RADIOMarch 01, 2023

Ron DeSantis: How COURAGE made Florida America's red state

When Ron DeSantis came into office in 2018, people advised him to ‘not make waves.’ But ‘I rejected that advice,’ Governor DeSantis tells Glenn. And because he decided to unwaveringly stand for the freedom of his people, DeSantis successfully transformed Florida from a swing state in ‘the leading red state in America.’ Governor DeSantis joins Glenn to discuss how he found the courage to take the actions necessary to do just that.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Hello, governor. How are you, sir?

RON: I'm doing great, thanks for having me.

GLENN: How is your wife and children?

RON: Excellent. Thanks for asking.

GLENN: Good. Good.

All right. I want to talk to you a little bit about your book. Which is not really kind of angst-driven. It's not personal reflections on your childhood, and, oh, my gosh, I had this.

This is really just about the blueprint, and how you did the things that you did. Correct?

RON: Yeah. I mean, look, Glenn, I came into office in 2018, having won by 32,000 votes. Pass a percentage point. And people told me, hey. You're in the typical -- the perennial swing state, you barely got in. Don't make waves.

Trim your sails a little bit. And I rejected that advice.

And my view was, I may have gotten 50 percent of the vote, but I earned 100 percent of the executive power. And I am going to use that, to advance an agenda that's in the best interest in the state of Florida.

And I talk about how I did in different ways. But the end result was, four years later, I won reelection by 1.5 million votes.

And we've now turned Florida, into really the leading red state in America.

GLENN: Oh.

RON: And people don't talk about Florida as a swing state. So the lesson for other governors, other states is boldness is your friend.

If you lead, and you're doing what the people want you to do. It doesn't matter what the media says about you. It doesn't matter what the left says about you. People see the result. And they respond.

It wasn't just Republicans that voted for us in 2022. We had independents, Democrats, and built a huge coalition. I think that's replicable in these other states.

GLENN: Well, I personally, I have one complaint with you, and that is you have wrecked the home prices in Florida for everybody who is outside trying to buy one.

So, anyway, the -- when you say, you know, I have institutional power. I have power of -- of the CEO, if you will, of the state.

But the thing I like about you.

And I would like you to talk about it. I know you talk about it in the book.

You're not being a dictator. You're getting these things passed. So you're changing laws. How did you get the -- the House and the Senate to work with you, instead of just being a cowboy just blazing a trail and no followers?

RON: Well, I point out. I get into office. I'm the youngest governor in the country, 40 years old. I had military background.

But I was a junior officer. It's not like I commanded a lot of things, but I learned from that structure. You know, I was never like a business executive. But I think what I brought to the table, was I had an understanding of the pressure points in a constitutional system. It's just things I had studied, I had written about. And, of course, I had been in the legislative branch, at the federal level.

So I knew there were certain things I could do myself. I knew there were certain things that I may need the legislative concurrence for, but they likely would have to give it, based on what I was doing.

Then there were things I had to get the legislature to really get my team for.

Also, how do you relate to local government?

One of the first things I did in Florida, when I became governor was change the election supervisors in South Florida, got rid of the sheriff of Broward County, who bungled the Parkland. And then later I fired George Soros back -- prosecutor in Tampa. And so you have a sense of kind of where you can go.

So there are things you can do to leverage your institutional power, to make it easier to be able to work for the legislators.

Just, for example, we in Florida have a line item detail. President of the United States does not have that.

We're in a legislative session. These guys may have some projects, they want in the budget. Well, look, I have discretion whether I approve or veto them, and you're much more likely to get your projects approved, if you've been on the team and you're helping us fulfill our agenda.

So that's just one example where you have some ability to shape the battlefield in your favor.

GLENN: Your book is called the courage to be free. And I remember when you started walking out on COVID. That had to be terrifying. And everybody had to be around you, going. Don't do it. You don't know how this will work out.

Bought you did it. Where does the courage come from?

And how can others learn to have that kind of courage?

RON: Well, in a situation like COVID, it's mass hysteria. But I said, look, I'm the decider. They elected me. They didn't elect some health bureaucrat to run the state of Florida. I have to make these decisions. And I had to familiarize myself with the data. And it was clear to me, pretty early on, that, you know what, this Fauciism is not right. It's not working.

It's destructive. And there's a better path. And I did not know how it was going to work out for me politically, Glenn. In fact, a lot of my supporters were very concerned.

I would get phone calls about, why aren't you imposing mass? Or why are you letting people go to theme parks and all this other stuff?

But I just told myself, look, my job is to protect the people that elected me. Not to look out for my own. And if it doesn't work out for me, so be it. But I will be able to look in that mirror and say, you know what, when it was hot in the kitchen, I stood in there, and I did what was right for the people of Florida.

Now, it turned out that people respected that I stood up for them. Because they didn't have a voice really anywhere else. And they ended up rewarding me. But certainly in those early weeks or months, I was getting fileted more than any other governor in the country. I was very popular going into COVID. I mean, I don't do polls.

But everyone said, my popularity plummeted. And that's just the way it is. But when you're in these things, the daily kind of back and forth. There are ups and downs.

But the question is: Where is true north? And are you going to be able to get to true North?

I had to just block all that out, and do what I thought was right.

GLENN: So what is your true north?

RON: Well, I think in this case, the True North was, I could not allow our society in Florida, to collapse under the weight of Fauciism.
I mean, we have a tourism-based economy.

We have so many people that depended on this state being vibrant. I also had a lot of elderly people that we were really concerned about. And we did a lot to target whatever support they needed. Such as treatment and the like, to do that.

But we had to keep things going. I understood that, instinctively. And we had to navigate very treacherous waters, to be able to get that done.

Beyond that, what is true north?

When I talk about the courage to be free. What I'm recognizing, is, the threats to our freedom are not just from bad government policy. Yes. At the state level. We are doing good policy. We're protecting your freedom from the government of Florida. That's important. We're fighting back against Biden.

And we're dealing with logical governments, when they get out of control. Very important. But there's a lot of power building exercised in an ideological way. By corporate America. By big tech. By all these other institutions. So when you recognize that, and you stand up to fight against it, they are not going down without a fight. They come at you. Leadership is not cost-free.

So you just have to understand that, when you're going in, that these are not easy fights. That you are going to face blowback, you are going to face smears. But if you stand in there, and you don't give an inch. And you just keep speaking the truth. People will respond. And they will have your back. And that's what happened in the state of Florida. You know, the media could say. By the time I came up for reelection. The media could say whatever they wanted about me. And our supporters did not believe a word of it. They had my back. And they made sure we won a historic victory.

GLENN: Let me ask you. In politics, people care much less about the individual than they do the giant corporations. Because it's easier to raise money.

And you need those guys on -- on board. You have taken all of the sacred cows. And gone after them.

And you have also just -- you have the best legislation.

I wish -- I wish every state in the union, would pass your legislation on ESG.

It is the best.

And you've taken this on.

You've taken Disney on.

Where do you get your support just from the people, or do you have institutional support?

Are there people inside these institutions, that are saying, oh, thank God?
(laughter)

RON: Yeah. Look, I think when we're talking about things like ESG. We are also in this legislative session, we will eliminate the DEI bureaucracies and all of our state universities.

And there's a lot of Democrats, Glenn. They can't say it, but they don't like some of this stuff, that's coming down the pike.

They don't want their kids to have to potentially suffer negative consequences based on the color of their skin. So there is some quiet support.

GLENN: Correct.

RON: But you know what I found in terms of like standing up to the big interests is, at the end of -- because some politicians are like, oh, man, I need to raise money from them. They're going to come after me. All this stuff. At the end of the day, doing the good policy, exercising the leadership, and delivering the results, that is more important than any campaign, financial support, or any of that.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

RON: So sometimes these elected officials, they think like, okay. I get in office, and I need to raise money so I stay in office.

You don't never to do that, if you're doing a good job. Then when the money comes in against you, it doesn't work. Because people see the results. And, oh, by the way, even though I came into office standing against big sugar, which is a massively powerful interest in Florida. We fought Disney. We fought the pharmaceuticals. We fought across-the-board. I still raised more money than any governor candidate in the history of Florida. Part of it, we have a lot of grassroots. Part of it, we have a lot of wealth moving into Florida. Who basically said, I need DeSantis to be governor. Because if I just left New York or Illinois, I don't want to see Florida turn into that, so there was a reason why they did it.

But then, Glenn, what happened was, I flipped it around. We run the show. We run the agenda.

Some of these businesses and stuff, they just want to -- they want to help me out. Because they don't want to be the next Disney.

And so I think we have it going in a good direction. That's the way it should be.

Don't be subservient to the chamber of commerce. They should be coming to you, asking how they can help you, not the other way around.

GLENN: I'm not saying that you are running for president.

But I'm not not saying that artery.

If someone like you were to run for president, could this be done on a national level?

RON: So I think all the ideas that we talk about in the book, and the successes we have, I do think there's a majority of the American people that would support it. If you think about it, Florida has been a microcosm of the country for a long time.

You know, if we're winning places like Miami-Dade County, you know, that's going to bode well for other parts of the country. Now, if you talk about at the federal level, there are certain things that may be easier, actually to do. Because I think that with the vast administrative state. If you have a determined executive, who knows how to use those levers of power, I think you could do a complete upheaval of the Deep State. I think there's a lot of things you can do from executive and administratively, that will really get our country on a good footing.

Now, dealing with the Congress, is a little bit different than dealing with the state legislature. I mean, most of the citizens of Florida, don't know their legislatures that much.

They know. So what they want, the Republican governors, you better be supporting the governor. As you get into Washington, some of these guys, you know, have their own brands and all that.

And I'm not saying it can't be done. But you have to go into that with the right frame of mind. And say, okay.

How do you corral these guys to be able to land really important legislative -- but you have to do both.

You can't just be successful on executive action and ignore the legislative. And if you're successful in legislative, you can't be somebody that is not willing to really go in and upend this entrenched, highly politicized bureaucracy that's developed.
GLENN: Governor Ron DeSantis, the name of the book. It came out yesterday. Already number one. The Courage to be Free. Authored, and this is very rare. Authored by him. Every word. Authored by him.

And we will see you Saturday, sir. I have a lot more to -- a lot more to talk to you about. And we'll that do podcast on Saturday. We'll see you then.

RON: Okay. Godspeed. God bless.

GLENN: Courage to be free.

STU: By the way, the podcast comes out I guess the week of March 13th.

GLENN: March 13th. Yeah.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

Why Your Actions Matter More Than Words in the Eyes of God

Glenn Beck and Eric Metaxas expose the spiritual crisis gripping America’s churches — a moment they compare to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s warning before World War II. As the culture descends into moral confusion, too many Christians retreat into silence, claiming faith while refusing to act. Together, they argue that true belief demands courage — that “faith without works is dead” — and warn that neutrality in the face of evil is itself a form of complicity.

Watch the FULL Interview HERE

Is Socialism replacing the American dream?

The American Dream used to mean freedom and the chance to build your own life through hard work, faith, and independence. But today, it’s been replaced by comfort, consumption, and debt. Glenn Beck breaks down how America traded liberty for lifestyle, why socialism is gaining ground, and what it will take to reclaim the real American Dream before it disappears for good.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: I don't know if you saw the visualizing the American dream, Stu.

You know, what the American dream actually is, is that you can forge your own way.

You can -- you know, you can have a scrap of land, and grow your own food if up.

You can, you know, go to school. Not go to school.

You can find a job. If you're qualified for it, you have an equal chance of getting it, you know, based on merit.

But the percentage of Americans who say the American dream is retirement is 86 percent. Health care, 86 percent. Owning a home, 85. Raising two kids, 78. Owning a car, 72. Vacations, 71. Pets, 66. A wedding, 55 percent. That's the American dream, I can get married.

The American dream, if that's what you think, they've now estimated, the cost per household over the cost -- over the lifetime, retirement is $1.6 million. Owning a home now, 30-year mortgage, 20 percent you want to, is $957,594. Owning a car, buying and finance to begin with new cars every ten years is now $900,000 over your lifetime. Raising two kids to 18, plus four years of public college, $876,092. Two kids. Health care, over your lifetime, spending from ages 22 to 85, $414,000. Vacations, annual vacation from '22 to '85, $180,000. One dog and one cat for 11 to 13 years is $40,000!

That's more expensive than a wedding. The engagement ring, the ceremony, and the reception is now estimated to be $38,200.

There's a reason socialism is doing well. You look at that, and you're like, wow. I mean, if that's the American dream. And for a lot of people, that is the American dream!

That's not what the American dream is supposed to be, but, you know, once -- you know, once Woodrow Wilson and FDR got a hold of us and they started advertising, it became stuff instead of freedom. It became stuff. And, you know, when there's a new report out. Let me see if I have that.

There's a new report out now that shows, first time home buyers made up just 21 percent of the home purchases. That's the lowest on record.

The typical age of repeat buyers hit an all-time high of '62. The median downtowns, reaching 23 percent.

The highest since 2023.

And also, where is it?

The last one is -- the median age for first time home buyers, in 1981, it was 29 years old.

I'm sorry. Yeah. Twenty-nine years old. In 2021, it was 33 years old.

What is it this year?

Median age, first time homeowner, forty.

You're 40 before you can buy any kind of home. That puts these things that people want, dream about, out of reach, until you're 40?

You know, 29 is one thing. But if you're not seeing -- you're not seeing your life really kind of settling down until you're 40, I -- I can understand why you're like, you know what, this system doesn't work.

Because you've never seen it work. It's betrayed you.

Or so you've been sold. It's betrayed you.

And everything is being pushed out of your reach. And when you're young, the one thing you're not is patient.

And at 40, I can see why people are not, you know, yeah. Well, socialism is neat because capitalism isn't working. How would you respond to that?

STU: I mean, it's more lengthy than we have time for. But I would say that the response to, you know, you thinking that you want a home is not to embrace an ideology that murders 100 million people.

That's not -- that's not a good answer to the problem that you think you have.

GLENN: But they're not learning that anywhere.

They're not -- that is our responsibility! To teach those things. Because they're not learning it anywhere.

Glenn Beck Warns of 3 Economic Outcomes That Could Change EVERYTHING | Ep 467

Socialism is spreading fast among America’s youth, and the shocking election of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani for mayor in New York City marks a major cultural and economic shift. Glenn exposes how runaway debt, record home prices, AI job disruption, and the collapsing stake in capitalism have led many Millennials and members of Gen Z to embrace socialism and communism. He reveals the three possible economic futures for 2026: two that are disastrous and one that could change everything if the Trump administration’s global financial overhaul succeeds. Plus, Justin Haskins, president of the Heartland Institute, joins to reveal some terrifying truths about why young Americans are embracing socialism from a poll he conducted with Rasmussen Reports.

Glenn Beck warns: We're already in World War III

"The world doesn't understand yet. We're already in World War III," Glenn Beck warns. "That foe is not China. That foe is militant Islam." Glenn explains the battle we're currently facing and what's to come if we don't wake up soon...

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: From New Jersey, it's Brian. Hello, Brian.

CALLER: Hello!

GLENN: Hey.

CALLER: Yeah. Thanks for taking the calls today.

GLENN: Sure.

CALLER: Yeah. I'm worried that we are headed towards another French Revolution-style because we have entire generations. Or actually people just not being heard by their representatives.

GLENN: Hmm.

CALLER: And it's not just here. It's around the world.

GLENN: Uh-huh.

I -- actually, I had scheduled for this time, I'll just do it some other time. Talking about what's happening in -- in England.

I think England is headed for a Civil War. And -- and it's very close.

I mean, you can't put 4,000 people. 4,000 people, in jail, or try them for hate crimes. And speech crimes.

You can't -- you can't do it. In England!

You can't do that in one year. And expect people to just put up with it!

You can't -- you know, we're -- we're -- America doesn't understand yet.

The world doesn't understand.

We're in World War III. We're already in World War III.

I don't know when it becomes a hot war. Or even a war that we on our side recognize. But we are in World War III. And that -- that foe is not China.

That foe is militant Islam, period. And, you know, when we have a situation to where people are -- when the government is just like, no. It's not a problem.

It's not a problem. You know. You've got illegals all over.

It's not a problem.

It's not a problem.

It is a problem. Don't tell me what -- what the problems are not!

Because we're the ones living it!

You're the experts, who keep telling us, no. It's going to work out fine.

And it doesn't work out fine. And it just gets worse and worse.

Oh. We can spend this money. No. It looks like we can't spend this money. Oh, we can afford this. No. It looks like we can't afford this.

You know, if we do this with Ukraine, it will work out fine. No, it didn't, did it? These endless wars, all of this stuff, don't tell me what the problem is. Listen to the people and start talking to the people. Honestly, this is the reason why I'm doing this today. I -- I need to hear from you.

I need to know what's on your mind, so I stay focused and -- and clear on what America is saying.

Because I don't think -- look, you know, me taking phone calls is -- is not a true representation of anything, but it does give me a sense of -- of where you are, as an audience. Maybe not as America, but as an audience. And there are lots of things that concern me. But I want to hear it from you.
But I think you're right! We're headed for real, real trouble. All you need is real economic trouble.

You start getting real, true economic trouble. 1930s kind of depression stuff. And we're in Civil War.

Dan, Oregon. Welcome!

CALLER: Hello, Glenn. How are you?

GLENN: I'm great!

CALLER: Yeah. Good. It's been a long time.

I guess it's been over ten years, since I've had a chance to talk with you. I was one of your first insiders. I was listening to you, since you were in Florida.

GLENN: Wow. Wow.

CALLER: So it's been a long -- yeah. It has been. And I can't say I've enjoyed all of it.
(laughter)

GLENN: Neither have I!

STU: I can't say that either, I'll be honest with you.

CALLER: You know, you were talking on yesterday's show, reminiscing with Stu about how you guys started. And I remember those old shows. And, you know, at the end of the -- the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment.

STU: Hmm.

GLENN: Right.

CALLER: And there was a lot more entertainment. I remember I laughed a lot.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. I know. I know. Those days are long dead.
(laughter)

STU: There's nothing to laugh about now.

CALLER: Yeah. I -- I'm 78. I still work 40 hours a week. I love my job.

GLENN: Good for you.

CALLER: Been married for 55 years. I have seven kids.

GLENN: Good for you.

CALLER: I've got a daughter -- I've got a daughter who is in her 40s. And she has severe TDS. She -- we don't -- I mean, we're not cutting each other off. She hasn't done that at all. We're still very close as a family. But she was down visiting the other day, and got into a conversation with my wife. And I wasn't in the room. But Kathy said it was just like listening to one of those young people out on the street that was being interviewed by the news media. And she was -- and she was in tears about it. My wife and my daughter both.

And, I mean, I love her, and I continue to support her. She's a single woman, not by choice. She just never found the right guy.

GLENN: Yeah.

CALLER: And I really think that's part of the problem. Because she started reading -- back when Trump was first running, she started reading all of this stuff about him being misogynistic and all of this stuff.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

CALLER: And it's just gotten worse. I -- I'm at a loss. I really am. Because I -- like, I see the country doing better. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. But I still feel like that at least right now, we're doing better as a whole. But what do we do about -- what do we do about our kids about -- she went to Portland State University for the last two --

GLENN: Oh, jeez, for the love of --

CALLER: Well, yeah. For the last two years, she went to -- she went to a little college in Idaho called Ricks for the first two years, and Utah State.

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

CALLER: And then she served a mission for our church in Brazil and came home, but then she went to Portland State University. And it just seems to have gone downhill from there.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. So, Dan, I think you are suffering from the same thing that almost all parents are suffering from. If you're not suffering from this, then, I mean, God bless you. You know, get on your knees and thank God. Because you are a lucky, lucky family. Everybody has in their family. I have it in my family.

And you have to ask yourself, what is your goal?

My -- what is your goal with your daughter? Your real goal?

CALLER: My real goal is for us to be united eternally. That's my goal. That's my goal as a father and has been to teach her --

GLENN: And how -- and how is that going to happen with politics?

CALLER: We just stay together as a family regardless of what politics does.

GLENN: That's exactly right. Exactly right.

I think we're in a place now where as parents, you can ask your kids, but it has to be honest. It cannot be trying to win. It has to be honest. How did you get there?

I mean, I remember. You know, we've talked about this before. And you didn't believe that before. What has changed?

Can you help me with that?

I would like to see what you're reading, or what that was.

And just ask questions. But they have to be honest. They can't be, you know, because I'm setting you up. Because I want to change your mind.

But keep a dialogue open with them. And just love them!

Just love them!

Because if you do anything else, you're going to drive them away. And then they're really lost. So just love them.

CALLER: Oh, I know that. Glenn, when she was young -- when she was young, I considered her one of the elect. And the Scripture says, that in the last days, even the elect are going to be deceived. And that's what I'm seeing. But everything you've said, I -- I am doing. I'm doing it that way. Because I know --

GLENN: Okay. Good. Then you didn't need to -- I appreciate it. I'm so glad you called me. But you didn't need to -- my advice, you already have it down. You're a very wise man.