Glenn Beck
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Glenn Lee Beck (born February 10, 1964) is an American
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political commentator, radio host, entrepreneur, and television producer. He is the CEO, founder, and owner of Mercury Radio Arts, the parent company of his television and radio network
TheBlaze Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. It is based in Irving, Tex ...
. He hosts the ''
Glenn Beck Radio Program ''The Glenn Beck Radio Program'' is an American conservative talk radio show, hosted by commentator Glenn Beck on over 400 radio stations across America, his company's own TheBlaze Radio Network, with a live television simulcast weekdays on TheB ...
'', a talk-radio show nationally syndicated on
Premiere Radio Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. I ...
. Beck also hosts the ''Glenn Beck'' television program, which ran from January 2006 to October 2008 on HLN, from January 2009 to June 2011 on
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
and now airs on
TheBlaze Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. It is based in Irving, Tex ...
. Beck has authored six ''New York Times''–bestselling books.Rose, Lacey (April 26, 2010)
"Glenn Beck Inc"
''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
''
In April 2011, Beck announced that he would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News, but would continue to team with Fox. His last daily show on Fox was June 30, 2011. In 2012, ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'' placed Beck on its Digital Power Fifty list. Beck launched TheBlaze in 2011 after leaving Fox News. He hosts an hour-long afternoon program, ''The Glenn Beck Program'', on weekdays, and a three-hour morning radio show; both are broadcast on TheBlaze. Beck is also the producer of TheBlaze's '' For the Record''. Beck has received both praise and criticism, characterized by his supporters as a defender of traditional American values and by his detractors as a demagogue. During
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
's presidency, Beck promoted conspiracy theories about Obama, his administration,
George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...
, and others.


Early life and education

Beck was born in
Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...
, the son of Mary Clara (née Janssen) and William Beck, who lived in
Mountlake Terrace, Washington Mountlake Terrace is a suburban city in Snohomish County, Washington Snohomish County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. With a population of 827,957 as of the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous county in Wash ...
, at the time of their son's birth. The family later moved to
Mount Vernon, Washington Mount Vernon is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 35,219 at the 2020 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon- Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
, where they owned and operated City Bakery in the downtown area. He is descended from
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century. Beck was raised as a
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
and attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Mount Vernon. Beck and his sister moved with their mother to Sumner, Washington, attending a Jesuit school in Puyallup. On May 15, 1979, while out on a small boat with a companion, Beck's mother drowned just west of
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...
, in
Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...
. The man who had taken her out in the boat also drowned. According to a Tacoma police report, Mary Beck "appeared to be a classic drowning victim", but a
Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
investigator speculated that she could have intentionally jumped overboard. Beck has called his mother's death a suicide in interviews. After their mother's death, Beck and his sister moved to their father's home in
Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the most populous city in, and county seat of Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It lies south of the U.S.–Canada border in between two major cities of the Pacific Northwest: Vancouver, British Columbia (loc ...
, where Beck graduated from
Sehome High School Sehome High School is a public school in Bellingham, Washington, located approximately north of Seattle and south of Vancouver, British Columbia. The school serves students mainly from the western and southwestern sections of the City of Belli ...
in June 1982. Beck also regularly vacationed with his maternal grandparents, Ed and Clara Janssen, in Iowa. In the aftermath of his mother's death and his stepbrother's subsequent suicide, Beck has said he used "Dr.
Jack Daniel's Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown–Forman Corporation since 1956. Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel's "Black Label" ...
" to cope. At 18, after graduating from high school, he moved to Provo, Utah, and worked at radio station
KAYK Arkalyk Airport (also given as Arkalyk North) is an airport in Kazakhstan located north of Arkalyk. It is a small civilian airport built during the Soviet era, and has a sizeable asphalt apron and passenger terminal. The terminal building is in ...
. Feeling he "didn't fit in", Beck left Utah after six months, taking a job at
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
's WPGC in February 1983.


Personal life

While working at WPGC, Beck met his first wife, Claire. They married in 1983 and had two daughters, Mary and Hannah. Mary developed
cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...
as a result of a series of strokes at birth in 1988. The couple divorced in 1994 amid Beck's struggles with substance abuse. He is a recovering
alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
and
drug addict Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...
, and has said he has
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inap ...
(ADHD). Beck later admitted that the family problems ranging from the divorce to his substance abuse had a severe negative impact on his children. By 1994, Beck was suicidal, and imagined shooting himself to the music of Kurt Cobain. He credits Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with helping him achieve sobriety. He said he stopped drinking alcohol and smoking
cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...
in November 1994, the same month he attended his first AA meeting. Beck later said that he had gotten high every day for the previous 15 years, since the age of 16. In 1996, while working for a
New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
area radio station, Beck took a
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
class at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, with a written recommendation from Senator
Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
, a Yale alumnus who was a fan of Beck's show at the time. Beck enrolled in an "Early Christology" course, but soon withdrew, marking the extent of his post-secondary education. Beck then began a "spiritual quest" in which he "sought out answers in churches and bookstores". As he later recounted in his books and stage performances, Beck's first attempt at
self-education Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...
involved reading the work of six wide-ranging authors, constituting what Beck jokingly calls "the library of a serial killer":
Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
,
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
,
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
,
Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...
, Carl Sagan, and
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
. During this time, Beck's Mormon friend and former radio partner Pat Gray argued in favor of the "comprehensive worldview" offered by
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
, an offer that Beck rejected until a few years later. (Later, after moving to the New York City area, he had a consultation with Graham, which he said affected him strongly. In 1999, Beck married his second wife, Tania. After they went looking for a faith on a church tour together, they joined
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
in October 1999, partly at the urging of his daughter Mary. Beck was baptized by his old friend and Pat Gray. Beck and Tania have two children together. Until April 2011, the couple lived in
New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bound ...
, with the four children. In July 2010 Beck announced that he had been diagnosed with macular dystrophy, saying, "A couple of weeks ago I went to the doctor because of my eyes. I can't focus my eyes. He did all kinds of tests and he said, 'you have macular dystrophy ... you could go blind in the next year. Or, you might not. The disorder can make it difficult to read, drive or recognize faces. In July 2011, Beck leased a house in the Fort Worth suburb of
Westlake, Texas : Westlake is a town in Denton and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and a suburb of Dallas/Ft Worth. The population is 1,623 as of the 2020 United States census. History The area known as Westlake was originally settled in 1847 by ...
. In 2012, he moved his main TV and radio studios to
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
. On November 10, 2014, Beck announced on
TheBlaze Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. It is based in Irving, Tex ...
that he had been suffering from a severe neurological disorder for at least the last five years. He described many strong and debilitating symptoms that made it difficult for him to work, and also announced that he had "a string of health issues that quite honestly made me look crazy, and quite honestly, I have felt crazy because of them". Beck said that a
chiropractor Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It has esoteric origins and is based on several pseudoscien ...
who specializes in " chiropractic neurology", Frederick Carrick, had "diagnosed imwith several health issues, including an autoimmune disorder, which he didn't name, and
adrenal fatigue Adrenal fatigue or hypoadrenia is a pseudo-scientific term used by alternative medicine providers to suggest that the adrenal glands are exhausted and unable to produce adequate quantities of hormones, primarily cortisol, due to chronic stress o ...
." Over ten months he had received a series of treatments and felt better. On January 13, 2022, Beck announced that his second case of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
was "getting into my lungs".


Career

In 2002, Beck created the media platform Mercury Radio Arts as the umbrella over his broadcast, publishing, Internet, and live show interests. Beck founded Mercury Radio Arts in 2002, naming it after the
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
'
Mercury Theatre The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury als ...
, which produced live radio broadcasts during the 1930s. The company produces all of Beck's productions, including his eponymous radio show, books, live
stage show A theatrical production is any work of theatre, such as a staged play, musical, comedy or drama produced from a written book or script. Theatrical productions also extend to other performance designations such as Dramatic and Nondramatic theatre, a ...
s, and his official website.


Radio

In 1983, Beck moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, to work at radio station
KZFM KZFM (Hot Z95) is a Corpus Christi, Texas, United States-based radio station with a Rhythmic Top 40 musical format. It is owned by Malkan Interactive Communications, LLC, and broadcasts on a frequency of 95.5 MHz with an effective radiated po ...
. In mid-1985, he was hired away from KZFM to be the lead DJ for
WRKA WRKA (103.9 FM) is a commercial urban adult contemporary radio station licensed to serve Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by SummitMedia, the station covers the Louisville metropolitan area. The WRKA studios are located in Downtown Louisville, wh ...
's morning-drive radio broadcast in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. His four-hour weekday show was called ''Captain Beck and the A-Team''. Beck had a reputation as a "young up-and-comer". The show was not political and included the genre's usual off-color antics: juvenile jokes, pranks, and impersonations. It slipped to third in the market and Beck left abruptly in 1987 amid a dispute with WRKA management. Months later, Beck was hired by
Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
Top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...
station KOY-FM, then known as Y-95. Beck was partnered with
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
native Tim Hattrick to co-host a local "
morning zoo Morning zoo is a format of morning radio show common to English-language radio broadcasting. The name is derived from the wackiness and zaniness of the activities, segments, and overall personality of the show and its hosts. The morning zoo conce ...
" program. During his time at Y-95, Beck cultivated a rivalry with local pop radio station KZZP and that station's morning host Bruce Kelly. Through
practical jokes A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
and
publicity stunts In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...
, Beck drew criticism from the staff at Y-95 when the rivalry culminated in Beck telephoning Kelly's wife on the air, mocking her recent miscarriage. In 1989, Beck resigned from Y-95 to accept a job in Houston at
KRBE KRBE (104.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a Top 40 (CHR) radio format. The studios are located in Suite 700 of the Chase Building at 9801 Westheimer Road in the Westchase D ...
, known as Power 104. He was fired in 1990 due to poor ratings. Beck then moved to
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, and the city's leading
Top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...
station, WBSB, known as B104. There, he partnered with Pat Gray, a morning DJ. During his tenure at B104, Beck was arrested and jailed for
speeding Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...
in his DeLorean. According to a former associate, Beck was "completely out of it" when a station manager went to
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...
him out. After Gray and Beck were fired, they spent six months in Baltimore, planning their next move. In early 1992, they moved to
WKCI-FM WKCI-FM (101.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a Top 40 (CHR) format. Licensed to the suburb of Hamden, Connecticut, it serves New Haven and Hartford. The station is owned by iHeartMedia. The studios are in Radio Towers Park o ...
(KC101), a
Top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...
radio station in
New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
. In 1995, WKCI apologized after Beck and Gray mocked a Chinese-American caller on air who felt offended by a comedy segment by playing a
gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
sound effect and having executive producer Alf Gatineau mock a Chinese accent. That incident led to protests by activist groups. When Gray left the show to move to
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
, Beck continued with co-host Vinnie Penn. At the end of 1998, Beck was informed that his contract would not be renewed at the end of 1999. The ''Glenn Beck Program'' first aired in 2000 on
WFLA (AM) WFLA (970 AM) is a commercial radio station in Tampa, Florida, and serving the Tampa Bay media market. The station airs a talk radio format and is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. The station's studios and offices are located on Gand ...
in Tampa, and took its afternoon time slot from 18th to first place within a year. In January 2002,
Premiere Radio Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. I ...
launched the show nationwide on 47 stations. The show then moved to
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, broadcasting from new flagship station
WPHT WPHT (1210 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The station broadcasts a talk radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. Its transmitter and broadcast tower are in Moorestown, New Jersey. The radio studios ...
. On November 5, 2007, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that Premiere Radio Networks was extending Beck's contract. By May 2008, it had reached over 280 terrestrial stations as well as XM Satellite. It was ranked fourth in the nation with over 6.5 million listeners. , Beck was tied for fourth in the ratings, behind
Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
,
Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of '' The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commen ...
, and
Dave Ramsey David Lawrence Ramsey III (born September 3, 1960) is an American personal finance personality, radio show host, author, and businessman. An evangelical Christian, he hosts the nationally syndicated radio program ''The Ramsey Show''. Ramsey has ...
.


Television

In January 2006,
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
's '' Headline News'' announced that Beck would host a nightly news-commentary show in its new prime-time block ''Headline Prime''. The show, simply called ''Glenn Beck'', aired weeknights. ''CNN Headline News'' called the show "an unconventional look at the news of the day featuring his often amusing perspective". At the end of his tenure at CNN-HLN, Beck had the second-largest audience, behind
Nancy Grace Nancy Ann Grace (born October 23, 1959) is an American legal commentator and television journalist. She hosted '' Nancy Grace'', a nightly celebrity news and current affairs show on HLN, from 2005 to 2016, and Court TV's ''Closing Arguments ...
. In 2008, he won the Marconi Radio Award for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year. In October 2008, it was announced that Beck would join the Fox News Channel, leaving CNN Headline News.Kurtz, Howard
A Network Divided: The Glenn Beck Factor
''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', March 15, 2010
After moving to Fox, Beck hosted '' Glenn Beck'', beginning in January 2009, as well as a weekend version. One of his first guests was
Alaska Governor The governor of Alaska ( Iñupiaq: ''Alaaskam kavanaa'') is the head of government of Alaska. The governor is the chief executive of the state and is the holder of the highest office in the executive branch of the government as well as being the ...
Sarah Palin. He also had a regular segment on Fridays, "At Your Beck and Call", on the Fox News Channel program ''
The O'Reilly Factor ''The O'Reilly Factor'' (originally titled ''The O'Reilly Report'' and also known as ''The Factor'') is an American cable television news and talk show. ''The O'Reilly Factor'' first aired in the United States on Fox News Channel on October 7 ...
''. , Beck's program drew more viewers than all three competing time-slot shows combined on CNN,
MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...
and HLN. Beck's show's high ratings did not come without controversy. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''s
Howard Kurtz Howard Alan Kurtz (; born August 1, 1953) is an American journalist and author best known for his coverage of the media. Kurtz is the host of Fox News's '' Media Buzz'' program, the successor to ''Fox News Watch''. He is the former media writer f ...
reported that Beck's use of "distorted or inflammatory rhetoric" had complicated the channel's and its journalists' efforts to neutralize
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
criticism that Fox is not really a news organization. Television analyst Andrew Tyndall echoed these sentiments, saying that Beck's incendiary style had created "a real crossroads for Fox News", saying, "they're right on the cusp of losing their image as a news organization." In April 2011, Fox News and Mercury Radio Arts, Beck's production company, announced that Beck would "transition off of his daily program" on Fox News in 2011. His last day at Fox was later announced as June 30. FNC and Beck announced that he would team with Fox to produce a slate of projects for Fox News and its digital properties. Fox News head
Roger Ailes Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republica ...
later referenced Beck's entrepreneurialism and political movement activism, saying, "His eck'sgoals were different from our goals ... I need people focused on a daily television show." Beck hosted his last daily show on Fox on June 30, 2011, when he recounted the accomplishments of the show and said, "This show has become a movement. It's not a TV show, and that's why it doesn't belong on television anymore. It belongs in your homes. It belongs in your neighborhoods." In response to critics who said he was fired, Beck pointed out that his final show was airing live. Immediately after the show he did an interview on his new
GBTV Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. It is based in Irving, Texa ...
internet television channel.


TheBlaze TV (formerly GBTV)

Beck's Fox News one-hour show ended on June 30, 2011, and a new two-hour show began his television network, which started as a subscription-based
internet TV Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...
network, TheBlaze TV, originally called GBTV, on September 12, 2011. Using a subscription model, it was estimated that Beck was on track to generate $27 million in his first year of operation. This was later upgraded to $40 million by ''The Wall Street Journal'' when subscriptions topped 300,000. On September 12, 2012, TheBlaze TV announced that the Dish Network would begin carrying TheBlaze TV. TheBlaze is now available on over 90 television providers, with 11 of those being in the national top 25.


Books

Mercury Ink has a co-publishing deal with
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
and was founded by Glenn Beck in 2011 as the publishing imprint of
Mercury Radio Arts Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. It is based in Irving, Te ...
. Started in 2011, Mercury Ink publishes adult and young adult novels and non-fiction titles. Authors signed to Mercury Ink include Beck and New York Times best seller Richard Paul Evans. Beck has reached No. 1 on ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' Bestseller List in four separate categories : Hardcover Non-Fiction,Stableford, Dylan
Glenn Beck's 'Idiots' to Top Times Bestseller List, Too
The Wrap, October 1, 2009
Paperback Non-Fiction, Hardcover Fiction, and Children's Picture Books.
''The New York Times'', November 5, 2009.
Beck has a chapter giving advice in
Tim Ferriss Timothy Ferriss (born July 20, 1977) is an American entrepreneur, investor, author, podcaster, and lifestyle guru. He became well-known through his ''4-Hour'' self-help book series—including ''The 4-Hour Work Week'', ''The 4-Hour Body'', and '' ...
's book ''Tools of Titans''.


Nonfiction

* ''An Inconvenient Book:Real Solutions to the World's Biggest Problems'', . * ''Glenn Beck's Common Sense:The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government Inspired by Thomas Paine'', Threshold Editions, 2009, . * ''Arguing With Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government'', Threshold Editions, 2009, . * ''Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth and Treasure'' Threshold Editions, 2010, . * ''The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life'', co-author Keith Ablow, MD, Threshold Editions, 2011, . * ''The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century'', Threshold Editions, 2011, . * ''Being George Washington: The Indispensable Man, as You've Never Seen Him'', Threshold Editions, 2011, . * ''Cowards: What Politicians, Radicals, and the Media Refuse to Say'', Threshold Editions, 2012, . * ''Control: Exposing the Truth About Guns'', Threshold Editions, 2013, . * ''Miracles and Massacres: True and Untold Stories of the Making of America'', Threshold Editions, 2013, . * ''Conform: Exposing the Truth About Common Core and Public Education'', Threshold Editions, 2014, . * ''Dreamers and Deceivers: True Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America'', Threshold Editions, 2015, . * ''It IS About Islam: Exposing the Truth About ISIS, Al Qaeda, Iran and the Caliphate'', Threshold Editions, 2015, . * ''Liars: How Progressives Exploit Our Fears For Power and Control'' Threshold Editions, August 2, 2016, . * ''Addicted to Outrage: How Thinking Like a Recovering Addict Can Heal the Country'', Threshold Editions, 2018, . * ''Arguing With Socialist'', Threshold Books, 2020, . * ''The Great Reset: Joe Biden and the Rise of Twenty-First-Century Fascism'', with Justin Trask Haskins, Forefront Books, 2022,


Fiction

* ''The Christmas Sweater'', Threshold Editions, 2008, . * ''The Overton Window'', Threshold Editions, 2010, . * ''The Snow Angel'', Threshold Editions, 2011, . * ''Agenda 21'', co-author Harriett Parke, Threshold Editions, 2012, . * ''The Eye of Moloch'', Threshold Editions, 2013, . * ''Agenda 21:Into the Shadows'', co-author Harriett Parke, Threshold Editions, 2015, . * ''The Immortal Nicholas'', Mercury Ink, 2015, .


Stage shows and speeches

Since 2005, Beck has toured American cities twice a year, presenting a one-man stage show. His stage productions are a mix of stand-up comedy and inspirational speaking. In a critique of his live act, '' Salon'' magazine's
Steve Almond Steve Almond (born October 27, 1966) is an American short-story writer, essayist and author of ten books, three of which are self-published. Life Almond was raised in Palo Alto, California, graduated from Henry M. Gunn High School and receive ...
describes Beck as a "wildly imaginative performer, a man who weds the operatic impulses of the demagogue to the grim mutterings of the conspiracy theorist". Almond, Steve (September 12, 2009)
"Glenn Beck is the Future of Literary Fiction"
, ''
Salon Magazine ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
''
A show from the ''Beck '08 Unelectable Tour'' was shown in around 350 U.S. movie theaters. The finale of 2009's ''Common Sense Comedy Tour'' was simulcast in over 440 theaters. The events have drawn 200,000 fans in recent years.
cover
In March 2003, Beck ran a series of rallies, which he called Glenn Beck's Rally for America, in support of troops deployed for the upcoming
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...
. On July 4, 2007, he hosted the 2007
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
Tundra " Stadium of Fire" in Provo, Utah. America's Freedom Foundation presents the annual event at
LaVell Edwards Stadium LaVell Edwards Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the western United States, on the campus of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Primarily used for college football, it is the home field of the BYU Cougars, an independent ...
at
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
. In May 2008, Beck gave the keynote speech at the
NRA The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...
convention in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. In late August 2009, the mayor of Beck's hometown,
Mount Vernon, Washington Mount Vernon is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 35,219 at the 2020 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Mount Vernon- Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
, announced that he would award Beck the
Key to the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
, designating September 26, 2009, as "Glenn Beck Day". Due to local opposition, the city council voted unanimously to disassociate itself from the award. The key presentation ceremony sold out the 850-seat McIntyre Hall and an estimated 800 detractors and supporters demonstrated outside the building. Earlier that day, approximately 7,000 people attended the
Evergreen Freedom Foundation The Evergreen Freedom Foundation, operating as the Freedom Foundation, is a free market conservative think tank founded in the state of Washington. Freedom Foundation has offices in Washington, Oregon, California, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In 2021, ...
's "Take the Field with Glenn Beck" at Seattle's
Safeco Field T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western ...
. In December 2009, Beck produced a one-night special film, ''The Christmas Sweater: A Return to Redemption''. In January and February 2010, he teamed with fellow Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to tour several cities in a live stage show called "The Bold and Fresh Tour 2010". The January 29 show was recorded and broadcast to movie theaters throughout the country. In July 2013, Beck produced and hosted a one-night stage event, ''Man in the Moon'', held at the
USANA Amphitheatre The USANA Amphitheatre is an outdoor amphitheater, located in West Valley City, Utah. The Amphitheater is named after USANA Health Sciences, a manufacturer of nutritional supplements. It offers a view of the Wasatch Mountains. The venue opene ...
in
West Valley City, Utah West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, quic ...
. The amphitheater sold out all 20,000 of its seats and a recording of the event was released on television and DVD in August 2013. The event was a narrative story told from the moon's point of view, from the beginnings of the Book of Genesis to the first moon landing. The moon narrates the story.


Philanthropy

In 2011, Beck founded the nonprofit organization Mercury One, which is designed to sustain itself through its entrepreneurship without grants or donations. In early 2011, he began work toward developing a clothing line to be sold to benefit the charity. In October 2011, Mercury One began selling the upscale clothing line ''1791'' exclusively at its website, 1791.com. The clothing in the line's 11-piece inaugural offering was manufactured by American Mojo of
Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
. In July 2014, after tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant children crossed into Texas via the Southern United States border, unaccompanied by parents, Beck announced that he, Senator
Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...
, and Representative
Louie Gohmert Louis Buller Gohmert Jr. (; born August 18, 1953) is an American attorney, politician, and former jurist serving as the U.S. representative from Texas's 1st congressional district since 2005. Gohmert is a Republican and was part of the Tea P ...
would travel to the U.S.-Mexico border with Mercury One. He said they would bring tractor trailers full of food, hot meals, and teddy bears for the unaccompanied minors. While Beck made clear in interviews that they wanted a full repeal of
DACA Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive a ...
, he also said he believed in the importance of helping these children. "Through no fault of their own, they are caught in political crossfire, and while we continue to put pressure on Washington and change its course of lawlessness, we must also help", Beck said. "It is not either/or. It is both. We have to be active in the political game, and we must open our hearts." As of 2017, Beck's Nazarene Fund had reportedly relocated 10,524 Christian refugees from northern Iraq and Syria to other host countries, including the U.S., Australia, France, Slovakia, Greece, Lebanon, Brazil, and Canada. The fund's website says 1,646 families have been evacuated from the ISIS-ravaged region since its launch in 2014, and 45,000 people have received humanitarian aid as a result of donations to Mercury One.


Projects and rallies


9–12 Project and Tea Party protests

In March 2009, Beck put together a campaign, the 9-12 Project, named after nine principles and 12 values that he says embody the spirit of the American people on the day after the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
. The
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
9-12 Project hosted a "Patriot Camp" for kids in grades 1–5, featuring programs on "our Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and the values and principles that are the cornerstones of our nation".


Restoring Honor rally

Beck promoted and hosted the
Restoring Honor rally The Restoring Honor rally was held August 28, 2010 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and was organized by Glenn Beck to "restore honor in America" and to raise funds for the non-profit Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Billed as ...
at the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
on August 28, 2010. The rally—which purported to embrace religious faith and patriotism—was co-sponsored by the
Special Operations Warrior Foundation The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) is an American tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to provide college scholarships and educational counseling to the surviving children of American Special Operations per ...
, promoted by
FreedomWorks FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representat ...
, and supported by the
Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defi ...
.Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' Rally Draws Tea Party Activists
by Huma Khan, ''
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
'', August 27, 2010
Attendance was estimated at 87,000 (± 9,000) based on aerial photos.Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor" Rally Crowd Estimate Explained
by ''CBS News''


"America's First Christmas"

In December 2010, Beck went to
Wilmington, Ohio Wilmington is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 12,660 at the 2020 census. At city entrances from state routes, county roads, and U.S. highways, the city slogan of "We Honor Our Champions" is ...
, a town devastated by the late-2000s recession, to host live events to encourage his fans to go to the town to boost the local economy in a project called "America's First Christmas". He hosted an event and his radio and television shows from the local theater.


Restoring Courage 2011 international tour

Beck headlined his "Restoring Courage" events in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, Israel, in August 2011 in a campaign he said was designed to encourage people worldwide "to stand with the Jewish people". After Jerusalem, Beck visited
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, South Africa, and was scheduled to visit Venezuela.


2012 presidential campaign

Actively supporting Mitt Romney as "perhaps the best-known Mormon after the Republican presidential candidate and a major influence on evangelical Christians, ... Beck has emerged as an unlikely theological bridge between the first Mormon presidential nominee and a critical electorate vangelicals, according to a pre-election article in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. Along with personal campaign appearances in Ohio and Iowa, Beck directly addressed doctrinal issues between Mormons and evangelical Christians (the latter often consider the former a "cult" rather than Christian) on his radio show in September 2012. During the one-hour show, he asked his audience, "Does Mitt Romney's Mormonism make him too scary or weird to be elected president of the United States?" The article concluded by addressing the "fear of making Mormonism mainstream" as a reason Beck could be acceptable to evangelicals and Romney not be, quoting John C. Green, the author of ''The Faith Factor: How Religion Influences American Elections'':
There's a difference between a public figure like Glenn Beck and someone who could be the president of the United States. ... Many evangelicals believe this country was founded by Christian leaders. It is important that the person in the White House be positive about Christianity, if not a devout Christian himself.Chozick, Amy
"Beck Acts as a Bridge Between Romney and Evangelical Christians"
''The New York Times'', November 3, 2012. Retrieved 2012-11-04.


Restoring Love rally and "Day of Service"

In August 2012, Beck held a rally at AT&T Stadium in Irving, Texas. The event's theme was service to one's fellow citizens, and loving each other. The event saw a "Day of Service", which saw Mercury One volunteering to feed homeless and disadvantaged people, doing community-building projects, and mowing lawns. It culminated in a keynote speech by Beck imploring the audience to "commit to each other. Go home and wake up your neighbors." Of serving fellow Americans, Beck said, "Those who count us out are counting on one weekend of action, one weekend of speeches. One weekend. One day. Please, my fellow countrymen, let this be the first of many."


Restoring Unity and Never Again Is Now

In August 2015, Beck and Mercury Radio Arts organized a rally that saw a little over 20,000 people march through the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, in a statement of unity and support for persecuted Christians in Iraq, a cause Mercury One focuses on, and as a call for unity among the American people. After the march, the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex held a rally featuring speakers including Beck, Ted Cruz, Rafael Cruz,
Jon Voight Jonathan Vincent Voight (; born December 29, 1938) is an American actor. He came to prominence in the late 1960s with his Academy Award–nominated performance as Joe Buck, a would-be gigolo, in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969). During the 1970s, h ...
,
Alveda King Alveda Celeste King (born January 22, 1951) is an American activist, author, and former state representative for the 28th District in the Georgia House of Representatives. She is a niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and daughte ...
, and David Barton.


Political views

Beck has called himself a conservative with libertarian leanings. Among his core values, he lists personal responsibility, private charity, the right to life,
freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...
,
limited government In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal Th ...
, and the family as the cornerstone of society.''Glenn Beck's Common Sense: A Case Against an Out-Of-Control Government, Inspired By Thomas Paine'' Beck believes in low national debt, and has said, "A conservative believes that debt creates unhealthy relationships. Everyone, from the government on down, should live within their means and strive for financial independence." He supports individual gun ownership rights, opposes gun control legislation, and supports the
NRA The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...
and its state chapters. Beck rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He contests the evidence, and has said, "There is more proof for the
resurrection of Jesus The resurrection of Jesus ( grc-x-biblical, ἀνάστασις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ) is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion, starting – or restoring – his exalted life as Christ and Lo ...
than man-made climate change." He views the American Clean Energy and Security Act as a form of
wealth redistribution Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, confis ...
, and he has promoted a petition rejecting the Kyoto Protocol. Although opposed to illegal immigration, Beck announced in 2014 that Mercury One would make efforts to provide food and relief to the large numbers of migrant children. His move was praised by supporters of immigrant rights and freer migration but met with considerable pushback from his supporter base. On March 18, 2015, Beck announced that he had left the Republican Party, saying that it had failed to effectively stand against Obamacare and immigration reform, and because of its opposition to lawmakers such as
Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...
and
Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
. Beck endorsed Cruz for president of the United States in 2016. In October 2016, Beck called opposing Donald Trump a "moral, ethical choice". On the campaign trail in support of Cruz, Beck said, "If Donald Trump wins, it is going to be a snowball to hell." After Cruz dropped out of the race, Beck endorsed independent
Evan McMullin David Evan McMullin (born April 2, 1976) is an American politician and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. McMullin ran as an independent in the 2016 United States presidential election and in the 2022 United States Senate electio ...
. On May 18, 2018, on his radio show, Beck predicted Trump would win the 2020 United States presidential election in a "landslide", saying, "Here's why I'm predicting a 2020 win. When I saw yesterday how the press was all reporting the same damn storythat Donald Trump was calling MS-13 gang membersthey left that out of the story, 'animals'. They were spinning it as if he was saying that about all immigrants. I had enough. I've had enough ... Gladly, I'll vote for resident Trumpin 2020 and not really even on his record, which we'll talk about here in a second, is pretty damn amazing." Beck went on to say, "I'll vote for him in 2020", and donned a
Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants i ...
hat on his television show.


Opposition to progressivism

During his 2010 keynote speech to the
Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC; ) is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU) ...
(CPAC), Beck wrote ''
progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...
'' on a chalkboard and declared, "This is the disease. This is the disease in America", adding that "progressivism is the cancer in America and it is eating our Constitution!" Continetti, Matthewbr>The Two Faces of the Tea Party
, ''
The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "re ...
'', Vol. 15, No. 39, June 28, 2010
''
Mediaite Mediaite is a news website focusing on politics and the media.Howard PolskinHow the Washington Examiner became a traffic monster ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (May 15, 2020). Founded by Dan Abrams, it is part of the Abrams Media Network. Conte ...
''
Full Video: Glenn Beck's CPAC 2010 Keynote Address
.
According to Beck, the progressive ideas of men such as John Dewey,
Herbert Croly Herbert David Croly (January 23, 1869 – May 17, 1930) was an intellectual leader of the progressive movement as an editor, political philosopher and a co-founder of the magazine ''The New Republic'' in early twentieth-century America. His pol ...
, and
Walter Lippmann Walter Lippmann (September 23, 1889 – December 14, 1974) was an American writer, reporter and political commentator. With a career spanning 60 years, he is famous for being among the first to introduce the concept of Cold War, coining the te ...
, influenced the presidencies of
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
, eventually becoming the foundation for President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's New Deal. Beck has said that such progressivism infects both main political parties and threatens to "destroy America as it was originally conceived". In his book ''Common Sense'', he argues that "progressivism has less to do with the parties and more to do with individuals who seek to redefine, reshape, and rebuild America into a country where individual liberties and personal property mean nothing if they conflict with the plans and goals of the State." A collection of progressives whom Beck has called "Crime Inc." make up what he contends is a clandestine conspiracy to take over and transform the United States.Schmitt, Mark (June 7, 2010)
"Learning About the Left From Glenn Beck"
''
The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted t ...
''
"Crime Inc.: Redistribution of Wealth"
''
Glenn Beck Program ''Glenn'' (previously titled ''The Glenn Beck Program'') is a news talk and political opinion show on TheBlaze hosted by Glenn Beck. It is produced and recorded at TheBlaze studios in Dallas, TX. The show originally ran on CNN Headline News fr ...
'', May 17, 2010
Some of these include Cass Sunstein,
Van Jones Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and c ...
,
Andy Stern Andrew L. Stern (born November 22, 1950) is the former president of the Service Employees International Union, and now serves as its President Emeritus. Stern has been a senior fellow at Georgetown University, Columbia University, and is now a ...
,
John Podesta John David Podesta Jr. (born January 8, 1949) is an American Political consulting, political consultant who has served as Senior Advisor to the President of the United States, Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden for clean energy innovation an ...
, Wade Rathke, Joel Rogers and
Francis Fox Piven Frances Fox Piven (born October 10, 1932) is an American professor of political science and sociology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York, where she has taught since 1982.
. Other figures Beck has tied to "Crime Inc." include
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
,
Franklin Raines Franklin Delano Raines (born January 14, 1949) also known as Frank Raines is an American business executive. He is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, who ser ...
,"Glenn Beck: Crime Inc."
''
Glenn Beck Program ''Glenn'' (previously titled ''The Glenn Beck Program'') is a news talk and political opinion show on TheBlaze hosted by Glenn Beck. It is produced and recorded at TheBlaze studios in Dallas, TX. The show originally ran on CNN Headline News fr ...
'', April 30, 2010
Maurice Strong Maurice Frederick Strong, (April 29, 1929 – November 27, 2015) was a Canadian oil and mineral businessman and a diplomat who served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.E Masood (2015) Maurice Strong, Nature 528(7583), 480. Strong ...
,
George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...
,Glenn Beck:' Soros Poised to Profit?"
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
, June 22, 2010
John Holdren John Paul Holdren (born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, March 1, 1944) is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as Assistant to the President for Science and ...
and
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
. According to Beck, these people already have or are surreptitiously working to fulfill their agenda with an array of organizations and corporations such as Goldman Sachs,
Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...
, ACORN, Apollo Alliance,
Tides Center Tides Foundation is an American public charity and fiscal sponsor working to advance progressive causes and policy initiatives in areas such as the environment, health care, labor issues, immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights and human ...
,
Chicago Climate Exchange The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) was a voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas reduction and trading system for emission sources and offset projects in North America and Brazil. CCX employed independent verification, included six greenhous ...
, Generation Investment Management,
Enterprise Community Partners Enterprise Community Partners, formerly The Enterprise Foundation, is a national nonprofit organized around three central goals: to increase housing supply, advance racial equity and build resilience and upward mobility. Founded in 1982 by develo ...
, Petrobras,
Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The president and chief executive offic ...
, and the
SEIU Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
. In his quest to root out these "progressives", Beck has compared himself to Israeli
Nazi hunters A Nazi hunter is an individual who tracks down and gathers information on alleged former Nazis, or SS members, and Nazi collaborators who were involved in the Holocaust, typically for use at trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against hum ...
, vowing on his radio show that "to the day I die I am going to be a progressive-hunter. I'm going to find these people that have done this to our country and expose them. I don't care if they're in nursing homes." Beck compared
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...
to the Nazis while equating the campaign against global warming to the Nazi campaign against the Jews. According to the book '' The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories'', Beck "believes in the existence of a large-scale, long-term socialist conspiracy – encompassing elements of both the Democratic and Republican Parties – to deny American citizens their God-given rights to liberty and freedom from taxation." Progressive historian
Sean Wilentz Robert Sean Wilentz (; born February 20, 1951) is the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1979. His primary research interests include U.S. social and political history in the ...
has denounced what he calls Beck's progressive-themed
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...
and "gross historical inaccuracies", contending that Beck is merely echoing the decades-old "
right-wing extremism Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
" of the
John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...
."Glenn Beck: Drawing On 1950s Extremism?"
''Fresh Air'' from WHYY on
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, October 13, 2010
According to Wilentz, Beck's "version of history" places him in a long line of figures who have challenged mainstream political historians and presented an inaccurate opposing view as the truth, stating: Conservative
David Frum David Jeffrey Frum (; born June 30, 1960) is a Canadian-American political commentator and a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, who is currently a senior editor at ''The Atlantic'' as well as an MSNBC contributor. In 2003, Frum a ...
, a former speechwriter for President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, has also alleged Beck's propensity for
negationism Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with '' historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinter ...
, remarking, "Beck offers a story about the American past for people who are feeling right now very angry and alienated. It is different enough from the usual story in that he makes them feel like they've got access to secret knowledge." In 2020, Beck argued that the election of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders could lead to "another Holocaust."


Barack Obama and the Obama administration

Beck promoted numerous conspiracy theories and falsehoods about President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
and the Obama administration. * * He suggested that Obama was building FEMA concentration camps to put opponents in, that Obama was planning to fake a terrorist attack such as the
Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorism in the United States, domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-federal go ...
to boost the administration's popularity, and that Obama was George Soros's "puppet". He often likened Obama and his administration to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Beck falsely claimed that the John Holdren, who led the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Obama administration, "proposed forcing abortions and putting sterilants in the drinking water to control population." In 2009, Beck argued that Obama had repeatedly shown "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture", saying, "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist." These remarks drew criticism and resulted in a boycott in which at least 57 advertisers requested that their ads be removed from his programming. He later apologized for the remarks, telling
Fox News Sunday ''Fox News Sunday'' is a Sunday morning talk show that has aired on the broadcast Fox network since 1996, as a presentation of Fox News Channel. It is the only regularly scheduled Fox News program carried on the main Fox broadcast network. Ho ...
anchor
Chris Wallace Christopher Wallace (born October 12, 1947) is an American broadcast journalist. He is known for his tough and wide-ranging interviews, for which he is often compared to his father, ''60 Minutes'' journalist Mike Wallace. Over his 50-year care ...
that he has a "big fat mouth" and miscast as racism what is actually, as he theorizes, Obama's belief in black theology. In November 2012, Beck attempted to auction a mason jar holding an Obama figurine described as submerged in urine but in fact submerged in beer. Bidding reached $11,000 before
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...
decided to remove the auction and cancel all bids. In a 2016 interview with ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', Beck said of his commentary on Obama: "I did a lot of freaking out about Barack Obama." He added, "Obama made me a better man." Beck said that he regrets calling Obama a racist and supports
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...
. He said, "There are things unique to the African-American experience that I cannot relate to. I had to listen to them."


Van Jones

In July 2009, Beck began to focus many episodes on his TV and radio shows on
Van Jones Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (born September 20, 1968) is an American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer. He is the co-founder of several non-profit organizations, a three-time ''New York Times'' bestselling author, a CNN host and c ...
, special advisor for
Green Jobs Green jobs (green-collar jobs, sustainability jobs, eco jobs or environmental jobs) are, according to the United Nations Environment Program, "work in agricultural, manufacturing, research and development (R&D), administrative, and serv ...
at Obama's White House
Council on Environmental Quality The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices on the developme ...
. Beck called Jones a "self-avowed, radical revolutionary communist". PolitiFact rated Beck's claim "mostly false", noting that Jones, who has been open about his past as a communist during the early 1990s, had since expressed firmly capitalist beliefs. Beck also criticized Jones for his involvement in
STORM A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...
, a Bay Area radical group with Marxist roots, and his support for death row inmate
Mumia Abu-Jamal Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. While on death ...
, who had been convicted of killing a police officer. Beck spotlighted a video of Jones calling Republicans "assholes", and a petition Jones signed suggesting that
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
knowingly let the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
happen. ''Time'' magazine credited Beck with leading conservatives' attack on Jones. In a move ''The New York Times'' called a White House response to the controversies, Jones said that "the agenda of this president was bigger than any one individual" and resigned his position in September 2009. Jones called his opponents' attacks as a "vicious smear campaign" and an effort to use "lies and distortions to distract and divide".


Cass Sunstein

Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama White House, was a frequent target of Beck's conspiracy theories. Beck led opposition against Sunstein's nomination to the position, calling Sunstein "the most dangerous man in America" and suggesting that Sunstein was plotting ways to "ban" conspiracy theorizing.


ACORN

In 2009, Beck and other conservative commentators were critical of
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is an international collection of autonomous community-based organizations that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registrati ...
(ACORN) making multiple claims including voter registration fraud in the 2008 presidential election. In September 2009, he broadcast a series of alleged undercover videos by conservative activists
James O'Keefe James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist and provocateur who founded Project Veritas, a far-right activist group that uses deceptive editing techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progr ...
and Hannah Giles, which portrayed ACORN community organizers offering inappropriate tax and other advice to people who had said they wanted to import "very young" girls from El Salvador to work as child prostitutes. Following the videos' release, the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
severed ties with the group while the U.S. House and Senate voted to cut all of its federal funding. On December 7, 2009, the former
Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder ...
, after an independent internal investigation of ACORN, found the videos that had been released appeared to have been edited, "in some cases substantially". He found no evidence of criminal conduct by ACORN employees, but concluded that ACORN had poor management practices that contributed to unprofessional actions by a number of its low-level employees. On March 1, 2010, the District Attorney's office for Brooklyn determined that the videos were "heavily edited" and concluded that there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff in the videos from the Brooklyn ACORN office. On April 1, 2010, an investigation by the
California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the Government of California. The officer's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...
found the videos from Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino to be "heavily edited", and the investigation did not find evidence of criminal conduct on the part of ACORN employees. On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its findings, which showed that ACORN evidenced no sign that it, or any of its related organizations, mishandled any federal money they had received. In March 2010, ACORN announced it would be closing its offices and disbanding due to loss of funding from government and private donors. According to a 2010 study in the journal ''Perspectives on Politics'', Beck played a prominent role in media attacks on ACORN.


Satire website

In 2009, lawyers for Beck brought a case ('' Beck v. Eiland-Hall'') against the owner of a satirical website named ''GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com'' with the
World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...
(WIPO). The claim that the domain name of the website is itself
defamatory Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
was described as a first in
cyberlaw Information technology law (also called cyberlaw) concerns the law of information technology, including computing and the internet. It is related to legal informatics, and governs the digital dissemination of both (digitized) information and sof ...
. Beck's lawyers argued that the site infringed on his trademarked name and that the
domain name A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...
should be turned over to Beck. The WIPO ruled against Beck, but Eiland-Hall voluntarily transferred the domain to Beck anyway, saying that the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
had been upheld and that he no longer had a use for the domain name.Anderson, Nate
"Glenn Beck loses domain dispute, still ends up with domain"
''Ars Technica'', 2009


Jewish Funds for Justice

In January 2011, in protest against what they saw as inappropriate references to
the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
and to Nazis by Beck (and by
Roger Ailes Roger Eugene Ailes (May 15, 1940 – May 18, 2017) was an American television executive and media consultant. He was the chairman and CEO of Fox News, Fox Television Stations and 20th Television. Ailes was a media consultant for Republica ...
of Fox News), four hundred rabbis signed an open letter published as a paid advertisement in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. The ad was paid for by
Jewish Funds for Justice The Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) was an American charity based in New York. In 2005, Simon Greer became its President and CEO. In 2011, Progressive Jewish Alliance merged with Jewish Funds for Justice and became a new organization, Bend the ...
(JFFJ), which had previously called for Beck's firing. The JFFJ have claimed on their website that Beck seems "to draw his material straight from the anti-Semitic forgery, the ''
Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...
''". The letter states that Beck and Fox had "diminish dthe memory and meaning of the Holocaust when you use it to discredit any individual or organization you disagree with. That is what Fox News has done in recent weeks." In response, a Fox News executive told
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...
the letter was from a "George Soros-backed leftwing political organization".


George Soros conspiracy theories

Beck is a prominent proponent of conspiracy theories about George Soros, a Jewish philanthropist. Beck falsely claimed that Soros as a boy helped to "send the Jews to the death camps." Beck frequently referred to Soros as a puppet-master and repeated the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Soros caused the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 2010, Beck was accused of being anti-Semitic due to his smears against Soros. The Anti-Defamation League said Beck's remarks about Soros sending Jews to the death camps were "horrific" and "totally off-limits." On February 22, 2011, during a discussion on his radio show about the controversy surrounding his earlier comments about Soros, Beck said "Reform Rabbis are generally political in nature. It's almost like radicalized Islam in a way where it's less about religion than it is about politics." He was quickly criticized by other conservatives, rabbis, and others. The Anti-Defamation League labeled Beck's remarks "bigoted ignorance". On February 24, Beck apologized on air, agreeing that his comments were "ignorant". In 2016, Beck, a friend of actor and director
Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...
claimed he and Gibson shared a conversation in which Gibson claimed Jewish people had stolen a copy of ''
The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film produced, directed and co-written by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as Mary, mother of Jesus, and Monica Bellucci as Mary ...
'' before its official theatrical release, and that Jewish people were assaulting him in the streets.


2011 Norway attacks

Beck condemned the
2011 Norway attacks The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July ( no, 22. juli) or as 22/7, were two domestic terrorist attacks by neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) ...
, but was condemned for his comparison of murdered and surviving members of the Norwegian Workers' Youth League to the
Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
. He said, "There was a shooting at a political camp which sounds a little like, you know, the Hitler Youth or whatever, you know what I mean. Who does a camp for kids that's all about politics? Disturbing." The statement was ill-received in Norway, prompting political commentator and Labour party member
Frank Aarebrot Frank Henrik Aarebrot (19 January 1947 – 9 September 2017) was a Norwegian political scientist, political commentator, and professor of comparative politics. Among the most quoted and popular academics in the Norwegian press, he became bette ...
to label Beck as a "vulgar propagandist", a "swine" and a "fascist", and Torbjørn Eriksen, former press secretary to Norway's prime minister
Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...
, to describe Beck's comment as "a new low", adding that "Glenn Beck's comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful". Commentators pointed out that groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement and the Beck-founded 9–12 Project also sponsor politically oriented camp programs for children.


Trump comments and 2016 SIRIUS XM Suspension

Beck opposed
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
during his 2016 campaign for president, comparing him to
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and describing him as "an immoral man who is absent decency or dignity." Sirius XM suspended Beck on May 31, 2016, for remarks made during an interview a week earlier. During an interview with author
Brad Thor Bradley George Thor Jr. (born August 21, 1969) is an American thriller novelist. He is the author of '' The Lions of Lucerne'', '' The First Commandment'', '' The Last Patriot'', and other novels. His latest novel in the Harvath series, ''Rising ...
about a hypothetical situation where Trump was abusing his power as president and Congress was unable to stop him, Thor asked "what patriot will step up and ssassinate himif, if, he oversteps his mandate as president?" Thor and the show's general manager both denied that the comments were a call for his assassination. Beck's radio show was moved from the SIRIUS XM Patriot channel to the ''Triumph'' channel soon after. Beck's opposition to Trump did not sit well with many Trump supporters and hurt his businesses and viewership. On May 18, 2018, Beck stated on his radio program that he intended to vote for Trump in the
2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...
, calling Trump's record "pretty damn amazing". Beck said Trump's defeat in the 2020 election would be "the end of the country as we know it."


Influences


Political and historical

An author with ideological influence on Beck is W. Cleon Skousen (1913–2006), a prolific
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political writer, American
constitutionalist Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...
and faith based political theorist.by Brooks, Joanna
"How Mormonism Built Glenn Beck"
''
Religion Dispatches ''Religion Dispatches'' is a daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics, and culture. RD covers topics of religious thought, past and present, that underwrite social structures, aimed at providing a nonsectarian platform for writ ...
'', October 7, 2009
As an anti-communist supporter of the John Birch Society, and a limited-government activist,Zaitchik, Alexander, (September 16, 2009)
"Meet the Man who Changed Glenn Beck's Life"
''
Salon Magazine ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
''
Skousen, who was Mormon, wrote on a wide range of subjects: the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
, Mormon eschatology, New World Order conspiracies, even
parenting Parenting or child rearing promotes and supports the physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the intricacies of raising a child and not exclusively for ...
. Skousen believed that American political, social, and economic elites were working with
communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
to foist a
world government World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors. A world gove ...
on the United States. Beck praised Skousen's "words of wisdom" as "divinely inspired", referencing Skousen's ''
The Naked Communist ''The Naked Communist'' is a 1958 anti-communist book by W. Cleon Skousen, a former FBI employee. The book has been reprinted several times and it has sold more than one million copies. Content ''The Naked Communist'' is a 1958 anti-communis ...
'' and especially ''
The 5,000 Year Leap ''The Five Thousand Year Leap: Twenty-Eight Great Ideas That Are Changing the World'' is a book that was published in 1981 by American Mormon author and member of the John Birch Society's speaker bureau W. Cleon Skousen. The book asserts that the ...
'' (originally published in 1981), which Beck said in 2007 had "changed his life". According to Skousen's nephew,
Mark Skousen Mark Andrew Skousen (; born October 19, 1947) is an American economist and writer. He currently teaches at Chapman University, where he is a Presidential Fellow at The George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics. He has previously taug ...
, ''Leap'' reflects Skousen's "passion for the United States Constitution", which he "felt was inspired by God and the reason behind America's success as a nation". The book is recommended by Beck as "required reading" to understand the current American political landscape and become a "September twelfth person". Beck authored a foreword for the 2008 edition of ''Leap'' and Beck's on-air recommendations in 2009 propelled the book to number one in the government category on
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...
for several months. In 2010, Matthew Continetti of the conservative ''
Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "red ...
'' criticized Beck's conspiratorial bent, terming him "a Skousenite". Additionally,
Alexander Zaitchik Alexander Zaitchik is an American freelance journalist who writes on politics, media, and the environment. He has written for ''The Nation'', ''The New Republic'', the '' Intercept'', ''Rolling Stone'', the '' Guardian'', '' Foreign Policy'', the ...
, author of the 2010 book '' Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance'', which features an entire chapter on "The Ghost of Cleon Skousen", refers to Skousen as "Beck's favorite author and biggest influence", while observing he authored four of the 10 books on Beck's 9-12 Project required-reading list. In his discussion of Beck and Skousen, Continetti said that one of Skousen's works "draws on Carroll Quigley's ''
Tragedy and Hope ''Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time'' is a work of history written by former Georgetown University professor and historian Carroll Quigley. The book covers the period of roughly 1880 to 1963 and is multidisciplinary in natur ...
'' (1966), which argues that the history of the 20th century is the product of
secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...
in conflict". He observed in Beck's novel, '' The Overton Window'' (which Beck describes as "faction", or fiction based on fact), a character says: "Carroll Quigley laid open the plan in ''Tragedy and Hope'', the only hope to avoid the tragedy of war was to bind together the economies of the world to foster global stability and peace." Beck's views on early-20th-century progressivism are greatly influenced by Ronald J. Pestritto, who teaches at Hillsdale College. The portal page GlennBeck.com for "American Progressivism" uses Pestritto's teachings and links directly to one of his books. Pestritto wrote an article for ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' detailing "Glenn Beck, Progressives and Me". ''The New York Times'' observed that Pestritto was a regular guest on Beck's
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
show, .
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
Sean Wilentz Robert Sean Wilentz (; born February 20, 1951) is the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University, where he has taught since 1979. His primary research interests include U.S. social and political history in the ...
says that alongside Skousen, John Birch Society founder Robert W. Welch, Jr., is a key ideological foundation of Beck's worldview. Wilentz, Sean (October 18, 2010)
"Confounding Fathers: The Tea Party's Cold War Roots"
''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''
According to Wilentz, Beck "has brought neo-Birchite ideas to an audience beyond any that Welch or Skousen might have dreamed of." Other books that Beck regularly cites on his programs are
Amity Shlaes Amity Ruth Shlaes (; born September 10, 1960) is a conservative American author, writer, and columnist. She writes about politics and economics from a classically liberal perspective. Shlaes has authored five books, including three New York Time ...
's '' The Forgotten Man'',
Jonah Goldberg Jonah Jacob Goldberg (born March 21, 1969) is an American conservative syndicated columnist, author, political analyst, and commentator. The founding editor of ''National Review Online'', from 1998 until 2019 he was an editor at '' National Revie ...
's '' Liberal Fascism'',
Larry Schweikart Larry Earl Schweikart (; born April 21, 1951) is an American historian and retired professor of history at the University of Dayton. During the 1980s and 1990s, he authored numerous scholarly publications. In recent years, he has authored popular ...
and Michael Allen's ''
A Patriot's History of the United States ''A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror'' is a 2004 book on American history by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen. Written from a conservative standpoint, it is a counterpoint to Howard Zi ...
'', and
Burton W. Folsom, Jr. Burton W. Folsom Jr. (born 1947, in Nebraska) is an American historian and author who held the Charles F. Kline chair in history and management at Hillsdale College from 2003 until his retirement in December 2016. Biography Folsom received his B.A ...
's ''New Deal or Raw Deal''. Beck has also urged his listeners to read ''
The Coming Insurrection ''The Coming Insurrection'' is a French radical leftist, anarchist tract written by The Invisible Committee, the ''nom de plume'' of an anonymous author (or possibly authors). It hypothesizes the "imminent collapse of capitalist culture". ''T ...
'', a book by a French Marxist group discussing what they see as the imminent collapse of capitalist culture. On June 4, 2010, Beck endorsed
Elizabeth Dilling Elizabeth Eloise Kirkpatrick Dilling (April 19, 1894 – May 26, 1966) was an American writer and political activist.Dye, 6 In 1934, she published ''The Red Network—A Who's Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots'', which catalogs over 1,3 ...
's 1936 work ''The Red Network: A Who's Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots'', remarking, "this is a book, ''The Red Network'', this came in from 1936. People, osephMcCarthy was absolutely right ... This is, who were the communists in America."Glenn Beck: America's Next President?
– transcript from ''GlennBeck.com'', aired on June 4, 2010
Beck was criticized by an array of people, including Menachem Z. Rosensaft and
Joe Conason Joe Conason (born January 25, 1954) is an American journalist, author and liberal political commentator. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of ''The National Memo'', a daily political newsletter and website that features breaking news and comm ...
, who said that Dilling was an outspoken
anti-Semite Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...
and a
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
sympathizer.


Religious

Beck has credited God for saving him from drug and alcohol abuse, professional obscurity, and friendlessness. In 2006, he performed an inspirational monologue in Salt Lake City, Utah, detailing how he was transformed by the "healing power of Jesus Christ", which was released as a CD two years later by
Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), the ...
, a publishing company owned by the LDS Church, entitled ''An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck''. Writer
Joanna Brooks Joanna Brooks (born September 29, 1971) is an American author and professor of English and comparative literature at San Diego State University. Brooks is currently the associate vice president of faculty advancement and professor of English and ...
contends that Beck developed his "amalgamation of anti-communism" and "connect-the-dots conspiracy theorizing" only after his entry into the "deeply insular world of Mormon thought and culture". Brooks theorizes that Beck's calls to
fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
and prayer are rooted in Mormon collective fasts to address spiritual challenges, while his "overt sentimentality" and penchant for weeping represent the hallmark of a "distinctly Mormon mode of masculinity" where "appropriately-timed displays of tender emotion are displays of power" and spirituality. Philip Barlow, the Arrington chair of
Mormon history Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
and culture at
Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...
, has said that Beck's belief that the
U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...
was an "inspired document" and his calls for
limited government In political philosophy, limited government is the concept of a government limited in power. It is a key concept in the history of liberalism.Amy Gutmann, "How Limited Is Liberal Government" in Liberalism Without Illusions: Essays on Liberal Th ...
and not exiling God from the public sphere "have considerable sympathy in Mormonism".Sonmez, Felicia
"Mormons have Mixed Views of Beck's Rise"
''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', September 3, 2010
Beck has acknowledged that Mormon "doctrine is different" from traditional Christianity, but said that this was what attracted him to it: "for me some of the things in traditional doctrine just doesn't work."


Public reception

In 2009, Beck's show was one of the highest rated news commentary programs on cable TV. For a Barbara Walters
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
special, Beck was selected as one of America's "Top 10 Most Fascinating People" of 2009. In 2010, he was selected for ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
s top 100 most influential people under the "Leaders" category. Beck has called himself an entertainer, a commentator rather than a reporter, and a "rodeo clown". He has said that he identifies with Howard Beale, a character portrayed by Peter Finch in the film ''
Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
'': "When he came out of the rain and he was like, 'none of this makes any sense'—I am that guy." According to ''
Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'', Beck's supporters have praised him as a
constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...
stalwart defending their traditional American values. ''Time'' magazine described Beck as "the new populist superstar of Fox News", saying it is easier to see a set of attitudes rather than a specific ideology, noting his criticism of Wall Street, yet defending bonuses to AIG, as well as denouncing conspiracy theories about the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) but warning against indoctrination of children by the AmeriCorps program." (
Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, who is Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a columnist for ''The New York Times''. In 2008, Krugman was ...
and Mark Potok, on the other hand, have been among those asserting that Beck helps spread "hate" by covering issues that stir up extremists.) What seems to unite Beck's disparate themes, ''Time'' argued, is a sense of siege. An earlier ''Time'' cover story called Beck "a gifted storyteller with a knack for stitching seemingly unrelated data points into possible conspiracies", proclaiming that he has "emerged as a virtuoso on the strings" of conservative discontent by mining "the timeless theme of the corrupt Them thwarting a virtuous Us". Beck's shows have been called a "mix of moral lessons, outrage and an apocalyptic view of the future ... capturing the feelings of an alienated class of Americans". One of Beck's Fox News Channel colleagues,
Shepard Smith David Shepard Smith Jr. (born January 14, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist. He served as chief general news anchor and host of ''The News with Shepard Smith'' on CNBC, a daily evening newscast launched in late September 2020; but his p ...
, has jokingly called Beck's studio the "fear chamber", with Beck countering that he preferred the term "doom room".
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin Graham (born July 9, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from South Carolina, a seat he has held since 2003. A member of the Republican Party, Graham chaired the Senate Committee on ...
criticized Beck as a "cynic" whose show was antithetical to "American values" at ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
s 2009 First Draft of History conference, remarking, "Only in America can you make that much money crying." The progressive watchdog group
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) is a progressive left-leaning media critique organization based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1986 by Jeff Cohen and Martin A. Lee. FAIR monitors American news media for bias, inaccu ...
's (FAIR) Activism Director, Peter Hart, argues that Beck red-baits political adversaries and promotes a paranoid view of progressive politics. Howard Kurtz, of ''The Washington Post'', has remarked, "Love him or hate him, Beck is a talented, often funny broadcaster, a recovering alcoholic with an unabashedly emotional style." Laura Miller writes in ''Salon'' that Beck is a contemporary example of " the paranoid style in American politics" described by historian
Richard Hofstader Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier historic ...
: Beck has acknowledged accusations of being a conspiracy theorist, saying on his show that there is a "concentrated effort now to label me a conspiracy theorist". Particularly as a consequence of Beck's
Restoring Honor rally The Restoring Honor rally was held August 28, 2010 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and was organized by Glenn Beck to "restore honor in America" and to raise funds for the non-profit Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Billed as ...
in 2010, the fact that Beck is
Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...
caused concern among some politically sympathetic Christian Evangelicals on
theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...
grounds.Heagney, Meredith
Beck's Faith Troubles some Fans: Religious Right has Issues with his Mormon Beliefs
, ''
The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in 19 ...
'', September 3, 2010
Posner, Sarah
Evangelicals have "Deep Concerns" about Beck
''
Religion Dispatches ''Religion Dispatches'' is a daily non-profit online magazine covering religion, politics, and culture. RD covers topics of religious thought, past and present, that underwrite social structures, aimed at providing a nonsectarian platform for writ ...
'', September 1, 2010
Tom Tradup, vice president at
Salem Radio Network Salem Radio Network is a United States-based radio network that specializes in syndicated Christian political talk, music, and conservative secular news/talk programming. It is a division of the Salem Media Group. Network information Salem Ra ...
, which serves more than 2,000 Christian-themed stations, expressed this sentiment after the rally, saying, "Politically, everyone is with it, but theologically, when he says the country should turn back to God, the question is: Which God?"Boorstein, Michelle
Beck's Marriage of Politics and Religion Raising Questions
''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', August 31, 2010
A September 2010 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Religion News Service (RNS) found that of those Americans who hold a favorable opinion of Beck, only 45% believe he is the right person to lead a religious movement, with that number further declining to 37% when people are informed he is Mormon."New Survey: Less than 1-in-5 Support Fox News host Glenn Beck as Religious Leader"
Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service, September 16, 2010
Daniel Cox, director of research for PRRI, summed up this position by stating: Pete Peterson of Pepperdine's Davenport Institute said that Beck's speech at the rally belonged to an American tradition of calls to personal renewal. Peterson wrote: "A Mormon surrounded onstage by
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
s,
pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
s,
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
s, and imams, Beck
ave ''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
one of the more ecumenical
jeremiad A jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in verse, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminen ...
s in history." Evangelical pastor
Tony Campolo Anthony Campolo (born February 25, 1935) is an American sociologist, Baptist pastor, author, public speaker and former spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton. Campolo is known as one of the most influential leaders in the evangelical ...
said in 2010 that conservative evangelicals respond to Beck's framing of conservative economic principles, saying that Beck's and ideological fellow travelers' "marriage between evangelicalism and patriotic nationalism is so strong that anybody who is raising questions about loyalty to the old, lassez-faire capitalist system is ex-post facto unpatriotic, un-American, and by association non-Christian." ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' religion reporter Lisa Miller, after quoting Campolo, opined, "It's ironic that Beck, a Mormon, would gain acceptance as a leader of a new Christian coalition. ... Beck's gift ... is to articulate God's special plan for America in such broad strokes that they trample no single creed or doctrine while they move millions with their message."


Critical biographies

In June 2010, investigative reporter Alexander Zaitchik released a critical biography, '' Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance'', with a title mocking Beck's work, ''Common Sense''. In an interview about the book, Zaitchik theorized, "Beck's politics and his insatiable hunger for money and fame are not
mutually exclusive In logic and probability theory, two events (or propositions) are mutually exclusive or disjoint if they cannot both occur at the same time. A clear example is the set of outcomes of a single coin toss, which can result in either heads or tails ...
", adding: In September 2010, '' Philadelphia Daily News'' reporter Will Bunch released ''The Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters, and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama''. Cesca, Bob
Glenn Beck the Faith-Healer Continues to Scam His Followers
''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', September 1, 2010
One of Bunch's theses is that Beck is nothing more than a
morning zoo Morning zoo is a format of morning radio show common to English-language radio broadcasting. The name is derived from the wackiness and zaniness of the activities, segments, and overall personality of the show and its hosts. The morning zoo conce ...
deejay playing a fictional character as a money-making stunt. Writer Bob Cesca, in a review of Bunch's book, compares Beck to
Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...
's faith-healer character in the 1992 film ''
Leap of Faith A leap of faith, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something outside the boundaries of reason. Overview The phrase is commonly attributed to Søren Kierkegaard; however, he never used the term, as he ...
'', before describing the "derivative grab bag of other tried and tested personalities" that Bunch contends comprises Beck's persona: In October 2010 a polemical biography by
Dana Milbank Dana Timothy Milbank (born April 27, 1968) is an American author and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. Personal life Milbank was born to a Jewish family, the son of Ann C. and Mark A. Milbank. He is a graduate of Yale University, where he wa ...
was released: '' Tears of a Clown: Glenn Beck and the Tea Bagging of America''.


Satire, spoof and parody

Beck has been the subject of mockery and ridicule by a number of humorists. In response to his animated delivery and views, he was parodied in an impersonation by
Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...
on ''Saturday Night Live''. ''The Daily Show''s Jon Stewart has spoofed Beck's 9–12 project with his own "11-3 project", consisting of "11 principles and 3 herbs and spices", impersonated Beck's chalk board-related presentation style for an entire show, and quipped about Beck: "finally, a guy who says what people who aren't thinking are thinking". Stephen Colbert (character), Stephen Colbert of ''The Colbert Report'' satirized Beck's "war room" by creating his own "doom bunker". Through the character Eric Cartman, ''South Park'' parodied Beck's television program and his commentary style in the episode "Dances with Smurfs". ''The Onion'', a satirical periodical and faux news site, ran an ''Onion News Network'' video "special report" lamenting that the "victim in a fatal car accident was tragically not Glenn Beck". Meanwhile, the ''Current TV'' cartoon ''SuperNews!'' ran an animated cartoon feature titled "The Glenn Beck Apocalypse", where Beck is confronted by Jesus Christ, who rebukes him as the equivalent of " Sarah Palin farting into a balloon". Political comedian and satirist Bill Maher has mocked Beck's followers as an "army of diabetes, diabetic Mall walking, mallwalkers", while ''The Beast (newspaper), The Buffalo Beast'' named Beck the most loathsome person in America in 2010, declaring, "It's like someone found a manic, doom-prophesying hobo in a sandwich board, shaved him, shot him full of Zoloft and gave him a show." The October 30, 2010, Rally to Restore Sanity, Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, hosted by Comedy Central personalities Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, was conceived as a parody of Beck's earlier Rally to Restore Honor, even though Stewart and Colbert said that they came up with the idea of holding a rally in March and Stewart had put down the deposit for the National Mall before Beck announced his rally.


Defamation lawsuit and settlement

In March 2014, Abdulrahman Alharbi filed suit for defamation in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Beck and his business entities, The Blaze and
Mercury Radio Arts Blaze Media is an American conservative media company. It was founded in 2018 as a result of a merger between TheBlaze and CRTV LLC. The company's leadership consists of CEO Tyler Cardon and president Gaston Mooney. It is based in Irving, Te ...
, along with his distributor
Premiere Radio Networks Premiere Networks (formerly Premiere Radio Networks, shortened as PRN) is an American media company, a wholly owned subsidiary of iHeartMedia, for which it currently serves as its main original radio content distribution and production arm. I ...
. Alharbi's defamation claim arose from Beck's repeated broadcasts "identifying Alharbi as an active participant" in the Boston Marathon bombing, even after federal authorities cleared Alharbi, who was injured in the attack, of any wrongdoing and confirmed that he was an innocent victim.Josh Gerstein
Glenn Beck reaches settlement with Saudi student over Boston Marathon accusations
''Politico'' (September 13, 2016).
In December 2014, the judge rejected Beck's attempt to have the case dismissed. In September 2016, the suit was Settlement (law), settled on confidential terms.


See also

* Beck University * Conservative talk radio * List of most-listened-to radio programs


Works

;Non-fiction * * * (Audiobook). * ''An Unlikely Mormon: The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck'',
Deseret Book Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), the ...
2008 (Audiobook). . * ''Arguing with Idiots: How to Stop Small Minds and Big Government'', Simon & Schuster 2009. . * ''Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government'', Simon & Schuster 2009. . * ''America's March to Socialism: Why We're One Step Closer to Giant Missile Parades'', Simon & Schuster Audio 2009 (Audio CD). . * ''Idiots Unplugged'', Simon & Schuster 2010 (Audio CD). . * ''Broke: The Plan to Restore Our Trust, Truth, and Treasure'', Simon & Schuster 2010. . * ''The 7: Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life'', Keith Ablow, co-author; Threshold Editions, 2011; . * * ''The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century'', with Joshua Charles; Threshold Editions, 2011; . * * * * ''Liars: How Progressives Exploit Our Fears for Power and Control'', Threshold Editions 2016. * ''Addicted to Outrage: How Thinking Like a Recovering Addict Can Heal the Country'', Threshold Editions 2018. * ''The Great Reset: Joe Biden and the Rise of Twenty-First-Century Fascism'', Justin Haskins, co-author; Forefront Books, 2021; . ;Control Series * * * ;Fiction * ''The Christmas Sweater'', Simon & Schuster 2008. . * '' The Overton Window'', Threshold Editions J2010. * * * ''The Eye of Moloch'', Threshold Editions June 2013. * ''Agenda 21: Into the Shadows'', Threshold Editions 2015. * ''The Immortal Nicholas'', Mercury Ink 2015. ;Children's * ''The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book'', Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing 2009. . * Beck authorized a comic book: * ''Political Power: Glenn Beck'', by Jerome Maida, Mark Sparacio (illus.); Bluewater Productions, 2011


References


External links

* *
Glenn Beck – The 912 Project
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Glenn 1964 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American Christian Zionists American conspiracy theorists American entertainment industry businesspeople Latter Day Saints from Washington (state) American anti-communists American libertarians American magazine founders American people of German descent American political commentators American political writers American television talk show hosts Blaze Media people American conservative talk radio hosts Converts to Mormonism from Roman Catholicism Fox News people Male critics of feminism People from Everett, Washington People from Westlake, Texas Radio personalities from Arizona Radio personalities from Tampa, Florida Tea Party movement activists Texas Independents Washington (state) Republicans Writers from Bellingham, Washington Latter Day Saints from Texas 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers