Congress is debating a bill that would force the Chinese company that owns TikTok to either divest from the app or face a TikTok ban in America. But is this bill a good idea, or is it a Trojan Horse that would give the government the power to go after American companies as well? Glenn reviews what’s really in the bill and why he’s siding with its opponents. Plus, he reviews the debate he hosted between Rep. Chip Roy, who co-sponsored it, and Rep. Thomas Massie, who opposes it, and reveals his biggest takeaway from all of this.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: If you miss last night's Wednesday night show, you missed a lot.
We talked about TikTok.
And I know I'm in the minority. But I'm -- I wasn't sure where I stood, until last night.
I had two people, I invited two guests on. That have opposite views. But are usually on the same side.
And I both -- I respect their commitment. Both of them. To the Constitution.
One of them is Chip Roy. The congressman from Texas.
And the other is Thomas Massie.
Thomas from Kentucky, he is -- he is Libertarian.
And always concerned about things like the Patriot Act. Et cetera, et cetera.
But so is Chip Roy, but Chip is also very concerned about our security, and China. He knows what we're facing. I agree with both of them on why this is an important issue.
So last night, I had them debate each other, go back and forth. And, man, it was so refreshing, to see three people talk about something that we disagree on, but nobody became disagreeable. I mean, we were like, yeah. Okay.
I really see your point on this one. It was really. It's something that we just don't have enough of. And last night, they debated it.
Massey was against, and Chip Roy was for.
In fact, he sponsored the TikTok banning bill.
STU: What was the result of this?
Was there a unanimous decision? A split decision at the end?
How did this come out?
GLENN: No. Yeah. They both stayed in their position.
And I was looking for help. Because I -- you know, I -- I read the bill.
We went over a lot of it, last night. Line by line.
And there's some disturbing things in there.
For instance, let me just go through some of this. This is the protecting Americans from foreign adversary controlled applications act.
Wow.
If you look at section two, under foreign adversary controlled application. It shows, that it's not just a phone app. It's individual websites could also be seized. That makes sense.
But supporters of this bill, point out, that it's just foreign adversary apps.
And the website.
That it doesn't. That it specifically points out, foreign adversary controlled, all throughout the bill.
Well, that's a little vague.
Because when you say, they're controlled by a foreign adversary.
We have been accused of being for -- of, you know, controlled by Russia.
Israel.
Who else have we been. Well, they're controlled by a foreign adversary.
STU: Yeah. Whoever is convenient at the time. In theory, there's only the four -- that are labeled in this bill. Which are North Korea. China. Russia. And Iran.
So Israel wouldn't apply. But Russia would.
GLENN: So risen to what they said about Donald Trump. When he went to North Korea. He's being controlled by a foreign -- he's in with North Korea and Russia.
When Tucker went to Russia, how many people said, he's just a pawn for Putin?
Well, does that mean that Tucker Carlson, if the president -- because he's the one who decides. If the president decides, that you're being controlled by a foreign adversary. Does that mean Tucker Carlson can just go away?
STU: I mean, really direct example of this, would be Truth Social. Right?
They claim that Donald Trump is a Russian asset. And has been a Russian asset since the 1980s.
GLENN: Yes. Correct.
STU: And he basically owns a very large chunk of Truth Social. And that's one of the things that made me nervous about the bill.
Is that one section that tries to define what a foreign adversary. Where it obviously like, if the Chinese government were to own a company.
Okay. That makes sense.
If a Chinese foreign national owns a company, and they answer to the Chinese Communist Party.
That would make sense. And be obvious.
But there's a third section.
And maybe you guys went over this last night. That kind of hits a person who is a US citizen, that is, quote, unquote, controlled by a foreign entity. Right?
GLENN: Yes. Controlled.
Yes.
If -- I'm quoting. If determined by the president, to be a -- a present threat, to the national security of the United States.
A threat to the national security.
What does -- what does that mean?
And a threat to national security, just in the last year, we've heard election deniers are a threat to our democracy.
Vaccine deniers, Christian nationalists, climate deniers. All of these are a threat to national security.
So in the end, when it says, you -- you -- you're hostile to what?
We're -- people who believe in the Constitution are called hostile to the government. We're trying to overthrow the government. No, we're not. We're trying to stop you from overthrowing the government. We believe in the Constitution! So you're a foreign adversary.
Okay.
Now, there's the -- there's a term called the covered company. That doesn't include an entity, that operates a website. Desktop application. Mobile application. Or augmented or immersive technology application.
Whose primary purpose is to allow users to post reviews, product reviews, business reviews, or travel information and reviews. Now, is Yelp in the middle of a sale to Communist China?
Who had the juice, to put this in?
One of the cosponsors was Chip Roy. And I said, Chip, who put that in?
He said, I don't have any idea. But one of the cosponsors, and I think there were 20 of them.
Had somebody call up and say, hey, I want this language in there. So what website is worried about their product reviews and travel information. Being deemed a threat to the United States of America. Because it's not just, you know, an entity controlled.
It's an entity controlled by a -- a country, that we're at war with. And they are a threat, to our national security.
So, I mean, is the yelp review a threat to our national security? And if so, that is a little frightening.
STU: That does really pop up some interesting questions, right?
Obviously, who put this in? Is interesting.
I don't know what it means exactly. Like, I don't --
GLENN: Exactly.
I want to know. What I wanted to know, last night was, why was somebody so concerned about their review site, that they wanted it written in?
Because we've been told, this is only for sites like ByteDance. TikTok. Okay.
And when you see, and we showed it last night. Who really owns, ByteDance and TikTok.
How that's built. It is absolutely insane.
So they could sell it to another entity. And get around all of it.
This is crazy. Here's the lasting segment.
And where I ended up. This is from last night's Blaze TV, Glenn Beck Wednesday night special.
We are at war.
We are a nation at war.
We're at war, with other countries.
We're at war with China. And the Communist Party. Absolutely.
We are fighting a proxy war, which could very well become a -- a hot war. With Russia.
And could become a world war.
The way things are stacking up.
But we're also at war, with big tech.
We're at war with Communism and fascism in our own country, being taught to our own children at our own schools. We're at war with our own intelligence community and Justice Department.
And it's not just our Justice Department and Intel. It's the five eyes all over the world. We are at war with the corporate oligarchs, the politicians and the elites all over the world from the UN to the WEF.
To hell, I don't even know. Is it chamber of commerce any good anymore?
But most important, we are at war, with ourselves. We don't know who we are anymore. We're losing our country, because we lost our values. And when you lose your values, I lose history. Because it has no meaning, anymore.
What were you really fighting for? And is that worth it?
And because we lost our values, we lost our history. You lose your history. You lose your traditions. You lose your traditions, you lose your family.
And in the end, you lose yourself. I honestly think, that's where we are. We're damn close to that, if not already passed it.
You're not going to repair this country. By giving more power, to a government, that only seeks more power.
You've got to empower the people. Somehow or another, we need to as people, care what is happening to our children.
And I say this, with the understanding of what I told you at the beginning.
Even my own family rolls their eyes at me. I know.
I know. I keep coming back to the Founders, without a religious and moral people, this system is wholly inadequate. We're not those people anymore. It doesn't mean we can't be.
But right now, there are remnants of those people. Because we're fighting this war on every single front.
I'm against the TikTok ban. I -- I so trust Chip Roy. I love Chip. And I trust him. He's a constitutionalist. He's a Texan from 1853. I mean, don't mess with the Texan.
But I don't trust the people around him.
And a government that is seeking more and more power, and more and more control, and isn't already in bed, with giant corporate tech. And China.
And a government that doesn't seem to care about its people over oligarchs and, you know, the rich, the corporations, the lawyers. I can't give any more power.
And I won't give any more power to a president, that doesn't defend the Constitution, at all costs.
And I haven't seen them in quite a while.
So that's where I came down.
I don't know where you'll come down on this.
But I think this is a very important question.
Again, because this is all the stuff they said about the Patriot Act. Oh, it will never be used against you.
And I said, all they have to do is change the definition of extremist. And they could absolutely turn this on you.
Yes, but they won't.
They have! They have.
STU: Yeah, it's a fascinating one. They've done it many times, right?
And, you know, I don't know. You look at this, and you say, well.
For example, the foreign adversary thing you were talked about earlier. A US citizen that is, quote, unquote, controlled by and for an adversary. You can see there would be all sorts of problems with that, and you could rewrite that.
You could change that, pull that out of the bill.
But if you do that, it's not effective, right?
Because then China could just pay, you know, $100 million to some US citizen to run their thing.
And I'm sure there would be no way to track whether it was still controlled by the Chinese government.
At the end of the day, it's not going to be effective. And I don't know. When it comes down to a decision that is close, I just don't want to give the government any more power.
GLENN: Amen.
And I have to tell you, controlled by a foreign adversary, China. Well, I could make that case. And we made it yesterday, in Congress.
You can make that case, about the Biden family, and the White House.
It's -- it's a -- it's being controlled by a hostile, foreign power. And they're doing its bidding.
