RADIOOctober 04, 2024

Glenn CALLS OUT FEMA After Visiting Hurricane Helene Victims

What's the truth about FEMA and Hurricane Helene? Is the government really confiscating aide for the victims? Are they really not helping at all? Glenn traveled to Asheville, North Carolina, to find out for himself. He tells the infuriating story of his conversation with the lone FEMA truck in the area: "FEMA is despicable!" Instead of helping people, Glenn says, they're just setting up more red tape ... after showing up a WEEK LATE!

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: So this -- this interview with -- this interview with FEMA. It was recorded.

It -- it doesn't make me look real good. Because I'm -- and we will release it today.

Because I'm just very quiet.

Because I really was just like, I don't -- don't. Don't.

Whatever it is you're thinking, Glenn, don't.

And we went up to them. And they were sitting does they were all in their FEMA vests.

And I had just been where people were moving water. Moving food.

Trying to help people. You know, like crazy stuff.

And so they -- so we went. And they were way off in this parking lot. All by themselves.

And sitting under the tree with some folding chairs.

But all dressed with the -- with the FEMA workers outfits.

And I said, hey. What are you guys doing here?

The guy said, well, we just got here last night.

And I said, oh, really?

He said, yeah, we couldn't really do anything when we got here last night. So today is really our first day. But, wow, it took us a lot longer to get here than we thought. And I'm thinking, yeah. Like seven days longer than you would have thought.

He said, it's hard to get here.

No crap. This is when I start shutting down.

After he starts saying, you know, it's really hard to get here. I'm like, you're FEMA. That should have been quite obvious to you.

And I said, so -- so what are you doing here?

And he said, well, as soon as we get the truck, you know, up and running.

And I noticed that the air-conditioning was running inside the truck, which was good for them.

He said, as soon as we get this all up and running. We're taking -- we're taking people's information, right now. So we can -- you know, that satellite up this, just beams all the information right to Washington. So we can get them registered, so they can get some aid.

And I just was thinking. Oh, good. Just what people need.

Red tape and paperwork. Yeah. Because we'll get that check right to them in their mailbox. They don't have any mailboxes!

But that wasn't the end of it. It got much, much worse.

FEMA is on the ground. In two places, that we saw.

That one, which is doing nothing.

And the other one, where they've just built some showers.

Not -- not for the people. But for the volunteers.

That are there to help. But overall, it was a really good day. I look for quality in my food.

As well as a good price.

When you buy meat, you don't want the imported stuff in the grocery store. And I always looked at the little flag. And thought, oh, good. I'm supporting American farmers and ranchers. That little flag is a government hoax.

That just means something happened to it, here in America, when it got off the ship.

It might have been wrapped. It might have been cut here. But that's it.

So it's not a product of America. I just want to point that out.

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(music)
(OUT AT 8:29 AM)

GLENN: Congressman Cory Mills joins in us in. Half an hour. And if you don't know who this guy is, and you might not.

Because he's always busy doing things. I'll get a call from him. And he's like, yeah. I'm in the jungles of Vietnam. We think we know where the POWs are, and we're just going to get them out.

He's just everywhere. He's also a Congressman. He's running his campaign. His campaign people are freaking out. They're like, this is a close election, Cory.

And he's like, the people in my district are okay. They weren't hit by the hurricane. They're okay. I can't go to my maker and say, yeah. I could help these people.

You know, in another state. But I had a campaign to run.

He said, I can't do it. And so I told him, yesterday.

I don't know where I'm going to find time to do this. I said, let me go campaign for you.

Let me just do a speech for you or something, while you're up here.

Because I believe in this guy. This guy should shame every member of Congress. Should shame every member of Congress. The power of what one person can do, when coupled with other people, is absolutely amazing.

Don't ever count yourself out. As I can't do it. Do you realize this audience is playing a major role in a major historic disaster.

You are by giving to Mercury One. I can't tell you how many people I -- I met. And they were like, we couldn't have done it without your audience.

We cannot do it without you. You have no idea.

You know, all of the oxygen on every county ambulance now is provided by this audience. They ran -- they blew through all of their supply.

They weren't prepared for this. You know, nobody is prepared for something of this scale. And they were like, we're out of oxygen. We've got oxygen. We have pallets now of O2. That we flew in.

We're -- we're filling transport planes. When I left the airplane, one of our transport planes was flying down. I think to Florida, to pick up all their supplies.

And flying back overnight.

It's rational.

And FEMA is despicable.

I -- you know me, if you've listened to this program for very long.

I don't like to use the word treason.

I really don't. Because it's the only thing in the Constitution, that spells out, you know, the punishment.

And I don't like call people traitors.

And I won't today. But I will tell you, a case could be made that there are a lot of people that are bordering on the line of treason.

Our country is being dismantled. Our country is being torn apart.

FEMA has spent, let me see if I can get this exactly right.

I want to get this right.

FEMA has spent $1.4 billion, on immigrants. Illegals. Okay?

1.42 billion, on rehousing. Flying these illegals in, without your knowledge. We paid for all of it. 174.2 billion. Okay. And how much -- can I ask, how much -- it was $750?

And in Hawaii, they got $700.

So $700 in Hawaii. $750. But don't worry, that will be very helpful. They just lost everything.

It is -- it's embarrassing as a that I guess.

It is embarrassing.

By the way, the electric vehicle chargers, where they have put two? That's $7.5 billion.

The high-speed Internet, which didn't happen, we spent $42.45 billion.

The high speed internet thing, didn't happen. But they -- you know, they've got. Don't worry. On a surprisingly quiet hurricane season. They're out of money.

First of all, I would like to remind the government. No, you're not.

You print money, all the time. This is the one time where you're like, gosh, guys. If we print more money, man it will just cause inflation.

It will be really bad. Really, really bad. And besides, the printing presses are booked fort next month and a half. Because we're printing so much money for Iran and Ukraine. Out of money?

Huh.

You know, I don't remember voting to bring all these illegals in.

And house them. And feed them. And give billions of dollars through most likely, many corrupt NGOs.

That are wasting our money.

I don't remember that!

I don't remember voting, you know, we should do?

We should go to other countries, and find people who want to come here. And we'll just pay their way.

We'll find out who they are. And we'll say, come to America. Where do you want to go.

You want to go to Kansas City. They have the chiefs. It's great. You go to New York.

Some great little restaurants and bistros everywhere.

You will love it. And it's a free ticket. And then we'll set you up in a really nice hotel, or ones that used to be really nice, and free food.

Just because you're so oppressed. And $2,500, just because you're so oppressed. So oppressed.

I can't even take how oppressed you are.
So you get $2,500. And you get a free phone.

And you get a free phone. And you get a free phone.

And 750 dollars for these people who have been paying taxes, hard-working, regular people.

And you can't even fly a helicopter in, to get people off their roofs.

And you show up, a week late.

By the way, I want to thank president Biden for, you know, taking that aerial view in.

You know, he just didn't want to disrupt thinking. And he only stopped our rescue helicopters from rescuing people for four hours.

So that was great. Didn't piss the rescuers off, at all. At all.

So, anyway, FEMA is there.

And I said, so why are you guys here?

We took a van.

There was ten of us in this van. And we were going back to the -- the food distribution point. And, you know, everybody is looking out the windows. And seeing stuff.

And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. Turn around. You guys have seen the FEMA truck. Everybody: I didn't see the FEMA truck.

Yeah. It's tucked in this corner, behind this Michaels that is closed. So we went into the -- like cops everywhere. Food is on the other side, like a Lowe's, you know, garden shop.

And all the attention, when you drive in. All the attention is over there. Because people are going to get food. Because they don't have any food!

But behind the Michaels that's been closed.

And I think next to the Chuck E. Cheese.

Which was so busy. No, they were closed too!
Was under a tree. This FEMA truck.

And I said, so what are you guys doing here?

Well, we're -- we're getting everybody, you know, to sign up for the aid. Hmm. Okay. All right.

They're -- you know, the crowd is down there.

There's only one person that's at your table. Yeah. I know. But that's because we haven't really announced where we are yet.

I'm thinking, that's probably good. I said, what do you mean?

And he said, well, our fliers haven't arrived yet.

So we're waiting for our own fliers, that say, you know, FEMA is here.

And I'm like, oh, fliers. We didn't think of the flier thing. We just went, you know, to where everybody is. And we didn't need fliers. But I didn't say that. At this point, I was like, don't say anything at all. Don't say anything at all.

And he said, well, you know, we just have to be where the people are. And I said, that's good. And I'm thinking, that's not here. You know, when do you move there?

And I said, so -- so you're doing this with the fliers?

And he said, no. We also -- we're going to take the media. So radio, television, it will be everywhere.

And I thought, hmm. I don't see a lot of people, sitting down in their living rooms, because their living rooms have washed four blocks down the street, with their televisions in it, you know, maybe they have a little portable television that they just have to plug in.

Oh, no. They don't have any power. And I said, you know, they probably aren't watching TV.

He said, you know, but the word will get around.

Okay. All right. And he said, you know, there is an app. This is the greatest app.

This app will do everything.

And all they have to do is just download it on their phone.

And Cory said. Well, you know, they don't really have power to plug their phones in.

And he said, yeah. But a lot of people can just go to their cars. And plug their phones into the car to charge it.

And we pointed out to him. You mean the cars, like right. Turn around.

See that river?

See all the cars that are in the -- the creek now, that are destroyed?

You mean, they're sitting in those cars!

Because they no longer have cars!

That's -- that's what was happening in my head. I just said. Hmm.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

And he -- he said, but we have to be where the people are.

And I said, well, if the people don't come out.

He said, then, well, we go door to door. I said, that's good. Because they don't have doors.

And he said, well, that's above my pay grade. You know, it's the government. So I don't have that information.

Is there anybody here that does have this information?

Yeah, my boss. Where is your boss. Sitting at the table?

No. Uh-uh. In the air-conditioned truck right now.

She's in the air-conditioned truck.

Oh, good. Can you maybe go get your boss? Tell her, she'll have to come out here, where it's hot. But she can go right back into the air-conditioned truck, where she can get away from all these people.

And so she comes out.

And she was a delightful lady. And we said, when -- he didn't know when you start going door-to-door. And she looked at him and said, we don't go door to door.

You don't go door to door?

No. We're here. Where it's all happening.

GLENN: And I looked at Cory. And Cory looked at me like, it's not happening here. This is not where people are. I mean, if you want to be a little closer to where people are going, you should go where the food is.

Yeah. Well, we -- we were talking about that today.

Oh, okay.

Good. Good.

And the truck doesn't really work yet.

But we're still gathering information.

Because, oh, the relief that these people can get. Oh, it's -- it's really -- it's just amazing. Hmm I bet it is.

And then I just started to back away, from this -- oh, I don't even know, murder scene. It was just so ugly. And I started backing away. And Cory looked at me and just smiled. And he was like, thank you for your time. And he said, boy, I've never seen you so quiet.

And I was like, don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. You don't want to know what I was thinking in my head. It was so offensive.

But that was the FEMA in action.

Will Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz CLEAR OUT the Deep State?

President-Elect Donald Trump’s latest round of cabinet picks include Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and Rep. Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. Glenn and Stu discuss: Is Gabbard out for vengeance against the Intelligence Community for spying on her, or is she just searching for the truth? Will House Ethics Committee accusations against Gaetz tank his confirmation, or will he be able to clean house at the Department of Justice?

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Well, I wasn't born with the news yesterday, Stu. I'm not sure anybody was.

STU: We said it. We did say. These are kind of just normal Republican -- any Republican nominee may have put these people in office.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: And that changed, I would say, after that.

GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.

STU: This is what you promised, right?

It's always exciting. Somewhere, yeah.

STU: We got a lot of excitement yesterday.

GLENN: There's a couple of things that I find worthy of pointing out.

If you look at it from his point of view. Last time, he was in office, he didn't know who to trust. Right?

He didn't know the system. He didn't know the players. He didn't know the parties, how they actually work in Washington. And he was stabbed in the back, in the side, in the shoulder.

You know, in the chest, in the stomach. Everywhere. He was stabbed. By everybody.

Okay?

So he's looking first, I think for people who are loyal to his vision. And perhaps, also, loyal to him, because he was stabbed over and over again.

STU: Yeah. I mean, obviously this is a factor.

GLENN: Right.

And it's logical and reasonable.

I mean,, Stu.

You know I've been stabbed every -- from every direction. Right?

STU: Sorry about that.

GLENN: Wait a minute.

And you know that I -- I have a tight circle around me. And they are people that not everybody necessarily likes each other, but they're all people I know, because I've seen them battle hardened.

They will never tab me in the back. Do you know what I mean?

And that's reasonable.

STU: That's a very reasonable desire.

GLENN: Correct. So that's the first thing that needs to be taken into consideration.

The second thing, I noticed yesterday is, he's also nominating people that the left will say, this is vengeance!

No. No. Not necessarily.

Although, it could quickly become that. And I will be against that, if it is a who couldn't come fest, okay?

But I don't think that's what it is. I think this is people who have been wronged, by the department they're now running. You know what I mean?

STU: Right.

GLENN: For instance, Tulsi Gabbard, DNI. Well, what did -- DNI. She oversees CIA, Homeland Security, all intelligence. Okay?

Well, she was put on the terror watch list. Now, you could look at that and say, oh, she's going for vengeance. She wants retribution.

No. I know Tulsi well enough to know, she wants no one to ever face that again for political reasons. You know what I mean?

She was deeply -- not offended, deeply disappointed in her country. It was -- it was an assault on her honor. That's where Tulsi is. And she's like, my country. I mean, it's shattered for her.

My country is saying that I'm a traitor. And they're only saying it because of politics?

This is not America. So I think she's perfect for that role.

Now, Matt Gaetz is an interesting pick. I don't know how I feel about Matt Gaetz as the attorney general. Wouldn't have been my pick. But I'm going to give Donald Trump the -- all the rope he's asking for. I think he's earned our trust. He's earned the right to go fishing and pull up any fish that he wants.

Now, that is not a blanket. Wait a minute. This isn't working out well, kind of deal.

If it's not working out well, I'm still going to say, it's not working out well.

However, if you look at what he's done in the past, he was one of the toughest people up against the Justice Department.

I mean, it's him, Massey, Rand Paul, he went after the Justice Department. And he was in oversight of the Justice Department.

So he knows it. He is qualified for it.

He just is possibly a loose cannon.

But the other thing I know about him, is he will not stab Donald Trump in the back.

STU: Definitely not.

He will do anything that Donald Trump asks him to do.

GLENN: I hope that's not. Wait a minute. I hope that's not a blanket statement, from anybody.

And I'm not talking about you. But from anybody.

I will do what the president asks me to do.

Unless it's unconstitutional.

STU: Look, I don't have that much worry that Donald Trump is going to request an unconstitutional thing. Though, I don't think Matt Gaetz would be the -- the -- the obstacle in his path, if he did.

GLENN: Right.

STU: I'm just not all that concerned about Donald Trump doing that. But I think Matt Gaetz will do that.

I can understand if I'm Donald Trump, look, I've been through this. They've come after me. I need somebody to go after me and basically fire everybody. And not feel bad for -- you know, because they have relationships inside that world.

GLENN: Right.

STU: And so from that perspective, I understand the Gaetz pick. Because Gaetz will do that.

He will -- if Donald Trump says fire 75 percent of the people, he will fire exactly 75.0 percent of the people.

GLENN: Yeah, and I will tell you that, you know, there are different -- there are different phases of a job.

STU: Right.

GLENN: You know, there are war generals. And there are peacetime generals.

A war general, isn't afraid of getting bloody.

Isn't afraid of going in with a hatchet and just kill them all, you know what I mean?

And I think that that's a Gaetz role.

That he may or may not be. Proof is in the pudding.

A peacetime guy. You know, he's the guy who goes in, when you're at war. And says, all of you, out.

You know, he does that for two years.

And who is open for a gig in two?

Oh. Ron DeSantis is open for two years. You know what I mean?

STU: Yeah. It kind of seems that he is specifically designed for the beginning of this. Now, again, the question of whether he gets confirmed is a whole 'nother situation.

And I know the recess situation, they're trying to get it so they don't have to confirm him. I think that's probably the only way he gets the job. I don't think he he'll get through the Senate.

But he -- it's not impossible. And if he goes through the recess appointment approach, he can get in there and he can go for two years because of that clause.

So he would only be able to do two years and then he would need to be confirmed. I don't -- I mean, maybe in two years, if he just did a really good job, he would get confirmed by the Senate. So it's possible. But right now, the guy has a lot of enemies in Congress. A lot of times, that's a good sign.

But I do think you're right, that he's the type of person that guy that will go in there and be light the place on fire, and that's exactly what Donald Trump I think wants to start on, because of how corrupt he believes he is. So I understand from that perspective.

I guess my -- if I'm making a pick, which I'm not. I was not actually elected president of the United States. We don't get to make this pick. But you think of a person like Eric Schmitt.

GLENN: I would have gone with him.

STU: Who is, I think a more -- I don't know. I think he would do a lot.

He would not be a rubber stamp. Like I think Gaetz will be for anything that he wants. However, he is a really serious person. Can absolutely do the job.

Would be an incredible pick for that job. And I think brings a little more credibility, not to mention an easier path in the Senate. Again, it's up to Trump. He gets to make this pick. If this one fails, he moves on to someone else.

GLENN: And I like Ken Paxton. Paxton wouldn't have affected the balance of power in the Senate and the House, you know what I mean?

STU: Yeah, the House -- I'm getting into worry time. We're now taking three House members out, when you have a very small majority. Now, I'm sure Trump is thinking about this.

Because it is important to him. He does need the House.

GLENN: It's critical.

STU: And I think they will get to 220 or 221.

GLENN: He's got to stop poaching from the House. He has to.

STU: And Johnson is like begging him at this point, please, nobody else.

GLENN: No more.

STU: Because he dropped out quickly. Now, of course, there's a lot around that. Gaetz is -- he was -- they were scheduled to vote on whether they were going to release a report on all of his personal issues here in two days. And so the fact that he immediately drops out, that means they theoretically don't --

GLENN: Where do you stand on those issues? Do you believe those to be true, or is that another hatchet job?

STU: That's an interesting question. To me, again, I will say, I haven't spent a lot of time --

GLENN: Yeah. I haven't either.

STU: To me, the idea that he was sex trafficking, seems like a real stretch.

I don't know. I could be --

GLENN: There are sex traffickers in the country. And they seem to miss a lot of those. They don't even look for a lot of those.

STU: Yeah. And he was not charged, it should be pointed out.

And the idea that -- it seems like even the accusation itself

GLENN: Is sketchy.

STU: Strikes me as they're stretching that into a larger crime. They're saying basically.

The accusation. We don't need to go into any of that. We don't even have the report. The problem -- the accusation you don't know is that he slept with a 17-year-old girl, and took her on trips, which they call as a across state lines. And then they say, they have their -- his Venmo records, and they say, that he Venmoed these women a bunch of money.

Which, I think that part of it is true. The question is, what is it for?

The accusation is, it was for paid sex. So paid sex across state lines. That's sex trafficking. Now, when I think of sex trafficking. I'm thinking of people being smuggled in from other countries.

GLENN: Yeah, I immediately think of a cargo container.

STU: Yeah, exactly, and that's not the accusation against him.

GLENN: Right.

STU: Look, they're serious.

You know, look, if he's actually having sex with underaged girls. That's a big enough deal.

GLENN: Yeah. That's a problem.

STU: Obviously, Trump is convinced he didn't. He has denied this. These are a lot of accusations from multiple other members of Congress, who say that he was, at the very least showing them pictures of girls that he was having sex with, on the floor of the House.

And, again, that doesn't necessarily -- that's not necessarily a crime. But not necessarily the best activity for someone you want to appoint to attorney general.

GLENN: Yeah. It's more Clinton-esque.

STU: Sure.

GLENN: Worthy of the president of the United States.

STU: As we know, there are -- it's difficult to find somebody who isn't engaged in some horrible activity in Washington. So --

GLENN: Yeah. I know. But I hope these things are wrong. We can't have somebody who has any dirt on them.

STU: Oh. And, look, Gaetz has tons. They are about to release an ethics report on him that they are saying is very damaging. Now, Gaetz is going to deny it.

And he has some. Like, I remember him saying, oh, actually, they're coming -- I'm being framed.

GLENN: Yeah, he's denied this hard.

STU: Some of that was true. Because they were coming after his dad in some related things. There's a long story here. If that report comes out. Which, by the way, I would expect it to.

GLENN: Of course, it will.

STU: It would be very surprising if somebody, who has a lot of enemies. Will not reek this report. Before this process.

GLENN: You have to remember too, the report is still just wrong.

STU: And it's an ethics accusation, it's not going to result in charges.

At the end of the day. You know, this will come down to whether Republicans want to cross this line for Trump.

And the biggest one he's presented to them so far. If he went to Thune. And this is what I expected. He went to Thune and said, look, I'm not going to endorse Rick Scott if you give me these recess appointments.

My guess is that was a big part of the deal. He was pretty clear about it. And the reporting is pretty clear on it going out. If that happens, he will be able to get in there. He will go in, he will shake the place up, and probably only last two years.

GLENN: Yeah, because he will be acting attorney general.

STU: Acting, and that's the maximum limit on that.

GLENN: Right.

STU: But I will say, it will be an interesting test of that relationship and how serious Thune is in keeping that promise.

Thune is not a guy that I would trust, with a -- with a promise like that.

GLENN: I wouldn't trust Thune with anything. Hey, could you hold this pile of dirt for me?

I'm not giving it to Thune.

Absolutely. I'm all over it.

STU: Thune. The easiest way to think of Thune is McConnell.

He's basically McConnell. Now, look, McConnell, maybe he would keep that promise.

Usually what happens here, the Senate wants their opportunity to give their opinion and their consent.

GLENN: The one thing I do like about Gaetz is, you know, he was pushing to stop the influence industry in Washington. And he was pushing for the end of stock trading. Inside information. Blah, blah, blah.

STU: Yeah. He's very good on that.

GLENN: And he reach out to the uber left. He stood with AOC. And I love this comment from him. AOC is wrong a lot. But she's not corrupt. And I will work with anyone and everyone to ensure that Congress is not compromised.

I think that's good!

Can Elon & Vivek’s D.O.G.E. slash the federal bureaucracy in HALF?

Donald Trump has made it official: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been tapped to run a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (or D.O.G.E.), tasked with slashing the federal bureaucracy and spending. But will it be successful? Glenn and Stu review what’s standing in the way of mass firings and Vivek’s possibly genius plan to get around these hurdles.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Hello, Stu.

STU: Hi, Glenn, how are you doing?

GLENN: I think Donald Trump is becoming the greatest president to ever live. If this stuff happens, I may put him up -- honestly I may put him up with Lincoln.

STU: Wow! Wow. Well, he's trying to do a lot. If he can accomplish this, heavy lift.

GLENN: If he can accomplish it. Yeah. Heavy, heavy lift. Oh, my gosh. He speaks my language every night. I'm like, honey, can you leave us alone? I'm just reading the news of his latest proposal. I need some alone time right now.

It is -- woo. Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, okay. This is his -- his latest. Let me see if I can give the -- let me see if I can give the actual release first of what he said. Oh, it's just -- oh. It is so sweet.

So he comes out, and he says, look, what we're going to have is this Department of Government Efficiency. You know that Musk was involved. DOGE.

And he says, it's going to run until their duty will be over, by July 4th, '26, which is the 250th anniversary of America.

So we have a lot of work to do, until then. But we're going to give back to America, the government. Give it back to the people.

And so what they're talking about doing is finding all of the ways to cut waste. And Ramaswamy has come up with this great idea of how to fire people.

Okay. We know the problem is that, you just can't fire people, because they're just going to -- they're going to take you to court, every step of the way. Everybody is going to say. You want to fire me, because I was black or white, or whatever I am.

I'm handicapped, or not handicapped. And you can't fire me. That's all that is going to happen. Then they will go to court and say, the president cannot fire all of these people. We're still going to have that one.

But how does the Supreme Court rule, that the executive is not in charge of all of his employees? Because the executive branch is in charge of the cabinet and all of the cabinet positions. And all of the agencies, under those cabinet positions.

STU: Typically how organizations work. That's why I'm so nice to you.

GLENN: Correct. Wait. What?

STU: You know, you have this power over my job. So I have to be incredibly nice to you, all the time.

GLENN: Right.

So everybody -- if you are running a -- if you're running a company, and you need to reduce the size of the company, you will have companies -- they will just cut whole divisions, because they don't want any of the lawsuits.

It has to be random. And it has to be everybody.

Right?

So what Ramaswamy has come up with. And he said, this is only a thought exercise.

But I think it's brilliant. What he's come up with is, we're going to reduce the government by half. And here's what we're going to do. We're going to say, everyone who has an odd number at the end of their Social Security number, you're fired.

STU: Well -- wait.

GLENN: Now, it's just random. Now, these are not the people that are elected. Okay?

So if you're elected into that office. You're not fired.

But everybody else, because we're reducing the size of the government by half.

STU: Well, I love the idea of reducing the size of the government by half.

GLENN: Here he comes. Here he comes. Naysayer.
STU: I love the idea of reducing the government by half.

GLENN: How did we switch roles?

STU: I don't think I'm being a naysayer.

Let me ask you this: Go back to Glenn Beck back in the day for a moment. Rewind your life a tad. And think of yourself a little patch, a little badge, given out by George Washington. What did it say?

Do you remember what it said?

GLENN: Merit.

STU: Merit! Merit has nothing tolerance with random groups of firing. You want to fire the employees that suck, not just --

GLENN: No, I know that.

But to be able to get to the place, where you have merit. You have to reduce the size of the government first.

You have -- you have bloodletting, that have to happen. Okay? You have to cut it by half.

STU: You do.

GLENN: Now, there might be some really good people that we lose. Might be. Might be. Probably will be. Oh, well.

And then you cut it another -- by half again. By saying, everyone whose Social Security number starts.

STU: Has an even number.

GLENN: -- with an even number. You're gone. So now you've cut the government by 70 percent.

I don't think the people that remain will be focused on doing a good job?

STU: Yeah. I mean, I would like -- I think though, there is just structural limitations that need to occur. Right?

You really do. You will need to fire people that are actually pretty good employees. Because of the size of the government. And because of the bloat.

GLENN: You're going to. You can apply again.

STU: I just would like to lead with the crappy employees.

GLENN: So would I. We would have to -- I mean, remember, this is exactly what Calvin Coolidge did. He cut the federal workforce by half.

And then he cut taxes by half. And when he did that, we got the roaring '20s.

Can you imagine?

Because he's also wanting to cut the federal regulations. Anything that hasn't passed by Congress. So all of these -- the administrator will decide. All of those rules and regulations, gone!
Gone! Do you realize how free this country will be, all of a sudden, overnight?

I mean, hello, sexy! I mean, I'm sorry that I am -- I mean, this is conservative porn! This is what we've always wanted!

This is that hot girl walking in going, you do have a shot with me!

Yeah! Okay.

STU: I mean, it will be fascinating to see if they can pull this off.

GLENN: Oh. If there's anybody that can do it, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

STU: They're both. I would think. Especially Elon. Vivek has pretty obvious political aspirations here. He does.

Elon doesn't. He's the richest guy in the world. The only thing he cares about is doing this job, when it comes to this. I don't think he has any other aspirations.

GLENN: No. His aspirations are, I want to go Mars. Can you make that easier for me?

STU: Right. So it will be interesting. Because he will want to come in and do these things. And he's going to, I'm sure bump into all sorts of issues he's not used to dealing with in places like Tesla. Because at Tesla, he just legitimately fires the people. Right?

Obviously, there will be lots of road blocks, put in his way.

Trump, I think will do everything he can to remove them. But there's a lot of -- there's a lot of -- there's a lot of walls there, that he has to break through. I can't wait to see him try to do it.

GLENN: Oh, I know.

You know, if you can't shut down the Department of Education. Social Security number lottery happening right now.

I mean, think of that. Think of that.

And Donald Trump has said, what I've always said what I want to hear a president say. Real estate prices are going to plunge in the DC metro area.

Yeah! Yeah!

He's going to be cutting so many jobs. So many -- I mean, this is fantastic.

STU: I hate to step in the way of your optimism. I hate it. I hate it. Because you're like a little kid.

GLENN: I'm never like this.

STU: You're never like this.

GLENN: It's been since 2005, I've been a pessimist on what's coming. This is the first real shot we have. This is the moon shot. This is the moon shot. Are we going to make it to the moon? I don't know. We might blow up several people in the attempt to get there.

But if we stay focused, we will get there.

STU: I like it. I really do hope it happens. And, I mean, I think -- I have more optimism, than I normally would have, on such a thing like this.

Normally, I would be like, okay. They say this all the time. I don't know. It just feels like, usually, there's something that gets in the way.

I was thinking about the first Trump term on the border.

The second -- they came out with pretty tough border policies.

They said they were going to implement them.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: About, I don't know. A couple weeks into this. Families are being separated.

And then they changed the policy. This is Trump. This was in the Trump era. This is not like some other, you know, Mitch McConnell, and this mysterious Mitch McConnell presidency. This was Donald Trump.

And they backed off of it, because of all the pressure. Do you think maybe it's a second term, they're like, screw this. I'm not dealing with this anymore.

GLENN: Oh, I think maybe because he was in the first term, he didn't know what he didn't know. He didn't know who to trust.

He also didn't know what was coming. He knows now, what's come.

And he knows, I can't trust any of these people. I'm not going to listen. I'm just going to do what I know is right. I'm going to hire the best people in each area.

And then we're making a plan. And we're moving forward on day one.

STU: I love this Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck is a very optimistic guy. And it's going to be so sad to watch you get crushed.

It is going to be --

GLENN: Look, I know there's going to be -- there's going to be massive pushback. This is not going to be easy.

STU: No.

GLENN: But we at least have a guy. You know, look --

STU: It feels like --

GLENN: Everybody said when Ronald Reagan said, it's an evil empire, and we need to start calling it by name. You can't defeat it, unless you know what it is. That's an evil empire, and we will defeat it, okay?

I, for one, at the time was like, okay. That's scary. But I love that. All right? Finally calling it by its name. Calling it out. Saying, it's the end of that. Everybody fought against that. Even in his own administration. They were saying, don't say that anymore. Don't say that anymore.

He was just, I'm going to say it.

It's because of that, we defeated communism, the first time.

Because he just wouldn't stop.

What do you think is going to stop Donald Trump? What do you think will stop Donald Trump at this time?

What kind of namby-pamby, wishy-washy, guys can wear skirt talk, will stop Donald Trump from doing what he believes is right. Other than the Constitution.

STU: So to reverse this, if he fails, will you accuse him of wearing a namby-pamby skirt?

GLENN: No.

STU: I didn't think so.

GLENN: No. No, no, no, no. I will say that, here are the hurdles that we have to figure out how to get over. Okay?

They threw this in the way. Great. How do we get over?

He's not going to rest. He's not going to stop. He's not going to stop.

STU: It feels that way.

I mean, I think a lot of it has to do with what his priorities are. Right?

GLENN: Hang on. Let me give you -- and let me tell you, what I think happened to him, over the summer.

Okay?

Why I say, he's -- he's --

STU: He got shot.

GLENN: He got shot.

But what did that do to him?

And what else is playing a role?

GLENN: So Donald Trump was shot. He is the kind of guy that just keeps standing up. Okay. That's his natural tendency. Oh, you're going to hit me in the face? You're going to shoot me in the head?

Really. I'm going to get back up and say, fight.

STU: I thought that was going a different direction. Holy crap.
(laughter)

GLENN: So --

STU: That was a long F for that fight there.

GLENN: So he's the kind of guy that does that just naturally. Okay?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And he's also the guy who -- he told me, after he lost the last election. In the most humble of ways. He became very, very reflective. And I said, how are you doing?

And he said, I can't believe I've let all of these people who fought for me, I let them down.

I lost the election. Remember, I told you this. I let them down.

I can't. Now we're reversing all of the things that we had made progress on.

I can't live with that. So he also really cares about you, the people.

He's the first politician, that I've seen, that I think actually thinks about you, first.

George Bush, thought about the troops. That was on his mind, all the time.

But this one, thinks about not only the troops.

But you. All the time.

He is serving you.

I truly believe that.

Now, what else happened to him? He gets up. He says, fight. Because that's who he is.

Also, he wanted to see the crowd.

You stood there, if you were in Pennsylvania, you didn't run and hide.

He knew he was part of a movement.

He also knew, this was a God thing.

So the natural thing is: Why was I saved?

He has told me, and he has told others, that he knows he was saved for a reason.

He believes that reason is to fix America. So now you have a much higher calling than, I am just me. I'm Donald Trump. I want to be whatever.

Plus, he knows that the -- the country is either sink or swim.

We're at the end of the republic. Or at the beginning.

Coincidentally, in this term, is our 250th anniversary.

It's not a coincidence that he has DOGE, the final day of their work, July 4th, '26. That's the date of the 250th anniversary. They're not going to gather information and then enact those things by July 4th, '26. He wants it done by then.

STU: That's the right approach.

GLENN: It is. And he wants to hand America back to her people and her founding principles in a year and a half. That's ripe for the economy. That's -- he believes that's his mission.

He believes that's his -- his mission, honestly from God.

I really believe that. He believes this is a nation with a purpose, a higher purpose. He believes in our founding documents.

He believes in you, the people.

He is quite possibly the refounder I have looked for, my whole life. And I can't believe it.

STU: It's an amazing.

I'm more amazed by your optimism, generally, than I am by even the giant aspirations here by the president.

But I'm excited about it. I think it's a great -- first of all, it's nice to have a little hope. Right?

GLENN: I haven't had hope since 2008.

STU: Yeah. It's nice. It's a good feeling.

GLENN: Yeah. It's really nice.

STU: Like I am super optimistic I think from my scale as to what someone like Elon Musk can accomplish. If given the sort of room he needs to operate. Look, it's all going to be tough.

When you talk about the budget and stuff, a lot of stuff comes out of these programs like Medicare, that I don't know is necessarily going to be the focus of this. Do you know?

Is it going to be looking at these generalized programs. They're not diving into Medicare. Because you can't do that without legislation.

GLENN: No. He's not doing that. He's not looking at anything that Congress has to do first.

STU: Right.

GLENN: He wants to cut the size of the federal government and regulation which will give you control of your life back.

STU: I feel like, that's too why he's not too worried about taking people out of the House for these appointments.

Because I think he knows, he's got a few months, where he will be doing executive order type stuff. Executive management, before he's looking necessarily at that first bill.

GLENN: Yeah. He has to be careful on that. He needs to make sure he keeps the House.

But, I mean, this could turn the country around economically, pretty quickly.

Could Trump BOOST the economy by raising tariffs and abolishing the income tax?

During his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Donald Trump floated the idea of abolishing the income tax. This would go hand-in-hand with his plan to raise tariffs, especially on China. Glenn, who has historically been against heavy tariffs, may have been won over by Trump’s explanation. But he wanted to speak with an economics expert to see if the math really added up. Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow Peter St. Onge joins the program to break down how tariffs work, whether Trump’s plan would boost the economy, and what he must do if he wants to raise enough support to repeal the 16th Amendment.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. Hmm. Now, we've got a guy, I think he's -- I think -- I think his last name says everything.

Peter St. Onge, which I believe is French!
(music)
STU: What is happening?

GLENN: Sexy, sexy tax and tariff talk from the Heritage Foundation. A visiting fellow. We have Peter St. Onge.

How are you, Peter?

PETER: I'm great. I appreciate that. It is sexy.

GLENN: Yeah. I know. Everybody says it. Everybody says it. So without getting it too steamy in here.

Let's go over the tariffs.

Because I've always been against tariffs. However, I might be wrong.

PETER: Right.

GLENN: Donald Trump is making a good case, when he's talking about getting rid of the income tax. Because tariff -- tariffs will raise the prices of things. Especially, if he does it the way he's talking about doing it.

But if he is getting rid of, or lowering the income tax to, you know, 10 percent, it's such a boon for the economy. That we could make up that deficit, and become a very powerful nation again.

Tell many I'm wrong.

PETER: I think that's absolutely correct.

Yeah. I feel like you're absolutely right.

You know, the vast majority of economists, Glenn, they go after tariffs. And I think they're looking at the trees for the forest here, because if you replace a tariff, which is basically a sales tax. But it's one that focus on his imported goods.

If you replace that with either reducing or in our dream scenario, abolishing the entire income tax. It's absolute rocket fuel for the economy. The reason is because --

GLENN: He just said abolish the income tax. Pay attention, Sara. He just said abolish income tax. Oh, yeah.
(music)
All right. Go ahead.

PETER: Right.

The background music. So, yeah. And he actually started floated abolishing it with Joe Rogan a couple weeks ago. No tax on tips. Then no tax on overtime. No tax on first responders. No tax on Social Security. And it was kind of like he was really flirting with just breaking up with the income tax altogether.

And when he was on there with Rogan, that's exactly what he did. He said, you know, maybe we should go back to the 1800s, when, you know, it was before we had an income tax. Before we had a Fed.

And back then, the federal government had to live off tariffs. And that was the greatest period, not only of economic growth, but of cultural achievement.

It's astounding, what we -- everything Elon Musk does, was invented in the 1880s. Computers.
Rockets.

What's his -- Hyperloop. Every single thing. And it was really the golden age of humanity.

And the key there, we did not have an income tax. We did not have a regulatory state.

We did not have a Fed. So if Trump can take us back there. And all we have to do is an 8 percent sales tax on Chinese socks.

That is the deal of the century.

GLENN: Okay. Let's go over this.

Who pays the tariffs?

American companies or the foreign company?

PETER: Interestingly, during you Trump's first term. He put tariffs on China. And China actually paid up 80 percent of those. So it would issue subsidies to Chinese exporters so they could maintain market share and keep their prices low. So the Chinese government paid the tariffs.

GLENN: Hmm.

I like that.

PETER: So if he does that again, he's talking about hitting China with something like 60 percent tariffs.

And between a ten and 20 percent tariff for everyone else. Now, given Trump's style, he is not going to come and use it across the board. He is going to come and use that as a club.

Right?

So the Europeans, specifically. They act like a fortress. They are brutal to outsiders.

If you want to export something to Europe, they will put you over a barrel. You remember, a couple years ago, the first thing the European Union did was sat them down. And said, nice economy you've got here. Would be a shame if something happened to it. We're going to need a payment from you every single year.

It is literally the Mafia. They do that to Norway. It's all these countries have to fork over billions of dollars to get access to the European market. Now, imagine if we did that. Imagine if we called up Mexico or Canada. And said, hey, listen. We've got this beautiful economy. You guys are settling into it. Hey, why don't you write me a check for 50 billion to keep access? That's exactly what the Europeans do.

So the first thing Trump is probably going to do, given what he did last time. Is he'll call up Europe, and he will do the exact same thing.

You know, I have a 20 percent tariff burning a hole in my pocket. I need you to do some things for me.

But, anyway, even if he does end up applying those to all foreigners, the Europeans are not going to cover the exporters because they're in a deep fiscal hole.

They don't have the money. They're already bankrupt. They're not going to do what China did.

But a lot of those tariffs, especially the ones from China, are probably going to keep getting paid by China. Because exports to America are what they live on. If they lose that, it's game over.

GLENN: And we should not be empowering them, quite honestly.

Now, here's why. Here's why I have possibly turned around.

I'm willing to listen to tariff talk, because in my -- in my cute little head, I keep thinking that all of the -- when you have an extra 20 or $30,000, that you're pulling in, every year. Whatever it is, you are paying in income tax. And everything -- everything goes down that's made here in America.

If you're not paying that income tax. You have a lot of extra buying power, which means, most of Americans, will spend that.

And will grow our economy, which will put more taxes. Well, we don't have taxes. So that wouldn't work.

How does it work, when you don't have taxes? Go ahead.

PETER: Yeah. So just kind of running into the numbers. The first thing that happens, if you get rid of income tax altogether. So I estimate you get about a 20 percent jump in incomes in the US.

So it would be something like $15,000 for typical families. That's what you get off the bat. The typical family currently has about 18,000 in income tax, and then you knock off about 3,000 for the tariffs.

There's a variety of estimates on that. But that seems to be the cluster. So you get a 15,000 raise, because the economy is growing faster. You get an 18,000 raise because you don't have to send your income tax to the government. People don't realize how much they're paying to the government.

Right? A lot of it is tips. But, anyway, you've got -- what do they call it?

Withholding. So, anyway, that's 33. I call three for the tariffs. 30,000 dollar raise per year, 2500 a month. Now, currently, the median American take home is about 58,000.

Okay. Which is about 76, minus the income tax. So you go from taking home 58, to taking home 88. Right? That is a massive difference.

And that sort of sets the stage.
(music)

GLENN: Hold. Hold on. You go from 58 to 88. Oh, yeah.
(music)
Ding-dong. Pizza deliveryman. Anyway.

STU: Why is that the part you like so much in his movies? It's interesting what he is excited about.

GLENN: All right. Go ahead.

All right.

PETER: No. I love it. And it's true. You know, if you're making 88. You can go to Vegas. And things happen in Vegas.

GLENN: Yeah. Right. Right. Creating jobs.

PETER: Right. Yeah, well, and so that's the fun part, right? Is you mentioned earlier, that if you're not paying income tax, then production in the US is cheaper.

So instead of the Chinese socks coming in -- you know, they used to come in at $6, now they're at $9. Fine. But China is paying for that, so they're probably still coming in at six.

But, meanwhile, American factories can make socks for less, because they are not paying the income tax.

There's a very good chance that we will see a lot of that manufacturing, even if the Chinese government pays for the tariffs.

GLENN: And that means, also because the economy -- we're building factories. We're doing things ourselves, because we can.

Everybody's pay goes up. Because we need more workers. Right?

PETER: Exactly. Exactly. And then there's actually mass deportations, then the socks will actually go American.

So you've got two possibilities, right?

One of them is that China covers the tariffs. In which case, it's a free lunch for us.

China is, what?

Putting us about 500 billion -- well, their share would be -- let's say 300 billion. So that would be fantastic. Thank you very much.

Or China does not cover the tariffs, in which case China is priced out of the market. America pays no income tax, so they're cheaper. By the way, every headquarter on earth would try to move to the United States. If you're paying no income tax on the single biggest economy on earth, everybody will be trying to move here. Including the Chinese companies. The worst-case scenario, the Chinese don't cover it.

They get outcompeted. And it all comes back to America. And if it's only Americans living here, then Americans will be swimming in jobs.

GLENN: I mean, this is just -- this is big.

How -- how much --

PETER: Oh, yeah.

GLENN: He has only floated this on the Rogan show. How real do you think this is? Because I know he loves tariffs. I know he loves tariffs.

PETER: He loves tariffs. And he hates the income tax. So it's beautiful. It's like a -- it's just like the perfect Newton president.

STU: Peter, isn't the complication here, that he can essentially do what he wants with tariffs. But he can't do what he wants with the income tax. And that becomes the heavy lift here?

PETER: Right. So he would need Congress to play ball on the income tax. And Congress is very tight, as we're all discussing at the moment. There's a ton of RINOs over there.

So that's going need to the pressure and the passion that people showed during the campaign, that millions of Americans showed. We have to put that on the RINOs.

GLENN: Yeah. I think that if he did, you know, a tour even. And was just all about income tax. You just have to say to people. You go from 58 to 88 in take home pay. I think a lot of people will be like, you know what, I love that.

STU: I agree. But you're not going to get -- obviously, in theory, you could put it into a reconciliation bill. Right?

At least a massive reduction.

You couldn't -- not a constitutional amendment, unfortunately.

That's what I would prefer.

Repealing the 16th.

GLENN: Yeah. Me too.

But you could capture American's imagination with this.

STU: Yeah. I think that's pretty -- that would be pretty great.

I do think you would have issues with some of these, as you point out. RINO-type republicans, who would complain about all sorts of things.

Including deficit stuff. Right?

They would say, we're going to lose all this income.

GLENN: All right. Let me take a break, and then let's talk about the deficit, Peter. All right? Peter st. Onge. He -- hmm. I'm not going to hold it against him for being French. I mean, somewhere in his past, somebody had sex with a French person. Okay. Let's -- let's move past that. He's with the Heritage Foundation. A visiting fellow.

STU: This is definitely the weirdest interview he's ever done. And he's regretting every minute of this.

GLENN: He's like, this is the end of my career and my credibility.

GLENN: Okay. I think I've got this number from you, Peter.

But a -- tariffs would bring in about 900 billion.

Almost a trillion dollars.

But our -- we're spending now, I don't even know how much.

$4 trillion a year? Some crazy number like that.

So how do you bridge the gap?

PETER: About six and a half.

GLENN: Six and a half. Okay. Good.

STU: There's a bit of a gap.

GLENN: There's a five and a half trillion dollar gap.

PETER: So income tax itself is taking about two and a half trillion.

And then you've got -- what? You've got payroll. You've got excise. Things like gasoline and cigarettes, things like that.

You've got capital gains. Corporate income tax. Those hopefully would be folded into an income tax repeal.

You put it together. You're looking at 2.4 trillion in lost revenue. And then you've got 900 in tariffs. About 1.5.

Now, the economy grows 20 percent, then you're going to get about 500 billion more from payroll tax and from excise. So you're looking at a net loss of 1 trillion. Now, I personally would prefer to get rid of the payroll tax as well.

STU: Yes!

GLENN: Pernicious.

PETER: It's not as bad as the income tax. Because the income tax is on top of it. It also varies on how much you produce. The payroll tax is a flat tax.

So, you know, in a perfect world, we're not taxing work at all. We're taxing bad things, not good things.

In the grand scheme, you know, in the terms of incentives, get rid of income tax first. Then we can have the next conversation, which would be getting rid of the payroll tax. If you're just going to the income tax, you're talking about 2.4 net of the tariffs. Net of the economic growth. You're talking 1 trillion. So you would be cutting 1 trillion out of a budget of about six and a half.

Now, Elon is -- he's talking about his department of government efficiency.

He's floating 2 trillion.

So I haven't seen the math on those.

I don't know where it's coming from.

I agree whole-heartedly.

I'm certain we could get a lot more than that.

It's cutting out the parts of the military, that is part of our country.

Bring them home. Put them on the border. Divert the Navy that patrol our waters. Stop invading other countries.

That would be a very easy 800 billion, if we look at countries like Japan or UK, which the UK has a functioning military. It has a Coast Guard.

Although, it doesn't use it.

About the whole kit. They spend less than hundred billion.

Of course, you can cut welfare for able-bodied people.

Which the government tries very, very hard to hide how much it spends on welfare. But it's easily over a trillion.

The cost of illegals themselves, which very conservatively is about 150 billion a year. Maybe closer to 350 billion by some estimates. Because, again, they're trying to hide the costs.

Pharmaceuticals. Right?

That's going to be coming into focus with RFK here. But there is a ton of waste and corruption in pharmaceutical payments. Those are something like 20 percent of our economy.

But really, you know, if you sort of zoom out, you're very familiar with the Tenth Amendment.

There are precisely four agencies that are authorized. Right? State, justice, defense, treasury with both offices.

So strictly speaking, if we had a Supreme Court, that actually read the common sense language in the Tenth Amendment, almost the entire thing is gone. You would slash everything. Personally, I would keep Social Security and Medicare because they've already been paid for. That's a complicated issue. I think you have to make sure people are protected, because they already got ripped off on the way in. But aside from that, almost everything they do, from DEI, to just -- to the Federal Reserve, all of that is unconstitutional.

You slash that down, and you are -- gosh, you're probably more than 3 trillion down.

GLENN: So do you think we have a shot at doing that?

Is he putting the team in, around him to do something like this?

PETER: So the closest we have, I follow Polymarket very closely. They've got odds on pretty much everything out there. The sort of tip of the spear on income tax repeal is starting with tax on tips.

Right? That was the one that he most clearly promised.

And so that's kind of a proxy for whether we're going to start hacking away at the income tax. So tax on tips, is currently running 38 percent on Polymarket.

That's the number I'm watching. That's encouraging. Because it means, it's not just talk.

That people with capital, believe it's the real.

But for sure, Congress will play ball.

GLENN: Yeah. Thank you so much, Peter. We'll have you on again. Great explanation of this. Peter St. Onge. He's with the Heritage Foundation. You can follow him @PeterStOnge. Good luck spelling Onge. I mean, just saying.

Trump’s plan to ABOLISH the Department of Education CONFIRMED

Donald Trump has announced that he WILL push to abolish the Department of Education and give the power over our school system back to the states. Glenn and Stu review his plan to overhaul the entire education system, including by clearing out all the “anti-American insanity” that has taken over our colleges. But will he actually be able to make these big moves? Glenn and Stu also discuss some rumored picks for Trump’s cabinet, including Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, as well as the confirmed Trump pick, Rep. Elise Stefanik as Ambassador to the United Nations.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Well, let's say, hello to Stu Burguiere. Hello, Stu. How are you?

STU: Very well, Glenn. Exciting things happening.

GLENN: Exciting things, right?

STU: Yeah. Shutting down the Department of Education.

GLENN: You don't believe that?

STU: I don't -- I'm skeptical, whether it will actually occur.

I am excited about the prospect of a president who actually wants it to happen. I feel like it's been -- we haven't felt heard that since Reagan. But, of course, Reagan famously did not actually achieve --

GLENN: Of course. Of course. Reagan also said that he was going to make Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

STU: Right. Exactly.

GLENN: And he didn't do that.

STU: I will also say, one of the central parts of education policy for Republicans for as long as I've been aware of politics, have been the idea of, you know, school choice.

And nothing ever happened, until the past couple years. Right? Like now we've come further on school choice, than at any other point in my lifetime.

GLENN: Yep.

STU: I'm really excited about that. I think his appointments around this area will be really interesting.

GLENN: So here's what he has said. First, let's start with his plan to overhaul leftist colleges. Cut five.

DONALD: Tuition costs at colleges and universities have been exploding. And I mean absolutely exploding. While academics have been obsessed with indoctrinating America's youth. The time has come to reclaim our once great educational institutions from the radical left. And we will do that.

Our secret weapon will be the college accreditation system. It's called accreditation for a reason. The accreditors are supposed to ensure schools are not ripping off students and taxpayers.

But they have failed totally. When I return to the White House, I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominant by Marxists, maniacs, and lunatics.

We will then accept applications for new accreditors who will impose real standards on colleges once again and once and for all.

These standards will include defending the American tradition and Western civilization. Protecting free speech, eliminating wasteful administrative positions, that drive up costs incredibly.

Removing all Marxist, diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrats. Offering options for accelerated and low cost degrees. Providing meaningful job placement in career services.

And implementing college entrance and exit exams. To prove that students are actually learning and getting their money's worth. Furthermore, I will direct the Department of Justice to pursue federal civil rights cases against schools that continue to engage in racial discrimination.

And schools that persist in explicit, unlawful discrimination, under the guise of equity, will not only have their endowment stacks, but through budget reconciliation, I will advance a measure to have them fined up to the entire amount of their endowment.

GLENN: Oh, my.

TOM: A portion of the cease funds will then be used as restitution for victims of these illegal and unjust policies. Policies that hurt our country, so badly.

Colleges have gotten hundreds of billions of dollars from hard-working taxpayers. And now, we are going to get this anti-American insanity out of our institutions, once and for all. We are going to have real education in America.

GLENN: Oh, yeah. Again, we need some porn music for this stuff. This is just, oh, say it again, Donald.

That is very, very clear, I think.

STU: Yes.

GLENN: The clearest I have -- I have heard him, and the most passionate that I've heard him.

These are not campaign promises. He doesn't need to make these promises anymore.

These are, here's what we're doing, right now.

Included in that, that whole rant, is this. Cut four, please.

DONALD: And one other thing I will be doing very early in the administration, is closing up the Department of Education in Washington, DC, and sending all education and education working needs back to the states. We want them to run the education of our children.

Because they'll do a much better job of it.

You can't do worse. We spend more money per pupil by three times, than any other nation. And yet, we're absolutely at the bottom. We're one of the worst. So you can't do worse.

We're going to end education coming out of Washington, DC. We're going to close it up. All those buildings all over the place. And you have people in many cases, hate our children. We're going to send it all back to the states.

GLENN: Wow.

Again, oh, yeah.

STU: Love that. I think that's really exciting.

GLENN: Now, do you think he won't do it, or do you think he won't be able to do it?

STU: I mean, I hope that it would happen. But, I mean -- if you're focusing on the national levels of pessimism, that I have when it comes to anything going on in Washington.

GLENN: You are a little back rain cloud.

STU: I mean, look, I'm trying to be realistic here.

But I think that there is -- I think -- it's interesting. Because Trump, when he puts his mind to it, he can accomplish anything.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: But there are certain things that he says, that are things I think he likes and wants. But aren't central focuses of his life.

For example, we know the border is. There's no question, he will do stuff on the border.

Another example I would use, would be term limits.

He talked often, in speeches about term limits in 2016, and 2017.

GLENN: I think -- wait. Wait. Wait.

Hang on just a second. I think to compare Donald Trump's 2016 version, you're looking at a new two-point -- maybe 2.9 version of Donald Trump. Almost a 3.0.

He's not the same guy.

STU: It's true. It's not even a criticism of him though. You can only focus on so many things.

You can only get so many things done.

Typically, maybe he's going to come up with a whole new way to do it. Maybe he's putting all these people in, that will be able to kind of shepherd these things, so he doesn't have to focus on them at all.

GLENN: Now, that is --

STU: Your bully pulpit, you can really only push for one or two things at a time.

GLENN: Hmm. I don't know. I find these videos, that he's putting out, to be almost like a fireside chat.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And he's putting them out for a reason.

Have you ever seen a president do this, as president-elect.

STU: No. I like it.

GLENN: I love you this. I love this.

And he's putting this out, one after another after another after another.

Because he is preparing the Washington swamp, and America. These are massive changes coming our way.

And we're going need to your support. And he has told me, I've got to do all of this in 100 days, Glenn. I've got 100 days to do it.

STU: He's right on that. That's way he should be thinking. And it's a lot to do.

GLENN: It is.

But do you remember that first bill that Barack Obama put in, that we looked at?

It was one of the first health care bills. It was TARP. And then there was -- there was something else.

STU: It was the stimulus plan, wasn't it? $780 billion or something.

GLENN: Yeah, and it was like 2,000 pages. And we went through it, paper, I printed it. And said somebody -- I didn't know how long it was at first. Would you print this up, let me read this? And it was sitting on our kitchen table in our studios, in New York City.

Remember?

And I looked at that, and I went, this is not about stimulus. This is about fundamental transformation.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Okay? And they just loaded that bill with everything.

The reason why I bring that up. Is because that showed to me, that they did something we never did.

And that is, plot the entire course. They knew exactly what they wanted to do.

Okay. And they never told us.

Donald Trump is the first that one I'm seeing, do this.

He didn't even do this in 2016. He made promises in 2016.

And he believes in keeping promises.

But he didn't believe in getting everything done.

He has the Congress and the Senate right now.

He can make the right appointments, right now.

If he fails to make the right appointments, that's going to be a problem.

Because if he has any internal fighting, they are going to unleash, on him.

STU: Yeah. I -- I think that's true.

GLENN: And if he has anybody on his own side, fighting against him, which he did have last time.

STU: Definitely did, yes.

GLENN: He's got to -- there is a mandate here.

And the Republicans should be reminded of that.

And he should not put anybody in any position that doesn't understand MAGA.

This is where we're going.

This truly is fundamental transformation.

This is a reset back to the Constitution, in as many ways that I have ever seen. This is as impactful as what FDR did, in the opposite direction in 12 years.

STU: Hmm. That's interesting. Because part -- and let me -- I'm playing devil's advocate here.

Because I have the same level of hope here, for what might happen.

GLENN: I want you to know though.

I don't hope. I believe I know. I believe I know.

In talking to him, he's not the same guy.

STU: I'm not. And that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying he's the same guy. I'm just saying it's hard. This is a difficult thing to do. Getting rid of the Department of Education, like Ronald Reagan really believed that. He really did. That was not a fake thing.

He talked about it for decades leading up to his presidency.

GLENN: I know that. I know. I know.

STU: It wasn't even one term off and he's magnum like maybe Donald Trump has done here. This is what this man was known for, for multiple decades, and still, it was hard to do.

GLENN: Well, not Department of Education.

STU: That was central to his talks in like the '60s.

GLENN: No, it wasn't. The Department of Education was started by Jimmy Carter.

STU: Yes. Consistent policies on education. You're right. Sorry, I'm not being clear.

GLENN: Yes. Yes.

STU: But regardless of that, I have hope and optimism for what he can do.

But like, when you're talking about, this is somebody who is going to do whatever MAGA thing he wants -- I mean, his appointment so far, has been pretty normal.

GLENN: I know. It makes me nervous.

STU: But Marco Rubio, secretary of state, is like --

GLENN: I know. I wanted Richard Grenell.

STU: Any Republican president, in that field, could have -- could have listed Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. It's like, I don't even think -- I'm not saying it's a bad pick.

But it's not particularly consistent with what I hear from the audience at times, about like how against Ukraine funding they are.

GLENN: How against Ukraine and the WEF and the United Nations.

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: I mean, I want somebody in the UN, that wants to shut it down.

STU: I mean, and Elise Stefanik is a normie Republican pick.

GLENN: Yes. She's solid. She's solid.

STU: And I don't think that's bad. I thought she was really, really good on a lot of things.

I'm not even against any of these picks. But --

GLENN: Yeah, me too. Marco Rubio, I'm borderline on. That's a disappointment.

STU: We've had him on the show. We like Marco.

GLENN: I like Marco.

I don't want him as a Secretary of State under Donald Trump.

STU: It's interesting.

GLENN: I want Richard Grenell. I want the guy who will walk in and say, hey, by the way, just got off the phone with the president. We're going to make a deal here, or I'm going back to telling him, we don't have a deal. And instead of sending a signed deal to him, we're going to be sending aircraft your way.

You know what I mean? I want somebody who will walk into the EU saying, you are either paying your way.

What he says, he means. You're either paying your way. Or I'm done.

I want that guy. And I'm not sure that Marco Rubio is that guy. He could be. Maybe he could surprise us.

STU: Yeah. He's obviously -- he was under serious consideration for vice president, at least by all the reporting.

It's interesting.

And I think part of the things with Trump. This is, I think consistent with him.

And again, I'm not being critical here.

I'm just trying to state what I think is actually true. Which is, a lot of what Donald Trump says is a negotiation.

And we all know that, going back to the art of the deal, right?

You know that. And when he says, Kim Jong-un is my best friend. He doesn't mean it. Right? To have

He doesn't also mean, the next day, when he says we're sending -- we're going to nuke North Korea tomorrow.

He doesn't mean either of those things. They're both different pieces.

GLENN: I think this is fascinating. I want to go thew the things that he says. And I want to you point out, what you think is a negotiation.

STU: I don't always know.

I can guesstimate. We know that those two positions can't be true though. And this is the 2016, or 21st term reference here.

But like, saying you're going to, you know -- we're going to blast North Korea. Like you've never seen. And also, we're great friends. I love the guy.

Like those are two obviously --

GLENN: I know that.

But I think there's a difference. The way he deals with dictators.

STU: That's true.

GLENN: He knows. Because he's a private businessman.

Who has bullied his way in very good negotiating ways.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: He has -- he's used that as a businessman. He knows who these people are.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Okay?

So he knows, these are the things I would hate in business. And I've done them, to people who think they're all that. And I always win.

I think that's different, than what he's doing on -- for instance, the Department of Ed.

STU: But like, I think it's consistent with what you would do with Marco Rubio or Elise Stefanik. You're picking people that are maybe more hawkish than you, to send a message of being hawkish. While at the same time, maybe trying to implement a more J.D. Vance-ish type foreign policy. It could be.

GLENN: Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. I will give this man the benefit of the doubt, in '16, I didn't, and I was shocked by what he got done and what he meant. And now I really think he really means every word that he says on these policies.

These are scripted.

These are not campaign promises.

These are, here's what we're going to do.

So I take them literally.

Not just seriously. But literally.

But I could be wrong.

But the only -- my only thing on some of his appointments is: What does he know, that I don't know? About Marco Rubio.