Because I honestly -- he really does need. You know, Biden took this debate. And kind of threw it out there. Like, I'll do this with you anywhere, any time.

And Trump is like, okay.

So he's taken on a bunch of weird rules. There's a bunch of strange stuff going on.

GLENN: First of all, they're sitting down.

STU: Yep.

GLENN: There's no audience. You can't interrupt one another.

I guess they're shutting Donald Trump's microphone off.

I mean, all the things that would -- that would help Donald Trump, have been taken off the table.

And now, the press is saying, I don't know why Donald Trump would do this. I mean, every -- every rule is in Biden's favor. Yeah.

Because he knows that when it comes to inflation, cost of living, war, everything else, you don't -- he doesn't have a lot to defend here. You know what I mean?

He's going to have a hard time defending it, if he was crystal clear, even on meth! You know, whatever it took, give him meth!

And he was just great. And thought he could fly. He still would lose on the facts. And I think Donald Trump was like, all right.

We'll take you.

I don't care what your rules are. Fine.

STU: No. And he has to. He has to.

To get in the -- you know, the same room of Joe Biden, in front of the American people is crucial for Donald Trump.

And he has to defend stuff like the border. We've talked about this for a while, going back now, a couple of World Series.

We're now finding out, that hundreds of thousands of people have come in these additional legal pathways. It's something we talked about on the air, at the time. To ease the, quote, unquote, pressure at the border.

The Biden administration went in there and said, basically, well, fly direct into these cities. And make appointments. And we won't count those as people coming into the country.

And that's happened now, with hundreds of thousands of people. The numbers just came out. They're really high. As you might expect.

And these aren't people that were counting them. When we're talking about how many people are crossing the border illegally. And coming through with asylum and all these other things that they're complaining about. They just took those people that would have been at the border, and flew them into Cleveland. And they're like, well, that solved the problem at the border. No. That didn't solve the problem at the border. Let me ask you this, Glenn. From a strategy perspective. I think this is fascinating, and I don't really understand it, and maybe you do. You know, when you go into overtime of a football game, right? You have the coin toss.

The coin toss, you have a choice as to what you want to do with that power. If you win the coin toss, you can either pick the end zone you're going to defend, or you can pick whether you get the ball first or second.

And, you know, the only time you really want to pick, when you're talking about what end zone to defend, is if maybe super windy conditions, you can make the argument. You know, but generally speaking, you never pick that one.

You pick whether you want to get the ball first or second, because that's the more important thing. So with this debate, they did a coin toss. And the decision was similar here. They had a choice. Joe Biden won the coin toss. So he was give up a decision to make.

Number one, you can pick which side of the stage you can be on. Left's podium. Or right's podium.

Or which -- I mean -- or --

GLENN: That's the one -- I can guarantee you, no matter what the or is. He picked that one.

STU: Or you can pick whether in closing statements, you go first. Or you go last.

GLENN: You go last. That's the one --

STU: The obvious choice here, you go last, right?

You have the final word in front of the American people.

GLENN: Right. You go last. If Donald Trump says some crazy thing about Hunter Biden at the last second and his closing statement. You would have a chance to answer it. You would have a chance to have the final word of the American people here.

What a big advantage that is, right?

Joe Biden won the coin toss, and picked the right podium. And now Donald Trump will be making the final statement in the debate. Do you have any concept as to why he would do that?

GLENN: No. Let me throw another wrinkle into this. Joe Biden must make that decision. Okay? It wasn't like they called Joe up. Hey, we won a coin toss.

STU: Coin toss.

GLENN: And, you know, here are your choices.

I know why --

STU: The right side.

GLENN: This wasn't done by him. It was done by most likely a committee or something.

This is not just his senility. It's --

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: From the people who brought you the end of the Afghani war. I mean --

STU: You think it's incompetence.

Because my other thought was, maybe they are thinking? And let me throw this out there.

Whatever drug cocktail they're pumping into this guy. He has to be pumped up after that first 40 minutes. By the end, it will be a disaster.

And the last thing that they want, is the final vision of this debate, to be Joe Biden going.

GLENN: That is -- that is a possibility. That is a possibility.

However, you know, the closing statements, if you have the last word. And you know he's going to be bad.

You're suspecting that he's going to be.

All Donald Trump has to say, for his closing statement is, look, I understand you for inflation. I understand what you're going at the gas pump.

I understand how you feel about your safety. And the border.

I understand how you feel about all of these things.

You just heard him. Is that the vigorous leader that's going to solve these problems?

I mean, there's just no way. I would never let somebody have the last word.

STU: Right.

GLENN: In a debate. And especially, if you think he's going to be like...

STU: It's -- that's an incomprehensible one. I mean, does he -- he thinks that highly of -- that's my good side. I want to be on the right side. What --

GLENN: That is a possibility.

STU: That is possible. I guess.

GLENN: Hookers tell me all the time, this is my best side. I'm going to get that sex worker vote this time. I'm telling you.

STU: That's a weird development. I'm telling you. I cannot understand that at all. But we are less than a week away from that debate. Never happened this early. This is a very, very strange situation that happened in June. All these rules. And the dates. All these things.

I think we were initially designed for Trump to say no.

To say -- I will make these rules and requests so ridiculous. I'll be the guy who will say, I wanted the debate. He will be the guy that says no.

GLENN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

So that way, he didn't have to debate later. Because I offered a debate.

He wouldn't do it. And most people wouldn't have remembered that it was in June and everything else.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: Donald Trump had no way. Nowhere to go, but to say yes. And I think he's eager. I think he can't wait.

I mean, the chance to sit in front of Joe Biden. You know, the only problem is, I wish it was -- I wish it was actually fair. We would have a drug test beforehand.

You know, and -- and these guys would actually talk about things, instead of just pounding on each other.

Because Donald Trump would win -- anyone would win against this guy's record. Anyone would win.

STU: Yeah. And there was a report from I think it was Maggie Haberman from the New York Times. Who, again, is a left-wing journalist.

So you could say, maybe this is inaccurate. But she does seem to have a lot of sources inside the Trump camp.

And her point was interesting. And I think hopeful. If you are someone who wants to see Joe Biden no longer be president. Which is, Trump has told confidants, that he regretted cutting Biden off a lot in the first debate 2020. We pointed that out, at the time. Like, you needed to give Biden.

GLENN: Let him hang himself.

STU: Right. You needed to give him that space.

And he didn't. Because he was trying to be aggressive. And trying to cut him off.

And saying he was lying about this. Which he was doing at times. But you also have to give Biden room to look horrible. All the things we know he loves on a daily basis. The American people need to see that. And he regretted that from the 2020 debate. If that report is true, it's good. I think he's being thoughtful about the strategy here, which is really important. This is a really important day.

GLENN: I think he is.

You know, Donald Trump, he knows television.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And he just knows it.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Are Epstein's "Blackmail Videos" Being Used for Leverage RIGHT NOW?

What was Jeffrey Epstein's operation all about. If he was at the center of a massive blackmail operation to compromise those in positions of power, who is in possession of that information now? Glenn Beck and ATF Whistleblower John Dodson analyze the details of this situation and give their thoughts on what is the most likely reality surrounding Epstein.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with ATF Whistleblower John Dodson HERE

WARNING: How America Elects a Socialist President in 2028 | Glenn TV | Ep 444

The rise of Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old socialist who just won the Democratic primary for mayor, is not just a political earthquake shaking New York City — it’s a warning for the rest of America. Backed by Bernie Sanders, AOC, and the Democratic Socialists of America, Mamdani promises free everything, to tax the rich, and to dismantle capitalism. There’s nothing new about this tired strategy, but the media is propping him up as a new political genius. And with Democrat leaders lining up behind him, it’s clear: This radicalism isn’t fringe anymore. It’s the Democratic Party’s future. Mamdani’s rise is part of a larger movement that’s rewriting America’s values. Glenn Beck explains how New York is the prototype for the Left’s socialist makeover of America. Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Standford, gives a terrifying prediction on Mamdani’s mayoral race chances and warns the revolution is coming for mainstream Democrats. He also dives into MAGA’s frustration with the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files.

INSIDE Trump’s soul: How a bullet changed his heart forever

“I have a new purpose,” then-candidate Donald Trump told reporter Salena Zito after surviving the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Salena joins Glenn Beck to reveal what Trump told her about God, his purpose in life, and why he really said, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, as she details in her new book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland”.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Salena, congratulations on your book. It is so good.

Just started reading it. Or listening to it, last night.

And I wish you would have -- I wish you would have read it. But, you know, the lady you have reading it is really good.

I just enjoy the way you tell stories.

The writing of this is the best explanation on who Trump supporters are. That I think I've ever read, from anybody.

It's really good.

And the description of your experience there at the edge of the stage with Donald Trump is pretty remarkable as well. Welcome to the program.

SALENA: Thank you, Glenn. Thank you so much for having me.

You know, I was thinking about this, as I was ready to come on. You and I have been along for this ride forever. For what?

Since 2006? 2005?

Like 20 years, right?

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

SALENA: And I've been chronicling the American people for probably ten more years, before that. And it's really remarkable to me, as watching how this coalition has grown. Right?

And watching how people have the -- have become more aspirational.

And that's -- and that is what the conservative populist coalition is, right?

It is the aspirations of many, but the celebration of the individual.

And chronicling them, yeah. Has been -- has been, a great honor.

GLENN: You know, I was thinking about this yesterday, when -- when Elon Musk said he was starting another party.

And somebody asked me, well, isn't he doing what the Tea Party tried to do?

No. The Tea Party was not going to start a new party.

It was to -- you know, it was to coerce and convince the Republican Party to do the right thing. And it worked in many ways. It didn't accomplish what we hoped.

But it did accomplish a lot of things.

Donald Trump is a result of the Tea Party.

I truly believe that. And a lot of the people that were -- right?

Were with Donald Trump, are the people that were with the Tea Party.

SALENA: That's absolutely right.

So that was the inception.

So American politics has always had movements, that have been just outside of a party. Or within a party.

That galvanize and broaden the coalition. Right? They don't take away. Or walk away, and become another party.

If anything, if there is a third party out there, it's almost a Republican Party.

Because it has changed in so many viable and meaningful ways. And the Tea Party didn't go away. It strengthened and broadened the Republican Party. Because these weren't just Republicans that became part of this party.

It was independents. It was Democrats.

And just unhappy with the establishment Republicans. And unhappy with Democrats.

And that -- that movement is what we -- what I see today.

What I see every day. What I saw that day, in butler, when I showed I happen at that rally.

As I do, so many rallies, you know, throughout my career. And that one was riveting and changed everything.

GLENN: You made a great case in the opening chapter. You talk about how things were going for Donald Trump.

And how this moment really did change everything for Donald Trump.

Changed the trajectory, changed the mood.

I mean, Elon Musk was not on the Trump train, until this.

SALENA: Yeah.

GLENN: Moment. What do I -- what changed? How -- how did that work?

And -- and I contend, that we would have much more profound change, had the media actually done their job and reported this the way it really was. Pragmatism

SALENA: You know, and people will find this in the book. I'm laying on the ground with an agent on top of me.

I'm 4 feet away from the president.

And there's -- there's notices coming up on my phone. Saying, he was hit by broken glass.

And to this take, that remains part of this sibling culture, in American politics.

Because reporters were -- were so anxious to -- to right what they believed happened.

As opposed to what happened.

And it's been a continual frustration of mine, as a reporter, who is on the ground, all the time.

And I'll tell you, what changed in that moment.

And I say a nuance, and I believe nuance is dead in American journalism.

But it was a nuance and it was a powerful conversation, that I had with President Trump, the next day. He called me the next morning.

But it's a powerful conversation I had with him, just two weeks ago.

When he made this decision to say, fight, fight, fight.

People have put in their heads, why they think he said it. But he told me why he said that. And he said, Salena, in that moment, I was not Donald Trump the man. I was a former president. I was quite possibly going to be president again.

And I had an obligation to the country, and to the office that I have served in, to project strength. To project resolve.

To project that we will not be defeated.

And it's sort of like a symbolic eagle, that is always -- you know, that symbol that we look at, when we think about our country.

He said, that's why I said that. I didn't want the people behind me panicking. I didn't want the people watching, panicking.

I had to show strength. And it's that nuance -- that I think people really picked up on.

And galvanized people.

GLENN: So he told me, when he was laying down on the stage.

And you can hear him. Let me get up. Let me get up.

I've got to get up.

He told me, as I was laying on the stage. I asked him, what were you thinking? What was going through your head? Now, Salena, I don't know about you.

But with me. It would be like, how do I get off the stage? My first was survival.

He said, what was going on through his mind was, you're not pathetic. This is pathetic.

You're not afraid. Get up.

Get up.

And so is that what informed his fight, fight, fight, of that by the time that he's standing up, he's thinking, I'm a symbol? Or do you think he was thinking, I'm a symbol, this looks pathetic. It makes you look weak.

Stand up. How do you think that actually happened?

SALENA: He thinks, and we just talked about this weeks ago. He -- you know, and this is something that he's really thought about.

Right? You know, he's gone over and over and over. And also, purpose and God. Right? These are things that have lingered with him.

You know, he -- he thought, yes.

He did think, it was pathetic that he was on the ground. But he wasn't thinking about, I'm Donald Trump. It's pathetic.

He's thinking, my country is symbolically on the ground. I need to get up, and I need to show that my country is strong.

That our country is resolute.

And I need people to see that.

We can't go on looking like pathetic.

Right?

And I think that then goes to that image of Biden.

GLENN: You have been with so many presidents.

How many presidents do you think that you've personally been with, would have thought that and reacted that way?

SALENA: Probably only Reagan. Reagan would have. Reagan probably would have thought that.

And if you remember how he was out like standing outside.

You know, waving out the window. Right?

After he was shot.

GLENN: At the hospital, right.

SALENA: Had he not been knocked out, unconscious, you know, he probably would have done the same thing.

Because he was someone who deeply believed in American exceptionalism.

And American exceptionalism does not go lay on the ground.

GLENN: And the symbol.

Right. The symbol of the presidency.

SALENA: Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that affects him today.

GLENN: So let me go back to God.

Because you talked to him the next day. And your book Butler.

He calls you up.

I love the fact that your parents would be ashamed of you. On what you said to him.

The language you used. That you just have to read the book.

It's just a great part.

But he calls you the next morning. And wants to know if you're okay.

And you -- you then start talking to him, about God.

And I was -- I was thinking about this, as I was listening to it. You know, Lincoln said, I wasn't -- I wasn't a Christian.

Even though, he was.

I wasn't a Christian, when I was elected. I wasn't a Christian when my son died.

I became a Christian at Gettysburg.

Is -- is -- I mean, I believe Donald Trump always believes in God, et cetera, et cetera.

Do you think there was a real profound change at Butler with him?

SALENA: Absolutely. You know, he called me seven times that day. Seven times, the take after seven.

GLENN: Crazy.

SALENA: Talked about. And I think he was looking for someone that he knew, that was there. And to try to sort it out.

Right? And I let him do most of the talking. I didn't pressure him.

At all. I believed that he was having -- you know, he was struggling. And he needed to just talk. And I believed my purpose was to listen.

Right? I know other reporters would have handled it differently. And that's okay. That's not the kind of reporter that I am.

And I myself was having my own like, why didn't I die?

Right?

Because it went right over my head.

And -- and so I -- he had the conversation about God.

He's funny. I thought it was the biggest mosquito in the world that hit me.

But he had talked profoundly about purpose. You know, and God.

And how God was in that moment.

It --

GLENN: I love the way you -- in the book, I love the way you said that as he's kind of working it out in his own he head.

He was like, you know, I -- I -- I always knew that there was some sort of, you know -- that God was present.

He said, but now that this has happened.

I look back at all of the trials.

All of the tribulations. Literally, the trials.

All of the things that have happened. And he's like, I realized God was there the whole time.

SALENA: Yes. He does. And it's fascinating to have been that witness to history, to have those conversations with him. Because I'm telling you. And y'all know, I can talk. I didn't say much of anything.

I just -- I just listened. I felt that was my purpose, in that moment.

To give him that space, to work it out.

I'm someone that is, you know, believes in God.

I'm Catholic. I followed my faith.

And -- and so, I thought, well, this is why God put me here. Right?

And to -- to have that -- to hear him talk about purpose, to hear him say, Salena. Why did I put a chart down?

I'm like, sir. I don't know. I thought you were Ross Perot for a second.

He never has a chart. And he laughed. And then he said, why did I put that chart down?

By that term, I never turned my head away from people at the rally. That's true.

That relationship is very transactional. It's very -- they feed off of each other.

It's a very emotive moment when you attend a rally. Because he has a way of talking at a rally. That you believe that you are seeing.

And he said, and I never turn my head away.

I never turn my head away.

Why did I turn my head away?

I don't remember consciously thinking about turning my head away. And then he says to me, that was God, wasn't it?

Yes, sir. It was. It was God.

And he said, that's -- that's why I have a new purpose.

And so, Glenn. I think it's important, when you look at the breadth of what has happened, since he was sworn in.

You see that purpose, every day.

He doesn't let up.

He continues going.

And it brings back to the beginning of the book.

Where you find out, that there was another president that was shot at in Butler.

And that was George Washington. And how different the country would have been, had he died in that moment.

And now think about how different the country would be, had President Trump died in that moment. There would be --

GLENN: We're talking to -- we're talking to Salena Zito. About her new book called Butler. The assassination attempt on President Trump. And it is riveting.

And, you know, it is so good. I wish the press would read it. Because it really explains who we are, who Trump supporters are. Who are, you know, red staters. It is so good at that. She's the best at that.