The Glenn Beck Program - Best of the Program ｜ Guests： Gov. Ron DeSantis & Sen. Mike Lee ｜ 1⧸28⧸25

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00:00:30.000 On today's Best Up podcast, you're going to hear Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

00:00:34.620 He's talking about the weasels in Florida.

00:00:38.380 Also, Callie Means makes a case for RFK. 1.00

00:00:42.400 Mark and reprisal.

00:00:44.040 It's kind of like army matey.

00:00:46.240 Some pirate, really, honestly, anti-pirate stuff that's in the Constitution that Mike Lee is saying we need to use against the drug cartels and it's starting to catch on.

00:00:57.520 He also has comments about RFK, who we will be covering tomorrow in the hearing.

00:01:03.400 This is all on today's Best Up podcast.

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00:02:14.300 You're listening to The Best of the Glenn Beck Program.

00:02:18.300 The first 100 days of the Trump administration have been breathtaking.

00:02:22.980 A lot like the early days of Ron DeSantis in Florida.

00:02:28.400 And what he's doing in Florida is trying to get the state to do everything they can to make sure that Trump's policies are going through, especially on illegals.

00:02:40.300 There is a house with these unbelievable rhinos that, in a special session, they didn't want to come back because they said it's not an emergency.

00:02:50.600 What are you talking about?

00:02:52.280 Ron DeSantis called for a special session because, he said, the president was just put in office.

00:02:58.520 I want all of the tools on the table to help him solve this problem.

00:03:03.460 The rhinos said no, and then they started to change everything that he wanted and then have the balls to name it the Trump Act. 0.72

00:03:14.980 Really? The Trump Act?

00:03:17.460 And Ron DeSantis, governor, is with us now to tell us a little bit about the Trump Act.

00:03:23.100 Welcome to the program, governor. How are you?

00:03:25.720 I'm doing good.

00:03:26.420 You know, a week ago today, we were preparing for a historic snowstorm, and our state record had been four inches.

00:03:33.080 We actually hit, last week, ten inches of snow in northwest Florida in Milton.

00:03:38.040 You saw the beaches covered in snow, so it's kind of an interesting period for Florida.

00:03:41.960 Where's the global warming when you need it, right?

00:03:46.580 Okay, so tell me about, because what I've seen, just what's happening with Wilton Simpson is an abomination.

00:03:54.760 Tell me who you're fighting and what you're fighting against and for.

00:04:01.040 Well, you hit it on the head.

00:04:03.180 They didn't want to do anything on illegal immigration.

00:04:06.720 And after the election, I said, this is our chance.

00:04:09.820 This is the number one issue the president ran on, and we need to get it right.

00:04:14.120 And so there's no way President Trump can fulfill his mandate if the state and local governments and law enforcement are not actively supporting his deportation efforts.

00:04:25.120 I mean, think about it.

00:04:25.720 He's come out of the gate strong, but they've done about probably 700, 800 arrests on average a day.

00:04:32.720 Let's just say 1,000.

00:04:34.120 Well, extrapolate that out, 365,000 a year times four.

00:04:38.560 Biden let in 10 million illegals on his own.

00:04:41.040 Now, I do think the Trump administration will ramp up.

00:04:43.460 I think they'll get better numbers as time goes on.

00:04:46.140 But if you just had every red state, say, all police departments, all sheriff departments, all state agents, law enforcement agencies have to participate maximally in the programs that the Trump administration is offering for immigration enforcement, you would increase those numbers dramatically.

00:05:02.800 And that is what we have to do.

00:05:04.820 We've got to be ready to go.

00:05:06.580 We've got to work hand in glove.

00:05:07.840 Now, what you'll have in California and in Chicago, they're going to be trying to sabotage Trump's agenda.

00:05:13.800 They're going to be sanctuary jurisdictions.

00:05:15.460 Now, we don't allow that in Florida, but I think most states who are not sanctuary, they're just going to say, hey, it's the federal government's responsibility.

00:05:22.480 Yeah, we won't sabotage it, but we're not going to be in that fight.

00:05:26.060 I don't think that's adequate.

00:05:27.720 This is a historic moment for this country.

00:05:30.640 We've been talking about this issue for decades.

00:05:33.580 Yes, Trump is absolutely right by going after the cartels and designating them foreign terrorist organizations.

00:05:39.240 Obviously, we need to build a wall and fortify the border.

00:05:41.920 But you have this massive problem of interior enforcement.

00:05:45.880 And so that's what we're proposing, as well as other things that are important.

00:05:50.400 Legislature didn't want to do it. 0.78

00:05:51.780 I called the special session against their wishes.

00:05:54.180 They said it was premature, that it could wait.

00:05:56.080 But, you know, they got blowback from their constituents.

00:05:58.560 So they thought if they came in, gutted with the enforcement of doing what we need to do,

00:06:03.600 and just name it the Trump Act, that somehow they would be able to get away with that.

00:06:07.980 But Obama named Obamacare the Affordable Care Act.

00:06:12.180 Obviously, it wasn't affordable.

00:06:14.020 Biden named his spending boondoggle the Inflation Reduction Act.

00:06:18.000 Obviously, that didn't work out.

00:06:19.540 So they're playing this game where they think if they put Trump's name on a weak bill,

00:06:24.420 that somehow people would think it's going to be good.

00:06:26.260 And it's totally inadequate.

00:06:27.620 But here's the thing, Glenn.

00:06:29.060 Before I became governor, Florida was very weak on illegal immigration.

00:06:33.700 And part of it was they thought because Hispanic population here, you had to be.

00:06:37.740 I proved that wrong because I was the strongest governor and I had a record Hispanic vote in 2022.

00:06:43.360 So that was wrong.

00:06:44.340 But then you do have this desire for cheap, illegal alien labor in some of these industries. 0.80

00:06:50.240 And I think that's what these guys are trying to preserve.

00:06:54.140 I don't think they want to see immigration enforcement the way you would need to to fulfill President Trump's mandate.

00:07:01.420 So they made it sound like initially it was a difference of opinion on timing.

00:07:05.600 But understand what they're proposing.

00:07:07.660 It's a difference of values.

00:07:09.460 The values that we all ran on, that Donald Trump got elected on, that all your listeners subscribe to, those are reflected in the proposals that I did.

00:07:19.560 They are not reflected in what the Florida legislative leaders are doing.

00:07:24.420 And you mentioned the Commissioner of Agriculture.

00:07:26.380 They're actually taking away immigration enforcement authority from the governor and putting it in the Commissioner of Agriculture.

00:07:33.480 Which is like the Fox guarding the hen house.

00:07:36.400 They don't want to enforce it.

00:07:37.600 Are you kidding me?

00:07:38.600 It's crazy.

00:07:38.940 They've been stripping some of the things I have now.

00:07:41.180 Like E-Verify, they want to put that over there.

00:07:43.640 So it's a really, really bad product.

00:07:45.760 And here's the thing.

00:07:47.000 I think some of them are caught up in, oh, well, we don't want the governor to get the win.

00:07:51.080 You know, we're sick of him always doing all this stuff.

00:07:53.640 I don't need pride of ownership.

00:07:55.760 They can take 100% of the credit.

00:07:57.780 I just want to get the job done.

00:07:59.260 And if we're not doing what needs to be done right now to get ready for this, then, you know, there'll be some successes, don't get me wrong, but we're not going to be able to actually deliver on the mandate that the voters gave us.

00:08:12.280 And here, just the final point I make, Republicans all run, for four years in Florida, they all ran on hashing Biden's border policies, saying we needed to get tough, supporting Donald Trump's agenda in 2024.

00:08:25.900 They all ran on that.

00:08:27.140 But not one Republican ran and said, you know what, we just need to give it all to the commissioner of agriculture.

00:08:33.200 You know, state and local shouldn't be required to help the federal government.

00:08:37.240 They wouldn't do any of that.

00:08:38.680 And now they're bragging about they're going to spend money on giving beds for illegals. 0.73

00:08:45.360 I don't want to house the illegals. 1.00

00:08:47.160 I want to deport the illegals. 1.00

00:08:49.540 It is remarkable to me.

00:08:51.140 I mean, first of all, Wilton Simpson, he wants to be governor.

00:08:53.840 When you're not governor, he's going to run in the next cycle.

00:08:56.960 He's compromised.

00:08:58.080 He he is the guy supported giving in-state tuition to illegal aliens.

00:09:02.560 He gave the cutout for E-Verify.

00:09:05.040 So agriculture didn't have to worry about it.

00:09:07.940 Refused to provide law enforcement resources during the original border crisis.

00:09:12.920 This guy is is not a helper when it comes to doing the things that Americans have just said they want to be done.

00:09:20.180 Who is who is also I mean, I'm just looking up.

00:09:25.780 You've got the Senate president, Ben Albritton, House Speaker Daniel Perez.

00:09:32.480 They seem to be in the same boat as Wilton Simpson.

00:09:36.980 Who needs the pressure?

00:09:38.200 Well, look, I think that that just all the legislators, you know, they just need to hear from their constituents and they're getting upset, saying that somehow like they're getting threatened because some of their constituents are telling them that this is not right.

00:09:52.660 But that they need to be held accountable for their actions.

00:09:55.400 And if what they did, if what they're doing is consistent with what they told the voters they were doing, they're not going to have any problem.

00:10:02.060 Right. But I'll tell you, Glenn, I've been doing this now for six years.

00:10:05.980 This I've never seen our base react more negatively on an issue than what the legislature is trying to pull right now.

00:10:13.540 It is like ninety nine to one in terms of opposition.

00:10:17.620 So I think sunlight's the best disinfectant.

00:10:21.300 People just have to make their voice heard.

00:10:23.840 But but we shouldn't let this slip through our fingertips.

00:10:26.200 I think some of it is, you know, some inside baseball up there.

00:10:29.980 You know, Wilton Simpson was the Senate president.

00:10:32.160 A lot of the stuff, tough immigration policies we did two years ago, I wasn't able to get through when he was Senate president because he did block it.

00:10:40.720 And he did support things like driver's licenses for illegals when he was in the Florida Senate.

00:10:44.740 But he really exercises a lot of influence over the Florida Senate.

00:10:50.140 So the fact that he was put into that bill, I don't think that that was an accident.

00:10:54.500 I think that that was definitely something that they were trying to do.

00:10:57.760 And does it even pass the last test?

00:11:00.580 No.

00:11:00.700 That knows no state has been more active in fighting illegal immigration over the last ever Biden's term than me.

00:11:07.620 And then Florida and me, we've had people at the border.

00:11:10.280 We did Martha's Vineyard and other transport.

00:11:13.060 We enacted a mandatory verify.

00:11:15.200 We've done all these things.

00:11:16.640 And then you want to take all that away and give it to the ag commissioner and create some new crazy bureaucracy.

00:11:22.880 They don't even have the they don't have the infrastructure for in the first place.

00:11:26.720 It would all have to be rebuilt in the ag department.

00:11:29.360 Am I right about that or wrong?

00:11:31.440 Exactly.

00:11:32.020 And the way the bill is written, you know, we think it's unconstitutional because it actually takes away some of the core executive power that is vested in the governor's office under Florida's constitution.

00:11:42.720 So it's constitutionally suspect.

00:11:44.600 In fact, it's also as a policy matter, it is not going to work.

00:11:48.860 And here's the thing.

00:11:50.180 If their proposals were consistent with what they campaigned on and would actually work and they had competing, hey, if it works, it works.

00:11:59.400 Their proposals will not work.

00:12:00.980 I mean, think of even this issue.

00:12:02.320 It needs to be a crime for illegals to register to vote. 1.00

00:12:06.900 We've been trying to do this for years.

00:12:08.320 That was in my proposals.

00:12:09.840 They're not including that.

00:12:11.360 So illegals can register in Florida under their proposal.

00:12:14.380 And they're not requiring them to sign an affidavit that they're U.S. citizen, which our constitution requires.

00:12:21.020 And there's no penalty.

00:12:22.180 Well, guess what, Glenn?

00:12:23.520 If you let them register, by the time they vote, even if you prosecute them after the fact, the vote counts.

00:12:30.260 The time to stop it is when they try to register in the first place, and yet they're not doing anything about that.

00:12:36.440 We have in our proposals a rebuttable presumption that illegals that get brought up on criminal charges are detained and then turned over to ICE.

00:12:45.640 They watered that down so that judges are just going to release these guys back on the street.

00:12:50.520 So it's a lack of seriousness about what it really takes to get this issue right.

00:12:55.940 And I can tell you this, when they proposed their so-called Trump Act, misnamed Trump Act, Democrats in the Florida Senate were high-fiving them.

00:13:05.420 Liberal media in Florida have been singing their praises.

00:13:08.860 The ACLU of Florida tweeted, thank you for what you're doing.

00:13:14.560 I can tell you this, Glenn.

00:13:16.040 When we banned sanctuary cities, Democrats were not high-fiving anyone.

00:13:20.480 When we eliminated DEI a couple years ago, no Democrats were high-fiving anyone.

00:13:26.540 When we eliminated the woke, when we did the stop the gender insanity, when we did all those things that Florida became famous for, no Democrats were high-fiving. 1.00

00:13:37.080 No media was singing our praises.

00:13:39.020 The ACLU was not in our corner.

00:13:41.340 So if this is really a tough immigration proposal, then why are these people on the left embracing it?

00:13:48.620 I have to tell you, Ron, this is the one thing that has stopped me from moving to Florida.

00:13:53.420 I promised my wife that someday we'd live on the water.

00:13:56.880 And so the only option for me really is Florida because it's a free state and it's a great state and you're the governor.

00:14:03.960 But I worry about you when you leave.

00:14:08.280 What are these stupid Republicans going to do?

00:14:11.020 And honestly, I just – if we don't get all of these weasels out and get the people in that actually believe in what we're trying to do, the state's going to go back to the same wishy-washy garbage that makes it a garbage state as it always has.

00:14:31.500 You guys have led the way, and it's the reason why you're leading the United States right now because you're doing what the people are asking for.

00:14:41.480 These guys who don't get it, man, they should be on notice.

00:14:44.480 I, like you, have never seen the Republican voters as awake as they are right now.

00:14:51.920 They know what they want.

00:14:53.460 They see what's happening in Washington.

00:14:55.200 They see what's happening in Florida.

00:14:56.680 And if you are a voter in Florida, you need to get on the phone because your state's going to go to trash the minute this guy leaves if you don't have people that understand what – and believe and will execute what you want to happen.

00:15:15.120 You need to get on the phone right now and call your Florida representative.

00:15:19.260 By the way, we have Sheriff Wayne Ivey on with us, Governor, in just a few minutes.

00:15:23.040 I think he's going to be kind of telling the story about what you're actually looking for, isn't he?

00:15:28.840 Yeah, look, I mean, people like Wayne, they want to solve the problem, and so they want to participate in these federal programs.

00:15:35.320 Not everyone wants to do that, which is why we have to make it an expectation that all police departments and sheriff's departments want to do it.

00:15:42.220 But just think about, yes, we focus on criminal aliens, and that's important, but I want to get these guys before they commit crimes.

00:15:49.100 I want to make sure our schools aren't overrun with illegals. 1.00

00:15:51.780 I want to make sure our health care system isn't overrun.

00:15:54.700 I want to make sure that illegals aren't getting into accidents, and they don't have insurance, and then you're out of luck. 1.00

00:15:59.720 So there's so many ways that this problem impacts our society, and unless we get it right on enforcement right now under Donald Trump's leadership, we're never going to solve this problem.

00:16:12.360 And the quality of life is going to increase dramatically.

00:16:15.300 And, look, you talked about Florida.

00:16:17.200 What's going to happen in the future?

00:16:18.220 I can tell you this.

00:16:19.100 I came in.

00:16:20.300 I was bold.

00:16:21.560 They told me that was a mistake because it was a 50-50 state, but we were bold.

00:16:25.440 We delivered results.

00:16:26.520 There was a sharp contrast between us and the left, and we've had more political success in Florida than Republicans have ever had.

00:16:34.220 When you water down, when you do the corporatism, where you're not standing for working people, but you're worried about things like cheap labor, when you do that, you will lose political support.

00:16:45.720 That's the lifeline.

00:16:46.660 And I think the reason the Democrats were high-fiving is because they see the leaders in the legislature, they're giving them a lifeline to regain relevance in Florida.

00:16:56.860 They're giving them a pathway where they can return to power in the future.

00:17:01.740 When you – we have beat the left.

00:17:03.700 We weren't trying to high-five them.

00:17:05.780 We've beat them on issue after issue.

00:17:08.140 That's why they've been rendered irrelevant.

00:17:10.000 And the formula is very clear.

00:17:13.340 And even look at the national election.

00:17:15.680 Donald Trump was bold, and he was rewarded.

00:17:18.120 I've got to run, but it's so great to talk to you.

00:17:20.760 Keep up the good fight.

00:17:22.340 Governor Ron DeSantis.

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00:18:27.020 Now, back to the podcast.

00:18:29.760 This is the best of the Glenn Beck Program.

00:18:33.520 Welcome to the Glenn Beck Program.

00:18:35.460 We're talking about RFK.

00:18:37.880 His nomination process begins tomorrow.

00:18:41.060 And there's a lot of mis- and disinformation about RFK.

00:18:47.280 A lot of stuff that's being said about him is absolutely true.

00:18:50.440 However, has he changed his view on anything?

00:18:53.140 You know, will he give guarantees to Congress that he's going to be pro-life?

00:18:59.060 That's a big one.

00:19:00.280 If you don't get James Lankford, you're not going to get the nomination.

00:19:04.240 I think that one is imperative.

00:19:06.280 And so far, Lankford hasn't said one way or another, I don't think.

00:19:09.680 And there's also things like, there's 15,000 doctors that have signed a demand that RFK.

00:19:20.060 He's not a doctor.

00:19:21.100 He can't be a doctor.

00:19:23.120 You know, you don't have to put anything in except your name to sign that.

00:19:27.720 You just go online and you're like, I'm Dr. Full of Crap.

00:19:32.420 And put an address in and boom, your name, Dr. Full of Crap, is on that list.

00:19:37.420 So really, is that true?

00:19:40.060 It's true.

00:19:40.580 Dr. Full of Crap.

00:19:41.600 Yeah, try it.

00:19:42.160 Yeah, try it.

00:19:42.800 He's a good doc.

00:19:43.720 Anyway, Cali Means is with us.

00:19:45.500 He is the co-founder of True Med, the author of Good Energy.

00:19:48.900 And he says it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is to be confirmed.

00:19:55.360 Welcome, Cali.

00:19:56.160 How are you?

00:19:57.380 I'm doing great, Glenn.

00:19:58.580 So you are well aware of some of the games that are being played.

00:20:01.480 Mike Pence is playing a part of that game.

00:20:04.520 Is he not?

00:20:04.960 He is.

00:20:07.860 And I think it goes right to what you're saying about Senator Lankford, who I've worked with,

00:20:12.420 who I know is dedicated to this issue.

00:20:15.300 And let's be very clear.

00:20:16.800 The life plank is a vital part, a crucial part of the Republican platform.

00:20:22.420 But let me explain to you how this game is played.

00:20:25.040 CNN, of all places, recently reported that the pharmaceutical industry is the chief funder

00:20:31.320 of Mike Pence's group, and the pharmaceutical industry is funding money to that group for Mike Pence to, in my opinion, bastardize the life issue and run ads and reach out to senators like Senator Lankford to say that Bobby's going to be an attack on life.

00:20:48.700 Let me be clear about one thing, Glenn, and I know you saw this.

00:20:51.940 I don't think there's been a more pro-life movement than what happened between Donald Trump and Bobby Kennedy in recent memory.

00:20:58.840 I mean, the heart of what they talked about is a spiritual issue of what the heck is happening to our kids, where we're the sickest country in the developed world, where 38% of teens have prediabetes, where 50% of teens are overweight or obese, where we have a mental health crisis among children, where we're living seven years less than the Italians right now because of our broken health care incentives, where we're stunting.

00:21:22.940 And through our incentives, not enabling our children to thrive, and just to be super direct, watching this process with Bobby and President Trump, Bobby fully understands the centrality of the life platform to the Republican coalition that have given him and President Trump an opportunity to serve, and is going to be fully executing the Trump administration's directives at that.

00:21:50.140 And I know staying very close to many of the pro-life leaders in the Senate who have already endorsed him.

00:21:55.680 So, very cynical move by Mike Pence here.

00:21:58.320 So, you do believe he will make a clear statement that he won't thwart the Trump administration on life?

00:22:06.540 I mean, I'll let him speak for himself tomorrow, and I know he'll do that very well, but I can tell you that Bobby Kennedy believes that this is a fight for life,

00:22:14.600 and deeply respects the centrality of the pro-life coalition and the Republican coalition that have put him in power,

00:22:24.060 and I think has already had very productive conversations with pro-life leaders who have come out and endorsed him,

00:22:30.320 and I know it's going to be very close to them.

00:22:32.340 And he's not in there to subvert any promises made by the Trump administration on that.

00:22:38.720 He is there to fight for the lives of our children.

00:22:40.660 So, let me ask you, Kelly, because, you know, I agree with you that there is something wrong with our healthcare system,

00:22:49.380 maybe our food, everything.

00:22:50.920 There's something really wrong.

00:22:53.960 And I think it comes from GMOs and pharmaceutical companies that, you know, we're not – we're treating symptoms.

00:23:01.260 We don't seem to be really going after the problem in many ways, especially with pharmaceuticals.

00:23:05.660 And I don't know what the answer is.

00:23:11.240 I know that we have some vaccines that have been, you know, good, polio, smallpox.

00:23:17.880 They've been – you know, I had it, you know, when I was a kid.

00:23:20.860 But now we're getting 80 different shots at birth, and there's something wrong with the way our kids are growing up and everything else.

00:23:30.780 And I don't know what that is, but I like Bobby coming in because he is going to at least expose the things that need to be exposed.

00:23:42.120 But I don't want somebody who's in there saying, no, no smallpox vaccine, you know, no polio vaccines.

00:23:49.420 Glenn, I think this is really the next key point to make because, you know, he's getting, I think, very cynical pharma-funded attacks on the pro-life issue.

00:23:59.340 And then you get to this vaccine issue.

00:24:00.980 You get to this really idea that Bobby's going to come in and come in with strong opinions and start banning and regulating things.

00:24:06.720 And I want to make something really clear.

00:24:08.440 And this should be clear from what Bobby and President Trump have said during the campaign, is Bobby is not a scientist, and he is not coming in there with a list of medical opinions or even food opinions.

00:24:20.540 President Trump and Bobby have been very clear that the directive is to figure out what the heck is going on.

00:24:26.860 Phase one of Maha is getting to the truth.

00:24:29.460 It's getting Jay Bhattacharya into the NIH.

00:24:31.980 And right now, Glenn, 85% of NIH spending is pharmaceutical R&D.

00:24:36.020 So what does that mean?

00:24:36.760 It means they're not asking why we're getting sick, which you would expect the NIH to do.

00:24:41.180 They're actually a fully-owned subsidiary of the pharmaceutical industry that's profiting from the fact that we're getting sick.

00:24:46.180 They're not asking why we're getting diabetes, why autism rates are going up, why heart disease rates are going up, why cancer rates are going up.

00:24:52.720 They're working on ineffective cancer jabs.

00:24:55.560 They're working on ineffective Band-Aids for Alzheimer's when Alzheimer's is actually preventable.

00:25:00.740 So I think you're exactly right.

00:25:02.600 We don't fully know what's going on.

00:25:04.840 And I actually, and this is my opinion, I think President Trump is going to win the Nobel Prize when Bobby Kennedy and Jay Bhattacharya are done with the HHS and the NIH.

00:25:14.540 Because if there's one accomplishment that can be made in the next two years, it's let's get back to science.

00:25:19.060 Let's give the American people and policymakers accurate information that we're not getting.

00:25:24.280 Because Glenn, you know, I don't think Europe has very good health policy, but they're living 10 years more than us, right?

00:25:31.940 I think it's because the strong arm of mandates isn't as pronounced there, that there's more informed consent, that people are able to make better decisions.

00:25:42.320 I mean, Maha is about, and what Bobby King's talked about, is just getting back to science.

00:25:46.260 And the last thing I'll say, Glenn, just being in some of these discussions, there's zero ideology.

00:25:51.300 The directive from President Trump isn't to get to a specific outcome or solution on a food or pharmaceuticals or vaccines or whatever.

00:25:58.160 It is to get money to the best scientists in the world so we can figure out what's going on.

00:26:02.440 So I think that's a very important point.

00:26:04.340 So he's got a lot of opposition tomorrow.

00:26:09.920 How are you going to get Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, you know, Cory Booker on board?

00:26:18.760 I think it's I think we've been dragged into darkness inevitably now that power is close at hand, you know, with pharma funding pro life groups, ostensibly with, you know, so many interests at play and so much money at play.

00:26:35.760 I mean, let's not forget health care is the largest and fastest growing and most employed industry in the country.

00:26:41.580 There's a lot at stake here.

00:26:43.280 And, you know, our message, my message going into this week is there was a spiritual strain hit during the campaign with Bobby Kennedy and President Trump.

00:26:53.040 I mean, they talked about unimpeachable issues of, you know, figure out why our kids are getting sick, getting absolute rank corruption out of our medical authorities that we saw during COVID.

00:27:03.300 I mean, why is why is 75 percent of the FDA's drug approval department funded by pharma?

00:27:08.940 You know, why are NIH folks during COVID employees able to take hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties?

00:27:17.240 You know, why is the CDC able to have a nonprofit that accepts hundreds of millions of dollars in pharma to buy off the agency?

00:27:25.100 These are these are very simple things.

00:27:27.320 And even larger than that, Glenn, I mean, I think what Bobby Kennedy and President Trump actually represented with Kennedy walking out on that stage with the sparklers with President Trump is that this administration is not about left versus right.

00:27:40.340 This is not about debating page 300 of the Medicare party law.

00:27:44.060 This is about taking on corruption.

00:27:46.160 This is about unimpeachable issues.

00:27:47.900 This is about true on this issue, bipartisan reform.

00:27:51.480 So I think I know you saw that, Glenn.

00:27:53.680 We talked throughout the campaign and then my sister has with you.

00:27:56.880 There was something spiritual.

00:27:58.700 So I think what we need to do this week is just remind people of the stakes, is remind people of the fact that, you know, kids, right, are the sickest.

00:28:08.840 American kids are the sickest kids in the world right now. 1.00

00:28:12.720 And I would just urge Mitch McConnell or anyone on the fence.

00:28:16.500 It can't be worse than what's happening now.

00:28:18.780 Our public health authorities have totally failed us.

00:28:21.800 Bobby Kennedy and President Trump tapped into this unimpeachable spiritual issues of figuring out why our kids are getting sick.

00:28:27.480 We need to give them a chance.

00:28:29.040 And I'd say, Glenn, this is the will of the voters.

00:28:32.160 There is no nominee that President Trump talked about more than Bobby Kennedy.

00:28:37.640 You know, we didn't know who the Treasury Secretary was going to be, the Secretary of Defense, most other departments.

00:28:42.640 He was very clear during the campaign and every single speech that he was going to turn over help to Bobby.

00:28:47.700 This is a true campaign mandate.

00:28:50.240 And, you know, it will be a disaster if senators overrule that clear mandate for voters. 0.98

00:28:57.120 Kelly, I appreciate you coming on and making a good case for Bobby Kennedy.

00:29:01.720 I will tell you, I am all in on exposing bad things.

00:29:09.140 Finding out, because I am convinced, I mean, well, COVID, there are bad things that are happening with our government and pharmaceutical companies.

00:29:17.260 Not all things that pharmaceutical companies do are bad, but there are a lot of bad things.

00:29:22.200 And our government is being wagged by food and pharmaceuticals right now.

00:29:28.560 And I just want the answers.

00:29:30.480 I don't want somebody to come and dictate those answers.

00:29:33.460 I want to see the evidence of what's really happening.

00:29:36.740 I think this is the mandate that was given to Donald Trump, and that is expose it all.

00:29:43.620 Expose it all on every front.

00:29:45.520 If there's a problem, expose it.

00:29:47.760 And then we can deal with it as a people.

00:29:51.560 But I don't want somebody coming in and, you know, your assurance that that's not who Bobby Kennedy is going to be is reassuring.

00:30:00.520 And I hope you're right on that.

00:30:03.040 Kelly, I want to underline it one more time for all the conservatives listening.

00:30:06.740 And I know Bobby made the case well during the campaign.

00:30:09.020 There is not a list of regulation or bans.

00:30:12.540 It is about getting to the truth.

00:30:14.760 Yes.

00:30:15.160 Americans can make an informed decision.

00:30:17.040 Americans are not trying to be sick or poison their kids.

00:30:19.760 What the problem is, we don't have the truth.

00:30:21.560 We don't have the information.

00:30:22.720 That is step one of Maha, and Bobby Kennedy and President Trump, as we know, are committed to a deregulation agenda, a freedom agenda.

00:30:31.540 But that requires informed consent of the truth.

00:30:33.880 Kelly, I think that if the Maha agenda, if it is about exposure and freedom, then if that agenda is not part of this, I think that's a big part of the mandate that will be lost.

00:30:50.360 Because I think this is a spiritual, this is a physical, it's a metaphysical thing that we're dealing with right now.

00:31:00.520 We have to deal with all of it, or we can't cure any of it, quite honestly, I believe.

00:31:05.980 Kelly, thank you very much.

00:31:06.900 It's a first order issue.

00:31:07.680 Thank you.

00:31:08.140 Thank you.

00:31:08.520 Kelly Means, TrueMed, co-founder, co-author of Good Energy.

00:31:13.520 You're listening to the best of the Glenn Beck Program.

00:31:20.360 Boy, there are no crazy ideas right now.

00:31:23.520 It is an interesting time to be alive in America.

00:31:26.760 Senator Mike Lee is joining me now.

00:31:28.600 Yesterday, he proposed using letters of mark and reprisal to weaken the drug cartels.

00:31:35.660 And, I mean, I'm in love with this old-timey constitutional idea, but it basically would make private citizens or companies, give them permission to be kind of like pirates, where they could just go and just bust them up and take all their booty as long as they share it with the United States.

00:31:58.860 It would be great.

00:32:01.120 It would be cheaper, and we wouldn't have to put our military in harm's way.

00:32:05.660 Mike Lee joins me now.

00:32:07.220 Mike, explain the letters of mark and reprisal.

00:32:13.020 A letter of mark and reprisal amounts to a government-issued commission of sorts, authorizing private citizens, known as privateers, to perform acts that would otherwise be considered piracy, like attacking enemy ships during wartime.

00:32:29.240 And privateers are typically rewarded with a cut of whatever loot they bring home.

00:32:34.120 If they're able to make it back to the United States and bring home assets that can be sold, liquidated, reduced to an economic value, then the government sets up what's called a prize court, which decides who gets what.

00:32:48.760 And typically the government keeps half of it and then has a system for giving the privateers involved in it each their fair share of the other 50%.

00:33:01.960 So these guys, let's say Eric Prince, Eric Prince loves this idea.

00:33:09.000 He was like, I'm all in.

00:33:09.820 And he would go down to the border and he would, what, break up the cartels by, as they're shipping stuff across the border, grab their cash, their guns, their cars.

00:33:21.780 They're using boats, whatever, and the drugs, and then give those to the government and the government would say, OK, Eric, this part is yours.

00:33:32.020 Yeah. Now, to be clear, when you say the border, we're talking outside the United States, I don't think this works for things found in the United States.

00:33:42.540 But if outside the United States, they recover assets, typically what we'd be looking at are assets that could be liquidated by the government, gold, silver, cash, equipment.

00:33:56.740 If they can bring those things back into the United States and they can then be sold.

00:34:00.900 Now, that also raises the question of the drugs.

00:34:03.080 Obviously, we're not going to allow those to be sold.

00:34:05.620 And so you'd either have to exclude those or the government would just have to go out of pocket to reward them for bringing that back in.

00:34:13.160 And that's one of the things that would have to be discussed.

00:34:15.740 This is a tool that hasn't been used by the United States for a long time.

00:34:20.340 But it's a tool that harnesses self-interest, harnesses what people could gain by this in a way that could really be advantageous to the United States.

00:34:29.700 Boy, I got to tell you, I love this idea.

00:34:32.760 Donald Trump Jr. loves this idea.

00:34:35.620 But it does seem like something that Mexico would hate.

00:34:44.160 Sure.

00:34:45.340 Sure.

00:34:45.760 I mean, it depends on who you're talking about within Mexico.

00:34:49.240 Yeah.

00:34:49.480 Hardworking, individual Mexican citizens who have lived under the tyranny of these cartels who have been affected by the violence that is rampant throughout the country and sponsored by the cartels.

00:35:05.160 A lot of them would perhaps not have much of an objection, if any objection at all, because they want to be free of this stuff.

00:35:15.720 But, yeah, I can imagine that the Mexican government might have feelings about it.

00:35:20.600 Yeah.

00:35:21.560 But this is different.

00:35:22.760 This is different in the sense that it's not the United States undertaking any kind of an effort to have a military presence in Mexico, which would, of course, be unacceptable to Mexico.

00:35:33.520 This is about private citizens going out and trying to seize assets of these terror organizations, of this international criminal enterprise, bringing it back to the United States with the understanding that they'll be entitled to a cut of about half of it once they get back.

00:35:52.120 So the one thing that I was thinking before this idea was we're going to send in SEAL teams and they'll just be gone before the sun comes up and you'll never know who did it.

00:36:02.560 And there will just be a lot of dead cartel members laying there in the sun as it starts to rise.

00:36:09.740 And, you know, Mexico will hate that.

00:36:11.700 But as long as we're gone in the morning, I mean, we've deemed them a terrorist organization.

00:36:18.980 Don't we have the right to do that?

00:36:23.120 Once that happens, you can imagine there might be circumstances in which that would occur.

00:36:28.540 But, again, a letter of marketing reprisal allows us to avoid doing that.

00:36:33.420 That creates an additional set of difficulties for us that we wouldn't face if we were sending in, if we were authorizing privateers to do that.

00:36:42.000 These are matters of degree, of course.

00:36:44.300 But it would be foolish of us to assume that our only option involves sending in the Marines, so to speak.

00:36:51.460 U.S. boots on the ground has a very different feel than privateers going in and doing something on their own.

00:36:59.720 And it's one of the reasons why I felt it important enough.

00:37:02.640 I put out a thread on X yesterday through my at-base Mike Lee account in which I explained a brief history

00:37:11.660 of letters of marketing reprisal, how they function, and that they ought to be considered here.

00:37:15.940 So, I mean, I really like it.

00:37:18.620 And I like the fact, I mean, I'm for anything constitutional.

00:37:21.840 Anything extra constitutional, I'm against.

00:37:24.400 But this is literally in the Constitution that you can do this.

00:37:29.400 But it seems old-timey.

00:37:32.120 You know, I mean, does anybody do this anymore?

00:37:35.140 No, and the United States hasn't done it arguably in over a hundred years, in a couple hundred years.

00:37:43.020 Yeah.

00:37:43.120 So, but the focus of this would be something that I think may well be perfectly suited for our time

00:37:51.400 and for this situation, where you focus on disrupting supply lines, capturing high-valued targets,

00:37:57.740 receiving assets like boats, vehicles, cash, gold, equipment used in criminal activities.

00:38:02.640 Because we all know, you know, private entities and individuals can operate with a degree of agility

00:38:10.480 that you can't replicate in government.

00:38:13.460 Right.

00:38:13.860 Allowing them to adapt quite quickly to the tactics of the cartels and to match those.

00:38:19.040 But what would other countries say?

00:38:22.440 I mean, is anybody using this kind of stuff anymore?

00:38:24.700 I mean, it used to happen when there were pirates, you know, with the black flag, with the bones on it.

00:38:30.760 So, does anybody use anything like this anymore?

00:38:34.300 What would they say if we started?

00:38:35.620 I don't really care, but what would they say?

00:38:38.400 I'm not aware of any countries using them right now.

00:38:40.880 And I'm sure there are countries that would say, oh, this violates this or that principle of international law,

00:38:47.200 either of some treaty that we haven't ratified or of what they refer to as customary international law,

00:38:54.200 which is a fancy way of saying people don't do this anymore.

00:38:57.360 And so, therefore, it violates international law.

00:39:01.480 But all of that is beside the point if it is within our authority to do this.

00:39:08.400 And if we haven't forsworn the authority through some treaty that we've ratified,

00:39:12.980 which I'm quite certain we have not.

00:39:15.580 And so that's why this is a tool that we shouldn't take off the table.

00:39:18.900 And it's an idea whose time may well have come.

00:39:21.900 We haven't used it in a long time.

00:39:24.020 But whereas here we've got a different type of adversary than we sometimes face in the past,

00:39:30.400 this is not the government of Mexico, but these are criminal organizations within Mexico

00:39:39.520 that have an international footprint that affect the United States and that have taken actions that are hostile to the interests of the United States and her citizens.

00:39:49.540 So in this circumstance, it would be irresponsible of us not to consider it.

00:39:55.120 And I think we ought to explore this and perhaps issue some letters of mark and reprisal.

00:40:00.780 So the fact that it hasn't happened in a long time, likely since the 1800s, doesn't mean that the power doesn't exist.

00:40:08.900 And it certainly doesn't mean that we couldn't benefit from it.

00:40:11.500 Right.

00:40:11.640 Mike, I love this idea.

00:40:14.880 I hope it gains some traction just because it will make Mexico. 0.99

00:40:19.220 You know, I was talking to my wife the other night about this and I said, you know, she said, what would Mexico say?

00:40:24.120 And I said, you know, just like you said, the people of Mexico will love this because they're tired of this.

00:40:29.500 You'd know pretty quickly who's under the thumb of the cartels and who's not.

00:40:34.680 Just like we would with our government.

00:40:36.200 If somebody was coming in and saying, hey, you've got terrorist organizations and we're going to take them out.

00:40:40.680 And if we knew them to be terrorist organizations, I think, you know, we might we might say, well, come on now.

00:40:46.620 We can take care of that.

00:40:47.920 But if they could do it for us, I'm all for that.

00:40:52.180 I'd be all for that.

00:40:53.120 The people who would be against it are the ones that are really under the thumb of the cartels.

00:40:58.140 And the people of Mexico should know who those people are as if they don't already know.

00:41:02.860 Mike, one last one last thing.

00:41:06.060 How do you think RFK is going to fare in the Senate?

00:41:08.180 Look, he faces a tough fight.

00:41:13.720 Democrats are institutionally inclined to oppose anyone who was once part of their party.

00:41:21.140 Right.

00:41:21.640 And has now moved in the other direction, particularly someone with as prominent a name as RFK Jr.

00:41:28.800 has and particularly someone who has shown a degree of contempt for the deep state, for the administrative state, for things that have gone wrong.

00:41:37.560 And so we're going to have to rely on my hope is that we can pick up some Democratic votes.

00:41:43.900 You're for him.

00:41:44.780 Assume that we won't be able to win, that we need to be ready to produce enough Republicans to make sure that he gets through, just as we did with Pete Pegg said.

00:41:52.460 I think it will be a tight vote there.

00:41:55.100 I do think he'll get through.

00:41:56.440 Wow.

00:41:56.680 But it's by no means certain.

00:41:58.240 And that's why we've got a lineup behind him to support him.

00:42:01.360 And you're for him.

00:42:02.980 Oh, 100 percent.

00:42:04.120 Had a great meeting with him the other day.

00:42:06.500 And I think he brings to the table an innovative approach with a fresh set of eyes that can see that we've created a lot of problems through our own government.

00:42:18.020 The very department that he's been asked to head as the Secretary of Health and Human Services has been a big part of the problem.

00:42:25.900 He recognizes that.

00:42:27.040 That's exactly why we need him in there.

00:42:29.180 And our other nominees, is Cash Patel going to get through?

00:42:36.540 Yeah.

00:42:36.720 Okay, so similarly to what we face with RFK, with Cash Patel, and also with Tulsi Gabbard, we're going to have to confront both of those with the expectation that we may not get a single Democratic vote.

00:42:58.180 And so that's why Republicans are so important.

00:42:59.980 Remember, it's unusual for an incoming president to not have his top-level picks supported by pretty much every member of the president's own party in confirmation votes.

00:43:16.160 And we've got to remember that.

00:43:18.240 And so a lot of the same people who are on the list of those who might oppose them are people who time and time again voted to confirm Democratic nominees named by President Biden.

00:43:31.520 I hope they will give Republican nominees nominated by President Trump at least the same degree of deference that they gave to those nominated by President Biden.

00:43:41.020 And often, by the way, with the justification that he is the elected president, we can't run the world as if our guy were president.

00:43:50.100 Well, if that's the case, it should be the case here.

00:43:52.660 Well, that's a nice way of saying what I believe, which is vote these weasels out if they fail to support the president. 0.78

00:44:02.100 We have one shot at this, and so far, Donald Trump and those who are supporting him are doing amazing things in the first week, things that I never thought I would see.

00:44:14.500 And I, for one, am excited about it.

00:44:16.800 Mike, thank you very much.

00:44:18.220 Appreciate it.

00:44:18.920 Thank you so much.

00:44:19.660 Great to be with you, Mike.

00:44:20.260 Senator Mike Lee.

00:44:20.840 Na na na na na na.

The Glenn Beck Program - January 28, 2025

Best of the Program ｜ Guests： Gov. Ron DeSantis & Sen. Mike Lee ｜ 1⧸28⧸25

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