RADIONovember 08, 2024

How Charlie Kirk BEAT THE LEFT at its own election games

Much of the credit for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory should go to Turning Point USA founder and CEO ‪@RealCharlieKirk‬, Glenn says. The Left has dominated get-out-the-vote efforts for years. But in 2024, Charlie Kirk was able to beat them at their own game. Charlie joins Glenn to explain his winning strategy and why he believes Trump would have lost states like Wisconsin if they hadn’t targeted new voters so intensely. Glenn and Charlie also discuss how “this was the election of the podcast.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: All right. The first person we have to thank, or the first thing that we have to thank is God.

God worked miracles in this country, this last week.

And we would be remiss and really poor children, if we didn't recognize his hand in this election.

It is incredible, what has happened.

I told you before, I've -- I can find a million ways, this thing flies apart. But there's only one way, we hold it together.

And that's God.

And I think we've all witnessed that. Now, on the human level, one of the guys who I don't think has gotten enough credit yet, but will get all the credit he deserves.

Is Charlie Kirk.

Charlie started something called Turning Point USA. I know you know of it. To have

He is the host and founder of -- the founder and CEO of turning point. Also, the host of the Charlie Kirk show.

But this guy, I don't know what we would have done without you, Charlie.

I mean, you really turned the vote out. Thank you.

CHARLIE: Well, Glenn, first of all, you said it correctly. Glory be to God. We were a couple millimeters to the entire country going to bedlam. You so perfectly said, throughout the entire campaign, I have this -- the spirit of paranoia, are we really going to do this? Are they going to come up another sneak attack? Are they going to do another COVID? And every corner and every turn. So glory be to God. God is not done with this land.

GLENN: That's true.

CHARLIE: And second, I wish I could take credit for this. But it's American people. And I know it sounds cliche and I know it sounds generic. But the American people stood the most intense propaganda political hurricane of American history. There's never been anything like it. It was worse than 2020. It was worse than 2016. Calling us Nazis and fascists. And, you know, saying that Donald Trump was going to -- you know, put people in camps and all that.

The American people weighed their options, despite Kamala Harris spending Donald Trump three to one, and made the right choice.

Look, we played a small role. And we did it in two ways. We said, on this election, we want to try to lose by less with younger voters.

And then we will create the most sophisticated, low propensity, get out the vote, turnout machine in -- in modern political history for the right.

And here was our series of cases.

First, on the get out the vote.

Which is that we believed that there were millions of people that were Trump supporters. That were not Trump voters. The people that would say, yay, Trump! And they would be with them.

But they weren't putting a ballot in the box.

They weren't casting a vote.

We tested the theory of the case.

When I started to go to Trump rallies. And I would ask people, and I would take a lot of selfies with people who are super nice and they love the country. And one out of 30 people, I would say, hey. Are you ready for the vote?

And they would say, oh, yeah. I think so.

I would get this kind of, you know, half answer.

And so I went back to my team. I said, guys, I think there's a lot more in this reservoir than we realize.

And so we compared with the data. With the Trump campaign. Which we were allowed to do, thanks to an FEC ruling back in the spring.

And we said, guys, let's beat the left at their own it became.

Let's engage in early voting. Even though it's a flawed system, in a way that's never been done before.

Because, again, there's actually more days to get low likely voters to go vote. If you have 30 days, you can then get someone who is not as easy to persuade the vote, because then you can get five or six touches on them.

We hired well over 1,000 full-time people into the greatest ground force that's ever done.

We raised tens of millions of dollars. Praise God from our donors. And we pitched them on this thing, saying, hey. The road to the White House will be going through these states.

We know that. We will be the first registered voters build relationships and communities. And then drive a turnout machine over a 30-day period to get Donald Trump across the finished line.

And the states we primarily focused on was Arizona and Wisconsin.

We spent work of course in Pennsylvania, in Georgia, but in really, Arizona, Wisconsin.

And in Wisconsin, I can tell you, that if it wasn't for our effort. Donald Trump would have fallen short.

We chased in excess of over 70,000 low propensity voters in Wisconsin. Donald Trump won by 28,000 votes.

Here in Arizona, as we are speaking, we still have 850,000 votes still to count. We realize it could take at least 90 days to count our ballots here. It's a joke. It's really something else.

GLENN: I know it is. I know it is.

CHARLIE: But by St. Patrick's, we'll find out who won that race in Arizona.

But Kari Lake is down 44,000 votes here in Arizona, and she might -- she might fall 10,000 votes short, or win by ten thousand votes.

But thanks to our effort and the team, we closed an eight-point polling gap for Kari Lake.

And so, look, basically what we did, we took this movement that Donald Trump created, that Donald Trump led, and we added machinery to the movement.

And we were able to successfully turn Trump supporters into Trump voters.

GLENN: You know, Charlie, I've been -- you know, obviously looking at this, forever.

And we've never had a G.O.P. that could get out of its own way.

We've never had one that was competent.

We never had a plan other than, hey. We're just better.

And we -- we lost it. Every time. Because we were either stupid. Or we just couldn't get out of our own way. And get people to the polls.

This time around, I felt real confidence, that the G.O.P. had these issues covered, at the polling places.

That it was going to be secure. That if it wasn't, they had the attorneys, and they had he have been of else out there.

Just like the Democrats do, and we were going to catch the bad guys, if the bad guys showed up.

So we had that confidence. And we also had confidence because of what we were doing. That we were going after the -- the low propensity voter.

That we -- you know, I've said for years. Hey, somebody should get a bus, like they do.

And put people on a bus, and take them to the polls.

Somebody should do this.

CHARLIE: Oh, we did that.

GLENN: I know you did. I know you did. And that made all the difference in the world.

CHARLIE: Well, thank you, Glenn. And let me say one thing. Which, again, our theory of the case was that okay. The RNC would limit some of the shenanigans. Which, by the way, we didn't completely eliminate. Without that, we would have Senator Mike Lee from Wisconsin.

But one of the ways to offset the shenanigans and the tomfoolery, is you outnumber there.

And so you have so many ballots in the volume of the system. That, you know, their midnight drops in Milwaukee are just not going to be sufficient. And it turns out, that that was a correct way of looking at it. And I want to say, one other thing, though. This was very, very difficult work, and your team deserves enormous credit.

Not just the full-time staff. You'll love this, Glenn.

We do this thing called commit 100.

Where we say, hey, if you're across the country. And you're tired of listening to talk radio and watching TV and seeing your country fall apart.

If you will be able to fly yourself to Arizona, we'll put you up in a hotel room for a week or two.

And we will give you the mobile technology to go chase ballots. We have over 2,000 people from across the country, that were working neighborhoods in Arizona to go chase ballots.

2,000 volunteers from across the country. On top of, in Arizona, our 600 full-time people, on the ground

So we blanketed the state. And Arizona, again, it's my passion.

It's that that is performing of the seven battleground states, and we're still counting votes.

It's the greatest swing of any battleground states in 2020.

And it should give your audience a lot of renewed confidence.

Is that we are catching up to how the left has gamified our elections.

They turn it into a game. Who can get the most amount of pieces of paper in the box? And we were -- we're still dealing in an antiquated mindset, where we believe that elections were just about worldview and values and issues. Back in, like, 2004.

The left, they changed all the rules. And that made them permanent in COVID. And between 2022 and especially in 2024, we learned the rules. We caught up. And then we beat them at their own with game. And that is what is so promising and encouraging. That we were able to add this machinery, to a once in a generation movement. And I will add one other thing. Is that some people were saying, it was a landslide.

It was. However, Glenn, we're talking about Donald Trump. The final canvases will come out. He won Wisconsin by 30,000 votes.

Pennsylvania, one point. Michigan, point and a half.

Without the turnout operation, without the voter integrity operation, the Trump campaign, and the RNC, you could make an argument -- and also, the second layer is that we did 25 points better with younger voters.

We won the youth vote in Michigan. We almost won -- yeah. Go ahead.

GLENN: What do you attribute that to, other than, you know, your work. And the work of others?

Do me a favor do you -- how much do you put into Elon Musk, RFK, Joe Rogan? Theo Von? Yeah.

CHARLIE: Yeah. First of all, Elon Musk is an American hero. And that guy is the best of America, who decided to just put everything on the line, for his country.

And I can't say enough good things about him. And, by the way, President Trump deserves so much credit for doing this long form podcast. This was the year -- this was the election of the podcast. And Democrats were unbelievable.

GLENN: This is the end of the -- I said this the week before he went on Joe Rogan. I said, you watch. He'll go on Joe Rogan. 100 million people. And it will be the end of the mainstream ahead.

This will -- this will show everybody for 2028, there's no reason to do a debate on ABC.

There's no reason to do an interview with CBS.

Why? Why would you do that?

Everything changed, this time.

CHARLIE: That's exactly right.

And I attribute a lot to that. And in addition, Donald Trump was able to -- he was able to sit for three hours, with no notes and go deep on the issues and have a total command of the subjects.

GLENN: I know. I know.

CHARLIE: Here is the new standard though, and Democrats have to know this.

You will never win another presidential election, if you nominate another candidate who is unable to do long form podcasting.

People won't trust you. End of story. And if you do not have a candidate, who can go deep and that can think on their feet and have memory recall and be personable and charming and affable, the American people will reject that. Long gone are the days of 7-minute, 60-minute interviews, right?

Or, you know, ten-minute Meet The Press, where you have five questions, and they're prepared.

Now, you have to earn the vote. Because people are going to listen to you for three hours and see your tone and inflection. And whether you mean it.

And so Donald Trump excelled in that. And Joe Rogan deserves such credit for having the platform, and to his credit as well, he was very fair. He wanted to broker a fair deal where Kamala was invited and Donald Trump. The other thing I will say though.

And I think you will appreciate this, Glenn. With younger voters.

Is that there was that pent-up rebellion energy, amongst young Gen Zers for how they were treated during COVID.

During COVID, they had their proms cancelled. Their graduation. Summer classes. A lot of their friends committed suicide.

They were part of this generation that was hyper propagandized by the left wing woke stuff during the summer of Floyd.

And they realized that it was lies. And that it was misrepresentations, and then they get their news from podcasting. And podcasting comes out, talking about how great Donald Trump was and how awful Kamala was, because that was the right framing. And the generation started to tilt right.

And so -- what was so remarkable, is that Democrats, they didn't see this coming.

They were so confident.

They were so cocky. That younger voters were going to continue to support them.

Again, you could make the argument.

If it was for the mass movement of younger voters in some of these states.

Donald Trump might not have won. And, again, the Sunbelt was a separate story.

We did very well in the Sunbelt, 4 or 5-point margins.

But the Rest Belt was one and a half, 1-point margins. We're talking about 30,000 votes here. So all of these things add up, in a very significant way.

And it also should give your audience such hope.

There's almost no documented case of a generation that becomes more liberal, as they get older.

So the fact that this generation is the most conservative voting generation since 1988. That means that the future is only going to get redder.

It's only going to become more conservative, as they own property and get married and have children.

So our starting point is the best starting point for our political movement since Ronald Reagan.

And credit to Donald Trump. And please, sorry.

GLENN: And I think that it is only going to grow from here, if Donald Trump can tick off the things that are on his list to do.

GLENN: So, Charlie, we were talking about what -- you know, why Trump won. Why did Kamala lose?

CHARLIE: Well, that's interesting. And, again, I will say, the narrative should be that Trump won more than she lost. However, she was unable to do the basic, as we said, long form podcasting. She misread the room. And I think the interesting story that should be explored is, where did all the money go? The most funded campaign in history. A billion dollars.

Now, $20 million in debt.

And I have a personal axe to grind here.

Because, you know, we were one of the groups that the media was setting up to fail. Okay? Let's just be honest. There were so many articles written in the last couple of months. Trump team takes big risk outsourcing GOTV to Turning Point and Elon Musk.

You probably saw the stories, right, Glenn? It was every major outlet.

GLENN: Oh, yeah, I did.

CHARLIE: And they were setting us up to fail, and we would get on the phones with these reporters. And we would say, hey, we're doing real things.

Maybe you guys should be more nuanced. And they said, well, the Kamala team has the most sophisticated get out vote operation ever, and their ground game. And they're knocking on tens of millions of doors, and we would tell them. And this was true. I said, never conflate results and activity.

The Kamala team was doing a lot of activity. But they weren't producing results. So the Kamala ground game was completely overrated.

Somebody made a lot of money, and misled a lot of people, and a lot of Democratic donors.

So let's just be honest on the issues. Let's just also on the issues though.

Is that Kamala Harris and the entire regime, they were trying to continue to occupy a country that they resent.

And that, as a basic operating formula, is almost an impossible way to hold on to political power.

You can't continue to govern a country when you disdain the people that you are pathed to oversee.

And, I mean, we can go one example to the other. I'm sure you cover this on your show.

But Star County, Texas. Which has not voted Republican. In over 100 years.

The most Hispanic county in America, Donald Trump won.

I mean, there was this multi-racial reckoning against the Democrat Party.

Young, old, black, Hispanic.

And finally, Kamala Harris and her entire team, they -- they -- they did everything they possibly could to not defend their own positions. But try to make it a referendum on Donald Trump.

Now, Donald Trump refuted quite a gift.

He received quite a gift. Because for the first time since Grover Cleveland, he was able to embrace the advantages of being an incumbent and the advantages of being a challenger.

So think about it. You can say, how great my record was. And how terrible the person currently in office is. If you think about that analytically, that's almost an impossible. It's impossible to beat that. Because you could be incredibly -- you could be very, very critical. So that wins you points. People like that in politics. At the same time, you can also have a sterling record to run on. So it's not just hypothetical. So Donald Trump leaned into the best of all circumstances. Being a challenger and also an incumbent. And, yeah. And also, Kamala Harris didn't have a primary. That's another thing that I said.

Don't -- when I try to implement a candidate without a primary, don't assume that all the Democrats are going to support you. I have many other thoughts on this.

GLENN: Well, I've got just about 30 seconds here, before a break. So good time to just take a breath. I do want to go back to that.

But I -- I also want to go back to Hispanics.

Because they have alienated themselves with everybody. Now, they're talking about how Hispanics are anti-black. And I've heard black are anti-Hispanics. I mean, they're just -- they're at war with themselves.

I don't know how they come back from this. But, you know, vampires, you always think are dead. But they come back.

For a Night, We Were Human | The Christmas Truce Music Video

In the frozen trenches of World War I along the Lys River in 1914, amidst the relentless thunder of artillery, a miraculous unofficial truce unfolded on Christmas Day. British and German soldiers, weary enemies, emerged from the mud and wire to share gifts, songs, and stories of home together in the ruins. Produced by Glenn Beck in collaboration with AI, this poignant music video and original song recapture the true story of the Christmas Truce, reminding us that even in the darkest times, a single brave act or small light can awaken our shared humanity, allowing soldiers to lay down their weapons and remember they are human... just for a night.

Stay tuned at GlennBeck.com for more musical storytelling inspired by Glenn’s artifacts next year on Torch.

The HIDDEN history behind Trump’s controversial Rob Reiner comments

President Trump recently received heat from his own party over his comments about the allegedly murdered actor Rob Reiner. Glenn Beck explains why he believes Trump’s comments were not a good move, but also tells of a meeting he had with Trump that he believes explains why Trump hates TDS so much…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: You know, I don't -- I don't -- I don't want to get into -- into the mix with everybody and personalities. I like -- my goal is to make things about right and wrong, and not about personalities.

But I do want to spend just a second on President Trump's post yesterday about Rob Reiner. It made me sad. It made me really sad. Because I like the president.

And -- and he doesn't help himself when he does things like this. But I think I understand this in a different way.

You know, the President has said, you know, all kinds of things about me at times when I disagree with him. He'll say, "Oh, he's just a failing fat blob," or whatever. And that's just him. That's just the way -- when he's in a fight, he is a -- he's a knife fighter. And I get it. I don't like it. But I get it. This was different. This was different.
And this was -- you know, you can say a lot of stuff politically about Rob Reiner. But politics didn't matter yesterday. We weren't -- I mean, that's not -- it just didn't matter. It didn't matter.

But I think to the President, it does. I saw a change in the President -- I've seen two changes in the President. I've seen a change in him when they started going after him and his family. After 2020. And they really started going after his family. And we know this because we showed you the documents. What they -- they had a plan. Take him down.

Take his family down to stop MAGA at all costs. Put them in jail. I mean, those are their words.

And it's -- it was frightening to read.

And I talked to the president, I don't know. Maybe six months after, you know, we were in 2021. Maybe six months. Eight months.

And I said, how are you holding up?

And he had talked a little about how he felt. He had really let people down because he had things going in the right direction. And now, look at it, and look how screwed up things are going to get. And how the economy is going to be damn near impossible to fix. It will take us time. But we can't fix it. Pragmatism, but they've just destroyed it. And I said, how are you personally.

How are you holding up?

And this is the first change I saw. He -- his body changed. And he said, they're going after my damn children!

And it was this Dad. All of a sudden, he wasn't the president or former president, he wasn't Donald Trump. He was a Dad. And it was every Dad response in him. And he said, "You don't go after our children."

And I saw him really, truly mad for the very first time, and it was righteous indignation.

Then after he was shot, I saw another change. I saw him recognize that God existed. I mean, I know he believed that in God. I don't know that he believed that God was actually part of, you know, the story. The everyday story. You know, I don't know how he views God in that way.

But I know that he recognized that God was in his -- in the story of America now.

Firsthand, he witnessed it. The reason why I said this made me sad yesterday, is because -- I don't agree with what he said. I feel -- it was -- it was sad.

Because he is -- he has been kicked in the head over and over and over again by some of these people, that he -- Christmas is about the baby Jesus coming again.

And what he can do in your life. And the biggest thing that he taught was, love your enemies. Don't hate them. But that's really, really hard to do. And the President isn't there yet. On this. And it -- it made me sad. How did you feel about it, Stu?

STU: I didn't like it at all. I think maybe the same as you. You know, one of the things that bothered me about it.

Because you hit many of the points that I had on it without the personal insight that is illustrative of -- of -- of what he's going through. I think there is something to understand there. You know, obviously I --

GLENN: Big time.

STU: One of the things that is difficult about life in your attempt to master it is to try to act the right way, even when you're faced with circumstances like that. And, you know, I get it. I get why he's angry and doesn't like the guy. The man -- you used a phrase, I think in there, where you said, he's a knife fighter. This guy was actually just in a legitimate knife fight and was murdered. It was a -- it was -- this actually really happened.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

STU: And, look, my honest opinion is, it's indefensible. You know, I like President Trump. I think he does a lot of great things for the country. We've defended him on a lot of different things. A lot of times when he's being attacked, I think he deserves defense. In this case, you know, it is -- you know, it is what it is.

It is priced in to everyone's understanding of who Donald Trump is. And everything I heard about him in personal situations where he cares about the person. Is that he's very generous. He's very likable.

He's very -- he's one of those people that you like being around. You know, that is something that I've heard from tons of people. This part of him is really hard for me to square with what I've heard from -- from other -- from everybody that I've talked to, and has been on the inside with him.

And so I don't -- I don't have a defense for it. I think it's really bad. And I will say one more thing on this real quickly, Glenn.

I know a part of this that I think is difficult. In that, one of the things I took from the aftermath of that immediately was -- I don't know if pride is the right word. But like, I really liked the way conservatives responded to it.

We didn't do what they did, after Charlie Kirk.

We didn't do what they did after they shot the president. Right?

Like we -- they celebrated it. They -- they were horrible human beings, and I enjoyed the high ground, that we had there.

GLENN: Yeah. Me too.

STU: And it's difficult to make the argument that we have the high ground. When, you know, the President of the Republican Party. The Republican President of the United States, the most high profile person on, quote, unquote, our side, whatever that means these days, is a guy who, you know, kind of did some of the things that they did.

You know, so I don't -- I don't like that. I understand as part of Donald Trump. And I think if we're all adults here, we're able to kind of price that in and judge him on everything that he's doing. And when I mean pricing in. I think that's a negative part of him. Overall, you have to take everything into context.

GLENN: Right. And if we're all adults here, you know, we should be able to say, to those we love and respect, bad move. I didn't like that. Don't do that.

And I think, you know, I think because the left always says, well, you never take on your own.

Yes, we do. We take on our own, all the time. All the time. And I think it's important that we say, didn't like that. Thought that was a bad move. It didn't look good. It just wasn't right.

He's -- I wish -- and, again, though, I -- I'm not excusing it, but I am tempering it with none of us have gone through what he has gone through.

STU: So true.

GLENN: His family, somebody is shooting at him. He's being called fascist Hitler all the time. I mean, that wears on you and changes you.

And, you know, he's having a hard time forgiving that. And I kind of understand that. I wish he would take that on and take on the forgiveness, so he could be more a peacemaker in all of those things. But that is his own personal journey.

But --

STU: Yeah. And I think when we talk about like a terrible crime that's occurred.

GLENN: Sad.

STU: Like, I don't know. If there was -- think about some awful situation and at times you'll see -- he'll hear family members say the worst possible thing.

You know, if your kid is murdered. And by some -- somewhat of a particular area or group or whatever.

And they might react with just an awful thing about that group or area.

And you just. We all have a bit of understanding. Right?

A person going through a massively emotional thing.

And lashing out.

You want -- you know, the example you bring up all the time, Glenn.

Of the maybe -- the ultimate example of being able to have restraint was the Amish situation from years ago. Where, you know, you were talking about mass murder. And they were to the family's house that night, right?

And saying, we --

GLENN: Not that night. That afternoon.

I mean, within an hour. The kids were not even out of the schools yet. Their bodies were still laying in the school. And the Amish went, oh, my gosh. The killer is dead too.

He was a member of our community. His wife lives here.

What is she feeling? She's feeling completely alone. My gosh. What an example. I couldn't do that.

STU: Right. I don't even think I come close to that standard in that moment.

GLENN: No. But I would like to.

STU: That's the range. Some people act -- react really well. Some people react really poorly.

And I think we all understand the emotion and everything that takes over in a situation like that. And that has to be factored in, I think, to Trump. Of course, Rob Reiner wasn't responsible to the shooting. He was just a liberal who said bad things about Trump. And look, he's a very unique person. And a very unique situation, that I don't think anyone in the world has ever experienced.

You know, what happened with him over his life.

But may I just say, you still haven't forgiven RFK Jr for what he said about me.
(laughter)
Okay?

STU: As I said, I'm not Amish. You know, I like technology. I don't have any wagons. I didn't say I'm perfect.

GLENN: Right.

STU: No. I have -- I have -- I have absolutely forgiven RFK Jr for what he said. And if you didn't know, he accused Glenn of being a traitor. He said, he should be charged with treason. The penalty of which is death.

So, you know, I don't like that. And RFK Jr. I don't like for a lot of his policies. Some of them, by the way, I do really like. Some of them, I think are really positive. I could give you a list of some of the negative things he's done as well.

GLENN: I can too.

STU: That doesn't mean -- I certainly was find that to be an appropriate context, when the embrace of RFK Jr is occurring.

I think we need to understand what people are, and what they're doing. If he's apologetic about that, I do forgive him in that sense. Do I want him on the show and promoting all his books and his candidacy?

No. I did not -- I did not like that. But, you know, a lot of people do. I will say is, you're right, though.

We all have our hang-ups.

GLENN: I do. I certainly was.

STU: I will say this, though.

And, you know, again, all the context here. I know people are really defensive of Donald Trump, appropriately.

Because of the fact that he's targeted unfairly. I understand why people are defensive of him. I can tell you this. I really don't like RFK Jr.

He's one of my least favorite people in politics. I'm just not a fan. I could give you other names of people. Most of them revolve around Olivia Nuzzi, who whatever. I don't have feelings about her. But the story was packed with people.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: Cuomos for sure.
GLENN: Yeah.

STU: God forbid, one of these people that I really don't like, was murdered and his family and his spouse.

I can promise you. I can promise you, I will not be tweeting anything like what Donald Trump tweeted.

That is just a -- is a -- is a situation where I understand -- I understand the context around it, that we just discussed.

I don't think there's a defense to it. I think there's something, I really hope he has an awakening to at some point.

GLENN: I think that is enough to be said on that.

Now maybe we should examine ourselves, and say, where do we have that hardness in our heart that we should learn from and remove this holiday season?

Why America's "Surveillance State" Has Proven to be a TOTAL Failure

America is facing a shocking security breakdown—from a mass shooting at one of the most heavily surveilled campuses in the United States to a deadly ISIS attack in Syria that exposes the cracks in U.S. intelligence and foreign-policy strategy. As surveillance systems fail, former extremists gain power abroad, and radical Islamist networks globalize their reach, the West is confronting a threat both inside and outside its borders. This episode uncovers the uncomfortable truth behind Brown University’s unanswered questions, Syria’s escalating instability, and why the West may be running out of time to get its own house in order.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I wanted to bring Jason in -- I wanted to bring Jason in because the news that we talked about a minute ago in Australia, then Brown.

There's some weird stuff happening with the Brown shooting. And we -- we don't know much about that. And also, Syria. So let me start with Brown University, Jason. Why is this one weird, as our chief researcher, why is this one weird?

JASON: Well, there comes a point where, you know, as a society, we just end up getting used to the massive surveillance state we live in. And I think we're just like, okay. Fine.

We're never not going to be surveilled 24/7. Maybe there's some benefits to it.

Well, no!

It doesn't seem that way. Because the people were asking the people at Brown. Like, how is it that you have not fully identified the shooter yet? And that's a very good question. Because if you go back to around 2021, there were people writing about how Brown University was one of the most surveilled campuses of the United States.

GLENN: How is it we only have one picture of this guy from the back?

JASON: Right!

GLENN: Apparently the one thing that will help you get away with any crime is a hoodie.

JASON: Yeah. Wear something over your head and a coat.

Apparently, that foils the entire surveillance state. Also, we have nothing to worry about with surveillance. I don't know.

GLENN: Yeah. Right. Right.

JASON: And on top of that, Kash Patel, the FBI director said that they sprung into action. And they activated their cellular monitoring system to help identify the person that has now been let go. Again, that's another layer of this surveillance state that I think a lot of us have been worried about.

And that didn't do anything either. That helped give us the wrong suspect? What is all this stuff for?

It's not keeping us safe, that's for sure.

GLENN: Hmm. I don't want to jump to any conclusions on, you know, what we have, what we don't have. I'm assuming that they have more. They just haven't shown it.

I would like to -- you know, we could help. You show us some pictures.

I think it's odd.

What happened in Syria over the weekend with al-Qaeda.

JASON: Yeah. In Syria.

There's a ton of news, especially involving ISIS, who is very much active and still very much planning attacks.

GLENN: So wait. Wait. Wait. Was this ISIS, or was this al-Qaeda?

JASON: This is ISIS. That's what they're saying. They're saying it's a lone ISIS perpetrator. The location was symbolic as well. The location as in or around Palmyra. Which, I don't know if you remember, that was a scene of a gruesome ISIS video back at the height of their caliphate, where they behead a lot of people in that area.

GLENN: Right. Right. Yes. That's where they lined them up in the orange jumpsuits. Remember everybody was kneeling down in the sand. And they started beheading people. Yes, I remember.

JASON: It was one of those UNESCO sites with ruins all around. And it was very crazy. Brutal video. But another brutal attack. I believe it was three US service members that were killed in this attack. There's a lot of speculation about to go, on if this person was working. I think he was actually at a time working with the security services that are in Syria right now, under the new president. He -- he could have been, you know, a sleeper in that organization. Who knows? But for -- the one thing I do know. And I don't understand the direction we're moving in Syria. I don't understand how a former al-Qaeda guy suddenly is an all right guy because he puts a suit on. And now he's the president of Syria. And he's our ally.

I don't understand that. The Trump administration, maybe they have more information, that I don't know.

I would love to get more of an explanation on this.

As of now, I don't see this going any direction other than a whole lot worse.

You look around that entire area. You have a former al-Qaeda guy now the president of Syria.

You have the rest of Syria, an absolute Dumpster fire. You have Iraq. I hesitate to call these countries.

They're so far down the sectarian, you know, spiral that this is.

But I don't see how this is going to go anywhere, but south, from here on out.

We're in an absolute war with these radical Islamists. And it's not just in the Middle East. It's globalize the intifada has landed on shores all over the world. And while there are politicians that will not denounce that. That is exactly what's happening. Sorry!

GLENN: So I think that's where -- I think that's what -- that explains Trump's thinking. That Trump does not want these everlasting wars to go on.

He does not want to be fighting in the Middle East. He doesn't want to really be fighting anywhere. He will, if he has to. But he's focused more on the American homeland. And the American hemisphere.

And so I think he is -- I think he's letting the Middle East take care of itself.

And as long as they can all get along with each other and Israel.

And recognize that, you know, Iran and the -- the -- the al-Qaeda, the, you know, Muslim Brotherhood. Et cetera, et cetera.

Trying to coax them all into. Hey. These are kind of your enemies here.

You know, ISIS is a big enemy to us and to peace.

And I think he's hoping that they will start to take care of themselves. Whether they will or not, I don't know. You know, it's never happened were. But it's worth trying. We've been playing this other game of us getting involved in everything for 100 years. We know that doesn't work.

So I'm guessing what Trump is thinking is, we know that doesn't work. We're not going to do that. Let's try to give peace a chance, and help them stomp this out, because it will be prosperous for all of them and plant those seeds as deeply as you can to see what happens. But we're not getting involved in any of that. I have a feeling, but there will be a military response to this, I'm sure. Won't you agree?

JASON: Oh, one hundred percent, and to tack on to what you're saying, I would hope that the President would go with his gut on this.

Because the previous ways this has been handled with Islamists, especially in this area. They've screwed it up.

They don't know what they're doing. Although, they think they know what they're doing. I'll go back to history. The Iran and Iraq War. We supported both size on that. In a similar -- in a similar strategy. So we're like, okay. We don't like either one of these groups. Sectarian groups to get too large. Let's fund this country at the same time we fund this country. We'll arm them. They'll fight each other, and they'll be fine. We do that all the time.

So now, the only thing I can think of is that's what they're thinking with the Syria president, this former al-Qaeda guy. Okay. Well, fine. They'll be anti-Iran, so they can counter Iran.

It's literally the same exact strategy, that they're going for. And I get it. That means that we don't have to get involved. I guess in the initial point.

But we always end up having to get involved after the fire erupts and --

GLENN: We know -- look, I think he's trying to buy time, quite honestly. Get us out of that.

Let us recover, and hopefully not go back to it. Try to buy hopefully some real peace.

But we all know how this will end. It's never going to work in the long-term. Because we as the West have to concentrate on our own homelands. You're seeing that with what happened in Australia. We have let the barbarian into the gates. And we've got to focus on that. We've got to get this cancer, cut out of our own societies. Because it's not good.

'Life is FAR Bigger Than Politics' - Glenn Beck's Spot-On Reaction to Rob Reiner's Death

Hollywood is mourning after the shocking and heartbreaking deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife—an iconic creative force whose films shaped generations. Glenn Beck reflects on Reiner’s extraordinary legacy, the tragedy surrounding his final moments, and the humanity he showed even toward those he disagreed with politically. This emotional tribute explores Reiner’s impact, the devastating circumstances of his passing, and why his work—and his character—left a mark far beyond Hollywood.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: it's so sad that Rob Reiner thing is so sad.

I mean, I don't -- I think -- Stu, correct me if I'm wrong. If he hadn't have done This Is Spinal Tap -- A Mighty Wind, Best of Show, for your consideration, any of those would have been able to have even been made. Because this is Spinal Tap. Rob Reiner directed, but it was still Christopher Guest. I think it was Harry Shearer that wrote it.

STU: And Michael McKean, yeah. Yeah, so theoretically, those movies could have been made, but I don't think any of them get made without Spinal Tap. And I don't think Spinal Tap gets made without Rob Reiner. Because they needed somebody attached to it that would be able to bring that to life.

GLENN: I mean, what a legacy he and his father brought to television.

I mean, think, Carl Reiner did your show of shows, which was Mel Brooks and Woody Allen with Carl Reiner writing that. Imagine That. Then he bought the Dick Van Dyke show and a million -- a million other TV shows and movies he was responsible for. And then his son starts with All In the family, and brings us all these classic movies, and the way they died this weekend, is just horribly, horribly tragic. Horribly tragic.

STU: Yeah. And it's not just Spinal Tap, which is a big one. Princes Bride.

GLENN: Oh, I know.

STU: Some of the movies --

GLENN: Harry Met Sally. Gosh, so good. So good.
STU: So many things.
GLENN: Stand By Me. One of my favorite movies.
STU: Oh, yeah. Jeez.
GLENN: Just great moves. Just great movies.

GLENN: So Rob Reiner met his wife in 1989. They have been together ever since. They live in Brentwood, which is a suburb of Los Angeles. It's -- their house is 2 miles away from where Nicole Simpson Brown was -- was discovered and killed.

Officers were called to Brentwood, to their home. All they said at first was, a man and a woman found with stab wounds. That's what came out over the radio. They were dead. And then friends started to show up. Billy Crystal was there. He came into the house. Reporters say he left looking horribly shaken. Larry David, who is a neighbor, he came in. Same story. It was confirmed that Rob Reiner and his wife were killed and brutally murdered: stab wounds.

We knew early this morning that the guy who might have done it is their 32-year-old son. His name is Nick Reiner. He's a screenwriter and also -- he's a guy who has battled drugs and alcohol and homelessness. He said at one point, I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas. I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street, and it wasn't fun. That's what he said to People magazine in 2016. I don't know the latest on him.

But he has been just arrested for the murder of his mother and father. Just horrible!

Just horrible. I mean, Rob Reiner was one of those guys that I was always sad that, you know, we disagreed. And -- I'll be kind to him here.

Neither of us could ever find our way to talk to one another.

Because I really admired him.

I really liked him.

I didn't like him politically.

That's such a small part of life. I mean, gosh. He did When Harry Met Sally. He did the Princess Bride. This is Spinal Tap. He did A Few Good Men.

Stu, look up -- look up his work. He's responsible for some of the best movies ever. His father was a genius. It is so sad that Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, and then now that is broken by the third generation. The son!

And it ends this way. He brought so much joy -- to just me. I'll speak for me. His movies have brought me so much joy, just the Princess Bride alone. But so sad. So incredibly sad.

And to be killed by your -- it's one thing I guess to be killed by your stranger, and that's bad. But to be killed by your own son. Oh!

STU: Glenn, listen to this -- late '80s. Early '90s. Quickly.

1984, this is Spinal Tap. '85, The Sure Thing. '86, Stand By Me. '87, The Princess Bride. '89, When Harry Met Sally. 1990, Misery. 1992, A Few Good Men. I mean, that is -- that is a run!

GLENN: Wow! Wow! Just -- just brilliant, brilliant guy from a brilliant family.

I'm glad his father isn't here. I mean, his father just died, what?

A year ago. Two years ago.

Mel Brooks is still alive, which this has just got to kill Mel Brooks.

Gosh, poor Mel Brooks. The tragedy.
By the way, I want to show you how Rob Reiner for as politically different as we were, and we were extraordinarily politically different. I want you to listen to how he handled the death of Charlie Kirk.

VOICE: When you first heard about the murder of Charlie Kirk, what was your immediate gut reaction to it?

VOICE: Well, horror, absolute horror.

And I unfortunately saw the video of it. And it's -- it's -- it's beyond belief. The -- what happened to him, and that should never happen to anybody.

I don't care what your political beliefs are. That's not acceptable! That's not a solution to solving problems. And I felt like what his wife said at the service -- at the memorial they had. Was exactly right.

And totally, I believe, you know, I'm Jewish. But I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe in do unto others. And I believe in forgiveness. And what she said was beautiful. And absolutely -- she -- she forgave his -- his assassin.
And I think that -- that is admirable.

GLENN: I mean, how many -- how many other people did that? Especially for as vehemently as he disagrees with the right.

He was a human being. And I think that's why his -- I think that's why his films lasted and connected with us. You know, I mean, in a lot of ways, his films were a little like John Hughes' movies.

John Hughes was -- I mean, he was lightning in a bottle.

And there was something. And I think that something in many ways, was John Candy.

But there was something about the John Hughes movie, that connected to us on a basic level.

You know. That -- that spoke to us, deeper than just a movie! Or a script.

You know, it -- it came from a place that was real.

And I -- I think of Peter fall. And

What's his name?

I can't remember. He used to be in the wonder years. It was the little kid on Princess Bride, that -- that just those scenes alone -- just those scenes alone were so real! So real. When Peter Falk turns around and says, as you wish. It -- by the end of the movie, you felt that deeply.