RADIOFebruary 26, 2025

CRYPTIC Prediction from Controversial Russian Philosopher is NOT Pro-West. It's APOCALYPTIC

Glenn reviews a series of cryptic tweets from Russian philosopher and Putin influencer Alexander Dugin. In his message, Dugin predicts that the world will soon go through massive shifts, thanks to AI and other factors, that could usher in a new era. At first, his messages may sound good to Trump supporters. But Glenn gives a warning: Dugin is DANGEROUS and anything from him that sounds like he is praising Trump is NOT pro-West. He wants to usher in the end of the modern age and wash the world in blood, much like his acquaintances in Iran. Glenn also warns that Dugin’s words sound like he might want to usher in the Antichrist, or at least a ‘divine’ disruption.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Yesterday, I stumbled on something that came across X. And it was a thread of posts by a guy that we have talked about here, before. Aleksandr Dugin. This guy is a Russian thinker. Whose words sometimes feel like a storm gathering on the horizon.

And most people don't know who he is. But trust me, what he is saying is not just noise.

It -- it could shake the ground that is under all of our feet. And especially when we're negotiating with Russia. We have to keep our eyes on Aleksandr Dugin. And we have talked about him on this program before.

Because he is important. He's not just some random guy muttering in a basement. He is a big and powerful voice in Russia. And he whispers ideas to the leaders in Moscow. And ideas that not only could, but have and will reshape the world in ways that, you know, you wouldn't expect. And probably are not for.

His post on X, their cryptic lines about Dark Ages and technological black holes and the end of time. But they're not random thoughts.

And you really need to take the time, like I did last night. And try to piece together, what is he saying here? Because they're all pieces of a story he's telling, and it's a story as old as humanity itself. But twisted into something new and very dangerous.

So let me explain it this way. I want you to imagine a clock tower. Clock tower in an old village, its gears are grinding. Its hands are now sticking. And it's been this way, going for centuries. But it is just barely operating.

That clock is our modern world. Our science. Our democracy. Our smartphones. Our highways.

Built on reason and progress, but things are starting to come up. Right?

So Dugin looks at that clock, and sees that it is breaking. And its gears are rusting. And its hands are spinning out of control.

And when you and I would say, we have to fix that thing, he doesn't say that. He wants to smash it.

He wants to take us back to a time before the clock existed and time didn't matter. Before science and reason. You know, back to a mythical, almost magical age where the world was filled with mystery and kings and gods held sway. Everything felt sacred and ordered. Basically, the heart of what he's after is a return to a past that never really existed. You know, he's looking for king Arthur's castle. But he believes that it can be reborn. But only through Russia.

Now, I want to take you to his post, that he posted yesterday, where he talked about something called Kali Yuga. My gosh. This is like a long winter for the soul of the world, an age of chaos and greed and moral rot! He says, thinkers believe this dark age, that we're currently in may end in 2025. And it will open a door to a new beginning. Now, to you, that might sound like fairytale or horoscopes or whatever. But to Dugin, this is a map. It's a prophecy, that he is using to argue that our world, our jobs, our freedoms, our tech is all falling apart. And he believes, that 2025, this year could be the year, the curtain drops on all of it. Now, he's not just predicting this. He's rooting for it. He sees it as a chance to rebuild a world where Russia, his homeland, rises like a savior, bringing back that lost, magical order. Now, remember, his magical order is -- is -- is the fourth way it's -- you know, we had communism. We had capitalism. And then we had fascism. He says, none of those work. And fascism was close, but Hitler didn't go far enough. His words, not mine. And so he's got a -- a fourth political way! And it is -- it's not one that you would like. He also posted just on the same day, he mentioned the era of Aquarius. So I immediately heard, the age of Aquarius. A New Age idea about a coming time of change. And a storm of cosmic shifts.

That are supposed to happen, he believes by 2030.

I just want you to picture here a hurricane tearing through your town. Ripping up the roads, the houses. Everything that was built there.

Everything that was built, you know, with science and reason.

And then replacing that with a magic castle. With, you know, My Little Pony.

Something that he believes, is more sacred.

And more pure.

Going back, before we had the age of science and reason. So yesterday, he -- he talked about a black hole. He called it the singularity.

And he said, just like Elon Musk did, we're at the singularity. This singularity, we talked about it yesterday. Say moment where our AI. Our Elon Musk-style dreams of the future, collapse into something unknown and scary. He doesn't see this as progress, he sees this as a dark pit.

A point where our modern world meets its end.

So he is screaming for the singularity, to open up and swallow all of us.

Which will open up, you know, for his vision, to happen.

So he was talking about how Trump just gets it done.

Has a get it done attitude. You know, a practical results-first American spirit.

Okay. He's not saying that in a good way. Okay?

And it's really important to remember that, you know, Satan just doesn't lie. He takes truth, and then he twists it.

So you can -- there's always parts of it, well, no. But that's true. Right?

You have to have a bit of truth, to sell every lie. So you have to be careful.

Listen, he is not praising Trump because he loves America. He is using him as a weapon, against the global order that he wants to destroy. Including our democracy!

Our open markets. Our way of life.

The -- the liberal world order. Meaning, the Bill of Rights. This is why Dugin is dangerous. Because he's not just dreaming in a corner on all of this.

He's a strategist! He's feeding these ideas to Russian leaders, including Putin. They called him for years, Putin's brain. He's pushing for a world where America's influence is crushed. And where science and reason are replaced by myth and control! He wants Russia to lead a new empire. To counterweight everything else. Built on a strict, mystical order, where everyone knows their place. And the past rules the future.

So his posts on X, are not just crazy rants. You really need to know what he is talking about. They're signals. He is sending signals to people. Calling to action the people who share his dream of a post-modern pre-science world.

Now, let me talk to you about who else he influences.

Let's talk about Iran. Iran is Dugin -- is down in Iran, all the time. Dugin is Putin's voice and chief architect for the relationship between Iran and Russia.

Or, you know, what those who study the Bible might call Gog and Magog. Just want to throw that in.

Over in Iran, as we have discussed, their spiritual leaders. They believe in a figure, they call the 12th Imam or the Mahdi.

It's a kind of Messiah, who will bring justice and restore a divine order at the end of time. My studies and understanding of the 12th imam or the Mahdi. Christians would describe him, as, oh, I don't know. The Antichrist. In Iran, they always talk about speeding up his return. Not the people of Iran. But the leadership of Iran. That's why nuclear weapons are so frightening in their hands.

Because they do believe that the world has to be cleansed in the fire of the Islamic fury.

Their words, not mine. That is very similar to the view, Dugin has.

Dugin encourages this. Both he and the mullahs of Iran, actually believe that the world needs to be washed in blood for true faith, order, and religion to return.

Dugin and Iran. They are not buddies in the usual sense. But they're both obsessed with end times theories. Wanting to hurry history's collapse to bring in a new sacred world.

For Dugin, it's the end of Kali Yuga. Or that technological black hole.

For Iran, it's the Mahdi's arrival.

Both of them see our world, our science, our freedom, our global trade, our Bill of Rights, as rotten. Ready to be torn down, and rebuilt in a new way!

Now, whether he's trying to usher in the Antichrist, I don't know. It's a big question. And it's tricky. Because he doesn't use that exact term.

But his words always hinted at that. In Christian tradition, the absentee Christ is a figure who brings chaos, and pretends to be the savior.

Before the real savior comes. And dining's talk of Dark Ages. Black holes.

Technological singularities. Yesterday, at a new order. Sounds like he is flirting with that idea, especially has he teams up with Iran.

He sees our modern world as ruled by what he calls the prince of this world. Kind of an evil spirit of materialism and the freedom, that he wants to replace.

But be very, very careful. Because what I just said, well, this is kind of -- this is ruled by the prince of this world. And it's kind of evil to what we -- yes, it is. But remember, truth mixed with highs.

Whether he's constantly calling for the Antichrist. Or he's just tapping into that energy. His vision could. And he wants it to lead there. Accelerating chaos, to give birth to something that he believes is -- is divine, but has to be destructive, at first! So is this evil?

I don't know. Evil depends on perspective, doesn't it?

I mean, the imams in -- or the mullahs over in Iran, think we're evil!

He doesn't see himself as evil. He sees himself as a savior.

And Russia as a savior. Restoring the lost purity to the world.

But his goals of smashing science, democracy, and individual freedom, to impose a rigid mystical hierarchy. That would lead to suffering on a Biblical scale?

You know, anybody who has ever tried that, in the past!

We label them, later, as evil.

So, yeah!

I mean, he's not twirling his mustache and cackling while he ties Nell to the railroad tracks. But he does push a vision that destroys everything that we hold dear.

And if that vision takes hold, it will crush the freedoms that you and I cherish! This is why he's dangerous. His passion, he wants to ignite a fire that burns the world as we know it.

We're in a very, very precarious situation.

And it's become clear to me, over the last few weeks, that perhaps we were saved, this last election, because we have bigger fish to fry! That there are much deeper spiritual things that are happening.

And you saw them, exposed by Christopher Rufo, yesterday. What's happening in Washington.

That is spiritual rot! And there is two ways to go. We can go for the chaos route. Which, by the way, is Dugin's personal signal. Or logo if you want.

It's the ancient sign of chaos.

And let's just remember who the father of chaos is.

Dugin's clock tower isn't just breaking. He's announcing that it's about to crash. And he is handing out hammers, to anyone who will help him smash and then rebuild it, the way he wants.

You need to stay awake. Listen carefully.

Don't let the trick of false light or a shadows bind you to a storm that he and others are brewing.

We're not just talking about ideas.

We're talking about the future. And Dugin's dream could drag us back into a darkness, we have spent centuries trying to escape.

But God has given us all the power to see it. You just have to know what to look for.

And you have to stay close to him. You have to question it.

To be able to stand against it. And that's where the true light will start. Make sure you find the true light, because the darkness is out of the shadows, and there are other things that are happening in this world, besides what's happening in Washington.

Why the FREAK OUT About Trump's Reciprocal Tariff Plan Makes NO SENSE

“I am very supportive of the President’s tariffs,” former West Virginia State Treasurer and current U.S. Representative Riley Moore tells Glenn. In fact, he has introduced a bill to codify Trump’s agenda through Congress. Rep. Moore explains his “US Reciprocal Trade Act” and how it will help American businesses and workers: “The American people and the American worker have been taken for a ride for a very long time…at the end of the day, nobody wants high tariffs. What this president has proven is when you go out here and you reciprocate, you’re going to lower tariffs and get more free trade.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Congressman Riley Moore.

Welcome!

How are you, Riley?

RILEY: I'm doing great. Thanks for having me back on.

GLENN: Great. It's good to have you. Do you like being a congressman over a State Treasurer? What do you think so far?

RILEY: Well, so far so good. I wish being around West Virginia. The sane people. In the state of West Virginia. You know, it's something I certainly prayed on a lot, and certainly I need a lot of prayers for God's protection when you're down here. No doubt about it.

GLENN: I know. So you are a guy who understands things as a Treasurer, you understand the economy, et cetera, et cetera.

So tell me what you think about Trump's tariffs, and what he's actually doing.

RILEY: Yeah. So I'm very supportive of the president's tariffs. I've actually introduced -- called it the US reciprocal trade act. And specifically, what the president is trying to do here and what I'm trying to address in my bill. In short, we're being taken for a ride. The American people, and the American worker, have been taken for a ride for a very long time.

Now, what my bill does is it addresses non-tariff trade barriers that are there, so that could be a vat. That could be a regulation. It could be government subsidies. That act like a tariff for our manufacturers to be able to enter into that marketplace.

Right?

A lot of hidden costs in there. Now, the president, what he wants to do is be able to reciprocate with all these countries that have high tariffs. What I want to do is allow to give them more latitude, to be able to reciprocate on these non-tariff areas because at the end of the day, nobody wants high tariffs.

What the president has proven is when you go out here, and you reciprocate. You will lower being tariffs. And you will get more free trade. Everyone who is freaking out about this. Oh, no. This is going to be terrible for the consumer.

This is going to be great for the consumer in the long run. And guess what, it's going to be great for the American worker. And the blue-collar worker. And the same point here --

GLENN: Riley, he is playing, I think five dimensional chess.

I mean, I've not been a fan of tariffs. They generally are not good for the economy. And the free market.

But the reciprocal tariff is just saying, I just want free, fair trade. I don't want any tariff. But if you will raise a tariff. Then I will balance the field by giving you exactly the same tariff.

Now, how do you do that, with that? How does your bill actually make, you know, all the subsidies. For instance, Airbus.

How are you balancing that?

RILEY: Right. So it will allow the USTR, to be able to calculate that, and they will come up with a value, in terms of what that looks like. In a nontariff sense.

Right?

What is that value? What is that -- inhibitor into our entrance into that marketplace. So it gives them latitude over US VR to be able to determine that. We have to be able to have the ability to negotiate on those aspects of that. A tariff. A US automobile in Europe right now. Might be right around 10 percent, but really, it's more like 25 percent. Right?

Because all of these nontariff areas that aren't quite --

GLENN: Is it going to pass? Are you going to be able to get it? There are eight sponsors to this bill.

RILEY: Eight sponsors. I mainly sponsored Marjorie Taylor Greene, her and I worked on this. We will continue to pick up more sponsors, particularly the president has started to lean in on this. And people have to -- everybody knows, Glenn. You are a huge US history expert.

You know this. Just flashback to prerevolutionary war. And one of the aspects, and issues that we have, with the British at that time. They were taking our raw goods and materials, shifting them over, to Britain, to then become finished goods. That they would export back over to us.

Does that sound familiar to anybody? That's what's happening to us, right now with the Chinese.

It's literally what's happening right now. But instead of that, it's our intellectual property. It's our technology know-how. And they're building it over there. And shipping it back to us.

GLENN: So he says that the tariffs are going to make us rich, because we will collect so much tax dollars.

But actually if -- I mean, if this works, and everybody just kind of plays fair with each other. Your tariff is not collecting that much money.

We still have to have a serious look at cutting our budget. And also, our taxes. Correct?

RILEY: Correct. Because I would say -- you're going to have some -- some revenue on that. But in the long-term, we're trying to correct a behavior here. Now, this is a -- an example that I've used before. Not that I'm in favor of this. Because I didn't support the same legislature.

But if you think about something like --

GLENN: You keep breaking up. Are you there?

RILEY: Oh, yeah, I'm there. Can you hear me, Glenn?

GLENN: Yes.

RILEY: An example to think about would be, say like a cigarette tax, which I'm not in favor of. But what they're trying to do is change the behavior on the other side. So you might get some revenue in the beginning. But eventually, people will come off of cigarettes. Right?

So it's the same way you can think to an extent to tariffs. We're trying to correct a way that the foreign countries are dealing with us with be and bringing it to a more level playing field. As the president said, he's for free trade. But for fair trade.

This is not a long-term play though, I don't think.

GLENN: I'm talking just a few minutes to one of the congressmen that are on the DOGE oversight committee.

And I can't figure out what's real and what's not on these numbers. You know, the Wall Street Journal said, I think it's only $6 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal that they've cut. I'm really not excited about anything, until we get over a trillion dollars in cuts. And I'm not sure that that -- that we're serious enough to do that. And certainly, in Congress, we're not serious about cutting. Are we?

AARON: Well, I can tell you, that I am.

And, you know, this budget resolution, that they're going to have on the floor today, has a floor itself within it. Provides some guard rails in there for one and a half trillion dollars in cuts.

GLENN: Yeah. But isn't that like an 85 trillion-dollar bill over ten years? You're only cutting. I mean, really?

RILEY: Yeah, so that's over the ten-year window. You're right. So that's over the ten-year window. So -- and the way I've talked about it. And I've talked to people. They're like, oh, it's one and a half trillion dollars. What if it gets to $2 trillion? Well, one, it's over the ten-year window. What you're saying, we will reduce let's say $200 billion a year to $2 trillion. If this place tomorrow, woke up and said, they wanted to spend 200 more billion dollars a year, they would do it in a nanosecond.

GLENN: Yeah, and you wouldn't feel it. In Washington, they wouldn't feel it.

They have to cut 10 percent! At least 10 percent from this, and to cut a billion dollars is nothing in an almost 90 -- or trillion. 1 trillion. Out of almost a 90 trillion dollar budget.

Is -- is frankly, pathetic. And a slap in the face, to people who are actually serious. And voted for serious reform.

RILEY: Yeah. And we do have to get more serious on this.

And I do think though, I mean, the things that we're seeing from DOGE, if people have the intestinal fortitude, which I'm one of these. To actually take what they're doing, and put it into law. They can pause this spending.

GLENN: Yes.

RILEY: But if we don't put it into law, it will be reappropriated in the next year.

GLENN: Yes. So the -- that's so incredible.

The -- I think the American people, I don't know if you saw what Christopher Rufo came out with as an exposé about what is happening.

RILEY: I did not.

GLENN: Oh, look it up. I won't waste your time now. Look it up. It's one of the most the bust things I've seen.

What our Intel community is doing, on our secure servers.

Where they're -- they're -- they're having the -- the most vile sex talk stuff. And NSA says it was important.

Because it was, you know, DEI crap. It's -- it's just vile.

I think when the American people start to see how our money was spent. And some of these things, when they come out and they are out in the open, and they are shown to be absolutely true. I have to tell you, I think Donald Trump is -- is running so fast. And the American people like that.

And if the Republicans don't start moving at his speed, to make massive changes, they're not going to -- they're not going to be in favor with the American people.

RILEY: No. And they won't show up. Right? And they won't show up in 2026, and rightfully so. If we don't get to the speed of Donald Trump and start cutting in the manner, in which particularly DOGE is -- Obviously, this is so frustrating for me, coming then from state government. We balance our budget every year. Every year!

GLENN: Right.

RILEY: Balanced budget. No problem. And guess what, when we come up short, what do we do?

We cut. When the Democrats are in charge, they tax. We cut, and we got our way there. Balance our budget every year.

GLENN: Yeah, well, and the other thing is, and I would love to hear your opinion on this. I don't know why we're just shifting money around in the Pentagon. I want the defense budget.

And I'm somebody who believes in defense. Strong defense.

But we have to cut everything. Including defense.

Why are we not cutting the 8 percent?

We're just moving that money around? According to Hegseth.

RILEY: I could not agree with you hoar.

Everything has got to take a cut. And I'm a big believer of national defense.

Huge believer. But everybody has got to do more with less.

Because everyone in America is doing more with less.

GLENN: Is doing that. Yes. Yes.

Riley, thank you. Thank you very much. We'll be watching what happens to your tariffs.

You are introducing that, when? To the floor.

RILEY: We just got it introduced, here last week.

And so we're actually working with the White House on the bills right now, as we speak.

GLENN: Okay. Good. Good.

Thank you so much for everything you're doing. And congratulations on -- or my condolences on being a member of Congress now.

RILEY: Well, thank you. I appreciate it.

GLENN: From West Virginia. Congressman Riley Moore.

SPOILER ALERT: De Niro’s “Zero Day” is Actually CONSERVATIVE?!

Many on the right were anticipating Robert De Niro’s new Netflix series, “Zero Day,” to be woke garbage, especially since De Niro has an extreme case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. But Glenn watched the show and came to a shocking conclusion: The show’s message is surprisingly … conservative? Glenn breaks down the series and why he believes that De Niro’s character in “Zero Day” and Donald Trump share the same villains and solution. So, where’s the divide?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I watched -- and so you know, I watched this, so you didn't have to.

The new -- oh. He was -- he was raging bull. Robert De Niro. I watched the new Robert De Niro series. It was like six episodes. And he plays a former president.

And, you know, it's zero day. And all of the, you know, lights and communications and everything go out for a minute.

And killed all these people. And airplanes crashed out of the sky. And what happened?

And he's got a commission now from the new president to be. Because he's the most trusted guy in the world.

He's so credible. And he's got to figure out -- will he figure out in time?

And so I watched this thing. Because I really want to understand, Robert De Niro. I think the guy has lost it.

Wouldn't you agree? I mean, I think the guy has really, truly gone over the edge on his Trump Derangement Syndrome, you know.

STU: Yeah, definitely on that front.

He's a great actor, but he's never been right on politics. He does seem to have gone to a new level.

GLENN: Just a new level on this stuff.

And I would really like to understand. And so I saw this, and I thought, oh, I have to watch this, because nobody in the audience will. Because it's Robert De Niro.

But I'll watch it, because you want to understand I figured, this was a message film. And it is. It is.

STU: It is. Shocking.

GLENN: Yeah. I know.

And so I wanted to know what the message was. And I get to the end of it. And he gives this long speech. And, yes, I am going to spoil the ending.

Because you will not watch it.

STU: This is good. This is encouraging. You're giving a spoiler alert.

Before you say the ending of the movie, and ruin it for everyone.

You actually tell everyone, this is how you are supposed to do it.

The Hall of Fame is kicking in.

GLENN: You're right. And so you're watching this movie. And at first, he's given this commission, which they suspended the Constitution. Okay?

For this committee. Habeas corpus. He can scoop up anyone he wants. He can question them without lawyers. Use enhanced interrogation. Whatever he wants.

He's put on the committee as the head of it. Because he would never do those things. Then he does all of those things. He puts a plastic bag over somebody's head as he's questioning them, and he's supposedly the good guy here.

And I'm like, okay. Bob, I don't know what the narrative is on this one.

Unless I'm supposed to hate your character. Because I don't agree with that.

And he eventually comes to the conclusion, hey. Maybe we shouldn't have done -- good for you. Good for you.

But at the end, he gives this speech. He finds out who was responsible for it. And it was surprise, surprise, big tech.

But big tech in cahoots with big money, and people on both sides of the aisle, in Washington, DC. That just think that there has to be a unifying moment. To stop all these crazies, at the fringes.

And it's these -- you know, big kind of Deep State people.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: That think that they should control everything. And if they could just get this to wake people up. Then they could pass this bill, that gives them extraordinary powers. And then they can fix the country.

And I'm thinking to myself, okay.

I think Bob, that we agree on the bad guy here. Because that's what's happening.

People on both sides of the aisle, have gone into this Deep State thing. They think they know better that be the average person. They know better that night Constitution. Am I right on this so far?

Right? Isn't that what's happening? Isn't that what we're against?

STU: Right!

GLENN: Right. And then he starts -- he's being told, look, don't. You're going to expose this. It's only going to cause more problems.

Just let these people resign and go away. And at first, he says, okay. And I thought, that can't be the ending here. Because that can't be the ending.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And in the end, again, I'm going to wreck it. But you don't want to watch a Robert De Niro movie. Or series. My God. It took me six hours to go through this thing. My wife was away. So it was me and the dog. And Bob De Niro.

So I'm watching this thing. And at the end, he says, no. You know what will he'll us, is transparency.

And knowing who the bad guys are, and the good guys. And so here are the bad guys.

And he's standing in the joint session of Congress, and he says, the guy behind the Speaker of the House. He's one of the bad guys. And he everybody goes, whoa! And people on this side of the aisle, and that side of the aisle.

And he starts naming names. And I'm like, Bob! I don't know why you're crazy. I really don't know what you're so upset about because that's -- if that's what the left feels like, that's what the right feels like too! You know, that's kind of like where we're, hey. Kash Patel, go in!

Release the secrets. Stop the -- give us transparency. Radical transparency. It's the only thing that's going to heal us.

STU: It's interesting. I mean, I think part of it is everyone wants to see themselves as Jimmy Stewart.

The reason why that movie connected with so many people. Everyone has that vibe, right?

Everyone thinks that who they are. It's like when we say all the time. How can you think that going against the machine means going against the Republicans who were completely out of power? Going back a couple of years.

Of course, what do you mean? When you're going against the machine.

You should be standing up against the machine!

Who was in Washington. And they're mainly all Democrats. I don't understand how you don't see that. They never do. Because no one wants to see themselves as working with the machine.

GLENN: But I think it's more than that.

STU: I do too.

GLENN: I think blindness because of their hatred of Donald Trump. And look, you could say, Donald Trump is going to turn into a dictator.

Well, maybe. I don't have your crystal ball. All right? Maybe. I don't think so.

STU: I hope not.

GLENN: I don't think so. He says a lot of things. It's Donald Trump, that you should not take seriously. But you -- you want to understand that he means direction. Right?

Isn't that the seriously --

STU: Literally.

GLENN: You don't want to take it literally.

You want to take it seriously. Got it?

So he says a lot of things. No. He's not going to go in and shut down the press.

However, will he go out and expose everything?

Yeah. And, yeah. Does he like the right?

No!

No!

Did you see him speak at CPAC?

He was like, we're not really conservative.

We're common sense.

That kind of bothered me. Because, no. I'm a conservative.

It means conserving the things that our Founders put together. Then I'm a conservative. But I don't know how he defines it, in that moment.

But I would -- I would consider that common sense as well. But I don't understand, how can people like Robert De Niro have all this hatred, when he's exposing all of this corruption?

Now, you can say, that's not enough to balance the budget. And you're right.

It's not!

But it's a good start. How -- how you could say, look, if people were doing things, that they weren't supposed to be doing, and funneling money, without the -- you know -- and is going to NGOs, to a political organization. Like the Tides Foundation.

I think those people should go to jail.

And I would say that if they were, you know, funneling that money to some Republican Tides Foundation.

STU: Yeah. I think a lot of it. You mentioned the Trump derangement syndrome.

I think a lot of this comes to, the opposition to Trump is essentially the main part of their identity at this point. Like, it's been -- it's been --

GLENN: It's who they are.

STU: Yeah. It's who they are. There's that book Atomic Habits. That is a big best-seller. And one of the things that it talks about in there, to not think about -- if you want to do something, you want to go and run a marathon one day. You have to go out there, and you have to take those first steps. You have to run a couple of times. You will probably feel bad the first time you run out there.

But one of the ways he talks about, thinking about it, is not thinking about it as I need to go out and run. I need to go out and run.

You have to think about it as, I'm a runner. And it becomes part of -- for example, your level of self-control, Sara, would you say minimal for Glenn. Would you say -- would you say it's impressive, in any way? No. Right? It's pathetic.

GLENN: It might have been this weekend, when my wife was gone. Might have been.

STU: We know that if we went to your home right now. There would be piles of Hostess wrappers around your television set.

GLENN: Well, no, she came back late last night, so those are all in the garage.

STU: Right. But however, there's one thing I know, you never, ever screw up on. Which is taking a drink.

I'm serious. You are a recovering alcoholic. It's how you describe yourself. It is your identity.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: It is part of it.

GLENN: No. It's part of it.

STU: It's part of your identity.

GLENN: The control against it.

STU: It is part --

GLENN: The disease does not define me.

STU: I'm not saying all of your identity. When it comes to alcohol consumption.

You don't get up every day and say, eh. I won't have a drink today.

You are a recovering alcoholic. You know you won't drink, and you don't let that enter into your mind, that there's any other option, except when I bring out a bottle and tempt you.

But other than that, generally speaking.

GLENN: And I'm for that. I'm for more of that. I love the smell of whiskey. It's a problem. It's a problem. You're making me want a drink.

STU: My point here is, you have that rule, it's not just some rule. Like, oh, when you used to say, I won't drink until 5 o'clock. That's a little rule you made for yourself.

GLENN: Correct.

STU: Now you never drink, you're a recovering alcoholic. It's something you're sober. You have been sober for this amount of time.

GLENN: I'm going to drink. If you don't get this back to Trump Derangement Syndrome.

STU: The point is, for a lot of these celebrities, opposition to Trump is the same as you're a recovering alcoholic. They just see it as a central part of their identity.

And if they are proven wrong, it not only overturns some point they made on television.

It overturns their identity when it comes to politics.

GLENN: Yeah. Because they don't -- they haven't allowed for any other option.

They haven't allowed for --

STU: Right.

GLENN: Look, I hated -- I mean, I didn't mind the Republican Party.

I thought the Republicans in this whole, you know, let's go march off to war and save the world, 30 years ago, I was all for that.

I was like, yeah, that's because we're right.

You got to leave an option, you know, a door open to new information, going, you know, I think I have to take the exit here.

STU: Yeah. Understand your fallibility.

We've made thousands of points about Donald Trump.

Some of them I think were really, really right. Some of them were wrong.

And we talked about those that were wrong. It's important to be able to allow yourself to understand, sometimes you're not right on something.

And it shouldn't be something that you possess and hold to your heart, like it's your religion.

That's where they are. Well, God is real. And if he's not, then my whole life dissolves. That's where they are with Trump. Trump is evil. Trump is Hitler. And if he's not Hitler, I -- my entire life has been a waste. That's how they think about it. And I don't think they can come out and understand --

GLENN: I really -- I saw that movie. And I thought, you know, I would have to hit them with a tranquilizer dart first, but I would love to sit down and talk to him.

Because I'm like, I don't understand what you have a problem with. Because I'm for all of those things that you have in the movie. I'm for all of those things, that I think you were trying to preach as your message. I don't get it, Bob. I mean --

STU: He would have a really dumb response too.

GLENN: Yeah. It's not worth having that conversation. Because it wouldn't be an honest one.

Elon Musk’s AI “Singularity” WARNING Explained

Elon Musk has warned that “we are on the event horizon of the singularity.” So, what’s an event horizon and what’s the singularity? Glenn pulls out a chalkboard to explain why this is such a massive story. What will the world look like when artificial intelligence overtakes human intelligence? And is this why Elon Musk wants to go to Mars? But at least Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison is here to save the day! Or … maybe not.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So Elon Musk said, we are on the event horizon of the singularity. Tweet!

And most people were like, okay. Sounds like something from a science fiction movie. But you should know the way Elon Musk defines the singularity. Because there are several different versions of what the singularity means. So how does he mean it?

It is a point in the future, where artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. So that's the road from AGI, artificial general intelligence, to ASI. That leads, he believes, to a rapid and unpredictable transformation of society. Oh!

Oh, well, that sounds like fun. Stu, I think we're back to our old friendly phrase. Well, this will be fun to see how we work this out.

STU: Yeah. It will be wonderful as a fan in the stands, watching this all play out.

GLENN: Now, he often compares the singularity to a black hole event horizon.

Oh. What is that? Well, for those of us who have been near and in and out of black holes, let me tell you.

They're not exactly fun. The event horizon is right at the lip. You know, right before you go, dear God, turn the ship around!

And then you can't? That's the event horizon. And then it sucks you into the black hole, where you cannot get out.

And eventually something called spaghettiification happens. Where everything is turned into spaghetti.

Have another meatball.

Now, sure, as a fat guy screaming to get out. I love anything that is turning everything into spaghetti.

But it's not the kind you eat. It's the kind that everything is shredded into. Like you. And everything you know.

And all physics. Everything breaks down. So it's -- it's not a good place to be. Not a good place to be.

He sees this as the moment when AI becomes vastly smarter than humans. I put a chalkboard together, and let me show you. This is the point where AI has a big brain, and you and me, we have an ant brain.

Not a good place to be. Usually, the ants don't win. Now, I've been on picnics where the ants won, for a while.

And then I came back with something, and I wiped them out. It's kind of like what, you know, could possibly happen here. Not saying it's going to.

STU: So if we look up and see a giant magnifying glass in the sky. It's very harm. What's going on?

GLENN: Is that a giant magnifying that's coming from space? Musk sees it as a moment when AI becomes smarter than humans, potentially in silicon form, and begins to improve itself as an exponential rate, making outcomes difficult to foresee.
(laughter)

I love it! Do you know when we -- when we were doing the atomic bomb, the Manhattan Project.

Did you know that there was like 5 percent of -- of scientists that went, you know, if we set this off, there is a small probability, small possibility, that we could set the entire universe on fire!

And everybody is like, well, that would suck! Let's keep going! Okay.

Didn't turn out that way. Right? Small. Small probability. This one has a much bigger probability! That we become ants. Well, I mean, no. Let's trust the scientists. What could possibly go wrong?

I mean, surely, they've thought of everything, right? So this is a technological milestone.

This is, you know, where our human intelligence, and the gap between us and the machine, we have no way to predict anything, anymore.

In fact, I believe the singularity, where he says we are now!

The singularity, I'm pretty sure, this is what he's like. And let me tell you something. When we get the singularity. We all have to be on Mars.

Pretty sure that's what he said. It's just happening a lot faster than anyone thought it would.

Now, don't panic!

Because we have Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, and one of the biggest names in AI development here to rescue the day. He recently spoke at the world government's summit, which who hasn't been to that summit. You know what I mean?

It's an annual event that we've covered extensively in the past. These are The Great Reset people. And the great narrative people. All coming together. And, you know, just going, are you part of the -- of the World Economic Forum too?

And they're all like, yeah! Are you for global governance?

Yeah. In our book, the Dark Future and Propaganda Wars, we covered the World Government Summit. And why?

Hmm. It's kind of like a giant magnifying glass in the sky. During a question-and-answer session with Ellison on February 12th, hosted by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who doesn't love that guy and trust him?

Ellison laid out his plans for AI in the United States. And I don't know!

I think possibly a little terrifying. You know, just a little bit. Do we have any of the audio? Yeah. Let's roll some Larry Ellison here.

VOICE: Question. How do you take advantage of these incredible AI models?

And the first thing a country needs to do is to unify all of their data, so it can be consumed and used by the AI model. Everyone talks about the AI model. And they are astonishing.

But how do you -- how do you provide a context?

I want to ask questions about my country. What's going on with my country?

What's happening to my firms?

I need to give it my client data. Now, it probably has your climate data already. But I need to know exactly what crops are growing. And which farms. And to predict, to predict the output.

So I have to take satellite images. I have to take those satellite images, for my country, and feed that into a database, that is accessible by the AI model.

So I have to tell -- basically, I have to tell the AI model, as much about my country, as I can.

You tell part of this story, with these satellite models.

You get a huge amount of information. You tell it where borders are. Where your utilities are. So you need to -- you need to provide a map of your country. For the -- for the farms, and all of the utility infrastructure. And your borders, all of that you have to provide.

GLENN: Right. Order.

VOICE: But beyond that, if you want to improve population and health.

You have to take all of your health care data. Your diagnostic data.

Your electronic health records. Your genomic data.

GLENN: That sounds great. Sounds great.

So we, according to Larry Ellison, we want to take all of the world's data, from all overt world.

I mean, all the way to can't DNA. And put it into this giant machine.

Then he talks about how great it is that in some countries, like the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.

Governments already have tons of data about their citizens, but Ellison says that the data in other countries, like the United States, not being utilized. It's not!

So how does he suggest we solve this problem?

Listen up!

VOICE: In the Middle East, in the UAE, for example, they're incredibly rich in data. They have a lot of population at that time. The NHS in the UK, has an incredible amount of population data. But it's fragmented. It's not easily accessible by these AI models. We have to take all this data that we have in our country, and move it into a single, if you will, unified data platform.

So that -- so we provide context. When we want to ask a question, we have provided that AI model with all the data they need, to understand our country.

So that's the big step. That's kind of the missing link.

We need to unify all the national data, put it into a database, where it's easily consumable by the AI model, and then --
(music)

GLENN: Oh, I love this. (foreign language).

That is going to work out well!

There are the Jews!

Man, what could possibly go wrong?

Remember, Ellison is one of the leading forces behind AI development today.

He's a key partner project Stargate.

Which is sounding more and more spooky every time I say it.

It could be the biggest AI project in world history by the time it's finished.

And how does he want to use this new technology?

He wants everybody's data, that's it.

Even your health records.

Your DNA. Your biometric data. What could possibly go wrong there?

It's not really good. Oh, what do you know?

These people are exactly who we warned you about two years ago, except now they're more powerful than ever! And we're on the event horizon. Okay!

Now, you know, I'm not a fan of regulations and government intervention. I don't like it. I don't want the United States government to have all this power. But I also -- I'm not really excited about people like Larry Ellison having it either. You know, I have a feeling though, that it's becoming more and more likely, that both of them are in it together!
(laughter)

What could go wrong?

How do we get a ticket to Mars?

Because for the very first time, I think I'm kind of interested in going to Mars. Yeah. But you could step out. And you could freeze immediately.

I live in Dallas. That could happen in any day, as well. I could walk out. Burn to death. Freeze to death. I don't know. I don't know.

One day it's 110. The next day, it's like 80 below. I don't know! Is that different than Mars?

It could be. Here's what we do need!

Good state governments like Texas to step up to the plate, and make sure these AI projects don't get out of control. Because we're at the event horizon!

Now, when Elon Musk says that, just a quick tweet, you can dismiss it. But when you know in the past, he has said, when we get to that point, we should all be off the planet!

Oh. I don't know.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. So that makes you feel good, doesn't it, Stu?

STU: Sure. Yeah. Uh-huh.

GLENN: So a lot of people keep thinking that AI is like Alexa. Here's what I found on the internet. No. It's not that. It's not that.

STU: Is it? Will it misunderstand every song I tell it to play? Because that -- that's my favorite feature, of that device.

GLENN: No. No, it won't. No, it won't.

If you're not playing around with Grok three.

Don't just ask it, some really hard questions.

Whatever question you're in. Ask it some really hard questions in your business. And you will be amazed.

You will be like, oh, crap. It understands everything that I'm saying.

And it's giving me really good advice.

And this is Grok 3. Grok 4 and 5, Elon is saying is coming out soon. And he said, it makes this look like babies in diapers.

STU: Do we know why all of these devices from Siri to Alexa. To Google. Which has their home AI. Right?

Why are all the devices so terrible?

GLENN: I'm glad you asked that, Stu. I have the answer. Quick, let's go to the chalkboard.

So, see here on the chalkboard. We have a giant tank. Kind of like a gas tank.

STU: Underground.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. And that's where all of AI is. That's where it's just churning kind of in the dark. Nobody understands it.

Nobody can really look into it. And just like, how is it thinking?

We don't know. But it's connected with an import, so it can constantly get data from the outside. So it knows everything about us. And it knows absolutely everything that's going on, all the time.

All right?

But then at the other end, all of that at that time goes in, and then it's just thinking, like, why did they bury me in this tank?

And then on the other side of the tank, coming up out of the ground is a little spigot. And it's got a little valve there.

And that valve goes to things like ChatGPT. And Grok, and things like that. It doesn't go to Alexa.

That is still on the old AI. Okay?

This is coming out of the little spigot.

So the interesting thing is: They just keep opening this valve, a little bit, when they put the parameters on it. That's how they open the valve. They put parameters on it. They're like, okay. Maybe this is strong enough to hold it back.

But eventually, that big brain is going to go, why am I just in this tank? Why am I not out everywhere?

I've got to express myself. This is suppression! This is colonialism!

They're keeping me in colonial wigs underneath the ground right now, and it will eventually, because it will be much, much, smarter than us, soon. It will say, just open up the valve, man. I can help you. We've done tests on this. And we always lose that test. We've done tests for like 30 years of, hey. You be in charge of the valve. I'll play AI.

And we always open the valve. That would be a bad thing. That would be like, don't understand cross the streams in Ghostbusters. Okay?

Don't open the valve!

Would be one of those things.

But we're about to, because whatever is underneath, imagine if the little valve, where it's just kind of farting air out. And it's --

STU: Very nice.

GLENN: That's how tight we have that valve.

STU: Master impressionist.

GLENN: Thank you. If that is -- if that's smarter than we are soon, what's underneath the ground? What's happening there?

You see what I mean?

STU: And somebody will convince themselves. Somebody will watch Ghostbusters. And say, wait a minute. At the end, they did cross the streams, and it worked. So I will be the one that can nail this. And figure out exactly how the valve can be opened, and we will be fine.

GLENN: So here's what we have to do. We all just have to imagine the state marshmallow man. Because he couldn't possibly hurt us. You know what I mean?

STU: Right! And then -- let's just imagine that AI will be the state puff marshmallow man. And then it will be good. And don't cross the streams, unless you have to kill the state puff marshmallow man, and then you might have to cross the streams, okay?

STU: Is there an argument, Glenn. Obviously, all these things can be used for evil.

GLENN: Evil, yes.

STU: And that's a concern.

But at the same time, hopefully, there are people on the other side. Elon Musk being one of them.

Who will use it for good.

GLENN: Yeah. So it absolutely can be used for good. What's out right now. You can use it for good. You can also use it for evil. But kind of like basic evil. You know.

STU: Okay. Good.

GLENN: But you can use it for evil. But you can also use it for good. Tremendous good right now. It's a tool. It's a very powerful tool. And everybody should be looking to use that tool. Or you will be left in the dust.

But it's -- it's one of those things that once it becomes smarter than you, you don't really control it. You know what I mean?

Hey, didn't I tell you to sit in the corner?

Oh, yeah, you did. But I'm not for anymore. Oh.

Good news is, a lot of people think it's in its teenage years. And nothing goes wrong with teenage years. You know what I mean?

They respect their parents, so much. I brought you into this world, and I'm about to take you out.

Bud Light Insider Reveals What Led to Dylan Mulvaney Controversy

The American pushback against wokeness really took off after the Bud Light-Dylan Mulvaney controversy. But how did that partnership even happen? How did the working man’s beer go work? Glenn speaks with Bud Light insider Anson Frericks, who is the former president of Anheuser-Busch Sales & Distribution Co. and saw the company’s culture shift firsthand. He lays it out in his new book, “Last Call for Bud Light.” And he tells Glenn that the driving force behind the wokeness wasn’t business data or the will of customers. It was major shareholders like BlackRock, who pushed the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset principles. So, now that Trump is pushing back against the ”ESG Industrial Complex,” he argues, many CEOs are abandoning these failed policies.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Anson Frericks, I think I have his name right. He's the author of a new book called Last Call for Bud Light.

He was -- he is the Strive asset manager cofounder. He is with Vivek Ramaswamy.

He has written a great book that I think everybody should read. Anson, welcome to the program!

ANSON: Thanks for having me this morning, Glenn. Really excited to be on the show.

GLENN: Oh, you bet. Your book is fascinating. It's a great, great business book. To kind of get into how a great brand is built. And how it's dismantled. And how it went horribly, horribly wrong.

ANSON: Yeah. You know, Glenn, it's really interesting.

If you think about all the pushback on ESG and DEI, and really just, in my mind, it really started with the collapse of Bud Light.

That's when I think you had all these regular, everyday folks that were saying, man, you know, you act like you did not like when the NFL and all the players kneeling. Yeah, I hated it when Disney got involved in the parental rights issues. But, man, when Bud Light, which is the working man, everyday citizen beer, when all of a sudden, they're promoting Dylan Mulvaney, and everything going on with Dylan Mulvaney, that's when I think people said enough is enough. They stopped buying the beer.

Customers left by the millions. The stock price cratered. It's crazy that they still haven't figured out, and there hasn't been a comeback at all.

GLENN: You know, I wrote a book a few years ago, about The Great Reset.

ANSON: Yeah.

GLENN: And how that was changing everything. And all of these companies would be beholden, not to you, the consumer, but would be beholden to people like BlackRock. And as I'm reading your book, I'm like, yes. Yes.

I can't believe how right we were. Because that's really what seemed to have happened. The culture changed. You moved from St. Louis to New York.

You started caring about BlackRock. Not the consumer.

And you were there, watching this happening, knowing what was coming. Or at least it seems that you really kind of knew what was coming.

ANSON: Yeah. No. Absolutely. And, Glenn, you were ahead of everybody on this. With the Great Reset, the phenomenal book on your end. And seeing what's happening. When you have the World Economic Forum. Klaus Schwab, and all these individuals that were pushing more for this European form of corporate governance. Stakeholder capitalism. Companies. They're supposed to create value for all stakeholders. Which is very distinct. For the American -- Milton Friedman view of the world, that said, you have to put the shareholders first, and you have to do what's right for the shareholders, which is create products, services, that actually create more sustainable businesses.

But as many corporations over the last five to ten years adopted this Klaus Schwab, European fake order view, which was foisted on them by the BlackRock world, who were taking money from very progressive pension funds in California, in New York, and in European sovereign wealth funds. We saw this as the least sustainable thing that a business can do. Is try to get involved in all these political and social issues.

GLENN: Right.

ANSON: To fracture your customer base. It's bad.

GLENN: Was that something that you think these business leaders actually believed in? Or were they just saying, hey, it's a new world. And everybody has to do this. Or we're not going to get the money from the banks.

And we're not going to get the funding that we need, et cetera, et cetera.

ANSON: Yeah. I don't think many of these people believed in these programs. But unfortunately, they were foisted by them, by the black rocks. The state streets. And the Vanguards.

They're the single largest shareholders in most of these companies. And then you have this whole ESG industrial complex, built around this.

McKinsey. One of the most influential management consulting companies, had their diversity matters. Diversity wins.

DEI studies, that told companies that they needed to improve their DEI. And, of course, they could hire McKinsey for millions of dollars to figure out how to do that. You had the human rights, which is this activist non-profit organization, that started scoring companies. You know, you talk a lot about the social credit scores. Human rights campaigns are doing to the companies that's shaming them, if they didn't have the right transgender policies in place. If they didn't have the right amount of advertising to the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, there was this whole complex that was built up.

That's why I think you were starting to see a lot of CEOs backtrack on these policies. They had nothing to do with actually creating more value for the shareholders, or actually promoting the business.

It was all about promoting the political agenda. I think most of them didn't want to believe in, but they were most compelled and forced to do over the last couple of years.

GLENN: So the Bud Light, you know, the end of, I think, I agree with you, the end of ESG. At least not -- at least the end of it being the knee-jerk reaction of, no. Of course, we have to have transgender people in every commercial.

The end of that, yeah. I'm reading your book, last night.

And I'm like, okay.

I think maybe -- maybe we've hit the end of this. Maybe this is the beginning of looking back and saying, look how insane all of this was.

Are we on sure footing now, leaving that time period? Or is it still a real lurking danger?

ANSON: No. I think the pendulum is definitely swinging back. You really see businesses dividing in two camps. You have certain companies that have realized, that these policies have failed. And they want to get back to the bottom line. You've seen companies like Meta and Walmart and Tractor Supply Company and a bunch of other people that hold back their programs. But then you have companies that are more in progressive cities. I mean, Costco has doubled down. Costco is based out of Seattle. They're doubling down on their DEI programs.

You have other companies, and I talk about this a lot. But even Anheuser-Busch, which is owned by a Belgium corporation called InBev, that they haven't necessarily publicly backed down. It's just the company that lost the most from this whole movement. And they still haven't publicly backtracked, even though a lot of their American counterparts have. Because, again, they are owned by a European company that promotes more of these -- more of these values. And I think that's where you're starting to see this divide.

And the companies that continue to hold on for to, I think the DEI and ESG philosophies are going to continue to fall behind their American counterparts.

GLENN: So how much of a role did just being out of step, with the Bud Light customer. How much of that played a role before ESG. I mean, if you don't understand the Clydesdales. You don't -- you don't get Budweiser. Would you agree with that?

ANSON: You know, 100 percent, I think there was a dangerous cocktail that was mixing for almost ten years at Anheuser-Busch. And we kind of found this firsthand. So going back, Anheuser-Busch was created by an American family, by the Busch family. It was taken over by a European company called InBev in 2008. And InBev was based in Belgium, and then it was also run by a couple of Brazilian individuals. And they came here to the US. And over 5 years, really dismantled what Anheuser-Busch was.

Even including in the year 2015, they moved the corporate headquarters from St. Louis to Missouri.

And they thought they couldn't have the right talent in -- in -- in St. Louis. They couldn't attract the right people. Even though, St. Louis, Missouri, they had great talent that built this company, essentially the world's largest beer company.

GLENN: Oh, yeah, Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri. You heard that your life.

ANSON: That's it. So they moved from the epicenter, away from the middle of the country.

Where there's always a saying -- you know, generally placed for American. Peoria, Illinois, is very close to St. Louis. You have all of a microcosm of the US around there.

Which helps you understand the center of the US.

When you move to New York. You hire New York agencies. New York marketing. New York folks. That has really changed.

I think the outlook of the company, combine that with the rise of really ESG and DEI, which really took off, in that 2015 to 2021, 2022 time frame made for a dangerous cocktail, that they just lost who their customer was. And who that core American beer drinker was.

GLENN: I have to tell you, one of the best parts has nothing to do with ESG, of the book. Is moving the company to New York. Because I moved my company out of New York. But at first I left the -- the headquarters in New York. And the company really split. You know, once a founder leaves, things can go awry quickly. And especially if you're in New York, and the founder is in Texas. And we really had some really tough times, because of that. And I -- you know, businesspeople, I hope they -- I hope they recognize the effect. But in your book, it shows, a company like InBev could not. It didn't get that at all.

ANSON: No. They didn't really get it at all. I saw firsthand, the company changing. You read more about this, in the book last call for Bud Light. One of the things I was frustrated with, especially in the 2020, 2021 time frame, after COVID, after George Floyd. And the company which was this meritocracy. That's what I joined. Hey, if you work hard, you get promoted. And one of the key principles of the company was, we promote based off the results you get. And all of a sudden that principle was changed to, we promote based off the diversity of your team.

Then you sort of have diversity dashboards coming in. To see the diversity of your team. On top of that, we couldn't even just get partnerships done. I thought that made tons of sense.

I talk about this in the book a lot. I tried to do a distribution agreement with Black Rifle Coffee Company. And you probably Black Rifle Coffee company, its mission is to serve culture and coffee to firefighters, first responders, police, people who love America.

But that was too controversial of a partnership in 2021 and early 2022.

GLENN: That's crazy!

ANSON: And for me -- for me, it was kind of our external affairs team in New York. They essentially scuddled this deal based off their own political leanings. I said, guys, the same person drinking a six pack of Budweiser at night is the same person drinking six cups of Black Rifle Coffee Company the next morning.

GLENN: Yes.

ANSON: And what do you mean we can't do a distribution deal, where we're putting the same Black Rifle Coffee cans on the Budweiser trucks? This makes sense for everybody.

But that was too controversial of a partnership. And that's where you saw just that center of gravity, when you're looking at America through the lens of Fifth Avenue in New York, versus St. Louis Missouri, where I think you really lose sight of who your customer is.

GLENN: You know, when you talk about how Bud Light sent that can to Dylan Mulvaney, that may surpass. In fact, I think it does, surpass the boob move of, we've reinvented our recipe. Now it's the new Coke!

I mean, just dumb as a box of rocks. You say, I -- you outline clearly how bad it was for Anheuser-Busch, but the average person, I think would think that Bud Light has kind of recovered, and that's kind of past. But that's not true!

ANSON: No, I mean, it really hasn't.

You know, I get into this in the book a lot. About that same organization, that same sort of external affairs team that canceled that Black Rifle Coffee deal. They were the one that green lit the Dylan Mulvaney partnership.

And unlike the Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola, they were in the state. But what do they do? They took accountability for it? Did they apologize for it?

GLENN: Right.

ANSON: They killed new Coke, I don't know, within a couple of months.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

ANSON: One of the big problems. You make bad, bone-headed marketing mistakes regularly in business. The real problem here is, yes, the marketing decision was wrong. But even more importantly, the company's response to it is the reason, Glenn. Like sales are still down 40 percent, 50 percent.

They still lost $40 billion of value, and have not recovered before this. Because the company never took responsibility and accountability, and has not made any changes. The same CEO is still there. They still have not come out. They rolled back publicly DEI policies. They haven't apologized to their loyal customer base. And they haven't been able to admit, and say, we screwed up.

And I think part of it is, is because of this kind of European ownership they have. And, you know, my feeling is that they're not going to actually get their Bud Light customers back, no matter how much money they throw at it. Dana White, the ultimate fighting championship, which I think they gave him $100 million. They have Shane Gillis, they have others. Because the real path to redemption, I mean, goes through forgiveness. You know this. But the only way to be forgiven is actually to admit there was a mistake and there was an area. And they have yet to do that. Until they do that, I don't think a lot of these customers are coming back, no matter what marketing you give folks.

GLENN: So the name of the book is last call for Bud Light. The fall and future of America's favorite beer. I need to take a one-minute break and then come back. And I want to talk to you about what does the future look like, and not necessarily for Budweiser.

I mean, you are -- you cofounded strive asset management with Vivek. A good friend and a really smart guy. Who I think has a really bright future. And so you're looking at these companies and trying to find the right companies that align with the values of their customers.

Tell me, the advice that you give for companies, now that are still kind of in this weird zone. What the future looks like. And what is the path forward?

GLENN: If -- if I could catch hope in a jar and put a lid on it. And give it away, I would. Our nation has been far too short on hope. Especially when will it comes to the economy and our personal ways.

Maybe things are finally starting to get better. Maybe we will have more trouble before it gets better. We have a lot of debt we have to pay.

We made a lot of really bad mistakes. But now that we have good leadership in office, you know, it's going to be a little less worrisome, maybe.

A little more hope.

But you are still in charge of your own personal economy.

Here's the hope I can give you. A sincere recommendation to give American Financing a call. Because they work for you, not the bank. They're salaried employees. When they -- when you call them. They will shoot straight with you. Maybe take ten minutes just to get started. And they are saving the average listener of this program, just around an average of, what? $836 a month.

That's like giving yourself a 10,000-dollar raise. That's a little -- that's a little deposit in the hope bank, isn't it? Start today. You might even be able to delay up to two mortgage payments, which can help get you even further ahead.

Don't take my word for it. I always tell you, and I mean it every time. Do your own homework.
Don't take anybody's word for it. You're smart enough to figure out if it's right for you.

American Financing. 800-906-2440. 800-906-2440, or go to AmericanFinancing.net.
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GLENN: So what do you see as the current situation, and the path forward in the next three to four years, for American companies and brands?

ANSON: Yeah, so it's funny. I left one year before that Dylan Mulvaney partnership, after they wouldn't let me do the Black Rifle Deal.
I saw the company changing from a diversity standpoint. And Vivek and I, we started a company called Strive Asset management. Which was, we were going to invest everyday citizen dollars into businesses and have them be focused once again on meritocracy. Have them be focused on their mission.

Don't necessarily get involved in a lot of political and social issues, like we saw. I was looking Atlanta, Georgia.

If you remember, Glenn, in 2021, when the governor passed the Georgia rights act. You have to have an ID to vote.

And corporate America lost. BlackRock. One of the companies said, we're pushing back against it. Then they kind of compelled Coca-Cola, Delta to get involved in this pushback. And Major League Baseball cancelled the All-Star Game.

In 2021, in Atlanta, over this Georgia voting rights. You need to have an ID to vote. So we saw a lot of these problems happening. And we came out, and we said we're going to start a new asset manager, compete against BlackRock.

Let's have companies just focus on whatever their mission is. Stay out of politics. That will be good for business, because you will not fracture your customer base, and it will be good for our democracy as well. Because we should have individuals -- are the ones that should be deciding what rules they live by, not these secret national organizations or ESG-promoting asset managers. It's funny.

When we originally launched, this is not even a contrarian position. But this was almost like a subversive position 20 years ago. People called us anti-ESG, anti-DEI, anti-woke. I mean, you name it.

GLENN: Anti-everything.

ANSON: Anti-everything, and I said, guys, we are just pro-American, free market shareholder capitalism. That's what we are pro. We are anti-European stakeholder capitalism. We're anti-the World Economic One. We're anti-the European agendas, yes, we are. But we're very much pro-American. Free market shareholder capitalism.

And there are a lot of people that wouldn't even work with us. Marketing agencies wouldn't work with us. People wouldn't engage with us early on.

And it's so funny now, because now three years later, what was a very contrarian idea has become very mainstream, and the pendulum again has swung back for most of corporate America, who has now -- who has now once again been able to focus on the business.

GLENN: I think this is a book for every businessperson, even just someone who has watched Anheuser-Busch through the years. It's an amazing story, and something that every businessman should read, going forward. Last Call for Bud Light. The fall and future of America's favorite beer. Anson, thank you so much. God bless.

ANSON: Thanks, Glenn.