The first debate between former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is quickly approaching. So, Glenn and Stu give their best predictions: Will Trump force Harris to finally admit the policies she’s for? Will Harris try to trap Trump into making comments that the media can spin? Will she just call him a “felon” constantly? Will Trump bring his classic energy, or has surviving an assassination attempt mellowed him? And which would be better in his face-off against Harris? Glenn and Stu also discuss a report from the Media Research Center, which found that the debate’s host network, ABC News, is as biased as can be.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
STU: So the debate is tonight.
GLENN: Yes, it is.
STU: And it is going to be an interesting one. I don't think it can live up to the standards of the last one. I just don't think that it can get to that level.
GLENN: Yeah. But wouldn't it be nice?
STU: I think so. As long as it doesn't happen in the opposite direction.
GLENN: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
But there is a chance that either one of them, could just step on a land mine.
STU: It's very possible.
And I'm -- I will -- are you concerned?
What's your concern level? One to ten. Glenn Beck concern level going into tonight.
GLENN: Because it's American politics, and the stakes are so high. One to ten. 100.
STU: Yeah. I'm kind of there. I don't know if we're there for the same reasons.
GLENN: What?
STU: Because the stakes are super high. Obviously, you're concerned.
GLENN: That's 99 percent of it.
STU: Your concern is not Kamala Harris is an amazing debater, right?
GLENN: No. It's just that she's going to be everything she can, just to get under his skin. I mean, that is literally the -- the plan. Is to get under his skin. Make him angry, so he says something.
STU: Yep.
GLENN: And, you know, I just hope that he -- he is as good as he was, on the last debate.
STU: Yes. As far as knowing what the situation is, and knowing what's going on. Right? It is -- a lot of it is about awareness in that moment. And that is probably what Trump is best at, in these debates. You think back to the -- well, you would be in jail. That moment, with Hillary Clinton.
That was him, just picked apart the conversation at the moment. He's very good at that. He's obviously not as skilled at going after policy details. That's not what his game is.
GLENN: I bet it will be tonight. I bet it will be tonight. What is your plan? What is your plan? What is your plan? Let's talk about details. What's your plan?
STU: Right. Asking about them constantly. Like him trying to recite parts of health care laws, is not a good point for Donald Trump.
GLENN: No. It's not going to be good for her either.
STU: No. And she is the reverse of Trump. She's much worse in the moment. She's much worse realizing what's going on. The only thing I think she will try to do I think in this debate is to make Donald Trump, lure him into some sort of, quote, unquote, sexist, quote, unquote, racist moment.
That she can exploit.
You go back to that Mike Pence debate. Where she said, excuse me.
Mr. Vice president.
GLENN: I'm speaking. Oh, shut up.
STU: It's like, we know you're speaking. The problem is the words coming out of your mouth.
It's not that you were speaking.
If you were saying true things, you wouldn't need to be interrupting. But you're lying constantly. That is the moment they'll try to get that into something. And to be clear, the media will try to magnify that into something it's not.
GLENN: ABC is so bad. So bad.
Did you see the numbers on ABC? Let me see if I can find it real quick. So ABC is absolutely the most biased out of all of them. They are so much more worse. Is that right?
They're worse than NBC. And that's saying something!
STU: Really?
GLENN: Yeah. According to -- according to, you know, a watchdog group, they --
STU: The earner center, I think it was.
GLENN: Yeah. I think it was. They tracked CBS, ABC, and NBC. CBS was actually the most fair and balanced out of the three.
I think it had a score in the 70s. And what they scored was, is there any -- is it balanced?
Is there the other side ever being shown?
Is the anchor ever giving the benefit of the doubt?
Are they saying something positive?
Or is it just all negative?
On Kamala Harris, it was 100 percent positive coverage.
100 percent.
STU: Well, it wasn't 110 percent positive.
GLENN: It could have been worse.
STU: Well, actually, it can't be.
That's unbelievable.
GLENN: Here it is. No. Actually, NBC was best. 71 percent, with NBC.
STU: 71 percent positive is the best. The best number?
GLENN: The best number is 100 percent.
STU: No. But I'm saying, like for our -- for fairness. The best one was 71 percent positive.
GLENN: Seventy-one percent.
Then 94 percent for CBS. ABC, 100 percent.
STU: And what's the time period on this? They must say one negative thing?
GLENN: Oh, yeah. Since --
STU: Since?
GLENN: She became the candidate.
STU: Oh, my God. That's over a month.
That's 50 days now?
GLENN: Yeah. 100 percent. Now, Trump's negative coverage, 77 percent on CBS.
86 percent on ABC.
STU: Oh, my God. These are terrible.
GLENN: Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
But -- but nobody -- nobody even -- nobody even came close.
STU: I didn't even think about that.
GLENN: 100 percent.
STU: I have to -- you have to think about it. Are they this incompetent?
How have they ever lost an election? With this environment, how do you lose elections?
GLENN: Well, I don't know if it's ever been this bad.
STU: Yeah. Yeah.
GLENN: Now, it is -- it's just lies. I mean, they've always gotten stories wrong.
And they're like, well, yeah. That's not the way you frame that story.
You know what I mean?
That's the way it used to be. And then some lies.
Now, it is non-stop.
If I hear that very fine people thing, one more phylum
STU: How many times can they do this?
Oh, my gosh. And they just keep getting away with it.
STU: Did you see the one they tried to J.D. Vance?
GLENN: No.
STU: J.D. Vance. Quote. Shootings are just a part of life. Are you kidding me? That's not what he did. That's not what he said.
GLENN: In context, he made a big deal about how horrible this was.
What I tragedy this shooting was.
And he said, unfortunately, and I don't like this. Shootings have become part of life.
STU: Yeah. A fact of life. And we've got to stop it.
STU: But if you take all the context out. And say fact of life. It looks like you're just this, yes, and wants people to die.
GLENN: Hey, whatever. Those kids are killed. It's a fact of life, you know what I mean?
STU: Let's build all schools near a mountain so they have high ground for all these assassins. It's like, no, that's not what he said.
GLENN: It's really almost that.
STU: It's like, they all know what they're doing.
This is the Donald Trump, we're going to have a bloodbath, dot, dot, dot, in the economy.
But they just say bloodbath. This is stuff. They all know what they're doing here. This is not like mistakes.
Not like, this is taken out of context. They are intentionally trying to sink his campaign. Because they hate him.
And I don't know that they love Kamala Harris honestly. She's just the other thing.
GLENN: Well, that quote really originated with the Associated Press. And I don't know if you saw this.
But the Babylon Bee has -- has put a list together of all the things that the AP has said in the past.
And they still stand by it. You know, for instance, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. According to -- according to the AP. The only thing we have, dot, dot, dot. Is fear itself.
STU: Hmm. Wow! I don't --
GLENN: Neil Armstrong.
That's one small, dot, dot, dot, man.
STU: That was a height speech?
GLENN: Yeah. Wayne Gretzky. You miss 100 percent of the shots you, dot, dot, dot, take.
STU: So you shouldn't even try, is what he's saying.
GLENN: Donald Trump, I can't believe he came out and said it. But it was reported by the AP. I am literally, dot, dot, dot, Hitler.
STU: Oh, my gosh. He said that? So he's not even saying he is endorsing the policies of Hitler, he's saying he's the man.
GLENN: And let me tell you, John F. Kennedy is practically Kamala Harris. John F. Kennedy: Ask not, period.
STU: So you shouldn't bother asking.
GLENN: Don't even ask. Don't even ask. How about this one? Martin Luther King: I have a dream that one day, dot, dot, dot, little boys will be, dot, dot, dot, little girls.
STU: So he was for this gender stuff?
GLENN: He was for it.
STU: A reverend was for all of this gender stuff? Glad they covered that.
GLENN: And, of course, you know, you want to talk about weird. Thomas Jefferson. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that men are dot, dot, dot, endowed, dot, dot, dot, well.
STU: Oh, wow. I thought that was Abraham Lincoln they were talking about with those things.
GLENN: Yeah, Patrick Henry: Give me death.
Franklin Roosevelt again. December, dot, dot, dot, will live in infamy.
STU: Just the whole month?
GLENN: Anti-Christmas. Just anti-Christmas. And, of course, Bill Clinton.
I did, dot, dot, dot, that woman. That one is actually --
STU: That's a good summary.
GLENN: That one is right.
You know what they're doing is, they're changing history in realtime. They really, truly believe, that Hitler was right when he said, you say a lie wrong enough, loud enough, people will begin to believe it's the truth.
I mean, there's no other reason to keep saying, very fine people. Other than --
STU: They know they're lying on that. And they may think that secretly it's what he really believes.
They might really. They may actually apply those things to him. I think they hate him enough maybe to believe that.
GLENN: Yeah. I was going to say. You know why they believe that? Not based on any fact. But just what they think.
You know he believes that. What?
You know, what kind of people do they hang around all the time?
STU: The worst people that have ever been created. Maybe it's because they're surrounded by all the most awful people that have ever existed. Could be that.
GLENN: Yeah. And their experience tells them, that everybody on earth, is a scumbag. Because that's all they're surrounded by. And actually, we know that to be true.
We worked -- we worked in those circles. Yeah. Not a lot of home runs there, on the people front. You know.
STU: Home runs on the people front.
(laughter)
That's an interesting way to describe multiple cities. I think it's pretty accurate.